Tumgik
#and for the final im going to make a picture book about a fox and a badger and a coyote being friends and making soup
frecht · 2 years
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ok so one of my classes has nothing during finals week, one has no final just a presentation (but not really a final presentation bc it's one of 4 throughout the semester), one is a 1 credit class and also has no final, one has a take home exam, and the other probably also has nothing during finals week bc it's the same professor as my 1st one and it's an art class
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justfor2am · 2 years
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how many book emojis r there .uhh 📒📓📔📕📖📗📘📙📚 (this is for that ask game im not just randomly sending book emojis .tho tbf id do that too) (kinda random but?????? i want an axolotl emoji when will they add an axolotl emoji they r my second favorite animal (first is bunnies 🐇) and i want to show them off .where is it when will i get an axolotl emoji‼️ i can accept not having emojis for like my fav bunnies n for my other fav animals thats FINE but no axolotl? actually crime wada hell)
waough first off: axolotl emoji would be fire, but you know what emoji we really missing? chocolate cake.
ALL of the cake and cake-adjacent emojis are vanilla, where's the love for my fudge lovers???
anyways, because you've got me going on pokemon now, fuckin obligatory pokemon au.
mumscarian because i love those guys: Mumbo: Pokemon Lab Technician Electric/Steel/Dragon/Normal/Flying Magneton (heheh gear go brrrr) Electrode (heheh orb go brrrr) Dragonair (he deserves one elegant-looking pokemon. as a treat) Steelix (YA METAL GUY WHOOOO) Porygon (what a lil weirdo. i love porygon) Noctowl (obligatory low-level starting area pokemon that he got emotionally attached to and now bullies him when he's up late) Scar: Retired Gym Leader Normal/Fairy/Psychic Meowth (obligatory jellie insert) Togetic (raised it from an egg!) Clefable (happy lil fella who Double Slapped scar into next week the first time they met) Espeon (also raised it since it was an eevee!) Alakazam (abras are so fucking annoying to catch but goddamn he did it) Girafarig (ehehe spooky 2-faced pokemon) Grian: Aspiring Champion Bayleef (only one with an actual starter lmao) Pidgeot (best flying pokemon i'm right btw) Vulpix (lil fire fox.....) Misdreavus (goofy ghost pokemon? perfect for him) Starmie (pretty gem need i say more) Eevee (untapped potential!!!) i picture this as grian being the usual pokemon protag trying to beat the elite four except he gets wayyyyyy too carried away with the side quests
mumbo works in a pokemon containment facility meant to observe and rehabilitate hostile/abandoned pokemon (either via adoption or relocation to the wild) and is in charge of keeping the servers running and making sure the database is up to date, which it frequently is not. grian tries training against mumbo often, but you can only battle the same trainer so main times before memorizing his movesets and using the same battle strategy over and over again, so mumbo gives him scar's number and suggests grian train with him instead. scar's only been retired a few years so he tends to have to shoo away rookie trainers from his front porch all the time, but grian instead offers to run favors for him (entirely by accident. scar's reputation FAR precedes himself, and was known for knocking trainers flat on their ass countless times when facing his team. plus, being one of the youngest professional gym trainers in the area, it's hard to get some peace and quiet.) scar finds this hilarious and decides to give grian a stupid amount of tasks to do, ranging from grocery shopping to weeding his garden, until grian finally caves and admits why he's really here. grian fully expects to be sent away, but scar is swayed by grian's persistence and complete dedication to the, objectively speaking, pointless tasks he was given, so scar agrees to help train grian's team.
misc. notes here: mumbo is the oldest of the three at about 26, with grian being 22 and scar 25. i think it's weird that pokemon just lets children run off and be trainers so let's assume that's not common practice here mumbo has a handful of badges, mostly so that his pokemon will listen to him. nearly all of his pokemon (minus the noctowl and the porygon) were gifted to him, so they're a little unruly at times. scar raised all of his pokemon either from eggs or newly born. (if i weren't working with gen 2 he would 100% have a sylveon) grian's eevee was actually a gift from scar, given to grian as an egg that he took great care in watching over.
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earthpodd · 3 years
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THE CHAIN, An AkkTheo Story
Fandom: Enchanté
Pairing: Akk/Theo
Word count: 4,2K
Summary: Theo is gone and Akk finds himself angry and frustrated. He knows most of it is his fault, or at least he thinks it is. What is left now is for him to get his bravery on and confess his love for his best friend. But as we know, nothing ever works as planned.
Read on AO3.
Tagging @danyok as requested. Thank you for giving me the little push of motivation that made me decide to write this.
The problem with getting used to something was that the moment it was gone you would start feeling its loss much worse than if it had never been with you the first place. The ache and longing would consume you to the point it would make you wonder if you’d gone insane. That was exactly how Akk was feeling right now.
 -x-
 If anyone walked through Akk’s door right now, what they would find would be a boy lying in bed, back resting against the headboard, a fox shaped plushie tightly pressed against his chest in a firm embrace; eyes unfocused, and a dazed expression obscuring his chiselled facial features, almost making it seem dark and sombre. Gone were the traces of cheerful youth that wouldn’t often be found on his face. He was not a man on a mission, he was just lost.
 It has been like that everyday since Theo decided to go back to France after the whole Enchanté fiasco. The decision was abrupt, without rhyme and reason, and even though he was not even sure if he had left yet, —they haven’t spoken to each other since— Akk has already been brooding for days.
 “Why don’t you just talk to him?” He has been asked that a lot lately, especially from Im and Egg, and it’s not that he doesn’t want to talk to Theo, it’s just that there was no point in even trying. It was not like he could convince Theo, and would he even want that, knowing how Theo would be feeling much better away from this mess and back to where he rightfully belonged. A part of him, the selfish, possessive, jealous part would argue, saying that Theo’s rightful place was by his side.
 Twisting around in bed, Akk laid his chin atop the foxface pillow, his gaze immediately wandering towards the picture of Theo he had not so sneakily taken at the book fair. That day felt like ages ago and Akk couldn’t help but sigh, thinking about what he could have done different to avoid that being one of their last cheerful memories together.
 At the same time he felt sad, Akk couldn’t stop the anger bubbling from inside. “Ai’Theo! What the heck do you think you’re doing?” Cursing at the empty room didn’t feel as fulfilling as he thought it would, it only made the emptiness of the place feel more evident.
 Pushing himself up, Akk punched the plushie a couple of times, his lips twisting in a display of anger and dissatisfaction that he would only ever show when that damned Phupha showed up out of nowhere to take Theo away from him and deprive him of their time together. Oh, how many times he had dreamed of punching that stupid condescending face and telling Phupha he wasn’t allowed anywhere near his Theo. Thinking about that only made him feel even more riled up.
 With a groan, he punched the pillow again, completely getting up from the bed. His frustration was finally slipping through, and he suddenly understood why Theo would feel the need to box or exercise late in the night to get rid of his pent-up energy. Only it was not energy Akk was trying to get rid of, but rather his own feelings.
 It looked and sounded pathetic, but after punching the air a few times, he grabbed his fox shaped plushie again and fell back down on the mattress, eyes staring up at the ceiling.
 He didn’t know how much longer he could go on like this.
 -x-
 On day seven since he said he didn’t know how much longer he could on like this, Akk was just about ready to pull his hair out and climb the walls. He was filled with so much pent-up frustration that not even his sisters dared to get too close to him or to suggest he talks to Theo, even if that was probably the right thing to do.
 Akk was left wondering how Theo could even do that to him. Did their friendship mean nothing to him? Was he not good enough for him? Why did Theo have to go around chasing someone else he didn’t even know when the person who knew him best and cared most about him was right there by his side?
 That line of thought made him feel even angrier. Who did Theo think he was to come back here, mess with his feeling and then leave again? Did he really think he was some sort of Prince and that Akk was not worth of his time?
 As soon as those thought crossed his mind, Akk shook his head. No, Theo wasn’t like that. He would never think like that. How could the guy that always tried his best not to abuse his privilege think like that?
 These were all recurring thoughts and questions that kept running through his mind, making him anxious during the day and keeping him awake at night.
 Looking at his bed, Akk thought about throwing himself there again, but then noticed the dent on his mattress. He has been spending so much of his time there that one could basically see his shape perfectly ingrained on its surface.
 He ended up just sighing again.
 The sound of an incoming text brought him back from his momentary reverie, making Akk all but dash across the room to grab his phone, hoping it would be from Theo.
 It was just another thing that made him realise how much he actually really cares about Theo, but again, hope was a dangerous, the more you have, the harder you fall.
 And he fell.
 Dramatic as it sounds, Akk slumped down against the wall. His phone was still in his hand with the screen unlocked, displaying a text from his former boss asking whether he would like to go back to work and even promising to increase his pay.
 With a hand raised to his head, fingers tangling against the mess of tresses that was his hair right now, Akk started laughing. It sounded more similar to a sob than any actual sound of amusement, but his shoulders were shaking with it all the same, it only lacked humour. This was by far the nastiest prank fate has ever pulled on him.
 He was partially at fault here, Akk knew that. If he hadn’t been a coward and had been honest about his feeling from the very beginning then maybe Theo wouldn’t have gone through all of this, and neither would he. But being brave was not as easy as they made it seem in the movies. There was just so much at stake, so much to lose. He had just gotten Theo back, so how could he dare to gamble?
 That realisation brought back the feeling of loss he felt whenever he looked around his empty room. In just a short time, most of the space had been ingrained with memories, with things he shared with Theo.
 Everything felt wrong. Lying on his bed alone felt wrong, looking through the window at Theo's house and not calling him to ask what he was up to felt wrong. Even going a day without being confused by some French word he didn’t know how to pronounce or the meaning of felt wrong.
 It was like the more he thought, the more he felt the loss of Theo. It was a crushing sensation that made his heart tight and heavy.
 This feeling of hopelessness was worse than the anger he felt before.
 Akk really just wanted Theo back.
 As if on cue, the sound of thunder reverberated into the room. Akk only had the time to look at the grey skies once before the rain started pouring. It gave him that feeling of being in a music video. Here he was brooding over his loved one, and the skies joined in to mourn with him, showing its support in the form of tears.
 So freaking dramatic.
 -x-
 “How long are you going to mope around?”
 It had been two weeks already. Two weeks and only now had he finally reached a conclusion, had made his decision.
 Akk sprung to his feet, rushing towards his sister and grabbing her by the arms, almost shaking her, perhaps in hope that his own resolve wouldn’t be shaken. There was a little bit of a manic look in his face that made Im worry momentarily, but still she waited for him to say what he had to say. Akk knew he hadn’t been acting like his usual self lately and that she had plenty of reason to be concerned, but he didn’t have time for that right now. He was finally a man on a mission. It took him long enough.
 Out of the blue, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his sister’s forehead, grinning like a mad man as he pulled back and straightened his posture. “I won’t be back for dinner...” actually, Akk didn’t know when he would be back at all. How long did it even take to fly to France, confess your love to your best friend, convince him to come back with you and then fly back to Thailand? But it seemed like Im already knew what he meant, seeing as she just patted him on the arm and gave him an encouraging smile.
 From the corridor he could see Egg looking at him as well. Despite her young age, it looked like she also understood the situation. She even called him an idiot without making any sound. He couldn’t help but think she was really precociously smart.
 “Okay! I’m going!”
 But before he could leave the room, Im grabbed him by the arm, looking at him incredulously. “You made all this ruckus for two weeks and you didn’t even pack your bag?” Akk opened and closed his mouth without responding. He suddenly felt that if he said what he was going to say he would get one of Im's rare scolding speeches, so instead he decided to wai at his sister and quickly throw a change of clothes into his backpack before he could leave.
 This time, as he tried to walk past Im, she finally let him through. “Go get him now! Tell Theo that I will make him Khai Palo if he comes back with you.” Akk laughed at the thought. If he couldn’t convince Theo to come back for him, he couldn’t always bribe him with food. He knew how much Theo liked Im’s Khai Palo. It was worth a shot.
 Akk couldn’t hear it, but as he finally left both of his sisters muttered, wishing him luck.
 -x-
 Arriving at the airport, Akk couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate his surroundings. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had come to the airport. It was not like he travelled around a lot, so this was pretty much a special occasion.
 The place wasn’t as full as he had expected. Maybe all those romance movies had led him to believe airports were always filled to the brim with people. So much to the point you could walk past someone you know and not even see them.
 After dillydallying for a bit, Akk finally walked towards the ticket counter.
 It didn’t even take long for him to find the first hitch in his impromptu adventure. The moment the attendant asked him for his passport and he found he hadn’t brought it along, Akk just had to raise his hand and literally smack it against his face. How does anyone go to the airport without their passport?
 Akk sighed and asked the attendant for a moment so he could look for it in his bag, though he was certain he wouldn’t find it there. As he rummaged through the backpack’s content, he also fished his phone out of his pocket, intending to call Im and ask her whether she could bring it for him.
 As fate would have it, Im chose that exact moment not to pick up the phone, and since there was a queue behind him, Akk was forced to turn around and leave the ticket counter, phone still pressed against his ear as he tried, repeatedly, to reach his sister.
 His gaze was downcast, and he was slowly cursing under his breath, so it took him a moment to notice that there was someone standing in front of him. “Shia! Ai’Theo! Are you a ghost?! How can you walk around without making any sound?” Akk was so startled he couldn’t even say any of the words he had rehearsed in his mind. His brain hadn’t even been able to process what was happening right now.
 “Uhmmm!” Came Theo’s reply, accompanied by a slap to Akk’s forehead, cementing his presence in the real of reality. Akk had been momentarily worried that he had started hallucinating because of all the stress from these past couple of weeks.
 “What are you doing here?” Both of them asked that at the same time, and soon Akk found himself participating in a staring match as neither of them responded and just kept waiting for the other take the first step in restarting their conversation.
 Since Akk was still somehow shell-shocked, he let Theo the better man and take the lead in talking first.
 “What are you doing here?”
 Even though he was hearing the question for the second time, it still took Akk sometime to process it and give Theo an answer. “Uh… booking a flight?” He hadn’t intended to respond with a question of his own, but the state his brain was in didn’t allow for much thought process.
 Akk was even more shocked when he got another slap to his forehead. “Hia! Can you not hit the same place twice? It hurts.” He rubbed his own hand against his forehead. The burning sensation his palm was met with let him know that his skin had reddened from the harsh contact.
 Seeing Theo raise his arm to hit him again, Akk took a step back and shook his hands in an almost apologetic way, even going as far as adding an ironic wai towards him. “Okay! Okay! I’ll answer properly, Nong’Theo,” he took another step backwards right after that, and for the first time in weeks, he genuinely smiled.
 He didn’t think it would be so easy to, well, ease the pain in his heart, but before he could get too comfortable, Akk remembered what exactly had put them in this situation in the first place, and why he had come all this.
 Pulling Theo by the arm, Akk tried to find a more secluded place where they could actually talk without being around others. Luckily for them, the airport was pretty vacant at the moment, so it wouldn’t be too hard to find a suitable place.
 This time Akk decided to be the one to start the conversation. He leaned against the wall and casually crossed his arms like he would do when they were just talking to each other about mundane things. “Why are you here? Didn’t you go back to France?” His words were a little aggressive, so thinking about how his main goal was actually to confess, he added another line. “I was going to visit you…” Akk actually left it at that, unable to continue as he got lost in Theo’s serious gaze.
 Silence reigned once again between them after Akk stated his purpose for being there. There were no changes Theo’s expression even after a while. His lips were still pursed in a straight line and he looked more serious than Akk had ever seen him. That actually made him start second-guessing himself.
 The whole reason why Akk had been able to talk himself into going to France to confess to Theo was because despite there being that ever so possible chance of rejection, he really thought that these feelings were mutual. So what if they didn’t talk about it, it could still be seen through the small details. It was honestly a wonder how Theo hadn’t put 1 and 1 together when Akk had made it so clear to him.
 His frustrated state almost surfaced again, but thankfully, Theo chose that moment to speak again, unknowingly avoiding a potential crisis.
 “What were you actually going to do in France?” The words were spoken clear enough, and yet Akk still struggled to understand, or rather to organise his thoughts well enough to put them into words. He couldn’t just repeat that he was going there to visit Theo.
 “I was going to bring you home.”
 Akk was going to continue, he was just going to spill everything right here and right now. If he needed kneel, he would kneel and if he needed cry, he would cry. Though, before he could do any of that, he caught Theo looking at him strangely, and that was all it took for his resolve to falter again.
 Why was it so freaking hard to confess?
 “Si tu pouvais lire dans mon coeur, tu verrais la place où je t’ai mise¹,” Akk didn’t know what that meant. Not that it was anything new, he was always confused whenever Theo said anything in French to him, but given the way Theo had looked at him strangely, and the way he was now looking at him as if he was the dumbest person he had ever seen, Akk was inclined to believe Theo was cursing him out.
 Akk wanted to give Theo the benefit of the doubt, but given the dynamic of their friendship in the past, he just narrowed his eyes and raised his fist at Theo. “Are you cursing me out?” This love confession was really a total failure now.
 Despite his actions, Theo didn’t respond like he usually would and just kept on spewing nonsense Akk could make no heads or tails of. “Avec toi, je vois la vie en rose².” If anything, Akk could say he understood the very last word. “I don’t have anything pink with me.” Really, he was hopeless.
 Cue war flashbacks from the menteur³ fiasco.
 “I’m trying to say I love you, you idiot.” Akk was more dumbfounded by the words rather than the slap Theo delivered to his still reddened forehead once again. What did he mean he was trying to say he loved him? Wasn’t he the one who was trying to confess here? How come the tables turned like that?
 Still full of disbelief, Akk pushed himself from where he was leaning against the wall and positioned himself right in front of. He looked down at him while pointing at his own face. “You’re saying you love me?” He asked, putting emphasis on the last word. It wasn’t that hard a concept to grasp, but it somehow felt surreal.
 From Theo’s face, Akk could tell he was having none of his shit, he was looking like a mix between slightly irritated and aggravated. It was a cute look. Though Theo always looked cute to him, even when he was glaring daggers after being called nong.
 All of a sudden Akk laughed, a sound full of bubbling excitement and louder than usual. The realisation was finally starting to down on him. Theo liked him. He had come back from France for him. This time it was really for him.
 If he were more emotional, Akk would have cried, but since he was not the type, he just pulled Theo closer to him by the waist, hugging him in the most overbearing and exaggeratedly obnoxious way he could think of. Really, he was basically smothering Theo, and part of the reason for that was because he wanted to make sure it was real and he wasn’t just dreaming.
 Surprisingly, Theo let him do as he liked, only leaning back slightly after a while so their gazes could meet once again. The expression on his face was very familiar, but Akk couldn’t help but think of it as cute again. “You still haven’t told me what you were going to do in France.”
 Akk’s head jerked, just slightly, in confusion. “I told you already that I was going to bring you back home,” left unsaid was the fact that he wanted Theo to think of him as his home, as the one he would be with forever and always come back to no matter what.
 Only a few seconds later Akk felt pressure against his shoulders. Theo was pushing him back, but they had just met again after two weeks and Akk was not ready to let him go, not yet anyway, so he used his slight advantage in straight to bring Theo back into his arms.
 Seemingly having given up, Akk heard Theo sigh and once again he just let him do as he pleased. “How were you planning to do that?” There was genuine curiosity on his face, so Akk knew he wasn’t asking that to piss him off or challenge him.
 Since Theo had already confessed first, Akk now had no problems in displaying his overconfidence again. “I was going to confess to you and make sure you understood that home is only home when we’re together.” It was a really corny, but that episode in his room proved to Akk that without Theo there everything really felt wrong, like there was a part of him missing.
 Theo faked the vomiting sound, so Akk saw himself forced to cup his face with both hands and look him deeply into his eyes. He wanted to do at least one cliché thing from the films, but before he could take any further steps, Theo quickly leaned forward and pecked him on the lips, pulling back with a smile so full of love and mirth it made Akk dizzy.
 You know that thing they say about the whole world around turning grey and the person you love being your only source of colours? Well, Akk was experiencing that right now; he was lost in Theo’s smile and nothing else mattered.
 He heard Theo chortle right before their lips met again, and forget fireworks, it felt more like the explosion of a supernova, or even the big bang. Everything disappeared and the only thing he could feel was the boy in his arms and the warmth from the way their lips melded and moved together like adjacent pieces of the same puzzle.
 Akk sighed softly into the kiss, canting his head to the side just enough so his tongue could slip out and lick Theo’s lips, but before he could do that, they heard a very loud and awkward cough, forcing them to jump back and immediately separate.
 The airport’s security guard looked at them with an expression that was equal parts apologetic and embarrassed. “You two are young, but doing that in public…” it was like the man couldn’t find the right words to complete the sentence, so he just left it at that, coughing again as he averted his gaze. “Anyway, if you’re done with your business here, why don’t you two get on going?”
 Being the most polite out of the two, Theo respectfully bowed to the security guard, hands joined together in a wai, but when he saw Akk wasn’t doing the same, Akk found himself being smacked once again. At least this time it wasn’t on the forehead. He quickly bowed at the guard and started dragging Theo away from the airport.
 -x-
 “How did you know he was coming back?” Akk eyed Im suspiciously as soon as he smelled the Khai Palo. She wouldn’t have lied for him, would she? He narrowed his eyes again, staring profusely at her even as he lowered himself onto the seat. She waved a hand at him almost dismissively and increased the pitch of her voice. “His parents called me because they couldn’t get through with you.”
 Her words explained why Akk wasn’t able to call her at the airport. She was probably busy talking to Theo’s parents on the landline. Well, she didn’t know how much he had cursed her out so it didn’t matter anymore.
 Finally relaxing, he grabbed a bowl so he could pour Theo some Khai Polo, though he was a little reluctant to let go of Theo’s hand, even if it was for just a moment.
 “Will you stop mopping and crying now?”
 The question made Akk lean across the table to lightly pinch Egg’s nose, making a face at her so she would stop spilling his secrets. “Who was mopping and crying?” He huffed, but he didn’t get to scold Egg anymore because Theo started pulling him back to force him back into his seat.
 “Now that you’re dating Theo is he going to be here with us every day?” Akk saw the dreamy look on her face and leaned across the table again to cover her eyes and lecture Egg again. “Stop looking at him like that, you precocious child. Nong’Theo is mine!” Halfway through the last sentence Akk started smiling broadly and didn’t even fight it when Theo pulled him back once more. It felt great to finally be able to say Theo was his.
 Now it was their turn to start on their heureux pour toujours4.
 Fin.
 ¹If only you could read in my heart the place where I have put you.
²With you, I see the world through rose-coloured glasses.
³Liar.
4Happily ever after.
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admiringlove · 4 years
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IX: aparecium; an incantation to always remember.
— you finally read all the other pages of his diary.
+pairing: miya atsumu x reader.
+genre: crossover(hq x hp); fluff; angst; frenemies to lovers.
+word count: 2.9k.
+warnings: FLUFF!! pls, if i don’t put fluff, some of my moots would cry(*cough* ray).
+usual customers(taglist): @babyworld @renee1414 @anotherhydrangea @seita @tobiosnoelle @weebslxt @tsukkiwaifu16 @loveusandoor @kozumebri @sarawrz @crackheadsara @kyuudere @cultsax @supernovaa-a @akaashikeijisan @b3llo-there @sugasloverr @kagebunshiin @tetsurolls @velvetfireworks @kritiiiii @1wai@seijohlogy​ @sweetrosemilktea @bellesowl @ems1des​ @akaashi-todorki @sakuric​ @irishhbamb​ @sweetsamus​ @cherriechurros @mxshimoo @bluebirdandcomrades @zukuroo @denki-core @sarahvvictoria​ @littlevoxine
+author’s notes: this is the last chapter(im def not sad) BUT i will be writing bonus parts!!
+navigation: previous, masterlist,.
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You stand in front of your apartment, sighing as you close your eyes, making your way inside your bedroom and begin to pick up the cardboard boxes with the help of your wand, moving them outside into the living room for someone(who is quite late, yet again) to take to your new home.
You tie your hair up, fixing your overcoat a little as you sigh, making your way to the smallest box, placed in the corner of the room. Just by looking at the stamp on top of it, you smile. 
The memories of your time at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 
You carefully sit on your knees, your plaid skirt riding up just a smidge, as you open the carton in front of you. 
To say that it was filled up completely was an understatement because right now, a few books and photographs fell out onto your lap, making you chuckle. You picked up the photographs, settling with your back against the wall and your legs stretching out, as you looked through them one by one. 
The first one—one of your graduation ceremony, standing next to Shimizu Kiyoko(the current owner of the most popular Quidditch shop in London) who was beaming vividly at the camera with you, holding up your wands as a gesture that you had finally done it. Something that seemed almost insurmountable when you first started school, and now? You all were content, happy with your lives. 
The second photograph was one from the third year, your first time in Hogsmeade. You were in The Three Broomsticks, and a mustache of the froth from the butterbeer had formed atop your lips. Behind you, a certain fox pointed and laughed his guts out. 
The next picture was from the Shrieking Shack—where all of your friends had ditched the second last day of school and spent the whole day drinking and reminiscing the past seven years of nostalgic happiness. A boy held your hand with the fondest look in his carob orbs, and you returned it. 
You gingerly took the three photos, storing them in the photo album that had also fallen out of the box in the process of you opening it. Smiling, you took out some more mementos. 
Your broomstick, the Nimbus 2001, sat at the bottom, but you excitedly removed it and placed it on the ground, saying, "Up!"
It almost made it to your hand but fell down upon grazing your fingertips. You pouted, blaming the number of years it had passed since you had played Quidditch. Peering into the box as you placed the broomstick aside, you found something even funnier. 
Cheap, piss colored hair-dye that was almost ten-years-old. 
You chuckled, looking at it playfully as you opened the top of the bottle. The disgusting odor that came from it made you grunt as you immediately placed the cap back on top, never desiring to touch that thing ever again. And once more, you placed the item in your hand to the side, looking into the box to find more things that reminded you of your happiest years. 
You couldn't believe your eyes at what sat at the bottom of the carton. 
An empty notebook with a soft leather cover, with a grey quill by its side, sitting there and ridiculing you. 
You blinked twice, making sure what you were seeing was real. Hell, you even rubbed your eyes until you could see mindless patterns in the dark. You opened your eyes, the patterns making themselves sort of visible in plain sight, disappearing after a few milliseconds when you grabbed the brown book in front of you and whispered with your wand in hand, "Aparecium."
September 2, 20**.
I don’t know what I’m doing at this point. It’s been 3 years since I started loving her.  When I saw her walk into the train today, umm, yesterday cause it’s past 2 AM now… I felt so happy?? I mean, I know I tease her and all, she’s quite amazing. She’s got the brains for it all and insults me back even when I say something stupid.  I really dunno. 3 years and I’ve made 0 progress. I seriously need to re-think my decision about my love for this girl 'cause 'Samu says there’s no chance she loves me back. Dunno if I’ll be able to stop my feelings, though. I’ve liked her since my second year. Damn me, for being such a lovesick puppy.  And to think I colored my hair for her too. [Y/N] called it piss-colored. Out of all things, why the fuck would ya compare somebody’s hair to piss? That’s utterly disgusting. I wonder where [L/N] gets these dumb ideas. Damn her, that slug. Anyways, I have class in a couple hours. G'night. 
'Tsumu. 
You immediately let out a hearty laugh, flipping to the next page when you remembered a certain encounter with the boy who wrote the diary. The day he told you he loved you, by the infamous Black Lake, he spoke of this particular page. He said that he addressed the nightly trips around Hogwarts, about how much he longs to be yours, about his happiness when he sees you, and your snarky comments that are just as, if not more, witty than his. 
September 4, 20**
Today was the third day of school. Also my first trip around Hogwarts with [Y/N] under my invisibility cloak. We snuck into the kitchens and got ourselves steak pies and treacle tarts, and then went to the Astronomy Tower where we ate them while laughing about nothing in particular. I love these little trips. They make me all warm and fuzzy inside. Dunno how to put it into words, but I really like spending time with her alone. It makes me really really really happy. I wish that someday, maybe when I'm all grown up and play for a known Quidditch Team and she's a DADA professor, we are still like this. Going around to aimless places, eating food, and laughing about the old times(or anything really, I just want to be with her even when I'm older). And just like always, she doesn't fail to throw dumb comebacks at me. I can't help but chuckle at them, because sometimes they really are offensive. Well, looks like it's time to hit the hay now, so g'night. 
'Tsumu.
You gasp as the page comes to an end, a hand on your mouth. He wasn't wrong when he said he wrote about you. You smile as a tear runs down your cheek as you flip to a random page this time, and you realize that it's written in his sixth year of Hogwarts. 
December 23, 20**
I stayed back for Christmas break this year and my dorm is all empty. So is hers, because she says she didn't want to go back home at all until the summer. I feel bad for her gran, that woman must feel lonely. 
You giggled at the line, grinning because you remember your grandma sending you a Howler, which yelled at you in the empty dorm-room for not coming home for the holidays. She said she missed you, and that your grandfather's health was deteriorating. She had also said that she knew why you didn't come back, and that it was okay, because she understood that you couldn't see another loved one go. The Howler ended on a sorrowful note, but everything eased back into its place because you remember the writer of the diary in your hands being there to comfort you when a dreaded letter came in after the holidays. You continued reading where you left off, wiping away the new wave of tears that had emerged from the memories.
Yesterday, me and [Y/N] went around the castle under the invisibility cloak I gave her. It was fun because I always get to see this little smile on her face that only shows up during these trips. We also went to the forbidden section of the library just because we wanted to look at a few spells that are probably illegal. I did accidentally kill a rat practicing the second unforgivable curse, and [Y/N] helped me hide all the evidence by feeding the dead rat to the Hippogriff she had found in the Forbidden Forest. I swear, if someone saw the way I did the spell and couldn't stop until [Y/N] threw Expelliarmus at me, they would throw me in the deepest pin in Azkaban and I'd probably never be able to see [Y/N] again. Anyway, I have to go back out for dinner now. G'night.
'Tsumu.
You, again, laughed at the man's childishness. You recollect distinctly how scared he was, that he had almost pissed his pants in the Courtyard that night. You had assured him that nothing would go wrong and that your lips were completely sealed, because he was your friend of course, so you had quickly formulated a plan to help him. And yet again, you flip to a new page, one from the fifth year this time. 
July 15, 20**
 I hate this part every year. Ever since my third year, it sickens me to come back home for summer. I can't see her because she lives in Lambeth while I'm in Westminster with my posh family. It makes me a little angry sometimes that my family is well-known in the wizarding world because this means my summers are filled with whatever my parents want me to do. The train ride back home was definitely not quiet. It was so chaotic(mostly because of the constant bickering between me and [Y/N]) and Kita-san yelled at us at the end. That was the first time I've ever seen him get angry, so he was either really fed up or we were being too dumb. Anyway, I'm gonna miss Hogwarts a lot for the next month or so, because after that I get to see her again. Honestly? Can't wait for the sixth year. I hope she grows taller, because right now, she's quite the midget. I'll write her a letter or two, but I probably won't send all of them. G'night for now. 
'Tsumu.
You continue reading it all. Page by page, parchment by parchment, word by word, letter by letter until you finally get to the last page. The one he wrote on the graduation day, where he says that he wants to marry you someday. But you don't get to read it just yet, because he walks into the room with his booming voice and boyish grin.
"[Y/N]! Sorry I'm late, sweetheart! I apparated back home as fast as I could 'cause Coach saw me slack off a lil-"
"So ya actually read it all, huh?" he smirks, walking up to you and crouching down next to you, "Ah, the last page, have ya read it yet?"
"Not the last one," you smile, "—if only I'd read these sooner, we wouldn't have gone through all that mindless drama in seventh year, right?"
"Eh, 'twas kinda worth it in the end," he shrugs, sitting down next to you and placing his thumb on your chin, "Love, you've been crying?"
You shook your head lightly, letting out a small chuckle which to him sounded like the sweetest melody on the face on the planet, "Tears of joy, 'Tsumu. You were a cute teenager in love."
He smiles with his teeth on display, his fading blonde hair falling on his face with perfection as he whispers, "Only for you, darling."
"I'm glad," you mutter, closing in and placing a ghost of a kiss on his lips when you realize, "Wait, shit! We have to take all of this to the House! I'm supposed to leave for Hogwarts tonight!"
"Kiss me first, then we'll talk."
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"'Tsumu, you really didn't have to come all the way to Hogwarts to drop me off," you giggle, as the yellow-haired man intertwines his fingers with yours quietly, giggling along with you as he says, "Hey, now yer students get to see yer hot boyfriend that you've been with for the past eight years."
"My stupid boyfriend that did a lot of illegal things in school. You're not exactly a good influence, you know," you mumble, earning a little offended open-mouth Atsumu walking alongside you to your quarters. He continues faking the vexed expression, a hand on his heart as he says, "How could ya wound me like this, baby?" 
"I love you though, so it's justified," you say, opening the door and placing your trunk by the bed. He closes the door, leaning on it with his arms crossed over his chest as you set up your things in the room. When you turned around, you saw Atsumu looking at you with the most enamored look in his clove-infused eyes. You sighed, your shoulders immediately relaxing when your orbs land on him by the door. You step towards him, your beige trench coat trailing behind as you wrap your arms around his very muscular figure(now that he's a part of Nottingham Jackals as a Beater). 
"You're going to leave, aren't you?" you mumble against his chest softly, as he chuckles out, "Yer lucky ya get to stay in Hogwarts when I'm gone. Everything's gonna remind ya of me."
Before you open your mouth to retort, your boyfriend says, "Don't worry, slug. I'll send ya letters everyday. And I'll come to meet ya twice a month. Maybe you can even let me meet yer students."
"'Tsumu, no-"
"Imagine! Children and teenagers, all of 'em love me to death. They'll love yer class, even more, when you make me meet 'em!" he exclaims, his eyes filled with curiosity, "Also, also! What about the third years? I wanna be there when the boggart lesson goes on-"
"'Tsumu, no. The school won't allow it. Although, my students do come and ask about you a lot because they like your Quidditch playing skills. They're not idiots like me, they won't fall in love with your stupid personality," you chuckle, pulling away from the hug, but still holding his arms with yours. He pouts, pulling you into a soft kiss, but immediately pulling away and winking at you, "I'm gonna see ya in a few weeks. Maybe I'll take ya on a date to Hogsmeade again, we can sneak into the Shrieking Shack again under that invisibility cloak."
"'Tsumu, I'm a teacher, not a student!" you laugh, but he simply says, "If anything, that gives us an excuse!"
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Miya Atsumu never expected you to be agitatedly running around in your green-room, trying to find things for your hair and make-up. He chuckles lightly because all the other people in the room can do is shake their heads and sigh at your frantic state. Your maid-of-honor, Kiyoko, tried to calm you down about half an hour ago, but it was to no avail. 
Atsumu sent Kiyoko a knowing glance, to which she and all the other bridesmaids stepped outside for just a minute. 
"[Y/N]," he says, his voice low but still soothing. You stop in your tracks, turning around and gasping as you looked at him—clad in sweatpants and a white shirt—and widened your eyes. 
"Dummy, you aren't supposed to see me just yet! Go away and wait at the altar!" you yell, walking over to him and attempting to shove him outside the room. 
Emphasis on the word, 'attempting'. 
"You look exactly like what you are right now, a slug. So listen to me, love. I need to give ya something before you start stressin' out all over again," Atsumu murmurs, placing his hands on your shoulders tenderly as he pulls out a book with a leather cover and hands it to you. 
You sigh, picking it up as you sit down by the vanity. Atsumu looms behind you, crouching down to whisper next to your ears, "Love, open the last page, will ya?"
You furrow your eyebrows in confusion, turning your head to look at him with exasperation. He places a peck to your cheek, humming indulgently as an indicator for you to continue as he instructed. You sigh again, shoulders drooping low as you turn over the book and open it, and muttering, "Aparecium."
July 2, 20**.
I want to marry [L/N] [Y/N] someday. 
Miya Atsumu. 
From the last day of the seventh year, and Atsumu continues to explain to you that during the train ride back home when all of you were sleeping, was when he wrote the last entry of his diary, and never opened it again. Because he knew, that he meant every word scribbled on every page. 
You sat there, listening to the man with the messy faded blonde hair, losing yourself in his perfect brown eyes all over again. You felt as if you were diving deep into an ocean of pure chocolate, the sweetness and the slight bitterness getting the best of you as you drown—but voluntarily, because drowning was your intention. 
"I love you, Atsumu," you say out of nowhere, cutting him off. He stops abruptly, his eyes growing wide and his mouth forming into a pout. His lips form into the brightest smile ever, as if the rays of a thousand suns meeting at one point. His boyish grin melts your heart, as he presses his lips to your forehead and says, "I love you more, darling. Now, take a breather, will ya?"
"Oh, and before I go. Don't disappoint me today, slug. I've been waiting to do this for the past eleven years."
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© all works belong to admiringlove on tumblr. plagiarism is strictly prohibited.
i’m not crying. yes. 
129 notes · View notes
dcmaurys · 5 years
Text
i picture it, soft (and i ache)
or, lucas is in love with eliott. it takes eliott a while to figure it out. | (1.5k), ao3
“i think i might like her, lu.”
whenever eliott meets someone new, lucas is the first person to know.
this time, it’s a girl who lent eliott her tattered copy of a salinger book a month ago. lucas remembers eliott bounding up behind him, eyes bright and hopeful, telling him about the girl with pretty eyes and a smile like sunshine.
see, eliott has always been hopelessly, hopelessly romantic. (this starry-eyed boy with eyes that turn into half-moons when he smiles.)
he has these grand ideas about what love is and what love should be, sticky-sweet, naïve, and endearing, punctuated by forlorn sighs and wistful eyes.
he’s going to break lucas’ heart one day.
“i’m gonna ask her out.”
lucas’ head whips up at the words. he finds eliott worrying his lip with his fingers, eyes so, so blue in the lowlight. lucas’ hands might shake a little when he reaches up to squeeze eliott’s arm, but he smiles just the same. “that’s. that’s great, eliott.”
he feels the tired brag of his heart in his chest. it’s fine. he’s fine.
lucas thinks it might be in his best interest to avoid eliott for a bit.
things have been going really well with him and lucille, and while it makes lucas happy to see his best friend constantly smiling and laughing, he isn’t going to lie and say it doesn’t kill him.
he isn’t going to lie and say he doesn’t wish it was him that eliott came home to, sometimes.
in the tv shows lucas watches, pining fruitlessly is romanticized so much, you wouldn’t think it’d be this painful. lucas has lived through it enough to know that it doesn’t get any better, really. it doesn’t fuel or motivate him, doesn’t make him pour himself into his school work in an effort to bury the hopeless feeling.
it just hurts.
so lucas slips away, gradually. enough that eliott doesn’t notice it, the first few weeks. it’s self-preservation, really. it’s self-care.
eliott: hi lu
eliott: i know you’re probably busy with school so sorry if im bothering you
eliott: just. i miss you a lot
eliott: text me back sometime yeah? just so i know you’re alright
eliott’s waiting for him when lucas gets out of biology, a couple of days later. eliott’s eyes are trained on the ground, his fingernails bitten raw, and lucas wants to reach out and touch so badly that he aches with it. eliott’s eyes meet his before he can give it a second thought.
when he steps towards lucas, it’s slow. tentative. his smile doesn’t reach his eyes and lucas misses the warmth of it—how, if genuine, it’d turn the cold blue of eliott’s gaze into crinkly, crescent moons.
“hi,” lucas says. his voice is quiet and it breaks a little.
“hey, stranger.”
there’s a teasing lilt to eliott’s voice–one that’s gone the second he scans lucas’ features. it’s enough to make lucas feel bad, almost, for not smiling back. he hates when eliott turns unsure of himself like this.
“are things alright?” and, right. eliott’s definitely nervous. the tone of his voice is enough for lucas to look up at him, wide-eyed.
it hurts when he’s met with the way eliott’s hair turns into a soft halo around his head in the warmth of the afternoon sun.
it hurts because he’s beautiful, even when he’s breaking lucas’ heart.
“is—is your mom okay?”
“mhm,” lucas nods and looks away again, stares at the scuffed white of his sneakers. “i’ve been visiting her a lot. she’s doing really good.”
“that’s really—that’s great, lucas. i’m glad.”
he hears eliott heave out a sigh of relief, and his heart twinges at the sound of it, his fingers itching to reach out and clutch at his chest like some lovesick fool.
eliott, oblivious as he is, is earnest enough to ask about lucas’ mom before anything else.
lucas misses him so much he could scream.
there’s a pause in their conversation that lucas is grateful for—a pause lucas wishes would last longer then it does. eliott breaks it after a moment, voice hesitant and soft.
“are we okay?”
and he sounds heartbroken, is the thing. and lucas is, too.
he gathers up all the courage he can muster to look at him one more time, nod absent and smile small. “yeah, eliott. we’re okay.”
a week later, lucas finds eliott pacing in front of the door to lucas’ apartment complex, phone in his hand. lucas freezes at the sight of him, brows furrowed, lips bitten red.
eliott doesn’t see him. he’s too engrossed in his phone to look at anything else. lucas watches from afar as eliott’s fingers falter just before his thumb presses a button, watches as eliott’s eyes close out of frustration, a soft sigh leaving his lips.
when he finally presses call a few moments later, lucas feels his own phone buzz in his hand, and.
it’s him eliott’s calling.
he’s too confused by the principle of it that he lets the call go to voicemail, absently, stupidly. when he looks back up, he sees eliott’s face crumple at the rejected call. he watches as eliott closes in on himself, little by little, shoulders hunched and fingers shooting up to worry his bottom lip.
and, like. lucas isn’t sure if he likes this–likes the way eliott’s gone and made himself small, over lucas, of all people.
before he knows it, he’s bounding up the sidewalk, gathering eliott’s entirely too tall body into his arms, because he can’t help it, really. one sad look on eliott’s face and lucas is ready to spread himself thin, ready to crumple into a heap at eliott’s feet.
“lucas,” eliott mumbles, breathless.
slowly, his arms spider around lucas’ torso, warm and familiar enough that lucas feels himself burrow into it. lucas folds into him because it’s all he knows to do. it’s all he ever will if he could.
“i was about to call you.”
lucas pulls away, thumb running circles into the crook of eliott’s arm. “yeah?” he says, dumbly.
he’s a little embarrassed by the softness in his own voice—knows eliott has definitely noticed it with the way his face eases into a smile, eyes soft and helplessly fond. “yeah. i was going to tell you—i think i figured it out.”
lucas’ brows furrow, head tilting a bit. “figured what out?”
“i drew lucille something a few days ago. she kept bugging me about the sketches i have on my walls, asking if i’d ever draw her someday. so i drew her a fox—because foxes are clever and quick on their feet like her, you know?”
the mention of lucille’s name makes lucas’ heart close in on itself like a fist, but eliott goes on, eyes unreadable, grip on lucas firm like an anchor.
“she uh. she hated it. she kept telling me she didn���t get it. i guess she wanted me to make this hyper-realistic drawing of her or something, and i—“
“i remembered the first time we hung out, you know? you asked me what i would draw you as and i almost drove myself insane thinking about the answer. then i gave you this drawing of a hedgehog, because your hair has a life of it’s own, really, like a hedgehog’s spikes, and then you gave me this, like. this huge smile, like it was the best thing you’ve ever seen. like it was something out of the louvre instead of a badly drawn sketch on the back of an old math test.”
eliott is rambling. lucas’ mouth is dry. “eliott, i don’t—“
“i’m saying you get me, lucas. you’re so patient with me, and you actually care about the shitty drawings i make, and you’re so fucking gorgeous, everything about you, really—and i. it took me a drawing of a fucking fox to realize, but i really, really like you, lucas. i like you so much.”
and lucas—surely, lucas is dreaming. because he’s wished for so long that this would happen, would drive himself crazy dreaming about something half as much as whatever this is, right now.
“lucas?” eliott laughs nervously, eyes imploring, and earnest, and so, so blue. “please say something. i’m dying here.”
lucas surges up to kiss him before he can say anything else.
see, eliott has always been hopelessly, hopelessly romantic.
he has these grand ideas about what love is and what love should be, sticky-sweet, naïve, and endearing, punctuated by forlorn sighs and wistful eyes.
but when lucas laughs into the kiss, their teeth knocking together, urgent, and messy, and so fucking perfect eliott could die, eliott thinks, yeah.
maybe he’s just hopeless for this boy.
103 notes · View notes
huntsman-ash · 5 years
Text
RWBY: After the Fall, Read and Comment (Chapters 1-5)
(So this is going to be a bit less linear than I originally believed, do in part to how I read the book itself, but it should still serve its purpose. Without further ado, onwards.)
New semblance mentions for all involved, finally for them; Coco can make things explode more powerfully (someone give that bitch an Adeptus Soriatous bolter!), Yats can literally steal peoples memories (how that works with him being beefy I dunno but it sounds DOPE), and we already know Velvets and Fox’s (the latter from the previous chapter; sounds like hes not just telepathic but can sense aura too). All in all, good to know. 
Apperently the things you have to get to pass Beacons initiation test change every year; CFVY got stone playing cards. 
Yats and Velvet being a pair is pretty much confirmed at this point. Insert commentary about Velvet liking large carrots here. 
On that note; apparently people actually make jokes about rabbit faunus being promiscuous. Velvet is not a fan of jokes about “hop to it” or people asking her to teach them multiplication. 
Also, pig faunus. With a nose.
We see our first two new Huntsman characters, and one of them is a girl from Atlas, now in Vacuo. Oh, Carmen. I really want to like you but the way your described in the book and how your picture looks makes me unable to see anything but Coco licking your abs. 
From the descriptions so far, Vacuo would be (by Warhammer 40k standards) a Deathworld. TBH the more I read it the more it sounds like Tallarn and Catachan had a baby. 
We learn the name of the weapons of CFVY, and that apperently Huntsmen/Huntress’s name their own semblances. Cocos is (shocker!) called “Hype”. How fitting. 
Coco is also, at the very least, bi. With a seemingly heavy list towards girls. Good. Im cool with that. 
The headmaster (or at least one of the people running Shade) is named Professor Rumpole. Rumplestiltskin, anyone? Straw into gold?
Beacon also had at one point or another a Professor Greene, who tought Security and Stealth class. So, I guess I was wrong about Huntsmen not getting proper combat training...maybe RWBY just wasnt there yet. 
Also, there is a random baby named Ash and it amuses me. Solis-mun, I believe you were saying something bout my Ash having kids...
Velvet is very obviously the brains of the operation. 
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wannawrite · 6 years
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better better 💛 🐻 🍯
너의 그 사랑만이 멈춰있던 날 다시 뛰게 해.
[ Only your love could make the me who was stuck run again. ]
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TW: if you squint, there's very mild mentions of child abuse, physical and verbal
↪ group: DAY6
↪ member: Yoon Dowoon
↪ genre: idk its not really fluff either, (IM SORRY ANON IT GETS VERY FLUFFY AT THE END) but its 90 percent angst free LOL ??? this story is too out of the ordinary to categorise lol ☀️
↪ request: hey admin n! can i have a fluffy day6 dowoon scenario where he cheers you up from a bad day in school? thank you!
↪ A/N: I really wanted to write something for Dowoon, thank you so much, anon who requested this!! I somehow thought of the spiritual love I receive everyday from God (I'm christian to all of y'all who dk, haha) so I think this story will hold a special place in my heart!!! also, the story plot is largely inspired by the story by 九把刀 - 等一个人咖啡,so if u understand Chinese please give it a read, its a nice story uwuwuwuuwwu
edit i am SO SORRY THIS WAS WAY LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE the word count will probably be like idk 8000 by the time i finished this when u requested for a scenario lolz i got way too invested I apologise...I wrote almost everyday for a whole week I regret getting carried away oh my gosh, but I hope you enjoy this, I really worked very hard on this!!!
ps im sorry if jihyo is ooc, never written nor know twice well but id say I'm a fan of their music hehe
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It was about 7AM in the morning when all of your batch gathered around at the assembly place in your school, and between occasional yawns that slipped off your mouth (thanks, end of year exams), you and your friends were talking about the happenings of yesterday as you walked there, laughter often breaking out in your little group when there were bits of humour in the story.
You all made your way down the stairs and into the assembly grounds, resembling a large, aquamarine blue quilt that took up an obnoxious part of the school-where the netball competitions and other important events were held.
Seemingly following suit with the shade of blue on the ground, the lack of sun in the morning painted everything with a small hint of lighter, sky blue itself, such that it all looked like one entity but distinctive in its own individual colours.
Realising this with your own dark ringed, half opened eyes, you couldn't help but feel the ends of your lips angle up slowly-the world was so beautiful, you couldn't help but think as you knelt down to sit onto the rugged surface of the big, enveloping area-whoever had created it for all its small but still amazing features was exceptionally genius.
As your eyes scattered around the place, still immersed in a world of your own-a shrill screech of a whistle pulled you back to the boredom of school life, and with a slight, but petty annoyance you shifted your back to face the PE teacher who had just walked over, and subsequently, so did the other students around you.
He stood in front of your whole batch, clad in a black, torso hugging sports shirt and fluorescent pink shorts-which immediately, triggered a few giggles for your batch, but the spoilsport of a whistle just had to ruin the fun again, motioning for everyone else to shut up.
You sighed when you saw the creases in his forehead, and the unmistakeable hint of a frown on his tan, oval face-this was not going to be too good of a day.
You just hoped that he wasn't going to make all of you do 4 rounds around the school today. Running, needlessly to say really was not something a person like you liked to do-sweat all over your face, springing pimples on your face, grasping for breath and literally collapsing in front of the whole class like a dead fish because of how energy deprived you were? You were going to pass, thanks.
"Now, class!" his low baritone rasped out to the class, carrying a strong sense of dominance in it like he was speaking to a platoon in the army, "We have a group of alumni today, coming back to visit and help all of you train for your Physical Education Examinations next year." At that, his outstretched wrists flicked backwards loosely, gesturing for the alumni to come, and he continued again, "They are alumni that were our top students from last year, and did exceptionally well. They have all took time out of their 4 month break after examinations to train all of you, so please be nice, and don't be so unruly."
As soon as he had said that, the class started breaking out into applause as the five students stepped into everyone's field of vision.
Your eyes widened when you saw the bones, standing out like rocks in the their toned, fit arm and leg muscles-even the girls' thighs that was supposedly, the most unattractive part of everyone's body had 'walls' lining their lean, hourglass figure. Confident smiles were plastered to most of their faces, with a few tired exceptions-heck, one even had a smirk playing on their face as he scanned the class below him.
Inwardly, as you heard the laughs of the alumni that had aroused from the awing of their juniors below them, you couldn't help but shudder inside-there was no, freaking way that you were going to look like that after training with them.
You didn't want to, anyway-that meant rigorous hours of training and stitches 'basking' under the unhelpful, boiling cover of the sun.
Just then, as you were contemplating the choices of schools you were going to transfer to to abstain from the torture that was soon to come, the guy with the playful smirk on his face had already grabbed a microphone, and was preparing to speak. Translucent frames for glasses hid his small, almost demure but yet somehow condescending eyes-you weren't getting that great of a vibe from him.
"Hello, Class 3D9, I am your senior, Park Jaehyung, and I'm here to train all of you for the exams, since all of you don't seem that excited for it, judging by your expressions." His features softened considerably from a look of mirth to one of gaiety as he started to speak in a 'half air half voice' kind of way-rasping yet not quite, and you rolled your eyes.
It wasn't really that you disliked him much, but you could already picture him being the heartthrob of the girls in class-the gleam in their previously irritant, but now smitten eyes was so undeniably revolting.
They all nodded furiously at the last sentence, and he began to laugh a bit (attracting more squeals from the girls, much to your dismay) before speaking again, this time with the narrow of an eyebrow and a more serious, raised voice. "I know all of you might be thinking that this is very pointless, and stupid. I know. None of you really want to be an athlete in the future, and I understand. But I really hope all of you can treat this seriously, because health in the long run is really very important, and I want all of you to take not only the PE finals but the entrance exam to college confidently, and healthily. Are all of you with me?"
Like how any motivational speaker would have done, there was an applied pressure at the last line, and soon, a long, unenthusiastic 'yes' drawled out of everyone's barely parted mouth.
You snickered a bit at the frown on Jaehyung's face when he heard it-he really should have known beforehand, that encouraging a class didn't consist of just one pathetic speech, and you started to doubt if he had really been from this school.
Let's face it, motivation really wasn't this generation's thing.
"Are all of you with me!" he rasped again, this time yelling into the microphone obnoxiously and poking a hole in your eardrums.
"YES!" the class shouted with increased volume to appease him.
Just please, don't shout into the microphone again, you whimpered inwardly.
At this, Jaehyung looked more or less satisfied (thank God), and with the small hint of a smile, he passed over the microphone to another guy, whose eyes first caught your own. They were delicately angled into the eyes of a fox, emanating a half elegant aura that still seemed to hint 'Let's have fun, everyone!' They fell into small crescents when he started to laugh at Jaehyung's incapabilities to lead the class, and the circles in his lean, rosy cheek bones spelt attractiveness at its finest.
With a sweet smile on his face, he held up the microphone to his mouth and started to talk. "Morning, class! Sorry if Jaehyung sounds like a bit of a drag. I know he has that student leader aura, but you can't blame him, he's always been burying his face in a book during recess-HEY!" The class, including him, started to erupt into waves of giggles when Jaehyung flicked his forehead, a faux anger playing on his arched eyebrows and widened, now not so small eyes. "FINE, fine, I'll stop! Anyway, hello Class 3D9, this is your cooler senior, Kang Younghyun, and I hope to train all of you to success in the exams. Thank you!" Younghyun proceeded to bow with the shy lift of his eyebrows, and everyone clapped.
"His real name is actually Brian, please ignore him." Jaehyung added in with a wink, earning a loud slap on the shoulder from Younghyun (with a subsequent yelp from himself) and more laughter from the juniors, yourself included. Your seniors seemed pretty chill and friendly, not like how you thought they would be.
But sadly, as they were supposedly goofing around too much, the PE teacher blew that stupid, ear-wrenching whistle of his, causing you to jump up in shock again. "Okay boys, lets finish this up quickly." he said curtly, strict gaze fleeting past the two boys and causing their playful charm to melt like ice in front of him.
As Jaehyung and Younghyun simultaneously did a long, 90 degree bow, mouthing 'sorry' repeatedly, you and quite a good majority of your other classmates sighed, inwardly feeling a tad deflated-looks like the rest of the introduction wasn't going to be that fun after all.
The introduction seemed to move past like rusted cogs, at least for just one part of it-the first girl who had greeted all of you sported two round, neat buns at the sides of her hair, complimenting her big, double lidded eyes and her elegantly curved, brightly smiling lips. The corners of her eyes bore a small fragment of the brighter sky above her, gleaming with confidence as she bowed politely, introducing herself to everyone in a more reserved way than the other two. Her name was Park Jihyo, and she had been in dance-which was quite a great feat, since dance was a niche co-curricular activity in your school, but not surprising at the same time, looking at her beautiful figure and slender, well toned arms.
As she talked, she slipped a few jokes there and then mid-conversation, not too much that the PE teacher had to cut in, but attempting to keep the class' attention on her afloat. Jihyo had an unmistakeable pleasant aura that seemed to infect everyone with her laugh, and from the bottom of your heart, you really wanted to befriend her-someone approachable and easy to talk to.
There was another girl next to her who was called Chaewon, with demure, yet youthful brown eyes and a serene smile. Similarly, she too was very friendly and talked with a very laid-back tone-but the problem was, that she talked a lot.
You didn't really mind it much when people talked a lot, but when they overdid it, it got kind of...boring.
Seemingly one hour later, your eyes struggled to remain parted mid-sentence as she went into a trite monologue about how grateful she was to stand here. By the time she was done you felt fatigue wrap around your head like a snake, till a deeper voice was suddenly amplified into the mic.
"H-Hello, I'm Yoon Dowoon, and-"
"I ate ants as a kindergartener." Jaehyung's unmistakeable airy voice cut in annoyingly, causing Dowoon's face to flush a big, rosy red whilst all of you chortled with a louder, more extreme laughter than before-and instantly, you became alive again as the mental image of a small boy swallowing the poor insect with the brightest smile sent you rolling onto the floor.
"He even gave a whole box to his teacher." came a rather unhelpful snicker from Younghyun, further fuelling the laughter and the blush on Dowoon's face.
You couldn't help but admit, that he was sort of cute when he was embarrassed, though-Dowoon had the small, but believing eyes of a child, with two pretty, but not 'big enough that it protruded' kind of bags attached below them delicately. The gentle up curve of the sides of his big button nose was really attractive, and he had semi-big lips that pouted out like the small petals of a daisy.
Seeing Jaehyung's joking, almost condescending smirk resurface onto his face and look down onto Dowoon's expressionless eyes, which now refused to concentrate on anywhere but the floor was maybe, just maybe-sort of sad.
Unlike Jihyo, you couldn't see even a small fragment of the sky in his eyes-it was as if someone had just painted his eyes brown and decided it would stay that way for the rest of the day.
Dowoon was too embarrassed to do anything else, and without even looking up, he passed the microphone to the PE teacher, whose nonchalant expressions didn't seem to care much either.
Inside, a pang of guilt rose up to your chest, and you unconsciously started to frown along with him as you noticed how uncomfortable his hardened features had looked, amongst all the giggles thrusting through his gentle heart.
Being known by 'the guy who ate ants as a kindergartener' to everyone, instead of who he really was mustn't have been a very nice feeling, especially to his juniors-who was supposed to look at him as a superior and a leader figure.
Just as you were debating on whether or not to ask them to stop, a scream broke out through the assembly grounds, shutting everyone up with a magic swipe of its hand.
Of course, it had to be the stupid whistle.
"Are we here to joke, or train? Get up, all of you! We're going to run today." the PE teacher's obnoxiously booming, demanding voice rang into everyone's ears unpleasantly, the catalyst to the small groans of dismay breaking out amidst the class that was already preparing to stand and walk to the field.
"Can you believe he actually did that?" your friends approached you in a fit of giggles as all of you approached the running track, with a new topic to revolve your conversation around.
Just that, this time, you didn't really want to join in.
It wasn't the best of days after all, you thought with a small hang up in the side of your chest. Out of all things, after seeing a poor boy getting bullied by his own friends, you had to do the stupid 4 rounds that all of you did practically every week.
As you braced yourself painfully for the sweating and fatigue that was to come, taking your rightful place behind the white tape attached to the floor marking the starting point- an unusually low cough brushed by your ears briefly, and instinctively, you whirled around.
You saw the big, believing eyes of a child again as you did so-it was Dowoon, and to your surprise, those eyes noticed your gaze and looked back.
Crap, he's really, very cute. you could feel your head lose some of its gravity and your heartbeat accelerating as he proceeded to smile after, the lift of his plump, daisy lips showing off his round, marshmallow-like cheeks.
"You okay?" his deep voice asked you gently, and you nodded with a small laugh, realising how much of a mess you must have looked in front of him for him to ask such a question.
"I should be the one asking you that. I'm sorry for laughing at you earlier."
With that, his smile angled further into a laugh of his own, and Dowoon replied, "It's okay. I'm used to it already."
You could already feel your forehead crease in slight disbelief, as you stared at the sheepish falter in his smile and recalled how unhappy he was earlier on.
"That's not true-"
BEEP!
The PE teacher's whistle had already gone off, and Dowoon, much to a top runner's expectations, was already speeding far ahead of you with a steady, confident pace as his brown curls bounced gently under the force of his movements.
Looking at nowhere but the front, he looked determined to finish what he had started-something you could probably only dream of having.
"What's taking you so long? Hurry up!" the PE teacher yelled at you, averting your attention away from your senior and back to your miserable plight.
You sighed with a slightly defeated energy, giving him a perfunctory nod as you too, began to move towards the finish line.
That is, if you could even make it.
As you ran, you made a mental note to never use that stupid whistle ever again.
________________________________________________
31st December, 2018.
"Se-second place in class? No way, you must have heard wrongly. Second place girls-wise, maybe..." you insisted disbelievingly, feeling the air brush against your throat as you inhaled sharply, hardly able to fathom the news that had just been broken to you.
Contrary to what your stubborn mentality refused to accept, your deskmate Sungjin just nodded again, the smile on his face laced with a small hint of amusement-he too, probably foresaw that you wouldn't believe such a thing.
"I'm serious, man. It came as a shock to everyone yesterday as well." he said, hiding a gentle, but knowing giggle in 'serious'. "You really have Dowoon to thank, look at you go."
You stared at the suggestive crease in Sungjin's big, pretty eyes, not bothering to hide the sarcasm dripping from your smile (very well knowing that someone like Sungjin was capable of playing such pranks on you).
"And where can I get more reliable information?" you demanded, refusing to tear away your gaze from his, and noticing the added pressure in 'reliable', Sungjin couldn't help but break into a more relaxed smile as he lifted his hands up in surrender.
"Fine, go see for yourself, just don't hit me, please."
He pointed a finger at the notice board, littered with numerous sheets of construction paper from all the projects your class had been assigned this year, almost like a peacock's feathers unfolding.
However, there was one paper that stood out from the rest, dull, white and boring-but maybe not so, once the truth was revealed.
In big, bold letters, it spelt:
PHYSICAL EDUCATION EXAMINATION RESULTS: CLASS 3D9.
The thought of knowing your results had thrown all thoughts of replying to Sungjin out of the window as you could hear the squeak of your shoe soles speed across the classroom towards the notice board.
Frantically, as the long table of students revealed a clearer picture of itself to you, you decided on looking at all the names from the bottom to the top-no better way to set yourself up for disappointment than to face it sooner.
It had been a while of panning up, and your squatting legs were getting tired; though knowing full well that you looked the part of an idiot while doing all this. You couldn't find your name anywhere on the board, and as your legs slowly broke its position to ascend further, the anxiety in your chest seemed to rise along with it-what if you had done so bad a job, you couldn't even get a position?
What if Dowoon had seen it and would never talk to you ever again? What would your parents say when they knew...
Just as your imagination was trailing all the way off from your real goal, the truth imprinted in cold, black ink debunked all of the scenarios in your head.
Your name was right next to the position, second place.
"So you weren't lying!" was the first thing you did as you shouted out of instinct from the opposite position of the classroom. As many other students turned their heads to you in slight frustration, you could hear Sungjin's sniggers direct back at you in response, which was yeah, albeit sort of annoying-but nothing could really smother the joy you were feeling at this moment.
Your eyes lingered for a long time onto the placing that you had gotten, and you recalled all of Dowoon's practice sessions with you-how he had drawn out almost 90% of his 4 month break just to train with you after school, how you had nearly tripped over a hurdle on the running track and causing both of you to laugh, how he had made you draw out a meal plan for him to monitor your food intake everyday-you'd never thought you'd say this, but you really, really missed it.
As you thought back to the believing eyes of a small child, looking up at the boundless sea of a sky-the clouds floating past resembling well his sweat glazed cheeks, you realised-how much you'd miss his presence that pushed forward, reaching out to the you who couldn't be bothered with most things, his care that reached out to the you who didn't care for yourself-not necessarily in a romantic way.
The thought of getting Dowoon's number had very stupidly, slipped off your mind amidst all the joy he had brought you, and your good mood was surprisingly diminished by a small tinge of guilt as you returned to your desk.
You regretted it. A lot.
"All those training sessions with her partner must have helped a lot, huh? The one who ate ants in kindergarten, I have to laugh." Suddenly, the silent, but tangible hiss of a group of girls fluttered past your ears, and without thinking, a small sense of anger blazed up in your heart as you stood up with a jolt.
How dare they say such a thing about such an amazing person.
Your chair did a loud, ugly screech against the floor as it happened, and the girls looked to you, slightly perplexed-that was, until you grabbed onto their wrists, and locked eyes with them-with a fire in your eyes that you yourself hadn't recognised.
"Don't talk about your senior like that." you deadpanned, with the motivation of anger that had backed you up well.
Just then, you noticed the arch of your eyebrows, and the anger in your movements reflected in their cowardly gazes, and for a second, you wondered-if the you that was acting like this, was really you.
"Sorry." was all they could manage awkwardly, a sheepish, yet somehow insincere smile dripping from their lips as they slipped away to their own desks-people nowadays just loved to talk about others behind their backs, and you sighed.
Only your love could make the me who was stuck in a rut run again.
_____________________________________________________________
"You got second place in the finals? Okay. Well, good for you, but I don't think you'd come to me just for that." the PE teacher slurred his words sharply, suddenly looking up at you from the bend of his glasses with a dull expression in his eyes. He seemed way more fascinated in the papers lulled over by his wrists than your dumb questions, and in all honesty, it was getting sort of annoying.
The lazy whirr of the fan spun over your head, fitting perfectly into the awkward silence between you and the teacher as you twiddled your thumbs awkwardly, trying to figure out a way to paraphrase such a stupid request-not daring to meet his steely gaze that somehow, stubbornly refused to tear away from yours.
He was right, however; the last thing you'd ever do was to go into the lion's den without an ulterior motive.
No one really dared to talk to the PE teacher about anything else besides school.
Plus, you could already imagine all the worst case scenarios if he was in a particularly bad mood today, and...let's just say that detention would potentially be the second best option.
He really wasn't the best person to talk to.
But in this case...
You looked up at the spinning blades of the fan again, and felt the swirl of cool air blow through your hair gently.
Maybe he was.
At such a comforting touch, you tried your best to ignore the pounding headache dragging you down; and with painstakingly mustered courage, you spoke.
"T-Teacher, do you have Dowoon's number? Like, the one who was our senior?"
Regret kicked in the second you had spoke of Dowoon's name, and you could literally feel your temples and limbs lose all sense of gravity as your reputation crashed to the floor. You could feel your heartbeat go into allegro, pounding onto every organ in your body as the PE teacher looked up with the most unreadable expression on his face.
Sweat emitted disgustingly from your scalp as your chest rose and fell back in waves, failing terribly to compose yourself. This is it, you dreaded your indelible fate that was to come as the PE teacher raised his eyebrows-you were barely standing up already, and you could feel your kneecaps wobble unhelpfully under the tendrils of anxiety.
I'm doomed for life, Dowoon's gonna think I'm a stalker, and-
"Hahahaha."
Laughter rolled out in the depth of that intimidating voice, like coffee spilt over a cleanly lacquered table.
You felt your eyes widen as you looked up at the teacher again, still grasping for breath as your heart refused to stop beating-after all, collapsing on the spot seemed like the best path in such an awkward situation.
Especially when he looked at you with amusement twinkling in the corners of his slit-shaped eyes.
"So, what next? You're asking, me? To help you with your half baked attempt of asking a senior out on a date?" he snarled sarcastically, getting out of his seat and approaching you. The corners of his mouth tugged at a smirk, baring his set of sharp teeth; the jaws of a wolf, that spelt warning at its finest, and in all your shock, you recoiled back.
You didn't think this was how it would end up; no, not like this.
Just then, you felt a hand arrest your wrists tightly, digging holes in your skin.
The pain from the wolf's claws amplified your vocal cords as you screamed, causing all the other teachers out there to look at you from their desks, and inside, you wanted to cry; you had never been humiliated so bad in your entire life.
"In your dreams."
Just like that, with the help of a brute force you were mercilessly thrown out of the staff room, and before you could even put a foot on the floor to stabilise yourself you heard a loud bang behind you-followed by the even more painful sound of the lock seizing the entrance of it.
You got up, slightly blank, slightly hollow, slightly lost-as you walked a bit further, heart feeling heavy with all the baggage in your chest-before the feelings got hold of your throat, and tumbled out through your eyes unashamedly.
You were way too sad to hide any further.
Pathetically, to do all you could to mask the feelings that had crept up onto you, through the not so fair play of fate; you held a wrist to your face as you sprinted back to class, with a scar zipped across it, just as it had done for your broken heart.
__________________________________________
"I'm sorry for what happened today...but I'm happy that senior was able to bring you so far." he barely managed, with his smooth, soft voice that seemed to skim lightly over the atmosphere of the café; just like the soft cream that had been drizzled meticulously over the cup of coffee on the table.
You weren't taking it, the coffee that he had made for you not too long ago. Not really that you had anything against him, no-definitely not your caring, gentle coworker, but you didn't really have the mood to drink anything as of now...You sighed briefly, dusting your apron to keep yourself preoccupied, but still not managing to let off all the steam in your body.
The incident had very admittedly, left you scarred; very literally and mentally. Leftover embarrassment was still tugging at the corners of your heart, begging to be attended to while you tried your best to shrug it off, and walked to the counter to unlock the cashier; the cheery ring of the bell above the door had struck at a rather unconventional time, and a customer was already walking in.
It wasn't very fair that they'd have to put up with your emotional baggage when they were here to get a drink, maybe even to destress and wind down for the day.
"Pil-ah, it's okay, I don't really want a drink as of now." you played it off as calmly as you could, slotting the key into the box and letting it slide open with a click. "You can drink it or something, you don't look too energised yourself."
A disappointed whine echoed back in response to your lousy excuse; there was no way Wonpil was going to believe such a stupid reply, and you could already anticipate his nagging voice as he opened his mouth.
"Heyyyyy, come on...don't be like this, I've known you for so long already. You've got to take care of yourself, even when you're sad."
The last line got you hard, and as you saw the customer's eyes widen in judgement behind her mop of ashy bangs, you couldn't help but glare back at him.
"Wonpil, I said I was okay." you deadpanned with added pressure, however, subsequently feeling guilt crawling onto your nerves after realising how mean that had sounded. His features had softened considerably, with a slightly hurt look in his big, innocent eyes, and you didn't really want to hurt anyone else when you yourself had been hurt enough.
"I'm sorry, just-I'm tired from today." you sighed helplessly, having been pushed into a corner, and being his understanding self, Wonpil nodded back with concern laced in his seemingly nonchalant smile.
After making sure everything was more or less alright, you hastily attended back to the customer, who was looking slightly frustrated with how long you were taking-and after she had ordered her iced americano, she looked a little more satisfied as she took a seat by the table nearest to the window.
It wasn't surprising; the weather today was warm. Lances of golden sunlight had dropped by the café, gracing its interior in its crisp, evening glow, and very miserably, laughing at your bad mood that contrasted with it.
"Are you okay now?"
You turned around to see Wonpil, eyebrows raised, hands rested in the pockets of his apron; and a rare, but serious look in his eyes as he prepared to listen to you.
As much as you didn't want him to worry over you, you knew how stubbornly insistent he was with getting things off your chest, so nevertheless, you opened your mouth-wondering what you had done to deserve his grace at the back of your mind.
"I-It's nothing really, it's just-" you exhaled, breaking into a nervous box smile as you ran a hand through your hair, barely having the right state of mind to continue, "I really wanted to thank him for his kindness and how he cared for my growth so selflessly, but apart from being so embarrassed by the teacher, not being able to do that anymore-it makes me feel so, so bad, knowing that I was never able to do anything for him, because I really, really miss him, and-"
"Don't say anymore. I understand."
You felt Wonpil's hand descend onto your back, like the touch of a small, but pretty little butterfly as it fluttered over the expanse of your spine, caressing it gently and hushing your shaking nerves.
All the thoughts had miserably, coaxed your feelings forward, and without knowing, you had started to cry again as you held your palms to your face-trying your best not to cry too loudly as you let out small, uncontrollable sobs.
"T-Thank you so much." you choked awkwardly, not knowing any better way to express your gratitude, and even in the darkness of your closed eyes, you could already picture Wonpil's relaxed, comforting smile playing on the sides of his face as he chuckled softly.
Just then, a cough cut in, putting a halt to your sobs and causing both of you to turn to the customer.
"Um...I'm sorry to interrupt this moment, but can I have three iced lattes? Please?" he said, carrying a half air, half voice tone-and with the guidance of your instinct your head immediately shot up from your palms.
There was only one person you knew with such a voice-the one you heard when you had first met the school alumni.
"P-Park Jaehyung?" you yelled instinctively, and your own eyes revealed the truth to you quickly-lean, rosy cheeks, big lips, small, droopy eyes, that were now widened into large circles as they stared back at you, with equally as much surprise in his gaze.
"Ohhhhh my! Y-You're the junior that trained with Dowoon a lot, right?" In his hearty voice, he exclaimed almost disbelievingly, but causing you to blush furiously; it was rather weird being so closely associated with him. "And hey, don't be rude-how dare you call a senior by their full name." he added on teasingly, and both of you laughed.
"I think I'll make the drinks for today-you definitely need to catch up with him, someone might be there waiting for you." Wonpil's voice said behind you understandingly, and you said a quick thank you with a smile before walking over to Jaehyung's seat.
"Oh, sorry for my impoliteness, Your Highness, Park Jaehyung, my queen-does this make it better now?" you retorted quickly, with a cheeky smirk on your face and triggering a gasp from him.
"Excuse me? Your audacity? Oh, and by that guy's sound, you sound like you're only here to see Dowoon, how sad-he isn't here, because I'm the most significant out of everyone there." he snickered back, laughing even harder when you stuck out your tongue back at him pettily-but to your surprise, it didn't last very long.
"Jaehyungie-hyung, don't be so mean! I'm here, hi! I haven't seen you in so long, are you doing okay?" a deep voice exclaimed, causing your jaw to drop even further, if that was even possible-and your feelings seemed to arrest all the air in your chest, just for a second-when you once again, saw the big, believing eyes of a child and his kind, untainted smile.
It was the boy that had spent countless hours under the sun, pushing you towards your goals endlessly.
It wasn't just any person, a random school alumni that had came to their transit stop for a while to leave again-it was Dowoon, Yoon Dowoon, of all people that you could have seen on that miserable day of yours.
It seemed almost intangible, yet so palpable as you ran to him, calling his name, as your hands managed to even hug his taller figure again-you could have nearly cried when you felt his bigger palm crash against your back with sincerity, and while you heard Dowoon's deep voice roll out a long string of laughter, commenting jokingly, "Man, I never knew a girl would miss me so much," you sort of wanted to smack him-yet was definitely in awe of the fact that you could hear that laughter again.
You'd never think that you would have heard it ever again.
"Shut up, I'm just here because you got me a second place position in running, loser." you giggled it off coolly, but failing terribly to hide the happiness stupidly written all over your face as Dowoon's smile angled up further, wearing his pride proudly on his sleeve as he gave you a high five.
"Really? Oh my gosh, that's so amazing! I'm so proud of my student." he laughed, childlike eyes widening in happiness and amplifying his innocence. "You deserve it man, you trained so hard for the test-definitely more commitment than I think you would have had."
"Ow, thanks a lot for the last comment, jeez, alright, I know I suck." you jutted out your lips in faux sadness, clutching your heart to your chest-but quickly remembering why you were so happy to see him again, you hastily added, "But thanks anyway, for guiding me. Couldn't have done it without you, taking so much time off your break."
There. I finally said it, you thought happily, allowing yourself a small grin when Dowoon rejected your praises quickly, hurriedly saying, "No, no, I didn't really do anything," and starting to ramble on about how you had done so much more to deserve it-his eyes got even bigger when he was in slight shock, and he looked the part of a small, innocent child more than ever.
"And oh, right." Dowoon suddenly spoke up amidst the topic of running, grabbing your attention. You couldn't help but giggle when he was about to open his mouth to speak, but instead-shut it again and started tugging the edges of his hair, mouthing things to himself with eyes squeezed together tightly-probably a long string of Jaehyung's 'motivational quotes.
A part of your heart fluttered at the purity his very being exuded-he was really, very cute.
But in all your mirth, you couldn't help it-you absolutely had to smack him.
"Yoon Dowoon, hurry up!" you snapped quickly, however with a cheeky smile that showed your real intentions. Dowoon was momentarily taken aback-but his features quickly softened after, when he realised you were joking.
"Sorry for being such a big mess, it's just..." he barely smiled softly, breaking out into further nervous laughter when Jaehyung and Younghyun started to beat his back repeatedly.
"Do you want to go out with us today? We're going to my place further out from the city, and uh...we're setting off fireworks and having a picnic around there and playing our instruments and stuff-" There was probably going to be no end to his rambling if Younghyun hadn't gave him a loud slap on his back-at this point, the creases in his eyes and sheepish box smile showed it all; he was incredibly, incredibly flustered, and to your dismay-also incredibly endearing.
But still, you couldn't miss grabbing the opportunity to tease him. You lifted your lips into a smirk, rocking your shoes against the foot of the table as you cooed, "Aww, is my senior asking me out on a date? I'd love to go with you, aww, Dowoonie..." Everyone in the place, yes, including that grumpy female customer; broke into fits of giggles, raising the atmosphere of the previously still, 'cultured' public place as you chased after Dowoon, who was currently running away from you and ducked his head to hide under the table.
"Haha, why are you genuinely scared? I was only joking, you're so adorable." you grinned cheekily as you saw the blush dancing above his round, squishy cheeks and the embarrassment in his semi opened eyes, "I'll come with you. It's quite timely as well, since I've had quite a bad day at school...You know what, I'll say later. I gotta finish my shift first, Wonpil can't possibly do everything for me." you quickly added when you saw his eyebrows widen in slight concern, and with a good-natured, outstretched wrist you helped Dowoon up from the table; who was quick to stick out his tongue when he saw that Jaehyung and Younghyun were still unable to contain the mirth written across their faces.
"So, I'll see you at 7 then?" he smiled awkwardly, trying his best to ignore them, and you nodded back eagerly as you walked him out of the shop, and into the embrace of the outdoors again.
It seemed so coincidental, that even as Jaehyung and Younghyun had simultaneously tagged along behind the two of you and out into the open, the sun was only blazing through the gaps in Dowoon's curls-girdling the ridges of his shoulders, slicing through the sides of his face and oozing into the crevices of his warm, faith-filled eyes.
You smiled.
The world was so beautiful.
"See you later! Don't miss me too much!" you yelled out to Dowoon jokingly, as he and the other boys got into the small scooters they shared-and after he had yelled back with equal gusto, "Back at you!", the three scooters sped in the other direction; hopefully, anticipating the time where they came back the other way again, because you sure were.
_____________________________
unknown: It's 7 lol have you ended your shift yet?
you: Yeah I have! Are you Dowoon or...?
unknown: No I'm Brian #sike
unknown: Please ignore that, Jaehyungie-hyung took my phone, I don't know what he's doing with his weird hashtags again TTTTTTTTT
you: HAHAHAHA TELL HIM HE SUCKS
you: It's nice to have your number though...it sucked not being able to contact you :( How did you get it anyway?
Dowoon: Yeah hhhh Wonpil told me earlier :) I didn't think you would mind...so
you: Haha of course not! Anyway, are you on the way?
Dowoon: Wouldn't dare to be late, I'm already here hehe ^^
Your head shot up with excitement, nearly screaming as you saw three headlights blaze at you, from the curtain of darkness that had shrouded the city not too long ago. It was around autumn right about now, and you were rather sensitive to the cold-so seeing their warm presence was quite comforting.
Noticing that you were already hanging up your apron and practically bouncing to the kitchen to clean up, Wonpil couldn't help but throw a good-natured laugh at you. "Someone's excited for their first date." he remarked suggestively, cleaning the used table under the illumination of the light bulb hanging above him, and if it wasn't for the distance between both of you you would have probably kicked him in response.
"Shut uuuuup, there's literally 2 other boys goiiiiing." you whined, taking one of the leftover plates scattered across the sink and soaping it,"-The chances of you and I dating just about now is probably way higher than Dowoon...well, at least, I've known you for about a year plus right now, and him, 6 months at most." Wonpil couldn't help but giggle again at the uncertainty in your voice, and pettily, you stamped your feet on the floor.
"There's no way my future partner will be someone as mean as you, I take all my words back." you pouted jokingly, and subsequently, starting to laugh at yourself too-this conversation was going absolutely nowhere.
"Hey, but in all seriousness, I think you should just go. Don't make them wait too long, after all, one of them is your future boyfriend. I'll take care of wrapping up." Wonpil spoke up again, approaching you as he hung the cloth by the arch of the sink, and took the plate from your hand kindly-gesturing for you to wash your hands as he pointed to the tap.
With unmasked gratitude you smiled back at him, washing your hands briefly before taking your phone from the counter, "Thanks again, Pil-ah; and one more freaking thing, before I have to repeat it a second time, there is no way Dowoon is going to be my boyfriend." you remarked strictly, taking your school bag from the seat close to the door and slinging it over your shoulder excitedly-the events of tonight sounded incredibly fun.
"Thank me by inviting me to your future wedding!" Wonpil screamed in his high pitched voice when you opened the door, with the silvery chime of the bell above it-and this time, you really, really wanted to kick him, because outside, in the cold of the night Jaehyung was literally having the time of his life laughing at you and nodding back to Wonpil in agreement (one of the rare times where he actually sided him).
"Boys suck." you groaned pettily as Dowoon, with unmistakeable redness on his face gestured for you to get onto the back of his scooter, and Younghyun laughed.
"Doesn't seem that way with our Dowoonie, am I right?" his unmistakeable fox eyes shot you a small wink, which was sort of annoying-till he yelled smugly, "Good luck on being the first there with extra baggage! Not like anyone ever manages to triumph me anyway."
With that, Younghyun's scooter whizzed off, black coat and black locks fluttering behind him care freely, like how his very personality was-and soon, Jaehyung's scooter whizzed off too, the only thing behind him being his screams of "I'm GONNA BEAT YOU THIS TIME, BRIAN!", and you couldn't help but giggle a bit-the antics of those two were always so stupidly humouring.
"Sorry, they can be a bit of a public embarrassment." Dowoon laughed helplessly, shaking his head, and with a small smile you too shook your head; you were totally fine with them, and you'd even say that having them around was enjoyable. "-Jihyo and Chaewon are actually joining us later, but they weren't comfortable on the scooter, and we need someone to drive our instruments."
He paused for a bit to catch his breath, expelling a small puff of white before explaining, "I hope you're okay with it too-the scooter can feel very unbalanced at first, but I think you can handle it. This sounds incredibly awkward, but you gotta hold onto my waist, or you'll probably fall off within a second of me accelerating. Alright? Don't want to be responsible for your medical fees." Dowoon ended off with a joking crease in his smirk before he tossed you a neon yellow helmet from the basket of the scooter, and you nodded before putting it on.
He thrusted the key into the slot rather vigorously, and soon there was a dull roar from the engine behind you, and at his command, you awkwardly positioned your hands at his waist area. Admittedly, it felt pretty good, however-the coat that hugged his waist was made of soft, thick brown fabric, and it reminded you of your honey scented sheets back at home.
"Ready to ride?" he suddenly piped up, happiness laced in his deep, comforting voice, and you shot him a thumbs up sign.
"Always ready." you answered eagerly, and with a louder roar from the engine than before, both of you sped out towards the moon, that lay on the horizon of the shimmering sea.
________________________
You felt like you were riding on the brim of a cloud as the wind zipped through your hair and your jacket, starting to take flight and flutter violently behind you like kites in the sky. The feeling of being so close to land, yet so far up into the sky was so indescribable-gravity accelerated the thrill in your heart as Dowoon let out a long, unceremonious scream, cheering for the destination that wasn't too far from where you were.
"We're almost here!" he broke into a small gummy smile beneath the mop of his fluttering curls-they seemed to run across the border of his forehead, like running waves crashing beautifully onto the shore of a beach.
However, contrary to your imagination, the river that surrounded all of you in its big embrace was especially quiet-only letting small dribbles of light from the lighthouse float gently above the surface of the waves as both of you moved past, like bioluminescent lily pads that had descended from the glow of the moon. Mountains foreshadowed the road ahead mysteriously, painted in a darker shade of navy than the star speckled-sky above both of you, and the road to the picnic area was long and windy, snaking out into a canopy of trees relaxedly.
"You'd never get anything like this in the city." you said in slight awe, hands slowly finding themselves crawling up to Dowoon's broad shoulders as you dared to hoist yourself up, breaking up from your posture a tad bit, and as you felt one of his curls brush past your wrists, he laughed his slow, deep laugh in response.
"You're cute. I had a friend that didn't live in Busan as a kid, and he lived in the more country area-he would probably protest if he heard what you just said..." His deep voice trailed off softly, seeming to follow the snaking nature of the concrete road ahead of you. "-Nevertheless, I'm happy we're here. It's nice to ride out here with someone."
His eyes, which had now stopped displaying the light of the sun to catch the glow of the moon, was still as warm as ever in the cold weather. With undeniable faith tinting the light that ringed his eyes, half opened submissively and bringing out the semi rosy tint in his bags, the carefree smile on his lips and the uplift of his cheeks resembling floating clouds didn't fail to bring you back in awe again; it was as if all laws of astronomy tailed after his presence, and followed in the footsteps of his unbreakable belief.
"You're really very beautiful." the words left your lips through an airy whisper, and you were too busy staring at him again to even notice what you said until Dowoon spoke up again.
"U-Um...Me? R-Really? Thanks, I guess..." his eyes bore a different spark to it as they drooped shyly, like a mimosa recoiling at someone's touch-and as the truth dawned onto you slowly, mixed feelings of embarrassment and self-blame kicked in a little too fast-you really, really wanted to kick yourself for saying that.
Trying to salvage the situation, you quickly spoke up upon seeing his tilted eyebrows and the embarrassment written on his face. "I-I didn't mean that in a weird way, I'm sorry, not that I don't love your looks-or not that I don't love you any less, i-it's just-" you stuttered awkwardly, brain stupidly failing you at this crucial moment-but being a nice guy, Dowoon just shook his head briefly.
With a small smile breaking onto his face, not fully suggestive; yet not fully chaste, he responded in awe, big eyes widening with more faith than before.
"No, no, please don't apologise, because..." Dowoon spoke with the smile of reuniting with someone again, overly excited to articulate his words properly, "B-Because, I-"
"Dowoon! What's taking you so long, can you drive faster? You're almost there already, hurry up!" Jaehyung's voice suddenly broke through the world that only both of you shared, halting the climax of the story. He and Younghyun were on a higher end of a cliff, where the destination was, and you could already see their hands waving vigorously in your direction. Jihyo and Chaewon had arrived too-you could see two figures with long hair sit on a big red mat.
"What was that you were going to say?" you asked, as the scooter started to move again; both of you had been so immersed in conversation that you hadn't even realised that Dowoon stopped the vehicle to talk.
However, contrary to what you thought he was going to say, Dowoon shook his head almost nonchalantly, losing a bit of the faith in his gaze as he looked down with baggy eyes of dejection.
He squeezed his lips into a textbook version of a smile and talked at a slower pace, this time more scarily composed than before. "I-It's nothing. I don't know if I'll have the courage to tell you again."
The entire trip to the cliff went downhill in a veil of awkward silence, both of you knowing full well in your hearts why such a thing had happened. Wind rocketed past your ears silently, blowing against your ears and hitting against your hair-as if coaxing you to speak, but right now, you didn't know if you had the courage to say anything to him when you had made him sad.
In less than a minute, the scooter had surfaced up the flatter parts of the cliff, and you decided that this was the best moment to speak up.
"I'm sorry if I made you sad or anything." you mumbled awkwardly, stepping out of the scooter and nearly losing your balance-having your feet on the ground after 2 whole hours seemed like a foreign concept to your legs right about now.
Dowoon shook a hand at you almost instantly. "You've made me more happy than I could ever imagine." he said unhesitantly, and this time, smiled at you with a more genuine smile. For a second, you could see the faith of the crescent moon resurface back on the ring of his eyes as he continued, "Just have fun tonight, that's all I ask for."
You nodded back, returning his smile; and with a new, strangely fluttering feeling in your heart you followed Dowoon to the picnic mat, where Jihyo and Chaewon were sitting, dressed in casual clothing-you felt slightly out of place, decked out in your sloppy, mud-speckled school uniform as you greeted them shyly, sitting yourself onto the mat. But thankfully, the girls initiated conversations well-definitely way better than you did, and within seconds, you hadn't even realised that Dowoon had slipped away to somewhere else.
"So, how's life after finals?" Jihyo asked cheerily, or rather, the way she usually talked; it wasn't rare to see that consistent, bright smile of hers plastered on her doll like face.
You didn't exactly know how to answer. "I don't really know. After school today I have that 4 month break that most have, so what happened after your break?" You started to laugh as you realised how you had redirected the topic back to them, and both of them started doing the same.
"Hmm-hahaha-I'd say that college life is still manageable, I've been doing it for about 2 months plus." Jihyo answered, failing to contain her laughter at one point as she squeezed her eyes together endearingly. "Chaewon is entering a polytechnic, so she has about 2 months more to break, same with Dowoon, Jaehyung and Younghyun want to go to a uni, so they're going to college too, but I don't know...like. I really don't know what I want in life yet..."
Her voice trailed off awkwardly, with the fading smear of her chirpy voice, and you couldn't help but relate. Sure, you had a subject combination and you had did pretty good in finals, but you didn't have a certain passion you would shirk everything to chase; not like many of the people in your class, who were already able to aim their arrows towards their target.
"It's okay. I'm sure you'll find it soon when the time arrives, I'm looking for what I want too." you said with empathy, and in response Jihyo nodded politely.
"I suppose."
All of you talked for a while longer, on less serious topics-occasionally breaking out in laughter when Jihyo came up with one of her silly, yet timely antics, and going soft hours when Chaewon showed all of you pictures of her labrador-it was a he, with a slender, healthy body and adorable marble eyes.
After a while of staring, you had only come to realise that the mahogany, soft brown shade of his fur was the same colour you saw, inked intricately in the depths of Dowoon's eyes.
Just then, there was a very coincidental, but hesitant tap on your shoulders.
"Can you come with me?" a low voice spoke up amidst the cooing over the dog, and you looked up, despite already recognising who it was.
This time, his gaze looked a little different; you couldn't help but feel slightly excited as you noticed the enigmatic sparkle that stood out amidst his gentle, brown eyes, taking his outstretched hand and standing up.
"Yoon Dowoon, I'm warning you, if you don't bring her back safely, we will tail after you with bats and split your head open." Jihyo suddenly spoke up with a glint in her big, doll eyes, voice cracking menacingly at the last line-and again, both of you laughed at her antics.
"Don't worry, I won't." he laughed awkwardly, voice faltering at the last line. You couldn't help but notice that Dowoon's cheeks were starting to heat up, but quickly ignored it when he gestured at you to follow him.
Contrary to what you thought it would be, the walk to the destination wasn't very long, unlike earlier on. From the angle of the picnic mat, a loudspeaker in the distance was clearly visible. Next to it were two other figures, Younghyun and Jaehyung-with a bass and electric guitar slung around their chests respectively.
Needlessly to say, you were shocked. "They can play those?" you exclaimed, and with a small nod, Dowoon chuckled gleefully, "Look to your left."
Without a moment of thought, you turned your head.
Cymbals, glinting on the cusp of its dully golden surface like the rings of Saturn, with two smaller drums and a large bass drum positioned at the bottom-it seemed like you were exaggerating, but...
"Dowoon, you can play that? " you cried out, faltering a little at the last word, but unlike how you had reacted, he just smiled like it wasn't that great of a feat to play the drums.
"Not just that, I'm going to play you a song." he responded triumphantly, as he approached the spinning chair behind it and sat down. A smug smile remained on his face unwaveringly as he bent down to pick up his drumsticks, humming a gentle tune between his lips-and you couldn't help but smile, wondering if that was the very song they were about to play.
"This is all for you by the way," Younghyun cut in, a malicious smirk playing on the sides of his lips as you turned to him, "-We have a school recital tomorrow, and we've practically practiced this song till we could play it with closed eyes-but our naughty youngest absolutely insisted on playing this instead of anything else, just because of his-"
"OKAY, OKAY, I think that's about enough." Dowoon shouted obnoxiously, with a slightly annoyed, slightly red look on his face, and everyone started to laugh.
"Take it away then, drummer boy." you said enthusiastically, remaining rooted to the ground in anticipation.
You definitely weren't ready for the moment he started to position those drumsticks of his.
As the guitar kicked off the song, while layered by the low consistency of the bass, you smiled unconsciously as you let the melody hum in your voice softly. It was in A major, a nice, steady rhythm; and more so when a string of clashes echoed from the cymbals, not too far away from where you were-before there was another silvery tap, followed up by what sounded like the rustle of leaves.
Then, as the melody descended down a few keys, Jaehyung rasped gently into the mic, like the soft blow of the night breeze surrounding you.
Every day I lived like I was dead But you
Became the reason For me to get up Once more You made me wanna open my eyes
In sync with the bass, your heart thumped against your chest-and you stared at Dowoon, who gave you a small smile, before going into a rapid flurry of beats yet again.
Just your smile alone Makes me breathe Because of you, I'm Better better Better baby Only your love Makes the frozen me Start to run again Higher higher Higher baby
The reason for all this looked back at you knowingly, with the same spark of faith spinning confidently in his eyes; as if he understood what he meant to you, and then, the night sky seemed to tear down from the face of the earth, and enclasp itself in the centre of his eyes.
I used to never wait for tomorrow But you Became the reason For me to take one more step Not too far ahead You held out your hand to me
Just your smile alone Makes me breathe Because of you, I'm Better better Better baby Only your love Makes the frozen me Start to run again Higher higher Higher baby The bass suddenly made no more sound, and soon, the music stopped with your heart.
"You must be confused now." Dowoon's low voice suddenly whispered at a distance awfully near where you were standing, and startling you; yet resonating so comfortingly in your ears while he spoke.
As he locked eyes with yours, the light promisingly dancing on the sides of his pupils held the lights of the stars in them-still the ones of a child, maybe even believing more than ever; and in all your awe you began to speak hastily, not knowing what to do.
"I-I don't know, I'm happy-and these words are what I've been meaning to say to you for the longest time, you mean a lot to me, and heck, I don't even know if I could have survived running without you, there's no way you could have known-"
"These words are the words I want to say to you too."
Your eyes widened as he said those words hopefully, taking your wrists-and all the signs of red surfacing across his cheeks, with the smiles that only he could have made you smile with; to the unsure, dull gaze you had seen at your first meeting, to the beautiful, starry sky you could barely fathom in the depth of his big, believing eyes.
"I wanted to drop by your school to visit, but I heard from your friends that you were hurting a lot today, so I didn’t end up going." he said quietly, now holding up the wrist with the thin, ugly scar zipped across it and kissing it; at that moment, you could barely believe the warmth that was withheld between every fibre in the soft, pillowy surface as Dowoon looked up at you again. "And I don't want to leave you like that again. Thank you for understanding me with that kind heart of yours, when I could barely have the willpower to train the batch, and bringing me so much happiness."
He paused for a bit, and as if his voice was a conductor, your breath halted simultaneously-before he opened his mouth again, and eagerly said the words that would change your life forever.
"I want to run with you forever."
You could barely contain yourself from crying again when the feelings gushed to your head, came raining down from your eyes as tears, and through all your emotions, you nodded vigorously.
"I want to do the same, Dowoon," you sniffed, barely stabilising yourself as you felt his callused hands land on your shoulders gently, holding you close to his chest, rising and falling in waves-he too, was crying; and you never wanted to leave that place again.
Just your smile alone Makes me breathe Because of you, I'm Better better Better baby Only your love Makes the frozen me Start to run again Higher higher Higher baby
From that day on, both of you ran not only across the running track in your school, but in the race of life, hand in hand-smiles being the breath in each other's lungs, and love being the reason to keep going.
Only your love could make the me who was stuck run again.
______________________
HECK THIS WAS SO CRINGEY AND CORNY IM SORRY ILL EDIT IT WHEN I HAVE TIME LOL!!! ugh I had sm fun tho lol Dowoon is really so precious and amazing aaaa ;;; also, I feel like I was only able to write this so well because of God, who plays the character of Dowoon and way more than that in my life-being the breath in my lungs and the reason to keep going, so really, all the glory be to Him, I have never wrote with such understanding of a concept like love and He really is so omnipresent and amazing in even everything I write even if I don't mention Him directly!!!
hehe I really like this story uwu its not the best and its way too long than it should have been but it will hold a special place in my heart!! to the anon that requested this I'm sorry if u expected a short read with a much more light hearted topic to 'cheering you up after a bad day at school' JHDSJKFHS HAHAHAHA gosh anyway I hope y'all enjoyed this if you even finished it, thanks for your support!! I'm writing this on my birthday so I gotta go sleep now, happy 2019 to everyone!
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comicteaparty · 6 years
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September 13th, 2018 CTP Archive
The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on September 13th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Gemini Journey  by Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero.
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RebelVampire
COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!
Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Gemini Journey by Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero~! (http://geminijourney.com/) Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!
QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?
Shen
i liked when she was getting ready for interviews and she messed up her makeup and her buttons popped 100% relatable
Tenor | Shinavar
Hi Hi! Q1: TOO MANY. But specifically I really enjoyed Veil's anger he morning after Gemini went missing. I just really appreciated getting to see someone actually care someone just wandered off, and him still having lingering emotions about the whole incident of her returning home.
aliceapproved
Oh gosh, that one was such a BIG MOOD!!!
saetje
whoo-hoo! Thanks @RebelVampire for putting on CTP. And hey all, thanks for coming :)!
Kabocha
Oh, boy, this is a hard one to answer, to be honest! I really liked the first chapter, where Gemini and Veil were going up against the Dragon-Roach... I was like "WAIT HOW CAN YOU HATE DRA--- Oh." Also, this scene: http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=69 Veil. You are the best.
It was fantastic handling of that... Creeper Kappa? Is the flasher a Kappa?
Shen
i just give 100% of my heart to Veil he works so hard hes so tired let him rest
Tenor | Shinavar
Flasher, I'd say
aliceapproved
Gosh, yeah, the dragon cockroach was really creative and I'm SO HAPPY there's a Kappa and they had to do the "bow" move to "defeat him"
Tenor | Shinavar
But yeah I love how 'street smart' he is about like, everything going on.
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
a book nerd with street smarts
Kabocha
Veil has no time for any of these Shenanigans
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
he's amazing
aliceapproved
I really love Gemini's "guilt" expression in one of the interviews
Superjustinbros
Hello!
RebelVampire
yeah i think veil is also a great character balance to gemini. cause when you have someone who is into the shenanigans, you need someone to be a grounding influence
Tenor | Shinavar
I also really like that though because he shows a level of attentiveness and perception to the world around him. <3
saetje
yess! It's a flasher Kappa! Glad you liked that scene.
Shen
yeah sometimes the "straight man" character can come off as a wet blanket but he genuinely cares for Gemini. i'd like to see more of that, like how they mnet or something one day in the future
aliceapproved
Yeah! Veil and Gemini are such a dynamic complimentary duo, from personality, body shapes, and orange and blue colors!
Shen
EXCELLENt design
Superjustinbros
Oh yea, huge props for how polar opposites Gemini and Veil are
aliceapproved
OH!!! One of my favorite scenes is when Gemini firsts visits the creepy circus and the scene transitions to her perfectly waking up in bed. That was such a cool transition!
Kabocha
Yesssss!
mathtans
Yes, I agree, the two play off each other well.
Kabocha
It was!
Superjustinbros
http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=198 Also, I like this scene, in part cause it reminds me very well of what happens to me some days
aliceapproved
I'm really eager to see how the circus devolves and how Veil and Gemini will handle it. Also those rad fox twins!
mathtans
(I may have to leave at a moment's notice when the baby awakens, if I suddenly go silent.)
Jess
You guys are so nice. I don’t know if I can add smilies fast enough haha
Kabocha
http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=55 Also, the lighting on this page was woooonderful. I wasn't sure how to read Veil's expression though. It was kind of like... "wait. Do you not want her to move out? Or... Are you just... ....caught off guard by dog fire?" ....Then the next panel is like "Back to reality."
Jess
Yeah the scene where it transitions from her as a circus performer to her in the bed was one of my favorites. @saetje really owned that scene
Tenor | Shinavar
I read it as he's a bit hurt at the "You can finally be alone!" more than her moving out
Superjustinbros
wow that is some really good lgithing
Jess
I think that was the first time that I didn’t second guess the panel format
RebelVampire
to repeat something already said, i loved the dragon bug. that was such an immensely creative idea, and i think it was a great way to open the comic. we get a great way to get not only the impression of what the world is like, but we get to get a great feel for the personalities of the characters.
mathtans
I gotta say though, my favourite was apparently Death owning a flower shop that has the slogan "You Don't Gno-me". Gotta love those little details.
http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=44
Tenor | Shinavar
GASP I MISSED THAT
OMG I LOVE IT
Jess
Yaaaaay!!
RebelVampire
yeah i give death's appearance an A+. that and gemini's confusion about why death asked about her immortal soul
aliceapproved
I looove all the mythology monsters at play in the background!
saetje
A lot of those details are thanks to @Jess who does final rendering/lettering. Flower-shop Wraith/Death will actually be showing up again I think next update, haha.
RebelVampire
http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=45 although i was also distracted by the page right after. this feels so true for getting a job.
mathtans
It's the Wraith of Khan.
Shen
LOL Gemini's entire job ordeal is so relatable. "i workeds hard on this one application im gonna go get a treat" girl, same
Superjustinbros
hehee
Kabocha
http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=157 Veil's distress :<
Tenor | Shinavar
Gemini sets off my inner Veil tho bc I know so many friends who do like
1 app a week
Shen
UGH hes so cute when hes sad XD
Tenor | Shinavar
and it's like: HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-
mathtans
Back to what Rebel said though, I agree the dragon as a bug was hugely creative, and a good way to see the main characters play off each other.
Tenor | Shinavar
istg I relate to Veil the entire job process lmao
Kabocha
I love the expressiveness of both Veil and Gemini, but yeah, I really really feel for Veil
aliceapproved
I love how much Veil cares! He cares SO MUCH!!!
Tenor | Shinavar
Did anyone else notice in he dragon roach scene Veil has Gemini's shoe the whole time as the weapon?
RebelVampire
i love that page, @Kabocha like the lighting plus that expression made my heart weep
mathtans
I like that Gemini did start to take it more seriously for Veil, or at least seems to have been at interviews.
RebelVampire
weep so dang much
mathtans
Tenor: I don't think I picked up on that.
Kabocha
Although, how much is Gemini caring vs the Circus influence infecting her with confidence?
Tenor | Shinavar
I realized it after I noticed Gemini running around without a shoe and had to go back to see where I missed it lmao
saetje
@Tenor | Shinavar AH! Someone noticed that!
Superjustinbros
(I'm gonna go AFK for a bit, got some things I have to do but I'll hopefully be back later!)(edited)
Tenor | Shinavar
IT'S CUTE BUT MAKES ME WONDER HOW WE GOT TO THAT POINT LOL
saetje
Yes, Veil took Gemini's shoe despite having larger feet than her. I could jsut imagine the behind-the-scenes squabbling about it
aliceapproved
OOOH Good point about the influence! I'm really intrigued by the hypnotic circus
Tenor | Shinavar
Kabo: Caring about what, specifically? Like, about the circus, trying to get a job...?
(Sorry if I'm slow on the draw, got kids here )
Jess
On our world dragons: Yeah. It came from a conversation that dragons are the pests of the magical/mythical world. To the roach/dragon thing just kinda took form from that Ahahaha
RebelVampire
yes i noticed the shoe and thought that was a great art touch of continuity
Jess
Ahaha yeah!!! I mean. My boi got nice shoes. He can’t be using them for that
aliceapproved
I'm really glad dragons have the roach aesthetic, too! As someone who loves all dragons, I draw the lines at cockroaches XD
Shen
yeah that poster at the end threw me for a loop i thought it was a legit magic look-alike so when i saw the poster i was like "whoaaa no way" haha makes me VERY interested to read more
aliceapproved
Veil is so clean haha!
Kabocha
@Tenor | Shinavar -- Just in general honestly. Gemini started putting more effort into things, but it didn't feel like she actually really gave a damn more than she had gained some level of confidence.
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
i really liked gemini's haunted mascara
saetje
I'm glad you all like the Dragon Roach opening/idea too. It's also the idea...trying to imagine how mythical things might have 'evolved' along with our modern world, and yeah. Dragons are pretty much pests you always have to exterminate, yeah?(edited)
Kabocha
Although maybe that's the magic of the circus
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
or maSCAREa
mathtans
I grinned at it being one of the flying types.
Tenor | Shinavar
Ooooh that's fair, and a good point.
mathtans
Made me think of ants. I hate the flying ones.
saetje
@mathtans directly related to past experience with real life 'flying ones'. Nothing makes a roach worse than realizing it's one of those
omg ants too
Tenor | Shinavar
Saetje: So would this modern world have those 'fortune cat' memes but with the dragons instead? Reblog for good fortune?
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
god i related to that line so much bcus of how often i had to deal with flying roaches as a young childe
saetje
hmm, fortune cat memes? Like on tumblr when someone reblogs a picture of a cat with money on its head? XD
Tenor | Shinavar
Yeah~
!*
aliceapproved
OMG
Kabocha
I could do without the flying insects aaaaaaaa
aliceapproved
gEmini and Veil on social media haha!
Shen
i bet Gemini is a memelord
Jess
Yeah!! For the circus - we’re at the point not where we can start unraveling some of the mystery. Throughout the story so far we wanted it to be sorta ambiguous about if that Gemini in the circus was the same one. In the next oncoming scenes you’ll see what’s real and what’s not. But hopefully the way it’s being read is that the readers (y’all) are realizing it might actually be Gem
Tenor | Shinavar
I'd collect flying insects if they were smol dragons justsayin
Oooou~!
Jess
She is definitely a memelord Hahahah I love that
saetje
I doubt about dragons being seen as fortune memes since dragons are seen as pests and they tend to keep you from your money (ala sitting on the horde and breathing fire) or take loose items into their hidey holes-- so they're not seen the same as lucky. But that might just be for Gem and Veil's part of their world
aliceapproved
I'm so excited for the Circus to "unravel"
Shen
i bet she texts memes to Veil from across the room and then just waits for him to look at her in disapproval =3
Tenor | Shinavar
I've been under the impression the circus might not be entirely real and the performers there are stuck against their will - kinda fae-style. <_< So either she's performing against her will and is not yet fully bound or it's been an illusion to GET her there
RebelVampire
is veil thus the type to post all the old timey book quotes then? XD
in regards to the social media thing
mathtans
Yeah, at first I thought maybe Gemini was just seeing herself in place of who was actually up there, but with the poster it seemed likely that they were actually making her do the things.
aliceapproved
Oooh, I think it could go either way with trapped souls and she's not bound yet, or it's all an illusion to trap her.
Also, Veil posts moody aesthetic boards
Shen
XD
aliceapproved
"Juggling is not a garbage job" :V
saetje
yeah we're getting into I guess the third act and I hope it comes together and makes sense. as we unravel some mystery. There's more stories we want to tell after "Barley & Bay-Lily" that all follow continuity, so I want to wrap Barley & Bay-Lily where you all know what's going on but there's more overarching questions than answered in some ways.
I'm loving these thoughts on it!
mathtans
Clever play on Barnum & Bailey, by the way.
Jess
Thanks!!
RebelVampire
i want to say i loved the juggler. that was a great design and gemini's reaction to it made me laugh. although i do wonder now if the juggler is part of the circus conspiracy
mathtans
I wonder if it's significant that they seem to be foxes.
Kabocha
Foxes are tricksters, so I mean
aliceapproved
Kitsunes!
Tenor | Shinavar
My fear about the poster though, and why I hink it's a trap, is it said her "final act"
mathtans
'Tis true.
Jess
Also I don’t know if anyone noticed but the juggler was only juggling 2 balls with 4 arms
aliceapproved
Very fitting to make them foxes! Cute and mischevious and devllish
Tenor | Shinavar
so it's like; HHHHHHHHHHHHH GEMINI BBY NO RUN AWAY
aliceapproved
YEAH!! GEMINI GET OUTTA THERE
Jess
So lots of talent going on in the streets of New Olympia hahaha
mathtans
Jess: I caught the four arms. Guess I didn't count the balls. Seems like less of a challenge there.
Shen
"mysterious circus ive never heard of down a dark alley? sounds like a great time and not at all suspicious!"
Jess
Right!?
saetje
yes, what @Kabocha said. The idea for GJ is this is HER story/myth/hero's journey. Foxes are pretty archetypal to suspect characters in folklore and fairy tale. WHAT they are exactly, well. More to be revealed :' D you guys have some awesome theories.
mathtans
Maybe there was a chainsaw off panel.
saetje
hahahaha
Kabocha
This'll be really cool to see as it approaches the end
(of the chapter, anyway)
Tenor | Shinavar
yeeees
Jess
That’s true! Whether she was a good juggler or not is the true mystery
mathtans
The foxes are actually out of work actors.
saetje
oh god.
Mathtan you figured it out
noooo
Jess
Yesssss
aliceapproved
I misread that as "work out" actors LOL
Tenor | Shinavar
choke
saetje
oh even better
Tenor | Shinavar
Explains why they are trying to start their own circus
aliceapproved
LOL "Get BUFF with JUGGLING"
Shen
LOL
mathtans
Appearing next in the Big Top - Jazzercize.
Tenor | Shinavar
WHEEZE
saetje
Possessed Scary Circus Zumba
Shen
Crossfit but its clowns
Jess
That’s terrifying
Tenor | Shinavar
I h8 u all bc I can't draw this right now
RebelVampire
i would pay to see clowns doing crossfit
saetje
now tHAT'S a million dollar comic idea, Shen
or idea in general, yes
aliceapproved
I know it's probably way off in the future, but I'm curious about plans for Veil-focused arc in the future
Shen
yeah same, im sure its planned but im interested
RebelVampire
QUESTION 2. While searching for a job, Gemini clearly has gotten wrapped up in a dangerous situation involving a circus. What do you think the circus’ goal is in general for the people it entraps? Who exactly are the fox ringmasters running the show? Why was Gemini in particular targeted as opposed to other people in the audience? Why did Gemini seemingly come home in a trance, and what do you think it means for whatever is happening to Gemini? How do you feel the performer who represents Gemini’s ideals fits into all of this? Do Gemini’s anxieties have something to do with all this do you think? Lastly, how do you think Gemini will get out of this mess (or is she just doomed)?
Shen
i wanna know why he puts up with her tbh ^^; seems like she can be a bit self interested
aliceapproved
Also that it's confirmed he has friends cuz of that phone call. I'm sorry, I keep assuming he's a Sad Books lonely boy
Shen
no friends its just his mom
saetje
yeah you guys don't know if he's just sadly talking to a dial tone
Kabocha
The circus' goal is to... Basically steal her life energy! Somehow. But we'll see. Or enchant her and spirit her away~ Once she becomes part of the spirit world she won't really be albe to retuuuuuurn~
Shen
SAETJE THATS SO SAD XD
RebelVampire
well now you made it sad. XD
Kabocha
@saetje oh noooooooooooooooooooooo
aliceapproved
LOL! As for Question 2: Like most shifty magic things, steal her soul! Trap her in the circus
Kabocha
What about Gemini's mom? I'm sure he's probably got her on speed dial
RebelVampire
i assume soul stealing. i mean thats pretty standard evil fair. and who doesn't need a good soul
Shen
i dont think they targetted Gemini specifically as much as they laid out a trap and waited to see who stumbled in, and she did so they ensnared her
mathtans
Veil seems too organized to talk to a dial tone. It'd at least be the official time signal.
aliceapproved
I think the Circus targets ppl who are down on their luck or confidence or don't have a quote "real job" atm? Like job hunting is really stressful and feels hopeless a ton of times
so it looks for vulnerable ppl imo
mathtans
Gemini came home in a trance because the cab was too expensive.
Jess
That’s how I do too
saetje
BRB faking trance to get out of cab faire
aliceapproved
To heck with fantasy Uber and Lyft!
Kabocha
It shows them something akin to their best selves, maybe?
saetje
hahaha
RebelVampire
what if this is a known phenomenon in their world so when someone says "they ran away to the circus" they mean that whoops, got that soul life energy sucked out
aliceapproved
Yeah! The play of "UGH I should just run away and join the circus" it's so cool!
Shen
i once saw a video of a woman pretending to be a ghost to get out of paying a toll
Tenor | Shinavar
Q2: The specific part I havenb't already kinda answered is: I feel she is part of Gemini's subconciousness in the sense of having her "act" together. Her life wouldn't be too chaotic, she's able to balance all that is expected of her without being a 'clutz' or anything she seems to think at least minimally negatively on. (seen by her admiring the grace and such)
Kabocha
She's a representation of everything Gemini wants to be?
aliceapproved
^^^^
Tenor | Shinavar
Not exactly but def a bait, in some way
Kabocha
Except moving more toward that ideal means that Gemini gets trapped...
Well, representations don't have to be literal >_>
<_< I figured it was all pretty figurative
Tenor | Shinavar
True true
RebelVampire
the thing i cant figure out is why the trance thing. like gemini was in the circus, just suck out her soul. why give her the chance to escape?
aliceapproved
Since we see Gemini specifically, I'm assuming the audience members are just an illusion
Maybe these foxes like playing with their "prey" and make it a slow burn
mathtans
It could be through the music that the circus gets you. That alley cat seemed real scared of it, while Gemini was drawn in.
Alice: Oh, I like that.
Tenor | Shinavar
Rebel: If i works like fae magic, you gota get them to agree to it
aliceapproved
Yeah, why play if there's no risk involved?
mathtans
Rebel: To recharge?
Tenor | Shinavar
You also can avoid like - all legal repercussions if it's "willing" >_>
aliceapproved
^^^
Jess
Ahahaha consensual death is the best ... death?
aliceapproved
For lawyers, yES!
mathtans
Now waiting for the scene where Veil rules-lawyers the foxes.
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
thats how it be sometimes
aliceapproved
Law & Order with VEIL
Tenor | Shinavar
Also it hurt a lil bit I couldnt resist. Crossfit clown from geminis world lol
Shen
JKRFJGJHMHG LMAO!!!
saetje
omg @tenor hahaha
mathtans
That's a garbage job. ^.-(edited)
Tenor | Shinavar
BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE VEIL THROW DOWN VERBAL LOOP HOLES IN CONTRACTS
saetje
IT'S NOT A GARBAGE JOB, VEIL. I mean MATH.
Tenor | Shinavar
Just like, pops on some glasses and busts out a book from no where
Kabocha
That's Veil's magic power -- BOOK LEARNIN'
Tenor | Shinavar
YES
Jess
Yessss
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
magic is a thing, he probably just pulls out outta his pocket dimension- which is in his pocket
Tenor | Shinavar
He has a pocket just for his books
aliceapproved
I love all the art you guys do of Veil with his book beasts! They're the best!
Tenor | Shinavar
all 2k of them
saetje
haha,t hat's actually a joke we've been wanting to use somewhere-- "I love your dress" "Thanks it has pocket dimensions"
Jess
Omg I love it. All pockets are pocket dimensions from now on
Tenor | Shinavar
OMG YES PLZ
DO IT
aliceapproved
OMG PLS DO THAT
Tenor | Shinavar
AS A PARENT IT'S A NECESSITY wheeeeeeeeeze
aliceapproved
pockets are THE BEST
imagine a pocket dimension!
This world gets better and better! Minus the creepy circuses
Jess
Right
Hehehe
mathtans
"My pocket dimension is full of clowns...."
Jess
Nooooo worst dimension
Kabocha
I saw a few other people ask it, but... Why is Veil so tolerant of Gemini's shenanigannery? I mean, I am a far less patient roommate than he is...
saetje
I figure a pocket dimension dress would have to be some kind of plot device though for a future arc. i mean, HAVE to be.
Tenor | Shinavar
New def to clown car
Kabocha
matth whyyy
Tenor | Shinavar
Kabo: My shipping side if he finds it endearing
Exhausting but endearing
saetje
wellp, clowns ruined it
RebelVampire
i do applaud veil's sheer patience
Kabocha
I WAS LEANING THAT WAY BUT I DON'T KNOW IF HE'S JUST ENTERTAINED OR WHAT
RebelVampire
but i do assume the blushing is more than just blushing
Tenor | Shinavar
CON GRATS REBEL
YOU DID IT
Jess
Ah. Well be answering that soon. I think so far we’ve been focusing on Gem and some of her worst traits - her selfishness, but
Shen
nice~
mathtans
Kabocha: Because I can. As to why Veil's tolerant, maybe he knows someone like Gemini in his family or his past.
Kabocha
I figured Veil was kind of perpetually blushing unless otherwise upset.
Shen
i am absolute ship trash and i am waiting for this to sail but i am patient
Jess
And we’ve focused on veils best - his smarts and his loyalty
Tenor | Shinavar
I keep getting little hints Veil at least Likes her.
Kabocha
Hm. So he knows Gemini could be Amazing if she'd try?
RebelVampire
i think there is some of that yes
Tenor | Shinavar
But doesn't push it
RebelVampire
wait veil has bad traits?
i dont accept this
Tenor | Shinavar
No he doesn't
don't listen to them
shh
Shen
no, veil is perfect
Kabocha
Veil's afraid of bugs....
mathtans
Veil just likes Gemini for her shoes. Much shoe blushing, wants to wear them.
Tenor | Shinavar
Je
aliceapproved
I'm sure Veil totally finds Gemini charming and really.. pr-pretty BLUSH
RebelVampire
being afraid of bugs is a good trait
Jess
It’s true. And he won’t dirty his own shoes
RebelVampire
bugs carry disease
Tenor | Shinavar
But is he afraid of bugs
or the fact they can catch shit on fire
aliceapproved
Veil is very much a neat freak which is a double-edged sword
Tenor | Shinavar
like his books
aliceapproved
and not very impulsive, so Gemini helps liven things up for him
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
tenor raises a good point
Shen
thats more "quirky" than a character flaw lol
like "clumsy" girls XD
Kabocha
They're foils for one another, you say? That's how these sorts of friendships balance each other? NEVAAAAAAR! ....I ship them unless there is a reason I should not.
Shen
these ship goggles dont come off
Kabocha
Several people are typing...
aliceapproved
Yeah, this arc is very Gemini focused and how she needs to grow as a character
I'm excited to see how Veil needs to grow as a character in the future
Kabocha
Yesh!
Shen
aye
aliceapproved
Gotta take turns!
RebelVampire
admittedly i do think veil kind of needs to learn to have fun probably
as a character arc
Tenor | Shinavar
But books are fun
Work is fun
saetje
well but organization is fun
RebelVampire
although i do wanna know now who veil is calling
and what he does with his not gemini friends
Tenor | Shinavar
RESPONSIBILITY
aliceapproved
Yeah, that's definitely something I see with Veil
Tenor | Shinavar
Just what the dr ordered
RebelVampire
i agree with organization and books but i meant more in how he carries himself
Jess
Oh! It’s a dial tone
RebelVampire
gotta learn to tweet those memes back
saetje
hahaha
Tenor | Shinavar
lmaaao
Shen
thats fair he could stand to lighten up lol they both need to learn a bit from each other. hes not got time for fun if he has to always be the "responsible" one because someone else took up all the "fun" XD
aliceapproved
Yeah! Guy needs to party and have an impulsive time for once rather than strictly schedule
They need to work together
Tenor | Shinavar
I do agree tho, with how in the know he seems to be, I'd like to know who all he's got, esp depending how they'll influence stuff in the future.
bc it seems he's from here whereas Gemini isn't soooo <_<;
mathtans
Veil can be fun. Veil can't be impulsive.
RebelVampire
yeah i do hope this circus experience teaches gemini more responsibility. in that maybe she should fill out more than a few apps XD
aliceapproved
Does Veil have a hard time making decisions?
Shen
"look how impulsively i filled out your applications for you isnt that fun?"
mathtans
Alice: Not if blueberries are involved.
aliceapproved
And yeah, Gemini certainly learning more responsibility and also, to trust in herself if she applies herself and focuses
Jess
Ahahaha
Tenor | Shinavar
I think Gemini jus needs to get to the point she doesn't need a child leash
Jess
Well and for me - I think when people are going through hardships, like Gem not being able to land a job, sometimes the worst parts of themselves show up. And while I love the character - (and hopefully) she’s shown to be kinda funny and not overly mean - I thought it was important to show her bad side early on
mathtans
I don't see her as mean, just easily distracted.
Tenor | Shinavar
^Same
She's irresponsible but not in a malicious way
Like if she hurt someone I'd be dead up surprised if it was intentional
aliceapproved
Yeah, that's definitely it ^^
mathtans
Tenor: She killed a dragon.
aliceapproved
I never thought of her as "mean"
Tenor | Shinavar
she is a sweet widdle cinnimon bun who needs protected from circuses and flashers
I said someone
Not thing
Kabocha
Gemini is Dovahkiin now lol
aliceapproved
I'm sorry, Mat, but they're pests in this universe. Cockroaches uugh
Tenor | Shinavar
Difference ;)
RebelVampire
oh yeah gemini is still super likeable. its more shes that adult who hasnt quite grown up yet. and youre kind of hand waving her to make stop being a kid 100% of the time.
mathtans
Fair.
aliceapproved
Yeah! She's like a kid fresh out of college
Jess
Oh good! Was kinda worried. But she’s definite selfish and flighty and I’m happy to see that it’s coming through
Without making her irredeemable
Draco Plato
yeah she's definitely still likeable
aliceapproved
Open to the free adult world, but still needs to learn how to adult cuz lord knows school prepares us for THAT
Tenor | Shinavar
Yeah nah there's not a mean bone in that child's body
Free spirit, I think is a good desc?
mathtans
The foxes are also spirits, but they're not free.
saetje
I'm glad! That's what we're going for- she's not intentionally harmful but has a lot of growing up to do. I don't think she realizes when her actions can hurt someone else.
aliceapproved
She's selfish and irresponsible, but there's still potential to be redeemed. She's a well-rounded character that's set up to evolve from this story and that's what makes sticking with this story so worth it!
saetje
no one's free when they teach Clown Jazzercise
RebelVampire
those poor foxes. gemini is actually doing them a service
mathtans
I wonder if this world has the Zodiac? Is Gemini's name at all related to that?
Kabocha
Pffff
Tenor | Shinavar
Oooh. <.< Good q
aliceapproved
Like, Veil is obviously responsible and an adult, so Gemini doesn't seem to think she has to think about Veil's feelings or words on some matters? He's got it all figured out! Me though? I need help. Veil, veil help me! What applications?! Not boring help ;; That's how I see Gemini
Kabocha
Gemini's the twins, yeah? Does Gemini have a sister, or a hidden second side where she's actually really competent?
mathtans
Maybe she's the good twin, and the evil one is in the circus.
aliceapproved
OOH, I'm curious about that, too, Math. I'm a Scorpio!
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
that means you have a scorpion in the circus
Shen
"the twins" the foxes...
Jess
Ahahaha yesssss
saetje
Can't really reveal the Gemini connection yeeet buuut, duality and twins have some play in the overarching story yes!
aliceapproved
DUN DUN DUUUN
Shen
PS im a Gemini~
Jess
Me tooooo!! Yesssss
Are you also plagued by fox clowns out of work
Kabocha
Gemini probably hasn't really taken time to consider other people's feelings long-term. I don't think she's quite there emotionally, but when she actually like.... really has it sink in that she worried Veil, that'll be interesting. Although she did acknolwedge she scared him, so I mean
aliceapproved
Secret revealed, Gemini is called Gemini cuz Jess is a Gemini
Tenor | Shinavar
Naaaice ~ Also omg the fox twins ffft- Makes me think
Kabo: Yeah, I don't think she fully got how bad the scare was?
Shen
sweet im gonna name my next character Sagittarius
Kabocha
Yeah, it's the depth that I think she lacks
Tenor | Shinavar
Like "I'm sorry for scaring you but not sorry I did the action to cause it :D" levels of immaturity
aliceapproved
@saetje What's your zodiac sign if you don't mind sharing?
mathtans
Plot twist, Gemini sells her soul to the Flower Wraith Shop, and the foxes have to buy it back to keep their shenanigans going.
Tenor | Shinavar
kjdhaskj
Kabocha
When she gets more insight it'll be awesome as she grows
Shen
LOL
Tenor | Shinavar
Kabo: Yeeeeees
Jess
She’s two fishes
saetje
Pisces
aliceapproved
Yeah, Gemini maturing as an adult is really exciting to wait for
My sister's two fish, too XD
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
twins............. two fish..............................
i see a theme here
Tenor | Shinavar
I really wanna see Gemini work for Death now hhh-
aliceapproved
OMG
Yes haha!
Maybe a temp job that doesn't work out somehow
Kabocha
Twist: Death only claims dead plants
Tenor | Shinavar
Mostly bc I'm stuck with Death having the VA as the Death from Conker's bad fur day and I just. Can't.
mathtans
"You should probably hold the scythe the other way."
Kabocha
"You're going to hurt yourself if you trim the shrubberies this way."
Tenor | Shinavar
"Why are you wearing all black it's hot af out go change, child"
RebelVampire
i hope death only claims dead plants cause otherwise gemini is basically going from one soul threatening adventure to another
saetje
haha so true
XDD
Tenor | Shinavar
WELL I MEAN
she just have to give death her soul
it's never said when
mathtans
Does it have to be her soul, or just a soul? Or maybe soul music?
Tenor | Shinavar
oh god
Just a soul can be how we find out Death accepts plants
RebelVampire
death better be a fan of soul music
saetje
you've split this concept wide open Maths
Shen
the sole of this shoe
Tenor | Shinavar
Shen NO
Shen
=D
saetje
SHEN YES
Jess
Yessss
aliceapproved
Another note about this story, is that I think it's a really good Young Adult story, cuz I feel myself and a bunch of other adults or kids coming out of college can relate to Gemini's story of trying to find work after moving out to live on their own
Tenor | Shinavar
That's Death's brother, Reaper.
mathtans
Veil: "Your spell checker has done you in. Gemini only has to give you her shoe sole."
Jess
Awwww!! Thanks so much
Tenor | Shinavar
Alice: Yeees. Tho I think this first big arc is good for younger children too
RebelVampire
the shoe in the dragon part was foreshadowing
aliceapproved
Yeah!
Tenor | Shinavar
Like my kiddo would love the art and atm if it goes where I suspect it might, it's a great lesson to learn young
saetje
Thanks @aliceapproved !! that makes me happy to hear because that's also what we're going for
Jess
Yeah actually when whenever we show Gem getting rejected I get real sad. Since some of it draws from our experiences
aliceapproved
You guys nailed it
Yeah, it was a big mood for me this year, so this story has been helping
Tenor | Shinavar
Rejeced? D:
Jess
Younger out of college Jess applied to be the new death - and I got turned down
RebelVampire
QUESTION 3. Though we certainly know Gemini and Veil a bit, much of their past history has yet to have been discussed. Why do you think Gemini has struck out on her own? Do you think it’s just to embrace adulthood, or is there something specific she’s seeking? Was there anything about Gemini’s journey into adulthood that you connected with? What about Veil? What do you think Veil’s backstory is? How do you think Veil and Gemini even know each other? Do you think Veil’s overprotectiveness of Gemini exists for a reason, or do you think it’s just part of Veil’s personality? In regards to their future, do you think that the two will be able to remain friends, or will their differing personalities get in the way of peaceful cohabitation? Do you think Gemini will be able to successfully get a job? Finally, will Gemini move out once she gets a job, or will Veil potentially actively sabotage it?
saetje
I guess now that we're getting more shows like "Aggretsuko" I'd say we'd like to hit around that target. Like, we're sort-of 'mature' only because of some of the (not-NSFW) themes resonates more with older folks. But hopefully there's still more to be enjoyed from a slightly younger YA/teen audience.
mathtans
Interesting last question there - I don't think Veil would actively sabotage, but might passively, without really thinking about it. "You can't move out next week, it's supposed to rain."
Shen
i think Gemini's irresponsibility combined with the double life (???????) shes got going on now is leading to a big fight with Veil. I dread it though
aliceapproved
SAME SHEN!!!
A big confrontation scene!
I can feel it coming
Veil finally calling out Gemini
I can only imagine the emotions!
Kabocha
...Can Veil handle confrontation where he gets pushback?
like, he can handle snark, but, an actual argument?
RebelVampire
yeah. veil might be the type who cant really deal with confrontation like that
Tenor | Shinavar
3: Gemini is homeschooled. If she's trying to branch out there's a chance she might either feel shackled a bit, or she's been encouraged by her parents to stretch her wings. Gemini ran into Veil lost puppy style, trufax. Brought her in from the rain and cold Veil's personality is probably tied to sorta trying to guide Gemini in the sense of law and order. Everything has a place, so you gotta do it- where you going coME BACK OMG I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU. I do believe here is going to be some strife at some point because Gemini has shown a lack of communication and emotional skill and Veil has shown a lack of willingness to bend. BUT I do believe this will clear up after some resolution from some juicy content So yes I believe they'll stay friends.
RebelVampire
although i think the confrontation is coming
saetje
That's a really great question, Kabocha. We haven't shown that yet :)c
Tenor | Shinavar
Maybe at worse a temporary not friends moment to crush our hopes and dreams
aliceapproved
Or maybe "not speaking" terms atm
RebelVampire
actually ya know what i could see as veil's big character arc is addressing change. cause the moving out thing may be more than veil just doesnt want gemini to go. it may be that veil is the sort that completely shuts down when there is change
saetje
y'all you guys have such insight, I'm loving your thoughts here. It's a relief to know you guys are getting a lot of what we're trying to put out and I love hearing your concepts, and concerns, for the characters!
Kabocha
I dunno that Veil realizes how overbearing he can be, to be honest. So.. Gemini's gonna get pushed to the edge and push back against him.
Tenor | Shinavar
Rbeel: Oooooh, that can be true too
aliceapproved
I think Gemini might resolve to move back in with her mom (which is LEAST wanted thing for her cuz I think she loves being out on her own), but Veil offers that she could still say with him, granted now that she has a proper not circus cursed job
Tenor | Shinavar
SOME chaos is good but what is his limit.
aliceapproved
RebelVampire, that's a really good note on Veil!
Tenor | Shinavar
Kabo: Yeah I get that. He seems so happy to 'help' but because he knows what you NEED to do to get done, he doesn't seem to fully 'get' that it's a lot for Gemini
aliceapproved
Veil's very much overprotective
Tenor | Shinavar
A bit of lack of empathy for the situation in the face of necessity?
aliceapproved
Yeah, like filling out applications is FuN???
Kabocha
He also doesn't understand how to break things down into smaller more completable tasks
mathtans
Gemini needs a source of income, maybe Veil's letting her stay for cheap?
Kabocha
he can handle a long list, but.... honestly, Gemini needs to feel accomplished at each step of the way and realize how much progress she's made
aliceapproved
Yeah, Gemini is a person that needs to be eased and break down steps, not all dumped at once
saetje
@Kabocha exactly- one of the flaws we've hopefully seen in Veil is that he can be pushy (literally physically pushing her around town int he beginning arc) and then tends to put too much on Gemini than what she's ready for at times.
Tenor | Shinavar
I got pushy though I didn' know the physical part was part of it
aliceapproved
Yeah! That page with her smushed with all his word bubbles was a great representation of that!
Tenor | Shinavar
I figured him grabbing her was because it was liTERALLY UNSAFE LOL
mathtans
Veil isn't as observant as Gemini, maybe because she's so distractible. He didn't realize she knew his fave berries and such.
saetje
Well I might've misspoke- it was more of a visual analogy for being emotionally pushy than, like, physically harmful or abusive.
Kabocha
He's basically trying to herd her lol
saetje
yes like a little sheep dog lol
aliceapproved
Yeah!
Tenor | Shinavar
OOOH OKAY
I getcha now lol
aliceapproved
Veil is honestly a toothpick and I bet a small breeze could push him over
Tenor | Shinavar
laskdjKLSDFJ
Jess
Lmao
saetje
omg
Tenor | Shinavar
Don't insult my son like that
just bc he can takje flight with those ears don't mean nuttin
Shen
LOL
aliceapproved
He's a GOOD SON!
saetje
oommg haha
aliceapproved
I love him!
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
veil is a good boi
aliceapproved
Boy ain't gonna win a bar fight is all haha!
Bless this sensitive boy!
Kabocha
http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=178 "You are in my personal space"
Tenor | Shinavar
Nah legit tho being the tiny I'm surprised he CAN push her, or at least shows she's willing somewhat to be guided
Jess
Guys. It’s the nose isn’t it
Tenor | Shinavar
omg someone draw me Veil getting carried off by gemini plz
Jess
He can do no wrong with a face so right
mathtans
Veil has a large picture of Spock in his room. Big fan.
Tenor | Shinavar
That's exactly it Jess
saetje
Honestly Gem could just pick him up and swing him around like a baseball bat if she wanted, I think.
Tenor | Shinavar
kaisdjfKHJDSF
I mean he is such a stiff
saetje
@mathtans definitely a huge Spock influence!
aliceapproved
OMG BASEBALL BAT
RebelVampire
veil's number one advice to gemini is to just think of what would spock do
Shen
PFFFFF
RebelVampire
then gemini asks who spock is
aliceapproved
http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=186 < a M O O D
mathtans
Gemini to Wraith: "Dammit Bones!"
RebelVampire
oh i loved that page with the giant to-do list
it was a great visual gag
aliceapproved
I definitely "treat myself" for small tasks when there are still more or bigger tasks to do haha!
Jess
Lol me too
saetje
I was REALLY into Star Trek a while back and almost did some 4-panel Star Trek Gemini Journey AU comics...I don't know if I have the sketches anymore though. Kind of psyched myself out of them
I think everyone works differently. You gotta treat yourself once in a while though!
Tenor | Shinavar
^
Jess
But going back to the characters - we hope to focus on their dynamic more and more. We love all y’all insight tho!
Tenor | Shinavar
reating yourself is importaaant
I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC AND AM HYPED FOR MORE
mathtans
Their dynamic is mezzoforte.
saetje
yeah I'm loving hearing all your thoughts and getting some insight into how you all are reading the comic. It can be tough when you're so close to something to really 'see' it anymore
I appreciate your thoughts!
aliceapproved
Yes! They're a great duo!
I'm always excited when there's an update and Veil and Gemini are interacting
And yeah! Ofc dude! Lots of pairs of eyes help
mathtans
Just want to say the style of the comic is really interesting... I don't think I've ever really seen it before, just having the one panel. Most trend to pages or 4-panel or whatever. But one panel can really speak volumes, even if it's just a reaction shot, done in this way.
Jess
That means so much to hear!
Tenor | Shinavar
As someone with a messed up wrist I appreciate it too bc scrolling hurts so this worked great
aliceapproved
I think the webtoons layout for it works really well for scrolling! I love reading updates before bed It fits so well!
saetje
Thanks! Honestly it's how I've always 'seen' it and I'm glad you all like that-- It's been a bit of a point of uncertainty for us. I'm hoping in the future we can get some sort of swiping option for mobile devices to swipe between panels on full-screen instead of always clicking
and yes! Webtoons has done well for us too
Kabocha
Yeah, I'll agree - carpal tunnel makes scrolling format hard, but your website is perfectly suited
thank you for having both options!
Jess
I gotta be honest when we made the decision to do it this way - we were so conflicted. We wanted to do this format becuase we envisioned it with simple panels and @saetje really works hard to make things look cinematic
Tenor | Shinavar
omg if you get swipe in I'd be so happy bc I do like 90% of my reading on my phone ;u;
aliceapproved
Yeah, I would definitely love that as a feature in the future. Clicking is fine, but it can be difficult going back and forth and waiting for a website to load
Oh yeah! This story really reads well as a show or film! The storyboard format
RebelVampire
yeah i was skeptical of the one panel thing at first but once i got used to it i thought it was really nice. especially for how much it allows to be fit on any one "page"
saetje
yeah! Tenor, we always wanted it to be REALLY mobile friendly. Like my ideal is to just let the panels fill a mobile screen and swipe to read. We just....aren't really programmers so we haven't figured that out so much yet XD BUT- I'm really happy to hear the one-panel tapping is easy on wrists! I've heard other people call us 'accessible' for that and that was an uninentional side effect but I'm happy to hear it.
aliceapproved
Yeah! Plus, you get cool scenes like the circus sequence back to Gem waking up in bed in the same pose as the juggler
Tenor | Shinavar
It's muchly appreciated too <33
RebelVampire
on a different note, im really intrigued by the fact that gemini's savings are in the form of like actual treasure. and im really curious if thats literally their hard currency, and if not, where did gemini get all that treasure.
Tenor | Shinavar
I think it is bc she says the coffee was a gold coin + a virgin's tear
Superjustinbros
I'm back!
Shen
"a gold coin AND a virgin tear what a rip off"
mathtans
They're paste gems.
aliceapproved
I think it's Mom's allowance to her before she moved
Superjustinbros
And glad you're aiming for a smooth mobile experience with the comic.
Tenor | Shinavar
So I'm curious, if you two are willing to answer this (and it's cool if not!) But what's inspired you guys to tackle this story? :D
Superjustinbros
I have to admit, sticking to one panel per page helps a lot
mathtans
Yeah, maybe Gemini should store up her tears and sell them on the street?
Tenor | Shinavar
omg math
saetje
omg
Superjustinbros
@mathtans
mathtans
Tear-able idea, I know.
Jess
It’s probably a bit different for both of us: We’re huge myth nerds but we felt like there wasn’t a story that really talked about what ppl just starting their journey was like.(edited)
Superjustinbros
oooo
saetje
@Tenor | Shinavar no problem at all! Honestly GJ has been through many iterations including an animated series pitch in 20...12?? It was my and @Jess 's senior project! It was always very heavily myth-inspired because we're really into that. It's a modern hero's journey
Tenor | Shinavar
Oooh~! <3
saetje
but basically what @Jess said
Superjustinbros
Did someone say, animated series?
Jess
Like the feeling of being unprepared to adult and the lack of jobs. The scariness of being on your own. Finding love, and losing it. And the fear of letting people down.
aliceapproved
That's a really good point, a Journey!
Jess
It’s why Gemini’s full name is Gemini Journey
aliceapproved
Also mythology is SO GOSH DANG GOOD
mathtans
I thought that was a clever play on words.
aliceapproved
I love all the mythical creature references!
Jess
And plus—- all this myth jokes Hahahaha
saetje
Yeah. What can we say--- we were starry-eyed animation students once (well, @Jess was a graphic design major)
Superjustinbros
Seconding mythology
and wow, that's quite impressive!
mathtans
Wouldn't want to myth out.
saetje
yes! I'm REALLY into myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Bookshelves are lined with them, and I still don't know everything. It's a really rich topic.
Jess
I was not a animator hahah but I like them. They are awesome
aliceapproved
World Mythology class was one of my all time favorite classes in college haha!
Jess
Me too!!
aliceapproved
and your animated ad was BEAUTIFUL
saetje
same @aliceapproved !
and thank you!
aliceapproved
Seeing Gem and Veil move is gorgeous and I could see little gifs of them interacting
mathtans
As for the question of the half hour, I'm thinking Gemini answered a "want ad" from Veil, looking for a roommate, and she was the only one willing to take the place. Everyone else thought he was too strict, would get upset if they left the milk out.
RebelVampire
oh thats good to know. i did wonder what the significance was in that her name was gemini journey
aliceapproved
when time allows to work on those kinds of things haha!
Jess
I think myths in general tell important truths about people while still being entertaining. I hope our story gives them justice
aliceapproved
You guys totally do!
RebelVampire
veil does seem like the type whod make horrified faces at the milk being left out XD
Jess
Yeah. It’s a play on the Hero’s Journey
aliceapproved
I wonder if Griffins will make an appearance. I love that Teacup manticores exist haha!
saetje
Definitely lots of fights about how to load the dishwasher correctly (if they even have one)
Superjustinbros
lol
Tenor | Shinavar
I believe you guys give them great justice! I's def creative and fun for sure! :D
mathtans
"You bought the powdered soap again...."
RebelVampire
posting a bit early but i feel we are segueing into the next question already
QUESTION 4. Although the world has present-day elements, there are also a slew of magical things. What aspect of the world intrigued you the most and why? Are there tidbits mentioned that you’d love to know more about in the future? Alternatively, is there any magical related creature or being that you’re hoping to see make an appearance in the comic? In regards to actual story canon, do you feel Gemini is familiar with this magical world or that she still has a lot to learn? In what ways do you think magical elements might come into play and make trouble for Gemini? Regardless of magic, what sorts of other conflicts are you hoping to see/do you think we’ll see, especially in regards to Gemini learning to be an adult?
saetje
@aliceapproved honestly one of our downfalls is @Jess and I want to showcase TOO MANY mythological animals b/c we love so many of them and have a lot of ideas for how they'd work in our world. But, to what cost to plot, ugh.
and yeah griffins are like on that list b/c GRIFFINS
Shen
give me werewolves
ill give you a dollar
Tenor | Shinavar
brb
mathtans
Magical dishwasher.
aliceapproved
VERY GOOD
mathtans
Do they have flying cars?
RebelVampire
have we seen a minotaur yet? need some minotaurs up in this joint.
and unicorns
aliceapproved
What I'm interested is the fact that Gemini is an Antlantean and I wonder how that factors into future story elements if any
And yes, PLEASE griffins, unicorns, and minotaurs
saetje
WELL, here's something I think I can give away that hasn't exactly been pointed out a lot of times in our story yet (we are getting to it): there aren't any humans in the GJ universe (http://geminijourney.com/index.php?c=74) so a concept of a werewolf to them would really be a "werehuman", haha. But there are other wolfed-figured beings like Wulvers from Irish myth.(edited)
Superjustinbros
Unicorns, you say?
~~suddenly thinking about centaurs~
aliceapproved
YEAH THAT'S RIGHT! I remember giggling at that "HUMAN TALE"
Human tale must be so boring to them XD
It's like OUR world, but NO MAGIC
oh wait, they're horror stories
saetje
^^ yes
mathtans
Is Gemini actually a magical girl?
saetje
I MEAN, there are some strong "Princess Tutu" influences already and even more so coming up
Shen
magical girls are my jaaaaaaaaaaam
RebelVampire
did notice gemini was an antlantean, didnt realize there were no humans
i actually hope the gemini veil fight happens
Superjustinbros
What does the transformation sequence look like
RebelVampire
so we can see gemini's home
that sounds amazing
Superjustinbros
I must know
mathtans
Gemini is a duck?
saetje
how did you know?
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
a WHAT
Jess
Nooooo you figured it out
aliceapproved
I wanna meet Gemini's mom haha!
I've seen the art but gosh
or Veil interacting with them
Honestly, Veil and Gemini meet the other's parent(s)
mathtans
Waiting for the episode where Cupid accidentally shoots Veil with an arrow.
Jess
Yeah admittedly - the character designs for gems mom @saetje has done I’m really digging. I can’t wait for her appearance
mathtans
Veil falls in love with a dial tone. Very embarassing.
Jess
“Accidentally”
I love that
We need to rewrite the next episode stat
mathtans
He meant to shoot Gemini but Veil protected her.
saetje
um YEAH Math is going to be our new head writer
awww
mathtans
aliceapproved
LOL
Superjustinbros
Math, you should re-write all our comics/stories
saetje
omg agree
aliceapproved
I think you guys have a great Valentine's idea strip coming!
Superjustinbros
mind blown from the idea of a Math/SJB production
puns and jokes and visual gags everywhere
RebelVampire
i hope gemini's mom is super awesome. i feel like she must be and gemini wants to be awesome like her
mathtans
Let me try to get to 10 people reading my own comic first, maybe.
Superjustinbros
lol
I read your stuff and it's pretty rad @mathtans
mathtans
Would Gemini's dad still be in the picture, I wonder?
Superjustinbros
Gemini's uncle?
aliceapproved
Gemini's grunkle?
Shen
My dad? your dad?
saetje
hahaha, Uncle Saggitarius, Auntie Pisces...
aliceapproved
OMG
Jess
All dads
Superjustinbros
OMG
aliceapproved
HAHA!!! Great idea!
Superjustinbros
I dunno why but i always caught onto the name Saggitarius
Shen
in a shocking twist, veil isn't Gemini's love interest hes her dad
mathtans
Gemini could have two moms for all we know.
saetje
LORD
Superjustinbros
and it's totally not because I love centaurs
mathtans
(I now ship Gemini's parents, I guess...?)
aliceapproved
For Halloween, there probably should be a "Scary Human Tale" and it's filing taxes
Shen
XD
RebelVampire
well to be fair, dont need to be blood related for him to be her dad in a way. i mean he is basically pushing for her to succeed, teaching her stuff, and generally being the responsible adult
Shen
Veil is her dad confirmed
he loves and supports her and wants the best for her even when shes at her worst
Superjustinbros
daww
Shen
ps saetje and Jess i hope you guys are in DMs with each other just screaming about all the dumb shit we're saying XD
Superjustinbros
lmao
Jess
Are... you here with us
Superjustinbros
I never thought of CTP's featured creators ever doing that
aliceapproved
Repeating what a previous comment mentioned, it'll be fun to see how Veil falls for Gemini, like the spark that ignited his feelings for her and hopefully for Gemini in turn
Shen
LMAO
mathtans
Veil is actually a magic clone of her dad that was sent by the ghost of her grandfather, Thor?
saetje
oh, @Jess is my S/O so we're just chatting in our living room together and loving everything y'all say
Jess
But honestly this has been so inspiring
Shen
oh even better!
Tenor | Shinavar
BACK. #4: THe aspect that inrigues me the most is how diverse the world is and how it just is all one big melting pot. It's colorful and you've no idea what's around the corner. :D I'm curious if something like a Wendigo might get seen! :D
Superjustinbros
Daww, that's cute! (edited)
also WB!
Tenor | Shinavar
THaaaaank
Superjustinbros
np~
brb for a sec
mathtans
Wendigos is scary stuff. O.o
Tenor | Shinavar
Yes they are
saetje
I LOVE the myth of Wendigo! No plans, esp. because they start out as human, but. I enjoy that one a lot
Tenor | Shinavar
But also like, one of my favorites so-
That's fair!
RebelVampire
can never see wendigo in a positive light. 2spooky.
mathtans
Wendigone.
Shen
that eliminates vampires, too....
RebelVampire
i hope there are phoenixes. and i hope gemini doesnt know them offhand and freaks out when one bursts into flames.
aliceapproved
Would aliens fall into the category or is that too sci-fi?
Lol a fantasy world that has stories that are sci-fi
Jess
But what if we made a chain. And it’s a reheaded wendigo that sells burgers with square patties
Tenor | Shinavar
Y R U MEAN TO THAT CHILD REBEl
omg
oMG
plz
Jess
I mean —-
mathtans
Oh, phoenixes are fun.
aliceapproved
Phoenix chicks!!!
Tenor | Shinavar
"We sell Hyumahn meat"
aliceapproved
Little baby Phoenixes pls haha!
Shen
phoenix lady dating a merman
aliceapproved
Fresh from death!
I mean Rebirth!
mathtans
Jess: I got that.
Sassy twitter extra.
saetje
We've been throwing around a phoenix story idea! They're also a personal favorite
again: too many great myth/fairy tale creatures we love, guuh.
aliceapproved
Again as said earlier, I'm really happy that Kappas made an appearance, too! I love it when mythical creatures from all over the world are in one place together
Shen
i just love how he knew how defeat the kappa lol
mathtans
"Why's that bird hanging around the Vietnamese shop?" "It's a Pho Enix."
Shen
BOOO MATH XD
saetje
IE: we thought of Veil and Gem "babysitting" a sphinx and Gem keeps feeding it puns and popsicle riddles (junk food) when it needs, like, existential riddles for nutrients, ha.
RebelVampire
yes i do think theres a great mixture of things from tons of diff cultures. it really makes the world extra super colorful.
Tenor | Shinavar
AWH
Yes plz sphinx bby
RebelVampire
i bet veil has some great existential riddles
mathtans
Aw, those are cute drawings.
aliceapproved
AAAAWW
Shen
GOSH
Tenor | Shinavar
I'll hate it because the puns will hurt so much but UGGGH IT'D BE SO CUTE I'LL DIE FROM IT
Shen
SLEEPY VEIL MELTING MY HEART
Beyonce - Don’t Hurt Yourself
OMG CUTEEEEEEE
Kabocha
Awww, Veil, that is just way too cute ^_^
aliceapproved
Your sketches are SO GOOD
mathtans
(Speaking of, when do we get the pastries that I saw on Veil's plate for the CTP today?)
aliceapproved
Your guys' ideas are SO GOOD
saetje
older concepts BUT. Again. there are SO MANY potential for fun-myth-animal stories we tend to get lost in them, haha. I don't know how much/if any will make it into the comic
I'll mail them out Math!
Jess
The pastries were there all along. In your heart
aliceapproved
Do you guys plan to do little intermission stories before doing a big arc like this one?
saetje
yes! Just like the roach comic
Jess
Yup!
aliceapproved
Like the dragon cockroach felt like a good mini-story before we got a meaty story
saetje
we plan to do little minis between bigger arcs
aliceapproved
YEAH!
Tenor | Shinavar
Sweet! :D
Jess
We want to alternate between large stories and smaller world building stuff
Tenor | Shinavar
Exciiiiiited
mathtans
Anyway, gtg, baby needs me. Best with the comic!
RebelVampire
good luck math~!
Jess
Best!! And thanks for stopping by!!
saetje
thanks for coming Math! Best wishes
aliceapproved
Bye, Math!!!
Tenor | Shinavar
Oh more queestions~ Due to how your comic is constructed, do you find you have more time to work on it, and/or you got a good healthy buffer?
BYE MATH
saetje
oh that's a really good question Tenor!
Originally, for like the last two years we've had almost a 6 mo queue, because also only update bi-weekly. But we recently ran out of that queue because LIFE and freelance hit us hard XDD so we've been trying to catch up somewhat successfully. As far as page-speed creation, I think it can vary widely but both @Jess and I have gotten a lot faster than we used to be. When we're really able to focus after-work hours (no life and freelance jams getting too much in the way) we can do about 4-6 panels in a single week, about 10-20 hours between us
The thing is though, one of the draw-backs of single panel shots is you DO have to show a lot more, I think, than just a page-layout comic.
Superjustinbros
Oooh!
That's interesting~
also bye Math
saetje
like, if we took those panels and made them into a page layout we would get away with showing less, I think, and possibly saving some time? But it's hard to gauge because also there's panel layout and flow and page composition to consider that we don;t have to worry as much about
Jess
Yeah I was gonna say the same thing. Actually the full panels largest drawback is that you have to draw sooooo much. In a comic with many panels you could cut to a talking head suddenly - in ours, because of the layout we have to be very careful not to take them out of context too quickly and too frequently
saetje
yeah good point Jess
Tenor | Shinavar
That's a good point. It's such an interesting thing o consider because - I guess the easiest way I can describe it is like the illustrations in children's books. They can be just so world building and easter-eggy so it's interesting to consider the differences!
Jess
So it’s a mixed bag. On one hand you are making only one image at a time. Sometimes even usi a lot of the same assets. But on the other - it’s a full color illustration and having to show minute changes in expression to keep the pace from seeming too quick can be a challenge too
Yeah that too!!
RebelVampire
im curious if you took printing into consideration. idk if youve printed the comic before or ever intended too. just wondering how a single panel per page comic would work in that case.
Superjustinbros
Yeah, I see what you're saying, do one-panel updates but fill them with lots and lots of detail?
saetje
or if the pacing reads too slow too- panel comics (or comics made by animators in general) can also be too slow b/c us animators LOVE showing those minute pose/expression changes, which can sometimes read slow. I'm always stressed about the pace, ha.
whitneyandcompany
Hi! Love the comic
Tenor | Shinavar
I could see, in print form, largely remaining single panel per page, or for the more fast paced ones tweak to 2-3 on the page
saetje
@Jess and I always imagined the comic a digital-first production, but if we were to go to print it'd likely be something along the lines of what Ava's Demon did. Just, single panels-per-page. But @Jess being the graphic designer who often works in print too might have some other ideas on that
Hi @whitneyandcompany thank yoouu
Jess
So when creating one of the things we did as a priority is consider the mobile screen first. Which is the opposite of what is the norm. If we were to do a book it would be handled where we put a very limited amount of images on a page. Maybe 1-2 similar to Ava’s demon
aliceapproved
Yeah, the drawback of single-paged stuff is exactly that. Focusing more on some things, like a character going through emotions can read more slowly even tho it's important to the story
Tenor | Shinavar
ugh ilu for the mobile love lol
Superjustinbros
Just thought I'd say before the CTP ends- good luck with the rest of Gemini Journey, @saetje and @Jess. It's really coming along well and you're definitely got a good story here to tell as well.
aliceapproved
But it works so well for mobile scrolling, it's so friendly!
Tenor | Shinavar
Like I can't express how frusrating it is for me bc there's SO many people who own their own sites and it's not mobile friendly
saetje
thanks @Superjustinbros have a good night!
aliceapproved
Maybe you could have 3 panels per page if printed?
Tenor | Shinavar
I live on the go I NEED THAT MOBILITY ;n;
Superjustinbros
You too, and thanks for being here, @saetje!
saetje
@Tenor | Shinavar I got to be honest with you- as a webcomic fan and reader for MANY years I feel that
Kabocha
I really look forward to reading this in the future. It's enjoyable and to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what I was in for at first... BUT it is a pleasure to read!
Superjustinbros
And cya to you as well, @Jess.
Jess
Awwww thanks!!
Kabocha
Thank you for creating an amazing comic. :3
Superjustinbros
Anytime!
RebelVampire
yeah im glad priority was placed on mobile because it is basically the way thing are going, whether ppl want that or not.
Superjustinbros
^
Tenor | Shinavar
YES it was a fun surprise! (And def last minute for me bc I didn't realize it was something I could read lmao OTL)
saetje
Thank you @Kabocha for your wonderful insights and kind comments! Thanks for coming
RebelVampire
and its definitely a beautiful comic. i think the pacing works out great as well~!
whitneyandcompany
You guys are the reason I downloaded the web toon app, I look forward to every update
aliceapproved
Thank you for making such an inspirational and gorgeous comic!
Jess
Awww well it means so much to hear you guys say that
aliceapproved
I always look forward to your updates!
Superjustinbros
In that case, cya everyone!
aliceapproved
And yes, you're the reason I downloaded the web toon app, too!
saetje
oommmg @whitneyandcompany , thank you
Shen
im glad i got to read this story its so good so far and i cant wait to read more~
Jess
It’s been really humbling for us to put our work out there. But I am so incredibly touched right now
Superjustinbros
Glad to hear~
saetje
Thank you @Shen! I look forward to more of your comic as well! I'm glad you like it.
Shen
GOSH <3
saetje
Yeah everyone, thank you for coming and letting us know you thoughts It has meant the WORLD to us
aliceapproved
You guys are amazing and I love your work
Tenor | Shinavar
Thank you for signing up so we could disect it /shot
RebelVampire
COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!
Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero, as well, for making Gemini Journey. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Tracy MacLauchlan & Yesenia Carrero’s efforts however you’re able to~!
Read and Comment: http://geminijourney.com/
Donate via Paypal.me: https://www.paypal.me/YeseniaCarrero
Tracy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/saetje
Yesenia’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Demongemini6
Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club
Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about The Hunter of Fenaur by CalimonGraal. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, September 20th, from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!
Comic’s Main Site: http://hunter.fenauriverse.moe/
Comic’s Tapas Mirror: https://tapas.io/series/the-hunter-of-fenaur
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cdc1345711 · 4 years
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OC Story: Academy Days 1
(Chip proposed to his Girlfriend Ari before the New Year awaiting their wedding in February of 2021 and despite what everyone says Chip is Romantic and what better way to show it than to Ari's job at Mandrake University as he steps out his car and checks the Directions on his Phone)
Chip:Mandrake Academy? Yep this is the place....now the effort of finding Ari's Office......oi vey"
(He searched around asking Students while inside Ari was hanging in the lounge with her fellow educators)
Ari:(Putting Creamer in her Coffee)Another Day Another Dollar or at least that's what the Board Says"
Owlferd:(Anthropology Teacher and Owl)I agree Ari least you're shift hasn't started yet"
Ari:It did but I got no clients till after Lunch"
Wanda:(Coed Coach/Entomology Teacher Wasp)My class is about to start....damn early risers"
Ari:Just like High School"
Connie:(Cone Headed Honors Science)Except most of the Students look like they're Held back a couple of years"
(Everyone laughs)
Wanda:So......anyone going to the Headmasters Party tonight?"
Owlferd:Only downside of Tenure of I got to go hohoho it's no trouble for me it's just my Husband doesn't wear much Formal Attire"
Connie:Speaking of 'Husbands' when are we gonna meet yours Ari"
Ari:First off Not my Husband YET we're engaged Second He's very busy and isn't a Formal Fellow as well"
Wanda:That so? Or is he fake?"
Ari:Not Fake he's real"
Wanda:Sure(says sarcastically)"
Moe:(Lorologist aka Primate Guy who studies lore comes in making a dash for the Coffee)Coffee coffee coffee need it......(gets his cup)"
Wanda:You okay Beu?"
Moe:Classes about to start and I SWEAR to every Gods if someone asks me another Eldritch Question I might bash my head in.....(takes a deep breath and exhales calming down)so what I miss?"
Owlferd:We're talking about the existance of Ari's Fiance"
Moe:Seriously? What are we in Middle School?"
Ari:Thank You Moe"
Moe:It's up there with 'My Boyfriend who lives in Canada' and 'My BF is my Cat'"
Ari:Okay that last one isn't real"
Connie:Like your Fiance...."
Ari:HE'S REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Owlferd:Well Ari you never showed us a picture of him......"
Wanda:Hell you Never gave us his name"
Ari:Well......its because we want our private life to be uuuh whats the word umm.....Private"
(Everyone Stares)
Ari:Alright......his name is Chip"
Moe:The Psychotic Metal Organic?"
Ari:He's more Sociopathic than Psychotic"
(Everyone looks at each other and all laugh)
Wanda:Seriously the Greatest Assassin ever is marrying you?"
Ari:Mmmmm"
(Bell Rings)
Moe:Time to Work.....we'll pick off later(phone ding)huh?(looks at it)oh shit turns out some Bearded Weirdo is on Campus"
Wanda:That......narrows it down to most of the Students here"
Moe:But he's not a student....probably just a Homeless Guy snuck in....again"
Owlferd:3rd time this week by my count"
Ari:Well if anything Security might catch him"
(Back to Chip he so far hasn't found anyone who knows where Ari's Office is until he stops to asks some Stoners)
Chip:Yo Potheads....."
Stoner 1 Grass Guy:Whoa man this is medicinal..."
Chip:Grass smoking Grass? Either Charles Coburn thinks this is original or he's REALLY bad at being funny"
Stoner 2:Whuuuut?"
Chip:Nothing anyone here knows a Miss Ari Zira? Or more importantly the location of her Office?"
Stoner 3:No"
Stoner 1:Why so you can Narc on us Fascist?"
Chip:I really don't give a shit I just.....wait those Grade A Mary Jay?"
Stoner 2:Yeah man....."
Stoner 1:We'd share but we don't share with cops...."
Chip:Not a cop just trying to find my Soon to be Wife"
Stoner 3:Likely story.....NARC!!!!!"
Chip:(Whispers as he face palms)Jesus Fucking Christ looks Shaggy Scooby and Dooby either you tell me where Your Psychologist is or I'm taking all your Weed"
Stoner 1:You and what Army man?"
(Chip just looks straight for a moment and in the next scene he's walking away with a box of Doobies whistling....how he can whistle without a mouth don't ask me bub it's my story-speaking of.....as he walks off he's stopped by a Axe Headed Guy A Gorilla and a Coyote)
Konk:Freeze you the Bearded Weirdo walking around the University?"
(Chip just looks at him confused)
Hatchet:Sorry there is like a billion Bearded Weirdos here....must of asked 50 people to show us their student ID"
Chip:Well.......Im not a student I'm just a Guy holding this Doobies I snagged from a couple of pot smoking retards...."
Colty:WAIT......that Pure Marijuana?"
(Chip eye widens......next minute everybody is smokin the Weed)
Konk:Man....they don't make this shit like this anymore...."
Chip:Very few thing my People can feel honestly"
Hatchet:So....why you here Chip?"
Chip:Surprise Visiting my Wife Ari Zira....."
Konk:The University Psychologist?"
Chip:Thank FUCKING God someone knows her"
Colty:Course we know her....helped me get over my Issues with my Mom"
Hatchet:Helped me get in touch in my inner self"
Konk:Helped me overcome my homicidal anger by finally coming out of the closet as a self confidant Bisexual Man"
(Everyone looks at him)
Konk:Yep I'm Bi(Changed subject)So you want us to help you find your Girl?"
Chip:Be Appreciated....."
Konk:Then let's go...."
(Other side Ari is visited by the Vice Headmaster Todd the Fox)
Todd:Ari how is the School's Best Psychologist?"
Ari:Kinda meh Morning but I'm better now. And you Vice Headmaster?"
Todd:Well.......I'M FREAKING OUT!!!!!!"THERE'S ANOTHER WEIRDO IN OUR CAMPUS......what if he's armed"
Ari:You shouldn't judge that person....for all we know he or she is probably hungry and as decent beings we should not be fearful but helpful towards the poor soul"
Todd:And THAT Ari is proof of your Tenure"
Ari:See there....wait SERIOUSLY???"
Todd:YES"
(Both Squeal in excitement but quickly calm down)
Ari:Finally I've worked hard for Tenure....."
Todd:And you deserve it a lot....(looks at the clock)oooh almost lunch care to join me?"
Ari:Why not?"
(The 2 leave for Lunch while Chip bonds with the Security Team)
Chip:This Campus has a BAR?"
Colty:Yeah it's called Barsco it's run by our Friend Rosco....if you plan to stay longer we can take you there"
Chip:Really?"
Hatchet:He has booze for everybody Even Lighter Fluid and Gasoline for Metal Organics"
Chip:Sounds like my kinda Guy"
Konk:Yo wanna get some grub first I'm hungry...."
Hatchet:Munchies Man....."
Chip:They're a Cunt"
(As they Chat Ari and Todd were walking to the Cafeteria as they bump into......)
Ari/Todd:MR.MANDERS?"
Mr.Manders:Hoho Hello Todd and Ari....(he's holding a tray of A Burger Tater Tots and a Sparkling Ice)Just in luck they're serving Bean Burgers my Favorite...."
Ari:That's great Headmaster...."
Mr.Manders:So Ari can I expect to see you at my Party tonight?"
Ari:Oh idk Sir I gotta check my schedule to see if it's not booked"
Mr.Manders:Oh I understand Duties come first you know....btw have you heard the news?"
Ari:No Sir(she lies thinking he's about to say she's getting Tenure which will up her pay making sure to help Chip with their Wedding)what is it?"
(Gestures them to move forward as they do and whispers to them)
Mr.Manders:The Security team found the Bearded Fellow who snuck in on Campus....."
Ari:Oh(feeling a bit dissappointed)well least they got him out safely"
Mr.Manders:Actually they didn't...."
Todd:They beat him up?"
Mr.Manders:No....hes still here"
(They turn to see the cart)
Ari:(In Horror)Oh No"
Chip:ARI!!!!!!(walks up and hugs her)Been trying to find you all damn day so far none of the students know your office....I had to beat up a bunch of Stoners as I 'took' their Cush and met my New Best Friends right here"
Konk/Hatchet/Colty: Hi Ari"
Ari:Hi Boys(to Chip)Why are you here....'Honey'?"
Chip:I wanted to surprise you by Romantically coming to your work"
MrMander:Mhmm(coughs as the Other Faculty joins in)Ari mind introducing us to your friend"
Ari:(Gulps)Right Mr.Manders Todd and Everyone this is Chip my Fiance....."
Wanda:(Whispers)Holy Shit she wasn't lying"
Todd:Well even though it's nice to meet you Mr......Chip was it? You are however tresspassing on University grounds"
Chip:Don't get your Panties in a twist Nick Wilde I'm here for Ari"
Todd:Why I never...."
(Just then someones bag was stolen)
Girl:HELP!!!!!"
Mr.Manders:THIEF!!!!!!"
Todd:Quick securi....."
(And in a flash Chip catches the thief and pummels him as he realizes....)
Chip:Holy Shit you're the Stoner Kid"
Stoner 1:You stole my livelihood man....gad to earn green somehow...."
Chip:Yeah yeah....(knocks him out)"
Mr.Manders:(Clapping)My My what skills you were amazing"
Chip:Twas nothing sir"
Mr.Manders:'Twas' ooh Ari your Future Husband is quite a sophisticant"
Chip:I try...."
Mr.Manders:Would you like to come to my Party Tonight? It's to Celebrate the Anniversary of our University being the first to integrate Metal Organics it will be catered and I'll announce a New Tunre Employee"
Chip:Huh can't say no to that plus free dinner I'll be there"
Mr.Manders:Oh Splendid"
Moe:Uuuuh Ari......"
Wasp:You okay Girl?"
Ari:(Grinding her teeth and says angrily)Never......Better"
Chip:Hey Hon I'm gonna start getting ready see you at home(kisses her cheek)"
Owlferd:Nice Bod...nothing on my Man though"
(Night of the Party And Chip and Ari are wearing their Best Formal Clothes)
Chip:Hmmm Swanky"
Ari:(Stops him)Look Chip this is not just some fancy party by your Rich Friends or by the Lewd Crew this is my Job with my Coworkers and Boss so please please PLEASE be on your best behavior alright?"
Chip:(Looks straight at her)Okay what's up you're really on edge?"
Ari:I'm not on edge it's nothing...."
Chip:Let's cut the Bullshit Ari you know we're on the same scale when it comes to smarts"
Ari:Dammit alright.....I...I was told I might get Tenure...by Todd...."
Chip:Fox Boy? Okay(thinking of something)"
(They Enter and Ari meets up with Wanda and Moe)
Ari:Hello Everyone....Wanda Nice sashes"
Wanda:Thanks Bug People don't usually wear clothes but even we can look pretty"
Chip:Nice Suit"
Moe:Right back at ya"
Konk:HEY CHIP"
Chip:KONK you made it"
Konk:Wouldn't miss it"
Chip:Where are the rest of the Guys?"
Konk:At Barscos. They ain't the Formal Types"
Chip:Heh the more I know about them the More I like them"
Owlferd:Hoohoo Hello Ari(accompanied by his Husband)Chip this is my Husband....."
Chip:BASILISK......"
Basilisk:CHIP......"
Chip:You old Son of a Bitch"
Owlferd:Seems you both know each other"
Chip:Shared a Mission once his Eyes of Penance whew Powerful Shit"
Basilisk:Had to be to stop those Humanoids....(to Owlferd)Later Hon"
Todd:(With his Rabbit GF Lydia)Ari hi...."
Chip:('Hmm guess I was wrong')Bunny GF? Goddamn you are Nick Wilde"
lydia:He tries"
Todd:Hopefully things go smoothly without(looks at Chip)interruptions"
Chip:(Just Grunts)"
Mr.Manders:(On Stage)Good to see all you lovely faces here Tonight"
Konk:This will take a while(drinks his flask)want some?"
Chip:Can't taste booze but what the Hell(drinks some) anyone else?"
Moe:Yo"
Mr.Manders:My Grandfather Founded this University in 1945 and My Father was the first to integrate with Metal Organics in 1958..."
Chip:Apparently his Family has a Jesus complex.....which Ironic for me...."
Wanda:How come?"
(Chip reveals his Star of David Necklace)
Wanda:Oh okay"
Mr.Manders:Now without further adieu our new Tenure is.......Ari Zira"
Ari:YES.....I mean yes"
Todd:Yay Ari"
Wanda:You go Girl"
Mr.Manders:Congratulations Ari and I'm also proud to pronounce our newest employee...."
Ari:What......"
Mr.Manders:I was impressed with his skills this morning and while he left to prepare for Tonight I asked him......would you like to be in our University's Security....followed by his yes.....Mr.Chip Cosmas"
Ari:Que..?"
Chip:Wanted it to be a surprise....now we can see more of each other"
Ari:But....your Assassin Business....the Training of the Next Warriors?"
Chip:I thought of spending more time with my Future Wife...."
Ari:Oooh(walks up to the drinks and start drinking)"
Chip:Why she upset? She got Tenure"
Todd:You really can't see it can you?"
Chip:You got something to say say it Foxy"
Todd:I doubt you can grasp it"
Chip:(Wanting to punch but holds back)Not worth it"
Todd:Good to hold back Huh Meto....."
(Chip heard what he said and as quick as lightning punches Todd slamming him on the table)
Ari:What the Hell?"
(Todd tried to fight back but Chip was better as he beat Todd up)
Ari:CHIP STOP IT....STOP IT NOW(holds him off)You seriously can't go one night without being an Angry Animal can you not even for me? And to my friend and Coworker?"
Chip:Ari you don't understand....."
Ari:What I don't understand is why you couldn't do this one thing ONE FUCKING THING for me....just NOT BE YOU!!!!!"
Chip:Ari he's trying to get with you.....by making me the bad guy"
Todd:What? No I'm not Ari is my Friend and I love Lydia you psycho....."
(And as Chip heard his Voice his words were true)
Chip:Then why where you an Asshole to me?"
Todd:Because you're image isn't right for Ari....shes sophisticated and intelligent but you're a Violent Monster....."
Chip:You don't know a Fucking thing about me.....Ari...."
Ari:Chip please.....I just.....dont wanna see you now....(she cries)"
(Chip leaves looking back and Konk goes to Ari saying)
Konk:He had another reason Ari....."
(At Barscos the Campus Bar Chip is drowning his sorrows in Arsenic and Gin)
Chip:Another Round....."
Rosco:Sure Pal.....(puts in the Lighter Fluid Soda Water and Gin)"
Chip:Leave the Cannister"
Rosco:Whoa Bud I can't just(Chip stares at him angrily) eh Fuck it(leaves the Lighter Fluid)"
(Second later Ari shows up and sits next to Chip)
Chip:Hey....."
Ari:Hey........"
Chip:I really Fucked shit up didn't I?"
Ari:Yes......."
Chip:Guess I'm fired?"
Ari:Could've......"
Chip:What?"
Ari:Konk told me what Todd said to make you Angry......seems I was the one who Fucked Shit Up in a metaphorical sense...."
Chip:You were caught in a misunderstanding that's all.....didn't mean your were wrong....I got Angry and beat the living shit out of your friends at work......"
Ari:Well after he used that Racist Slur He's knocked down a few pegs.....sigh it was true I thought you'd jeopardize my chances of Tenure"
Chip:Why you so hellbent on this Tenure Shit?"
Ari:It's because....I wanted the pay bonus to help pay for our wedding"
Chip:Ari I said I got it...."
Ari:Chip we're about to spend our lives together....that means we're a team and we should be there for each other"
Chip:Hmm......that Fox was right about one thing....you're smart as Fuck"
(Mr.Manders arrives)
Chip:Oh Headmaster.....sorry for earlier....I lost my shit"
Mr.Manders:I heard what Todd said he's taking a HR Seminar so he can be more open minded as for the party well.....since the Gym is a mess(the Caterers come in with the Food)Guess we can move it to this fine Bar...with Owner's permission"
Rosco:Got my Approval Boss"
(And so the night that started off unexpected turned into something better as Chip and Ari's Bonds grew stronger for it. The Next Day)
Ari:Ready for your First day?"
Chip:Hell Yeah I am(Walks to the Security Office and looks around ready for this New Chapter in his Life"
THE END
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snowyrosepetals · 6 years
Text
1. What is your full name? Crow Raven Cross
2. What is your nickname? Bird? xD
3. What is your zodiac sign? Aquarius
4. What is your favorite book series? idek, i havent read a book in a while
5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? hELL YE 
6. Who is your favorite author?J.K. Rowling? 
7. What is your favorite radio station? Dont listen to radio
8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? ooo, mint?
9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? I say neat a lot so probs that
10. What is your current favorite song? The Moon Rises MLP bc Im a nerd
11. What is your favorite word? uh, fantabulous
12. What was the last song you listened to? Everything Black by Unlike Pluto
13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? supernatural
14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? Beauty and the Beast
15. Do you play video games? yES
16. What is your biggest fear? Being alone
17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? My eyes
18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? everything else
19. Do you like cats or dogs better? kittiess
20. What is your favorite season? Winter
21. Are you in a relationship? nOPE
22. What is something you miss from your childhood? never had one xD
23. Who is your best friend? whats that
24. What is your eye color? Blue/green/gray
25. What is your hair color? Magenta/Pink
26. Who is someone you love? 
27. Who is someone you trust? A smol loaf
28. Who is someone you think about often? oof
29. Are you currently excited about/for something? yeah excited for sleep
30. What is your biggest obsession? youtube lmao
31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Icarly ftw
32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? probs a smol loaf I know
33. Are you superstitious? Ive seen some shit so ye
34. Do you have any unusual phobias? somtimes when looking at fire i picture what its like seeing everything burning, so, nah 
35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? behind 
36. What is your favorite hobby? eating butterscotch candy and hating myself 10/10
37. What was the last book you read? Alice in wonderland 
38. What was the last movie you watched? Black Butler Book of the Antlantic
39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? none but wanna play piano
40. What is your favorite animal? wolf or fox
41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow? no idea, love you all the same~ <3
42. What superpower do you wish you had? shapeshift 
43. When and where do you feel most at peace? alone in the woods by a lake
44. What makes you smile? cute drawing/animals/being talked to ffs
45. What sports do you play, if any? Professional sleeper
46. What is your favorite drink? Shirley Temple or Cherry coke
47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? a few months ago? 
48. Are you afraid of heights? depends ig, but not really
49. What is your biggest pet peeve? someone constantly tapping
50. Have you ever been to a concert? yup
51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? nu
52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? dead, so I succeeded 
53. What fictional world would you like to live in? The world in Rwby
54. What is something you worry about? everything
55. Are you scared of the dark? nope
56. Do you like to sing? sometimes
57. Have you ever skipped school? all the time
58. What is your favorite place on the planet? my bed
59. Where would you like to live? anywhere in a forest
60. Do you have any pets? 1 doggo
61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? i mean, its 1:45AM so, totally early bird
62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunset
63. Do you know how to drive?  yup
64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? split between the two
65. Have you ever had braces? nope
66. What is your favorite genre of music? honestly any
67. Who is your hero? whoever invented hot pockets 
68. Do you read comic books? used to
69. What makes you the most angry? people blaming you for their problems :D
70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? real book
71. What is your favorite subject in school? English or art
72. Do you have any siblings? wish i didnt
73. What was the last thing you bought? a scooby doo shirt
74. How tall are you? 6′0
75. Can you cook? yuppers
76. What are three things that you love? roses, my pc, my bed
77. What are three things that you hate? shit only 3? people, flies, and uh, idek hot weather 
78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? honestly ive always had female friends, idk why i just get along with them better
79. What is your sexual orientation? pansexual
80. Where do you currently live? Arizona in the middle of nowhere, in a cabin in the woods
81. Who was the last person you texted? a bread loaf
82. When was the last time you cried? legit 5 minutes ago
83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? Achievement Hunter
84. Do you like to take selfies? no bc i look ugly, yes bc filters make me cute
85. What is your favorite app? instagram
86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? hope i never see them again :D
87. What is your favorite foreign accent? british
88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? disney world
89. What is your favorite number? 24
90. Can you juggle? nope
91. Are you religious? hail satan
92. Do you find outer space of the deep ocean to be more interesting? i guess??
93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? depends?
94. Are you allergic to anything? grass and coconut 
95. Can you curl your tongue? yas
96. Can you wiggle your ears? yup
97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? fairly often? 
98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? forest 
99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? die
100. Are you a good liar? depends ;p
101. What is your Hogwarts House? Ravenclaw 
102. Do you talk to yourself? yea
103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? hARD INTROVERT
104. Do you keep a journal/diary? used to
105. Do you believe in second chances? depends really, i give too many bc im stupid but, no longer
106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? go buy starbucks 
107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? lately, nope
108. Are you ticklish? yup
109. Have you ever been on a plane? yep
110. Do you have any piercings? nu but i want some
111. What fictional character do you wish was real? Ruby Rose
112. Do you have any tattoos? no but wantt
113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? going back to a store 20 minutes before they close to buy a hat
114. Do you believe in karma? yep
115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? glasses
116. Do you want children? kinda
117. Who is the smartest person you know? the mouse that keeps avoiding the traps in my house
118. What is your most embarrassing memory? friend walked in on me playing with my butt and just squishing it, laughed at me for 3 days straight 
119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? 3 days ago, when i slept finally last night
120. What color are most of you clothes? black
121. Do you like adventures? yES
122. Have you ever been on TV? nu
123. How old are you? 17
124. What is your favorite quote? “You are the cause of your own future”
125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? sweet
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michaelmilkers · 7 years
Text
lgbt fiction: all for the game by nora sakavic
okay. all for the game has three books: the foxhole court (262 pages) the raven king (286 pages) and the king’s men (370 pages) and i finished it in 3 or 4 days i think
summary of the first book:
“Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He's short, he's fast, he's got a ton of potential—and he's the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher. Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn't need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed. But Neil's not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil's new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can't walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he's finally found someone and something worth fighting for.”
obviously it was written by a woman but she gets a pass because the majority of it is very well done and she didnt try and make it a story ABOUT being gay. in fact the romance doesnt even start until a bit into the series which i found surprising
as i said in an earlier post i liked that the main characters were a cohesive group, it wasnt just main character, love interest, and background noise. the plot didnt feel like just something in place to orchestrate the romance, it was more that the romance was an aspect of it.
the main characters are on a sports team (a fictional sport) and for the most part there are six men and three women. their team captain is a woman.
would i recommend this series? yeah, i would. i really enjoyed it. it wasnt predictable, rejected a lot of m/m fiction stereotypes and tropes, and the story was genuinely interesting. i quite honestly could not give less of a fuck about mainstream sports (im a karate gay) but the scenes where they are playing the game are actually really exciting with the way the author writes them. 
with that said, i have a complaint.
three of the main characters are gay. the main character, the love interest, and a third character who from the start is very very open about being gay. at first it was refreshing to have a character so out like that, but then i was waiting for him to be fleshed out more and he just... wasnt. it got a little better in the second and third book but for the entire series he was basically The Gay One. all of the characters come from some sort of rough background, and even his backstory completely centers around him being gay with not accepting parents and all that. he flirted around endlessly to the point of being predatory, even though he has a boyfriend he is supposedly very committed to??? he was a fun character but it was just disappointing.
and now for trigger warnings, because this series has some heavy shit. i want yall to take this as seriously as possible: this series has some heavy shit.
minor stuff: frequent smoking, drinking, and recreational drug use, casual homophobia towards The Gay One, and what i guess counts??? as a sex scene a couple times, but seriously blink and you might miss it. a john green novel is more nsfw than this. mentions of self harm and suicide, but not in-depth.
major stuff: F R E Q U E N T violence of varying severity, which is sometimes described sort of in detail, physical and psychological torture, parental abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, rape, and csa. the last two are not described in detail but are mentioned kind of frequently after that part of a characters backstory is revealed. also semi-major character death a few times.
im going to put specifics i found particularly jarring/concerning without spoiling under the cut
one of the (male) characters was subjected to prolonged and repeated sexual abuse at the hands of a foster brother starting from an unnamed age, but it was as young as seven. the specifics of the abuse are not described, but some of the things the abuser said are, with mentions of incest (biological not foster) although it never actually happened
the protagonist and a few other main characters walk in on one of the (male) characters being raped. this is not described, and i had to read it twice to understand that that was what was going on. the situation is immediately stopped.
this event is brought up later in a mocking manner by an antagonist.
the protagonist is subjected to prolonged psychological and physical torture at the hands of an antagonist trying to basically break the protagonist. the reader sees tidbits of it but the rest is skipped over, with the book resuming with the aftermath.
the protagonist is tortured with knives, cigarettes, and a lighter on one occasion. parts of this are described.
one of the characters was beaten by his mother throughout his childhood. this is mentioned not described.
one of the characters was sent to conversion therapy. this is mentioned but not described.
this is a lot but everything turns out to be okay in the end, with a lot of the abusers getting whats coming to them. if you think you can still read the books i highly recommend you to do so, its really worth it in my opinion.
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wanjeokhaeseo · 6 years
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better better 💛 🐻 🍯
너의 그 사랑만이 멈춰있던 날 다시 뛰게 해.
[ Only your love could make the me who was stuck run again. ]
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TW: if you squint, there’s very mild mentions of child abuse, physical and verbal
↪ group: DAY6
↪ member: Yoon Dowoon
↪ genre: idk its not really fluff either, (IM SORRY ANON IT GETS VERY FLUFFY AT THE END) but its 90 percent angst free LOL ??? this story is too out of the ordinary to categorise lol ☀️
↪ request: hey admin n! can i have a fluffy day6 dowoon scenario where he cheers you up from a bad day in school? thank you!
↪ A/N: I really wanted to write something for Dowoon, thank you so much, anon who requested this!! I somehow thought of the spiritual love I receive everyday from God (I’m christian to all of y'all who dk, haha) so I think this story will hold a special place in my heart!!! also, the story plot is largely inspired by one of the characters in the story by 九把刀 - 等一个人咖啡,so if u understand Chinese please give it a read, its a nice story uwuwuwuuwwu
edit i am SO SORRY THIS WAS WAY LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE the word count will probably be like idk 8000 by the time i finished this when u requested for a scenario lolz i got way too invested I apologise…I wrote almost everyday for a whole week I regret getting carried away oh my gosh, but I hope you enjoy this, I really worked very hard on this!!!
ps im sorry if jihyo is ooc, never written nor know twice well but id say I’m a fan of their music hehe
______________________________________
It was about 7AM in the morning when all of your batch gathered around at the assembly place in your school, and between occasional yawns that slipped off your mouth (thanks, end of year exams), you and your friends were talking about the happenings of yesterday as you walked there, laughter often breaking out in your little group when there were bits of humour in the story.
You all made your way down the stairs and into the assembly grounds, resembling a large, aquamarine blue quilt that took up an obnoxious part of the school-where the netball competitions and other important events were held.
Seemingly following suit with the shade of blue on the ground, the lack of sun in the morning painted everything with a small hint of lighter, sky blue itself, such that it all looked like one entity but distinctive in its own individual colours.
Realising this with your own dark ringed, half opened eyes, you couldn’t help but feel the ends of your lips angle up slowly-the world was so beautiful, you couldn’t help but think as you knelt down to sit onto the rugged surface of the big, enveloping area-whoever had created it for all its small but still amazing features was exceptionally genius.
As your eyes scattered around the place, still immersed in a world of your own-a shrill screech of a whistle pulled you back to the boredom of school life, and with a slight, but petty annoyance you shifted your back to face the PE teacher who had just walked over, and subsequently, so did the other students around you.
He stood in front of your whole batch, clad in a black, torso hugging sports shirt and fluorescent pink shorts-which immediately, triggered a few giggles for your batch, but the spoilsport of a whistle just had to ruin the fun again, motioning for everyone else to shut up.
You sighed when you saw the creases in his forehead, and the unmistakeable hint of a frown on his tan, oval face-this was not going to be too good of a day.
You just hoped that he wasn’t going to make all of you do 4 rounds around the school today. Running, needlessly to say really was not something a person like you liked to do-sweat all over your face, springing pimples on your face, grasping for breath and literally collapsing in front of the whole class like a dead fish because of how energy deprived you were? You were going to pass, thanks.
“Now, class!” his low baritone rasped out to the class, carrying a strong sense of dominance in it like he was speaking to a platoon in the army, “We have a group of alumni today, coming back to visit and help all of you train for your Physical Education Examinations next year.” At that, his outstretched wrists flicked backwards loosely, gesturing for the alumni to come, and he continued again, “They are alumni that were our top students from last year, and did exceptionally well. They have all took time out of their 4 month break after examinations to train all of you, so please be nice, and don’t be so unruly.”
As soon as he had said that, the class started breaking out into applause as the five students stepped into everyone’s field of vision.
Your eyes widened when you saw the bones, standing out like rocks in the their toned, fit arm and leg muscles-even the girls’ thighs that was supposedly, the most unattractive part of everyone’s body had ‘walls’ lining their lean, hourglass figure. Confident smiles were plastered to most of their faces, with a few tired exceptions-heck, one even had a smirk playing on their face as he scanned the class below him.
Inwardly, as you heard the laughs of the alumni that had aroused from the awing of their juniors below them, you couldn’t help but shudder inside-there was no, freaking way that you were going to look like that after training with them.
You didn’t want to, anyway-that meant rigorous hours of training and stitches 'basking’ under the unhelpful, boiling cover of the sun.
Just then, as you were contemplating the choices of schools you were going to transfer to to abstain from the torture that was soon to come, the guy with the playful smirk on his face had already grabbed a microphone, and was preparing to speak. Translucent frames for glasses hid his small, almost demure but yet somehow condescending eyes-you weren’t getting that great of a vibe from him.
“Hello, Class 3D9, I am your senior, Park Jaehyung, and I’m here to train all of you for the exams, since all of you don’t seem that excited for it, judging by your expressions.” His features softened considerably from a look of mirth to one of gaiety as he started to speak in a 'half air half voice’ kind of way-rasping yet not quite, and you rolled your eyes.
It wasn’t really that you disliked him much, but you could already picture him being the heartthrob of the girls in class-the gleam in their previously irritant, but now smitten eyes was so undeniably revolting.
They all nodded furiously at the last sentence, and he began to laugh a bit (attracting more squeals from the girls, much to your dismay) before speaking again, this time with the narrow of an eyebrow and a more serious, raised voice. “I know all of you might be thinking that this is very pointless, and stupid. I know. None of you really want to be an athlete in the future, and I understand. But I really hope all of you can treat this seriously, because health in the long run is really very important, and I want all of you to take not only the PE finals but the entrance exam to college confidently, and healthily. Are all of you with me?”
Like how any motivational speaker would have done, there was an applied pressure at the last line, and soon, a long, unenthusiastic 'yes’ drawled out of everyone’s barely parted mouth.
You snickered a bit at the frown on Jaehyung’s face when he heard it-he really should have known beforehand, that encouraging a class didn’t consist of just one pathetic speech, and you started to doubt if he had really been from this school.
Let’s face it, motivation really wasn’t this generation’s thing.
“Are all of you with me!” he rasped again, this time yelling into the microphone obnoxiously and poking a hole in your eardrums.
“YES!” the class shouted with increased volume to appease him.
Just please, don’t shout into the microphone again, you whimpered inwardly.
At this, Jaehyung looked more or less satisfied (thank God), and with the small hint of a smile, he passed over the microphone to another guy, whose eyes first caught your own. They were delicately angled into the eyes of a fox, emanating a half elegant aura that still seemed to hint 'Let’s have fun, everyone!’ They fell into small crescents when he started to laugh at Jaehyung’s incapabilities to lead the class, and the circles in his lean, rosy cheek bones spelt attractiveness at its finest.
With a sweet smile on his face, he held up the microphone to his mouth and started to talk. “Morning, class! Sorry if Jaehyung sounds like a bit of a drag. I know he has that student leader aura, but you can’t blame him, he’s always been burying his face in a book during recess-HEY!” The class, including him, started to erupt into waves of giggles when Jaehyung flicked his forehead, a faux anger playing on his arched eyebrows and widened, now not so small eyes. “FINE, fine, I’ll stop! Anyway, hello Class 3D9, this is your cooler senior, Kang Younghyun, and I hope to train all of you to success in the exams. Thank you!” Younghyun proceeded to bow with the shy lift of his eyebrows, and everyone clapped.
“His real name is actually Brian, please ignore him.” Jaehyung added in with a wink, earning a loud slap on the shoulder from Younghyun (with a subsequent yelp from himself) and more laughter from the juniors, yourself included. Your seniors seemed pretty chill and friendly, not like how you thought they would be.
But sadly, as they were supposedly goofing around too much, the PE teacher blew that stupid, ear-wrenching whistle of his, causing you to jump up in shock again. “Okay boys, lets finish this up quickly.” he said curtly, strict gaze fleeting past the two boys and causing their playful charm to melt like ice in front of him.
As Jaehyung and Younghyun simultaneously did a long, 90 degree bow, mouthing 'sorry’ repeatedly, you and quite a good majority of your other classmates sighed, inwardly feeling a tad deflated-looks like the rest of the introduction wasn’t going to be that fun after all.
The introduction seemed to move past like rusted cogs, at least for just one part of it-the first girl who had greeted all of you sported two round, neat buns at the sides of her hair, complimenting her big, double lidded eyes and her elegantly curved, brightly smiling lips. The corners of her eyes bore a small fragment of the brighter sky above her, gleaming with confidence as she bowed politely, introducing herself to everyone in a more reserved way than the other two. Her name was Park Jihyo, and she had been in dance-which was quite a great feat, since dance was a niche co-curricular activity in your school, but not surprising at the same time, looking at her beautiful figure and slender, well toned arms.
As she talked, she slipped a few jokes there and then mid-conversation, not too much that the PE teacher had to cut in, but attempting to keep the class’ attention on her afloat. Jihyo had an unmistakeable pleasant aura that seemed to infect everyone with her laugh, and from the bottom of your heart, you really wanted to befriend her-someone approachable and easy to talk to.
There was another girl next to her who was called Chaewon, with demure, yet youthful brown eyes and a serene smile. Similarly, she too was very friendly and talked with a very laid-back tone-but the problem was, that she talked a lot.
You didn’t really mind it much when people talked a lot, but when they overdid it, it got kind of…boring.
Seemingly one hour later, your eyes struggled to remain parted mid-sentence as she went into a trite monologue about how grateful she was to stand here. By the time she was done you felt fatigue wrap around your head like a snake, till a deeper voice was suddenly amplified into the mic.
“H-Hello, I’m Yoon Dowoon, and-”
“I ate ants as a kindergartener.” Jaehyung’s unmistakeable airy voice cut in annoyingly, causing Dowoon’s face to flush a big, rosy red whilst all of you chortled with a louder, more extreme laughter than before-and instantly, you became alive again as the mental image of a small boy swallowing the poor insect with the brightest smile sent you rolling onto the floor.
“He even gave a whole box to his teacher.” came a rather unhelpful snicker from Younghyun, further fuelling the laughter and the blush on Dowoon’s face.
You couldn’t help but admit, that he was sort of cute when he was embarrassed, though-Dowoon had the small, but believing eyes of a child, with two pretty, but not 'big enough that it protruded’ kind of bags attached below them delicately. The gentle up curve of the sides of his big button nose was really attractive, and he had semi-big lips that pouted out like the small petals of a daisy.
Seeing Jaehyung’s joking, almost condescending smirk resurface onto his face and look down onto Dowoon’s expressionless eyes, which now refused to concentrate on anywhere but the floor was maybe, just maybe-sort of sad.
Unlike Jihyo, you couldn’t see even a small fragment of the sky in his eyes-it was as if someone had just painted his eyes brown and decided it would stay that way for the rest of the day.
Dowoon was too embarrassed to do anything else, and without even looking up, he passed the microphone to the PE teacher, whose nonchalant expressions didn’t seem to care much either.
Inside, a pang of guilt rose up to your chest, and you unconsciously started to frown along with him as you noticed how uncomfortable his hardened features had looked, amongst all the giggles thrusting through his gentle heart.
Being known by 'the guy who ate ants as a kindergartener’ to everyone, instead of who he really was mustn’t have been a very nice feeling, especially to his juniors-who was supposed to look at him as a superior and a leader figure.
Just as you were debating on whether or not to ask them to stop, a scream broke out through the assembly grounds, shutting everyone up with a magic swipe of its hand.
Of course, it had to be the stupid whistle.
“Are we here to joke, or train? Get up, all of you! We’re going to run today.” the PE teacher’s obnoxiously booming, demanding voice rang into everyone’s ears unpleasantly, the catalyst to the small groans of dismay breaking out amidst the class that was already preparing to stand and walk to the field.
“Can you believe he actually did that?” your friends approached you in a fit of giggles as all of you approached the running track, with a new topic to revolve your conversation around.
Just that, this time, you didn’t really want to join in.
It wasn’t the best of days after all, you thought with a small hang up in the side of your chest. Out of all things, after seeing a poor boy getting bullied by his own friends, you had to do the stupid 4 rounds that all of you did practically every week.
As you braced yourself painfully for the sweating and fatigue that was to come, taking your rightful place behind the white tape attached to the floor marking the starting point- an unusually low cough brushed by your ears briefly, and instinctively, you whirled around.
You saw the big, believing eyes of a child again as you did so-it was Dowoon, and to your surprise, those eyes noticed your gaze and looked back.
Crap, he’s really, very cute. you could feel your head lose some of its gravity and your heartbeat accelerating as he proceeded to smile after, the lift of his plump, daisy lips showing off his round, marshmallow-like cheeks.
“You okay?” his deep voice asked you gently, and you nodded with a small laugh, realising how much of a mess you must have looked in front of him for him to ask such a question.
“I should be the one asking you that. I’m sorry for laughing at you earlier.”
With that, his smile angled further into a laugh of his own, and Dowoon replied, “It’s okay. I’m used to it already.”
You could already feel your forehead crease in slight disbelief, as you stared at the sheepish falter in his smile and recalled how unhappy he was earlier on.
“That’s not true-”
BEEP!
The PE teacher’s whistle had already gone off, and Dowoon, much to a top runner’s expectations, was already speeding far ahead of you with a steady, confident pace as his brown curls bounced gently under the force of his movements.
Looking at nowhere but the front, he looked determined to finish what he had started-something you could probably only dream of having.
“What’s taking you so long? Hurry up!” the PE teacher yelled at you, averting your attention away from your senior and back to your miserable plight.
You sighed with a slightly defeated energy, giving him a perfunctory nod as you too, began to move towards the finish line.
That is, if you could even make it.
As you ran, you made a mental note to never use that stupid whistle ever again.
________________________________________________
31st December, 2018.
“Se-second place in class? No way, you must have heard wrongly. Second place girls-wise, maybe…” you insisted disbelievingly, feeling the air brush against your throat as you inhaled sharply, hardly able to fathom the news that had just been broken to you.
Contrary to what your stubborn mentality refused to accept, your deskmate Sungjin just nodded again, the smile on his face laced with a small hint of amusement-he too, probably foresaw that you wouldn’t believe such a thing.
“I’m serious, man. It came as a shock to everyone yesterday as well.” he said, hiding a gentle, but knowing giggle in 'serious’. “You really have Dowoon to thank, look at you go.”
You stared at the suggestive crease in Sungjin’s big, pretty eyes, not bothering to hide the sarcasm dripping from your smile (very well knowing that someone like Sungjin was capable of playing such pranks on you).
“And where can I get more reliable information?” you demanded, refusing to tear away your gaze from his, and noticing the added pressure in 'reliable’, Sungjin couldn’t help but break into a more relaxed smile as he lifted his hands up in surrender.
“Fine, go see for yourself, just don’t hit me, please.”
He pointed a finger at the notice board, littered with numerous sheets of construction paper from all the projects your class had been assigned this year, almost like a peacock’s feathers unfolding.
However, there was one paper that stood out from the rest, dull, white and boring-but maybe not so, once the truth was revealed.
In big, bold letters, it spelt:
PHYSICAL EDUCATION EXAMINATION RESULTS: CLASS 3D9.
The thought of knowing your results had thrown all thoughts of replying to Sungjin out of the window as you could hear the squeak of your shoe soles speed across the classroom towards the notice board.
Frantically, as the long table of students revealed a clearer picture of itself to you, you decided on looking at all the names from the bottom to the top-no better way to set yourself up for disappointment than to face it sooner.
It had been a while of panning up, and your squatting legs were getting tired; though knowing full well that you looked the part of an idiot while doing all this. You couldn’t find your name anywhere on the board, and as your legs slowly broke its position to ascend further, the anxiety in your chest seemed to rise along with it-what if you had done so bad a job, you couldn’t even get a position?
What if Dowoon had seen it and would never talk to you ever again? What would your parents say when they knew…
Just as your imagination was trailing all the way off from your real goal, the truth imprinted in cold, black ink debunked all of the scenarios in your head.
Your name was right next to the position, second place.
“So you weren’t lying!” was the first thing you did as you shouted out of instinct from the opposite position of the classroom. As many other students turned their heads to you in slight frustration, you could hear Sungjin’s sniggers direct back at you in response, which was yeah, albeit sort of annoying-but nothing could really smother the joy you were feeling at this moment.
Your eyes lingered for a long time onto the placing that you had gotten, and you recalled all of Dowoon’s practice sessions with you-how he had drawn out almost 90% of his 4 month break just to train with you after school, how you had nearly tripped over a hurdle on the running track and causing both of you to laugh, how he had made you draw out a meal plan for him to monitor your food intake everyday-you’d never thought you’d say this, but you really, really missedit.
As you thought back to the believing eyes of a small child, looking up at the boundless sea of a sky-the clouds floating past resembling well his sweat glazed cheeks, you realised-how much you’d miss his presence that pushed forward, reaching out to the you who couldn’t be bothered with most things, his care that reached out to the you who didn’t care for yourself-not necessarily in a romantic way.
The thought of getting Dowoon’s number had very stupidly, slipped off your mind amidst all the joy he had brought you, and your good mood was surprisingly diminished by a small tinge of guilt as you returned to your desk.
You regretted it. A lot.
“All those training sessions with her partner must have helped a lot, huh? The one who ate ants in kindergarten, I have to laugh.” Suddenly, the silent, but tangible hiss of a group of girls fluttered past your ears, and without thinking, a small sense of anger blazed up in your heart as you stood up with a jolt.
How dare they say such a thing about such an amazing person.
Your chair did a loud, ugly screech against the floor as it happened, and the girls looked to you, slightly perplexed-that was, until you grabbed onto their wrists, and locked eyes with them-with a fire in your eyes that you yourself hadn’t recognised.
“Don’t talk about your senior like that.” you deadpanned, with the motivation of anger that had backed you up well.
Just then, you noticed the arch of your eyebrows, and the anger in your movements reflected in their cowardly gazes, and for a second, you wondered-if the you that was acting like this, was really you.
“Sorry.” was all they could manage awkwardly, a sheepish, yet somehow insincere smile dripping from their lips as they slipped away to their own desks-people nowadays just loved to talk about others behind their backs, and you sighed.
Only your love could make the me who was stuck in a rut run again.
_____________________________________________________________
“You got second place in the finals? Okay. Well, good for you, but I don’t think you’d come to me just for that.” the PE teacher slurred his words sharply, suddenly looking up at you from the bend of his glasses with a dull expression in his eyes. He seemed way more fascinated in the papers lulled over by his wrists than your dumb questions, and in all honesty, it was getting sort of annoying.
The lazy whirr of the fan spun over your head, fitting perfectly into the awkward silence between you and the teacher as you twiddled your thumbs awkwardly, trying to figure out a way to paraphrase such a stupid request-not daring to meet his steely gaze that somehow, stubbornly refused to tear away from yours.
He was right, however; the last thing you’d ever do was to go into the lion’s den without an ulterior motive.
No one really dared to talk to the PE teacher about anything else besides school.
Plus, you could already imagine all the worst case scenarios if he was in a particularly bad mood today, and…let’s just say that detention would potentially be the second best option.
He really wasn’t the best person to talk to.
But in this case…
You looked up at the spinning blades of the fan again, and felt the swirl of cool air blow through your hair gently.
Maybe he was.
At such a comforting touch, you tried your best to ignore the pounding headache dragging you down; and with painstakingly mustered courage, you spoke.
“T-Teacher, do you have Dowoon’s number? Like, the one who was our senior?”
Regret kicked in the second you had spoke of Dowoon’s name, and you could literally feel your temples and limbs lose all sense of gravity as your reputation crashed to the floor. You could feel your heartbeat go into allegro, pounding onto every organ in your body as the PE teacher looked up with the most unreadable expression on his face.
Sweat emitted disgustingly from your scalp as your chest rose and fell back in waves, failing terribly to compose yourself. This is it, you dreaded your indelible fate that was to come as the PE teacher raised his eyebrows-you were barely standing up already, and you could feel your kneecaps wobble unhelpfully under the tendrils of anxiety.
I’m doomed for life, Dowoon’s gonna think I’m a stalker, and-
“Hahahaha.”
Laughter rolled out in the depth of that intimidating voice, like coffee spilt over a cleanly lacquered table.
You felt your eyes widen as you looked up at the teacher again, still grasping for breath as your heart refused to stop beating-after all, collapsing on the spot seemed like the best path in such an awkward situation.
Especially when he looked at you with amusement twinkling in the corners of his slit-shaped eyes.
“So, what next? You’re asking, me? To help you with your half baked attempt of asking a senior out on a date?” he snarled sarcastically, getting out of his seat and approaching you. The corners of his mouth tugged at a smirk, baring his set of sharp teeth; the jaws of a wolf, that spelt warning at its finest, and in all your shock, you recoiled back.
You didn’t think this was how it would end up; no, not like this.
Just then, you felt a hand arrest your wrists tightly, digging holes in your skin.
The pain from the wolf’s claws amplified your vocal cords as you screamed, causing all the other teachers out there to look at you from their desks, and inside, you wanted to cry; you had never been humiliated so bad in your entire life.
“In your dreams.”
Just like that, with the help of a brute force you were mercilessly thrown out of the staff room, and before you could even put a foot on the floor to stabilise yourself you heard a loud bang behind you-followed by the even more painful sound of the lock seizing the entrance of it.
You got up, slightly blank, slightly hollow, slightly lost-as you walked a bit further, heart feeling heavy with all the baggage in your chest-before the feelings got hold of your throat, and tumbled out through your eyes unashamedly.
You were way too sad to hide any further.
Pathetically, to do all you could to mask the feelings that had crept up onto you, through the not so fair play of fate; you held a wrist to your face as you sprinted back to class, with a scar zipped across it, just as it had done for your broken heart.
__________________________________________
“I’m sorry for what happened today…but I’m happy that senior was able to bring you so far.” he barely managed, with his smooth, soft voice that seemed to skim lightly over the atmosphere of the café; just like the soft cream that had been drizzled meticulously over the cup of coffee on the table.
You weren’t taking it, the coffee that he had made for you not too long ago. Not really that you had anything against him, no-definitely not your caring, gentle coworker, but you didn’t really have the mood to drink anything as of now…You sighed briefly, dusting your apron to keep yourself preoccupied, but still not managing to let off all the steam in your body.
The incident had very admittedly, left you scarred; very literally and mentally. Leftover embarrassment was still tugging at the corners of your heart, begging to be attended to while you tried your best to shrug it off, and walked to the counter to unlock the cashier; the cheery ring of the bell above the door had struck at a rather unconventional time, and a customer was already walking in.
It wasn’t very fair that they’d have to put up with your emotional baggage when they were here to get a drink, maybe even to destress and wind down for the day.
“Pil-ah, it’s okay, I don’t really want a drink as of now.” you played it off as calmly as you could, slotting the key into the box and letting it slide open with a click. “You can drink it or something, you don’t look too energised yourself.”
A disappointed whine echoed back in response to your lousy excuse; there was no way Wonpil was going to believe such a stupid reply, and you could already anticipate his nagging voice as he opened his mouth.
“Heyyyyy, come on…don’t be like this, I’ve known you for so long already. You’ve got to take care of yourself, even when you’re sad.”
The last line got you hard, and as you saw the customer’s eyes widen in judgement behind her mop of ashy bangs, you couldn’t help but glare back at him.
“Wonpil, I said I was okay.” you deadpanned with added pressure, however, subsequently feeling guilt crawling onto your nerves after realising how mean that had sounded. His features had softened considerably, with a slightly hurt look in his big, innocent eyes, and you didn’t really want to hurt anyone else when you yourself had been hurt enough.
“I’m sorry, just-I’m tired from today.” you sighed helplessly, having been pushed into a corner, and being his understanding self, Wonpil nodded back with concern laced in his seemingly nonchalant smile.
After making sure everything was more or less alright, you hastily attended back to the customer, who was looking slightly frustrated with how long you were taking-and after she had ordered her iced americano, she looked a little more satisfied as she took a seat by the table nearest to the window.
It wasn’t surprising; the weather today was warm. Lances of golden sunlight had dropped by the café, gracing its interior in its crisp, evening glow, and very miserably, laughing at your bad mood that contrasted with it.
“Are you okay now?”
You turned around to see Wonpil, eyebrows raised, hands rested in the pockets of his apron; and a rare, but serious look in his eyes as he prepared to listen to you.
As much as you didn’t want him to worry over you, you knew how stubbornly insistent he was with getting things off your chest, so nevertheless, you opened your mouth-wondering what you had done to deserve his grace at the back of your mind.
“I-It’s nothing really, it’s just-” you exhaled, breaking into a nervous box smile as you ran a hand through your hair, barely having the right state of mind to continue, “I really wanted to thank him for his kindness and how he cared for my growth so selflessly, but apart from being so embarrassed by the teacher, not being able to do that anymore-it makes me feel so, so bad, knowing that I was never able to do anything for him, because I really, really miss him, and-”
“Don’t say anymore. I understand.”
You felt Wonpil’s hand descend onto your back, like the touch of a small, but pretty little butterfly as it fluttered over the expanse of your spine, caressing it gently and hushing your shaking nerves.
All the thoughts had miserably, coaxed your feelings forward, and without knowing, you had started to cry again as you held your palms to your face-trying your best not to cry too loudly as you let out small, uncontrollable sobs.
“T-Thank you so much.” you choked awkwardly, not knowing any better way to express your gratitude, and even in the darkness of your closed eyes, you could already picture Wonpil’s relaxed, comforting smile playing on the sides of his face as he chuckled softly.
Just then, a cough cut in, putting a halt to your sobs and causing both of you to turn to the customer.
“Um…I’m sorry to interrupt this moment, but can I have three iced lattes? Please?” he said, carrying a half air, half voice tone-and with the guidance of your instinct your head immediately shot up from your palms.
There was only one person you knew with such a voice-the one you heard when you had first met the school alumni.
“P-Park Jaehyung?” you yelled instinctively, and your own eyes revealed the truth to you quickly-lean, rosy cheeks, big lips, small, droopy eyes, that were now widened into large circles as they stared back at you, with equally as much surprise in his gaze.
“Ohhhhh my! Y-You’re the junior that trained with Dowoon a lot, right?” In his hearty voice, he exclaimed almost disbelievingly, but causing you to blush furiously; it was rather weird being so closely associated with him. “And hey, don’t be rude-how dare you call a senior by their full name.” he added on teasingly, and both of you laughed.
“I think I’ll make the drinks for today-you definitely need to catch up with him, someone might be there waiting for you.” Wonpil’s voice said behind you understandingly, and you said a quick thank you with a smile before walking over to Jaehyung’s seat.
“Oh, sorry for my impoliteness, Your Highness, Park Jaehyung, my queen-does this make it better now?” you retorted quickly, with a cheeky smirk on your face and triggering a gasp from him.
“Excuse me? Your audacity? Oh, and by that guy’s sound, you sound like you’re only here to see Dowoon, how sad-he isn’t here, because I’m the most significant out of everyone there.” he snickered back, laughing even harder when you stuck out your tongue back at him pettily-but to your surprise, it didn’t last very long.
“Jaehyungie-hyung, don’t be so mean! I’m here, hi! I haven’t seen you in so long, are you doing okay?” a deep voice exclaimed, causing your jaw to drop even further, if that was even possible-and your feelings seemed to arrest all the air in your chest, just for a second-when you once again, saw the big, believing eyes of a child and his kind, untainted smile.
It was the boy that had spent countless hours under the sun, pushing you towards your goals endlessly.
It wasn’t just any person, a random school alumni that had came to their transit stop for a while to leave again-it was Dowoon, Yoon Dowoon, of all people that you could have seen on that miserable day of yours.
It seemed almost intangible, yet so palpable as you ran to him, calling his name, as your hands managed to even hug his taller figure again-you could have nearly cried when you felt his bigger palm crash against your back with sincerity, and while you heard Dowoon’s deep voice roll out a long string of laughter, commenting jokingly, “Man, I never knew a girl would miss me so much,” you sort of wanted to smack him-yet was definitely in awe of the fact that you could hear that laughter again.
You’d never think that you would have heard it ever again.
“Shut up, I’m just here because you got me a second place position in running, loser.” you giggled it off coolly, but failing terribly to hide the happiness stupidly written all over your face as Dowoon’s smile angled up further, wearing his pride proudly on his sleeve as he gave you a high five.
“Really? Oh my gosh, that’s so amazing! I’m so proud of my student.” he laughed, childlike eyes widening in happiness and amplifying his innocence. “You deserve it man, you trained so hard for the test-definitely more commitment than I think you would have had.”
“Ow, thanks a lot for the last comment, jeez, alright, I know I suck.” you jutted out your lips in faux sadness, clutching your heart to your chest-but quickly remembering why you were so happy to see him again, you hastily added, “But thanks anyway, for guiding me. Couldn’t have done it without you, taking so much time off your break.”
There. I finally said it, you thought happily, allowing yourself a small grin when Dowoon rejected your praises quickly, hurriedly saying, “No, no, I didn’t really do anything,” and starting to ramble on about how you had done so much more to deserve it-his eyes got even bigger when he was in slight shock, and he looked the part of a small, innocent child more than ever.
“And oh, right.” Dowoon suddenly spoke up amidst the topic of running, grabbing your attention. You couldn’t help but giggle when he was about to open his mouth to speak, but instead-shut it again and started tugging the edges of his hair, mouthing things to himself with eyes squeezed together tightly-probably a long string of Jaehyung’s 'motivational quotes.
A part of your heart fluttered at the purity his very being exuded-he was really, very cute.
But in all your mirth, you couldn’t help it-you absolutely had to smack him.
“Yoon Dowoon, hurry up!” you snapped quickly, however with a cheeky smile that showed your real intentions. Dowoon was momentarily taken aback-but his features quickly softened after, when he realised you were joking.
“Sorry for being such a big mess, it’s just…” he barely smiled softly, breaking out into further nervous laughter when Jaehyung and Younghyun started to beat his back repeatedly.
“Do you want to go out with us today? We’re going to my place further out from the city, and uh…we’re setting off fireworks and having a picnic around there and playing our instruments and stuff-” There was probably going to be no end to his rambling if Younghyun hadn’t gave him a loud slap on his back-at this point, the creases in his eyes and sheepish box smile showed it all; he was incredibly, incredibly flustered, and to your dismay-also incredibly endearing.
But still, you couldn’t miss grabbing the opportunity to tease him. You lifted your lips into a smirk, rocking your shoes against the foot of the table as you cooed, “Aww, is my senior asking me out on a date? I’d love to go with you, aww, Dowoonie…” Everyone in the place, yes, including that grumpy female customer; broke into fits of giggles, raising the atmosphere of the previously still, 'cultured’ public place as you chased after Dowoon, who was currently running away from you and ducked his head to hide under the table.
“Haha, why are you genuinely scared? I was only joking, you’re so adorable.” you grinned cheekily as you saw the blush dancing above his round, squishy cheeks and the embarrassment in his semi opened eyes, “I’ll come with you. It’s quite timely as well, since I’ve had quite a bad day at school…You know what, I’ll say later. I gotta finish my shift first, Wonpil can’t possibly do everything for me.” you quickly added when you saw his eyebrows widen in slight concern, and with a good-natured, outstretched wrist you helped Dowoon up from the table; who was quick to stick out his tongue when he saw that Jaehyung and Younghyun were still unable to contain the mirth written across their faces.
“So, I’ll see you at 7 then?” he smiled awkwardly, trying his best to ignore them, and you nodded back eagerly as you walked him out of the shop, and into the embrace of the outdoors again.
It seemed so coincidental, that even as Jaehyung and Younghyun had simultaneously tagged along behind the two of you and out into the open, the sun was only blazing through the gaps in Dowoon’s curls-girdling the ridges of his shoulders, slicing through the sides of his face and oozing into the crevices of his warm, faith-filled eyes.
You smiled.
The world was so beautiful.
“See you later! Don’t miss me too much!” you yelled out to Dowoon jokingly, as he and the other boys got into the small scooters they shared-and after he had yelled back with equal gusto, “Back at you!”, the three scooters sped in the other direction; hopefully, anticipating the time where they came back the other way again, because you sure were.
_____________________________
unknown: It’s 7 lol have you ended your shift yet?
you: Yeah I have! Are you Dowoon or…?
unknown: No I’m Brian #sike
unknown: Please ignore that, Jaehyungie-hyung took my phone, I don’t know what he’s doing with his weird hashtags again TTTTTTTTT
you: HAHAHAHA TELL HIM HE SUCKS
you: It’s nice to have your number though…it sucked not being able to contact you :( How did you get it anyway?
Dowoon: Yeah hhhh Wonpil told me earlier :) I didn’t think you would mind…so
you: Haha of course not! Anyway, are you on the way?
Dowoon: Wouldn’t dare to be late, I’m already here hehe ^^
Your head shot up with excitement, nearly screaming as you saw three headlights blaze at you, from the curtain of darkness that had shrouded the city not too long ago. It was around autumn right about now, and you were rather sensitive to the cold-so seeing their warm presence was quite comforting.
Noticing that you were already hanging up your apron and practically bouncing to the kitchen to clean up, Wonpil couldn’t help but throw a good-natured laugh at you. “Someone’s excited for their first date.” he remarked suggestively, cleaning the used table under the illumination of the light bulb hanging above him, and if it wasn’t for the distance between both of you you would have probably kicked him in response.
“Shut uuuuup, there’s literally 2 other boys goiiiiing.” you whined, taking one of the leftover plates scattered across the sink and soaping it,“-The chances of you and I dating just about now is probably way higher than Dowoon…well, at least, I’ve known you for about a year plus right now, and him, 6 months at most.” Wonpil couldn’t help but giggle again at the uncertainty in your voice, and pettily, you stamped your feet on the floor.
“There’s no way my future partner will be someone as mean as you, I take all my words back.” you pouted jokingly, and subsequently, starting to laugh at yourself too-this conversation was going absolutely nowhere.
“Hey, but in all seriousness, I think you should just go. Don’t make them wait too long, after all, one of them is your future boyfriend. I’ll take care of wrapping up.” Wonpil spoke up again, approaching you as he hung the cloth by the arch of the sink, and took the plate from your hand kindly-gesturing for you to wash your hands as he pointed to the tap.
With unmasked gratitude you smiled back at him, washing your hands briefly before taking your phone from the counter, “Thanks again, Pil-ah; and one more freaking thing, before I have to repeat it a second time, there is no way Dowoon is going to be my boyfriend.” you remarked strictly, taking your school bag from the seat close to the door and slinging it over your shoulder excitedly-the events of tonight sounded incredibly fun.
“Thank me by inviting me to your future wedding!” Wonpil screamed in his high pitched voice when you opened the door, with the silvery chime of the bell above it-and this time, you really, really wanted to kick him, because outside, in the cold of the night Jaehyung was literally having the time of his life laughing at you and nodding back to Wonpil in agreement (one of the rare times where he actually sided him).
“Boys suck.” you groaned pettily as Dowoon, with unmistakeable redness on his face gestured for you to get onto the back of his scooter, and Younghyun laughed.
“Doesn’t seem that way with our Dowoonie, am I right?” his unmistakeable fox eyes shot you a small wink, which was sort of annoying-till he yelled smugly, “Good luck on being the first there with extra baggage! Not like anyone ever manages to triumph me anyway.”
With that, Younghyun’s scooter whizzed off, black coat and black locks fluttering behind him care freely, like how his very personality was-and soon, Jaehyung’s scooter whizzed off too, the only thing behind him being his screams of “I’m GONNA BEAT YOU THIS TIME, BRIAN!”, and you couldn’t help but giggle a bit-the antics of those two were always so stupidly humouring.
“Sorry, they can be a bit of a public embarrassment.” Dowoon laughed helplessly, shaking his head, and with a small smile you too shook your head; you were totally fine with them, and you’d even say that having them around was enjoyable. “-Jihyo and Chaewon are actually joining us later, but they weren’t comfortable on the scooter, and we need someone to drive our instruments.”
He paused for a bit to catch his breath, expelling a small puff of white before explaining, “I hope you’re okay with it too-the scooter can feel very unbalanced at first, but I think you can handle it. This sounds incredibly awkward, but you gotta hold onto my waist, or you’ll probably fall off within a second of me accelerating. Alright? Don’t want to be responsible for your medical fees.” Dowoon ended off with a joking crease in his smirk before he tossed you a neon yellow helmet from the basket of the scooter, and you nodded before putting it on.
He thrusted the key into the slot rather vigorously, and soon there was a dull roar from the engine behind you, and at his command, you awkwardly positioned your hands at his waist area. Admittedly, it felt pretty good, however-the coat that hugged his waist was made of soft, thick brown fabric, and it reminded you of your honey scented sheets back at home.
“Ready to ride?” he suddenly piped up, happiness laced in his deep, comforting voice, and you shot him a thumbs up sign.
“Always ready.” you answered eagerly, and with a louder roar from the engine than before, both of you sped out towards the moon, that lay on the horizon of the shimmering sea.
________________________
You felt like you were riding on the brim of a cloud as the wind zipped through your hair and your jacket, starting to take flight and flutter violently behind you like kites in the sky. The feeling of being so close to land, yet so far up into the sky was so indescribable-gravity accelerated the thrill in your heart as Dowoon let out a long, unceremonious scream, cheering for the destination that wasn’t too far from where you were.
“We’re almost here!” he broke into a small gummy smile beneath the mop of his fluttering curls-they seemed to run across the border of his forehead, like running waves crashing beautifully onto the shore of a beach.
However, contrary to your imagination, the river that surrounded all of you in its big embrace was especially quiet-only letting small dribbles of light from the lighthouse float gently above the surface of the waves as both of you moved past, like bioluminescent lily pads that had descended from the glow of the moon. Mountains foreshadowed the road ahead mysteriously, painted in a darker shade of navy than the star speckled-sky above both of you, and the road to the picnic area was long and windy, snaking out into a canopy of trees relaxedly.
“You’d never get anything like this in the city.” you said in slight awe, hands slowly finding themselves crawling up to Dowoon’s broad shoulders as you dared to hoist yourself up, breaking up from your posture a tad bit, and as you felt one of his curls brush past your wrists, he laughed his slow, deep laugh in response.
“You’re cute. I had a friend that didn’t live in Busan as a kid, and he lived in the more country area-he would probably protest if he heard what you just said…” His deep voice trailed off softly, seeming to follow the snaking nature of the concrete road ahead of you. “-Nevertheless, I’m happy we’re here. It’s nice to ride out here with someone.”
His eyes, which had now stopped displaying the light of the sun to catch the glow of the moon, was still as warm as ever in the cold weather. With undeniable faith tinting the light that ringed his eyes, half opened submissively and bringing out the semi rosy tint in his bags, the carefree smile on his lips and the uplift of his cheeks resembling floating clouds didn’t fail to bring you back in awe again; it was as if all laws of astronomy tailed after his presence, and followed in the footsteps of his unbreakable belief.
“You’re really very beautiful.” the words left your lips through an airy whisper, and you were too busy staring at him again to even notice what you said until Dowoon spoke up again.
“U-Um…Me? R-Really? Thanks, I guess…” his eyes bore a different spark to it as they drooped shyly, like a mimosa recoiling at someone’s touch-and as the truth dawned onto you slowly, mixed feelings of embarrassment and self-blame kicked in a little too fast-you really, really wanted to kick yourself for saying that.
Trying to salvage the situation, you quickly spoke up upon seeing his tilted eyebrows and the embarrassment written on his face. “I-I didn’t mean that in a weird way, I’m sorry, not that I don’t love your looks-or not that I don’t love you any less, i-it’s just-” you stuttered awkwardly, brain stupidly failing you at this crucial moment-but being a nice guy, Dowoon just shook his head briefly.
With a small smile breaking onto his face, not fully suggestive; yet not fully chaste, he responded in awe, big eyes widening with more faith than before.
“No, no, please don’t apologise, because…” Dowoon spoke with the smile of reuniting with someone again, overly excited to articulate his words properly, “B-Because, I-”
“Dowoon! What’s taking you so long, can you drive faster? You’re almost there already, hurry up!” Jaehyung’s voice suddenly broke through the world that only both of you shared, halting the climax of the story. He and Younghyun were on a higher end of a cliff, where the destination was, and you could already see their hands waving vigorously in your direction. Jihyo and Chaewon had arrived too-you could see two figures with long hair sit on a big red mat.
“What was that you were going to say?” you asked, as the scooter started to move again; both of you had been so immersed in conversation that you hadn’t even realised that Dowoon stopped the vehicle to talk.
However, contrary to what you thought he was going to say, Dowoon shook his head almost nonchalantly, losing a bit of the faith in his gaze as he looked down with baggy eyes of dejection.
He squeezed his lips into a textbook version of a smile and talked at a slower pace, this time more scarily composed than before. “I-It’s nothing. I don’t know if I’ll have the courage to tell you again.”
The entire trip to the cliff went downhill in a veil of awkward silence, both of you knowing full well in your hearts why such a thing had happened. Wind rocketed past your ears silently, blowing against your ears and hitting against your hair-as if coaxing you to speak, but right now, you didn’t know if you had the courage to say anything to him when you had made him sad.
In less than a minute, the scooter had surfaced up the flatter parts of the cliff, and you decided that this was the best moment to speak up.
“I’m sorry if I made you sad or anything.” you mumbled awkwardly, stepping out of the scooter and nearly losing your balance-having your feet on the ground after 2 whole hours seemed like a foreign concept to your legs right about now.
Dowoon shook a hand at you almost instantly. “You’ve made me more happy than I could ever imagine.” he said unhesitantly, and this time, smiled at you with a more genuine smile. For a second, you could see the faith of the crescent moon resurface back on the ring of his eyes as he continued, “Just have fun tonight, that’s all I ask for.”
You nodded back, returning his smile; and with a new, strangely fluttering feeling in your heart you followed Dowoon to the picnic mat, where Jihyo and Chaewon were sitting, dressed in casual clothing-you felt slightly out of place, decked out in your sloppy, mud-speckled school uniform as you greeted them shyly, sitting yourself onto the mat. But thankfully, the girls initiated conversations well-definitely way better than you did, and within seconds, you hadn’t even realised that Dowoon had slipped away to somewhere else.
“So, how’s life after finals?” Jihyo asked cheerily, or rather, the way she usually talked; it wasn’t rare to see that consistent, bright smile of hers plastered on her doll like face.
You didn’t exactly know how to answer. “I don’t really know. After school today I have that 4 month break that most have, so what happened after your break?” You started to laugh as you realised how you had redirected the topic back to them, and both of them started doing the same.
“Hmm-hahaha-I’d say that college life is still manageable, I’ve been doing it for about 2 months plus.” Jihyo answered, failing to contain her laughter at one point as she squeezed her eyes together endearingly. “Chaewon is entering a polytechnic, so she has about 2 months more to break, same with Dowoon, Jaehyung and Younghyun want to go to a uni, so they’re going to college too, but I don’t know…like. I really don’t know what I want in life yet…”
Her voice trailed off awkwardly, with the fading smear of her chirpy voice, and you couldn’t help but relate. Sure, you had a subject combination and you had did pretty good in finals, but you didn’t have a certain passion you would shirk everything to chase; not like many of the people in your class, who were already able to aim their arrows towards their target.
“It’s okay. I’m sure you’ll find it soon when the time arrives, I’m looking for what I want too.” you said with empathy, and in response Jihyo nodded politely.
“I suppose.”
All of you talked for a while longer, on less serious topics-occasionally breaking out in laughter when Jihyo came up with one of her silly, yet timely antics, and going soft hours when Chaewon showed all of you pictures of her labrador-it was a he, with a slender, healthy body and adorable marble eyes.
After a while of staring, you had only come to realise that the mahogany, soft brown shade of his fur was the same colour you saw, inked intricately in the depths of Dowoon’s eyes.
Just then, there was a very coincidental, but hesitant tap on your shoulders.
“Can you come with me?” a low voice spoke up amidst the cooing over the dog, and you looked up, despite already recognising who it was.
This time, his gaze looked a little different; you couldn’t help but feel slightly excited as you noticed the enigmatic sparkle that stood out amidst his gentle, brown eyes, taking his outstretched hand and standing up.
“Yoon Dowoon, I’m warning you, if you don’t bring her back safely, we will tail after you with bats and split your head open.” Jihyo suddenly spoke up with a glint in her big, doll eyes, voice cracking menacingly at the last line-and again, both of you laughed at her antics.
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” he laughed awkwardly, voice faltering at the last line. You couldn’t help but notice that Dowoon’s cheeks were starting to heat up, but quickly ignored it when he gestured at you to follow him.
Contrary to what you thought it would be, the walk to the destination wasn’t very long, unlike earlier on. From the angle of the picnic mat, a loudspeaker in the distance was clearly visible. Next to it were two other figures, Younghyun and Jaehyung-with a bass and electric guitar slung around their chests respectively.
Needlessly to say, you were shocked. “They can play those?” you exclaimed, and with a small nod, Dowoon chuckled gleefully, “Look to your left.”
Without a moment of thought, you turned your head.
Cymbals, glinting on the cusp of its dully golden surface like the rings of Saturn, with two smaller drums and a large bass drum positioned at the bottom-it seemed like you were exaggerating, but…
“Dowoon, you can play that? ” you cried out, faltering a little at the last word, but unlike how you had reacted, he just smiled like it wasn’t that great of a feat to play the drums.
“Not just that, I’m going to play you a song.” he responded triumphantly, as he approached the spinning chair behind it and sat down. A smug smile remained on his face unwaveringly as he bent down to pick up his drumsticks, humming a gentle tune between his lips-and you couldn’t help but smile, wondering if that was the very song they were about to play.
“This is all for you by the way,” Younghyun cut in, a malicious smirk playing on the sides of his lips as you turned to him, “-We have a school recital tomorrow, and we’ve practically practiced this song till we could play it with closed eyes-but our naughty youngest absolutely insisted on playing this instead of anything else, just because of his-”
“OKAY, OKAY, I think that’s about enough.” Dowoon shouted obnoxiously, with a slightly annoyed, slightly red look on his face, and everyone started to laugh.
“Take it away then, drummer boy.” you said enthusiastically, remaining rooted to the ground in anticipation.
You definitely weren’t ready for the moment he started to position those drumsticks of his.
As the guitar kicked off the song, while layered by the low consistency of the bass, you smiled unconsciously as you let the melody hum in your voice softly. It was in A major, a nice, steady rhythm; and more so when a string of clashes echoed from the cymbals, not too far away from where you were-before there was another silvery tap, followed up by what sounded like the rustle of leaves.
Then, as the melody descended down a few keys, Jaehyung rasped gently into the mic, like the soft blow of the night breeze surrounding you.
Every day I lived like I was dead But you
Became the reason For me to get up Once more You made me wanna open my eyes
In sync with the bass, your heart thumped against your chest-and you stared at Dowoon, who gave you a small smile, before going into a rapid flurry of beats yet again.
Just your smile alone Makes me breathe Because of you, I’m Better better Better baby Only your love Makes the frozen me Start to run again Higher higher Higher baby
The reason for all this looked back at you knowingly, with the same spark of faith spinning confidently in his eyes; as if he understood what he meant to you, and then, the night sky seemed to tear down from the face of the earth, and enclasp itself in the centre of his eyes.
I used to never wait for tomorrow But you Became the reason For me to take one more step Not too far ahead You held out your hand to me
Just your smile alone Makes me breathe Because of you, I’m Better better Better baby Only your love Makes the frozen me Start to run again Higher higher Higher baby The bass suddenly made no more sound, and soon, the music stopped with your heart.
“You must be confused now.” Dowoon’s low voice suddenly whispered at a distance awfully near where you were standing, and startling you; yet resonating so comfortingly in your ears while he spoke.
As he locked eyes with yours, the light promisingly dancing on the sides of his pupils held the lights of the stars in them-still the ones of a child, maybe even believing more than ever; and in all your awe you began to speak hastily, not knowing what to do.
“I-I don’t know, I’m happy-and these words are what I’ve been meaning to say to you for the longest time, you mean a lot to me, and heck, I don’t even know if I could have survived running without you, there’s no way you could have known-”
“These words are the words I want to say to you too.”
Your eyes widened as he said those words hopefully, taking your wrists-and all the signs of red surfacing across his cheeks, with the smiles that only he could have made you smile with; to the unsure, dull gaze you had seen at your first meeting, to the beautiful, starry sky you could barely fathom in the depth of his big, believing eyes.
“I wanted to drop by your school to visit, but I heard from your friends that you were hurting a lot today, so I didn’t end up going.” he said quietly, now holding up the wrist with the thin, ugly scar zipped across it and kissing it; at that moment, you could barely believe the warmth that was withheld between every fibre in the soft, pillowy surface as Dowoon looked up at you again. “And I don’t want to leave you like that again. Thank you for understanding me with that kind heart of yours, when I could barely have the willpower to train the batch, and bringing me so much happiness.”
He paused for a bit, and as if his voice was a conductor, your breath halted simultaneously-before he opened his mouth again, and eagerly said the words that would change your life forever.
“I want to run with you forever.”
You could barely contain yourself from crying again when the feelings gushed to your head, came raining down from your eyes as tears, and through all your emotions, you nodded vigorously.
“I want to do the same, Dowoon,” you sniffed, barely stabilising yourself as you felt his callused hands land on your shoulders gently, holding you close to his chest, rising and falling in waves-he too, was crying; and you never wanted to leave that place again.
Just your smile alone Makes me breathe Because of you, I’m Better better Better baby Only your love Makes the frozen me Start to run again Higher higher Higher baby
From that day on, both of you ran not only across the running track in your school, but in the race of life, hand in hand-smiles being the breath in each other’s lungs, and love being the reason to keep going.
Only your love could make the me who was stuck run again.
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HECK THIS WAS SO CRINGEY AND CORNY IM SORRY ILL EDIT IT WHEN I HAVE TIME LOL!!! ugh I had sm fun tho lol Dowoon is really so precious and amazing aaaa ;;; also, I feel like I was only able to write this so well because of God, who plays the character of Dowoon and way more than that in my life-being the breath in my lungs and the reason to keep going, so really, all the glory be to Him, I have never wrote with such understanding of a concept like love and He really is so omnipresent and amazing in even everything I write even if I don’t mention Him directly!!!
hehe I really like this story uwu its not the best and its way too long than it should have been but it will hold a special place in my heart!! to the anon that requested this I’m sorry if u expected a short read with a much more light hearted topic to 'cheering you up after a bad day at school’ JHDSJKFHS HAHAHAHA gosh anyway I hope y'all enjoyed this if you even finished it, thanks for your support!! I’m writing this on my birthday so I gotta go sleep now, happy 2019 to everyone!
(looking back and literally the only good thing about this story was the ending what the hecK I did so much unnecessary elaboration LOL)
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tea-and-toblerones · 8 years
Text
I hijacked this.
1: Name:: Deanna 2: Age:: 24 3: 3 Fears:: spiders, being told I love you when they really don't, utter failure 4: 3 things I love:: Video games, music and art 5: 4 turns on:: Dorkiness, awkwardness, kindness and a sense of humor 6: 4 turns off:: flip floppy behavior, narcissism, arrogance, and thinking yo ass is better than everyone else. 7: My best friend:: @bestiejessie 8: Sexual orientation:: Hetro, but with an appreciation for the female form 9: My best first date:: pff, I'll let you know when that happens, yeah? I've never really been taken out 10: How tall am I:: 5′7" 11: What do I miss:: being as carefree as I was 12: What time were I born:: Monday, August 24, 1992 at 9:18 PM 13: Favourite color:: Red. Blood red. 14: Do I have a crush:: My heart only poops it's pants for celebs and fictional characters at the mo'. It's easier that way. 15: Favourite quote:: “I may be an asshole, but I'm not a 100% Dick" Peter "Star Lord" Quill 16: Favourite place:: By the water. On the water. Floating in the water. I love water. 17: Favourite food:: PIZZA IS LIFEEEEE 18: Do I use sarcasm:: Nah mate, not at all. 19: What am I listening to right now:: The Final Fantasy VII Soundtrack 20: First thing I notice in new person:: eyes, scent, timbre of voice, and their vibe 21: Shoe size:: 8 22: Eye color:: gunsteel blue 23: Hair color:: medium brown. For now. 24: Favourite style of clothing:: Grunge queen in the fall/winter Cute and lacy in the spring/summer 25: Ever done a prank call?:: not that I'm aware. I have terrible anxiety 27: Meaning behind my URL:: I just love tea and toblerones mate. 28: Favourite movie:: Howl's Moving Castle 29: Favourite song:: Yellow by Coldplay 30: Favourite band:: Imagine Dragons 31: How I feel right now:: Chill/excited 32: Someone I love:: EVERYONE. Cept for one single person. 33: My current relationship status:: Emotionally attached to a fictional character cos I'm trash. That answers that, eh? 34: My relationship with my parents:: Me and my mam are tight. My dad...nah mate, not so much. 35: Favourite holiday:: HALLOWEEN BITCHES! 36: Tattoos and piercing I have:: My gauges. 37: Tattoos and piercing I want:: Sylleblossoms and a sword from FFX, Calcifer from Howl's Moving Caste, a sea scape, trees, a dragon... 38: The reason I joined Tumblr:: I needed an Ed outlet before my friends murdered me. 39: Do I and my last ex hate each other?:: He cut his face open to be more like Ed so I would take him back. I don't hate anyone, but that boy is pretty damn close to it. 40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?:: My brother texts me WAKE UP from time to time. Do those count? 41: Have I ever kissed the last person you texted?:: Texted, yeah. Messaged, nah, just licked their face. 42: When did I last hold hands?:: romantically? Last year. In general? Last night. 43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?:: pff what is this morning you speak of? 44: Have You shaved your legs in the past three days?:: Sure have. 45: Where am I right now?:: In the FFXV/Ed trash heap where I belong. 46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me?:: Jessie if they're not already passed out. 47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level? :: loud 48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad? :: unfortunately 49: Am I excited for anything?:: THIS WEEKEND 50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?:: yes 51: How often do I wear a fake smile?:: 25% of the time? Ish 52: When was the last time I hugged someone?:: earlier today 53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me?:: I be surprised he grew a spine and kissed a girl other than me, but that's about it. Probably cheer him on. Get him a drink. I'm such a bro 54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not?:: nah mate, I hardly trust anyone 55: What is something I disliked about today?:: almost falling outta a chair cos I fell asleep 56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?:: Ed Sheeran 57: What do I think about most?:: that I'm trapped in a stagnate place and I'll never get free from it. 58: What’s my strangest talent?:: I can remember exactly how people/ feel. Like their skin and whatnot, like I'm physically touching them, but im not. And their scent and their voice. And their eyes. Is that a talent? 59: Do I have any strange phobias?:: the snuggle bear creeps me the fuck out. 60: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?:: behind 61: What was the last lie I told?:: that I was gonna go to bed early. Does it count if it's to yourself? 62: Do I perfer talking on the phone or video chatting online?:: video chatting cos I have a fear that people can't understand what I'm saying due to the fact I used to have an impediment with a lisp so at least they can read my lips. 63: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens? :: sure do. Seen em. Felt em. Have one thats attached to me. He's cool. Chases away the bad stuff. And yeah this universe is way to big for us to be the only ones 64: Do I believe in magic?:: yep 65: Do I believe in luck?:: very much so 66: What’s the weather like right now?:: kinda coldish? But not terrible (I'm horrible at judging how cold it is. I never wear a jacket) 67: What was the last book I’ve read?:: King Killer Chronicles 68: Do I like the smell of gasoline?:: I'm weird so of course I do 69: Do I have any nicknames?:: Nanna (which I always go by) 70: What was the worst injury I’ve ever had?:: um, well one of my insides got very angry with me and hurt and I couldn't move and was fevered and puking and made my back hurt. I was too stubborn to go get checked out so I dunno what happened but it got better on its own. 71: Do I spend money or save it?:: both. Usually save though 72: Can I touch my nose with a tounge?:: I've got quite the long tongue, I can actually stick it up my nose if I tried. (Drunk me has) 73: Is there anything pink in 10 feets from me?:: Not that I can see 74: Favourite animal?:: Foxes, Ravens, and raccoons 75: What was I doing last night at 12 AM?:: Partying with my ladies getting ready to bar hop with the band 76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is?:: Morningstar. He owns a nightclub called Lux in LA. 77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?:: Thrift Shop 78: How can you win my heart?:: by being an adorable awkward dorky nerd like me 79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone?:: something utterly ridiculous probably 80: What is my favorite word? :: probably a swear. 81: My top 5 blogs on tumblr @weareedsobfg (imma cheat too) @ferskendag, @tenerife-lucy @lordedsheeran, uh....I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting 82: If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say? :: pterodactyl noises and arm flaps cos social anxiety 83: Do I have any relatives in jail?:: it would be quicker to list the ones that weren't. 84: I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power?:: the power of imagination (whatever I can imagine happens) 85: What would be a question I’d be afraid to tell the truth on?:: How do you feel 86: What is my current desktop picture?:: A picture of graveyard I took in New Orleans 87: Had sex?:: yeah 88: Bought condoms?:: yeah 89: Gotten pregnant?:: no 90: Failed a class?:: math. All the math 91: Kissed a boy?:: yeah 92: Kissed a girl?:: yeah 93: Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain?:: I have in the snow 94: Had job?:: yeah had job 95: Left the house without my wallet?:: almost everytime 96: Bullied someone on the internet?:: Nah mate 97: Had sex in public?:: Sure have 98: Played on a sports team?:: INDOOR PERCUSSION BITCHES 99: Smoked weed?:: Not smoked it, but had some pretty delicious banana nut pot bread. 100: Did drugs?:: besides the pot bread, nah mate 101: Smoked cigarettes?:: No 102: Drank alcohol?:: Oh yeah 103: Am I a vegetarian/vegan?:: Once upon a time 104: Been overweight?:: very much so 105: Been underweight?:: when I was born 106: Been to a wedding?:: I've been to so many 107: Been on the computer for 5 hours straight?:: ALL DAY, ERRYDAY 108: Watched TV for 5 hours straight?:: I'm a binge watching mofo 109: Been outside my home country?:: no but I wanna 110: Gotten my heart broken?:: yeah 111: Been to a professional sports game?:: Yes and I don't even like sports. 112: Broken a bone?:: surprisingly no 113: Cut myself?:: all the time on accident 114: Been to prom?:: no, I was the weird loner outsider kid. You know the one. 115: Been in airplane?:: Sure have 116: Fly by helicopter? :: no but I've been in one 117: What concerts have I been too?:: Alice Cooper and Watch Them Rot 118: Had a crush on someone of the same sex?:: Kinda ish. 119: Learned another language?:: I used to know a lil Spanish but now, not so much 120: Wore make up?:: every time I leave the house even though I don't need it anymore cos I got my eczema under control (the miracle of aloe yall) 121: Lost my virginity before I was 18?:: Nope 20 122: Had oral sex?:: I have 123: Dyed my hair?:: so much. 124: Voted in a presidential election?:: No 125: Rode in an ambulance?:: Nope 126: Had a surgery?:: Nope 127: Met someone famous?:: uh, mickey, minnie, goofy and pluto? 128: Stalked someone on a social network?:: who hasnt? 129: Peed outside?:: so many times 130: Been fishing?:: yep 131: Helped with charity?:: yep 132: Been rejected by a crush?:: *laughs to infinity* CAN'T BE IF YOU NEVER TELL EM (yes, yes I have. Indirectly) 133: Broken a mirror?:: So many I'm cursed forever 134: What do I want for birthday?:: the same thing I wanted last year. A hot ginger. (And video games. Always video games) 135: How many kids do I want and what will be their names?:: 2 boys. And maybe like William or James or something weird cos I love weird names 136: Was I named after anyone? :: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: the Next Generation. 137: Do I like my handwriting?:: yeah it's pretty okay 138: What was my favourite toy as a child?:: MY PINK POWER RANGER ACTION FIGURE 139: Favourite Tv Show?:: Supernatural, Sherlock, Doctor Who, American Horror Story, Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow...don't make me pick one. 140: Where do I want to live when older?:: with someone I care about. 141: Play any musical instrument?:: piano, marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, bells, drums, guitar (not well, I have ZERO rhythm) 142: One of my scars, how did I get it?:: playing with my dog 143: Favourite pizza toping?:: If I had to pick one, pepperoni but mushroom olive and pineapple please 144: Am I afraid of the dark?:: nah, that's where all the stars are 145: Am I afraid of heights?:: nah 146: Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?:: no, I was a mild child 147: Have I ever tried my hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end?:: Oh you mean my life? 148: What I’m really bad at:: everything 149: What my greatest achievments are:: well I stopped someone from killing themselves. I also tend to make people laugh and feel better. 150: The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me:: I only said I loved you so you would stay (though literally already knew it but worst fear right there) 151: What I’d do if I won in a lottery:: get outta debt. Get my friends outta debt. 152: What do I like about myself:: people say I'm sunshine. I like that. 153: My closest Tumblr friend:: @ferskendag and @tenerife-lucy 154: Something I fantasise about:: being happy with someone I care about, being financially stable while doing my dream job and traveling the world. 155: Any question you’d like? Do you know the muffin man?
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warmau · 8 years
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[BTS x Forest Fairy!AU] Taehyung
Keeper of Birds and Raptors Kim Taehyung 
Find Keeper of Streams & Waterfalls Min Yoongi (here) Find Keeper of Rabbits & Deer Jeon Jungkook (here) Find Keeper of Trees and Roots Park Jimin (here)
has the mindset that he too can fly,,,,well glide,,,,,well he’s just really good at jumping from tree to tree so he’s like ‘this is my inner bird power’
his pet black vulture that always accompanies him is basically his best friend and he tells it just about everything
and although the vulture can’t talk back, taehyung, as the protector of birds, can understand through sounds what the birds are communicating 
that or maybe it’s the fact that his vulture will peck at him annoyingly to tell him it wants him to stop doing whatever it is he’s doing
and it is hilarious, he’ll literally get into arguments with the vulture like if he’s running around chasing deer or something and falls face forward 
the vulture will fly off his shoulder and perch itself on a branch and taehyung will be like ‘thANKS for abandoning me buddy’ and then he’ll be like ‘don’t give me that look - don’t you dare laugh at me’
like he treats the vulture like a human it’s really endearing
the other birds all like to flock around taehyung when he’s sitting up high in the branches and eating and he’s like ‘guys go get your own food!!!!!’ but he’ll share if he has bread or something 
will 100% recklessly hurt himself to save an egg from falling out of a nest or fighting off a hungry fox that might pick on a wounded bird 
he doesn’t wear any heavy clothing, his clothes are worn out and loose so it is easier for him to move around and climb trees. he wears a single feather earring from his right ear that came from the tail of his pet before the vulture that died when it was shot down by a hunter
usually taehyung wouldn’t wear feathers but this one is meaningful to him
his feet and arms are all scratched up from climbing up bark and his hair is always a mess because his vulture will land on top of his head just to be a little teasing
but he really cares about all the animals and even makes friends with Keepers jungkook and jin who both protect different species and you know he, like all keepers, wishes there would be less hunters but unlike the others taehyung sets up traps sometimes to catch hunters off guard and scare them from the forest
the other keepers are always like ‘taehyung you can’t keep risking our exposure like that’ and he’s just like im not,,,,,,,,the birds set up those traps and it’s like ,,,,please but taehyung is just like pointing to his vulture like ‘he did it! i swear!’
and you know you’re not a hunter, you’re actually an avid bird watcher who comes by the forest to see if you take photos of any new birds you haven’t seen before
and a lot of the time you just wander around with your camera, taking photos and making notes
taehyung doesn’t really know of you until one day he hears a lot of birds are flocking to one area and he’s like ,,,,,did one of the hunters leave feed out as bait again 
and he climbs one of the trees to try and get a better lookout when all of a sudden the vulture leaves his shoulders and swoops down to where you’re sitting
and just as you turn to get water from your backpack, the vulture grabs your camera with its talons and flies back over to taehyung
and taehyung catches it and examines it and he’s like ??? is this a new hunting device??? what is it 
and he’s turning it this way and that way and dangling it by the strap and you’re looking up at him like mY BABY THE CAMERA NOOO i spent thrEE MONTHS of my money on that
and you’re like jumping up and down, shouting and waving your arms for taehyung to notice you
and when he finally does he jumps down from branch to branch, your camera swinging around his neck as you bite your lip in terror, and when he lands in front of you
he gets right up and close - almost to the point that your noses are touching and he’s like 
“explain this to me. what does it do?”
he holds up the camera and you’re like ?!?!?!?!? what is this boy 
and you’re like “i-i-it’s a camera ,,,,,it takes pictures?!?” and taehyung furrows his eyebrows like “pictures? what is that?”
and you’re like ,,,,,,,,how does he not know what pictures are ? 
but nonetheless you turn to pull out your album from your bag to show him, but all of a sudden he wraps his arm around your wrist and jerks it back and he’s like “hunters like you shouldn’t be here, don’t bring these things into the forest - stop hurting the birds!”
and your eyes widen and you’re like “hur-hurting? but im not a hunter-”
and taehyung narrows his eyes like “don’t try to trick me, ive been the keeper of birds in this forest for a longtime - i know a weapon when i see one!”
and for a second you process what this random, wild boy is saying to you and you search his face - the scratches on his cheeks, the feather earring, the vulture pearched on his shoulder and you’re like,,,,keeper,,,,,keeper of the birds,,,,,,,,,,, “yo-you’re a forest fairy?!?!”
and taehyung steps back a bit and he’s like “i am, now tell me - what is this, why are you here, which birds are you hunting?”
and you’re so mesmerized because WOW you’ve only heard of the forest fairies from books when you were a kid and rumors around the villages near the woods,,,,,,you never thought they were real
and if he was a fairy - where were his wings?? or did he not have any??? and before you know it you’re looking at taehyung from every angle in wonder
until he finally puts the camera back in your face and he’s like “explain.”
and you’re like “ok, but let me take something out of my bag - um - um whats your name?”
“taehyung. it better not be a weapon, my vulture can attack on comma-”
and you’re like waving your hand like “no no no, see im not a hunter - im a bird watcher!!!”
taehyung once again gives you a quizzical expression
“bird,,,,,,,,watcher?”
and you pull the album with all your photos out and open it up, showing it to taehyung and you’re like “look!! this is my sparrows page, and this one is my eagle one, and here we have blurry photos of mockingbirds -”
and takes the album from you and he’s like “what are these?”
and you’re like “pictures!!! i take them with that ‘thing’ called a camera!! it’s not a weapon, it doesn’t hurt the birds!!”
and you smile at taehyung and he kind of looks over you again and he’s like thinking to himself that,,,,,you know you don’t LOOK like a hunter - you’re not wearing that weird printed clothing and you’re obviously not holding a gun,,,,,and all the ‘pictures’ of these birds ,,,the birds are alive
and he also notices that,,,,,you’re much cuter than the average hunter LOL with smiling eyes and pretty looking hair tucked behind your ear
his vulture pecks at his cheek and taehyung side eyes the bird as to scold it because no shuttup i wasn’t staring!
and you’re like hmm?? and taehyung scatters for an excuse and goes “s-show me how the camera works?” and you’re like “ok!!! here let me take a photo of your pet ^^”
and taehyung hesitantly hands you the camera, which you thank god didn’t break while he was swinging it around, and you bring it up to focus the lens on the bird
and with a click that makes taehyung twitch you take a photo and then excitedly turn the camera around to show taehyung
and he leans in, squinting and then his eyes go wide and he’s like “it’s!!! him, it’s him on my shoulder!!” and you’re like “YES!!! isn’t he handsome?”
and you look at the photo which clearly shows the vulture, perched on taehyungs shoulder and you are talking about the bird but then you look at the photo and then back to taehyung who is leaning on your shoulder a bit to see the photo
and you hadn’t noticed in the flurry of the moment, but his slightly tanned skin and high bridged nose,,,,,an accentuated jawline,,,,,,and long eyelashes all make him,,,,,,quite handsome too 
and before you know it you become conscious of how close you two are standing but when you scoot away, taehyung pulls you into his side again so he can be closer to the camera and you’re like hdlglgd,,,he really is a fairy he has no sense of personal space like normal humans,,,
and taehyung finally pulls back and he points to the photo and turns to the vulture like ‘you’re not so bad looking after all, look -’
and you’re like “does the vulture understand you? can you speak to birds???”
and taehyung looks at you with a half smile and shakes his head like “i can’t speak to them, but after living among them it’s really easy to understand what they’re feeling without words”
and you look at how obvious the close relationship between him and the bird is and you just smile to yourself because it’s,,,,,one of the cutest things you’ve ever seen,,,,,,,
until taehyung breaks your concentration because he picks up your bag and is like “is there anything else thats cool in here??” and you’re like hEY don’t go through my stuff without asking and you pull it back and taehyung gives you a shy grin and you’re like
frick he isn’t just handsome he’s also adorable what the he c K
but you sit down and taehyung sits beside you and you’re like “this is my notepad, i write things about birds here, this is some water, this is a pair of binoculars -”
as soon as you take them out, taehyung asks if he can see them and you pass them to him and immediately he looks through the wrong lens and is like “everything is so small??” and you’re like “the other way around!!” and when he turns them around it’s like,,,,,,taehyung has seen a  whole new world
and he’s up, looking left and right and spinning around and the vulture flies off his shoulder to instead take a seat beside you and you’re like FREAKING out because this is the closest you’ve been to a vulture and you’re like omgomgogmogmmog i need to take photos
and for the next hour you and taehyung sit there in the meadow and you tell him about how you look for birds and how you take photos
and taehyung is like “the next time you come, find me and i can call over some of my friends so you can take photos ^^”
and you’re like friends? and he’s like the birds!! and you’re like omg i would love that
but as it is getting dark you have to go, but you feel bad just leaving so you  dig out your binoculars and hand them to taehyung and you’re like
“it’s a gift - since you promised to help me the next time i come and let me take photos of the vulture, take care of them ok?”
and taehyung lights up like a child and jumps up and down and then suddenly
he leans in, pressing his lips to your cheek and pulling away like “that’s how humans express happiness to one and other - right??” 
and you’re touching the skin where his lips met and you’re blushing like omg,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
and the vulture pecks taehyungs head, again like he’s scolding him and taehyung is like wHAT i was saying thank you
and you’re like “!!!! ill be um back soon i have to run now BYE”
and taehyung spends the rest of the week sitting up in the branches, looking through the binoculars that you gave him and thinking about you
and it’s weird usually he doesn’t like the humans he meets - mostly because they’re hunters or backpackers who leave garbage all around 
but you’re,,,,,,,,,you’re different
you like birds for one,,,,but also you seem so,,,,,,so warm to taehyung 
“my first human friend, what do you think?” he asks the vulture as he’s hanging off a branch and the vulture just flaps its wings and taehyungs nodding like “i agree, i like them too.”
and you do come back, about two weeks later and you don’t even have to search for taehyung he comes jumping down from between the leaves like some flying squirrel and lands on his feet right before you
and he’s like “you took too long!!! c’mon let me show you some of the other birds we have here-”
and he takes your hand without hesitation and you’re like kdfgsahf once again he’s got no idea of personal space but you don’t mind you like,,,,it
and he pulls you through some bushes off the hiking track and you don’t notice because you’re lost in taehyungs babbling about birds
and he’s like “here’s the nest of a sparrowhawk - look at how small the babies are!!”
and he shows you all the spots where birds live and unlike before where they’d just fly away if they heard your footsteps, with taehyung they just safely land on his hand or on his shoulder
and sometimes their talons leave scrapes and you’re like !!!!! band aids- but taehyung just licks the wound and keeps going and you’re like ???
but he really amazes you it’s like he /is/ a bird the way he hops from branch to branch as you stand bellow in wonder, the way he seemingly understands what the birds are saying, and the way he brushes off any kind of pain from his climbing or from thorns and has no fear of going up to the top of the tallest trees
and you get tired way before he does, but taehyung is like “one thing before you go!!” and he takes your hand and he’s like “here, hold this”
and in your palm there’s a baby sparrow and you’re like omgom g o H Y g od,,,,,,,,and taehyung is like “aren’t they soft?? they’re so tiny!!”
and you’re in a state of shock because you. are. holding. a. baby. bird.
but also you can’t stop smiling and taehyung all of a sudden, takes your camera and is like “let me take a photo!!”
and he’s clumsy with the lens, but you don’t care, you hold the bird in your hands up and taehyung mimics what he remembers you did and you hear the snap
and it’s,,,,,it’s a moment that you can never forget
and when taehyung successfully leads you back to the hiking track he leans down again, brushing his lips against your cheek because he tells you, you made him so happy today again!!
and you’re like sdhsd but you lean in to and kiss his cheek, taehyung jumping a bit and making the feather earring he wears brush your own cheek
and you’re both turning a lil pink but say goodbye
and this happens pretty often, even in winter, when you lug a blanket with you because you have the suspicion taehyung doesn’t own one
you come and watch the birds with him and taehyung is never short of being entertaining and fun
and he gets into the habit of holding your hand from the minute he meets up with you to the minute you have to leave
and the vulture becomes comfortable with you too, even shifting over to sit on your shoulder and you’re always like ,,he’s a bit,,,,,heavy
and taehyung is like i knOW imagine having to deal with him all the time
and for the hundredth time you see taehyung and his bird get into an argument of words and squawking that always leaves you laughing 
and when you ask taehyung about the feather earring you see him get serious and emotional
and he tells you the story of his old pet bird, an eagle 
and how it was shot down for its feathers but taehyung had set up a trap that had caught the hunter off guard before he could get to the body of the bird
and taehyung had recovered it, burying the bird beside the tree where taehyung had found him as a baby
and taking only one feather of his to remember him by
and taehyung mumbles that he never cries - really, only this memory makes him tear up
but in a matter of seconds he’s back to his happy self jumping around and climbing up the nearest tree
and he gets ,,,,,,,sweeter tbh
like he picks berries for you before you come and collects things you might like like flowers
and you always thank him and taehyung gets shy but touches his cheek and you lean in to kiss it
but the vulture sometimes beats you to it and pecks taehyung and taehyung is like nOT YOU !!!! 
but you just laugh and one day taehyung has to drop you off again but you dig around in your bag and pull out a flute
and you’re like “i tried to get good at it, but i can’t - i think you might like it?? and the birds will to??”
and you hand it to him and taehyung brings it up to his mouth and almost like he’s magically always known how to play, a soft melody comes out that gets followed by chirps from the birds in the trees
and you smile and look at taehyung like “se-”
but then you feel something press to your lips and your eyes are wide when you notice that taehyung is ,,,,,,,,,kissing ,,,,,,,,,you
and when he pulls back he bites his bottom lip and is like “humans,,,,,when someone makes them happy,,,,but,,,,,more than happy they do that,,,,,right?”
and you’re like shocked 
but you nod and taehyung grins wide and takes something from his pocket and it’s a feather - not like his a bit smaller
and he’s like “here, i don’t like when people wear feathers - but ,,,,,you,,,can,,,,,,,if you want,,,,,”
and you take it, thanking him and taehyung says he’ll see you soon
and when you get home you string the feather onto a thin piece of leather and make a necklace 
that when you wear when you see taehyung makes him smile so bright it looks like it hurts and he tries to lean in to kiss you again
but the vulture sticks out his wing to slap taehyung against the face and then flies off when taehyung starts to nag at it
and you can only laugh,,,,,,,
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boot--legged · 8 years
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my post limit is gone sO im gonna write a kind-of-not-really-in-depth analysis of this weeks raw and try and figure out what i’d like to see come of it EAT YOUR HEART OUT BLAMPIED THERE’S A NEW SMART ARSE IN TOWN
(this is a very long post)
so that opening promo was. weird. listen to those boos for steph  obviously they’re fazing out mick so that everyone can get ready for someone else to take his place. i do love stephanie as this ‘excited mom who’ll let you have a soda but if you talk back about the kind of soda you got she will remind you she is your fucking mother’ character but i cant stand her being out here week after week. this week, mick was away so i’ll give it a pass but she’s the commisioner, i don’t feel she should be as hugely involved as she seems to be. roman looked angry and almost heel-ish and that was cool i guess? i personally prefer the roman we saw back when he first got involved in the us title picture. the club i think is being established as the spiritual successors to j&j security, just got back to japan boys, you’ll be better off there. the club vs roman, 2 on 1 handicap match was alright, finish was pure poopy. the whole ‘the club cheated so they could fucking decimate roman’ thing was ruined as soon as roman countered the magic killer and it made the tag champs look weak in favour of making roman look strong for maybe five whole minutes?
god these jeri-ko video packages hurt.
the kofi vs bo match wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t terrible either? on one hand, you had a throwaway match for comedy that could’ve been given to someone who needs it (THE WOMEN’S DIVISION) but on the other hand, gosh aren’t the new day just amazing? the new day have been taken out of the tag title and that’s good. they’ve broken the record, let the titles go to someone else for a while, and this is exactly what i think the new day should do during their time off, because they are fucking excellent on the mic and the crowd fucking loves them. also, bo appearing for the first time in what has to be months on raw is good, kofi is always fantastic, and BO RIPPING UP THE SUPER SECRET BLUEPRINTS FOR THE ICE CREAM. BY GAWD. it was a short and sweet segment, but i could easily understand how this would’ve turned someone off today’s raw.
gallagher and neville is the feud i always knew i wanted and dear god im so happy i’m getting it. this promo was fucking gold despite how short and simple it was. neville is always so grumpy and gallagher COULD NOT GIVE A SINGLE SHIT.  the match was good, noam dar with alicia fox vs gallagher, the cruiserweights are always good but i’ll talk more about their long term booking later. both men are amazing in the ring even if noam has a few skeletons in his twitter closet, and honestly i can’t get over how much i love jack. i just do. commentary team is on fire like always. austin aries is starting to get on my nerves and i’m glad that the alicia FAWKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKS thing has reached commentary so now we can move on to another joke, but besides from that, this bit was a ray of sunshine in the overcast but not quite rainy day that raw has been so far (I’M EVEN TAKING YOUR METAPHOR THING BLAMPIED. HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT. YES I AM JUST DOING THIS BECAUSE YOU WON’T CHECK MY SNAPCHAT STORY EVEN THOUGH YOU ADDED ME BACK.)
EMMALINA! SHE’S FINALLY HERE! AFTER 17 WEEKS OF WAITING aaaaand she’s gone. honestly, i’m happy with how that turned out. i hated the idea of repackaging emma, why fix what’s not broken? and when emma came out today and SWERVED US i could not have been happier. 
god these jeri-ko video packages hurt.
BRAUN STROWMAN IS GOING TO EAT THE FUCKING WORLD IN A SINGLE BITE.  it’s always nice seeing mark henry, and he is most definitely in the twilight of his career so it’s ever better to see him helping put over fresher talent. braun’s fucking dropkick. he took everything that is comforting in this world and used it to jump into the air because that is scary. good to see strowman really getting built, instead of just squashing jobbers. i love roman but the resilient super-man schtik just isn’t for him. did someone just forget to teach him how to sell? he’s just been beaten by the club and he’s walking like he’s just taken a power nap. i never, ever want to hear micheal cole saying ‘licking his chops’ ever again, please, lord, i’ll do anything. braun going over roman is very nice, i like that, yes i do.
god these jeri-ko video packages hurt.
BAYLEY AND SHEASARO MIGHT BE THE BEST TEAM ON RAW RIGHT NOW. anyway, good to see bayley’s dads being supportive. good to see enzo in general? maybe? not really. someone has to be scripting enzo at this point because he’s just missing something lately. also, he was definitely not all there during this segment. a tweener team vs a tweener team is strange? but it works?
joe is dangerous. joe in a suit is a different kind of dangerous.  ALSO, SAMI VS JOE IS A WRESTLEMANIA FEUD IF I’VE EVER SEEN ONE. good to see rusev and sami having a good ol’ fashioned match, no storyline, no stipulations, just some darn good wrasslin. LANA I LOVE YOU. sami picking up the win is !!!!!! sami getting attacked by joe is a different kind of !!!!!!!. that promo sami cut is proof that sami is what john cena should’ve been. I ALSO LOVE HOW JOE JUST KEEPS COMING OUT OF DIFFERENT PLACES EVERYONE’S LIKE ‘OH WHERE’S JOE THIS TIME’ AND HE’S SUDDENLY THERE! i like how subtle this feud is being set up. i also like how joe is being handled, being made to look phenomenal and unstoppable.
HOLLA HOLLA HOLLA! YOU DESERVE IT TEDDY!
up next, brian kendrick struggles with understanding the concept of having a crush on akira tozawa. tozawa vs daivari! very very nice combo, i wish they could’ve had more time. it wasn’t even 5 minutes between the bells and i just think that’s an appalling amount of time for the roster that produced so many moty candidates! 
OH GOD HERE COMES THE JERI-KO SEGMENT.
jeri-ko has been one of the best things on raw since the brand split and honestly this was the perfect way to end it. it was time for it to go but that didn’t stop it for hurting like a fucking chairshot to the head (is that why foley couldn’t be there?)
the segment summed up just how ridiculous and campy jeri-ko has been, and honestly i don’t care if it’s $50+ i want the creation of kevin as a poster. you knew as soon as you saw kevin come out that something just wasn’t right. FUCKING GILLBERG. jericho was almost definitely shooting from the hip/heart and i almost teared up when he told kevin ‘i love you’. AND THEN. AND THEN. when i realized kevin had gotten jericho a new list i was so happy, but alas, all good things must come to end and this came to a fucking screeching train wreck of an end. the list of ko was so fucking good i hated it. that tv spot was gnarly wasn’t it? you could hear that was candy glass, but the way it shattered everywhere and jericho fell on it was just. oh god. hopefully we now get the kevin/jericho wrestlemania feud we’ve wanted for so long.
sheasaro are fucking amazing. two of the best bigger guys on raw, together, is a dream team i never knew i dreamt. i enjoy how their entrance is so well-put together but still very clearly seperate, it’s good character growth from when they started and they would just interrupt each other. cesaro vs enzo, they’re both solid workers and a very nice combo, with enzo very much being a grounded cruiserweight kind of wrestler, and cesaro being a powerhouse of uppercuts. this match suffered hugely because of it’s placement though, i don’t think anyone could concentrate after the power couple of 2016 broke up just before valentines day! 
i’m a white australian so i won’t comment on the wwe black history month segments with much more than these don’t feel genuine. but it’s nice to see them making people like rosa parks much more visible.
the women are main eventing raw! again! it’s indescribable how much it means to see sasha and charlotte main event when the women’s title has been pushed to the side for men’s grudge matches every single week. this match was just PHROAAAAAR. charlotte is amazing, bayley is amazing, these two work wonderfully together. the moonsault off the barricade, the elbow drop, the false finishes, all so, so, so wonderful. and NOW, YOUR RAW WOMENS CHAMPION, BAYLEY! what a beautiful finish. if bayley can do it, so can i.
thoughts: started slow but the end made this raw worth watching. 4/10 for first half, 7/10 for the second. that rounds out to like, a 5.5/10? considering elimination chamber was fucking 10/10, i wasn’t expecting much, but i did get more than i expected.
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vicicicici-blog1 · 6 years
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alright back on this shit
____________________________________________________ 20xx/06/14
I can't do it.
I've tried to call the police over the past few days, and every time I find myself shrinking away from the phone.
I don't know why, I've never felt like this before.
For now, I've made a decision. I'm in a good spot right now, since I've joined the club. I'm going to keep surveying the place, and see what I can do to raise my rank. in the meantime, I'm going to keep making these notes as evidence, and when Alex gets home, I'm going to show him what I've found.
Alex, when you read this: I know people are dying. I know it's silly to get worried about a police call like this. I'm sorry for all of that.
But for now, I think this is the best I can do.
The next meeting is tomorrow.
_____________________________________________________ 20xx/06/15
I'm back from the meeting. It's a little easier to explain what happened this time.
From what I can tell, people don't necessarily go to every single meeting, as there were fewer people there this time. I'm also not sure if, maybe, some of them might've been different people. After all, everyone was wearing those masks.
Today, for the meeting, it was a broadcast from another branch  - 02NS, I think it said. It turns out the floor of the arena also operates as a screen for everyone to watch. How much money has gone into this?
Over the broadcast was another member of the club, wearing a beaver mask, and another woman, wearing a red fox mask, and carrying a gun. She was setting up a drone of some kind, and in barely a minute she'd swapped the perspective over to the drone. In the new image, I could see a black van, and now, the noises of screaming and crying, coming from a separate recording. Everyone in the room began screaming wildly, as the announcer came back on.
"Good afternoon everyone! Today, 02NS Blue Beaver has worked hard with her dear sister 02NS Red Fox, notable sharpshoot [NAME REDACTED] in order to bring us a wonderful hunt!"
From the screen, popped up a few images, all of boys of varying ages, though my best guess is that they were mostly around high school age.
"Start making your bets for parts! After all, [NAME REDACTED] is gonna need to know where to avoid aiming!"
Parts.
It doesn't take a genius to know what that means.
Everyone around me was screaming prices at the top of their lungs, even [NAME REDACTED], and the women in bird masks began typing everything being yelled out. [NAME REDACTED] pointed at one boy, bone thin with curly blonde hair, begging for even just a slice from his neck.
I have no clue what anyone could even want with a neck, let alone a slice of one.
After a few minutes, the announcer came back on, quieting everyone.
"Alright, the top bets have come in! Miss [NAME REDACTED] is all set to go! Now, it's time for the fun! Three... two... one! NOW!"
The back door of the van opened up, and the five or so boys in the pictures were pushed out, all of them either terrified to the point of tears or looking away, quietly but desperately. The second they saw the girl with the gun, they all bolted into the woods. The announcer called it a ten second head start.
Then, the drone flew up high in the air, giving us a shot of the area, a wooded area where it was almost impossible to see where they were going. It was also completely caged in.
Once ten seconds had passed, Red Fox sprinted off, going in the direction of one guy, whose photos and size clearly painted him as a football player of great skill. The drone, seemingly knowing where they all were, zeroed in on him, as he'd already managed to make it close to the gated end from the direction he ran. When he made it to the clearing, he seemed to realize that too - with a better look from his perspective, the gate was imposing, made of barbed wire, and standing roughly fifteen feet in the air. The bar at the top glowed hot red.
Even so, the young man grabbed onto the fence, and started climbing. The barbs already began digging in his hands, leaving his hands a sticky, bloody mess as he kept going. When he finally got to the top bar, he made a quick grab for it, only to recoil in pain, as smoke came off of it, and fell back down to the ground.
"OOOOH! You'd think it was obvious that the bar was burning hot, huh? Sorry for all those muscular hand lovers out there, hoping to take a nice set home!”
I heard a small, disappointed sigh from close by. I'm really glad the mask covered my face, because the face I made would've outed my sickened expression to everyone there immediately.
He rolled over, grasping at his hand, when out of the bushes, Red Fox had come out, gun aimed. He looked up at her, and before he had time to even realize it, she shot him three times in the back. His body slumped over to the side, leaving his surprised face left turned on camera. Once again, the crowd went wild.
She reloaded her gun, and moved on to her next target, the drone zeroing in on the boy that [NAME REDACTED] aimed to get a slice of. He hadn't stopped crying since he ran off. It took her barely seconds before she caught up to him, shooting him square in the back with one shot. I'm not sure if he was even dead when she ran off for her next target.
One by one, she took them all down with ease. The longest one it took managed to figure out a place to hide that even the drone couldn't zero in on, but he ended up being found when he suddenly started choking up. I think he was having an asthma attack. She shot him in the neck. The other two besides that were shot in the side and the head respectively. If any bodies are found grouped together with missing parts and bullet wounds in those specific places, here is your case story.
This time, I stayed for a little longer, looking around at the stuff inside. Those casino-like machines I was looking at before consisted of mostly computers, giving access to videos of past murders and an online shop, and then some actual casino games, which many of the members were lined up to play. After a while I didn't wan't to be there any more, so I left. As sickening as it is, I'm going to try and go back again next week, and this time I'll make sure the hidden mic works.
I also just realized I forgot to take a closer look at the benefits package. Between work and the stress of this investigation, I just left it be. I'm too tired right now, I'll look at it tomorrow. _____________________________________ 20xx/06/16
I took a look in the benefits package today.
It wasn't anything special on the outside, just a thin black fabric bag, adorned with a zipper and a white rabbit on the side. I wasn't expecting too much out of it.
On the inside, it was mostly booklets, as well as a small black box, labelled "LEVEL 1 SURPRISE GIFT". First, it would be best to go over the booklets first.
The first, and largest booklet went over the club activities, what's available from the club, the club's public website (which I am surprised exists) and, most importantly, the ranking system.
It's based on purchases. Every little thing purchased from either the website or at the club directly is directly funneled into your overall rank, allowing access to more things such as a free vpn, free at-home access to the video collection archived at the site, special purchase items, the list goes on.
I checked the site, which requires the branch name, number, and mask type in order to enter the site. I'm only Level 1, so I'm limited to the purchase of innocuous items, like gardening tools and decorative knives. I think when I go to work, I'll leave my login information somewhere for my coworker to find, maybe disguise it as something left behind by a customer. At the very least, I can tip someone off to this that way, instead of trying and failing to call the police.
The next booklet was some sort of showcase for some of their notable contracted killers and corporations. It's pretty shocking to go through, some of these people are legitimately famous, like [LOL I HAD TO GET RID OF THIS HUGE AMOUNT OF INFO SHE LISTED. IM HONESTLY SURPRISED BY SOME OF THIS STUFF TOO A LOT OF THEM ARE PREETY WELL KNOWN FOR DOING GOOD SHIT SUCKS YOU CANT READ THEM BUT AT LEAST YOU GET ONE] the only company that I didn't recognize came at the very end of the book, a company called "FDN". They apparently provide their test subjects for a variety of shows and productions, particularly for this club. The booklet provides no help in explaining what their name might stand for, and the only thing that pops up when I look it up is stuff about the stock market.
The other booklets included just have stuff about methods of death, little magazine-style tests for finding out your preferred death styles, and ideal choices of item brands to use for the express purpose of death. I mostly skimmed through these.
Finally, there was the box. I wanted to save it for last, just in case it was actually a bomb, or a severed finger, or something. It was explained, in the first booklet, that new members get a commemorative item at random, be it something useful for inflicting really small acts of harm, like a tiny decorated knife or a vial of nonlethal poison, or souvenir things like a necklace with a bead filled with a previous victim's blood, or knife tip that broke while stabbing someone. It didn’t say anything about actual body parts or bombs, though it wouldn’t surprise me if it just didn’t need to.
I seemed to get something that was both a weapon and a commemorative item. Inside, wrapped in a neat circle and perched on a silk pillow like an expensive necklace, was maybe about about two feet of thin barbed wire, that looked sharp enough to prick someone's finger at even the softest touch. It was also partially covered in dried blood.
I want to throw it out, but it's important evidence. Alex, I'm putting it and everything else in the locker for safe keeping. ________________________________________________
dumbass bitch this is why your dead i bet
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