#and i am thinking about going to the admissions office and asking bc while there's nothing i can do anymore

[apocalypticdemon]

every day I think about how the admissions office fucked around with the money I was told I was going to get and every day I get so mad about it

[yesimwriting]

The Promise of Rain

A/n finally writing that Kaz Brekker x reader angsty-fluff where the reader is all sunshine-y and Kaz is dramatic as always lol 

Might make this a blurb series bc i like this dynamic so much lol

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x sunshine-y reader 

Summary: After a mission gone wrong, Kaz has a conversation with the reader (who’s a runaway princess) about what happens to people who stay near him. 

-- 

He once said that he didn’t believe in Saints. A moment later he conceded that perhaps they existed in order to appease Inej, but he was quick to tact on that if Saints existed they didn’t care about him. Inej and I had exchanged a look, she pleaded with me in silence to let him be. I opened my mouth despite the look in her eyes, but he had walked away before I could get any words out. 

He believes that the Saints don’t care about him, but as soon as he was dragged in by Jesper, bleeding and more broken than usual, it had started to rain. The rain is a promise. The rain is a sign that he will wake up. 

I tap a finger against the forgotten book on my lap, ignoring the dried blood I’ve been too anxious to wash off. When Kaz wakes up he’ll either scold me or partially tease me for waiting here by his bedside. The rain continues, cascading down invisible hope. 

“Save your prayers, even for you the Saints won’t regard me.” Kaz. His voice is raspier than it should be and his slight condescension is blighted by the tired flatness of it. But it’s him. He’s speaking. 

I tear my gaze away from the window, almost forgetting to tamper down my relief before finally looking at him. I haven’t known him long enough to see him in any level of defeat, but I’ve heard enough stories. The fictional exaggeration of those that fear him have made him seem so immortal. Some part of me must have internalized that because to see him like this, to see him so human is too intimate. 

“Don’t be so narcissistic.” Something about Kaz always leaves me feeling challenged, like each comment is some kind of dare. I adjust my posture. “I wasn’t praying because I knew you’d be okay.” 

His expression is unchanging. “So much faith in me?” 

There’s a soft edge to his words, an attempt to twist some kind of awkward denial out of me. Some days I don’t think Kaz enjoys anything and then other days I think he enjoys any misstep in my words. 

I shrug, pushing down the flood of relief still attempting to crawl out of my chest. “You’re always okay.” I scratch the back of my wrist idly. “It seems the safe bet.” 

“Don’t tell me you’ve been taking gambling advice from Jesper.” 

I half roll my eyes. “No--Jesper and I don’t play together anymore.” I let out an easy sigh. “Last time I beat him he bordered on a hissy fit.” There’s the slightest hint of upturning at the corners of his lips. “I should go tell Jesper and Inej you’re awake.” 

“I think you should change out of that dress first.”

He was more likable when I thought he might die at any second. “Wow--Kaz Brekker the professional stylist.” He has no right to judge the formal gown I’m in. Yes, my outfit is ridiculous, but I’m only wearing it because the Crows needed someone they knew at a merchant’s party for a part of some scheme they wouldn’t share the details of with me. “Yes, I’m aware that this dress is more tulle than anything else, but I’m only wearing it because I was helping you.” 

I wait for some retort about how he could have managed without my assistance or some kind of comment about how I didn’t need such a large dress to flirt and distract the guards as the Crows snuck into the merchant’s private office. “You fit in there more than you said you would.” 

From anyone else, I’d consider this an insult. “I was making an effort for the sake of your plans.” 

“I saw you before I went into the office, you knew the dances, the man took your hand.” 

That’s the weirdest observation I’ve ever witnessed someone reflect on. “That’s how those dances tend to work.” I don’t hide the confusion in my expression. “How much blood did you lose?” 

Kaz’s piercing gaze drops to the blanket on his lap. “Not a concerning amount.”

“Why do I feel like we have different definitions of ‘concerning’?” 

His eyes flit upwards, a partial smirk playing at his lips. “We define a lot of things differently.” He pauses, “You defined the life you slipped into so easily tonight as something you could never do.” 

“I can’t.” What is his problem? “One dance is different than an eternity of planning teas and marrying some man who only keeps me so I can rear his children.” 

“You’d end up marrying someone who could give you things.”

He better not be implying I should be having children. I’m seriously starting to hope he did lose a significant amount of blood because that would be some kind of explanation. “I don’t want anyone to be giving me children right now, but I guess your concern is ni--”

“No, no,” he screws his eyes shut for a long second, “You know what I meant.” I stay silent. “You’re technically a princess, y/n, you could have more than the Barrel.” There’s an odd silence as he pauses. “Someone like you should have more than the Barrel.” 

He speaks like his word is law. That’s the one habit of his I can never seem to forgive. Is Kaz telling me to go home? To go back to a mother who dreams of marrying me off and a father with a temper that often leads to violence? He may be Dirtyhands, but he is no one to tell me who to go back to. Not after I risked my anonymity to get him into that merchant’s office. 

I shut my book and stand in one swift motion. “I’m going to tell Jesper and Inej that you’re awake.”

“Y/n.” I ignore him. “Y/n.” Again, I ignore him, approaching the doorway. The rustling of sheets leaves me frozen, hand on the doorknob. “Y/n.” 

Without thinking, I turn on my heels while glaring. There’s no way he’s proud enough to have climbed out of bed wi--and he’s standing. Standing almost directly behind me. 

“Kaz Brekker, I am going to say this one time and one time only.” I keep my words measured and my tone flat. No room for argument. “You just had nine stitches put in near your heart, get your ass back in bed before that is no longer your only injury.” 

He pauses, lips pressed together into a tight white line. And then his mouth opens, pried open by an oddly light sound. Did he just--Did Kaz Brekker just laugh? He doesn’t laugh. I didn’t think he was physically capable, and now he laughs while I’m threatening him? I should hit him on principle alone and damn the consequences. 

“Did you--” I’m gaping at him with a rage I am not accustomed to. “Did you just laugh?” 

Kaz is quick to shut his mouth. “You did swear you’d get me to laugh one day.” 

Saints--now he chooses to have some kind of sense of humor. “Not while I was threatening you for being an idiot after saying my lineage means that I’m meant to be trapped in the life I desire least.” 

“I didn’t say that.” I raise an eyebrow. “You don’t deserve more than this because of your family, you deserve more than this because--” He cuts himself off with a sharp sigh. “Do you remember what happened the day we met?” 

He had wanted to return me to my father for the money. I had managed to convince him I could be more useful working for him without profit. The first day had been tense, I had sworn to myself that I would hate him forever. 

“I remember really hating you.” I remember thinking him beautiful despite his darkness. “I remember it started raining on our way here.” 

“You had a hood, but you pushed it off your head to feel the rain.” I don’t remember that because indulging in the rain is instinctual to me. “You looked at the rain, and you smiled--and then you saw a woman with a child and you took off your hood and gave it to them.” 

“What does that have to d--” 

“Watching that felt like intruding on an intimate moment I had no business knowing about, but it wasn’t that to you. That moment was nothing to you because that moment was who you are.” 

I don’t understand what he sees in something I can barely remember. “Kaz, what does that have to do with anything?” 

“I’m the monster that children believe live under their beds, I’m the bastard of the Barrel, I’m someone who gets blood on everything near them.” His gaze is harsher than I’ve ever seen it as he focuses on the dried blood splotched across my hands and arms. “And then I can’t even help you wash it off.” 

Those last words are the closest to broken I’ve ever heard him sound. “Kaz--”

“And you’re the girl who looks at the rain like it’s a gift from the Saints.” 

Is he implying what I think he’s implying? Even if I believed him such a source of evil, even if I felt like touch mattered that much--why would he care? I keep the much more frightening implication at bay as I exhale. Clarity will only make this conversation worse. “That doesn’t matter.” The words leave me in a low whisper. 

I stare at the ground until his silence is something I can no longer bear. Looking up as cautiously as possible, I take in his expression. I’ve never seen him look so--so enraged. “It doesn’t matter?!” He doesn’t bother hiding the fact that he’s practically seething. “I’ve viewed your presence here as temporary since you first came and despite that, when I saw you there…” The breath he lets out is practically pained. “When I saw what your life is meant to be--I didn’t want you to go.” 

The admission breaks something hard in my chest. “I never wanted to go.” My eyeline drops to the ground. “I didn’t want to go when you were trying to make me, I didn’t want to go when it was only for that evening.” I swallow a lump of emotion restricting my throat. “When you were bleeding out and Jesper had to carry you back here I let myself imagine what it’d be like if you died. And it hurt. It hurt so badly I asked myself if I would rather never know you than feel that pain.” 

“Would you?” His voice has gone hollow. 

I finally look up again. “No.” That word leaves me more bare than any physical touch ever could. 

“I stain everything that stays with me,” his voice has seamlessly shifted back to a tone meant for business, “Me wanting you to stay is more than enough reason for you to leave.”

My chest aches as emotions I’ll never be able to place a name to pound against my chest. “I’m a princess that ran away from her family and tried to befriend her kidnapper--you can’t possibly be narcissistic enough to believe that you’re what’s corrupted me.” 

“Y/n,” his voice is gravely again, the way it was when he first woke up. 

“No. What could you possibly think I’d say to that?” He’s insane--I’m not even sure I understand what he’s implying. “You know I’ll never agree with what you’re saying, so I have no idea what kind of reaction you’re looking for.”

“Maybe a genuine one.” 

The comment is so frustrating I can’t help but roll my eyes. The irony of Kaz Brekker asking for a genuine reaction to an emotionally heavy comment is almost laughable. “My genuine reaction is that you’re acting like an idiot because I don’t agree with anything you’re saying, but calling someone an idiot after they’ve been stabbed in the chest is a little insensitive so I can’t give you my genuine reaction.”

Kaz half-scoffs, “You don’t agree? Y/n--are you hearing me!? I want--I want you to stay.” Even angry, the admission warms me. He lets out a frustrated sigh. “More than that I want--” 

“What?” 

He shakes his head once. “I want something that can never be because I can’t give what needs to be given to get it.” 

“Kaz, if it involves me staying you don’t need to give anything for that because I don’t want to go.” 

“I-want-you-to-stay-with-me.” The admission is pried from him by some invisible force. He speaks so fiercely the sentence comes out as one angry word. 

He speaks so quickly a part of me is convinced that I misheard him. I watch him as he moves back to the bed, sitting down in a way so resigned I wonder if I blurted something out on instinct. 

“Kaz,” this is embarrassing, “I wanted to stay with you even when I wanted to hate you.”

I take in his measured expression, the only thing implying any kind of reaction is the way his eyebrows draw together. “Don’t say that, you don’t understand what that means.” 

“Why? Because you’re convinced you’ll ruin me?” 

“Y/n, we’d be together with a wall between us, keeping us from ever touching.” 

“I will tolerate any amount of damage you’re so convinced staying with you will bring, I will stay with you and never touch you and think nothing of it--but I will not stay with you just to stand in front of a wall.” I let out a tired breath. “I will stay with you but my one condition will be that you have to let me know you.” 

Kaz’s intense gaze wavers. “The first thing you’ll know is that me allowing you to stay is a testament to my greed.” 

I give him a sharp look, “It’s not greed if I want to be here.” 

He half sighs, leaning against a pillow as he turns to look out the window. “It’s raining,” he muses, “The Saints must have done that for you.” 

The sentiment is so soft my heart feels like it’s constricting. “I thought you didn’t believe in the Saints.” 

“If they exist, they do so for people like you.” 

I push past the emotion in my chest as I move to sit in the same chair I was in earlier. “I was honest when I said I didn’t pray for you.” I scratch the back of my arm, a coldness passing over me. “I didn’t pray because I knew you would be okay because you had to be.” 

“They wouldn’t have saved me,” he mumbles, “Or maybe they would have for you.” 

I shake my head once, staring at the rain with more fascination than before. 

--

General Taglist: @theincredibledeadlyviper @grishaverse7 @lonelystarship

[stealing-jasons-job]

💫 FAKE PRETEND RELATIONSHIP BC THEY'RE IDIOTS IN LOVE AND I ADORE THEM A LOT 😭😭

COMING RIGHT UP, QUEEN.

*** 

Kaz is going to regret this. 

He walks into the ballroom with Inej’s gloved hand resting in the crook of his elbow, his crow’s head cane replaced with a standard one that would draw less attention. 

Get past security. Break into the servant’s quarters. Have Inej scale the servant’s elevator shaft up to Druiminn’s office while Kaz lets the others in through the window. Nina and Matthias would create a diversion to distract the guards, allowing Inej to escape. Wylan and Jesper would be waiting to drive them away in a valet carriage outside. 

They just had to get past security. Together. While pretending to be a giddy couple madly in love. 

Inej had been opposed to the idea initially. But her desire to find information on Druiminn’s trafficking operations had won out against her pride. Or maybe it was her disgust. He couldn't tell these days. 

“No.” 

“I don’t recall asking for an opinion,” Kaz responded, not looking up from the layout of the mansion. 

“I’m not giving an opinion. I’m telling you no.” He ran a gloved hand over his face. Only Inej could get away with such a statement, and she damn well knew it. 

“It’s the only way we’re going to get past security to let the others in.” 

“Then send Matthias and Nina.” 

“Last I checked, neither of them can scale an elevator shaft or pick a lock in under 60 seconds. Think logically, Inej.” 

“I am thinking logically,” she retorted. “And logically, we won’t be successful if we use this ruse.” 

He studied her then — the set to her jaw, the way her hands sat stubbornly on her hips, the fire dancing behind her eyes. She’d been an entirely new person since she began her hunt for the traffickers that plagued The True Sea. He missed his Wraith more than he was willing to admit, but there was something equally captivating about the woman she’d become. 

Kaz pushed aside the harsh whisper in the back of his mind reminding him that she was clearly better off without him in her life. 

“Do you have so little faith in your ability to pretend to love a demon like me?” he said quietly, standing up and crossing the room so that they were only a breath apart. 

He expected her to scoff at him, or perhaps fire back a sarcastic response about his own acting abilities. 

But she surprised him instead when she reached a hand out to rest against his chest. He closed his eyes at the contact. There was the fabric of his vest between her skin and his own, but he could feel her warmth seep through to his very core. He yearned for it to consume him.

“I’m more concerned with my ability to pretend not to once the ruse is over.”  

He sucked in a breath at the boldness in her admission. But when he opened his eyes, she was gone. Out the window as if carried by the wind. 

In the end, she’d agreed and Kaz had felt vindicated. 

But now that she stands beside him — dressed in a deep green silk dress that covers the daggers he knows are strapped to her thigh, her long hair flowing uncharacteristically free behind her, he’s beginning to think she was right. 

The first hour of the evening goes off without a hitch. They make idle small talk with other partygoers and dance when the band plays 

He holds her hand more than is strictly necessary, equally grateful and despising of her elbow-length silk gloves and his black leather ones. Over the past months, his desire to feel her skin against his has started to encroach on his repulsion of being touched. He’s awoken in the middle of the night, images of her lips against his cheek, his hand at her back lingering in his mind.  

Kaz tries his best to push those thoughts from his mind as they make their way to the side of the ballroom. He has a job to do, a mission to complete. His unrealistic fantasies would have to wait for his dreams. 

Even if he could have Inej, she deserves much better than the bastard of the barrel. She may have changed, but he has not. Not enough. Never enough. 

In his distracted state, he doesn’t register the guards headed for them. But Inej does. She pulls him quickly around the corner, pushing him against the wall. The move itself is so surprising, his body doesn’t even react to her nearness. 

“You wanted this to be the ruse, so now it’s time to put it to the test. Kiss me, Kaz Brekker.” 

“What in Saint’s name—” But he’s cut off with her hands on his lapels and pulling him down to her. Her lips touch his, and sensation explodes like one of Wylan’s demolition sticks beneath his skin. 

He expects to feel that familiar overwhelming need to pull away. He expects a wave of nausea to consume him at the contact. But instead, he feels an inextricable want to draw her closer. He wants to hold her against him. He wants to never let her go. He wants. He wants. He wants. 

One of his arms wraps around her while one of his gloved hands cups her cheek, his cane forgotten as it clatters to the floor. He has half a mind to spin so that he can press even closer. But before he can move, a harsh cough sounds nearby. 

Inej pulls away, an uncharacteristically ditzy smile plastered on her face. “So sorry, officers,” she croons. “Just got carried away with the music and the wine.” Woman must have been taking lessons from Nina in her spare time. 

“Back to the main ballroom, both of you,” the guard cautions, pointing back around the corner to the crowd. She nods quickly, and both men continue on their patrol as if they’d never seen the two of them. 

Kaz is stunned silent the entire exchange, eyes wide and fixated on Inej. Their exchange seems to not have phased her, and she smoothes out his lapels and picks up his cane. 

“If only I had known how easy it was to shut you up,” she comments, a smirk pulling up one corner of her mouth. Her tease riles him into action, and he straightens himself. His hand reaches out to grab her arm as she passes in the opposite direction from the guard’s instruction. 

“Inej...”

“Without armor, Kaz Brekker,” she says, her silk-clad hand tapping his own. “Until then, we have a job to do.” 

She walks away in the opposite direction from the guard’s instruction, and he’s left standing there wondering when he’ll finally muster the courage to stop letting her go. 

[promethes]

how an idiot like me got into good schools

A quick run-through of my academic history and how I got into good colleges will be below the cut! I’m also including a list of some of the schools I got into for reference. I apologize in advance for how messy this is, but my memory is shitty and I remember random things that I keep throwing in lol. (and for people congratulating me, thank you very much, but I got into all these schools last year lol! so keep in mind I graduated high school in 2019)

If all you came for are the basic stats and you don't want my rambling: I went to a public school GPA: around 4.4 on 4.0 scale (3.9 unweighted) SAT: 1520/1600 APs: 10 (4 3s, 2 4s, 4 5s) Extracurricular: mainly NHS (around 300 volunteering hours), StuCo, Varsity Golf, and Quiz Bowl

EDIT: comments made by the readers who reviewed my application are available here!

First off, I am not an einstein! I am blessed that I pick up on stuff easily and gifted in academics, but I’m nowhere near a genius. For a little backstory, I went to a public school in Michigan for the entirety of my pre-k - 12 education. When I was in the third grade, the district introduced an accelerated program. We took a quasi IQ test and if we tested high enough (I think the threshold was 80%? If I remember correctly I got a 97) we were put in a class that was 2 years ahead in English and Math. We stayed grouped together for the rest of our public schooling, basically a core group of around 20 people. Since we were the first year of the program and our grade was exceptionally gifted for some weird reason, it was a very high achieving group of students, so I’m going to include their stats along with mine for comparison because colleges also factor in your peers when they look at your stats.

I’ll start off with basic stats:

I got a 1520 on the SAT. My grade had around 5 - 10 people achieve over 1500. Some of them had been studying for years, while others (me) did not know that the SAT existed until that year and couldn’t afford any private tutoring and had no patience for the study books from the library. I’m lucky to have an aptitude for the skills they were testing. I did not take any SAT subject tests.

For GPA, I think I ended up with around a 4.4 on a 4.0 scale. I was around 15/350 when it came to class standing, so I was far from the valedictorian. I think our valedictorians got around a 4.6 or 4.7.

I took 10 AP tests. I got a 3 in APUSH, World History, Language and Comp (I fell asleep lol), and Chem (I will get into this class a little later). I got a 4 in Literature (I fell asleep. Again.) and in Psychology. I got a 5 in Calc AB & BC, Comp Sci Principles, and Environmental Science.

AP classes were really pushed in my high school, especially onto my grade, and I don’t like being told what to do lol so I pushed back and took fewer AP classes than most of my peers (valedictorians ended up with maybe 15? It’s crazy) and basically only took classes I was interested in or that I had to take because I had exhausted the rest of the curriculum.

I also dual-enrolled in 2 classes at the local community college since I’d exhausted the curriculum at my high school for things I wanted to do (english and comp sci). I want to make it clear that I never sat down and planned how I was going to maximize my schedule or how I’d take the most advanced classes, I just fell into it since we had already essentially skipped two grades. Most people didn’t dual enroll since they wanted the AP GPA boost.

For extracurriculars, I mainly focused on Quiz Bowl, Golf, NHS (volunteered around 350 hours in 3 years I think) and Student Government. I never had any leadership positions and just kind of fucked around most of the time. Most of my peers held several leadership positions throughout the years and did like a bazillion things. 5 of them even traveled to Europe for some science research thing where they presented their research. I was not that big of a nerd.

In junior year, I stumbled on something called Questbridge and decided to apply because I wanted the money for the scholarship. I became a Questbridge college prep scholar, which then led me to apply for the National College Match. I didn’t rank any binding schools so I didn’t match, but I did apply to several schools with their application. If you are a low-income high achieving student, I highly recommend looking them up. I was the first person in my school to do this program and encouraged my peers to do it too. I think 4 of us were Questbridge scholars.

As you can see, I had good numbers, which probably got me past the first wave of application look throughs. However, I’m fairly confident that what made me stand out was my essays. I always stress this to whoever asks me for advice: do not write a perfect essay, write YOUR essay. I can only imagine how bored those poor people are of reading about someone winning a soccer game or a spelling bee. Add some pizzazz in there. Talk about your flaws and your mistakes and your unique life experiences! 

For example, my personal essay wasn’t even in essay format! I wrote it like journal entries, focusing on my sophomore year when my life was Extra Tumultuous and I was going through homelessness. I did not say I was homeless once in the essay. I just did day by day entries of what my life was like during that time and through that the readers were able to see that I loved to read, that I am fiercely protective of my single-parent family, and they saw how I handled adversity. I want to stress that I’m not encouraging poverty porn at all. I did not write it to make the reader feel bad. I simply relayed what I thought about in a day, focusing on both big and small.

I also wrote about funny things related to academics, partly to explain my transcript and partly to be funny. This is the AP Chem thing. I actually dropped out of it after one term (so about a third of the way through) so I could dual enroll in a class I was interested in instead. My chem teacher HATED that since I was good at chemistry (hate it. Hate that subject so much) and tried to convince me to stay. One of the things he said was “You’ll never be ready for college if you don’t take this class! You wouldn’t even be able to pass the AP test!” so I said bet. dropped the class and signed up for the AP test that same day and showed up almost every day for the rest of the year and dicked around the entire class, taking naps in the back of the lab, sitting on his desk, cracking jokes about whatever he was teaching. I got a 3 on that exam purely out of spite with only half the information I needed. So write about stuff like that. It’s fun.

The fact that I had no guidance in writing the essays was actually really good for me since I just kind of let loose. My UChicago essay read like I was on crack, and they loved it so much that they literally mentioned it during the welcome speech for their little college visit in April.

And don’t sweat over the small stuff! The short answers don’t have to be perfect and mind-blowing, just answer honestly. For the “why Yale” supplemental essay I just ranted about how beautiful their library is for a good 300 words (at some point I said I needed my inhaler because it was that breathtaking. I made a Yale admissions officer read that.) I ranted about Howl’s Moving Castle to Columbia. I told them my favorite magazine was the American Girl ones for their arts and crafts! I have a friend at Columbia who literally sent them a picture of her in a duck costume as a supplement. They loved it. So don’t lose your mind trying to sound worldly and educated. You’re like. 17. Just answer honestly and don’t think too hard about it.

I was also extremely lucky to have a dedicated counselor who sat down for hours with each individual student to write fantastic letters of recommendation. She really made it clear what I had achieved and what challenges I’d faced.

So. tl;dr: I got lucky. Unless your parents donated a couple billion to the school, there are no guarantees. Sometimes you can have the stats and perfect essays and amazing extracurriculars and you can still get rejected because they don’t think you’re a good fit with the school compared to the rest of the applicants. There’s limited space in the student body. I got into schools my valedictorians didn’t get into even though I was academically less than them in every possible way. So let yourself shine through your essays and know you’ll end up in an environment that values the person they saw in those essays.

I got into a lot of schools, and don’t really have a record of all of them, but here are some of the top ones I can remember off the top of my head:

Yale, Columbia, University of Chicago (likely letter), Northwestern, University of Michigan, Northeastern, CWRU, UNC Chapel Hill, and a couple other schools here and there that slip my mind at the moment.

[astrodances]

Pidge & Rover (A 'Lilo & Stitch' Voltron AU)

FF.net link || AO3 link

Happy Holidays to Zoe (@zoedozy)! I’m your @pidgeholidayexchange2018 buddy! I had a whole lot of fun with this, especially because at first, I thought this was gonna be super hard bc I’m not that big on Disney movies. But one of the few that I truly love is Lilo & Stitch, and when I started fitting VLD characters into the movie, things started to click and then it took off on its own. So, thank you for a very fun challenge! :D I hope you enjoy!

(And this is something I pretty much never do on my fics here on Tumblr, but I have some more notes about the AU at the end of the fic (to avoid spoilers).)

Warnings: character deaths, mentions of experimentation on animals

Pairings: hints of Matt x Allura

"Matt, get out! I have to make a wish!" Pidge hits Matt repeatedly with her pillow to usher him out the door. She's never seen a meteor like this before, and she intends to take full advantage of it, no matter how illogical science may think it is to wish on them. "Can't you go any faster?"

But Matt's resistance and playful laughter are not helping.

"Matt, get out!" She throws her pillow at his back with all the force she can manage, and he finally crosses the threshold to her room. Room clear of older brothers, she slams the door shut and immediately runs over to her window. The cool Hawaiian breeze brushes her cheeks as she kneels and leans against the windowsill, arms folded over each other as she watches the green smoke rise from the meteor's impact site all the way into the starry black night.

Pidge would love nothing more than to go explore the meteorite, but Matt would never let her go out this late at night on her own, and she certainly doesn't want him to come along.

Besides, this wish is more important. A wish on a meteor like this surely has to come true.

So she sifts carefully through her wishes, her heart's desires. Her own rocket. No more bullies. Admission to the Garrison. Her parents alive and back home with her and Matt, and that they'd never left for that stupid trip four years ago.

She settles for something realistic.

"Just...please, I need a friend. Someone nice and who wants to be my friend. Someone who'll take away some of this loneliness. Please."

She sighs after a moment, knowing that her breath is probably better spent elsewhere.

Because of the sigh, though, she doesn't hear the soft click of her door shutting. Nor does she hear the distant roar coming from the meteor.

The next day, Matt surprises Pidge: they're going to the adoption shelter so she can pick out a new pet. At first she's confused, but as Matt gently guides her towards the kennel before talking with the adoption clerk again, her nerves calm. Some unknown part of her knows that this is it. She's going to walk out of here with a cat or dog to call her own. A new friend.

But when she walks through the kennel, Pidge finds it empty. Her shoulders droop with each passing cage and she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she's destined to be alone, until the skittering of claws catches her attention.

She whips around to see something she definitely wasn't expecting: a lion cub, she thinks, but with green-and-white fur, unnaturally yellow eyes, and its front left leg replaced by a silver-and-green prosthetic. She sits there, watching her, her tail gently sweeping the floor. A beautiful creature.

"Hi," Pidge squeaks with a small wave.

Definitely unprepared for it, she hears a hello in the back of her mind, which causes her to stumble back a few steps in shock. Did the cub just...talk to her in her mind?!

She tests her theory. "Um, I'm Pidge. Do you have a name?"

I am the one known as the Green Lion.

Pidge can't believe her...mind, or any of her senses for that matter, not even when the lion trots over to her and rubs up against her leg with a welcoming purr. But by the time she walks back out of the kennel, she's a believer. Even as Matt and the clerk recoil in shock at her choice of pet, and she finds out that only she can hear the lion, she knows: her wish was granted.

After the initial doubts wear off, the clerk asks for a name.

"Her name is...Rover," Pidge declares confidently.

"That's not a cat's name," the clerk begins, only to change gears when Matt quietly warns him. "...in Italy, but here it's a great name! Very unique!"

As Pidge watches her new cat stand alert on the shelter's front porch, she hears another thought. Rover? Is that my Earth name?

Pidge does a double take. "What? Earth name?"

Rover quickly looks away. Never mind.

After what Pidge can only describe as one of the most peculiar afternoons of her life, she finds herself staring across the table at Rover, who's perched on a seat of her own, at Matt's place of work: Galactic Luaus.

"No pets at the table, Pidge," Matt reminds her for the fifth time that night as he picks up her empty dinner plate. He takes stock of the way his little sister sighs and he wants to ask what's wrong, but he can't. Not while he's working. So instead he offers, "Want some cake?"

She merely shrugs and mumbles, "Sure," but he can see the way the corner of her mouth ticks up into a grin, and he smiles as he leaves for the kitchen.

Allura, one of his coworkers (and his crush, according to his journal), then walks by, fresh off the stage after another successful fire-dancing performance. Pidge perks up and waves her over. "Hey, Allura, check it out! I got a cat!"

It takes all of one look for things to turn from an innocent introduction into a spiteful standoff. In an instant, Rover is on all fours in a ready stance, growling at Allura, who looks like she's ready to bolt but doesn't want to make a scene. In the next, Rover is pouncing on Allura and pinning her to the ground, snarling in her face as nearby tourists stand up from their seats to get a better look at the scene.

Pidge goes to pull Rover off of Allura, but before she can walk two steps, her head's filled with not one, but two sets of thoughts. She tries to hear them through all the noise of the crowd.

Tell me where–––Lion is!

–––on your life, you–––

I will find––one way or–––. ––for's on his way.

I'm not go–––let him or––––itch take you–––

It's only when Matt rushes by her that Pidge can even comprehend that Rover was talking to Allura. An eerie feeling snakes down her spine. Why can Allura converse with Rover? And what in the world are they arguing about?

Matt's quick to pry Rover off of Allura, who's hair and outfit got ruffled in the skirmish. Rover simply hisses down at her, paws swiping violently at empty air as she wiggles to break free of Matt's grip. Lotor, their boss, strides into the half-circle now surrounding the three of them and glances between Allura and Matt.

"Is that your cat, Holt?" Lotor demands.

Matt stutters, willing himself not to look at Pidge before nodding affirmatively.

Lotor closes his eyes and sighs, closing the few steps between him and arm's reach of Rover. He's much quieter now. "Leave. I don't think this is going to work out."

As Lotor returns to help Allura up, Matt's gaze falls to the ground. He sets Rover down, then turns and walks slowly past Pidge, simply beckoning her to follow with a wave of his hand. She makes sure Rover's following her, and together, they leave.

The next morning, Pidge awakes to the sound of a knock at the front door and Rover nowhere to be found. In a scramble, she grabs her glasses off of her nightstand and scurries down the stairs, pausing before she comes into view of the front door. She hears whispering and can feel the tension radiating from her cat. She's about to peek around the corner, when she hears her in her mind.

Stop.

Pidge wants to question why, even though she can't. So she stays still and listens.

"-I can't keep covering for you with Iverson, Matt. I'm sorry."

"Look, just tell him I'm in between jobs right now, okay? I'll find a new one by the end of the week, by the end of today if I can help it."

"And when are you going to study in that time?"

"I've been studying. I got this, Shiro, okay? I promise."

A sigh. "You better ace that exam. Otherwise, I don't think I'll be able to stop Iverson this time. And you have 'til the end of the week for the job." Another sigh. "I know things are tough, but you can do this, Matt. You have greatness within."

The door closes after a few seconds, and by then, Pidge is already back up the stairs in her room.

That afternoon, Pidge and Rover join Matt in his search for a new job. Or rather, he searches while they hang out nearby, observing the scene.

While Matt tries his hand at a coffee shop, Pidge and Rover sit inconspicuously at a table, far away from other patrons. Pidge sips triumphantly at her coffee; it was the only way Matt could get her to stop teasing him about his crush on Allura.

As she revels in the warmth of the drink, she hears Rover ask, Who is Shiro?

Pidge sighs. "Shiro's...an old family friend, and Matt's commanding officer at the Garrison."

Rover squints her eyes, making them catch a ray of sunshine. Her tail twitches defensively. Your brother is with the government?

"Not quite yet. He's in prep school right now." Pidge's expression drops. "He's...been having a hard time with it lately. Pretty much ever since our parents died, he's been on thin ice there. I guess, between earning money to pay for his tuition, and taking care of me, it doesn't leave him a lot of time to actually focus on school..."

They both fall silent, but Pidge shakes it off. She knows her brother's doing the best he can. It's not his fault he got stuck having to raise his little sister. She decides to shift the attention.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asks Rover, and when the cat nods, she continues. "What's your deal with Allura?"

Rover tilts her head innocently. Whatever do you mean?

"You know what I mean." Pidge's voice drops to a whisper as she leans in, making sure others can't hear her. "Why did you attack her? And why could I hear her thoughts as well as yours?"

A few ticks pass by before Rover replies, ignoring her questions altogether. Did you hear anything specific?

Before Pidge can call her out on it, Matt calls for them.

Ah, we should go, Rover thinks a little too quickly. She leaps off of her chair towards the older Holt sibling. Looks like he did not get the job. We should comfort him.

But Pidge doesn't move. The conversation begins swirling around in her head as she tries to combine it with everything else that's happened. Rover was suspicious of Shiro and Matt's involvement with the Garrison. She flat-out attacked Allura. They seemed to know each other, and they definitely shared common knowledge about...what? Another lion? And some guy that was "on his way?" And they could both talk to each other through their thoughts.

Pidge's eyes grow wide. The meteor.

She knew from the beginning that her cat, her lion, was different, from her appearance to her telepathic abilities, but Pidge must've been too focused on the fact that she has a friend now. But now, things are starting to fall into place.

Are Allura and Rover...aliens?

Pidge wakes up late the next morning. Yesterday had drained her, Matt even more so. They had walked and backtracked all over town with no luck in finding Matt a job, and Pidge had been on high alert ever since her realization. She hadn't said anything to Rover or her brother about it, but she watched carefully and stayed up well into the night, trying to make sense of it all.

A small part of her loves this: another alien conspiracy to try and solve, just like she's done so many times in the past. But the part of her that knows that this one is real, that she's right in the middle of it all, is frightened. It feels like she has no one to turn to, that everyone she's close to is a part of it, even Matt and Shiro. They might not be aware of anything going on with it, but they're with the Garrison. She can't just tell them and actually drag them into this.

Worst of all, it feels like she's going to lose what she thought was a friend specially sent for her.

With a groan, Pidge rolls over and reaches for her glasses first, then her phone on her nightstand. She has a text from Matt, telling her that he went into town with Allura to look into a "very promising job lead." She texts him back "good luck," and almost adds a warning to be careful, but decides better of it.

As she gets up from bed, she notices that Rover is, once again, nowhere to be found. Anywhere in the house, it seems, a quick check downstairs and outside tells her.

Pidge's shoulders slump. She knew it was too good to be true.

As she starts to get out Matt's secret stash of coffee, the consideration of putting out "missing pet" flyers enters her mind.

The next thought that enters her mind is not hers, and is accompanied by the sound of shattering glass.

Watch out!

Pidge immediately wheels about, sending coffee grounds flying everywhere, and backs into the counter. Matt's gonna kill her for that.

But any and all thoughts of coffee leave her mind as chaos enters the room. She watches in stunned disbelief as a fully-grown black lioness sprints through the kitchen, pursued shortly by Rover and two pointy-eared men, one with white hair and a beard, the other with orange hair and a mustache.

Well, that explained some things.

Pidge quickly follows the scene into the living room, where it has escalated even further. The lions are thrashing about in a literal catfight, and the two men––aliens––look like they're trying to capture the black one without getting scratched.

And oh god, the thoughts. Pidge can't make sense of any of them, just that she can hear all four yelling in her head in addition to the actual yelling and growling echoing off the living room walls.

She can't do anything but stand there, spellbound by the fight and worried for Rover as her living room's torn to shreds. Her cat seems to be holding her own though, enough to at least keep things in a deadlock. It isn't until the white-haired alien pulls out what looks like a blaster and aims it at the lions that Pidge actually moves.

"ROVER!"

Pidge knocks herself into the alien's arm, causing the blaster to shoot a searing hole through the ceiling. A split-second of silence follows: the alien glares at Pidge, and she looks to Rover, who looks betrayed either by the alien or Pidge herself, she can't tell.

When the black lion takes the opportunity granted by everyone's hesitation to slip free and crash through the front window, the two aliens move first, but Pidge grabs onto the white-haired one's wrist. He practically snarls back at her, then yells to his companion, "Coran, don't lose her!" The orange-haired alien, Coran, yells back some sort of affirmation as he takes off through the front door. With an exaggerated yank of his wrist, the white-haired one breaks free from Pidge's grip and follows him.

"Hey!" Pidge huffs after him, but it's no use.

As the dust settles, she's surprised to see Rover still standing there.

The only thing she can think to ask is, "Mind finally explaining what's going on?" She doesn't mean for it to come out so angry, but she doesn't miss the wince that crosses Rover's features as she looks away.

The Black Lion and I, we are...experiments. Weapons. From outer space. Rover carefully glances back up at her, and relays, I never meant to drag you into this. I am sorry.

Pidge eyes Rover's prosthetic leg, and her heart falls. That someone would do that to anyone, let alone an innocent animal, and just use them like that is beyond her. It makes her wish that she'd been completely wrong about this conspiracy theory of hers. She wills herself to breathe, and asks, "So...Allura is...?"

An alien as well. Her father sent her here to protect the Black Lion, but...things have changed since then. I was sent to find them both, and when I–

The sound of wood breaking above them makes them both jump and Pidge screams as a giant net covers them both and turns everything dark. There's a flail of limbs and paws jumbled together with yelling and growling as she finally latches onto Rover's neck, she thinks. They're being carried by someone who's obviously very strong and has deafening footsteps.

Despite these correct assumptions, though, Pidge is still very surprised when she's shaken out into a glass tube and meets her kidnapper face-to-horrifyingly-giant-purple-fluffy-face. No matter how much she tries to back away in her confined space, she can't escape the sight of him. "Giant" seems too small a word to describe his size once she actually sees how tall he is.

Sendak, Rover thinks, causing Pidge to look over at her. She's in a defensive stance, snarling at him.

Sendak laughs and taps the glass, which has been latched onto some sort of vehicle. When he speaks, Pidge has to cover her ears, his voice is so loud. "Alfor may not be able to capture the Black Lion," he begins. "But with your help, I will."

He laughs again when Rover tries to bust through the glass and walks out of view. A few seconds later, they're driving...up? No, they're flying. Pidge gulps. If their captor is the one flying, then this must be a spaceship. That thought alone is enough to cause a swell of panic in her chest, which only rises when Rover tells her, I will return, and then vanishes from view.

Pidge's mouth is agape. Here she is in a situation that's so unbelievable she can't even begin to explain it, let alone understand it, and the only thought she has to comfort her is I will return.

What else can she do but trust it?

It's not even an hour that passes by the time Rover rescues her, yet things have changed so much.

For one thing, Rover's now working with the Black Lion.

While Rover rescues Pidge from the glass tube (there are several frantic thoughts of do NOT look down), the Black Lion fights Sendak in the cockpit, and wins. She tosses him deep into the Pacific Ocean, and destroys his ship.

When the two lions leap from the burning wreckage, with Pidge's arms wrapped around Rover's neck, she screws her eyes shut. The next time that she opens them, she's hanging onto the wing of Alfor and Coran's spaceship. Matt and Allura are cheering alongside the two men inside.

They are also on our side now, Rover explains at Pidge's confused look.

As the ship crash-lands into the shore, some sense of calm finally winds its way into Pidge. There'll be time for full explanations later, but for now, everyone's safe and on the same page, and the bad guy's gone.

Or so she thinks.

When they all step out onto the sand, the first thing she hears is, "Guards, capture them!"

Pidge quickly blinks back the sunlight to see that everyone but her and Matt are being held by robotic sentries. The one who gave the order is standing about twenty feet away: a tall, lanky blue alien woman, wearing a purple hooded cloak.

"Haggar," Allura spits out, fighting against the sentry who's holding her. "What are you doing here?"

Haggar's voice is deep and chilling when she talks. "I knew your father would betray his oath, and so I've come to retrieve the Black Lion, and the Green Lion, myself."

"You're deranged if you think I'm going to let that happen," Alfor answers. "I'm not going to be your prisoner anymore."

"And what makes you think that's the case?"

Alfor smirks. "Because I've got five lions, and you've got none."

Before Haggar can react, Rover and the Black Lion teleport from the grip of their sentries closer to her, and are joined by three other lion cubs – a red one, a blue one, and a yellow one, each with a different prosthetic leg.

Haggar whirls around and holds up what looks like a black ball of plasma to Pidge, with the intent to use it against the lions. Just as she's about to aim it at Rover, however, the Black Lion shoots her in the back with a laser from her mouth, and the other lions join in on the action until nothing remains of the witch.

At the same time that this happens, Shiro ambushes the group with a clear shot to the side of a sentry's head, which spurs Allura, Coran, and Alfor to fight back against the ones holding them as he knocks all of them out.

Matt smiles at his friend, while Pidge can hardly believe her eyes.

"How did you even know...?" she asks Shiro as he approaches the group.

He smiles, twirling a blaster in his hand and winking at her. "Matt called me. Said I should come check out your new cat?"

Yeah, she missed a lot in Sendak's ship.

As introductions are made and damage control begins, Pidge searches through the growing crowd to find her cat, her hero. When a soft meow reaches her ears, she twirls around to find Rover standing proudly.

Looking for me?

Pidge laughs and runs forward, wrapping her arms around Rover's neck as she falls to her knees. She plants a soft kiss into her fur, then says, "I'm so glad you're alright."

Rover nuzzles her shoulder. As am I with you.

They sit down and curl up together and watch everyone move around them. The sun's low in the sky now. It makes everything golden, including Rover's eyes.

"Does this mean you're going back into space now?" Pidge asks. She's afraid of the answer, but she has to know.

I do not think so. That earns a look of surprise. I am sure Allura and the Black Lion can vouch for me, and that the other lions will agree, but I want to stay right here by your side.

Pidge can only smile gratefully as she leans back against Rover and they watch the beginning of the sunset together.

Wish well spent.

Official ‘Pidge & Rover’ AU notes:

Character parallels are in parentheses where applicable. This is based only on the first movie, but feel free to continue it with the other movies/tv series in your head if you wish!

In essence, the main premise strays away from a Pidge & Rover-centric story, and instead is more like the Green Lion is a catalyst for Pidge uncovering the conspiracy/mystery around Allura!

I headcanon Pidge (Lilo) in this AU to be about the age she is in that last flashback of "Reunion" - aka she's about to start middle school, so give or take 12. Which works as a nice middle ground between her VLD canon age (15-16) and my headcanon for Lilo's age (7-8).

Matt (Nani), on the other hand, is probably a little older than her in this than he is in VLD. I have him in his early-mid 20s.

This probably doesn't line up with anything in real life, but for the AU, I have the Garrison having a "prep school" in Hawaii, which I guess is basically everything through college, if we're going by Matt's age? Main point is, is that there's some sort of tuition he has to pay, which is hard to do when he can't find/hold a steady, well-paying job, has to provide for his little sister, and has to still find the time to study and actually succeed at the Garrison.

Sam and Colleen (Lilo's parents) died when Pidge was about 8, during some trip for the Garrison (maybe even into space, if you wanna be bold). Sam was a high-ranking officer there, and he had a close friendship with Shiro (Cobra Bubbles), just like in canon. Because of it, Shiro kept a close eye on Matt at the Garrison after Sam's death, and basically kept Iverson from kicking him out due to poor grades.

Pidge and Matt are on a lot better terms than Lilo and Nani as far as sibling/guardian relationships go (between this and the Garrison thing, there's no social worker plot line in the AU). They grew closer to each other after their parents' deaths, though since Matt is so busy, Pidge often finds herself alone. But instead of stirring up trouble (accidentally or not) like Lilo, Pidge just keeps to herself mostly. She doesn't have anyone like Mertle to even pretend is a friend.

She does have bullies to deal with though, and Matt does indeed cheer her up by bringing her cake. ;P

Instead of photography, Pidge's main interest in this is thinking up conspiracy theories - and boy does she get one in this, eh?

Rover (Stitch) isn't destructive like Stitch. I played around with the idea of Haggar adding a bit of programming for her to be violent should someone stand in the way of her finding the Black Lion, which I guess does come through, but it's not as pronounced as I had it at first. Her main function is to scout out the Black Lion's location.

Rover's definitely more similar to a cat that Stitch is to a dog. I thought about having her be like Stitch, just more cat-like than dog-like, but the image wasn't settling right in my head.

Rover's essentially an alien cyborg lion cub (as are the other lions). They're experiments created by Alfor (Jumba), an Altean scientist in this AU.

Rover does not use contractions.

The Galra took over the Alteans however long ago, and so before they could get to him, Alfor sent his daughter, Allura (David), and his first (and at the time only) lion, the Black Lion, far away to protect them. They ended up on Earth, and Allura hid the lion and blended in with the population.

There's no Zarkon in this, but Haggar basically has his goal in mind of finding the Black Lion.

Haggar (the Grand Councilwoman) had heard of Alfor's first lion, and so when he became her prisoner, she forced him to make more lions and use them to find the Black Lion. She herself did more experiments on them (that's where they got their prosthetic legs, and why the Black Lion doesn't have any prosthetics).

After ordering him to send out the lions to find the Black Lion, Haggar offered Alfor a deal: once he got a signal that Allura/the Black Lion had been found, he would go capture the Black Lion in exchange for his freedom. While he didn't want to put Allura in harm's way, being a prisoner had made him desperate. (Later, he has a change of heart not because he's fired (like in the movie), but because he realizes that he has allies in Allura, Coran, Matt, Pidge, and the lions.)

Coran (Pleakley) is Alfor's assistant and another Altean prisoner. Alfor forces Haggar to include him in the freedom deal and let him come along because, if anything, he'll need his help in capturing the lion and because he loves him.

Sendak (Captain Gantu) is basically the same all-around, both as Gantu and in his VLD role as Haggar's puppet. XD

Both Haggar and Sendak are evil through and through in this AU. In my mind as I wrote this, they didn't have any chance of redemption, and that's why they died. (They weren't in charge/part of some Galactic Federation out there; it's still the Galra.) In other words, an adoption certificate definitely wouldn't have stopped Haggar.

Some other little things:

Allura and Matt like to surf together, Pidge not so much.

Lotor is the equivalent of the luau manager. ;P

YOU CAN BET YOUR QUIZNAK THAT THIS DIALOGUE HAPPENED (it was just too short a scene to include):

Pidge: "Did you lose your job because of Rover and me?"

Matt: "Nah, the manager's a space vampire, and he wanted me to join his legion of the undead."

If there's anything I didn't cover but you'd like my take on, please don't be afraid to drop me a message! :D

[candymayvary]

smth i wrote a little while ago. i wrote professor kim w masculine pronouns bc idk just made it harder when referring to axel and alex in the same sentences lol

i dont have a specific time in mind for when this would take place. just like. assumptions that axel has a good relationship with his professor, and that his professor actually takes care and notice of his work (my impression anyway from axel’s bio). and like..... discussing both student and professional work? idk. professor pov. 

and u kno what @se-serena

“Professor, you asked to see me?”

Looking up from his papers, Alex notices the way that this one particular student hovered in the doorway, and how his assistant was struggling to cover the starry-eyed gaze. With a wave of his hand, Axel walked the rest of the way into the office, door closing behind him with a soft click. Axel seemed to take the hint, settling in one of the chairs with an ease that told far more than he realised. 

“Before we begin, am I speaking to Axel, or you today?”

That seems to catch Axel off-guard, even though it had long since been a regular thing. Normally, when they had these one-on-one sessions, Axel would state at the beginning, set the feel of it, whether professional or personal. But it would be highly unprofessional of Alex Kim to assume one or the other, when he was the one who had called the meeting first.

Perhaps he should consider it a great deal that Axel, singer extraordinaire, considered his opinion so highly. But there was tension growing in those around him, and well, he wouldn’t be in the position he was if he just ignored it. 

“Axel?” his student hinges it on a question, as if he wasn’t too sure either. Alex couldn’t say that was the best decision, that he should’ve crossed that line they had made. A part of him had hoped Axel would understand the need for this to be speaking to the student, not the singer. 

Oh well. Alex could work with it, no matter what. Not like there was much choice here, anyway.

“Alright. Before I begin, do you have any idea why I called you to my office today?” A classic teacher line, to gauge where the student in turn was at. Telltale signs of stress would show, such as nervously looking at every corner of the room, or wringing their hands.

Axel shows none of these, chin in hand, as he relaxed in the chair. Pokerfaced and resolute. Alex had to admit that he was rather proud of where Axel currently sat, as he remembered where he had started. Not just from the tutelage he received from Arlington, as a lot of the work was all Axel’s doing — most of it in his own time.

“Not really, sir.” 

Fair. Alex’s email had been sharp and to the point. Meeting, Wednesday morning, ten thirty, don’t be late. Need to talk about your schoolwork, or so Alex had said. Not wholly untrue. 

“There has been some calls from other teachers regarding your work ethic, Axel. And not just in regards to your music.”

“Then why aren’t they having the meeting with me in person? Leaving you to clean up their dirty work, aren’t they?” A certain level of snide creeps into his voice. Alex lets the comment run its course.

“As much as I would like to discuss your results in other classes, I can’t. I don’t speak for them.”

Axel leans forward then, a little tighter around the eyes. He had only returned to campus a week prior, but from what Alex understood, most classes had been missed (except all of his, of course). “So? What’s this about, sir?”

And with that, Alex clicks on his laptop, watching the screen slowly light up. Whatever attitude Axel was trying to pull, the clear signs of interest were showing, with how he frowned a little when an all too familiar song played. His last assignment, handed in only a day prior. Two weeks late, but reasons withstanding, Alex wasn’t going to linger on that. No, he had spent a good few hours picking the work to pieces, breaking down every lyric, every beat. 

All his official comments and notes were in a file, ready to be sent at any moment. Axel could expect it after this meeting, no doubt. But the song ran it’s course, four minutes of it, before Alex paused the repeat. 

“You didn’t like it?” Axel finally asks, when the silence grew.

With a shrug, Alex motions to it. “I did. Definitely one of your better works in the last few months, Axel,” and then he pauses, wondering how to fully phrase the next part. And he had spent a two hours slaving over how to expect this meeting to go. “Unprofessionally, your work has always stood out in some way. But professionally…”

Trailing off, Alex focuses on the hand he had extended, once animated with commentary. Fingers curl into his palm. “Professionally, the work is lacklustre. And you are aware of how it’s been for a while now, Axel, there’s no denying that.”

For his part, Axel remains silent, a careful expression playing on his face. This could go either way. Alex was prepared for it. 

As he continues, he keeps a careful eye on Axel. “You have been doing the same thing over and over. The initial grab your music had isn’t there anymore. There’s no feeling behind the words.

“Whatever rut you are stuck in, it’s time to stop digging, Axel. Maybe it’s time to consider a different angle than the one you are producing.”

“What are you saying, professor? You can tell me, I’m not a child.”

Alex has to smile at that, as Axel’s tone betrayed him. A shame most of his peers were concerned with voicing critiques in class, as there was some level of reverence played towards Axel. Of course he was aware of it, when marking work later. How other students listed the same problems, and some of them had also suggested good ways to work around it, to break through whatever slump Axel had fallen prey to. But those went unsaid, which was why they sat the way they did now.

“I’m saying, Axel, that you need something new. Something fresh. Not the kind of thing you create just to satisfy an audience. At this point, you’ve given me the same kind of song several times over. And I will admit, your work is always at an incredible standard.” Soften the blow, Alex, come on. “You’ve always gone above and beyond.”

Axel interjects then, as if knowing full well Alex was trying to skirt around the issue with platitudes. “But?” 

“But,” he concedes, and plays the song again. Softer this time. “There’s no passion in this work. It’s lifeless.”

That seems to rile him up a little. “Well, help me. Tell me what to do.”

Alex chuckles, despite himself. “I can’t ‘tell you what to do’, Axel. I can only make suggestions.”

“Then do it. Sir.” Ah, through gritted teeth, Axel was staying polite.

“Go back to where you started. Let your current songs settle. Do something other than music for a while.” With a sigh, Alex stops. “There’s only so much I can suggest to you, Axel. People sing about the moon, without ever stepping foot on it.”

“Are you telling me to sing about the moon?” Axel’s tone bordered on incredulous, maybe a little mocking, and Alex had to stop himself from huffing.

“No, but what I’m telling you to do is challenge yourself. Sing about something you haven’t experienced, instead of what you think you know. Cities, the ocean, love… a particular season, even. There are plenty of topics to make a song about, if you do it well.”

Letting that drop and settle, Alex knew what the reaction would be. Plenty of other students of all ages and abilities tended to short circuit on such a simple suggestion as love. Numerous songs had come through from all kinds of people, a range of themes and feelings. Anything from a song about their pet cat, to what a breakup would be like. Never let it be said that his department was untalented, as even those so sheltered before Arlington managed to convince Alex otherwise. And he took great pride in that, encouraged it, harnessed that talent. Execution, execution, execution. Something he emphasised to greatly.

His first classes started the same. Make me believe in something. Big letters across the board, as it would stay for the next few months. Sing me something I don’t know. Alex stressed it, constantly. Have him relate, have him feel. Have him dream of a set of lyrics that were a jumbled mess of words out of context, but in that moment resonated with him. 

And he pushed it. Whenever assignments were due, songs would pour in, and those who understood what it meant, achieved.

Those who didn’t, sat before him, out of their depth, and showing the signs of it. Of course Alex knew Axel’s potential, how wonderful he was. And perhaps it was a little presumptuous to say that Axel had been one of his favourite students in a long time, because there was a lot of work in the future for the both of them. 

But watching Axel splutter under the suggestion of ‘love’, as if some of his earlier songs didn’t contain those themes, was unexpected. Axel had sung about it, a long time ago, like he knew what he was talking about. 

If he hadn’t turned bright red, Alex almost would’ve thought it was someone else all along. Wisely, Alex chose not to comment on his student’s complexion, and diverted the conversation back. “As I said, Axel, there are a number of topics to choose from, it’s just on you to make them come to life.”

“But,” he started, before clearing his throat. Alex felt the corner of his mouth quirk a little, trying as he was, at the jump in Axel’s voice. “But… people who like my work — like me — don’t want songs about oceans. I can’t do that kind of stuff for them.”

“Then sing for yourself.”

“You say that like it’s easy.” It’s a quiet admission, like Alex had finally managed to break through one layer. To anyone else, that may have been misunderstood, but Alex knew how much it meant, to start to see the student underneath the professional.

“I know it’s not. If it helps, sing for only one person. Sing for two, three, or ten. Not hundreds. Don’t focus your energy into what you think people want to hear, but what they need to hear.”

“Yeah, but who needs to hear about love? Almost every song is about it. Wouldn’t that just make me like everyone else?” From the way Axel raises his eyebrows, Alex can hear him calling him a hypocrite. 

“Perhaps, but it’s all about execution.”

An eye roll, that set off the feeling this discussion was coming to a close. Definitely a shame, despite Alex knowing he got more in that he thought he would. Always a caution as to where particular conversations with Axel went. But this one? This one was positive — perhaps it could even be considered groundbreaking. Despite the heave of a sigh as Axel pushes himself to his feet, Alex could see the cogs begin to spin. Careful calculations were playing out before him, which only made Alex swell with pride.

“Enough for today. Hopefully you have plenty to think about.”

Axel nods, scratching his neck before crossing his arms. Taking a step out of the situation, it seemed. In the background, the song he had submitted for his assignment still played on loop, only ending when Alex finally closed his laptop. “I do have to say that, unfortunately, I can’t accept this for your assignment.”

Holding a hand up, as Axel snapped to attention, Alex gave him the best settling stare he could manage. “You have another week to write and compose a song. Think about what I’ve said, and I want to see it come into play. You’re an amazing musician, Axel. Remember that.”

[olusegundare]

Brother Samson and Sister Debbie’s Story Continues

ENQUIRY (june 18, 2014)

(Editor’s note, this is assumably the beginning of a disturbing msg received)

I have resume office work again afta 2 weeks leave...it seems as if d management @ d headquarter has been calling on our office for assistance on d new contracts d company I work secured lately. The staff @ d headquarter are fully occupied on d earlies contracts execution with these additional contracts, d managmt requires additional hands, heads, 2 be able 2 meet d targetted dates of filing d contracts reports. All d branch managers within d island has been invited 4 an adhoc meeting on how 2 go abt d work & d resolution of d managmt according 2 my boss is dat capable & excellent hands 4m all branches should be used 4 d work. All d branch managers have submitted d names of those in their branch who could be moved in to assist the headquarter staff in executing these projects and my boss said my name is among the names of staff he submitted@ d echelon office who could be moved in for these works.

So, I have been expecting a memo from the headquarters of the move, and how to go about it generally. Ofcourse "mai" lord has been intimated of this new development and of d fact that I may leave for the headquarters any moment from now to return weekend and or perhaps two weeks time.

This initial plan of going to headquarters to work with others changed bc d world is now a global village with the development of internet facilities as such the board of directors had an adhoc meeting in which they reviewed the earlier plan of moving people from other branches of the company into d headquarters by writing internal memo to those branch offices that all shortlisted names should stay in their branches and that they will send the materials to work with at their ends unto those branches. They added that, were the managmt to move all shortlisted names, the management will be looking for befitting accommodation for them 2 work in, and that they are not sure of good accommodation that they can secure within that short-time limit which will give all the staff time, comfort (relatively), to maximally work to produce the optimal result within dat short time frame. As such, d management has decided dat all should be in their ends, use the instruments provided in their branches to get the desired results within the shortest time frame possible, the management also wishes to tell all the concerned to ensure that they beat the submission time and date.

The materials to work with will be forwarded into the branches' email boxes from whence we are expected to copy those forwarded messages into individual staff's system and if need be print them out for diligent studies, effective work and prompt completion with onward filing of the report back to the headquarters.

When my boss finished briefing us; four other persons and myself, of this latest development and the need to get prepare for rond the clock work as from the following day, because according to him by then the materials to work with ought to have fully been in the branch office's email box because the management is uploading those files now and after the files full attachment they will be sent.

After his briefing, I, Debbie, was chatting with mr. God-is-good (aka GG for short) on our way back to our respective offices.

"I have been thinking that I will have rest a while before I start some other series of work in this office", Debbie said.

"Me too. I have just finished one last week. It took me time before I could complete the work. No thanks that you were not around, bc I know that u would have assisted me assuming u were around", mr GG SAID.

"Eh-hen? But what about my deputy? Was he not intimated?" Debbie asked.

"He was intimated. He was quite aware of d work, but he could do but little. He has no knowledge about the application required to use", Mr G.G said.

"He grasps things easily. Why dont u teach him how 2 go abt it?" Debbie asked.

"There was little or no time for that and besides he also has some assignments he was battling with which he was not expected to drag into this week", Mr G.G said.

"Okay. Thank God for the success. Pray that God helps us in this new assignment in Jesus name. Amen", Debbie said.

"Amen o...and how is evangelist doing?" Mr G.G asked.

"Splendidly doing", Debbie said.

"It is quite a while that I see him last, I know since u are around now, I will see him before your resumption", mr G.G said.

"Sure", Debbie said, walking 2 her departments office while mr G.G opens d door to his office.

"My regards 2 him 'sha'", mr G.G said.

"Okay sire." Debbie replied as she increased the pace of her walk.

"Olorundara" is d name of mr God-is-good wich is the english translation of d Yoruba name, "Olorundara". But for conveniency's sake, we call him mr G.G for short in d office. He is dark complexioned man, about 169 meters in height, oval face with pointed nose, jovial and accommodating. We attended the same university together, but we did not study the same course in the University.

He was a politician in d school, he was a senator representing his level at the Faculty, but now he is not interested in d politics of the Island, he said, he joined campus politics as a fun, but such couldnt be said abt d outside politics, "it is at the moment dangerously dangerous" he said. He is brilliant, but he is always in a haste to get things done, which sometimes results in mistakes & d need 2 start all over again. The managmt of d company employed us at d same time & day & ever since then have we been close friends in d establishment. He is married with two kids. He wants "mai" lord & I to "pack off the ground the smelling thing", for we are not growing younger. He told me that on our wedding day, as God spares our lifes dat his wife will do our wedding cake, even if we want it 2 be one million steps dat he will foot the bills. His wife knows how to bake cake, it is 4m her dat I learnt how 2 bake cake too. She is a good lady or is it woman now, 4m a responsible family. Before she married mr G.G she asked me about her spouse to be. This is bc she was my junior in the Ladies Our Hope High School (LOHHS) within the Island. She is a graduate of College of Education. Everyone was taken aback that she did not go 2 University, bc she was brilliant and had one of the best O/Level result in the LOHHS in her set. So ordinarily no one had dreamt nor thought about it that she wouldnt go to University. She told me dat it has ever been in her mind to teach, a teacher of children is what she had ever dreamt of. So she said afta graduation 4m LOHHS, she just looked for an institution that will give her better insight into children education, instruction & teaching, and d reply she got was dat Colleges of Education has different courses that have to do with teaching children, so she did not think otherwise b4 seeking admission into one. After being admitted into the school, her performance was excellent in her department and faculty. She was one of the leading students

And during her graduation she received awards as an outstanding female student among other awards. After her graduation she was employed by an Internationally Sponsored Kindergatten and Nursery School in the Island. The school is a new school under the auspices of the Global Children Education Monetary Scheme (GCEMS) in collaboration with the government of the Island to see to the welfare, education, growth and development of children. Their salaries come from the GCEMS & the govt of the Island. GCEMS contribute 85% while the govt of d Island contributed d remaining 15%. The Salary is essentially based on what is obtainable, what is applied at other developed and advanced countries of the globe. Not many people know this. They are special teachers amongst other teachers in the Island. The GCEMS considered them special because they know that such stage of development in children is very vital and dat if a child misses it at this stage, the child may eventually missed out in life. So, best hands are required, employed for these children to handle them. In this school, there are several age growth aids for training the children. According to them, seeing is believing. Children love things they can see. Children appreciates better what they can see and handle. They easily grasp their whatever they are being taught when they see and handle them. So as not to make their education as if what they are being taught are mirage, the GCEMS do send in teaching aids, from their headquarters. They required best of hands to handle such instructional aids as well as coined out several mnemonic for the children during this tender age of their. Even since She has been employed has it been discovered that she is doing well, extra-ordinarily well in her chosen discipline and particularly in the school. She has won several awards session after session for the school and the Island as an outstanding children teacher and instructor. She won within her Local Government,

She won award within the Island. And several times have people from headquarters of GCEMS visited her school, even un-announced and dey discovered dat she was an instructor per-excellence to the children, so recently she won an international award too. This award has never been won by anyone within our Island, the country and indeed continent. I am proud of her. I am proud to be associated with her. This is because she discovers what she wants in life early, what she loves becoming and she pursued it with all her vigour. She did not imitate anyone. She did not deviate. She did not yield to pressures to go and study what her mind did not love studying. Despite the fact that she had an outstanding Ordinary Level Result, yet she opted for College of Education and now she hopes to have additional degree because the institution from which she graduated is now affiliated with a University. Her course has just been introduced into the University system, and it is about two Universities that is approved to lecture and award a degree in that field to students within the Island. Her institution was given a privilege to admit students in that field, either those who have graduated or those who are at the verge of graduation to continue with their studies to get a degree. So, she has applied for the studies, and she will hopefully be admitted. When she contacted me to know about her hubby to be, mr G.G, I downloaded all of mr G.G's characters for him through my buccal cavity. She was very glad for hearing all I said about him because she said she has just come across him then. She came across him where she works, bc he, mr G.G used to take his brother's children to the Nursery School where she teaches and instructs children. Coincidentally, One of the children mr G.G brings to the school is in her class...thru this they become friends, exchanged their fone numbers, as well as become friends on facebook and other social media. "One day", she said, "Mr G.G asked him out on

"one day", she said, "mr G.G asked me out on facebook, I was thinking he was just joking and wouldnt consider him serious, but few days after, he re-iterated his words, ofcourse this time with stronger words of love...I again thought well another second degree joke, so I wouldnt treat his utterances with utmost import...the tertiary degree of love advances made me say, "ohun ti enia ba ntenu mọ, bi ko ba dun enia o si ndun mo enia ni", so, I had to have a pause to look for someone who perhaps know him, and when I discovered that you know him, I couldnt but come to you to ask for some salient things about him even before any other things, and so I have to book appointment with you to see you and u of what u know abt him and having heard all, I say thank u aunti", she concluded. "If you are interested in going out with him and ofcourse marrying him, you should not keep him in suspense, you shd not delay the take-off of the relationship...but if you are not interested, you should not hessitate to shove him off as soon as soon can be", I, Debbie told her that day. She replied that she would act out to the letters my instructions. When I was offering her dis advice, I was yet mostly singularly single. Obviously trusting the Lord then for my partner to surface at any time. I have though known "mai" lord then bc we attend the same church. "Mai" lord again has a special praying group which I am a member. It is one of the members of the praying team, (I think the person is one of "mai" lord, Brother Samson's converts), who coined out the name "mai" lord at our prayer gatherings. And with the continual mentioning of "mai" lord, "mai" lord by that person, it became a generally acceptable word amongst all members to call him within and without the praying circuits. Out of the few spinsters who do attend "mai" lord's praying session, I have never dreamt he will ever come to me. I have not for once thought about it. All I just do is come, pray, tell him about my problems

If any, and he will profer solutions to it as best as he can. He has been wondrous to all members of his praying team. And generally we all held him in high esteem. Every1 of us has been close to him. Ladies, brothers, marrieds, engageds, singles, children etc. So, I did not think about him at all. Me? I am small compared to others whom he has been and he is still ministering to. But alas! He came to me. I was "shy"...I was lost of words...I did not know what to say immediately he came... So, I admonished her based on natural instincts that if she was interested in mr G.G, she shouldnt waste the man's time as well as hers. Afta accepting the man's proposal, i think they must have talked about me and so, I saw her in my office one day she closed from work...some minutes afta, I saw mr G.G entered my department, ever since then has she been visiting her partner, waiting for him in my office. When we close they will leave 2geda bc mr G.G has a vehicle. The vehicle is given him by his brother. Mr G.G got an apartment, 2-bedroom flat 6 months into their relationship. 22 months after, they got married. So, mr G.G and I have been close friends, he was very elated to know "mai" lord and has ever wanted us to make everything snappy...but "mai" lord feels otherwise. Although his advices are good, which is usually based on d fact that both of us are ripe for such, but then, "mai" lord says, "none of them will live with us, none of dem will offer us supports post-marriage wise, and since we understand ourselves and where we are heading for, it is no crime doing things our ways". That is what we have been doing, building a virile relationship and love, building our careers: for "mai" lord business, and for me, my academics...and ofcourse with spiritual not suffering or backwards...so far it has been respledent. So mr G.G entered his office while I entered mine

On entering my office howeva, I saw my love's several missed calls and a text on my fone, d text is 4m d former students' sister leader in the on-campus fellowship I attend...

   PROGRESS. (June 4, 2014)

Sister Debbie In her tertiary office, kitchen, trying 2 cook d food dey will eat, she has put d water on fire, it was just yesterday day she came & prepare stew & potpourri vegetable with sliced animal's liver, sliced animal's lung, crayfish etc when she finished d preparation of dis vegetable, she thought broda Samson would eat it, but he did not taste out of it complaining about indigestion of d foods ate earlier on...And since dey left 4 d church earlier in d day 2geda, dey were unable 2 eat anything b4 going 2 d programme...

Sista Debbie wanted 2 boil rice, fried some plaintain which will be eaten with d potpourri vegetable. Broda Samson likes eating rice with fried plaintain called "dodo" in d local dialect and since he has not made mention of a particular food, "I will boil rice & fry plantain", sista Debbie soliloquized in her tertiary office.

MY LOVE, Debbie is energetic "sha", hardworking, disciplined, respectful, loving, caring, it is now I really, really know dat God has actually compensated me with dis woman, some complained of how troublesome their spouses were during courtship, but, nay, nay, dis lady, for she hasnt given me turbulent times like others claimed 2 experience during their times of courtship. Or maybe she is still pretending, bc I do hear people say some wil hide their behaviours during courtships only 2 become cancerous with metastatical foci all over d place post-wedding wise, people say, dey usually do dat bc dey have known dat d ring, wedding ring, has entered their fingers & nothing can remove it again..

People say some deliberately do court wedding, to seal up everything, and dis acquisition in court wil give dem license to misbehave aftawards...

Some unbelievers howeva said these can only happen 2 Christians and believers, bc according 2 dem, if any lady mis-behaves afta marriage, irrespective of d kind of marriage...dey wil ask d court 2 dislove such union, for according 2 dem, what is d length of years one will sujjorn..

..on earth dat one will not enjoy his/her life, dat one's liver will not rest on gall-bladder, so, they finally enthused. They do add that they cannot withstand psychological stress dat a nagging partner will give, as such dey wil prefer separatuon to developing serious problems which wil be d end product of psychological stresses they wil pass tru 4m nagging, unrepentant & shallow thinking stressors. It is now a recurrent decima as one hears abt divorce here, divorce there these days...infact, some partners whom, I, Samson, think assuming they are distributing for free marrital separation they cannot be partakers of it have since gone their separate ways, due to what dey most times called, "irreconcilable differences"... Such utterances usually beat me hollow, bc I dont know what dey call irreconcilable differences, I dont know how such happen, bc during their courtship era, dey were always 2geda, they were as "1s and 2s", they were as "As and Bs", they were like twins, they were like south and North poles in Magnestism, they were like unlike terms in Chemistry, which usually attract themselves...but post-marriage wise, they become like terms always repelling themselves, and d repulsion sometimes goes to d extreme such that some wouldnt even want 2 see their erstwhile's partner's feaces on d dunghill...It is that terrible! This worrisome development in some families, has over d time been making me belied that majority of people during courtship hide their characters from their partners...and I have been asking myself, "is Debbie also not hiding her characters from me?" I cannot answer that for her bc I do now know her heart, people say, "heart of man is wicked", as d bible said in d book of Jeremiah, but a regenerated mind, a renewed heart, ought not to be wicked and evil. I know so far so good, she has a regenerated heart, as such, a pure mind & heart...I pray Oh Lord, dont let her be feigning her actions toward me, and if she Is not a hypocrite as I assume she is not

..at the moment, Oh, Lord, do not allow the demons to enter her, do not allow d wicked ones to misdirect and mis-instruct her, deliver her 4m demons of pride, let your angel of love continually guide and guard her and "US", LET OUR LOVE continue 2 grow, all these I asked for in Jesus name oh Lord. Amen". The paid TV is on, music oozing out of the speakers, sista Debbie is in her 3rd office, kitchen, & broda Samson in d parlour each subsumed in thought. Bro Samson is neither listening to the music despite the fact that he loves music and d particular muscician's album playing nor watching the paid TV sports being aired, he is subsumed in his thought about his jewel, his love, a beauty exemplified and demonstarted, he is deeply lost in thought of what lies ahead of their future 2geda as one indivisible entity... Sista Debbie in her office abinitio xpected broda Samson, "mai lord" as she usually calls him, but when she did not see him in d 1st 5 minutes that she got into her office, she left the expectation of him and was busy humming softly to herself one of d new songs she learnt. Her thought was that her love is enjoying a program being aired in one of d channels...So they were at different ends, managing the affairs on going in their minds. The new apartment gotten by broda Samson is a room & parlour self contain, just as d saying goes dat "as d hand of rat is, so it uses it to clean its face". He has gotten this apartment not too long ago 2 give adequate room 4 his love's visiatation anytime "T", and to put some things in place in the apartment. Broda Samson could now afford a much more costlier house or apartment than the one he got, but from buz experience, he has known that gotten something costlier would affect some other innovations he wanted to add into his business as such he decided to make it a low profiled one, and since he has a lovely, Godfearing, understanding, love, partner and spouse in Debbie, there is no iotum of problems, they are happily in love

..with their love waxing hotter, to use the physicists language and their love growing to go by the way of the agriculturists, yea, farmers...they can afford whatever they want to eat without fear of running into debts...and all glory 2 God, Sista Debbie's academic is also on the progress side, un-affected, she is also enjoying the full support of her boss and other members of staff in her office...What else do they want God to do for them? They also have overflowing peace and joy of the Lord... So, broda Samson as a business man gets the accommodation now bc he can afford it from his business gains. Who can ever tell him that he will be able to secure such apartment 4m his business outputs in the past 4 years? Even if anyone did tell him, he may not believe it will come this soon, because of his financial status then, but everything has changed for brother Samson. One thing has helped brother Samson and that is he has learnt over the times not to rest or put his needs on people again because, people have always failed him, sometimes some failures may not be deliberate and at some other times some failures are deliberate, bc some people do not want others to exceed where they are, they want people who wil always kowtow to them, they do not want people to be free, financially free and otherwise... Since the time that he discovered this, about people, friends and uncles, even though he got to know this very late, but he "sha" know it, bc some are yet 2 come 2 such realization, as such they still depend on their friends, uncles etc's promises which have never worked out and which may never work out because it has not been working out for them for so many years, yet they have failed to retrace their steps, they have failed to re-chat a new course for themselves, they keep on holding to high-fallutin promises and re-promises. Although b4 he realized this, his social status had been negatively affected, with some mocking him, his peers, contemporaries, colleagues

..moking, but since he got to know people's stance, he has keyed into the Yoruba's saying that, "atelewo eni nikan ati Olorun eni ni ki i tani jẹ". As such he does not rely on people again. If anyone assists, Oh! Praise God, and if no one assists, Alleluiah to God all the same. This has been helping him and he is gradually breaking forth business wise within the Island because his business capital is increasing, he has paid up some loans he got from his group and he has paid half of the loan her love, Debbie, got for him... And their thinking now is on how to secure another loan which she, Debbie can now use as she wants. Debbie however wants another loan which she will get 2 be re-invested into her love's business because "irorun igi ni irorun eiye" so she said. But broda Samson has a contrary view based on d fact dat some of her juniors in d office are complaining that she is yet to get a car, so he wants her to buy a car with her new loan...Apart from this, bro Samson also said d car wil also assist in d business, as it wil help in transporting some goods to the shop and also dat d vehicle will make it easier for him to come to her end on the campus anytime. He adds that whenever she is around in the Island, she can go to the office easily, quietly and early with the car and or it wil be easy for him 2 come and pick him during break for lunch and closing hours. Sista Debbie was yet uncomfortable with his suggestion and she said, "what of the business? How do we increase the capital again? I know we have been enjoying the little sacrifice rendered and I feel the more input, the more the enjoyment, the more the peace. I want to enjoy more. I want the business' growth geometrically. I want acceleration for the business so as to open other doors for us financially". "I have balanced my loan in our group. I have also supplied my application form for another loan, this ought to materialize in 2 or 3 months time latest. When that is out, it will all go into the buz

It will go into the buz", bro Samson said. "Alright darling. I didnt know u have paid up your loan. But do u think that will be enof?" Debbie replied "But, I think I told u about the repayment? Maybe u forgot because of the exams. I paid it up two months ago. I ought to have gotten another loan, but maybe bc of economic meltdown and other unforseen situations beclouding our members lately which make the income of the group to reduce, this has brought about the rationalization of loans to members of the group, otherwise, I should have gotten another loan by now...Hopefully, it should be my turn in the next 2 or 3 months time... And if all things work according to plan, by God's grace I should be close to balancing up that of yours by then to also give room for you to get another loan" He said. "I think I remembered u saying something like that, but I did not actually commit it to my memory. That is by the way. My concern is, will the loan u wil get be enof 4 d expansion and growth of the buz? I know when your buz grows other opportunities will arise which will move you further ahead than this financially. I guess u think I am after any other things apart from your buz growth now. I am less bothered about what my junior ones in the office are saying. They have their goals. I have my goals. They have their pursuits. I also have mine. They know what they wanted. I have also discovered what I wanted and the means to achieve it. So? Why do I need to be perturbed by their rantings, choruses and utterances? What does it matter to me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing", Debbie shifts herself on the seat, and she continued to talk, "You have spurred me on academically. Assuming it is someone else, maybe I wouldnt be considering furthering now. But you ensure I pursue it. I am growing academically, why wouldnt I also want this business to grow beyond people's thoughts and imaginations? Why wouldnt I support your vision for the business to silence enemies? Why should I think

..think of mine alone? Why should I be inward looking based on some insinuations from some quarters, based on some rantings of people whom we will not live together as husband and wife. Who has contributed nothing to my welfare and growth. I do hear them. But their statements have no substance. "Mai" lord, I want this buz ascension, allow my new loan to be sunk into it again", Debbie enthused. Broda Samson having been moved by his love's utterances stood up 4m where he sat down at, walked to the back of the seat of Debbie sat on, bent himself as he rests his body on d back of d chair with d hands and said, "I understand u, but please let us do it like dat, let us use d loan to buy a car, it will be useful on both ends, useful for u, as well as being useful for me on the local runnigs at the Island and atimes coming to your end in school..." Debbie interjecting, "okay. If you insist, no problems. I have always been observing and doing what u said. You are the one who said the more the stock, the more the sales and the more the gains. You have also added that it is out of the gains that a buz person ought to be spending. I am not a buz person for now, so I want what wil bring us more profit, change our financial status as in we will be spending out of our gains, with the capital intact and growing. After which I think we can purchase car and cars easily. Do I need to add that our wedding ceremony's expenses too will be from the gains but not the invested capital. I do not want people to say it is bc of our wedding that the buz collapsed..." "I understand", bro Samson interjected. "I also see other opportunities opening up when this business becomes established. You may include other businesses as it has always be in your mind to go into agriculture, the establishment will make this easier...The bible also says, we wil lend to nations, but we wil not borrow", she concluded. "Thank you love. Let us follow my advice. Let us buy a car with your loan. It will help us.

...And as per the opening of other doors, the chains of opportunities that will follow, "eh", God will do it, and He wil do it even beyond our imaginations and reasonings, including our wedding. Everything will go smoothly and easily and we wil be spending out of our gains in Jesus name. Amen", He said. "Amin. O dara. Mo ti gbọ o. Ki ẹ ma ba sọ wipe emi na ngo se sọ erongba okan mi ni mo se sọ eleyi o. Ati wipe ki e ma ba ro wipe mi o fẹ fi owo mi ba nyin dá ni mo se sọ eleyi o. Bi ade ori eni ba se dara si, bẹ na ni awon enia yo se ma wo si, be ni awon enia yo se mo pataki re si. Be ni awon enia yo se ma bu ola fun si. Mo nfe ki won o bu ola fun nyin gan ni o. Iyawo lemi. Oluranlowo lemi. Emi ki i se omo aiye o. Eyin na le kọ wa ni igbagbo. Ohun ti ẹ ko mi na ni mo ntele o. I have concurred", Debbie finally said. "God richly bless you. God has been proving Himself in d buz and I am sure He wont withdraw His services bc we have also not renege our activities before Him. May we not fall ill. May all the doors of unwanted incidents that usually distort and avert, people's plans and thoughts never come along our ways in Jesus name. Amen" Bro Samson prayed. "Amin ati amin. Alright sire", she said. "But? Talo ba ẹ di irun ori rẹ yi?" Bro Samson asked. Debbie touched her head with her hand and said, "se ko dara ni?" "It is wonderful. O dara gan ni. Mo like rẹ. O wa mu ko look baby-ish", Bro Samson said as he touches Debbies head, using his finger to trace the furrows, and added, "sugbon, irun re fine gan ni o, ko tile ni idoti kankan". "Ẹ se. Hair-stylist mi na lo bami di i, mi o tile wa mọ wipe yo fine to bayi", Debbie said. "O fine gan ni. O wu mi pupọ. Bi mo se nfe ki irun ololufe mi ma ri leleyi", Bro Samson said. "Uhmn. A de o. E seun. But have you just noticed it "ni"?" Debbie asked. "I have been seeing it from distance but I have just appreciated the work done by the stylist ni. My standing behind you gives me ample opportunity of closer look", bro Samson said.

"Alright sire". Debbie replied, holding the hands of brother Samson as the fingers trace the furrows... Brother Samson remembered this discussion with her, the plans for the future. The plans on what to use the loans for even before it materialised. "It is always good to know what one wants to use loan for before securing it lest when one gets it one becomes a victim of personal mis-appropriation of funds which will ultimately result in debts later. As he continued, he suddenly remembered that his love has not surface from his office since she entered there, what is she doing he asked himself...arising from his seat...whistling...he wants to go and see his love in her tertiary office...

  *LET US SEE HOW SHE WILL HANDLE IT (June 12, 2014)

B4 he, bro Samson, gets 2 kitchen, he stopped whistling & he saw his love, Debbie slowly jiggling but her moves does not correspond with d sound oozing out of d speakers, "she must not be dancing 2 d rhythm 4m d speakers" he thought, "what cld she be dancing 2?" He asked himsef..he later discovered dat her body movements is in sync wit her hum.

"Ko da bi enipe ebi tilẹ npa ẹ mọ?" Bro Samson said.

"Why did u say dat?" Debbie asked.

"Bc of d mood in which I find u "na ni"" he replied.

"Which mood?" Debbie asked

"Jiggling & humming",bro Samson said as he moves 2 her side.

"Oh! I am tryin 2 master some songs I recently learnt..."

"Is dat so?" Bro Samson interjected

"Yeah" Debbie said

"Do u want 2 exclude me 4m d setting?" Bro Samson asked.

"For ladies only", Debbie replied.

"So does it mean dat d song is not good 4 men?"Bro Samson asked.

"It isnt as if it is not good 4 men, but it is just dat The song is new & we want 2 keep it 2 our chests until d album is released", Debbie replied.

"But I also wish 2 know it maybe I wil become a part of d choiristers", Bro Samson said.

"Well, the song has nothing 2 do with choir, but a band, a group on d campus", Debbie replied.

"That is good. Let me hear it", bro Samson said.

Debbie clears her throat, "Hun-hun-hun" and she starts to sing, "Ololufe mi, Iwo nikan lokan mi yan, Ololufe mi, iwo nikan lokan mi mu, Ololufe mi/3x, Iwo nikan ni temi"

"Is dis d song u want 2 hide 4m me?" Bro Samson asked?

"I am not Done with it yet, the one i sing is its chorus, it has 3 stanzas which goes as this:

1. Bi eja ko se le wa la i somi, Beni ngo le wa la i si ẹ, Ife Re/3x, Lo gbe mi ro.

Chorus.

2. Eiye ki fo ko fori sogi, Ife mi si e ko le ku lai, Ife mi/3x si ẹ wa titi.

Chorus.

3. Eru ki ba kiniun lodan, Be leru o bami lati fe e, Ife mi/3x lailai ni si e."

chorus".

"Uhm! Its wordings are lovely. Who taught u dis song?" Bro Samson asked.

"Ẹ sa fiyen sile", Debbie replied.

"I want to be 1 of the group's instrumentalists ni, u know we r in d world of music", Evang Samson replied.

"So, can u love an artist?" Debbie asked smiling.

"Sebi u have also wanted me 2 be an actor. You also can bc an artist. "2 ge 4" niyen", Bro Samson said.

"O ti da be", she replied.

"Who taught u?", Bro Samson asked again.

"No one. I have been developing the song 4 quite a while, I just feel like re-hearsing it 2da, so as 2 have a full grasp of it b4 I sing it 2 u, hoping dat u wil approve it, and den we can go 2 d studio later", Debbie said, as she started slicing the plantain.

"It is a lovely song, with instruments, who knows it may win award in d Island", He said.

"Uhm! Thank u. I am not expecting something akin 2 dat, particularly as a 1st album", Debbie said

"Dont say, dat. Have u heard of a man called Tutuola, he was a writer, his novel won an award, he neva thought something like dat would happen", Bro Samson said.

"Uhmn!" Debbie replied.

"When God anoints a song, it may be a chart-burster irrespective of whether or not it is the 1st album", Bro Samson said.

"Well. Until then. But for now, my concentration is on "mai" lord, crown, gem, heart-beat..", Debbie said.

"I thought u wld prepare something faster than dis since u said u were damn hungry", Bro Samson said.

"I guessed as much, but having ate some slices of bread, I am not as hungry as I was when I entered d house, dat is why I decide 2 prepare rice & fried plantain...it is equally a fast food, at least when one has two fire outlets", Debbie replied.

"It is true "sha"", Bro Samson said.

"So what is being aired? I thought u were enjoying what is being shown on d paid tv?" Debbie asked.

"There is nothing spectacular at d moment, it is just dat I was expecting u 2 come and join me, but when I did not see u I decide to come and see how far with u here", Bro Samson asked.

"Ẹ se. I guessed as much too", Debbie replied.

"I hope there is no problem with dat sista?" Bro Samson asked.

"Oh! I have said we wil discuss her plight when we are eating", Sista Debbie said.

"The elders say it is not good to talk while eating", Bro Samson said.

"O dara o. I hope her plight wouldnt be more than what she told me 'sha'", Sist Debbie replied as she turns the plantain she was frying and continued, "she said she got engaged to a brother in the church not quite long ago, and dat everything was smoothly going with dem until she decided 2 brief her friends about her new found love...and her friends on discovering that she did not play hide and seek game with d brother dat she had not fared well, so dey adviced her to play games with the brother a while 2 ascertain his love 4 her...she also yielded 2 their advices, started playing "boju-boju" with the brother... I think afta a while dat she started her games with d brother, d brother became pissed off, creating communication gaps. When d sista noticed dat things were not as before between her & her love, she decided 2 come around 2 sort things out

But wen she got to the man, d man was too cold for her, she thought d man ought to hav warmly received her more dan he did but nay he did not & has not so given her befittin welcome since den...", she turns d plantain being fried again, as broda Samson opens d rice 2 see d level of d water on it & she continued...So, dis lass sensed "fire on her roof-top" & had became restless until she saw me in d church@ d program, wen she saw me she said she heaved a sigh of relief dat I am around bc accordin 2 her she has been thinkin on who 2 run to, 4 counsellin on d crucial matter b4 her heart", Debbie concluded. "Uhm! Wat was your advice 2 her?" Broda Samson asked. "Wel. I admonished her of d need 2 find her lost keys, wat she was doin before dat makes d brother love her & want 2 marry her. I told her dat wen she found dose lost keys she must begin 2 use dem so as 2 draw d man's heart back 2 her 4m wherever d heart has been taking to. I told her dat she shouldnt hav followed her friends' advices bc people are different", Sista Debbie said. "Wat was her response afterwards?", Bro Samson asked. "She ought 2 leave d island next week, but afta listening 2 wat I said, she said she will stay around a-while to settle dis matter with d brother b4 leaving", Debbie replied, as she removes d first batch of d fried plantain 4m d hot vegetable oil into a clean plate & puts another set into d hot vegetable oil. "dat is d mistake many people make, ladies &brothers. Many usually want 2 thread the paths taken by their friends, but dey usually forget dat people are different, destinies differ. A friend may do somethin which will work for him or her, but dat does not mean it will work for d other person. And because such has worked 4 such people many a one will want to follow suit, dey will want 2 do likewise. Some also take d teachings dey listened to sacrosanct, dey consider it as if it is d best & dat oda views or opinions apart 4m dat must be falacies..which ought not 2 be so. Wat one shd do is take d necessary points out of such teachings & instructions & leave d rest, but nay, nay we would do dat. I have also been a victim of such teachings & hav been following wholly some instructions of a particular man of God dat I like on marriage, it was one of my uncles dat God used 4 me 2 break dat jinx 4m my heart, wen, I have a re-thought, a re-orientation, dat was wen, I could come 2 u & I was hopin it will be as usual, but it turns out not to be as usual with u as you accepted me...& here we are now blessing God. I sincerely do hope d sista wil listen to your counsels & get everythin straight with her lover", Bro Samson enthused...d rice is now done, she removed d pot 4m fire & put d stew dia to warm as Sista Debbie continues with d frying. "I made it clear unto her dat, dia is no all-round instructions on how to become engaged, who to become engaged to, wen to become engaged...wen dey are believers & dey have prayed on d issue & dey loved themselves..I told her of d need to express her love to d broda in question & shouldnt give in to d detractors counsels again..I adviced her of d need not to avoid communication gap now dat dey r in love and dat dis is d time 4 her 2 start plannin with d man, 2 start understandin themselves, knowin each others likes and dislikes..." Debbie said. "I pray she yields to dat", Bro Samson said, as he takes out of d fried plantain & started eating it. "But, "mai" lord, she said u know d broda, & would want u 2 be a mediator btw him & her", Sista Debbie said. "No one has in the recent times discuss his/ her relationship affairs with me...needless to say dat I do not even think I know dis lady in question", Bro Samson enthused. "Neither do I. I think she is d silent type in d church until she travelled. But she knows us very well", Debbie said. "Eh-hen?" Bro Samson said. "Yes. She said d broda in question was d one u assisted 2 get a place near d campus wia he opens a barbing salon shop", Debbie said. "Oh, Oh, Oh. I know d broda. Straightforward, diligent, principled broda. But he hasnt told me about his marrital life, although I asked him sometimes about his marrital life & he said everythin is fine. So i did not bother myself 2 go deeper dan dat dat day." bro Samson said. "Since u have known d broda, dat is d broda in question. How can u mediate btw dem?" Sista Debbie asked. "Alright. Do not let us be too forward on dis issue. Let us see how she wil handle it b4 we intervene. But I am sure if she changes her disposition, acts right, starts expressing her love as u hav counselled, d broda wil change & dey wil get on wel again", Bro Samson said. "So we shd stay action abi?" Debbie asked. "Let us stay physical actions, but join them in prayers..& u shd monitor her of d devpts..if things get resolved, without our physical interference, what else do we want?" Bro Samson said. "Nothing", Debbie said as bro Samson takes anoda plantain into his mouth & Debbie said, "ẹ ma jẹ dodo yi tan kato jeun"

   Sista Debbie says, "Let me try my fingers a while, as I await "mai" lord" (March 25, 2015)

My Sun of Love arose out of her closets,

He emanated out of the east of Love,

It was not brightly shinning when it arose,

Nay fewer disdained my love and lord,

Simply because of its low intensities,

In love I found my sun of love,

As it moves along its concentricity, its arrays of light began to increase in intensity,

All spectacles on my Sun of Love now,

The heat from my Sun of love was nay harmful,

The beneficials from my Sun of love could nay be estimated,

Living things convert the heat from my Sun of Love to other lovely things beneficial to self and non living things,

Non living things under the intensity of increased heat 4m my Sun of love become adorable and cherished,

Interstingly, my Sun of Love, spotted me out,

My Sun of Love shone radiantly on me,

The dispersions from my Sun of Love revealed All the necessary rays,

One of the dispersions from My Sun of Love's penetrated my being,

The X-rayic events that followed bring me comfort,

I shone like glitering substance amongts other substances,

Then, I started to attract things to myself,

People started noticing me, as I matter among the many matters,

The disdainers, haters of my Sun of Love now want to block my Sun of Love from shining on me,

They couldnt do it...

My Sun of Love is yet growing...

I am now different amongst many because of my Sun of Love...

   "Find your lost key", Sister Debbie said.

Our church in d island organised a special program 4 d singles...afta d program a sista approached me for counselling, I had 2 excuse "mai" lord so as 2 attend 2 her...we walked 2 a corner within d church premises, dia we discussed. "Sorry 2 disturb u aunty" she said. "It is my pleasure", I said. "My name is Feyisere", she said. "Uhm! It's nice knowing u. My name is Debbie", I said. "Oh, I know u. I am a memba of dis church, but when I finished my skul & job is not forthcoming, 1 of my niece asked my parent if I can come with her so as 2 be assisting her in her buz & taking kia of d children. And I left with her last year" Feyi said. "Oh, sorry, I dont think I have ever come across u", I said. ""Eegun mọni, enia ni ko mọ eegun", sometimes if not all d times, you our leaders do not know us, your followers & membas, particularly when such a person is not an officer in d church", Feyi said. "Thats true. It is easy 4 people 2 know officers but d silent ones, it is not easy 4 us 2 know such pp", I said.

"I have a little problem ma, which I need ur counsel on bc u r educated, older than me, a Believer & by God's grace engaged to a responsible brother in the church", she said.

"May God solve all our problems in Jesus name. May He also guide us into His light and truth in Jesus name" I said.

"Amen" Feyi said.

"Okay. I am listening", Debbie said.

"Be4 I left d Island abt 8 moons ago, I have a male friend in dis church, broda Johnny, we were close friends. Infact people think we were engaged then, but there was nothing like dat btw us then. He is a principled person & I know he is a christian. I entered institution of Higher learning b4 him & graduated b4 him...However, dis does not stop our friendship & interactions with each oda within d campus, d church & at d neighbourhood"...I, miss Debbie, was attentively listening 2 her as she continued.

"So, dis relationship continued even afta our graduation...Afta our graduation, we were searching 4 jobs but when it is not readily coming, he afta listening 2 a lecture 4m your spouse, evangelist Samson, he also decided 2 start something, & he opened a barbing salon near one of d institutions gate in d Island..."

"Okay, I think I know d broda now because "mai" lord told me of a broda who came to him on where 2 establish a barbing salon sometimes ago...pls go on my sista" Debbie said.

"Thank u ma. That is d broda, bc he also briefed me abt d counsels of evangelist Samson, your fiance, & all d assistances he rendered 2 him, financially & otherwise, how he linked him up with some people in d area which facilitated d establishment of d barbing salon near d institution's gate", Feyi said.

"Oh! That's nice of him" Debbie said.

"Few days afta d estab of d salon, I left 4 other island with my neice...Weeks afta, he proposed 2 me...A month afta his proposals I consented, and we were having it nice on air talking daily...When I told my friends about this development, they made me to understand dat men are unreliable and dat I shd not have give in to him easily like dat, dat I shd have kept him in suspense 4 a while, b4 answering him, dey said he will abuse me & consider me cheap...I was sorely sorry 4 myself on hearing dis, and I decided to start playin games with him, I started hanky-panky with him...Whenever he calls, I would not answer him, he will call severally before I answered, dat is if I will answer at all...sometimes when I did not answer his call he will text me, but I will not reply his texts too...Whenever I asnwered his call, I will give excuses and reasons for not answering his initial calls...this has been going on for sometimes now... But I have discovered that he has changed, he neither text nor call me as before again, and to cap it up, when I arrived two days ago, I arrived purposely because of him but, I discovered that he has been cold towards me, even he was not as this cold when we were ordinary friends... I felt unloved, I felt unwanted, I felt neglected... As I saw u dis morning in d church I thank my stars dat u are around & dat u could make dis program, and I decided on d spot of seeing u dat I wil discuss dis issue with u, so dat u help me out", she enthused.

"Uhm!!! Is dat all sista?" Debbie asked.

"That is about all ma. Pls what do I do?" Feyi asked.

"I thank God for dis avenue. Let me ask u dis? Do u love dis broda, Johnny?" Debbie said.

"Yes, I do". Feyi answered.

"Do u think u can live d rest of your life with him?" Debbie asked.

"Yes I can ma". Feyi answered.

"Having resolved these, what I want to tell u is dat your mistake is that you are imitating your friends on dis crucial issue of your life... You have failed to know that individual persons have their own angels, what their angels can condone, your angels may may not condone, what is working for them, may not work for you bc u are created differently...

"...even those people you call your friends may be christians, but they are different from you and you are different from them and the way God deals with you differs..." "As a christain who have prayed on the person you wanted to be engaged to and having loved the person, you need not play hanky-panky with the person any longer...or didnt you pray before consenting?" Debbie asked. "I prayed ma", Feyi replied. "Having prayed, and having gotten God's peace in your heart towards the person and having loved the person unreservedly, you should not have bothered your head about your friends' counsels again because they have misled you as it were now. You should have just continued with the relationship, because in love there is no fear", Debbie said. "Okay ma. What do I do now? How do I win him back?" Feyi asked. "You should search out the keys to your ertswhile friendship and the key you used in unlocking the door of his heart's love. When you find these keys, and you start using these keys, the near dead love he has developed for you in the past weeks will be resurrected and things will return to normalcy, even if the love is not hotter than before", Debbie said. "Pls, expantiate further", Feyi said. "What I am sayin is, what u were doing before that makes your friendship grow, what you were doing before that make you fall heads over hills in love for each other should be re-ignited again, when you start doing those things again, within space of time, weeks, days, his love for you will come alive again and you will be happy again", Debbie said. Kneeling down to thank her, "thank you ma, I will start doing that...I ought to leave on monday but I stay back a while to play with him..", Feyi said. "That will be good. When you start doing those things ensure that you keep it up. Be opened unto each other, as distance has separated you for a while now, tell him your moves, let him know your steps ahead of time, do not assume anything, do not say u will tell him afta u have done such thing, that means u do not value his advice, dat means u do not consider him important in your life and life's decisions and steps and when such happens another gap will be created, he will have some reservations, he will not be able to open his minds unto u again, he will not be willing to divulge impt decisions he also want to make to you...and you also know dat discovering that someone u love did not tell u or carried u along in his or her decision, u know how u feel? One feels dejected, rejected, un-important. So to make him an important person, u also need to carry him along in all u are doing or u wanted to do. You have 2 start dis even before you are married..." As Debbie said dis, she knelt down nodding her head... "So do this and other things that will make him happy and you wil discover that brothers are not the same...brothers are different. Because "mai" lord, I did not play hanky-panky with him since we start dating and so far so good, everyone has loved our relationship, everyone has been blessing God for us...We never allowed any communication gap let alone allow d enemies entrance...even though i may grieved him sometimes, but I ensure that such is resolved b4 I leave for bed dat day...and d same with him...so I have enjoyed to the maximum dis relationship with "mai" lord...I also pray you enjoy broda Johnny in Jesus name," Debbie said "Amen", Feyi said. "Shall we pray?" Debbie said...As they prayed together...

  TRANSLATION OF SOME DIFFICULT WORDS

afta (translation after

"Eh-hen? (translation Uhmn mn)  

'sha (translation anyway

PROGRESS. (June 4, 2014)

"atelewo eni nikan ati Olorun eni ni ki i tani jẹ" (translation it is only one’s palms and one’s God that would not tell one lies (it is a proverb encouraging people to be hard work and stop depending or relying on anyone for assistance, because people would disappoint you))  .

"irorun igi ni irorun eiye" (translation it is when the tree is at ease that is when the birds that perch on the tree would be at ease (It is Yoruba Proverb meaning when something or someone that is directly related to someone is at peace that is when the person would be at ease as well as know developments"

 "eh (translation Uhmn)

"Amin. (translation Amen)

 O dara (translation Okay oh) .

Mo ti gbọ o (translation I have heard what you said) .

Ki ẹ ma ba sọ wipe emi na ngo se sọ erongba okan mi ni mo se sọ eleyi o (translation So that you wont say why don’t I say what was in my mind that was why I said this)  .

 Ati wipe ki e ma ba ro wipe mi o fẹ fi owo mi ba nyin dá ni mo se sọ eleyi o (translation So that you wont think I don’t want to help you with my money that is why I said this)  .

Bi ade ori eni ba se dara si, bẹ na ni awon enia yo se ma wo si, be ni awon enia yo se mo pataki re si (translation As beautiful as the crown on one’s head is, that how people will view it, that is how people will know its value and worth (People would view the crown on one’s head differently when it is very beautiful and they would attach more importance to it than other crowns )  .

Be ni awon enia yo se ma bu ola fun si (translation People would value and honor greatly the beautiful crown)  .

Mo nfe ki won o bu ola fun nyin gan ni o (translation I want people to value you greatly)  .

Iyawo lemi. (translation I am a wife)

Oluranlowo lemi (translation I am a helper)  .

Emi ki i se omo aiye o (translation I am not one of worldly daughters/children)  .

Eyin na le kọ wa ni igbagbo (translation You are one of those who brought me up in faith)  .

Ohun ti ẹ ko mi na ni mo ntele o (translation I am following/doing what I have been taught by you) 

"Amin ati amin (translation Amen and amen) . Talo ba ẹ di irun ori rẹ yi? (translation Who plait the hair on your head for you?) 

"se ko dara ni? (translation)  " "O dara gan ni (translation it is very beautiful) . Mo like rẹ. O wa mu ko look baby-ish", (translation I like it. It makes you look like a baby

sugbon, irun re fine gan ni o, ko tile ni idoti kankan" (translation but your hair is very beautiful/fine, it has no dandruffs)  . "Ẹ se. Hair-stylist mi na lo bami di i, mi o tile wa mọ wipe yo fine to bayi", (translation Thank you. It is my hair-stylist that plaited the hair, in fact, I did not know it would be this beautiful)   "O fine gan ni. O wu mi pupọ. Bi mo se nfe ki irun ololufe mi ma ri leleyi", (translation It is very beautiful. I like it exceedingly. This is how I want the hair of my love to always look like) "Uhmn. A de o. E seun. (translation There you go again. Thank you.)  

"ni"?" (translation is ) Debbie asked. ni (translation is

*LET US SEE HOW SHE WILL HANDLE IT (June 12, 2014)

"Ko da bi enipe ebi tilẹ npa ẹ mọ?" (translation It does not look as if you are hungry

 "na ni"" (translation is it)

"Ololufe mi, Iwo nikan lokan mi yan, (translation my lover, its only you that my heart chose) Ololufe mi, iwo nikan lokan mi mu, (translation my lover it is only you that I have picked) Ololufe mi/3x, (translation my lover/3x) Iwo nikan ni temi" (translation you are mine alone)

 1. Bi eja ko se le wa la i somi, (translation As a fish cannot survive outside water) Beni ngo le wa la i si ẹ, (translation so can I not survive without you) Ife Re/3x, (translation you love/3x) Lo gbe mi ro. (translation sustains me)

Chorus.

2. Eiye ki fo ko fori sogi, (translation No Bird during the course of flying has ever hit its head on trees) Ife mi si e ko le ku lai, (translation My love for you can never die) Ife mi/3x si ẹ wa titi. (translation My love/3x for you is for ever)

Chorus.

3. Eru ki ba kiniun lodan, (translation Lion is not afraid in the wilderness) Be leru o bami lati fe e, (translation I am also not afraid of marrying you) Ife mi/3x lailai ni si e." (translation my love/3x is ever for you)

chorus".

 "Ẹ sa fiyen sile", (translation Just leave that)

"2 ge 4" niyen (translation that is 2 divided 4)",

"O ti da be", (translation That is good

"sha (translation anyway) 

"Ẹ se (translation Thanks)

"O dara o (translation That is good) .

sha (translation anyway) '",

"boju-boju" (translation hide and seek

. "Eh-hen? (translation Uhmn mn)  

ẹ ma jẹ dodo yi tan kato jeun" (translation you will finish this fried plaintain before we start eating)

   Sista Debbie says, "Let me try my fingers a while, as I await "mai" lord" (March 25, 2015)

  ""Eegun mọni, enia ni ko mọ eegun" (translation masquerades know people, but people do not know masquerades (it is a proverb that people who are popular and important in the society are always known by the common people, but those who are popular hardly know common people)

[consciously-confused-blog]

my educational journey

so i’ve began the long-anticipated process of starting to apply to college for transfer admission in the autumn of 2017. the essay prompts are actually quite stimulating. its nice to take a step back and reflect on my journey thus far. here it goes.

Tell us about your education and/or professional goals, including academic preparation, life experiences, enrichment activities, future plans, etc. In addition, feel free to address what makes Western Washington University a good match for your interests.

The most defining moment in my education thus far took place on August 20, 2014. It was the first day of my junior year of high school at a new school. I had transferred to an international boarding school located in Sedona, Arizona. My graduating class had 25 people. I was sixteen years and old and 2,334 miles from home. 

This new chapter was transformative in all aspects of my life. It was the first time in my life that I realized that school could be more than the regurgitation of facts from a textbook; that true success in education wasn’t about the memorization of facts. At Verde Valley School, I learned that true education is not to be limited to just 

education should not be limited to the 12x15 concrete box we call a classroom

learning is actually not synonymous with regurgitation of textbook lines (contrary to what nj public schools had taught me to believe)

I should not be able to skip every single lecture and still pull out a 98% ON THE MIDTERM → somethings wrong here!!!!

it should be less about trying to give the words u want people to hear

QUESTION WHAT WE KNOW, HOW DO WE KNOW IT, WHY THE HELL DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER

critical thinking is key, do not blindly accept the info thrown at  u

if i had never gone through this growing experience at boarding school and stayed at my public school in new jersey, i do not think i’d be writing this essay right now. i think that i would be satisfied with my current situation here at ohio state. however, i have realized a few things during my time here

i should be going to school for me 

the brand does not matter

you should be in a place you feel motivated, challenged, inspired and fulfilled 

and while you should do everything in power to make the most of an experience and take advantage of the opportunities it has to offer you, know that you should not settle. if it doesnt work then it doesnt work.

i do not look  at my time at ohio state as a mistake or as a waste of time. because it was here, that i figured out what i want out of my collegiate education. it was here where i decided what i want to do with my career. this place was an important stepping stone in this never ending journey of learning.

it as a learning experience, and while i did not expect it to go like this, learning is what im at college for in the first place

I DO NOT WANT TO BE IN A PLACE WHERE I FEEL LIKE I AM JUST HERE TO  CHECK A BOX OFF IN LIFE, EDUCATION IS A SACRED GIFT AND YOU GOTTA MAKE THE MOST OF IT

learning: not just academic!! u need to learn about your surroundings- the place the people, u need to learn about yourself!!!! who are you, what makes u feel full, where do u wanna go, what do u wanna do, whats your purpose.

why did i choose ohio state?

the only time i toured campus, i was still attending my public school. i firmly believe if i never went to az, i would have been satified with my life at ohio state

i found comfort in the fact that people knew the name ohio state, especially in the area that i was from 

i was in awe of the amenities large schools had

cafeteria sponsored by coca cola

rec center sponsored by nike

big place = more opportunities and options ! thought i would never been limited

underestimated how overwhelming that could be

all of these reasons looked really good on paper, but ultimately, as i have realized over the past six+ months, is that these are not good enough reasons for me to be here. they will not make my college experience fulfilling 

at ohio state i was so luckly to be able to have presidential candidates come to my campus bc they wanted to talk US! the students. 

why do i wanna change?

ohio state is too large. underestimated just how overwhelming it would be

atmosphere - too conservative, too close to home

i dont care what bars you went to on thursday night!!!! let us plz stop judging others solely based on weather or not they smoke/drink/have sex/etc.

stop thinking your face is more important than your soul

i miss the nature and energy of the west coast

at western i felt the change of this when i visited- people said hi , asked how u were, even if they didnt know u!!!! such a foreign concept from what i have experienced at college so far. people stick to what and who they know. i was struggling with the fact that pushing your comfort zone in order to learn NEW things seemed to be a pretty foreign (or at least undesirable) experience for buckeyes. 

i felt like i was going a step backwards in my self discovery journey from new jersey --> arizona --> ohio because of this

admissions officers clearly genuinely cared about helping the student, whereas at ohio state bc i am one of 65k, i was tossed from adivsor to advisor (big school mentatlity was so obvious)

i want to be in a college where becoming a wholesome member that can contribute to society is the priority! work hard in the classroom, learn about yourself, explore outside of the classroom, put what u learn into action! where people want to push each other up and help each other (where everyone is on the same side, embracing each individual for their differences rather than pulling people down through judgement and discrimination bc they dont take the road most travelled)

2. Western benefits from a student body whose energy and interests extend beyond the classroom. What interests or significant activities enrich your life?

during my time in arizona, i gained a new appreciation for the outdoors. the red rocks provided me a new clarity about what makes me feel inspired, pushed, fulfilled. it helped me find myself and determine what matters, and what path i want to pave in this world. one of my favorite reasons i love climbing to the top of a mountain is because they give you a change of perspective. a moment to step back and reflect. know that u are so small, and that there is so much out there. there is a bigger picture than just you - but  - you have the power to create change in this bigger picture. i think the atmosphere of being in a place where outdoors is valued by everyone creates a change of energy - people tend to wander to where the wifi is weak rather than stare at their screens (which is everyone’s seemingly favorite past time at osu)

i want to major in communications. because while i don’t know exactly what i want to do with my life, i know that this major 

[olusegundare]

Sister Debbie and Brother Samson’s Story Continues

Sista Debbie says, "He asked me to read the letter".(June 22, 2013)

The key dat opens broda Samson's post office box has been on me 4 quite a while. The office duties have been overpowering in d past few days due 2 d adhoc assigned duty 4m headquarter... Post office Box (P.O. Box) and priv8 male bag (PMB) usage hav been on d downward trend since d advent of internet and increase telehone services. The introduction of social media has worsened d case lately, because fewer people, companies and or organisations maintained d ones dey are using, while d newly established firms, new graduates, new buz hardly open new P.O.Boxes/PMBs, bc internet n telephone have taken over greater percentage if not d whole means of sending and receiving messages.

It shal be interesting 4 our noting dat "mai" lord got his P.O.Box b4 he was retrenched...he howeva finds it difficult maintaining d box during d hard days, but, she has since paid all outstanding debts and d box is fully operational now. In d times past according 2 my love, d regional exam council do send results to students tru their post office boxes...those who r seeking admission often got their admission letas tru postal agencies...those who bought shares/share holders of varying company also get notices of their dividends, annual General Meeting (AGM) 2ru postal agencies, shares can be purchased there amongst oda things dat dey do then.

But now, teknologikal advancements have reduced dat 2 d bearest minimum. Several innovations are being moved by d management of d Island's Postal agencies, but yet, d estab is yet 2 be back on her feet as in d time past according 2 my love n ofcourse wat I can see 2 some degrees. A question keeps coming 2 my heart on d establishment lately n dat is how is d management coping with d payment of her staffs salaries? My love still maintained d post office bc he still receives letas 4m other Island's Radio Agencies, as he talks abt d Gospel thru prints, pp do respond 2 some of his messages in d prints tru letas asking questions etc.

The last sales boy he employed was picked 4 interview out of d four persons who vied 4 d post by sending in their application thru post office box few weeks ago.this is bc according 2 him, d students handwriting these days are horribly illegible...and worst more, laptops ect are not helping them in dis regards. Before I finished my weekend house chores, I hav soaked in water beans...by d time I finished d house chores, d beans is already soaked, soft n d coats can be easily removed...The coats can be removed by rubbing d soft soaked beans within d palms of d individual, or by d use of pestle n mortar and or by d use of ancient grinding stone.... I decided 2 use d 1st option 4 d removal of d beans' coats...

In no distant time I was thru with that n I grinded d beans on d ancient grinding stone... According 2 "mai" mum, d beans grinded using ancient grinding stone's increament in volume is usualy more dan those grinded using d grinding machine when d grinded beans is being doughed 2geda in a bowl using pestle... Having added oda things in2 d doughed bean paste, makin it a pot-pourrri, I took out d wrapping leaves, "ewé iran", and started to pour d pot-pourri beans paste into d leaves made into a funnel-like shape with d use of a small plastic cup... When I was tru dey were arranged in d pot containing boiling water placed on d kerosine stove... On d stove I prepared pap 4 him, bc he loves pap as early morning meal, "when d europeans drink tea, I will take pap", he usually say, a quote 4m d elders of d Island.

He also likes pap post-fastingly...So d 2 is combined 2geda in dis stance, because we r in d morning and again bc he has just finished a protracted fasting... The ended week has been a fasting week/period 4 him as he said he has been asking God 4 something 4 quite a while but d thing asked for is yet 2 manifest or materialize despite d arrays of spiritual promises he had received on d issue...and he feels, well, devil may afterwards be cheating him in hindering d physical manifestation of d answers 2 d requests as he did unto prophet Daniel... I also tried 2 support him in prayers and little fasting I can do, dis is bc my fasting ends @ 12:00 hours daily... When I was through with these, off to his shop was I...I got there around 10:30 hours the Island's time,...he has intimated me on facebook dat he shall prepare his intestine 4 d tantalizing food by eating some fruits ahead...

Cooking is one of my hobbies dat should suggest 2 u dat I prepared leafy bean cake 4 d sales boys n girls too...when I gave dem their, and took ours into d office, we settled down 2 d food,,,He added sugar and liquid milk in2 d warm pap as we dine 2geda, eating 4m d same bowl... Howeva, he barely touch d bean cake, as he said dat may negatively affect his intestine due 2 d protracted fasting...He howeva said dat in d afternoon he shal do justice 2 it... When we r thru wit d food, I told him dat I shal like 2 go 2 d post office 2 check if there are letters 4 us...He bid me farewell, dat I shouldnt take long... As I was opening d post office box, my phone rang, "who could dat be?" I thought...On romoving d fone 4m my bag, I discovered dat it is "mai" lord who is calling, I pressed d answering button, "Darling!" I said. "Are u there?" he asked

"Yes, I am. Just about 2 open d box", I replied. "Do we have any letter in d box?" He asked. "Yes we do sire", I replied. "That is good...I am presently out of d office", he said. "Where are you?" I asked. "At d bookshop which is about 5 poles away 4m my shop", he said. "Do u want me 2 come n meet u there when I am through here?" I asked. "Yes, that is why I called you", he said. "Alright "mai" lord and love, I will be with u soon", I said. "O.k. I shal be expecting", he said. The phone conversation ended...He was on sit when I got there...when I got to him, he stood up, pulling my left along and started talking. "I havent enter dis shop 4 once since it is opened for operations few months ago...I never knew there are christian materials here...I want u 2 see something", he enthused. When we get 2 d Christian section, there are different bibles there of varying sizes, types, color, languages, different christian literature books and other christian materials...

"When I see this pocket sized bible, i like it, do u like it?" He asked as he took d bible 4m d shelf. I took d bible 4m his hand n said, "Yes, d bible is beautiful, and portable, I like it". He took two copies, one for himself n the other for me,...bought some christian literature books ...paid @ d counter, as we strolled down to his shop...the weather is cool as d firmament has hidden the sun 4m d inhabitants of d Island dat day...dis cool weather may not be d experience @ other islands...dat is d work of God n it is marvelous in our eyes... As we were approaching my love's buz centre, one of d sales boyz saw us and ran 2 welcome us, he collected d nylon bag containing d bibles and literature books 4m my hand as well as my bag... "Welcome sire and ma", sales boy said as he bend his torso slightly forwards. "O sé jare", my love said..."Did anyone asks of me?" He queried. "To d best of my thinking faculties sire, nobody requested for your presence sire" sales boy replied.

"What do you said u have in literature in English in your O/Level result?" my love asked. "Very Good sire...perhaps few marks off the excellent grade sire", sales boy replied. "Yes. I remember. That is why u are answering me as a literature student but not as a science or commercial student will do", bro Samson said. "The compliment. The observation. In the record sire", sales boy again said. Broda Samson did not reply him again, but he pointed me 2 a bike rider who is doing some acrobatic displays on d highway... "Look @ that man sweetest one", he pat me using his right hand and used the index finger of his left hand to point me to d action...As I turned my head 2 look @ d direction, I cannot help myself 4m exclaiming, I moved near him, sunk my face on his right chest for fear, because I do not want 2 see what will become of the bike rider as he manouvered himself thru two trailers..."Ye!" I shouted. As i shouted other passersby, some drivers and bike riders also shouted...

"That is how they get themselves killed "tú-ẹ́" like a fowl. They endangered their lifes thru reckless showmanship while riding a bike", my love enthused. "Has he gone? Did he made it?" I asked my eyes still closed and face resting on his chest. "Yes he has. He is lucky now, but he may not be that lucky some other times", he said. "Thank God 4 dat", I said...and d strolling returned 2 normalcy...we entered d shop...straight into his office...I took d letters out of my bag and said "There are five letters in d box, one is from sista Òdájú to you; d 2nd one is from your friend, Mr and mrs Paul; the 3rd is d monthly Gospel letter; d 4th is from one of d Radio Voices 4m other Island and d last is for a sales boy". I concluded. "Please open the one from sista Òdájú and read it, because it is quite a while that I heard 4m her last", my love said. When I rescind my decision, and decide 2 start going out with broda Samson, not minding d consequencies, I remember dat he mentioned one

Sista Òdájú to me while he was talking about his pasts. He asked me for my past, and i told him I have no past, except some childhood and teenager experiences...He said those werent what he was asking for... He said dat sista Òdájú may have been d one occupying my position in his heart now, but he said it was as if d sista did not knew what she wanted in life...and he had 2 severe d relationship b4 d seed germinated...He also told me some other points, but do I really commit those words 2 heart? I tored off d sealing lid, removed d letter 4m d envelope, handing it 2 him, but he did not collect it 4m me, in the stead he said, "please read the contents out". It was not as if he is busy or doing something, I think he wants 2 make anoda scene out of dis too, so, I cleared my throat and said, "O.K. "mai" lorship sire...I start". "All ears am I "mai" love", he said. "No address on d letter, but she wrote a date, and d letter was written on d day dat the President of d land asked his party's chairman to resign"

"Alright. That is mostly recently", he said. "Dear Evangelist Samson, (this is because many people called my love evangelist and some pastor because of some of the exploits and positions he had occupied in the time past in some churches)..."the body of the letter is as thus "mai" lord, "I am quite happy for you that you found a beautifully loving lass after a very long wait. I tried 2 re-enter your 18 yard box after u have cleared my ball out of the danger zone years ago, but I find it verily difficult 2 re-enter your danger zone. "I thought it would be easy 4 me 2 do since u have once said you loved me,...but I discovered dat it was not easy @ all and I have 2 leave u...obviously thinking dat something shall bring us 2geda soon, but alas I erred, because it was few days afterwards dat I heard dat sista Debbie and u have started going out...I at 1st thought she wont measure up to your spiritual stance bc she was naive in love matters and other issues of life and particularly true was d fact dat she was my junior in the secondary school, and by age she isnt as old as I am needless to add that she is spiritually junior to me.

"But lo and behold my thought of u not gettin on 2geda with her was proved wrong by her gluing 2 u in all things...she indeed has make u her father...yea more than a father, I think a person like her is whom you need considering all u have passed thru in life. "Although, I was unable 2 know many of the harrowing experiences u passed thru in life but your letter 2 me when I first asked you 2 be my lover clearly showed dat your eyes have seen many things. "Well b4 I asked u 2 be my lover, when your buz was yet to pick up in the Island had I been madly in love with u, but d cultural teachings prevented me 4m coming out 2 u. When I started growing frail chiefly bc of the thought of your becoming my sweetheart, I decided 2 write u a love letter, asking you of your hand in love. "Despite d fact dat I loved u, hoped and prayed u will answer in d affirmative, I yet doubted it...but 2 my chagrin your reply was a blessing 2 my humble heart, when u said we shd get d ball rolling dat we shd start dating....Your reply brought me relief, my heart returned 2 normal rhythm as well as my frailing health returning 2 normalcy.

"However, when I discussed d issue with some friends and elederly ones, they counselled me against going out with u, saying "I have sold myself cheaply to you". When I heard dis, dat was when I started playing hanky-panky with u, trying 2 tell u and show u dat my earlier letter 2 u was an error in d 1st instance...my calculations according to their counsels were that assuming u were in love with me u shal start disturbing me...while I keep going into the secret...but d table was turned against me...for it was me who later kept searching 4 u...I sought deeply and endlessly for u until it became obvious to me that I have lost you when sista Debbie came into your life.

"Whenever I remembered d mistake I made in divulging what happened 2 my friends I continue 2 blame myself..bc assuming we have been going out, who shall know whether it is I who 1st made d intention of love known to u or it is you who 1st do? Nobody asks of that...and even if they know what does it matter when we have gotten a stable home and family? Are they going to live under the same roof with us? "My gullibility in male-female relationship showed when I interracted with elder and deaconess Mordechai, the deaconess told me dat when they were in College of Education dat she was d one who actually proposed 2 Elder Mordechai. She said Elder Mordechai was extremely brilliant while she was an average student... "Being an average student she said she did not want 2 lose him and also dat she planned furthering her education after d NCE and thence she called off the cultural and other beliefs by approaching the young man then. "She said d man agreed and they started d dating from NCE II, fashioning out how their life and future shall be.

"According to her, they got married during their midsemester break in 400Level in the University of d Island, having courted for five years plus...and today, who could decipher who 1st made d move among them in the presence of true love? Who amongst our people even have such a remarkable love in display as they are? "After I heard their story, my heart was moved 2 d past, but, well u have gotten a love-bird. "Do not forget to pray 4 me as an evangelist so dat I see somebody soon, because I am yet single and not engaged. "Do pray that sister Debbie gives you twins, triplets and quardruplets when you tie the know...I know u are a man of prayer but I yet pray 4 you that all eyes monitoring your love life, your relationship for evil go blind in Jesus name. Amen. I also pray dat your buz and ministry grow in Jesus name. Amen. "My warmest regards to sister Debbie and others. "Have a tantalizing day. "Yours sincerely, "Miss Òdájú." "The letter ends sire", I said.

"Yes, I know, I heard you". My love said. "But why didnt you invite her to a talk when she was playing "hanky-panky"?" I asked. "Did I press u any further when you said "nope"?" He said. "No you did not. But i think hers is different 4m dis presentation since she was the one who bell the cat. I think u shd have asked 2 know why she suddenly put up a volte-faced actions", I said. "Well, I guess I have discussed dis issue with u...", my love said. "It is obvious that I have forgotten "mai" lord sire", I said. "Then I have forgotten d past issues also. I neither wish nor want 2 remember such experiences again", he said. "But do you think you can?" I asked. "Well with you, I can, I know i have, for when last did u hear me talking about those issues?" He asked. "I know u do not talk of those harrowing pasts, but I want 2 know dis one now", I said. "Those pasts, I want dem in d past, so dat I move forward so dat I have free and freer mind to interract with people", he said. "O.K", I replied. It is obvious that he doesnt want 2 talk about the issue, let me leave it...he interupted my thought when he said, "But, I actually called her, phoned her, texted her repeatedly then, but she kept on giving me excuses, filmsy ones for the inability 2 see me, then one day I speak 2 myself dat dis lady is playing on my intelligence, she thought I am growing young...that was when I called it quit and decided on d way forward for my life marritally" he enthused. "Well, I thank God dat I am where I am today, beside "mai" love and lord", I said. "Please which other letter is there that needs urgent attention", he asked. "None "mai" lord", I replied....

 SOME HARD WORDS’ MEANINGS

*Sista Debbie says, "He asked me to read the letter".(June 22, 2013)

2 d (translation to the)

priv8 (translation private)

"ewé iran", (translation leaf of big breadth in our land)

"tú-ẹ́" (translation suddenly as if they are not humans, as if they do not possess spirit)