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klarolinelibrary · 3 years

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Hi KC Readers,

We have reached the end of the week which means we have new weekly releases for you! The stories below were updated during the week of April 24th - April 30th.

Happy Reading!

FFN

A View to Stop a Murder

Author: Marcia rogerts

Rating: K+

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Bonnie realizes killing Kol would be a huge mistake, Caroline has enough of Elena's selfishness and Klaus makes it in time to save his brother. 4x12 AU.

Date of update: April 24 2021

Collateral Damage

Author: stardancer10

Rating: M

Length: Drabble

Summary: Caroline Forbes had finally reached her breaking point. She was done being the expendable casualty in their plots and schemes and decides to do something for herself, something selfish. Warning: Not for fans of Elena or Damon.

Date of update: April 24 2021

Klaus POV - The Trouble with Spells (Chapter 22)

Author: ilovetf

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: I think the title is self explanatory. The Trouble with Spells as seen through Klaus's eyes and his POV. Over the years, people kept liking this story and some even asked for Klaus POV, so I decided to give it a try.

Date of update: April 25 2021

The Wolf II (Chapter 10)

Author: yokan87

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: The Guerreras' threat still looms over the Mikaelson house as Caroline tries to adapt to life as a vampire, away from her daughter. But an unexpected family reunion makes everything worse, taking away the little peace Klaus, Caroline and Elijah managed to find after the war that nearly broke them. [It's TO S2, but Caroline was a witch, had Klaus' baby and now she's a vampire]

Date of update: April 27 2021

Nothing Suspicious Here At All

Author: Writingnerd291

Rating: T

Length: Drabble

Summary: There's something just not right about the French Quarter, and Caroline as a rule avoids it. But Caroline has never been good about following her instincts, especially when said instincts might actually keep her out of trouble.

Date of update: April 28 2021

A Failed Sacrifice (Chapter 6)

Author: CookieDuo

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: She ruined the sacrifice to save her own life, and in order to survive she turned to the only other vampire who'd been able to survive the wrath of Klaus Mikaelson. She gets away, and learns from the master, but when Klaus eventually catches up to her, her life will never be the same again.

Date of update: April 29 2021

AO3

Our Time Now

Author: perfectpro

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Returning to campus for the start of her senior year, Caroline is determined to lead the cheerleading squad to victory, get into the law school of her choice, and to stop sleeping with Klaus. All the while ensuring that her sorority is left in good hands after she graduates, keeping her perfect 4.0, and enjoying her remaining time in undergrad. Senior year is going to be different. Caroline is going to make it different, okay? She isn’t going to sleep with Klaus.

Date of update: April 24 2021

Echoes of Sorrow (Chapter 6)

Author: BelleMorte180

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: It was meant to the the vacation of her dreams. Something new and the beginning of a fresh start for her, but when an unthinkable tragedy strikes, Caroline is left with the aching pit of grief that she finds impossible to let go of. However, sometimes the greatest love stories are born out of the greatest tragedies.

Date of update: April 24 2021

No Goodbyes (Chapter 10)

Author: deadofwrite (dead_of_write)

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: “Last night shouldn’t have happened,” Caroline whispered. Guilt. Shame. Regret. It was all the emotions he feared. And it was written all over her face. aka. a college/cheating au

Date of update: April 24 2021

You Should See Me In A Crown

Author: misssophiachase

Rating: T

Length: Drabble

Summary: Two famous strangers, both trying to avoid paparazzi for different reasons, find themselves in a bar one night during the Summer Olympics.

Date of update: April 25 2021

A Million Reasons to Stay (Chapter 18)

Author: Books4eva180

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Caroline Forbes is an ordinary 21 year old girl. She lives in NYC in a crappy apartment with her 3 best friends while trying to get her degree in journalism at Columbia with a virtually non existent love life. Well that is until she is diagnosed with Stage 2 Stomach Cancer. Caroline is devastated and till the cancer is for sure gone she swears off romance. Those plans go out the window when she falls for Klaus. Literally he runs into her and she falls onto the sidewalk. So she goes on a date with him. At first Caroline resolves to go on a few dates with him just wanting to spend time with someone who doesn't know she has cancer and treats her like she is going to drop dead any second. Though the more time she spends with him the harder it gets for Caroline to leave. How long will it be till Klaus figures out about her big secret and when he does will it tear them apart forever or bring them closer than ever?

Date of update: April 25 2021

I Don’t Want You To Die (Chapter 2)

Author: klarolinexluv

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: This is set after Season 5 Episode 12 (The Originals) when Klaus comes to Mystic Falls and takes the dark magic out of Hope, then he returns home to die. Caroline has a guilty conscience and she travels to New Orleans after him. Will she finally tell him what she wants? Will she stop him from dying? Read to find out!

Date of update: April 25 2021

Darkness Becomes Thee (Chapter 2)

Author: BelleMorte180

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Austria 1300s. When Klaus met a young girl on a riverbank, he knew that he would one day come back for her. When he looked into her bright blue eyes, he could see a reflection of his own soul, a darkness that lingered inside both of them. When the young girl turned into a beautiful woman with a thirst for blood, his fascination with her turns into obsession. He wants not only her loyalty but her eternity, a possessiveness that is equally returned. Or my "Caroline is the serial killer Elizabeth Bathory" au.

Date of update: April 25 2021

Speak Now

Author: klarrolines

Rating: T

Length: Drabble

Summary: Caroline scoffed loudly, fists clenched to her sides and her face contorting angrily. "What would you know of what I want?" "Love, if getting married to Stefan is truly what you want why are you here listening to me instead of telling me off? If this is truly what you want why do you look like you're going to be sick on your own bloody wedding?"

Date of update: April 25 2021

A Smutty Anniversary (Chapter 7)

Author: kcatdino

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Caroline and Klaus celebrate 3 months together with a day full of smut.

Date of update: April 25 2021

Our Rebirth (Chapter 7)

Author: MissMackasaurus

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Caroline is tired of being unappreciated, forgotten and mistreated. Klaus is frustrated with watching her be disappointed by her friends. When she decides to run from Mystic Falls he drops everything to keep her safe. friendship isnt forbidden when no one knows you are together. What will happen when Caroline takes Klaus up on his offer to show her the world?

Date of update: April 25 2021

Roulette

Author: malignance

Rating: G

Length: Drabble

Summary: Apparently with Mikaelsons, one meant all.

Date of update: April 25 2021

Kill Them With Kindness

Author: sekretny

Rating: T

Length: Drabble

Summary: “Caroline, pray tell… what is this little-,” Klaus directs his steps towards the sink where his girlfriend is doing the dishes, “project that you have undertaken.” Upon closer inspection of the state of the kitchen, he decides to tread carefully to avoid setting his feet on any of the small specks of some kind of treacly substance scattered all around the floor. “I was making cookies,” she answers with a voice full of fake cheer and a shrugs of her shoulders. He recognized her answer as being oddly evasive, while she continued to scrub a spatula. Klaus finds it adorable how she tried and failed at feigning innocence.

Date of update: April 26 2021

Destination Wedding (Chapter 4)

Author: PumpkinDoodles

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: The first rule of going to your ex's wedding is 'make sure you look good,' but Caroline's seriously worried that this British Guy is going to make her late. And she cannot be late to Rebekah Mikaelson and Matt Donovan's wedding at a Virginia winery.

Date of update: April 26 2021

Just Another Fairytale (Chapter 15)

Author: BelleMorte180

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Once upon a time, there was a young prince who roamed the Forrest of Abattoir and a young maiden who lived by the Mystic Sea. The maiden felt the alone and useless while the prince longed for a connection to his mother. Just like any fairytale, the story of the prince and the maiden is one of true love, adventure and magic.

Date of update: April 26 2021

We are Young (Chapter 13)

Author: kcatdino

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Basically, Klaroline flirt in front of their kids who they are barely older than, and Landon is appropriately confused.

Date of update: April 26 2021

Magics Miracle (Chapter 6)

Author: 1Jemmagirl22

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Caroline is in Paris with out her humanity after the death of her mother. It seems her friends aren't happy with her new state so they inform the one person capable of turning her emotions back on. Klaus. When a prophecy about a second Tribrid comes about in New Orleans, shock to sweeps through the city. It seems nature doesn't consider Hope such an abomination after all as an even greater one is about to be created. The hands of power are changing and when they're done even the worlds most powerful witches won't be able to stop it.

Date of update: April 26 2021

Sibling Rivalry (Chapter 10)

Author: kcatdino

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: In which Klaus and Rebekah are both bi, their taste in men and women overlaps infuriatingly often, and they argue over their newest shared interest.

Date of update: April 27 2021

Kiss Me Quick (Spin Me Slow)

Author: malignance

Rating: T

Length: Drabble

Summary: It was infuriating, the effect they all had on her.

Date of update: April 27 2021

Secret Spells (Chapter 2)

Author: 1Jemmagirl22

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Alexandria Le Fay brings old magic back to the Salvatore school just as things start to calm down. But magic isn’t all she brings. Darkness follows her everywhere she goes. As does her family’s secrets. Takes place after Legacies 3x04.

Date of update: April 27 2021

LITTLE TENSE (Chapter 2)

Author: wincefish16

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: PROMPT- HUMAN MARRIED KLAROLINE. THINGS ARE NOT LOOKING GOOD IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP. DAMON IS CAROLINE'S BROTHER AND KLAUS'S BEST FRIEND. HE TRIES TO FIX THINGS BETWEEN THEM.

Date of update: April 28 2021

Soulmate visions (Chapter 5)

Author: kcatdino

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: On your soulmate's eighteenth birthday, you see through their eyes for an hour, but they don’t know. And if your soulmate turns eighteen before you are even born, you never get a vision. Klaus gets his soulmate vision right after he orders Tyler to bite Caroline on her birthday.

Date of update: April 28 2021

Caroline in Wonderland

Author: BelleMorte180

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: London, 1903. On the day of her wedding, a young boy collides into Caroline's legs, all but knocking her to the ground. Seeing that she is dreading walking down the aisle, any moment stalling her from heading to the church is welcome. However, when she follows the young boy down a London street, something impossible happens and Caroline finds herself in a magical world that she had been told about as a young child- Wonderland. She embarks on a journey through Wonderland to find out who she really is, where she belongs and towards a man who she had thought was nothing more than an imaginary friend.

Date of update: April 28 2021

The Big Bad Wolf (Chapter 7)

Author: MorningStarGirl666

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: He was the Big, Bad Wolf of this story, there was no doubt about that. But Caroline? She was the light to his darkness, the moon that shone brighter than even the stars in a sky of endless void. Like every wolf, he fell in love with the moon, and every month, he was destined to cry for a love he would never touch.

Date of update: April 28 2021

Resilience (Chapter 26)

Author: BMINA

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Set from 7x12 of TVD and somewhere between 3x13-3x14 of TO. When the gang of Mystic Falls try to get rid of Julian using a dangerous spell, they employ the help of Freya Mikaelson. But things go awfully wrong, resulting in a huge loss and lots of heartbreak. Julian vows to kill them all, making the group leave Mystic Falls and start running in different directions of the world. Five years later, Caroline and Alaric have a life in Chicago - free from the supernatural drama and all the grievances that come with it. But when Damon and Enzo show up to tell them that Bonnie has been taken, they pack their bags and head to the only place they can go to find help in getting her back; New Orleans. However, that brings about a new magnitude of problems instead, with a war looming ahead as old enemies of the Mikaelson's resurface and new dangerous weapons are discovered, threatening the sirelines once more. Forcing Caroline to make a decision between her new life and one where she must leave her human notions behind.

Date of update: April 28 2021

Battle Plans Gone Wrong

Author: Helpfulfairy92

Rating: Not rated

Length: Drabble

Summary: While Klaus knew he wasn't the smartest man on the planet, he liked to think that he had at least learnt to pay attention to his wife's many moods over the years. And this mood? This was one he had learnt to pay attention to. This was not a good mood. Or Caroline finds out about Klaus' plan and says No.

Date of update: April 29 2021

KC Drabbles 2021

Author: CandyCane1287

Rating: T

Length: Drabbles

Summary: C1: Hybrid Klaus meets human Caroline earlier and they fall in love. But there’s more. Ps, Katherine didn’t turn Caroline and she’s still human. He used Elena for the sacrifice but Elijah revived her. He got Tyler to bite Caroline but Klaus healed her. Tyler and Caroline broke up cause he cheated on her and they weren’t that in love.Matt and Caroline never happened. A bit of talk of Damon, but doesn’t go into too much detail.

Date of update: April 29 2021

The Long Ride Home (Chapter 4)

Author: BelleMorte180

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Seventy-three years is a long time to love someone; but sometimes, a lifetime is just not long enough when it is time to say goodbye.

Date of update: April 29 2021

Mikaelson Family Values

Author: perfectpro

Rating: G

Length: One Shot

Summary: Klaus and Caroline Mikaelson moved to Mystic Falls to put down roots for their family, but the town doesn't prove to be as perfect of a fit as they might have thought.

Date of update: April 29 2021

Louder Than Thunder (Chapter 16)

Author: khaleesiofthewolves

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: All Hell was about to break loose. After dying while protecting a grieving Klaus, Caroline finds herself sent back in time, and she's not who she once was. She's more. Back in Mystic Falls, something else is stirring. After the arrival of a mysterious figure from Klaus' past, it all comes to a head. It really is louder than thunder.

Date of update: April 30 2021

Reasons Not to Date a Mikaelson (Chapter 4)

Author: kcatdino

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Bonnie and Caroline gain a new roommate for their freshman dorm when a vision leads them to tracking down a pregnant Hayley in the Rockies. Also, Bonnie may or may not have raised a certain dead Original instead of Jeremy and Klaus takes a job at Whitmore teaching, to be annoying. He’s very good at it. This is a season 5 rewrite where the Originals never leave for New Orleans. But you know, with comedy.

Date of update: April 30 2021

Rewrite Of American Dream Prom Queen

Author: alyssa_chloe25

Rating: T

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: This is my version of american dream prom queen by trashcanbarbie. The beginning is the same as the original but with a twist in the end. More violence and hybrid klaus comes out to play.

Date of update: April 30 2021

AO3: Last Love (Chapter 2)

FFN: Last Love (Chapter 2)

Author: kirti_01

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Klaus had promised to be her last love, was sure that Caroline, will come to him. Maybe in a year, or a 100, perhaps. But Caroline decides not to wait for that long. After graduation, Caroline moves in with Klaus to give her feelings for him a chance. And Elijah finally lets go of his obsession with Katherine and finds himself attracted to a university student, his student, a human named Samara.

Date of update: April 24 2021

AO3: She Deserves Better (Chapter 43)

FFN: She Deserves Better (Chapter 43)

Author: CrazyGirl92

Rating: E

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Everyone Caroline has ever known is gone, her life has not gone the way she expected at all. What happens when she is attacked on the full moon? What happens if she finds herself back into her past. What will she do with this unexpected chance? How did it happen? Will she make the same choices? Were those even the right ones? Will Caroline wake up and realize just how much better she deserved. And just what will happen when she does?

Date of update: April 24 2021

AO3: The Domino Effect (Chapter 3)

FFN: The Domino Effect (Chapter 3)

Author: CrazyGirl92

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: Would the death of three of the five original vampires really not affect the entire world? What happens when the witches at peace decide something must be done about it. How is the story changed if Caroline meets Klaus Mikaelson earlier?

Date of update: April 24 2021

AO3: Corks and Claws (Chapter 21)

FFN: Corks and Claws (Chapter 21)

Author: UppityBitch

Rating: M

Length: Multi Chapter

Summary: As alpha pack leader of the Crescent Clan, Caroline has enough to deal with in keeping her wolves in line, but then a familiar sexy hybrid returns with his own set of problems and she can’t help but get involved...

Date of update: April 25 2021

AO3: Judgment Call (Chapter 9)

FFN: Judgment Call (Chapter 9)

Author: Eliliyah

Rating: G

Length: Drabble

Summary: As a Federal Agent, Caroline Forbes has always lived by a strict moral code. But when new evidence comes to light that Klaus Mikaelson, the first man she helped send to death row, may not be guilty hours before his execution, she begins to question everything she’s ever known. As the investigation leads to the heartbreaking truth, she’s forced to choose between what is right and what is just.

Date of update: April 27 2021

#klaroline library #KCL weekly releases #klaroline fanfiction #klaroline

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liannyeong · 3 years

Text

Crimson (Chapter 13)

Summary: Yujin finds the truth and confronts Jaebeom.

Word count: 3738

Pairing: Jaebeom X OC

Warning(s): angst

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

A/N: This was two weeks long overdue... This was rather emotionally draining to write :') Do let me know your thoughts! Show your support for my works by buying me a coffee! Follow me on Twitter for random updates.

Yujin is sent back to the living room of her old house. There, seated on the armchair right next to the fireplace, is her father. His face is illuminated by the flames, allowing Yujin to take a good look at him. Undoubtedly, this memory is one in which years have passed: he has aged, traces of gray hair amongst the black, skin sagging a little.

The wind howls outside, accompanied by the rustling of the trees, and then--

"Jaebeom," her father says out of the blue, not turning his head at all.

Startled, Yujin looks around the room. True enough, she spots the familiar red glint in the shadows -- the only thing that gives his position away. She didn’t even hear any movement at all. She wonders how her father could easily pick up the fae’s stealth. Jaebeom steps into the light, footsteps silent. He has matured: sharp cheekbones and chiseled jawline. His body is more built, his chest sturdy. He keeps his hair short, dyed in amber, and Yujin can easily spot the twin moles above his left eye.

“Hello, Sir Yunho,” the fae greets.

“What brings you here? You haven’t stepped a foot here in years,” Yunho points out. “Seems like something is bothering you.”

The fae appears embarrassed, scratching the back of his neck. “I-- Yes, that’s right, Sir,” he answers sheepishly.

Yunho finally turns his head, directly meeting Jaebeom's eyes. He gestures at the couch, wordlessly inviting the other to take a seat.

"Go on," Yunho prompts.

Jaebeom leans forward, elbows resting on his knees. His hands are in front of him, fingers interlocked. He seems tensed and nervous, fiddling with his thumbs. Yunho is patient, quietly waiting, letting the fae take as much time as he needs. After a moment, Jaebeom breathes out.

“Sir, you’re well aware about my condition -- a halfling: impure, a disgrace, weak,” the fae begins slowly. “And you know about my attempts to find a potion -- or a way -- to make me stronger.”

The other nods, focused.

“I-- I think I've found a way to achieve eternal strength.” Jaebeom continues, meeting Yunho straight in the eyes. “It's ancient magic, forbidden even, considering it requires a sacrifice.”

He then recites:

Here I bring

A mortal heart.

Its love so pure;

It strengthens me.

Let the magic come

And give me strength.

As soon as he’s finished, Yujin lets out a shaky breath. She sees how her father’s face has paled. It seems as if they both have the same thought.

“A mortal heart? Love?” Yunho repeats, a deep frown on his face.

Jaebeom nods. “The sacrifice is a mortal’s love. So--”

“So you wish to have my daughter as your sacrifice,” Yunho finishes. Yujin holds back a gasp, her heart pounding in her chest. No. Her mind flashes back the nightmares she had. Were those dreams a premonition?

Jaebeom is off the couch now, kneeling right in front of her father. He’s begging him, taking his hand into his. “Sir, please, I-- I know, it’s selfish of me to ask you this but-- It’s the only way--”

“The only way for what?” Yunho raises his voice, slapping Jaebeom’s hands away. He catches a glimpse of a shiny object on one finger. “Hell, you’re wearing the ring Yujin gave you and yet you want to sacrifice her? What the hell are you even thinking?”

“It’s the only way for me to overthrow all the Fae courts, one by one,” Jaebeom answers with conviction, seriousness in his voice.

Yujin’s jaw goes slack, her eyes widen in horror. Jaebeom wants to conquer all the Fae courts?

Yunho is shaking his head vigorously, in total disapproval. “You can’t possibly-- So what if you have immense power? There is no way you can go against all the faefolk combined!”

“Not if I marry Yena. She’s the Princess of the Air court. I’ll have access to an army then.”

What?

Yujin’s father bears the same mortified expression as her. “What will happen to Yujin then?”

“She’ll be with me forever,” the fae deadpans, pointing to his chest, “In here.”

“What?!” Yunho bursts out, outraged. He’s breathing heavy, chest heaving. His face is flushed red due to the intense emotions that surged from Jaebeom’s words. The atmosphere has quickly turned tense. Jaebeom remains kneeled on the floor.

“I don’t--” Yujin watches her father pacing back and forth, at a loss for words. “I don’t understand. What happened to you, Jaebeom? I can barely recognize you anymore! When did you become so monstrous? How are you so willing to sacrifice Yujin? You said with your own mouth that you cherish her!”

“As wicked as it is, it’s the only way! Else, faes like me will always be trampled on!” Jaebeom counters. “Nevermind if sacrificial magic is forbidden. If this is the only way to gain justice for my kind, then I will see it to the end.”

“Are you really fighting for a cause, or are you doing this out of resentment?” Yunho retorts. “The pure bloods treat you like filth, so you desire vengeance on them. But do you really have to go to such lengths, to use Yujin like a mere object?”

“Were you not the one who wanted to protect Yujin? Were you not the one who decided to erase her memories of you -- of all faefolk -- so that you’d keep her safe? And do you think I didn’t notice at all, how you’ve been watching her from the forest? Every single day, no matter the time, you’d hide behind a tree and watch her. But now, you come to me, breaking all those promises out of your lust for power. Do you really think I’d sit around and let you do it?”

Tears have filled Jaebeom’s eyes. His jaw is clenched tight, his hands clasped firmly until Yujin can see it turn white.

“Besides, how will you even gain her love?” Yunho questions, “She doesn’t remember you, much less know you.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” the fae says firmly, meeting Yunho’s gaze. “Her memories are still in the fountain. If she takes it back, we’d be able to rekindle the bond we had.”

Yunho falls silent. He shifts to stand in front of the fireplace, staring into it. The flames are almost dying, the logs turned to ashes.

“Sir Yunho, please. I’m asking you out of goodwill. It’s for the greater good,” Jaebeom tries when the other doesn’t seem to respond. “I don’t wish to forcefully take Yujin away from you.”

Yunho keeps silent before he finally says, “I’ll think about it.”

---

In the next memory, Yujin finds her younger self laid on the bed, deep asleep and oblivious to her father's presence. He sits near her hip, his elbows to his thighs, his hands clasped together as if he’s praying. He stays silent for a long while, unmoving, until he exhales through his mouth. He reaches a hand over, stroking the cheek of the sleeping girl.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I have to," he whispers. “You may not remember him, but I hope you can bring the old Jaebeom back. I know you'll hate me for this. I know I'm putting your life at risk. But I'm sure Jaebeom wouldn't harm you in any way. I’m sure he’ll have second thoughts if he spends more time with you. The Jaebeom who cares for his dear Yujin still exists, I’m sure of it.”

"But you're not powerless, my child,” Yunho continues to say, retracting his hand, “There's no way I would let him use you.”

He picks up an object from his lap, something Yujin didn’t notice earlier. Wrapped in leather, Yujin reckons it’s what she thinks it is. Yunho unravels it slightly and Yujin sees a familiar gleam of silver. It’s the dagger that he gifted her for her eighteenth birthday. The same silver weapon that she tried to stab Jaebeom with.

“Should he put you in danger, strike him in the heart with this dagger. Free him from his own self," he adds as he watches the metal shine in the moonlight. “I know you don’t believe the existence of the faefolk, so there’s no way I can explain everything to you. But I’ll make sure you’ll see the truth when the time comes.”

Yujin recalls the night her father had presented to her the weapon. He didn’t explain anything much, only apologized. She didn’t understand it then. Now, it’s all coming together. All the questions she has in her mind are slowly being answered. Yunho was leveraging the fact that she could be Jaebeom’s weakness. If she is, she could either change his mind and abandon his quest for power, or she could strike the fae at his most vulnerable.

The room dissolves, and the living room fades back in. Jaebeom and Yunho are facing each other, the light from the fireplace casting an orange glow onto their faces.

“Alright,” Yunho begins, “You can have my daughter--”

Yujin has an inkling where this conversation is heading.

“--on the condition that you shall extend my life by five years and marry her seven months after my death.”

Jaebeom frowns. “Marry? Why must I? I plan to wed Yena--”

“Then I’m afraid I can’t give you my daughter,” Yunho answers simply, shrugging his shoulders.

The fae falls silent, thinking. Yujin reckons he didn’t foresee a marriage as a condition. She reckons he thought her father would simply agree.

“Alright,” Jaebeom says, nodding slowly, “I accept your condition.”

Then, he holds out a hand for Yunho to take. They press their palms together. Instantly, a white glow is casted over their hands for a while before fading away.

“The deal is now made and must be fulfilled at its appointed time. There can be no breach,” the fae states, raising the same hand used for the magical contract. “Should you or Yujin try to escape, I can easily track you down and I will forcefully take what is promised.”

“Very well.” Yunho nods his head.

Without further ado, Jaebeom steps into the shadows and disappears from sight. Yunho heaves a sigh, glancing at his hand.

"I entrust my daughter to you, Jaebeom," he mutters to himself. “Please don’t disappoint me.”

Yujin wants to laugh. In the end, Jaebeom had no choice but to marry her. He’s tied to the condition set by Yunho in order to obtain that power he longed for. Could his feelings even be true? Could all those sweet words he uttered even be genuine? Yujin doubts so. After all, their relationship is built on nothing but a kind of transaction. I’m sorry, father, but your acts were in vain. Jaebeom had deceived you too.

In the blink of an eye, Yujin is suddenly enveloped in the coldness of the night. She can barely see anything, if not for the soft glimmer of the moonlight. It takes her a moment before she realizes she’s standing in front of her father’s grave, his name carved into the stone.

This must be the day father died, Yujin thinks to herself. She remembers this day very well, how torn she was. She remembers the days she spent alone until Jaebeom appeared in her life and turned it upside down.

The sound of footsteps echo in the bare land, and Yujin is holding her breath, watching her surroundings warily. A hooded figure emerges from the darkness, stopping right at Yunho’s grave. Pulling down the hood, Yujin recognizes the face of the woman as Jinyoung’s mother. Her blue eyes glint in the dark, sorrow in them.

"I have come to fulfil your wish, Yunho," she says sadly.

Then, she holds her hands out, shutting her eyes. She wiggles her fingers, and Yujin knows: she's extracting Yunho's memories much like how she did Yujin's. A glowing liquid materializes from the grave, compacting itself into an orb.

"Your memories shall join Yujin's in the fountain at the mansion," the woman speaks, as she plucks the orb from the air. “When the time comes, she will be able to revisit your memories along with her own.”

So that’s why Yujin can witness memories of her father despite not being directly involved in the scene.

Then the Water fae bows respectfully at the grave.

"Farewell, Yunho," she bids. “May your soul rest in peace.”

Afterwards, she makes her way back into the forest, disappearing from Yujin's sight.

---

The next thing Yujin knows, she’s pushed back, gasping for air. She has returned to the Garden. Earlier, she felt that she was pulled into the fountain. But looking down at her body, she’s not drenched at all. It’s as if she just woke up from a dream. Her mind is buzzing though, bombarded with new information and all those memories.

Everything Yujin thought about the faefolk, everything her father had warned her about, it’s all true. He warned her that the faes are skilled at deluding people. Hell, there were multiple times when her mind constantly reminded her but Yujin didn’t take heed. She brushed those thoughts aside, believing that Jaebeom was genuine. She tricked herself into thinking that Jaebeom loved her.

But Jaebeom only needs her for her heart. Everything they ever had -- or she thought they had -- were built on nothing but a lie.

Yujin can’t describe the feelings in her chest. Subconsciously, she has been clutching at the edge of the fountain hard. It’s overwhelming -- there’s anger, disappointment, and sorrow. Most importantly, Yujin can’t comprehend the betrayal she feels. She makes the rash decision of storming back into the mansion, and barging into Jaebeom’s room.

He’s woken by the sudden intrusion, oblivious to the emotions boiling in her. He greets her with a smile, “Did you need me?”

“Were you ever gonna tell me?” she ignores him entirely, her tone harsh, much to the fae’s surprise. In an instant, his smile vanishes, his brows frowning in confusion.

“What’s the matter, my love?”

“Drop the pretense,” she spits, “Were you ever gonna show me all these memories, Beommie?”

Yujin sees how his eyes go wide, realization dawned on him. He’s shell-shocked at the name that little Yujin used to call him.

The female steps forward. “You lied to me. You wanted to keep the truth away from me, didn't you?” she accuses, jabbing a finger into his chest, “You told me that the Garden would attack me, that the Garden entices me so that I’ll be caught in the deadly fog. But no, why would it even do that to me, when that fountain belongs to me! The only reason the Garden has been calling me is because it wants to return my memories!”

"Yujin--" Jaebeom tries, but Yujin isn’t done.

“But you were not gonna tell me at all, were you? You were just gonna use me for your own selfish reasons, weren’t you? That the moment you get those powers you desire so much, you’d marry Yena."

“No, that’s not true--”

“Not true?” she repeats, incredulous. “Still denying it? I heard you and Yena on the balcony! And I saw my father’s memory regarding your plan to overthrow the Fae courts!”

Jaebeom’s face is drained of color. The truth is out, and he can no longer cover it up.

“Yujin, please, I can explain--”

“Explain what?!” Yujin screams, hysterical. Jaebeom has the audacity to look stunned. "What more do you have to say? I know everything now! You only need my heart to serve your purpose!"

"Yujin--"

“Did you really love me? Hell, do you even love me?” Yujin’s voice gradually gets weaker, breaking a little. Her eyes are getting moist, and her vision is getting blurry. “Was there even one moment when you actually wanted me for who I am, not for what I have? Or were you only playing along just to gain my trust, to get me to fall for you, so that you’ll take advantage of me when the time comes?”

“Because, hell, if that’s what you want, I--” Her tears fall, and her breath hitches. Jaebeom actually has a guilty expression on his face. But his hands stay by his side, unmoving. “I would gladly do it for you.”

In a frenzy, Yujin grabs Jaebeom's hand, placing it against her chest, right where her heart is. She's sure he can feel her pulse beneath his palm, the heart that beats for him.

"Take it,” she spits, “Take this heart that innocently loves you, and be done with it!"

Yujin feels Jaebeom digging his nails in, fisting into her clothes. She expects him to actually perform the ritual, but he pulls her forward instead. He throws her onto the bed, pinning her wrists at the side of her head. He hovers on top of her, their faces merely inches away, their breaths mingling. Then, he takes one of her hands and presses it against his own chest. His heart is pounding beneath her palm.

"Do you feel this?" Jaebeom mutters, weak. "Do you feel my heart that leans toward you, that beats for you? My feelings for you are true. Not one of it is a lie--"

"No,” Yujin says firmly, “I shall not fall for your sweet words anymore!" She tries to pull her hand back but Jaebeom holds her tight.

"Then I'll show you," is all the fae says before he lurches forward, closing the gap between them and smashing their lips together. He kisses her fervently and roughly, biting at her lips. Despite her resistance, Jaebeom doesn’t break away. She hits his chest, pushes at him, yet he manages to pin her hands down.

In desperation, Yujin thrusts her head against his face with all her might. It hurt, but she managed to break free from his clutches. The fae recoils, grunting. Taking the chance, Yujin shoves the male off, and slips out beneath him. She wants to break into a run, but Jaebeom recovers quickly, grabbing her by the wrist.

“Let go--!”

Jaebeom pulls her in, enveloping her into a tight hug. He wraps his arms around her waist, pressing his forehead against her shoulder. “You can’t leave me. Please don’t,” he mumbles.

“What am I, but a mere human to you? A simple mortal. What does it matter if I stay? You have your beloved Yena to keep you company,” Yujin snarls back.

“I let you go before, and I’m not gonna lose you again!”

“You just did.”

His grip on her suddenly loosens, and Yujin finds herself slipping out of his grasp with ease. She doesn’t look back at the male. Jaebeom doesn’t even chase after her as she exits the room.

In the hallway, she meets the curious eyes of Jinyoung and other servants in the house, including Yeri. She must have started a commotion in the mansion, but it doesn’t matter. She’s done being a fool in this game.

“Did you know?” she confronts Jinyoung, looking at him straight in the eye. He’s taken aback by her sudden question, but he glances away, guilty.

“Yeri?” she snaps at the servant, whose mouth goes agape, unable to voice out anything.

Yujin scoffs, brushing past all of them. No one dares to stop her as she walks away, and out of the mansion. Not once did Yujin look back.

---

Yujin doesn’t know how long she has been on foot, but she doesn’t care. She trudges through the forest, heading as far as possible. Her legs are aching, but she pushes forward. There is no way she’ll stay in the mansion any longer. She can’t bear to see anyone from that damned household.

Everyone had known about Jaebeom’s plan, and no one bothered to spill the beans. It proved that Yujin was never cared for in the first place. Hell, she even felt a sense of belonging to the house! She thought she had a new family to come home to, but no, it was all a facade. She had trusted Jinyoung and had sought his help whenever she needed it. Hell, she even realized her true feelings for Jaebeom through him! Was that his way of helping Jaebeom get closer to his goal? And sweet, sweet Yeri. Yujin can’t comprehend that she would betray her like this.

Her anger morphs into betrayal, into utter mess. She drops to her knees, breaking down. Nevermind if her clothes are stained with dirt. It doesn’t amount to anything that her heart feels. Jaebeom has shattered her heart to pieces, but what’s more painful is that Yujin herself has picked up those jagged pieces and stabbed herself with her baseless expectations. She let her guard down, let herself believe the fae. In the end, what has she become? She’s reduced to nothing but a fool. A foolish human that has fallen to the temptations of the faefolk.

Tears come flooding her face uncontrollably. In the quietness of the night, only her cries are heard in the forest.

Suddenly, a blanket of warmth is draped over her body. Looking up, Yujin sees a pair of white eyes, a form crouching in front of her.

“I warned you, didn’t I?” the Princess of the Air court speaks, wiping away the saline liquid on Yujin’s cheeks, “Do you now see the truth? Did you really think Jaebeom loves you? He’s only using you.”

“I can’t believe it…” Yujin sobs. “I was so happy with him, but he-- He just had to wreck me in the most cruel way possible.”

“Heartbreaking, I know,” Yena says, nodding. “But I can save you from your misery.”

“H-how?” Yujin’s mind has gone hazy, the emotions that she feels clouding her rational mind. She completely misses the way Yena’s eyes glint in mischief, her lips curling into a devilish grin.

“Give him what he wants,” the fae answers simply. “Perform the ritual. Obtain the powers that Jaebeom wants so much. Afterwards, you’ll be free from him.”

Yujin hiccups. The sacrifice is a mortal’s love. If she performs the ritual, if she sacrifices her love for Jaebeom, what will that leave her with? Will her heart forget the fae? Will she no longer bear any feelings towards him? How will her life turn out afterwards? She shakes her head. What does it matter anyway? She has nothing to lose. After all, her life has only revolved around Jaebeom. Losing her love for him would mean moving on from him.

It doesn’t take long for Yujin to decide.

"I'll do it.”

#got7 #got7 scenarios #got7 jaebeom #got7 im jaebeom #got7 jaebeom scenarios #got7 im jaebeom scenarios #jaebeom #im jaebeom #im jaebeom scenarios #jaebeom scenarios #got7 jaebum #got7 im jaebum #got7 jaebum scenarios #got7 im jaebum scenarios #jaebum #got7 fanfic #got7 writing #got7 imagines

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simoncardonefishes · 3 years

Photo

River Baits

By Simon Cardone

Soaking a bait in the Murray River and its tributaries would have to be one of the most relaxing methods of fishing that I regularly participate in. Not only can you expect to tangle with a range of species, but the rigs and techniques used are simple, and the surrounding environment is stunning.

Bait fishing can be done all year round in the river, however when the surface water temperature is greater than 18c native fish such as callop, silver perch and catfish will all be in feeding mode , particularly in the shallow margins hunting down shrimp, yabbies and small baitfish. This means shore based fishers can get good numbers as well as the boaties.

So let’s take a species by species look at how to get the most out of your next bait fishing session on the mighty Murray River.

Golden Perch (Callop/Yellowbelly)

Golden Perch are the most widely distributed and plentiful native fish in the Murray-Darling Basin. Minimum legal length in South Australia is 33cm and the daily bag limit is five per person. The flesh is white and has a very mild flavour, suited to steaming or baking whole, or shallow frying the fillets. A camp favourite recipe of ours is the cut the boneless and skinned fillets into fish fingers, lightly dust with flour, salt, pepper and cook in a frying pan with butter and olive oil over coals from the fire until crispy on the outside. Washed down with a cold beverage of your choice – a perfect entrée out in the bush!

Live baits will generally produce the best results when fishing for callop, with shrimp, small yabbies and big worms such as scrub worms being the pick. If you can’t source live bait, frozen peeled prawns will also work.

I prefer a simple running sinker straight to the hook for shore based fishing. When there is no current to contend with a ball sinker of 5-15g will be plenty. Hook size is governed by bait size, so long shanked or bait keeper hooks sizes 2 to 6 for worms, and octopus or circle patterns sized 4 to 2/0 for shrimps and yabbies. 2500-4000 sized spin reels spooled with 10-15lb braid and fluorocarbon or mono leader of the same breaking strain will be ample. Rods with a 3-6kg rating and 7ft in length are ideal.

Fish with two rods if possible, with one cast deep and the other shallow. Target any nearby structure as this is where you will find the perch. Fishing with two different bait types will also help you ascertain the fish’s particular preference on the day. Please do not leave rods unattended. This will help prevent fish swallowing baits deep and aid the successful release of our precious native fish if you are not keeping one for a feed.

Once you have cast your bait into a likely looking area wind in just enough slack line to leave a slight belly in the line and set your rod in a rod holder angled as close as possible to the water. Goldens will hit your bait two ways. Method one is a very soft “fumbly’ take – watch your rod tip closely and if it is moving erratically for more than a few seconds try and set the hook with a swift upright strike of the rod. This seems to be their preferred method for eating worm baits. Bite number two will leave you in no doubt as the perch hoovers in a shrimp or small yabby with gusto.

When bait fishing for callop from a boat, this is best done vertically amongst the snags. “Bobbing” your presentation slowly up and down at regular intervals will soon attract any nearby fish. A standard paternoster style rig will work, but I still prefer a small running sinker straight to the hook. The best snags will be those with many branches that are submerged and cover a range of depths – see accompanying picture. The beauty about the large red gum snags is that you can reposition your boat and therefore your bait periodically to find a hungry native before moving onto your next location. On a good day, you will get your bag off the one tree!

Callop bait fishing hotspots to try are Morgan, Swan Reach and Walker Flat.

Murray Cod

Given that murray cod are a catch and release option only in South Australian waters I don’t see much point in bait fishing for this species. However if you do travel over the border into New South Wales and Victorian waters where you are allowed to keep a legal sized fish for a feed in season then it’s game on.

Cod are the river’s definition of a “greedy guts” and nothing is off the menu when it comes to bait. We have caught them on raw chicken, mozzarella and tasty cheeses, cooked chicken nuggets, dim sims, shrimp, worms, bardi and wood grubs, and yabbies.

You can readily catch small cod in most places that have suitable habitat upstream from Renmark all the way through to the upper Murray. Fishing along weed lines and undercut clay banks is always a good bet for a slot sized cod (55-75cm in season). But if you are after a murray monster on bait you need to fish big baits in tight to old snags positioned in deep water. Your tackle needs to be tough for this sort of close quarter combat as once hooked up to a big murray there will be no second chances, you win or they win – very quickly! 50lb main line whether it be mono or braid as a minimum, and traces up to 100lb. If you use a swivel make sure it is rated to at least 50kg, and only high quality heavy gauge hooks in octopus or circle patterns 4/0 to 8/0 should be used. I prefer to snell my hooks about 10cm apart regardless of the bait I’m using. I find that I get a better hook-up rate by having two baited hooks together.

Rods rated in the 10 -24kg range and around 6ft in length matched to 4000-8000 sized spin reels or 200 size or larger bait cast/overhead reels with drags of 10kg + should give you enough stopping power for most fish.

As with lure fishing for cod, make sure you have all your tools laid out and ready to go particularly if you plan on releasing your fish; glove, lip grips, landing net, bragmat, pliers, bolt cutters and of course a camera.

Cod bait fishing hotspots to try are Cadell, Wentworth (NSW) & Robinvale (NSW).

Silver Perch and catfish

“Silvers” and “catties” are both classified as endangered by fisheries in both SA and NSW and must be returned to the water unharmed. Both these species suffered greatly from overfishing and habitat degradation for many years due to the fact that unlike cod and callop they tend to have a limited range and thus populations can get wiped out quickly.

Thanks now to fisheries management, stocking and habitat restoration works across the murray-darling basin for the past two decades it is now possible to tangle with both of these remarkable fish when bait fishing for callop, especially in the warmer months in shallow water. We have had bait fishing sessions where we have caught more silvers and catties than callop and carp, which is a good sign for the future.

Those who are old enough to remember will tell you both of these fish are superb on the plate, but for now it’s strictly catch, photograph and release in the Murray river.

Carp

It is estimated by the Australian government Department of Environment that carp make up 90% of fish biomass in some areas of the river murray. This is a frightening statistic, but if you look at carp populations across the basin it becomes clear that you will find carp favour areas of degraded habitat and shallow lakes/lagoons. On the other hand, healthy sections of the river with plenty of snags, riparian vegetation, rock bars and good flow will see native fish proliferate.

From an angling perspective, this makes it easy to pick locations to tangle with “mud marlin”. Many public access areas along the SA section of the lower murray are what I would call badly degraded in terms of habitat, i.e. devoid of native vegetation, a silted or sandy bottom and banks choked with invasive willow trees – carp paradise!

Given that carp grow to enormous sizes and can be found in great numbers year round in shallow water equals great fun for anglers of all abilities. In my opinion they are the best fish for kids to learn how to use fishing gear correctly and safely and also how to play the fish correctly and into the waiting net.

In terms of gear to use I prefer to fish with lighter lines and outfits than I would normally use for callop so I can experience the thrill of the fight of these powerful fish, however using the same gear is fine if you don’t have a big fishing budget or if space is at a premium when you travel.

For me a typical backwater carp setup is a 7ft graphite rod with a parabolic action rated at 2-4kg matched to a 2500 sized reel loaded with 10lb braid and a rod length of 6 pound fluorocarbon leader. If I can see plenty of carp cruising around I will just put a tiny ball sinker on to assist with casting and bait either a size 4 circle hook or size 8 bait holder hook with maggots, corn or worms. You can literally cast towards cruising fish and expect them to belt your offering almost immediately when they are active.

When the weather is cooler and the fish are deeper I substitute the sinker for a sliding berley spring packed with pre mixed berley or bread to draw the fish towards my bait. Periodically throwing out handfuls of berley pellets will also help when the bite is tough.

I’ve said it many times before, but for the benefit of newcomers to this style of fishing; please don’t leave your rod unattended with a tight drag – this is a recipe for disaster and will result in you losing your outfit into the drink. Even a moderate sized carp can make your favourite combo disappear in the blink of an eye!

Carp is a noxious species and must not be returned to the water alive, so please dispose of them thoughtfully and don’t leave them rotting on the bank. Bury them in you your garden for fertilizer, or freeze them and utilize for carp/cray baits. At the very least bag them up and bin them. I know there are many people who actually regard them highly as table fish as they do in Europe and Asia, but for my money I’ll eat a golden perch any day!

Redfin (English Perch)

Definitely the tastiest fish in the river is the reddie aka “inland whiting”. When I was growing up they used to be a regular catch, but are harder to find these days. I seem to catch more reddies from Bowhill right down to Lake Alexandrina these days.

Fishing methods and locations are exactly the same as fishing for callop. Redfin are also classified as noxious, so they are only to be released directly into your esky. Beer battered skinned redfin and chips is match made in heaven.

One Percenters

You never stop learning when it comes to fishing, and this certainly applies to bait fishing in the river. Little things can make a big difference, so some additional points to consider;

- When a river is rising, try using grub baits and worms. When a river is steady or falling use yabby and shrimp baits.

- Bait fishing at night during summer is very effective for native species, if fishing from the bank a glow stick attached to your rod tip will help with bite detection.

- Check hooks for sharpness before and during each fishing session. Replace as necessary.

- Check leaders and traces for any signs of wear. Replace as necessary

- Practice knot tying at home. Be confident in your ability to tie good knots. Some good knots I recommend you master are: locked blood knot, uni knot, Albright knot, spider hitch, dropper loop and the perfection loop.

- Pre tying traces at home and putting into labelled sandwich bags in your tacklebox/bag will save you time on the water and ensure you don’t miss out on fish feeding windows.

- If you can time your bait fishing missions with a sharply rising or falling barometer, you will be more likely to encounter a hot bite.

While bait fishing in the river is a relaxing pastime and generally will produce fish regularly for even a novice angler, I hope that some of the species specific tips and techniques I have outlined here will help improve your catch rate this Easter period and well into the future. Enjoy your time on the river and make some memories!

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kaffeinic · 5 years

Text

Caffeinic | Bang Chan

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Epilogue

Pairing: Reader x Barista!Bang Chan

Genre: Fluff // Romance

Warnings: Fem!Reader

Preamble: You’ve been going to the same coffee shop for the past four years. You’ve ordered the same thing almost every single day, and you never, ever skip on that part of your morning. So, when Mrs. Park hired a new barista and the once serene café was suddenly flooded with people every second of the day, you were less than thrilled.

As you both left, Junseok told you that Seoyeon would probably be at the gym for the next two hours. She had been trying to convince him to bring Chan over. After saying your goodbyes, you and Chan piled yourselves into his car.

“I know that it isn’t a necessity, but I’ve really missed my phone.” You said, laughing. He subtly rolled his eyes.

“Kids these days...” He said.

“We are in the same generation!” You playfully yelled. He giggled, turning his key. The car roared to life, and he wasted no time in pulling out of the café’s parking lot.

“So, how are we thinking of going about this?” He asked.

“Just walk up to her and ask for the phone back?” You answered hesitantly. He glanced at you and chuckled.

“Yeah, that’ll definitely work.” He said. You watched the road, sifting through your options.

“Do we have a way to prove it?” You asked. Chan sat in thought before nodding.

“If you give me your number, I’ll call it.” He said. “I’m sure it’s still on. With any luck, it’s with her.” He added. You smiled nervously. You were never one to outwardly confront someone about something like this in public, preferring to remain passive and avoid fights.

“Is this just your way of getting my number?” You asked. He laughed.

“If I can kiss you in the back of a café and not be allowed to have your number, I’d be genuinely surprised.” He retorted. You smiled at him.

“Yes, you can have my number, you dork.” You said. Chan pulled up at the curb of the gym, looking at you with his phone open to the phoning application. You recited your number, watching as he dialed. You heard ringing, but no answer.

“At least we know it’s on.” He said. “Let’s go, love.” You blushed at the nickname, which was funny, because he called you a few other pet names earlier and you didn’t have any form of reaction. Maybe it’s because you know you’re both an ‘item’ now?

Before you could manage to, Chan had moved to your side of the car, opening the door for you. Once you stepped out, you felt his hand catch yours. He stopped you for a moment to intertwine your fingers, smiling. With that, you were off.

The gym was definitely for the higher class portion of society. When you walked in, it became very apparent. You noted the high ceilings and intricate lighting. From the outside, you knew the building was huge, but it felt even larger once you entered. You felt Chan lightly tug your arm to bring you to the concierge who was manning the front desk.

“Oh, hey there, Chan!” The boy said. He seemed to be in his late teens, and very familiar with the Aussie. You were surprised to see that he wasn’t Asian. You had gotten so used to the trademark features of people from Korea that when you saw a foreigner, it threw you for a loop.

“Hey, mate. Can I visit someone really quickly?” He asked. The boy nodded and handed him a visitor’s pass.

“One for your friend, too?” He asked. Chan nodded.

“Of course.”

The boy handed you a visitor’s pass, which was a clip nametag on a lanyard. Once you put it on, you smiled.

“Thank you.” The boy nodded and waved.

“I’ll see you later, bro.” He said to Chan. Chan grinned and waved as well.

“See you!”

You followed Chan as he expertly navigated the building.

“Do you have a second job that I don’t know about?” You asked. Chan stopped and raised a brow at you inquisitively.

“No..?” He said. “Why do you ask?”

“You walk around like you’ve been coming here for a while, and this place is definitely not your average gym.” You said. He laughed.

“I’m sure you noticed my friend at the counter. I was acting as his personal trainer for a few months. He wanted to learn how to use the kind of equipment that they have here. I already knew from the gym that I go to, so... Yeah.” He said. You laughed.

“I’m not grilling you. I was just curious.” You said, grabbing his hand. “Let’s go.” He grinned, continuing the journey to find Seoyeon. He stopped at a door near the end of a hallway somewhere in the building. ‘Somewhere,’ because you don’t actually know where in the gym you are. He released your hand, opening the door.

Seoyeon was listening to music through her headphones, running on a treadmill. The rest of the room - which was filled with various types of athletic equipment - was vacant otherwise. You watched as Chan whipped out his phone, calling your number. You could hear the faint sound of your ringtone coming from one of Seoyeon’s bags. She unplugged her ears and walked over to the phone, switching it off.

“So you do have it.” You said. She turned to face you, noticing Chan and immediately standing straighter with a plastic smile.

“Have what?” She asked.

“Her phone. Are you really going to try to deny it?” Chan said. The boy from the front desk walked into the room, standing next to you.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“We’re resolving an issue. She took my phone.” You said. Both of you had spoken quietly to avoid interrupting the conversation.

“I don’t have her phone.” Seoyeon said, placing her hands on her hips. Chan grimaced.

“Well, I have her number. I just called it, and it rang from your bags. Explain that.” He said. Her smile faltered for only a moment.

“Coincidence.”

“If it was a coincidence, then I guess if I call it again, we won’t hear another phone ringing from your stuff?” Chan asked. Seoyeon remained silent. He dialed your number, raising a brow when the resounding ringtone echoed in the room.

“Gym members can be subject to unscheduled bag checks if the attending employee wdeems it necessary.” The boy next to you said. It was obvious he took the quote right out of the rule book.

“You can’t look at my stuff!” Seoyeon yelled.

“Yes, I can - and I will.” He made his way across the room to the bench where her belongings laid, sifting through until he found a cell phone. Even from the distance, you were sure it was yours. “Ma’am?” He asked. You nodded.

“It’s mine.” You confirmed. Chan rang your number once more for the extra bit of proof. Seoyeon’s face was mortified when it rang in the boy’s hand. He walked over and handed you your phone, to which you thanked him. Chan placed his arm around you, and the boy made an audible ‘oh’ sound.

“So, you’re the girl he was telling me about last week?” He asked. “I’m Sam.”

“I’m Y/n.” You replied, shaking his hand. He smiled.

“It’s very nice to meet you.” He turned to Seoyeon. “This incident is going on your record. This is your second strike.” He said. Seoyeon’s face puffed when she pouted at him.

“But Sammy~!” She whined. He held up his hand.

“Nope.” He turned to you and Chan, who were both giggling at his blatant little ‘nope.’ “I hope I’ll get to know you better in the future. In the meantime, I’ll be teasing Channie here for a while.” Chan visibly grimaced, squeezing your shoulder. You chuckled at the two boys and their comments. Seoyeon pushed through the three of you with her bags to exit the gym, stomping loudly with every step. Sam rolled his eyes.

“I think we’ll be off. Thanks for everything, bro.” Chan said to Sam. They said their goodbyes, and you and Chan exited the room. Once you made it to the front doors of the gym, you stopped him.

“Thank you, Channie.” You said. He grasped both of your hands in his, smiling at you.

“Don’t thank me. I’ll be blowing up your phone for days.” He said. You laughed, moving closer. You gave him a soft hug, to which he reciprocated with a firm squeeze. “You know, at some point, I’ll take you on a successful date.” He said.

“I have time now.” You replied. His face lit up with a smile as he jumped around in his spot.

“Coffee time!” He said. You threw your fists into the air enthusiastically.

“Coffee time!”

Fanart for this chapter:

This lovely collage is by @punk-pan-bih-yeets-thru-life. Please send her your love! If you want to make some fanart, send it in~! You’ll get credit.

Is-

Is Caffeinic finished?

Have I finally completed one full-length fanfiction?

Yes, yes I have.

I really hope you all enjoyed this story! I’ve worked for a while on it and always found inspiration from you guys! The feedback you’ve given has truly brought me a lot of happiness. I have a bit of an epilogue in the works for this story. If you want to read it, let’s get the total number of notes for Caffeinic to 2000! At the time of posting this, the total was at 1004. We can do it! I may or may not crack before we get there, but I urge you to hit this goal with me. As always, if you enjoyed, please drop a like, comment, and/or reblog to show your friends this story! Thank you all so much for reading!

* DISCLAIMER: I do not own any gifs/photos used in this post. I do own the written content. Do NOT repost/edit. *

🏷 @punk-pan-bih-yeets-thru-life • @hoshithehamster • @woo-for-woojin • @deceased-pumpkin-babe • @ethereal-chanracha • @midnatwlp • @joohowdy • @ckyunwon • @yeollliee • @aquietkerfuffle • @royalhvangs

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dustedmagazine · 4 years

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Dust Volume 6, Number 5

Courtney Marie Andrews

The lockdown continues, and live music has disappeared, replaced by a somewhat antiseptic and unsatisfying spate of live streamed shows mostly one person with a guitar on the couch in their living room. We salute the courage and the effort but miss bands and audiences and even the chatter drifting in from the bar area. In the meantime, at least for now, there are still lots of new records vying for our attention. We present this Dust to catch up with some of them. It’s an ecletic survey of contemporary classical, vengeful hip hop, psyche, jazz, folk and metal artists, all continuing to try to navigate a very difficult period. Our writers this time include many of the usual suspects, Bill Meyer, Ray Garraty, Jonathan Shaw, Andrew Forell, Tim Clarke, Jennifer Kelly, Tobias Carroll and Patrick Masterson.

a•pe•ri•od•ic—For (New Focus Recordings)

for a•pe•ri•od•ic by a•pe•ri•od•ic

Silence is a rhythm, too, and a•pe•ri•od•ic dances to it repeatedly throughout their second recording. The Chicago-based ensemble has traversed the new music continuum, performing music by composers from Peter Ablinger to Christian Wolff. Sometimes that silence isn’t quite what you want to hear — the COVID-19 pandemic cut short its tenth anniversary spring season one concert too soon — but it proves to be rich loam from which to grow music on this CD. All four of its pieces were composed specifically for the group by individuals who recognize the merit of non-imposing sounds. That knowledge derives in part from the fact that three of the composers also perform with the group, but also from their long-standing engagement with post-Cage-ian and Wandelweiser material. Director and pianist Nomi Epstein’s descriptively entitled “Combine, Juxtapose, Delayed Overlap” feels like a ceremony intermittently perceived through an opening and closing door. Billie Howard’s “Roll” tucks the composer’s whispering violin behind muted French horn and voice, wringing intensity from the effort one must apply to following its retreating sonorities. Vocalist Kenn Klumpf’s “Triadic Expansions (2)” moves in the other direction, sprouting ivy-like from the slenderest branches of sound. By comparison, Michael Pisaro’s stately “festhalten/loslassen” is a veritable riot of unwinding tonal colors. As the decade ticks towards year eleven, rest assured that a•pe•ri•od•ic is searching for the next promising idea.

Bill Meyer

Agallah — Fuck You The Album (Propain Campain)

Fuck You The Album by Agallah

This is a personal vendetta album. After more than 25 years in the game, Agallah has got to settle the score against the whole world. To say he just has a chip on his shoulder would an understatement. Thirteen songs of pure hate with the title quite properly reflecting its content. In his fight, the rapper strips down all the artistry, including the production. Known for making beats for other hip hop acts, Agallah here not only uses barely serviceable beats, he doesn’t even makes pretense he needs beats. Almost all the tracks work as a capellas. His gruffy voice and arrogant flow don’t need sonic support. And what support can you expect from the world full of phonies, liars, actors, pretenders, cowards and fair weather friends? “Stop pretending, my career is not ending,” he almost screams on “Telling Lies To Me.” If this CD feels like a dinosaur in 2020, then it says that it is not something wrong with this album but with the world.

Ray Garraty

Courtney Marie Andrews — “Burlap String” single (Fat Possum)

Old Flowers by Courtney Marie Andrews

As the eponymous song of 2018’s May Your Kindness Remain amply demonstrated, Courtney Marie Andrews’ pipes are not to be fucked with. But while that was perhaps the most vivid depiction yet of her abilities, the Phoenix native’s delivery can be just as powerful on a muzzle. Such has been her approach thus far with what we’ve heard from Old Flowers, originally slated for an early June release but since pushed back to July (or beyond, who knows). The post-breakup lyrical territory was initially revealed with first single “If I Told,” but it’s the gently loping “Burlap String” I’ve had on repeat for much of the past month. Ever ended a relationship with someone and regretted it? Lush piano and a sighing slide guitar tell you Courtney has without her ever having to utter a word, and much of the song is an illustration of the internal conflict that lingers long after you’ve made the call. I’m inclined to write out the whole second verse here, but it’s the end of the third that lingers as Andrews evokes barely holding back tears: There’s no replacing someone like you. That ensuing pause runs bone-deep, its implication clear — no amount of Mary Oliver can save you from yourself.

Patrick Masterson

Dennis Callaci — The Dead of the Day (Shrimper Records)

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Some albums could be said to hum. In the case of the latest from Dennis Callaci, that’s meant literally: many of the songs on his new album The Dead of the Day feature warm clouds of feedback or droning organ notes. It’s a companion piece to his recent book 100 Cassettes, which features thoughts on musical icons throughout the year. This album’s focus is more insular: some of the songs have a drifting, improvised feel to them. But Callaci also taps into some terrifically subdued songwriting veins here — “Broadway Blues Pt. II” recalls the haunted dub-folk of Souled American, and Franklin Bruno’s piano lends a propulsive dimension to the ruminative title track. And on “Scoreless,” Callaci teams with his Refrigerator bandmate (and brother) Allen Callaci for a song that slowly builds from acoustic foundations to something modestly grandiose. Contrary to what its title might suggest, this album feels very much like a document of one man’s life.

Tobias Carroll

Cameron / Carter / Håker Flaten — Tau Ceti (Astral Spirits)

Tau Ceti by Cameron / Carter / Håker Flaten

Tau Ceti is a planet that is hypothesized to be similar enough to Earth that it could potentially support similar life forms. The three musicians that recorded this tape may come not come from the same system, but they fall into a harmonious orbit around a common circumstance — they were all in the same swanky studio, Halversonics, on a particular winter day in early 2019. One supposes that whatever they were rotating, they move towards the source of heat, since Tau Ceti builds slowly from chill acoustic exploration to a fuzzed-out solar flare. As they progress, abstraction burns away and velocity increases. It’s a gas to hear Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Lisa Cameron lock in behind Tom Carter’s increasingly gritty sound-bursts.

Bill Meyer

Tim Daisy — Sereno (Relay)

Tim Daisy - Sereno :: music for marimba, turntables and percussion (relay 028) by Tim Daisy

Sometimes the timing of even the most tuned-in drummer is foiled by external circumstances. Sereno was supposed to signal the end of an intense phase of solo practice by Tim Daisy. His intentions for 2020 included making an album of duets and writing music for two ensembles. But at press time he, like everyone else, is hunkered down with his family, and everything he had planned is on hold.

Daisy’s stint as a primarily solo artist coincided with a reconsideration of identity; he wasn’t just a drummer, but a multi-instrumentalist and an orchestrator of electro-acoustic sound. Sereno is split between three elegiac marimba solos that showcase Daisy’s instinct for deliberate melodic development and five much denser constructions for imprecisely tuned radios, playing and skipping records, and Daisy’s strategically reflective drumming. If this record is the only new music that Daisy puts out this year, it leaves us with plenty to think about.

Bill Meyer

Kaja Draksler & Terrie Ex — The Swim (Terp)

On the surface, this looks like quite the odd couple. Terrie Ex Is a Dutch electric guitarist in his mid-60s who still goes by his punk rock name. He’s a ferocious improviser whose scrabbling instrumental attack incurs intensity from any ensemble that doesn’t want to get bowled over, and he knows more Ethiopian tunes by heart than anyone on your block. Kaja Draksler is a Slovenian pianist exactly half his age whose recent projects include a fast-paced, idiosyncratically balanced trio with Petter Eldh and Christian Lillinger, and an octet for which she sets Robert Frost poems to a combination of chanson, Baroque chamber music, and thorny free improvisation. But neither got where they are by letting fear deter them from a musical challenge, and both of them have a fine awareness that one way of understanding their respective instruments is that they are pieces of wood with wires attached. Given that common understanding of music as a combination of coexisting textures and assertive actions, they work together quite well on this CD, which documents a performance that took place at London’s Café Oto in 2018. Scrape meets sigh, jagged fish-hook pluck meets sparse wire-damped drizzle, instinct meets intuition, and when the disc is done, it’ll seem quite sensible to dive back in and swim the whole length in reverse.

Bill Meyer

Errant — S/T EP (Manatee Rampage Recordings)

errant by errant

Errant is the one-woman project of Rae Amitay. Some listeners of metal music may be familiar with Amitay’s work, as vocalist for death-grind-hybridists Immortal Bird and as drummer for the folk-metal act Thrawsunblat. For Errant, Amitay has created songs and sounds that have little in common with those other bands’ aesthetic extremities. “The Amorphic Burden” may prompt you to recall the melodic black metal that Ludicra was making toward the end of that band’s storied run, or the sludgy drama of Agrimonia’s most recent record. In any case, Errant’s sound skews toward more luminescent atmospheres. Production values are largely pristine; Amitay wants you to hear clearly every string and cymbal strike. It makes sense. She plays a bunch of instruments well, and that’s part of the point: that one woman is producing all the sounds, and all the affect. She ends the EP with a cover of Failure’s “Saturday Savior,” and it’s the least interesting thing on the record. But even there, she presents the listener with something worth hearing. Her clean vocals are lovely, disarmingly so. What may be most impressive about this early iteration of Errant is the extent of Amitay’s talents, and how those talents allow her to encroach on the hyper-masculine territory of the “one-man” act.

Jonathan Shaw

Field Works — Ultrasonic (Temporary Residence)

Ultrasonic by Field Works

Stuart Hyatt’s latest compilation in the Field Works series is an absolute beauty — and timely given it’s being released during a pandemic whose origins may be linked to bats. The field recordings that the contributors used to create the music on Ultrasonic come from the echolocation of bats, and the approaches tend towards rhythmic or atmospheric. At the rhythmic end of the spectrum we have Eluvium’s majestic opener “Dusk Tempi,” akin to his work on Talk Amongst the Trees. Mary Lattimore’s glimmering harp patterns are fitting accompaniment to the chittering bat sounds on “Silver Secrets.” And Kelly Moran’s prepared piano on “Sodalis” sends the listener down a hall of mirrors, chased by gorgeous bass tones. At the more abstract, atmospheric end of the spectrum we have Jefre Cantu-Ledesma’s radiant “Night Swimming.” Christina Vantzou blurs the line between the sounds of modular synthesis and bat sonar on “Music for a Room with Vaulted Ceiling.” And on Sarah Davachi’s “Marion,” the listener is immersed in a luminous halo of nocturnal overtones. Wherever the artists venture, this is a varied yet consistently evocative collection.

Tim Clarke

FMB DZ — The Gift 3 (Fast Money Boyz / EMPIRE)

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The Gift 3 was initially set to be released in December 2019 but was postponed until now. DZ’s “Merry Christmas, pussies!” on one of the tracks doesn’t sound so odd, though, because the whole world has plunged into a constant holiday. The new album continues two trends. It carries on the “ape” theme from the previous album Ape Season. “Ape Activities,” “Keep It on Me” and “No Features” are the grittiest tracks from a disc where the prevalent mood is a sick worry. DZ made it out of the hood but had to be on the lookout as the enemies are out to get him. The other trend is that The Gift 3 continues the ideas of The Gift series. The songs have a usual verse-hook structure, are poppier and more relaxed than on Ape Season. DZ, thankfully, doesn’t try to sing anymore but hires some singers on choruses. The hardest track here is “High Speed” with Rio Da Yung Og where Detroit/Flint duo spit vicious lines.

Ray Garraty

Hala — Red Herring (Cinematic)

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Detroit multi-instrumentalist Ian Ruhala wears his heart dripping from his sleeve on “Red Herring” his latest record as Hala. Skipping from the yacht rock of “Making Me Nervous” to the country blues of “True Colors” via power pop, The Kinks and Tom Petty, Ruhala manages to create a thread with deceptively simple melodies and the sincerity of his delivery. There’s more than a touch of Kevin Barnes in the voice and the delight in throwing genres at the wall to see what sticks and, like Barnes, some of it fails to adhere. The pleasure here is in the sense of eavesdropping on the process and reveling in unexpected flourishes that refuse to be ignored.

Ruhala writes a smooth love song and isn’t afraid to turn up the guitar or address politics on standout “Lies” - “I’m eating breakfast with the fascists/Oh man they stand about ten feet tall/My mouth is bleeding at their proceedings/They get their courage through a plastic straw” It may not be Guthrie but he makes it work through a leavening wit and a mid-tempo vamp straight from the solar plexus. “Red Herring” suffers somewhat from its stylistic roaming but a fundamental big heartedness and willingness to reach makes it an enjoyable trip.

Andrew Forell

Las Kellies — Suck This Tangerine (Fire)

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Suck This Tangerine opens with a loose groove and a grime smeared highlife guitar line, the voice enters with ironic invitations over choppy Gang of Four chords. In the new one from Las Kellies, Argentinian duo Cecilia Kelly and Silvina Costa sling taut bass lines and slash guitars over mutant disco rhythms for 12 tracks of slinky indie dance. Drawing on elements from Leeds, London and the Bronx, Kelly and Costa add dubby space and South American humidity to their sound, to elevate the album beyond the sum of its influences.

Kelly handles guitar and bass, wielding the former like a cross between Andy Gill and Viv Albertine and unfurling loose funky serpents with the latter. Costa swings between ESG and The Bush Tetras and incorporates an array of hand drums that deepen and enliven the rhythmic pulse. There is a palpable and joyful chemistry between the two evidenced by their easy interplay and enhanced by the production that gives clarity and elbowroom to each instrument. If the lyrics can tend toward the perfunctory, they are delivered with a winking insouciance on put downs like “Close Talker” and “Rid Of You”. Suck This Tangerine is a worthy addition to the growing collection of feminist post-punk inspired albums we’ve been dancing to of late.

Andrew Forell

Mint Mile — Ambertron (Comedy Minus One)

Ambertron by Mint Mile

Silkworm, the band, may have ended in 2005 with the death of drummer Michael Dahlquist, but its legacy of slow, gut-socking heaviness, mordant wit and muscular guitar lives on, first in Bottomless Pit and now in Tim Midyett’s new band Ambertron. Midyett’s voice and clangorous baritone guitar is instantly recognizable, of course, to anyone who loved Silkworm, but the band diverges somewhat with the pedal steel played by Justin Brown of Palliard, weaving eerily though the slow buzz and moan of “Likelihood.” Jeff Panall, from Songs:Ohio, plays the hard, heavy drums that undergird these songs, giving them structure and forward motion. Other players include Matthew Barnhart from Tre Orsi and Horward Draper from Shearwater. Greg Normal of Bitter Tears contributes a mournful bit of trumpet to “Fallen Rock,” and Chicago alt-country mainstay Kelly Hogan takes the lead in “Sang.” The music is raw and morose; even dense strings can’t quite lift the gloom in “Christmas Comes and Goes,” a song as raw as late November in Chicago. And yet there’s a sort of resilience in it, a strength that comes through persistence. “If we could only find a way to bank the time we had together,” sings Midyett in “Giving Love,” his hoarse voice full of ragged loss, his guitar raging against it all and not quite beaten down even now.

Jennifer Kelly

Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra — If You Listen Carefully the Music Is Yours (Odin)

If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours by Gard Nilssen´s Supersonic Orchestra

Perched atop his drum stool, Gard Nilssen sits where styles converge. He’s supplied the controlled boil that drives the free-bop combo Cortex, laid down some heavier beats with Bushman’s Revenge and exemplified long-form lucidity with his own trio, Acoustic Unity. In 2019, the Molde Jazz Festival recognized his versatility and forward perspective by anointing him the artist in residence. Besides showcasing his ongoing projects and accompanying heavy guests from abroad, most notably Bill Frisell, he got to put together a dream project. This 16-piece big band, which includes members of Cortex, Acoustic Unity, and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, is it. With the assistance of co-arranger André Roligheten, Nilssen has taken some of his trio’s sturdy melodies and turned them into frameworks for boisterous but subtly colored performances. With three basses and three drummers, this could have been either a mess or an uptight game of “you first,” “no sir after you.” But the rhythm crew shifts easily between swinging unisons and refractory elaborations. Roligheten often plays two saxophones at once in smaller settings, and one suspects that he has a lot to do with the rich colors that the horns paint around the featured soloists.

Bill Meyer

Matthew J. Rolin — Ohio (Garden Portal)

Ohio by Matthew J. Rolin

The ghoulish image on the j-card belies the sounds encoded upon this tape. Matthew J. Rolin is a relative newcomer to the practice of acoustic guitar performance; the earliest release on his Bandcamp page was recorded in late 2017. But he’s catching on fast. Switching between six and twelve-string guitars, he serves up equal measures of ingratiating lyricism and immersive surrender to pure sound. Opener “Red Brick” slots into the former category, with a heart-tugging melody that keeps doling out turns that’ll keep you wondering where it’s going and backtracks that’ll ensure that you never feel lost. “Brooklyn Centre,” on the other hand, grows filaments of string sound out of a pool of prayer bowl resonance centering enough to make you cancel your mindfulness app subscription due to perceived lack of need. Rolin develops ideas situated between these poles over the rest of this brief set, which runs just shy of 28 minutes and definitely leaves one wanting a bit more.

Bill Meyer

Nick Storring — My Magic Dreams Have Lost Their Spell (Orange Milk)

My Magic Dreams Have Lost Their Spell by Nick Storring

What Jim O’Rourke did for the music of Van Dyke Parks and John Fahey on Bad Timing, Nick Storring does for Roberta Flack’s on My Magic Dreams Have Lost Their Spell. The Canadian composer may not have O’Rourke’s name recognition or past membership in a very famous rock band going for him, but consider these parallels. He’s a handy with quite a few instruments, he’s an inveterate assistant to other artists across disciplinary lines, and he functions with equal commitment and fluency in a variety of genres. For this record, his first to be pressed on vinyl (albeit in miniscule numbers), Storring uses the lush string sound of Flack’s 1970s hits as a launching point for deep sonic immersions that are considerably more emotionally oblique than their inspirations’ articulations of loneliness and surrender. When he goes melodic, the cello-led tunes seem to reach for something that they never touch, and when he goes for slow-motion density, the music imparts an experience akin to watching the sort of cinematic experience where you can’t tell if you’re seeing a really slow take or the film has frozen at a single frame.

Bill Meyer

Sunn Trio — Electric Esoterica (Twenty One Eight Two Recording Company)

Electric Esoterica by Sunn Trio

Sunn Trio, from Arizona, makes sprawling, multi-ethnic psychedelia that juxtaposes the scree and groan of heavy improvisational rock with the otherly chords and rhythms of the Middle East. Opener “Alhiruiyn” slicks a trebly sheen over its surging, rampaging improvisations, more in the vein of Black Sun Ensemble than Cem Karaca. But “Majoun” layers antic percussion and tone-shifting bent notes in a limber evocation of the souk. “Roktabija The Promulgator” blasts a strident, swaggering surf riff, about as Arabic as “Miserlou” (which is, in fact, Arabic). “Khons at Karnak” buzzes with hard rock aggression, but shimmies with belly dancing syncopation. Because of the name, the preoccupation with non-Western cultures and the Phoenix mailing address, you might think that Sunn Trio is aligned somehow with Sun City Girls, but no. All kinds of weirdness lurks in the desert out there, lucky for us.

Jennifer Kelly

Turbo, Gunna & Young Thug — “Quarantine Clean” single (Playmakers)

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Despite the subject matter’s potential (ahem) virality, “Quarantine Clean” slipped out almost unnoticed in early April and is the kind of muted performance Young Thug doesn’t get enough credit for (while, curiously, his followers often get too much derision for). For all of Thugger’s hyperfluorescent hijinx over the years that have produced earworms like, say, “That’s All” and “Wyclef Jean,” there’s another side that shows up in stuff like “The Blanguage” and “Freaky” where he lets the words do the work; that’s the subterranean sonic world we’re living in here as he opines on God’s role in the pandemic and why he’s lost so much money but still has to pay for his parents’ penthouse (which: welcome to the revolution, pal). Thug’s acolyte in slime Gunna, meanwhile, does most of the song’s heavy lifting with duties on the first verse and chorus, but it’s pretty hard to tell the two apart, such is the slippery restraint both opt to exercise here. The real star, then, is beatmaker Turbo, whose buoyant anchor melody is complemented by what sounds like a lilting flute. It’s a light touch from all parties, a mellow mood well suited to our time of collective party-eschewing shelter. Run that back in prudence.

Patrick Masterson

Various Artists—Ten Years Gone (A Tribute to Jack Rose) (Tompkins Square)

Ten Years Gone : A Tribute to Jack Rose by Various Artists

A decade on from the too early passing of the great American Primitive/blues/raga player Jack Rose, Arborea’s Buck Curran gathers friends, collaborators and younger artists inspired by Rose for a gorgeous tribute to the master. Mike Gangloff, who played with Rose in Pelt and Black Twig Pickers, leads off with a plaintive, sepia-toned fiddle lament (“The Other Side of Catawbwa”), while next generation experimental droner Prana Crafter closes with an expansive, space folk reverie (“High Country Dynamo”). In between, old friends like Sir Richard Bishop evoke Rose’s full-blown orchestral guitar playing (“By Any Other Name”) while young pickers like Matt Sowell take up the trail forged by Dr. Ragtime. Isasa from Spain and Paulo Laboule Novellino from Italy attest to Rose’s global appeal. It’s mostly guitar, but not entirely; Helena Espvall from Espers contributes a brooding, reverberant “Alcantara” on cello. Curran’s own “Greenfields of America (Spiritual for Jack Rose)” is slow and thoughtful, letting long bent notes ring out with liquid clarity; it’s a hymn and a prayer and a testimony to the wide influence of an artist gone too soon.

Jennifer Kelly

Emily Jane White — Immanent Fire (Talitres)

Immanent Fire by Emily Jane White

Emily Jane White gets tagged as a folk singer, but on this, her sixth full-length, the Oakland songwriter brings a fair amount of goth-tinged drama. Taut string arrangements and big booming drums lift “Infernal” well out of the woman-with-guitar category, and White sounds more like PJ Harvey or even Chelsea Wolfe than a sweet voiced strummer. Immanent Fire sticks, topically, to environmental concerns with track titles like “Washed Away,” “Drowned” and “Metamorphosis.” A foreboding creeps through the songs, pretty as they are, even piano lit “Dew” asks “Does poison drop like the dew?” Arrangements, by Anton Patzner, the composer, arranger and violinist of Foxtails Brigade and Judgment Day, give these cuts weight and heft, punctuating eerie melodies with thick swathes of strings, rumbling percussion and keyboards. The disc culminates in “Light” which begins in a whisper and climaxes in drum-shocked, orchestral swoon. Soothing background music it is not.

Jennifer Kelly

Z-Ro — Quarantine: Social Distancing (1 Deep Entertainment / EMPIRE)

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An unexpected seven-track EP bears an expected title from a Dirty South legend. Z-Ro’s usual topics — trust and loneliness — gain a new meaning in the time of social distancing. To keep away women who only want his money is a necessary precaution now. To be at the corner at the party is a rule for survival. Z-Ro is on his ground counting his dough alone in the house. Earlier he did it so no ‘shife’ (the title of one of the tracks) friends could rob him, now it’s just to obey quarantine rules. The first half of this EP is a bit muddled by unnecessary intros and reggae tunes but the second one hits hard. As always with Z-Ro, the hardest content takes the gentlest form (“Niggas is Hoes” especially is almost a pop song). On the final track “Life of the Party” Boosie Badazz drops by, giving his verdict on the pandemic: “Fuck Corona!”

Ray Garraty

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arabellaflynn · 4 years

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I am so fucking over this plague thing. More accurately, I am so fucking over everybody being paranoid of this plague thing. Leaving the house isn't giving me panic attacks because of covid, it's because of all the goddamned people.

Look. I understand why people are afraid. When covid goes bad, it can go really bad, like 'intensive care with invasive ventilation' bad. It's just that this amount of fear is incompatible with also getting on with your life in any meaningful way, not to mention it's out of proportion with reality. Hospitalization rates of people with a confirmed case of COVID-19 (so, not counting people who never bothered to get tested, or people who have been exposed and fought the virus off, or people who have never been exposed) is about 82 per 100,000, or 0.082%. Condoms, when used properly, have about a 2% failure rate. If you trust in condoms to keep you childfree, you can trust reasonable, non-paranoid precautions to keep you from dying of covid.

If you catch covid, and you're an otherwise healthy non-elderly person, your experience is overwhelmingly likely to be like the one I had with chicken pox. I was born in 1981, so my prime years as a disease vector were before the varicella zoster vaccine. I caught chicken pox when I was 8 or 9. It blew. I was off school for two weeks, and I spent every moment of that itching like a motherfucker. But, like 59,999 out of 60,000 chicken pox sufferers, I got over it, and I'm still here. This doesn't mean that it's pointless to try to avoid catching it, and it definitely doesn't argue in favor of holding "chicken pox parties" so you can give it to other people on purpose. That's just idiocy. But it does mean that going to Howard Hughes-esque lengths in order to avoid ever coming into contact with it is maybe a little bit of an overreaction.

"Flatten the curve" was never meant to keep us all from catching COVID-19. The novel coronavirus is now endemic in the human population. Everyone is going to get this. Probably not every few months, like rhinovirus-driven colds, but more like pre-vaccine influenza, where if you had common sense and a bit of luck, you'd have a sucky few weeks once or twice a decade. The idea behind "flatten the curve" was to keep everyone from catching it at the same time, so that the number of cases that did need hospitalization never exceeded the number of available hospital beds. Believe it or not the news did explain that part, in tiny words, but everyone seems to have forgotten.

I had to hike into the next town over to pick up some stuff the other day. One of my roommates gawped in horror when I mentioned that I only wear a mask when around people. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires face coverings when indoors or when maintaining a distance of at least six feet from other people is impractical. That's fair; those are the circumstances under which cloth masks impede the spread of droplet-borne viral illnesses, be they COVID-19 or some other crap you've picked up. I had a mask, because I was going to talk to another human, and a good chunk of my route went through a populated area where I was likely to meet other people on the sidewalk. But a good chunk of my route also went through parks and quiet suburbs. I was outdoors, a place with notoriously good ventilation, and it was easy to stay 10+ feet away from the few people I saw. Under those conditions, masks have no effect. As long as you handle them by the ear pieces -- because you have been breathing damp schmutz all over the face part -- you can in fact take them off to cool down and breathe, and re-set them when you see people approaching again.

Said roommate wears a mask from the instant she exits the front door to the very moment she gets back in. Even when walking the dog in our wide-open neighborhood, where there is so little traffic you can dodge the other dog-walkers and joggers by walking down the middle of the street if you want. The neighbor kids bike and play games in the road all the time. You can wear a mask under those conditions if you want to, but I can't. I already have a hard enough time not being able to breathe when exerting myself in hot, humid weather. At that point, it's not doing anything physical. Its sole purpose is to act as a talisman to allay your own anxiety about all things covid. Not just anxieties about catching it, but anxieties about not displaying the correct amount of conformity and community-mindedness. I'm not really surprised; virtue signalling is something of a local sport. But that is what's going on.

Another roommate has taken to disinfecting all the groceries. He started out using wipes but then we ran out, so now he's just got a spray bottle of Clorox and water sitting on the kitchen windowsill. I have politely gone along with this for the most part, but I also intercept my own deliveries, lest he get it into his head to bleach my raw produce. Dr Fauci does not bleach his groceries; I know, because Colbert was a wiseass and asked him on national TV. It's possible to get covid from contaminated surfaces in the same way it's possible to get herpes from a toilet seat, in the sense that it doesn't contradict any known laws of physics, but it's so unlikely that if you can actually demonstrate that it happened you will get written up as a case study. And frankly it doesn't matter what kind of terrifying things are on the outside of your packages as long as you wash your hands.

For those of you who do not have a psychiatric diagnosis, this is what's called an anxiety spiral. Something makes you anxious and you start to see it in terms of risks to your safety, so naturally your response is to start thinking about how to avoid it. You make a plan. But then you start noticing that your plan may not reduce that risk to zero, or may present risks of its own, so you make a second-order plan to plaster over those. But then that plan has holes, so then you need a third-order plan, and so on and so forth quite literally ad infinitum if you can keep it up that long, or until you decompensate rather spectacularly if you can't. The less reliable, concrete information you have about what's going to happen, the worse it gets. If you let it continue to the point of pathology -- which I am starting to see among the general population -- you eventually dig yourself in so deep that you can't get groceries without involving a contingency plan in case of nuclear first-strike from Canada. This, understandably, fucks up your life. I've seen this both first-hand in my own brain, and in being raised by a woman who suffered from such a massive unacknowledged anxiety disorder that she blocked off the front windows of the house for fear that someone walking down the street outside might see that she had the living room lights on.

Your risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2, now that it exists, is not zero. It will never be zero. A vaccine will not bring it down to zero. Technically, your risk of contracting smallpox is also not zero, because there are still a few vials of it lying around somewhere. Your risk of unintentionally spreading it -- which is what the cloth masks are meant to do; if it's not an N95 mask it does nothing to keep you from catching it -- is therefore also not zero. But there comes a point where it is low enough, and you have to just accept that it exists as part of the background chance that you might get run over by a car or fall in the shower or discover an anaphylactic allergy the hard way or keel over from an undetected aneurysm or any of the other ways you can die without warning.

The BLM protesters are doing it right, I think. That's an important thing that has to get done, so they're doing it. They're spending hours in a large crowd of people, so they try to keep a 6' distance and wear a mask, because that's not always feasible. You can't let your fear immobilize you, and there is a finite level to which you can let that fear prompt you to make yourself uncomfortable. Risk tolerance differs from person to person. My housemates are welcome to freak out over the idea of taking the trash out without a mask; I'm not, and I'm not putting one on to spend two minutes out in the side yard at midnight.

And anyone who froths over "kids these days" referring to it as "the 'rona" can cool their jets. This is basically a pandemic tradition. You get a shot every year so you don't catch "the 'flu" -- which, yes, was how it was typographically styled in 1917-19 -- so shut the fuck up.

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popatochisssp · 6 years

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Make You Mark, 6/10

Series: Undertale, Underfell Relationship(s): UF!Papyrus/Reader Chapter Warnings: Extreme Thirst

AO3 Link

In a world where soulmates exist, monsters and humans have one thing in common: the first time two soulmates touch, a mark randomly appears somewhere–anywhere– on their bodies to represent their match.

It still doesn’t make relationships easier…but maybe it does make them a little more interesting!

When that nasty, nitpicky ladder-climing bitch, Gertrude had gotten you fired, you had been incensed.

It wasn’t a great job, you weren’t heartbroken to be let go, and most of your coworkers you wouldn’t even miss—save one.

BP had been there when you were gathering up your things, not really helping but with a look on his face that so resonated with your innermost feelings of impotent, nihilist disgust at management that it felt like he was helpful, anyway.

“This sucks,” he’d muttered in solidarity, watching you angrily cram a sweater into your bag. “Probably gonna make me do your job instead of hiring somebody else…”

“Sounds right,” you’d agreed. “Such bullshit, I can’t believe they’d fire me over…!”

Feeling the burn of injustice threatening to erupt from your mouth in a stream of very loud cusswords or maybe from your eyes in actual tears, you’d forced yourself to laugh instead and even attempted a joke.

“Ha, I should sue for this… Know any good lawyers?”

You hadn’t expected BP to actually look like he was considering it, or to say at length, “…Well…actually…?”

As it turned out…he did.

Tail twitching, ears flicking nervously, BP told you in a hushed and hurried tone that he knew a real good lawyer—a monster one, of course, but if that wasn’t a problem for you, he might even be able to hook you up.

“He works pretty cheap,” BP said, “all things considered. Likes the tough cases mostly, stacked odds and hard wins… I think he’s into the challenge more than the money—he’s probably bored otherwise, y’know he used to captain the Royal Guard, Underground? When we still had one, anyway. Point is, he’s one scary prick, he’d knock something like this out of the park for you.”

You felt you could hardly be blamed for being a little incredulous.

You eyed the visibly jumpy cat beside you, whispering while pretending to walk you out and looking like he’d jump a foot in the air if he heard a manager speaking too close.

“You can get somebody like that for me?”

BP’s ears flattened, in either offense or embarrassment.

“I…! Listen, I…! His brother owes me a favor, I can…make something happen for you…pr…probably…” He shook his head. “Just…keep an eye on your email, okay? You actually did your job instead of dumping it on me like… I…owe you, or whatever.”

You hadn’t been expecting much at the time.

It was a sweet sentiment by monster standards that he was even willing to try to do something like that for you, and you appreciated it for what it was.

The look on your face was probably hilarious when you actually received an official-looking email asking if you were the human seeking a wrongful termination suit— and asking after your availability to meet in the coming week.

Obviously, being newly unemployed, your availability was fantastic, which is how you ended up here, nicely dressed and sat outside at a nice little sidewalk bistro, waiting for your pro bono consultation regarding your legal recourse per your recent termination.

…Or at least, that was what Captain Papyrus’ email had said.

Since you have so much time to kill these days, it’s no surprise that you’re early. The past fifteen minutes have been spent fiddling with hems and tracing idle circles around the rim of your complimentary glass of water.

Normally, you’d fool around on your phone but you’re waiting for an Important Meeting with a monster you’ve never met and the last thing you want is to get too absorbed in a game and end up making an embarrassing first impression, or miss the guy entirely.

It’s not until ten minutes to the time you’d set that you realize how silly a thought that was.

You don’t see how you could’ve missed a monster like Papyrus.

The skeleton that strides into the bistro is tall and smartly dressed, exuding such a powerful aura of confidence that you swear for a second you can actually, tangibly feel it. His cheekbones are sharp and his fangs are sharper and when the roving red lights in his eye-sockets land squarely on you, you have to hold back an instinctive shiver.

You have to admit, you’re a little mad at BP, right now.

He never told you Papyrus was hot.

You don’t have time to dwell on it, though, because he’s coming over to you and you have to seem like a normal, respectable human—instead of a thirsty one.

You stand to greet him, smiling pleasantly. “Hi! Captain Papyrus, I presume?”

“YOU PRESUME CORRECTLY.”

He asks your name, his voice surprisingly deep and more than a little sexy raspy and you nod. You absently note that he’s not wearing gloves and hasn’t extended his hand to shake, so you don’t offer yours, either.

“THANK YOU FOR BEING PUNCTUAL,” he says curtly. “I HATE HAVING TO WAIT ON PEOPLE. MY SCHEDULE IS TIGHT ENOUGH AS IT IS.”

“I understand,” you agree, wordlessly encouraging him to sit as you do the same. “You’re doing me a big favor, I really appreciate this.”

Is it your imagination, or did Papyrus’ chest puff out a little just there?

“OF COURSE YOU DO,” he says, the hint of a smile playing along his jaw. “NOW, LET’S NOT WASTE TOO MUCH TIME, WE MAY AS WELL GET RIGHT INTO IT. YOU’RE CERTAIN YOU DON’T MIND DISCUSSING HERE?”

You shake your head ‘no.’ It’s a public place, but relatively deserted at this time of day and you’re not concerned that any really sensitive information will be discussed.

“RIGHT THEN.”

Papyrus pulls a hefty stack of papers from his briefcase, carefully carding through them as if to refresh his memory.

“I’VE REVIEWED YOUR CASE,” he tells you, “AND IT’S SOLID. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY WITHIN YOUR RIGHTS TO PURSUE WRONGFUL TERMINATION AGAINST YOUR FORMER EMPLOYER.”

Your eyebrows shoot up. “I…really? I am?”

“YES. ARE YOU SURPRISED?”

“I…a little bit, yes,” you admit. “I didn’t…really think I’d be on the right side of this… ”

You’d been angry, certainly. Indignant, absolutely. Utterly railroaded by months of Gertrude’s petty hair-splitting, definitely.

But you had been in violation of the employee dress code, however technically.

You glance down at your hand, the small bit of commemorative ink you’d gotten there staring up at you.

“My tattoo really isn’t a problem…?”

Papyrus scoffs.

“IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN,” he says, “HAD YOU NOT HAD THE TATTOO FOR MORE THAN A YEAR PRIOR TO YOUR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKED WITHOUT INCIDENT UNTIL…VERY RECENTLY.”

He starts flicking through the papers again, pulling out one you recognize—an email chain you’d sent to him, displaying one of several unpleasant exchanges you’d had with Gertrude.

“YOU DID WELL TO DOCUMENT THESE COMMUNICATIONS,” Papyrus tells you. “I USUALLY TAKE ACCUSATIONS OF WORKPLACE SABOTAGE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT, BUT THESE… IT SEEMS CLEAR TO ME THAT THIS…GERTRUDE…REALLY WAS OUT TO GET YOU. AND WITH YOUR TERMINATION, SHE STOOD TO TAKE YOUR PLACE FOR PROMOTION, IF I RECALL CORRECTLY?”

Petty as it was, you’d…kept track of her on social media. You can confidently answer, “Oh, she got it, alright.”

Papyrus nods in satisfaction. “THEN THAT’S ALL THE MORE INCRIMINATING. IF YOUR EMPLOYER KNOWS WHAT’S GOOD FOR THEM, THEY’RE GOING TO WANT TO SETTLE THIS MATTER OUT OF COURT, IT’S BLATANTLY DISCRIMINATORY CONDUCT.”

Out of court? Really?!

“My case is that good?” you ask, still unable to fully process it.

“WELL, WITH CLEAR PRECEDENT ON YOUR SIDE…”

“There’s been a case like this before? That a tattooed employee actually won?”

It sounds unrealistic to you. You’d been so immersed in the rhetoric of tattoos as ‘unprofessional,’ unsuitable to be shown around customers and clients for any reason, no matter what or where they were, that the concept feels foreign to you.

“TECHNICALLY,” Papyrus says, “IT WAS A SOULMARK, NOT A TATTOO. A YOUNG LADY HAPPENED TO MEET HER MATE AND HER MARK FORMED ON HER NECK QUITE VISIBLY. SHE WAS FIRED FOR HER ‘UNPROFESSIONAL’ APPEARANCE, IN SPITE OF HER WORKPLACE’S DRESS CODE FORBIDDING THE KINDS OF COLLARS AND CHOKERS THAT MIGHT’VE CONCEALED IT. SHE SUED AND WON.”

That makes you frown a little.

“Mine isn’t… It’s just a normal tattoo,” you insist. “I got it on purpose and everything, with boring old ink and needles.”

Papyrus doesn’t seem concerned.

“A MINOR DISTINCTION,” he assures with a dismissive flap of his hand. “A MARK IS A MARK REGARDLESS OF HOW IT GOT THERE. ANY LAWYER WORTH THEIR SALT COULD ARGUE THAT YOU COULD GET A SOULMARK ACROSS THE BRIDGE OF YOUR NOSE TOMORROW AND YOUR EMPLOYER WOULD’VE BEEN WRONG TO FIRE YOU FOR IT, SO WHY WOULD SUCH A MODEST LITTLE THING LIKE THAT BE SO OBJECTIONABLE?”

You spare another glance to your ink when he gestures to it, and when you look back up, the skeleton’s expression is nothing short of boastful.

“AS A MATTER OF FACT, I COULD WIN YOUR SUIT FOR YOU IN MY SLEEP!”

A bolt of excitement strikes through your soul.

Hesitantly, hopefully, you ask, “Are…are you offering to represent me?”

Even if on a purely professional basis only, you can’t deny that you’d…really like an excuse to see Papyrus again sometime.

Not only because he’s a very handsome guy with the kind of voice that could make the dictionary sound riveting.

But as you watch, his eye-sockets go wide, his cheekbones reddening at the look on your face.

“I………NO. NO! THIS WAS—IS! JUST A CONSULTATION!” he denies. “I’M ONLY REPAYING A FAVOR INCURRED BY MY SCOUNDREL OF A BROTHER, I’M…! I’M TOO BUSY BY FAR TO TAKE ON YOUR CASE, EVEN AS OPEN AND SHUT AS IT OUGHT TO BE!!!”

……

You thought he was hot strutting over to you before with his chiseled face and his sleek suit and his squared shoulders.

…And now, you think he’s unbearably cute with his impossible blush and flustered expression.

Maybe it’s a good thing he’s not going to be your lawyer, because if he’s not going to be working for you…

You think you kinda want to ask him out.

“Alright,” you decide aloud, “I guess I’ll…start looking for another lawyer, if I decide to…pursue this. Um…in the meantime, though, maybe…maybe……… Oh, no.”

Buzzkill in the extreme, you spot the absolute last person you want to see right now walking down the street—and she’s noticed you, too.

Even worse, a smirk comes across her face and she swaggers on over to your table with a ‘delighted’ cry of your name.

“Hello, Gertrude,” you manage to grit out.

You watch as Papyrus flinches at the laugh that comes out of the woman’s mouth, feeling validated.

You always hated it, too.

“Oh, sweetie, please, I keep telling you, you can call me Gertie! Especially now that we don’t work together, haha!”

As if she wasn’t directly responsible for that.

“Right,” you say flatly. “Look, I’m…really sorry, but I’m… I’m kinda busy right now, so I—”

“Really?” The fake incredulousness of her tone makes you bristle. “I thought you’d have so much time now! You know, since you’re…ahem…job-hunting, at the moment.”

“…Yeah. L—”

“I’m actually kind of jealous,” Gertrude has the nerve to giggle. “I’m so busy since you left, with the assistant manager thing and all. I wish you were still around to help out, but…” She clucks her tongue. “I know you just weren’t a good fit there, what with your ‘lifestyle.’”

Stars above.

You’re out of patience.

“It’s one tattoo, not a ‘lifestyle,’” you snap, “and I’m in the middle of something right now, so can you please just…go?”

This was…sadly, very familiar to you.

Good ol’ Gertie was just too good at the passive-aggressive game: she was a bitch with a beaming smile and she knew just how to work people up until they got mad and then she was the victim who was only making conversation…

And you were the bad guy.

You feel your cheeks heating with instant regret, even as Gertrude gasps and puts on her ‘innocent pearl-clutcher’ act.

“So rude!” she exclaims, scowling at you. “I was just checking up on an old friend from work and you tell me to ‘get lost’?!”

You try not to squirm in your seat. “That’s not what I—”

You’re cut off, like you always are.

“You know, it’s exactly that horrible attitude that got you let go,” she says in a decidedly lecture-like tone. “You’re never a team player, you neveraccept any criticism, it’s like you don’t even care about your work! You obviously don’t care about your appearance, just look at what you did to yourself!”

Your eyes widen as Gertrude actually reaches out to you, making to grab at your tattooed hand. Shocked, you start to stand—to shove her back or scurry out of her reach, you have no idea—but you never make it up.

In one fluid movement, Papyrus is out of his chair, pressing you down with surprisingly gentle claws and moving to stand directly between you and the bane of your existence.

“MA’AM,” he says to her, and the stony chill of his voice makes any words you had die on your tongue. “I WOULDN’T.”

Suddenly, you remember what BP told you about Papyrus—that he was a soldier before he was a lawyer—and that seems abundantly clear now. His entire bearing is obviously military, ready for combat and poised to defend you from even the minor threat that was a judgmental, self-righteous jerk.

Your companion’s demeanor certainly seems to have spooked Gertrude.

She takes a step back, blinking up at Papyrus in shock.

“I… Who are you?” she demands to know.

Your hero doesn’t even flinch.

“I AM THEIR LAWYER,” he declares. “AND I WOULD SERIOUSLY ADVISE AGAINST ANY ACTION ON YOUR PART EVEN RESEMBLING HARASSMENT OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE CURRENTLY PURSUING LITIGATION. THAT WOULD LOOK CONSIDERABLY UNFAVORABLE FOR YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYER SHOULD THIS MATTER GO TO COURT, ESPECIALLY WITH MYSELF AS A WITNESS TO YOUR BEHAVIOR.”

That was a lot of big, loaded words for Gertrude to take in and for the first time in your life, you get to have the pleasure of seeing your nemesis look afraid.

Faced with the potential of actual consequences for her pettiness, all she has to say for herself is, “I…! I’m leaving!” before scurrying off down the sidewalk, tail between her legs.

And you have never been so attracted to anyone in your life as this fucking skeleton.

God damn…

Papyrus watches her retreating form until she’s out of sight and slowly retakes his seat.

“……EIGHT MONTHS?” he asks you after a moment.

The amount of time you’d had the joy of that woman as your coworker.

“Yeah,” you confirm.

“YOU’RE A SAINT.”

The deadpan delivery makes you laugh despite yourself, and the sharp grin Papyrus gives you in return makes your heart beat a little faster in your chest.

“I, uh… I couldn’t help but notice,” you slowly say, “that you…might’ve told her you were my lawyer. Did… do you mean that, or…?”

He didn’t.

It’s pretty obvious to you, especially with the way that cute blush comes back across his face—just something he said in the heat of the moment to make getting rid of Gertrude easier—but you can’t resist pushing your luck.

“I…HONOR MY COMMITMENTS,” Papyrus says, even as it looks like it’s killing him. “YES, FINE, I’LL TAKE YOUR CASE. LET’S EXCHANGE NUMBERS SO I CAN CONTACT YOU TO DISCUSS THE DETAILS.”

You have to admit, it’s not really the way you’d been hoping to get Papyrus’ number…but you’ll take it.

Maybe when everything’s said and done, you’ll have worked up the courage to ask him out for real!

…Naturally, that resolve is only strengthened when you get home and take off your nice blazer to find something that definitely didn’t get to be on your skin with ink and needles…

You’re half-expecting it when your phone rings later that afternoon.

What you don’t expect is to answer it to Papyrus’ bold, authoritative voice practically barking at you without a shred of the professionalism he’d spoken with earlier.

“WHAT KIND OF SOULMATE ARE YOU?!” he demands, sounding beyond indignant. “TO LEAVE SUCH A, A…MARK ON ME!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE…! I AM A RESPECTABLE SKELETON, AND NOW I CAN’T SO MUCH AS TAKE OFF MY SHIRT IN POLITE COMPANY AGAIN BECAUSE OF YOU, I HOPE YOU REALIZE THAT!”

He sounds so mad, so…unlike the controlled impression he’d given you before, and it feels strangely…

Natural.

You smile a little to think that you might actually be talking to Papyrus this time instead of just The Professional.

It was a very good mask—you wonder how many he has, and if you’ll get the chance to meet any more of them—but your focus is admittedly elsewhere.

Excited, you ask, “You got a mark, too, then? What is it? Can I see?”

“OH, OF COURSE, YOU WOULD WANT TO SEE YOUR HANDIWORK, YOU DEVIL! FINE!”

There’s the sound of shuffling and then your phone buzzes with an incoming photo. You switch Papyrus to speaker so you can properly ogle it.

The breath comes out of you in a whoosh when you get your first good look. Your skeleton soulmate just sent you the type of picture guys usually sent unsolicited, with a towel hanging low on his pelvis—obviously fresh out of a shower—and a view of his scarred spine and ribcage that could only be described as 'gratuitous'.

Not excepting, of course, the cherry on top: the colorful little heart-shape stamped right in the middle of his sternum.

“Ohhh,” you coo, “that’s so cute!”

“CUTE?!” Papyrus practically shrieks over the phone. “IT IS NOT CUTE! IT’S…IT’S LEWD! A SOUL, RIGHT THERE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE! YOU, YOU LECHEROUS HUMAN, YOU, MAKING ME LOOK LIKE I’M…SOME KIND OF DEVIANT PERVERT! HOW DARE…”

You tune him out a little, letting him keep right on ranting. You need to make sure you have the right angle and lighting for the picture you’re about to send back to him.

You know instantly when he gets it because his words trail off and there’s a noise that sounds suspiciously like his jaw clacking shut.

“What do you think?” you ask after a long moment of silence.

Personally, you’re very fond of the ruby-red rose that’s announced itself on your arm, its thorny stem curling gracefully around your bicep.

You hope he likes it, too, and you can easily imagine that he’s blushing again like he did before…maybe even darker this time.

Eventually, Papyrus speaks.

“………I…I CAN’T BE YOUR LAWYER. I’M…IT WOULD BE HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE AT…THIS… ” He pauses to clear his throat…or the skeleton equivalent. “AT THIS POINT IN TIME. IN LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.”

Ah, his composure is coming back. You wonder if you can’t fix that.

“Maybe you can recommend one to me,” you coyly suggest. “Over coffee, maybe. At my place…?”

“………S-SEND ME THE ADDRESS!” he snaps, and then he rudely hangs up on you.

You just laugh and hope you’ll be able to wipe the grin off your face before Papyrus shows up.

So, you lost your lawyer…

But you’ve snagged yourself a date with your soulmate and that feels like a damn good trade-off!

#make your mark #undertale #fanfiction #papyrus #papyrus/reader #underfell #uf!papyrus #myfic

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ageless-aislynn · 5 years

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Banner by the wonderful @missmendelsohn ♥♥♥

Title: “The Thousandth and the First” Author: @ageless-aislynn Characters/fandom: Caitlin Snow/Harrison Wells|Eobard Thawne (ReverseSnow), The Flash Summary: Caitlin meets her soulmate. Fortunately, she's got an antidote for that. For Snowells Week 2019, Day 6, prompt: Year 2, Anti-Soulmarked/Soulmarked Rating: R (PG for this chapter, later chapters will require a higher rating ;) ) Length: 2,574 Spoilers/warnings: None Disclaimer: Definitely not mine but I do enjoy borrowing them just for a bit! ;) A/N: I have literally been trying to write this story since the original prompt in 2016, lol! This year, it wouldn't leave me alone (and ended up crowding out the other prompt fills I intended to do *blush*). ;) As it turned out, it also wanted to run much too long to be a one-shot, so hence, there should be 2 other chapters to follow. Unless it should end up condensing into just one more or need to get expanded out into 4 total, we'll see when we get there. I anticipate the next chapter to be ready in a few days, RL permitting. ;) If you read, I hope you enjoy! :D ♥

Since Ronnie's death, Caitlin kept the soulmark on the inside of her left wrist covered with a widow's band. Of course, it was common for people to not want to see the once-bright lines now turned black from the passing of their soulmate. People who'd known her from before might've always found it strange that she and Ronnie always kept their wrists covered, but probably just chalked it up to choosing to keep it a private thing between the two of them.

Cisco knew, of course, because he always knew everything, even when she didn't exactly intend for him to. So he was the only one who didn't look surprised when the plain black bracelet cuff caught on the corner of the desk in a freak moment of perfect physics and the clasp broke, sending it scattering in two pieces.

"Cait... Oh. Oh, you have a soulmark, how cool!" Barry said, deftly snagging one half of the thin metal cuff in mid-air while the other skidded across the floor. "I didn't know you and R-- Oh."

The last oh made it clear his brain had tardily caught up to his mouth.

"Um, yeah," she said. Covering the dark, delicate blue lines with her opposite hand was an automatic response. Dark soulmarks had never been activated, representing soulmates never found. Ronnie hadn't had a mark at all, though he had always followed her lead and kept his left wrist covered with something, so his lack of mark didn't contrast with her unactivated one.

She let her hair fall forward, shielding the illogical burn of her cheeks. There's nothing to be ashamed of, she thought, not for the first or even thousandth time. Just because we weren't each other's soulmates, it doesn't make what we had mean anything less.

But, though soulmarks were becoming more and more common, they still were highly romanticized. Living your life with a dark mark, never finding your soulmate, was considered a tragedy, no matter how happy your life had actually been. Ronnie had always emphatically said that he had found his soulmate because no glorified birthmark was going to tell him anything else.

"Cait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, you know." Barry gave a roll of one hand, a helpless gesture of both apology and dismay.

Her smile felt brittle and blindingly fake but it was the best she could manage as she grabbed a random folder off of her desk. "Of course. Don't worry about it. I have to go, I've got work to do."

"Oh, sure, of course," he said quickly and pressed the half of her bracelet into the palm of her hand, giving her fingers a brief squeeze.

She was almost out the door when Dr. Wells' voice stopped her.

"Dr. Snow? I believe this is yours?"

He was holding out the other part of the cuff where it had come to a stop near his motorized wheelchair. His expression was blank, the face he wore when emotions were too troubling for him to process.

Of course, she thought as she doubled back. How many times had she seen pictures of Harrison and Tess together, smiling, their identical triangular soulmarks blazing like green fire inside their wrists? Now Dr. Wells kept his left wrist covered by a black widower's band, just like she did.

Would it be harder to look at a blackened mark and know that your soulmate was dead? It would have to be.

"Thank you, Dr. Wells," she said quietly, taking the cuff from him. To her surprise, he briefly clasped her hand and gave a short nod. She expected something like that from Barry but it was practically a full-body hug coming from the reserved man.

"I can give you the name of someone who can fix it," he said.

She nodded in thanks but he was already turning his chair away.

***

"Caitlin, you're too close. You need to get out of there!"

Cisco's panicked cry buzzed in her ear, making her wince from the feedback. "I can't leave," she said through gritted teeth. "Somebody's got to set off the pulse if we want to stop this guy."

The van rocked as a sonic blast seemed to agree with her statement.

"Let Barry handle him. He's got this," Cisco insisted and his statement was punctuated by another thud to the van. She looked up to see the back of Barry sliding slowly down the windshield and then out of view. Beyond, the metahuman was just a dot at the end of the street. But a dot that was quickly growing larger by the moment.

"He's in range, I'm detonating the device," she said. "Tell... tell everyone I don't regret anything."

"Caitlin!"

Several sounds blurred into one: Cisco's voice, the slam of her hand striking the detonator button and a buzz of rushing air. Then the pulse blew and everything went dark.

Consciousness crept back, followed by a wave of sickness and a pounding in her head. Disorientated, she flailed for a moment before realizing she was curled on her side on a bed.

"Easy," a soft voice said, a warm hand brushing the hair back from her face.

She squinted, her vision swimming in and out of focus, and when she tried to ask what had happened, all that came out was a jumble of sounds.

"Don't be afraid, it's just a side effect from being caught in the edge of the blast. You'll be fine."

The voice sounded wrong somehow but she couldn't parse the reason. Her fingers curled helplessly into fists into a thick surface and she recognized the comforter on her bed. She was in her own room.

"Just rest," the voice urged and it must've seemed like a good idea because her mind let go and she slipped away once more.

***

By the time she woke and made her way back to S.T.A.R. Labs again, she felt like she had the mother of all hangovers but at least seemed to have her faculties back in better working order. She was met by Cisco with a tackle-hug, by Barry with an only slightly more restrained embrace and by Harrison with stony silence.

"Dr. Wells," she said when she couldn't stand his frosty stare any longer.

"That was stupid," he said, pronouncing each word distinctly as if wanting to make sure she couldn't possibly misunderstand. "And you're many things, Dr. Snow, but stupid shouldn't be one of them."

"Dr. Wells," Barry interjected. "That's a little harsh. Caitlin was just trying to--"

"Get herself killed? She almost did that quite efficiently." Harrison gave her another cold glance, then turned his wheelchair away.

Caitlin gaped, not quite expecting the strength of his reaction, but tried to recover, turning to her other friends. "Ah, thanks, Barry, for getting me out of there. I owe you."

Barry's brows knitted together. "Uh, it wasn't me, Cait. I mean, I tried, don't get me wrong, but by the time I got into the van, you were gone. We had no idea what happened to you."

"You're a meta, aren't you?" Cisco said with undisguised glee, his voice going sing-song. "You're a meta who can transport. Because transporting would be an awesome superpower, girl! Give me, like, ten seconds and I'll have you killer codename!"

Caitlin shook her head. "It wasn't me. Somebody grabbed me and the next thing I knew, I was in my room. I thought it had to be Barry because of the speed and the... Oh, of course, he was disguising his voice through vibration."

"Why would Barry disguise his voice?" Cisco asked, frowning.

"He wouldn't."

The three of them turned towards Harrison who had spoken without looking back at them.

"I know of only one other speedster in town, don't you?" he continued.

Barry straightened. "Why would the Reverse Flash get involved? Why would he save Caitlin?"

Harrison finally turned, leveling a direct, almost incriminating gaze straight at her. "Why, indeed?"

Even Cisco was left speechless at that.

***

Caitlin was exceedingly thankful that Dr. Wells seemed back to normal the next day and life returned to the "Wait, who is this metahuman and what is his or her power and how do we stop them when they inevitably do something bad?" normal that it had fallen into over the past few months.

Then one evening Caitlin entered her home and there was a moment when she knew. Her hand bypassed the light switch as she moved through the entryway and she quietly slid open the shallow drawer of her hall table, fingers groping with silent certainty then confounded at closing on nothing.

She abandoned the plan and turned, intending to head back for the front door, but then heard a distinctive whoosh. She'd been around Barry too long not to recognize the sound of a speedster in motion. But Barry's eyes certainly did not glow red in darkness.

A moment later, the light switched on, leaving her blinking in dismay at the man in the yellow suit standing at the other end of the hallway.

"Good evening, Caitlin," he said in his distorted voice. His feature were a blur, concealed not only by his mask but by motion too quick for her eye to distinguish.

She ran for the door which was only a few steps behind her, knowing it was a futile gesture even before she crashed full-bore into his chest. Her hair whipped in a blinding riot from the speed of him passing her. Even still, she struck out hard, windmilling both arms in order to break his hold.

"Caitlin," he tsked indulgently. "That might work in your self-defense class but I'm--"

She stomped the insole of his foot and then kneed him squarely in the groin. Speedster healing or not, she'd yet to find any man who was completely immune to that combination. He let go, doubling over with a startled groan, and she dove back for the still-open drawer of her hallway table.

"I already took care of your taser," he said, his distorted voice sounding like it was coming through gritted teeth.

"But not my backup," she responded, ripping it free from its hiding spot and promptly firing it into him.

Even as the lightning crackled across his yellow suit, she dropped the weapon and darted into the kitchen.

"Caitlin," he said firmly, storming through the door in time for her to blast him with her fire extinguisher.

He coughed, choking out, "That's not cold enough to stop me."

"I know," she said and flipped the switch that activated the emergency super-cold spray that Cisco had installed for her as a precaution.

He made an incoherent noise and vanished back through the doorway in a shower of ice crystals. But unfortunately he returned back in the next blink, knocking the extinguisher from her hand. "I'm trying to not scare you!" he roared.

"You broke into my home. What part of that isn't supposed to scare me?" she fired back, turning in a last ditch effort and reaching for the knife block on the counter.

"No, no knives!" he snapped and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back against his chest and pinning her arms to her sides.

Before she could bring her feet up and try to use the counter for leverage, he sped them to the middle of the living room, lifting her up so that her feet could only kick ineffectually against his shins.

"I'm not here to hurt you. Please, just calm down." He was clearly trying to sound reassuring instead of irritated.

"What do you want?" she growled out but let her ineffectual struggling stop until she was hanging in mid-air, pressed backwards against his chest.

"I wanted to see if you were all right," he said, gradually lowering her so her feet touched the floor again. "Do you have any idea what that blast would've done to you?"

He sounded annoyed, as if she had taken a foolish chance on a whim with no concept of the consequences.

His annoyance annoyed her. "What does it matter to you?"

He huffed in frustration and his grip loosened minutely. She couldn't help herself, she stomped his insole again and tried to yank free.

He immediately tightened his hold, cursing loudly in her ear. "Would you stop that? I can heal broken bones in my feet but that doesn't mean they don't hurt. Look, pull up my sleeve."

It was a weird enough request that she stopped struggling. "Why?"

"Just do it. Please." The last word was clearly an after-thought. He carefully adjusted his hold around her waist so his left arm was free. "Go on. Do it now."

She hesitated long enough that he repeated it again, but this time in a deeper timbre. The distortion made it a monster's voice. "Now, Caitlin."

It spooked her into putting her fingers onto his wrist but she could only make use of her left hand, her right arm still trapped helplessly beneath his. Even still, she found the nearly invisible seam between the sleeve and the gloves and gave it a tug.

"Caitlin," he warned.

"It's too tight," she said. "I can't pull it up like this."

He gave a wordless growl.

"Try it yourself," she invited.

He adjusted his hold, clearly expecting her to try something else as he pinned her back against him and gave his sleeve a tug. It didn't move.

"Okay, so I like snug tailoring," he muttered and gave a harder jerk that rolled the cuff back.

In the next breath, it was as if a bomb went off. Caitlin found herself down on her carpet, curled on her side, blinded by the pulsating glare of the mark on her left wrist, too bright to be hardly even dampened by the widow's band. She tried to cover it with her hand but it still shone through her fingers, the most beautiful sapphire blue she'd ever imagined.

The man in the yellow suit had also been knocked off of his feet. Sapphire blue blazed from his wrist, pulsing in time with her own mark.

"No," she muttered, then said it louder. "No, no, no. This isn't happening. You... you can't be..."

He chuckled a bit breathily, like he'd been punched in the gut. "If you had any idea how far I've traveled just to end up finding you here and now, in this place..."

A wave of longing swept over her. She felt touch-starved, like her skin itself was trying to pull towards him. That bare strip of arm showing where his sleeve was rolled back looked like an oasis after wandering lost for too many days in a searing desert.

"Caitlin," he said, his voice sounding wondrous, like he was seeing her for the first time.

"I've got an antidote," she gasped out, scrambling to her feet and staggering back towards the kitchen. "I can cure this."

She thought he might superspeed ahead to try and stop her but when she glanced back, he was still on the floor.

"You can... cure yourself of me?" he said, sounding surprisingly forlorn.

An overwhelming desire to comfort him made her stagger to a halt. Then she gritted her teeth and made herself keep going. You knew this might happen, she thought. That's why you were ready for this. You're ready for this.

But now that it had happened, she didn't feel ready at all.

#the flash #snowellsweek2019 #day 6 #snowells #reversesnow #aislynn's fics

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sakuradormitory · 5 years

Text

Understanding

I finished and edited another old project: 50 sentences about Sorata and Ryuunosuke this time! I’m hoping to do the same with a few more old projects next year.

You can read it on AO3 or FF.net, or down below!

1. Restless

“There's five concepts here, six if you count last one as two potential ideas-—” Sorata thumps down the pile of papers on top of Ryuunosuke's desk, and looks at him intently “-—I want your honest opinions on them, go ahead and rip them to shreds if you must, just help me make them better, alright?”

2. Understanding

“I just don't understand him,” as he tosses his phone aside, Sorata mutters to himself — he doesn't really care to, either (at least, not quite yet).

3. Right

“It just doesn't sit right with me, living with someone who I've only met face to face once,” Sorata argues, raising his hand to knock on Room 101 even as Jin and Chihiro try to talk him out of it.

4. Hope

“Akasaka...” Sorata peeks around the door hopefully, “Jin-san and Misaki-senpai took over my room playing games, mind if I hide here for a while?”

5. Hinder

“You're only holding yourself back with that kind of attitude,” Ryuunosuke starts, but Sorata doesn't want to hear that from him, of all people.

6. Kite

Rita takes them up to Hampstead Heath where she and Mashiro used to fly kites; Sorata isn't expecting it to be quite so much fun until his and Ryuunosuke's kite outfly the others by a considerable height.

7. Closed

“Misaki-senpai said you play games too, want to join us—” Sorata winces at the sharp sound of the closing door.

8. Confuse

“You thought I was a ghost?” Ryuunosuke wrinkles his nose, apparently confused, “really, Kanda?”

9. Presence

“Well, you didn't exactly radiate a comforting presence!”

10. Rough

Sorata pats the space on their sofa next to him as Ryuunosuke flops down with a groan, “let me guess, the meeting ran overtime again?”

11. Edible

Ryuunosuke defends his attempt at cooking dinner as both edible and nutritious, which is really all that defines food, when you think about it, though Sorata insists that what you cook needs to taste good too.

12. Learn

“If you won't eat it, we can just order someth—” Sorata drags him to the kitchen for a cooking lesson before he can finish.

13. Posture

“Here, if you lift your chin a bit, and straighten your back—” Sorata holds onto his shoulders and steps back a bit to get a better view at him, Ryuunosuke's attempts to deter him doing nothing, as usual “—you'll thank me for this later, Akasaka, you'll make a better impression on them if your posture is good!”

14. Team

“I don't like team games,” Ryuunosuke says, not unexpectedly, but Sorata is pretty sure he and Misaki will manage to rope him into a few anyway.

15. Listen

“You just don't want to admit that she's actually really good for you,” Sorata starts heatedly, but Ryuunosuke is out of the door before he can finish.

16. Distance

“You know, you could at least admit that we're really good for you,” Sorata tries, his tone softer this time as he slumps back on Ryuunosuke's bed, looking at the ceiling, “just like you're really good for us... we've come a long way together.”

17. Subject

“It's research...” Sorata waves the console at him imploringly; Ryuunosuke turns away, hiding a smile, “...come on, Akasaka, just one game?”

18. Length

“You're just about the only person here I could tolerate living with for longer than two years,” Ryuunosuke mumbles sleepily one night, not expecting Sorata to really remember it.

19. Grumble “...oh, alright, I suppose I've got some time to spare...” Ryuunosuke rolls his eyes, but Sorata is all but beaming at him.

20. Assisstance

“Kanda, I...” the words seem to cost him something, so Sorata waits patiently for him to finish, “...you... you were right, and I need your help.”

20. Chord

“You could stand to treat your friends a bit better, Akasaka,” Sorata bites back harsher words, but the ones he calls out seem to strike a chord with him too.

22. Miss

“I think I'm missing something, Akasaka... your girlfriend sent you a lovely, thoughtful gift for your birthday and this situation is terrible because...?”

23. Gift

“...her birthday is several weeks away, that's plenty of time to come up with a gift idea, Akasaka.”

24. Distress

“Do you think I'd be panicking about it this much if I thought I could think of something in that time?!”

25. Unite

“Combining what we both do... so you're talking about some kind of art software...” Ryuunosuke frowned slightly, looking from Mashiro, to Sorata, to his desk and the computer screens, “...even for someone such as myself... making an art software from scratch on my own in under a month... isn't exactly feasible,” he says finally.

26. Serious

Mashiro looked from Ryuunosuke to Sorata, “Sorata, I thought he was supposed to be a genius.”

27. New

“I'd like to see you make software from scratch in three weeks,” Ryuunosuke muttered, leaning back again, as Sorata and Mashiro returned to the drawing board.

28. Smug

Sorata passes his driving test on his first try with flying colours; he offers to drive Ryuunosuke to and from every in-person meeting he has, so Ryuunosuke can't really complain about how smug he is about it.

29. Amount

“I can't imagine he'll be able to eat that many tomatoes,” Sorata said, eyeing the grocery bag that Jin had begun to unload.

30. Aviation

“I'll miss her too,” Sorata smiles when Ryuunosuke looks away abruptly from the rising plane, “but I think we all know she'll be back again soon.”

31. Gloom

“He likes programming and... tomatoes,” Sorata echoes gloomily, wondering how he's supposed to use those to start a decent conversation.

32. Routine

It had become some sort of a routine to bump into Ryunnosuke in the kitchen in the early hours of the morning on the days when insomnia kicked in.

33. Conduct

“I had hoped they'd be tired out by now,” Sorata sighs sympathetically when Ryuunosuke shoots a glare in the direction of today's chaos that Misaki and Jin seem to be conducting in the garden.

34. Appreciate

“Tomatoes are best enjoyed in their natural form, but I do appreciate the soup, Kanda.”

35. Victory

“Akasaka-” Sorata bursts into the room with what seems to be explosive, uncontainable delight “- I did it, I passed!”

36. Second

The second time they celebrate by the school pool, (despite Nanami's protests) Ryuunosuke decides to come for the food, but flat out refuses Sorata and Misaki encouraging him to join them in the water.

37. Visit

Mashiro comes by for a visit just as Sorata is giving Ryuunosuke a cooking lesson... he's surprised by how well it goes.

38. Rest

“Overworking yourself never did anyone any good,” Ryuunosuke scolds him; it's a sentiment that Sorata makes sure to repeat back to him on occasion.

39. Between

Between them, they'd managed to fix the broken kitchen sign with a lot of success... and the smile on Misaki's face certainly made it worth it.

40. Moment

“It's pretty good...” Sorata could almost swear that he was grinning, “it needs work, of course, but for a start...”

41. Certain

“Ryuunosuke-sama, a certain someone seems to be sending you a lot of messages for advice on his current project... should I block him?”

42. Split

“If we're going to be living together, we're splitting the grocery shopping 50/50, got it?”

43. Role

“Alright, I'll bring them to him,” Sorata huffs as Shirayama-sensei piles a stack of papers into his arms, wondering when he'd signed up for the role of passing on assignments.

44. Found

“Akasaka, have you seen K—” Sorata grins when he sees a familiar shape curled up contentedly on his friend's lap.

45. Lecture

“You're really going to lecture me about working out a good schedule when you pulled two allnighters to finish that project?!”

46. Exception

“Thanks, Kanda, I...” to his surprise, Ryuunosuke slumps against him after the awards ceremony; Sorata can feel his knees shaking a little still, “...I'm glad you came with me.”

47. Attitude

It's a wonderful thing, Sorata thinks, to see your friend smile more and more throughout the years.

48. Reject

He'd expected Sorata to turn his back on him, he'd expected all of them to, and yet...

49. Unexpected

With Ryuunosuke being the only other resident home, Sorata isn't expecting much attention while he sneezes the day away, but it's a pleasant surprise when Ryuunosuke comes in with reheated soup, medicine and a bag of Sorata's favourite snacks, even if the latter is dumped rather unceremoniously on the end of his bed.

50. Change

A lot of things have changed for him over the past few years, he realizes, wincing a little as he helps Sorata carry the last box of his posession through the door of their new home, but he might have changed the most.

#sakurasou no pet na kanojo #the pet girl of sakurasou #kanda sorata #akasaka ryuunosuke #fanfiction #my post

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erethesilverking-blog · 5 years

Text

End Haven - Chapter 7

It has been two months since the chapter 6. There will be an explanation why at the end.

Please enjoy.

The Previous Chapter

The First Chapter

Chapter 7

Fey Frey in Fray; The Hall

Pieter had always been extremely lucky. Had been.

For the entire span of his years, he was never deprived of sight in any way. His eyes had seen unblinded for as long as they had sat in his head, and the only weakness that age brought was a sensitivity to lights and a fluttering exhaustion that followed waking hours. But Pieter had never failed an eye exam, never needed glasses, and never knew what it was to not be able to see.

But as Pieter cartwheeled through the air, he discovered that the rushing air peeled up his eyelids and made his tear ducts strain with the effort of keeping his eyes moist. A watery film covered his vision, rendering Pieter totally oblivious to the great peril he was in, visually.

And what a sight his distress was!

The pale staircase coiled about the man, whipping violently about as he fell farther down its length. It became a fawn serpent that glowed against the rich earth of the tree’s wood, illuminated by the burning moonlight that peered through every westward opening. Through those holes had come bugs that glowed with fluorescent light, and they became golden streaks of light as Pieter himself streaked past them.

The light, without warning, mingled with other, differently colored lights; There were beams of scarlet, and sea-green, and soul blue, and their glow hide the startled faces behind.

Startled faces indeed, for those where the rest of the Fey-Folk, who had been hoping to find their guest. They, like Léan, hadn’t known about the effects of gravity on Striders, and had assumed that Pieter had made his way to the lower levels by this time.

A few Fey, ruffled by the ballistic, peered down curiously to watch the tangle of limbs descend from view. “How strange!” they muttered, as two of their own streaked after Pieter.

Léan and Coen were two arrows, following their guest; Arms were by their sides, knees unbent, toes pointed down (or up, rather) in the effort to catch up to Pieter. Their eyes watered as they drew closer to the screaming human, until, finally, they could grasp at his fluttering shirt.

As the two Fey clung onto their charge, Coen turned and shouted out.

“What are we to do?” He wailed. “He will break when he strikes the floor!”

“Fie!” shouted Léan. “We’ll just lift him, we will! On my signal, pull! One huckleberry, two raspberries-”

(This is, of, course, the classic signalling system of the Fey-Folk: Counting The Berries)

The floor was now in sight, a green pin-head.

“-three cloudberries, four tayberries-”

It was now the size of a saucer, and growing to the size of a plate.

“-five elderberries, six gooseberries-”

“Hurry! I can see the flowers in the grass!” fretted Coen. He was now sobbing with terror.

“-And seven CHERRIES!”

The two Fey, following the universal signal for lifting, spread their little wings and began to pull at Pieter’s shirt. The wind snatches at their own clothes, but was caught under their wings. And Pieter began to slow down.

Moment by moment, the efforts of the two little folk were rewarded as they won the battle against weight, until finally, they stood still in the air, a mere three meters above the ground.

Pieter gasped and craned his neck to look at his saviors. “You’ve done it! You brilliant little fools! You caught-” He was cut off when Léan, her arms sore, and Coen, ever the follower, released their grip, and allowed him plummeted to the earth.

It wasn’t as large a fall as his previous one, but Léan still winced when he bounced off of the dirt.

But as he pushed himself over, onto his back, Pieter was laughing.

“Look at this! I’m at the bottom now, aren’t I?”

After a moment of hesitation, Léan joined in, adding her tinkling bell of a giggle to Pieter’s rich chuckles.

And as Pieter lay there, in a field of wildflowers and long grass, inside of a great tree, he watched as the great Sun peaked above the trees and sent the rays of her dress through the carved windows in the wood, warming the room and lighting the spiraling choir of Fey that curiously peered. Their glow faded, but smiles appeared on the little folks’ faces when they saw Pieter’s beaming joy.

Because, just then, there was nowhere else that Pieter wanted to be.

~~~

The more one allowed their eyes to wander about the halls of the faeries, the more outstanding their contradictions became.

The walls were carven wood, similar in make to that of the halls resting on the Oak’s branches, though they seemed a shade darker. They stretched up the height of three Pieters, and then curved inward to an arch that rippled with the occasional tree branch that jutted out from the wall.

It could be assumed that these branches were growing from trunks hidden behind the walls (“Trees growing within a tree,” thought Pieter. “The novelty of it all!”), because from the base of the wall jutted searching roots, grabbing each other and frozen in an earthy writhe. They made up the floor that Pieter trotted down.

But as his own eyes wandered the halls more than he, they noticed that the twisting feet of wood formed a sort of dry marshland, in that amongst the oak flesh could one find lakes of dust, dried dirt.

The Fey that danced about Pieter leapt from wall to wall, overjoyed to see their guest up and about their home. Their joy was personified in their glow, an aura of pleasure that literally radiated outward from the wiggling faeries. They illuminated the windowless hallway and made a galaxy in miniature, orbiting Pieter’s head.

He was dazzled (and a little blinded) by their brilliance, so he cast his gaze downward. He laughed at the hummed songs about him and, for a while, took a simple joy in stepping in the lakes of dirt.

The impact of his bare feet on the earth kicked up an atmosphere of the stuff, some hugging Pieter’s warm legs, but the rest settling down with time. He’d look back to watch this, and every time one of the Fey would remain behind to burst through the cloud with a “Wheee!”

It was endlessly entertaining, and Pieter only stopped when he reached the end of the hallway, hours later.

~~~

There he stood, in a great hall. It’s great ceiling was lost in the gloom, though it was daytime, and Pieter suspected that if it were not nearly noon but rather sunrise or sunset he could see the true scope of the space. To the east and west, in the distance, opened to the surrounding lands, but Pieter couldn’t make out any details.

He laughed suddenly. Looking down, Pieter could see that the floor was covered in a feast. Tables upon tables of fruit and ambrosia, laid out in cluster for an absent army of normal-sized people.

“Léan! Why-?”

She flitted in beside him, looking out at the room. “You said you were hungry,” she said simply.

Pieter blinked. “I- Did I?”

Léan nodded. “Earlier. She heard and set out breakfast.”

“Oh. She?”

Léan nodded again. “Though, it is too late for breakfast. And lunch is not for a half-hour.”

“Léan?”

“Oh, but it must have been set out last night, that is when you were hungry. Would it be supper? Or dinner? There is a difference?”

“Léan.”

“I would say, then, when the food is eaten is what make which meal which. But is there a meal between breakfast and lunch?” Léan drifted down like a leaf in thought.

Coen stepped forward from between Pieter’s legs. “What about second breakfast?”

Léan snorted. “You need one to have a second, knave!”

“Tea-time?” Coen offered, half-hiding behind a fold in the fabric of Pieter’s pant leg.

“Does this look like tea?!” Léan threw her arms out to the room. “This goes beyond any snack that we’ve ever seen, we have!”

Coen blanched. “It- wha- what about… Brunch?”

All of the faeries shuddered at the contraction. Léan turned, her face ablaze with rage.

“I hate to interrupt,” Pieter broke in. “But who is this mysterious She?”

A twinkling of stars. The soft chiming of bells. The huff of velvet. These all spoke to Pieter, through her voice, lilting and woven with the sun and the moon, from behind him.

“I am She. I am Blodwen.”

~~~End of Chapter 7~~~

For a time, I felt really proud to be posting my writing. But after a time, I started to fear that the work that I did, didn’t actually matter and it was fated to be posted, receive some polite attention, and forgotten. That fear was suffocating, and I couldn’t bring myself to even look at End Haven’s document. Why work if the end doesn’t matter?

But all these thoughts, these emotions, began to hurt so much that it activated my classic response to negativity: I’ve stopped caring.

I don’t give a shit anymore about how much other people look at and think about my work. It’s my work, and I had the gall to display it to the world. I don’t need validation!

Ahem.

Tag List:

@cookiecuttercritter, @concealeddarkness13, @cawolters, @rainbowglittr, @aesthetically-writing, @mleighsquickspot, @phahbiyah, @itslmdee, @royalbounties, @samueldeckerthompson, @francestroublr, @the-violet-writer, @sunshinesouppp, @ink-in-snow

If you want to be added or removed to the tag list, feel free to comment/send a message so!

Thanks in advance.

#end haven #My writing #chapter 7 #writblr #ongoing work #Illustration #pencil illustration #fantasy #fiction

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more--than--music · 6 years

Text

2018 Albums of the Year

Here’s my albums of the year. 2018 has been a brilliant year for music, and so I thought I’d lay out my favourite albums, and the reasons why they’re my favourites.

10: Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Sex and Food

Kicking the list off at ten, we have the fourth full-length project from the New Zealand lo-fi psychedelic group Unknown Mortal Orchestra. An album that calls to mind at various points dusty late 70s grooves, 80s synth work and yet very modern production sensibilities, Sex and Food bounces between deeply introspective balladry, and funky danceable beats. A sure step forward for a band that only looks to become more experimental as time goes on.

9: Ben Howard – Noonday Dream

The Devon based singer-songwriter gives a compelling vision of the future of indie-folk with this transient and supremely accomplished set of songs. Taking a further stride away from the straightforward acoustic sound of 2011’s Every Kingdom, Noonday Dream shows an artist unafraid to utilise aspects of electronic and ambient music into his soundscapes, resulting in a transcendent, elegant, and above all beautiful set of tracks. The opening duo of Nica Libres At Dusk and Towing The Line are a particular high point.

8: Thom Yorke – Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film)

Surprisingly his first ever venture into soundtrack work, Thom Yorke’s masterful score for the Luca Guadagnino film of the same name could be in this list simply on the strength of its lead track; Suspirium is an otherworldly waltz, a spartan piano line presided over by Thom’s instantly recognisable vocals. But it is the deeper cuts for which this album earns its place; Open Again begins with a fingerpicked guitar progression that grows into a monolithic walk to the gallows and then fades out once more. A master at the height of his powers.

7: Sports Team – Winter Nets

Undoubtedly the least well-known name on this list, the debut EP from the London-based indie-pop outfit Sports Team has been one of my most played records yet this year. A cerebral mix of Jarvis Cocker-style lyricism preoccupied with the minutiae of suburban life, and pitch perfect indie rock arrangements teetering on the edge of chaos, this shows talent beyond their years; the only EP on this list, these five tracks managed to catch my attention early on, and have stayed with me through the year. Ones to watch.

6: MGMT – Little Dark Age

A name I would not have expected to see on this list at the start of the year, the comeback from the early 2000s electro-pop group is unexpectedly brilliant. Far from the runaway chart success of singles such as Electric Feel, Little Dark Age is full of tracks that could have been pulled from the dusty archives of pretty much any 80s synth bands, but combined with so many left-field production choices, and lyrics that belie a dark sensibility beneath the bright instrumentation, this album becomes a very mature release indeed. The single, Little Dark Age, is just magic. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

5: Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy

Bringing us into the second half of this list is Will Toledo’s project Car Seat Headrest, with a rerecorded, remastered version of his 2011 breakout album Twin Fantasy. Toledo’s DIY ethos calls to mind contemporary Kevin Parker, of Tame Impala, although the two go about their self-imposed individualism rather differently. Toledo’s recordings retain the lo-fi teen emotion of the original Twin Fantasy, while adding the production sensibilities of Toledo’s later Car Seat Headrest ventures, resulting in such a dizzying barrage of pitch perfect indie ballads that display mature, incisive and insightful lyricism. The peaks of the album slip off the rails in the most glorious way, and culminate in simple, honest, and resounding emotional resolutions. Few albums so perfectly capture the teenage experience... a brilliant achievement.

4: Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer

It will come to no surprise to those of you who know me that Josh Tillman has made his way into this list; I have been following Father John Misty since last year’s existential crisis of an album, Pure Comedy. But God’s Favorite Customer is an entirely different beast- aside from the single, Mr Tillman, the typical luscious arrangements of a usual Father John Misty album are conspicuously missing here. Gone are the chamber pop orchestras and parlour ballads; here is FJM with an acoustic guitar, a month’s stay in a hotel room, and some utterly shattering songwriting. Tillman has abandoned his lofty perch overseeing the human condition in favour of personal, painful lyrics that dissect a failing relationship in real time. Many of these songs are addressed to, or from the perspective of, Josh’s wife, Emma, and the narratives are as autobiographical as ever. But the key here is that Tillman has ceased to be just an observer of the phenomena he comments on; in God’s Favorite Customer he has no choice but to experience them from the inside, and it makes for devastating listening in places. However, Misty has not abandoned all hope; closer We're Only People (And There's Not Much Anyone Can Do About That) ends the album with a remarkably beautiful and optimistic look at humanity, and leaves you ready to emerge from the hotel room, blinking against the sunlight, into the outside world.

3: Blood Orange – Negro Swan

London born producer, multi-instrumentalist, and general prodigy Devont Hynes, has outdone himself on his fourth project under the moniker Blood Orange; Negro Swan represents exactly the kind of progressive song writing Hynes is so sought after in the pop world for, and brings together a beautiful collage of sounds and textures to produce an album that is so of the moment, it feels like a time capsule of today. Swan embraces diversity, revelling in a celebration of sexuality and identity that feels almost carnival-like in its embrace of so many aspects of modern R&B and Hip-Hop. On what other album can you find Puff Daddy monologuing about his own fear of being loved? This whole project is filled with moments such as this, with trans black activist Janet Mock providing a loose narrative thread tying the album together. But for me, the true highlight of this album is Hynes himself; a young black artist showcasing a striking talent that simply refuses to obey the laws of genre or society. The musical prowess on show is undeniable; in particular, Hynes’ guitar work is so accomplished, tracks such as Charcoal Baby are sheer joy to listen to because of it. The vocals on this record are equally impressive; comparisons will undoubtedly be drawn to Prince, although personally I see Hynes as akin to Frank Ocean, both showcasing a new vision for R&B in the 21st century, and Swan feels in many ways a sibling to Ocean’s 2016 album Blonde, in its transient nature and almost soundscape-like mixture of sounds and feelings. Negro Swan is a glorious celebration in which all expression is embraced, and no identity is off-limits. This is what all modern R&B should aspire to.

2: Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Those monkeys, eh? Four years after their last studio effort, with each member having done something entirely different (and accomplished, see Alex Turner with The Last Shadow Puppets, and Matt Helders on the latest Iggy Pop record) with their sabbatical, no one quite knew what shape their return would take. Recorded in London, Paris and Los Angeles, the sixth album from the band synonymous with early 00s indie could have taken quite a number of directions; furthering the slick arena rock of AM, delving deeper into the baroque pop offering the Last Shadow Puppets pursue, or perhaps even a return to their raucous indie rock roots. Naturally, they did none of the above. The first sign of their step in a different direction was a video they posted in mid-April, announcing a return with an eerie synth line and a fuzzy guitar lick; in hindsight it was the perfect segue into the TBH&C era, both a nod to the leather-clad rock of AM, and yet the space-age synths and fictional space resorts of Tranquility Base. And when the album did come? Oh boy. I’m not sure a release in 2018 divided fans quite like the Monkeys’ did. I’ve heard it variously described as “sheer genius”, “derivative retro nothing” and “f*cking lift music”. It really was that polarising. I’m sure that from its spot on this list you can guess which camp I fall into. From the go, the surreal lyricism of Alex Turner is front and centre, and the record is all the better for it. From surreal references to Kubrick film techniques, and obsession with sci-fi jargon, to ridiculous pastiches of Hollywood clichés, critics weren’t short of liner notes to unpick. But the key for me was the way that the album, as all great sci-fi does, comments on modern life through the lens of futurism, while also keeping you scratching your head the whole time. Furthermore, the actual songwriting is as good as ever, with Turner making a tune about a less than perfect review for a taquiera on the moon into the rhythmic centrepiece of the album. I do have to confess, I am slightly biased; I’m a lifelong AM fan, and I did see this performed live, which only deepened my admiration of it but truthfully- listen to this album. Then listen some more. And then some more again. Because when it clicks, you won’t experience anything else even remotely like it all year.

Bonus Round

These are albums that I discovered in 2018, but weren’t released this year… they deserved recognition along with the rest of these projects.

5: Frank Ocean – Endless

Frank Ocean is one of, if not the, best and most innovative artists working in modern R&B. That much is undisputed. But until 2018, despite being a huge Frank Ocean fan, I had neglected his 2016 visual album, Endless. Perhaps this was due to laziness, not having Apple Music, or perhaps it was because for me it was vastly overshadowed by the release of the seminal Blonde a few days later. Or maybe I simply thought a visual album wasn’t worth my time. Whatever the reason, I was a fool to overlook it. Endless is an ethereal journey through Ocean’s psyche, with a vast soundscape of beautiful, flowing synths and guitars. Furthermore, Endless features some of Ocean’s best rap work since Channel Orange. A truly beautiful project, and Higgs is, for me, Ocean’s most devastatingly sad track… further evidence that Frank doesn’t put a foot wrong.

4: Leonard Cohen: Songs Of Leonard Cohen

In 2016, the music world lost one of its most treasured talents, in the form of Leonard Cohen. However, although I have always been aware of Cohen’s work (Hallelujah, his inspiration of Nick Cave, The Last Shadow Puppets’ Is This What You Wanted cover), I had never taken the time to sit down and immerse myself in his work. Well, I was very much missing out. His cinematic, confessional storytelling, and his instantly recognisable voice and manner, mean that his songs are almost exactly the type of ballads I love, and Songs is his finest work. From start to end, you see the world through Cohen’s eyes. A poet.

3: King Krule: The OOZ

King Krule (real name: Archy Marshall) is a divisive artist; many see him as a visionary, however he is also, to many (including my dad) just “the one with the awful voice”. To me, Krule is a fantastic lyricist and producer, with an instantly recognisable sound. From the moment you enter The OOZ, you are in Marshall’s world, a London of grimy concrete and eerie loneliness. However, there are moments of beauty among the sluggish, smog-filled music; Slush Puppy, despite descending into madness near the end, is a really quite endearingly desperate performance. Cadet Limbo also shows off Krule’s more jazzy influences, and is all the better for it. A view into the future of singer-songwriting.

2: Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear

Josh Tillman has already featured on this list once, and it’s no secret I think he’s one of the best artists working today. However, until this year, I had never given his 2015 romantic opus, Honeybear, a proper listen. I was turned on to Misty by his 2017 work Pure Comedy, and after an existentialist view on all of Humanity, a romance album seemed like a step back, so I didn’t give it the time it deserved. How wrong I was. Honeybear is a beautiful, tender, and being an FJM record, deeply satirical and funny, look at love, relationships, and society. It features lush, beautiful arrangements, and gorgeous melodies, all delivered with Misty’s characteristic tongue-in-cheek smirk. Not one track on the album is dead space, and there are several high points, right from the start. Favourite for me is I Went To The Store One Day, which is a simple, yet incredibly beautiful and moving ballad to close the album. Stunning stuff indeed.

1: Everything Everything – A Fever Dream

I’ve known of Everything Everything for quite a while now, but in early 2017 I was gifted tickets to see them on their A Fever Dream tour, and it absolutely blew my mind. EE have crafted brilliant electronic indie music in the past, with catchy melodies and odd, skittering rhythms. However, A Fever Dream builds on this in the best possible way, building on their electronic sound and adding an even more fiercely of-the-moment view on songwriting. One of the highlights for me was Jonathan Higgs’ vocals, which electrified the music with a fierce intellect, and sparkling melodies. An ecstatic blend of so many musical styles, which results in a fantastic album. A masterpiece for today.

Okay, finally the main event. My album of the year 2018 is…

1: IDLES – Joy as an Act of Resistance.

Here we are then. Number one spot. And again, if you know me, you know there could never really have been any other album here. I first discovered IDLES earlier in the year, riding off the success of their breakout debut album Brutalism, an unstoppable punk locomotive of an album, with guitar and bass lines that are so, well, brutal, that they break down the door and hold you at gunpoint until you sit up and pay attention. This band is the perfect voice for austerity Britain, more mature than Slaves, more relevant than Sleaford Mods, and yet they walk an incredibly fine line. It’s almost impossible to define until you hear a band that possess it, but they simply make. So. Much. Sense. Joe Talbot talks with such a fiery intensity that it’s impossible not to listen, and an eloquence that is so often missing from punk. He’s so likeable, and oddly enough for punk, easy to listen to. However, don’t mistake that for the album lacking brutal riffs. Because it has those in spades. From the opening bass rumble of Colossus, JAAAOR picks you up by the scruff off your neck, and doesn’t put you down until the last manic notes of Rottweiler fade away. This is a rock record that defies rock, a punk record that doesn’t define itself as punk, and a political statement that bases its politics on the phrase “Love yourself.” This provides an infectious alternative to the toxic masculinity of so much mainstream rock, and a uniquely vulnerable take on an incredible variety of issues. Beginning with an immediate left-footing with Colossus, the album the catches its witty and caustic stride with Never Fight A Man With A Perm, going from strength to strength the whole time. I’ve never quite identified with a track lyrically as much as I’m Scum, a rallying call for liberals everywhere: “I'll sing at fascists 'til my head comes off, I am Dennis Skinner's Molotov / I'm lefty, I'm soft, I'm minimum wage job”and erupting into the chant of “this snowflake’s an avalanche”. It goes on to postulate about not caring about the next James Bond, as “we don’t need another murderous toff”. The next track is the joyous Danny Nedelko, an ode to Talbot’s friend, and frontman of Heavy Lungs, Danny Nedelko. It’s a quite magnificent celebration of immigration and diversity, and embodies the sentiment of the album as a whole quite simply with a roar of “Unity!”. Potent stuff. The next highlight (or rather lowlight) for me is the one-two punch of June and Samaritans. June is a singularly moving ode to Talbot’s stillborn daughter, building all the time to a non-existent crescendo, and repeating the six-word mantra “Baby shoes, for sale. Never worn.” Incredibly painful, raw and poignant; you feel as if you’re witnessing a moment that you really shouldn’t be, a would-be father grieving at the bedside. It then transitions into Samaritans, an anti-toxic masculinity manifesto, furious in its denial of male stereotypes: “Man up, sit down, chin up, pipe down”, and building relentlessly to sheer ecstasy of the decree: “I kissed a boy and I liked it”. Powerful, powerful stuff. Track eight, Television, is pinned down by a juddering riff complimented by the incredibly able drumming of Jon Beavis (a very much unsung hero of the group), and a wonderful self-love mantra. Moving on, Great is an anti-Brexit track than manages to reveal the hypocrisy of nationalism without ever moving into preachy politicism, which is Talbot’s greatest strength; he can make any point sound like the simplest and most honest declaration ever. Gram Rock and Cry To Me are witty, and the least overtly political tracks of the album; but even these apparent low points aren’t by any means stale, quite the opposite. Every moment of this record fizzes with energy. Finally, Joy rounds off with the magnificent Rottweiler, a searing discrediting of the UK media, ending in the wheels coming off as the tension built throughout the 42 minutes comes to a chaotic end, with Joe yelping “Unity!”over and over. I have one final thing to say about Joy; it’s production is pristine throughout, with clarity in even its most chaotic moments. This is my record of the year, because I feel no other record held my attention so completely, and was so representative of the sentiment of this year. Pure joy.

Well then, thanks for sticking with me. 2018’s been a belter of a year for music, and I can’t wait to see what 2019 brings.

#2018 #albums of the year #unknown mortal orchestra #ben howard #thom yorke #sports team #mgmt #car seat headrest #father john misty #blood orange #arctic monkeys #idles

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witt27gauthier-blog · 6 years

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Checkmate Moving And Storage Denver Moving Company Opinions

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jungkookienoona · 6 years

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The Meme and His Tutor

Part 44: The Comeback

Co-written with @jiminieblush

Recommended Song: Euphoria by Jungkook

|Masterlist|

Summary:

It’s the moment you and the rest of ARMY had been waiting for.

Genre: Fluff, comedy

Pairing: Jungkook X Reader (Y/N)

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 4536

Length: 44/?

The day had finally arrived. The comeback. Jungkook was with his members preparing to do the Vlive comeback show while you curled up on your sofa, laptop hooked up to your tv. Miri was to your left, head propped on your knee, and a bowl of popcorn was on your right. In your hands was your phone that you were furiously typing on. Both you and Chubs were absolutely buzzing with excitement. It was finally happening after literal months of waiting.

You were fully prepared to stay up as late as necessary to get the full experience. Chubs had even made sure she wasn't working so she could experience it all in real time with you. It was a matter of minutes until the hour long live show would begin. Your phone buzzed with a new message and you were surprised to see Jungkook's name flash on the screen. Tapping on the message, you couldn't help but giggle like the fangirl you are.

'Hope you enjoy the new album, Jagi...especially track five... ;) I'll message you after the show!'

Track 5? What was special about track 5? You shrugged, you'd find out soon enough.

'Have fun, BunBun!'

You opened up the chat with Chubs and refreshed the BTS vlive homepage.

'I hope that vlive doesn't crash again like it has done the past few years...'

There was still about another 5 minutes until the show began.

'I wouldn't be surprised. ARMY keeps growing and growing.'

It got you thinking about BTS' growth, and how many fans would flock to them with this comeback, how much it meant to each member. Yoongi was never shy in vocalising his desires to win awards and top charts. This album could do that. Could be all they've ever wanted. You wondered what antics would happen during the show. You reckon you'd die of embarrassment if you were mentioned.

Another message caught your attention:

'ONE MINUTE! ONE MINUTE Y/N! REFRESH!!'

'Holy shit!'

You refreshed the page, being greeted by Jungkook in a suit and glasses sat behind a desk.

"Hello and welcome to Bangtan News. I'm your anchor, Jeon Jeongguk. But you can call me Nochu."

The fucker winked.

"Here is our first story of the day: BTS have dropped their new album."

There were cheers from the other members who were sat out of shot, a hand even shoved Jungkook's shoulder making him grin.

"The music video and album are said to be released at 12.30am Korean Standard Time."

More cheers from the members.

"Many people are excited for its release. I know my wife is."

He tapped his cue cards on the table as writing appeared saying 'Jungkook is not actually married'.

You were dying. An inhuman squeal left your lips. Your phone wouldn't stop buzzing but you didn't want to tear your eyes away from the screen.

"Let me introduce you to some very important guests, 6 out of the 7 Bangtan members! Sadly, the maknae, Jungkook is going to be late."

The camera cut to Namjoon who was beaming, shuffling a stack of cue cards.

"Hello, I'm the leader of BTS, RM."

There were more whoops from around him and then the camera cut to Jin.

"I'm the most handsome member, Jin." He sent his signature flying kiss to the camera.

The camera panned to Yoongi, "Hi, I'm Suga. Nice to see you again."

The poor guy looked so tired yet hyper at the same time with his gummy smile. He must have been up late giving the tracks one final listen then downed a fuck ton of coffee. Hoseok was his usual cheery self introducing himself as 'ARMY's hope and sunshine'. Jimin came next, looking extra tiny in a huge knitted sweater. And then there was Taehyung who was dressed as though ready for bed in a pair of plaid wide leg pants. You really questioned his fashion choices sometimes.

After the introductions, the camera cut back to Jungkook who asked the members to talk about the album and its concept.

Namjoon took the lead, explaining how they transitioned from the success of WINGS to the new album and what they, as a group, wanted to communicate through their music.

"Our Kookie even wrote a song that made it onto the album. Try to guess which one when it's released." Taehyung said, pride clear in his voice.

Jungkook smirked, "Oh really? I bet my wife will love that song, he's her bias after all."

The other members laughed. You, on the other hand, were stunned to silence. Wife?! Why did he keep referring to you, well you hoped it was you, as his wife?! What if people got the wrong impression?

"Your wife might be disappointed Mr Jeon. Our Kookie wrote it for ARMY and his girlfriend."

You hid your face in your hands. This was exactly what you didn't want happening.

Jungkook pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

"I don't mind a little bit of healthy competition."

You groaned. He was so silly. Really.

"I think it's time to cut to the Jacket Shooting behind the scenes. It was nice meeting you Mr Jeon but our Jungkook will be joining us after this."

There were more whoops as the camera zoomed out to show all members before cutting to the video. You took a quick second to unlock your phone and scan the spam of messages from Chubs, keeping an eye on the screen. She had been losing her shit over Jungkook referring to you as his wife.

'I fucking hope someone had told him to act like a married news anchor otherwise he us dropping some major hints!'

You tutted.

'HE IS NOT PROPOSING TO ME ANYTIME SOON!'

Her response was instant, 'You sure? Cause he had everything prepared for you to live and study in Korea after you had known each other for 6 months.'

There was too much for you to process to think about a proposal right now.

'Not happening...Jimin is looking rather dapper...focus on him.'

'He looks too fluffy for me to thirst over right now. Bet you're needing to take a dive in the ocean though ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)'

You narrowed your eyes at the screen where Jungkook was striking a pose in a bright yellow t-shirt, hair parted just the way you liked.

'Fuck you, Chubs'

A smile spread across your face at the boys having fun. The clip cut to Hoseok who was giggling to himself.

"Hoseok-ah, what's so funny?" Came from behind the camera.

Hoseok grinned, "Jungkookie messages he noona whenever he gets a break. You can tell from his goofy smile. See."

The camera panned over to Jungkook who went from smiling to posing to take a selca.

With your phone still unlocked, you opened your camera roll and found the exact picture he had taken. Woah. It wasn't very often you got to see the behind the scenes of a selca and the album jacket shooting.

'He's so whipped for you.’

You rolled your eyes at the message and focused on the screen. The members were taking pictures of each other, filling the time between shoots. They were so happy. As a friend, and a fan, it made you also happy to see them just messing around and being themselves while also working hard.

You were surprised with the amount of concepts one album could have. The volume of thought and planning behind it all was incomprehensible to a casual outsider. Even with the behind the scenes, so many pieces of the puzzle were missing.

Another couple of minutes later and the footage cut back to the live show. Jungkook was dressed in more casual clothing, glasses gone and bangs no longer parted. They moved onto talking about the jacket shooting and how it fit with the whole album concept. When saying which style of clothing they preferred, Jungkook didn't surprise you by saying he favoured the more casual sportswear as it was 'super comfy'.

"Jungkook-ah loves baggy clothes. Didn't he wear the outfit the day before so it would smell like her?" Taehyung teased, nudging the bashful maknae.

Jungkook's cheeks turned positively pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't say anything, but you knew Taehyung was right.

Jungkook was such a cutie.

Namjoon directed the conversation to the songs, getting the members to discuss each song and what it means. Jimin went first since he had sung the intro solo (the first time for a vocalist to do so) which prompted a series of texts from Chubs who was gushing with pride.

You saw this as an opportunity to get back at her, 'I wonder who he wanted to touch and love him...'

You knew that Namjoon had written the song but he had to have chosen Jimin to sing it for more than just his voice. She sent back an emoji rolling its eyes. You wouldn't let her get off easily.

'What if none of this is a coincidence? What if you being my best friend and Jimin being Jungkook's is destiny?'

A second.

'You're being ridiculous.'

'The Busan boys and the British gals.'

'STOP IT!'

You giggled. 'WHY?! WHAT IF IT'S TRUE? WHAT IF THE SONG IS ABOUT YOU?'

A minute passed.

'If you were actually listening you would have heard Namjoon say he wrote the song months ago, dumbass.'

Ah, shit. You should have assumed he'd tell the audience that.

Your attention turned back to the show as they continued talking about the songs on the album. Yoongi happily explained the message behind the title song. Jin's cheeks dusted pink when he had to talk about the fifth track, Pied Piper, seemingly catching Jungkook's not so innocent smile.

"Uh..." the eldest glanced down at his cue cards then down the line towards the youngest members. "Jungkookie, why don't you tell us a little something about the track you've dubbed your favourite."

Jungkook's smile grew, "Of course, hyung! When you see the song credits, you'll see I'm credited with the chorus-" As he always was. "But the song is about ARMY and how we feel about them."

Hoseok perked up, "Kookie-ah, why don't you give them a sneak peek?"

He nodded.

"It’s bad so it’s better. You know on the inside. You can’t stop it now. So be honest with me~"

The other members whooped and clapped in the background while Jungkook threw a quick wink to the camera. You could feel a heat rising to your cheeks.

"Jungkook wrote the outro song, Euphoria. I believed he described it as 'inspired' by his noona."

Taehyung jumped in, retelling a short story on how he had found Jungkook slumped over his desk one morning having been up most of the night writing. The members 'aw'ed, Jimin reaching over to pinch the maknae's cheek.

"So what about her is inspiring?"

Jungkook knocked Jimin’s hand away and gave an awkward chuckle.

"Everything...?"

Heat filled your cheeks as you broke out into a smile. He was so sweet.

'What does he mean by everything? Has he seen you naked?!'

'NO!'

There was a clearing of a throat and the camera quickly zoomed out, allowing you to see Taehyung and Jimin collapse against each other in laughter, before focusing on a grimacing Yoongi.

"Let's move onto the games, shall we? Since ARMY loved it when we played Twister, Vlive had a bigger mat made for us to use. Try not to sit on Jin's head again Jungkook."

You saw Jungkook's lips move as he mumbled something. Sadly, you only heard muffled gibberish. But if the playful smack Jin gave him was anything to go by, you guessed it was inappropriate. When the mat was bought out you could practically see the competitive fire light up in his eyes. A very attractive look.

The seven of them played rock, paper, scissors to decide the order in which they took turns. Yoongi stepped up first, having been the first to win. Hoseok spun the needle and the rapper took his turn. Next was Namjoon followed by Jungkook, Jin, Hoseok, Taehyung and finally Jimin.

'I think Jimin is going to be the first out. He's tiny like you Chubs.'

She told you to 'fuck off' before defending her idol by saying how being small made him nimble. Though you both knew how clumsy he was.

'Namjoon has long legs but Jungkook has long arms and a willingness to crush people.'

In perfect timing, Jungkook 'accidentally' knocked into Taehyung, making him lose his balance, as he manoeuvred his leg across the mat.

'YOUR BOY IS CHEATING!'

'NO HE JUST HAD A CLUMSY MOMENT!'

'HE'S A CHEATER AND YOU KNOW IT!'

A similar debate was happening on the screen where Taehyung was pouting and shouting accusations. Taehyung was getting the filming staff involved, demanding a replay. But since it was a live show, that wasn't possible.

The incident was quickly dissolved by the staff allowing Taehyung back into the game and was allowed to flick Jungkook's forehead once the game was over. Jungkook pouted and you couldn't help want to cuddle him. He looked like such a baby.

You sighed. You missed him already...maybe you could FaceTime him tonight. No doubt that by the end of the vlive you would have plenty more questions needing answers.

Surprisingly your prediction about Jimin being out first came true. Unsurprisingly Jungkook won. You and Chubs bickered over the results while the members sulked back to their seats in the wake of Jungkook's victory dance. Your breath caught when Jungkook effortlessly went into the splits. Chubs sending you a message of:

'I bet you're gonna enjoy that flexibility ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)'

Oh god... don't think those thoughts! So impure!

'Get your virginal mind out of the gutter.'

'Get your mind in the gutter! Don't pretend you haven't been thirsting over him since you first saw him in the Dope MV!'

You flushed.

'I'm not pretending! And you can't talk! I know you we're drooling over the Jibooty while he played Twister!'

'You were drooling over the Jungbooty!'

'SO?!'

'JUNGKOOK IS OFFERING YOU THAT BOOTY ON A SILVER PLATTER!'

'STOP!'

'HAVE YOU SPANKED IT YET? IS IT AS FIRM AS IT LOOKS?!'

'STOP! THIRST OVER YOUR OWN BAE!!’

'IS.IT.FIRM?!?!?!?!'

You cursed Chubs as your hand started to tingle with the need to feel and find out.

'...I'll have to get back to you on that.'

Not even a second.

'YOU DON'T KNOW? HOW MANY TIMES HAS BE SMACKED YOUR BUTT YET YOU HAVEN'T HAD A GO AT HIS?! Y/N! THIS IS ABOUT EQUALITY! YOU GOTTA GET THAT BOOTY!'

Namjoon's voice turned your attention away from your bickering with Chubs, "Time for us to end the show! We hope you enjoy the album. Thank you for supporting us."

Ah! No! That wasn't very long at all! Time had passed too quickly.

They all stood up as one of their new tracks started to play. It was a snippet of the title song that was used for the teaser which was released a week prior. They all began doing their own little dance. Hoseok teasing a small section of the choreography earning a yell from Yoongi who shoved him in order to make him stop. Jungkook was sending hearts, both big and small. The vlive ended soon after.

Almost immediately you got a YouTube notification, the MV had been released. In a flash, you had loaded it up onto your laptop. Drawing your knees to your chest, you watched on eagerly. You had a hard time containing your squeals. Months. You had been waiting months to witness the fruits of Bangtan's efforts.

Your foot began to move to the beat of the music, lips splitting into a grin as Jungkook began to sing. You would always love how he sounded. Though your thoughts were interrupted when there was a close up of Jungkook winking.

That...fucker. That little fucker...

You were tickle him until he cried just for that rudeness alone. Putting thoughts of torture out of your mind, you focused on the music video. The beat was groovy; definitely a change of tune for Bangtan's sound. Yet as always there was still something uniquely 'Bangtan' about it. It amazed you that no matter what style they experimented with, they always made it their own.

The song came to an end, all seven of them striking their finishing pose with their backs to the camera. You immediately picked up your phone.

'Holy shit! All the unnecessary hip thrusts! I'm gonna sue the choreographer!'

'I'll back you the fuck up! I need Jimin in ripped jeans more often. Fuck.'

'DID YOU SEE HOW THE DENIM CLUNG TO THEIR THIGHS! I'M DYING!'

'Save your freaking out for the album stream!'

'AH SHIT! SPOTIFY. NOW.'

The desktop app was expecting you, the new album featured on the home page just waiting to be clicked on. You were tempted to go track 5, the one Jungkook seemed most excited about. But that wouldn't be fair to the other tracks... even if one of them was a collab with The CockSocks... Eehem...The CumSoakers- The ChainSmokers... yes, The ChainSmokers.

So you listened in order.

As to be expected, Chubs once again lost her shit at Jimin's vocals for the intro. Then came the song from the music video. You listened again, falling in love with it further. The next song you listened to with a grimace. Those two bastards didn't deserve to work with BTS. Thank god it was just the one track they had collaborated on. They hadn't even had an influence on the lyrics either. But it seemed like the kind on song that needed to grow on you... or it was your bias getting in the way. You'd have to give it another listen again some time. But for now, you must listen to the next track.

It appeared to be a vocal line song. You loved the fact it was about dimples, knowing that your own were showing. Hearing Jungkook's vocals during the bridge had you ascending to another plain of existence. Especially with how the the note he held wasn't faded. It left you with even higher expectations for the next track. Track number 5. You were almost nervous as the opening beat kicked in, but that soon disappeared as the first syllable was sung.

You didn't expect it to sound so funky yet seductive. And the sneak peak from before didn't do the opening verse justice. Jungkook's vocals with that beat made you think that he was referring to something... not so innocent. But you couldn't be sure yet...

Namjoon's voice began reciting lyrics that made you laugh. He was basically telling you off for not studying. Well, that was one way to use your celebrity influence.

Your eyes bulged when Jin and V came in. Chubs wouldn't know right off the bat but you were thrown into a coughing fit at the lyrics. 'You're not being punished. Come here, I'm your paradise'? This sounded too kinky to you. How did they get away with it? But there was something about the beat that made you want to move your hips.

'Not gonna lie... I would do the do to this song...'

Chubs reply was instant.

'Oh really? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)'

'If you understood the lyrics, you would too.'

Jungkook's lines in the chorus were accurate. He both saved and ruined you. He had wanted you to listen to this song, to hear those words and understand what he meant... that little shit!

Speak of the devil, your phone buzzed with a message from him. Two in fact. You opened it to find a screenshot of yours and Chubs' conversation followed by:

'Do the do ey? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)'

You felt your stomach drop.

'Chubs is dead to me.'

'Don't say that Jagi~ Now I know how to set the mood.'

A high pitched screech left your lips before you could stop it. Sorry, Miri.

You left Jungkook hanging and skipped to Chubs' messages.

'YOU BITCH! YOU'RE DEAD TO ME!'

'HE TOLD YOU?! DAMMIT!'

'OF COURSE HE DID! HE SAID THAT HE'S GONNA PLAY IT TO SET THE MOOD!'

You were so caught up, you didn't notice the song beginning to come to a close.

'AHA! I SCORED YOU DICK! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME!'

'I WAS GONNA GET DICK ANYWAY! YOU SCORED ME COCKY DICK!'

The sound of Logan Paul's annoying voice had you frowning. What the fuck? You indulged in your confusion, ignoring a follow-up text from Jungkook to see what the track was. Oh, it was a Skit. That made sense. Luckily the asshole's voice was gone quickly being followed up by Namjoon's voice as he made a speech for Bangtan.

Your attention went back to your vibrating phone.

'Kitten~ are you mad? Did you like the song???'

'You and your chorus writing ways. The rapline were trying to convey a message of "We'll always be here so focus on the important things in life" and then there's you with your repressed sexual urges!'

He took a moment to respond.

'Song writing is how I express myself. You have your stories. I have my lyrics.'

Still... the sexual undertones weren't missed on you...

'I guess... why did you write lyrics like that?'

'They just came to me one day.'

The next song coming on distracted you. It felt like a matured version of Bangtan's original sound. You found yourself quickly picking up the lyrics, singing along to the prechorus and chorus. But you couldn't help questioning the grammar of the few English lyrics...

You would have to ask about that later. For now, Chubs was spamming you with messages alternating in apologies and degdegs.

'The damage is done... what do you think of Mic Drop?'

'I hope it has choreo cause I can imagine it goes HARD.'

'Hell yeah!'

The song was super catchy.

Obviously wondering why you weren't replying, Jungkook shot you another message.

'Noona~ what do you think of the album did I sing well??'

'Shh~ I'm listening to it now. I'll tell you when I'm finished.'

'Yes, Noona.'

Soon enough the next song came on. It was upbeat and gave you cheeky vibes. You found your body moving to the beat and sang along to the chorus as the words weren't too difficult to pick up as the chorus was predominantly in English. You felt yourself inwardly cringe every time the word 'Yolo' left your lips. But it was a fun song with a message of throwing away one's worries for a night. If it was one of the songs to have choreo, you could imagine it being a bright and vibrant stage. Some fun energy to contrast the deeper tones of the album.

Probably memey too.

But what came next was a rapline song that was more... mellow than you were used too. Off the bat, you assumed Yoongi had been the one to compose it if the piano intro was anything to go by. When you first heard it the hook, you thought they were saying 'I call you her, cause you're my dear, dear'. The whole song put a smile on your face. It was peaceful. The kind of song you'd put on while enjoying a lovely bubble bath or taking a nap.

So the EDM song that followed had you jumping in fright. You were all relaxed then suddenly Jimin comes in with 'DON'T LEAVE ME'. It almost felt like he came bursting through your front door. There was a sudden bark, frightening you further. But it was just Miri making sure you were fine having let out a small shocked scream.

Chubs had your phone buzzing with message after message: 'HeLP ME!', 'I'VE BEEN ATTACKED!', 'I'M SHOOKETH!'

Ah, seems like she was on the same track.

'...Don't Leave Me?' You asked, just to be sure.

'BITCH! THEY BETTER BE GLAD IM AT HOME LISTENING TO THIS OR THERE WOULD BE TROUBLE!'

You had your fun laughing at her until you heard Jungkook's adlib and once again ascended to heaven. Is this what an eargasm was? Because, fuck...

You now knew how Chubs had felt moments ago. If you knew where Bangtan were right then, you would be attacking Jungkook. You enjoyed the rest of the song, a mix of emotions bubbling up inside of you that you'd been feeling a lot more often recently. It was like you didn't quite know whether you wanted to kick Jungkook's ass or offer to suck his dick as a thank you for the heavenly vocals.

Jungkook must have gotten bored of waiting.

'Have you reached the end yet?'

'No. Crystal Snow has just begun.’

Not even a split second later.

'I think you'll like that one.'

Truth be told, it sounded like it could be an anime opening. Which wasn't a bad thing since you fucking love anime. And the lyrics....the lyrics... no wonder he thought you would like it; they were bringing tears to your eyes. It was so full of emotion. But you made it through, even if your sleeves were wet with tears. You were glad you weren't wearing make-up otherwise it would be all smudged.

The album went on. There were so many tracks. Bangtan had really out done themselves. Only 2 tracks left. Let Go was just as emotional as Crystal Snow, you wondered what the choreo would be like.

Checking the track list, you were both relieved and disappointed that there was only the outro left. They tended to be shorter than the average song so you sat back, ready for this journey to be over. Due to the comeback show, you weren't surprised to hear Jungkook's voice. But you were surprised by how upbeat the song was. Normally outros were mellow.

It felt very...optimistic. Especially compared to the lyrics of the last few songs. It counterbalanced them. Serendipity and Euphoria. The bookends to the album.

"You are the cause of my euphoria."

You broke out into a smile because this was the song Jungkook had written. This was the song dedicated to you.

“I hear the ocean from far away. I walk across the dream, over the forest, and go towards there as it gets clearer.”

Was he...was he singing about the distance that had once been between you?

You wanted to hug him. You're sweet Kookie just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter.

Picking up your abandoned phone, you sent him a text.

'Okay, I'm finally done.'

A second later there was a knock at your door, making you jump up in surprise. There was another knock. Who ever was knocking was impatient.

"I'm coming!"

You sniffed as you pulled open the door, a small gasp leaving your lips as a body suddenly crashed into yours.

Jungkook.

"Fucking finally. I've been waiting out here for ages."

You chuckled, still in shock.

"You were out there all that time?"

"Doesn't matter." He pulled back but kept his arms around your waist. "So...what did you think?"

"Come inside properly and I'll tell you."

He smirked, "I'll play Pied Piper to set the mood."

"No!"

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This work of fiction is copyright © JungkookieNoona and protected under UK and international law. All rights reserved. Any unauthorised broadcasting, copying or reposting will constitute an infringement of copyright.

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awildhanmonster · 6 years

Text

Character Ramblings for Wyrd!

At Wyrd’s behest, I’m trying to write down a little master post of some recent characters she bullied— I mean enabled— me to create. This is for our casual Loserverse world— i.e. the fast-and-loose All The Myths Are True low fantasy trope where a bunch of well intentioned idiots try to get by in an apartment complex for largely mythical creatures. I’ve accidentally made up a lot of new side characters in the past month and it’s getting hard to keep track of them, so here we go!

THE HOMESTEADING SHAPESHIFTER TRIO: AKA NELL, LEONORA AND BARNES

I’m listing these three together on their own because they are an active “couple” (… trio? I’m not sure what the right polyamory term is) who all live together in a more rural part of the county on some acreage generationally owned and tended by Nora’s family line. Their personal plot is pretty manageable (just a few acres) and a small portion of the entire property. They have a little flock of maybe 2 dozen combined sheep and goats, some chickens, and possibly an alpaca. The land is woodsy and picturesque with an old country house they share.

Nell J. Harriet, aka Nell: approximately 32 years old, born intersex, happily nonbinary (pronouns are ‘they’). The tallest of the bunch at around 6’ even, with a pale wiry frame and knobby, angular corners all over. Jet black hair with a striking chunk of white smack dab at the front of the widow’s peak like the trail of a dog’s blaze, one solid brown eye, one split tweaky blue/brown mess. Shifted form is a black and white border collie with (surprise!) heterochromia and a chunky white blaze cutting through the forehead right at the widow’s peak.

Despite being born to a mother with a long family history of (gene-recessive) shifters cropping up every generation, Nell was still a surprise to everyone involved, given that their father had presumably been human. Their mother— who I’ll call Meryl for now— comes from a fairly mundane lineage of canine shifter (while being a non-shifter Rr carrier herself) which typically manifests in early childhood and has a certain period of semi-conscious malleability during the formative years in which things like coat color, length, ear set, and other minor (external) features can be changed through great effort and trial/error before eventually “settling” into a constant, unique physical identity with time. They heal several times faster than average humans, scar less, and tend to show greater physical resilience, taking a few seconds to painlessly and more-or-less fluidly change shape, but lack any kind of “burst healing” mechanic or unusual magical attributes.

Everyone else in the family before Nell had turned out some kind of pleasantly functional “mutt” shape in the end, but Nell erupted onto the scene as a full blown black-and-white border collie looking thing from day 1 of the change as a bouncy toddler. Meryl could only guess that the father (long since vanished from their lives with no hard feelings, the affair was brief) was a similar, incidentally compatible shapeshifter himself, but that’s about as well as anyone can guess since he’s not around to ask.

Nell, for their part, is exactly the kind of plucky, sunshiny, high-energy velcro person you would expect from a border collie on two legs. They struggled in early childhood with some rough ADHD and OCD type tendencies, but managed to get through public schooling with the help of family support/tutoring, and wound up not pursuing college in favor of trying out a more rural living, instead. They met Leonora while bouncing around odd jobs a couple years after high school and the rest is history. They’re much happier now with a largely outdoor existence and animals to tend to, burning off the excess energy that plagued them for years without a direction prior to homesteading. They’re one of those types who thrives with an outlet for physical and mental stimulation but loses their mind for lack of it. As one would expect from any good BC. The farming life is an ideal fit.

Leonora Basso: aka Nora, but only if you’re close to her. Approximately 34-ish, a shameless bohemian woman from a long line of shifters almost functionally identical to Raiker/Nicky’s species, with the exception of taking on the form of giant (thanks, conservation of mass) white maremma type guardian dogs instead of akbash. Built square, stocky, and a little short (probably around 5’4’’), with olive/bronze-y skin, brown eyes, and a giant fluffy mess of fluffy, platinum white-blond hair the exact color and texture of maremma fur.

She’s chill, with admirable patience for things that warrant it and a long fuse for small annoyances, though she’s also the only member of the three to ever knock someone’s teeth out, so take that with a grain of salt. Like any good guardian dog, she’s placid until you start messing with her flock— literally or metaphorically. Then she’ll be the one to quietly walk across the bar and slam your head into the table. She met Nell during a trip to the inner city by complete happenstance when the two hit it off over conversation, during which she invited them to come visit her farm over a public touring weekend, and within weeks wound up dating. Their relationship was exclusive up until Barnes came along and none of them are quite sure how it happened, but they’ve never been in a better place.

Chancellor Barneston Augustine-Kingslay, aka Barnes: and ONLY Barnes, okay. Repeat his full name N E V E R or he’ll just, seriously, die. Of embarrassment. The youngest of the bunch at around 27-28 or so, Barnes was adopted by his (human) parents as a (human, presumably) infant, and had a perfectly normal (human, presumably) childhood until one day when his mother came in and found that her napping four year old was suddenly a napping 40 pound maine coon cat— or at least, what LOOKED a whole lot like one. Needless to say, the following week was a scramble of buying every “Help! My Child is a Shapeshifter, What Do I Do!” parenting book off Amazon and learning how to cope with a toddler who could suddenly vault over double stacked safety gates unaided, but they learned how to adapt, and life continued on happily for the little family anyway. He’s an average sort, and arguably handsome to some: about 5’8’’, not especially pale or tan, hazel eyed, and sporting what looks like perpetually dark-ticked mouse brown hair, cut short. He performed well enough in public school with a mostly human peer group who went largely unaware of his “talents” and even went on to earn a bachelor’s in business/finances/something akin, which seemed like the thing to do. He wouldn’t describe himself as unhappy in his accomplishments; by every metric he was doing fine in life, and could easily figure out a career in some white collar job that paid his bills well enough.

He just couldn’t shake a certain feeling of restlessness and dissatisfaction about the idea, and wound up making a habit of weekend demos and classes to see what else was out there in the world: one of which happened to be a sheep shearing weekend out at the Basso Homestead. On a whim, Barnes attended a demo headed by none other than Leonora while she was using a feisty ram (named Ramses) to walk visitors through the shearing process, Ramses was being fighty, Nell wasn’t around to help wrangle him, and Barnes, thinking he was capable, volunteered (despite Nora warning him repeatedly that rams were pretty feisty) to help hold him down.

… Needless to say he earned a spectacular nut shot via ram horns in the groin and wound up sitting out the rest of the day with an ice pack and a lot of sympathy, but it got him talking to Nora, and then Nell, and the three of them just gelled in a way that kept bringing them back together. He’s realized in hindsight that he’s much happier in the suburbs than the big city, and enjoys putting his schooling to use by handling the home taxes and business numbers.

(Fun fact: years later, when it Ramses got too big for his britches and was sent to the abattoir, they were given part of him by the Basso family and cooked a roast to celebrate the asshole sheep that brought them all together. Ramses was delicious.)

Barnes, incidentally, still has no idea just WHAT kind of shifter he actually is thanks to being a doorstep baby/anonymous adoption acquisition by the foster folks— aside from a giant 100+ pound country cat, that is. He’s observed that his shift is nearly as swift as Leonora’s, though there are queer persistences that he seems to have (pierced ears not healing instantly or trying to close after a change) that she lacks. Coupled with the fact that he seems to be a magnet for comically mundane/irritating paranormal activity, he’s put in his research (mostly as a boredom hobby, not a necessary pursuit) but keeps drawing blanks on potential labels for his identity. The TRUTH of the matter (which he’ll probably never know in canon) is that he’s actually a cait sith— born in the form of a cat, rather than a human, and bewitched by his mother to retain a human form as long as possible in the hopes that it would get him a better chance at finding loving parents. His shifting has a much heavier magical component to it than his SOs, though he has no real sense for it, and it’ll probably just be a mystery the rest of his life.

Wow, yeah, this got super long! I’ll make a separate post for the other losers I’ve made up lately, though these three are the most fleshed out so far.

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