#basically i have A Lot of feelings about them

[aelincreativ]

So I grew up on a dairy farm and showed dairy cattle as a kid, all the way to World Dairy Expo which is the North American international cattle show held in Madison, Wisconsin, and I attended the national holstein convention and competed in junior dairy quiz bowl and jeopardy, and so much of this is absolutely true!

(Look at this nerd! I literally travelled all over the country to compete in who knew the most cow facts)

I focussed on the Red & White Holsteins, which is just a recessive phenotype for reddish brown spots instead of black, and the bull pool for red and whites is even smaller! I had my own family line of R&W heifers and cows that started when I was a literal baby and my grandpa bought me a red & white calf named Dazzle who then had twins I named Darling and Dora when I was three. And since I was young I was helping my dad pick which bulls to use for the artificial insemination and the list was very very short for what Select Sires had available. There was a couple times that we literally just had to use a black bull with the red recessive and hope the 75% of getting a red came through.

(Tiny 9 year old me with Daisy in 2011, who is I think maybe 14 months old in this picture, this wasn't even my first show with her.)

I also competed in dairy judging in 4H and FFA for multiple years and wasn't too shabby. I competed on a team with and against my brothers and we all placed.

But the most annoying part of how holsteins are treated as "THE" dairy breed is that they also go through trends! As advanced genetic testing and selection technology was developed, people could pick and create designer cows basically. At Expo it became unheard of for the winning cattle to come from anywhere but the farms that literally spent tens of thousands of dollars on their customized designer cow. So when I had a summer yearling heifer that went to Expo, she got sixth in the open class, and that was unprecedented since our farm was a small single family operation that only milked 36 head.

(Daisy's medal that she ate the first version of because we hung it above her stall and then had to request a 2nd one, a very common occurrence we were assured, and then had framed with her picture)

This was back in 2011 and there was a lot of talk about retrieving eggs for ivf from Daisy because of the need for fresh genetics in herds. Plus the money involved for me as a kid was crazy, I was buying and selling cattle worth thousands of dollars before I could drive.

Glad was the first calf I ever bought for myself, I was 11 maybe? And I showed her for multiple years and sold calves from her.

Then Daisy calved in with two blind quarters and her show cow career was over all talk of IVF died out immediately even though her daughters where still "pretty" by the standards and I competed with them in both South Dakota and Minnesota's state fair and placed well.

Me with Dandelion, Daisy's first daughter who got Reserve Champion Heifer in this show as a spring yearling.

Me with Delilah a few years later, Delilah was my it girl show cow for most of my life and I showed her for multiple years in multiple shows a year and she classified as Excellent with a 90/100

But back on the trends holstein cattle go through. Because of the genetic customization that can happen, small family farms literally can't keep up with it. What was a show stopper winning cow 20 years ago would now struggle to place top ten unless the judge was old and feeling nostalgic for a "classic" beauty. I have my issues with my father, but when the trends in holstein genetics shifted and he could no longer supplement our small farms income with breeding stock and show animals, it nearly crippled our farm for a few years before we turned to an alternative and started raising jersey steers for my mom to run a custom meat business. Show cattle was my dad's life for thirty-five odd years. It was literally the only way we bonded when I was young. Him packing me up in the back bench of the pickup wrapped in a blanket at 2am for us to start the many hours long drive to cattle shows two states away for me to show my heifers and him his string of cows that literally kept our farm afloat by selling off the calves and doing IVF.

He’d tie in with one of his buddies who had their own string and they'd have a whole crew of five or more guys tending and babying these cows for the entire time we were there. I learned more curse words at the cow shows than I would the rest of my life on the internet but it was a fun adventure with dad so I loved every moment even the god awful early morning.

The night before the show at Minnesota state fair one year, I was so nervous because Delilah hadn't been eating well and the dorms were just not great with the fireworks show timing and so my dad just had me grab my sleeping bag and he had me set up on a giant pile of straw right next to Delilah under the giant fans we had for the cows. I slept there for the night with him and the show crew, three college age guys who were like my big brothers sneaking me treats at the same time they got annoyed at my very presence because I wanted to help with everything and would just slow them down, watching over me and my dad crashing next to me for only a few hours before being up before dawn to wash and style the cows for the big show.

One of the very few times I ever saw my hardened Midwestern conservative farmer father cry was when Daisy died. I resented him for the longest time because why did he only ever show emotion because my cow died? And I didn't realize till much later in my life that he was crying because of the memories tied to that animal and what that loss meant for our relationship. We've drifted apart for many other reasons and I haven't had an actual conversation with him in almost three years, but I still think so fondly of those memories we shared together before I became a teenager and started to no longer fit what a farm daughter was supposed to be.

So yeah, this derailed a bit, but the culture of a farm and a family has been absolutely destroyed by commercial farming and the capitalist driven hell of more milk for the worse health of an animal. That's all, have pictures of me milking cows, I started helping from the time I could walk and when I was 8 I started doing milkings on my own and milked almost everyday till I started college or was working a town job during high school.

Yeah! You see how dirty the cows are?! DON'T DRINK RAW MILK UNLESS YOU GREW UP ON THAT FARM AND MILK THEM YOURSELF! PASTEURIZATION SAVES LIVES!

Okay now I'm done.

Is there beef with the Holstein cows and you or what was that joke lol

It's kind of wild It's just never come up on this blog before, but I HATE holsteins. Bottom 10 cow breeds for me. I hate how they're so common they account for the majority of milk produced. I hate that they're the "default" cow to the point where some don't even know cattle HAVE other colors. I hate their tiny horns (IF THEY EVEN HAVE THAT. LOSER ASS HORNLESS COW) and their painfully massive udders.

Legit I'm trying so hard to not launch into a No Mouth Must Scream style AM speech-- shoot my hand slipped.

(AM speech about why i dont like holsteins below the cut)

For starters, I have to give a brief lesson on what these terms mean; the "Holstein" is the American strain of the "Frisian" breed. Frisians are an ancient breed from Frisia, in the north of what we now consider the Netherlands. Crosses between the breeds are "Holstein-Frisians."

(There’s even more to this but im keeping it as simple as possible. Also one of my friends is Frisian and she is probably going to kill me for describing it like that.)

Historically, livestock was adapted to the environment they lived in. Frisians were bred by the Frisii people for hundreds of years in extremely grass-rich, lush, flat environments. The "polders" of the northern parts of the Netherlands. They're huge and eat a LOT of food.

Traditional Frisians were developed to produce as much meat and milk from a single individual as possible, without compromising the health of the cattle with constant inbreeding to get quick gains. We are talking about a breed that is over 2000 years old. They had the perfect environment to make The Ultimate Food Cow and by god they did it. I can respect that.

So, take that, drag it across an ocean to a place that does NOT have polders, and add the rapid enshittification of capitalism to it. BAM you've got a fucking holstein.

There is ONE goal for "improving" the holstein. Make More Milk. As long as the black and white milkbag leaks enough, nothing else matters. Health? Fertility? Feed ratio? Ability to not die of infection? WHO CARES. MILK LINE GO UP.

Over 90% of holsteins are inbred to start with, because Milk Line Go Up. To the tune of having an average COI of 8%-- where extreme negative effects (think Hapsburgs) start to crop up around 10%

Holstein bulls are aggressive bastards (many dairy bulls are), so no one wants to keep intact males in their herds, meaning most cows are artificially inseminated

Not being limited by the natural lifespan of a living bull means that the same stud can keep having direct offspring for decades after his death

Toystory the bull had 500,000 calves before he died, and hit over 1 million offspring in 2015. That's ONE animal and to put this in perspective, there are 9 million holsteins in the US.

DON'T WORRY IT GETS WORSE

Not only can 99% of holsteins be traced back to just two bulls-- 99% of male holsteins share one of two exact Y chromosomes with those two bulls.

The gene pool is so small that it's equivalent to about 60 individuals. Warrior Cat allegiances are larger than that. That's barely bigger than modern ThunderClan.

"Massive lack of genetic diversity" does not begin to capture the existential dread of this situation. Mark my words, WATCH, when the Bird Flu finally mutates a strain that rips through a mammalian population, it's gonna be in the USA and it's going to be through our dairy cattle.

This is not prophecy or me laying a curse on the land, this is the natural consequence of basing the stability of US milk production on the equivalent of 9 million clones of two classrooms worth of individuals, and then packing them in close quarters

And we don't have to wait for doomsday for the impacts to be apparent on the cattle themelves

Holstein fertility has also dropped by half since the 1960s when the intensive inbreeding really kicked into high gear

Because their whole body is dedicating all of their resources to milk production, they have a notoriously "bony" frame.

Show judges, however, like this because they think that's a very "feminine" look for a 1600 pound ruminant. Very normal thing to think.

Like. I don't know if i can communicate this to people who don't look at cows a lot (it's not quite as obviously dramatic as a pug skull) but here is a comparison of an "ideal" show holstein and an "unselected" holstein from a herd that's been established as a sort of "control group" for what they looked like back in the 1960s;

The way that the artery on the "modern" cow's belly runs to the udder like a big pink worm freaks me out the most ngl

The udder also bulges out from between the back legs

The show cow is so thin

And then compare these both to a Holstein-Frisian cross who leans more on the Frisian side;

Proper weight, developed legs. Its biggest "problem" is actually just the udder shape-- deep udders, which "hang" low like that, aren't optimal for milk-focused breeds because the higher away from the ground the less chance there is of infection. In that department, the "unselected" holstein clearly outclasses the holstein-frisian.

But it probably won't be surprising to hear that the "show holstein," with its massive, swollen udder, is SUPER prone to infections such as mastitis.

But it is also just more prone to getting sick generally

And, to keep up with these insane demands, holsteins need a TON of food. You aren't going to just turn these things out into a pasture and be done with it. Even its ancestor the Frisian needed premium Dutch polder grass to be such a good cow-- crank that up to 11 with these Monuments to Humanity's Hubrice

The Texas Longhorn developed in semi-feral conditions and can eat a bush to become the best thing in a 10 mile radius. The Scottish Highland was iron-forged in upland moors with a steady diet of turf and rain.

Meanwhile if a Holstein has less than 5 homemade meals a day without poland spring bottled water it will die to death.

And the WORST part? You have to use these if you want to make money in dairy farming. It's WAAY too expensive to just run a suboptimal farm. Their milk isn't great, but they sure do make a lot of it.

...so Holsteins and Holstein-Frisians (and other "super efficient" breeds) have absolutely decimated heritage cattle. The American Milking Devon is a deep reddish brown with gorgeous horns and low maintenance; rare. Randall Linebacks are painted with lines of white speckles down the back and can be used for any purpose; critically endangered. The Niata was a pug-faced cow who could fight jaguars; extinct.

And THAT'S what makes me hate them most of all. I LOVE cows, but whenever I see a reference to one, it's a holstein. It's always boring black and white splotches with big pink udders. They're practically synonymous with "cow" when their homogeniety is actually hiding much cooler breeds from you.

Did you know cows can be tiger-striped?

And that England has its own type of longhorn?

Or that cow horns can twist upwards like an antelope?

And that they can have REALLY LONG ears?

And that they can be blue?

And that's not even getting into some of the cows that have gotten a small crumb of attention lately, such as Highlands, Ankole-Watusi, and Texas Longhorns. There's so many cool cows out there! And they're all really different from holsteins! MOST of them are also a lot healthier and produce tastier milk and meat!

TL;DR yeah i don't like holsteins and I like sniping at them. For reasons both legit and petty.

[sup3riorsese]

My thoughts on Rujinu (Negative)

So (Long rant incoming) do not let the title deceive you, I am not here to start any discourse of say anyone's bad or wrong for shipping what they like, especially since this ship is heavily implied, but I think a large problem with Rujinu is how both the fans and seemingly the movie view them.

I've seen a lot of people say things like "Oh Rujinu are soulmates" and "They belong together" and all this other stuff and I keep questioning if we watched the same movie.

The entire movie, Jinu was a selfish, manipulative liar. Starting with his backstory, he left his mother and sister, literally abandoned them, to live a high life. Mind you, a woman alone during that time would have little to no way of funding herself and her child unless through unconventional means. He actively left his mother, who probably did everything she could to feed and care of him and his sister, to basically starve on the streets because he was the one making the money. He was rightfully tormented and punished for this selfish act and lived 400 years paying the price. Moving to acts during the movie, the only reason he even pays attention to Rumi is because she's part demon, which is fine as it is natural to be curious, but the thing is, he is using her the entire time.

During scenes where Jinu is being "vulnerable," he is lying. Yes, there are times he seems genuinely conflicted or even remorseful (When he was looking at the little girl's picture, for example), but ultimately, the only reason he does all this is to erase the memories of his mistakes. When he tells Rumi about his family the first time, he is actively being deceptive. He lies to make her think he's not evil and makes her feel like she can be vulnerable and trust him. Throughout their meetings, he's giving the impression that not all demons are bad (Which may be true), but that's not the case for him as he was punished for committing a selfish act.

When we get to the climax of the movie, he is the one who uses two of Rumi's biggest vulnerabilities (Her friends and her marks) against her and publicly humiliates and exposes her. He quite literally had them torment her on stage, disguised as her best friends. Then, when confronted, he acts as if this was her fate the entire time. Doesn't apologize, and tells her he lied. He throws the fact that she believed him in her face and leaves her there.

He causes so much strife in her that she asks THE WOMAN WHO RAISED HER to end her life.

People saying the man who almost brought Rumi to death is her "soulmate" is almost offensive, especially because the only reason they say that is for one, his sacrifice, and two, how the movie portrays them.

Jinu's one selfless act during the entire movie is saving Rumi. Everyone acts like it is such a romantic gesture when in reality, it was the least he could do. He damned his family to being poor on the street, fed on people of 400 years, and tormented an innocent woman for his own gain. The very least he could do was sacrifice to stop Gwi-ma. Also, this may have to do with the fact that throughout the whole film, he didn't have his soul. That may be a reason he acts the way he does, but still. Many people think that he and Rumi should've kissed, but no. They shouldn't. Not only does it make the scene more heartfelt, in my opinion, but Rumi has no real reason to. Maybe before he revealed his true nature, and she thought he was a flawed man, I could see it, but in truth, after his reveal, Rumi owed him nothing. He proved that he was like any other demon, maybe conflicted and more intelligent, but still a demon. While she may appreciate his sacrifice and death, she doesn't owe him anything.

I think people think so highly of the two of them together because of how the movie shows them together. They make them out to be the only people who understand each other, and they can change the world if they work together. Firstly, they don't understand each other, and they wouldn't have changed anything because of that. Rumi doesn't understand Jinu because he lied to her. Jinu doesn't understand Rumi because, similar to Celine, he doesn't see her human side, only the demon. The whole movie, he was trying to convince her that this is what they are, what they are destined to be, but they are entirely different. Rumi was born with demon marks. She didn't do anything to gain them; she simply had them. They were and are a part of her. Jinu, on the other hand, did something to get them. He was selfish and was punished for it. He doesn't see Rumi as what she is, a woman who happens to be part demon; he sees her as a demon woman. He can't understand Rumi, because her doesn't know her and he doesn't try to see past something she had no control over. The movie unfortunately makes it seem like they just get each other, with things like Free (Which is truly hilarious as Jinu quite literally lied to her, and that whole song means nothing since he didn't tell her the truth of his own accord).

I think what people should be focusing on instead of Rujinu, is HUNTR/X.

Whether platonic or romantic, the three girls have a way more impactful and caring story and relationship than Rujinu ever could. From the start of the movie, it is clearly shown that the three of them are synced. From the way they move flawlessly together in battle to the way they formulate songs, they are linked. Through the movies, Zoey and Mira both try to include Rumi in things such as couch time or the bathhouse despite her previous refusal. They actively enjoy being around her, and even when she disrupts their brief rest, they don't seem all too upset. When at the doctors, they all agree with what he's saying, understanding each other fundamentally. When Jinu pushed Rumi over and didn't help her, both Zoey and Mira stopped drooling over the Saja Boys and backed her. They are there for her when they think something is wrong, and even when they were arguing, they were still concerned. When they all sat to talk out their feelings, they listened and expressed themselves openly, and were encouraging when Rumi made it clear why she didn't want to sing Takedown.

When they realize Rumi is vulnerable, alone on stage, they immediately try to rush to her aid. When Rumi's marks are revealed, they aren't angry that she's a demon; they're upset that she didn't tell them, that she's actively been lying to them. For two people who have been trained to hate and kill demons, they don't attack, even when they raise their weapons. It seems more like an action done out of instinctual confusion rather than malice. They don't even chase after her when she runs, they just slump in hurt and shock.

Gwi-ma gets hold of them, not because they are angry, but because they are hurt, confused, and separated. Mira thinks she's lost a piece of her family and immediately goes to blame herself. Zoey thinks somehow she wasn't enough to keep them together, and she falls into despair. It's only after she loses everyone she thought was on her side (Specifically Zoey and Mira) is when Rumi goes to Celine.

What I think is really important about Celine's reaction to Rumi is how it contrasts Zoey and Mira's reaction. Where Celine thinks Rumi should hide, her friends want her whole truth. Where Celine can't look, her friends embrace her happily. To show that the very woman who raised Rumi couldn't see past her heritage, to two girls Rumi happened to grow close with, brush past it as if it was nothing, is impactful.

When Rumi comes to the stadium, Zoey and Mira both immediately snap out of their trance after hearing her. By this point, they still had no clue if they could trust her, yet they without hesitation walked through the crowd to her and exposed their souls, to which Rumi did the same (You can tell by the blue lights in their chest, that soon after happens to Rumi right before the World War Z demons attack). Despite having no information about Rumi being a demon, they look past that. Zoey and Mira are the only people to SEE Rumi. They see her as she is: Smart, sweet, energetic, confident, and reliable. They don't just view her as her individual parts. They fully trust her.

After all this, they do normal things. Going to bathhouses, doing nothing on couches, crying about how happy they are that none of them died in a bathhouse. Zoey, who is extremely affectionate, doesn't change her ways. She still touches Rumi even after her marks are shown. They both don't show disgust or plain ignorance to who she is, like Celine and Jinu do, they embrace her to her fullest.

Yeah, this is the end of my very long rant. I just feel like I had to get that out. I don't want to shame anyone for shipping Rujinu, but I just feel like everyone brushes past all the bad he did just to make them a couple. It degrades Rumi, and that's not nice. Be better, be GOLDEN.

Ted talk done :)

[moonyvvamp]

I've seen quite a bit of discourse over the girls' sexualities and my two cents for Rumi? She's on the ace spectrum if y'all want my two cents.

Rumi doesn't show half as much interest in boys as Mira and Zoey. The only person she has some kind of response to in the male side of things is Jinu and even then there's no proper mention of her being solely interested in his looks. What she's into is the archetype of the male lead. Him appearing from behind his friends looking fresh. Him helping her when she's in trouble.

Rumi doesn't want Jinu because he's a dude she likes him because he helps her, because he's someone who understands her. She literally does a whole song about how she feels that they can help each other be better.

That's what Rumi is into. Emotional connection. Whatever bit she is attracted to his looks doesn't discredit her being very ace-spec coded. Polytrix doesn't discredit that either. Because the girls have such a deep connection with each other.

Rumi's basic need is to be loved, she hardly cares whether it's Jinu or Celine or the girls. She wants all of them to love and accept her. Yeah I clocked how after Jinu pushed her away she immediately went to Celine.

It was because her first choice, the girls, the family she found for herself didn't accept her. That was what part of all of this was about wasn't it? Fixing herself so the girls wouldn't hate her, so they could be the perfect trio together.

Jinu and Rumi sweet as it is isn't my otp for a lot of reasons. But one of the main things is that Jinu was the product of Rumi concealing herself, she only went to him because she had no one else to relate to or felt like that. The girls themselves would have understood, the reason they uphold such strong believes is in huge part thanks to what Rumi preaches. I'm sure if they were given the opportunity to just venture out and understand demons they would have understood Gwi-ma's bs.

Anyways my point it Jinu spent majority of the movie manipulating her and lying to her and I would rather see that man actually do something with himself other than bring down a baddie polycule. (Not Jinu hate he's funny af but I just like my girls better)

Rumi's allowed to just be queer too, just because she likes certain people doesn't mean she immediately needs to be boxed in. She can have liked Jinu and then be into girls romantically, it's all possible.

[bitofanupsidedowner]

the thing i love about them basically debuting will's new look with this specific picture is. i mean. look at it. they're framing him so specifically. they clearly took a lot of care with the angling, the outfit, the lighting, the whole aura. they made sure he looked handsome. THE DUDE HAS A GOLDEN GLOW.

like.... c'mon. when they showed gaten's season five look it was not given all this pizazz. do u know what i'm going for here? they didn't even do that with everybody's favourite puppy dog steve harrington. papa netflix's favourite pumpkin pie didn't get the golden glow. william byers got the glow. okay.

they didn't just want to give him a new outfit, the audience is supposed to have a new perspective. the aim is for it to feel like a transformation. this is not his "gets rejected and is really sad about it" look. this is a "gets the man" look.

he was already canonically attracting attention in season four, but his costuming was simplistic with an emphasis on making noah look youthful - we were told how he looks by other character's reactions to him more than anything the framing was doing.

this definitely feels like they wanted his s5 look to read as lead character with a romantic plotline energy. we're supposed to be taking will seriously both when it comes to the plot and romantically. season five he's "growing into himself as a man" or whatever? yeah. he's smooching a dude on the mouth absolutely. mike wheeler get ready

he had a hard time handling him at the airport he's literally Not prepared for this.

[izadi234]

A/N: Hello! I know I KNOW I said I would post the next chapter of Forget me not BUT! My sister got me obssed with Kpop Demon Hunters, and since its release, I've been down bad for every single character from that movie ever since so here is one of my ideas!

Famous Producer! Reader (Romantic) x Kpop Demon Hunters

Bodyguard! Father! Reader (Platonic) x Kpop Demon Hunters (kind of)

This small draft is about Huntr/x and I'm planning to write one about the Saja Boys in this same storyline.

Imagine you being a famous producer. You've been working with tons of famous idols, from groups to solo idols, but the ones that were your favorite and the cherry on the top for your career were Huntr/x.

And no, you didn't meet them just because. You see, the girls need new ideas not only for songs or dances but to advertise and produce their songs at the beginning of their career and despite having the old producers from the 'Sunlight Sisters' their ideas were... old, and they didn't get the ideas that Huntr/x had in their minds.

That's when your father came in. He was a bodyguard, specifically the 'Sunlight Sisters' bodyguard and later on Huntr/x's. He saw how his girls struggled with explaining their ideas to the old producers, so he gave them your number, and after a lot of things about it, they told Bobby to schedule an appointment with you.

At first, you didn't think too much when you saw the email of this guy named Bobby and just decided to give it a shot because of the name of the group, which you found cool.

But your jaw dropped when you recognized the girls or, specifically, the girl.

Rumi. Kpop royalty. She was at your door with two of her friends. And she wanted you to produce their first song. Yeah, you.

You were a bundle of nerves, and to be honest, you made a fool of yourself in front of them. Just a bit. But they found that very cute.

"So... You're (Name), right?" Rumi asked kindly as she smiled at you

Meanwhile, you were staring at her and her friends as if you've never seen someone like them, but her voice pulled you back to earth.

"I uh... Sorry, what was the question?" You chuckled nervously

They couldn't think of you as more than a cute and a bit awkward producer but damn weren't their jaws down to the floor when you started working.

Your face changed immediately. Your eyes were focused, and your lips were in a fine line as they explained to your their song and ideas. They waited for you to interrupt them once you got confused but that never happened.

Once they finished explaining themselves, you started giving them some ideas and suggestions, leaving them completely surprised that you had understood their vision.

"We know there is a lot we are asking for, so it would be valid if you had doubts or didn't understand at all" Zoey said, a bit embarrassed, not by their ideas but the complexity and how she thought none of them could explain themselves

"Oh no. I understood," you assured her."So basically, what you want is..."

Yeah, and you proceed to explain exactly what they all wanted for their song and it's production.

Ever since that day you became their producer and friend... Well, at least that's what you call them, for them you were more than a friend.

But it wasn't only your personality or work that pulled them towards you. You had something special, something that made the moon honmoon around you react differently.

Around you, the honmoon was yellow, a very chirpy and happy yellow, but you never seemed to notice it, or if you knew it, then you never paid mind to it.

For our 3 hunters, it was fascinating and scary. Maybe you were hurting their honmoon without knowing, or maybe you knew about it but didn't know what to do about it. They were sure that you weren't doing it on purpose as they didn't feel tense around you but didn't know what to do.

That's when they went to Celine. She was impressed and excited which left the girls confused but then she explained herself.

"As you may know, yellow is one of the 5 principal colors of Korea. It represents fertility and abundance, but many years ago, it represented high status and wisdom. Ever since the first hunters appeared, there's been a few people who presented this kind of color with the honmoon. Those people had an ability that was believed given by the gods so they could help fight evil. They're gifted with powerful minds full of emotions and creativity, which later one was discovered could help the hunters write and perform their songs better and give the honmoon more strength. Not every generation was lucky enough to meet one of these 'shooting stars' as they called them, but the three of you must be the luckiest of all. Now that you're so close to seal the golden honmoon, this shooting star appears right in front of you. Let them help you, but don't tell them anything. They may get scared and don't understand our duty as hunters"

And that's how your friendship began.

Meanwhile, your father was happy that you had found some friends in those girls (even though he noticed the way the three of them looked at you or how they asked about you) and to be honest he would be more than happy to see you with them in a more romantic relationship but that was your decision to make.

"Hey F/N (Father's Name)! Have you seen (Name)? I wanted her opinion about some lyrics" Zoey said as she walked into a room where your father was resting and talking with Bobby

"Oh. They must be at their apartment" he said

"Really? Oh, well. And do they like jajangmyeon?"

"What does that have to do with checking some lyrics?" He asked her

"..."

"Zoey..."

Before anything else happened, Zoey ran away like a little child that had been caught painting the walls.

----------------------------------------------------

"Hey F/N! Bobby!" he heard Rumi's voice behind both men that were discussing the girls' schedule for the day

"Rumi" F/N greeted her with a small nod while Bobby greeted her with more energy

"I've been wondering... Is (Name) coming to our show tonight?" She asked a bit nervous

"I don't know. I guess so" he looked at herwith his eyes half open in a suspicious way

"Why?"

"I-I I was just wondering, that's all" she said nervous

"Yeah... right..." he didn't believe her

"And... are they free after the show?"

"Rumi!"

Then the girl ran off

----------------------------------------------------

"Hey F/N" Mira greeted him as he was checking the security points of a stadium where the girls were going to preform

"Yes, Mira?" He turned to look at her

"Which is (Name)'s favorite color?"

"I uh... it's f/c" he answered a bit, confused by her question

"Really? Thanks!" She turned around and ran towards backstage again

"Girls, I know her favorite color!" He heard her shout at the other two hunters

"Really? Awesome!" Some other voices could be heard from the backstage

"Wait Mira!" He called out for her

"Why do you wanna know their favorite color?! Mira!"

Yeah... Your father was a bit overprotective over you, but hey! He was your father. He had a valid reason.

But he still trusted those girls as he had seen them grown over the last years.

Everything was perfect for them. The honmoon was about to turn golden. You were by their side supporting them, oblivious about the risks they face every day and the importance of the songs you help to write and produce. F/N and Bobby were also by their sides and the fans adored them.

Nothing could go wrong, right?

Well, everything went downhill when a new boy band was forming at the Underworld.

Hello! I hope you like this small writing because I had fun writing it and I have more ideas! Still I would like to see if you had any ideas or something like that or even requests!

Anyway thank you so much and see you in the next one!

XOXO

-Izadi

[baigepueckers]

Nika Mühl X Reader

Red, White and Yours

The scent of smoke from the grill drifts across the yard, mixing with the smell of sunscreen and citronella candles. Your aunt is chopping watermelon on the deck. Your cousins are halfway into the lake, screaming every time someone pushes someone else off the dock. And Nika is sitting on a lawn chair in your mom’s oversized hoodie, sipping out of a red plastic cup and taking in everything.

She looks a little overwhelmed, and a lot beautiful.

You wander over with two sparklers in hand, crouching beside her. “You okay?”

She turns to you, smiling. “Yeah. Just… this is chaos. But, like… happy chaos.”

You laugh, handing her a sparkler. “You’re surviving your first Fourth of July.”

“I feel like I should be taking notes,” she says, lips quirking as she watches your brother flip burgers on the grill, your grandpa complain about the music being “too modern,” and your niece running around with paint on her face and no shoes.

“This is the good stuff,” you murmur, lighting her sparkler for her. The sparks dance in front of her face, catching the shine in her eyes.

She watches the flame like it’s magic. “We don’t have this in Croatia. Not like this. Our holidays are quieter. Fewer hamburgers.”

You sit on the grass in front of her and lean back against her legs, tilting your head up so you can see her face clearly. “Yeah, well… this one’s loud and full of sugar and flags. But it’s better this year. ’Cause you’re here.”

She puts her cup down, rests both hands on your shoulders, and smiles at you in that quietly affectionate way she always does when it’s just the two of you. “You’re sweet when you’re surrounded by your family.”

“I’m sweet all the time,” you argue.

She bends down and kisses your forehead. “You’re sweet and dramatic. A rare combination.”

Later, the sun dips low, painting the lake orange and pink. The grill cools down. Someone puts on an old playlist from your dad’s phone…Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, a little bit of Shania Twain when your mom takes control. People are starting to settle into chairs with blankets.

You and Nika sneak away, walking barefoot down the dock with a mason jar of strawberries and two beers your stole from your uncle’s cooler.

She swings your intertwined hands gently as you walk, staring at the sky. “You can really see the stars out here.”

“Yeah. Light pollution’s basically nonexistent.”

She glances sideways. “You’re such a nerd.”

“And yet, you’re in love with me,” you shoot back.

She stops at the end of the dock and pulls you into her chest, resting her chin on top of your head. “Yeah. I am.”

Your heart stutters, just a little, even after all this time.

When the first firework cracks the sky open, you’re lying on a blanket in the grass with your head on her stomach. Your family cheers and whoops behind you, but you and Nika are still.

The sky flashes red, then gold, then green.

She runs her fingers through your hair.

“They’re so bright.” she says quietly.

“You like them?”

“I like the way you watch them.”

You turn to face her, half lidded with warmth. “You’re kinda cheesy.”

She shrugs. “It’s the American influence.”

Then she kisses you. Soft at first, then a little deeper as another firework goes off above you, lighting your faces in flashes. She tastes like beer and sugar, her fingers are cold from holding her drink, but her touch on your skin is steady.

When she pulls back, her voice is gentle. “Do I pass the family holiday test?”

You nudge her nose with yours. “Flying colors.”

“Even your grandma?”

“Especially my grandma. She said you have ‘good European posture.’ I think that was her way of saying you’re hot.”

Nika laughs into your neck, and you close your eyes, wrapped in her warmth, the distant pops of fireworks, and the smell of lake water and summer.

You’re not sure who kisses who again, but you know that when the final firework blooms in the sky, you’re in her arms, and everything feels still…even with the world bursting above you.

[creepykuroneko]

A lot of people in the notes keep complaining that it's okay to have adult content that does not contain explicit sex scenes. I feel like they are 100% missing the whole point of this post.

Its true no piece of media NEEDS to have a sex scene in it, but if you know anything about conservative Puritan societies, you would be rooting for the sex scenes.

The LIE "we're protecting children" is the excuse used to beat down anyone and anything that doesn't fit into nice clean white, middle class, abled body, cishet, Christian values.

If you have not seen the documentary this film is not yet rated, I highly recommend doing so. It talks about Hollywood's double standards and hypocrisy when it comes to what type of violence and sex is considered acceptable in movies and what is not. Men masturbating on screen completely acceptable. Women masturbating on the screen unacceptable. Men having an orgasm on the camera a okay but a woman having an orgasm on the camera is a no no. Women being raped, beaten, tortured, and murdered is okay. Women having lesbian sex is not.

This horror movie is about a teenage girl who after being let down one too many times by society, starts to kill her rapists one by one? "Can't have that! It's too violent! How is that child appropriate?"

Don't even get me started on the fact that homophobes assume that being gay automatically makes you a sexual deviant. It doesn't matter if a movie/show has zero sex scenes in it, no "crude" or "offensive" humor, if there is a queer couple in it, that's basically an orgy in the eyes of conservatives. Andi Mack anyone? Bluey? I remember in a interview with Alex Hirsch, he talked about how in the Gravity Falls episode Love God, he originally wanted two elderly women to fall in love with each other, but the censors said absolutely not.

Movies that show black joy, black couples having a happy, intimate, romantic, sexual relationship are often put on the back burner. Keep in mind with how little representation Hollywood gives black voices, especially ones that are not harmful stereotypes, it's important for black people to see themselves represented in the media as being happy. Then you also have to acknowledge the fact that when black people make black movies for black audience, they get terrible funding, little to no advertising, and limited run in theaters. Regardless of if a black movie is meant to discuss social issues or it's just the campy movie that happens to star a all black cast, many non black people assume it's automatically political because its made by black people and feel that it would not be a all age is appropriate movie. Despite the fact that they know nothing about the movie and the reality that kids need to be taught about everything. We already know that children in elementary school already start to experience racism from their peers. So I assure you, watching racially diverse films it's the least of society's problem.

Horror is my absolute favorite genre. I'm not saying it's never problematic or you can't criticize it, there are movies that definitely deserve criticism. Sorry, stay with me here I'm about to break this down into two topics.

Horror is good for children. It helps give children a safe contained space to explore different issues, scenarios, and topics that can really help get the critical thinking going. A child reading a book about another child who gets kidnapped and is able to escape from their kidnapper because they figured out how to free themselves is actually good information. It's easy to laugh it off as it's not real life but let's be honest, we know that bad things happen in the real world all the time. Think about how many conservatives get angry when sex ed in schools is brought up because they think it's inappropriate for children to learn? They also don't like media that specifically gets into consent. It's because a lot of them turn out to be pedos themselves. They don't want the children they are abusing to catch on that they need to tell another adult about it.

Horror is the only genre I can think of that features the most physically and mentally diverse characters out there. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that the plots are usually ableist. Going back to some constructive criticism needs to be had. At the same time though I can think of over a dozen horror movies off the top of my head with real disabled actors in them. How many movies can you think off the top of your head that are not under the horror genre that feature disabled characters? The 1930 film freaks, features a cast of disabled characters. The film was banned for decades because it was considered "grotesque". When American Horror Story freak Show came out, it was very heavily influenced by Freaks. There's some really good interviews with the cast about how they don't find being called a freak offensive. They explained their disabilities, what their life is like, and what they want people to know about them. Despite the title, the cast is very open about sharing their voice and being open with their disabilities. You also have iconic horror actor like Javier Botet who is very open about the fact that he has Marfan syndrome. Botet does not necessarily do child friendly horror but a lot of kids do see his horror movies and love him. Oftentimes when I speak with families of a child with Marfan syndrome, Botet is the first real world example of a famous person with the same condition as the children. It absolutely makes children happy to see that their favorite monster on screen has the same disability as them. Granted this is not true for everyone with Marfan syndrome. I have met people with Marfan syndrome who hate the horror genre and that is okay. Have also met other people with marfan syndrome who love horror films and love seeing actors with the same disability as them.

Child media is so heavily censored as it is. Adult media does not need to be handled with kid gloves as well. Children should not be watching cocomelon because we already know it rots their brains, adults really don't need to be fed cocomelon-esque type of slop. Sorry/not sorry for going on a long rant there. We need diverse stories with diverse characters in them. Adults deserve to have good media that yeah touches on issues that make SOME people uncomfortable. To the person who experiences discomfort watching certain types of media, what exactly is it that makes you uncomfortable? If it's a burry your gays Trope or poc, disabled, and women's lives are disposable while the white man lives I can understand disappointment at seeing your life devalued time and again. If you are outrage though because we got to see the actresses nipple, the rapist priest got decapitated, a group of Native Americans are killing the group of white zombies who are trying to kill them, the white abled body cishet man is the only character to die, or God forbid we should see a black woman kissing an Asian woman, then you need to sit in the corner and unpack that.

hot take possibly? but i actually think it’s okay for things to be marketed for adults. it’s literally okay if things aren’t suitable for children. i feel like we are losing the plot

[dammit-tazmuir]

Something I want at least all my followers to understand is that I LOVE basically every character in this series. Like, barring nameless background characters with one or two lines, and I love even some of those (Seventh lieutenant from the beginning of HtN my baby...), the worst thing I feel about ANYONE is just not having strong feelings about them, likely "yet".

I am so interested in every single OG Lyctor and disciple; the one I have the least thoughts/feelings about yet is Samael and I'm still very curious about Samael. I adore Augustine. I adore Gideon the First. Cris and Alfred make me feral.

I don't "love to hate" John Gaius as such a good villain, I just love John Gaius. So so much. This does not require me to excuse his actions. Saying "let's not exaggerate the things he did to be even worse or blame him for extra stuff he didn't do, he already sucks" isn't denying that he sucks. I just Still Love Him.

Paul isn't a tragedy and a consolation prize to me. I find them deeply comforting and am beyond excited to get to see more of them.

I don't have strong feelings about Born or Ruby or Kevin just because they get a lot less individual focus, but I care about them and the group as a whole. I love Honesty and especially Hot Sauce. I love Joli.

I love Marta. Isaac and Jeanne. Matthias. Juno. We Suffer. All the characters we had very little time to get to know.

I LOVE SILAS he is a good baby whose worst crime was being kind of a dick and trusting what the adults in his life told him. He inarguably caused his own and Colum's deaths, but also he made one really bad decision in the name of trying to enact justice against someone who very much did just kill and eat her cavalier. I also love Colum and he did not deserve such a horrific fate.

Crux is a horrible horrible person and "love" might be a push for him but his "fuck you and fuck God, my loyalty is to MY child" did earn my respect, like damn o-fucking-kay I guess!!

I love Ianthe, and I love Corona, and I think they've both horribly fucked each other up their whole lives, and I don't think there's any reason to take sides about that. You don't need to extra vilify Corona to create more sympathy for Ianthe or vice versa. It just sucks for everyone and also they're both delightful wonderful characters.

And who even cares about Babs? WELL. I DO ACTUALLY. The longer I've been here and the more I've thought about all the little things, in the Cohort Intelligence Files, in The Unwanted Guest, etc. The ways he and Gideon are such foils actually. Like, even Palamedes says it; he's an unpleasant person, but he didn't deserve this. And since when is being a stuck-up prick a deal-breaker in this fandom?? When we love Ianthe?? Ianthe who we saw frankly very little of before she was influenced by Babs via permeability of the soul?? Like. No you know what? I do like Babs. He's a grumpy arrogant little prick who absolutely deserves to be bullied a little but he's also pathetic and tragic and made his life a monument of devotion as much or more than Gideon did.

Gideon came around at the end and I am not in any way downplaying her sacrifice. I'm just saying by contrast Babs molded himself slowly his whole life; "he had to be the perfect cavalier, so he became the perfect cavalier." I honestly think if they'd told him what they were planning, he'd have been scared and pissed and tried to get away, but all it would have taken was Corona grabbing him and holding him in place to make him listen for a few minutes as they talked him down before he would have submitted willingly, as much as he did for any time Ianthe used his body for fuel. What else did he even have to live for? He was bred to be a resource nearly as much as Colum was, he just got a nicer cage and a longer leash about it.

Like I'm not kidding when I say Nona is by far the most relatable thing I've ever seen in my life. I LOVE EVERYONE. SO MUCH. And if I don't yet give me one afternoon of thinking too hard about them or one whole page more info on them when AtN drops and you can bet I'll get there.

[deikshen]

I think about the absolute chaos that would entail if Shen Yuan were an omega in his modern omegaverse world—then transmigrated into PIDW, where the omegaverse doesn't exist! That's not real!

But Shen Yuan doesn't even notice it in the first place because:

a) Cultivators have highly developed senses. Not only better hearing and sight, but also a better sense of smell – even though everyone smells different, it’s still a sensorially charged world for him!

b) Even if he don't have glands, he STILL have his own personal scent. Like everyone else. It's just that with his more developed cultivator senses, he's able to sense and differentiate them– Plus he's gotten used to doing it quickly because he was mentally accustomed to it in his old life!

c) There are a lot of weird timed herbs out there (from Shen Jiu to control his erratic qi and help him not have strong deviations) and the now Shen Qingqiu just assumes: Oh well, these are the suppressants, it's okay.

d) His ducklings continue to awaken all his protective instincts. He's clearly an omega, even though Shen Qingqiu is, because there's no other way he can be so damn maternal to all of them!!!

So Shen Qingqiu continues doing things from his old omega life: nesting, stuffing himself with herbs to avoid disastrous hormones– He understands that because the original goods have such a bad relationship with the other peak lords no one gives him things to nest in like his family did. But that's okay! He gets things from his disciples, especially from his sweet little sheep Binghe.

– even Binghe no longer takes apart his nests after he scolded him a lot and made him run around the peak for taking it apart and putting it in the wash! Bad Binghe! The nests are important and must not be touched!

(Although he feels a little bad; after all, the washerwoman who adopted Binghe was beta, it makes sense that Binghe doesn't know – but he also doesn't have time to explain it afterwards because he just forgets.)

And basically: Shen Qingqiu goes through his life completely believing he's an omega. He still is. Nothing has changed. When he is poisoned with Without-a-Cure, he only talks about "herbs" to Mu Qingfang, he shows him the ones he's been using (he doesn't know their names) and Mu Qingfang simply supplies him without asking. Which is great! Shen Qingqiu doesn't experience any annoying heat and everything works perfectly! How great xianxia medicine!

... I honestly think this silly guy would fool himself that he's an omega until he realizes he doesn't have a self-lubricating hole lol king of denial in everything, we love you

[snapscube]

hi penny!! since you have a switch 2, would you say that the new pro controller is worth getting instead of just getting a switch 1 pro controller? my current pro controllers are really starting to show their age but i'm not sure how i should go about replacing them since i could be getting a switch 2 later this year and i'm not sure about whatever differences the controllers might have

personally, if you are already likely to get a switch 2 AND likely to get a new controller on top of that, right now you can't do much better than the switch 2 pro controller. but with a couple caveats. it's more expensive than the original pro, for one, and right now compatibility for basically anything out of using it WITH the Switch 2 itself is nonexistent-to-spotty at best. it doesn't work w Switch 1, and there are ways to get it working on PC wired but its kinda buggy and theres still zero wireless compatibility. i assume this will be solved in due time but right now if you get a Switch 2 pro controller u need to be expecting to ONLY use it with Switch 2.

however, all that aside, it is a FANTASTIC controller. specifically and especially to use with Switch 2. i would say it is... nearly essential if you don't already have a pro controller option. but even if you do, there's a lot it does better. the sticks are so unbelievably smooth to rotate and they are QUIET. it's the kind of thing that's really hard to stress until someone has it in their hands for real, but believe me when i say the whole "smooth gliding" marketing talk was not bullshit. these are some of the most friction-free sticks i have ever felt. on top of that the back buttons are EXTREMELY nice. if you don't plan to use them, they dont get in the way because they are flush with the back of the controller handles AND they are entirely unmapped by default so the only way an accidental press would mess you up is if you had already gone out of your way to map them. they dont do anything unless you set them up to. otherwise, they are like fun stim buttons that are right where your fingers rest haha. and when you DO map the buttons, it is on a per game basis. which maybe doesn't sound huge, but it really is a huge deal imo. every single game has the buttons blank by default, and if i wanted i could have the GL button operate as, say, the A button in Ace Attorney while having it be the B button in Mario Odyssey. and everything automatically saves per-game and you never have to manually switch profiles or anything like that. the ONLY OTHER platform that has ever had that level of customization and convenience across games is Steam Input. it works this way with both Switch 2 and Switch 1 games alike, so it's not a Switch 2 Edition exclusive feature. i have been playing through TGAA on switch 2 and i literally do just have the left back button set to A so i can progress dialogue while holding the controller with one hand, it's so nice.

the ergonomics and build quality of the controller are also fantastic. the entire thing is made of this wonderful smooth plastic that feels so nice in the hand. and the grip shape is literally perfect imo. feels like it just melts into my hands. it definitely feels premium, the rubber on the analog sticks also feels great imo. i think the only joystick cap i've used that i prefer are on the 8bitdo Ultimate 2. something about the material they use for those is just so nice to me i will often just rub my thumbs across it just to feel the texture.

anyway yeah! it's an extremely easy to recommend controller IF price and present-day compatibility are not a huge turn off for you. like i said, if you're already planning on replacing your switch controllers once you get your hands on a Switch 2 it's a no-brainer imo. at least until some REALLY compelling third party options that match the feature set come onto the market. which, of course, i have my eyes on every day and will gladly gush about when the time comes.

[aetherograph]

They did not teach you how to open a book, not after No Child Left Behind. I'm not disagreeing that we have all these things; I myself am a person who does search wikipedia and all that. But it really is so bad here that nobody gets taught to actually INQUIRE or READ; and it's worse for anyone born in the 21st century due to policies enacted by the Bush Administration that cut funding for programs that taught children how to like reading and how to read at all. Public school here ALREADY basically beats curiosity out of people and makes them passive and scared of learning anything that isn't given to them by an authority.

All of that abuse results in adults that get defensive when told they should look something up themselves, that other people in other countries aren't their teachers. Which doesn't excuse it, but I'm just trying to explain why that is so common.

Sources:

How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers | At a Loss for Words | APM Reports

Reading vs. Guessing – Rooted in Language

Reading Tools That Don't Work: Guessing - Lexercise

Why Most Beginning Readers Are Taught To Guess At Words—And How That Holds Them Back

"No Child Left Behind," George Bush Blamed For "Reading Rainbow" End | Larry King Now | Ora TV - YouTube

If You Aren't From the US You Can Stop Reading Here.

The above is not an excuse, my fellow Americans; this is just an explanation. You are an adult and it is your job to undo the abuse the public school gave you. You have to work hard and it sucks to clean up messes inside yourself that other people put there. But you gotta.

The things you need to learn are:

That you are allowed to learn by yourself.

2. That being curious and inquisitive is not bad and sinful, it's good and normal and human.

3. How to find information, and how to check up on whether that information is true. Sometimes college has a course that teaches this, but sometimes you gotta learn it by yourself. Do not search Google for information, go directly to wikipedia and after you're done with the article, go through the sources and read those articles, and look up books at your library or on archive.org.

4. Look up things you THINK you know already, even words you think you know the meaning of. Just habitually check on your knowledge.

5. If you are in your twenties, you probably do not know how to read. That's not your fault so you should not feel shame--the people who should feel shame are the adults that failed you! But you DO need to work on phonics and not simply guess at words. Go to your local library and ask the librarians if they have anything that can help you with literacy. Do not speed read. Take your time and look properly at every word. Reading aloud is normal; silent reading is actually a pretty recent thing. Sound words out. Look them up in the dictionary.

6. Go on google maps and explore the world! Click on stuff, it usually has information and a link to a wikipedia article on that location (if it has one).

7. Your experience of the world--all of it, from what 'good' means to school to weather to how anything works--is not universal.

8. Please ask a librarian or teacher about McGraw-Hill SRA Reading Labs and Hooked on Phonics.

9. Pick up a paper book instead of reading on your phone.

10. Here's a show that can help with reading comprehension, phonics, fear of big words, and more advanced stuff like that. I learned a lot from it as an adult:

we need to legalise learning for adults

[date-everything-has-taken-over]

Hi! Hi

Can i please get part two of sick reader with Mac, Skips(my boy deserves so much) Curt and rod, Lux and Amir and Mateo

This time with a reader who owns a restaurant and cafe shop (works there sometimes) and one day the reader got sick and literally pass out on the door and was sick in bed for about 3 days!

If it's not much a trouble thank you!!

Kittyyyy❤️❤️❤️ (def not too much trouble btw)

(Can you tell who my favorite is?👉👈)

After you had lost your job at Valdivian, you had decided to go back to the café your parents left to you. Turns out it needed a bit (a lot) of tlc, so you ended up throwing yourself into running the café. Unfortunately, as the café had been closed for a while, there weren't any employees yet, and you weren't able to get many on short notice, so you decided to take most of the workload until you could get someone to run the place.

It took a bit longer than you thought it would...

Mac🖥

●They're happy to help you with research and ordering what you need when you first take over the café

●They also offer advice and look for better deals online when you order supplies

●They miss you once you start spending more and more time at the café

●They're pretty worried when you come home looking more and more tired

"While I find all your hard work admirable, are you sure you don't need to rest? I have some charming cat videos you may find enjoyable"

●Mac is more subtle when trying to get you to take a break. They most likely won't straight up tell you "you're working too hard, you need to rest"

●When you come home, barely awake, They're even more worried

●When you stay up all night, going through expenses, doing payroll, ect, they "crash" so you end up going to bed

●They feel bad for lying to you, but it's the only thing they can think to get you to rest

●When it finally happens and you come home only to pass out in the front room, they panic

●While you're bedridden, they're worried sick

●Since they have basically all knowledge on the internet, they're using a bunch of home remedies to help you

●Helps you send out emails to your employees that you'll be gone but won't let you do any more work so you can recover

●They'll can't do much since the computer is downstairs, but they're happy to chat with you

●When you start feeling better enough to interface with ur cutie, they still focus more on cute videos and fun, but they still won't let you work

●Once you've fully recovered and go back to the café they suggest you hire someone to help run the café so you're not doing everything alone (very grateful when you tell them you're already looking for someone)

Skips🖤

●He notices when he sees you awake from late at night to early in the morning (sometimes not sleeping at all)

●He doesn't think much of it at first. Maybe you're just basking in the glory of the darkness

●But when you start looking more and more exhausted, he starts worrying

"My penumbra, perhaps a respite is nessacary for you to regain some much needed energy"

●Unfortunately, his request is mostly ignored, so when you come home and pass out, he feels pretty bad

●He knows it's not his fault, but he can't help but feel like he should have done more to dissuade you from working so hard

●While stuck in bed, he keeps you company as you play the ultimate strategic game of darkness tic-tac-toe

●If you're the "moving at all hurts" type of sick, you can just tell him where to put the O (he's always X)

●He let's you win

●If you can't sleep at night, he'll keep you company while trying to help you sleep

●Teddy will also help with stories, and Skips is unwilling to admit he enjoys Teddys stories because it's "not befitting of a dark lord like himself"

●When you start feeling a little better, he distracts you with games, so you continue to rest

"My Penumbra, now that you're feeling a little better... wanna play Minecraft?" (That man owns a Minecraft hoodie I KNOW IT)

●You played for a while until sleep started to take hold of you. He's finishing his house until he feels a weight on his shoulder. You had fallen asleep on his shoulder. A slight yellow blush spreads across his face, and he exits the game and turns off Telly. Skips stays still. Not wanting to disturb his sleep. You shift slightly in your sleep, subconsciously leaning closer to him. The blush worsens, and he hesitantly places a hand softly on your head, trying to keep you from falling.

●Skips realizes it'd probably be pretty uncomfortable to sleep that way all night, so he slowly takes your sleeping body in his arms and carries you to bed

●Betty watches with a knowing smile as he tucks you into bed, kisses your head, and sits at the side of your bed

●He wasn't sure if you would be comfortable sleeping by his side (too awkward to have everything asked), so he falls asleep at the side of your bed while still holding your hand.

●You wake up the next morning, feeling much better. You look down to see Skips, who had fallen asleep on the floor, his head lying at the side of the bed and your hand still in his soft grasp.

●Feeling someone's gaze on him, Skips stirs awake to look up at you. Realizing he fell asleep with you, his face turns a bright yellow, and he averts his gaze

"G-Good morning, my penumbra. I hope you're feeling alright. " his voice is soft, much softer than the voice he tends to put on.

"My god, you're adorable"

Skips's face explodes in a bright yellow blush, and he lays his face down on the bed, hiding his flustered face.

"I-I support your uh... felling b-better?" Clearly, if you were well enough to tease him like this, you were feeling better

●When you return to work, he's asks you multiple times if you're sure you're better, if you have more help around the café

●Relieved when you tell him you found a couple of people who can take most of your workload

Curt and Rod

●I'm gonna be real the first time you came home looking tired they shaded you pretty good

●When they realize you're actually pretty drained, they change the subject and try to get you to people watch with them

●They don't direct any jokes at you for the time being

"You feelin alright?" "Ya, you're lookin kinda...tired

Curt elbows Rod "I mean, uh... don't work too hard, okay?"

●They urge you to vent about any people at work who give you trouble, wanting to distract you and make you laugh as they roast the hell out of people at work that bother you

"I mean, what's so hard to understand about store hours?". "Maybe they think hours are optional," Rod chimes in

● I don't think they realized it was serious until you came home and passed out

●They ran to you immediately, Curt catching you before you hit the floor

●Curt takes you upstairs to bed while Rod runs to get Farya

●They keep you company while bedridden, telling you about the people that walked by your house

●They try to keep it lighthearted. They don't really know how to take care of a sick person, so all they can really do keep you from getting bored

●Thanks to them, you got to know all about how your neighbor a couple of houses down finally broke up with her cheating boyfriend (and about how he cried on her lawn for two hours)

●When you start feeling better, they help you look through the candidates applying to help run the café

●Brutal honestly, if there is a small problem with the resume, they are pointing it out

●They fully don't let you go back to work unless you have people to help run the café

Lux💡

●"Oh, honey, you're looking a little dull. You maybe wanna fix that?" They look through their pr packages. "I got this really good moisturize, like use it"

●Figured you were just having a bad day, so they tossed you the moisturizer and went back to streaming

●Then you come stumbling home and pass out in the living room

●Okay, now They feel bad. They come to visit you and realize you worked yourself way too hard

"Heeeey, Luxies, I'm gonna be signing off for a couple of days, but don't worry, I'll be back"

●They stay at your side to make up for not noticing something was wrong

●Tells you about the latest tea with other influencers and general online drama

●When you start feeling better, he helps you with your skin care routine

●He does full stalker style social media background checks on everyone that applied to run the café

Amir🪞

●Definitely notices right away

●He notices even the smallest chances in your appearance. So when you pull your first all-nighter, he can see the exhaustion in your eyes

● Okay, hear me out on this one. So basically, Scandalabra calls Amir your reflection, not your mirror. Therefore, I think he'd be able to kind of go to work with you. You may not have the dateviators, but as your reflection, he's able to keep an eye on you

●He can't actually do anything, much to his dismay, but he can at least see the level your overworking yourself

●"Eshgham, it breaks my heart to see you work yourself to death. You simply must allow yourself to rest"

●After getting home, he gently guides you upstairs

"I am sorry, but I can't allow this to go on any longer. You, my dear, are going to sleep"

●Amir's usually not a forceful person, but you can't but feel like there's really no room for arguments

●You do, in fact, rest that night. Unfortunately, that only delays the inevitable

●You eventually come home, barely coherent, and promptly pass out on the floor

●I think he'd be a little upset with you for not listening to him, but he's mostly worried about you

●You could be a pale, sweaty, and sick mess, but he'll still tell you how beautiful you are

●He'll stay by your side, brushing your hair so it's not too tangled when you get better

●When you start feeling better, he insists you stay in bed

"You must stay here, Azizam. It's important that you get your beauty rest, not that someone as yourself could get any more beautiful"

●Much like Mac, he doesn't let you leave until you have someone to help you run the Café

Mateo🐈

●Not only does he notice right away, but so do the inanimals

●The first thing he notices is that you're home a lot less, and when you are home, you're half asleep

●Normally, he loves it when you come to help out with the inanimals, but when you start looking more and more exhausted, he makes up excuses to have you rest (somehow the inanimals back this up)

"It's actually nap time for everyone now, so there's really not much for you to do"

As of on que, one of the tassel hounds flops over on your lap, preventing you from leaving

●He tries to keep a calming environment for you, but it can get pretty chaotic around the rescue

●When you come home after a particularly hard day, Mateo notices how sick you look. Davi gives you a careful sniff but reels back as you fall to the floor, unconscious

●The other inanimals swarm you, and Mateo has to pull them away so he can take you to Betty

●When he's not taking care of the inanimals, he's with you

●Most of the inanimals are pretty rowdy, so as much as they wanna see you, Mateo keeps most of them downstairs

●He's happy to tell you all about the shenanigans the inanimals get up to during the day

●Out of everyone him and Betty have the most calming aura

●When you start feeling better, he still encourages you to keep resting

"Mi vida, you really shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard. How about we just cuddle?"

A couple of the inanimals may or may not have squeezed their way in, now its more of a cuddle pile (not that either of you mind)

●When you're well enough to go to work, he worriedly waits for your return

●When you come back, he's at your side right away, taking you to Koa and draps a blanket over you (and by that a mean, he koala style cuddles you)

Whoopsie, this one took a bit longer than planned 👉👈 hope you liked it

I did my best for Lux (low-key don't like them), but feel free to lmk how I can write them more accurately

I've gotten way more requests than I thought I would (not that I mind I'm very flattered, actually), so requests might take a bit longer but I'll try to get everything out in a good time

[directdogman]

out of curiosity how would all of the dateables (+ roger) die in the wonka factory? would any of them survive

Asking if anyone would 'survive' in the Wonka factory is a purely theoretical question as Willy Wonka is a Machevellian sociopath who specifically builds personalized traps for people in order to teach lessons about the flawed nature of humans. Every 'winner' is likely handpicked and the outcome is more or less decided the moment before you enter the factory. Basically, it depends on whatever Wonka wants to happen. In his factory, he is God.

The only scenario where you wouldn't have to consider what traps he'd set up specifically to get you are maybe scenarios where you break into his factory. However, you would have to likely dodge a greater number of more generic traps and you'd be TRULY fucked once he finds you (and he would.) Expect to be strapped to a chair and have burly oopma loompas put cigars out on you as Wonka barks accusations at you about working for Slugworth.

Of the datables + Roger, I think he'd set traps for all, but would hope for Oliver to win.

Roger would be the first to go, likely somehow failing before he even gets to his trap, which would probably be akin to a cardboard box with a ruler + piece of cheese under it. It'd have to be as obvious as possible to ensure Roger sees it and doesn't accidentally use up someone else's trap later on.

I feel like whatever Randy's trap is, there's a decent likelihood he'd never reach it either and would attempt to flee out of a fire exit or something after Roger's capture. Oliver's trap would 100% be something akin to Mike Teavee's, some cool piece of technology that he's not meant to touch. Karen's trap would be designed to piss her off as much as possible and Norm's would be designed to give him war flashbacks and cause him to wail on the oompa loompas, breaking the no violence clause. Gingi's trap would be the fizzing lifting drink, because Gingi will eat/drink anything left unattended.

Gingi gets to the end in the same way Charlie does, Wonka is pissed off because he actually was hoping Oliver would resist his impulsiveness and win. Gingi denies drinking the lifting drink (still somewhat bloated and floating slightly off the ground.) Eventually, Gingi (unlike Charlie) does not give the gobstopper back to Wonka, but instead swallows it in front of him. Wonka reluctantly lets Gingi leave, knowing it's too stupid to conceive of selling the gobstopper to Slugworth.

Off topic, I watched both Wonka movies as a teenager and remembered thinking Mike Teavee was kinda funny as a character for how strange he is (his first scene in the remake involves him dropping a slur, which is certainly an interesting creative choice when adapting a beloved children's book to the big screen), so I randomly asked my dad for his take on the character. He proceeded to go into a blistering 20 minute rant about the character with more emotion than I've seen anyone discuss either movie. It was deeply personal. A lot of our conversations were like that, in hindsight.

[americanredragger]

Honestly, I've said many times that "success is a dirty business" because you need to be willing and able to work with people who are GOING to disagree with you about SOMETHING. Maybe even a lot of things. Maybe even FUNDAMENTAL things. And working with people you disagree with can feel dirty and nasty, especially if you aren't used to coalition building. And purity tests and culture FEEL righteous and good, but the nasty end result is that if you won't work with anyone but someone who represents a carbon copy of your own beliefs and values, before too long you will always find yourself working alone. We don't have to agree on EVERYTHING, just ONE THING -- the thing that brought us to the same meet in the first place. And as long as you can do that? You can raise hell and change the world for the better.

For instance, I know that "LIBERAL" is a dirty word in leftist spaces, but I'll still break bread with them as far left as they're willing to go with me on matters. Sure we don't agree on Capitalism as a basic thing and whether it should or should not exist (IT SHOULDN'T), but we agree on plenty that CAN be worked with (like people not dying in medical debt, or protecting people from cops even if they disagree that ACAB). Obviously I would love it if they went further left and joined the working class' revolution, but I also don't make my helping them on things we DO agree with conditional on that. It just means that I won't ask for their help on leftist stuff because I know in advance what the answer will be. You'll always have more in common with that Liberal Democrat that you hate than with that MAGA Toadstool you BOTH hate even more, so bond over that for as far as it will take you and make EVERYBODY'S world that little bit brighter.

You don't have to be friends or clones to admit that in the fight against injustice and tyranny, we are all kin. Agreeing where we can instead of writing off because of where we don't is how communities and nations are built. It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be better than what it's replacing.

Finally, remember the wisdom of Elrond:

“No oath or bond is laid on you to go further than you will. For you do not yet know the strength of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may meet upon the road.” “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens,” said Gimli. “Maybe,” said Elrond, “but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.” “Yet sworn word may strengthen quaking heart,” said Gimli. “Or break it,” said Elrond. “Look not too far ahead!”

Do you want to be politically pure in theory or help your neighbor. Is it fruitless to help your neighbor because there's no Perfect Pure way to do it ?

[eucatastrophicblues]

hi! person raised young-earth creationist here! i was so incredibly committed to this belief system while i was growing up but it's just... not holding together. at the moment i don't really know what to believe. i don't really know how to begin relearning everything, since i'm realizing that the only thing i've been taught is strict creationism. and i don't want to discard faith along with this rigid worldview, but i also don't know where to find resources for this. it was nice to have all the answers, much harder to face this uncertainty.

if you have any advice or resources you can point me to, i'd appreciate it! thanks for your time and openness!

Of course!!!

The first thing I want to say is that it is incredibly brave of you to be looking at YEC critically. A lot of people are going to be mad at you from all sides - I’m not. I’m really proud of you for taking a look at this and asking if it works and sticks together.

Most resources can be divided into three categories: debunking (usually aimed at people who already believe in evolution to some degree), science education (for teaching people what “evolutionists” actually believe and why, and explaining basic principles and boosting scientific literacy without a religious bias) and reassurance (usually aimed at helping YEC Christians explore other faith-based worldviews and perspectives without feeling like they’re being a bad Christian).

Ultimately, the questions you’re going to have to answer for yourself when navigating what I share with you are these three:

How comfortable am I with science? Do you understand and trust that the scientific method is accurate? Have you read a lot of non-Creationist science books and/or been to a public school that teaches evolution? Are you secure enough in your comprehension of what “evolutionists” actually believe that you don’t need basic education? Is part of what’s drawing you away from YEC that you understand the “secular” science enough to see the cracks in creationist arguments?

How secure in my faith am I? Do you need explanations of how Christianity is compatible with evolutionary biology? Do you need reassurance that what you’re doing isn’t evil? Are you more comfortable with arguments that center Christian faith, and are those going to be what you come back to for perspective and grounding?

How Christian-friendly do these resources need to be? Is it enough for a documentary or educational text or article to be made by someone who isn’t hostile to religion? Will casual digs at your faith upset you? Will an argument that debunks creationism while loudly implying that this debunks all of Christianity destabilize or trigger you? Plenty of good science communication is dismissive of Christianity, but features solid work and easily accessible sources - would that be helpful or hurtful?

I’m going to link a number of resources, from both Christian and secular perspectives. Not all of them will be entry-level accessible but they’re all worth taking a look at. My askbox and DMs are also open if there are specific arguments or talking points you have questions about (radiometric dating, uniformitarian geology vs flood geology, irreducible complexity, macro- vs microevolution, etc).

Dr. Francis Collins’s BioLogos Foundation - this organization is a Christian nonprofit that advances and argues for theistic evolution, and is intended to serve as a gentle launching point for YECs to explore theistic evolution. Heavily faith-based, structured a bit like the Answers in Genesis website. Collins is one of the scientists behind the Human Genome Project, and has worked for the US government across multiple presidential administrations while maintaining his devout faith. This is a good place to start if you’re looking for reassurance that you can still be a Christian while holding that evolution is true.

A seven part series from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center discussing a few specific creationist talking points, particularly around the Grand Canyon and irreducible complexity. There is also a brief examination of how old YEC is as a philosophy. This is very much in the “debunking” sphere - the people talking do believe that science and religion can coexist, this is mentioned in the last part, but they aren’t Christians and aren’t affirming Christianity in any way.

Taking on creationism, a published scientific journal article discussing how to counter creationist pseudoscience with scientific fact. This is not an entry-level text, but if you have a high level of familiarity with academic writing and a high level of familiarity with secular science it’s worth a read. It is a fairly hostile-to-intelligent-design article but I include it because it gives a sense of how seriously scientists take this stuff, and it’s also good to see how true seculars actually discuss creationism (as opposed to how creationist texts will characterize secular scientists as gleefully Bad or ideologically motivated to undo religion out of personal enmity)

TalkOrigins - this is heavy on the debunking, and is generally dismissive of religion, but has several point by point takedowns of YEC beliefs that explain clearly why they’re erroneous or misrepresenting the facts.

YouTube: Milo Rossi aka Miniminuteman - a science communicator and educator focusing on debunking archaeological conspiracy theories including creationist propaganda. Explicitly religion-neutral, including telling his followers not to harass religious people.

YouTube: Mantracks: A True Story of Fake Fossils - a documentary by filmmaker Dan Olson about creationist fraud around dinosaur footprints.

YouTube: Crash Course, a free education channel discussing all kinds of things like biology, geology, history, astronomy, and chemistry. Included because if you’ve prioritized creationist science textbooks and Christian perspectives on learning, especially if you were homeschooled or went to a religious school or attended school in a town where everyone was Christian, seeing how other people discuss the world will be helpful.

Please please please come to me if you have any further questions - my askbox is always open. You do not have to give up your faith to give up YEC. You can keep it. I promise you that.

[binmeister]

Office Worker AU - Headcanons

Saja Boys x Office Worker! Reader | Human, modern AU

Character notes and headcanons, things that happened, just yapping in general about this AU and what’s in it - entirely self indulgent and maybe even cringe but I live for the dumb cheesy and cringe stuff

Relatively open ended / casually poly - marked all NSFW / suggestive hcs with a warning at the front of the HC so you're welcome to skip over those

CW: contains suggestive and NSFW HCs and mentions of mature themes (R18+), MDNI, Fem! Reader, not proofread

General

Abby is the dad of the group with Jinu, Romance or you being the mum of the group, Baby is the baby and Mystery flips between being the goofy aloof uncle or an edgy teenager

Most of your friendship is based on similar humour and being able to talk about anything and nearly everything with each other - very open book policy in most cases, like to an unfortunate degree because it means the homiesexual humour or dumb humour comes out a lot (you partake in it as well)

There’s been a lot of instances where you or Abby would instigate an argument with Jinu and Mystery about whatever hyperfixation the guys had and you’d just sit back next to Abby and watch the two of them fight like their pride was on the line while smiling the entire time

Jinu and Mystery bag on you the most, they’ve known you the longest so it’s basically just the privilege they have which is a shared sentiment because you bag on them just as much

You all dote on each other in small ways, you and Romance fix up their appearances, Jinu and Abs eat your left over food for you, Baby does your guys’ work for you sometimes, Abs or Mystery carry your stuff for you pretty frequently and you all buy each other drinks / snacks 

They’re all great at karaoke and flex about it frequently - forced office bonding moment meant that the other people in your respective departments were also aware of this now

It’s spotted that the guys have painted nails in some shots, during HS and uni you used to paint their nails - Romance still paints his nails now and Baby lets you paint his nails whenever you want

Saja LLC - Gwi-Ma is big big CEO man and is surprisingly chill, none of you ever interact with him but he doesn’t ever really appear in the office (thankfully)

NSFW / suggestive - When you’re drunk you get very physically affectionate, normally just very cuddly and giggly but sometimes you get sloppy drunk and you’re coming onto them since you’re comfortable with them and it leads to a lot of things happening (make outs, potentially a little more here and there etc)

NSFW / suggestive - As adults you often all go to Mystery’s place to drink and he ends up having to take care of you all, you never break your overly affectionate habit from uni so occasionally they let you drink a little too much and you’re touchy feely with everyone (ranges from hugs to kisses on their cheek / forehead to a little more)

Jinu

Legal degree - minor in chem / physics (he seems like he’d be into science idk why)

He’d transferred to your high school and into your class in the second half of your first year, even though he was pretty and relatively popular with the girls because of it - he’s a total loser (endearing)

Like I feel like he’s a nerd archetype or into ‘nerdy’ hobbies so when girls would find out they’d either be grossed out because he wasn’t some pretty athletic tye, or they’d try harder to talk to him and he gets uncomfortable so one day you snap because you’re tired of girls flocking to your classroom to talk to him and you yell at them to piss off - something that everyone collectively remembers well because they’ve never really heard you lash out like that so the girls leave and go back to watching him from a distance and you end up picking Jinu up as a friend

Noticing the day after you’ve scared the girls off that he’s reading a manga series that Mystery likes, so you strike up a convo with him and he’s really excited to talk to you about his interest and you haven’t read it yourself but you know most of what goes on cause Mystery wouldn’t stop talking about it

His dad is out of the picture - mum alive and his younger sister is also alive and well in this, you’d all become close with them because you’d often spend time at their place and his younger sister adores you (she’s well aware of his feelings for you and really hopes that you’ll be her big sister regardless if you get with him or not)

Your first kiss is with Jinu when you’re both 17, Mystery had made fun of you two for not having kissed anyone yet and when you’re hanging out his house bc Mystery had extra after-school classes to attend you guys do it - it’s awkward the first time and you definitely accidentally bumped your heads against each other so he says ‘let’s try again’ and the second time is softer, his hand lifting your chin up as his head is tilted a little so your noses aren’t pressed awkwardly together

He’s pretty and popular with women but I believe ! that this man ! has never had a girlfriend before. before he met you, he wasn’t interested in girls that much - he had his mum and his sister why does he need anymore women in his life,, they’re scary enough,, then he meets you in HS and he’s like okay never have to pick up a new girl and then he steadily falls in love with you during HS and it lasts through to uni and it just keeps going

Realises he’s in love with you during your last year in HS, you were in the same class again and while you’re stuck on cleaning duty for your class one afternoon, he’s just watching you and the afternoon glow on you makes him realise that he really loves you and that scares him at first but he just lets it happen - knows that mystery confessed so he holds off when you’d told him that you didn’t know how you felt about love, has probably drunkenly confessed to you but you’d both forgotten

Pierced his ears in HS on a whim and his mum chewed him out for it but when he showed up to school and you did a double take and told him he looks good with pierced ears? best decision of his life actually

During uni for your first and second years, you’d often hang out together just the two of you or with Abs because mystery would keep flaking, so when he wasn’t getting dragged on dates with Abs he’s hanging out with you as much as he can

Can handle his alcohol fairly well, usually the second one after you to get wasted easily and he’s a giggly drunk that likes to instigate - can be really annoying sometimes because of it, also sings a lot more when he’s drunk

Him and Mystery share a lot of the same interests in manga, music, games etc so half of your time is spent listening to them ramble about their interests and by proxy it becomes your interest as you start complaining about plot to them or how one character is shit so it becomes an argument on who’s character is better

Visits his family on the weekend every couple of weeks, you and Mystery usually tag along to catch up with them

NSFW / suggestive - Whenever you guys got drunk together (uni and now) there’s a high rate where you’d make out or get handsy with one another, like you don’t think twice about it and don’t always remember what happens the next day but he definitely does 

NSFW / suggestive - you have given him head while he fingered you during one of these handsy nights (has happened more than once) - i won’t elaborate further on this one

NSFW / suggestive - bi curious in uni - made out with abs, him and mystery fooled around a little bit but it was a little awkward since they’re roomies AND long term best friends - probably considers himself bi with a preference for women

NSFW / suggestive - does not have much sexual experience, has no body count (you are the closest thing to counting as 1)

Abs (Abby)

Legal degree - major in law, minor in health and sciences or phys. education equivalent

You meet him in university, he’s in the same legal degree as Jinu and as an E - he had adopted Jinu which in turn means he adopted you and Mystery

At first you two weren’t too close because you’re kinda scared of how loud and rambunctious he is until you realise he’s a lot more perceptive and caring than he lets people in on, notice how he always neatens things up when people make a mess or how he always reaches a hand out to hold the table corner if someone’s bent down so they don’t smash their head when they get back up, a lot of small stuff like always grabbing you a snack you when he showed up uninvited

Even though he’s outgoing and likes talking to people, he’s actually relatively closed off and selective on the people he’s vulnerable with - the only ones that he’s open to is the other guys and you, everyone else gets the semi-fake and curated version of him that keeps them at a respectable distance

He’s the oldest out of you, Jinu and Mystery - born first (my HC alone) in the year regardless of your birthday

He takes Jinu out on double dates or rather, forces him to be match made with various girls he comes across because it’s been noted that Jinu hasn’t dated anyone in the entirety of him knowing you guys and Jinu finally confesses to Abby one day that he can’t do another date because he doesn’t want to think about any other woman that wasn’t you

Steadily develops feelings for you during uni but he has a lot of guilt about it because he knows jinu and mystery are also in love with you, but they all have a heart to heart about it and just let it out that they’re not gonna pursue anything until it’s obvious that you’re interested since the dynamic is too comfortable to break and it’s hard to gage where you’re at bc you’re affectionate with them

Does a senior-freshman buddy program where he brings Baby into the group, loves having his lil introverts to harass

I see him as an oldest of too many kids (like 4 younger siblings), big brother vibes and explains why he has that teasing older sibling thing going on - divorced parents but they’re on speaking terms (lowkey hates his dad)

Heavy weight. Definitely a heavy weight like, with his build it just takes him a while before he feels tipsy and even when he’s drunk as hell he’s still more sober than the rest of you - actually mellows out when he drinks but does like to humour people by pretending to be wild

Out of everyone he’s closest with jinu and romance, then you, then baby, then mystery - jinu’s his best friend in uni and romance is his best friend back in HS, when he was actively hanging around you mystery had been distant so he didn’t talk to him that much until your last couple year of uni and now in the office

Him and Romance have a shared apartment that’s extremely spacious but a little out of the way so you guys don’t really go hang out there unless it’s a vacation period / long weekend

No one really knows why he calls Baby by baby boy, baby man, etc - when you finally ask he shrugs and admits its because he likes to piss him off and then it just makes perfect sense after that

Bi, no real preference - he’s comfortable in his sexuality and doesn’t really care to prove himself on anything

NSFW / suggestive - He’s experimented with Romance in HS and in uni he and Jinu had made out once bc Jinu admitted he was a little curious, you find this out about him when you’re all a little tipsy and opening up about stuff to each other - Jinu confirming this too and they’re pretty chill about it

NSFW / suggestive - I have a drabble in my notes where you make out with him when you’re both drunk and almost sleep together the same night, but he’s a gentleman and makes sure you’re not doing something you’ll regret and it doesn’t escalate further - Jinu and Mystery would find out from a drunken confession from you a few weeks after it happens

NSFW / suggestive - Always keeping you by his side at parties and drinking less so he can make sure a repeat doesnt happen of you begging him to climb into your bed - he’d become near celibate when he realised he’d fallen for you cause he used to be into casual sex and non-committal arrangements

NSFW / suggestive - average amount of sexual experience, lower body count than Romance

Mystery (Minseok / Min / Myst)

Finance degree - minor in psychology

Been your best friend since primary school, you’d moved into a new area and were neighbours so your parents made you hang out so ofc he falls in love with you during that time and assumed it was a crush that would go away (it never did)

A lot of sleep overs growing up or just hanging out in general, was there during your first period and you were both freaking out on what to do bc why is your vagina bleeding - you both get given the talk and he’s got female hygiene products stocked in his bathroom at all times as well as a couple in his bag just in case you ever forget

Towards the end of HS and during uni he struggles with his feelings for you because he did confess towards the end of your time in HS and you genuinely didn’t know how to take it, you said you weren’t sure how you felt and you had cried because you didn’t want to lose him but you didn’t know if you loved him in that way but also you know it’s more than friendship at the same time - teens unable to understand complex feelings and also the added baggage of knowing him for so long so you don’t know if its feelings of familiarity of if he made butterflies erupt in your stomach

Certified introvert but great at pretending he’s not - out of your little trio he actually went and socialised the most in uni even though he didn’t really talk much

Studio apartment nearby the office that you guys like to go to as your main hang out spot after work

When youre all off work he puts his earrings back in, enjoying the familiar feel of them and he doesn’t really want the holes to close back up - also likes that you always look at him a little more when he’s got them on

Chaotic drunk - gets more vocal as he gets wasted but it takes him a while to get there, like by the time you or Jinu are gone, he’s a couple drinks out from also getting there

Pays the most attention to you, knows all your quirks and habits, knows when you’re lying - everything, same can be said from you to him so you knew long before he confessed that he had feelings but you’d been hoping maybe you were wrong

His parents are pretty good to him, he’s got an older brother that he’s not too close to - moved out early and they’re just naturally a little awkward around each other but generally get along pretty well

NSFW / suggestive - I HC that during university that he still hangs out with you and Jinu as his long term best friends - sharing a dorm with jinu, but he starts to sleep around and has a lot of one night stands so he can hopefully get rid of his feelings for you but it makes it worse as he imagines whoever he’s sleeping with to be you - for a brief time during uni he dyed his hair and changed his hairstyle (more fuckboy esque) and gotten his ears pierced - changed up his whole vibe but when he was in his dorm with you and jinu he’s back to his regular quiet and nerdy self

NSFW / suggestive - He meets Romance at one of those mixer events and then opens up about his love problems to him which Romance helps him through and the two bond about unrequited love and how to cope in a healthier manner - Romance pointing out that you never said no and its clear you do love him you just don’t know how to go about it, progressively stops sleeping around and getting black out drunk as he cleans up his act midway through your third year of uni

NSFW / suggestive - doesn’t label his sexuality bc he’s not actually sure, experimented a lot in uni but doesn’t really count it as anything that mattered because it was meaningless and emotionless sex

NSFW / suggestive - second most in terms of sexual experience, highest body count

Romance (Roman / Ro)

Marketing - has a degree in communications too

Oldest in the group, a year older than Jinu, Mystery, Abby and you

HS friends with Abs and had met Mystery in university during both of their whore arcs and he puts a stop to Mystery’s self destructive coping mechanism

Originally wasn’t at Saja LLC with the rest of you guys until a year later where he transferred into your company eventually after a company merger, originally just there for a shared company project

He develops a crush on you briefly but otherwise it’s actually unknown what he thinks about you in a romantic aspect, he definitely platonically loves and dotes on you but he’s never disclosed how he feels to any of the guys and is always able to avoid the topic if asked - the years you’ve been friends and hung out at work is when he starts to really develop anything for you in that regard

Is the most aware out of all of them how messy everything is but he lives for it, has reprimanded you for messing with everyone and pointed out that you may be hurting them without realising so you close yourself off for a period of time and become distant bc you dont want to hurt them by not fully reciprocating feelings or leading them on

He talks to you again about it and just says that let whatever happens happen then, bc even with the feelings it seems like everyone collectively just gets along as friends and aside from the romantic sloppiness of it - it’s clearly working for your guys’ friend group

Sometimes if it’s really quiet in the office he gets away with coming up to work on your guys’ floor bc no one really gives a shit as long as he primarily gets his work done - but there are a lot of instances he actually is just there because he’s supposed to be bc marketing and legal needed to run things by each other

Loooves to talk about gossip it’s such a fun thing to him, but if anything involves you or the guys he’s extremely defensive and will actually get violent with people that mess with you guys if he hasn’t already been extremely petty towards them (one time he had to give documents to someone that insulted you and he took the time to put each individual page of the 100 page document out of order so it’d be like 1 - 89 - 23 - 36 - 2

He likes to pretend he doesn’t know what’s going on but is very emotionally aware of people, likes to pretend he’s dumber than he actually is as well cause it lets him get away with things - mean streak when you cross him (never does anything to outwardly harm you or the other guys though)

Blended family - has step sisters and gets along well with them and his parents/step parent are really lovely people

Openly bi / pan, does not particularly care as he’s more interested in the connection than any persons’ gender - slow burner and does not fall in love easily but does entertain crushes etc bc he thinks it’s a little fun

NSFW / suggestive - is the most open about his sex life or his sexual interests, not to like a ‘always bragging’ kind of thing but more that he’s not opposed to answering questions anyone has because he doesn’t mind being informative

NSFW / suggestive - most sexual experience, average body count

Baby (Byeol)

Finance degree - has a few IT certificates under his belt as well (he got bored - probably wouldve been compsci but he didn’t like the program and swapped to finance)

He’s the youngest in the group, younger than everyone by a couple years - being a freshman when the rest of you are nearly in your 2nd last year of your respective degrees

Baby is an extremely efficient worker but youre all fascinated by him constantly alt tabbing and working on different projects at once bc he struggles to focus on just one thing - you gift him a fidget cube and he uses it basically all the time

Potentially has undiagnosed ADHD, no one can confirm it and he can’t be bothered to confirm it himself either - extremely poor time management which is why Abby being his buddy in uni helped him get socialisation in & you and mystery help him at work now so it works out that you guys give him a loose routine to follow

During one of the drinking nights you guys have he shows up and you’re sloppy drunk again where you’re overly affectionate to everyone and coo-ing at them bc you love them and you’re rambling and as it’s just you two for a moment he lets you kiss him while hes tipsy (he kisses back) then you’re just giggly the entire time as he gets steadily more n more drunk and you’re all just knocked out in Jinu and Mystery’s dorm - you’re his first kiss

Light weight! Cannot hold his liquor! Bro is tipsy from his first shot and he’s developed your same clinginess when he’s drunk so he’s always trying to be close to you or he actually initiates hugs with the other guys (Abby is like omg my baby boy..!)

Only child, parents were a little dismissive and he isn’t that close with his parents

Sweet tooth as well as liking spicy stuff, insane snacking habits bc of it like when you guys are off work this guy is burning through multiple packs of chips or going through a shit tonne of candy

Had a crush on you in uni - lingered til you graduated and he kinda forgot it existed when he wasn’t actively around you much, you didn’t really keep touch after uni cause he was more Abby’s friend than yours

Has a soundcloud, still occasionally posts his stuff there but it’s so far removed from anything he does that it’s actually hard to find 

Probably helps resolve IT issues on your guys floor now bc there’s a time where your pc is spazzing out and you look like you’re about to cry and before Mystery can flag down the IT guys he just steps in and fixes it for you (if it’s after you’ve grown closer he might peck you on the top of your head so you don’t cry)

Typical gamer guy - used to bring his laptop for LAN games when Abs’ dragged him to hang out with you guys if not just console gaming nights, high rank in any game he plays competitively and thinks nothing of it

NSFW / suggestive - Baby hanging out with you guys in uni against his will and one time when you all were drinking and he was just forced to hang out with you, the guys had all stepped out for fresh air / to go grab more drinks and you’d gotten whiney and complained about it being too hot so you took your hoodie off but your shirt had gone up along with it and he had the best view of your bra clad tits and you kept whining about being too hot as he wrestled your shirt back down over your body - he had jerked off to the mental image for over a week straight

NSFW / suggestive - ^ the above headcanon is why Baby abruptly gets up and goes to the bathroom when it clicks in his head who you are - struggled to recognise you in your work attire cause he was used to you drowning in one of the guys’ hoodies or usually baggy clothes and when he realises who you are his brain just blasts the memory of your tits and he’s gotta go rub one out

NSFW / suggestive -  has the least amount of sexual experience but doesn’t really care too much for it. 

Probably leans to demisexual with a bit of a preference for women but it’s hard to gage bc you’re the only person he’s really thought of in that way