#but yeah no on the Liberal Party thing that's how it is in japan and australia | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hyperlexichypatia · 15 days ago

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Yeah, that is definitely a more comforting and hopeful thing to believe. It's also one of the many, many, many contexts in which I, as a liberal socialist, think the dichotomy between "liberals" and "leftists" makes no goddamn sense, but that's a separate issue. Maybe. Perhaps. But sure. It is more comforting and hopeful to believe that a political movement that has all the appearances of being motivated by malice, hierarchy, and domination is actually just motivated by material conditions.

And there is undoubtedly significant truth to this. Polls absolutely show that prices and the economy were a major factor for Trump voters; they weren't looking at any policy positions other than "Biden is president and prices are high, when Trump was president prices were lower, ergo Trump." It's highly likely that if economic conditions were better under Biden, or if Biden-Harris had appeared to have a better strategy for addressing them, Harris might have won the election. That's true! I'm not disputing that!

But we're still talking about a few percentage points -- yes, a few percentage points that could've swung an election in a two-party, winner-take-all electoral system, but still, a few percentage points, not a cultural movement.

The ideological fascism represented by Trump&Co is a cultural movement that has been thriving in the U.S. for decades and is paralleled by similar right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist, and fascist movements around the world, in Europe and India and China and Japan and many, many other countries. It's happening in countries with universal healthcare, and countries without. It's happening in countries with higher GDPs and countries with lower GDPs. It is not connected solely to economic conditions.

Also, right-wing voting correlates positively with income. The people most victimized by economic problems are not making up the bulk of the shift to the right, no matter how many hand-wringing thinkpieces about "the white working class left behind by liberal elitists" get written (you'd think The Hillbilly Elegy Guy becoming Trump's VP would have permanently discredited that theory, but thinkpiece writers have never been able to read the room).

The relationship between the housing crisis and right-wing political movements is sometimes framed as though the phenomenon is "People unable to afford housing vote right-wing on the assumption that right-wing policies will improve their economic prospects," and while there are some instances of that, people who can't afford housing are not Trump's base. Trump's base are housed people who are angry that they see unhoused people panhandling outside their Nice Neighborhood and are angry that Those Damned Liberals won't round them up and put them in debtor's prisons or just shoot them.

And. Like. Again, as a liberal socialist, I think the government should, actually, be guaranteeing everyone housing and healthcare and food and education! Those are policies I support because I think they're the right thing to do anyway! So I would very much like to believe that these policies, that I already believed in for other reasons, would also have the side benefit of making people less bigoted and authoritarian and fascistic, and, I don't know, maybe it would help a little, but for how long?

Because there will always be ups and downs in material conditions, at least until we achieve full post-scarcity. I mean. I absolutely want to abolish capitalism and economic inequality, and want the effects of ups and downs in material conditions to be borne equally across the population rather than the hoarding of wealth we have now, but even in a socialist utopia, there will be shortages. There will be crises. There will be natural disasters. There will be outbreaks at the egg farms (yes even if there are regulations and proper procedures, sometimes these things just happen!), and there will be times when there are no eggs on the shelf. If humanity is going to get hold of our climate/energy crisis before we make the planet entirely unlivable, there will be gas shortages. There will be rationing. There will be reductions in energy and material resources used for leisure travel, and that is the absolute ideal, best-case scenario. And if people's response to being told "Sorry, there's no eggs today" or "Sorry, there's no gas today," or, heaven forfend but completely necessarily, "Sorry, only a limited number of people can own personal vehicles, you'll have to take the bus, oh, and the person sitting next to you on the bus might be queer or Black or Jewish or schizophrenic or another demographic you hate" is to become fascists, then humanity will flat-out not survive. As long as people's culturally ingrained default response to adversity is "Blame a despised minority group, identify as better and more deserving than someone else, divide people into in-group and out-group," fascist ideologies will continue to be a recurring social problem.

And. I mean. That doesn't mean I know the solution! I don't! Scolding does not work! There is some evidence that exposure and personal interactions with actual people one is bigoted against reduces bigotry, as does representation of counter-stereotypical examples, but these are far from foolproof! There was integration in Germany before the Holocaust. There was integration in the Balkans before the Bosnian genocide. "Integration" alone is not sufficient to prevent bigotry nor even to stop it from becoming genocidal. But neither are better material conditions or economic systems, not when Belgium kills disabled children and China is actively committing a genocide (that half the "leftists" on this site are active deniers of) and so is Turkey and I could absolutely keep going.

But not knowing the solution to the problem of authoritarian, bigoted, hierarchical ideology doesn't mean we can write that off as a problem!

I actually think the real solution has to be fundamentally changing education away from hierarchy and competition, changing the system of children beginning in toddlerhood having to "earn" a position of being "better" than other children, but I'm also aware that this is unlikely to happen unless guaranteed material living standards are established for adults, because parents will never support non-competitive education as long as they rationally believe that education must prepare their children to compete for an ever-shrinking number of possibilities for a decent quality of life, because material conditions aren't actually separate from egalitarian liberal values and framing them in opposition is false in the first place.

(I also think a more practical relevance of material conditions to combating authoritarian ideology is not in improving the material conditions of authoritarians to make them less authoritarian, but improving the material conditions of the victims of authoritarianism so that they can better free themselves from their authoritarian abusers. Less "If that domestic abuser had a guaranteed income, he wouldn't abuse his partner" and more "If his partner had a guaranteed income, she could afford to leave her abuser." But for some reason, that isn't acknowledged as much.)

So no, I don't "have the answers" for combating authoritarian, bigoted, hierarchical, fascistic cultural attitudes, but I certainly think acknowledging that they are the problem is better than assuming that bigoted authoritarianism is Just What Happens When High Grocery Prices or Just What Happens When Feminists Are Mean or whatever else. People choose, on purpose, to subscribe to bigoted, hierarchical ideologies. People choose, on purpose, to build a worldview and identity around being intrinsically superior to some other kinds of people. It's not inevitable, and I don't buy that it's unchangeable.

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#us politics #liberalism #liberal socialism #dialectical materialism critical

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appreciatingtokrev · 2 years ago

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true but some users that I know that does that is because they feel embarrassed on still being tumblr at their age lol.

age discourse is a bit of a heavy subject to talk about and it’s unavoidable to not accidentally offend someone so i just steer clear of that.

i think the world view thing depends on a lot of different factors like if both parties come from very strict families, the liberation is not going to happen if there is an age gap of one/two years.

I never really read into those sort of things like if I like you, I’ll talk to you because why not but I wouldn’t ignore anyone because that’s rude lmao. so I can’t comment on the difference/interesting element.

it originated from Japan where the person that received chocolates on Valentine day give chocolates back to the person that gave it to them on the 14th of March.

You can see the before and after difference then and having true love is a very nice thing to have since it’s a very special bond.

I’m not very creative with names lol. I actually use my real name on here since I’m not bothered about that. but if I use a fake one, it would be hard to guess my real one because it start with Z. so you can call me whatever you want, I don’t mind.

true true lol

yeah, agreed

of course. i mean it’s not really the ‘cultural difference’ between differently aged ppl if it’s only one year, it’s just how you grow up etc which is a random factor. in my case it was a coincidence that there was such a big general difference ofc, but i still think it’s interesting how my grade was so different from the one directly above

yeah i mean i never purposefully ignore people (unless they’re rude to me first, sometimes) bc as you said it’s rude so i think it’s stupid to read too much into the little things anyways

actually the giving back chocolate thing is a pretty nice idea... hm. interesting that we don’t have something like that here. (i think? i ignore valentine’s day and all that jazz anyways, plus i’m always on vacation during that time so i’m busy skiing or smth lol)

very true! as an aroace person tbh it was very interesting to see their relationship develop because i don’t experience romantic attraction at all and i still have a hard time understanding it, but the two of them definitely help me grasp at least a bit of it lmao

hm, okay. i’m just gonna call you z then, i don’t wanna have to come up with smth adgjhf. unless you’d be bothered by that for some reason ofc, then feel free to tell me!

#☆—`ask #anon: z #whoo look at your tag now i have our convos sorted into a useful lil tag hehe

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keigoloveminty · 4 years ago

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Diamond

Plot: The party was super fancy and new to you, until it wasnt. A very questionable and scary experience for you.

Pairing/s: Hawks x Reader, Izuku x reader, Todoroki x reader, Shinsou x reader, Dabi x reader, Shigaraki x reader, Genten x reader, Aizawa x reader

All characters are aged up to 25+

Warning: Mafia Au, LOV crew is soft to reader,(No Yandere’s just jealous and angry exes :>), Partyy in the houseee, (Please dont at me-- I'm just making this up as I go--)

ALSO ALSSOOO please enjoyyyy :’3

Chapter 2

You squealed as you held the seatbelt tightly as Dabi steps on the pedal,”D-DABI! SLOW DOWN YOUR GOING MAKE ME SPILL MY GUTS OUT-”, you screamed trying to hold onto something tight. Dabi grunts as he speeds up and suddenly turns right, the car screeches while you you shut your eyes tightly now holding and the door. A few minutes of you being pushed from left to right and then your breath almost getting knocked out from Dabi speeding up again,’W-wont we get chased down by a police-- DABI IS GOING TO KILL ME--’, your mind was screaming for you to get out of the car but you weren't stupid enough to do that. Dabi slowed down just a bit as you both entered the Highway,”By the looks of things I guess we’ll be there just on time for the opening ceremony ends..”, Dabi looks to your side to see your eyes wide while breathing heavily. He moves on hand to grab your hand tightening it slightly,”You okay? you seemed stunned..”

You looked back at him with a ‘Are you serious?’ expression, how could he not feel like jelly when he just literally just blasted through the streets and still feel fine, you were here beyond stunned,’H-how can he just say that unfazed?! Is he secretly a top Race driver?! He literally turn me into jelly--’, you sighed trying to calm your beating heart. You squeezed his hand as you leaned back into the seat, you closed your eyes trying to regain and steady your breath. A few moments later you looked back at Dabi with your eyebrows furrowed,”You could've warned me, Dabi!”, He just rolled his eyes focusing using one hand on the stirring wheel while holding your hand in the other,”I’m as fast as my car can take me doll, I'm trying to get us there on time. Sorry about that Doll”, you sighed and turned your head to look at him. Dabi grumbles,”Sorry about that Doll”, You sighed and muttered out ‘Its fine’ as you starred at him with starry eyes, you didn't had time to look at how he fully looked nice you were rushing with time since you only focussed on how his suit looked great.

The lights from the outside framed his face as he drives, the way his hair was styled just a tad bit, still in a messy but in a stylish way. You had a feeling he wouldn't cover his scars but since this was a fancy party you had a feeling he would,’So breath taking... .. I’m almost jealous, hpmh’, you puffed your cheeks as you looked at him,’How did you get so handsome.. I feel like I'm missing out on something-- wait’, you squint your eyes and leaned closer to him. His jaw looks defined, sharper nose-- wait are those three silver piercings on his nose,”You got piercings again? How could I not see that..”, Dabi gives you a side glance for a moment only to look back at the road,”Yeah I did and maybe its because you’re short?”, you huffed and looked away from him.

“Meanie.. . we haven’t seen each other for awhile and you’re already being mean”

“You’re just too easy doll.. .. that's why I have to look out for you a lot”

You turned your head back to look at him,”Did your say something or was I hearing things?”, Dabi just shrugs turning the steering wheel,”You’re probably still shaken up by my driving, why dont you just rest for a bit we’re almost there..”, he says. You let out a soft ‘hmm’ your eyelids slowy fluttering to close letting you get a short nap,’I swear he said something... . but he was too quiet--’, you immediately dozed off as soon as you closed your eyes.

.. ..

Dabi looks at you for a second,’Knocked out cold maybe inviting her to this party was a mistake’, he looks back to the road, he gently squeezed your hands as he looks at the road. Shigaraki was supposed to invite you but decided against it which Dabi didnt like but he knows why you weren’t supposed to be invited to this party. This party could literally kill you which is why Dabi will stick to your side like a glue, literally. He sighs again feeling a bit nervous but excited, you get to at least take a breather from that nasty break up, maybe he could make his move on

He scoffs when his mind drifted to how Shigaraki might turn him to dust,’Thats not happening, not when that decay bastard has his eyes on you too’, he rolls his eyes still keeping his eye on the road. You both were almost there, just a bit more and you’ll both arrive at the venue. Dabi mind was filled with thoughts about what could happen tonight, this party isn't open to all and only few are invited to even get a glimpse of the growing Paranormal Liberation’s new leader, Shigaraki. Dabi never intended to let get your there on time since he didn’t want you to hear that speech that could literally spill everything of what job Shigaraki has, the people that were going to attend that party was strictly for business proposes. They don’t just throw some stupid party with no meaning to it other than to flaunt their power, as much as possible they needed more loyal people-- as if it wasn’t enough-- to join their side.

It was all to show to those people who decided to make an enemy of them will be completely wiped out and also to scout more people to add to their power and ranks. But all of the higher ranks are taken by the original LOV crew, they didn’t have much to worry about other than those who dare to go against them in a false partnership and tried to act like they were smart but they didn’t think their plan through enough which ultimately led to their demise.

Or in short, sweet death

Dabi eyed the mask that sat right in front of his steering wheel, it was a half face mask that was ironically shape like a demons mouth, it was a “disguise” that his group picked out, told him it suits him since demon breath out fire which in return earned them a punch to the head. He didn’t want to wear the mask cause it wasn’t his taste also it was tacky and didn’t like that he wasted at least half of his money to buy a suit to match the mask. But he didn’t complain one bit since he convinced Shigaraki invite you which he and the group had to try and bribe him, they all missed you.

“This party is just for show, we're here to scout potential clients and loyal follower. We might get uninvited guests so make sure to stay sharp on your designated posts, got it?”, Shigaraki says as he went over to memorised his opening lines for the party, Dabi had his arms on top of the couch looking straight at the ceiling starring directly the chandelier. Toga was talking with Magne on what to wear to the party, Mr. Compress was talking to the chefs through the phone on what to serve in the party. Twice was being twice as always and Genten was polishing his gun.

Dabi was waiting for the right time to ask Shigaraki,’Why the hell isn't he bringing up about y/n.. .’, he squints his eyes from starring too much at the light and looks back at Shigaraki’s back. Just as Dabi was about to open his mouth, Toga beat him to it,”So are we inviting n/n-chan?”, the whole room turns to Toga as she puts down a bright red dress. Shigaraki stops mumbling his lines and looks at Toga, she turns around and grins,”I’m not going to cooperate unless n/n-chan comes annddd I'm not going to enjoy this party, Tomuraaaa”, she whines and pouts.

Shigaraki grumbles out turning his attention to Toga,”As much as we want too we can’t risk---”, Dabi cuts him off,”We can just get more security inside and outside the area, I'm pretty sure we have enough power to do that”, Dabi stands up from the couch and walked towards to the kitchen where Mr. Compress is. Genten turns the gun to look at the other side and wipes the dirt off,”We have the support if Destros himself.. ... only half though since some half of his men are doing other jobs like searching for those who raided our clients products just last week, sending invitations to small and big businesses and lastly tracking down Hawks group that also stole half of our goods”, Genten says as he places the now polished gun in its case.

He stretches his arms and yawns,”Besides, I miss Y/n and thanks to you putting me on duty-- outside the venue”, harshly pointing out that he isn't slightly pleased at all being assigned when there's going to be party,”Make me mad that I want to ice you but since you’re my boss I can’t do that and you might not agree to let Y/n come...”, he slumps down in the couch, furrowing both of his eyebrows, displeased that he has to be on duty. Shigaraki throws his index card down a near by table and scratches his neck, Shigaraki does want to invite you but due to his rivals around Japan— much less the people going to this party, he couldn't risk them knowing he had a friend outside his work, its too dangerous for them to know.

Knowing it’s you they might be after, Shigaraki doesn't want to trap you-- or hide you from the world, you didn't deserve that after what happened to you when you lost your parents.

Shigaraki will not allow it

Shigaraki sighs heavily rubbing his eyes with his gloved finger,’This idiots can’t be serious.. although the people who are attending this party are selected there’s always going to be that one person who’s going to ruin it all and all of them are highclass criminals and Mafia’s’, he ruffles his hair, his mind in conflict on whether or not he will invite you. Dabi sees this and takes this opportunity to negotiate,”What if I'll be the one to escort her to the venue, I'll stick to her like glue--”

“That's not going to work, they know exactly who you are, Dabi. You could put Y/n on their lists of target and none of us want that”

He holds his tongue not wanting to fight as it could lower his chances of getting Shigaraki to say ‘yes’ into inviting you,”Not if I have some sort of disguise to cover up this fucking scars, come on shit face”, at this point Dabi might as well throw all those ‘Y/n’ cards to bribe him. He looks at Genten, he tilts his head to Shigaraki,’Help me out you ice freak--’ he mouths to Genten, Genten looks at him with a lazy expression.

‘Trust me, we all want to see Y/n’

Genten quickly tries to think of something in order to help Dabi,”Imagine how happy would Y/n look if she saw us all--”

“Your on outside duty have you already forgotten? You might as well greet her outside the gate and thats it.”, Shigraki with a monotone voice. This time it was Toga’s turn to try and bribe Shigaraki,”Oh! Oh! Think about how she’ll look super cute all dressed up!! You wouldn't miss that for the world now do you Tomuraa”, she grins trying to imagine how you would look like all dolled up.

“Yeah! I wanna see the precious Diamond too!! She'll look sexy walking down the floors!!”, Twice adds while squealing with Toga. Mr. Compress puts his phone on mute and looks at Shigaraki,”Shigaraki-san, the Violet squad has returned from their assignment and will be helping out in terms of security and look out as well. They have claim to have also wiped out some of Todoroki’s men and came out with minor injuries”, he returns to the phone calls while jotting down on a piece of paper. Shigaraki still not fully convinced crosses his arms and gestures them to keep trying,”Like I said before, I can find a disguise to cover my scars, I promise to stick by her side”, Dabi looks at Shigraki with a serious expression.

“I’ll take my outside duty serious”

“I’ll make sure to cooperate nicely too!!”

“I’ll make a lot of doubles to scout the area out!! They won't ruin this party, no sir!”

“Silence, all of you”, they all shut their mouths. The room intense as Shigaraki turns his back and walk towards the huge window that shows the whole city from below. Shigaraki thinks carefully on how many things may happen, if they do break he needs to know where you’ll escape. But he can't let that happen, every corner must be covered in security-- the roof as well. None of them had a warp gate like they do to transport things carefully but he knows how skilled some of them are working in the shadows, he stares at the lights from below with a straight face,’Y/n-san.... .. we haven't seen each other in awhile, back up has come but.. .’

His mind is filled with a lot of thoughts of what could and would happen, Hawks group is a sneaky bunch along with his partner, Tsukoyomi, who they know has a quirk that works well in the dark. That paired along with Hawks quirk which they recently been told by a spy they sent to get inside information, is able to pick up sounds, control each individual feather as well as sharpen them. Unfortunately, their group has yet to acquire a healer but that was temporarily solved by the professors healing capsules, they get three each on a mission and it takes a few minutes for the healing to take effect. It’s only good for minor injuries, it can heal injuries like big cuts but as for gun shots, not so much as its takes even longer to heal if you don't get the bullet out.

Whats more annoying is that not only that they also have other skilled members that even more annoying to deal with,’Professor has yet to create a nomu that for us or the scouting group that sensei set to find a skilled healer.. we have enough power on our side with our connections but still--’, Shigaraki clenches his fists. He really wants to invite you and get your mind off your breakup, he never really asked what your lovers looked like or even asked to meet them since you never tried to introduce your partners to them and because you know that they would be too busy and they usually their free-time just time to catch up with what you were doing with your life.

He knew he wasn't supposed to have a weakness when sensei told him he was going to be the next heir to the business but for you he made an exception, it was your kindness that made him melt down all his walls. Whenever he was going through something tough, just a little encouragement from you or just a small talk with you made him feel better. What hurts him the most is when he cant be there on time to comfort you when you need it, he didn't want to keep his night job a secret from you but he knows you’re bound to find out one way or another.

You aren't some dumb person, you just choose not to and just keep quiet about it to not get in trouble

And that's what scares him the most to the point where he couldn't sleep properly for somedays, he doesn’t know if you’ve figured it out yet

He shakes his head and tries to remove those thoughts from his head,’No.. thats not going to happen, not on my fucking watch’, if he was going to let you go to this party--that he knows is going to attract there attention-- he needs to make sure that once there's a security breach, he's already telling Dabi or whoever is going to escort you out of the venue-- together you out fast and quiet. He’ll make sure Kurogiri is on his com to make sure as soon as he sends a signal he’ll have his portal up in second straight to your home, send more people to secure the place. As much he doesn't want to tarnish his reputation but when it involves you, he wouldn't give a shit but its not like a little security breach is going to affect his reputation-- maybe his partnerships with other leaders but who's to say they would turn away from him, knowing the power he holds.

This wouldn't be a problem if it wasn’t for his childish choices to just jump in to try and take out his rivals but ultimately failed and losing half of his men but as the months went on he learned to be more smarter and move smarter. Taking out people that are associated with his rival-- U.A corporations-- no matter how big or small they are of a threat, if they are associated with them in anyway, they take them out or if they have potential they kidnap them for information, steal their quirk or get turned into nomu’s.

Shigaraki reaches to rub his eyes but stops when he hears you scolding in his head

“Don’t rub them Tomura-chan! You’ll irritate it more!”

It’s itchy, what do you want me to do about it?

“Stop stop!! Don’t rub it anymore!!!”

Then scratch it for me then if you don’t want me scratching it

“Your bleeding again Tomura, didn’t I told you not to scratch them... . I just finished rubbing some ointment on too...”

Right, sorry about that... .

“Don’t pick on your lips either also put some lip balm on it occasionally-- its not girly!! I want to make sure you look good when you kiss a girl!!”

Who am I going to fucking kiss anyways? I'm not going to kiss anyone if its not you...

Shigaraki smiles unconsciously when he hears you scolding him so he didn’t rub his too hard,’Even when you aren’t physically here, you're still scolding me. Telling me to stop rubbing and picking at my skin.. the things you do to me Y/n...’,he sighs heavily and looks back at the groups who was still waiting for him to give his finally thought in inviting you. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at their boss,”Fine.. she can come--”, Toga grins and raises her arms up. Twice and his other self talked in what to wear to the party, Mr. Compress tips his hat, Geten nods, Dabi mumbles out a quite “Yes!”

“On one condition..”

.. ..

Dabi slows down the car as he enters the road that had thick trees that covered his view,’Had to pick a venue thats waayyy out there, talk about protective..’, he scoffs. He remembers vividly how Shigaraki sent his men to give out last minute changes about the new location for the party to the guests and recall how he asked Professor to personally borrow three of his high ends to which he agreed to. His teacher didn’t mind as long as they get to hold to the party and find new people to add to their assets.

The new venue that he had picked out what way out of the city-- in cases of.. well, possible collateral damage considering the quirks they have and to not worry about causing too much damage that may have a dent on their name, not that anyone would come after them for destroying property unless they want to die. Its on a mountain and it takes a while to get there since there's a lot of curves and it also possible intruders to make their escape a bit hard if they decided to get lost in the thick forest.

‘This curves are making me sick-- I think we’re almost there, I can see those lights’

A few minutes later, you both finally reached the venue after half an hour on the road he notices a lot of fancy cars that were parked up on the outdoor parking lot, all places almost filled up. He grabs his ear piece that allowed him to talk with his group,”Genten, tell them to open the gates... .. I’ve arrived with Y/n safety”, he talks through the earpiece. His earpiece sends a static with made him scrunch his face and almost pulled it off his ear,”Told the guards to open the gate for you, just drive up to the front ”,the static cuts stops.

Dabi drives up to the gate, he gave the guard a side look and just gave a short nod and looked at his buddy to open up the gate. He drives inside and goes straight to the back part of the venue, where the important people get to park their cars, he turns the wheel slowly and quickly finds a spot. He backs up his car, sets his breaks to park and turns off the car, he looks back at your sleeping figure and admires you just for a little while.

‘Sleeps like a true doll... how cute’

He rubs his thumb on your hand that was still laced in yours from the whole ride to the venue,”Doll wake up, we’re here now”, he says and squeezes your hand, he reaches out to cup your cheek with his hand that was on the steering wheel. He caresses it softly watching you finally stirring awake,”5 more minutes...pleaseee”, you whined trying to get a little more sleep. Dabi shakes his head and looks at his watch,”Don’t you want to see Shigaraki and the others?”, you slowly got up and Dabi lets his hand that was on your cheek to rest on his legs.

You rubbed your eyes softly as to not ruin your makeup that your spent little time to put on,”Wait let me do a quick retouch on my make up, I don’t want to look like I just took a long nap”, you leg go of his hand and quickly reach for your small clutch bag that carried your makeup, phone and credit card. Dabi lets out a short ‘hm’, trying hard not to lace his fingers back to your hand, he reaches for the face mask and puts it on the lower part of his face and clicks the belt in.

---

You opened your clutch bag and reach for the small pocket mirror and red lipstick, you swipe just softly to not make it a harsh since you went for a soft gradient look. You puckered your lips to spread the lipstick just a bit then grabbed your blusher to just touch up the faint blush, flicked your up eyelash softly. You turned your head to see if you looked alright, you smiled and out everything back to in your clutch bag. You turned back to Dabi and gave him a short nod while smiling excitedly,”Lets go?”

Dabi ties the black scarf over his eyes to cover up the patchwork under his eyes, which you didn't like the idea of it but you guess it was necessary as to not catch attention--much to your distaste,’Dabi looks cool with is scars, people are just judgemental, hpmh!’, he tightens the scarf just a bit and tugging some parts down. He looks back at you through the scarf and nods, you held in a laugh and covered you mouth,”Whats up with that disguise? Did Shigaraki told you to wear that?”, you asked while tilting your head slightly.

He sighs and rubs his neck looking the other way,”Yeah, apparently he doesn't want the guests to stare at me or make them feel uncomfortable”, he says with a quiet voice. You nod with empathy,”Well I think your scars are cool, especially with your quirk, when you’re not going overboard to hurt yourself”, you say with a nervous laugh. Dabi scoffs playfully at this and shakes his head,”We should probably go, the opening ceremony is probably finished”, you nod and open the door and step out of the car.

Dabi reaches for his back pocket and grabs the black leather gloves, he slips his hands into the gloves, he fixes his hair a bit and once he was done he got out of the car. The night was cold enough to make you shiver as soon as you stepped out of the car first, you fiddles with your small bag and turned your attention to Dabi once he stepped out of the car. Dabi closed the door and locks it with his car keys, he turns to look at your and holds out a hand,”Shall we, doll?”, you smiled and reached for his hand.

You hooked your arms around his arm, humming at the warmth coming off from him, you both walked up to the venue. You looked at the people who were dressed for the occasion, some ladies in red dresses, some in cocktail, beige, black, dark blue. Men in suit and tie all in dark colours but you know none of them stand a slight chance with Dabi, you realised that there also some in masks which made you a bit happy that Dabi wasn't the only on but you know that mask is going to cause some to stare a bit longer.

You both walked up the stairs, Dabi by your side all the way helping you get up the stairs cause heels aren't really your thing. You both reached the entrance of the huge venue and as soon as you looked up you were in awe at how big it is,”Woah... .just how well known is Shigaraki's Family Business is?”, you asked as you both walked up towards the large door. Dabi looks at you for a moment,”More famous than some people would know..he’s kind of a big deal around so parts”, he says.

You gave a short hum and turned your face away from him, you both entered and the person in the front greeted you both,”Welcome, please enjoy your night here at this exquisite party by thee Shigaraki”, you bowed repectfully at the man while Dabi just gave him a small nod. You walked inside the main hall where all the people were all at mingling with other people, you don’t recognise any faces here since you never really cared for famous people anyways.

So you sticked to Dabi’s side for now and try not to get lost in the sea of people,”Soo wheres the others? They should be around here right?”, you asked him. Dabi turns his head to look at you,”Yeah they should be around here.. somewhere but lets just find—��

“Ah, if it isnt Dabi. Fancy meeting you here, care for a short talk?”

A man that looks way too old is accompanied with two other girls that had their makeup way to caked on and dress thats way too skimpy, Dabi lets out a low groan and looks back at you,”Walk the right and you’ll find a table full of food, I’ll talk to this man for a bit..”, you nod and removed your arms from him and walked towards to where Dabi pointed at.

---

Dabi watches you leave and turns back to the old man,”So who’s the pretty lady?”, he asks making Dabi roll his eyes,”None of your goddamn concern, she isnt interested in old shits like you”, the man laughs heavily ans blows on his cigar. Dabi absolutely hates people who has a stick far up their ass,”Now now dont get too possessive now, she’s quite the gem that dress looks eye-catching—“, the girls that were sticked to him like glue whined.

“I thought we were more cuter Sir!”

“Yeah, what she said!”

The man laughs and tries to calm down both jealous girls down,’This fucking whores.. i swear to fucking god’, he did not like the idea of talking to his possible business partner, maybe an enemy or his victim but he couldnt kill him right now. That could cause an uproar and lots of eyes turning to stare at them plus he just go here and most importantly.

You are at this party

Thats what stopping him from charring this man to ashes but he could always save that for later,”Fuck off old fart you better state your business with me or I’ll burn you to bits”, he raises his hands just on his waist level making the man step back just a bit. He clears his throat while the girls fix his tie and dust off the none existent dirty,”A-ahem right business— erm right where was I”, the man spits out whatever offer he has to say.

Dabi puts both of his hands in his pocket clearly half listening to what he has to say,”—my men has a few things to offer you for your leaders ever growing business! I heard you were looking for a skilled healer and have more than enough to offer you some in exchange for something”, His thoughts were cut off when he recalls Shigaraki saying they needed a healer.

“A skilled healer huh.. I’m listening but if this is a joke,—“, Dabi removes his right glove and reaches for the mans tie,”I’m taking you out and might as well rob your fucking business out with it, old shit”, and burns the mans tie just a bit.

---

While that was happening you were far from where Dabi was and finally reaching the long table that had bite sized food,”Dabi wasn’t joking when he said a table full of food, it really is!”, you looked at all the food that was diplayed on separate trays. Eclairs, sushi, creampuffs, shucked oysters—probably really fresh but a lot of people are grabbing it, bites sizes cakes, a tower of macarons and many more that you couldnt name

‘What to eat first— eh whatever i reach first I’ll eat it!’,you grabbed a toothpick and reach for a small bite sized sushi and took a whole bite out of it. You hum savoring the rish flavor,”This taste so good!”, you turned to scan what to pick next. Since you started with something raw maybe you should eat a few more raw dishes, you ate a few salmon sashimi then tuna sashimi then— whatever raw fish you ate.

You didnt at too much of it since you needed space for dessert,”Wine, maam?”, a waiter asks you. You shook you head and he nods and walks away, you reached for the glass of water and took a sip to clear your palette. You moved on to desserts now,”Okay.. what to choose first!”, you eyes the various desserts laid in front of you like pieces of jewelry.

“I guess I’ll start with you first!”, you reached for the chocolate ganache cube, you smiled at the velvety texture and lovely taste. You reached for one more and moved on with the next, you eyed the tower of macarons, your eyes sparkled as you looked at each tier. Each their had its own flavour and colour you decided to start with the first tier, you grabbed the pink macaron and took a a small bite, as you chew on it and shiver at the sweet taste,’It’s a raspberry flavour, the raspberry red cream in the middle surrounded in a sweet white cream. I love it!’, you smiled at the taste.

You eat the whole macaron, thankful its a mini macaron, you moved the next tier which was a slightly off colour white and had a caramelised glazed on top,’I bet this is crem brûlée!’, you took a small bite of it. You swoon at the taste taking your time to savour the taste, you held your cheek and sigh happily,”This tastes so good... if I've known Shigaraki held this kind of parties I wouldn't hesitate to dress up in fancy clothes and eat fancy food!”, you joked to yourself.

You ate the remaining macaron in a heartbeat,”I should slow down.. that also reminds me”, you turned to look behind you trying to find a certain someone. That certain someone was Dabi, you felt like he was still talking to that man that had those two girls clinging on to him,’He’s probably still chatting with that man.. of maybe he is being bombarded with people who want to talk to him?’, you sighed feeling a little bit left out.

The party was filled with unknown faces that made you want to shrink, since you didn't really care for famous faces to begin with you felt like you did not belong here. I mean you had to no like, social status what so ever and your weren't really good in talking to strangers since you always kept to yourself.

Considering the society you live and all the danger thats probably lurking around...

You sighed you realising you lost an appetite to keep eating so you just stare at the food instead deciding to look at it like art displayed on the long table but of course picking up a food that caught your eyes and just moved along. You walked to the right side of the table thats seems to be never ending, your eyes scanned the food as you walked at a slow pace,’I wonder wheres Dabi, he seems to be taking his sweet time--’

“Hey now ladies! I’m sure there's more of me to go around”

You stopped walking eyes going wide, you knew that voice-- you knew that voice so well, you used to hear that voice everyday and love it but now you wanted nothing more to forget everything when he dumped you. You turned your head to look behind you, made up excuses in your head that maybe it wasn't him, you were proven wrong when your eyes meet a blonde tuffs of hair, he didn’t have his huge red wings behind him, you guessed he hid them seeing as it was too eye-catching. Your face, now in a frown, scrunched into a disgusted expression when you saw him, surrounded by thirsty women.

The old you would've probably blushed and covered her face trying to look away but sneaked a small peek at him, you scoffed and decided to just walk away from him and all the woman that flaunt their body all over him. A small part of you was pissed, angry and betrayed, if you would've known he was just a heartbreaker you wouldn't have gave everything to him so willingly, and for two years.

‘Ugh.. what a jerk..’

You spat in your mind seemingly to lose interest in staying near the table,”Hmph! Whatever.. he’s just a jerk..”, You turned your face away from him and walked away.

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

Taglist:

@anxiousgoddest @thegalxe

#dabi #dabi x reader #hawks x reader #hawks #Aizawa #aizawa x reader #mha bnha #shinsou x reader #shinsou #Izuku x reader #shigaraki x reader #Shigaraki #genten x reader #todoroki x reader #todoroki #mha fanfiction #mafia au

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chiaki-translation · 4 years ago

Text

New Year! Red and White Kakushigei Tournament! Event Translation Ch9-Epilogue

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! My bf got extra holiday during christmas and I ended up spending more time with him, thus the delayed translation. At least I can still make it before new year~

Anyway, I hope that everyone have a great holiday ahead! Here’s the final part of the new year event, enjoy~

New Year! Kakushigei Tournament Ch1-4 / / Ch5-8 / / Ch9-Epilogue

Disclaimer:

A3! is owned by Liber’s Entertainment

Azuma:

“It’s the season of pure white snow.

Everyone, as per tradition, let us make some snow bunny.”

Hisoka:

“Yeah. Let us offer our prayer, for the weather not to be too heavy.”

Juza:

“Surely, the snow bunny will deliver our thoughts and prayers to heaven.”

Chikage:

“Then, I’ll start gathering snow. Will you help me.”

Banri:

“Yeah, of course.”

Tsuzuru:

“I’m leaving it to you.”

Tenma:

“Let’s make them, so the snow bunny can run under this winter sky.”

Banri:

“Oi, why are you wandering around our little hut.

Are you here to steal our food.”

Tenma:

“What are you saying.

I’m just trying to shovel the snow on the road back home.”

Banri:

“So suspicious, don’t lie.”

Tenma:

“What the. You too, aren’t you planning something!”

Banri:

“What…! This guy!”

Tenma:

“Bastard…!”

Banri:

“Ugh!”

Tenma:

“Woah!?”

Banri:

“…!”

Chikage:

“What’s this noise about!”

Juza:

“…! The snow bunny’s statue…!”

Azuma:

“What a disaster. The snow statue that offers our prayer is destroyed…”

Tenma:

“It’s not my fault! This guy…!”

Banri:

“No shit, it’s him!”

Hisoka:

“Stop it, the two of you!”

Banri & Tenma:

“…”

Tsuzuru:

“This is bad, the snow never stops.”

Juza:

“If this continues, what should we do.”

Hisoka:

“It’s, it’s cold…”

Azuma:

“Soon, the crops will be affected too.

The village might not be able to survive…”

Banri:

“Ah, as I thought, the heaven is looking down on us.

I’m sorry for raising suspicion on you.”

Tenma:

“No, me too, I’m sorry.”

Banri:

“Let’s try to fix the snow bunny statue together.

From now on, to be considerate with each other. Let’s offer our oaths and prayers sincerely with a dance.”

Tenma:

“Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s put all our thoughts, and dance.

…”

Banri:

“…”

Azuma:

“Those feelings of yours, I’m sure it will be delivered to the snow bunny.”

Chikage:

“Us too, let’s dance to offer our prayers.”

Juza:

“Yeah. I hope for the snow to subside, for the crops to continue growing, and everyone in the village to prosper.”

Chikage:

“…”

Audience A:

Woah… So beautiful…!

Audience B:

It’s so dignified, it’s wonderful!

Audience C:

The atmosphere around them is so wonderful, I’m so fascinated.

Director:

Everyone, good work.

The performance and dance were great!

Hisoka:

Thank you.

Banri:

Well, this much is easy.

Tsuzuru:

Eh? Speaking of which, the snow stopped before we realized…

Azuma:

Maybe it’s the power of the dance.

Tenma:

Well, looks like it.

Muku:

Everyone looks so cool!

It’s so wonderful and fascinating.

Homare:

Yeah, what an artistic performance!

I’m overflowing with inspiration.

Guy:

The dance was very elegant. The thoughts and prayers were conveyed properly.

Chikage:

More than anything else, I’m glad that the audience seems to enjoy it.

Priest:

Everyone, thank you so much!

The performance and the dance were wonderful.

Juza:

Thanks.

Tenma:

I’m glad everything went smoothly.

Omi:

Next will be the result announcement for the Kakushigei right.

Masumi:

Will the red team win, or is it going to be the white team…

Sakuya:

I’m feeling kinda nervous now.

Kazunari:

Settzer’s tablecloth trick and Chikchon’s miracle magic were wonderful, surely it’s the red team win right!

Banri:

It will be great if that’s the case.

Yuki:

The audiences are pretty excited too.

Priest:

Without further ado, I will announce the result of the Kakushigei tournament.

The winner is… White team!!

Kumon:

Alright---!!

Taichi:

Yeay! It’s the white team win--!!

Priest:

Both teams were wonderful, the voting results were close too, but among them, Citron-san’s belly dance from the white team is very popular.

Citron:

I did it! Everyone gets it~!

Itaru:

Seriously.

Misumi:

That’s too bad.

Chikage:

Well, I guess this kind of thing happens.

Omi:

Well, it’s true that Citron’s belly dance has the impact and it’s pretty interesting too.

Kazunari:

I’m a bit disappointed, but everyone did their best and I was able to see a lot of different performances!

Kumon:

Yup! It was so much fun~!

Tasuku:

The festival’s going to end soon.

Director:

It’s going to be over before we know it.

Staff:

It’s amazake. Please take one.

Azami:

Hmm, are you giving out amazake.

Taichi:

It screams end of year, it’s great!

Staff:

Everyone, would you like one too? Please take it.

Director:

Woah, thank you so much.

Tsumugi:

It’s warm and delicious.

Sakyo:

Yeah, not bad.

Chikage:

… There you go, Banri. We got some amazake.

Banri:

Thanks.

It’s been a while since I drank amazake with Chikage-san like this.

Good work for the Kakushigei, the performance, and the dance.

Cheers.

Chikage:

Good work. Cheers.

…

Banri:

How does it taste?

Chikage:

Just drink it.

Banri:

… Ugh, it got ginger huh.

But well, it tastes a bit better than what I remember from my childhood.

That time, I could only think of it as disgusting.

Chikage:

Hmm, isn’t is just the thing about growing up.

Banri:

But as I thought, I prefer the sweet one.

… About my family too, I think I’ll show my face when they’re back from their trip.

Chikage:

That’s great.

Citron:

The two of you, what were you talking about!

Let’s go pull omikuji together!

Banri:

Don’t you pull omikuji at the beginning of the year?

Citron:

Pulling omikuji at the end of the year is also good!

Banri:

There goes the nonsensical stuff again.

Chikage:

Well, it seems that it’s actually fine to pull it at the end of the year.

Citron:

Come on, let’s go~!

Banri:

Fine fine.

Then, let’s go.

Chikage:

Yeah.

Epilogue: The fate of the Victor

Citron:

Alright, it’s finally the long-awaited end of year party!

Let’s have fun and get excited today!

Taichi:

Yeay!

There’s also ‘that thing’ that we’ve been looking forward to!

Tenma:

Right.

Kumon:

It’s the highlight of today’s party!

I’m so excited~!

Omi:

Everyone, it’s ready~

It’s the white team’s request, ‘Sukiyaki’.

Muku:

Woah, what a great smell…!

Citron:

It’s the prize of winning the Kakushigei tournament, it’s the winning sukiyaki!

Yeay!

Tsuzuru:

We were deciding what’s good for the main dish for the end of year party, even though it became a draw between crab pot and sukiyaki…

The red group for crab pot and the white group for sukiyaki, it was decided through the Kakushigei tournament in the end.

Azami:

No one who watched the Kakushigei tournament would have thought that it was actually held for this reason.

Tsumugi:

Ahaha, you’re right.

Kazunari:

But the shrine was bustling with people, the audiences seem to have enjoyed themselves too, it’s great wasn’t it!

Director:

Yeah, Mr. Priest seems to be glad too.

Kumon:

Thanks to the gift cards from him, we were able to upgrade the meat for sukiyaki too!

Citron:

Then then, first of all…

Everyone, good work for the Kakushigei performance and the dance!

Congrats to the white team for winning! Cheers!!

Troupe Members:

Cheers!!

Sakuya:

Woah…! The sukiyaki is very delicious!

Juza:

Yeah, it’s great.

Taichi:

It feels different from the usual one! It’s the best!

Homare:

Everyone from white team, congratulations on winning.

Kazunari:

Sukiyaki is lit~!

Banri:

Well, I’m for the crab pot, but I don’t mind as long as I can eat delicious food.

Misumi:

Fuh… fuh…! It’s so delicious~!

Omi:

For Hisoka-san, I’ve prepared a main dish with broiled tofu and vegetables, I’ve put some mochi inside too.

Hisoka:

Thank you, Omi.

Tenma:

Ah, oi! I was about to eat that meat!

Citron:

No no, the faster hand got it

Tsuzuru:

Calm down, we still have a lot coming.

Itaru:

The sake that Azuma-san prepared has a nice fragrant, it suits sukiyaki pretty well.

Azuma:

Fufu, right? I was interested in it, I’m glad I got it in the end.

Sakyo:

This sake is delicious too.

Takato, you should try it as well.

Tasuku:

Thank you, I’ll try some.

Sakuya:

The Kakushigei tournament was so fun.

Guy:

Yeah. I’ve seen the others practicing sometimes, but seeing the real thing properly for the first time is different.

Masumi:

Director, did you enjoy my Kakushigei performance?

Director:

Yeah! Masumi-kun’s pretty good at ventriloquism.

Manager:

I got surprised by a lot of tricks too!

The venue was also an exciting one~!

Yuki:

The dance was fantastic too, it was beautiful.

Muku:

It’s so elegant, I was impressed!

Chikage:

I’m glad everyone enjoyed it.

Juza:

I also learned a lot from it.

Citron:

The tension’s up! By everyone’s request, I will do my belly dance encore~!

♪~♪~♪~

Kazunari:

As I thought, Ronron’s belly dance is the best~!

I also took a video!

Taichi:

Yo, white team’s general! Japan’s MVP~

Misumi:

I’ll dance together too~!

Tenma too, Kumon too, let’s dance~!

Tenma:

Me too!?

Kumon:

Ahaha!

Director:

Ah, is it time for the go-home group to leave?

Tasuku:

Yeah. Then, I’ll be going.

Omi:

Thank you for your care this year.

Looking forward to next year too.

Director:

Thank you too.

Looking forward to next year with everyone.

Tsuzuru:

Everyone, have a good new year ahead.

Sakuya:

Yeah, have a great new year!

Juza:

We’ll be going too.

Muku:

Yeah!

Kumon:

Ah, Banri! Since Big Brother won’t be here for a while, don’t just eat the snacks he has in his room okay!?

Banri:

There’s no way I’ll eat them!

Juza:

Don’t eat them.

Banri:

I told you there’s nooooooo way!

Itaru:

If you miss everyone, you can play the games I have in the room, senpai.

Chikage:

I will refrain from doing so.

Tsumugi:

Masumi-kun too, have a good new year.

Remember to keep warm.

Masumi:

Yeah.

Homare:

Then, see you next year.

Yuki:

We’re going off.

Kazunari:

We’re going off!

Director:

Have a safe trip!

Banri:

…

Chikage:

Banri.

Banri:

Oh, Chikage-san.

Chikage:

You’re reading the script for your new year performance huh.

Good work.

Here, I brought some new year soba.

Banri:

Thanks.

… Eh, this is a curry soba isn’t it?

Chikage:

It’s the director’s hope.

Banri:

Right, I remember she said something about arranging them.

It is indeed a very strange new year soba.

*phone vibrates*

Hmm?

It’s from Big Sister.

… Eh, she took the time to send pictures from Hawaii.

Look, there.

Chikage:

Hmm… Your Big Sister looks just like you.

Banri:

Geez, that’s so random.

Don’t just send me this kind of thing every time.

Chikage:

Well well. She might be worried about her lone Little Brother that she left in Japan.

Banri too, why don’t you try to send her a picture?

Banri:

I don’t have any picture…

Then, why don’t Chikage-san take a picture together with me?

Chikage:

Me?

Banri:

With that reasoning, she won’t be worried anymore if I take a picture with someone else right.

Misumi:

Ah! There you are~!

Sakuya:

Banri-kun, Chikage-san!

Banri:

Hmm?

Citron:

We will be starting the new year countdown soon.

Banri and Chikage too, let’s do it together!

Banri:

Ah, it’s already that timing huh.

Chikage:

… Anyway, it’s not only me who’s here, why not take a picture together with everyone?

Banri:

… You’re right, this kind of new year’s eve is rare.

Misumi:

The two of you, quick~!

Banri:

Then, should we go.

Chikage:

Right.

#a3! act! addict! actors!#a3! event #a3! translation #utsuki chikage #settsu banri #mikage hisoka #sumeragi tenma #hyodo juza #minagi tsuzuru #yukishiro azuma

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kumawrites · 4 years ago

Note

hi!! idk how requests work but coffeeshop au with oikawa as the flirty barista and you're just trying to find a place to study okay bye 😶😶

iced vanilla bean latte

☆ oikawa tooru x reader ☆

☆ - 1.7k words

☆ - a/n: i based this 100% in a local coffee shop in my area that i frequent except i h8 coffee

☆ - taglist: @miceonmars

“Y/N, Obama was the last president of the United States, not the third.” Kiyoko looked at you with a pitiful gaze in response to your answer.

“Oh.” You blinked once. Twice. A third time for good measure. So your American Politics class was needless to say, not going very well. Honestly, you didn’t even know why you were taking an American politics class when you lived in Japan. Actually, you knew why. Because of your horrible habit of procrastinating literally anything that can be procrastinated, you foolishly waited until the very last day that you could to register for classes. And unsurprisingly, most of them had been completely filled, leaving American Politics to be the only history class that you were able to take. Which would have been just fine, had you not procrastinated studying and even taking notes.

You stared blankly down at your notebook that was barely a quarter full. Instead of taking notes and actually paying attention in class, you either skipped or distracted yourself playing games on your phone. Your professor never notified you since you sat right in the middle of the lecture hall, not drawing much attention at all. Maybe, that wasn’t a good thing, however. You had no connection to your professor at all, and asking for help this late in the game just didn’t feel right, which is extremely irrational but you really didn’t care.

Your problem would really just have been solved if you did care. Too bad you didn’t. However, you’re stuck in a bit of a pickle now, not knowing even the basics of the class, with midterms coming up and a frighteningly fast rate. You were bound to fail, and your parents would not be very happy about that. So, you decided that it was finally time to actually study. Except studying really meant learning all of the material that you had covered for half of the semester in about a week.

Luckily for you, you had great friends who were super smart and actually studious to help! Kiyoko had already taken the class, being a grade ahead of you, and had graciously blessed you with her notebook full of her beautiful notes. It was truly astounding how notes could be so pretty. Yachi, on the other hand, gave your studying tips and ways to actually study well. Without those two, you would have failed the midterm for sure, and most likely the course all together.

You were currently studying with Kiyoko in the library, well trying to at least. Apparently, you knew less than you actually thought.

“Wait, what’s a Conservative? Is that a branch of Congress?” You weren’t doing too hot.

“It’s a political party. They’re a more extreme version of a the Republican Party.” You nodded your head, slowly understanding. Why were politics so complicated?

“Oh, okay. I think I get it. So, Liberals are Democrats but more extreme?”

“That’s right.” Kiyoko nodded her head as you scratched down some of her notes into your own notebook. Kiyoko’s phone pinged and she grabbed it from the table, turning it on. She read the message, sighed, replied, and began packing up her things. “Sorry, Y/N, but my boss just messaged me. I have to go in tonight, Hana got sick.” You nodded and gave Kiyoko a slight smile and a wave as she left. Now it was just you, left to your own devices. You were half tempted to close your books and play Fire Emblem, but that seemed like a poor long term choice.

You kept at it for a surprisingly long amount of time, around an hour, until a rowdy group came in. Even though it was a library, it wasn’t the most quiet of places on campus, and many groups liked to come in to work on group projects. You had no problem with them, until they set down their bags and their bodies at the table right next to yours, still chatting loudly. Unfortunately for you, you didn’t bring your earbuds with you. Since you assumed you would just be studying with Kiyoko the whole time, you didn’t bother to pack them. The one moment in your life when you needed them the most. A tragedy.

You sighed and packed up your things, considering giving up studying for the day, until you realized you were running out of time and were still extremely confused. And tired. You yawned as your left the library, wondering where to go from there. Going back to your dorm would only lead to you playing video games and ignoring everything else, so that was off the list. Every other place you could think of would be far too noisy to actually study. You were in quite the pickle.

You were really close to giving up for the hundredth time until you passed by a coffee shop that you had never seen on campus before. Was that always there? No, it couldn’t have been. It was in the middle of a route you used all of the time to get across campus. But how did you never notice that this was there? The shop had large windows that you could peek through to see a very classy interior. Everything seemed to be made of a walnut coloured wood, excluding the black chairs and stools. There weren’t too many people in the shop, just a small crowd. It looked peaceful. You stood there for a bit before deciding to walk inside. Maybe this is where you could study in peace.

As soon as you opened the door, you were greeted with the smell of fresh roasted coffee beans. You stopped a vacant table and placed your belonging on it and took a seat. The chairs were surprisingly comfortable, even though they seemed to be made of metal. The vibe in the entire shop was very calm. You could get used to this.

You took your notes out and began to study, creating flashcards and making your notes a bit cleaner and more cohesive. This was the kind of productivity that you needed to have on a daily basis. Too bad that this energy was for sure going to leave your body once you finish your midterm. Another yawn left your body, and you turned your head towards the counter. You could buy a coffee. That wasn’t going to break your bank account. Yeah.

You stood up and headed towards the counter, staring at the menu. Everything on the menu sounded fine, but you didn’t know exactly what you wanted.

“Hey! What can I do for you today?” A cheery voice broke you form your thoughts and you brought your eyes back down to look at who was speaking to you. The barista that greeted you had a charming smile on his face, one that you knew just drew people in. He was pretty, for sure, but you didn’t have time to think about pretty boys, too focused on trying to pass your class.

“Hi there. I’ve never been here, so I’m not too sure what to get. What would you recommend?” You have him a polite smile in return, and shifted your gaze back to the menu. There were so many options that you were a bit overwhelmed with choices

“Hmm..” The barista tapped his chin and scrunched his face a bit. “What about the vanilla bean latte? It’s really good iced!” He suggested and you nodded your head.

“Okay, sure. I’ll have that as a 24 ounce, then.” You ordered such a large drink since you assumed that you would be here for a while, having so much material left to study.

“Oh, it’s Y/N.” You replied and he hummed, typing it into the tablet on the counter. Your total came up and you handed him your card, making sure to leave a tip.

“That’s a cute name, just like you!” You stared at him. It was like someone had just stopped a record right in the middle of a song. What? Did you hear that right?

“Sorry, um, what?”

“I just think you’re super cute. We’ll have that vanilla bean right out for ya, Y/N.” He winked and walked over to his coworker who was making your drink. You vaguely remember his coworker scolding him, telling him to ‘stop flirting with the customers shithead’, but you really weren’t listening. Were you just, flirted with? Is that how this works? You for sure were not expecting that to happen.

You returned to your seat and opened up your notes, trying to forget the flirting(?) and focus on your studies. That’s what you came here to do, not flirt with a cute barista that you would for sure go on a date with. But, he was probably just a flirty person, you figured. If his coworker scolded him like that, it was probably a common occurrence, meaning you shouldn’t take it to heart or anything. He was just super cute.

Only a few minutes after you began to actually focus in on your work, you noticed that a large plastic cup full of iced coffee and a plate with a muffin was placed down at your table. Looking up, you saw the cute barista with a beaming smile on his face.

“Here you go, Y/N. Hope you like it.”

“Oh, I didn’t order a muffin.” You tilted your head up at the man who chuckled in response.

“I know. It’s on the house.” And with that, he gave you a tiny wave and disappeared into the back room, leaving you shook. Was this protocol? No, definitely not. Was this protocol for him flirting with every female customer? His boss wouldn’t let him give out that much free food. Was he really, for sure, actually, flirting with you? Was this real? Are you real? Okay, not time for an existential crisis.

You picked up the muffin on the plate, and noticed a small note that was placed under it.. It read, ‘text me!!!! :) xxx-xxx-xxxx - oikawa’. At this point, you were pretty damn sure he was flirting with you. Holy shit. He was flirting with you. Oikawa, you assumed his name was, still hadn’t come out of the storage room, so you couldn’t gauge his reactions or anything. You stared at your phone that you picked up like it was an explosive, ready to detonate. Were you actually going to text him? Was this actually a good idea? You know what, fuck American politics, you had something far more pressing to deal with at the moment.

y/n: hey is this oikawa? this is y/n

oikawa: hey cutie!! ;)

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #oikawa tooru #oikawa #oikawa x reader #haikyuu reader insert #reader insert #request

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librarianbusdriver · 3 years ago

Note

[Text made illegible by stabbing.]

When I really wanted to go to the bar. The bar... Big surprise. You sure spent a lot of time in bars. Ted: Well, that's just we did back then. Me, marshall and lily, Barney, We all used to hang out at this one bar Called mcclaren's. But then, one night... Why don't we go to mcclaren's? Let's go to mcclaren's. You guys talking to each other? Nobody's listening? What's wrong with mcclaren's? Mcclaren's is bore-snore. Ted, tonight we're going to go out. We're going to meet some ladies. It's going to be legendary. Phone five. Ted: I had no idea why I hung out with barney. You didn't phone five, did you? I know when you don't phone five, ted. Come on. We always to go to mcclaren's. Yeah, 'cause mcclaren's is fun. Mcclaren's is this much fun. What I'm offering is the chance to have... This much fun. See, you say that. You say it's going to be this much fun, But most of the time it ends up being this much fun. This much fun is good. It's safe. It's guaranteed. This hand gesture thing Doesn't really work on the phone, does it? No, it doesn't. ( Tires squealing ) Get in the cab. Marshall, you, too. I think lily and I are just going to... I understand. Get in the cab. Why can marshall say no? Uh, because he's getting laid. Consistently. Ted, ted, ted... You keep going to the same bar. You're in a rut. And I am a rut-buster. I'm going to bust your rut. It's not a rut, okay? It's a routine, and I like it. Ted, what's the first syllable in "rut-tine"? Peace out, suckers. All right, so what's this legendary plan? First we've got to pick someone up at the airport. Okay, I'm out of here. Estaban, doors. ( Doors locking ) Okay, we just do this one little thing, And the rest of the night is ours. Why do you have those suitcases, And who are we picking up? I don't know. Maybe her. Or her. ( Chuckles ) Wait, so when you said you were going To pick someone up at the airport, You meant you were going to "pick someone up" At the airport? Scenario: A couple of girls fly into town Looking for a fun weekend in nyc, When the meet Two handsome international businessmen Just back from a lucrative trip to japan. Sample dialogue: "you have a wheelie bag? Well, I have a wheelie bag." You've got to be kidding me. False. Sidebar... Tuck in your shirt. You look sketchy. I'm sketchy? Trust me, it's going to be legendary. Don't say "legendary," okay? You're too liberal with the word "legendary." We're building an igloo in central park. It's going to be legendary. Snowsuit up! Ted, ted, ted... Right here. This is happening. Now you can either put the bags on the carousel now, Or you can listen to me give you A really long speech Convincing you to put the bags on the carousel. Your move. Ted, since the dawn of time... Mankind has struggled... That night, marshall had a ton of studying to do. So lily went out with robin... Who was new to new york and looking for a friend. I'm so glad we finally get to hang out, just the two of us. Yeah. You sure you're okay giving up your Friday night To hang with an old, almost married lady? Oh, please. I'm so sick of the meat market scene. Guys are like the subway. You miss one, another one comes along in five minutes. Unless it's the end of the night and then you get on anything. Hey-oh! Compliments of that guy. Really? Sweet. Oh, for you it's $6. Oh, yes, that's one drawback to being engaged. I'm sure that's why he didn't... [Text made illegible by stabbing.] To refine our back story first. How did we...? Ted, you klutzy great guy you. Hey, I'm barney. Hi. My god, are you okay? I am so sorry. It's fine. No, you were shaky on your landing. I give you a 9.2. Ooh. Hi. I'm ted. Look, I'm really sorry that we have to hit and run, But we've got a plane to catch. Where you headed? Philadelphia. Philly? That's where we're headed. You are? Well, then we'll see you on the plane. Yes, you will. Follow them. Ticket's on me. [Text made illegible by stabbing.]

( Phone ringing ) Whazzup, ted? Are you all right? Yeah. Hey, guess where I am. I'm on a... Ready? Plane to... Ready? Philadelphia. [Text made illegible by stabbing.]

Let's go talk to those girls. Whoa, whoa, the seat belt sign's on. Ted, you've been living your whole life in a seat belt. It's time to unclick. Sir, the seat belt light's on. Yeah. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Well, I grew up in park slope. Oh, I love park slope. When did you move to manhattan? You're from park slope? Uh, no, she is. So where are you from? Heaven? Yeah, I'm a ghost. I died 15 years ago, like that pickup line. Hey-oh! God, I'm so sorry. Oh, believe me, I've been there. I have this line that I use when guys come... Check it out. Hey... You take this one. I'll save it for the next one. ( Chuckles ) So what brings you guys to philly? We're visiting our boyfriends. I think hers is going to propose this weekend. Isn't that great? So great. So there we were: Stuck on an airplane to philadelphia With two very un-single girls, [Text made illegible by stabbing.] crowding your junk. I'm not gonna take off my ring. Wouldn't you be jealous Of guys swarming all over my beeswax? Oh, yeah, you know me... I'm the jealous type. Any goon so much as looks at you, I'll sock him in the kisser. [Text made illegible by stabbing.] Bye. Robin! Robin! Hey, I'm over here. ♪ G-g-goin' to philly! Marshall, don't come to philly. But we're on an adventure. We're on a tarmac in philadelphia. Crazy... Adventure. Fine. No! No! The night has just started. Look, airport bar. Flight attendants. They'll get your tray table in its full upright position. Say what?! Passengers mosby and stenson, please come with us, gentlemen. Keep your hands where I can see them. Barney, I am going to kill you. Don't say you're gonna kill someone In front of airport security. Not cool, not cool. This is an outrage! We are international businessmen On very important international business trip. I demand you release us immediately! You demand?! No, no, no, no, no. He does not demand. We-we-we-we have no demands. [Text made illegible by stabbing.] Okay. Yeah, I'm calm. I'm totally calm. We've got footage of you placing two bags On jfk carousel 3, [Text made illegible by stabbing.] We are international businessmen. [Text made illegible by stabbing.] Now, please let us go Before we miss our international business meeting. Can't remember the last time I saw an international businessman With an untucked shirt. In addition, we received This footage taken over the last few months. Believe it or not, that duffel bag thing worked. The truth is, my friend... He does this thing where he goes to airports With fake luggage to pick up girls, And we followed some here to philadelphia. That-that-that's it. That's all this is. [Text made illegible by stabbing.] We at least get to call our lawyer. Exactly! We have a lawyer? Listen to me... you're both american citizens. Don't let him pull any patriot act voodoo. You both retain the right To refuse to answer any questions So don't say anything until I get there, all right? Okay. Good-bye. ♪ Philly! ♪ The adventure continues ♪ destroy! It's ridiculous in here. Why don't we go somewhere else? No, this place is great. What are you doing? What? With your lips and everything? My lips are always like this. You had to play the race card. Oh, relax, ted. We didn't do anything wrong. And, b.T.W., we'd be out of here by now If you had tucked in your shirt. Go ahead, jfk. What is the baggage status? They're clean. It's just a whole bunch of condoms. And a powerbar. You're free to go. Ted: Don't come to philly. Man, I'm almost halfway there. Yeah, we just got released And we're heading back on the next flight. Uh, meet us at mcclaren's. Maybe we can still make last call. Can't we just, just... No, we can't just. We're going home. We're going to sasha's. Who the hell is sasha? Sasha. She's having friends over for drinks at her house. It's gonna be legen... Wait for it... And I hope you're not lactose-intolerant 'cause the second half of that word is... Dary! No. Legendary. Legendary. That sounds awesome. No,

marshall, we're going back. Fine. Hold on. I have another call. ( Beep) Hello? Marshall, we're going to sasha's. No, we're not. Ted, ted, ted. Right here. Yes, we are. ( Beep) Sorry, buddy... two against one. Ooh, look, a booth opened up. Really? Yeah, I thought we could Finally go talk... And you're not Listening to me, so I'm going to walk away. Yeah, yeah, booth. Hey. Hey. I'm engaged. Yeah, I'm sorry. I took my ring off. It's very, very sweet of you To come over and talk to me, but I just... Yeah, I'm gay. I just came over to let you know That you sat on a grape. Oh, damn it. Ted: So barney and I hit the town. Philadelphia, pa. Our first and only stop: Sasha's party. ( tv blaring ) So, uh... You're sasha's friends, huh? You know it. ( Whispering): You guys, keep the volume down. You're gonna wake my grandpa. Who wants hard lemonade? Philly! Shh! ( softly): Philly. Back at the bar, girls' night out Wasn't going as robin had hoped. ( cell phone ringing ) Lily's phone. Robin, uh, where's lily? She's, uh... Is she talking to some hot guy? Oh, you can tell me. It's totally cool. It was my idea. Hell, I told her she could take the ring off. Really? Well, I thought it was kind of weird, But if you're cool with it, yeah, uh, it's off, And she's talking to some guy. Do you want me to go over and... No, don't interrupt. It's awesome. So, the ring's really off, huh? It's awesome. Well, just tell her I called. And tell her that she is... Awesome. ♪ Really, really awesome ( weakly ): ♪ our relationship is built on mutual trust ♪ I can't breathe. ( Iaughing ) You hear that, ted? Dana works security at the liberty bell. I do okay. Wow, it must be really well cordoned off over there. Do you ever go behind the rope and touch it? Only all the time. You ever, like, stick your head inside it? Yeah. You ever lick it? Nope. I have never licked it. Hmm. I bet nobody in history has ever licked the liberty bell. If someone were to pull that off, I dare say it would be... What's the word? Well, this is my stop. Legendary. Ted, legendary. Barney, I'm going to the airport. Sasha, thank you, and, uh, Tell your grandpa I'm sorry I walked in on him in the bathroom. I'll get some club soda for that stain. Lily, I thought tonight was about us hanging out. Just fending off the advances of that totally hot guy. Dude, I think that guy is gay. Oh, I know that guy is gay. It's just, marshall and I have been together for nine years. I haven't been single since high school. You want to be single? You want to fight off loser guys all night? Does that seem like fun to you? I guess I just wanted to throw this net back into the ocean And see how many fish I could catch. So far, one. One gay dolphin. And marshall. Lily, all these girls here tonight Are all hoping to catch what you've already got. You're right. I know. Hey, do you want to go get coffee And have an actual conversation? If by "coffee" you mean "cheesecake," then yes. Hey, I got that club soda. Let's see that booty. Oh, thank you so much. You want to mess, pal? That's my fiancée's hot backside that you're dabbing. Marshall, no. Baby, please, don't ever take that ring off again, No matter how awesome I say that it is. It's okay, man... Back off, hombre! I'm not that afraid to fight you. You want to test This guy, be my guest, come on. Marshall, he's gay. Oh, thank god. I've never been in a fight before. You don't say. Ted: So, it turned out Uncle marshall really was the jealous type. Unfortunately, that guy's boyfriend... Also the jealous type. Hey! Could have licked the liberty bell. We're going to the airport. Bong... Bong... Bo... Why do I hang out with you? Why? All I wanted was to have a regular beer At my regular bar with my regular friends In my regular city. Ted, ted, ted. You're not even looking. No, I'm not. Look, our forefathers died for the pursuit of happiness, okay? Not for the sit around and wait of happiness. Now, if you want, You can go to

the same bar, drink the same beer, Talk to the same people every day, Or you can lick the liberty bell. You can grab life by the crack and lick the crap out of it. That was beautiful, man. Thanks, leonard. Ted, you're missing out on a valuable life lesson here. Look, I don't need you to teach me how to live, okay? I know how to live. If you want to go lick the liberty bell, Just go lick it yourself. No, it has to be the two of us. Why? Why do you need me? Because you're my best friend, all right? You don't have to tell me I'm yours, But the way I see it, we're a team. Without you, I'm... I'm just the dynamic uno. So, fine, if you want to go home, Then we'll go home. ( Sighs ) Fine. We'll go lick the liberty bell. Good 'cause we're here. I had no idea how barney Redirected the cab without me knowing, And by god, we licked the liberty bell. You know what it tastes like? What? Freedom. No, actually, it tastes like pennies. Oh, my god. Did you guys really do that? We really did. And that was when I realized why I hung out with barney. I never got where I thought I wanted to go, So, that girl you were talking to... That was mom? Kids, every story in a man's life Is like a dot in an impressionist painting... So that's a no? Yeah, that's a no. ( Kids sighing) [Text made illegible by stabbing.]

Hmm...? The manufactured world around me falls apart! A fanged smirk plays across my lips, as I know, here and now, that a kind Samaritan is granting me...

Freedom!

WHAT THE FUCK????

FREEDOM? WHAT??? HUH???????

#himym anon #special guest orange text

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xhxhxhx · 5 years ago

Text

“The Only Real Exception”

After writing about the education-polarization thesis and the future of Europe and Asia, I was curious: Has Japan polarized? One of Thomas Piketty’s students studied the question. They came to a surprising answer.

As Western Europe and North America have become increasingly polarized around education and income, Japan has actually depolarized.

Western Europe and Japan started in different places. In Western Europe, the educated classes traditionally supported parties of the right. In postwar Japan, they supported parties of the left. They moved in different directions. In Western Europe, the educated moved left. In Japan, they moved right.

From Amory Gethin, “Cleavage structures and distributive politics”:

7.6 The end of ‘cultural politics’

One of the other specificities of Japanese electoral behaviour is the fact that higher educated individuals have continuously supported left-wing parties, especially during the twenty years following the end of World War II. The historical strength of education levels in predicting party choice in Japan is well-known: it reflects the freezing of the party system which had emerged in the context of the ‘cultural politics’ of the 1950s (Watanuki, 1991).

Even when controlling for the significant improvements in citizens’ education levels since the 1960s, this pattern has persisted for most of the second half of the twentieth century. In the 1960s, 65% of the 20% least educated voters supported the Liberal Democratic Party, against 41% of voters belonging to the top education decile (figure 7.3c). During recent years, however, these differences have decreased considerably, and popular vote for the LDP has oscillated between 40% and 45% for all education groups in 2009-2014. Looking more closely at intellectual elites confirms this evolution (figure 7.3d). In 1963-1967, top 10% educated voters were indeed less likely to support the LDP by about 15 percentage points (8 percentage points after controls). This figure remained broadly stable, staying between 5 and 10 percentage points during the 1963-1996 period. Starting in 2009, however, education lost significance, even when including controls. The decline of the Social Democratic Party during the 1990s and its replacement by the Democratic Party of Japan – which culminated by its victory in 2009 – therefore seems to coincide with the disappearance of what was one of the most fundamental political divisions of Japanese society. The fact that this dealignment was sudden and occurred at the same time as shifts in the structure of party politics suggests that this process is driven by top-down mechanisms rather than long-run evolutions in collective beliefs.

7.7 From a multiple elites party system to political indifferentiation?

Bringing these two dynamics together points to a trend which is the exact opposite of the one observed in most Western countries (figure 7.4). In the 1960s, intellectual and economic elites were clearly separated into two different groups. On the left of the political spectrum, university graduates were highly supportive of the Japanese Communist Party and the Japanese Socialist Party, who based their appeal more on liberal values than on class antagonisms. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democratic Party attracted both low income earners and business elites. Through its defense of organized capitalism, it created strong ties with top executives and industrial leaders who participated in developing Japan’s growth model. This structure of political competition suddenly ended in 2009, when the LDP was defeated for the first time.

While these figures suggest that Japan was originally a perfect example of a multiple elites party system, this characterisation should not be over-emphasised. Persistently strong levels of support for the party among low income earners demonstrates that the LDP has never favoured exclusively economic elites. As was highlighted above, part of its remarkable hegemony came from its ability to distribute equally the fruits of the country’s long periods of growth. The non-linearity of the relationship between income and electoral behaviour is, to some extent, an interesting representation of the Japanese social compromise, which came with its dominant-party system.

Piketty describes Japan as the exception to the education-polarization rule. From Capital and Ideology:

The only real exception to this general evolution of the structure of political cleavages within the electoral democracies of developed countries seems to concern Japan, which has never really experienced a party system of classist type comparable to those observed in European countries and Westerners during the post-war period. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power almost permanently in Japan since 1945. Historically, this almost hegemonic conservative party has achieved its best scores in the rural and agricultural world and among the urban bourgeoisie. The LDP thus succeeded in synthesizing between the economic and industrial elites and traditional Japan, around a project of reconstruction of the country, in a complex context marked by the American occupation and an anticommunism exacerbated by the Russian-Chinese proximity. Conversely, the Democratic Party (main opposition party) has generally achieved its best scores among modest and average urban employees and among the most highly qualified, who are willing to protest against the presence of the United States and the new moral and social order embodied by the LDP, but without succeeding in sustainably gathering an alternative majority8. More generally, the specific structure of the political conflict in Japan must be linked to the particular form taken by Japanese cleavages around nationalism and traditional values9.

8. See A. GETHIN, Cleavages Structures and Distributive Politics, op. cit., p. 89-100. See also K. MORI MCELWAIN, « Party System Institutionalization in Japan », in A. HICKEN, E. MARTINEZ KUHONTA, Party System Institutionalization in Asia, Cambridge University Press, 2015, p. 74-107.

9. In The Game of the Century [The Silent Cry] (1967), Kenzaburô Ôé magnificently evokes the complexity and the violence of the relations between the intellectual elites and the popular classes in Japan, in particular around the urban-rural divide, traditional values and the question of the modernization of the country since the beginning of the Meiji era (1868), without forgetting the role played by the geopolitical positioning of the archipelago, the relationship with the United States and the antagonisms aroused by the presence of Korean workers.

Perhaps Japan was a precociously modern society in the 1960s, with an educated left and a uneducated right. Or perhaps it was a “post-colonial” society, with a self-consciously anti-imperialist left.

The Japanese experience of the 1960s can certainly sound precociously modern. In Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood (1987), one working class student was put off by the 1960s educated left:

"You know, when I went to university I joined a folk-music club. I just wanted to sing songs. But the members were a load of frauds. I get goose-bumps just thinking about them. The first thing they tell you when you enter the club is you have to read Marx. ‘Read page so-and-so to such-and-such for next time.’ Somebody gave a lecture on how folk songs have to be deeply involved with society and the radical movement. So, what the hell, I went home and tried as hard as I could to read it, but I didn't understand a thing. It was worse than the subjunctive. I gave up after three pages. So I went to the next week's meeting like a good little scout and said I had read it, but I couldn't understand it. From that point on they treated me like an idiot.

“I had no critical awareness of the class struggle, they said, I was a social cripple. I mean, this was serious. And all because I said I couldn't understand a piece of writing. Don't you think they were terrible?"

"Uh-huh," I said.

"And their so-called discussions were terrible, too. Everybody would use big words and pretend they knew what was going on. But I would ask questions whenever I didn't understand something. "What is this imperialist exploitation stuff you're talking about? Is it connected somehow to the East India Company?' "Does smashing the educational-industrial complex mean we're not supposed to work for a company after we graduate?' And stuff like that. But nobody was willing to explain anything to me. Far from it -- they got really angry.

“Can you believe it?"

"Yeah, I can," I said.

"One guy yelled at me, "You stupid bitch, how do you live like that with nothing in your brain?' Well, that did it. I wasn't going to put up with that. OK, so I'm not so smart. I'm working class. But it's the working class that keeps the world running, and it's the working classes that get exploited. What kind of revolution is it that just throws out big words that working-class people can't understand? What kind of crap social revolution is that? I mean, I'd like to make the world a better place, too. If somebody's really being exploited, we've got to put a stop to it. That's what I believe, and that's why I ask questions.

“Am I right, or what?"

"You're right."

"So that's when it hit me. These guys are fakes. All they've got on their minds is impressing the new girls with the big words they're so proud of, while sticking their hands up their skirts. And when they graduate, they cut their hair short and march off to work for Mitsubishi or IBM or Fuji Bank. They marry pretty wives who've never read Marx and have kids they give fancy new names to that are enough to make you puke. Smash what educational-industrial complex? Don't make me laugh! And the new members were just as bad. They didn't understand a thing either, but they pretended to and they were laughing at me. After the meeting, they told me, "Don't be silly! So what if you don't understand? Just agree with everything they say.'"

[...]

"So then what happened with your club?"

"I left in June, I was so furious," Midori said. "Most of these student types are total frauds. They're scared to death somebody's gonna find out they don't know something. They all read the same books and they all spout the same slogans, and they love listening to John Coltrane and seeing Pasolini movies. You call that "revolution?"'

"Hey, don't ask me, I've never actually seen a revolution."

"Well, if that's revolution, you can stick it. They'd probably shoot me for putting umeboshi in my rice balls. They'd shoot you, too, for understanding the subjunctive."

"It could happen."

"Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. I'm working class.”

But those dynamics changed. Today, Japan is about as polarized by education as France and the United States were in the 1970s and the United Kingdom was in the 1990s: the more educated and the less educated vote the same way.

I am still interested in whether Japan has depolarized at the level of opinion and policy. Under Shinzo Abe, the country has liberalized. It has more immigration and more women in the workforce. Perhaps that reflects the preferences of an increasingly educated population.

But it might be something else. The Liberal Democrats have a freedom of action that parties in competitive systems do not enjoy. In the United States, Democrats and Republicans must respond to changing preferences. In Japan, the Liberal Democrats can, more often than not, ignore them.

Perhaps Abe simply decided that cultural conservatism is not a winning program. But perhaps the country is changing beneath his feet.

#effortpost

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randomguywithwords · 5 years ago

Text

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 7 (Dabiten Slowburn)

Recap from Chapter 6:

“Find out what you can on that girl, Apocrypha.”

...

“I don’t really owe you anything do I?” Hawks winked.

“What do you want?” Dabi growled.

“Nothing for now, but you’ll owe me. That’s all.”

“Fine.”

-------

Their meetings of the PLF were shifted to Re-destro’s mansion, a labyrinth of identical corridors, lavish rooms that stank of wealth built upon foundations and corporations that concealed this singular secret of their true loyalties. Said loyalties, once pledged to Destro, then to his son, were now transferred onto Tomura Shigaraki.

The young man sat at the head of the council table. The table was in a semicircular shape, with the lieutenants taking a seat each. These meetings, a daily routine, were something Dabi didn’t enjoy.

And with the agenda of this one, he was about to enjoy them far less.

“I’m pairing you guys up. Each pair will lead a squadron of their own. I don’t care what you guys do to them. Just make sure that when I assign your squad something, it gets done. Got it?” After waiting for a general murmur of assent, Shigaraki passed a sheet of paper to Mr Compress, who stood up to read the pairings.

“Re-destro and me, Trumpet and Twice, Skeptic and Spinner, Dabi and Apocrypha —“

Goddammit. Dabi shot the girl a look, who had been looking at the table the whole time. Even as her name was called, she hadn’t looked up, her eyes frozen to the grey marble.

“Toga, you’re with me.” Compress looked up from the paper. Toga stuck her tongue out. “Fine.”

“Thanks, Compress.” Shigaraki said. The performer nodded and sat back down. “So, we’re done with everything, yeah? City’s repaired, the media’s finally shut their mouths and stopped annoying us, all that garbage. Good…”

“Let’s talk destruction.” Shigaraki’s statement was met with silence. Dabi felt the tension in the room spike. He was curious to hear what the leader of the PLF had to say on his ambition.

“Re-destro, I’ve looked at your plans. I gotta say, I’m impressed. I like the idea.”

“Thank you, great leader,” Re-destro replied, smiling widely, perhaps out of a fear that still manifested even as they were technically on the same side. Dabi hid a grin of his own.

“What’s the idea?” Toga asked. “I wanna know.”

Shigaraki picked up a piece of paper on the desk. “Basically, they want to slowly get people on their side, by spreading their message. It’ll be non-violent, at first,” Shigaraki emphasised the last two words, “But once it reaches a lot of people, they’ll start their attacks.”

Licking his lips, he continued, “Attack the major cities with the members, cause chaos, cause destruction. Show them the strength of the average citizen, how even they can overpower heroes. Broadcast this country-wide. Re-destro and his political parties will swoop in and take charge, offering assistance, offering anarchy – within their control. This’ll create a divide between the hero society and the Liberation Front. Slowly, with more attacks and threats, more and more will join our side. Until Japan is ours.”

“Wow.” Toga breathed, grinning. The feeling was mutual with Dabi. He was impressed too.

“But,” Tomura put the paper down, “I’m not patient enough to wait. I like the idea of getting them to our side via desperation, not genuine belief in the ideals. So here’s my change.”

“Start small, going for the small towns and villages around Deika City. Take over Kyoto first. From there, the rest of Japan. Destroy society and everything within it.”

“That’s great and all,” Dabi interjected, drawing a look from Shigaraki, “But isn’t this a little rushed?”

“Yeah, I was getting to that,” Shigraki droned with mild annoyance, waving a hand dismissively at Dabi, who retorted with kicking his legs on the table. “We’re going to lay low for a week, scrub whatever’s left of the media off our backs, don’t draw anymore attention. Use that time to get your squads in order. By next Friday, we’re starting.”

Shigaraki spun in his chair. “That’s all I have for you guys. Dismissed.”

People got up and began to leave, Dabi with them, until he heard Tomura call, “Dabi. Here.”

The fire-user turned back to see Shigaraki pointing at the empty space in front of his chair. He stalked up to the boy. “What is it?”

“I didn’t toss you and Apocrypha together by throwing darts. I need you to get your shit together. This...whatever it is between you two, stop it.”

“No idea what you mean,” Dabi said.

“I saw you two fight last night from the tower. It wasn’t exactly subtle. So yeah, end this little fight of yours.”

“I am trying to end it. That bitch is insane, constantly blabbering about her precious ‘meta-ability’ and her army. She’s trying to kill me because she thinks Re-destro’s orders are still in effect, so I’m going to kill her first.”

“You kill her, I kill you.” Dabi froze for a moment under the red glare of Shigaraki’s cold irises, and the threat that came from his mouth. “No one’s going to murder anyone within the League – Liberation Front, whatever. I’m not having my lieutenants start a civil war under my nose, not when we have this much going for us.”

His ears burning, Dabi shook off the instance of trepidation that he felt from Shigaraki, and answered back hotly, “She’s not one to listen to reason. Have you tried talking to her? She’s mental.”

“I don’t have time to deal with this bullshit. I’ll do something if things get out of hand. Otherwise, you’re solving this on your own. That’s final.”

“Hey.” Dabi took a step forward. “You have a lot of nerve, y’know? You go through some epiphany shit and now you think you’re the next boss. We ain’t chums, but I ain’t your servant either. I have my own things to look out for too.”

“Oh yeah?” Shigaraki got to his feet, meeting Dabi’s stare with equal intensity. “What ‘own things’? Come to think of it, I still don’t know who you are, just your name, quirk, and what you’ve done. To me, you’re the same as any random soldier in the Front, especially Apocrypha.”

“Don’t compare me to her!” Dabi hissed, brandishing a spark of fire.

“I’m sure as hell going to if it riles you up so much.” Shigaraki knocked aside Dabi’s raised arm with a backhand. “I let you go your own way because I don’t believe in ordering you guys around, but now that I’m leading more than a small group, I’m changing my style. You’re settling things with Apocrypha, got it?”

The two stared at each other with cold fury for a second, before Dabi spat, “Fine.” and spun on his heel to exit the room.

––––––

Managed to write this out. I’ll see what more I can do with the little time I have. Sorry Kanra and others for making you guys wait so long. This probably isn’t the chapter you guys wanted, but I have to push the plot along instead of stagnating on the relationship between the two MCs.

#bnha fanfic #bnha fanfiction #mha fanfic #mha fanfiction #dabi x geten #dabiten #mha dabi #mha geten #bnha dabi #bnha geten #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #ATDS

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hobiwonder · 6 years ago

Text

Fifty Shades of Jimin | (m)

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Genre: Smut, some plot if you squint??. Noona!reader. Sub!Jimin

Warnings: Dry sex, dry humping. Dirty talk. Just some good old foreplay. Noona kink.

Words: 6.5k

Summary: Remember when jimin once said he couldn't rec the books he read because they were a little... yeah.

A/N: this is also from my old blog but i deleted it from there too bc i hated it jkbdeifuwbfl. one of the first smuts I ever wrote and im so sorry for posting so much jimin lately lmao. but like he’s so easy for me to write. I edited this a little bit to make it less horrendous since I wrote it over a year and half ago oops. hope you guys enjoy. feedback appreciated my loves.

Today you decided to finally go to the dorms to teach English to V, Jimin and Jungkook as you had all planned. But seeing as the boys were always so busy, your plans kept getting interrupted and they had to leave for their Promo in Japan for their Japanese album and MV of Blood, Sweat and Tears. You saw them at least once a month in the past 6 or so months since your aunt was the senior stylist for BigHit and you liked to tag along to her work. Nonetheless, you and the younger ones, despite you being 2 years older than Jimin, had still decided to spend some time together outside of work related events to have a fun session of English. You had become quite close with the BigHit family over these months and you loved seeing the boys. It all started when your aunt decided to take you to work with her to the dress rehearsals for MAMA in 2016.

You having just returned from overseas after completing your degree, knew minimal details about the entertainment and idol culture in Korea. Having grown up surrounded by Kanye West and Britany Spears, you always thought that the Korean pop scene was way too manufactured and lacked authenticity. You didn’t quite understand how hard could it be being an idol. You just had to look good, sound moderately respectable and dye your hair every other month, right? Didn’t sound too challenging, given that you have those idol looks. It always seemed to come down to looks it seemed. Thus, you never paid much attention to your Aunt’s job or recognized your mother’s efforts to send you back to Korea to maybe tie the knot with a rich idol – Typical mother wanting to set you up for life.

However, when you did decide to finally go abroad and take a break from your normal life, your aunt had convinced you somehow to make a trip to Korea. After being in the country for just 2 weeks, you had quickly found out how busy she was with continuous shopping trips to plan outfits for the idol group she worked with, in advance. It was then that you had found out that she worked for BigHit and was a senior stylist and makeup artist for the famous boy group, BTS. You had heard a fair bit about them from your Korean friends and even some American friends who raved about their looks and voices, but mostly looks, which further pulled you away from having any genuine interest. Though, being too focused on your studies and just the normal party scene, you didn’t deem it too important to pay attention or inquire from your aunt if she knew, let alone worked for the famous boys that everyone seemed to swoon over. After not being able to spend a decent day together even when living with her for a good 2 weeks, it was then that your aunt decided to take you to work with her so you can meet the famous Bulletproof boys that your aunt also seemed to fangirl over.

When you had arrived at the BigHit building, you were instantly met by curious, yet warm stares. No doubt wondering who the foreigner was. Your aunt was quick to introduce you to everyone and soon enough, everyone on the team had welcomed you with open arms, taking extra care of you as a guest of your aunt. Every room had been bustling with people running around, calling out each other’s names to make sure each one had done their part and were ready for fittings. The boys had arrived shortly after, greeting everyone with bows and smiles. The first thing that you noticed was how beautiful they all were. Of course, you were expecting them to be quite eye catching but never did you think they would be this handsome. The first one to notice a new face was V, whose real name you later learned to be Taehyung. He had come up to you and smiled his charismatic boxy smile and waved while greeting you in Korean, which you returned. His smile was seriously contagious. After that, you greeted the rest of the boys, each one of them making your jaw almost drop at how their skin glowed. Though, you had only greeted 6 boys. You had been told there were 7 members? You shrugged and chatted with the ones that were present. You could mostly understand Korean and speak some passable Korean but you still preferred to reply to your aunt in English, being the most comfortable with it. So when you had begun chatting with them, it was no problem connecting with them all as you could understand them and they could understand your English fairly well, helping you when you did reply in Korean.

Every once in a while, you would forget to pay attention to what they were saying, getting distracted by their sharp features and handsome faces. It was then when your aunt called for you from the room adjacent to where you all sat, you excused yourself and went to see what she was after, finally, meeting the last member known as Jimin. You remember being completely entranced by a head of cool blonde hair, a face chiselled to perfection and lips plumper than yours and as red as strawberries. Your first thought had been about how they would taste and the thought had been interrupted when the boy that all those features belong to had noticed you standing in the doorway and smiled hesitantly, not being completely sure about how to react seeing an unfamiliar face. Your aunt in turn also noticed the stiffness in the boy’s body as she was tightening the collar of his shirt and looked up to ask you to fetch a piece of garment for her. You mutely followed her instructions. when you finally came back to face the boy again, your aunt, at last, decided to introduce you two. Jimin had smiled in understanding that you were there with your aunt and had given you a cute smile that reached his eyes, almost completely closing them. when you smiled back and extended your hand to shake his, he had shyly looked at it and shook yours while the mysterious little smile still played on his lips. Once again, you were entranced by his good looks and immediately face palmed internally at your earlier first thought of making out with him when he was shy as fuck with just even shaking your hand. After Jimin’s fitting had finished, he had joined the rest of the group. One by one, all of them had their fittings done while you hung out with them, surprisingly having the best time, and enjoying their company more than you expected to.

You had a completely different scenario in mind. You had imagined them to be stuck up, being too busy with keeping up their idol image even behind the scenes and barely engaging with the team. All of them had proven you wrong, talking to almost everyone at the company, being cooperative and even welcoming you, a practical stranger and making you feel at ease. All of them were insanely handsome, down to earth and funny as hell. Throughout the day you found yourself doubling over with laughter multiple times watching the boys interact with each other. Especially the eldest, Jin, had been the biggest player in providing the laughs while the others had teased him and each other about various things. However, you noticed that even the youngest, Jungkook had warmed up to you despite having the reputation of being ‘scared’ of girls and seemed quite comfortable around you. Perhaps maybe it was because you were older than him. No matter, Jimin, the boy with lips made to sin, was still shy, never directly meeting your gaze or making direct conversation. Always settling with just chiming in when other members talked to you first. Whatever it was, you found it insanely cute that he was this shy even though you should be the one who gets flustered in this scenario seeing how his beauty surpassed yours by a million. It also made you feel quite guilty when your thoughts turned x-rated every once in a while when you caught his shy gaze. He looked too cute and innocuous for his own good. Too pure.

That was, however, to be expected. Having grown up in overseas, there was no such thing as shame and you weren’t exactly the virgin Mary either. The culture in Korea was entirely different and you were certain that Jimin, and the rest of the boys, were not raised in an environment as sexually open and liberated as yours. In fact, you were certain that Jimin was inexperienced, if not a virgin. Keeping that fact in mind, you noticed that you chastised yourself quite often over the coming months.

It was like you couldn’t keep it in your pants. You noticed that all the boys acted cuter than sexy and that seemed to be the case for pretty much any idol. Sure, there were sexy ‘concepts’ but that is pretty much all. The Korean audience always preferred cuteness over sexiness. A lot of it also having to do with how too much sexiness being disapproved and looked down upon by the older generation and you could respect that. However, it was hard not to let your mind wander to the gutter when you saw them perform for the first time. It had taken your breath away to see a completely different side of the boys come out when they were on stage. Once again, you were charmed. Perhaps, the biggest change in aura was a tie between Hoseok and Jimin. Both having a bright, bubbly and sweet personality off stage and being the complete opposite on stage with their sharp moves, fearless expressions and languid body movements. J-Hope appeared to be more fearless with sharp movements whereas Jimin’s dancing had you spellbound and wondering how a human body can move so effortlessly and gracefully, exuding a cool sexiness while simultaneously maintaining his undeniable innocent character that he portrayed to his audience.

These weeks turned into months of keeping in contact with them all through your aunt’s job and you got closer. Your friendship with the hyung line had developed more so than with the younger ones. This was mostly due to your personality being more on the serious side. Though that’s not to say that you didn’t immensely enjoy Jin’s ridiculous dad jokes and even encouraged him on more than one occasion. Talking to Namjoon in English also had a big part in it and seeing as Hoseok’s English was good enough to converse with him as well as Yoongi so you tended to gravitate towards the elders more than the young ones. But this didn’t stop the shouts of ‘Noona’ from the younger boys whenever they wanted to show you something they found to be cool or when Jungkook was simply being the little brat he was. Before you knew it, Producer Bang had asked you to teach the boys some basic conversing English, given that you had graduated college, so the pressure is somewhat lifted from Namjoon’s shoulders. You had happily agreed to it as an informal arrangement because you had started a fulltime Job.

And finally, here you were, finally at the dorms. You furrowed your eyebrows at the unusual silence in the house.

“Jungkook?” You call out, taking off your shoes and placing them on the shoe rack. After hearing silence, you figured that since you were still in the hallway, they just didn’t hear you. Walking further in to the living room, inspecting your surroundings, which had no signs of any of the boys being home as the TV was off and the game console that is usually always on standby, was also off. Sighing, you knew that the older boys were going to be out but having a suspicion that the younger ones weren’t home either.

“Taehyung? Are you guys in your rooms?” You call out as you walk towards the kitchen and to their bedrooms, knocking. After no response, you open the door and as predicted, there was no one in sight.

“Should have known.” you click your tongue, pursing your lips in annoyance because this wasn’t the first time they had done this. Suddenly, you hear a noise coming from further away. Your head snaps up, looking towards the direction of the noise.

So someone was home. Walking out of the room slowly and silently, hoping to figure out what and where it was coming from, soon enough, you hear it again. However, it was noticeably a moan, though you couldn’t figure out whether the person was in pain or not. You notice the noise coming from Jimin’s room and your heart starts racing thinking someone had broken in but that was impossible – they had 24hr security so you calm yourself down.

Walking forward towards the room, your anger returns, waiting to be taken out on whichever one of the boys was in the room. You drove 20 minutes just for these brats to not even be at home? Just as you were about to knock on the door, the undeniable sound of a moan stops you in your tracks. And not just anyone’s; Jimin’s moan? The one that seemed to be the cutest, shyest of the bunch according to you. The sound was utterly scandalous and shocking while your mouth going a bit dry, thinking about what was happening.

It was pretty clear now, at what was going on behind the door. This house was always full of boys. You couldn’t exactly blame them if one of them decided to take advantage of the privacy. You contemplate if you should just leave, or confront Jimin about the plans you guys had made. Give him a peace of your mind and ask him why didn’t he stop the other boys from making other plans when they knew you were coming over.

You being the hothead you were, decide to go with the later. Knocking on the door twice, calling his name more clearly now. “Jimin? Can I come in?”

You hear shuffling on the other end and a stuttered response from Jimin telling you to wait a minute. When he finally opens the door, you are met with a swollen lipped and sweat flushed Jimin. His pupils are visibly dilated; his hair is a mess as if he had run his hands through it a thousand times. You couldn’t think of a sexier picture. BUT, you wanted to stay focused on tearing the brat a new one for having the nerve to jerk off and blowing off your plans like it’s nothing. You especially made time for this.

“Noona? W-What’re you doing here?” He asks looking at you, nervously fidgeting with his hands.

“What am I doing here? You seriously don’t remember? We were supposed to have a lesson today?” You say as you push past him and into the room, exasperated.

Jimin follows you in, with a confused look as the wheels turned in his head. After a few seconds of his looking at you puzzled while you deadpan him, it seems to click.

“Oh shit.” He face palmed himself, looking at you sheepishly. “Please believe me noona, it really did slip my mind.”

“Don’t ‘oh shit’ me you dingus. I had reminded you two days ago and even texted you this morning.” You glare harshly at him, plopping down on his bed and folding your arms under your chest.

Jimin avoids your gaze as he looks down with an embarrassed smile, scratching the back of his neck. The action lifts his shirt up, giving you a peak at his solid V line, dragging your mind back to hell. Jimin had started saying something, though you could barely remember what as you take in his attire. He looked soft, pink and ready for bed and his sweatpants were extremely distracting. When you reach his face, you are met with reluctant eyes that had obviously caught you checking him out. The blush on his face said so clearly.

You sigh for the second time in less than 10 minutes, leaning back on your arms and looking around his room which was somewhat messy.

“You know that I don’t live close by and had to make time for our lesson. Yet you let those two brats go and are having the time of your life here by yourself.” It was a statement and Jimin listened on obediently with his hands in front of him, eyes respectfully drawn downwards.

“Well… i-if it makes you feel any better, I’ve been reading English books?” He says hopefully.

“Yeah? What books?” He goes to look in his bedside drawer and pulls out several English books and sits beside you, ready to be a dutiful student. Though that’s not what makes your blood run hot and saliva starting to pool in your mouth. Definitely not it. It’s definitely not the way his sweatpants hint at what’s underneath, due to him sitting with his legs spread, either. Though it definitely makes you want to fuck him even more.

“Noona?” you noticed that you had completely stilled and not heard, for the second time, what Jimin had been previously saying. Instead, your eyes are firmly locked on the copy of Fifty Shades of Grey beside the pillow. You were guessing he had tried to hide it, though it clearly didn’t work out. You don’t know what had possessed you to do the things you were about to do, but clearly, the lust for this damn boy had finally won. Picking up the book and bringing it in Jimin’s line of sight as well you look him straight in the eyes. Completely composed except the rising heat in your body. He on the other hand, looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Is this your idea of ‘studying’ English, Jiminie?” You quirk up your brow. Beside you, Jimin had gone completely still, breathing hard, trying to look anywhere but at you.

“I-I can explain n-noona.”

“Oh? You can?” you asked in a voice dripping with honey. Sometime between this exchange, you have leaned closer to him, almost feeling his breath on your face. Jimin visibly gulps, desperately trying to think of something to say. Tsking in his face at the lack of his response. Who knew Jimin was into getting off to erotic books?

“I never imagined you to be the one to read dirty books, sweet Jiminie. I guess you have been fooling everyone all this time huh?” your face was even closer to his now. His was beet red, breathing quite firm now while his eyes constantly shifting from your lips to your eyes. Impulsively, you lick your lips at the sight of his plush ones that were currently shiny and swollen.

“I thought you were about to explain yourself? Use your words brat.” You say loudly this time causing Jimin to gasp and back away slightly in alarm.

“I-It has a n-nice storyline?” He says more like a question than his own opinion. Scoffing at his reply, knowing that he was clearly trying to save face you shake your head tauntingly at him. Having way too much fun with his flushed face and furrowed brows that made it look like he was genuinely scared of you.

“Please, honey, we both know that it has little to no storyline. Are you lying to me Jimin?”

“N-No?”

“First I find out that you forgot about your English lesson and now you are trying to make a fool of me?” You almost spit out the words. You are definitely being overdramatic. But the reaction that you are getting from him is worth it. Plus, he did piss you off anyway. This was incredibly hot to you. The fact that Jimin read this filthy book, a BDSM book at that, and got off to it, turned you on to no end.

“No n-noona, that’s n-not-”

“Then tell me the real reason you were reading this.” Jimin looks extremely conflicted, deciding between keeping his pride or letting go in this extremely heated scenario but when you look him dead in the eyes as you nearly spit the words out, he finally speaks

“I don’t have all day Jimin, don’t waste my time more than you already have.”

Then, you heard the faintest whisper – breathless and shameful. You weren’t even sure if you actually heard it at all.

“It’s hot..”

“What was that babe? You read it because you it makes you hot?”

Jimin bit his plump bottom lip, looking up before meeting your gaze and nodding his head. That was all the confirmation you needed to go ahead with this. Believe it or not, you actually were thinking about just leaving, not taking this any further because you were sure no one was going to praise you for bedding an idol who was 2 years your Junior – in Korea at least. It wasn’t much of a difference really. But in the society you lived, it definitely would be as opposed to where you came from.

“Oh Jiminie… you like reading porn? Hm? You liked reading about some rich guy fucking a girl for his pleasure, doing all sorts of dirty things to her? Hm?” You egg him on and he doesn’t move his eyes away from you.

Jimin’s breathing is getting more and more laboured by the passing second. You move your hands from your lap to place it on his thigh. Dragging your fingers slowly up and down as Jimin’s eye follow their movements. Then he nods once again.

“Use your words Jiminie.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Were you touching yourself when I knocked?” You whisper tantalisingly, dragging your hands up to his face hoping he’d let loose a bit, and indulge your filthy desires to have him come undone. He was warm beneath your touch, unusually so.

“W-What if I say yes?” You chuckle lowly against his face at his shaky response. Your forehead was now resting against his as your hand was on his right cheek, keeping him to you firmly.

“Then I guess you’re a dirty little boy Jimin, touching yourself over a dirty book.” You tsked once again. “Tell me, did you imagine it was you getting your cock sucked in the book, instead of the male character?” Jimin lookw completely lost in your words, almost in a trance as he stares in your eyes.

“Yes.” This was the first time he had replied without stuttering. You take that as a good sign – continuing. Though, you are slowly losing control yourself too. He just looked so hot sitting there, completely compelled by you with his eyes now closed, answering you like his life depended on it, skin shining with perspiration and smelling like orange blossom. You close your eyes, willing yourself to be stronger for a bit more, tease him a bit more. You sigh again, for the third time, however this time, due to the heavy desire clouding your brain.

“Did you imagine someone doing it to you? Taking your cock in their mouth?”

“Y-Yes.” Your breath hitched. You had some idea, or maybe it was your wishful thinking, that he thought about you. You had caught him more than once - multiple occasions – staring at you then looking away bashfully.

“Who… who did you think of?” At this question his eyes shoot open, looking into yours as if to decide whether it would be appropriate for him to answer. You laugh inside, knowing that all the barriers of pertinence have been surpassed.

“Y-you…noona.” He whimpers. Actually whimpers aloud and you almost groan out loud at his answer. In a flash you have pushed Jimin back on the bed and straddled his hips, leaning down until your hair fell to the side and face was a mere inch away from his. Both of your breaths were shallow. Jimin looked a bit surprised from being still all this while and then your sudden outburst. Though you definitely preferred this position as it allowed you to feel every ridge of Jimin’s perfectly sculpted body. Your core aligning with his perfectly.

“You’re so bad Jiminie… thinking about noona like that.” You shake your head slowly in mock admonishment, looking into his eyes that were still enlarged with surprise. It seemed like Jimin didn’t know where to put his hands, on the bed or your hips. Even in your compromising position, still, he hesitated.

“I’m sorry noona I-I-” He sounded almost ashamed. To ease his discomfort, you decide to fess up yourself as well.

“It’s okay baby, noona has been thinking naughty things about you too. How can I not, when you look like this.” You bit your lip looking down between your bodies, noticing how hard he was underneath you. Pressing angrily against your clit. This was the great pro of Jimin not being insanely tall, being able to press him directly against your core while still being able to reach his lips. Speaking of his lips, you decided to kiss them. You finally leaned down, brushing yours against his plump ones.

“Jiminie, noona is going to kiss you now, would you like that?” Jimin’s eyes have closed instinctively, anticipating the kiss, nodding his head. And then you pressed down on him lightly, prompting him to be vocal.

“Y-Yes please, kiss me.”

This was all you needed as you crashed your lips against his, moaning as your lips met and tasted his for the first time. It didn’t take long until you felt the first swipe of his tongue against your lips and you both opened your mouths, slipping your tongues and tasting each other deeper. Jimin tasted of strawberry lollipops that he always was sucking on and it made your head spin. His hands were now on your waist, careful to keep them away from your hips until you took his hands pushed them further down. You felt like you were drowning in him as his kisses were getting out of control. Your efforts to keep the kiss slow and sensual were being interrupted by Jimin’s needy ones as he kept leaning up, giving you short but deep kisses as if he would die without them. It was almost getting hard to breath so you broke away to take in a much needed gulp of air. Jimin leaned up, chasing your lips with his eyes still closed. Instead, he settled for your neck, digging his face in, just resting there while he sucked the skin gently.

“Jimin, honey, s-slow down.” You gasped as he grazed his teeth against the skin in his mouth. Irrefutable pleasure was coursing through your body and you had barely done anything with Jimin except kiss. Jimin was truly like a drug. He was fucking addicting. You already knew that this won’t be the last time you touch him like this. And by the looks of it, seems like Jimin won’t either. He was now whimpering, making whiney sounds trying to get you to kiss him again.

“N-noona, please.”

“Please what baby?” You grasped his hair, pulling him back from your neck to look into his glistening eyes.

“Do something.” He moaned out, pushing up into your hips, making you gasp and push down. You grabbed his hands and pinned his arms above his head with a tough tug.

“Don’t tell me what to do brat and do not move until I tell you to. Understood?”

When Jimin nodded his head you grasped his cheeks with your hand, making his plush lips stand out even more in a pout.

“I said, do you understand?”

“Yes. Yes, I understand. But please, d-do something. I-It hurts.” At the sound of a helpless Jimin, your resolve was weakening and you softened your tone.

“Hurts where baby? Tell me, let noona fix it.” You ask sweetly. Jimin rolls his head to the side with a bite of his lips.

“Y-You know where, please.”

“I’m afraid I don’t Jiminie. Tell me. Come on, you can do it.” You coo gently, free hand caressing his cheeks.

Jimin closed his eyes burying his face in your neck and whispering his answer softly.

“M-My dick.”

“What baby?” You ask again with a pitiless smirk on your face, wanting him to be senseless; almost. And god bless, it was worth it considering Jimin was now a moaning, whimpering and whiney mess.

“Fuck, my cock Y/N. It hurts. Please touch m-my cock.”

With a low chuckle, you fastened your hands back up, pinning his to the bed as you started to move your hips back and forth on the hardened length underneath, slowly. As soon as you started, Jimin had lost control over his vocal cords it seemed. You never suspected that calm and collected Jimin, the bashful cute boy, to be this vocal and messy in bed.

“Ah. Yes! yes yes yes noona. Fuck me. Rub your pussy on me Y/N, fuck yes.” His words were burning you alive. Your pace was increasing with each chant from his mouth and slightly due to Jimin’s constant squirming, trying to stay still and obeying your command. To be honest, you didn’t care at this point. The pressure in your lower stomach was starting to build. All that build up from before had you coming nearly to your end. Not to forget that Jimin turned out to be a dirty talker anda moaner. Fuck, he was a moaner. His sounds alone were making you come undone.

“Noona.” Jimin whined in his incredibly sexy, raspy voice.

“Yeah baby?”

“M-More, please, I’m so close.”

You let go of his arms, reaching down to pull his shirt up and over his head, coming in contact with his hard pectoral and abdominal muscles. Jimin had taken this opportunity to push his hips up into you, making you half gasp and moan at the hard length pushing against your clit so deliciously – just right. You brace yourself placing your hands on his chest, breathing hard.

“Jimin, baby, h-hold on a minute. Let’s take these off.” You say as you begin pulling his sweats off him, leaning back to take them off completely. Jimin gladly helped as he looked about ready to burst. You were definitely not prepared for what you saw. Hard, thick and girthy length. He was bigger than you had imagined. Almost disproportionate for his frame. Almost. Jimin’s confidence had seemed to be boosted when compared to about an hour ago when he was a stuttering, blushing mess of a boy. You took a moment to admire him. He looked like a fucking Greek god with his chiselled, golden body, hair a mess, lips swollen, cock hard and ready. And as you were about to get back in to position, you feel his hands tugging at your pants.

“T-take these off noona. Please.” He looked in your eyes hopefully. You bit your lip and placed your hands by your side, silently directing Jimin to do the honours. His face bloomed with a beautiful pink flush as he pulled the zipper down on your jeans, tugging them down. You lifted your hips for him to pull them down further and off your legs. He was staring in amazement at your panty clad hips, your long legs – almost mesmerized. Taking your previous position again, you lean down to get closer to his face once again while you start the grind of your clit on his cock. You abandoned all hope of being slow and sensual as feral need had took over you because it was hard to stay sane and consistent when Jimin was looking at you like you owned his world. Your core being ultra-sensitive, making every brush of his hard length a hundred times more lethal. Not to forget that his length was not confined beneath the constricting material of his sweatpants anymore. You almost cum when you hear a high pitched whimper from Jimin. Speaking of coming.

“Jiminie, did you come before?” You ask, referring to him touching himself earlier. Jimin, being the groaning mess he was, took a few seconds to reply.

“N-No – mm- but I was about to- Ah!” You pinned his hands above his head again, pouting at him mockingly.

“Aw, poor baby. It’s okay honey, noona will make you cum.” He whimpers at your words, thrusting up harshly, battering your clit at this point.

“Noona, f-faster, please, make me cum noona. Please please please” Fucking hell. Jimin was straight up begging you. You knew Jimin might be submissive, but never thissubmissive. It was such a contrast to how he controlled thousands of screaming girls with a flash of his abs. And here he was, a moaning, sweaty mess. Spouting such filthy words.

Your movements had slowed down a bit as your body was getting exhausted. You were about to come even just from this. But this boy’s stamina was obviously higher than yours. Jimin noticing your fatigued body took action. Boy did he take action. In an instant, Jimin had you flipped over, pull you underneath his body, lining his cock with your covered pussy, where a substantial wet spot was embarrassingly visible. You looked at him with disbelief

“I can’t take it anymore, p-please let me?” Jimin asked with a sinful roll of his cock against your pussy. The contact was so close now that you could feel your lower lips parting, nestling his cock between them. You shakily nodded, wrapping your legs around his hips in response because watching his sweaty sculpted body work on top of you – on your pussy – was the biggest turn on of your life. He was lithe but muscled and every roll and every glide had you losing your mind.

“Go ahead Jiminie… U-Use noona’s pussy to make yourself cum.” Jimin whimpered at your words he wasted no time in following your orders, picking up his pace and fucking you into his bed. The bed had started to creak with the force of his thrusts. Each time he dragged his hips, his cock slid against your pussy lips and up to your clit, creating the best friction. All of these sensations happened so fast as Jimin was almost moving too fast for you. Scratch that, he was moving too fast for you.

“J-Jimin, ah! B-baby, slow down. Oh fuck.” His pace was relentless. Grinding his hips in your cunt as fast as he could, moaning like he was almost in pain. It was obvious he was chasing his release and lucky for him, you were right about ready to burst. You could sense it as your legs tried to close despite having Jimin’s slender body in-between them. You could see his abs clench with the force of his thrusts and couldn’t believe that the ever so prim and proper Park Jimin was on top of you, thrusting his cock against your pussy, pursuing his pleasure like nothing else mattered. If someone had told you a week ago that you would be in your position, dry humping the shit out of each other, you probably would’ve slapped them. Though this wasn’t so much dry anymore. Your panties were a sticky mess from your own arousal as well as Jimin’s pre-cum being all over them, creating the most iniquitous sounds as sweat dripped from his forehead. The knot was so tight in your stomach that you almost couldn’t bear it.

“Fuck, fuck baby, I’m coming! Jimin-ah!”

“Fuck yes Y/N c-cum for me.” Jimin’s pace helped you tip over the edge in a euphoric bliss. Your vision had turned white for a few seconds with the force of your orgasm coursing through you as Jimin continued to thrust his cock against you. It felt like you came for a life time. Your pussy had become extremely sensitive from your orgasm and you weren’t sure how much more of Jimin’s grinding you could take. Placing little suckles and opened kisses on his vascular neck, you help him along to his own release.

“Come on baby, you can do it. Cum for noona. Cum all over noona.” Jimin whined at your words, getting on the verge of his release and you couldn’t believe that he had held out this long.

“I’m s-so close Y/N noona.”

“That’s it baby, just a little m-more.” Your words coming out in a stutter at how scorched your clit was now, being already so sensitive as it was after your orgasm. But, you held out for Jimin, letting him use you as a vessel to get himself off and it only made you wetter. His rhythm had become irregular and his cries had gotten louder.

“F-Fuck, I’m coming oh fuck.” Jimin swore like a sailor as he got dangerously close. But what he did next almost made you come again. With a speed almost quicker than a gunshot, Jimin had leaned back, pushed your panties down exposing your swollen pussy. Before you could comprehend what was happening, Jimin worked his hand over his cock until he had let go. Until he came all over your pussy. Sticky hot white ropes of cum landing on your swollen clit and labia. You moaned at the scene unfolding above you because this was the hottest shit you had ever encountered. Of course you will punish him later for this but still. Where the fuck was this Jimin hiding before?

After he had let out what seemed to be an endless stream of milky white cum, Jimin falls forward, resting his face in your neck, panting. You both took this time to catch your breath. Several moments passed as you both laid in his bed, you stroking his hair as you stare up at the ceiling just resting in silence before you speak softly.

“You okay baby?” You whispered, tenderly stroking his hair, to which he replied with a blissful hum.

“Never been better.” He replied with a sweetly shy and sleepy smile, indicating that his usual charming self was back as the lust had settled.

You kiss his cheek softly, savouring the moment with the younger boy and move to get up when Jimin pulls you back again.

“Where are you going?”

“To clean up the mess you made, you brat.” Your teasing tone was obvious which makes Jimin blush again deeply as he bites his lip. But his next request surprises you.

“C-Can I clean you noona?” His request seemed innocent enough considering the context of this indecent scenario.

“I guess you can.” You lay back down as Jimin gets up, sliding down the bed, sitting beside your hips.

“Uh, Jimin? Aren’t you going to get towels?” your brows have furrowed in confusion when he didn’t move from his position, instead moved between your legs, parting them again.

With a lovely sweet smile, dimple visible endearingly on his cheek, he places a kiss on your ankle before speaking.

“Why would I need those when I have a mouth, noona?”

Fuck what you said before. This was the hottest shit you had ever encountered.

a/n: yeah ik its bad lmao. i swear i write better now kjwbjhwqkbfkbf. Thanks for reading!!

#jimin smut #jimin x reader #jimin fanfic #park jimin #trying to keep y'all fed as i write baby baby #im very slow atm #and i dont like it #so this is my apology #a bad one at that lmao

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lonelypond · 5 years ago

Text

Moonlight Becomes You: Apocalypse Midnight Dance Party, Ch. 12

Love Live/Love Live Sunshine, NozoEli, KanaMari, NicoMaki, YohaMaru, 2.6K, 12/?

Summary: PARTY

And We Dance

Time Stamp: In the future the liberals want, as Dia Kurosawa wings across the Pacific enroute to an angelic encounter

Riko hated the initial surge of jealousy she got every time she and Sarah were invited to stay at the Kurosawa Malibu estate. She and Sarah had chosen to make LA their base, while Ruby and Leah spent most months in Japan. And when Ruby and Leah were actually in LA, Sarah and RIko just temporarily moved into the Malibu mansion so the Kazuno sisters could spend as much time as possible together and the Ruby-Leah duo could record without too much discomfort to the reclusive Ruby. Ruby’s mothers had built a state of the art recording studio on the grounds soon after their marriage and kept it updated as their careers merged.

The house was huge and gorgeous and well lit and had so many cozy romantic nooks it was practically a honeymoon getaway, except for the occasional interruption by Leah, who was literally the grumpy little sister third wheel. And sometimes, while sitting on a couch that cost a year’s worth of hit song royalties, Riko would get a twinge of envy, glance at Sarah, see the same echoed in her eyes, and then they’d both laugh. One of the things they’d initially bonded over was how callow they’d both been as teenagers, how selfish. To catch a flare of that now, just made Riko grateful for what she’d built for herself, a loving relationship, a successful, award winning career, and a cozy condo that required very little upkeep.

Restless tonight, Riko was wandering, mint tea in hand, staring at the Pacific, fuzzy oversized robe wrapped around sister friendly pajamas.

“PIGLI!” Ruby’s squeal of distress sounded and the tiny, cute redhead fell off the couch. Riko rushed to her side, mug left in front of the fire.

“I’m so sorry, Ruby. Are you all right?” Riko knelt near Ruby, careful not to encroach too much but ready to help.

Ruby nodded, shivering, accepting Riko’s touch. Sometimes, Riko thought, she was more like a small animal than a person, especially when startled. So unlike her parents, it was kind of amazing that they were...Riko shook her head at that segue, staying focused on Ruby. Riko had never made an effort to meet Ruby’s super famous mothers, for fear the blushing at the memory of the doujins she’d worn out during her teenage years would never stop.

Ruby sighed. Riko wondered if she should get Leah as she helped Ruby back to the sofa.

“Ruby had a nightmare.” Ruby’s childish way of referring to herself had somehow become endearing. And the fans adored her for it.

“Yeah, me too.” Riko sighed and sat down, “The world ended in flames, what was yours?”

Ruby yelped again and hid behind a pillow while Riko swallowed a curse. Wry was not a mood for a 3 a.m. session comforting your boss.

“I’m sure angels will save us.” Riko smiled.

“Okay.” Ruby looked confused.

“Want to talk about it?”

Ruby shrugged, “My sis is flying tonight. Ruby's just worried.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Riko stared longingly at her mug, across the room, but she didn’t want to disturb Ruby again. “And it’ll be nice for you to see her, right?”

More nodding.

“Want some hot chocolate? I think I saw some in the kitchen earlier.”

“Momma always keeps a stash for Eli.”

Another casual reference to a celebrity. Eli Ayase, now ran her own internationally renowned Legends of Dance festival, after a late leap into fame. The amount of talent and star power Ruby had grown up with, it was no wonder she had ended up in the entertainment business. But her shyness had made it a huge surprise to her parents, who had disappeared into seaside Japan with their family when Ruby started having panic attacks on their tours at the age of 2. Because family mattered more than anything. Friends and family were always Ruby’s first concern and that fit perfectly with the close bond the Kazuno sisters shared. It created a nice bubble of cozy around Riko, who had spent her youth with only the piano and yuri manga for company. Collaborating so easily with her girlfriend and the cutest idol duo on the charts made up for a lot of struggles.

BACK TO THE NOW

Yoshiko leaping, Yohane’s wings stretching upward, the shimmery, wavering layers of celestial spectrums opening above her, but weighting her, between her fingers, burning her hands, was the world, all of it, everyone, eyes and mouths open, billions of voices, every scream, Yohane looked down, she knew never to look down, but what surely be a mortal weakness tempted her and with horror, she saw the world slip out of her grasp, dropping, dropping to a dark dark doom.

Cold sweat, Yoshiko flew off her bed, literally, raised arm connecting with the ceiling before she came fully back to her senses. Alone, her bedroom, where was Hanamaru? Drifting back down, Yoshiko wrapped the blanket around her shivering shoulders, reading the note on Hanamaru’s pillow.

“Love,

Mari’s going to help You so I’m going along. I hope to be home before you have to read this. You really do look like an angel when you’re asleep.

‘Maru…”

Yoshiko closed her eyes. If she concentrated, maybe she could reach to her wife.

###

Pacing. Nico was going to be here soon, the ocean was in waves crashing mode, and through the open windows, Maki could see Mari and Kanan waltzing around the pool table. Waltzing? What the hell kind of thing was that to do? Especially to the playlist Maki had locked the sound system on. Did Nico dance? Who would lead? Is asking that question a reason you shouldn’t get to lead, Maki wondered. She threw out her arms, imagining Nico there, close to her, sliding in step, one, two, three...she’d taken dance lessons so long ago, just a couple for all the formal parties her parents had ‘encouraged’ her to attend. But she’d avoided the dance floor at all cost, unless her father insisted. Now that she was no longer a student, Maki’s family compromise was to attend the annual Nishikino Holiday Ball, but to limit her socializing to a favorite cousin and dragging Rin and Hanayo along. Hanayo loved celebrity spotting, but Rin was usually just as bored as Maki so they would throw things in the direction of any unattended punch bowls and dis the music choices. If Maki’s parents ever found out about that, they’d probably put her in charge of the playlist, but they seemed to be viewing the DJ business as a temporary vacation before med school.

Car lights. Maki felt a sudden fizz of excitement. Two sets? Was Nico being followed? Oh, maybe Nozomi drove her own car. That would make sense, everyone could leave at...Maki cast a frowning glance back at the house, surely Ohara and her cohort and maybe even the cop could be sent on their way, especially if she had Nico to back her up, surely Nico would back her up on that...but Nico had brought Eli along, did Nico actually want to party, or did she just not want to leave Eli alone. Was Eli going to...Maki started to jog toward the garage. Should she have removed breakables? Could she have just a minute to talk to Nico ALONE. Eli could break everything in the house if Maki could just manage that.

###

Yoshiko was in the air, again, blinking, and when gravity rediscovered her, she plunged, much like Dia, had, into water. But this was cold cold water, with the hard push of the tide trying to wash her away from the shore. The house Yohane had missed was lit at the top of a hill like a golden temple to sharp and terrible modern gods, all angles and glass. Yoshiko found her footing and pushed against the tide toward the shore, her eyes picking out a rock stairs leading to the temple where Hanamaru was a temporary goddess. Stomping did little to cut the shivers as Yoshiko climbed from the beach, fanning and flapping her wings while still out of sight of the house. Gnarled trees added an eerie air to the second part of the climb and Yoshiko felt a bounce in her step cut through the time lag nightmare sleepiness. Hanamaru was obviously being held in this dire fortress above against her will, by the very people who threatened their future, and Yohane, Yohane was going to sweep in and rescue the damsel...she would just have to remember not to tell Hanamaru she’d thought that, or Hanamaru would start to smoke at the nostrils a little and that might lead to property damage. Yoshiko, wings folded neatly into the ether just a step outside this world, continued the climb to her quest.

###

Maki managed to get out a “hi” when Nico stepped out of her car, but then there was Eli and Nozomi and…Maki couldn’t help but grimace.

Nico sighed and then winked, “Why don’t you point Eli and Nozomi in the direction of wherever the invasion is and then help Nico with this food.”

“You bought food?” Maki tried to lean into the car and sniff, but a window got in her way. Nico shook her head at Maki’s eagerness and reached for the door handle. Door handle, of course. Still stumbling, even standing still, Maki’s inner monologue grumbled. But Nico was here. And Maki didn’t have to go anywhere.

“How’s the party so far?” Nico put a stack of storage things in Maki’s hands.

Maki frowned, “They’re waltzing.”

“Waltzing?”

Maki leaned in the doorway, allowing Nico to pause and appreciate the view. Maki was wearing stylish yet slouchy olive sweats, a tight white t-shirt surprisingly lacking any graphics, and an olive Jeep cap pushed halfway back on her head with a rainbow dagger pin. “I locked Ohara out of the house sound system…” Maki chuckled, “and just put in a loop of John Cage pieces and they’re waltzing. Keeping a pretty steady beat too. If I weren’t so aggravated I’d be impressed.” Maki scratched her cheek, forcing her fingers to stay away from twirls of hair, “Do you waltz?”

Nico had started to bluff and bluster something about whoever John Cage was, but Maki’s question stopped her. “Waltz? Like La La Land?”

“Sure.” Maki blushed, looking away. ”I was thinking Cinderella.”

Nico was feeling more comfortable. “Waltzing is no problem for Nico. No problem at all. Nico is S U A V E and smooth on her feet. Impressing your average fairy godmother all the time.”

Maki glanced at her watch, “We could waltz to John Cage’s 4 33. I can hum it.”

Nico heard an edge of mischief in Maki’s voice and wondered exactly what the DJ was planning. But Nico was willing to go along. Leave the dishes on the hood of the car, arms open, step toward Maki, feel warmer when the redhead maneuvers herself so Nico’s hands hovered over her hips...Nico raised one hand and caught Maki’s, eyes widening at the burst of warmth as their palms brushed.

“Music, maestro.” Nico declared.

Nico found herself staring deeply into warmth, a lovely layered amethyst shades with an inviting openness and iridescence rarer than abalone. Movement brought Nico’s glance down as Maki pursed her lips and Nico remembered how close she’d gotten in the cabana. Nico could feel the gentle touch of Maki’s breath, but heard nothing and found herself stumbling as she tried to remember if a waltz was 1 2 3 or 1 2 3 4.

Nico stepped back, “It’s not fair to just hum the song to yourself.”

“I’m not.” Maki looked way too pleased.

Nico’s arms crossed, “You ask Nico to dance to a song and then don’t sing it…”

Maki’s eyebrows shot up and both hands went to her neck, ruffling through her hair. “It’s just...John Cage…” Maki closed her eyes and spoke rapidly, “it’s ambient sound, experiemental….you can use any instrument, you just don’t play it for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. It’s a brilliant alternate perspective on the meaning of performance. ”

“You don’t play. And that’s the song?” Nico spoke carefully. “It’s not a prank?”

Maki opened her eyes and nodded, refusing to look directly at Nico.

“What else did this genius write?” Nico was not thrilled.

“One of his pieces was whatever was playing on 12 radios. He thought listening was more important than creating.” Maki snorted, unable to keep the gleeful mischief from sparkling in her eyes. “They’re probably into Roaratoria by now. That’s an hour of Dublin street noise, with Cage reading some James Joyce lines.”

Nico blinked and a low chuckle started. “Ohara must really be aggravating you.”

“She is.”

Nico’s arm suddenly looped around Maki’s waist and the taller woman found herself grabbing Nico’s shoulders as she regained her balance. Nico took that opportunity to breathe into Maki’s ear, “Next time you want to waltz, Nico picks the music, okay.” And as soon as she felt Maki steady, Nico released her hold.

“Okay.” Maki managed not to sound as shaky as her breathing felt.

“Good.” Nico picked up the food, “Let’s join this party.”

###

Nozomi had always appreciated dance but she had rarely had the opportunity to appreciate it this closely. After walking into a truly bizarre audioscape, with a male voice chanting lines in the midst of seemingly random street noises, and seeing Kanan and Mari bowing themselves out of a dance while You lounged on a couch looking bored, Nozomi was ready for anything. And then something truly marvelous happened: Eli took the spotlight.

“Ah, Kanan, now you really have a partner.” Mari indicated Eli with a flourish.

Amused, Kanan shook her head at her wife, who clapped the heels of her hands emphatically, and then shrugged at Eli, “How’s your Irish reel?”

To answer, Eli stretched her right foot out and tapped it on the ground, stepped it behind her, stretched out her left leg and repeated the motion. The audio hit a noisy patch and Kanan was suddenly promonading toward Eli with a challenge. The blonde reached her hand up and caught Kanan’s, Eli twirling, and then both women were facing their audience, reel steps impossibly fast as the noises biggened, birds calling to each other as Kanan and Eli turned again, knees pumping, legs a controlled force that could possibly have splintered the floor but for a shared sense of gentle glory as the dancers approached each other again. You whistled. Nozomi felt a little weak in the knees, and sat on the nearest chair, and Mari, Mari flung out her hands, threw back her head, and marched right in, pulling Kanan into a deep kiss. Eli, with a slight grin, continued the dance as Maki and Nico walked through the door, carrying food.

“That’s not waltzing.” Nico grumped, “Maki said waltzing.”

“No, it’s an Irish reel.” Eli announced as she promenaded in Nico’s direction, her toes and knees intricate pistons making their own fluidity out of the jumble of a raucous Dublin street scape. Nico dropped the food on the table, and shadowed Eli’s movements, laughing, as she caught Eli’s delight.

Before Maki could decide if she was upset about Nico dancing away from her, thunder crashed through the room, the lights flickered bright, then died, and in the darkness, a deep voice boomed.

“Cower Before Yohane, miscreants.”

A mouth that sounded full of pastry replied, “Turn the lights back on, zura.”

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revengeisalwaysanoption · 6 years ago

Note

I don’t know if you’re taking prompts, but I think it would be funny to read something about The Boy Squad and Niccolò playing truth or dare, spin the bottle or something like that. And another one: Marti trying to hide his hickeys from The boys, because Niccolò simply loves his neck 🤷🏻‍♀️😂 (btw I love your writing!)

Thanks! I’m sorry it took me so long, but I finally have it. Hope it doesn’t disappoint too much…

******************************

Nobody thought Martino could actually pull this off.

‘You’ve got the worst poker face in the world, zì.’ Giovanni reminded him, sure that Niccolò would know something was up as soon as he opened the door. That might be true, but Gio was definitely underestimating how good his best friend could be at sidetracking Nico. He wouldn’t even remember his own name, once he was done with him…

‘If you manage not to give it away tonight, and that’s a big if… you want me to believe that you’re gonna tell him that you’re busy and that you really can’t stay, when morning comes?’ Elia rolled his eyes, disbelief written all over his face. The plan could work, because it wasn’t something you’d ever expect from Martino… but it was hard to imagine this boy would really let Niccolò spend most of the next day alone.

‘Aren’t you gonna feel guilty about keep a secret from him?’ Luca asked, genuinely surprised by this new – stealthy – side of Martino. ‘I feel bad already… so maybe you better text me the details at the last minute. I can’t promise I won’t say something I shouldn’t, if he asks me…’

Yeah, he had taken that into account. Maybe he should have told Luchino that there wasn’t anything to feel sorry, or guilty, about. That as soon as Ni would find the first clue inside the ukulele, he’d know he has been sent on a treasure hunt. He wouldn’t really care that asking for help from his friends could be considered cheating – let it be known that he still is the Greatest Fucking Cheater Ever Existed – but he’d try not to involve them just because it’s their game…Marti should have told Luchino, sure. But it implied talking about the handwritten notes, the flipbook, the antidote, the giraffes… About things that he didn’t feel like to share that with anyone, because they were just theirs.Contrary to everybody’s expectations, indeed, Martino managed to surprise Niccolò.He had him running and cycling all over the city – including their school terrace, were Chicco Rodi and Rocco Martucci were waiting for him – to collect clues on where to find him… Which ended up being the most obvious place, if only Niccolò had taken a moment to stop and think: in that same swimming pool where they first kissed, without any Renato to interrupt them now.He let him think that they were going home to make up for lost time, alone… And then got a bit frantic when Niccolò turned on the light and looked at him and then at their friends, like he couldn’t believe his eyes…Was it too much? Was he overwhelmed?

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”Trust Luchì to break the ice and hug Niccolò so tight that he couldn’t help but hug him back and start laughing.

Silvia came to the rescue, handing out slices of cake to everyone. It was barely more edible than the one she had prepared for the first meeting at Radio Osvaldo but he ate it with such gusto that one would think it was the best thing he had ever tasted.

He was gifted with pictures and embarrassing stories of his boyfriend’s first year in high school by Eva, shared travelling tips with Eleonora and went off on a rant about the upcoming maturità with Edoardo and Federico. If there was one good thing that came out from Covitti being a jerk, in the end, it was that it showed Incanti and Canegallo could be pretty decent people. Who wouldn’t side with the homophobic asshole out of fear of being called gay themselves, as most other boys at school seemed to do.

Who would break a bottle on someone’s head, if it came down to it, before their friend could be seriously harmed.

He discussed about some stickers and pins he had designed for Pride this year with Filippo, and explained to a very intrigued Luchino what pansexuality was with Sava’s help.

They were both very kind and patient and answered each one of his inappropriate questions, and Filippo even went far as shutting down Martino’s groans when Luca said “So, bi and pans do have something in common: they could both pass off as straight if they wanted, right?” with a “That’s rich, coming from you.”

“Uh?”

“I mean… I remember you thinking being ace was equal to being celibate, until what… Last week? Didn’t you say they were ‘straight-passing’ too, Rose?”

“I’m still learning, okay?” Martino mumbled, pouting. Both Niccolò and Filippo were older than him, so of course they knew more about this stuff!

“We know you are.” Niccolò conceded, walking over to his boyfriend to kiss him on the lips. “So am I. So is Filippo. So is everyone here in my house, today.”

“What they’re saying is just that we can all learn something from each other, Marti! That’s why I like to ask questions, you know? I like to learn…”

“Yeah, but it’s not their responsibility to educate you, Luchì.” Elia butted in, getting an impressed look from Filippo – not that he gave a damn about that, not in slightest. “I hate to be the one who breaks the news to you, bro, but the Internet is for more than just porn.”

Sana cornered him in the kitchen, half an hour later, to stress that they all agreed his house was the best place to have this party because he could kick them all out whenever he pleased.

“You didn’t ask for this, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to entertain your guests, you know?” She casted a glance to their friends, who were now in the middle of a ridiculous game Federica had suggested. “Don’t let us overstay our welcome, okay?”

So he doesn’t. It’s like being aware that he has a way out, that he can call this off whenever he wants - and they won’t hold it against him, they won’t be thinking “What’s got into Fares, now? – is enough to put his mind at ease. Having Martino by his side, soothing his nerves and grounding him with the lightest of touches upon his shoulders, helps a lot too.

As the birthday boy he also gets to have the last word on the party games, vetoing strip poker and spin-the-bottle. They were fun when he had been in middle school, and he can still hear his old friends cheering when the bottle pointed to the girl he had been crushing on for weeks – he can’t even remember her name, now, how pathetic is that? – but a trip down the memory lane is the last thing he needs, tonight.

“Truth or dare?” Eva suggests, as both Giovanni and Martino roll their eyes.

They would rather be humiliated at another round of beer pong against her and Silvia, than play that.

“Maybe later.” He says, laughing at the ‘yes, please’ looks from the girls and the ‘thanks, but no thanks’ glares from the boys. “I’m not drunk enough for that yet…”

It’s nice of Martino not to freak out, turning the suggestion down on his behalf because it would be too ‘dangerous’ (dares do tend to escalate quickly, when he is involved). It’s such a welcome change that he wants to savor it, honor it by throwing in his own proposal.

“What about ‘Never have I ever?’”

A drinking game that favors the youngest and most inexperienced among them, doesn’t force anyone to embarrass themselves – they set the ground rule that not drinking doesn’t necessarily mean you never did what has just been mentioned, but that you don’t feel letting people know anything about it.

It was either that or demanding his guests not to get too personal, which can’t really be expected when some are already so inebriated that they are having giggle fits playing peek-a-boo with each other (and Edoardo and Eleonora have no right to make such a silly picture look so endearing, haven’t they?).

The first rounds are rather tame. No one has ever been to Japan, apart from the Savas. No one ever tried to eat insects, apart from Luchino. Some admit to stealing candies when they were younger, some others reveal they went skinny dipping after seeing it on TV. It doesn’t feel as thrilling or liberating as TV shows made it look, though.

Sana plays dirty by asking about porn, to which everybody has to take a drink.

“Never have I ever had sex with a girl.” Luca says, knowing that for once he’ll get the upper hand on half of the Contrabbandieri and the boys from Villa. Well, isn’t this interesting.

Fede, Sana and Eva do not drink but Eleonora does. She grins at her brother, who looks at her with such fondness that Niccolò almost feel like he’s intruding.

Elia is pondering whether to drink or not, but in the end he surprises everyone by leaving it untouched.

Before anyone else can react to that, however, Martino grabs his beer and chugs it down.

“What? When?” Giovanni sounds more outraged than Niccolò could ever bring himself to be. He doesn’t really mind what Martino did in the past, he’d rather revel in the fact that he chose to be with him in the present.

Gio immediately backtracks, when he notices that Marti is still staring at the bottom of his glass.

‘Sex’ is a broad definition, indeed, and who is he to say ‘no, if it isn’t penetrative it doesn’t count’ ?

“I’m sorry. Forget I even asked, it’s none of my business.” He drinks one more of his shots, saying that it’s his penalty for breaking the rules. “We did agree that we shouldn’t ask questions about why is drinking or not, didn’t we? My bad.” He shrugs, as Martino mouths an ‘Apologies accepted thanks.’

“Never have I ever kissed a boy.” Sana admits, diverting the attention to herself.

Elia and Gio drink at the same time, and then rush to say “No! It wasn’t him! Ew, he’s like a brother to me!”

The more they deny it, the less they sound believable, so they just drop it and look at Niccolò expectantly.

“Never have I ever used make up to hide hickeys.” He says, proudly, earning a punch in the shoulder from his boyfriend. Who is now down to 3 beers, not quite being the ‘boring gay’ most assume him to be.

“That’s because I’m considerate enough not to leave you looking like you were mauled or something.” Martino mumbles, ignoring the knowing smirks from his friends. They were well aware of how much Niccolò liked his neck, and hadn’t been fooled by the disappearance of scarves and turtlenecks.

“I wouldn’t mind if you did. I love when you claim me as yours.” Niccolò whispers, brushing his nose against Martino’s and then nuzzling his cheek.

“You do?” It’s just the two of them in the room, now, as he cups Nico’s face in both his hands and sighs contentedly when the other boy nods and kisses his fingers.

“Guys! Please! Either stop it or get a room!” Someone hollers, breaking the spell.

“Never have I ever eaten ass.” Filippo states, just to see everyone squirm. It’s way too personal, too intimate, for anyone to dare and drink.

“Hey! No cheating!” Elia complains, getting up to point his finger right into Filippo’s chest. “You are a cheat and a liar. You’re out. And so am I, ‘cause this is getting old and boring and if we don’t get out soon those two will start fucking in front of our eyes.”

“And you know he’s lying because…?” Eva insists, intrigued by this new turn of events.

“TOO MUCH INFORMATION, GUYS!!” Giovanni shakes his head, covering his ears. “If we’re playing truth or dare, now, please leave those things where they belong. In the bedroom.”

“Getting a taste of your own medicine, Gio?” Nice to know that not even a heavy make out session with Niccolò would stop Martino from passing up the opportunity to tease him. “That’s fine by me. I’ve heard more than I ever asked for, already. Things I’d rather forget, thank you.” And if Elia wants to come clean about being with Filippo, it shouldn’t happen through a stupid party game.

Niccolò dares most people to eat what he cooked, of course.

Luca dares him to see who can fold himself faster into the biggest suitcase he owns – and loses, but he beams when Silvia kisses his cheek and tells him that he just needs to work on his flexibility, but that it was a valiant attempt nonetheless.

Edoardo goes for ‘truth’, of course, knowing that Ele would love that. It would be easy to take advantage of it by asking what if he ever felt ashamed of himself, or to whether or not he ever fell in love before meeting Eleonora. They are all better than that, after all they’ve been through.

“What’s the most idiotic thing you ever spent your money on?”

“Marco’s eighteenth?”

“How can you say that when you’ve got a horse?” Federico reminds him, slapping his neck.

“Hey, I happen to like horse riding. You know that. I’d rather spend a thousand euros on Furia than 10 on Covitti. What about you, Nico?”

“Louboutins.” It didn’t feel stupid, at the time. When she got those shoes, though, she told him he was crazy to waste so much money on shoes. She did appreciate the gesture, but it was imperative that he returned them as soon as possible.

He doesn’t quite know how Martino would react if he got him an expensive gift. Better than Maddalena, that’s for sure, but… Well, there’s no point in speculating: he’s gonna find out in July, when they’ll leave for their romantic getaway in Paris, isn’t he?

Martino dodges dares for a while, going for ‘truth’ even when it means confessing that:

a) Nico and him aren’t big on pet names (“Have you ever heard yourself when you start going ‘oh, you idiot’ ‘shut up, jerk’ ‘you wish, asshole’ ‘wanna a piece of this, wanker‘ ‘you know I do, dickhead’?” Giovanni points out “ ‘cause you ‘insults’ are totally pet names, guys)

b) he had a crush on Gio, though it never compared to what he feels for Niccolò – “you’re giving us all cavities, Marti, have you got no shame?”.

Eventually, though, those fuckers get him to sing a duet with Nico. Of course they choose Vattene Amore and sing along when they get to the ‘ci chiederemo come mai il mondo sa tutto di noi… magari ti chiamerò trottolino amoroso e dudu-dadadà e il tuo nome sarà il nome di ogni città…’ part, filming everything with their smartphones.

By the end of the night, no one is sober enough to walk home. Let alone drive.

The girls set up a blanket fort in the living room, claiming that they cannot kick Niccolò out of his bed and wouldn’t feel comfortable sleeping in his parents’ bed. He argues that they are gonna regret that in the morning, when their back is gonna remind them why it’s not a good idea to doze off on the floor.

Edoardo and his friends insist that they can run on caffeine alone and they are more than happy to crash on a chair. Whatever.

Niccolò is too high on the love he got from everyone tonight, to care about logistics.

So what if he has to share his bed with four other guys. Who cares if they constantly complain that he’s bony, that he snores and has got cold feet – “seriously, Marti, now I get why you always so tired on Mondays…” Luchino whines, trying to smother himself with a pillow and put an end to his misery “how can anyone get any rest, with him in their bed?” – or if it’s such a tight fit that they all have to lay on their sides and nobody has got room to turn in their sleep?

It’s still the best birthday he ever got.

#skam italia #nicotino #rames #elippo #my writing

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blondecarfucker · 6 years ago

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Bed of Roses (Chapter 16)

Roger Taylor x Reader

BoRhap!Roger Taylor x Reader

Fic Summary: It's 1971. You just moved to London to study, and you find a band on a local pub after a bad date. The encounter doesn’t go the way you expect it, and neither does what follows this evening as you try to deal with loving Roger Taylor.

Fic Note: So I’ve had this story in my head for the last three weeks and finally decided to write it down. It’s completely planned. It will have 21 chapters and it’s divided in three acts: Dusk, Night and Dawn. It’s will be a bit angsty in the future, and it will most likely have some smut as well. I hope you guys enjoy it! Tell me what you think about it in the asks/comments/messages. PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY. If this is your first time stumbling upon Bed of Roses, thank you for stopping by! The rest of the story is in my masterlist, the link is in my bio - can't put the link here or else the post will disappear from the tags.

Chapter's notes: So we're closer to the end! I can't believe there's only five more chapters to go. But yeah, this chapter was nice - I'm not gonna say it's a happy chapter, but it's happier than the last few ones lol. It's a chapter that has a bit more of me in it - but it's still a Reader fic, so don't worry lol. Please tell me what you think about it in the asks/comments/messages!

Words: 2800ish

ACT 3 - DAWN

"It's the moment night time seems weaker and everything seems easier to figure out"

Chapter 16

1977, New York

The bench under your bum made you uncomfortable, but you were still too lazy to care - you always left the beach like this.

You were on the long, one hour way back to your loft in Greene Street, SoHo, through the good old F train, every inch of the train filled with graffiti. But you could still smell the salt in the air coming from the New York Aquarium Station - the best station to access the Coney Island sidewalk and beach.

There was better, cleaner beaches in the Hamptons, but they were full of annoyingly rich people that think they're better than the rest. Also, Coney Island held a special place in your heart - when you were a kid, your grandma would take you there, so you could enjoy the sun and the not-so-safe attractions, and your parents would always freak out when they found out that you took the unsafe subway through the unsafe neighbourhood of Brooklyn to get to a dirty beach.

But it was always fun. The sun would almost certainly burn your shoulders, and you could never wear any jewelry, but the feeling of being involved by the sea, floating in the water, holding your breath, after spending a couple hours on carousels and wooden roller coasters, would always make it worth it - your grandma always taught you to be brave, that things could be scary at first, but usually worked out. "If it doesn't make you happier, it makes you wiser", she'd tell you, and you'd nod, the taste of cheap ice cream on your mouth, the sun warming up your skin.

It was your grandma who figured out that something was wrong with you and made you seek help.

She came by to visit as soon as you called her, right after getting home from Cleopatra's Needle and breaking up with Roger. She came to your parent's apartment, complaining about the traffic - she lived in Paramus, New Jersey, now. She moved there in 1973, saying that it was ludicrous she couldn't grow old with a nice garden on the back of her house, just because Manhattan didn't have houses with gardens anymore.

Now, once you came back from London, in 1975, she looked at you and immediately knew something was wrong. "Sweetpea, what's wrong?" she asked, a frown on her face as she got closer to you.

You were lying on the couch in your pajamas, trying to see if you could find a Doctor Who re-run - probably not a good idea, all things considered, but you didn't just miss Roger, now that he's away. You missed England, you missed their accents, you missed the way you felt when you first got there. "What, grandma?", you asked, and she got you to get up, putting her hand against your forehead.

"You're different", she said, and you shrugged, "Yeah, I'm older", and she laughed. "So am I, Sweetpea. And it hasn't been so long since I last saw you - last year, right? You came here with your hairy boyfriend", she said, and you tensed up, which didn't go unnoticed. "Oh. I see. Something happened between the two of you, right?" she asked, and you nodded.

"That's it. You look sadder. You didn't look like that before. But… Maybe that's not it. No, I don't think that's it at all", she said, and you looked at her, confused. "No, Grandma. That's what happened. I'm sad - I had to breakup with Roger, my boyf - ex-boyfriend", you interrupted yourself, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Roger, my ex-boyfriend, so I could get back here", you said, a cold pain spreading through your chest as the impact of these words hit you.

"But that's just a symptom. There's something else wrong there, Sweetpea. Something deeper within", she said, pointing to your heart. "And that's what made you sad, what made you break up with that boy. I liked him, you know. He made you happy - I could see it. You were always brave, and that always made me proud. But with him, you were happy - when you came into the room with him by your side, everything got brighter. Your love was like the sun", she said, fixing a painting on the wall, not noticing how your eyes were tearing up.

"That's how I last saw you. Brave and happy", she looked at the painting, satisfied with it now that it was not crooked anymore, and turned to you. "Now you're neither. What happened, Sweetpea?", and you choked up. "I don't know", you whispered, and she hugged you as you started to cry - she smelled like plums and apples, the things she grew on her garden in Paramus.

You couldn't stop thinking about the last time she saw you - it was in 1974, and the boys came to America, specifically to New York for a few dates, and you had to come with them - they wanted you to do so. Also, you were dating Roger for two years, and it was time for him to meet your parents.

You came from a small gig in Boston, Roger holding your hand the entire plane ride to New York - he was nervous. You were travelling right after their show, an extra night before the rest of the boys, so you could take Roger to have dinner with your parents.

None of you knew your parents actually organized a dinner party, and invited part of your family - your uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents. Your uncle opened the door to your apartments, surprising both you and Roger. "Hm, hey, uncle Marcus. Where are my parents?", you asked, and you felt Roger's grip on your hand tighten as he noticed there would be many more family members for him to meet.

As you walked inside, you whispered to Roger "Relax, Rog", and he started looking more confident - but you could still feel his tight grip on your hand. He was still nervous.

But everything worked out just fine, actually. Your parents didn't really approve his looks - Roger was wearing a suit that he bought in Japan, with colorful birds and trees in silk shining against the dining room lights - but your cousins loved it. They loved him, actually, since they knew exactly who he was.

He got more comfortable as dinner went by, joking with your family, and you carefully changed topics once you realized one of your parents was about to ask a question about delicate stuff - money, marriage, kids.

You two always thought about marriage and kids as something distant - you felt too young, too irresponsible to take care of a child. So you took your birth control pills religiously, and everything worked out fine - the promise of children and marriage always there, in the distant future.

After the dinner party, Roger followed you to your room - you'd be spending the night there, since the band's hotel was booked for the next day.

"Well, this is an interesting look into a younger Y/N", Roger said, going through your bookshelf. "Frankenstein, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, that's all pretty smart… 1984, I remember you talked about this book before our first kiss...", he said, and kneeled down, where your bookshelf was messier. "What's this? Flash Gordon?" he asks, picking up one of the comic books and going through it, and you could see he was trying not to laugh.

"What?", you said, getting the comics out of his hands. "I used to think Flash was hot. And Dale was pretty cool, too", you said, and he laughed, snaking his arms around your waist and pulling you closer.

"It's fine by me", he said, and looked out of your window. "It's just funny for me to imagine you, a teenager, sitting by your window in this preppy, quite soulless neighbourhood, reading Flash Gordon and thinking of a way out", he said, and you laughed.

"Hey, I didn't only do that. I also had sleepovers with girls I never spoke to since we graduated from high school, and went on a bunch of dates with guys I didn't really like", you answered, and it was his turn to laugh.

"Hm, doesn't seem like a very satisfying life to me", he whispered, moving his lips to your neck, and you nodded lightly. "Did you ever bring them here? To your room?", he asked, and you laughed. "No, my parents would die. They were quite liberal, but not like that. When I went on a date as a teenager, I had to go to their place later if I wanted some action, you know", you answered, and he started to move his kisses to your jaw. You knew what he was about to suggest.

"I know, Y/N... So, I'm just wondering, am I the first guy your parents are allowing inside your room?", he said, his breath on your jaw giving you goosebumps. "Yeah", you answered, and he kissed under your earlobe. "The first guy to sleep on your bed?", he asked, and you said "Yes".

"How are your parents allowing this, miss Y/L/N? Such a nice girl from such a nice family, locked inside her room with a british drummer", he said, his voice low and husky, moving you closer to your bed. But you wanted to take it slow - it was a special event, indeed.

"Not that I'm trying to break your roleplay, Roger, but we literally share a flat. It would be silly for them to get the guest bedroom ready for you", you said, and he scoffed, breaking away from your neck and looking at you.

"Yeah, but it would be hotter", he said, going back to kissing your jaw. "Imagine how hot it would be if I had to wait until your parents slept so I could leave the guest bedroom", he said, getting you to sit on the bed, "And then I would've to walk, very carefully, through the hallway, trying not to wake them up", he continued, laying you down on your back and moving on top of you, then going back to kissing your neck and cleavage as he completed, "Just to open your bedroom door and find you touching yourself, moaning my name".

"That would be pretty hot", you agreed. "Maybe I should get them to move you to the guest room", you shrugged, teasing him, and he stopped kissing your cleavage just to look at you and say "Don't you dare", before kissing your lips.

That night was a bad memory to have running over your head again and again as you laid on your bed every night to go to sleep, alone, a year later, after breaking up with Roger, in 1975.

Your grandma convinced you to seek help, and you tried everything: therapy - your parents looking at you weirdly because getting a therapist was still associated with severe mental illness, meditation, mediums, aromatherapy.

You didn't knew exactly what worked, but a year after you arrived, now in 1976, you were already in your new SoHo flat, having moved out of the Upper East Side, the neighbourhood you - and Roger - knew that didn't really have much to do with you, even though it was closer to the Met, where the work was interesting - and where you barely ever saw Will, uncomfortable looks exchanged between the two of you every time you had to see each other.

It was a cold winter day in December 1976 when you got up, your loft nicely illuminated, spacious, the soft light from the snowy day making everything seem more magical. The building was quiet, your artistic neighbours still asleep this early in the morning, and you made yourself some tea - with milk - and opened the window so you could sit on the emergency exit.

The street was also quiet, the only sound being a muffled free jazz, that was probably being played live in a grand piano inside one of the many lofts on Greene Street. It was then, the cold wind making your skin burn under the layers of sweaters, the tea getting rapidly cold, the jazz caressing your ears, when you realized you were not sad anymore.

You didn't feel that weight on your chest now, when you breathed in, filling your lungs with fresh, cold air, and you didn't feel like you had no control over your life. You were present, in the moment, and you felt happy. Happy with your life. Happy with yourself.

And you enjoyed this feeling, without thinking much, for as long as you stayed outside on the emergency exit; until you finished the tea, until the jazz player stopped, wherever he or she was.

Once you got inside, thinking about preparing a nice, warm bath, you walked by the phone, and you wanted to call Roger.

You wanted to call him many times before, but you were always desperate, regretting breaking up with him, or sad, just trying to know how he's doing, how the boys are doing.

But now, you didn't feel anything negative make you want to call him - you just wanted to let him know that you're happy again.

But that doesn't seem like a good enough reason to call him in the middle of the day for him - he probably wasn't even up yet.

So you went inside the bathtub and just felt grateful for meeting him, for having the opportunity to have him in your life. Now, it was peaceful.

Now, back at the F train to your house from Coney Island in 1977, you're taken out of your thoughts when you see a blonde head pass in front of you, but you don't feel nervous anymore - you knew it wasn't Roger.

You always thought you saw him, especially in 1975, your first year back in New York - always nervous, always imagining that he was just trying to see you, to talk to you, maybe to try to take you back to England with him.

You saw him everywhere, in those first weeks, still in your parents apartment, thinking he might be on you M86 bus to work, or maybe in this fancy cocktail party you attended.

But one time, in 1976, you could swear you saw him on the stairs at the Met as you bought a hot dog from the stands in front of the museum - the guy's hair was shorter and bleached, just like you saw in the pictures of Roger that appeared on magazines, and he looked confused. But you didn't really investigate it, though - it was probably just another guy, maybe even inspiring his own look in Roger's.

Your train reached your station and you finally got back to Greene Street, walking slowly to your building, taking in the view of your street. Now that you're far from Queen, you can see their importance, their impact on the world.

You watched as songs you saw get written and sung and produced right in front of you became huge hits - Deacy's song to Veronica reached #1 on the american charts. A song you saw get recorded in a weekend visiting your boyfriend as he worked - that's how you saw it.

You bought their new album in the end of last year, 1976, A Day at the Races. You loved it - it was probably your favourite, and you didn't knew if it was because their music was getting better or if it was because this was their first album you could enjoy as a fan, not being involved in how it was made. You liked to watch their TV specials and interviews, feeling grateful that you ever got to be around them, even though life - and your own, unconscious choices, you now realized - took you away from them. From Roger.

You loved You Take My Breath Away and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, but Drowse truly held a special spot in your heart - maybe you only loved it so much because it was Roger's, and it sounded like talking to him about his childhood, something you've done many times before, but maybe you didn't love it just because you were biased by your story with Roger. The song sounded more american, and it even made you feel like you felt when you listened to Fleetwood Mac. You smiled at that thought.

Once you got home, you picked your mail and started going through it.

You weren't really paying attention to it - you were thinking about the Fleetwood Mac show you would attend next week for the Rumours tour, in the Madison Square Garden, when a heavier letter caught your eye.

The paper was soft, creamy beige, and sealed with wax. And then you read what was written over the envelope.

It was a letter sent by the Curator of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic collections from The British Museum.

---

Chapter 17

Masterlist

Taglist:

@taylorroger-s @sarai-ibn-la-ahad @its-nessi @anamcg317 @frenchieswiftie @queen-danielle-dani-dan @minihemo @shutup-sorry @theyrealllegends @killerqueenisthebest @ashagracelove @hardy-s @fuckinghurricanesoul @secretsweetscollectionblog @mrswinterhater @11mb0 @tamtam-go92 @derptatosaur @brianandthemays @phantom-fangirl-stuff @the-hysterical-queen @rogerofmylife @notevenlxvely @discodeakyy @x1975sos

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buzzdixonwriter · 5 years ago

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America: Not The New Jerusalem, Merely Another Rome

”When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” -- Paul the Apostle (1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV)

”And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -- Jesus Christ of Nazareth (John 8:34 KJV)

Ronald Reagan, tending the garden of thorns Dick Nixon had sown, referred to America as “a city on a hill”, thus appropriating Jesus’ words via John Winthrop through John F. Kennedy.

It’s interesting to chart the progression. Let’s do so in reverse.

Reagan: ”I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.”

Kennedy: ”I have been guided by the standard John Winthrop set before…’We must always consider…that we shall be as a city upon a hill—the eyes of all people are upon us’. Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities…History will not judge our endeavors—and a government cannot be selected—merely on the basis of color or creed or even party affiliation. Neither will competence and loyalty and stature, while essential to the utmost, suffice in times such as these. For of those to whom much is given, much is required…”

Winthrop: ”Now the only way to…provide for our posterity is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God, for this end, we must be knit together in this work as one man, we must entertain each other in brotherly affection, we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities, we must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality, we must delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor, and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body, so shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace… for we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world, we shall open the mouths of enemies to speak…curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whether we are going”

Jesus: ”Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14 KJV)

Go back and read Reagan’s statement.

While I’ve trimmed Kennedy and Winthrop’s quotes and edited the latter for clarity (God bless Noah Webster for standardized spelling!), there’s a striking difference between what they saw as a city on a hill and what Reagan saw.

Reagan operates under the presumption that of course we’re the best, of course everyone else will look up to us, of course we are the New Jerusalem referenced in the Bible.

We are God’s anointed, His new chosen people. America is God’s Promised Land, a nation to which all other nations can merely hope to aspire to be.

Our shitte truly stinketh notte.

Reality? We have fucked up and we have fucked up badly.

Compare Reagan’s self-congratulatory, ignorant nostalgia with the dire warnings of Kenney and Winthrop.

Yes, there is great promise.

Yes, there is great potential.

Yes, we are a city on a hill.

But Kennedy and Winthrop both cautioned that history and the world would not be kind if we failed to live up to our own grandiose promises.

(And, yeah, there’s irony in that, considering how both failed to make good on those promises, ///but at least they knew the danger was there///.)

Look at Matthew 5:13, the verse immediately preceding Jesus’ original “city on a hill” reference: ”Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

America is no New Jerusalem, no Holy Israel of the New World, no Promised Land.

Rather, we are the New Rome, an empire built on greed and ruthlessness and blood and genocide.

And slavery. Let us never omit that original sin, or its bastard step-sibling, white supremacy.

As long as the history of this nation was written by the Parson Weems of the world, be they well meaning hagiographers or unprincipled propagandists, it was the history of white Christianist* men of property succeeding because God and / or providence had deemed them the masters of the universe, the unquestioned rulers of the earth.

(Oh, there might be a mean one once in a while, maybe an occasional bad one, but it was a white man with money’s world, and if non-whites and non-males wanted to enjoy even the slightest taste, the first thing they had to doo was make sure white Christianist male supremacy reigned supreme.)

Our nation has been at war virtually its entire existence.

It has slaughter and subjugated literally millions of people around the world.

Don’t give me that bullshit about the American Revolution being a good and just war -- Canada stayed under British rule and did just fine, thank you, and although they have their own problems, a far less bloody history than the United States.**

Don’t give me that bullshit about the Civil War being a good and just war -- there shouldn’t have been any need for a civil war if the first shipload of African slaves to arrive in North America had simply been seized and freed.

Don’t give me that bullshit on World War Two being a good and just war -- if Hitler hadn’t declared war on us, we would have never gotten involved in Europe.***

America has waged incessant war against other nations and native peoples in order to make a few wealthy people even wealthier.

Can we justify the War of 1812? No.

Can we Justify the Mexican War? No.

Can we justify the Spanish-American War or the too numerous to recount Latin American bush wars? No.

Can we justify the Philippines, or Korea, or Vietnam?

Don’t even pretend we can justify what we’ve done in the Middle East.

And as terrible as those are, those are the crimes we’ve committed against others.

Look at how terribly we treat one another.

After centuries of enslavement, African-Americans then needed to endure the humiliation of segregation.

Hispanic Americans who can trace their ancestry in this land much further back than any Anglo found themselves aliens in their own country.

Women and non-Christians and anybody outside of toxic white male heterosexual norms declared unfit and excluded from the public sphere.

And we allowed the tiny greedy few at the very top to rob us and pick our pockets and let our families and children suffer because they promised us if we did so, they’d let us feel that we were the best simply because we were white Christianist males.

We are long overdue for our moment of clarity, our agonizing reappraisal, out “come to Jesus” moment when we recognize our sins and shortcomings.

We gotta stop eating our own bullshit and recognize ourselves for the villains we are.

Only by identify the source of the contagion and draining the virulent infection can we hope to cure it.

”Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

”And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” -- Jesus Christ of Nazareth (John 8:44-45 KJV)

* “Christianist” is a term coined by the political commentator Andrew Sullivan to refer to those people who are culturally Christian, who may even think of themselves as Christian, but in reality are as far from the teachings of Christ as is possible and just use their so-called Christian identity as an excuse to do whatever the fuck they feel like doing because “God loves us and forgives us and wants us to be in charge”.

** The taxation in “no taxation without representation” referred to England trying to get the colonies to take at least partial responsibility for triggering the bloody Seven Years War (in the U.S., the French & Indian War) that virtually drained England’s treasury and wrecked a couple of European empires in the process. One may argue the crown made a fatal misstep in not allowing token colonial participation in parliament, but you can’t say they were unfair in wanting the colonials to help pay for a war ///we started/// in direct violation of international treaties.

*** Not only were many prominent Americans against getting involved in European affairs, but a large number were pro-Nazi to boot, and they went to ground only when Hitler made it impossible to defend him any longer. And while we’re at it, let’s dispel with the myth that Hitler and the Axis would have won if the U.S. hadn’t stepped into the fray; Hitler lost WWII on June 22, 1941 when he invaded Russia. Contrary to the popular culture of the US and western Europe, it was Russia that took on the brunt of the German war machine, and Russia that painstakingly ground them down at great cost. To put it simply, Russia would have still beaten Germany without the help of the Allies; the Allies might not have beaten Germany without the help of the Russians. And while Japan was reeling from saturation bombings and the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Russia declaring war on them was the moment they realized there was no hope left.

#America #Jesus #Trump #city on a hill #religion #politics #American Christianity

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purplesurveys · 5 years ago

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If someone's laughing, do you instantly think they're laughing at you? Egh no, not really. I’ve had people laugh at me but I do know about it; I’ve never felt paranoid like this. What is the strangest thing you've been asked? My mom’s masseuse asked me if I was pregnant after taking a good look at me and deciding I looked familiar. It felt weird and eerie until I told my parents about it the next day and they said “Oh yeah, she’s the one with the third eye.” Didn’t feel as strange after that, but at the time when she looked me dead in the eye and asked me that question it was definitely so weird lmao. What’s the weirdest thing about life that people just accept as normal? Sometimes I wonder how people from the far past got to decide how certain animals were safe to eat even though they a) clearly scream danger, b) have such a complex way of being consumed (like crabs), or c) ARE STRAIGHT UP POISONOUS (like the pufferfish in Japan). But hey, we’re all eating them right now.

What was your favorite game as a child? I liked local games. We had langit-lupa (heaven and earth), piko (hopscotch), ice-ice water (freeze tag), Chinese garter, 10-20, and patintero. What’s the stupidest thing you've ever heard? Anything that comes out of conservative Catholics’ mouths.

What's the most random thing you've done out of boredom? It would have to be that time that I got really depressed last December and I spent all my Christmas savings meant for friends and family on a bunch of coloring books and my own set of coloring pencils. All for myself. It’s a little morbid, but whaever. What show did your parents not let you watch as a kid? My parents were pretty liberal and weren’t too strict about shows. My mom absolutely hated Mr. Bean though because she was convinced he was the reason my brother didn’t start talking until he was like 6. She would change the channel if it was on, but she didn’t outright ban us or anything. What is your personal catchphrase? I don’t have one. What is the most pleasurable feeling that doesn't involve anything sexual? Biting into your favorite food after a whole day of not eating. What was your 'Oops, wrong person' moment? I don’t think I have one. I’d die of embarrassment. What do you find attractive that isn't considered 'normal' attraction? I really can’t bring myself to be into the muscular/buff look and don’t mind if someone is on the bigger side, is skinny, or is generelly not a gym person. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done drunk? Fell asleep in the pool. What's your proudest moment in the bathroom? ?????? What’s something you own that gets you lots of compliments? Technically not mine, but Gabie would lend me a windbreaker-type of jacket that was very colorful. It was green, yellow, pink, basically a very bright and gay jacket. I got complimented on it EVERY SINGLE TIME I wore it by nearly every single person who passed by me in school – and I wish I was kidding lmao. She got it in Baguio for 50 pesos ($1), it’s insane. I think it was lost by another person she lent it to. A damn shame. If money was no object, where would you want to live? Canada. Who is your favourite mythological character? In the brief moment I was into mythology, I really liked the way Rick Riordan wrote Apollo to be in his Percy Jackson series. Big ol’goofball. What's something that's happened which couldn't happen at a worse time? [continued from this afternoon] > Had the sign for my gas start blinking while I was stuck in standstill traffic > Get into a car accident while finally making a turn to the gas station > Get pulled over by an officer for changing a lane and nearly hitting a car, because unbeknownst to me, the accident had closed my right side mirror, making me not see my entire right side and I almost hit the car to my right All happened within ten minutes. I was a freshman in high school and couldn’t be more terrified. Police let me go when I started having a panic attack. What is the best pickup line you've ever heard? I don’t like pickup lines. What did aging ruin for you? Dreams. What is the most hilarious thing you’ve ever heard? Idk, I’ve found a lot of things hilarious. What is the darkest thing you have seen on the internet? It would be either Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared or Too Many Cooks. What's something you really enjoy, but can't have? A regularly luxurious life. What Wikipedia article have you recently read? OMG hahaha so there were times in internship where nothing was tasked to me FOR HOURS and I would get super bored. Then I remember hearing from somewhere that Wikipedia has a whole article that’s just a list of unusual deaths that’s happened from modern history until the present, and I gobbled that shit up until I was given a responsibility. I found out more listicles they apparently had – list of last words, list of people who disappeared mysteriously, etc; read all of those too. What's a book you were made to read in school that you really liked? My #1 would have to be Without Seeing the Dawn by Steven Javellana. It’s the most honest narration of the Philippines’ Japanese occupation I’ve ever read. It’s painful to read, but it’s the beauty of it. What objective did you fail to complete this week? I told myself I was gonna start externals work for my org, but I’ve just been so burned out in the last month that I haven’t gotten around to starting yet. I definitely have to this week, though so it’s not like I’ll completely fail it. What could have gotten worse for you but it didn't? Tbh the desire to end my life? I threw in the towel by the time I was 12, but I’m still here so I guess life is doing something right.

What subject should be taught at schools, but isn't? Adulting. Like being taught about taxes, social security, insurance, documents they ask when you apply for a job, etc. I’m 21 and I know nothing about these. I didn’t even know what insurance meant until I was 20. What is the best thing about having a Significant Other? The idea of having a go-to person for everything is very comforting for me. What makes you unusually uncomfortable? Distorted sound effects. It’s probably not unusual though. What is an upcoming purchase you're excited about? It’s no longer future tense because I was finally able to find Pop-Tarts at the nearby mall! I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE in the last couple of years and I’ve been craving it for the same period of time. Then Gab convinced me to try the supermarket at the mall we went to today and we found a box of Chocolate Fudge gloriously sitting on one of the shelves. It was way more expensive than I remember it being, but I waited for so long that I just grabbed it and didn’t care about my budget anymore. What is the worst game you've ever played? The Hannah Montana game for the Wii that I had was so bad it was good. What’s the oddest thing you like to do? I don’t think I have particularly odd habits. What's the funniest news story you've seen in the past few weeks? There’s a satirical article I came across a week ago that was about how dinosaurs got extinct because they ate pineapples on pizza. It was made even more hilarious by the fact that it included a graphic of dinosaurs and there were slices of pizza with pineapples on them photoshopped into the graphic. Definitely pissed off a number of pineapple enthusiasts that day lmaaaaao. What do you really really want right now? I’m so excited to eat my Pop-Tarts but I think I should save them for tomorrow. What do you hide from people? Suicidal thoughts, because I never wanna bother anyone. What was the first sign you knew you had a crush on someone? When I actively avoided her because it hurt to see her. HAHAHAH yuck drama What's the best lemonade you've made from the lemons life gave you? Lasting long enough to create a family in the form of my orgmates. Who was your cartoon crush while growing up? Sam from Totally Spies. What's the best way to deal with religious door knockers? We don’t have that culture here but I most likely would just never open the door. What’s the most hypocritical thing you’ve ever seen or heard? A large chunk of Catholics. Who’s the most interesting person you’ve ever met? When I was still interning at my PR firm, I shadowed my supervisor in an interview that one of our clients had for that day. Our client’s representative is the biggest badass I’ve met. He’s from South Africa and was born and raised at a time when apartheid was still around. He’s white, so he was brainwashed in school to think that they were superior and for a time, he really thought his race was. Then he got to work under Nelson Mandela’s party when he was much older and that was the only time he realized how backwards that mindset was. Anyway he had Mandela’s spies stalk his ass every single day because of his background and he ultimately got shot twice. There’s loads more stories to tell but I don’t want to give him away.

When I was watching him get interviewed he proved to have a lot of knowledge on history and current events too so that’s another plus. He was just super cool and it was a breath of fresh air to talk to a foreigner that was more aware of social situations than the average Filipino. What just doesn't impress you? Carly Rae Jepsen. What’s the worst possible way to introduce yourself? There’s no worst way; just don’t try too hard because the bullshit can be detected so easily. What makes you wish that you were born in the past or the future? How easy it was to make a living and score a job decades ago. What tragic event was coincidentally beneficial to you? My breakup. What's something people are proud of, but it doesn't impress you? ‘Miracles.’ What's the worst possible moment to go and play on a bouncy castle? Doing it with a bunch of sweaty, rowdy kids. Who is the greatest ever comedian? Not really into comedians so my recommendations might suck for some. What’s your irrational fear? Commercials at night. What's your oldest memory? Playing in a Winnie the Pooh tent when I was 3. What can you not wake up without? Checking the time. What did you think was cool when you were younger that you now think isn’t? Wristbands. What are your favourite or most memorable lines from any movie/show? “How do you like them apples?” from Good Will Hunting. What's something people love to hate? The Kardashians. What’s something that is underrated but extremely useful? Being polite.

#survey #surveys

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