#did i buy a ticket to see them the day i discovered them? i sure did

[you-will-be-found]

Make like you're a bull breed and show 'em how to strut

Royel Otis - Bull Breed

[paarksunghoon]

Sunghoon trying to stay sane and respectful but your love for mini skirts and barely there tops are testing his patience day by day. He's not a horn dog but God when you press against him, so soft, so pretty and oh so naive..do you not notice your entire cleavage hanging out for his eyes to drink in, or the skirt riding up your luscious thighs as you rant about your day?

as someone who wears mini skirts all the time…nbgngngn. i’m also pretty high but reading this really put a number on me so sorry for typos lol

***

Sunghoon is a skirt chaser.

He’s always loved seeing girls wearing them since it made their legs look longer. It didn’t matter much to him—short girls or tall girls—he loved seeing ass peeking out from under the skirt and how they’d always tug at the hem to pull it down. Sunghoon doesn’t date much either (although that definitely wasn’t because nobody wanted him like that either; he wasn’t looking for that type of commitment).

He loved the kind of skirts that paired well for going out. Sure, the solid color staples pieces were cute. But the way silk touches the skin and how hips sway in these fabrics was enough to make his mouth salivate.

When you started wearing them, Sunghoon became perplexed.

You, his best friend since twelve, seemed to have ditched jeans and long dresses for short skirts and baby tees. In the past few months, he’s seen you switch up your wardrobe to the point where he was sure you had more than enough mini skirts to last you a lifetime. They came in all colors and styles, one for every color underneath the rainbow and then some. His friends all noticed this too, eyes following your ass every time you walked in front of them. That made him mad.

The thing is, you have an amazing ass and your tits always sit so pretty. He tries not to stare and gawk at you every time you wear these kinds of clothes. You keep it fairly tame when you’re in broad daylight and push the boundaries on a night out. You don’t seem to care that his friends stare at you every time you try to cover yourself up from a gust of wind or when you bend down. Sunghoon has probably seen your panties too many times.

He really doesn’t understand why all of these feelings are bubbling up. He’s seen you in bikinis and didn’t react like this. Sunghoon is confused but that doesn’t stop his dick from getting hard every time he pictures your outfits when he’s in the safety of his bedroom.

His favorite way to get off is by pushing his back against the bed frame and spreading his legs, holding his fist in a circle and he pumps himself up and down. Sunghoon pictures you riding him in one of your infamous mini skirts, looking up at the ceiling and imagining what you’d look like on top of him. He thinks about how he’d look down and the dirty affair would be covered by the fabric, as if thinking about fucking your best friend wasn’t weird.

Sunghoon is pulled back to reality when you squeeze his bicep in lieu of a greeting.

“Do you have our tickets?”

He nearly jumps out of his skin. “Jesus, Y/N. You need to warn a guy before you creep up on them.”

“All I did was touch your arm!” His cheeks feel hot as you laugh. “Were you in deep thought, or something?”

His eyes flicker to the shortest skirt he’s ever seen you wear but scoffs, playing it off. “Nah. You’re as quiet as a mouse.”

“Well this mouse wants to go inside.”

You don’t wait for him to answer you. Sunghoon feels you tug him by the hand towards the security line in front of the concert venue. You’ve been a bit more physical with him lately, tugging on his arm and sifting your fingers through his hair whenever he’d lay his head on top of yours. He only ever means to for a brief second in the way friends do, but he hesitates to pull away once you tug at his roots.

The artist is a band you two discovered a few years back and he was in charge of buying the concert tickets for the both of you. Sunghoon sees the fruit of his labor pay off when you’re both standing inside after you both pass through security. The venue is crowded and small, but you’re sure everybody is too high out of their minds to notice people bumping into them anyway.

As the two of you walk closer towards the middle, it starts to get tighter. Sunghoon moves you in front of him and puts his hands on your waist to guide you and doesn’t mind that your arms are resting on top of his.

You don’t move away from him once you’ve joined others either. He noticed that you’re a bit shorter than everyone else around you. “Do you want to get on my shoulders during your favorite songs?”

“No, that’s okay. I want to dance.”

He looks down at your skirt. “Mhm, let me know if you change your mind.

The two of you wait until the show begins and you’re talking to him about how excited you are for tonight but all he can think about is how he could cop a feel if he really wanted to. The skirt you’re wearing provides him easy access to touch you but he refuses to act on his urges, often flexing his fingers to calm himself down.

Halfway through the show and everyone is having a great time. You’ve danced for an hour straight and feel your legs wobbling after jumping and screaming the lyrics to Sunghoon. He’s a bit taken aback when you rest your back against his chest but tries not to think too much into it.

But you stay like that for a while and he can feel the fabric of your skirt. He toys with it absentmindedly as he nods his head to the melody until he feels your legs tensing against him. When he looks down, your thighs are squished together.

Fuck. He wonders if you’re horny.

Sunghoon hooks his chin over your shoulder and peeks down below to where his hands graze the hem of your mini skirts. When you don’t motion for him to move away, he grunts when his hands start to disappear and moans directly in your ear when his fingers touch your panties. It’s only then does he realize how wet you are.

His other arm is secured over your waist and you grip onto him at the sudden contact across your blooming core. He swipes his index and middle fingers back and forth to gauge just how wet you’ve become, smearing it all over your panties. It brings a gasp out of you and he pushes his lap against your ass.

It’s too much and he’s too hard. Neither of you are paying much attention to the show anymore, too wrapped up in your own little world to focus on anything else. Sunghoon nearly moans out loud when he realizes you’re allowing him to hump you from behind.

“Are you trying to ruin this friendship?”

Sunghoon feels you nod against him and the two of you head out of the venue and into his car. He tries to keep it in his pants on the ten minute drive back to his apartment. You don’t fuss when Sunghoon shoves his hand between your legs and keeps rubbing over your pussy as he drives, one hand on the wheel while he plays with you. Your best friend bites his lip and tenses when arousal gushes out of you.

“Recline and open your legs wider, baby.” You do as he says and he pats your clit twice. “Good girl, listening to me like that.” He switches his ministrations and brings his thumb to rub over your clit in back and forth motions. “Need to make sure you stay wet.”

And stay wet you do. You’re wet all the way home where he locks the two of you in his place until he’s dropping to his knees and pushing your chest against the wall. Sunghoon puts his face between your legs and licks up the arousal clinging to your panties while spreading your cheeks apart with his big hands, squeezing when you yelp.

He pulls the pathetic fabric aside and sticks his tongue into you, prying yourself open for his viewing. His warmth breath fans over your core and it has you pushing back against his face until his tongue licks you up in repeated motions.

Sunghoon doesn’t really care that he’s too horny for foreplay and neither do you, apparently, because when you hear sunghoon unzip his pants and take them off, you’re taking your panties off and taking your shoes off too. He grabs himself and aligns his tip with your hole before pushing all of himself inside.

You’re so wet. It’s so hot. He fucks you like he’s got enough stamina to last a lifetime and your tits bounce against the walls at the pace he’s set. He pulls back far enough that he nearly slips out every time but without fail, Sunghoon will make sure his dick stays wet the entire time you’re with him.

He pulls you back onto the couch with his cock still lodged inside of you, manhandling your body until he’s got you on his lap and your feet are placed by his knees. Sunghoon pushes his hips upwards and fucks you like this, balls slapping your clit with every thrust. He moans when you moan, the emptiness of his apartment filled up by erotic noises that only spur on his orgasm.

Your release triggers his. When he feels your cum seeping down onto the base, Sunghoon shoots his thick ropes into you but doesn’t stop thrusting. Albeit lazier and more random, he keeps his frantic pace and lets you dig your fingers into him while you wonder how your best friend made you cum so fast.

“Fuck!” you moan when Sunghoon pulls out just to push himself back in once he’s made your body lay in front of him.

“You’re so fucking sexy in these things.” He acknowledges the skirt by flipping the fabric with his fingers. Sunghoon doesn’t give you enough time to reply but you’re too busy moaning to care about the consequences anyway. “Wear them more often and I’ll fuck you like this every time.”

Since when is your best friend so good at dirty talk?!

***

comments and reblogs are appreciated! xx

[gor3sigil]

Trans drag performers deserve better.

Okay so since y'all seem interested, here we go.

[This is about MY experience as a “former” transmasc drag king, in my local scene. This isn't representative of the drag scene as a whole because drag is a wide, huge scene with pretty much any type of people in it. I have never done paid gig. I only performed a couple of times before deciding to stop.]

I discovered drag with RuPaul like a lot of people, and for a long time, I only knew about drag queens. It’s when I learned about an initiation to drag king happening in my town that I decided to try it. I did a bit of research before the event took place and that's how I learned that drag king is widely undocumented, compared to drag queen. A bit disheartening but I was excited to do something new and especially to get back in my local queer community after 2 years or so of “no contact” with it because trauma (see my post about my first T4T relationship to understand why).

First surprise when I got there, I was the only transmasc present as an attendee. The organiser and person who teached us is agender and go by he/him, and his at the time SO is a transmasc enby but appart from them, I was the only trans person. Most of the others were cis lesbian women. Makes sense. The initiation weekend went really well and we ended up performing in an open scene at the end. I can't count the amount of times I got misgendered by other kings during this weekend and I have to say, it pissed me off so fucking bad because I was the only one getting consistantly misgendered. But I brushed it off and had a blast.

My drag persona is more of a dragula king, really goth, and I did a lipsync performance on a Black Dresses song. I loved it and had a blast. A year or so later, we decided with other drag kings to do a little group to perform together.

Once again, I'm the only trans person.

And that's when the shitshow kinda happened. From all the drag kings present, I was also the only one who wasn't already part of a collective. So the group we had was composed of people from 2 collectives who would basically cheer each other out at every show, and it's great !! But I wasn't being integrated into the group, and I felt defeated. One of the main reasons why I didn't go to drag shows was because I was FLAT BROKE. I couldn't attend these events as they were always or in a bar so you have to at least buy a drink, or had a fee, and I couldn't afford that.

We started doing rehearsals and I set up a discord server for us all to use and organize the said rehearsals. It soon became apparent that they weren't really serious about this group, that they were more involved in their own collectives and it was HELL to have at least one rehearsal a month. But we had a show scheduled for september, and half of the kings weren't ready, didn't know their texts nor songs. I knew it was going to be bad. Also we were confirmed that the gig was going to actually happen 3 days only before, because the people who said they were going to do the visuals NEVER DID and we had to fumble something quick so the event was promoted very fucking late and we weren't sure we could even afford to do it, because not many tickets were sold.

During the rehearsals I got singled out for everything. My voice was dropping because of the T (I had started 8 months prior) and I tried to do my best with the singing parts but got told a few times that my low voice would sound “weird” amongst the sopranos. Also, one of the solo part a king was going to perform was on a very upbeat music and he said we could join IF WE WANTED.

I said I'd pass since it wasn't my style at all.

And when we got to the venue, the venue didn't have any backstage and I had my solo part just after that, so I couldn't just stand there on stage and do nothing. The others in my group KNEW IT as they had performed in this venue BEFORE but just told me “oh, too bad, improvise something” when they were the same ones who told me that taking part in the number was not mandatory.

Regarding the other artists, man, I hated everything. I got misgendered constantly IN KING LIKE - I'M A DRAG KING FFS. Even by others in my group.

When I corrected another performer, a cis gay dude, he laughed at my FACE and told me “but you're trans aren't you like, against gender or something ?”. As I was pre op and still early in my transition I was basically outing myself everytime I told my pronouns and I got so many cis performers ask me invasive questions about my sex life, or being like “yeah I have a trans friend who goes by X but I knew them as Y so it's Y to me but it's not in a disrespectful way you see”.

So yeah, I didn't have a great night. :)

The cis kings called me “girl” or “sis” because “I'm one of them” even after telling them time and time again that I wasn't comfortable with that.

And after this quite disastrous experience, the same ones who called me “girl” and me got into an argument because they wanted to change a song about forced toxic masculinity which is an INCREDIBLY POWERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL SONG into lyrics to talk about femininity. I said that we could use another song then, because there's so few cis men singers who sing about being forced into toxic masculinity and virility that I found that a bit disrespectful to take this important message and make it about women and femininity. There's plenty of songs about that that we could use.

And now guess what ? I was a MEAN MAN who wanted women to NOT TALK ABOUT THEIR ISSUES because I was a very MANLY DUDE DISGUSTING MALE.

The same people who couldn't gender me correctly and called me “sis” a WEEK BEFORE.

So yeah, I got the fuck out and gave up.

I really wish I can perform again one day, but it'll be in another scene.

So PSA: book drag kings, because they are so underrepresented it's disheartening, RESPECT trans drag performers, don't but bioessentialism in drag for the LOVE OF GOD IT'S DRAG. Like imagine being transphobic as a DRAG PERFORMER. Learn the history. And fucking do better.

[sapphicmsmarvel]

modern au! competition

notes: in elains part i talk shit about The Exorcist. i’m sorry guys that movie is so so bad. Some of these are really short because i didn’t know how to elaborate LOL but yall will get the point. 

Azriel: 

This cranky bitch has beef with your kindle paperwhite. 

You took it everywhere, always made sure it was fully charged and loaded with books. You even used the app on your phone until one day you decided you would always carry your actual kindle with you everywhere. 

When he wanted snuggles and you were reading? You had pushed him away. Until one day, he’d had enough. 

It was a rough day at work, he wanted his girlfriend. He saw you on the couch, with your emotional support water bottle, his hoodie, fuzzy sock-clad feet and a blanket. And you were holding your kindle. 

He knew he wanted to join you in that cuddle pile, so he did. 

He took away your blanket which caused you to yell an indignant, “hey!” Then he spread your legs which had you saying “oh?” 

He rolled his eyes at your dirty mind and laid down on top of you. Your kindle was in the air, he laid his head between your boobs and snuggled in. 

Breathing in your scent, he hummed contentedly. 

He felt you shake with suppressed giggles, “you comfy?”

“Mhm.” He hummed, his eyes closing. 

“My big baby.” You said softly, kissing his head and running your nails through his hair. 

He didn’t need to look up to know you were still reading, just multitasking now. After all, that’s what the pop socket is for. Multitasking while reading. 

(get your heads out of the gutter) 

He loved how happy it made you, though. He also loved the sex that came from the books that you’d want to reenact. 

Cassian: 

don't get him wrong, he loves that you wear makeup because you love it. 

however that damn plumping gloss is gonna kill him. 

“It’s spicy!” 

“You’re being a baby, it’s minty.” 

“it’s fucking spicy!” 

It’s not his fault that your gloss is out to make him croak. He can’t help kissing you though, your lips look so plump and juicy, just perfectly kissable. And the gloss tastes like vanilla cupcakes until the spice kicks in. 

Rhysand: 

He's got beef with the sims. You’ll go missing for hours in your “cozy room” as you call it, and 9 times out of 10, he’ll walk in and see you hunched over like a cave creature playing the sims. It kind of scares the shit out of him because sometimes he’ll walk in on you like that, with a murder podcast playing on your TV. 

Eventually, he loves the game. Because he discovers that you can make your own families. You two have five kids in the sims, because even Sim-Rhysand is horny. 

Eventually he gets his own PC, he’s very excited. Owns and buys you all of the sims packs. 

Feyre: 

Your IPad. You do everything on that thing. Work, planning, reading; writing, even. It’s with you all day, sometimes all night depending on the activity you’re doing. You can’t stop playing candy crush or some other game. She’s fully pulled the IPad out of your grip before to cuddle.

She didn’t get it until you got her her own with procreate installed. And now you’re the one who has to pry her away. She, like Rhysand, has learned the naughty things she can do with her new hobby. AKA, lots of drawings of you. 

Naked, clothed. You two together being naughty. 

She’s learned to love the wonders of an IPad. 

Morrigan: 

fucking theme parks. In the beginning of your relationship she didn’t know how to feel, eventually she fell in love with them. She used to be against them because she hated being sweaty (who doesn’t) but with your help she was able to be comfortable and enjoy a nice theme park day with her girlfriend. 

You two are out of state disney pass holders. Taking random flights on random days for a day at disney. Flying in that morning and leaving that night. Or driving for a long weekend. 

Amren: 

her competition is concerts. you’ll go to any show at any time. Your friends favorite indie band is having a show with 20 dollar tickets? sold you’ll be there. 

She’s not a fan of intense crowds, mosh pits aren’t her scene. But if there’s an artist you wanna go see and your friends can't go? She’s buying you the tickets as an early birthday or christmas gift. She’s even used mother’s day as an excuse to buy you tickets. Or Veterans Day. 

And she calls you dramatic. 

Nesta: 

she genuinely doesn’t understand how you can play video games for hours. She does love it though because you’ll leave her alone to read while you play. 

You rarely play intense games, if you do you’re playing with friends and not some random lobby (because being a woman, a queer woman no less is not fun in random online lobbies). And that’s when you go into a different room because your friends and you are quite loud. 

But when you’re playing stardew valley or any zelda, mario game, or nintendo in general; you’re sitting by her. 

Your usual set up is you both on the couch next to each other, some asmr room video in the background and a few candles lit. 

She can even admit that your video games have awesome soundtracks. 

Elain: 

horror movies. you were a fanatic. On your first date you brought this up to her, nervous she’d be against it. She was all for watching them. She had never seen them, growing up her mother forbid her daughters from watching them. It didn’t stop Feyre and Nesta, however she was a bit of a rule follower. 

She thought it couldn’t be that bad. After all, they're fictional and the effects can be very cheesy. 

However, she hid that she was scared pretty well in the beginning and then when you two saw Jigsaw that killed her “street cred” with you. (her words, not yours) 

So after the intensity of Jigsaw, you had her watch The Exorcist, a movie you thought was ass but was a good movie to introduce her to horror with. 

She ended up thinking the movie was shit, too. But, it gave her a bit of a baseline to go off of.  

After that was The Conjuring universe, then The Paranormal Activity franchise ended up freaking her out in a good way. 

She liked watching supernatural, ghost hunters, and american horror story with you though! And she did enjoy the scream franchise as well as the scary movie franchise! 

She began to love them, and loved the adrenaline. 

She liked the idea of going to a haunted house during halloween, but it scared her a bit more. It was different with a screen in between her and the scare. 

Lucien: 

Your stuffed animal collection. You personified almost everything you owned (which made it a bitch to declutter when you knew you needed to; but you couldn’t stop imagining objects with personalities). 

He loved how passionate you were, how cuddly you always looked however: 

You’re supposed to be cuddling him!! Not a damned stuffed animal! 

Then one time, he came home after a long work trip and found you asleep on the couch, you were waiting for him. 

He found you hugging a fox build-a-bear with one of his shirts on it.  

How can he hate that? 

Eris: 

His own dog is his competition. 

The fucker will cuddle with you then give him a smug ass look like “haha she chose me, she dont want you.” 

He loved the immediate love you had for his (son) pet. And he reacted to you the same way. You two formed a bond, the dog would follow you everywhere around the house. 

His dog was supposed to be a hunting dog, then when you (mom) came into the picture, that’s when you began babying him and forbidding Eris from taking him hunting. 

“My son will not go through the mud! He’s a baby!”

“My love, his whole life’s purpose is hunting. He’s a hunting dog.” 

“His life purpose is being the cute snuggly idiot he is!” Said snuggly idiot was wagging at your feet with an expression on his face that Eris could only describe as a “you go, mom!” look. 

“What if he gets hurt?” Your bottom lip wobbled and he knew he couldn’t say no to you. 

You were sensitive when it came to animals. It was pretty easy to make you cry, you just had to look at the dog being cute and you’d start bawling. 

But, he loved waking up in the morning to you snuggled into him with his beloved (but an asshole) dog with you two. 

Even when the dog pushes in between the two of you in the middle of the night. 

Tarquin: 

Surfing. He can’t believe he’s competing with his own hobby. 

He introduced you to it, but you cannot stop. You spend hours out in the ocean, and he wishes he could be out there with you all the time. But he’s always working with the city's ocean conservation teams and is the leading man in marine biology in your city.  So he can’t leave the office a lot, but when he can, he does join you in the surf. 

You two began a surfing contest to raise money for ocean conservation too. 

[dailylifeonmadmire]

April 16, 2025

Today was a lot of fun, even if I didn't intend to do much. I'm not sure who this Flick person is, but I'm excited to find out. I started out the day with a trip to the Able Sisters, in their window was a gorgeous dress that I had to try on at least. I also stopped by Resident Services and purchased another plot from Mr. Nook.

Before I left to go island hopping, I thought I could gather some resources to see about crafting more Bunny Day furniture from the recipes I've been picking up. Pinky caught me hitting rocks; it seems everyone here on Madmire wants this K.K. Slider guy to come visit! I also discovered some great little designs for clothing by looking at the eggs I've been picking up. Maybe I'll find enough and make myself a new outfit!

Now let's find a new neighbor!

The first island was such a dud, and nothing really exciting. The peacock that I did see there honestly gave me the creeps, and I didn't think she'd be happy with the other islanders. I mean, Shep is a herding breed, I assume? Who's to say that she wouldn't get chased around by him? The second island, though?

JACKPOT!

There were peach trees as far as the eye could see, just like back in the old country where I came from. I wanted to make as much room in my pockets as I could to take them back to Madmire, and boy was it worth it. I planted a few trees when I got back, and sold the others for a pretty nice profit.

The last island I went to had a very interesting character: Shino, a gorgeous-looking deer. I feel like I remember seeing a creature similar to her in the old country at the zoo. I invited her back home right away, and even did some fishing before heading back to finish up some chores. Did you know that you could catch crayfish on a fishing rod? I had no idea; everyone I knew back in the old country used traps.

My chores back home were pretty simple. I decided to begin construction on a new garden area near the soon-to-be-funded ramp that I still need to save up for. After this, I decided to put aside another piece of land for all the cute things I've made to celebrate Bunny Day. And yes, I did make that outfit! It's so dang cute! After this, I decided to keep up with my aerobic stretching routine. I guess the red lizard I met during this is that Flick fellow that Isabelle mentioned.

When I met up with him post-stretching, I learned a bit more about his methods. He'll not only buy my bugs that I can find around Madmire, but he's an artist. A genuine bug artist! When I talked to him more about it, I thought I'd take the time to get myself a Flick-original. He said that all he needed were three different specimens of the same bug, so I went hunting. I found three ladybugs fairly fast in my flower garden and turned them over. Soon I'll have my own ladybug piece of art!

But I think it'll be it for me today, as it has been a lot of work. I think my night will be just completing tasks in order to have more tickets so I can continue to look for new friends on this lovely little island. Wo do you think will live here next?

[sk8termikey]

Chapter 15 of 21 Questions

better interface on wattpad + chapter updated till 27

ORLANDO VERSUS TOUR SHOW

Fucking nine in the morning, I am being woken up at nine in the morning to go I don’t even know where. To say Alex was confused was an understatement. Lily had randomly woken Alex up to announce to her that they were going on a road trip for a couple of days. Nothing too extravagant according to Lily, but Alex was still sceptical – and tired. She was definitely too tired to think about the why and how so she simply decided to accept it. Alex knew anyways that once she was up, she was unable to go back to sleep so she just got up and dressed with an outfit prepared by Lily. The girls’ suitcases had also been packed beforehand but Alex wasn’t allowed to look at what was inside as Lily didn’t want her friend to recognise almost all of the clothes they had packed a few days prior when they went to Atlanta.

“You can get ready in the car,” Lily suggested. “It’s quite a long drive.”

“M’kay, I’ll forget how suspicious all of this is right now. You’re lucky to have chosen my favourite hoodie.”

The piece of clothing in question was a GAP orange hoodie that Alex had been over the moon to find as it was exactly the same one owned by none other than Chris Sturniolo, which Lily knew perfectly. As Lily had chosen for Alex to support Chris’s team again – he did win last time, she had decided to wear a fully blue outfit in honour Matt’s request at the Atlanta show.

“Can I trust you not to look at your location on your phone?” Lily asked Alex once they were in the car and ready to leave.

“Yeah, I promise to keep our destination a surprise because I trust you,” Alex replied with a playful tone.

~~~

Almost two hours later, the girls were nearing Orlando. As Alex had tried to not pay attention to the road signs and given her poor sense of direction, she had no idea where they were going until the huge ORLANDO: NEXT EXIT sign appeared above the road.

“Wait a damn minute– are we going to Orlando for the reason I think we’re going to Orlando for?” Alex turned to Lily as she was getting hopeful.

“Well, I don’t know…” Lily couldn’t resist a smile. “What are you imagining?”

“Lilyyy”, Alex dragged out the last vowel. “Please tell me we’re going to see the triplets again?”

Alex’s voice was almost pitiful as she was now a hundred percent sure that they were there for them. As Lily told Alex to open her most recent conversation on Instagram, the blonde started reading the messages and almost screamed from pure joy as she now had the confirmation that they had tickets to the Orlando show of the Versus Tour.

“You cannot know how I would be ready to marry you right now for this”, Alex said as she just wanted to hug her best friend.

“I mean– we can always ask the venue if they do weddings”, Lily laughed at her own comment which in turn made Alex laugh as well.

Alex was over the moon and couldn’t stop thanking Lily until they arrived at their hotel’s parking lot. They checked in their rooms and began to get changed as Alex discovered what was in her suitcase.

“I understand now why I’m wearing my Chris hoodie, but what was the point of packing so many clothes?”

“You don’t expect us to wear the exact same thing two shows in a row, don’t you?”

“What–” Alex was really confused as she wasn’t even wearing anything that she wore in Atlanta. Once again, she got hit with a wave of hope as she thought she was getting it. “I swear to God if you mean a third show, I’m buying rings right now and asking Nick to marry us today.”

Lily simply handed four pieces of paper to Alex and let her read them. The first two were for the show of today in Orlando while the other two had TAMPA written on them. Alex couldn’t believe that it was more than simply being at the shows. Indeed, they were going to be able to take pictures again with the triplets and even have the opportunity to talk to them before the show the next day.

“So, what are you waiting for?” Lily teased. “Don’t forget I only wear silver, just like our tickets for today.”

Alex hugged her friend to thank her for everything she did and couldn’t wait to experience another show of the Versus Tour. She knew that it would mostly be the same thing over again as the games didn’t change, but it would still be a special day to remember for years.

~~

Alex and Lily were now at the venue, ready to queue before getting their picture taken. Although they wished to be able to take pictures after the show when one of the triplet would wear the crown, getting their pictures before meant that they could come back early to their hotel and get enough rest before driving to Tampa the next morning.

Per Matt’s request, Lily was wearing a blue flannel with a black tank top underneath along with her blue flared jeans and her boots. She had asked Alex to draw sharks on her cheeks, the same way she had had the bats in Atlanta. Alex had kept her orange hoodie on and had simply put on black sweatpants with her white sneakers, which was a very “Chris outfit” according to her.

While queueing, the girls had been able to take pictures with funny sunglasses and get friendship bracelets which they thought made the experience even better. Meeting people you didn’t know ten minutes before but forming a bond due to common interests was beautiful, even if you might never see that person again.

Way less nervous than in Atlanta, the girls were simply excited to see the triplets again as it was almost their turn to get their pictures taken. They had chosen again to be together in the two photos and so they both went in front of the camera.

“Hey, you changed teams!” Nick exclaimed as soon as he saw Lily’s makeup before hugging her.

“Hi! Oops, sorry.”

While Lily was bonding with Nick for the second time, Matt couldn’t help but look at her even though he was hugging Alex. He had quite a good memory with faces and immediately recognised the bubbly girl he had met a few days ago.

“Hi, glad you could make it.” Matt said, almost relieved that she was here.

“Heyy, yep and I’m betting on you today.” Lily smiled at Matt.

As Lily was about to hug Chris next, she and the two other triplets noticed that he was frozen smiling in front of Alex. The reason why? They were wearing matching hoodies and Chris couldn’t believe his eyes. He didn’t care if they were going to hold the line and piss off the cameraman as well as security, he had to make everyone notice.

“This is the best thing to happen today”, Chris happily said as he dapped up Alex – no worries, she did get a hug before Chris realised they were matching. “Guys, have you seen that?”

The three people next to him had no choice but to nod as obviously, they could see the two bright orange hoodies from a mile away. Even the people waiting in line found it extremely funny as they were trying to record the moment which was very much giving that one Spiderman meme.

After noticing that they weren’t supposed to take this long for the group pictures, Nick suggested they take them quickly as to not “fuck up the tight schedule”. Therefore, they took two pictures with Matt on Lily’s side, Chris on Alex’s once again and Nick in the middle. In both pictures, Chris and Alex had decided to point at each other as none of them could get over this coincidence.

After thanking the triplets and saying goodbye, the girls left the photography area to start walking towards the pit. What they couldn’t see behind them was Chris nodding to his brothers and giving a sort of hand signal to their manager Laura who was standing a few metres away from everyone. She understood immediately and began to follow the two girls in order to stop them before they could reach the crowd.

Alex and Lily were definitely confused as to why they were being pulled aside by Laura but their expression rapidly morphed into one of surprise as she explained what would happen to Alex if she wanted to: getting on stage during today’s show and playing the games on Chris’s team. Although it wasn’t even addressed to her, Lily agreed on behalf of her friend who was too stunned to speak but eventually nodded once her brain had processed the proposal. This is how Alex thus found herself backstage waiting with two other girls – one was wearing a shark onesie while the second was dressed in purple with Nick’s team’s name written on her top.

While the three girls were waiting to go on stage, the triplets had come to see them and explain the structure of the show before they left to announce the popular vote – which Matt won once again. Then, Nick introduced each teammate and it was finally time for the girls to appear. As Alex walked on stage towards Chris, she tried to find Lily in the crows as a way to get some moral support. The blonde quickly found her best friend who gave her the biggest smile ever, which Alex reciprocated with a wave. Now that everyone was on stage, Nick explained the rule of the first activity:

“So here’s what we’re gonna do. Every teammate is gonna paint their triplet, no matter if it’s us right now or last week or whenever, you just gotta make it look like us.”

Alex and the two other girls agreed, then got ready as they would try to paint the triplet they were with during the next two minutes.

“I hope you make me look good, I saw what you can paint”. Chris said to Alex as he believed in her.

“Brooo, so much pressure right now.” Alex tried to focus on the canva in front of her. “What I painted for you guys was me alone in a room for hours so I won’t do as good.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be proud no matter the result don’t worry!”

Alex was feeling more relaxed as Chris was very supportive, which increased her motivation to win this round. She had decided to paint Chris as he currently was: wearing the crown and the orange hoodie. It seems that Chris was right to believe in her skills because she enabled their team to get the most cheers and therefore win the painting activity – which led to Lily screaming the loudest she could for her best friend. Chris and Matt were now tied with one point each as the game of trivia was about to start.

Tools were brought on stage and each team sat down with a small whiteboard.

“You got this babe!” Lily shamelessly shouted as there was a brief silence.

Alex chuckled and thanked Lily with a huge smile as she waved back at her.

“Damn, you’re not supposed to support them when you’re wearing my colour.” Matt chimed in as he recognised Alex’s friend.

This small exchange led to everyone in the venue laughing until Nick tried to shush the crowd before giving the signal for the questions to start being asked. From the origin of Halloween to the weight of the world’s biggest pumpkin, Chris and Alex were doing pretty good as they had gained three points thanks to the girl. Indeed, the blonde had based half of their answer on Lily, which had made Chris laugh every time – “Lily has a white car so it must be the answer” and “Lily has brown eyes so she proves our point”. Not that he was mocking Alex, but he was admirative of their bond and the support the girls gave each other.

It was now time for the last question as they were asked for the numbers of stars on the Walk of Fame.

“Eh, how would I know?” Alex wondered out loud.

“Don’t you have an idea? A rough number at least?” Chris asked the girl as he didn’t have any.

“Bro, I live on the other side of the country like– I don’t know but a lot I guess…”

“Hmm”, Chris tried to think. “How do we feel about a thousand?”

“Let’s go with that, should be kinda close I hope.” Alex agreed with her teammate.

As the timer stopped, Matt said five hundred stars, Nick said seven hundreds and sixty while Chris said a thousand. Turns out that even a thousand was not “kinda close” as there are actually two thousand seven hundred and fifty-two stars on the Walk of Fame. The trivia activity had now come to an end and it was time to play basketball.

“So glad to be on your team because I know we’re def winning,” Alex claimed.

“I know I’m the best but I’m still counting on you.” Chris’s ego was absolutely boosted by the girl.

“Yeah, no worries. I should be able to get at least one, I hope…”

True to her words, Alex did manage to get the ball in and at the end of the game, her and Chris managed to stay in the lead with nine points. As Nick had seven and Matt five, it meant that the game of Jenga was going to determine everything. Right before the last activity began, Alex’s eyes seeked Lily once again and were met with the purest expression of love as Lily was capturing her best friend’s happiness with her camera. Knowing that Lily was watching her, Alex was ready to give her best and not knock the tower down.

While it would be the triplets’ turn to play, Alex and the two other girls would talk with each other, thus deepening the bond between them as something more than just being competitors. Indeed, they were here due to the same love for Nick, Matt and Chris.

Thanks to the platform on her sneakers, Alex was almost as tall as Chris and was able to keep playing while the tower kept getting higher. Chris had just managed to prevent it from falling as it was looking very much like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then, like lots of previous shows, Matt eventually failed and was the one to lose the game of Jenga. While the middle triplet was in despair, Chris went to high five and hug Alex as they were therefore the winners of the Orlando show. Alex was absolutely overjoyed: not only did she go on stage with her favourite YouTubers, she helped bring victory to her team. As Alex went to hug everyone on stage, Lily was still taking pictures of her friend. She never wanted to forget Alex’s expression on that day and wished to cherish it forever. Alex’s joy was to be remembered and appreciated as she deserved what was happening to her.

Then followed the crowning ceremony when each time took pictures before taking one with the triplets and their teammates. Nick, Matt and Chris thanked the crowd and the fans on stage with them before going backstage as Tril was going to perform again.

“Thank you so much for this wonderful experience”, Alex said to the triplets when they left the stage.

The other girls agreed and thanked the triplets as well, before getting guided back to the main area of the venue.

“I’m glad you guys all enjoyed it. It was so nice having you with us, and we’ll maybe see you again one day!” Nick told the girls before bidding them goodbye.

Alex and the two other fans left the triplets and went back to the pit while Tril was still performing. They spent the rest of the mini concert together and each joined their friends after exchanging their socials to keep in touch.

“ALEX!!” Lily ran to hug her best friend as they were together for the first time since a couple of hours.

“LILY!! Oh my God, this was the best day ever!!”

“I. Am. So. Happy that you got to live this babe, this is amazing!! I have so many good pics, I need to show them all to you tonight.” Lily was ecstatic regarding what Alex experienced.

“Yay, I wanna see them all and I absolutely want to post some.” Alex hugged Lily and held her tight. “Thank you so much for capturing those moments for me, I love you.”

“Love you too.”

The two girls kept fangirling about today’s show on the way back to their hotel. They had the same routine as in Atlanta as Alex showered first while Lily took her camera and laptop to actually edit her pictures. She was choosing her favourites – those who were truly highlighting Alex’s happiness and some of the triplets that she thought looked good. Lily was realising that she had unconsciously taken many pictures of Matt – not as many as photos of Alex obviously – and couldn’t help but admire them for a bit until her friend got back in the room.

“Hey, if you wanna look at my pics from today and download your favourites. Go ahead and see if you like some.”

Alex thanked Lily before going to sit on the bed and skim through the brunette’s pictures. She selected some of her on stage and a couple of the triplets. She knew that Lily didn’t really like to have her face on social media so Alex didn’t include their group pictures in her Instagram post. She still decided to tag Lily’s photography account as she was the one who had taken the pictures and figured she would also tag sutrnioloteam in case the triplets would check their most famous fan account.

As Lily returned from her shower, she got her laptop back from Alex and started looking at the pictures she had taken of Atlanta and Orlando, but only of the city and its landscapes. She thought that after being in Tampa, she would post a small dump of their trip.

When the two girls had eventually each seen hundreds of photos, they began to feel tired and went to sleep as they would have a long drive tomorrow to reach Tampa for their third show of the Versus Tour. They knew that today being a Wednesday, it meant that a new video would come out but they chose to watch it the next day as they had planned to leave early and get some rest before the show.

“Good night Lily, thanks for being the best friend ever and gifting me with such wonderful memories.”

“Good night Alex, I’ll always do my best to make you happy.”

Thank you for reading. Votes and comments are always appreciated if you like this story :) The story is co-written w @/little_grapejuice on wattpad

[sofya-fanfics]

Your Melody In My Heart

Fandom : Fairy Tail

Relationship : Gray x Juvia

My Tropetember 2023 contribution for the prompt : Rockstar / Actor / Model / Famous AU.

I’m sorry for the mistakes, English is not my native language. I hope you like it.

Summary : It had been a little over a year since Juvia had discovered this idol group made up of four boys. Natsu, Laxus, Jellal and especially Gray. Gray-sama, she thought with dreamy eyes.

Disclaimer : Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

@tropetember

AO3 / FF.NET

Juvia put her phone on the table and a huge smile lit up her face. She had managed to buy the last tickets for the concert of the band Fairy Tail. If she was not in a public place, she would have jumped for joy.

It had been a little over a year since she had discovered this idol group made up of four boys. Natsu, Laxus, Jellal and especially Gray. Gray-sama, Juvia thought with dreamy eyes. At that time, Juvia was going through a difficult time where she thought she would never get out of it. She was in her senior year of high school. Her boyfriend had broken up with her and the students in her class harassed her. They found her too gloomy, too strange and they did not like her way of speaking in the third person. She felt like it was constantly raining on her heart and that the rain would never stop.

One day, she had seen on television the band Fairy Tail who had been invited to a variety show to present their new song. It was then that she first saw Gray and heard his voice. By listening to him, the rain had stopped for the first time in a long time. The sun was reappearing in her life.

Since then, she never missed any broadcast show in which the band was invited, she followed them on social networks, she collected all the goodies in their image, she even sewed a plush toy with the effigy of Gray and she hoped to be able to offer it to him at the concert.

It would be the first time she would see him in person. She could not help imagining their meeting. She would meet him by chance before the concert. Their gaze would meet and it would be love at first sight. She would give him the plush toy and he would take her in his arms to thank her. During the concert, he would sing for her, never taking his eyes off her, and he would dedicate a song to her. This would be the start of their love story.

She came back to earth when she received a text message from Gajeel telling her that he would be here soon. She was in a cafe where she was waiting for her best friend. Both had spent their childhood in the same orphanage. They were lonely and had difficulty in bonding with others. They had become friends when girls from school were annoying Juvia and Gajeel had defended her. That day, Gajeel had become much more than her friend. He was her family. She smiled when she saw him enter the cafe. She waved her hand to signal her presence. Gajeel went to sit at her table.

“Weren't you supposed to come with a friend ?” Julia asked.

“He won't be long.”

A friend of him was in town for some time and Gajeel had insisted for Juvia to meet him. When she asked him why, he only replied with a big smile :

“I'm sure you'll be very happy to meet him.”

A few minutes later, the cafe door opened once again and a young man entered. Juvia frowned. He was tall and slender, but she could not see his face because of his cap, his sunglasses and the mask he wore.

“He looks like an idol trying to hide,” she commented.

“You don’t know how right you are.”

Juvia gave him a questioning look. Gajeel waved for the man to approach their table.

“Good to see you again,” Gajeel said.

“You could have chosen a more private place.”

“Sorry, I hadn't thought about it.”

But Gajeel was anything but sorry. The boy sat down and Juvia had a strange feeling. As if she had seen him somewhere before, but she could not remember where.

“G this is Juvia. Juvia, this is G.”

G looked at her. Juvia could not help blushing. His gestures, his voice, everything about him was familiar. She chatted with him and laughed. She felt comfortable and it was the first time she felt like this with a stranger. Yet something inside her told her that she knew him and she could not help staring at him. She blushed and looked away when G, feeling observed, looked at her. After a while, G received a text message from his work and had to leave.

“Your friend is really nice,” Juvia said.

Gajeel laughed lightly. She wondered why he was reacting like this.

“I can't believe you didn't recognize him.”

Juvia frowned. It was true that he was familiar to her and it annoyed her not to know where she had seen him. If only he were not wearing his sunglasses, she thought.

“Was he at the orphanage ?”

“No, I met him when I was playing hockey in middle school.”

“You know that Juvia didn't know your hockey friends.”

Gajeel smirked.

“You listen to him every day, him and his three friends. You have pictures of him in your room. You have a whole collection of goodies on him. You even sewed a plush toy that looks like him.”

Juvia opened her eyes wide and she put her hands to her mouth. Her heart was beating faster and faster, realizing what had just happened. She had just met :

“Gray-sama !”

It had nothing to do with the first meeting she had imagined. Suddenly, everything went black.

******

Two days had passed since Juvia's meeting with Gray. All she hoped was that she had not made a fool of herself in front of him. She arrived at Gajeel's apartment. His girlfriend’s birthday, Levy, was approaching and Juvia had promised her friend to help him find a present. She loved Levy and it was out of the question for her and Gajeel to break up because of an ill-chosen gift from the young man. Juvia opened the apartment door. She spent so much time at his place that Gajeel had given her a key.

“Gajeel, are you there ?” she called, closing the door behind her.

“He went to do some shopping. It shouldn't take long.”

Juvia jumped, not expecting anyone else to be in the apartment. She thought she was fainting when she turned to face the person.

“Gray-sama !”

She blushed and looked away.

“You're in your underwear.”

Gray looked at himself and gasped in surprise.

“Oh no,” he muttered. “I did it again.”

Juvia heard him get dressed and had to restrain herself with all her might not to look. She remembered she had read somewhere that Gray had a tendency to unconsciously undress. He had spent much of his childhood in the mountains and the cold did not bother him.

“You can watch.”

Juvia looked at him. He was now wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She was almost disappointed that he got dressed so quickly. She shook her head violently, telling herself she had to stop daydreaming.

“Is everything alright ?” Gray asked.

She nodded shyly. The images of their first meeting came back to her mind and she felt embarrassed.

“Ju…Juvia is sorry if she did or said anything embarrassing last time.”

Gray shook his head negatively.

“Quite the opposite. It made me happy to be able to speak and act normally in front of someone who didn't know who I was.”

Juvia realized that Gray's life must be very different from what she imagined. He was a celebrity scrutinized by everyone and the slightest misstep could end his career. The door opened abruptly and Gajeel entered.

******

Juvia turned over on the other side of the bed, clutching the Gray plush she had sewn. She could not sleep and stared at Gray's poster. They had seen each other several times, usually at Gajeel's. When they were outside, he always wore his cap, his sunglasses and a mask so he could not to be recognized.

It had been two weeks since the band traveled to the north of the country for a series of concerts which introduced the start of their tour. Gray was supposed to be back in town in three days. During the time he was away, Juvia had plenty of time to think about how she felt. She had gotten to know him and she had learned to make the distinction between Gray Fullbuster and Gray the idol.

The more time passed, the more she loved the real Gray. She loved him when he was happy or grumpy. When he got angry when Gajeel laughed at him. When he smiled at her when he heard her humming one of his songs. She liked his qualities and his faults. She had never felt this way for anyone and since he left, she missed him. She wondered if he felt the same. Probably not, she thought sadly. For him, she was just Gajeel's friend and one of his fan.

******

“Calm down,” Gajeel said. “You will end up tearing it by dint of tighten it like that.”

Juvia slightly loosened the bag containing the Gray plush she was holding against her and took a deep breath to calm herself. The band Fairy Tail was in town to give their concert. Thanks to Gray, Juvia and Gajeel had been able to go behind the scenes. Juvia had brought the Gray plush with her and she hoped she could give it to him.

She was both eager and anxious to see him again. Thousands of questions and possibilities raced through her head. How would their reunion be going on ? Had he thought of her ? Did he miss her as much as she missed him ? Her heart was beating faster as they approached the dressing rooms.

Juvia opened her eyes wide in wonder. Everything was as she had imagined. The band was here with the musicians and the staff. Some concentrated, others warmed up their voices or had their makeup done. Among all these people, Juvia saw Gray. He was at the back of the room, seated on a chair and concentrating on a score. He looked up and smiled when he saw Juvia and Gajeel. She waved at him and he waved back.

“Everyone, hurry up, it's time to go,” the band manager shouted.

The room gradually emptied and Juvia told Gajeel that she would join him in the concert hall. He smiled at her, wishing her good luck. He sincerely hoped that Gray would accept Juvia's plush and feelings. He knew they could be happy together. Juvia shyly approached Gray. He smiled blushing, and lightly scratched his cheek, embarrassed.

“I'm glad to see you again,” he said.

“Juvia too.”

She felt the fear she had for this reunion vanish. She had the courage to give him the plush.

“Juvia wanted to give you this.”

She handed him the bag, which he accepted. He took the plush out of it and opened his eyes wide. He had not expected to see a plush that looked like him and on closer inspection, he saw that it was handmade. It would have embarrassed him if someone else had given him this gift. Seeing all these goodies bearing the image of him embarrassed him. But coming from Juvia, it made him happy. He looked up at her. He restrained himself from laughing, seeing her face. She was both happy to give him his gift and anxious waiting for his reaction.

“I love it.”

A huge smile lit up Juvia's face. Gray was about to tell her something else when his manager arrived.

“Gray !” he exclaimed. “What are you still doing here? Hurry up !”

He left as quickly as he had arrived.

“Juvia is going to meet Gajeel.”

She was about to leave, but Gray grabbed her hand.

“Wait, I want to talk to you.”

He took a deep breath to give himself courage. He was not one to easily talk about his feelings, but for Juvia, he was willing to open up to her.

“This time spent away from you got me thinking. I missed you. A lot. It's the first time I've felt this. It's as if you are in my heart and in my head and you refuse to leave. What I mean is...”

He nervously ran his hand through his hair.

“I love you.”

Juvia threw herself into his arms. She kissed him and Gray kissed her back with as much enthusiasm. Nothing mattered anymore but Juvia's lips on his and her body pressed against his. He felt like he was in another world and he did not want to leave.

“Gray !” His manager yelled.

Juvia and Gray moved away. Gray rolled his eyes and Juvia laughed lightly.

“I'll meet you after the concert,” he said as he kissed her knuckle.

Juvia nodded and Gray walked away as the manager screamed once again. When Juvia was sure she was alone, she jumped up and exploded with joy. Gray loved her. He had just confessed to her that he was in love with her and they had kissed. It was a dream come true and she could not be happier. She heard the first song start in the distance. She rushed to the concert hall to find Gajeel, where Gray was going to sing just for her.

The end

[parfaitfever]

headcanons for ssomega characters i have!!!!!!!!!

this will be mostly justt how i see the characters and sexuality hcs here and there and just lil ramble for each characters!!!!!!!!

Pegasus koga

hes a clueless little guy in s1 maybe the little brother for everyone

after training shaina would probably let him play pokemon on his gba

he would accidentally see yuna bleeding on the ass and asked what happened not knowing anything (neither does his other 3 friends)

ate dirt ONCE shaina n tatsumi scolded him and he never do it again

after ep18 he never ever wants to touch spicy food ever again

i mentioned this and i'll mention it again, i lovee aroace koga cus whn it comes to love the first think he thinks was family love and says it something like "i love you as much i love saori!"

Lionet soma

like hyoga did in the classic, would somehow be able to drive cars and we never knew wether he had a license or not

im still wondering who the hell are those bitches in ep18??????? are those girlies his BITHCES??? SOMA PULLED THEM??? IS THIS REAL???

i think he'd flirt w someone and just failed miserably

besties w yuna since he arrived in palaestra (ep69) and gave her a childhood nickname and grew further from her a little when he starts to open up to more people and probs only got closer again cus of koga and the saori situation

he is anything but straight (hes pan)

his birthday is 23th of july (younger me said so)

Aquila yuna

been a favorite since young literally my role model when im 7 yiu dont undrstand shes just such a girlboss 4 me my cringeass tomboy asskicker phase back in grade 4 was her influence

for me, even though she kinda became the mother of the group and just hates on everyone, she actually super cared for thm liek koga or soma but shes just scared to get attached to them and it ended up something like her family or pavlin or aria ... so shes just scared she'll get attached to people > lose them at some point so she also tries to kinda distant them to try and not get attach this is also probably why in ep54 her cloth wasnt able to change for the first time bcus she fear if she goes back in to fight she'd lose someone dear to her again (i guess .... im not sure if this is right im js rambling lols)

also notice how riene (yunas childhood friend in ep25) looks a bit like raki and I CANT EXPLAIN HOWMUCH I LOVE EXPLAINING HER YOU GET WHAT I MEAN DO YOU?!??@!? (im just projecting probably, plz help) YOU KNW WHAT I EAMN WHEN I SAY EP25 OKAY LIKE SHE DOESNF EVEN CARE THAT WAS AN ILLUSION SHE'LL SAVE IT TO SEE THE PEOPLE SHE CARES FOR AGAIN YOU KNW WHAT I MEAN

imagine her in her bday not doing anything after she goes out for a meal so when she casually goes back home the maincast gave her a bday surprise :3 (projectig

i did a little redesign of her but its just adding ribbons and glasses bcus i do

arne would introduce her to precure and she discovered who cure moonlight is and now its her fave cuz she looks liek pavlin :3

did i mention how much of a girlboss she is she just onehitko a gold saint (cancer schiller)

bicon ... #1

Dragon ryuho

i used to think hes good at everything BUT cooking

i think he does most of the house chores while shunrei takes care of shiryu like dish washing, sweeping the house very diligent lil boy :3

he loves talkking about his dads adventures or just his family in general uaghegdha *sobs on the flor* he loves his family somuc aughe *chokes

haruto once asked why ryuho never showed up in his concerts and ryuho sweats so much n claims that "he doesnt have enough money to buy the ticker but that doesnt mean he didnt want to support hes just" and harutoo cuts him off and gave him a free ticket

would have like a collection of antique dishes or teacups (its a gift from dohko i guess?? this is a random thought) and he once like broke one and mourns it in his room for 3 days

i used to think he suck at cooking in someway or another unless hes supervised or following a certain recipe (i MENTIONED ths but i didnt notice oh well)

he plays with harutos hair end of story

as a kid i use to htink hes a girl until i heard his voice

gay. end of story

Wolf haruto

i probably still think hes stuck in the school jail for 6 months

episode 22

look listen i feel like i shipped him w an mlp character but i forget whether it was rainbowdash or applejack

FAKE GLASSES FAKE GLASSES HE BOUGHT THOSE GLASSES OUT OF INTEREST IYS FAKE GSUY

he learns those corny jokes froms soma (he fell for ut smh)

allergic to peanuts but he learned it the hard way. so like he got some food with peanuts in it and went to the palaestra infirmary for 2 weeks and when its eps22 harutos dad told ryuho hes allergic to peanuts but never got to tell him and then when ryuho told haruto about it hes liek ... "ah yeah right, thanks but i learned about it long time ago when i ate tofu and stayed in the infirmary for almost a month. "

he likes instant noodles

dyed his hair ends with black/red just bcuz (i kinda drew him like this sometimes hewlo)

Orion eden

hes like the silly dumb like koga but more ... quiet i guess??? like, someone would crack a dad joke to him like what do you call a fish with no eye? fsh. and hes like "i never knew thats how you call eyeless fishes" and took literally without him knowing

very very polite but if something just irritates/annoys him he wont hesitate to ZAP

looks at my old book ... *sighs* stso x mlp ships ... eden was one of the victims

i still dont completely understand why his hair turned grey i mean i dont mind the design doesnt rly affect much buut how I CANT REMEMBER was it cuz of aria or soemthig

foudn this in my school stso hcs notes, he secretly sneaks to arias room and plays piano for her but got caught by sonia and now hes forbidden to even touch the door w/o perms

bi :3

hes seatmates with haruto and so he needs to deal with haruto trying out his jokes he learned from soma and took most of them literally

soma fooled him with the "if you eat the watermelon seeds it'll grow in your stomach"

i keep crying whenever theres aria and eden scene and iys just very sad i just paused the video and cry first

aria

favorite food bread

i cant believe i never drawed her as a kid 3:

MY INNOCENT LITTLE AJHDDFSAHFSDKJH SOBS PKEAS

saoris daughter...

look look look i have a buncha hcs for her but i literally cant remember

twins with koga...... fight mw right now

yuna actually tries to teach her how to cook basic recipes and they also sometimes cook together but aria doesnt rly understand and ended up messing stuff up and eventually yuna gives up n aria would ended up apologizing a lotta times ... but yuna said "its ok!!! ure aria i wont do anything"

she passed those jfashion shops and stared at the store for 15mins

she actually has struggles with talking to people so every so often eden or koga did the talking for her

only thing she can bake is simple bread with yuna

she wouuld like clean n neat stuff so she often broom the house here and there and somehow made koga actually wants to clean

the flower decos all around their house is white, blue or lilly of the valley bcus its her

equuleus subaru

ash ketchum

[akaikami-cherryblossom]

Hey guess what my kid has a relationship timeline now

Year 1

Pre-Mankai

-Lu and Saku barely cross paths. They saw each other at auditions for Hana High’s drama club, but only she got in.

-Lu also tends to catch his monologues by the riverside on the way home from practice. Why is he always there so late?

-(This is expanded on in the lore post)

Spring

-Saku’s monologues slowly become more cohesive, and it’s always one show: Romeo and Juliet(or Julius? The name seemed to be wrong). Lu assumes it’s a newfound interest in one show, but he’s been leaving school earlier these days, as if there’s somewhere he needs to be.

-He’s also been stopping by her classroom more often, typically to pick up or drop off the boy every girl in her class seems to be infatuated with. Masumi’s never really struck her as more than an acquaintance, but looking at Sakuya up close, he’s kinda…cute?

Summer

-The more time Lu spends at home, the more kids she notices popping up in the Mankai dorms next door. Of course, that strangely included Masumi of all people, though Sakuya was showing up more in her mind. Was that why the monologues started to fit together?

-She wonders when the last time the abandoned building was so lively…

Autumn

-Another one joins the trio of Hana High boys. Lu can’t help but see Sakuya as the only sane one.

Winter

-Not much, honestly. Was that an audition sign out front? But it’s for men…

Year 2

Spring

-Looks like someone landed the spot for the Spring Troupe. That’s fine.

-Sakuya…graduated? That was surprising. She always thought he was the same age as her. Oh well, there goes the highlight of her day.

-Though there was one way to see him. Lu works up the courage to buy a ticket to Mankai’s performance of The Wonderful Charlatan of Oz. Sakuya had really improved from when he was clunkily reciting Shakespeare during her first year of high school.

Summer

-Another missed chance. Seems the audition was only held for one person. If only they truly auditioned people and didn’t just steal them.

Autumn

-Seriously, when was the audition? Did it just never exist?

Winter

-Masumi hasn’t been in school for a week. That’s strange. She saw him completely healthy recently, and he was seen at the dorm right before he disappeared!

-Oh, he’s back. And there’s a new guy in the troupe. No way she has a chance now….ensemble member auditions? These seemed reliable…

-Lu goes in to finally test her acting skills, hoping she’d pass as a boy. She didn’t expect to pass so well that she got in.

-Masu says he recognized her off the bat, Saku does once she’s not in “boy mode,” and even knows her name.(he knows???? My name????)(girl that is just something he’s good at)

-It’s decided it would be best to hide her gender for shows, yadda yadda it’s in the chara bio, this also allows her to continue in Hana High’s drama club because her roles are always small.

-It’s also quickly discovered(by Masu at least) that she has a crush on Sakuya, even if she isn’t fully aware of her feelings.

Spring(Harugaoka)

-Ok I know we skipped a year but bear with me.

-During this time, she’s gotten closer with(read: bothers) Masumi, and goes home with him often because she lives so close. (It’s also definitely not because she wants to spend more time with Saku)

-Saku also invites her along on a lot of outing events! Things like Queen Camelia, A Springtime Snooze, etc. If Saku’s there, so is Lu.

-This is also coupled with stuff like street acts!!

-The more time she spends with him, the more her feelings grow, and eventually her confusion spills over and lands itself in the Masumi cafe fic. Bro also fully feigns ignorance to her feelings until this point. V silly.

-This is also where the Azu cafe fic takes place.

-Skip a few weeks. Tenma-Saku fic.

-The next week is where the confession fic takes place, during the last tech rehearsal for Harugaoka Quartet. Sakuya spent a week writing and rehearsing the script, checking it off with Tsuzuru, and making sure he could find a time to do it.

-Turns out, telling Citron about your plan and feelings late at night isn’t a good idea because he can and will set up an elaborate plan to force you to confess your feelings to your crush.

-That’s it for now!!! More to come as the fics roll out :3c

[terubakudan]

創集繪 Imagination Field @Taipei Expo Dome 2025/05/10

Did I mention I was a Grade-S Weeb? xD

To tell you the truth, me discovering this event is sort of a happy accident.

So Imagination Field is this fanworks/doujin convention held yearly (looking at 2024 and 2023 usually in May) at Taipei Expo Dome. It's similar to Comic Con, Comiket in which various fellow weebs gather together, sell fan-made merch, interact with fellow fans, and participate in cosplay photoshoots even.

I myself have only gone to the similar event Comic World Taiwan (CWT) on a sporadic basis, specifically the one in Kaohsiung. I say sporadic in the sense that there was a time when I was tired of going and fell out of love with anime for a while, but when life got better I rekindled my love for the medium.

So on that particular day, I was originally going to just see DIR EN GREY and then promptly leave the premises xD But! I was bored out of my mind one day and decided to see if there were any other similar events to CWT in Kaohsiung, and I stumbled upon this event calendar and saw this so-called "The Gold Waltz of Jojo-JOJO only" event, and what do you know, it's on exactly the same day as the DIR EN GREY concert. xD

I then decided to book an earlier train to Taipei so I could join.

The expo itself is a short Metro ride from Taipei Main Station by taking the Red Line going to Tamsui. Not the BL line sadly.

After exiting the metro, I was greeted by a lovely sign of the event and proceeded to follow the cosplayers to the venue itself.

There was a ticket booth near the entrance, after buying a ticket, you're good to go in!

After buying my ticket, I was greeted by the sight of multiple cosplayers, and *gasp* BTD cosplayers?! In Taiwan?! Somebody pinch me xD A tall Sano with a Ren harem, one of the Ren cosplayers even had Sano bridal carry her and the fujoshi in me was very pleased xDDD

I also only found out a day before my trip that the JOJO-only part was just a small part of the entire convention 😦 I had time before the concert so I made it a goal to do one sweep of all the stands. xD

And holy shit! The place was huge and four times the scale of CWT at Kaohsiung. Though it makes sense since Taipei is the capital, so events tend to be on a bigger scale and there's usually more entertainment options as well.

I have to give a shoutout to this Joker cosplayer for walking around the convention menacingly with a remote in his hand, as a homage to Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight. That's attention to character. I meant to take a picture of the expo and his timing of photobombing is pretty neat, so I just decided to keep this. xD

I went to the JOJO-only stands first, and maybe it was because I was seeing DIR EN GREY that night, I felt a little bolder and actually talked with some of the exhibitors this time. Normally I'm very shy and just buy my stuff, say thank you and go. xD

They had this game where after shuffling a deck, you randomly picked 9 cards, placed them on a mat with spots marked 1~9, and after rolling a die, you had to pick the card that had the same number as the one you rolled, and perform a JOJO-related challenge. In my case, I rolled a 4, which by sheer coincidence had a Josuke card on it (Part 4 lol), and had to pose like Josuke.

Afterwards they gave you a little prize even just for trying! A postcard and a small card but with gold accents that shone, the event's called "The 'Gold' Waltz of JOJO" afer all. They also had this point card that you could exchange for little prizes, like stickers and a randomized Caesar Zeppeli birthday card...

...like any Caesar fangirl I went for Caesar, I love that man a normal amount.

After checking out the JOJO stands, I decided to see what the other ones have in store and wasn't disappointed. I wouldn't be able to list all the fandoms in this post, but I will share my haul after the event!

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE

Yes I love CaeJose with all my heart. QQ

And I'm already sure I will love Gyro Zeppeli xDD The little pizza I got of him and Johnny is too cute, just looking at it gives me cavities like Gyro's teeth. (I'm sorry)

YAKUZA/LIKE A DRAGON

I wasn't expecting to see Yakuza at the convention, and much less merch of Mine even!! I was completing the challenge for the Caesar bday card and saw a little Yoshitaka Mine keychain on display, of which I had a little talk with the seller:

"I'm sorry, how much is the Mine keychain?"

"Wait, you like Mine?!"

"Yes I LOVE Mine!! And CaeJose too but OMG?!"

"OMG!!!"

and then what followed was *fangirl noises*.

I'm still waiting for the Yakuza 3 Remake RGG. Mine deserves to be Dragon Engine hot.

I also got these really cute Kiryu, Nishiki, Goromi "cookie" plush badges from another stand, they were super soft to the touch. (─‿‿─)♡ And just like with my fellow Mine fangirl I talked to the seller lamenting how little Yakuza fan-made merch there is, and she was curious and asked me if I was a Kiryu or Majima fan, I said:

"I like both of them very much!!"

".............." *brain CPU whirring*

"Oh I get it." *shoots me a dirty look*

HAIKYUU

Even if I'm not as active in the Haikyuu fandom anymore, I almost always seem to buy at least one Haikyuu-related merch at these fan conventions xD

Haikyuu is something I will definitely remember fondly though, I only have good memories of it. ♡( ◡‿◡ )

The "Haikyuugotchi!!" was too cute to pass up. As well as Kageyama being worried for nothing. xDD

ONE PIECE

There was a stand selling the most adorable ZoSan merch. σ(≧ε≦σ) ♡ They had a little plush burger that was unfortunately sold out, soda can-themed keychains, the most adorable _____ etc. But I took home these "Catsette" keychains~

DUNGEON MESHI

I love Dungeon Meshi. I'm a simple person, I see merch, I buy.

I had to get the tableware, it's a novelty item that I'm not willing to pass up, and I get to eat desserts with such a cute spoon and fork from now on. xD

HADES

I bought these stickers from a lovely Red from Transistor cosplayer! She lamented how relatively unknown Transistor is compared to Hades, and we both agreed on how amazing Transistor's OST is.

She told me the theme of these stickers was "Dumb Ways for Zagreus to Die". xD

ACE ATTORNEY

I saw The Great Ace Attorney and Klavier my love so I just had to purchase these stickers. xD

I wish there was Kazuma though, I proceeded to fangirl with the seller over how devilishly handsome Van Zieks is and I learnt from her that TGAA isn't very popular in Taiwan due to lack of an official Chinese translation. :O Think about it though, the English translation for TGAA only came out in 2021, and it was only then that it started getting more popular in the west. Making games more accessible can do a lot for more fans to enjoy it.

ARCANE

I, like many people, was extremely disappointed in Season 2 xDDD But that doesn't mean that Arcane wasn't a good ride while it lasted.

Being handed the Jinx/Echo photo and vanishing card by a Jinx cosplayer was just the icing on the cake.

On a more somber note, I saw some of the most beautiful traditional art drawn by a guy, I asked "these aren't digital at all?" and he replied that it was all hand-drawn. He then explained that he used to do digital, but with the increasing use of AI and fear of art getting stolen, he decided to go back to traditional.

KEANU REEVES

Probably the most random piece of merch I got that day. xD The truth is Keanu is one of the few celebrities that I still actually like, he may not have the best acting skills, but because he's genuinely a good guy, that already places him leagues above other actors who call themselves "inspirations" to the people. ==

You're breathtaking, Keanu.

FEAR & HUNGER + ELDEN RING

Fear and Hunger fanmerch was not on my 2025 bingo card just like BTD cosplayers at a convention in Taiwan. xD

The stickers are adorable, Enki gives 0 fucks, what's not to love. xD

The Crow Mauler keychain and "LetMeSoldier" keychains were sold to me by Astarion. xD who I'm very sure will win my heart once I play Baldur's Gate

DEVIL MAY CRY

Like Yakuza, stands selling the related merch was two. But it still made me very happy to find them though!

The Dante + Patty keychain makes me very nostalgic, I watched the Madhouse anime around the time that I first got into DMC with DMC3.

Not pictured here but the vendor of the stickers had two very SSStylish figures of Nero and V, and she even put the little Griffon stickers on V's head, which was adorable.

THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS

This is the first time I've talked about TADC, but it's honestly one of the best adult cartoons out there, and I don't mean adult in like a sex or crude kind of way, but an actual mature show with good writing that adults will enjoy. Unlike a certain show that got picked up by Amazon Prime and a show that focused too much on its lead couple...and I say that as a former fan of those shows. :(

I really, really look forward to the next adventure!!

All in all, I was able to check out every stand just before the convention end time at 4PM. My legs were sore but my heart was happy. I encourage you guys too to go join conventions on your favorite things if given the chance!!

[vampxrebarbie]

that's so cool!!!! i myself only started listening to kpop in 2018 (not super up to date with it these days but dreamcatcher, bangtan, red velvet, monsta x and day6 will always be my faves) and yeah omg it was around that time i think 2018-2019 where bangtan was getting super popular on an international level and im actually so happy to see how far they've come 🤧 they're incredible and so so deserving. like yes there were popular and talented BGs before them but not to this extent imho. AND YESSSSS TAEHYUNG!!!! (he is my bias too)

do you think you'll ever get a chance again to see them live? 🙏

also my grandmother discovered them a few years back and now knows more about them than i do 😭 taehyung is in fact her bias too and lol i guess everyone has their own way of being a fan/expressing enjoyment—she likes watching MVs on repeat with a completely neutral expression lmao 💀 I COULD NEVERRRRR if i see taehyung on the screen, facial muscles are getting used in new ways

ive heard bout monsta x mainly thru a friend of mine and i like some of wonho's solo stuff, but i rly only listen to bts and ateez with a small scattered collection of stuff from like a dozen other groups (BP, itzy, twice, exo, skz)

idk what the tannies or ateez put in their music formula but its like candy to my brain

GOD i hope i do get the chance. i doubt ill be able to get as lucky as i did with the MOTS tour--i had row 1 seat 1 gold soundcheck tickets!!! 😭--but fuck ill settle for nosebleeds if it means getting to see them live in person. like the boys had me out here practically writing whole theses based on the blood sweat + tears mv and its symbolism and all the symbolism/themes behind MOTS7 (deadass. like 80 collective pages.) like i was doing a project in college so u can be damn sure its TOP of my bucket list lmfao

taebear bias gang rise UP 🫰

i managed to get my mother into them after a while and the hysterical thing is that she's not a fan of rap but her bias is namjoon. she now buys me a BTS calendar every christmas and has single-handedly helped add like a dozen magazines and miscellaneous items to my obscenely large merch collection 💀

[umichenginabroad]

Week 2: Wien Scenes and Finding Routines

Čau všichni! (Hi everyone!)

Another week down, and Prague is becoming more familiar every day. This past week consists of a quick weekend trip to Vienna (Wien in German, rhymes with green), settling into classes and everyday life, and discovering hidden gems in Prague. I’m starting to develop routines and gain a better understanding of various aspects of study abroad like budgeting, navigating my area, and Czech culture and language.

We!n We!n We!n We!n We!n

For my first weekend trip, I hopped on a train to Vienna with my roommates to visit the grandiose museums and palaces and learn the rich history of the Austrian city. My roommates created a whole itinerary for the group, and we started at Café Central, known for being a hotspot for writers and philosophers since it was founded in 1867. After the traditional Viennese breakfast, we moved onto the Austrian National Library that features massive wooden bookshelves stretched all the way up, where a painted work covers the domed ceiling. We then checked out some of the most famous works in European art history at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. I lingered in front of The Tower of Babel, painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1563, recognizing it from a high school class where we learned about the biblical story. Walking around Vienna, I noticed how many of the walking signs feature two people instead of the usual lone pedestrian. It was really cute to see, and they would hold hands with a little heart which was very heart-warming indeed. We ducked into another lovely cafe with a live piano player for another latte and hot chocolate. For dinner, we dressed up for a reservation at Palmenhaus Wien and enjoyed delicious meals, dessert, and wine. Later that night, we met up with friends from the program who were staying in an AirBnB in the same building as ours.

The following day was slightly less action-packed, we walked through touristy streets and climbed up the 343 spiraling stairs to the top of St. Stephen’s Cathedral for a breathtaking panoramic of Vienna. I might have been completely out of breath, but the view was worth it. We later went out to a few bars that were pretty fun, though I would argue that there are better cities for nightlife. A few of us left the following day for Monday classes, but some of my roommates stayed and went to the palace, another art museum, and a ballet show. There was definitely much more to see and do in Vienna but not enough time. I have heard that the best time to see the city is during the spring time so this will not be the last time I visit!

Overall, Vienna is a beautiful city with so many activities and sights. However, it is very expensive. Compared to Prague, I was spending a lot more money on food, drinks, and almost every museum or landmark we visited had a paid ticketed entry. It was fine for a weekend, but I’m very grateful to be back in Prague’s more affordable cost of living. Because of its proximity to us, Vienna was pretty cheap to travel to which was a huge plus. The train and AirBnB costs were about $40 each, which made me feel a little better about the overpriced lattes. While in Vienna, I also bought a couple packs of Manner’s Neapolitan wafers. They’re a classic Viennese snack that sparked memories of my best friend from home gifting me some from her own study abroad in Vienna last summer. I did not, however, buy a postcard which is a bummer since I was planning on collecting them from cities visited. I tried but it was cash only and I did not have any on me, but it’s alright, I’ll make sure to get one for our upcoming Berlin trip!

Settling into a Routine

Now that I’ve been here for almost three weeks, I’m feeling myself settling into more of a rhythm. I got a gym membership, and have been cooking more at home. With all 6 classes in full swing, the workload has started kicking up, especially with our capstone project where we collaborate with a tech company.

In my last post, I shared a little about my classes and how they transfer over as useful credits for my major at Michigan. To expand on that, three of my classes (Leadership, Communication, and Tech Ethics) taken together provide me with credit for my MDE capstone, which is usually one big project based class at UM. Here, however, these classes come together to help us succeed in a group project, the “Challenge Project”, where we work in groups of 3-5 for the company of our choosing. We were given briefs on 14 different companies and their projects, most of them startups, and ranked which projects interested our group the most. My group selected Gnosis, a startup for which we would be creating an AI agent for prediction markets that should ideally be profitable in the long run. I’m really excited about the project, however it is very of out of my wheelhouse so I’ll be learning a lot and hopefully be able to apply my knowledge from the AI course. I’m also not the most up-to-date in the finance, crypto, and prediction market spaces, which are the areas where the agent would be most applied but I am excited to learn more about how that world works as well. Up to this point, we’ve had our first meeting with the contact from Gnosis and met the other two groups from the program working on the same project.

Other classes have been relatively light on the workload so far, with my Software Engineering class being the exception. We are working on a group project where we create any app or platform that we want, which is awesome. My group decided to make a social media app for traveling, where users can log their travels, give reviews on places they visited, and share them in one app, sort of like a Beli or Goodreads but for traveling and mixing that with Instagram. The class is moving fast but it has been extremely hands-on which makes it really interesting. Another class I've been enjoying is Essential Czech. I only have it once a week for an hour, but we just learned basic conversation phrases and numbers, so my friends and I have been reciting 0-10 in Czech every chance we can get (it's harder than I thought).

In between classes and working on the Gnosis project, I bought a membership at a gym close to my apartment that a bunch of IFSA students go to. It is expensive, about $77/month, but I was able to get it for about $66 because I applied for an ISIC student card which provides a discount. Back home, I go to UM’s free gym and Planet Fitness in my hometown which is about a fifth of the original price of Prague’s Form Fitness gym, so I wasn’t super excited about the cost at first. However, it seems to be one of the only options and by far the most convenient. I also realized it has group classes like pilates and yoga included in the membership, which is exciting since I’ve never done either but have always wanted to. I went to the gym a couple times this week and it has everything I need, so no complaints here. The proximity of it to my apartment is also super convenient so it’s easy for me to go for a quick run if I have only 30 minutes or longer lifting seshes with my roommate.

Another significant change of the second week is that my apartment has been cooking a lot more recently; we’re getting over the initial chaos of the first week and eating out every day. We’re all very generous with our sharing, and it’s been fun to have one roommate contribute pasta while I bring in the cheese and sauce and another cooks to make a large amount of food we all share. I also am getting more used to the grocery stores, everything is in Czech so I frequently have to bring out the Google Translate camera feature, but I now can just buy what I usually get and it’s a much faster ordeal (and incredibly cheap).

Homebodies for the Weekend

After the Vienna trip, we decided to stay in Prague for the following weekend, which was the perfect reset and allowed me to explore the city with no pressure of a plane or train to catch.

During the week, I spent a lot of time exploring new parts of the city in between classes. I’ve been checking out more spots and I’ve already found a few favorites. My roommates and I have found different cafés we already frequent or want to start frequenting (Lily loves Pauseteria cafe, Jenna and I just found out about version), and I’ve been trying to spend more time walking around the city or riding the tram instead of taking Bolts to get around. Isa and I went to an arepa place called Arepas de Lyna after class for dinner which was an incredible find. Everyone spoke Spanish and seemed like a community, the food was absolutely amazing and reminded us both of home. One thing about Prague is that it has amazing thrift stores and vintage clothing shops. I’ve bought a couple pieces I’m obsessed with and love seeing how each place has completely different vibes and selling unique articles of clothing or vintage designer bags. As we know, the going out scene is super lively and every weekend continues to confirm that fact. We went to Epic again last night because Isa's cousin is visiting and we wanted to go all out. It was very techno and more like a rave because a specific DJ was performing, I enjoyed it and had a great time. For our pregame, I DJ'd myself in our apartment and it was a ton of fun. For chiller bars, we recently went to Blue Light Bar, which is so cool and I discovered my favorite drink, a Black Russian. It's nothing specific to Prague or that bar, I just decided to order it and really liked it. Another bar I enjoyed was Café Bar Pilotů, I walk past it every day on the way home from the Villa (where we have school) and it always looks like such a great time. I split a bottle of wine with a friend and had a lovely night, definitely recommend!

One of the highlights of the weekend was visiting Prague Castle. It’s one of the must-see places that I hadn’t been to yet, but it was amazing. The castle complex is massive and amazing to see, but I went pretty late and it was dark so I’ll definitely be going back during the day and do the tour.

That’s all for this week! Next week: Berlin with Michigan friends who are also abroad and my roommates, so I’m thrilled.

Cheers,

Natalie

[vinceleemiller]

Responding to Divine Discipline | 1 Samuel 5:6-7

 BUY THE 1 SAMUEL JOURNAL

Is God punishing you or preparing you?

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

This week, we are reading 1 Samuel 5. I've titled this chapter "Clearing The Path To Glory."

So far, in Chapter 5, we've discovered that the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant and took it back to Ashdod, setting it up in the temple of Dagon. The following day, the people awoke to find that Dagon had fallen prostrate before the Ark. Despite their shock, they propped him back up. The next morning, they discovered Dagon had fallen again with his head and hands cut off, which terrified them. Then we read verses 6-7:

The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.” — 1 Samuel 5:6-7

There are a couple of choices as to what disease this was, and we are not sure. Some think it was the Bubonic Plague transmitted by fleas and rats that spread to humans. Or it could have also been a massive break of hemorrhoids that afflicted the people. Either way, this outbreak was a major pain in the butt, so much so that they associated the affliction with the recent capture of the Ark.

What is fascinating about this situation is that people who believed that they just defeated God now believe God was defeating them. They have seen enough occurrences to believe God is punishing them.

At some point, we are all disciplined by God. Most of the time, discipline by God comes in the form of natural consequences stemming from disobedience to him or his authority in this life. These consequences inflict pain and compel us to pay attention, thus driving us to pay attention to God.

For instance, if you are intoxicated and drive a vehicle and then get pulled over, there are numerous consequences. You will be arrested, ticketed, lose driving privileges, incur legal fees, face probation, and insurance increases. In this example, it is relatively easy to see the connection between our human defiance and God's divine punishment. It is even easier to see you have a biblical worldview that assumes God is the divine judge who governs all things and operates through human government to administer judgment for human defiance.

But in the case of the Philistines, they did not have a biblical worldview. They held polytheistic views, but they were right in this situation to establish a divine connection. The "heavy hand of God's judgment" was afflicting them. Through natural circumstances, he was trying to get their attention, and they made the connection. What they neglected to do was worship him. Instead, they would dispose of him by sending the Ark of God to another town.

Here is what you need to see today.

When you experience affliction and discipline in life, you should pause and assess the divine signs. Afflictions by God are meant to get our attention. Take time to pause, reflect, and assess. Go to God in prayer and ask God to show you why this is happening in your life. Discern if God is afflicting you for disobedience or to drive you toward deeper obedience. Either way, God will likely show you something that he wants you to see.

Remember, there are moments when we experience affliction without seeing the act of disobedience. For example, consider the stories of Job or even Jesus. Afflictions in both cases did not stem from disobedience but were designed to stretch their obedience. Both types of discipline and affliction have occurred in this story. Some people in Israel were not disobedient to God and yet were being disciplined, like Samuel and his family. On the other hand, God was directly disciplining others, like Eli and his family who had been blatantly disobedient.

Either way, the right response is always to bow and worship the Lord. It is to submit to him and his discipline and be changed by his affliction. It is not to do what the Philistines do here and merely suppose it is God and then dispose of him.

#DivineDiscipline, #GodsCorrection, #FaithJourney

Ask This:

When have you experienced a situation that felt like divine discipline? How did it impact your relationship with God and your understanding of His guidance in your life?

How can you better recognize and respond to God's discipline in your daily life? How can this awareness transform your spiritual growth and obedience?

Do This:

Pause, reflect, and accept the afflictions and discipline of God.

Pray This:

Lord, help me recognize Your discipline in my life and respond with humility and obedience. Guide me to deeper understanding and faith, trusting that Your correction is for my growth and good. Amen.

Play This:

The Struggle.

Check out this episode!

[bullfrogjoy]

Bullfrog Joy

March 22, 2023

Good Morning! It’s really spring now, but I’m not sure it feels like it. For some reason I am just cold. I do like the sunshine later in the day, and I know it will warm up. On my walk today I saw bluebells and mini daffodils. So cute! My regular daffodils are just about bloomed out. They’ll last a little longer for just a bit more early spring joy.

March Madness…it’s another sign of spring. Are you in? How do you choose your winners? I’m looking for a Cinderella team, but the one I picked got beat. Long Beach State. Their coach got fired and then they won their tournament. I’ll look for another one. Maybe Oakland?

I guess you could say my family is a little basketball crazy. We had two TV’s going last night, flipping between games. Our daughter took two days off work to watch games this week. We did not teach her to be a North Carolina fan, but somehow that has become her team. They won so her bracket is good so far.

Facebook told me that our son got tickets to see Illinois play yesterday afternoon. I didn’t even know he was a fan, but there was his picture at the game. He and his friend drove six hours to watch the game. Guess they were feeling the joy because Illinois won. I did notice he had on his White Sox shirt so he does still know which sport is the best!

Here’s my non-basketball joy story for the week, my friends. My brother left town for the winter, but before he left he made plans for some remodeling of his house here in Illinois. He asked if I would supervise and make some decisions if necessary. It really is a bit bigger job than I expected, but it is sort of fun to be in charge of spending someone else’s money! Someone had to choose what kind of flooring to put in his new bathroom and hallway. The carpenters suggested we go to the Warehouse Bargain store at the mall. WOW! Have you been there? So much stuff! And so many deals.

However, the real joy was when we discovered we had not bought enough flooring. Doesn’t sound like joy, does it? We had to go back to buy an entire box to get the three pieces we needed for the doorway we hadn’t measured. We walked in, told the guy what we wanted, and he said he thought he could hook us up. He pulled three pieces out of an open box and handed them to us, saying, “Have a nice day. It’s on us!” What a deal! And yes, my friends, that was JOY! We will go back to that store.

I do like basketball as much as the rest of the family, but I also found a really good book. It may be a tough choice this weekend. Basketball or The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese? The characters are amazing. The setting is 1900’s in India. An interesting tidbit, not particularly important to the plot is that the main character attends a church established by the apostle Thomas, after Jesus sent him to go to all nations, preach the gospel and baptize believers. I had to check on this. I don’t know that it is proven fact, but it is tradition that Thomas did go to India to preach the Word, and there are churches that claim to be founded by Thomas. There are three different story lines. At page 250 (there are 700) I am beginning to see how they might intertwine. So much to find out, so much to read, how can I watch basketball?

Life is good. Joy is out there my friends. Macomb outdoor Dairy Queen is open! It may be cold, but ice cream brings me joy! And….even better….It’s almost Easter when we celebrate the greatest joy of all. Find a church and celebrate Palm Sunday! Jesus is alive. Joy to you my friends. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea. Joy to you and me.

[mariellaolden]

A dream come true

I finally met ENHYPEN after 3 years. By: Mariella Angela H. Olden (February 26, 2023)

The popular seven-member South Korean Boy group, consisting of Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Ni-ki, finished their three-night Philippine Concert last February 3-5, 2023. The three evenings of their world tour MANIFESTO IN MANILA have been sold-out since then.

The official fandom name of the group is called "ENGENE," which means that the fans let grow and keep going, and "ENGENE" is ENHYPEN's "GENE." They share the same DNA to connect, discover, and grow together—in fact, I am one. I have been an ENGENE for two years already since their survival show "I-LAND" and seeing them perform live last February 5 is beyond a dream come true. Until now, I am still in awe that I finally get to meet seven of the many important people in my life.

Before that, many things had happened before I got my concert ticket. As a first-time concert goer, I thought I could not get a ticket because of the three-digit queue on the site. After trying multiple times despite getting website errors, luckily, I did. All the panic, breaking down, and stress of the process—everything became so worth it.

ENHYPEN surely made the two years of the pandemic bearable. My life without them is indeed a misery. I thought fangirling was an easy-peasy hobby. But even with a busy schedule from my studies, I still get to engage with their events every comeback, voting them on different voting platforms and streaming their songs on Youtube and Spotify. Even buying their official merchandise and many more. Those were some of the ways I showed them my love and support.

Aside from that, I am grateful that I get to meet some of my internet friends whom I've met and treasured because of this group. I am amazed that there are lots of people who love them as much as I am. All the hard work, time, undying passion, energy, and effort of every ENGENE is undeniably astounding.

They say being a fan is only a distraction, but I made you my inspiration. To Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and NI-KI, you seven made me want to become a better person every day. You will always be my Seven. We truly have connected, discovered new things, and grown for the past two years. I am so glad to walk with you in reaching all your dreams. I thank you for showing us your thrilling performances and warm love. Performing for three nights was challenging, but you showed us genuine talent and values throughout your Manila stop! I am excited to see you bloom into an even more powerful group that will dominate the hearts of many people across the globe. ENHYPEN WORLD TOUR 'MANIFESTO' in MANILA will always remind me that dedication and perseverance pay off no matter what. This tour will always be remarkable to my heart. I bet "salamat po," "sumigaw," "mahal kita," and other Filipino words will always be in your vocabulary from now on.

You seven will always be my loudest shout out. I will always be a proud ENGENE. Until the end of time, ENHYPEN!

***

This year 2024, I hope I get to see them again. I miss them so much.

[naomi-in-japan]

6月20日 - Osaka Day Trip

Osaka was our last day trip and final excursion of the program as well as this writing is my final required blog post which definitely makes me both relieved and a tad bit nostalgic (which I’m sure will only grow as time goes on). These blogs have been an excellent way for me to summarize and record my various adventures and find my writing voice which I am grateful for. With all that being said, Osaka was hot and a fun yet bittersweet trip that truly whetted my wanderlust for exploring Japan in the years to come.

•••

Osaka Castle 🏯

The first stop on our day trip to Osaka was the infamous Osaka Castle. Of all the castles we’ve seen in Japan, I have to say the outside color scheme and design of the castle are my favorite by far. We didn’t go inside as it’s now a renovated museum that required tickets to go into. But we did take some lovely photos of it!

Amerikamura 🇺🇸

We next went to Amerikamura, hip youth center of American fashion, trends, and style in Osaka. I personally didn’t feel like it was very “Americanized,” but it was interesting to see a more miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty in the works. My tour guide also mentioned multiple times that it was not a safe area to be out and about at night, so at least in that aspect, it fits several regions within America quite to the bill. The center of Amerikamura reminded me a lot of Splatoon’s center hub. It makes me wonder if it was partly inspired by such.

Strawberry Mania 🍓🍦

After getting a little taste of America, we walked through an area of Osaka with street food galore. It was fascinating to see all the different 3D signs and advertisement jingles playing outside each street vendor to coax tourists and locals alike to buy into their tasty treat. A couple of classmates and I went to this specific strawberry food vendor called Strawberry Mania. I got strawberry matcha daifuku and strawberry ice cream. The strawberries tasted so fresh, while the ice cream was one of the creamiest I’ve had in a long time. It also helped that my outfit matched the delicious treats, too—definitely a place I’ll have to try again my next time in Osaka.

•••

Though the day trip to Osaka was short, I immensely enjoyed the little teaser I could get alongside my classmates. As the final excursion came to a close on my train ride back, I couldn’t help but start to make a note of places I wanted to travel and revisit during my next time in Japan. This program has allowed me to discover Japan from a unique angle and aspect that I couldn’t have alone. Now with this renewed insight and knowledge, I know I’ll be able to take these skills and apply them as I finish my Japanese studies and go into the workforce.

_______

📚 Academic Reflection 📚

The academic reading, “Character of Urban Japan,” was very similar to the reading we had when exploring the composition and regulations that organized Tokyo after its reconstruction around the Meiji period and post-World War II. This text, however, specifically goes into depth about the characteristics of urban cityscape in Osaka and Kobe. Such features that can be observed are its compact and low-rise nature of buildings and family housing. When walking around Osaka, I noticed that while very urbanized and packed like Tokyo, there was much more family housing and houses among buildings and shops.