#genuinely people who have english as a second or third language are better at explaining things to me bc they really break down the concepts

[isa-ah]

man with thick accent making niche tutorial save me save me man with thick accent making niche tutorial

[little-mad]

Downsides of Thievery Pt. 4

~ Previous Part ~ Next Part ~

After the scolding he issued, Rael felt fairly confident that he would be hearing no more disturbances from his human prisoner. Despite Gavin Stone seeming to have gained a bit of confidence recently, Rael still remembered the way he had trembled and squirmed in his hand. Surely that fear would be easily re-instilled by Rael’s sharp warning.

Unfortunately, Rael’s prediction proved incorrect, an occurrence that was quite unusual and quite hated. “Hey, how are you speaking our language?” Rael’s jaw tightened as he heard the human’s words. When he glanced down he could see the man looking up expectantly through the bars of the cage.

The answer to the human’s question was relatively simple. Rael, along with everyone that worked in or around the palace, had been required to learn several human languages. The idea was that if a human visitor ever somehow got lost in the palace, any staff member they may stumble across would be able to assist them.

The process of studying languages was made much easier by imbibing potions that aided in quick learning, which explained how Rael had managed to become fluent in four human languages in a matter of weeks. Not that he really wanted the ability to communicate with humans. Perhaps his prisoner wouldn’t be pestering him so much if they couldn’t understand one another.

Now Rael needed to decide whether to answer Gavin Stone’s question or ignore it. Obviously, he didn’t know the human well enough to know which option would be most effective in getting him to shut up.

He sighed, deciding to go with a third option. “That is not crucial and therefore does not warrant a response,” Rael said in the most formal and rigid tone he could manage. He would behave as unapproachable and unfriendly as possible to deter any future interaction from the human.

“Come on, it’s boring just sitting in this cage,” the human complained, sounding far more like a child than the adult he was meant to be.

A mischievous thought popped into Rael’s mind. Ordinarily, he would ignore these kinds of thoughts while he was working. Rael was never one to fool around on the job. However, there were no alteons around, meaning there was no one to judge him or get him into any kind of trouble. The only witness was the human prisoner, who had no voice among alteon society.

After coming to an abrupt stop, Rael reached down towards his hips and unattached the small cage from his belt. “Hey, what are you--” The human’s words were cut off and replaced with a startled yelp as Rael swiftly pulled the cage, along with its occupant, up into the air.

Rael held the cage mere inches from his own face. The proximity was so close that he could see the miniscule details of Gavin Stone’s face, like the fact that the man had a little freckle near his jaw.

“If you would like some excitement, I could always remove you from your cage and carry you in my hands instead,” Rael offered smoothly, a sly smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. “Although, I can’t guarantee I’ll be particularly gentle. People always say I have a firm grip.”

The way the human’s hazel eyes went wide as he sat sprawled out in the middle of the cage brought Rael a sense of satisfaction. The little man’s recent actions had proven him to be nothing but trouble, if the fact that he stole from a diplomat wasn’t evidence enough. Rael was more than happy to set the human straight.

-

For the second time in a day, Gavin found himself being held directly in front of an alteon’s face. And man, did he not like it. Being so comparatively small, trapped in the gaze of such a massive person--it was unbelievably intimidating. It made him feel like he was a specimen under a microscope or something.

The fact that Gavin had iron bars separating him from his captor didn’t really make him feel any safer, especially considering the threat Rael had just made. The alteon’s words had sent an icy chill down his spine, and the smirk on the giant face hovering in front of him did not help him feel any better.

It was startling how Rael had gone from irritated, but mostly indifferent, to intentionally intimidating. Gavin had had the guy pegged for a tight laced no nonsense type, but apparently he had a roguish side to him. Were Gavin’s heart not hammering wildly from adrenaline and fear, he might have been able to appreciate the fact that the alteon had a hidden, less boring side to him.

“Uh--that’s not really what I had in mind,” Gavin awkwardly responded as he clambered up to his feet. “I kind of just wanted to talk…” he trailed off with an uncomfortable laugh. It was nigh on impossible to maintain any composure while a jumbo elf guy stared at you so intensely.

Rael lifted a single dark eyebrow. “Oh? But I’m quite certain you wouldn’t be so bored if I carried you in my hands.” A shiver ran across Gavin’s skin at the memory of being trapped in the giant’s hand. As much as he didn’t like to be stuck in the cage, he’d choose that over a fist anyday. At least the iron bars of the cage couldn’t spontaneously contract around him and squeeze his poor, fragile body--or at least, he hoped they couldn’t.

“No, that’s okay. I...I’ll stay here,” Gavin replied.

A smug look took form on Rael’s face. “Very well then. There should be no need for further interruptions then,” he stated.

With no warning, the hand holding the cage moved down towards Rael’s belt. Of course, Gavin was once again thrown to the floor. “Would it kill him to at least give me a little heads up?” he griped internally.

In a matter of moments, Gavin’s cage was reattached to his captor’s belt and they were on their way again. Gavin resumed his previous “withstand the giant leg bumping into you” position and, for the moment, he remained silent.

It wasn’t as though Gavin was planning on doing what Rael wanted. The giant man may have essentially threatened him and effectively scared the shit out of him, but that didn’t mean he was ready to fold. Now that he knew Rael had this whole other side to him, it made Gavin want to push him even more.

And while there was no doubt that Rael could easily crush him if he wanted to, Gavin had a feeling that doing so would get him in big trouble with his boss. Of course, the alteon could always make Gavin’s trip to the palace more uncomfortable, as he had threatened. However, that was something Gavin was willing to risk if it meant he could satisfy his inexplicable need to disobey orders.

Gavin granted the alteon a couple minutes of quiet, almost as if to lull him into a false sense of security. During this downtime, Gavin pondered what exactly he should say next. As he was thinking, he noticed his bladder beginning to complain. He was suddenly keenly aware of the fact that he hadn’t gone to the bathroom since the morning. Honestly it was a miracle he hadn’t wet himself from fear yet.

“Hey, Rael? How much longer till we get there?” Gavin asked. He looked upward to carefully watch for the alteon’s reaction.

Even from the awkward angle Gavin was looking from, he could tell that Rael’s nostrils flared, and his lips pressed into a thin, angry line. Unsurprisingly, he appeared to be displeased with Gavin’s outburst.

“Unfortunately, we still have around half an hour left,” Rael said through clenched teeth.

“That’s too loooong,” Gavin’s mind whined. There was no way he was going to make it that long without his bladder exploding. Plus, who even knew if there would be somewhere he could go to the bathroom at the palace. “Do they even have indoor plumbing here???”

“Uh--do you think we could maybe take a little pit stop?” Gavin asked hopefully. Honestly, he wasn’t even purposefully trying to be annoying this time. He was just genuinely in need of a bathroom break.

“‘Pit stop’?” Rael inquired. Apparently his fluency in English didn’t cover all of the little phrases.

“Allow me to rephrase,” Gavin said. “Can we stop so I can go pee in a bush?” Being so blunt about the subject felt strange when talking to the likes of Rael. The guy spoke so formally that Gavin had to wonder whether he’d wound his sensibilities with this kind of talk.

Sure enough, Rael’s eyes widened slightly at Gavin’s request. The fact that he was taken aback by something Gavin had done was more than a little satisfying. Ruffling those carefully arranged metaphorical feathers of his always counted as a win to Gavin.

After recovering from the initial surprise, Rael’s expression returned to its usual annoyed glower. “Can you not hold it?” he questioned, a tightness in his voice.

Gavin shook his head, though after remembering Rael probably wouldn’t catch the movement, he said, “Not likely.” The constant bouncing movement of his cage would make it all the more difficult to keep his bladder under control.

A long, growly sigh sounded from above. Gavin looked up to see Rael wearing a dark scowl on his face. “Fine,” the alteon relented as his walking came to an abrupt stop.

For once, Gavin was actually prepared for the massive movements of his giant captor. He clung tightly onto the iron bars as Rael unhooked the cage from his belt and carried it into the air.

A flurry of disorienting motion later and Rael was sitting on a log with Gavin’s cage resting on one of his legs. As Gavin looked up at the alteon, he couldn’t help but notice he was basically in the giant man’s lap. “Oh god, it’s like I’m his little pet,” Gavin’s brain moaned as his face began to heat up slightly.

Seemingly oblivious to Gavin’s embarrassment, Rael looked down on his captive sternly. “I will let you out of this cage and you can...do your business,” the alteon stated, a bit of awkwardness tinging his voice at the end of the sentence. He cleared his throat, as if to regain his composure, and continued. “If you make any attempt to flee, I can assure you that recapturing you will be nearly effortless.” Yeah, he’d proven that when Gavin had tried to run from him on the roof.

Pushing down the intimidation, Gavin waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, yeah, I got it.” As if running away would do him any good at this point. He had nowhere to go in this dimension. And as much of a hardass as Rael was, he’d much rather take his chances with him than risk an encounter with some random alteon.

Rael narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized Gavin for a moment. Then, after he was apparently satisfied, he took a hold of the cage and relocated it to the ground in front of his feet.

Gavin watched as Rael’s large fingers easily managed the latch on the cage that no human would ever be able to handle. As soon as the door was unlocked, Rael pulled away and sat back up straight.

Tentatively, Gavin approached the now open cage door. Ever since arriving in the alteon dimension, he had been enclosed in his little prison. It had almost become like a little safety bubble. A shitty, no fun safety bubble, but still a safety bubble.

A part of Gavin didn’t want to leave the cage, as crazy as that seemed. Being completely exposed to the giant world of the alteon dimension was...freaky as hell. “What if a bird grabs me? Or a stiff wind just blows me away?” Gavin’s mind was racing through potential hazards he could face. But then he felt his bladder clench as the need to relieve himself grew ever more urgent.

When nature called, you had to pick up. And so, Gavin walked forward and took his first steps onto alteon soil.

[lunammoon]

The Problem With Hetalia (As told by someone who actually in the fandom until like, 2016)

I'm hoping this post will explain to people who are still into Hetalia why a lot of people have an issue with from the perspective of someone who knows a lot about the show. 

TL;DR: By making the WW2 axis powers come across as a lovable idiot, his serious friend, and the stoic voice of reason, it downplays the serious nature of what the Axis did and seeing as the real-life Axis harmed real-life people, many people have a justifiable huge issue with this. 

I will go more into depth about this under the cut.

A lot of people are talking about how Hetalia is coming back after 5 years and a lot of people are rightfully annoyed at the show. But what I'm seeing is that a lot of the people who are upset are people who clearly haven't watched the show and therefore are unable to explain to people who have watched it why it’s bad. The most that you hear is:

"it glorifies the Axis Powers" (which isn't 100% accurate although the assessment that they are portrayed in a way that makes them seem less bad is accurate) 

"Hetalia Cosplayers wore Nazi uniforms in front of a Holocaust memorial" (which I'd say is more of an issue with fans than the show). 

That is not to say that there isn't an issue with the show, because there really is. But these observations are unlikely to mean much to someone who watches Hetalia. So, in this thread, I'm going to explain why Hetalia is Problematic with the added context perspective of someone who was into the show during most of middle school and until Freshman year of high school. 

I knew the human names, used to jam to "Always With You" and "Pub and Go" and “It’ll Settle Itself Somehow” and “Light my Heart” and “Absolute British Gentleman” and “Mein Gott” and “World Rondo” and “Excuse Me, I’m Sorry” and so, so many more. 

I lost my shit with everyone else when the season 6 ep dropped and Italy danced like he was possessed by a demon. When I hear “ACE” family, I don’t think of Youtubers. I actually took a side on the FruUK vs UsUk debate and if you look in my archive, you can probably find some Hetalia posts that I’m too lazy to delete.

The point here being, I’ve actually seen the show so I know what I’m talking about. This isn’t an outsiders perspective is what I’m saying.

So, let’s get right into it. While technically only seasons 1-2 are officially actually called "Axis Powers" (Seasons 3-4 are called "World Series" Season 5 is "Beautiful World" and Season 6 is called "World Twinkle") WW2 and things relating to the Axis Powers are an important part of every season and appear prominently.

While Hetalia has covered many things from all different time periods, the two most common periods covered are the modern-day and of course, the second World War. The show is Japanese and (I assume) because Japan was on the Axis side, these portions focus more on the Axis Powers of Italy, Japan, and Germany. The Allies do come into play. And while the Allies aren't directly like, evil, which would've been FAR WORSE they've got a kind of Team Rocket-esque thing going on? They're not exactly mustache-twirling villains but they're clear antagonists. Make no mistakes.

I think the deserted Island arc is the best example of the problems many people have with the show.

Take for example, that beach fight. If you've watched Hetalia, you'll know the one I'm talking about. The one that they reused like, 50 times. The Allies are clearly shown as the antagonists/aggressors while the Axis are literally just vibing on a (kinda) deserted island and defending themselves. 

Now, if this was three dudes chilling on the beach and they suddenly got attacked by another five dudes also on the beach who they then fought off until the five attackers ran away that’s be one thing.

The issue is that this is supposed to be a representation of WW2. It's basically saying "oh, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy were literally just vibing, not bothering anyone when suddenly, the Allies attacked for no reason. Luckily, they (the Allies) retreated because the Allies are Cowardly but they keep coming back and bothering them,". Do you see the issue there? Most of the beach arc seems to be the writer forgetting that these are supposed to be Nations, not a random Italian dude, a German dude, and a Japanese dude.

“Oh, but they don’t glorify Nazi Germany. They don’t really even talk about what Germany was doing! Look at this pic of Germany in a lab coat holding a dandelion :)“

That’s not the defense that you think it is and it’s actually a main part of the issue that I, and many other people have with Hetalia.

I think the scene where this issue is the most obvious is the one where they are gathering around a campfire and talking and one of them comes up with the name "the Axis". The whole scene has the same energy characters in a moe anime coming up with a band name.

They’re sitting on a beach at night. I think there might’ve been a campfire, the stars are out, and the three of them talk about their dream of making a world that revolved around them. One of them comes up with the name “the axis” and then they all talk about how you would translate "axis" in their language. It’s all very found family-esque. The way the scene is framed is to encourage you to route for them to reach their goal. It’s the same kind of tone you’d see in a shoujo with a girl telling her friends about how she wants to win the singing competition no matter what or in Sword Art Online when Kirito talks about saving Asuna.

The issue is that their goal isn’t to win some competition or to save someone they care about. It’s to spread facism, imperialism, and bring about genocide.

There of course don’t SAY that that’s their goal, and outside of a one off line in the English dub that’s been since censored, they don’t really bring up what Germany was up to during WW2 vis-a-vie the Holocaust and if they did bring it up, I either wasn’t paying attention, it was in the manga, or it was in one of Germany’s character songs.

The issue is that during WW2 the show seems to at best forget and at worst, gloss over it that the main trio that they're focusing on are the villains. And not like, fantasy villains. Actual real-life villains that hurt real people in the real world. Imagine if instead of Ludwig Beilschmidt and Feliciano Vargas, it was Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. 

Are you seeing the problem yet?

I get why people like to watch the show. Ignoring the WW2 bits, it’s actually pretty good. I, as an American, really like Alfred F. Jones and the way he’s portrayed.

If Hetalia had stuck to non-WW2 related things such as that episode where the nations all talk about how horror movies differ in their nations, or they talked about their Christmas traditions. Or the ones where America and Japan are roommates. Or when they showed that time when America airdropped XL condoms on Russia labeling them as "small" for intimidation reasons. Or that series of episodes where they talked about Micronations. Or that time they all had to come together to fight aliens. Or the bit where they talked about the WW1 Christmas Armistice. Then it would be fine.

The issue is that they didn’t.

If they kept WW2 stuff for SOME reason. They had two options. 

Make the axis as proper villains

 Be explicit in showing that the nations will doesn't reflect what their leader wants. 

The first option wouldn’t be ideal if they wanted to cover any time period other than World War 2. The axis would be too unlikable and I doubt that an anime where Japan is the villain would appeal much to Japanese audiences.

But what about the second option. Have a bit where Ludwig is passing out White Rose pamphlets or smuggling people to safety.

Have Kiku (Japan for people who don’t watch Hetalia) purposefully looking the other way as Sugihara writes visas to get people to safety and covering for him against his boss. SOMETHING!

But instead of doing either of those, they took the bad third option which was, their choice to instead make the axis seem like likable individuals who are a group of three good friends who work together will in contrast with the “bumbling Allies” who are barely cohesive and constantly fight and argue. At best, makes it seem like both sides had a point and at worst, makes it seem like the Axis was a better than the Allies.

All of this is to say that liking Hetalia does not make you inherently a bad person, but you need to be more critical of what you watch and understand that there is a reason that some people have a genuine issue with it and they have a very good reason for that. You can still watch it the show, but do keep this information in the back of your brain as you do

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Do you have any sort of, words of encouragement, for a Greek-American who is struggling to learn Greek? My family is pretty connected to our heritage but I was never taught to speak Greek. I am an adult now, and I know I'm at an incredible disadvantage trying to learn a new language. The most discouraging thing is when I try to pronounce a word with a sound that isn't really in English (like γ) and I KNOW I am not saying it right, but no matter how hard I try I can't pronounce it correctly.

Hello! I'm very sorry for delaying this answer for some days, but as we see here, Zeus was fucked this week 😅

I will pin my answer so you can see it when you return, and the rest will be under the cut.

I believe there are MANY reasons for hope in this situation. Of course it feels very discouraging that you don't know the language already and you might feel left behind in this process. Plus, learning a new language is not an easy thing to learn. But worry not!

You are grown, and that means you can learn a language better and with more consistency and discipline. Have trust in your skills as an adult. What is more, you have grown up around Greek speakers and you will pick up certain things faster.

You are not alone in feeling this way. Most of the world has to learn a second language (and a third, as it's usual for many) and that would be the language most dominant in the wider area. Almost every person in the West who is not an English speaker has to learn English and learn it well, otherwise we feel embarrassed every time we try and form a sentence. For example, we apologize to each other about our accents in English German and French, even though we speak Greek.

Surely there are some differences between your situation and ours, but I mentioned this to show you that most people will be very understanding with accents because they have the same struggle. I mean, I'm not going to make fun of someone for having an accent in Greek when I sound like a demented chicken in German, despite taking years of lessons 😵 I have more confidence in my English but even now that I'm writing to you in this language I have to quadruple-check my sentences and phrasing. The amount of times I apologized in advance for my accent to English speakers is higher than my credit.

I relayed your situation to other Greek speakers and non-English speakers, and ALL agreed the accent is not anything they would pay attention to and told me to write you that you shouldn't feel bad about that. I did that because I knew they would have words of encouragement for you. And it turns out they believe exactly what I'm writing in this answer.

Accents are natural. You cannot expect not to have an accent when you have been speaking a different language all your life. Beating yourself up for having difficulty with the Greek pronunciation is like beating yourself up for something normal like walking or laughing when hearing something funny. You lack practice with the pronunciation due to circumstances beyond your control. You are doing what you can to change that, and every small win is worth celebrating!

I found this post the other day:

The notes? The likes?

And NO disagreements in the comments and reblogs for OP’s statement! Look how many thousands are supportive in this! (And that’s a small fraction of people who understand accents are natural.) And some of the responses:

Sure, some mention they have met native speakers who made it more difficult to feel comfortable with their accent and phrasing. But those people are assholes in general, and not the people you want to surround yourself with. If a relative expresses disgust about your accent remind them you didn’t have any control of how much and how well you were taught Greek when you were a kid, and then tell them that if they are a true friend and relative to you, they should support you in your journey. And even if you had some control and chose not to learn, you are learning now. So they should leave their resentment behind because, honestly, what do they have to lose from you learning the language better??

For the embarrassment you feel for yourself: you wouldn't make fun of a Greek for having trouble with the “r”, "s", “ch”, and possibly the "h" when speaking English, so extend that kindness to yourself when you speak Greek. Not to mention that with enough practice and time you can nail the accent!

Worst case scenario, if the accent never leaves, that's no problem whatsoever. Anyone who thinks badly of you for your accent is probably a PoS and they don't deserve your time. No matter where you are from, if they make you feel bad for having an accent in Greek, block them from your mind forever.

But chances are that (from experience) if anyone laughs with how you said something, I guarantee they are not laughing at you but because of how strange the sound or phrasing was. The person doesn't think badly of you because of this. Making mistakes of any kind when learning a language is very natural and it's something everyone must accept. If you are not willing to make mistakes and expose your language vulnerabilities to people who know the language better, might as well not try improving at all.

If anyone corrects you, they are not doing it out of pity. The majority of Greeks do it because they are very happy you speak the language and want you to be even more fluent. Like, they are doing it as an act of backing you up, they are feeling like they are giving you that extra XP to reach the next level! Others - like me - get that rush of happiness when they get to share their language with others 😁

I remember a guy on Tiktok who was learning Greek and ordered a coffee "without sugar" in a Greek cafe but instead of saying σκέτο ("without") he said σκατά ("shit"). I mean damn that was funny! I remember it weeks after I saw the video of him telling that story and it always cracks me up. Do I still appreciate him the same as before and follow him? Absolutely! He just had an unfortunate - and funny - incident, not something that lessened his integrity as a person.

From tiktok again: An American girl wanted to pronounce γύρος correctly when ordering it, and she was mumbling to herself on camera: “yeero, yeero, yeero!!” When her time to order came she shouted “May I have a gairow? FUUUUCKK FUUCK FUCK I SAID IT WRONG” 🤣

Another example is Athena from the Bachelor 2! She has given some gems throughout the show because she doesn't know the language that well, but everyone still loves her because she spreads positivity and is so cute!! If we, as viewers, disliked her it would be because of her character, not because she doesn't know the language well. And if some of the other girls in the show don’t take her seriously is because she laughs too much and mentions feta too often, not due to her Greek level of literacy. Athena, even when she is hurting someone else’s feelings, is always so genuine and you just can’t be mad at her!

I really can’t stretch enough how people laugh at the mishap, not the person! Please don’t feel discouraged if you ever see a Greek laughing with the pronunciation of an English speaker when it comes to Greek words (which I have done as well) because we never laugh at the speakers. We don’t even know them! We might laugh at one mistake but then instantly want to become this individual’s friends because we think they are amazing (see the three examples I mentioned above, the sugar guy, the gyro girl and Athena). Because that’s the normal thing to do; laugh at fun stuff and not judge people for their small mishaps. (In a casual setting, and not to an uncomfortable degree ofc!)

There are so many things to a person other than their accent and the accent becomes old news really fast. What remains is how the presence of a person makes you feel and if they are a good individual. If an English speaking friend says yatakai instead of γατάκι that opens the way for sooo many jokes! Greeks will laugh, do some YATAKAAIIII screams - ninja style, and then continue being friends with that person!

Greeks makes these mistakes as well... A Greek once said "arrive arrive" (φτάνει φτάνει) instead of "enough" when an English speaker was filling his glass. A Lower English degree caught fire that day 🤣 I have many bad examples of Greeks’ mistakes in English but I can’t remember a lot. But I’ve seen many videos of Greeks mocking themselves for how they sound in English. You can take a look at Tsipras’ (our former prime minister) mistakes on youtube if you are feeling brave 😂 (Ο Τσίπρας μιλάει Αγγλικά)

So, own your possible mistakes, laugh at them and move on because everyone makes them and we better have some good while we are struggling!

(( For the record, we are not making fun of Tsipras because of his accent, but because 1) he doesn’t know γρι English and yet he rarely brought a translator with him in international meetings with world leaders, 2) he could absolutely not hold a conversation with negotiating or discussing 3) he didn’t take steps to improve or fix the situation (like bring a translator). 4) Instead, he chose to torment us all with mind-numbing hours of reading English texts and making other world leaders struggle to explain to him what they meant for the nth time and meetings move at a snail pace.))

Alright, now that I cringed with the memory of Tsipras speaking English, I’ll go though the recommendations for improving the Greek pronunciation.

1) Go to my resources for learning Greek (#learn greek) where I have many videos where you can hear the sounds individually or withing other words very clearly. Easy Greek on youtube has excellent videos about pronunciation!

2) Seek practice as much as possible. Some Greeks switch to English when they hear an English accent to make the conversation smoother for the other person. If Greek speakers insist on talking with you in English tell them that you would wish to speak in Greek. I've seen that people often mirror the accent of the native speaker when they speak to one, so this might work for you as well with hours of practice. If no Greek speakers are available to you now, you can find Greek Americans online – or go to their festivals – and start talking to them.

3) Listen to Greek podcasts, songs and shows. (In my blog you’ll find them at #greek youtuber #podcast #greek tv #greek movie #short film #greek music). You know when you hear a catchy foreign song and then it’s stuck in your head and you say all the words perfectly without even knowing what it means? Well, this helps with pronunciation!

4) If you had Spanish in school or have Spanish friends mimicking the Spanish accent might help you. (Our accents are extremely close! The Spanish are the best at Greek pronunciation, and vice versa!)

5) Find sounds in your native language that sound close to the sounds you want to say in Greek. In German lessons I had trouble with “ch” in certain words because I made it sound like χ and it was horrible. My Greek teacher told me to remember how χ sounds in χήνα (it sounds a bit flatter) and make that sound when I encountered “ch”. It worked actually!

To people who have English as their native language I often suggest they remember the sound of w for γ because, although not used the same in the word, at times they have the same intensity. Γ is pronounced more “to the front” of the mouth, so if you can bring that sound forward in your mouth you’ll be very close, if not accurate, to γ. (But don’t bring it too much forward, sometimes it can sound like a “y”, unless you are saying a word where γ sounds like “y”).

Greeks pronounce σ more closely to “sh” than to “s”, so you also might want to keep that in mind since σ often distinguishes the Greek accent in English for me :p

That’s all! If you have more questions or want to tell me anything else about your experience with learning Greek, feel free to send another ask or a DM!

[justanotherlifeff]

How 'bout a Bakugou fic where he's in love with an older woman, lets say his senpai. I just love the idea of Bakubae pining after someone who's a little bit older than him 🤤

Not my senpai

Bakugou stared at the big red zero on the test paper in his hand with an angry expression. Ofcourse he, THE Bakugou Katsuki couldn't get a fucking zero on a test! There must have been some sort of mistake! As if Aizawa was reading Bakugou's mind, he looked at Bakugou and stated, "Bakugou, there hasn’t been any mistake in my grading if that's what you're thinking. You got perfect scores in every other test except for English. If you want to be a top hero, your English speaking skills need to be top notch since famous pro heroes are sometimes sent on missions abroad. You need extra tutoring and we'll talk in details about it after classes are over.". "Yes, sensei.." Bakugou grumbled, almost blowing up the test paper in his hand as he crumbled it and shoved it in his bag. The worst part of it all was that he was the only one in class to fail English. Iida, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu came from expensive middle schools which gave them good English skills since they already learnt it all from back there. Midoriya was always good at taking notes which is why he managed to keep up with English as he also took help from Iida and Todoroki. Uraraka and Tsuyu took help from them as well and managed to pass the English exams. Kaminari and Sero knew English from video games while Mina and Kirishima learnt it from american fashion and fitness blogs. Koda learned English from cooking videos while Jirou learnt it from singing English songs. Satou apparently had relatives abroad and therefore, he was taught the language by his parents. No one knew how Ayoama knew such good English while the others simply seeked guidance from Yaoyorozu. Hell, even Mineta knew enough English to pass the exams thanks to watching way too many English porn videos! Bakugou was the only one with the massive ego to not ask for help from anyone which in turn came back to bite him on his own ass.

When class was finally over, Bakugou sat at his chair angrily, waiting for his discussion with Aizawa. He knew that getting extra tutoring would improve his English skills and ofcourse, he didn't want to be topped by "shitty deku". Then again, taking help from people was rather embarassing for him. However, it's not like he had an option in this case. While thinking of all these, he didn't notice the third year student slip in the classroom. Bakugou was currently in the second year of UA. During his first year, he was able to manage English classes somehow but now that lessons got way harder, he managed to get his first failing grade in his entire life. Bakugou's trail of thoughts was broken by Aizawa speaking to him. "I don't have any extra time to give you extra tutoring and nor does the other teachers. (L/N) here would be helping you with English because of that. She's one of the big three of the third year and she's got the top marks in every year so don't underestimate her and behave. Talk to her and set your extra lesson timings." Aizawa drawled before getting out of the class with his sleeping bag, leaving Bakugou with you. "Hey, I'm (L/N) (Y/N) from 3A and I'm glad to help you out with English. So, Bakugou-kun, tell me when you're free and we can work out a time to study together?" you told him with a small smile as you sat on the chair infront of him. "Am free after classes everyday for 2 hours." Bakugou muttered with a scowl. "I see. You're not too friendly are you? Well, it doesn't matter. As long as you cooperate and as long as your English skills get better, you don't need to play friends. I'll see you after class on Wednesdays and Thursdays alright? See ya tommorow." You stood up, your polite smile gone to replace your face with seriousness. Well, atleast you successfully broke his expectations of you being a random extra cause it was like you read him by his expression alone.

"(L/N)-SENPAI IS GIVING YOU EXTRA TUTORING? GODDAMNIT WHY DID I NOT FAIL ENGLISH?!?!?!??!" Kaminari wailed at the information passed onto him for the 100th time. "Why is dunce face acting like that?" Bakugou asked Kirishima, tired of Kaminari's fanboying over you. "You really don't know anything about (L/N)-senpai do you Bakubro? Her quirk is similar to principal Nezu and she pretty much is smarter than a computer. She can tell exactly what you're thinking by just looking at you cause she's so good at reading a person's body language and she apparantly got into the hero course without having any physical quirk just cause she apparantly made a different student hit a building in a certain place that made all the other buildings in Ground beta fall over crushing all the robots. Principal Nezu already requested her to take over his position as soon as he retires. She won the sports festival three times in her year cause she uses everyone's quirk against them somehow. As far as I know, no one really understands what's going on in her mind cause she always has this polite smile on her and so far, no one has been able to befriend her or get anywhere close to her cause she somehow always shuts them out. She's pretty much the prettiest, smartest and the most untouchable girl in UA. Which is why, Kaminari is shitting himself cause (Y/N)-senpai would never go out of her way to tutor someone and you're seriously lucky cause she's probably the smartest person in Musutafu besides Principal Nezu." Kirishima explained. At the moment, Bakugou clearly understood why your expression suddenly changed just because he scowled. You probably understood that he thought you were an extra when in reality, you were anything but one. The whole ordeal, somehow, made Bakugou feel embarassed about judging you without knowing shit.

Wednesday came sooner than he expected and Bakugou knew that he had to compensate for embarassing himself. Ofcourse you probably thought that he infact was the extra cause you were clearly way smarter than he was. While you tried to find his issues with English, he was feeling uncomfortable thinking about the events from back then. "Bakugou-kun, I'm not looking down on you cause you looked down on me. I can understand that you figured out my quirk from someone but it's alright. People tend to judge others and that's normal human behaviour. Now that you feel bad about it, that's enough for me and we can just forget that happened." you told him, again with that polite smile. "Okay." Bakugou muttered feeling awkward since he wasn’t used to people reading him like that. Like Kirishima mentioned, you really were extremely smart and you figured out exactly what made his English skills weak in a matter of minutes. While he had a good understanding of grammer, he clearly had no practice when it came to implementing it. After talking to him for a while, you figured out his interests quite easily and for the next few months, you brought him books that he might like for him to read out loud to you. Bakugou was a smart person as well and it didn't take him any more than the next three months to master English well. By then, the two of you read over a hundred books together in the library. The two days of tutoring turned into all seven days a week and Bakugou found himself drawn to you after the first month. While you were polite and cold at the begining, you started to laugh at Bakugou's dry offensive humour. Bakugou found your smart remarks funny as well, letting out a deep chuckle at times. The books you got him were all up to his interests at the beginning but with time, they ended up being books that you genuinely enjoyed which made Bakugou learn more and more about you. You, like him, were a misunderstood person. You understood exactly what others thought of you which made you detach yourself from people. Everyone always thought of you negatively behind your back and they believed that you wouldn’t figure it out. The only problem was that you always did. People were easy to read after all and you understood why people found you to be too intense. People are naturally made to be scared of the unknown and no one really knew you. Well, except Bakugou. You opened up to this certain boy because he always showed what he felt. To him, there was no reason to hide his feelings, he would say that he dislikes someone on their face. You liked that bold attitude and you found yourself opening up to him, thinking of him as a friend or maybe more.

When Bakugou looked at the red 100/100 written on his English test paper, a smirk formed at his face. He couldn't wait to show it to you and brag about his English skills. He knew that he wouldn't be here without you but then again, you already knew that. He loved that he didn’t have to voice his appreciation out loud to you since you always picked up on his subtle gestures of appreciation unlike everyone else. Hell, you were smart enough to see the good in him, to see everything else other than his prickly exterior. He finally knew why Kaminari was fangirling over you months back since ge found himself doing the same. You were the embodiment of perfection to him and now, three months later, he knew that he was head over heels in love with you. However, unlike you, he didn't have any way of predicting you. You were older than him by an year. Hell, you were a senior student and you always rejected everyone who asked you out. You'd be starting out as a pro hero in less than a few months while he'll still be a high school student and ofcourse that meant that you’d most probably reject him. With all that negative thoughts, he went to the library to meet up with you for tutoring sessions. Given that he already aced his exams, there was no more reason for you to tutor him anymore. The thought that you probably wouldn’t talk to him again made him feel sick at the stomach. "Hey Bakugou-kun! How did the test go?" you asked him with a genuine smile as you sat at one of the tables in the library. With a cocky smirk, Bakugou held out his test paper, showing off his perfect grade. To his surprise, you stood up and did a little weird victory dance as you clearly looked extremely happy. "Damn, (L/N), you seem more happy about my grades than I am" Bakugou teased you, making you blush furiously as you realised that you literally danced like an idiot infront of him. "It's (L/N)-senpai Bakugo-kun! Besides, all teachers feel happy when their students get perfect scores you know!" you tried to defend yourself by teasing him. Usually, he would tease you back with some sort of insulting remark but this time, he was quiet. You knew about his feelings for you for a while. After all, Bakugou wasn’t very hard to read. To be honest, you found yourself falling for him as well. However, you wanted him to make the first move. You were older than he is but that didn't mean that you’d have to take charge in every case. Unfortunately, it seemed as if he couldn’t gain that confidence and now that your tutoring sessions came to an end, you didn't know what to do. "Senpai huh..." you heard Bakugou mutter, his hair hiding his eyes as you saw a small smirk on his face. "I refuse to call you my senpai, (L/N). You may be an year older than I am, you may have a quirk that makes you a hundred times smarter than I am but I saw through you. Don't think that I didn’t notice those blushes on your face whenever I teased you or how you look like the world ended now that our tuition sessions are over. I seriously was confused at the begining but now, I'm pretty confident that you like me, don't you, (Y/N)?" Bakugou asked, looking straight at your eyes as he called you by your first name. To say that you were blushing would be an understatement as you were completely red by his boldness. "As far as I'm concerned, you're not my senpai from now on. You'll be my girlfriend instead. If I'm wrong, then you can walk away from me and I'll not bother you again." Bakugou stated, a blush forming at his face. He didn’t think this through. Infact, as soon as he saw your sad expression, he decided that he needed to confess now. It as now or never. Bakugou was never good with feelings and you understood why his confession sounded more like a declaration that you were his. A small shy smile formed on your face as you looked at him and said, "Alright, I'm not your senpai". The next thing you knew was that you were pulled into a deep passionate kiss.

Bonus: "YOU'RE DATING (L/N)-SENPAI??!?!?!?! WHY DID I NOT FAIL ENGLISH GAHHHHHH" Kaminari was bawling in the 2A common room while Bakugou looked at Kirishima with an annoyed expression and told him, "Tell Dunce face to shut his trap." Kirishima only looked at Bakugou with a shocked expression thanks to the news that Bakugou was dating you being thrown at him moments ago.

[Author's note: I've been wanting to write something like this for a while. Hope you liked it!]

[lightsupinthenorth]

Harringrove teachers AU part 2

Part 1

*

First of all, thank you very much to everyone who read, liked and/or reblogged the first part. Also, to the people who reacted or said nice things in the tags: you made my day with your sweet words <3

Tag list: @twoprettyboys, @inkedplume​, @marianaosborne​, @liglitterbug​, @hmg621 @spreckle @goldenweatherharringrove

If anyone wants to be added to or taken off the tag list for the future posts of this AU, let me know ;) 

*

Trying to avoid Steve Harrington soon proved to be impossible. He was pretty much everywhere. The fact he was close to Robin and Heather, who Billy himself had quickly befriended, didn’t help. Steve was always hanging with them in the teachers’ lounge before class and eating with them at the cafeteria at lunch. And, as if it weren’t awkward enough already, Steve and Billy almost never interacted directly. Apparently, Steve was tolerating Billy’s presence, but it didn’t go any further than that. Beside a half hearted “hello” when they saw each other, Steve barely ever said anything to him.

Billy tried to start conversations with him. Several times. But Steve always answered shortly, so Billy dropped it.

And he was angry about it.

Because, even though it pained it greatly to admit it, Billy would have loved for Steve and him to be friends.

Every single person in this school seemed to adore Steve, from the students to the staff.

At least a couple of Billy’s students arrived late to English whenever they had Math with Steve beforehand. They always served Billy the same excuse: they had a question of utmost important to ask “Mr. Harrington”, and it couldn’t have waited their next Math class. Billy didn’t buy the bullshit. Strangely, no one arrived late because they had something to discuss with the teacher when they had History with Murray or Science with Sam before English. Half the students had a crush on “Mr. Harrington”, and that was it.

The students regarding Steve like some kind of God was bad enough without the other teachers doing it too. Robin and Heather hugged him all the time, and Murray was constantly holding him hostage about some weird documentary he had watched or whatever theory he had last come up with, and the school counselor, Joyce, smiled extra warm every time she saw him. Even Hopper, the headmaster, would light up when he talked with Steve.

And Billy understood why. Because, while Steve didn’t lose any love on Billy, he was a ray of sunshine to everyone else. He gave his coworkers bright smiles, asked them how they were as if he genuinely cared (and he probably did) about what was going on in their lives, he gave his students encouragements when they came to the teachers’ lounge asking for him during recess (which happened far more often that it should have) because they had trouble with some mathematical concept that Billy didn’t give a damn about.

Steve was a saint with everlasting patience… Except when it came to Billy, apparently. And Billy was so envious he was nearly green with it.

He was also feeling self-conscious, wondering what Steve had seen in him to shun him even though his kindness knew no bound where anyone else was concerned. It couldn’t just be that Billy looked unprofessional, right? Some people that he’d seen Steve interact with enthusiastically had traits far more negative than that, at least in Billy’s book. It made no sense and frustrated him to no end.

He was starting to think that Steve’s dislike of him was just a visceral reaction and had no valid reason. Then, Steve had to go and do something confusing.

Billy was eating lunch in the cafeteria, waiting for Heather and Robin (and Steve, by extension) to join him, and Steve sat down in front of him. Billy immediately noticed the huge piece of chocolate cake on his tray.

���How come you got some cake? I saw someone take the last piece right in front of me.”

Billy was feeling absurdly sour over it. He could have really gone for something sweet.

“Oh… Maria saved it for me.” Steve admitted.

At least, he had the decency to look sheepish.

“Right…” Billy replied, pouting a little.

Of course, one of the lunch ladies had put a piece of cake aside just for the Lord and Savior of Hawkins High. Billy should have known.

“Do you want it?”

Billy blinked at Steve, answering a second too late to appear unsurprised by the question.

“Ugh… no, thank you.”

Had Steve really… offered to give him his dessert? Had he really been nice to Billy? Or had Billy just hallucinated the entire thing?

“You sure? I honestly wouldn’t mind…” Steve said, looking at his plate rather than at Billy.

He was just saying that to be polite, obviously. Billy wasn’t going to take his dessert away from him. It would only make Steve dislike him more.

“I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Steve looked up from his plate and offered a small forced smile, before focusing on his food once again.

Things were already back to normal (ie. Steve not talking to him), then.

Heather and Robin arrived barely a minute later, saving them from the awkward silence that had taken place after their thirty-second conversation (if it could even be called that).

As soon as he had finished eating, Steve announced:

“I’ve gotta scoot. I have to prepare some stuff before my next class.”

He had already got up from his chair when he reached the end of his sentence.  

“You still on for tomorrow?” Robin asked.

“Sure thing. See you then!”

Steve took his tray and walked toward the exit in quick strides.

“What’s tomorrow?” Billy asked.

“We’re going to Benny’s coffee shop to grade some papers. You can come if you want.”

Billy had just played himself, hadn’t he? He had asked out of curiosity. He hadn’t been expecting to be invited along to whatever Robin and Steve had planned.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude”, was Billy’s last ditched effort to avoid what was sure to be an extremely awkward afternoon.

He could have come up with some fake excuse, but he was uncomfortable with the idea of lying to Robin. Because she’d been nice to him so far, and also because he was almost certain she would see right through him. She was far too observant for Billy’s good.

“Nonsense, you wouldn’t be intruding.” Robin rolled her eyes.

“Uh… okay, then. Thanks.”

Billy was about to eat his vanilla pudding, aka his sad non-chocolate cake dessert, when Max came up to their table and awkwardly said “hello” to Heather and Robin.

“Something you want?” Billy questioned, because she was obviously there to ask him something but wouldn’t spit it out.

“I’m going to Art club this afternoon. It ends at six… Will you come get me?”

Billy arched an eyebrow.

“We have an Art club?”

Also, since when was Max into art?

“Yeah… well actually today’s the first session… whatever. Will you drive me back home or not?”

“Can’t you skate?”

Now Billy was just being an asshole. Max had been skating to and from school most days since, according to her, it was “uncool” to be seen hanging with a teacher… which was stupid because 1. Billy was her brother, and 2. There was nothing uncool about him.

“I… ugh… well. I broke my skateboard.”

Max bit her lower lip.

Billy sighed.

“Again?”

“Yeah… sorry.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll drive you home.” Billy conceded, making a quick mental note to go buy Max a new skateboard. For the third time this year.

“Thanks. Later.”

She was gone as quickly as she had come, leaving Billy to deal with Robin and Heather’s puzzled faces.

“What was that?” Heather asked.

“Maxine Mayfield…?” Billy said, hoping to avoid this particular conversation.

The universe didn’t want him to avoid things that day, though.

“I know that, dumbass. You know each other?”

“Yeah, she’s my sister.”

“What?! How come we didn’t know that?”

“We don’t have the same name, whatever. It’s not that big a deal.” Billy mumbled.

“Yeah… but still… you could have told us.”

“Here honey, have some cake, it’s delicious.” Robin said, extending her fork to Heather.

Billy was thankful for the distraction. But he mainly focused on the cake, that he had only now taken notice of.

“Did Maria save that for you?” He asked.

Robin frowned.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Never mind.” Billy said.

-

Billy chose to stay at school after his last class and to wait in the teachers’ lounge until Art club was over and Max was ready to go home. He would have used the time to grade some papers, but he was supposed to do that tomorrow afternoon with Robin… and Steve. So he spent the hour and a half reading, instead.

He went to the classroom, which Max had given him the number of by text, five minutes before the session was supposed to end. He waited at least fifteen minutes before the first student left the room, greeting Billy on the way out.

Max came out last, along with El, the headmaster’s adopted daughter. She was one of Billy’s students. She had some troubles in English because, from what he had been told, she had only started learning the language recently. She was pretty quiet, maybe because of that exact reason, but she seemed like a very sweet girl. It would be good for Max to hang out with her. Billy didn’t dare ask because he didn’t want to put Max on the spot or make her feel bad, but he feared she had yet to make friends at school.

Billy’s thoughts were interrupted when none other than Steve Harrington emerged from the classroom right after the girls. Well, that explained the ten minutes Billy had had to wait.

Steve had paints all over his hands, and some on his shirt. There was even a little blue spot on his cheek. He looked painfully cute. Billy didn’t like it one bit.

“Billy?” Steve asked, sounding as shocked as Billy felt. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to pick my sister up.” He said, gesturing to Max. “You run the Art club?”

Billy didn’t mean to sound this disbelieving, but he was having a hard time reconciling Math teacher and art enthusiast. Was that judgmental? Was Billy a hypocrite?

“We don’t have a real art teacher so… uh… for lack of a better option, I’m taking care of it for the time being.”

“You’re great at it, Steve.” El said with a beaming smile.

Did all his students call him Steve or was it only the headmaster’s daughter? Billy was intrigued.

“Oh thanks, El. You’re too nice.”  

Billy almost said: “that’s the pot calling the kettle black”, but he thankfully kept his mouth shut.

Steve locked the classroom door and then turned back to them.  

“Well, girls, Billy, have a good weekend. See you on Monday.”

“Actually, you’ll be seeing me tomorrow.”

What had happened to Billy’s mouth staying shut?

“Oh… you’re coming? That’s… that’s great.” Steve stammered.

He smiled, but it was too late: Billy had seen the disappointment in his eyes.

“Yeah… great. Have a good evening, Steve.” He sounded cold, as he said it.

“Y-you too.”

Yes… The coffee date was going to go swimmingly.

[siriusbunbryist]

In defence of Abed x Annie.

Thanks to the magic of Netflix, I’ve rewatched Community at age 24, and still found Abed and Annie to have hit the heartstrings as much as I did when I was in high school watching the show for the first time.

But watching the series in its entirety just reinforces my thought that Abed and Annie had so much potential that was wasted, and it’s a shame that the writers planted all these seeds to only decide that perhaps this direction was not worth it / too risky / unfavoured by the audience. But I mean, Alison Brie herself (and I’m assuming Danny Pudi as well) endorsed them! Find here and here.

This was a pairing that with all the crumbs scattered throughout the show (I think we are all aware of these crumbs I speak of), could’ve easily played the “oh we’ve been secretly dating this whole time” trope during the last episode and it would’ve still made sense.

Naturally I did some scoping, and of course unsurprisingly the J.eff x Annie pairing takes the cake, while not a lot of love for Abed x Annie. So here are common points of contentions I see surrounding Abed and Annie, and my rationale on them.

Before I start, a note - I fully respect the J.eff x Annie ship and I don’t intend on starting a ship w.ar/debate. I understand where their support comes from! I just needed to vent because no one else in my social circle watches this show. No hate please.

1. Abed doesn’t see Annie romantically

I think on the contrary it’s been set up rather long ago that Abed at the very least is attracted to Annie.

Exhibit A: “What are you making” in Beginner Pottery

Exhibit B: “Flat B.utt and the one Abed wants to nail” in The Art of Discourse

This video basically explains it! The summary: Annie is Pierce’s favourite, Pierce constantly insults Britta, therefore Britta is flat b.utt.

Exhibit C: Not even trying to hide it in Accounting for Lawyers

But, a romantic interest has to be further built upon finding someone attractive right? There has to be intrigue to their character, such as

Exhibit D: “I can only connect to people through... movies” in English as a Second Language

It is pretty obvious here that Annie is a rare someone who has successfully broken the impartial screen that Abed filters everything through. Jeff saw it too which is why he said Annie was the ark of the covenant before Abed fell for her disney face. I can only imagine Abed to be quite struck with Annie’s infiltration.

A romantic interest should also share common interests, such as

Exhibit E: “Which makes Annie is my third favourite show” in Paranormal Parentage

I’ve said before that for Abed, a guy who lives life and communicates through comparing it with television and movies, it’s not unthinkable for him to be attracted to someone who genuinely watches his favourite shows and commits to roles during cosplay. And who, besides Troy, would fit this profile? Annie. 

And finally, the biggest indicator of it all, we also see how Abed views the Jeff and Annie pairing in everyone’s favourite episode Remedial Chaos Theory. Keeping in mind that the timelines are rendered by Abed, out of all the timelines, J.eff and Annie only kis.sed when Abed left the room for pizza. As well, as conjured in Abed’s head, Evil Jeff and Evil Annie only existed as a couple in the Darkest Timeline. To me at least, it’s arguable that this alludes to Abed’s omniscient “director” standpoint that he may be the obstacle in the Jeff and Annie relationship - pointing towards him perhaps harbouring feelings for Annie.

2. Annie doesn’t see Abed romantically The general consensus on this point is that Annie is only attracted to Abed when he’s playing a character. I rather think that being attracted to someone, and being attracted to someone during role play, aren’t mutually exclusive. Let’s take a look at the different characters that Abed played.

Don Draper: serious, sophisticated, and smooth.

Han Solo: immature, flirty and a smarta.ss.

Batman: mysterious, complex, and brave.

Three different personas, yet Annie responded to all of them. Since the common denominator to all three is that they are played by Abed, I would like to offer a counterpoint that perhaps the attraction to Abed has always been there, it’s just emphasized when Abed plays a character. Who knows, role playing might even be Annie’s ki.nk. After all, during For a Few Paintballs More, it is shown that Annie is disappointed when Abed dropped the Han Solo persona after the battle ended.

Annie also loves big romantic gestures. Who’s better than doing that than Abed? Since the beginning, Abed has already been doing big romantic gestures of varying degrees for Annie. With this, it’s not ridiculous for Annie to see Abed as a romantic potential.

Exhibit F: Staying in a room for 26 hours in Social Psychology

Annie: You sat in a room for twenty-six straight hours. Didn’t that bother you?  Abed: Yeah I was livid.  Annie: Then why didn’t you leave?  Abed: Because you asked me to stay and you said we were friends.

Exhibit G: Rescuing her from “captivity” and inviting her to move in in Remedial Chaos Theory and Studies in Modern Movement (even Troy was surprised at Abed’s invitation)

Exhibit H: Tearing down the Dreamatorium in Studies in Modern Movement

Annie: What about the Dreamatorium? Abed: Oh it's staying. The Dreamatorium is more important than any of us. But you're more important than our bedroom so we put the bunk bed in the blanket fort.

Bonus: Confirmed by Alison Brie

3. The show was about Jeff and Annie

Dan Harmon said that Community’s approach is that anything and any pairing is possible. We see this is as the series started with the classic “player vs smart snarky girl” trope with setting up Jeff and Britta as the main pairing. We also see Troy and Annie as the potential B couple in the show. The writers also threw Pierce and Shirley, Annie and Britta, Dean and Jeff, and even Chang and Britta in for a laugh.

And then the show subverted this all by introducing Jeff and Annie, and made Troy and Britta a couple, showing us that Community is a show that intends on breaking these classic sitcom stereotypes by experimenting with different pairings. Abed and Annie was no exception to this, as the writers often pair them up in different shenanigans and hint at possible grounds to explore*.

A few examples: Han and Leia in For a Few Paintballs More, Hector the Well Endowed and the Elf Maiden in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, spy partners in Modern Espionage.

No doubt that the show dabbled in and out of Jeff and Annie throughout the series. However, to say that Jeff and Annie was the primary pairing in the series would mean overlooking Jeff and Britta. Especially when Jeff and Britta have the whole love-hate dynamic, three(?) marriage close-calls, and emotional snippets such as helping Jeff reunite with his father in Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations.

Anyway, not to discredit Jeff and Annie, but knowing that the show explores the possibility of different pairings**, why write off Abed and Annie?

* Not to mention that the cop pairing in The Science of Illusion was originally written with Abed and Annie in mind! ** We also see a stray Abed and Britta during Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps.

4. Annie is in love with Jeff To keep this short and shipper-goggle free, Annie has said on numerous occasions that she’s in love with the idea of Jeff, not Jeff himself. Specifically this scene in Virtual Systems Analysis:

Abed as Annie: "…We love Jeff…" Annie: "No we don’t, we’re just in love with the idea of being loved. And if we can teach a guy like Jeff to do it, we’ll never be unloved, so we keep running the same scenario over and over hoping for a different result."

And this scene in Conventions of Space and Time:

Annie: All right, I may have been play-acting that we were married, and then the staff thought you were cheating, and I had to save face. Jeff: Do I have to worry about this? Annie: No, I was just daydreaming. I mean, I've married you at least a half a dozen times. And Troy. And Zac Efron.

Not to mention that their conversation in the finale says it all.

Jeff: I don't wanna be fine. I wanna be 25 and heading out into the world. I wanna fall asleep on a beach and be able to walk the next day, or stay up all night on accident. I wanna wear a white t-shirt without looking like I forgot to get dressed.* I want to be terrified of AIDS, I want to have an opinion about those, boring a.ss Marvel movies. And I want those opinions to be of any concern to the people making them. Annie: Well I want to live in the same home for more than a year, order wine without feeling nervous, have a resume full of crazy mistakes instead of crazy lies. I want stories and wisdom, perspective. I wanna have so much behind me I'm not a sl.ave to what's in front of me, especially those flavourless unremarkable Marvel movies.

*Shipper-goggle on: Part of me thinks this is a reference to Abed, whose iconic style almost exclusively comprises T-shirts. What Jeff is saying is that he wishes he is 25 again with his future open before him, someone who compatible with Annie, but here he acknowledges that he isn’t, and lets her go in the end.

5. Abed and Annie wouldn’t work as a couple Another point I see is that Abed and Annie are strictly platonic and are more like brother and sister. On the basis that they have made out a couple times and are attracted to each other, I would disagree with the sibling statement.  

Troy, in contrast to Abed, I think actually resembles a more sibling-like relationship with Annie. Although Troy and Annie have the strong friendship of Abed and Annie, when disregarding the high school crush stage of season 1, their storylines never dwelled further down an attraction path, nor was there any specific episode that was dedicated to a deep dive of vulnerabilities and confrontation between them. As a comparison, Troy and Britta had opportunities to explore these setups (Troy admitted to lying about his b.utt stuff story and Troy helped Britta face Blade) - an indication that Troy and Britta were heading into non-platonic territory. Jeff and Britta too, had several opportunities to confront their feelings (up till the very last season), a clear indication of a non-platonic relationship.

For Abed and Annie, what I think pulls their friendship towards actual love interest potential is best pinpointed to Virtual Systems Analysis. Annie’s participation in the Dreamatorium prompted her to not only fully submerge into the way Abed thinks and comprehends his surroundings, but she also got to understand and address Abed’s stubbornness and flaws in a vulnerable way, confronting some of her own flaws as well.

Abed as Shirley: Your hospital school, young lady, is a simulation being run through a filter of other people's needs. Abed's been filtered out because nobody needs him. Annie: I need him!

And to point out this little tidbit in VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing,

Annie: That's why Abed is like a brother to me. You guys are so alike. Abed: I can't accept that based on one time machine story.

This whole episode, instead of establishing Abed is like Annie’s brother, I would argue is rather doing the opposite. Abed and Annie’s hyper antics in the episode were basically matched by Anthony and Rachel’s blatant indifference and confusion. For lots of Abed and Annie supporters, this episode was a major setback. But I think it instead highlights how in-sync they are with each other, which is a good thing.

Another point, despite Annie trying to prove otherwise, Abed and Anthony had different vibes, and each shared different dynamics with Annie. And as Anthony pointed out in the end, who were Abed and Annie trying to replace in the apartment? Troy. The person who they are trying to fill is Troy - their roommate, their brother, their best friend. Troy was the brother role that neither Abed and Annie can fill for each other.

In Basic Sandwich, we get this exchange:

Abed: The point is, this show, Annie, it isn't just their show. This is our show, and it's not over. And the sooner we find that treasure, the faster the Jeff-Britta pilot falls apart. Annie: Got it. Thank you, Abed. Abed: You're welcome. I have a girlfriend. Annie: What? Abed: You were about to start a kiss lean. Annie: I was not.

Not only did Abed saw right through Annie’s anxiety and comforted her in his own uniquely Abed way, but he also felt the need to remind her of his girlfriend. The fact that he broke the fourth wall here is likely the writers’ way to be meta, but simply acknowledging the tension and bond there says a lot in between the lines. If tension does not exist, there would be no need for this line.

Besides, instead of thinking that they’re strictly platonic (which of course is also okay), they would rather work great as a couple. In terms of opposites attract, Annie grounds Abed with just the right amount, while Abed clearly encourages Annie to be her true self and be immature. Such as this scene in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism,

Annie: I’m following him.  Troy: You moving in here was supposed to tone us down!

Annie also doesn’t just tolerate Abed’s idiosyncrasies, she actually likes them and fully participates as multiple paintball games and cosplays would tell us. Special shoutout to the missing lovers footage in Wedding Videography, which through Britta, actually shows us that Annie is the only one who would go along with Abed’s projects - while Britta found the project extremely weird and unhealthy, Annie thought it was fun and commits well to her role.

And while others may tiptoe around Abed, Annie isn’t afraid to call Abed out when he’s out of line and makes a point to teach him about empathy in Virtual Systems Analysis. Remember that Britta tried teaching him this but it didn’t work as well.

I am Abed Nadir... And I don't know a lot of things everyone else knows. I wander the universe with my friend, Troy, doing whatever I want. Sometimes accidentally hurting innocent unremarkables. This week, however, Troy went to lunch and I adapted. I now have the ability to enter the minds of others using an elusive new technique known as "empathy".

As well as in the entire episode of Cooperative Polygraphy.

They also know each other best. Abed knew her cushion preferences, was the one who spelled out her true pas.sion for forensics, and after living together, Annie knew how to navigate Abed’s peculiarities and to soothe him whenever he had a nervous breakdown. 

Annie also knows him so well that she can predict his reaction.

They are also each other’s exception. Annie was always the one who manages to pull Abed out of a trance and back to reality, usually with touch.

Abed is also very forgiving with her. An example is when Annie seemingly lost all common sense because she broke Abed’s special edition dvd in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism.

Annie: Well, Batman, on behalf of all of us that aren't perfect, can I just say I'm sorry I broke your DVD? Abed: Apology accepted. But I wouldn't mention it to Abed. That guy's pretty ruthless. And that's coming from Batman.

And in Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, Annie was the only claymation doll that didn’t have a weird form (except Troy as toy soldier of course). Annie was a ballerina because Abed sees her as a creature of grace. Abed was also the first one who got her “brighter tomorrow” diorama and responded with enthusiasm.

They are also in the same stage in life. As Dan Harmon explains the choice of Abed and Annie being the ones who leave the group, with Troy gone, Abed and Annie symbolize the many possibilities of the future - a possibility that makes them viable. I like to think Annie transfers to the LA FBI office after her internship and they reunite.

And as the Spice Girls said, “if you wanna be my love.r, you gotta get with my friends”. In Paleyfest, Dan Harmon says this about whoever Troy and Abed ends up dating, “I mean a woman that comes into either of their lives is either going to drive them apart or she's going to have to be really accepting of a very special relationship”.

Britta tolerated their friendship but to a point of asking Annie to distract Abed for alone time with Troy, Troy dumped the librarian as she called Abed weird, Robin disappeared, Rachel we never got to see much of, but was pretty quiet and separated from the group. From this, logically speaking, Annie would actually be the perfect match for Abed, as we all know they’re the ultimate trio within the study group and a transition from friends to more will be natural. 

Oh, and, Abed is wrong. They’re not Chandler and Phoebe with little storylines together, they’re Chandler and Monica. 

Anyway, that’s it for my super long rant/analysis. Community the series is done and over, so there isn’t a need for any ship war. All I want to say is, if #andamovie happens, hopefully, the writers will actually take a leap.

[bigbrotherlouis]

have there been players saying they were culture shocked or something? i never thought about it like that before, your post is interesting!

anon, you definitely did not ask for a long post on the nuance of transition but unfortunately, i’ve got the double edged sword of both lived experience and a literal dissertation on the topic so you’re gonna get one. under the cut, in reference to this post

to my knowledge, no one has explicitly talked about it in any interviews (besides like maybe offhand comments about adjusting?) but there is no way that they haven’t experience culture shock. like i’ve done the transition from eastern europe to the united states, i’ve known so many people who have done the same, and there’s literally no way russian/czech/austrian/german/whatever players don’t. the culture is too different. i also have it on good authority that there’s a decent amount of culture shock moving from canada to the states and vice versa, so it’s honestly probably more of an issue than we think. (if we’re being technical, you’re going to experience culture shock with any move out of a regional area, but the further the difference in culture, the worse it’s going to be. canadian players might have culture shock moving from like toronto to edmonton ((cough cough connor mcdavid)) or american players moving from idk minnesota to florida but it’s not necessarily going to be as obvious or as hard to manage as like siberia to san jose)

honestly part of the problem is that people in power don’t think about culture shock! it’s not necessarily something that’s common in conversation until you’re the one moving to a different culture, and then it’s all you can talk about. another part of the problem is that a lot of the work being done around the subject is actually done for third culture kids (like me) and international students, which is probably not a place authority figures in athletics are directing a lot of thought towards. which, to be blunt, is a grave oversight and really fucking rich considering that a decent percentage of players could technically be classified as third culture kids after they come over to play hockey in junior north american leagues. leon draisaitl, gabe landeskog, andrei svechnikov all come to mind as definite possibilities, and a case can be made for any player who lived in a different country for juniors but it gets a little weaker with that american/canadian divide. but regardless of like classification, you’re still throwing eighteen year old boys with brains that are not fully developed and are not known for their emotional competence into a completely foreign country to play a violent sport, and all you do is suggest a roommate who speaks the same language to help??? like what the fuck??? genuinely how-- i don’t even have words to express how horrifying this is to me and the fact that there hasn’t been more issues come to light makes me intensely suspicious. 

i think it’s worth saying that my problem really isn’t with the billet system and there’s some worth re:language acquisition in just fuckin’ throwing people into the deep end, but in terms of mental health, ability to cope, and general just...adjustment, it’s a really bad situation waiting to happen. moving is an intensely stressful experience on its own, moving countries even more so, and it can be incredibly isolating. i think the team mentality can help lessen some of that, but it is EXHAUSTING constantly trying to understand the cultural touchstones to fit in. it is EXHAUSTING to be constantly explaining yourself. that doesn’t go away with team bonding. it doesn’t ever really go away, honestly, and not comprehending what’s happening is distressing. no wonder there are so many stories of all the russians, all the swedes, all the finns, whatever sticking together across the league-- they’re able to relax their subconscious that’s trying to fit in. it’s a lot more than just being able to speak a shared fluent language, though that certainly is a big part of identity and culture shock too. 

anyway i just think as a coach or team owner, it would be extremely prudent to care about the holistic health of my players, physical emotional and mental, even just to be assured that they’re playing at their top level. i realise this isn’t the case, but recognizing the culture shock my players are going through is like basic level care, in my opinion. i also know teenagers are not particularly inclined to pay attention in seminars, but including something on transition during orientation would not be difficult, and it could give players important tools for dealing with grief, loss, moving, and adaptation.

for the record, i am almost always thinking about this topic, like genuinely, because it’s something i am passionate about but that post was made because of these snippets from a podcast. particularly, the part where they talk about how NAK seems spacey in post-game interviews, which they attribute to him being not so comfortable in english. which, like, yeah? and also it’s hard to speak a second language always, but especially when you’re tired?? @ nhl invest in translators for your team and invest in cultural experts to support your international players please i am begging you i will come and do it for free if you pay flights + accommodation just treat players better

okay that’s all for tonight bc i gotta sleep but i will not stop talking about this

[dreamcaughtme]

I MET YOO KIHYUN: the post of my LIFE.

Hello. Yes.

I received two (2) tickets to enter the raffle for an online fansign through Japanese Tower Records, since I live here and the store is about a 40-minute train ride’s journey away from me. I almost didn’t even register the raffle tickets, y’all; I thought, there is no way. There’s no way I am going to win with TWO raffle tickets after there are people who have purchased literally thousands of albums for this fansign.

Yet I decided to enter. And this, my good dudes, is what transpired.

First of all, I ACCIDENTALLY SCREWED UP THE CALL~~I was supposed to be #6 out of 30, and they disconnected the call because I couldn’t get the mic to work (I was on the phone with the staff and literally HEARD YOO KIHYUN’S VOICE IN THE BACKGROUND--IT WAS TORTURE). So I tried not to cry as I sat there in front of my phone, hoping and praying desperately that they’d give me a second chance to answer my phone and get the mic right.

And they DID!!!! They bumped me to the very end. And this, THIS is what transpired.

First photo: Yoo Kihyun greeting me and looking excited to see me

Okay, y’all. This was his face. THIS WAS HIS FACE. Do you realize how precious it is to have someone looking at you like that SAIDOUASIDUAISODU it’s an absolute miracle I kept my cool and remained composed? Like I actually remained composed. I don’t know how it happened.

SECOND PHOTO: Yoo Kihyun smiling when I said it was good to finally meet him and then APOLOGIZING for the connectivity issues even though I was the problem.

This is how it went.

“Hello, Kihyun!”

“Hi, [my name]!”

“It’s good to finally meet you!”

“Yeah, finally! So sorry about the...little problem!”

“It’s okay! It’s my fault!”

“No, no. It’s not your fault.”

THIRD PHOTO: Ya girl personally invites Yoo Kihyun to come to Tokyo LOL who am i

He asked me where I was (definitely think he was surprised to hear that I live in Tokyo). He said he wants to come to Tokyo. I personally invited him to Tokyo. Yes. I did that. Hahah. As if there’s not a whole virus ravaging the world right now, preventing him from going on tour. That’s probably the closest I got to being flustered xD He said he couldn’t come Tokyo yet but that he wants to, and I told him I understood. Oh, gosh. I’m so glad I somehow didn’t notice how precious his smile was until AFTER the video call bc lemme tell you, if I’d have focused on his smile right here, y’all, I’d have lost it.

FOURTH PHOTO: Ya girl asks Yoo Kihyun for permission to tell him something (like it’s not his actual job in this moment to be my captive audience)

Me: there’s something I want to tell you.

Me: is it okay to tell you?

Kihyun: mmmm (like, the affirmative “mmm”).

Me: thank you very much

(also, as the very supportive @uwunnie​ pointed out in her reaction video to this video call, I want to mention that he struggled to keep a smile in check as I began speaking.)

FIFTH PHOTO: this actually isn’t the fifth photo, I just really wanted you to see his face being particularly wonderful and attentive again

ACTUAL FIFTH PHOTO: Ya girl tells Yoo Kihyun what I’ve wanted to say...for years.

Here’s the serious part.

Tw for eating disorders, body image

I explained to Kihyun, in simple terms because I didn’t want to say anything that the monitors would consider “inappropriate,” that there was a time in my life two years ago when I didn’t feel beautiful or confident. I explained that I stopped eating and became very sick. During that time, Kihyun and the other members of Monsta X made me smile and helped me with their kindness. I explained then....

SIXTH PHOTO: Kihyun’s reaction to my story

I explained then that I am now SO healthy and SO happy and living my dream...to which this precious human literally clasped his hands together and did a small bow at me. I then thanked him for his kindness in Korean (y’all don’t even know...I had a friend send me the translation and then practiced the pronunciation with her for ages) and bowed to him.

Listen to me. I know it probably sounds ridiculous that I bowed to him. But there were two things I had in mind. One, he knew I lived in Tokyo. Two, I’m pretty sure he heard me speaking Japanese with the staff during the connecting portion of the call because I heard him say something to staff in the background. And because my bow looked natural--because it’s something I do multiple times DAILY while living here--I do genuinely believe it conveyed gratitude rather than just looking awkward and koreaboo-y.

SEVENTH PHOTO: Yoo Kihyun is speechless, which could perhaps be a product of the fact that I threw a bunch of English/a butchered Korean thank-you at him after a bunch of phone calls with Japanese Monbebe, but he kept saying “wow,” which was incredibly gratifying because I was not sure how he would respond to my story and hoped that it would not be personal to an uncomfortable degree

EIGHTH PHOTO: Yoo Kihyun tells me that stories like mine is the reason why he does “this job”

Amidst a lot of “wow,” Kihyun told me exactly that.

“Wow. That was...wow. That's the reason I do this job, and you are...wow. Thank you so much. You just said we changed your life, right?”

(to which I responded, yes, even though that wasn’t EXACTLY what I said--but it was the message I conveyed, and I’m so thankful he parsed that out of my thank-you monologue)

NINTH PHOTO: i’m not kidding, y’all, he really looks at his fans like we personally hung the stars in the sky and brought to life all the good things on this earth

He clasped his hands together and told me how happy it made him to hear my story. “Wow. For sure. Yeah. Wow.” Basically, he said “wow” about 20 times.

TENTH PHOTO: Yoo Kihyun promises that he will stay healthy and happy

(so you’d better do just that, sir)

ELEVENTH PHOTO: Yoo Kihyun thanks me again and tells ME to stay healthy

...which I’m going to remember whenever I feel tempted to skip a meal or push my body too far with exercise.

TWELFTH PHOTO: confirmed: Kihyun loves me

He said so as he blew a kiss to me. So, y’know. I said it back, even though I hadn’t originally wanted to because I don’t use those words when it comes to kpop stars because???? i don’t know them????? i only know the part of themselves that they present to the public??? except i do say i love wonho but that’s because he’s wonho and you just...don’t NOT say you love wonho

But not saying “I love you” felt incomplete, because isn’t that what I was saying the whole time I was explaining to him how he changed my life?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Long story short, it’s insane and amazing and insanely amazing that I had this opportunity to thank Yoo Kihyun for the tremendously positive impact he’s had in my life, especially because I know how rare it is for people who don’t have the means to buy hundreds of albums to get into fansigns like these. In a vicious industry where it would be the easiest thing in the world to decide to detach emotionally from the public,

where you can play the “standoffish” card and make it look cool,

where you’re not required to communicate with fans so often, literally counseling them + learning their language so you can send them sweet messages + being part of a group that makes sure that awards are always credited to their fans and not just the group themselves,

Yoo Kihyun chooses to be kind, and gosh, the guy definitely has edge and sharpness and won’t take crap from anyone, but the heart he chooses to share with us motivates me all over again to be open and enthusiastic and forgiving.

And y’all. He thanked me. HE thanked ME. He didn’t have to. But it’s something I’ll cherish til the day I die.

Which is probably coming sooner than later because...holy crap...I TALKED TO YOO KIHYUN ASIDOUASOIDUAISOUDOIASUDOIASUDOIAUSDU

[goldandbluesmiles]

Parental Woes

Summary: Bruce is asked what it's like raising a bunch of Alpha kids as a single omega parent. The answer is unexpected.

Or

"Is it weird being the single Omega parent to a bunch of Alphas? Like what's the weirdest thing?"

"The cock-blocking," said Bruce

TW: Mild Language

Ao3

XXX

They had been drinking for hours now, the only sober one being J'onn as he couldn't be affected by the contents of alcohol. Even Bruce was drunk.

"Hey Bruce," Clark heard Oliver say, "I gotta ask. Is it weird being the single Omega parent to a bunch of Alphas? Like what's the weirdest thing?"

"The cock-blocking," said Bruce

Clark choked on his drink. Beside him, Hal did a spit take while Barry and Arthur let out incredulous laughs. Both J'onn and Dinah looked highly amused. Diana had a small smirk on her face and Oliver, the second most sober, had a confused look on his face.

"Uh, wanna run that by me again Wayne?"

"The cock-blocking," said Bruce, "Seriously, it's ridiculous,"

"Spooky," said Hal, "How drunk are you right now?"

"Oh, very," said Bruce, "I'm going to hate myself in the morning,"

"Yeah, Yeah," said Oliver, "But you can't say something like that and not explain yourself. Come on Brucie. There's a story behind that,"

"Well," said Bruce, "It started with Dick. When he was really young I stopped picking people up for a while but, you know, once he settled down I tried to go back to it, coincidentally at the same time as he has started presenting his Alpha traits,"

"Right," said Barry

"The first time it happened was at Wayne Charity Gala,"

Bruce smiled as the Alpha trailed his hands down his back.

"You look as gorgeous as always Mr. Wayne,"

"Oh please James, we've known each other for a long time. You can call me Bruce,"

And it was true, they had met in high school. Back then James had been loud, brash and utterly unimpressed with relationships. The perfect hookup for Bruce. In the present, James was much more put together, standing straight, shaking hands and disarming people with his smile.

And Bruce wanted him. At least for the night.

By the way, James' hands were wandering he wanted him too.

"So, Bruce," said James, hand now hovering at his thigh "Have some time to spare for an old friend tonight? I know you're here with that kid of yours,"

And score.

"Well, he's old enough to go home with the driver. But we'll have to do your place,"

James grinned, "Well, that's understandable. Maybe we could just-"

"Bruce! There you are!"

Ah. Shit.

"Hey Dick," he said, "What is it?"

"Can we go home now?" he said, draping himself over Bruce and forcing James to remove his hand.

"Uh, yeah," said Bruce, "I thought you were going to-"

"Come on, Bruce," said Dick, "Now!"

"Maybe I should-" said James

"Yeah," muttered Bruce, "Some other time,"

"Huh," said Barry, "Doesn't sound like it was done on purpose,"

"Oh it wasn't," said Bruce, "He didn't even realize he was doing it a lot of times, just that he wanted the strange Alpha away from me. I had a talk with him and he said he would stop but I could tell how much it killed him to let some Alpha hang all over me so I just stopped picking people up. Again,"

"Sucks," said Hal

"Yup. Anyway, eventually, he left and I kinda started getting back into it. I mean I was still in my twenties then,"

"Yeah," said Dinah, nodding alone, "But then I guess Jason came along,"

"Oh yeah," said Bruce, "That was a disaster. I mean I love that kid. But Jesus,"

Bruce sighed happily as Jasmine pressed her fingers to his wrist.

"You smell wonderful, darling," she said, "I just wanna eat you up,"

"Well Jasmine," he said, trailing his other hand over her back, "I'm sure we can arrange that,"

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Bruce turned to find little Jason standing there with a pout on his face.

"I think we should go home now," said Jason

"Oh, okay," said Bruce, "I thought you were leaving early with Alfred,"

"Well now you're coming too," said Jason

"I am?" asked Bruce, feeling more and more confused by the second

"Maybe we should do this another time," said Jasmine, looking a bit amused by the situation.

It was her amusement that clued him in.

Oh, this was like Dick all over again.

"How about not," said Jason, glaring at the Alpha who just put her hands up in surrender, looking like she was about to burst into laughter.

Ok, this was so much worse than Dick.

"I don't think he wants you near me," said Jasmine in a voice only he could hear.

Jason gave her a hard glare for her transgression. She just smiled and walked away.

"Oh wow," said Diana, "Little one is fierce,"

"Yup," said Bruce, "These days those two do it on purpose,"

"Oh hey Bruce," said Rajan, standing a little too close for it to be friendly

"Rajan," he said

"So I was wondering if you would want to-"

"He would not," said a voice from behind

Bruce groaned internally. Why were his children like this?

"Definitely not," said Dick

"Uh, what?" said Rajan

"You weren't propositioning our father were you," said Jason, standing tall, which Bruce had to admit was pretty intimidating, especially when you took in the muscle.

"Because that might cause some problems," said Dick

"I think I'm gonna go now," said Rajan and practically ran away from there

Clark was having a really hard time stopping his laughter. The other members of the league seemed to be having the same problem.

"Har har har," said Bruce, "Please laugh at my pain,"

"Oh Lord!" said Arthur, "Your children sound amazing,"

"You haven't heard about the rest of them,"

Bruce grinned against Omari's lips as he led them to his room. The Alpha smelled amazing, taking all of Bruce's control not to strip them right there.

"Oh Hi Bruce," said Tim, making them break apart instantly

"Tim!" Bruce said, almost screeching, "Aren't you supposed to be home?"

"You were supposed to talk to Mr. Javari," said Tim, looking between them, "You have to make the call,"

"Right," said Bruce

"Well," said Clark, "You can't blame him for that. He genuinely needed you for something,"

"Except that, I had already made that call earlier," said Bruce, "Infront of Tim. While he rolled his eyes every time I said something 'Too Brucie',"

"Oh my," said Diana, leaning forward, "Cunning little thing,"

"Exactly!" said Bruce adorably waving his hands around, "I couldn't say anything in front of Omari and Tim knew that. The worst part, Omari was all 'What a cute child' and 'You should attend to him' and I'm just thinking, there goes another night of wild sex because my kids are annoying little shits,"

There was another round of laughter from the group.

"Come on. Come on," said Oliver, "Tell us more!"

"Damian," sighed Bruce, a fond look on his face, "Sweet cranky little Damian,"

"So Bruce," said Agnia, her voice holding a hint of an accent, "I was wondering if you would like to take a ride with me?"

"What kind of ride?" he said, bringing out his best smile.

The Alpha smirked, "We can do both kinds. The night is still young after all,"

Bruce grinned and leaned into her. She reciprocated by putting an arm around his waist.

"Remove your hands from my Father,"

Bruce sighed and looked down, feeling resigned.

"Hello, Damian," he said. This child wasn't even supposed to be here tonight.

"Ah," said Agnia, "Is this your youngest?"

"Yes," said Bruce

"Take your hands off of him!" This time his tone was more insistent, "I won't ask again,"

"Oh?" said Agnia, "Well, my apologies, to both of you,"

Damian nodded seriously and turned to Bruce, "We should go now,"

Bruce sighed, "I suppose we should. Go call the car,"

Damian gave one last warning glare, and it was definitely a warning, to the Alpha and walked away.

"I'm so sorry about that. He wasn't supposed to be here tonight. He must have come with his brothers,"

Agnia laughed and gently stroked his cheek, "It's alright. I used to do it to my Omega parent too. And I understand that he didn't grow up with you. Makes him more protective,"

"Thank you for understanding," he said, "Most people don't"

"Most people are stupid,"

Bruce smiled and was about to-

"Father!"

"You better go," said Agnia, "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne,"

"Lovely to meet you too, Ms. Agnia,"

"So, what was that about?" he asked Damian once he caught up to him

"Well," said Damian with a completely serious face, "I had to protect your virtue,"

"We are going to have a conversation when we get home," said Bruce, dreading it already. Maybe he could just skip it. It's not like it had helped with his other sons.

"Did he really say virtue?" asked Dinah

"In his defense, he translates everything from Arabic to English in his head and the only English he learned was formal," said Bruce

"But virtue?" asked Hal, "Even in slang language that's funny,"

"Yup," said Bruce, "After the third time he did that I was this close to saying 'Your mother picked me up at a gala and you were conceived in the back of a car' I mean it was a nice car but still,"

"Really?" asked Barry, "I thought you met her abroad when you were travelling,"

"Oh I did," said Bruce, "She was on business,"

"Ah," said Barry, "What about your daughter?"

"Ha," said Bruce, "Dear Cassandra,"

"Uh Bruce," said the Alpha he had been chatting up, "Your daughter is starting to scare me,"

Bryce sighed, "It's alright Abbas, just ignore her,"

"It's kinda hard," he said, pretty grey eyes flickering sideways.

Bruce followed his gaze and sure enough, there was Cassandra, her eyes unblinkingly trained on Abbas.

"I don't think she likes me talking to you," said Abbas, "And no offence but your kids are kinda scary, especially your girl,"

"I know," said Bruce, not knowing whether to be proud or to feel frustrated.

"I'm just gonna-" said Abbas and Bruce nodded, watching the man walk away very very quickly.

Bruce couldn't even blame him. Cassandra could be scary.

"So?" said J'onn handing them all some water, "She merely stares at them?"

"Yup," said Bruce, "And it works. She's just that good,"

Hal snorted, "Your kids are something,"

"Yeah," said Bruce, a soft smile on his face "They're really great, wouldn't trade them for anything,"

They were quiet smiles around the room as Diana decided it was a good time to call it a night.

'This,' thought Clark looking at everybody's relaxed posture, 'had been a good idea,'

xxx

Bruce was nursing his first and last champagne glass for the night when he felt someone's arm come around his waist. Considering there were very few people in this circle that could actually come close to him this silently...

"Hey Ollie," he said in his best Brucie voice, "I see you were invited too. Should have let me know,"

"Aww but I wanted to surprise you," he said, purring a little close to his ear

What the hell was Oliver doing?

"Play along,"

Bruce was confused. It wasn't that he didn't understand what Oliver was saying, they had saved each other from many unbearable conversations after all. But he couldn't see anything that Oliver needed saving from and Oliver wasn't one to just come up to Bruce and start flirting

He was up to something.

Still, Bruce was bored and figured giving into the Alpha's shenanigans wouldn't hurt too much. Oliver did know have to have fun and Bruce was in a good mood.

So he put up with Oliver's wandering, but respectful hands, and his, only kind of, bad flirting.

He got an inkling of what was happening when he saw Stephanie coming their way, a determined gleam in her eyes.

"So Oliver," said Stephanie, stopping right in front of them, "Feeling a little handsy today are we?"

"Uh," said Oliver

Oh, this little shit. Really Queen?

"Cause really, that is just not classy," said Stephanie, crossing her arms and glaring, "Anything to say for yourself, Mr. Queen?"

Bruce could see that Oliver trying to hold his laughter, probably in hopes of prolonging the conversation but as soon as Stephanie raised one of her eyebrows he was lost.

Oliver doubled over in laughter and he wasn't the only one. He could hear Dick and Tim giggling behind them. Jason and Damian were coming up behind Stephanie, wide grins on their faces. Cassandra had come to stand beside him and was looking at him with amused eyes. Poor Duke just looked confused, standing at the other side of Cassandra.

"What?" said Stephanie, "I'm making a good point here,"

"Don't worry, Brown," said Damian, "You have just joined the tradition of Father's Alpha children warding off his one night stands,"

"I told you he did it on purpose," said Bruce, giving Dick a pointed look

"What, really?" said Dick, looking at his little brother

Damian shrugged, "It was instinct at first but afterwards it was just to watch Father try to not roll his eyes,"

That garnered him a few chuckles all around.

"That is it," said Bruce, pushing away a still laughing Oliver, "Duke? You're my favourite now,"

The young Alpha grinned, "Sure, B. Does that mean I can get ice cream?"

"Yup," said Bruce, "Let's go get ice cream. The rest of you stay back and think about what you've done,"

There was a wave of protests but Bruce grabbed Duke's arm and hauled them both out of there.

Duke was laughing by the time they got to the car, "Do they really cock-block you every time?"

"Oh yes,"

"I mean I don't blame them. Most Alphas are protective and you deserve to be respected," said Duke

"Duke, baby, you're the only normal child I have. Please stay this way,"

Duke's laughter was like magic.

Bruce couldn't help the warmth that spread through him.

He really did love his kids.

[pavcrti]

chicago’s very own pavarti kumari has been spotted on madison avenue driving a rose gold model x , welcome ! your resemblance to mishti rahman is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty fifth  birthday bash .  your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re fiery , but being eloquent might help you . i think being a pieces explains that .  3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be fresh fields of lavender that expand into a cotton candy sky , the reflection of the sun caught in the glimmer of a crystal , rhyming couplets professing deep - seeded emotion . ( i ghost write songs for artists who like to claim they write their own work . ) & ( cis female + she / her  ) +  ( emily , 25 , sher / her , pst )

holy shit , it’s ya girl . i’m back after needing a bit of a break from being in a group . and bc i honestly adored this place sm and i made so many great friends here i am back . . . 👀 i expect plots with each and every one of u btw so u best deliver . i desperately wanna get this finished before i pass the fuck out . i’ll be joining the server in the morning , but in the meantime if u wanna be my friend  👀 👀 titsiana praises satan#7989

    biography .

name : pavarti kumari 

age : twenty five

gender : cisfemale

zodiac : pieces 

sexuality : bisexual 

profession : singer / songwriter 

hair color : black

eye color : brown

piercings : both lobes , nose 

tattoos : none

voice claim : jhene aiko

released albums : sail out ( ep ) , trip 

miss pavarti was born in bangladesh . her parents are both 100% bangladeshi and immigrated to chicago when pavarti was four years old . she had an older brother who was five years older than her . his name was siva .her family traveled back every summer so she is very immersed in the culture of her homeland and is a very spiritual person as a result . from a young age , pavarti had a fascination with the english language . not only was it so complex , but there was so much that could be done with it as well . she loved poetry and different types of prose . she also developed an absolute adoration for hip hop as a result . she’s been able to work several of her lyrical inspirations in her albums , something she would’ve never anticipated growing up as an immigrant child . when she entered middle school , she joined the school choir as an extra curricular activity which is what inspired her love for music and introduced her to her vocal talents . within time , she began combining her inclination for poetry with her voice . she wrote her first song at thirteen and began to freestyle for her friends . unfortunately , she was never taken too seriously by her peers . she was a female , hardly the usual suspect for the rnb , soul vibe that her voice conveys . before she graduated high school , her brother siva was killed in a car crash . the unexpected death of her best friend and protector sent pavarti into a spiral . this begun her tendency to alter her reality to escape from her pain with the help of drugs . she frequently writes about her brother in her music . when she was eighteen , she was discovered , ironically , by a manager of a local rapper at a poetry slam she was performing at . she impressed him and he introduced her to his client . this is how pavarti entered the hip hop scene , albeit , in secret . in hip hop , it’s very custom for performers to write the tracks that they put out themselves . pavarti learned that she could learn the skills of the trade whilst making her own connections and making pretty good cash , as well . as the years progressed , the notoriety of her clients rose . she’s written bars for multiple big names and by harvesting these friendships , she was able to get signed to a record label and put out her first ep at age twenty one . it was well received by critics and pavarti was thrilled to be taken seriously as an artist doing what she loves . she kept working , kept her nose in her business and released her first full album , trip , just last year . she feels like she is constantly growing artistically and finds herself inspired everywhere she turns . she’s currently working on her second full album and just dropped a new single , p*$$y fairy . other than that , there’s not too much else to note in her history . she did not grow up rich , rather she’s only recently come into wealth . her money is very new and she’s not too skilled at spending it wisely .

    personality . 

okay , so this will probably just be a long winded explanation that no one really asked for / needed but here we go ! first and foremost . . . pavarti is a dreamer in every sense of the word . she’s whimsical , she’s connected to the earth around her . she drifts off into elaborate day dreams and tells herself stories in her head as she falls to sleep . she is very spiritual . she meditates twice a day . her house always smells of incense . she has an affinity for weed and hallucinogenics . she really enjoys writing under the influence . her album trip is literally inspired by several drug experiences she had that had a profound impact in her life . pavarti’s general demeanor is borderline wall - flower . you wouldn’t expect her to be so shy , but she is . she’s the giggly girl who’ll hang back and let someone else come to her first . in the meantime , she’s taking in every single detail . she’s incredibly observant . sometimes she thinks in poetry . she realizes that she isn’t the typical visual for a female hip hop , rnb artist but it’s truly her passion in life and her art flows through her . she says more in her songs than she does to the people she needs to and that can definitely be problematic . with that said , pavarti is very well spoken . girl knows how to sweet talk her way through just about anything . but she also has the temper of a devil . she does not tolerate being fucked around with . she has that attitude about her where she will go and key your car if you hurt her or one of her best friends . people typically wouldn’t expect such an explosion from someone so outwardly sanguine and easy going but she’s the type to scratch someone’s eyes out if she has to . her music is her spouse . this fucks her up relationship wise a lot because she tends to let chances pass her by because she would rather stay undistracted . she has an ego , but not really in the outward way that one would anticipate when ego is involved . she knows she’s talented . she knows she’s attractive . but she also knows that she’s fucking lucky to be where she is and she’s grateful . pavarti is the type who wakes up with a smile because she has another twenty four hours to be alive . she doesn’t take things for granted --- she used to , until she lost her older brother and she realized just how quickly things can change . pavarti is a fiercely loyal individual to her friends . she will stand up for them , no matter what . the thing is , she expects it back . she is very much aware of her self worth and does not react kindly to a one sided vibe . 

    plots . 

ok , ok , ok . . . so how i am going to do this is offer up some songs / song pairings for songs that i believe pavarti has written for specific people with certain plots in mind for at least her side of things . and then i will also list some basic plots that aren’t based on anything in particular , but are still plots that i would like very much to have ! the links go to lyrics ! all plots are gender neutral , so ignore any pronouns that are in the songs .

bed peace / stay ready / while we’re young --- fwbs with feelings : pavarti and your muse have been friends for a while . somewhere along the line things crossed the line and they began hooking up . it’s obvious that they feel something intense for each other but something is always in the way of them being together --- plus , neither are really sure if the friendship could withstand a romantic relationship crashing and burning . so here they are , stuck in this awkward limbo . they hook up , hang out , awkwardly third wheel when the other is dating someone else . it’s an interesting dynamic and pavarti wouldn’t deal with drama with anyone else but your muse . they have a really compelling bond and neither can think of life without the other but things have been like this for a long time and there is only so long a relationship as complicated as this one could actually function .

the worst / comfort inn ending / moments / when we love --- exes that ended badly with lingering feelings : this was . . . just a crazy hot and cold relationship . when it was hot , it was fucking hot . when it was cold ? damn . hell itself could freeze over . they probably have done and said a lot of nasty , nasty shit to each other . at the same time , they could’ve been literally planning their wedding at some point because they both were incredibly serious about each other . in comfort inn ending , pavarti suggests their relationship was a result of her cheating on another boyfriend to be with your muse and your muse ultimately cheated on her as well . we can discuss that but i would high key kill for the extra drama . around the time pavarti was writing her first full album , they had a rekindling that inspired her to write moments and when we love . i don’t envision this relationship having ended in a decent way from there , though . more cheating ? fighting ? they were definitely toxic . she’s definitely planning on dragging their ass some more in her tracks .

lsd / sativa --- platonic soulmates : omg so this plot is . . . so fucking cute . but these two would basically die for each other . there is zero sexual attraction , just genuine , pure love . they do everything together . but what really sealed their bond ? well . . . many different intense acid trips , of course ! they love to get high together and forget about the world . they both feel like they can trust the other because they have been present for so many life - changing moments . they rarely go a day without seeing each other and absolutely never go a day without talking in some capacity . sometimes they fight like siblings . but pavarti would honestly kill for your muse . there is nothing she wouldn’t do for them . 

new balance / newer balance / you are here / clear my mind --- the romantic bad influence : this plot is another messy piece of trash . from the beginning , when they first met , pavarti always thought your muse was too good to be true . they reminded her so much of her brother . she felt this sense of peace with your muse . she fell in love quickly but at the same time , felt like there was something looming over their relationship . like it wasn’t permanent . like it’s all just a dream . the bad influence part isn’t portrayed too much in the lyrics other than stressing pavarti’s fear that your muse isn’t exactly who they say they are and this relationship is doomed to fail somehow . she knows that when this explodes in her face that it’s going to destroy her . i see your muse bringing out edgier sides of pavarti’s personality . they party a lot , they influence pavarti to do crazy things with them and she does and she feels so alive with your muse . that is , until , it all crumbles . the facade is destroyed and whatever it was that your muse wasn’t being upfront about shatters the way she feels for your muse entirely . she feels betrayed . clear my mind is pavarti’s way of trying to hype herself up to be stronger than she really is . 

never call me / --- best friends turned enemies : this is my last long one i promise , wtf , why did i decide to do this . anyways --- this plot is again , a shit ton of angst so enjoy that . your muse and pavarti used to be the best of friends . inseparable . that is until things went south . fast . we can discuss what it was that happened between our muses but it was something huge and preferably something where they both could stubbornly blame each other . pavarti feels slighted because she thinks that your muse should be the one who reaches out and perhaps your muses could be thinking the same about her . 

romantic plots : crushes , unrequited love , hateship , party hookup , friends with benefits , secret fling , summer romance 

platonic plots : give me close friends ! and tons of them please ! thanks . roommates , drug buddies , confidants , unlikely friendship , travel friends , only friends in the dms , enemies turned friend

[satanfm]

hello! this is my smol messy child with a heart of gold lux !  i’m very excited to rp with all of you beauts, so pls give me all of your affection & plots 🥺 lux is twenty-three, a singer and professional nuisance to record companies, managers, collaborators, exes, and basically anyone who’s ever met her. positive traits are often overshadowed and forgotten due to the intensity of her negative traits.

chicago’s very own lux santana has been spotted on madison avenue driving a range rover , welcome ! your resemblance to sofia jamora is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty third birthday bash . your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re aggressive , but being confident might help you . i think being a leo explains that . 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be being soft and stone cold at the same, broken guitar strings, & singing songs under her breath. (lux doesn’t want children, so when she got pregnant she had an abortion and lied about it to the father by faking a miscarriage) & ( cis female & she/her) + ( hailey , 19 , she/her, cst)

— “ basics ! ’ 〉

full name. lux santana. 

nicknames. friends can her lux, and enemies call her satan. 

age. twenty-three. 

date of birth. july 26. 

occupation. singer/songwriter. 

sexual orientation. pansexual. 

birthplace. chicago. 

zodiac. leo. 

spoken languages. fluent in english, spanish & some french.

— “ backstory ! ’ 〉

satan ... i mean lux santana was actually born delilah humpries and raised in chicago. her father is one of those important political bigwigs and...all she knows about her mother is that she’s never known her mother.

her dad was the typical rich successful man who showered his child in all of the presents and money that she could ever ask for in order to make up for the fact that he was always too busy working to ever spend any actual time with her and instead left lux to be raised by a revolving door of nannies

from a young age it was obvious that lux had a talent for music & ofc her dad was willing to pay for her lessons so long as it kept her occupied so she started with singing and piano but moved on to learn a few other instruments including the guitar and even began dipping her toes into songwriting. by the age of 14 she had written and recorded a whole demo album in her bedroom and once it was done, she started sneaking out at night so that she could go hang around the local big name recording studios in the hopes that she would catch a producer leaving for the day and hopefully convince them to listen to her demo

she never did

sis really tried though. now ofc her dad could’ve paid a record company to just hand her a contract and she knew that, but dammit. lux wanted music to be her lifelong career and she wanted to earn it herself. she knew that she was genuinely talented even though her demo album was probs lowkey garbage lmao and she knew that she could be successful, and she didn’t want anyone to be able to say that she didn’t truly work for her career

she was so determined that she spent y e a r s relentlessly hounding record companies but no one would give her the time of day, so she developed a different strategy after seeing some flyers around the city and at the age of 16 she joined a local bar band who happened to seeking a lead singer...and got kicked out like two weeks later for being absolutely fucking insufferable

join local band in need of a lead singer. attempt to overhaul said band and push all of the other members into the background. face resistance from said other members. get angry, lash out, get kicked out of the band, repeat. it was a vicious cycle that went on for a couple years.

it was while she was in the midst of this vicious cycle that she met her (now ex) boyfriend and they were...whew. A WHOLE MESS. he was the frontman of a different band that was gaining more and more popularity by the day. he was older and he seemed so cool, and so ofc lux fell for him hard. they got together and appeared to be madly in love, but all was not perfect at all.

they were veeeery on and off, the type of couple to get in a screaming match and “break up” over nothing only to get back together like ten minutes later. this guy also wound up getting lux hooked on drugs, getting her arrested, getting her name plastered all over the tabloids for everything except her music, which was something that she still hadn’t quite found her footing in yet

until finally at the age of 19 she landed a record deal and, at the age of 21 after a lot of delays that had to do with her perfectionist nature and tumultuous relationship her first album was released and turned out to be a major success with all of the singles charting, lots of streams and airplay and a sold out debut tour that would unfortunately get cut short

so basically what happened was her bf showed up after one of her concerts and ofc they got high together, but then lux started to overdose. she passed out, but her bf thought she was dead and ofc he freaked out so, uh...he ran. literally bolted out of her tour bus and lux has not seen him since

fortunately she was found by someone else in time and rushed to the hospital. of course the rest of her tour was cancelled so that she could recover and she subsequently did the obligatory few months in rehab only to get out and immediately go back to using. that was over a year ago now and since then she’s been working on her second album aaaand it’s almost finished! people are starting to wonder what’s taking her so long and the answer is honestly just the fact that she’s nearly impossible to work with tbh

— “ fun facts / headcanons ! ’ 〉

lux is lux, not delilah. she uses the stage name in order to a) be pretentious and b) distance herself from her family name as a way to shut down the argument that it’s the only reason why she’s famous/successful. as for where the name came from? but yeah. lux, not delilah, or she’ll get all huffy.

pan af, has dated & hooked up with people both before and after her disaster bf and sometimes while they were “broken up” for all of ten minutes. tbh she kinda...gets with people solely to use them as songwriting material and then just dumps them when she’s gotten some material out of them? yikes! so she can be a bit of a heartbreaker.

since music is really the only thing in her life that she takes seriously, it’s what most of her energy tends to go into and it’s why she can be so impossible to work with. she’s always full steam ahead and she always thinks that she’s right, which doesn’t really pair well with the fact that she’s also very stubborn. recording studio employees have literally quit on her in the middle of a song more than once before bc they just couldn’t deal with her anymore. she’s that bad.

she’s quite intelligent and empathetic and genuinely talented but unfortunately her stubbornness and perfectionism and short temper often overshadow her best qualities and become all that people are able to see when they look at her. lux, surprisingly, doesn’t seem to realize that dialing back the attitude might help her in her quest to be just be taken seriously for fuck’s sake

she is the embodiment of ' 5′1 but attitude 6′2′.

can be v reckless, willing to try anything once.

she's v free spirited but can be flighty, never wanting to settle, always on to the next thing, whatever it may be.

big on living in the moment, future who?

— “ wanted plots ! ’ 〉

some potential wc i’m terrible at thinking of these so please don’t feel limited by this list!

best friends

step siblings

cousins

perhaps someone from her mom’s side of the fam

attempted good influence

exes ( she probs has a bunch who hate her )

former / current hookups ( again, she probably has a bunch )

ex friends / bridges she’s burned ( probs has more of these than anything else lmao )

straight up enemies

other singers or musicians who have tried to work with her

people she’s written songs about!

[ohpretty-baby]

bts as my sophomore class teachers

a thread because i miss my teachers lowkey

anyways enjoy <3

first hour: ap seminar with kim namjoon

super philosophical 

is a fanboy for rosseau, calls him the original gangster

intimidatingly intelligent; like reads 3 books in one day and writes two papers on them intelligent

constantly connecting foundational thinkers/texts to real life situations (ex: echo and narcissus and selfies in social media)

makes you feel like a bad person by questioning your moral motives

there’s never a dull day in his class

seriously

one time we spent the hour evaluating billie eilish’s bad boy and that one “sweet but psycho” song and talked about double consciousness

the next day we did a full 180 and talked about mass burials

then we talked about the refugee crisis the day after that

extremely thought provoking conversations

gives you independence, which is a double edged sword because everyone in ap sem procrastinates

wants students to exceed not only in his class but also outside of school

my irl ap sem teacher helped me figure out that i wanted to go into a career of law !

also an extensive librarian (hence the ability to read 3 books in one day)

if you have the slight interest in something, he has a book for it

i literally have 8 books checked out from my school library because of him

gives you complete and honest ratings of r rated movies and posts them on your schoology board

not afraid to be scandalous

“now everyone say it with me: premarital sex!”

that was something my irl teacher said, that day we shouted out premarital sex about 15 times with the door wide open

amazing music taste

literally

he listens to anything and everything, from french rap to spanish pop and then english folk songs

will dj for your graduation party for free

second hour: honors english with min yoongi

insanely calm, probably just very sleepy

easy going, chill

you really don’t feel pressured in his class

people goof off in class and are generally very annoying, but he doesn’t care

occasionally lectures students if he really needs to 

communicates what we have to do and then lets us do the work

lets us fail if we’re not responsible

but will understand if you can’t turn in a project if life gets in the way

i still have a project i need to turn in oops-

i haven’t received any negative repercussions tho

lets kids eat in his class and lets them go to the vending machine if they have no food

i go to my locker every morning to get food to eat

eats with us

lets you use your phone and watch netflix

will even ask you what show you’re watching and if it’s good

actually a really good teacher if you pay attention in his class

kids just think they can slack off, they end up failing tho so it’s really none of his issues

for some reason he’s a substitute teacher for a lot of classes

when he subs, the classes are extremely fun 

one time i spent my whole sixth hour talking to him about my costar and astrology

goofs off with the kids

that same day he subbed, my friends were making panoramas of each other and he rated all of them

isn’t strict

cares about his students and is very easy to talk to

because of this a lot of students open up to him

isn’t a snitch

would willingly make fun of classic literature with you

third hour: honors chemistry with kim taehyung

Super Sassy

always gets the last word when students mess around with him

“what’s your favorite double replacement reaction?”

“my favorite ones are the ones you guys get right; so none”

as you can guess, students love having conversation with him

probably has a dope ass instagram but damnit he won’t let accept anyone’s follow requests

probably because that’s illegal

constant Bad BItch energy

will openly tell students they are annoying without shame

will also openly tell you that you are dumb

once i thought that we had four principals (one for each grade, don’t question it) and my irl teacher was speechless,, like she couldn’t actually say anything at my stupidity

i would willingly sell my soul for my chemistry teacher

always has labs to do, even if they’re not very helpful at times

lets students retake tests by creating a new test 

but they’re actually harder than the actual test

students skip their own classes to visit him

i always skip my 6th hour to go into the chemistry

constantly has to chase away students

actually very sweet and cares about students, but is never really a push over

again, a constant Bad Bitch

fourth hour: honors spanish with kim seokjin

an even Bigger Bad Bitch

super fun and sassy

fiestas!!!!!!! 

we have fiestas but literally the only Spanish thing we have is chips and salsa and tacos

i’m not kidding

people just bring in cake pops and brownies

will sometimes teach a whole lesson in Spanish just to fuck with us

will also try to hold a conversation with us in Spanish just to fuck with us even more

loves seeing our shocked and confused faces when can’t answer his questions

actually teaches us

gives a lot of busy work but i honestly think that’s the better ways of learning and practicing Spanish, so there’s no complaints

engaging lessons, encourages us to make mistakes so we can be comfortable with the language

veryyyy helpful with pronunciation, makes sure that we know how to pronounce certain words

super trustworthy

once after school i spilled tea with my irl spanish teacher about a messy breakup i had gone thru, it was real fun

we have a theory that one of the senior teachers has a crush on her because he always visits her when he comes to our class

really good teacher but heavily overestimates our ability

especially when it comes to tests

but will admit his wrongs when we don’t do well in class

literally the best friend you wish you had

fifth hour: ap world with jeon jungkook

literally really pretty

really funny and sweet but his class is hard

not because of the extensive work and the fast pace, but because he doesn’t prepare students enough for saqs, dbqs, leqs, etc.

we still love our ap world teacher bc she genuinely cares about us

teaches an ap class but has never taken an ap class in high school

still teaches even tho he’s sick and his own students have asked him to stay at home so he can feel better

really fun discussion activities, like fishbowls

always drinking tea with a cool ass mug that has all the presidents of the united states on it

wears really cute clothes and coordinates colors

but sometimes will just pull up in pajamas

either way he’s Stylin

makes sure that students know that he doesn’t believe in racism and communism

always tells his students to take care when they say goodbye

draws LOTS of smiley faces

sometimes more confused about the content then the students are

but genuinely kind and hard working, even if it takes him 3 months to grade papers

sixth hour: theology with jung hoseok

confusing lectures

will talk about persecution in rome and then switch the topic onto blts (yes, the sandwich) and then talk about male circumcision

really goofy

deaf

talks very loudly because he takes his hearing aid out during lessons

honestly a really confusing teacher

a lot of people don’t like his teaching style, and neither do i, but it’s not a hard class so there’s really nothing to complain about

you really just need to read the slides in his class to pass

gives out homework but never grades it

i never turn in homework,,, 

i get a’s on his test and he just gives good grades for every homework assignment

honestly just really sweet and funny even when he tries not to

talks with his hands way too much

will take selfies with you if you let him

constantly asking for validation from his students

“is my teaching style ok? i know it can be confusing but i really try with making lectures funny so you guys won’t be bored”

can sometimes be annoying but everyone loves him because he just doesn’t make sense

literally the best class to do other homework in

sees students as his friends

once we had a public discussion online about our concerns of the coronavirus instead of actually learning about theology

i said that i was worried that i’d die of the coronavirus before i got a boyfriend

he replied to my comment saying “1. you are killing me ! :) 2. i’m sure that you have a lot of secret admirers, so the boyfriend thing is covered, they just need to figure things out. remember maturity happens at different stages for everyone.”

even though i don’t like his class at times, i know i’m gonna miss how crazy he is

seventh hour: honors geometry with park jimin

Sweetest, Softest, Most Pure of all

gives out candy during tests

but not just any candy

the really good strawberry candies that grandmas always have and never run out of

sometimes the lessons go by too fast but yet too slow at the same time

a Literal Grandpa

doesn’t let kids say “shut up” or “dumb” in his class

claims that he doesn’t even say “shut up” to his own kids

always reminds kids that this is a No Judgement Zone

rewards students who answer challenging questions with little stand-up signs that say “Expert at Work” or “Rockstar” that they can put on their desk

will buy or make little stockings that spell out the initials of the high school

brags about his kohl’s cash

once bought a $50 scooter for only $5 dollars because of his kohl’s cash

stays after school for two hours to reteach lessons to students

takes little strolls around the school building with his friends during lunch

Mental Math Mondays

mondays are when we play mental math card games with the whole class

lets kids make their own card games

will ask if you’re okay if you look sad

will also ask if you’re okay if you look sleepy

asks kids to be patient with him when they have a confusing lesson to teach

wIll thoroughly explain everything to the best of his ability

definitely has never done anything wrong

this made me genuinely miss my teachers even though i hate school with my whole entire heart, soul, and mind! anyways love u guys

[mxnark]

mina’s first audition! (ft. sphere)  performing “really don’t care” by demi lovato (0:20-1:20) dancing+charisma (ft. singing for proof of charisma)  outfit (tw : slight flashing lights bc link is a gif) 

she didn’t expect a callback at all. let alone from the sphere entertainment. as she filled out her form, all she could think about was how she was possibly risking something. she doesn’t even know what it could be, but she knows that she definitely wasn’t expecting this outcome. even if the interview went well for her.

she’s texted chungha and gahyeon about the news, the former being someone in the company as well as someone who she knew she could depend on and the latter being the person to even suggest auditioning for this in the first place. she debated telling her other friends about it. hell, she debated telling daniel about this. but she holds it back, not wanting to disappoint both him and herself with the possibility of even being in the same entertainment company with her. hell, she’s trying to stop herself from thinking about how she could possibly be in the same entertainment company with the first person she texted about it.

after ten solid minutes of her freaking out over this (with an additional 5 minutes of her stressing out over how her family was going to react to this) she opens her laptop to look up choreographies that she could do for the audition. she obviously was going to do something involving dance. that was a given for sure. she debated on whether to do something for singing or rap but she ultimately decided on something singing related. while she has gotten better in her rap skills, as shown by her rapping to songs while in seoul traffic, she still felt a little more secure in choosing singing.

now was the hardest part: the song. she debates on choosing a song from an artist under the label, but she decides against it. she’d look desperate, especially if it’s a song by convex. so she decides against it unfortunately, even if she knew the choreos and the songs and raps by heart. she thinks long and hard as she finds herself looking through various choreography videos, ten minutes (...okay thirty) on watching cooking videos with a cat and mukbangs on the internet.

after an hour and a half later, she finally finds a dance that not only looks possible for her, but also with a song that brings her a wave of nostalgia. she’s not only confident about this decision, but rather excited. it makes her even go to her parents’ room in the evening while her mother is downstairs washing the dishes after dinner, knocking so that he could know.

“i have something to tell you,” she starts. “but you have to keep this secret. when i tell you, you have to promise you won’t tell mom. or anyone.”

he looks concerned and she can understand why. “it’s not something bad. i didn’t hurt anyone,” she says immediately. she clears her throat. “uh. do you remember when daniel came to tell us that he got casted into this company called sphere?”

“yes,” he slowly nods. “what about it?”

“um… so on the day i told you i went out to do studying with my friends, i lied,” she explains bashfully and she sees a little frown from her father. it’s expected, but she still couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. “i… did this interview thingy for getting casted into an agency because i really wanted to try it out and see if it gets me anywhere. and i… have an audition with sphere this week?”

the frown turns into a look of surprise. “why didn’t you tell me the truth sooner?”

“i didn’t even think i would get an audition,” she replies honestly. “if i didn’t, i’d just call it a day and continue with saying i was studying with friends. but i did! and i kinda want you to drive me to the station because i don’t want to jinx anything if i drive there on my own.” classic mina.

he nods his head. “i see,” he replies, his facial expression becoming more calmer. “when is it?”

when she tells him the given time of the audition, he takes a second to think. probably to try and recall if he had anything to do during that time. “i think i can drop you off the station and pick you up,” he replies. “just let me know when it’s over. can i tell your brother?”

she shakes her head. “no. i want it to be a surprise.” as he was always the one to surprise her. first with the mgas and then with him getting into sphere. she feels like it’s appropriate to be the one to surprise him this time.

“okay,” he replies with a little laugh. “no telling your mom or your brother.” his face goes serious though. “but if you do get in, you have to tell her as soon as you can. you know that, right?”

she nods her head. “i know.” her voice is soft, afraid of how she’d react to that, especially with the fact that mina has kept silent about it to her even now. she’s even telling her dad about it before her. she can’t imagine how her mom would react to it. “i will. i’m just… scared.”

“i know you are,” he sighs. “just know that whatever happens, god will always be there to help you get through it.”

the smile is genuine, even if it’s a small one. even if she’s not the most vocal about her faith (she has her mom to thank for that), she couldn’t help but find his words to be comforting. she obviously isn’t the best christian in the world, especially compared to her family. so just the reminder that he was… still with her was something she didn’t know she needed until now.

“thanks, dad,” she replies. “i’ll leave you alone now.”

and she leaves his room to go back to hers, a lot on her mind.

…

while she waits for her turn to audition, she makes time to give god a prayer. and it’s not exactly her first one of the day.

when she and her dad arrived at the station, they prayed together. when she got on the train, she said a quick prayer before she stuffed her airpods in her ears as she shuffled for a random song. throughout the ride, she skipped all sphere artists songs so that she could prevent herself from daydreaming about a future in that building with chungha and daniel… and the convex members.

and she makes a final prayer now, mentally saying it in her brain.

“hi god. it’s mina again for the third time today,” she starts it off. “i have my audition today and i know i already told you how much i really want this to go well. i worked really hard learning it for the past few days whenever my mom wasn’t at home. i also really want to be able to join the experience with my brother and chungha, who’s kinda like my sister.”

she pauses as she thinks for a bit, then continues.

“i’m not the best christian. but i really want you to help me out. even though my mom will be disappointed in me, i really want to do this because i don’t really know what else to do with my life.” and that was obvious. she even said it to the interviewer. “if i don’t get casted, please at least help me get another chance to prove myself in the future. preferably with sphere, but i’m really fine with any company.” and her mind wanders to another reality, but rather to the negative of it. “if i do get casted, please don’t let my mom be too angry at me. i know i don’t listen to her a lot, but i still love her. i just don’t want her to love me any less…”

“whatever happens, i know it’s for the best and i know you’ll help me get through it,” she thinks her final thoughts before she ends it with an amen and does the sign of the cross in a small subtle way so no one catches her.

…

baek jiyoung looks prettier in person than the pictures she’s seen of her. and with the fact that she is the ceo of sphere entertainment, it makes her all the more intimidating. she couldn’t help but feel as if she was in the presence of a literal queen. and this queen is responsible for the groups that she’s listed on her form. a part of her wonders if she’s seen that part of the form and if she did, that would certainly be a story to tell.

but she has to move her fangirling aside. this is an audition here. she needs to impress baek jiyoung and there’s no way she’s going to do that if she continues acting like a fangirl. she needs to act cool, even up to the dancing. of course, she’ll slip in bits of her personality here and there.

she feels pressure just from the gaze of the judges and the camera recording her, mentally telling herself to relax. she bows to the panel of judges. “hello, my name is kang mina,” she introduces herself, stating the obvious but it’s only to be polite. “today, i’m here to audition for sphere entertainment with me dancing and singing to really don’t care by demi lovato.” after she finishes, she gives a nod to the person who had her audio and gets into position, mentally calming herself down and trying to get into the mood.

it’s her first time dancing and singing in front of a crowd. to be honest, she was always used to doing the former. she only ever danced and sang when she was either alone or it’s kept in her memories from when she was a child. even if the song is in english, the language she always found most comfortable speaking in, this is still something new to her.

however, the thing about dancing is she feels the coolest when dancing for everyone else to see. the learning process for dances is difficult, she won’t deny. sometimes she dreads doing moves over and over again, but she has to in order to get them right. and once she gets it all down for the first time mixed in with facial expressions that display not only her mood but her confidence, she feels more powerful than she did before. so even if she didn’t have the most amazing voice, she hopes the judges at least acknowledge how passionate she was in dancing as well as her effort with singing.

the last time she’s performed was for speak up in may. she remembers how she was scared that she’d look awkward, considering it’s been a while since she’s actually danced in front of people at the time. but when it was her turn to dance to choreographies that she was taught, she doesn’t remember anything else but the absolute joy she felt doing it.

and even now, she finds herself smiling naturally as she performs, her nerves slightly bothering her less even with the people watching her. funny enough, it made her care less than she did before. of course she still wanted to impress the judges, but she’s confident enough that they’ll acknowledge it. and hopefully don’t get the wrong idea with the title of the song, since she did care about it enough to want to be casted. 

there were many reasons as to why she chose this song. one being the fact that this choreography looked challenging to learn and she was right when she found herself being both frustrated whilst learning it. however, the feeling of achievement is wonderful when she does moves that she never thought she’d be able to pull off. she didn’t know too much about waacking, other than the fact that it was a style she taught herself how to do whenever she could since she was sixteen. she knew it wasn’t something she was totally confident with, but when she sees herself do it in the mirror, she couldn’t help but be in awe that she did that.

not to mention, the entire dance matched with the song was something mina could imagine herself doing. she’s never had an ex-significant other (and with soobin, she doesn’t plan to), but she didn’t need a past relationship to understand the message of independence in this song. she remembers how twelve-year-old mina would often find herself smiling whenever she heard this song on the radio station, feeling as if she was on top of the world whenever she heard it. and whenever she was at home, she’d find herself listening to more of the demi album. even if she wasn’t really a fan of her anymore, she couldn’t help but have fond memories of that album and listening to this song even now brings her nostalgia.

it was fun. it was lively. it was her.

with good memories and her love of dancing, it was easy for mina to be with the music. she moves to each beat and tries her best to sing along with it, saving herself from singing the high “oh, oh, oh”’s in the chorus just so she could breathe. 

the rest of the chorus continues and she feels herself let go. she’s already young, but just singing along with the instrumental takes her back to a time where she didn’t have to worry about her future that much. sure, time then wasn’t perfect either. but the fond memories of vancouver enter her mind as she dances until the very end. her dancing slows down as she squat-kneels to the ground, eventually reaching the last “oh, oh, oh”’s on her knees with chest pumps. 

the song comes to an end as she gets to the final position of the dance, sitting on the ground on beat. “i really don’t care,” she sings while tilting her head to the side with a wink that feels natural now that she was performing. the song comes to an end and after a few seconds for the room to take it in, she stands up and bows to the panel. after expressing her thanks, she exits the studio, still trying to get off the high of performing.

the only instruction she’s told is to wait outside until auditions are over. so all she does is wait in anticipation… and, not gonna lie, a bit of hope.

[mahlerlove]

I'm gonna use the empty void in this website because here I don't have any connections to people in my daily life

I have issues concerning socialization. Lots of them.

I was born in Brazil, but moved to the US (California) when I was 2. I was learning Portuguese with my family, but when we moved, I had to basically start over with English. The cultural differences between Brazil and the US are huge, especially concerning a child's development. In Brazil, PDA is the norm. If you are a toddler, it's expected for people to talk to your parents AND you. There are a lot of social cues that are vastly different in either country, and US culture focuses on a very detached interaction between people. The only friends I had were the kids of some friends of my parents, and not only couldn't I communicate with them, but I also got bullied by them.

I was a toddler who didn't speak English, and what little Portuguese I knew was shunned even by the Spanish speaking teachers at every single school I went to. My family would have the police called on them because of PDA and existing as immigrants, and also because they couldn't understand, for example, why giving you preschool teacher a hug was enough reason to get their 3yo expelled. I changed schools about 20 times while we lived in the US. My sister, even though she was born in the US, wouldn't be accepted anywhere because of xenophobia.

We were set to live there for life. My parents had applied for US citizenships, and my father's contract was going to be renewed on October. Then 9/11 happened. In less than two months we had been deported and were back to our old house in Brazil without anything except a styrofoam box where we would try to keep some food while everything was being shipped by boat. We lived almost 2 months like that, while my father tried to get his old job back. It was awful.

My parents tried to enroll me in school, but the thing is: Brazil has a lot of practical jokes, especially between kids. I got expelled in a week because a kid slapped me as a joke and I, due to being raised in such a strong "do not touch anyone" policy, responded by beating them up. I didn't know any Portuguese, English is not used as a second language here, and my parents couldn't teach me anything because they were both struggling with unstable jobs and two kids (5yo me and 2yo sister).

In the US I had learned how to read very quickly, and my parents thought I wouldn't have any issues at school here. I ended up changing school half a dozen times, but finally settled in a school that used a different method. That school was hell. The class teacher would lock me in a closet at the back of the class so that I "wouldn't be a bad influence on the other kids". I got beat up daily, multiple times, by other kids, and more than once got physically assaulted by that teacher herself. She got me expelled two months from finishing first grade.

My parents were out of options. They had nowhere else to go. I still couldn't speak Portuguese well enough, no school would accept me or my sister, and even if I wasn't scared and hurt enough, telling them about the abuse wouldn't amount to anything because the school board would defend their own kids at all costs. I was 6, couldn't and wouldn't talk to anyone, and would pounce on anyone who tried to approach me.

The school that expelled me suggested a school for "special kids", where kids who had neurological, genetic, or developmental issues (sorry if these descriptions is offensive, I'm trying to explain this as best as I can). My parents took that advice and tried to get me enrolled there. The school didn't accept any kids younger than 7, but they went out of their way to help. I spent the three next months ina cupboard under a staircase talking and playing with two teachers who would try to find some time between classes to take care of me until I'd go to some sort of therapy. I still didn't have any friends, but I was finally able to speak Portuguese, and wasn't trying to beat up anyone who dared near me.

The next year I got into a 1st grade class, along with 5 other kids. Things were finally starting to go well. I started getting along with my classmates, but most of the time I'd isolate myself and read books. I wouldn't go out to play at recess, and they banned me from the school library when I refused to socialize. I was scared of playing with anyone because I didn't want to get bullied or hurt any of my classmates. I wouldn't establish any sort of friendship out of fear of someone getting hurt. I started going to boy scout meetings, and those were the only reason I lived for.

Two years later I changed schools again, and my parents hoped that then it would be better for me. When the board of the school I'd been attending explained to them that I would get compromised educationally and mentally, they accepted their recommendation and enrolled me in another school. It was even worse than before. I got bullied in every way possible because of the school I'd come from. I would be called r*tarded, filthy, and other stuff by my classmates, other kids, and staff. The only place I'd been even remotely happy was called a hospice by everyone around me, including other parents and teachers. My teacher would try to keep things under control, but when she got diagnosed with cancer and quit to treat her health, things only went downhill. I had my chest slashed open by one teacher's nails when she grabbed me to scream insults when I tried to defend myself from being beaten by four classmates during her class. It was the first time I planned suicide.

When I turned 10, I went back to the school I'd been expelled from. The first day of school my mother pulled me aside and explained to me that my teacher had threatened the school board to give me a chance in his class. He tried to include me at every time, and did whatever he could to keep me from harm. He was fired at the end of that same year under false pretenses and ridiculous accusations of not following the school's method. I would only speak three times a day: "Good morning teacher." "School was ok.", and "Good night".

I wasn't as lucky with my classmates as I was with him. The daughter of my former teacher at the school (the one who locked me in the closet) was in that class, and she made sure to tell everyone where I'd come from, and used that as an excuse to get everyone around to beat me. I got stabbed with pencils and had my clothes and hair cut with scissors. Again, it was hell. I had no friends, because nobody would come close to me, either due to prejudice, or for fear of getting the short end of the stick for approaching me. When my teacher got fired at the end of the year things got even worse. I had to bring two sets of clothes to school each day because I'd get thrown in a small pond at the back of the school every day, sometimes twice. The only place I could be a bit more free was at my scouts group meetings. I tried suicide for the first time.

The next year things started to change. One kid stood up for me and berated everyone in front of the class. The next day he tried to use that as blackmail to manipulate me into doing his schoolwork, and threatened to beat me up as well. He still beat me up. But his speech had some impact: I started to be left alone. I'd hide in the school library and read for hours on end after school while I waited for my parents to pick me up. Some teachers started helping me with schoolwork and I started to pick myself up.

The next two years steadily got better, but I could never trust anyone enough to call them my friend. The only place I was open enough to talk to people was at scouts meetings, and even so, I wouldn't hold conversations or let friendships develop because every time I tried to open up, I was forced to realize I never learned how to act or talk to people, and would have "weird kid" rubbed on my face.

During that time I went as a junior chaperone to a summer camp. That's where I made my first true friend after my time in the "special kids" school. She and I sat down on a riverbank and started talking about feeling left out. My first true friendship was made over a conversation about wanting to commit suicide. She is my friend to this day.

Highschool wasn't much better. Even if people were treating me well, nobody would stick around too much because of how "weird" I was. I did make some more friends. I came out during that time, and even with my family's support, it wasn't easy. The first three people I fell in love with were gone: The first one died of cancer at 16, the next one had a stroke when we were chasing each other, and lost all her memory, even her own name. The third one was one of best friends, and when she left for college she cut all contact with everyone, and I was brokenhearted and lost.

I chose to study Psychology in college. I studied hard to get accepted in a public university (in Brazil those are the best ones), and I moved 500km (a little over 310 miles) away. I was trying my hardest to start over and have a new life. I chose my course because I believed that some rotten apples don't represent Humanity as a whole, and I didn't want anyone to suffer what I've been through. I chose to be a therapist, teacher, or social worker the day I had my first class in that cupboard under the stairs.

College has given me the best moments of my life: I have friends, I have had relationships, I have finally been invited to parties, but to this day I still struggle with social interactions. I still can't connect with people, and I still get teased and ridiculed for certain mannerisms. I still feel better on my own. I don't think I've ever been loved, and I live with the little voice in the back of my head telling me it's all a farce to humiliate and hurt me even more. I have never felt loved, even by my family. I have never had a genuine connection with any of my partners. I have never felt truly accepted in any clique or group of friends.

I spend most of my time drinking, smoking, and trying to relate to other people in some sort of social setting, when I know it's all a temporary relief for this emptiness and detachment from other people I feel 24/7. Quarantine has been a relief and a curse.

Any type of rejection, any type of joke directed at me, makes me break in a cold sweat and hold back tears. Any type of interaction, whoever it may be with, feels fake and staged. I have no identity. Therapy has never helped me with this, because these therapists are never able to grasp how lonely I've been my whole life. Every single day I grow weary of other people, and I feel that I am a fraud. Every day I hate people a little more, and I hate myself for it, for making the decision to help others, for believing in a lie. I am living a lie told by me to myself.

[lynsunrise]

Sanditon, Sidney, Charlotte,my love

As time passes I feel like I just have to do something to emphasize the influence that Sanditon has on me. I simply feel that the time has come when it’s nearly a crime to be silent and not to tell how I feel about it. It is just my personal humble opinion. The way I feel. And. It is so hard to express one's feelings when they are so passionate but I want to try my best. That’s the least I can do to express my gratitude to all those people who brought Sanditon to life.

There are some spoilers in my text. I say this because to upset somebody is what I am most afraid of at the moment. So I have seen four episodes so far.

Let me then begin with the first episode. I will base my praise on my impressions that are as if carved in my heart and are always before my eyes. The moment when someone falls in love… I have read a few lines from an interview of the wonderful Theo James and I can remember that he was saying about that we always wonder how it happens, how does it happen – falling in love. Maybe Sanditon with its amazing cast and story can draw the curtain aside a bit and let us take a closer look at the one of the greatest mysteries of life that will never be solved. And thank God it will not.

The very first episode when Charlotte enters the Trafalgar House and sees that picture. What is it then that’s happening with us as well? I can say that I want to have the same picture on the wall in my home, a copy, to be able to adore it and feel constantly inspired. That picture of Sidney Parker is magnificent. Especially those eyes. They caught her eyes at once. It isn’t simply a picture of a “very good-looking” young man with that air of fashion, elegance, it is so much more. We cannot tell yet what but we know it. That person from the picture looks at you finding out everything about you but not saying anything about himself. In an interview there was said that Theo James makes Sidney Parker have the mysterious atmosphere when you never know what he’s really thinking and it is truly amazing because I keep thinking even of that picture and I think I can see a beautiful soul of the man but clouded with thick mystery. He knows everything about you, penetrates your heart, you know nothing about him but are drawn to his aura. 

And then the beautiful loveliest Charlotte meets Sidney, a real human, that very one from the picture. And the way she feels, the way she compares the real human to his image…

Here I must say that Rose Williams is just like a rose that began to grow inside my heart right away from the moment I saw her for the first time  because I didn’t know about her before Sanditon.  

Her loveliness is disarming, totally. Her intelligence, naivety, sincerity, her pure soul are everything! Charlotte is so unique. So unique. The brightness of her reacting to the world around her is adorable. Every smile is a gift.

And then she sees Sidney from the distance at first and then he comes closer and jumps out of the carriage and we all see the tall handsome man of such a statuesque beauty that it takes one's breath away. He is so alive! Lively, bright, witty, a bit sarcastic, abrupt but the most charming and attractive of all.  He is also gloomy, moody, pensive, thoughtful. He is sincere, he is elegant.

We can also see it at the ball, at the beginning. But we can only guess what is going on inside his soul. We see how unbelievably magnetic and handsome he is, like a burning dark flame, a dark fire that is impossible to avoid and so hard to see through. But at the same time his soul is so absolutely honest, boyish in a good way (when he at once begins to talk to Charlottte when answering her question), this combination of genuine interest and somber cloud around him. A self-made serious reserved man and a fiery passionate young one – two in one. This is a completely romantic combination.

Definitely. We are so lucky to be able to enjoy watching Sanditon. We, romantic people. Sidney Parker is the definition of the mysterious nature of the man, exactly the one who can thrill. Those expressive eloquent dark eyes and expressive eyebrows and that dazzling smile are capable of melting down an iceberg. Charlotte Heywood is the definition of a free heart, loving heart and her loveliness and sincerity are remarkable, and she is so beautiful ant true to her soul, I cannot imagine anyone else in this whole world playing her instead of Rose Williams. Such a Jewel, treasure, oh my God! And I cannot imagine anyone else on Earth besides Theo James playing Sidney Parker.

I keep returning to the second episode when we see Sidney appear on that busy street, and the atmosphere suddenly changes. Now I am able to think only of romance. He is there, talking to Tom, and we see how different the brothers are, and I cannot help noticing that in spite of all he has been through that hardened his outer shell of the heart there is always something so adorable and boyish in good ways in his whole atmosphere. Something so genuine. I guess he is the kind of person that “When he loves he LOVES, he cannot love by halves” and I suppose it is the same with Charotte. So I am so thrilled and excited about what might come next. And when she was apologizing to him because of her words at the ball I was staring so intensely at them, and when she said “think too badly of me” he was as if relieved because he maybe was beginning to feel too moved by her or so, and there he found a way to distance himself but I may be mistaken. I see in him something so adorably vulnerable and painfully vulnerable too, especially it was easily seen in his eyes, written on his face at the end of the painful and beautiful episode 4. The way he was looking at her, so shocked I shall never forget. His eyes when she said the word “slavery”…I felt a pang in my heart.  He was so hurt. So hurt. If only he could then explain everything to her but it couldn’t be.

So far, the episode 3 gave us the most blessed happy moments of theirs. And I can say that I have already watched each a hundred times. The beginning is a masterpiece, we see that picture again and this time it is like Charlotte's confidant in what she saw at the coves and there is something in her eyes…I do not even know how I should name that emotion. Something so secret, subtle, tender, infatuating. When the passion was far more hidden but by being so it was unbelievably strong, genuine if we speak about Love... This scene. Something like a rare diamond that by being discovered shined dazzlingly. Something so truly human, beautiful, mysterious and inspiring. True sensibility, it is so powerful, so charged with sensualism. When she shares the secret yet unknown to herself with those eyes of Sidney…

This is most romantic, teasing for the heart and amusing how they meet during that day. And then that accident where they get to know each other better and be amazed once again. Then the splendid witty dialogue of theirs. I am swept off my feet by its chemistry and intensity. Incandescenting. Beauteous. You look at them and smile and screw up your eyes because they are bright like the Sun. And other moments…And of course that stroll along the beach. Unforgettable. The impression from this scene will never vanish from my heart. Especially that smile, “Admiral Heywood”…. Also the voices… I cannot find enough words to express how I adore this beautiful delicious British accent. Especially when I hear the voice of Theo James. Actually I am listening to all actors with the utmost admiration, the language is like a sweet melody. English is not my native language, and I try my best to express my great admiration for it.

I enjoy, savour every dialogue, every line, scenery, costume, glance.

There is such a wide variety of beautiful things for eyes to notice, look at and admire, examine.

The landscapes and even the weather, even the coolness of the air, all is perceivable. You close your eyes and in a grey cold windy evening imagine walking along that sandy shore. And if Charlotte is walking there shivering with cold, the contrast between the cool air and the fire of a kiss is head spinning and breathtaking, and no cold can compete with the fire of that kiss…If it could be there, near the sea... But it is just my fantasy…the way the film influences my thoughts…

When I am watching Sanditon I feel absolutely “safe” because I know I feel the presence of this solid Script like a guardian standing behind it. And I know we are in good hands. This is such a relief. When you can rely on the perfect script.

I also adore the brilliant splendid sense of humor that we can see coming from many characters, it is as if they are radiating it without even intending, it is the way they are. For example when Tom Parker pretended to be seriously impressed by the impropriety of Arthur's conduct at the table when the latter took the famous pineapple…And Charlotte and Mrs. Parker couldn’t help laughing, smiling. It was adorable. 

The sincerity I can see in every scene. True adoration, surprise, infatuation, admiration.

I feel that I will rewatch the series over and over again to be able to discern all possible details not only in human emotions but in the historical atmosphere of the Regency period. Through the series I will understand it better and feel like living in it for a moment. Studying all the wonderful details. All is created with such historical accuracy, care, love and knowledge!

Those eyes of Sidney when he said “Forgive me” in the third episode are forever in my heart.

These beautiful lines, this amazing script. My head is full of the dialogues from the film, each intonation, each lowering of the voice is imprinted on my mind as if a design on wax. Sanditon imprinted a kiss of Love and fascination on my very soul. On the core of my heart.

Thank you!