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sokayisaidiot · 4 years ago

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Dream SMP Assumption #7

Today’s topic: Everybody is suffering and you know it.

Please DO NOT read if you’re uncomfortable with the themes of death, depression and suicide. It’s a very complicated theme. I did NOT study it and do NOT know some aspects of it. I just go off the things I saw in the smp and made my own theories about it. If you’re even slightly triggered by this, please stop and do NOT try to read it. Please do NOT put yourself in some kind of uncomfortable zone.

Please do not. Thank you

(This is all assumptioning from the fictional world of dream smp)

(Heavy spoilers on the resent events)

(Also just assumptions, when you know something, you can always drop it :))

(Mainly around the lmanburg way, sadly need to learn more about badlands ): )

(This Series is created by another person, that’s just too fuckin lazy to move her butt)

Trigger warning today:

Suicide thoughts

(PTSD)

Depression

War

Child Neglect

Betrayal and Trust Issues

Death

Lets get this straight, no one is pure evil just because. Everybody has something happening and BOOM, finished chaos and sadness and strange behavior and aggressiveness and- You get me? Good. I will take on EVERYBODY who says that a person in the story didn't suffer. I aint a Apologist either. I just want to make some things clear who suffered how. Understand? Good.

Stop saying “[Character] didn't suffer!” Hell yes somehow everybody, close in the lore, fuckin did.

LET’S GET STARTED

__________________________

Tommyinnit

Lets start with one, who should be pretty obvious. Tommy. In my second Assumption, I explained symptoms of PTSD and Depression.

He was never really trusted by any point

Was just as used as Techno, because who had Tommy controlled was pretty powerful

He was exiled by a country, he HELPED saving MULTIPLE times

He saw his brother get killed by his father

He experienced so many deaths (Tubbo’s, in the final control room, Schlatts,

He lost his pets

He lost his belongings

Has to be on edge constantly

Gets accused by someone and then MOSTLY EVERYBODY believes, it was him

He isn’t really taken seriously

He gets seen as power-hungry person

People literally having him on the Hitlist

He nearly saw his best friend dying, on a mission, that was started by him

His older Brother, who he has an confused relationship with, doesn't even want to be revived.

Lost his brother to insanity and had to sit in the FRONT ROW of this spiral

PTSD

Depression

Suicidal thoughts

Betrayal

next to no one on his actual side

got left by almost everyone

was stuck on a island with an amnesiac ghost, who is a shell of his older brother

gets told his comfort items he had before everything else didn't matter

constantly has to live on the edge because he runs around with one just fuckin heart

Tubbo

Next to Tommy, he also suffers from PTSD, Depression and Suicidal tendencies. And that doesn't mean you kill yourself. It means you are too careless to give a fuck. And that can happen. TUbbo was way too easy to give up his OWN LIVE for something his best friend has passion in it.

He got publicly executed in a place HE DECORATED by someone he considered his Allie

Had the burden of Presidency on his YOUNG shoulders

The People who had to teach him about it, were also there for the tyranny

Got constantly considered a pawn, a throwable item

The adults use him as a figure head and proceed then to use him

He HAD to exile his best friend, or Tommy would have died sooner than ever

PTSD

Suicidal in a way of being okay for dying

Depression

Betrayal

Never gets taken seriously

Gets over-spoken a LOT

GETS COMPARED TO FUCKIN MANIACS OFTEN

Didn’t get nice words after his manipulator told him down, just SILENCE

He nearly died

He heard

Got left by everyone, when they didn't see anything in this place anymore

got told by his best friend, that the discs were more worth than him

As Tommy, he is always on the edge of death

Technoblade

Techno is one of the most powerful people here on the server. No doubt about it. However, if someone, even a God, tries to refuse they have feelings, it’s impossible. And those feelings, when they get something terrible done to them, get hurt.

BETRAYAL

Loneliness

A bloodlust he sometimes seriously can't control, no matter how much he tries

His best friend (Wilbur), died before his eyes

He thought he could trust his (little brother figure) friend

Gets used often for material

betrayal

Has a hard time understanding his feelings

Gets talked over

Is socially avoiding talking

Gets seen as a bad guy many times

Trust issues, yay!

Also BETRAYAL

has at least some people who want to kill him

Wilbur Soot

Our favorite maniac! Yay! We can all see how he fell from a proud Leader of a family to an lost in himself man, with nothing left to loose

Had to countdown his brothers death

Was killed by his father

His OWN SON disowned him

He wasn't able to get help, especially not from his younger brother

His Allies were not really trust worthy

He got betrayed by a close comerade

His dear Brother was sometimes really chaotic

He had to lead an army to war, not one, but two times

He lost the election

He had to run away from a country he helped create

Had a hard time with this father (with how it’s shown, that he maybe was neglected and had to raise Tommy)

Ranboo

Our favorite Memory-Minutes-Boi! I think EVERYBODY in this community will protect him

His first days on the server were pure Chaos

Had to see a person, he considers a friend, being rotten away and not being able to do anything about it

A sister figure who just went angry

He isn’t trusted by anyone really

He knows things others don’t

ALSO LOSING YOUR MEMORY AND HAVING CONSTANT MEMORY LOSS FUCKIN SUCKS, TRUST ME

Has serious issues

GETS TALKED OVER

Is often forced to take a side, even if he's against it

Phil

He has a hard time. Especially with the death, failed resurrection, disowning one of his son, he didn't got even close to. Being

Also on the edge of death every day

Was in the end peer pressured into killing his own son

Suffering from the loss of his son

Couldn't help his youngest son in exile, because he thought Tommy hated him

Wasn’t there for L’Manburg glory days

was ridiculed in his house arrest

Dream

Of course, we all know how mad he is now and shit, but you gotta think, he has some points here, that are infecting his behavior LARGELY

His friends left him, without considering helping him

He had lost his dear pet before

He actually wanted peace, but fell into the fun of destruction and chaos without someone knowing or helping him

He is homeless

Probably, he is a old being, that already suffered for millions of years

Sapnap

He’s actually one of my favorite Characters and I think we know he has a place in here.

Third wheels a l o t

Constantly being referred as the THIRD person, who isn't important

Fought his friend, who took the side of a child

Said friend had one of his beloved fishes by his side the hole time

Said Fish got thought as dead

Fundy

Some of you guys forgot how sad actually Fundy’s character is. He IS one of the most hurt characters. And he gave up hope

constantly being talked over

disowned by his hole family

GREW UP IN OLD L’MANBURG, WHICH WAS AT WAR

doesn’t think he is a part of a group

had to disown his father, to help fight a tyrannt

Got babied his whole life

His dead father is still running away from their problems

Doesn’t know where his mum is

Lost his home so often

Nihachu

Actually the person I watched for the first long time as in the SMP

Again, being talked over

Doesn’t get taken seriously

Lost her Best friend (Wilbur)

Got betrayed by her friend, Karl, by him selling their Land to L’Manburg

Gets used as a hostage or Maid in Distress, even when she isn’t

Got her pets killed

Then constantly being used for her niceness

Jack Manifold

He has a pretty big Role now, and he's very VERY angry. And you might ask why

Got left behind by his country

doesn’t get taken seriously

Got his most powerful items removed in one thing

His land somehow is near a crater

got told he didn't suffer somehow

Went to mf hell

Quackity

Quackity, despite his funny demeanor, he's one of the hurt character

with him staying with Schlatt, he had a uncomfortable relationship a long time

got killed by the festival

somehow helped organize the death of a child

Said kid helped a revolution against him

he helped a tyrant come to power and will probably never get it live down

fought for a country so often, but, two times, it got exploded in front of his face

had to face war, also in a young age

Eret

Our favorite King is here too! Yes, he may have started the distrust spiral of Eret, but somehow, someone would still have led them to the FINAL CONTROL ROOM. Somehow History will always be happening.

Had one of the hardest time, getting forgiven

Was never really given a chance

got accused of something

gets used as a pawn

He has shown often regret

got left alone

I think we all can say they are just having MULTIPLE communicate, trust and self worth issues. Like goddamn, Puffy, please help them, you’re one of the only sane people in the lore-

#Dream SMP #Quackity #Wilbur Soot #Tommyinnit #technoblade #tubbo #Philza #Nihachu #Fundy #Eret #Jack Manifold #Sapnap #Dreamwastaken #Ranboo #mcyt #dream smp assumption #Dream SMP Lore

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laughing-with-god · 5 years ago

Note

QQ has me shaking in my boots ✊🏻👏🏻 but I’ve had a lingering question for the last few days; if the rest of the BTS members were in QQ, what districts would they be from? Love your work 🥺❤️

oh my god, okay here me out; an alternative Quarter Quell Fic were all past victors must play again and all the bts members are victors who come to play the quell but they somehow all become yandere over Y/n.....Lemme know if that’s something ya’ll would like to read. Anyway, here ya go;

(Btw I’m gonna base these profiles on the crackhead idea I stated up above, except I’m not going to do Jungkook and Tae bc they’re already in my Quarter Quell Fic and their games are being played right now so I don’t feel right doing profiles for them...it’ll deadass confuse me.)

BTS as Victors (Hunger Games AU)

Kim Seokjin- District One (Luxury)

Jin originates from district one, most would say that he figuratively hit the birth lottery by being from this district.

The first district is essentially the crown jewel of the capitol, it’s by far the most favored. The main job of district one is to provide the capitol with all luxury items, so most people make their money by creating jewelry and makeup. (Both of which are in extremely high demand in the capitol, so 1 is by far the most economically flourishing district.)

Jin never had to suffer food outages or abuse by peacekeepers because of 1′s good status with the capitol. To further his prosperity, Jin’s father was actually the mayor of district one.

Which makes Jins’ reaping all the more scandalous.

There was a rumor that Jin’s father expressed sympathy towards the damaged and less favored districts (11 and 12).So when Jin’s name was reaped, people suspected that the system was rigged and Jin’s name was going to get called out either way. Because after all, how would the capitol keep a loud-mouth mayor in check? By putting his son in the games, of course.

No one volunteered in fear of interfering with the capitol’s plans and getting in trouble.

However Seokjin fancied himself an actor and practically skipped to the stage with a big grin on his face, announcing his name proudly and even stating that it would be an honor to compete on behalf of his district.

His strategy was to get on the good side of both the audience and the gamemakers. Unlike other tributes who sometimes couldn’t help the look of terror they had, Jin made sure to constantly look happy and would even compliment the gamemakers in his interview by saying things like, “This game is going to be the best one in years, I could already tell.” “I caught a glimpse at the makers during my assessment and let me tell you...they’re not playing around this year.”

Because of this Jin wasn’t the target of any foul play or natural disasters bc the makers held no ill will towards him, if anything a lot of them actually wanted him to win.

He earned himself many fans and thus sponsors, mainly due to his good looks and partly due to his surprisingly goofy nature.

Jin was always sure to keep his attitude light. He constantly made jokes and did impressions in the arena, showcasting his humor bc the last thing he needed was to be painted as the bad guy. His number one rule was to always keep his fans satisfied. That kept him alive.

He stuck to the career alliance; teaming up with his district counterpart, two and the girl from four. He stuck with them because he knew he would need the numbers and the supplies. But a bit more than halfway through the games, when the careers took down all the main threats, Jin zipped up all the tents that his sleeping allies were in, took a good amount of supplies and set the camp on fire; effectively killing the career pact.

For two days after that he wandered alone but was having trouble with basic survival skills. Unlike more than half the tributes, Jin grew up in a city with no true sense of nature. He was struggling.

That’s when he came across a boy from 11 and a girl from 7. They both were rather weak and Jin offered them protection in exchange that they let him stay in their hideout with them. But when 11 and 7 were under attack, Jin fled and let them be killed.

Jin eventually had to go against the last tribute standing; a girl from 6. She was also frail and only lasted that long because of her hiding skills. Jin overpowered her and threw her off a mountain. Thus, he became victor.

He still is to this day one of the most popular victors and a really good mentor (although he mainly just advocates for having allies, using them, then killing them before they can kill you.)

because of his good looks, he is often sold off to elite women and men for a night with a handsome victor. Jin has no choice, it’s the only way he was able to make the president forgive his father. (Think of Finnick Odair).

Choice of weapon; spear, betrayal (all his allies will eventually end up killed by him)

Arena

Min Yoongi- District Six (Transportation)

District Six is responsible for all methods of transportation the capitol has. The hovercrafts, the high-speed trains and advanced cargo ships are all products of 6.

Citizens from six are heavily oppressed by the peacekeepers. Although not as poor as 11 or 12, they are one of the more rebellious districts. It’s also the largest district and the most unstable, lots of the population suffer from a morphling addiction which is party responsible for the citizen’s disobedience.

Yoongi came from a lower middle class background, raised by a single working mom who fell victim to the morphling epidemic. Needless to say she was very absent from his life.

Life at six is so bleak, when Yoongi’s name was reaped his first thought was ‘well, at least I won’t die in this shit hole.’

He was very numb due to shock so he appeared very aloof when he went up to the stage; a total contrast to his counterpart who was bawling her eyes out.

He managed to keep this stoic act up for the entirety of his time in the capitol, his thought process was that he never wanted to give the capitol the satisfaction of seeing him break.

He mainly enjoyed all the food and luxuries the capitol had to offer, thinking that he had no chance of winning and might as well enjoy his last days.

It wasn’t until his interview where even the host forgot his name that he realized that he might have a secret weapon under his belt; no one knew who he was, he was forgettable, someone who other tributes overlooked and even underestimated.

He went to his mentor with this revelation and was told to go the ‘Joanna Mason route’.

Ie; play weak and stupid until there’s only a few tributes left, then release your inner crazy and kill them all before they ever even saw you coming.

Yoongi figured it was better than nothing and decided this as his strategy.

Yoongi had no help of sponsors or allies, all he had was himself. But that’s the way he wanted it.

He hid for more than half the game, his small stature making it easy for him to hide into small nooks and crannies. He survived mainly on small plants, insects and any rainfall he was able to get.

It wasn’t until he witnessed someone die near one of his hideouts that he allowed his murderous side to snap.

It was a fight between a girl from 5 and a boy from 9. The girl had knives while the boy had an ax, the girl managed to get him in the throat and he fell over dead. After the girl searched his pockets for supplies, she turned around to stalk off, unaware Yoongi was only yards away.

Yoongi silently got out of his hideout, took the ax and ran up behind her before chopping her head off.

There was only four tributes left and Yoongi hunted them all down, tired with how long this game was taking and desperate to get home.

he managed to kill them all, the tributes being caught off guard bc of his excellent hiding skills

He became one of the youngest victors of all time, he was only 14.

As a mentor, he’s actually pretty absent.

Yoongi doesn’t like to get too close to the tributes because it becomes too emotionally crushing to eventually witness them die.

His general advice for them is to lay low and never draw any attention towards you, the factor of surprise is the ultimate weapon for those with patience.

Yoongi has never been the same since the games, he isn’t proud of it but he’s also become dependent on morphling; it’s the only thing that keeps his nightmares and depression away. (Like Haymitch, except Haymitch was dependent on alcohol and Yoongi is dependent on drugs)

He despises the capitol even more now, hating the fact that they made him a murderer and he was forced to play into the very game he promised to never have a part of.

He lives with that guilt everyday and doesn’t think he’s any better than the ruthless career kids he sees every year

He’s quite belligerent too. He is almost never given mentor interviews or screentime because he’s blown up one too many times that the hosts know to avoid him. (Think Joanna Mason and the one catching fire scene where she flips shit on national tv).

Weapons; hiding, ax

Arena

Kim Namjoon- District Three (Technology)

District three has some of the smartest tributes, and Namjoon was no different.

District Three is responsible for all the high-end technology the capitol has; the people may not be as strong as two or as flashy as one, but their intellect alone runs the capitol.

Kids from three are good at creating functional tools, codes, wires, ect. But sadly, these traits don’t translate well into the games given the clear advantage towards physical superiority over intellectual superiority.

Namjoon was determined to show the capitol how far a smart kid can go.

Like most tributes, Namjoon went into a little bit of a shock when his name was reaped.

He walked up, void of any emotion and avoided any eye contact with the district representative or the female counterpart.

When he was escorted into the room to say his goodbyes to his family is when he finally broke.

But his mother made him promise to do anything to get back home, she didn’t care how dirty he had to get she just wanted her boy to live

This encouragement/promise was enough to motivate him to become the last one standing, he didn’t care how gory he would have to get.

He utilized his mentor heavily, talking their ear off and asking countless questions. Soaking up any information/advice he could get, knowing it could very well be the difference between life and death.

His mentor advised him to choose the Beetee Latier strategy, telling Namjoon that if he just got his hands on some tools and put his mind to it he could be the most dangerous tribute in that arena.

During his training days Namjoon spent all his time in the rope stations, net stations and hook stations, knowing that his future plans would require him to be good with these skills.

During his interview, he hinted to the audience that he was very smart. He was careful to not make it obvious enough to make him a target of the careers but enough to raise the interests of the sponsors.

His personal score was also good, making the act of getting sponsors a little bit easier.

When the game began, he ran off from the blood bath but not too far. He stayed close enough to watch who left and with what supplies. With this knowledge, he began to track the people who had the tools he would need to play out his plan.

He would track these people very slyly, waiting until their guard was down to swipe their supplies.

With these supplies he would build traps and set them up for tributes to unknowingly walk into. His favorites were bear traps, snatching nets and digging up 8 ft deep holes then covering them up with debri for tributes to stumble into.

He managed to kill a decent amount of tributes before killing off what was left of the career pact.

However, Namjoon wasn’t able to avoid hand-to-hand combat forever.

When it came to the end, it was between a male tribute from 5, a girl from 2 and Namjoon himself. Both tributes had weapons while Namjoon didn’t.

He fought with them and got stabbed and sliced a good amount, but even with his fatal blood loss and fading consciousness, his brilliant mind came up with a plan.

He staggered over to one of his traps, making the tributes think he was just trying to run away when the truth was he was trying to lure them to their deaths.

They took the bait, got strung up into a net before being electrocuted to death.

The last words Namjoon heard before he blacked out was the head gamemaker announcing him victor.

Namjoon is now one of the greatest mentors of all time. Whenever it’s his turn to overlook the tributes of his home district the chances of 3 winning goes up 50%

He is very good at strategy and has even helped the gamemakers create certain arenas for future games.

namjoon teaches his students the importance of staying calm and sticking to a plan. “When kids are scared, starving and fighting for their lives they’re very easy to pick off. Utilize that.”

Weapons; stalking, traps

Arena

Jung Hoseok- District Eight (Textiles)

Hoseok was a victim of the reaping gamble. (The process in which kids will enter their names in the reaping bowl more times than required in exchange for food)

Hoseok is the oldest of four children, his mother died with the birth of the youngest child and his dad died years later due to poor health via the unlawful work conditions in the factories. (District Eight is responsible for all the clothes the capitol has, this means the vast majority of citizens work in factories. Eight is also very oppressed so peacekeepers beat citizens and hand out punishments often.)

Hoseok dropped out of school in order to help provide for his brothers and sister. He is the only one working and he refuses to let the second to oldest child drop out of school to help him. He just wants his siblings to get their education so hopefully they can end up with manager positions at the factories and wouldn’t have to suffer the awful conditions/abuse average factory workers go through.

Hoseok is used to putting his name in more times than needed. Of course it means his panic is through the roof when reaping comes but when the names are called and he’s not one of them, he walks away with a relieved heart and bags full of food for his siblings.

Hoseok depends on that food, because it saves him up to three weeks of salary and he can use that money to get his siblings some new clothes that they had to wait all year for. Along with some small gifts in order to make up for the birthday’s Hoseok wasn’t able to afford.

Since this was his last year of being eligible for the reaping, Hoseok made sure to add his name more than usual, hoping to get more food so he could spread out the money for even longer.

So in a way, when his name was called, he wasn’t completely surprised.

But he was heartbroken, realizing that in his effort to provide for his siblings he may have robbed them of yet another caretaker.

When it was time to say goodbye, he tried his hardest to be strong and promised them he’d come back.

On the train ride over to the capitol he was completely inconsolable, unable to sleep at the prospect of his siblings having to watch him die on national tv.

He went through the motions of the first days at the capitol, but it wasn’t until the training days begun that he was approached.

it was a girl from 10 and she was only 13 years old. She asked him if he had an ally and if he would be interested in working with her. Hoseok was about to say no when he fell silent, the girl reminded him so much of his younger sister that he couldn’t help but want to protect her.

They made an alliance.

And it was working rather well. Turned out the girl from 10 was very handy and knew how to keep her and Hoseok alive. The arena was a freezing arctic and she skinned polar bears in order to keep her and Hoseok warm, later cooking the meat for them to eat.

Most tributes that year died via freezing to death, very little fighting was done.

Not the career pact though.

They found Hoseok and the girl from 10, holding him down and forcing him to watch as they tortured her.

Eventually she died but he would never forget her screams for help.

This was enough to make Hoseok snap.

So he did.

Hoseok became a monster, broke free and killed the pact. There was only three (two boys, one girl), he stabbed one in the throat, strangled the other and tracked the fleeing girl down before holding her head under the freezing water till she drowned.

Hoseok won.

In a way he’s glad because now him and his family live on victor’s row and no longer have to worry about their next meal.

But his sanity will never be the same....

He is the kindest mentor, mainly because he knows that the majority of them won’t be coming back so he’s sure to be very nice and always offers to look out for their family when they eventually die.

Arena

Park Jimin- District Four (Fishing)

Jimin volunteered for the games, an act that was surprising to everyone and anyone in four.

It’s not that Jimin wasn’t strong, it was just that he didn’t seem like the type to hurt people and he was mainly just known as a really sweet local fisher boy.

People wondered how such an angel could even think of volunteering, much less actually win the games...

(Rumors even spread that he must’ve been suicidal or in serious debt, why else would he volunteer?)

But he strutted up confidently and announced his name, holding a certain benevolence that made him seem self-assured in his own ability.

Jimin was already acting like he won the games before he even got to the capitol.

He never really showed any anxiety or distress, he talked to the escort and mentors very casually....as if they were all old friends.

He also was extremely close to his designers/stylists, he allowed himself to get spoiled by the pampering and new clothes/makeup. (This also could’ve been part of his strategy. Most tributes could care less about their team but by Jimin becoming close to them, they most likely were more motivated to get him the best clothes, jewelry, makeup and overall helped him get more fans.)

Needless to say he became popular very quickly, he was by far the most attractive tribute and his laid back/flirty personality was infectious. For the first time ever a tribute’s concept was sex appeal, something that was unheard of for tributes to do because of their young age.

During his interview when asked about his strategy, Jimin just shrugged cutely and said “I’m a very lucky person, I doubt this will be all that hard.”

he buttered up the careers very nicely, they all basically just saw him as eye candy with lots of sponsors, not an actual threat.

Little did anyone know, Jimin was actually playing a very intelligent game that requires lots of manipulation.

His main objective was to stick with the careers until more than half the tributes were gone, then he would turn the careers against each other.

It would start off really slow and deliberate; going to one career and saying “This isn’t any of my business, but I heard (blank) talking in their sleep about offing you.” Or going to another and saying, “Don’t you think it’s weird how (blank) is acting? Maybe they’re thinking about killing us and winning this thing for themselves.”

He creates chaos and distrust and watches as they slowly turn against each other.

Eventually the careers would begin to kill each other, the alliance crumbling all thanks to Jimin.

Jimin would wait until only him and another career remained. At this point the career would realize that it was Jimin who destroyed the alliance...but it would be too late.

It was a girl career and although she was strong, she was no match for Jimin who dragged her to the swamp and held her head under water until the cannon sounded.

He would then kill the remaining two tributes, a piece of cake since he only kept the careers around to off the bigger threats, only weak kids remained.

Wins the game and becomes one of the most popular victors of all time. (Although it’s still a mystery as to why he volunteered, a lingering question Jimin has always refused to answer.)

Because of him a new strategy in the games was born; The Jimin game (ie; get in an alliance, use the alliance for supplies/food/protection, then when all the big tributes are gone plant a seed of deception into the allies so they all turn against each other)

Also because of him tributes began selling a more sexier side of themselves. (Esp tributes from four bc Jimin mentors them into it so that they can get more sponsors)

Jimin also frequents the capitol often, being an A-list celebrity and receiving special treatment whenever he comes around. Unlike Yoongi, Jimin fully embraced his role and is always ready to give out interviews or guest on shows.

he also sells himself to elite capitol women, not because he was forced to but because he enjoys the sex and gifts that come with it (sugar baby)

Although there is one catch to sleeping with the infamous Park Jimin.....you have to tell him a secret worth his while.

What he’s planning to do with these secrets....no one knows.

Arena

#bts

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genuflectx · 4 years ago

Text

4th Dimensional Being/OC - CH2

Full Length: 19,543

Chapter Length: 3,238

Main Themes: Other dimensions, tentacles, confinement, nsfw

Other Warnings: politics, "godly" behaviors, vomit, feeling of loss of autonomy, comparison to a toy

(all images in aesthetic board are labeled for reuse with modification or are mine)

Remember the entire story (including downloads!) is up for Patrons wink wink.... enjoy CH2 (WILL BE NSFW IN LATER CHAPTERS)

The 4DB Chapter 2: Gabriel

One moment she'd been processing letters and packages for barely above minimum wage and then the next moment she'd been processed into a cold research facility. Her body was exhausted from the day-and-a-half trip. And her mind? She was still only partially sure this was truly happening. All she really understood for certain was that something had spoken to her, and that something was being called a '4DB.'

The white-coat in the heels asked to be called Gale, short for Nightingale. Chris knew this was not her actual name. Regardless, Gale was currently the nicest person she'd met so far and she was the one to finally brief her... after Chris gave her own story, of course. But when Gale did eventually explain the situation to her Chris found herself slowly sinking into awe.

The 4DB had begun speaking to seven humans on Saturday, a mere three and a half days ago. Gale had even gone so far as to give Chris the list of names, as if they would have some meaning to her: Chrysanthemum Sain, Aaron Boucher, Morgan Airhart, Cole Artrip, Nathan Hunter, John Barker, and lastly the president's name.

“And it really just wants to study us?” She'd asked.

Gale had smirked a little and folded her hands up. “Make no mistake. We are studying it, too.”

However, the 4DB did speak to the staff as well. Just in short, stern bouts of command. Do this, do that, prepare this, prepare that. It had no concern for the staff. It just wanted its six human subjects in a secure location. Seemed that the scientists being on site were a compromise.

Chris tilted her head minutely, eyes squinted. “Six? But there were seven humans?”

That made Gale chuckle. “The president will of course not be joining us.”

“...Right.”

Chris was then told a limited amount of information about the scientists' studies. Since they had so little time to re-locate on-site the facility was currently understaffed. That meant, unfortunately, no real research had begun. Though no experiments had been conducted the group was able to conclude that whatever the 4DB was it was not traceable. There were no changes in temperature nor air pressure in any of the rooms which it had spoken, neither during nor after. As far as they were able to gather with their limited resources the creature was... just not there. No one could see it. No one could feel it. All they could do was hear it and that wasn't even recordable either, as it gave no sound waves.

“Wait wait. But it touched me,” Chris had interrupted, confused.

The look of joy upon the scientist's face was genuine. “And that's why you are so interesting. It hasn't touched any of the other subjects. Well, unless they've lied to us. And we've one last subject yet to arrive as well. We will see.”

Gale continued. Though they'd yet to learn anything meaningful that would soon change. After all, the subjects were nearly gathered and her skeleton team had been diligently working to outline experiments. With the factor of the unknown it was going to be a challenge, but everyone was steeling themselves. Whatever this strange god-like creature had to say, whatever it wanted to do, her crew would be in wait ready to record it.

In short, the scientists hadn't learned shit yet. If Chris hadn't been so exhausted she'd have been frustrated. Instead she had slumped down into her chair, confusion stuck upon her features, and then promptly yawned.

The last thing Gale did was stand abruptly, finally gather Chris's cell phone up, and then open the door to the hall. “Come on, get some food. You can meet your peers and then be shown to your room.”

So here she was, sitting in a too-big cafeteria poking at strange rations upon her little plastic tray. It was like high school all over again. Chris nibbled at something green. She supposed it was meant to be peas, but it was mushed up. Like baby food. She shuttered.

Suddenly another tray clanked against the cold metal table and Chris looked up to find Cole settling in. He smiled at her, way too wired considering how little sleep they'd had. It was probably adrenaline.

“Guess they couldn't get real food in on such short notice?” He complained. “Gotta be a grocery store within driving distance right? Geez.”

It was at least nice to see him again. It had felt like hours in that dim room. Gale was kind but it did seem like she had been watching Chris way too closely.

“Feels like we're animals in a zoo,” Chris mumbled, tired. She tried to eat some more and made a face.

The older man shrugged. “Guess they told you everything too! Don't know about you but I'm looking forward to this. Doesn't it feel like something greater? Like a calling? Hey, maybe we ought to say hello to those fellas,” he gestured with a nod.

Three men sat at a further table chatting. They'd hardly glanced at Chris when she'd been shepherded in, though the youngest had smiled at her. “That's okay. I just want to eat then go to sleep. Why don't you go talk?”

Cole looked at her in thought. Then he smiled and patted her shoulder amicably. “Don't be a stranger, stranger!” He stood up and moved away.

He was a nice man. Chris wondered if he had any children. He certainly hadn't had any family photos at his house. She sighed, blinking sleepily, and hurried to try and finish her food.

They waited and waited. Chris had finished her food nearly half an hour ago. Finally Gale came into the cafeteria with another woman at her heels.

“Everyone's together now! Great! Someone will show you to your rooms shortly.”

It was like a dormitory, with two beds to a room. Everything was clean and tidy, the walls and floor a glaring white. There was at least a curtain for courtesy, which could be used to cut the room in two. Some quiet men brought their bags for them.

The woman who'd been with Gale turned out to be the final subject and was meant to share a room with Chris. She was relieved that she'd not need to sleep across from a strange man. As they unpacked and made the room more cozy Chris gave some pleasant small-talk, though the other wasn't that receptive.

“You can call me Chris. What's your name?” She asked.

The other woman, who was currently unpacking a teddy bear, answered. “Morgan.”

Chris nodded and folded some clothes away. She didn't think she could do much of this before she passed out, but it made things feel less weird. She could imagine she was back in college. Or that maybe she'd just moved. Yeah, she'd moved across country to somewhere small and warm. A cozy beach house rather than a cold, cramped dorm. She'd left her old job behind and settled into an early retirement. If only.

“So uh, where do you work Morgan?” Chris continued. “I was told everyone here is from the government.”

“The DMV,” she said curtly, frowning.

Chris chuckled awkwardly. “Oh, haha, yeah.” She didn't know why she laughed like that. For some reason it just felt tense. “I work for the post office so I know a little bit of how that must be. Lots of customer service.”

Morgan nodded. “Yeah...” She paused then moved to pull the courtesy curtain. “Well. Goodnight.”

Chris watched as the curtain cut the room, stranding her. She sighed. That was fine, she was pretty sleepy anyway. It was time for bed. She found sleep a difficult bear to wrestle. It was so cold and foreign, and no one ever really got a good night sleep somewhere cold and foreign. She could not for the life of her get her feet to warm up. When she did sleep she did not dream.

They were awoken by a knock, a metallic creak, and a “Rise and shine!”

The morning started with breakfast. And then, one by one, each member of the waiting group was taken away into another office where they were made to fill out paperwork. When they'd leave the room they'd have a lanyard and I.D. around their neck. Chris was fourth to go. She caught glimpses of the word liability as she flipped through a stack of documents. That wasn't frightening at all.

Once everyone was locked in as a member of the facility, and each had their clearance cards, they gathered before a bolted metal door. Soon a man who introduced himself as Jay began speaking, the features of his face void and controlled.

“Today the 4DB wants to talk to each of you. Individually,” he looked up over his glasses. “We will be monitoring everything. You will have a microphone attached to your chest. However, our studies have proven that we cannot hear the 4DB through the recording equipment-”

“How is that possible?” Interrupted a young man. Chris could see from his I.D. that his name was Nathan; he'd been the one to smile at her the night before.

Jay's expression flattened and wrinkled, as if he'd had to deal with this particular subject for too long already. “We have theories and those are currently classified. Now, you will go in alphabetical order and have thirty minutes each.”

Morgan cautiously rose her hand like this was a classroom. “And... what if something goes... wrong?” She questioned.

Jay blinked, Then he said: “Let's begin. Airhart Morgan, you're first,” he unlocked the great metal door.

Her eyes went wide and she froze like a rabbit on the road. Jay nearly had to force her in. After all, she was under contract now. She signed the papers like everyone else- as if they had a choice. She had to do this. Morgan took tiny bunny steps inside. When she left the room thirty minutes later her eyes were downcast and lips a tight line. She didn't want to talk.

“Artrip Cole,” Jay called.

Chris's kind older acquaintance just about skipped to the door. As everyone sat in wait for his thirty minutes to be up, Chris couldn't help but feel like she was in a doctor's office, which was of course the closest thing to purgatory one may get. She imagined the white-coat Jay as a gatekeeper, his voice calling forward those to be judged by a scrutinizing doctor's glare. Cole returned just as happy as he'd entered.

“Barker John,” Jay called.

“Boucher Aaron,” Jay called.

“Hunter Nathan,” Jay called.

Chris had been waiting for two and a half hours now. Everyone who had already spoken to the creature had left the waiting room so she remained alone. She'd had enough time to conjure up some good questions, and every time someone else came from the room with a strange expression she added a question more. Nathan came from the door and silently left the room.

“Sain Chrysanthemum,” Jay called. “Last one up.”

She stood. She slowly made way to the door. She stopped there a moment, thinking.

“Go on. Don't have all day,” Jay nudged her back.

“Right, sorry,” she nodded, entering.

Chris watched the door close gently behind her. Then there, in the center of the room, was a massive neon pink square twice her size. She gawked, speechless, and all the questions she'd accumulated leaked from her brain onto the white floor.

“Chrysanthemum,” came that loud, near mono-tone voice. It rushed into her head yet sounded from every direction at once. “Good to see you again, though I have been watching.”

She didn't register what had been said and instead stepped tentatively closer to the square. Chris was so distracted by it that she hadn't even been bothered when the 4DB called her by her full name. “What is this thing? Woah.” As she tried to walk around the square it followed. No matter what angle she took it remained a flat, consistent shape.

“It is equipment. You may only see a piece of its face or its inside, and it turns as you turn. It records your voice and your movement, just as that little equipment on your chest.”

She lifted her hand, her eyes following the plain to its high top. It felt...strangely textured. Like a giant sheet of paper, but more solid or plastic. She'd expected it to feel smooth.

The 4DB, on its other end, tilted themself curiously. “You are the only one who has touched it. Are you not still afraid, little creature?”

Chris dropped her hand and backed away. “I... guess I am a little. It's impossible not to be a little afraid of something that can bend reality. You, uuugh,” she shuttered, holding herself. “Touched my insides. It was like feeling an eel wriggle around in there.”

“Tell me about your government,” it asked abruptly, changing the subject.

She rose her brows and stared at the pink square like it was an eye. “What, the president wasn't good enough for that? Heard you talked to him.”

“You do not ask a government to judge itself. You ask those whom it affects. You work for this government and were chosen from a pool of many,” it explained. “So you will tell me.”

Chris paced slowly, looking at the ground. There was something between the lines with what it said and it bothered her. Finally, she said with no small amount of fear: “Or what?”

The 4DB was taken back. They had not expected that particular response, despite the rivers of possible time before them. “Or what?”

“I'll tell you... or what?” She waved a hand. “The scientists told us only so much, and Heaven knows they didn't give us time to read those lengthy contracts and legal documents. I'm not an idiot. We're being forced here against our will, right? There really wasn't a choice for us to come here or stay. We can't leave,” Chris stopped pacing. “If one of us doesn't cooperate like you want, will you kill us, Gabriel?”

“My name is not Gabriel.”

Chris blanked. Then she nearly doubled over with laughter, tears budding at her eyes. “That- that- all that and you only get one thing from it?”

“...I am... for once... confused,” the 4DB admitted sheepishly. “Why are you laughing? You didn't answer my question.”

She wiped the water from her eyes and caught her breath, feeling somewhat less tense. Really, of all she had just asked the thing only heard Gabriel. It reminded Chris of herself. This creature did not understand the people it was studying at all, and she supposed that was why it wanted to so badly.

“You didn't answer mine either!” She shook her head and leaned on the wall, feeling much lighter.

The 4DB's many, many tentacles twirled absentmindedly, again and again around themselves like a pool of snakes. “Your planet, your universe, your dimension, is of some interest to retain. However... you are small. And there are billions more to see.”

She felt sort of dizzy now, as if the absurdity of the situation was hitting her all over again. Just like when the creature first spoke to her in that parking lot. Chris had to let her mind slow down before speaking, though Gabriel didn't seem to care.

“So you mean yes. Yes, if we don't cooperate you'll kill us. Maybe the whole planet too,” she sighed and rubbed a hand down her cheek. “What do you want from us so badly that you'd hold us hostage for a little information?”

“We are deciding if you are worth the space you occupy, little creature,” the 4DB explained, though there was far more to it than that. After the ranting Chris had done they nearly felt too guilty to admit that playing with tiny insignificant things was just fun. Like an ant farm. One could nurture the ants or one could drown then. Were the ants of the Earth worth nurturing? That was yet to be determined.

She drummed her fingers on her forearm. So, she'd have to prove her worth. That scared her. All she could think about was that dream she'd had when she'd passed out. Those tiny, tiny shapes jittering on a plain below her feet. How they screamed in confusion. How she'd crushed a building by accident as she fell through the world. Chris looked up at the pink eye sullenly.

“Well. I guess you answered my questions, so. Our government is a business. It didn't used to be, but it is now. I mean, well it was always sort of a business, but it also sorta used to mean more than that,” she stared off in thought.

“Continue.”

She sighed and drummed her fingers on an arm some more. “There used to be more trust in it I think. But it's gotten so inflated, so... off from what it should be that even more 'traditional' thinkers are thinking twice. I guess I'm not helping my people's cause am I?” She asked sadly.

The 4DB leaned in close, keeping their body just inches from crossing the plain. “So that is how you see your leaders. Now Chris, how do they see you?”

She furrowed her brows and chewed her cheek for a moment. Then she shrugged. “Well I work for them, technically. They give me benefits. They keep the lights on. But just like any other business if I were to, for whatever reason, lose that job, I would automatically lose those benefits.”

“Explain further,” coaxed the 4DB curiously.

She liked complaining about the government as much as the next guy but it was just way too much to unravel. Hell, it wasn't like she was an expert. Chris tried, but the 4DB always had just one more question. She'd explain what 'benefits' were and then suddenly the creature wanted to know why benefits were necessary at all.

“So if your government takes your job away your health is no longer provided for?” They scrutinized.

Chris felt like these questions were just digging her in a deeper and deeper ditch. She wanted the encounter to end already. “It's not like that everywhere. Most governments don't treat their people like that.”

“That is for the others to decide,” they said.

“Others?”

They nodded invisibly. “We work to gauge your species around the planet. As a whole. I am not the only one.”

Chris stayed quiet, thinking that over. So maybe she didn't just get the world marked for destruction. Even if she thought her own government was pretty shit most of the time, the other countries around the world would surely help humanity's cause. Maybe, on average, humanity wouldn't look so bad. Maybe the 4DBs would show mercy.

“Your time is up, the workers would like you to leave the chamber. We will talk again soon, Chris.”

She drummed her fingers on her arm and stared at the tall pink square. It gave her weird mixed feelings. Finally she straightened herself and gave a small smile. “Hey, you said my name right. Too bad, you're still Gabriel,” she winked and made for the door.

Though annoyed, Gabriel replied as the door shut: “If you wish.”

Go see chapter 3 (and the rest of the story) on Patreon, otherwise stick around and wait for it to go public :}

#terato #exophilia #monster romance #tentacles #monsters #4th dimension #flatland #monster lover #art #writing

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thedevillord-writes · 5 years ago

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Pandora - Sister

"A sister is both your mirror and your opposite"

-Elizabeth Fishel

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

"Did you see the episode last night?"

"Oh my God, it was amazing!"

"Takao-senpai is so hot when he's wearing that football uniform."

"He's so into you."

Matsuoka Haruko was popular. A high school senior, she spent a lot of her time establishing a position. She made sure to smile and greet everyone she met eyes with. She tried her best to include everyone in class for whatever activity. She would be the first to volunteer whenever someone needed help. Lesson notes, relationship advice, she had it all. Of course, it helped to be pretty and smart.

As student council president, she had always been really hands on, always making sure that events were organised perfectly and to everyone's liking. She listened to suggestions and opinions, and even when she did not agree, she would politely explain her own view and come to a compromise. She was the perfect liaison between students and teachers, always fighting for the best for her peers yet pleasing the faculties at the same time. On top of that, she was the top student in every class but never bragged about her grades. Instead, she would host after school study clubs and help those struggling. Blessed with looks, it was no wonder she became popular in school. Every girl wanted to be her, while every guy wanted to be with her. There was nothing more Haruko could ask for.

Except, there was.

"Oh wow, who is that with Mr. Watanabe? She's beautiful."

Those were words Haruko dreaded her entire life.

She had two sisters, one of whom she went to school with. While the two sisters led very different school lives, they were close. When Haruna started high school, Haruko made sure to tell everyone she knew about her little sister. They would have lunch together, and Haruko would share her experiences regarding which teachers to kiss up and which would let her get away with the occasional late homework. She told her which guys to avoid, though no one dared to bully the student council president's little sister. Haruko was protected from the very beginning.

Her other sister, however, was someone Haruko would preferably not be associated with. They were never close to begin with; they barely talked to each other when they were living under the same roof. Now that they were living apart, it only deteriorated their relationship. Haruko never saw her as a sister, just a selfish person who was willing to abandon her sisters. She lived a glamorous life while Haruko and Haruna lived in their childhood home, a two-room apartment. Everything she wore on her person was branded, while Haruko had to think twice before getting that one dress on the more expensive side.

Matsuoka Haruka was someone she did not want in her life, yet somehow, here she was.

~.~

Sisters were supposed to be close.

They were supposed to sleep in one tiny bed despite having separate rooms. They were supposed to do each other's hair and make-up, and share clothes. They were supposed to stay up late at night with ice cream and popcorn, talking about the crushes they had. But the Matsuoka sisters never did any of those things.

Haruna was ten years younger than Haruka was, they never really had the opportunity to do sisterly things because the eldest was too busy acting as a mother. Still, they had a relationship that would be considered close by most. However, there was always still distance between them, Haruka felt. There were times when she did not understand her younger sister, and times when Haruna would treat her more like a parental figure rather than a sibling.

With Haruko, however, it was a different story. They never got along, even when they were younger. There was a period of time when they lived separately and when Haruko was brought home, she resented both their mother and Haruka. She shut them out, of her room and of her life. When their mother passed, she did not shed a single tear but instead, insisted on living apart from Haruka. Her exact words were 'I cannot stand living with you for another second'. It was the one relationship Haruka desperately wanted to mend yet could not find a way to.

Sitting across from the sisters, even Miss Suzuki could tell the sisters did not get along from the tension alone. Still, she had to do her job and cleared her throat, opening up Haruko's file before looking to Haruka. "It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Matsuoka," Miss Suzuki smiled. "Haruko is an excellent student, as you probably know. She's doing extremely well in every class, and she's the student council president. She is also actively participating in activities. Her application would definitely look good. Students who do so well in school usually get a lot of support from home."

"I don't," Haruko stated. "We don't live together. I don't even know why she's here."

"I work a lot," Haruka explained. "I know I should make time for them but my schedule is crazy. I'll do better from now, I promise."

Haruko rolled her eyes, leaning back in the chair and folded her arms, looking away. Those were words she said a lot, 'I'll do better from now'. Those were words their mother used to say all the time. Haruko never believed in them, however. They were always empty words and they would always be empty words. That was not changing because they were coming from Haruka.

"Let's talk about Haruko's choices," Miss Suzuki said, changing the subject as she sensed the tension thickening. "I see here she wrote that she'd like to apply to the law course at Tokyo University and Kyoto University. Normally, we would suggest our student to apply for a back up but with Haruko's grades she'd have no problem getting into either university as long as she does well at the acceptance exam."

"Oh really? That's amazing."

"Don't pretend like you care," Haruko muttered. "Are we done now? Can I go now?"

"Well, if there's no other questions then I sup-" Before her teacher finished, Haruko got up and left. This was her first time being rude to a teacher but she could not help it. Whenever she was around Haruka, this side of her would come out subconsciously.

Giving an apologetic nod to Miss Suzuki, Haruka went after Haruko. Haruna was waiting just outside the classroom and hurried after her two older sisters when they came out. Catching up with Haruko, Haruna linked their arms together and looked back to Haruka with a wink before turning her attention on her other sister. Since she could remember, Haruna had always been caught between her two older sisters. She was always forced to choose a side but she could never, only doing her best to make sure that everyone got along.

"Haruko-nee, aren't you hungry? I'm hungry," Haruna sighed, leaning her head on Haruko's shoulder. "I really want to try the steak at that café near our school. All my friends have been except me! But we can finally go today because Haruka-nee is here! She'll pay and we can have anything and everything we like."

Haruna's intentions were so obvious that even a blind person could see right through her. As much as Haruko hated Haruka, there was no way she could ever say no to her little sister. She knew that whatever happened between her and Haruka had nothing to do with the innocent Haruna and though she was often caught between them, both older sisters tried their best not to involve the youngest in their disagreements.

Begrudgingly, Haruko agreed to having a meal.

The three sisters made their way to the café Haruna wanted to visit and ordered a table full of food. Eager, Haruna started digging into the food while the two older sisters sat opposite each other awkwardly. If she were to be honest, Haruka could not remember the last time she sat down with Haruko and had a proper conversation. Every time they tried to talk, it would always end up in an argument with the younger storming off. Picking up her cup of hot chocolate, Haruka decided to make conversation anyway, despite knowing the outcome.

"So how have you guys been?" Haruka asked.

"Same as always," Haruko replied, not giving her much to go on.

"Any interesting thing going on in school? Crushes?"

"Haruko-nee has a lot of guys after her. Pretty sure the basketball captain asked her out last week."

"Oh really? That brings me back to my school days. I went on a date with the basketball captain too."

"Yeah, and the football captain, the fencing captain, and the archery captain. Aren't you sleeping with your current boss too? We all know you're a slut, no need to advertise to us."

With Haruko's little outburst, the atmosphere was brought back to awkwardness instantly. Their relationship was never good to begin with, but ever since Haruka started working, it worsened. For some reason, Haruko seemed to think that she was using her body to get her jobs and anything else she wanted in life. It was one of many reasons why she refused to associate herself with Haruka, and no matter how she tried to explain Haruko just did not want to listen.

"I heard from your teacher that you're having a festival at the end of the year, are you guys involved in any activities?" Haruka asked, changing the subject.

"Oh yeah! My class was planning on a café, I was thinking maybe I could borrow your old work uniform."

"Absolutely not," Haruko snapped. "You're not wearing that slutty outfit for some festival café. Just because she paraded herself, doesn't mean you have to."

"Stop it!"

Both Haruka and Haruko were stunned.

Haruna never raised her voice. She was always the docile one, the one calming everyone down, but never the one initiating an argument. Even if you tried to, she would never give you much to go on and it was impossible to carry on an argument when she would just look at you with her puppy-like eyes and a little pout. She would cry in uncomfortable situations, perhaps complain here and there, but she would never raise her voice and yell back. This was the first time.

"Stop talking about Haruka-nee like that," Haruna said, already calming down but looked at Haruko with stern eyes. It was a look neither older sisters were used to. "Do you think she wants to work at a maid café when she was just sixteen? She had no choice. Do you think she really wants to be working almost twenty-four-seven now? She had to give up on her own dreams to take care of us. Yeah, she's not around all the time but she's taking great care of us. Everything you want, she'd give you. She'd go to all lengths to get you the moon if you said you wanted it."

"Then get me the moon."

"Shut up! Do you even hear yourself? She's doing her best and you're being ungrateful."

"It's okay, Nana," Haruka said.

"It's not okay!"

"It's okay," Haruka smiled, reassuring her once more. There was not much she could do to change Haruko's opinion on her though she felt comforted knowing that Haruna saw and appreciated all her efforts. "Actually, I have to be somewhere else now so I'll just pay the bill. You guys enjoy." Not wanting to sour the situation further, Haruka picked up her bag and left the café after paying the bill.

It hurt her. It hurt her deeply to know that her sister thought so lowly of her. It hurt to know that Haruko would prefer not seeing her for the rest of her life.

As she was leaving the café, a car parked on the other side of the street caught her attention. It was too fancy a car to belong to residents around the area, and the owner (whom she unfortunately knew) of the car was leaning on the bonnet as if he had been waiting for her. She used to feel irritated and frustrated to see him though for once, she felt relieved to see a familiar face. Spotting her, Yosuke stood up straight and waved though Haruka crossed the street and wrapped her arms around him instead.

Shocked, Yosuke was frozen on the spot.

The first thought that came to mind was the woman hugging him was most definitely not Haruka. She was simply a woman who looked like Haruka. Unfamiliar with the situation, Yosuke found himself petting Haruka on her back though he had no idea what he was comforting her for. Pulling away after half a minute, Haruka looked up to him. "Do you drink?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you drink?" she repeated.

"Um...yeah."

"Good. Drive me to a supermarket."

~.~

Following Haruka around the supermarket, Yosuke was fascinated at every turn. He insisted on pushing the cart, walking behind her and picking up almost everything they came across. He never had much of a chance to experience common life, which was why he felt so attached to Haruka. She was constantly letting him experience new things, like shopping at a supermarket where you got to pick out your own fruits and the next aisle sold electronics. He felt like a child at an amusement park for the first time; every corner sprung something new and interesting at him.

Although she knew exactly what she wanted, out of habit, Haruka walked down every aisle. She did a little grocery shopping first, answering Yosuke's trivial questions at the same time. Why was she hitting the watermelons before choosing one? Why did she sniff the mangoes? Why did she put the fruits in another basket when they had a cart? It was intriguing to see how excited Yosuke was, as if he was a child. At the same time, it highlighted the difference between them.

"Wow, can you not get something better?" Yosuke asked, picking up the bottle of wine Haruka put into the cart and made a face. "I can get you a bottle that's worth like two hundred of this."

"Well guess what? I'm paying, so we're having the wine I want. And I want to drink cheap wine until I fall asleep tonight."

Still making a face, Yosuke put the wine back into the cart and followed Haruka as she turned onto the snack aisle. She picked several bag of crisps, some chocolate, and sweets dumping them all into the cart. Walking in front of the cart, she had her hand on it and pulled Yosuke along as she turned onto the next aisle where she picked two bottles of soft drinks.

With everything she needed, they finally went to pay. Once again, Yosuke could not help but be captivated by the simple conveyor belt that brought their items from one end all the way to the cashier. He even asked if he could bag the items because it seemed like fun.

Once they made it back to Haruka's apartment, she wasted no time in preparing the snacks and making drinks for both of them. Although she did not drink often, there were some things she learnt from the bartender at the hotel though most of her drinking knowledge came from Baba and their spontaneous nights out. She mixed the drinks as Baba had taught her, handing one over to Yosuke before downing hers in one shot.

"You seem to be familiar with drinking."

"I have my fun," Haruka shrugged.

"You want to tell me why we're drinking tonight? You don't really strike me as an alcoholic."

"Don't pretend like you know me, please. I hate when you do that."

Yosuke did not respond, but instead, he watched her mixed another drink for herself while he drank the one he gave her. People watching was always a hobby of his though Yosuke enjoyed one-on-one observations too. Of all his subjects, there was no one more intriguing than Haruka. In a split second, she could go through as many as five different emotions. She always said things she did not mean, though he was particularly fond of reading what was on her mind through her eyes. What was always confusing, however, was how she insisted that he was annoying yet every time he showed up, she would gladly accept his presence around her.

"Have you ever done something for the good of others but end up making things worse?" Haruka asked, already on her fourth drink.

"You've described my entire life," Yosuke chuckled. "Except, I don't do anything for the good of others. I do it for fun, and it always end up making things worse but more fun so it doesn't bother me."

"I'm talking to the wrong person," Haruka sighed, knocking back yet another shot. "I forgot that you're a literal child."

Pouring his second drink, Yosuke was starting to realise that she was not looking for a fun night with drinks. She was right in saying that she was talking to the wrong person. Yosuke was never the one someone would pour their heart out to. Not unless he fed them drinks with the purpose of making them pour their hearts out so he could use it against them some time in the future. What she was looking for right now, however, was a friend to talk to. Someone who understood what she was going through and could somehow make it better. He was definitely not that person.

"I'll tell you something I've never told anyone," Yosuke said.

#pdr ch16 #kissed by the baddest bidder #kbtbb #kings of paradise #kop #eisuke ichinomiya #yosuke sagara #voltage inc #after a million years i have revived

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luvknow · 6 years ago

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sincerely, hwang hyunjin

genre: ceo!fem reader x assistant!hyunjin | light humor ; fluff ; fake dating ; swearing ; alcohol consumption ; you have Lots of Money summary: being the company’s youngest ceo of one of the top soju brands in the country does not get easier as the days pass. you’re forever thankful for your assistant, hwang hyunjin, who knows everything about you and what it takes to keep your head on your shoulders. wc: 6.5k a/n: inspired by this post!

“Good morning, Miss _____!”

You were barely walking down the hallway towards your office when you heard Hyunjin’s greeting echo loudly, as it always did. When you asked him his first year of working here how he even knew it was you, he told you it was the way your heels clicked on the tiles. Apparently you just exuded CEO vibes by the way you walked, and it was one of the best compliments you’ve ever received. You’ll never understand why he doesn’t just wait for you to approach his desk to say hello, but you’d rather not question his, uh, uniqueness. It’s been like that for five years now, so there was no use in asking him to change his ways.

“Good morning, Hyunjin,” you replied groggily. “Do you want to get some coffee with me -”

The boy eagerly hands you your long-awaited iced americano with an extra shot of espresso. A sense of pride spread through his body as he saw your eyes glitter adoringly at the bitter drink.

“You’re a lifesaver,” you cried out.

“I know ~”

“Do you know what’s on the schedule today?”

“Yes, and you’re not going to like it.”

“Great... Break the news to me.”

“At 9, you have a conference call with the presidents of the company; at 10, you have a quick meeting with the quality assurance and control team to taste batch #003267; at 10:30, you have an interview set up for the opening office position; and at noon, you have lunch with your father.”

“Uuuuuuggggghhhhhhhh,” you groaned loudly and unladylike at the last part.

Ever since you took over the company, the only thing your father ever talked to you about was work. He’d ask about his favorite employees, how the product was selling, and how the competition was doing. He’d never how you were doing, or what was going on with your life outside of work - hell, he’s even asked how Hyunjin was doing! But never you.

“You’ll be coming with me to lunch, right?” you practically begged him.

“... Do I have to?”

“No, but I would really love it if you did ~ Please ~?” you pouted cutely.

Hyunjin sighed exaggeratedly. He could never say no to you when you looked at him like that. Who was he to say no to his boss, after all? “... Fine...”

“Thank God.”

“I feel like ever since I started here, I’ve been with you to every occasion where you’ve had to meet up with your father.”

“Not every occasion... It’s not like I have you there for the Holidays.”

“But you have tried to get me to be,” he accused. “You even bribed me with overtime pay.”

“Which you so foolishly rejected.”

“You know salary workers don’t get overtime pay, right?”

“Overtime, holiday bonus, potato, tomato, it’s all the same! You get more money out of it,” you muttered bitterly.

Hyunjin just rolled his eyes. You were always grumpy like this on Mondays, so your attitude was no surprise to him. He never found it annoying, or anything anyways. In fact, he thought you were quite cute like this, but he’d never admit that to your face in fear of you calling Human Resources on him.

From the start of your schedule until lunchtime, things went smoothly as they usually did. Of course your favorite part was the Quality Assurance testing - you never cared much for the chemistry behind all of the brewing and details of the soju, but you still took part in the testing because you got to drink shot after shot on the clock to make sure the flavors brewed tasted how they normally do.

“You know you can have a taste, too ~” you tempted the tall boy beside you before downing the last shot.

“No, thank you. I’ll never be able to take five shots of soju at 10:00am ever again,” he groaned.

“Ah, yes... I remember I had to have my driver take Little Trainee Hyunjin home because you were puking.”

“I was so sure you would have fired me after that.”

“No way! You did everything I asked of you when you were a trainee. I couldn’t lose such a valuable person so soon.”

“Glad to hear that my value at this company relies on me doing anything you say and almost dying because of it...”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Hyunjin,” you scoffed. “Though it is your job to do what I ask.”

“... So...”

When lunch rolls around, you’re not surprised that your father picks some fancy, probably Michelin Star restaurant with no customers inside because only people with your father’s money could afford to eat at a place like this. As you begrudgingly walk inside, you could tell Hyunjin was nervous. He wasn’t nervous because he was meeting your father - he’s done that plenty of times already. He’s nervous because he always felt out of place whenever he’s in public places with you. Whether you’d take him with you to business trips or simply treating him out to a nice lunch as a close friend, he always knew someone like him didn’t belong in places like these. No matter how hard you tried to convince him that being with you meant that he belonged, too, it never eased his nerves, so you learned to just let him calm down on his own.

You spotted not only your father, but your mother also, sitting at one of the tables and panic began to rise in your chest. Your Mom never liked to talk business when the whole family was together, so this must have been some other serious matter. Now you regretted bringing Hyunjin along. The poor boy was about to witness how dysfunctional your family was.

“Hi, Mom and Dad,” you greeted nervously. “I, uh, brought Hyunjin along because I thought this was a business meeting...”

“That’s all right, I should have told you your mother was coming,” your father smiled uncharacteristically. “It’s always a pleasure to have Mr. Hwang around.”

“Hello, Sir. Ma’am,” Hyunjin bowed deeply.

“No need for formalities. Please, have a seat.”

You and Hyunjin gave each other a quick side glance before sitting as if you two were kids caught doing something bad and now you were in trouble. Hyunjin probably was clear of all scolding that would be said today, but you were as ready as you’d ever be to receive all the nagging.

“The reason we wanted to meet with you today is because the big Charity Gala for foster children is coming up soon,” your Mom began. “You’ll be representing the company.”

“Of course.”

“Do you have anyone in mind you’ll be bringing as a date?”

“Uh, no? Can’t I just go alone?”

“Honey, this is the biggest Charity Gala of the year! You can’t just show up alone to these events,” she tisked. “It’s bad for publicity. Besides, wouldn’t this be a great reason to go out and meet someone?”

“Mom, where am I going to find a boyfriend in that short amount of time?”

“I’m not saying find a boyfriend just like that, I mean...”

Your father sighed at your mother’s lack of words. “What she’s trying to say is don’t you think it’s time to start dating...? Find someone you could marry one day?”

“What? Where is all of this coming from?”

“Nowhere! We’re just worried about you."

“What’s there to worry about? That I won’t bring a date to yet another gala full of your stuck up business friends? Who has the time to worry about that, anyways? Or the time to even consider dating when I’m running an entire enterprise on my own!?” Before your once-normal volume could reach the point of yelling, Hyunjin kicked you lightly under the table to let you know you were getting out of hand. You cleared your throat after you calmed down.

“Ok, you don’t have to bring a date,” your father began. “But I want you to talk to people while you’re there. Maybe you’ll meet someone you really like. I know a lot of men and their sons who will be attending and I can assure you they are good people, so just socialize a bit, ok?”

“Fine.”

“Good. I think this calls for a bottle of wine, if you ask me.”

The meal was mostly spent talking about work and the upcoming gala. Your father had already donated a healthy amount to the organization and instructed you to prepare some bullshit speech about how much you cared for everyone involved. The latter end of the meal was then spent catching up with Hyunjin’s personal life. Somehow you always knew that Hyunjin was like the son your parents had always wanted, so it was no surprise seeing how much they grew to love him in these past five years. There were times when you’d be so jealous of the little bits of affection he received, but what parent wouldn’t love him? He was a sweet, handsome, and smart boy - the poster child for the perfect kid.

“God, can you believe them!?” you groaned when you two arrived back at the office. “Forcing me to talk to their crusty old friends and their snobby sons as if I can’t get a man of my own - you know, they never believed in me as a child.”

“Yes, you’ve mentioned that before...”

“And like, why is bringing a date to these things a social requirement these days!? I don’t want to lug around some stupid boy as an accessory!”

“You don’t have any friends you’d want to bring?” Hyunjin asked.

“They’re all going, too, and with dates probably...”

As you both arrived to your desks, Hyunjin went ahead and sat back down in his, but you hadn’t walked into your office yet. Curiously, he looked up at you with a raised brow and noticed the childlike pout you had on your lips.

“What...?” Hyunjin asked nervously. Then it clicked in his head what you were silently begging for. “Oh, no.”

“Please ~?” you begged cutely.

“I refuse to attend a Gala where men’s cufflinks cost more than my paycheck.”

“I will literally buy you cufflinks, just please be my date!”

Shamelessly, you got down on your knees in front of his desk and took his hands in yours. Your pouty, bug-eyed face was now in full-view in front of Hyunjin and he had no way of avoiding it. He should be used to this by now, since he always caved in to what you wanted when you did this, but he’ll still always blush whenever you held his hands.

“C’mon, please? You’ll be with me the whole time and we get to dress fancy, eat good food, drink expensive champagne - it’ll be fun, I promise.”

“I don’t have the proper attire -”

“Not a problem, let’s go shopping!” you cheered, pulling the confused boy up from his desk.

“Miss _____, we have a lot of work to do today -!”

“Which can be completed tomorrow.”

Hyunjin dramatically groaned as you dragged him out of the building, though he wasn’t complaining. These past couple of days, there was a lot of work to be done, so he was thankful for a break finally. It’s also been a while since the two of you spent time together outside of the office, and it was even more rare to see that you were excited about something. He’d never been so eagerly dragged out of the office before, let alone being hand-in-hand with you. You hadn’t let go until you walked into the elevator, went down thirty floors, walked out of the building, and into the car, as if you were afraid Hyunjin would make a break for it if you hadn’t been holding onto him.

You always adored how your hands fit so perfectly.

Hyunjin had one, maybe two suits buried somewhere in his closet. He’d wear them when you two went out to business dinners with potential buyers, but other than that, he had no reason to wear them, so he was excited to finally dust them off for this gala. Thinking you two were only going to to shop for cufflinks and maybe a tie, Hyunjin was surprised when the car pulled up to one of the country’s top suit stores, or whatever you call them.

“Eh? What are we doing here?” he asked when you both walked in.

“Buying you a suit?” you stated obviously.

“Wait, what? Miss _____, you don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to. Think of this as a present for tolerating me these past five years.”

“Miss _____...”

“And what did I say about the Miss?”

“To not call you that.”

“Yet you still do, huh? We’re friends, you know that, right?”

“Of course I do, but you’re still my boss.”

“We’re not even in the office!” you pouted.

“Ah, Miss _____, you’re so cute like a child,” Hyunjin snickered. “How are you so scary and cute at the same time.”

“That’s the best compliment I’ve ever received.”

Hyunjin didn’t have the worst taste in clothing - in fact, he’s consistently won best dressed as a superlative at the office - but when it came to actual formal wear, he had no idea what to look for.

“You said you’re wearing black, right?” he asked while flipping through his tenth rack of suit jackets.

“Yeah. The fabric is satin, if that helps.”

“I didn’t think that mattered...”

“Oh, Hyunjin, you helpless boy...”

You really hoped he would be the one to find something he liked, but after an hour of searching, you figured he needed a little help, so you shoved five complete designer suit sets in different shades and fabrics of black for him to try on. You knew this decision was going to be hard when he showed you wearing every single one and he looked good in all of them.

“They all look good on you,” you sighed. “I hate you.”

“I can’t help that I’m beautiful,” Hyunjin wore a bashful smile on his face as he smoothened the velvet suit jacket in front of the mirror. “I think I like this one the most.”

“Me, too. Let’s buy it.”

Hyunjin had never felt so embarrassed to purchase something before. When you were checking out at the register and you handed the cashier your heavy credit card, they eyed you both suspiciously and Hyunjin avoided eye contact out of embarrassment. In the eyes of the cashier and your blushing assistant, it must have looked like you were his Sugar Mama, or something.

“Why are you always so shy when we go shopping? People are going to have the wrong idea about us,” you scolded in the car.

“It’s embarrassing! Not even my Mom buys me things anymore...”

“Ah, so ungrateful.”

“Miss _____, that’s not what I -”

“Relax, I know you didn’t mean it that way. You don’t always have to be so tense around me, you know. We’ve worked together for a long time.”

“I just... I feel bad because I can’t pay you back.”

“You already have.”

“How!?”

“By dealing with me, of course.”

Throughout the rest of the car ride, Hyunjin can’t help but wonder if you would have done the same to anyone else. If you asked someone else to go with you to the Charity Gala, would you have bought them a suit, too? And why didn’t you ask someone else to go with you? He knows you have guy friends of much higher status than him that would give up their own arm to be in his position. It would do wonders on your reputation if you went with someone who was as highly-regarded as yourself to this gala and yet you chose someone as lowly as him, and for the past five years, he still doesn’t understand why.

What surprised him the most was how you’ve been single for nearly your whole life. Sure, you’ve been on a couple of dates here and there, but he’s never heard of you ever having a long-term boyfriend or even going on a second date. But how was that possible, when men of all ages and bank accounts have lined up for your attention ever since you took over the company?

Though looking back on all of the guys you once dated or the ones who pined over you, none of them could ever measure up to you. None of them even deserved the dates you so generously went on. To even share the same space with you was a privilege in itself, and for that, Hyunjin was grateful.

No one ever saw you the way Hyunjin did everyday. Others only saw you as cold and bossy and described you as such. Maybe if you were your father, or just a man, you would be seen as hard working and a natural leader, but that wouldn’t be the case for a long time. But Hyunjin saw you as hard working and a natural-born leader. You had a lot of pressure on your shoulders, so of course there were moments when you weren’t your most pleasant. But no one ever saw you during the holidays when you’d leave little presents on people’s desks, or when you giggled at kitten videos on your desktop, or the way your lips pouted when you were really tired.

No one else saw you as a girl or even a human. They only saw you as the boss. Hyunjin saw you as everything. You were his boss, a beautiful woman, and most importantly, his friend. You two have come a long way in five years, and Hyunjin hoped the years would continue on.

But one day, you’ll find someone you’ll fall in love with. Someone who will look at you for you, and not for your money. He would see you the way Hyunjin would see you and you’d return his gaze with such love in your eyes.

Whomever your future was with, he’d be a lucky man.

Tonight was another night spent with dry, old people dressed in fabrics richer than even your own paycheck. At least you’d be able to milk out the bar and the hors d’oeuvres platters with Hyunjin by your side.

As you were fixing your hair almost ready to go pick up your date, the doorbell rang. Curiously and cautiously, you went down to open the doors only to reveal a nervous, but suave Hyunjin on the other side.

Your handsome assistant was dressed in his all-black with the velvet jacket suit you bought him last week. He wore his hair completely different than when he did at the office. Rather than his bangs covering his forehead, he styled them with a charming curl that revealed his forehead.

“Hyunjin, what are you doing here? I was going to pick you up.”

His mouth was open, but no words came out, for he was too stunned to speak when you swung the door wide open to reveal you in your dress. He’s seen you in probably a million dresses before this one, but none ever made him as speechless as this one.

You were so, so beautiful.

His gawking was making your cheeks burn.

“I-I, uh...” he stuttered. “I didn’t want you to go out of your way...”

That boy was a real sweetheart. What did you ever do to deserve him?

“C’mon, let’s get this night over with,” you said, trying to hide your embarrassed smile.

Pulling up to the Gala was like pulling up at a red carpet event. The driver dropped you two off right at the front door where all the other CEOs and their sons filed in with their arm candy. Hyunjin was too afraid to open the door.

“Can you do me a favor tonight, Hyunjin?” you asked.

“Of course, Miss _____. Anything.”

“Will you pretend to be my boyfriend?”

The boy nearly choked on his own spit. “Wh-What!?”

“You can say no, of course.”

“No, I’ll pretend, but why? Is it so you don’t have to explain to anyone that you don’t have one?”

“Well yes, but I just thought it’d be fun.”

With a playful smirk, you exited the car first and strut your way to the main entrance with a stumbling Hyunjin following closely behind you.

“Ready to play house?” you teased.

“I practically play house with you whenever you drag me along to meet with your parents,” he scoffed.

“Good. Pretend this is one of those times.”

Pausing in the foyer, you held your hand out to your date, who only looked at it questioningly.

“Hm?” he asked, raising his brow cutely.

“Pretend boyfriends usually hold hands with their pretend girlfriends.”

With a sudden, foreign confidence, Hyunjin laced his hands with yours and followed your lead inside the main ballroom. Your eyes twinkled with the string lights that dripped from the ceiling and although your eyes danced about the room, taking in all the flowers and decorations, Hyunjin never took his eyes off of you.

“Miss _____!”

Not even five minutes inside and one of your father’s old business pals was approaching you and Hyunjin eagerly with his wife by his side.

“Hello, Mr. Choi,” you greeted respectfully.

“It’s so nice to see you again! I see you’re doing well. Who’s this?”

All eyes landed on your assistant and you can tell he’s nervous by the way he squeezed your hand tightly as if begging you for help. It was quite cute, actually.

“This is my boyfriend, Hyunjin,” you answered quickly.

“Boyfriend? Is that so? What do you do, Hyunjin?”

“O-Oh, well, I...”

“Oh look, Mr. Park wants to say hello! If you’ll excuse us.”

Before Mr. Choi could stop you, you dragged your date to the other end of the room and ended up hiding behind some waiters handing out the hors d’oeuvres. Shamelessly and bitterly, you let go of Hyunjin’s hand to shove a few pieces down your throat.

“Wow, I’ve never seen you so... barbaric...” he snickered. “You couldn’t think of a made-up profession for me?”

“Trust me, if I did, we’d be stuck in an hour-long conversation about the one semester you spent overseas for medical school, or some bullshit like that. There’s no use to lying to these people. All they want to do is one-up you and see who has the most money...”

“You think we can avoid all of those conversations tonight?”

“We can definitely try. Champagne?”

You stole two glasses of sparkling champagne from a moving platter and handed one to an eager Hyunjin who looked equally ready to loosen up a little with some drinks.

When the drink touched his lips, his face twisted cutely in disgust.

“This shit’s gross!” he groaned.

“I know, right?”

“How do you rich people drink this!?”

“By chugging it.”

“You know, it’s a real mystery why you don’t have a boyfriend when you exude so much class.”

“Hey, low blow, fake boyfriend.”

Throughout the night, while you both were avoiding all questions directed towards Hyunjin and his made-up profession (to which you decided he was an up and coming fashion designer), you recognized a bunch of peers who have now done the same as you and took over their father’s companies. You could say you grew up with some of these people - as a kid, your parents would sometimes take you along to business dinners and you’d along play with their kid and your parents would be weird and comment on how one day, you two would get married.

That only really happened with a couple of them, but one boy in particular was your parents’ favorite.

“If it isn’t my childhood sweetheart, Miss _____,” you heard a familiar voice call.

Hyunjin had left you to go to the bathroom, so you were stuck at one of the tables scrolling through your phone. When you looked up, a cheeky smile grew on your face when you saw who the owner of the voice was.

“If it isn’t my future husband, Mr. Joshua Hong,” you teased.

The boy hopped into a seat next to you with a wide grin and boy, did you forget how handsome he was. Unlike all the other business men, Joshua liked to wear red to events, and he stood out amongst the crowd so easily, but red was definitely his color.

“How’s my mistress doing? Your empire doing well?” He asked, referring to your company.

“Whoa, if anything, you’re the mistress.”

“I can’t be the mistress if I’m the one with the fiance!”

“You have a fiance? You, Playboy Joshua Hong?”

“Yeah, she’s over there talking to some of the other wives,” he pointed out.

A beautiful woman made eye contact with the both of you and Joshua happily waved over to her. She grew a gorgeous and loving smile and waved back to the man she was so in love with. In more ways than one, jealousy bubbled in the pit of your stomach. Whether it’s because you wished you were her or because even a former playboy like your friend was able to find the love of his life and you still haven’t, you were so jealous that even he found someone to spend the rest of his life with.

It seems that everyone here has.

“Sorry I took so long,” Hyunjin apologized, sitting on the opposite side of you.

“Oh? Miss _____, are you cheating on me?” Joshua teased.

“Huh...?”

“Shut up, Hong. This is my co-worker, Hyunjin. Hyunjin, this is Joshua Hong, an old friend of mine. We kind of grew up together.”

“Co-worker or assistant?” Joshua scoffed.

“They’re the same thing, you asshat.”

“Are you two dating?”

“No, we’re just pretending.”

“Ah, so you’re still single ~?”

“Go back to your fiance, you weirdo,” you blushed, playfully shoving the boy out of his seat.

“I really should, she looks desperate for help. The wedding invitations are being sent out soon, so look out for one, ok? Bring Hyunjin along if you’d like,” he winked.

After the charming man left, you watched him run up to his fiance and wrap his arms around her protectively. He whisked her away from the nasty women of the business she was talking to and planted little butterfly kisses on the side of her head. At one point in your life, you thought that could have been you getting married to him. But you never liked him in that way and you’re happy that he found someone who could ten-fold. If only you had someone who saw you the way Joshua saw his fiance.

“Is he an ex-boyfriend?” Hyunjin asked.

“Not really. We never dated, but our parents wanted us to, so it’s an on-going joke that even if we’re seeing someone that we’re each other’s mistress, or something.”

“How come you never dated?”

You shrugged. “When we took over our respective companies, we haven’t really kept in touch. I thought I would never get the time to date, but somehow he did, and now he’s getting married...”

A deep, lonely sigh escaped your lips at the thought of your future with someone else. It seemed like you were the only one here without a legitimate partner and the fear of never finding someone to pour your love into was seeping in.

Hyunjin suddenly got u from his seat and held his hand out to you.

“What...?” you asked.

“Let’s dance.”

“Huh? Why?”

He shrugged. “I like this song. And I don’t like seeing you like this.”

Gladly, you took the hand of your handsome date and he led you to the dance floor where you danced the night away to the DJ’s odd mix of pop and waltz. Hyunjin really knew his way around the dance floor and you were quite surprised. It was like you didn’t know him at all. Time seemed to pass over you because as the night ended, you and Hyunjin were one of a few couples left in the venue.

“Oh jeez, we lost track of time, huh?” you noted.

It wasn’t unusual for Hyunjin. He always seemed to lose concept of time when he was with you.

“I’m hungry. Wanna get some pork belly and soju?” you asked, practically begging him with your eager and sparkly eyes.

“More drinking?” Hyunjin groaned. “I am hungry, though...”

“Loosen up a little, Jinnie, it’s the weekend,” you said, walking ahead of the stunned boy. You’ve never given him a nickname before.

“But I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”

“So?”

“Aren’t we a little over dressed?”

“Hyunjin, my love, if anything everyone else is under dressed.”

How much champagne did you drink tonight for you to be calling him these nicknames and pet names? And since when did you not care about ruining your clothes? Either way, he kind of liked this side of you. He wondered if he ever met you in college, would you act as careless?

Normally, you’d ask for your driver to take you, but the restaurant wasn’t that far away from the Gala venue and it was a beautiful night to be strolling the streets. Humming softly, you led the way and Hyunjin followed behind as he normally did and watched you adoringly. Your normal work walk was a powerful and dominating stride, but in this moment, you were dancing and skipping about like a little girl. Sometimes you’d look back to make sure he was following, and when your eyes met, you made sure you smiled with your cherry-red lips.

He hoped he could see you like this more often after tonight.

On a Saturday night, your favorite barbecue place was packed with all sorts of people - young college students, old business men, laughing wives - you and Hyunjin fit right in, if you said so yourself. When you walked in, only a few heads turned to gawk at you both, but then kept at their business afterwards.

“This place is huge... Do you come here a lot, Miss _____?” Hyunjin asked.

“Once in a while.”

“_____-ah!” one of the aunties yelled from the kitchen. “Back again this week, huh? Are you having the usual?”

“Yes, please!” you grinned. Next to you, Hyunjin gave you an accusing side glance. “Ok, so I come here a couple of times in a while, sue me.”

You led Hyunjin to your favorite table in the back where it wasn’t too loud but it wasn’t too secluded, either. Your usual waiter, already knowing your order, brought over your favorite bottle of soju and said the barbecue would be out for you to cook shortly. Hyunjin was amazed at how well the workers here knew you and your order. How often did you come here? And with whom? Were you sneaking off with someone he didn’t know about?

“So who do you usually come here with?” Hyunjin asked, hoping he didn’t sound too curious.

“No one,” you shrugged. “I usually come here alone.”

“Alone? Why?”

“Because I like the food? And who would I even go with?”

“You never ask me to come here with you.” Hyunjin sounded a bit insulted that you didn’t even think to ask him to come here with you, but at least you weren’t with someone he didn’t know about.

“Hyunjin, I could never ask you to spend even more time with me than you already do.”

“But you know I’d gladly do so.”

“It’s part of your job, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I like my job, which means I like spending time with you. So please, don’t come here alone anymore. I’ll come with you.”

“Are you worried about me, Hyunjin?”

“N-No, I just don’t want you to feel lonely.”

You sighed deeply at the lovable boy across from you. “I often wonder what I ever did to deserve you.” You poured Hyunjin a shot of the soju and held it up to cheers. “Cheers to us, hm?”

“Wow, you’re drinking our competition? You’re cheating, Miss _____,” he teased.

“As long as you don’t tell my father ~”

Hyunjin didn’t drink much after the first shot you poured. He only really cared about the pork belly that kept on coming out plate after plate even before you guys finished the previous one. He wasn’t one to complain, though - the gala only served hors d’oeuvres the whole night and he was starving. But you weren’t eating as much as him. Rather, you opted for the soju and even when Hyunjin stopped drinking you kept on going until you finished a couple of bottles. You hadn’t eaten much before arriving, either, so he can only imagine how the alcohol was affecting you right now. He was thankful he was here with you so you weren’t alone.

The whole night, you two reminisced about the good ol’ days when he was still a trainee and all the silly mistakes he made.

“Remember when you ripped your pants during your presentation?” you tried to spit out between giggles.

“How could I forget? Your father bought me a new pair for keeping my composure throughout the whole thing...”

“Aha, and you had your little Ryan plush boxers on, too!”

“Hey, those are my lucky pair! Don’t make fun of them!”

“I’m not! They’re really cute!” you hiccuped.

“I think that’s enough soju for you,” he scolded, taking away the almost empty bottle.

“No wait, lemme just finish it!” you pouted. “As your boss, I am ordering you to give me the bottle!”

“As your friend, I’m putting my foot down and saying no more. C’mon, I’ll walk you home.”

You sighed dramatically as Hyunjin dragged you to pay out your bill to which you literally shoved him away before he could hand auntie his card. You would never let Hyunjin pay for you! Your precious date only rolled his eyes in response, but he couldn’t even pretend to be upset with you, especially when your cheeks were so pink.

While walking next to each other, Hyunjin made sure to keep a close eye on you. Luckily, you were still able to walk properly. You even proved further how fine you were by dancing and skipping again. You looked so happy like this. Again, he wondered how you were still single when even in your most vulnerable moments, you were so pretty and likable. But then he watched your smile quickly melt into a lonely frown, your eyes staring at nothing but the sidewalk, and he thinks that maybe you’re thinking the same thing.

“Miss _____, can I ask you something?” he asked when you stopped dancing.

“Only if you drop the Miss once and for all.”

“I’ll drop it for tonight.”

“Deal. What’s your question?”

You saw Hyunjin fiddle with his fingers. “What your parents said the other day, about finally dating, and what not... Do you not want to date anyone?”

A pathetic smile casted upon your painted lips. “Where is this coming from all of a sudden?”

“I just... don’t get it.”

“Why?”

“You’re so... I-I mean, how... Anyone would be so lucky to be with you. And so many do, but you never go on dates with them.”

“Hyunjin, of course I want to date. Of course I want to fall in love - to be loved. I want to come home to someone who will kiss me hello and go to sleep with someone who will hold me against their chest. I want to feel like I’m flying, like I could conquer the whole industry - no, the world - when they’re standing next to me. But how can I when I dedicated my life to the business world? I barely get five hours of sleep a night. The answer is I simply don’t have time, and...” you paused.

“And...”

“And who would love someone like me? A cold, bitter workaholic. I’m simply not lovable.”

Hyunjin halted in his tracks and grabbed onto your wrist, pulling you in so you were forced to look at him. Your eyes looked so tired - five years worth of staying up late and waking up early, having the weight of the business world on your shoulders. But more than anything, you were lonely, and he saw it right in front of him.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“Don’t ever say that about yourself,” he said sternly. “You are so special, Miss _____. Yes, you’re a workaholic and you’re strict and sure, sometimes you’re a bit bitter -”

“I feel ten times better.”

“Hold on, I’m getting to my point,” Hyunjin giggled cutely. “You’re also intelligent, kind, silly, selfless, and a million other things. Miss _____, anyone would be so, so lucky to have you.”

Hyunjin looked down at the hand that held your wrist. Gently, his thumb traced little circles on your skin and you raised a teasing brow at your lovable assistant.

“Hwang Hyunjin,” you addressed, making him snap his head up quickly. You only said his last name when he was in trouble.

“Y-Yes?”

“Are you in love with me?”

“Huh!? I-I... W-Well, uh -”

“Are you in love with your boss, Hwang Hyunjin?” You adjusted his grip on your wrist so that he held your hand instead and took a step closer to the nervous boy. Who wouldn’t be nervous after a blatant confession?

“I... Of course I am,” he muttered quietly.

“Hm? I couldn’t hear that,” you teased. “One more time for me?”

“I love you, Miss _____,” Hyunjin said, tucking your hair behind your ears.

“Mm, I could get used to that,” you hummed, dragging Hyunjin down the street.

“I’m really hoping you don’t remember this in the morning.”

“You know I never forget anything, Mr. Hwang ~”

“That is unfortunately very true...”

The walk home was incredibly brutal. It was an hour walk away from the restaurant and yet neither of you bothered to call your driver or a cab. When your feet began to hurt in your heels, Hyunjin didn’t hesitate to bend down and give you a piggy back ride home.

“You must really love me if you’re doing this,” you giggled, pressing your cheek to his.

“Will you ever let this down, Miss _____?”

“Will you ever not love me anymore?”

He knows you’re joking, but behind all the alcohol and the teasing, he thinks there’s some genuine worry behind your words. But there’s no need for you be.

He shook his head and the little curls in his hair tickle your cheek. “No. I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”

“Then no, I’ll never let this down,” you sighed happily. Your grip on his neck tightened. “Hwang Hyunjin... I love you, too.”

“I know.”

“Oh, yeah? Am I that obvious?”

“When I’m the only one you smile at, giggle in front of, and allowed to give you a piggy back ride, it’s pretty obvious. But don’t ever stop either, ok?”

“Ok, boss ~”

#hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #skz #stray kids #skz hyunjin #stray kids hyunjin #skz scenarios #stray kids scenarios #skz imagines #stray kids imagines #ceo au #got a ceo au down LMAO

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gentleoverdrive · 6 years ago

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Celica wants a confession. Otherwise? No dice. Chapter 2

Originally posted in Archive of Our Own/AO3. Link here

Chapter 01: Should the student council members have after-school activities?

(Introduction narrated by Python) Zofia Academy –also occasionally referred to as Central Zofia, to help differentiate itself from the fancy-pants Zofia Academy for the Performing Arts located in the Novis Archipelago—An incredibly prestigious academy with a centuries-long history of providing the country with able leaders on most fields, a history that endures to this day in no small part due to the efforts taken by its respected headmasters… … or so we would like to say, but after the previous shithead in charge— meaning Desaix, of course— was dishonorably dismissed in light of his less than stellar track record coming to the surface, it’s been probably justified to call into question just how much of the academy’s good graces were a front as of recent times. Hey makes sense, if you ask me. Nevertheless, current headmaster Jorgensen (who’s waaaaay less of a shithead, even if he’s stubborn as a mule, thankyouverymuch) has made strides in correcting course. One of his first uses of the prerogative as head of this institution was to actively pursue talented candidates qualified for the scholarship programs offered to ten students per year. The second use, though, proved a bit trickier (ain’t that always the case?): In order to secure a potential returning student, he had to enlist the aid from said potential returnee’s closest friends. Man, I could totally go for the whole shebang on this little ditty. Hey Forsyth, d’you think Lukas has the scoop on it? Anyway, during the start of his third year as headmaster—oh joy— there were seven particular rugr—er, students that had become the center of attention for the Academy’s High School section. Of those, this story will proceed to fastidiously concern itself with the two that stood out the most and how their romance blossomed… and because they’re both as dense as a sack of bricks, hopefully it’ll be funny. Enjoy. Or don’t! Makes no real difference to me. I’m getting paid either way! Can we get some damn service in this cafeteria already? Can’t grade papers worth squat on an empty stomach, y’know? --- 2. Let’s talk briefly about Anthiese Lindenbaum “Good day, Ms. Lindenbaum!” A second year greeted Anthiese through her afternoon walk to the Student Council quarters. “Good day to you, as well” she answered with nary a delay in her timing, all while offering the slightest of nods to the student who previously greeted her. Anthiese Lindenbaum: While for most of her adolescence she remained in exile from the main Lindenbaum family, her academic success could not shine brighter if attempted. Even as the youngest of Dolph Lindenbaum’s six children, Anthiese was expected to prove her mettle before society. And prove her mettle she did, having done so with superb results in matters of literature, music, self-defense and countless other subjects. Anthiese Lindenbaum, truly a gifted young lady. Belying his naturally playful self, the young man walking at her left could not paint a starkest contrast to the heiress if he tried. Carrying a stack of books that partly masked his visage, the earnest, newly-minted Student Council President was not much for forced displays of gracefulness. Due to the order in which he arranged the tower of them, the tomes occasionally flailed around, resembling something akin to an intoxicated dancer. It was only natural that, after so long, a couple of them would find their way down from the makeshift tower perpetrated by this young man. “Agh!” He let out a groan of annoyance at the multiple sounds of books hitting the ground. Perhaps not the most refined of gestures, but if he wished to voice his dissatisfaction with the current scenario, this accomplished its job with flying colors. Following his down-to-earth expression of disapproval with the result of his failed literary babel, he began to scan the ground using his right foot. Such a display caused the onlooking students to let out a hearty chuckle at his expense. Not that he really minded (he minded a little). Suddenly feeling a hand right next to his foot, the President peered to his left to find a fellow classmate grabbing the books. “Sorry about that, McClelland. Would you terribly mind passing those books to the Vice-President?” “No, not at all, Pres” The young woman replied almost immediately, before handling the books to Vice-President Lindenbaum. After Anthiese offered her a grateful nod, Siobhan McClelland quickly retired from the pair’s path towards the Student Council room, allowing them to continue their route uninterrupted. “By Mila, she’s so beautiful” One female student acknowledged. “And despite his somewhat doofus side, the President is surprisingly cute as well” A fellow student acknowledged of the boy juggling with dancing literature on his way to their quarters. Despite pretending otherwise, both heads of the Student Council could hear the gossipy whispers going behind them just fine. --- 3. Alm Flowers is both an idiot and a reprobate (a cute idiot, though). Student Council Room. “By the gods! You’d think they had seen the Prime Minister or something with all the hemming, hawing and gossip going on back there”. The president vented while slowly placing the books in various places around his desk. Anthiese couldn’t help but to wonder, though: Was he breaking them down in categories? Personal favorites? Topics to get caught up on? “President, please mind your language” Anthiese’s retort was both stern as it was quick. “Even if it’s mostly limited to this academy, we are public figures after all, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, so try to carry yourself with some semblance of dignity, if you please” She carried on while inspecting one of the books on top of the stack as the president offered a nod as a way of apology. The book’s title was ‘36 Ways to convince your opponent he’s truly well-cooked’. Anthiese chuckled ever so slightly at the book’s name. As she quickly discovered, she had gained the undivided attention of the President without meaning to. The combination of his grin, his green eyes and how he cupped his cheeks to stare at her could only be described in one word and one word only. Adorable. Many people would prefer to go with goofy, but she could not get enough of it. As of right now, though, she could feel the temperature in her face elevate, and could only guess that her face was comparable in color to her hair. “Would… would you mind not staring at me in that way?” She tried her best to sound imposing, but the tone of her voice betrayed her by all accounts, so she used the tome she had just picked to partially cover her face. “Thanks for the pick-me-up, Ms. Lindenbaum!” The president said shortly before unleashing a follow-up devastating grin upon his unsuspecting associate. “What… whatever do you mean by that, President?” Anthiese replied, while redirecting her glance elsewhere, all to secure her survival to today’s onslaught of cuteness. “Well, thanks to the headmaster being a giant pain in the—uh, neck” Flowers wisely caught up with himself this time. He knew that he needed to mind his language in front of the Vice-President, given her more traditional education. “I’ve been cracking my skull open trying to memorize everything that needs to go into being a good Student Council President for this here school”. “And… can I level with you, Ms. Lindenbaum?” Alm put one more of the books down as he said that, his brow slightly furrowed. “Sometimes I kind of have second thoughts here about the possibility of not measuring up to the task” Anthiese tilted her head slightly towards her right shoulder as she threw a bemused stare his way. If she could sum up her current opinion of the President, is that he’s ever so slightly disappointed her through said declaration. The president pinched the bridge of his nose before letting out a small sigh. “Part of my bone to pick with it is that it felt like little more than a popularity contest. Still sort of feels that way—I mean, I’ve been a student here, what, 3 weeks now? And to all of a sudden find myself thrust into this spotlight? Don’t you think it’s weird?” He resumed his book sorting while following on his thoughts. “I’m not going to quit, though. Don’t want to let my partner down” He added, while offering a little wink as a visual punctuation of sorts, which managed to sweeten up the Vice-President enough to elicit an additional smile. And just like that, her opinion of him shot ever higher. A reliable young man all things considered. “Makes sense that you feel that way, especially given that this is probably the first time such a weight has been placed on your shoulders” So far, Anthiese had acted as the spokesperson for the Student Council these past two weeks. “So please make sure you are ready to tackle this responsibility head-on as soon as possible” She added, while reaching for the teapot, hoping some of the Earl Diamond still remained from the one she brewed for the adjourned council meeting from this morning. “Yeah, it’s a can of worms waiting to get cracked open, for certain” Anthiese let out yet another small chuckle at hearing that expression leave President Flowers’ mouth. “Oh! I think that’s the first time I haven’t seen you do that hand-covering gesture you often do, Vice-Pres” Despite her best efforts, the Vice-President often had to engage in mental gymnastics to remain on top of herself, especially given the attention provided by her student council partner. “By all means, show the world your smile, Ms. Lindenbaum. Truly the gift that keeps on giving steady returns” for the vice-president, said comments had a certain novelty. It’s not as if she had never heard sweet nothings before, of course: People who knew who she was and, more specifically, what her last name was, always tried to pile them up while trying to get themselves into her graces. President Flowers, though, was different. He often mixed up two or more figures of speech, often with the sole purpose of squeezing out some sort of wordplay or, gods willing, a pun. The results often left something to be desired. The one just now finally sank in, though, and the shame of his truly dreadful wordplay finally started washing all over him. “Please just pretend I gave you a normal compliment” The president mumbled while burying his face deep in his hands in complete embarrassment. Anthiese could not help but to first puff her cheeks slightly and then burst into a small fit of most joyous laughter before regaining her composure and playfully pointing at him. “Never! You will have to make proper amends for that truly harrowing barb, President” Alm’s eyes peeked from between his fingers at her playful rebuttal. In the space of the last two weeks since becoming a member of the Student Council, Anthiese had picked up a couple of habits from having to endure the gauntlet which made up much of the President’s idiosyncratic sense of humor. “Well, if that’s the case, then…” Alm rubbed his chin, all while staring at the ceiling clearly trying to think of something. “Hmmmmrrrmmmm…” The green-haired youth was yet again actively furrowing his brow, so it seems like this time around, he was actually wracking his brains while trying to come up with a way to make it up to his classmate and fellow council member. What the president’s brain was concocting was privy only to him. Regardless of said process, the results would probably further leave her baffled. It was not an unwelcome occurrence, though, since it made her days all the more interesting. Since he was still coming up empty, he decided to try and reorganize his thoughts properly by opening the drawers on his desk and seeing if the contents therein could give him an in… before he could finish properly opening the drawer, he noticed a couple of things that weren’t supposed to be there. His right eyebrow slightly raised, this kind of thing took Alm for a loop. The only people who have a key for this drawer are himself and Principal Chun. Just who had gained access to his desk drawer? Then he noticed what the contents mentioned and his eyes widened: Courtesy movie tickets. And how they could’ve known that he liked the ‘Clueless Princes and the Freeter Dragon Girl’ series of novels so much? These two movie tickets couldn’t be a coincidence. He was stumped. A few steps away from him, Anthiese narrowed her eyelids while allowing a small, picaresque smile to form in her face as the President kept looking down, unaware of the plot she had concocted. Oh Alm, don’t look so shocked. Celica thought while playing with her hair. It’s the sort of thing that is often commonplace when you want to ensure something comes to happen, right? So what if someone has a trusty person available to them in order to easily gain access to such private places? Shouldn’t one use every resource that’s available to them when it comes to war? Do not think me so naïve, Alm Flowers. Celica couldn’t help but to chuckle when recalling when she gave Mae the go ahead to pick the lock of the President’s desk drawer and place the tickets there. Now that she saw how President Flowers had placed the aforementioned tickets in his uniform jacket’s inner pocket, she could barely contain her excitement at the prospects ahead as she started tapping her fingertips against each other. Without warning, his stare snapped back while raising his left index. Anthiese reverted back to the friendly, yet assuring demeanor she often displayed while around the President. “Say, do you have any plans for th—” “SALUTATIONS!” The doors of the student council were opened at full force, accompanied with said cheerful greeting. While only a word was uttered, it was obvious to all but the most secluded of students that the manner of speech, delivery and infectious pizzazz could only belong to one person. “Tsk!” Anthiese clicked her teeth at hearing that same entrance. While not completely foiled, her plan would have to be put on hold for now. --- 4. Who are the Jorgensen Siblings? “Oh, salutations Miss Jorgensen” Anthiese greeted the Student Council’s very own secretary. A lot of things in her everyday life had taken a turn for the strange, and a sizable amount of those came down to one emerald-eyed person in particular, but the secretary’s presence proved to be an anchoring presence… most of the time, at any rate. “Ah, Miss Clair” The President did his best to hold in his snickering. It would perhaps reflect poorly on him to point it out as such, but Miss Clair Jorgensen’s old-fashioned manner of speech was a little too much for him to handle at times. “What is it, President? Is something I have said today objectionable in any way, shape or form?” Her straight-laced tone just now made him feel a bit taken aback. “To what do we owe such an immature display? As someone who is now an esteemed representative of the student body, please remain mindful of your behavior, for your display just now was beyond boorish!” Clair added, clearly displeased with having been made an apparent mockery of. This gave the president pause… but after exchanging a short glance with Anthiese, he then immediately proceeded to take a deep breath while offering a small nod towards the Student Council Secretary. “Sorry, sorry. Very much not my intent, Miss Clair, I’m sorry. I’m simply unaccustomed to your manner of speech, even after having interacted with you in a day-to-day basis these past weeks. I do not, however, find anything objectionable about it” Alm stood up, while closing the book he had in hand and depositing it within his desk drawer. He cleared his throat before further elaborating. “Matter of fact, I like the way you talk, Secretary” He added, while running his hand through his hair. “It feels like you’re dancing with the words themselves when you speak, and I think that’s very cool” “I… is that so?” Suddenly, Clair Jorgensen couldn’t find her verbal footing and was for once glad to not see with the president face-to-face, otherwise, he would probably make fun of her face being a tangled-up ensemble of diverse degrees of embarrassment. Also of interest is that she avoided noticing Vice-President Lindenbaum’s less than friendly glare directed at her from the other side of the room. Then, a very loud guitar and drum combo noise started going off. Both Anthiese and Clair recognized the sound immediately… “G’ah! Sorry, forgot to put this thing on mute” The president lamented as his cellphone’s ringtone made its presence known to everyone in the vicinity. The ladies of the student council were less than surprised, though, since they’ve grown acquainted with this scenario as the president gets a lot of phone calls from several people once school is done for the day. His choice of ringtones is always telling as to whom was calling him at any given time. And the electric guitar, driving percussion, along with the free-wheeling harmonica, could only indicate the possibility of two people on the other end of the line. “Hello there? Gray, is that you?” Flowers couldn’t quite hear well, since there was quite a ruckus going on in the background from the other side of the line. “Oh? What?” He seemed genuinely bemused at whoever was speaking to him, when secretary Jorgensen tried to approach him, Flowers made a hand-gesture indicating that he needed a little time out. “OK... I see… Hmm… oh!” Alm cringed for a spell. “Yikes. Uh, alright, I’m on my way. Thank you for this piece of information, Miss Jenny” His succinct responses left the other two young women intrigued as to what had transpired. “Ms. Lindenbaum, care to accompany me on this? I just got a call from my friend’s cellphone, but the person on the other side claimed her name as… Jenny, I believe? Saying she’s a friend of yours. Something about our friends getting into a scuffle with a third party who, and I quote, ‘wanted to start some… uh, expletive deleted with them’ for no rhyme or reason.” Alm smiled awkwardly when realizing the less than clever swap he had committed just a few seconds ago. “Right! Let us go, then” Anthiese grabbed the council small notebook and her cellphone just in case. “Miss Clair, if anybody comes or calls—” “I will make proper annotations, President Flowers” Before Alm could continue, Clair had more or less taken up his number, to which he replied with a thumbs up and a wink. Nice catch there, Flowers. Hopefully you can keep this propriety momentum train going Alm thought while offering a small fist pump for himself as both Anthiese and he departed from the Room. Clair smiled to herself once the two freshmen left. Ah, President Flowers, you must simply stop being so inconsiderate. She thought, while quickly bringing her left index and middle fingertips on top of her lips.A few seconds after both Alm and Anthiese had left the room, the Student Council phone rang in the background, and before it could ring for a third time, Clair had already prepared pen and paper to take notes.“Hello, dear brother. To what do we owe the honor on this Friday afternoon?” Clair’s tone had become slightly more lax now that she was talking to her older brother and headmaster of Zofia Academy.“Well, truth be told, I wanted to speak with the young Student Council President, but given that I’m currently speaking with you instead, I’ll hazard a guess and proclaim that he’s currently absent once more”“A sharp deduction, even if the tone in your voice betrays your intent” She readied her pen. “Any chores that need to be tended from the desk of the headmaster, at this moment?”“Ah, not particularly. If I’m being honest, Principal Chun informed me that yet more talent scouts had been spotted at the general gate, asking details regarding one or more of Mycen’s protégés. Of particular note was their interest in Gray Mittleman” Regardless of the importance, the youngest Jorgensen sibling decided to apply aplomb and wrote down the information she felt necessary to communicate later on to both her immediate superiors within the Student Council.“Oh my, so your designs to make the status of this Academy soar are paying dividends. It hardly seems like the same Clive Tiberius Jorgensen that once embarked in a campaign to win the affections of his now bride-to-be”At hearing that name, the headmaster groaned. “I had, for a few days now, almost forgotten what my full name was, Clair” The deadpan tone Clive employed just now could cut through any surface. “Thanks for the reminder”Clair giggled at him. “And why would I avoid using it? It is your full name, after all” Clive Jorgensen sighed at hearing that statement.“You know, now I understand why Alm decided to keep you around as part of his student council”At that, Clair left out a sensible chuckle. “Enjoy your weekend, brother” And then promptly hung up.

#fe15 #celicalm #celica #alm #fe Clair #fe clive #fanfic #ao3 #fe echoes #shadows of valentia #fire emblem echoes #fire emblem celica #fire emblem alm #fire emblem clair #fire emblem clive #My writing #writing is my business #and business is good

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disastrousbarnes · 6 years ago

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TEASER ANG; BARNES

Pairing: Parent!Bucky x Original Character (could be changed to Buckyx reader), (past) Pietro Maximoff x Original character

Summary: The Barnes Family doesn’t have a whole lot of ‘traditions’ but dinner time life stories sure are one of them, It was something they did every single day, usually during dinner. It was about whatever, growing up and how vastly different things Sanne and Bucky had grown up with, irresponsible things they used to do, together, alone, with friends or just funny stories of things the kids did growing up. It was a way for all of them to stay connected to get to know more about one another without it feeling forced. Today wasn’t any different, expect for the fact that Sanne wasn’t there and Bucky ended up talking about some rather weird stuff..

This is a future continuation of the happily ever after which is a collab between me and @lovingrxgers it’s a Steve x reader Fic in which Bucky and Sanne are already dating, so yeah I highly recommend reading that, but you could read this withou that It would’t make you too confused about anything, I think.

Warning: None, unless Bucky having a HUGE family should be a warning, Also talk about Sanne (Original Character)’s past relationship with a certain avenger...

AUTHORS NOTE: This is a quick first drable so it ain’t spell checked. As I am finally starting to -as promised- write again. I decided to drop a little teaser of something I am working on. IT IS CURRENTLY A BUCKY BARNES X ORIGINAL CHARACTER WORK, BUT IF YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT AS A BUCKY BARNES X READER JUST LET ME KNOW!

Wordcount: 1013

TAGLIST; OPEN

PLEASE SHARE YOUR OPINIONS IN THE COMMENTS!

There weren’t a lot of traditions Sanne had brought into her live with her family, but telling stories was certainly one of them. It was something they did every single day, usually during dinner. It was about whatever, growing up and how vastly different things Sanne and Bucky had grown up with, irresponsible things they used to do, together, alone, with friends or just funny stories of things the kids did growing up. It was a way for all of them to stay connected to get to know more about one another without it feeling forced.

Though Bucky was certainly the better storyteller out of the two of them it was way easier for him to talk about a topic when Sanne brought it up first. Which made thinking of a topic for tonight’s dinner story a whole lot harder. Sanne was out at dinner with Steve, Sam and Natasha, yes she was out with Bucky’s best friends. Did he feel left out? Yes a little, but it had been a stressful couple of years honestly. His friends deserved a night out, without having to worry if the restaurant was going to be crowded or if there were any triggers.

Also, Bucky loves spending time with his kids, so it wasn’t really that big of deal.

“Dad? Your fork uhm, you broke your fork” Caleb suddenly interrupted Bucky’s train of thought. When the man looked down he noticed the top of the fork had indeed broken under the pressure of his metal hand. A whispered strain of curse words left the ex-soldiers mouth as he attempted to force the top back on. He knew all to well it wouldn’t work, but a guy could try, right?

A soft laugh left his youngest daughters mouth, “Daddy don’t be silly, you can’t just push metal back together you need to melt it.” Bucky shook his head giving Hannah a little smile, the girl was too smart for her own good. “Why don’t I get us some ice cream and tell your smart asses a story”

And suddenly it was like they were all little kids again, waiting for there dad or as their mother says ‘papa’ to tell them some funny or stupid story. Bucky’s the first to admit that his kids looking at him with such admiration in their eyes is the only thing that truly makes him feel like the hero the history books make him out to be. God they’d been doing this since Steve lived with them a little over 15 -Jesus time flies- years ago, Sanne had suggested it, hoping it would jog any memories and also because she used to love it when her parents would tell stories about her and her siblings growing up. And now? Now it was Bucky’s favorite thing they did as a family.

A few moments later Bucky reentered the dining room, holding two huge cartons of vanilla raspberry swirl ice cream and 10 spoons. “No bowls, less dishes” Bucky softly mumbled while handing his kids the spoons and getting his youngest son out of his baby seat.

“Does Peter want some ice-cream? Huh, now do you?” Bucky’s baby-voice was almost like the way he used to talk to drunk pre-serum Steve, just slightly less high-pitched. He air-planed a scoop of ice cream into the babies mouth. Of course putting a huge spoonful into his own right afterwards, look when you have eight teens who love ice-cream as much as you do and are as quick with putting food in their mouth as their mother you eat in fast large amounts.

A few minutes into devouring ice cream Yael broke the silence by asking “So Dad what’s the story about tonight?”. Honestly Bucky didn’t really have anything in mind and was high key hoping his kids would ask for a specific subject.

He was about to make a joke like ‘Do you want to here about the time I fell of a train and lost my arm or the time I murdered the president?” , but quickly realized that would probably be considered mentally scarring your kids forever. Which considering the uncountable amounts of mental breakdowns this man has had in front of his kids he’s probably done enough of. So he decided to instead just go with the good old “What do you kids wanna hear ‘bout?”

A few random subjects like war and the 40’s were suggested nothing that made any great stories pop into Bucky mind, not until Caleb -jokingly- suggested “Mom’s dating life while you knew here, but before you dated. If she ever dated anyone of course”. Which earned him a few dude what the hells and why the fuck wouldn’t mom have dated before that dad’s like a 110 years older than her

“First of all I am not a 110 years older than your mom only like 95 at most I think, I was 100 when the trips were born” Which in return earned him a few “dAD THAT WOULD MEAN MOM WAS 5 WHEN SHE HAD US”. Bucky laughed a little “Look maybe my math ain’t that great on that one, forgive me okay, but your mom did indeed date others while I was around, only one serious relationship though”

The last part really caught all the kids attention “A serious relationship?” Echoed through the room, followed by “With who?”, “Now that seems like a story worth hearing” and “Do we know him or her?”

Bucky already regretted even mentioning a serious relationship, because the kids did indeed know the guy, “Look before I tell you guys this, you need to remember I knew your mom 5 years before we started dating, so it isn’t weird she was with this guy in that time, also it didn’t last and they’re still really great friends so if you ever date someone and it doesn’t work and you still like them as a person you can be friends.”

“Okay anyway, here is the story of the whirlwind romance that was your mom and Pietro Maximoff”

“Wait WHAT”

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askthedespairkids · 6 years ago

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Hey I really like the 79-B kids when they're around but since we dont know a lot about them could we get some info on them????

//Like all of them…? Uh, sure. I’ll put it under the cut for ya’ll since this’ll be a long post.

Sora Nagata - Ultimate Riddle Solver

Gender: Male

Height: 5′8″

Birthday: February 14th

Likes: Long naps

Dislikes: Stressful situations

Was captured by: Masaru

Sora Nagata is a lazy smartass in every sense of the phrase. With something to say, he easily ends up arguing with people, especially annoying them with his inability to do anything for himself unless he has no other choice. He will try to find a way to get out of anything so he doesn’t stress himself out. On the flip-side, he has a high IQ with great problem solving abilities which was recognised by Hope’s Peak when his brother forced him into a mystery solving contest, being able to solve the mysteries in mere minutes or even seconds earned him his title of Ultimate Riddle Solver, even if he thinks “school and exams are just a pain in the ass”

Mamoru Fukao - Ultimate Assistant

Gender: Male

Height: 5′9″

Birthday: September 18th

Likes: Organised lists

Dislikes: Truancy

Was captured by: Nobody

Mamoru Fukao is a usually level-headed boy that makes sure that works to make sure everyone is able to complete tasks by lightening the load for them. As the student council vice-president at his old high school, word spread quickly about his organisation in and out of school, being able to help other people manage businesses by managing paperwork and such. Despite usually being able to hold his composure well, his childhood friend, Sora, easily manages to set him off in a nearly unquenchable rage due to Sora’s disrespectful nature and taunts.

Denbe Katayama - Ultimate Sniper

Gender: Male

Height: 5′6″

Birthday: October 4th

Likes: Rock music

Dislikes: Interviews

Was captured by: Nobody

Denbe was a member of a special sniper unit in the mercenary group, Fenrir. Due to a belief in the unit that said “snipers should never be able to speak”, his tongue was cut out at a young age as an initiation into the group, leaving him mute. On the battlefield, he has an intense bloodlust and unbelievable accuracy that let him take out over 100 enemies in his first year of being on the battlefield. However, off the battlefield, he transforms into a shy but friendly boy who just wants to be able to make friends with the people around him, though his past and mute state makes it hard.

Ryokai Araki - Ultimate Exorcist

Gender: Male

Height 5′6″

Birthday: October 31st

Likes: Salt

Dislikes: Doctors

Was captured by: Yuuko

Ryokai was subjected to brutal tests by his father and his father’s friends who wished to use science to prove ghosts and the paranormal existed, in doing so, the experiments gave Ryokai the ability to fight said paranormal entities. Despite his plain appearance, he can use special charms to exorcise the demons from people and places with intense powers. He has a phobia of doctors due to the experiments, and has a series stutter that he can’t control. Along with a heavy guilty conscious of knowing that he wasn’t the only test subject at the labs, he feels as though he doesn’t deserve kindness from those around him after feeling like he abandoned people who called him things like “Aniki” and “Kyoudai”, so when he introduces himself somethings he says “Kyoudai Aniki” instead of Ryokai Araki.

Kotone Okuda - Ultimate Bounty Hunter

Gender: Female

Height: 5′11″

Birthday: December 2nd

Likes: Leather jackets

Dislikes: Assassins

Was Captured by: Mike

When Kotone was young, she witnessed her father, Yuri Okuda, getting murdered by an assassin. Every since then, she’s had an intense hatred against criminals, specifically killers. She became a bounty hunter to bring down criminals and prevent any further misery happening to innocent people, but she refused to ever kill them. Around people, she’s a loud and proud person who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and tell people how it is, also having an affinity for “cute girls”. When she’s not socialising, she’s training for the day she meets her dad’s killer and putting an end to the misery he caused to people throughout the years…

Akiko Sugiyama - Ultimate Songwriter

Gender: Female

Height: 5′7″

Birthday: April 14th

Likes: Tea Cakes

Dislikes: Plagiarism

Was captured by: Yuuko

Throughout her childhood, Akiko could always be seen writing down random words and phrases in her diary. At age 5 she began to learn the piano, and then began composing chord progressions, and thus her songwriting began. Though, due to anxiety issues, she is unable to perform her songs unless nobody is around so she sold her song to a new idol which gave the idol her first no.1 in the charts. Ever since, Akiko had a reputation for her way with words and has been asked by stars all over the world to write songs for them. A simple personality, though easily angered if people talk about her appearance, especially her commonly described “large forehead”. However, she’s an easy person to talk to who anyone can be friends with.

Yumiko Hashimoto - Ultimate Reporter

Gender: Female

Height: 5′5″

Birthday: January 26th

Likes: Sensible outfits

Dislikes: Messy people

Was captured by: Celes

Starting off as an intern at her local news station, and working at her school’s newspaper club, Yumiko didn’t have much in the way of experience with reporting until the news station’s field reporter was off sick and Yumiko was forced into the position instead. Thinking it would be a one-off, Yumiko took her chance and made the most of it and reported the news as best as she could. That same day, social media showed that many people were complimenting the way the ‘pretty blonde girl’ reported the stories that day. Yumiko, due to this, ended up becoming a part-time reporter where she would report the news with a bright and cheery attitude, that caused teens to watch the news more in admiration of someone their age being a reporter. Though she has a warm and kind personality on camera, off camera she becomes a different person, acting more coldly and harshly to those around her which can come as a surprise to her fans. However, if you ever want someone to report, Yumiko is the one to call.

Chieko Arishima - Ultimate Shrine Maiden

Gender: Female

Height: 5′2″

Birthday: June 1st

Likes: Bells

Dislikes: Litter

Was captured by: Natsumi

A small a extremely shy girl who is scared to socialise and express her opinions, Chieko has always had trouble trying to make friends with those around her. Her sensitive heart makes it easy for her to burst into tears. However, when working at the shrine her family maintains, she becomes a responsible young woman who carries out her duties with precision and can organise the shrine festivals by herself. Living her life to respect the shrine gods, she does her best to always be kind to people.

Fumio Numajiri - Ultimate Judge

Gender: Male

Height: 5′10″

Birthday: August 8th

Likes: Board games

Dislikes: Injustice

Was captured by: Nagisa

Fumio’s abilities were first noticed when his home was robbed and he accused his neighbour with only a “gut feeling”, as he described it. It took time, but his parents eventually decided to investigate the neighbour’s home and found some of the missing items. His father, who was also a judge, decided to test him further in order to gauge the extent of his son’s abilities. When he was satisfied, he had Fumio take the exam to become a judge in courts, making him the youngest judge in history. He has a cool demeanour in serious situation, though he has trouble with his emotions, from getting flustered easily, to being easily angered, even worrying far to much for his own good, but you can always trust in him to tell if there’s good in someone.

Robyn Hutchison - Ultimate Nudes Artist

Gender: Female

Height: 5′8″

Birthday: September 1st

Likes: Abs

Dislikes: Makeup

Was captured by: Jataro

The bespectacled ginger Scottish beauty, Robyn defies all expectations with her talent alone. Having an undeniably beautiful art style comes with it’s own downsides: Robyn is only able to become inspired by muscular male bodies. Despite this being her only muse, if she goes too long without drawing, she gets cranky and can lash out so she is always on the lookout for muscular boys to draw (of age, of course). When she’s calm, she has a fun personality and likes to take playful jabs at her friends, never truly meaning any offence, though the difference in cultural humour sometimes gets her in trouble, and she can get words wrong on occasion when speaking. She describes her art as “tasteful nudes” and loathes it when someone calls it “porn”.

Ayame Ichimonji - Ultimate Gardener

Gender: Female

Height: 5′6″

Birthday: July 10th

Likes: Marigolds

Dislikes: Rafflesia

Was captured by: Nagito

A soft-spoken girl who always has a smile plastered on her face, Ayame is the ideal friend to have if you want to have a nice conversation over tea. Growing up as a homeless orphan, she was taken in by a kind old lady who taught her what she now knows about gardening. Ayame’s abilities allow her to make any garden flourish, even creating her own special mulch. Though occasionally suspected of having some kind of dark secret, she brushes off any such accusation, simply stating that she wishes to repay the kindness she was given by the old lady who helped her.

Takashi Hayashi - Ultimate Archaeologist

Gender: Male

Height: 5′1″

Birthday: May 19th

Likes: His oversized trench coat

Dislikes: Broccoli

Was captured by: Kazuichi

Takashi is energy in human form. He is never not excited and loves to jump around and hug people, which can come across as irritating to some. Takashi loves to help people, and goes along with other people’s antics without any, or very little, argument. Despite his very youthful look, he is actually the oldest in his class, actually being 19 years old, but started school late, which is why he’s so many years older than his class members. Takashi became an archaeologist after he escaped a kidnapping attempt and wandered onto a digging site. Ever since he found his first set of bones, he’s loved archaeology. Though, he never talks about it, he’s sad that he was separated from his parents and younger brother, and uses archaeology to take his mind off it, which isn’t always a bad thing. He needs to put all that energy somewhere.

Shin Tamuro - Ultimate Spy

Gender: Male

Height: 6′1″

Birthday: ???

Likes: Hair dye

Dislikes: Failure

Was captured by: Maverick

As an experiment, several children of government officials were taken in to raise as spies. Shin was one of these children. He was trained in combat and counterespionage from age 5, given the belief that the mission was important above all else.Shin ended up at the top of this group in all areas and was made an official spy. Whilst this does mean he has developed superior strength, reflexes, and intelligence, he has lost the ability to feel most emotions and it has become extremely rare for him to ever react or lose his composure. He has incredible acting abilities though, for when he is undercover, so it can be hard to tell if he is truly indifferent or not to situations. However, he is not shy in admitting that he has some family issues, never forgiving his parents for forcing him into this life.

Haruhi Matsushima - Ultimate Occultist

Gender: Female

Height: 5′5″

Birthday: October 13th

Likes: Ghost stories

Dislikes: Squid

Was Captured by: Monaca

Having a cousin who was interested in the occult, Haruhi was exposed to the occult life in her very early life. Whenever she’d go to her cousin’s house, she’d listen intently to the stories he had, and Haruhi would read all the books on the occult that she could get her hands on, managing to learn different topics on hexes and curses, on demons, and all things occult. A fiery personality, where she’s quick to threaten people with curses with rather odd effects such as “needing to go to the bathroom more often” or “your shoelaces will always come undone no matter how tightly you tie them”, she can come across wrongly. Deep down, Haruhi wants to be able to get along with people, however her obsession with the abnormal makes it hard for her.

Hiroaki Yamahata - Ultimate Daredevil

Gender: Male

Height: 6′0″

Birthday: March 27th

Likes: Flames

Dislikes: Boring environments

Was captured by: Mike

A rambunctious teen who lives for the death-defying lifestyle, Hiroaki can and will find a way to live each day like its his last! As soon as his legs were long enough to control it, Hiroaki would steal his brother’s motorcycle and set up different situations which usually would result in a trip to A&E, however it would take more than that to deter him from the thrill! His hot-blooded personality gets him into trouble with authorities who want him to stop his stunts, however, he finds himself unable to contain the excitement at these situations. Due to the numerous amount of stunts he’s done, he’s gained a cult following online which is how Hope’s Peak learned of him. Loud, proud, and ready to take any and all dangers, Hiroaki lives a life without fear of death.

Etsuko Hanabusa - Ultimate Choreographer

Gender: Female

Height: 5′7″

Birthday: April 20th

Likes: Lyrical dances

Dislikes: Natural talent

Was captured by: Kotoko

With a cold glare, and sharp tongue, Etsuko Hanabusa is a choreographer who strikes fear into the hearts of dancers all around the country. With a zero-nonsense policy, she won’t take attitude from anybody. Once a talented dancer, she fell victim to an accident where she needed surgery on her legs, leaving her unable to continue dancing. However, she didn’t want to leave her passion, and took it in a different direction: thus she became the choreographer at the dance studio. Using her knowledge, she created beautiful dance one after the other, earning her a golden reputation in the dance community, even choreographing full musicals. However, if you ever try to say she has a natural talent as a choreographer, she will passionately deny it and say she worked hard to get to where she is and that natural talent is an unnecessary shortcut people use to undermine her talent that she honed herself.

#Mod J #mod answer #DR #anon #anon question #mod question

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ohthathurt · 7 years ago

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omg #7 on the high school themed, for the drabble prompt please 😩

Prompt: “I accidentally tookyour notebook thinking it was mine and you have really nice handwriting andcute doodles”

I changed it a slight bit so hope you dont mind anon x

Inspired by the way Zayn doodled Liam’s name in the UAN Yearbook:

“Look I’m just saying, it’s been what, a year, since you andDanielle broke up, maybe you should just give it a go, mate!” Louis, his bestfriend, pestered him for what felt like the umpteenth time that month since theend-of-year school dance was announced. This was something new – a very Britishversion of a school prom. Apparently, public schools all around were beginningto get into it.

Liam made a face; “I don’t know…” he trailed off skeptically,still unsure of his love life now that their studies were amped up to a full10, with Liam’s extracurricular activities leeching his free time.

They walked over the sparse grass ofthe football field, heading towards the main school building in their runningshoes, having just come back from light training that always left Liam’s energylevels unusually high. He mulled over Louis’ words. Most of what he said wastrue, though.

Only a month ago, a circular had comethrough that left most of the teens in his school tittering with excitement andapprehension – they were to have a school dance, where every person was allowedto take a date. Louis, of course, was more than happy to accompany his boyfriend,who was a year behind, to the dance. He was pretty sure Niall already hadsomeone in mind (he had a sneaking suspicion it was that Irish bloke from theirrugby team). That left him: good ol’ Payno.

Since his break-up with Danielle lastyear, he hadn’t really dated anyone. To be fair, that was because he threwhimself into raising his grades so his mum didn’t look like someone had diedevery time his report came in. He took up boxing classes as well, the youngestmember at their local gym and had managed since then to establish and start anew boxing club at their school.

All in all, he was doing pretty well.Now all he needed was a date. Yup, piece of cake. He let out a single, longbreath as if it had been agonizinglypunched out of him.

***

Now the truth was, there wasn’t exactly a lack of interested individuals who would be more than happy to behis date to the dance. No, he had his plenty share of people asking for weeksnow but he always turned them down, gently, of course.

No, he had eyes for someone else.

Someone who was currently stood down the hallway, near where thelockers were, merrily chatting to his mates. Now being ‘the absolute idiot thathe was’ according to Louis, he had never talked to this guy.

Zayn, was his name. Zayn Malik – the name that made President of theBoxing Club Liam Payne sigh like a Victorian lady. Of course, the boys on hisfooty team knew, and took the absolute piss out of him for it, making annoyingsmooching noises whenever Zayn passed by, not even reacting to the Vice Captainof the football team making eyes at him.

The thing was – he had never talked to him. Ever. And that is why Louis had coined him a ‘stupid bastard’. Bitharsh, but understandable. It’s just that he was so intimidated by him. Inanother universe, maybe, Liam would have had the guts and confidence toapproach Zayn, maybe chat him up or even ask him out.

But no, actual Liam Payne had zero guts when it came to Zayn. In fact,he usually gave Zayn a wide berth whenever he passed him by, scared he’d dosomething idiotic like smile dreamily at him or ask to smell his hair orsomething.

Yeah, approaching him seemed like a bad idea, especially when he wasso sure Zayn hardly knew he existed. He shared his thoughts with Louis whoscoffed loudly at him from where he stood near the main doors with Liam.

“Mate, no offence, but I’ve seen that boy check you out more timesthan I’ve given Harry a blowjob and lemme tell you, we’re wild.”

Liam stared at him with a deadpan expression for a hot minute before, “Yourealize I don’t care about your sex life, right? So will you please stoptelling me about it?” He yelled, his voice echoing rather embarrassingly in thehallway. But no matter, Louis reallyneeded to stop telling him details.

Louis, the arsehole, only smirked at him before continuing, “Have Itold you about that time – “

Liam just started walking away from him, towards the lockers, yellingback, “You need to shut up, you Yorkshire fuck!” He turned back to face thefront, when he noticed a pair of hazel eyes regarding him with shock. Oh shit.

Apparently Zayn had heard Liam shout and he wasn’t sure but –

“Did you know Zayn’s from Yorkshire?” Louis caught up to him andwhispered hotly into his ear from behind, amusement coating his words.

Liam blushed intensely with embarrassment as his mate snickeredhimself silly beside him. He really needed a new best friend.

He chanced a look up at Zayn again, only to catch him turning away intime and heading off with his friends, closing his locker door behind him.Only, just as Zayn walked away, Liam noticed a spiral notebook lying on thefloor in front of his locker.

Something spurred Liam to jump forward and he reached the notebook,picking it up with one hand, the other raised and ready to call Zayn back and –say what?

Sorry I was actually calling my mate a Yorkshire fuck and not you,also here is your notebook, I saw you drop it because I’m always staring atyou, please love me –

Yeah, that wasn’t happening, he thought as he hefted the notebook upand noticed with fondness the little ’Z’ sketched on top of the cover. It was ayellow and black swirl pattern book with blank pages and to Liam’s surprise,those pages were mostly filled with sketches.

Beautiful sketches with precise lines and animated expressions ofvarious characters. A sketch of a family in front of a Christmas tree, a dogplaying in a backyard, the skyline of London –

Liam stopped short, his entire world went on pause and he was prettysure he lost several brain cells. On the last page at the back of the notebookwere cute doodles in a black pen, like the inane ramblings of a person who wasbored in class.

In the middle of these messy scrawls and scribbles, was his name.

Written in black ink and decorated endearingly with loops and swirlsand little hearts all around was the name: Liam Payne. That’s him! That was his name on the back of a notebook of a boy he’scrushed on for an entire year!

He could scarcely believe what he was seeing but Louis’ shocked butsmug expression basically confirmed it.

Zayn liked him! In the cute I-find-you-adorable way, his crush haddoodled his name during class when hewas probably bored or hey, maybe thinking about him?

Liam’s cheeks flushed at the thought, he had never been crushed onbefore like this. Especially by a boy as lovely as Zayn, with his floppy blackhair that fell silkily on his forehead and those beautiful hazel eyes hidden behinda pair of black framed glasses that always slipped down his perfect littlenose.

Now he was giddy. He cracked a huge grin and faced Louis, “I have anidea!”

***

Zayn was having a pretty normal Monday – as normal as it can getactually. The classes were droning on as usual and nothing was out of theordinary. That is if you don’t count Liam Payne shouting ‘Yorkshire fuck’ inthe school hallway. Zayn’s lips twitched at the memory and at how Liam’s flushed-from-the-exerciseskin had reddened even more as his eyes had caught onto him.

But then he had turned away from him, and Zayn was forced to lower hishopeful gaze yet again and walk away as once again his crush ignored him. Everytime he thought, yes now he’s gonna talkto me, Liam always found a way to avoid him or would just completely ignorehim. Mixed signals were not his thing so maybe he should just let this one go.

He heaved out a regretful sigh and focused back on the conversation hewas having with his mates. Only they had gone suspiciously silent. When heturned to his mate, Adam, to ask what was wrong, his friend only lifted up afinger and pointed at something behind him.

Confused at his behaviour, he whirled around to look at –

Liam Payne. Looking every bit as scrumptious as he always does inthose sports’ shorts and tee. He was also smirking, wait why was he smirking?And what was he holding?

Zayn felt the colour drain from his face as he recognized Liam’s longfingers clutching onto a very familiarspiral notebook. Oh you know the one with Liam’s name sketched a thousand timesover all of it!

He gulped and reached out for it and was surprised when Liam handed itover easily. His mind was running through a million loud thoughts but they allsilenced when Liam walked over to him and right up into his personal space. Oh god, he smelled as good as he looked, nowait what?

Zayn felt all the breath in his lungs freeze as Liam tilted his headdown to hover his lips over his ear as he whispered, “You have cute doodles. Iespecially like the ones on the last page.”

Zayn could only shudder as Liam shifted impossibly closer and peckedhim gently on the cheek. In a sudden rush, he moved back and walked backwards afew steps from Zayn, pausing only to wink awkwardly, oh bless he winks with both eyes, before turning back and headingoff with his mate.

It was a good minute before he could breathe again and then heremembered what Liam whispered to him! (After which he was given the mostgentle, loving kiss on the cheek but he’ll freak out over it later, he wassure)

He scrambled to get his notebook upright before he flipped to the lastpage, where he knew he had doodledLiam’s name in the most cringe way he possibly could.

Zayn noticed a short sentence penned in underneath where he hadsketched Liam’s name.

“Will you go to the dance with me?”

And for the first time in manyweeks, Zayn felt like his face would crack open with the widest grin he couldpossibly manage.

#ziamfanfiction #ziam #also dont sue me im making up the part abt the school dance lmao #ziam au prompts #fanfiction

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clbrp · 4 years ago

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character name: Catherine Loftis-Blake age & birthday: 30, 21st June 1991 gender & pronouns: Cis female, She/her place of birth & time in Asteria: Fairfield, Connecticut || 3 years District: Queens Park occupation: Model & stay at home mother faceclaim: Lily James

CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY

Tw: death, emotional abuse

PAST

Born in Fairfield, Connecticut, Catherine Hamilton-Blake nee Moore was the youngest of three children with two older brothers. Her parents, both working throughout her whole childhood were loving but incredibly removed, hence their children being brought up by a ripple of nannies who came in and out their very large family home regularly. Her father was the president of Airborn Dynamics, a company that is best known for providing weapons to the US military, a job that made the man a lot of money on top of a lot of enemies. Her mother worked as a Chief executive at the same company which was how the two of them actually met, although both were lower ranking at that point.

When she was sixteen Catherine’s oldest brother Charlie enrolled in the navy and soon after the younger brother Trent joined the Amy. It had always been a given that the two boys would become members of the armed forces in one way or another, but that didn’t stop the girl from feeling a loss at them no longer being at home with her anymore. The large house they lived in became even more empty without the two boys, a lot of the day she was the only one home, fuelling a determination in the girl to do something that got her out of the house. Problem was she never actually acted on that feeling, instead just going out to bars with her friends, partying, not to mention spending more than her fair share of her family’s income at the local mall.

One afternoon she was hanging out in the food court with her then boyfriend when a modelling scout spotted the blonde, promising her fame and fortune if she signed up for their agency. Normally this would have been the stuff of lies but this was actually a genuine offer which was how she became a model despite her parents protesting. She loved it because it was a chance to travel the world, be given free clothing, not to mention everyone around her would tell the woman how stunning she was at all times.

When she was twenty one the girl landed a contract as the face of Burberry’s new fragrance and this was huge for Catherine. When the CEO of the company came to set one day with his childhood friend James the woman instantly caught said friend’s eye, swiftly he started putting the moves on her, which the blonde found exciting and flattering. He offered her an elevated quality of life even beyond what she’d had growing up, and the girl was sucked in. Even though he was married at the time he managed to convince Catherine over the course of a few days that he was in love with her, embarking on what turned out to be an eight year affair the two of them had together. He showered her with gifts, sweet words, flew her all over and even bought the girl her own apartment on the Upper East Side. All to keep her silent, but in her mind it was because he truly did see a future with her.

Catherine thought she was living in a dream, and it stayed like that for a while until everything became a nightmare one day on a Jamaican beach. Frolicking in the waves with her hair tumbling around her shoulders Catherine was doing what she did best, but everything around her started to go weird, people were whispering and looking at her with real concern in their eyes. Starting to panic she had no idea what was going on, but all became clear when the producer of the shoot was charged with the job of letting her know that her brother Trent had been caught up in a IED explosion while on an outreach mission and had lost his life at the scene. In the back of her mind she’d always known it was possible for something like this to happen, but still it was an event that rocked her family to the core. Her mother withdrawing into herself becoming a shell, her father blaming himself, and none of them had any idea what was going on with Charlie because he was deployed on an unknown mission. She felt at sea all on her own, which was why she turned to James for the support she needed and he seemed to think the way to placate her was to divorce his wife and propose to the girl. A knee jerk reaction that everyone else could see, but not Catherine, who was rapidly becoming the queen of denial.

PRESENT

That was three years ago, they got married on the beach near her hometown and four months ago the couple welcomed their first daughter, Ivy. James Loftis-Blake has been cheating on his new wife ever since the two of them said I do and everyone can see it, but she swears down to the ground he has eyes only for her. Even when he goes away for weeks on end, leaving the woman alone with their daughter in the huge house they own. In fact she finds the size of the house when he isn’t home so lonely she has bought her own apartment Downtown to stay in during this time, taking Ivy without telling him, she will go on an extended ‘vacation’ for this time. Plugging the holes in her heart with designer shoes, handbags, clothing, and jewels, she looks every inch the happy go lucky socialite that in incredibly aspirational. Attending premiers and events as James’ little trophy she gets to do things others could only dream of, but she’s aware that this is because of his achievements rather than her own. She’s vacuous, but not stupid.

Recently James has becoming more than just absent in her life, he has become emotionally abusive to his wife. Often over the fact their daughter was in fact a girl rather than the boy he wanted, he will blame her for that, and gaslight her at every chance he gets. Each time causing her to just fight harder for the love she believes they share, although slowly she is coming to realise this might not really be the case. Small things are opening her eyes to the truth. It’s just ever since she was young she had imagined herself having this wonderful family when she grew up, so if she ignores all the warning signs of what is really going on, maybe she can still have that from her marriage.

Wanted plots & Headcanons (if any)

- Her love language is gift giving, and Catherine often doesn’t see the issue with giving her friends incredibly lavish things that cost more than is probably appropriate. To her it’s just a way of her showing how much she cares about them. Especially since her husband does that for her, she thinks it’s how you’re meant to do it, not allowing herself to recognise that he does it to cover that he doesn’t really love her at all. Also because this is her love language any ‘holiday’ is an excuse to give a gift/gifts.

- Ivy has two nannies (a daytime and nighttime nanny) but Catherine tries to do as much of the childcare herself as she can, she dotes on her little girl, and doesn’t want her growing up with absent parents like she did.

- She craves personal connection and intimacy thanks to not getting any from her husband.

- Her contact with her parents is there but she doesn’t speak to them that often.

- She still has no idea where her brother Charlie is and it eats her up inside.

- As well as having a shopping addiction she also suffers with pretty bad insomnia and can often be found up at three am drinking alone in her oversized house to try and help her sleeping pills kick in faster.

- She cannot cook to save her life but my god does she try, often burning things, once she’s gotten over the hurdle of turning the oven on obviously.

#[[about]]#[[intro]]#[[scrapbook]]#Asteriaintro #death tw #emotional abuse tw

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khunvegas · 8 years ago

Text

Stucky Feels!

I’ve always shipped them but it’s recently that I’ve been reading fics in this fandom and they are amazing. This is my collection of amazingness in words. My Stucky fanfic rec.

6:13 AM by @halerogers

It was routine, getting on the train that early in the morning, and Steve had it down to a damn tee. It was tiring, waking up that early to catch a train to work, but it wasn't so bad.

Especially not after he started showing up.

He was the man with murder eyes and shockingly good looks despite the whole hobo vibe but with a soft center. Steve liked to call him the Human Impersonation of the Grumpy Cat in his head; Grumpy Cat for short when he whined about him to either Natasha or Sam.

OR – in which Steve falls in love with a stranger.

A Christmas Game by @that-girl

Bucky loses his pet mouse and yells at his very hot neighbour to keep his cat away from his baby. And Natasha regrets the day she met Bucky. It's a fluff fest.

An Accident of Time by Pickitup

Boys weren’t omegas. Not outside of blue movies, or bluer songs, at least, the kind of anecdotes too ribald even for soldiers to tell. Girls were omegas, sometimes, but rarely, even in those days. Dying breeds, he guessed. When he was the asset it had stopped entirely, he had thought it all over: feels sick thinking of what they would have done to exploit him if he had suffered back then. But now, 2014, eating three meals a day, sleeping regularly in a safe bed, the old ghost has come back.

Bite Your Tongue by Avaaricious

AKA the "I work at a department store and if you take out and unfold a shirt and then leave it one more time I'm going to stuff it down your throat" AU

Captain Fantastic and the Pineapple King by @bucky-fucky-barnes

Shit. She hadn't noticed him yet. Maybe he could turn and leave without them noticing – Sam would understand. Sam was the most empathetic person he knew. He wouldn’t scold Steve for coming home spice-less to avoid an awkward encounter with an ex. Surely. They drew closer Fuck Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, please don't notice me... "Steve?" Fuck. In which Steve is saved from his ex in a grocery store, Bucky Barnes is Way Too Chill about absolutely everything, and Sam has had enough of all of these goddamn pineapples in his fucking house. Or: The five times Steve received a pineapple (and one Piña Colada) and the one time he didn't

Come On, Leave Me Breathless by @emphasisonem

“Shit, I don’t want to talk to him,” Bucky huffs, running a hand through his hair and blurting out the first idea that comes to mind, “I really- would you make out with me real quick?”

“What?” the blond bleats, blue eyes wide as he stares at Bucky.

In which Bucky really doesn't want to talk to his ex and enlists the help of an attractive stranger to avoid him.

Cool Beans by @emphasisonem

“Guy looks a little like a hobo,” Pietro smirks, and a whoosh of breath leaves the young man as his sister elbows him in the stomach.

“Be kind,” Wanda admonishes him. “He’s very handsome, Steve. He looks strong.”

“Don’t be gettin’ any ideas there, Wanda,” Steve smiles at his friend. “I’m doing just fine on my own. I have the shop to think about. I don’t need any romantic entanglements right now.”

“We’ll see,” Wanda’s lips turn up at the corners, and Steve can’t help but laugh at the mischief sparkling in her eyes.

In which Steve owns a coffee shop and Bucky is a carpenter who buys the property next door.

Did you really just ask....? by Kare

"I just want to sit on the couch with you, watch bad action movies, eat greasy pizza and marry you. Is that really that much to ask?"

Steve can deal with the first three wishes. He isn't really sure if he heard the fourth one correctly...

Well, only one way to find out... maybe...

Enjoy the Silence by neversaydie

Silence used to be peaceful for Bucky. These days it makes him feel like he's waiting for something, like he's listening for the warning sounds of predators approaching.

Now silence means he's waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He lives in a beautiful apartment with his husband-to-be and tells himself that everything is just fine. He doesn't sleep, he's scared of putting a foot wrong in case Brock snaps again, and he's desperately lonely, but he has everything he ever wants and that should be enough. It's not like he can complain about being taken care of, even if parts of it aren't exactly his choice.

Running into his childhood friend (literally) just might change everything. 'Just fine' doesn't seem like enough once Steve walks back into his life. The problem is, Bucky's been stuck in his cage for so long that he's not sure he can leave it on his own.

Filthy Things You Say by Limoncello_Bella

Bucky wanted to kiss him, kiss him and then press him against the wall or desk and do things to him that would leave them both as a pile of sexually sated human mush. Mentally, he swore, he didn’t even have a type, but spitfire twinks more stubborn than a mule were quickly becoming number one on the nonexistent list.

Or.

Steve is a cuddle-slut drunk and his latest victim is one Bucky Barnes.

For Who I've Not Yet Become by @thebestpersonherelovesbucky

Bucky Barnes -- powerful Wall Street tycoon -- has everything he needs. Money, good looks, a life in the fast lane. He's living on top of the world in a Park Avenue Penthouse in Manhattan, is the youngest vice president ever over at Stark Industries and might even be named Forbes Man of the Year -- again. Nothing can bring him down.

That is until Bucky has a strange encounter with a young man named Eli on Christmas Eve and wakes up Christmas morning married to his old college sweetheart, Steve Rogers.

With his entire world turned upside down, Bucky must find a way to navigate his way through marriage and fatherhood and suburbia. And maybe find the unique answer to the age old question... What if...?

Heat Wave by HandsAcrossTheSea

Sometimes, you just have to let nature take its course.

Hey, Bartender, Pour ‘Em Hot Tonight by @emphasisonem

Steve looks down and catches sight of a bright pink drink in a hurricane glass. Moisture is beaded on the outside, and the cool feel of it is nice on Steve’s sweaty hand as he picks up the monstrosity Sam has ordered for him.

“What the hell is this?” Steve asks, a disbelieving smile on his face. “You couldn’t just order me a beer?”

“You said to surprise you,” Sam smirks. “And you made me wait.”

“But what is it?” Steve repeats, and is answered by a deep, unfamiliar voice.

“It’s a Singapore Sling,” the man behind the bar is smiling. “Not what you were expecting?”

In which Bucky is a bartender and Steve is immediately smitten. He's not the only one.

Honestly, I Just Came Out To Have A Good Time by @youngavengersfeels

The first time Steve met Bucky, Bucky was jumping into a pond only a smidge less polluted than the from The Simpsons, butt naked. Things could really only go up from there.

I Get Knocked Down (But I Get Up Again) by @emphasisonem

“You sure you’re ok?” the blond asks, and Bucky really appreciates the fact that the guy isn’t laughing, considering his friend can’t seem to help snickering at Sam’s outrageous display.

“I’m fine,” Bucky huffs with a smirk. “Pride’s a little bruised, and I’m guessing I look like a fuckin’ drowned rat, but no permanent damage.”

A slow- and frankly, evil- smile makes its way across the blond’s lips. There’s a flicker of uncertainty in those blue eyes, but it’s replaced with a nearly-predatory look that gives Bucky goosebumps.

“Shame,” the other man teases Bucky. “I’m pretty good at kissin’ things better.”

In which Bucky Barnes is a show off at the beach and pays the price.

I Need Coffee in an I.V. by @emphasisonem

Bucky points at the counter, pouting. “They took my coffee maker.”

Steve looks like he wants to laugh, but Bucky thinks he does an admirable job of biting it back.

“Good god, how ever will you survive?” Steve asks, and Bucky usually kind of adores that sassy mouth of Steve’s, but he doesn’t fuck around when it comes to his coffee.

In which the office coffee maker breaks and Bucky is forced to rely on the kindness of an unknown coworker.

Is It Pretending If I Already Want You? By @ohcaptainmycaptain1918

Based on prompt: Pretend Boyfriends AU where one of their families is always wondering why they're never in a relationship, so the other offers to pretend to be their boyfriend for some family event"

Basic Steps to Getting Yourself In a Pickle With Both Your Family and The Guy You've Secretly Crushed On For Five Years (A Guide):

STEP 1: After being perpetually single and constantly making up excuses to your family, give in and lie about having a boyfriend. STEP 2: Agree to bring said boyfriend to the family cottage for a week so he can be your date to your parents' wedding anniversary party. STEP 3: Panic. STEP 4: Say 'yes' when your best friend and closet crush - who you're convinced isn't interested in you that way in the least - offers to be your pretend boyfriend. STEP 5: Try your best not to fall in love with them during the trip. STEP 6: Fail miserably.

Kinda Like the Way He Dips by @uhtredthepagan

‘Jesus, Bucky, are you wearing a mesh tank top?’ ‘Like it?’ ‘You look ridiculous.’ ‘Excuse me, this was a serious part of my teenage angst, Nat. I wore these boots to school.’

Let your heart be light by @relenafanel

Bucky looks like he’s had a difficult month, what with the eviction notice and all, but that’s not the reason Steve gives for allowing him to stay on his couch.

“You have somewhere to go?” Steve questioned, crossing his arms and attempting to look casual, not like he was worried for Bucky. He stepped into the apartment, ignoring how bare it was.

Bucky paused and gave him an exasperated look. “I’m not completely hopeless.”

A fic spanning from mid-November to early-February.

Of Broken Dreams and Mended Hearts by @thebestpersonherelovesbucky

When the House of Barnes is left in massive debt after the death of George Barnes, their oldest son and heir, Bucky, is forced to sacrifice his own hopes and dreams by entering an arranged married to Steve Rogers. Steve seems kind enough, has a prominent job in the government, and was even voted Society's Best Catch. But the House Rogers is significantly higher in status than Bucky's family, which means Bucky is marrying up in Society, and marrying up doesn't only come with rewards, it also comes with certain...expectations and losses--some of which Bucky might be willing to do anything to avoid. And those opportunities might come his way.

Unless, of course, he actually starts falling in love with his new husband...

One Way Or Another by @chiyume @rogersxbarnesx

When Steve volunteers to help Tony launch Stark Tech’s new Military Prosthetics Project, the last person he expects to see as he walks into the lab is the same guy who had him shoved up against a wall in the back of a club the weekend before.

Back then he had just been Steve Rogers; a civilian looking for a good time just like everyone. Here, he’s Captain America; hero, justice, and patriotism personified. Bucky, however, is still the flirtatious devil he had been back at the club, and he’s obviously not going to let something as trivial as Steve’s occupation get in the way of what he wants.

Patches of Memory by LokiNeedsHugs1031

What if soldiers hadn't shown up at Bucky's apartment while he was in hiding. What if Steve found him instead and no attack followed. Steve finally gets the chance to trigger Bucky's memories and they re-discover their romantic past.

Slide to Answer by @relenafanel

Note: a series that explain you how a stranger gives you relationships advice and then becomes your boyfriend.

Telluride by @captain-winterdaddy

Bucky's mom refuses to believe that he has nobody to bring to their annual Christmas family vacation. She also refuses to believe that he's gay, which in turn leads Bucky to tell her some maybe untruthful things.

Shenanigans ensue.

The artist and his coffee shop muse by Little_Lottie (tfwatson)

“Umm…” Steve glances up to find the waiter standing there with a smirk and a raised eyebrow looking expectant and arguably more delicious than the pastry. “I didn’t order this." “No,” the man says through a huff of laughter. “But technically, you didn’t order the coffee either.”

"Huh?"

Opposite him, the man slides into the booth, light bouncing off his shirt and drenching his eyes with even more blue.

Steve’s eyes dart left and right, looking for whatever it is he’s missed.

The Proposal by @steves-winter-boobear

Steve Rogers works as an executive assistant for his demon of a boss James Barnes, at Pierce Publishing. Everyone HATES working with James Barnes, the epitome of Satan himself in every way possible. But when his Visa for immigration is denied, James quickly hatches a plan and drags Steve into a plot to thwart the United States Government into thinking they are engaged to avoid deportation. Thus follows the weekend from your wildest imagination as boss and employee learn about themselves and what it means to be truly happy.

The Super-Dick of Freedom by raeganrolland

Short story of a slight misunderstanding, underwear that doesn't fit, and the gosh darn Super-Dick.

The Winter Soldier vs. Twitter (hashtag BuckRogers) by @galwednesday

“Remember what I said about internet trolls?”

“Don’t feed the trolls.”

“Exactly. Did I not say the same thing to Barnes?” Tony asked rhetorically. “Were those not my exact words? I could have sworn they were, and yet.”

“Bucky’s feeding the trolls?”

“He’s throwing a goddamn seven-course troll banquet. Every time someone on Twitter asks if your relationship announcement is real, he replies. Colorfully.”

Steve opened his mouth to ask what “colorfully” meant, then caught the gleam in Tony’s eye and put two and two together. He blushed. Colorfully. “Oh.”

(Steve and Bucky announce their relationship in a very dignified press conference. Bucky then replies to every goddamn tweet asking him to confirm it with a different dirty euphemism. Things escalate from there.)

These American Dreams (ain’t no white picket fences left for me) by @kariye

In which Bucky has a house, a dog, an herb garden, and a serious case of insomnia. Welcome to Havensport, Indiana (population 8,294), where Tom’s Neighborhood Grocer stays open all night, little old ladies call the car shop to get their refrigerators repaired, and the heat of summer days and the length of summer nights can make you think that this perfect world will last forever.

Thirty-Eight Days and Counting by @thecommodoresquid

It didn’t escape him that Steve shared his assumed last name. “Are you gonna be my cousin?” Bucky asked dully.

Steve frowned. “Husband, actually,” he said easily, holding up his left hand to show a typical golden band.

Bucky scowled and closed the door.

AKA An AU in which Bucky is put in the witness protection program and Steve is the agent hired to protect him/pretend to be his husband.

Three Men in a VW by Slenderlock

Steve steps back into the car and closes the door, lips still tingling.

“You don’t like blondes,” Bucky says.

Sam chokes.

Worth It by @lesserknownhero

While debating on going through with an ill advised hook-up Bucky is caught by his best friend Natasha. Forced to lie about his whereabouts and nightly activities he invents a fake past with a handsome stranger. Little does he know that once the lies begin they will be hard to stop.

Steve is out alone trying to force himself to be social and failing miserably. The only bright spot in his disappointing evening is comes when he inadvertently eavesdrops on the hot guy next to him as he blatantly lies to his nosy friend. The entertainment takes a turn for the bizarre when suddenly he's pulled into the lies and is forced to play along.

Yours for the Taking by @cookie-book-took

Bucky really should not have got in the car. He shouldn't of stolen the mystery case. He shouldn't of lied about it. He shouldn't of thought he could outsmart everyone. Bucky did all of the above and is firmly on Steve Roger's radar.

But it's exciting and his bland life needs excitement...what's the worse that can happen...

336 notes · View notes

cordlock7-blog · 6 years ago

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Former President George H.W. Bush Dies at 94

George Herbert Walker Bush, who as the 41st president guided the United States out of the Cold War and led an international coalition into the Gulf War, has died. He was 94.

Bush died at 10:10 p.m. Friday, according to a statement from family spokesman Jim McGrath.

"Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died," said former President George W. Bush in a statement. "George H. W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41’s life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens."

Bush's final words were to his son George W. on Friday night, a source close to the family told NBC News. George W. Bush was on speakerphone to say goodbye to his father, telling him he had been a “wonderful dad” and that he loved him.

“I love you, too,” H.W. Bush replied.

The former president was quickly remembered as a humble patriot, dedicated public servant and beloved family man by President Donald Trump, former President Barack Obama and others.

"Through his essential authenticity, disarming wit, and unwavering commitment to faith, family, and country, President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service—to be, in his words, 'a thousand points of light' illuminating the greatness, hope, and opportunity of America to the world," Trump and first lady Melania Trump said in a statement."

Bush was a World War II naval pilot who survived being shot down over the Pacific, led the CIA and spent eight years as vice president before taking the Oval Office. He was the father of the 43rd president, George W. Bush.

His wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, who used her time as the first lady to advocate for literacy, died on April 17.

George H.W. Bush became the first former U.S. president to turn 94 on June 12. The nation's 41st president was receiving calls and taking it easy at his seaside home in Maine eight days after being released from a hospital where he was treated for low blood pressure, said Chief of Staff Jean Becker.

Bush's office shared a birthday letter from the president in which he said, "My heart is full on the first day of my 95th year."

"As many of you know, for years I have said the three most important things in life are faith, family and friends. My faith has never been stronger," the former president wrote in the letter.

Several of his children had been in town, including former President George W. Bush, who posted a smiling photo of the two of them on Instagram.

"I'm a lucky man to be named for George Bush and to be with `41' on his 94th birthday," wrote Bush, the nation's 43rd president.

"I already miss the greatest human being that I will ever know. Love you Dad!" son John "Jeb" Bush wrote on Twitter.

Another son, Neil Bush, called on people in a newspaper opinion piece to volunteer and "to become a point of light."

H.W. Bush, a Republican who served as President Ronald Reagan's vice president for two terms, was elected to the country's highest office in 1988. He beat Democrat Michael Dukakis in an electoral landslide and with 54 percent of the popular vote.

In his inaugural presidential address, Bush spoke of "a thousand points of light" across the country, community organizations that were doing good and with which he promised to work. He pledged in "a moment rich with promise" to use American strength as "a force for good."

A member of a longtime politically influential American family, Bush led the United States during a time of intense international change, including the fall of Communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and turmoil in the Middle East. His public approval rating soared to 89 percent after he presided over a U.S.-led coalition of 32 countries that drove Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army from Kuwait in 1991. After signing a strategic arms reduction agreement to reduce nuclear weapons with the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev, Bush accomplished a second agreement in early January 1993 with Russian President Boris Yeltsin after the USSR collapsed.

"Even as president, with the most fascinating possible vantage point, there were times when I was so busy managing progress and helping to lead change that I didn't always show the joy that was in my heart," Bush said in his final State of the Union address. "But the biggest thing that has happened in the world in my life, in our lives, is this: By the grace of God, America won the Cold War."

Despite his strength in foreign policy, Bush was ultimately limited to a single term as president over a sputtering U.S. economy. The unemployment rate, at 5.3 percent during his first year in office, rose to 7.4 percent in 1992. Confronted with rising deficits, Bush famously signed a bill that raised taxes despite the Republican's earlier campaign vow: "Read my lips: no new taxes." His public approval, once sky-high, plummeted in his final year in office to below 50 percent.

While he lost re-election to Bill Clinton in 1992, his work laid a foundation for his son George W. Bush to win the White House in 2000.

"Two presidents in one family, that's pretty good," George H.W. Bush told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager for a "Today" interview on his 88th birthday.

Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida, lost a bid for the Republican nomination in 2016 to Trump. Bush even saw his grandson, George P. Bush, enter politics. The Fort Worth resident won the position of Texas land commissioner in March 2014.

George H.W. Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children. He was raised in Connecticut by his mother Dorothy Walker Bush, and his father, Prescott Bush, who served as a U.S. senator.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bush enlisted in the military on his 18th birthday and became the Navy's youngest pilot at the time. He flew 58 combat missions in World War II before being shot down by the Japanese in 1944. Bush was rescued by a submarine and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action.

Back home, Bush married Barbara Pierce on Jan. 6, 1945, and the couple went on to have six children; George, Pauline (who was known as "Robin" and died as a child of leukemia), Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy.

Bush was accepted to Yale University before enlistment, and once stateside, enrolled in an accelerated program that allowed him to graduate in two and a half years instead of four. While at Yale, the left-handed first baseman played in the first College World Series.

In 1948, Bush graduated from the university with a bachelor of arts degree in economics. He moved the family to West Texas and achieved success in the oil industry, but like his father, he was drawn to politics.

After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1964, Bush won a House seat in 1966 representing Houston. He was re-elected in 1968 but gave up his seat two years later to run for the Senate again, and lost to Democrat Lloyd Bentsen.

Bush was appointed to a string of government positions in the 1970s, including United Nations ambassador, Republican National Committee chairman, envoy to China, and CIA director. At the CIA he was credited with boosting morale.

In 1980, Bush made a run for the White House, but the Republican Party nominated Reagan, who selected Bush as his running mate. The match was a good one. The pair went to Washington in 1981 and won a landslide re-election victory four years later.

As vice-president, Bush traveled the world, pushing his anti-drug programs and became the first vice president to stand in as president while Reagan underwent surgery in 1985. Bush spent most of the eight hours on the tennis court.

Then, after eight years of loyalty, Bush tried again for the Oval Office.

Bush chose Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle as his running mate. At the Republican National Convention in New Orleans, Bush made the "no new taxes" pledge that would spark a backlash among some Republicans when he later reversed course.

In 1988, Bush defeated Michael Dukakis and his running mate, Texas nemesis Lloyd Bentsen. He was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1989.

Bush’s high popularity in the wake of a decision to send American troops into Panama to bring General Manuel Noriega to face drug charges in the U.S, and later the Persian Gulf War, would prove ephemeral.

Bush described his defeat in his re-election bid as having given him a "terrible feeling, awful feeling."

"I really wanted to win and worked hard. And later on, people said, 'well he didn’t really care', which is crazy," he told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager on "Today." "I worked my heart out and it was terrible to adjust. Well then you figure life goes on."

After leaving office, Bush returned to private life by splitting his time between Kennebunkport, Maine, and Houston. It was not uncommon to see Bush 41 at a Houston Astros baseball game.

In 2005, he teamed up with his former rival, Bill Clinton, to raise money for relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami.

His son George W. Bush published "41: A Portrait of My Father," in 2014, a wide-ranging and intimate biography of his father. In an interview on "Today" with his son and his granddaughter Bush Hager, the elder Bush talked about the intersection of family memories and key political events in their lives.

Asked about his presidential legacy, Bush said that he'd banned the use of "the legacy word."

"I think history will get it right, and point out the things I did wrong, and perhaps some of the things we did right," he said.

In recent years, Bush was hospitalized because of various ailments. He broke a bone in his neck when he fell in his home in Kennebunkport, Maine, and suffered from shortness of breath and a bronchitis-related cough and other issues in Houston.

Bush also made headlines in recent years for skydiving on at least three of his birthdays, according to The Associated Press, the last on his 90th, when he made a tandem parachute jump in Kennebunkport, Maine. In the summer of 2016, Bush led a group of 40 wounded warriors on a fishing trip at the helm of his speedboat, three days after his 92nd birthday celebration.

And he made headlines in July 2013 when he shaved his head in support of a little boy — the son of a member of his Secret Service detail — battling leukemia. Later that summer, he was honored at a White House event celebrating volunteerism.

Bush put his presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station and his name now is on the CIA headquarters, Houston's largest airport and a North Texas toll road.

There is also an aircraft carrier that bears his name. In 2009, Bush 41 and Bush 43 attended the commissioning of the USS George H.W. Bush, the 10th and last Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy.

Bush had the distinction of being one of only three U.S. presidents to receive an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama in 2011.

Bush is survived by two siblings, his five children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Barbara; his second child, Pauline Robinson “Robin” Bush; and brothers Prescott and William “Bucky” Bush.

He told Bush Hager that he was happiest while spending time with his family at sea.

"Aging is all right," he said in June 2012. "It's better than the alternative, which is not being here."

Air Force One is being sent to Texas to transport Bush's casket to Washington, where his body will lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda. The public can pay their respects from Monday evening through Wednesday morning.

Bush will be buried Thursday on the grounds of his presidential library at Texas A&M University at the family plot next to his wife Barbara, who died in April, and their 3-year-old daughter Robin, who died in 1953. The Bush family is still arranging funeral services, but the White House said President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend.

Source: https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/politics/Former-President-George-HW-Bush-Dies-184974861.html

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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acn59685-blog · 7 years ago

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Between Leanne Gabriel's schedule as a Discrimination Attorney and her partner Michael's routine as an International Consultant, the pair felt they had no life. Leanne was seeking an opportunity that would provide her the liberty she wished for. It had not been till ACN that Mathieu was lastly able to place the years of foster treatment behind him and also begin thinking he should have a lot more. "No matter where you're from or just what has actually happened in your life. You can still complete terrific points." "They really did not evaluate my past and agreed to answer every inquiry I had about my new future with ACN." Danny swiftly located that the vital to finding success outside is to personally create on the inside. After being invited for more information about ACN, also this smart entrepreneur could not deny that ACN "simply made good sense". Actually, Michael had actually witnessed numerous other individuals in traditional service work 40 plus hours a week yet never ever experience liberty. To Michael, ACN was the escape. When Art participated 1998, ACN supplied simply two services in two countries: cross country phone and dial-up Web. "Today, ACN is an international marketing and also distribution network offering a series of services and products though an online storefront in 24 countries as well as 15 languages," he says. "When you check out exactly how far we have actually come, it's exciting and self-evident that ACN is the real deal."

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Today, Michael focuses his time as well as skills on aiding other individuals revise their very own personal success stories. "The solutions are fantastic; the structure is solid. We as people are the only variable," Michael said. "The only distinction in where you are as well as where I am is 3 points: dedication, effort and also time." Spencer was so satisfied with ACN that he got his moms and dads involved in business. They are now Elderly Vice Presidents-- an advancement that Spencer happily calls his "best success in ACN."

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The biggest incentive of ACN has actually been the opportunity to be there for his baby child. "Having the ability to be a full time dad is significant," he states. "When I was growing up, my parents were always active. I have the ability to be there for my daughter and that's terrific. My whole focus is to live a full and also happy life." Nekoda found internet marketing while he was working 3 tasks as well as going to school part-time. Monica was a lately divorced mother of 2, stabilizing legislation school, a teaching fellowship, and a part time work. Cav. Franco Lofranco remembers the day it all made good sense. "I had a rough begin in ACN in the beginning," Franco claims. "But I kept discovering, remained coachable, kept functioning and also complied with the system by obtaining clients".

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Al plans to help expand future leaders within his organization as well as in order to help change more and more lives with this solid possibility. His 5 simple steps he encourages individuals to adhere to are: Get in, Get qualified, Reach training, Obtain clients, and also get consumer getters on your group to do the same. Do it all over again!

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Today Jeff is an Elderly Vice Head of state as well as expands his team from his house in California. He's able to invest quality time with his two daughters 4 year old Zoey and also 6 month old Jade as well as job from throughout the world on his own terms. "I have actually been able to get rid of my alarm clock as well as get up when I'm finished sleeping," he states. Exactly what matters most to Cody and Marlo is providing back to their confidence and also investing in their household. With the effort they have actually placed in throughout the years, they are now able to stay home and also homeschool their three young children

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Spencer's guidance is this: "New Independent Business Owners have to take this business as significant as a heart attack. It's easy yet the job needs to be done. Depend on the leadership as well as be coachable. If you want exactly what successful individuals have, just do what effective people do."

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Danny's goals in ACN are to assist as lots of ministries as feasible keep their doors open, or even , help as many people as possible take care of the existing economic condition. "I intend to give individuals wish and I recognize that by sharing ACN, this is the vehicle that will certainly obtain them there."

#ACN #ACN Avis #ACN Reviews

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toddmichaelrogers · 8 years ago

Text

Letter to You

All in due time

I am obsessed with the concept of time. When I read an article about light moving across time and space to reach us from distant galaxies, and how...what we are viewing in those distances may have already passed into death thousands of years ago, it gets my dick “Super Mario 2 (Japanese Version) hard”.

I think about equations of time v.s growth on a nearly daily basis. I am obsessed about it.

Some may feel possessed

I myself obsess about it

My youngest brother was born twenty-two years ago. His name is Ben. This week, he came for a surprise visit by telling me he would be here and then allowing me to forget. The added bonus was we got to celebrate his birthday together. That night, I drove him and his friends and Kelsie around (they may all be kids to me, but Kelsie’s been my brother’s partner for longer than I’ve known my own). We spent the night at a false speakeasy, and a giant championship pool hall, empty but for a few of us. As the night ended I drove the kids up to a hill called love circle, where a year ago I had imagined killing myself (I had a concussion, it’s cool).

In the car Michael, this kid I had not seen in a decade, popped in a song that maybbbbe three people in the world might have known. It’s a B-Side which could only be known to someone such as myself, someone who cares entirely too much for a half-forgotten Scottish 1980s group.

“Is this fucking Big Country?” I asked. And then both parties continued asking in astonished voices if the other if they enjoyed the same band, until Michael ripped his shirt open to reveal a 1986 tour tee. “What the fuck?!” I screamed. And then preceded to tell him that Spell Saga was inspired by this band’s music; there was no need to explain what Spell Saga was to the kids in the car, they had seen the card game and its stacks of packages sitting in my living room.

The game has continued to haunt me. The rest of the packages will be sent out sometime in the next 30 days, and the manufacturer will be paid up for services rendered in the next week. That is about 1500 days since I decided to pursue the project, and over 800 days since the Kickstarter worked and we knew it was going to go to print.

Sometimes people write very frustrated messages online wondering where their packages are, but the comments that mean the most to me are the ones where people are nice hahaha. No, I shouldn’t laugh, it’s haunting. Trying to do something right and trying to handle your own mistakes in public is about as nerve-wracking and humiliating as anything since 7th grade.

In the meantime I’ve taken all those worries and embarrassments and pushed them into the next Spell Saga release (Deck 1.5 The Under Sky) which may or may not work, we’re about to find out in March. The concept and design are so ridiculous and in depth that I’ve been forced to finish the entire thing before playing it at all--something I have not done since Spell Saga 4.0 was finished to show at Gen Con back in 2011. The whole thing could be rendered nearly pointless if the game isn’t fun to play--but then again, how can you know? Countless hours of Photoshopping and weird little doodles for an unknowable outcome. If that isn’t the official theme of Spell Saga, or indeed, everything I make, then I don’t know what is.

Speaking of time, games, and 7th grade (and as was mentioned in previous correspondence) this Autumn, after twenty years of waiting, I will be releasing a card game I started making in 7th grade. The illustrator is my friend Weshoyot, who just sent me the final pieces this past week. This is after we began working on it together 9 years ago! My god, I know this blog has a sort of theme running through it but even that takes me aback, (it also takes me a-straight-back, to 2009, when I was getting married to my first wife, designing EPIOCH instead of planning a wedding, and about to start work on both The Novel & Spell Saga...what a fucked up year…)

The novel I started still continues, and work goes well, actually. Yes it’s been 8 years, but after forcing a second draft on New Years day of 2016 I have now arrived, one year later, into new territory. Most of last year was spent agonizing through a muck of the same few chapters. It was almost nerve wracking to pick it back up, after a month’s rest, and knock-out another two new chapters without a hint of friction.

I was talking to my brother while he was in town (we always have the same talk and he hates it, but I always push it) “why aren’t you making things” I ask him every visit. I know he wants to. And I can’t speak for him, or rather, I won’t but I think there’s this perfectionist thing that hits in varying degrees. (I’m speaking more about myself then him, right now) I’ve read that perfectionism is linked to depression, and alcoholism--this idea that things need to be a certain way, or they aren’t worth it--when really, that’s not true at all.

Things just need to be as good as you can make them at the time, and then finished. I spent most of last year stuck on the same songs, and the same chapters, unsure of how to move forward, yet sure they had to be brilliant or cool.

But, I’m not either of those things. I don’t know how many passes I think will bleach the uncoolness out of something, but it doesn’t work. There’s something to be said for taking one’s time--and of course putting something away and rewriting it is definitely in everyone’s best interest...but still, finishing things as best you can is important.

I was talking with Meagen the other day about this, about how we as human beings tend to think if something is not hard or time consuming that it must not be good--that a novel should take ten years and not, say two. See? I even wrote the word “one” there and had to erase it. A novel? In a year? How drab.

We as artists don’t believe in ourselves, and pretend that putting time into a project will make it that much more special--or even better, waiting forever to start it...Fuck the fuck outta that. Make it and be embarrassed and move on. Just make it as best you can.

I am afraid of many things, including the new chapters I just wrote, because they happened quickly. But that is how art appears! It boils up like feelings because that’s what art really is. The craft is in getting past yourself to sit down and start the thing past your own fears. The craft is in making it sound good. the craft is in finishing it. I hope my brother starts making things, and I hope I start making things quicker.

The last day he was in town, I put on the pants I bought when I was 22. They were my favorite pants to write in for years, lasting through a full marriage and into a new one. A pair of 2005 women’s jeans so old the crotch is ripped out (my dick hangs like a cotton bulge). I looked at myself in the mirror, decided against them, and picked out another pair of pants for the evening. It was President’s Day, and my band EFFORTS was about to play our first show.

I had spent three weeks wanting to vomit every time I thought about it. But the date on the flyer appeared and with it, our last practice before loading our gear. By the end of practice I was too hungry to be nervous, and Zach, Geoffrey and I arrived at the venue to drink.

Meagen appeared, worried about a friend of ours. We stood in a parking lot across the venue and I tried to console here, it had been a rough couple of days for the both of us.

Last week was Valentine’s. I spent the night before the holiday of hearts holding our dog, Ellie, as her heart began to fail. It had been three years since the doctor told us she would die any day, and now it seemed the curse had come to claim her. I whispered nice things into her ears as she melted across my chest, and then we both feel asleep.

I dreamed she could talk, and she told me she was hurting. And then she transformed between a young girl and grown women, back and forth again as Meagen and I held her. At the end of the dream she told me to look up at the ceiling to see what death looked like for dogs; it was a dance of shadows and light that made no scientific sense, but I understood all the same. When I awoke Ellie was staring at me, alive and well, he heart has since settled to normal.

So Meagen and I were already wound up when some really bad shit went down for a friend. I tried to console Meagen across the street, minutes before the soundcheck. I was already hot in my leather jacket, but I kept it on because the homemade arm band was tied around my right limb. The arm bands were an idea I had floated by Zach months ago and, black for mourning, with our logo, the crucibolt emblazoned upon it. I had sat down sometime between my dog trying to die and the show to make the both wraps at home using ribbon, velcro patches and iron-on sheets cut carefully and branded by my wife’s straightening iron. (i. have. never. been. cool.)

Meagen asked if I was nervous, and I said yes. Then, we walked into the venue to smoke and drink some more, Geoffrey and I both having quit tobacco except for rare occasions and the first-show-ever exception.

I waited 32 years to perform music--it still feels like a daydream that was never actually supposed to happen, but at the same time, if I’m being honest, events were always leading to this. It feels like I pulled off a miracle that was always going to happen.

On stage we were surrounded by a dimly lit room, filled with lots of people we knew. I didn’t know what to do so Zach instructed me from his drum kit on what to say to the sound guy. Then we launched into our newest song, “6 pack, nice abs!(stinence)” and I immediately heard my own vocals for the first time ever. It was an awful shock. But that feeling was overwhelmed by the rush of sound screaming out from behind me as I stared down at what my fingers were doing and sang as well as I could.

It was Zach’s idea to start with “6 pack”. I had spent two years planning for this moment, certain (god-damn-it, certain!) that when I got to play this shit live, the band (whoever that would be, there was no band, barely any songs, a pipe dream), we would start the show with the opening track of the album “everyone will leave and you”, but two hours before the show Zach said we needed to open with 6 pack, it, and it was agreed. Plans are just plans, sometimes real shit needs to happen.

Here’s a video of it.

We got through the first pre-chorus, and then I was almost smiling as we launched into the second verse

Some may feel possessed

I myself obsess about it

By the end of the song I was already sweating from the stage lights and the leather jacket; and the way I was screamed, stooped with the guitar strap across my shoulder, I felt myself nearly black out several times, a moment that would continue throughout the show.

It occurred to me afterward the opening lyrics were written while driving down the very same street the bar was on, near-as-exact to a year ago as I drove to buy airplane bottle liquor while texting my Father in an AA meeting.

Dad’s on his way to a meeting

I’m on my way to the store

And there I was, holding the guitar I grew up pretending to play, the cherry-red-heavy my Father let me borrow as he left for California, a son who had never written a song, asking someone he didn’t know very well for a guitar they never used anymore.

He used to write little songs

He don’t write nothin’ no more

Then, the song ended and I heard people yelling and applauding. without looking up, Zach clicked us into the next one and we slammed through another two minute punk song about feelings (the boys and I recently decided to call our genre mid-punk, as we are so damn old compared to ‘dem kids’). It was during this one my head started to get away from me, that I began to realize I was, somehow on a stage and not in my imagination, and I had to grip the guitar pick tighter and focus on what I was doing. That is how insane it felt. And then, at some point during the set, stage lights started to jump and bounce everywhere and the surreality lifted into some sort of mega-dise of everything I had ever wanted.

My favorite part of the entire show was turning to Zach & Geoff between songs and laughing before we launched into whatever was next. Here was the set list, lest we ever forget:

6 pack, nice abs!(stinence)

everyone will leave and you

may you absorb all evil

the bridge song

better off without you

I saw a pale horse

west coast

ash to dust

word waster

vera

Everything ended with me singing a song I had written about a time 5 years ago when Meagen and a friend--the very same one I was consoling her about--were playing Super Mario 2 (Japanese version).

I’ll never be as happy as I was

On those Winter nights

After the show ended, Ben walked up on stage to give me a hug and congratulate me. “I can’t believe you just watched me play a show!” I shouted. I hope he noticed how perfect it was not, as I sure did.

It is so important to just go for things, and fuck up, and not be perfect, and then try over, and over, and over again. When it comes to art, you can do anything you want (if you’re meant to do it). And why would you want to do it, why would you dream about it everyday, if that dream wasn’t meant for you?

Work hard. Fuck up. Fix it. Let go. And finish.

That’s my plan, over and over again, and somehow, it looks like it’s starting to work. If you’re waiting for a package, I hope you have it by the time you read this. And if you’re ever in Nashville, I hope you can see EFFORTS play a show.

-mE.

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the-record-columns · 8 years ago

Text

Feb. 22, 2017: Columns

…and the box it came in

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a road trip I took with my friend, Carl White, who, for the past six or seven years, has produced and hosted Life in the Carolinas, a syndicated television show.

During the trip we were searching for an item of TV trivia for Carl's friend Tom Isenhour of Salisbury who has been collecting for years. The premise being that if we found something he didn't have, that would in and of itself be unusual. Well, we found a child's Davy Crockett outfit that Tom did not have, he was well pleased, and Carl and I succeeded in our mission.

But, what Tom did have, was an original box for it, which he had bought some years earlier and put away for the day when he would find its contents. Which, of course, brings us to this week, and the promised follow-up about boxes.

Collecting things brings out all kinds of minutiae for folks who are trying to make a set of something. Stamp collecting is the best example. There must be a 25 different things that can change the value or the cataloging of any given stamp, from something as obvious as whether it is new of used, down to how many perforations it has on each side. Personally I am content to just have one to go in my album, because, as I like to say, it is just as much fun and takes about the same time to find the spot for a stamp worth a penny as it does for a rarity.

Boxes, however, are something I hadn't really thought about until after our trip to see Tom Isenhour's collection. Then I remembered that a few folks who visited the poor man's museum here at The Record's offices and have tried to buy a box which is full of old calendars and other miscellaneous items. Now understand, they didn't want what I had in the box, just the box itself, which reads on the side “Remington Standard Typewriter.” It is a wooden crate, not in very good shape, but it was pointed out to me that you can find an old typewriters at every antique store or flea market you go to, but the boxes just do not exist. The got thrown away, or used for kindling.

So I began looking around the shop and realized that I had managed to pick up several good boxes—all of which are empty—and are all harder to find than what came in them. Among them are a large Stetson hat box which was given to me by Sarah Payne Absher and her sister Betty Chloe, whose parents operated Payne Clothing in North Wilkesboro from forever till the early 1960s. I also have an old hat box from Spainhours, a retail fixture in Wilkes and surrounding counties for over 100 years, courtesy of Syd Spainhour, as well as a box for Her Majesty lingerie and sleepwear, also from Spainhours. I don't know where it came from, but I also found a Madame Alexander doll box for “Mary, Mary #451”, while empty, it is in good condition—perhaps Carl will read this and find me a Mary-Mary.

As I looked around, there are assorted wooden crates and boxes for everything from axe blades, to Winchester ammunition, Western's World Famous ammunition, Waters Extra Fine Sugar, Kraft cheese, Brunswick talking machines, and even a crate for Empire nuts, bolts and rivets from Port Chester, New York. These, like the typewriter box, make excellent displays as well as conversation pieces.

I'll finish with small appliances, all of which have the item in question still inside. There are two electric irons; a Betty Crocker steam version as well as a Graybar quick heating iron. The Graybar iron's box had wooden wedges glued inside at one end to keep it from sliding around in the box. There is a Hamilton Beach juicer attachment for their Model H mixer and my personal favorite, a Presto Hot-Dogger—not just still in the box, but a never opened box at that. The only way you can get an idea about what it looks like is from the illustration on the cover.

No, it doesn't take too much to make me happy.

I now suppose that the collectors addendum to “Do you want fries with that?” will have to become, “Do you have the box it came in?”

“Nevertheless, she persisted…”

HEATHER DEAN Reporter/ Photo Journalist

When I was about 7 years old, I remember playing in the yard at my grandmother’s house with my boy cousins, and one of their friends. So there we were, making believe, and I decided I was going to be the doctor. “You can’t be the doctor” my cousin’s friend said. “You’re a girl.” Neither I nor my boy cousins understood. “She can be whatever she wants” my younger cousin said, and that was that.

I did ask my mom about it later, because it never occurred to me that I “couldn’t” or that as a girl I was limited in any aspect. I was curious to know what “because you’re a girl” meant. The women in my family were strong, independent and secure in whom they were. It never occurred to me that my mother, her sisters, either of my grandmothers or any girl I knew for that matter, would ever be questioned in their endeavors. Especially either of my grandmothers- they were the first role models I had.

So when I asked my mom about the event she laughed and said that yes, some people felt it was a man’s world, but that with hard work and persistence, anyone could be anything they wanted to be. Take my mothers mother:

My grandmother, Betty Jane, was the Matriarch, and clearly always the one in charge. She served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Nurse Corps during WWII. She was one of the first women in her unit to get a pilots license. The man behind the desk told her women didn’t need to learn to fly, that’s what the male pilot was for. She persisted saying (and I quote) “I’m not going down in this plane and loosing my patients cause the pilot gets his ass shot. I will learn to fly.” Turns out, this is how my grandfather and grandmother met. He was in line behind her and saw the whole exchange, and promptly fell in love with the tenacious redhead. .She stayed in the medical profession after the war. .She was appointed as the first woman in North Carolina to the position of State Commander of the VFW1996-1997, and I stood and watched dumbfounded as Elizabeth Dole, and other notable people waited in line asked for my grandmother’s autograph at that event in Greensboro, NC. She was a life member of the National VFW, the National American Legion and the National AMVETS organization. She traveled all over the country to meetings for veterans. In the case of her grandchildren, she could stop you with a look, and we knew we were in trouble when the words “Oh for Pete’s sake!” came out of her mouth. Needless to say, this tiny 4 foot 11 inch tall Irish woman was a force to be reckoned with, as were my mother and her sisters. (In case you ever wondered where my sister and I, or my girls get it from.)

Looking back, I believe it was on that day I was instilled with my mother’s love of history. All genres, but specifically “herstory.” I learned about the suffragettes, and take my right to vote seriously and with gratitude; Grandmother Moses, who understood as much as Lady Liberty how important freedom was; Dolly Madison saving the Whitehouse; Victoria Woodhill, who in 1872 became the first woman to run for president; Amelia Earhart, who did the unthinkable in her time; and for whom my youngest is named; Joan of Arc, who raised a literal army and died for what she believed in; Frankie Silver, the first woman hanged in North Carolina for the murder of her physically abusive husband; Lilith; the first woman God created for Adam in the Garden of Eden, but who was too insubordinate (read: persistent) for the man; the list goes on, women’s right movements from the beginning of time, to the battles we still fight for our individual rights. My mom had her share of bra-burning-fight-the-the institution- hippie-chick stories, always persisting in her own right. For instance: even though Roe v. Wade had been passed in 1973, she was ridiculed by the women in the church when she decided to get her tubes tied in the 80’s after her third child, because apparently, that was a form of abortion and surely God would not approve of a woman taking control of her body like that.

But the 80’s was a long time ago, right? Women have come so far, becoming Doctors, Presidents of foreign countries, Senators, Congresswomen, CEO’s, Heads of State even. And yet, here it is, 17 years into a new millennium, and an esteemed Senator Elizabeth Warren, a professor of law and prominent scholar, was shushed by a man while speaking on the senate floor. What makes this even more ludicrous is that male senators before, and immediately after her, spoke the same words, reading from a three-decade-old letter from Dr Martin Luther King's widow, Coretta Scott King, then regarding Mr. Sessions being considered for federal district court judge in 1986, and pertaining to President Trump's pick for attorney general . Warren is now forbidden from participating in the floor debate over Sessions' nomination ahead of a confirmation vote. She has literally been silenced. Why? As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. Kentucky) so eloquently put it "She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted."

Well, if I had chosen to believe that same kind of rhetoric when I was 7 Mr. McConnell, I would never have become the history making, award winning woman I am. Count me in as a rebel for the cause. . Mind you, I am by no means a feminist. I don’t think I’ve ever needed to be. I’ve always known I was just as good as anyone else, and time and again I’ve proved it to my self and others. I suspect it was all because of the fierce tenacity, sometimes stubborness, and persistence that continue to be handed down through the women in my mother’s lineage. That being said, I am also aware that not everyone is as fortunate as I am, to have such a strong, positive female influence in their lives. I also count myself beyond lucky that the men in my family have been secure enough to love, adore, and walk beside these women, blessed to be their chosen equals. Nevertheless, I will persist in helping those in my gender find their voice. I will persist in the “liberties and freedoms we hold so dear”. I will persist and “hold these truths to be self evident.” I will persist that we are “one nation… indivisible… with liberty and justice for all.” I will persist, and I will not be silenced.

�

Practicing mindfulness

By LAURA WELBORN

On my journey to be more mindful in my life I attended a mindfulness workshop.

Research is showing that our brain becomes stronger and gives us the ability to rewire when we practice mindful activities. In as little as eight weeks our brain becomes thicker and develops neuroplasticity.

So how do we train our brain?

By practicing.

When we walk and let our brain just enjoy the moment, when we focus and become more intentional in what we do and when we are non-judgmental and act with kindness and compassion. Ringing a bell in our mind is to pause before we speak and ask ourselves:

Is it true? The right time to speak? Helpful to others? Kind?

The most powerful weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. Train your mind to see the good in everything.

Being positive and seeing the good does not mean ignoring the negative. Being positive and seeing the good means overcoming the negative. Next time you have a thought that is stressing you out, ask yourself these four questions that adapted from philosophical research by Alan Watts and Byron Katie:

Is this thought true? – This question can change your life. Be still and ask yourself if the thought you’re dealing with is true.

Can I be absolutely, 100 percent certain that it’s true? – This is another opportunity to open your mind and to go deeper into the unknown, to find the answers that live beneath what you think you know. Think about some contrasting possibilities beyond the narrow viewpoint of this one stressful thought.

How do I feel when I think this thought? – With this question, you begin to notice internal cause and effect. You can see that when you believe the thought, there is a disturbance that can range from mild discomfort to outright panic and fear. What do you feel? How do you treat the situation (or person) you’re thinking about, how do you treat yourself, when you believe that thought?

Who would I be, and what would I do differently, if I were not thinking this thought? – Imagine yourself in your situation (or in the presence of that person), without believing the thought. How would your life be different if you didn’t have the ability to even think this stressful thought? How would you feel? What else would you see? Which do you prefer – life with or without the thought? Which feels more peaceful and productive?

When you change your thoughts, you can choose your response and not react negatively to what we think is happening.

Stay tuned as I learn more about Mindfulness… Laura Welborn, Mediator

The Recorded Deed to Jerusalem

By EARL COX

Days after UNSC Resolution 2334 condemned Israeli settlements in the “occupied Palestinian territory” of Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation under international law” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat issued a strong rebuke: The mayor and his planning-committee director announced the committee’s intent to approve building 618 previously planned housing units in East Jerusalem—a first step toward an additional 5,600 units in the city. “I’m not ever going to stop building. No construction will be stopped by me as mayor,” he said. While the Obama administration harmed its ally by strengthening its enemies, if President Trump holds to his promises perhaps things will change going forward but there is already talk of backpedaling.

Barkat is “politically correct” in the most positive sense of the phrase. He is also legally and historically correct. In property disputes over land ownership, lawyers search property records for deeds, liens and related issues in order to identify the real legal owner(s). They also use mandatory “discovery” to demand that the opposing party provide all relevant documents, inspections and depositions that pertain to the dispute. In the courtroom, the presiding judge determines whether the proceedings and evidence of both sides are represented in a fair and balanced way.

The U.S. abstention of Resolution 2334 and John Kerry’s specious rhetoric laying out his two-state agenda were mockeries of the these basic processes and premises of justice. As further evidence of’ the resolution’s shaky legal grounds, it conflicts with tenets of international law in the Palestine Mandate, UNSC Resolution 242, the Oslo Accords and Camp David Summit.

The Bible clearly defines ancient boundary lines and one of the oldest title deeds in the world is recorded in the Tanach, where King David purchased the future site of the Jewish Temple from Araunah the Jebusite for 600 gold shekels. David’s son, King Solomon built the First Temple on that site. There’s ample additional biblical, archeological, religious and historical evidence of Israel’s abiding connection to Jerusalem that pre-dates Palestinian claims. The Jews governed Israel for a thousand years, and lived there continuously for the past 3,300 years. According to Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs researcher Nadav Shragai, Jerusalem was the Jewish capital during that time, never a capital of any Arab or Islamic entity.

Despite Israel and the Jewish people’s deep and abiding historical, cultural and religious connection to Jerusalem, the Palestinians, who began to define themselves as a people only about 100 years ago, insist they will never sign a peace deal that does not include Israel’s surrender of East Jerusalem, including the Old City and the Temple Mount. (Under international law, this area is disputed, not “occupied.”) Meanwhile, the Palestinians continue to deny Israel’s right to exist and incite violence and terrorism against her. As Dr. Joel Fishman wrote, “It is simply not possible to build [a state] on a foundation of myth and ignorance.”

Mayor Barkat and many others rightly discerned the previous administration in Washington D.C. as being anti-Israel long before Resolution 2334 reared its ugly head. Over the past eight years the U.S. has pressured Israel to halt “illegal” Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem. In recent years Barkat slammed the Obama Administration for criticizing Israel’s plans to expand the suburb of Ma'aleh Adumim—an effort to provide affordable housing in the over-crowded capitol. "I don't know of any city in the world whose regulator is the U.S. president," the mayor remarked. Efrat Mayor and pro-settler leader Oded Revivi added, “Israeli building policies are set in Jerusalem, not New York.” Based on the latest news reports, it now appears that the Trump Administration are starting to sideways waffle on the topic of settlements. Let’s hope these news reports are mistaken as they so often have been.

What country doesn’t have the right to its unified capital, and to develop and build it? I pray the Trump Administration will focus its efforts at the United Nations against terror and stand strong on Israel’s side against any and all attempts to delegitimize the only democracy in the Middle East.

Three Presidents and a possibility

By CARL WHITE

Life in the Carolinas

The Carolinas have undisputed claim to three U.S. presidents and the possibility of a fourth. And as with all good southern stories intrigue is not lacking.

I have written about our seventh president, Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, before, and he was certainly born in the Carolinas - the question being, which one, North or South? Both states have people with strong feelings about their side of the line. He was born March 15, 1767, and served as president between 1829-1837. Jackson was also known as the first “Citizen President.”

Jackson earned the nickname of Old Hickory for good reason, life was hard, his father died when he was 2 and his mother died when he was 14. His military activity started in his early teens as a courier during the American Revolutionary War, at which time he was captured and abused by the British Army. It is said that he refused to blacken the boots of his British captures.

A young Jackson would eventually leave the Carolinas for Tennessee and in 1801 that he would be appointed Colonel in the Tennessee militia and his political life would begin. His journey to the White House is legendary and so are his two terms as president.

Jackson would make the Hermitage, near Nashville, Tenn., his home and he would die there peacefully at the age of 78.

It was during the Jackson Presidency that Arkansas and Michigan would join the Union.

Our 11th President, James K. Polk, also a Democrat, was born Nov. 2, 1795, in Mecklenburg County, N.C. He served as president from 1845-1849.

Unlike President Jackson, President Polk had the benefit of a strong father and mother that inspired the values of patriotism, religious faith and a strong interest in politics.

At the age of 11, the Polk family homestead was sold and they moved to join his grandfather in Tennessee. Polk would return to North Carolina in January 1816 as a sophomore admitted to the University of North Carolina which at the time was a school with around 80 students. Polk would graduate with honors May 1818.

After graduation Polk returned to Nashville to study law and over the next few years he would serve in a variety of ways and would run for and win the seat for U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee’s 6th congressional District in 1825, in 1827 Polk was reelected to congress.

It was in 1828 that Jackson ran for President again, Polk would advise Jackson on campaign matters and after the Jackson victory Polk would support the new administrations position in Congress.

Polk would become Speaker of the House where he would continue to work for the Jackson policies. Polk worked to create a more peaceful environment in the House and unlike Jackson and many others he never challenged anyone to a duel for insulting his honor. Polk is the only U.S. President to have served as Speaker of the U.S.p House of Representatives.

Polk would leave Washington for a while and serve as Tennessee Governor from Oct. 14, 1839 – October 15, 1841.

After an interesting campaign and commitment to only serve one term, James K. Polk would return to Washington and become the 11th president of the United States on March 4, 1845 at the age of 49, the youngest president of his time.

After his term as President he returned to Tennessee and died of cholera only three months later June 15, 1849.

During his term as President the states of Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin joined the union.

Our 17th President, Andrew Johnson, still another Democrat, was born December 29, 1808 in Raleigh. He served as president from 1865-1869. Johnson differed from President Jackson and President Polk as he did not run for the office of President of the United States and he did not pursue a law or military career.

Johnson was on the Lincoln ticket as Vice President and assumed the office because of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

His family was poor and he started out as an apprentice to a tailor in 1822. While he was still 17, he set out for Tennessee and in 1827 he married 16-year-old Eliza McCardle, who was the daughter of a local cobbler in Greenville Tenn. It would be his new wife that would teach Johnson how to read and write.

Johnson’s public service and political career started as an Alderman in 1803 and then Mayor of Greenville Tenn., then he served in the U.S. House of Representatives and went on to be elected Governor of Tennessee from 1853-1857.

In 1864 President Lincoln, would make a change from the Republican party and run for reelection under the National Union Party. Johnson was added to the ballot for Vice President and the campaign would turn in Lincoln’s favor later in September. Lincoln defeated George McClellan in the November 1864, electon.

Johnson would be sworn in as vice president on March 4, 1865. Vice President Johnson would become President Johnson on April 15, 1865.

With the end of the Civil War and being faced with Reconstruction and the mending of a nation President Johnson would have few days that were less then enormously challenging.

On Feb. 24, 1868, President Johnson, would become the first U.S. President to face impeachment proceedings. He was charged with violations of the Tenure of Office Act. Johnson was successful in maneuvering for an acquittal and after three months, it was close, with only one vote in his favor that lead to a not guilty ruling. President Johnson was acquitted; however, he was unable to secure the Democrats presidential nomination in 1868.

During the Johnson Presidency, Nebraska would join the Union.

The Abraham Lincoln National Historical Park is in LaRue County, Ky. It is stated that Abraham Lincoln was born there in a one room log cabin on Feb. 12, 1809. However, that is not the only location that claims to be the birth place of Abraham Lincoln.

We discovered The Bostic Lincoln Center in Rutherford County NC and it is their opinion that there is evidence that the 16th President of the United States may have been born on Puzzle Creek in Rutherford County, N.C.

As the story goes a woman by the name of Nancy Hanks (Lincoln’s mother’s name) was a “bound out” servant girl to the Abraham Enloe family in Rutherford County. It is said that while in care of the Enloe’s, Nancy would become pregnant and Enloe’s wife suspected that her husband may have been the cause of the new development.

In short, things become very stressful for everyone involved. Abraham Enloe’s wife’s anger increased with the birth of the Nancy’s boy child. Wanting to find peace Abraham struck a deal with Tom Lincoln, for $500, to take Nancy Hanks and the boy child away.

The question of President Lincoln’s place of birth and his real father has been subject of conversation and debate from a time before his presidency.

We do have a Carolina link to Lincoln that seems to be undisputed. The presidential couple who were together for almost 50 years, Andrew Johnson and Eliza McCardle, were married by Justice of the Peace Mordecai Lincoln, first cousin to Thomas Lincoln. That’s right Abraham Lincoln’s father, Maybe

Carl White is the executive producer and host of the award winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In the Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its seventh year of syndication and can be seen in the Charlotte viewing market on WJZY Fox 46 Saturdays at 12 noon. For more on the show visit www.lifeinthecarolinas.com, You can email Carl White at [email protected].

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