#guys is it a bad idea to tell your (mostly online) friend who you've been very clearly distant from that you used to be in lovw with thwm

[bunny-bts]

Summary: Truth can be harder to bring in than the cattle and spirits can be harder to raise

Warnings: language, angst, mushiness, toxic relationships, mentions of religion, cattle/ranch life, love, drama, alcohol consumption

Authors Note: This one is specifically for me and a friend, I have no idea how many words as always and I'll try to make this a one shot not a series because I just abandon those but if it gets too long I may have to make it a series

Rating: M, no smut but suggestive and mature topics

Characters: Namjoon x reader, Taeyhung x reader's friend

"Morning, Y/N," Namjoon smiles as he enters your kitchen. "Morning Joonie, what are you doing here?"

"oh...uh....your dad sent me over to make a delivery...."

"oh, okay. Come on, sit down and eat," you gesture to the seat across from you at the table and wipe your mouth with the cloth napkin before sitting it beside your plate which was piled over with cheesy grits, sausage, scrambled eggs and some leftover roasted potatoes from supper. You slide your chair out to stand and he comes over to sit as you walk to go grab him a plate. "We had some garlic roasted potatoes last night, want some? The garden out back worked nice for the garlic and the potatoes in the crops came out nice this year so dad brought some home and I made it"

"Yeah, sure. Thankyou.....so the crops are good?"

"Oh yeah, and Mary Lou just had a calf last night and dad says I can keep this one"

"oh yeah? You happy?"

"Totally, you know I try not to get too overly attached usually...."

"Yeah, I know, and I know you've wanted to keep one since you were little," he smiles over at you. You can't help but giggle and jump in place, "I know~," you clap your hands. "You do know you have two horses right?" He laughs a little and rubs the back of his neck, sitting his hat in his lap. "Yes, I love them Cortney and Karen. Shush, let me be happy," you playfully scold him as you continue making his breakfast. "Okay, how're they doing?"

"They're great and Karen has a show soon so I'm getting her mane done and some new shoes-oh! Want to come boot shopping with me? I want to get a new pair so they're shiny, I've been working in mine and they're muddy and I want some more jeans with the studded embroidered pocket designs"

"Shopping?" He makes a face that's a mix of disgust and uncertainty. "Please, it's for Karen's show and my friend is coming to visit"

"Since when do you have friends other than me and Tae?"

"Since about six months ago and haha cute, I'm feeding you," you bring the plate to him and then pour him some juice before sitting back down to eat.

"Maybe, I'm pretty busy but when do you want to go?" "Well, her show is next week and Jeff is coming then too so maybe....Sunday, after church?"

"Yeah, that works, we can go after we leave and get food....Jeff," he did not like the idea of it being a guy. You had all too recently ended a really bad relationship. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Who was he kidding, he didn't like the idea of anyone with you that wasn't him, but, he wanted to protect you after your last boyfriend. "I know what you're thinking, and yes. Jeff needs this"

"Alright then, this is good, just orange juice?" "Yeah, I need to run to the store after work. Want to come with?" "Can't, delivery." "A long one huh, well do you need anything? I can shop for you and take it over"

"Uh no no yes, yes, I need everything, all of it, groceries," he laughs, "do you know where the spare key to the house is?" "My bra, you gave me one last year when you went to Florida, remember?" "Oh yeah, alright," he had already finished, "can I meet the new addition before I start the day?" "Sure!" You were already running out of the door. "Wait, we gotta do the dish-" "I'll do it when I get back!! Come-on!" You grab his hand a pull him.

"This is Mochi," you introduce him. "She's cute," he smiles and pets her and her mother, "alright," he stands back up and stretches. "Hi Karen, hi Courtney," he waves to your jet black Friesian horse with the gorgeous wavy mane, the ever graceful and snooty Karen and the tan Mustang with black from the hooves to the knees like long socks and dark black hair that have a red highlight at the tips in the sun, the ever goofy and stubborn Courtney in the stalls nearby in the barn. "Well, sun is getting up so I should get going. Where are they?" "Uhm, oh! These," you guide him to the cattle he was here to get and he starts loading them up while you wash the dishes from breakfast and put the leftovers away.

"Bye," you wave to each other as you're both heading out for the day. You were already excited for Sunday.

"Morning," Taeyhung scrolls up, he worked with you. "Hey Tae, oh, we decided, she's coming next week on Thursday"

"Awesome, you've been excited. Jeffree right? I have a room ready for her at my place, can't have her stay at a hotel" "Cool, great, thanks you're a sweetheart, I'll tell her"

The next few days passed as always, only now you were excited because you had Karen's show so you got to prepare for that, got her groomed and everything and you were making arrangements for your guest, Jeff, your friend online you met through a mutual liking of a band. As always, days were tiring but Taeyhung made them interesting. The three of you, you two and Namjoon and had been together for as long as you can remember since Taeyhung moved to town when he was six and you all went to the same church. He was a good guy, they both were.

"Night Lil, see you in the morning," he waves goodbye and slips his gloves off as he walks to his truck to go home for the night. The two of you felt like siblings after spending pretty much every day together, you worked most days of the week together then on Sunday there was church where ofcourse the 'golden trio' as the church elders had coined you, all chose to share a pew, and snacks and memes; and after work you would sometimes drink together. You all had other friends from church too, but they weren't as close as the three of you were. You had no idea that Namjoon didn't feel like you were a sibling, maybe he used to, but not for the longest time now. It was Saturday, which meant, going out with them for a drink and something to eat. Taeyhung had insisted he was tired and would see you at church in the morning so you go home, well to the house. You wash up and change into clean comfortable jeans and a clean t-shirt then head out to the bar. You were starving after a days work to say the least, breakfast had worn off forever ago.

"Y/N!" He waves and gestures you over and you skip, for lack of better verb, over to the stool next to him. "Hi Y/N, what will it be?" The server asks, you order your drink first and a appetizer to share with him. That usually was more than enough to fill you both up. "Okay....since the other day....I've been thinking....," He speaks, his hands fiddling with his glass beer mug. "Thinking about what?" You ask curiously and sip yours. ".....Maybe it isn't my place .....but uh....about this Jeff.....I do-"

"it will be fine, relax," you grab his shoulder. "A-Alright.....how was your week?" "It was good, Tae Tae said he was tired so he went home...."

He nods, "that's weird...."

"I know right!? How was your week love?" You were too busy enjoying your drink to look up and notice him change color at the term of endearment. "Oh, I missed you...you guys, I missed you guys," he smiles, those dimples that melt your heart when he has a bashful moment appearing on his cheeks. "Aww, we missed you too. I think Tae is excited about Jeff coming, he has a room ready and everything. Oh, you remember we are going shopping tommorow after work right?" "Yeah, I remember, oh he's happy ab-Jeff is staying with Tae! That's great!" "Joonie ......honey, are you alright?" You ask, raising a brow at him. "Oh...oh yeah, it's just-hotels would be expensive," he covers and is thankful you nod in agreement. It's silent for a bit while you wait on your food, he taps his fingers on his glass and looks straight ahead mostly except for when he steals quick glances at you. His insides were shaking like the leafs on a tree and his foot was tapping like Thumper against the bar on the bottom of the stool as he hears a song come on that he knows is one of your favorite. Letting his eyes scan the room he sees a few drunken couples dancing like complete idiots. "Hey, it's your song......we should dance?"

"You're joking, right? Joonie, seriously"

"no, really," he laughs

"Alright, what the hay?" You shrug and down your drink so you won't care and could actually go through with it.

He chuckles and holds you steady, "feeling brave now?" "Mhm, oh yeah," you nod and giggle.

That Sunday is was a bit of a struggle waking up after the night you had before, Namjoon was sure that you are plenty and drank water but that wasn't enough for him so he drove you home and called Tae to come and get him so he could drive his truck home; he wanted to tuck you in. The shopping after service was fun, Tae even came, he wanted to get a new shirt and some new jeans which he got several of and wanted your opinion on all of them then he proceeded to also get new pointed toe boots. The week seemed to drag for you both as you both got closer to Thursday but it was finally here.

"Tae wake up," you smack him because he stayed over and was going to ride with you to get her. "Hmm?" He sits up slowly and wipes his eyes. "It's Thursday, she texted she's at the airport" "Oh, yeah"

You pick her up together and bring her back to Tae's place and show her around. She seems nervous at first and quiet, shy. "Relax," you laugh as you give her a tour and help her unpack while you wait on Namjoon to come. Tae had seen her pictures online because you had shown him but it was his first time meeting her as well.

"Y/N," he called out for you from the kitchen. "Just a sec, Jeff," you go out to him as he's drying his hands from washing dishes. "Can you introduce us?" "Yeah, sure? Come on," you pull him by his arm.

"Jeff," she turns to you as she is putting her things away on the floor. "Taeyhung is shy, He wants me to introduce you guys."

"Oh, hi," she smiles and you instantly notice his reaction and it all clicks in your head, making you try and hide a smirk. "This is Tae Tea and Tae this is Jeffrene, Jeff"

"H-Hi," he smiles and they shake hands, "Taeyhung," he says, she notices how deep his voice actually is and paired with the shyness has to laugh. You share a look about how adorable it is.

"Hello?" Namjoon calls from the front door. You introduce everyone.

"Jeff is a girl," Namjoon is shocked, you just wanted to see his reaction to thinking it was a guy. Funny, as you suspected.

"There's nothing to do today as far as work...," Tae speaks, directed to you. "Okay? Cool, what should we do?" You ask them. He pulls you off to the side, "c-can I take her to get some boots?" "Some boots?" You cross your arms. "Y-Yeah....," He tucks his hands in his pockets, "I want to show her around...."

You take his body language into account and conceal from him that you see he is crushing on your friend. "oh yeah, that's a good idea, you can take her to meet the girls" "Thanks," he tries to hide how overly excited he is, "h-how do I ask her?" "Okay, it's really complicated," you put a hand on his shoulder, "here is what you do"

"Yeah?"

"You go to her and you," you pause

"Yeah?" You could tell he was falling for your trick. Sweet gullible little Taeyhung, you loved him so much.

"and you say ....do you want to come with me to buy some boots? I want to show you the animals on the farm"

He gives you a squinting glare, "you're an asshole," he says while you're laughing and Namjoon is listening in and kindly restricting himself. You both watch your friend approach his first crush.

"Hi....," He smiles and greets her again, with a awkward little wave, one hand tucked into his back pocket. "Hi"

"Do you want...to come with me...to uhm....to buy you some boots and I can uh....show uh....show you the animals?" You face palm for him.

"That's sweet, sure, that sounds nice," she was happy to go along and as excited as he was, she loved animals.

----you and Namjoon at Tae's house-------

"That's cute, it's good that Tae is finally going for it with someone. I was starting to worry that he's never crushed on anyone before," Namjoon chuckles.

"For real though! I'm so proud but our little boy is growing up, now I'm sad," you stomp and come over to him, hugging his torso to lay your forehead on his chest like a melodramatic distraught wife who was experiencing empty nest syndrome. The action was nothing out of the ordinary. He laughs and pats your hair, "it's okay, we can have s'mores, how about that?" "Oo~ I feel better," the two of you grab the graham crackers and marshmallows but Tae didn't have the sticks or the chocolate so you run to the store for them and come back. Namjoon starts the bonfire then you two get cozy and start eating the s'mores without the other two in Tae's pasture.

"Naa~," Your melted chocolate and marshmallow delight cracker sandwhich is taken away from you. "Hey!"

"Hey! Bad Cleo! Bad Cleopatra! You can't take your aunt's s'mores!" Namjoon scolds the pony. "Now, tell her you're sorry young man," he throws his hands on his hips in a sassy manner which makes you almost fall over laughing. The pony rubs his head against you as a apology. "It's okay baby, I forgive my favorite nephew," you pet his nose and kiss it and he trots away to go to his mother. Namjoon laughs and sits back beside you, looking at them. "Mable is getting old......," you both knew what he meant by that. "Yeah...., I know." "Think Tae will be okay....?" "Let's hope so....."

---Taeyhung and Jeff-----

"What size do you wear?" Tae asks, he insisted on opening his truck door for her, and the store's door. He bought her a pair of boots and gloves before taking her out to your place. "I'll show you Y/N's first, then mine"

"This is Mary Lou and her new calf, she hasn't named her yet," he watches her happily pet them then takes her to your horses, "this is Cortney and Karen," after you've gotten to know them all he shows you all around before taking you home.

"I have horses too, well I have a horse and a pony," he takes you out back.

"Oh, they started without us, I won't let you miss the s'mores," he promises. "Cleo! Mable!" Cleo comes to them and she happily plays with him for a moment before Mable finally gets there and she pets the old horse.

-----

The night is spent enjoying s'mores and getting to know each other by the fire.

Authors Note: This may have a chapter two

[cllooouuuu]

1. Art programs you have but don't use

Firealpaca, Krita, Gimp (I tried deleting this program, but for some reason it didn't let me)

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

Facing to the left, or for humanoids, definitely 3/4

3. What ideas come from when you were little

I gained an obsession with comics when I was 12. I haven't followed through with creating one... ..yet.

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

Genshin Impact characters. And this is why I don't draw them in finished posts.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

Most art of mine is only shared among friends of mine VS the internet.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

my kitty cats

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

3d modelling and animation. I've wanted to animate things for a long time now, but I'm currently a high school senior, so right now is not the time.

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

creating a long furby, and also a Venti cosplay.

9. What are your file name conventions

Behold:

my mother hates this.

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

scarf and cape

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

not an exhaustive list: Fantasy metal, Hyperpop, Dubstep, International Non-English pop, Electro Swing, 'Classical music' from the Romantic era, mostly, Breakcore, Weezer.

12. Easiest part of body to draw

head

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

Terry Pratchett. never read from him but people say he was a good guy.

14. Any favorite motifs

some of those booktok hype tropes are nice, but a trope doesn't sell a book, guys. "Dark, Witchy YA" looks like one thing in my head, and another thing in execution. 'Darkness' to me has always been very aesthetic. I also like social commentary, but it is touchy and I'm very particular with how I like it.

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

at home and at school.

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

essay writing

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

boba, homemade iced coffee, no food. Food is greasy and messy.

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

not many. Mostly wax crayons in childhood.

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

mountains. You might say Bob Ross had an impact.

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

dragons and other animals. I mastered their anatomy and now I flex on anyone who would watch.

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

Cyan Y (look them up on Youtube or Deviantart)

those heavily inked furry art drawings done by someone who writes in Cyrillic who I have forgotten about on Instagram. Please somebody tell me who they are!

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

I stretch sometimes...

23. Do you use different layer modes

yes, and I abuse the overlay mode on digital when my colors aren't cohesive.

24. Do your references include stock images

sometimes.

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

"Is that Wings Of Fire??" I have been inspired by that, but the particular drawing that got that comment was not.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

One time I drew a dragon holding up a large golden orb, and people thought that it had a big belly.

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

No, I just start drawing. I do make a lot of preliminary sketches when doing a painting, though, because I don't want to spend time rendering a bad form that I end up undoing.

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

No zines. I made plans for partaking in War For Rayuba but I never produced a finished comic.

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

Marvel comics. I want to draw Galactus someday, though. I keep doubting my skills and putting it off though. Someday Galactus, I'll do you justice!

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

I made this when I was 13. I have redrawn this image every year, yet while other versions age, this one holds up. I don't know why I can't replicate its success.

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.

(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

9. What are your file name conventions

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

12. Easiest part of body to draw

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

14. Any favorite motifs

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

23. Do you use different layer modes

24. Do your references include stock images

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

could I nab an aro/ace jim? going along w/ life before it hits him that crushes?? exist?? because I personally never realised that this was a thing people experienced, and realising my experiences weren't the norm. I thought I was bi for the longest time because I felt the same towards everyone. perhaps his 'crush' on claire is a squish, or becoming qpps with toby? or maybe something else if you feel you've got a rad idea :o

Ace of Spades

When Jim found out about being aromantic and asexual, it was because of a set of pride flags he stumbled across online.  He knew what some of them were.  He’d spent months trying to figure out if any of those ones fit him.  Then realizing they didn’t.  Not really.  The only one that came close was bisexual.  Still, it felt like there was something different about him.  Something that didn’t quite fit with the bi label.  Something that was it’s own thing entirely.

Mom said he could be a late bloomer.  That he’d figure out romance in his own time.  There was no rush.  She’d always be there for him if he wanted to talk or if he needed help in getting resources.  Jim never took her up on that.  

What if that supposed magic moment where he’d figure romance out never happened?  He asked himself on occasion.  Did he really want it to?  Jim wasn’t sure.  He’d never considered himself different from anyone else.  He always thought the way he felt was the norm.  That the “romance” he saw in media was something exaggerated by Hollywood to sell all the movies they could.

The fact that he was apparently the different one felt strange to Jim.  He didn’t know what to make of the feeling.  He’d gone through life without really thinking about romance as A Thing.  He honestly didn’t want to start now.

So, seeing those pride flags and learning of the aro and ace labels felt nice.  Like the beginning of an answer to a question Jim didn’t know he needed to ask.  “Aroace” rolled off the tongue in a pleasant way.  It was a secure feeling, to know he didn’t have to be anything else but what he already was.

In the coming days, Jim learned more words, an entirely new vocabulary.  Squish.  Queerplatonic relationship.  Zucchini.  That last one made him smile when he used one of the vegetable for dinner one night.

An entire world he didn’t know existed, one that felt right, had been opened up to him.

And something, for once, felt comfortable.

Jim soon found it was hard to deal with everyone else.  Before learning of being aroace, he hadn’t realized (noticed) how much everyone else around him seemed to be obsessed with romance.  Now that he did, it was grating.  Just a little bit.

Jim didn’t mind that romance existed or that people were interested in it necessarily.  It just, it wasn’t something he was interested in.  Not really.  Sometimes it was downright frustrating when everyone assumed he wanted or would want it.  Eventually.

His mom, in particular, seemed to be waiting for that “eventually”, given her regular comments that “girls” were a natural part of high school that he should be worried about.  Jim generally avoided talking to her about it if he could.  He loved her, but there were times when Mom could be pushy when she thought she was being helpful (when she was really not).

Jim still hadn’t figured out how to talk to her about that one yet.

Toby was easier.

“So aroace, huh?  Sounds like you’re some cool archer dude.  Like you’re an ace ninja with a bow and have like a bajillion arrows that you can shoot with deadly accuracy and you’re going to become a superhero—wait, hang on, I gotta look this up.”  Toby whipped out his phone and started typing.  “There’s gotta be some cool aroace superhero already.”

Jim laughed.  “Only you, Tobes, would react by thinking of some hero thing.”

“Laugh now, Jimbo, but one of these days I’m going to be right.  Just you wait.”  Toby paused.  “Anyway, you good?”  He turned to face Jim.  “How do you feel?  Like are you “I just came out to my best friend and I’m totally awesome sauce cause I know we’re awesome sauce forever” or “I just came out to my best friend and I’m kinda panicky about it?”

“The first one.  Mostly.”  Jim shrugged.  “I wouldn’t put it exactly like that, but yeah.  “We’re good, Tobes.”  He took a cookie off the plate Nana had given them and lay back on Toby’s bed.  He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in.

“Master Jim, I must apologize.  For I assumed you and Tobias were already in a partnership.”  Blinky spoke in an uncertain tone.

“Wait, you thought we were dating?  Like gay?”  Jim clenched his hands arounds his knees.  This conversation was not going how he’d expect it to.  After talking to Toby about it, he’d decided to come out to Blinky too (and ARRRGGGHHH!!! depending on how the conversation with Blinky went).  So far, he’d made it past telling Blinky that he was aroace.  That had gone well.  Blinky had accepted his explanation of the labels.  But now they’d gotten here, where Blinky apparently assumed he and Toby were an Item.

Blinky spoke up again,  “I would not put it like that necessarily.  Not too many years ago, while scavenging on the surface, I overhead a set of humans talk of what they called a ‘queerplatonic relationship’.  From what they said, I gathered it must be a meaningful sort of relationship that exists independent of the usual trappings or symbolism of traditional romance.  Since then, ARRRGGGHHH!!! and myself have found it a wonderfully useful term to define what we are to each other.  We are something that is both strong and deeply emotional.  Somedays there are no words to eloquently put how I feel about him nor him about me.  For us, queerplatonic fit what other words could not possibly hope to describe.”  Blinky paused.  “Ah, my train of thought seems to have gotten away from me.  But my assumption was that you and Tobias share a similar relationship.  That you are, I believe the right term is zucchini?  Partners?”

“Oh, um no.  We’re just friends.”  Jim’s grip tightened on his knees.  He hadn’t thought about being anything with Tobes.  Not yet.  He was still adjusting to his identity.  That was what this conversation was supposed to be about.  His identity.  “Blinky, I’m…I may never want a relationship.  Of any kind.  I haven’t really so far.  Like I haven’t gotten crushes or anything ever.  I didn’t even think they were real for the longest time, but according to Toby they are.”  He sighed.  “I just…I don’t know.”  He threw up his arms.  “I’m ok with the possibility of a queerplatonic relationship, but I don’t want you guys to just assume I’m going to do that.  Or anything else.  Because I don’t even know what I’m going to do yet.  I’m still figuring this out!”  He paced around with his fists clenched.  “Just…don’t say I can still have relationships despite my identity.  Cause being aroace?  Is really important to me.  It’s a part of me.”  He spun and glared at Blinky.  “Not something that needs to be overcome.”

Blinky approached him slowly.  “I deeply apologize, Jim.”  He cautiously put his hands on Jim’s shoulders.  “It was not my intention to convey that that needs to happen.  It does not.”

“Thanks, Blink.  I…I kinda like the idea of a qpr?  Just not right now.  Or yet.  Or something.”  Jim inhaled.  “For now, I want to be just me.”  He paused.  “But, can you tell me more about them anyway?  Just so I know?”

“Of course.”

Jim backed up a step, away from the classroom door.  “Are you sure I can be here? I mean, I don’t know, they may—”

“Dude, chill.”  Toby grabbed his shoulder.  “It’s going to be totally awesome sauce.  Trust me.  I got you’re back.  Worst case scenario, we run out of there and become school legends.”

“Really, Tobes?  Running out of a GSA meeting will make us legends?”  Jim sighed.  Ran his hand through his hair.  “This was a bad idea.  We should—”

Toby interrupted him.  “No buts!  Trust in your wingman.  When have I ever led you astray?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Good point.  But I’m right about this, Jimbo.”  Toby faced him.  “I know you read some stupid stuff online, but this isn’t the Internet where anyone can say anything.  I know everyone on the other side of that door and I can say with certainty, you belong with us and they’ll think so too.”

Jim sighed.  “Fine.  Let’s do this.”  Worst case scenario, he activated the Amulet of Daylight so he could break through the classroom window as an escape and then have to deal with the fallout of revealing magic to a bunch of high school kids.

Toby opened the door with a flourish. “I hereby welcome you to the Gay-Straight Alliance of Arcadia Oaks High!” He led Jim into the classroom.  “Where we have doughnuts, friends, and on special occasions, Miss Janeth’s dramatic interpretations of other teachers!”  In a quieter tone, he added, “You should hear her Strickler.  It’s hilarious, dude.”

“I heard that, Mr. Domzalski.”  Miss Janeth spoke from where she was hanging up a poster on the board.  “And welcome, Mr. Lake, we were just about to get started.”  She turned to address the entire group in the classroom, which included Eli Pepperjack, Shannon Longhannon, Mary Wang, Darci Scott, Claire Nunez, and even the new students Aja and Krel, as well as others Jim didn’t recognize immediately on sight.  “As many of you know, the club fair is coming up and I’d like us to have a station.”  Miss Janeth went on.  “We’ll have signups for those of you who want to help man the table and, like last year, Señor Uhl has agreed to maintain a ‘security presence’.  Now, Ms. Wang has submitted the idea that we get mini pride flags to put on the table, so everyone, especially if they’re still in the closet, knows they’re welcome with us.  She’s volunteered to acquire the flags and start a list so we don’t miss anyone’s labels…”

As the meeting went on, Jim relaxed.  No one asked him to come out or prove why he should be there.  He was welcomed easily into the conversation.  He was ok.

Jim set up the mini pride flags along the front edge of the GSA’s fair table.  It had taken then a while to find them all, but in the end they’d been successful.  He set both the aromantic and asexual flags down next in the lineup after the genderfluid and agender flags.

A part of him regretted letting Toby talk him into helping today, but a part of him really wanted to be there too.

“Ah, they look lively!” Aja bounced into the chair next to him. “It is so exciting!  We will educate the people of the municipality of Arcadia all about the wonderful identities they don’t know they can have or they know they have and don’t know that have support for!”  She spun around in her seat.  “Either way it will be a totally legal day!”

“Arcadia’s a city and we’re only manning the table for the school’s club fair.  I don’t think that many people are going to show up.”  Jim was quick to reply.  The idea of a huge number of people showing up made him nervous.

“Yes, but some will still come  That is exciting!”  Aja playfully punched his arm.  “We will help people!  Toby told me you’re an archer ninja.  Between your mad skills and my…errmm…also mad skills, we will do good for the next two hours!”

Jim couldn’t help but smile.  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[rosedalemike]

The Mood: Blog #11 “WTF is next, ROSEDALE?!”

     I've had so many random ideas for what this next blog should be about. I wanna try to stay on track with the story of Rosedale's farewell/next chapter as that seems to be the most common topic with the lovely Rosedaliens that have been coming out to shows.      But the truth is that I'm just as unsure as everyone else. I don't even have a clear vision of what I picture September looking like. I guess my plan in September is to plan what 2019 is going to look like. 2019 seems so much further than it actually is, I'm sure.      The only things I'm sure of are that I would like to: 1: be a helpful contribution to music scenes (artists, venues, promoters, fans etc.) using more than just my own voice. 2: keep making new music under a different name (using my voice ...maybe some features...maybe a band? Who knows. I'd love for someone else to decide that.) 3: continue to work with other artists on their art and ideas.      I know those are all vague ideas. And regarding the name delema; I have a giant draft email to myself (the most common email address in my inbox is rosedalebooking@gmail.com) that has a bunch of artist names and band names. Some are pretty good, some are not. 

Self-Lyric Party: 

" 'cause I live entirely for the self-satisfaction that I made this- I turn Whiter than a song in C as I watch the room empty No! Just press on, believe. My numbers are truly sad Tell me again; can I beat Quicksand? Yes I Can! " - Quicksand

    As I check back to my last blog (to see how I quote/credit a lyric party...to keep continuity) I noticed that google placed a Chipotle add on the right side of the blog page! This is likely because I searched Chipotle at least 10 times in this past week. And that is because there is new company in the new Rosedale crew already and Chipotle sometimes hooks up traveling musicians with free food. 

     Her name is Siena. We all know Bryan, right? (cousin, hockey guy, #1 merch dude/email address collector...) Siena is the female Bryan. But luckily, she's not my cousin. I mean it'd be awesome to have known her all my life (like I've known Bryan all my life,) but for "heart-crush" reasons, I'm really glad she's most definitely not my cousin. 

     I met Siena at our San Diego show in November 2017. I say "our" because she's in a band called Going Postal, and they played that Soma show too. Like many bands today, they'll admit that their future is a giant question mark. But unlike many bands today, they sound awesome! 

Check them out

.https://goingpostalca.bandcamp.com/releases

     I call Siena "S Money" because one of her friends she was facetiming called her that and I, too, wanted to sound gangsta- "DJ $ Money" to be exact. Siena is finishing her final online college classes while traveling around America with me and selling my merch. When she's not selling merch she's helping me move my insane amounts of gear. When she's not selling merch and moving my insane amounts of gear she's teaching me how to promote in a more professional manner by helping me post enticing social media posts/stories/streams more regularly/organically. 

     Siena is a very kind-hearted, helpful champion that is way too chill to be so attractive. I just may be the luckiest Tall Canadian with Way Too Much Gear to have her on tour with me. After this tour she's moving to LA to become a world famous movie star so I only have about a month more of her awesomeness. She likes animals a lot, especially animal memes/vines. Mostly cats and dogs. So share/send any good ones and I'll make sure she sees them. (I'm also currently tethering off her wifi hotspot because all of Ohio's wifi is down right now.)

      Now that I've made you feel warm with paragraphs of cute kittens and puppies and rock n' roll princesses and awesome music and free Chipotle and sharing wifi; I must reveal some bad news; MY BACK IS F**KED!!! I somehow slowly injured my lower back while walking down some rusty stairs at the wrestling ring venue in Benwood, WV last Tuesday. I was getting ready to catch a little light-up-with-movement Nerf football, moving no different than any human casually walking down a set of stairs- then all of a sudden I felt my back juice trickling into the lower center of my back.     Don't be alarmed, this is not a career ending injury or anything. This actually happens to me every two years or so. And this time is not nearly as bad as the last time (when I was filling in for my Dad in his Canadian Tire men's hockey league and I casually skated behind my net to find out how 3 weeks of near paralyzing lower back pain felt.)      It's funny; when people ask if I have tall people back problems and I'm not dealing with back problems at that given moment, I usually reply "nope". But as soon as I do experience my dual-annually (I made up that word...) back pain, I remember the last time I had severe back pain.       So anyway, I had to cancel two shows and I'm not happy about it. It's getting better. I'm three days without pain relief meds. Stretching a lot. Rubbing Tiger Balm and Icey Hot every few hours. Just taking it easy in Cincinnati until Atlanta's show on Tuesday. That show is gonna be really awesome and there’s no way I’m missing it.      I played drums for a band on Warped tour in Dallas too. That was pretty fun. I learned their songs in three days. They have a lot of air horns in their music so I went kind of overboard with the Roland Pad's air horn sample. (Maybe that's why they found a replacement drummer for Pittsburgh Warped.)      It was fun seeing the Warped Tour for the last year and getting to play on stage again. We also went to the Cincinnati Warped Tour and learned what heat stroke felt like.

     Enough updates on my odd summer. I'll wrap it up with some insightful life/music stuff as I'm hanging out with the infamous Alex Baker.  https://alexanderbaker.bandcamp.com/ First though, his dad told us one of the greatest dad joke of all time: 

DAD JOKE PARTY:

"I was trying to think of a good reason to go to Switzerland and then I realized the flag was a big plus." 

But for real; we were talking about how things would be so different if we had just been understanding with our ex-bandmates in the golden years. We were all young and surrounded by the odd discovery of egos driven by art/success.  Alex was in a band called Dewey Decibel  https://alexanderbaker.bandcamp.com/album/the-dusting-dewey-decibel They had a fun indie style with a really organic, interesting production. Dewey Decibel recorded their album in their house in Nashville. From the sounds of it, once they started getting attention from NPR and local radio stations things started getting to everyone's heads. 

     It's not uncommon for a band to get along really well when things are on the up then fall apart when the going gets tough. The more I see it the more I understand the damage it did to Rosedale.      But on the other end of that unfortunate reality is the fact that I never would have met Alex Baker if the Rockstar ego-turmoil didn't happen to Dewey Decibel and Rosedale. I probably wouldn't have met Siana (AKA DJ $ Money) either. I'm not preaching that everything happens for a reason. I'm just kinda preaching that if you take the inevitable destructive events in life and turn them into fuel to move on and stay positive, better relationships grow. And those relationships are better because you've grown and learned how to be a better person.       So, like I keep driving home in all of these "Farewell Blogs", I'm looking forward to where things go. I'm happy I've experienced all the curveballs along the way to teach me how to eventually hit some home runs. I feel like I'm on the right track with these new friends that I've only met through grinding past the hard times and pressing on for what I had my heart set on.       Do you ever think of how you came to know some of your best friends? Like what events led them/you there that day and how grateful you are for those events and the transparent friendships they created? I know facebook gives us the ol "5 years of friendship" tag or whatever. But sometimes I see those and think "ohhh if you only knew, facebook...me and Casey Phillips go WAY BACK!"      Anyway that's all for now. If you've been thinking of meeting me or Siena or Alex Baker the best way/time to do it is to come out to an event we're at and experience some in person hangouts. This will be the last few weeks of touring for quite some time for me so really try to highlight these dates and make a solid effort to come catch a show. I promise you will not regret it. 

UPCOMING SHOWS:  7/24 - Atlanta,GA @ The Masquerade  7/27 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jackrabbits 7/29 - St. Augustine, FL @ Sarbez 8/3 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Black Forge Coffee 8/4 - Niagara, NY @ Evening Star 8/7 - Brampton, ON @ Spot 1 8/10 - Charleston, WV @ The Empty Glass 8/11 - Myrtle Beach, SC @ TBA Then a bunch of East Coast tour dates.