#i hear the these new south park fans comments
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korumiis · 2 years ago
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dinosaurs go rawr ! xoxo
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deleahtarte · 3 months ago
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Hey, I just wanna say I'm a HUGE ass fan of your South Park works. They're literal blessings oh my god thank you for your amazing existence. I really love how you portray the characters and all these little details and headcanons about them that aren't really addressed in the show in canon. They seem so natural and human, you know? If you don't mind me asking two things about your fanfics; I heard you mentioning once how Creek got you into the show, so how come you never really write about them or mention them in your other fics as often? Is it just that you lost interest and moved on? Also, I'm really interested in your Style fanfic "The Days After I Wished for You." I will give you my soul in exchange for the completion of the story, but of course I understand if you lost interest/inspiration in writing it or you're too busy. Sorry if I seem rude, but it would be very much appreciated. Anyways, sorry for the rant and hope you have a great day~♡
First of all, thank you for your kind words!! I’m glad my weird headcanons aren’t something you visibly flinch at because sometimes when I write them I wonder if it’s alright to share 😭😭 So this is a terrific thing for me to hear!!!
Ahh, Creek. What a wonderful question! Creek is like a first love. It’s great but the chances of it lasting are very slim (but you always think it’s going to be forever), and when it doesn’t last you end up always thinking about it and comparing. I haven’t moved on from Creek, I don’t think I ever will. I still like it as much as when I first discovered it. I read most if not all of the Creek fics available the first time I came across them.
But you know how when you like an authors work you click on their profile to see if there’s more? Well that’s when I discovered Style and Bunny. I’ve always loved the main four (five), but when I watched South Park originally I never thought too deep into their relationship until I started reading the fics and it just…clicked. It was like going down the rabbit hole. Creek was already canon but style and bunny wasn’t. So I rewatched every episode for each of their interaction and pretty much got tased with ideas and revelations, and I felt like an idiot for not seeing it sooner. It then came to my attention that Style and Bunny didn’t have as much fics as Creek, so I thought it was my duty as a writer to dish some in. Creek was doing good in of itself, let me go ahead and support Bunny and Style. And now wallah, now we’re here.
In reality, I actually have 2 completed One shots for Creek. And then another 2 chapters of a multi-fic. I want to post them, I have toyed with the idea and told you guys as much. I believe I have their character and dynamic down due to all the fics I read and how many times I’ve watched the show. But I don’t post them for one reason only—and that is because of time. I cater to two parts of the South Park fandom, clear as day, Bunny and Style—and if I add Creek into the mix you guys would probably be waiting like 5 months for just a crumb of your ship. (I’m a VERY picky writer) For example, I just posted something about Bunny so my next posting would be about Style. I have a schedule for things in the effort to keep my two ships happy.
Not only does making you guys wait a while for a chapter not ideal, but I also lose a lot of readers during said waiting period. I’ve seen loyal readers who used to leave me comments on every chapter and fic leave and I know I mostly lost them because we, naturally as humans, change all the time. So our interests changes as well. They like new stuff, South Park is no longer as important, which usually leads to them not wanting to read South Park fics anymore. It makes me sad no longer seeing the names I look forward to in the comments because we aren’t who we were XYZ months ago. But I know that’s what I risk by writing the way I do. I completely understand it, and I accept it.
As for ‘The Days After I Wished for You,’ I haven’t lost interest at all. If I haven’t updated a fic in a while, it’s not that I lost interest—I’ve never once lost interest in any of the fics I started—it’s more of I don’t know how to write the story I want to write. ‘The Days After I Wished for You’ goes into certain deep themes like addiction and depression, and I just don’t want to be ignorant about the topics and portray them like shit. And I’ve heard some people say “it’s just a fanfic it’s not that deep just write a chapter’ but…real life people are going to read this. And I feel like I have certain responsibilities as a writer to at least try to tread certain topics right because there are real people in the world who are going through the same thing and some might even be reading what you write. That’s different if you’re writing crack fics of course, but I’m not so I can’t go about half assing stuff. It’s just not what I want to do. Like when I wrote the style m-preg fic?? It’s literally an omega verse fic but it was still in draft for so long because I wanted to research actual pregnancy and portray it and it’s issues to the best of my abilities. Did I actually do that?? I have no clue! But I tell myself everyday that I tried my best and so far haven’t receive messages from people saying it’s flat out wrong so I’m satisfied with it for the time being. I’m a very picky writer and my writing process usually requires me to rewrite a scene 2-3 times, that’s just the norm. But ‘The Days After I Wished for You,’ is so complicated I have actually re-written a scene 6 times. So that’s just how it is 😅
So yes, ahem, very sorry for the long rant—it was just a wonderful question and one I couldve yapped about for like hours, the finality of it is that I still love Creek, I’m working on ‘The Days After I Wished for You,’ as we speak!! I hope you have a great rest of your day as well and please stay safe and hydrated!! 🤍🤍
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gyuyoungarchives · 1 year ago
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💬 Soompi: A Good Day To Be A Dog Stars Dish On Their Characters’ MBTIs, What Dog Breeds They Would Be (Park Gyuyoung Cut)
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What do you think is the MBTI of your “A Good Day to Be a Dog” character?
- ENFJ. Hae Na is extroverted, and she imagines this and that by herself. She is full of emotions, and she is good at empathizing. She also tends to plan things out, so I want to say she is ENFJ.
What is a memorable or fun memory from filming that you can share with fans?
- In a scene where Cha Eunwoo was filming with a dog, he filmed with liquid-type dog treats on his lips because he had to kiss the dog. I think everyone filmed it while holding back their laughter.
🗨 Cha Eunwoo: I became really close with Park Gyuyoung and Lee Hyunwoo, whom I worked together with the most, so we laughed and joked around together a lot...
Is there anything special you did to interact with the dogs starring on “A Good Day to Be a Dog”?
- Rather than trying to get close to dogs, I think everyone worked hard to create a safe and comfortable environment for the dogs to film.
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If you were to become an actual teacher, what subject would you feel most confident about teaching, and what subject would you feel least confident about?
- I think I could teach math well because it is a subject with clearly defined answers. It is also the subject that I studied hard during my school days.
How would you spend your time if you become a dog for a day?
- I would want to spend a simple yet eventful day, eating, sleeping, and going for a walk. These are very simple activities, but I believe these activities are difficult to do attentively every day. [I want] to eat very well, to walk very well, and to sleep very well.
If you were to become a dog, which breed do you think you would become or would you like to be?
- I want to be a Jindo dog (indigenous dog native to Jindo in South Korea) that looks good-natured and also appears to be easygoing.
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What does your cast usually talk about in your group chat? Which actor is the most active?
- Although there is a group chat, we only exchange simple greetings and photos. Instead, there are more things to talk about when we meet in person because we are similar in age.
🗨 Lee Hyunwoo: The most active person is Gyu Young. Gyu Young usually posts photos in the group chat and checks on us first, so we sometimes talk together through the chat.
Which actor tends to bring the most energy on set?
- All the actors created a good atmosphere in their own ways, but I want to say that actor Yoon Hyun Soo who plays Yul brought the most energy. His existence alone is lovable and he exuded adorable energy, so I remember the set always becoming brighter [with his presence].
🗨 Cha Eunwoo: Everyone brought energy to set because the set was filled with actors who are around the same age. If I had to choose, since actors Park Gyu Young and Lee Hyun Woo were similar in age to me and we joked around a lot whenever we met, I think the three of us were the most fun on set.
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What kind of comments or reviews do you hope to hear from “A Good Day to Be a Dog” viewers?
- I hope to hear that this is a drama that makes them feel good from just watching. All the actors and staff worked hard on filming so that the viewers could feel happy.
What criteria do you take into consideration when choosing acting projects?
- Usually, I choose characters that can show different vibes from the character from my previous project. While acting various characters, I want to start out on a clean slate, and I think it’s one of my routines to accept a new character. It’s also a personal ambition to showcase diverse sides to viewers.
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Do you have your own way of getting closer to your co-stars when beginning a new project?
- I believe naturally is the best way. Since all actors are present in different ways on set, we are all each present in our most natural selves on set, and we gradually become closer while being slightly considerate of each other to make each other comfortable.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
- I do the exercise that I feel like doing at the time, and then I stay at home doing nothing. Whether it is ballet, weight training, or pilates, doing the exercise that I feel like doing that day and then resting at home is the greatest hobby and routine to me.
What is something new that you want to learn one day?
- I learned how to play the bass guitar to play a character, but after filming ended, I didn’t have the opportunity to learn. If I get the chance, I want to learn to play the bass guitar some more.
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Please share any TMI about yourself for fans!
- I ate salted butter rolls while watching “Street Woman Fighter 2.” This is truly too much information, right?
Please share a word for international fans who are tuning in to “A Good Day to Be a Dog”!
- 'A Good Day to Be a Dog” is a drama filled with adorable and lovable charms that you feel from just watching. I hope that the viewers anticipate this a lot, and I hope viewers receive good energy through this drama. It is already the second half of 2023, so I hope viewers enjoyably spend the rest of 2023 with “A Good Day to Be a Dog.”
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as Han Haena in A Good Day to be a Dog, 2023
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elidelochans · 2 years ago
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Okay, you don't really have to answer this, I don't mean to bring any negativity to your lovely blog, so if you delete this instead of answering, I'll understand.
But I'm just so confused with the Taylor-Matty relationship....one on hand, she says she's happier than ever, which I love for her. But also....Matty has made such incredibly offensive statements over the years, and I'm just very confused here. Half of Tumblr is squealing over him, and the other half is, from what I see, very understandably upset.
I know we don't really know these people and who they are aside from what they present themselves as publicly, I just don't understand what part is an act and what's not. And even if it is an act, are statements that have genuinely offended specific groups of people something to brush off as satire?
Hey nonnie!
Can you believe I typed this answer four times and keep deleting? I just keep rambling. I'm trying to cover all bases here even though you didn't ask for all of that.
POSSIBLE TW: For slight mentions of racism and homophobia
I'd honestly believe Taylor. We have no reason not to. They're happy right now. Maybe he's the one for her and maybe he won't be. But They're happy and despite everything they are trying to make this work. Clearly I'm on the squealing side of this. I've followed both of them for years. The news kinda surprised me first but the more I thought about it. The more they just make so much sense to me. Even if they didn't, It's not my place or anyone's place really to judge. I would have supported it anyway. I don't think there relationship is an act. Not in the slightest. I do however believe they had a looong talk or talks about his past, and his Truman Black persona he does on stage.
If you don't know allow me to explain, Truman Black was a name he used for socials when people found Matty Healy on facebook years ago due to his mom, Denise Welch. He created the name Truman Black instead and used socials. Truman Black is basically this anti woke character that makes an appearance at the 1975 shows. He's used in mockery to modern issues such as political, race, gender identity, etc etc. (If you've seen those "I don't think it's racist to say.." or "I don't think it's homophobic to say.." clips and then Adam cuts him off. That is Truman). (Here's a compilation of these to show it's a bit.)
This is all an act, as Matty is the complete opposite. Matty is a leftist who albeit extremely intelligent and self aware, does not have a filter. He often thinks before he speaks which as we know has placed him in some heated situations. Some within reason and others, have been pulled out of context. He has spoken on the ones out of context and fully explained. The within reason from what I've seen is when his fans are deeply upset and he realizes he fucked up. Then he addresses it. If people are pressed but not troubled he lets it go. Look at the podcast people were upset, especially with comments regarding Ice Spice. He took the time at his show to apologize. (you can find here on tiktok)
Recently, I wanna say in Feb/March he deleted all his socials. When a fan asked he said, "The 1975 is an eras based band and the time of him being an asshole is over." (you can find here on tiktok) I think moving forward Truman is gone. He's done with the act. I think Taylor had some part in that RE: them having long talks about his persona.
Now the podcast...people have a right to be upset. The conversation was jarring to say the least. I don't think it was podcast he should have ever been on knowing fans would listen and majority of fans don't find this satire, dark humor. From my understanding the The Adam Friedland Show's podcast (which was originally called cum town.) lines up with South Park in terms of humor so it seems to be if you get it you get it and if you dont you dont but that's not our fault you didn't get the joke. At least that's the vibe I get from hearing them. What's crazy to me, is everyone is blaming Matty when the dudes on the podcast said he didn't start anything. I do suggest people watch this:
TW: MENTIONS OF GRAPHIC NSFW TOWARDS POC (it's them talking about the buzzfeed article) Hopefully it helps put things in perspective.
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Should we brush this off because it's satire? No. we should not. I don't and will never understand why people believe this kind of "humor" is funny. It's tasteless in my eyes due to the topics and the thin line this type of comedy is. At the end of the day that didn't mean intentional harm unlike certain politicians and other people in the world.
One more thing I wanna say before I end this, If you're unsure on your stance on Matty I suggest you look at videos of him with fans, of his talks during shows, and with actual interviews like the ones he does with Zane Lowe. You still might be put off by him and that's totally fine. I just simply encourage everyone to do research and not rely on a Buzzfeed article and what people who admit they don't know him say. I know people who just don't like them much like how some people don't like Taylor. That's okay!
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lime1991 · 2 years ago
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they are friends....
This is my sp oc Muffy with Kenny ^_^ i made Muffy in like 2018 maybe.. she is very different now than she was at first. Originally I made her move... FROM south park? lol. #UNIQUE! idk wtf i was thinking. She's new in south park now, and she's from Detroit. People on tiktok and stuff reallyyyy hate south park ocs ("these new fans" types of comments under ANYTHING fan created) so I'm going out of my way to make her "cringe". She's immortal, and strictly because she's from Detroit. Can't even have a normal lifespan in Detroit. I might come up with a better reason if I want to later but that's it for now lol. She's besties with Kenny because they hang out in Heaven sometimes but eventually they get bored and leave (as they are doing in the image above) They have a very common factor of loving women, so they talk about women they would fuck a little too much and too loudly so that everyone can hear their conversation.
Also, here's this picture I drew when I first decided to bring her back and wanted to make a quick new design:
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karen4theppl · 7 months ago
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Keep Chinatown’s Airspace Free from Useless Dodger Stadium Gondola 
24 February 2024
On February 22nd, the Los Angeles Metro Board voted to move forward with a proposal to build a gondola over Chinatown, despite an outpouring of dissent from residents during public comment. An hour and half of in-person public comments were vastly in opposition to the Gondola. For the last 30 minutes, the format switched to callers phoning in from outside the boardroom, and many public commenters left at that time. Then, in a sinister and unassuming moment, in front of a thinned out crowd, the board voted to move the project forward. Stop the Gondola speaker and protester Meika put it plainly: “This is some liberal bullshit.” 
LA residents should do whatever we can to stand by our neighbors in Chinatown to stop the gondola from being built to protect the historic district, and reallocate funds to improve and expand the transit system. Los Angeles Metro is notoriously challenging to navigate as a commuter. While many bus lines are fairly consistent, others run only a couple of times per hour, and some big streets like Alameda lack a bus altogether.
Xochitl Manzanilla, Chinatown Residential Representative for the Historic Cultural North Neighborhood Council, pointed out at the meeting “I think it would be a disaster for our communities near LA Historic.” So, what is the proposed project anyway? According to CBS News, the idea is to transport 5,000 people per hour in a seven minute trip from Union Station to Dodger Stadium. The stated goal is that this would allow more people to opt for transit instead of driving. Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit, the organization behind the project, claims that this would reduce traffic. 
Unfortunately there are a number of issues with the proposal. Firstly, the Dodger Express already buses fans who take the train to Union Station up the hill to the stadium. According to Knock.la the gondola cars would fly only 40 feet above buildings and residents’ heads, which is incredibly dangerous. And despite Aerial Rapid Transit claiming they will pay for it, Knock.la points out there is a good chance that taxpayer money will end up being used, especially if the project runs over budget. The project requires cutting 80 trees out of Elysian Park and LA Historic Park. The project would be incredibly harmful. 
According to the LA Times, when developers tried to build the 710 freeway over a white neighborhood in South Pasadena just a few miles from Chinatown, wealthy residents shut the project down, rerouting truck routes through Asian and Latine Alhambra. LAist explains that right before Dodger Stadium was built in 1959, the Latine neighborhoods Chavez Ravine, Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop were violently repossessed by eminent domain and  destroyed. Let's not let another move by developers displace and harm a neighborhood of color excluded from the privileges of white communities like Pasadena. This February, the thousands of Angelenos who turned out to show their support for Palestine proved the ability of the city’s people to to protect themselves. If the developer class in this city continues to prioritize music festivals, the Olympics and the World Cup over the generational residents of our city, they risk sparking widespread unrest again.
sources...
https://knock-la.com/las-dumb-gondola/ 
https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2023-03-09/white-drivers-are-polluting-the-air-breathed-by-l-a-s-people-of-color-boiling-point 
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/opponents-of-proposed-dodger-stadium-gondola-protest-ahead-of-upcoming-public-hearings/ 
https://laist.com/news/la-history/dodger-stadium-chavez-ravine-battle 
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/proposed-gondola-project-connecting-union-station-dodger-stadium-meets-opposition-from-residents/
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extremelyblackandwhite · 4 years ago
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august
pairing: sheriff lee bodecker x younger! reader
warnings: cheating, age gap
a/n: i wanted to write this chapter to show how y/n’s and lee’s affair began and to show how y/n shaped lee or his point of view. this song is mostly based off august from taylor swift (bc we all know at this point that i’ll just write fanfics based of any folklore/evermore songs) and war of hearts from ruelle. this one is not smut, the next one (illicit affairs) is gonna be.  additionally, i’ve come to the conclusion that knockemstiff y/n dressed like betty draper and after-knockemstiff y/n dresses likes meg draper and that is canon. btw if you’re interested in what she’s wearing in this chapter here [x] p.s.: lee’s not captain yet in this chapter
> ILLICIT AFFAIRS
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Salt air and the rust on your door, I never needed anything more. Whispers of are you sure? Never have I ever before. But I can see us lost in the memory, August slipped away into a moment in time ‘cause it was never mine
August was an odd month this year; the godless and sunless town was going through the biggest heatwave anyone could remember. Most habitants were in the parks and outside their homes in plastic chairs enjoying the heat, however, in Y/N’s house, they were baking apple pies with the apples leftover from the little apple tree farm they had a bit south from the town centre. Y/N had suggested they just gave away the apples but her grandmother, ever the traditional woman, believed the best way to show appreciation would be to bake something. “It shows you care, Y/N” as if she cared about anyone in this god forbidden town. She couldn’t wait to pack her bags and go to the big city where she can be something other than a trophy wife. Besides, it wasn’t like there were any available suitable husband options around. 
She wiped the flour out of her forehead as she placed the last pie in the oven. 24 pies, surely that would account for a high electricity bill at the end of the month. Not that it mattered anyway, her grandmother could more than afford it after all she was the woman right now sat at the kitchen table, giving out plates as if they cost nothing. 
     - Y/N, sweetheart, can you go and deliver the pie on the living room. It’s already cold and I don’t want it to go stale.
     - Yeah, sure. 
     - To Captain Bodecker’s house. Promised Jane I’d send her one. 
     - Captain Bodecker’s? But that’s in town. - she scratched her elbows. She’d rather not go to Captain Bodecker’s house yet again he probably wasn’t even around, always busy in the station. - Can I take the car?
     - It’s a 20 minute walk, it’s sunny outside and you’re young. Save on gas.
     - But ...
     - Y/N, you better be outside with that pie in 5 seconds or we’ll have a problem. - she interrupted.
Y/N sighed, unlacing the back of her apron and placing it on the hook. Just great, that’s all she needed today, to walk to the town centre to deliver one of the pies she had just spent the whole morning preparing. She guessed it could’ve been worse, she could’ve had to go deliver it to the police station then Captain Bodecker would’ve definitely been there. It wasn’t that she disliked him, quite the opposite. Back when she volunteered at the precinct he was the only one who was nice to her or at least the only one who wouldn’t try to put his hand under her skirt. He’d even memorised her name which not even the Sheriff who had hired her knew, to this day whenever he saw her he still called her Bella. He was nice to her and she couldn’t say she hadn’t developed a little school girl crush on him, despite the fact he was married. He’d even stood up for her when her manager started screaming at her. Nevertheless, she couldn’t stand being in his presence, feeling like whatever she said would get her in trouble. His wife wasn’t someone she enjoyed either; Jane Bodecker was known for having quite the sharp gossiping tongue. Most of her friends commented their “men friends” would comment how she used to have quite the reputation while at high school and whenever she saw her at the shop, she’d always call her Little Miss Perfect or make some side comment about how she was occupying a job that someone else needed. Still, Y/N could deal with Jane, a little smile, a nod and she was ready to deal with the devil.
The sun scorched her skin as she walked her last minutes til the Bodecker residence. It was a nice home, recently painted with some nice flowers in the front garden yet there were rumours of Captain Bodecker wanting to move to Brewer Heights. Y/N didn’t know how she’d react if during her morning walks she passed by him, so she counted it only as rumours. Standing in front of the red door, she held the pie in one hand and knocked against it with the other one. She stood there waiting for someone to come in until footsteps made her wake up from her dream-like state and prepare to deal with Jane. However, as the door open, a familiar silhouette had her heart racing. 
    - Y/N, what brings you here? - she watched him dressed in casual clothing, something she barely saw if she had ever seen; jeans and a white t-shirt. 
   - Captain Bodecker ... I ... I was looking for your wife. My grandmother sent this. - she held up the pie in front of her.  - She said Mrs. Bodecker wanted one. 
   - Jane’s ... out. Come in. - he opened the door wider for her but she remained in the same place like a statue. - Come on, it’s too hot out. Don’t want no fainting lass complains on my day off. ‘Sides, don’t you want a slice of pie?
   - I really shouldn’t.
   - You can say no if you want to. No need to be afraid of me, Y/N. - he leaned against the doorframe. - Thank you for the pie, though. 
   - I guess I can stay a bit. - she tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. Lee couldn’t help but shamelessly check her out as she walked inside his home. It was no secret she was a beautiful woman, heck, Lee thought her to be the prettiest little thing to ever arrive into town, with her sunny smile and pretty dresses. This one was no different, lavender which complimented her so well with a little white rope tied around her waist into a bow, like a little present. Nevertheless, he kept it under wraps he was a married man besides every man in town shamelessly harassed her, despite the side eye he gave them.
He watched as the fabric of her dress swung with the movement of her hips. Lee surely didn’t expect such a pretty girl to walk into his home, had he known he would’ve made an effort to fix the mess that was his house. Normally Jane tended to keep that sorted as he usually spent the day and night at work, but with her staying with her mother after their last fight. It wasn’t anything new, she always did that whenever they fought and then would return after Lee made a fool of himself by begging her to return and that he was wrong during the fight. Still, she placed the pie on his kitchen table with a gentleness and posture which mirrored her privileged upbringing. He couldn’t lie and say his mind hadn’t wandered around how she would look when she eventually got married, after all that was the future of all Knockemstiff women. He also couldn’t lie and say he hadn’t wondered how she would look as his wife. She was sweet, with a sharp mind which definitely had not been appreciated in the precinct. Despite this, productivity seemed to raise whenever she called out any officers who had their feet on top of their desks instead of doing paperwork. He still remembered having to always keep an eye on her, were any officers to get too rowdy with her. Yet, she didn’t care and she held herself and believed herself to deserve the same respect as every working man in Knockemstiff. Although he imagined how she would be as a wife, he had to admit he couldn’t see her ever being some Knockemstiff’s man’s wife and with the example from her grandmother, she was surely on the path to be a rebellion starter. 
    - Big fan of apple pie, Y/N?
    - My grandmother refuses to sell the apples so instead I woke up at 6AM and have been baking apple pies nonstop. She says it shows I care. 
     - Never thought you to be found of Knockemstiff residents. 
     - And I am not. - she spoke as if the mere thought of it offended her.  - She said she promised Jane one. 
     - Don’t think Jane will be back for a while. - he leaned against the kitchen door, watching her place the pie onto his kitchen table. - You can take half that pie, if you want.
    - Trust me, I have my share of apple pie at home. - she folded her hands on top of her stomach. - Uhm ... Do you want me to cut you a slice of pie? I normally take mine with a bit of vanilla ice cream on top. It’s gorgeous, the warmth of the pie and the cold of the ice cream. You should try it?
    - You’re just full of ideas, aren’t ya? - he sat on the wooden chair as she sliced the pie to the best of her abilities. - Shouldn’t you be at university, or someth’ng? 
    - Well, grandma had the stroke and she’s not as motile as she used to be. I’ve been taking some classes at Ohio University but it’s not the same, it’s ...
    - It’s not the big city, ain’t it? - he added. 
    - It’s not that I dislike Knockemstiff, Captain ...
    - Yeah you do. - he interrupted her. - Just don’t let the Sheriff hear it. He already ain’t too found of ya. 
    - Nobody in that precinct liked me. - she rolled her eyes. - Well, they did but I did not like them in that way. 
    - I liked ya. Whenever you screamed at Leroy it always made my day. 
    - Leroy’s the most incompetent person I know. All he does is pimp girls out as if he discovered prostitution. I feel sorry for the girls. 
    - He does a good service.
    - Of course you’d know. - she pushed her hair away from her shoulders, feeling the sweat roll down her neck. God it was, too hot. Lee furrowed his brown, laying the fork onto the porcelain plate. She caught his look, brow raising over in a playful, smug kind of way, before she laid her hands on the table. - I’ve seen it before. 
     - You’ve seen it before?
     - Don’t worry, I didn’t see IT, but I saw Jenny get in the car with you just after graduation. I know what she does, she would call me all the time whenever Leroy was being an ass. 
     - Oh ...
     - Don’t worry, I’m not gonna say anything. Everyone in this town cheats, mostly because everyone in this town marries someone just because they think that will save them from Hell. No one is saved if they’re born in Knockemstiff, not even me. 
     - You mean to tell me you’ve done bad things, Y/N? ‘Cause I don’t believe it.
     - I’ve never done it but I’ve thought bad things. All the time. - her gaze lowered from his face to his waist before returning back to his eyes. It was a millisecond gaze, something she herself knew but he didn’t notice, no matter how observant he was. There were no perfect men in Knockemstiff, but in Y/N’s mind he was her perfect man. After all, there are no perfect men anywhere, even Saints sin and then die heroically to get into heaven. Y/N would rather sin than die for people who would’ve had her accidentally killed many times if it weren’t for her grandmother’s name and status in town. What’s the fun in being good? Every time she was good she got yelled at, someone put her hand under her skirt or tried to pin her against a wall. She was good, she would just rather sin so people wouldn’t taint her goodness. It’s a question of self preservation, at least that’s what she told herself. 
    - That doesn’t make you bad. If so there wouldn’t be good people.
    - There are no good people. - she added, ever the negative person she was, something she had inherited from her mother and which everyone who knew her could trace back to. - All people are born so they could be buried. Everything you do ... in a 100 years they won’t remember everything and all that be left of you is your burial site. That’s your legacy. 
    - Such negative views for someone who wants out of Knockemstiff. I thought you’d have a better outlook on things.
    - I’m never getting out of here. - she sighed, almost used to the idea that she was going to stay no matter how long she fought it. - I’m gonna die here. 
    - Dying ain’t so bad. - he leaned against his chair. Y/N smiled at him, looking around his home. It was messy yes but it was still a good home yet that wasn’t what she noticed. Looking out the window, she saw a built in pool. She didn’t remember hearing the Captain had a pool. Sure, he had a the better salary compared to everyone else in town except for the Sheriff, Mayor, and her grandmother. Yet she had never heard of him having a pool, not even she had one. 
    - You have a pool? 
    - Yeah, built it back when Sandy used to come over to wind up from the dinner job. She’s married now so I don’t think she wants a pool at her big brother’s home anymore. 
   - I don’t think anyone in town has a pool. - she rose from her chair and walked to the window in a lavender rush. - It’s gorgeous.
   - You can come over whenever you want, Y/N. 
   - Can I go now? - she looked over her shoulder to him. The idea of being able to swim while the boiling august heat continued to shine down onto the hellish town. Somehow it made sense yet it didn’t. Lee cocked his head to the side, wondering if he’d misheard her words or if she was really considering swimming into his pool. Unwanted feeling stirred south of him and he punished himself mentally for imagining the lavender flower girl in such ways.
    - Well, uh ... you don’t have a swimming costume. - he babbled like a confused, stunned child.
    - I can swim on my undergarments. It’s pretty much a lace embroidered swimming costume. - Lee merely nodded, not knowing exactly what to do but knowing he was flirting with sin, looking at an abysses and seeming not to fear that he was going straight into it. 
Y/N walked from the window up to the kitchen door which led over to the garden. The once white door had withered with time, turning slightly yellowish with rust on the borders, the glass of the small see through windows cracked yet remaining its shape. The door seemed to be a small reminder of what was still wrong in the Captain’s life but she chose not to dwell over it, no to think about it. She felt the cobblestones against her feet covered by an old pair of white ballerina slips as her mirrored image became clear in the crystalline pool water. 
Lee on the other hand watched like a hawk, from the rusted door he’d broken so many bottles of liquor against, as her lavender fabric fell to the dirty cobblestones. The contrast of the prim expensive dress against the cobblestones which had aged as badly as he had done was telling. At least it was telling enough for him and he wondered if this was a gift from God or if the devil was toying with him. The devil is in the details, his mother used to say, yet as she emerged from the water, hands pulling down her hair, he was almost entirely sure the devil was the girl in his pool, the same girl who had worn white dresses until her 18th birthday. Yet again, the devil was once an angel and to him, she was closer to becoming a fallen one than continuing to wear shades of white. 
    - You don’t swim, captain? - she asked as she swam to the border of the pool. 
    - I don’t enjoy doing it. - he stayed glued to the door, a good distance from her to ensure he didn’t get tempted. - You gonna just swim around like a mermaid, huh?
    - It’s better in the water than on the cobblestones, I tell ya. - she dipped into the water once again only to return to the surface, water droplets rolling down from her plump skin. - Come on, captain. You’re gonna leave me swimming by my lonesome? During the hottest day in Knockemstiff?
    - You’re a trouble stirrer. 
    - Maybe I’m just bored. - she smiled at him. He knew she wasn’t tempting him, he knew Y/N. She liked to tease around, she enjoyed the freedoms which she imposed onto herself and as such she was much different from the women he knew. Not that he knew any women outside of Knockemstiff. He’d been born and raised here and all the women he saw from out of Knockemstiff were on his television screen. - Come on, Captain. It’s your pool. 
    - I don’t want you to see my belly.
   - I don’t care, besides, if it’s that bad then come into your clothing. - her arms rested upon the pool border, wondering eyes tempting even the saint of all saints. Lee looked at the cold water reflecting the afternoon sunlight beams, trying to avoid the thoughts that crossed his mind before turning around. He let his jean trousers pool to the ground along with his shoes before entering the water using the ladder. He was almost sure he’d make her laugh if he were to jump into the water. 
The water was cold and dripped from his skin in crystal like drops. Y/N offered him a playful smile, swimming close to him with that wide eye child naughty fun look only she managed to still hold intact. She held her hands slightly back before pushing the water towards him. 
    - You tellin’ me you invited me in for a water fight? - he chuckled at her actions. 
    - Afraid I’ll win?
    - Kid, you’re much too tiny to win against me. 
    - Wanna bet? - she threw water again at him, swimming closer and closer to him before anchoring herself against him, hands on his shoulders. - I bet you as many apple pies as you want. 
    - Yeah, I’m trying not to gain any more weight, kid.
    - You have beautiful eyes, I’ve never noticed. - she made eye contact with him, seeing her own reflection in his light blue eyes. Maybe she’d never notice because the uniform was so dark blue his eyes reflected it like mirrors, yet they were light. - They’re gorgeous. 
    - Trying to make me blush, kid? 
    - Just never noticed. 
    - Well huh ... - he could listen to his heart beating and drumming against his chest along with the soft movement of the water. All his eyes could see was her, her hands holding onto his shoulders and her angelic face looking at him. - Thanks, you have nice eyes too.
    - You can’t take a compliment, Captain. - she teased.
    - I don’t think I’m deserving of any, specially coming from you, kid.
    - What is that supposed to mean?
    - You know what the men say in town. They think you’re the prettiest thing in a skirt to ever pace around here. Pretty sure they’ll kill each other trying to get your favour.
    - My favour? Is that what you think I’m good for?
    - No ... I ... That’s not what I meant. - his face creased. - I’m just telling you what I hear. 
    - You seem to know a lot of gossip about me, captain. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’ve been asking around.
    - What if I have? - Lee watched for the first time her mouth shut close. She didn’t know what to say next, eyebrows furrowed together as she inspected his face, slow blinking. Her eyes left his to look at the water back at him. - Just looking out for you ... not a lot of people like you ‘round town. 
He hands gripped his shoulder as she swam closer to him. Her intention was to hug him thank you. Of course she didn’t expect no one to look out for her, she didn’t care about what a bunch of housewives and hopeless alcoholics thought of her. She knew he didn’t inspire adoration in them other. As she got closed to him, he leaned down, capturing her lips into his. Her hands slide from her shoulders to his chest, almost as if she wanted to be the good one and push him away. He was married after all. However, as his lips moved against hers she found herself incapable of pushing him away, hands relaxing just resting against his chest as she found herself acting on her sinful thoughts for the first time. 
So much for summer love, for saying us, ‘cause you weren’t mine to lose.
taglist: @lookiamtrying​
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arhddhg · 2 years ago
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what made you start shipping Red and Annie? I also ship them lol
I think what made me start shipping them is because I always felt like Red and Annie both needed screen time, they appear a lot with the other girls but they barely get important roles. I feel like this characteristic they both share kind of made me ship them. I get that there are also A LOT of girl characters that don’t get screen time either but for some reason these 2 stand out to me the most. And I’m pretty sure that can possibly go the same for other fans (I always stumble upon drawings of Red and sometimes Annie but I never really find that much art for other background girl characters like Nelly for example).
Ever since South Park doesn’t have a lot of Lesbian reputation (I’m a Lesbian myself) I also thought that.. maybe pairing up these 2 wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I know that I should probably go and watch a show like Steven Universe or something if I want Lesbian reputation but the issue is that I couldn’t really get over South Park as an obsession, I’m too stuck within this show at this point, I just.. can’t leave it? So instead of just leaving this show, I decided to make up a cute little fanon ship between 2 girl characters. I don’t know why I’m trying to seek Lesbian Rep in a satire comedy show, but here I am :’/
I also like the idea of these 2 being.. sort of the opposites of each other? I mean that’s only a fanon interpretation because Red and Annie barely have any personality in the canon product (Red more so however). I have always been into the idea of “Opposites Attracting”. Red just being a caring, badass, intelligent girlfriend while Annie is a cheery and also (SOMETIMES) stupid girlfriend lol :P (I mean, especially in a town they are in, I thought’d she’d already know what a queef is lol). It’s a very cute idea to me hahah.
The last reason to why I ship this is because I wanted to experiment with other ships instead of just continuously drawing Stendy/Creek all over again. I thought trying out some new dynamics and be more open towards different kinds of shipping is great. And it’s great so far. You can even send me requests about your other favorite ships, I’ll be glad to draw them or share my opinion of them!
Extra: someone in the comments section told me that Annie and Red actually have the same close friendship as Bebe and Wendy did (which was apparently mentioned in the SP wiki). So glad to hear that :)
So yeah, those are some of the reasons I started shipping these two, I know some of these reasons seem half-assed because these two barely have any depth as characters and there isn’t so much to dig in between them, but all in all I just think this ship is cute, and I’d like to see more of it one day. Even if that may never happen (considering Revin was canon for some time, which I’m not mad about I love Revin :)
Hope that answered your question!
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falloutjay · 3 years ago
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Eric x careless/troublemaker reader, reader was always a crazy kid, she felt no one really understood her, and her only real friend was Esther Stoley, Annie Knitts and Nicole. But Reader has always admired Eric and never gotten why everyone hated him (she finds both Kyle and Wendy very annoying). One day, she finds him and Butters making their next scheme, and she wants in. After an effective day of pranking, they (well Eric but reader likes Butters's company) take her under their wing. They generally start hanging out and starts to be the 'girl' of the main group (she thinks of Stan, Butters and Kenny has her brothers) and she finds Eric and Kyle's banter hilarious. It gets better (for her at least): she always defends him now (be it irrationally, rationally, verbally or physically) like: Heidi tried to warn Reader about Eric...but the poor girl leaves with a broken nose or Wendy was just upset how someone so awful, could have someone advocate for them and starts to plan to tell her about the breast cancer incident when Bebe would tell that it's Y/n and if anything, what she did to him would just make her stay more, making Wendy stop. She was also a big fan of the Coon and would just gush about how cool he was (she does like Wonder Tweek, Mosquito and Toolshed but she loves Coon the best). Everyone was pretty divsive, some people thought it was funny and teased him on it (like: Craig, Stan and Kenny), some people shipped it (like: Clyde, Butters and weirdly Nicole/Tweek), but some people were afraid of those two becoming a couple (Kyle, Heidi and Wendy). Eric is strangely 'no comment'y about all this until one day, Eric is just about to be turned into the principal when suddenly Reader in a elorate plan, knocks out the witness and pins the blame on someone else. After that's over, Reader can't take it anymore and happily asks him to be her partner/boyfriend and Eric proudly accepts and the two go on to create to create anarchy. May others pray for their safety.
Hey guys! It's me! I'm back! :D
I'm still stressed AF, but after my day was really nice, I felt super motivated to finally continue this lovely prompt, so I did.
I'm currently still in the process of moving and my exams are still not over, but I'm trying!
So I hope I can publish the next request soon and I love all you guys, thank you for all the likes, reblogs, follows and most importantly your patience! <3
____________________________________
Eric Cartman x careless!troublemaker!female!Reader
“Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme Eric?” Butters asked, eyebrow raised as he listened to Erics new pranking plan. “No, it’s not at all, “eXtRemE”.” Eric retorted and shook his head.
They didn’t notice that someone approached them, listening to their plan. “W-well if you say so, I trust you, Eric.” As the fatter one of the two heard a twig snap, his head turned immediately and look at a kid from their class. What was her name again? “Who are you?” Eric asked unimpressed. “Y/N.” She answered dryly.
Butters kept looking between the two, moving his head, whenever someone said something. “What do you want?” “I want in on your plan.” “What makes you think I want someone like you in this? You normally play with the girls.”
“What does that have to do with anything. Just because I hang out with Esther, Annie and Nicole…That changes nothing about the fact that I love what you’re planning here, and I want in.” Eric seemed to think about the proposition for a second.
“Okay. I think I need one more person around here. Butters can barely do one fucking job.” So, he explained the plan to you in big detail. And in your humble opinion, it was brilliant. Once Eric had finished explaining, he looked at you with a sly smile.
“So, what do you think?” You pretended to think for a second, before an evil grin appeared on your face. “Why stop there? We can also pull a prank on the teachers and the school buses if we put in a little more effort.” “Never thought about that one before. I like your way of thinking, Y/N.”
The two looked into each other’s eyes, clearly seeing that mischievous spark in each pair of eyes. Butters watched you in horror, afraid of what he had just now witnessed. “Ohhh hamburgers.”
Y/N became a regular in Stans gang rather fast. Kenny and Stan love her to bits, just like she does. They love hanging out with her and to Kenny she’s like Karen. One thing that Y/N really enjoys is listening to Kyle and Eric's bickering. No matter the topic and no matter how loud or extreme the two get, she just sits there like it’s a cinema and the two are the newest marvel movie. Speaking of superhero movies, South Parks very own heroes are a topic ever so often too. And to Cartman’s delight, his trusted friend loves talking about The Coon. His super-secret hero identity. She would also gush about Wonder Storm, Mosquito and Toolshed but she would always praise The Coon, which is a melody in Cartman’s ears. Another thing Cartman loves about his only female friend is how she loves defending him to anyone. Be it teachers, her fellow girl friends, or anyone else. When Heidi tried to warn her that Eric means bad news, she had to visit the nurse afterwards. Y/N had detention for breaking the poor girl’s nose, but she sure as hell didn’t regret her decision. Even when she was shunned by the girls from there on.
“I just can’t believe her. Maybe she will change her mind when I tell her about the whole Breast cancer thing? You know… It could affect her too, maybe that’s wha-Wendy…” Bebe interrupted her and sighted. “You remember how Heidi was? How every time we said something mean about Cartman, she would only try harder to prove us wrong?” “Of course, I remember. How could I forget.” Wendy mumbled and stabbed her fork through her salad. “If you try to reason with her, she will just hit you with the whole “He isn’t like that”-schtick. You can’t change her mind, okay?” Bebe eyed their classmate who was happily chatting with Eric and Kenny a few tables away. “I guess.” Wendy said defeated and closed her eyes, asking herself how Eric could even make a girl interested in him.
On another table across the cafeteria, Craig and those guys were seated. Oddly enough, their topic was similar. Y/N L/N and Eric Cartman. “I don’t know why but they’d make quite a cute couple you know?” Clyde said with a smile before biting into his burger. “I know, right?” Nicole agreed and to everyone’s surprise, even Tweek nodded along. “I don’t think they’d become a thing though.” Craig mumbled lazily. “Why?” Clyde asked, obviously interested in the gossip.
“Well, Kenny, Stan and I teased him about it in History class, but he keeps saying he doesn’t like her that way.” “Aww, come on Craig, you know very well that he would never admit it just like that. Guys don’t just admit they have a crush. I’m sure he likes her. I mean, she the only one who can stand him for longer than a day.” Nicole commented, a sly smile spread across her face. “I just think the anti-Cartman fraction would rather die than see those two become a thing.” Token commented and his eyes darted across the room, looking at Kyle, Heidi and Wendy. “Well, I guess we will have some funerals to visit sometime soon.” Nicole replied and everyone at their table had to involuntarily smile.
“That’s it. ERIC. To the Principal. Now.” Mister Garrisons voice thundered through the hallways and a confused Y/N closed her locker. She let out a deep sigh, knowing something must have gone wrong with his new plan.
“Guess I gotta bust him out again.”
Knowing the way to the principal by heart she made her way there, only catching a glimpse of the in pink paint and glitter covered Mister Garrison, who kept cursing like crazy.
Y/N happily skipped past the not-occupied secretary desk and took a seat next to Eric. “I already wondered where you are.” Cartman commented unimpressed. “Sorry, I had to look at Garrison for a second. So what went wrong?” “This stupid asshole over there saw me set up the paint bomb in Garrisons locker thing.” The brown-haired whispered and pointed at the kid that was sitting across from them. “Thanks to that asshat, I will probably be suspended for some days or some shit.”
“Okay, I’ll handle it.” The h/c-haired said and got up to go over. She hovered over the boy who was looking up to her. “What?” He asked annoyed. “You’re Jonas Miller, right?” Y/N asked with the sweetest voice she could manage. “Yeah, what makes you care?” He asked, before a fist connected with his face. Surprised by her own strength, he seemed to be dazed and fell onto the other chairs.
“Y/N, what the fuck?” Cartman cried out confused. “Fast, hit me!” She said, not fazed at all. “What? Why?” “God, just do it!” Trusting his mischievous partner Erics fist landed on Y/N pretty face and he even felt a hint of remorse. “Good punch Eric. Now the other side.” Once again, trusting his opposite, he did what was asked. Despite now feeling rather woozy, Y/N grabbed Jonas and laid him down in a different position. She then made Eric kneel next to her and hold her.
“If you ever tell anyone I cried, I will tell everyone about your dirty little secrets, yeah?” Eric nodded, somewhat intimidated, and impressed, watched her do her best to cry heavily.
Hearing the blood-curdling scream, Mister Mackey and the secretary came running, looking at the scene before them. Mister Mackey immediately made sure that everyone was okay, before asking the roughed-up Y/N what happened. With a trembling voice, she answered: “J-Jonas over there did the prank on Mister Garrison and-and tried to pin it on-on Eric. So, I c-came here t-t-to tell everyone t-that Eric was with me t-the whole time. When Jonas n-noticed that, he hit m-m-me and Eric punched him, to-to help me.” The now fully awake again Jonas looked at the girl in horror. “N-No! That’s not the story! I- I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT, M'KAY?!” Mister Mackey interrupted him. “Hitting an innocent girl?! Jonas Miller, you will have to face the consequences!” Y/N still held up her best puppy eyes and Mister Mackey finally turned to the two troublemakers. “Eric, will you bring Y/n to the nurse, please. I will bring Jonas to PC Principal personally, m'kay.” Eric nodded, somewhat petrified, and guided Y/N along the corridors. He felt shocked. He didn’t know why. He never felt this scared before.
Once in the nurse’s office and after Y/N was handed an icepack, she was the first one to speak, once the nurse left them alone.
“You’re so quiet.” She commented dryly. “Thank you.” “For what?” “Getting me out of there. I never- It’s fine, okay? Don’t worry.” Silence fell over the two once more. Y/N just enjoyed the cooling ice on her burning skin and Eric still felt thankful for what she did for him. For him. And no one else. She would have never done this for Kyle. Not for Kenny. She did it for him.
“Hey Eric?” The boy next to her nodded. “You know I wouldn’t have done this for anyone else right?” Eric nodded once more. “Can I ask you for something?” “Of course.”
“You know, I like you a lot. So, would you maybe like to be my boyfriend?”
Bonus:
Eric gave no answer. He just slowly intertwined his fingers with hers and that was answer enough. “Are your cheeks red from blushing or is it from me hitting you?” “Maybe a bit of both.” She laughed and to Eric, it was the most beautiful sound he ever listened to. His girlfriend’s laugh.
Kyle was doing his math homework and started to get annoyed with the harder and harder becoming questions. A vibration ripped him out of his thoughts. He fished for his iPhone without taking his eyes off the paper and unlocked it. The contact read “FATASS” and it was a picture. Kyle's eyes widened in horror as his eyes scanned the picture. It was a picture of a list with dozens of prank ideas. The caption was what truly terrified him. “Me and my GIRLFRIEND brainstormed a bit, hope you’re ready Kahl <3”
Kyle felt like crying. Not only because of his math homework but also because his worst nightmare became a reality. Cartman has a Girlfriend. And it was no other than the infamous Y/N L/N.
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leupagus · 4 years ago
Text
“Police Response Slowed. The Community Stepped In.”
X
In Minneapolis this summer, 911 response times increased as officers left the force. Instead of asking for more police, some residents reimagined public safety for themselves.
By Sarah Holder, Rachael Dottle, and Marie Patino, 
October 30, 2020, 11:14 AM EDT; Updated on October 30, 2020, 1:17 PM EDT                                       
Every night for the past several months, pairs of bicyclists in high-visibility vests fanned across Minneapolis’s Powderhorn neighborhood after sunset, and stayed out until 2 or 3 in the morning. They were there to keep watch over the neighborhood, but they don’t have any affiliation with the police or city government. Instead they’re residents of the community, there to de-escalate or monitor incidents they hear about by scanning their social media and group chats.
The team, which calls itself the Powderhorn Safety Collective, is one of a handful of ad hoc community safety groups that have emerged in the city’s south side after a police officer killed George Floyd in May. They’re taking an unconventional approach to answering the question echoing in cities across the country: What would a community that was less reliant on police look like?
Minneapolis City Council members started asking that question in earnest this June, pledging to dismantle the existing police department and start from the ground up. Activists, reformers and abolitionists have been exploring the path to a police-free future for decades. But in the Ninth Ward, says Pouya Najmaie, an environmental lobbyist and a founding member of the Powderhorn Safety Collective, creating an alternative to traditional law enforcement wasn’t a thought experiment. It was a necessity.
For many Black and brown Minneapolitans, calling 911 had never been an impulse, and watching Floyd die under the knee of an Minneapolis Police Department officer further eroded trust in the institution. This summer, however, residents also observed that even for those who did call 911, the police were responding more slowly. In some cases, it seemed they might not be responding at all. “People are very distrustful that [police] can actually do their job, and they're just not doing their job,” said Oluchi Omeoga, an organizer with Minnesota’s Black Visions Collective, a queer-led group that’s become a leading voice in the movement to remake policing in Minneapolis. “It's both, and.” A Bloomberg CityLab analysis puts numbers to that emerging dynamic. In June, the average time it took for the police to assign a unit to 911 calls — the first step to dispatching officers — had slowed by 88% across all five precincts compared to the average from 2019 to early 2020. By August, it was still about 40% slower than before May. A previous CityLab report found that traffic stops were down 80% from the period before May 25, the day of George Floyd’s death. Not all these trends appear destined to stick. As protests die down, the colder winter months arrive, and the calls to disband the police department soften, response times have begun recalibrating back to pre-May levels. But the department may end the year with at least one longer-term change in resources: There are about 130 fewer officers than there were a year ago, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo told MPR News. Many of them are retiring early, and more are likely in the process of leaving; hundreds have reportedly applied for medical leave, citing post-traumatic stress disorder. An MPD spokesperson said there were 830 sworn officers as of Oct. 15, but didn’t respond to any other requests for comment. Locals have debated any number of reasons why such a slowdown in 911 response time might be happening, from an act of political retaliation in the face of scrutiny, to a reflection of depleted morale, to the aforementioned lack of personnel. Whatever the reasons, with rates for some violent crimes spiking in the city amid economic devastation from Covid-19, the trend illuminates another dimension of police accountability: Just as over-policing can have disproportionate adverse consequences for Black people, the impacts of withholding police response from communities can be harmful, too. “Despite our name, we have always considered lack of police service to be the flip side of police brutality, and sometimes just as damaging,” says Dave Bicking, an organizer with Minneapolis’s Communities United Against Police Brutality.
A Minneapolis Star-Tribune analysis of rising crime rates found that while the trend has been observed citywide, “in terms of raw numbers, the increase in violence that intensified after the unrest over the police killing of George Floyd is exacting a heavier toll on neighborhoods already suffering the effects of trauma, poverty and lack of access to adequate health care.” Slowed response times have happened before; so have crime spikes that disproportionately affect already-burdened neighborhoods. What’s different this year, in this city, is how the community and the reform-minded council have reacted to the reports of insufficient police service. The mayor has released a proposal for next year’s budget ahead of a December vote, and demands to substantially reduce funding for the department are not reflected. Several members of the city council have walked back earlier sweeping pledges to disband the department. But as calls grow to divert some non-violent incidents from the police to crisis intervention teams or mental health responders, the department’s disengagement has also been taken as more evidence that the public safety models that exist aren’t working — and as motivation to create new ones, faster. “Previously, I would get really angry calls that say, hey, why aren't you funding the police more?” said Steve Fletcher, a Minneapolis Council member who represents the city’s Third Ward and has proposed reforms unpopular with the police department in the past. “And now the calls I'm getting are much more reflective of the moment we’re in, I think, where they’re saying: ‘What are we paying them for at all? They’re saying they can’t help, they’re saying they don’t have a strategy. Why the hell do we have them?’”
For some residents, the city’s response hasn’t been fast enough. And they’re starting to fill what they see as a void on their own.
‘The phones could ring forever’
In January, before the pandemic threw a wrench in daily activities, Minneapolis police would take an average of 23 minutes to arrive at the scene after responding to the average 911 call. Priority 1 calls, which concern the most urgent issues — shots fired, threats to life or assaults, along with suspicious vehicles or domestic disturbances — took the shortest, at 10 minutes, and Priority 3 calls, like parking problems, road hazards, loud music and thefts reported after the fact took the longest on average, at 40 minutes.
On May 25, it took one minute for the call about Floyd’s alleged forged bill to be assigned to a unit, and four minutes for the officers to arrive at the scene. After that day, police started taking a lot longer to arrive when called.
CityLab data shows that average response times this summer went up about 40% from January to more than 14 minutes for the most urgent calls, Priority 1. They also went up 43% for Priority 2, and 28%, to about a 51-minute response time, for Priority 3.
This slowdown was especially apparent in the city’s 3rd Precinct, where Floyd was killed.
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Source: Minneapolis Police Department
During the same period, the volume of 911 calls has risen only marginally, and doesn’t match the spike in response times Minneapolis saw in June and July. That suggests that the police were not experiencing an increase in demand for their services commensurate to their more sluggish response. Aside from volumes of calls, there were other factors: The precinct's headquarters, which serves several wards including 8 and 9, was burned down completely and relocated to a downtown convention center farther away from the neighborhoods it was meant to serve. With potentially hundreds of fewer officers and a frayed relationship with citizens, the department was under greater strain.
“They’re getting worn out. They’ve been working non-stop with limited resources,” Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll told the Minnesota Reformer this summer.
“My own sense is that this isn’t retaliation as much as it is just everybody’s humanity in this moment,” said council member Linea Palmisano, who represents Ward 13, the southwest corner of Minneapolis. She’s advocated for more mental health support and coaching for police officers who she says have experienced trauma. As the head of the city’s budget committee, Palmisano will also have a say in department funding this winter and has said that more resources, not fewer, will be needed for reform.
Some say changed policing in the zone was intentional. Reports from residents and local news have described the area around the Floyd memorial as a “no-go zone,” where police appear to be unwilling to engage — and unwelcome by many residents.
Especially in cases of enforcing minor infractions, “not every decision to not engage in something is a bad decision,” said council member Fletcher. But even in dangerous instances, residents say something changed.
“In the period directly after George Floyd was killed, during the uprising, the service from 911 was essentially nonexistent,” said Bicking. “People had the feeling that everybody must have just gone home. The phones could ring forever, you could call 20 times and never get an answer.”
‘No Man’s Land’
Minneapolis’s Eighth and Ninth Wards have been ground zero for the city’s season of change. Their border is marked by the corner of 38th and Chicago, where a clerk working at a store called in a forged $20 bill, and where then-Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on May 25. Now a memorial to Floyd, the intersection draws visitors from across the city and country, who come to pay tribute to his memory.
Over the summer, the area felt like “a disaster zone,” said Alondra Cano, the city council member who represents the Ninth Ward. Lake Street, a thoroughfare that bisects the district, was overtaken by peaceful protesters marching for Black lives, but also by fire and chaos. New reporting from the Minneapolis Star Tribune indicates that some of the destruction was caused by far-right agitators, like the Boogaloo Boys. Residents felt abandoned. “There weren't any firefighters that were readily available. And there weren't any police that were readily available,” said Cano. “A lot of residents took it upon themselves to put out fires and to engage with folks who might be doing some harm out on the street.”
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Members of Agape in downtown Minneapolis, after they were called to help respond to looting. Steve Floyd
It was out of that “no-man’s land” that five resident-led safety groups were born, she said, each covering different Ninth Ward neighborhoods, none of them officially designated by the city. In the months following the height of the protests, the groups got more organized and centralized. There’s the Little Earth Protectors, a group of American Indians who patrol the neighborhood around their federally-subsidized housing complex in the East Phillips neighborhood, and the Rock Steady Alliance, which Najmaie describes as a citywide coalition of racial justice activists and harm reduction workers who emerged to provide aid at protests. Agape, a group of 25 to 30 men, many of whom are former gang members, post up near the George Floyd memorial and respond to issues in the 40-block radius around it; they sometimes combine efforts with the Brown Berets, a group of Hispanic and Latino residents. The Powderhorn Safety Collective is run by a loose group of neighbors living in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood, a diverse but majority-white enclave historically home to leftists, artists and working class folks. They patrol the Powderhorn neighborhood by bike and on foot.
The demographics, tactics and territories of each collective vary, but a shared mission appears to unite them: to take elements of public safety out of the hands of the police, and into the hands of the community.
The Powderhorn neighborhood was profiled in the New York Times in June for its residents’ pledge to “check their privilege” after Floyd��s killing. Part of their reckoning was choosing not to call 911 for incidents large and small, out of a fear that the police would inflict more violence on the communities they pledged to protect. When unhoused residents started building a tent encampment down the street, the community resisted the city’s initial push to evict them, instead assigning volunteers to offer food, support and security. Later, when several volunteers pulled out of the area, Najmaie and a few other neighbors decided to start informal patrols that became the Safety Collective, to “make the housed people feel safe, so that they will hopefully not be calling 911 on the unhoused,” he said. (At the end of July, the city removed the encampment.)
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The homeless encampment at Powderhorn Park in July, which was later cleared by the city. Photographer: Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Since they started patrolling in July, Powderhorn volunteers receive reports of incidents through the app Discord, where their neighborhood group chat has had between 1,000 and 1,300 active members. They also proactively monitor activity through the Citizen app, which culls 911 logs for geo-located crimes-in-action, and another older-fashioned tool: the police scanner. Often, what they’re responding to is the sound of gunshots. Their intervention is “full-service,” Najmaie says: they arrive at the scene of the incident, assist in whatever way they can, and report back with updates.
Agape, another one of the patrol groups, formed after young men who lived near 38th and Chicago observed what they saw as opportunistic vendors and gang violence take over the George Floyd memorial, says Steve Floyd, who’s lived in the area for 40 years and acts as an adviser to Agape. “What happened when George Floyd was killed, it made them change their lives and find a different direction,” says Steve Floyd. The group members put up barricades, and started a security patrol.
They aim to “let people understand that we have to protect our own community even if police are not going to be here,” says Floyd, “and then how it would look if we didn’t have police.”
The group has gone through several trainings on mental health, mediation and de-escalation training, and by now they’ve become a visible presence in the neighborhood, there to break up assaults and relieve tension on the street. “A lot of us don’t wear bulletproof vests, and so it just has to depend on the situation,” said Floyd. “Most of the time we can intervene with our voice.”
The groups often work together. For altercations that Powderhorn residents feel unequipped to handle, they seek out other groups like Agape for reinforcement. But even for incidents when neighbors might want to call 911, Najmaie says it hasn’t always felt like a viable option. “During the uprisings, you probably had a 30% chance to 20% chance of any kind of police answering to anything,” said Najmaie. “By mid-summer, it was up to a 50% to 60% chance, if I was to guess, and then slowly rising. Now, we're at a much higher percent chance.”
Because the Powderhorn Safety Collective is embedded within the community, the collective will often show up before police squad cars do, Najmaie says. “Other times when they do show up, what we've noticed is a very quick drive by and if you're lucky, you'll get a searchlight,” he said. “And then that's it.”
A New Playbook
Fletcher believes that some individual officers have actually exaggerated the impression among residents that police are unresponsive. “I have a lot of instances of officers telling businesses, telling residents, ‘I don’t know if we’d be able to get to you if you called and something happened,’” Fletcher said. “That kind of building cynicism and building doubt and building fear has a political impact.”   The MPD did not respond to requests for comment on this allegation.
The time it takes for the police to answer Priority 1 calls did not slow as much as the total average did this summer, indicating that the most urgent calls continued to be answered in a timely fashion. This could be partially thanks to actions by the police department to recalibrate its work: After complaints, the department has triaged its depleted number of officers to prioritize answering 911 calls and pursue investigations of serious incidents.
“In these very challenging times of COVID, budget cuts and retirements, the MPD continues to evaluate and reallocate the resources that we currently have to best serve the City of Minneapolis, focusing on the core responsibilities of a police department; responding to 911 calls and investigations,” the MPD told CBS Minnesota in a statement.  
Using fears about unanswered 911 calls as a justification for increasing police resources has been a familiar playbook in Minneapolis in the lead-up to budget processes, said Fletcher and Bicking, the community activist. “It works to the advantage of the police department, as propaganda: you need us, and there aren't enough of us,” said Bicking. In fact, it’s a familiar playbook in many American cities.
This time, it’s not having the same effect as it used to in Minneapolis, says Fletcher.
“The answer used to be we need 200 more cops and now people are like, we need a whole new division that handles this a different way that’s a non-police approach, if policing is not solving the problem,” he said. “That’s a really important political shift and it’s a potentially really generative moment, because I think people are thinking more critically than they have.”
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Andrea Jenkins, vice president of the Minneapolis City Council, during a meeting in which council members declared they would disband the police. Rhetoric on that plan has softened since. Photographer: Star Tribune via Getty Images/Star Tribune
The mayor’s proposed budget includes a suggested $2.5 million in funding for alternative violence prevention programs, and a 7.4% cut to the police — far smaller than proposed cuts to other departments. Many of the city council members who once vowed to abolish the police have since clarified that they’ll focus on systemic reforms — though not all of them agree on what those should look like.
But there are signs that the community safety monitors and the city's efforts may start to converge as both groups explore what future policing might look like.
As of September, there’s yet another group of community members patrolling some of the same neighborhoods in South Minneapolis, but these individuals are paid by a new city “violence interrupter” program with $1.1 million in funding. Participants and leadership in the Office of Violence Prevention program are clear that they do not want to replace police, but instead focus on long-term relationship building. In many cases, they use their community connections to try to defuse tensions before they turn violent.
“We don't want to wait for it to get worse to address it, when we can see the writing on the wall,” said Sasha Cotton, the director of the Office of Violence Prevention, referring to concerns about gun violence. Agape recently started conducting regular nighttime patrols alongside the violence interrupters.
At a meeting with the Office of Violence Prevention and city council members, several of the community safety groups gathered to discuss how they could support each other, and whether they could receive city resources to buy tools like walkie talkies. Cano has given Agape members access to an office on 37th and Chicago, which they use as a “safe house and hotspot,” says Floyd. Cotton, of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention, says “there’s more than enough work” to keep both city and civilian efforts busy so long as gun violence remains a top concern.
Still, there’s debate about whether the community groups that coalesced in the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s death are sustainable in their current form. “Nobody’s getting paid, there’s not a lot of structure, accountability,” said Fletcher. In one indication of potential safety risks, Cano said a member of the Little Earth Collective had been shot while out on patrol, bringing up questions of liability and insurance. (The group was not available for an interview before publication.)
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Kaitlin Wolfgram-Gunderson of the Powderhorn Collective hangs signs in the neighborhood about a meeting to seek community feedback on the group’s model. Photographer: Emilie Richardson/Bloomberg
In the Powderhorn neighborhood, Najmaie says that even as the upheaval of the summer dissipates, and the group stops its nightly patrols for the coldest winter months, he wants the collective to live on. They’re readying for Election Day and night, and for potential protests in the lead-up to Inauguration Day. There’s a trial for Derek Chauvin coming up next year. Unrest aside, the mission statement of the Powderhorn Collective describes its end goal as something broader than safety or security: "strengthening the social fabric of the neighborhood."
“People need to be involved in their communities,” said Najmaie. “People need to feel like they have a stake in things, and that they can change things.”
   (Corrects the date of Floyd’s death in paragraph 16. )
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ultimatebethylficlist · 3 years ago
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Veteran Author of The Month: June 2021
The featured veteran author for June is also a co-admin right here at UBFL: SquishyCool (or @im-immortal )!
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SquishyCool can be found on AO3 and FFN under the same penname.
When asked what got her into Bethyl and what the fandom means to her, she said:
I’ve been a hardcore TWD fan since the show began airing, but that’s because of my love for zombies. In all honesty, I didn’t really ship anyone for the first 3-4 seasons. I kind of shipped Daryl with Carol, but then it became clear that it was a platonic relationship and in all honesty, I just wanted to see them both get some action lmao. Then the prison fell... and in those first moments of “Still,” when we see Beth and Daryl running and running and finally collapsing on the ground, breathless and exhausted... the butterflies started. Something clicked and I immediately thought, “uh oh.” The rest is history, especially considering how “Still” and “Alone” played out. I can’t explain how or why I’m still so heavily invested, especially considering my last 2 fandoms only kept my attention for about 2-3 years each, but here I am. And I love it! I am so incredibly grateful for the Bethyl fandom because not only has it helped me improve my writing so much more than I ever could have imagined, but it has also introduced me to some of the most amazing people, including someone who I now consider one of my very best friends! It’s my happy place :)
For her personal fic rec list, she recommends:
In The Maw by ronsparkyspeirs
Way Down We Go by LeathernLaces
Surfacing by lindentree
Wild Things (The Moonshine Poet) by Abelina
The Gift by Feliz
The Man Who Can't Be Moved by burningupasun
New Experiences Series by wallflow3r
Whisper Softly to Me by taylorcatherine
Interstice by leftmywingshome
To Love Like a Man by Seraphique
Death, Death (i defy thee) by alamorn
In My Blood by Courtneyshortney82
Let the Good Times Roll by gutsforgarters
Resolved by Allatariel
the weight of these wings by peachthorns
all my spaces are filled with you by annabeth_writes
A Little Jailbreak with the Little Jailbait by wandering_gypsy_feet
between the beginning and the end by sheriffandsteel
SquishyCool’s Works & Personal Thoughts:
Dirty Fingernails and Dried Blood Summary: What happened during the months between "Still" and "Alone"? Beth uses the last pages of her diary to write down every detail of surviving with Daryl. Thoughts: My first Bethyl fanfic. It holds a special place in my heart for that reason, though it is pretty rough. If I could go back, I never would’ve done it entirely in first-person. But I do plan to finish it one day. There are some scenes I’m particularly proud of, and I still have a long note full of ideas and plot points.
Most Wanted Summary: After Beth’s mother and half-brother are murdered in a drug war, the godly veil on the Greene Family operation is lifted, and law enforcement comes down hard. In an effort to protect her family, Beth commits a heinous crime that could mean life in prison alongside them. Now everyone she’s ever trusted is in police custody and her only chance at freedom is to get as far away from Atlanta as she can... Thoughts: Well, this is a must-read if you like my writing. I hope to one day convert this into an original fiction and maybe get it published, but I need to finish it first LOL. I got the idea from ONE scene of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and from there, it exploded into a huge mystery thriller (with lots of romance and smut). I’m really really proud of it, and I’m scared I’ll fuck it up tbh, so I keep putting off continuing it. But I really need to get back to it because I really want people to see what I have planned! (Also, this fic is the reason @courtneyshortney82​ started talking to me, so that alone is pretty historic lmao)
The Crow’s Song Summary: Beth and Daryl spend a few more days together in the funeral home and come to terms with all they've lost along the way. But soon, they must decide what comes next. Thoughts: This fic... this fucking fic. It took me a full year to write. I made numerous edits. I even got a little depressed while I was writing the last two chapters, and my bf didn’t know why until he read what I’d been writing lol. It’s honestly the Bethyl fic I’ve always wanted to write but just didn’t know how. I’m still really really proud of how it turned out.
Carnival Games Summary: Daryl is a traveling carnival worker and Beth is a barely legal farmer's daughter looking for a night of fun when the carnival comes to town. Thoughts: Omg this fic is so fun!! One of my first Bethyl fics, and one of my first Bethyl smut fics. Short, sweet, a little funny, and a lot hot. I am still impressed with myself on this one, especially considering how much my writing has improved since lol
Breathe. Please. Summary: Beth shows up at the Hilltop. Alive. Daryl can hardly believe his eyes. Until she's lying in his bed, an arm's reach away. And he can hear her inhaling... exhaling... inhaling... Thoughts: Another “fix-it” that I’m proud of. Tbh I didn’t think it was anything all that special, but a lot of readers have said it’s one of their favorites, and some say they reread it regularly, and nothing makes me happier than hearing that, so I am extremely proud.
picking @ scabs Summary: Sometimes, no matter how much you love someone, being with them just isn't right. But what wouldn't you give for it to be right? Can someone like Daryl learn how to swallow his pride and stop repeating the same mistakes over and over? Can someone like Beth learn to fight off her demons and allow him to get close enough to hurt her again? How can they stay away from each other when it's all too easy to fall back into one another? Picking a scab will leave a scar, but they both have so many scars already... what's a few more? Thoughts: This fic is very, very personal for me. It’s like my “therapy” fic. I have poured some of my deepest feelings and struggles into its chapters, and the whole idea that got me to start it was that I wanted to find a way to navigate and cope with ending my 3-year long relationship with my emotionally/mentally/sometimes physically abusive ex. I still have a lot of fond memories from that relationship, but even more so, I have painful memories. Not to mention, going through your early 20s as a woman in the modern day is a fuckin’ trip, so this kind of explores that. It’s really self-indulgent, I think, but I’m really proud of the smut in it. And more than that, I’m proud of the response. I’ve had a few people message me or comment to say that they’ve felt all those things, or have experienced similar things, and it’s really just... relieving. I put my heart and soul out there, and what I got back was “you’re not alone.” So yeah, this fic is special. I wanna finish it soon, but I have to be in A Mood to do so. 
In Toto Corde Summary: Despite a million reasons not to, Beth and Daryl fell in love. Then he made the ultimate sacrifice in order to keep all of his promises. Now, facing unimaginable consequences at the hands of witch hunters, Beth has no choice but to use her powers to bring Daryl back from the dead. "He won't be the same..." Thoughts: I LOVE THIS FIC. I love it so much that I had to rewrite it after like 4 or 5 years. And I already started on a sequel that I really hope I’m able to finish. Though it doesn’t have many hits, and I don’t think many people have read it at all, which I understand since it basically is entirely focused around Daryl being killed. But damn, I’m proud of this one, and it was really fucking fun to write because witch!Beth is just... the best.
risk it all (part 1 of in for a penny, in for a pound) Summary: Daryl Dixon has a pretty decent life, all things considered. He's got his own place. A good dog. A few friends. Even a girlfriend. He keeps himself out of trouble. Until he starts texting Beth Greene. And hell, if he ain't about to risk it all for this damn girl. Thoughts: This was supposed to be one short multichapter fic focused entirely on smut and social media. Then I got on a roll and it ended up being the beginning of a series! This fic is purely fun. Nothing too serious or heavy. I write it when I’m in a Good Mood because it’s my little happy place. I have plans for about 4 more fics before the series will be finished!
Don’t Make Me Haunt You Summary: So here's the thing: Merle Dixon is dead as fuck. And as it turns out, Beth Greene is the only one who can see or hear him. Which is weird considering she's never met or even heard of this guy, let alone anyone with the last name Dixon. That's her first problem... Thoughts: The reception to this fic has absolutely blown me away. I had no idea anyone would want to read about ghost!Merle haunting Beth and forcing her to solve his murder with the help of his grumpy brother. And it was all inspired by an episode of South Park lmao then I started really getting into it and now it’s just like, my super fun fic where I explore a range of emotions and all kinds of religious beliefs and different mythologies and I can build the world however I want and goddamn I just love writing this fic. Plus there’s a podfic for it! I can’t even begin to explain how much I love this fic and how proud I am of it :)
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brightmiraii · 3 years ago
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NCT 24th member || Harumi
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FACE CLAIM: Remi (Cherry Bullet)
DANCE CLAIM: Lee Chaeyeon (ex IZ*ONE)
VOICE CLAIM: Jo Yuri (ex IZ*ONE)
STAGE NAME: Harumi (하루미)
BIRTH NAME: Miya Harumi (宮晴美) 晴 (Haru) - bright 美 (Mi) - beauty
KOREAN NAME: Moon Myeong Hee (문명희)
ENGLISH NAME: Ellie Miya
CHINESE NAME: Gōng Qíngměi (宫晴美)/Wen Ming Xi (文明熙)
NICKNAMES: Haru, Brainnie, Xiao Měi, Bright Myeong, Rumi-hime (princess Rumi)
BIRTH DATE: November 25th, 2000
PLACE OF BIRTH: Madison, Wisconsin, USA
ETHNIC: Japanese
NATIONALITY: Japanese, American
EDUCATION: unknown elementary school in Madison, unknown elementary and middle school in New York, unknown middle school in Seoul, Seoul School of Performing Arts - practical dance (2016-2019)
ZODIAC SIGN: Sagittarius
MBTI: ENFJ-T
EYE COLOUR: Black
HEIGHT: 163cm
WEIGHT: 45kg
BLOOD TYPE: O
POSITION: main vocal, lead dancer
UNIT: NCT DREAM, NCT 127 (Limitless - now), NCT U (Timeless), NCT U (Make A Wish)
TRAINING PERIOD: 2 years (2014-2016)
LANGUAGES: Japanese and English (native language), Chinese and Korean (proficiency obtained), German (learning)
FAMILY: Miya Hayao (father, deceased), Miya Yoshiko (mother, deceased), Moon Seungyeon (adoptive father), Moon Bom (adoptive mother), Jianyu (adoptive cousin)
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B A C K S T O R Y
Harumi was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Daughter of a young Japanese couple that moved to USA to start a new life, Miya Hayao and Miya Yoshiko
Since her father was an Algebra teacher in an middle school near their house and her mother was a Japanese teacher in a local language school, Harumi grew up highly influenced by knowledge and curiosity
Unfortunately, at the age of 6, Harumi and her parents were involved in a car accident, resulting in their death at the spot. Luckily Harumi survived, despite heavily injured
She was transferred to an orphanage in New York, where she could afford a better treatment to her injuries and social assistance with her double nationality
Harumi was the eldest child in the orphanage and the least interviewed kid for possible adoptions, because of her age. Because of that, she matured quickier and learned how to mask disappointment
She decided to learn by herself Chinese and Korean - in an attempt to increase her chances of being adopted, even if through an international adoption
Four years later, when she was 10, Moon Seungyeon and Moon Bom adopted her and brought her to South Korea
Harumi got casted during a Sunday outing she had with her family. A scout heard her singing and playing guitar and decided to invite her for an audition
Seungyeon, Bom and Jianyu (her cousin) convinced her to try for it and, eventually, join SM as a trainee
A couple of months after she began a trainee, SM introduced her as one of the SMRookies, participating in shows such as "Mickey Mouse Club"
Debuted in August in NCT DREAM, charming the fans with her powerful and husky voice
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P E R S O N A L I T Y
Harumi is perceived as a sweet extrovert, always polite and warm towards anyone who approaches her. Though her soft looks and voice could mistake her as a shy girl, she is a truly happy virus
Her energy changes according to her surroundings. Whenever she’s with more playful members, she’s joking around and making a mess. However, with the calmer members, she can blend with them very well
Since she was the eldest in the orphanage, Harumi usually takes care of everyone around her, including the older members. She makes sure all the members are comfortable, healthy and happy
Extremely independent, struggles on relying on other people - which gives constant headaches to the older members
Keeps all negative comments and feelings to herself, not wanting to burden anyone
Has a hard time saying “no” to people, that being one of her biggest weakness
Constantly looks for improvement and new knowledge, so she's either learning a new dance style, an instrument or improving her producing skills
Because of years of rejection, Harumi is extremely self-conscious about herself as an individual
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F U N F A C T S
Harumi learned Korean and Chinese through grammar books she found in a library. Because she was really young, the girl often reached out to the employees to explain some topics (what was a verb, noun, for example)
An volunteer in the orphanage taught Harumi how to play guitar and, eventually, gifted her his old one
Every Saturday afternoon, the orphanage headmistress would take the kids to Central Park. Harumi started to sing and play guitar there just for fun, but people started to spare her a dollar or two
In her audition, Harumi sang "Growl", from EXO, an acoustic version that fit perfectly her huskier tone
Seungyeon and Bom gave Harumi her Korean name, but let her decide whether she would use it or keep her given name (Harumi actually cried when they let her keep "Miya Harumi")
She surprised all the trainees with her almost perfect Korean, especially after introducing herself with her Japanese name. They were even more shocked when they discovered she knew as well English and Chinese
Contrary to all the Dreamies, Harumi did not drop out of school, juggling her student and idol life. All the members were worried about her health, but when they discovered the reason why Harumi was so adamant to keep studying, they did everything they could to help her
In 2017, Harumi got Korean and Chinese proficiency through the official test, formalizing her fluency in both languages. Because of that, fans gave her the nickname Brainnie
Before joining NCT, Harumi focused her vocals on acoustic versions and ballads. She was often told that her tone didn't match girl groups
Because of the car accident, Harumi has a long scar from her sternum to her bellybutton. Only in Ridin' era she felt comfortable enough to wear crop tops that showed a bit of it
Following the trend of peculiar dislike of foods in NCT, Harumi doesn't like nuts. She's actually heavily allergic, needing to have an epinephrine shot with her whenever she goes out to eat
The part she loved the most during her trainee period was dance classes, Harumi had so much fun and created a soft spot for it
Harumi despises winter the most, snowy days are the worst for her, because remind her of the car accident
Loves all Disney movies, even the underrated ones
Harumi's a quick learner, but feels extremely burnt out and unsatisfied, dropping one or another activity every once in a while (she usually tries again, because she hates the fact she gave up on something)
Her official emoji is ✨, because of the meaning behind the kanji of her name (Haru). Her introduction during her debut days was “Hello, I’m sparkling Harumi!”
One of her favorite hobbies is re-recording songs. She would record all the instruments, getting all notes by hearing and - finally - get the vocals done
Likes affection, but hates aegyo
Her favorite color is yellow
Maintains Dream’s dorms up (she does do cook, she does the cleaning to the point the others scold her for doing all by herself)
Her lives are mostly songs recommendations, guitar sessions and whenever she’s at practice room, she does a few covers
She’s a huge fan of BoA, EXO, SHINee and MAMAMOO
In 2019, Harumi became an official MC at Music Core alongside SF9 Chani
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newcaptainofsquad9 · 4 years ago
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I Can’t Handle You Being Back~Chou Tzuyu x black! fem! reader {1}
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Pairing: Tzuyu x reader
Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 
Summary: Five years after your elimination from Sixteen, you remained in the United States, working on music, writing songs, dancing here, and there. All of the memories and incidents from the reality show still burns in your memory, you all but let them go until you get a familiar call from the man who sought out your talents in the first place, Jinyoung Park. The man had an offer you should have refused, but you longed to see your friends again.
  Genre: Angst, Idol-Verse, Romance, Slow Burn (not too slow), Hurt and Comfort, Best Friends to Lovers
Warnings: The reader is a Black woman and there will be parts when she has to deal with racist and close minded people(aka fans, netizens and others). If ya’ll read my Yoongi story, or unfinished Suho story, it’ll be a little bit like that.
  Word Count: 1, 831
Writer’s Note: More Twice fics are coming! Along with a masterlist of all my K-pop fanfictions! It’ll take a minute but it will be here and pinned on my blog so you guys can access it. Also! I want to point out that this is fictional and fictional depictions of idols and figures, just wanted to put that disclaimer. Here is another fic that will take me forever to finish like my others but regardless of that, I hope ya’ll enjoy!
I never thought I’d set foot in South Korea again, let alone JYPE’s building. The long, stress-inducing ride up the elevator didn’t ease me as I inhaled and exhaled through it. 
“You didn’t have to take this meeting,” Brittany, my assistant said. “We can just site see here in Korea, you need the break anyway.” 
I caught Brittany’s smile as she moved to put a hand on my shoulder. 
“I know being back here, it’s got to be tough,” she said. 
I nodded, yet she doesn’t know the half of it. Being a military kid had some perks: at childhood I couldn’t stop dancing, and at seventeen, people other than my parents began to notice. Those people being K-Pop scouts. They didn’t only come from JYPE, but other companies as well, although the smaller ones didn’t grant the biggest opportunity. 
JYPE was fond of my dance moves, and the man himself, Jinyoung Park promised a shimmering future. Most of the promises fell short: I didn’t get to train for very long (only a few months) before I was thrust upon the spotlight and cameras in the survival show, Sixteen. I wanted to be a star; JYP wanted a laughing stock, a black woman for views and to show his trainees how to accomplish, “ethnic hip.” I tried my best to be as creative as possible, to last with the competition, but it didn’t please JYP. Nothing I did could please him, I wasn’t the standard. I didn’t even come close. So I left, I played a game that many foreigners couldn’t win, let alone a Black woman. 
The elevator dinged as it opened, breaking me out of my mind. 
“We can turn around right now,” Brittany said. “Your call.”
I shook my head. 
“No, let’s just here what he has to say,” I said. “He did pay for our flight and all.” 
“Yeah, but that will never take back what he and that staff put you through,” she said. 
I smile as Brittany put a hand on my shoulder. Her worrying along with me solidifies this; my nerves are warranted. 
“I know, but maybe it’s just the old spirit from back then,” I said. “As if I have a chance to prove myself again.”
I don’t have to though. I told myself over and over again that I don’t. Yet, why am I here? What’s so important that couldn’t be discussed further over phone or video call?
“Ms. Y/L/N?”
My head jerked up once we stepped out of the elevator. A woman with a Bob and suit gave us both a grin.
“Mr. Park’s office is this way,” she said, leading us down the hall. 
As we pass, people murmured and stared. My name was even mentioned underneath breaths and gasps; I nod at them and only bow halfway as we pass. 
We stop at a door, the woman opened it for us and stepped aside. 
“Thank you,” I said.
Once inside JYP’s office, the dread returned. Just seeing Jinyoung Park slumped against his chair brought back more of the horrid memories. Brittany took my hand, forcing me to take a breath as Jinyoung rose. 
“Y/N! I’m so glad you could make it!” he said.
He threw his signature grin on, as he held out his hand. I took it. We shook hands before bowing respectfully.  
“You look well,” he said. “I’m glad to finally see you again.”
“Thank you Mr. Park.”
Jinyoung chuckled and gestured to the seat adjacent to his armchair. 
“Please, sit,” he suggested, he turned to Brittany. “You could take my chair if you’d like.”
I successfully didn’t shiver at how nice he was being, yet Brittany couldn’t: she twitched a bit, but hid it well with a quick grin. 
“Thank you,” she said as she plopped down. 
I leaned back, crossed my legs and got down to business. 
“Why’d you fly me out here, Mr. Park?”
Jinyoung chuckled. 
“Well, I’ve been keeping up with your progress as an artist and well, I’m extremely proud of the growth,” he said. 
Brittany and I traded looks of confusion. 
“Thank you,” I said. “You could have led with that over the phone.”
Jinyoung shifted on each leg before hopping up on the edge of his desk to sit. 
“Y/N, I might have made a mistake about you,” he admitted. “You’ve gained quite the following, and shaped into a fine dancer and vocalist.”
“Thank you,” I said. “What is it that you need from me? Did I not show that potential five years ago?”
Jinyoung frowned. 
“Well, yes, but the world wasn’t ready,” he said. “My colleagues weren’t ready, I wasn’t ready.” 
“What are you suggesting?” I said. 
Jinyoung bared his teeth in a mega-watt smile. 
“I’m suggesting a place for you as Twice’s tenth member.”
My heart quickened at his words; Brittany gasped. Did I hear him right? One of the biggest girl groups in Korea--the world bringing on a tenth member? Another member is already controversial enough in the industry(with the likes of Red Velvet getting hate for adding another a year after debut), but an American? A Black woman? The netizens tore me to shreds once, I couldn’t handle that again. 
“What’s the catch?” Brittany asked. “Out of all the contestants eliminated from Sixteen, why Y/N? This is looking rather performative Mr. Park, welcoming back your only black trainee who dealt with so much racism.”
Jinyoung’s eyes softened a bit. 
“I’m still learning from my mistakes,” he said. “You have every right to decline Y/N, but I need someone to ease Twice in towards the west.”
“Why not Somi!” I said. “There’s your westerner, half white! Very digestible to the western world.” 
Jinyoung nodded.
“True, but K-Pop is changing drastically,” he explained. “And I know Twice can hit the west hard, they can adapt to America with someone who knows it. You played against the American entertainment industry and I know you can with the girls.”
“How are you so sure?” I said. 
“You catch onto choreography quick,” he said. “You’ve done almost every Twice cover online, you’ve been Grammy nominated for songs you’ve written it’s a perfect match.” 
“What about stylists?” Brittany asked. “Have you even notified Twice about this offer?”
“I discussed it with their leader, Jihyo and she’s open to it,” he said. “I’m sure she can ease the others into it, I’ve already explained it to them that we’re working towards the west and they understand that.”
My mind spiraled at the thought of Jihyo; she’s come so far, they’ve all worked so hard. Me joining would just throw a wrench in all they’ve accomplished. 
“All of this sounds great in theory,” Brittany said. “But I change like this could make you lose popularity here in Korea, with the Korean public. You’ll lose fans, they’ll drop like flies.”
Jingyoung shrugged. 
“A risk we’ll take,” he said. “Y/N?”
Brittany gave me a sympathetic stare. 
“If I do this, will I get legal protection against hate comments,” I said. “I would be one of your artists officially, you should treat me like one.”
“Of course,” he said. “Will you take these terms, Y/N?”
Brittany shook her head as she gave me a hard look. 
I shouldn’t accept the terms. It’s just like five years ago all over again; I was tricked into becoming a prop of the industry, but somethings different. Jinyoung could go about various ways of doing this, I know I’ll have more benefits this time. 
“I will, if I have a stylist of my choosing,” I said. “And an American manager.” 
“Done,” Jinyoung said. “We can discuss this further, but I want you to meet up with the girls as soon as possible.”
My body shook at the mention of meeting up with Twice. They were my competition at one point, hell many of them I thought hated me. All except one,  Chou Tzuyu. She and some of the maknaes and I were close due to age, but Tzuyu opened up to me the most. She’s been through so much, they all have. 
“Is there any way I can practice and get to know them again,” I said. “Before we start promoting?”
“That was the plan,” Jinyoung said. “You’d be new to the public and fans, but not to Twice. Like working with an old friend.”
Yeah, an old friend who’s forgotten about you and moved on with their life. This would benefit Twice and I, but is it worth the risk to see them again. To see Tzuyu again.
 *     *      *  
“You’re sure this is the right move?” Brittany asked while our black car rolled down the street. 
Right after the meeting with JYP, he insisted I settle into the dorms and meet up with Twice before training. Brittany and I are now in the back of a car with my new manager, Miyoung
“I’m sure.”
Brittany nudged me. 
“You don’t owe him anything. Why are you doing this?” 
I leaned against my side of the car, letting the rapid speed of each car flash and rip by while my eyes slip close. The memories from five years ago swarmed me: Tzuyu and I practicing from night to morning with sweat clinging to us like newborns; the constant words we’d trade about debuting together and visiting each others countries. Tzuyu’s distraught during my elimination, begging me to stay in Korea for her. Maybe I’m doing this to help her and be there for her, if she accepts me. I can’t admit that to Brittany though, relationships that form during adolescent years don’t really last anyway. At least from what I’ve seen. 
The car came to a halt; we’ve arrived at the dorms. 
I sat up, but sunk back down in my seat as I spot all of Twice standing outside, waiting with their managers. 
“We’re ready when you are Y/N,” Miyoung said. 
She and the driver already stepped out the car with expectant looks at me. 
Brittany took my hand and rubbed my knuckle as I composed myself with a few deep breaths. The moment I stepped out, all of Twice cheered and hurried toward me. Sana was first of course, embracing me so tight that I couldn’t breathe.
“Y/N!” she squealed. 
Nayeon hugged me next, then Jihyo, Chaeyoung, Momo, and Dahyun.
“Finally my fellow ‘98 liner is back,” Dahyun teased, making me chuckle as she lightened my mood.
Joengyeon embraced me a bit too tight as well, pulling back with a tiny grin. 
“You look healthy, that’s great,” she said. 
I nodded and glanced over at Tzuyu, who kept her distance. Our eyes met, yet she didn’t smile or come over for a hug like her fellow members. She only perked her lips and waved. I wanted to scream; I felt like crying but I managed to hold the tears back again. 
Mina must have noticed as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder. 
“Are you OK?” she asked. 
“Yeah,” I lied. “It’s great to see you guys again.” 
139 notes · View notes
krreader · 5 years ago
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EXO reacting to you, a foreign idol, receiving hate after your relationship went public.
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pairing: exo x foreign idol!reader fandom: exo warnings: language ; racism genre: angst ; fluff word count: 1.5k+
a/n: I wish the reality were a lot different, but with jongdae having received so much backlash.. god I just hope people will leave them all alone and let them love in peace.
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kim minseok
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Concerts were supposed to be a fun time for both idols, as well as fans.
But seeing stuff like this always made Minseok regret his career choices.
All he could do was stare at the racist sign that a fan was holding up in disbelief, maybe even a little bit of sadness and disappointment that one of his fans was behaving like so.
His band members must have seen his reaction, Junmyeon, as the leader instantly nodding towards the fan and a manager handled the rest from there.
She was gone, but what she had written on that sign was branded in his memory.
“You okay?” you asked later that night when you joined him in bed.
Minseok opened his mouth and looked at you, but then he closed it again and smiled, shaking his head a little, “Just tired.”
This wasn't something that you needed to know. He wanted to protect you from that world of hate as much as possible.
kim junmyeon
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Junmyeon was so busy bowing to the artists that passed him that he didn't even notice your band being among them at first.
But the moment his eyes landed on you, his smile instantly widened.
PDA wasn't exactly something you could do here and you both knew it, neither of you was this stupid.
But the smile that Junmyeon had only reserved for you seemed to be enough to start a shit-storm online.
“Why is he only smiling at her like that? It's disgusting.”
“Does she think she's special or something? Somebody remind her that she's not.”
“Can she just go back to where she came from? It’s annoying me.”
Were just examples of hatefulness spread in online forums and the likes. But Junmyeon made sure that you wouldn't read them.
Right after the award show, he and you decided to – instead of going to the after-party – go straight home and just enjoy some alone time together.. without your phones.
You knew he was looking out for you when every time you wanted to check your messages, he pulled you closer and kissed you instead and every time you’d ask why, he’d just laugh and tell you that he couldn’t get enough of you.
And well.. his strategy worked.
zhang yixing
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Yixing must have thought that with him barely being a part of EXO's promotions anymore, that fans would lay off of him and you.
Maybe give him a pass and let him live and love in peace.
That's why he brought you to the film premiere as his date, because he truly thought it would be fine.
But damn, fans were viscous. 
The moment he and you stepped out of the car, they were screaming at you to get back to where you came from and it was.. a mess, to say the least.
Nevertheless, Yixing was proud to have you by his side and every chance he got for an interview, he mentioned it, wanting to show these “fans” that their racism wouldn't change his opinion on you in the slightest and that it was absolutely not appropriate here or anywhere else.
But he knew that this night wasn't easy for you, even if you smiled throughout the entire time and he was glad when it was finally over again and you were back home in the safety of your own four walls. There, he could at last wrap his arms around you and hold you close as you were finally allowed to shed a few tears.
“I'm so sorry,” he kept whispering into your hair, “I love you so much, never forget it.”
byun baekhyun
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“Are you even able to communicate?” one of the interviewers asked Baekhyun after the topic of you and him having started dating came up.
And the question caught him off guard because, “You've.. talked with her.. lots of times before? And she spoke.. perfect Korean?”
“Well, yeah, but it's just.. she's not Korean.”
It was so stupid and everyone in the room knew it. Some of his band members snorted, others even started laughing, while Baekhyun just really didn't know what else to say to this.
“I think you handled it well,” you said later that night when you sat down next to him on the couch, “They just want gossip and they'll do anything to get it.”
“I just wish they'd stop disregarding you so much just because you’re not Korean.”
“My confidence is a lot bigger than they think,” you smiled and kissed his forehead, “I'll be fine, babe. You don’t have to worry about me,”
He pulled you into his arms with a sigh and held you there until the world felt like a better place again.
kim jongdae
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Jongdae put down his phone with a heavy sigh after having read yet another headline that was so similar to all the ones before.
“South Korean idol Kim Jongdae dating foreign idol (Y/N) and fans aren't happy about it.”
It was a Korean article and people knew, even by his name alone, that Jongdae was Korean, but they still had to emphasize it.. because you weren't. And that was apparently an issue.
“How are you?” he texted you later.
“I'm okay, don't worry about me,” you replied only a few minutes later.
“But I am worrying. Don't read the articles, okay?”
“I'm fine, Jongdae, really. Media can suck my non-existing dick.”
After reading that line, Jongdae immediately started to smile and nod to himself.
You were right.
The media could sick his dick too.
park chanyeol
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“What are you doing?” Chanyeol leaned down to press a kiss against the back of your head, his eyebrows furrowing when you were watching one of his music videos.
“Nothing..”
But from the way your voice sounded and the fact that your shoulders were slumped when you walked into the kitchen, it really didn't look like nothing.
So he followed you and pestered you for as long as it took for you to finally tell him what was bothering you.
“People keep comparing us to you guys. Saying that we have fewer views and that we're less popular and that it's all my fault.”
“(Y/N), they're just jealous.”
“I know.. but our relationship.. it's ruining my group's image, Chanyeol. These girls have worked so hard and it's..-” you let out a heavy sigh and shook your head.
“Hey,” he took a step closer and grabbed your chin to make you look at him, “Nobody is ruining anything, especially not you. You are an essential part of your group and without you, they'd lose an important puzzle piece.”
He must have known that you were hinting at leaving the group, but that wasn't something that Chanyeol would stand by and just watch. You had worked hard too.. and he wouldn't let you stop now just because some jealous idiots thought they had the power to destroy your life.
do kyungsoo
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“I'm sure the situation isn't easy for you,” his new make-up artist said as she was doing the finishing touches on his face, “In regards to (Y/N), I mean.”
He didn't want to talk about it, but he appreciated her concern, so he said: “Thank you.”
“It's not easy when someone clings to you so hard that you can't get rid of them. I've been there.. but you'll escape the relationship eventually.”
That had him stare at her with confusion, “Wait... what?”
“I heard foreigners are extremely clingy... that's probably why.”
Needless to say, she had her job for exactly one day.
Kyungsoo wouldn't work with a racist, especially not one that disrespected his girlfriend like that.
kim jongin
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They were doing a fan sign right now, the first one after Jongin's and your relationship got exposed.
He had been incredibly nervous beforehand, but so far, everyone was nothing but kind to him. Nobody had even mentioned you.
Until one fan came up.
“Don't you think you should find someone like yourself?”
Jongin stopped writing on her album momentarily, his eyes still on his writing, but then he continued with his signature with a smile, “She is like myself. An idol. An artist.”
“But she's a foreigner. She's not really like us.”
Jongin clenched his jaw, then looked up with a sweet, but very fake smile, “She's a human being. A very kind one. I hope that can be respected.”
The girl would have liked nothing more than to argue with him about this, but the manager ushered her to keep going and Jongin was with the next fan that was a lot nicer than the one before.
He was just glad that you hadn't been here to listen to what she had said.
oh sehun
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“Hey, I just wanted to call you,” Sehun smiled as he accepted your call, but when he could hear you cry, he instantly froze, “What happened?”
“Are you sure this is good, Sehun? I don't think anyone approves.”
“What do you mean?” he furrowed his eyebrows and quickly hurried into an empty corridor where he could speak to you in peace.
“The fans.. your fans, they all.. hate me.”
Sehun let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes for a moment.
So you had read all the nasty comments.
“(Y/N), don't read them. The people that write these things are not in their right state of mind. These people don't matter.”
Of course, it was easier for Sehun to just say these things as he was not the victim in this situation, at least not directly. But he still felt for you, of course he did, he loved you. All he could do was be there for you and continuously tell you and show you just how much you meant to him.
Your nationality didn't change that, despite what other people seemed to think
313 notes · View notes
bangtan-sonyeonddaeng · 5 years ago
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Reader x Poly vmin soulmate AU
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Your dream was finally coming true. You had moved to South Korea and were finally able to snag concert tickets to their show. It was a battle trying to get tickets, but you were victorious and even if they weren’t floor seats you didn’t care. You were finally getting to see BTS and you were so excited. On the day of the concert the hours seemed to be dragging on forever. You were ready before noon and were currently jumping up and down in excitement trying to shake off your nerves. You made sure your army bomb had fresh batteries and that it was paired to your phone, that you had more than enough money for merch, and that you were dressed comfortably because you were going to the standing for at least 3 hours. 
The closer the you got to the venue your soul mark began to tingle. You became excited at the possibility that your soulmate was somewhere at this concert. Maybe you would run into whoever it was. Now you had a whole new anxiety for coming to this concert tonight. The fact that your soulmate was also potentially an army made you happy. You would have something in common to talk about and they would understand your devotion and love for this group. You walked around the venue to the merch booth and different activities they had lined up, hoping maybe your soul mark would react to someone but it never did. It never even crossed your mind that it was a possibility one of the members was your soulmate. 
When it came time for them to finally come out on stage you were yelling your head off, too distracted by everything to notice your soul mark was starting to glow, that it was tingling a lot more than it was before. You were singing along loudly to the songs, dancing along, making friends with the army around you. It was everything to you getting to see them live for the first time. It was every bit as heart warming and meaningful of an experience as you were expecting. You even cried at the end of the night when they gave their ending ments, always speaking their heart out to army and making sure they knew how much they were loved and appreciated. After the concert was over you waited at the pickup location for those going home by cab or uber. However it never came. You held out hope that maybe someone was just stuck in all the traffic, however when you were the only ones left it became clear that wasn’t the case. 
You were sat on the curb, staring at your army bomb and twirling it around, making the lights change colors. You were already sad because you didn’t run into your soulmate, then this added to the mix you couldn’t help when your lower lip jutted out in a pout and a few tears began to leak from your eyes. You were wiping your tears away when you began to feel your soul mark more strongly now. It was glowing bright blue now and your head whipped around, looking for your soulmate. You stand up peering around but you see no one save for a black van driving through the park lot. The car suddenly slams on the breaks and turns around, heading for you. The burn is getting stronger and your mark is glowing brighter. Whoever is in this car has to be your soulmate. The van stops a short distance away from you, and when the door finally opens you feel like you are going pass out. 
Jimin and Taehyung come stepping out of the van. You notice they have the same marks as you, that are also glowing. When your eyes finally meet both of the glowing and tingling stops, the ink on your soul mark now changing to a golden color, signifying you had finally met your soul mate, or mates in this case. Both of their marks have also changed to gold. Your head shoots up suddenly and you see them both absolutely beaming at you. 
“Hi soulmate. It’s nice to finally meet you.” You are shocked, your mouth hanging open and no sounds coming out. Jimin continues speaking to you in a calming voice. “Hey, you okay? We saw you sitting on the sidewalk and our marks started glowing so we just knew it was you. Taehyung and I have been waiting for you for a long time now. We both discovered pretty quickly we had the same mark, but our color didn’t change to gold so we knew we hadn’t met the final piece of our puzzle yet.” You still are in shock. Someone having more than 1 soulmate wasn’t unheard of, just extremely rare. And the fact that your soulmates were members of BTS? You thought for sure you had gone crazy. 
“Am I insane? Like did I finally lose it?”
“Nope! You’re our soulmate!” Taehyung exclaims happily. “What’s your name?”
“It’s y/n.”
“Well y/n you look like you could use a ride home. Do you want us to take you? Or we were going to go out to eat! You can come with us. And then we can talk more and get to know each other.” You stare at Taehyung incredulously.
“Or.. if it’s too soon for that we can just drop you off at home or at least call for a cab for you? Whatever you want to do just let me know okay y/n?” Jimin places a hand on your shoulder and smiles at you tenderly. 
“Um. dinner sounds good. But, can we maybe get it to go and eat it at your hotel or something? I don’t really think I am ready to meet your entire crew plus the other members yet.”
“Of course! We can do that. We’ll pick up some takeout on the way home and eat it at the hotel. Sound good?” You nod your head. Jimin and Taehyung both hold a hand in yours, leading you into the van. you sit sandwiched between them, in the very back. The other members are looking at your curiously, but Taehyung tells them you’re too nervous and overwhelmed by all of this right now and to just pretend you aren’t there. Once you are sitting between them you thank them both. They ask you basic questions on the way, how old you are, where you’re from, how long you’ve been living in South Korea. Part of you still didn't believe that any of this was real and you were just making it all up in your head. You suddenly realize how tired you are however and before you know it your head has lulled over and is now resting on Jimin’s shoulder. He smiles at you and places a kiss to the top of your head and Taehyung does the same. 
You don't wake up until after they have gotten the food and you are back at the hotel. You apologize for falling asleep on them but they wave away your apology. Once you are back in the room with them, you two continue your conversation where it left off. They ask you questions about anything and everything, wanting to get to know the person who was their soul mate. 
“So you guys are okay with this? I mean.. Taehyung you declared Jimin your soulmate a long time ago and I don’t want to be intruding on you two..”
“Hush! You aren’t intruding. Jiminie and I always talked about how we felt like a piece of us was still missing. So when we discovered there was someone else out there for us it made us so happy and excited to finally meet that person. And the fact that you are a fan of us is just amazing!”
“I’m actually kind of relieved because I don’t know how I was going to explain to my future soulmate that my heart already belonged to 7 other men.” They both burst into laughter at that comment, Jimin falling over onto the bed as he lets out his adorable laughter. 
“Well, I mean your heart really only belongs to two right?” Taehyung is pouting at you and your heart melts at the sight. 
“Yes.. my heart belongs to the both of you. So no need to worry about that.” You run your fingers through his hair and that seems to placate him. 
“This isn’t weird for you at all right? Like I know we just met you and everything but.. we were kind of hoping you would stick around?”
“What do you mean, Jimin?”
“I mean, okay we’re on tour right now and we’re about to embark on the North American leg but now that we have met you and you are in our lives, we don't want to have to go months without seeing you while we finish our world tour.”
“So.. are you saying you want me to come with you?”
“Jimin, I understand how you feel but y/n might have a job, a life, family, friends. We can’t just expect all of that to be dropped for us.”
“Actually, all my family and friends are back where I am from. And I am going to online school right now so I could come with you guys. If you want me to.”
“Are you kidding? Of course!” They both shout at the same time. 
“But,  I know you aren’t leaving for a few more days and I’d just like some time to process everything, talk to my family and friends. I know they can’t meet you but they will probably at least want to face time or Skype with you or something so they know I’m in good hands.”
“Of course y/n. Whatever you want. We just want you to be comfortable and happy with us.” 
“I don’t think there is ever going to be a time where I am not happy to be honest. I still can’t believe this actually happened.” 
“Us either. But we’re so happy and grateful for you coming into our lives when you did. The timing couldn’t have been anymore perfect.” You offer them both a smile before getting up and hugging Jimin and then Taehyung. 
“I should probably get going now.”
“Nonsense. It’s 2 am you shouldn’t be out this late at night. We can rent you a hotel room and you can stay here tonight.” 
“Are you-”
“Stop asking if we’re sure jagi! You’re a part of our family now and we will take care of you.” 
“..Okay fine. I give. But just so you know I’ll always be here for you guys too okay? If you need someone to talk to make you laugh, anything you just say the word.” They nod in agreement before Taehyung calls their manager and asks him to get another room for you. You say your goodnights to them, earning yourself a kiss on each one of your cheeks before you head in for the night. 
You get ready for bed and not even 10 minutes after you hear a knock on your door. You open it to find Jimin, hair a mess and eyes a little tired.
“Can I sleep with you? My chest started hurting being away from you for too long.” 
“Sure, Jimin.” You step aside and let him in. You both lay down on the bed before you hear another knock on the door. You and Jimin give each other a knowing look before bursting into giggles and opening the door. 
“Hi Taehyung.”
“Can I sleep with you jagi. I don’t like being away from you for too long.” 
“You and Jimin both apparently. Come on in and join the party.” Taehyung walks into the room and sees Jimin already laying there and he chuckles to himself. You settle into the middle of the bed, sandwiched between your two soulmates. 
“Are we all ready for bed now?
“Yes. This is perfect. Goodnight you guys.”
“Night, Tae, Goodnight Jimin.”
“Goodnight y/n. Goodnight Tae, sweet dreams.”
468 notes · View notes
stu-evans · 3 years ago
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Latitude Festival - Henham Park, Suffolk 25/07/2021
Live music is food to my soul. I’ve struggled at times over the past 18 months without it. So as soon as the organisers of Latitude announced that they were going ahead as part of the Government series of test events I knew I has to be there. 
Held in the grounds of Henham Park, the festival appears through a sea of trees. Stepping off the coach with a spring in my step it genuinely felt incredible to there. I never thought I’d be so excited to see a Portaloo in my life but here we are. 
Strolling to the main site entrance I notice just how happy and alive everyone around me feels, and I include the staff in that too (special mention to Jason from Care Fest who was welcoming everyone warmly and was still there at eleven pm asking how my day was) seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter was an absolute joy. 
So, to the music. First up for me on the BBC Sounds Stage were Big Joanie. The band describe themselves as ‘Black, Feminist, Sista Punk’ The perfect Sunday morning wake up call, these wonderful musicians powered through their set with angst and soul, with groove and meaning. Having recently signed to the Kill Rock Stars label there is a very bright future ahead for them. 
Remaining at the BBC Sounds Stage up next was a true icon. Tim Burgess, who for many has been the saviour of lockdown with his Listening Parties on Twitter, has finally been able to bring his ‘I Love The New Sky’ album to the stage. With big choruses and  Scott Walker-ish spaciousness, the songs have the crowd dancing along. And with the set closer being an alternative take on The Charlatans classic ‘The Only One I Know’ Tim and his band proved that patience truly is a virtue. 
Hopping over to the Sunrise Stage, housed beautifully in the woods, it was time to catch Dundalk based Just Mustard. Endorsed by the one and only Robert Smith, the band made my Shoegaze / Dream pop dreams come true with their blistering noise. With echoes of The Twilight Sad and Cocteau Twins, the five piece band are seriously on the rise. Lead vocalist Katie Ball captivated the audience as the wall of sound crashed around her. 
Moving swiftly onto the Ballroom it was time to catch the online sensation that is Tim’s Twitter Listening Party.  Tim Burgess has been inviting artists to discuss their albums on the Twitter platform whilst fans all around the world listen and discuss with them. This was the first ‘live’ event with special guests Freddie and Arni from The Vaccines discussing the bands second album ‘Come Of Age’ Both were really engaging and honest with their answers to fans questions and comments, more live events please Tim and Co. 
Another band who are truly on the up and up are Bdrmm. Having released their album on Sonic Cathedral records in July 2020 it has been a slow burner of a start for them but their piercing, angular alt rock music is an absolute joy. I found myself closing my eyes and letting it hot me, consume me. These guys are destined for big, big things, the heirs to Mogwai’s throne, one to watch without a shadow of a doubt. 
 Back to the BBC sounds stage after a pit stop of food and drink it was time to see Shame. The South London, Post Punk group tore through tracks from their two albums (the latest being ‘Drunk Tank Pink’ was released in January this year) The crowd were as vocal as front man Charlie Steen who at one stage went crowd surfing with the masses. Most pits were formed, random hugs were taking place all whilst songs like ‘One Rizla’ filled the tent and beyond with a driving thunder. 
As the day began to draw to its conclusion I decided to take a stroll to the Obelisk Arena to catch the end of Bastille Re-Orchestrated.  Classically-trained Bastille frontman, Dan Smith wanted to bring fresh approach to his well known hits and I have to say it absolutely worked a treat. Adding a gospel choir to songs such as ‘The Things We Lost In The Fire’ and especially hit single ‘Pompeii’ is a genius move and the 30,000+ people there to witness it were truly honoured. 
 An incredible day, one that will stick long in the memory, Latitude you are a home from home, See you in 2022. 
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