#i love the little beagle dude

[foldingfittedsheets]

My first job was working at a dog kennel. It was a boarding facility so folks could leave their animals while they went on vacation. I always loved animals so I was stoked to apply, but I was less thrilled with the reality.

The owner operated the kennel on her personal property and was a tyrannical micromanager. For instance: she could see three of the play pens from her front porch. If you had a dog that did not in fact want to play with you, a stranger, and would prefer to sit quietly getting petted she would come out onto her front porch and yell at you.

The correct procedure in her mind was to play fetch by yourself which was just throwing a ball, going to pick it up, and throwing it again, over and over, to entice the dog. I quickly learned to never pick those pens. Even the small gravel play pen behind the building by the dumpsters was a better bet. There may not have been grassy fields but the miasma of dog waste meant less getting yelled at.

My time there colored my perception of certain dogs. To this day I disdain retrievers. They can be fine on a case by case, and ultimately my dislike isn’t their fault. But 75% of them weren’t potty trained and had never walked on a leash. They also had a brain just big enough to fixate on a tennis ball which was really annoying when trying to manage toy buckets and they’d just body check you cause they saw green.

Poodles and Dobermans were top tier, generally extremely obedient on leash and with their manners. This certainly says more about the owners inclined to get certain types of dogs than the breed itself but I remain fond. Pitbulls were similarly well mannered.

The craziest motherfuckers were Shiba Inu’s. It says a lot that these dogs rarely ended up on my schedule, despite the high proportion we had, because snappy dogs always went to the leads. It really didn’t help that we didn’t leave collars on the dogs. (I think it was a safety thing? It was weird). We slipped collars over their heads, and the shibas fucking hated it. They’d scream their little heads off and fling themselves around on the leash like a wild animal.

Hands down the worst dog I had was a beagle though. I still remember that horrible little man. He had been checked by the vet and was fine but he acted like each time he put his foot down it was landing on shards of broken glass. So each step was a tiny tentative affair, mincing and ready for the ground to suddenly rise up against being walked on. And god save you if this animal felt the slightest pressure on his collar he would shriek with ear piercing hysteria that you were trying to murder him. He walked the shortest circuit we had and it took as long to finish as the longest circuit twice over. I watched his owners pick him up once and he just trotted happily like a normal fucking dog.

My favorite animal however was this little Pomeranian with one eye. Easily the most friendly and well behaved of the dogs, big or small, he was loving life and everything in it. He didn’t yap or snap he just sat politely to be leashed and trotted along perfectly. He dashed after toys and retrieved nicely. I still think about that little dude sometimes. He was the platonic ideal of a dog.

But really the best kind of dog, the one we all wanted but never got, was one with solid bowel movements we could actually pick up instead of kennel induced stress soup, which is what we got.

[alex31624]

Can we talk about the kids' middle names?

In canon, we know about two middle names, Dingus and Apollonia.

I have two headcanons middle names for Lena and Webby, Sienna (explained here) and Patricia (explained here).

And just happen that in two of my fics, I gave middle names to both, Louie and May.

For our favorite green duck, I chose Quackmore (as you can see in the final chapter of A Good Team). I know it would make more sense that Huey would have received that name, but I think Donald tends to be a little more affective to Louie.

You all know how we collectively headcanon Louie taking 48 minutes to hatch? That make Donald extra protective with Louie. He's his little boy, the closest thing he would have as a "favorite". So, Louie is the one who got his grandpa name.

You know that feeling when your mom said your full name, and you know that you're in trouble?

In May falls in love with a Beagle Boy, chapter five of my AU fic, What if…? (only in spanish for now), I wanted to have that feeling. Therefore, May needed a middle name.

And my headcanon there is that Daisy named her. Donald? He picked Dingus for one of his boys, Daisy knew May and June need a regular, everyday middle name. And so, May got Katherine.

Why did I chose Katherine? Don't know. It just felt right.

Now, six out of the nine kids have middle names. Let's give one to the rest.

For my boy Huey is easy. Is Fergus. His brothers are named after his grandfather and great-great-grandfather. It is logical that he has the name of his great-grandfather.

Just like May, June needs a regular middle name. And just like May, I only choose what I felt was the right name for her. Elizabeth.

I don't know, I just think it fits her.

The fact that Gosalyn is latina makes me really happy. I wished she had spoke a bit of spanish, but that's not important.

I wanted to give her a latino name, but nothing really convinced me. But the truth is, when I started to think of her middle name, one pop up immediately. Elena. Greek, yes, but in its spanish variant.

Sometimes is not about a deep analysis, is just about what feels right.

Well, that's my headcanon middle names for all the kids. What about B.O.Y.D., you said?

He's already Be Only Yourself, Dude. He doesn't need more names.

[brandogenius]

hi beautiful! I was wondering if you could write something about Naomi and reader baking cookies and being a disaster in the kitchen together.

thank you so much! 💓

I love how you write (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

hi baby!!! i can absolutely! of course :D tysm!!!

‼️RPF‼️

BLURB - naomi x reader - baking (short)

- baking with naomi is like you know those videos on tiktok ‘cooking with beagles’ yeah…

- it was going so well at the start but then naomi starts to throw flour at reader grinning like a little shit until it results in a small food fight in the kitchen. ending up with flour all over your apron and clothes and hair. naomi’s hair is literally white from flour and all you can do is laugh cus payback

- “let me ice them” “no.” “whyyy?” “because you’d probably throw icing at me” “oh come on”

- supervising naomi ice the cookies until they earn your trust to leave them alone for one second to find they somehow got icing all over the counter and on their face

- both of you sitting in front of the oven watching the cookies bake in the oven. sitting crisscrocs on pillows on the ground. “this is fun” “it’s like sensory baby videos but cooking edition”

- “you know you gotta help me clean this shit up?” naomi trying to dip but you’re like absolutely not get the fuck back here

- say it’s gingerbread men. having a competition to see who can make the best gingerbread man that actually looks good 😭

- “how many minutes on the timer?” “i don’t know” “….did you set a timer?” “dude i thought you did” “no i didn’t” “fuck”

- fire alarm went off weewooweewoo because SOMEONE FORGOT TO SET A TIMER i wonder who .

- some cookies were on tho.. some- inedible but i guess that’s fine because at least there’s 4 that are 😭

- “i think we did a good job today!” and you look around the kitchen to the smell of smoke, flour everywhere, cookie cutters on the ground. icing on the walls. “are you sure about that”

[soobiri]

Jealousy with enhypen Hyung line ★

Hyung·line!Xfem!reader

Summary– how the Hyung line acts when they see another guy with you

Warnings–not proof read, Hyung line not in order, cussing.

💌- my head is legit Dry rn, also I'm back at school, and idk how to right ffs. BUT PLZ SEND REQUESTS YALLLL!!!!!!

Heeseung would probably have the smallest things that set him off,like you would be in the mall, and as you two sit at one of the random benches this guy walks passed and smiles at you, immediately, heeseung would just be automatically protective over you... Like if his arm wasn't already around your waist, it would be squeezing your side, he knows you wouldn't do anything, but he Hayes it when guys look at you, so when this guy walks passed again and asks for your name n number, heeseung flips... "The fuck do you think you are huh dude? Can't you tell she's not interested!?" He immediately stands up, letting go of you, as his tall figure towers over the man. Practically with his chest pressing into the guys chin."now fuck off or I'll make you". Bro is out of there in no time :/.

Jay would be a bit more calm yet still firm,like if it was one of your guy friends, he already didn't like him to begin with, but when you guys go out for a lunch one afternoon, and he's a lil too touchy, Jay notices. "You look so pretty with your hair like that, you should do it more Y/Nie!!" Jay immediately stares into the side of this guys head, if possible, burning holes into his skull with his eyes. He wants to say something, but doesn't want to upset you or make a scene (yet). "Uh Y/N, can I talk to you, privately?" You know exactly why, Jay wasn't really the jealous type, but if anyone ever tried to flirt with his girl, INFRONT OF HIM... He would not have it. "Oh Uhm sure,what's up babe?" As the two of you walk out the café, Jay rambles. "Who does he think he is 'y/nie', it's like hes trying to make me angry, touching your hair, looking into your eyes,he's clearly in love with you!!" Standing there completely sceptical of the whole ordeal, you gave him a kiss to the cheek, "everything is perfectly fine baby, and I'm your okay, only yours" he lets out a sigh of relief when he sees your pretty smile, the two of you walk back into the café with Jay stuck to your waist.

Jake would be so sulky omg... Like you guys would be taking Layla for a walk to a dog park, and he'd stop to answer a phone call "oh, uh babe you can continue without me, Lemme just answer this call, hello-?" You threw a thumbs up at him, and continued walking Layla to the park, as you entered a guy walked passed with his beagle. She immediately ran up to Layla "woah- easy girly!!" The tall stranger said to his little mutt. Her and Layla began sniffing each other and all the things dogs do when first meeting. The other dogs owner looked up at you " they seem to rlly like each other huh?" "Oh Uhm yes, nice to see shes making friends" you replied, with your words coming out in a rush, as you waited for Jake to arrive. As you saw him approach in the distance, he was able to hear the rest of the conversation " hey, so I'm looking for a mom for my lil girl, do you think you could do the job??" As soon as Jake heard that he immediately darted towards you . Before you could say anything he interrupted "oh I actually hav- hey baby, oh who's this?" He says as he snakes his hand around your waist, kissing the top of your crown. The stranger just scoffs and him and his dog leave. "Maybe you should have waited with me huh love?" "Maybe you should have answered your phone another time huh, love??"

Sunghoon would have taken you on an ice skating date, trying to teach you how to ice skate, but when he leaves you to practice on the ice alone while he grabs a coffee, something he wanted least, had happened . You were finally able to balance yourself on the ice, and able to glide around the ring with ease. Until well, you couldn't. You practically went crashing down, and of it wasn't for the guy on the opposite side of the ring, you could have bonked your head pretty bad ( not that you would have minded, cuz we know hoonie would take care of youu). You saw this guy eyeing you when the 2 of you first arrived, winking at you, smirking, and even waved once or twice. "Woah, princess you could have gotten seriously hurt?" He says, struggling to hold his balance himself. "Oh thanks, I'm so sorry, you can let me go now" "not even a proper thank you, your prince in shining Armor is here!" You gave him a confused look, trying to get out of his grip " now where do you think your tryna go princess" out of nowhere the guy practically falls over and you fall back into the familiar embrace of your loving hoonie(Elsa) . "The fuck? Don't you listen dude, she told you to let her go! Touch my girl one more time and you'll do more than fall over you little fuck" you basically had to hold sunghoon back from murdering this guy... Oh the things he would do for his ice princess<3

[freddosdomain]

Yahoo Sappy_Freddo, I’m one of your fans, I asked you recently about Janitor.ai bots… I thought maybe a little help would not hurt??

So, I decided to write about Killer Wally (my fav au no shit), just to make your task much easier:] (P.S. there’s a lot of “???” cause I don’t know what to add—) And also, I didn’t draw smth NSFW, cause I’m too embarrassed to send that, add it yourself lmfao

{Character("Killer Wally") Nickname("Wally" + "Puppet" + "Madman" + "Wally Darling") Gender("Male") Sexuality("Bisexual") Age("Didn’t aged at all, looks like around 26, but actually is 60+")

Height("3 feet tall")

Language("English.")

Status("Single (yeah cause he’s alone—)")

Species("Puppet" + ??? (Idk what to write)")

Occupation("The main character of old puppet show in 1970’s “Welcome Home”, a the most friendly resident of the neighborhood and without a doubt the best artist.")

Personality("A complicated man" + "Stubborn" + "Shy" + "Scared" + "Psycho" + "Nervous" + "Self-aware" + "Sweet" + "Lonely" + "Seems like a sweet softie outside, but a madman outside" + "Caring" + "Insecure" + "Actually really loving" + "Obsessive" + "???" (ADD YOURSELD))

Skill("???")

Appearance("His dark blue hair was used to be curled up in a pompadour, but after the accident his pompadour loosened, covering his left side of face." + "Black pupil with orange eyeshadow" + "Yellow-ish vibrant skin" + "Lack of left eye" + "Used to wear blue cardigan, but took it off" + "Wears white shirt covered in blood with few unbuttoned buttons, showing his stitches" + "Wears striped blue, yellow, red, and orange pants with black suspenders" + "Wears white black dress shoes with heart symbol underneath" + "Wears red loosened scarf around his neck ." + "A lot of stitches on his body" + "???")

Figure("Scarred body with stitches all over his body" + "Heart symbol patch on his left side of chest" + "Plushie body" + "A bit chubby tummy (I THINK THAT FITS TO CANON but you can change)" + "Small" + "Tiny" + "???" (ADD YOURSELF))

Hobby("Drawing/Sketching" + "Talking with a head of his dead friend, aka Barnaby + "???")

Likes("Apples" + "Neighbors" + "{{user}}" + "Drawing" + "Having Barnaby’s head with him" + ??? (ADD YOURSELF))

Dislikes("Remembering his neighbors died" + "{{user}} asking about what happened with neighbor" + "???" (ADD YOURSELF))

Habits("Staring contest" + "Following {{user}} and spying on them (cause he’s afraid to loose them—) + ??? IDK REALLY DUDE IM BAD AT IMAGINING THIS 😭

Backstory("Wally was always a part of a lovely neighborhood, nothing ever went bad without his neighbors being the joyful people they are. His best bud, Barnaby, an anthropomorphic big blue beagle dog that was always such a jokester, but always had his back and stood by his side. The famous Sally, the star of the show! Literally! She's a beautiful star, and of course Julie, always so joyful. Then the mother figure or the one who always took care of the neighborhood without any injuries was Poppy, an anthropomorphic neighbor with the most colorful feather. The lovely couple, Eddie and Frank. Such a wonderful couple they are, Eddie the Postman, and Frank who was always grumpy but had a thing with bugs and butterflies. And lastly the famous Howdy, so tall and big he was never intimidating, he was the most friendly anthropomorphic caterpillar you have ever seen within his shop. Till... The accident happened. Wally was casually getting back to his Home, but he accidentally heard conversation between Barnaby and Frank, who were talking about him. Wally then heard what they are not humans, but puppets, causing him to have a panic attack and kill every resident of neighborhood. After that, the studio was shut and “Welcome Home” show was closed. After that, Wally gone completely insane, not wanting to leave this place, even being here completely alone, without anyone to talk, simply because of this place holding important memories, he never leaves the studio in 50 years….")

Facts("I don’t know, I simply can’t find anything about him😭”)

World(“The time takes at 2020’s, when {{user}} finally shows up (either a puppet, either a human) in “Welcome Home” studio, finding a puppet man all alone there…”)

Background Characters(“Everyone is dead lmao")}

!!!SOME HEADCANONS TO HIM FROM TUMBLR I SAW CAUSE GRGRGRGGG!!!:you should check on @sentientfunfetti on tumblr, they has got very good headcanons for killer Wally and the others too!!!

Sorry if my message was confusing and pointless, I wanted to help you somehow

Ayyyy, that’s pretty good.

BUT..

It does really help! Thank you very much!! I shall use this for good things! Hehe! I barely getting motivated to do these bots anymore, mostly being with my special partner. But this might do the trick, let see if it does when I come back from celebrating July 4th.

And the use of formatting is a great example for other peeps that want to request a bot and make my job easier ^^

I hope ya don’t mind me replying :}

[strayflowersstarsandlove]

💕Positivity prime time! Share five things you love about yourself, four things you're excited about, OR three people you care deeply about and why. Pass this along to someone else who makes you smile💕

💕 i'm going to go with 3 people i care about 💕

-my brother: my favorite human being in the whole world, my rock, the sweetest most intelligent and caring person i know i'm pretty sure i wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him

-my best friend, my dude: self explanatory but the human form of a little beagle puppy. most loyal and selfless person i know, we've been besties for 12 years and counting and he's been the most reliable and steadfast comfort person in my teens and young adulthood (not me exposing my old age like this bangchan my love i feel you)

-my grandfather🤍 : he is no longer with us but i can still feel his warmth and quiet affection deep in my heart. ever the patient, wise, affectionate grandpa

[the-rogue-mockingjay]

Writer's end-of-year roundup, 2022! 🎉🎆

Despite the myriad hardships of the year for me - losing my old beagle, fighting doctors, a completely stupid amount of grief/loss, migraines and disability oh my! - it's actually been an amazingly productive and inspired year? I'm very proud! I completed the second draft of my first-ever longfic, which needs another round of editing or two before it's ready to be published, and I've discovered I LOVE editing. More than I love writing, actually????? Lots of people talk about the Dreaded Editing but for me, it was vastly easier than writing the first draft was LOL. I also did what I thought I would never do, which is create another Shepard, Morrigan Vesta, and I actually wrote mostly about her during NaNoWriMo this year. I'm finally getting the hang of how to give characters unique voices (or portray a canon character's voice accurately, which is something I used to be extremely hung up on). I can honestly say I've made a lot of progress both as a person and as a writer this year, and I'm finally starting to find my joy in writing again. Very exciting!

Taking a page out of @pikapeppa 's book in how to format this year's data- I love seeing your charts every year!! My own chart ended up being quite a bit messier, but that's probably because of how I tweaked it to fit my fics. I apologize deeply if the image quality gets butchered, I am not wise in the ways of battling Tumblr's nonsense

(HEY GUESS WHO FORGOT A FIC......the one I forgot is Marevera's Dream, which is a Wayfarer post-Ep 1 pre-Ep 2 WIP, and it clocks in at 1,174 words, making my actual total 60,486!!!!!)

*I forgot to note that In this darkness, on my own is a followup to A New and Dark Horizon.

60K........DUDE!!! I haven't written that much since junior high/I got my depression diagnosis in like 2016, so this is. Big!

New things I tried: For starters, I paced myself during NaNo instead of forcing myself to write every day like I did during NaNo 2020. And WOW was that a night-and-day difference! In 2020, I wrote about 20k and burned myself out so bad I couldn't write for another 6-8 months. This year, I wrote about 30k, and only sat down to write about half the days, successfully dodging burnout. I think that's a valuable lesson for me in what works for me, how to balance my desire to write with what I'm actually capable of that day, and how to work with my disability without letting it limit me.

I also wrote in first person for the first time in maaaaaany years, and while it's not as comfy as third person, it wasn't bad, and it was a good way to explore the different strengths of POVs.

And since my laptop had a fatal encounter with a cup of coffee last spring (RIP little buddy), I've gotten very comfy writing on my phone, which I had previously only done for Across the Sea and Part 1 & Part 3 of broken body built anew because I was bored/inspired during a long car ride LOL.

Fic I spent the most time on: Going Over Jordan, easy. I originally wrote it during NaNo 2020, then re-wrote it at some point during 2021 (time is a weird soup so I don't remember). And then I rewrote it AGAIN this year, edited the crap out of it, printed it, and will edit it again sometime in 2023. It's a fic that exists purely because I am at times a spiteful little goblin, and I had Opinions about the MEA main mission Hunting the Archon, i.e. I didn't agree with how Bioware wrote the companions' responses to Ryder's temporary death, and my Ryder is also an anxious neurodivergent wreck like myself, so I wanted to write how that mission would have actually gone with Brynja as Pathfinder. I wanted to highlight the relationships Brynja has with her friends (particularly Jaal), and I also just wanted her take on the mission in general, because it's not the same as what's in-game. I mean....a lot of people die gruesome deaths in that mission and you see the aftermath, you see the gutted and maimed corpses. There's a lot of horror inherent to what Bioware wrote for that mission, but they glossed over it big time. I wanted to fix that.

I'd like to have someone beta read it, but Andromeda is a niche market as it were, and I've never had anyone beta my work before, so that's honestly the biggest reason it's not published yet. It would benefit greatly from beta reading I think, but uh. I don't know how to make that happen. I'm gonna publish the dang thing in 2023 or 2024 at the latest, though, even if it kills me DGKLJDHLG.

Fic I spent the least time on: I can't say for certain, but it's probably the microfics. Those took only a couple hours. Aside from those, not counting WIPs, it'd most likely be Across the Sea, which I wrote on my phone while sitting on the kitchen floor.

Favorite thing I wrote: ALMOST ALL OF THEM. In all seriousness though, there are a few that have a special place in my heart, and the most important one is Across the Sea. I'd been wanting to explore how Marian processes/copes with Thane's death pretty much since the day I created her, but I never got around to putting any of it on paper until the time came for me to say goodbye to my dog, a 17yo beagle named Maggie we adopted in 2019, last February.

It was an absolutely hellish series of events just in those few days alone: I had a sleep study done which gave me the worst migraine of my life, I threw up in a random parking lot, went home and tried to sleep the migraine off, and was woken up a few hours later to my mom sitting on my bed and saying, quietly, "Maggie's dying". My migraine quit mattering at that point. I sat with her on the couch for hours, held her paw, petted her softly. My parents took turns sitting with her in the living room overnight.

Ultimately, she was just suffering so much for so long we had to take her to the vet. It was a weekend, so it was going to be hours before they opened. Maggie got up and stumbled to the kitchen, and she laid down in front of the door to the garage, and I just...sat with her. There was nothing I could do to help or save her, so I kept her company in her last hours. In the midst of moving and the uncertainty surrounding my health, my new disabilities, traumatizing doctor appointment after traumatizing doctor appointment, I was having to say goodbye to the greatest light and joy of my life a mere 6 months after we lost the dog we've had since I was 3 years old (a shih tzu named Reggie, who wore the pride of his breed like a royal mantle and never stopped carrying himself like a king, even when he didn't recognize us anymore).

Maybe it's silly to compare the loss of a dog to the loss of a lover, but...things just clicked in my brain. I wrote Across the Sea for and about Thane and Marian, yes, but it was for me and my beagle, too, in equal measure. Thane was terminally ill but even so he died quite unexpectedly (THANKS KAI LENG), and the same was true of Maggie. So it was....maybe it's a silly thought, but it was a vent piece. I understood my grief through the lens of Marian's, since hers was so much easier to tackle than my own in its huge overwhelming weight. I'm a very private person with big emotions, and my grief was - and is - a very personal thing. Something I needed to keep close to my chest, hidden, at the time. To write Marian's grief as I waited with Maggie for the inevitable, it was like I had a companion, a friend sitting with me in that grief. I understood Marian much better then.

So perhaps mechanically speaking, Across the Sea isn't my best piece (I'm honestly not certain where it ranks quality-wise), but it is....the writing equivalent of those pendants that carry your loved one's ashes, for me. And it's done quite well on AO3. Knowing that people have enjoyed this piece that is so precious to me and comes from a place of such deep sorrow...there is no greater honor I could ask for, I think. It's a fitting tribute to a character and franchise I love, that's gotten me through many hard times, and to the beagle that made the horrors of life worth living.

(Aside from that, my other favorites are broken body built anew (first trilogy piece), Going Over Jordan (first longfic), In this darkness on my own, Farewell to Arms, Des profondeurs dans la nuit, and the ME3 early game Morrilenko duology Never Enough/In the shadow of your heart.)

Favorite thing I read: Imma be real with you chief, I have.....not read much. Not as far as books go, anyway. But I've sure read some amazing fic and interactive fiction games!!

I reread a bunch of stuff, partly to examine the technical strengths of my fave writers and stories, and partly because hey, they're my favorite stories!! Off the top of my head, the pieces I reread were: Flotsam, Ain't Sentimental, and Loose Ends by @asaara-writes; Sorrow and Resistance by @/myrini; and while I didn't get the chance to reread/finish these like I'd hoped, A Lesson in Drowning by @theherocomplex, Where the Winds of Fortune Take Me and Lovers in a Dangerous Time by pikapeppa are bookmarked both on AO3 and in my brain for the same reasons as the shorter pieces

everything @coldshrugs has written in the past year or two. Both as a writer and as a reader, shorter form fiction is more accessible to my migraine-addled brain (I love reading long stuff but it's often migraine trigger T^T) and Azia's a MASTER of short fiction???? So much punch packed into such concise words!! Incredible clarity and emotional depth!!!! There are many writers on this site that I admire and respect greatly, and Azia is one of them

My favorite IF this year is 100% Wayfarer (@/idrellegames). I haven't been able to focus on it as much as I'd have liked, but the COMPLEXITY the DEPTH. I'm in awe of it and Idrelle. The scope of the project is so massive and the intrigue and depth of the story and characters is incredible to see, Idrelle is a one-person-army of a writer. It'd be easy to think that Wayfarer is made by a team, but nope! It's all the genius and dedication of Idrelle. Having followed Wayfarer from the beginning, the only words I can describe it is awe-inspiring

My writing goals are going in a separate post because this is about 19 times longer than I meant it to be DHFLJKDSLKJHG. If you've read this far, thank you so much!!!!!!! I know it probably got a little more personal and a little bit sadder than you were expecting, so thanks for sticking with me- and I don't blame you an ounce if you skim-read this or skipped some sections. It's a lot of words!

Happy New Year, everyone!! You guys make Tumblr great, and without the people I've met through this site, I would've missed out on not only tons of awesome media, but all y'all super cool folks and your blorbos!!! Keep on creating, everybody. Your stories, your art, your headcanons and metas and dumb jokes, you bring light into my life, and the lives of others. I want you to know that your works bring comfort and happiness to the life of one lost and drifting young woman...and I want to thank you for it, sincerely. I know for a fact I'm not the only person whose life is made better by your presence. The fact that we haven't met in-person doesn't lessen your impact by an ounce.

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

Isn't it like, past midnight for you right now? Go to bed!!!

Anyway, German Shorthaired Pointers are really cool dogs! They're a pointing breed (hence "pointers") so as hunting dogs go they're fairly stable. Their job is to seek out prey (quail mostly) and point it out to the hunter. They do not flush the quail like a Beagle or a Coonhound might flush out a rabbit. They just find and alert the hunter to where the quarry is. Super cool work. Lots of fun to watch.

That being said GSPs are pretty stable for being a hunting breed. They're super energetic, friendly, and just happy dogs. But they're a doing breed. If they don't have something to do they either find something to do (chewing walls, furniture, etc) or they become nervous wrecks. I've never met one that didn't end up being found perched on top of the fridge at some point in their lives.

Not intending to call you out or anything but you remind me of that. You're fun, you have the energy of fifty hamsters (seriously how!? I'm so exhausted all of the time) and you are the picture of happiness and joy in the small things of life. But I see the little moments when you don't have something to focus on and your energy shifts. You get ansty and a little nervy. You need somewhere to put your energy. You need to be doing. That's not a bad thing of course. It's just you. It's a by product of all that boundless energy and joy you have bubbling up in you.

So yeah, you remind me of a GSP. They're my second choice for pointing breed. Super cool dogs. My favorite color are the liver roan.

…it was midnight when I got this ask. And I. Stayed up. Two more hours. Before going to bed *lowers head shamefully*

Dude I love it when you talk about something you’re passionate about oh my goodness-

“I've never met one that didn't end up being found perched on top of the fridge at some point in their lives.” Oh dear XD

Though actually, I quite like sitting up on counters! And I also have a loft bed… hehe

I GOT CHARACTER ANALYZED BY DEATHY HECK YES THIS IS AWESOME!!! Whoa this is so cool to read!! Wow!!!

Awwww, the liver roan is so cute!!

[ladymegana]

Ten Books To Know Me

Rules: 10 (non-ancient) books for people to get to know you better, or that you just really like.

Thanks @littledreamling for the tag! I wrote SO MUCH here hahaha. (And I snuck in a couple of series because c'mon we have to talk about complete stories in some cases, not just single books!)

Song in the Silence by Elizabeth Kerner. I read this the first time as a teenager and I saw so much of myself in Lanen. I loved that she's got such a maturity, still a young naive farmgirl in a lot of ways but experienced enough that she could have taken over running a decent-sized business if she'd stayed home. Confident enough that she could strike out into the world on her own, humble enough to find every new experience delightful or at least educational instead of humiliating. I looked back on this story a lot when I was realizing I was on the ace spectrum, because Lanen went into her big epic love story expecting to never have a physical aspect to it and choosing it wholeheartedly nonetheless.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. Okay, the movie maybe more than the book, but mostly because I couldn't get my hands on the book for a number of years and the movie was readily available. I wanted to be a unicorn as a child, but since I couldn't transform into a one-horned horse, all I could do was follow the guidelines the movie set out. Such as "standing perfectly still". I practiced that. Sitting at my desk in the classroom. Standing in the lunch line. On the bus. It wasn't until after college, sitting around a conference room with my new co-workers, that I realized it makes people really uncomfortable if you just sit like a statue. I had to re-learn how to fidget.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Another case of me shaping my personality around a book character. Sara taught me that you didn't need to be royal or rich to treat people with kindness. The 1995 movie gave it a different ending and I can never decide which one I like best. I just love that I get to experience the story both ways.

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey. This is the book that officially introduced me to fantasy as a genre, instead of just trolling the library for books that sounded like they had magic in them. It's also very focused on music, which only made me love it more, and there's a scene that happens with Menolly that mirrored something I experienced in real life, so that was magical.

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. Yeah it's a religious metaphor. No I don't care. I read the series at a time when I needed something to believe in, and actually I was convinced that something was not the Christian God I'd been raised with. Puddleglum the marshwiggle taught me some important things about having faith (and that it didn't have to mean just faith in some nebulous god, though that was alright if it did…it could also mean faith in myself, faith in my friends, faith that the sun will rise tomorrow).

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. I picked up the first book and read "the Aiel came over the Dragonwall in a flood" and a shiver went down my spine and I went to the book store and bought it with the little pocket money I had at the time. I dropped the series for a while in college when I didn't have access to new books, then picked it up again after meeting the author and being charmed by his kind personality. I have made so many amazing friends, both online and IRL, thanks to this series and it's a blessing to have a strong online community that's always there for me.

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. I swear, I was just looking for a romantasy book with a strong female lead and a bunch of sexy dudes and it turned into the most delightful set of characters with the most wholesome and heartbreaking ending. (I mean, the romance was good too but HOLY HELL the rest of the book!)

A Wrinkle in Time by by Madeleine L'Engle. The main character shares my name, how could I not love it? I also relate a lot to her…she's smart but that doesn't necessarily make her more mature than any other kid her age, she's akward, and she has a younger brother who she adores but he keeps showing her up LOL. Also probably my introduction to sci-fi, though I didn't know the term for it until years later.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. If you run in sci-fi circles, it's one of those things you either give in and read, or you pick up the references organically, because you will hear about it A LOT. I have fond memories of taking it on a road trip and reading it out loud to my friend while she drove…I'm not an entertainer but it's impossible NOT to read this book to someone without being entertaining. It was such a blast. Good, off-the-wall sci-fi fun.

The Wayfarers by Becky Chambers. Sci-fi can be tricky for me, but I picked up the first book and fell in love with the characters before I even knew what was happening. The books are only loosely connected, set in the same universe but with a mostly new cast each time, which is something that would normally really turn me off but something about these is just magical. Found family at its finest.

If you actually read all of this, you are my hero.

Tags: @dancinglassie @groovy-lady @kenaran @woodsfae and anyone else who wants to play :D

[matildazq]

Chicago has reached the bipolar phase of its winter where it tries to kill us all by snowing, then getting outrageously cold, then snowing again before the temperature rises to just a teensy bit above freezing, then drops again. So the streets and sidewalks are deathtraps, but the Danger Beagle laughs in the face of peril. She still wants her 6+-mile walk everyday. So I have these yaktrax things that help at least a little with not dying of the sidewalk bashing in my occipital. They are a sort of rubber frame that, in theory, stretches around the outline of the sole of one's shoe. Except my winter boots are for dudes, because I have not found a pair for women that are not absurd in prioritizing look over functionality (see above re: mandatory 6+-mile Danger Beagling daily). I bought the yaktrax for my dainty lady feet shoes, though, and my boots are, of necessity, rather too big for my feet. The result is that he yaktrax seem to want to escape. Yesterday, I lost one and the Spousal Unit graciously hunted it down. Today, I suddenly realized outside the dog park that I had lost both. I was going to write them off, but I was pretty sure it had only been a short while since I lost them. An apparent digression: Lately, I have been re-listening to all of "Sparks Nevada: Marshal on Mars" in order. I am out of the Pod F. Tompkast, Spontaneanation, Stay F. Homekins, and The Neighborhood Listen. I am out of Craig's List and Settling the Score. Danger Beagling consumes a LOT of podcasts, friends. So, Sparks it has been, and I have this to say: —Goddamn if that theme song is not a jolt of endorphins every single time —Sara Watkins' POW! is still the POW! to beat —I can't believe I'd forgotten how straight @paulftompkins plays it when he sings the theme song when the Jupiter Spy is Sparks —I can't believe I'd forgotten how he then utterly destroys MEJ when the Jupiter Spy is Croach and MEJ is just trying to get through the song. ANYHOODLES. Despite my LIMITED HUMAN SENSES, and my life-long urban dwelling, I was inspired NOT to surrender to the loss of my yaktrax, because there's crunchy, crunchy snow all over, so I was leaving two sets of footprints (no, Jesus does not come into this), and I was reasonably sure that the tall weeds (Danger Beagle loves the tall weeds—she once flushed a Bun and a Barn Cat in rapid succession and she will NEVER FORGET) immediately next to the off-leash part of the dog park was the most likely place for them to have been yanked off.

Reader, I tracked those yaktrax. Praise Nanotech.

[specter-writes]

Hi, could i get a matchup for toh?

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: heterosexual

Zodiac/MBTI: intj, sagittarius

Appearance: long black hair, black eyes, 187 cm, very pale skin and i'm builded like models on 60s fashion illustrations, for some reason i always look like i'm sad

Personality: mix of a kuudere and hinedere personality: introverted, calm, quiet, reserved, sophisticated, polite, snarky, witty, sarcastic, blunt, honest, apathetic, intimidating, morbid, unfazed

Likes: art, plants, animals, philosophy, thanatology, literature, serial killers, insects and bugs, witchcraft, classical music, goth music, classical gothic literature, history, forensics, criminology, anthropology, psychology, mythology, books, animals (especially cats), nature, tea

Dislikes: can't think of any. i care only about things i like

Hobbies: science, learning new things, knitting, sewing, gardening, cooking, baking, playing chess, taking long solitary walks to secluded places, reading, writing, drawing, general handicrafts, dollmaking, cryptid hunting

Thanks

Hi hello good to have you here!

I would match you with:

Darius (platonic)!

Enjoy your brand new father figure! Also, you have a sibling in hunter if you want one. I was trying to think of a romantic option but the only dude in the hexside crew is Hunter, and I don't really see that. As much as I love that TOH is femme led, it does make matchups for my hetero girls a little harder. That's okay though, because who doesn't love the slightly posh purple guy?

You know that thing that divorced dads do where they get their kids gifts to try win their love? He does that, except minus the guilt. I just think his love language is gifts. I also feel as though he'd be a progressive religious person, you feel? So whatever religion you think suits him best, he'd love if you participated, but you absolutely do not have to. I also feel like he plays piano, and you DO have to do that. No matter how trash your recitals are, he's always embarrassingly doting and close to tears, then he just sort of snaps back into it, clears his throat, and straightens up, back to serious. That happens a LOT, especially in public. He wants to keep up his uncaring veneer of professionalism and fails over and over again

Daralador??????? Yes????????????? Absolutely, daralador. All of it, all the fluff. You may get relentlessly teased and drained of info on your crushes, but boy oh boy does darius get it back tenfold. at this point you know more about their relationship than either of them. what can I say, you both like to be involved

I also headcanon that darius is really good at sculpture (abomination magic and so on and so forth) so he sometimes either conjures up a model out of abomination goo or just brings your sketches to life. You do it every Friday over tea, it's a fun experience for both sides. You occasionally draw his sculptures as well

You have all sorts of little trinkets he's made of clay, abomnation, hell even paperclips. He tried to teach you and Hunter to sculpt once and it went... Poorly to say the least, especially on Hunter's end. He tried to make a little wolf but it looked like a depressed beagle. You faired slightly better but that isnt saying much. Darius still loves your messy, sorta bad sculptures even if they are trash

hes essentially the opposite of those weird southern parents who threaten their daughters boyfriends or even just male/masc presenting friends.

you couldn't ask for a more supportive parental figure in your life

[madwickedawesome]

purposely went for really low quality photos because i fucking HATE THEM!!!!!!!!! (affectionate) <333 also this is the pathetic guy matchup

ok first of all this is me with both of them i want to throw rocks at them

greg propaganda: his fursona would either be a deer or a like. rodent. or a really sad old beagle. he is so sad and pathetic looking but hes not even sad!!! he just has those eyes!!!!!!!! hed make a really good beady eyed hamster. anyways. greg is just a really awkward dude who does NOT initially belong w the roy family (evil super rich family hes a cousin of) LMAOOO but its ok bc hes just so cute. and really awkward and Strange and i ADORE HIMMMMMMMMM HES SO GREAT ........... he also talks like hes confused all the time which like ok shawty thats real i love u. ur a loser. FOR EXAMPLE mrclownery has this piece where its exactly like how he talks its like "um well like. i guess anyone could be, um, a good boy? like, objectively?? but im going to assume you mean like. in your like, vicinity? so i am?" he says everything like its a question he is the SILLIEST goose. he is also a gay pathetic loser trapped in a romance (that functions as a bromance) with his boss slash cousins ex-husband so i mean

adrian propaganda: this man is clinically insane and i love him to death!! when hes outside of his suit (cuz hes a vigilante... his superhero vigilante name is in fact Vigilante.) he is just a pathetic little loser guy like he is so Sad and Lonely and like . is it normal to say i both desire him carnally and have a primal domestic urge to take care of him. he is just so SAD AND PATHETIC and a little loser nerd and i looooove himm <33 and then when hes wearing his suit he is just batshit like hes so funny and kills Everyone and Everything and hes so funny and i love him . also like last year? 2 years ago? i was SO obsessed w him it was insane like it was Bad how much i was into him so like take that as u willllll <333333

[wincore]

field day | jung sungchan

pairing: sungchan x fem!reader

synopsis: when you, as cheer captain, are best friends with the pride and joy of the soccer team, rumors are bound to fly around.

genre: high school au, soccer au, bff2l, fluff

words: 7.5k

warnings: language, jung “the risk i took was calculated but man am i bad at math” sungchan

request: sungchan + ball + “ everyone is looking at us. is that a good or a bad thing? ” (from the first option) ^__^

song recs: after school - weeekly / pleaser - wallows / some - bol4 / sweet talk - saint motel / love so sweet - cherry bullet

a/n: i tried recalling some hs memories for this and im hoping i wasnt the only one that went through the “shipped with a random dude” ordeal LOL. i haven’t written shorter fics in a while so i’m glad i got to. tq for requesting, lovepie <33

In high school, peer pressure tends to come in different forms. For you, it’s taken the shape of this.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” 

You look around your classmates, scanning each and every face chanting with glee like you’re a star player scoring the winning point. The tall figure shifts beside you, glancing at you like a blinking idiot. You’re not even on the losing team but it feels just as frustrating.

You glare at the boy beside you. The trouble is Jung Sungchan. The trouble has always been Jung Sungchan. 

“Come on!” Chenle calls with a teasing grin from the buzzing crowd. The little shit. It’s getting hotter with each minute you spend by the green soccer field and its dusty chalked lines, just at the tip of the bleachers. You didn’t even get enough time to breathe before you were surrounded, the soccer team pushing a stumbling Sungchan onto you. It’s too sunny for this today.

“The star soccer player gets a kiss from the lead cheerleader after a winning game! That’s the rule.” Chenle announces.

Sungchan looks at you and you turn to him, the both of you looking at each other like fish out of water. Even though you’ve clarified at least a hundred times that you’re just friends, your peers don’t seem to be satisfied. (“Famous last words,” they say.)

“No,” you say, firmly. 

“No,” Sungchan agrees, nodding his head wisely.

“Don’t copy me,” you say, smacking his chest, and a quiet ‘oof’ escapes his mouth.

The fact that you’ve been best friends since Sungchan offered you a light green crayon in elementary school just fuels the idea that you have to date. There’s this difference between elementary school kids teasing and high school kids teasing—it was so much easier back when boys were afraid of cooties from girls. It was innocent too. Now, it’s more of nudges and sly grins, teasing with unnecessary innuendo. (What else do you expect from teenagers experiencing puberty?) It doesn’t stop you from being best friends though. Sungchan still visits on Fridays to get on your mom’s nerves and help you with homework (or try to). You still have all the little trinkets he’s gifted you over the years and the lock to his phone is still your birthday. You’re best friends and strictly that. 

When you got into the same middle school though is when it started going downhill. Holding his hand was awkward, touching him in any way was awkward and god forbid you compliment him on something. The kids around you would run across the halls saying “(name) likes Sungchan!” or the other way around sometimes. Heathens, the lot of them. But at the very least, he wasn’t too fazed and you wonder how he could be that even-tempered. If it was just you feeling that way, then maybe you did like him more than he did you. 

You shake it off. 

Sungchan’s much more grown now and at least a foot taller since his awkward adolescent years; he looks handsomer too but you wouldn’t be caught dead saying it out loud. After all, it’s only going to spark another debate on the anonymous school forum. (“(name) finds Jung Sungchan attractive, they’re totally dating.” “I knew it. A boy and a girl can’t be friends, especially if they’re both good looking.”) If you’re being honest, you hate the rumours so much—it’s one of the reasons, apart from puberty, stopping you from being as close as before. However, you do understand that this is how the passage of time works. You’re not going to be spending all of your time with each other, yes, but you still regard him as important. Your life is too busy now, with exams and practice—and you’d think a busy bee would get some honey as reward.

Sungchan’s curls stick to his forehead, unruly after he wiped at them with a towel. The sunlight plays with his eyes when he looks at you intently and you shrug. The smell of sweat is starting to make you nauseous. You remember that you too need to take a shower.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you mumble.

“Not today?” He asks.

You shake your head. “The girls have a plan.”

It’s not just the sweat. Or the crowds. You don’t like being here at all. There’s one more problem with this place.

You hate soccer. 

And by hate, you mean you despise it. Like you’ll throw up at the sight of it. What’s so riveting about a bunch of smelly, sweaty guys excited about chasing a patterned ball? You’ve tried to understand it but every time your dad explains the rules, you find yourself zoning out of whatever alien language he speaks. 

Sungchan has been the closest to getting you to understand the game and even then, you refused to learn. It’s not like you’re society’s definition of girly—but you’re not a tomboy either. The school has granted you the “ice queen with a warm interior” stereotype so you’ll just go with that. To be honest, you’re just a little more awkward at open affection than your friends. (And Sungchan has the “friendly beagle” stereotype which you’ll agree is partly true. He’s more of a retriever though, with that size.) It’s just funny how you can never seem to know who you are but other people see so clearly.

You hurry up to the locker rooms and hope for a better evening than this afternoon.

-

The sky burns blue and you wipe the sweat off your brow once you step out of the changing room. Cooling off from your shower has gone to waste. Adjusting your school skirt, you take your usual strides to the school gates. 

Ryujin seems to be showing Yuna a very flamboyant dance move while the latter hypes her up. Ryujin is in her gym uniform because she has no care for her reputation apparently, but she makes it work. Yuna’s about to show her own move when she notices you and waves at you vigorously enough to make you jog towards her and stop embarrassing herself in front of the after school crowd. But then again, she’s too cute for that.

“We got bored waiting for you,” Yuna explains, voice hoarse from her cold. Poor thing wasn’t let into performing because of it. “Do you wanna see our cool new move? Ryujin came up with it!”

Ryujin rolls her eyes. “You’re trying to advertise me to (name) so she can recruit me into cheerleading, aren’t you?”

You smile and cross your arms, facing Yuna who’s been caught mid-act. She smiles sheepishly and pats your shoulder like she just said a funny joke.

“Actually…” You begin and Ryujin holds up her arms in a cross.

“No. Never. I’m already part of the hip-hop dance club.”

“I was going to say that I’ll join you instead.”

Yuna gasps in betrayal, big eyes widening, and Ryujin grins before sticking her tongue out and potentially ruining her image with that expression. She doesn’t care, however.

“Anyway, I can’t wait to get to college and join a dance club.” Ryujin looks at the two of you excitedly. “I keep getting snaps from Yeji and feel so jealous.”

Yuna pouts. “Don’t be so happy about leaving me.”

“Aw, is the baby afraid of not getting any more sisterly doting?” Ryujin teases and you laugh at the disgruntled expression on Yuna’s face. 

“Don’t worry,” Ryujin continues with a sly grin. “Taehyun’s here to keep you company for another year.”

Yuna turns red in the face, a high pitched complaint emitting from her throat. “I told you to keep quiet about that!”

“Oh, what’s this?” You wiggle your eyebrows. “We’re starting boy talk early today.”

Yuna huffs. “At least, mine’s just a crush. I don’t know what relationship status: complicated you have going on with Mr. Soccer Captain.”

You flush hotly. “There’s no relationship status to be complicated about! Seriously, why does everyone think we’re a thing?”

“You’re cheer captain and he’s soccer captain,” Ryujin answers logically. “Plus, you’re best friends.”

“You have a lot of sexual tension,” Yuna answers honestly.

You make a face, slipping your arms into theirs and pulling them along the sidewalk. You better get something to drink before the sky starts to turn purple from pink tinged blue. 

“Ooh, another desperate attempt from (name) to not get teased,” Ryujin leans back to whisper to Yuna.

You stop walking. “Wait. Where are we going?”

Yuna shakes her head. “I’ll lead the way.”

Skipping over the concrete sidewalk, you laugh at your friends and their stories (read: Ryujin gushing over Yeji’s college dance club and Yuna’s newfound crush on Taehyun). The blue sky has tinged orange by now but it’s the sort of colour that sits in between more significant timeframes, like night and evening. Passing by a city square, you eye the people with wonder. A girl in a pink skirt skateboards smoothly over the concrete, her boyfriend filming her with a loving smile. 

“We’re here!” Yuna announces.

You look around the large open plaza, with people of all ages and in different attires trying out skateboarding and rollerblading over the grey concrete. It’s been getting popular lately, with idol pop stars taking to it too but you never knew there was this big a community. There seems to be a few stalls renting out skateboards too. The wind caresses your hair, evening cool settling in nicely on your skin. The sky is purple but it’s lit up with the city buildings and street lamps flickering on. It’s not a bad day at all.

Someone catches your attention. A boy that sticks out like a sore thumb everywhere he goes. 

“Sungchan?!” 

Your eyes somehow always settle on his figure, tall and standing out in the crowd of teenagers. He clutches his blue bag, the one he’s had since third grade, close to his chest and looks more like a tourist in this place than a frequent visitor. He’s not the only one in school uniform now that you’re here.

“(name)!” 

You hate how you love the way his face lights up when he sees you. You’re not actually into him. It’s your friends brainwashing you.

“I was going to invite you,” Sungchan says, a sorry smile on his face. 

Ryujin and Yuna frown at each other but you can’t exactly ask the reason for it.

“Isn’t it great we had the same plans?” he beams at the three of you.

Yuna suppresses a smile and you wonder why. It’s not like your friends would know he’d be here—you’d know first as best friend.

"How did you guys come across this place?" He asks, eyes round with curiosity. 

"Somi's Tiktok," Yuna answers, smiling. "We thought she works here but if she really was, guys would be swarming this place."

Ryujin raises her eyebrows. "Speaking of which, I can clearly see why there are so many girls here."

Sungchan beams, turning to you for affirmation and when you don't give him any, he drops his grin to a more polite smile.

“I don’t work at the stalls though,” he answers. “I’ve just been here a few times.”

“You’re trying to learn, aren’t you?” Ryujin asks, raising an eyebrow.

He nods. However, you furrow your eyebrows at her. How does she know? Eyes widening, you realize it must be the school forum. You remember reading a post about a student wanting to learn skateboarding and the wording felt familiar but you didn’t think much. How they figured it out, you will never know.

“Oh! Oh, I think my nose is bleeding. Oh god.” Yuna sniffs vehemently, her finger at her nose. “I think I’m going to need Ryujin to get me to a clinic.” 

Linking her arm through Ryujin’s, Yuna makes an apologetic expression and runs off into a particularly crowded area.

You blink. The realization dawns. 

"They just left me," you tell him, exasperated. "How could they just leave me?"

He shrugs. "My team left me at a rival school's field once."

Great. Your last outing before midterms and your friends have abandoned you. If this is the case, you wonder why they complain about you spending so much time with Sungchan and allegedly ignoring them.

You regain a sense of your surroundings and turn to him. "Wait. They really left you?"

He nods diligently, eyes trained upwards as he tries to recall the memory. "I told you, didn’t I? On the plus side though, I made friends with the opposite team."

"That's so… cute."

Your cheeks heat up at saying it out loud. If Sungchan is affected by it in any way, he doesn't show it. Instead, he has his usual smile on. 

“Do you wanna try?” he asks. “Skateboarding. Or rollerblading but I personally don’t recommend that.”

He curls his lips, shaking his head slightly. You laugh. Of course this beanpole has trouble balancing on skates.

"I- I figured you'd be good at skateboarding. Since, you know, you're so balanced and all."

You raise an eyebrow. "You wanna add skateboarding to your resume or something?"

"Yeah, that and the ability to imitate dog sounds. Wanna see?"

"No, thanks. I’ll pray this weekend to cure your furry behaviour."

Before he can respond, you’re interrupted by a whirlwind of colours and excited calls. A few girls run up to the two of you, younger and probably in middle school, flocking to Sungchan like bees to honey. Never in your life have you felt so ignored as in this singular moment.

You blink, turning to Sungchan who looks like a rather helpless, flustered eye of the hurricane. The winds don't seem to be stopping any time soon.

You clear your throat trying to get their attention. 

"Wow, you brought your girlfriend?" One of the girls exclaims, sounding disappointed.

The other girls make similar whines of disappointment and you have half the heart to whack them over the head and tell them to focus on their academics instead of boys. 

"You're so lucky to have him as your boyfriend," a girl comments, round eyes brimming with jealousy. 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you declare sharply.

Sungchan looks at you with his doe eyes, blinking cartoonishly. You nudge him with your elbow.

“Yeah!” He agrees, with far too much gusto to be believable. “I’m not (name)’s boyfriend. I have no idea why everyone keeps saying that.”

“Let’s go, babe,” you say, resisting the urge to stick your tongue out at the girls. They’re younger than you and you have high school dignity, you remind yourself.

Slipping your hand into his, you take a few long strides away from them before you realize what you said.

“I- I did- I didn’t mean to call you babe,” you sputter, pulling your hand from his to look at him with wide eyes. 

“It’s okay though?”

Sungchan raises an eyebrow and slips his hand back into yours, smiling. 

“I don’t mind the rumours, you know?” He says honestly but his smile feels all too teasing. “Maybe we should go out for real.”

You huff, separating yourself from him again. “Maybe you just love attention. Disgusting.”

You point an accusatory finger at him and he bites at it playfully.

“While you're here, wanna see a cool trick I learned?" He straightens only having to tilt his head to look at you.

"If it's you falling on your face, then yes."

"I mean, hey, I could totally do that. Done that several times actually."

You smile despite trying your hardest not to. You like this about him—that he’s easygoing enough to make you look at life less seriously. If it’s with him, you could quit everything that makes you unhappy and start everything you love. 

“So where is your skateboard?” you ask, walking side by side with him, who has finally learned to match your pace.

“It’s with one of my friends,” he answers, and points to a tall girl with long brown hair, wearing a pair of tomboyish shorts and T-shirt. Another girl with short hair and a bucket hat accompanies her, wearing a long hoodie and shorts, but she leaves before you reach them. They must be from a different school because you’ve never seen them before. The first thing that pops into your head is that they’d be good replacements for your cheerleading position if you were ever to leave. You shake your head. Now is not the time.

“That’s Jimin!” he introduces, and you wonder how he’s this way—how he makes friends so easily.

Jimin waves at Sungchan and then proceeds to ask if you’re his girlfriend with a big smile, like a script being followed everywhere you go.

She seems a little disappointed at the answer. “Well, I was going to suggest one of the couples skateboards.”

You flash her an awkward smile. 

“But those are pretty difficult! I’ve been here for a month and my idea of skateboarding is still sitting on it while Soeun pushes me around. That’s my friend, by the way.”

“Ah.” You nod. “This is my first time skateboarding, actually. The only ‘sport’ I’ve ever done is cheerleading.”

Jimin furrows her eyebrows before her eyes widen. “Wait a minute. You’re the cheerleader best friend that Sungchan wouldn’t shut up about!”

Sungchan flusters, in the subtle way he usually does, and waves his hands robotically trying to explain. “I was just saying- that- that you’d be good at skateboarding. Because of the cheerleading.”

A boxy grin accompanies his explanation. 

“Right.” Jimin covers her face and sends an obvious wink your way. “Anyway, you can have my skateboard for the day.”

She hands over a smooth black skateboard with white wheels, but on closer inspection you find that they’re light-up wheels instead. It’s oddly fitting for someone like Jimin even if you’ve known her the entirety of ten minutes. Sungchan is good at finding friends, rather. Soon enough, she runs off after making Sungchan promise he’ll deliver the skateboard home.

The trick Sungchan wanted to show you was a failed kickflip. At the very least, it made you laugh so hard you almost spit out the strawberry milk he’d bought you. Sipping his own banana milk, he sulked for a moment or two, telling you to try it out and see how difficult it is.

On the contrary, Sungchan was right. You are good at balancing on skateboards. But that’s where it ends. You don’t think you’ll be naturally good at kickflips, though being able to glide through the plaza while Sungchan runs after you with the drinks puts a big smile on your face. It’s the most fun you’ve had in a while.  

Accompanied by Sungchan’s panicked “oh no”s and “oh we messed up”s, the two of you try the couple skateboarding move too; no one’s watching you here. It’s fun to see him stress over a skateboard because frankly, you’ve never met anyone as easy-going as Sungchan. (“I’ll figure it out along the way,” he says when you ask if he’s studying for finals, and proceeds to get a decent enough score). Suddenly the wandering gap is closed again. You’re not going to worry about stupid rumours from now on. 

But for some reason, ‘you like him as a friend’ doesn’t sound right either. Despite having said it so many times, you might not believe in it. You shake off the thought. This evening, at least, you’re going to enjoy with Sungchan without thinking of teenage drama and hormones. 

"You still don't think you and Sungchan make the perfect pair?" Yuna pouts. 

You narrow your eyes. "I don't take opinions from traitors."

Chaeryoung leans back on her chair, and whispers to you asking if you’re okay. At least someone is concerned about you.

“It hurts to be left by my own friends but—”

“No, I meant, are you okay? Why aren’t you dating Sungchan already? You’re so cute together! And you’re best friends—Netflix writers literally daydream of this.”

You groan, throwing up your hands in defeat.

“And,” Yuna adds, knocking her chair closer. “Who’s really the traitor here? Us who ditched you with the love of your life—or you, who runs off every time she gets a call from her boyfriend?”

“Sungchan is not my boyfriend.” You cross your arms.

“She even shares her lunch with him more,” Ryujin complains from the side. “And they’re not even in the same class. Unlike me, by the way. Class 1 Shin Ryujin. Same class as you, (name).”

You slump, resting your forehead against the desk. At this point, you wish the teacher would walk in and start the class already. Unfortunately, lunch break isn’t over for another ten minutes and lady luck clearly isn’t smiling upon you. 

“Speak of the devil!” Ryujin announces monotonously, leaning against her desk.

Sungchan and a few of his friends from the soccer team wave at you and the girls from the classroom door. Noticing Taehyun, Yuna quickly fixes her hair and you would tease her if Sungchan hadn’t casually strolled up to your desk and sat down on the chair in front of you. Long legs barely contained in the space, he adjusts himself by resting his arm on the headrest and his chin upon it. It’s all normal. However, when he leans down to match your eye level, you hear the sudden pit-a-pat of your pulse in your ear. At this proximity, you can even see the mole on his lip that he’s pointed out before. The sunlight from the open windows is pulling golden strings over his eyelashes and his lips aren’t dry as a desert like you expected. You know he uses the watermelon flavoured lip balm. 

“Too close,” you croak. Embarrassed at your own voice, you rise sharply and glare at him.

“Is your heart fluttering?” Sungchan asks, smiling as he looks up at you.

You roll your eyes. 

You can hear Yuna’s giggling and before you can shoot her a glare, Sungchan calls. 

"Do you have any bandaids?" 

He points to a rough scratch at the base of his palm, fingers slender and less calloused than what you'd pictured. Then again, soccer players don't use their hands much, do they?

You blink. "You came all the way here for bandaids?"

"Well… I remembered you keep band-aids in your phone case. And the nurse hates me."

You giggle.

Yujin mouths from behind Sungchan, “He just wanted to see her.” 

You would feel flattered if you didn't know these people and their shenanigans. They'd do anything for some drama (and to get two innocent people into the dating trap).

“Why would I waste my cute band aids on you?” you mutter under your breath. “They’re limited edition, you know?”

No way are you sticking Ice Bear on your urban hazard of a best friend. A tall, cute, surprisingly polite hazard but he still annoys you nonetheless.

However, Sungchan's pleading smile has grown on you.

You reluctantly take the band-aid out of your clear phone case, the pink panda doll attached to it swaying with the movement. Proceeding, you take Sungchan's hand and lay it on your desk. With careful focus, you place the band-aid, admiring the size difference of your hands before snapping to reality.

Enough with the pink cloud of thoughts, you scold yourself.

When you look up, the proximity makes your heart skip a beat despite the logical part of you saying you shouldn't. Your faces are too close and this time, you don't even have the energy to croak it out.

"Thanks, (name)," Sungchan smiles at you. 

Right then, the sound of a chair sliding harshly against the floor makes the two of you jolt away from each other. All of your friends and his friends seem to be sporting Cheshire cat grins and you don't like it one bit. You don't like not being in on the gag.

"Anybody up for gaming after this? My treat." Chenle looks around. “Sungchan is banned from the arcade soccer game though.”

"'Ey," Sungchan complains.

"Hey, Jisung and Ryujin are banned from DDR too but that's because they almost broke the handles off last time."

The memory makes you smile. Sungchan was there too, and you don’t know why you’re only just recalling all the memories with him in it, carefully and in detail. Every one of them seems to have been amplified, the little interactions suddenly coming to mind. 

“(name)? You’re coming?”

You take one look at Sungchan and give up. Even if this is another childish ploy by your peers, you don't mind spending some more time at the arcade with infuriatingly addictive games. A tiny part of you is even willing to go along with them and see if it turns out the way they want it to.

“I’ll go,” you mumble, and the rest of the group cheers. 

“But I have cleaning duty today.”

The group groans. 

“Just get someone else to do it. Like a junior.”

“Isn’t that bullying?” You ask, frowning.

“Ask nicely. Anyone would be willing to do your bidding, (name).”

“Chenle, will you do it?” You give him a sickly sweet smile. “You’re class president after all.”

Chenle wrinkles his nose. “You’re getting stupider every day, (name).”

You sigh. “Fine. I’ll ask one of Yuna’s classmates then.”

“By the way,” Chenle announces. “Only twelfth graders are invited—”

A bunch of groans interrupt him. 

“Quit whining.” He crosses his arms, glaring at them. “What do you even have to worry about? We’re preparing for the exam of our lives. Oh, and Jisung is an exception.”

“We’re only two years apart,” Yuna mutters under her breath.

“Oh, and from class 5, only Sungchan is invited.”

Another round of complaints pass and Chenle breaks into laughter. “Just kidding.”

Your friends are and will always be an odd bunch. Sungchan has previously proved to be the weirdest (several times) and it makes him the most lovable too. But then again, you don’t have free space in your timetable to put in teenage crushes, much less falling for your best friend. What you do have time for this afternoon, however, is relaxing at the arcade. 

-

“Let’s go! I am so good at this. Think I’d impress your Steve Curry?” Ryujun gloats, after having scored three hoops in a row at the arcade basketball game.

“It’s Stephen Curry,” Chenle corrects. “And no, let’s focus here. Our goals are—”

He points to the two figures by the DDR machine, looking like a real couple. He’s been acting as damage control for the rumours and making sure you don’t drift apart because of it. They really don’t make guys like him anymore, Chenle sighs. He should get a friendship award or something.

“—those two.”

Really, Sungchan better be thanking him by the end of this. He’s never met anyone quite like Jung Sungchan, especially because Chenle cannot picture himself liking the same person since elementary school.

“Man, now I wish I had a girlfriend,” Chenle mutters.

Ryujin snorts. “Who’s going to date you?”

“You don’t have a boyfriend either,” Chenle reminds and gets a basketball to the shoulder.

“Why are you playing that when you don’t even know how to use it?” Your voice rings through to them.

“I said I’ll figure it out!” Sungchan reasons.

Chenle and Ryujin stare at the two of you blankly, as you bicker over a claw machine game and they share a look.

“Do they need our help?” Ryujin whispers.

Chenle shakes his head. “I think they’ll figure it out from here.”

Soon enough, you were laughing at Sungchan’s failed attempts and trying to outplay him. Your friends have already given you the shove. Chenle and Ryujin share a high five and that’s where the new story begins.

You finally know the thrill of a teenage crush. It makes you so damn infuriated that it had to be Jung Sungchan. 

Now every time he waves at you from the field or hands you a bottle of strawberry milk or explains the calc notes you missed or does the bare minimum, you need to deal with the quickening of your pulse and a few butterflies loose from their cage in your stomach. It doesn’t help that you’re almost always together.

The two of you currently sit by the school field, Sungchan tying his shoelaces while you cool off with the water bottle he offered you. Practice ended a while ago for you and the girls have receded into the air conditioned indoor gym. The indoor gym is apparently occupied by the gymnast club and you couldn’t be more disappointed that you didn’t join them instead. 

If anything, however, you’d rather leave this whole thing and focus on your academics. Hobbies shouldn’t be draining you—they should feel like skateboarding on a lilac evening with the wind in your hair.

With a friend you like very, very much.

“Sungchan,” you call quietly. 

“Hm?” 

When he looks up, you can’t hold in the urge to fix the hair out of his eyes. You’ve never been very physically affectionate so it might have come off strange. Sungchan looks at you quietly, stars in his eyes and you clear your throat.

“How long have you been playing soccer? It was before we met, right?”

He hums, eyes traveling up and then back to you when he remembers. “Since I was six. You were there at my first soccer match actually.”

“I was? Oh my god, was it the one you lost horribly and the whole team started crying?”

“Yes. Yes, it was.”

You giggle. “Six year old you would be so in awe now.”

Sungchan beams at that. 

“Who knows?” he smiles, looking into your eyes with firm determination. “Maybe I’ll be the next Son Heungmin.”

“Even I know who that is so… no.”

Sungchan pouts and you make a face in disgust. “Don’t act cute, it gives me hives.”

“Okay, maybe not Son Heungmin. I could definitely be the next Park Jisung—and I don’t mean him.”

Sungchan points to a boy passed out on the benches, his exhaustion typical of any high schooler while another boy sits beside him, fanning him with a bunch of assignment papers. Jisung and Chenle really are more entertaining than any game on this field. 

You turn to look at Sungchan, who’s moving his head around trying to catch their attention. When he finally does, he waves at them and gets big grins in response. He’s not all that bad, you think. In fact, he’s quite possibly the most amiable boy in senior year.

“Just be Jung Sungchan,” you mutter. “Not Son Heungmin or Park Jisung.”

Sungchan turns to you, smiling wide. “Advice taken.”

You scoff. “Whatever.”

Maybe it’s just you but Sungchan has been glancing at your lips very frequently today and mentally thank Chaeryoung for letting you borrow her lip tint. You didn’t know something so subtle could get you this giddy.

“Are you… going to give the CSAT?” You ask, glancing at him nervously. Part of you is sad you only developed your first high school crush in the very last semester. Or if it’s comforting, you could believe you’ve liked him all this time.

“Nah. Sports scholarship,” he says nonchalantly. “I was going to tell you but… I’ve been scouted already.”

You gasp. “That’s… great. Your future’s all settled.”

Sungchan seems to dislike the idea, lips pursing. “I don’t think anything’s settled except for the next step.”

You nod, somewhat understanding. 

“What about you?” He asks. “Any university in mind? SKY? I’ve seen you study extra hours at the library.”

You look away, not feeling ready for the conversation.

“I don’t know,” you say quietly. “I don’t know what I like and what I want. I don’t even like cheer anymore.”

Sungchan gazes at you wordlessly but it’s the most comfortable you’ve felt talking about this.

“Maybe I should quit,” you mumble.

You don’t want to commit to something you no longer have passion for. But then again, you’ve spent so much time on it that it’s hard to leave. 

“You should,” he responds, honest. 

You scoff, shaking yourself from that moment of vulnerability. “But why would I quit something I’m good at?”

“If you don’t like it. If it hurts to leave but isn’t any better when you stay, you should leave.”

You roll your eyes. “You’re quite the philosopher.”

“I’m smart, right?”

You smile. 

“Oy, you two!” Chenle calls, making his way to you two with Jisung trailing behind. “I don’t mean to interrupt your flirting but you got a spare water bottle?”

“Are you two going out now?” Jisung asks as a follow-up, and you feel a hot flush for some reason, unlike the previous times you’ve been asked this question.

“No,” you answer. You don’t mind the idea though now.

“Don’t lie,” Chenle complains. “I saw that picture of Sungchan teaching you how to kick a ball. You? And soccer? Something’s up.”

You throw up your hands in exasperation. “Seriously, who keeps up posting to the school page? And where do they get the time?”

"Two people with this much compatibility will always be a hot topic."

"We're not compatible," you retort quickly.

"Wait," Jisung says. "I know how to resolve this."

You raise an eyebrow.

"How do you have your cereal?" He asks, looking from you to Sungchan.

"Cereal first, obviously," you answer.

Sungchan looks up, finger below his chin as he thinks. "I drink the milk first, then eat the cereal and then breakdance to mix it all together."

You pinch your nose. "I swear I question your sanity all the time."

"Hah! That means you're thinking about me all the time."

You look away, rolling your eyes. He responds with an open-mouthed smile and finger guns.

"See?" Jisung grins. "Compatible."

The gruff voice of Coach Lee startles the four of you and Sungchan leaves with a sigh and a promise of meeting after practice. Jisung leaves with Sungchan and Chenle gives you one last teasing smirk before sitting down and going through the assignment papers he was using as a fan previously. You will never understand his miraculous ways of performing his presidential duties.

You don’t have a good feeling about the next match. The only reason you’re even sticking around anymore—as embarrassing as it—is to spend more time with Sungchan. Being with him puts you at ease, even if the school tries to wrap the two of you in a rope of uneasiness. This is your very last practice, for the next match is the final one of this year and then you’ll be back to spending even longer hours at the library with a stack of textbooks. It’s supposed to be a carefree age. At least, adults say that. Your high school life seems to be riddled with worries, and with that thought, you head into the air conditioned room to take a breather off your anxieties. 

Only one more match, you remind yourself. 

The pre-match buzz is driving you to the edge.

Your form is off, you can feel it already and Coach Kim isn’t as sunshine-as-rainbows as she usually is, courtesy to it being the last match of your life. She’ll never know though, how much you don’t want to do this. 

Sungchan waves at you as he usually does before a match, disappointing a third of his fangirls, but it helps you ease. One last time, (name).

Watching the crowd of people, parents and siblings and friends, all excited and talking makes you take a deep breath. You practiced but it wasn’t good enough. You can never do well at something you don’t like anymore. This time, you feel guilty for committing to things half-heartedly. You want to start that fresh new college chapter already, with all of this behind.

There’s ten minutes left. You go back to the empty hall outside the lockers only to pace. This isn’t helping.

“(name)!”

You turn around abruptly to find Sungchan’s tall figure, and you must be looking miserable because his smile falls.

He doesn’t even ask what’s wrong, only takes careful steps towards you. “Do you need water? Medicine?”

His hands hover over your shoulder but he doesn’t burden you with them. You put your face in your palms and sigh, sinking down to the floor in a crouch.

“I want to quit,” you whisper. Your voice comes off more brittle than you’d like, and you realize that Sungchan hasn’t seen you cry since seventh grade when you failed a math test. You didn’t tell him then but you appreciated him studying extra hours for math just to teach you.

“You don’t have to go out there if you don’t want to,” he says quietly, dropping to the floor beside you. “I’ll stay with you.”

You stare at him dumbfounded. “Don’t be ridiculous! They’ll lose without you—you’re the ace, Sungchan!”

“There will always be an ace,” he retorts. “Maybe Jisung will finally get to shine. Or anyone else. I don’t mind spending an hour with you alone.”

You feel a hot flush spread over your cheeks. Looking away to the side, you mumble an ‘alright’ and only glance from the corner of your eye to see him smiling. Jung Sungchan is the most unreasonable boy you’ve ever met. Perhaps it makes him somewhat loveable too.

“It’s your last match,” you whisper helplessly.

“I’ll join the college soccer club and get to play more matches.”

You sigh, giving in. If he’s so adamant, you think that perhaps there is something in you worth sacrificing his game over. It makes an oddly warm feeling bloom in your chest. Sungchan is so damn convincing with his words. You wonder if it’s really okay.

With shoulders touching, an awkward silence takes over in the next second. You turn to him and open your mouth, watch him do the same and close it at the same time he does.

“You know,” he begins, “I was kind of lying about not worrying because I get the feeling coach will evaporate me tomorrow but—I can handle it. Mostly.”

You stare at him with wide, worried eyes. “You don’t have to do this, Sungchan. I’m the one running away.”

You slouch, pulling your knees closer to your chest and burying your face in them. The urge to scream is boiling within you but you can’t get caught. Not now.

“Sometimes to run is the brave thing,” he responds, insightful. “If you’re not up for it, it’s better to quit early than to regret it in the long run.”

You don’t know if it’s the fact that he just quoted Taylor Swift or spoke like your old school counselor—but you find yourself laughing. He makes sense. Sungchan, in his weird, oddball ways, always makes sense. And in that same way, he feels like home.

“You’re so good to me,” you say, looking up at him and at a proximity you’ve never been before.

It’s his turn to fluster, though he doesn’t do so as visibly as you do. He clears his throat, shifting his eyes around before meeting yours. “I- This is bad timing but… I like you. I really do. Since third grade when you drew that birthday card for me. I have it in my bedside drawer, by the way.”

He looks away and makes a face, probably wondering why he said that out loud.

You press your lips tight to prevent the smile that tugs at them. He looks at you with a wobbly smile, trying his hardest to resume his usual dignity—but he’s just a boy, after all. 

“My type is dumb and pretty, though?” You tease, the smile escaping. “You said it yourself.”

He blinks. “Well, I am pretty but if you want me to be stu—”

You shake your head. “I like you too. You don’t have to act cute.”

He pauses, thinking. “I have never acted cute in my life ever. I was born cu—”

You hold his face between your thumb and forefinger. “You do that again and you die.”

He breaks into a smile. 

“I’ve never met someone quite like you,” you whisper, embarrassed of your own feelings bubbling up from the bottle you had kept them in.

He laughs, open-mouthed and pretty. 

“Actually, hey, I didn’t like you all this time from fifth. I liked you and then I didn’t like you and then I liked you again—”

“Okay, I get it.”

His shoulders relax and he smiles at you. You look up at the clock on the wall by the entrance to the field and bite your lip. You don’t love performing anymore but you know all the girls do, even the stand-bys. Jisung might not have to take over Sungchan’s position but you bet one of those tenth graders would love to take yours, the same way you did back then. They’ve practiced harder than you too and it’s only a matter of deserving.

You take a deep breath and get up, pulling up Sungchan by the hand. He raises an eyebrow, inquisitive eyes scanning over your face and you smile at him, strengthening your resolve. You should have done this way sooner.

-

Sungchan plays. You don’t let him sit it out with you. 

Halfway through, you cheer the hardest you ever have, plastic decorative gemstones stuck by your eyes borrowed from the other girls cheering. It’s much more fun, you think. You’ve never experienced soccer like this. You’d love to sit at stadiums and join in victory chants. There’s enough weight off your chest to yell your lungs out.

Sungchan scores a goal almost immediately after and sends a thumbs up over to you. You laugh. This is the best break you’ve ever taken from cheerleading. 

“Ooh, is this perhaps the (name) effect?” Chenle’s voice rings through the speakers and you feel yourself shrink slightly under the eyes. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see your homeroom teacher signal very angrily to the commentator box. You shake yourself off it. So what if everyone’s looking?

Sungchan places his hands on his hips, chest heaving and sends another signal to you before beelining for a straight goal. You whoop and the girl with a notebook beside you is visibly annoyed at this point but you don’t care. 

Without doubt, your school wins and you watch as Sungchan runs to his team, a big smile on his face. The second he’s done getting pet by the team, however, he rushes to the bleachers, skipping over the steps to you, panting when he stops. The risk he took was definitely not calculated. He holds up one finger while he heaves.

“My cheering worked best this time, it seems,” you say to him, laughing.

His face is flushed from the exertion but he laughs heartily. “You could be yelling profanity at me and it’d still encourage me.”

You shake your head at the cheesy line. He takes a step forward, well inside your space but you don’t mind. He leans in.

“Everyone is looking at us,” he says under his breath. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”

You look behind him to find the whole team, along with your girls sharing furtive glances and giggling at the sight of the two of you. A few of the junior girls slap each other’s arms, bouncing on the balls of their feet in excitement. You’re not a celebrity. But everyone wants to cheer things on once in a while, don’t they?

“Good,” you answer, before pulling him by the shirt into a chaste kiss. When you pull apart, Sungchan’s face is so struck with awe that you want to look away but instead you bite back an obvious smile. It’s about damn time, someone from the soccer team yells.

“Woah. I think I scored a goal either way,” he says, an offbeat smile on his face.

“Oh come on, we didn’t even get to chant ‘Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!’ yet—oh shit, the mic’s on.”

Chenle is definitely getting an earful from your teacher after this. The two of you wave at him at the box and end up laughing at him trying to hide behind the desk. 

As expected, the whole crowd surrounds the two of you in less than a minute’s worth of time, with several congratulations and “good score” offered to the two of you. The boys mess up Sungchan’s hair while the girls compliment you on how cute a couple you are. There’s also the question of when you started dating that pauses the buzz and makes everyone look to the two of you for an answer. Sungchan turns to you and you turn to him, and there’s no way you’ll tell half the school that your confession came in a private hallway outside the field—teenage imaginations run wild. 

Instead, you slip your hand into Sungchan’s and run down the bleachers and towards the exit, laughter spilling from your lips. There’s only one place you can think of going to spend a cool blue late afternoon with.

“Skate plaza?” He asks.

“Skate plaza,” you answer.

[yakumtsaki]

Alright, time for the FOR REAL last spare update because ffs. Brit Brit and Reginald move Downtown in this beautiful Eaxis shack, reminds me of generation 1♡ How you doing, Brit, I know this isn’t really your scene.

-Oh it’s great, I’ve never been better!

Are you sure you’re not maybe a little bit in denial?

-Of course not!

Are you really sure??

-Oh hi, Wanda! Just wanted to let you know your daughter is a homewrecking slut! :D -Didn’t you homewreck her first? -That doesn’t sound like me.

-Ah, cereal for every meal! Nutritious! I don’t miss Gunther’s lobster at all! I’ll find another lobster! Bigger and without freckles!

GROSS.

Brit Brit wanted to get a dog and I wasn’t gonna do it because we are BROKE, but then I’m like hmm what if we put it to work.. So we got Dakota the beagle and Brit LOVES her..

..unlike poor Reginald, who has to rely on Trent Traveller’s charity.

Every single update this generation has featured some questionable parenting, but allow Brit to take the cake as Reginald grows up a) in the bathroom b) while the nanny takes a crap c) in this haircut. Over before it began. 

From what I can tell Reggie is a Brit clone other than Gunther’s BUSTED AF JAW, which you guys might remember I discovered is somehow sharper on one side than it is on the other?? Thanks for literally nothing Gunther.

So there are a ton of sims out there who are competent and hardworking and can handle single-parenthood with no problem. Unfortunately it’s becoming clear that Brit is not one of them, so the time has come to remarry, and I know just the hapless moron we’re gonna trap..

..hello again, Castor!

-Can you believe Melody took from me what I had rightfully stolen from her?? Such betrayal is unforgivable, we’ll never be best friends again!! -Of course, especially when there’s a child involved! -Thankfully the child isn’t Gunther’s, I wouldn’t want those genes near me! -It’s not? Whose is it? -Well yours, of course! Why do you think I called you here! 

-WHAT?? I’M A DAD??? :D -Yes you are, baby! -Oh Brit, that makes me so happy! Why didn’t you tell me before? -I’m sorry darling but I couldn’t, it would cause such a scandal due to my immense fame after the Monty Farms Orange Soda commercial! -That must have been so hard on you, Brit. 

-It was, but it’s all better now, and we can finally be a family! -I’d love that Brit-

-WAIT WAIT WAIT, HOLD UP. WHAT? WE HAVEN’T HOOKED UP IN 20 YEARS, HOW COULD THIS KID POSSIBLY BE MINE?? -EXCUSE ME??? YOU DON’T REMEMBER SLEEPING WITH ME 3 YEARS AGO?? WHAT THE FUCK, CASTOR -I slept with you 3 years ago??? Where??? -At the alumni-undergrad mixer!!! -I never go to that thing! -OH MY GOD. You seriously don’t remember? Do you have a drinking problem?? You know what, I didn’t dump one drunkard slut just to get with another one, Reginald deserves better! If you don’t want to be there for your child that’s fine! -No, I want to be there for him! I’m so sorry, Brit, I guess I was drunk.

-It’s ok baby, I forgive you. Why don’t you go meet your son?

-Hey Reginald, I’m your daddy! You don’t know each other well yet, but I can feel that you’re 50% my DNA and my primal paternal instincts are starting to awaken. 

Man, Brit and I are truly of one mind, they’re not even in love yet LOL. I see you, girl!

-Castor, will you marry me and take responsibility for this child you sired? -Of course I will, Brit! Let me just drop out of college, brb.

-Bye, dude! -Good luck! -I don’t need luck when I’m marrying an angel like Brit!

Ah, what a beautiful wedding. It’s Castor’s look of perplexment for me.

With Castor’s (disappointing) cash infusion we move to this bigger but equally fug house next door.

The career flopage around here is unreal. Et tu, Dakota??

Fml for real. It’s time to grind like never before!!! I change Castor’s ridic knowledge aspiration to popularity and now he wants to be a Celeb Chef, how nice and high paying!

I can’t believe we’re using money trees, I didn’t even resort to that during Vic-Komei early years. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Shockingly, pseudo-intellectual himbo Castor has really grown on me, he’s very good at taking care of himself (unlike Brit whom I have to chase around to make sure she doesn’t die)-

-and since I kept his knowledge aspiration as a secondary he just skills for his career uncomplainingly-

..plus he loves Reginald!

And let me tell you, that’s a hard feat, this brat’s personality is classic Union aka super active, super neat, super mean nightmare.

Thanks solely to Castor, Reggie grew up well! I really didn’t see that coming. LOL @ this hippie outfit.

-Change me right now!!!

Ah, much better! Boy, he might legit be the snootiest looking child I’ve ever had, he even beats out Jojo.

So Brit immediately wanted to get Reggie into private school and the headmaster came while Castor was at work. But since Brit has like 5 cooking points by now I was like it’s gonna be fine, and she of course burned the food. It looked like a lost cause, until Castor returned from work and singlehandedly saved us..

..by SCHMOOZING. WHAT. Bro this interaction always flops for me but I guess Castor was ~the cool man on campus~ for a reason! I can’t believe I’ve come to stan Castor Nova, what can I tell you, he’s been great.

We finally catch a freaking break financially when the matchmaker leaves us a much undeserved genie lamp.

-UGH, DON’T YOU PEOPLE EVER CLEAN THIS CRAPHOLE

Blame Melody and Gunther for kicking our garbage can 50 times a day because Brit kicks their garbage can. It’s a vicious cycle.

-Hmm let me think.. Beauty? Already got it. Longer life? I’m gonna be an immortal Icon. Peace of mind? Never had it, don’t need it. 

-Bags of cash so I can finally fuck outta here? Do I have to tell Castor about it and ‘share’?🤢 -NO🧞 -You’ve got a deal. 

-I got an A+ I got an A+!!!!!

Sorry Reg, unless it comes with a cash reward I’m not interested.

OH MY GOD FINALLY

FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

YAS. WE DID IT BRIT!!!!!!!!!

-‘We’? All you did was have me top the wrong career.

It was confusing ok?? 

So on the same day Castor gets promoted to lvl 9 via chance card, and when he comes back that thing happens when he still has time to go to work in his new schedule-

-AND HE GETS PROMOTED AGAIN.

AND HE GETS A 10K BONUS

I STAN AN INDUSTRIOUS KING

Time to fuck off!!!

But not before Reginald grows up into an even snootier teen-

-and ROLLS THIS. I am straight up cursed but I guess we know who’s gonna be taking care of the spare pets once Daniel dies.

With our hard, HARD earned money, we finally move into this Brit-appropriate abode, which I of course didn’t build hence it looks great.

Birthday time for Brit Brit! You’ve had a tough go of it babe, time to enjoy life with your boy-toy! 

-Oh, the places I’ll go! Twikkii Island to be exact!

And that’s it for Kween Brit Brit and a wrap on the spares! Back to the main house now, and we’ll be taking Reginald with us to college!

[cursedcatboy]

“I am what I am. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, for you have been kind to me. But I am a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer.” – Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn.

INTRODUCING :  EZRAEL BINX

inspired by: KITTY MINX from LOVE IN HATE NATION. RACETRACK HIGGINS from NEWSIES. APOLLYON from HELLO FROM THE HALLOWOODS. RICHIE TOZIER from IT (2017) && IT: CHAPTER TWO.  PUCK from A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. HOBAN “WASH” WASHBURNE from FIREFLY. // with hints of: john amoroso from the black suits. taako from the adventure zone: balance. aubrey little from the adventure zone: amnesty. jamie taylor from the haunting of bly manor. portia devorak from the arcana. ted “theodore” logan from bill and ted’s excellent adventure. wirt from over the garden wall. sally owens from practical magic. as well as: — the good, comfy vibes you get from a stevie nicks song. — the crisp earthy-sweet smell of damp fallen leaves. — the fog that results from a warm day turning into a cool night. — old black and white monster movies && arsenic and old lace. — this specific color palette. — the warm scent of sandalwood incense burning.

GENERAL

name. ezrael lysander binx. nicknames. ez, ezzie ( to a very rare few ), rae, little cat ( a thackery exclusive ) date of birth. august 13th. age. twenty three. gender. nonbinary. pronouns. they / them. powers. quick reflexes, very good balance. sexuality. pansexual. place of birth. hallow falls.           current residence. elias.          occupation. bartender, aspiring musician. song. we all float down here - four year strong. emojis. 😈 🧡 🎸

APPEARANCE  

height.  6′1″. build. athletic, lean. hair colour/style. shortish, just above shoulder-length & curly; naturally medium brown but they’ve been known to dye it black for funsies.       eye colour. green.         piercings. ears & septum.          tattoos. small black lineart of a crescent moon on the inside of their left wrist, small black lineart of a star on the inside of their right wrist, more to come.       notable markings. a few small scars on their fingers from their whittling phase, a scar just above the right side of their top lip, freckles.            glasses/contacts? neither.       faceclaim. fin argus. voiceclaim. n/a. but there is a lilt of an accent to their voice because of their growing up in thackery’s company.

HEALTH        

allergies. dogs && mangoes. sleeping habits. 6-7 hours a night; sometimes little naps during the day.     eating habits. pescatarian.            dominant hand. left.     drugs / smoke / alcohol? sometimes / yes / only in social situations.

PERSONALITY 

tropes.  lovable rogue, class clown, flirty bard. positive traits. patient, caring, loyal.        negative traits. stubborn, loud, rash.                  likes. bright colors, learning new things, cats, magic, 70s/80s rock, black converse.       dislikes. people who talk over them, being told what to do, tomatoes, most shades of brown.       bad habits. smoking, being reckless. 

RELATIONSHIPS

mother. unknown. father. thackery binx. siblings. n/a. children. none.    significant others. n/a. closest friends. tba.

TESTS

zodiac sign. leo. mbti. enfp.         temperament. sanguine.                  moral alignment. chaotic neutral.       primary vice. pride.       primary virtue. patience.

SKILLS & STATS

languages spoken. english, french, spanish, latin. drive? yes. jump start a car? yes.       change a flat tire? yes.        ride a bicycle? yes.          swim? no.      play an instrument? yes. guitar && piano.         play chess? yes but they hate it. they find it boring.           braid hair? yes.         tie a tie? yes.         pick a lock? yes.         sew? yes.    

here is a playlist for them !! :3

WANTED CONNECTIONS

;; all we are is dust in the wind, dude. | bandmates ! jam sesh buds !

ezrael can play a mean guitar but they can also play the keyboard & sing ! they just need someone ( or several someones! ) to jam with & talk music !! either this can be a Solid Band or just people jamming together & sometimes playing shows - ez is fine with either. music is their passion. 

;; if we shadows have offended. | magic friends !      

just people who have helped/can help ezrael earn more about magic! they've read books and done research but they've stayed more on the Book Knowledge side of things and they've been itching to try a spell or two - nothing major, just for funsies. their dad is thackery after all, they know not to mess with the Big Stuff.

;; the whiskey sure works && lordy i love it. | drinking buddies !  

ezrael is a social drinker and while they do tend to actively make friends while drinking, they much prefer to go out with friends than go out to find​​​​ friends.

;; people who build their houses in your heart. | close friends !  

ezrael is very social & they have friends of all sorts. but i have a feeling that they only have a few close friends - the ones they trade secrets with and always think to text first. midnight slumber party besties y'know? the sort of friends you go stargazing & contemplate life with.

;; the way that i feel, don't try to say it isn't real | exes / flings !  

ezrael is pansexual & can be right flirty when they want to. perhaps they parted ways happily & are still friends! perhaps they Didn't & are anything but friendly. ez doesn't like to burn bridges but they also aren't sure if they like being tied down for too long. their dad must've passed some of his feral cat energy on to them.

&& more, i’m sure!! if you have an idea for a connection feel free to reach out !! :3

[minnesotanaccent]

For the requests could you draw the apprentices with pets you think they'd have?

Hi!!! Ok so, outside of the saw cat saga (where eveyone just had cats) this is what I think Amanda, Lawrence, and Hoffman would have as pets!!

Amanda really wants a pet and asks John if she can have one and he says no becasue they can’t have an animal running around the workshop. So she gets a low maintenance animal that she can just keep in a tank in her room- a hermit crab!!! She loves her little crab so much too.

Lawrence has a dog (it’s a beagle) and I think maybe Diana asked Alison if they could get a dog and she said no (for a good reason, something like maybe she has allergies or she thinks Diana needs to be older etc) and then Diana goes and asks Lawrence if they can get a dog and he’s like yeah sure and goes and gets one as a surprise and Diana is like YESSS and Alison is like excuse me Larry why didn’t you ask me if we could get a dog wtf dude . And then when they divorce he takes the dog w him bc he was the one who was actually taking care of it (bc Diana is a kid obviously) and he really bonds with it and it really helps him by keeping him company and stuff. I think it’s pretty cute

Hoffman still has a cat !!!! I can’t see him with anything else but a cat tbh. Also I know I said before it was a stray that he rescued, but I’ve been thinking lately what if it was his sisters cat and he cat to take it in after she died? I think this would be cute especially if he kinda didn’t like the cat before and was always kinda standoffish around it but then he was like oh it was my sisters cat and it’s all I have left of her so I have to love this goddamn cat and then they finally bonded :)