#i probably should look for pages with tons of picture of them instead of

[parttimetimetravellermaybe]

I've been looking for some pictures of different classic doctors for something and why is it way too difficult to find a picture were they are smiling (or at least not making weird/sad faces) and also not looking at the camera.

I swear every good picture of them smiling it's one where they are staring directly into your soul,,, Whyyyyyyy

[gay-dorito-dust]

Remember how Ford made himself a target during weirdmageddon by admitting that he knew the equation to collapse the barrier on gravity falls to keep him distracted so he wouldn’t go after his family, even if that meant he’d go through a f*ck ton of torture?

I think he did the same thing back in the 80’s when he realized Bill was evil but didn’t go to you for help. Sure, maybe half of it was him not believing he had any right to reach out to you for help after he essentially ghosted you for months because of Bill’s influence, but the other half was definitely him wanting to keep you as far outside of Bill’s reach as possible.

If we’re being real, Bill likely threatened to possess his body and hurt or maybe even off you, so as much as it pained him to stay away, he believed you’d be safer if he did.

The sad thing is, you got hurt regardless.

Dunno if this answers your ask or not, I’ll let you decide.

I imagine that Ford has like a two page spread dedicated to you in his journal, very much in the same way he had a page dedicated to heavily debating whether or not he should reach out to Stanley for help.

But instead of the page being full of cons why Ford shouldn’t contact you, it’s him admitting to his biggest and most stupidest regret he’s ever committed: pushing you away and how he truly believes that in order to keep you safe he had to cut connections with you and go non contact. His hand ached like hell from when Bill tried to punch and scratch the door to the portal but the ache in his heart was ever greater than that.

The page would be covered head to toe in drawings of you and your sweet smile, maybe even adding a picture of you both when you were younger. Bill might’ve been his muse for a while but you were his lifelong muse that he has tossed aside for something temporary.

You grew up with him and Stanley and knew him better then he knew himself in most cases and instead of repaying the favour, Ford fucked off to gravity Falls and dedicated himself entirely to his work, isolating himself from anyone and everyone and would often double down on this when confronted about it.

Though sooner or later the regret settles in his chest as he soon realises that he was on his own after Fiddleford left.

He had let bill consume him from the inside out and made him believe that no one outside of them both should matter or be worth a second thought; Even you, his once dearly beloved. The one who didn’t see his six fingers as an abnormality but a gift, a blessing even to his distinct uniqueness. You gave him your all and he gave you nothing in return. How selfish of him.

Ford wouldn’t be surprised if you had forgotten about him or had your heart sour at the thought of him and moved on after awhile. he couldn’t blame you, he never could as he felt it was a befitting punishment for never having bothered to reach out and respond whenever you asked him if he was okay, or taking care of himself. All you wanted was for him to be safe and enjoy Gravity Falls for what it was and not what he wanted it to be and Ford didn’t even do that.

Ford was certain you’d be ashamed of him and the things he’s done alongside Bill, or the things Bill did while possessing him. You’d probably wouldn’t recognise him anymore even if he did reach out to you.

He wanted to reach out to you, he really did but he didn’t feel as though the reception he would receive wouldn’t be a warm one. You wouldn’t smile at him lovingly or call his name with a fondness and hug him tightly, but instead look at him as though he was the cause of all your misery because in some aspect he was, and never had he regretted it more then he did now when his own loneliness became evident and hard to deny.

Bill would’ve made multiple threats to Ford that he’d kill you or torture you while possessing him so that it would look like he was the one hurting you if he ever thought about reaching out to you, and he’d make sure that it would haunt him for the rest of his life knowing that he couldn’t do anything to protect the one he loved the most. Bill would make a point with your theoretical death as to keep Ford in line.

Ford probably even have hallucinations of you dying or dead before he could even reach you and would believe that this was a sign to not get you involved in his mess. He has no right to reach for you after being silent for so long, which is why he decided to take the risk and reach out to Stanley instead, only with the promise that he didn’t tell you what was going on no matter how hard it maybe for him to not do so, as he knew Stanley has a weak spot for you -his honorary sibling or in law should Ford have actually married you- and it had been that way since you were kids.

However despite all the risks Ford has put himself through, you were still nursing a broken heart over his lack of communication ever since he moved to Gravity Falls. Maybe he had forgotten all about you during his stay, or finally felt relived that he was leaving town that he forgot you were the reason it was bearable? Whether the reason it didn’t stop your heart from hurting knowing that the perfect man you’ve known since childhood had left you in the past while he headed towards his future, alone.

You’d love him, you’d never stop loving Ford and you don’t think you ever could and what hurt the most was that he might’ve felt something, or nothing at all for you, but you’ll never get that answer from him directly so you decided the answer for yourself and have been living with a broken heart ever since.

[athetos]

What's so bad about chrome? Except the anti-adblockers thing (I don't use adblockers anyway because they stop small businesses and youtubers collecting any ad revenue because no ads were displayed) and the data stealing thing, which I probably don't care about as much as I should.

A few things:

1. You can disable ad blockers on specific pages, so you can use it on the most offending sites and turn it off for ones you allow. Which. Honestly block ads on YouTube lol youtubers make MAYBE a single penny if you watch an ad, while YouTube profits like crazy overall. If you want to support them directly through merch or tipping or patreon 100% do that instead. I see it as a Spotify situation; stream their songs all you want, they’ll probably see just pennies; support them through merch / tickets/ vinyl.

2. You should definitely care about data stealing more. If you request your info collected from Google, you’ll get over 100 pages of data, easy. Everything from your entire search history to your exact locations. They’re NOT ppl you want to trust with that info. Besides the absolute lack of privacy, they share that information with ad companies to make a profit - and even with the government, such as ICE. There’s a reason everyone encourages people where abortion is illegal to use VPNs and whatnot when looking at abortion resources. Some apps that track menstruation even provide that info to clinics so they can tell if you’ve terminated a pregnancy! That’s scary shit. I don’t want any corporation or the government to know my exact coordinates or what I’ve been looking at. Of course, if the government formally REQUESTS firefox data, they have no choice but to oblige, but they don’t actively cooperate with them. (That’s where vpns come in)

3. Google chrome is SLOW. I didn’t realize how slow it was until I switched to Firefox. I can’t explain it super well, but chromium browsers use a ton of memory, because each tab has its own processes running? Something like that. Firefox doesn’t; it’s significantly faster and smoother, and your computer won’t chug after you open a bunch of tabs.

4. Sooooo many customization options that are fun to play with, and add-ons are super helpful.

5. Picture in Picture mode my beloved… it’s awesome having a video playing in a little frame while surfing other sites.

So I HIGHLY encourage everyone to switch to firefox, it’s free, more accessible, FUCK Google for being a shitty corporation anyways, it keeps your shit more private, and it’s faster. No regrets.

(While you’re at it, you should look into getting a VPN too. I recommend protonvpn, which has a free tier! It doesn’t have as many options as their paid tier, but it’s very good. They also have their own email, which is nice but sadly a bit awkward to use)

[sweetchotimochi]

tips for acing chem ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

(disclaimer: this worked for me. It may not work for you, and that’s okay! Keep trying, you can do it!)

Continuous exposure to chemistry: One of the biggest things that helped me in chemistry was the continuous exposure I had beforehand. I had plenty of books that I read about chemistry, watched documentaries, had an interactive book about all the elements, e.t.c. Continuous exposure allows you to retain a lot more information beforehand, and it is different from studying. Studying is BORING, continuous exposure and learning IS NOT. Allow yourself to have fun while learning chem!

Watch videos about things you don’t understand and apply them yourself: The most challenging thing in chemistry was probably equations. You should probably watch videos to learn this. There are tons of videos out on YouTube, Khan Academy and more. Not only should you watch these videos but try to follow along and apply them into questions. If, like Khan Academy, there are ways you can do a little quiz or test yourself, be sure to do that! It helps a lot.

Ask for help from peers: This, 100%, is a great way to learn. If I was feeling sluggish or tired, I would ask for help from peers, and write down what they said. I would also take pictures of their notes and learn from that as well, later on. It helps a lot to learn from someone just like you, so you can understand better.

Active studying: I think this is a very common tip, but it is so important!! You may have a textbook or something to follow on in classes, so here’s what to do: read the textbook chapters and summarize them in your own way. It helps so much. Writing about each section or chapter allows you to take that information, and write it in a different way while still having the most important parts. DO NOT highlight or read. That is passive studying, and trust me, it does not help. Write down, summarize, do a mind map but do NOT highlight or read. It’s okay to do that for help but it really isn’t the best way to handle a concept and info-heavy class like chemistry.

Interactive, do-it-yourself studying: I heard a lot of classes just have a teacher who drones on and on and most students just have to write the stuff down, a test about every 2 weeks and move on. That is a terrible way to learn. If you are not doing well on tests or anything, this is probably why. This is a chance to use other resources for interactive learning, like videos. Something I used to do was watch experiments on YouTube, which helped me a LOT to learn about chemistry, chemical experiments and more. If you have online resources which help in interactive learning, go ahead and do that. I would not pay attention in my physics class because this is what the class was like, but I would go back home and write everything I remembered, and learn from the web.

Revision tips: I think a great way to learn is to start from a blank page. Use that blank page to start writing everything you know about a topic, formulas, diagrams, e.t.c. Why is this such an effective studying style? Because in a test, you have a blank page. You don't have mind maps, your pretty studying notes or anything else. This helps you in tests so much because then you are skilled in pouring all that information onto the blank test page. After you finish, go ahead and look back on your notes: What are you missing? What doesn’t make sense? Now you can focus on what you don’t know, are confused about, and start honing on those spots.

Learn from tests: As soon as you get your test back, let's say you get a C. Instead of staring in shock, LOOK at the test. What did the teacher mark? What notes did they write? You can write short notes on a sticky note, and problems that you didn’t understand. Then, go back to your notes and figure out why you got that question wrong. Is it because you didn’t focus on this topic much? Silly mistake? Go ahead and write the answer and try the question again on a separate piece of paper. After that, go back and strengthen those spots so you don’t make that mistake again.

If you have other problems, like not being able to study for chem long, mind being somewhere far away, chemistry is boring.. Those are not chemistry problems, those are probably study problems. There are many tips out there on the web made by awesome, amazing people that can help you better. If you are truly struggling, maybe it's best to stop and think about the course as a whole. Ask for help. And remember, these tips helped me, but they may not work for you. And that is absolutely okay. Your worth is not determined by your grades.

[ihatebnha]

Bakugo who never uses social media except to cause chaos once in a blue moon and leave immediately >>>>>>>>>> other highlights that broke the internet for a few days include posting a picture of literally just his hand, no caption. Responding to a fan asking him (jokingly) to spank them with his quirk with "wouldn't that hurt" and once again leaving instantly. A paparazzi photo of him jogging shirtless and retweeting it to "make sure his gf sees it." Red Riot: one rt and I'll post ass on main 🤪 *retweeted by Dynamite* He is just big and dumb and chaotic and I love him <3

OMGGGGGGGG GOD have you ever like, run across one of those semi-inactive verified Twitter or Instagram pages, one that has at least a couple million fans despite there being only like 2 posts from YEARS AGO, one of an ancient promotional tweet and the other being like a super blurry stock photo? 

Yea, that’s definitely Bakugo’s Twitter account when he first becomes a Pro... his agency posts like one headshot photo of him and a couple of announcements... but the rest is left up to him to which he just does absolutely NOTHING and it ends up staying like that for years. 

But then people start telling him that he should be more active on it, or maybe he sees that Deku’s finally reached a milestone for fans, or there’s a Red Riot fan club or something and that’s when he’s kinda like... “huh.” 

And that’s when he starts doing all the weird shit. 

Like he posts the hand photo when he’s trying to figure out how the app works... but instead of taking it down he just figures that it still counts for something... not remembering that it’s the first real thing he’s posted since the account was started and he already has a ton of followers. 

The picture probably instantly blows up and gets thousands of RTs or comments but he doesn’t even NOTICE because he’s already logged off. 

But like, sometimes he’ll respond to tweets with the weirdest things, whether it’s a fan or someone else, so everyone knows that he does read threads... just not exactly which ones and when.

(Dynamight account is like: X.X mil followers / 2 following) 

I bet he also sometimes comments rude stuff on Deku’s tweets... to the point where once he accidentally retweets one of his things too, and then makes another tweet that’s like “how tf do you delete posts...”

LMFAOOOO...  

And he probably also doesn’t know how to private any of his things and literally his whole like page is: 

Dynamight liked y/n’s tweet! 

Dynamight liked y/n’s tweet! 

Dynamight liked y/n’s tweet! 

Dynamight liked DYNAMIGHT SHOULD BE #1 HERO’s tweet! 

Dynamight liked y/n’s tweet! 

LMFAOOOOOO AND BEST FOR LAST BC THE PICTURE OF HIM JOGGING IS LITERALLY CRACKING ME UP... he retweets it literally just to tag you in it and caption it (if there is one) something like “@y/n look at this” GODDDD

Or OR OR OMG, it’s some dumb tweet of like “wOrLd’S hOtTeSt HoT sAuCe!1!” and he’s just RTing with “@y/n” AS IF HE LITERALLY COULDN’T JUST ASK FOR A PR PACKAGE.

Anyway LOOOL... his agency probably wants to take the account away from him and give it to a PR person... but because all of this happens so rarely, and everything he does gets him attention... they let him keep it...

His feed is definitely a mess though... despite every post having tons of fans under it supporting him. 

[commander-kirschtein]

attack on titan social media headcanons

how i think the 104th would use social media in a modern!au (includes eren, mikasa, armin, jean, marco, sasha, connie, historia, ymir, bertholdt, reiner & annie) - mac

masterlist

eren jaeger:

most used app: snapchat

still does streaks on snapchat - over 600 day streak with jean and to keep it going they just send insults to each other.

has the most cracked screen, it’s literally hanging together but he refuses to get a new screen until it no longer works.

would leave the house with 14% battery (this makes me incredibly nervous but eren knows he’ll be able to charm his way into someone giving him their charger.)

mikasa ackerman:

most used app: instagram or tumblr

mikasa should be hired by the fbi or something - give her a name and she will find all their social media pages.

i’m not sure what it would be but she’s definitely part of a fandom of a tv series or music group which is why she spends so much time on tumblr.

unlike eren, she actually has a case to prevent her screen from smashing - it would probably be one of those clear ones with flowers on the back, and she’d put in a polaroid picture of her and her friends in the back of it.

armin arlert:

most used app: youtube

he hasn’t got many posts on his instagram but a few of some pretty landscapes and a couple of group photos of him and his friends. his profile picture is of him, eren & mikasa.

literally could spend all day on wikipedia. he goes to google something but then falls down a rabbit hole. 

vsauce? asap science? random reddit videos? sign armin tf up. 

jean kirstein:

most used app: twitter or spotify

does gaming live-streams with eren. people watch not to see gameplay but to see the entertainment that is jean and eren’s competitive arguing (they play a lot of call of duty, mario kart, but also minecraft when they’re actually on good terms with each other)

gets into heated arguments with people on twitter. they go on forever because jean likes to have the last word/tweet.

you know those people that always have their headphones in? jean is that kind of person. he’d be sneakily listening to music during class (let’s be real he’s definitely got airpods.)

marco bodt:

most used app: instagram (& whatsapp because he’s in a lot of group chats)

the best hype man. comments on all of his friends selfies telling them how gorgeous they look.

he sends motivational quotes and wholesome memes to all of his friends which are always appreciated.

marco’s the one to put together group chats and ensure that arguments in them are smoothly resolved (eren and jean are usually the culprits.)

sasha braus:

most used app: tiktok

definitely makes very chaotic tiktoks/tweets that just blow up and end up on popular pages that repost to instagram.

her and connie would spam group chats with memes and selfies with stupid filters on. sometimes they’ll just target one person in particular (always jean) and they end up getting kicked or blocked.

her instagram captions tend to be random quotes and inside jokes from her friends (mainly connie) much to the confusion of everyone else.

connie springer:

most used app: instagram

has a private account on instagram just to post embarrassing pictures of his friends.

goes into conspiracy theory facebook groups just to troll the people in them.

out of everyone, the most likely to have games on his phone. when he’s bored in the car or during class he’ll just start playing geometry dash or temple run.

historia reiss:

most used app: tiktok

you know she’s got a tiktok with 100k followers. tiktok dance trends, makeup tutorials, look books - she does it all.

loves pinterest so much. gets a lot of outfit/home decor ideas from it - it’s likely that there’s a ton of photos of her on pinterest as outfit inspiration.

types !! like !! this !! and uses these emojis: ✨🌸💖🥰 way too much.

ymir:

most used app: facetime

half the time she’s on her phone is going to spent spent facetiming historia i can’t lie.

i personally hc that ymir in a modern!au would play either the bass or drums and i can just see historia begging to post a tiktok of her playing that then blows up - ymir would be so nonchalant about it but inside she’s dying of excitement.

probably has every group chat she’s in on mute - occasionally will lurk to see what’s going on, would only ever join in the conversation if drama was going down in which she’d send a gif of someone eating popcorn.

bertholdt hoover:

most used app: youtube or discord

likes to watch those reddit story time videos. would spend a good few hours watching them without even realising what the time is.

has 0 posts on instagram. cannot do any insta stalking of him (unless you looked through his tagged photos and find the ONE selfie he ever took with reiner.)

does a lot of gaming and uses discord to talk to his gamer friends (probably plays more story based/quest games compared to eren and jean - maybe like the last of us & skyrim!!)

reiner braun:

most used app: instagram

at least two shirtless pictures of him on his instagram (and way more if you’re on his private snapchat story - he likes to make it known that he’s at the gym. )

uses ‘lmao’ so much to the point he says it out loud not just over text

for some reason these emojis (👍👏👋💪) make me think of reiner ?? instead of replying ‘okay’ or ‘bye’ you just get ‘👍👍’ or ‘👋👋’

annie leonhardt:

most used app: spotify

follows so many cat accounts, she’s considering making her own to post pictures of her cat.

out of everyone, likely to be the person who uses social media/her phone the least, it probably overwhelms her quite a bit so unless she’s messaging someone (or looking at cats,) it’s unlikely to see annie on her phone.

does listen to a lot of music on spotify though - she’s got a study playlist, a playlist for when she’s at the gym, songs to listen when she’s just chilling at home - her spotify wrapped every year is pretty impressive.

BONUS:

spotify or apple music?

spotify: jean, mikasa, bertholdt, ymir, reiner, annie, sasha, historia

apple music: eren, armin, marco, connie

who sends memes into group chats?

eren, jean, sasha, connie, reiner

how long do they take to reply to messages?

replies instantly: marco, historia, sasha, connie, reiner

leaves you unopened for 3 days but then replies: eren, jean, mikasa, armin, bertholdt

leaves you on read: ymir, annie

who has the highest screen time?

eren, historia, sasha

[badapricot]

Lovely Writer: Special 1

This is a rough translation of the first Lovely Writer special. There are 8 in total and other side stories that the author compiled. I’ll try to post 1 a week since they do vary in length, and some are a lot lengthier than this one.

This special is from Nubsib’s POV and it’s about Nubsib remembering his feelings for Gene after seeing him on Facebook, and becoming fixated. Nubsib is 15 at the time and Gene is 20.

At that time, I was in the ninth grade.

Since middle school, my parents had sent me to study abroad with my brother. Because of the wealth of my family, this was never an inconvenience. But living alone in a place that wasn’t your home country required a lot of adjustment, mainly doing everything on your own. You had to learn things that you’ve never seen and known. 

This was one of the methods of teaching the sons of the Thanakitpaisan family.

It was their luck to have a son who was mature since childhood. It didn't take long for me to get used to the culture there, where I went to parties, attended sports clubs, worked a part-time job, and even had typical American teen sex. Being Asian did give me some advantages, when it came to distinguishing myself from the others.

I could only smile when talking to the many blonde women who bragged about our experiences in bed, amongst their group of friends. After some time, I felt differently about it.

"Sib.”

"Yes?" I leaned back on the sofa, and raised my head from his screen when I heard my name.

Neung came downstairs. He was wearing a thick gray cardigan with a scarf. "I’m going to go meet a friend. You're not going anywhere today, right? "

"Hmm."

"Okay, I might be coming back late. Please get my package when it arrives. You’re not going out with your girlfriend, right?”

"We broke up.”

"Huh?” Neung frowned. "You dumped another one? Again? You know, you don’t have the face of a womanizer.”

"…"

Neung opened the door of the house. For a moment, the cool outside air blew in, until the hot air from the heater disappeared. I didn’t care much about either, and stayed looking at my phone screen.

I’m not a womanizer.

It’s just that every time I got together with a girlfriend, something felt wrong. I knew I wasn’t in love with the first girl. The others, I didn’t like particularly much. Sometimes the girls didn’t like me much either, and only wanted a partner themselves, so we’d eventually separate.

It was true, that I was only in the ninth grade. But sex here was too normalized. It had become so normal that I’d become bored. When sex became so commonplace, all excitement was lost.

Mom: (send picture)

Mom: I’ve sent you Thai ingredients that should be delivered soon. They’ll be waiting for you.

Mom: Today, I went to see Aunt Run, do you still remember the house next door? Today is the Aunt's birthday. All of her sons have come home.

Mom: I saw it and I missed you and Neung.

I looked at the message that popped up, from the other side of the world. It was dark here, but over there it was probably in the middle of the day. It was time for them to eat.

Mom: Do you remember Gene? Gene and Jap are all grown up.

Gene?

After reading my mother’s message, it was natural to think of the past. I missed it. During my childhood I would run and play with him everyday, and just the same, Gene would play with me almost every day.

I still remembered “P’Gene” clearly after all these years.

We were five years apart. But we somehow became closer than me and my own brother. Since I moved out of the house, we never saw each other again. We didn’t have any more contact with each other.

When my mother talked about that time, I felt nostalgic.

I moved my finger to type to ask for a picture from my mother. In the end, I sent a simple sticker. I sat on the sofa in the living room for awhile before retiring to my bedroom to shower.

In my warm bedroom,  so different from the night air outside, I picked up my phone again. I went to Facebook to catch up with everything back home. My finger kept scrolling through my news feed, my face blank. I started to feel sleepy, but before I could fall asleep I saw a status.

I wasn’t friends with the person who posted. But I was friends with his mother, who was tagged in the photo.

Jap Jarernpipat posted a picture.

This year, my mother has lost another year, haha.

In the picture was a group of six people. The background was a wide garden and a long table. Both of my parents, and Auntie Run and Uncle Teep were there. But the one that most caught the eye was the man in the lower right corner.

The other person grinned until his eyes were crescents. His hands were raised, flashing a peace sign. His hand held a cake tray with a delicious golden egg. The corner of the mouth was stained with white cream, like he was teasing someone. He was smiling, which made his cheeks round and full.

I couldn't take my eyes off of him. For a second, there was a strange numbness in my fingertips and toes.

I didn’t need anyone to tell me who that was.

P’Gene.

He was still wearing a white uniform shirt. It had been many years since we’d met, if counted by age. Gene would have been in university for three years.

Usually, I was the kind of person who didn’t care about the people around me, or anyone else. But this time, I couldn't control my fingertips. I clicked onto Jap’s Facebook page.

Chasing him down, I found a status posted with the person I was looking for tagged.

Jap Jarernpipat posted a picture

My brother brought me to the movies. What kind of crazy alien movie is this? I might puke, but maybe you guys on Facebook will like it.

The post was from three days ago. One was a picture of a cinema ticket on the top floor of a department store in the heart of Bangkok and the other was of P’Gene in a T-shirt and jeans. He hugged a bucket of popcorn. His hand was holding a large glass of water, lifting it up to his lips and sucking. It was a funny candid photo that many of his friends on Facebook commented on to make fun of him.

...but for me, the only word that came to mind was “lovely”.

I didn’t know why I was doing this but I pressed “save that image”.

Jap Jarernpipat posted a picture

My stupid little brother, you make the whole house look bad.

They were in a garden in the corner of the house that felt familiar to me, but was a little fuzzy. They were in front of a flower bush that had been trimmed into a square. Gene was sitting down, with his butt on the ground. A blue hose fell next to him, the hose spraying in another direction. It made him wet all over soaking his shirt, the thin material clinging to his body.

Both of his arms were behind him, to support his body. Therefore, his shirt and body were stretched, so I could see two small nubs contrasted and poking through his white shirt.

My eyebrows furrowed together, and I frowned.

I cursed when my body immediately had a strong reaction, just from the one picture.

I pressed the comment section, when I saw the high number of comments.

Jiranon Jarernpipat: Jap stop posting pictures of other people.

(Reply) Jap Jarernpipat attached video clip.

I clicked play immediately.

"Ow, P’Jap!”

“Hahaha, why would you say you’ll help me water the plants? You can help if the grass is dead.”

“Can you turn off the water for me first? Why are you recording?”

P’Gene raised his white hand. He wiped the water from his face, and pushed himself off  the ground. His shirt clung to his body, so I could see everything. He had the voice of a man, but he was still so cute.

Finally, the clip ended.

There were still a lot of other videos that Jap posted pranking Gene, all of which stopped me from becoming bored. I saved all of them to my phone and computer. In the end, when more and more accumulated, I created a whole separate folder.

That night when I fell asleep, my brain was filled with pictures of the boy next door, who I hadn’t seen in years.

Another morning, days later, I woke up frowning, and I had to gently breathe out. I’d dreamt of P’Gene again. Since seeing that picture that night, there hadn’t been a day where I could go without seeing his face.

I knew Gene’s Facebook. But he didn’t update much, except to change his avatar or cover photo. But Jap’s Facebook page had tons of pictures of Gene. So I was still able to look at Gene’s pictures and progress in life everyday, like some kind of psychopath.

Even when I closed my eyes to sleep sometimes, I still saw his pictures.

I didn’t want to be this way, but I couldn’t control my subconscious.

I always saw Gene lying in my wide bed. He would smile at me, his cheeks soft and reddish. His hands would hold on to me, and his mouth would gently say, “Sib.”

It was a fantasy that any teenage boy would have. But it wasn’t a woman. Instead, it was the boy next door, who always loved and saw me as a brother.

I circled back to look at his pictures every day. In the end, the feeling accumulated like a huge mountain of snow.

I want to meet him in real life.

I want to hug him.

I want to smell him. 

I want to kiss his mouth. I want to do to him what I do in my dreams.

Since the day I saw his picture and until today, my thoughts and feelings had become more and more intense. So intense, that sometimes I was afraid of myself.

I’d already decided how I’d deal with this.

“Will you finish school here?” Neung had packed all his bags and was ready to go because he finished his studies. I leaned against the door frame, looking into his room.

“Actually, it’s nice here too, you know.”

"No, I'm going home."

“So you’ve changed your mind then?”

I nodded.

“Well, our house is nice and of course, our parents miss you too.”

"…"

"I'm not going to be here anymore, don't bring any women into the house...but you're not dating any girls lately. So it's fine."

I sent off my brother, who took a taxi straight to the airport to go back home to Thailand. Personally, I still had a year to complete my studies.

In the past, I had never thought or worried about how fast or slow time would pass. But now, I felt jealous of my brother.

Back at the house, I picked up the phone. I was still for a while. Maybe it was because Neung had returned to Thailand, but I felt like chasing pictures wasn’t enough anymore. My fingers moved before I could decide to send a message to someone.

Nubsib tanagijpaisarn: P'Jap.

Nubsib tanagijpaisarn: Do you remember me?

I wanted to talk to someone who could tell me everything about P’Gene. 

I wanted to learn everything about him.

[thebookreader12345]

My Girls

Pairing: Jay Halstead x reader

Summary: Y/N is on leave from work because she’s 9-months pregnant, but since she’s got nothing to do at home, she decides to go visit her husband at work 

Requested: No

Warnings: mentions of pregnancy

Word Count: 1,230 Words

“Look at you. You’re glowing,” Platt said to me as I entered the lobby, stomping the snow off of my boots.

“Thanks, Sergeant. Would you mind buzzing me up?” I ask.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on leave? You look like you’re about to pop,” Platt exclaimed and pointed to my stomach.

“I had nothing to do at home, so I figured I’d pick up some lunch for the team” I answer. “And don’t worry, Sarge. I didn’t forget about you.” I set the bags I was holding on the floor and picked out two items from one of them, setting them on the desk.

Platt smiled. “Two tamales from Portillos! You’re the best, Y/N. Let me get you upstairs.”

Platt unlocked the gate for me, and I thanked her, beginning my trek up the stairs. When I got to the bullpen, I saw that everyone was looking bored either typing slowly at their keyboards or flipping through files. Now was the perfect time for them to eat something.

“Hey everyone,” I announce.

Jay looked up at the sound of my voice, and he smiled when he saw me. “Hey, babe. What are you doing here?”

“I was bored at home, so I figured I’d swing by. I brought Portillos,” I state and hold up the bags.

“You are the best,” Adam declared and walked over, taking the bags from my hands. He walked over to his desk and set them down, and everyone walked over to get their food except for Jay, who walked over to me.

“How’s baby girl doing?” Jay asked and placed his hands on either side of my 8-months pregnant stomach.

“She’s kicking non-stop” I admit. “We’ve got ourselves a soccer player.” Just then, the baby kicked again, this time right where one of Jay’s hands was resting. He smiled as I took off my hat, shoving it into my coat pocket. I had hoped that our baby would be born before it started snowing, since walking on regular ground was tough enough with another human being growing inside of me, but I had no luck because it had started snowing a few weeks ago.

“He Y/N, is there any word on when that baby is coming yet? Cause Hailey and I need you back up here,” Kim said.

“My due date is in 3 weeks, but you guys do know that I’m taking 3 months of maternity leave, right?” I ask.

“Uh. Jay, you suck,” Hailey pointed out.

“What? Why?” Jay questioned.

“Well, you could’ve just kept it in your pants,” I answer. “If you did, I could be at work instead of sitting around the house all day doing nothing. I can only listen to my mother talking about baby names for so long.”

“Okay, Y/N wanted a kid just as much as me, so therefore she is half at fault,” Jay explained.

“That is also true. Go on and eat,” I tell Jay. “I brought the food for a reason.”

Jay raised his hands in the air. “All right. I’ll eat. Did you buy anything for yourself?”

“I ate before I came over,” I answer.

“Thank you for the food, Y/N,” Adam exclaimed as he stuffed a few fries in his mouth.

“You’re welcome,” I say. 

“So Y/N, have you and Jay decided godparents yet? Cause I mean, I’m a valuable contender,” Kevin spoke.

“Oh jeez,” Kim laughed.

“We’re not getting into that right now,” Jay said and sat down at his desk. I followed suit and snatched one of the fries from his meal. “Hey!”

“After the amount of times you’ve stolen my food, I have the right to steal yours,” I confess.

“Have you guys picked out any baby names yet?” Hailey asked and took a sip from her water bottle.

“Yes, but we’re not sharing. Its going to be a surprise,” I say and glance up at the clock. “Well, I should get going. You guys probably have tons of work.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later, babe,” Jay spoke. Before I left, I poked my head into Voight’s office to see him glancing down at some paperwork.

“Hey, Sarge,” I greet.

“Y/N! What are you doing here?” Voight asked.

“I just wanted to stop by and say hello. I also brought you something,” I respond and set a bag down on his desk.

“A steak from Mastro’s? Don’t tell anyone this, but you’re my favorite on the team,” Voight informed me.

“I won’t say a word. Have a nice night, Sarge,” I say and leave his office.

That night at home, I was sitting on the couch wearing a pair of Jay’s sweatpants and a t-shirt. I had just gotten off of the phone with my mom, which was the second time I had spoken to her today, and I was now skimming through the photo album I kept in the living room. As I took in the pictures littering the pages, I smiled. Most were of Jay and I, but a good chunk contained us with the rest of the team. They were like my second family, and while I wanted to get back to work, I was ready to start a family with Jay. Just then, the front door opened, and Jay stepped inside, shaking the snow off of his clothes.

“Hey, Y/N,” Jay said and walked over to me, placing a kiss on my cheek. “Whatcha doing?”

“Just looking at pictures. Sit down. I just got to the best part,” I inform him. Jay took a seat next to me as I flipped the page, revealing all of our wedding pictures. I remembered our wedding day like it was yesterday. We decided to have the wedding in the spring, so our colors were light blue and pastel pink. Everyone looked amazing, especially Jay. My favorite picture had to be of Jay and I along with the rest of the team. All of us were standing together, smiling at the camera. It was hard to believe that our wedding was over 2 years ago. 

The next page made me grin even more, seeing as it started out with the first ultrasound I got, which confirmed that I was pregnant. Then of course you had our gender reveal picture. We wanted it to be simple, so we just cut a cake. When we cut into the frosting and revealed pink cake, Jay was over the moon. The other pictures were just random ones from throughout my pregnancy, but they all brought back amazing memories. I shut the book and leaned into Jay, who wrapped his arms around me.

“How was work?” I ask him.

“Fine. I’m glad to be home though. I missed my girls,” Jay spoke and placed a hand on my stomach, causing the baby to kick.

“She missed you too,” I respond. “Can you believe we’ll be parents soon?”

“It all feels so surreal. But I’m ready to meet my baby girl,” Jay murmured.

“Me too, Jay. You ready to head to bed?” I question.

“Do you mind if we just sit here for awhile? I’m not quite ready to go to bed yet,” Jay informed me.

“Not at all,” I mumble and lay my head on Jay’s shoulder.

“I love you both,” Jay spoke and rubbed his hand over my stomach.

“We love you too,” I exclaim and press my lips to his.

____________________________

Tag List:

@prettypyschoinpink @securityfriendly-jay @scarletsoldierrr @lorenakaspersen @virtualreader @carnationworld @caitsymichelle13​ @dreamingmanip @campingmonkey @winterberryfox @nevertoofarfromivar @anotherfan07 @giagma @mrspeacem1nusone @i-like-sparkly-things

[yukihime242]

In my previous post, I talked about the games I’m currently playing. In this post, I’m gonna talk about the games I want to play.

If only I could just play all of them without caring, but reality is never kinder. I will have to ponder long and hard on which games should take precedence for me to try.

1️⃣ Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds

(Picture Source: Ni no Kuni official webpage thru Google Image Search)

Ni no Kuni is an MMORPG which uses inspired characters from Studio Ghibli in the game. The game looks absolutely beautiful and it makes me wanna try it.

(Picture Credit: Nintendo Everything)

In order to save the storage space on my phone, I decided to download the PC version which they have. The bonus part is that you don’t have to download some emulator to play. 

But, when I got to the download page...

I was quite put off by the word “Beta” being there because it seems to be saying that it’s not fully functional on PC. At least, that’s the message I’m getting. Hence, I decided to wait a while and my assignments came in. Coincidentally a good timing for me to wait it out. But when I went back again today, it was still written there “Beta”.

I know a lot of other players download the PC version and seemingly does not have any issues with it. But I don’t want to take my chances because I still need my laptop for school work. 

Welp, I guess I have to download it onto my phone if I ever want to try it out.

2️⃣ Tower of Fantasty

This game was finally released globally and it is currently the only game anyone is ever talking about. There’s bound to be some slander to the game about the developers copying everything from Genshin Impact. 

(Picture Credit: Polygon)

I usually don’t mind characters’ movements in the game because there’s a limit to how much you can create movements from scratch. There’s definitely bound to be some similarity in movements as long as you don’t nit-pick and scrutinize frame by frame. 

Seeing the screenshot above, I’d say it’s Genshin-inspired since the game is still one of the most popular games to date. I have also seen on my TikTok feed of people quitting Tower of Fantasy but reasons are unknown to me.

Although I do take into account of the reviews, I’m not one to look at one side of the story. Perhaps it’s just their preferences and may be I will like it. It was the same with Honkai Impact where everybody said that they love it but it was kinda boring to me (personal preferences, people, personal preferences).

I will probably take a look at Tower of Fantasy but I’m not feeling optimistic since most of the gameplay is cyber-ish. Hopefully it will be a good game to play when I’m bored of Genshin.

3️⃣ Neir Reincarnation

(Picture Source: Neir wiki fandom)

I DID download the game and I DID play it for a while. But right now, I’m having second thoughts about it.

First of all, the Nier series is super long. Second, THERE WAS NO FREAKING TUTORIAL ON HOW TO DO THE BATTLE! I almost died in the first story.

I’m quite inclined to just uninstall it and watch it on YouTube instead like how I have always done with the Drakengard and Nier series. So, yep, I would probably do that (please don’t hate me).

4️⃣ Arknights

I did play Arknights previously but felt that with all the juggling of my then active Genshin, I couldn’t handle Arknights. But now that Genshin is more of when I feel like picking it up to play, I can probably spend a bit more time looking into this game,

I may start it brand new since my previous progress wasn’t much. Moreover, I was still in the tutorial stage so I guessed I could try recording my game progress right from the beginning again. Think that would be lovely.

Guess what I really need to catch on in this game is the mechanics and put on my thinking cap for strategic purposes. 

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

There’s still a whole ton of other games I want to try (I have a whole list of it) but this will have to do for now. Until I drop a few or it became super inactive (like Genshin), I may probably visit a few more. 

[dabisburntsack]

False Alarm

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Pairing(s): Shigaraki Tomura x GN!Reader

Genre: Fluff !

Synopsis: When your long time gaming partner brings up the topic of May Day you can’t help but romanticise the olden holiday with your ever growing crush on him.

Wordcount: 1784

This is apart of a sfw flower collab done with the bnharem discord server! I loved the prompt for this collab and can’t wait to see how everyones fics turned out!! Special thanks to @pluviophile-imagines for helping my ass through this as I had a mental breakdown٩( ᐛ )و

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

⇾  signifies texting

May Day was a traditional holiday, one you wouldn’t have really heard of had your long time online gaming partner not brought it up in discussion as you fought against him to bring down the zombies on your screen.

“Yeah you pretty much leave a basket full of flowers with different meanings to them hanging on a loved ones door”

“I would have never pegged you for the romantic type” You replied amused.

“I’m- well, I’m... I would never do it-”

“You wouldn’t?”

“Pffft no, of course not”

“Shame, I think it's really romantic!”

The line went quiet, the only audible sound being the cock of guns and explosions going off in the game. You readjusted your mic wondering if he’d cut off when his voice came again; though quieter than the usual responses you would get.

“You think?”

“Yeah! Come onnn, tell me that isn’t the cutest thing ever”

The line paused again for the briefest moment, but when he finally continued speaking the conversation switched back to gameplay as if the short discussion about May Day had never occured. You shrugged and went back to chatting aimlessly about zombies yourself, though a small part of you may have wanted to carry on with the romance talk.

You had known the player ‘Decay_God’ for going on 3 years now and were as close as online friends could be. From what you’d gathered over the years, Tenko worked at a bar and had a shit ton of roommates. Though he constantly went on about how annoying they were, you could tell he cared deeply for them. He was passionate about what he did, whether it be his job (you didn’t know what exactly it was, just that his mood in your games would be whether or not he had received good news from his end) or his game play.

In the beginning, you didn’t really like him or his attitude; both being highly ranked in the gaming community you would constantly butt heads and his childish behaviour of when you would steal a victory off him annoyed you to no end. But as it went on, his temper tantrums died down and once you got to know him, you found his quips and wit to be quite entertaining. Now two years later, you would look forward to getting home from a stressful day at work to endlessly chatter about whatever topic was of the day.

You couldn’t lie, you had garnered a bit of a crush on him.

You didn’t even know what this man looked like. He could be a catfish! An old perverted dude! Hell he could even be a criminal and you’d be none the wiser! Although, if you were being honest with yourself… you couldn’t help but make the obvious connection to a certain infamous villain. One that happened to have pale blue hair and a decaying quirk. Even in personality they seemed interchangeable, from what you had seen on the news he was also akin to throwing childish temper tantrums and scratching at his neck when frustrated (a habit you regularly scolded Tenko for when you heard the telltale sound nails scraping along side the column of his neck.)

Whenever you did think about it though you stopped yourself, come on as if you would be gaming with Shig- no, you weren’t even going to say his name. So they had a few similarities, this was a whole villain compared to your sweet gaming partner. Dumb conspiracy theories aside, you couldn’t help the small flutter of your heart when he would say your name in a teasing manner or when he praised you for a particularly hard kill.

As you logged off for the night you laid your head against the wall your bed was propped next to and stared at the blank ceiling, your mind drifting back to the May Day conversation. A blushing Tenko came to your mind, his face obscured by a large hood, nervously rubbing at the back of his head before handing you a large bouquet of flowers. Your cheeks flushed and you slapped at them to stop yourself from heating up, vanishing the mental image mid thought.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t as much of a small crush as you wanted it to be.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

After having a three day break, getting ready for work so early in the morning proved more effort than it should have been. Still trying to blink the sleep out of your eyes, you dragged your dazed body to your front door. You checked yourself for your belongings as you unlocked it, but as you took your first step out your foot landed in...ash?

You lifted your shoe to inspect the little decaying bits stuck to it, looking down you realised there was a pile of decayed dust on your doorstep.

You paled.

Instantly you were on high alert, tearing your foot from the contaminated shoe and snapping a picture of the evidence. You placed the shoe in a bag for further examination and bolted your door before texting your boss, the number four hero: Edgeshot.

Having the job of a personal assistant to such a high ranked hero meant you were used to lives being threatened. So far it had never happened to you and although this was small you could never be too sure. With the inside information you had, Edgeshot had always told you to be aware that someone may pull something sooner or later. It wasn’t completely out of the blue.

After seeing your message to your boss had been delivered, you reached out for the metal baseball bat you kept in the storage cupboard under the stairs, your quirk not really suited for defence purposes as it was made for technological aspects.

Checking every nook and cranny of your small apartment you didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and flopped back onto the sofa. Sighing, you ran a hand through your hair before going through your phone, checking the news, any odd sightings, anything you should possibly be alert for.

However crime rates seemed to be low and the only recent stories were from three days ago. Still not having received a text back from Edgeshot, you automatically switched to your messages with Tenko to type out the events of your morning.

I think I just got threatened lol

Instant response.

WHAT?!

If you don’t hear from me in 24 hours call the police :DD

Y/N

Ok okaY, damn you’re such a buzzkill

There was a pile of ash on my doorstep this morning, with my work you know I can never be too careful 

I’m fine though, I already told my boss

You waited as three dots appeared signifying he was typing but after a while they stopped. You furrowed your brows as they started up and stopped multiple times. After a full five minutes (during which time you grew bored and changed apps) a ping popped up.

With how long he had taken to type you were expecting a lengthy paragraph, what you weren’t expecting was a simple:

Oh

Oh? That’s all?

Yeah

You placed down your phone before another ping sounded out.

Are you sure they weren’t flowers

How the hell did you come to that conclusion

The typing ceased once more and you were left to your thoughts. What the hell did he mean by that? How did he come up with flowers out of all things like-

May Day?

You leapt from your seat, stumbling to look at the calendar attached to your kitchen wall, scanning the dates crossed off before turning the page and realising it was indeed the first of May. It surely couldn’t be a coincidence Tenko had brought up the holiday just yesterday. So he’d brought you flowers, because you said it was romantic… and he’d… dusted them. Dusted them, with his quirk, because he was…

Tenko could not be Shigaraki Tomura.

You did not have a crush on Shigaraki fucking Tomura.

Luckily at that moment the chime of your phone's ringtone going off distracted you. Looking at the caller ID you breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was Edgeshot. You could finally get to the bottom of this instead of drawing up ridiculous conclusions.

Edgeshot’s calm voice came through the other end of the line, stern but familiar. It seemed you’d been right to take the situation seriously, or so he assured you. But even as he talked to you, asking if you’d seen anything or if there was any other evidence of someone watching you, you couldn’t shake the feeling that it hadn’t meant anything at all.

Of course, if your gut instinct was right and you’d been gaming (and falling for) Shigaraki Tomura for three whole years and he’d been trying to romance you then that was. Definitely something. You just weren’t entirely sure what that something was.

You’d been talking to Edgeshot for nearly two hours when a knock sounded on your front door. Had he come by? What was the point of ringing, then? And wouldn’t he have told you?

You made your way over to the door and opened it expecting the sight of your boss, but instead you were met with a large bouquet of flowers perched on your doorstep. You looked up just in time to see a mess of unruly blue hair tucked into a black hoodie turning rapidly round the corner.

“False alarm,” you said quickly, ending the call on pure impulse and making a dash after the stranger.

You weren’t entirely sure what the plan was. It seemed more and more likely that you were right with each new development. What were you going to do if your gamer buddy really was an S-rank villain? Would you still be interested? Would he? He’d gone through the trouble of  getting you flowers not just once but twice, and honestly… the idea that he’d been so nervous the first time was kind of endearing.

That was a cute image, him standing at your door, so worried that he didn’t even notice he’d dusted the flowers in his hand as he set them down, probably running away quickly so you wouldn’t see him.

You reached out to grab the sleeve of your fleeing visitor and as they whirled round your suspicion after all this time was proven correct. You were speaking the moment his eyes met yours, all hesitation suddenly gone.

“You can’t just leave me flowers and run off like that, what if I thought it was another threat?”

Shigaraki’s scarlet eyes widened as they met your own.

“Hey Tenko” you grinned.

[facets-and-rainbows]

Blue Exorcist 10th anniversary book Q&A session

The 10th anniversary book has a section where Katoh answers 100 questions submitted by fans on Twitter, so here they are translated/paraphrased! May contain manga spoilers up to the recent flashback arc, so be warned.

(Note that I’m playing it very fast and loose here because there are A HUNDRED OF THEM, so not exact wordings, but it should capture the gist. Lemme know if there are any you want elaborated on)

1. Katoh likes the feel of traditional drawing more than digital but is impressed with how far digital has come

2. Meph THOROUGHLY ABUSES spacetime to watch all his shows and ensure that he gets all the merch he wants

3. Did the girls take all of Yukio’s school uniform buttons in middle school? Yes, they did (apparently it’s like A Thing for girls to ask for a button from their crush at middle school graduation, based on some sad movie from the 60s where a guy who got drafted as a kamikaze pilot gave a girl one of his uniform buttons to remember him by)

4. Rin's tail is about a meter long

5. There are tons of servants working at Mephisto's mansion. Belial is in charge of them

6. Katoh borrows from all sorts of neat real locations when making settings

7. Katoh identifies with pretty much all the characters the most! Except Lucifer.

8. Demon designs she's proud of include the impure king and hachirou, pretty much anything that was the main one in an arc

9. Katoh lists a bunch of her favorite musical artists/music she’s listening to recently: King Gnu, Official Hige Dandism, Kenshi Yonezu, BAD HOP, Sakanaction, Keyakizaka 46, Hypnosis Mic, Aimer, B’Z, Queen Bee.

10. Awww the rabbit manga that characters are often reading isn't just Robo to Usakichi, it's an even older one that she drew as a little kid

11. She likes industrial style interior designs

12. Rin and Yukio alternated who got the top bunk growing up, because they couldn't agree on it lol

13. Katoh cares a whole lot about panel layouts and speech bubble positions, might even be her favorite part of the process (it shows!)

4. Katoh does NOT have a mashou, lol

15. Rin has probably been practicing in secret so he can learn to carry stuff with his tail

16. Izumo probably got into shojo manga around 1st grade, her mom had some around the house

17. Specialty dishes: Rin - lots of stuff but especially nabe Yuri - stuff you can throw together quickly Shiro - stuff he learned from Yuri and/or cookbooks, alongside teaching Rin Yukio - Does. Not. Cook.

18. Can't pick a favorite place she's been on research, but there's no place like Japan

19. Kinzou's band isn't currently meeting because demons, but he's probably still thinking of new songs

20. Hardest characters to draw: anyone with detailed flowing hair. Hardest to write for: Lightning and Gedouin. She had to go read books about serial killers specifically for material for Gedouin, lol 

21. Suguro actually gets a dorm room to himself, though allegedly Yukio is technically assigned as his roommate, lol. Didn't end up that way what with Yukio being a teacher and also Rin’s whole...situation

22. Shiemi makes some of her own hair accessories! Cute

23. Katoh doesn't mind if you include stuff with fan letters but check with the editor first

24. Time for making each chapter: Planning/storyboarding: 1-5 days. Sketching: 3-5 days. Drawing/inking: the rest. Just...the rest of the time

25. Neither Suguro nor Izumo have dated before and neither is currently dating. But that's probably just because things were hectic for them! It could happen

26. Yukio breaks 5 or 6 pairs of glasses a year, someone get this kid a strap or something

27. How many spare glasses does Yukio have? Check the fanbook lol it's in there (dang it Katoh)

28. The demon she wants us to pay the most attention to is Lucifer. Because plot.

29. What's under the Order's big meeting table? It's a BOTTOMLESS PIT and if you fall in it you DIE that's what makes it COOL (laughs)

30. What are the job requirements for the angelic legion? Literally just Arthur liking you and inviting you to join

31. She WANTS to do more character profiles but just hasn't gotten to it

32. Rin's tail feels like a cat tail, texture wise

33. The "red Assiah fire" is literally just actual fire nothing special

34. Rin's current hair color is light blue fading to white at the ends

35. Thoughts on Rin's growth: she likes that he stays positive in awful situations and she also thinks it's very main character of him to face the past instead of avoiding it

36. Mephisto didn't purposely surround Rin with stuffed animals when he woke up after going crispy. Mephisto's bed is just Like That

37. Kurikara was based on a cool sword she found in a sword book, but that one was technically just a ceremonial sword. The symbol on it us a Sanskrit letter kaan (sp?) associated with Fudou Myouou

38. Kuro can communicate with normal cats and hangs out with them often

39. Sometimes Shiemi's skirt is extra fancy around the hem what's up with that? Apparently it's an optional accessory that comes with the skirts help I haven't noticed this and don't know any fashion terms in any language

40. When coloring, Katoh always tries to have an overall theme in mind ("emphasis on blue" etc) so it comes together in the end

41. Yes the twins are genetically related to Shiro because of Goro (she says they're like his nephews but I say GENETICALLY at least they'd be indistinguishable from his children)

42. Strongest mom of all the strong moms around here? Yuri! Did you SEE her give birth??

43. Are you careful about your own health Katoh-sensei? Not particularly! Her mom has had to bring her food at work sometimes! Don't do this at home kids

44. At the dating events Shura goes to, does she drink cocktails in moderation? Yeah, she probably downplays her normal drinking habits at these things. But normally she's down for just about any kind of drink

45. Lucifer just really likes oysters okay

46. How many pages of manga does Katoh draw in a day? If she's being good about self-care: three. Maximum number ever: TEN

47. Mephisto is one of those folks who can eat like a garbage compactor and never gain weight. Possibly because his body resists that sort of change the same way it resists aging etc

48. First food Rin cooked: fish burger type patty. Yukio's favorite things Rin cooks: fish simmered in soy sauce, yellowtail with daikon radish. It's fish all the way down

49: Did Rin ever get more monthly allowance from Mephisto? It doubled! He gets TWO 2000 yen bills now (rip) [T/N: That's uh, that's USD $37.26 a month or 33.10 euro]

50. Why isn't Rin more popular with the girls? He gets nervous talking to them, plus he's too oblivious to notice even if he DID have some fans

51. Why change Suguro's hair? She gets bored with keeping everything the same, and she wanted a visual representation that he was getting serious and going into kind of a training arc

52. Things Katoh pays extra attention to when drawing: trying to capture the feel of whatever she's drawing (like "that looks warm and soft" or "I bet that guy stinks" cough Lightning cough)

53: Does Rin take after Yuri more? (He's got her eyes!) Katoh tried to draw Yuri so she looks like both twins. Personality, too - Yukio has her smarts and Rin has her optimism

54: Do you ever wanna be like Mephisto? Well she'd like to be able to get away with just ANYTHING EVER, but no, let's not be like Mephisto

55. Konekomaru not only carries around a cat toy in case he meets any cats, he MAKES cat toys to carry around based on what he thinks the cats would like

56. How'd you come up with Shima? Go read the fan book!

57. Do the kids have Twitter/Instagram accounts? Rin - probably not. Konekomaru might be on some social media. Paku and Izumo are totally on instagram

58. Is there something Rin makes that you wish you could try? All of it! That's the whole idea! He's good at cooking!

59. Will we ever have a (G-rated) reveal of what ALL of Mamushi and her family's tattoos look like? Maybe! She'll think about it

60. Does Arthur have a repertoire of different hairstyles? Not really, he just puts some of it up on the top. Heck he might even have people to do that for him

61. If you wrote a shojo manga what would it be about? She'd have to do a lot of research before even coming up with a story, since there are so many style differences between the genres aside from just the subject

62. The other two of Mephisto's top 3 favorite foods: Cup ramen and....f-fried bubblegum?? Is that a THING???

63. Where do you start when drawing a character? Usually the outline of their face but if it's a complex pose/composition she'll start with whatever's in the foreground (like hands)

64. If Katoh could have a familiar, what demon would she choose? Mephisto. As the all-powerful author, she might actually be able to command him as a familiar!

66. If you swapped Yukio and Rin's relationship around what would change? not much, you'd pretty much have Rin going to the Illuminati and Yukio going to the past

67. Top 3 foods/souvenirs to try in Kyushu? Well she doesn't know what’s good CURRENTLY but when she was there she always used to like burdock tempura udon, hakata torimon (a kind of manju with white bean paste inside), and Chikae style cod roe. today I learned Katoh went to high school in Kyushu

68. Katoh listens to music a lot while she's storyboarding, then when she and the assistants are all drawing and inking they put various videos/movies and stuff on in the background

69. For all his hitting on girls, is Shima actually popular with the ladies at all? He's got enough girls in his life that he probably COULD find a girlfriend if he really wanted, but the double agent thing tends to get in the way. He still wouldn't be as popular as Yukio though (side thought/translator’s note: Shima would be proud of being number 69.)

70. Katoh has the ending planned out in a big-picture way, but there are still a few details here and there that she's fretting over

71. It's cute when the boys put their ties over their shoulders when they're working on something! Where'd that come from? She just figured a tie might get in the way and that seemed like a realistic way to get it out of the way

72. Looks like Yukio is getting some facial hair! What about Rin? They're both about the age for it, but maybe Rin can't grow a beard yet. Maybe a little peach fuzz here and there

73. Katoh's favorite blue exorcist merch? There were some exorcist licenses a while back, and the exorcist pins. Basically it's really cool that these little accessories she drew ACTUALLY EXIST NOW, LIKE YOU CAN HOLD THEM IN YOUR HANDS

74. Okay realtalk how long do we have left, I don't want the series to end yet? We're solidly in the second half by now but it's not, like, ABOUT to end yet

75. Katoh would be a Knight meister, based on what characters she likes to play in games and such

76. How many people in the whole exorcism cram school? More than you think! She doesn't give a number but apparently licensed exorcists also attend classes for new meisters, etc, so there's a wide age range attending

77. How's Arthur feel about, like, studying Taming on the way to becoming Paladin? He's at least mostly accepted that you have to use demons to fight demons effectively

78. Konekomaru started wearing glasses in his first year of middle school, so like 7th grade (more recent than I thought!) He has one spare pair, in contrast to Yukio lol

79. Katoh's current obsessions? Ghost/scary stories! She's even been going to live readings of them recently

80. Media Katoh consumes for inspiration? A wide range of foreign teen drama, horror/suspense, shojo manga, light novels, anime, etc. Special focus on things where two boys are in conflict or there are brothers involved

81. If they weren't exorcists what jobs would they have? Rin - chef. Yukio - doctor. Shiemi - uh, florist?

82. Inspiration for the design of True Cross Town? Katoh and her assistants gathered up a bunch of references, picked out stuff they felt matched the tone, and mashed them all up together

83. Did you use any references etc for the school/exorcist uniforms? She says she probably should have but she just kind of made them up before publication

84. Favorite part of drawing? For color pages, picking out a color scheme. For black and white, drawing in all the little details (though she doesn't always get time to lately)

85. Once again confirms the demon kings' weird hair is a representation of their horns. ADDS THAT PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEE DEMONS CAN'T SEE THE WEIRD HAIR

86. Now that Yukio's at the Illuminati, where's he gonna get his Jump SQ and spare glasses? Well he probably never planned to stay for long, but hey it's a big ship and they might have an optometrist and/or newsstand there

87. Do you base the demon characters on any references etc? Not really, she just gets a general idea of popular demon designs and then makes up her own in her own style

88. Merchandise Katoh personally wants to have made: stuff that an adult could just use in their day to day life. Also, it's not gonna happen, but if her favorite figure brand made AoEx figures she could die happy

89. If Beelzebub's host body was a beautiful woman, how would Shima react? Would the womanizing win out over the bug phobia? Katoh replies that Shima would probably just faint from being near a girl that pretty, before the bugs even got involved

90. Will the twins ever get to smile and eat dinner together again?? We'll just have to wait and see!

91. What do you check at a "scenario check"? what's a scenario check man I dunno They check for people being out of character or the setting feeling off. They had a lot of these checks for the anime, but they also do them for the drama CD, games, and all that other stuff where multiple authors are involved

92. Why does Shura use baldy as an insult for people who are clearly not bald? She feels like they have some kind of metaphorical, mental kind of "baldness" and she's calling them out on it. Whatever that means

93. After Blue Exorcist ends, what do you want to draw next? She has SO MANY IDEAS, SO MANY

94. Did Katoh make up the Shinto chants that, for example, Izumo used against Gedouin? They're assembled from bits of actual Shinto prayers according to what feels right in the scene

95. Yukio reads the Jump SQ, right, and, just hear me out here, he likes gag manga, right? Does this mean he reads Salaryman Yukio? It's something he would read, but let's say that in the AoEx universe there's just a very similar manga that he finds oddly relatable

96. What do Yukio and Shima do in their free time on the Dominus Liminus? oh my god you guys this ship has so many amenities.  Yukio probably spends time reading in the library, which they totally have. There's also, like, a gym, and a movie theater, and a THEATER theater, all of which are free. Shima probably hangs out at the pool (!) and goes to the movies, and hits on illuminati girls, lol

97. Easiest character to draw? The ones with boring simple hair, lol. Lightning gets an honorable mention for ALSO not having eyes in most shots, but Rin wins--he was specifically designed to be easy for Katoh to draw because that's what you want in your main character

98. How do demons understand gender? They just possess whatever feels like the best match to how they feel in Gehenna, whether that's a man, or a woman, or a rat, or whatever

99. Where do you start when you're coming up with a story? She starts with character design and how the characters relate to each other. Currently she's just continuing an existing story, so she works on splitting up the overall plot into episodes and fleshing it out with scenes and information about characters

100. When do you feel most happy? She honestly feels like she lives a very happy life overall. Mentions noticing a lot of little things, like how nice her cats' heads smell when she cuddles them or taking a nice cold refreshing drink of water. There's happiness in everything. aww.

[ppangjae]

made to fall in love | ten

SERIES MASTERLIST

prev | ten | next

SUMMARY. Seoul’s finest 30 under 30. The country’s youngest billionaire. 2019’s richest bachelor. But of all the women he could go after, he goes after.. her?

GENRE. fluff and angst + ceo!jaehyun (someone stop me) + nerd!reader + enemies to lovers!au + long lost friend!au

WORD COUNT. 1.8k+ words

warnings. tooth-rotting fluff, swearing, and tons of bickering!

author’s note. this update is just a little bit longer than the previous one just because there wasn’t an update last week. happy reading~

TEN. never not • from the moment i loved, i knew you were the one

“Care to explain this?”

Johnny tosses the daily newspaper onto Jaehyun’s desk. Jaehyun quirks an eyebrow at his best friend as he gently grabs the newspaper. Written in large, bold font, he reads the headline with a smirk slowly forming on his lips. Johnny’s eyebrows raise in surprise. 

“The media just loves me, huh?” Jaehyun clicks his tongue. He tosses the newspaper to the side. “Do you really think I have the time to get engaged?”

“So, you’re telling me that—”

“The headlines are fake?” Jaehyun interrupts him. “Yes. They are.”

“But that’s clearly you and Y/N in the picture. You’re clearly kneeling down in front of her with an engagement ring.” Johnny says confusedly.

“The restaurant we both ate at last night had a promotion where a newly-engaged couple’s dinner will be on the house.” He explains while shrugging his shoulders. “I decided to finesse the system. Is there anything wrong with that? Besides, the bill turned out to be bigger than I expected and what’s better than faking a marriage proposal to get the dinner for free?”

“The ring,” Johnny mumbles, “Do you carry an engagement ring everywhere you go?”

Jaehyun snorts. “The ring is for my mother. It’s her birthday today and I had picked up the ring yesterday. It was all perfect timing.”

Johnny squints his eyes at him with suspicion. “Well, you better talk to the press and clear this entire situation up. The public now assume you’re—”

“Off the market?” Jaehyun grins. “Sounds nice. It also looks nice when it’s printed out on paper. Jeong Jaehyun, CEO of Jung Architects is officially off the market—”

“Good morning.”

Jaehyun clamps his mouth shut. You enter the office before stopping in your tracks. You look at the two best friends who are staring at you. You fold your arms and raise an eyebrow. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Johnny clears his throat. “Good morning. Jaehyun, do you want me to go grab you some coffee?”

Jaehyun fixes his tie and gets back to work. “I’d like that. Thanks. Y/N, do you want some coffee too?”

You watch them with a confused look. “S-Sure, I could get a caffeine boost.”

As Johnny starts making his way to the door, the both of you meet gazes. The both of you communicate through looks until Johnny shrugs his shoulders and sticks his tongue out at you. You let out a sigh. 

“Is there anything wrong, Y/N?”

Your posture straightens. “Nothing, sir.”

As you’re taking a seat at your work table, you notice a bright yellow post-it note on your desk. You place your bag onto your chair to pick at the post-it note. Your eyebrows knit together as you read it.

Cheer up! You look lovely today. -J

You scoff, ready to crumble up the post-it note until you try to sneak a glance at Jaehyun. He’s busy typing away on his computer, looking completely unfazed and unbothered. The more you stare at him, the more you question the post-it note. You shift your gaze back to the post-it note. J? Who the fuck is J? Instead of crumbling up the post-it note, you gently stick it back onto the surface of your work table. You look at Jaehyun with suspicion.

Johnny comes back to the office with two cups of freshly-made coffee in his hands. First, he places a cup onto Jaehyun’s desk. Jaehyun mumbles a soft ‘thanks’ before his typing returns to an aggressive speed. Johnny strides over to your desk to place your coffee onto your desk.

“A cup of coffee for my favourite human being.” Johnny smiles.

You chuckle. “Am I really your favourite human being?”

“Of course!” He exclaims.

“Johnny, get back to work.” Jaehyun commands him. Johnny’s smile is immediately wiped off of his face. It makes you want to laugh.

“Yes, sir.” Johnny mutters, rolling his eyes. He nods at you. “You look lovely today, by the way! It’s nice to see you all cheered up.”

“I—wait—huh?” You stutter.

“I should get back to work. I’ll see you during lunch break!” Johnny exclaims as he starts heading towards the door without speaking to you any further.

You look lovely today, by the way! 

It’s nice to see you all cheered up.

Cheer up! You look lovely today.

-J

J for Jaehyun? J for Johnny?

You’re instantly troubled with your thoughts. Jaehyun sneaks a glance at you, specifically at the post-it note on your desk. A smile threatens to spread across his lips.

The company’s year-end party is definitely something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Every single employee seems to be doing at least something for the party. Johnny’s in charge of the decorations, Winwin from the HR department is in charge of the catering, and even Lucas, the newly-hired intern is in charge of the guest list. There are employees running everywhere, putting in all their effort to make the year-end party the best it could possibly be. 

Meanwhile, you’re in the middle of the chaos, pondering on what you should wear.

Jaehyun clearly has favourites.

You’re probably one of them.

“You should probably go for the off-shoulder dress.” You jump in your seat, letting out a loud yelp. You almost drop your phone. You hear a soft chuckle.

Jaehyun is looking at your phone over your shoulder. You immediately lock your phone, quickly shoving your phone back into your pocket. “I’ve been waiting for half an hour now. Are you done with your work?”

“Oh,” Jaehyun’s eyebrows raise. “Were you expecting me to drive you home?”

“Yes.” You frown. “You always do.”

“But you always decline my offer?” It comes out as a question. 

“Well, after much thought, I figured that I’d save more money if you drove me home.” You purse your lips into a tight line. “My bus money can be lunch money.”

“You have a point.” He hums in agreement. “Well, let’s get going. I know a place to go to.”

“A place?”

Jaehyun doesn’t reply, a grin spread across his lips. You fold your arms, waiting for him to utter a word but his stubborn self seals his lips. 

“It’s a surprise.”

“Christian Dior?”

Jaehyun opens the door for you. You slowly step out of his car. As he shuts the door behind you, you can’t help but look at the store with bright eyes. He glances at you and smiles. “Surprise.”

You snort. “I think I’ll go to the store next door. I don’t think I can afford anything from Dior.”

“Who said you were paying?”

Your head snaps in his direction and your eyes widen. You shake your head. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

He shrugs his shoulders. “I’m not joking.”

You squint your eyes at him. “It’s moments like these where I wish I took the bus instead.”

“You won’t regret this,” he says as he grabs your hand.

You look down at your interlocked hands as he leads you to the high-end store. There are tailors left and right and retailers flocking to Jaehyun the moment he enters the store. They’re all asking him questions about what he’s interested in looking at but Jaehyun doesn’t budge. Instead, he looks at you.

“I’m not shopping for me,” he says with a sheepish smile. “I’m shopping for her.”

Everyone looks at you. You look at them, just as awkward and confused as they are until one of the retailers lets out a loud gasp. “You’re her! You’re the woman on the front page of the newspaper!”

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “What are you talking about—”

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Jaehyun cuts you off and he fakes a smile at the retailer. “Is it possible to get all the red dresses you sell at this store location?”

“Oh, I thought you were going to look for engagement party dresses—”

“Engagement?” You frown. The retailer just doesn’t know how to clamp her mouth shut and Jaehyun gives her a warning look. You nudge Jaehyun. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

“Oh! How rude of me!” The retailer gasps. “Congratulations on your engagement—”

“Red dresses!” Jaehyun snaps. “Where are your red dresses? We’re running on a time crunch right now and—”

You shake your head. “No, we’re not. We’re not in a rush—”

“Ah, I wish I was as lucky as her to be engaged with Jeong Jaehyun—”

“We are in a rush. Please get the red dresses prepared, thanks.”

“We’ll get the red dresses prepared.”

You and Jaehyun share a look.

There’s nothing wrong with having too many red dresses to try on. Well, except for two, it’s tiring and taxing. The tailors that are zipping you up in your last dress for the night can’t help but giggle at your facial expression. You look tired. You look at your reflection with a blank gaze. That is, until you finally feel the dress being zipped up perfectly. Your posture straightens and it sort of snaps you back into reality. Your eyes trail down your reflection in the mirror and your mouth gradually hangs open.

You look… 

“You look beautiful, ma’am.”

You look at the tailor through the mirror. You feel your cheeks heat up. “Thanks.”

“Shall we show Mr. Jeong how you look?”

You nod. “Let’s get going, I’m starving.”

Jaehyun fiddles with his phone as the annoying retailer continues to bug him with questions about his supposed ‘engaged’ life. He can’t help but regret faking a marriage proposal for a free dinner. He can’t help but regret using his mother’s birthday gift that so happens to be a ring, as a fake engagement ring. All for a free dinner. He guesses this was his karma.

“She’s ready, do you want to see her?” He looks up to see the tailor coming out from the dressing room. He slowly nods his head and lets out a yawn. “Sorry for letting you wait a bit longer for this dress, but I’m sure it will be worth it.”

He’s seen at least ten red dresses at this point that he’s not sure what the differences between them are. But that’s all about to change the moment you step out of the dressing room. And indeed, there is a huge difference. You step out of the dressing room in a red dress. But it’s not just any dress. 

You’re slowly turning around in the dress to give Jaehyun a full view of the dress. It’s a long mermaid, off-the-shoulder dress with a high slit down the side of your leg. It flows effortlessly all the way down to your feet. It shows all of your beautiful curves. 

Jaehyun looks at you in awe. “This is the one.”

You adjust your glasses on the bridge of your nose, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind your ear. You’re too insecure to even notice that Jaehyun even said something about the dress until the tailor is ready to take you back to the dressing room. “Wait, you don’t like this one?”

Jaehyun’s eyebrows knit in confusion. “I love this one.”

You blink. “Really?”

He smiles, nodding his head. “Really. You look lovely.”

You look lovely.

You snap out of it before turning towards the tailor. “I’m getting this dress.”

You look..

Lovely.

It echoes in your mind, over and over again, specifically in his voice.

Yeah, you’re definitely not sleeping tonight.

tag list: @riverdale-kpop @cupofjae @jae-canikeepyou @crystxlkpop @befikel @justineasian @frankenstein852 @mymonbebecarat127heart @hoshitaro @ilymarkchan @hyluvjk @fantasircle @yourchasingsunsetslove @jae-bam @starryhyun​ @kriselynne @jaeismytamtation​ @etaerealboy​ @irrelevxntstxr @johnnyseosabs​ @jaeveil​ @doublepeace @jaehyunie77 @nshitae​ @ijustwantsummilk @crtznstuff @linnnnduhhhnctlove @airloe @princessaecha @jimjamjaemin @linansey @eileencacai @loviejaehyun @leesalts​ @yourchasingsunsetslove​ @antovsc​ 

[kurtstinypurse]

for the prompt meme thing: 18. celebrity!au + 9. strangers to lovers + “i’m rambling again, aren’t i?” pretty pls. for the rambling of it all and us etc

so this is way longer than that prompt post had in mind, but. I needed to give this the length it (and you) deserved!!

-

Kurt shouldn’t be checking his Instagram comments, and he knows it.

In fact, he makes a point not to, usually, because he knows what he’ll find - a sea of half-assed compliments and ass-kissing that, as nice as they are, all run together, and a scattering of rude remarks that will inevitably stick out to him and ruin his day.

And so he doesn’t check them, simple as that.

Well - until now, apparently, and he isn’t even really sure why he’s doing it as he opens the app, goes to his own page, clicks his most recent post.

Maybe he’s a masochist looking for reasons to feel insecure and beat himself up, or maybe he’s a narcissist and looking for an ego boost, or maybe he’s bored, or maybe it’s the fact that he’s home alone on a Friday night, two glasses of wine deep - but that part of it is pretty much business as usual.

But regardless, there he sits, scrolling through the comments on his latest picture - a snapshot of a model wearing his newly finished suit, floral and understated, a design he’s content with every stitch of.

As to be expected, the comments run together. There’s a lot of them these days, a larger following than he ever expected to get, back when he was an up-and-coming designer.

He’s not so up-and-coming anymore, though.

He’s established, made a name for himself and kept it, a big name, actually, becoming one of the most sought-after designers to create custom suits for events in New York - and, ironically enough, for most events in the Broadway world, for premieres and awards shows and the like.

It’s a small connection to the very world he once thought he’d be immersed in, but at the end of the day, he’s happy with what he has.

Kurt is scrolling, and he’s scrolling, and then- he pauses.

A blue verified check mark sticks out to him next to one username, and so he stops to read the comment, finding a name he recognizes, one he hadn’t expected to see.

blaineanderson ✔️ this is incredible! your designs are always great, but this one really captured me. fingers crossed I can wear one of your pieces one of these days!

Oh.

It’s interesting, actually, that Blaine hasn’t worn one of Kurt’s pieces before.

Kurt’s been aware of Blaine for a while now, vaguely tracking his progression from a stand-out off-Broadway to an understudy on Broadway to, finally, a full-fledged lead role.

He’s a hot topic, having been labeled as one to watch more than once, and Kurt knows Blaine attends the events and premieres Kurt often designs for, but they just...never crossed paths.

Or apparently they had, and Kurt’s just been missing it.

He blinks, and he reads the comment again, and he takes a long drag of wine, and he swallows, and he blinks, and he reads it again.

He realizes he’s smiling, down at his phone all alone in his apartment, no one to see it, no real reason to be doing it.

There’s no real reason why he clicks on Blaine’s profile, either, and there’s definitely no reason to explain why he clicks to follow Blaine, but if that wasn’t enough -

He clicks again, and he pushes away all room for logical thought, and he composes a message.

kurthummel: hi! this is really random, but I thought your comment on my post was really sweet, plus if you meant it, I’d love to design for you. anyways, just thought I’d say hello and thank you.

He presses his phone onto the couch cushion beside him, and he drains the rest of his wine, and he goes into the kitchen to refill his glass, and when he’s back - there’s a message there waiting for him already, much to his surprise.

blaineanderson: hey, kurt! this message was really exciting to see! I’ve actually been following your work for a long time now, and...wow. do YOU mean it? I’m not sure I’m worthy of wearing one of your designs, but at the very least, I’m so glad you said hi!

Blaine’s gracious, and he’s sweet, and Kurt already knows he’s handsome, and-

Kurt has had far too much wine.

And he has been single for far too long.

But Blaine… In a single comment and a single message, Blaine has managed to make Kurt feel more special than he’s felt in a long time, and he’s not sure why.

It’s probably the wine.

The wine is also why he writes back again - and another time, too.

kurthummel: of course I meant it! and why wouldn’t you be worthy? I actually happened to see the falsettos revival on opening night, and yours might be my favorite interpretation I’ve seen. I’m a big fan of the show, of course, and being such a lover of broadway, too… I’ve seen quite a few boots at this point, but your whizzer might have tugged at my heart the most. and your voice!

And your eyes, and your face, and your smile.

Shit.

The wine, the wine, the wine.

kurthummel: sorry, I’m rambling...

He wants to apologize for a lot more than that, but he manages to stop himself.

blaineanderson: no need to apologize! I...wow. again. you’re so kind, and it means even more because you’re so talented, too. your visions for your designs are just so thoughtful and original, especially that last one, and so I’m sure your ear is just as well-tuned so…yeah. wow. now I’m the rambling one! anyways, whizzer quickly became such a personal role for me, and I’m so happy to hear that shines through even a little bit. 

And they kind of go from there.

They keep complimenting each other for a while - there’s probably a ridiculous amount of compliments traded, actually, but they’re both doing it, and it feels like a creative exchange, almost, on topic and essentially business-related. It’s meant to be a precursor to business, actually, hopefully culminating in a project for Kurt and an attention-grabbing, show-stopping outfit for Blaine.

But then they just...keep talking, about their careers and how they like the city, about how they got to the city and where they were prior, about the songs they like and the shows they’ve seen and the movies they’d managed to miss.

It turns out they have a lot in common.

They keep talking, as Kurt finishes off his bottle of wine, as he moves to the bedroom and crawls under his sheets, burrowing into the pillows and blankets with no light but his phone screen illuminating the dark room.

At some point, he realizes he’s smiling, and he’s been smiling, to the point where his cheeks hurt, actually, but he just kind of lets himself.

Just for tonight.

-

But then it’s the next morning, and Kurt wakes up to a message from Blaine, and the conversation continues, direct messages scattered through the morning, during Kurt’s commute to the office, at work when he has the chance to sneak a moment on his phone.

And he finds himself looking for those moments to sneak a read of a message or a reply to one, kind of whenever he can.

Which is exactly what he’s doing when his boss, Isabelle, pokes her head into his office.

“Why are you smiling at your phone?” she wants to know, raising a curious, knowing eyebrow when Kurt shoots his head up to look at her, phone clattering onto his desk. “A new guy?”

“There’s- There’s no guy,” he stammers, because there isn’t, at least not the way she means, and he’s not sure why his face is getting hot.

Blaine is nice, and Kurt is nice back. That’s all it is, really - it’s nice to have someone new to talk to, to get to know, especially when they’re so- well, nice.

Isabelle hums like she doesn’t believe him, and Kurt suddenly isn’t completely convinced he believes himself.

Blaine posts a new picture of himself on Instagram that night, a classy shot from behind as he watches the sun set over the city from a tall skyscraper’s balcony, and if Kurt falls asleep thinking about the narrow lines of Blaine’s waist and the way his ass looks in those pants, well.

Kurt’s only human, after all.

-

He’s not sure when things start to change, exactly.

He can’t pinpoint the moment, but their conversations go from friendly and sweet to something more - deeper, first, a gentle delve into Blaine’s complicated family, a brief conversation about Kurt’s mom and his stepbrother, and then just- just more.

He’s sitting at his desk at work, poking at his salad with his fork and grinning at a silly picture Blaine sent him when he realizes - he feels light, and he feels giddy, almost, and he feels towards Blaine a sort of way he thought he couldn’t feel, not anymore.

But he’s feeling it, and he’s been feeling it, and he realizes, too, that he just kind of knows Blaine feels the same way.

It’s in Blaine’s messages, and it’s in the compliments that reappear when Kurt least expects it, and it’s in the emojis he uses, and it’s just-

It’s everywhere, and Kurt sits there, and he blinks, and he blinks, and he chews thoughtfully for a moment, and he decides, yeah.

He’s not going to question it.

It’s that night that Blaine asks for his phone number, and it feels like a step, and Kurt can’t help but wonder if maybe Blaine’s going to ask him out for coffee or for dinner or for drinks - they live in the same city, after all, and they know a ton of the same people and essentially run in the same circles, and it would be so easy, so easy to just take another step forward and make this real.

Kurt should be scared of that - and in the past, he would be, with a string of brief failed relationships and over three years of being fully single in recent history. He has no reason to think - well, anything.

But he’s just...not scared.

He’s cooking dinner when his phone vibrates, and he reaches for it with his free hand, expecting to find some sort of question or invitation, but instead he finds-

A video.

Unknown Number: Hey, you. It’s Blaine. I know I haven’t told you about this, but it’s only because I haven’t really told anyone about it. But besides just singing on stage, I like to try my hand at arranging my own songs, too, and I felt like sharing this one with you. xx

The attached video is just about three minutes long, and it’s of Blaine on his couch, dressed down in a sweater that screams cozy, and he has a guitar in his lap, and he smiles shyly at the camera before starting to play and to sing.

It’s an upbeat sort of song, and Blaine sings about being a king, about thinking he has it all worked out but figuring out he’s wrong, about his kingdom falling apart but being okay, about being foolish and unexpectedly falling in love.

Kurt knows it’s not for him - he isn’t stupid.

But his heart is stupid, and it’s racing in his chest, and his mouth is stupid, too, because he can’t force away his grin, and his hands are worst of all, because when the song is over, he presses to replay it, and then he replays it again.

And then he picks up his phone, and he types.

From Kurt: Blaine, that was… I don’t know what to say! The lyrics were so clever, and you’re so wonderful at guitar, and you know how I feel about your voice. I listened to it a few times, honestly, and I already want to listen to it again. Sorry, I’m rambling again, too, aren’t I? I...guess I tend to feel kind of foolish around you, actually.

From Blaine: It’s funny, I wrote this song almost a year ago with nothing to apply it to. But it’s starting to make more sense, I think. Or maybe I’m foolish, too.

From Blaine: Besides, I love to listen to you ramble.

Kurt breathes out shakily, and he blinks, and he reads the message again, and he blinks, and he smiles.

He doesn’t hesitate, and he knows he won’t regret it.

From Kurt: Are you free tomorrow night?

Blaine’s reply is near instant.

From Blaine: For you? Anytime.

-

It’s only been a week, Kurt realizes the next night as he fusses over his hair in the mirror, picks an invisible string of a thread from his vest.

A mere week since he messaged Blaine, a mere week since Blaine messaged back, and yet-

It feels like so much longer, so much more than that.

Blaine has agreed to meet Kurt at a cozy, low-lit cafe a few blocks away, one of Kurt’s favorite spots that’s coincidentally one of Blaine’s favorites, too.

It’s funny, really, how connected they’ve always been, even when they didn’t know each other yet.

Kurt isn’t used to not wanting to cancel at least a little bit. On every first date he’s been on in the past handful of years, he’s had to practically force himself out the door, force himself to try, already knowing nothing will come of it.

But now, he has to force himself not to leave for the restaurant too early.

Of course, time moves forward as it inevitably does, and it comes time, and so Kurt heads out, and he walks down the street with a rush in his chest, pulling his jacket close around himself, ready.

A breath catches in his throat as he sees Blaine waiting outside the restaurant, rocking slightly up and down on the balls of his feet in an impossibly endearing nervous motion, a bouquet of colorful flowers in his hand.

Kurt can tell the very moment Blaine sees him, too, eyes locking with Kurt still about a block away, and Blaine positively beams, radiant and happy and beautiful, and wow, Kurt made him do that.

Once he gets close enough to say hello, close enough to see all of the colors and the softness and the warmth in Blaine’s eyes, close enough to touch, Kurt is pretty much done for.

He isn’t the type to kiss on the first date, particularly not before actually having the date, but he’s not the type to pay so much attention to his Instagram comments or send someone a direct message out of the blue, either.

As he pulls Blaine close and presses their lips together, Kurt finds he’s never been happier to surprise himself.

-

(A handful of months later, Blaine wears a Hummel Designs original to the premiere of the Waitress revival, an adaptation of the very suit he commented on the picture of - with Kurt on his arm, too, there to stay.)

[maiiyoz]

hi! your drawings are amazing 🤩 and i wanted to ask you for some tips about anatomy since i really struggle and your characters are just so beautiful

Thank you so much! I’ll gladly share some tips that I use and keep in mind when drawing.

1. References

First and foremost is references. References are so important! They are so helpful and I encourage absolutely everyone to use them. Whenever you are drawing, especially when you are just starting out, get a reference for the pose you want to draw. If you can’t find an exact pose, get something that is as close as possible to what you are intending to draw. This will help you make sure that the anatomy of your drawing is more or less accurate. I have been drawing for years and years and I still use references all the time.

After a while you will notice that you need them less, especially as you get more familiar with the anatomy and how the human proportions work, but even then it’s good to have a reference just to be sure that your drawing is anatomically correct.

I personally use pinterest to find references but you can also just use google or even take a picture of yourself doing the pose.

2. Use simple shapes

When you start sketching in your pose don’t get straight into the details. Break the human body down into simple shapes. Here’s how I usually break down the human body:

Some people prefer doing actual 3D boxes instead of flat shapes. I’m pretty confident in my knowledge of how the limbs connect to the body so I use shapes like the ones above. Do what is more comfortable for you and see what is more helpful for you.

Keeping the simple shapes in the sketching phase will make it easier for you to notice when something doesn’t look right and correct those mistakes. Once you are confident that the sketch is more or less correct you can add in the details.

3. Some simple proportions

There are some very simple rules that you can keep in mind to get the human proportions right. Here’s what they are:

An average human is 7.5 heads tall. Now obviously you can make a person shorter or taller but this is a good guideline to follow. 

The upper half of the body is more or less the same size as the lower half of the body. This can vary for different body shapes--for some the torso could be a bit longer and for some the legs could be longer, but in general, they will be very similar in size. As for the legs, the lower leg and the upper leg should be the same size. This also applies to your arms, and your hands should come down to your thighs.

Another thing you can keep in mind is that the hands are usually about the same size as your face and feet are about as long as your forearms. There are definitely a few more rules about facial proportions and probably a few more about the body as well, but these are the ones I keep in mind to make sure that my characters are proportionate.

Now obviously you can bend these rules a bit to fit your art style, but it’s important to know the actually anatomy before you break it.

4. Tracing

Lots of people hear the word tracing and think bad. Tracing can be bad, yes. If you trace someone’s drawing and then present it as your own that is extremely bad. But tracing can also be extremely useful, especially for beginner artists. If you combine the use of reference and breaking down the body into simple shapes you can use tracing to practice the anatomy and proportions of the human body. Here’s and example:

I find a reference of a pose I would like to try and draw. Instead of immediately drawing in the clothes and the details of the body I break the pose down into the simple shapes, as mentioned before. This helps me understand the anatomy behind the pose. And once I have drawn in the big shapes, I can get rid of the reference and fill in all the details myself. This is a great way to train your knowledge of anatomy and proportions. Now unfortunately this is limited to digital art, but even traditionally you can do the good old page against the window trick to get the same result. 

After a while you will get better at being able to draw the poses from the reference just by looking at the photo instead of tracing over it.

Quickposes and line-of-action are two very good websites to practice drawing different poses and figure drawing. 

And that’s it! These are some of the things I have done and still do whenever I’m drawing. There are a ton more references that go into more details that you can find online, pinterest once again being a good place to find a lot of them, but I’ve also seen a lot of references right here on tumblr!. 

Hope this helps and keep practicing!

[nxmuzluv]

ariana birthday hcs !! —

it’s september 1st in south korea & japan rn,,,, so you know what that means

26th birthday hcs 👁👁

(this post is long as hell so brace urselves lmao)

on the morning of her birthday, ariana is woken up by either twitter and message notifications or her husband

her fans are blowing up her mentions with birthday wishes and her family & friends are doing the same, so bet that she has about a million notifs

since byakuya gets ready for work before ariana, he usually comes back to wake her up (even if she’s already up lol)

he hands her coffee (a caramel macchiato with a shit ton of cream and three sugars), tells her “good morning” and “happy birthday, love,” and kisses her on the forehead

(SOBBINFGMNBKJHBMK)

they usually have a short lil conversation about whatever (what they’re going to do that day, ariana’s birthday, other random topics) before byakuya tells ariana to go to work lol

but before she does, she usually opens twitter and scrolls down her birthday hashtags (which are already trending with about 100,000 or so tweets lmao), and responds to her text messages

three hashtags i came up with are “#AutumnFairyAri,” “#26WishesForAriana,” and “#아름이하트27개” (#27HeartsForAhreum) 🥺

(the last one is because ariana is 27 in korea lol)

guaranteed that she’s smiling like an idiot at those tweets lol

if her fans are lucky, ariana might like their post. if they’re extra lucky, she might even respond-

(cue the combustion of her fanbase)

then she posts a lil morning selfie, thanks her fans for all the birthday wishes, complains about how she has to go to work on her birthday, and then she finally gets ready for work lol

as ariana does, her fanbase is literally in flames lmao they’re screaming at her new selfie (“LOOK AT HER HAIR OMG MNJSHFJFMNGJ” - one of ariana’s fans, most likely), flooding her comment section, and taking over the trending page

ari and byakuya usually leave together, and ariana gets dropped off first, so when she does, they usually say goodbye to each other & byakuya gives her another kiss on the head

ofc they say “i love you” to each other, and if anyone around them has sumn to say about it, then byakuya can just make their jobs disappear !! 😗✌🏽

once ariana gets to work, she’s immediately greeted by another round of birthday wishes and the occasional gift (because oh my GOD she gets so many from her staff)

the best gift comes from her manager of 22 years, yoo miyeon. that woman is literally like ariana’s second mother it’s so cute-

miyeon usually says something along the lines of “remember when you were shorter than me ???” (it is now the other way around lmao)

near the end of her day, ariana sits in her company’s conference room, goes live on vlive, and opens the shit ton of gifts, cards, letters, and bouquets that were sent to her by her fans (and god damn doesn’t she get a lot-)

(ariana loves the bouquets,,, she literally squeals every time she sees that she got another one :(( she’ll be making flower arrangements with all of them later on lol and she’ll probably go live again 👁👁)

her birthday lives are one of the things ariana loves the most. she gets to speak to her fans, speak to her staff all casually, and her fans get to see her again. it’s a win-win :))

(bet, byakuya is watching that live when he has the time and has sent a message to ariana. when she spots his message, knows it’s him, and gets incredibly happy is one of the best moments of the live)

she also speaks to her family (they’re all in korea and america while she’s in japan 😕) during the live !! near the end, ari blows out the candles of the cakes that were bought for her by her staff and her family, and she answers questions from her fans

(lol remember back in 2011 when ari’s fans thought she was gonna finish high school & come back to korea, but instead she met this tall blond mf, fell in love with him, moved in with him, and then ended up marrying him 10 years later so now she’s really not coming back ??? lmao good times 🤣🤣🤣)

it’s a v nice moment & if you miss it, that’s such a loss lol ariana rarely goes live since she’s always so busy

after well over 12 hours, ari’s work day is finally over. on those types of days, she gets home before byakuya at around 7 or 8pm

after work, both of them go to dinner !! :))

while byakuya is coming home, ariana just gets ready. there’s a dress from byakuya that was hung by his staff in ariana’s closet (it’s black and designer, ofc 🙄✋🏽), and all ari has to do is shower, do her hair and makeup, pick out her shoes, and pick out a bag from the literal hundreds that she has

say it with me, y’all !! bag hag

ariana goes live on instagram while she does that as some kind of “get ready with with me” thing. she gets to talk to her fans again (especially her stan twitter ones lol), ask how she should style her hair & do her makeup, and ask what accessories she should choose

she also plays music in the background (especially britney spears, christina aguilera, the pussycat dolls, rihanna, nelly furtado, gwen stefani, lee hyori, or hyuna because they make her feel hotter than she already is lmao) !!

and ari sings to whatever’s playing and she gets haruka-

(am i allowed to put her here ??? i’ll just put here here lol 🤪)

-to say hi & help with her hair and makeup, so ariana’s lives are just a gold mine worth of content lmao

byakuya comes home just a lil while before ariana’s finished, and ofc, she forces asks him to say hi to her fans

lmao all that man does is silently wave with the world’s straightest face, and the chat is just yelling about how fine he is (“GO OFF RICH BOY” - one off ariana’s fans, probably). like HE’S NOT DOING ANYTHINGFGDHMBK

but as they should 😩☝🏽

ariana asks her fans if she should leave or stay on the live for a while longer, and ofc, they usually say that she should stay,,,, but that woman rarely listens tbh ASMNKHJFMNJK

she might stay for like,,, 5 minutes, but usually, she just leaves lmao

a lil while before she and byakuya leave, they talk to each other and to haruka for a while, and haruka probably most definitely takes polaroid pictures of ari and byakuya before they leave lol

(ariana def posts those on twitter later and all byakuya does is retweet them)

(but ofc he’ll tweet out a post wishing his wife a happy birthday,,, okay byakuya, look at you making progress !!)

the restaurant ariana and byakuya go to is of course very fancy and luxurious (it probably serves french cuisine too lmao). ari insists that they get a table on the rooftop, and since it’s her birthday (and since he loves her sm), byakuya complies :))

they talk the entire night, and if she can, ariana reaches over to hold byakuya’s hand most of the time :((

(taking a bit from rae’s hcs on how byakuya would celebrate his s/o’s birthday,,,,, like i’ve kinda been doing the whole time 🚶🏽‍♀️)

after dinner, the two of them will take a walk through tokyo. ariana would love it (well, not really, because she’s wearing literal heels lmao), especially since she and byakuya rarely get to do things like that. she’ll be taking pictures of things she finds interesting and would 100% ask byakuya to take pictures of her (and vice versa)

(she’s posting those on twitter too,,, ariana nation is getting fed well lol)

and then they can finally go back home and stay home, and ariana can finally open the rest of her gifts !!

they’re gifts from her family, her close friends, and of course, from byakuya and haruka !! ari’s literally smiling the whole time as she opens her presents (especially the ones from her family,,, hayley’s homemade birthday cards are always so cute 🥺), and haruka has that polaroid camera out again

(ariana: does anything)

(haru: you’re doing great sweetie !! 😀📸)

idk exactly what ariana would want for her birthday (tmw you don’t even know the preferences of your own character 🧍🏽‍♀️), but most likely, it’s either something homemade or a designer item lmao (mainly another purse-)

fun fact: her aunt josephine spoils the shit out of her lol like ariana could see a bunch of bags from chanel, louis vuitton, and yves saint laurent and automatically think “yeah, that’s my aunt lol”

ariana facetimes her family again, as well !! they get to speak to byakuya and haruka, they sing “happy birthday” to her in korean, they ask her if she liked their gifts, and it’s just a very cute family moment :))

it’s like,,, 11pm by the time ari finishes opening her presents, so she really has to go to bed

before that though, she spams her followers with the pictures that were taken, and posts one last “thank you” tweet before her birthday inevitably ends 😕

(well not really since it’s gonna be september 1st in other parts of the world lmao)

“everyone! thank u sooo much for all the birthday wishes u gave me today! it wouldn’t have been such a great one without y’all, my family, my best friends, my husband (@ByakuyaTogami), and my no. 1 fan, my sister-in-law lmao (@harukaonice). i love each and every single one of y’all with my entire heart, and i’m so glad u love me just as much 🥺 i saw as many of ur posts as i could, and i just wanna thank y’all for reaching over a million tweets! can’t believe y’all think that i’m that important lol (i mean, ofc i am 🙄✋🏻) anyways, once again, thank y’all smmmm! love y’all lots!! <3 ari <3” - ariana’s tweet 🥺 (that she posts in four different languages lol; english, korean, japanese, and french !!)

(SHE’S SUCH A SWEETHEART IM LITERALLY CRINGHMNHJDJGKM)

then ariana and byakuya finally go to sleep (it’s like 1am now jesus christ-), and ariana’s twitter notifications are still blowing tf up lmao

n e ways, that ends this behemoth of a post !! happy birthday to my baby, ariana park and even though she doesn’t exist (😕), i hope she enjoys it to the fullest !!

bonus !!

if she has a public appearance scheduled before or on her birthday, if fans are allowed to attend, they sing “happy birthday” to her whenever they see her !!

like, she could be entering a building and they would sing it, and then she could exit a few hours later & they’ll sing it again lol

ariana’s just like, “babes, you already sang this to me earlier !!”

when it comes to her “more important” birthdays (although her birthdays are always important)—such as her 18th, 20th, or 21st birthdays—ariana will throw quite a big party. like there would be a bunch of celebrities and popular society figures on the list,,, it would be a whole spectacle that the average person could only dream of getting into lmao (like me, ofc 🚶🏽‍♀️)

when ari was a child, her parents would throw a birthday party for her nearly every year lol,,, and while they were living in korea together, they would have dinner with nearly their entire family, too

(she always got two cakes, too,,, like it’s just kinda tradition for the park family at this point lol)

since ariana and jungkook (from bts) share the same birthday, either one of them message each other to wish each other a happy birthday !! ari also sends him a gift, while jungkook posts said gift on twitter and probably fanboys,,, i have a feeling that he would be a fan of her and her dramas,,, as well as the rest of bts

(they have each other’s numbers because ariana is a korean celebrity and they’ve attended events together on multiple occasions,,, ofc she and bts know each other lmao)

and i forgot to mention, but haruka would totally watch ariana’s birthday vlive if she didn’t have practice or something,,, probably sending as many messages as she can & aggressively hearting the live lmao,,, that girl really is ariana’s biggest fan SKJMNNFJMK

i also forgot to mention that JH entertainment (ariana’s agency) releases photos from a birthday photo shoot that they did with her !! they have different themes every year and they’re always so cute :((

they’re also taken prior to ariana’s actually birthday, especially since she’s always in japan now lol (but like,,, how do people not notice her going back and forth between korea & japan sometimes-)

(also, big verified accounts and celebrities on twitter & instagram wishing ariana a happy birthday >>>>>)

(celebrity tingz 🤪)

n e ways, now i’m done !! happy birthday, ari ilysm <3

(the character of haruka togami belongs to @raes-ramblings, btw !!)

[keanureevesisbae]

Protection Chapter 5

Summary: August has some explaining to do.

August Walker x Mia Makaruku (ofc)

Wordcount: 4.5k

Warnings: Little fight. A very very quick murder. 

A/N: Thank you to everyone for the sweet messages I’ve received during my “flagged” situation. It was a fucking shitty start of the year, but I’m happy it’s over now 🥰

Masterlist // Previous chapter //

The second Mia asked that question, August feels the color draining from his face. He opens his mouth, closes it and opens it again, but no words emerges from his lips. The only thing he can hear right now, is the loud beating of his own heart and the jammed traffic outside of their apartment building.

‘Mia,’ he finally manages to say, ‘please, allow me to explain this, because I can.’

Though she asked him why he has her entire life compiled in one file, it’s clear she doesn’t want to listen to his explanation. August hasn’t seen her like this before. Now, of course, he barely knows her, but adding the intel on top of the things he learned about her this week, he figured she would listen to him. He thought she would give him an opportunity to explain himself and she’d except it.

However, he totally misjudged Mia. Her eyes scream bloody murder. ‘Are you stalking me?’ she asks him.

That feels like a punch in the gut and then some. ‘What?’ August asks her. ‘No, no, no, of course not.’ He closes the door behind him, a little harder than intended. He sees her jump from the loud bang. August is already on his way over to her, but she starts to shake her head.

‘Stay there,’ she manages to choke out, as she is holding onto the edge of the table for dear life.

It doesn’t sound very convincing, however he stops in his tracks. Instead of bulldozing over her and ignoring her pleads (like he usually would’ve , he sits on the back of the couch. He rubs his thighs with his hands as he grows more and more uncomfortable.

Yesterday she’d sit close to him, wrapping her arms around him when she hugged him goodbye. He wishes he could go back to that specific time. The thing about Mia is that he can let his guard down and while that isn’t something he enjoys to do, with Mia that’s okay.

And he wants to make it right to her or at least explain it to her.  

‘I’m not stalking you,’ he says. August so desperately wants to look at her, to see her beautiful eyes, but the hurt in them is too much for him to handle. She is visibly distraught, because of him and rightfully so. Normally he wouldn’t do this. He wouldn’t keep a distance because the other person wants to. Normally he can look anyone in the eye, no matter how they are feeling.

But everything is different with Mia.

‘I work with the CIA,’ he continues. ‘I was assigned to both protect you and help you remember certain things.’

It stays quiet for too long, so August looks up, only to discover that Mia is actually getting furious. ‘Protection?’ She nearly spits out the word in disgust. ‘I don’t need protection and certainly not from you. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself without you stalking me.’ She slams the file on the table and lets out a frustrated sigh. ‘And I sure don’t need to remember certain things.’

He wished she was right. He wished she was his neighbor and that’s all. Not an assignment. ‘You do,’ August whispers, loud enough for her to hear.

‘Which part?’

‘Both,’ he answers. While he really doesn’t want to let her in on this, there is also no point in keeping this a secret from her. Besides, he was the idiot that accidentally didn’t close his door properly when he took out the trash, since his mind was solely focused on Mia and how wonderful she is.

August fucked this up himself, now he needs to fix it.

‘You need to remember something about a safe.’

Mia frowns deeply. ‘A safe? Why?’

‘Because we have reason to believe you are connected to it.’

She starts shaking her head, as she lets out a chuckle of disbelieve. ‘What the fuck is so damn important about that safe?’

‘The safe contains incriminating information that could start wars.’

‘Wars between who?’ she asks.

‘Gangs, cartels, CIA, Interpol, entire countries.’ He shrugs before adding: ‘You name it.’

‘And why do you think I have something to do with that safe? I don’t know anything.’

‘You may not have known about it, but your family did, Mia.’

She scoffs. ‘My family is dead. I thought you new, mister big shot working at the CIA.’

August takes in her clenched jaw, her pursed lips and her eyes that could kill him when she looks up.

‘I’m not gonna use a fucking ouija board to ask them about it. I was too young to know a thing about this.’ The frustration that was building up deep inside her, bursts out as she kicks against the nearest chair. It topples over and when they both stared at it for a while, she adds: ‘And by the way, how are you so sure it’s my family that is linked to the safe?’

‘Check page seventeen of the file,’ August tells her. ‘There are pictures of your family.’

He watches her flip through the pages and judging from her eye motions, her eyes are stuck on one in particular. The one of a man, a woman, three boys and a little girl. One entire family.

‘This could be anyone,’ Mia retorts.

‘It’s your family,’ he simply says. ‘Check the other pictures.’

Since he has that file engraved in his memory, he knows exactly what picture is taking up her attention. The pixelated one of both a man and a woman. This family’s identity is probably one of the best kept secrets in the world. While it’s not much, the pictures do give an indication. Even with the pixels as large as her fist, no one has to be a genius to notice the resemblances of the woman and Mia.

She turns the page and her eyes enlarge, when they land on the final picture. The age progression picture. Of course it’s only an idea of what the young girl looks like now and with the limited information they had on this family, also known as the Safe-family, it’s not a match for the full hundred percent. However, tons of characteristics do match with Mia.

‘Six months ago,’ he says, ‘someone took the time to do an age progression picture of the entire family. We ran it through multiple databases and no one was a match. Except you. We didn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together directly, but someone in the office recognized you in it.’

August knows she is looking at the other age progression pictures, of her parents and her brothers.

‘When we put your timeline next to the timeline of your family, also known as the Safe-family… It matched. They weren’t active anymore, since the car accident. Since this all happened in the Netherlands, the CIA wasn’t informed.’

Mia shakes her head. ‘I don’t even know what they looked like,’ she says and he notices her softening up. Sure, there is a chance she is still mad at him, but hearing this vulnerability in her voice… That is what breaks his heart. ‘Even if these people were my family,’ she says, ‘shouldn’t I remember something?’

‘Stuff like that takes time, Mia.’

When she looks up, he notices all the anger she harbored, dissolved. ‘Do you know their names?’

August shakes his head.

‘Does that mean there is possibility my name is not Mia Makaruku?’

‘There is chance, yes.’

Tears build up in her eyes. ‘I can’t help you with this.’ She places the file back on the table and lets her fingers run through her locks. ‘I don’t know anything about these people nor about that safe. Whatever the CIA thinks they know, they’re wrong.’

‘Except, it’s true,’ he says. ‘It’s not just the CIA who is figuring this out. If they can figure it out, other people can too and that is why I’m here. The other ones, they don’t want what’s best for you.’

‘But the CIA does?’

No, the CIA doesn’t care about her, just the information she can provide. ‘No,’ he says to her in all honesty, ‘but I do.’

She shakes her head. ‘I thought you were a CIA agent, not some shrink. I went to multiple specialists for years and they couldn’t help me remember. What on earth gave you the impression that you are some sort of special snowflake, thinking you can help me remember?’

August takes a deep breath. ‘Because I know what I’m looking for.’

Her eyes enlarge with realization. ‘You weren’t trying to be my friend,’ she concludes. ‘You just wanted to get inside my head.’

No, shit, no. This isn’t good. He rises to his feet and approaches her, as he says: ‘I’m your friend, Mia.’ When he notices her shoulders tense up, he stops at a respectable distance from her, because the last thing he needs right now, is her turning him away. She is letting her guard down, but he should not force himself up to her. ‘I meant everything I said to you. I want to be more open to you, I want to hug you and I want to get to know you. That was all true and still is. I just need to protect you. The other people who know this, they don’t want what’s best for you. They just want the information and they’ll go through all sorts of lengths to get that information.’

August senses remainder of her anger flowing away and he decides to take his chances.

He walks up to her and when he is close enough, he carefully places his hands on her shaking shoulders. She isn’t pushing him away nor tensing up. ‘Nothing is going to change about us,’ he says. ‘We keep on being friends and I’ll just make sure no one can hurt you.’

Mia shakes her head. ‘It doesn’t work that way, August,’ she whispers. ‘You lied about your intentions and I don’t even know if anything you just told me is true. What I do know is that I can’t help you or the CIA. I want you to move out of here and leave me alone. Call your boss and tell them you are quitting. I don’t know anything about this, my family is not related to that safe and I don’t want to look at you ever again.’

August sighs. ‘We can’t do that.’

She pushes him away with a surprising amount of strength. ‘All of this isn’t true,’ she tells him. ‘Those people in the file, could be everyone. I am Mia Makaruku and no pictures and intel can change that.’

He is losing her. ‘I am your best shot, Mia,’ he softly continues. ‘Let me just explain everything I know to you. It’ll become more clear and you will realize I’m the only one who can help you.’

‘Drop dead, August,’ she growls. ‘I don’t want to talk to you ever again.’

Mia storms out of his apartment and the door slams shut behind her. August wanders through his apartment, hoping to clear his mind on this. All of his coherent thoughts are clouded however as soon as he sees the mug Mia insisted on drinking her water in. She even went back to her own apartment when her heater broke, to grab it. August still remembers her beautiful smile when she walked back in. ‘I’m leaving this here,’ she said, ‘because I want to drink from something less clinical than the glasses and mugs you have.’

The pink mug with lots of flowers on it. Tiny roses, colorful tulips. Something he would never look at. Something he wants to cherish forever now.

August notices the warm pie on his kitchen island, with a note. As he reads it, he clenches his jaw. He fucked up so badly, simply because he was careless. Mia wasn’t supposed to know about this. At least not yet.

Erika would be embarrassed if she found out about this debacle and he would be fired on the spot. That is the last thing he needs, because if he is fired, that means someone else is assigned to this. Worse, the CIA brings her to one of the safe houses without him and he knows no one will and can take as good care of her as he does.

Despite her being against him, wanting him gone, he is not that easily scared away.

◎ ◎ ◎

Mia was a wreck to say the least during her practice and Coach Riley noticed it too, hence the reason she is the last person to leave the center today. It pains August to see her like this. He can’t believe he is going to say this, but he feels for her. Seeing her missing goals she easily could’ve made, her limping again since she obviously misstepped and the fact she barely touched the ball.

All because he was a careless idiot.

He sits in his car, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel, scanning the parking lot. He finally notices her and he sits up a bit straighter. It’s obvious she is in a lot of pain, her steps carefully calculated. It takes him all of his willpower to not get out of his car, so he can lift her up and carry her to his car.

She unlocks her car and throws her bag into the trunk. From the way she closes it with a force he can see from where he is standing, tells him she is very much upset still.

All because of him.

While she walks to the side of her car, fumbling her set of keys, he sees him. The creep from the game who couldn’t stop looking at her. He doesn’t even think about it for a quarter second as he gets out of his own car.

He knew it, he fucking knew it. He slams the door shut behind him, sprinting towards the creep and Mia. ‘Let me go,’ he hears her say, but her tone is hoarse, as the man’s arm is choking her.

Mia places her feet on the surface of her own car and pushes herself back. They fall on the concrete and it gives her some leverage to wiggle herself out of his arms. The man gets up however and while she is crawling away, she has her back turned to him. Before he can touch her, August runs into him. The impact leaves a big dent in her car, however it didn’t knock him out, but a fist against his temple does it.

Mia is sniffling, her hand in front of her mouth. ‘What are you doing?’ she asks. ‘August, what is happening? What the fuck are you doing here? This is borderline stalking.’

‘Not stalking you,’ he says as he crouches down in front of her. ‘I’m just protecting you.’

A nearly painful sob leaves her lips, as she holds her ankle. ‘I don’t need protection,’ she whimpers.

August wished that was true. August wished that she didn’t need him, but he hates to break it to her. He hates taking her independence away from her.  You need me,’ he says, ‘whether you like it or not.’

‘Don’t give yourself too much credit,’ she mutters, but he sees her walls crumble at the same time. ‘My ankle hurts.’

‘I know,’ he says. ‘You stood up to yourself. That was good.’ I’m proud of you.

The words however don’t leave his lips. That compliment stays in his heart.

She holds out her hand to him and he carefully takes it in his. ‘What is it, Mia?’

‘I’m scared,’ she whispers. ‘August, I don’t know what is happening. Who was that? Why am I being targeted? How do they know? Who am I? When is this ever going to stop?’

He wishes he had the answers, but he simply doesn’t. Mia is crying and he does what he thinks would calm her down. ‘Come here,’ he whispers, as he pulls her to his body. She buries her face in his neck, melting against his frame. Mia is shaking with fear.

While he holds her close, he keeps on thinking about the things they need to do. And there is quite a lot.

‘Listen to me, Mia,’ he says, cradling her face. Through her tears, she looks at him. ‘I need you to do something for me.’

‘And what’s that?’

August swallows hard. ‘We need to get rid of him and get you home.’ He pulls the knife from his back pocket and leans over to her front tire, slashing it. ‘When Harold for example asks why we’re together when we go back home, you ask him your tire was slashed and I picked you up. Now go grab your bag, okay?’

She nods and he pulls her up. She limps back to the car and grabs her sports bag out of the trunk.

‘Is there anything important in your car you need?’

‘No.’

August yanks out his belt and ties the hands of the man, before pulling the dead weight up. He is still alive, that’s for sure, but severely unconscious. He throws the keys to her and she catches it. ‘That car over there.’

He holds out his arm for her to take and she complies, leaning her weight on him. ‘Open the trunk for me, will you?’

August drops the man into the trunk. He expected Mia to get in the car, but she just stands there, staring at the car.

‘Listen, Mia,’ he says to her. ‘I know you’re scared.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she whimpers.

‘No, no, don’t do that shit,’ he tells her. ‘I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do. You get in the car, we dump this man and then we get home. We’ll pack our things and then we go.’

‘I don’t want to go,’ she whispers. ‘I want to stay here.’

‘Listen, listen, listen.’ He holds her face in his hands, his thumbs caressing her wet and hot cheeks. ‘We can’t stay, we’ve gotta leave. Now get in the car, Mia. I’ll be right there.’

He watches her get in the car, before he walks to the trunk. The man is still unconscious and August does what he does. It takes him less than a second to snap his neck and search his pockets, but the man isn’t wearing anything or has something with him significant.

He grabs his own phone out of his back pocket and dials Erika’s number as he closes the trunk.

‘Sloane.’

‘Word’s out,’ he says.

The fact she is not responding, means she’s thinking. Erika Sloane has been his boss for quite some time now, so he knows her ways. ‘Okay. What do you got?’

‘Man in the trunk, safe house three hours away.’

‘I’ll send you a location. I want you there now.’

‘On my way.’

When August hangs up the phone, he takes a seat next to Mia, who is staring out of the window. She must sense he is looking at her, since she her gaze from outside. ‘I hate you,’ she whispers.

It stings and maybe hurts a little, but he understands. ‘That’s okay,’ he says. ‘You can hate.’

◎ ◎ ◎

After August swapped cars with one of his colleagues, he drove the two of them back to their apartment building. He had to explain to Harold how not only her tire was slashed, but how she was also injured.

Mia on the other hand, was also totally out of it and still is. It’s just too much for her to handle.

He hoists the small woman on his kitchen counter and Mia finally stops crying. Not much haunts August at night, but those painful, gut wrenching sobs might. ‘What are you doing? Why did we swap cars?’

‘I’m gonna patch you up, Mia.’

‘Why?’

‘Because we are going away. That’s why I swapped cars, so we won’t be followed and my colleague is gonna get rid of the body.’

She looks like she’s seen a ghost. ‘What? Body? Did you kill him?’

He decides not to answer that.

Mia shakes her head. ‘We can’t run off. I have a game this Saturday.’

‘I know, but you can’t play. You are in danger and you need to get out of here. If you stay here, you might not survive.’

‘I thought you were here to protect me.’

She has a point. ‘But I can’t be with you in the locker room, VIP tickets or not. I have a safe house not too far from here and that is where we are going. Tomorrow you call your coach and tell her you are going to take a break.’

‘August,’ Mia says, shaking her head, ‘stop it, please.’

He doesn’t. ‘If you don’t come with me, you’ll die.’

‘I have a life here.’

August decides not to respond to her pleads anymore. He carefully takes of her shoe and sock, to check her ankle. ‘Looks like it hurts.’

‘Stop pretending you care about me.’

She has said a lot of things that stung, but this deeply offends him. He slams his hand on the kitchen counter, next to her thigh. Mia tenses up. ‘For fuck’s sake, I do care about you, Mia,’ he says in a louder tone.

Her bottom lip starts to tremble again and tears trickle over her cheeks. ‘I don’t want this life,’ she cries. ‘I just want to be a soccer player again.’

He places his hands on the side of her head, pulling her closer, until her forehead is resting on his chest. ‘If you come with me, I can guarantee I’ll keep you safe.’

‘You’re asking me to leave my life behind,’ she cries. Her fingers pull on his shirt and he looks down, to see her knuckles turn lighter from the clenching of her fists.

‘I know,’ he whispers. ‘But after I checked your ankle, we are leaving.’

‘I can’t argue this?’

‘Afraid not.’

She looks up, her eyes red from crying. ‘I’ll go with you, but only on one condition.’

She’s going with him no matter what, but he decides to keep quiet. ‘And that entails what?’

‘That Bobo comes with us too.’

◎ ◎ ◎

That scary disgusting orange cat that left an entire patch of fur on his bed, meows from the backseat. August watched a teary Mia leave her apartment behind, with all the stuff she needs and the carriage with Bobo. He had to walk back two times to make sure all the stuff the ball of fur needs. From the looks of it, it seems like Mia is bringing more stuff with her for her cat than for herself.

He sits next to her, as they have started their three hour drive. It’s dark and the crying has worn Mia out.

‘Mia, I understand you are mad at me, but I’m doing this for you.’

‘I know,’ she sighs out. Ever since he had to explain himself, he sees the rollercoaster of emotions Mia has been on. She is mad, afraid and fragile, all at once and she does not know how to deal with that. Everything she taught herself, is all worthless compared to what she has to face now.

Mia places her hand on his and he turns his, so their palms are touching. Their fingers intertwined. ‘I’m scared,’ she whispers. ‘I’m in pain.’

‘I know.’

‘My life is over.’

He bites his bottom lip. He didn’t want to tell her that the chances of her being a soccer player… That those days are over. Thankfully she brought it up herself. ‘I know.’

‘What do I do?’

‘Just stay close,’ August says. ‘I called my supervisor again and if we have to, we can use our passports to go somewhere else if we have to, but right now, we need to lay low for a while. The word is out about you and it’s only confirmed after this.’

‘What about the people I care about?’

‘CIA put protection at the apartment building for Harold and near your training center and the houses of your team and coach.’

There are the tears again. The only thing he can do, is squeeze in her hand.

‘August, what is gonna happen?’

‘You and I are gonna stay in the safe house,’ he tells her. ‘I’ll tell you everything I know and we’ll see whether or not you remember something.’

‘But what if I don’t?’ she asks. ‘The CIA also wants to content of the safe. Will they kill me too if I don’t know?’

That is of course a plausible thought and he actually admires her for thinking like that, because he was worried her mind was clouded and she couldn’t think straight anymore. ‘They won’t,’ he says, ‘and even if they plan on doing so, you think I let that happen?’

Mia doesn’t answer. She turns to the side and places her forehead against his shoulder. ‘I just want to play soccer,’ she murmurs.

‘I know you do,’ he says.

‘And while you did lie to me, I feel like you are the only one I can trust.’

‘You can,’ he says, desperately needed her to know that he can be trusted, though his lying tells her otherwise. ‘Grab the file out of the bag from the backseat.’

Mia lets him go so she can turn around and grab the file. ‘What page?’

‘Just start at the beginning.’

‘Why?’

‘Because… I want you to read it. You deserve to know.’

She opens the file, but closes it not long after, causes him to frown a bit. ‘I don’t want to read it,’ she says, placing it near her feet. ‘At least not yet.’ She wraps her arm around his thick one. ‘I want you to tell me about it.’

‘Why?’

‘You dragged me out of my life. I deserve to know what this is about. From you.’

August sighs, realizing she is right. ‘Fair.’

Normally he’d feel suffocated when someone was this close to him and he’d demand his own space, but feeling Mia so close… It reminds him of Sunday. It’s like they are taking a road trip now.

He tells her about the myth surrounding the safe. How the people who knew most about it are linked to her, thus being her family. The alleged information about multiple organizations in the world, illegal and legal. The crime scene of the car accident, the unknown woman who called it in.

‘Okay,’ she whisper, ‘just a thought. If the woman who called it in, did have something to do with the disappearance of my family, why didn’t she kill me? Or took me with them?’

Mia’s asking the right questions here and he wished he knew the answer, but he doesn’t. ‘I don’t know. I’m sorry, but I don’t.’

‘Are you gonna find out about it?’

It’s really quiet on the road, so he can look to the side, seeing Mia placed her chin on his arm. Their eyes meet and despite the tears, she doesn’t seem as panicked  or angry as she was. She just seems upset and of course, that hurts him a lot.

‘We are gonna find out about it, Mia,’ he whispers, ‘I promise.’