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thepriceofbeingaroseisloneliness · 4 years ago

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Toshiya’s Creativity Vol 7: Looking back at Life This time, as Toshiya’s birthday is getting closer, we asked him to look back on his life. From his childhood to boyhood in Nagano and moving to Tokyo after his awakening to music. And the present. Memories, present and future…. Blessed with good weather, we did this interview in a localisation where you could feel the arrival of spring. “For me, music is the most stimulating thing. It was a way to escape from reality” “I think it’s a miracle I met these 4 people.” “When you are standing on stage in front of the audience, you should be a special person that nobody can’t replace”

Notes before reading: This is from ‘Toshiya’s creativity’, the serialization done by Ster Edge Magazine and later compiled into a book with the same name. This is Vol 07 (Ster Edge 006) , which was published in March 2018. Originally, I planned to post this for Toshiya’s birthday but....life. Feel free to correct me if you spot any mistake or any confusing parts. Links or credits to this post when the content is reposted or captured in other SNS is appreciated :)

------ 2017 marked the 20th anniversary of the formation of DIR EN GREY. Toshiya also had the opportunity to look back on the history of the band at various locations. This time, we asked him to look back on his ‘life’ just before his birthday on March 31st. How did he feel at that time? What did he realize at that moment and what does he think now? It was an interview that gave us a glimpse of his enigmatic way of thinking and a part his feelings. Toshiya is from Nagano prefecture. He says the environment in which he grew up was "a normal countryside one” in “a normal family”. In our previous talk with Hide TANAKA, a flower designer who is a childhood friend of Toshiya, which was published in "Toshiya's Creativity Vol6", he talked about his childhood, but we will explore this further, in a bit more personal way. When he was asked about his oldest memory, he folded his arms, thought for a moment, and then opened his mouth. “This memory comes quickly to my mind. There was something like an agricultural cooperative bazaar/rummage sale being held near my grandparent's house, and I think they took me to it. I was very impressed by a child of the same age as me at that time who was lost and crying alone. So, I remember holding my grandpa and grandma's hands tightly and saying, ‘Don’t lose me!’ (laughs).” His grandparents' home and his home were close, so he often went out with his grandparents from an early age. “I was close to my grandfather and my grandmother. I remember I was the type of child loved by the elderly. I’m still quite in contact with my family and relatives, we have a good relationship. But it wasn't something special, it was normal for me at the time. My hometown is a normal countryside town, where nothing is like this city, it feels like there are only mountains and rice fields. I also liked drawing at home and playing outside. I was playing like a normal country child would do.” Young Toshiya seems to have grown up in the nature of Nagano. It seems his parents also respected the things he wanted to do. “I was in a sports boys' team, a baseball team, and I practised kendo. I feel like I certainly did what I wanted. I liked physical activities. I wasn’t strong or weak at sports, after all I was normal (laughs). My parents taught me soroban (Japanese abacus), and in junior high school I attended a cram school. I think I got a textbook to study English through radio lessons. I just pretended to play the abacus, and I wasn't good at it at all (laughs). " Toshiya was a boy who was devoted to sports. He talked to Hide about playing the guitar when he was young, but was he interested in music and instruments at that time? “No, no at all. My mother's brother used to play the guitar and I was just using that guitar as a toy instead. More than playing, I was killing time. It felt like that. At that time, I had no dreams for the future. When I was told to write about my dream for the future, I just wrote ‘be a salary man, like my father’. I think that was the safest choice (laughs). The children of my class said ‘I want to be a police officer’ or ‘I want to be a pilot’, but I wasn't interested in what I wanted to do in the future at all.” He said ‘normal’ many times while talking about himself in the past but while listening to his talk, he didn't feel like that for some reason, he had a mysterious aura since he was a boy. He said the thing that young Toshiya was more interested in was ‘wild ideas/fantasies’. “I think it was like that in the past. Didn’t you have any ‘wild idea’ /fantasy on your way to school or coming back from it? I liked that kind of thing. As I liked Gundam, I thought ‘I want to ride one’. Sometimes I went home with my friends, but more often I went home alone. It was about a 30-minute walk from my house to school, so it was days of spending all that time doing that (laughs).” Perhaps he was a boy who had his own world and the strength to be alone. “No, no, I didn't think deeply about that. I never felt scared to be alone…. the reason I went home alone was it was easier for me to go home alone (laughs). I'm older than my siblings, so I grow up as an only child for a while. That’s why it was normal for me to be alone. Most of the boys and girls I played with were older kids who lived near my house” Toshiya, an elementary school boy who often played with older boys and girls who lived in the neighbourhood, gradually got more chances to listen to popular songs at his senpais' homes. Boøwy was the catalyst for him to have an instrument. “Boøwy was a cool band that older seniors listened to. When I got into middle school, there were about one or two people in the class who liked Western music. When I became friends with those guys, I was told ‘You are still listening to Japanese music?’ (laughs). From that moment, I started to dig deeper into Western music.” Then, that Toshiya in middle school becomes more and more absorbed in music. It was around this time that he started to have in his mind that he wanted to play an instrument. “Besides Boøwy and X…..From overseas… I listened to Van Halen. Then, bands like Europe, Guns N'Roses,Bon jovi….. as it was the golden age of LA metal (glam metal), I liked that kind of stuff. I listened to the X’s single ‘Kurenai’ at home. That song starts with a ballad-like part, and then it gets fierce at once, but when I was playing it at first, I could hardly hear any sound. I still remember that suddenly it made a loud noise when I turned up the volume, I was surprised and desperately turned down the volume (laughs). " As Toshiya told us this funny incident, for sure there are many people who had a similar experience. What elements of these bands inspired Toshiya in middle school? "The music was exciting, but the fashion and performance were shocking ... Every band was very unrealistic. It seems that I was taken to a different world at that time. The feelings were very strong. Since TV was the only way to collect information, I think the influence from TV on me was huge.” He has been absorbed in band activities since high school. The first thing he got in his hands was a guitar, not a bass. He doesn't have get the chance to play the guitar on stage right now, but he uses the guitar to make songs. "After all, I started playing the guitar because I admired some guitarists, but I thought 'It's difficult to play with 6 strings. It's a little easier with 4 strings.' After all, I thought it would be easier if there aren’t many chords to hold down. Also, I thought the bass was in a position that didn’t stand out much compared to other instruments, so I thought it would be interesting because that means there were many interesting possibilities about playing” Toshiya, who liked drawing since childhood, went to an art school while being in a band, after graduating from high school. Although he is good at drawing, he eventually chose the musical path. “I didn't want to get a job after graduating from high school, but I didn’t want to study something either. However, I liked drawing, so I asked my parents to attend an art school. At school, the places where the people who graduated there got a job are displayed at the corridor, isn’t it? I was looking at that and I thought ‘Ah? I don't think many people can get a job in the world of drawing’. I don’t think there are many jobs available when it comes to drawing. I thought ‘I like drawing but as this is more a hobby than a job, there is no point in spending money to study it. I’m going to spend my time doing what I like’. After all, I left the art school in about a year. After all, you only live once, and I may regret not doing what I want to do…..That's why I decided to go on the path of music for real. Music is the most stimulating thing for me. Making music was fun and I think it was a bit an escape from reality. I could be a different person than the one I was in my daily life….I wonder if these ‘extraordinary things’ became an stimulus for me.” Immediately after that, Toshiya goes to Tokyo to be fully into band activities as a band man. An era in which the Internet is hardly widespread it was important to move to make his own path. He took action and met various people. “When I went to Tokyo, I met and talked with several people. I was told often that ‘those who move out their hometowns had already won’. I thought there was no chance if I stayed in the countryside and I started doing band activities quietly. There may be various risks and scary feelings, but if you really want a chance, you have to go to the place where there is information. Of course, I think that taking no action is also one of the options. There may be a way to improve your skills locally, or you can go out to the city to seize opportunities, and I think it's up to you to decide which one to choose. I met the members (of DIR EN GREY) in Tokyo, so I think I wouldn't have been in this band if I hadn't come to Tokyo. " "I think it was a miracle that I could meet the other 4 members” Toshiya, who met Kyo,Kaoru, Die, and Shinya, moved to Kansai and started band activities there . In 1997, DIR EN GREY was formed. They made their national debut in 1998, and made his major debut in 1999 with the release of the singles "Akuro no Oka", "ZAN-" and "Yurameki". He thought ‘Because I only have one life, I may regret not doing what I want to do’, and took action. About three years later, Toshiya's life changed. "I think most people in the music world are like that…..At that time, I didn't know what I was doing, but I was confident. I think it's a little scary when I think about my confident at that time. I had such a simple idea that in a way or another, we were going to make it. That's why I didn't think anything strange, the biggest thing was that I didn't have any strange fear. As I grew up, I started to think about things I hadn't thought of before. I was getting more and more involved with people, but I didn’t have that kind of thing when I was young. I think that was the biggest driving force. When I look back on it now, I feel envious of that feeling that nothing was going to stop me.” It was a brilliant and sensational success. It was probably the tremendous power of these five people that attracted that success, which the appropriate world to describe it would be “comet”. A comet that seen from a distance was very beautiful but, how did DIR EN GREY feel about it, being the comet themselves? “We didn’t fully understand the situation we were in. There was a strong feeling we were getting into a world we didn’t know. We were an active part of that, but it felt like we were outsiders. At that time, music had a stimulating sense of unreality but also the fear that it became real started to spring up. At that time, it felt like that many times. DIR EN GREY was called the “last boom” of the scene we were in and I think we were lucky. There was also a part of us that tried to not be absorbed by that boom” DIR EN GREY’s activities have been very creative since then. From this formation until their debut, the band didn’t lose their spirits and kept their aggressive stance. Continuing to present things with a strong emphasis in musicality and fashion making a distinction in the middle of that ‘boom’, they built a unshakeable fortress called DIR EN GREY. “At that time, various media such as TV and magazines talked to us, but we tried not to go in that direction. I was influenced by TV in terms of knowing music, but when it comes to my own work, I didn’t think about becoming the kind of musician that appears on TV. Of course, I thought it would be the best if we got TV exposure but…..at some point, there were things that cold me off. ‘This boom won’t last forever’, it’s easy to get on that boom, but once the boom is over, it’s gone. At that time, I might not have thought so much about it, but I instinctively felt that it was dangerous to get into that boom” It’s not just Toshiya, all DIR EN GREY members agreed. “Sometimes thanks to the boom and the media, they (the listeners) get to know about you. I think it’s the best way to get people know about you but, I also think it’s really dangerous. I think there were some people who succumbed to that kind of excitement. We were cautious because we were the only ones who could protect ourselves, no one else would protect us.” Because DIR EN GREY decided that it was dangerous to get drawn by that boom, they were able to pursue the music and expressions they wanted to do in a deeper way. A different strength from that boom. “That’s right…. We didn’t really understand what happened, we couldn’t say ‘ we did this so this happened after’, there were moments we relied on ourselves, but there were also moments that we relied on others. I guess that balance was good. However, we tried to not get into that wave of popularity as much as possible” DIR EN GREY continued to run ahead of the boom without appearing in the mainstream media, toured Asia in 2002, achieving the first overseas expansion. Due to changes in music aspects, the attention they got from overseas increased and in 2005, they performed in Berlin, marking their first solo concert in Europe. From there, they started to held live performances around the world. Their music spread to the world in proportion to the rise of the Internet. Their journey was so innovative in the music scene that many artists used them as their role model. Should it be called ‘a miracle’ caused by a natural sense of balance? “I think this (the overseas expansion) was something rare for us. ‘Something like this is what we want’, ‘It would be good if you could show this or that’……we were told these kind of things so maybe it (a miracle) happened. First of all, I think it’s a miracle I met these 4 people.” Toshiya said this a little shy smile. There aren't many bands that have been so active for 20 years without changing members or stopping their activities. It's a miracle. “Because it’s an aspect that you can’t control…the things you do and the people you meet. I think it’s a miracle in that sense as well.” After 20 years, there were changes as an individual person, and there were changes in the way they interact with music. He says it's not just about music, ‘No matter what you do, if you make a mistake, you're done’, he adds. “Everyone calls me an 'artist', but I don't feel like one. The easiest thing to say would be ‘free person’ (laughs). As I don’t have the experience of a normal working life, waking up at the same time on weekdays mornings, getting on the same train every day, rather than an artist, I would say I’m a free person. However, if there is a misunderstanding, I come to think of myself as ‘someone special’ who can’t live a normal life. It’s dangerous and scary. But humans are creatures that make mistakes (laughs).” Is it his way of saying that there was a “misunderstanding” in the past? “Well, there is. I made mistakes. That's why I'm scared. At the time of the debut, the number of adults I didn’t know increased around me. No matter what you do, many people was moving. That became something common. But that many people come, means that many people also leave…. Shortly after my debut, a friend from Nagano told me two things. One was ‘it’s good you can do what you like’, and the other was ‘Did you start a band to be admired/ to be pampered?’ Those words were quite a big deal for me. I thought I couldn't stay that way, so I had to change my way of thinking a little more. The words this person told me made me feel sad but then I said ‘Isn’t it good? Why you don’t try to do your best too?’ (laughs).” Toshiya laughs and says ‘I want to be a person with an ordinary consciousness’. His way of talking and manners are soft, giving an impression that he is a person who has nothing to do with the word ‘rude’. “In my teens, my senpais were unconventional and I admired a lot their messy behaviour but unfortunately, times are very different now. When we were children, we thought about what to buy and how to use the money we received for New Year's but nowadays children seem to save money. It might be good to do something unconventional and have a dream in such a conservative era, but I'm not that age anymore. Now, if I do something like that, I’d be in a difficult position (laughs). That’s why being a person with an ordinary consciousness would be the ideal”. “When you stand on stage in front of the audience, you should be a special person that nobody can’t replace” When you ask him about music activity, the talk extends to other topics that are not limited to music. The concept of the brand 'DIRT 100% Natural Dirty' produced by him is 'unisex real clothes that can be worn in a wide range of occasions from casual to formal’, the design not only affects the clothes but also the spaces that surround your daily life. Toshiya proposes and produce unique and original clothes for daily life. The fact that the words ‘life’ and ‘everyday’ are included means that for Toshiya, as music, his brand production and life are something that flows together, not something that can be separate from each other. “There isn’t really a distinction. But both, music and brand production, I can’t call them ‘work’. Of course I can’t remove the business part of it but I don’t think it’s work. This interview is also part of my job, that’s why I’m definitely switched on my ‘business mode’. If you like something in a pure way, you shouldn’t make a business of it. Of course, I make music and produce clothes because I like it, but the truth is that you can’t just do something because you like it. That’s why I think I have to do it. For example, of course I would say ‘I want to do this’ to the company but saying NO to everything that the company suggests, like ‘I want you to do this, I think it’s just selfish. If I’m allowed to do what I want to do, then I have to do also what the company wants me to do, otherwise, it won’t work. If you just want to do whatever you want, it would be like ‘why don't you do it by yourself? I think I'm doing it with several people because I can't do it alone.” It might be because of this that the band DIR EN GREY continue to be active with the same members. It’s only because they have their own opinions but also they have the capacity to listen and absorb other people’s opinions. “I have a firm ideal within myself. However, there are times you will realize things listening to other people’s opinions and absorbing them. When you have a talk with several people that are experts in something, new opinions that I didn’t know before are born. I often think that it’s like the scales fall from my eyes, and it leads to new discoveries. There might be a reason why we don’t aim to “do things by ourselves’. It's not that music and brands can't be done alone…. I feel that if I go alone, I might make a mistake. Going back to I said before, if you think of yourself as 'special', I think it's not going to go in the right direction….But it's an exception when you stand on stage in front of the audience. , you should be a special person that nobody can’t replace” No matter how good a person is, they may stop at some point. Toshiya was no exception. However, he says with confident ‘I still have many things that I want to do’. “I've often thought ‘this is my limit’. I have thought many times ‘I don't have any ideas, I don't like it, it's hard’..... But then, I’ve always come up with ideas and images such as "I want to do something like that" or "Let's do something like this". I've been doing something like that all the time….I think my desire for expression will never run out. I don't think things can be made from scratch. Everything is imitation of something, an arrangement of something….I think that’s the trigger for the ramification of creation. In your daily life, you can see various things and various things will happen, so I hope to reflect in my work what is happening at that moment.” Will Toshiya reach a turning point in his life soon? In the last talk, he wondered if he would become an adult when he is 50 or 60 years old. He also said he wanted to be 50 or 60 years old soon. He set his mind on the idea of ‘You only have one life, if you don’t do the things that you want, you’ll regret it’. Until now, he has devoted his life to the band so is he satisfied with that or is there any regrets? “It’s half satisfaction, half regrets (laughs). I think I have more regrets, though. When I was in elementary school I thought that at my age I would be living in my hometown, I’d be married and would have kids…’I wish I had done that at that time’….’I didn’t do that’….things like that, if I start mentioning them, there would be no end. But you can’t do anything about the things you didn’t do, I think the perception will change if you look at it with regrets or as a reflection. Sayingt that ‘I could become an adult once I’m 50 or 60 years old” means I entrusted to my future self, things I can’t do now. It’s a way of escapism, though(laughs). I feel like the things I can’t do now will be easier in the future and the range of the things I’ll be able to do will be wider. I will pursue forever the person I aspired to become when I was a child. I think it’s a human thing to do that.” Toshiya’s voice “I requested this photoshoot to take place somewhere near the sea. Since my birthday was closer, I did an interview looking back on my life. If anything, it felt like the interview was important. As we went to Odaiba, the travel time was longer. The talk about the Olimpics in the car was exciting.

#dir en grey #toshiya #translation #toshiyatranslations

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dapper-chicken · 4 years ago

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Ok so. Carmen Sandeigo season 3.

I mean. It was alright?? I don’t know, I have mixed feelings with this season, and not because it was only five episodes long - I mean, yeah, that part was a let down, but I heard they had issues with budget cuts, so I get it. It just felt like some parts were?? Off?? Idk, here are some of my takes as a writing minor. Spoilers ahead.

- Did something change?? With the writers?? Something about the characters just felt a little skewed, and at some points it felt like they were parodies of their established character.

- Like, if Zach was kinda one dimensional before he definitely was this season. There was no attempt to give him any kind of personality aside from Dumb Funny Side Character Man.

- I was sad Julia got sidelined this season, but I think it was a necessary step for her to be able to later be involved with Carmen without ACME holding her back - since she’s putting an art/history degree to use now, it’s very likely Carmen will have to rob the place she works at later on. And, fingers crossed, maybe we can get some JULIA BECOMING A PART OF TEAM RED BAY-BE

- I really appreciated Devineaux coming to his own conclusion about Carmen, that was some good characterization.

- What was the deal?? With the dialogue?? That’s that only part of the writing I have any problem with. A lot of the lines where Carmen and VILE are doing their usual banter just felt really stiff, and some just didn’t make any sense at all. It felt like they were trying way too hard with some of it, especially with the line “School is going to be cool” being said in a completely serious context was just. Such dogshit writing.

- Speaking of Sonia (Was that her name??? I don’t remember??) I actually really wasn’t a fan. Like, her character had SO much potential. Her parallels with Carmen and what she could do for the story were so great but. I think it was a combination of bad character writing and bad voice acting that just made the character really stale. A lot of the lines were said with just not the right tone, (i.e. the ‘School is going to be cool’ line, but to be fair there was no saving that line). Idk, I feel like they just threw that character away with how they wrote her. Like, when she saved Carmen on the plane, It was because it was a line she wouldn’t cross, like Carmen said, but it was really kind of out of the blue I guess?? I wish Sonia would’ve been told more about why Carmen was there so she could get a full grasp of what she was getting herself into, and her connection with Carmen would’ve been established more.

- We stan Shadow-san getting that familial redemption. That episode was the best in the season imo. And NOT just because My Boy was in it (I’ll get to that later). Shadow-san was actually really good this season, I really enjoyed the found family dynamic he has with Carmen and being able to reconcile with his brother.

- FOUND FAMILY!!!!

- I was surprised at how Halloween based this season was. I see it now that a user pointed it out that it was a way for the writers to use masks as a literal and figurative driving force in the plot, which was actually Really Good so kudos to them.

- Countess Cleo seemed a bit out of character this season. Like, with the scene where they dig into candy she’s straight up eating cheap Halloween candy. Which is. Kind of against everything her character stand for. Indulging in excess fits, but indulging in something that, in her eyes, would be so lower class was really surprising.

- Also can I talk about the faculty for a sec? I know a lot of people enjoyed the faculty getting really into Halloween but for some reason I didn’t get into it. I feel like a lot of it made the faculty into a kind of comedic relief, which took away from a lot of the threat they’re supposed to have. They didn’t feel intimidating this season, they just felt like they were… There (all except for Roundabout). The dressing up and goofing around felt out of character too. I know it humanizes them a lot, but I feel like an international evil empire isn’t going to put up Halloween decorations, and if they were its going to be Top Of The Line Shit. I feel like going full clown was a little much even for Maelstrom. I feel like they could have gotten the same idea across and it might have even been better if they just gave him a single clown nose on top of his usual attire. It would have made for some (in my opinion) better visual humor. Then again, I have to keep reminding myself that this show is directed at a younger audience and I really shouldn’t be as critical as I am about it given that fact, but they set a really high bar for themselves with season 1.

- You know now that I think about it the faculty being given some comic relief this season would have been fine if they didn’t drive Zach’s character into the ground for it at the same time. Like, they’re milking Zach for all the not great comic relief they can, and are at the same time trying to do it with the faculty, which just makes everything feel a little campy.

- You know what was great comic relief????

- TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE MAN OF THE HOUR, BOYS.

- LETS TALK ABOUT MIME BOMB. LETS TALK ABOUT MIME BOMB.

- Oh my god. Oh m y go d. This. This guy. When I tell you I laughed at all of Neal and Mime Bombs scenes I am not joking. The dynamic between these two was golden. Just. *Chefs kiss*.

- Mime Bombs visual humor was fucking outstanding. The miming at the closed window, pretending to untie the boat, just everything he did was so FUCKING GOOD.

- And can we talk about Neal??? Personally I wasn’t a Slime Bomb shipper, but these two were written so well together that I’m actually starting to reconsider. Neal is just so great. He makes every character he’s with all the better, and just has such a great dynamic.

- FUCK I loved this episode.

- I love how they made Mime Bomb kinda fugly so they wouldn’t have to deal with the thirst this time around, but y’all FAILED LMAO.

- I Can And Will Smooch The Mime What About It.

- I like that they didn’t find Carmen’s mom yet. It’s not great how they stop looking after the first episode, but I feel like finding her mom in just 5 episodes would have felt so incredibly rushed.

- Women wrestling. WOMEN WRESTLING .

- The final episode was good. You knew Carmen was gonna get out of it somehow but it felt like a nice final episode. It left some good cliffhangers and felt like a nice tie to what was an entirely too short season. Can’t wait to see how ACME handles Gray.

- I was disappointed some of the OG cast in VILE didn’t get screen time, but it was, again, only 5 episodes, so there really wasn’t anything they could do about it.

- I am not a fan of The Troll. Like, his character is needed, because eventually VILE would need a natural counter to Player, cause that’s just how things need to play out, but I think he’s going to be a victim of writing. Like, his introduction establishes his ties to internet culture with that glasses drop meme and that in of itself is going to kill this character. Like, I’m so scared he’s going to fall victim to what every show tries to do, and that’s the ‘What’s up fellow cool kids’ (And by that I mean reference internet humor and trends, which will ultimately do nothing but date the show). Like, The Troll has SO MUCH POTENTIAL. WE’VE NEEDED AN EVIL COUNTER TO PLAYER FOR A WHILE NOW BUT DON’T MAKE THAT COUNTER PART A GUY WHO TALKS LIKE HE’S FROM R/INCELS.

- With all that being said, I really do still care for the show. I was lowkey disappointed with this season but I look forward to seeing what they do in the future and still hold a lot of love for this show in my heart. Fingers crossed for another season!!!

#carmen sandeigo netflix #carmen sandeigo 2019 #mime bomb #neal the eel #roundabout #coach brunt #countess cleo #proffesor maelstrom #netflix #spoilers #player #zach and ivy #shadow san #carmen sandiego

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kimberly-spirits13 · 4 years ago

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Random Characters with Creative/ Designer S/O HC:

Characters: Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Bart Allen, Conner Kent (RSS), Jamie Reyes

Damian Wayne (Fashion Design):

· You’d started off your career when you were young

· Your father wasn’t super supportive of everything and said that you were too young to start a business or what have you

· So, with approval from your mother, you started one behind his back

· He didn’t know until one day you ended up treading and going viral with a dress you made for a very famous celebrity

· At that point he couldn’t stop you and was just impressed that you made it for months without him knowing

· As long as you were keeping up schooling, it would fly

· You ended up getting to travel the world and go to fashion week

· More specifically NYFW

· New York was the big one

· That’s where you and Damian met

· He was there for a business trip with Bruce and saw you at one of the shows the girls dragged him to

· He was immediately infatuated with you and wanted to meet you

· Thank the heavens he has sisters who wear your clothes to almost every gala

· They got to go back stage and talk to you which led to you two exchanging numbers and the rest is history

· When you started dating it was really hectic

· You had a few kidnapping scares which made him want to break it off especially after you found out about the entire Robin thing

· Heeeellllllllll no

· You didn’t let that happen at all

· Bruce actually commented and said that if you were that stubborn, Damian should probably keep you

· Fashion week becomes more tiring and you also hate not being able to see Damian as much

· He comes and visits though to make sure you don’t throw yourself out a window or something lol

· When it’s over, you guys always take a long vacation to Lake Tahoe in a house Bruce owns on the Nevada side

· He loves seeing your studio since it’s so organized and colorful

· You’ve got walls of mood boards and mannequins with unfinished garments everywhere along with a massive soft couch that one of you is always sprawled out on

· Sometimes he’ll send you pictures of pretty things he thinks you’d might like which ends up being incorporated into something

· You taught him how to drape and make his own suit so that Alfred can have a day off

· If anyone has a wardrobe malfunction and you’re around, you’ve got the needle and thread kit on hand at any given moment

· Some things in the kit come in handy for picking locks too

· He thinks it’s hilarious if you ever critique something or just call it straight ugly

· If you’re at a gala and do it it’s even funnier

· “Omg...”

· “What is it beloved?”

· “The drape and hem of that dress is the most preposterous thing I think I have ever seen. The fabric isn’t even the right material or fit for their shape. How rich are these people? And they can’t afford clothes that look decent on them?” You said giving them the famous inspecting side eye, “Also, who wears pearls with double sided sequins and fur?” “They can’t fix everything sweetie.”

· *intense snickering from Damian*

Tim Drake (Software/ Web Designer):

· It’s a match made in heaven

· The two of you meet at a tech conference

· He thought that you were such an interesting person to talk to and you had offers from places like MIT

· You got along so well and then he found that you liked coffee like he did

· Omg

· He asked you out in the nerdiest way by making you decipher code on your own computer

· You were kind of mad since you had been doing some other things for some major companies but after reading the message you determined you were fine with it

· I mean how could you say no

· Anyways the date when off great and eventually the media caught heavy wind of what was happening

· You already knew about the Red Robin thing pretty quickly into the relationship though

· Tim was a genius and you weren’t far behind

· It was scary how similar you two were

· From expressions and shared humor and meme taste, it was everything

· Staying up together was another thing you did

· Although, after some time one of you would pass out and the other would go to bed too

· It was like a competition in sorts of who could stay up the longest but at the same time you needed him to sleep

· The time he felt most betrayed by you was when you replaced his coffee with decaf

· You guys just sometimes hang out in his bed tangled up in the weirdest way watching vines or weird movies

· Totally the couple that would watch the worst rated movies just to laugh at them

· Damian commented on it once and got a tired middle finger from you once

· It wasn’t the classiest move however you couldn’t care less and Tim laughed his ass off

· After that Damian seemed to respect you more

· You guys probably have matching hoodies or something with really funny or obscure culture references

· Clingy couple but nothing too over dramatic

Bart Allen:

· Your designs in architecture went down in text books

· You were famous for some really amazing builds and constructions

· You started off by building these really insane LEGO sets or doll houses based off of designs in your notebook

· Your mother still has the models in the attic which is kind of embarrassing when he sees it but he thinks it’s really cool

· When he came to your time line he knew immediately who you were

· He also totally came to you and complimented your work plus some additional hinting at what was going to happen pretty soon

· Bart was there at the rise of your success

· He basically was your number one fan the entire time

· He’ll stay up with you as long as he can when you’re working

· It’s kind of funny seeing that when you’re designing the things you went down in history for you’ll be stuck on something and he’ll just tiredly recommend what he remembers learning

· You let him look through the designs sometimes but he understands if you don’t really feel comfortable with it

· He also knows that in order to do all of this, you’re wicked smart

· When the cave needed remodeling, you were the first person that they called in

· The League was very glad that you were there and they didn’t have to pull any strings to get anyone different in

· Plus, you knew what was needed since you were there all of the time

Kon Kent:

· You got your start writing

· It was the best thing that you did to relive stress

· Once your parents saw that you were such an imaginative child, they got you in a ton of art related classes but you liked writing the most

· Your writings had won awards before but then you wrote a book and it did amazing

· So now, that’s what you do

· Kon secretly actually really likes your books and met you at a book signing

· Nerd

· He got your number there and then you realized who he was

· It was kind of funny cause you were both in that moment of realization like

· Ohhhhh I know who you are.... kinda thing

· He finds it hilarious that sometimes you’re just all over the place

· When doing research your room isn’t terrible messy, it’s just piles and piles of notes and articles

· You also probably have an expansive collection of literature yourself ranging from all genres

· You don’t really like him to proof the book, however if you have an idea for something he’s all ears

· Coffee dates to strange hole in the wall joints

· Clark really likes you and finds your humor funny in the sense that it’s close to Bruce’s

· Both very sarcastic and dry

· Lex is just glad that his son found someone with an intellect

· You don’t really like Lex though

· That’s because you hear everything that Kon has to say about him

· Although, without giving the man too much credit, the charade that he plays on the daily in quite impressive

· You will never admit it however

· Ma and Pa love you

· So does Lois

· You get along because of the writing

· Sometimes Kon will just take you to some random part of the world if you need inspiration

· “Hey wanna fly to Morocco?”

· “Why not?”

· You make a day trip out of it but if it’s a long one you’ll stay longer

· Short distance he’ll fly you himself but overseas or something, he takes one of Lex’s jets

· He likes to tease you sometimes but will take it easy during the editing phase

· Those aren’t fun at alllll

· You get cranky sometimes during that and he just backs off lol

· He will make you sleep though

· He doesn’t want you turning into Tim or anything for an extended amount of time

· Nope

· Not doing it

Jamie Reyes:

· The team didn’t know anything about your job as an artist

· You were internationally revered

· No one knew of your job but for the boy wonder who saw the paint in your hair

· Once the team did know however, everyone was amazed

· You and Jamie were already dating by then though

· He was always impressed with what you did

· Laughed when you were covered in paint

· He lets you paint or draw on his hand

· You both have matching hoodies or jackets from your clothing line or merch that you painted

· If you have a YouTube channel, he’s in some of the videos

· Scarab notes that you have a more creative personality which Jamie responds to with a sarcastic remark

· Your clothes are partly covered in paint

· He’ll go to every show

· During the Reach thing you still stayed with him

I have more parts of the Damian Wayne x reader story coming and also requests but I’m just getting into school which is my priority so that’s why I’ve been a bit more inactive. Anyways I hope you liked this one and I can’t wait to put out more

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bogkeep · 4 years ago

Text

hmmmmmmmmmm maybe i’ll write an Introspective Musing Post about my relationship to religion and their depiction in stories because i’ve pondering about this topic lately

so for those who are reading this and DON’T know what’s been going on... there’s this webcomic i fell in love with some years ago, about six years actually, that depicts a post-apocalyptic fantasy/horror adventure set in the nordic countries. it had, and has still, some very uncomfortable flaws regarding racial representation, and the creator has historically not dealt very well with criticism towards it. it’s a whole Thing. my relationship with this comic has fluctuated a lot, since there are a lot of elements in it i DO love and i still feel very nostalgic about, and like idk i felt like i trust my skills in critical thinking enough to keep reading. aaand then the creator went a teensy bit off the deep end created a whole minicomic which is like... a lukewarm social media dystopia where christians are oppressed (and also everyone is a cute bunny, including our lord and saviour jesus christ). which is already tonedeaf enough considering there are religious people who DO get prosecuted for their faith, like, that’s an actual reality for a lot of people - but as far as i can tell, usually not christians. and then there’s an afterword that’s like, “anyway i got recently converted and realized i’m a disgusting human being full of sin who doesn’t deserve redemption but jesus loves me so i’ll be fine!! remember to repent for your sins xoxo” and a bunch of other stuff and IT’S KIND OF REALLY CONCERNING i have, uh, been habitually looking at the reactions to and discussions around this, maybe it’s not very self care of me but there’s a lot of overwhelming things rn and it’s fantastically distracting, yknow? like, overall this situation is fairly reminiscent of the whole jkr thing. creator of a series that is Fairly Beloved, does something hurtful, handles backlash in a weird way, a lot of people start taking distance from Beloved Series or find ways to enjoy it on their own terms, creator later reveals to have been fully radicalized and releases a whole manifesto, and any and all criticism gets framed as harassment and proving them right. of course, one of them is a super rich person with a LOT of media power and a topic that is a lot more destructive in our current zeitgeist, and the other is an independent webcomic creator, so it’s not the same situation. just similar vibez ya feel as a result of this, i have been Thinking. and just this feels like some sort of defeat like god dammit she got me i AM thinking about the topic she wrote about!!! i should dismiss the whole thing!!! but thinking about topics is probably a good thing so hey lets go. me, i’m agnostic. i understand that this is a ‘lazy’ position to take, but it’s what works for me. i simply do not vibe with organized religion, personally. (i had the wikipedia page for ‘chaos magic’ open in a tab for several weeks, if that helps.) i was raised by atheists in a majorly atheist culture. christian atheist, i should specify. norway has been mostly and historically lutheran, and religion has usually been a private and personal thing. it turns out the teacher i had in 7th grade was mormon, but i ONLY found out because he showed up in a tv series discussing religious groups in norway later, and he was honestly one of the best teachers i have ever had - he reignited the whole class’ interest in science, math, and dungeons and dragons. it was a real “wait WHAT” moment for my teenage self. i think i was briefly converted to christianity by my friend when i was like 7, who grew up in a christian family (i visited them a couple times and always forgot they do prayers before dinner. oops!), but like, she ALSO made me believe she was the guardian of a secret magic orb that controls the entire world and if i told anybody the world would burn down in 3 seconds. i only suspected something was off when one day the Orb ran on batteries, and another day the Orb had to be plugged in to charge. in my defense i really wanted to be part of a cool fantasy plot. i had no idea how to be a christian beyond “uuuuh believe in god i guess” so it just faded away on its own. when i met this friend several years later, she was no longer christian. i think every childhood friend of mine who grew up in a christian family, was no longer christian when they grew up. most notably my closest internet friend whose family was catholic - she had several siblings, and each of them took a wildly different path, from hippie treehugger to laveyan satanist or something in that area. (i joined them for a sermon in a church when they visited my town. my phone went off during it because i had forgotten to silence it. oops!) ((i also really liked their mother’s interpretation of purgatory. she explained it as a bath, not fire. i like that.)) i have never had any personal negative experiences with christianity, despite being openly queer/gay/trans. the only time someone has directly told me i’m going to hell was some guy who saw me wearing a hoodie on norway’s constitution day. yeah i still remember that you bastard i’ve sworn to be spiteful about it till the day i die!! i’ve actually had much more insufferable interactions with the obnoxious kind of atheists - like yes yes i agree with you on a lot but that doesn’t diminish your ability to be an absolute hypocrite, it turns out? i remember going to see the movie ‘noah’ with a friend who had recently discovered reddit atheism and it was just really exhausting to discuss it with her. one of these Obnoxious Atheists is my Own Mother. which is a little strange, honestly, because she LOVES visiting churches for the Aesthetic and Architecture. we cannot go anywhere without having to stop by a pretty church to Admire and Explore. I’VE BEEN IN SO MANY CHURCHES FOR AN ATHEIST RAISED NON-CHRISTIAN. i’ve been to the vatican TWICE (i genuinely don’t even know how much of my extended family is christian. up north in the tiny village i come from, i believe my uncle is the churchkeeper, and it’s the only building in the area that did not get burnt down by the the nazis during ww2 - mostly because soldiers needed a place to sleep. still don’t know whether or not said uncle believes or not, because hey, it’s Personal) i think my biggest personal relationship to religion, and christianity specifically, has been academic. yeah, we learned a brief synopsis of world religions at school (and i remember the class used to be called ‘christianity, religion, and ethics’ and got changed to ‘religion, beliefs, and ethics’ which is cool. it was probably a big discourse but i was a teen who didnt care), but also my bachelor degree is in art history, specifically western art history because it’s a vast sprawling topic and they had to distill it as best they could SIGHS. western art history is deeply entangled with the history of the church, and i think the most i’ve ever learnt about christianity is through these classes (one of my professors wrote an article about how jesus can be interpreted as queer which i Deeply Appreciate). i also specifically tried to diversify my academic input by picking classes such as ‘depiction of muslims and jewish people in western medieval art’ and ‘art and religion’ when i was an exchange student in canada, along with 101 classes in anthropology and archaeology. because i think human diversity and culture is very cool and i want to absorb that knowledge as best as i can. i think my exchange semester in canada was the most religiously diverse space have ever been in, to be honest. now as an adult i have more christian friends again, but friends who chose it for themselves, and who practice in ways that sound good and healthy, like a place of solace and community for them. the vast majority of my friends are queer too, yknow?? i’ve known too many people who have seen these identities as fated opposites, but they aren’t, they’re just parts of who people are. it’s like... i genuinely love people having their faiths and beliefs so much. i love people finding that space where they belong and feel safe in. i love people having communities and heritages and connections. i deeply respect and admire opening up that space for faith within any other communities, like... if i’m going to listen to a podcast about scepticism and cults, i am not going to listen to it if it’s just an excuse to bash religion. i think the search for truth needs to be compassionate, always. you can acknowledge that crystals are cool and make people happy AND that multi level marketing schemes are deeply harmful and prey on people in vulnerable situaitons. YOU KNOW???? so now’s when i bring up Apocalypse Comic again. one of the things i really did like about it was, ironically, how it handled religion. in its setting, people have returned to old gods, and their magic drew power from their religion. characters from different regions had different beliefs and sources. in the first arc, they meet the spirit of a lutheran pastor, who ends up helping them with her powers. it was treated as, in the creators own words, ‘just another mythology’. and honestly? i love that. it was one of the nicest depictions i’ve seen of christianity in fiction, and as something that could coexist with other faiths. I Vibe With That. and then, uh, then... bunny dystopia comic. it just... it just straight up tells you christianity is literally the only way to..?? be a good person??? i guess?? i’m still kind of struggling to parse what exactly it wanted to say. the evil social media overlord bird tells you the bible makes you a DANGEROUS FREETHINKER, but the comic also treats rewriting the bible or finding your own way to faith as something,, Bad. The Bible Must Remain Unsullied. Never Criticize The Bible. also, doing good things just for social media clout is bad and selfish. you should do good things so you don’t burn in hell instead. is that the message? it reads a lot like the comic creator already had the idea for the comic, but only got the urge to make it after she was converted and needed to spread the good word. you do you i guess!! i understand that she’s new to this and probably Going Through Something, and this is just a step on her journey. but the absolute self-loathing she described in her afterword... it does not sound good. i’m just some agnostic kid so what do i know, but i do not think that kind of self-flagellating is a kind faith to have for yourself. i might not ever have been properly religious, but you know what i AM familiar with? a brain wired for ocd and intrusive thoughts. for a lot of my life i’ve struggled with my own kind of purity complex. i’ve had this really strange sensitivity for things that felt ‘tainted’. i’ve experienced having to remove more and more words from my vocabulary because they were Bad and i did not want to sully my sentences. it stacked, too - if a word turned out to be an euphemism for something, i could never feel comfortable saying it again. i still struggle a bit with these things, but i have confronted these things within myself. i’ve had to make myself comfortable with imperfection and ‘tainted’ things and accept that these are just, arbitrary categories my mind made up. maybe that’s the reason i can’t do organized religion even if i found one that fit for me - just like diets can trigger disordered eating, i think it would carve some bad brainpaths for me. so yeah i’m worried i guess! i’m worried when people think it’s so good that she finally found the correct faith even if it’s causing all this self-hate. is there really not a better way? or are they just trusting she’ll find it? and yeah it’s none of my concern, it’s like, i worry for jkr too but i do not want her within miles of my trans self thANKS. so like, i DO enjoy media that explores faith and what it means for you. my favourite band is the oh hellos, which DOES draw on faith and the songwriter’s experience with it. because of my religious iliteracy most of it has flown over my head for years and i’m like “oh hey this is gay” and then only later realize it was about god all along Probably. i like what they’ve done with the place. also, stormlight archive - i had NO idea sanderson was mormon, the way he writes his characters, many of whom actively discuss religion and their relationship to it. i love that about the books, honestly. Media That Explores Religion In A Complex And Compassionate Way... we like that i’ve been thinking about my own stories too, and how i might want to explore faith in them. most of my settings are based on magic and it’s like, what role does religion have in a world where gods are real and makes u magic. in sparrow spellcaster’s story, xe creates? summons? an old god - brings them to life out of the idea of them. it’s a story about hubris, mostly. then there’s iphimery, the story where i am actively fleshing out a pantheon. there’s no doubt the gods are real in the fantasy version of iphimery, they are the source of magic and sustain themselves on slivers of humanity in exchange. but in the modern version, where they are mostly forgotten? that’s some room for me to explore, i think. especially the character of timian, who comes from a smaller town and moves to a large and diverse city. in the fantasy story, the guardian deity chooses his sister as a vessel. in the modern setting, that does not happen, and i don’t yet know what does, but i really want timian to be someone who struggles with his identity - his faith, his sexuality, the expectations cast upon him by his hometown... i’m sure it’s a cliché story retold through a million gay characters but i want to do it too okay. i want to see him carve out his own way of existing within the world because i care him and want to see him thrive!!! alrighty i THINK that’s all i wanted to write. thanks if you read all of this, and if you didn’t that’s super cool have a nice day !

#rambles #i wrote this for me and theres no obligation to read it

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realm-sweet-realm · 4 years ago

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Between Worlds

Well, you guys asked for a story about these cryptids after I finished Prison Cell. Well, I couldn’t get all of them into one one-off, obviously, but I hope you like it! There is going to be some Creatorship. Also, cryptids in this story aren’t a metaphor for disabilities, homosexuality, or anything else- they’re just cryptids.

---

It was the night after Henry’s senior prom. He had had a great time dancing with his friends and could have almost pretended that everything in his life was normal.

Most people knew that Henry was mute, but most didn’t know that he didn’t need to sleep or eat. Most didn’t know that he could sense other cryptids in the surrounding area. When he was a kid, he had made the mistake of telling someone about a cat-like one that he’d seen rummaging in the trash. Having to see it wrestled to the ground and shot minutes later had taught him to never do so again, and certainly to never reveal his own differences to full humans. There were maybe six cryptids in Henry’s home town. Henry knew their location, and knew that all but one of them weren’t doing well. He even remembered when one of them- one of them hardly older than Henry was now- had died. It was like a light going off on a radar board. Henry thanked his lucky stars every day that he looked human and could live a human life. Most weren’t. Most couldn’t.

Henry didn’t communicate with most of the cryptids in his area. He’d already befriended one, and taking care of him was work enough for Henry.

He’d been six years old when he’d found Joey rummaging through their cupboards at night. Joey had been small, then, and a bit more animalistic, with his gangly too-long limbs and crow-skull face. Joey had explained to Henry that his parents had abandoned him, and Henry had allowed Joey to sleep in his bed that night. From that point on, Henry kind of looked after Joey, even as he got bigger and harder to manage.

It was a thankful thing that Henry didn’t have to sleep. It had allowed Henry to go out on his own at night. It was at night that he could play with Joey. It was also at night that they, thankfully, found an abandoned house in the woods where Joey could stay at. It was a good thing, too- little six-year-old Joey could hide in Henry’s room easily enough, but since then he’d grown from having the body of an awkward, bipedal fawn to being easily seven feet tall and somewhat more proportionate. He’d gotten scarier-looking, too. Maybe the little crow skull and baby claws he’d once had would have gained him some sympathy back then. The fearsome talons he had now? The elegant curved skull with the terrifyingly long, sharp beak? Not so much.

It didn’t help that Joey had done some pretty shocking things to survive at this point. Muggings. Hunting the wild animals around his home with his bare hands. Thievery, including robbing people’s houses and on occasion shredding their guard dogs to ribbons with his claws. Henry had gotten a job as soon as he was old enough so he could to help pay Joey’s living expenses- again, not having to sleep was a benefit, and few people understood how Henry managed to keep on top of his studies while working so hard. Of course, Joey still stole sometimes, mostly out of necessity.

Despite the challenges, though, Henry did love Joey and understood that he didn’t choose to be like this, and it was nice to have someone he didn’t have to hide his cryptid nature from. That was why he was heading to Joey’s house in the woods- it was high time that they had a talk about the future. In the past, Joey had expressed terror at the thought of Henry leaving him. So Henry wouldn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever.

Joey leaned down and Henry kissed him on the beak, as he always did when they met up.

“How was prom, dear?” Joey asked.

Good, Henry signed.

“Good.”

Can I stay the night? There’s so much we have to talk about.

“Of course you can.”

I thought about what I want in the future. I want to help cryptids like you. I thought for a while that I could just leave this life behind, but I'd always be able to feel you in the back of my head, and it would kill me if you died and I didn’t know how or why or if I could prevent it. I just don’t know how to make that my life.

“Well, there’s always the studio,” Joey suggested. “We could hire other cryptids.”

That’s a castle in the sky, Joey. I don’t know how to get the money for that. And you might have the time to draw all day, but I haven’t been practicing as much as I should. Balancing work and school, you know. Henry stopped signing and looked to Joey for answers. None came. Well, I guess I don’t have to figure it out right now. I guess I could just work for a while until I figure it out. Let’s just go upstairs. Enjoy our night together.

Joey’s room was dark this time of night, illuminated by a lantern. The walls were coated with Joey’s art. It really was impressive stuff. At one point, Henry had been the better artist between the two of them, but not anymore. That always filled Joey with a sense of both pride in himself and shame that he’d stifled Henry.

“Henry,” Joey said, putting a hand on Henry’s shoulder. “I’ve had this idea for a while... the idea that you could apply for an art school using my art. I mean, you’re talented. You could sharpen your skills again over the summer. Then at art school you could figure out how to make the studio happen. What do you say?”

Henry shook his head. If I go to an art school in another city, I’ll have to leave you behind. And art school won’t teach me how to start a studio. It’ll just teach me how to work at one.

“Right,” Joey said, disappointed. Living on the outside of society had left him dreadfully naïve as to how it worked. “Well, It’s not just about that. It’s about making up for the trouble I’ve caused you. Letting you be free of me for a while. And while you’re gone, I can meet other cryptids. Try to be more independent.”

Henry hesitated. Leaving Joey to his own devices would mean that Joey would be providing for all of his needs through theft and violence, and stood a greater chance of being caught.

“Just do one semester. For me. Alright?”

Henry nodded, then gave Joey a hug. The plan was sealed. The summer went as planned. Henry’s artistic skills came back quickly. They also enjoyed their time together, going for walks down by the river, stargazing, fantasizing about a world where he could take Joey with him. The summer was over too fast, and the two parted ways.

---

The closer Henry got to the new city, the more cryptids Henry could detect, like blips on a radar. He ignored them. He and Joey had talked about this- this was to be Henry’s time to be human, and human he would be.

It was a commitment that was hard to keep. Henry missed having someone who understood what it meant to be different. Sometimes Henry would detect a cryptid who was right near him and get tempted.

One day, he broke. He’d detected a while ago that the older woman that sometimes sat next to him in art history class was a cryptid, though he didn’t know what kind. The strange thing- or it would have been strange if Henry didn’t know what she was- was that the woman looked identical to his mother.

After mulling over how to approach her, Henry had decided to just be honest with her. After they’d chatted a bit and were in private, Henry admitted to being a cryptid, and to what his powers were. It was a risky move- the woman, open-minded as she seemed, might have reported him. Instead, she smiled.

“Oh. Cool, I’m a cryptid, too. One of my powers is that I appear as people’s dream woman.” It was strange and kind of refreshing to find someone so open about it.

What would a little kid see? Henry wrote on the pad of paper he was using to communicate.

“Maybe their best female friend. But most often? Their mom.”

Henry went red.

Allison threw her head back and laughed. “Henry, when there’s only one person in the room, I can see what form I’m taking. And yeah, it doesn’t mean you’re a manchild. A mother is a pretty common one for grown women or, you know, men like you. But it’s okay. I mean, why would freaks like us care about something as small as who you love? Anyhow. The good thing about my powers is that some of them- not this one, though- can be taught. Want to hang out sometime?”

Absolutely, Henry wrote.

---

On what was actually less than two hundred miles away but felt like the other side of the planet, Joey was on the hunt for cryptids as well. Henry had left him with a vague map of where the handful of cryptids around town were. Of course, there was no guarantee that any of them would be friendly or even sapient, and unfortunately, all of them had proven extremely good at hiding. He’d nearly given up on finding other cryptids when he found one of them one fateful night.

Joey had stolen, among other things, money from someone’s house the night before, but couldn’t exactly go into stores to use it. So, instead he was hiding in a back alley, waiting for some street person to come along. Street people were a blessing to Joey- he could have been Satan himself and they still wouldn’t object to being paid to go into a few stores to buy things for him.

A blond, baby-faced man in a hoodie turned into the alleyway, prompting Joey to crawl out of hiding and approach him. The man was scared, unsurprisingly, and adopted a defensive stance. Once Joey was close enough, the other man lunged, struck Joey right in a wound that he’d acquired a few days ago, tackled him over.

“How did you do that!?” Joey demanded of the man. It seemed impossible. Joey was experienced at scraps and must have had over a foot and a good fifty or sixty pounds on the guy.

“Extremely good luck,” the man said with a smile, helping Joey up. “Sorry bout’ that. I thought you were dangerous.” He then continued on his way. It was then that Joey realized that the man didn’t look homeless- he was clean, healthy, uninjured, shaven and all that. Joey ran to keep up with him.

“Do you walk home this way every night? You know, through a back alley at midnight in the bad side of town?”

“Yeah, mostly. Sometimes you just gotta have time to yourself, you know? A lot of people don’t like me. Say I’m a bad omen. Which I am, but I can’t help it. When ah was a boy, I wanted a dog fer Christmas. So, one of my parents’ friends’ house burned down and he had to move in with us temporarily- and they brought their dog. That kinda thing happened to me a lot before ah figured out the pattern. So, I, uh, have to try and make sure I don’t want anything too hard. It ain’t so bad once you get used to it.” The boy’s face showed sadness. Clearly it did bother him.

“Oh. Well, for a person who likes time to himself, you sure seem eager to talk to people. What’s your name, kid?”

“Wally.”

“Wally. Well, I don’t know about you, but I think our meeting was fate. You must have wanted to make friends who were like you! And that just so happens to be what I want. Why don’t we stick together.”

“...That might not be a good idea for ya.”

“I’ll take my chances. I mean, just try to want my well-being and it should happen, right?”

Wally stopped walking. They were at the end of the back alley. Two cops approached them and then fell into a man-hole, saving Joey from having to run from them. “Ah mean... it might happen that way.” Wally’s voice cracked.

“It will. Just trust me. We’ll make it work.”

---

By the end of the semester, Henry was putting more time into cryptid hunting than his studies. Allison was his assistant. She taught him some minor potions and charms before their first “mission.” Henry had thought it was unnecessary. He was wrong. The cryptid they met was a harpy-like creature with poisoned claws, and they’d had to kill it in self-defense.

There were good cryptids, too. Human-like ones. Ones Henry met on campus who walked the border line between “cryptid,” and “gifted, disabled, or both.” There were even a few animal-like cryptids that Henry and Allison could do nothing for except feeding them and giving them some water. But the majority of what set off Henry’s radar were monsters.

Henry had started off excited about “cryptid hunting,” as Allison put it, but now, it was draining him emotionally and frankly scaring him half to death. Allison never tired of it. Allison kept dragging him out. She wasn’t oblivious to his distress and tried to debrief him with comforting words and alcohol (at one point, stuff stronger than alcohol, which Henry had refused), but her lust for adventure was stronger than her empathy.

At the end of the semester, Henry returned home with mediocre grades and no real desire to go back to university. Maybe he would go to some other school and be a person instead of a cryptid this time- the credits he’d accumulated would still count at the next place. Maybe he’d go back to the same place but stop cryptid hunting- which would mean either setting some serious boundaries with Allison or cutting her out of his life, as well as ignoring a pretty significant part of himself. At least he had cryptid friends now. Or, maybe he’d just enter the workforce. He’d have to talk it over with his parents. And Joey. Back at home now, Henry could sense that the cryptids in this town were all clustered together now, matching up with what Joey had said in his letters about forming a little pack. Henry hoped that the cryptids Joey had found weren’t too frightening.

When Henry arrived to the little house in the woods, he could see that a large section had been added onto it. Good. It honestly worried Henry sometimes that Joey was spending so much time in that musty, moldering wooden house. The door was answered by a creature with glossy black eyes and a black pit for a mouth.

I’ll get Joey, the creature signed. It knew sign language. Had Joey found other mutes, or had this creature learned just for him? It didn’t matter. Henry was home, and Joey had made himself a family. Like always, Henry met Joey with a kiss on the beak.

“Welcome home, Henry. We have so much to catch up on.”

That night, Henry ate with Joey’s family and slept curled up in Joey’s arms. It was hard being between worlds. And even though he had the capacity to leave the world of cryptids behind, a big part of him didn’t want to.

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #joey drew #Henry Stein #allison pendle #wally franks #Aus #cryptids #my fanfiction #creatorship

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pompompurin1028 · 3 years ago

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Honestly I- I was shook too like what😭 I was all like “what kind of an unholy word are we living in and how the hell did you have an access to this unholy thing”

Another time she sent this and only wrote “u” below I was like

🤨

i hope you aren’t the owner of this edit or i’m disowning you

In conclusion we’ve got a good Dazai-Kunikida dynamic😂 Love her so much tho

AND YES AJXNSLXN I SAW THAT- please that’s adorable😂💕 gotta adore the lovely friends who have to deal with our passionate selves😭

Ahh that’s so great🥺 But yeah, make sure you warn her beforehand, it could get really triggering🥺

Omg you MEMORISE THEM TOO? Woah😭 I think the only poem we ever memorised was our national anthem in primary school- But it at least gave you more depth for Blue Bamboo so that’s awesome hehe😌 And that sounds so hard omg😭 But I find that it’s so useful for the brain and comprehension skills too which also sounds awesome :o

And I really enjoy learning about them, yes🥺 When we do them in class, first they let us alone with the original poem, and of course we don’t understand anything because if the poem contains, let’s say, 200 words, only 20-25 of them are still in use today. In fact, there was a certain point in the history where we started to use so so many words from two other languages (not telling them explicitly because that’d probably publicly reveal a lot about mine🥲but anyone who knows a bit about this certain literature has already understood it so RIP) because the poets thought those words would serve better to express what they wanted to express, and the mixture of these 3 languages formed the literature language in the country for a long time. We’re talking about roughly from the 11th to the 19th century, by the way. But in the 20th century, a movement started and its main goal was to eliminate the influence of the foreign languages on our literature, they defended that we should be creating our works with our modern language (which I pretty much agree with).

So now, when we look at a poem from for example 17th century, we don’t understand it not only because it’s written in old language but also because it’s not even in our language. But when the teachers give us the translation, it allows me to see how they perceived the world, the human emotions, and it kind of makes me feel a beautiful connection with my country in those centuries, I guess? The awareness that it’s my culture is so attractive for me as well. When I read things from other cultures, sure I like them objectively very much, but here, subjective emotions come into play too, I suppose? It makes me feel closer to it even when I don’t understand a word in it. I always feel like emotions were purer back then. And when I have a version of it which I understand, it makes me rejoice so much. So I may say that it kind of creates the connection between us, the ‘modern’ individuals and the ‘historical’ culture/people. I really hope this all makes sense haha, this turned out so long omg I’m so sorry😖

And yes!! I’m pretty fluent in it, and I really enjoy learning it so, SO much omg it could be my favourite language to learn or talk or write in. I’m literally so passionate about everything about it (why are we like this in everything we do I swear-). And oh you studied it too?? That’s awesome!!🥰 We could try talking in it some time if you’d like👀

And aaaaahhh French literature is AWESOME you should definitely give it a try. It’s definitely among my favourites, if not the favourite. I recently read La Bête Humaine (The Beast Within? The Human Beast?? I still don’t know how it was published in English) from Émile Zola and I was shook oh god, it was so raw, so wild… and I found it really beautiful, I’m honestly slowly falling in love with the naturalism movement. I really recommend Flaubert too, he’s really a master of realism, I love him so much. Hugo, if you’re into romanticism (which I’m.. pretty much not😭) And there’s Molière, the comedy master, I’m honestly HEAD OVER HEELS in love with his witty humour; and in terms of philosophy there’s Rousseau, Descartes, Beauvoir; AND OH THE POEMS Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine AAAAAA THE LIST COULD GO ON FOR HOURS- I- I CAN’T😩😩😩

And French classical music/art movements is a WHOLE other topic that I won’t even get into, or this ask will become a novel.

Anyways🤭 Oh I see! That’s really interesting, maybe🤔 I also heard that it was so beautiful, I’m looking forward to reading it some time😌

This is long overdue and this ask has been sitting in my ask box for a while, my apologies. And please that picture, I'm sorry I can't help but burst out laughing when I see it hahaha. And to be in the face of such a genius such as Mozart, I would be shy too honestly😳

And yes omg, I appreciate her so much T^T. My friend has been busy though it seems, she's been busy with courses, I miss her😭. And yes ahh I did warn her no worries, I warn her everytime she talks about it😳 I think she gets the point by now haha

And ahh that's actually pretty cool! But that also sounds so complicated at the same time. I can't even begin to imagine having 3 languages integrated into a single type of literature. And only that little of the words can actually be understood? I- wow😳 And yeah, I can totally understand the movement and its intentions, and honestly, I agree with it too, even though I have a very limited understanding of this topic.

And that must feel really weird :0 to know that it is from your culture but to have languages that you don't understand in it. And don't worry, I get what you mean! It's like you're able to communicate with the people of the past as they bring you messages and lessons that they learnt! T^T and it's honestly kind of a treasure honestly.

From what I know the old Chinese language changed to the current one during the May Fourth Movement (Also known as the New Cultural Movement), I believe. Of course, the May Fourth Movement included more than just the change of the languages, but that might be one of its biggest accomplishments. So during that time, the modern Chinese language is already used in speaking and writing as well during that time, but it was not the language used to officially spread ideas during that time. The May Fourth Movement one about moving away from traditional ideas and intellectual thoughts, such as Confucianism. Don't take my word for it, but from what I remember that I have learnt, I think that they wanted to do so because they (the students of the time) believe that it was such ideas that lead to China's downfall after the first world war in the Paris Peace Conference in which it wasn't able to claim some of its original lands back (the land is the Shandong region, which was given to Japan instead); and before that as well in which it suffered much humiliation from the weak Qing (or in English would sometimes be written as Ch'ing) government. And so, this movement kind of promoted the use of vernacular language in writing rather than using what we call "bahuai". This made the written language much easier to understand.

Sorry, I just went on rambling and gave you a history lesson there😅 At first I was going to talk about it briefly only because of... but all well, I guess my history-loving side came out haha

And honestly, I find that so amazing:") And well yeah, I only know very little French, unfortunately... I was learning it when the pandemic hit and I couldn't have any more lessons sadly...

And please, your passion for French literature is making me want to read them too ahh. There are just so many books I want to read gshsjs. And Rousseau, of course, I know him from studying the French Revolution period before haha, along with Voltaire and Montesquieu. Well I know of them, but I'm not very familiar with their ideas though unfortunately :")

And please don't worry Req haha, your passion is very energizing and it makes me really excited to talk about such things too. I enjoy it very much <3

Oh and before we were talking about I am A Cat, I actually found it in the bookstore in Chinese, and I read the description of it briefly and it talks about a story written from the cat's pov which is quite cool!

#asks💌#Req🎻#q

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foodreceipe · 4 years ago

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The 1990s Moments That Changed the Way We Think About Food

By: Anna Hezel Illustrations: Ellie Skrzat

The ’90s were a decade of information, SnackWell’s, and sun-dried tomatoes on everything. Here are eight events that shaped our opinions about cooking and eating.

1. The Launch of the TV Food Network In April of 1993, a young and scrappy Food Network launched with a debut lineup of French chef Jacques Pepin, writer David Rosengarten, Mrs. Fields founder Debbi Fields, and Emeril Lagasse, a little-known Louisiana restaurateur in his mid-30s with only a handful of prior television appearances under his belt.

Dorie Greenspan, who worked at the network during its launch as a consultant and producer, remembers it as a pioneering time in the unexplored realm of food television. On the TASTE Podcast, Greenspan recalled the head of programming at the time saying, “We’re going to make somebody a star, but we don’t know who that person will be.” It swiftly became clear that Emeril was that star.

In addition to the runaway hits, like Essence of Emeril, there were misgivings during the launch. “This was really a startup in every sense of the word,” she told me. “We made some terrible mistakes. We couldn’t figure out a bunch of things. We tried doing a call-in show, which seemed revolutionary. We were learning.”

The only model the network had at the time for programming about cooking was public television—shows like James Beard’s I Love to Eat and Julia Child’s The French Chef. But the move to cable meant a move toward the mainstream. “I don’t think you can underestimate the impact of that,” says Ruth Reichl. “That’s the moment that food really stopped being the provenance of the elites and became part of popular culture. Children watched it and were interested in chefs, and chefs became cool in a way that they hadn’t before.”

2. Fat Is Bad, But Everything Else Is Good At the tail end of the ’80s, a few influential government reports were published, recommending that Americans consume less fat. Americans internalized this as a directive that it was OK to consume as many calories as they wanted, as long as those calories weren’t coming from fat. A zany infomercial nutritionist named Susan Powter encouraged Americans to fill their shopping carts with cereal and low-fat chips, and SnackWell’s were born, promising unlimited amounts of dessert with no health repercussions.

Lay’s launched one of the most famous product missteps in the history of American consumerism. WOW chips, introduced in 1998, promised the same potato chip flavor with only one gram of fat per serving—a feat made possible by frying in a synthetic fat substitute called Olestra. Almost as soon as the chips hit the market, accounts started to pour in of horrible stomach woes caused by the chips. The FDA famously used the phrase “anal leakage” to describe the side effects, leading to one of the grossest and most memorable PR disasters in the history of packaged foods.

3. Sushi Goes Mainstream By the ’90s, sushi had existed in the United States for more than three decades, but this was the moment when it really caught on, especially as Japanese companies opened offices in U.S. cities. “It all started when Sony bought Columbia Pictures in 1989 and the entire West Coast went mad for sushi,” speculates Alan Richman, who was the restaurant critic at GQ at the time.

Everyone started opening sushi restaurants, including Robert DeNiro with a then little-known chef named Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, and in turn, sushi evolved from a rarefied luxury that one could only find in coastal cities to a casual, affordable treat that happened to fit perfectly into the era’s philosophy about nutrition. And then grocery stores started to catch on, stocking their refrigerator cases with plastic trays of California and spicy tuna rolls.

4. The Dawn of Online Recipes When we talk about the kind of rapid globalization that happened in the ’90s, it’s hard to avoid talking about the Internet, which shattered our spatial relationships to one another by making it as easy to talk to someone in Australia as it was to talk to the kid in your social studies class who lived down the street.

As the Internet became woven into our daily lives through services like Prodigy and America Online, it was only a matter of time before this rapidly growing technology became a way to disseminate the recipes and cooking advice that you could previously find only in magazines and cookbooks.

In 1995, Condé Nast launched Epicurious, a forward-thinking database of recipes compiled from some of the company’s food and travel magazines, including Bon Appétit and Gourmet. By the end of the decade, blogging platforms like Blogger and Xanga had emerged, paving the way for a generation of self-publishing food bloggers, like David Lebovitz in 1999, and Heidi Swanson, Pim Techamuanvivit, and Clotilde Dusoulier in the early 2000s.

5. A New Era for Restaurant Critics “I think the ’90s were the great era of restaurants in America,” says Alan Richman. The economy was strong, people had money to spend, and newspapers and magazines had budgets to send their critics to eat out and report on the latest trends in food. Fine-dining stalwarts in New York, like Le Bernardin, Daniel, and Jean-Georges, were thriving. But it was also a time when critics like Robert Sietsema at the Village Voice and Ruth Reichl at The New York Times started to clue diners in to the fact that “eating out” didn’t always have to mean French restaurants with white tablecloths.

“I was interested in talking about the way real people ate,” says Reichl. “I felt like restaurant reviews in The New York Times had been geared to a very small group of wealthy white people. And I thought everybody should go to restaurants.”

When Reichl reviewed her first Korean restaurant, Kang Suh, in 1993, three separate local Korean newspapers from New York reached out to her for interviews. When she wrote about a soba restaurant called Honmura An that same year, it caused a flap among readers who weren’t used to seeing “a little Japanese noodle shop” receive three stars.

6. NAFTA Reshapes California’s Food Landscape In 1994, NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) was signed, formalizing a trade agreement among Canada, Mexico, and the United States. As Tina Vasquez writes, the agreement was greeted with lots of anti-immigrant pushback among Americans. Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the Mexican president at the time, promised Americans that the agreement would reduce migration by stabilizing Mexico’s economy.

Instead, the agreement caused vast unemployment in Mexican industries that struggled with their new competition, leading to one of the largest historic spikes in immigration to the United States from Mexico. This brought a boom of Mexican grocery stores, butchers, restaurants, and other businesses to the U.S., especially in Californian communities like the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Grocery store chains like Chavez Supermarkets, Vallarta Market, and Northgate González are still thriving in these parts of the state.

7. Italian Food Goes Regional In my house, in a suburb of Buffalo, New York, the ’90s was the era when the green Kraft canister of Parmesan cheese in the refrigerator was replaced with a little plastic-wrapped triangle of hard cheese and a hand-crank cheese grater. Starbucks and Olive Garden (which were founded in the ’70s and ’80s, respectively) were starting to make their way into every suburb, and Americans were warming up to the idea of saying “venti” out loud.

Marcella Hazan, Italy’s Julia Child, published The Essentials of Italian Cooking in 1992, and Molto Mario (starring Mario Batali before he had been accused of sexual assault) first aired in 1996. Americans were coming to terms with the fact that Italian food was more than a plate of spaghetti and meatballs—it was a cuisine with discrete regions, like Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. And of course, every chef and home cook in America started putting sun-dried tomatoes on everything.

8. The Collapse of the Soviet Union Rewrites the World Map When the Soviet Union ended in 1991, the entire world map changed. Countries that hadn’t had a spot on the spinning globe in decades reemerged, and a few altogether new ones were formed. Suddenly, trade opened up between these countries and the rest of the world, spurring a period of wild, unregulated capitalism. Soviet-government-owned food-manufacturing companies started going out of business.

“Everyone wanted pizza, and later in the ’90s sushi, and there was this huge flood of new, very shoddy quality global foods, to which most people didn’t have access because the prices weren’t regulated,” says Anya Von Bremzen, the author of Please to the Table and Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking. “It’s a decade that’s remembered really negatively in that former Soviet bloc.”

The dissolution of the USSR also increased immigration to the U.S. from former Soviet countries. Cuba, which had been a close ally of the Soviet Union, was plunged into an economic depression, during which lack of ingredients lead to a loss of traditional Cuban cuisine.

On a broader level, as Von Bremzen points out, this large-scale globalization was the start of another very ’90s concept: nostalgia for all things regional.

https://www.tastecooking.com/1990s-moments-changed-way-think-food/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Recipes: https://www.tastecooking.com/recipes/

Most Recent features

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#Food #1990s #cooking and eating

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mousehole5000 · 4 years ago

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more tgcf chapters 143-173 lets goooooo

PEI MING BOO HISS except actually okay he’s mostly funny i think but still boo hiss

“hey who’s this guy who’s really pissed at you?” “oh thats my sword. i broke it.” alright then!

i think i need to go back and reread the banyue pass arc bc im still confused as to whats going on with banyue and pei su

“Banyue dropped from the sky with two pots raised. Without a word, she plummeted with the mouths of the pots facing down, trapping and detaining the shocked Ming’guang and the roaring Ke Mo within.” - THATS MY GIRL

“It must be known that, to heavenly officials, it certainly was more than natural for kingdoms of the mortal realm to fight and annihilate one another; the acts of these plays progressing on endlessly. But when it came their own turn, it was often hard to let things go. If one must stand in the same court as the one who annihilated their own kingdom, and that man cavorted in the heavens, exceedingly flashy, then it must be vexing.” - hmmmm!!

“I’ve spoken too many words in this lifetime. What are you referring to?” - okay to be fair thats a mood

okay its nice to get some pei ming backstory and its funny that he and xie lian are bonding but also still whenever pei ming interacts with a female character my hackles rise like a cat lol

“Xie Lian watched as Banyue thought really hard before cheerfully pulling out a few long, wine-red scorpion-snakes, and putting them into the bubbling pot.” - THATS MY GIRL

“Although “smell” was something colourless and formless, the instant Banyue removed the pot cover, it was as if some mysterious physical object had twisted all the air around the mouth of that pot. The group stared at the sight within the pot for a long time. Their pupils reflected an endless, bottomless darkness; like it could pull them into the abyss. No words could describe the sentiment expressed within their eyes. A moment later, Xie Lian patted Banyue’s shoulder and gave a thumbs-up.” - like father-figure like daughter-figure. amazing.

“However, what if one day mortals discovered something completely new that ran faster than horses? Then, when this new invention overtook horses, worshippers of this heavenly official who controlled horses would inevitably decrease. Such heavenly officials, flashing by like shooting stars, made up the majority of the heavens.” - obsessed with this, genuinely. life and change. worship and its purpose. my religious studies diploma on my wall is screaming at me rn. ALSO i am once again thinking about celebrities

“...” It was only then that Pei Ming seemed to notice, and started to contemplate this question. A moment later, he answered, “A habit. In a dark, creepy place like this, isn’t it normal to hold women in your arms, to comfort them and calm their fears?” “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t scared,” Banyue said.” - BANYUE I LOVE YOU. I MISSED YOU SO MUCH. god this takes me back to every college party i ever went to

LING WEN BACKSTORY????? shoeseller chosen for godhood bc she wrote a political essay and got arrested...... and now she’s face to face with the official who appointed her..... do go on.....

“Ling Wen laughed out loud, seeming to be enraged, and her voice dropped. “Very well! You said I couldn’t reach that high. Then, might I ask you: had the prominence of the Palace of Jing Wen at its peak ever reached even the knees of my Palace of Ling Wen??” - GET HIM!!!! BOO HISS JING WEN

“Compared to you, I’m not that bad,” Ling Wen said. “You’d personally order me to stay in the Palace of Jing Wen until midnight, then turn around and say I shamelessly hang around ‘til late to harass you. Words murder without form; I was much nicer responding with blatant violence.” - ling wen im love you..... also this bit... feels Real

BLOOD RAIN BLOOD RAIN BLOOD RAIN!! FLOWER PETALS TRANSFORMATION!!! see hua cheng? look as how cool it can be when you leave the story for a little while!! bc then you get to return and make an entrance!!

“Not only can you bring forth bloody rain, you can also make flowers shower. I didn’t know that. How fun!” - cute!! and in that moment we were all xie lian

“Everyone was stunned by his deed, and Ling Wen arduously gave him a thumbs-up. ”Ol’ Pei, what a man!” Pei Ming gritted his teeth. “WELCOME!” - aww three two tumors buddies!!

okay yin yu is here and xie lian did the equivalent of asking someone when the baby is due only to find out theyre not pregnant at all. then rong guang taunts yin yu and no one says anything. i do love the amount of awkward moments in this book tbh sometimes there are no words.

“All around was sand and mud crushing at him, exceedingly suffocating. The sand and mud was also moving endlessly; the feeling was like he was swallowed into the stomach of a giant monster, and that monster had also eaten a bunch of other things besides him, tumbling everything in its stomach, trying to digest” - ooooh creepy!!! the red string thing... is cute.... also xie lian being able to see hua cheng’s butterfly vision by looking directly into his eye is kinda cool. and obviously homoerotic.

“Are lower-ranked heavenly officials below other people?” Quan Yizhen asked. “No,” Yin Yu replied. Were they not? It was obvious that he himself didn’t believe in his own words, and Quan Yizhen also noticed. A good while later, he said bluntly, “I don’t like it here.” Yin Yu said nothing.” - im having emotions. and then yin yu also saying he doesnt like it there either.... also idk how this scene is going to play out but as much as im enjoying quan yizhen being an icon i can also possibly see how yin yu could eventually get to the point of “i am tired of being nice. i do just want to go apeshit” even if he really cares about qyz. it happens </3

“Indeed,” Hua Cheng said. “Half a year later when Quan Yizhen actually ascends, he won’t find it so funny anymore.” “Can we watch that part too?” Xie Lian asked. “We can. Hold on,” Hua Cheng replied.” - quan yizhen king of taking things literally. also why did this turn into hualian having a movie night

jian yu seems like the kind of asshole who would purposely give someone regular soda when they specifically asked for diet soda. god yin yu is really having a bad day i really feel for him in the whole situation with the brocade immortal

awww okay at least jian yu tried to take responsibility. im still mad at him tho that was objectively a terrible idea. god this whole situation sucked :(

“Rocks and earth crushed at them from all around, forcing their bodies to press tightly against one another, their faces brushing, their ears warm. Although it wasn’t the right time, a thought flashed through Xie Lian’s mind: “‘To die buried together’ doesn’t feel so bad.” - okay... im kind of emotional.... gay people....

okay obviously these murals and the prince of wuyong have some connection (im guessing pretty direct) to xie lian and are important but everytime they start analyzing one i feel like im back in art history class fhadskfhskjdhf not that thats a bad thing!! i liked art history a lot tbh

“Don’t worry, they’re not human,” Hua Cheng said. “It’s precisely because they’re not human that we have to worry, alright….” Xie Lian thought.” - goth ghost bf problems

xie lian: well, there is one person i trust more than anyone else, someone who’s first in my mind hua cheng, oblivious: oh :/ xie lian, also oblivious: what? hua cheng: you shouldnt trust so easily its dangerous xie lian: oh. haha. yeah. well. wanna,,, know who it is? hua cheng: its :) fine :) it :) doesnt :) matter :) but of course you can tell me if you want to gege xie lian, internally: well now ive made it weird hua cheng, 5 minutes later: actually i need you to tell me. right now. its totally for your security me: gay people smh

“As they suspected, he had been captured by Qi Rong. Although no one was bound by ropes, there were balls of greasily green ghost fires hovering over every one of their heads.” - completely off track but anybody else remember the great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts song

“Could there actually come a day when Qi Rong was embarrassed that someone might see the manner in which he ate? Before Xuan Ji entered, she put Guzi down. Guzi, ta-ta-ta, ran in, rushing straight to Qi Rong’s side. But when he saw him, he pointed his finger. He cried, “Dad is eating bad things in secret again!” “I’m not!” Qi Rong retaliated.” SCREAM IS QI RONG LEARNING THE POWER OF LOVE NOOOO also god that poor man whose body he has im starting to doubt if he’ll ever be free jimmy novak flashbacks

everytime we get another ghost king power somewhere someone should be writing hua cheng the cyborg bf in a high tech futuristic au i think thats the only other potential setting that could truly capture this wild ride

“In truth, throughout history, there was no man in the world who didn’t love bragging. A breeze could blow the handkerchief of a brothel girl into a man’s hand, and he would turn around and say the most beautiful of renowned escorts had fallen in love with him; holding shoes and wiping benches for the emperor’s mistress’s uncle’s grandson’s cousin’s mistress would for sure become him being an important administrator at the residence of royal relatives, raising his status. Thus, men who didn’t brag were a rare species.” - SCREAM this is going in my favorite tgcf quotes folder god... mxtx come here let me shake your hand

read the story of rain master yushi huang’s ascension. why am i crying. also this bit im crying again me with my stuffed animals “Thus, while Yushi Huang was cultivating at the Temple of Yulong, every time when she went to seek water and passed that door, she would rub the head of that ox. The door knocker soaked in her essence of life, and when the Rain Master ascended, the ox ascended with her.”

okay thats enough for now i have 7 more chapters to book 4!!! woo!!!

#tgcf liveblog #bedtime now but im excited to be moving on #mouse mumbles

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readyplayerhobi · 6 years ago

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The Evolution of You and I

; Hybrid!Jimin x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, light angst, mentions of smut

; Word Count: 10.2k

; Warnings: Mentions of loss of virginity, discussion of sex

; Synopsis: For 15 years, Park Jimin has been in your life in some form. From childhood penpal’s to the closest of friends now, you can’t imagine your life without him even if you’ve never actually met him in person. It doesn’t help that you’ve fallen for him, even across the distance that separates you. But what happens when you finally meet up and you discover he’s been keeping something secret?

; A/N: Based on this prompt from @hybridfanfiction! I read it and immediately wanted to do something, so this happened. It’s in a bit of a more unusual format to my other stuff but I hope you all enjoy it anyway :)

8 Years Old

“Can anyone tell me what a penpal is?” Miss Kim asks the class with a pleasant tone to her voice, pretty pink lips turned up gently. She’s so pretty, you always think to yourself, and you like to be in her class. She makes learning fun and never makes you feel bad for not knowing things.

Looking around, a few people raise their hands and give answers that get carefully turned down by her before she gives a bright smile, white teeth shining in the harsh lighting. “A penpal, is someone that you write to who lives far away. Sometimes they live in other countries, sometimes they just live in other parts of the same country. Lots of people become friends this way!”

Miss Kim starts to walk around the room and hands out plain, ruled pieces of paper. “We’re going to be penpals with students from another school in Busan. That’s on the other side of the country from us, on the seaside. Each paper I’m giving you has the name of a student that you are going to write to, so tell them about yourselves. Ask them about themselves. Try and make up a friendship!”

“Miss...what do we say?” You ask quietly as she hands you your sheet of paper. A few of the kids near the supplies are handing out packs of coloured pencils and pens and you take a handful of multi-coloured pencils that are pleasing to your young mind.

A letter can always use extra decorations!

“Well...tell them your name and your age maybe. What you like to do for fun. Your favourite film or animal. Whatever you want to say. It’s your letter!” Watching her carefully, you look back down at your letter with a frown and ponder what to write to your potential new friend.

Park Jimin (Boy), is written across the top in Miss Kim’s pretty handwriting. For a moment, you look across the room at the Park Jimin in your own class and marvel at the fact there’s another out there in Busan, only he’s a boy!

Taking hold of the pink pencil, your tongue sticks out cutely as your brow frowns intensely and you begin to write your letter, ignorant of the raucous laughter and yelling of the rest of your students.

Dear Jimin,

Hi! I’m Y/N, a girl! I go to school in Seoul. Miss Kim says you’re in..Boosan? On the seaside? Is it pretty? We don’t have sea here, but the Han river is okay. It smells sometimes.

Do you go to the beach? Are there crabs? I’ve never seen a crab! I like horses. Do you have horses? There’s no horses in Seoul. Do you like horses?

My favourite film is Hercules. I want to be a god too! Wouldn’t that be cool! I can save you if you want?

Please write back!

From, Y/N

Once done, you draw a bunch of tiny horses around the page in yellows, purples and pinks before adding sparkly stars and a crab or two for Jimin. Because he might like crabs, and you don’t want him to miss out on your decoration too.

You also draw a terrible stick person drawing of yourself. Lips pursing in annoyance, you draw an arrow and note down that your head isn’t really that big. It’s like an astronaut, and you don’t want Jimin to think that. He might not like astronaut people and never write back!

“Is everyone done?” Miss Kim calls out from the front of the classroom, hands clasped against her stomach as she waits for everyone to quiet down. You nod repeatedly before smiling at her brightly as you move to the front and hand her your letter. She looks over it before giving you an approving nod and adding it to her stack.

“That’s wonderful everyone. I’ll get these posted as soon as possible and then we just have to wait!”

And so you do, impatiently so and completely unaware that your life had changed for the better.

Hi Y/N!

I’m Jimin, it’s nice to meet you. I live in Busan and the sea is very pretty here. It’s blue, like the sky but more green. It smells funny sometimes too, but I like it. I see crabs a lot! Maybe I can send you one?

I’d like to see the Han river! It’s famous right? In movies and films. And I have no horses, but I have been horse riding! They’re big and scary, but friendly. They don’t really like me though. You should go.

I don’t need saving, but I like Spider-Man films. He saves people too! We can be a superhero team! Wouldn’t that be cool?

What do you like to eat? Do you like seafood? We have lots here, but I don’t like. I like meat, it’s yummy.

Please write back soon!

From, Jimin

9 Years Old

Hi Jimin,

It was my birthday yesterday. I’m now 9! Are you 9 too? So you know, my birthday is September 12th. It’s very important, so don’t forget. I’ll draw a picture of my cake for you!

When’s your birthday? Is it soon? Do you like cake too? Who doesn’t like cake? It’s so nice.

School is so boring. I don’t think I like school. Do you? What’s your favourite subject? It’s strange that you send your letters to my house now. I get mail with my name on! My mom puts it on the side for me.

Do you like getting mail too?

Write back soon.

Hugs and kisses, Y/N!

Hi Y/N!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Y/N...happy birthday to you!

My birthday isn’t until October 13th. So you’re older than me! Wow, that’s so cool. I hope you got a good birthday present! My mom helped me to pick out this friendship bracelet so I hope you like it.

I like cake! Your cake looked cool. I hope my cake looks like yours!

I love school! I love maths and science. I like numbers, they’re fun. If you need help, then I’ll try! I want to be a maths teacher when I grow up, it’d be cool. I can teach more kids about maths and get them to love it too.

I like getting mail cos it’s from you. What do you want to be when you grow up?

From, Jimin

12 Years Old

Hey Jimin,

So remember that stupid boy I told you about? Jackson? Well he kissed me today and it was totally gross and ewww. Why do grown ups like doing that? It was just...wet and icky. Have you ever been kissed yet?

I also had a maths test today and I think I did bad. I wish I was good at it like you! But I get to do arts tomorrow and I’m excited for that. I like drawing. I’ve drawn you a cute dragon on the back of this letter, so I hope you like it.

Is the weather in Busan nicer than here lately? It’s just been raining all the time and is so grey. Soyeon said we should go to karaoke for her birthday but...I don’t really like it. I’m not good at singing. Are you good?

Write back soon!

Hugs and kisses, Y/N.

Hey Y/N,

I’m so glad I got your letter today. It wasn’t a very good day :( these people in my school made fun of me for how I look. It made me upset. I can’t change any of that and it made my mom cry when I told her. I didn’t want to make her cry :(

I haven’t been kissed, but it sounds gross. Maybe I’ll stay away from kissing for a while, I trust you! But I guess maybe you need to be grownup to enjoy it? Who knows. We’re still kids!

And I’m sorry about your test. I hope you did well on it but if not then I’m trying to send you my maths knowledge! Your drawing was so good, you’re so good at it! I got my mom to put it up on my wall when I’d coloured it in for you. Can you draw me one that’s coloured in too so I can put that on my wall as well?

It’s sunny here in Busan! I’ve been going to the beach with my brother a lot and playing with our football. I like running around and doing things outside and we both like to play football. Would you play football with us if we ever met? We’re very fast!

Mom says I have a good singing voice, but I don’t like doing it. It makes me shy. You should go with your friends, it might be fun!

Write back :)

Hugs and kisses, Jimin

14 Years Old

To: Park Jimin <[email protected]>

From: Y/N <[email protected]>

Subject: HI!!!!!!!!

JIMINNIEEEEEEEE,

Oh my god. This is our first email, isn’t this weird? O-o

Like…you’re going to get this immediately after I send it! We can talk so much faster instead of waiting for the stupid post. And now we don’t have to worry about writing neatly.

Not that I wrote neatly for you or anything. Cos I totally didn’t.

But still, this is so cool right? My computer is in my living room and my mom keeps track of what I do. Is it like that for you too?

How did your date go with Chaeyoung? Did it go well? I know you were nervous about it but you’re so sweet and kind. I think she’d be missing out if she said no! I’d love to see what she looks like, I’ve never seen a Fennec fox hybrid but I’m sure she’s so pretty and cute.

Argh, write back to me soon please! ^-^

Hugs and kisses, Y/N

To: Y/N <[email protected]>

From: Park Jimin <[email protected]>

Subject: RE: HI!!!!!!!!

\(^U^)/ Y/N!

I’m writing this after only getting it five minutes ago. Isn’t that cool? This is going to make talking to you so easy.

You so wrote neat for me. I can tell. Your writing always got sloppy at the end when you were tired on the longer letters. But it’s okay. I’ll tell you a secret...I used to write neat for you too…

My computer is in my room, but that’s because my brother also has one and my dad has a laptop. They trust me, but they still check my history. So I have to be careful what I go on. I don’t want to get in trouble.

I did take Chaeyoung on a date! I was so nervous ^^; but she said yes! Can you believe that? I almost threw up. She wouldn’t have said yes then. But thanks for having faith in me! ^o^

She’s so pretty. She’s got this...blonde hair that looks like honey and it’s like light is in it. Her ears are so cute too, I bet the fur is soft. I sound sappy, my friends would laugh if I said this. You won’t right? Do...you like hybrids? Some people don’t.

I took her on a date along the beachfront here in Busan. We had dinner at a barbeque place and then went to the movies. I saw Iron Man and it was so cool. Then we had bungeobbang and walked along the front. The sea is pretty at night. Maybe I should take a picture for you? We can send pictures on email right?

Do you still like that Yugyeom? Or do you not want to kiss him because only grown ups do that and it’s icky? Hehe.

Hugs and kisses, Jimin.

To: Park Jimin <[email protected]>

From: Y/N <[email protected]>

Subject: RE: RE: HI!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD. SHUT UP. I WAS 12 AND KNEW NOTHING.

I hate you.

To: Y/N <[email protected]>

From: Park Jimin <[email protected]>

Subject: RE: RE: RE: HI!!!!!!!!

ㅠㅡㅠ

I’m sorry! Come back...please. I swear, I won’t mention it again!

17 Years Old

Park Jimin has signed in.

Y/N: Jimin!

Park Jimin: Jfc what! Let me sign in first u demon

Y/N: So...I went on a date with Eunho yesterday. Said yes 2 him.

Y/N: He took me bowling and I really wanted him 2 kiss me but he was all ‘I’m being a gentleman’.

Y/N: Think my dad said something 2 him :(

Y/N: Do u think he even likes me?

Park Jimin: Y would u think that?

Y/N: Well...he’s a guy! A teenage guy! U r all dumb and hormonal right?

Park Jimin: Am I supposed 2 be supporting u? Or are u trying 2 offend me?

Y/N: Shh, u kno I love u <333

Y/N: But it’s true. Every1 in my class has done it. Why is Eunho being slow?

Park Jimin: Woah woah!

Park Jimin: Not a race! It was ur first date. Calm down James Bond. Mayb Eunho hasn’t done it either?

Park Jimin: I haven’t

Y/N: Ur school is full of dumb girls

Park Jimin: Y?

Y/N: Cus u r cute

Park Jimin: :3

Park Jimin: ^^; <3

Y/N: :( seriously tho…

Park Jimin: Hey...it’s ok. Don’t worry. Pls.

Y/N: K. Did u pass your test?

Park Jimin: :D

Y/N: Omg yay! I bet ur mom n dad are so proud!

Park Jimin: Yeah, they bought me dinner out. I got top in my class…

Park Jimin: I also got voted class president…

Y/N: Omg, my best friend is such a nerd

Park Jimin: >:o

Park Jimin: Y u so mean?!

Y/N: Cos I love u <3

Y/N: Well done tho. I kno u were worried. But I had faith!

Park Jimin: Thanks :)

Y/N: I asked my mom 4 a dog for my birthday btw

Y/N: But she said no :(

Y/N: Cos my parents work 2 much

Y/N: And I’m only home for 2 more years

Park Jimin: Oh no :( sry

Park Jimin: What would u have wanted? A puppy?

Y/N: Yeah...mayb. We couldn’t have a big dog

Y/N: Our apartment is 2 small here, so small dog

Y/N: My friend has a Cocker Spaniel

Y/N: She’s cute, but she jumps everywhere

Park Jimin: Spaniel’s r cute! :D

Y/N: Would u get a dog?

Park Jimin: Nah

Y/N: What?! Y not?! Dogs r the best

Park Jimin: I don’t like the idea :(

Y/N: Y not?

Park Jimin: Cos...I just don’t. Mom n dad wouldn’t get one anyway

Y/N: That sucks. Don’t get fish tho. They’re boring

Park Jimin: Haha, I won’t

Park Jimin: Hey, did u see that new show out? Game of Thrones?

Y/N: Omg yes

Y/N: So much sex

Y/N: My parents don’t want me 2 watch

Park Jimin: But u did?

Y/N: Hehe

18 Years Old

Park Jimin has signed in.

Park Jimin: Hi :)

Park Jimin: Hello?

Park Jimin: Y/N??

Park Jimin: Are u there?

Y/N: Hey...sorry. Yeah, I’m here

Park Jimin: ...are you okay?

Y/N: ...no

Y/N: Not really ;(

Park Jimin: Y?! What’s wrong?!

Park Jimin: What happened? Who do I have to 2 hurt???

Y/N: Eunho…

Park Jimin: What?

Park Jimin: Eunho?

Park Jimin: What’s he done? You’ve been dating for 7 months now?!

Park Jimin: Y/N...talk 2 me :(

Park Jimin: Pls

Y/N: We had sex last night

Park Jimin: Ok...but u wanted that? Right?

Park Jimin: I mean...u said u wanted it? That u were ready?

Y/N: :(

Park Jimin: :( what happened?

Y/N: It was awful Jimminie :(

Park Jimin: <3 u don’t have to talk 2 me. Have u talked to Soyeon about it?

Y/N: No...I don’t want 2. It’s embarrassing

Park Jimin: Ok, u don’t have to do anything

Y/N: No, I want 2 talk to u

Y/N: It hurt so much :( and he didn’t care

Y/N: I told him, but he just said it’s supposed to

Y/N: I cried and went home

Y/N: He broke up with me this morning

Park Jimin: I’m gonna kill him

Park Jimin: I’m gonna fucking kill him

Park Jimin: I’ll bite him so damn hard

Park Jimin: The asshole. I knew he wasn’t good enough for u >:[

Y/N: Jiminnie...y are u going to bite him silly?

Y/N: It’s okay. It’s my fault.

Park Jimin: NO!

Park Jimin: It’s NOT ur fault. U thought u were ready and u loved him

Park Jimin: But he was a dick.

Park Jimin: I’ll bite him for you

Y/N: Haha, y u biting people?

Park Jimin: I’m sorry :( please don’t blame urself

Park Jimin: Ur smart and funny and kind. He messed up. He lost something great. Ur amazing, remember that

Y/N: :)

Y/N: Thank u

Y/N: It hurts, and it will. But I’m happier talking to u already

Park Jimin: I’ll always be here 4 u

Park Jimin: As cheesy as that sounds

Y/N: No...I need it

Y/N: I need my best friend right now

Y/N: <3

Park Jimin: <3

20 Years Old

Sitting in the uncomfortable desk chair in your university dorm, you chew your lips nervously as the Skype ringtone plays into the silent air around you. Over the years, you’ve had phone calls with Jimin occasionally on special moments, such as your birthday or his.

In recent years, there’s been a few more but never too many. Plus it was expensive after a while. The two of you have preferred to instant message each other on your laptops in your rooms, but now video calling is a thing. A common thing apparently.

You’d been vaguely aware of it, but it hadn’t entered your head to ask Jimin if he wanted to. Particularly given your laptop was not the best. But you’d been given a brand new laptop for Christmas and so had he. There was no reason to not at least try it anymore.

So here you were, in the silence of your dorm room and waiting for the call to connect to Jimin.

Not only were you nervous because you would be talking to him instead of just typing, but it was a video call. You’d only ever seen the occasional picture of Jimin over the years, taken at some odd angle so that half his head was cropped out or something ridiculous like that.

He’d complained that he didn’t like to have his picture taken, but you didn’t understand why. You always remembered him as being pretty cute, though your last photo was from two years ago. So maybe he got really ugly or something.

Who knows? Stranger things have happened.

Looking to the side, you pick up your ballpoint pen to write down a few notes that suddenly enter your head that will be useful for your homework that you plan on doing later. It’s for your stupid required mathematics class, and you’re half wondering if you can get Jimin to stay online long enough with you to help you out.

It still boggles your mind that he’s going to voluntarily be doing a mathematics degree. Like...he actually likes numbers that much.

A soft laugh leaves you as you suddenly remember one of his original letters, where he’d said that he wanted to be a maths teacher. Who knew that he was entirely serious about that?

“Hello?” A quiet voice that was surprisingly husky calls out through your speakers and you look back with widened eyes, taking in the sight on screen eagerly. He must be laid on his bed or something, as his head is really close to the screen and you can almost see down his shirt.

Which immediately causes you to focus on his eyes, because you can’t handle that. You know he still does dance and soccer, even in uni, and he likes to playfully brag about his ‘rock hard abs’. He’s not quite Dwayne Johnson levels of fit though, despite his boasting over the previous year.

“Shit, damn,” You curse as you scrawl across the page in an ugly mark before dropping the pen and looking back at him with a bright smile. “Hi! Jimin! Hi!”

The two of you go silent, the mood slightly awkward between you both as you take in the sight of him. And he’s doing the same to you, big and bright eyes tracking over the image of your face on screen before he’s letting out a tiny laugh, sound hitching on the highest point of his exhale.

He’s got what look like a plain white shirt on, and you frown at seeing the black beanie pulled down over his head, honey-blonde hair covering up dark eyebrows. “I thought you didn’t like hats? You said they hurt your ears?”

You’d always thought that was slightly odd, but if it was painful for him then you’d just accepted what he said. But seeing him on screen with a hat pulled all the way down till the tips of his ears are hiding behind them has you frowning.

Almost immediately you see his tan cheeks flush red even through the combination of a screen and crappy lighting on his end and bizarrely, his hand taps at the top of his beanie, pressing down on the soft material with a slightly panicked look in his eye.

“I don’t...like hats. But...I mean...I just...use them now. I haven’t washed my hair and I did soccer practice today. So it’s gross.” Jimin’s muttering by the end, looking down at something before giving you a shy smile and you feel something flutter in your stomach at the sight.

It’s only then that you properly take him in, noting the softly rounded cheeks that are still filled with baby fat that are juxtaposed with the sharpness of his jawline. His lashes are dark and full, casting a tiny shadow on his cheeks whenever he looks down and you frown at the bizarre mixture of feelings that sizzle in your veins.

Jimin is your best friend, and has been for years. He knows everything about you. Literally everything. Probably stuff guys shouldn’t know, but he knows it anyway. Because he’s always been so easy to talk to and non-judgemental.

You’ve never even considered what he looks like because the pictures are so infrequent and you only cared about him talking to you. Hearing him speak alone is a feast for your ears as you continue to talk and idly discuss your classes in the days since you’ve last messaged, light and high when excited yet hoarse and almost gravelly when he gets serious.

But you’d be the dumbest girl in Seoul if you turned round and said Jimin wasn’t attractive. You felt a little stupid when you realised this, given how long you’ve known him. In fact, Jimin was perhaps the most attractive guy you’ve ever seen, and you suddenly felt shy with him as you continue to talk.

Oddly shy, and yet it’s like you’ve always talked face to face. For hours, the conversation flows and you even find yourself doing your homework with the camera facing you, getting Jimin’s help on your maths equations while the two of you discuss dumb stuff.

He even plays his favourite music for you, unfortunately a Chris Brown song, which leads to a whole argument about his music choices. Even if he spends half the argument laughing at your outrage before giving in with raised hands.

You struggle to look at him though, or to at least maintain eye contact with him. Because Jimin is beautiful. And you’re not entirely sure how to handle this information, nor the confused feelings in your body and mind.

21 Years Old

“Hey, are you listening to me?!” Jimin calls out, laughter in his voice as he chastises you for ignoring him. Humming lightly, you focus on painting your final toenail before letting out a tiny noise of success and grinning at him.

Shifting the laptop around, you wiggle your toes while they remain in the pink toe separator, nails a pretty purple that shifts colours to green and gold depending on the light. “Aren’t they pretty?” You ask, letting the camera stay on them before Jimin lets out a gross noise.

“Ew yes, god. Please stop. Please stop showing me your feet. I do not have a foot kink. Even if you do have pretty feet.” You snort at that, letting the laptop fall back onto the bed beside you and angling it so you can see the screen again. Jimin’s sat at his desk, a snapback on his head for some reason as he works on a maths project.

He’s always wearing a damn hat when you call, but he just goes all shy and always says he hasn’t showered. Jimin likes to shower in the morning and be clean for the day, whereas you’re a night person. There’s nothing like going to bed clean.

Which means you argue with him all the time. If he’s so unwilling to show his hair because it’s dirty after his dance or gym or whatever then why not shower at night? But he’d then get defensive and point out that he never asks you to change your routine.

True, but still. His hair always looks so soft, and you want to just see what he’d look like. He makes your heart race anyway, and you have the strongest urge to reach through the screen and move the strands of hair out of his face. But you can’t, because that’s not a real power.

“So what’s up? What’s going on in the ever popular life of Park Jimin?” You ask, leaning back on your mound of pillows while wiggling your eyebrows at him. He snorts quietly, pencil scratching over pencil before he lets out a quiet hum.

“Do I look like I’m being popular right? I’m literally sat doing my homework a week early,” He points the rubber end of the pencil to himself with a sardonic smile. “Your bestie is a nerd remember?”

“A cute nerd.” He looks at you with a soft smile before going back to his work.

“Nothing much anyway. I was...thinking about maybe asking Dami out. I think she likes me, she smells like it.” You look up from your romance book at this with a raised brow. He was always using weird phrases like that.

“She smells like it? Do you mean she looks like it?” Chuckling, you shake your head and completely miss the way Jimin glances at the screen with wide eyes.

“Yeah, yeah that’s what I meant. She smells nice, like oranges. It always makes me feel happy.” Your heart clenches at that, face souring slightly and you mentally chastise yourself. Jimin’s obviously happy with her, and he keeps talking about her a lot so he must like her.

“That’s good. If you like her and she likes you then ask her to be your girlfriend or something. I’m sure you can pull the moves out again. Though...if it’s anything like Jisoo then...maybe don’t.” Jimin’s whining at that, his voice doing that odd noise that you can never replicate as he scowls at the screen before pointing his pencil at it.

“You said you’d never bring that up again!” He scowls, plush bottom lip pushed out enticingly as he give you the most adorable puppy dog eyes.

“It’s not my fault you got so excited you literally peed yourself. Like...seriously bro. What the fuck?” Immediately you’re giggling again, teeth biting at your lip as you try to stop it. He’d not talked to you for a whole three days when he’d admitted he’d done that on his first ever date with Jisoo and you’d laughed so hard you’d cried.

He was a little bit sensitive about stuff like that.

“You’re so mean. Why do I put up with you?” He mutters quietly, rolling his eyes before getting back to his work. His version of giving you the cold shoulder, though he can never last long. Not talking to you is like losing a limb of his. Or so he’d said once.

Or rather, he’d said he’d rather give up jerking off for a week than not talk to you for more than two days.

Sweet, but a very bizarre way to put it.

“Because you love me and you’d be completely lost without me?” You tease lightly, poking your tongue out at him before leaning forward to check on your toenails.

It means you miss the way Jimin stares at the screen looking rather forlorn, lips twisting as he reaches out to touch the screen. “Yeah...that’s right.”

22 Years Old

“Have you been applying for any jobs yet?” Soyeon asks from the couch as you chop vegetables for the dinner you said you’d cook. Why you agreed to that, you have absolutely no idea but finals were almost over and your schedules had finally aligned.

Which meant that you were finally able to hang out instead of just passing each other like two ships in the night every morning and evening. Soyeon was in a pre-med course which meant that she was ridiculously busy whereas you were completing your final exams before you would be able to proudly graduate with a degree in history.

It wasn’t the most interesting of subjects but you’d found it palatable enough and it also offered up a lot of job options after graduation. Or it would, once you actually found the time to apply for the damn things.

As soon as college finished, you’d be moving back home with your parents before heading back one final time to attend your graduation ceremony. They were happy you were coming back, as they hadn’t been pleased when you’d said you wanted to live in Seoul in an apartment with Soyeon in your third year.

Why do you need to leave our perfectly good apartment and waste money on rent there? Is what they’d asked you frequently, and you’d rolled your eyes before spouting off something about wanting to experience financial responsibility and become independent from your parents in important life decisions.

In reality, you just wanted to have somewhere where you could party or brings guys home without having to sneak them around under the watchful eye of your parents. Not that you’d brought many home that is.

Soyeon had teased you relentlessly over the last two years about your lack of action in the romance department, and you’d tried your hardest to joke your way out of it every time. But she wasn’t stupid, and neither were you.

It was hard to invest yourself in a relationship when your heart was invested hundreds of miles away on the other side of the country.

Didn’t mean you couldn’t fulfil the needs of your body though. And you did, because you were a young and successful woman with a healthy sexual appetite.

“Not yet. I still have two exams left and I’ve been too busy studying for them and working. Need to bring in that cash some way.” You say sarcastically, raising a brow at her before scraping the vegetables into the soup broth. Letting it simmer, you head over and flop down on the couch next to her with a heavy sigh before smiling.

“You? Oh wait, never mind. Dumb question. Have you got your internship placement yet?” Soyeon gives a brief smile before running her fingers over her forehead with a deep sigh. She looks tired, and the bags under her eyes are large enough that you could probably fit a whole department store sale in them.

“Not yet. I think they’ll be telling us where we are in a month or so. But I’m just...so ready for the 12-hour shifts and all that crap.” She groans before flopping down further into the sofa, grabbing one of the pale purple pillows and smushing it over her face.

Laughing lightly, you pat her thigh before becoming distracted as your phone vibrates on the coffee table in front of you. Leaning over, you peer at the screen before grabbing it and unlocking it quickly with your thumb print.

“What’s lover boy have to say?” Soyeon asks, teasing laced into every word and when you look up to glare, she’s smirking in amusement. Pushing at her foot as it pokes your stomach, you stick your tongue out childishly.

“He’s not my lover boy. Just my best friend.” You murmur, opening up Kakaotalk and reading over his message before rolling your eyes. “And an idiot.”

Turning the screen, you let her read his latest message.

[6:24PM] Jiminnie 💖: Hey, question…

[6:25PM] Jiminnie 💖: What’s it feel like to have sex?

Soyeon squints as she reads, probably cursing herself for not wearing her reading glasses, before she’s snorting with laughter and rolling back into the couch. Looking at you, she wiggles her brows. “Tell him you’re willing to show him.”

“Shut up!”

[6:27PM] Y/N: Good. That’s why I do it

[6:27PM] Y/N: Why? Does it not feel good for you? You’re not doing it right then

[6:27PM] Y/N: If it’s burning...you might wanna see the doctor

“Do you not even find it weird that he’s asked you that?” She asks, shifting in position till she’s on her side, cheek squished into the pillow as she watches the latest episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. You’d rather wash your eyes with acid than watch this, but it’s her guilty relaxation programme so you didn’t get to dictate anything to her.

Unfortunately.

“Nope. He’s asked me weirder stuff.” You say distractedly, watching and waiting for him to respond. He’d finished his finals yesterday in Busan, so you had no doubt that he was likely partying it up with his friends before he had to move back into home too.

“You know...if I wasn’t so comfortable in our friendship...I’d feel put out that some guy hundreds of miles away in Busan is closer to you than me,” She pokes you lightly with her toe before smiling. “But it’s good. Unless he breaks your heart. Then I will put my medical knowledge to use.”

[6:32PM] Jiminnie 💖: Haha. Funny

[6:33PM] Jiminnie 💖: No, what does it FEEL like? Like...what does a penis in your vajayjay feel like?

[6:34PM] Y/N: Vajayjay? What are you? Five?

[6:34PM] Jiminnie 💖: Yeah, so answer.

[6:36PM] Y/N: Fine...it feels...like...a dick in your vagina

[6:37PM] Jiminnie 💖: Helpful. Really helpful.

[6:38PM] Y/N: Why do you wanna know?

[6:42PM] Jiminnie 💖: Talking with Taehyung and Jungkook. We wanna know what it feels like, but don’t have anyone to ask except you.

[6:43PM] Y/N: Doesn’t Taehyung have a sister?

[6:44PM] Jiminnie 💖: Omfg yes...but she’s only 19! What kinda sibling relationship do YOU have?

[6:45PM] Y/N: This is true. Okay...it’s like...feeling really full. Uncomfortable if you’re not turned on enough, but...full? And it feels good, but more so when they move. Some girls have a spot that makes it feel even better

[6:45PM] Jiminnie 💖: Do you?

[6:48PM] Y/N: Omfg Jimin. You can’t just ask girls that

[6:48PM] Jiminnie 💖: Well? Do you?

[6:52PM] Y/N: Maybe

[6:54PM] Jiminnie 💖: You so do. We find this fascinating, and yet cannot visualise it at all

[6:55PM] Y/N: So c’mon, what does it feel like for a guy?

[6:56PM] Jiminnie 💖: Well like...tight...hot...wet

You squirm on the sofa at that, thighs clenching together as you suddenly visualise Jimin whispering that into your ear with that deliciously hoarse voice while he’s going deep inside you, hands gripping your thighs.

Shivering, your fingers type on your screen while you glance at Soyeon self-consciously. Nothing like getting horny from texting your best friend while your other best friend lays opposite you. Particularly when neither is aware of what’s going on.

God, would Jimin be texting you this if he knew how you felt about him? Was it even okay to be feeling this for someone you’ve never even met in person? Who knows.

But then you suddenly realise something and look down with wide eyes.

[6:58PM] Y/N: WET? WET?! PARK JIMIN...HOW IS IT WET IF YOU’RE USING A CONDOM? ARE YOU GOING BARE? OMG

[6:59PM] Jiminnie 💖: WHAT? NO...maybe...I mean...maybe once or twice. BUT IT’S OKAY. I SWEAR!

[7:02PM] Y/N: WTF?! JIMIN! YOU’VE NEVER DATED A GIRL FOR MORE THAN 2 MONTHS.

[7:03PM] Y/N: ARE YOU TRYING TO BECOME A YOUNG DAD? OR GET AN STD??

[7:04PM] Jiminnie 💖: Y/N, I swear! It’s okay, I’m okay. Please!

[7:04PM] Jiminnie 💖: I can’t get them from the girls I dated! It’s fine

[7:06PM] Y/N: Wtf do you mean?! Did you get them checked out beforehand or something? Were they on the pill?

[7:08PM] Jiminnie 💖: No, that’s not I mean

[7:09PM] Jiminnie 💖: It just...trust me. Please. I’m okay, I’m clean. I don’t have to worry about kids. It...wasn’t an issue

[7:12PM] Y/N: Jimin...don’t be irresponsible like that.

[7:12PM] Jiminnie 💖: I’m sorry 😞 I didn’t mean to make you worry

[7:13PM] Y/N: I love you Jimin, I don’t want you to do something that you’ll regret just for a moment of pleasure okay? You’re my best friend, I care about you ❤️

[7:15PM] Jiminnie 💖: Yeah...you’re my best friend too. Sorry.

Sighing heavily, you drop your phone to your side on the couch before getting up to check on the soup that’s cooking. It’s so hard to hear Jimin talk about girls and dates, all with the knowledge that you want to love him in the exact way he seems to so desperately crave.

But he’s just your best friend.

Your best friend who apparently has unprotected sex with women. It makes you heart hurt for two reasons. One, because you’re worried he’ll do something stupid and get hurt. Two, because despite you reaming him out, there’s a part of you that’s jealous of the girls he sleeps with like that.

Which is ridiculously dumb and you curse to yourself quietly, hitting your head with a spoon until you wince at the pain and rub at the area. Putting it down and staring at the soup is as it cooks, you let out a long sigh that feels like it comes from your stomach.

You may be graduating university and entering the real world, but you were still clueless on what to do with Jimin. Because he owns a rather large piece of real estate in your heart now without even realising it. Does he even realise the important thing he has in his grasp?

[7:25PM] Jiminnie 💖: I love you too. ❤️

23 Years Old

Shuffling around on the spot, you contemplate whether you look more casual resting against the large LED sign currently advertising skin lotion or if it looks like you’re trying too hard. Crossing your ankles definitely was trying too hard but you felt like you didn’t know what to do with your limbs.

It felt like you were a big bag full of ants that were currently crawling under your skin. As soon as that metaphor runs through your mind, you shake your head with a grimace before patting your cheeks lightly.

“You can do this, it’s fine. It’s just...it’s just your childhood penpal that you’ve accidentally fallen in love with over the years. No big deal.” And it really wasn’t, because you’d been wanting to meet Jimin for 15 years now.

No amount of letters which eventually turned into emails, leading further into texts and Skype calls could ever compare to seeing someone in person.

You’d done your time of loving Jimin from afar. Surely you should be allowed to do so up close right? He was perhaps the sweetest and most loyal person you’d ever met, even if you’d never met him properly.

But he was Jimin. Your Jimin. And if there was one thing you knew about him, it was that he would be so upset to know that he’d made you feel awkward or nervous. His sweet nature would mean he’d spend the rest of the day giving you those obscenely large puppy dog eyes as he tried to make you smile.

The vibration of your phone in your hand distracts you and you look down with a smile that slowly spreads into a grin as you read the message that pops up, even if there’s a thread of confusion to you.

[1:02PM] Jiminnie 💖: Turn around 😊 Please don’t be mad

Almost immediately you’re spinning around, a scream of pure excitement ready to burst out of your throat when you notice two things that make your eyes widen while you step back in shock.

Firstly, Park Jimin is far more attractive in real life than on camera or in his pictures. He’s taller than he always makes out and you’re a little surprised to find yourself peering up at him. Despite this though, he looks just as slim and lean as you’d always thought.

As if you could just pick him up and spin him around. That does nothing to disguise the toned muscles you eye through his skin tight jeans, leading you to believe that his arms and torso must be equally as buff. Well, he was always doing some form of exercise as it seemed like he had endless amounts of energy.

Jimin’s face is also a work of art, cherubic in its innocence and statuesque in its beauty. Soft, rounded cheeks are tinged a sweet dusky pink that compliments his healthy golden tan, offset by the angular lines of his jaw and his plush lips that he licks at nervously.

You’d always thought that Jimin’s eyes were so sweet and kind, filled with a love that he simply couldn’t hide and you could see that even better now up close. He truly radiated joy and happiness to see you, but there was a ridiculous amount of tension in his body.

And between you both suddenly.

Because the second thing you noticed was atop his head. In amongst the familiar ruffled strands of dark honey-blonde hair are two floppy ears, silky smooth fur a shade or so darker and providing a pleasing contrast to his natural hair colouring. The texture of the fur matches his hair, as if he’s had a shower and spent the time running his hands through it till it’s dried in soft curls and waves.

The hesitant movement of something from behind leads you to peering around him, noting a tail with fur as dark as his ears. It wags slowly yet is very close to his legs, as if he’s unsure whether to be happy or worried.

Jimin is a hybrid.

You’re not sure whether to feel shock, betrayal or excitement at this revelation. He had told you that he had something important to tell you when you met, but you’d just thought that he would was going to say he loved you. Like you were going to tell him.

Not that...that he wasn’t even the same species as you. Or was he? Hybrids were humans right? Or at least part human.

It was with a touch of shame that you realised you weren’t too up on your hybrid knowledge. They had been integrated into human society for a century now. There was no one alive who remembered the days when hybrid’s were created in labs and sold to humans to be treated as glorified servants or pets and used for whatever heinous thing their owner wanted.

No, hybrids had long become normal members of society. They owned property and businesses across the country, educated themselves at the same halls of learning that humans did, were integral members of the government and even had families with other hybrids and humans.

It had taken them fifty years to get their full legal status, and since then they had just quietly integrated. Hybrids were born from other hybrids now, no longer being bred or forcibly bred in captivity.

And while there were humans who still resented the presence of hybrids amongst them in all levels of society, the vast majority had accepted it. Or...as well as humanity could accept anything that was different to them.

Your ignorance was horrifically embarrassing now, and you wanted to go back in time to when you first started writing to Jimin and tell yourself to learn everything you could about hybrids. Because this was Jimin, and it was an intrinsic part of him that he’d obviously felt the need to hide.

Why, you didn’t know. That was something he would need to tell you. At least you now knew why he always wore beanies or hats whenever he video called you. Or why his pictures always cut off at a certain point.

In fact, many of the things he’d said over the years were suddenly starting to make sense and you felt ashamed that you’d never clicked on faster.

“Jimin?” You ask slowly, confusion threaded so deeply into the word as you let it escape your mouth. Almost as if he can tell the emotional rollercoaster you’re going on, he dips his head quickly in response.

A flash of his tongue lets you see him wet his lips while his throat works as he swallows.

“Hi. I’m sorry...about this,” He gestures vaguely to himself and you frown instantly, recognising the negative tone to his voice. Despite your shock about his secrecy about something so important, you feel the intrinsic need to step forward and comfort him. Reassure him that he’s okay.

Though you’re not sure what you’re reassuring him for exactly, so you move forward anyway and place a hand lightly on his arm. He’s got a navy blue hoodie on with a white shirt peeking out from underneath, and you admire the softness of the fabric for a moment before peering up at him and giving him a tiny smile.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m sure you’ve got a reasonable explanation. How about...how about we go grab a coffee and then we can find a bench or something? And...we can talk. Because...I’m really going to need an explanation here Jimin. This is not what I was expecting.” His tail had begun to wave enthusiastically at your words and from the deepening pink on his cheeks, you suspect he’s embarrassed that its doing so.

Which is silly. Even you know that dog hybrids can control their tails to a degree but that extreme emotions override any control they may have.

“Sorry.” Gently pushing at his arm and giving him a reassuring smile, you lead him towards a chain coffee shop before tutting at him.

“Please stop apologising Jimin. Please? You know me. You know I’m not going to judge you, I’m just...shocked. I wasn’t expecting this because...well you’ve never made any mention of it before.” You’re positive that he can practically smell the surprise on you at this point, but he just chews at his lip nervously while you enter the coffee shop.

Neither of you get chance to talk after that until after you’ve both grabbed your drinks in to-go cups, a caramel frappuccino for you and a gingerbread cappuccino for him. Why they were selling gingerbread stuff in September, you had no idea.

Either way, the two of you awkwardly head back outside to find somewhere that was a little more private to have what you suspected was going to be one of the most important discussions in your entire friendship with Jimin. And you’d discussed boys with him and sex, so this was big.

After a few minutes of searching around, the two of you settle onto a wooden bench in the middle of the leafy park in silence. It’s pretty here, and you can see the small pond just past the trees on the other side of the path, a few ducks quacking along with two swans gliding along the surface elegantly.

There’s a couple of families sat around the edge, some feeding the ducks pieces of bread despite the warning signs while others enjoy homemade picnics on cute blankets. It’s all so domestic that you can’t help but let out a deep sigh and you relax back, inhaling the delightful scent of nature.

“I’m a King Charles Cocker Spaniel hybrid. Pure. My family can trace our origins back to the very first lab hybrids in our lineage two hundred and sixty years ago. I’m proud of being a hybrid...I want you to know that firstly,” He looks at you seriously, his mahogany eyes filled with a surprising amount of fierceness and you nod slowly. “I just...I’d never had a friend who didn’t know what I was. And despite what humans say and think, there’s still some discrimination there. I just...I don’t know, wanted to talk to you without being asked dumb questions about myself.”

Playing with the cardboard wrap around your cup, you let out a sigh of frustration. “Jimin...why didn’t you just tell me? Surely over 15 years you knew that I wasn’t going to be mad or push you away? I mean...okay I’m a little mad now because you didn’t tell me for that long. But...did I give the impression that I’d react negatively to you or something?”

His ears droop a little at that and you watch in fascination. Jimin’s entire demeanour is timid and filled with trepidation, his slight shoulders hunched in while his tail curls around himself almost protectively.

“N-no...but...when you’ve lied consistently for years then it’s hard to tell the truth. I’m really sorry, I feel so ashamed of myself. Especially when you’d look so happy to see me and I’d be lying saying I was cold in the middle of summer or something. I’m so sorry. I never lied about anything else. This was the only thing.” He shifts in his seat and you can see the desperate need in his eyes to make you see that was being serious.

Sighing quietly, you reach out and place a hand on his thigh. The movement feels oddly natural to say you’ve never met in person, and yet it feels new at the same time. Fizzing excitement in your stomach kind of new.

For a moment, you get distracted at the feel of his firm muscles under the denim fabric, tensing up at your touch while your fingers idly trace unintelligible symbols there. You’re finally doing what you’d dreamt of, hoped of for so long and you can’t help the tiny smile that appears as you do so.

“Jimin...it’s a shock, yes. But only because you lied. The Jimin I know doesn’t lie. Or I guess he does?” There’s a touch of insecurity to your voice suddenly as your mind races through all your interactions with him over the years, wondering if perhaps he’d lied about other things despite what he said.

Immediately though Jimin is placing his cup on the bench before grabbing your hands and tugging them to his chest with a horror-stricken face, head shaking so hard it’s making his hair and ears fly endearingly.

“No, no. I never lied about anything else! This was it! The only thing. It’s not even that important. I have ears and a tail, I have better sense of smell and hearing along with a few traits that still linger but...that’s it. I’m still Jimin. I still love mint ice cream and action films and comic books. I still went to college and studied math, just like I said. I have a job here in Seoul as a maths teacher. I swear, I haven’t lied about anything else. I’m not expecting you to accept this instantly, but please. Please don’t leave me.”

You look him over carefully, noting the sheen of tears in his eyes as he pleads with you to understand him and accept him. His origin wasn’t really that important, not when you’d gotten to know him so well over the years. But still…

“It hurts Jimin. I’m not gonna lie. You lied about something so...fundamental about you. It’s not like you’ve lied all these years about green being your favourite colour instead of yellow. This is who you are. And I don’t know what to think right now. Are you ashamed of yourself?”

He shakes his head vehemently at that, his fingers stroking the smooth skin of your hand gently as he focuses on them. “No. I have no reason to be. I have good friends back home and some who moved here too. I have a family who loves me, and being hybrid has never really been brought up. I just...I was a dumb kid who made a stupid decision that I didn’t know how to escape.”

“Jimin...you should have just told me. I wouldn’t have minded. I don’t mind now really. Your ears and tail are adorable, and a lot of the things you’ve said over the years make sense suddenly. I’m just...hurt that you never felt the need to tell me if you’re proud of yourself.” His head dips low at that, lips pouting cutely.

“Because I loved writing to you at first, and pretending to be something I’m not. But then I just loved writing to you. It relaxed me and you knew everything about me, even the stuff my friends and family didn’t. Everything except one of my most defining traits. But I didn’t want to ruin anything because I couldn’t handle the idea that you’d just...ghost me. Because by then I loved talking to you, but I also loved you too.” His confession is everything you’d been hoping for before you’d turned around, only with the addition of a sad apology.

Looking closely at his face, you take in the attractive sight up close in person for once instead of through a pixelated or lagging screen. His eyes are so large and expressive as they watch you carefully with nerves, but you know that when he smiles hard or laughs so intensely he folds over that those pretty eyes almost vanish in happiness.

It’s as you look closely into them, that you realise he’s still your Jimin. Still the Jimin who had terrible spelling when he was only 8 years old and didn’t really know how to articulate himself. Still the Jimin who excitedly wrote to you at 14 to tell you about his first kiss then obviously got embarrassed halfway through. He was still the man who’s voice had gone soft and shy the first time you ever called each other and who’s cheeks had turned a cherry red upon your first video call.

He was your Jimin. Just not with a whole new aspect that you got to explore.

“You love me?” Is all you ask, because it’s all you really care about right now. Jimin can never change what he is, but his feelings can change if you hurt him too much.

He’s quiet for a moment before slowly nodding, that nut-brown hair falling into his eyes as he does so. “I didn’t move all the way to Seoul because they needed maths teachers. I did it because you’re here. And...I wanted to be something more than just your best friend.”

Smiling brightly, you give in to your instinct and reach up to brush it out of his eyes, marvelling at how fluffy the strands feel. Your eyes flick up to his ears, the fur shining healthily and you get the urge to stroke them too. But even you know that no one touches a hybrids animal aspects without permission. They’re often highly personal or sensitive areas and will react badly normally.

But despite never meeting each other before, Jimin knows you perhaps better than you know yourself. And he must read your curiosity on your face as he tilts his head slightly till your fingers butt the base of one; a silent permission for you to touch them.

Hesitantly, you run one finger along the impossibly velvet soft fur on one ear. Without even realising, you’re smiling brightly at how nice it feels. Turning your hand over, you let the backs of your fingers stroke along each ear slowly and simply admire how soft they are.

It’s only then that you notice the way Jimin is leaning closer to you with each stroke, eyes closed and a dopey smile on his face as you do so. You like your hair being stroked and find the feeling therapeutic, so you can only imagine how this feels for Jimin.

Smiling to yourself, you lean forward before you press a sweet kiss to the apple of his cheeks. Almost immediately he jerks away, eyes wide with shock while a hand presses to said cheek as he looks you over.

Moving your hands, you let one rest lightly on his thigh before the other moves to his slim waist as you give him a grin filled with mischief and a tiny bit of nerves. “Your ears are very soft. I hope you’d be okay with me stroking them more.”

Jimin’s lip open and close repeatedly for a moment, the dog hybrid doing a marvellous impression of a fish before he points at himself. “Me? You...you’re okay with me? And what I said?”

Nodding, you shuffle closer to him until you gingerly lean against him, head on his shoulder and take in his clean scent. “Yes. I mean...we’re going to have work on this whole lying to me for fifteen years thing but...yeah. You’re still my Jiminnie. And I still love you just as much as I did before. But no lying to me from now on. I mean it. I won’t forgive it a second time.”

He’s silent then, the atmosphere full of shock and shy nerves between you both. Leaning your head further into his shoulder, you inhale deeply and just take him in for the first time. There’s no overwhelming scent of cologne, but you expect he likely wouldn’t like using most because of his sensitive nose. Most hybrids have to have specially made colognes and perfumes.

Almost immediately your eyes widen as you gasp in shock. “Jimin! You let me send you cologne all the damn time for presents! You couldn’t even use it!”

His shoulder moves rapidly underneath your cheek as he laughs quietly, shaking his head before he shifts till you’re looking up at him. “I appreciated the thought. Asking for hybrid cologne would have given me away. And it got put to use! My friends, Jungkook and Namjoon, are human so they used them. I loved every one you sent though, and even if they were too strong for me...I liked them.”

“Park Jimin! You...you need to tell me what you like. So I can buy you that.” Your lip sticks out almost petulantly as you look up at him, feeling oddly childish with the excitement of what was obviously a relationship between you and the man you’ve loved for years. Neither of you feel the need to ask explicitly, because you just know.

He watches you for a moment with amusement, his tail thumping against the bench and betraying his own happiness as his eyes crease into those familiar shapes that you love and adore so much. A tiny giggle leaves his mouth, high pitched enough to make him squeak before he leans forward and presses the softest kiss to your lips.

It’s nothing major, and yet your first proper kiss with him takes your breath away all the same. Because it’s everything you’ve imagined for years. And yet nothing like what you’ve imagined, because it’s so much more than you could’ve hoped for.

Sighing into him, you lean forward and increase the pressure on his lips until he lets out a tiny gasp of a moan against you, breath puffing against your skin as he pulls away. Leaning his forehead against yours, the two of you simply take in the moment before looking at each other with shy exhilaration rushing through your veins.

“I like you,” He whispers, so close you can feel each word brush your lips and your own spread into a sweet smile. “No, I love you. So...you’re enough for me.”

Watching him so closely, you note how his mahogany eyes have a touch of whiskey amber in the centre, spreading out slowly in a burst of colour. Bringing up a finger, you trace over the impossibly soft skin of his lower lip before you kiss him once more with a tiny giggle.

“I love you too Jiminnie. At least you didn’t pee yourself.”

“Really? Maybe I take it back.”

“No! Don’t. Please. It was sweet.”

“Shut up and just kiss me. Please.”

#armiesnet #networkbangtan #btssunshinenet #kkreationsnet #jimin fluff #jimin angst #bts fluff #bts angst #hybrid jimin #hybrid au #hybrid fic #jimin x reader #jimin x you #jimin one shot #jimin fic #jimin fanfic #bts one shot #bts fic #bts fanfic

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winterfang53 · 5 years ago

Text

Gajevy Week 2020 - Letters

Super late but here you go!

Gajevy Week 202 day 1: Letters! I hope you enjoy!

Levy was running the moment she got off the bus; her red backpack bouncing on her back while her lunchbox threatened to fly out of her hand. The 12-year-old raced down the block towards her house, only stopping at the mailbox at the end of the driveway.

Excitement gleamed in her eyes as she eagerly opened the wooden frame only to deflate at the emptiness within.

“Not today I guess,” Levy sign, pouting as she trudged towards the front door, lacking the energy she had only a moment before. “I hope it comes tomorrow then,” Levy said quietly.

Levy made her way into her house, almost tripping over her older brother’s shoes at the doorway. “Stupid Jellal,” she grumbled loudly, catching the attention of someone in the kitchen.

“Levy is that you dear?” her mother called, poking her head around the corner, “how was school, Honey?”

“It was fine,” Levy said hesitantly, “Mom, did you get the mail by any chance?”

Levy’s mother smiled brightly, “Your letter’s on the table, Sweetie.”

Joy brightened Levy’s eyes, making her throw her shoes off in hast to bounce her way into the kitchen. There, sitting the on the light wooden table was a plain white letter with her name scribbled in bad handwriting. Levy squealed as she leaped towards the letter only for it to be ripped from her hand.

“What’s this?” Levy’s older brother Jellal asked, holding the letter above her short stature, “a letter from your boyfriend?” he teased.

“Jellal!” Levy screeched, her cheeks flushing with anger and embarrassment, “he’s not my boyfriend and gives me it back!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jellal laughed, “your penpal, who you wait with bated breath for every letter he sends you. It’s kind of sad Lev.”

Before Levy could defend herself, a show flew through the air to smack her brother in the face. Looks like her mom was here to defend her instead. “Jellal stop teasing your sister and put your shoes away!”

Levy snatched her letter and bolted up the stairs to her room, locking the door so her brother couldn’t chase her.

Downstairs, Levy’s mom chastised her son: “Why do you have to tease her like that? You know how hard it is for Levy to make friends -- those letters brighten her day!”

“Sorry Mom,” Jellal grumbled, “I didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just she really needs to make more friends than the one boy who’s her penpal from last year.”

Their Mother’s eyes soften, “I know Honey, but you know how shy she is, she has a hard time connecting to the other kids. Let her appreciate the friend she has now.”

“I just hope he doesn’t stop writing her letters,” Jellal signed as he gazed up the stairs, “it would break her heart.”

Upstairs behind Levy’s locked door, sat Levy on her bed gazing at the letter in hand. It was a plain white envelope -- like always -- with her name scribbled in a handwritten that she could recognize anywhere as her penpal Gajeel Redfox. Last year, before the summer started, Levy’s school started a penpal program between her school and a school on the other side of the state. It was mandatory for all 5th graders in her school to participate, making shy little Levy write a letter to a complete stranger.

Levy can still remember how nervous she was writing her first letter -- an introduction letter about herself -- and how her tummy hurt for 2 whole weeks while she waited for a response, only for her to bristle in fury at the response her got:

You sound short.

Gajeel Redfox, as Levy came to discover, was a boy of every few words and took much joy in teasing her even though letters. Levy had been so mad that she wrote a very rude letter back. For the rest of the summer, Levy and Gajeel sent “hate mail” to each other, calling each other every name in the book until the first week of school when it dawned on her that the program was over.

Levy had come to look forward to each letter; the excitement of interacting with someone her own age wasn’t something Levy got to experience often -- given her lack of friends. During the second week of 6th grade, Levy sent a letter to Gajeel asking him if he still wanted to send letters and for 2 whole weeks, Levy sat again with her tummy hurting. When that letter came, Levy almost cried happily at what was written:

You’re funny Shrimp, why on earth would I stop now?

Now, in April and almost a whole year of writing letters, Levy and Gajeel still exchanged letters almost every week -- just with less teasing.

Levy gently opened the letter, so as not to rip the letter, and pulled out the plain white notebook paper that Gajeel always wrote on:

Shrimp,

My Ma says I need to start my letters by asking how you are so here: How are you? I don’t really know why I need to do that, you would tell me if you’re ok or no but whatever. Has your school started ‘preparing’ you guys for middle school? Mine has and it stinks. What’s the big deal with middle school anyways? The only difference is that you have more than one classroom now, big deal. My Ma says it’s a bigger deal than that but I think she’s exaggerating. See? I used a big word -- I AM using that stupid dictionary you gave me for Christmas so now you can’t say I’m not! Yes, I know there were Pokemon cards in the dictionary but you still gave me a dictionary for Christmas. That’s worst than socks Shrimp!

Anyways that not the real thing I want to talk about. My folks are dragging me and Wendy to go see my grandparents out of state this summer, we’re gonna be there for a whole month while dad has to go overseas for work! I put their address at the end of this letter so you know where to send your letters to me. I’ll be there from June 23 to July 25 so don’t forget!

P.S. I hate making friends too, most of my friends are my cousins, well and you. Don’t let the other kids bully you ok? I’m not there to beat them up.

Gajeel

Levy smiled as she read her letter, blushing slightly at Gajeel’s hidden concern for her. Even if he was mean most of the time, Levy knew that he cared for her in his own weird way. His letters were the highlight of her day -- save for reading. Levy hoped from her bed and pulled out a large box from underneath. There, Levy had every letter Gajeel ever sent her. Kissing the letter, Levy placed it in the box before hopping over to her desk to write her reply.

…

Levy and Gajeel continued being penpals for years to come, surprising everyone even themselves on their commitment. It wasn’t until high school when both Gajeel and Levy got cellphones did the letters slow down a bit and were partially replaced by texts. Letters, texts, and later calls allowed for Gajeel and Levy’s relationship to flourish until one fateful day during the first week of college did Levy and Gajeel finally meets -- 7 years after the first letter.

“Welcome to Art History 100 everyone!” the professor called out at the front of the class, “why don’t we start by introducing ourselves: Everyone, going in order, please stand up, give your name, and give a strange fact about your self!” Levy sat in the middle of class, her hair pulled back in her favorite headband -- a gift from Gajeel -- as she nervously waited for her turn. Finally, after what felt like forever, it was her turn.

“Um, Hello I’m Levy McGarden and my strange fact is that I’ve had a penpal since 5th grade that still actively talk to,” Levy said shyly before sitting down.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool,” the blond girl next to her said, her brown eyes showing her honesty, “I didn’t think penpals were still a thing!”

Levy beamed at the girl -- Lucy if she remembered correctly. “Yeah, we were pretty unusual. I’m Levy by the way.”

“Lucy,” the blond said nodding her head with a smile, “did you two ever meet up or anything?”

Levy shook her head, “no, he lived on the other side of the state so we never got the chance.”

“What about now?” Lucy asked quietly since there were still people introducing themselves, “where does he go to school.”

Levy frowned at this, “I don’t know, to be honest, he told me it was a secret. Knowing him, he probably did it to piss me-” she was cut off then by a familiar voice that she had never heard in person before.

“My name is Gajeel Redfox and my strange fact is that I’m Levy McGraden’s penpal, Gihi!”

Levy could only gab at the towering male with thick black hair, silver piercings, and a fanged grin smiling over at her from the back of the room. There, in the flesh, was her crush since grade school, her penpal, Gajeel Redfox.

“You asshole,” Levy said softly, unable to stop the smile that was spreading across her lips as Lucy cooed on how cute this was. Throughout the rest of the class, Levy couldn’t help herself from looking back at that man who pissed her off and make her smile all with the same breath. Meeting the red eyes that teased her from the back while Lucy giggled at her the whole time.

“You have some explaining to do you jerk!” Levy growled playfully as she whacked him after class.

“Gihi! What? You didn’t like the surprise?” Gajeel laughed, dodging her little fists, “damn, I must say Shrimp, you’re living up to your name!”

“Gajeel!”

...

4 years later, at their wedding reception, while Lucy was recounting the story, Levy slip over a folded paper to her new husband.

“What’s this?” Gajeel whispered, his brow raised in question.

“The first letter of our marriage,” Levy said smiling, “read it.”

Gajeel eyed her in question before unfolding the paper only to choke on his own tongue;

“We’re pregnant?!”

I hope everyone enjoyed this!

#gajevy week #gajevy #Gajeel X Levy #Gajeel Redfox #Levy McGarden #fairy tail

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ourkarlanicoleuniverse · 4 years ago

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Sweet Nothing (MHA Staff AU Fanfiction

Chapter 6

Warnings: None, swf.

"Maybe you should go back to California for when you're a pro." My eyes met with bright blue ones.

"Why would I do that? I like it here." I stared out at the city skyline in the sunset.

"I don't know. I figured it would be better for you if you go back for a little while and actually have good memories in the U.S." The blue-haired boy wasn't smiling like he usually did, "I just don't want you to stay here because you feel secure here. What happened to you shouldn't make you afraid to go back." He gave out a small chuckle and then wrapped his arm around me, "Plus, it's not like I'm telling you to stay over there forever. We have a plan to have our own agency with Yamada and Aizawa, remember?"

I gave a sad smile, genuinely thinking about the proposal, "I don't know. I have family out in California, but they never really contacted me. Only my cousin. I have a family here now; I can't just leave that."

"We're always going to be there for you. Even if we're a whole ocean away. Our group was incomplete until you came. We're not going to let you go." He went to pinch my cheeks, "You're like my little sister, I refuse to leave you alone."

I refuse to leave you alone.

"Mai?" a voice brought me out of my thoughts. I shouldn't be spaced out in this meeting. I looked over at Hound Dog and Nezu. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, just tired from helping Aizawa settle into his place yesterday." I smiled sheepishly. "Did you need me to go over the plan again or..."

Nezu spoke up, "I do think we need to amp up this program after the USJ attack. So I'll give you, Hound Dog, and Ms. Rowell the green light to start." He gave an excited smile and took a sip out of his tea. "We need to be prepared for more villain infiltrations, so definitely starting with security, and the mental health program are major priorities."

"I'll have a meeting with some of the other teachers to come up with a good way to beef up security." Hound Dog suggested.

"Maybe hire an agency to make rotations? Maybe the Fatgum agency? Taishiro would be more than happy to help out; I'm sure if Ms. Iris and I ask him, he'll say yes." I spoke up.

"I don't see why not. Why not ask Ingenium for help too? Doesn't he have a sector here?" Hound Dog wrote down a few notes on his tablet.

"I wouldn't feel comfortable asking since Tenya Iida is his younger brother. It would feel unprofessional and put a student in potential danger if villains found out." I bit my lip. I didn't want the students to be targeted. We barely found out that the villains were out for All Might, so it's going to be hard to avoid more attacks as long as he stays. "Speaking about the students, are we still going to go through the Sports Festival? I don't feel that it's appropriate."

Hound Dog looked at me like I had just shot a puppy. Nezu, on the other hand, kept a calm composure. "I have no plans to cancel the Sports Festival."

"Why not?" I tried to hold in my disdain.

"I felt that the students should be able to enjoy the normal events that would happen if we weren't attacked. Plus, it's best to show that we were unbothered." I looked over to Hound Dog, and he just gave me a knowing look.

"The Sports Festival is broadcasted all over Japan, and we're in a bad position as a school." I interjected.

"Yes, but the Sports Festival is the best option for students to use their quirks and be potentially scouted by a pro." Nezu continued to be calm, but my patience was growing thin.

"Or potentially a villain." I raised my brow at him.

"I know, given your history, you take the student's safety seriously. I do, as well. But the Sports Festival is an opportunity to give people a place to feel collective and hopeful that it was just a one-time thing, while us staff members and the police investigate." Nezu took another sip, "It would be unfair to the people to take that away from them and let them live in fear."

"I don't think it's a good idea. But then again, I'm not in charge of the school. So I guess my opinion doesn't really matter." I grumbled. I hate acting like a child, but honestly, I was a little annoyed that he didn't want to cancel the festival despite knowing that I am in the right to be concerned.

"Don't you start giving me that attitude of yours? You know I thought about every possible outcome before making a decision." He lightly slammed the desk with his paws. "Now, I will let you and Dog Hound ask your connections about security, and you and the other counselors should meet up with your students as they prepare for the festival. Understood?"

I simply bit my tongue and nodded as the mouse stared me down.... Er... more like up at me. And with that, the meeting was over, and Nezu made his way out to his private office, leaving Ryo and me in the meeting room. "Why didn't you warn me before the meeting to not mention the Sports Festival?"

"Honestly, I thought Nezu already told you." He said, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"He probably didn't because he wanted to avoid seeing me mad." I sighed and threw my bag over my shoulder this time. "Well, at least everything else he agreed with. Just wish that he wouldn't be exposing the students that much right now." I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.

"Have you had any sessions with your kids since the incident?"

"I had them email me if they had any concerns, and despite how severe they were, I made a call and spoke over the phone with them. But mostly all my kids were focused on Aizawa and Thirteen. If anything, I'll make in-person appointments to meet with them this week in case they left things out in the emails and calls."

"I saw Aizawa is back despite not being fully healed." She gave me a slight judgmental but a not so surprised look.

"We literally argued for a whole week about him coming back to work. So don't get me started with him." I sounded exhausted. But I didn't know why I was so tired and restless. I feel like I haven't done much to elicit this.

"Awe trouble in paradise for Dadzawa and Momtoya?" He smirked and wiggled her brows.

"Damn, is everyone calling us that now?"

"Yep, especially since you guys are temporarily living together because you agreed to take care of him."

"It was for my students. They wanted updates, so we made a group chat. Aizawa doesn't know about it, though."

"Why?"

"Well, I figured it would be the best way to communicate with them. It's through one of these school apps, so it's not breaking any boundaries."

"I meant why not tell Aizawa." He pressed on a little.

"Oh, because we make jokes about him on the chat sometimes. Plus, he would just make fun of me for wanting to be buddy-buddy with the class."

"I think it's endearing." He gave me a little pat on the back.

"That's what I thought! I recommended that all the counselors do it." I let a quiet shriek in excitement. "With the permission of parents, you know? Since despite it being their school email, the parents need to know about staff connections to students." I scratched the back of my neck. I really need to stop with this scratching habit of mine when I get awkward or nervous. "Anyways, I have to get back to my desk and start emailing the whole department about the meeting. And then I'm going to go check on Aizawa and Class 1-A, hoping neither of them is tiring each other out."

I was about to walk away and split from Ryo when I ran into Kayama and stopped me for a quick second. "Do you mind hanging out with me later after work? I have something to get off my chest, and I would like to get your perspective."

I hugged my tablet, "Um... I have to watch Aizawa... But I'm sure once I get him down for a nap, you can come over for tea or something, and we can talk. I'll just give him a heads up."

I gave her a reassuring smile, which she returned. "Okay, cool. I'm glad to hear that. Just keep me updated if anything changes."

"Yeah, no problem, Nemuri." I patted her shoulder and made my way to the lounge as she rushed to go teach Hero Art History to Class 1-A.

I opened the lounge door—literally, no one. Not even Toshinori was here. Well, I guess I can actually get work done before I go to class. "So, I guess you and Montoya are actually getting situated nicely for now." Never mind.

I look up from my desk to see Snipe and Aizawa walking in together while Midnight took her shift to teach Class 1-A. Aizawa socializing? That's good for him. Maybe it's because they're colleagues. "Oh, speak of the woman herself." Snipe waved over at me and walked into my direction. Aizawa just looked annoyed and limped over to his desk that was diagonal to mine. "How are you doing, love?" He leaned down to hug me.

"I'm good. I just had a meeting with our lovely boss. I might've upset him, though." I squeezed her hands tight around me.

"Why do you think that?" It was hard to detect his face because of his mask, but his voice sounded curious, and his head slightly fell to the side.

"I told him that he would be endangering the students if he still held the Sports Festival, and he got defensive. I felt like a child." I grumbled.

"Well, that's just how Nezu is."

"We're you and Aizawa just talking?" I nodded over to the mummy man.

"Oh yeah, we were just making conversation about the students, and we were talking about the new counseling department. And then we were talking about how you two have been adjusting to your current living situation." And in queue, Aizawa looked over at us.

I gave Snipe a little smirk, "Well, I hope nothing bad was said on my part."

"All I said was that you were annoying me with all your pestering." He shook his head. Something was off about him. Normally he didn't feel the need to explain himself. Was he worried about me thinking he talked bad about me? "The kids keep asking about when you're stopping by. Don't tell them that you're in my apartment until Recovery Girl finishes healing me up. I don't want them getting ideas."

"Oh yeah, he mentioned that a couple of times." Snipe chuckled and stared a little too long at Aizawa and me. I wonder what's that about...

"Too bad, Ashido already found out when she saw that I was packing a suitcase during my video session with her. So most likely they already know, they just don't want you to know that." I smirked.

"Yeah, they really like keeping things from me. That's why they told me about the group chat you have with the class." He flatly spoke. "Isn't that a little unprofessional?"

"Everyone that I told thought it was cute. And the parents were more than happy with knowing that their kids' counselor was available to them at all times." I got up from my seat to grab a chair for Snipe and some coffee. I can only guess that he was amused at the banter as he silently watched us.

"Who is everyone?" He said, eyeing up my coffee. So I gave him his own cup and Snipe water.

"Kayama, Lily, Iris... Oh, and Vlad." I smiled brightly. "Actually, Vlad said that it was adorable how close I am with the students and was glad to hear that I was adjusting well to my job here." I took a sip of my coffee while analyzing Aizawa's demeanor. He looked a little tense and uncomfortable. I assumed it was from his injuries and the new bandages I helped Recovery Girl put on. He was so readable yet still a mystery because there was something hidden behind his eyes that I couldn't quite uncover.

"Well, maybe you should add me to the chat since I am their homeroom teacher." He said as he took a sip from his coffee. That's surprising; he wants to be more engaged with the students on a personal level?

I quickly agreed and decided not to question him about it. Then I gave him a quick explanation about Kayama wanting to come over, and he just said sure, not giving it much thought. Afterward, I gave my attention back to Snipe, who was still casually looking at Aizawa. "Snipe?"

"Hm? Did you say something?" Snipe looked towards me; I guess he spaced out.

"No." I went back to my seat. "I have a few things to work on and give to the other counselors, so is there anything you want me to keep in mind when it comes to the students?"

Snipe slowly rose from his seat and made his way over to his desk, "No, not really. I think you and Eraser have everything under control. I'll be over here, don't want to distract you. I could always talk to you later." I just nodded and put my earphones in as Aizawa looked between the two of us awkwardly.

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

I was in the middle of finishing up the files I had to finish for my colleagues when there was a knock and a small voice at the door of the lounge, "Excuse me, Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Snipe? Is Ms. Montoya here? I need to speak with her?' It was Izuku Midoriya.

"I'm over here, Midoriya. What do you need to talk to me about?" I swiveled in my chair.

"It's kind of private." He rubbed his hands together nervously. His eyes were bugged out and filled with anxiety. "It involves my quirk. I'm sorry if you are busy, I knew I should've made an appointment. I'm sorry for being an inconvenience. I'll just come back later."

The boy was about the run out when I stopped him, "Woah there, I wasn't that busy; there's no need to be apologetic." I got up and smoothed out my clothes, and walked over to him. "Let's go take a walk and talk, does that sound good?" The green-eyed boy nodded and followed me out of the lounge.

"I love how she's really dedicated to the students." I heard Snipe say to Aizawa as I left.

"Yeah, she's really good at her job." I couldn't help but smile a little at the compliment. "She sucks as a caretaker, though." Damn it, Sho.

I turned my attention back to Midoriya as we quietly walked through the halls. "So, what was concerning you about your quirk?"

"I know, you know about One for All." His voice was shaking, then he looked me in the eyes, "I want you to tell me your connections to All Might. He doesn't tell me anything but you being an intern of his before going to the U.S."

"Well, there isn't much to tell..." I bit my inner cheek. I kind of don't know what exactly I could tell him.

"I just want to know how he was when he was your mentor and if you could help me better understand the quirk One for All." The boy pleaded.

"Oh... well then..." This is going to be a long story.

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My master list 😊

Tag list:

@inumorph @thatgirlwithcamera @mel-sanch

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timeoutforthee · 4 years ago

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Like it or Not-Chapter 27

I’m so tired I’ll format this in the morning, just know that happy purple eyeshadow Virgil single handedly resurrected this story. (/j)

TW: Referenced self harm

“Happy Halloween,” Virgil says.

Logan narrows his eyes as his friend sits down. “It is October first.”

“Fine. Happy Halloween first.”

“Ah, I take it you’re a fan of the holiday?”

“Obviously. It matches the aesthetic. Plus the spooky stories, the intense costumes, the haunted houses-”

“The candy,” Logan deadpans. They both know what he means by that.

“Okay, so in past years it’s turned into kind of a bummer, but still.” Virgil shrugs, “Well, you’re here and you don’t look dead, I’m guessing talking to your dad went well?”

“That is debatable, but he’s letting me continue therapy.”

“That’s good, did you talk to him?”

“He just...came home and said he changed his mind.”

“Just like that? You didn’t even have to talk to him?”

“No. But if I ever do need to talk to him it’s not going to go well.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The one time I tell him about my disorders, about my suffering, he just decides to get rid of my one resource? I can’t exactly trust him after that.”

“Well….”

Logan raises an eyebrow, “Would you?”

“No,” Virgil says, “I wouldn’t. And I can’t blame you for not.”

Before Logan can say anything, their teacher walks to the front of the room.

“As you all know,” Mrs. Spencer starts, “We’re starting our new chapters on creative writing.” That gets varying reactions. Some kids groan, others lean further forward. “The first thing I want you to do is to take a Halloween monster, it can be one you make or a classic, and write a poem about it.”

“A poem?” a boy near the front sneers.

“Yes, a poem,” Mrs. Spencer levels her student with a stare. “We’ll be covering several forms of poetry-haikus, sonnets, slam poems, etcetera. But to begin, I just want you to write whatever you feel comfortable with. So, I am going to leave you guys to free write. Remember to keep talking to a minimum, and if you need to research, the computers are in the back.”

Her students start shifting, getting out pens and pencils and pieces of paper. Some immediately start writing, picking their favorite classic monster from childhood, while others gravitate towards the back of the class, where the computers are. Logan frowns deeply, before scribbling a few notes in his notebook. He goes to the bookcase where several classics are lined up alphabetically in the back and reaches up towards the top.

Virgil looks over at the book. Frankenstein. “I didn’t take you for a zombie person.”

“Not for the zombies,” Logan says, “For the history. The invention of science fiction, created by a woman. Besides, the real monster isn’t Frankenstein’s monster. It’s Dr. Frankenstein himself. After all, it was his creation, his longing to make something impactful that led him to the ultimate downfall.”

Virgil nodded. “A very interesting concept.”

“It is, really. It’s a shame it doesn’t get more credit.”

“I mean, it is a classic-”

“And classics are considered boring.”

“You got me there,” Virgil says.

“What are you going to write about?”

“I dunno? Vampires?”

“A good choice,” Logan nods, focusing on his own writing.

For the first time in months, Virgil puts a pen to paper with the intention to write a poem. He falls back into it easily, naturally, as if this was the way it was supposed to be. In fact, he flew through writing the poem. He looked around to find that his classmates were still working, some showing visible signs of struggle. He wondered if it should be more difficult.

He read his poem back silently, ducking his head and mouthing the words. He had no interest in performing slam poetry, but the art of it amazed him. He would spend hours and hours watching different poets perform if he could. But he always thought about if he was one of them, standing up on stage, would he stack up? Some of his poems did. Some fell short. Like this one.

Virgil crossed it out with a big X, frowning deeply, and flipped to the next page.

He tried again with the same result. Sounding good...didn’t stack up, big X, and a flip. Virgil brought his hand down his face. Maybe it was the monster. Maybe the trick was to use a strong emotion. And what would be stronger than fear?

He brought his pencil back to the page. That was it. He had to tap in to his fear. What was he really afraid of?

Virgil snorted to himself. That was a stupid question. Everything. He had anxiety.

He paused, thinking back to Roman’s project. The monsters. Specifically, the anxiety monster.

Virgil started furiously scribbling, writing out aspects of the effects in real life he wanted to include, as well as all the emotions he had felt. He turned phrases into stanzas and was just working on fitting them altogether when the bell rang.

Virgil doesn’t know a time when he didn’t have anxiety. The cutting, the eating disorder, those had dates, clear times set between “Before the Disorder” and “During the Disorder.” But anxiety had always been there, always been a thing-no, always been a friend to him. Something that kept him out of trouble, that always was there when things got rough. Sure, it didn’t feel good, but none of his coping mechanisms felt good.

There is a “Before Panic Attacks” and “Panic Attacks,” because he didn’t get those until the sixth grade. He thinks. He remembers it used to feel like a wave of emotion he was drowning under. It started as nervousness, but then it just built until it washed over him. He would cry and gasp for breath, but he would always try to hide it. Even from Elliot.

On the first day he can remember getting a panic attack, he went home and wrote down some of the words that came to mind-Drowning. Pulled under.

Empty.

He didn’t know what to do with them, so they just sat there. Even when he got rid of the notebook, they sat in his mind, refusing to go anywhere.

This is where his mind was when he was sitting at lunch. With those words.

“Earth to Charlie Frown,” Roman leaned over and waved a hand in front of Virgil’s face. Virgil blinked.

“Sorry, I’m just...thinking about this assignment.”

“The monster assignment?” Logan questioned.

“Yeah, Virgil, I’ve got to say I wasn’t so sure about giving out this assignment, but you seemed so inspired, I was glad I chose to,” Mrs. Spencer spoke up.

“I just was writing about vampires, and they were okay, but they weren’t good enough, so I just thought about what I was scared of most in life, but the reality is I’m terrified of everything-I have anxiety,” Virgil sighs, “So I’m writing about that. About my monster. Anxiety.”

“That’s good, Virgil!” Patton says, “You have an outlet!”

“Yeah, you don’t talk about your anxiety in group,” Roman says.

“I just don’t have much to say about it, it’s here, and it sucks,” Virgil shrugs.

“Where do you think it comes from?” Patton asks.

Virgil pauses. If he looked at this logically, he could reason that perhaps, maybe, it came from walking on eggshells around an abusive parent for years. But he doesn’t know if he should tell them that.

“I just...have it, I guess?” It’s a lame excuse, he knows.

“If you don’t want to tell us-”

“I don’t want to tell you,” Virgil immediately blurts out. They all turn to look at him. “I’m sorry. It’s not you. It’s just that....I’m still dealing with it myself. And Picani knows, so don’t be worried, but. It’s a lot.”

“The anxiety or what you don’t want to tell us?”

“Both,” Virgil tells Roman.

“It’s okay,” Patton says, “You don’t have to tell us. I shouldn’t have asked, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know,” Virgil says.

“I am writing about Dr. Frankenstein,” Logan says to fill the silence that follows, “And while I do find these creative things… challenging, I must say I’m much more thankful that I picked him and not something with emotions.”

“Dr. Frankenstein?” Roman says, “C’mon, live a little, do the real Frankenstein! The monster!”

“Roman, there’s much more complexity in the scientist-”

“But the monster is awesome, and he has such cool makeup-”

“That doesn’t matter, I’m not going to be him, I’m writing him-”

“Speaking of which, what are you all going to be for Halloween?” Roman asks, eyes lighting up like an excited puppy, “I was thinking a mummy, ooh! Or maybe an astronaut from Among Us! OOH! Or maybe-”

“It’s October 1st, when would we have chosen?” Logan asks.

“I have a few options,” Virgil speaks up.

“You would,” Roman says. “What about you, Patton? Surely something adorable, but what exactly-?”

“Actually, um,” Patton frowns, “I don’t really...do Halloween?”

The table goes silent.

“Why?” Virgil asks, finally, “Is it like a religion thing?”

“No…”

“Is it the candy?” Logan asks.

“I mean, it doesn’t help, but,” Patton sighs, “They don’t really...make costumes in my size?”

There’s silence again before Roman slams his hand down on the table. “Unacceptable!”

“Geez- would you give us a warning-?!”

“That is pure laziness on the costume’s part, besides we don’t need any cheap plastic costumes, we need some real ones!” Roman says over Virgil.

“For what?” Patton says, “I’m not going to a party or anything. It’s fine, I just….”

“Just what?”

“You know…”

“No, I genuinely don’t,” Logan says, “What do you do?”

“I isolate myself in my room and avoid it at all costs,” Patton admits.

“Now that is unacceptable,” Virgil says.

“Then what do you expect me to do? Hm? Call the companies and complain-”

“No, silly!” Roman says, “I will make you the costume!”

Patton snaps his mouth closed, “You’d...do that? For me?”

“Of course!” Roman says, “And for you two, too, if you want.”

“I can help,” Virgil says, “I have made costumes before, so…”

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt,” Logan says after three expectant sets of eyes turn to look at him. “As long as I don’t look ridiculous.”

#sanders sides #sanders sides spoilers #ts spoilers #if you're having a good time with the episode maybe don't read this

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laertesstudies · 4 years ago

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I got tagged in my first tag game by the awesome @study-not-procrastinating! Thank you so much!!

Rules: Answer 10 questions, the tag and pose 10 questions to 10 people.

Alright, here we go!

1. How would you like to be remembered in 200 years?

Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it! I don’t really have that same lust for immortality that i had as a kid. I guess I’d just like to be remembered as someone who was kind and loyal, and who helped someone achieve something amazing in their life. Maybe as someone who wrote a bomb paper about floral imagery in the Iliad.

2. If you could get any director for a documentary about yourself, who would you pick and why?

Tim Burton! Maybe not a traditional documentary, I would love to have it in his style of stop motion clay. Growing up, I was always attracted to the darker and more macabre aspects of life, and that made it a bit hard to fit in. Fellow goths, you know what I mean. Tim Burton’s art showed me that I wasn’t alone, that there were other people out there who saw the beauty in the same things I did, and that it was okay to embrace your individuality!

3. What would be a museum exhibit that would definitely catch your attention?

Anything about the reign of Mansa Musa! Or about the history of math in the ancient Middle East!

4. If you could commit any crime and not get caught, what would you do?

Steal and repatriate a sacred item stolen from an indigenous people and placed in a museum by people who didn’t respect its intended purpose. Or create a perfectly counterfeit copy of a lost Rembrandt painting and sell it to a billionaire and give the proceeds to local schools who had their art programs cut.

5. Which anime/movie trope do you want to be?

I don’t know the name for it, but the character who’s super sweet and bubbly and maybe a little naive. Like Mako in KLK, Tohru in Fruitsbasket, or Cat in Victorious!

6. Which anime/movie trope are you really?

Either the otaku or the crybaby.

7. At what age would you tell a child Santa isn’t real?

Whenever they seriously ask or start to show signs of disbelief. But I would 1000% make sure that they knew that Santa Claus is real, that those of us who know the secret become Santa Claus and it’s our job to continue spreading joy and belief to the younger kids.

8. Which artist, either dead or living, would you pick to create a portrait of you?

Oh! This is a really tough one. There are so many artists out there who are amazing. For dead artists, I would probably have to say Salvador Dali. For living artists, definitely the amazing @marina-does-things. Her knight Daisy filled my heart with so much joy and she’s so talented!!

9. You can turn back time and rewrite one book that you read in high school English class. What do you change, and why?

If I had to choose, I would have Shakespeare make Romeo and Juliet take place over 3 weeks or months instead of 3 days. It would maybe decrease the satirical element about teens being dumb and making bad decisions, but would that really be so bad? And it would still be an incredibly heartbreaking tale about how there is no place for love in a world ruled by hate and fear, about how that doesn’t matter and we have to love anyway because that is the only way to fight that hate. It would still be a story of how their love was so pure, it defied the rules that bound their lives. But that way when people say that Romeo and Juliet “loved” each other, it would actually be possible.

10. If you were a billionaire, what is the one totally self-indulgent and weird thing you would have and everyone around you would have to pretend is cool.

XD Oh, the choices!! If I could only have one totally self-indulgent thing, I think I would have a bumper car type thing installed in my courtyard, but instead of cars, it would be dalek suits that you could sit in!

Sorry for the long post! Here are my 10 questions:

If you had to choose one decade to erase from history in order to save the planet from extinction, what decade would you choose and why?

Which of your parents do you think you are more like?

What do you think are the 5 most beautiful things one earth?

If you could explore either the deepest parts of the ocean or the furthest reaches of space, which would you choose?

What do you love most about your culture?

Who is the one person you would talk to about anything?

Do you have a favorite sitcom? If so, what is it?

When you think of home, what comes to mind?

If you could do absolutely anything you want tonight, and money was no concern, what would you do?

What is something you learned today that was completely unexpected or just really interesting?

@jawnkeets @etherealacademia @thawinoakenshield @studylustre @languages-and-code @gildedstudy @studylikeathena @studyambitiouss @studydiaryofamedstudent @dionyrtal

#tag game #get to know me

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howcanisey · 5 years ago

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stray kids :: to all the boys i've loved before

so this is the short drabble i did for this gif edit 👉👈 so i hope you like it ✨🗿

Bang Chan

This stupid little crush I have for Chan started because of the smallest things he notices when we're spending our time together but it only grew when he said out of nowhere "I love your laugh, you know?".

We were running late for school cause he had overslept but he keeps telling jokes on our way. "Now's not a good time for jokes, Chan," I tried to glare at him but his stupid cheesy joke kept replaying in my mind.

"What? It's cute," he smiled softly at me as if he just won an argument.

"I love your laugh" the words started spinning in my head that night and I knew that this is wrong. What I was feeling was wrong. And now every time I laugh I can hear Chan's sweet voice inside my head.

A silent knock on my door pulled me back to reality, trying to put everything on my box of letters, a familiar face popped in, "Your door's open. I've been knocking for like five minutes. What are you doing?" Chan asked trying to take a peep on my study table. I panicked.

Looking at the papers and envelopes on my table Chan quickly grabbed one. He raised it up far from my reach when he started reading the paper he took,

"Dear -" he started. "BANG CHAN!! If you don't stop it and give that to me this second I'm gonna-" I was so lost for words when he laughed.

"I was just kidding. Even if it's a love letter, I wouldn't read it unless it was written for me," Chan gave me the blank paper and sat on my bed, still laughing at my face.

I'm so dead.

Kim Woojin

Building a pillow fort and acting out as a panicked and outraged chickens was not exactly what I had in mind during Drama Class. We had to pair up and I got to be partners with Woojin. The Kim Woojin who juniors try to avoid because he seems to be the kid your parents warned you about.

Maybe he doesn't remember me but we met already during Middle School, he was just really nice and cool. Approachable as well. He even helped me out while carrying my classmates notebook in the teachers lounge. So I don't get why he suddenly look so dark and cold now that we're in high school. I guess people change so fast.

“Look, I know we don’t have to be friends, or anything. I was just... I need to pass this class, okay?” I whispered to him, he slowly nodded seeing the discomfort in my eyes when I avoided his gaze. Students throwing some sympathetic looks towards my direction.

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked as he shuffled beside me.

"N-no. I mean why would I?" I stuttered in disbelief, as his face lit up into a small comforting warm smile. "Then why are you blushing?"

"I am not!" (cause you're so cool and scary at the same time) I whispered inside my head. "Just nervous that's all."

Who would've thought that the infamous Kim Woojin would be a total charmer? I did not expect that.

Lee Minho

“Wait, you have a crush?” I dropped the croissant I was about to eat. Nervously praying he didn't heard it all, I turned towards the voice behind me suddenly ending the phone call with my bestfriend.

Minho's eyes were sparkling with curiosity. “Who is it? Tell me!” He tried to grab my phone, but I was quick enough to hide it under my shirt.

"You know Minho, eavesdropping is a bad thing. And its much worse if you do that to me," I sulked nervously as he cupped both of my cheeks and stared into my panicked eyes.

Avoiding his gaze he answered, "Tell me! Who is it? Tell me! It will just be our secret," he smiled warmly like a kid discovering something for the first time.

"No! Shut up. You don't even know him," I lied through my teeth. "Jackson is upstairs. Go bug my brother not me" I peeled his hand away from my face before I melt under his stare.

"You owe me a croissant you dummy!" I sadly retorted picking the lonely food on the ground.

"Not until you tell me," he stole the food from my hand, and took a bite. "Tell me. I'm not leaving till you tell me," Minho teased again.

"Then stay. I AM NOT TELLING! JACKSON! MINHO IS HERE! Why do you have to be friends with someone so nosy," I tried to make a sad face but was returned with a giggle when Minho flicked my forehead and said, "I bet he's just a dumb kid."

"Yeah he is" I walked away. "Didn't know you would call yourself dumb, Minho" I whispered silently.

Seo Changbin

"I don't get it!" Changbin stared off at the distance.

I stared at the basketball team prepping up for practice. "Me neither," I answered. "Why did you call me here again?" I asked Changbin now looking at me, as if I offended his entire family.

"We're friends, right?" Changbin asked. I nodded unsurely, raking my last brain cells of all the possible reasons on why he would call me out of nowhere. Does he know that I like him even before he and Mina started dating? Or maybe because he heard me and Jisung talking about how awesome he would look if he had an undercut? Or did he found out about the drawings I did of him at Art Club?

Seo Changbin one grade ahead of me, we're not really friends. Actually he's one of the many ex boyfriends of my friend, Mina, now migrated to Canada.

"She left just like that" he continued.

Ahhhh he's here to rant about Mina. "You're an emotional disaster-" I tried to tell him but he cut me off.

"If you think I'm sad about her dumping me. I am not. I'm mad because she never gave me back my jacket, do you know how much that one cost me? Fortunes!!" Changbin shook the sense out of me when I started laughing at his face.

"You're kidding me right? You called me here? Leaving an ominous letter on my locker just to tell me that Mina never gave you back your jacket?!"

"Ominous? It was a short and precise invitation" Changbin scoffed.

"You. Meet me at the Gym. 3 p.m. Just you. -Seo Changbin" I read out loud.

"It's short." Changbin said now laughing at my flushed face.

"Yeah just like the person who wrote it!" I teased.

"Yaaah!" he tried to force a mad face at me but he kept laughing.

Hwang Hyunjin

History Class is one of my weakest point. Or maybe our teacher was just really bored teaching the subject. While Mr. Kim was trying to explain on god knows what, I tried myself to focus on the topic but i keep spacing out. Trying to distract myself I looked at my right side seeing Hyunjin building a small diorama of something made from rubber erasers.

A small laugh escape my lips when one of the erasers knocked down his hard work. He slowly laughed then louder. One of the most loudest laugh I have ever made, making everyone look our way.

"Mr. Hwang, care to explain what you and Miss ____ are doing at the back?"

"Wait, Mr. Kim! Why am I included?" I tried to reason out.

"Since the two of you are so absorbed with Mr. Hwang's little project there at the back. I expect the two of you to make an animated slideshow of our lesson for the next week," Mr. Kim grinned at us as if successfully passing the baton.

-------

Expecting it to be a disaster report, Hyunjin exceeded my expectations in making the assigned task. We started hanging out after class for almost a week and finished our slideshow preparation.

"I am Groot" Hyunjin started making the whole class boom in laughter. Mr. Kim, looked at me asking for an explanation. I smiled at him and answered, "as what Hyunjin said our report would be based from last week's lesson"

Hyunjin beside me, animatedly explained his whole script with the whole "I am Groot thing", while I answer him with explanations. Ironically, the whole room listened to us and are actively participating during the discussion.

"I am Groot" Hyunjin finished bowing and I did the same "I am Groot". The whole class clapped as we bowed, Hyunjin held my hand up, victoriously screaming "WE ARE GROOT!"

Han Jisung

I started to write my first letter after having a debate on whether I should tell Jisung or not this feelings I have.

How on earth did I ever crush on my very own bestfriend? Han Jisung. My Best friend. We're just kids. Wrong. Middle school is a tricky place and Jisung was always there by my side. I would watch him laugh mirthfully at silly things, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

“You need to stop making that love sick puppy face at her all the time. It’s weird, and frankly kind of creepy, Han Jisung” I told him off as he stares again at his crush.

“Shhh just shut up," he jokingly pushed me lightly with that goofy in love smile he has on his face "You just don’t know anything about love.” He pouted, grasping his heart comically.

“First of all, as I've deduced while observing you, now I know it’s stupid and it's a waste of time competing for someone's attention."

"Heeeey!" Jisung violently reacted, still with that weird smile on his face. "Can't spell stupid without U and I, Heeeyyy!" he cheered pointing me then him.

"See, it's taking over you, silly." I forced a smile.

You see, everything about my best friend is just truly lovable. And it just so happens that he can never look at me the same way I'm feeling about him. So I'm trying to control this emotions I have. I don't want to lose someone like Jisung, even if it hurts so much, I'll smile at his stories when he openly talks about this girl he currently likes.

Lee Felix

"I-uh I had a good time... Tonight-uh with you." Felix deep voice stuttered with a smile. Honestly, I never thought I would make a single friend during Summer Camp. Besides the fact that my best friend bailed out on me after getting the flu, Jisung sucks at this kind of things. He may be energetic but he's a child and needs to be taken care of. And spending time with Felix, I realized that this is a breath of fresh air.

"Is it weird that I really want to kiss you right now?" he asked, scratching an invisible itch behind his ears.

"Then why don't you?" I challenged him, thinking it was a joke. You see, this kind of scene only happens in the movies, and I never thought it would happen to me in real life. Under the blanket of stars, our feet dangling just above the river dock. A perfect scene. This was it. My first kiss.

Like a slow motion in a crappy movie scene, Felix cupped my face gently, closing his eyes, my brain cells battled whether I should close mine too. Too late, he kissed me. Not what I expected but seriously, Lee Felix must be the softest guy I will ever meet in my life.

I soft laugh escape my mouth, "You're sweet, Felix. Really." I leaned on him closely and kissed his cheek lightly.

His freckled face started blushing, "I always thought forehead kisses are the sweetest."

"It is," I agreed smiling brightly at him. He returned with a smile brighter than the sun.

Kim Seungmin

"Watch out!" Was the last thing I heard before getting hit by a soft ball at the back of my head. When I woke up, I was already lying at the grass with Seungmin in front of me, fanning me with his cap. Seungmin the captain of our baseball team.

"Where am I?" I slowly sat up. "Am I dead? Are you an angel?" I eyed him closely searching for wings. I started checking my body for some injury when I felt short pain

"You're still in the park. Sory but I'm not an angel. Fotunately you're alive. The bad thing is that you're nape would hurt a lot for the next few hours." Seungmin gently placed an ice pack behind my head and continued, "You got knocked out pretty bad. Good thing the ball wasn't thrown too hard."

Before I got to reply, two little boys started running towards us with more ice. "Hyung is she gonna be ok?" Seungmin nodded.

"Noona you're not going to die, right?" the younger one asked. I looked at Seungmin wanting to know as well.

"You won't" he smiled gently. "The impact on your nape was just off. But if you feel nauseous we can go to the hospital"

With the word hospital, the two kids dropped beside me and hugged me in unison, "Noona we're so sorry. Please don't die"

----

The next school day, while walking towards our spot in track field, I heard someone scream "Watch out!" Instinctively I reached out for the incoming impact, closing my eyes half praying.

"Nice catch!" I heard Seungmin running towards us. I opened my eyes, seeing the ball on my hand, "I caught it?"

"Hey! It's you! How are you?" he smiled warmly at me and high fived me in the process of retrieving the ball. "See you later?" he asked.

Dumbfounded I nodded. "Since when did you and the Kim Seungmin knew each other?" Jisung asked.

Yang Jeongin

"Jeongin, for the nth time can you just focus on the problem instead of tapping your pen on the table? It's distracting." I exasperatedly pleaded. I shouldn't be here on Cram School but since I really wanted to go to my target university I have to deal with this. But why do I have to babysit someone instead of studying? Jeongin is a smart kid, but sometimes he gets way to distracted.

“I’m teaching myself French in one night. It’s going great.” Jeongin said out of nowhere.

"Shouldn't you be studying math, instead of French?" I pulled my hair out of frustration. "Didn't you say your finals are next week? And you have Math exams in two days?" I reminded him.

Jeongin stopped tapping and suddenly pushed his chair. He screamed into his hands like a dolphin trying to break out of water, laughing victoriously I tried to read equations to him. "I'm doomed!" earning a few glances from other students I told him to be quiet.

With that said he kneeled in front of his Math problems and said "Oh gods and godesses of Mathematics, save thy child. I’ve been in a state of panic for the last 61 years.”

"You're 16," I smack his head lightly. "Focus child!"

-----

"Hey, what am I supposed to learn for this again?" Jeongin asked.

"I don’t know. How to best deal with despair, probably.” I retorted humorlessy.

"You know what? You're my goddess from now on!"

"Flirt one more time, Yang Jeongin and I'm gonna make sure you fail this exam"

"Nooooooo!"

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