#i try to meet people. i mention im single. i compliment people i find interesting

[mejomonster]

Telling myself not to google "how to find love" again

[liv-laugh-die]

||Admiring|| 💖Miya Osamu x Gn!reader

trope: strangers meeting in the park (ik its random bear with me😭)

warnings: its not proofread all the way through (im sorry im tired), so theres probably grammatical errors or typos but other than that none

genre: fluff pretty much just sappy stuff

pairing/s: osamu x gn!reader

wc: about 2.5k

a/n: oh my god idk where i came up with this but i think its cute so :p i hope you enjoy!!

You stared at your blank computer screen, hope of finishing your assignment before its due date at midnight slowly vanishing. 

     The clock on your desk read 11:27pm, the green lines wavering in your vision as your eyes slowly drooped, trying to drag you into the depths of slumber. You wanted to sleep, you really did, but you knew there was no way you could give up writing your essay, even now, knowing you weren’t going to submit it on time, because you would stress too much about it if you didn’t at least try to complete it before the due date. 

     Pushing yourself away from your desk, your chair squeaking against the floor ever so slightly in your dead silent dorm room, you tried to think of some excuse that your professor might believe. You doubted there was anything you could think of, but hey, your professor was better than what your roommates’ had mentioned theirs being, and you were grateful for that. Maybe you could tell him that you were exhausted from working extra hours at your job since you had had to cover your coworker’s shift and that’s why you couldn’t complete your essay on time? Or, maybe you could get away with a simple “I was lacking interest in the material, and couldn’t understand anything, and I didn’t ask for help because I knew that you are such a busy man trying to do so many things at once. Another hopeless near college drop-out wasn’t something I thought you needed on your hands.”

     ....Maybe not the latter.

    You sighed, running a hand through your tangled hair, practically feeling it screaming at you to wash it. You barely had time in the mornings to take showers anymore, and when you took them at night, you never had the strength to wash your hair, always knowing that putting a hat on overtop or throwing on your hoodie would make it seem fine on the outside, and that was good enough for you. As long as you looked at least decent and somewhat presentable.

    Your dorm room was fairly small, like every other one, but the lack of furniture made it seem larger than the rest. Nothing more than you and your roommate’s joint desk, the mini fridge in the corner, and the beds filled the space. You almost tripped over your backpack lying next to the bunk bed pushed up against the wall, falling to what would’ve been inches away from your roommate’s sleeping body.

    In an attempt not to disturb them, you tiptoed through the room, stepping over the occasional heap of clothes or homework, until you reached the bathroom. You fumbled over the door knob before almost tumbling into the small space. Glancing in the mirror, you didn’t fail to notice your messy hair, the dark circles tracing beneath your eyes, or the way you looked like you were seconds away from passing out. The sound of running water rang in your ears as you turned on the sink faucet, cupping your hands together and bringing your face down to meet them, rubbing the cold water all over you in an attempt to keep you awake for just a few moments longer.

     Your eyes returned back to the mirror as you sighed at your dripping wet face. There was no way possible you were going to finish your assignment on time. You knew it, your roommate knew it before they passed out, and you had noticed your professor’s wary glance this morning in class as a sign that he knew it too.

     An idea sprang into your head, part of you dreading the optimism that seemed to seep through your brain slowly. You didn’t feel like being energetic right now.

---an hour later---

You weren’t exactly sure how, when, or why you decided it would be a good idea to take a shower (you did end up washing your hair, thank god), get your things together in your bag, and head to the off-campus coffee shop (since the one on-campus had already closed), but you found yourself with a warm cup of coffee in hand as you exited the shop, the cold midnight air enveloping you in an unwelcome embrace.

     You shivered. The only thing your spontaneous brain had forgotten had to have been your jacket, the one thing your normal brain would’ve remembered if it weren’t already past midnight and if you weren’t majorly sleep-deprived.

     You most certainly weren’t done with your essay yet, nor was there any possible way for you to finish it on time since it was now approximately thirteen minutes past the due time, but you let yourself breathe for now.

     There weren’t many people out at this hour, and it made the usual busy city streets seemed like a ghost town. There were a few restaurants still open as you strolled along the sidewalk, their lights responsible for illuminating more than half the area in front of you. You passed by an onigiri shop your friend had recommended to you, but you just weren’t that hungry. Most nights, you’d kill for a midnight snack, but your single shot of espresso coffee was satisfying your needs for now.

     You decided to head to the park after seeing a rabbit hop its way across the vacant street and into the bushes in that direction. The fresh air was nice and cool against your dry and croaky lungs, and your ears needed a different sound than that of you miserably attempting to touch type quickly, your fingers rapping against the keyboard with vigor.

     A stream nearby flowed softly, the dripping of the water against the rocks complimenting the noise of the crickets chirping in sync just downstream. Your footsteps cut through the grass slowly, not bothering to follow the stone path. The park was a nice change of scenery. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been here by yourself in peace, it was always you and your rambunctious friends who ran through every now and then just to see the dogs running through the sprinklers, or the occasional poor cat whose owner dragged them out into the daylight for exercise. This was peaceful, though, and you appreciated that.

     A few more rabbits crossed your path, giving you that wide-eyed, side glance before darting off into the darkness, outside the reach of the lampposts emitting light. The sound of the stream soon faded out as you continued to walk through the park, sipping your coffee every so often. The warmth from your cup was soon dying out, and you figured you’d have to start walking back to your university sooner or later. Maybe you could crash at your friend’s house who lived just off campus, though you had forgotten your phone back at your dorm and had no alarm, no laptop to complete your work, and no contact with anyone else who might worry where you’d be. You had really no choice but to trek back to your dorm in the darkness, cutting your peaceful visit to the park short.

     You let yourself have a few more minutes of stress free relaxing as you sat down on a bench just before the ground let out into a downhill slope overlooking the rest of the city below. The trees around you swayed in the breeze, and for a moment, you thought it was the wind talking, and not an actual human being who had somehow made his way beside you without gathering your attention.

     “Didn’t think anyone else would be up at this hour,” the stranger mumbled. You glanced up, almost startled that, indeed, someone else was actually awake and strolling through the park.

     The boy couldn’t have been much older than you were, maybe the same age. He had his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, the wind tousled his dark hair ever so slightly, and the moonlight played along, illuminating his face just so you could actually see how gorgeous he was.

     You cleared your throat, averting your eyes back to the ground as you shifted over, creating more space on the bench in case he wanted to sit down beside you. “I decided to actually take care of myself for once and give myself some time to breathe before facing the wrath of my professor tomorrow when he finds out I didn’t turn in my essay on time.” You let out a low, breathy chuckle, not exactly sure of what would happen next.

     The guy sat down on the bench next to you, though he made sure to give you some personal space, which you were grateful for. He laughed along with you a bit, and you could tell just from his tone just how tired he really was.

     You gave him a side glance, raising an eyebrow. “So, what the stressful thing that brought you here in the middle of the night?”

     He smiled half-heartedly, eyes trained on the moon. “Work stuff. Jus’ been busy, I guess.” He shrugged. 

     You waited for him to continue on, but he stayed silent. You didn’t complain, though. Wasn’t your whole reason for coming out here in the dead of the night for some quiet? Plus, it wasn’t awkward either. You were comfortable sitting next to this stranger.

     “What do you do for work?” You waited a little longer than necessary to ask, but he didn’t seem to mind the long pause.

     “I own a restaurant a few blocks away. I love the job, it’s just tiring havin’ to deal with rude customers like my brother who won’t get the hint and get out sometimes. I got into an argument with him earlier today and he just wouldn’t shut it.” He rolled his eyes and took his hands out of his pockets, making eye contact with you as he went on about his day, and you couldn’t help but smile at his passion. “The guy thinks he can just walk in when I’m working with a new employee and just act like he runs the place! Quite stupid if you ask me. Such a jerk, he is. Thinkin’ about just banning him from the place, really.” 

     You snorted. “He really bugs you that much, huh?”

     The guy smirked at your laugh, admiring it, though you would never had guess that was what flashed across his face in a million years. He nodded. “Yeah, ‘course I love ‘im ‘cause he’s my twin and my best friend, but he really knows how to annoy the hell outta me.” He shrugged. “Maybe I’ll just get a sign in the window that says “no shirt, no shoes, no service” and cross it out and write my brother’s name instead,” he reasoned, and the pondering look in his eyes made you wonder if he was actually considering the idea.

     You smiled. “You’re funny.”

     “You say that like ya weren’t expectin’ it.”

     A laugh made its way out your lips. “Well, when you’re approached by a stranger in the middle of the night you sort of expect the worst.”

     The guy glanced off in the distance, away from you, furrowing his eyebrows. “Sorry, didn’t think of that comin’ off that way.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m funny then, and not some creep, eh?”

     You nodded, the smile on your face not fading as he changed topics.

     “So, what’s your essay on? Any way I can help ya finish it?”

     You shook your head dismissively. “Oh, no. It was due thirty minutes ago.” You quickly explained the topic you were writing about in class before getting side tracked. “My professor had said he would allow it to be turned in the next morning, but I doubt he actually meant it.”

     He smiled a wide grin, making butterflies flutter in your stomach. “You go to the university nearby, right?” 

     You nodded in confirmation, raising an eyebrow. “If I’ve got any luck, there’s a chance you go there too?”

     He laughed a little, shaking his head. “Nah, I don’t, sorry. I’ve visited campus a few times because some of my friends go there, but I just usually focus on work.”

     His gaze was tilted upwards towards the sky, and you couldn’t help but admire how the exhaustion still shone in his eyes, but somehow that same passion gleamed there too just mentioning what he did for a living. You wished you were that passionate about something that would actually support you financially in the future and make you happy.

     When he glanced back at you, you were still taking his essence in, and he made a look of confusion. “What?”

    You shook your head, chuckling. “Nothing. I just admire that you can dedicate yourself to something and make it seem so easy.” He looked at you, interested to hear what you had to say, even though you were sure you couldn’t be the first person to tell him this. “I haven’t even known you for more than ten minutes and I can already tell you’re passionate about what you do and if you’re stressed about it, it must mean you’re dedicated to seeing your work through, and that’s more than enough to admire and appreciate, especially when that can be so difficult sometimes.” You finished your short tangent, looking back up at him to see him staring intently at you, seemingly in awe of what you’d just said. You felt a blush creep onto your face as you quickly blurted out, “Sorry- I didn’t mean to be so straightforward and weird like that- I sound like some crazy secret admirer or something...”

     The crickets chirped in the silence between the two of you, and it felt like it would never end.

     “Y’know, I wouldn’t mind havin’ a secret admirer. I mean, wouldn’t be so secret, but...” You saw the smile creep up onto his face. “It’s nice being appreciated. Nobody really tells me that kind o’ stuff, so... thanks, I guess.” 

     The heat on your cheeks didn’t go away by any means, but you grew more comfortable with it as you mumbled, “Maybe I wouldn’t mind admiring you.”

     Now, it was the boy’s turn to blush, and you smiled at how his cheeks grew redder with every passing second, and how his subtle grin spoke a thousand words he didn’t need to say.

     “Miya Osamu.” The boy’s hand came into your view as he extended it for you to shake. “I own Onigiri Miya across from the grocery outlet.”

     You smirked, grasping his hand in yours as you said, “L/N Y/N. I own an official license for being a horrible driver and an ID that proves I’m a sleep-deprived college student and that’s about it.”

     He laughed, shaking your hand and standing up, letting go too soon for your liking.

     Because for some weird reason, his hand felt right in yours.

     Osamu said a quick goodbye, mentioning something about how he should get going and how you should get some sleep before he disappeared down the stone path back into the darkness.

     You stood up not too long after he’d left, your coffee now entirely cold as you plopped the half full cup into the trash can on your walk back to your dorm, not needing the pathetic warmth anymore. Your heart was beating fast and the feeling of Osamu’s hand resting in yours lingered on your palm, and that kept you warm enough.

     Maybe you’d be visiting that onigiri place your friend recommended to you a little sooner than you’d originally planned, and maybe more often than you would’ve expected.

[yourlocalmusicalprostitute]

Girl From Ipanema Brian May x Fem!POC!Reader

A/N: reposting this cause it got lost just like my Rog oneshot the first time, this is very self indulgent, sorry if its boring, please excuse any errors. a deaky oneshot will be up eventually; ships are still open sorry for the long post, Im on mobile

warnings: mentions of alcohol, anxious Bri

Song inspo

~

Brian swirled his fingers around the stout glass waiting for him on one of many tables spread throughout Freddie's new home. He served himself a glass of whiskey, a pair ice cubes floating in it, just to start him off for the night. Brian was no prude; he usually enjoyed Freddie's parties, especially the ones Freddie took the time to plan and gave themes to. Brian simply chose to ease himself into party mode at a steady pace, contrary to Roger who swan dived into any party as soon as he stepped through the threshold.

It would be unlike Freddie to move into a new home and not have a celebration for new beginnings. The verbal invitation he gave Brian over the phone went something along the lines of, "Everyone should be dressed in their finest linen! Not a single person who isn't dripping in jewels may find their way in."

The drama in Freddie's voice was warranted for this occasion. Queen had been working themselves to the bone, and there were finally fianances to show for it. Roger treated himself to a car. John bought a home just the same as Freddie, but his was for himself and Veronica with a much less extravagant house warming party. Brian had yet to come up with a way to pamper himself with the tad bit of extra money in his pocket, or if he even wanted to.

"Brian!" Freddie's voice took Brian out of his state of contemplation, making him stand and hug his close friend.

"The place is lovely, Fred." He complimented sincerely, which Freddie acknowledged thankfully with a smile before he got into the reason he interrupted Brian's thinking session.

"Thank you darling, but listen, this is my party and I refuse to let you go home alone. Now c'mon! Roger is already..." Freddie paused his words to purse his lips dramatically, "mingling." The last word of Freddie's sentence was drawn out and Brian knew exactly what he meant.

Almost reluctantly, Brian followed Freddie to the main crowd of people. The crowd consisted mostly of individuals the band knew with the few people who had only heard of the party buzz sprinkled in. No one that Brian had any real interest speaking to, though he was polite and downed his whiskey as a way to remain as such.

A hand glided over Freddie's shoulder causing him to turn around. The hand belonged to a loyal customer of his when he and Roger sold clothes in Kensington market. Freddie stepped to the side to allow whomever caught his attention to step into the circle as he introduced them.

"This is Y/N! The only person who could negotiate prices with me at Kensington market. Might I add Y/N has a wonderful fashion sense." Freddie gestured to the gown that adorned Y/N's curves.

The gown was velvet. Brian couldn't tell if it were purple or blue due to the lighting, but it didn't really matter. Brian was smitten with Y/N at first glance and when he took a glance around the room, it seemed that everyone else was as well.

Y/N made Brian nervous and that was evident as his adams apple bobbed roughly when he swallowed. She had extended a hand out to Brian, there was a dainty diamond bracelett on her wrist that dangled as he shook her hand.

"It's so great to meet you. Freddie mentions you all the time." Y/N let her hand linger in Brian's. His grip was strong, but he didn't crush her hand,something she admired in a man. Not to mention the smile that stretched across Brian's face, or his broad shoulders, or the pants he was wearing that clung so wonderfully to his-

"Y/N, dear are you alright? You're staring at poor Brian, making him nervous!" Freddie cackled standing on the side of her. Immediately Y/N retreated her hand, her face pulled into an embarrassed smile and diverted her gaze from Brian.

"Sorry." Y/N said between a small laugh. She brought her eyes back up to Brian.

He shook his head, "No apology needed."

"I'm going to get myself a drink, Fred." Y/N excused herself with one last nod to Brian and a pat on Freddie's shoulder. Brian watched as Y/N walked away. His eyes roamed from her tightly coiled hair pulled into a slick high bun, to her bare back cut out from her dress, and down to her bottom sitting perfectly on her back. She was the definition of lovely.

"Brian if you don't go get her I will!" Freddie teased.

"You go ahead mate, I don't think I'm her type." Brian looked down at his empty glass. He thought Y\N was utterly gorgeous, but there were a plethora of men eyeing her, he was surely at the bottom of her list.

"Brian, are you blind or dumb?" Freddie asked curtly.

"What?" Brian laughed out his question.

"Did you see the way she looked at you?"

"Fred that doesn't mean any-"

"If you saw it that means you're dumb." Freddie sipped his champagne in disappointment.

"Well I could've told you that mate!" A cheery an raspy voice announced from behind both Freddie and Brian.

"Roger tell Brian he's being utterly ridiculous to think he's not attractive enough to get that woman over there." Freddie pointed towards the kitchen island serving as a bar. Y/N sat there with her back turned to the trio smiling but simultaneously brushing off any suitors that came by.

Roger tilted his head to get a better view. "I don't know," surely he did, he just wanted to see the slighty irritated look on Brian's face, "but she surely is right up my alley." Roger, to drive his point home, straightened his posture and began to make steps toward Y/N.

Freddie grabbed his jacket. "Hold on, lover boy. That's Brian's woman."

"Well he doesn't want her!" Roger argued.

"You couldn't be more wrong Rog." Brian corrected. He had finally decided that he couldn't reject her if he didn't try to talk to her.

Freddie smiled and gave Brian a few pats on the shoulder. "Go get 'er tiger." He encouraged. Roger gave Brian a smile and a raise of his eyebrows to further encourage him, and before Brian could come up with a reason to avoid conversation with Y/N, his legs walked him over to her. 

"Hi." His greeting was a little too low for Y/N to hear. She kept her back turned to him, nursing a glass of champagne. Brian stepped closer, swallowing the growing frog in his throat before speaking again. "Hi." He said a little louder this time.

Y/N turned in surprise, but instantly smiled at the sight of the tall man before her. "Hi." She mimicked sweetly. "What brings you over here?"

Brian looked down at his empty glass and raised it a bit. "This." He stated first. "And you." Brian then stated with a little bit of uncertainty.

Y/N kept her smile and gestured to the empty stool next to her. "Then you better sit." Brian placed himself on the stool and turned his body toward Y/N.

"What are you drinking?" She asked sweetly.

"Whiskey, please." Brian gulped after his words as he watched Y/N pour his drink slowly.

A silence fell among the two of them. Brian's streak of confidence was short lived; it brought him over to Y/N, but didn't stay long enough for him to hold a conversation. Brian was regretting his decision and started to apologize the same time Y/N wanted to speak.

Brian shut his mouth quickly and shook his head. "Please, you first." He gestured toward Y/N and she giggled.

"I was just going to invite you to dance." She stated trying her best to control the wide grin Brian seemed to coax out of her with just a look.

"I was going to say the same thing." Brian chuckled as smoothly as possible. He followed his lie with a final swig of whiskey before standing. He held a hand out to Y/N, slightly shaking. She smiled and landed her hand into his.

Brian's hand was warm despite it previously holding a cold glass of alcohol. She was more than happy that Brian accepted her offer to dance, but she was silently kicking herself.

He was going to find out the hard way that Y/N had two left feet.

[reyettaclaven]

A Beginner’s Guide to Second Life: How do you meet people?

I see people on pretty often asking questions about the game, so I decided to use my knowledge to make a few guides for new players. I’ll be tossing these up whenever I feel like making a new one. They will be in no particular order, but i’ll be sure to link to the previous guides in each post. If you have any suggestions on what I should make my next guide about, i’d love to hear them! 

Previous Guides: “How do you shop for stuff?”

On today’s Beginner’s Guide, we’re going to be answering the question:

“How to you meet people?

For being a social game, it can be fairly difficult to meet others who are actually interested in chatting on Second Life. This often leads people to the misconception that SL is dead or dying. On the contrary, in September of 2019, the creator of Firestorm (a popular 3rd party viewer for Second Life and Opensim) stated that, on Firestorm alone, over the 30 days previous to their post, there were 542,967 unique users across 9.9 million sessions, who spent 17.7 million combined hours online. To put that in perspective, that means the average Firestorm user, during this period, had 18 sessions in 30 days, with each session being almost two hours long, for a total of 30 hours a month of playtime. That’s not even counting users of the Linden Labs viewers, and all other 3rd party viewers. 

So, people do still play, and they play a lot. So, where the hell is everybody?

The dual blessing and curse of Second Life is that the grid is massive. As of October 13, 2019, there are 24483 sims on Second Life’s main grid, Agni (that’s the one you probably log into). As I type this post, there are around 40,000 users online. If every single sim were populated, that’s less than 2 people per sim. So, clearly people are congregating. It is a social game, after all. But really, where the hell is everybody? How do you find them? The single most efficient way to run into a bunch of other avatars is to visit a club while it has a live DJ. Search “dance” or “club” in your search box, and try the top 5 results. However it is not at all uncommon for those people to not really be in the mood to chat. For whatever reason, many people don’t read local chat. 

If you want to actually meet people and make connections, you’re going to have to put yourself out there. If you walk into a sim full of silent, parked avatars (that’s not an AFK sim, lol.), be the first to say something! Say hello to the room! Talk about the music, or the sim. Mention that it’s your first time there and ask if someone can show you around. 

If that doesn’t work, the next best option would be to look around you and see who looks interesting. Read a few people’s profiles and decide who you might like to get to know, then toss them an IM. Complimenting people’s avatars is usually an easy way to get a response, then you gain a foothold to start a more broad conversation. Focus on interests you two might share, based on what you read in their profile, or ask them engaging questions about their interests. Most people really enjoy when others seem to care about what they like and what they do, and it can foster a really engaging conversation with someone who’s passionate about the discussion at hand. 

If they aren’t biting, move on to the next. No harm, no foul.

Now, that’s all fine and well, but what if you’re having trouble finding people who share your interests at some random dance club? You’ll want to move onto more niche sims. Search keywords related to your interests and try out the top few results. But wait: there’s no one here, now what? Remember that the sim you’re in, by default, has more niche themeing, and therefore, a smaller visitor-pool. Remember that SL is an international game, and that people may show up at different times of day. The highest results on your search indicate that those places have the most traffic, so remember that people will show up, but it may take some waiting. Find a few sims that seem to interest you and spend your free time exploring and familiarizing yourself with them. The longer you spend there, the more likely you are to meet people, and the more you establish yourself as a “regular” that people will recognize from visit to visit. From there, you can engage with others in a way that suits the sim’s theme, and won’t need to rely as much on generic small-talk!

There is one other way to meet people and have good conversations on grid, and you might not expect it! Group chats! And I actually don’t mean interest-based groups like “Bicyclists of SL” or something. I mean store groups. Weird, right? Hear me out, here. I have had some of my most entertaining SL conversations in recent years in random store groups with strangers! It is not at all uncommon, especially in groups for mainstream designers, and furry and anime clothing and body stores to be full of people having casual banter about any old thing. In my experience, the more niche the store’s customer-base is, the more likely people will be up for chatting! Come in with something silly to say and watch the conversation pick up around you, if it hasn’t already started. Just be aware that not all groups allow off-topic discussion in their group chats. Always check the group’s rules before you try to start up a discussion about flavors of pie in a merchant’s store group. 

That said, groups for more well-trafficked sims can also be dens of activity, even if the sim is entirely empty at the moment! Most groups, even store groups, are free to join, so it never hurts to join up and see if people are in the mood to chat!

Best of luck to you all! May your future friendships be plentiful and long-lived!

If you have any other questions, or have anything to add to this guide, let me know! I’m, by-no-means, an expert, but i’ll do my best to answer you!

[wanna-17]

kim jaehwan first meeting! AU

warning: just in case if you might be uncomfortable or against religion,  i suggest not reading this as it has mentions 

summary: in which you meet the guy with the sweet voice and a crazy laugh at youth group 

length:  1.7k

a/n: i am back after 2 weeks i am so sorry...as you guys know i had finals for uni, that itself was stressful enough but then after my first exam i got really sick so i couldn’t bring myself to study or write or do anything so i’m really sorry. I FINALLY HAVE A SCENARIO FOR YOU GUYS YAY if you haven’t been to a youth group you can just imagine it as a social gathering where people play games and mingle but if you have i think we can all relate to wanting to meet the cute guy who plays guitar, sings and leads worship. its weird writing this bc im actually a youth leader HAHAHAH well this is something different to my other scenarios but i hope you guys enjoy it :) 

so you’re a high school student and your church has recently had some issues so your family has been looking for a new church to join

so for the past month, you’ve literally been church hopping checking out different youth groups 

and it was just hard to find one where you felt welcomed and really enjoyed it 

so here you were, another friday comes around

and your parents have recently started going to a church saying that the service is really good so they encouraged you to check out the youth group which was on friday nights 

and so you do 

you’re in front of a surprising really modern looking church building 

you took a deep breath and headed in nervously 

you wandered around as it was pretty big inside and finally found the big hall where the youth group was to take place

when you entered you were greeted with loads of loud noise and energy and fairlylights decorated aestheticaly all over the hall

at the front of the room you could also see really professional looking experiments and you thought that the worship here would be really good

the room was also slightly dim creating a nice atmosphere

you were greeted by 3 youth leaders who had a welcome desk set up 

they had name tags on; seongwoo, minhyun and sejeong 

they all stood up and smiled brightly at you

“hello!!! welcome to our youth group!!!” said the girl named sejeong 

“hi uh this is my first time here” you replied nervously

“thats so great we’re so happy you can join us!!” said seongwoo 

“thanks” you replied as you started to be more comfortable around them as they were super friendly and welcoming 

you made some small talk with the three youth leaders and you were surprised at how easygoing and chill they were as most of the past youth leaders you’d encountered weren’t as laidback and harder to talk to 

they gave you a name tag to stick on your sweater and asked what grade you were in 

you told them and they called over the other girls that were in your grade

they came over and were also really nice 

you learned that their names were yoojung, somi, chungha and doyeon 

yoojung and doyeon were from the same school and were  good friends 

somi also recently started coming to the youth group and chungha was introduced by doyeon

they were super lovely and you chatted with them and got to know them before the night officially began 

the girls also pointed out which guys were in your grade 

“there aren’t really any cute guys but they’re all really nice” said chungha as she pointed at a group of guys on the other side of the room 

you weren’t that interested in boys atm so you were like meh 

“oh jaehwan’s the cutest out of all the guys in our grade but he’s a little crazy” said somi

somi looked over at the group of boys “he’s not here yet he’s always running late” 

you didn’t take much notice of what your new friends were saying about jaehwan as you were more focused on settling in 

so the youth group night officially began with prayer etc. etc. 

“ah jaehwan you’re late again” said minhyun who was the youth leader that was the mc

everyone burst into laughter and you turned around catching sight of a boy dumping his stuff at the back of the hall and you could only see his back view

you shrugged and focused to the front 

“ok we’re going to play a game called the chair game..” said minhyun 

you’d played it before so you were excited (basically its a game where everyone has a chair and its in a circle, the person in the middle doesn't have a chair and they have to say a statement e.g. “move if you have been overseas” and then everyone that has been overseas would have  to move to another chair and the last person remaining would be in the middle and it continues by them saying another statement) idk if that makes sense feel free to message me if u didn’t get it and i’ll explain it more coherently lmao

the game started and it was pretty basic and fun and not too crazy 

until.......

someone in the middle was like “move if you are wearing a jacket” 

you were only wearing a sweater so you didn’t have to move but it was hilarious 

bc 10 or so ppl were fighting for seats and when there were only 2 boys left fighting for one chair 

they both rushed to it and one of them started laughing like a psychopath and his laugh echoed throughout the hall as he ran and tried to fight for the chair 

you laughed along as you watched the poor boy with the crazy laugh determined to fight for the last seat 

unfortuately he missed out and fell to the ground as the other boy claimed the seat in victory 

you expected the crazy laughing boy to be pissed off or slightly annoyed but instead he had the brightest smile on his face while still laughing his head off 

“that was a good one sewoon, i admit defeat” said the boy cheekily 

you suddenly had newfound admiration for his sportsmanship and attitude 

“that’s jaehwan,” whispered somi who was next to you 

and when you looked at him, he definitely was a little bit cute 

just as you were eyeing him (well everyone was as he was in the middle) he noticed you and made eye contact with you while smiling cheekily 

“ok hmmmm....move if this is your first time at our youth group” said jaehwan 

you quickly stood up trying to find a chair but you realised you were the only person that was new and jaehwan had sprinted to your chair claiming it as his 

he smiled cheekily at you again and even though you were embarrassed his smile was actually really cute 

so now you were standing in the middle trying to think of a statement 

“WOOOOHOOOOO” cheered jaehwan “WELCOMEEEEEE” he said screamed in a high pitched voice 

everyone else laughed and clapped encouraging you to not be shy and you eventually thought of something and the game went on 

after several more rounds the game ended and it was time for the bible talk 

you were a little distracted as you wondered why jaehwan had singled you out but in reality he just wanted to welcome you and make you more comfortable

plus at youth group he was known for being friends with everyone and taking care of the younger ones too 

the talk was really good and encouraging and you learnt from it 

compared to the other youth groups you’d checked out this was definitely had a great atmosphere and you were able to learn as well 

then it was discussion groups

and then worship 

before issues started arising at your old church you were actually on the worship team and played piano so you curious as to how this church’s worship team was like as the instruments at the front looked quite pricey

minhyun asked the band to come up and you noticed someone familiar go up....jaehwan??

“is that jaehwan?” you whispered to yoojung who was sitting next to you

she nodded, “yeah, he also has a really nice voice” 

you nodded in curiousity as you eyed him go to the centre and take his guitar while standing in front of the microphone

the girl on the piano started and then jaehwan started to sing

and you were blown away 

mostly because was this crazy loud guy with a psychopathic laugh really the same guy that had a voice like an angels?????????

his voice was so pure and beautiful and natural and you happily sang along 

his voice was passionate and you could tell every word he sang he meant it with his heart 

you were so mesmerised by his voice that you didn’t even realise the song ended already 

you didn’t get to talk to jaehwan until youth group ended

it was when your parents came to pick you up and they were talking with another couple

you approached them and the couple started talking to you and asking you how you found it 

they were mr and mrs kim

“oh btw have you met our son?” asked mrs kim 

just as you were about to reply mr kim waved his hands 

“JAEHWAN HERE” 

you were shook bc the ppl your parents were talking to were jaehwan’s parents 

you looked over and jaehwan was pouncing over with a backpack put on at the front and his guitar case swung over his shoulder on his bag y’all pause and take a moment to picture this HOW cUTE WOULD HE BE O M G

he looked like an adorable muffin and you couldn’t help but lowkey fawn over how squishy and cute he looked

“jaehwan have you met y/n? this is her first time here” said mrs kim 

“not exactly” replied jaehwan and he turned to you smiling “hey i’m jaehwan nice to meet you” 

he offered his hand to shake and it was funny bc he had his bag stuck to his chest lmao this boy 

you gladly shook his hand and told him your name

the parents continued talking so you guys continued to talk

“by the way sorry if i made you feel a little uncomfortable during the game” said jaehwan

“nah its fine i enjoyed it” you replied which was true 

“thats good to hear! i just wanted to make you feel welcome we haven’t had a new person in a while so it’s really refreshing and encouraging that you came” said jaehwan

you were honestly touched at his words

“thanks that did help! by the way you were really great at singing and playing the guitar” you complimented him

and you guys started talking about both your fave ccm songs and he learnt that you could play piano too 

he made you promise to show him you playing the piano next time 

you guys talked for a while and it was super comfortable 

sooner than you hoped the parents said it was time to go home 

“oh y/n the kims actually only live two blocks away from us so from now on we’ll be taking turns sending you two to youth group” said your mum 

you and jaehwan smiled in response

you were happy bc that meant more time to get to know jaehwan 

“bye y/n see you next week!!!!” said jaehwan

“see you jaehwan!!!!” 

you knew you definitely wanted to stay at this youth group ^^ 

hope you guys enjoyed this !!  3 more to go get keen 

other members: daehwi (x), sungwon (x), woojin (x), guanlin (x), jisung (x), jinyoung (x), daniel (x) 

masterlist: (x)

[kokoronopikuseru]

NPF2017

I took a leap of faith 3 months back to get an air ticket to Japan.

In the pen spinning world, cross community interaction is really limited, mainly dude to the lack of sponsored trips or offline events. I’m really fortunate enough to be able to travel to korea, china, hong kong and taiwan, to meet spinners in real life. The face to face interaction made me learn so much about each and every community’s culture.

I was really lucky that my llul period in army matches the date of NPF. I have been watching JEB pen spinning for years, and it meant a lot to me to be able to meet the spinners that have been inspiring since I started. It was worth it. And it was insane.

Day 1 (Levi’s Gathering)

After settling at tigres’ place, we went out to pick up i.suk and vampire which were both somewhere around shinjuku. It was kinda funny how we both betted that I.suk was spinning a pen mod when we meet up with him. Vampire was really cool. Our conversations didn't have much depth, but we spent most of the time laughing about shit we see. Trying to see the upskirt of the anime girl in the train poster. Amazing guy.

We crashed the saizerya meet up where a few spinners got together before the actual event. I was still on adrenaline because of my lack of sleep. I “hajime-mashita" all of them. There were pretty shocked since, well, it's seldom you’ll see such an act in a really reserved japanese culture. I'm glad to hear that it was positively received later on. And yes, isuk is 24 years old. 本当に？？

We had time. I mentioned about how my friend bought me a tenga egg the last time they came to Japan. I, too, was pretty interested to know how it is like to visit a sex shop. So, uh, yeah we went. I thought we were going to enter a dedicated shop. NOPE. They brought me to don quijote which is a huge shop selling everything under the sun. We strolled to the section. There's a cool selection, and it isn't too expensive either. After quite a bit of laughter, I chose two. It's amazing to see how shopping for such products were really normal. Cute girls just pass by and take them off the shelves as if they were just shopping for groceries. The cashier didn't react to the fact that borderline legal kids were buying a couple of onaholes. Wow, Japan is great. Was really nice that vampire paid for it, as a gift for me. One of those were supposed to be isuk’s but well, he vehemently rejected the offer. Haha. It was golden.

We arrived at the venue. It was a small place at the 4th or 5th floor of a shop house. Everyone was waiting by the streets before entering. I was a lil intimidated, since, I do recognise a number of them, and also there was quite a number of them. I had a brief exchange with beige. Interesting. As usual, the language barrier hindered the depth of our conversation. Ehven arrived afterwards, and I was really glad that he told me that he liked my spinning and was supporting me as a PWT judge. I love that dude, easy to talk with too. Don't think he knows I recall him for the guy that posts weird half naked clips in a number of vacation CV videos. Hahaha.

The room was small for 55 people. But it's still cozy. There were many cushion chairs. We settled down, and mixed with everyone. It's hard to talk at first, because everyone's kinda in groups already. After finding my way around, it's nice to know a number of spinners still remember my spinning, really honoured to be acknowledged.

And then the bingo happened. Towards the end, they hosted this activity to give out some prizes donated by +spin and Tez. When a person had bingo, they could play the lucky dip to get a prize. Initially I had pretty bad luck with the numbers. I had only one punched in after maybe the 6th call? Vampire, laku and tigres were helping me with the number especially when my numbers were pretty bad and I can’t interpret the names read out in japanese that easily. The crowd was really entertaining. They were all cheering for the “monami pens” as it represented that they still had a chance for the grand prize. Ponkotu had the worst luck x)

And in the end, I won it. The grand prize was like the first JEB pen case created. I felt really embarrassed since they lost the most prized possession to a 外人. Even so, they made me feel I deserved it. 嬉しい.

As the day come to an end, we got vacated and we ended up moving to the streets. Reminds me quite a lot about most gatherings I go where all the dedicated people who love pen spinning have difficulty leaving. I chatted with coco_A and cseo. They're a big inspiration to me, to be so active in the community even after their time has passed. They opened up to me and we had a good talk.

Laluteskal had a good laugh when I told him I remembered him for being the leader of All Highlights. What a friendly dude :DD

Day 2 (NPF)

I honestly did not expect that many spinners. I recognise a number of spinners since (I secretly study every NPF baton CV).

It was really weird at first because I was on my own with mango to roam around the place. Tigres was with some of his friends, and vampire was preparing for the competition. Subsequently, I went around tried really hard to open up to them, with whatever broken japanese I have at my disposal. I MET TOO MANY SPINNERS. I didn’t even eat lunch that day, and could barely even go around talking to everyone of them and getting their signatures.

I spent quite a bit of time just sitting down learning linkages from spinners - laluteskal, slofis, rhetoric, ponkotu, etc. They all had their own speciality link or trick. I’m certain its way harder than how it looks, especially ponkotu’s ones.

Greeting each other were fun. I’m honestly surprised how some spinners actually knew who I was. I’m just a small fry from and unknown community and have more shit videos than good videos. Thank god for PWT. I wanted to just say hi to miyana, didn’t expect him to be like wooaaaaaaaaaaaah pixels san. I was probably more excited to see him. IM A JEB FANBOY. Noel too. Most of my interactions were really just expressing that we were glad to meet each other. Nonetheless, its humbling to be able to see my idols in the flesh.

I managed to meet FouR and Malimo. I’m a huge fan of those two. Glad that me and FouR were both motivations for each other to spin. Great that he did enjoy participating in all my CVs. Lotus told me about he watched liked my calligraphy and how pixelophobia was really cool. For a CV editor as great as him, it meant the world to me to receive those compliments.

Siva attached wheels to his pen case. LOL that was hella fun. Thinking of doing it to one of my unused ones too hahahaha. That guy has endless creativity.

Ponkotu showed me his f3000 pen. Jesus Christ. The paint on the pen is fully scraped off. THE BODY HAS SOME CONCAVE AREAS BECAUSE HE DID TOO MANY TAPS. That’s some hardcore pen spinning dedication in one pen.

I also managed to see Ease’ Dr Grip. Oh man. I thought that fading a dr grip pen to white was terrifying. His pen is yellowing, the tip has many little spots from the countless drops, the grip is really soft and fully opaque. I’m honoured to be given the opportunity to try these spinners’ weapon of choice. Fuckin’ terrifying. Para was pretty amused with my expression towards seeing them.

I.suk’s tournament combo was insane. They told him to do a short warm up. He did tons of SS and FL shit, the crowd was cheering even before the video camera started recording. He’s such a crowd pleaser haha.

The 3 sec trick showcase was really fun. JEB spinners do have such a psychotic sense of humour. Kicoviola fuckin swallowed an anyball grip on his mx, and washed it down with ocha. Ehven reenacted his vacation video, landed the pen in his pants on the first try. Rhetoric was supposed to do penspinning, but spun himself instead. His halos were clean af.

Too many things happened in a single day.  Craziest day of my life. I wished I could explain everything in detail.

Day 3

I woke up late since tigres and me went to send vampire off really early in the morning. I previously contacted mey that I wanted to meet since he was only able to come to Tokyo after NPF. He messaged me to say he was at the naranja juggling shop. I quickly packed my stuff and rushed off to itabashi.

Luckily, there was a YouTube video with the instructions to walk to the naranja shop, Otherwise, I will probably never find it.

He was with other spinners too - Julia, Altema, airi, CeNti, Akiza, Merry, Watto. I have met most of them the previous day, but since I was really busy going around, I didn't manage to spend too much time with this bunch. Mannnnn. They are a fun bunch to be with.

Julia was rocking the SPSF shirt he bought from me. Made it instantly much cooler. For some reason, his green rushon feels amazing to spin. Why is mine so crap???? Found out he's the editor for Japen13th. Probably really stressed out, but i’m sure he’ll do a great job.

Watto. I can’t help but notice that he really looks quite similar to takeru satoh. Maybe thats why his twitter icon is battosai.

I didn't manage to talk to Merry much for the past two days. He was pretty approachable that day. He even rennacted ryo’s TV clip and laughed at the くるくるですわ and the すごいkid.

Altema really looked like the quiet ones. But dang, this dude always gave me a mischievous smile and tells me something weird :’). Taught me how to play with the spinning plate.

Spent quite a while talking to airi. His pink mx is pretty tattered. If I did wipers with it, the grip would definitely snap. やばい. He shared his perspective and knowledge about the community. “Simplicity is the best”. I kinda wished that more spinners could think like him. He's looks pretty huggable too.

CeNti is great at diablo. Fingers look even more beautiful in real life. Really nice dude too. He showed me the pet bottle fake double and some of his personal linkages. Much harder than it looks :’)

Akiza has a fukin’ insane style. The speed and everything. I tried his g3 mod, it was actually pretty damn good. AND HE TOLD ME HE LIKED MY KT. YEBOOIIIIII. He was gave me a yellow hyperjell, pretty sweet dude.

And wow, mey’s hands are like really buff? I thought I had thick fingers. I was really happy to meet him. He’s one of the rare japanese spinners that would talk to me when I created twitter for the first time. His english is pretty good too. I gave him my PWT R3 mod (Baton), he was really happy to receive it. And I was really happy that he would treasure it probably much more than I would. All of them were pretty happy to receive some of my personal SPSF prints and get their name written by me. \(^^

End

I loved everything about that place. I didn’t do much sightseeing as I originally planned. But it felt so great just being able to roam around the city with locals and just being able to “live” here for a couple of days. I really hope that there will be a chance for me to go back. Maybe NPF2018.