#inspiration hits at the weirdest times (middle of a fight)

[cyan0corax]

Tragou the Aarakocra Bard!

Commission work, transparent background was a request of the client :)

[girlinlotsoffandoms]

day twenty one - hit and run

notes: this one was inspired by one of my favorite Emergency! (1970s) episodes

read on AO3 or below

Chicago was a busy city. With nearly three million residents and countless tourists, it was hard to be anything but. The days were lively and the nights were even more so, especially around the holidays and popular tourist seasons. St Patrick’s Day weekend was one of those instances.

The dyeing of the river green and the parade always kicked off a weekend of fun activities and parties. It brought a new level of fun and liveliness to the city. However, it also created an uptick in crime and alcohol-related incidents. Add the local colleges and universities being on Spring Break and the local first responders were busy.

___________________

It was early morning when Squad 3 and Ambo 61 got called out to a club downtown. A fight had broken out and a few dancers and patrons had gotten involved but that’s all they knew approaching the scene. Even if they had gotten more information from dispatch, it wouldn’t have prepared them for what they found.

One very drunk patron had rushed the stage, trying to get handsy with two of the girls dancing. He tripped, however, and fell into them. His leg went through the stage and his very gaudy (and surprisingly sturdy) costume jewelry got caught on the dancers’ costumes and jewelry, effectively trapping them all on the stage.

It wasn’t the weirdest thing they��d ever seen, but it was their weirdest call that weekend.

Squad made quick work of getting everyone separated and Brett and Violet checked everyone over. Other than some scrapes, bumps, bruises, and a sprained ankle, there were no major injuries for any of the involved parties. Less than an hour after arriving at the bar, Squad and Ambo were packing up and heading back to their trucks.

They stored their gear in the compartments and started getting back into their rigs, cracking jokes about the rescue. Severide stepped into the street and rounded the front of the truck to climb into the passenger side when the squeal of tires caught their attention from down the street.

Like a slow-mo scene from a movie, they watched as the car came barreling down the street directly toward Severide. The car plowed directly into Severide, the Lieutenant not having enough time to move out of the way.

Severide flew up onto the hood and hit the windshield before rolling off onto the ground. The driver never once stopped; he just continued speeding away.

Cruz, Capp, Tony, and Brett all ran over to where Severide laid while Violet called in the hit-and-run and description of the car and license plate to dispatch. As soon as she was done, she grabbed her med kit and joined the others.

Severide was barely conscious. His eyes were open just a crack, but he wasn’t responding to any of them. His pulse was thready and Brett and Violet could easily see the shock setting in.

Brett and Violet quickly got Severide in a C-collar and strapped to the backboard and Cruz, Capp and Tony helped lift him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.

As Cruz was climbing in the back of the ambulance, set on riding to the hospital with Severide, the first police car pulled up on the scene. They already had the car's license plate and description from Violet called to dispatch, but they needed to get the security camera footage and ask some questions. Capp and Tony stayed behind to answer whatever questions they had while the ambulance sped off towards the hospital.

It didn’t take long for the police to get what they needed and soon, Capp and Tony were rushing off to the hospital as well.

… … …

Boden never slept well when one of his units was called out to a scene in the middle of the night, and he knew he wasn’t the only one. He trusted his team implicitly and had all the faith in them, but firefighting was a dangerous job, rescue squad was a dangerous job, being a first responder was a dangerous job at any time of day but night always brought an air of mystery and danger.

No one had been at the desk when Violet’s call for the police came over the radio so when Boden’s phone rang, he had no clue something had happened. There was a growing pit in his stomach as he moved to answer it. Phone calls in the middle of the night rarely brought good news.

The pit in his stomach only grew as he listened to Cruz on the other end of the line.

“How’s Severide?”

“I don’t know Chief.” Cruz’s voice was filled with uncertainty. “He was barely conscious at the scene and he lost consciousness in the ambulance. We just got to Med and the doctors are with him now so hopefully they’ll be able to tell us something soon.”

“I’ll stand the station down and we’ll meet you at the hospital. Keep me updated if anything changes before we get there.”

“Yes Chief.”

Boden hung up and took a deep breath to collect himself. He really hated his job sometimes.

… … …

Less than twenty minutes later, the remaining members of Firehouse 51 flooded into the hospital waiting room. Stella, naturally, looked the most concerned but the others looked worried as well. Despite the middle of the night wake-up call, none of them looked the least bit tired—worry and adrenaline keeping them going.

The group, with Stella and Boden leading the charge, found the Squad guys, Brett, and Violet huddled in the chairs closest to the ED doors.

“Any update?” Stella asked, desperate for news on her husband. All she was met with were headshakes. She plopped into a chair next to Violet and looked at Cruz, Capp, and Tony. ”Have the cops caught the guy yet?”

“We haven’t heard anything for sure but they have an APB out on the car and the CCTV footage caught the hit clear as day, including a shot of the guy’s face,” Cruz explained. “Right now it’s just a matter of time.”

“Trudy’s working,” Mouch announced, standing and pulling out his phone. “I’ll call her and see if she knows anything.”

Stella nodded her thanks but before Mouch could even press the call button, the ED doors opened and Dr. Archer entered the waiting room.

“Lieutenant Severide is currently on his way into surgery. The most pressing thing right now is the internal bleeding in his abdomen. Based on the scans, Dr. Marcel believes the cause is his spleen and he’s going to try and repair it.” Dr. Archer explained. “Lieutenant Severide also has a few broken ribs broken leg so once he’s in recovery and a bit more stable, we’ll get Ortho in to assess him and see what needs to be done.”

“What about a head injury?” Cruz asked.

“Yeah, his head hit the windshield pretty hard,” Capp added.

At the way Stella’s face paled, Tony smacked Capp on the arm. Capp gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry.”

“His initial scans came back clear of any skull fractures or bleeding and there’s surprisingly little swelling,” Dr. Archer answered. “He most likely has a pretty bad concussion but we’ll bring Neuro in to do a full work up once he’s in recovery and awake from the anesthesia.”

“You can head up to the surgical waiting room. Dr. Marcel will update you when he can.”

“Thank you, Dr. Archer.”

... … …

Several hours later, Stella found herself by Kelly’s bedside. Dr. Marcel ended up having to remove Kelly’s spleen due to the amount of damage and after a blood transfusion, Kelly’s stats were looking much better.

Ortho had already been by and determined Kelly had a broken leg and a crack to his femur. That brought concerns about Kelly’s recovery and his future as a firefighter, but the doctor confirmed the break was clean and while the recovery would be long, Kelly would make a full recovery with little to no lingering issues.

They wrapped his broken ribs the best they could and they wrote up a referral for respiratory therapy to come work with him. Now that he was spleen-less, Kelly was more prone to infections and pneumonia was something the medical team was desperate to avoid.

Neuro had done an initial check when Kelly woke up in recovery and seemed pleased with what they found, diagnosing him with just a grade 2 concussion. They planned on visiting him again and doing another check once he was awake longer and had his wits about him.

It had been a long morning filled with fear and anger and uncertainty. Trudy had called just after sunrise and let everyone know that the guy who hit Kelly had been arrested and his BAC was nearly four times the legal limit. She’d sent Mouch pictures of the car and the damage was severe; the front bumper was nearly falling off, the hood was dented and the windshield was shattered. Police discovered the driver had been going almost 40 mph when he hit Kelly, which easily could’ve killed him.

Kelly had gotten lucky. Very, very lucky.

Everyone from 51 had gotten to see Kelly when he was moved from recovery to his room in post-op. He wasn’t awake just yet, the mixture of anesthesia and pain medicine keeping him under, but he was alive and that was enough for them. They made plans to come back to visit later in the day, giving Stella some time alone with her husband.

It was an hour or so after everyone had left when Kelly started coming too. Stella stood from her chair and moved to Kelly’s bed side, quietly encouraging him to open his eyes.

When he finally did and his blue eyes met her brown ones, Stella smiled. “Hey, how do you feel?”

Kelly groaned. “Like I got hit by a truck.”

“It was a Volvo, actually,” Stella said with a chuckle that quickly turned to a sob. “Nope, I’m sorry, I’m not ready to joke about it yet,”

“It was a good joke,” Kelly said, a small smirk on his face. He sobered after a minute. “What’s the damage?”

“Grade 2 concussion, 3 broken ribs, broken leg, cracked femur, and Dr. Marcel had to remove your spleen. It’s gonna suck for a while but they’re all confident you’ll make a full recovery.” Stella answered. After a minute she spoke again, her voice cracking. “God Kelly, Trudy showed us pictures of the car. It’s a miracle you survived.”

“It’s gonna take way more than a drunk guy in a Volvo to take me away from you.”

Stella snorted. “I told you it was too soon for jokes.”

Kelly smiled at the playful scolding. There would eventually come a time where they could make jokes about the accident, long after his bones healed and the memories faded. Now though, the wounds were too fresh to be anything but grateful.

[cultgambles]

Yeah She Bad Ain’t She

Why would I wanna keep her to myself

Dabi x Reader x Hawks

Wrote this in Hawks’ POV bc try new things. Enjoy! Also got inspired by some audios on gwa lol but what’s new.

Voyeurism, exhibitionism, public, threesome, mutual masturbation, one (1) gay joke, they/them pronouns for reader, afab tho

WC: 1794

Masterlist | Requests? open

The first time you step into the dingy bar of the LOV, you scrunch your nose at the smell. Cough into your fist, and scan the room with careful eyes. You see Tomura Shigaraki nursing a whiskey at the bar, Kurogiri behind it, Spinner chatting up Twice. Dabi is laid back on the couch, his arm slung around someone you don’t recognize.

“Hawks, our newest member!” Shigaraki says to the team. “Give him every hospitality.”

“Hey-yo!” you say, saluting leisurely as a greeting. Shigaraki introduces everyone, as if you don’t already know who everyone is. Except one person, the one cozied up to Dabi. They introduce themselves as [Y/N]. Someone you’ll have to research on later before you report back to the commission, which makes you sigh silently.

“Come sit! You’re in luck because tonight is movie night!” Twice says.

“Just tonight?” you ask, watching the rest of the members find seats around the small TV.

“Every Thursday!”

“What are we watching tonight?”

“Catch Me If You Can! About that American con artist,” [Y/N] says. “Pass me that blanket, would you?”

“Sounds interesting. And sure,” you say, tossing the Christmas themed blanket at them. You watch as they fluff it out on themselves and Dabi. You push over one of those lounge chairs and flop onto it. Shigaraki queues up Netflix and hits the play button.

About thirty minutes in, you hear [Y/N]. “Dabi, stop,” they whisper, smacking him on the arm lightly.

“What, I’m not doing anything at all.”

“Don’t act all innocent.” Out of your peripheral vision, you swear you see Dabi’s hand move under the blanket, ​​[Y/N]’s hand gripping his forearm.

“But don’t I make you feel good, baby?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions. The problem is everyone is here.”

“Not like we haven’t done something like this before,” he scoffs. “Look, we even got an audience.”

Your face flushes as you listen to their conversation. You barely hear a low groan from [Y/N]’s lips.

“Can y’all shut the fuck up? I’m trying to see what Frank’s gonna do!” Shigaraki fumes, whipping around. A look at Dabi. “Oh.”

“C’mon, boss, don’t pay attention to us, watch the movie,” [Y/N] says.

“This is free entertainment right here.”

[Y/N]’s hips jolt upwards. “You perv.”

“More moaning my name, less talking,” Dabi growls, ripping the blanket off [Y/N]. [Y/N]’s wearing a yellow sundress, that by now, is hitched up above their hips. Their panties are pushed to the side, showing their glistening sex. Dabi’s middle finger and ring finger disappear inside of them, his palm pressing against the clit roughly as he fingers them.

“I-Is this a normal occurrence?” you stutter, face turning the same color as your wings.

“P-pretty normal, yeah, oh, Dabi, right there!” [Y/N] trails off, grinding up for more friction.

“What can we say, we like to have fun here.”

By now, the other league members have turned around, movie be damned.

“How are y’all so casual about this?!”

“Don’t be like that, you’re having a good time too, bird brain,” Dabi smirks, eyes drifting to your growing erection.

“Shut the fuck up,” you snap. But he’s not wrong, both of them have got you so enamored. You hear the squelch and squeaks, the quickening of breaths.

“Dabi, I need you, need your cock,” you barely hear them whisper.

“Of course, doll. Lay down,” Dabi smiles softly, planting a kiss on their lips.

You don’t know if you’d rather be him or [Y/N].

[Y/N] slips down, horizontal on the couch. You eye Dabi as he stands straighter, nimble fingers unclasping his belt and pulling his cock out. It shimmers slightly in the TV light. He drags his cock along their folds, gathering wetness. He taps it against them. Without warning, he slams into them, both letting out a guttural sound at the sensation. His pace is slow, he’s gripping [Y/N]’s hips as a smack smack smack rings out as their bodies meet.

Somewhere behind you, you hear a zipper unzipping. You’re tempted to too, but would that be too soon? Must be, since this is basically your first official day here.

But you don’t deny how good [Y/N] looks taking Dabi’s cock. Hair splayed out, breasts moving under that sundress. You want to rip the dress off of them. Tt hold, knead at the flesh, and lick at the pert nipple. Your eyes travel down their body, where [Y/N] takes him in so nicely. How would they taste, you wonder.

And what about Dabi? Just the size of him could choke you out.

Dabi’s voice snaps you out of your reverie. “C’mon, man, if you’re just gonna stare at them, why don’t you play?”

“Nothin’ wrong with lookin,’” you trail off.

You so want to. Badly.

“Hawwwwkkks,” [Y/N] moans. “Let me taste you. Taste me. Whatever.”

“You heard them,” Dabi drawls.

One beat, and suddenly you’re up, fast as lightning. “[Y/N], let me take your dress off.”

“Okay,” [Y/N] lifts their arms as you pull the dress up over their head, revealing the tantalizing and smooth skin. You toss the dress somewhere to the side of you and rip off your gloves. You kneel beside them on the floor, slotting your mouth against theirs in an open mouthed kiss. Your hands sneak up, massaging their breasts and pinching the nipples.

You feel [Y/N]’s hand snake down your chest, and whimper as their hand grips your clothed cock. You pull away to bring it out. The tip is flushed red, a bead of precum forming at the slit. You stroke your hand down once, and move so your hips are flush with [Y/N]’s face.

“Nice dick,” [Y/N] and Dabi mutter at the same time.

“Jinx!” [Y/N] barks a laugh that soon turns into a moan at a particularly hard thrust.

[Y/N]’s tongue slides on the underside of your cock, massaging the vein there. Soon enough, it’s enveloped in their mouth and you fight to suppress a moan.

“Your mouth feels so good, baby.” [Y/N] hums, taking you in deeper. Their nose nuzzles the hair at the base of your dick slightly. They barely have to do any work as Dabi basically pushes them forward with each thrust. Dabi looks up at you with lazy eyes.

“Kiss me,” you plead, leaning in.

“That’s gay,” he says as he captures your lips with his.

You’ve never kissed a man before. He tastes like old cigarettes and mint. Your tongue slides against his teeth, and finally meets his tongue.

He’s got a tongue piercing.

How many piercings does this dude even have?

You jerk away without warning as [Y/N] does a particularly hard suck.

“Wanna feel their pussy?”

“I couldn’t.”

“Just because you’re new I’ll

let you.” Is this a trick?

You so want to.

[Y/N] pops off of you. “Dabs likes watching.”

“Does that even count since I’m also partaking?”

“I think so. Just get over here, I need your fat cock in my mouth. Not that yours wasn’t also good, Hawks. Just needs to be somewhere else,” [Y/N] says.

“Do it!” you hear.

Damn. You’re so wrapped up in these two, you forgot there was an audience. However, it seems that was the push you needed. You give the a-okay. Dabi nods, clearly pleased by your decision, and pulls out.

You trade places, [Y/N]’s hole flexing against nothing. You bring two fingers down to swipe at the wetness and run your tongue along the digits. You guide your cock in, letting out a satisfied moan at the warmth. [Y/N] squeezes your cock deliciously, and you almost want to come right then and there. You tell them so.

Your pace isn’t as brutal as Dabi’s but still elicits those sounds you're beginning to love out of [Y/N]’s mouth. A sick part of you hopes you’re better than Dabi, and that they will leave him for you.

Or maybe they’ll let you in again? How often do they do this sort of stuff, you wonder to yourself.

[Y/N] and Dabi are holding hands sweetly, their fingers brushing against his charred skin rhythmically.

Your hand moves to rub tight circles on their clit and you're squeezed impossibly tighter as a response.

“You gonna come, [Y/N]?” Dabi asks. “Getting sloppy there. Don’t bite, baby.”

“I’m so close,” [Y/N]’s voice dips off info nothingness at the end, mouth agape. They throw their head back as they move their hips against yours when your body meets theirs. “I want both of you to come inside of me.”

“Wasn’t gonna do it anywhere else,” Dabi chuckles.

“You want me to?” you ask.

“Yeah, fill me up good, Hawks.”

You glance at Dabi. He shrugs. Hope he doesn’t kill you for this.

“Oh shit,” you curse, feeling [Y/N] spasm around you and shudder.

You think Dabi comes at the same time you do. You slow to a languid pace, letting [Y/N]’s walls milk you.

“Good job, doll face,” you watch him lean down and peck [Y/N] on the forehead. “You too, bird brain.”

“Uh, thanks.” You pull out of [Y/N], and they wince at the loss. You tuck yourself back into your pants and [Y/N] wraps the blanket around their shoulders.

“Good show!” Twice says.

“Now let’s finish the movie,” Shigaraki huffs out.

“You have such a one track mind, Shiggy,” [Y/N] says, ruffling his hair.

“I’m just really invested.”

“Yeah, you were invested in us, too,” they say, looking down briefly.

“Oh shut up.” You catch a glimpse of his cock as he scurried to shove it back in his pants.

“See ya round, Hawks,” [Y/N] says, blowing you a kiss. They take Dabi’s hand in theirs and walk up the stairs at the back of the bar.

“Probably gonna fuck some more,” Spinner snickers.

You’re lucky your mic on the inside of your jacket just happened to die before you got up to some frisky business. This has got to be the weirdest thing you’ve been a part of: League of Villains just fuck as bonding activity.

Maybe you’ll keep this one to yourself. You wonder if they would ever invite you again.

[tsukikoayanosuke]

New ask game for writers: 46 - 54

Like before for number 46 and 51 I’ll using the roulette.

46. What would your story "TWST MC Hybrid AU” look like as a tv show or movie? 

Animation, nuff said.

47. Do you start with characters or plot when working on a new story? 

I usually work it along the way, but mostly the plot first, especially for original fiction. I said in the previous question that my trick is use an already existed character and placed it into the original plot idea. As the writing starts to expand, the characters got built more and more and become more distinct from one and another.

48. Favorite genre to write in. 

Fantasy. Friendship. Found Family. Adventure.

49. What do you find the hardest to write in a story, the beginning, the middle or the end? 

Definitely the middle, but the beginning is also a tough spot. The beginning is the start of everything, so if the beginning suck, I don’t have much interest in continuing it. But the middle serve a bigger problem. You have a great opening act and thought about an epic ending act, but what goes in the middle? There has to be a connection between the beginning to the events in between until the end. A messed up plot will ruin a a story even if the characters are great.

50. Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had. 

Back when I was kid, I had this strange dream of my school having this magic gems that can ruin the world and I have to fight this freaky wizard who tries to steal it. I still want to write that someday...

51. Describe the aesthetic of your story "Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure (First)” in 5 sentences or words. 

Uh, frick. I’m bad at  aesthetic. So, uh... I’ll just go with the feeling of me reading my own fic. Bias much?

In your room, on your bed, in the most comfortable position with a book in hand and the smell for new papers hit your nose, inviting for an adventure.

You open the book, seeing a familiar premise, it make you feel comfortable, familiar in the journey you’ve been through thousand of time.

The hole is deep, the angst hurt, the sky suddenly go dark as the wind blow very harshly. But you don’t fear because this is an adaptation of something that you’re already familiar and you know everything will be okay.

Things ends up okay and the storm disappeared revealing the blue sky and warm sunlight. Everything is okay, everything will be fine.

Everything is not okay. The change is too drastic, the plot twist takes you by surprise. The storm lessen but the sky is still cloudy and the smell of wet dirt because of the light shower filled the nose. You know everything will be fine, but it might take a little bit longer than usual.

52. How did writing change you? 

It...I want to say it changed my life so far. As you know, TW:OPT takes me more than a year to reach this point and I had two birthday during writing that. I’ve met so many friends online with the same interest and it really means a lot for me as someone who was once bullied and just have trouble in looking for a close friends without feeling that you’re a burden.

53. What does writing mean to you? 

Writing is everything for me. Writing is my escapism and my future dream job is to become a novelist that can expand the fantasy literature in my country. We don’t have much fantasy writer here and I’m hoping to be one of them once I can write something that’s very meaningful for me and I want to share.

Everyday, from writing fanfiction, I learn more thing. You can find so many booktuber and understand what does you avid reader expect from a novel and avoid all the cliche pit fall. You can watch many writing advice and build you own style. Talking to your writer friends give you more inspiration that might lead you to a collaboration. As time flies, you become more masterful in making characters, you can build the most convoluted plot but still make sense, your fantasy world will expand.

I take writing seriously, at least in my level, even if it’s just fanfiction, is because I want to learn more. I want to share more. Writing is my passion that I will forever ramble about.

54. Any writing advice you want to share?

It’s great to have a community or a partner in writing. My friends on Discord are amazing and we share so much of our writing there. When you’re feeling down, you can just vent to them or in a already available room. They can give you more insight in your writing and might even improve your writing.

So, if anyone ever need a friend to ramble about writing, you can DM me both in Tumblr or Discord. Because I know how relieving and great it feels to be able to just ramble everything.

[nxfelibatae]

pose || jimin x reader [pt.2]

When the opportunity presented itself there was no way you were going to let it go, only 10 days to make a boy fall in love, It must have been easy, but you let yourself be carried away by your feelings, and nobody should risk their heart to the ones who are addicted to play with it. Love disguises itself in many ways and it hurts when you find out it was all a lie.

pairing: fuckboy! jimin x reader!

word count: 8K

genre: Fluff, slight angst, light smut, how to loose a guy in 10 days AU

warnings: Alcohol use, sex references, slow burn, swearing. Everybody it's kinda lying. That's pretty much it.

A / N: inspired by the movie How to loose a guy in 10 days. First work here so please be nice guys :(. It's a two people work.

PART 1  | PART 2  | PART 3

PART 2

Day 11

'Hey, are you okay?' Asked Nayeon

'Yeah, why?' You answered while packing up your stuff.

'The professor called for you 3 times and you didn't answer, you were here but… not exactly.' Nayeon answered with a mocking tone.

Actually, what was going on in your head was the question you were asking yourself since last night, where would you find a guy who would date you? You knew you were pretty and smart, but that wasn't enough for the boys at college, they were looking for something easy, something for one night, and you were not down for that kind of relationship.

You thought that if you were ever going to date someone again, it was going to be for a long term. But you knew you had to let that idea fly away for the sake of the article or at least until you get the job.

'Where do I find a guy who agrees to go out with me for more than a one night stand?' You finally let out with a snort. Nayeon looks at you like as if you were joking.

'There are millions of boys in the world, surely you will find someone perfect to write the article about.' She says.

'You always know what to say Nayeon.' You say while resting one side of your head on her shoulder.

With spring coming soon, you could already feel the warm weather in the air predicting it was going to be a nice one. Spring was your favorite season, mostly because of the cherry blossoms and the fact that you could sit under your favorite tree for hours writing ideas for future projects you hoped you could achieve and all this without the risk of freezing your butt like in winter.

'We should eat outside, it looks like it's not that cold.' You say walking towards the exit that led to the main courtyard.

'Okay, go look for a place to seat and I'll go get us something to eat.' Nayeon left after you nod in agreement.

As you walk down the courtyard looking for a place to seat, you let the wind hit your face confirming your assumptions about the weather. There was a table in the middle next to the fountain, while you settle in, you leave your things on the table and breathe deeply letting in the smell of wet soil, courtesy of the sprinklers that had watered the grass a few minutes before.

Now that you were alone maybe you could think clearly about the article. It was nice outside and maybe ideas would flow better. You open up your bag to search for your journal, only to realize that it's not there.

'Where did I left it?' The panic in your voice was evident, that journal was your life, all your ideas were inside it, all your tasks to be done, your appointments, the ideas for the article… You turned your bag upside down taking out everything that was inside of it just to make sure it was't in there, you needed to find that journal as soon as possible.

'What are you looking for?' Nayeon says with a concerned look in her face while placing the food trays on the table.

'My journal, have you seen it? I can't find it and everything I need is in there. '

Why is this happening to me, what kind of teenager novel is this?

'The one you where using in class?'

'Yeah the one with the… Oh my god! I left it back in the classroom! I have to go back to get it, wait here. ' Nayeon is left looking really confused with a carrot in her mouth as you walk away.

You let your mind cool down a bit before remembering your last class, with so many things on your mind you should have forgotten it in your seat compartment. When you where about to open the door, it opens suddenly, revealing Hyunjae with your journal in hand.

'Oh! There you are, I was about to look for you to give you your little diary. ' Says Hyunjae with a smile that you knew was not sincere.

'Did you read it?' You asked while snatching it away from her.

'A thank you would have been enough,' she notices the suspicion in your face 'I didn't read your pathetic thing.' She rolls her eyes.

'You better not.' You stick the journal to your chest protecting its content 'Thank you… I'll better get going'.

'No problem, that's what co-workers are for, right?' She was wearing that fake smile again, 'I need to go as well, I need to work on my article, have you started yours?'

'Something like that.' You put a weird gesture, more like a pout, letting her know you haven't even started it.

Hyunjae turns her face to the side laughing a little 'I haven't started mine either, I don't even have the topic yet.'

'I have a topic, but I don't really know where to start.'

'You do look kinda stress… do you know what you need?' Asks with a smirk 'A party!'

'What?' You let out in confusion.

'Mark Tuan, do you know him ?,' you look at her still confused, trying to analyze what she's saying, 'He's kinda my friend. Tall guy, handsome, he's from America… he just moved to a new house with some other friends and you know open house party… it's today. ' Hyunjae finish with a hurray movement with her hand.

'Why are you being nice?' You say softly, looking at her like she was a total stranger.

'What do you mean?' She says frowning.

A silence reigns between the two of you for a couple of seconds before Hyunjae talks again.

'Look, it's just a stupid party. If you wanna eat, fine. If you don't, fine too. I was just inviting you because you look like you need a break and it's not like you know the right people to party with… 'Finishes raising one of her eyebrows.

'I don't do parties actually.' You interrupt her. 'And this is really… weird. You've never invited me to something in your life, I think I'll pass. ' You turn your back at her walking back to the courtyard where you left Nayeon. 'See you at the office' you say without turning your head back at her.

Hyunjae doesn't even bother to reply to you before she continues with her path with a smile in her face, heels making noise as she takes every step.

'What the fuck was that?' You think out loud as you continue walking.

When Nayeon sees you with journal in hand she lets out a relief sigh.

'Great! You found it! I thought we would have to deal with all your secrets being exposed with copies pasted all over the halls just like in the movies. Can you imagine? '

You nod as you let yourself fall on the seat next to hers.

'The weirdest thing just happened…' You say looking at her.

'Uh? The journal being there or… '

'No I mean. Hyunjae was there and she handed me my journal and she was… kinda nice? I don't know. She tried talking to me about the article, and then she went “You know you look tired, why don't you come to Mark Tuan's party?” '

'What? What did you said? '

'I sad no, of course. I'm not stupid, she must have an ulterior motive. '

'Are you dumb ?!' Nayeon screams back at you. You jump a little in your seat 'That's the perfect opportunity to fish. We are going. You need to text her and ask her for the address. Mark is pretty popular and his friends are really cute, we could find you a guy in 5 minutes there. '

'What are you talking about? Nayeon, I know no one in that party besides Hyunjae and I don't even trust her to call her a friend. Maybe I can find a guy somewhere else. '

'It'll be fine. I'll come with you, so you'll know me too, okay? I'll even dress you up with cute clothes and all. Besides, I need parting too, I need to get my mind out of that dude. '

'You can't be serious right now, Nayeon. You dated the guy for 7 days. 7 god damn days! ' You let out with frustration.

'Only?!' She says with an offended tone in her voice. 'I already told you it was special while it lasted. It's always about the connection, not the time. ' She takes another carrot and bites it, while taking her phone with her other hand meaning she was mad. You just roll your eyes, you didn't feel like going into that topic again.

'Okay, I'm sorry…' You take the fork that was on the tray and start pinching the food with no appetite.

Was it really a good idea to go to the party? What where the odds of finding a guy in one night? One that actually wants to date and not just to fuck around? You were running out of time, If you wanted to write this article, you would need to find a boy as fast as you could, Nayeon had a point when she said it was the perfect opportunity to fish.

But then there was Hyunjae and her weird way of being nice to you outside the office. You guessed it was a tactic to let your guard down so she could take advantage of you on the whole job competition thing.

You thought about the perks of going and see how well you cope in a place so unknown to you, Nayeon will be there helping you which is good since the article was going to be based in her personality, perhaps it wasn't that far and most of the guys from those parties where completely strangers. If you didn't have luck that night, you could call it off, find another topic and move on with your life and take this as a funny story to talk and laugh about later.

The more you think about it, the more you convince yourself about going, even though it's not really your element or one of your favorite places to be at. You were not going to give up so easily and without fighting,

'Fine.' You say snorting. 'We'll go to this stupid party.'

'Oh, you were still considering not going? I'm already asking my friends for the address, there's no way we're not going 'she smiles back at you with a mischievous look in her eyes.

Am I really here?

Your mind couldn't stop thinking about how easily you convinced yourself about this being a good idea, and how Nayeon convinced you that wearing a top that didn't leave much to imagination was a good idea too. Nayeon was nowhere to be seen and you were standing alone, with a red cup, in a room full of strangers. You could recognize a few of your classmates but you hadn't had big conversations with them, just a little wave here and there in the hallway. Discomfort made its big entrance when two drunk dudes were pushing each other about to start a fight near you.

You ran out of there before the chaos started, heading to the pool looking for Nayeon, calling her was not an option anymore, her phone would go directly to voicemail every time you called her.

You turned to see the crowded house from the outside hopping Nayeon was okay, and just when you were about to go in again, someone grabbed your hand and pulled you out of the little crowd.

You recognized Hyunjae's face seconds later. It was a little dark, but you could still see her pink lipstick and her very short purple dress. She was also holding a red cup in her hand and a tall, dark haired guy was standing next to her.

'Hey! Not passing after all, huh? I'm glad you made it! ' Hyunjae shouted over the music 'This is Mark, the host of the party,' she puts her hand on his chest with a little pat 'Mark this is the friend I've told you about.' extends the same hand towards you finishing the introduction.

'Hi !, I've seen you around school, I heard you are from America as well' he smiles in a way his eyes disappear and lets his teeth show.

'Yeah, I moved here freshman year.' You try not to be rude by avoiding his gauze, but the only thing you could pay attention to was the crowd behind them hoping to see Nayeon in the middle of it.

'Are you looking for someone?' He seems to accomplish something is troubling you.

'I'm actually looking for my friend, I lost her like an hour ago and she's not answering my calls or texts.'

Hyunjae is about to talk, but something, or more like a someone, caught her attention.

Park Jimin.

She saw him standing inside the house with his entourage of two dumb friends, laughing and talking about something. This was her opportunity to talk to him after a very long time. He looked really hot. With that leather jacket and all black outfit, but she wasn't even surprised, because he looks good without even trying.

'Why don't you help her find her friend Mark? I need to talk to someone, I'll catch you later 'said Hyunjae winking at him before leaving.

Hyunjae didn't let either of you say something, she was already heading inside the house to catch her favorite toy.

They were friends with benefits since early junior year when they met at a party hosted by Jimin himself. Ever since, every time one of them felt like having sex they will call each other or at least they used to. Lately the one who made those calls was Hyunjae, usually texting Jimin several times to have a good time but now he was throwing really bad excuses and she was determined to find out why she was being ignored this way.

After she finally passed through the people that was surrounding Jimin, she got to where her prize was.

'Hey Chim Chim!' Screamed with a high pitch voice putting her arms around Jimin's neck while he tried to catch her due the surprise of the girl throwing herself at him. 'Me and my bed have missed you.' Says while making a pout trying to look cute, he just took her arms off of him, making a disgust face. Jimin's response surprised Hyunjae making her angry and making his friends laugh at each other, avoiding meeting her gauze.

'What's your problem Park?' Hyunjae dropped the high pitched tone as she crossed her arms in front of her and posing in a way that showed how angry she was, Jimin nodded to his companions to leave.

'What do you want Hyunjae?' Asked the guy with an irritated voice.

'What do I want? You've been ignoring me for a whole month, what's up with you? '

He looks at her with a smile, ignoring her displeased face. 'I thought that I was delivering the correct message when I ignored your calls and your texts.'

The girl looked at him offended, lifting an eyebrow, still crossed arms and an angry vibe.

'Look I don't want to be rude but you are not giving me another option' Jimin's says as he pulls away from the wall where he was leaning on 'I'm not longer interested in your… sex services. If you don't mind, I'll go find my friends now. ' He smiles for a second and turns trying to leave but Hyunjae stops him by graving his wrist.

'What are you saying? What has gotten in to you? Do you have a girlfriend now or something? ' Jimin turns back facing Hyunjae who has a sarcastic smile in her face.

'Possibly… or maybe I just got bored of you, that's it' Jimin answers.holding her chin.

'Like if you were the type of guy who would sleep with one girl for the rest of his life and respecting the whole fidelity thing' she snaps his hand away from her face. Hyunjae was pissed. This had never happened, she was used to being begged, not the other way around. Jimin was hurting her ego really bad, but she wasn't gonna let him know that, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

'What do you know about me? The only thing that you know the best about me is my dick, 'he looks down' and my name, and it sounded great when you screamed it. ' His face gets close to hers while he grabs her wrist and pulls her closer to him. He's teasing her, Hyunjae knows this is the way he fools around, trying to make her ask for more.

Hyunjae could only roll her eyes, she was really irritated by the attitude Jimin was taking.

'Come on baby, don't be mad. It was good while it lasted. What where you expecting? That we will become boyfriend and girlfriend? '

She let a sarcastic laugh after hearing that. 'As if. I know you and your dick like the back of my hand Park Jimin. You're not capable of having a relationship. Hell you're not able to feel love for someone other than yourself. ' She pushed him away a little, almost spitting the words at him, trying to hurt his ego the way he did with hers. He was not going clean after this conversation. Jimin just lets out a giggle.

'Do you even know the concept of romanticism, Jimin?' Hyunjae strikes back with a mischievous smile. 'I mean do you even know what love is ?, and I'm talking about love in all its letters.'

He tenses his jaw after her words and she smiles widely, she was getting to his nerves.

'You know nothing about that…'

'Come on' she interrupts him, putting her arms out of her sides in a mock of boredom at the argument. She places a finger on his chest and comes close to his face, almost brushing her lips against his 'You get tired after the first fuck, what can you possibly know about feeling something other than pleasure?'

Now he's the angry one. Hyunjae can tell by the way he looks at her frowning. She knows giving him the sense of not being capable of getting something it's hurting his ego. Hyunjae feels like she won the battle, so she takes a step back, ready to leave. But then he talks again.

'Fine, I'm gonna prove to you I can be romantic.' His tone is as tense as his jaw. 'Pick a girl. Right here, right now, and I'll date her and I'll make her really fall in love with me, easy. '

Hyunjae is the one that giggles this time. 'Are you sure of what you are getting yourself into, Park?'

'I'm doing this to shut your pretty mouth. Pick one, anyone. It's not gonna be that hard. ' She knew that already, they were talking about Park Jimin, she knows for a fact that half of the girls in college where already in love with him. If this was a bet, she was going to lose easily.

'And what do I get from this? If this is going to be a bet, what is in for me? ' She's trying to make him doubt, make him back off out if it.

'You name it.' He says smiling, giving her a lusty look. As if she was going to let him sleep with her one more time. Not a chance. She thinks

'Fine, I want money. If you lose, you're giving me 1M won. '

‘What the fuck? Do you think I’m a millionaire or something?’ She knows it was a lot money, but it’s her new strategy, maybe with a high amount, he would back up. Why was she digging in more? She was paving the way to a place where she was going to lose for a fact. She was supposed to make him step back, not encourage him to do it. How was she going to let herself out of this? There’s not a single girl in campus that wanted to get rid of a guy like Park Jimin.

She turns her head, trying to find an excuse to leave but before she can think of something, she spots you standing next to Mark and your friend. Something lights up in her head. A memory. Your article, she remembered. You were supposed to find a guy and scare him off in less than 10 days, you were the perfect girl for this bet and as a plus she was going to ruin your article and get the job for herself. Life was just so great sometimes.

'Well, you're so sure about yourself, you don't have to worry about that right?' She is teasing now, tickling him like a sleeping lion to get into it. 'Are you still in, Park?' She smiles.

He doubts and Hyunjae thinks for a moment that Jimin would withdraw from the bet. What a fool she was. 'I'm down, it'll be easy' Jimin finally gives in and reaches out to seal the deal, just as she called it.

'Not too soon honey, there's rules to be set' Hyunjae reaches for a napkin close to them and pulls out a lipstick out of her handbag.

'Do we have a deal, Park?' Hyunjae places her hand in front of Jimin to close the deal.

'Of course we do, the easiest money I will ever win in my life' Jimin doesn't think twice, not even after he reads the short period of time he has to complete the task. So he reaches Hyunjae's hand and closes the deal.

'Great, now.' Hyunjae clapped her hands before putting them against her lips 'Who will be the lucky one?' She begins to see everywhere playing fool of not knowing who she is going to pick from the crowd.

'What about her?' Jimin pointed a tall girl, nice body and pretty face.

'You think I would go easy on you?' Hyunjae asks raising her eyebrow in disbelief. 'You probably know her and she is hot, so… no.'

Jimin laughs and shakes his head in. Maybe now he remembers why he kept going back at her whenever she called, she was funny.

'Uuuhh, what about that girl' she pointed at a girl dancing unconventionally in the middle of the dance floor.

'Are you kidding?' He laughs sarcastically 'I fucked her already and she's literally crazy, I'm not going back at her, no way'

'Though crowd, I see.' She hesitates a moment before returning her gauze to where you are 'Okay, what about her.' Jimin follows her gauze until he sees Mark talking with two girls 'The one with the back cleavage blouse.'

He looks at you, scanning your face. She's pretty and nice body Jimin thinks. You looked naive, this was going to be more easy than he thought. 'Done' Jimin let out big smile which turned into a smirk really quick, he was confident. 'You better prepare that money right now, this would be too easy.'

'Sure it will' Hyunjae said with an evil smile.  

In the other side of the house, you where coping up with the new guy and Nayeon.

Mark was easy to talk to and funny. At some point you about making him the victim for your article, but he was way too nice, you didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable, you actually liked him.

While he helped you looking for Nayeon, who was in line to get into the bathroom with her phone in Do Not Disturb mode at a party full of people for whatever stupid reason, you got to know few things about him. He was from LA and moved to Korea when he was 16 with his family, they lived in Gwangju, but he wanted to go to college in Seoul so he moved and met the guys he's living with at college.

Now you were in the middle of the house, talking to each other with ease. You don't even remember the moment you got rid of your cup, with all the walking you did around the house to find Nayeon, you guessed maybe you left it somewhere around.

'I'm really sorry for scaring you, I truly am' said Nayeon for the 50th time since you've found her.

'It's fine, just, let me know where you're going next time' you dedicate her a smile to let her know you are not mad at her anymore. You placed your hands in the back pockets of your jeans as you talk again. 'Maybe we should get going now, Nay. I'm kinda tired. '

'But we haven't found a guy' she says whispering under her breath so she cannot be heard.

You were not that excited about that topic anymore, she can see it in your face by the way your lips became a thin line.

'Hey, Mark!' A black haired guy approaches from the back of both of you to greet your new friend who was standing next to you. He stretches hands with the stranger and brings Mark close to give him in a semi hug.

'Park Jimin!' Says Mark with a big smile in his face 'Long time no see…'

'Same goes to you, dude. Last time I saw you, you hosted parties back at the dorms. ' He continues talking. You can tell he is handsome, marked jawline, pretty smile and now you could appreciate better the softness of his hair. He also had trouble written all over his good guy attitude. 'And you weren't so good with your social skills, who are your pretty friends?' He says looking at you and Nayeon with a smirk in his face. You don't pay attention to the comment, but Nayeon blushes at the mention of you being pretty.

Mark introduces you, but it doesn't seem to be enough for the guy, so he takes a step in, invading a little too much your personal space. 'I'm Park Jimin' he says. 'Nice yo meet you…' He checks you out without shame, head to toes, scanning every inch of your body right in front of your eyes.

You take a step back, uncomfortable to his sight. 'Nice to meet you too…' you grab Nayeon's arm and you pull her next to you 'We should get going.' You say in urge.

'Oh, are you leaving already?' Asks Jimin, was it ?, with a pout staring back at you.

'Yes.' You answer quickly, but so does Nayeon, contradicting you with a hard 'No'. The guy looks confused now, and you feel the awkwardness flowing in the room.

'Can I talk with you for a second?' Nayeon grabs your arm, dragging you a few meters away from the guys. 'What are you doing?' She says frowning.

'What do you mean?' You are playing fool at her question. You knew where this was heading. She lifts an eyebrow at you, reminding you that she can read you and you're not fooling her. You sigh. 'I want to go home, Nayeon. This whole idea is stupid, I don't even know how to talk to a guy in a no friendly way. Let's just go home, I'll find another topic 'you were not feeling good about this anymore. You felt ridiculous.

'No, we are not going anywhere.' Nayeon grabs both of your shoulders. 'Listen, you haven't even talked to a guy in this party apart from Mark and now this cute guy comes and try to talk to you but you act in a way it would make him run, which is the point of the article, but not this way and not this fast. Give it a try at least. '

'Are you crazy?' Now you were pissed. 'Nayeon, he looks like a total ass, he just wants to get in my pants. I'm not going to pick a guy that just wants sex from me. I was willing to sacrifice my first real kiss with someone for the sake of this article, but not to a fuckboy which I'm sure he is, he smells like it. Do you even know him? ' You throwed one of your arms back at where you left the boys talking.

'Are you kidding? Everyone at college knows him. The fact that you live under a rock doesn't make him less of a good match. Sure he doesn't have the best reputation but… '

'I wonder why.' You crossed your arms while looking at her rolling your eyes.

'Look, just give it a shot. If he doesn't meet your expectations, we can find another guy. Mark has many friends. If we can't find someone else by the time the clock strikes 2:00 AM, then we bail and you can tell me “I told you so” for the rest of my life, okay? '

The idea was tempting, but your mood wasn't the best anymore. You hadn't given anyone a chance, not even the Park Jimin guy who came to you a few minutes ago, and yes, he was handsome, but this wasn't really your element, you didn't know how to flirt with a boy with such experience as him, but again, you haven't even tried. You remembered all the things you did when you let yourself go and gave the unknown a chance, thinking that this might be the exception.

What were you so afraid of? You thought that maybe the idea of ​​finding a new you, that was flirty and sassy perhaps scared you or maybe you were scared by the idea of ​​playing on a field that you had never played in before. But as anything in life, you had to learn, after all, practice makes the master doesn't it?

'Fine, but If I don't find a fucker before that time we are leaving. For good. You're not gonna throw a tantrum at me. AND… 'you raised your voice a little. 'You have to do the dishes the hole week'

'No way, I'm here because of you.' She said smiling.

You smiled back as Nayeon dragged you back with the two boys that where now warmly talking to each other. Jimin was still standing there waiting for you like a good boy, with a commercial smile.

'So, are you guys leaving?' Asked Mark with his hands in his pockets.

'No, I managed to convince miss boring here to stay a little longer.' Nayeon says pointing at you with her thumb.

'Oh that's great!' Now Jimin was the one talking as he looked at you, turning his body a little towards you too. 'Are you thirsty? Do you want a drink? ' He looked thrilled at the idea for some reason.

Something about this guy didn't seem right to you. What is he trying to do? You were not really used to guys talking to you, but you were sure they weren't this smiley and attentive.

'No thank you.' You sinked your hands in the back pockets of your jeans one more time. Nayeon and Mark were talking animatedly, you laughed a little when you see her flip her hair in a flirting way. She will never learn.

'Perhaps you wanna dance?' Asked Jimin one more time.

'Noup.' You maintained your look straight to the floor, avoiding the cold gauze of Jimin's eyes.

Playing though girl? Thought Jimin rolling his eyes. Girls resisting to him were his favorite ones. First they say they won't sleep with him, but end up falling for his charms days later. He just had to act like the “perfect boyfriend” and be careful with his words if he wanted to get in their pants. This one was a new challenge. And Jimin loved challenges almost as much as bets.

The rest of the night follows up like that, you being most of the time quiet and following Mark and Nayeon wherever they went. He seemed like a good guy and despite of him trying to make a move in Nayeon, he kept including you in all his conversations and introducing you to new people all the time, but among all those people he introduced you, nobody captured your attention enough to make a move and get a boy to write on your article about.

What was weird to you is that Jimin didn't leave your side and followed you around through the house like a dog. He was trying really hard to make a conversation and you didn't want to be rude so you answered all the questions he threw at you. How old are you? Which semester are you in? Do we go to the same college? Do we have the same classes? No I'm sure not because I would never miss a beauty like you in one of my classrooms.

You were getting tired of his lame pick up lines. And even tho 'you were trying not to be rude, it was impossible for you to respond to his compliments. Frankly, you were actually flattered and if it weren't for the dim lights in the house, you could tell Jimin would make fun of your red cheeks every time he called you pretty or beautiful which makes you believe he forgot your name because he doesn 't call you by it all night.

You encountered Hyunjae a few times at the party. The last time you saw her, she winked at you while she had her hands around some guy's neck before turning back to kiss him. Little did you know she was actually winking at Jimin, he giggled after seeing her already with some other guy.

The four of you were talking by the pool, everyone holding a red cup except for you even though Jimin offered you a drink more than 20 times that night. Nayeon and Mark were laughing at Jimin's silly jokes. You managed to smile several times, but not really laugh like them, maybe it was the alcohol in their veins or you just didn't understand the jokes. You checked your phone for the millionth time, waiting for it to mark the time to go and also as an excuse to avoid the accusatory look Nayeon was giving to you that screamed “you're not even trying”. There were still a few minutes left to the time both of you set for your luck.

'Are you okay?' Mark asked you noticing your lack of excitement.

'Yeah, you seem like you're not having fun at all…' said Jimin. Of course he was going to talk.

You shook your head before you talked 'I'm just tired. Plus, I don't really like parties' you said shyly.

'Why didn't you say so?' Jimin saw a chance in taking you out of there and he was going to take it. You had closed many doors to him that nigh and he was not wiling to give up on you, he couldn't give up on you, that would mean he was willing to lose a lot of money. 'Do you want to get out of here? We can go grab a bite, if you like? ' He said smiling widely.

You were about to reject him, but Nayeon spoke first. 'Yeah, why don't you go? You said you were hungry before anyways'. You looked at Nayeon, almost screaming “what are you doing?” At her. Jimin was really nice to you the whole time, even though you were not too talktive, but that might be because there wasn't a moment when the two of you were left all alone.  

Dinner couldn't harm, could it? It was just something easy, two grown ups talking and getting to know each other, what could go wrong? And if in any moment you see Jimin wanting to be smart and take advantage of you, you could call it a night, go back home and think of a better idea to write your article on. And if you like it and it works, he could be the perfect victim, you could torture a playboy and teach him a lesson at the end, just to make sure he doesn't play with girls anymore. This could be fun.

It would only take 10 days to write a good article and get a good job, stay in Korea, live better, pay the bills. Suddenly, it doesn't sounds that bad anymore. You take a look at him one more time.

'Fine, sounds nice. Let's go. ' You got up from the bench and waited for Jimin to follow your action.

‘I’m sorry, what?’ Said Nayeon, clueless of what has gotten into you. Perhaps the smell of pot made you a little high.

Jimin on the other hand, was not surprised by your response, he was waiting for a yes in the moment he drooped the question, believing that you tough girl facade wasn't gonna last long since he knew how to talk to girls. He thinks he has you in his hand, it was just a matter of time before you begged for him to love you back. He smiled widely and you catch yourself liking the way he looks when he does.

‘I said fine, let's go. Are you okay by heading back home alone?' You asked her in a rush.

Jimin it's getting up now, standing next to you to you, waiting to get the answer you are looking from Nayeon, who looks too stunned to give you a correct answer, eyes popped up and mouth semi open. Mark answers for her, letting you know that he will make sure she gets home safely. You smile at him and say thank you.

After that, Jimin offers you his hand and you take it, feeling a tickle in your hand when he secures the grip. Jimin guides you off the house, passing through the people who were dancing and the ones far too drunk to even stand still.

When he is heading out, he makes sure Hyunjae sees him holding your hand as you walk pass the door. She looks at him with a smirk and he winks back at her. In his language, he's telling her that he already won, but Hyunjae is far more pleased, she knows what Jimin is getting himself into and she knows that the girl he just walked out with, it's going to be the death of him.

After walking for a couple of minutes he takes out a key. You wait patiently for him to find his car, big was your surprise when you see him get on a motorcycle, you don't know what to say, you've never been on a motorcycle, this whole situation was new to you.

'Are you getting on or not?' Jimin says showing a big smile while passing you a helmet.

'I've never been on a motorcycle before ...' you keep walking slowly.

'At the?' he says with fake surprise in his voice. 'It will be fun. Don't worry, I won't let you fall. I can protect you '

You think about it for a moment and you take the helmet from his hand, what am I doing? Your body begins to feel an adrenaline that has never felt before. Once you put on your helmet, you get on the back of the motorcycle.

'You will have to hold on to me so you don't fall.' You listen to him and put your hands on his shoulders, you hear him laugh. 'You are going to fall that way sweetheart, that's not secure enough. Put them… right here. ' He says while putting your hands around his waist and connecting them in the front just like a hug, you are glad that he can't see you from the front with your bright red cheeks. 'Are you ready?' He looks at you from his shoulder, you nod, afraid that if you talk, your voice would sound like a murmur due to the nervousness that runs in your body

Jimin starts the engine and the sound scares you a little so you stick closer to him, the cold wind touches your face as he drives away. Little by little and street after street, you gain enough confidence to lift your face and close your eyes for a second. Jimin sees you smile from the rearview mirrors making him smile as well.

It doesn't take you long to get to a cafeteria with a 90s style, you were fascinated with the place, it was really pretty, with classic benches, tables and music according to the time.  

'This is my favorite restaurant, it really captures the 90s, their milkshakes are the best.' Jimin says as he helps you get off the motorcycle.

'I will have to check that for myself.' Jimin opens the front door for you like a gentleman, you didn't expect him to do it.

You can see posters of classic artists on the walls when you go through the door that remembered you of the music you heard when you were little. You can recognize a few of them, Britney Spears, The spice girls, Nirvana, Radio Head. Was that Cristina Aguilera?

You were surprised of how many western artists where pasted on the walls. You never imagined a place like this would be so close to you and you never find out about it. It reminded you of America, your home and your life before you moved to Seoul.

He tells you to choose a table and after you take a seat, a waitress quickly arrives at your table with the menus, she's really pretty. You lay your eyes on Jimin while she goes away, for your surprise he was more interested on the menu.

'What do you usually order?' You ask turning the menu pages.

'This would sound too cliché, but a cheese burger with fries and a strawberry milkshake.' He laughs a little and you realize that when he smiles his eyes disappear, it looked very cute.

'Then I'll have the same as you.' you close the menu leaving it aside, Jimin waves to the waitress and orders for both.

Now that you're out of the party, it's easier for you to talk to Jimin, he doesn't seem too bad, maybe you judged him too quickly, he tells you about many of his adventures, and you tell him about your internship , omitting the article you were going to write to get the job.

He takes every chance he has to call you cute names in between. You have to admit that gorgeous, beautiful, baby, or pretty girl were pet names only a guy with very much experience and no sense of good memory would use, but you catch yourself liking it and after he calls you many of them you get used to it and stop blushing every time he calls you by them. Jimin almost regrets you being used to it, he liked the way your cheeks light up in a very cute way.  

He just keeps playing it cool, marching his plan slow and fancy as he always does with girls like you. He asks for your phone politely and smirks after you exchange numbers, Jimin keeps teasing you a little and he makes some comments here and there that are not really appropriate, but to his surprise you play fool to them. Is that or maybe you just don't get them.

In the course of the night, you get to know him better. You know his major, his age, and that he is not from Seoul but that he has the same group of friends since he was a kid back in his hometown. It surprises you how interesting Jimin actually was and with all the talk and silly jokes you lose track of time. You learn that he is actually really funny and he seems to be very interested in you, but you don't let you guard down.

'Oh wow, is it really late, or early?' You ask laughing, the clock shows 4:00 AM, how did that happened? You were surprised due to the fact that the cafeteria was still open at such hours.

'Time flies when you have fun.' He says while leaning back on his seat. 'Let me get the bill and I'll take you home.' Jimin waves to the waitress one more time to ask for the bill.

'Oh please, let me give you money for what I had.' You say searching in your pockets for the money you took before you went to the party.

'Come on, don't play that card on me. Besides, this was a date and it was my idea, so I'll cover it. '

You ignore the fact that he called your little run out of the party a date. Before you can complain he gives back the payed bill to the waitress, he opens the door for you once again as you walk out.

The way to your house was fun thanks to Jimin's jokes that you now understood, during the trip you could also analyze the evening and it was not what you expected, Jimin behaved the best with you, maybe he wasn't as bad as you thought , even so you would have to be attentive to what he did.

Jimin walked you to the door of your apartment even when you told him it wasn't necessary that it was literally 6 feet away from where you were, but he didn't care.

'So, here it is.' You say looking at the white door 'Thank you so much for the food, I'll pay for it next time.' Jimin smiles thinking that he already has you where he wants.

'So, there's going to be a next time huh?' He asks leaning to you.

You start to feel overwhelmed by his proximity making you take a step back.

'Maybe, that depends on you.' You flirt back, this is weird, it's the first time you act like this and you were liking it even more after his eyes sparkle a little with your response, he's been waiting all night for that kind of answers.

'It does?' He leans again 'I can text you later and we'll se about that ...' He gets closer to your lips with every word.

'Maybe I won't answer ...' Jimin curses mentally to the fact that you decide to follow his game just when he leaves you at the door of your house. This is his game, this is what he likes, being contradicted and tested around.

'Won't you really?' Jimin is so close to you lips now that you can almost breath the same air as him. He is inches away from kissing you but when he takes the chance and leans forward to do it, you turn your face, making his lips fall in a cute kiss on the cheek.

You can't really read his expression, you don't know if he is angry, mad or just simply confused because he was about to kiss you and you didn't let him do it. Were you playing with his head?

'We should take things slow, don't you think?' you say as you take his face with one of your hands. He blinks a little and smiles after he nods. A kiss lands on his nose before you open the door to get inside as quick as possible. 'Drive carefully. I'll get you later. ' You disappear inside and slam the door without letting him say goodbye.

You see through the peephole, curious about if he will knock your door again and claim that kiss that he was about to get, and he almost wants to. But you just see the way he smiles funnily and scratches the back of his neck before he heads back to his motorcycle.

Jimin thanks Hyunjae in his way back home because from all the girls at the party she had to pick you, an innocent girl who would be easy to make fall at his feet. Even if she called the bet off, hanging and fooling around with you was going to be one of his favorite activities. He was going to get you, even if it costed him the whole 10 days to do it.

<- PART 1  | PART 3 ->

[royaltealovingkookiness]

Happy Aang headcanon time! Post-war, he meets the singing nomads again and this time they’ve got another folk song about a different city. Whether god rest of the Gaang is there is up to you. (It’d be entertaining to see Suki, Zuko, or Iroh’s reactions to them.)

@alynnl Thanks for the question, and sorry it took a little longer. I didn’t have a HC ready, but as I was thinking about it, I realized that this is a perfect scene for the upcoming second story of my post-war gaang adventure series, about a field trip featuring Zuko and Aang looking for the lost airbenders. They have been following a lot of vague clues when they run into the singing nomads, out in the woods, in the middle of nowhere. 

Here is an early draft of the scene:

Zuko kept turning the map around in his hand, squinting at it, not wanting to admit the truth; they were lost again. “It’s supposed to be right here.”

“Maybe we took a wrong turn somewhere?” Aang suggested looking around. They were in the thickest part of the forest, with nothing but trees and bushes. “There is nobody here.”

As if to prove the Avatar wrong, a weird-looking fellow dressed in colourful clothes and wearing a flower necklace popped out from behind a tree-trunk. “Not quite true Little Arrowhead. If you keep your eyes open, you’ll meet fellow travelers who can lead you exactly where you are meant to go…”

“Little Arrowhead?” Zuko frowned at the guy who was soon joined by two companions dressed in similarly ridiculous outfits.

Aang broke out in a wide smile. “Chong? Moku? Lily? What are you doing here?”

“You know these people?” Zuko asked Aang. He seemed to befriend the weirdest people. He was worse than Iroh. Maybe it was an old-people thing.

Aang nodded. “They helped us find a secret tunnel near Omashu.” He turned back to the vagabonds. “I don’t suppose you have a song about a hidden village with airbenders.”

“Well, we can always make one up,” Chong replied, strumming a chord on his guitar. “Flying high, flying high, swirling and twirling on the blue skyyyyyy…”

“That’s not bad…” Moku nodded, starting to beat the rhythm on his lap. Lily span around.

“All together now…” Chong started again the annoying song; this time his companions joined in. “Flying high, flying high…” They all danced; Druk and Momo flew around them in excited circles.

Zuko blinked. He pinched himself. No, it was not a weird dream.The situation was getting out of control, as Aang started to bop along to the tune. It was a warning sign. “Stop!” he yelled over the noise. “We don’t have time for this Aang.” 

Aang put his hand on Zuko’s shoulder. “Just wait a little. Last time they were right. At least they got us to the tunnel. We were led here for a reason. They must have the next clue.”

“They seem completely clueless to me,” Zuko grimaced.

Chong put his arms around both of them. “You should listen to your little arrowed friend, Brother. He knows that love will take you to places.”

Zuko tore himself out of the weird guy’s embrace. “We don’t want to go to places, we need to find a hidden village, and we should be on the move.” He gave a pointed look at his friend with a penchant to get distracted by song and dance.

“Zuko, you promised you’ll listen to my instincts. I feel strongly about this,” Aang looked at him pleadingly. Zuko sighed in defeat. It was not crazier than all the other random clues that led them here. Maybe Aang was right, maybe the weird dancing nomads were the key. He gave a little shrug. Aang smiled and turned back to Chong. “Right. Let’s try some tunes for clues. Do you have any songs about the sky?”

“Oh, do we, my friend? The sky is an inspiration for everyone with poetry in their hearts,” Moku nodded. Zuko cringed. He knew from experience that people with poetry in their hearts were excruciating. Listening to these people sounded worse than Uncle Iroh’s music nights.

“Underneath blue skies, I wander with my love…” Chong started a lyrical song. Lily hummed along to the melody.

“That doesn’t sound right..” Aang interrupted them. “I don’t think we want a love song. Anything else?”

“What else is there?” They talked in hushed voices for a little while and seemed to come to a decision. Chong strummed a more upbeat chord. “We’ll shout, shout, shout to the sky…” They all danced and swayed to a raucous song that sounded like the stuff the sailors used to sing at the bars whenever they stayed at a port.

Aang’s smile started to fade. He seemed a bit less sure of this strategy. “Maybe something about flying bison?” He asked hopefully, not ready to give up yet.

“I know a song about a flying pig chicken.” Chong offered gleefully.

Moku snorted. “That’s a good one.”

“There was little pig-chick, over the hills, it was a little pig-chick, bip-bop-bip…” They all danced making flapping wing movements.

“I can’t take this anymore…” Zuko groaned and walked away on the narrow, overgrown path deeper into the forest, until the sounds of the guitar faded. Both Druk and Momo seemed to have had enough of the music as well; they chose to follow him searching the trees for bugs. Zuko fumed. It was becoming a pattern; they would find a clue, Aang would get his hopes up, they would hit a dead-end. Rinse and repeat. They were going around in frustrating circles and nothing to show for their efforts.

A loud shriek interrupted his thoughts. Oh, no, not again! Zuko leapt through the bushes to rescue Momo. He found the lemur and the dragon entangled, fighting over a small cylinder-shaped object.

He split up the fight, holding up both animals by the neck. “Get along, please,” he scolded them.  A pair of green and a pair of gold eyes blinked apologetically. He took the mystery-object from Momo. Inside the casing, he found a small scroll. He unrolled it, revealing drawings of a familiar airbending form he had seen Aang use many times. Zuko gasped. Maybe they weren’t lost after all.

“Can you show me, where you found this, Momo?” he asked the lemur. Momo led him to a cave. Lighting a fire on his palm, Zuko looked around. There were strange signs painted on the wall. This had to be the clue.

He ran back the path to Aang. The strange group was still singing, this time about heart-shaped clouds. Aang was lying on the ground with a resigned expression on his face.

“Aang, I think I found the clue,” Zuko pulled him up, grabbing his wrist.

“You see, Brother? Music will lead the open hearts…” Moku smiled.

“But I was not led by your music, I was chased away by it,” snapped Zuko.

“And yet, you ended up exactly where you were meant to go. It sounds to me that we have led you there after all.” Chong said thoughtfully. “Good-bye, little Arrowhead. I hope you’ll find what you are looking for. And you too, Brother. Let the music into your heart.”

“Safe travels,” Aang returned their greeting.

“A song for the road?” Lily asked with a smile.

“No!” Zuko and Aang yelled at the same time and hurried down the path, Aang using his airbending discreetly to get away from the group.

[lettersfromn0where]

Star Wars marathon semi-live-blog: Ep. V

So. Last night, I decided on a whim to rewatch every single Star Wars movie for the first time since I was seven this Christmas break. As I knew I’d have many things to say about this, I started messaging @marypoppinswasmyfatherbitches about my opinions and observations while watching Episode IV. She apparently thought they were amusing because she told me (several times, ily) that I should live blog, and i was already halfway through last time but wanted to do it, so I guess I’m doing so now. So, to everyone who questions why this entirely unnecessary liveblog of “The Empire Strikes Back” even exists...let’s just call it a Christmas gift for my ever-encouraging tumblr pal. (Is it a liveblog if you wait until the very end to post your collected thoughts? Nah? Maybe?)

Wow, I really was BABY when I saw this last. Literally, I was in second grade. I’m now just months from my high school graduation. What the heck? This is gonna seem so different than it did then...

I like the opening crawl way better sans weird capitalization.

I’m not sure why the tauntaun noises are such a mood, but they are.

17-year-old me is now remembering that 7-year-old me 100% had a baby crush on OG Trilogy Luke and I really don’t know how to feel about that. I guess I thought he was pretty...?

Peak romance: protracted gazes across a room.

“I can arrange that. You could USE a good kiss!” GOSH, THIS BICKERING IS PERFECTION. Again. Peak romance. I definitely was not able to appreciate that as a second grader but now it’s kind of the best.

HOW IS LUKE STILL CONSCIOUS IF HE’S BEEN UPSIDE DOWN FOR HOURS? Also this cave scene is lowkey incredibly tense for a few seconds.

I have no clue why but the way people fall over in these movies always cracks me up.

Snow planet makes me really freaking glad that I live in SoCal.

Chewbacca’s vocalizations sound like my Labrador’s and I’m not sure what to make of that information.

Literally everyone in this movie looks prettier in snow planet outfits.

The way that tauntaun falls over is an accurate representation of my AP chemistry grade after exams.

Is muttering the same phrases over and over a hypothermia symptom? Because I did not know that if it is, and if not, why the heck is Luke doing that?

“This is Rogue Two” *cries in Rogue One*

This tank thing is REALLY unfortunate. Leave the unconscious person half-naked in front of literally everyone, why don’t ya?

I probably missed something but I’m still not sure where the name “your worship” came from.

“Why you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking, nerf-herder!” Iconic for a reason.

Ewwwww that kiss is noooooo. (If they weren’t siblings though I would be dying @ his reaction)

I wanna know who sent Chewbacca on a stealth mission. I WANNA KNOW.

Seeing Han and Leia in this makes me wish the other series either had a central romance, or that the one they had was well-written, because it’s one of the best parts of the movie. See, guys? If it’s good, romance can actually enhance the plot of a movie that focuses on something else!

It’s driving me crazy that the AT-AT walkers remind me of some sort of animal but I can’t put my finger on which one.

“Someday, you’re going to be wrong, and I just hope I’m there to see it” is a very underrated line.

The fact that Leia’s immediate reaction to Han doing a stupid and dangerous thing is “you don’t have to do this to impress me!” is my favorite thing ever.

“You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake...this could be it, sweetheart” -> great payoff of that line earlier. I love it when they circle back to old dialogue. Also adorable that Han remembered she’d said that. (Get you a guy who listens!)

I always feel so bad for droids because they have to be on the outside of the ship, exposed to such harsh conditions. I know they can’t feel things, but I still :(.

Ohp, R2 just gotta YEETED by that Loch Ness monster thing.

“Sorry, sweetheart, I haven’t got time for anything else.” -> she walked right into that one. ALSO. SMOOOOTH.

One of the few things I remembered from my initial watch as a little kid is that I was always freaked out by how you never saw anyone eat onscreen in these movies, to the extent that I wondered if people had to eat in space. (Idk, i was SEVEN.) but there’s an eating scene in this! Vindication for baby me!

I...did not remember Yoda having this much crackhead energy. At all.

The way Han looks at Leia when she calls him a scoundrel! I AM DECEASED

C3PO be out here ruining moments.

Yoda goes from crackhead to wise elder in approximately no seconds. We love.

On a scale of 1 to C3PO, how terrible are you in a crisis?

Worm thing is the stuff of nightmares.

96% sure I just saw a live iguana in the background of that scene. HI, FRIEND!

AND THERE WAS A MONITOR LIZARD! Friends! I love all of the reptile friends on Dagobah :)

This cave fight with the sonshadowing must have been absolutely insane to watch when this first came out.

Guys, i realized...Yoda’s combination of pithy sayings, crackhead energy, and anti-establishment ideals make him seem like a typical midcentury hippie. *writes essay about how Yoda is actually a metaphor for the 1960s countercultural movement*

If this ship levitating scene didn’t inspire your kid self try to use the Force to lift your parents’ car, did you even have a childhood?

R2’s little “REEEEEEE!” screams whenever he gets thrown bring me LIFE.

Okay, Han is enjoying stopping Lando from hitting on Leia WAY too much. (They both are...)

The forehead kiss! In the middle of a fight! PEAK ROMANCE(tm)

“One last kiss before i face certain death” is my absolute favorite and hi this is not okay with me :)

“I love you.” “I know.” I DIED. (@my 11th grade English teacher: I used parallel structure!)

I remember thinking the fight choreography with lightsabers in the last movie was really awkward and it’s WAY better here.

Do lightsabers cauterize the wounds they cause? It would make sense, since people who get stabbed or sliced by lightsabers never seem to bleed.

This falling sequence is the weirdest-looking thing in this movie.

The fact that Lando is the only person in this movie who pronounces “Han” with a short A rather than the long A that everyone else uses bugs me to no end.

I had completely forgotten how iconic this movie was. Off to watch the next one 👀👀

In my defense, I did say this was going to make no sense...

Until next time!

[atinyidea]

Appellation | BTS | COMING SOON

╭                                                                            ╮

      Appellation /ˌapəˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ noun

      FORMAL

      noun: appellation; plural noun: appellations

      a name or title

╰                                                                           ╯

a series of one-shots created around a singular word and its meaning.

appellation masterlist | main masterlist

Agnothesia ——— Kim Seokjin

n. the state of not knowing how you really feel about something, which forces you to sift through clues hidden in your behavior, as if you were some other person—noticing a twist of acid in your voice, an obscene amount of effort put into something trifling, or an inexplicable weight on your shoulders that makes it difficult to get out of bed.

☞ When your tail was punctured with a harpoon and your body encompassed in a net your claws couldn't cut through you thought the best decision would be to shift to a form with legs and pretend you were not, indeed, a siren but rather a shipwrecked human with amnesia. However, plans can only go accordingly for so long on a boat full of pirates with a captain harbouring his own secrets, though they were more alike than anyone could have ever guessed.

Fata Organa ——— Jeon Jeongguk

n. a flash of real emotion glimpsed in someone sitting across the room, idly locked in the middle of some group conversation, their eyes glinting with vulnerability or quiet anticipation or cosmic boredom—as if you could see backstage through a gap in the curtains, watching stagehands holding their ropes at the ready, actors in costume mouthing their lines, fragments of bizarre sets waiting for some other production.

☞ After a rather abrupt end to a protest rally, you become acquaintances with one Jeon Jungkook of BTS, not that you knew who he even was when you ushered him into your tattoo parlour so he wouldn’t be caught be ‘guarding officers’. The two of you hit it off from the beginning but it was nothing more than a flirtationship, neither of you expected to see each other again. Until you did, over and over again in the weirdest, and most usual, places until one day your brother is their opening act and that night you have a new client.

Keyframe ——— Kim Taehyung

n. a moment that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up marking a diversion into a strange new era of your life—set in motion not by a series of jolting epiphanies but by tiny imperceptible differences between one ordinary day and the next, until entire years of your memory can be compressed into a handful of indelible images—which prevents you from rewinding the past, but allows you to move forward without endless buffering.

☞ When you travelled to Paris on a split-decision-three-month work-vacation-thing to get away from a partner that just wasn't taking the hint (ex-partner but... maybe it's still too new to recall that bit?) you never thought you'd meet and agree to marry a stranger after a few seconds of looking into their pleading eyes (very pretty pleading eyes on a very pretty face, maybe you were a bit distracted?). Spending three months sharing an apartment with a stranger would've sounded insane to you at any other time of your life but he made it easy to just.. live.

Monachopsis ——— Jung Hoseok

n. the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place, as maladapted to your surroundings as a seal on a beach—lumbering, clumsy, easily distracted, huddled in the company of other misfits, unable to recognize the ambient roar of your intended habitat, in which you’d be fluidly, brilliantly, effortlessly at home.

☞ As a young a fairly successful sculpture artist you were no stranger to anxiety and stress. You were, however, completely new to the depths you fell to after realising you were burnt out and unable to create anything that inspired you anymore. Luckily for you your equally talented and burnt out fiancé has a couple of tricks up his sleeve (including and not limited to a lake cabin retreat in the middle of nowhere for two weeks).

Mimeomia ——— Min Yoongi

n. the frustration of knowing how easily you fit into a stereotype, even if you never intended to, even if it’s unfair, even if everyone else feels the same way—each of us trick-or-treating for money and respect and attention, wearing a safe and predictable costume because we’re tired of answering the question, “What are you supposed to be?”

☞ DESCRIPTION COMING SOON.

Semaphorism ——— Kim Namjoon

n. a conversational hint that you have something personal to say on the subject but don’t go any further—an emphatic nod, a half-told anecdote, an enigmatic ‘I know the feeling’—which you place into conversations like those little flags that warn diggers of something buried underground: maybe a cable that secretly powers your house, maybe a fiberoptic link to some foreign country.

☞ As a well-loved queen marrying an equally loved king you knew that the ceremony would no be a small matter of occasion. However, you had thought that a group [ an entire group ] of assassins wouldn't pose that much of a threat under double the amount of guards but when your reception is interrupted and lives are up for ransom you take the time to prove yourselves as worthy of royalty. If it means getting stabbed so the man you love can win a fight then, so be it.

The Tilt-Shift ——— Park Jimin

n. a phenomenon in which your lived experience seems oddly inconsequential once you put it down on paper, which turns an epic tragicomedy into a sequence of figures on a model train set, assembled in their tiny classrooms and workplaces, wandering along their own cautious and well-trodden paths—peaceable, generic and out of focus.

☞ DESCRIPTION COMING SOON.

[romancemedia]

Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures - Rapunzeltopia

In the nineteenth episode of Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures, Rapunzel wakes up to find herself back in Corona with a perfect life where everything regarding the Black Rocks never happened.

This was seriously one of the weirdest episodes I’ve ever seen with a LOT OF OH MY GOD moments. The episode begins with Rapunzel back in Corona with her short brown hair and discovers it’s her coronation weekend all over again. While Rapunzel is confused about the events as well as everyone’s behaviour, she simply brushes off any knowledge of the Black Rocks, believing everything was noting but a dream. I won’t lie when I say it was so weird seeing Cassandra cherry, her and Eugene getting along and even King Frederic acting somewhat childish. However, the moment that caught every fan off guard was seeing two Rapunzel’s. I Did Not See That Coming. I’ve seen a lot of dream episodes, but never anything like this. It was so weird yet so entertaining and just wow to see the two Rapunzel’s together. It was Rapunzel’s subconscious informing her that she was trapped in a perfect dreamworld and to prove it we see the real Rapunzel asleep and tied down back in the real world. Following the events of You’e Kidding Me!, Rapunzel somehow got separated from everyone, was captured and placed under a spell, thus trapping her inside the dreamworld. Eugene and Lance find her, but are captured by Matthews, who finally reveals himself as one of Zhan Tiri’s followers and his plot to drain the magic of Rapunzel’s hair. I gotta say I love seeing Eugene‘s protective side when he saw Rapunzel in danger. He is just so sweet, heroic and romantic which is why I LOVE him and why he is one of my favourite characters.

It was interesting watching a somewhat alternative version of events as Rapunzel was reliving the days not only leading up to her coronation, but the day where her long blonde hair returned as well as the mystery of the Black Rocks. The episode really grew more and more creepy when the dreamworld was twisting and rearranging her memories. However, the moment that I honestly wasn’t expecting was the Proposal scene. I am always a complete wreck when it comes to the first proposal, but this wasn’t heartbreaking to watch... instead it was really, really, REALLY AKWARD when Rapunzel’s subconscious appeared right in the middle of the proposal. It was a combination of being really awkward, funny and weird all at the same time to watch as everyone couldn’t see Rapunzel talking to her subconscious and thought she was mad at Eugene. Rapunzel really showcased her stubbornness in this episode as she refused to believe her subconscious, until little by little, she finally started to realize the truth and stopped herself at the last second to finally escape the dreamworld.

From that moment that is when the real excitement began featuring moments with Rapunzel fighting again "Cassandra", the Godzilla version of Pascal appearing as well as the return of none other than the original villainess herself, Mother Gothel. Dead or not I NEVER thought we’d see her again and she is still as creepy as ever. Although one good thing did come out of her return... watching Rapunzel hit her over the head with a frying pan was hilarious. Surprisingly enough, Gothel gave Rapunzel the inspiration to finally take back control of her mind, leading to the final showdown between her and Mathews and freeing herself at last not only from the dreamworld, but from the estate as well. Overall this was an UNBELIEVABLE episode and finally we are now on the last leg of the journey to the Dark Kingdom, but there is still one thing that confuses me... What happened to Cassandra after she entered that mysterious door?

[agentscullerino]

The death’s call - Chapter 5

Alright so I realise that it has been over a year since I published last time and I apologise for it. I have found my inspiration again and I promise to continue this fic! I don’t know how many chapters there will be, probably around 7 but stay tuned. Anyway, here is Chapter five, enjoy!

Chapter 5

Sharon was woken up to the thought of how many weeks had passed by while they had been playing their little game with Tarja. Every night of lust was always wiped away by a tired morning just to make everything to begin again. Tarja never stayed after sex, she always left, and never she invited Sharon into her own bedroom. So far the arrangement had worked, but now Sharon had started to feel slightly uneasy. She felt like she was an example of a bad cliché: Having casual sex but then starting to have feelings. At the same time she found it a bit amusing since she was dead and thought if it even was possible to have feelings of love. Though it would not have been the weirdest thing happening to her. Nevertheless, that one night had started something very irreversible. She didn’t have the guts to talk about it with Tarja, it would have probably caused a chaos. Therefore she remained silent and went on with the situation. Hell, she most likely was just lonely and enjoyed the closeness she was being offered. She felt stupid for even considering anything else.  

She worked by Tarja’s side and had started to find it pleasing. Now it was more about helping people than feeling bad for them. The only thing that bothered her was seeing Elize every now and then. Every time she had some new snarky comment to say to Tarja, and every time she shot a meaningful look at Sharon. She didn’t quite understand what she was trying to do, but she had no choice than try to live with it. After Tarja had told her what had happened between Elize and her, she didn’t want to be a part of their bicker. She only knew Tarja’s side of the story, and was even a bit salty to herself for even asking about the matter in the first place. She tried to ignore it all as best as she could, focusing on her job. Sometimes Tarja made it a bit difficult when she huffed and puffed after seeing Elize on their duty, but then again that was also usually when they had sex.  

Sharon’s inner monologue was interrupted by a knock on her door.

“Just a moment!” She shouted while pulling her jeans up. She reached the door and opened it to find Tarja standing behind it.

“Morning.” She greeted with a faint smile.

“Morning.” Sharon greeted back and wondered why she had come to her door when usually they met at the breakfast anyway.

“I’m sorry this information comes so suddenly but I must travel to Amsterdam today. I shall leave immediately.”

“Um... Okay, but why?”

“I got an urgent email about an undertaker meeting. I don’t know yet what it is about but I should be back by tomorrow evening. Charlotte will stay here with you.”

“Why can’t I come with you?”

“You’re not a board member, that’s why.”

“Very well, how about our duties?”

“Postponed until tomorrow. You’re still too new to handle things on your own. It’s not that I don’t trust you but that’s the policy.”

Sharon felt like it would’ve been in vain to start arguing with Tarja, and in a way it was much more comfortable to work alongside her.  

“Very well, have a safe trip then.”

Tarja nodded and went on her way.  

While Tarja was gone, Sharon decided to test the shadow walking on her own. She didn’t have had chance to do it since she was basically tied to her all the time. She waited until the sun started to set, and went to the garden under the giant oaks which created huge shadows over the yard. Sharon inhaled the cool air, closed her eyes and exhaled. Then she opened her eyes and sprinted towards the shadow, opening the gateway to the park where she used to hang around a lot. She smiled to herself when she recognised all the familiar surroundings. For a while she watched how the people were going by without the slightest idea that she was standing right in front of them. Then she scoffed, turned around and threw herself again to the shadow. This time she was standing on the edge of a marketplace. It was the marketplace where her grandmother used to take her on Sundays. The thought of not seeing her again hit her harder than anything for days; her grandma thought she was dead. Her whole family and friends were probably mourning. Tears started to puddle into her eyes and the horrible coldness was eating her inside out. She started to run, and she couldn’t stop. She ran through multiple shadows, skipping from place to place. Her apartment building. Her mom’s place. Her friend’s place. Grandparent’s house. The tears were blurring her vision and she had no idea how far she had gone until she collapsed against a tree, being unable to go through another shadow.  

She was gasping for air, holding onto the tree as tight as she could. She remembered the times when people had said how after death all your worries and pain would go away, but now she felt nothing but pain. It was the most intense pain she had ever felt and wouldn’t have wished it upon to her worst enemy.  

“See what she makes you go through.” Sharon was startled by the sudden voice and turned her head to see Elize’s face hovering above her. She swallowed and stuttered:

“W-what are you doing here?”

“I’ve been following you around a bit, but for a good cause.” She smiled at Sharon but you could see a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Elize offered her hand for Sharon to pull her up, and after a moment of hesitation she grabbed it and got up. Only now she was able to look around and see where she had landed. She was standing in the middle of a grave yard.  

“Forgive me, I had to guide you a bit to show you something.” Elize said and continued:

“Walk with me.”

Sharon had no other choice than follow Elize, even though she was suspicious and confused. At first they walked in silence, until Elize started.

“You’ll probably think this is just my propaganda, but hear me out. I don’t want you to end up like I did. I’ve been working with Tarja, I’ve loved her and I know how she is, she only cares about herself and her companions don’t last long.”

“We have discussed about this already with Tarja, you don’t need to paint a bad image of her for me since I know what has happened. I don’t get why you must harass and follow me around and try to get me involved to some sort of a crazy war you two have.”

“Ah, but you are already involved, and I wasn’t the one who got you in this. Tarja turned you without your consent, just like she did to me. I almost withered away because of her! Has she ever told you what happens to an undertaker when they are not happy as they are?”

“Yeah, yeah... They go mad or something like that.” Sharon sighed dismissively.

“Not only mad but they get stuck into a limbo, living their last moments as mortals over and over again, never getting a salvation. I can already tell that this hasn’t been exactly easy for you. See, you need to want to be an undertaker to begin with, otherwise there is a huge chance for you to be doomed forever.” Elize stopped in front of a grave and pointed at it.

“Here. This is everything that is left of your life, of that life and chance that was forcibly taken away from you.” Sharon turned her head and stared at the brand new gravestone in disbelief. It was her own grave, full of candles and flowers. She kneeled down and traced the golden letters on the stone with her finger.  

“Tarja said I should not seek for the life I had...” She mumbled.  

“Well, partly because it’s gone but mostly because she feels guilty. She knows damn well what she has done is wrong but yet we both exist. Sharon, look at me.” Sharon rose up to face Elize. With a straight face she said: “Come with me, and I might be able to restore what you’ve lost. I’m not able to bring you back to life but I can guarantee that with me your life won’t be just following around someone or that constant agony you have.”

“How could you possibly do that?”

“You’ll see. I will give you some time to think. Come and find me when you’re ready and we shall talk again. Until then... Keep your steps silent.” Before Sharon had a chance to say anything, Elize vanished to the shadow next to the grave.  

When she returned back to the mansion, it was already past midnight. Charlotte greeted her with a worry in her voice. She fixed her something to eat before bed, and Sharon tried to act like nothing had happened. She told Charlotte a story of practicing shadow walking, but kept rest of it to herself. Charlotte would instantly tell Tarja about Elize and she’d be in trouble. All she needed was some time to process things at her own pace without a fuzz. Elize had some good points, but then again so did Tarja. She had thought she could stay completely neutral on the matter, but in a way Tarja had really mixed her into it.

That night she couldn’t sleep properly, since her mind was so crowded with thoughts. She felt frustrated how rapidly everything kept changing without her being able to influence it. She knew she had to make some decisions soon, in order to avoid the fate being trapped forever. As the sun started to rise forming a ball of light in the horizon, she had come into a conclusion.

I've been left out alone like a damn criminal I've been praying for help cause I can't take it all I'm not done It's not over Now I'm fighting this war since the day of the fall And I'm desperately holding on to it all But I'm lost I'm so damn lost

Within Temptation – Shot in the dark

[istgimamess]

Label: sm entertainment

Stage name: bella (because you're beautiful~)

Debut year: 2015 (3 yrs active)

Debut concept: aggressive bubblegum synth, dance heavy, vocal heavy, bright, pop!

Number of members: 4

Group name: strawberry jam (sj)

Fandom name: jammers

Position: main vocal, visual, dance line

Male bestie: Jongin (EXO)

How you meet: you are a hard worker, always putting your best foot forward, giving it your all; putting all your effort into anything you do! Which is such a great quality, you're told! Lord knows, you've benefited from that personality trait thousands of times, mostly in your career and personal relationships! However, alot of the time, it tends to have a negative effect! Mainly on your health! You put so much effort into whatever you're working on at the moment: new choreography, new music etc. that you tend to neglect your personal health! This lands you in the hospital alot; its not ideal, but you can't complain, your doctor is probably your favorite! Which is where you end up meeting (*cough*...fighting with) Jongin! You had a really important public appearance coming up, a couple of variety shows and another comeback all scheduled within a weeks time; and you knew your health wasn't at its prime, so you were basically in mental panic mode! You were hoping to get in and out of your check up as fast as possible, because you had things to do! Long story short, that wasn't happening! You ended up sticking your head in to the doctors office, to confront the patient before you! Which happened to be Jongin! "Hi! Yeah, sorry! Could you, I don't know, hurry up!? I've aged quite drastically since being here.." "He's my doctor and I was here first!" "Yeah, well he likes me better!" After a few more minutes of back and forth, a kindergarten-like tantrum and some overdramatic whining on both of your parts, you were left by your very flustered doctor to "..Work things out!.." You quickly end up bonding over your mutual lack of priority when it comes to your health, your whiney childlike mannerisms when you're sick or hungry and a love for the theater! He ends up becoming one of your best friends and you're almost always together! You're both quite determined and hardworking, both tending to over work yourselves and this is usually the cause for most of your fights: scolding eachother for not prioritizing your health! He ends up worrying about your health more than he does his, and vice versa! But you're constantly supporting eachother in anything you pursue! "Jongin, I heard Bella from Strawberry Jam is your best friend, is that true!?" "Yeah, she's my best friend!" "Cool! I also heard she is the biggest EXO supporter, is that right!?" "Yes, she is! I made a joke the other day about her leaving music to work for EXO and help us promote our new album!" "Really!? What did she say!?" "It was so funny, she took the album and walked over to the street corner and just stood there like this...(^ gif ^)..I couldn't stop laughing!" Your friendship is really goals!

Female bestie: Jennie (Blackpink)

How you meet: you love singing and you love theatrics but sometimes you feel like dancing and choreography, in general, can be very confusing and frustrating! So you decided to take some dance classes on the side, for some extra practice! That's how you meet Jennie, through a friend of a friend! One day after class, you accidently trip over her bag and take her down in a mess of legs, elbows and sweat! "Oh my god- I'm so sorry!...Ouch! Sorry! Yikes- are you okay!?" "Yes, of course! I'm clearly living the dream!" "Oh, well...glad I could help you do that then..." you stared at eachother for a few beats of silence, still sprawled out on the floor, and then busted out laughing! You ended up attached at the hip! It's an inside joke that you were split at birth and that you're actually twins; that's how similar your personalities are and your sense of humor! You're both really sarcastic and it's 100x worse when you're together! The fans love it! And despite how goofy and silly you both are when you're together, everyone can tell you both care about eachother immensely! You're always supporting eachother and you're always both genuinely happy for eachothers successes! She calls herself your "only fan!" And she lives up to that name! "Jennie! Did you hear yet!? Strawberry Jams song 'Pink' has hit the Billboard charts!" "..(^ gif ^)..What!? Seriously!?! I have to call Bella!!..." Such a cute friendship!

Group bestie: NCT OT18

How you meet: this probably, most definitely was the weirdest encounter you've ever had! You love to skateboard; you wouldn't say you're that great at it, I mean, you're no Tony hawk! But it is a hobby of yours! And when you have a stressful, busy day, full of dance practices and studio visits- you like to sneak out in the middle of the night, when the streets are empty, go down to the local park and skate to de-stress a bit! It's kind of like your secret rendezvous self-care session! Not even your group members know about it! The park, Seoul in general, is usually dead with no soul in sight at this time of night! Which is why you're so startled when one second you're minding your own business, practicing an inward heel flip and the next second you're surrounded by a bunch of guys who look like they've just stepped straight out of an Avril Lavigne MV! It startles you so much you trip backwards over your board and land flat on your back! You say about every curse word in every language you know, on the way down! "Oh my god! I told you we would scare her!" "If anybody scared her, it was you with that stupid pedo face!" "That's so rude! Taeyong, tell him that was rude!" "I mean..I did tell you to shave this morning.." "Yeah, you kind of look like an asian yeti.." "Or a pedophile, definitely a pedophile.." "Seriously?! Is this attack necessary!?? I mean-" "Umm, so sorry, pedi-yeti and friends..could you possibly, I don't know...help me up!?" They ended up hauling you up and bombarding you with questions left and right! Questions about your skateboard, questions about your skating technique etc etc. The more they asked, the more you answered and the more you answered, the more they asked! It was pretty much down hill from there! But it's all good, they quickly became some of your biggest supporters and closest friends! They always cheer for you the loudest at award shows! And sometimes, Taeyong or Ten, will send you little videos and clips (with the funniest captions) they filmed, on the down low, of the rest of the members singing and dancing to your music, unaware the were being filmed! "..[Bella, your music is hurting innocent bystanders! RIP Jeno]..(^ gif ^).." They're such a mess and it's the cutest!

Boyfriend: Taehyung (BTS)

Ship name(s): tella, bae couple, baehyung

How you meet: the way you 'officially' meet is kind of funny! And the time and location is a bit obscure! Anytime someone asks him when and where you met, he says Italy in June! You say it was definitely paris, late July! Both of you would be right and wrong! You love traveling and any time you have the opportunity, you jump on it! This is no secret! You first noticed him in Paris, he first noticed you in Italy, you both noticed eachother in Chicago! By the time you ended up back in the Incheon International Airport - you were 98.7% positive you had picked up a stalker abroad! "Are you following me!?" "I was going to ask you the same thing!" "Well I asked you first, so answer!" "I don't take demands from potential stalkers!" Some threats to call the police and a couple defensive hand gestures later, you eventually both settled on fate being the reason you've bumped into eachother over and over again! As cheesy as it might sound! You quickly bond over your artistic and creative sides, and a strong love for traveling and then there is no going back! He's one of your biggest supporters and you both often credit eachother as being an inspiration and muse! You eventually, after realizing how important and serious your relationship was becoming, went public! You figured your close friends and family would be the most supportive, and they were, but in actuality it was the fans that became your biggest supporters! "Tae-oppa!! Over here!! Taehyung-oppa!! You and Bella-unnie are the cutest couple ever!! I will always support you!!" "...(^ gif ^)..." It's so heartwarming!

Biggest fan: your biggest fan is probably Junhoe from IKON! He's always covering your songs, he even covers the songs you cover! He says it's only because he wants to prove he can harmonize with you, always calling you out in interviews hoping to get the chance to meet you and collaborate! "Bella from Strawberry Jam is my favorite! She has the best voice, even better than me! And she has good taste in music, I would love to collaborate with her if given the chance!" He's always showing support for your comebacks as well and even your solo projects; watching every drama and CF you do and streaming your music, constantly singing along with you at the top of his lungs! He's a dedicated and loyal fan and he's pretty loud and proud about it! So much, that it's even a running joke in his group that he would leave the rest of the members for even just a chance to perform with you! Well, it's a joke to them! Him, not so much! "Junhoe! I heard that you're a huge fan of Bella from Strawberry Jam, is that true!?" "Yes! She is my favorite singer!" "Oh really!? I heard that you would leave IKON without a second thought, if she ever wanted to perform with you!" "Yes, I would! In a heartbeat!" "What the-...you answered that so fast! You would really leave us, huh!?" "Yep!.." "...(^ gif ^)..." It's pretty funny!

Scandal: it's really no secret you have been trying to break out into the acting industry for a while, and make that cross over from idol to actress - auditioning and taking acting classes and workshops in your spare time! It's also no secret that you're good long time friends with Jaebum from GOT7! You've know eachother since before your debut and he's one of your closest friends, almost family! He's always helping you practice and reading scripts with you to help prepare you for auditions, giving you advice and direction on characters! So it's really not shocking when dispatch comes out with photographs of you two, on multiple days, coming out of your apartment and/or restaurants! What is a bit shocking is the headlines that are attached to those photos! "Strawberry Jams Bella and GOT7s Jaebum! Are they together!?" "Does GOT7s Jaebum have a sweet tooth for Strawberry Jam!? New couple alert!" It's ridiculous! "Are they serious!? A sweet tooth!? Who is writing this mush!?" "What I don't understand is how they got us mixed up!? I mean, I'm clearly the more desirable one in this relationship.." "Are you trying to make me throw up, or does that just come naturally when looking at your face?" "I'm a masterpiece and you are blessed to be in my presence.." What a dork!

Other activities: it's no secret you live for the dramatics, and the theatre is almost like your second home! So when SM suggested you audition for a couple of upcoming dramas, you jumped on the opportunity! And it was the best thing you could've possibly done! You ended up, not only booking a role, but booking a lead! You got to act along Seo Kang Joon (^ gif ^) who is the sweetest and most talented! You made new life long friends, won a couple of awards and gained a whole new following! Sure, they made you dye your hair a darker shade a red and teased you a bit on set about your sense of humor, but it was totally worth it! "It was so fun! And the hair color choice is actually kind of growing on me!" "Oh really!? Quickly, say that again into the camera! In 10 years when you're bald, I want proof that you were once satisfied..." "JB, I will literally push you off of this rooftop..." You didn't, but you were close to it!

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

@suchqt here is your idol ship~ thanks so much for the request and I hope you like it! 😅 Let me know what you think!

[fipindustries]

third week at the book store

is like the universe realized i’m doing this and decided to increase the amounts of zanyness in my life just to give me material, for example:

there is a guy who sits to play the acordion at the entrance of the book store every day and today it was when the season hit it stride and the clients where are it’s most demanding, so my morning was basically me on a frantic haze in the middle of a crowd chasing book while a silly little acordion tune was playing in the background and i realized i suddenly was in the middle of a movie montage.

but anyway, let’s start.

on scatological happenstances:

i literally, no bullshit or embellishment, crapped my pants in the middle of my job (must have been something i ate). I cannot believe such a sitcom situation could have happened to me and yet it did. Luckly i live five minutes away of my house and one of my bosses was understanding enough to let me go and change my pant without having to really explain any embarassing details, i just had to mumble something about an emergency change of clothes and she allowed me to discreetly leave my position, though i did hear her mutter under her breath as i walked away “this is the first and last time this happens”

more about understanding bosses:

this is a nicer anecdote that could have ended much worse.

i usually have the bad impulse of getting in the middle of a sale that another employee is having with a client if i think i have pertinent information and i have done it with my manager in more than one ocassion. And he warned me that if i ever did that again then he was just going to dump the client on me regardless of if was already busy with something else.

so, one day he is talking with a client and the client mentions a book that i remembered seeing in the deposit room a few days ago, now my boss was just about to explain that the book wasnt on the store but i interrupted and said that we did have the book.

my manager gets understandably annoyed by this and, as he promised, he dumps in me the responsability to go find the book (which he is convinced it’s not there) just to set me up to fail and then having to explain the client that i had lied to him.

now this sounds like the typical story when the spunky and wide eyed young employee proves his worth to his old and stupid boss, right?

wrong, i was actually really ashamed of my self and worried i had angered my boss so i go look for the book (and find it) and then i check the database and i realized what happened was that the database showed the book as nonexistant even though we had it and that was why the boss thought it wasnt there. this doesnt change the fact that the boss is angry at me so, in a very contrite manneri go back and try to explain what happened, to which my boss answers that i had to explain the client that we couldnt sell the boo to them.

i take this as the boss trying to make a point on me so that i dont make the same mistake again, i have a quick debate of whether i should ignore my boss and sell the book anyway but i decide it was not worth risking making my boss angrier, so i put down the book, tell the client we dont have it and send them away.

then my boss starts to explain in a very condescending tone about how we should mind our own bussines and not interrupt in the middle of a situation we dont understand and then a thought cames to me, could it be that he still thought we didnt have the book?

so very timidly i explain i did found the book and he stops and looks at me confused, and then he looks at the book whichj i am holding in my hand and with the most doumbfounded of expressions he asks “then why didnt you tell me?” i explain that i did tell him and it turns out he misheard me saying the book wanst on the database.

and then the weirdest thing of all happens, he actually apologizes for his mistake, even though in a lot of ways it was my stupidity which ruined a sale that could have happened he still apologized to me. and it it was at that moment i realized i had been reading far too many stories about cartoonishly unreasonable bosses and that was what i had taken him for.

funny how life works out.

(the book was tales of earthsea 3 by ursula leguin, btw)

one more about me being a terrible employee:

my coworkers started noticing that i’m writing these notes down and when they asked me what they ere for i answered “for my blog”

so one particularly slow day where no clients where showing up my boss decides to kill time by asking him to show him my blog. this blog. on this blue hellsite. a danger everyone on the internet always jokes about and yet i never thought could actually happen for real.

cue the steamed hams sequence.

thankfully everything was in english and i hadnt rebbloged porn or any other weird pictures in weeks so everything my boss saw was a bunch of english posts he didnt understood.

dodged that fucking bullet.

some other anecdotes that had nothing to do with my job

part a, my grandfther:

there was a time, as a teenager, where i actually went every week to have lunch and my grandparent’s house after school. in many of these visits i would talk to my grandma (the more talkative and amenable of my grandpas) about what i had done at school.

so one day im talking about some programming that i had done, computer talk, i’m trying to talk in terms as generic as possible because i know she doesnt really follow the subject that well when suddenly, out of nowhere, my grandfather asks me “but... how does a computer store all those things inside? how does that work?”

now keep in mind a couple of things, first, my grandpa almost never talks, and never at all about computers, he doesnt even have a cellphone, not even an old model, he never did,so i dont know where this sudden interest comes from.

secondly, i have no idea where to even start explaining this shit to him, specially considering i dont really have that good a grasp on it my self.

so there i am, trying to juggle in my head things such as flip flop logic gates, binary data, adressing, memory allocation and etc when from out of the ether a moment of pure inspiration come to me and i say

“well, it like how a battery holds electricity inside, right?”

now i know this is not actually quite how it works but the things is that i tink i still did a pretty good job conveying the idea of how we can store huge amounts of abstract energy into a very small physical support, like you see a flashlight and you may wonder how is it possible that such a small recipent can contain so much continuous light?

anyway, my grandpa just nodded and made no further questions

part b, a D&D story:

now excuse me if this dont reach the hilarity levels of a mcelroy podcast but anyway.

this was the third time ever that i was playing D&D and i wanted to play an elf, but not just any elf, a 25 year old elf, esentially a little kid. and i really play to it, i acted naive, innocent, childlike, you get the gist.

so eventually got into the grimy bussiness of a combat encounter, as one does, my party got ambushed by a group of cultists and we started kicking and stabbing and killing and eventually we managed to whittle them down to one single guy. And in line with my young innocence i try to the very last moment to negotiate and talk things through, so when there is just one guy left i sort of stop and ask him desperate “stop! we’ve already killed all you comarades, we are more than you, what are you expecting to get out of this!?”

so the cultist just up and kills himself in front of my poor little character traumatizing him for life and the funny thing is that on some level it got to me, i honestly said that in the hopes that the DM would just stop and give us a chance to interrogate him and that move caught me completly by surprise.

so that was fun.

me being a revolutionary fighting against authority:

a lot of my job involves taking peoples credits cards and identity documents so that they can pay for the book without actual cash, i always have to remind the clients to give me their papers so that i cant actually perform the payment.

one time a cop came to buy some books and i had the rare chance to flip the tables and ask a cop for his documentation.

it was exhilarating

thoughts on books:

i believe that we (and by we i meant those with an actual brain on their heads), we all wish for a world where books are more beloved and respected by everyone, but we forget what happened last time a book became too loved and respected.

that’s right, that book is called, the bible.

(as i was trying to jot this silly little joke on a piece of paper i was interrupted by a client who came to buy a bible, this is not a coincidence because etc)

more on the good book:

these are very real mangas about the old and new testament that we sell in our book store, now im not surprised that these exists as much as i am surprised by the fact tha my very noirmal and serious book store sells these right next to real official bibles like it’s no big deal.

now some actual serious thoughts on religion:

two interesting and opposite situations in which christianity triumphed despite overwhelming odds against, told by someone with a very feeble grasp of history:

first with the roman empire, the romans were the undisputed supreme empire and the christians were a small nation of desert dwellers who existed only to be crucified or fed to the lions, yet eventually the whole empire turned into the chatolic apostolic roman church and were in fact the main reason it spread so far through the world.

on the other side there is the afro american communities taking into slavery on the emergent america. Even though slaves had every reason to hate and curse the god of their slavers the fact is they actually clinged on to christianity pretty hard, to the point that in the long run the black communities became a staple of american christianit, what with gospel and such.

christianity seems to be infectious regardless of it being the champion or the underdog.

thoughts on loosing weight, though it can be applied to other things:

there are two options:

either you dont do it because you can’t or because you won’t.

if you can’t then there is no shame to that becuase it would be unfair to ask the impossible.

if you wont, you can pretend you could if you only wanted to, and this is you choosing not to and there is no shame on that either.

[davidmann95]

Batman Starter Pack

I’ve been through this routine once before (including the preface that I recognize there are a million other lists exactly like this on every comics-related site out there) but after having shared some starting points for Superman on Miracle Monday, I figure my second-favorite guy with his own personalized set of crime-fighting pajamas merits the same treatment on his own special day.

Assuming you’re forgoing a more traditional celebration of DC’s Batman Day - either having your parents brutally shot to death in front of your terrified, uncomprehending young eyes, or finishing your criminology degree and engaging in anonymous back-alley karate fights with circus clowns in response to the same - looking into some solid starting points for the character is a respectable alternative. Especially given some of his most classic adventures have recently come under some degree of critical reevaluation, while the likes of The Lego Batman Movie, the much-missed Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and the resurgence of the 1960s Batman TV show alongside contemporary developments in the comics have done a great deal to change the general perception of the character. So once again, here’s ten stories in a recommended - but by no means strict - order that should, as a whole, give you a pretty decent idea of what Batman’s deal is and why you should care, all of which you should be able to find pretty easily on Comixology or a local bookstore/comic book shop.

1. Batman: Zero Year

What it’s about: The current ‘canon’ take on his origin, it’s a pretty straightforward take on Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham, early forays into crimefighting against the Red Hood Gang, and assumption of his familiar mantle...until the Riddler, a city-wrecking superstorm, and a literal bone monster get involved, culminating in a final act that has a sleeveless, dirtbike-riding Batman trying to save a post-apocalyptic Gotham whose citizens have become hopeless slaves of Edward Nygma’s merciless totalitarian riddle kingdom.

Why you should read it: This comic is bonkers, in absolutely the best way. Writer Scott Snyder has repeatedly said that since the previous major take on Batman’s origin in Year One was so iconic - to the point that, unlike Superman’s regularly refreshed history, it remained solidly in continuity for 25 years - no attempt at hitting the reset button could feasibly follow in its footsteps, and so the only way to make it work was to go as far in the opposite direction as possible, hence Dirtbike Batman and a Gotham of neon pink skies. And for all that, it works remarkably: it’s perhaps the least subtle Batman comic of all time, but it’s a solid look into what drives him, why he does what he does in the way he does it, and the beginnings of his relationships with some of his closest friends and enemies in the context of a mad, blockbuster story ranging from scraps with cops and gangsters to a race against time to literally save a city from death by fire. It is in many ways perhaps the most proudly and bluntly Batmaney Batman story of all time, the core of his world as screamed through a megaphone.

Further recommendations if you liked it: While maybe the most iconic work from their time together, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo worked together on the main Batman title for 5 years and almost 50 issues, in arguably the most acclaimed run of Batman comics of the 21st century; I’d primarily suggest checking out Court of Owls, their first and for me best collaboration, but their entire tenure is worth your time, collected across 10 volumes. If you specifically want to indulge the off-kilter “wait, Batman’s doing what?” sensibility of Zero Year further, after his time on Batman proper Snyder wrote All-Star Batman, working with a number of iconic artists on some of his weirdest Batman comics; his later The Batman Who Laughs operates in much the same mode. If you’re mainly interested in the sort of Big Batman Event Story this and Court of Owls wrote the modern template for, Steve Orlando and companies’ Night of the Monster Men is maybe the most thoroughly entertaining example. And as a respectable recap of Batman’s life since his origins, while many longtime fans are ambivalent at best on it, Batman: Hush is an effective sampler platter of Batman’s history and relationships that’s proven enduringly popular among new readers.

2. Gotham Central

What: Set from the perspective of the grunts of the GCPD, Gotham Central shows what it means to be a cop in a city where you’re a pawn of the Bat at best, corrupt or a casualty if you’re not so lucky.

Why: Certainly the most acclaimed Batman-related ongoing ever published, there’s no book that better sells the ‘street level’ take on his world that so many want; Batman himself is largely a background presence, feared and resented by our actual leads as they go up against the incidental fallout of Gotham’s particular brand of horror. And all that’s before you even get to the Joker story that directly inspired The Dark Knight. While Gotham’s more traditional heroes may rarely show up, there’s no story that better explains why they’re needed, and what it means to live in their wake. And it’s Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka and Michael Lark doing a cop book, so even Batman aside it’s worth your money ten times over.

Recommendations: Gotham Central may be a cop comic, but the cities’ most iconic officer in Commissioner Gordon only makes one or two appearances since he had retired at the time (an obviously temporary condition). If you really want to see him in action, you’re looking for Batman: Year One. Typically cited as one of the all-time great Batman stories - and it absolutely has some of his definitive moments and iconography - at heart it’s Lieutenant Jim Gordon’s year of figuring out how to make it in Gotham without losing his soul in the process, and it was that infusion of grim crime noir into the world of Gotham that defined the aesthetic Gotham Central operates under. If you’d like to pursue that particular line further, Batman: Turning Points is also worth hunting down, showing Batman and Gordon’s relationship develop over the years in reference to major upheavals in Batman’s world, and Batman: The Black Mirror, operating under a similar tone and showing Dick Grayson working with Gordon during the former’s own time in the cape and cowl, in a mystery connecting to both Batman: Year One and my next recommendation. Additionally, Kurt Busiek and John Paul Leon’s Batman: Creature of the Night provides an entirely different and disturbing type of ‘street-level’, ‘realistic’ view of Batman.

3. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

What: A decade after his retirement, an unprecedented Gotham crime wave forces a middle-aged Bruce Wayne out of retirement as he proves unable to resist the call of his demons. But even as he fights back the Mutant gang and recruits a new Robin, his resurgence has caught the attention of familiar enemies, and the political shockwaves of his vigilantism will ultimately bring him face-to-face with his oldest ally in a fight he simply can’t win.

Why: Commonly held up alongside Watchmen, which is a...touch of an overstatement in hindsight, while aspects of its politics and portrayal of the Dark Knight in question have aged somewhat questionably it’s regardless a justified classic by a one-time master of the medium at the top of his form, packed from top to bottom with brilliant storytelling, jaw-dropping moments, and a redefinition of the character that not only shapes him to this day, but the superhero genre as a whole. Definitely and very reasonably not for everyone, but essential to Batman as he exists today.

Recommendations: Frank Miller’s presented numerous followups to The Dark Knight Returns, and while The Dark Knight Strikes Back and All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder are hardly lacking in lively experimental flavor or gonzo charm, they’re an acquired taste at best: if you want to see more of this version of Batman’s world, you’re safest going for The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade, a one-shot portraying the events leading up to Batman’s retirement a decade before DKR. For other seminal Batman stories that either don’t quite live up to the hype or have aged questionably but are all-in-all still probably worth looking into, check Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth, Batman: The Long Halloween (followed up by Batman: Dark Victory) and possibly The Killing Joke.

4. Batman: Ego and other Tails

What: Before he was widely lauded for DC: The New Frontier, Darwyn Cooke was a storyboard artist for what we now know as the DCAU family of cartoons; his pitch for the job included a 14-page Batman story that years later would be edited and expanded upon to become Batman: Ego, where a catastrophic series of events leads Bruce to consider leaving his mission behind, forcing him to confront his demons more literally than ever before.

Why: Stories that question Batman’s sanity and his place in the world are a dime a dozen, but none like this, probably the deepest individual dive of all time into what exactly makes Batman tick. To say much more would spoil the amazing central conceit, but from his moral code to what he does or doesn’t give up by forgoing his life as Bruce Wayne, there are few aspects of his world this doesn’t touch on one way or another. Plus, while Ego may be the lead, the modern collection is stuffed full of other excellent Batman comics Darwyn Cooke had a hand in one way or another.

Recommendations: Most significantly, the collection also contains Selina’s Big Score, a Catwoman heist comic that leads into Ed Brubaker’s seminal run on the character, which are spread out over three trades that are absolutely worth picking up. If you’re interested in another story in the DCAU style and tone that goes into darker territory than the cartoons would typically dare, try Mad Love, the definitive Harley Quinn story. And if you want another headtrippy Batman comic that delves into his psychology, you’re looking for Death and the Maidens, intended at the time to be Batman’s final confrontation with Ra’s Al Ghul and featuring a conversation 65 years in the making.

5. Matt Wagner’s Dark Moon Rising titles

What: Eventually branded under the title of Dark Moon Rising, this series is actually made up of two six-part tales: Batman and the Monster Men and Batman and the Mad Monk, each Matt Wagner’s retelling of a classic Golden Age Batman story, from an era where the supernatural was not quite so distanced from Batman’s usual world.

Why: On a simple level, these are just some real good Batman comics; Matt Wagner’s a phenomenal fit for the character, these are nice and standalone, and Batman has to escape some deathtraps, which is always a treat. But the introduction of the truly bizarre to Batman’s world - by a standard that allows for coin-flipping disfigured District Attorneys and maladjusted widowers with freeze-rays as all part of the regular scenery, anyway - can be something of a hurdle, especially for new readers. In that regard this is a perfect introduction to the more outré side of Batman’s job, cushioning the transition with wild pulp adventure and thrilling horror in a series that feels entirely of the same world seen in the likes of Year One, even as Batman fights a vampire who is also a werewolf.

Recommendations: If you enjoyed the look at a Batman who’s still somewhat figuring out his limits and the parameters of his operation, you’re in luck, as Year One-era Batman stories formed their own effective subgenre for the character for awhile, primarily in the series Legends of the Dark Knight, which had one of the better hit-to-miss ratios for Batman ongoing titles, and Batman: The Man Who Laughs, Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke’s take on his first encounter with the Clown Prince of Crime. If the pulpy noir approach is what appealed, I’d say you might be in the market for Batman: Strange Apparitions, the collection of Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers’ highly influential 1977-1978 tenure on Detective Comics (plus a preceding couple issues by Englehart drawn by Walter Simonson, and a couple issues by Rogers without Englehart), a major step on the road to Batman as he exists today which also featured the - at the time - unexpected return of one of the Golden Age villains Wagner features.

6. Nightwing: Better Than Batman

What: Under the thumb of the Parliament of Owls, the Courts’ international equivalent - if with more up his sleeve than they expect - Nightwing finds himself in deeper than he ever could have imagined as he falls under the ‘mentorship’ of the mercenary Raptor, who not only leaves Dick questioning lessons he had previously taken as gospel, but tumbling down a rabbit hole through his own past that threatens to destroy the life he’s built for himself in the present.

Why: There’s no comprehensive look at Batman that doesn’t involve the family he’s built for himself, and this in my mind is the definitive story of the original Robin. Touching on his heritage, his early days as the Boy Wonder, his modern MO as a dashing international superhero with a pinch of espionage, and his connections with the rest of his crime-fighting family, the heart of the story is his relationship with Bruce: their days as Batman and Robin, their differing methods and ideologies, the complications stemming from their distinct backgrounds, and how their brotherhood ultimately saved them both. More than any other single book it underlines the foundation of what makes Dick Grayson work, and by extension the entire concept of the Batman Family.

Recommendations: Better Than Batman is the most compact and satisfying example of what defines Robin and the Batman Family as a whole, but if you’d prefer something more expansive in scope, Batman and Robin Eternal touches on many of the some ideas. For both a solid look back at Dick’s career back when wearing pixie boots, as well as the origin of one of the other two major templates for Batman’s sidekicks, Robin/Batgirl: Year One collects a pair of cult classic stories, Batgirl in particular being the one to check out. As for the third, while Jason Todd’s most iconic story is unquestionably Death in the Family, its actual quality hardly lives up to its enduring imagery and impact; you’ll be best served looking at his return from the grave in Batman: Under The Hood. Alfred’s the other major foundation of the family, and for him I’d probably recommend the soon-to-conclude All-Star Batman arc The First Ally. As for the rest of the family, for hitting the most members in one package I’d recommend James Tynion IV’s run on Detective Comics - beginning with the trade Rise of the Batmen - which returns or recontextualizes a number of fan-favorite characters under an umbrella of incredibly solid Batman Family adventure stories.

7. Paul Dini’s Detective Comics

What: Collected across Batman: Detective, Batman: Death and the City, Batman: Private Casebook, and Batman: Heart of Hush, Paul Dini - one of the main architects of Batman: The Animated Series, and much of the later DCAU as well - serves up a run of almost uniformly excellent, largely done-in-one Batman adventure stories.

Why: Iconic storylines may draw attention to a character, but the brick and mortar of the greats is laid on a foundation of just plain good comics, month-in and month-out, and there are few better examples for Batman than with Dini’s tenure on Detective Comics, especially with the likes of J.H. Williams, Don Kramer and Dustin Nguyen in tow. They may not be stories that redefined the character for a new generation, but they’re simply and unassailably Quality Comics of a sort rarely achieved.

Recommendations: For a more old-school example of the same principle, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ classic tenure on the character is as good as it gets, featuring the likes of The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge - the first comic since his earliest appearances in the 1940s to portray him as the killer clown we know today - and the first appearance of Ra’s Al Ghul. The multiple spinoff comics of Batman: The Animated Series such as the multiple iterations of Batman Adventures and Batman: Gotham Adventures also have a solid hit-to-miss ratio in that regard. And if you’re interested in more of Paul Dini’s Batman comics, Batman: City of Crime with Alex Ross is one of the characters’ all-time great stories, and Dark Night: A True Batman Story with Eduardo Risso is a powerful autobiographical piece on how Dini’s life and work collided in his darkest hour.

8. The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told

What: Exactly what it sounds like, this trade collects standout Batman stories from across the first 50 years of his history.

Why: The trouble with comics is that not all of a characters’ best material is necessarily in individual trades, or single runs - just stick to those and you’ll miss out on some stone-cold classics. There have been plenty of collections attempting to gather up the ‘best of the rest’ to rectify that though, and of those I’d particularly recommend the edition above, filled from top-to-bottom with not only delightful artifacts like The Batman Nobody Knows! and A Caper a Day Keeps the Batman at Bay!, but definitive stories such as The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne! and Death Strikes at Midnight and Three.

Recommendations: For a similarly charming - though I believe far more difficult to track down - retrospective, Batman from the 30′s to the 70′s is certainly worth picking up if you ever happen to see it around. If you find older Batman stories appeal, it’s worth checking out both The Batman Chronicles, collecting his earliest appearances in the 30s and 40s, as well as Showcase Presents: Batman with his 60s adventures, and perhaps the more recent run Batman ‘66, a direct continuation of the Adam West/Burt Ward TV series. You might also be interested in The Brave and the Bold #200, featuring a 'teamup' of sorts between the Batmen of two eras. If what mainly appeals to you is the thrill and comic value of seeing Batman in bizarre situations you’d never see now, Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold might be your speed, containing Bob Haney and Jim Aparo’s madcap tenure, as well as Neal Adams’ relatively recent lunatic masterpiece Batman: Odyssey.

9. Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth

EDIT: This list was written prior to allegations made against Warren Ellis. It’s your money, but while I’d still recommend checking the book out of the library - the quality of the work isn’t going to change now that it’s out there in the universe - if you’re looking to pad your bookshelf I might recommend skipping to some of the books suggested below in its place.

What: “Mystery archaeologists” Jakita Wagner, Elijah Snow and The Drummer are a group of superhumans investigating beneath the skin of the Wildstorm universe to uncover the wonders and terrors lurking in its darkest corners. On a trip to Gotham City to apprehend serial killer John Black, his own abilities trigger when cornered to rotate them all through different realities...and in other versions of Gotham, they find they’re not the only ones looking to bring Black to justice.

Why: Planetary built itself on distilling artifacts of 19th and 20th century pop culture (typically by proxy) down to their most essential ideas and iconic values as mysteries to be unveiled, whether 1920s pulp heroes, Godzilla, Sherlock Holmes, 80s and 90s Vertigo comics, James Bond, John Woo revenge flicks, or any of a dozen others. While the other two Planetary crossovers break with formula, this applies it to the biggest modern 20th century icon of all, as a group of hardened Warren Ellis-y superbeings entirely unfamiliar with the concept of ‘Batman’ are forced to run a gauntlet of over 60 years of his most iconic takes when their versions of justice collide. As far as I can tell regarded as a footnote in Batman’s own history, it’s regardless one of his all-time greatest stories, extrapolating him in every direction at once to find the core that unites them all, topping it off with the no-shit best Batman moment of all time.

Recommendations: Most obviously, soon as of the time of this writing Warren Ellis will be tackling a full-scale Batman project alongside longtime collaborator Bryan Hitch, The Batman’s Grave, which I couldn’t be more excited for and obviously recommend checking out. For other stories taking a particularly off-kilter look at Batman and his world, whether through unusual styles or with versions of the character entirely unlike anything ever known, you’ll want to check out the trades of Batman: Black and White, an anthology running as a backup through numerous Batman titles eventually collected in trade, showing a gauntlet of top creators doing their own brief takes on Batman and his world, kicking off no less with another Ellis-written Batman story that powerfully sums up his drive. If you’re looking for something more specifically in the vein of Night on Earth though - a stripped-down, iconic Batman that acknowledges the odder parts of his history and confronts deep emotional truths about himself amidst high-action spectacle - then the current run on Batman proper by Tom King and company is something I’d certainly recommend checking out on the understanding it comes with ups and downs. 

10. Batman: The Black Glove

What: From his great lost love to family he’s never known, from the basement of the GCPD to the bowls of Arkham, from the secrets of the past to the horrors of the future, from the ends of the Earth to the inside of his mind, the grip of Batman’s greatest enemy reaches wherever his shadow falls. Collected variously as Batman and Son and Batman: The Black Glove, Bruce Wayne finds himself matched against a seemingly disconnected series of challenges ultimately pointing towards the machinations of a greater threat; one that has constructed his downfall across decades, weaponizing his own mind and history against him as they build towards breaking the Batman once and for all.

Why: These issues are the start of the best Batman comics of all time. They’re absolutely fantastic all on their own, make no mistake; the first arc introduces one of the most significant Bat-family characters of all time, The Clown At Midnight is a criminally underrated classic, and Club of Heroes has J.H. Williams III drawing what amounts to 7 Batmen and 3 Robins being trapped in the plot of And Then There Were None. But more than that, these issues lay the foundation of a 7-year run by Grant Morrison built around mysteries that reach across every facet of Batman’s world, which not only reinvents him as a character, but is frankly and simply the best sustained run on a major superhero of all time. This should by no means be the first Batman comic you ever read, but make no mistake: everything leads to this.

Recommendations: Well, for one thing there’s the rest of the run. Before moving on, you may if possible want to check out Batman: The Black Casebook, a collection of numerous Golden and Silver Age comics that Morrison drew on significant plot and thematic elements of for his work, and Dark Knight Dark City, a supernatural thriller and one of the best Batman-as-detective comics out there which ends up forming much of the spine of some of Morrison’s biggest developments. From there, the rest of his run is collected across Batman R.I.P. > Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn > Time and the Batman > Batman vs. Robin > Return of Bruce Wayne > Batman and Robin Must Die! > Batman Incorporated > Batman Incorporated: Demon Star > Batman Incorporated: Gotham’s Most Wanted. 

While much of the impact of the run was immediately dismantled (in large part by Morrison himself, who’s had similar experiences in the past and wanted to show the ideas he introduced off on his own terms here), slowly but surely creators are coming around to what he was doing and have followed up accordingly. Grayson - one of the most beloved DC titles of the last several years - follows the original Robin as he infiltrates the superspy agency Spyral introduced in Batman Incorporated, and leads directly into the previously mentioned current excellent run on Nightwing, which itself has a direct sequel to Morrison’s Bat-tenure in the arc Nightwing Must Die! The major DC event book Dark Nights: Metal by the team behind Batman: Zero Year is itself a direct sequel to several of Morrison’s biggest DC stories, his Batman run most of all. Morrison himself at one point announced plans for Arkham Asylum 2, which rather than following up on his graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth is apparently a direct sequel to his Batman epic starring Damian Wayne as the Dark Knight; hopefully it will one day see fruition. Finally, if you’re simply looking for something on a similar wavelength of bizarre, lurid international pulp mystery mixed with wild fist-pumping superhero action and character moments, the ongoing crossover Batman/The Shadow - soon to end and be directly followed-up by The Shadow/Batman with the same writer - is easily one of the best of its kind of cross-company team up and absolutely a descendant of the type of Batman comics Morrison’s tenure produced.

[entergamingxp]

PSO2 New Genesis Will Hopefully Be Much More Than a Visual Update

July 24, 2020 6:00 AM EST

Our hopes and fears for New Genesis, a new content update coming in 2021, promising to bring game system renewals to PSO2.

Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis is the new update coming to PSO2 in 2021, bringing with it a graphics update and a renewal of the game’s systems. The update celebrates the 20th anniversary of Phantasy Star Online.

Sega first revealed New Genesis during Microsoft’s Xbox Series X games showcase on July 23. Seeing it’s an update, not a brand-new game, PSO3, or anything like that, it’ll obviously be coming to the same platforms PSO2 is on, meaning Windows 10 and Xbox One, with an Xbox Series X version coming. This also means that in Japan though, New Genesis will be on PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch via Cloud gaming. Note that the Japanese version of PSO2 on PC is very easily accessible in English thanks to fans.

I always wondered why Sega finally decided to officially release PSO2 outside Japan in 2020; nine years after the game’s first Closed Alpha Test in Japan. Now we all know why. PSO2 New Genesis definitely makes the game more beautiful, all while keeping certain visual elements for which PSO2 wouldn’t be PSO2, like the uncanny valley character faces. Players who unlike me, care about graphics, will definitely be appealed. However, I’m worried as to whether they will stick with the game once the initial sense of discovery and hype dies down, and I’m skeptical as to what this update will bring to PSO2 besides better visuals.

PSO2 New Genesis Reveal Trailer

If you already play PSO2, the Japanese version at least, you know the game is currently in Episode 6. Well, New Genesis seems pretty much to be Episode 7 except with a fancy name rather than the usual numbering. The Japanese press release also sells it as a “new game”, but it’s ultimately an update. An update which seems voluminous and promising.

Besides the graphical update, new content and game systems changes will be coming. The video hints that new classes will be added. Though rather than brand new classes, it looks like at least the three original classes of PSO2, Hunter, Ranger, and Force, are all getting newer versions with fancier movements. Most notably the jet-boots like things all characters seem to possess now, which allows for quick bursts of movement. Most enemies seems more imposing than before too, with a focus on fighting a single monster instead of a swarm. The original Phantasy Star Online on Dreamcast was one of the inspirations for Capcom’s Monster Hunter, which itself became an inspiration for many others. It seems like Sega is again throwing the ball back. Thorough the trailer, the combat actually doesn’t feel that much different from current PSO2 though.

Phantasy Star Online, Phantasy Star Universe, Phantasy Star Online 2, Phantasy Star Nova, and now PSO2 New Genesis.

I’ve entered the Phantasy Star Online series with its first entry in 2000, played every version barring Universe, and ultimately kept playing PSO Blue Burst on PC private servers till 2011. As such, I was pretty eager to get into PSO2 when it was announced, and started the game with the first Closed Alpha Test in August 2011. While I quickly noticed how different it is from PSO1, I still greatly enjoyed it. Overall, PSO2 greatly improved over the years. You wouldn’t believe how slow the characters’ running speed initially was. The game is a much better and pleasant experience now compared to its beginnings. And yet my excitement and enjoyment died down over the years, only playing to hangout with online friends, but ultimately taking an indefinite hiatus from the game since late 2018.

In my opinion, PSO2 has multiple problems, and they’re quite hard to explain as they only hit you once you’ve spent a considerable amount of time with the game. But one way to sum it up well is how it ultimately feels like the game controls your play schedule. Mainly because of the scheduled Emergency Quests every week, which are the most interesting and the most rewarding content. PSO2 ultimately decides for you when do you play, what do you play, and when do you stop playing. Overall, in my last months of playing PSO2, it often felt like a chore rather than a game, even without min-maxing or when trying to enjoy the game as a “casual” player.

Min-maxing in PSO2 is also not worth it as it’s incredibly costly, in time, money, and most possibly real money. The act of “Affixing” equipment in PSO2 feels like a gacha game inside the game, and can easily screw you over. PSO2 definitely changed as I’m talking from experiences from 2011 to 2018, but at the very least back then, I couldn’t think of any content that was worth min-maxing. As long as you and all the players you play with don’t get hit much and have good, up-to-date equipment, which isn’t too hard to get, you could clear any endgame content. Which in turn made the grind of repeating the same Emergency Quests and endgame content over and over all the more pointless. It’s ultimately not worth it unless you wish to brag by uploading videos on YouTube where you solo bosses planned for 12 players. (Technically you could do that even without min-maxing, but those are always timed battles, so even if you’re skilled enough to never get hit, you won’t beat the bosses without enough DPS.)

Another issue is how PSO2 often fails to keep older content relevant, and always keep adding more and more on top instead of improving preexisting elements. This also makes it hard for beginner players lacking knowledge, who could spend hours and hours running certain quests for rewards that aren’t actually “worth” anything. With better equipment available through easier means. I’m worried New Genesis might turn out to this same pattern all over again.

It’s worth noting PSO2 also has a pretty good story mode. With the addition of New Genesis, what will happen to all the previous PSO2 main story content? Will it be rendered unplayable, only reduced to a compilation of cutscenes? This already happened in the past, and I fear it might happen again.

If there’s one thing PSO2 excels at however, and what New Genesis will be improving, it’s being one of the best cosplay games there is.

One particular aspect PSO2 is very good for is being a cosplay and fashion customization game, and that’s definitely one of the points New Genesis will focus on. PSO2 already has very extensive character customization options, especially when it comes to female characters and mecha, seeing we’re talking about a Japanese otaku game here. Most hardcore players on PSO2 I knew weren’t spending hours and hours for the rare drops and weps, but to get enough money to buy the newest clothes for their 765 years old youkai loli character.

PSO2 also had numerous collabs in eight years, adding costumes and customization options from Sega franchises like Sakura Taisen but also dozens of iconic Japanese popculture elements from Eva to costumes designed by Suzuhito Yasuda. Again though, most of these are only obtainable through real-money gacha with abyssal drop rates, or by spending gigantic amounts of in-game money, buying from other players.

In any case, I strongly hope PSO2 New Genesis will try and bring some new solutions, instead of simply painting over mold. I have high hopes for the “system redesigning” it will bring. In Japan, PSO2 regularly has live streams detailing upcoming content, so we’ll learn more soon. While we’re moving to next-gen in the middle of a pandemic, with the world being in the weirdest place we’ve ever experienced, PSO2 will stay relevant in the world of free-to-play online JRPGs with gacha-like elements. It’ll definitely be a serious competitor to Genshin Impact and Blue Protocol.

July 24, 2020 6:00 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/07/pso2-new-genesis-will-hopefully-be-much-more-than-a-visual-update/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pso2-new-genesis-will-hopefully-be-much-more-than-a-visual-update

[princezukohere]

Still Friends *revisited* Part 2

part 1

1803 words, if you guys want to see anything specific talked about, let me know and I'll try to incorporate it)

Interviews were always some of the weirdest memories you and Shawn had, he was two years older than you, you had turned seventeen and soon he'd be turning nineteen but that wasn't the problem. It was the people who followed you around and listened to your every word. You two had been walking around a small store, it was two in the morning but he had three days until he was back on his world tour and he had just brought it to your attention that he and his team were planning a tour for illuminate.

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

"This is what makes me happy and I thought you'd get that," Shawn told you as he followed behind you, you stopped, turning to look at him.

"Of course I want you happy, I only ever want you happy. I'm sorry that you dropped this bombshell on me. Your tour ends March 18th, and you're already trying to start a new show, we haven't even made it to 2017 yet Shawn. You then want to start touring for five more months, after barely a month of a break." You said as he walked up to you.

"You'd be touring a month after I start." He tried to reason with you.

"That's not the point, the point is I barely get to see you and when I do it's for three days, or a facetime once a week. I want more than that Shawn."

The video a fan took was ended there, the rest of the conversation was for the public to figure out. She, of course, posted it and it got seen a lot and you and Shawn were the only thing people were talking about.

Is N/Y tired of the distance? Is there someone else N/Y has in mind? Shawn Mendes isn't giving girlfriend and singer enough??? Shawn and N/Y: Are they breaking up?!

It was always hard when rumors got started, especially when you two weren't around each other to talk about what was going. You hated being in the public eye when it came to negativity and Shawn didn't really see a reason to bring it up on twitter. If he did it would only cause a bigger question pool with reporters and he was annoyed that they started it and he knew if the wrong thing was said it could leave uneasy thoughts in both of your heads. Sadly with neither of you saying anything it leads to hate, more on your side as in a way, they would always choose Shawn unless he was genuinely wrong and nothing had been cleared out.

Of course, they broke up, she only used him.

She thinks she's top shit now, wow.

SO much for, don't forget the people who got you to where you are.

Shawn deserves better, how did he deal with a bitch like her for so long???

You and Shawn talked through it, in one long Skype phone call which in all honestly, scared you to even have.

"You know that I don't want to break up right?" He asked you, he was laying on his hotel bed and you were sitting on the couch in the studio.

"I know, neither do I. Rumors will be rumors and we can't control what the media says." You started, "I'm sorry. I should have talked to you about it privately instead of with everyone being around. You just released the album last month and it's going so well, I'm proud of you."

"I know you are. You're just stressed, take a break." He told you a small smile on his face. You set down your guitar and picked your phone off the table.

"I have the bonus songs done but I still have three more tracks and I can't think of what to write or what I want, the album's deadline is January and I don't want to rush three songs out. This album has been my way to make up for "opportunity," to show I'm capable. I don't want to mess it up when the rest of it is going so well."

"Regenerated is going to an amazing album, it's only october...you still have November and December to get your last three songs out and I know you can, don't force music, let  the inspiration come to you."

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

Hate was normal and you understood it, but you hadn't ever paid it much attention. This, this was all in your face, the reporters, the haters, the news reporters. Of course, there's always something to top the icing on the cake, you'd be at Beverly Center Mall in L.A.

Unplanned meetups were dangerous but you loved when people didn't have to pay to see you, of course, you got your manager's permission to do this and she called the mall to let them know. You were set up with security and a ride to get out when it was time, the police were only ever notified if it got out of hand which you were sure it wouldn't.

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

"The incident in L.A, it happened back in November, where there charges?" Selena, your interviewer asked.

"No, the security guard was fired and we got somebody else but, there were no charges thankfully. When events like this happen, especially when they're unorganized, a lot can happen."

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

You had met a lot of people and it was getting closer to midnight. You had to record in the morning, so leaving now was your best bet. Your security explained that you had to leave and started to escort you out. Normally with all the screaming, you would have assumed that it was just them trying to get your attention but this was different. It was a blood-curdling scream, and people freaking out afterward. You quickly turned, seeing one of your security guards standing over a girl on the ground, the other was being pushed down when she started yelling at him.

"What the hell is going on?" You said heading back over, he had his taser out, girls surrounding him. "Don't you dare!" You yelled walking faster but by the time you could get through the crowd, girls were backing up and three young ladies laid on the ground.

"N/Y, you should be with the others, I can handle this." He tried but your face was heating up, anger building up.

"How is this handling anything!" You yelled, "You, a grown man vs one girl at a time. What in gods name do you think that hurting any of my family is ever okay." You shouted even louder. "These girls come here to meet someone, your job is to be crowd control, not the one starting the crowd up. Are you really ready to explain why they got hurt on our watch."

"They didn't pay to meet you so this isn't our problem." He corrected you, once again the fans got loud. You could feel yourself being pushed as they once again started to surround the guard yelling about how money isn't everything.

"Get off of her!" You heard people yelling, it took you a minute to realize they meant you. There would always be people who supported you but there were also people who hated you and for that reason alone is why unplanned meet-ups were the worst. You pulled back not wanting to hit the girl that was pulling your hair but there were people surrounding you now and punches and kicks were being thrown. Supporter vs haters and you were caught in the middle. You could hear your security yelling and trying to get people away that way the situation could be handled but when girls were on a mission, they didn't give up. It was moving and before you knew it you were falling along with other people.

You laid underneath a human pile, the police had been called, they showed up and you hadn't realized it until you were being lifted up. John, your personal security guard was even there and he was supposed to be in the car.

"I swear to god people can't do their jobs right." He spoke, "Bloody nose, busted lip, you're going to have a black eye, we're taking you to a hospital to make sure you're fine." He told her as he kept a secure arm around her leading her outside.

"N/Y...are you okay! Oh my god!" People were yelling as you were ushered to the car. Being stopped by a few reporters on the way.

"As you can see she isn't in the position to be talking to anyone!" He said getting them out of your way, you got in the car. The driver handed you your phone, mom...dad...management, Shawn. John could handle management, you'd see your parents soon but if you didn't call Shawn back you knew he'd freak out.

"I'm not dead." You said you're head against the window as John was talking to the police. You could hear Shawn letting out a comforting sigh. "I'm assuming the videos are already up and you've seen them?"

"Yeah, I really want to hug you right now." He mumbled, "It broke my heart to see it. You guys almost fell downstairs, did you know that?"

"No, I didn't even realize police were there until a few minutes ago." You said feeling the pain in your body kick in. "John said that we were going to a hospital."

"A hospital, how bad is it?" You could hear it in his voice, how worried he was. You looked up to see John getting in the car, he was irritated and an irritated John wasn't something you liked to see.

"I'm not sure, I'll keep you updated but I have to go, we're about to leave." You spoke, your voice weak.

"Of course, I have an interview in thirty minutes anyways. Get some rest okay, call me when you can."

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

"How do you handle a situation like that?" Selena asked she looked at her card before switching to the next one.

"I'm not sure, I was being attacked by people trying to protect me and people who wanted e hurt and it can be scary. It is scary, I was sixteen and it on a way was my first physical fight without me even fighting and to feel so defenseless in a situation like that, it absolutely sucks."

Selena nodded before looking up at you. "You're break up with Shawn happened back January and you guys announced it February before regenerated was released. Can we talk about that?" She asked you bit your lip before nodding. It would always come back to you and Shawn at the end of the day. Every interview, every met up, concerts, somewhere somebody pushed him back into your life.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

The 14 coolest 'Shark Tank' products under $100

Since 2009, Shark Tank — the reality show that invites entrepreneurs to show off their weirdest, wildest, and most innovative inventions — has brought dozens of cool products into the world. 

Sure, we have the show to thank for absurd inventions like wine for cats and dogs, chips made out of crickets, and the Guzzle Buddy wine bottle glass (everyone knows it's far easier to drink straight from the bottle.) But Shark Tank also helped turn a variety of brilliant ideas into useful products that could enhance our daily lives.

The best part? Some of them cost less than $100.

SEE ALSO: This shower loofah was fully funded on Kickstarter in less than 24 hours

While many of the show's most impressive pitches have painfully costly price tags, like the SolSource Solar Cooker or PolyGlide Ice, which each cost several hundred dollars, here are 14 relatively affordable (and actually useful) products that rose to fame after being featured on Shark Tank.

1. Rocketbook Wave Smart Notebook — $27.00

As a stubborn lover of paper and pens, I refuse to take notes on digital devices as often as possible. But for the Rocketbook Wave Smart Notebook? I'd definitely make an exception.

Rocketbook Wave looks and works like a traditional notebook. Using the FriXion pen provided, you simply write, draw, and doodle your way around the pages, and when you're done you can transfer your work into digital images that can be viewed and saved on portable devices or easily shared with others.

Founders Jake Epstein and Joe Lemay created the smart notebooks to allow people to save their notes to cloud services like email, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs, or OneNote, without sacrificing the dying art of handwriting. Using the Rocketbook app you can assign symbols to seven cloud services and digitally transport your notebook pages by taking photos of them.

But perhaps the most impressive part is that when the pages are filled you can put the notebooks in the microwave with a mug of water to make all the writing vanish. Though the sharks weren't down to back the notebook, it didn't stop the creators from achieving success.

2. Hater dating app — ✨Free✨

There's a fun, clapback saying along the lines of, "Haters to the left," because absolutely no one wants to hang with a bunch of haters. But when it comes to the dating app Hater you're going to want to see those haters front and center. Heck, you might even want to date, propose to, and eventually marry one of them.

Why? Well, Hater matches you with people who dislike the same things you dislike. It's essentially matchmaking for humorous grumpy people who hold their dislikes so dear to their heart that they want to bond with others over them. Romantic, no?

I vow to hate the same things as you for as long as we both shall live.

Image: hater

The app lets users swipe through 3,000 different topics, such as fedoras, vaping, cargo shorts, vegan food, and more. Simply swipe down to hate, up to love, left to dislike something, right to like something, and then wait to find your hatemate. 

3. Dessert Hummus — $5.99

Delighted By Hummus is a dessert lover's dream come true. Founder Makenzie Marzluff created the sweet spreads using chickpeas as the main ingredient with four delectable flavors: Vanilla Bean, Snickerdoodle, Choc-o-Mint, and Brownie Batter, to make the healthy snacks taste like some serious indulgence.

"This shit is good," Shark Tank judge Mark Cuban so eloquently said upon trying it. "I have to admit, it's damn good," judge Kevin O'Leary added.

A post shared by The Original Dessert Hummus™ (@delightedbydesserthummus) on Feb 23, 2018 at 6:53pm PST

The hummus selections are perfect for dipping graham crackers, pretzels, fruit, or creating your own concoctions. And they're also vegan, gluten-free, and have zero preservatives, making them essentially guilt-free as well.

Another noteworthy Shark Tank dessert mention: Cupcakes in jars.

4. Scrub Daddy — $3.59 (prices vary)

The name "Scrub Daddy" is a bit cringeworthy, yes. And I'm not sure a sponge (aside from SquarePants) has ever been thought of as cool, but nevertheless here we are.

The Scrub Daddy is a high-tech scrubber that changes texture based on water temperature to ensure you're properly washing your dishes. When Scrub Daddy is placed in cold water it becomes rigid to tackle messes that might require some extra effort, and in warm water the scrubber becomes "soft and fluffy."

Image: scrub daddy

Uniquely designed in the shape of a cheerful smiley face, it features eyes and mouth openings that allow users to clean hard-to-reach places. The scrubber is gentle enough not to scratch your pans but sturdy enough to wipe down appliances, bathtubs, tires, and more. Cleaning's more fun if you're holding a large, non-edible french fry, right?

5. SmartGurlz Coding Robot Dolls — $79.99

Dolls just got a lot smarter thanks to SmartGurlz, a Danish company that created robot dolls designed to teach young girls to code while they play. Both educational and fun, the SmartGurlz dolls each come with bluetooth powered Siggy Robots, or mini segways, that can be controlled by a free app via smartphone or tablet.

The dolls — equipped with more than 100 different coding combinations —aim to teach programming skills and inspire girls to actively take an interest in STEM fields.

6. Bombas Socks — $10+

Bombas socks were created with a mission to give back to those in need. For each pair purchased, Bombas donates a pair of socks to homeless communities.

In addition to working with shelters, nonprofits, and other organizations Bombas specially engineered their socks to be more comfortable than regular socks, moisture repellent, and temperature adaptable.

They're a little more costly than normal socks, but seem well worth it. So far, the company has donated over five million pairs.

7. Tipsy Elves Ugly Holiday Sweaters — $30 (prices vary)

Tipsy Elves is here to deliver "the most outrageous clothes known to mankind" in an attempt to brighten all of our lives.

The witty apparel company creates everything from ugly holiday sweaters for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's Day to regular clothing and sportswear. Tipsy Elves is the perfect place to shop for holiday gatherings or presents with a little flair.

Image: TIPSY ELVES

8. Phonesoap Charger — $59.95

Phones carry a ton of germs, but who has the patience to take time out of their days to clean them? Have no fear — Phonesoap Charger will do the dirty work for you!

Simply insert your phone into the sanitizing device and two UV-C lights will work to destroy 99.9 percent of the bacteria. The process can last five minutes or you can leave your phone in overnight, because guess what? The device simultaneously charges your battery. A true win-win.

9. Baker's Edge — $35.95

I'm a huge fan of gooey middle brownies, but sometimes everyone is craving an edge piece and there are never enough to go around. With the Baker's Edge pan, whether you're making cakes, brownies, or lasagna, the days of fighting for end pieces are long gone. 

*GIF of Oprah shouting "You get an end piece, you get an end piece, everyone gets an end piece!"*

Image: amazon/bakers edge

10. The Eggmazing Egg Decorator — $29.99

It's tradition to dye hard-boiled eggs around Easter time, but with the Eggmazing Egg Decorator we could be enjoying beautifully decorated eggs year-round.

The unique device makes the decorating process much less messy by using markers, rather than dipping the eggs in colored water, to draw designs. Simply place a hard-boiled egg in the container and color it while it spins. Go forth and create egg-celent works of art.

Image: eggmazing

11. InstaFire Fire Starter — $24.95+

Ever in the mood to start a fire but just plain suck at it? Don't worry, your lack of skill is so relatable that someone invented a product to help.

Say hello to InstaFire, an innovative fire-starting product that requires only a match to use. Simply light a match and ignite InstaFire — a mixture of wood pellets, volcanic rock, and paraffin wax — to get a blaze going.

How could anyone not be intrigued by this product? Especially after watching this informational video set to an instrumental loop of "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional...

12. Stasher Silicone Food Storage Bags — $9.99+

Love using plastic bags to store your food but hate harming the environment? You're in luck. Stasher bags are here to change your world.

These eco-friendly bags were created to cut down on plastic waste, made from 100% pure platinum silicone which means they're safer for microwave and oven, and can even be boiled in water. Stashers come as sandwich bags, snack bags, and half-gallon storage bags, so you can say goodbye to plastic and make a total storage bag transition.  

Image: stasher

13. Wireless record player — $99

Referred to as "a different spin on vinyl," the RokBlock by Pink Donut is an innovative, portable, and wireless record player.

The small device can play 33s and 45s for four hours and houses its rechargeable lithium battery in a block made of bamboo and medium-density fiberboard. Simply place it on top of a record and let it spin.

The block contains a built-in speaker, but is also Bluetooth compatible so users can play their vinyl hits from any speakers of their choice or connect to Bluetooth-enabled headphones.

14. Christmas Tree Hugger — $17.95

Fake trees are nothing like the real thing, although many people choose them due to allergies or for ecological reasons.

Though the Christmas Tree Hugger is also a fake stump, it at least LOOKS real, which means you can finally cover up those unsightly metal rods on the bottom of artificial trees and pretend you've got the real deal.

A Christmas miracle, indeed.

Image: Christmas tree hugger

BONUS: 

Mini Lumio — $150

Calling all book lovers, Lumio is the mood lighting for you. Okay, this product costs a bit more than $100, but it's worth it.

To turn the LED lamp on, simply unfold Lumio like a book and its accordion-style "pages" — powered by rechargeable batteries that last right hours — will illuminate. But Lumio is much more than just a lamp, it's a modern work of art that can take your decor to the next level.

Lumio can lay flat, stand up straight, connect to another Lumio, and even be mounted on flat surfaces like walls, closets, and more. It might not be the most functional source of light in your house, but hey, it looks hella tight and emits a sexy little glow.

Shark Robert Herjavec certainly approved.

Thank you for taking this journey down Shark Tank memory lane with us. And if you're now so obsessed with the show you want to learn about every single product ever featured, you can re-watch old episodes or check out allsharktankproducts.com — an unofficial website created by a fellow entrepreneur and fan of the show.

Correction — An earlier version of this story incorrectly noted that Rocketbook Wave Smart Notebook founders Jake Epstein and Joe Lemay graduated from The University of Cambridge. Epstein graduated from Purdue and Lemay graduated from Cornell.

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