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yutahoes · 4 years ago

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Sakura

(Part Two)

One - Two

genre : Chaptered, Fluff

pairing : childhood friends: soccer player! Nakamoto Yuta x single mom! Reader (Y/N)

word count : 2.3k words

You’ll always be his Sakura.

taglist : @ailoveyuta @loona-4-eva @aiforyuu @2-3-t-i @cosmiclatte28 @url-lindo-sexy @nuoyipeach @aaasteroidsky @readers-posts @delightfultacobread @bby-kji9 @a-bts-world @mel-yjh @yeolsechanhun @yutazen01

It was the summer before his third grade when his dad announced that they will be moving to Seoul because of a business opportunity. The then eight-year-old Yuta hated that he had to leave his friends just because he can't stay in Japan. He hated that he had to transfer schools and learn a new language. Why do they have to move to another country? Why not move to another city instead?

When the teacher introduced him to the class of third graders, he just glared at his Korean classmates who were looking at him in wonder. He doesn't want to be friends with them. He doesn't want to talk. He doesn't want to learn a new language. He's Japanese, why would he speak Korean? The teacher told him - or at least that was what he understood - to sit on a vacant chair at the back of the class. His classmates were staring at him. He's the new guy, it's normal. But he hated the attention.

It was lunch when he decided to eat on the school's rooftop. He wasn't surprised that it was locked but a girl was drawing on the door of the rooftop. Isn't she in his class? The girl seated in front of him? A crayon drawing of stick figures made him curious, what is that?

A certain symbol caught his attention, a straight line with a beak-like image and wings at the end held by a stickman he believed is a girl because of the triangular picture below her body. "Sakura?" He asked and the girl jolted in surprise, quickly hiding what she was doing. "Cardcaptor Sakura?"

The girl was wide-eyed, looked at her drawing then at him. He noticed how her eyes twinkle at that even if the area isn't well-lit. Or is it because she just cried? "You're that Japanese guy." She said in Korean and he only caught the words 'Japanese' and 'guy' so she's probably referring to him. "Do you know Cardcaptor Sakura?" He only nodded. It is a hit in Japan, everyone knows Sakura. "I like Cardcaptor Sakura!" She exclaimed with a bright smile.

That was the first time he saw that girl who loves Sakura. The first classmate who talked to him as if they spoke the same language. He remembered handing her a comic of her favorite cartoons the next day and she introduced herself as Y/N, even asking him along the lines of 'Can you teach me Japanese?' and 'Do you want to be friends with me?'

His initial plan of not knowing Korean or not talking to people backfired. He wanted to have a real conversation with this Sakura girl. His first Korean friend.

Yuta would remember teaching her hiragana every lunchtime, on their own place by the door of the rooftop and she would teach him hangul in exchange. Before class, she would tell him stories about what happened to Sakura from the episode yesterday as if he didn't watch the same show. After class, they would spend some time in the playground waiting for her mom to pick her up.

She was also the person who encouraged him to try out for the soccer team. Unlike in Japan, soccer isn't a required PE in Korea so his classmates were amazed that he knew how to play soccer, even defeating some older kids. "Yuta, sugoi!" She exclaimed that made him smile, a real genuine smile he never showed to everyone. "You're handsome when you smile. You should smile more often." It was her who made him smile more. Just because he wanted her to call him handsome once again.

In fourth grade, the two were so close that she spent time in their home and him on hers. Sometimes she would even sleep at their place when her mom has to stay all night in the hospital. He found out that she doesn't have a dad, he left them when she's just a baby and that she would always cry in her sleep looking for her dad. Kids weren't very welcoming with the idea of a broken family either and he would often see her crying on the stairs to the rooftop.

And now, she's the one who has children. A mom. He never imagined that he will see her as a mom in the future. He wondered if she still cries for her dad. He wonders if she still knew how to speak or write Japanese. He wonders if she could call him 'handsome' again.

Yuta promised that he wouldn't stay that long in Korea, he wanted to leave as soon as the wedding was over and he had every reason why. But Mark Lee, his secretary, thinks that he needs to stay for a couple more days and think of it as a vacation before the big soccer leagues happen.

"Your alma mater is inviting you to teach the soccer club," Mark noted as he stared at the email by the administration of his former elementary school. The place where he honed his soccer playing skills.

The place where he met her.

The younger guy was surprised when the soccer player agreed to the said invitation. Even forcing him to do it today before he changes his mind. Luckily, he doesn't have any schedules that day.

The school changed a lot. Well, it's been years since he last visited the place. A lot of buildings surrounded the soccer field and he watched how elementary kids played. They look so small or is it because he's used to watching the adults play? The principal greeted him and introduced him to the soccer coach who looked so cocky. But instead of heading to the soccer field, he asked the principal if he could look upstairs.

His feet dragged him to the staircase to the rooftop. Their meeting place. The door changed color, erasing her drawing that they maintained for years. From the stick figures to an actual 2D drawing of Sakura and Syaoran.

He wished he could just erase his memory of her as well. The same way as the drawings are erased.

It was free period when he went down to the classrooms and saw little kids in the school's hallway. Are they this small? "It's because you don't have a dad." He heard a child say and saw that it's a huge kid, probably a third-grader, in his jersey. "The soccer team doesn't accept kids who don't have dads." Well, elementary didn't change.

When his gaze caught the smaller boy he's talking to, a sudden feeling of recognition hit him. Jae. Y/N's son. "My dad lives abroad." He nodded, he's correct about that.

"Dads should watch your soccer games." The older kid claimed, making Yuta shake his head. Are children’s behavior like this? Well, he really should refrain from making one of his own. "Accept it, Jae. You can never be good for the soccer team."

"Yah!" Someone shouted from the side. "Stop bullying my brother." Yuta smiled as he watched the mini version of the girl occupying his mind shout at the bigger kids who were hurting her brother. She's totally different from her. "Did your dad teach you that?"

The bigger kid only glared when the soccer coach called for him, and he quickly called him 'daddy'. So that is where his confidence came from. His gaze returned to the siblings, Jae was holding his sister's arm saying sorry that she had to get angry. Yuta smiled, that's their mom's attitude. Always apologetic. How can these two be a spitting image of her? Truly, they're her children.

"Yuta Nakamoto," Jae called before he could flee the place. He greeted the young boy then smiled at the girl who was looking at him in curiosity. "I told you he's eomma's friend, noona. He knows my name." Yuta chuckled at that. He just met his youngest fanboy.

The younger girl pulled her brother behind her that surprised Yuta. "Eomma said not to talk to strangers." The older smirked. She's really different from her mom.

"Should we call your mom? Can you give me her number?" The girl shook her head and Yuta nodded, already texting Taeyong. He responded with her number and Yuta quickly called the said phone number, "Hi Y/N. It's Yuta." Both kids were staring at him, "I'm here in Jae's school. Can I bring them to the mall?"

"Ahjusshi, can I see if it's my mom?" The girl asked and Yuta handed his phone to her. "Eomma?" The girl stared at him in wonder as she heard her mom's voice. "Then can we go with this ahjusshi?" She glared at him for a moment then nodded as if she’s talking to her mom. “She wants to talk to you.”

“Yuta, you don’t have to do this if you’re busy.” But he wanted to. He wanted to spend time with them and learn about her as a mom. “Just message me where you are. I’ll pick them up.” He agreed. If only he could spend time with her as well.

It was Jae who’s most excited when they reached the mall. The older girl stayed a few feet away from the two of them. Maybe she’s not interested. But really, she’s a tough nut to crack. He discovered that Jae wanted to play soccer but his mom doesn’t want him to, saying that he’s too young to play. So Yuta brought him to a shop where they sell sports shoes. “I’ll go talk to your mom. But for now, wear these soccer shoes,” he claimed while tying the younger boy’s shoelaces that made him beam. Jae hugged Yuta, thanking him for the shoes. “You’re welcome, bud.”

Yuta realized that he didn’t know the older girl’s name. What was it? Did Y/N mention her name? To be safe, he just asked Jae about it. “Cherry,” he called then walked to where she was, staring at the skating shoes. “Do you want one?” She shook her head mumbling that their mom would get mad. “Besides, it’s not snowing.” He nodded.

“We can go ice skating...”

“You’re not my dad.” That made Yuta stop. Of course, he’s not. “Stop acting that you care about me or Jae. You’re just like the other guys.” Other guys? “You’ll leave me and Jae. You’ll leave eomma.” She’s a difficult nut to crack.

Yet she’s so different when she’s next to her brother. The cold eyes were changed into warmness when her brother asked if they could play in the ball pit. She looked like a child, smiling at the younger as they bounced at the trampoline. She looks exactly like her. How can two children, both from the same parents, have so different personalities?

He was just watching them, texting Y/N where he is, checking from time to time the two kids playing with the others in the ball pit area. "Hey," Y/N called, sitting beside Yuta on the mall bench. She smiled seeing the two playing. "Did they tire you?"

Yuta laughed. "It's fine. They're cool." There was silence, a comfortable silence. It's awkward to see her now. A lot of things changed. "Jae has the same personality as you, that's cute." She giggled. "Cherry looks like you."

Y/N nodded. "I'm glad she talks to you."

"It was hard, honestly." He confessed and again, she giggled. That sound. He missed her laugh. "I think she wants to go figure skating." That surprised Y/N. "And Jae wants to play soccer."

"He's too young. He'll get hurt with the bigger kids." Yuta was about to revolt at that. "I remembered when you played with the bigger kids back in eighth grade." That was one of his worst plays ever. Until now, he can feel how hurt he is.

She confessed that she doesn't know anything about sports that's why she's a little worried about sending her kids to the sports clinic that made him smile. She's such a mom. "I'll train Jae," Yuta announced that made her look at him. "I have to stay in Spain for two months for the league then I'll come back and teach Jae soccer." He explained. "I'll help Cherry too."

"Yuta, you don't have to."

"I want to." He held her hand. "Please."

"Why are you holding hands?" Cherry asked that made Yuta let go of his hold on her.

The older just gave her daughter a glare that made Yuta laugh. They look alike, the resemblance is too uncanny if you see them now yet they’re so different. “Eomma!” Jae called, reaching out to hug his mom. “I had fun today.” And she smiled at him. “Yuta samchon is so cool.”

“He bought you shoes?” She asked, checking the new kicks on her son’s feet. Jae claimed that he also bought Cherry one that made the older girl glare at Yuta. “Did you say thank you?” Both nodded.

Yuta smiled at them. They do look like a happy family. “I’ll get going. I’ll see you when I get back from Spain.” Y/N nodded. Yuta asked for a hug and Jae was the only one who’s ecstatic to hug him. Cherry rolled her eyes that made the older guy laugh. As expected. “Come on, Y/N, a hug.” He said, hands extended for the older girl.

The girl giggled before giving him a tight hug. His hand rested on her back then the other on the back of her head, caressing her hair. “You’re doing a great job being a mom, Sakura.”

She laughed before muttering the words, “I’m proud of you, Syaoran.”

Watching the three of them head to a different way opposite him, he wished he would have another chance to bond with them. He would love to be with them. Maybe having children isn’t too bad.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Three

#yuta fluff #yuta nakamoto fluff #yuta nakamoto #Yuta #chaptered

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steve0discusses · 4 years ago

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S5 Ep 3: Apdnarg is Really Hard to Spell

Yo guys, people are getting vaccinated, the sun is parting through the clouds, and I felt so nice that I even stopped listening to quite so many throwback 00′s BTS mashups (and yet I keep clicking on these dissonant catastrophes thinking “this time it’s got to be better. This time they’ll figure it out.” and like, no. Turns out you can’t match Brittany’s Toxic with BTS’ Black Swan. You can’t do that.)

This must be a sign that things are getting better. If anything, it means my personal tastes are improving. I mean I only clicked on like 3 “Dark Academia” Playlists where I could pretend I’m some sort of spooky witch in an abandoned library with a bad music player and basic taste in classical music (like can we ban Satie from Youtube for a little while?). Hell, I might even do a prompt update to this blog!

Yeah, you heard me, I’m actually going to stay ahead of the update schedule for Yugioh Abridged (maybe. I haven’t actually watched cuz of spoilers, I just noticed the thumbnail pop up on Youtube and was like “Damn it, they came out of hiatus??? I got hurry UP.”)

Anyway, speaking of the sky parting.

I’ll have you know my bro said this is actually more like a circumcision and it was one of the worst thing I have ever heard.

We get a chance to take in this lineup of confusing and varied character designs, and Joey. who is...still Joey.

The animators probably had to hold a strike in order for them to put Yugi in the audience, lets be real. There are TOO MANY PEOPLE in this shot and one is wearing a turban where you draw every single wrap. I hope those artists charged by the line.

Tea has a subplot where she’s just very frustrated with everyone she knows. They have been traveling together for like many weeks and got trapped in a foreign country so I get it. But at the same time, it’s kind of hard to picture Tea with female friends.

Because right now you got this 12 year old child, the other duelist who does not care about anything besides cards, and Kaiba’s 3 dragon cards that we’ve all collectively decided are female.

Hell it’s almost like the writers are asking themselves why Tea is here. Maybe they forgot. There’s no more ghosts to bus, no more people to knock out with her ass with random Olympic feats. Tea’s just sidelining.

(read more under the cut)

Mokuba is a itty bit bit taller this season, and so I guess that means he can legally climb on top of the cherry picker in order to give a riveting speech.

Really says a lot about Mokuba that he is so unphased about talking to, I dunno...an entire planet of people. Kind of a shame we never see this courage from Mokuba used for anything other than talking really, really big and giving everyone around him a really hard time.

Mokuba takes a moment to dunk on Yugi Muto, as is Kaiba tradition.

And then introduce the first pair of duelists, which obviously must be between the few people in this tournament that we actually know and care about.

Thankfully, in between last episode and this episode, Yugi has figured out who his own Grandpa is. This is a relief, because Yugi is such a mess, that I was fully convinced it would take over half a season for him to recognize it. I mean how long did it take him to figure out he shares a body with a ghost? Like half a season?

Instead Yugi recovered gracefully from not recognizing his grandpa, but it’s not like he bothered to tell anyone else, so the rest of our cast is just gonna be like “Is he my hairdresser? The guy who delivers my mail? Who is this guy who made absolutely no significant changes to his outfit or voice?”

Like sometimes this show goes full Spongebob silly kid’s show and you never know when to take it seriously or not. They might be sacrificing the entire cast next episode. I really don’t know. But for now their big concern is who is grandpa??? Like an innocent card version of “Are you my Mother?”

Faced with public speaking, Yugi decides to have a melt down.

We have seen him face monsters, we’ve seen him on TV dozens of times, he’s been in multiple competitions...but give a speech? Of course he can’t do that. The kid doesn’t attend enough school to know how to do that. Them’s learning skills.

And that was when a newly assembled wife-jet spliced through the sky like a souped up razer scooter and deposited 1 fully equipped Seto Kaiba in a Buzz Lightyear jetsuit.

THE RECOVERY.

Seto always watching over his Brother, ready to save this awkward party if it kills him (and it really should, that suit is held together by two seat-belts), making sure to get on that platform before Yugi starts going off about how he’s half an Ancient Egyptian. (Ah, life before social media. You could just be hella famous and also half a dead dude and people would just not know. I kinda miss the time before I knew literally everything about everyone.)

Please admire how close those flames are to setting Mokuba’s heavily hairsprayed mane completely alight. It would be an unforgettable spectacle.

These were absolutely just random ass jet packs that Gozaburo Kaiba made to kill hell tons of people, right? Like Seto found it in the family cabin, clutched to the heart of some crispy fried corpse and was like “neat! Mokuba! I found a cool toy!” and just plucked that thing out of that skeleton’s clutches and has been flying around for months?

Like this is Seto Kaiba’s Butter Glider, right?

Seriously what type of vehicle license do you need for one of these things? RIP My ‘Seto only has a scooter license’ headcanon.

Which I’m only even thinking about because I’ve had to try and make an appt with the DMV for days to get a freakin REAL ID. I went to sleep in 2019 and I could fly on a plane. I woke up in 2021 and it’s like “Want one last screw you?” and just...can 2020 please stop screwing me over? It’s March.

Anyway, the Jet is removed soon after, so no, this is not part of his new outfit. He goes right back to his Post-S4-Trauma-Normcore.

After wrestling this competition out of his brother’s hands and confusing everyone in the audience, Roland must have gotten the memo to cut the microphone before Seto got too excited and we were quickly ushered on to the next stage of the tournament.

One sec...the BTS Mashup playlist I just clicked on did a Black Swan X 7 rings mashup and it’s the worst thing my ears have ever heard.

Holy crap. I had to actually turn down my volume. Like...Ariana Grande already has music that has way too many overlapping singing parts on it--and then lets just stick a 52-person boy band on top? That’ll fix it. Yeah. Go ahead.

Wow. Even I had to change the song and you know how much I enjoy pop culture mistakes.

Spot the Mickey but like a million times easier because it’s a Massive Dick Shaped Dragon.

Yep. That’s my grocery shopping outfit. Except maybe not a lab coat and a duel disk. Wish I had a duel disk, that would make social distancing just a hell ton earlier. Just a “Yo, only one person in checkout, please” and then bap them on the head with a propelled discuss/hologram.

Anyway, Grocery shopping/Doctor man dueled the Purple Hair Boy, and considering that Purple Hair got screen time and shook Yugi’s hand once--I think that Doctor man doesn’t stand a freakin chance.

Good. I hate him.

Also, every time he breathes he’s gonna fog up his glasses. I have experience in this area. He can’t read his own cards in the same way I can’t read my phone if I’m in the refrigerated aisle.

So the way this tournament works, is everyone has to sit in the stadium to watch the show. Kinda like showing up to a football stadium just to watch a recorded TV monitor...but then again...that is how it feels to watch a football game at a football stadium when it’s live (at least with the tickets I usually get.)

And as we watch Grandpa waiting for his competitor, we find out that his competitor (Joey) is too busy eating snacks to give him the time of day.

Why do cartoon hot dogs always have lettuce? Is that seriously supposed to be relish? Or is there a place in the world where you put lettuce on your hot dog?

Sorry, bro has just informed of his favorite hot dog order, which is absolutely terrible so I will share it with you: a Five Guys hot dog with ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, onions, mushrooms, pickled peppers, and you guessed it--topped with freakin lettuce.

My own kin. How am I over 30 and just finding out that my baby brother thinks it’s normal to walk into a restaurant with normal god-fearing law-abiding people and order lettuce and mushrooms on a hot dog?

I have fully failed him.

The rest of this episode is watching both Joey Wheeler and Mokuba have a shared panic attack while Seto does freakin nothing.

Please remember that Seto has both a jetpack and a dragon wife plane and could have easily solved this problem. But nah.

Then again, Seto Kaiba has given this crew so MANY rides, that maybe he’s tired of being the Soccer Mom for the team?

Like they don’t actually say this episode, but Seto was the one in charge of like...this entire place, do you think he made the 2 for 1 special just to get Joey where it hurts the most? Or does it actually not take any subterfuge to screw Joey Wheeler because he’s just naturally this way?

Like Mokuba wasn’t there when Joey was told “stay right here, and then we will all go together to fight Dartz” and Joey was like “I’mma save Mai from herself although she told me not to!” and then he Hella Died. But, Mokuba did see the result, AKA, Joey’s dead body being carried on the back of Tristan. Maybe Mokuba never realized that Joey died because he went out of his way to be late?

Lets do a tally of every time I can recall with my dodgy memory that Joey was threatened to be DQ’d/pretty much was DQ’d either by his own fault or no fault of his own

-When he wasn’t allowed to go on the boat to Murder Island because he was a stupid nobody kid who did not have a dueling glove

-When he wasn’t actually supposed to be in Pegasus’ tourney and was, in fact, secretly using half of Yugi’s entrance ticket the entire time

-when Bandit Keith stole the ticket that Joey got from Yugi so then Joey had to borrow Mai’s ticket although she had just used it so it really shouldn't have counted. Because, really anyone could have just piggy backed off of each other’s ticket until the whole boat went through that castle.

-When his account was hacked to get entered into Kaiba’s tourney when Kaiba very clearly told him he could not apply solely because he was Joey Wheeler.

-When he was late to his sister’s eye surgery because he got mugged by Marik’s Rare Hunters, so she almost refused to do the surgery.

-When Joey got possessed by Marik, and as Marik, threatened to murder everyone else in the tournament including both of the Kaiba brother’s who’s tournament it was, and then chained himself to Yugi Muto to throw both of them to the bottom of the ocean.

-I think there was a point when he threatened to attack Kaiba in Kaiba’s own tourney while not possessed? Like several times?

-when he got struck by Lightning and almost did not stand up fast enough after being struck by lightning, which is apparently a type of DQ in Duel Monsters.

-When he tried to save Mai from getting hit by a fireball, but then Yugi did it instead, and then so many people were standing on the dueling platform that Kaiba couldn’t possibly DQ them all.

-When he entered the restricted area of the blimp in order to hassle Kaiba into landing the Blimp, which Kaiba did not do.

-When Marik killed Joey before Joey could press the “go” button on his duel disk to play the card that should have won Joey the match.

-When he was dueling a lawyer in a digital universe but then the dice was like...weighted? So Noah had to walk over and be like “The hell is this weighted dice? This is my perfect digital world? How did you even do that?” and then Joey won because the match was no longer legit.

-When Joey yelled at Noah too much and so Noah turned Joey to stone for being a rude ass spectator

-When Mai was like “Wheeler and Valon, listen closely: do NOT murder each other” and then Joey did a murder on Valon so she was like “I guess I have no choice, I was very clear” and killed Joey straight up.

-When Joey decided to block Seto’s fireballs while Joey Wheeler WAS a playing card, somehow disrespecting both Dartz and Seto Kaiba at the same time.

-When Joey was playing cards but then got absorbed into a giant Leviathan and basically couldn’t play anymore after that.

-There’s probably hell ton of S0 stuff I just haven’t seen yet.

-This episode

And Joey runs fast for a montage of wacky things that really have no business being in a theme park. Things like this:

(remember when Bakura almost died from a rock that ended up being a balloon? It comes full circle.)

The stuff that the Kaiba brother’s think is normal and fun.

Anyway Joey fights off a bunch of hologram snakes and bats and everyone is like “Should we tell him it’s just holograms???” And it’s like wow, guys, how many times have these ‘holograms’ straight up murdered Joey Wheeler and everyone else on this cast? Too many? Because I have a google doc with so many deaths on it. 7,805,844,048, to be exact.

Anyway, he gets there with five seconds to spare and Mokuba’s like “well at least you were still entertaining while we filmed you in front of a live audience being a total spaz for 15 minutes straight, so I’ll let you go.”

Grandpa and Joey start playing, Joey completely oblivious that this is just an older Muto, while Hawkins walks up awkwardly and is like “hey guys. I’m so sorry about this.”

(welcome to my font choices, for those new here, I have to make weird font color choices to make sure it’s legible for the colorblind and also for the non-colorblind. This one is not much contrast, so I may change it up in the future, but for now, this is Grandpa Muto’s new font. I apologize to every graphic designer reading this. Please don’t tell anyone who has ever hired me for graphic design about this blog.)

What’s funny about this exchange is that after they find out that Yugi’s Grandpa is Apdnarg (HOLY my brain cannot get around the spelling for that, and I will not change it in the caps. I cannot do a ‘pdn’ ever again), they don’t stand on his side of the field or anything. Hawkins is legit Solomon Muto’s only fan during this exchange and like...damn. Way not to back your Grandpa, Yugi.

Yugi immediately strides up to Mokuba to non-confrontation-ally inform him that he has stepped over a line and Mokuba is like “what are these things you say called ‘lines?’”

According to Mokuba, Solomon Muto begged him to be in the competition so he could relive his glory days (glory days making no sense here, because the game has only been released for the past 15 years, so glory days is like...the before times that can only be referring to disgraced archeologists and Pegasus ((who is, in his own way...a disgraced archeologist, too))) and Mokuba was like

“You trained Yugi Muto, right? Hey that’s good enough for me. This drama is gold. People will eat it up. Hell yes. Don’t be afraid to abduct him a little bit. Maybe trap a couple people in a digital hellscape for a little while? Now we go by Pegasus house rules here, so fire as many lasers as you want, but just make sure not to hit anyone in the face. Oh man, we are going to be swimming in cash. Love it, Muto Sr, love it.”

But I dunno, I feel like Grandpa won’t make it past next episode. It is Joey. We kinda need him to make it past Ep 4 of the arc. If Grandpa Muto becomes the new Joey Wheeler, that will be a weird transition for this show to make.

But that’s all for today, as always, here is the link to read these in chrono order becuase there’s SO MANY that you don’t need to read backwards--don’t do it--just use the chrono tag (and I don’t know if you can add compound tags, but I did separate the Season from the Episode, so if you write S4, it should only pop up stuff from S4. I didn't’ do that to seasons 1-3 though because I just...didn’t.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

And because I brought it up: here it is, the best BTS Mashup that I found on my deep dive. Like legit--this one isn’t a mess:

youtube

Most of other ones are horrible in a fascinating way. Like I’m not even a BTS fan, I think I sort of age out of that metric, I’m just bored and quarantined. And lets be real, we all appreciate a good bop when we hear it.

#yugioh #ygo #yu gi oh #photo recap #recap #episode recap #yugi muto #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #Joey Wheeler #Apdnarg #Grandpa muto #tea gardner #tristan taylor #professor hawkins #and then I ranted about BTS #but please don't quiz me about BTS I know nothing about them aside from the music #I actually thought there were over 12 of them because every time I see them perform it feels like an entire stageplay production of people #like a 101 dalmations situation where every time I saw BTS there were 3 new people #I assumed it was like the Gorrilaz where people just show up and then disappear in a rotation #but no. There's 7 BTS members #that can't be right #there has to be more than 7 #is this a berenstein bears situation?#how is there only 7?#I swear there used to be like 16 #and they would be introduced like here's jimin and Jungkook and red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and pea #like is google seriously telling me there's only 7 kids in this band?#this is the biggest scam google has ever played on me #this weird alternate timeline that not only has an epidemic but also only 7 members of BTS

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kookscrescent · 5 years ago

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BTS Reaction┊Your child walks in at the wrong time

❖ Request: could you please do a bts reaction where their child walks in on them doing.... you know? ~ anon ❖ Pairing: bts x reader ❖ Genre: smut, reaction, established relationship with children ❖ Warnings: sexual content under the cut

⇥ Masterlist

NB! This is all fiction! Nothing mentioned/written are facts and/or real! So please just keep that in mind when reading and enjoy! Thank you ♡

SEOKJIN

You are on all fours, your hands gripping the comforter beneath you as Jin thrusts in and out of you in a slow and torturous pace.

“Right there,” you breathlessly tell him, urging him to speed up just a bit.

The burning feeling of your orgasm begins low in your stomach, spreading to the rest of your body and just as you are about to reach your high, the door to your bedroom opens and in walks your three year old daughter.

Both of you freeze, panic setting in, but Jin is quick. He quickly grabs the duvet on the bed and throws in over your lower halfs, and pulls out of you to sit behind you.

“Hailey darling,” Jin say still a little out of breath. “What are you doing out of bed?”

She is clutching her teddy close to her chest and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. “There’s a monster under my bed.” You hear her sniffle and your motherly instinct replaces your earlier feelings of desire with quick force.

“Do you want mommy or daddy to come check sweetie?” You have managed to pull your t shirt back on your body, and discretely you hand Jin his boxers under the duvet.

Hailey eagerly nods her head. “I want daddy!” She sobs and your heart clenches a little at the sound.

She had always been a daddies girl. To that little girl there is no greater human than her dad, and you don’t blame her for feeling that way.

Jin scrambles of the bed, his boxers now securely on and shuffles towards Hailey. “Why don't you go to mommy for a minute, okay? Daddy just needs to use the bathroom.” He brushes her hair back and she nods, her small legs taking one step at the time to reach you on the bed.

She stops just besides the bed, your hand wiping away the tears from her cheeks. Jin goes to the bathroom unnoticed.

“Did the monster wake you up sweetie?” You gently ask her, hearing the shower run in the bathroom.

She nods. “Yes.”

Jin is back in record time. His hair looks damp and he’s pulled on a pair of sweats and a t shirt. “Come on princess,” he grabs Hailey’s smaller hand in his. “Let’s go evict this monster.”

YOONGI

“Wow... that was...” Your breath leaves you lunges on a smile.

“I know,” Yoongi cockily agrees with you, his eyes looking over your naked form spread out on the bed.

Yoongi really knows how to rock your body in ways you would never have dreamed of. Even after being together for almost a decade and having two children.

He sits equally as naked on the end of the bed, his eyes never leaving yours. Your are about to speak when there’s a soft knock on the bedroom door and shortly after it cracks open.

With quick movements you cover yourself with the blanket next to you. Yoongi makes a quick dash for the bathroom, leaving you to deal with the situation by yourself.

“Mommy?” Daniels soft voice breaks the tension in the room. His small frame coming to view in the doorway.

“Yes honey?”

“Why were you screaming mommy? Did daddy hurt you?” He questions with worry. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry right now. Clearly Yoongi is taking the laughing route, as you hear him laughing from the bathroom.

“No no, he didn't hurt me baby! Daddy would never do that. I’m fine.” You sit up completely in the bed, still keeping the blanket around you.

“Then what were you doing?”

“Uh..” You brain scrambles for an answer. “We... We were playing honey. We were just playing a game.”

“Can I play?” Daniel then decides to ask, sending a wave of panic through your body.

“NO!” You instantly tell him and he’s clearly taken aback by your tone of voice. “It’s a game only grown ups can play.”

“Oh.”

“Baby it’s way past your bedtime. Go back to bed. I’ll see you in the morning okay.”

You vaguely see him nod. “Okay. Night mommy.”

“Night baby.”

Daniel leaves the room and Yoongi emerges from the bathroom. You chuck the nearest pillow after him. “Coward!” You hiss at him.

HOSEOK

When it comes to being parents - having a small child that’s just learned to walk - you have to come up with new ways to be intimate together, because your bedroom is not just yours anymore.

You have just put Josephine down for her lunch time nap, and seeing the opportunity to be with your husband, you take it.

That’s why you’re currently in Hoseok's office, disturbing his work by bouncing on his lap facing the computer.

“Fuck babe!” He half laughs half groans.

It’s been a while since you’ve last had sex, both of your busy schedules and Josephine taking up majority of your time.

“God, I’ve missed you.” You tell him.

“I missed you too.”

You are both lost in pleasure and don’t realize the door opening until it’s too late and Josephine is standing there, looking at you with big eyes.

Immediately you halt, thanking every god above that the desk is doing a good job at covering your lower halfs. To her it just looks like you are sitting on Hoseok's lap while he works.

“Jo,” Hoseok's says with shock. “It’s nap time. Why are you out of bed?”

“I need story,” she firmly tells you even though you have already read her two.

“Jo, mommy already read you a story, in fact she read you two.” She pouts out her lower lip, an act for her to get her way. She might be small, but she is stubborn as hell.

“If mommy read s you one more story, will you go back to sleep?”

Nodding, she breaks into a smile knowing she got her way. You huff, “Go wait for me in your room then sweetie. I’ll be right behind you.”

Josephine leaves the room with a skip in her steps. Slowly you get off Hoseok, pulling your pants back up, you turn to him. “Don’t go anywhere,” you point a finger at his chest. “I will be right back. And this time I’m locking the door.”

NAMJOON

Your knees are slightly burning from kneeling on the floor for a longer period of time. But at this point you don’t even care anymore.

It’s been so long since you’ve last been alone with Namjoon, that the feeling of want and desire, overrules the aching feeling in your knees.

In front of you, Namjoon stands, his dress shirt messy and untucked, his pants below his hips.

You are fully clothed as you work him in your mouth. Your hands helping intensifying his pleasure.

“Shit, your mouth feels so good!” He groans, his head thrown to the ceiling.

You hum around him, your tongue teasing and licking as you go.

His whole body tenses and you know he’s about to reach his limit. But just as you are about to take him to the finish line, the handle on the door starts jiggling. Luckily you remembered to lock it.

“Not now!” Namjoon whines above you.

With a sad smile and a small sorry, you release him to tuck himself back in his pants. On your way to the door, you manage to grab a baby wipe from the dresser, quickly wiping your hands and face for what might be there.

You unlock the door to reveal two small figures, each hugging their blankets close. “Jamie, Sofia... Why are you two out of bed at this hour?”

Jamie steps forward, his sister hiding behind him, her eyes looking sad. “Sofia peed in the bed.” He whispers as best as a four year old can.

You crouch down, your eyes finding Sofias. “Did you peed the bed Sofia?” She weakly nods, clearly embarrassed. This used to happen a lot in the past, but she has gotten so much better over the last few months.

“Don’t worry baby, we’ll just clean it up, okay.” Namjoon appears behind you, his earlier frustration now gone as he needs to help his children.

“Come on, let’s get some fresh sheets.” He tells them, heading for their room.

JIMIN

With three kids running around the house, you’re lucky if you have an hour or two to yourself a day. You wouldn't change it though, you love those little rascals with everything, but finding time for just you and Jimin has become harder, once the started learning how to walk and open doors.

“Babe, are you sure they are all playing downstairs?” You warily ask Jimin, who's currently buried between you naked thighs - his tongue and lips working wonders.

He pauses, his eyes meeting yours under heavy lashes. “Don't worry, they were all playing house when i left them.” He tells you, a cheeky glint in his eyes. “Besides, I locked the door this time.”

Hearing that he remembered to lock the door, you relax further into the bed. Jimin starts working his lips across yours, the heat in your stomach building to a tight knot.

You are almost at your breaking point, when you hear a shrieking voice yelling ‘Mommy’ from down stairs and footsteps coming up the stairs. Shortly after the door bursts open and you just about manage to throw the duvet over your naked half and Jimin, before your five year old son, Casper, sees.

“Casper!” You yell in slight panic. “What have we told you about knocking first when entering a closed room?”

“I’m sorry,” He looks to the floor, his hand still gripping the door handle.

Below the duvet, you can feel Jimin squirm. He’s probably becoming too hot down there so you hurry on the conversation.

“What are you doing mommy?” Casper curiously asks peering further into the bedroom.

“Mommy was just taking a nap. What do you need sweetie?”

“We want to go outside and play.”

“Go downstairs to your sisters and get your coats, okay. Mommy will be down in a minute.”

As soon as he’s out the room, leaving the door wide open, you pull aside the duvet, letting Jimin breath fresh air.

You scowl at him. “I thought you said you locked the door.”

TAEHYUNG

“Shit! We have to hurry!” You say in a rush and close the bathroom door behind you and Taehyung.

You’ve managed to find 10 minutes for yourself, while your kids a busy being occupied by the cartoons down stairs.

Both desperate and in a hurry, you pull down your pants and underwear leaving everything else on. You bend over, your forearms resting on the counter by the sink, and Taehyung is immediately behind you, his erection already pushing inside.

You both groan in unison. “God!” He breaths, his hands resting on your hips as he sets a pace that will get you both over the edge in record time.

Your hand covers your mouth as you try to conceal the moans that are slipping out. You are both so lost in your pleasure that you don't realize the bathroom door opening until a small voice calls out.

“Daddy I need to pee.” Both of your heads wipe around to see your four year old son, Jayden, stands in the door way.

Luckily everything a four year old shouldn't see is covered by your backs and Taehyung's long shirt, but this is still not a situation you ever want to be in.

“Jayden, honey, go wait for daddy in the hallway.”

“But why?” He questions.

“Daddy, is just helping mommy. I’ll be out in a second, I promise.” Taehyung answers, the frustration evident in his voice.

“Okay,” the smaller version of Taehyung agrees. He really is a daddy’s boy through and through.

Taehyung pulls out of you, both of you whining in protest. “We’ll finish this later.” He promises.

JUNGKOOK

Your loud moans are ringing through the air in the bedroom. You can’t help it, no matter how hard you try keeping them in, they spill out.

“Baby, I’m telling you, you have to keep quiet!” Jungkook warns you, his hips furiously pumping between your open legs. “You’ll wake up Isabella.”

He leans down, his lips engulfing yours and swallowing your moans. Your hands are tight on his back, your fingers sliding down and under the duvet that’s over you, and down to his ass.

Jungkook groans in your ear, the sound sending tingles down your spin and right between your legs.

“I’m so close!” You whisper.

“Me too!”

His hips work even faster, the feeling in your stomach growing intensely tight and it’s going to burst at any moment.

“Shi-” Jungkook is interrupt by a knock at the bedroom door and it creaks open, the light from the hallway shining in.

Immediately Jungkook slumps down on top of you, his weight taking your breath for a second before you regain it. Isabella stand in the doorway, her eyes big and worried.

“Yes honey?” You ask her.

“Are you okay mommy?” Isabella asks stepping further into the room.

Peering down at Jungkook, he's closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. “Of course baby. I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You were screaming.”

Her comment knocks the wind out of you, but you can feel Jungkook start to laugh on top of you.

“Uh...”

“Were you having a bad dream?”

“Yes! Yes, I was. Mommy had a bad dream,” God, you wish the ground would swallow you whole right now. “but I’m fine now baby, so you can go back to your room and sleep, okay?”

“Is daddy okay?,” She asks, looking at Jungkook's form.

“He is, he is baby. He’s just sleeping.” You whisper the last part. “Go back to bed baby.” You tell her.

“Okay, good night mommy.”

“Night bella.”

She leaves the room, and your head falls to the bed with a huff. Jungkook finally reopens his eyes, a full blown smile and laugh on his face.

Glaring at him, “It’s not funny Jungkook.”

“Oh but it is.” He laughs.

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bangwoolofbangtan · 4 years ago

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Thank You, Kim Namjoon, for Inventing Suits

Alexa, play “Whatta Man."

What did we do in a previous life to earn the privilege of living in the same timeline as Kim Namjoon?

If my editor would let me, I could easily write 50,000 words about my ultimate bias, the leader of global pop supergroup BTS, Kim Namjoon. While I wasn’t granted quite that high of a word count, I have been given permission to gush over the idol from Ilsan-gu for his birthday.

Kim Namjoon, also known by his stage name, RM, is many things. He’s an incredibly talented composer and lyricist, equally gifted at creating ballads that will wreck you with their soul-baring loneliness and adrenaline-charged bangers that are so deftly written and velvet-voice performed that you don’t even realize he’s rapping about socio-economic inequality. He’s an environmentalist, a money-where-his-mouth is champion of justice, a humanitarian who has spoken at the United Nations and has been awarded the Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit, a museum-hopping art lover, and a brilliant orator who can switch from one of multiple languages he speaks fluently with the ease of a crab skittering across a beach.

As if that list of spectacular attributes weren’t enough for one person to embody, he’s also a genetically blessed individual who can wear the hell out of a suit. Broad-shouldered and armed with a dimple-bracketed smile that (I suspect) could ruin your life if aimed directly at you, RM is so dashing in a suit that I’m pretty sure he invented them. And so, for my birthday tribute to my bias, here is a love letter to my favorite natty Namjoon moments.

The 2019 Grammys Appearance

When BTS hit the red carpet for their very first Grammys in 2019, you could practically hear the collective gasp from ARMY around the world. Why? Four devastating words: RM. In. A. Tux.

With his silver hair shining like the moon(child), he eschewed the traditional bow tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his crisply starched shirt as if to remind us all that, yes: he’s still a crushingly sexy idol.

BTS ended up presenting the award for Best R&B Album that year (the first K-pop group to ever present a Grammy in the awards’ 60+ year history, by the way) and Namjoon slid in a subtle flex while on stage, promising, “we’ll be back,” making ARMY’s hearts flutter at the possibility. He made good on that promise and Bangtan returned in 2020 to perform part of a medley of Old Town Road remixes with Lil Nas X.

2021 Grammys: Your move. I’d like to humbly request a nomination for Map of the Soul: 7 and a full, BTS-only stage performance.

The Black Swan Music Video

No one was ready for Namjoon in "Black Swan."

The music video, which has more beautiful cinematography than most Oscar-winning films, is a gorgeous visual twin to an equally sublime song. It also blessed us with three-and-a-half minutes of RM smoldering in not one, but two suits! That jawline, that fading purple hair, that devastating gaze — I’ll never recover.

Speaking at the United Nations in 2018

One of RM’s most iconic suit moments didn’t happen on stage performing, but instead at the UN.

Yes, that UN.

BTS visited the United Nations in partnership with UNICEF’s End Violence campaign in 2018, and Namjoon stood front and center delivering a beautifully vulnerable speech (while looking completely dashing, of course). Listening to the full speech is a shortcut to turning any bad day into a good one. It’s filled with RM’s trademark sincerity and empathy, qualities that are so nakedly endearing it’s hard not to fall in love: “Today, I am who I am, with all of my faults and my mistakes. Tomorrow, I might be a tiny bit wiser, and that'll be me too. These faults and mistakes are what I am, making up the brightest stars in the constellation of my life. I have come to love myself for who I am, for who I was, and for who I hope to become.”

Performing at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards

In 2020, we now refer to Kim Namjoon as a "Billboard Hot 100 Chart #1 singer" (for 2 weeks in a row!).

Back in 2019, though, BTS hit the Billboard stage to perform “Boy With Luv” with Halsey, and my eyes turned into little cartoon hearts when Namjoon appeared in a pastel suit. The song is forever a bop — the musical version of a dose of serotonin — and the added visual of RM hitting that choreo while looking that suave is pure heaven.

Performing at Jingle Ball in 2019

RM performed in California for the annual Jingle Ball in a three piece white tuxedo looking fresher than the first snowfall of winter. While his performance alone is crush-worthy, the thing that stays in my heart from that day was a brief, behind the scenes moment. As J-Hope nervously fretted backstage about remembering his English lines on the teleprompter-less stage, Namjoon assured him, "I'll cover for you if you mess up. Don't worry." Nothing but respect for my president!

MC-ing at KCON in 2016

RM became the sexiest thing to ever happen to Newark, N.J. when BTS headlined KCON in 2016. That fluffy blonde hair, the cooly casual blazer, the general boyfriend aesthetic vibe — come on! He’s adorable!

Oh, and those glasses. Namjoon in glasses just hits differently.

©instyle.com

#bts #kim namjoon #Namjoon #knj #RM #namjoon's birthday #instyle #black swan #un speech #jingle ball #kcon #grammys #Billboard music awards

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arreisstorm · 4 years ago

Text

youtube

I know that this might seem dramatic to some and there's absolutely no way for you to understand unless you proudly call yourself ARMY and love and support BTS with all of your heart, but I honestly can't stop crying over this. I'm seriously having a breakdown right now and I can't stop. I didn't even get 20 secs in before I was already bawling my eyes out.

What can be seen as nothing more than a cartoon MV for some people, means the world to countless others like myself. The scenes in this video represents an entire story of all the hardships, pain, adversity, trials and tribulations that BTS have endured throughout this whirlwind of a journey they've been on since 2013.

"Ay, we bravely shout

"Throw all you have"

First fight with the world

Don't wanna die

But so much pain

Too much cryin'

So blunted blades"

They faced so much hatred from both people inside and outside the music industry, even those they once called close friends, and there were times when things felt too overwhelming and it would've been easier for them to just give it all up and throw in the towel, but they found strength in each other to carry on and whenever the world was against them they knew they would always have each other's backs.

"We are bullet-bullet-bulletproof

We faced the negative looks and did it

Bad memories, numerous trials

We bravely blocked them all, bulletproof"

Seeing how they incorporated their old selves in the video, remembering a time when life felt the hardest and then seeing how even through all of that pressure and negativity they still remained as one, still clinging tight to their connection to each other and braved the hatred and unknown together as one is where I first lost it. Then knowing how we as ARMY have always been there by their sides, supporting and loving them even when everyone else had turned their backs on these boys already, that is what broke me completely. There's a reason BTS gave us the name ARMY, it's not just because their name means 'Bulletproof Boyscouts' and the aesthetic fit, we were given the name ARMY because BTS knew how strong we were. We are their protectors, the ones who try with everything we have to shield them from all hurt and hatred thrown their way. We will stand up against the pressures and the backlash and we will defend our boys with every ounce of our beings. ARMY needs BTS and BTS needs ARMY, we are one, an multitude of different faces and looks that are united together as a family. Together we have all faced the same battle of uncertainty and impossible struggles, but we have always overcome so much along the way. We will always have our boys' backs and they will always have ours, no matter what.

"Throw stones at me

We don't fear anymore

We are we are together, bulletproof

(Yeah we have you have you)

Even if winter comes again

Even if I'm blocked off, I will still walk

We are we are forever, bulletproof

(Yeah we have you have you)

Even if winter comes again

Even if I'm blocked off, I will still walk

We are we are forever, bulletproof

(Yeah, we got to heaven)"

One of the things I've noticed within the K-pop industry when it comes to groups and how they treat their fans, a lot of the times they create this illusion of how members are supposed to not develop relationships with other people because their love "belongs" to their fans. You can see it all the time on variety shows and during fan meets, the questions being directed might entail the possibility of an idol's love life and then that idol is trained to say that they don't need anyone else because their hearts "belongs" to their fans, almost as if they are in this unofficial committed relationship with all these strangers, but that's not true for BTS. In my eyes I see BTS as people I greatly admire and love, but that doesn't mean I feel as if they belong to me or that we are in any kind of relationship with one another, and I think a lot of ARMY feel the same way. Yes the boys might say they love us, but it's in a way that is full of admiration and pride and gratitude. That's why I love the fact that I can call us a family. BTS and ARMY are one big, happy, and unbreakable family, we don't need delusional romantic notions of "love" to say we truly love one another. That is represented through our mutual cherished feelings and signs of respect we share and if you are true ARMY then you know that when BTS and ARMY say the mantra "We Purple You" to each other, it goes far beyond the limits of romantic attachments. We don't need our boys to say they will date us or that they are "saving" themselves for us, because that is unreasonable, "We Purple You" means we love you in a way that is like family. We will support you through everything, we will cheer you on during your triumphs, and we will pick you back up when life knocks you down. Just like the WAB: The Eternal asks:

"Tell me your every story

Tell me why you don't stop this

Tell me why you still walkin'

Walkin' with us"

This is why.

If you're always wondering why we are so passionate, why we are so dedicated, why we choose to continue this walk with our boys, why we defend them and show them love through everything, it's because ARMY believes in BTS. We believe that together we can take on the world, together not even the sky is the limit, and as long as we are together, nothing will ever be able to tear us apart.

That's why this song means so much. That's what this whole journey has been about. It started 7 years back, with nothing more than 7 unlikely strangers and a common dream, but it will end with 8;

7 humble, talented, driven, and inspiring boys from South Korea + 1 collective heart and soul full of passion, pride, and a powerful love know as ARMY.

"Yeah we are not seven, with you."

That's why this ending line speaks to our hearts so much, that's why Kim Namjoon cried when he penned this beautiful and emotional song, because it is a love letter, a promise between BTS and ARMY that we got to where we are together and we will continue on until the end with our hands intertwined and our heads held high.

So from myself and on behalf of all ARMYs everywhere,

We Purple You BTS and we will always walk with you until the very end and even beyond that 💜

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animeniacss · 4 years ago

Text

A Palette of Emotions - Artist!Taehyung x Teacher!Reader - Chapter 24 - Art is Subjective...

Synopsis: Taehyung dreams of being a professional and famous artist one day, but finds that the sea of creativity can be lurking with blood hungry sharks, as well as bland, motionless starfish. Swimming through the sea of opportunities somehow washed him up onto the shore of Bright Star Preschool, as an art teacher. This wasn’t where he expected to be 4 years into his career, but anything to get his big break though, right?

Feat. BTS, TXT, ITZY, Jisoo (BlackPink), Taeyong (NCT)

Genre: Romance, Slow Burn, Love Triangle, Drama, School Setting, Working!AU

Length: approx. 4.8k words

Chapter 24 - Art is Subjective

Taehyung watched from his folding chair as Jungkook eagerly set up his paintings around his spot in the show. Taehyung insisted on helping, but Jungkook told him he was not allowed to do anything but sit in the chair and offer support to the high schooler. Despite all of Taehyung’s insisting, Jungkook was not having it and proceeded to set up all of his work on his own. When he was done, he was quick to pull out his phone and step in front of his stall. Taehyung looked over at the eager boy, curious as to what he was doing.

Jungkook’s wide grin made Taehyung smile. “Smile, Hyung! This is going on my Instagram and I’m tagging you, so look cute!” Taehyung had to crane his neck slightly, but offered the camera a slight glimpse of his boxy smile, a peace sign lifting into the air. Jungkook snapped several pictures and stuck the phone in his pocket. “I’m so excited for everyone to start coming! Do you think I’ll sell something?”

“I’m sure you will,” Taehyung said. “But this can be a hard thing to do, so don’t get upset if you don’t have much success, it’s only your first art show.” Jungkook plopped beside his mentor, who offered him a supportive pat on the shoulder. The younger nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

“I know. I’m not a seasoned pro, like you.” He nodded, and Taehyung had to let a laugh out.

“Don’t suck up, I’m not buying shit.” He teased, and the both of them grinned. After a moment of silence, Taehyung nodded. “But you’re not wrong.” Jungkook giggled a bit, and with that, the sound of people approaching the area around their stall had Jungkook right back on his feet.

For a good hour, Jungkook was standing outside of his stall like a puppy who was eagerly waiting at the door for its owner to come home and greet him. Taehyung watched for a while, before standing up and approaching the younger boy, who was just waving goodbye to someone who had stopped to look.

“Don’t stand right here the whole time,” Taehyung advised, and Jungkook looked over. Taehyung could see his eyes widen slightly, as if he wanted to hear Taehyung’s advice, but was scared of what it would end up being. “You look a little desperate. If you at least sit down, the right people will see the work and come over. That’s the best time to get up and walk over to say hi.” Jungkook nodded. “One time I stood up for a whole 6 hours in front of my stand. I think I tried to make contact with every person who passed me by. At the end of the show, I had sold nothing, and only left with a headache from all of the intense staring I did.”

Taehyung’s confession did make Jungkook nod in understanding. “Right….” He said softly.

“It’s good to be eager, but don’t be too in your face. Just sit back and relax for a few minutes.” Jungkook nodded, plopping back down on his seat and crossing his arms. He watched people pass by, looking in the direction of his stall, their eyes scanning all he had to offer before deciding if they wanted to stop and stare or move on for now. Jungkook felt his heart sink with every person that passed by. Taehyung immediately noticed this, and nostalgia fell over him; the nostalgia that brought him back to his early days of selling art. 18 years old, sitting on the grass with Jimin and a tarp full of his earliest works. Most of those works now have either been sold, donated, or given away as gifts, but he remembers the feeling of disappointment that fell across him each moment that passed with nobody stopping to stare for longer than a few seconds. “Art is subjective, Jungkook…” He said simply. “Not everyone is going to like what you have, and that’s fine. We talked about that.”

“I know…” he said, “But it sucks more when you experience it in real life.”

“Heh…” Taehyung let an amused grin fall across his face. “Trust me, I know.” He was quick to stand up. “How about I go do some front-line work?” he asked. Jungkook glanced up at Taehyung, curious as to what he meant by ‘front-line work’. “I’ll walk around, and if I see anyone selling stuff similar to yours, I’ll help you make connections with them. And if anyone is staring at what other people are selling, I’ll point them in this direction.”

“Really?” Jungkook’s eyes sparkled; it was as if Taehyung had just handed him the world on a silver platter. “You’d do that?”

“Sure! Jimin did it for me, and I ended up making a few art buddies from it. So, it doesn’t even hurt. You can even take a walk around later and do it yourself if you want.” Jungkook nodded. “But for now, man the front lines. I’ll be back.”

“What about your head?” Jungkook asked, the realization finally hit him. Taehyung scoffed.

“I’m fine, my sunglasses are on. I’ll be back soon.” He waved Jungkook off, and sticking his hands in his pockets, he headed off deeper into the art show. Jungkook leaned back in his chair, grabbing his water and taking an extra-long sip of it.

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

“Where do you think Jungkook’s set up?” you asked curiously, glancing over at Hoseok. He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged.

“Not sure, but I’m sure if we keep looking, we’ll find him.” He said simply. You nodded, continuing to look around as you both passed several stalls. You watched as individuals stood around their crafts, pulling in those who walked back, hoping that they could pair someone up with the art of their dreams in only a few seconds. It felt as if you were at a car dealership instead of an art show, but at the same time, you enjoyed seeing how passionate everyone was! “Anything you see catching your eye?” Hoseok asked curiously. When you turned back to your friend, he smiled. “I’ll buy you something.”

“No way, it’s okay.” You assured. “I just like looking. I don’t have any room in my apartment for artwork, that’s why the dolphin is hung up in the school.” Hoseok chuckled. “If I find something small, maybe I’ll get it, I don’t know. It really has to catch my eye.”

Hoseok laughed once again, and the both of you headed deeper into the park, arms linked together in order not to get separated.

While the both of you were walking and admiring, Taehyung was doing the same thing. He had stopped at a few different stalls to look at some work, chatting up some of the local artists who seemed to be around Jungkook’s age or a bit older. At this moment, he was not the artist. He was Jimin, the charismatic, handsome businessman who was sure to coax anyone into a deal without even realizing it. Taehyung had been channeling his energy the entire walk from Jungkook’s stall. And so far, it seemed to be working.

“My friend Jungkook is a few stalls down,” Taehyung said to a young girl no older than 20. She had an entire stall of hand-crafted figurines of famous cartoon characters. As several young children begged their parents for figurines of Pororo or Mickey Mouse, the girl was watching Taehyung scroll through Jungkook’s Instagram. “He’s talented, but still new to the art world. I’m trying to get him some art friends.” The girl chuckled a bit, tugging her hair into a ponytail. With his glasses acting as a cover, Taehyung’s eyes fell in her direction from the phone, wanting to gauge her reaction to see if she was interested. However, every few seconds, he saw her eyes flicker from the phone, gazing up in Taehyung’s direction. When she thought he was staring back, she quickly looked back down at the phone again.

“He’s talented…” she repeated softly, nodding her head. Taehyung set his phone back into his pocket and turned to the girl. She glanced up at him, and that was when Taehyung slipped off the glasses, piercing her with his dark and intense eyes. He could have sworn he heard her gasp, but he ignored it and offered a warm smile.

“We’ll be there the whole time, so you should come to say hi and see all of his work in person.” The young woman quickly nodded again, and Taehyung saw her cheeks turn a soft pink.

“I’ll come to stop by in a bit when I take a break.” She murmured. Taehyung nodded and waved goodbye. The girls waved as well, and Taehyung passed by her stall, glancing over all of her creations before continuing down the path. His hands slipped into his pockets, and he was quick to slip his glasses back on, the sun beginning to hurt his head just slightly. He continued through the stalls, trying to find artwork and artists that he thought would be a good connection for Jungkook to have. He wanted to try and find people with various art styles, allowing the group to share experiences and teach each other new ways of making art. In Taehyung’s mind, that was one of the most important things about making connections with others.

As Taehyung was deep in thought, manager mode on as he eagerly searched the area, he was stopped almost immediately, when he heard a high-pitched voice hit him right in the back of the head.

“I think that’s Jungkook down there. Let’s go say hi!” Taehyung was quick to spin his entire body around, eyes darting directly to whoever it was who made that noise. It was easy to find, he knew exactly who it was: Hoseok.

Dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and an oversized blue button-up, Hoseok was grinning as he pointed in the opposite direction. Taehyung’s eyes turned slightly to see who exactly who he was with, and when he saw you, his heart swelled into his chest. You were holding a beautifully crafted mug in your hand, practically cradling it that was how tiny it was. He watched you set the mug down quickly, thanking the artist for allowing you the chance to hold and look at it. Waving him off, you followed Hoseok down the path and towards Jungkook’s stall. Taehyung stood there a moment, wondering if he should follow you. He had been waiting for the chance to see you and watching you hurry farther and farther away from him only made him want to try to catch up.

No, no. I’m helping Jungkook. I’ll catch her later, I’m sure. He thought to himself, shaking his head. As he watched you both disappear behind the other groups of people walking between exhibits, he turned back on his heel and continued down the path.

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Jungkook was standing outside of the stall, holding up a painting of his as he spoke to a kind older woman who was asking about it.

“You really are a talented young man, aren’t you?” she beamed. Jungkook laughed nervously.

“Oh, thank you, I don’t know if I’m really all that good just yet. I have a lot more practicing to do.” Jungkook admitted sheepishly. “My mentor has taught me a lot though, he’s the real talent.”

“Well, if someone is teaching talent such as this, then he must be.” The woman grinned. Jungkook laughed shyly. “Well, I want to go find my husband and bring him over to see the collection you have here. He’s quite a lover of the arts, you know. Would it be ok if I come back in a little while?”

Jungkook’s eyes sparkled. “Of course!” he said eagerly. “I’ll be here all day.” The woman nodded.

“And what did you say your name was again, dear?” she asked.

“Jeon Jungkook.” He smiled happily. The woman nodded, waving before walking down the path. Jungkook watched her go for a moment, and that was when he saw Hoseok and you appearing, heading towards his stall. That only made the smile on his face growing wider. “Hey.” He said happily.

“Hi!” You said happily, hurrying over to Jungkook. “How’s it all coming?”

“I’ve got a few people to stop and look, but no sales yet.” Jungkook pouted. “But a nice older lady came and said she was going to bring her husband to look, she liked my stuff.”

“That’s great!” Hoseok cheered. You were quick to scan the stall, and saw two open chairs sitting under the shade.

“Taehyung ended upcoming?” you asked curiously.

“Oh yeah. He said he was going around to find some other artists I could meet and talk to since I don’t know many other people other than him. He should be back soon, hopefully. I don’t want him being out too long, he said his head was still hurting a bit.” Hearing Jungkook’s comment made you feel a bit uneasy, remembering how he looked when you had gone to visit him the other day, despite how hard he had tried to act anything but. As that memory flooded your mind, you couldn’t help but also remember the kiss –

“Well, if we don’t cross paths that’s okay!” You said quickly, offering up a nervous giggle. Hoseok looked over at you, raising an eyebrow.

“We can always come back later, you know.” Hoseok was quick to point it out, and you nodded your head. Hoseok had no idea about what happened the other day, in fact, nobody outside you and Taehyung knew. Hopefully.

“Yeah, that’s true…” you said simply. “We can…” Hoseok, who was actively confused as to what had suddenly gotten you so jumpy, simply rubbed your arm gently. “Anyway, let’s take a look at what we have here, hm?” you walked towards the stall, and began to quickly admire all of the work. “Wow…” you said in disbelief. “You made all of these in such a short amount of time.” Jungkook nodded.

“I do a lot of it on the weekends, and I doodle a lot during class.” He admitted. Hoseok shook his head.

“You shouldn’t do that, Jungkook. Your grades are important.” Jungkook chuckled a bit.

“I know, I know. But I’m a good student.” He assured quickly. “Oh! You have to come back later, anyway. My uh…” The realization of what Jungkook was going to say made his cheeks turn red. “My girlfriend is coming by when she gets out of work.” Hoseok and you smiled as if you were his parents meeting this girl for the first time. Jungkook must have felt that same thing because he could only laugh nervously. “Not until later though, okay?”

“Okay, okay…” the both of you said simply, grins on your faces. You quickly turned around and continued to look at his artwork, while Hoseok motioned to a nearby stand and led Jungkook that way.

Taehyung returned to the stall about 20 minutes later. He had managed to get a few people to look up Jungkook on Instagram and either follow or reach out that way, with another few offering to come by the stall later and say hello in person. He felt good knowing that he was able to help the teenager, and he was excited to see the look on his face when he came back and told him.

Taehyung had also snagged two orders of fries for the boys to enjoy from the snack stand they had set up right outside the entrance to the park, a nice treat for Jungkook to congratulate him on his hard work so far. As he popped a fry into his mouth, he quickened his pace. He wanted to sit and relax for a bit, he didn’t realize he had been up and walking in the heat for almost 40 minutes, and he was starting to feel it in the back of his head. As he walked closer to Jungkook’s stall, he was met with a very…interesting sight.

When he approached the stall, he didn’t see Jungkook standing in front and chatting up those who passed by. No, instead, he saw you. You were kneeling in front of the canvases, admiring Jungkook’s hard work with a smile on your face. As Taehyung watched you, it made him think back to the look on your face when you first saw his work in person. It had been stuck in his mind ever since, and he didn’t think it would ever leave.

He finally approached the stall, with you still unaware of his presence. “Hey.” He finally said. You were quick to glance up, and stood up almost immediately afterward. “I thought I saw you before, but I wasn’t sure.” He lied. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m good. How’s your head?” Taehyung shrugged.

“Touch and go. I think I’ll make it to Christmas.” He grinned a bit, and you offered a smile. Taehyung glanced down at his hands, still holding the fries tightly. “If I knew you were here already, I would have offered to-.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” You assured quickly. “We already ate…” Taehyung nodded, smiling gently at you. “Hoseok and Jungkook went down a bit to look at other groups, they should be back soon.” You quickly motioned to the chairs in the shade. “You should sit down and rest. Jungkook said you’ve been up and in the heat and a long time, you’ll make your head hurt more…” Taehyung decided to follow your advice, taking his seat quickly and setting Jungkook’s fries in his chair. You watched him for a moment. “Are you guys staying long?”

“Maybe.” You chuckled. “Jungkook said someone took an interest in something and is coming back in a little while with her husband. He got pretty excited, so we might hang around a bit longer and see what comes out of that.” Taehyung felt a proud smile form on his face.

“That’s good.” He said happily. Silence fell over the both of you as Taehyung began to eat, something that you realized happened very often between the two of you. You watched him for a moment, watched as he nibbled on his fries and rested comfortably in his chair. You had to admit, you were wondering what he was thinking. However, the last thing you wanted to do was bring your drama up today and risk anything being thrown out of proportion. Taehyung, though you couldn’t tell with his glasses on, looked over in your direction. When he spoke, it surprised you.

“Want one?” he asked, holding the bag of fries in your direction. You blinked, shaking your head.

“No, no. I’m okay…” you assured again. “I already-.”

“Ate. I know. You just looked like you wanted one.” His playful and boxy grin crept onto his mouth. “Feel free to take one if you change your mind okay?” You were hesitant but nodded.

“Okay…”

“Or you can eat Jungkook’s if he doesn’t come back in time.” As you watched Taehyung chuckle a bit and return to eating, it made your mind spin. You were surprised he was as calm as he was right now, especially compared to you. You weren’t sure what had him this way. Your first thought was the concussion was more serious than anyone had thought, but maybe that was a bit too extreme. Letting out a soft breath, you simply decided to turn in the direction Hoseok and Jungkook left in. Lucky for you, they were coming right back to the table. Hoseok hurried up to you.

“There’s a whole group of little knick-knacks at that table over there. Want to go look?”

Hoseok asked when he approached you. Jungkook walked over to Taehyung, sitting next to him and grabbing the fries. He quickly began eating them, and the duo fell immediately into the conversation, Taehyung showing him all of the people who he managed to speak too, and Jungkook sharing what had been going on while he was away. You turned to look at them, watching as Taehyung ruffled Jungkook’s hair, congratulating the younger male on a job well done so far. It made you smile, seeing him so happy.

“So…” Taehyung hummed. “When is this woman coming back with her husband?” Jungkook shrugged.

“Not sure. But I hope she comes back soon. She was really nice. She said her husband is really into art, so maybe they’ll buy something.” The giddiness in Jungkook’s voice was infectious, and Taehyung couldn’t help but be excited himself. “That would be amazing!”

“I’m sure it’ll happen.” Taehyung assured. He got up quickly, walking towards the nearby garbage and tossing his trash in. He took a moment to scan the area. He wanted to see if any good people were passing by, anyone he could chat up and introduce Jungkook’s work too. A few more people stopped and glanced over, curious about what there was to see. Taehyung could hear Jungkook quickly getting up from his seat, eager to talk to more people. It was then he noticed a familiar person walking in the direction of the stall. This person, middle-aged, walked arm in arm with a woman who seemed to be chatting his ear off. The man was looking around as they walked, and Taehyung felt his heart sink the minute he saw that woman point in the direction of Jungkook’s stall. Oh Min-Jae. “Oh God…” Dread covered Taehyung’s body like a blanket, and at that moment, he wanted to die.

“What’s wrong, Hyung?” Jungkook asked, walking over to Taehyung. He looked in the same direction, and a grin broke out on his face. “Oh, that’s the woman who said she liked my art!”

“Of course, it is…” Taehyung groaned, covering his face. He walked back towards the stall and rested his hands on it, trying to collect himself. “Of. Fucking. Course! Of course, her husband is Oh Min-Jae why am I not surprised?!” Jungkook raised an eyebrow, turning towards the couple once again, who was getting closer with each step. It took Jungkook a minute to remember all of the times Taehyung had mercilessly gotten frustrated and talked about Oh Min-Jae, and Jungkook bit his lip. “Oh…”

“Don’t worry, you talk to them. I won’t start anything…” Taehyung said quickly. “Just make a sale. I’ll be over here wondering how someone you claim to be so sweet ended up marrying Satan himself…” Jungkook looked over to see the couple approach, and quickly smiled.

“Hello again.” He said happily.

“Hello again, Jungkook.” Mrs. Oh chimed happily. “This is my husband, Mr. Oh Min-Jae.” Jungkook quickly nodded his head, smiling sweetly as he introduced himself once again.

“My wife hasn’t stopped talking about you. It’s made me very excited to see what you have to show today.” Jungkook nodded, watching as the couple went closer to his works of art. From the corner of his eye, he could see Taehyung still standing on the side of the stall, not wanting to move in fear he would catch even a glimpse of this guy. That was the last thing he wanted. “Hm…” the man said. “Very interesting. You have quite a unique style here.” Jungkook nodded.

“Oh uhm…thank you.” Jungkook said softly. “My mentor has really taught me a lot. He’s an amazing artist.” Jungkook glanced at Taehyung once again and saw the guy was chewing on his lower lip, using up all of his strength not to move from that spot. It made Jungkook feel bad, because he wanted Taehyung to get the recognition he deserved. “Maybe you’ve heard of him, Kim Taehyung?”

At that moment, Taehyung’s eyes went wide, and he felt as if he was going to die. He quickly turned to look at Jungkook, hoping he would catch his gaze. However, he did not. Min-Jae pursed his lips together, and nodded.

“Yes, I know who that is. Amazing how someone who likes to paint dolphins and mentored such talent out of you. Unless we are thinking of two different people, which would not surprise me in the slightest.”

Bastard…Taehyung thought to himself, eyes narrowing.

“No! Kim Taehyung, I know you know who he is.” Jungkook smiled. “He paints amazing pictures of-.”

“-Of dolphins, like I said.” Min-Jae repeated. “I’m merely saying it takes true talent on your part to create such beautiful pieces under the guide of someone so unprofessional in his craft.”

“But that’s not-.”

Before Jungkook could finished, Taehyung turned the corner and crossed his arms. “For someone who hates me, you sure do love having my name in your mouth.” Taehyung scoffed. Min-Jae looked over, and a devilish smile graced his lips.

“Taehyung, happy to see you.” He said simply. “How is your life of mediocrity suiting you?” Taehyung glared, but tried his best to keep his cool and brush off what the older man had said.

“Just fine, thank you.” He said simply. Min-Jae turned back to his wife, who was admiring some of the pieces Jungkook had laid out. “We’re not going to have the same issue we had when you saw my artwork, right? Harassing me and not buying anything.” Min-Jae laughed.

“Unlike then, I actually enjoy the artwork I see right now.” Min-Jae said simply. Taehyung frowned as the man turned to his wife. “Did you find the one you liked, dear?” The woman, smile beaming, lifted up a painting of a beautiful skyline. The feeling emanated a warmth, as if one was indeed at the beach and enjoying the sunshine the picture gave off. “That’s absolutely beautiful.” He grinned. “You’re incredibly talented, Jungkook. You have the potential to truly become something amazing in the artist world.”

As Taehyung watched the scene unfold, he heard a voice behind him that caused him to turn his head. “Taehyung!” When he turned, he saw you approach. You were beaming, holding something in your hands. “Look what I-.” before you could show him, you caught sight of the other people before you. You quickly looked at Hoseok, who gently pulled you back behind him, wanting to shield you in case anything happened.

Taehyung turned back to Min-Jae, and watched as Min-Jae pulled out his wallet. “We’ll take it.” Jungkook’s eyes widened as Min-Jae handed Jungkook a handful of won. He skimmed it over and immediately could tell there was more in his hands than he planned to charge for the painting.

“What? Sir, I can’t-.”

“Take the entirety of it. Consider it my intuition that you’ll be able to double or triple this selling your art in the future.” Min-Jae looked at Taehyung one more time. “It’s truly good work. You might want to give your mentor a few pointers.”

“Okay, now come on!” Taehyung frowned. Almost immediately, he felt someone grip his arm. When he turned around, he saw Hoseok holding onto the sleeve of his arm. He sighed softly. He saw you watching silently, unsure of what exactly was going on, but Taehyung could tell that you were a bit put off. Jungkook watched as Mrs. Oh turned to Jungkook, smiling sweetly.

“Thank you, sweetheart. It’s going right above my study. It is going to be wonderful.” Jungkook nodded, smiling sweetly. Mrs. Oh quickly took her husband by the arm. “Now you. Knock it off and let’s get going.” With that, the both of them headed away from the stall. Taehyung watched as the both of them left, and he turned to Jungkook, who was holding the money given to him tightly in his hands. His eyes were sparkling as he looked at it. Taehyung sighed, walking over to Jungkook and patting him on the shoulder.

“Good job, Jungkook. You sold your first painting.” When Jungkook looked up at his Hyung, Taehyung only offered him a smile. “Put that money somewhere safe.” He walked over to you, watching as you looked down at the thing in your hands. Taehyung tilted his head as he approached you. “What did you buy?” he asked curiously. You glanced up at him, showing him the little canvas, you had in your hands. As he walked over, he kept thinking about what he had told Jungkook earlier that day.

Art is subjective…. Not everyone is going to like everything.

Taehyung tilted his head as he approached you. “What did you buy?” he asked curiously. You glanced up at him, showing him the little canvas, you had in your hands. You were holding a bright yellow figurine, shaped like a star with a bright smile on it. Taehyung looked down at you.

“It’s a cute little figurine.” You smiled. “You know, a star…like Bright Star Preschool.” Taehyung blinked. At that moment, despite the annoyance and anger, he was feeling after having to get through that conversation with Min-Jae, he ended up breaking into the widest grin at the sight of you. “I think it would look really cute on my desk, don’t you? It was cheap too.” Taehyung chuckled a bit.

“Definitely.” He said softly. You smiled a bit, nodding in happiness. “Hey, uhm…do you want to take a walk with me?” he asked curiously. “I want to clear my head…”

“Uhm, okay, sure!” You said sweetly. Taehyung nodded, quickly leading you down the path and away from the stall, leaving Hoseok and Jungkook there with nothing to say.

Art was subjective. Taehyung thought to himself again. But I have a feeling that prick just did that on purpose.

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kellerose · 4 years ago

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The Slim Difference between Propaganda and Persuasion

Persuasion and propaganda may seem similar, but though it’s very slim, they have their differences.

Both concepts have a similar goal-- they want to mold or change someone’s choices, decisions, thoughts, and ideas about a specific subject. How they are performed are where the differences lie.

As Paul Martin Lester states in the textbook, persuasion is a form of communication made to influence the audience’s choices. Writing persuasion is similar to visual persuasion, both are to appeal to a certain audience about a specific topic. Aristotle confirmed that there were three main types: logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos refers to the logistics of the argument. Ethos is referring to the author's credibility. And pathos refers to the emotional appeal that is given to arguments (Lester). I feel that pathos is used quite frequently in the visual aspects of persuasion.

Additionally, there are other principles attached to persuasion-- such as reciprocity, scarcity, authority, commitment, consensus, and likability.

Reciprocity: This type refers to how when people do us favors, we feel obligated to return them.

Scarcity: There is a value in scarce material rather than an abundance of it.

Authority: Same as ethos, people are attracted to authoritative made resources.

Commitment: Things that have been done in the past are most likely going to continue.

Consensus: People follow with what is popular.

Likeability: When people see someone they like say something, they will most likely end up following it as well(Wylie). For example, someone’s favorite celebrity advertising Coca-Cola will probably buy many packs of the drink.

But, that could also be used as an argument that any kind of media advertisements are essentially propaganda. Propaganda is a way for an idea to get the attention of a larger audience. However, although the art may be appealing, it tends to lack factual information (Lester). Back to the Coca-Cola celebrity advertisement example, how can we be exactly sure that the famous person’s favorite drink is a crisp, ice-cold cup of Coke? We can’t. However, when the ad is produced, corporations make sure that the celebrity is only seen with the product they advertised in order to persuade the public even more. This is because persuasion only works when it has factual evidence. So, if the product is seen consistently by the celebrity, people will be convinced that it is their legitimate favorite product.

An example of celebrity endorsement advertising is the popular Kpop group BTS X Samsung. With celebrity endorsements, they use the appeal of likable people to up the sales of their product. The band is seen using the product casually as well through selfies and their livestreams. This kind of persuading promotion is effective as the unit shipments went up about 30 million from quarter two to three in 2020 (O'Dea and 25)-- BTS announced their collaboration with Samsung on March 10, 2020.

However, persuasion is a lot more than celebrity endorsements. As I have mentioned before, pathos, the emotional appeal of persuasion, can be seen a lot through visual advertisements. For instance, this advertisement about poverty showcases a person laying on a bench with a small amount of old, dirty clothes. Under the depressing photo were the words ‘Poverty’s Real’ in red, bold letters as well as ‘what are YOU doing to help?’. The emphasis on the ‘YOU’ is to influence the on-looker about what they are doing to contribute. This is a major example of pathos in advertising persuasion.

Another example is the ad for donating to Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. They used a picture of a little girl with a black and white dramatic filter over her to indicate the seriousness of the situation. The text above the girl goes ‘Madelyn is fighting cancer.’ The word ‘cancer’ is in a different color and moved slightly to put emphasis on it. A little kid battling cancer could make anyone’s heart ache, which is exactly what they were going for with the ad. Above the words ‘Donate Now’ was the company’s name to show where one could donate. Pathos is extremely apparent when working with visual images because of how it impacts or influences an individual’s feelings about a specific topic.

As mentioned previously, propaganda is a way to persuade the unknowing audience without any real factual information with it. Another way to explain the difference between propaganda and persuasion is that propaganda is a one-way conversation while persuasion is two-way(Jenkins). Persuasion sparks a conversation in which a person can decide whether or not it’s something that will provoke or influence them to buy or participate in something. On the other hand, propaganda is just a straightforward depiction of an opinion or event of a biased artist/writer.

A great example of propaganda are political cartoons. They are full of propaganda techniques that are eye catching and hard to look away from.

Take for example this propaganda poster against communism. The poster dramatically showcases what would happen if America were to fall under communism. It shows what appears to be soldiers fighting citizens as the American flag is burning in a wild fire in the back. The words at the top ‘IS THIS TOMORROW’ are in bold, black font. At the bottom there are words that say ‘America under communism!’ indicating what the picture is depicting. This is a fear tactic that propaganda sometimes deploys. Will America actually go up in flames if it were to go under communism? Most likely not. But, this is an example of how propaganda creates content that isn’t necessarily true to provoke and dupe the public. This poster will certainly create panic over the “threat” of communism.

One last example that I wanted to use that showcases the differences between propaganda and persuasion is a political cartoon of Rockefeller's company Standard Oil. The poster depicts Standard Oil as an octopus whose tentacles are latched onto the buildings of the capitol, congress, and the white house. The tentacles can also be seen attached to trading ships and wealthy businessmen. The purpose of this cartoon was to dramatize the issue of monopolies such as Standard Oil having major control over society and the economy.

As you can see, although propaganda and persuasion both want to influence a general public, how they go about it has major differences. Propaganda’s purpose is to propagate a larger audience with a major biased influence. Persuasion works hard to persuade the public through major emotional, authoritative, and logistic appeals. Persuasion wants to be factual while also convincing. They want you to buy a product, donate, contribute, but for reasonable reasons. Propaganda wants you to change and challenge your entire opinion about something whether the depiction is accurate or not; it doesn’t matter to them because they believe their depiction is right.

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References

Lester, Paul Martin. Visual Communication: Images with Messages . Sixth ed., Michael Rosenberg, 2014.

O'Dea, Published by S., and Nov 25. Samsung Smartphone Sales 2020. 25 Nov. 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/299144/samsung-smartphone-shipments-worldwide/.

Jenkins, Ryan. The Thin Line between Propaganda and Persuasion. 2013.

Wylie, Phil. “6 Principles of Persuasion 1).” SlideShare, 6 Mar. 2009, www.slideshare.net/jahroy13/the-power-of-persuasion/40-6_principles_of_persuasion_1.

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365days365movies · 4 years ago

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February 23, 2021: His Girl Friday (1940) (Part 1)

Oh, we’re going BACK for this one!

Yeah, this is smack dab in the Golden Age of Cinema! Post-depression, the cinematic culture boomed like CRAZY. Obviously, this age had started before this point, but there was no stopping Hollywood here. I mean, in 1940 alone, Disney came out with Pinocchio AND Fantasia, films like The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, and Rebecca came out, and some of those were prefaced by short cartoons featuring a brand new certain someone.

Oh, also, there was some war of the world 2 thing going on overseas, I dunno. But anyway! Another well-known film that came out that year was The Philadelphia Story, a George Cukor-directed film starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, and one of a subgenre of comedies called the screwball comedy.

Arguably starting with the 1934 film It Happened One Night, these are romantic comedies that usually feature a self-confident and stubborn female protagonist inevitably falling in love with the male protagonist, who’s probably initially mismatched with her, personality-wise. You should also throw some slapstick comedy, disguises (cross-dressing’s a feature of a lot of these, weirdly), and class struggle. Yeah, also apparently a trend of these films, that were CRAZY popular from 1934 through the ‘40s.

And in case you’re thinking, “That plot structure sounds familiar, where have I heard that before?”, well, I just watched a later-era screwball comedy, Pillow Talk.

But today, the screwball comedy’s mostly disappeared. Some tropes survive, but the reason for the genre’s extinction is simply because of lack of demand. Part of that is because the genre emerged due to questions of class struggle post-Great Depression. Yeah, seriously, the Great Depression is involved in this shit! Obviously, though, that’s not currently as much of a stressor now, so this genre is dead save for some conventions.

But OK, screwball comedy. Why not look at older members of the genre, rather than this film from smack dab in the middle of it? Well, a few reasons. One, this film stars leading man Cary Grant in his prime. And two, because this film was directed by the one and only Howard Hawks.

Hawks directed yet another Grant-Hepburn vehicle, Bringing Up Baby. And yes, that IS a leopard in a car! I’d watch that this month, but I’ve already seen it. Anyway, Hawks is an understated but excellent director, and his female characters are an archetype in and of themselves, known as Hawksian women. They’re tough-talkers, and the main characters of most old screwball comedies.

OK, but Hawks had a lot of romance films with these characters, so why His Girl Friday? Well, other than knowing it from pure reputation as a good movie, it’s also been called one of the best romcoms of all time, and it’s one of his highest rated films as well. And honestly...I kinda just wanted to watch it based on the premise, which is...interesting. But OK, enough navel-gazing. On with the show! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

We start in a newspaper office in the year 1940, where “Hildy” Johnson (Rosalind Russell) has arrives with her fiancee, Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), a sweet man who clearly loves her. Shit. He’s the guy destined to be left behind for the actual love interest of the movie Goddamn it, OK.

Anyway, Hildy apparently used to work here, although I’m not sure of the capacity as of yet. She’s only here now to visit her ex-husband, chief editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant). Their reunion is a bt icy, although Walter still seems to be in love with her still, while Hildy’s absolutely not interested. For now.

And as the two have a back-and-forth, I gotta say, GODDAMN is this some snappy dialogue! Fast-paced, but well-written and understandable all the same. It shuld also be noted that this film was adapted from a 1928 play, The Front Page, and it shows in how these two are playing in front of the screen. Their chemistry’s basically immediate, and you sense an unseen history between them easily.

What I’m saying is, it’s great. Anyway, the two have gotten divorced, and while Walter originally agreed, he’s now fighting the divorce to stay with Hildy, even though she doesn’t want that at all. He’s been calling her constantly, and bugging her. He also talks over her, trying to prevent her from getting a word in edgewise, and Hildy ain’t fuckin’ HAVING that shit!

He asks her to come back to work for him as a reporter (THERE’S the connection to the office), and if that doesn’t work out...they can get married again? Yeah, Walter, Jesus, take a hint. She tells Walter that she’s not coming back to him, and not coming back to work on the paper.

The two, through increasingly impressive dialogue, argue intensely, which is capped off by this well-timed and impressive dodge by Walter, followed by a crack that her aim used to be better.

This movie...holy shit, this movie. Anyway, through the argument, Walter gets a call and pretends that one of his reporters called out sick, in order to get Hildy to work one more job for him. Whoof, that’s manipulatiiiiiiive. But she breaks through his constant pressing to finally tell him that she’s now engaged, and is quitting the newspaper business.

Walter insists that quitting would kill her, s she’s a “newspaperman,” which is interesting. But she’s tired of it all, and wants to live a respectable, normal life, as she says. Her fiancee is an insurance man, which Walter notes is too boring. But Hildy notes that he’s kind, sweet, and considerate, and wants a home and children, and her mind is made up.

Walter relents (seemingly) , and gives Hildy his blessings. However, he decides that he wants to meet Bruce in person, and goes out to say hello, That results in...what is legitimately a VERY funny interaction between Water, Bruce, and a random-ass dude named Pete Davis. It is...it is funny.

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So, for the record, Walter’s a verbally-manipulative asshole, and...I kind of like him? Like, he’s an ABSOLUTE DICK, but also a charmer. He quickly coerces Hildy and Bruce into getting lunch at a local place. There, we learn that the two are planning on moving to Albany, where Bruce is confident that the insurance business is strong. I’ve been to Albany, and I can see that.

Walter, during the lunch, is once again a DICK, doing his best to intimidate Bruce and sabotage their plans to leave for Albany that day. He makes his way to the phone, where he schemes with Duffy (Frank Orth) to keep her in town. Back at the table, he tells her of the case of Earl Williams.

Williams is, apparently, a man recently convicted of shooting a police officer...who was black...and they use a word to describe him that begins with a C...that makes me uncomfortablllllllllllle. But it’s 1940, so it could be FAR worse. Anyway, he’s going to be executed, even though he claims that he’s innocence. And while Hildy’s intrigued by the case, she refuses to cover it for Walter.

UNTIL, that is, Walter offers to buy an insurance policy from Bruce for $100000 in 1940 money, which means a commission for $18,000 in today’s money. Uh...yeah. Yes, please. And yet, Bruce says NO, not wanting to involve his future wife in his affairs, like a GODDAMN GENTLEMAN. But Hildy don’t give a FUCK, and basically accepts the deal for him. And, uh, I DO NOT blame her, that’s a lot of goddamn money!

Understandably not trusting Walter, she has Bruce give her all of the money that they have, to his equally understandable reluctance. Because there is NO WAY that she isn’t gonna lose all of that money. We find out from a group of reporters staying near the prison that Williams is to be hung tomorrow, and that he’s a bookkeeper that was recently unemployed.

Meanwhile, after a doctor’s check-up, Bruce and Walter write up the life insurance, and Walter tells Bruce to make Hildy his beneficiary. And Bruce is understandably awkward about that, but Walter ends up convincing him, the smooth and conniving DICK that he is.

Duffy walks in to give Walter a check for more money than originally intended, and it’s even been certified! Which is...odd, but OK. Bruce calls Hildy to let her know, and she’s very suspicious. She tells Bruce to put the check in the lining of his hat, claiming that it’s an old journalist’s superstition (it is not). Looks like she’s right to be suspicious, as Walter brings in a short gentleman for unknown reasons. He follows Bruce out as he leaves the office.

Meanwhile, Hildy brides a prison guard to speak with Earl Williams (John Qualen) before his execution. He’s a shy and bookish man, who was thought to become radicalized by people speaking in a pubic park, where he went after losing his job. This, it’s believed by the press and court, eventually drove him to go insane and kill the policeman.

But Earl seems perfectly sane, and committing murder goes against his morals. He also wasn’t won over by said radical park speakers, although he admits one of them made some good points. But still, he had a gun, and he apparently did shoot the policeman.

In their interview, Hildy learns that the man in the park was talking about “production for use”, which is the idea that everything produced should be used, basically in a way that production meets demand, and profit is less important than product. Which, granted, is an interesting idea. But Hildy uses that to convince Earl that he shot the gun because he had it in his hands. And since the gun was produced, it needed to be used, so...

Well, that’s...something. We also learn about Mollie Malloy (Helen Mack), who’s been unfairly labeled by the press as Earl’s mistress and the witness to his case. And she gives a very passionate and heartfelt plea with the male journalists, who are...vicious. And Mollie’s hurt indeed. And while she’s there, they all treat her terribly.

But she breaks down in front of them even further when she sees the gallows being prepared outside. And as Hildy takes her out, the men left behind actually do seem ashamed. And in a single stroke, in a single scene, the film uses an immense moment of drama to show exactly why Hildy wants to leave, and the things that it makes people in this profession do. It’s...masterful.

Good place to pause! See you in Part 2!

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youarejesting · 4 years ago

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Femme: 49

[Masterlist] Pairing: BTS - OT7 x Reader, GDragon x Bigbang, Erik Nam, Hyuna x Dawn, Black Pink x Female oc, TXT x robot oc, Got7 x Female oc, IU. Rating: Mature themes mentioned but not really explored. Length: 2.6k Announcement: Wow so much has been going on I cried three times today my eyes are swollen haha. My kitten went to be vaccinated microchipped and neutered so I am emotional. My Fur-baby I cried the moment I had to leave and when I got him back. Beta: @lpayne612 Warnings: Struggle to get pregnant out lined by red dividers as I know this can hit home to some, Implied smut, a rough patch in the relationship, angst.

You were almost thirty. You were getting comfortable in your busy life, and your husbands made sure to help with everything everyday. “Children come here!” you called, they all headed over at varying speeds. You handed each their bags, kissing their heads. Right at the back of the line was two and a half year old Yubi with her new leg braces with her favorite cartoons on them.

Yubi finally was ready for kindy - she was slower than kids her age but she got things done properly, in her own time. It was all about knowing her limits and she loved the kids and everything about her daycare.

You were approached one day at work by a young girl named Lee Ji-Eun, she was a sweet young lady with a wristband on, signifying she was a child of a femme. She looked around the shop and dropped in a resume, and you listened to what she had to say. Hiring her on the spot.

Ji-Eun was a diligent hard, worker - she liked to hum and sing while working which was refreshing. You began teaching her all the powerful life lessons you had learned from your mentor, Moon In-shik, and from being Eric’s mentor.

It was a really refreshing thing that helped you develop some perspective on life: what was important versus what we think is important.

Stepping into the house, you helped Seokjin with dinner and set the table. The children had entered from the backyard where they had been watering the garden.

“Mirae, did you feed your brother dirt?”

“No, daddy eoky,” Mirae smiled up at Seokjin hiding her dirt-covered hands behind her back.

“Hoowayway,” Hobi smiled softly at his son, “are you hungry?”

“Daddy bi,” Huimang gave a dirt-covered cheeky grin, Taehyung and

Jimin cackled.

“My poor boy are they picking on you?” Hoseok carried his son to the bathroom in the hopes of washing the dirt out of his teeth.

“Mimi,” you knelt down with an impassive look trying to not laugh at the situation, “did you feed Huimang some dirt?”

“No, Ama.”

“Baby, tell mummy it’s okay, you aren’t in trouble.” You softly gave her a hug “Did he eat the dirt?”

“Yes, Ama,” she pouted and you gave her a big smile.

“Thank you baby for being honest and not lying to mummy. Mummy is so proud, but perhaps next time we don’t feed our brother dirt, it’s not good for people to eat dirt, it’s yucky.”

“Yes Ama, I am sowwy.”

“Come on it’s time for dinner, go race to the bathroom and Daddy Bi will help you wash your hands. Make sure you say sorry to Hui okay baby?” You smiled giving her two big kisses on her cheeks.

“Mum, I got an invitation to a birthday party this weekend, is that okay?” Kyungju said shuffling closer and handing over the birthday invitation.

“Let me see,” you smiled, taking the letter and reading the details. “Oh my boy, you can go, of course who do you want to take you?”

“I want dad to take me, but he might say no.”

“What am I saying no to?” Yoongi took the letter and smiled fondly at the old invitation style. “Have you got your friend a present yet?”

“Not yet,” he seemed to realize and Yoongi laughed at his son’s reaction.

“Tomorrow after school we can go and pick out a present, and I will take you to the party on Saturday.”

The two walked to the large dining room table and you sighed, a big family was exhausting but it filled your heart with undeniable happiness to watch all the children grow up. A small hand tugged on your sleeve, Yubi had come to check on you.

Sweeping her into your arms you walked her to her booster chair and sat down ready for all the drama of a big family dinner. “Jae Eun, don’t put peas on your brother’s plate.”

“So we have been talking as a family,” Namjoon smiled and you raised an eyebrow looking down the other end of the table with a curious expression.

“As a family without me?” you snickered.

“Yes well, it was a topic we wanted to discuss before bringing it up to you.”

“Okay, I am all ears,” you picked up some broccoli and hid it under a piece of meat - trying to convince Yubi to eat her vegetables. She cleverly saw and whined until it was taken away. She was pretty clever for a two and a half-year-old.

You looked around the table watching everyone eat and scooped up some rice while waiting for this news. “We would like to have one last child,” Hoseok smiled brightly. Gasping in shock had you inhaling grains of rice into your trachea. Yoongi lazily raised his hand and patted your back while Jungkook handed you a large glass of water.

The feeling of disbelief filled you for a brief moment - you had in fact told Jimin and Seokjin that you would allow them the joys of having a baby. Even then it seemed outrageous to add any more to the family. You looked around remembering how sad and lonely you had felt when you had first moved into the house and had all these empty rooms and big dreams. You looked at the table spotting the exact space another little one could slip into and the joy and confidence it would bring to your hesitant Jimin.

“Okay, I think another child would be perfect,” unable to prevent yourself from smiling, “but if we do this we should go to a fertility clinic.”

“Of course, wait why are we going to a fertility clinic?” Jimin looked at you confused, you could see the concern in his eyes.

“To make sure everything is working fine for one more baby.”

Some of the children were excited for another sister or brother, and others weren’t bothered. Kyungju was weirdly excited - saying he liked having a big family and being the big brother. Jeongsan was a little worried about having another crying baby in the house again but, you assured him he didn’t have to worry and the parents would deal with the baby.

The clinic was cold. You had to sit in a paper gown while you had ultrasounds, pap smears, and blood tests. All to check your fertility levels, hoping for some positive results that would indicate you would be able to fall pregnant reasonably quickly.

The doctor sat you down after the check-up. “Now everything looks good, but we will have to wait for the results to know for sure what we’re dealing with,” the doctor said with a smile. “Now judging just by average standards, when you turn thirty the success rate is eighty-six percent for couples who try for a whole year.”

You felt a sense of dread. What if this didn’t work out and Jimin never had the chance of conceiving a child of his own? You weren’t really listening to the doctor who was currently prattling on about complication rates and more, you just sat thinking over what you would do if this didn’t happen.

Jimin was driving the van back to the apartment and you told him to pull over. “Is something wrong?”

“What do we do if this doesn’t work?’

“Hey don’t stress, the doctor said the more you worry the harder it is to get pregnant.”

“Just tell me Jimin, what will you do?” you asked, biting your lip.

“If it was meant to be, it will happen,” Jimin touched your cheek, kissing you gently. “It’s not like I’m planning to just up and leave you if we don’t have a baby the first time.”

Jimin’s eyes widened at the way you visibly relaxed body slumping into the seat.

“That’s what you were worried about? That I would leave you, the love of my life, and my family because I couldn’t have my own child? That I would leave all my other children whom I love dearly because the same genetics don’t run through our veins?” He looked upset and sighed “I’m not going anywhere”

It was a fun few months where you and Jimin spent a few weeks together and made love and generally shared some romantic moments with one another. You were trying and enjoying yourselves - until the third negative result from the fertility clinic. Things then became stressful between you and being intimate was less about love and more like a chore for the two of you.

You pulled out the last ovulation tester from your handbag telling yourself that you would have to purchase some more. The two lines mocking you as if they were the two lines you wanted, but they weren’t. One day you would see them on the pregnancy stick and you would make Jimin happy.

“Jimin, it’s time,” you said looking at your phone.

“I don’t want to, can you do it?” he whined and you sighed the two of you finished everything quickly and you laid there and he left to shower. You didn’t want to but you felt like crying.

The days passed and it felt like you might have done it, your back and breasts were aching you just knew this had to be it. You were going to the clinic it was the day your period was supposed to arrive and when you got there, you felt like you needed to pee and as you wiped, you wept. Another failure, it was your period and you hadn’t fallen pregnant again. You walked out dragging Jimin not bothering with your appointment.

The two of you were silent on the way home/ “We can try again, it will happen.”

“And what if it doesn’t, Jimin?” you asked, “When do we decide to give up? When you leave because you are sick of me!”

“Why do you keep thinking I’m going to leave? Is this what you want, me to leave? I thought you had faith in me and trusted me and after everything, we have been through!” He hissed, “You think I’m some bad guy who will just leave?”

“You act like making a baby is a chore.” You frowned, “We don’t cuddle or kiss anymore, do you even love me?”

The car pulled over and Jimin got out, handed you the keys, and looked you in the eye. “The fact that you have to question my feelings really shows me how you see me doesn’t it, love?” the endearment was full of spite. He turned and walked away. You were sobbing standing beside the car gripping the keys and crying. Climbing into the driver’s seat you sobbed with no regard to your surroundings.

It was almost midnight when you returned home. Hearing Yoongi’s swears, grabbing his phone to call the others to say you had returned home. “The children are all in bed, what happened?”

“I want to be alone,” you said walking away from everyone. You sat on the floor of the shower crying to yourself.

Jimin didn’t call, he didn’t come home, no one knew where he was, so Namjoon made some calls and found he was in his family home. You laid in bed distraught, feeling absolutely disgusting. You stopped getting out of bed unless it was necessary; the boys started bringing you meals so you would get some food into your body.

You couldn’t sleep deciding instead to call Jimin repeatedly only to receive his answering machine. You grabbed your coat and began heading to the front door when Jungkook stopped you. “You’re leaving, aren't you Yeobo, what about all of us? You can’t leave.”

“I don’t want you to leave, I want everything back to the way it was,” he sniffed engulfing you in a hug.

“I’m just bringing him home, Kook, I can’t live without him.” The tone of your voice was cold and empty - a testament to how you felt without Jimin. “I need to know he is okay.”

“Let me drive you, I don’t want you to get into an accident.”

“Please, I know you’re worried, but I need to do this myself. I promise you if at any point I am unfit to drive, I will pull over and call you.” You pleaded with Jungkook, “I made this mess and, I have to fix it”

“You call me the moment something feels off.”

“Yes sir,” pushing up onto your tippy toes to press a kiss to his lips, he wrapped you in his arms, squeezing tightly in hopes that nothing goes wrong. He always did have a tendency of worrying too much.

You took the van and began driving. It took six hours and you pulled into the yard watching the sunrise. You walked around the house to Jimin’s window. You knew his sleeping habits and even in winter, his window was open a crack for some fresh air. Lucky for you and the humid summer night, he had indeed slept with the window open fully, enough for you to slide into his room, removing your shoes and jacket, and tiptoeing to his bed.

You placed the keys down on the table, sneaking into his bed, settling against him under the covers. He looked peaceful in the light of the early morning sun. You felt your heart sync with his, the only thing you could think about was him - it was like you were whole again.

“Jimin, I love you,” you whispered against his collarbone. The sense of relief so powerful you felt the tears rain, your fear and anxiety slowly expelling from your body. Jimin’s arms wrapped around you and you pressed your face deeper against his chest so as not to silence your cries.

“I love you too,” he breathed out, the sleep in his voice didn’t hide the clarity behind his words. “Jungkook called the home phone and told us you were coming. Don’t you dare drive alone at night for that long.”

“I had to, I can’t be away from you. I love you, and it hurts so much to not have you with me.” Your words shook with almost the same intensity as your body did against his.

Jimin told you to sleep and prepared you breakfast - waking you slightly later “My love, you must be hungry. The boys told me you haven’t been eating, is that right?”

“I haven’t been hungry,” you hummed and he nodded, his eyes traveling over your figure.

After breakfast he pulled you to lay back in the bed and got you to sleep, telling you he had messaged the boys and would be home after the weekend alone together. When his parents left he was all over you - his lips promising to love you until the end of time and his hands to always hold you safe from harm.

He drove you home, stopping at a few places to get some souvenirs for the children to tell them how much you love them. You stopped at the gas station to relax and refuel, and you got a strange thought. You don’t know what came over you, but you went through the gas station store and pulled out an ovulation stick from your purse.

It had been two weeks since Jimin left, two weeks since you had your dreams crushed by your period. It wasn’t even worth calling it a period; it was so short and barely there. But otherwise your phone was saying you would be ovulating soon. You took the test and saw two strong lines. You thought about telling Jimin, but you didn’t want the disappointment again.

You couldn’t just hide it. “Okay, I will just tell him and he can decide.” You nodded grabbing for the packet when you froze seeing the words pregnancy test, and a realization struck you. You had run out of ovulation tests weeks ago.

You were pregnant.

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kiyokoks · 5 years ago

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@baqukou tagged me in an ask game, so here we go !!

rules: answer 10 questions, come up with 10 new questions, and tag 10 people

1. name a character (or characters) that you relate to and why? if we’re talking abt bnha, tamaki amajiki !! i am very much constantly anxious and super introverted and don��t like big crowds at all, but im loud af with my closest friends >:)))

2. what is your favorite lyric/quote/poem/etc? probably the line can’t hold me down cuz you know i’m a fighter from ON by BTS, i just think it’s neat with the rest of the song, i like it

3. if capitalism wasn’t a thing, what would your dream life look like? oh man i’d love to work in character design, animation and the visual arts in general i love drawing :))

4. what would your superpower be? ma’am if i had the half-hot half-cold quirk of shouto todoroki i could die happy that’d be the dream

5. what’s a skill that you wish you had? i wish i was good at video games !! i’m what u call a dumbass when it comes to games that make u Actually Think like botw (i killed link like 4 times in ten minutes trying to climb down) so i end up begging my friends for help to get me on the right track :(((

6. your favorite childhood cartoon or movie? probably the barbie movies in general, but my personal favourite was mermaidia bc i had the special doll that changed hair colour if u dipped it in water

7. current obsession? animanga !! i have an official watchlist, but so far i’m really into my hero academia, haikyuu!! and demon slayer/kny :P

8. favorite vine? miss keisha ?? miss keisha ?? oh my fuckin god she’s fuckin’ dead

9. did you have an imaginary friend as a child? yes !! according to my mom i named it toto and it was tigger the tiger

10. what is your biggest pet peeve? hooo boy i have two big ones !!! rude old ppl/boomers ESPECIALLY in a retail setting omfg and my little sister playing her guitar at night (our rooms are RIGHT NEXT to each other .. it’s like a bad college roommate)

i am tagging @thebakuboy @shoutosm @bakugobinch @noticemedeku @kaaschan @shoutosdaddyissues @detectivejigsawpines @sugawaras @dibdabi @y2kparty

my ten new questions !! (under read more 2 not make it long LMAO)

1. Most embarrassing habit?

2. Any hidden talents?

3. Socks or bare feet around the house?

4. What is the natural state of your hair?

5. Favorite pasta dish?

6. What’s one interesting thing about your culture?

7. Favorite thing to drink out of (mug, glass, etc.)?

8. Favorite thing to wear to sleep?

9. Chocolate or fruity candy?

10. Favorite shoes?

#this was fun !!! i meant to do this a LONG time ago but i forgot dhfhdsjf #hopefully my questions aren't weird LMAO i tried to keep them neutral and varied #thx for tagging me nea !!! i love these they're so much fun #tagged in

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crimsonblackrose · 5 years ago

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Around the end of November Nathalie hosted her last Thanksgiving dinner. Since that usually means a full house and it coincided with another friend’s birthday I decided to stay in Seoul again. While trying to figure out where to eat Friday night I saw that on Kakao map there was a BTS symbol and looked it up. Turns out I was down the street from the House of BTS pop up shop and figured I’d give it a try.

BTS or 방탄소년단 is a Korean pop band that’s been performing since 2013 and has reached international fame. They’re well known across the globe. At my old school my students would come running into my classroom as soon as they could because I’d let them pick things to watch on Youtube before class started. I saw whatever the newest BTS music video was along with many many dance practice videos. I didn’t always hear them particularly well over the screams and fan chants my students did while dancing along. Because my students were obsessed I didn’t feel comfortable jumping down the same rabbit hole, and instead just casually enjoyed their music when the kids requested it or someone played it, and watched their American talk show interviews so I could share them with my students if it was appropriate.

But a couple of my friends are Army. (The term for the fans.) I figured since I was in Seoul during the House of BTS pop-up and the holidays were coming up as well as some milestone birthdays and because I’m a curious blogger, I headed over after having dinner and doing some errands. The group chat for Nathalie’s Thanksgiving festivities had suddenly sparked into how dressed up everyone was going to be and I didn’t have anything dressy packed. Gangnam has a pretty nice selection of stores including an underground market so I planned to search till I found something. I ended up finding a sweater I liked pretty quickly. (Okay, I also went to a couple bookstores, yes I have a problem. But I only bought one book, and it was the one book I was looking for so I think it’s okay. It’s on the TBR bookcase.)

So essentially for a pop up open from 10am until 10pm I figured showing up around 8:30pm on a Friday night would be okay. I was wrong. Apparently they cut the line off between 6pm and 8pm depending on the day. So the whole thing was over, except for the few people still outside waiting in line at 8:30pm. So I hiked back down the hill and to my hotel, trying to figure out when a good time to try again would be. Turns out that was Sunday morning.

My original plan was to show up and queue at 9am. I figured if I was at least an hour early then I’d hopefully get in before noon. But my first night at the hotel I barely slept, and the second night I got back very late from Nathalie’s Thanksgiving party. I was the first one to leave the party but after a full day of birthday shenanigans on no sleep and then a very drunken Thanksgiving party where I was the only one sober meant it was time to go straight to bed. I didn’t want to have to get up early and wait in the cold on so little sleep so I set an alarm for 9:30.

Gotta get through my TBR, which means reading in the rain while in line.

I got up before my alarm, ate breakfast at the hotel and packed up all my stuff and left it at the front desk after check out. Then after taking one step outside and realizing it was pouring rain I immediately turned around and went back to the front desk to ask for my stuff again. Thankfully I had packed an umbrella, it was just at the bottom of my bag. Then I hiked back towards the pop up shop. On the way I noticed a long line spilling down the main road and felt a bit of panic. The pop up was halfway up the hill and if it was down the street already it was going to be an awful morning. Nope, turns out people were queued up for something else. But that didn’t mean I was let off easily. The line ended up being up the hill and around the corner. But it moved fairly fast because it wasn’t a line to get in per-say but actually a line to get a time to actually get into line. That line was about an hour and a half. It was like the Stranger Things Pop up where you only needed on person in line who’d type in their Korean phone number into a tablet and explain how many people were in their group and then go do something else until it was time to get back in line. It all worked through KakaoTalk. So if you plan to do any pop ups in Korea, having a Korean number (or a number that works in Korea) hooked up to KakaoTalk is a must.

Waiting in line #2, the line I got in for my timed entrance

I think it’s really a clever way to go about events with long lines. It keeps you from wasting your entire day in line. So after I got my number I was told to come back around 1. I went to a cafe nearby, got myself a peppermint tea and waited. Then went to lunch and towards the end of my meal my phone got a Kakao message saying to come back to the line. Thankfully I was only a block away so I hurried back up the hill to where I’d gotten my ticket and then got in the new line. In this line I had to show them my time/number receipt and keep it handy to show the staff at several different points before someone collected it at the entrance to the final line.

Line #3 outside the pop up (final line)

I was given a map of the pop up shop and a list of things they had for sale. I also got a very tiny pink pencil that said “House of BTS” and a pink snap bracelet that said the same. Then I waited in the rain with a bunch of other people until we were escorted down the hill to the main line in rows of two like school children. At which point we were in the real line. Despite the rain I tried to figure out the layout of the pop up and what I wanted to do.

Entrance to the pop up with the muffled sound of BTS music

There were 3 floors and a basement. We all started in the basement and when finished with the entire experience could exit via the first floor. The basement was only accessible for as long as we were in it. Once we left the basement we couldn’t return to it. It was also the merchandise display room. All the things they were selling for the day were on display with a giant wall of different music videos playing.

The map we were given was also a catalog and depending on what you wanted you marked the correct item and number. I wandered around looking at things trying to figure out good gifts and taking pictures. Eventually I picked a display case and using my tiny pink pencil marked the things I planned to buy and headed to the counter. At the counter a staffer in pink went over my order with me and told me the things on my list they were sold out of. I didn’t want to re-configure my list so I just got the things on it that they did have.

I was given a buzzer, the kind they have at restaurants, and went upstairs.

That panic when one of your buzzers goes off and you get in line and then the other buzzer goes off while you’re in the pick up line for the first buzzer. Help.

The first floor was item pick up, stamps for the House of BTS bingo, and the cafe. I thought with all the people there that it might take awhile for my stuff to come out so I popped over to the cafe to place an order. I was determined to play Bingo and get all the stamps. I love stamp relays and assumed it was something similar. It included making purchases as half the options. They had a couple of BTS themed drinks and thankfully included on the menu what was in them.

I went for Fake Love, a blackberry apple juice with a slice of dried apple. I paid, got another buzzer and then my first buzzer went off. So I turned around and got in the line for item pick up. While in line for item pick up my other buzzer went off that my drink was ready. I waved to the cafe lady an apology and she warned the guy who set my drink out that I was in line. It took a couple versions of pantomiming to get that, but eventually I got my gifts and was free from the line, just in time for the buzzer to go off again. I hurried around to the pick up part of the cafe while the new barista was looking around the crowd to find the owner of my poor lonely Fake Love drink. It was a mess. I had misread the first buzzer and thought it said that once I picked up my shopping that I had to leave. So I had assumed I needed to rush around and do everything I wanted before picking up my shopping. I also assumed with all the people there who were also presumably doing a lot more shopping then me, that it’d take a while. But after talking with the staff I was reassured there was no rush. I just couldn’t go downstairs and do more shopping. So I picked up my drink, took pictures and enjoyed.

There weren’t any seats, so I stood at a table sipping my drink. It was refreshing after being in line for so long, it was well after 2pm, and I really enjoyed the apple slice that I fished out. With shopping procured and a drink had, I headed to the stamp spot.

There was a chance for different prizes based on the amount of bingo’s you got. In order to secure bingo’s I had to show my receipts and follow the BTS merchandise twitter, which I had done while waiting in line to get in. For each thing of merch you buy you got one stamp. Since my list had gotten shrunken by things being sold out I had a grand total of three things. Which got me three stamps. My drink got me another as did following the twitter account, and lastly being there got me my bingo. Sadly being there or “attendance” was the other biggest part of the bingo card and you could only get one per day. There was no way I’d be able to come back another day to get anything beyond one bingo. They also made it so you couldn’t share the bingo card by writing your full name as shown on your passport or ID (In my case A.R.C: Alien Registration Card) and your date of birth on the card. Because I would’ve gifted it to someone else more determined then myself. But I did win a postcard.

After collecting my postcard I went up to the second floor which was a spot for photos. They had cartoon chibi versions of the members of the band, with the bases signed for people to pose and take pictures with. There was also a bus stop with writing all over it that people were trying to get pictures with on their own but the crowding kept drawing the staff over to tell people they couldn’t do that. There was also some colorful streamers and a spot to take a picture that was suppose to go with their music video “Idol”. Actually most sections were meant to go with specific music videos, since they were playing each specific song on loop somewhere near each section. It was really interesting and definitely a fun space for taking pictures, just a bit too crowded to do it easily.

Then I got in line for the third floor. The line was very long, spilling down the stairs, and it moved very slowly up. For me, it was a huge waste of my time. The line slowly curled around one room with some merch and a full cardboard cut out of the band sitting down. The idea was it was for a cute photo with the band, but there was no way to easily leave or figure out what the line was for until you were next to go into the room. Meaning, I’m pretty sure, I was the fastest moving person for that room. I took a couple pictures while the girls in front of me took pictures, then I took one more picture, then left.

And that was it. That was the entirety of the House of BTS. As a more casual listener of BTS it wasn’t as exciting. Getting some Christmas/birthday shopping done is exciting, but the amount of time I waited to essentially go shopping was…questionable. The rest of it is an intagramable space but without the ability to allow you to enjoy it as an intagramable space. It was a bit too crowded. Though with BTS’s popularity that shouldn’t be surprising and I should probably be grateful I managed to get in and through as quickly as I did.

I am however a sucker for a good bingo/stamp relay, but because there weren’t actual missions or places or events for me to get stamps and the only way to get them was to come back which meant I was ultimately disappointed.

A pop up generally means something that is short lived and that closes after a couple weeks or a month. However I’m not sure if that’s the case with the BTS pop up since it also seems to function as a BTS merch store where the items and some of the designs rotate out. If you’re planning to be in Korea and are curious if it’s happening I suggest checking out the twitter they had me follow. It’s mostly in Korean but will link to the proper Facebook posts which tend to have English translations and more details. Apparently it was only suppose to be up for a short period of time and closed in January, but check that twitter to see if it’s still up, or has reopened. There are also ones suppose to be opening in other countries.

The House of BTS Around the end of November Nathalie hosted her last Thanksgiving dinner. Since that usually means a full house and it coincided with another friend's birthday I decided to stay in Seoul again.

#bts #bts pop up shop #방탄소년단 #gangnam #house of bts #kpop locations #seoul #shopping #south korea #things to do in gangnam #travel

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lanasaved · 5 years ago

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sssslithers onto the scene like nagini.... hlo! i’m nai n i’m rly excited to finally return 2 rp. uni is officially Over n i’m living bk at home nw so i actually hav free time again to write. c’est une.... how do u say.... Miracle! some of u might b familiar w lana already bt if not u can find out mre abt her under the cut n feel free 2 like this or hmu fr plots!!!

p.s. this is her pinterest for those of u tht like tht kind of thing

CIS-FEMALE — ever hear people say LANA JAMESON looks a lot like KRISTINE FROSETH? I think SHE is about 22, so it doesn’t really work. The DANCE major is a JUNIOR that is from ALBANY, NEW YORK. They can be + VIVACIOUS, but they can also be - IRRESPONSIBLE. I think LANA might be SHEEP. They are living in BALTA. ( nai. 22. gmt. she/her. )

some random aesthetics: a red water pistol topped up with caribbean rum and covered in stickers of cartoon pin up girls, a vinyl record whirring silently because you got too distracted by a stranger’s hands to reach over and flip sides, giant inflatable flamingos floating in the aftermath of a pool party, smudgy lipstick kisses left like an autograph on someone else’s mirror

ic im sayin she jst got bk from going abroad w louis, this kind of sleazy older man tht manages the camgirls on the website lana works fr. he calls himself a “big exec” at “the company” n mkes it all sound a lot more professional than it is. he also owns this big house w all these different rooms/settings fr the girls to film different kinds of scenes in n is looked up by a lot of ppl bt when asked why they look up to him, nobody ever rly seems to have an answer. jst...a shady figure. lana kind of.... went off the deep end lst semester n ended up deferring her next one after missing her big graded ballet recital. it’s a whole big mess n she’s wearin horse blinders to it. truly jst.... goin on holiday to ignore hw much she’s fuckin things up at school. queen of burying her head in the sand!

frm this point on ive jst pasted her old intro bc im the laziest woman alive n that’s jst life Babey

grew up in a big house in albany, NY, bt also spent time all over the place n was in the city a lot

okay so her mum is an old money socialite / three time campaign model way back when n her dad is a big record label mogul. he owns a label called jameson records n they repped a few big rock bands back in the eighties, altho they’re mostly known for ‘poppy injects’ whose lead singer had a big heroin scandal tht brought down his career. lana p much grew up around musicians snorting lines instead of spooning down cereal fr breakfast n her parents were v much absent her whole life

they’re pretty well off obviously n bc of her relation to such a big music industry figure she’s hung out w a fair few relatively high rep ppl thru her teens. she amassed kind of an instagram following mainly fr her style (v penny lane-esque in some aspects aka lots of fur cuff trimmed jackets bt then also jst…. a wild combination of everything honestly. pastel faux fur coats, seventies style platforms, flame red cowboy boots, pastel coloured fishnet tights n glitter used like highlight Everywhere) n bc she’s undeniably very pretty

her parents always kind of jst… didn’t like her. it was v clear that she was an accident after her older brother caleb n that even when they just had him alone they weren’t cut out for parenthood. they always kind of jst… ignored her n hoped she’d go away. she had to mke herself microwave meals when she ws only like 12 bc they’d forget to get her anything. once she went like 6 days without her mum even looking her in the eyes once

despite this tho!!! she’s always been insanely close w her brother caleb. he’s her whole world. thts why when he decided to sign up to the army she ws understandably scared bt supported him regardless. bt then he wound up getting discharged under grounds of severe ptsd when he witnessed his best friend die in an explosion tht took place in a shock raid. caleb returned home n he was never the same n lana kind of felt like he’d died out there too. he’s in n out of hospital a lot n it’s rly hard on her bt she doesn’t tlk abt it to anyone rly

growing up lana was always a huge social butterfly. jst literally…. knew everyone n everyone definitely knew her. she ws one of those girls tht ws kind of impossible to ignore or forget. very animated, always made u feel like u were the centre of the universe whenever she spoke to u, always made it feel like u were best friends even if ud only spoken to her once. she has this magnetic way abt her tht is kind of hard to find in real life. it’s something ud only rly expect out of a movie character

she’s always been insatiably spontaneous n adventurous. always doing something weird n wild every weekend. she has ten thousand stories tht always earn a laugh or a gasp over how ridiculously absurd they r

anyway so after caleb got back he was rly withdrawn n depressed. he shut lana out n was kind of harsh to her a lot of the time, always telling her to leave him alone or pushing her away. it didnt help either tht lana had a rly traumatic experience w some of her dad’s colleagues at the label when she ws 16 n he was away n she cldnt even tell him abt it once he was bk bc of his own traumas. she kind of jst shut it all in n kept it to herself

this obviously?? made her spiral a lot. she was already a girl tht loved sex (she’d only rly done foreplay before tho) but since her trauma it got…. completely out of hand. it got to a point where she couldnt rly go 2 days without it, probably not even 1. her lowest point has probably been scrolling thru craiglist for anonymous encounters n meeting up w strangers on there fr a quick fuck jst for the thrill even tho it’s insanely dangerous n she cld wind up getting herself killed. it’s v clear at this point tht she has a sex addiction whether she’s ever admitted it or not. in fact she’s so… shameless in her endeavours tht she’s actually currently having an affair w her ballet instructor tanya who’s engaged to b married

she also currently? is working as a cam girl. she found this website bc she trawls… porn stuff a lot n she wound up applying to work as one bc she thought it’d b fun n wld earn her some disposal income (even tho she frankly doesn’t need it bc she’s already well off). the guy tht manages all of the girls on the site is kind of suspect n it’s a whole plot i’m gna unravel where it’s actually like the front for a cult or something wild so. stay posted ig. kgjdkgjh

new development!!!!!!!! cue me trottin around doin jazz hands. she’s actually been cut off by her dad so she’s….. living off the money she has left n has to look to find a job which is jst. a nightmare fr someone like lana bc she’s insatiably irresponsible n destined to be fired from anything she tries to hold down bt. it’ll be interesting bc this means she genuinely has to keep on camming even tho she’s starting not to want to any more bc of other circumstances i won’t elaborate on jst yet winks

personality/some fun facts: uncontrollably flirty. boundlessly confident. cld make a joke out a paper bag n her comedy is sometimes surreal / absurd. she tends to laugh when she feels like crying n has a smile brighter than a ray of texas sunshine. always dapples her fingers thru the breeze when she’s driving in a car w the window down. her fav book as a child used to b alice in wonderland n she’d fantasise abt having her own little wonderland too where everyone knew her name n asked her things n took her on adventures. at the time it didn’t rly strike her how evident it was tht that was bc she was so lonely. she almost always has some sort of sweet on her, whether it’s strawberry laces or gummy bears or cherry lollipops. she adores david bowie n prince n madonna n anyone tht’s a vintage style icon w little care fr what ppl think. wildflowers r her favourites bc they’re the brightest and u can’t buy them. she’s had like 8472493874 ‘relationships’ n none of them hav lasted beyond a month / hav been terrible / hav seen her being treated badly / she’s cheated on them. i dnt think she’s actually been w anyone she hasn’t cheated on in some form or another

plot ideas: exes tht lana’s fucked over hideously. she’d probably cheat a lot and it’d be a whole…mess. mayb someone tht flipped the switch and cheated on her? a cousin plot cld b fun too. a friend tht lana fel out w bc she slept w their significant other. someone tht’s getting lana into drugs?? she’s kind of impressionable/down for anything so tht’s a likely scenario she’d get into tbh. an unrequited crush!! (either way is cool). someone tht is just hanging out w her/using her bc she has a lot of instagram followers or they want to b signed to her dad’s label. someone in a band!! she’d probably make like penny lane n b their groupie/sleep w them all fgjkshgkh. umm a good influence too mayb? oh and a past summer romance/fling tht cld either have meant a lot or not have meant anything at all. bonus points if both of them hav a diff viewpoint on it. honestly?? anything is fine i cld ramble for days. let’s get wildt!

#livingintro #inhales fr ten minutes to muster the breath necessary to add al these tws #rape tw #statutory rape tw #only brief / touched on / not explored in detail bt stil!#abuse tw #ptsd tw #hospitalisation tw #hypersexuality tw #addiction tw #death tw #mental illness tw #drugs tw

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bangtanbabeloveyourself · 6 years ago

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Oh What A Wedding

Pairing: Female reader x BTS

Tags: Casual, Slice of Life, Home, Family, Wedding, Bridesmaid, Groomsmen, Future Fluff, Future Smut, Series, Chapter

Chapter: 1|2|

Word count: 2.5k

Writer’s Note: This is my first attempt at a multi chapter piece. I’ve also never written about all seven members. This chapter contains no smut but there will be smut in the upcoming chapters! If you like it, don’t forget to reblog so others have the chance to read it as well!

Summary: You’re a new novelist and your little sister is getting married. Because of work, you could only show up two weeks before the wedding. While preparing for the wedding, the groomsmen catch your attention, but not as much as you catch theirs. They make a bet as to who can win your heart first and you may have just found your next novel.

You walked over to the baggage claim area with an exasperated sigh. Flying was such a pain in the ass but it would be worth it. You were going to see your little sister, Katherine, get married. You had never been more happy for her. She was such a sweet girl and so was her fiance. They had been together since they were kids. Shane was one of the neighbor boys that you both had grown up around. They were inseparable up until graduation. Shane had gotten into a modeling gig that required him to move out of state for a while. That was the time your sister had spent in college. There was no doubt in her mind that they would end up together, so she planned her career around his and got a degree in fashion design.

She had always been the more fashionable of you two. Usually the older sister was supposed to be the trend setter. She loved to rub it in your face too. But you paid no mind to it. There was nothing wrong with your oversized sweatshirts and cartoon leggings. In any case, your choice in clothing hardly mattered when your career was solely based on staying indoors.

Once Shane had gotten a good footing in his modeling agency, he came back to your hometown and proposed to Kat. With the money he had earned and the money that parents had been saving for years, the wedding was to be done in under a year from the proposal. That didn’t give you a lot of time to get your life together first, but there was no chance you were going to miss your little sister’s wedding.

You had moved away too shortly after college. You were a writer by trade and passion and let’s be honest, trying to get your foot in the writing career in a small town just wasn’t very likely and you refused to use your parents’ business connections to give you a head start. So you had moved closer to the Big Apple to help you with that. Luckily it paid off too. You started off in a small editing position for an up and coming blog that later blossomed into a social media conglomerate.

You had moved up in position over the few years you had been there and so you had more liberties to your projects. You had managed to get ahead in a lot of your work and with your boss’s blessing, you’ve been taking your free time to try and write the romance novel that you had dreamed about since you were a young girl. The only problem was that you had no clue where to begin. The want to write was there, but you had no inspiration. Your dating life was massively lacking since you left college which left you with little to work with. You had secretly hoped that coming to your sister’s wedding and witnessing their ceremony would help give you that little spark of romance that you needed to get your writing started.

You saw your bag coming around the conveyer belt and quickly went over to retrieve it. You huffed as you lifted the bag off the belt and onto the floor with a thud. You weren’t one to bring more than one bag, but that also meant that the bag that you did bring weighed twice as much as it should. You pulled out the handle and started to wheel it over to the exit.

You were expecting your parents to come and pick you up near the exit. But as you reached closer, you didn’t see them anywhere. You reached into your jacket to grab your phone but groaned when the screen didn’t light up. Great, you thought. As you looked around for an outlet you noticed a tall man with blonde hair holding a sign that had your name on it. You eyed him cautiously wondering who he could be. The man didn’t look familiar at all.

You tried to wiggle back towards a crowd of people but it was too late. He had spotted you and gave you a giant grin. He waved his hand and jogged over to you. You took a step back when he had moved a little too close into your space for your liking. He bowed at you before meeting your gaze and smiling again.

“Hi Y/N. You probably don’t know me, but I’m Jin. I’m a friend of Shane’s. I came to give you a ride back to your parent’s house.”

You eyed him over again before crossing your arms against your chest. “And I’m supposed to believe a stranger holding a sign with my name on it, that I should go with him?”

He ran a hand through his blonde locks before giving you a sheepish grin. “I suppose it does sound kind of creepy. But I promise that I’m only here as a favor to your family. Your parents had an issue with catering and had to go take care of it and your sister had another fitting for her dress. So Shane asked me if I’d mind giving you a ride since I was already here to pick up his best man. I’m here to pick up the second most important people at the wedding, so that makes me the third most important otherwise the maid of honor and the best man wouldn’t even show up.” he chuckled, trying to make a joke.

You gave him a soft, uneasy smile before looking around. You didn’t see another person with him. “Okay then, Jin, where’s the so called best man then? If I could meet him, I might be more inclined to believe your story.” It all reality, you did believe him, but you thought there wasn’t any harm in giving him a hard time.

His face fell slightly and you saw the worry in his eyes. “Oh, he’s actually in the car already, I’m sorry. I know this sounds sketchy but I can’ go get h-”

You raised your hand to cut him off and giggled. “It’s okay Jin. I’m just kidding. We can go.” He nodded and ushered you to go first, trying to hide the blush from his face, no doubt.

Once outside, he lead you over to the parking garage. “Yeah, this isn’t sketchy,” you say as you roll your eyes. You saw Jin tense up again and you chuckled. “I’m still just kidding Jinnie, no reason to get your panties in a bunch.”

He winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know I’m sorry. I just know this looks shady. But my car is just over there, you can even see Namjoon already.” He started waving towards the car, but the man inside had his nose buried in a notebook, frantically making notes from the look of it.

When you got to the car, Jin used his key fob to pop the trunk and reached over to grab your suitcase from you. You let him take it without another fuss and he motioned for you to get in. You nodded and opened the rear passenger door directly behind the driver’s seat. The man he referred to as Namjoon, jumped at your sudden intrusion but when he saw Jin, he relaxed a bit. The man before you was just as gorgeous as Jin had been. Geez, models. Doesn’t Shane have any normal looking friends? you thought, bitterly. He was wearing a bandana to keep his purple hair out of his eyes.

“Oh, you must be the maid of honor. I’m Namjoon, best man.” He gave you a soft wink and you smirked. “Best man, huh? Never seen a best man with purple hair,” you teased. “ I’m Y/N, Kat’s older sister.” He raised an eyebrow. “Quick to quib, I love it.” He gave you a big dimpled smile that honestly made your heart melt a little. He was already gorgeous but those dimples almost did you in.

You shrugged slightly before turning to put your seatbelt on. “Well, in my line of business, it’s better to be quick witted. If you aren’t funny, no one cares anymore.”

When you turned to face him again, you noticed he had shifted a little more to face you. “And what line of business would that be?” he asked as Jin finally shut the trunk of his car. You followed him with your eyes as he got into the car.

“Oh, I’m a writer of sorts. I’m the lead editor at Wave,” you said as Jin settled into the driver’s seat.

“Wave? Isn’t that one of those funny vlog sites? That’s all over social media? I think I just watched one of their videos about cooking while at your desk.” Jin stated as he looked at you from the rearview mirror.

You shrugged. “That’s what we’ve been reduced to, but yeah. That’d be the one. Unfortunately we have to cater to the public or we would be out of business. It’s not all bad though. I did learn how to cook a full chicken without having to leave my office.”

You heard Jin chuckle before he started the car. “Fair enough. So then, shall we get going? You parents were nice enough to let all of us stay at your house.”

That didn’t surprise you. With hopes of you staying in town, your parents had renovated the old pool house and turned it into every teenager’s dream house. All of the excitement of living on your own without the responsibility. They had finished it your senior year but your heart was set on New York. Your sister did stay there though and commuted to school every day from there, so it didn’t completely go to waste. Now it would be the party house before the wedding.

“Yeah, that was really nice of them too. Especially considering there were so many groomsmen. Why aren’t there any more bridesmaids?” Namjoon asked, turning from his notebook to look towards you again.

“What do you mean? There should have been seven including myself.” You said as you grabbed your charger out of your purse and plugged it into one of the USB ports in the back of Jin’s car.

Namjoon shook his head before turning back towards the front. “Not according to Shane. Apparently it’s just you and two of your cousins.”

Your jaw dropped. Your sister hadn’t mentioned her friends dropping out of the wedding at all. What had happened? You thumbed over your now charging phone before turning to look out of the window. “I honestly don’t know. My sister hasn’t really talked to me much about the wedding. She wanted to wait until I got back home.”

Jin cleared his throat before giving a sheepish grin. “I can probably explain that one.” You and Namjoon both turned your attention to him. “Well, since we were in between gigs, your parents had let most of the groomsmen stay here the past two weeks with them. I think things got a little out of control after a party we had. Feelings got hurt and I think the girls just didn’t want to stick around so they dropped out of the wedding.”

Namjoon groaned and gave Jin a punch on his arm. “What the hell, man? Can’t you guys keep it in your pants? How is that supposed to make the agency look? Did none of you think of that?”

Jin’s face was slowly turning red as he looked back towards you through the rearview mirror. Your eyes met for a fraction of a second before he looked back towards the road. “It’s not our fault. You know what alcohol does to all of them. The girls were the ones who started it anyway. Who am I to deny them love from Mr. Worldwide Handsome?”

You couldn’t hold back the snicker from his comment. He looked back to you again with an eyebrow raised. “What? You don’t agree with me?”

You blushed instantly before clearing your throat. “Uh, I mean. You’re all models or something right? You’ve gotta be attractive to someone.”

Namjoon let out a snort before shaking his head. “Yeah, way to hurt his ego. He’ll be sulking about that all day.”

He was right. Jin immediately got a pout on his face and you had to bite your lip to keep from grinning. Namjoon patted his arm. “It’ll be okay. You’ll always be sexy to me,” the man teased. Jin rolled his eyes but stayed silent, instead deciding to turn the radio on, ending the conversations for the rest of the trip.

Within forty minutes, you had arrived to your parent’s home. Namjoon was the first to exit the car, heading straight back to the trunk that he had popped in the glove box before exiting. Jin got out as you collected your phone and charger and went over to your door. He opened it for you and you gave him a soft smile. You couldn't remember the last time someone had opened your door for you like this, because, let's be honest, New York City isn't known for its manners.

You walked back to the trunk to retrieve your bag. Namjoon had already gotten it out for you and moved it towards you. “Oh, thanks.”

“No problem. I just thought it would make this. Little quicker. I'm exhausted and wanted Jin to show me where I'm staying. I was going to ask you, but obviously you're just getting here too.” Namjoon looked to Jin and motioned for him to take the lead, and he did.

Jin lead you both around to the side of the house where a little dirt path lead you to the back yard. You grew up in this house, yet your mother's garden down this path always took your breath away. Despite everything your mother did, she always made time to garden. She had roses, tulips, daisies, hibiscus, lilacs and lilies too on top of dozens of others you couldn’t even name.

The path takes everyone to a large wooden fence. Jin opens the gate before holding it open for the both of you. As soon as you're through the gate, the smell of chlorine and a campfire fill your nose and the fragrant flowers disappear. You used to hate smelling that every day but now, it just brings back a flood of memories of your childhood with your sister.

You're brought out of your reminiscing by the shouts of whom you assumed to be the other groomsmen. They had all been messing around the pool when you guys had entered. Once they saw their friends, they all started chaotically exiting the pool. It honestly surprised you that none of them got hurt in the process.

You stood behind Namjoon and Jin as they were greeted by their friends. You pushed down the handle of your suitcase before pulling out the strap to make your way to your room. You were stopped by a hand to your shoulder. You turned and Jin gave you a soft smile before ushering you towards the group of young men.

You sighed as you set your bag down and turned to face them all. You quickly looked over them. You had to fight the urge to drop your jaw as you took them in. You had to hand it to Shane. He picked a beautiful career to get into.

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