#its mostly the younger fans too so it just seems like I'm trying to stop them from having fun

[murmurmurl]

long time no H♡L info??!??!?!?!?

I did mention that Toshiro and Seina both have siblings. WELL. I made up my mind about them. Neither has a name yet, but I have a whole leftover name list from when I was naming all of Helianthus. Toshiro has an older brother and Seina has a younger sibling. And uhm. So remember how I ALSO mentioned that I accidentally started thinking about another fan unit. That's because of them. These siblings are in another unit together. I actually already have a general theme and even their sekai in mind????? Somehow??????? All I'm gonna say for now is that it's space-themed. Because of course it is. At this point I might as well make a billion units for each of my interests (/nsrs), but uh ANYWAYS. Yeah. I'll try to design said siblings today, ALTHOUGH. I have like,, 3(??) other H♡L wips, but I just CANNOT stop, my brain is full of ideas and these guys are genuinely one of the only things keeping me going???? Along with my sister??????? Can you tell I'm super excited, did any of that even make sense, idc, I just wanted to say it.

AND. To not make this just me saying some random general stuff, I'll also share what's the idea for H♡L's sekai is FOR NOW. It can change because I. Am painfully inconsistent. Just a heads up – I'm not he best with descriptions, and I'm also not gonna really bother making it sound good right now, it's just to give whatever few ppl care about these sillies an idea of what it'll probably look like. (As I'm writing this, I realized I actually *am* trying to make it sound nice, but if it sounds weird. Hush. /lh)

I mentioned that I call it the overgrown sekai. Because it's, well, overgrown. As you could hopefully guess. The main part of it is an old stone structure, with some intricate carvings still remaining visible and even discernable, although everything does look like it's at least.. a few centuries old, no less. However, taking into account that it's a sekai, it probably isn't that ancient. Almost everything is pretty much overrun by plants – ivy spreading across the grey stone walls, grass (and most importantly flowers) breaking their way through the floor that seems to be made of marble, but it's too old, overgrown and at times dirty to be completely sure. The said flowers are a strange mix of forget-me-nots and sunflowers that may not quite make sense, but it *is* a whole ass other dimension, after all. There's plenty of light, despite practically no windows in sight, save for a few small ones. The reason for that being the roof, shaped like a dome, with holes in it that clearly weren't here by the first design, having appeared because of the stone collapsing over time. Unsurprisingly, the flowers are concentrated in the areas where the most light seeps through those holes. And speaking of light, the time here is always the same – late afternoon, with the season always remaining a comfortable sunny summer.

There's some furniture in the building, mostly along the walls, with the center looking almost like a flowerbed. That furniture seems to represent each of the owners of the sekai – an old desk made of dark wood with a quil and some paper thrown around it, almost giving it an impression that the owner left in a hurry. The paper has become a light yellow color over what may or may not be a rather long amount of time. Next to it – a somewhat fancy wooden chair. There are mirrors hung around this part of the space – some broken, some have the glass taken out entirely. Just a little further – a shelf and an armchair. Both items' materials and overall look fit that of nearly very other piece of furniture here. The shelf is filled with items that seem to have some spiritualistic significance – amulets, crystals and stones, all of them hand-made and hand-carved, yet seeming to lack in accuracy and having been made in a hurry. The armchair strangely has a few long chains hanging on its back. One of the more noticeable pieces of furniture is... a fish tank. It has no fish. In fact, it doesn't even have water, though it's probably not intended to be that way – the tank is spacious and has pretty much almost everything a fish would need to be happy and content in captivity. But it's old and worn out – the driftwood rotting away, whatever plants used to be inside have withered and everything is covered in a thin layer of... dust..? The tank itself stands on top of something of a dresser. If you care to open its doors, you will see rows upon rows of books – as many as could fit in the little space there is inside. Most of them have to do with marine life, but there are also some journals full of incomprehensible messy writing, as if whoever was filling them either didn't have much time, or was feeling too much emotion to care. Perhaps the strangest item in the building is a cage. It's designed just like one of those small restricting bird cages, glistening with gold in the light from above, but for some reason, the cage could easily fit a human. If you decide to step in, you might notice an unexpected aroma. It's vague and subtle, but... it almost seems like fresh black coffee mixed with something citrusy. Outside, the building is surrounded by a dense forest. The light can't penetrate the abundance of trees, but somehow, it doesn't feel eerie or threatening. It feels familiar in an unexplainable way. Have you already seen these woods somewhere..?

WOOOOO I THINK THAT'S ALL. I think. I hope I didn't miss anything. Uhm. I also hope it's not too,, out there, idk. There's also another area I have in mind, BUT. that is some world link territory, where I don't rlly wanna go rn,,,,, RAGHHHH I hope all of that sounds alright. Again, if it doesn't,,,,, I'm not a writer by any means, I just. Felt silly.

[classystudentpartyslime]

You ain't reading allat

Found this in my notes app, it's a year old, let's go (⁠ノ⁠ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ⁠)⁠ノ

Hangout later

The fan in my bedroom hasn't been working for the past few days.

This isn't a problem– shouldn't be, atleast. It's winter.

Or that's how it may seem to others.

It has caused issues for me.

I mean, I find myself staring at it more often.

That in itself wouldn't be the problem, if I hadn't also been staring at the sturdy looking bedsheets, the calendar, the small ladder, a notepad, and a pen.

But I am. Way too often.

I think we often tend to miss things when they're in motion. Or we're in motion. Aren't we all in motion? The earth is spinning, after all. But it seems with the fan, I have stopped too. So now, with many thoughts behind my unoptimally functioning eyes, and from behind the sizeable lenses cased between the frame of my painfully dull black glasses, I stare.

I stare at many things, but the fan, mostly.

You see, it's not that cold yet. If the fan hadn't stopped, I'd be cozier in the night, with its regulator turned to the second last notch complimenting the weight of a thicker-than-usual blanket on my body in a way that lulls me into an easy sleep.

But, no. It had to stop. So I stare as sleep evades me, today of all days, when I felt I needed it most.

It's too warm with the blanket, suffocating. Just slightly too cold without it, in a way that stings only the back of my legs and my thighs. There is no peace either way.

My phone's ringing. I ignore the sound till it stops. I think of the days where I didn't, and how those conversations went. Tonight I don't feel like listening. Or speaking, for that matter. So I settle with staring at the fan. The phone finishes ringing and doesn't ring again.

I remember when I was younger, I used to get on top of the ladder and try to reach the blades. I'm sure I could now, if I tried, but I haven't in a while.

Maybe because that information would only cause me more unrest. Push me harder towards resting once and for all, maybe not flat on my back, but not on my feet, either.

Because I'm not that tall, so my feet wouldn't touch the floor, even if the fan hanged a little low.

The right earphone is working. The sound of chirping crickets replaces the music that's supposed to flow in from the left one. It's been broken for a while, now. So many things are, now that I think about it.

My right ear starts ringing, and suddenly I can't hear any music at all.

Usually, I'd hear the dull whirring of my fan, and the sound of air being whipped around. But there's none of that either. The sound of my thoughts occupies that silence.

I think the fan's staring at me, too. Wondering why I spend so much time decomposing on this bed. Why I'm thinking so hard, prolonging a decision that I know I will end up taking. Why I've been here so long, not even moving any part of my body except my eyelids and irises. I think the fan is tired of looking at my face. I feel sorry for my fan. Maybe things are easier for it when it's spinning, too. I feel it isn't happy with the way I'm planning to use it, at all.

What if it gives out from the ceiling, and we both fall?

My fan falls, and it says, "It's all your fault. Maybe I was a little flawed– maybe I stopped spinning for a while. For such a minor crime, did you really have to destroy me? Now I've left a hole where I was, and the ceiling misses me. I will be thrown out soon, and I'll end up in the dumpyard with the rest of the trash. Can't you have done something different?"

"Stupid girl. Look at what you did."

And I don't have an answer for my fan. Really, this was an inconsiderate decision. I never thought it would fall alongside me...but I'm not really sorry.

"So what if you didn't?" My fan says. "It's still your fault."

Still my fault. That sounds right. I've decided that most things are. I think about how I haven't heard an apology in very long.

I must really have gone insane, because fans don't speak, and I never even left my place on the bed. My fan still hangs from the ceiling, perfectly still, like it has been for days.

I think about what my fan said to me, when I realise that maybe sleep is upset with my eyes tonight for having paid no heed to it's gentle nudges throughout the day, and has decided to refrain from paying them its daily visit out of pettiness.

I think of asking my fan why it stopped.

My fan reads my mind, because it answers though I never end up asking. "Why are you always questioning me? Can't you be glad I chose a time where you don't need me as much? Atleast it's not summer, I worked hard for you this summer." my fan says.

"I gave you what you wanted, when you wanted it. What more do you want from me?"

And my fan sounds so upset, that I feel a little bad for asking in the first place. Even though I didn't really ask, and it never really answered. I'm going to stop asking if it's so sad all the time.

This whole back and forth that I just had with my fan, or didn't, sounds a little familiar to me. Or doesn't. Because I never had this conversation with someone else, but if I did, they would act out my part, and I'd be acting out the part of my fan.

I think I already do, to some extent.

"I don't know, have you thought about apologising?"

"Hello? But I'm not sorry?"

"Oh. Okay."

"..."

I think about how I don't exactly sympathize with my fan, and wonder whether it's the same for other people too. How exhausting it must be to have to badger me with questions even when I'm not causing them trouble.

"I gave you what you wanted, when you wanted it. What more do you want from me?"

"...I'm going to stop asking if you're so sad all the time."

Maybe my way of looking at this is wrong to begin with. Maybe my fan stopped moving because it died. Maybe what hangs above me now is its corpse. Such a morbid thought. We'd match if I hung my corpse from it, too. Just two hanging corpses, that were maybe friends.

"I don't know," my fan says. "Are we friends?"

"You're supposed to be dead," I say, or don't.

"Well, if you want me to be." My fan sounds upset again. "Do you want me to be?"

"That depends. Do you want to be?"

My fan doesn't answer that question. Maybe it realised that it's supposed to be dead, and shouldn't have been speaking in the first place, or it just now died, or it simply didn't feel like answering. Looking at my fan, it's not clear which one it is. Maybe it has no answer.

It's silent now, it occurs to me. It's a weird thought because it has been silent the entire time, but this silence feels more concentrated. Atleast now I'm thinking about a possible schizophrenia diagnosis instead of about killing myself. If I told someone about tonight, they'd probably laugh at me. I'd laugh with them, because it's funny, there's no denying that.

"What do you mean? I do tell you everything."

"That can't be true."

"Yes it is. It's not my fault my life's so uneventful."

"...."

"What? It is true."

Because my fan speaking to me, but not exactly, can't really be considered a real event. Right?

It's too quiet save for the ringing in my right ear, and that sound is not one that I'm fond of. So I ask my fan why it's speaking to me.

"I'm not," it says. Now that just makes matters worse.

It doesn't clear up whether my fan is dead or not. Can inanimate objects die? It doesn't even clear up whether or not it's speaking to me. I suppose if a fan can speak, a corpse should be able to speak too, since they're both inanimate. What about a fan-corpse then? Or a corpse-fan?

There's an obvious answer to all of this, of course. If inanimate things never lived in the first place, then they can't die. And by that logic they can't speak either.

"That's right." My fan confirms.

"You're going against what you're agreeing with," I say. Or think. I don't really know.

"No, that's you." My fan says, even more upset for some reason. "I haven't been speaking in the first place. It's all you."

Jesus Christ. Maybe I shouldn't have asked why it's speaking to me.

My fan doesn't respond any further, probably since my right ear stopped ringing and I can hear the music again.

I pick up my phone and turn off the song, but my fan doesn't speak anymore. This time I don't bother figuring out why. I'm not sleepy, but I don't have the energy to move more than my hands. My fan can't die, so it stays stuck between being alive and being dead, miserable in its own existence. There's no reason for me to exist that way, except for right now, when the reason is that I'm exhausted.

I don't know how much longer I can farm that excuse, because I'm growing increasingly frustrated with my own incompetence. Can't even get up to hang yourself? What a joke.

I'm miserable tonight, like I've been last night, and the night before, and the night before that, and the night before that, and many many nights before that. My body aches and so does my mind, especially my eyes as they stare at the fan.

I want my existence to end.

Was that me or the fan?

Whoever it was, it's now 2:32, so I have to wait till 3.

__________________________________________

My fan is fixed now btw

[chocottang]

Oh yeah I thought I'd ask: you said all the shadows are humans in that AU, with Jay being Joy's sister I believe? And of course Gold being Golden's grandpa's kid. So do you have ideas for the other shadows, like Fred, shadow Fox and shadow Cami? :0

hiii!!! yea! jay is joy's younger sister (for a year) and yeah!! i do have some ideas for the other shadows, but its a work in progress hehe

the one ive thought about more (besides gold and jay) is shadow fox!! (i.. have to think for names for them... even gold needs a different name lmao). he's fox and meg's cousin and he's an assholeeeeeee, so him and jay are close friends lmao they're kind of bullies but not to such an extreme degree. they're the kind of kids who will sideye you and make a joke at your expense once and then forget you exist. anyway, he meets gold through jay and he wants to date him. im still unsure if he genuinely has a crush on him or if he wants to get the family money lmao. he didn't even try with golden because jay would've killed him, because she has a one sided rivalry with golden where she wants to become more famous and successful than him, while golden thinks jay is too immature to handle a big following.

fox and s.fox have a baddddd relationship. the idea is that when meg and fox's parents died and their house burnt down, instead of going to the orphanage they moved in with their uncle and aunt. s.fox's parents are assholes. they didn't have a good relationship with meg and fox's parents in life, so they didn't want to take them in. they constantly complain about how they cant maintain 2 kids more, and blow up at the smallest mistakes or not-the-best attitude. s.fox took into this behaviour too, he was frustrated that he didnt have an escape from his parents anymore, and was now exposed to their verbal abuse all the time. but now that it was directed at meg and fox, s.fox was basically manipulated into believing that fox and meg are useless assholes. and when he heard that fox felt guilty for the accident he took that as admission of guilt. all of that + the fact he was frustrated and sad about his uncle and aunt dying made it so he became and asshole to the siblings, mostly fox. and he jsut grew up like that.

ok that was a lot uhh hes not an asshole to gold though he really likes the guy. he's constantly fluttering around him and hugging him and being all friendly and flirty and stuff, so cami HATESSS his ass lmao she gets pretty jealous. gold is not a big fan of s.fox hugging him or flirting and stuff but since he's a pushover he doesn't really say anything more than "stop 😐" and if he doesn't (which he usually doesn't bc, again, an asshole) he just deals with it. otherwise he thinks he's ok (gold doesn't know the whole drama between s.fox and fox, since fox avoids s.fox at all costs). anyways i have a sketch idea of his design

anyways. fred. freddy and him are twins! they get along fine, sometimes bother each other, usual siblings stuff. fred is part of the animatronics as the second voice and freddy plays the guitar. but fred realllyyyy wants freddy to also sing a little and have more presence on stage so he can get over his stage fright and general aversion to being seen. so whenever golden can't be around due to work he will be extremely happy because 1. he will be the main singer 2. he can force freddy to be his backup singer. so fred likes gold enough, because he takes golden away lmao. fred doesnt dislike golden or anything, maybe he's a little jealous but not so much that he hates him, he just sees him as a rock on his way to being the protagonist (and dragging freddy along). gold doesn't really like fred, because he has this weird attitude towards golden. gold has no strong feelings towards freddy, chica or fox tho, they seem ok.

as of shadow cami, i actually haven't thought of anything for her. I'm not even sure if I'll add her, since she was such a minor shadow. but maybe i will add her as a minor character, i thought perhaps cami's little sister, like 12 years old, because i like to think that shadow cami has a similar personality to cami when she was little, because she holds all that trauma, so i tend to think of her as smaller.

i also dont think ill include the fhsz3r0 shadows, like shadow bonnie and chica, because i dont want to have too many new characters, and since they probably wont interact with gold, who is the protagonist, idk if its worth it. but ill see!! i still have to expand the worlddddd

and i think thats all! thank u for the ask beloved mutual!!!! mwa

[pinkprincessia-art]

It disappeared before I could reply, but I would love to see more art for Story of Evil. I found you and loved your artwork and style, so when I learned you did Vocaloid aus, I knew instantly I would love anything you produced. So in general I wouldn’t mind seeing any Vocaloid story for FE, but Evillious Chronicles has a hold on my brain so anything pertaining to that would be lovely!

My bad I have a bad habit of deleting txt posts after a bit every now and then

OOo thank you! Hearing that means so much to me!

I used to do alot of Vocaloid type of AU art, when I was younger and it was always so much fun.... and then I stopped for some reason and after a lot of unfortunate life events happened a couple of years I was like "Oh why don't I go back to doing this? I had so much fun, but do it with FE" and its been a bad case of the brain worms ever since.

The Evilious Chronicles have always been my favorite song series... at first I told myself I was just going to go based on the songs and not all of the outside lore (it was tempting! but with this being a side passion project I really didn't and still dont have the time to go and hope I could find good translations read all of the light novels and do a deep dive) But its fine because my idea was "what if pocessed by evil dragon" rather than being the vessel of a sin.

I ended up choosing mostly Nohr siblings (because bias) minus Elise because she is too pure... and I think it ended up being pretty solid. Daughter/Servant of Evil - Corrin Twins (obviously... it really started because I craved a love triangle between Corrin Laslow and Azura.... and it fuels me.

I actually have plans to add illustrations for the Daughter of White. It took me a while to figure out who to put in Haku's role.... and I finally decided on Felicia. It felt the most right.)

Evil Food Eater - Camilla It seemed fun.... and cannibal camilla doesn't feel wrong I ended up giving the Kaito role to Kaze (for morbid shippy purposes)

Gift From the Princess who Brought Sleep - Azura I had a hard time picking for this one, I sat on it because at this point I had already decided I wanted to stick to mostly the Fates cast if I could (minus one). And Elise.... really-really didnt fit any of them the more I played around with it in my sketchbook the more I liked it for Azura! (Also yes I through Laslow in there too because he is my fav and I love him and I stuffed in everywhere I could)

Still working on how I want her dress to look but I like sketching when I have the ideas to come back to later. Corruption of Judgement - Leo

There was just no thought, I knew it had to be Leo. Also yes it means I will be drawing Forrest as "Master of the Court"

Duke of Venomania's Madness - Xander I.. was not sure about this one! But at this point I was pretty much sticking to Royals and those with ties to Nohr. Once again I plan to draw Laslow in Kaito's role because I am predictable and simplistic like that.

Tailor of Enbizaka - F!Robin/Grima The only NONE Fates related one. I could have stuck with it and picked a Hoshidan Princess... but idk I like the idea of Robin slowly descending into madness and murdering chroms family one by one and then him.

Muzzle of Nemesis - ???? I dont remember if I've mentioned this one because I think I might have but I'm gonna try to keep it on the downlow to keep with the whole "Master of the Hellish Yard" Vibes.

Adkadoiaj sorry for the word vomit is that, this is the craziest most involved fan-project I've ever done. And its insane how much thought I ended up putting into it, when at first it just was gonna be all "Ahahha I wanna draw Art-"covers" to my favorite vocaloid songs" Now each one is gonna have a handful of pieces to them.

[pursuit-of-faith-blog]

I love the book of mormon musical as much as anyone, but the fans make me sick

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E2; Chapter Two, The Weirdo On Maple Street - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘠/𝘯, 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯.

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Lucas, Dustin and I take our seats once we get to class.

"Oh, that can't be good." I sigh, gesturing to Mike's empty seat.

"Yeah, he's never this late," Dustin added.

"I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed," Lucas stated.

"I thought you liked his plan?"

"Yeah, but obviously it's stupid, or he'd be here."

"If his mom found out a girl spent the night—" Dustin began.

"He's in deep shit right about now."

Dustin shifted in his seat, and leaned forward, whispering loud enough for us to hear. "Hey, what if she slept naked?"

"Ugh!" My face screws into a sour, disgusted look aimed at my brother, unintentionally speaking at the same time as Lucas. "Why would she do that, Dustin?"

"Oh, my God, she didn't."

"Oh, if Mrs. Wheeler tells our parents..."

The thought of Mom finding out was enough to elicit an anxious groan from me, and I let my forehead fall against desk where I buried my face.

"No way. Mike would never rat us out."

I hesitantly looked up, making eye contact with Lucas. He gave me a reassuring smile, knowing I worry easily.

"I don't know." Dustin said warily.

"All that matters is, after school, the freak will be back in the loony bin, and we can focus on what really matters, finding Will." I frown at his specific choice of words for El, thinking back on how scared she seemed last night. I desperately want to say something, but decided against it, not wanting to get in a fight. Fighting won't get us any closer to finding Will.

|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Mike Wheeler rides his bike down the small slope of grass towards his front yard. When El refused to let Mike's mom know she was there, Mike had no choice but to resort to plan b. He had led his mom to believe that he had ridden to school when in reality he had stopped around the corner until both his parents were gone.

When he got to the driveway, he dismounted his bike and led it into the garage, however something caught his eye. He stared in awe as the once withered and frankly the most miserable looking plant he had ever seen in his life, was now a beautiful lush green and stood as tall his knees. 'How had Y/n done it?'

It took a solid moment for Mike to gather his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. He parked his bike and made his way inside.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"You want anything to drink?" Mike decided to take advantage of the empty house so that he could show El around. "We have OJ, skim milk... What else? Um, we have..."

Mike trailed off when he saw that El was more fascinated with the things in his living room, mostly his TV set.

"Oh, this is my living room. It's mostly just for watching TV."

El lightly traced her fingers around the frame of the TV as she examined it.

"Nice, right? It's a 22-inch.

That's, like, ten times bigger than Dustin's."

El turned her head and said quietly.

"Y/n."

"Well, yeah of course. Y/n too."

"Y/n. Brother?" She asked, making sure she remembered correctly.

"Yeah!" Mike smiled, then lightly shrugged. "Well, technically adopted. But yeah, they're still brothers."

El's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Ad-adopted?"

"Yeah, um, it means that he came from different parents. Mrs. Henderson adopted him because his parents were unable to take care of him. It's funny actually, Y/n is from Hawkins. Or at least that's where they found him. They didn't used to live in Hawkins; I don't know much about it cause Dustin was so young he doesn't remember any of it, but I think him and his mom were visiting family here and they just... found him, I think? I'm pretty sure that's why they moved here, or something."

El seemed to understand as she thought about it. She then turned to look at the all the pictures on top of the fireplace. She slowly walks to the fireplace and steps up onto the brick platform. She gazes at all the family photos. Particularly, the photo beside the one of Mike; of a smiling girl, a little older than herself, with long brown hair and a pink sweater.

She smiles longingly and speaks in a soft voice. "Pretty."

"I guess." Mike's face is contorted in confusion and a little in disgust.

"That's my sister Nancy. And that's baby Holly." He said as she moved to the slightly larger photo of a young baby. She then moved along to a photo with Mike, Nancy, and Holly, along with two other people she didn't recognize.

"And those are my parents. What are your parents like?" As usual, El says nothing and she steps down from the fireplace and walks up to a large green chair.

"Do they live close?" Mike continued. He notices El run her hand along the top of the plush green chair. "That's our La-Z-Boy. It's where my dad sleeps. You can try it if you want." He offers. El looked up at him, intrigued. "Yeah." He assured her, with a warm smile on his face. She cautiously sits down as Mike kneels down beside the chair. "It's fun!"

She looked to Mike, wondering what he is up to.

"Just trust me, okay?" She gives a quick nod, and braces herself, not knowing what to expect. She is taken aback by the sudden collapse of the chair, she is now laying down and the chair is rocking back and forth. She lets out a gasp, and then a nervous chuckle.

"See? Fun, right?"

With one hand on the back of the chair, and the other on the front, he brings the chair back into its default position. "Now you try."

With a small smile on her face, and feeling more confident she leans over the side and pulls the handle, letting her entire body go flying backward into a slow rock. Mike and El both look at each other and laugh gleefully.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Some random rock song on the radio that Jonathan barely recognized came to an end as Jonathan Byers drove to his dad's house. His eyes darted to the radio unit in his car for a moment as his heart fell when the familiar sound of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" rang throughout the car.

- 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

"Darlin', you got to let me know"

Jonathan is sat on the edge of the bed next to his younger brother Will. The two of them are in Will's room, bobbing their heads along to 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' by The Clash.

"Should I stay or should I go?"

"You like it?" Jonathan had to raise his voice so he could be heard over the loud song. Will looks to his older brother and grins.

"Yeah, it's cool!"

"All right, you can keep the mix if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. All the best stuff's on there. Joy Division, Bowie, Television, The Smith's... It'll totally change your life."

"Yeah, totally," Will says with a smile. However, the smile is quick to leave when the two boys hear their mother yelling on the phone.

"Where the hell are you, Lonnie?"

Will slowly turns his head to the door, listening to his mother yell at his absent father.

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it." Jonathan mimics his brother's actions and looks to the door. Finally, he gets up and walks towards the door.

"This is ridiculous! I'm so sick of your excuses.

"One day is fine and next is black"

Before Jonathan sits down, he lowers the volume on the stereo.

"He's not coming, is he?"

"Do you even like baseball?" Jonathan asks softly.

"No, but... I don't know." He shrugs sadly. "It's fun to go with him sometimes."

"Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something?"

Will shrugs his shoulders weakly. "I don't know."

"No, all right? He hasn't. He's trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay?"

Will only looks down at his feet sadly.

"Especially not him."

Will silently nods his head in understanding.

Jonathan decided to change the subject.

"But you like The Clash? For real?"

Will nods his head eagerly with a smile. "For real. Definitely."

"So... is Y/n a fan of The Clash?" Jonathan asks, genuinely curious.

A faint blush dusts Will's cheeks as he looks down at his hands. "Um, yeah, I think so."

"Maybe you should show this to him. I bet he'll like it."

"Maybe. You think?"

"Yeah, from what I know, he has great taste. He's pretty cool."

A loving smile spreads across Will's face. "Yeah, he is pretty cool."

There's a small pause filled only with the now dulled melody of drums and guitar drifting through the air. They had talked about it before, but only vaguely, never fully addressing it and it dawned on Jonathan that there was probably still loads of fear for Will because of it. He looks down at his brother who he loved more than anything and sent him an encouraging, honest smile.

"Will, you guys are best friends. You two are just too close to ruin the friendship. Why don't you think about asking him to the arcade or something? Just the two of you, maybe come back here for some mac and cheese or something if that'd make you feel safer, and you could " he shrugs. "let him know how you feel?"

Will looked up at his brother, shocked. But his body was flushed with relief, he could feel the air in the room hitting his sweaty and clammey skin giving him chills. Not quite knowing how to handle his brothers reaction, his eyes simply fall to his hands where they fidgeting in his lap.

"But what if that does ruin the friendship? What if he doesn't feel the same way, and decides to stop hanging out with me. Or if someone finds out- I just- I just can't. I'm not ready."

"That's okay. All I'm saying is, he is way too nice to be the kind of person who would do that. And you are way too important to him. And hey, if you ever do feel ready, or you guys do go out in the future..." Jonathan trails off, sensing the awkwardness creep up. He chuckles and looks back to his brother.

"All I'm trying to say is, I'm here for you. Always."

Will smiles gratefully and Jonathan leans forward to the volume back up.

"Should I stay or should I go? So you gotta let me know, should I stay or should I go?"

- 𝗘𝗡��� 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

[projectjasper]

my thoughts and opinions on "lovely writer": criticizing the critic

tw for discussions of age gaps, rape, and sex

before i turn into the mean and constantly dissatisfied archer that we all know and hate, i just want to say that i liked this show. i think it's great, actually! gene and sib are appropriately cute, the premise is nice, and the attempt at criticizing the industry is... well, an attempt, which is better than nothing. moreover, "lovely writer" came with gifts because it gave me my new favorite character, so you can't go telling me i'm trying to completely obliterate it or something.

besides, this specific post isn't going to get into analyzing the show as a whole anyway. i won't be talking about any irrelevant plot points, cinematography, sound design, or anything like that, though i could probably write a post just as long as this one about that side of things as well. however, i am here to specifically look at the problematic things that were both criticized by the show and included in the show without any criticism. i'm going to talk about the more serious side of things here, which means i'm going to get serious. and i'm going to be harsh. very harsh.

gene and nubsib: yes's and no's

overall, the relationship between gene and sib was a fair attempt at showing something complex, yet ultimately quite healthy, which i appreciate. there were some things i was especially glad about. the fact that sib dated other people before settling on getting together with gene, for example, makes the whole situation a little less codependent. however, as much as this show prides itself on not wanting to romanticize problematic relationships, there are at least two major problems with genesib.

the age gap (and why it was not needed)

i've tried my very best to give this entire concept the benefit of the doubt. at first, i was convincing myself that they were simply close childhood friends, then i was trying my best to believe that even though sib did have a sort of crush on gene (which sometimes happens to little children), gene only saw him as his younger brother, but eventually, the show gave me no choice, but to deem the entire storyline problematic, because they did their best to romanticize that relationship - from gene's dad seeing the "early signs" to the counting and kissing the cheek turning to counting and full-on lip-locking in the last episode.

i could go into how this could all easily be mended if little sib was shown as kind of obsessed with his older friend, but gene was shown as not being anywhere near interested in the kid. but the real question is - why was the age gap needed at all?

i've researched the age of the boys during the flashbacks to the best of my ability and it seems that gene is 11 and sib is 6 or 7. if sib was the same age as gene (or maybe just one year younger, but not any more than that), not only would none of it feel weird, it would also be quite appropriate to explore that first glimpse of romantic feelings some of us experience exactly around that age. i don't think it's necessary for sib to be much younger than gene (children can be just as impressionable at 11 as they are at 7, and as for gene being surprisingly nice and helpful and the other kids not wanting to play with sib, he could have easily been - for example - bullied by his peers instead, which would have the same effect).

moving forward to the present, i don't think the lack of an age gap would affect the storyline that much either. even if they desperately needed sib to be a university student, they could have that one-year difference i've talked about before, which is not as significant. sib could be in his last year of uni, while gene could have easily written his very first novel during his university years, which would actually make more sense (since that guaranteed him employment and freedom to write after he finished uni; and i would rather believe that he had time to write his first novel in-between classes than in-between shifts at work, which he would surely need to have if he started writing after finishing university).

so that brings me back to my initial question - why was it needed? and much like the show often does, i will leave this one up for your interpretation because i do not have any sensible answers myself.

the issue with sex and consent

"but archer!" - i hear you exclaim - "lovely writer is known for explicitly denouncing rape romanticization in bls, how could there possibly be any problems with consent here?" and i hear you, my dear reader. and you aren't incorrect, "lovely writer" is indeed very explicit at calling out bls for having rape scenes (and i do appreciate that). however, as i'm sure you know, there are different ways in which consent can be taken from a person, and there are different non-consensual acts that someone might perform. for example, there are many different forms of coercion, such as the person being persuaded until they feel like they have no other choice, but to say yes. touching someone or kissing someone without asking for permission are also non-consensual acts. i can go on and on, there are many examples outside of what so many people consider rape.

now, what if i tell you that though there (thank the gods) has been no rape present in "lovely writer", not all scenes with gene and sib are consensual? well, that's what i'm telling you because it's the truth. both the first kissing scene and the scene where gene and sib "try out different poses" have clear coercion in them. the entire "joke" of the scene before gene and sib's first time is literally built upon the concept of "a person is trying to run away from someone, who wants to have sex with them" and it is NOT funny. the later reveal of gene actually looking up how to have sex seems to be there on purpose, to show that everything that's happened is "ok" because gene was thinking about it. as a sensible person, i will only accept actual enthusiastic consent and not someone possibly maybe probably considering it. not to mention that right before having sex, sib asks gene one last time if he is sure, which is great, except it is immediately followed by "i'm not going to let you change your mind anymore", which - daily reminder - you are allowed to stop having sex at any point during the act if you start feeling uncomfortable with it. that's absolutely normal.

now the problem that we seem to run into here is that "lovely writer" appears to think that it's ok to push someone to the limit until they either finally agree or confidently and loudly disagree. the drama has repeatedly shown us that actually forcing someone to have sex is not ok; however, persuading and otherwise coercing someone, as well as taking an approximate guess of them wanting to have sex based on some marginally related factors, is ok. i would like to once again remind everyone that all of that is not ok.

one more issue i want to bring up in connection with sex is something i wish was common knowledge: it is NOT supposed to hurt during your first time. whether you are planning to have vaginal or anal sex for the first time, it should not hurt. and if it does, something has definitely gone wrong and you need to stop. you are not supposed to experience any pain or discomfort during sex, including your first time (outside of desired and therefore intentionally inflicted pain, but that's not what i'm talking about here). i have seen this misconception brought up many times in bls along with the other person "thanking the person who got hurt for bearing the pain to bring them pleasure" and absolutely none of that is normal. stop. please, just... stop.

criticism of the BL industry

there are certainly quite a few things i liked about the way "lovely writer" criticized the many problems that surround bls. i think they dealt especially well with the fan aspect. the breaches of privacy that are considered normal, the toxicity of social media that encourages people to comment on other people's personal life, harass and stalk them - all of that was shown in its full glory (or rather horror) and clearly condemned. it was also interesting to see how easily everyone around sib fell into the routine of having to hide genesib's relationship, just because "that's what's supposed to be done in these situations" - even tum did that without thinking twice.

however, i have not spent the past three years hating gmm for a show trying to criticize the industry not to focus on criticizing the production company and everyone professionally involved with the making of bls. don't get me wrong - they didn't completely overlook that side of things, but i found the way they approached it dissatisfying.

like yes, tum fights with his sister (aka sib's manager) and calls her out for her terrible actions, and the publisher (bua) eventually apologizes for what she did, but all of that feels a bit too... personal. i do not care about these individual stories. i care about you saying that the whole system is broken because it very much is. i wanted manner of death but with the bl industry, and instead, i got an "uwu the fans are demanding we do this, and our hands our tied" (which is a lie) and "uwu i'm just trying to make money" (which i mean... if you feel ok milking even more money than you already have by doing something unethical and immoral, then be my guest, but also go fuck yourself). besides that, i didn't see any criticism of tabloids or exploitative celebrities either (both of which we had examples of in the show), and that was kind of disappointing.

coming back to the fans for a moment, i also think that the criticism of real people shipping was entirely unsuccessful. we basically mostly got an "oh, what if this person's partner thinks they are actually dating", which... if a bunch of people on the internet who do not know your boyfriend personally and make all their judgments from screenshots and their imagination can convince you that your boyfriend is cheating, i've got some bad news for you and also a number for a therapist. partly i know why it was so complicated for them to get into it properly - the issue with real people shipping is an issue of privacy, boundaries, the perception of celebrities, acceptable interests, and many other complex topics. however, it's better to not criticize something than to criticize it badly and inaccurately (because the latter usually leads to even more encouragement of whatever you were attempting to criticize).

aey: the flamboyant villain

aey certainly starts as a promisingly complex character, but the farther we go from his backstory and his family, the less complex and the more evil he gets. eventually, the trauma he goes through is no longer enough to give him a get-out-of-jail-free card, and he loses all remaining sympathy after sexually harassing gene and pretending to drug sib. and i did start this post by saying that i am not to analyze any plot points or characters from the show here; however, i'm saying all this to prove a point that aey is a clear villain in the show. this is further cemented by the fact that by the end of the show he loses the only two people who cared about him, and the very last moment with him in the show is literally just him crying for about 3 minutes. there was no redemption arc, no pity, no revenge - he was left alone and broken, clearly punished by the narrative. and i've got a bone to pick here as well.

one of the first things that we find out about aey is that he is gay, and quite openly so. he is repeatedly described as very feminine by many characters, he flirts with men, he talks about being good in bed, and his entire character is built upon being gay (half of it directly, and the other half due to the fact that his entire backstory and therefore personality is also built upon the fact that he is gay). he is - for the lack of a better term - the gayest character in the show and the only one who is loud about being gay not because he is in love but simply because it is a part of him and he doesn't want to hide it. and he is the villain. not the disgusting publisher or the terrible manager - no, this guy was specifically chosen to ruin everyone's lives. and i can't say i'm particularly happy about that. *british voice* seems a bit homophobic love

not quite queer enough

as i said, aey is openly gay. gene and sib also eventually say that they are gay, gene's father teep is queer, so are tiffy and mhok. but it just doesn't seem to come up as much as it would in real life. the only time anyone has a problem with any of the characters being queer is when we deal with the parents. but knowing actual queer thai actors in real life, we are all aware how hard it can be for them, but it has not come up even once for aey, gene or sib (with genesib only being a problem because they are a "non-shippable couple"). being queer is far from being a non-issue in the industry, and i found it incredibly weird that it was never brought up (and i would also prefer if they brought that up instead of showing the unaccepting parents plot for the millionth time).

same goes for the lack of conversation around queer people on set. i think we all have a wonderful example of how much better a bl can get simply when it involves a queer director and/or screenwriter (gods bless p'aof), gay actors, etc. i also thought it was a missed opportunity that gene being a gay man writing a bl novel was never highlighted. if anything, everyone made a big deal out of him being a man writing a bl - never mind that he is a gay man that is far more qualified to write bls than a straight woman.

in conclusion, there are simply not enough queer issues talked about here for a show that is about queer people facing difficulties while making a queer drama.

tiffy and tum: the good, the bad, and the ugly

overall, tiffy and tum are quite cool. outside of my own personal feelings, i really liked the clear reversal of gender roles they have going on: he knows lots about make-up, she knows nothing about it, he knows how to sew, she knows how to repair a car, etc.

tiffy is also a nice addition to the precious few queer girls we have in bls. however, the way her being bi is executed... it isn't great. when she first talks about dating girls to tum, she says things like "even though i look like this" (implying queer girls have a certain look?) and "maybe it seemed normal because i was at an all-girls school" (which wtf does that even mean?). i think the worst thing, though, was when she assumed tum was gay. my best guess is she thought so because she initially thought that tum and gene were a couple; however, she should be the first person to know that just because he likes men, it doesn't mean that he doesn't like women or any other gender. even though there was nothing explicitly leading me to make this conclusion, this whole thing did kind of feel like the old "flipping the switch" stereotype (meaning, she used to like women, but now she likes men, and both of them can't happen simultaneously).

make it make sense

i think i've never been more confused in my entire life than when i found out that the director of "lovely writer" also happens to be the director of "th*arnt*pe". and if at first, i was asking a lot of questions about this peculiar individual, who went from working on the worst rape-romanticizing show we have ever had to a show that explicitly states that rape is not normal. but the more i thought about it, the less i was interested in him, and the more i was interested in whoever made the decision to hire him. there are dozens of different directors that have worked specifically on bls, and even more that haven't. yet out of all those, you decided to choose this one. the dude, who before your show has only directed the show with the biggest rape-y vibes. that casts a particular kind of shade on the entire show that i simply do not like.

conclusion

at the end of the day, i think what "lovely writer" tried to do was very interesting. it succeeded in some ways and failed in others. frankly, i think this show could have easily been made better if someone queer was involved in making it. that's always true, but especially so, when we try to talk about the issues of making a queer drama. either way, it's certainly a good start to this conversation; however - as i said - i'm still waiting for my manner of death but with the bl industry. this was unfortunately not it.

[h0neyjaehyun]

☁︎ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 ☁︎

Summary // WinWin is feeling uncertain that Tali likes him, but then finds reassurance after sometime with her.

Characters // Talia Flores + Dong Sicheng (ft Taeyong, Mention: Jisung, Chenle, 127 members)

Era / Year // January 2017

Word Count //

Italics: Chinese

Its obvious EVERYONE loves WinWin, everyone is whipped for him, even Jaehyun who is a person who doesn't do skinship that much. But all the fans wonder...why doesn't Tali swoon over him.

For example Tali gushes over Chenle and Jisung a lot. Mostly because they are younger but she also does to the older members like Taeyong. So they always wonder why doesn't she gush over WinWin like Taeil or Yuta does even Mark. Like if WinWin does something cute, she just smiles and moves on. For a moment the fans thought Tali and WinWin had beef but that was debunked when WinWin was clinging on to her during a music show.

Its even shown WinWin purposely acting cute infront of her or just making eye contact and her just smiling at him and then going back to what she was doing. Then the members laugh him sulking when she doesnt give him much of a reaction and Taeil and Yuta comfort him.

Tali is known to not be charmed easily for example the amount of times she gets shown aegyo to, it has been to the point she doesn't show much of a reaction. If you want to her to fall for an aegyo make Chenle do it and she just for some reason can't deny him. Which makes WinWin sad, he feels like he did something wrong for her not to acknowledge him as much as the others. So usually you see him try to get her attention or him clinging on to her like a half backhug or holding her hand. Which makes Taeil and Yuta jealous of her honestly.

But in reality, Tali LOVES WinWin she really does, its just she has noticed he doesn't like to be smothered or clinged on to he seems uncomfortable and she thinks that since she is a girl be would be more uncomfortable with her hugging him so she doesn't.

He didn't really know what to do so he went to a person he could trust...

"Hyung."

Taeyong looked back and saw a sad WinWin.

"Hey whats wrong?" He asked and went to him and sat him down.

"Do you think Tali likes me...she seems not to." He said pouting, and it took all of Taeyong's power not to squish him.

"No, no ,no Tali loves you of course-"

"Then why doesn't she act like she does when she is with Jaehyun, or Haechan?" He said with sadness.

Taeyong huffed, he knows for a fact Tali loves him, but he also doesn't know why she just doesn't gush over him like the rest.

"I-...I know she loves you Sicheng, she does, but I don't know why she doesn't treat you like the others, you are gonna have to ask her yourself." Taeyong reassured him.

WinWin has always been comfortable with Tali like asking her for stuff and her knowing Chinese helped a lot. But he always felt that he wasn't in her heart. He just nodded her head and left...at that moment Taeyong felt powerless to help his friend.

That exact same day Tali went live...

"Huh?"

LOveWinWin: why don't you love WinWin??

Tali looked at it weirdly.

"I do like WinWin, what makes you think I don't?" She frowned

Winwin45: cause you never really give him that much attention and etc.

The fan clear up, Tali made an :0 face. While other fans were trying to reassure her that its was fine. She smiled at them.

"Its okay its fine, you guys are probably wondering too, I do like WinWin don't worry." she giggled

"Its just he is not a big fan of skinship, then Im like the only girl which I think, I think would make him more uncomfortable you know?" She said explaining why, and emphasizing the I think.

"I just don't wanna cross the line since everyone is different." She clarified

All then fans were like oh okay, that makes sense.

Tali looked at her phone and saw it was late.

"Ah, sorry guys its late and I would like to leave before dark, bye everyone~" She waved by to everyone and ended the live.

She quickly started packing her things since its was running late, then she heard the door open and she looked up and saw someone she wasn't expecting.

"Oh, hey WinWin." She smiled at the shy boy. He waved at walked to her, he looked like he was about to say something but hesitated.

"Is there something wrong?" She gave him a worried look and he shook his head no.

"Then whats wrong?"

".....you don't hate me?"

Tali's heart sank when he said that.

"Oh no no, of course I don't, even if I did I don't have a reason to." She smiled at him sadly.

"So you-"

"No, I dont hate you, the reason I don't hug you and etc is because is because you seem so un-"

She was cut off by his tight hug.

"Thank you...I was so worried I did something wrong or said something...thank you."

"Oh noo, I care about you sooo much and honestly I don't think you can ever change that." She hugged him back.

"And by the way you can hug me all you want I won't get uncomfortable...i-"

"No yeah I will no problem."

She cut him off quickly already knowing what he was gonna say...

promise.

He was caught off guard but just smiled and thought nothing of it.

"Hey let me walk you home it looks dark already."

"Oh you don't ha-."

WinWin gave her a pleading look, she huffed and nodded her head. He gave her a big smile, they started to go back home until he got an idea.

"Hey, lets stop at the store, I wanna buy you a snack."

"Oh noo, you don-"

"Nope, I wanna spoil you, I wanna get close to our only female member so, indulge me." He dragged her, while she was shaking her head.

They got some sodas, chips, and ingredients to make a chocolate cake.

"Are you sure? I can pay atleas-" She was cut of by doe eyes staring right at her. She huffed.

"Okay okay..."

He smiled and back hugged her with joy. They got to the dorms and they started baking.

"O-okay where do we start?"

"Uh....okay get me....two bowls...and 2 whisks...yeah."She seems unsure, but really wanted it to work out not to waste WinWins money.

"You sure?"

Tali looked at him and looked at the ingredients infront of her.

"Ah, no, this is where google comes in."

She took out her phone, while WinWin laughed at her. She smiled shaking her head.

"Ah okay lets...." and she started giving instructions, they somehow successfully made the batter and now had put it in the oven.

"Thats...was way harder then its should have been."

"Agreed" Tali huffed.

"Lets clean so Taeyong won't scold us when he wakes randomly."

"Randomly?"

"Yeah, sometimes he wakes up randomly, Im planning to go to the pharmacy tomorrow morning and get some melatonin so he can get proper sleep." She said while she started to clean.

"Tali.."

"Yeah."

"Do you get enough sleep at night too?"

Tali was caught off guard, she looked at him weirdly.

"Yeah of course-"

"Then how do you know?"

She didn't know what to say. Its true, insomnia has been taking over her lately aswell.

"Tali~ after this lets put you to sleep ok?"

"Ah no you don't ha-". The timer rang for the cake, she quickly grabbed the mittens and got the cake out and put it on the cooling rack. While WinWin was looking at her with sad eyes.

She turned around to him.

"Tali...you can sleep in my room I will sleep on the couch." He tried to negotiate so she would sleep, since the cake is out and they could finish it tomorrow.

"Ah no, I cant.."

"No take my bed."

"No."

"Yes."

They looked at each other then Tali ran for the living room. Winwin held her back before she could get to the door frame and they were laughing while wrestling. Winwin somehow got on the couch before Tali and Tali was just standing beside him pouting.

"Nooo, WinWin~ let me sleep on the couch."

"Nope." He shook his head cutely.

"Okay, how about this, how about me and you sleep on the bed..or both on the couch, cause there is no way I'm letting you sleep here." She whined while pouting. He went soft for her cause how can he not with that face.

"Fine." He sighed

He got up and Tali smiled in victory.

"But tell no one that we slept in the same-"

"Can se cuddle?"

She asked hoping he would say yes, it was rare for her to ask, she mostly asked because she knew the bed was alittle small.

"Sure...wait this is the first time I will ever cuddle you."

"Is...that a problem?"

"Nope, come on I will treasure this." He shook his head.

They went in bed and she layed her head on his chest and surprisingly they both fell asleep really quick.

To WinWin there was something about Tali he feels so relaxed around her, like home, so cuddling together was quite peaceful.

The next day came and Taeil barged in wanting attention from WinWin but instead got greeted by Tali and WinWin cuddling.

He yelled loudly which woke up WinWin but surprisingly not Tali.

"Whats wrong." WinWin said with a raspy voice, still holding on to Tali in a protective manner.

Everyone barged in worried.

"What's wrong?!" Taeyong asked worried why the oldest yelled, then they saw a half awake WinWin holding a sleeping Tali. They all sighed in relief it was just that and some glared at Taeil.

"What?"

"Why did you scream?" Johnny asked while some where leaving back to their room to sleep. The people that stayed were Yuta from shock that WinWin and Tali were cuddling and Taeyong also wanting an answer.

"I wasn't expecting Tali and WinWin in the same bed okay? She's not that affectionate with him." He reasoned. The two just shook their head and went back to bed. Yuta still looking at the two, he decided to take pictures.

"Now this is gonna be a memory."

[temporoom]

Hi! I'm a big TPN fan who's dying to read A Letter from Norman. I read your spoiler post about it. As a big Ray fan, what you wrote about him having a crush on a older girl really got me curious. What kind of interest did he have in her? How did he show it? What's their story?! It's hard to imagine since he acts different with only Emma. I'm so itching to get all the juicy details. Maybe even my RayEmma ship will sink, but I don't care! I need to know!! Would you kindly enlighten me? Thanks! QuQ

Thank you so much for trusting me with this ! Sadly, i am far from being unbiased, and that post is kinda old, so I need to rectify something :

No, Ray doesn’t have a crush on Susan. 

It’s just me and my own weird tastes in ships (I also like to see them as being actual siblings). But he indeed treated her differently from other children at the orphanage, mostly because SHE was treating him differentely as well. I’ll try to summarize, while giving as much detail as possible, the chapter.

(It’s a detailed summary of  it, so very long)

The beginning of the chapter starts with Norman talking about Ray for 4 pages (without mentioning Emma individually, take it as you will), he explains that he has never seen Ray’s tears in his entire life, but thinks that he may have seen him cry once. And he then goes on to explain in which circumstances it was. (The flash-backs part aren’t from Norman’s point of view, but from an omniscient narrator.)

It starts some time after Emma’s 9th birthday and the shipment of one of their younger sibling (called Jimmy but this is irrelevant). Most children go on with their life, looked after by their eldest sibling, Susan, the only one of her age left at the house. After proposing a game of hide-and-seek, she convinces Ray (with the help of Emma) to come and play with them instead of sulking in his corner. She tells Ray that she knows he is sad, and wants him to get better, to Ray’s annoyance, since he expected Jimmy to be shipped anyway. (She ruffles his hair by the way, he probably took that habit from her).

During the game, they explain that Susan is their elder, and the smartest in the house, even giving Norman a hard time during tag, so if they want to win they have to do better than follow Ray’s laziness. She is extremely attentive, noticing any changes in her siblings. Even Ray, who thinks he has mastered his poker face, couldn’t tell if she noticed those within him, as each time a sibling leaves she comes to him and forces him to play with them to lift his spirit. Ray observed her enough to know she didn’t discover the truth, and finds her pity towards him annoying. (And we all know Ray is a tsundere)

When he is about to give up on finding a better hiding spot, Ray finds a wounded bird. Emma suggests they take care of it, but Norman and Ray explains that if they were to touch the bird, then its family would never come to get him back again. Since the birds’s mother don’t seem to come, and Emma starts to feel sorry for the bird (being an orphan herself). She wants to take him home.

Ray scolds her, asking if she really thinks it would be happy in a cage, and that maybe it was the bird’s destiny to die here. To which Emma replies that maybe it was Ray’s fate to meet that bird and he shouldn’t leave it here. Emma wins the argument thanks to Norman, and they catch the bird. Susan joins them, and after getting Isabella’s approval, their older sister tells that the three of them are the one who will take care of the bird, to Ray’s annoyance again.

Norman names it Ner, and they get a cage with a little sign with its name written on it. The bird is a robin. To feed Ner, Emma goes to search for worms, and brings back a ton, making Susan squeal in disgust and hides behind Ray, only trusting him to protect her from them.

As time pass, the robin gets better, and everyone got attached to it. Then, Isabella announces to Ray that she received a sudden call from the center, asking for an extra shipment this month, and this shipment is Susan. (it mentions that it was very sudden, and considering the time... it’s most likely for the Tifari). Isabella asks Ray if he expected her to live until her 12th birthday, he doesn’t reply to that, but it’s what he thought. She then asks him to look after Susan to make sure she doesn’t escape. 

Ray suddenly realizes how much he would miss her if she leaves, how no one would speak to him like she does... No one would comfort him like she does. Of course he cares about Emma and Norman, but Susan was the only one capable of seeing those changes he couldn’t even notice himself. Her stubborness “saved him” (I quote). He considers finding a replacement to Susan, but knows it would mean sacrifying Emma or Norman. There is nothing to do about it, and he knows he can’t save everyone. He considers making his plan earlier, but it’s not ready to do so yet.

As he walks into the corridor, he wakes Ner up, who thinks the boy is here to bring him food. Ray mocks the bird for trusting him so much, and for being dependant of humans, comfortably locked in its cage. (You know what parralels he makes here, I hope I don’t have to explain) As Ray tries to free the bird and opens the cage’s door, Susan spots him and starts to scold him. Telling him that everyone takes good care of the bird, and he shouldn’t let it escape. (french translation here, idk about how it is in japanese)

It only reminds him of how she is going to die. Susan scolds him each time he is too harsh or refuses to play with the other kids, he thinks for a moment that a real sister, linked by blood to him, would have done that.

“I don’t think... It is happy to live in this cage...” He blurts out, almost revealing the truth. Did I just gave a link to my own art? Yes. And then ran away to his bedroom, leaving Susan confused.

The next day Isabella’s announces Susan’s “adoption”. While everyone congratulates her, Ray has been avoiding her during the whole day, even skipping his duties to the bird. Susan talked to Emma and Norman about what happened the night before, but they were as confused as her. She starts to doubt her own conviction and if keeping the bird is truly a good idea. She admits that she finds Ray always sad whenever one of their siblings leave, to which Emma replies what everyone had seen of him until now :

“But... Ray is never happy...”

No one had noticed Ray’s feelings. Everyone believed that he was just always like that, and even the idea of a Ray walking around smiling happily disturbs the red head. Susan dismisses it, and tells that Ray would be happier anyway without her, since she was annoying him so much. Emma and Norman reassures her, and tell her that she will be very missed. Susan thinks about those three’s friendship, envying it over her own loneliness as the last of their older siblings and without any news of how they are. But also happy they can count on each other, if one of them gets separated from the others, she was sure they would find each other again. 

The day of her depart, a sudden wave of nostalgia hits her as she walks through the hallway of the house, she looks at the bird, its cardboard with the initial of her three favorite people written on it. When she bumps into Ray, while he looks at her sullen (making her even sadder), she asks him if she can take Ner with her. Saying that since Ray doesn’t seem to like the bird, it would be fine if she kept it. Before Ray could reply, Isabella agrees. But the boy knows that if she takes the bird with her, it’s most likely to end up just like she will.

While the kids are sad to see both their older sister and the bird leave, most are okay with it. But Ray raises his voice to refuse. And despite Isabella’s stare, he insists on keeping Ner. Susan snaps and yell at Ray, asking him why he is acting like this and what he wants. She continues by saying that if she lets the bird here, Ray would try to free it again, denouncing him in front of everyone.

Ray seems taken aback as the other children looks at him. But Susan doesn’t want to back down. She wants the bird with her, she had hoped it would solve everyone’s problem, and especially Ray’s one with the bird... Seeing him refuse was beyong her comprehension. Ray stops himself, before it’s too late, from telling her that if she takes the bird with her, they will both die. He yells back at her that in the end, she’ll just do whatever she wants to and take the bird with him, whether he wants it or not, and then finishs preparing the table for breakfast.

The other kids are angry at him for ruining their last breakfast with Susan, and trying to free Ner. But Emma and Norman notices that there’s something wrong with him, he seems to react too strongly when it comes to the robin. Emma proposes to Norman to prepare a gift for Susan, to leave a memento of them to her. The boy, immediately understanding her intention, agrees. Despite Susan being able to see the changes in Ray more easily, they were the ones who understood him the best after all. 

Ray stays in the library during that time, thinking about solutions to save the bird, but Susan always stays near the cage, so Ray would not free it. No matter what possibilities come to his mind, Ray always come to same conclusion : it will be killed. He concludes that Isabella is testing his loyalty by checking how far he would go to save his sister and the bird, or if he would only save one of them. He doesn’t even know why he is so bothered by that bird, thinking that he just has to let it be killed like he had let all his other siblings die until now. Even if he can’t save Susan, he desesperately wants to save the bird... yet Susan doesn’t let him. (Do I really need to point out the metaphor again?)

As Susan is changing into her new uniform, Emma takes the cage, pretexting that she is going to clean it up one last time before she leaves. While Susan shows her clothes proudly to her mother, Ray comes and tells her that she can take the bird with her in the end, as well as to apologize for his behavior earlier. He looks like he is making amends for his actions, in the most natural way possible, and yet Susan sees that something is not going right. But she can’t ask what it is as she is overflowed by gifts from her younger siblings.

When she is about to get the cage back, Emma and Norman ran up to her, and apologize. They let the bird fly away. Everyone is shocked, and despite that Susan let a sad smile form on her lips. 

“I see... But if it managed to fly, then it means that it got better.”

Then Emma gives to Susan a bracelet with one of Ner’s feathers attached to it. (The one that naturally falls don’t think they took it directly from the bird). She shows to her similar bracelets to the one she is giving on her wrist and Norman’s one, and pulls Ray closer to she can attach one last bracelet to his wrist. She tells Susan that like that, they are still together even if she leaves.

Susan bursts into tears, thankful for the gift. And apologize for yelling at Ray in front of everyone, recognizing that it was selfish of her to want to keep Ner to herself because she was sad of leaving Grace Field alone. She explains to him that because the bird was named after them, she wanted it to keep them close to her, just like how Ray perceived himself in the bird, she saw them in it as well.

Before leaving one last time, she pats Ray’s head (he definitely took this habit from her) and asks him to never stay alone again. She ruffles his hair, as he voice breaks when he nods. He apologizes to her one last time, so quietly that only her, Emma and Norman can hear him. Either for being angry at her... or for being unable to save her. (it’s left to interpretation) She leaves with a smile on her face.

When Ray is alone with Norman and Emma, he asks them what they did with the bird. Norman replies without any hesitation that it seemed to be important to Ray, so they deliberately freed it. Emma follows up by telling him that she thought thoroughly about what he told her about the bird being unhappy in its cage, and she concluded that she wouldn’t a life like that either, dying alone in a cage. Even if she was protected and feed, if she was a bird, she would still prefer flying in the sky.

Ray knew at that moment that whatever may happen, Emma and Norman would choose to fly free. He is glad that he has them. He thanks them for doing it, Norman replies that when he is ready, Ray can tell them why he wanted to free the bird. Emma smiles and asks him to, play with them tomorrow. Susan is not here to drag him into their games after all. Ray misses her, but thinks that with Emma and Norman by his side, everything will be alright.

Then we end the flash back and go back to Norman’s narration but I won’t extend myself on it, this ask was about Susan. 

In conclusion: their relationship is the one of “blood-related” siblings, in the sense that they find each other annoying and yet stays close and attached to one another. But no matter how close Susan was of Ray, his closest friends are still Emma and Norman. 

It’s a very beautiful chapter, and I love it. I hope you found some kind of answer in this very long post ! As for me, I prefer to leave it at that, so everyone can have their own interpretations of Ray’s and Susan’s relationship.

But to be honest there’s only like... two Noremma’s moment in this whole book, and the rest of the time it’s Norman thinking about Ray. And since you are a Rayemma shipper, there’s an entire chapter where Emma and Ray shares one braincell and are cute.

[adventuresindolls]

Meet Lexie Chapter 3: What Flying Feels Like

(Aside: I know in the story Sophie gets chocolate ice cream and this is clearly a popsicle, but it's the closest I had)

Sophie's friend did come over the next day after Sunday school, but Lexie hardly saw them. She hardly noticed anything that day. Over breakfast, Papa had announced that as a treat to make up for moving, and to forget new school anxiety, they would be going to the County Fair every day this week. Lexie hadn't heard anything said to her since then.

Fairs were thrilling. They meant rare treats and delicious smells and rows of bright booths to hop between. Sophie and Lexie had an ongoing system where they would run around as buddies between the game booths and the ones selling pretty necklaces and giving away paper fans. But when Lexie started to get overwhelmed, they would go together to the 4-H building to look at pretty dresses and pictures of flowers. It was air conditioned in there and much quieter than the rest of the fair. Sometimes Lexie would find a cool corner to sit and read the book she always carried while Sophie found a play area or other kids to talk to.

But best of all were the rides.

They usually went for one day a year. But this year was special—5 whole days of excitement! It was hard for Lexie to think about anything else all day. She read the same page 6 times, lost a Mario game badly to Sophie, and finally went for a long walk around the new neighborhood. She saw a bunch of kids outside playing in sprinklers or shooting Nerf guns at each other, all younger than her. She only got 3 blocks away before deciding it was too hot and turning around. The rest of the day was spent curled up on the couch watching her favorite magic girl anime, which the conversation at shul the day before had reminded her she liked.

She woke up way too early on Monday. By the time Papa called her for breakfast, she had finished her favorite book again and rearranged her stuffed animals. After her usual bowl of dry cereal, she put on her favorite space-themed dress and her comfiest velcro shoes and was pulling on the car door handle before Daddy even had the picnic basket closed.

Lexie had never been to these particular fairgrounds before, but they were as bright and full as she expected. The day wasn't hot yet, which was perfect for running around. They each got $5 for a snack so they didn't have to regroup until lunch.

"What about buying fair stuff?" Lexie asked.

"You can have souvenir money on Friday," Papa told her. "Otherwise you'll buy one thing today and find something better tomorrow."

They ran through the rows of stalls, stuffing Sophie's overall pockets and Lexie's narwhal purse with free pencils in every color of the rainbow and candy they definitely weren't supposed to eat yet. Lexie only had a couple chocolate kisses, but before they reached the end of the lane Sophie had eaten six.

They spent the morning looking at every single booth and spinning prize wheels until they got bored. Having pushed the absolute limit of their patience, they made it as far as 11 o'clock before heading for the games.

Lexie went straight for the ducky fishing game. They had a giant octopus as the big prize. The smiling man handed her a fishing pole and told her to go for it.

She did not immediately go for it. She thought the duck she was aiming for—the little gold one—was about three and half feet away. How hard would she have to swing to hit it without overreaching?

"Hey, are you gonna go?" The man looked a little less smiley now.

Lexie blamed him startling her for why the first time the line went flying past the entire tank. It was much closer the second time, but still plopped into the water an inch away from its goal.

"That's alright!" The man encouraged her. "Try one more time!"

"No, thanks," Lexie politely told him and dashed away before he could try to convince her. She had just remembered that she wanted to save her remaining 8 tickets for rides.

The next thing she remembered was that she hadn't heard Sophie's chatter in a long time. She would be in so much trouble if dads found her alone.

Even worse, something might happen to Sophie, who was "not the most responsible or cautious" kid.

The crowds around her seemed to double suddenly. They were mostly adults or teenagers much taller than her and she couldn't see more than three feet in any direction.

"Sophie?" She meant to call out, but it came out as barely a whisper. That happened sometimes.

Lexie ran up and down the aisles of games and all around the rides next to them. Surely her sister wouldn't be bored enough among the flashing lights and interactive booths to wander back to the ones she had no money for. She tried and failed twice more to call for Sophie, but she doubted even at her loudest she could be heard over the thousand conversations that buzzed around her.

She was about to give up and go find her fathers—who were probably listening to one of the free concerts—and enlist their help whatever the consequences (she was pretty sure by now that Sophie was being murdered or had fallen down a magically appearing manhole) when she spotted her long dark hair by a food booth in a far corner.

"Where have you been?" Lexie wanted to be angry, but instead she felt like crying.

"Right here," Sophie's voice was muffled by a bite of chocolate ice cream, "Where have YOU been?"

"You ran off! You can't do that! We have to stay together."

"I didn't run off. I stopped 'cause I wanted to play something different."

"You have to tell me that!" Lexie really wasn't about to admit that she was mostly embarrassed she hadn't made sure Sophie, who had ADHD and was known to get distracted, was with her.

"Don't yell at me!" Sophie was getting mad.

"Alright, I'm sorry," Lexie finally relented. She gave Sophie a quick hug, which was so rare for her—too much touch made her brain go staticky—that Sophie stopped arguing. "Let's go ride the rides. What's wrong?"

"I don't have any tickets left." Sophie's eyes were wide with surprise and disappointment. "I played a bunch of games, and I didn't even win anything. Can I have one of your tickets?"

Lexie looked down at her sister's tear-filled eyes and felt a sudden sense of protectiveness. She planned so Sophie didn't have to. "You can have two. But only if you tell me where you're going."

"Ok!" Sophie's face instantly brightened.

The rides were all bright colors and flashing lights and quick movements. Lexie didn't even know where to focus and let Sophie lead the way, finishing her ice cream and chattering away about how cool every ride was.

And then she saw the swings.

It had always been her dream to ride that one. It was always more pastel than neon and it looked like fun. Just like spinning on the playground swings but MORE. She had wanted to last year but got too scared at the last minute, even though Papa promised to go with her.

"Sit here and hold my purse. I'll be back." She barely glanced to make sure Sophie obeyed before skipping to wait in line. It seemed very soon that a teenager with a green mohawk took her ticket and motioned her up the metal step. Up close, the ride seemed much bigger, but no one else was hesitating to strap themselves in. Swallowing, she grabbed the chains on the closest chair and pulled herself up into it.

She was still pretty sure it was a good idea, right up until a different teenager came by and pulled the metal bar down on her lap. All of a sudden, she kind of wanted to go back to fishing for ducks. She glanced through the crowd to find Sophie, who was still on the bench and completely ignoring her, her favorite otter in one hand and the other covered in melted ice cream.

Lexie gasped and grabbed the chains with both hands at the first jerk of movement. Several people around her giggled, and she heard at least one "Oh!" of surprise. Very slowly, the ride began to spin and rise into the air. She was torn between stomach-dropping anxiety at being so high and absolute delight at all she could see. The rows of booths looked like brightly colored handkerchief squares. The people swarmed like ants—at least, she thought, there were no crowds up here. She soon lost track of Sophie. And then she could see beyond the fair, to the tiny houses of the city itself. The taller buildings downtown looked like shiny metal twigs. She forgot to be worried.

They were spinning faster. And faster. It wasn't scary up here, really, it was wonderful. It was like everything she'd always wanted to feel when she spun herself until she fell down or kicked her legs to swing as high as possible. It was impossible to describe. Like everything that was always too loud and too bright just stopped. Like there was no such thing as feeling trapped and panicked in a crowd. Like nothing existed but her and the seat and spinning. Like she could stay up here forever. She kicked her legs, making her chair wiggle.

It couldn't actually last forever, of course, and almost before she knew it they were slowing. Her stomach dropped again, this time with disappointment, and her legs nearly collapsed beneath her when she first stumbled out of the chair and through the metal gate.

She found Sophie on the same bench where she'd left her, the remainder of her ice cream staining her hands, face, and overalls, but miraculously not Elliot the Otter. Lexie briefly considered telling her to go wash up, then decided it wasn't worth it.

"Hi! I'm gonna go ride the rollercoaster!"

"Ok."

Sophie hopped up and stuffed Elliot back into her pocket. "What are you gonna ride next?"

"The swings."

"Again?" Sophie looked at her like riding the same ride twice was the weirdest thing she'd heard that day.

But Lexie couldn't help grinning at the thought of freedom and flight. "Yeah."

[rossetteaaaaang]

THE COUNTRY THAT I ADMIRED

Have you been to South korea? If yes, I envy you. “South korea, East Asian nation on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula.” I always wanted to go in korea. You wanna know why?

I admire how South Koreans are so used to studying -- the country has the highest education level in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, with 98% of the population completing secondary education and 63% with a college education -- they can't get out of the habit once they reach the workforce.

As we all know, South korea is where our k-drama actors and actresses live. Of course from the word itself “k-drama or korean drama” silly me. K-drama or korean drama are television series or movies in the Korean language, made in South Korea. Korean dramas are popular worldwide, partially due to the spread of Korean popular culture, and their widespread availability via streaming services which often offer subtitles in multiple languages.

I know most of us millennials or even older or younger like or LOVE rather watching korean dramas. As for me, one of the reasons really, is that I would love to go to South Korea because of them. I'm an k-drama addict, you see. I mostly spend my time watching korean dramas and I cannot count anymore how many k-dramas I have already watched. I’m not expecting to finally meet them, but I still hope so. I want to go to many places, nice places that I have always seen in the series or movie. To feel like I was with them that time. I really always wanted to go to the country where they live.

Just like in the series, DOTS or descendants of the sun, D-day, School 2017, Sweet revenge 1, The odyssey, Weightlifting fairy, Strong woman, Legend of the blue sea, The heirs, Fight for my way and many more, my all time favorites. So let us see where this travelogue will bring us.

One of the places there in DOTS is Taekbaek Hanbo coal mine, the place where abandoned coal mines in Taebaek City, Gangwon Province, South Korea, were scenes of the soldiers’ military camp in fictional country Urk was filmed. It is where Captain Yoo Si Jin and Doctor Kang Mo-Yeon put the flag where the mines were, so that the people would know and be aware that it is dangerous to step.

Second place is Sorae Galmegi, one of the beloved Korean BBQ joints in Seoul, it is the perfect dining option for drama lovers who want to try out delicious local food. In the show, this is where the epic drinking session of the army occured. Song Hye Kyo joined 72 hours non stop drinking in Seoul too. This should come as no surprise, as drinking soju + eating mouthwatering pork cuts is one of favorite Korean pastimes.

Third, there are several scenes in the show that feature this cozy Korean coffee chain. Arguably the most memorable one is from the second episode in which Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo’s characters break up. We can find this branch of Dalkomm Coffee in the vicinity of Incheon Central Park, a lovely area in its own right.

Fourth, The European-style shopping mall lies in east Seoul, appearing in the show as a date spot for the two leads. As you glide through the lavishly decorated avenues, you can reenact the show and do a little shopping on the side.

Fifth is the modern architectural wonder located in Songo, Incheon. Its sleek, state-of-the-art appearance is one of the reasons why it appeared in a lot of drama. Tourists can climb up the tower to witness some of the most spectacular views of the Incheon Central Park and the surrounding area.

Sixth is Jaguen Maeul, Also known as Bok Chicken in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, Jageun Maeul is home to the fried chicken restaurant run by Bok Joo’s father in the show. Unlike the show, the restaurant serves a variety of Korean food instead. If you’re looking for an adventure outside of Seoul, Jaguen Maeul is the perfect place to relive Bok Joo and Joon Hyung’s awkward romance that made us swoon.

Seventh is Descendants of the Sun – Wolmido Island Theme Park, Fans may be disheartened to know that they can’t visit Uruk, the fictional country in which their love bloomed, but fret not! Many other sites of the drama can be found in Korea, including Wolmi Theme Park! Found on Wolmido Island near Incheon, the theme park is featured in the show’s first episode There, Si Jin and Dae Young are spending their time off trying to win themselves “girlfriends”, the show’s famous stuff toys.

Eight is Legend of the Blue Sea – Aqua Planet Yeosu, If the scene where Joon Jae and Shim Cheong reunite made your heart melt, this Legend of the Blue Sea set is the perfect place to relive the show’s romance. Multiple scenes were filmed at the aquarium, but this reunion scene was filmed in front of the Ocean’s Life main aquarium. The aquarium features over 280 species over 4 floors, and is said to be the second largest aquarium in Seoul.

Ninth is Boys Over Flowers – N Seoul Tower, As one of the most iconic landmarks in Seoul, it’s no surprise that the cult favourite drama Boys Over Flowers was filmed at Namsan Tower! The tower is where Jun pyo and Jan Di were supposed to have their romantic date. Famous for its gorgeous views of Seoul, it’s a popular date spot for couples. Who knows, you might even meet your own Jun Pyo while enjoying the view.

Tenth is The Heirs – Bukchon Hanok Village, A tiny traditional village in the heart of a bustling city, Bukchon Hanok Village dates back all the way to the Joseon Dynasty. In The Heirs, Eun Sang meets Kim Tan outside a dreamcatcher shop found in the village, but did you know the actual store sells egg tarts? The village is a popular tourist place for those wanting to experience traditional Korean culture. A walking tour is also available for those teens to find out more. But they said that you need to be quiet while walking along the way there because you may disturb the residents living there.

Eleventh is Shilla Millenium Park, Boasting what might be the most star-studded cast, Hwarang: The Beginning told the story of Hwarang warriors during the Shilla period. Being a period drama, most of the show was filmed at traditional heritage sites. Shila Millenium Park serves as set for Hwarang’s training ground in the show. Shilla Millenium Park is also home to dramas such as Queen Seondeok as well as Boys Over Flowers. The park allows visitors a peek into the life during the Shilla period, complete with architecture unique to the era.

Twelve is Strong Woman Do Bong Soon – Seoul Land, No Korean drama is complete without an adorable theme park date that makes us wish we had an oppa too. If Bong Soon and Min Hyuk’s date in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon seemed like the perfect date, don’t forget to stop by Seoul Land with your significant other! I really wanted to go here. I can see how they enjoyed themselves while walking in the park and I want to experience it too!

Thirteenth is Goblin – Jumunjin Beach. If you have already seen that drama, you would feel the same too! It was a nice scenery and for sure it can relieve stress. Your Korean drama pilgrimage isn’t complete without stopping at one of Goblin’s filming sites. One of the most iconic scenes from the show is when Eun Tak first summons Kim Shin to the beach on her birthday. Since then, fans have been flocking to the breakwater to recreate that moment. Jumunjin Beach is home to more than 5 breakwaters, so make sure you find the right one! if you’re not sure which one it is, look out for the huge TV signboard.

Fourteenth is Wolmido Island, Incheon (Descendants of the Sun). Those scenes where Captain Yoo Si-jin and Sergeant Major Seo Dae-young were playing at a shooting range? Yep, that was here, at Wolmido Island. Travelers can enjoy the vast array of cafes and seafood restaurants along the coast – with great coffee and sea views too boot. There’s also Play Hill, another theme park that’s a must-visit.

Fifteenth is Samcheok Daemyung Resort Sol Beach, Donghae (My Secret Romance). This Santorini-themed location was used to film My Secret Romance, and it’s actually a resort outfitted with Spanish architecture. It features restaurants, Aqua World (an indoor water park), a sauna, and a fusion buffet – perfect for unwinding after a long day of traveling around.

Sixteenth is Petite france. When you look at Petite France, it becomes no surprise why this is a popular filming location for K-Dramas – it’s a French cultural village complete with French-inspired buildings, and has The Little Prince Theme Park too to boot. Make sure to check out the Orgel house, where a 200-year old music box plays on end.

These places are just a glimpse of how the Country South Korea is beautifully made. You can check out in google many other places because there are still a thousand places that you can go to and enjoy. You cannot blame me why I would really love to go to South Korea because you can see how the places are wonderfully made. I also want to taste their food there and make a mukbang video as what I have always seen on youtube where many of the koreans do video mukbangs of many delicious foods. Check out G-Ni’s videos. I'm sure that it can make your mouth watery. We can see a variety of foods and a variety of restaurants where there are so many unexplainable tastes of food she introduced.

As I have researched many articles saying that Koreans also give heart warming welcome to those especially are new to their country.

I will not let things stop me from going to South Korea, it is really the place I would love to go to and spend it with someone who was really special like friends or family. I will work hard so that I can reach my dreams and treat them without minding how much I already spend. Aja! (Fighting). Kamsahamnida (thank you) for reading chinggus (friends) . I hope it made you want to go to South Korea also. Annyeong~ (Bye)

https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/www.klook.com/blog/k-drama-locations/amp/

@queenlupitajones

[chenoehi]

My thoughts on Grammys, BTS, and the Academy's supposed 'diversity'.

Can't do 'Keep Reading' on mobile guys so if you don't care about it keep on scrolling.

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The only BTS music I thought might have a slim chance for a nomination was "Boy With Luv (ft. Halsey)" as a pop duo collaboration. That was it. Anything more than that was just wishful thinking.

The Academy (both Grammy and Oscar's) talk about diversity when controversy comes up, they give some Black artists and actors awards, they look like try-hards, and then the next year they repeat history. Each year more men continue to be nominated than women, even in years that women dominated the industry. Each year artists who push boundaries continue to be overlooked or less favored than more traditional artists. Each year recognition continues to be bulk awarded to the most basic artists with the most basic styles with the most basic music, often times the same (mostly white) artists each year. No one get me started on always having to award artists like Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran or Adele each year they make music, despite whether or not what they put out is actually good, original, or better than what they did the year before. I'm not singling them out, but I think they illustrate my point. I will make one exception for Adele because she is a phenomenal singer, although I did not personally believe 25 deserved to sweep; I've been told by fans that Ed Sheeran is a good performer, so I'll give him that but I'll keep my thoughts of his music and the rest of my opinions to myself. But I get tired of artists like these getting nominated every time or almost every time they put music out and then getting awards every time they're nominated, hence sweeping. It gets tiring when the music that frequently-awarded artists put out sucks and they keep raking noms because of who they are.

There is absolutely nothing BTS or any other Asian et al. artists can do to beat that system. None of the criticism in the world has changed it thus far and I don't know that anything ever will. It's a hard institution to tear down. They will use "diverse" artists for ratings by inviting them and having them hand out awards and, in BTS's case, making such a big deal as to even display their Grammy outfits in the museum, and then they will refuse to nominate them.

It's a back handed compliment to non-Western artists. The Academy is saying they're good enough to help win over a predominantly younger and more diverse generation of viewers but they're not good enough to be awarded for their achievements.

What's worse is, the only expectation I had was for the Academy to invite them as performers despite whatever minuscule nomination they might have garnered, because it's been clearly hinted they would attend another Grammys and the Academy would frankly be fools to not have them perform after the shitstorm going on the pop industry rn. If you know anything about the Taylor Swift situation (you may not be able to tell which one because there are always so many) who knows if she will be performing this Grammys, and her medley of her songs was supposedly going to be a highlight; something's always stirring things up so who knows if certain artists don't end up going at all or bow out of performing. Ariana Grande bailed on the 2019 Grammys because the Grammy producer wouldn't let her perform songs she wanted to, and these kinds of disputes happen and artists who are nominated become no-shows. So, the opportunity to invite a group with a huge following, who have already proved to increase ratings, seems like a sure move right?

But BTS can't exactly perform at the Grammys if they're not nominated for a Grammy; I don't see them doing a tribute any time soon either. And if the Academy even dares to invite them at this point for a performance it will be an insult and a transparent ratings grab. BTS may still go to avoid appearing as if their pride has been wounded or just because they want to go regardless. They know better than their fans how it feels to lose, to be discarded, to be overlooked. This is happening to them first and foremost, not us. And if they decide that they will deal with this the same way they dealt with all their other struggles, to push on, perform for their fans, and use the opportunity of exposure for what it's worth, then support them and their decision. I, for one, won't be watching it live regardless of whether they are there. If all the Academy wants is ratings from BTS fans when they are fine with treating them like garbage, they won't get ratings from me.

I fully believe that the Academy is not only discriminatory to non-Western, non-white artists but that failing to nominate BTS for any award at all is out of fear. Fear that their traditional, safe artists will be offended and boycott the awards if they lose out on a nomination, fear that their fanbases will retaliate, but more importantly, fear that BTS or any other gigantic force of a non-Western artist may be a shoe-in for whatever award they are nominated for and potentially sweep if allowed to compete with all other artists. This comes after BTS won Best Group at the Billboard Music Awards this year. Their first time being nominated for a major U.S. award category. It wasn't even a Best New Artist schtick. It was a main category and they were up against established, popular, Western groups like Imagine Dragons and Maroon 5. It comes on the heels of Super M earning number 1 debut album and beginning a successful tour they are on right now. It comes after Blackpink performed at Coachella and toured the country. It comes after NCT 127 and ATEEZ toured the country. Even TXT, a months old group, had successful showcases in major U.S. cities.

The Academy is too racist and xenophobic to acknowledge Asian artists--they always have been and they always will be. The most diversity we'll see is the nomination of Black artists, but still only 2 were nominated for SotY whereas 4 were nominated for RotY. I don't know the exact numbers, but any time I've ever kept up with the awards I don't see very many other diversity groups being represented in nominations either, such as artists with disabilities or LGBT artists who have different gender expressions and identities or sexual orientations that impact their music, performance, and artistry. Halsey's intimate performance at the BBMAs with that female dancer was huge because that's just not something that's really done. Still. And any time it does happen it's a Britney and Madonna moment all over again, it's a fetish to everyone. Progress has been made but it's very minuscule in comparison to the 'diversity' touting approach they've taken.

I'll just leave the words of this morning's Rolling Stone article here:

So, the Academy selectively extends its diversity goodwill just as they always have. No shade to the artist, but just using this example of Lil Nas X versus BTS, you have a young Black, gay artist who started his career in late 2018. He's nominated for some of top Grammys with a minimal discography--an 18-minute EP. This is groundbreaking, it's great. BTS, a 6-year-old established group of young Korean artists who break nearly every record there is and dominated Western charts this spring, and they continue to chart Billboard and Western streaming platforms. They earn no nominations.

The two artists ironically happen to have a collaboration in the form of Old Seoul Road.

Congrats to Lizzo and Lil Nas X (that's not shade at Billie btw) but this tweet from the New York Times is so unbelievably misguided because the Academy's conception of diversity is like seasoning with mostly salt, a little pepper and no cayenne (hate to use that analogy but am I wrong?):

I do appreciate that some artists who don't get nominated a lot got nominations, but looking at the list of top awards I just can't imagine how some of those got through. And I listen to a lot of different music and some BTS stans may have know idea who the fuck Bon Iver is and I'm not saying they don't deserve nominations period, but when you look at the list it's just mind boggling how a song like BWL that was listened to and appreciated like a summer anthem would be could not be included in that mess. (Vampire Weekend for Album of the Year, what, who the fuck, is that, they've been around since 2006, that's when I listened to nothing but metal and rock and I don't, know who the fuck this obscure band is? I may have heard of them once eons ago but they apparently made no impression? I'm sorry). I won't go as far as to say BWL was a Western summer anthem because much of the gp still doesn't know them, this is true. But apparently that's never stopped the Academy before. Bonus, anyone remember Bon Iver winning Best New Artist over Katy Perry all those years ago? No, just me? Good times. (Respect to Bon Iver, I'm just making a point that a lesser known artist won that award over a popular artist and the public went "waH?" Bon Iver being nominated for Record and Album of the Year this time honestly has the same effect as before because what is Hey, Ma even. I listen to Indie music so. What it is.)

Anyway. That's my thoughts. Expect nothing and you won't be disappointed is a myth. You will always have room to be disappointed in humanity.

Edit: while I'm at it, a big, massive fuck you to the Academy for never nominating Halsey for Without You.

[porthecrawl-witness]

Bonus Content (Quinn) + Update

Hello, everyone! Been a minute, but here’s the overdue content for Quinn, as voted for on the forum. Once this is posted, I’ll try and catch up with a few asks.

Chapter seven is...much bigger than anticipated, but it is coming along nicely at 70,000 words. There’s a good bit of variation, so you’ll only see so much of that during a run and I’m the fence about one scene in particular. But, once this is done, we’ll be over half-way there!

M!Quinn below. Second version upcoming.

.................

You aren't sure what to expect after a series of indecipherable drunk texts from Quinn vibrates your phone off the bedside table and onto the floor. Quinn, of course, had not answered when you called. Staci had, assuring you that the doctor was not at the rented Dye house – and you're positive he had still been laughing when you had hung up the phone.

You are undoubtedly Quinn's closest acquaintance outside of his temporary housemates and that, combined with equal measures of curiosity and concern, lured you to Little Porthecrawl's dockside neighborhood. The docks are poorly lit, part of the small, underprivileged section of town that has not benefited from modern trimmings. The area suffers from one too many layers of grime, a far cry from the nearby, candy-colored town center.

The Little Bar-crawl Bar and Grill is one of only a few bars in town. It's old, as is everything here, and offers cheap beers and bottom-shelf shots three nights a week. It boasts the only neon sign in town, which glares out at you from a sagging, dirty window. The building was originally the town customs house, its foundations having settled over the centuries so that when you enter, you have to take a short step down from street level.

Quinn's crisp white shirt is easy to spot amidst the few patrons. He stands from the bar stool, the top of his head nearly grazing the sunken ceiling beams before his legs fold slightly, tipping him over the bar. He perches there, smiling, on his bony elbows. Another shot of rot-gut is poured and Quinn, to his credit, throws it back without complaint. He swivels around, bright eyes widening momentarily before he squints at you through the dim blue lights.

"You're here! My dear," he pauses, smiles again, and waves you nearer with a flutter of his delicate hand, "dear masticator of commercial prose."

What?

That hand comes down on your shoulder, the touch inelegant and loose. He pats you several times.

"I'm…so glad you came."

A loopy, closed-eyed grin follows.

"Uh, Quinn – "

"No one ever, ever told me about this place. This," he taps a finger against the top of the bar, "this is a veritable trove of…sticky…old things."

You move a little closer. The music isn't loud by any means and the bartender has the bored look of someone who only perks up for tips and cigarettes. Quinn, however, doesn’t look as though he'll register your voice, much less understand you if you are more than a foot away.

"Are you alright?"

" – you know, the last time I had drink at a bar, it was New York and I," he staggers slightly, "I was younger and had a much, much higher tolerance."

He's in a melodramatic spiral, perhaps, but clearly fine. Mostly fine. He'll probably be less fine come morning.

Suddenly, a long arm flings out, draping around your shoulders and hitching you into his side. He's surprisingly strong, or maybe you just weren't expecting it, but the ambush has led you into an awkward side-hug, from which he seems reluctant to release you. The damp, sweet scent of the bar nearly overpowers the plain soap and expensive cologne that clings faintly to Quinn.

Quinn leans forward, nearly toppling off the stool. You catch him before he slides too far.

"You are a good, good friend – acquaintance?" He makes a face the thought, thin features pinching. "Associ – associate? Companion!"

You snort, patting his shoulder. "Friend is fine, Quinn."

"Really? You mean it? A wonderful surprise, not to have mislabeled you. Perhaps, as a friend, you could escort me home?"

"You mean you don't want another drink?"

"I want to hear the Bitch is Back once more but this – " he flings a finger in the direction of the bartender, "this man claims that three renditions are enough."

Familiar with the song and surprised to hear Quinn is a fan, you turn to the bartender. "Three?"

The man sniffs, his rag squeaking about the rim of a tumbler. "Does this look like a karaoke joint to you?"

"If you charged more for beer, you might consider a decent machine," Quinn argues, slurred voice still managing to be clipped.

"More for beer?" The bartender's eyes flick to yours, uncomprehending. "More for beer?"

To his credit, Quinn appears to understand the implication of a man dressed in tailored pants sitting at scuffed, nearly empty bar, calling for higher quality libations.

"Perhaps," he turns to you, "perhaps this bitch should go back home?"

You press your lips into a thin line and glance at the bartender who, up until the moment Quinn places a hundred dollar bill down by his collection of empty bottles, looks as though he agrees. The man sets aside the glass he has been polishing, tucks the money away, and a smile manages to crack through his craggy features.

"You're welcome here anytime, Doctor Amsler. I'll keep Elton on rotation, just in case."

Quinn squints at him. "Bold of you to assume I'm going to survive the hangover." He turns to you. "I estimate twenty minutes before I become violently ill."

One hand on his arm, the other reaching out carefully to steady him, you reply, "I think we can make it."

"You're a saint." Suddenly, he stops short. "Staci's going to be inco – incorri – uh, he's going to think this is funny."

"He's not the only one. Were you really singing Elton John?" Quinn's weight seems as though it will be slight at first, though as soon as it settles against you and you are left to heave the man along with shuffling steps, you are left to lament the prior assumption.

"Yes," he sniffs.

"But…out loud?"

"Are you implying there is another way to sing?"

For a moment, you consider dropping him. The limbs promise a disastrous tangle, however, and you bite your lip until the pair of you are out the door.

"Still a saint," he says as you prop him against your car.

Fumbling with the keys that are hardly illuminated by the dull glow of the bar's sign, you spare a glance at him.

"Is there reason you're out drinking alone?"

He peeks at you, a single eye opening behind a mussed curtain of hair.

"Ghosts," his head falls back against the roof with a dull thud, "I'm tired of all the incorporeal dramatics."

Fingers tensing over the keys, they slide from your grasp, hitting the pavement with a clatter.

[forevrnotyours]

Bts yandere reaction ~ you talk for the first time

Hyung line

Jin

He knew you, or at least he knew who you were, it wasn't common for him to be shy or hesitate around people but Your were the exception, he tried to learn everything he could of you, but it turns out you were fairly new, and even taehyung that spoke you from time to time didn't really knew a lot.

So he dedicated his free hour between clases to see you study at the library, or if he didn't find you there in the cafe close to campus but a little deserted.

You were a loner most of the time, with a close circle of friends and you had the sweetest voice he had ever hear in his life. You were like an angel, so perfect and pure in his eyes, the people around you only polluted your image, and too many times he found himself fuming at your friends for touching you.

Your friends were mostly guys so he suffered more than anything watching you go out with them, according to this your were single so he thanked the gods for that. Still even after almost a month of watching you he couldn't muster enough courage to talk to you. But today, today things would change.

He hadnt even prepared the hole thing, it was more of an spontaneous thing, he was at the café waiting for you to come for your daily dose if sugary cafe; Jin actually had noted and things he had to get over with so he took some of his books out, getting lost in his own world when the chair in front of him was moved and you sat down smiling.

He was stupefied to said the least, for a fearful moment he thought you had found out about him following you but you didn't seemed angry or bothered so he tried to swallow his panic away. You put down a Chocolate cake he sometimes ordered and pushed to the middle of the table,  two spoons in one side "hi, I'm y/n" you said smiling, and he was totally enchanted with your existence  "I know we don't know each other but I've seen you here a lot but youre always alone" you talked looking down for a moment embarrassed "so I wanted to keep you company today" you added and then looked at the contents of the table "that's If I'm not bothering you" you said looking shy all of a sudden.

He shook his head fervently "No!, no I mean" he said blush starting to creep up his cheeks at his too loud tone "you're not a bother, I - I ve seen you around before, I'm seokjin, but you can call me Jin" he said blushing, God you were practically still strangers but you already had so much power over him.

You smiled, blinding him with your beauty "good" you said getting comfortable in the seat "so tell me Jin, what do you normally do here?"

Suga

 Min Yoongi was a man that preferred to stay inside, everyone knew that, he was used to pass hours, if not days and nights completely holed up in his studio, going out for food or a class.

That day though, he had left his studio to go for coffee in a cafe close to the music building, and when he entered the warm heaven that smelled like caffeine he saw you.

You were in a sweater and an oversized dark blue jacket, a beanie on your head making you look small and cozy. You had earphones on your ears and a laptop in front of you, some books in the table opened and the seat in front of you was temporarily empty judging by the other cup of coffee.

He ordered his usual but instead of going he stayed in one of the tables at the back, having a perfect view of you working.that day he stayed until you left which was hours after, he had totally forgotten about all his job he needed to do, and probably should have done but he didn't care.

So Min Yoongi started to work in his stuff at the Cafe, the sun light was annoying some times and people were loud, but he got to see you more than once a week so he didn't complained.

He continued his non-stalking, according to him because what was wrong in watching someone you were infatuated with? Besides he wasn't hurting anyone so there was no problem.

It was a Friday when he had to leave his daily sesion of seeing you because Jin had called for a get together in his house and he would skin him alive for missing another one of those, beside he had all the day of tomorrow to see you at the cafe.

He hoped you didn't bring anyone else with you this time, some days you wouldn't be alone, and he felt his blood boiling, they would only hurt you, you were his sunshine, something so delicate and cute that needed to be protected and the scum you hang around with weren't enough for you.

When he arrived, he was met with a melodic laugh and the voice of the others chatting, Namjoon let him pass and when  he came into the living room there you were, sitting besides jungkook laughing about something he said while he laughed too.

"Oh! Y/n this is Yoongi hyung, the hermit who never leaves his studio" someone said to you, he didn't knew who, he was too lost in you to care, and then you were looking at him, with warm eyes and a smile "nice to meet you Yoongi" you said from the couch, he didn't answered after a few seconds until taehyung and jimin started giggling, he got out of his reverie, blushing at your knowing smile "Hi-Hi" he chocked out, jimin fell on top of Taehyung laughing.

Hoseok

The first time he saw you, you were in one of the beginners dancing classes at the company he worked for, you were just a year younger than him and studying in the same university according to the information he could get of you from people of your class.

After that he made time to at least see parts of your class, watching you from the door at how you learned every step, your body was gorgeous bit your coordination sometimes wasn't the best. You were an amateur but your energy and determination was something he didn't see quite often, so he fell for your clumsy  before he could of help it.

There was a little tiny inconvenience, you didn't knew he existed, sure he knew where you studied, your schedule and classes, the name of your bets friend, but still he was just a shadow around you, nothing else but a ghost.

He had to change that, he knew that, be wasn't about to kidnapp you so he could be with you, he wasn't that desperate, so a day after practice when he was leaving he hear music from one of the classrooms that should be unoccupied by that time.

He walked towards it ready to scold anyone who was inside when he saw you, you were sweaty, your body moving to the beat of the song much better than when you started and he found himself unable to look away from your moving figure, your were just so perfect.

Delicate to his eyes, a sight that many didn't deserve to see, because your were his, even if your didn't knew already, you were his and he would die before letting anyone erase the smile he so much fell in love with from your face.

So he walked in going behind you before speaking over the music "you need to let your body loose a little bit more on that part" his voice startle you out of your concentration and you turned around blushing at the fact that someone had seen you dance all alone, sure that's why you stayed, but you knew you weren't the best at dancing, so your mortification only grew when you met eyes with one of the teacher and more successful students of the academy.

Hoseok walked closer to you moving your body in a certain way so you would move easier that way "this way" he said, breath fanning over your ear "you will move better to the next sequence of steps" you turned to look up to him and he smiled down to you "try again and I'll he'll you" he said and you nodded not trusting your voice.

You spent another hour practicing with Hoseok in the dance studio, you stopped when  you saw how late it was becoming "thanks really" you said looking down, he cooed inside, you were so cute and shy "no problem" he said smiling to you a sunshine smile "we can practice more another day?" he added a little insecure and you opened your eyes like plates.

Hoseok, hobi, the one and only best dancer that you have ever seen was willing to help you, to practice with you, he must have taken your silence for rejection because he started to apologize "sorry it was too much on my part, I should have known-"

"No wait yes!, I mean yes to... Practice" you said, he smiled again and you did too "its a date then"

Namjoon

Namjoon was a level headed person, he thought before acting, he planned things and knew how to treat with people. At least that's how he saw himself. Everything went out of the window of course when he met you.

Or saw you, if you wanted to be more honest, you were on one of his favorite book stores, you were looking around much like he was supposed to be doing. You had thus sura surrounding you, he swore you looked like a star right then and there.

Ethereal was the word he was looking for in that moment to describe you, you looked so perfect but simple at the same time, he crashed with a stand of books and scrambled to hold it so the damage was minimal, that day he only saw you for a moment, but he made a mental note to come back another day so he could look at your eyes again.

That day didn't come until a  week later, sure he had came back every day to look for you but you weren't there, until a week later you walked in hurt in time when he thought he wouldn't see you again, you were with someone this time, a man who he didn't recognize was talking with you, it was friendly banter he could tell.

But still it made him gripped the book between his hands so hard his knuckles turned white, he followed both of you that day, saw how you went to some other stores before staying g for dinner at a restaurant, he watched closely but undetected. He knew then he had to get closer to you before anyone else could taint you.

So he made a plan, he kept seeing you, following you, he learnt your habits and the most common places for you to go, he waited, even when it was torturous and he had to beat some guys now or then, even one time when he saw a guy going on a date with you, he got rid of him, cutting of the hands that had touched your pure skin.

When he first talked to you it was all planned, you were at the book store again, and Namjoon "tripped" crashing with you making you almost fall before he got his arms around your waist pulling you close "oh god, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" he said faking being apologetic while not letting you go, the feeling of your body finally close to his made him drunk.

You looked surprised but when you looked up you blushed almost instantly, he held off the smirk, knowing you probably found him attractive, your hands were on his chest and you blushed even more noticing this so you looked down "ye-yes yes, I'm fine thank you" you said stepping back when he released you "are you okay, I mean you almost send us both to the ground" you added and Namjoon looked down acting embarrassed "ah yeah I'm a little bit clumsy so this happens sometimes" he admitted smiling at you "don't worry, I have my moments too" you said.

He smiled at you then looking at the book on your hand " that's a good one by the way" he said, you looked down at your hands "really? I was intrigued by it, is it worth it? You asked looking up at him with sparkling eyes, he nodded smiling, dimples showing" one hundred porcent worth it"

[c0co-cos]

Blue's Highest Rank

I felt horrible because I wrote someone else a story, but I didn't write @nozapuns-nsfw a story. So i'd like to award this Fan Fic to them. I absolutely love their artwork, and I hope they continue to work of their 'Fractured comic'

I love how listening to a song can completely change my idea for this story. It was first gonna be a full story and all, but throughout downloading music on my phone for a trip im taking, I found a gem.

The gem was "Oh Cruel Darkness, Embrace Me" by IAMX

So basically that's the song you should listen to while reading this.

Summary: Blue Berry was the best of the best. He was quickly going up the ranks to become part of the Royal Guard. That changed when Blue was introduced to Alphys and Undyne.

Tags:

Chapter 1: Oh Cruel Darkness, Embrace Me

Blue Berry was quickly working up the ranks. He started on the lowest of the low. Then he met Alphys, and thank lord he did. He was training with her, Every. Single. Day. He didn't really have any prior interactions with Alphys, but out of luck, they bonded quickly and things got straight to the point.

He had liked his time spent with Alphys, there was never a dull moment, Also he never knew what he was going to do during training. It always changed. It went to dodging attacks one day, to making Tacos in her kitchen the next. There was always something new to learn.

Blue wasn't sure when he met Undyne, but he knew Papyrus was friends with her. Papyrus didn't really get out the house much to hang out with anyone. Only time he went out was when he planned to get black out drunk at Muffets, but other than that, he found Papyrus going to Undyne's lab at random times during the night. He must have had a good reason to get up and go though. It wouldn't have been for nothing.

To Blues surprise, Papyrus actually knew Alphys. They had been friends before Undyne met Alphys. It always amazed Blue how almost everyone knew everyone in the underground.

Id it wasn't for Papyrus, he wouldn't know half the people he knows now. Papyrus was amazing. If it wasnt for him, Blue wouldn't have a room to sleep in nor have supplies to make food, even though Papyrus was mostly a lazy bum, he was Blue's lazy bum brother.

"Hey Alphys! Im here for today's training!" Blue couldn't wait for today's training, Alphys had something new in store, and laster on, Papy was going to come over and view their hard work.

Alphys jumped at the sudden loud voice coming outside her house. She had invited Blue earlier than usual, it wasn't something new shes done, but today she had a reason, and pulling it off wasn't going to be easy.

"Woah Blue, you scared me! Come on in, I gotta prepare the rest of the supplies."

Blue had already let himself in with the Key she leaves under the door mat.

"Wow Alphys, this place looks better and better each time we cook! With that being said, what are we making today? More tacos?"

"No, something better. Lets look at the menu."

Blue grabbed the piece of paper with the big letters on it spelling out 'MENU'. It had also been something Alphys did to tease Blue right before they started cooking. It was always Tacos, but he kept up the running gag, just for the giggles of it.

He unfolded it, revealing what they were going to make today. He eyes shrunk with fear.

"Today were making you.... Alphys this isnt funny you know!"

He saw Alphys out of the corner of his eye, he could see bright yellow magic coming off from her magically formed weapon. She loved using an axe. He quickly moved out the way, also using his bone attack to dodge it. He moved just in time, any second later, he would have been dust.

"Ha, nice Blue! You're getting better and quicker with each attack I throw your way. Sorry about my lil joke there, had to do something to get you distracted."

Blue's heart was pounding out of his chest. He knew at one point furing todays training, this would happen. Alphys said she does this to make him become aware of his surrounding at all times, but it still scared him shitless. Alphys could tell that Blue was very shook.

"Oh gosh, im sorry Blue. I should have done it while we were actually cooking. I won't do it again, I swear, just sit down at the table and ill make you some tea."

Blue dis just that. It was great to know Alphys didn't mean any harm, she never does. It was just a small scare, nothing else right?

"Here your tea Blue, again im sorry I did that. I wrote it for the fuck of it, then the idea came to mind where i can do the daily 'scare blue' skit, but it back fired. I truly am sorry Blue."

"No worries Alph. I know its a joke, I just need to stop being a big cry baby about it. Also thanks for the tea. But it's um.. Kinda sweeter than usual. What happened to 'my soul is black so my coffee and tea have to be the same'?"

"Oh actually its a different type of tea. Undyne gave it to me to try, and right now i can try it. But Blue, lets actually talk about the Guard. You kno--"

Blue couldn't think straight. He felt as if his whole world was spinning. He didn't like it, not one bit. Was it because of how scared he got earlier? Was he having a panic attack? He wouldn't know. He never had one before.

"Hey Alph. Im sorry but i think I got to cut th-this short. Sorry, it was uhh fun?" Blue was breaking a sweat by now. Maybe he was actually having a panic attack? Also what would he do about ? Papyrus wasn't home yet, and the way he was feeling, he wasn't getting home like this.

Blue looked up at Alphys. Her straight face had been completely gone, covered with a huge grin, starting from one side of her face to the other side. Blue was expecting her to look more freaked out like she had been when she had accidentally hurt him during training, but she stood absolutely still, giving Blue a horrid feeling.

"Oh please blue, what's wrong? Here, if you insist on leaving, let me carry you out the door." she said while walking towards his area. Blue was too freaked out by her fake response. It had seemed practiced, meaning she knew something he didn't.

Blue hesitated, backing away slowly from her, before bolting to the door. Even with how he was feeling, he could sense the danger. He didn't even make it anywhere close to the door, falling down after taking a couple of steps towards the direction. He couldn't move, and felt horribly tired.

For good measures, Alphys pinned him to the floor, magical axes surrounding him and the exit, if he planned to leave.

"Alphys? Why? What and why are you d-doing this? I'm sc-scared. Please, if I did anything to hurt you, l-l-let me know. I'll fix it just plea--" Blue had been cut off after he felt Alphys step on his ribcage. It hurt like hell, but he could take it.

"Honestly Sans, I'm sick and tired of you. Im doing this for myself, im just the message man at the point. But other than that, I can't stand you. Did you really think you, out of ALL monsters in the underground, you would be the same rank as me? There are kids, younger than you who have an actual chance of being in the Royal Guard. Sorry blue, you wont get the rank you want. But hopefully, this rank suits you and your lazy ass brother."

By this time, Blue had been trying to pull her leg off his ribcage. She was close to breaking it, and he would rather have a ribcage than none at all.

"OKAY OKAY OKAY G-GET YOUR LEG OFF!" Blue was struggling at this point. She was going to break it. He didn't want to die by getting stepped on, he was going to die in battle protecting everyone in the underground.

Alphys showed mercy, slowly lifting her leg off of his ribcage.

"This is how it's going to work okay Blue? I'm going to knock you out, don't worry, the most that would happen is you get a bruise, and I'll call Papy. You'll find everything out later. Goodnight Blue! Don't let the bed bugs bit."

Alphys couldn't really be doing this... It was a dream. He had to be. She would never harm him. At this point, hopefully Alphys knocking him out will cause him to wake up from this Nightmare.

Alphys came up to Blue, fist closed, ready to come in contact with his skull. It wasn't long before Blue actually knocked out.

Lucky for Alphys, the tea did most of the work, all she had to do was get him asleep. All she had to do now was call Papyrus and get him to teleport over to Undyne's lab.

Talking to people over the phone wasn't the easiest thing to do for her, but hey. She lied to Blue for most of tome they've known each other, so it shouldn't be harder over the phone.

"Pa-Papyrus? Oh thank god! Please come over quick! Its ! H-He fell and hit his head on the table! Come quick!"

Lucky for her, She didn't really have to give much detail regarding where she lived. Sometimes Papyrus would walk Blue home after practice, so he knew the way here. In seconds, a 'pop' noise came from inside her restroom.

"where is blue? oh my gosh... what happened?"

"I- I don't know! We were about to make Tacos, and he fell! Please take us to Undyne's lab, Im certain she knows what to do! S-she'll help!"

Papyrus didn't even have to think twice, he picked blue from off the floor, and teleported right into the lab.

Undyne was no where to been seen, and as the looks of it, so was Alphys. That's strange. Alphys was right next to him as he teleported.

"UNDYNE. NOW." Papyrus heard Alphys scream.He couldn't even turn his head before he passed out from whatever they did to him.

Him and blue were up for it when they woke up.

The story is also on my AO3, at @/sintaley if you would like to read it there :)

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E2; Chapter Two, The Weirdo On Maple Street - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

𝘠/𝘯, 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Lucas, Dustin and I take our seats once we get to class.

"Oh, that can't be good." I sigh, gesturing to Mike's empty seat.

"Yeah, he's never this late," Dustin added.

"I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed," Lucas stated.

"I thought you liked his plan?"

"Yeah, but obviously it's stupid, or he'd be here."

"If his mom found out a girl spent the night—" Dustin began.

"He's in deep shit right about now."

Dustin shifted in his seat, and leaned forward, whispering loud enough for us to hear. "Hey, what if she slept naked?"

"Ugh!" My face screws into a sour, disgusted look aimed at my brother, unintentionally speaking at the same time as Lucas. "Why would she do that, Dustin?"

"Oh, my God, she didn't."

"Oh, if Mrs. Wheeler tells our parents..."

The thought of Mom finding out was enough to elicit an anxious groan from me, and I let my forehead fall against desk where I buried my face.

"No way. Mike would never rat us out."

I hesitantly looked up, making eye contact with Lucas. He gave me a reassuring smile, knowing I worry easily.

"I don't know." Dustin said warily.

"All that matters is, after school, the freak will be back in the loony bin, and we can focus on what really matters, finding Will." I frown at his specific choice of words for El, thinking back on how scared she seemed last night. I desperately want to say something, but decided against it, not wanting to get in a fight. Fighting won't get us any closer to finding Will.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Mike Wheeler rides his bike down the small slope of grass towards his front yard. When El refused to let Mike's mom know she was there, Mike had no choice but to resort to plan b. He had led his mom to believe that he had ridden to school when in reality he had stopped around the corner until both his parents were gone.

When he got to the driveway, he dismounted his bike and led it into the garage, however something caught his eye. He stared in awe as the once withered and frankly the most miserable looking plant he had ever seen in his life, was now a beautiful lush green and stood as tall his knees. 'How had Y/n done it?'

It took a solid moment for Mike to gather his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. He parked his bike and made his way inside.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"You want anything to drink?" Mike decided to take advantage of the empty house so that he could show El around. "We have OJ, skim milk... What else? Um, we have..."

Mike trailed off when he saw that El was more fascinated with the things in his living room, mostly his TV set.

"Oh, this is my living room. It's mostly just for watching TV."

El lightly traced her fingers around the frame of the TV as she examined it.

"Nice, right? It's a 22-inch.

That's, like, ten times bigger than Dustin's."

El turned her head and said quietly.

"Y/n."

"Well, yeah of course. Y/n too."

"Dustin. Brother?" She asked, making sure she remembered correctly.

"Yeah!" Mike smiled, then lightly shrugged. "Well, technically Y/n's adopted. But yeah, they're still siblings."

El's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Ad-adopted?"

"Yeah, um, it means that they came from different parents. Mrs. Henderson adopted them because their parents were unable to take care of them. It's funny actually, Y/n is from Hawkins. Or at least that's where they were found. The Hendersons didn't used to live in Hawkins; I don't know much about it cause Dustin was so young he doesn't remember any of it, but I think him and his mom were visiting family here and they just... found Y/n, I think? I'm pretty sure that's why they moved here, or something."

El seemed to understand as she thought about it. She then turned to look at the all the pictures on top of the fireplace. She slowly walks to the fireplace and steps up onto the brick platform. She gazes at all the family photos. Particularly, the photo beside the one of Mike; of a smiling girl, a little older than herself, with long brown hair and a pink sweater.

She smiles longingly and speaks in a soft voice. "Pretty."

"I guess." Mike's face is contorted in confusion and a little in disgust.

"That's my sister Nancy. And that's baby Holly." He said as she moved to the slightly larger photo of a young baby. She then moved along to a photo with Mike, Nancy, and Holly, along with two other people she didn't recognize.

"And those are my parents. What are your parents like?" As usual, El says nothing and she steps down from the fireplace and walks up to a large green chair.

"Do they live close?" Mike continued. He notices El run her hand along the top of the plush green chair. "That's our La-Z-Boy. It's where my dad sleeps. You can try it if you want." He offers. El looked up at him, intrigued. "Yeah." He assured her, with a warm smile on his face. She cautiously sits down as Mike kneels down beside the chair. "It's fun!"

She looked to Mike, wondering what he is up to.

"Just trust me, okay?" She gives a quick nod, and braces herself, not knowing what to expect. She is taken aback by the sudden collapse of the chair, she is now laying down and the chair is rocking back and forth. She lets out a gasp, and then a nervous chuckle.

"See? Fun, right?"

With one hand on the back of the chair, and the other on the front, he brings the recliner back into its default position. "Now you try."

With a small smile on her face, and feeling more confident she leans over the side and pulls the handle, letting her entire body go flying backward into a slow rock. Mike and El both look at each other and laugh gleefully.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The random rock song on the radio that Jonathan barely recognized came to an end as Jonathan Byers drove to his dad's house. His eyes darted to the radio unit in his car for a moment as his heart fell when the familiar sound of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" rang throughout the car.

- 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

"Darlin', you got to let me know"

Jonathan is sat on the edge of the bed next to his younger brother Will. The two of them are in Will's room, bobbing their heads along to 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' by The Clash.

"Should I stay or should I go?"

"You like it?" Jonathan had to raise his voice so he could be heard over the loud song. Will looks to his older brother and grins.

"Yeah, it's cool!"

"All right, you can keep the mix if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. All the best stuff's on there. Joy Division, Bowie, Television, The Smith's... It'll totally change your life."

"Yeah, totally," Will says with a smile. However, the smile is quick to leave when the two boys hear their mother yelling on the phone.

"Where the hell are you, Lonnie?"

Will slowly turns his head to the door, listening to his mother yell at his absent father.

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it." Jonathan mimics his brother's actions and looks to the door. Finally, he gets up and walks towards the door.

"This is ridiculous! I'm so sick of your excuses."

"One day is fine and next is black"

Before Jonathan sits down, he lowers the volume on the stereo.

"He's not coming, is he?"

"Do you even like baseball?" Jonathan asks softly.

"No, but... I don't know." He shrugs sadly. "It's fun to go with him sometimes."

"Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something?"

Will shrugs his shoulders weakly. "I don't know."

"No, all right? He hasn't. He's trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay?"

Will only looks down at his feet sadly.

"Especially not him."

Will silently nods his head in understanding.

Jonathan decided to change the subject.

"But you like The Clash? For real?"

Will nods his head eagerly with a smile. "For real. Definitely."

"So... is Y/n a fan of The Clash?" Jonathan asks, genuinely curious.

A faint blush dusts Will's cheeks as he looks down at his hands. "Um, yeah, I think so."

"Maybe you should show this to them. I bet they'll like it."

"Maybe. You think?"

"Yeah, from what I know, they have great taste. They're pretty cool."

A loving smile spreads across Will's face. "Yeah, they are pretty cool."

There's a small pause filled only with the now dulled melody of drums and guitar drifting through the air. They had talked about it before, but only vaguely, never fully addressing it and it dawned on Jonathan that there was probably still loads of fear for Will because of it. He looks down at his brother who he loved more than anything and sent him an encouraging, honest smile.

"Will, you guys are best friends. You two are just too close to ruin the friendship. Why don't you think about asking them to the arcade or something? Just the two of you. Maybe come back here for some Mac and Cheese or something if that'd make you feel safer, and you could," he shrugs. "let them know how you feel?"

Will looked up at his brother, shocked. But his body was flushed with relief, he could feel the air in the room hitting his sweaty and clammey skin giving him chills. Not quite knowing how to handle his brothers reaction, his eyes simply fall to his hands where they fidgeting in his lap.

"But what if that does ruin the friendship? What if they don't feel the same way, and they decide to stop hanging out with me? Or if someone finds out- I just- I just can't. I'm not ready."

"That's okay. All I'm saying is, they're way too nice to be the kind of person who would do that. And you are way too important to them. And hey, if you ever do feel ready, or you guys do go out in the future..." Jonathan trails off, sensing the awkwardness creep up. He chuckles and looks back to his brother.

"All I'm trying to say is, I'm here for you. Always."

Will smiles gratefully and Jonathan leans forward to the volume back up.

"Should I stay or should I go? So you gotta let me know, should I stay or should I go?"

- 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -