#jobs have been on my mind lately. for a variety of reasons

[arcaneyouth]

oh my ass should not be awake rn

[strang3lov3]

Chevelle

Summary- (joel miller x virgin!reader) Joel figures out that you’re the one who hit his baby, his precious 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle. He needs you to make it right, but he doesn’t want your money ❤️‍🔥🍆 (5k words)

Tags- MDNI hot girls can’t drive, implied age gap, virgin!reader, we're calling him tender dark!joel, soft!dom joel, tender dubcon (power imbalance, joel solicits sex from reader, no explicit consent but reader is into it) reader has a luscious bush, Joel walks you through handjobs, blowjobs, fingering, oral, unprotected piv, creampie, come eating, loss of virginity. Joel is clothed and reader is not.

A/N- Writing this is how I spent my spring break. Hope you love it 🩵 Thank you @noxturnalpascal for all of your help editing and your encouragement.

Based on mine and @beefrobeefcal shared prompt where we asked, "What would happen if reader damaged Joel’s vehicle?” Her fic is here and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve read!! Kiki has such a beautiful voice in her writing and I love all the details she adds to her fics.

Pawn shop by @toxicanonymity came to mind when I wrote this story and was a source of inspiration. Also worth a read, I have nothing but love for Tox’s writing 🩷

It’s late when you get off your shift at Tony’s, the shitty Italian restaurant you’ve been working at for far too long. It doesn’t pay much and you’ve considered working a new job to save up and move out of your brother’s house, but you’ve been putting that idea off for a variety of reasons. One of them being Joel. 

Joel’s your neighbor, a sexy, older man you’ve got a certain fondness for. His hair used to be more brown but it’s grayer now, same with the scruff on his face. He’s got sparkling, chocolatey eyes and a sharp nose set above a thick, downturned mustache. He always looks a little dirty when you see him, with dirt caked into his forehead wrinkles and grease smeared along his temple or his jaw. He’s always either fresh off a contracting job or working on his car. He’s got this cute little Chevy he spends his nights and weekends with, a 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle, baby blue.

Joel was one of the first people to welcome you to the neighborhood and even helped you move your stuff into your brother’s house, though helping you implies he let you do any work. Joel offered you a pop from his fridge and then took over entirely, putting both himself and your brother to work moving all of your stuff in. You didn’t lift a finger that day. 

-

You can’t seem to pull your eyes from the little green glowing letters on your dash, watching letters and numbers on the screen roll on by. 12:37 A.M. 101.9. Paper Bag - Fiona Apple.  You’re so out of it. You yawn and blink a couple of times, focusing back on the narrow roads of your neighborhood. It’s so poorly lit over here, and it doesn’t help that one of your headlights is out. Joel’s been bugging you to let him fix that, he says it’ll only take five minutes.

You turn onto your street and bam. You’re wide awake now. You just hit something. 

You hit Joel’s car. Joel’s fucking car. What the fuck is it doing on the street? He always has it safely kept in his garage. Oh dear god, the panic is setting in. This is Joel’s baby. You just hit his baby, his pride and joy. 

You can’t even bring yourself to assess the damage you’ve inflicted upon his dear Chevy. Probably dented to shit, but you don’t really wanna know. Instead, you just pull your foot off the brake, press your remote control garage door opener, then pull into your garage as you press your lips together tightly. You’re surprised and relieved to find that there’s hardly a scratch on your own car. Joel won’t know. He won’t.

The next morning, you’re sipping on your coffee as you check your mailbox. Joel’s outside his house, loading up his work truck with some tools and supplies. He waves to you and you wave back, a small stack of mail in your hand. 

“Whose mail you got today, sweetheart?” he calls to you. 

You check the names on some of the letters. “Davidsons’ and Pierces’,” you answer through a chuckle. Joel rolls his eyes and laughs. The incompetent mailman is a running joke amongst yourself, Joel, and your other neighbors. He never seems to deliver anything to the right address, so you and your neighbors are often hand delivering each other your misplaced mail.

You laugh with Joel until you notice his smile disappear. He’s narrowing his eyes on his Chevy. Your heart drops as he steps closer to the vehicle, then pinches his nose in frustration. Fuck. Joel stomps back to his work truck, haphazardly tosses something in the bed and then slams the tailgate. Yeah, he’s fucking pissed. Your neck and your face heat in shame as you quickly run back inside.

-

In the two weeks since Joel’s car was hit, he’s been working to repair it tirelessly. He’s ordered a new tail light, since whoever hit his car shattered it and he’s spent a pretty penny ordering the exact shade of baby blue paint to touch up all of the scratches. Joel only trusts himself to touch his car, but the situation necessitates that he’ll have to take it in to a local repair shop to get the dents out. Fucking fantastic. 

When Joel gets off work tonight, he notices he’s got some packages on his doorstep, hoping it’s the shit he ordered for his car. He’ll open them shortly, but he first notices that one of the packages is addressed to you. Go figure, he thinks, chuckling to himself. He walks the package over to your house, noticing your car is parked outside of the driveway. And it’s backed in too, which is odd. Joel assumes your car must’ve been blocking your brother’s, so he probably played musical chairs with your cars to get his out and then backed yours up onto the driveway. You never back your own car in the driveway, and Joel’s pretty sure it’s because you don’t know how. You probably can’t parallel park, either. He’ll have to show you how to do that sometime.

What’s also new is a bit of baby blue paint on your red Honda Civic’s exterior, right by your headlight, the same headlight he’s been nagging you to let him fix. Joel bites the inside of his cheek. Interesting. He knocks on your door, package in hand, but he’s met with no answer. No biggie. He leaves the package on your porch and goes back to your car, inspecting the paint once more. He scoffs in astonishment and walks home. Unbelievable. 

-

The next evening, you check your mailbox after forgetting to do so earlier. As always, you never have just your own mail. This time you’ve got Joel’s. You walk it over to Joel’s house with the intention of dropping it off on his porch and going back home, not wanting to bother him as he works on his Chevy but his whistle startles you. “Hey you,” he says. “C’mere.”

“O-oh,” you stutter. “I’m just dropping off your–”

“Yeah, I know. Just c’mere a minute,” Joel says. “Got a fuckin’ bone t’pick with you.”

Your palms are beginning to sweat. He doesn’t know anything. Maybe he just wants some company while he works on his car, it wouldn’t be the first time. But still, there’s something about his tone. You step off of his porch and cut through his lawn to get to his garage. Once inside, you help yourself to a root beer from his refrigerator. Something cold and fizzy and sweet to help you calm your nerves.“Oh, sure, help yourself,” Joel mumbles. He notices your fingers slipping off the tab of the pop can and pulls it from your hands, then opens it for you. He’s wearing a stained Prince and the Revolution t-shirt and a slightly too tight pair of jeans that squeeze his ass just so. His garage is decorated with old license plates, posters, other odds and ends. 

“Thank you,” you whisper. 

Joel says nothing as he walks to his work bench. He pulls a lightbulb out of a cardboard box and waves it in your direction, he’s only a couple of feet from you. “Ordered the wrong bulb,” he tells you. 

You can only nod. You think about maybe making a joke about the mailman screwing it up somehow, but you bite your tongue. You don’t trust yourself not to stutter right now.

“M’sure you saw, my baby here’s all banged up,” Joel puts the bulb back in the box and leans against his work bench, facing you. “Happened a couple weeks ago.”

“Mm,” you hum.

“Hit and run, can you believe that?” 

“No, I can’t. That-that’s terrible.”

“I know it is. And here I thought we had a nice neighborhood…” he trails off before speaking again, “You think you know someone, huh.” 

Someone. So he has someone in mind? “Yeah, it’s terrible…what happened to your car. Can’t believe someone would uh…would do that, knowing how you, your car…yeah. Terrible.”

Joel stares at you for a minute before speaking again, taking note of how you can’t seem to hold eye contact with him. He steps closer to you.

“You wouldn’t know a thing about it, right?”

“Yes,” you answer, quickly realizing your word mishap when Joel raises his eyebrows. “No, yeah. I don’t know–yeah, nothing,” you sip your root beer before fidgeting with the pop tab and shifting your weight from one foot to the other. 

Joel notices. “Squirmin’ an awful lot over there, sweetheart. You got something you wanna tell me?” You shake your head, still playing with the tab on the pop can. Joel removes it from your hand, his fingers gracing over yours before placing it on the workbench. He’s moving closer to you now, matching your pace as you walk backward until the back of your legs hit his car. You gasp, he stands so tall and imposing in front of you. “Easy,” he warns. “You be careful with her.”

“Yeah, I know. Always,” you reply. Your voice is beginning to shake. 

Joel hums at your response. “Not always, though, sweetheart. Think you were pretty careless with my baby a couple weeks ago.” 

The familiar pressure behind your eyes is beginning to build as tears are pricking your waterline, “I don’t know what–”

“Awh, don’t do that. Don’t lie t’me.” 

 The tears spill over. You’re caught. You don’t know how Joel figured out what you did, but he did. “You’ve got a guilty conscience, dontcha?”

You nod before you can speak. “I’m so sorry,” you cry. Sobs begin to wrack your body, your tears now flowing freely. You’re so guilty. You should’ve told Joel what happened that night. It was an accident, and he might’ve been mad, but you’ve probably made it worse for yourself with your dishonesty. “I’m so sorry, Joel, it was late and I was so tired–”

Joel pulls you in a tight embrace, stroking your back with his fingertips. “Shhh, I know. I know,” he whispers in your ear,  “S’okay, sweet girl.” 

“It was so…” you try to explain, choking on your sobs and your sniffles. “So late and d-dark and I wasn’t paying attention.”

“I know. Quit your cryin’, s’gonna be fine,” Joel whispers. He pulls away from you, looking at you with those deep brown eyes of his as he wipes the tears from your face with his thumbs. Know you’ll make it up to me.”

“I will,” you agree quickly. “I’ll pick up some more shifts, Joel, and I’ll save and–”

“Oh, no. Not that. Save your money,” he tells you earnestly. “Somethin’ else,” Your eyes follow Joel when he leaves you for a moment to flip a switch on the wall of his garage. Something in the air changes then, a thick, heavy feeling between you both when he makes his way back to you. “Use your head, sweetheart. How are we gonna make it right?”

Your mouth is dry, your tongue swollen as you pick up what Joel’s putting down. “Let me give ya a hint,” Joel grunts, sucking in his gut slightly as he unbuttons his jeans. He wears no underwear, a thatch of coarse hair littering his skin is what you see when he pulls down his zipper. He grips your wrist and shoves your hand beneath the denim where you feel his package, already half hard. It’s warmer, thicker than you would expect. He feels heavy in your palm, his pubic hair wiry and scratchy against your knuckles. 

He doesn’t tilt his head in confusion at your hesitancy. “Don’t know what to do with all this, do ya?”

You shake your head no. “I’ve never…with anyone, before.”

“S’alright. I’ll walk ya through it all,” Joel says, seemingly unsurprised at the revelation. With your hand still on his cock, Joel pulls himself out of his jeans entirely. He’s harder now. “Like this,” he instructs, bringing your hand to his mouth and spitting in it. A pang of arousal fills your gut at the action. He pushes your hand lower and guides you to wrap your hand around his cock. It feels heavy, warm to the touch, sticky with his sweat and his saliva. Rock hard, but smooth like satin. You admire him, his blushed tip, the prominent veins on his shaft. 

Your breath hitches as Joel takes control, using his strong, weathered hand to guide your own to massage his cock. “You got it,” he encourages, sensing your rigidity. “Tighter,” he instructs, squeezing his hand around yours. You’re slow to gain confidence but he’s patient, doing the work himself for now. “You move your hand all the way up, all the way down my cock,” he tells you. 

You nod in understanding. Joel drops his hand but yours stays stroking his member. He sighs and tilts his head backward as you focus on the task at hand. Without the pressure of intense eye contact, you take the opportunity to admire him, the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, the small drops of sweat rolling down his throat. You’re shy when he smiles at you, quickly averting your attention from him and to his cock, watching the way it twitches beneath your hand, where a little bead of precum forms. Experimentally, you swipe your thumb over the tip. “That’s it,” he whispers, stroking your cheek with the back of his hand. He ruts his hips into your hips, “Doin’ just fine.”

You stroke his cock like this for a while, gaining confidence in yourself until he stops you suddenly.

 “Is that it?” 

“Is that it,” Joel mocks with a feigned pout. “No, hon. You banged up my baby pretty good. We ain’t quite square yet.”

His leaking cock bounces against his tummy as he approaches his work bench. Your heart pounds as you can’t quite see what he’s reaching for. “Know it’s new to ya,” he says.  “Just listen to me, s’all you gotta do.”

Joel returns to you with a dirty rag in his hand and lays it on the concrete ground, then reaches for your face. He pulls your bottom lip down and lets it go to watch it bounce back up. “Knees,” he whispers, gently pushing you by your shoulders to the ground. The rag he laid on the concrete for your knees is a sweet touch, all things considered. His cock is inches away from your face as he holds it between his thumb, middle, and forefingers. He presses himself to your lips, encouraging you to open your mouth. “Give it a taste,” he instructs you. “An’ you can kiss it too, if you’re feelin’ amorous.” 

You part your lips and tentatively lick the weeping slit of his thick head just once. After a moment, taking in the saltiness of his precome, you lick him a couple more times, gaining confidence quicker than you did using just your spit soaked hand on him. Bigger stripes now, using more pressure. Like Joel advised, you kiss his cock a couple times, each kiss sloppier than the last before swirling your tongue around the tip. You’re learning it all, the softness of his skin, his musky, heady taste. 

“Give me your hand,” Joel says. “Goes right here,” He wraps your hand around the base of his cock, same as before. He places one of his hands on your head, guiding you closer to him, encouraging you to take him deeper now. You do as such, sputtering and choking when you get overzealous and take him too quickly.

Joel chuckles, “Not all at once, sweetheart. Go slow. Try it again.” This time, Joel controls the pace at which you take him. He pushes himself into your mouth and senses when it becomes too much, pauses for you. He pulls his hips back, then rocks back into your mouth, building a slow, shallow pace for you to get used to. 

He’s pushing his cock deeper into your mouth. His tip teases the back of your throat as he whispers, “Little more. Be brave,” You gaze up at him, searching his eyes for some sort of approval. He nods with his brows furrowed. “Do it for me, hon.”

You allow him to fuck himself deeper in your mouth now, your eyes pricking with tears as you gag and sputter on his cock. This time, Joel doesn’t stop himself. He’s grunting, groaning, savoring the warmth of your wet, soft mouth. “So good,” he tells you before tapping your hand, reminding you to put it to use.

What you can’t reach with your mouth, you massage with your hand as you cup his balls with your other. You and Joel work in tandem, him drawing in and out of your mouth as you bob your head and flick your tongue against his shaft. Your jaw is sore with the newness of it all, and just as you’re becoming used to the thickness of his cock between your lips and on your tongue, he pauses. “M’gonna stop you now,” Joel mumbles as he pulls out of your mouth, his eyes focused on your swollen lips and how the string of saliva connected from them to his cock breaks. “S’your turn.”

“My turn?”

“Mhm. It’s etiquette, hon,” Joel says with a grunt, lifting you to your feet. He reaches between your bodies and unbuttons your pants, pushing both them and your underwear down your legs. “Always return the favor.” Joel lifts you slightly, sitting your bare ass on the hood of his car, then pulls your pants off your legs the rest of the way. “Arms up,” he tells you. He lifts your shirt off of your body, unhooks your bra and lets it fall to your lap. You’ve never been so vulnerable, so exposed in front of someone before.  Instinctively, you cover your chest with your arms and cross your legs. 

“You’re shy,” he whispers. Joel drapes your clothing over his shoulder before reaching for your arms, removing them from your chest and placing them on either side of your body. “Stay like this,” He holds your knees next, uncrossing your legs and spreading them wide for his view. 

Joel takes in your body and admires your wet cunt, how your thick curls frame it beautifully. A shiver goes down your spine as his eyes scan the rest of your body before he holds intense eye contact with you as he folds your clothes, placing them in a neat pile next to you on his car. You watch his chest rise and fall with steady breaths as he drops to his knees, situating himself between your thighs.

He presses a sloppy kiss against your inner knee, then another on your other leg. He kisses his way up your inner thigh, nipping at your flesh and soothing the marks with his tongue. He holds your legs firmly apart, knowing your instinct is to shut them when he reaches your cunt, his hot breath fanning over your center. “Wider,” he whispers, “I gotcha.”

The once cool metal of Joel’s car is now hot and slick under your sweaty, trembling palms. Your pulse beats as you look up at the garage ceiling, lacking the courage to look at Joel between your thighs. “Relax for me,” he tells you. You try. 

You gasp when he finally begins exploring you, first his thumb parting open your folds. Adding a couple more digits, he hums in satisfaction as he finds you’re already wet, your slick glistening on his fingers. He dips one of those fingers inside of you slowly, watching how you react to his touch. You twitch and fight to keep yourself still and silent as he adds a second finger, curling it rhythmically and stroking that sweet spot inside you. 

“Oh, god,” you moan as he dives into your cunt, the soft and warm, private place between your thighs, his mouth now joining where his fingers touch. His tongue is hot and wet as he drags it through your sex, circling your clit with it. “Joel, please.”

Joel’s satisfied as he hears sounds of pleasure fall from your lips, feeling your hips bucking and grinding gently against his mouth. He sucks one fold, nips at the other as he curls his fingers inside you rhythmically. With the hand that’s not teasing your pussy, he digs his fingers into the soft flesh of your thigh. “Quit squirmin’ on my car,” he warns with a firm squeeze to your thigh, hard enough to bruise you. “Ya tryin’ to scratch her again?”

His wiry stubble drags across your skin, scratching gently against the inside of your thighs. You can feel it building up quickly, that hot, sparkling feeling deep in your core as he works you, sucks your clit between his lips. 

“Please,” you cry, the only word you can form at the moment. 

“I know, hon,” he murmurs, escalating his efforts on your pussy. Sucking, licking, curling his fingers harder. He works you through your orgasm, feeling you gush against his mouth, your arousal dripping down his fingers and pooling into the palm of his hand. Your hands fly to his scalp, twitching and jerking from the sensitivity with your fingers tugging on his curls when he licks a stripe up the seam of your cunt. 

Joel pulls away from your center with a satisfied grin, lips shiny, his facial hair damp. He rises, standing above you, and sloppily kisses your lips. You’ve never tasted your own arousal before. His strong hands find your ass cheeks, pulling you closer to where he wants you.

From there, you gasp when he slides his cock through your slick folds, rubbing thick head against your sensitive clit and watches how you react to his touch. “What do you think I’m doin’ to ya next?”

“Joel,” you whimper, your hips chasing his movements, following where his cock teases your cunt. 

“Yeah, you know what I’m doin,” he purrs. “Crossin’ it all off your list tonight.”

You tense when he notches just the head of his cock in your pussy, reaching for his arm, his shoulder, any part of him you can hold. 

“Know you’re nervous,” he says softly, rubbing circles into your thighs. “But s’just me an’ you here. Wider, hon. Spread your legs for me.”

You nod quickly, following suit and spreading your legs to accommodate him. “Like this?”

“Yeah, like that. S’perfect, hon, that’s all I need from you. C’mere,” Joel adjusts his hold on you before inching his cock into you a bit more. You’re so tight, squeezing him hard and whining through the stretch as he pushes into you further, the gradual slide inside your body causing him to grunt quietly. “Relax for me,” he groans through a strained breath, parting your insides as he’s sheathed himself inside you fully now. “Bite me f’ya need to, sweetheart. It’ll be okay. You’ll get used to it.”

It aches, but the pain dulls as Joel lets you get used to the feeling, the newness of his cock inside you. He holds you close and you take advantage of his suggestion, biting softly into the flesh of his neck, tasting the saltiness of his skin as you whimper quietly. Joel groans, his eyebrows furrowing together. “Shh,” he hushes, “You’re okay, hon. You’re doin’ alright.”

Joel slowly pulls out of you and fills you up again. “That’s it, sweetheart,” he praises as you tilt your hips, opening yourself to accept more of him. You’re humming into his neck as his cock recedes and then pushes in once more. “Eyes on me now. There it is, easy. Easy.”

You do as instructed, pulling your face away from him to meet his gaze. His sparkling brown eyes stay on yours as he pulls out of you, pushing into you slowly, deliberately. You hold onto his neck, his broad shoulders, clutching the fabric of his sweat dampened shirt as he builds a steady pace now. He holds you close to his body, one of his hands traveling up your body and groping your bouncing breasts, teasing your sensitive nipples.

“You just follow my lead,” Joel says, fucking you faster now. His fingers are pressed firmly into your waist now as he rolls his hips against yours. The pain is gone now, dissipated with his continued languid thrusts into you. You feel so full, so satisfied with his thick cock inside you, massaging your insides.

He fucks you steadily but gently, maintaining a quick rhythm. You didn’t know sex could make you feel this way, so much pleasure.  You’re moaning freely, overwhelmed with emotion, tears flowing freely down your cheeks. God, you love it, and it’s nothing but pure pleasure. 

Joel’s not oblivious to your enjoyment. He’s watching you, your face contorting, he’s listening to your moans and your cries, feeling you shiver and twitch beneath his touch and how it’s all because of him, all of your pleasure at the hands of Joel and only ever Joel. He feels a sort of carnal sense of power over this, the effect his touch has on you. You’re soft, so soft and all for him, your flesh for his hands and his teeth alone to squeeze, dig into, to bite on. 

You reach for his arm and guide his hand to your center, pressing his fingers against your clit as that familiar tightness in your gut begins to build once more. “Please,” you beg. 

“Thought this was supposed to be a deal for me. Didn’t need to hit my car f’ya needed me like this,” he taunts, laughing breathlessly. But Joel obliges, of course he obliges you. He moves his calloused fingertips in circles over your clit, coaxing out your release. “Takin’ me so good, sweetheart. Look at you, m’gonna make you come again. Makin’ out like a fuckin’ bandit, aren’t you?”

Indeed you are. It’s not long before you’re coming for him. With his ministrations on your clit, his thrusts now faster, harder, deeper, you’re coming undone for him as his name pours from your lips, long and slow like honey. With your lips parted open, you’re twitching and shuddering against him as you watch his face, letting yourself go. You whimper and moan, and your release is volcanic in the way it washes over your body so fiercely. Heavy, vivid waves of pleasure washing over you the way lava rolls down the earth. Slow, fiery, intense.

Your pulsing cunt milks Joel’s own climax, his orgasm crashing through him in such a way that he loses focus on you. His eyes screwed shut, the noises he’s making louder than he intended–what starts as a grunt turns into a moan, long and libertine as he fucks you harder than he probably should as you whimper in overstimulation. His thrusts turn harder and frenzied as he milks himself with your cunt, spurting hot ropes of his come inside you. You take everything he gives you, feeling so warm and full of his spend. 

His movements then begin to ease, slowing down some more until he eventually stills inside of you. He takes the quiet moment to check on you, holding your face in his hands as he makes sure you’re okay. Your chest heaves as he wipes your tears, but you silently nod, reassuring him that you’re alright.

With a soft grunt, he pulls out of you. He watches how your combined arousal spills on the baby blue paint of his Chevelle, then uses his thumb to push a bit of his escaped come back inside you. Such a lewd action from the man. 

Joel helps you to your feet, steadying you as you stand on shaky legs. He reaches for your clothes from the hood of his car, helping you dress yourself. “Didn’t want ‘em to get dirty,” he explains. “Everything’s covered in fuckin’ dirt and grease in here.”

“Thank you,” you smile shyly. Joel opens the garage door, the once peachy and blue sky now inky black. You didn’t realize how much time had passed. You take off back to your house, but Joel grips your bicep before you can step any further. 

 “Nuh uh,” he tuts. “Ya already hit my car, hon, you don’t wanna leave your mess on the hood now too, do ya?” Joel gestures to your combined arousal on the hood of his Chevelle, swipes his pointer finger through the mess and pushes it between your lips. Your brows furrow at the taste, that salty, heady flavor you’ve never tasted before now. “Use your tongue, sweetheart.”

“You want me…”

“Lick it up,” he instructs in a quiet voice. Joel figured he might’ve let you off too easy, seeing as how you came twice–once on his tongue and once on his cock when this was all supposed to be for him. He bends you over the hood of his car, groping your ass as he leans over your shoulder to inspect your work, making sure it’s a job well done. “Good girl,” he praises, watching you lick his car clean. When you’re done, he kisses you softly.

He walks you home, dropping you off on your doorstep. You’re not quite sure what to say, whether you should apologize again, thank him, say goodnight. Joel fills the silence for you. “Gonna teach you how to drive right one of these days. Keep you out of another mess like this one, hm?” he smirks as he kisses your cheek. “Goodnight, hon.”

If you enjoyed, please reblog, leave me a comment, and/or send an ask 🩷 your words mean the world to me and your interaction keeps me motivated to write. Love you all <3

From now on I’ll be sharing cat pics at the end of my fics. Hope you don’t mind 🐈‍⬛😻

[bluemari23]

hello soulmate | min yoongi

summary: your first day on the job doesn't turn out the exact way you envisioned

pairing: min yoongi x hype employee reader

genre: soulmate au, soulmarks, fluff,

warnings: running, unhappy coworkers, some injury

word count: 1.7k

masterlist

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Running was not your forte, and neither was breathing apparently as you choke trying to get air into your lungs as you reach the fortunately empty elevator. 

You were running late, and you were seconds away from being fired on your third day of work. You had just gotten the job as one of the content creators for a variety show through one of the big four entertainment companies, and today was the first official day at the company. 

HYBE was bigger than you imagined, and thus, the reason you were late. You had gotten lost on the first floor and then there were issues with your ID card getting past security. But you manage to reach the 12th floor in record time and use the piece of paper you received the last meeting to find the correct room. 

It was slight chaos when you opened the door, unsurprisingly as you now realized who you would be working with for the variety show. Everything was kept top secret until you were approved by HYBE and showed up on the first day, after signing numerous NDA’s of course. 

The BTS boys were having fun and running amuck as they waited for the shoot to start. It was supposed to be just a fun shoot, numerous arcade games set up throughout the room and a table set in the middle where some challenges were going to take place later on. 

You looked around after taking in the room, trying to set eyes on your director. Eventually you find him talking to your fellow creators, going over the different challenges that would be taking place. 

“—After the water bottle challenge, we’re going to move onto the karaoke booth.” You arrive just at the tail end of the run through, but you manage to understand anyways, seeing as you all had a copy of the schedule for the day. 

“Where have you been? Never mind, you’re working on the individual camera today.” Your director questions you but doesn’t give you any time to explain yourself before moving on and assigning you your task. You quickly nod your head, before moving to grab one of the video cameras from the table. 

You would be in charge of taking individual behind the scenes videos and photos for the social media accounts. You had seen episodes of Run BTS before and knew how much moving you would be doing today. 

Again. Running wasn’t your thing. 

“What are you doing?” You turn your head to see a slightly older woman in front of you, her hands on her hips as she looks towards the camera in your hands. 

“I was assigned individual shots today, Ma’am.” You respond as politely as you can, getting bad feelings from the woman in front of you. 

You could almost feel that you would be having problems with her. You tried to be respectful though, not wanting to step on anyone’s toes on your first official day. 

The woman just looked you up and down, her nose crinkling a little before she spoke. “Just don’t get in my way. I’ve been doing this longer than you have and don’t need some inexperienced newbie messing up my photos.” 

You can only nod before she is walking past you, bumping into your shoulder on her way past. 

‘What the heck?’ you think, turning to watch as she steps forward and begins to talk to one of the supervisors who was in the middle of talking to Namjoon. Shaking your head, you move to the edge of the set, close to the basketball arcade shot game. 

You had a good view of the other games from here and felt you could maneuver through the set easier from where you were set up. Bringing your camera up to your eyes, you begin taking some practice shots, making sure the lighting was good and the settings on the camera aligned with what you wanted to photograph.

It took you some time, but eventually you were able to begin taking photos of the boys who had come back to mess around with the games after getting changed and before the actual shoot started. 

You were so focused on the pictures that you didn’t even notice one of the boys moving up to you. 

“Hi! You must be one of the new creators! I’m Taehyung.” The bright eyed man bounced right up to you when he noticed you, hand held in front of you to shake your hand as he introduced himself. 

You put your camera down, smiling softly as you brought your hand to meet his, introducing yourself. As you did, you caught his attention on your wrist, where your soulmark resided. The initials of your soulmate were written in short, quick writing, the gray M and Y staring back up at you since the minute you turned sixteen. 

Taehyung’s smile only seemed to widen once you introduced yourself, a twinkle in his eyes that wasn’t there before. You could barely blink before the director was calling for the boys to get into place; the shoot was about to begin. 

You smile as you watch him bounce away again, his energy levels palpable as you hold your camera up again. 

The next hour was spent moving slowly throughout the edge of the set up game room, trying to get as many good shots as you could. You noticed that Taehyung gravitated towards you and seemed to pull Yoongi with him to play the basketball game, Jungkook following behind to try and battle against the basketball player. 

You moved closer to get a picture of both boys making a basket and scoring a point when someone stepped on your foot causing pain to radiate up your ankle and shin. A gasp leaves your lips as you look towards your left to see the woman from earlier, a glare set on her dark eyes as she almost pushes you aside. 

You end up tripping over the cord to another game and just barely manage to catch yourself on the corner of said game before injuring yourself or ruining the shoot. You were so focused on the pain in your foot you didn’t even notice the burning in your wrist as your soulmark gets darker. 

You didn’t notice the three men witnessing the entire thing, nor the dark looks Taehyung was sending to the older woman. A break was luckily called soon enough and you tried to move away back to the far wall but a hand on your arm stops you.

“What was that? I thought I told you not to get in my way?!” The older woman steps in front of you, her hand still gripping tightly to your forearm. 

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. It won’t happen again.” You grit out as politely as you can, the pain in your ankle making you want to sit down but you knew you needed to just go along with what she was saying, not wanting any trouble. 

“No. Don’t apologize.” You both turn to your right to see Taehyung, Yoongi and Jungkook, all three eyeing the hand gripping onto your forearm. The woman is quick to release you when she realizes what the boys were seeing. 

“Oh boys! Don’t worry about this. I’m just giving some advice to the newbie.” The woman was quick to put on the sweet tone as she speaks to them. You just want to roll your eyes. 

Pulling your arm back to your chest, rubbing against where you knew her grip was going to leave some bruises. Your sleeve had rolled back down and your forearm was on full display, along with your soulmark. 

“Advice? It seemed like you stepped on and pushed someone out of the way. That is not okay nor something we want to see happen between our employees.” Yoongi’s voice was low, each word spoken slowly as if to ensure the woman knew exactly what she had done. 

Jungkook moved to you while Taehyung and Yoongi were talking to the woman, his hand holding onto your own, softly and a huge contrast to the woman as he tilts your forearm around to see the spot where the woman held you.

The skin was red and he knew it would bruise. This was unacceptable and he would make sure that the woman would be reprimanded for her actions. As Jungkook continued to look over your arm, his attention was caught by your soulmark, his hyungs initials on the inside of your wrist. 

‘No wonder Taehyung kept bringing him to where you were…’ Jungkook mused, a small smile on his lips as the thought of Taehyung trying to bring you two together. 

Well, no time like the present. 

Taehyung agreed, as his next words caught the attention of everyone. 

“You hurt Yoongi’s mate.” Your eyes widened as your head turned quickly to see Yoongi already staring at you, your faces both sharing the expression of shock. Jungkook was still holding your wrist, bringing you the two feet until you were right in front of Yoongi. 

You were silent, trying to process everything as Yoongi looked down at your held out wrist, his initials written in his own handwriting. Slowly, he pulled his own sleeve up, showing you his soulmark. 

Your initials were written in your own soft script, smooth cursive showing on his inner wrist, the same spot as your own. 

You were lost in your own world, oblivious to all of the noise and emotions happened outside the two of you. Yoongi slowly brought his hand to your wrist, his thumb rubbing over the top of your soulmark, gray turning to a dark black as the soulbond snaps into place confirming Taehyung’s suspicions. 

“Hello, soulmate.” A gummy smile burns into your retina, a memory you never want to forget as warmth erupts in your soul.

[kamisatomay018]

Let yourself Love, Dear Iudex.

Neuvillette x female reader

Angst with comfort, very fluff and lengthy

Hope you enjoy!<3

“Forgive me, but I cannot accept your feelings..”

You were sure that if it was humanly possible, all of teyvat would’ve been able to hear your heart shatter. What were you expecting, that the Chief Justice of Fontaine would reciprocate your feelings? A fool is what you felt like, but you had no option, the feelings were too difficult to conceal, you needed to let it out even if it meant getting your heart broken. You had been the Iudex’s assistant for 4 years. You were excellent at your job, gaining the respect and admiration of all the people of Fontaine. Neuvillette had also been in awe of your work, and over the time you both had become closely acquainted with one another. He was an immaculate gentleman, his words sounding like the purest verses of poetry. His siren eyes held the depth of an ocean, his calm and gentle demeanour made you feel comforted. He was everything you could’ve ever asked for in a man.

After 2 years of loving him silently, you had gathered your courage to confess to him, somewhere hoping that the soft glances he often sent your way, the flowers you would receive from melusines and the hours you both spent chatting in his office about all sorts of topics weren’t just gestures a “friend” would receive. But of course, you were wrong. And now you stood in his office, heart aching and eyes wishing to burst into tears as the only man you had ever loved turned you down. You couldn’t be upset, you couldn’t be angry, you knew you couldn’t force him to love you. You heard the heavy rain pour outside, making you internally sigh in relief. At least outside this office you wouldn’t have to conceal your heartbreak.

You took a deep breath, managing to still smile despite the pain that swam in your green eyes, looking at the man in front of you who looked concerned and apologetic. Pity was the last thing you needed right now. “May I at least know why?” Perhaps this was not the wisest decision, perhaps his words would only pierce your shattered heart even more but you needed to know the truth. You knew that Neuvillette always spoke the truth, no matter how harsh it was. He was the Chief Justice for a reason after all.

Neuvillette’s eyes drifted away from yours, hesitant and clouded with emotions he himself struggled to understand. “I…do not understand love, I do not know if I feel the same way towards you for I can barely even understand myself. I cannot abandon my duties..”

You felt like scoffing or screaming because of this mediocre excuse he had given. It did not make sense to you, it did not make you understand whether you were the problem or that he just did not like you. His words were contradictory and confusing, and they infuriated you for some reason. You took another deep breath, not wishing to disrespect him. Before your friend, he was your superior. You stood up, just wanting to be as far away from him as possible for now. The walls of his office that were once your safe haven now felt suffocating, the walls which once echoed with your laughter were now filled with deafening silence.

“Then I’ll take my leave, my job for today is over. You can stay rest assured Monsieur, this topic will not be brought up, nor will it interfere with my work. Forgive me if I made you uncomfortable. Have a good night.”

“Please wait-“ but it was too late, you had walked out of his office hurriedly, tears falling as soon as you turned your back to him. The rain only grew stronger, as neuvillette felt even more conflicted, varieties of intense emotions creating chaos in his heart and mind. He felt so much pain, yet it wasn’t physical. He felt his heart become so heavy, guilt and remorse filling up his soul. Did he not do the right thing? He remembered the sight of your green eyes, which 10 minutes earlier shone brightly with happiness and warmth; but now because of him they looked pained and teary. Your trembling voice, the expression of pure agony on your face, he could not bear to remember it.

He knew that you were someone he trusted, someone he enjoyed spending his leisure time with. Whenever you were with him, it rarely rained. He felt content and happy, he felt less worried about the burden of his duties and his true identity. You were like sunshine to him, warm and bright, having the capability to shine through even the cloudiest of skies. But now he had dulled that bright shine, now he had hidden your bright light behind his dark grey clouds of rain. He massaged his forehead with his fingers. Archons, these emotions were so difficult to deal with. Now he was sure that he would lose you, and that fact hurt him so much that it made the skies roar with thunder. But he also couldn’t hurt you, he couldn’t lie to you. He truly did not understand love, so what if he was going to trap you in a beautiful lie? No, you deserved someone far better than him, a man who was not cowardly enough to hide in his office and make the people suffer through endless rain because he was in pain.

You stood outside your apartment building, drenched in rain. At least the sky was crying with you, and was helping you conceal your tears. How pitiful you must be looking, you thought, crying because of a rejection. But what bothered you was that Neuvillette’s reason for rejecting you was absolutely barbaric and ridiculous. So what if he didn’t understand love? If only he had given you a chance, you would’ve helped him learn what love is. But you were not going to beg for his love, you were not going to be desperate for anyone. All you could hope for was that he would come to his senses and realise that he just needed to open his heart and let himself love someone.

The next morning started, but there was no sun shining, rather the rain kept pouring down on the city unrelentingly. Worried about the Hydro Dragon, the traveler and Paimon entered his office, hoping to ease his troubles. “Neuvillette what’s wrong? It’s been raining cats and dogs since last evening!” Spoke paimon’s cheerful voice, as her tiny frame floated towards him. He looked up, a small yet tired smile forming on his face. “Ah it’s you two, forgive me for this rain, it must be causing quite and inconvenience for you.” The traveler observed the melancholy in the Chief Justice’s eyes and walked towards him. “We are just worried about you, please tell us, what’s wrong?”

“My thanks to you both for your concern, but I’m afraid that I cannot find the proper words to describe my emotions..” “That’s not a problem, just speak your heart out!!” Paimon said, and her words made Neuvillette think. Speak his heart out? Had he ever done that? “Please keep this matter extremely private then…” “of course we will neuvillette, you can trust us” the traveler said with a reassuring smile on his face.

“What is it like to…love someone?” Spoke they hydro dragon’s deep voice, laced with such heavy emotion. Both the traveler and his floating companion were shocked, never having expected such a question. They silently looked at each other, communicating through their eyes to help the poor man out as much as they could. Taking the lead like always, Paimon spoke in her loud yet cheerful voice. “That’s easy!! Paimon has read about love in soo many books! Some say that you feel butterflies in your tummy, that you feel like time stops and that they’re the one!!”

Neuvillette was perplexed at that. Time stopping? Butterflies in the stomach? What in teyvat was going on? “Oh stop it Paimon, you’re confusing him! Well, I personally have never been in love, but I have observed a lot of people in love and I can tell you about them, if that helps?” The traveler spoke, and neuvillette felt a great sense of gratitude. “Yes, that would be quite helpful.” “Well then, when you’re in love with someone, you feel calm and comfortable, and it’s as if time passes by in a flash when you’re around them. You feel like spending time in their company, you observe every little thing about them, their likes and dislikes, their habits..And when they’re not close, it makes your heart feel heavy, as if something is missing and just not right…What’s important is that if you love a person, you’d want to protect them forever, and seeing them hurt would hurt you physically, mentally and emotionally.”

Neuvillette felt as if his world had turned upside down. Every feeling described by the traveler was what he felt for you. Had he actually fallen in love unknowingly and rejected you? Dear archons, he was such a foolish man. “It..appears that I have made a grave mistake…” Paimon blinked curiously, looking at him. “What mistake?” “I turned down the girl I loved because I thought the emotions I feel for her weren’t love but something entirely different…” Oh boy, the traveler thought. So that’s why it’s been raining so much. “Well that’s not a problem! You can just go back to her and apologise! I’m sure she would understand if she loves you!!” Neuvillette’s eyes looked at Paimon with uncertainty. “Is it really that simple? Will she really forgive me?” The traveler smiled, placing his hands on his hips. “You won’t know until you try Neuvillette.”

After a good moment of silence, Neuvillette gathered his thoughts together, nodding. He had done wrong, and he had to correct it. He realised that he always felt this way around you, but he didn’t know it was love. You were very precious to him, and he couldn’t lose you because of his fault. “My sincere thanks to you both. I will remember your words. I should go now.” Paimon giggled, waving at him. “Good luck!!”

You were sitting in your bed, arms wrapped around yourself while you looked outside the window, hearing the pitter-patter of rain. It was your day off, which you were really thankful for. How could you face Neuvillette after what happened yesterday? You were snapped out of your thoughts as you heard knocks on your main door. Who could it be? You got up, opening the door and gasped softly. “Monsieur? What are you doing here- oh my you’re drenched!” Worry took over your heart as you led him inside your apartment, about to go fetch a towel for him. But you were stopped by his hand gently holding yours. “Please wait..there are things I wish to discuss with you Mon Amour..” wait. What did he just call you?

You turned to face him, now noticing the fresh rainbow roses in his hand, surrounded with sparkling water droplets. Could it be that he had finally realised something? You nodded at his words, a blush making itself visible on your cheeks. Neuvillette’s face lit up, as he sweetly handed you the flowers, then holding your free hand. “Please, forgive me, my reaction yesterday was unacceptable…I was just caught off guard, unable to process my emotions. But in that process I ended up hurting you, and that fact makes my soul ache endlessly…” your eyes turned soft, as you stepped closer to him. “Then have you processed your emotions now?”

His oh so beautiful siren eyes met yours, as he smiled “yes I have. With a little help, I understood that..I do indeed reciprocate your feelings Mon Amour…I do love you…” a tear fell down your cheek at those words. Finally, the words you wanted to hear for two years were spoken. “Are you sure..? You’re not forcing yourself to love me for my sake right?” He chuckled softly, cupping your cheeks softly, placing a chaste kiss on your forehead. “Mon Amour, I truly do love you. When you are near, my days are filled with joy. Your laughter is my remedy, your eyes are where I feel the most comfort..when you are away from me, my heart feels hollow, my entire being feels cold and empty. You are like sunshine for me, bright and warm, shining through the cloudy skies around my heart..But I cannot lie to you, loving me is not easy..I find it difficult to understand my emotions, and I might not be the best partner you need.”

Without caring about anything else, you hugged him tightly. This was all you needed, he was all you ever wanted. “Neuvillette, you are perfect for me. We have enough time, I will teach you how to love, I will show you what love feels like. I just need you by my side, I need your hand in mine.” Goodness, the warmth he felt in your embrace was so addictive that he never wished to leave. He hugged you closer, inhaling your scent. “I can promise you that I will always be by your side. You are everything for me Mon Amour…you are the only person who has taken the time to love me for who I am..I cannot thank you enough for it.”

The rain slowed down, and the clouds parted to make way for the bright sunlight to shine through the skies. A beautiful rainbow formed between the clouds, as the two lovers embraced one another. “Just let yourself love my dear Iudex, and everything will fall in place.” He smiled even more, heart full of joy. “I will try my best for you Sunshine..”

You looked at him now, with a smile so sweet that it made his heart race and stomach feel weird. Perhaps Paimon was right about the butterflies in the stomach. He watched as his love cupped his cheeks, leaning closer and as both their eyes closed, he felt her soft lips against his. Only he knows how crazy his heart went at that moment. Archons, he wouldn’t be able to survive this love if you kept going on. But did he want to stop? No; not at all. You both smiled as you kissed each other so softly, pure love blossoming in your hearts. You both were finally happy.

[steppingonyourshadow]

Selected excerpts from GQ February 2024

His is a face that's constantly under a microscope. A few months ago, his studio posted a series of photos for his birthday. Sharp-eyed netizens noted immediately that his face had "become rounder". In order to play Guo Jing of Tsui Hark's Legend of Condor Heroes, Xiao Zhan put on weight before filming began. His face was no longer so narrow, and he had obviously bulked up. The photos showed him with a scattering of stubble, a little rough.

Strictly speaking, Legend of Condor Heroes is Xiao Zhan's second movie. There have already been many iconic portrayals of Guo Jing, so the pressure was obviously on.

The day of the GQ cover shoot, Xiao Zhan got up early to go for a run. He couldn't help but worry that he'd lose muscle mass from sweating so much, and hesitated over whether to continue. Finally he decided to do a full 30 minutes. After that, it occurred to him that he wouldn't start burning fat until 30 minutes in, so he did another 10.

It's all for the sake of the job. "Actually, I'd rather not be running - it decreases muscle mass. But I have to, to get rid of bloating." After the shoot, no matter how late it got, he plans to go do more weight training. The discipline of an actor is the constant process of creating their character's look, all the while strictly controlling their diet and maintaining their figure. Xiao Zhan sees both as standard and imposes this standard on himself.

I was curious how he felt having been under constant scrutiny these past few years. I wasn't expecting him to say that it was barely on his mind most of the time, and hadn't brought much disruption to his life either, that the "cruelest" thing was "not being able to eat whatever I want".

"I still sneak out for a bike ride, or a walk. I've been spotted just the once, within five minutes of walking around a Hutong. I've also snuck into cinemas to watch movies, no one cares that you're there, really. Once you're away from the internet, a lot of problems just solve themselves. Sometimes we think what's in front of us is the whole world, that's a mistake, but one that can't be avoided. Nothing to be done about it."

There are lots of things he wants to do, like ride the subway, go shopping. "I really will use the subway, maybe tomorrow, nothing extraordinary about that. I used to do it every day."

For Xiao Zhan, this is real life. He's no longer bothered by social media comments.

"If I still let it get to me after all this time, what kind of life would I live?" He laughs. "Really, it's fine."

Right now, Xiao Zhan is very satisfied with his life. "I have my work, my own life, and an audience that appreciates me. Nothing to be dissatisfied about."

To an extent, Xiao Zhan's relaxed state stems from increasing clarity about his goals. Outside voices no longer bother him, he knows what he wants and what he doesn't want. Right now, more and more he's trying to simplify. In the past two years, he hasn't done much variety, choosing to focus on acting as his most important goal.

Three shows in which Xiao Zhan played the main character aired in 2023. Each character was a challenge in different ways. During the interview, Xiao Zhan said "it was a lot of pressure" many times, in relation to each of these stages, but his tone was always light, nothing of the heaviness of someone bemoaning difficulties, and more like an analytical mindset after the event, with concrete and objective reasoning: this show was the first time he did green screen, that one was his first solo lead role, first contemporary drama...

Where Dreams Begin was a script Xiao Zhan loved. He really likes stories from that era. When he was a kid he watched Bloom of Youth and Happiness As Flowers. In his mind the 70s and 80s shine brightly, in vivid colour.

Many say that the character of Xiao Chunsheng is perfect, but Xiao Zhan saw this as his greatest flaw. He found the character very interesting and wanted to give it a go. Xiao Chunsheng is a Beijing kid. How to convey his demeanor and speak in authentic Beijing dialect was no small challenge to Xiao Zhan who grew up in Chongqing.

The Longest Promise's Shi Ying is cold and aloof. Because he didn't want to disappoint everyone who had high expectations of his guzhuang look, Xiao Zhan pushed himself above and beyond to lose weight before filming began. "The Longest Promise was a script I got in 2020. Among the ones I had to choose from, it was the one with the most well-rounded characters, and the most nuanced relationships. Plus, it had a strong sense of internal logic and coherence. So it was my best choice."

Sunshine By My Side is the one Xiao Zhan had been considering the longest. He was given the script in 2019. Sheng Yang may be in the same line of work Xiao Zhan had been doing before debuting, but he wasn't certain he could recreate the life of a designer for the screen in a natural, believable way.

Recently, Xiao Zhan found an old book at home - Danshari [book about decluttering and optimization of the home by Hideko Yamashita]. It had been recommended to him by his boss when he was a designer. What the book said about organising one's life made him rethink what he wanted, and what he ought to leave behind.

"Contemporary and slice of life dramas were a totally foreign territory for me." At the start he was to eager to finish his lines, having them memorised back to front. But no one in real life speaks like that. Later, he realised that there was a particular logic in where to pause and where to place the emphasis in a line in a contemporary drama.

For example, when he decided to be an actor, and that he didn't want to do anything else other than acting. "If you try and force me, then let's have the debate. There's no such thing as right and wrong, my people are only looking out for me, isn't it positive to have so much work? But for me, I need to simplify my life. Because there are some things I definitely don't want."

Xiao Zhan's acting career began with an "ordinary overage guy pursues his dream into the entertainment industry" story. He went into a survival show at the age of 24, learned to dance as a total novice, debuted in a boy group, acted in internet dramas, played bit parts in movies, until he hit it big in 2019 and became an attention-grabbing star.

If you choose to do something, then give it your best. That's what Xiao Zhan was taught from a young age. When he was in junior high, his parents bought him a cellphone. Initially when he sent text messages he'd use spaces in place of punctuation. But his father said to him very severely, "where's the punctuation, why isn't there a question mark at the end of your sentence?" So now Xiao Zhan always pays attention to punctuation.

Xiao Zhan has had a competitive spirit since he was a child. So long as it's something he can control, he'd rather not miss a single opportunity. He used to take the bus to school and get anxious on behalf of the people who fell asleep and missed their stops. For the things he can't control, he'd remind himself not to get too caught up and learn to accept the outcome. And before that, do everything he can the best he can.

When asked which of his projects had come about following a lot of effort on his part to land it, Xiao Zhan's response is surprising. He says, "all of them". Before he made it big, he auditioned a lot. Once he'd passed the interview stage, gotten into the final round, even did trial shots with full makeup, and was still replaced. Now of course people pass him scripts, but Xiao Zhan always tells himself, that's just an expression of interest which can be given to many people at once. If he encounters a script he really likes, he'll set up a meeting with the director and talk to them about his understanding of the character. He feels it's important to display the right attitude.

Xiao Zhan grew up just like any other 90s kid - his parents worked, his grandma did all the cooking, he went to school every day, came home, and if he did poorly in an exam he'd get a beating. They ate dinner at 6:30 every night, and then his friends would call for him to come down and play Hide and Seek, Red Light, Green Light, or Hopscotch.

His face shines when he speaks of this time. These ordinary little things all seem rare and precious now. Xiao Zhan says he's grateful for those first 23 years before his dream-like brave foray into the entertainment industry. "I really value those times, I think it was great."

He thinks that if he hadn't entered the industry, he'd probably be living like his classmates and friends, taking clients out for dinner only to come home and do more overtime to finish his design work overnight, day after day.

"Being seen" makes him happy. No matter how busy he gets, Xiao Zhan never complains. "If there's work to be done, then do it properly." While filming The Oath of Love he was also recording the variety show Our Song. Whenever he had a moment between scenes, he'd put on headphones and sing along softly. When his costars came over out of curiosity, he'd give a sheepish grin and explain that he was practicing the song he had to sing that night. "There's no time, really none." Back then, work took up pretty much his entire life.

Xiao Zhan will almost never give himself a holiday. "Unrealistic," he says firmly. When he's exhausted enough, he can fall asleep sitting upright on set.

This year, Xiao Zhan felt a sense of urgency stemming from "not enough works". "Compared to some of my seniors, when they were in their thirties they already had many credits." He clearly understands that a huge breakthrough in his acting skills from just a single piece of work is unlikely. "That probably won't happen for me."

He's considered whether he wants to be an actor with a unique individual style or a crowd-pleaser. His answer is the latter. "They might not be fans of yours, or even feel very positive toward you, but when they know you have a show on, they think, maybe I should check it out, his shows are all pretty good. That's what I want, that's my current goal. Whether I can reach the level of the actors I admire, that's a long road, I'm going to take my time."

"Make more shows, work with more good people, that's the current goal. I'm not thinking about the rest right now," Xiao Zhan says.

[I'll translate and post the Q&A segment later.]

[morocosmos]

Writer Interview Game

Tagged by @arcaneoddity, tyyyy 💜

When did you start writing?

I noodled at an unfinished story or two when i was a kid (i drew comics a lot more tbh), the first fanfic i wrote was when i was 13 (it is consigned to ff.net, never to be perceived again). i started developing my writing during secondary school, we had to for english class but i genuinely enjoyed those assignments so much that it didn't feel like schoolwork lmao, it was smth of an outlet. i did write a couple of fics for other fandoms between 2016 and mid 2020, but in late 2020 FFXIV revived my desire to create, while @stellarfatalism and @lemoncakedesign's fics inspired me to actually start writing.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I read a much wider variety of smut than what i could be convinced to write. other than that i think they mostly overlap.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

@haillenarte, @rabbitprint and @sezja's fics have stuck with me the most in terms of "god i want to be able to write characters like this"....i've never been compared to another writer before, never even considered it and idk how i'd feel.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I was writing on openoffice at first, but their software has a tendency to crash when you press two keys too fast, for example when you. try to save your work. moved to gdocs to avoid that and so that i could continue working on fic on my phone, but i also use the notes app on there, mainly to get down ideas that i don't want running away or to write more freely. it's easier to be experimental and loose when i'm writing in notes, idk, whereas i prefer sitting at the desk and working on my computer when it's a longer fic or a more """important""" piece.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

I've let it happen when it happens, for the most part. i was forcing myself to power through job around the time i really grew into writing, so i needed it to be a space where i wouldn't do it if i didn't want to. my feelings about that are more mixed now, because i'm a slow writer to begin with, and i can't help but wonder if more people would read my stuff if i updated more consistently. but i digress - the only time i've had to bring the muse in myself was for to sail your seas, and that was because there was accountability and a deadline. so i guess my most effective tricks are ADHD hacks and brainworms.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Until recently i didn't approach fic writing with themes in mind, when i get an idea it's usually about throwing a character at something and seeing what happens. that something tends to be another character, sometimes it's more existential like touch starvation. that said, i do have a WIP where i sat down and thought about what i want the themes to be before i know how it's going to pan out, but it's baby's first attempt so i don't have an answer to this question yet, really.

What is your reason for writing?

Processing things i know and exploring things i don't. when i got back into writing in 2020 it was extremely cathartic, i've burnt out on several creative pursuits over the years and having that spark come alive was, and is still very precious to me. i spent two years writing simply because i had ideas and a vice-grip compulsion to write them out. now that that's slowed down, i've started to think more about craft, and how i might try to hone that when i'm lowkey afraid of this stage of learning, and there's no formal institution to kick my ass into it. but in some ways, i think i write because i can't afford not to.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I've been told by a friend that i'm good at continuity, which is nice considering it lines up with the obsessive approach i take towards trying to tie plot/character threads together lol. personally, i still consider descriptive writing to be my greatest strength. it's what i keep going back to, maybe because it was the first thing i discovered i was good at that wasn't influenced by someone else's decision.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I miss the honeymoon period when i thought my writing was the hottest shit LOL. that tapered off towards the end of 2022, but it's not like i think my writing is bad now, just that over time i became more aware of my shortcomings, and how much knowledge and experience i lack. i did have to fight a little to keep my relationship with writing from souring last year, but in hindsight it was more about frustration that i didn't have the energy to write (work burnout wooo) than a problem with writing itself. after a year plus of stalling and big fic projects i just want to have fun again, be a bit silly.

[sanstropfremir]

ok nana unsubtly kicked me in the ass about this and i realized they were mostly done anyways so here we go! only four months late!

best stylings 2023 - first half

runners' up

rising - triples

there are two good stages with funky athletic wear, but it wasn't enough to bump it up to the overall category. mcountdown 230216, the show 230221

abyss - woodz

didn't promote it which is a shame, but the variety in the costuming for the different versions of himself is well done and it's a beautifully shot bottle mv.

moody - superkind

you got a fake member you gotta make it spooky!!! he's not real that's inherently spooky!!! anyways this is what i wanted them to do right off the bat some i'm glad they finally got my psychic memo.

golden hour - mark

absolutely fucking crazy. fantastic imagery. i think i talked about it earlier in the year but it's such a stupid and hilarious idea to make a whole diss track mv about a several year old meme and then actually make it strange and weird art. obsessed with it still.

sos - kang daniel

i'm also including the wasteland music sequence here because holy shit when this dropped i lost my mind. i'm always surprised by what kang daniel does bc i can never predict it, which over the last few years i'm coming to enjoy. and i absolutely did not expect him to produce basically an entire wild west mad max movie with equal the production value???? literally how did he do this. how. and then everyone paid it dirt??? it's an amazing mv and one of my faves of the year, the only reason it's not bumped up categories is bc although the styling was actually one of the only times tactical gear has been thematically relevant to a cb, its been so overused that it has no punch anymore, which makes me sad bc the tactical gear was good! and a good choice! and i feel bad saying it has no punch bc it should have!

small talk - kim sungkyu

we love when sungkyu acknowledges that he's annoying and a loser. all these outfits were so losercore. i loved this deviation from form for him; he's normally king wailer supreme, but he does smooth upbeat rock very well and it's a nice contrast with the capital y yearning that's in the bsides. it's only here bc he didn't promote much and i'm mad at him for putting dancing in the mv and then not dancing in any of the stages. mcountdown 230629, music core 230708, inkigayo 230709

ay-yo - nct 127

this is just here for taeyong's urchin outfit. well i'm a bit of liar it is actually a really fun early 00s inspired mv, but we all know the urchin outfit stole the show.

stamp on it - got the beat

i will hear NO slander against got the beat in this house, this was a great mv i love hot women planning a heist.

tricky house - xikers

FANTASTIC debut. does a really great job of establishing a character for them as a group and it's got such unique flavour. kq has made great use of their ateez money and also the lessons that they learned with ateez. i'm excited to see where xikers goes in the future, and since i'm writing this section from the future i can say that i do like where they've gone with full confidence. the only reason it didn't make the top list is bc the styling is kinda average for this era of kpop.

best overall

rose blossom - h1 key

i was aware of h1key before this but they hadn't really grabbed me, but damn this cb was so good. the mv is a nice mix of story and dance sections. plus a surreal section in the middle! and by virtue of being like the first cb of the year, they got the jump on this alt girl look that would be the dominating look for ggs this year. and i do think first did it best in this case, all the looks are smart with good group synergy and and a lot of creativity; when you do this type of alt-y punky style it's important that there's a diy element to it, which a lot of groups fail to grasp bc stylists are obsessed with luxury branding. h1key manages to avoid that mostly by being flops, but i'd like to believe its also bc their creative team cared about capturing the true spirit of the style.

stages: music bank 230106, mcountdown 230202, music bank 230203, mcountdown 230119, inkigayo 230108

tic tac - 8turn

honestly i was kinda ready to not like these guys since mnh shat the bed with chungha, but then i remembered that the mnh creative team is very good at their jobs, so here we are. this is one of the few debuts/cbs this year where every single stage was a hit and it was very hard to narrow down to just a few for here; lots of good emphasis on shape and colour and accent pieces with repeated motifs, which was a big part of the fashion in the 00s that they are remixing here. very strong debut especially for so early in the year and i'm looking forward to more.

stages: show champion 230208, mcountdown 230202, music bank 230203, show champion 230222, music core 230211, mcountdown 230223, music core 230225, inkigayo 230226

bonus: this absolutely hysterical 4minute cover (they even got the name bucket hats! not in the stage, but they had them in photos)

sweet juice - purple kiss

i'm not normally a fan of wes anderson or wes anderson inspired aesthetics because i find them too twee and perfect, but this wasn't too direct in it's inspirations and definitely had the spooky purki flavour. i really liked the uniformity of the costuming, both literally using uniform motifs and using the same fabrics; i really do miss the days when kpop costumes were design to actually be costumes with the group image in mind.

stages: mcountdown 230216, inkigayo 230219, music core 230225, music bank 230224, inkigayo 230226, music core 230304, inkigayo 230305

sour & sweet - bambam

bambam again proving that he's one of the few idols that knows his shit in terms of interesting styling. also if anyone knows where he filmed the mv/performance vid please tell me i need to know bc its so beautiful.

stages: mcountdown 230330, music bank 230331, inkigayo 230402, music bank 230407, music core 230408, inkigayo 230409,

bsides: music bank 230331, inkigayo 230409,

macarena - blitzers

i'm so so so glad blitzers got a bit more attention this year bc they deserve it and macarena was so good. perfect culmination of their goofy ass talents and the unusual creativity of their performance + creative directors. i'm even linking the mv teaser here bc its so goofy and offbeat and different. honestly i'd recommend watching as many of the stages as you can find bc they do different intros every time and it's very funny, but unfortunately tumblr has a link limit so i can't link them all.

stages: show champion 230426, music bank 230428, music core 230429, inkigayo 230430, inkigayo 230514, music core 230527

bouncy - ateez

yea yea yea nobody is surprised so sue me. this was a crazy followup to halazia and proved that ateez can deftly switch between serious dramatic performance and comedic but no less dramatic. i'm very happy to see how much work has been going into the main ateez mvs in the last year because it has very clear and striking direction that fits both their performance style and their creative ambition, as well as their growth as a group. also yea i'm not immune to neon cowboy shit.

stages: inkigayo 230618, music bank 230616, the show 230620, mcountdown 230622, music bank 230623, mcountdown 230629, music core 230701, inkigayo 230702

kick it 4 now - tnx

tnx had an absolutely banging 2023 and although kick it 4 now is has superior and more comprehensive production, love or die is also a very good cb, and both of them together have shown that they have a really good grasp on the genre of teen listlessness, from two different directions. kick it 4 now has been i think the most successful cb to actually capture the feel of first gen, and the creative team did a lot of extra work in order to pull that off. from all the graphic design to the goofy lil 90s style music show promos, to the styling, they had a clear goal and achieved it. i think it will be quite difficult for any other group to pull it off this thoroughly.

stages: music bank 230609 (the giant lyrics!!!), music core 230610, show champion 230614 (more giant lyrics!!), music core 230617, mcountdown 230622

shooting star + left right - xg

we all already know that left right was my most listened song this year, but the fact that the mv was b movie sci fi star trek themed? it's like simon made everything about this specifically for me thank you. xg blew everyone out of the water this year on every front; music, styling, choreography, you name it. i said i wanted groups to commit to their bits and i got it. they were completely unafraid to actually commit to the y2k nostalgia AND to harajuku styling; a lot of groups have weakly pawed at it but always back away due to the fact that harajuku and y2k are not actually 'pretty' fashion trends, which leaves their attempts half assed with no real understanding of why and how those trends happened. xg came saw and conquered the current trend in a way that only a japanese gg can do. my only annoyance is that they tone down the stylings when they promote on music shows, and i know why they do it, so it's not an annoyance at them, it's an annoyance at everyone else.

stages: shooting star - mcountdown 230202, con-tour 230217, the show 230221, inkigayo 230212, inkigayo 230205, con-tour 230224

left right - the show 230228, show champion 230222

circle - onew

absolute masterpiece. album of the year in every way. it's a profoundly beautiful unpacking of grief and the sadness that comes with acknowledging that things change, and the way that in that change life and humanity and story is eternal. a circle. the theatre imagery combined with the 60s style children's tv show use their similar but contrasting forms to illustrate the same point: something can be eternal and fleeting at the same time, and that heightens its value rather than diminishing it. the promo campaign was so thought out as well, i love the integration of the theatre imagery into the highlight medley and i highly recommend you watch it if you haven't. one of the best cbs from a solo artist in years.

stages: mcountdown 230309, music core 230311, music bank 230317, inkigayo 230319

--

ignore the fact this was almost five months late even though i started writing in like. november. i'm busy ok. it's planting season and i have to send so much post. the choreos post is the next most finished so that will probably be out before the styling second half one.

[mephinomaly]

[TL] Amusement Wolf/Koga Oogami 3*

Summary: Koga is in a bad mood so Makoto suggests going to the arcade. At first it doesn't seem to help and Koga only gets angrier...

Season: Summer

Location: Corridor

Koga: (Gahh, for fuck’s sake. I’m pissed!)

(Both Sakuma-senpai and Hakaze-senpai are goin’ on a variety show!)

(We’re UNDEAD! We’re suppose t’be a more radical, immoral unit!)

(Feels like the claws we’ve been sharpin’ have been gettin’ dull as of late.)

(...Them shitty seniors. Damn, I don’t get it but there’s gotta be a reason why.)

(Takin’ such a job, it’s totally out of left-field ‘n they’re just doin’ whatever they want. I’m not patient enough nor adult enough t’stay silent ‘bout this…!)

(Dammit. I’m so annoyed I can't even play the guitar.)

(Adonis is doin’ some stuff with the Track and Field club.)

(Nothin’ I can do ‘bout that so I thought I’d play some guitar on my own, but I’m so outta tune…)

Tch, should I just call it quits ‘n go home?

Makoto: He~yy, Oogami-kun. Are you heading home? There’s no Light Music Club activities today~.

Koga: Haa!?

Makoto: Scary…!? Sorry, it seems like I’ve spoken to you at the wrong time.

Koga: Great, it’s Four Eyes. Whadd’ya want.

Makoto: I just saw you so I decided to come talk to you.

Koga: If you have nothin’ to say then don’t come talk t’me!

Oi, Four Eyes. Can’t you tell I’m pissed off?

Makoto: Yeah...I know from experience.

Koga: Then, quickly! Tell me a way that I can blow off some steam.

Makoto: Eeh, this is sudden!?

Koga: Just answer the question!

Makoto: Um, uhhh….You could eat lots of delicious food, take a nap, and forget about the bad things?

Koga: I need to do somethin’ and do it now! Take this more seriously!

Makoto: But I ammm taking this seriously. Then, why don’t you run around the school grounds? I heard that it’s supposed to help clear your mind…

Koga: But I’ll get in the way of other club activities!

Makoto: You care about those things, huh…

Then um… Oh! How about the arcade? You like card games, right?

Koga: …The arcade?

Hm, that ain’t half bad, Four Eyes ♪

Makoto: I’m glad. Seems you’re interested.

Koga: Uhuh. Then let’s go right now.

Makoto: Huh? Go where…?

Koga: Dude, didn’t we just agree we’re going to the arcade?

Makoto: Oh, you want me to come too…?

Koga: You’re the one who suggested it! Take responsibility and come socialise! What, unless you got other things to be doing!?

Makoto: No, I was just going to go home! But I don’t have my bag on me…

Koga: Then go ‘n fuckin’ get it! Quick, chop chop!

Makoto: HeeEEE~!? Why’s this happening to me!

Location: Arcade

Makoto: Yippee~! I won ♪

Koga: …GaaHH! Dammit! How’d you react that fast!

Makoto: Fufu. I had a feeling you’d hit the puck here.

Koga: No way you could read me like that~...

This is supposed to be for stress relief, so why are you winnin’!?

Stress reduction my ass! This is makin’ it worse!

Makoto: Huh~!? Sorry, I’ll go easy on you next round…

Koga: Hah!? I don’t wanna stoop so low that you’ve gotta go easy on me!

Makoto: What should I do then~!?

Koga: Shitty game. Annoyin’ that the score difference was so small…

Makoto: Right? If I had lost my focus I probably wouldn’t have won. I had no idea you were so good at air hockey, Oogami-kun.

Koga: …Even if you win, it’s pointless.

Makoto: Gahh. Don’t look at me like that…

Don’t get too down about it and let’s play a different game. There’s lots to do here.

Koga: True. What game do you recommend?

Makoto: Hmm, a two-player game…

If we play a fighting game, they’ll be a winner and a loser which might put Oogami-kun in a worse mood, so we should probably play a co-op game…

Koga: Huh? What did you just say?

Makoto: Nothing, I said nothing!

R-right! Let’s play a zombie killing game!

Koga: Really? Are you tryna fuck me over?

Makoto: Teehee, that’s up to you. I’ll support you either way ♪

I’ll put the money in and… let’s play!

Koga: Got your gun? I’m gonna focus the small fries ‘n then we can rush the boss!

Makoto: Okay. Oh, be careful not to injure any civilians.

Koga: Ha! Who do you think you’re speakin’ to!

Makoto: Ahaha, true. It’s reassuring to have you with me! Then I’ll just…!

Koga: (Four Eyes keeps hittin’ headshots. But I can’t lose either!)

Makoto: Oogami-kun! Coming from above!

Koga: I got you~!

(The zombies are fallin’ down like dominos ♪ You’re all a hundred years too early to face me.)

(...Come t’think of it - when’s the last time I hung out with someone like this at an arcade…?)

(Maybe ‘cos I got so into the game, I’m not as angry.)

(I still don’t know why Sakuma-senpai ‘n Hakaze-senpai are appearin’ in that show but if I get worked up ‘bout it I’ll cause trouble for Adonis.)

(I can’t help gettin’ angry but, like today, it’s important I find a way t’let it all out.)

(I gotta thank Four Eyes…♪)

Makoto: …Dangit. Oogami-kun, reload, reload!

Koga: Haa?

…AhhhH! Where the fuck’s all my stamina gone!?

Makoto: My bad! They surrounded us and there was nothing I could do…

Uwaa!?

I’m dead. Guess it’s game over.

Koga: Oi, the fuck is you givin’ up for!? We can continue from where we left off!

Let’s go again, Four Eyes! We won’t lose next time~!

Makoto: Ahaha. You’re really into this ♪

Koga: Hell yeah I am. We ain’t goin’ home today until we clear this game, alright!? Get ready ♪

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for stabbing my boss?

I (late 20s, F) have been working in a pretty shitty research job recently that I was forced to take after my Youtube Ghosthunting channel dissolved. For a variety of reasons, I'm unable to leave this job.

Almost a year ago now, we had a big project due and were able to complete it successfully but it killed one of my coworkers and left my manager (early 30s, M) in hospital in a coma for >6mo. Obviously everyone was very distraught after this and while me and my surviving coworkers got some compassionate leave it still was very hard to deal with. This, coupled with a change to much shittier management for our org, ultimately made it a fairly dangerous place to work. At one point, about 3 mo after the whole shebang, we were visited by some pretty handsy clients and somehow it fell to me to remove them from the premises. Since then I've been having nightmares about that and just the other situations I've been forced into by taking this job which led to my GP prescribing me some heavy sleep medicine.

OK, so go to a few months ago when my manager miraculously wakes up from his coma and comes walzing into work a few days later like nothing happened. My other coworker (30s, F) and I had been managing by ourselves perfectly fine, although we did have to end up living in secret tunnels below our workplace because we were worried about being attacked again, and my manager comes back wanting to act like everything is normal when it clearly isn't. It's definitely not ideal but we couldn't figure out what else to do.

So a couple of nights ago, I was sleeping in my usual cot after hours when I suddenly wake up to a weird numbness in my leg. Believe it or not, my manager and my coworker had thought it been a good idea to stab me with some local anaesthetic and start digging into my leg looking for something that my manager said "was infecting me"??? Obviously, I freak out and grab the scalpel he had been using on me and start swinging it around, because mind you, I've woken up to this mess and can't move one of my legs. I end up stabbing him in the shoulder in a panic before my other coworker drags him out with her.

It's been a couple of days now and while I'm definitely not happy about the hole in my leg, I've noticed some changes that I didn't realise were affecting me beforehand. This led me to wonder if I should at all try to vaguely smooth things out with my manager or just keep on ignoring him, which I've been doing with great success. Should that even be my responsibility? AITA?

[flock-talk]

i think I may have already sent an ask about this before but I honestly can’t remember. My bird doesn’t seem to want to play or forage, just preen & be scritched. I just started a new job and am gone for a big chunk of the day and I’m worried about boredom/over preening due to boredom. How can I/what can I do to get my bird interested in playing or foraging at least for something to do while I’m at work?

You did send it, sorry it’s taken me a while to get back it just requires a bit more energy to answer this one than I’ve had as of late.

Birds can refuse to play for a variety of reasons: stress, not knowing how, lack of motivation, lack of UV, feeling unsafe when they’re alone, toy type, the list goes on.

One thing to keep in mind is that natural parrot behaviour tends to have them active first thing in the morning, largely resting and roosting during the day, then active again near sunset. So it’s not totally unusual for them to be less active during typical work/ school hours. Most healthy and stable birds will just use that time to nap, small bits of play, and preening.

First thing to assess when encouraging play would be toy variety and toy comfort. Are these toys different in texture, material, colour, size, do they do different things and offer different experiences. When they aren’t playing I first experiment with different toy types to see if they happen to be drawn towards a particular style of toy or a particular style of play (shredding, noise making, foraging, thrashing). Along with that we observe their behaviour around the toys: are they comfortable with them? Do they appear stressed or weary around them? Do they avoid them? As well as checking these same elements under parrot safe UV light. Since parrots see the UV spectrum it’s common for them to present depressive behaviours and be less interested in play as nothing seems as vibrant and interesting as it’s supposed to when the UV spectrum is lacking.

If all of that has been checked and there’s no interest being shown there’s two main strategies to take from here: modelling and classical conditioning.

With modelling you would play with the toy yourself and praise them for any interest in it. Gradually showing them that each toy is fun, showing them how it works and demonstrating how to play. Parrots are social learners in many cases and can pick up on new behaviours by observing others. Watching you have fun and play while enticing them to do so can elicit the play behaviours from them more naturally.

Classical conditioning is usually a much more lengthy process and is far more finicky. Classical conditioning is when you have a response that is triggered by a certain stimulus, you pair stimulus 1 with stimulus 2 so that the new stimulus will now trigger the response you were getting from stimulus 1. This is Pavlov’s dogs drooling to the bell: drooling is the response, food is stimulus 1 and the bell was stimulus 2 which was paired with the food enough where drooling would now happen at the presentation of the bell. You’ll do the exact same thing for toys and treats. You can offer a treat whenever they interact with a toy (starting at just a glance and working up to actual chewing) to shape a play behaviour, and from there every time they play a treat will follow. Over time the excitement and anticipation they feel when they eat a treat can begin to be elicited by the play itself. Eventually causing a self reinforcing behaviour since play now brings the happy exciting feelings on its own.

Foraging is an easy way to also ensure that behaviour remains reinforced. Making the prizes easy to find at first and gradually having less treats involved and harder to find. The excitement and thrill of locating the hidden treat can further drive and motivate the play to continue.

[starsinkpop]

ATEEZ Jung Wooyoung Tarot Reading - October 2023

Disclaimer: I do tarot readings for fun, so please read them with a grain of salt. Don’t take my words too seriously and just keep an open mind. Tarot is a divination tool that can’t predict the future, as every single individual has their own will and makes their own decisions. Tarot should be seen as a guidance and a good friend that just has your best interest and gives you advice when needed. I’m not putting anyone in my readings on a pedestal nor am I trying to harm anyone. One last side note, I’m not a native speaker, so please excuse any wrong spellings or poor grammar.

Date of Reading: October 6th 2023

Decks: Modern Witch Tarot Deck, Wild Mystic Oracle, Rebel Deck, Dreamscape Oracle, Romance Angel Oracle, Love Oracle

Wooyoung’s overall feelings and energy this month - Nine of Swords (R)

Wooyoung has a pretty turbulent month ahead of him. There could be a pretty big breakdown lurking around the corner. He could be involved in a scandal, which causes him to have sleepless nights because someone is not on his best side. However, there’s light at the end of tunnel and better times are waiting for him. He has to take extra care of himself and read people thoroughly and carefully to understand their true intentions. Not everyone who’s nice to him wants the best for him. He is urged to accept the help of loved ones.

Career - Ace of Swords (R)

Wooyoung could face some creative blocks in October. He has a hard time concentrating and focusing on his career. Again, there could be a scandal at the horizon, some misinformation could be spread about Wooyoung. He feels like life keeps stabbing him in the back and feels like a failure. He doesn’t seem to feel good enough for his job and lacks confidence. He could also feel kinda bored lately, there’s too much routine in his career and he could use some new perspective and variety. He can expect some injustice in his work life.

Love - 0 The Fool (R)

I think he’s dealing with a bit much right now so he’s really blocked off in his love life. Don’t get me wrong, he wants love and loves to love and actually wants to commit to someone but he has to love himself first (a classic, I know). He is urged to respect himself more and stop being harsh to himself to allow himself to find the paradise he’s looking for. He’s too restless and irrational for any new connection to be formed. There could’ve been some kind of betrayal that happened not too long ago which could also be the reason why he is being unfair to himself. Kinda blaming himself whenever something goes down bad.

Advice from the rebel deck

“If you are waiting for a sign - we’ll, here it fucking is”

“You got a good thing going. Don’t ruin that shit”

• • •

If you want a more in depth reading on certain areas, feel free to ask me!

~Nicky 🫧

Masterlist

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 219

Soooo.... as much as I love @baelpenrose, @writing-with-olive, @quantumizedinsanity, and many others for creating and beta reading this, I want to give a super extra special shout out to @lwgph and @freakfagot for very kindly letting me know that I completely skipped chapter 219 when I posted 220 last week.

And since 220 actually references events that happen in this chapter, I am looping around and posting it this week. Thank you both, so so much, for catching that.

Parvati still had not returned to work two days later, and I had just received a message that morning from Xiomara that she was requesting a leave of absence.  As worried as I was, I probably would have done the same thing, so the leave had been granted, open-ended.  There wasn’t much work to be done, anyway - all of the focus currently was on preparing for landfall, and jobs were locked in.  Hannah and I could handle living space allocations, easily.

All of which did absolutely nothing to calm my worries as I poked at a vegetarian curry in one of the mess halls.

“I am reasonably certain it has given up fighting back,” a deep voice rumbled from behind me. 

I turned halfheartedly to greet Jokul and invite him to take a seat. “Got a lot on my mind and no convenient crisis to distract me,” I admitted.

“Such is normally the human condition. Or so I am told.” He winced as he chewed a mouthful of pasta. “That is not what squash should feel like.”

“Apparently we ran out of food stock on butternut squash really quickly.” I sighed and gave up, pushing my food toward him. “Appetite’s off.  It’s gobi masala, help yourself.”

He shook his head gently. “I do not enjoy cauliflower, but thank you.” After a moment of consideration, he set his fork down. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Wish I could,” I sighed. “But it’s not my story to tell. A friend of mine is going through a lot right now, and wants some space. Given what they just confided to us about their past, I don’t blame them and it isn’t a situation where I can really push, you know?”

“I take it this friend is not of the variety to spar? I have not seen any new faces lately.”

“Definitely not the sparring type,” I confirmed. “That’s kind of what set everything off.”

He nodded in realization. “The situation with our escorts, I take it.”

I groaned and dropped my forehead onto my hands. Peeking between my fingers to see his reaction, I asked in defeat “Do you think we made a rash decision?”

“From what I understand, no.  They believe we are inferior and wish to force us into that mold, correct?”

“Mm hmm.”

“We lack the martial capacity to fight directly, and allowing them to remain would instill sufficient paranoia that they need not take any action to divide us. But that is simply my belief.  I take it that your friend believes differently.”

I nodded, head still propped on one hand as it had been so frequently lately. “They want us to find a more peaceful solution, or at least try something else before we go straight into the splodey parts.”

“Did they have such a solution to suggest?”

“No one has, as far as I can tell. That’s the problem. And with this person, it’s more complicated because of their past.”

“Not a cryptic phrase at all,” he teased gently before trying another bite of the pasta. “It is less objectionable when congealed, which is a terrible realization.”

That at least got a snort from me. “Some foods are like that. But we’ll have fresh food again before too long. They’re trying to conserve root stocks of everything that we are going to be growing on Von, and rather than waste everything else, we are using it up the best we can.”

“This cannot be the best use of these ingredients. I refuse to believe such blatant deceit.”

Another snicker. “That filling probably came from the console, if the texture is that bad. We were just talking the other day about how most console vegetables have the wrong texture. It doesn’t help - like, at all - that everyone likes them to be cooked to different degrees.  From what Miys told me, the console basically takes an average and uses that.”

“A case in which no one wins,” he sighed dramatically. “But it does explain whatever this is.”

“Not everyone likes curry as much as I do,” I pointed out. “Otherwise, that would be the perfect solution.”

“You are correct. I rescind my objection, although I am going to strongly recommend they do not use the five tons of beets I have been harvesting as borscht.”

“Five tons? That’s…. A lot of borscht.”

“It could likely be better used as a reasonable amount of borscht, roasted beets, and a substantial amount of sugar,” he stated firmly.

I wasn’t going to argue. Instead, I flicked open my datapad and made a note to contact Grey and Xiomara about the idea. “Noted. And thank you. I like the resource distribution side of you, by the way.”

“I am certain Farro has made it clear: an unfortunately large part of being a warlord in the After was gathering and managing resources. It is all well and good to have someone attend to it for you, but one should always have a close eye on everything to avoid abuse.” As if to make his point, he shook a ravioli at me. “Beets are easy, everyone likes sugar. Making war is harder.”

His statement brought me back to the reason I was sulking as far from my office as I could get. “I already know what Arthur would do in this situation: he made it very clear to Charly that he only suggests we wait until we are on planet so that the GC doesn’t feel the need to send new escorts. But what would you do, knowing that not everyone agreed with a decision?”

“Anyone in our settlement was allowed to object to any decision we made, provided they were able to suggest an alternative. And then everyone would vote, in most cases. The only exception was generally when a decision needed to made quickly, such as a disaster or an attack.”

I blinked several times, skeptical. “It can’t be that simple.”

“Truthfully, it is not. Wrong decisions can still be made, but emotional ones were less likely when the person objecting had to provide the alternative rather than just objecting.”

“Thank you. For that, and for the beets.” I stood, picking up my half eaten food. “I’ll talk to the Council, see about opening a poll to the Ark.  It will need to have a time limit on it - we land sooner rather than later.”

“Our people need opportunity, not time,” he shrugged. “If I have learned anything, it is that.”

<<Prev       Masterlist     Next>>

[brainshock-alpha]

a while ago i was tagged by @go-go-devil to answer twenty fic writers' questions... i've been preddy busy so i'm just getting around to it now lol. thanks for thinking of me velvet!

this turned out quite long so i'm gonna do my tags up here -- @boyfrillish @pastryglitch @firethekitty -- as usual participation is voluntary, tagged or not :) do these q's if u think it would be fun. that's all

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

35 (includes users-only works)

2. What is your AO3 wordcount?

146,365, for an average of ~4,182 words per work. but really, it's just like four of my long multichapter works skewing the average that high.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

in a strict present-tense sense, it's just pokemon. i've written for a slightly odd variety of fandoms in the past; anyone curious enough to check will readily observe that i go through fandoms in neatly stratified phases lol. i don't tend to be actively involved in more than one at a time.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Black Box Open (st*rdew valley) - 373

Transfer Point (pokemon bw) - 279

Vital Signs (biosh*ck infinite) - 146

Tidal Lock (hylis) - 107

Moonstruck (hylis) - 93

censoring fandoms so i don't appear in searches (excepting pokemon cuz i'm pretty sure those results are basically unreadable lol). anyway i can't believe vital signs is that high up there lmaooo but everything else seems reasonable

5. Do you respond to comments?

i try to but sometimes it slips my mind and then it's too late to reply without it being weird :( whether i got around to replying or not, i'm grateful to everyone who said sth nice on my stuff 🙏

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

uhhhh honestly i don't get super angsty with my fics, especially not the endings lol. simpley not my style... i guess transfer point ended on a rather bittersweet note. born with a weak heart would have been even more so, if i'd ever finished it.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

on the other hand i also don't write fics with particularly saccharine endings either. it's kinda just, oh this is pleasant/cute/hopeful :) i wouldn't say there's a clear winner.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

so far, any haters have kept their thoughts to themselves, which is good. i suppose my writing is usually quite benign anyway lol

9. Do you write smut? If so, which kind?

i have a few unfinished drafts lying around but i've never published anything. (unless you count that one with piers/emmet? it's nsfw for sure but i think you'd be setting the wrong expectations if u called it smut lol.) anyway i'm not terribly interested in going into detail here.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest crossover you’ve ever written?

again, i've attempted to draft some in the past but never got close to finishing any of them. i think i'm more likely to draw a weird crossover than write one :p

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i've uhhhh translated my own fic once??? i guess that counts but i wouldn't say i did a good job LOL -- i'd written a supershort 200-word thing in both english and scots, and i haven't studied scots all that extensively. but it was fun to try, and somehow the scots version got more attention than the english one lol

anyway, if anyone's ever interested in translating my works, feel free to reach out! i'd be happy to help out by answering questions/clarifying meaning/etc :)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nop! it's not really something i've ever considered, but i suppose in theory i'd be open to trying it.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

god i can't give just one answer to an all-time favorite anything LOL. uhhh deduswayne still has a special place in my heart; the autistic jock/autistic nerd dynamic i gave them was so fresh and fun to me... i love raileon despite not ever really writing it ooooops... and then griebold is my newest interest, which is quite funny since raileon is one of the most popular pokemon ships on ao3 but griebold is so unheard of that i'm literally the only person to have posted an english-language work for it there lmfao

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

probably... the bede&hop post-canon qpr fic... i really would love to write a qpr (as well as non-romantic relationship drama in general) but it's another sprawling multichapter thing and idk if i have it in me :^(

16. What are your writing strengths?

dialogue and character dynamics hehe... that's what's most fun for me to write too. i also like to believe i'm good at writing a ship without losing sight of the individual chars involved. and i'm pretty good with spelling and grammar, contrary to what my casual fucking around on tumblr posts may imply LOL. i may not always write in the clearest or most beautiful way, but by god that syntax is solid

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

description lol. i am not a poet by any means; i think it will not surprise anyone to know i did better in linguistics classes than in english.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

do it if 1) you're able to put in the effort and 2) it makes sense to do it. on point 1, i don't think there's anything wrong with saying that chars are speaking in another language but rendering the actual written dialogue in english (or whatever ur mother tongue may be), especially if it's not a language ur fluent in. of course it's good to do research for ur writing but language learning is hard, doubly so if ur trying to write those chars speaking casually. cuz you can't really pick that up from reference texts, or maybe you can but it comes out sounding odd and unnatural. (think of how easy it is to mess up english slang/colloquialisms.) BUT you know, perfect is the enemy of good, and if ur willing to give it the ol college try then i really think it'll help ur foreign-lang-speaking chars feel more alive.

on point 2, i'm mostly thinking of the context of multilingual chars, which adds another layer of complexity. this old post will give u an idea of what i mean. if you're monolingual and mostly only interact with other monolinguals, you may find it difficult to write bilinguals believably. i suggest looking up info on code-switching and, more generally, language learning and bilingualism. (and also heritage languages, which fall under bilingualism but have their own specific features.) again, this is pretty demanding stuff and i wouldn't blame you for just sticking to english dialogue, but i do think it's worth a shot.

have i tried this myself? yes, most prominently in the day to end all days, and also a bit in my other swsh fics... oh yeah, i guess i also made siebold use quebec french swears lol. mind you, i'm under no illusion that i write it well. no one has told me yet that i'm fucking it up, but also no one's told me i'm doing a good job either lol. so idkkkkk

19. First fandom you wrote for?

st*rdew valley... i loved that game so much that it motivated me to start making fanfics and fanart haha. i started posting black box open about eight years ago, which if you'll recall is the fic i have the most kudos on. it was all downhill from there buddy!!!!!!!!!!! lol i'm just kidding, i really just tend not to write for popular fandoms is the thing (or when a fandom is at its most popular)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

honestly it's usually just Whichever Fic I Posted Most Recently lmao. i guess that's not bad, that means i feel like i improve with every story or w/e. i'm still really attached to the day to end all days, though. it's not finished yet (and won't be for quite some time) but it has the most involved plot yet out of all my fics, and it explores some really interesting character spaces too.

[polyphonical]

Red Hot Island - Chapter 1

[ View on site for better experience♪ ]

???: .......

Location: Starmony Dorm Room (Makoto, Adonis, Chiaki's Room)

Chiaki: …Nn

…Where am I? (-- Aah… Right. This is my room in the dorms…) (Haha. Even if it was only for a moment, I can’t believe I forgot how the room I’ve been living in every day looks like.) (The dream I had was so nostalgic… I think that’s why my head got all confused when I woke up.) (There was something like that, huh… I completely forgot until I had that dream.) (I wonder if he remembers it… That small promise we made in that white room.) (That promise we made while watching our classmates going to the pool. Happily, and full of excitement, despite how hot the summer heat was.) (Well… It’s hard to say that promise was made with the purest intent. It’s more like we were miserably licking each other’s wounds.) (Even though I knew there’s no chance that promise would come true—At that time, my heart definitely felt better.) …Haha. I ended up becoming sentimental. Hmm. If Takamine were here, he’d probably say something like “Morisawa-senpai, you’re basically waving around a death flag.” …Oops. Is it that late already? I can’t just lay here and do nothing. I should probably get ready to go to today’s job.

Location: Star Pro Office

Eichi: Hm...

(I’ll just give this project to him. Next is—Ah, now that I think about it, there were some projects left on hold weren’t there?) (I should respond soon. I have a feeling he’s going to get impatient and come here yelling at me.) [1] --Hm? Hello, Anzu-chan. Good morning. What’s the matter? Hm? You want to hear my opinion? I don’t mind, but… Aah, yes. I have time right now. I was just working on some things that needed to be done by today. So? What was that thing you wanted my opinion on? Ah, perhaps it’s about that proposal you’re holding in your hand? Fufu. You don’t have to be so surprised. It’s basic reasoning, isn’t it Watson? Could I see what you’re holding there? – Thank you. …Aah, this is a project for the ES Fan Event. And the contents are… A sports day at Aquaria Park? Oh, that’s right. Last year, to promote Aquaria Park, wasn’t there a survival game job? If I remember correctly, Hokuto and the others participated, right? [2] Hm. Survival games were too niche, so it was decided that the events would be arranged to be more suitable for everyone. it’s more like variety sports festivals that are shown on programs now.

Next, for the main part… “Treasure hunting”? What’s this? Right, I’m sure it’s just as you say Anzu-chan. It seems the area for western sailboats was added around a month ago. Fufu. I see. Pirates are often associated with water. They can also remind you of treasure. It’s true that pirate manga are popular right now. I think it’s a good idea. It’s clear who the target audience is. Hm? You don’t look satisfied. Is there something you have a problem with? Hm. You’re worried about holding such a large-scale event that isn’t a live all of a sudden? Even up until now, you’ve been in charge of things other than live shows, so I don’t think there’s anything to be worried about. Plus, I don’t think there will be any issues if the work is divided and detailed checks are made throughout. Well, if you’re still worried about it Anzu-chan, how about trying out a limited play test? Hm? Ah, that’s true. I suppose the most efficient way to play test it would be to have multiple people test it at the same time. It increases the chance that something unexpected happening. It’s the easiest way to simulate a situation closer to the real deal. If that’s the case, we could implement the prototype of the treasure hunt game since it’s a limited event. If you want to use the facility, Anzu-chan, I give you full permission to do so. …Hm? Why am I the one allowing you to use the facility? Well, it’s because I’m the one in charge of Aquaria Park. It’s one of the businesses that the Tenshouin conglomerate is running. Eh? Why are you so surprised? I thought you were asking for my opinion because you knew that already. Fufu. It’s okay, I’m giving you permission. If you’re the one asking, I’m more than happy to allow it. ♪ Hm? Um… What’s with that expression? Yes, that’s true. It makes sense that if we’re going to collect data, the people who know what the purpose is should be involved. So you have a request of me? Ah… I understand what you’re saying, Anzu-chan. Well, I suppose I have no choice. Well, if I’m being honest, the benefits of this project are great from Aquaria Park’s perspective. It’d be nice if we could just throw everything in the air and enjoy it as is. But we need to contribute where we can. Hm? That’s true. Then, Anzu-chan, I would like you to choose which members you’d like to go to the pool--

………

Ah, no, it’s nothing. I just remembered something.

………

Could I ask if you leave it to me to gather the test play team? Eh? No… I don’t have any ideas on who, but… You shouldn't worry about it. I’m sure Anzu-chan is busy working on the proposal. You can leave this one to me.

────────────────· · · · · ·♡· · · · · · ────────────────

Directory ♡ Next

I have no idea who he's referring to right here sorry ToT

Referring to the story Pool !!

[90363462]

Shutterstock

Intensify His Pleasure With The Help Of These Sex Toys

These finds come in handy, pun intended.

Sheriden Chanel

Nov. 11, 2020 07:19AM EST

Over here at xoNecole, we are all about prioritizing female pleasure, be it in the boardroom or the bedroom. It's the reason why articles like "Self-Pleasure Changed How I Experience Sex"and "I Tried Masturbating For 7 Days As An Act Of Self-Care" exist on our platform. By extension, we are also big fans of the male pleasure principle (peep "You Can Take Your Man's Orgasm To A Whole 'Nother Level" as an example). The bodies we've been given are truly an artform and the way they can be stroked and strummed like instruments on the journey to ecstasy is a wonder in and of itself. 

As both a giver and receiver of sexual acts, I find myself constantly on the hunt for different ways to elevate the pleasure felt, as a couple and as a soloist. Lately, my fixation of choice has been on hand jobs and how to make it a more intense experience for my partner. It's no secret, most men will tell you that when it comes to hand jobs, their preferred hand putting in the work is their own. Poll any warm-blooded male on which job they prefer your help in performing in the bedroom, and chances are the "hand" variety is the absolute last thing on their mind (well below "blow" and "tit", my loves).

I liken it to how I mostly feel about fingering. No matter the touch, the instruction, or care, no one can touch me the way I touch myself. To be fair, we are all masters of our own sensual experiences, so it's no surprise that self-pleasure can provide electricity in different ways than partner sex can (different, not necessarily better just different). However, to help kick things up a notch in the approach to hand jobs, masturbation sleeves, or male pleasure sleeves, are stepping in with the assist!

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Ready to elevate your hand and your head game? In addition to masturbation sleeves, here are the best sex toys to take his pleasure to the next level.

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Sheriden Chanel

Shutterstock

Intensify His Pleasure With The Help Of These Sex Toys

These finds come in handy, pun intended.

Sheriden Chanel

Nov. 11, 2020 07:19AM EST

Over here at xoNecole, we are all about prioritizing female pleasure, be it in the boardroom or the bedroom. It's the reason why articles like "Self-Pleasure Changed How I Experience Sex"and "I Tried Masturbating For 7 Days As An Act Of Self-Care" exist on our platform. By extension, we are also big fans of the male pleasure principle (peep "You Can Take Your Man's Orgasm To A Whole 'Nother Level" as an example). The bodies we've been given are truly an artform and the way they can be stroked and strummed like instruments on the journey to ecstasy is a wonder in and of itself. 

As both a giver and receiver of sexual acts, I find myself constantly on the hunt for different ways to elevate the pleasure felt, as a couple and as a soloist. Lately, my fixation of choice has been on hand jobs and how to make it a more intense experience for my partner. It's no secret, most men will tell you that when it comes to hand jobs, their preferred hand putting in the work is their own. Poll any warm-blooded male on which job they prefer your help in performing in the bedroom, and chances are the "hand" variety is the absolute last thing on their mind (well below "blow" and "tit", my loves).

I liken it to how I mostly feel about fingering. No matter the touch, the instruction, or care, no one can touch me the way I touch myself. To be fair, we are all masters of our own sensual experiences, so it's no surprise that self-pleasure can provide electricity in different ways than partner sex can (different, not necessarily better just different). However, to help kick things up a notch in the approach to hand jobs, masturbation sleeves, or male pleasure sleeves, are stepping in with the assist!

What Is A Masturbation Sleeve & How Does It Work?

For those of you who aren't familiar with masturbation sleeves, they are male sex toys that are usually made out of silicone, Elastomer, or cyber skin. No matter the material, they usually have a "sleeve-like" appearance intended to envelop an erect penis. With the help of your lube of choice, it's heralded for being ideal when it comes to intensifying his pleasure. Although the sleeve can be used during masturbation, it can also come in handy (no pun intended) with hand jobs, as well as blowjobs, adding another layer of pleasure to sex acts, during both solo and couple play.

Ready to elevate your hand and your head game? In addition to masturbation sleeves, here are the best sex toys to take his pleasure to the next level.

The Best Sex Toys For His Pleasure

*Some of these links are affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase, xoNecole may earn a small commission.

Fleshlight Quickshot Vantage

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$35

Buy Now

Trojan Tantrix Male Pleasure Sleeve

TrojanTrojan Tantrix Male Pleasure Sleeve

$6

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Tenga Easy Beat Egg Male Masturbator

AmazonTenga Easy Beat Egg Male Masturbator

$32

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Lelo Tor 2 Luxury Rechargeable Vibrating Cock Ring

LeloLelo Tor 2 Luxury Rechargeable Vibrating Cock Ring

$140

Buy Now

TENGA Zero Flip Men Masturbation Device

AmazonTENGA Zero Flip Men Masturbation Device

$80

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Featured image by Shutterstock

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The 6 Sex Toys &amp; Pleasure Accessories Every Couple Needs - xoNecole: Women&#39;s Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›

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Good News: Using Male Sex Toys Is No Longer Shameful | Holy City ... ›

Electric Male Sex Toys – Clinton County Daily News ›

The best sex toy deals happening right now - Insider ›

39 Sex Toys Every Gay Man Should Try ›

Best Male Sex Toys That Enhance Penis Girth Prosolution Plus ... ›

Best Male Sex Toys 2020 – SNAP ›

Like xoNecole on Facebook    

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Sheriden Chanel

Sheriden Chanel is the senior lifestyle and relationships editor at xoNecole.com, covering all things love, life, beauty, and wellness. She has an affinity for travel, self-care, and anything BTS touches. Keep up with her on social@sheridenchanel.

Sent from my iPhone

[crackinthecup]

Fifteen Questions

@elfscribe thank you so much for the tag <3

Are you named after anyone? Yep, my mum borrowed my middle name from a news anchor that she fancied. As you do!

Do you have kids? No children, no. My wife and I have a chunky orange tabby called Ian.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Nope. I suspect I may be autistic and sarcasm isn't always the easiest thing to understand for me.

When was the last time you cried? Hmm. It's been a few weeks, I think. The summer is all blurring together in my mind!

What’s the first thing you notice about other people? I pick up on people's general vibes/moods fairly quickly.

Eye colour? What my partner lovingly describes as "cow brown."

What sports do you/have you played? I'm not currently a very sporty person for a variety of reasons, but I used to play volleyball in school and also did ballet and aikido (not all in the same time frame).

Any special talent? I have a knack for sorting out computer issues. Not that I know much about computers, but give me internet access for ten minutes and I will probably find a way to fix whatever the problem is.

Where were you born? Eastern Europe. In a town by the sea.

Scary movies or happy endings? I love me a good horror movie. I think it's an anxiety thing for me. I'm quite a high-strung person, not always for a particular reason, and having an external stimulus like a scary movie to channel that towards tends to help.

Do you have any pets? Ian the cat! He's a very big and very orange and very chatty boy.

How tall are you? 5'7"

What are your hobbies? Reading, writing, and video games. And when I say video games, I mostly mean the Soulsborne games because I am very slowly making my way through them (again) to get the platinums.

Favorite subject in school? English literature! You'd think I would've liked psychology too given that I now work in the field, but the teacher was... a peculiar individual.

Dream job? If we're not trying to be realistic, then I would say tortured Victorian poet. Think Thomas Thorne from Ghosts on BBC. 100% who I would've been 200-odd years ago.

I think I am a little late in filling this in and have seen it making the rounds already, so I won't be tagging anyone. But if people see this and would like to give it a go, they would be very welcome to!