#mixing your faves with your culture is always fun i love to see it i love to do it

[marsuro]

Wordtober day 12: Taa (Swahili)

Lights/lanterns! Zoro getting lost on his bday in Utrecht while it’s St. Maarten

[lilly-chou-chou]

Gyaru: A guide for newbies and a love letter for seasoned gyals.

There were a lot of things that made me post about this. I thought a lot about it for years but recently I had an interaction which confirmed my mind.

As a woman who had been doing gyaru since the age of 4, I have few guides for gyaru that you may agree with or not, but I am posting this regardless because I want this to be known, especially by new gyals.

Gyaru is a movement which moulds modern japanese feminism and breaks boundaries that previously pushed women to only be of certain category.

This to say, there are indeed a lot of subculture under the umbrella term like hime, rokku, agejo and such.

My guides start from here on. When you first decide to start gyaru fashion I suggest you explore your options, try our different styles, fave fun and go with what works for you.

There is a lot of misconception that just because you prefer one subculture more doesn't mean you are lesser knowledgeable in other subcultures. You are free to do what makes you happy and pretty because gyaru was the staple for just doing eccentric fashion, it was never about rules and policing others. The culture was born because they opposed Japan's view of women. When women were forced to be me meek, sensitive, weak, soft spoken... Gyarus were the opposite they were loud, brash, tanned and knew how to have fun.

Gyarus were safe space for women who didn't want to be judged and just wanted to have fun.

Of course when you start out you always can look at tutorials and what not but remember to always feel pretty and enjoy what you're doing. Stop thinking and flush out people who police you about "wear this" "don't wear that!" "Wtf don't buy this!" "Are you stupid? You don't even own any brands wow you are not a REAL gyal" and the most funniest part is that these things come from just foreigner gyals.

As a person who also lived in Tokyo for a while and used to practically live inside Shibuya 109 I can assure you that Japanese gyals will NEVER EVER say anything like foreigner gyals and police you because they genuinely want you to have fun, gyals out of all people are no. 1 in not caring about rules and just doing it purely for fun.

Back then if you went to Tokyo then you could see every sub culture co existing and hanging out sharing tips, sharing clothes from different brands and hyping each other up.

Never feel you are less or unworthy, never listen to people who tell you, you are doing it wrong because you mix 2 sub cultures in your fashion.

Live your truth and enjoy. You are the most prettiest gyal ever. Live your life full slay.

In conclusions I just wanted to post this so newer gyals don't feel pressured or scared to know and explore more of our beautiful community and for old gyals to remind them once again what a beautiful culture we chose to follow and how fun they really are.

Love you my gyals, let's keep this community thriving <3

[stormikins]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

tagged by @nowandthane thank you!! Warning I ramble a bit in this lol

I am a fan since: 2017, I got it for Christmas in 2016 so I always just say '17

Favorite Game of the series: By virtue of simply replaying it the most, three. I really love the combat in it so I've played it near thirty times? But all time fave would have to 1 because of the aesthetic, tone, and story. There's something about first discovering a world which is what me1 is about.

MShep or Femshep? Gotta go with Femshep. I have played both, its just hard to capture the male shepard image I have in my head in the character creator so Femshep it is.

Earthborn, Colonist, or Spacer: earthborn! My main Shepard Jenn is earthborn so that's what I'm going with. Though, I have numerous Shepard's are various background combinations. I have feelings about each background trust me

Biotics or tech: Both! Though I really do love biotics, you can do some cool stuff with them, setting up and detonating both biotic and tech explosions.

Paragon or Renegade: I have to repeat what nowandthane said, paragon choices, renegade dialogue.

Favorite Class: Sentinel. I love the versatility of the class, but I do have an affection for Infiltrator because that's what got me through me2 on insanity.

Favorite Companion: Tali. By story value, Javik. He's like one of the most important characters

Least Favorite Companion: Javik, throw your attitude out the airlock. IM JOKING! (he has every reason to be like he is. I love him very much) Liara is my answer though only because I don't like some of the story choices the devs did with her. (ex: why does she have Shepard's armor in a display case when i didn't even romance her??? I can't mention this at all??)

My squad selection: For Jenn's playthrough: Wrex/Tali in me1. Garrus/Mordin/Miranda generally in me2. Thane and Miranda/Samara for the collector base. Kaidan/Javik/James in me3. Of course, I mix it up based on story aspects and the difficulty settings. But me3 is pretty fixed bc I always play on insanity.

Favorite in-game Romance: Tali and Garrus. I'm a sucker for awkward, wet cat of a man like Garrus is. But Tali's romance man.... her parting line to Shepard during the beam run "I have a home" makes me insane actually

Other pairings I like: Obligatory Nihlus/Shepard/Kal (and the duos within in this throuple) mention here. Other than that, Joker/Miranda and Joker/James, Ashley/Garrus, and Shepard/Wrex, I could list a whole lot so I'll keep it to those ships lol

Favorite NPC: Nihlus and Kal'Reegar for sure. Victus and of course Niftu Cal our favorite biotic god.

Favorite Antagonist: Saren. He's the best one that we get in all three games (Harby could have been number one if they did anything with him in three but that's a rant for another time lmao)

Favorite Mission: Haestrom/Tali's Loyalty mission because that's when I get to see Kal <3 and blow up a colossus with the Cain. Also, the Collector Ship mission I have to mention because it's frankly the only mission besides the two previously stated where I've loaded up the save to play it on insanity when I'm bored. It's fun. Of course, this is with the Infiltrator.

Favorite Loyalty Mission: Tali for numerous reasons. Kal mention here. But I love the insight into Quarian culture we get. Also we see that fire in her when she's talking to the Board which I always appreciate. Along with her dialogue at the end, "I got better, Shepard. I got you." and then on the ship afterwards, "I don't think life is about what we deserve." I love her so much.

Favorite DLC: Leviathan. Only because of the horror aspect.

Control, Sythesis, or Destroy? Destroy. I have so many issues with the ending and that's the least worst option in my opinion so. (I too ignore that it wipes out the Geth and Edi fuck that)

Favorite Weapon: The M-90 Cain or the M-99 Saber aka the "Big Iron". Lancer in three was my favorite weapon before I found the Saber. Special mention to my bud the Mattock, I have been convinced of its glory. I do not think the Harrier is better anymore lol which my brother would be happy to hear

Favorite Place: me1 Citadel my BELOVED.

A quote I like Quotes I Like: The ENTIRETY of Sovereign's dialogue on Virmire GOD ITS SO GOOD!!!! / "Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer." / "Does this unit have a soul?" / "Just followed your example, Shepard. Yell loud enough and eventually someone will come over to see what all the fuss is about." / "I won't let fear compromise who I am." / "I MADE A MISTAKE!" / "Help me out here, Shepard. The line between friend and foe is getting a little blurry from where I stand." / There are so many great quotes in these games I could go on and on but I'll stop myself

No pressure tags: @spacebunshep @jtownnn

[pynkhues]

Were you a Sex in the City fan? I do feel like a show for the girls that are in the early to mid late 20s trying to figure it out. Is kind of missing in the market currently. Anyways if you’ve seen it there was a reboot with a whole new cast. What would your fan cast look like?

I actually watched Sex and the City in its entirety for the first time during the lockdowns, anon! While there are definitely parts of it that have aged badly and is very deserving of criticism, there's a lot that's aged surprisingly well too, and even as a first time viewer, I could see why it was the pop culture juggernaut it was. I really enjoyed watching it! Although maybe not enough to watch And Just Like That, haha (after all, what is Sex and the City without all four women?)

It really does feel like there's a bit of a gap these days in TV when it comes to mid-late 20s/early 30s women figuring life out. I feel like the closest we've had for a while was Broad City and The Bold Type, but even those have both been finished for a while, and are decidedly their own animals in focus, tone and style. While I liked it a lot too, I'd also say that The Bold Type never fully knew where it wanted to sit in terms of audience which really shaped a lot of the components of the story.

But yes! A Sex and the City reboot! I love it when you guys ask me to fancast stuff, haha.

Okay, let's start with Carrie:

I hadn't seen Ashley Park in anything until a few months ago, and have since had the triple hit of seeing her in Joy Ride, Beef and now the new season of Only Murders in the Building, and I just think she's so great. She's so, so charming and funny and I think really nails that complicated mix of high strung but also kind of loose and flirty that Sarah Jessica Parker nailed in Sex and the City. I think she could bring so much to Carrie and add after Joy Ride in particular, I'd love to see her lead something again.

Miranda's kind of a tricky one in some ways - you need someone who can find that middle ground between snark and genuine vulnerability, and I think that's really an area Ritu shines in between The Umbrella Academy and Polite Society. Plus she's delightfully watchable, and I think a role like Miranda could really stretch her skills (especially because I don't think Polite Society let her actually do all that much).

Fun fact: Charlotte's lowkey my fave from Sex and the City. I know a lot of people find her annoying, but I actually think she had one of the most fulfilling arcs on the show (I'm a bit of a sucker for characters who get what they want only to realise it's not what they need), and she also reminds me of a close childhood friend who I don't see as often as I want because we live on opposite ends of the country, haha. I looooved Charithra in Bridgerton, and I think she plays naivety without ignorance, and that sweetness without being saccharine really well. Plus I think she could be a really good balancer between Ashley and Ritu.

Okay okay okay, hear me out: Samantha is supposed to be older than the other girls, and one of the things I think is so ingenious about the original casting of Samantha is how they cast an actress who was basically a jobbing actress who'd worked across TV and genre movies for decades but became famous / a sex symbol for a few roles across raunch comedies. While Jessica doesn't quite have a Porky's on her resume, she comes from a similar background of tv, low budget horror, and a few meatier roles that show she can really act, and I've always had a soft spot for her, and tbh, I think she'd kill it.

The guys aren't as fun, haha, but mmm, I kind of like the thought of John Cho for Mr Big? An older guy with the right amount of suave that you can believe Ashley Park would be on the hook for, and maybe someone like Anthony Ramos for Aidan? I'm less sure about them, haha.

[nikkicafeina]

Finally got around to my 2022 book recs list. I read 55 books last year, which is fantastic considering grad school and all that stalled my fun reading for a long time. Obviously I read The Locked Tomb series and I think you should too. Other than that, it's almost all manga and romances on this list. That was my escapism vibe last year, but it's also what the readers in my library enjoy so it's what I'm happy to keep up with.

In vaguely the order I read them, last year's faves are:

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories--I read the entire Folk of the Air series over December/January and it's all great but this novella was my favorite. Holly Black continues to be the best at fairies. I loved how the two characters in the central romance are desperately feral in their own way. This one will make little to no sense without the context of the whole series, and so I reccomend the whole series. It's about an angry human girl who grows up in Fairyland, the dilettante fairy prince who hates her, and all the amoral fairy intrigue and violence that being part of a high court entails.

In the Dream House--I don't normally read memoirs but this has such an intriguing cover. I didn't expect to be taken for a ride through deep feelings about queerness, gender, latinidad, trauma, historiography, relationships, and just like, being a person who occupies space. It's about the author's abusive relationship, yes, but also it's poetically and ruthlessly about her as an entire person.

Alexis Hall--not a book but a rather prolific romance author. Mostly mlm romances, but he runs the gamut in terms of genre and content. I particularly enjoyed Pansies, where a guy goes back to his small hometown after recently coming out and ends up falling for and trying to make amends to the kid he bullied a bit in high-school. How to Bang a Billionaire looks like it's meant to be a Fifty Shades ripoff but its actually really good BDSM with a sub who's knowledgeable and just having a fun time, but the dom has some heavy trauma that I don't know everyone would be down for so heads up. He also has a couple novels that have become very popular recently, so I expect we'll be seeing him a lot. Overall, I appreciate that all of his protags have way more going on than just the relationship, but also the relationships do have genuine chemistry.

Boys Run the Riot--a short manga series about a Trans high-schooler who wants to start a streetwear brand with his friends. It brings up different aspects of queerness and queer culture in Japan, which is really cool.

From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler--my husband gifted me a copy because it's one of my favorite childhood books and I'm so happy to say it still holds up even a good sixty years later. A girl convinces her brother to run away to the Met and they become caught up in a mystery surrounding a recent acquisition. The kids are smart as heck but still very much kids and E.L. Konigsburg's writing style has always felt very cozy to me.

Totsukuni no Shoujo/The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil a Rún-- we've established I enjoy fairytales where the fae get to be properly monstrous. This is another manga series, this time about a little girl in a cursed forest who is taken in by a creature she calls "Teacher". He tries to care for her and keep her from becoming cursed herself. Charming, a little spooky, a little sad, and very gorgeous.

Perfect World--a manga series where an able-bodied interior designer reconnects with an architect childhood friend who is now disabled and uses a wheelchair; they fall in love, work together to create accesibly designed buildings, and navigate both his specific disability and being disabled in Japanese society at large. A ton of research obviously went into this series, but more importantly a lot of heart.

Wherever is Your Heart-- novella. Anita Kelly writes some good-ass queer romance of all flavors but this one is particularly noteworthy in being butch4butch and having protagonists in their late forties. It's fairly short and sweet, but you don't need much more than that to enjoy it when June finally works up the courage to ask the bartender at her favorite bar on a date.

And the best book I read in 2022:

House of Leaves-- so this is a book about a guy transcribing an academic work written by different guy about a documentary filmed by another guy about moving into a house with his family. It's also about narratives within narratives, the relationship between reading and the reader, and the relationship between the storyteller and the story. It’s a love letter to academic analysis and a scathing critique of academic analysis. It's actual posmodernism. It's a damn good horror novel. It's an experience. It's a book that 100% could never work as anything other than a book. People will tell you it's a hard read but it's not! You just have to engage with it and think about it a little. Read it! It's great!

[sofipitch]

If you're comfortable can you talk about more about your experience in the fandom because I share similar sentiments, in a separate fandom. I received death threats every day and my friend's account was hacked into and certain posts of hers were deleted. It lasted years. It was horrible. Did you write your fic Long Way Home (I love the title!) before amc iwtv was announced? Are those fans of the books who drove other fans out still around and may I know who they are so that I may block them? (1/2)

If I may, I want to share that when the HP books were first released--before JKR exposed herself and before the movies aired and ruined my inner version of the books-- I read them and certain characters in my mind were never as they were in the books, Hermione was Indian in my mind, as was Lupin, based on real life friends. Ron was definitely not a redhead. I don't know why there is so much hate towards race change, but it seems that a majority of those haters are on FB, as immortalconclusions mentioned about the FB group, I am a part of it and there is much vitriol in that group, especially aimed towards the actors. I am horrified that so many fans of the little mermaid are offended by the beautiful Halle Bailey, she's the perfect Ariel as I see it. Also I hate that some fans want to see Timothee Chalamette as Armand, what a ridiculous choice. (2/2)

So I don't really want to go into it, last time someone sent me an anon shitting on one of these ppl and I answered it the person was harassing all my friends for HOURS in like .3 seconds. Like we are block mutuals and yet she knew immediately, creepy much? There have been doxxing threats on here which is fun, I have gotten threats of violence and idk how related but a friend got one of sexual assault. So I'm not waking the beast by invoking these ppl. If anyone wants specific ppl I would recommend blocking you can dm me. It's honestly not hard to tell, if you see a VC fan who refuses to acknowledge the TV show or overwhelming speaks negatively, that's them. For some reason a lot of ppl try to keep up public appearances on Tumblr yet will say the most vile shit with their IRL name attached in the FB group

I actually came up with the idea for that fic after JA's casting announcement based on ppl saying there was no way for Louis to be black without changing "everything about Louis" or that Louis and Lestat as an interracial couple would be abusive. When you are so woke you think respecting cultural differences means ppl of other races aren't ppl who go through ppl experiences and so woke that the races shouldn't mix (but for POC protection). I just wanted a way to say yes POC are (get this) ppl. And it also turned into a way for my cowriter and I to talk about our own experiences and hopefully make something for other fans of color to hopefully relate too

I'm so sorry about what you are your friend went through, fandom in general has a lot of racism and I think some of it is the anonymity, white ppl feel safer being openly racist. Like all the slurs and stuff I and others have gotten is always done via anon or sock puppet accounts. So they KNOW what they are doing is wrong bc they don't want to attach their name to it. It's both disgusting and pathetic

And yeah this is not a unique situation for VC, when ppl were objecting to JA's casting they tried to come up with a PLETHORA or reasons VC is different and you just can't with Louis and yeah it's always bullshit. Same thing with Ariel, I love The Little Mermaid and I hate the Disney remakes but I will likely see this one in theaters bc that's my girl, I get the appeal of the remakes when it is specifically one of my fave movies 😂 But someone IRL asked me my opinion bc she knows I love Ariel and I was like "she seems good" and she went on to say that "She was always made to feel bad she was a redhead growing up (this girl is like strawberry blonde so barely, 0 freckles) and Ariel made her feel better". Like they were taking away HER representation. I don't even need to go into how fucking stupid that is. They ALWAYS claim to have specific and valid rationales for this one casting, they aren't a racist (maybe they even have POC friends!) 🙄

[fayesdiary]

What are your thoughts on the Hoshidan royals after finishing up Birthright? And do you have any favorite characters from this branch of the Fates game?

I’m feeling a bit better so I can finally answer this, it took me way longer than it should have but hey, to compensate the reply is really long Since the Hoshido family is a huge part of my faves I’ll talk about them first!

For starters, I love this family so much I’m not sure who my favourite is, because one day it’s Hinoka, the other it’s Takumi and then it’s Sakura. But on average I’d say I like them equally! Hinoka is a bit of a guilty pleasure, because she’s not that fleshed out and she gets forgotten in her own route despite being a royal and yes I’m salty, but at the same time? I love her personality, the mix of her being a tomboy but also being incredibly caring and emotionally intelligent, her design is great and she’s so fun and strong to use during gameplay! (Then again, all the royals are) Takumi is probably the most relatable character of both families, the way he’s so insecure about himself and his place in the family which turns into him acting abrasive even though he doesn’t mean it (or rather, he’s impulsive and often the words come out of his mouth before he actually thinks about what he’s saying), but at the same time? He’s not an asshole for the sake of it, and he knows how to apologize and to admit when he’s wrong! (See, his scenes with Corrin and Azura in BR, but also his supports with them) Also, ironically, with his skepticism of Corrin in the prologue he’s ironically the only one of the family who considers they actually have a life in Nohr and aren’t just brainwashed or whatever, which means they’re not just gonna do a 180 and join Hoshido because “they’re their true family”. Dunno, just something I always found funny. Sakura, like Hinoka, is someone I feel is also really underrated. She’s insecure and incredibly anxious(seems to be a trend in this family, everyone is insecure about at least something save Ryoma),  but at the same time she has an incredible resolve she often shows that makes her really compelling! Her personal skill isn’t called “Quiet Strength” for nothing, after all. Also, just like the previous two siblings, everything about her makes me want to give her a huge hug. I’ll be honest, Ryoma is the only one i don’t like. Or rather, I just feel neutral about him, I think he’s not that interesting? He doesn’t have any worthwhile faults or conflicts, and he just feels... too perfect? Even in gameplay he’s an absolute monster not that I’m complaining about that mind you , but there’s very little that makes me interested let alone attached to him. The only fault I can think of is that he’s a garbage parent even by Fates standards, but even then while Shiro constantly lampshades it it never gets addressed properly, and when that happens it usually makes me like a character less. (see: Xander in this very route, and Emperor Santa Claus) I got to say though, he sure loves keeping stuff hidden from his loved ones for no reason, examples being never telling Shiro he’s the king of Hoshido yet still somehow expecting him to be prepared to inherit the throne, or never telling Corrin the truth about Mikoto and their relationship with the Hoshidan family unless they marry him.

(Dunno if it’s an hot take or not, but I feel that Corrin not actually being Hoshidan would be a great source of conflict for them if it wasn’t used merely as an excuse to marry your siblings? A headcanon I have is that BR!Corrin feels like they’re not really part of the family due to a variety of reasons, like cultural dissonance, the lack of shared memories [think about it, the only memories Corrin has about Mikoto and Sumeragi is their deaths, ouch] and the fact they’re around people they didn’t even know until a week ago, but also constantly throw shit at their Nohrian family, the one who raised and loved them. Honestly, I’m suprised it never gets addressed in any supports, or at least the ones I read, and it’s something I’d love to touch on when I start writing Fates fanfics) Other characters I really liked were Oboro (female spear fighters are always great, add an interesting personality, great voice and design and being realy fun to use? What’s not to love about her?), Scarlet, Hana, Felicia (I know she’s available in every route, but I’m including her in here since she is more prominent in Birthright. And you know, that part with Flora that makes me wish Fates had base conversations), Silas(kinda the same argument) and... hm. I expected the list to be longer, to be honest. Then again, the royals alone take 6 slots of the character rosters and you can’t bring that many units into a single chapter, so I guess it makes sense. I would love to try using Saizo, Kagero, Setsuna (I would have reclassed her as a Balistician if that class wasn’t male-only for some stupid reason) and Hinata, honestly. Maybe in Rev or a next playthrough?

[yichens]

get to know me

am going to mix these two different tag games into one post so thank you a lot for tagging me @jazthespazz and @i-am-just-a-kiddo ♥

it’s somehow funny to do these same games again after a while so let’s see what I come up with:

Part I

name: real name petra but i prefer vish/vishie over here ^^ 

pronouns: she/her

star sign: aries ♈

height: 178cm (which am coming more and more proud of while i realize how damn tall every cdrama actor is lol)

time: 10:37pm as am answering this one

birthday: 10th april!

nationality: finnish 

fave bands/groups: ah well this is always a hard question but let’s go with these: BTS, DAY6, OneRepublic, Hurts, Oneus, Hoppipolla, TXT, Red, Mamamoo

fave solo artists: (forgive me if i’ve assumed any of these wrong) Novo Amor, Talos, Crywolf, Liu Yuning, SYML, EDEN, PVRIS, Joker Xue, NF, Halsey, Sleeping At Last, Nuz, HyunA, Sam Smith, Taemin

song stuck in your head: it’s OneRepublic’s Rescue Me bc of the song tag game i did earlier today :’D that one always gets stuck in my head whenever i as much as see the title lol 

last movie you watched: i think it’s The Yin-Yang Master (2021)? I haven’t watched any movies after that bc am so busy with all of my dramas haha

last show you binged: i think binged would be The Journey Across the Night! I watched that as a whole in 4 days

when you created your blog: in 2013 

the last thing you googled: ummm i think it was “what is a ball of wool called” bc of fic purposes haha as a non native speaker i always get a bit lost with words like this 

other blogs: none, i just dump everything here like the idiot i am 

why i chose my url: dates back to my intense summer of binge reading J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Vishous was my favorite of the brothers haha. i first used this username in some random game on my nintendo ds lol 

how many people are you following: 358 which somehow feels like a lot but also like way too few?? i should probably search for some new blogs with other topics than cql, bts and/or dmbj bc i do love a lot of things at once 

how many followers do you have: over 800 

average hours of sleep: i’d say around 7h

lucky numbers: i remember answering 5 previously? i don’t really have a lucky number but 5 pops into my head

instruments: nope, no. not touching those tyvm. i admire everyone who can play any instrument tho

what i’m currently wearing: black jeans, socks with foxes on them (plus my woolly socks), a gray cardigan (my fave thing ever!) and an orange/brown top

dream job: writer would be ideal but that is very faaaaar into the dream zone 

dream trip: around different parts of asia to taste all the amazing food ;; maybe a road trip of sorts through europe? or inter railing? another trip to london bc i miss that ;; a trip to the very northern part of lapland to see all the auroras etc! i’ve never been that far north :’D 

fave food: if i need to quickly name something then sushi. otherwise am pretty fine with anything spicy 

top three fictional universes you’d like to live in: i remember thinking about this a lot the last time i answered this but hmm. currently i’d say dmbj still bc that world is fascinating AND i would love to talk to the characters. mass effect would be the second one currently bc i miss those games and the space stuff is super cool! and the third one would be assassin’s creed rogue bc that is my fave ac game and i like the northern sea and the places in it AND i could probably be one of abstergo’s employees instead and just test/play those simulation games haha 

Part II

Last Song: am currently listening to my playlist with just everything so i have Andrew Belle’s The Enemy playing right now (also I only just now realized that Andrew Belle also sings Pieces which is one of my fave songs? my bff linked that to me after it played in some tv series she was watching)

Last Movie Last Stream: i didn’t want to mention the same movie again or skip this question and i’ve wanted to talk about this anyway so! i watched Liu Chang’s bday live last night :’D it was so much fun even if i couldn’t understand anything. it was just nice to watch him being himself and have fun and chill with his fans. also the songs were amazing ;; i cried with Liu Sang’s character song as well as the ending. and all the while i couldn’t turn my gaze away from his eyes! he has such pretty eyes and they were absolutely Sparkling throughout the whole stream, it was so nice :’)

Currently Reading: Devotions by Mary Oliver (i adore her poems! they’re a very nice change after Siken haha) and then some uni stuff for a course about culture and mental health plus my thesis

Currently Watching: Douluo Continent, Word of Honor, The Long Ballad 

all of these are amazing and make me feel different things! i started Douluo Continent just a while ago and am now on ep 16 i think? it’s been very pretty and very chill and i watch it during the weekend while i wait for new episodes to the other two :’D it’s nice to see Xiao Zhan again and i’ve enjoyed the rpg game type of feeling in it? the group of seven is doing amazing and it’s interesting to watch them craft their team work! Word of Honor again has reached the ending and i just hold my breath with it. am not too far gone with it so i am not getting as heavy feelings about it as i probably could but i enjoy it  alot still and i do cry at times ^^ and then The Long Ballad has just blown me away! i didn’t expect to love it this much and be this invested in it but everything about it has been such a positive surprise and it keeps making me super emotional! i love the characters and the story and the romances even! it’s a great accomplishment for me. also yes i cry on the daily bc of hao du and bc of ashile sun’s hair haha

(i am also rewatching Ultimate Note kind of and been thinking about getting into rewatching Reboot bc it has been on my list ever since i finished it)

What is antipoetry to you: okay hmm i had to google this too and have to agree with Kiddo here. i don’t have strong feelings about poetry tbh, i wasn’t into poetry that much before maybe a bit over year ago? Siken has really blown me away haha. but i have always loved song lyrics which i never thought as poetry but then Kiddo said to me that they consider them poetry and yeah ok. i agree? so idk poetry can be whatever i suppose. i’ve never seen any rules in it anyway. i know there are many rules for different types of poetry but then again. i feel like poetry has always been just words put together to feel things and i guess that is the core purpose of every written type of art in the end right? 

Currently craving: a drama as good and as personal as The Journey Across the Night. that show really just stole my heart and i want that feeling back. i think about that show every day. i miss Li Jia and his two partners. i miss the vibes. i miss sitting on my floor watching it and just sobbing my heart out haha. also! craving a properly subbed, whole version of Anti-Fraud League. only the first 12 eps are badly subbed out there. wetv has... blocked? deleted? the whole show??? i need it to my life, i wanna see Xiao Yuliang being cute as Mi Ruo and i wanna know where the story goes smh 

thank you so much for these both! i had fun ^^ also am sorry this is so long but haha if you’re asking me to talk about myself and my interests then this is what you get :) 

tagging (to do which ever part you want or both!): @cross-d-a @jockvillagersonly @humanlighthouse @kholran @xcziel @minmoyu and @leonzhng ♥

[ermbabyel]

hi hi hi !! may i please request a personality ship with bts and ateez !! i apologize in advance bc it's super long </3

I’m a 5’9.5 (basically 5’10) girl with dark skin, jet black hair (currently in long twists rn!!), and i’m on the curvier side (esp hips and my thighs) !! some of my favorite features are my plump lips (and i have a beauty mark on my bottom lip!), my long legs (that look so so so so good in skirts and dresses), my kempt and pretty fingernails, and my eyelashes !!! i’m a virgo (and surprisingly i get along with all the signs, i cant think of a sole zodiac sign i DONT mix well with), and i am an i/enfj (i got 51% extravert 49% intra the first time, then 50% for both the second time!! ) and i honestly agree—i’m an ambivert all the way! i often come off as cold/shy when meeting new people (one of my closest friends avoided me for a month before meeting me because i looked so intimidating LMAO), but once you get close to me i turn into a bundle of warmth and love: i will never stop texting them the <3 emoji every morning or buying my friends/s/o their favorite starbucks order when they need a little cheer-me-up.

  i’m extremely passionate about the issues and people i care about and the goals and dreams i have. I’m creative, patient, an extremely good listener, caring, a social butterfly, and extremely hardworking. my friends always told me of my heart of gold and how perceptive i am of the people around me—noticing immediately when something is wrong and trying to make them feel better. I’m also very headstrong, detailed, and determined!! my friends also call me a nerd since i’ve had all a’s since kindergarten—i LOVE school and would describe myself as intelligent. i really like that i’m empathetic and motivational to those around me. it’s really easy for me to show my affection, adoration, and support for someone because i just want everyone to feel loved and safe :( i HATE seeing my loved ones sad, and when people usually have problems about anything (from family to just school), i’m the one they come to talk to because of my warm and openminded heart. I love sharing happiness with my friends in their goals and always hype them up no matter what, and it makes me so so so so happy seeing my loved ones content. im also really, really funny (my fave personality trait of mine tbh)!! I’m always cracking jokes and laughing (sometimes for no reason LMAOO). i would be in the library at like 7 am with my friends and struggle with stifling my laugh from jokes i told </3

  I also love to go out and explore—whether trying out a new restaurant in the city or a newly opened amusement park or trying something new, like skydiving (or some other crazy but fun idea), trying recipes from around the world, or trying sledding for the first time! at the same time, i like really chill, mellow spending-time-alone-or-with-one-other-person activities like baking (my favorite treat to bake is red velvet cupcakes and cheddar bay biscuits) and dancing !! (i’ve been a dancer for more than 12 years!!). i can also speak more than 5 languages (including korean!) and i’m always saying random phrases (like thank you, i love u so much!, gtfo my face, that sucks ass) in a random language too LMFAOOO. i often think being a coffee/cafe lover is a personality trait (i love love love love love coffee) i also love accessories (earrings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, rings, etc) and would die of happiness when the day i can wear matching accessories with my s/o comes.

besides being my bestfriend who i can kiss and whatnot (hehe), my ideal type is a TALL (THEY DONT HAVE TO BE but 5’9+...i’m already tall but pls .5 of an inch taller would be enough) man who has eyes for me and only me !!! they may look cold/cool/mysterious/laid back at first glance (like “i dont like u lol” or “yeah haha 🙂" to any other girls but “hi baby what can i do for u today to please the loml” with me <3)  but turn into the sweetest, warmest, cutest honey bun once i get to know them! (kinda like me)!! ALSO a man who can pull off all black outfits like those are my FAVORITE omg. he needs to have a BIG sense of humor (like i want to laugh every second i’m with him and laugh so hard that our stomachs start hurting and we beg each other to stop making jokes type of humor), fashionable (so i can learn fashion pls and wear coordinated outfits with him). i just want a boy who i could talk to and listen to for HOURS. like i would follow him into the bathroom as he showers and sit on the toilet and just listen to him talk about his day or vent to him, but also a boy that loves comfortable silence!! like just cuddling with each other or im studying, and hes working on a personal project so that just being with him makes me feel warm <3 i want a s/o who’s willing to go out and travel with me so i could take off guard pics of him and make him my wallpaper until he begs me to change it. im also not good at conflict so if conflict arises, id love a boy who knows how to talk me down and open up the room for conversation and make me feel safe and not as if im confronted or wrong, someone where we can just talk, resolve our problem, and make it up with a hug or night out!! this kinda leads to me wanting a relationship where we both help improve each other and our flaws (for example some of my flaws are callousness, taking things to heart sometimes, and not opening up easily, etc), so i’d really appreciate a relationship where my partner and i can help each other grow as people. i also love love love to cook, so i’d love an s/o that loves cooking with me and teaching each other how to cook each other’s cultural foods (i would love to teach my bf how to cook jollof rice and have a cookoff one day). I like ALL 5 of the love languages but my top 3 tied for 1st are quality time (THIS i want to spend everyday with my bf at chinatown or a new city exploring), words of affirmation (someone who reaffirms me of their love continuously, supportively, and in sweet ways), and acts of service (cooking my favorite food when i’m down, doing chores that i cant do when tired). men who are really expressive through touch are also ideal <3 i'd shy away from pda, but inside the house i’d be so happy yet so shy and flustered when they express their love through touch (like laying in my lap so i can play with their hair, holding my hand while watching tv, cuddling while talking about whatever). OR like the SLIGHTEST compliment or act of love (LIKE BACKHUGS OR HOLDING HANDS OR KISSING MY BEAUTY MARKS OR FOREHEAD KISSESJSJSJSJ). i love a man who's goal oriented, know what he wants, and makes the move first (kinda like taking control of the relationship!!) in all, i’d just love to be really appreciated and loved and also show the same love, support, warmth, closeness, and happiness to my bf <3 tysm <333

Hi hi~! You sound like such a sweetheart and so cute 😍💕 I’ll be super happy to ship you~!

Bts

Yoongi 🥳

I thought of Yoongi right away while reading your submission. You sound like such a sweet and supportive person that I think Yoongi would benefit from being in a relationship with you. You also remind me a lot of hobi when I was reading your description so I think you two would be best friends too~! Yoongi would be intrigued by your appearance, your intimidating aura around you would make him want to know you more. Surely there’s more than meets the eye...and Yoongi was correct. After getting to know you more. He soon learned how such a happy and sweet person you are. He would love the duality of you. It’s keeps him on his toes and yearns to learn more o about you~! Yoongi is a very passionate person as well, especially with his career and his members. And I’m sure he’d be passionate with you too, but he’ll show you in his own little ways. For example, writing songs about you for bts’ new comeback, getting you your favorite foods and drinks when you both have had a long day...he just loves you so much. I can see you, and sope being the three musketeers of bts, you three would do SO much together. Yoongi can be a silly and goofy person as we’ve seen, but only certain people can drawl that aspect out of him, so you and hobi would do SOO well at making him feel comfortable to let loose and have fun~! I can see you and hobi goofing around at the studio with each other and Yoongi would shake his head and act unimpressed, but we all see right through him and he truly adores you in that state~! Yoongi would also think it’s super adorable how flustered and shy you get when he gets touchy with you 👀💜. Just a very cute and wholesome relationship~! 🥰

Ateez

Seonghwa 🥳

You love when your partner takes control? You don’t need to tell Seonghwa twice! The boy would LOVE to take care of you and take the lead in the relationship. I think he’s also naturally dominate, so it would be no problem for him~! I can see you two going on cute coffee dates to local cafè shops close by. Seonghwa would absolutely adore how excited you are about coffee~! He would also think it’s hella attractive that you’re a dancer 👀. He LOOOOVES to watch you dance for himself maybe he would create a dance for only you two to perform. Your legs and lips are how absolute favorite physical traits of yours. Seonghwa would always have a hand on your leg or knee whenever you guys are sitting down. And if you’d let him, Seonghwa would kiss you all day long~! He just loves the feeling of your soft lips against his 💜. Seonghwa also adores how happy and cheerful you are. Especially on hard long days full of practices and performances, your cheerful and loving nature always makes him feel better and soooo much more relaxed. I can see both of you mothering the other members too~! He appreciates you taking care of him at times, but he’s also take opportunities to take care of you too~! Overall a very sweet and loving relationship~! ❤️‍🔥

Again, I am very sorry for the long ass wait 🥺. I hope you enjoy your ships love~! Stay happy and healthy~! 🤗💜

[oftheflamingheart]

KCS Two Princes Podcast QnA October 17, 2020

Part 1

Transcripts below each image. Slight edits made to some questions for clarity.

Q: How will Amir’s and Rupert’s relationship change in the final season?

A: I think the boys do some growing up in this season, especially in terms of what it means to be in a relationship. in the past they’ve had to deal with monsters, but this season focuses a bit more on dealing with the ups and downs of being a couple.

Q:  should I grab the tissues?

A: Grab ALL the tissues...

Q: Rupert is my fave and he always gets made fun of. Will he have his moment of validation?

A: Who makes fun of Rupert??? I want names! That said there’s definitely a fun change the dynamic between Rupert and Amir this season.

Q: Will we see more of porridge in season three?

A: Yes, lots of porridge this season!

Q: how many songs will be in season three? (Eyes looking left emoji)

A: The incredibly talented Matt Schatz has written 9 amazing songs (plus 2 reprises).

Q: Who’s more nervous for the wedding? Rupert or Amir? (Eyes emoji again)

A: Rupert. 100%

Q: Someone asked about porridge, but will there be more Fitzroy?

A: Yes, Fitzroy is back too!

Q: Will there be more of Cecily and Joan?

A: Yes, Joan and Cecily have a lot more to do this season!

Q: Who’s your favorite character in the two princes?

A: Impossible to answer. I absolutely love that Rupert is a hero who leads with his heart. But I also have a soft spot for lovable sociopaths like Barabbas, Percy Junior and Lavinia.

Q: When people didn’t want the Royal Wedding was it homophobia or because two kingdoms were together?

A: A little of both. People who are against different cultures mixing often tend to be the same people who don’t like homosexuality or gender non-conformity. The series has always tried to show that all forms of discrimination are connected and that you can’t overcome one without overcoming them all.

[felixnation]

THE TOP 10 WORST KPOP SONGS OF 2020

(WARNING: I DON’T LIKE THESE SONGS AND WILL BE MEAN AT THEM. I DO NOT HAVE ANY PERSONAL BEEF WITH ANY OF THESE GROUPS OR ARTISTS SO DON’T COME FOR ME IF YOUR FAVE MADE A STINKER TRACK THIS YEAR.)

Ah, 2020. The year where disco came back, the 80s came back, and everyone was titling their songs after nonsense words. It was a good year for k-pop overall, with a lot of new trends entering the game towards the end of summer. However, there were some real clunkers that refused to get out of my head this quarantine and pissed me off to varying degrees each time I heard them. This list is an attempt to chronicle all of those.

So without further ado, let’s get this shit done.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

NCT 127 - PUNCH This isn't actually a bad song, hence it only making it to the honorable mentions section. In fact, I think this could've easily made the best list had it not been for one thing, and that's the presence of NCT 127, namely their rap line. The instrumental on this thing is absolutely killer and one of the best productions to come out of SM in a long time. The entire thing is bizarrely structured and incredibly gutsy, and therefore I think it's a travesty that an instrumental this incredible was drowned in ASMR-esque whispers and EYYYY WE BALLINs. There are a few salvageable sections, namely the first post-chorus, and we see glimmers of NCT 127's true potential, should they choose to explore this sound further.

CIGNATURE - NUN NU NAN NA Similar to Punch, I admire the production choices here - there are a few sections that blast you with 100gecs-esque womps, and that's always something I enjoy. The vast majority of the song rarely dips below decent territory, but since the entire thing hinges on the titular hook, it ends up falling apart right when it needs to bring the hype the most. I mean, building a hook around those notes was...an interesting choice, I guess. It reminds me a lot of fromis_9's FUN!, which also constructed the entire song around a terrible set of notes. Listen to them yell that hook at you and tell me it doesn't sound off. Most frustrating song of 2020.

ONG SEONG WU - GRAVITY Have you ever heard a drop this weak? I sure haven't. I hate the way he says DIVING INTO YOUR LOVE, the over-enunciation kills me and there's one syllable too many. Also, thanks Ong Seong Wu for giving CRAVITY the promo they deserve.

BTS - FLY TO MY ROOM I can't relax while listening to this, the beat is so sparse and has this nauseous sway to it that really makes me feel like I'm reliving these past 9 months of quarantine all over again. And just like quarantine, it really feels like this goddamn thing never ends. That final set of choruses is really a chore to get through, and I'm not the only one who thinks so - shout out to Taehyung for serving taste and I'm sorry Jimin convinced you to sing out of your natural range yet again.

TREASURE - MMM Ew.

I*ZONE - FIESTA It's a pretty standard girl group song up until that chorus hits and oh my god, who on earth produced this? Are they actively trying to trigger my psychosis? There are so many sounds happening that it feels like three or four demo tracks laid on top of each other, it makes me confused even trying to figure out what's going on here. And that post-chorus drop is horrendous, it's like the instrumental is literally screaming into my ear STREAM BLOOM*IZ!!! STREAM BLOOM*IZ YOU DUMB CUCK!!! YOU LOVE IT!!!

NOW FOR THE REAL LIST.

#10: TAEYEON - HAPPY

I do not like this. Taeyeon has one of the most powerful voices in the industry and instead of putting it to good use, she decided to put out the musical equivalent of eating a stick of butter. Bland, horrible texture, seems to go on forever and ever, you know you shouldn't be consuming it and you don't know why you're doing this to yourself, etc.

The MV contributed to my dislike, with Taeyeon whitewashed all the way into uncanny valley as she lounges around her beautiful apartment. Well of course you'd be happy if you lived in a place like that, I know I would. The sad thing is that there's some really nice vocal work here and there, but for the majority of the song, Taeyeon decides to serenade us in the most nasal tone that she can muster. I know she can sing better than this, and I'm disappointed in her for creating this and unleashing it on the world.

#9: WEKI MEKI - OOPSY

Whereas Picky Picky was annoying in the best way possible, Oopsy is annoying in the worst way possible. The instrumental legitimately sounds cheap, the drums sound so tinny and artificial that it's hard on the ears. Not to mention the hook, wherein the girls force their voices as high as they can go as they proclaim OOPSY! 

I'm a huge fan of cute concepts, but when it comes to putting out a high-energy sugary track like this, you're walking a fine line between adorable and irritating. Weki Meki didn't even try to walk the line, they just dove headfirst into irritating territory without a care in the world. It literally feels like the audio equivalent of having to hold a whiny toddler and then it pisses itself and the mom is just cooing about how her little darling made an oopsy.

#8: VICTON - MAYDAY

It feels like for most of the year, the vast majority of boy groups were stuck in a rut, knee-deep in sludgy EDM and leather harnesses. You know the songs I'm talking about, and I could've put any one of them here, but I chose this one purely because that chorus makes me feel like I have a concussion. I don't like this song nor the trend it's representative of - I spent most of quarantine having the same dark BG concepts thrown at me over and over and I'm glad things are starting to take a bit of a turn.

The bridge on this is actually pretty great, and the guys in VICTON do know how to sing, as can be seen in the final post-chorus. But man, there's just nothing fresh being brought to the table here, just the same stale trends in their worst form yet. The hook is so slow and drowsy, the same few notes just repeated over and over. I have not seen the MV because I feel like I can picture it well enough in my head just by listening. Are there harnesses? Don't forget those, boys.

#7: MCND - SPRING

Only Pentagon are allowed to do these concepts.

#6: HYO, LOOPY, SOYEON - DESSERT

This is genuinely unlistenable as soon as the drop hits, with a vocal stitching job that might be a horn synth, I'm not sure. That's how annoying it is. The producer is clearly incompetent and the performers are oozing with personality, though not the pleasant sort. The hook is  bratty and the raps here are beyond generic. After the halfway point, there are a couple interesting sounds thrown into the mix, but it's not enough to save things.   

Soyeon in particular sounds awful here, with her iconic nasally tone morphing into something genuinely irritating and borderline spiteful. Age up the toddler from the Oopsy comparison to around 7 or 8 and that's basically what you've got here. All I can hope is that this song is not influential in any way, shape or form, because I just had a vision of Blackpink imitating this production style and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

#5: SECRET NUMBER - WHO DIS?

I'm not sure how many Secret Number fans are out there, but I'm about to make all of em real mad at me right about now. However, it must be said.

This is basically Your Turn by Kaachi again.

I don't think I need to explain that hot take, just listen to the song. It's surprisingly amateurish, to the point where I feel like the vocals aren't in sync and they just used the first take they got from each girl. The raps in particular are awful, and I swear they even sound like they go off-key a couple of times. How this blew up in any aspect is bizarre to me. Anyways, stream Photo Magic and stan Kaachi.

#4: BAEKHYUN - CANDY

Did you want a k-pop version of Yummy by Justin Bieber? No? Well, Baekhyun decided to make it anyways! At least Yummy was sort of funny in how bad it is, this is just...a somber affair. Inexplicably, he manages to oversing the final third of the song, which I don't get the point of, but okay. Lazy, underproduced and overproduced at the same time, bland, boring, annoying...

Wait, did he just say...

Okay, I changed my mind, this is hysterical. Like Pop rocks, strawberry, bubble gum...

#3: (G)-IDLE - DUMDI DUMDI

I'm so sick of this group's 'ethnic' schtick, it's like they never learn. They just don't give a fuck - after a string of genuinely great tracks like Hann, Lion, and Oh My God, they just decide to put out this shit and expect me to listen to it? They're a group with a lot of potential, with some brilliant vocalists and the talent that is Soyeon (who really loves being on this list, apparently) but if they continue down the path of using different cultures as concepts I can't support them any further.

The song itself has salvageable parts, a recurring theme on this list, but the over-the-top tribal influences are so obvious and tropey that even listening to it feels gross. (G)-Idle have more creative control than most groups, and the fact that they're capable of creating works of art like Lion is what makes me harsh on them. Instead of moving forward, they continue to regress into their comfort zone of cultural appropriation.

#2 YOOA - BON VOYAGE

Speaking of cultural appropriation...are we gonna address this? Nah? Okay.

Oh My Girl, YooA's parent group, has a history of blatant cultural appropriation (and arguably some legit racist moments depending on how you look at it) and they seem like they're not changing anytime soon. That's why this particular song stings even more than it probably should. If you thought Dumdi Dumdi's tribal influences were a little too on the nose, take a listen to this chorus.

YooA has a bad voice, is wearing tribal face paint, and is running around the wilderness whitewashed into oblivion while a choir of nameless voices chant vaguely tribal things behind her. Even in an industry like k-pop, this sticks out as something in bafflingly poor taste, and I can't see how she got away with this in 2020.

#1 BLACKPINK & SELENA GOMEZ - ICE CREAM

Well, this is a predictable pick. 

I don't know why or how Blackpink thought they could get away with drip-feeding blinks content for 4 goddamn years in the lead-up to their first album, only to drop this big fat clunker on them. I honestly felt insulted by the song, from its cheap, tinny production to the god-awful lyrics. I don't know how anyone could find any value in a piece of music this soulless and hollow.

Lisa's raps are by far the worst part of it, with FIRE BARS such as "you're the one been chosen, play the part like moses" and "mona lisa kinda lisa". Unfortunately, these raps take up a good portion of the song, and there's nothing going on in the instrumental to distract you from them, save for that little ice cream truck jingle. (or at least I think that's what the producer was going for)

Selena is a non-presence and essentially blends in with the girls, who WAIL that awful hook like their lives depend on it. Also, there's some really cheesy innuendos here that're sung with all the sex appeal of the actual ice cream truck driver from literally your neighborhood. 

I loathe what this song represents - the only good thing about it is that the girls look stunning in the MV. And that's exactly the thing - this song represents the exact moment in time wherein Blackpink admitted to their audience that music is no longer their main focus. This is the peak of their influencer-ization, and only time will tell if they'll redeem themselves. (Spoiler: They sort of did, goddammit.)

[yoimeta]

Hi everyone! I noticed recently that the "KAZAKHSTAN 101 OR HOW TO OTABEK" post seems to have been taken off of tumblr? The author's whole blog seems to have been wiped. Do you know if this is archived anywhere? Is there a mirror, say, on Ao3?

Hello!

Thankfully, I managed to find what I believe is the original post. Here it is! The post is archived in plain text under the cut.

Hope this helps!

- Ji

Source: @sawyer-aik

KAZAKHSTAN 101 OR HOW TO OTABEK

THERE YOU GO YURI ON ICE FANDOM.

Disclaimer: this is in no way a fully comprehensive guide. This is just me trying to put together basics for people who are unfamiliar with Kazakhstan/Kazakhs to start their writing/research.

I am an ethnic Kazakh female, citizen of Kazakhstan, Almaty, bisexual, upper middle class, currently in college in the US. My experience is in no way representative of all kazakhs and Kazakhstan citizens. However, I think it’s pretty close to Otabek’s.

This is really, really long and kinda convoluted, but if you can bear it –– welcome!

Name: Many people have talked about Otabek’s name. This is how you shorten it –– “Bek”, “Beka”, or “Beks” if you wanna be really familiar and laid back.

Kazakhs don’t have middle names, we have patronymics. They are formed like this: the father’s name + ‘uly’ if the child is a boy or ‘kyzy’ is the child is a girl. For example, Otabek’s childrens’ patronymics would be Otabekuly and Otabekkyzy.

About Almaty and almatinians: Ok I’m so happy Otabek is from Almaty, I really don’t know much about life in other cities or rural areas. Almatinians rarely do. Comparing Almaty lifestyle to the rest of Kazakhstan is the same as comparing NYC to the rest of America –– it’s not representative of the quality of life in the country, like, at all.

Almaty has 2.5+ million population, and it grows every year. It’s a cultural and economic centre of the country. Apples originate from Almaty (!!!), hence the name from “Alma” –– apple. Almatinians are usually stereotyped as fast, brash and snobby –– kinda like New Yorkers, right? Almaty is much more tolerant and progressive, and also more ‘Western’ than the rest of the country in terms of mindset. Almatinians kinda look down on non-Almatinians, and really dislike the capital Astana because of all the funding and attention it gets.

Almaty has a great ethnic diversity –– main groups are Kazakhs, Russians, Uygur, Koreans, Germans, Jews, Uzbek, and many more. Though stereotypical jokes are generally acceptable, outright hate and discrimination against an ethnic group is not tolerated. Many foreigners visit here for business –– mostly Americans, Western Europeans and Chinese.

Almatinians love: coffeeshops, mall sales, cool cars (Hello Otabek’s motorcycle), smoking hukkah and vaping. They are usually concerned with status and try to show off their wealth. You can see people of all kind of different style and background in Almaty, fashion shows are held there, contemporary art and indie-music congregates there, along with all kinds of fancy ass crowd. It is a really interesting and kinda exhausting scene, especially if you are young and wanna have fun.

Language, culture, food, etc.

As an Almatinian Kazakh, Otabek is definitely fluent in both Russian and Kazakh, and probably has a very good grasp on English. He is a master of shala kazakh. Shala kazakh is a magic language that only city Kazakhs are privy to. It’s basically a wild mix of kazakh, russian and some fashionable english slang thrown in there. It’s usual for me to start a conversation with “OMG bro” and then kinda pull my speech together, substituting kazakh and russian words with each other and pepper it with “cool”, “ok” and other english exclamations. It’s not grammatically correct and is kinda lowbrow, but we all do it. Yes, even our parents. This is how Otabek sounds when he is talking to someone from home. Terrifying.

Nuclear family: City Kazakhs usually have two or three kids. That’s less than people have in rural areas. Children are important in Kazakh culture because they carry the family’s bloodline and history, especially boys. If you headcanon Otabek as having brothers and sisters, you are probably right! His family should be at least sort of wealthy to afford all the expenses of having a professional athlete for a child. Otabek has an expensive bike and his clothes look high-end –– he is definitely not poor.

Family in general. Kazakhs are close, VERY CLOSE to their family. Mind you, family is not just parents and siblings but also your grandparents, aunts and uncles and like all 173 cousins and nieces and nephews. Everyone is ridiculously involved in your life, always there with advice and complaints. You stay connected to your parents when you move out, when you get married, when you have kids, when you DIE. When Otabek misses the weekly skype dates or check-in phone calls, HE IS SHAMED SO HARD. Do you know grandma is worried about you, think about how old she is! Otabek’s relatives brag about his achievements like they moved him up the career ladder personally, with their own two hands. There’s nothing Otabek can really do about it tho he gets annoyed

Food: city Kazakhs have a very diverse cuisine. Traditional kazakh food is like 50% batter and 50% meat and takes long ass time to prepare so we reserve it for the holidays. My family loves fish, russian dishes such as borsht and blini, Uzbek lagman, Korean kimchi tho we try to avoid pork. And it’s not like we choose one day as a “Russian cuisine day”, we just kinda??? Deside to have some borsht today?? Almaty has lots of different restaurants, almatinians love sushi, pizza and pasta, shashlyk, all kinds of experimental foods and trying new things. Kumys –– mare’s milk –– is one of the things you should try in Kazakhstan as a turist, but I know many kazakhs who have never had it or don’t like it. They say it’s really good for you tho.

Holidays: ethnic Kazakhs in Kazakhstan celebrate: birthdays, New Years, Eid al-Adha which we call Kurban Bairam, Independence Day on December 16th and Nauryz on March 22nd. Young people kinda have get togethers on Halloween because it’s fun and a reason to hang out. Nauryz is one of my faves, it’s a pagan holiday of coming of spring and new life. On Nauryz, Almaty is adorned with flowers, yurts and giant swings are set on the city square, people wear traditional clothing and dance and play and eat a lot. My family also ended up celebrating Eastern Orthdox Christmas and Easter because each year our Russian friends invite us to hang out and celebrate with them, lol.

LGBTQIA+

Main principle is “Don’t ask, don’t tell”. General conflict avoidance protocols are in place. I personally know like 3 LGBT friendly hubs/clubs in Almaty. Nobody explicitly says “gay clubs” but people just kinda know what and where those are. There are get togethers and meetings you can attend to meet people, you can hang out with your significant other in public, hug, hold hands and no one would probably say anything. Colleges and universities are generally safe places, many of my friends are out in their college and don’t face any trouble. PDA will be frowned upon, but all PDA is generally frowned upon in Kazakhstan, even hetero. Feminist and sex-positive initiatives try to educate the populace and break the status quo, and are doing really well but the government’s disposition is homophobic. If your family is religious or traditional, they probably wouldn’t go as far as disowning you, but will probably pressure and guilt-trip you. LGBT+ youth generally plan to move somewhere else or just not settle. All of this is Almaty situation tho. Being LGBT in rural area is much more dangerous.

THE BEST PART: VOCABULARY

Ok this is what I find to be the easiest way to explain Kazakh to English speakers: think Turkish but written in cyrillic, with words borrowed from Arabic and Russian.

Endearments:

zhanym, жаным: my soul. Zhanym is everything to a Kazakh. You can use it for your family, friends, SO, I called my laptop zhanym today. It can be flirty, it can be serious. If you need Otabek to be affectionate with someone, use zhanym.

ainalaiyn, айналайын: really hard to translate but something like my precious?? Usually used towards small kids, but also if a Kazakh finds something really cute.

altynym, my golden baby. I love this one for obvious reasons, lol, hi, Otabek.

Mahabbatym, махаббатым, my love +

Suiktim, сүйіктім. my love, my dear. Kinda old fashioned but really romantic. I can see Otabek using this, but he will be teased and called an old sap if he does.

Kazakh have a lot more endearments, but most of them are for children.

Basic interaction and exclamations:

Iya. Ия. Yes.

Zhok. Жоқ. No

Rakhmet. Рахмет. Thank you.

Keshir. Кешір. Sorry.

Salem, Сәлем. Hello. A familiar greeting.

Sau bol, Сау бол. Literally “Be well” but actually means goodbye. Pretty familiar too.

O Kudai, О Құдай/O Allah, О Алла! Oh my god, obviously. Used in all kinds of different situations.

Oibai, Ойбай! How does one explain oibai. When a friend jump scares you, when you receive bad news, when you check your bank account –– oibai!

Abai bol, Абай бол. Be careful, is what your mom tells you when you go out.

Expletives and Swear Words. Yeeaaah the juicy stuff.

Zhyndy, Жынды. Crazy. If someone is being stupid or inappropriate, you call them zhyndy. When you tell a dumb joke at the familty table, mom smacks you upside the head and hisses “Ooooi, zhyndy!” When Jean-Jaques is acting a fool and makes out with his reflection, Otabek rolls his eyes and mutters “Zhyndy”.

Akymak. Ақымақ. Idiot. When someone is just dumb and not worth your time.

Ittin balasy. Иттің баласы. Child of a dog. It can be as harmless as “you pup” and as offensive as “son of a bitch” depending on the situation.

Kotindy kys. Көтіңді қыс. Squeeze you ass. God I love this one. When someone being an obnoxious wannabe, tell them they should squeeze their ass and check themselves.

Jean-Jaques: I am gonna be the King of the Grand Prix!

Otabek: Kotindy kys.

Shygasyn ba?! Шығасың ба?! You wanna go bro?! Ohh, someone is gonna catch these Kazakh fists.

Sigil. Сігіл. Basically go fuck yourself.

Sheshen ahmy/Sheshen sigem. Шешең амы/Шешең сігем. Your mother’s c*nt/Imma fuck your mother. REALLY FUCKING OFFENSIVE. Say this to a Kazakh if you have a death wish.

——————————————————————————————-

AND THEEEEEEERE YOU GO.

Again, this is just the basics. Do more research and talk to as many Kazakhs and Kazakhstani people as you can. We are a different but usually an interesting bunch. Thanks for your attention, Sawyer out!

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

I want to get into kpop but i don't have any idea where to start? There's so much out there, do you have any tips or recs?

Why hello friend and future Kpop cohort!

I totally get you. The genre is pretty expansive and it can feel overwhelming. Especially if you’re brand new and you have no idea what’s good and what’s not. I got into it with a slight bit of advantage because I got into it about 10 years or so ago, before it really started getting big in western pop culture. So I was able to kind of grow into it and watch the genre grow with me and from there I could figure out my tastes when it comes to that industry.

How did I originally get into it? Well, like the total weeb I am, I am an anime lover so I would listen to their opening theme songs and a lot of it I really liked the sound of, so from there I kind of got into jpop (Japanese-pop) and then I started experimenting more with Kdramas, jdramas, cdramas, tdramas, etc. And just like with anime, I would listen to the music being played and think, “ok, I like that, where can I buy it?”. The downside is that 10 and 15 years ago, the Asian pop industry was not big in western culture so it was super hard to acquire the music through legal means. A lot of the music wasn’t available on the US Itunes or any of the other venues. I would literally have to make playlists on youtube for those songs or illegally download them, etc. But the thing with finding the music on youtube back in those days was that youtube was still relatively new and copyright issues was a seemingly never-ending battle there (I mean, it still is but that’s beside the point, youtube needs to hurry up and get with the times!). So you could create playlists of your favorite Asian drama songs but the videos had a tendency to be blocked frequently because of copyright claims (especially with the Japanese songs, Japan takes no prisoners when it comes to copyright). There was also a time when I would go on Amazon and just purchase the physical soundtrack CD as well.

But thankfully, those days are now over. I am so happy that this music industry is starting to make more of a wave over on this side of the world so I don’t have to jump through all of these hoops trying to find music that I want to listen to. i can typically find everything I’m looking for on Spotify these days.

As for any tips on how you can get into it, there’s really not much I can say. Like with all music, its completely subjective, based on your own music tastes. A lot of it is going to be trial and error. If you have Pandora, I would recommend listiening to a Kpop station and that should kind of give you a feel for the type of music you’re into and which bands and artists you would like to follow. You could also take my approach -- you could watch anime and the various Asian dramas and listen to those soundtracks and that can also give you a feel for the kinds of music you like. What I’ve taken to recently is creating two Spotify playlists. One playlist is designated for putting all the music in for all of the artists I’m interested in potentially following (Asian Pop is what I titled it). Then while I’m at work, I’ll turn on the playlist and whenever a song comes on that I’m really vibing with, I add it to the second playlist (Asian Pop Faves). And after a while, you start building up a good playlist full of songs you’re really vibing with.

As I don’t know what your music tastes are, I can’t really recommend music that you’ll definitely like. But I can give you some of the bands and artists I listen to.

Here are a few of the more popular bands that are getting pretty big right now:

-BTS (I’m not a huge stan of BTS but they have a few songs I like)

-Twice

-Red Velvet

-Blackpink

I’ll also give you some of my faves.

BoA (K-Pop, J-Pop) – Of course, if you’ve been following me a while, you knew there was no way I was not going to include her as a recommendation. I love her so much, I think her voice is super unique and she’s an absolute powerhouse when it comes to performing live. She’s been dubbed the Queen of Kpop and no matter what, no matter what the next big thing comes out of the industry is, BoA will always by my Once and Future Queen of the industry.

2NE1(K-Pop) – If you like Blackpink but have never listened to 2NE1, what even are you doing with your life? So much of Blackpink is heavily inspired by the era left behind 2NE1. 2NE1 sadly isn’t active anymore but they have left a permanent mark on the industry for sure. NO ONE interested in Kpop should sleep on 2NE1 in my opinion.

AAA (J-Pop) – This is a J-pop band and much like BoA, I’ve been following them for the past decade or so. They’re kind of unique in the sense that the band is a mix of both men and women. This is actually a rarity within the industry. You don’t see it too much. I suspect its because the industry often caters their music to different fanbases. All male bands will cater to a specific fanbase in their music, while all-female bands will cater to a different fandom with their music. So when you have both grouped together, you kind of have to find a middle-ground in that area and I think AAA has really succeeded in that area. I love their sound and they are so much fun to watch live.

Back-On (J-Pop) – Another J-Pop band. This one is all-male. If you’re into a little more of a rock vibe, this is the band for you.

Hikaru Utada (J-Pop) – If you’re into Kingdom Hearts, then you’ve already heard her but definitely don’t sleep on any of her other projects. I think she’s really great and has more of an R&B style approach to her pop.

Pentagon (K-Pop) – An all-male band. They got the nice boy-band pop sound if you’re looking for that

IU (K-Pop) – Female artist. She has a very clear soprano voice and she often mixes jazz style into her pop which creates a really unique sound that I enjoy.

Punch (K-Pop) – Along the same lines with IU, a really very clear beautiful voice

KARD (K-Pop) – A mix of male and female artists, they don’t have a lot out right now, but what I’ve heard so far I really like.

Also, if you’re looking for a soundtrack to listen to, I recommend the You’re Beautiful kdrama soundtrack. It’s really great and also if you want to watch a kdrama, You’re Beautiful is also a fantastic drama as well.

Here’s some individual songs that I like a lot:

Cool Hot Sweet Love – Red Velvet

RPM – SF9

Drama – AAA

Horizon – AAA

Milky Way – BoA

Masayume Chasing – BoA

Woman – BoA

Manhattan Tango – BoA

Make Me Complete – BoA

Everlasting – BoA

The Shadow – BoA

No. 1 – BoA

M.E.P – BoA

Implode – BoA

Romance – Boa

Hurricane Venus – BoA

Etude – BoA

One Shot, Two Shot -- BoA

(alright, that’s it with the BoA recs; I told you guys, I love her)

Grip! – Every Little Thing

Dejavu – AAA

First Name – AAA

Next Stage – AAA

Thank You – AAA

Hide-Away – AAA

Find You – AAA

Get Chu! --- AAA

Strike Back – Back-On

Bad Boy – Red Velvet (there’s both a Korean and English version, both sound great!)

It’s Me (Pick Me) – Produce 101

Just Do It Yo! – Pentagon

Make It Right – BTS

Boy in Luv – BTS

Done For Me – Punch

DNA – BTS

2NE1 – Happy

As If Its Your Last – Blackpink

It Hurts – 2NE1

Ugly – 2NE1

Psycho – Red Velvet

Don’t Leave Me – BTS

Scary Fairy Tale – IU

Come Back Home – 2NE1

Lost Child – IU

Havana – IU

Dinosaur – AKMU

Fake Love – BTS (both regular version and rock version)

With you – Back-On, Me

Yes or Yes – Twice

Endless Fighters – AAA

Peter Pan -- EXO

3-6-5 -- EXO

But anyway, I think that’s it for now. This list in no way encompasses everything that I love in the industry but this should give a good starting point!

[pynkhues]

Hi! You’ve said you’re really into movies before and now I’m curious about a few things. If this makes uncomfortable, please do ignore me.

Aside from english speaking movies (by that I mean any american, english, australian, etc, movies). What movies were you really into? What film industry to you wanna check out next? Have you ever watched Bollywood films? Asian film? Arabic films?

All in all, I just wanna get some insight on your film brain haha.

Hi! Yes! I love movies of all different languages and cultures, anon, and I watch pretty widely.

I’d say I’m definitely more versed in English-language films of course, but I’ve also watched big chunks of the back catalogue of many really iconic international filmmakers. I’ve watched pretty much all of Ingmar Bergman’s films for instance, and a lot of Akira Kurosawa’s, Federico Fellini’s, Kenji Mizoguchi’s (Ugetsu is p great in particular), Vittorio De Sica’s, and more, but I also watch a lot of newer films too. Recently I’ve seen the German film Land of Mine ago which I found deeply affecting, the Kenyan lesbian romance Rafiki which I also really enjoyed, and the pretty terrible, but also pretty fun Chinese eco-thriller The Wandering Earth, among many others!

Generally speaking, I try to watch three to five movies a week, and of that, I try to make sure at least one is a foreign language film and one’s a documentary.

For instance this week I’ve watched four films so far!

The Dry which is a new Australian film starring Eric Bana about a man who returns to the small town he grew up in after his childhood friend commits a murder-suicide, killing his wife and young son and then himself. It was very good, and a thriller that managed to be both tense and kind of meandering? Which is a really interesting mix to pull off!

Blindspotting, which is an American dark dramedy about an ex-convict three days away from finishing his parole who sees a cop kill an unarmed Black man. I loved it and was really affected by it! I’ve thought about it a lot since watching it and highly recommend it!

Harlan County USA, which is a 1976 American documentary about the unionisation of the Brookside Miners and their subsequent year-long protest after many of the miners died of black lung. Beyond that though, it’s also very much about police brutality, poverty and capitalism. It’s extremely good and even though it’s almost 50 years old, feels as relevant now as it was when it was made.

Rafiki which as I mentioned above is a Kenyan lesbian romance and somehow manages to be incredibly cute and sweet while not shying away from the complex political context of being LGBT+ in Kenya.

And I’ve also bought tickets to see the English horror film, Saint Maud at the cinema tomorrow night which I’m very excited for!

In terms of what I’m into, I’ve watched a lot of French films, a lot of Japanese films and a lot of Greek films, but at the moment, I’m particularly watching a lot of South Korean films, especially horror (over the last few months I’ve watched The Call, The Wailing, I Saw the Devil, Red Eye, The Host, Train to Busan, and re-watched A Tale of Two Sisters which is a fave), and I’ve recently started watching a bit of Israeli cinema (Waltz with Bashir, Foxtrot, I Love You Rosa and The House on Chelouche Street being the ones I can name off the top of my head).

I haven’t actually watched a lot of Indian films or Bollywood films though! It definitely feels like a major canon I’m missing – particularly given I’d say Deepa Mehta‘s Elements Trilogy is in my top 100 movies.

So yes! I hope that’s interesting, haha. I’m always open to movie recommendations too or questions about movies. I’ll watch pretty much anything and feel like I’m a known rambler on here at this point, hahaha. 😊

[ofcecilia]

⌠ DAISY EDGAR-JONES, 20, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, CECILIA CASIRAGHI! according to their records, they’re a FIRST year, specializing in SEDUCTION & FLIRTATION + LINGUISTICS, CULTURE & ASSIMILATION; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (pink satin sheets, the warm glow of a sunrise, the first pour of a bottle of red wine, unflinching doe eyes). when it’s the (capricorn)’s birthday on 1/13/01, they always request CANNOLIS from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ deanna, 25, she/her, est ⍀

NAME: Cecilia Anastasia Casiraghi

KNOWN AS: Cecilia, Celia, Cissy

BIRTHDATE:  January 13, 2001

ASTROLOGY:  Capricorn sun / Virgo moon / Pisces rising

HOMETOWN: Tuscania, Italy

RESIDENCE:  London, England

GENDER:  Cis female  ( she/her )

SEXUAL ORIENTATION:  Bisexual

HEIGHT:  5'7"

HAIR COLOR:  Dark Brown

EYE COLOR:  Dark Brown

TATTOOS:  None

KNOWN LANGUAGES:  English, Italian, Russian, French, Spanish

IMMEDIATE FAMILY: 

Allegra Casiraghi: Mother, currently in jail

Federico Casiraghi:  Father, currently in jail

Salvatore Casiraghi: Eldest brother

Niccolo Casiraghi: Second eldest brother

Anya Casiraghi: Elder sister

ABOUT:

Born Cecilia Anastasia Casiraghi, the baby of the Casiraghi family. You know them and you hate them, real asshat parents who value money and prestige over actually being nice to their kids. It's hard not to grow up despising your parents in that setting, though Cecilia would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the being rich part of it all.  Still, it wasn't worth the pressure and scrutiny she received from her parents.

She grew up in a giant castle in Italy where she liked to pretend she was a princess trapped in the highest tower waiting to be rescued. Cecilia watched her older siblings seem so put together and polished, exactly what their parents wanted them to be, and couldn't help but feel isolated from the rest of her family  ( though her older brother Nico was her fave ) .   The older she got, the longer she waited for things to snap into place, only to be met with disappointment.

She got more rebellious as she got older, which didn't bode well in the Casiraghi household. Her father tried to break her spirit, which in turn only made her angier, causing her to run away when she was sixteen.  She didn't leave so much of a note to her family, but she knew if they wanted to find her, they'd have the resources to do so.  They didn't.

She struggled once moving to London, because a rich girl isn't exactly great at not being rich, but she had been saving up stolen money from her parents for a few months before leaving, so she had enough to find herself a place to live while she worked odd jobs here and there. She wanted to focus on art, her passion, the one thing her family had always told her she was good at  ( though they also said it wasn't practical ) . But, surprise surprise, art is NOT practical, and nobody wanted to buy paintings from an actual nobody.   

The story goes that she struggled for about a year before making connections with a local art gallery to hold a week-long exhibit of her work. There she made a few sales on her art, though the most noteworthy one had been selling a self-portrait to a wealthy older man who took a liking to Cecilia and decided to fund her art career, and her lifestyle. From then on she lived the glamorous city life she had been destined for, only realizing recently that art and partying can only get her so far. She had begun to miss the world she had been born into, even if she didn't miss the family that came with it.  So Celia reached out to a few old contacts, and was able to secure herself a spot at Gallagher Academy in the fall. Despite the drama of her parents being arrested for tax evasion and fraud, she found that the name Casiraghi still holds some weight in the spy world. 

WARNING: TOP SECRET INFORMATION

The reality of the situation is that even with the money Celia had stolen from her parents, her life was nowhere close to the one she used to live, and being poor kind of got old. Plus she still had this BURNING anger towards her parents, partly for letting her leave so easily. 

She had been living on her own for almost a year, and what little money she had left was slowly depleting. She had been one level above rock bottom when a faculty member of Caledonia Institute found her. Though she had no interest in returning to the spy world, they had fed into her ego that her being a part of their team was IMPERATIVE, and in return they would give her back the life she once had, while making her parents suffer.  How could she say no to that?

At only seventeen she was one of the youngest to enroll in Caledonia, and she became a professional spy in the process.  She'd have to sit through two years of training and schooling before getting an active mission, but training at Caledonia -- while strict -- was unlike the harsh treatments she was used to from training with her family. With a new outlook on the spy world, Cecilia began to enjoy it once more, and it helped that she was good at it. 

Mr. Stewart of Caledonia had promised her that her parents would pay for their sins, and in the spring he had upheld his end of the bargain.  Her parents were caught and tried for tax evasion and fraud, and she heard through the grapevine that they'll be going to jail for a long time. Though she wasn't sure what this means for her siblings, Celia was just glad karma finally bit them in the ass.

Conveniently after they're arrested, Mr. Stewart gave Cecilia an assignment for the fall :   everyone knows about Cole Conner's Gallagher Academy assignment from last fall, and how he's garnered less-than-stellar results. So she’s been enrolled as an incoming first year, returning to the spy world with a story weaved of her glamorous life in London, ready to pay off her debts to Caledonia without hesitation.  

PERSONALITY:

Celia is a total chameleon, able to morph her image and personality when needed in social situations.  It's how she makes herself easily likable and gets people to let her in easily, though her doe eyes certainly don't hurt.  She makes it easy for people to get wrapped up in her storytelling and the lies she spins for the sake of getting on other's good sides. Not only is she good at it, but she gets off on the thrill of it, because it's fun pretending to be someone you're not !   Whatever you want her to be, she can be it.

Underneath the surface, Cecilia is truly a spoiled brat who likes getting her way and winning, and once in a while parts of that haughtiness will break through the cracks of her facade. Caledonia had worked hard to take the rebel out of the girl, but parts of it still appear on occasion, though never against her agency. 

Above everything, she's trying not to make waves while in Gallagher, to go by undetected, so the easiest way to describe her would be Nice.  ( This might change while I play her so we’ll see welp. )

TL;DR:  She's Nico's younger sister !  But ran away from her family when she was sixteen because she hates them, and at her lowest point Caledonia Institute swooped in and saved her  ��( and also got her parents arrested and made them lose their money whomp whomp )  and now she's a double agent working for them. She’s looking to make friends with everyone who’s anyone at Gallagher. Two-faced bitch but ya gotta love her ?  Or don't, you probably shouldn't.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

She’s going to be meticulously crafting her own inner circle of friends for her own enjoyment at Gallagher, a mix of people from influential families and those who are deemed “popular” or worth having around, please send headshots and a resume if ur interested xoxo

Family friends of the Casiraghi family, who she hasn’t seen in at least three years. 

Other students who trained with her siblings in the super super exclusive training program her parents ran. 

Those she's crossed paths with living in London for a year: friends, flings, fellow artists, coworkers at her crappy jobs, etc.

Fellow first years she can glom onto for automatic friendships right off the bat, regardless of who they are

Legacy family students she can cozy up to for the sake of her job

Someone who is reluctant to trust her, despite her attempts to befriend them/get on their good side

Someone with a crush on her that can sorta see how malleable her personality and is like? But show me the real you?

A no-strings relationship that’s purely physical 

Someone she’s stringing along for the sake of getting close and getting information out of them

An upperclassman mentor figure to show her the ropes of Gallagher and help her acclimate 

A ride or die that she feels a kinship with, where they click enough that she can be more like herself   ( aka a little bitchy )

Someone with a really optimistic/romantic outlook on life that truly tests Cecilia’s efforts to match their enthusiasm 

Fellow artists she can spend her free time painting in the gardens with and help her get back into it

Fellow LCA + S&F majors who she’ll either have in her classes or that can give her some class pointers or offer their old notes to her

Someone she got drunk with and maybe let something slip that she shouldn’t have and now it’s awk

Someone weak-willed that she can easily take advantage of/manipulate into doing things for her

Fellow smokers even though I don’t condone the habit!

I have some things on her pinterest page here for inspo, also this tag

Lit rally anything please hmu !

[makeupbychio]

Lost & Found // Chapter 3.

Pairing: Calum Hood x Rosie Rivera (Latina and dancer female character).

Words: 6.3k

Summary of the chapter: Go out to a club one night brings more than just inspiration. After the great news they get to know Rosie’s life and other reality besides the rockstar lifestyle. 

Playlist made by me: L&F.

Warnings: alcohol, fights, mentions of violation of human rights in the past. Italic and bold means song lyrics.

a/n: hi babies! chapter three here, this one is my fave because all of the writing for the party was really excited for me as I pictured in my head. Hope you enjoy it, feedback is more than welcome. I also love how I’m adding things that should be talk because it’s someone’s reality. All mistakes are mine. Love y’all, take care and stay safe xoxo.

[Prologue], [Chapter 1], [Chapter 2]

I know you want me Every day, not only when you're lonely‚ yeah You see me think you know me But you don't even know nothing about me‚ yeah

The guys went to every floor of the club to check the vibes of the different types of music. Tecno was the least favorite so they came back with the girls that were in the platform with Gigi and their other friends. VIP view just for them because Gigi doesn't allow too many people up there.

Michael amazed of Gigi's work and took the opportunity to chat with her about it and she promised him to take control of the music later. She gave the welcome to everyone to start the night. The boys decided to stay a little longer there while the girls and their friend Dominique  followed them to join the dance floor once Work by Rihanna started playing.

"Cool that you have alcohol up here too, Gigi" Luke said taking a beer from the ice bucket there was.

The girls have no shame when it comes to dance and having fun. The word 'boring' is not in their vocabulary so it's not a surprise founding them giving everything on the dance floor. It was their first song and they were dancing with so much confidence and shameless but here in this side of the planet is what is running in everyone's blood. Passion. Passion for everything that sometimes it could be a double-edged sword.

After a whole song dancing dancehall steps, they went for another round of tequila. Every time Rosie has a tequila shot it reminds her of the night before of her last high school day. They drank too much till 4 am that the next all of her friends went with sunglasses, a blue gatorade bottle and a pill for the hangover.

Calum was resting on the metal barrier, hands on the beer bottle's neck while watching the girls dancing. He laughed when Cami accidentally hit a stranger's head dancing. He looked down to the floor trying to hide his smile. Alcohol starting to do its thing on everyone.

"They have always been like this, sorry mate but if you choose them to be your friends you have to get used to" Kevin said next to Calum who didn't hide his joy very well.

"They are hilarious" Calum said now when Dominique was doing some robot moves. "I'm sure that in one hour they are going to go off energy".

"I know them since second grade, trust me". Kevin started a conversation with Calum. At some point Ashton disappeared, Luke went downstairs to sit in the bar and Michael was searching on Gigi's computer the songs for their shared set. After Kevin ended his beer, he went downstairs to join his friends.

The variety of music Gigi and Michael were playing was interesting. It wasn't a battle, but both of them just playing hit after hit. It was fun that twist of suddenly playing J Balvin with 'Otra Vez' to Drake with 'Passionfruit' or Bad Bunny with 'Chambea' to Travis Scott 'goosebumps'. Spanish or english, the group knew every single word and left their bodies dancing.

Calum felt so inspired with the panoramic view he has from the platform. He was partying next to the Djs, and didn't have the courage yet to join the rest but his view was better. He enjoyed and took mental notes at how in this place people's souls were left in the dance floor. The beauty of sweaty bodies and laughs between the crowd. The energy he and everyone could catch from this environment was mind blowing. Not all the people in the room knew each other, that's for sure but they looked like and it was a powerful moment to catch. Calum went downstairs to join the group for a while to drink and feel what he was thinking to lose himself in the dance floor.

You see my thick thighs Lost it when you look into my brown eyes See‚ my little waist can make you switch sides You never know the devil in the disguise So why don't you stand up, baby

And of course his friends. Luke still on the bar. Michael like the happiest kid in the world as Gigi's guest. Ashton was with the girls now, Calum lost the count about the amount of shots but he was sure that more than five tequila shots were in their bodies. He focused on Rosie, how she was dancing to 'Love Galore' by Sza and how shameless she acted in front of her friend's camera. Cami was filming for Snapchat and Instagram, making sure her followers know that they were having a good night. 

You know that kind of snaps or stories. Everyone tipsy or drunk. Showing tongues or the middle finger or blowing a kiss or a dance move or even showing more skin. It was pretty basic but Calum held his breath when later he saw Cami's stories showing Rosie modeling for her friend by taking off her denim jacket and show her outfit and her legs, then a turn to see her back and her clothed butt sparkling thanks to her dress details. 

Gigi took a break and left Michael in charge of the music for a while. She joined her friends to have a good time too. Ashton was the only one of the boys dancing and snapping videos. 

When Michael put Sorry by Beyoncé, Cami was already with more drink on her system. Rosie tried to tell her to slow down but her friend’s broken heart didn’t listen. 

“Cheers to every single boy who has broken our hearts” Gigi said raising her drink. 

“And to every single girl too” Kevin protested and Ashton, Dominique and Calum agreed with him.

Two songs later, Gigi and Dominique went to the bathroom and Ashton with Kevin and Cami were begging for some fresh air so they went to the second floor. Rosie told them that she was going to stay there. She felt at home and her friends were going to be back soon so nothing to worry.

Michael decided to play songs from Gigi folder called ‘Chile hits’ and choose one that the name sounded cool for him. ‘Damelo’ by Ceaese and DrefQuila started playing. Rosie as she was alone in the dance floor, she started to melt into the crowd dancing and feeling herself relieving all the tension and feelings for this song.

Be honest (Be honest) You want this (You want it) But I can be heartless Regardless of my conscience

Her glistening figure among the people could be noticed by Calum watching her from the bar. She didn’t notice his stare. Calum watched himself getting closer to join her, suddenly surprised of his choice, ‘it would be rude from me leaving her alone’ he tried to convince himself instead of the truth, he wanted to dance with her.

As he got closer, the view of her became ten times amazing. How her tattoos - the ones that are visible- looked in her arm and her legs. How her glistening face because of her makeup and chest because of sweat matched so good with the blue lights against her skin. The lights looked amazing on everyone, on Calum too and his similar shirt color. 

The intermittent pace of the lights made if everyone were dancing in slow motion. Calum reached Rosie and still she was lost in the song waving her arms above her head and moving her hair, her back facing Calum. To not scare her, he decided to step slowly behind her. She recognized him from his strong perfume so she let him put his body against her without turning around. The height difference made Calum to lean down his head so his breathing was hitting Rosie’s ear, so his mouth was close her ear too.

He put his left hand on her waist when he started following her body’s rhythm at the beat of the song. She raised her right arm to put her hand on Calum’s neck. Rosie feels no shame when it comes to dance, it’s when is the real her. Calum couldn’t resist himself to look down to check her, he didn’t know what he was doing but he was having a good time. He didn’t mind about his dance moves, it looks like he was doing a good job right there.

Rosie turned around to face him when Michael changed now to the folder ‘dancehall’. ‘Kiss’ by Zilla was playing -Gigi is a huge fan of dancehall culture, so she is always the one with dancehall hits from artists that are not that famous-. It was funny how Michael was messy mixing and changing the genres of the songs.

She led them into dancehall moves, slow ones like the song. No word were needed between them, he followed her body and now both of his hands on her waist, and her arms around his neck. They were so close that their faces were touching, her forehead close to his mouth. Coming to an end of the song, she looked up and she gained height, now their mouths were close and both of them looking at the others lips.

What was going to happen next was interrupted when another song by DrefQuila started playing. The fast beat of the song made them jumped and woke up from the dream and what they were doing and about to. They stepped back for space and when Calum was about to say something they were surprised by Luke’s call.

I can show you somethin' you can run to When I'm finished, you'll be feelin' brand new

“Guys, you need to come to see this” Luke’s harsh breathing showed that he was worried. While Luke guide them to the second floor, he explained them. “So I was going to the bathroom when I found Cami and Ashton dancing and then when I was going back to the bar now she was dancing with a stranger and she seemed uncomfortable and went here for help”. 

Rosie frowned her brows at confusion. Luke could easily helped Cami but he didn’t want to misunderstood the situation since he was drunk so he wasn’t sure. When they entered the room, for her surprise it was Matty’s friend -a friend of Cami’s ex-. Immediately she stepped between her best friend and this guy who had Cami trapped in the corner.

“Hey what the hell-” the guys said when he recognized Rosie’s face. The guys didn’t understand a word of what they said. You know, everything in spanish. But they could see the trembling in Cami’s hand. “Look who is! I was just dancing with your friend if you don’t mind” the guy said. Rosie gave him a hit on his shoulders to step back.

“Fuck off, Sergio. If you don’t want to be kick out of this club forever” Rosie said with confidence turning back to ask her friend if she was okay. Ashton appeared standing next to the guys.

“Why to be that grumpy? When you can show me how you dance in that dress” Sergio said when he touched Rosie’s leg. Calum felt how his blood ran faster through his veins and when he was about to hit this guy -even when they were trying not to because they can’t get in trouble- Rosie did justice when she knee him on his balls.

“Why did you just said? Motherfucker” Rosie said while Sergio was in the floor with too much pain to talk. He just let out a ‘whore’ to her.

“Rosie we should go” Cami said wasted when Sergio’s friends appeared next to them founding their friend laying on the floor. 

“Hi assholes, we were just leaving but not before giving your friend a lesson” Rosie said slowly leaving the room but another guy stopped her.

“Hell nah, princess” he said trying to hit her. Calum couldn’t resist it anymore, he punched the guy in the face. 

“Hey dude what the fuck, were you going to hit a woman?!” Ashton yelled at him. And Cami kicked Sergio on the floor to give him a lesson to not touch her or her friend again. When the guy was about to respond Calum, he dodged the punch.

“K’ we’re leaving now” Calum took Rosie to carry her like the firefighter carry. Ashton did the same with Cami. 

“No! We are not leaving!” Rosie said hitting Calum’s back to bring her back to the floor. She wanted to fight the group of assholes but she was drunk like the rest. They started running to the exit of the club with the other guys behind them thirsty of keep fighting. 

“Where is Michael?” Luke said desperate and Calum told him where to find him. Luckily, the rest -Dominique, Gigi and Kevin- were with him. Luke told them they have to leave right now.

As they reached the exit, Kevin tripped out Sergio. The security guard asked them what happened and Cami told him when he found the group of guys and banned the stupid guys forever from this club.

“Rosie, I know you can protect yourself but please next time called one of us” the security guard told her with a warning, but before he went back inside he congratulated her. And Gigi apologized to the security guard, and told Cami that it will not be repeated. Gigi said goodbye to everyone and went inside to take control as the Dj.

“What in the hell happened?” Michael missed the whole situation.

“The question is why you leave Cami alone?!” Luke asked Ashton while all of them walk back to the cabin. At this point it isn’t necessary to find a guilty.

“I just went to the bathroom for one minute and when I was back I-” Ashton said.

“Who were those morons?” Calum said, he had a feeling that they know them by the way they knew the girls names.

“They were in our school, our same generation” Kevin said. “They have always been a pain in the ass. They are rude with woman and with everyone. Once I defended Rosie and Cami because they said to every boy in the school that they were ugly girls and other stupid things”.

“Still don’t understand how your ex’s friends with them” Dominique said to Cami. She just mentioned ‘that her ex’s an asshole too’. Dominique reminded her the principal reason why Cami wanted to go to dance tonight. Rosie was carrying her by surrounding her arm around Cami’s waist and Cami put her arm around Rosie’s shoulders. Cami was the drunkest of the group.

“I wanted to do that long time ago” Rosie confessed not regretting what she did even when it sounds evil. She wanted to walk next to Calum to ask about his hand but Cami needed her more.

The night wasn’t ruined, of course it wasn’t nice to end the night like this but the rest of the night was amazing for everyone. Dominique and Kevin said goodbye, they were staying in Dominique girlfriend’s place.

+

Now back in the cabin, the boys stayed outside sitting in the wooden garden picnic table that it’s in the front while the girls inside Cami begged for something to eat -what chileans called ‘el bajón’- after too much alcohol and dancing.

+

“Guys I have an idea for a song, Michael go get your guitar” Calum said. Michael wasn’t going to do that without asking something.

“Dude before tell us if you both kissed” he said. Ashton and Luke it took them by surprise the question.

“What?!” Both said.

“We didn’t, we just danced” Calum said dry.

“Come on dude, I saw you dancing when I was in charge of the music…” now he was talking to the other two boys “and let me tell you that what I saw it was pretty promising, they were so but SO close and you -pointing at Calum- were blocking Rosie’s figure so I couldn’t see if they were kissing or not” he stood up to go inside and find his guitar. “You’re welcome Cal, I chose the right songs” he said with a teasing smile.

“That’s why you both jumped when I appeared when I asked for help” Luke connected the story. “You were going to do it but I interrupted” he was very surprised.

Calum didn’t want to talk about it, he tried to hide the blush on his cheek. He didn’t want to seem like he doesn’t respect Rosie or that he wanted to take advantage of her. It was just a cool moment they shared, which they let themselves flow with the music, the heat, the energy and let their bodies met to communicate something without words-that Calum wasn’t sure what he wanted to express-one thing for sure is that it made him feel something never experienced before.

+

“Cami it’s ready!” Rosie called her friend that was getting changed into more comfy clothes. She cooked pasta, something quick for everyone who was hungry. She was pouring a glass of water when she saw her friend about to burn herself. “Cami, no!” she hurried to move her friend that was about to dip her hand into the boiling pot with the pasta.

“I was going to check if they were ready!” Cami said, she was still very drunk by finding that a good idea instead of using a piece of cutlery.

“But you have to do it with a fork! Not with your own hand!” she was getting stressed, she took a deep breath and take care of her friend-because she would do the same for her-. “Now eat and then go to bed, please”. They have tons of funny stories from parties, this one is one more to tell to their friends.

+

“Now what?” Michael asked ready with his guitar. Calum started to explain the inspiration of this song. 

He realized that at a bar, party or club; there a different types of people. What he saw tonight from his group gave him the idea and the inspiration.

Michael was the kind of always down to meet new people by just went behind the Dj set and have a really good time. Ashton was the kind to meet a beautiful girl or talk to a friend of him and dance, have drinks and maybe having sex in the bathroom -no judgement-. Luke was the kind of getting wasted as fuck because he still misses his ex partner so he would be bartender's best friend just regretting his past. And Calum, he's not sure at all what kind of party person he is, maybe not for every occasion but tonight he was the kind of getting into a fight. 

He thought about the countless nights and stories that club could have. That he or you are never going to hear them. Stories that just stay indoors the club.

"If these walls could talk!" Calum said after a couple of guitar chords Michael gave them to find the lyrics. "Yeah, that would be the name of this song". He was really proud and very inspired.

"Did you get all the inspiration from your moment with Rosie?" Luke asked teasing him and testing him what he was going to say.

"No, Luke. Did u hear the whole story I said?" Calum said. It was true that not just Rosie inspired him, the whole night was.

+

"Why they don't go to sleep?" Cami asked sleepy. She can hear the boys singing and the guitar from her room because was the closest to the entry.

"I don't know. Just go to sleep, okay?" Rosie told her and in a few seconds Cami was knocked out. Rosie wanted to go to sleep to but she was curious so she went outside. When the boys saw her they stopped singing like if she was a spy. She rub her arms with her hands at the sudden cold night. "Don't stop playing I'm not going to leak this" she laughed. "I just wanna check if you need something before I go to bed" and the boys told her that they are fine and thanked her. She focused his attention on Calum. "Is your hand okay, Calum?" he nodded at her but she can see the redness in his knuckles. 

"Don't worry, I'm going to put ice and it's to be fine" he told her letting her know that he can still play for the next shows.

She felt kinda guilty for that but well she doesn't want to think about it too much. "K' guys goodnight".

When she went to bed she could still hear the boys laughing and throwing verses.

+

The next morning surprisingly Cami didn't have a terrible hangover headache. She has a super power with that - last year at a party on independence day she was so drunk but they needed to leave sober because Cami's mother was waiting for her in the living room and before they got inside she just walked around the neighborhood to have some air so the drunkenness could be less noticeable and it worked or that's what she thought, because her mama is not a fool.

"First of all guys, sorry for last night I fucked up everything" Cami apologized before she turned on her car. The guys let her know that everything is fine. 

Once they were in the hotel's parking lot they sadly said goodbye but Ashton promised them he will come back soon and that they are always welcome in LA or Australia. 

In their own hotel rooms, they took an early nap at 11 am even when they can sleep in the plane too because their flight was at 5 am to Argentina. 

Rosie talked with her family about London and Cami told her parents about her breakup. They are not rockstars so they have to continue their lives.

+

It was almost 4 pm when Rosie arrived her grandfather's bar. Today the bar opens late so she had the dance floor just for her to practice, well, she had to share the space with the bar's band when they arrived early to practice and set the instruments. She and the 'Dominos' are friends so they always help her to practice with live music instead of hearing the songs from her phone. 

"Thanks guys for always helping me, now I need to practice the dance for the other class" Rosie said when she handled the musical score to them. That week she had exams for her jazz class, dance performance class and ballet, so she couldn't relax right now.

"Sweetie I know this song perfectly" one of the band members said. And 'More than a woman' by Bee Gees started. She has to present this one for dance performance and her Tony Manero was -thank God- her good friend and really good student, Andre.

When she thought it was enough because she preferred Andre to be there, she moved on with the song for jazz class. 

"K' guys this is not that famous like the previous one" she handled the music scores of the song 'Maria' by the Silver Linings soundtrack -from that movie she took the song that obviously is older than the movie-. She practiced her solo because this is a group project too.

It was 6 pm when on the other side of the door Ashton was waiting in the car and told Calum to go find you. And when nobody answered but heard the music and saw the 'close' sign on the door he just opened the door and he found her dancing too damn focused on the routine. 

It was the first time he saw her dancing something not related to club. At her purest with a classic dance. He imagined her with a beautiful dress presenting this to her class and he couldn't imagine a bad grade for her, the teachers would be crazy if they would ever do that. When she finished and waited 3 more seconds that she stayed in the final bow, he started clapping. 

"Gosh, Calum you have to stop always greeting me like this" she said when she saw him leaning on the door. 

"Well, Miss Rivera if you don't turn on all the speakers you could hear when someone is knocking on the door" he gave her an advice in a teasing tone and smile while he walked closer to the dance floor. "Hi".

"Hi Calum, don't offend but what are you doing here? you should be taking a plane" she said confused. 

"See my lady, our flight is very late and we wanted to spend more time with you" he said not telling her the truth. The truth was that Mario invited the guys to the house for tea to celebrate the great news of Rosie's exchange. 

"I would love to but I have to practice a little bit more" she bit her lower lip resisting to his invitation. And an idea clicked in her head. "As my dance partner is not here, what if you help me and at the same time I teach you how to dance" she said excited grabbing him by his arm. Before Calum could protest, the music was playing and she showed him simple jazz moves that even a mummy could do. He wasn't prepared for part of the deal to be done that day.

"But I didn't have my bass here to teach you" he said before she grabbed his hand to put in practice what she taught him. 

"K' put your right hand on my waist" she could tell that he was nervous. "Come on, Cal. I'm not going to bite you". He placed his hand where she told him and the other one held her hand. She remembered him to have fun and that just the guys from the band were watching them. 

The music started playing by the instruments and it sounded exactly like the original song. The melody is so peaceful and beautiful that he would never get tired of it. 

At the start his moves were messy and off rhythm to follow hers. But he took her words, took a deep breath and like last night just flow. And as he relaxed, they started moving around the dance floor and the room. This moment is so charming that even if he never gets to see her again, he's going to remember this moment forever. How the warm lights looked against their silhouettes, the fun he was having and how she looked already like a professional dancer for him. 

The outro of the song was coming, and just like the movie, he took her after her solo and turn around and then again holding her and made a mental picture of the proximity- chest to chest - before he leaned her back back and his face close to her neck when the last chords of jazz sounded. They stayed there a couple of seconds catching their breaths -by the clothes she was wearing to practice, he could see the skin of her neckline and how it went up and down after 4 minutes of dancing. 

"You were amazing!" she told him once he helped her to stand straight again. She told him her thoughts and it was better than she expected. He blushed at the comments.

"I can see you doing this in big projects" he encouraged her. He was dreaming big and she thanked him and called him crazy at the same time. 

"Okay so if I ever reach those big projects you are talking about, I hope I auditioned with this song" or at least remember this moment. 

Calum waited for her in the room while she changed her clothes. Then he lead her to the car. 

"Ashton! Hi!" Rosie greeted him with a hug inside the back of the car. 

"I've been waiting for you two. What the hell, did you found the cure for cancer?" he said referring to all the time he waited.

"I'm so happy to see you again too, Ash" she joked and squeezed his cheeks. 

The boys were not telling her the surprise and threatened them to scream if they don't tell her, but when she recognized the well known route she stopped asking. 

"What are we doing in Cami's house?" she asked and when they opened the front door everyone jumped to scream 'surprise'.

Michael and Luke were already there. Cami's whole family too. Her parents and her grandfather. Her friends from last night too.

She greeted everyone with a big hug and smile. 

During all night Rosie, Cami and Mario helped translating to the rest. 

The house is huge because with 4 children in the family and from different ages. They needed their own room. It has a garage, a big backyard and a lot of space in the hallways. 

Rosie was so excited to see Max - Cami's 4 years old little brother -. He had been so busy with his therapy. When guys met him they understood what Cami told them about being worry of bullies in his school. Max is on a wheelchair after an accident when he was 3 years old. He's been in the chair since then but attends a special foundation to help him to recover because he has possibilities to walk again.

"Yeah it's been a hard year but I would do anything for my kids" Marcela - Cami's mom - told the boys when they asked politely.

"But the system still sucks, the state of this country should pay for treatments and give them the basic amenities like transport" Rosie said abruptly angry but everyone feels the same. Marcela has to take the subway in summer and winter, melting with the heat or freezing with the low temperatures at 7 am every single morning, and even when there is campaigns to collect money isn't enough because Cami's family spends a lot of money on it. 

Max , or Maxi is how he likes to be called, is the funniest kid in the world and so talented in everything. 

"Maxi what if you show the boys what you wanted" Cami told him helping him to go to the garage. Maxi was very nervous that night but shyly he asked Cami to told the boys that he is a big fan and that Ashton is his favorite member. 

"He's been playing the drums since he got it from last Christmas" Rosie told them. He is unbelievable because at age of 2 he learned traditional latin dances, now the drums and he loves to learn different things every day. 

"Do you need help with the bass drum, buddy?" Ashton offered his help and he couldn't say no to his idol. He played first his favorite Chilean song from an andino group - which Ashton freestyled when to play the bass drum - and then he surprised them playing 'Don't Stop' - his favorite -. The guys clapped and cheered him like a champion because he freaking nailed it. 

"Okay Maxi, what if know we go sit to have dinner" Gabriel told him because he knows his child that he can be playing all night. Everyone took a seat and had the chance to know the rest of the families. Mario did a review of how he knows Ashton. 

"This man right here is like a hero" Gabriel said. "You know thanks to him I met my wife" And he told the guys the story of it. When during the dictatorship Mario hid Gabriel and his family in the closets when soldiers  always interrupted his house. Mario was always a suspicious for being a journalist and his well known opinion against dictatorship, so a lot of times soldiers broke his things that they found out of order - most of the times they just burned books related to arts, music, all books to be honest -. Mario always laughed at their tiny minds because they always appeared at the same time and the same days of the week so Gabriel and his family were already secure in the secret place. 

"And one night Marcela was running from them because the curfew caught her when she was leaving a friend's house. So desperately she asked my wife to help her or the soldiers were going to kill her" Mario continued the story. And Antonia - Mario's wife and Rosie's grandmother - helped Marcela and she met Gabriel. Even in terrible times good things happened but of course till today South America can't recover from that horrendous years and never going to forget or forgive what happened because till today people are looking for their disappear loved ones. 

Then Joy - Rosie's mother - served dessert and Luke asked her for another slice of her famous apple pie. 

They kept talking after dessert, then Maxi asked them to go with him to his room to see his new football ball and his collection of Star Wars Lego toys. The boys felt kinda jealous of Maxi because of the cool things. Ashton was still surprised for the drums, Calum went directly to the ball and play with Maxi a little bit and Michael made Maxi promise him to take care of any Star Wars thing he could receive. At the frame of the door Cami supervised that her brother didn't injure himself but she smiled watching him interacting with other people and felt comfortable because she knows the hell it could be when people bullies you in school.

"Okay Maxi now look at the camera" Marcela said when she asked the guys for a picture and all of them kneeled down at his height. "Good job baby, now you are going to be even coolest boy in this city". She was cheering him, he just met one of his favorite bands.

It was time to say goodbye, sadly. They promised Mario to come back and Ashton told the girls to keep in contact. They wished Rosie good luck and told Maxi that he is going to get out the chair sooner than he thought and that he can call Ash to threaten the bullies. A lot of hugs, good wishes and 'thanks for the lovely dinner' before the boys went directly to the airport. 

+

Joy went to Cami's room where her daughter was talking to her best friend and told her that they were going home. 

Once in their place, Arthur - Rosie's father - went directly to bed after he congratulated his daughter. And Joy wanted to talk with Rosie about something. 

"They are pretty funny guys" Joy said sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"Yeah. I thought that they were going to be assholes or divas but no" Rosie said ordering her clothes spilled all over a chair. 

"Yeah, Mario told me a fight happened last night" she said worried.

"Oh don't worry, mom. It was some pervs but I put them in their place but the guys helped to "stop" the fight" Rosie explained without looking at her. 

"Yeah, sweetie I just want to make sure that don't get your expectations too high about a guy right now" Joy grabbed her hand to stop her cleaning her room. "You are going to go to London and I just want for you success in this exchange" she smiles at her and Rosie was surprised because she knows her mom's opinion when she dropped University to follow her dream of being a dancer.

"Thank you, mom" she hugged her before she left her alone in her room. That's what you can call 'process' to Joy's attitude. She knows that her dad feels the same way but she understood why the last few months he is been acting weird because his job is not that easy. 

+

1 month later

Rosie was waiting for her call outside the gate, she was in Roma and not to be rude but her first impression of Italians wasn't the best. Pure chaos the Roma's airport, another language, people yelling, little amount of sleep, anxiety, excited, a mix of everything, but she is going to get used to it because London is going to be no different from chaos.

And after the very first week on London she confirmed. The university was dreamy, she wishes that all academies would look the same, but there is a teacher that is a pain in the ass. Also what about all of the combinations of the subway? and she still thinks that why english have to contradict everything. She had euros to buy in Italy then changed them to pound for England, the opposite side of the driver in the cars that confused her the first time she called an uber.

Thanks to the universe that she has friendly roommates. Two of them from Argentina, one from Puerto Rico and one from Spain. She lives with them inside the campus and all of them from different careers too. 

Her dancers friends by now are Darren who is from Glasgow, twin brothers Louis and Lewis from France and Sarah from Jamaica. 

By far she had explored London by her own, sometimes she asks the exchange supervisor for basic stuff like bank, market, drugstore, museums, etc. But for the rest of the fun she just goes out with her friends or her roommates. 

"Sorry if it's too early" Rosie said to Cami. They facetime almost every day, but still forgets the different time zones. We already know that Cami is not a morning person. 

"It's fine, I have to go with Maxi to his therapy" Cami said "So how it went your first exam with that evil teacher?"

"I passed, but she's a pain in the ass. Now we have to practice the triple for the annual dance show" Rosie said while she was having lunch and Cami breakfast.

"Cool! Rosie don't see this as a bad thing because you have to spend more time with your teacher, you have to see this as an opportunity" her friend was right, she had seen the theaters in London and they are huge and a lot of plays everywhere. She went to Harry Potter's play and one day saw Orlando Bloom in the street. Darren was disappointed the day they went to Winston castle and didn't meet the queen. 'You can invite the queen to a cup of tea another day' Rosie told him, she didn't understand his love for the royal family but he thanked her for the motivation. 

"If she doesn't kill us before the show, thanks and say hi to everyone! Gotta go we have to go to class". Rosie hanged up. 

As always, her wise friend helped her to see the situation with another perspective and she has to enjoy the next months in London because things are going to get interesting.

Be honest You want this (You want this) But I can be heartless Regardless of my conscience