#the boomers were right. we have lost our way.

[kuroananosanji]

It’s so hard engaging with the English-speaking fandom sometimes because people are so comfortable with expressing negativity unprompted. You’re not supposed to be rude to someone over something that’s not real. Your words are being heard by real, living people, BE POLITE.

[ginnyrules27]

Look, I know right now it's probably annoying to deal with all these posts about American politics if you're not an American, but I have to say this to any and all of my American followers.

Vote. VOTE. If you are 18 or older, unless you are in a motherfucking coma or worse, VOTE!

Following the recent SCOTUS decision, it's crucial to acknowledge that a Trump re-election could seriously jeopardize the return of our democracy. With the potential for a national abortion ban and a rollback of hard-fought rights and protections, the stakes are incredibly high. We cannot afford to overlook the possibility of Trump appointing replacements for justices Alito and Thomas, both in their late 70s.

'Oh but Biden didn't cancel my student loan debt despite canceling others-' and do you think a Trump White House will do anything for student loan relief?

'Under Biden, we lost Roe' -Do I even need to explain that it was the Trump justices who gave the conservatives the power to attack the established law of Roe with unparalleled audacity?

Listen, people need to remember this: Biden's international policies may be criticized, but let's not forget that Trump admitted on national television that Putin informed him about the invasion of Ukraine before it even happened. Ukraine took place in 2022, and remember, Trump was out of office in 2021!

'Oh but they started developing a vaccine for COVID under Trump and Biden's just taking the credit-' Biden wasn't the one who defunded the department of the CDC that Obama set up after the Ebola crisis to prevent a pandemic from happening in the US. And Biden wasn't the one who told the American people to drink bleach to prevent themselves from getting COVID.

Progressives, listen up! Some of you are thinking of voting for Stein, but I need you to hear me out. If fewer people had voted for Gore over Nader or for Hillary over Stein, we wouldn't be in this mess. Progress is not always straightforward, but do you really think we'll be closer to a progressive movement if we let Trump regain power?

Biden's age is a fact that can't be argued against. Born in '42, he belongs to the Silent Generation, not the boomer generation. Trump, born in '46, is a boomer. Despite his age, Biden still garnered a significant number of votes in 2020, with 81 million people seemingly unconcerned about his age. Until we address the need to raise millions of dollars to run for president, we shouldn't expect to see many younger faces in politics.

This isn't a 'pick the lesser of two evils' scenario. This is a 'if I want change to be possible, I need to elect the team who will make change possible' scenario.

To the millennials and Gen Zs on this site: We often complain about the ways in which boomers have negatively impacted future generations by neglecting pensions and allowing the cost of living to rise while wages remain stagnant. If we eventually have children, do we want them to believe that previous generations had the opportunity to prevent a worst-case scenario but didn't take action because of personal preferences?

Last thing because this post is getting far too long, in 2017, white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. After it happened, Trump made a speech where he stated there were 'very fine people' on both sides. I can't believe I have to say this but please let's not allow the man who said that and then tried to gaslight the country that he didn't say that even though there's video of it!

[boxingcleverrr]

Life Update!

(c/p from Facebook, thus the "updating the boomer family members + their friends" tone, haha)

Oh hi, didn’t see you there!

I’d like to say that I’ve been absent from posting/missing lots of DMs the last few weeks because life has continued to be a whirlwind. The truth is I’ve been eyeballs-deep in Baldur’s Gate 3 ever since Terry got it for my birthday, and I have no shame about that!

November and the first half of December were equal parts whirlwind and chill, between reconnecting in person, recovering my sanity from the moving process, and getting all the hoops jumped through to get my stuff over the border and into storage. The rest of December was a nice cozy few weeks of birthdays, christmas, and carving out a space for ourselves in Terry’s extremely generous dad’s house. I’ve got my desk set up, which is the keystone to my feeling like I belong somewhere, my portal for either telling stories, or enjoying them.

When not gaming or writing, though, I’ve just been enjoying being here, being walking distance from almost everything, getting my steps in. I can grocery shop almost the same way I did in Japan, and I can find all my favorite Japanese snacks easily, haha. Seeing a movie for my birthday isn’t a huge hassle! What a concept!

I really do prefer city life, as long as I can see trees and mountains too, and Vancouver is certainly not lacking in either.

Sansa is settling in well enough, though she is truly showing her age now, I fear. The plane ride made her feel it all, I think, and while her tummy has long since settled and her walkies schedule has returned to normal, she’s officially an Old Lady Dog D: But she likes it here! So many new smells, a new cat sibling she gets along just fine with, and another doting dad to pester in Jim. She loves a dad! She’ll also always be vocal, but the walls are well-insulated, haha. Being old means she’s happy to nap most of the day away on the nice new comfy bed Terry got her, and if she gets barky or snippy it’s usually because her sight or her arthritis is bothering her, or both. I’m happy her last couple of years will be comfy and pet-CBD-filled.

Terry is now back to work on a new show, so we’ll be back to apartment hunting this coming week! We already have our applications in for several co-ops, but the housing crisis here is real and frustrating. We are putting our eggs in MANY baskets. Thankfully I do not feel too cramped or anything, our small space is cozy and we coexist very very well in the same space. We're just anxious to finally have and spread out in our own home! I got soups to make with this new stick blender!!! All the thoughts, prayers, hopes, leads, tips, are GREATLY appreciated on that front.

As well as for my paperwork! As a spouse/family member now, I can be here 6 months at a time without a visa, no problem. Which gives me plenty of time to get my *work* visa application in, as well as finish up my PR package. We’re getting savvier about navigating all that by the day, however, unsurprisingly, the US doesn’t make anything intuitive or easy (HOW is the fingerprinting machine at THE SEATTLE CITY POST OFFICE just…busted? For months now?). So you know, it’s a headache, but at least we know we’re doing everything right on our end! That work visa is important though, so I can stay here, documented, as long as I can until my PR is approved, which right now we’re quoted can take 1-2 years, coming from the US. Not too bad, just, get those stupid bureaucratic wheels greased.

Anywhoo, as much as I feel like my day-to-day isn’t that exciting, it is new and different and much better suited to me, I think. The world at large out there is getting quite upsetting (we lost Bowie right before the last time cheeto was up, now we lose David Lynch, reality is losing David-shaped bearing walls left and right D:), but it sure is a lot easier to take with your bestie with you. The only things I’m missing, really, are the important things: Fam, Friends, and Snow.

But it’s still quite cold here, and I can walk in that cold all the way to a nice big bowl of Pho, if I wanna, enjoying the view of snow-capped mountains beyond the buildings, and that makes me pleased beyond measure. I’m gonna spend my Sunday afternoon teaching myself basic Mandarin between dives into Act II of Baldur’s Gate, maybe put on some Baking Show, and contemplate how to extract myself from Meta products, the emojis on FB are terrible, haha.

[dontforgetukraine]

1. On “The” Ukraine

Let’s just start here. The use of the definite article “the” is appropriate when referring to a region like “the south” or even a grouping of states or countries like “The United States” or “The United Kingdom”, but you would never say “The England” or “The Australia'' now would you? The usage of the article minimizes Ukraine and calls into question its territorial integrity as a sovereign nation, as though it’s part of something else (like the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union.) In fact, in 1993, Ukraine officially asked Russia to drop the Soviet-era practice of calling it “The Ukraine.” It’s just Ukraine. Plain and simple. In the same way, a boomer calling it “The Facebook” sounds like nails on a chalkboard; calling it “The Ukraine” is much the same for a Ukrainian. 

2. On Russian speakers in Ukraine

There are some things in life we can’t control, like who our parents are, where we were born, or what language we grew up speaking. No one denies that Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991, or the Russian Empire before that. Because of that, many Ukrainians, especially those living in its urban centers, spoke and still speak Russian. That is primarily because there was always a hierarchy of languages, and Russian was treated as the superior language, above all others. But the Ukrainian language, and Ukraine for that matter, has existed since long before that. The roots of the language can be traced as far back as the late 11th and mid-12th centuries. History aside, Americans and Australians speak English, but that does not mean they want to be part of England. The same is true for Ukrainians with the Russian language. In fact, since Russia's launch of the full-scale invasion, many Russian-speaking Ukrainians have chosen to drop the language entirely.

3. On where foreign aid for Ukraine goes

If the United States and Europe wouldn’t let their weapons be used to strike inside of Russia for so long, do you really think they are going to let their aid be sold for profit or go anywhere other than where it was intended? The import of any type of aid into Ukraine must be done through a government-recognized organization, inventoried and its distribution accounted for. The whole process is notoriously painstaking and involves piles of paperwork and oversight. The supply shortages reported by Ukraine are not from the siphoning of aid but from the lack of it. Military uniforms can only last so long at the frontline before they need to be replaced. A bullet can only be fired once. Wars cost money, big money, and the West is doing what it can to make sure Ukraine is well supplied. 

4. On “negotiations” with Russia

Every Ukrainian, whether living at home or abroad, has been affected by the war. Nearly all Ukrainians have lost someone or know someone who has. This does not even include the thousands of Ukrainians trapped behind enemy lines in Russian-occupied Ukraine or the nearly 20,000 children who have been kidnapped. There is nobody who wants peace more than Ukraine and Ukrainians.  However, it needs to be just and based on international law. All Russia is doing right now is giving Ukraine ultimatums. Putin's demands undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and violate international law. His so-called “peace plan,” which includes demands to withdraw Ukrainian troops from sovereign Ukrainian regions and recognize Russian-occupied territories, is more of a manipulative ploy rather than a genuine effort for peace. History shows that when Putin gets what he wants, it only emboldens further aggression. In addition, if Russia is allowed to get away with its action in Ukraine on its terms, who says that other authoritarian states won’t follow suit and break international law, take sovereign territory, and so on? But Ukraine isn’t just standing by and waiting. It has developed its own Peace Formula that aligns with the UN Charter and emphasizes justice and territorial integrity. Just recently, hundreds of countries gathered in Switzerland at the Summit on Peace for Ukraine to discuss this just path to peace. Ukraine is doing everything it can to stop the bloodshed on its territory and to protect the international community from other emboldened acts of aggression.

5. “Russia is just defending itself against NATO expansion”

Time and time again, Russia has used the NATO expansion argument to justify its bad behavior. What it fails to address is that the alliance is a defensive alliance established to combat the very thing Russia is attempting now with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. If Russia was really concerned with a NATO-affiliated country on its border, why then has it not launched a similar invasion on Finland, which officially joined the alliance in 2023? It is because it has nothing to do with NATO and everything to do with Putin’s own delusions of imperial expansion. In fact, it was Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that facilitated Ukraine’s growing close ties with NATO. Before that, it was Russia’s aggressive actions in other neighboring countries—like Georgia—that piqued Ukraine’s interest in joining the defensive alliance. Should Ukraine join the alliance in the future, it has every right to do so. No country, including Russia, has a veto over another nation’s sovereign decision to join a defensive pact.  

[researchcommons]

What's next?

Trying to collect where all my thoughts are at the moment. I could ELI5 it, I suppose. We’re in the bottom left corner of the map, near (0,0) if you like. We know that a much better life is off to the right or the east (no hidden meaning here, about oriental wisdom), and it would be a better life for most people, comparatively speaking. Those who are currently super successful want to keep going on our traditional path of due north, the top end of the map. This is the path of incremental improvements to the status quo, and apparently if we keep struggling for long enough everyone will be rich. I think we’ve gotten to the point where most people know that’s a lie. It’s more likely if we keep going that way, we’ll all end up dead. But somehow, we aren’t ready to head off to the right-hand side; we’re just not used to an easterly heading. Or are we meant to go west? I mean, the Pet Shop Boys thought that was a good idea.

We’re heading for collapse. If not total, at least a major setback to what we currently label as civilisation. Whether folks want to admit it or not, it’s certainly a mood that’s been  hanging around a long time, maybe since the 2008 financial crisis that we don’t seem to be recovering from. We keep waiting for things to get better – the next election, an upswing in economic recovery, another war to end… Progress was something we used to take for granted, or at least that was the narrative from the Boomer generation when I was growing up. Anyone who has seriously studied history would already know that this ontological approach was a lie, and now we have to face it. That’s kinda hard for most people, because it means grieving for a lost future, embracing uncertainty, and sitting with difficult emotions. We’re not good at that. We’re especially not good at facing a bleak future for our children.

So, what about this collapse? It has been called different things, especially by the media that won’t use such an alarmist term, from a climate emergency at it’s simplest, to a poly-crisis, perma-crisis, and so on. One of my MBA professors loved to call it VUCA; that was the closest any of those professors came to admitting we might have to stop worshipping at the alter of capital.

Something about the way we live is coming to an end, and this is linked to failures in the systems and institutions that we think helped get us here. Part of that is our trust in the incrementalist approach in existing socio-political structures that are were meant to keep things on the up and up. Things like standard of living, society, inequality, injustice, and the climate. If we can’t trust that anymore, what’s next?

Coming up in part two… why technology isn’t going to save us.

[melodicmoonbeams]

SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK.

Hi, LGBTQIA+ female from SC, and y'all it is so much more accepting than people realize. I'm in a suburban town about 15 minutes from the edges of one of the largest cities in the state. Yeah, we still have some stereotypes that have some truth to them, but it's really just the older generations that are still being this way. Most of the classmates that were in my social circle either came out in some way in late middle/ early high school, or have almost fully transitioned in recent years. I came out as bi when I was 13. One manager I work with I am fairly certain is bi as well. Another made an open (non offensive) joke about going poly with his wife. Both are men like 10 years older than me. One coworker is quite open about her girlfriend. I wear pride earrings to work and get compliments on them from customers and coworkers alike. I wore these amazing rainbow dangle earrings while out in public and the staff at my favorite lunch spot adored them.

It's really just the dying elitist older generations that were raised upon the fearmongering put in place by those before them. It's the massive voice the vocal minority have been given through our shady, profiting governments while the common folk scramble to make a life out of what's left.

And you're absolutely right. I get so many people from so many walks of life through work, from the shifty, ragtag menagerie on the overnights, to the Latino construction workers coming in from the heat to warm up their lunch and get some drinks. I get uppity Karens who can't be bothered to look up from their phones with the heaviest application of makeup known to man and lovely African American ladies who greet me with such warmth it's as if I'm their own kid. I get the creepy old entitled white boomer men who make snide comments they think are jokes about my volume so people can hear me during rush period, or go on about how I should smile more because it's so pretty. But I also get the nice mail lady who almost always gets a Calypso and I get to ask about her garden and gave me tea bags when I lost my voice, and I get the regulars that I don't need to see their names pop up to know who it is when their food order comes in.

Most of us just live like regular ol' people. We go by each day, trying to make the best of things. But at the very same time I can see the tragedy of it all. The town/city I live in doesn't have the proper infrastructure in place to handle all of the influx of people. Rent is abysmally high. I watch as the same middle school I was at 6 years ago that was fairly decent turn into downright shit as all but a handful of teachers that I knew up and left because of the work conditions. And yes, I still see conservative bigots. I can pass by two houses next to each other with one having a pride flag and the other having a Trump 2024 flag. It is definitely still a problem down here, but popularized media does not fully accurately display what it's actually like.

You know what? Destroy the "people in rural areas are all ignorant conservatives" stereotype and start mocking the "trad"/anti-feminist/neonazi people that are obsessed with rural areas despite having never been to one

[riszellira]

Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Reflection: Child. Care. Protect.

Back in the day, when baby boomers were in a rush to grow up, there was such a thing as a puericulture center in every town. I do not exactly know what that center was providing, but I do know that they took care of children’s concerns and fostered children’s welfare in some undefined way. The closest equivalent to that in our times might be the ubiquitous “child care center,” or more precisely, “daycare center.” I remember a certain Mrs. Egan in one such puericulture center near the old municipal building of Poblacion, Makati, right close to the Pasig River Crossing that ferried people from Poblacion, Makati to Hulo in Mandaluyong.

She was running a kindergarten school. But school was not the center’s only concern. There were also pediatric doctors providing medical care to children. The few lines in today’s Gospel appear to focus on the child as centerpiece. “Whoever receives this child in My name receives me. Whoever receives Me receives the one who sent Me.” But it is the next line that should interest you and me today. It is the line that has to do with “greatness.”

Yesterday, we spoke about pride. Pride takes so many forms and guises, and one of them is to feel contempt for outsiders who do not belong to a group of privileged few. John was taking issue with someone who was sending out demons in Christ’s name, but in his words, he should be prevented, for “he does not  follow us.” He does not belong. There was little love lost between John and that outsider. That was basically a story of rejection.

Today, the Lord gives a concrete and palpable lesson on acceptance, caring, humility, and greatness. He called a child over and put the child beside Him. Humility is being childlike. Greatness is being humble. And being humble carries with it the commitment to caring and protecting a vulnerable child. “For the one who is least among you all, this one is great.”

O Holy Infant Jesus, Divine Child, lead us to true greatness!

~Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

How do you care for the lowly in your midst?

Jesus, set my eyes on the kind of greatness that is pleasing to You. Amen.

Prayer

… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.

… for the strength and healing of the sick.

… for the healing and peace of all families.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

GOD BLESS!

[somehow-cathartic]

This is such a mood. I remember getting into my tween years and all the adults were grumbling about “teens up to no good” and rules at our shopping mall changing to require more adult supervision. And i think that’s at the core of it: so much more adult supervision. All the boomers and gen X-ers boasted about all their childhood adventures and “playing outside all day until the streetlights turned on” and then chastised us for being lazy and not doing the same. I had a few moments where i could escape from everyone’s watchful eyes and walk across the train bridge to cross the creek on the edge of our neighborhood and almost get lost in the forest. My parents would be mad at me and scared because they didn’t know where i was and couldn’t contact me, but it’s one of my fondest childhood memories. Adults and parents have become so much more paranoid of their kids getting in danger or misbehaving that we were being put into little stencils of acceptable things to do and ways to be a kid. I feel like a very common heartache of being a kid these past few decades is that we were expected to be so mature and do All The Right Adult Decisions yet being told that we’re “just a kid” and adults know what you need better than you do yourself. Kids have been losing more and more and more of their autonomy, even as they grow older.

Maybe this is the wrong platform to pose this question given the average tumblr user but

Is it just me or did our generation (those of is who are currently 20-30 ish) just not get the opportunity to be young in the 'standard' sense?

Like, everyone I talk to who's over 40 has all their wild stories about their teens and 20s, being young and dumb, and then I talk to my friends and coworkers and classmates, and we just... dont.

[smokeybrandcompositions]

Time After Time

It’s wild the editorials you come across on the internet. I just read an entire piece, claiming that Trump supporters see him more as a Democrat than a republican, a throwback to those Clinton-era “Liberals”. This article went on to quote a bunch of numbers about how the slide toward liberalism has been a steep one. For instance, back in 1994, nearly two-thirds of Dems agreed with the statement that 'immigrants are a burden on our country because they take jobs, housing, and health care'. By 2019, only eleven percent of Democrats agreed with it. Another gem counted the seismic shift toward pro-choice. Way back in the year 1998, forty-two percent of Democrats counted themselves as Pro-life. Not-so-way back in the year of our lord, 2023, that number had emaciated to a paltry fifteen percent. My sarcastic tone aside, I find these numbers to be amazing. It shows progress. It shows growth. It shows a cultural shift toward compassion and dignity, rather than fear-mongering and bigotry. Not lost on me is the fact that, when these numbers were taken, it was mostly Boomers and older Gen Xers who were the primary recipients. Like, my mom was in her thirties and early forties during the Nineties. By the time that first poll as cited as taken, the immigrants one, she was well into her fifties but there had been a change in the overall makeup of pollsters. You see, in 2018, MY generation had entered the race! We, Millennials, were finally on the board and it changed absolutely f*cking everything!

I was born in 1984. Became a legal adult in 2002. In 2018, I was a healthy thirty-four years old. I was roughly the same age as my mom, back in the Nineties. I am old enough to have teenage kids, if I had any to begin with. I am old enough to be shaping the next generation of voters and idealists, which is an absolute nightmare for everyone who came before, because Millennials are basically the antithesis of “Traditional American Values.” Think about it, us older ones, the group born in the Eighties whom I like to call “The Oregon Trail Generation”, were all latchkey kids from single parent homes. We grew up with the internet, using AOL Messenger and random chatrooms at, like, f*cking six years old, to talk to people on the other side of the world. Our generation is intrinsically tied to the internet boom, rise of Youtube, and the death of almost every “traditional” form a of anything to date. We put LBGT+ rights at the forefront of our generational concerns, sowing the seeds of the Zoomer Trans revolt, and forced a reckoning about mental health, late stage capitalism, and general human rights. Hell, to take it further, religion started it’s great exodus with us, the birth rate fell off a cliff because none of us are having kids, and the advocacy for a four day work week has built into a full-throated demand, all on our watch. Millennials have basically ruined everything Middle America stands for, and I stand for that. Especially seeing where the kids coming after us are taking it.

Like, Millennials sparked the revolution, but these Zoomers and Alphas are going to stoke that sh*t into an inferno. Watching these brave ass f*cking kids, standing up to injustice, is outstanding. They all hate capitalism, absolutely know that the US government is full of sh*t, and they refuse to buy into the propaganda. I mean, obviously, there are concerning aspects of sh*t out there like this ridiculous Tradwife nonsense and the entire Manosphere, but even those are in decline. Each successive generation after mine has just gotten more Socialist and gay, and I am here for all of it. Less than three decades, man, and we went from most of the adults in the room, crying about fetus rights, to the VAST majority of us trying our goddamndest to enshrine a woman’s right to choose in every goddamn State constitution possible. But guess who’s standing in our way? That’s right, those Boomers! Even though they have lost so much of their presence in the adult electorate, they’re literally dying off, these assholes are packed to the gills in very level of government and won’t f*cking leave. Mitch McConnell personally knew Fred Flintstone and just no decided to step down from his GOP leadership role. Biden and Trump are Octogenarians, trying to run a country where they’re values haven’t been in the majority for at least a two decades. We have been trying to wrench the reins of power from these assholes born way back in the Forties, Fifties, and Sixties for the better part of two decades, and they just f*cking refuse!  

A perfect example of this gap in perception is Israel. Personally, f*ck Israel and very Zionist who lives there. That’s been my sentiment since I learned about how that country came to be. But guess what? Through the power of the internet, and Tik Tok (why do you think the Feds are so hard-pressed to get rid of it), WAY more people feel the way I do than before. And guess how old those people are? Guess how old the people who blindly support an Israeli state, genocide and crimes against humanity be damned, are? The Democratic party hasn’t “shifted” left, we, as a society has. What the f*ck did you expect? We were rabid, feral, multi-cultural kids, from broken homes, unlocking doors and making grilled cheese for ourselves at six. By ten, we were raising our younger, Nineties Babies, siblings, because our one parent had to work stupid hours to pay for a mortgage trap. We took our objectively woke sensibilities, hone from years of public school integration, to the goddamn internet where we were exposed to the entire world of perspectives differing from ours. We are the last generation to play outside, and the first to Google facts for school reports. There hasn’t been a shift to the left, there has been a shift in understanding, intelligence, and knowledge. The shift is cultural, not political, and it’s just going to keep grow as we get older. No one wants to be Conservative anymore. We have to redefine those lines. The world is so much bigger, now, than it was back in the later 1900s. What a time to be alive!

[smokeybrand]

Time After Time

It’s wild the editorials you come across on the internet. I just read an entire piece, claiming that Trump supporters see him more as a Democrat than a republican, a throwback to those Clinton-era “Liberals”. This article went on to quote a bunch of numbers about how the slide toward liberalism has been a steep one. For instance, back in 1994, nearly two-thirds of Dems agreed with the statement that 'immigrants are a burden on our country because they take jobs, housing, and health care'. By 2019, only eleven percent of Democrats agreed with it. Another gem counted the seismic shift toward pro-choice. Way back in the year 1998, forty-two percent of Democrats counted themselves as Pro-life. Not-so-way back in the year of our lord, 2023, that number had emaciated to a paltry fifteen percent. My sarcastic tone aside, I find these numbers to be amazing. It shows progress. It shows growth. It shows a cultural shift toward compassion and dignity, rather than fear-mongering and bigotry. Not lost on me is the fact that, when these numbers were taken, it was mostly Boomers and older Gen Xers who were the primary recipients. Like, my mom was in her thirties and early forties during the Nineties. By the time that first poll as cited as taken, the immigrants one, she was well into her fifties but there had been a change in the overall makeup of pollsters. You see, in 2018, MY generation had entered the race! We, Millennials, were finally on the board and it changed absolutely f*cking everything!

I was born in 1984. Became a legal adult in 2002. In 2018, I was a healthy thirty-four years old. I was roughly the same age as my mom, back in the Nineties. I am old enough to have teenage kids, if I had any to begin with. I am old enough to be shaping the next generation of voters and idealists, which is an absolute nightmare for everyone who came before, because Millennials are basically the antithesis of “Traditional American Values.” Think about it, us older ones, the group born in the Eighties whom I like to call “The Oregon Trail Generation”, were all latchkey kids from single parent homes. We grew up with the internet, using AOL Messenger and random chatrooms at, like, f*cking six years old, to talk to people on the other side of the world. Our generation is intrinsically tied to the internet boom, rise of Youtube, and the death of almost every “traditional” form a of anything to date. We put LBGT+ rights at the forefront of our generational concerns, sowing the seeds of the Zoomer Trans revolt, and forced a reckoning about mental health, late stage capitalism, and general human rights. Hell, to take it further, religion started it’s great exodus with us, the birth rate fell off a cliff because none of us are having kids, and the advocacy for a four day work week has built into a full-throated demand, all on our watch. Millennials have basically ruined everything Middle America stands for, and I stand for that. Especially seeing where the kids coming after us are taking it.

Like, Millennials sparked the revolution, but these Zoomers and Alphas are going to stoke that sh*t into an inferno. Watching these brave ass f*cking kids, standing up to injustice, is outstanding. They all hate capitalism, absolutely know that the US government is full of sh*t, and they refuse to buy into the propaganda. I mean, obviously, there are concerning aspects of sh*t out there like this ridiculous Tradwife nonsense and the entire Manosphere, but even those are in decline. Each successive generation after mine has just gotten more Socialist and gay, and I am here for all of it. Less than three decades, man, and we went from most of the adults in the room, crying about fetus rights, to the VAST majority of us trying our goddamndest to enshrine a woman’s right to choose in every goddamn State constitution possible. But guess who’s standing in our way? That’s right, those Boomers! Even though they have lost so much of their presence in the adult electorate, they’re literally dying off, these assholes are packed to the gills in very level of government and won’t f*cking leave. Mitch McConnell personally knew Fred Flintstone and just no decided to step down from his GOP leadership role. Biden and Trump are Octogenarians, trying to run a country where they’re values haven’t been in the majority for at least a two decades. We have been trying to wrench the reins of power from these assholes born way back in the Forties, Fifties, and Sixties for the better part of two decades, and they just f*cking refuse!  

A perfect example of this gap in perception is Israel. Personally, f*ck Israel and very Zionist who lives there. That’s been my sentiment since I learned about how that country came to be. But guess what? Through the power of the internet, and Tik Tok (why do you think the Feds are so hard-pressed to get rid of it), WAY more people feel the way I do than before. And guess how old those people are? Guess how old the people who blindly support an Israeli state, genocide and crimes against humanity be damned, are? The Democratic party hasn’t “shifted” left, we, as a society has. What the f*ck did you expect? We were rabid, feral, multi-cultural kids, from broken homes, unlocking doors and making grilled cheese for ourselves at six. By ten, we were raising our younger, Nineties Babies, siblings, because our one parent had to work stupid hours to pay for a mortgage trap. We took our objectively woke sensibilities, hone from years of public school integration, to the goddamn internet where we were exposed to the entire world of perspectives differing from ours. We are the last generation to play outside, and the first to Google facts for school reports. There hasn’t been a shift to the left, there has been a shift in understanding, intelligence, and knowledge. The shift is cultural, not political, and it’s just going to keep grow as we get older. No one wants to be Conservative anymore. We have to redefine those lines. The world is so much bigger, now, than it was back in the later 1900s. What a time to be alive!

[punishing-eden]

A Drive and the Beach

¬ not beta read

Watanabe x Commandant/Reader

Summary:

Separated from your constructs during a mission, you could only call Babylonia for help. As a space craft was sent to pick you up, you also bumped into Watanabe who offered to assist you.

Maybe after a road trip journey, it made you realised, under hard metal frame, lies a soft temperament.

Tags: fluff, long one shot, potential spoilers for affection lvl, reader was born in Babylonia, I tried to write Watanabe like a boomer ;w;

The scorching heat from the sun was certainly unforgiving. Your support construct, Liv, would have made repeated reminders for you to drink more fluids and apply sufficient amount of sunscreen in every few hours. This time around though, you had never wish to not to hear Liv nag about you getting a potential sunburn.

The communication screen popped up from your communication device. The holographic screen projected a map in front of you. A red dot was blinking at an empty area. Indicating, the pick up point for the Space shuttle you had requested.

You went still, comprehending the map and plan that Babylonia had arranged. When you finally came to your senses, you let out a frustrated sigh, “Are you kidding me?”

You were a long way away from the pick up location.

An emergency retreat signal was sent to your constructs' inner devices, telling them the coordinates to get to the space craft.

As of right now, the best option was to keep moving forward.

*****

Walking along the dusty grounds, you couldn't help but to reminisced what had happened; a careless mistake. You should have scan the area more thoroughly before moving forward.

Unknown to you, a huge corrupted ambushed your team; made from clustering a number of smaller corrupted together. The situation was chaotic and the next thing you knew, you got out of range and got lost.

You shook your head slightly, to make yourself stop reminiscing and told yourself to look for a place to shield from the sun.

Walking for a long while, you saw signs of infrastructure ahead. Approaching, what seems to be, a dilapidated factory, you injected yourself another bottle of serum just in case.

Taking each step with caution, you navigate your way around the area. It felt eerily quiet as you went further in until you heard a faint scraping noises.

Curious, you followed the sound, waiving your way through the pipes and tubes. You knew you were close by how the sound became a little clearer.

Then, you heard someone talking. Their voice sounded awfully familiar. Peering to an semi opened area, you noticed a figure was kneeling on the ground. He wore a familar brown coat and bore his signature set of grey hair.

You were surprised to see Watanabe alone.

Although, you don't know what was he doing, you felt a little relief to see someone you were acquainted with.

The construct soon stopped what he was doing. He stood up, in a blink on eye, he was standing right next to you.

The sound of electric crackling brought your attention towards the back. You turned our head around to see that a corrupted was about to land an attack on you.

Watanabe's machete had impaled right at it's head, stopping the machine to coming any closer.

"You should be a lot more careful," Watanabe said as he retracted his blade. The red lights faded from the corrupted's eyes, and it fell to the ground.

"What are you doing in a place like this, Commandant of Grey Raven. Where are your constructs?" he crossed his arms.

"We got separated and I had called for a Space shuttle to come pick us up." you said.

Watanabe listened and lifted his head to look at the surroundings. As an experienced aircraft pilot, he spoke," this area is not the optimal place for an air craft to land... The infrastructure could be damaged due to the impact from landing. Who knows what type of corrupted would be hiding in these power plants. The terrains here also doesn't make landing ideal." he signed," where on earth did you requested them to land?"

You could only look at Watanabe with a complicated expression. Instead of words, you showed him the map with the red dot.

"... And how exactly are you going to get there? By foot?" Watanabe questioned.

You didn't answer. It felt a little embrassing to admit walking was your plan. Even though, you had no choice.

The silence made it clear to Watanabe. He was in thought. It would be easy to have just leave you alone and mind his own business. After all, he doesn't owe you a favour.

But, leaving you here wasn't a good idea either. And, he wondered, if helping you out could score him another negotiation point for the near future.

Contemplating for a while, he made his decision.

"Well," you broke the silence, "it would be better if there's a bike or something nearby." you tried to jest, "But, I don't really have much of a choice."

Watanabe nodded.

"Actually, I think I saw an old car nearby. If I can start the engine, I can get you there by... Around night time?"

You were surprised by his unspoken offer. He might not say it out loud, but you knew he wanted to help.

"Follow me" he said and you obligated.

It didn't take long for the construct to find the vehicle. A red van, designed to look like an old model of the golden age. It would have look really classic and vintage in your eyes, if it wasn't for the accumulated sand and dust.

"It would be great if you could help me wipe the windows," Watanabe ordered. He lifted the roof of the car and inspected the engine. There were a little bit of sand in between the gears, but it was still in good condition.

Meanwhile, you took off your coat and began wiping the dust and sand away from the wind shield as well as the windows.

Fishing through his small pack, Watanabe moved on to the car door and took out a small trinket of tools.

He fiddled with the lock for a while and with a click, the door opened. He quickly got in the driver's seat and proceed to start the engine by holding the startup wires with both hands and carefully connected the metal ends together.

You watched Watanabe; giving it a few more tries, the vehicle suddenly rumble with life. For a brief moment, the construct turned to you and gave you a proud smirk. You smiled back at the success.

“Get in,” Watanabe said and you hurriedly went to the front seat.

Buckling up your seat belt, Watanabe pull the shift stick and stepped on the accelerator. The wheels turned as the car began to pick up speed. Moving it’s way along the dusty road.

*****

In the car, Watanabe had one hand on the steering wheel and another on the radio; fiddling with the buttons and dial. In hope, there might be some music to ease the awkwardness.

For Watanabe, he felt the nostalgia of his youth.

You, on the other hand, was a little confused over the buttons and the rotating dials.

“Never seen one of these before, huh?” Watanabe asked.

“Not really.” you replied.

Hearing this, Watanabe chuckled, “… I guess you're not familiar with models like these... what are the latest car models in Babylonia?” he asked.

“…I think it's the BWX-00...25 or 28? I only heard about it from others but, … the models nowadays are not as complicated as this... ”

“… …” Watanabe seeming to look a little troubled with a thought. However, he didn’t continue pressing about the topic.

The conversation ended as the awkwardness quickly settled between you both, and it panned out through the rest of the car ride.

To pass the time, you had taken interest in the scenery. Scenery, that you only saw in books when you were a child.

You also noticed, from time to time, Watanabe would take glances at you. You suspected he wanted to tell you something. However, knowing this fact didn't make you take the first initiative for small talk.

As the silence engulf both of you, Watanabe began to ask questions. Questions of the mundane nature such as:

"Do you have a favourite food?"

"What are your interest?"

"What would you want to be of you didn't join the military."

"How are the people living in Babylonia?"

You reply back out of courtesy. After all, Watanabe went out of his way to help you.

At first, you held your guard up around him. That was because of the stunt he pulled with Liv and that box of mint. You haven't really forgot about that.

However as time pass, you find yourself gradually became more relaxed around Watanabe.

The more he asked, the more willing you were to answer.

Thinking to himself for a moment, Watanabe then said, “ You are from Babylonia, right?”

“…Wait, what do you mean by that?” you questioned him.

“You’re not from earth, like I am. Correct?” Watanabe said as he maneuvers the car to a highway.

There, the ride became less bumpy.

You eyed the construct next to you, wondering was there any ulterior motives for asking such a question.

"how do you know?" you asked back.

"It's not hard to guess. You answer like a person who lives in Babylonia for their whole life. "

Thinking long and hard, you concluded there was no harm in answering his question. What would he do with this piece of information anyway?

Letting out a sigh, you answered, “I was born in Babylonia… but if you are wondering, I do know a thing or two about Earth.” you felt like putting that out there just in case.

Watanabe didn't reply immediately.

You weren’t sure how to respond to his silent. So you continued, “… Earth is not bad. Very scenic... I guess, that might be a reason why you are staying here.” You added.

A bitter chuckle left Watanabe’s lips, “There are many scenic places on earth that Babylonia can’t mimic. My reason to stay… it’s a complicated matter…” His voice slowly trailed away.

However, he continued, “I once wanted to go to Babylonia... But... The Oasis, is more like my style,” there was a hint of gentle sincerity in his voice.

You know he didn't want to go down a certain topic. Hence, you decided to let him dwell in his own and continued to look out the window. Light was gradually fading and the temperature was getting cooler by the minute; something you didn’t expected.

The sudden contrast in climate was a phenomena you never really experienced. Temperatures are always regulated in the Space Colony. They do mimic the seasons but it was never unpredictable and deceiving as Earth.

“Commandant of Grey Raven…” Watanabe spoke again. This time he turned on the head lights. Your attention quickly reverted back to the present and noticed how much darker it became.

“… Is there a place where you would like to see on earth?” the question felt as if it came out of no where. For you, that topic never occurred to your mind. Winning the war for humanity was always the thing you prioritise. Hence, Babylonia comes first.

However, Watanabe’s questions made you think hard to yourself. You didn’t feel suspicious when he asked that. There were no hints of deceive nor malice in his voice. But rather, genuine and curious.

In fact, through out the whole car ride, Watanabe felt… likeable. Despite him, seeming enjoy talking about old fashioned topics.

"A place on earth… let's see... ” you stalled while looking out the window. By then the sky had already turned dark blue. It was dark but you were still able to make out repetitive movements that splashes against each other.

You never thought of see it with your own eyes.

“wait, is that... ?!” you said.

It surprised Watanabe and quickly, pulled the car over.

Without a word, you took off your seatbelt and got out. The construct quickly followed, wondering what on earth were you doing.

Picking up your pace, you came to the edge of the highway and looked out at the horizon. The sea breeze was gently kissing your cheeks as you look out.

You never knew you were driving this close to the ocean.

Watanabe quietly approached you and looked out into the horizon as well. Both stood in silence before you said in a small voice, “… This is the first time I ever saw a real beach…”

Watanabe remain quiet.

Looking down at your feet, you kneel down and gently touched the sand. It felt a little rougher than you thought, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Running the sand through your fingers for a while, you had enough courage to take off your shoes and made your way towards the water.

As the waves crash against your feet, the cool sensation gave you goosebumps. It feels similar but different than of Babylonia’s.

Watanabe watched as you began to fool around the water, like a small child. You had seem to forgot your duties as a commandant; and was enjoying the moment of surprise and discovery.

Instead of scolding you for wasting time playing with water, the old construct let you. He find joy in watching you act like a child, and was amused by your reaction as from the new generation.

He watched as you curiously took in everything. The sound, the smell, the feeling of the waves, how the natural sand feels between your toes.

BEEP BEEP BEEP… … BEEP BEEP BEEP… …

You stopped when you heard your communication device rang.

The lights from your wristband lit up, flashing to tell you there was an incoming call. Quickly, your posture changed; turning back to a commandant and you took the call.

The communication channel opened and the sound was static, but nevertheless, you can see the image of Lee as well as Liv and Luica who were standing behind him.

“Com…Mandant…” Lee spoke.

“Yes?”

“Tha-nk goodness, the channel wor-ked” Lee muttered under his breath, “ Are you alrigh-t? We have arrived at the p-ick u-p lo-ca-tion as instructed.”

“I am glad you are all save! Right now I am with Watanabe, and I am on my way.” you replied.

“That-‘s a re— lief to h-ear,” Lucia said, “ Wa-tan-abe isn’t causing you any tr-ouble, Commandant?”

You shook your head, “I am fine. Watanabe is here to help. I’ll be there soon!”

“Good. The co-nection can't hold on for long. We have to e-nd the call here. So, t-ake care, Comman-dant” Lee said.

You nodded and bid your farewell. You shuted off the communication channel and looked at Watanabe, who, was waiting by the car. Putting your shoes on, you jog your way back to the car. You had a feeling he would scold you for your unprofessionalism. Embarrassed, you apologised, “Sorry, about that... and to making you wait…”

The construct waved to gesture he was fine with it, “No worries...The Grey Ravens must be worried. Let’s get going," his voice had return to the usual sternness. But this time, you didn't feel intimated as you first had encountered him.

You buckle your seat belt on, and waited for the construct to get settled. You said, "by the way, thank you for letting me spend time with the beach." there was paused, "... you're not so bad after all," your voice went quiet at the last sentence. You gave a playful smile.

Hearing that, the construct couldn't help but gave a chuckle, "you are welcome, Commandant."

Without wasting any more time, the car sped through the highway into the night.

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

Author's notes

First pgr fanfic... I tried. I really did.

This is low-key pushing it to affection lvl 3, lmao.

© Punishing-Eden

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝑫𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 (𝑱𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒀𝒖𝒏𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒐𝒐𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈) 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅

𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝙼𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊/𝙳𝚒𝚕𝚏!𝙹𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚈𝚞𝚗𝚑𝚘 × 𝙴𝚡𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛! 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 (𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎) × 𝙼𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊/𝙳𝚒𝚕𝚏! 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚆𝚘𝚘𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝚂𝚖𝚞𝚝, 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝙼𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊 𝙰𝚄, 𝙳𝚒𝚕𝚏 𝙰𝚄

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝙾𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚗, 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 𝟻.𝟹+𝙺

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝙻𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚙 (𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜), 𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚑𝚘𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚎𝚡𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚓𝚘𝚋, 𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕 (𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐), 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚍𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚞𝚗𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚡 (𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗) 𝙳𝚘𝚖! 𝚈𝚞𝚗𝚑𝚘, 𝙳𝚘𝚖! 𝚆𝚘𝚘𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐, 𝚂𝚞𝚋! 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝: @yunhofingers @yunhoiseyecandy @galaxteez @multidreams-and-desires @little-precious-baby @brie02 @rvse-miingi @couchpotatoaniki @deja-vux @a-soft-hornytiny @daniblogs164

♡*:.｡..｡.:*♡♡*:.｡..｡.:*♡♡*:.｡..｡.:*♡♡*:.｡..｡.:*♡

"Anything else we can get for our most valued regulars?"

The two men waved their hands dismissively at the friendly and energetic owner of the establishment, thanking her for the drinks that were already provided while assuring her they were perfectly content.

"Well if you shall need anything don't hesitate to ask." She reminded them before walking away to attend the other customers and see that everything in the club was running smoothly.

The two men held up their drinks and clinked them against each other before downing them as if it was mere water. Slumping back into the comfortable french style chaise lounge sofa, the shorter mafioso let out a soft and relaxed exhale of breath.

"Well I'd say the whole operation was an absolute success. Don't you agree Yunho?" He tilted his head towards the more impotent one of them, the male swirling the contents of his newly poured drink around his glass cup.

"Indeed. Well done Wooyoung." He raised his glass towards his friend in acknowledgement before bringing the rim of the cup up to his lips.

The two men briefly scanned the spacious hall, occasionally waving or even winking at the more familiar faces that they had become very much acquainted with, sometimes even on a more intimate level that remained a naughty secret between them. Being admirers of beauty and anything aesthetically appealing, they of course had their gazes on the stage that encompassed the majority of the room. Their eyes never failed to take in the gorgeous dancers that were currently moving their bodies to the music playing in the background, some of them showcasing their more erotic side through spins and turns on some of the poles that were placed at various corners of the stage. That sight was always a welcoming one by all the men who went inside the high class club.

"Damn. Who is that?" Wooyoung pointed in the direction of a certain dancer who had caught his attention.

Following his finger, Yunho widened his eyes when he saw who it was that Wooyoung had spotted. She was indeed very captivating. Her movements were very sensual and completely fluid, it was more than obvious her technique was precise. Even her hair seemed to dance along with her body. She'd effortlessly spin around the metal pole as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her. Although she was placed towards the back, she seemed to dominate the stage alone with her presence. She just exuded charisma and eroticism that no doubt had many of the males growing a little problem in their pants thanks to her, Wooyoung and Yunho being no exception. They became lost in the beautiful and fascinating female, falling her charms as if her dance hypnotized them.

It was Yunho who snapped himself out of it when he took a closer look at her face and felt like something was off.

"How old is she? She looks a little... too young." Despite having been involved in the criminal world for years, having seen and committed many illegal acts, Yunho was not tolerant of anything that involved the exploitation of individuals who were too young for such a life.

Realizing he was right, Wooyoung shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat. Calling over one of the male waiters, Yunho had to inquire about her.

"What can you tell me about the pretty face right over there?"

Seeing who he was referring to, the male server chuckled.

"Oh. That's Y/N. She's new here, started a few weeks ago but she's already conquered a lot of admirers as you can tell."

Indeed, as they looked around, most men had their eyes trained on her, no doubt imagining what she'd look like if you removed the lace bustier top and butt hugging leather shorts.

"How old is she?" Yunho got to the point.

Understanding what he meant, the server quickly dismissed his fears.

"I don't know exactly but I know for sure she's very much an adult. I'd say very early 20's, although I get that with that innocent looking baby face many wouldn't believe it. Folks seem to dig that though. Angelic face, sinful body? No wonder men are lusting over her."

Glancing over at their respective friend, the two men shared a small smirk between each other before settling back down to continue admiring the pretty girl.

"If you bosses would like, we could arrange a private show with her for you." The male staff offered but Wooyoung shook his head.

"No no, I don't think that will be necessary."

But he found that his resolve would soon come crumbling down when the young female took notice of their gawking towards her. Although she had never seen them before, she enjoyed the way their eyes were raking her body. She made sure not to break eye contact with them as she performed her next set of moves, which became a lot more sultry and risque in nature. She purposefully bent down or over more so her ass and tits would be the main focus of their staring.

"Fuck. I'd love to bend that ass over my lap." Yunho bit down on his bottom lip as one hand slowly rubbed the top of his thigh when she sent a flirtatious wink his way.

"Then why don't we make it come true?"

Calling for the male staff's attention once more, Wooyoung pulled out a large bill and placed it on the empty tray he was holding.

"I think we're going to take you on that offer, that is if the lady doesn't mind."

The staff couldn't help but snort.

"Trust me, I don't think she would mind one bit."

Ushering them to follow him, the male staff led them through the crowd of people that were gathered at the main showroom and down one of the hallways. Wooyoung and Yunho were surprised when instead of taking them to the upstairs private rooms, their guide instead took them down stairs.

"We don't actually tell most people this but our best and most expensive private rooms are actually down here and not upstairs. We only reserve them for V.I.P guests. And there's a bonus.."

The male staff typed in a code into the keypad that kept the entrance to the room locked and opened it up for them to let themselves in.

"There's absolutely no cameras, no rules, and you don't have to worry about anyone hearing anything." The man slyly told them as he walked off and told them to enjoy themselves.

Looking around, indeed the room was even better than the upper ones they had often rented. Not only was it bigger, it had a full bar for them to enjoy, there were multiple couches and they even mounted a pole in the middle of the room. Lilac curtains were strategically placed around to decorate the room which looked marvelous against the blue LED lights that illuminated several parts of the room so everything inside would be clearly visible. They could even make out a faint scent of lavender and vanilla, no doubt infused with pheromones to further enhance sexual arousal.

"No rules he said.... perfect." Wooyoung grinned as he made himself comfortable on one of the couches.

"Just because there are no cameras doesn't mean you can behave as you like. Remember that she'll probably only be here to dance for us and nothing else." Yunho reminded him.

"Relax old man, you know I would never touch a woman without her consent. Lucky me, I'm still handsome .... and rich." Wooyoung laughed slightly as he pulled out a bundle of money from his pocket causing his friend to roll his eyes.

"And what makes you think that is going to entice the young lady to suck your dick? If anything, she'll prefer someone younger and not some... geezer." He poked fun at his friend who looked at him with an unamused face.

"Look who's talking boomer." He scoffed at him.

Both of the men put an end to their small bantering when the door suddenly opened and in came none other than the very object of their fantasies, her stiletto heels clicking against the marble floor. She eyed them up and down with a curious expression, the corners of her mouth curling up just subtly.

"Hello there beautiful." Wooyoung leaned back and took in her figure.

"Good evening gentlemen." She greeted them as she shifted her weight from leg to the other one, her hands placed on her hips respectively.

"Y/N is it?" Yunho inquired as he tried to keep a little more decorum and tried not to stare too much at her.

"Unless you'd prefer to call me something else." She grinned at them with a smoldering expression.

"I'd love to call you mine." Wooyoung put his thoughts out there for the other two occupants in the room to hear, shocking and embarrassing one while the other seemed delighted to hear him say that.

"Wooyoung! Control yourself." Yunho nudged him with his elbow, warning him not to try anything stupid or foolish.

"And tell me then handsome, just how do you want me?"

Both men whipped their heads at her question, wondering if they heard her right.

"Umm- excuse me?" Yunho wanted her to clarify what she meant.

The young dancer took slow and careful steps closer to them, beginning to round the table that stood in between her and the couch they were seated in.

"On my knees, on all fours, against the wall, or laying down, just tell me what position you want me in." She was completely unafraid as she now carefully sat on the table right in front of them, spreading her legs just a little bit, daring them not to gaze in between them which they both ultimately failed in doing.

She was driving them crazy, making them lose every last bit of self control they had. And the way she'd innocently bat her eyelashes at them was not helping their case, it only served to fuel their growing lust for her even more. Wooyoung was about to speak up, but Yunho of course stopped him.

"No-no honey. We just wanted you to keep us some company." He wanted to slap himself for sounding so old fashioned.

Y/N tilted her head at his explanation.

"Keep you company? You mean like this?"

Not expecting her to get up and suddenly straddle his lap, Yunho's eyes shot wide open when her chest was practically pressing against his face. Y/N gently caressed the hair around his temples, not so subtly grinding herself on his tent that was hardening even further. His friend next to him was equally surprised and jealous that it wasn't his lap that the young lady chose to situate herself on.

"Is this what you wanted?"

When Yunho shifted under her and stammered out an incoherent babble of words, Y/N took hold of his hands and placed them on her hips.

"It's ok baby. You can touch me if you want. I don't mind." She encouraged him with a sweet smile on her face.

"I'm not sure I want to..." As soon as he said that, he regretted his words especially after seeing the disheartened look on Y/N's pretty face.

"Well I know for a fact I do so give her to me if you don't want her."

She let out a squeal when she was suddenly pulled of Yunho's lap and instead perched upon one of Wooyoung's strong and muscular thighs. He couldn't stop smiling as his hands rubbed against the sides of her waist.

"So tell me what's a gorgeous and young lady such as yourself doing in a place like this?" He was genuinely curious as to why someone like her would seek out work as an exotic dancer.

"Well it definitely brings in a lot of money, but I'm not going to deny that I do enjoy the attention and stares of some of the patrons like to give me." She answered, her hand reaching over to loosen up the tie around his neck.

"Oh, so you like being a little exhibitionist?" Wooyoung wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"God yes! But my ex boyfriend wasn't a fan of my occupation, hence why he left." She let out a tiny huff at the information.

"Well if you ask him he's an idiot for that. I know if I had a sexy girl like you, I wouldn't mind showing her off a little. Let others admire her like the goddess she is."

As he said those words to her, Wooyoung's fingers slowly peeled the straps of her top off her shoulders, his tips tracing along the outline of her collarbone. Y/N didn't budge when she felt Wooyoung's lips kiss across her shoulder and the side of her neck, she merely tilted her head to the opposite side so it would give him more access to suckle along her smooth skin. Yunho watched all of this with an aching hard on and clenched fist as he realized it could have been him in Wooyoung's position at that moment.

"Truthfully I don't miss him, he was very controlling anyways, but I gotta say...." She bit down on her lip, a bit unsure about continuing her sentence.

"It's ok baby. You can tell us anything you want." Wooyoung assured her as his teeth tugged at her earlobe.

Sucking in a breath she didn't know she was holding, Y/N spilled her secret out.

"I've just been a lot more horny ever since I started this job and I don't have anyone to fuck me like a slut. God I just want a big, fat cock to tear my pussy apart."

Both men looked at each other and exchanged a few suspicious glances before returning their attention back on the girl on Wooyoung's lap.

"Are you horny right now darling?" He asked her as his hand came to the front of her top and started undoing the buttons that ran through the middle.

"If I say yes, will one of you fuck me?" She turned her head to look at Yunho, not wanting him to feel left out. Her hand even reached over so it could brush along the tent in his pants, which he welcomed graciously and even allowed her to palm his hard on as she pleased.

"Oh honey, if you want, we'll both fuck you." Yunho finally spoke up after a long time of staying silent, scooting his body closer to her.

"Please do." She begged them, eyes looking like a pitiful little pup.

Undoing the last button, Wooyoung peeled the top off her, both men releasing groans when her breasts came into view. They looked so soft and smooth and it took everything in them not to take one in each of their mouths and devour them. Getting off of Wooyoung's thigh so she could sit right in between both men, Y/N took one of their hands and set them right on her mounds.

"Touch me, please. I want your guys' hands all over me."

Each one of the men began to squeeze at her tits, Wooyoung opting for a more rough approach, even pinching at her nipples, while Yunho took his time in massaging her flesh, thumb rubbing circles on her hardened peak. Y/N was already loving the two opposite dynamics both men were giving her, it was exactly what she'd been craving in a long time. She threw her head back when Wooyoung stooped down to take the breast he was currently toying with into his mouth, teeth tugging at her tiny bud. She was releasing heavy breaths as he continued to suck at her tender skin, eyes closing as she began to get lost in the pleasure. She nearly whined when she felt Yunho take his hand off her breast, but it was caught in his mouth since he moved his hand from her chest so it could cup her chin. Tilting it towards him, he began to kiss her hungrily. She gratefully welcomed the intrusion of his tongue in her mouth, letting it slither inside of it, taking complete control of her.

Taking advantage of his friend moving his hand away, Wooyoung moved so he was sitting right in front of her. Y/N pryed her legs open so he could be easily accommodated between her body. He moved his mouth to latch onto her other breast, giving it the special attention its twin had already received. He became a little harsher as he began to plaster marks on the underside of her boob and on the top of them. Each time he sank his canines down onto her skin, Y/N would emit a semi pained whimper that was muffled by Yunho's tongue as it swirled against her own wet muscle. Moving further south, Wooyoung began dragging his tongue down her sternum until it reached her belly button. Coming face to face with her leather shorts, Wooyoung grabbed the sides of the fabric before swiftly pulling it down her legs. Y/N shuddered when a small waft of cool air breezed over her wet heat.

"Fucking hell, what a nice and wet pussy you have little lady." Wooyoung stared in amazing at her shining folds that were inviting him to dive in and feast upon their sweet juices.

Pulling away so he could glimpse down at the lady's intimate place, Yunho moaned deeply when he saw what his friend was looking at.

"Fuck we've barely done anything and you're already this wet for us? You flatter us baby." He chuckled as he went back in to continue their makeout session.

Wooyoung's fingers slid around her folds, teasing her as they grazed over her slit, always stopping before they touched her clit. Y/N was yearning to be touched and she did not appreciate the older man's teasing. Yunho of course noticed since her needy whining was being spilled into his mouth.

"Is that a promise?" Wooyoung challenged.

"Wooyoung stop making her wait and eat her out before I shove you to the ground and I finger her cunt until she's squirting all over your face." He warned in between kisses.

Pulling back with a snarl, Yunho stared menacingly at his friend.

"Fucking eat her pussy or I'll get my men to hold you down and make you watch as I fuck her."

Shrugging off Yunho's threat, Wooyoung latched his mouth onto the young female's mound and started fucking it with his tongue. Y/N couldn't help but gasp as Wooyoung's skillful and experienced tongue swirled and sucked along her folds. He made sure to focus most of his attention on her clit, nibbling down on it while making sure he didn't accidentally grazed his teeth onto them.

"You like the way Wooyoung is eating you out baby?" Yunho asked as his large hands cupped your breasts once more, squishing them together as his thumbs toyed with your nipples.

"Yes! Shit! He's amazing!" She gasped out when he gave her a particularly long suck to thank her for her praises, a cocky grin forming.

"Heard that Woo? The little lady is enjoying it." Yunho gushed as he brought one breast up to place kisses on it.

Wooyoung responded with a moan against her pussy, his hands spreading her legs as far as they could go so he could lap reach every inch of flesh with his tongue. He left no place untouched as he practically smothered his face into her juicy core. Y/N's body started to tremble as she felt herself being thrown over the precipice. Yunho kept holding onto her as she began cumming on Wooyoung's face.

"Fuck- oh shit!" She cursed with scrunched eyes as an intense orgasm took over her senses.

Wooyoung didn't detach his mouth from her core until he made certain that she had released all the juices she possibly could, which ultimately ended up swallowed by him since he could not leave a drop to waste. When Y/N came to her senses, she still felt as if she was in a permanent high.

"I've never came from someone eating my pussy out. That was the first time anyone has made me orgasm from one." She admitted rather shyly.

"That's probably because you've only had amateur assholes perform oral on you honey. I've got years of experience. I know what a girl wants when she's getting her sweet pussy eaten out." Wooyoung boasted as he sat down next to her.

"Well I think it's only fair I show my gratitude to you both right?"

Sliding off the couch, Y/N got on her knees and beckoned the men to stand at each of her sides. Lifting her hands up, she began to palm their clothed cocks. She could only imagine how big they were since they already felt pretty packed even in their confinement. Although it was a little hard doing it with one hand, she managed to unzip both of their pants and slowly dragged them down their thighs until she was blessed by the sight of their mature cocks springing forward, fully erect and waiting for her to touch them. Her mouth was agape as she took one in each hand and began pumping them.

"God you're both so big."

Both men let out small laughs at her reaction.

"What? Never seen cocks like ours before baby?" Wooyoung asked.

"Not in person and I've always wanted to be fucked by sizes like yours."

Her hand continued to stroke their lengths. She even went as far as to spit on both of them so it would be easier to glide her hand along their shaft. Although Yunho was definitely the bigger of the two, packing a monster sized cock, Wooyoung was also pretty endowed and she had no doubt that with his cocky attitude he definitely knew how to use his dick in the best way possible. She couldn't help herself and actually brought both of their tips to her mouth. Her tongue alternated between licking Wooyoung's head before giving attention to Yunho's, both of them hissing when they felt her tongue on them. Y/N did not shy away from even slurping one both of them at the same time, opening her mouth as much as it could to fit their heads inside and sucking them in.

"Oh shit! You're such a dirty little girl." Yunho muttered out as his hand came down to pet the top of her head.

"Tell me are you always such a whore for your other customers?" Wooyoung's tone had a slight hint of jealousy at the thought of someone else getting the special treatment they were getting.

"Hmmm no. None of the other people have ever interested me. You guys are the first that made me wanna get a little naughty." She confessed with an innocent smile before taking each of their balls and giving them a few harsh sucks, coating them generously with her saliva. Although it was more than arousing having their young companion jerk them off simultaneously, even giving their slits a couple licks every now and then, the men knew they wanted a little more. They wanted to corrupt the woman in front of them and make a mess all over her.

"You wanna get even more naughty baby?" Yunho's voice dropped down 2 tones as he began taking his shirt off, Wooyoung following suit.

"Yes." She looked between one of the men and then to the other, nearly drooling when she saw their fit abs come into her view.

Lifting her up, Yunho effortlessly sat her back down on the couch.

"Want us to fuck you?" He continued to ask as he and his friend finished stripping themselves out of their clothes.

"Yes! Please fuck me." She encouraged, beckoning them over as she got on all fours for them.

"Well I don't know about you, but I really wanna see what that pretty mouth of hers does, especially after getting a sneak peak." Stepping over to her face, Wooyoung rubbed the tip of his cock along the top of her lip.

Y/N giggled as she took Wooyoung's length in one of her hands once more, pressing kisses along his head. She was so distracted in playing around and teasing Wooyoung that she didn't notice Yunho had placed himself right behind until she felt his bulge rubbing along her ass cheeks.

"I hope you don't mind sweetheart, but I wasn't expecting to get so lucky to be able to fuck a pretty girl such as yourself tonight so I'm afraid I brought no condoms...."

Y/N gasped when she felt a long finger insert itself into her ass.

"So I'm going to have to settle for fucking this other hole of yours." He circled his finger around her hole to further stretch her out, eventually adding a second finger inside her.

"If that's all right with you of course."

Y/N responded with a moan and pushed her butt further back so his fingers could sink deeper in her.

"I'd say it's more than ok with her. Look at how desperate she looks." Wooyoung lightly giggled, tapping the head of his cock against both of her cheeks.

"Open up."

Following his orders, Y/N allowed him to slip himself into her warm and wet mouth, unable to help but groan when he pushed half of his length in.

"What's wrong baby? Can't fit all of me inside?"

Taking it as a challenge, Y/N hollowed her cheeks even further and pushed herself forward until her nose pressed against his pubic bone. Although she choked slightly when she felt him hit the back of her throat, she was still able to swirl her tongue around him and properly accommodate him.

"For someone so young, you sure do seem to have a lot of experience." Wooyoung pointed out as his hands gently caressed her stuffed cheeks.

"That's cause she's nothing but a whore."

Y/N clenched around nothing as she heard Yunho's degradation, humming against Wooyoung's length as she felt his long fingers collect some of her slick and used it as a makeshift lube to spread around her asshole. Making sure she was all prepped and properly stretched out, Yunho took his sizeable dick and very slowly pushed himself into her ass, wanting to savor how her tightness hugged every inch of him. His head was thrown back when he stuffed her ass full of his cock, nails digging into her cheeks as he held back the urge to ram himself brutally and tear her ass up. When he did not move for a few seconds, Y/N grew impatient and pulled herself off him only to stuff him back inside.

"Don't make our pretty baby wait by being gentle Yunho. Can't you see she's desperate to have you break her apart?" Wooyoung smirked as pulled out of her mouth only to force himself back in, holding her head in place before releasing her. Y/N gagged around his cock, a tiny slick of drool falling out of the corners of her mouth.

"Is that what you want? Want us to be rough with you?"

Yunho got a response in the form of a moan around Wooyoung's dick and a tightening around his own cock .

"Ok shit! Yunho you better start fucking her cause I can't hold back anymore."

Not caring to wait and see if his friend would follow his instructions, Wooyoung gripped the back of Y/N's head and started bucking his hips into her mouth. Garbled noises that were muffled by Wooyoung's intrusion were spilling forth out of her, which were further intensified in range when the male behind her likewise started moving.

"Oh shit! You're so tight, you feel amazing little lady." Yunho praised as he slammed his hips onto her ass, watching it smack against his skin and wiggle every time he pounded back into her.

Y/N whimpered when one of Yunho's hands snaked in between her thighs and began to rub circles around her clit, further boosting the feeling they were giving her. With one of them fucking her face and the other one ramming into her ass, she felt so full and stuffed to the brim and she absolutely loved it.

"You enjoying this honey? Are you enjoying as two older men use you as their fuck toy?" Wooyoung's question was met by a loud vibration of her whimpers around him, his cock twitching at the feeling.

"Of course she's enjoying it. She loves getting used and treated as nothing more than a cum bucket." Yunho groaned in a raspy voice. His fingers which were moving earnestly around her bundle of nerves moved to strike them, making their recipient shudder when more stinging slaps were placed on her mound.

Tears of pleasure were rolling down Y/N's eyes as she was being fucked past her limit by the older and dangerous criminals. Never in her life did she actually believe such men like them would fulfill one of her deepest fantasies, yet here she was, gurgling and swallowing around one huge dick while her ass was getting torn apart by an even bigger cock. Not to mention Yunho was making sure she'd be tipped over the edge again as he worked his fingers on her clit, alternating between rubbing harshly against it before slapping it once more. During one of these hard smacks, she began crying out as her body began spasming and bursting out in pleasure, her juices spilling out of her.

"Oh fuck! She's cumming already." Wooyoung's words were becoming more slurred as he felt his own high fast approaching.

"I know. I'm gonna cum-" Yunho grunted as he plunged himself faster in her, his low and deep moans mixing with Wooyoung's higher pitched ones as both men used their pretty dirty dancer to push themselves over the edge, their relentless pace only helping to elongate the orgasm the girl under them was having.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Pulling out with a hiss, Yunho wrapped his hand around his cock and pumped himself furiously until white spurts of cum were being plastered all over her ass cheeks. He didn't stop until he made sure to paint her butt with all the cum he had to give.

Meanwhile, Wooyoung held her head in place as he fucked his own cum down her throat.

"Swallow it all you dirty whore. I don't want you spilling out a single drop. Got it?" He ordered as he spilled his seed into her mouth, which Y/N promptly swallowed as he said to. She kept eye contact throughout the entire process of having him rut his hips against her face, his mouth agape and blurting out swear after swear as he emptied himself in her mouth.

A popping sound was made when he pulled out of her, saliva plastered all over her lips which were red and swollen after the rough treatment they were put through. Both men slumped down on the couch to catch their breath and collect their senses. Yunho was the first one to gain his energy back and began to look for something to clean up, luckily finding a few hand towels near the mini bar. Coming back over where the other two occupants were, he began wiping off the leftover cum on Y/N's ass.

"You doing ok babe?" Yunho wanted to make sure.

"I'm doing wonderful, thank you." She giggled when Yunho pressed a light slap on her ass at her response.

After making sure to clean up properly, Yunho and Wooyoung gathered their clothes and began dressing themselves again while the exotic dancer simply sat there and watched them, lip poked out in a pensive thought.

"Will I see you guys some other night?"

Yunho and Wooyoung looked back and forth between each other and at her.

"Do you wanna see us again?" Wooyoung asked, his hopes getting up.

Y/N smiled at him.

"Of course I do. Just be sure to bring condoms next time. I'd really love to feel you both destroy my pussy next time."

The men chuckled at her bold words.

"Oh baby, it'll be our pleasure."

♡*:.｡..｡.:*♡♡*:.｡..｡.:*♡♡*:.｡..｡.:*♡♡*:.｡..｡.:*♡

[kienansidhe]

saw a tiktok that was making fun of a "white boomer art show" and i was expecting it to have like some bad knockoff fake native art or smth cause ive seen that a lot here in oklahoma but it was just. a normal looking milquetoast art show. white ppl milling around. a dog. some landscape paintings and ceramics and stuff. like nothing offensive, just p average nice pretty handmade stuff.

and ppl in the comments were saying all sorts of mean shit, like oh theres no soul its completely inoffensive and void and boring, oh wow another painting of a sunset over water, youre forgetting abt the handmade soaps lol, this is what you make when youve never suffered, stuff like that. and i wanna talk abt why i find this rlly upsetting?

im not here to be like oh no dont be mean to white ppl, but white ppl arent the only ppl who make milquetoast, comfy, inoffensive art. there are plenty of artists of color who like to just make nice, simple, pretty stuff too! not everything we make has to be about our suffering! we are human fucking beings and that means we probably like sunsets and simple homemade crafts, because guess what? thats fucking normal. i say this as someone who spends an unreasonable amount of time to defend my right to make dark, tortured trauma art: art can be lukewarm and blandly pleasant too. its okay, its a healthy and relaxing outlet for lots of ppl, and acting like plain, pretty art is only for privileged white ppl is so??? nasty? spiteful? and it throws so so so many artists of color under the bus for this superiority complex of a narrative that only art that comes from suffering is real, valid, Good Art. and that fucking blows.

like im all for mocking shitty ppl, but im begging ppl to take a moment to think abt what specifically they are mocking. dont mock shitty ppls physical features that they cant control, good ppl with those same features can hear you and it hurts! dont mock shitty ppl for making pleasant art of sunsets and handmade soap, good ppl who make pleasant art of sunsets and handmade soap bc they havent lost their appreciation for every new sunset and hands on crafts and nice scents are pleasant and fulfilling can hear you and it fucking sucks to hear our crafts being shit on and like. ceded over to white ppl???

like yes! there are 10283782287 paintings of the sunset out there and on an average day i dont find them noteworthy. but someone looked up, saw something beautiful in the world, and took the time to put it on a canvas. billions of humans have stopped and appreciated the sunset, and if you think thats white you can fuck right off. crafts and artisan work are skilled work that both have practical application and can be used to make art pieces as well, something beautiful to the eye, something everyone can enjoy, and sure, a simple wheel thrown bowl is not going to evoke some deep facet of ~~colored suffering~~ but i can eat some fucking soup out of it and it looks nice and some of us have fought hard for the learning and access to be able to make simple little things like that, so calling those objects white and soulless is also fucking disgusting.

i dont care if you hate white ppl, i dont care if you wanna tell some individual white person that their art specifically is soulless, im not gonna die on the hill of protecting white ppl from mean comments. but i do care abt the artists of color who worry that our work isnt original or meaningful or valuable because it ~~doesnt tell a story~~ or it ~~doesnt offend anyone~~ or its ~~just another landscape painting~~. are we obligated to only ever talk and think abt and express our suffering in order to be valid artists of color? if we choose, after whatever weve gone thru, to make some fucking sea spray scented soap for whatever our own reasons, are you secretly sneering at us too, or do you only do that until we tell you hey, i, a person of color, made that plain, inoffensive thing youre too bitter about to even mind your own business, let alone appreciate it?

if simple, pretty, comfort art is not your thing thats okay! its not for you! you can walk away! but dont write off entire crafts and styles and genres as ~~white nonsense~~ just because it doesnt appeal to you personally. i swear to god i will steal all your ~~fine art~~ and burn it. youre not better for making provocative art, youre just expressing things in your own personal way, making the art you need to make. let other ppl do the same.

[writers-worst-nightmare]

Welcome to the internet

PLATONIC TOMMY X READER

Summery: y/n is older then Tommy, and once Tommy gets to his reach of fame y/n finally shows him the mess that the internet really is

A/N: this song is just *chefs kiss*

Warning(s): mentions of racism, cussing, minor talks about murder, it mentions rule 34…soooo…..do with that what you must (“and a bunch of colored pencil drawings of all the different character of Harry Potter fucking each other“ is the line)

You slid in front of Tommy and placed on a large smile on your face, dragging Tommy to your computer you started humming slightly.

“Welcome to the internet! Have a look around Anything that brain of yours can think of can be found We've got mountains of content—some better, some worse If none of it's of interest to you, you'd be the first”

You exclaimed happily, Tommy nodded in agreement before laughing.

”My job is streaming for the internet to see, of course I know that!” Tommy brushed off. You laughed breathlessly a little bit before saying again

“Welcome to the internet! Come and take a seat”

you offered, patting the chair next to you. Tommy happily accepted and sat down on the chair next to you.

“Would you like to see the news or any famous women's feet?”

You asked as you pulled up countless of pictures of fake News that spread like wildfires greedily licking up all the little things that celebrities said and putting them out of context, or just making up random shit and posting it on their new magazine cover to get more people to but their products that they got. Then, you quickly pulled up pictures of women getting sexualized for practically nothing. Through all of this, Tommy just stood their in silence, frozen still.

“There's no need to panic; this isn't a test, haha Just nod or shake your head, and we'll do the rest”

Tommy, still frozen, looked at the screen as you got ready to pull up more pages of the internet

“Welcome to the internet! What would you prefer?”

You proceed, quickly typing some things in on your keyboard before clicking “enter“ and showing Tommy what you mean Whenever you say that you need a break from the internet and take a couple months (or even years when it gets really bad) of not posting or anything.

”Would you like to fight for civil rights?”

You showed Tommy the BLM movement. Tommy smiled and nodded his head ‘yes.’

“Or tweet a racial slur?”

You showed the countless of tweets that showed up as famous celebrities posted about how the BLM movement was stupid.

“Why would I do that—“ Tommy was cut off by you picking up your speech a little.

“Be happy!”

You opened up the Spotify app

”Be horny!”

You opened up the Wattpad app

”Be bursting with rage!”

you opened up Twitter once more

“We’ve got a million ways to engage!”

You cheered as you showed Tommy the different apps and internet searches you could go off of.

“Well, yes, I know that but isn’t there a different way to—“ Tonly was cut off again by you explaining more.

“Welcome to the internet! Put your cares aside”

You seemed to e going slightly more irritated with yourself as you kept on going.

“Here's a tip for straining pasta;”

Tommy relaxed a little as you put up tips for straining pasta, maybe there was only a tiny part of the internet that was bad.

“here's a nine-year-old who died”

You pulled up countless of articles, and Tommy’s breath caught in his throat as he stared down at the mess of the internet. One minute was pasta and the other is was death? What the fuck!?

”We've got movies and doctors and fantasy sports”

Tommy looked bewildered, as if the fact about a ton of nine-year-olds dying was the same as saying it was a sunny day outside.

“And a bunch of colored-pencil drawings of all the different characters in Harry Potter fucking each other”

”I—I beg your fucking pardon!?” Tommy exclaimed looking even more baffled.

”Welcome to the internet! Hold on to your socks 'Cause a random guy just kindly sent you photos of his cock They are grainy and off-putting; he just sent you more Don't act surprised—you know you like it, you whore”

”Y/n….what has been happening!?” Tommy yelled as he stared at you in a worried expression.

“See a man beheaded, get offended, see a shrink Show us pictures of your children, tell us every thought you think Start a rumor, buy a broomer, send a death threat to a boomer Or DM a girl and groom her; do a zoomer find a tumor in your— Here's a healthy breakfast option, you should kill your mom Here's why women never fuck you; here's how you can build a bomb Which Power Ranger are you? Take this quirky quiz Obama sent the immigrants to vaccinate your kids”

Tears started to fall from your eyes as you stared down at the phone that held internet.

“Could I interest you in everything all of the time? A little bit of everything all of the time Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime Anything and everything all of the time Could I interest you in everything all of the time? A little bit of everything all of the time Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime Anything and everything all of the time”

You rambled on as the phone shook in your hands violently.

“Not very long ago, just before your time Right before the towers fell, circa '99 This was catalogs, travel blogs, a chatroom or two We set our sights and spent our nights waiting for you! You, insatiable you Mommy let you use her iPad; you were barely two And it did all the things we designed it to do Now, look at you! Oh, look at you! You, you! Unstoppable, watchable Your time is now, your inside's out, honey, how you grew And if we stick together, who knows what we'll do? It was always the plan to put the world in your hand”

You let out a weak smiling, remembering all the good memories that you had almost forgotten. They almost faded in the back of your head and lost.

Could I interest you in everything all of the time? A bit of everything all of the time Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime Anything and everything all of the time Could I interest you in everything all of the time? A little bit of everything all of the time Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime Anything and everything and anything and everything And anything and everything and All of the time

[bixbythemartian]

I’m just gonna ramble about work for a bit if y’all don’t mind

one of the interesting artifacts of delivering pizza right now is how much more it is obvious that people never use their front doors

this is one of those things that has always been true of delivering pizza, for me (I’ve been in this industry off and on since 2004)

you’ll get to someone’s house and it’s super clear that they always come in and out through the garage because of one or more of the following

their porch is covered in cobwebs

their porch has been taken over by a feral cat colony (probably with some encouragement/feeding by the people who live here, but not necessarily)

the sidewalk from driveway to door is completely overgrown by bushes (it is common courtesy to try not to walk on people’s lawns, because some people get Deeply Weird about that and I want a good tip, but sometimes you gotta because there’s a rosebush that’s out for blood)

their porch is like piled with stuff because it’s mostly used for storage

their porch is like piled with stuff because they think it looks cute but they don’t realize how difficult the stuff makes it to get to the door

It didn’t used to be like SUPER common

in my delivery area it used to be almost entirely middle to upper middle class housing that suffered from this.

really wealthy people pay yard guys to handle the whole thing, so their hedge rows are fine, and really wealthy people tend towards being minimal with any kind of porch decoration- a seasonal wreath and maybe a couple of chairs nobody sits in and a table nobody uses to one side or the other

poorer folks don’t have houses with garages, and if they do have garages they probably don’t have automatic openers. also those were more likely to be rentals and they’d be out smoking on the porch and stuff, they actually use their front porch is my point.

so it’s people who have enough money to have a house with an automatic garage door opener, and who aren’t afraid of being seen as extreme with their porch decorations, that tend towards this particular circumstance

(and like I genuinely love weird porch decorations, the weirder the better, but I do need to be able to reach your door, that’s kinda part of my job)

I generally have worked in the kind of places that have cheap pizzas that college kids and high people eat, so this was like ‘2-3 times a week’ sort of deal. I spent a lot more of my time at the dorms and cheap apartments than I did at nicer houses.

it has changed a lot though, I rarely have a night where I don’t see this kind of thing at least once, here’s my thoughts on why

Pandemic means less people having people over, so nobody is there to say ‘ooh hedge rows are making it hard to get up the walk’ or ‘the cute gnome statue on the porch is at just the right height to whack me in the shins when I come up the stairs, maybe think about moving it back a few inches? I almost broke the damn thing’

the pandemic also means contactless delivery has become more the norm, and so even when you might have in the past had an interaction with a delivery driver who’s like ‘oh by the way, your rosebush attempted to eat me just fyi and I think there’s a spider the size of a housecat living in it’, that doesn’t happen hardly at all anymore

previous management lost us a lot of regulars because they were absolute dickholes and thought customer service was for weenies, but new management took over before the pandemic and so we... like, don’t call customers horrible names when they complain about stuff anymore, and we were one of two places open after 10 pm for a while, so we got back a lot of the townies, and it’s not just college kids and broke folks who order from us anymore (though that’s still one of our main demographics)

the older neighborhood with poorer housing that used to be largely like my parent’s generation or their parent’s generation (boomers and up) is now being bought up by developers and house flippers who are trying to rent to hip young couples and college kids, and they’re slapping paint on houses and throwing in an automatic garage door opener and raising the price like 20%

(this is super infuriating actually because now there’s basically nowhere to live that’s reasonably cheap and kinda shitty in town, it’s all upscale apartments for college students that’s barely occupied, very shitty apartments that are charging way too much, or houses being sold for 20 grand more than they are actually worth, this is why I no longer live in the same town I work)

another interesting thing about pandemic delivery is that my tip average is generally WAY up. I’m not the only one who’s noticed this.

I suspect that when the whole country went to ordering a lot more delivery there was a lot more attention paid to drivers and it’s seemingly resulted in a permanent upswing in tip percentages. generally a lot closer to the 4-5 dollar per delivery range than the 2-3 dollar per delivery range I used to expect.

(not that you can tell that from TONIGHT because I had a miserable tip night, but that’s just luck of the draw sometimes)

[sorryimananti-romantic]

Mist | Choi San | Chapter 4

Pairing: Choi San x OC (Seohyun)

Genre: supernatural (ghost), romance, high school

Trigger Warnings: paranormal, death mentions, violence

Words: 6.6k

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my original character and the story. I do not own any gifs or pictures used.

Full story on Wattpad (don’t spoil here if you read there too)

chapter directory

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Seohyun was waiting for Jiwoo for quite a while now, sitting on the desk in her room, doodling in her notebook. She sighed as she shut it, a bit frustrated. It was not like Jiwoo to leave her hanging.

Seohyun considered going out; it was highly likely that Jiwoo was at their usual spot- the park near the school, her home, or the accident site. It was about 10 pm. Wasn't that late, was it? She got up, but stopped.

Maybe Jiwoo needed space.

It was probably this, but Seohyun couldn't help fearing that she had just moved on. If she'd gotten her memories back, that could mean that she was a whole different person now. She might not be the Jiwoo she knew anymore.

Seohyun fell on her bed, staring at the wall, and suddenly felt goosebumps.

"Took you long enough," Seohyun said, not bothering to look at Jiwoo, who had just entered the room.

"Don't tell me you were waiting for me," Jiwoo smirked.

"Oh, why would I?" Seohyun smirked back, and made space for Jiwoo, who sat on the bed with her. "So?"

"So, my dear friend," Jiwoo began, clearly excited to tell her her life story.

And she did. She was Ahn Jiwoo, daughter to two loving parents and a sister to a 16 year old brother. She'd had a pretty normal life; her father was a finance manager and her mother a housewife, and she had a lot of friends during her school years too. The rumours about her father being some sort of criminal were wrong; she had to face those rumours in her life too. They had her confused with another Jiwoo in her class.

"So we were a group of four friends; 2 boys and 2 girls. I was kind of a rebel in my last few months of life, because I just found life boring. I wanted an adventure. Something new. I wanted to travel too. So I was suggesting to my friends that we should do something. They were all busy in their own ways, and I didn't understand. I kept bugging them. So when we were in that restaurant, we had an argument. I knew it was my fault. I stormed off, and I was just about to go back when I got hit by a car."

"Oh... so then you went to the hospital, and they found out you lost your memories?"

"Right," she said, "But I was already in a critical condition. Brain damage led me to death."

"Ah..." Seohyun stared at her. Jiwoo's eyes were sad as she told her this, but she looked content. "So the reason you stayed..."

"The reason I stayed was not one, but two. I wanted to make sure my friends didn't blame themselves and my parents had moved on. And I spent the whole day making sure that was the case."

"And the other reason?"

"I want an adventure," she said and smiled brightly.

"Ugh, you ghosts! You stay for the most stupid reasons!" Seohyun mocked and dramatically threw her head in her hands, which made Jiwoo hit her with a pillow until she was laughing.

"That's my last wish, Seohyun. You think you could do that for me? Go on an adventure with me?"

"Haven't you had enough of adventure though? I mean, living with me is an adventure in itself-"

"I already talked to San," Jiwoo said, catching her attention. "He actually thought it was a nice idea. So we're going on an adventure this week. He said he'll make it a surprise for me."

"Hey, hey, that's not fair? You didn't even ask me!"

"I didn't have to," Jiwoo flipped her red hair.

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

"I don't know why I ever agreed to this," Seohyun sighed, handing her bag to Wooyoung who put it with the other few bags.

"Stop being a boomer and get in," Wooyoung said, and Seohyun did, muttering how she should have never suggested this.

"Should've thought before you planned all of it," Jongho snickered and Seohyun shot a glare.

"Everybody's in?" Hongjoong asked and they looked at each other, shouting a yes. Hongjoong gave a thumbs up and took the front seat of the van after shutting the door.

Everyone, including Jiwoo, who couldn't stop smiling, were seated. Seohyun had asked her mom to lend her a van that could fit 10 people, and though her mom had raised her brows in question, she had agreed when Seohyun said it was a trip with friends. She had just been surprised she had friends that were not ghosts, so without further questions (quite conveniently) she agreed, on the condition that the driver would be someone from the company.

She did raise a question when she found out that she was the only girl in the whole group, and there were only 9 people. Seohyun finally told her she was doing a favour for a ghost who had saved her life, and her mother made her promise she'd tell her the story someday.

They were going to Muchangpo Beach. They decided they'd see the sunset there. It was close to Seoul and the only place they could afford to travel and have an 'adventure'. They'd have a fun time, the boys promised, saying everything was fun when they were together.

Jiwoo was sitting between San and Wooyoung, and the three of them were chatting. Seohyun smiled when she saw that San was her voice; he'd say whatever she had to say.

She herself was in the middle row with Seonghwa and Yeosang by her sides. The two of them were also half bent backwards, listening to whatever the three of them were talking about. Seohyun had plugged her earphones in but she wasn't playing any music yet. She just listened to them talk.

"Tell us something about Seohyun," Wooyoung asked, giggling. Seohyun smiled inwardly.

"Well, Seohyun," Jiwoo thought, "she's quite rude, isn't she?"

"She's quite rude, isn't she?" San did his job, and the five of them laughed.

"She's not that rude,~" Seonghwa casted a glance at her, sighing in relief when he thought she couldn't hear him. Seohyun bit her cheek from the inside to stop smiling.

"She's scared of crows, of all thing," Jiwoo revealed, and the boys laughed a little. "She'll never show it, but when more than three crows are around, she runs for her life."

"Ah, I haven't ever noticed," Yeosang said, rubbing his chin, "she can hide it really well."

"Tell us some ghost story," Wooyoung asked. He was clearly enjoying this.

"I have a good one!" Jiwoo exclaimed and everyone seemed to scoot closer. "There was once a boy about her age who had the most stupid reason to not move on."

San almost stopped as he narrowed his eyes at Jiwoo and she assured him it was not Joon Hyuk. So San told the boys, and asked them to guess.

"He wanted an adventure too?" Yeosang laughed.

Jiwoo pouted, but said it could fall in that category, but it was a different sort of adventure. She told them to let their imagination run wild.

As San told the boys, Seohyun decided this was her cue to interrupt. "We are NOT going to talk about that!"

Wooyoung screamed a little in surprise. "Weren't you listening to music?!"

Jiwoo was just laughing and Seohyun bared her teeth at her, making everyone laugh and wonder just what sort of adventure did the boy want. After a hundred pleads from the boys, Seohyun finally told them that it didn't actually happen; she just threatened the ghost in unimaginable ways, making him move on without his desire.

"I think I have an idea of what happened," Yeosang thought, amusement in his eyes, "But I am too afraid to voice it out."

"I think you got it then," Seohyun nodded in approval and Yeosang gaped at her.

"You got it tough, friend," he said, patting her shoulder to comfort her. San and Wooyoung were pouting very loudly, and Seonghwa just stared at Yeosang and Seohyun as understanding passed between them.

"You both are so weird," Seonghwa finally said.

"If I tell you, Seonghwa, you'll drown in shame. Better protect your ears and your pure mind," Seohyun grinned.

San and Wooyoung exchanged glances, frowning, but they shook their head. It couldn't be that bad. Could it?

Seohyun plugged her earphones again, deciding she'd take a nap and actually played music this time.

-----------

"We're here!"

Seonghwa shook her awake, and Seohyun slowly opened her eyes, her hand going in front of her eyes as she blocked the sunlight. She took off her earphones and the sound of waves hit her, making her smile. She adjusted her green dress that reached below her knees, and put her hat on.

She saw that Jiwoo was already out, running along the beach, and San was watching her with a smile on his face. He turned back, meeting eyes with Seohyun, who suddenly felt out of breath.

San was handsome- painfully handsome. And the plain white shirt he wore didn't help. His hair was flying due to the breeze and he ran a hand through them, cocking his head to the side as he watched her.

The sun making his skin glow didn't help either.

Seohyun cleared her throat and joined him, and they both watched Jiwoo, in her jeans and green T shirt that she had died in- her permanent outfit, running as freely as she could, her red hair flowing behind her, her laugh ringing in the air.

"I didn't know she'd be that happy to see the beach. Hasn't she been here before?" Seohyun asked.

"I think she has. She knew the way. And I'm almost suspicious she's doing this just to annoy you," San answered.

As if on cue, Jiwoo stopped, doing a weird dance, then started twerking-

"And that's our cue to look away," Seohyun grabbed San, now laughing, by his arm and went to join the others. "They didn't have to come. They can't see her."

"We figured out a way to enjoy with her even if we can't see her," San smirked.

And that was how, a few moments later, they all were assembled in a circle playing cards.

"Why do I think San and Seohyun are cheating on us with Jiwoo?" Yunho looked at them suspiciously.

"How do you think the cards are in the air?" Seohyun asked, and Yunho grinned. She had a point. To anyone who could not see Jiwoo, it would look like a bunch of cards were in the air.

"I WON!" Jiwoo smacked the final card and jumped in the air. Seohyun gaped at her.

"You cheated!" She shouted.

"I was sitting with you the whole time, don't give me that shit," Jiwoo smirked.

San told them that she had, indeed, won without cheating and everybody groaned. Mingi dragged the food basket and him and Jongho started spreading the food.

"Can she really not eat?" Jongho asked.

"I'm afraid not," Seohyun answered.

"Isn't it rude to eat in front of a ghost?" Jiwoo put her hands on her hip and Seohyun popped a cherry in her mouth, saying, "It is."

San scoffed. Jiwoo kicked Seohyun's leg lightly and said she was going to walk. The rest of them started to eat.

"I heard the sunset here is very pretty," Seonghwa said.

"I've been here before," Mingi took a bite of his sandwich, "It really is the prettiest."

After eating a little, Seohyun looked in the distance where Jiwoo was standing near the shore, the waves flowing near her. Jiwoo looked back and started walking towards them, then stopped halfway and gestured at them to come.

"She's calling us," San said, and they all got up, joining Jiwoo.

"I want to play in the water," Jiwoo said.

"What's stopping you?" Seohyun asked.

"With you all, you dumbass," Jiwoo laughed and took her hand, leading her to the shore.

"Hey, hey, easy there," Seohyun laughed and let out a little yelp as the waves hit her bare feet. "The water is so cold!"

Jiwoo bent down and sprayed the water on Seohyun, smirking.

"Oh no, you did not!" Seohyun bent down and sprayed back before she could run. And so started a battle of getting each other wet. They all forgot all their worries for a while, running around in the waves, laughing as loudly as they could, laughing even louder when one of them got Jiwoo. By the time it got darker, they were all quite wet.

Yunho and Yeosang ran back to get towels for everyone, throwing them one each, and wondering if Jiwoo should have a towel. Seohyun said there was no need, but Jiwoo snatched hers once she was done.

"The sunset's here, guys," Yeosang said.

They all stood silently, side by side, watching the sky change to brilliant shades of candy, the sun reflecting on the sea. It was breathtakingly beautiful. At some point, Jiwoo crossed her hand with Seohyun's, and she turned to look at her face. Her red hair shone brightly and her eyes were wet.

"I want it to be the last thing that I see before I go," Jiwoo almost whispered. Seohyun's heart sank in her knees. It was really happening.

Jiwoo looked at San and smiled widely, San smiled back and waved at her. Jiwoo asked him to tell everyone that she was thanking them for doing so much for her. They all assured her it was nothing, and said they were gonna miss her.

San looked at Seohyun, nodding and urged the others to come with him. Only Jiwoo and Seohyun remained now, facing the sunset.

"It's really happening," Jiwoo finally said. A cry of pain escaped Seohyun's mouth. She couldn't take it anymore. Jiwoo rubbed her hand comfortingly, making her face herself. "You've given me an adventure. The time I spent with you, that was enough. Today was for you, Seohyun."

"Are you serious?" Seohyun asked.

Jiwoo nodded. "I told everyone it was for me, but no. It was for you. A gift for helping me out so much. For being a friend. A little sister that I always wanted."

Seohyun smiled sadly, "I'm gonna miss you so, so much. I got used to you, I shouldn't have."

"I know," Jiwoo smiled, kissing her forehead and wrapping her in a hug. Seohyun closed her eyes and inhaled. "Don't cry on me right now, Seohyun."

Seohyun laughed a little. "I'm trying not to, you're making it harder by reminding me!" She opened her eyes and saw the boys, watching them from a distance.

"I hope you'll open your heart more, Seohyun. That's my last wish. You had a tough life, but you have so many people, dead and alive, who love you. I hope you remember that, always."

"Unnie..." A tear escaped Seohyun.

Jiwoo watched the sunset, Seohyun in her arms, and it was perfect.

She closed her eyes.

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

Seohyun felt it, felt her presence fade away. She was no longer hugging Jiwoo. She stood for a few seconds before finally collapsing on the sand and she shuddered as tears began to flow. She put her face in her hands and cried her heart out.

The boys approached her, sitting around her, rubbing her back, telling her that it was okay. She just cried and cried, and she knew she was letting go of Joon Hyuk along with Jiwoo too. The proper goodbye that she had so badly wanted, she finally got it.

San put her arms around her and brought her closer, caressing her hair. After a few minutes, she was out of tears. She let her hair cover her face as she rested her head on San's shoulder, trying to normalize her breath.

Jongho handed her a water bottle. She managed a smile and took a few sips, rubbing her eyes. The boys looked at each other. They weren't sure what they should do next.

"God damn me if I ever befriend a ghost again," Seohyun said and finally laughed, making everyone else laugh along.

"Are you okay?" Hongjoong asked.

"Yes, I am, actually," she said, wiping her eyes again. "I'm done crying for a while now." Her eyes went to San, who understood and smiled.

"Alright, let's get some dinner."

-----------

The driver had dropped Seohyun home now, and was on the way to drop the rest of them. As Seohyun entered her home, it felt strange. She felt utterly alone now that she knew Jiwoo wasn't gonna be back ever.

She tried to recall the time, only a few months ago, when she hadn't met Jiwoo yet. What did she even do in her spare time? She could not remember.

Seohyun went in her room and changed into her PJs first. After she combed her hair and scrolled a bit, she got up to turn off the light and saw something lying on her desk.

It was a painting. Of Jiwoo and her, cheek to cheek, smiling, the black cat in their arms. Seohyun gasped a little and examined it. It was really well drawn. Who made it?

She turned the page and saw something written on the back of it:

Seohyun,

I remember now that I loved painting. Since we don't have any photos, I captured us in this painting. Now you have a photo!

Love always, Jiwoo unnie ^^

Seohyun laughed a little as she read how she had addressed herself. "I guess you really liked being called unnie," she thought out loud.

She set the painting on her bookshelf. After being content with its position, she turned off the light, and slept surprisingly peacefully throughout the night.

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

"I swear to god if you don't make fun of me when I do something stupid, I'm never gonna talk to you all again."

"Well, that's new," Yeosang commented, "You're begging for it now."

"Better that then you all being like this!" Seohyun let out a frustrated sigh.

The boys were being ridiculously sensitive with Seohyun, and she was feeling absolutely uncomfortable. She hadn't noticed it the first two days, but then she noticed in the little things; how they'd always offer her food before eating themselves, how they'd always accompany her, etc. She had enough of the special treatment.

"You're acting like someone died," Seohyun said.

"Back at it with the dead jokes are you?" San shook his head.

"Technically, Jiwoo was dead," Jongho remarked.

"So did she die twice then?" Mingi wondered.

"Oh please," Seohyun sighed again, "I just want you all to act like we used to. No more special treatment. Please, this makes it worse. I'm already at terms with Jiwoo going. It was bound to happen."

"Alright, alright," Seonghwa said and shushed her. "We didn't know what else we could do. Back to normal, okay?"

"Thank you," Seohyun truly meant it. "Also, I think I'm ready to share my drums." The boys hooted except one.

"Are you angry?" Mingi asked. Seohyun immediately turned to San, who was suddenly interested in Wooyoung's fingernails.

"Now I am," Seohyun muttered, and San smiled without meeting her eyes. The teacher came and interrupted their session, so they went back to studying.

After school was over, the boys decided to go to their warehouse, while Seohyun asked if anyone would help her bring the drums. San volunteered and they walked to her home, the black cat in San's hand.

As they walked, talking about how it looked like the cat missed Jiwoo, San stopped in his tracks. "I think you have a guest."

Seohyun looked ahead and saw a middle aged man dressed like a doctor. He was a ghost. Seohyun shared a look with San and went ahead.

"How can I help you?" Seohyun asked. The ghost got startled when he saw that San could see him too.

Jiwoo had once explained that to ghosts, Seohyun shined a little brighter than the rest of the humans, which was how they knew. Seohyun had just thought she was crazy but now she realized, now that she was with San, that it must be true.

Or maybe Jiwoo hadn't been joking that one time when she said there was a banner on top of her head and every ghost could see it, only Seohyun couldn't.

"I was told you'd help me," the doctor said. Seohyun nodded and he continued. "I made a mistake. I operated on a patient and it went wrong. It was my fault. The patient lost his vision. They were going to sue me, but when I tried to settle it, we had an argument. They gave up on suing me, saying I wasn't even worth the trouble.

"It was a few days later. I went into a slump and started drinking a lot. I was on the roof of the hospital and it wasn't my intention, but I slipped. That's how I died."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Seohyun said, "How can I help you move on then?"

"I want to let the patient know that I truly am sorry, and I want to let my family, just my family know that it wasn't a suicide. I wouldn't leave them behind on purpose."

"But... isn't it easier for your family this way? Than knowing that you are now a ghost? That it wasn't an accident?"

"I think," San began, "that he's right. It's more easier for them if they know he didn't commit suicide. They'd feel really bad if they think he left them on purpose. No one wants that from the people they love."

The doctor smiled thankfully at San. "I'll take you to the patient first," he said and asked if he should teleport the two of them.

"Do you want to come? You don't have to," Seohyun said.

San stroked the cat's head. "I want to."

"I don't know if it's safe for San to teleport. So we'll take the mundane route. Lead the way, sir."

"It's quite a distance. I hope you have money for taxi," the doctor said.

On the way to the patient's house, they had a nice chat with the doctor. He told them about his life, back when he was famous for being a good surgeon. He had never made a mistake and he had always held pride in that. But with this particular patient, he took a risk he knew he shouldn't have.

He told them he had a 10 year old daughter and he wanted her to become a doctor too. He wanted her to know that it was good to save people, and she shouldn't be afraid to take risks but also be careful at the same time and know her limits.

Seohyun was actually touched by the whole thing. It was good to have ghosts like these once in a while; nice, well-mannered ghosts.

They reached the patient's house. It was in a posh area; the patient himself must be rich. The house looked more like a mansion from the outside. Upon ringing the doorbell, a woman appeared, who the doctor told them was his wife. She seemed to be past 50s.

"We're relatives of Dr. Lee, the one who operated on your husband. We're here to discuss things about the case."

The woman passed them a skeptical look, "The doctor passed away, didn't he? We gave up on the case altogether. What do you want now?"

"We just want to talk to Mr. Cho. It's important. Please."

The woman let them in, guided them to the chairs in the garden and said she'd bring her husband. San and her sat down, admiring the lush gardens. The doctor paced worriedly.

"It will be alright. I have a way with words," Seohyun assured the doctor.

The husband and wife arrived; San and Seohyun got up and greeted them respectfully. "I am Seohyun, Dr. Lee's distant relative. This is San, my cousin."

"Have a seat," he said and they all settled down, including the wife. Seohyun sighed and decided she'd get to the point.

"Dr. Lee made a mistake. You must know that," Seohyun said. The wife looked at her husband worriedly.

"So he says," Mr. Cho said, staring in the distance.

"He wants to apologize, sincerely. I'll get to the point. He's here right now. I can see ghosts, the dead who have not moved on. He had unfinished business here, because he wanted to sincerely apologize. He won't be able to move on until he hears your forgiveness."

"Is this a prank?" Mrs. Cho asked, but Mr. Cho shushed her.

"I hope you can prove he's here," Mr. Cho said.

"Dr. Lee told you about some ginseng plant right before you went under anesthesia. No one was there when he told you, right?"

"That's true," Mr. Cho smiled. His wife began to complain but he raised a hand. "That's interesting. My father had a friend. He could see ghosts too. Are you the Mediator?"

San and Seohyun looked at each other in surprise. "That's what they call me, yes."

Mr. Cho laughed a little. "I used to not believe my father and that friend of his for the longest time, until I saw something and couldn't believe my eyes. That's why I believe you too, girl. You're doing a good job."

"Thank you," Seohyun said.

"So Dr. Lee is here? I can speak directly to him?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright. Dr. Lee, it was your fault, I know. But I truly forgive you. There are things we cannot avoid. We call it fate or destiny. What's bound to happen, fortune or misfortune, happens and you cannot avoid it. That's what I believe. I want you to move on, without the burden of my accident holding you back. You didn't do it on purpose, and that is enough for me."

Tears escaped Mrs. Cho's eyes and she wiped them. Seohyun muttered to San, 'wise man', and they watched Dr. Lee's eyes shine with tears to as he said his apology and thanks. Seohyun conveyed the message.

They were offered tea, but Seohyun told them they had to get home. The man offered to help Seohyun out if she ever had trouble with this Mediator job. She accepted, saying she would pay a visit someday.

The three of them left the house, standing in the street and reflecting on what had happened.

"That went rather smoothly," Seohyun commented.

"I know!" San widened his eyes at her.

"Thank you, Seohyun. It really does feel like a burden off my shoulder."

"No problem, we should move now. What's the next job?"

"I don't think I can see them like this," the doctor said. "I love my daughter and my wife very much. Seeing them would want me to stay. Do you think I can write a letter to my wife? You can give it to her tomorrow."

"Will your wife believe that it was really written by you?"

"We had a secret code between us; we created it. If I mention it in the letter, she'll have to believe it. And she'll recognize my handwriting too."

San and Seohyun decided that was convenient, and Seohyun handed the doctor a pen and paper. He wrote a short one, muttering something about how the less he wrote the better it would be. Then he folded it and handed it to Seohyun.

"I trust you. You'll give the letter tomorrow, right? I wrote the address on the other page."

"I will deliver it personally."

"Thank you," the doctor smiled. "Do you think I'll be able to watch over my daughter?"

"Maybe you will," Seohyun said.

"Guardian angel," San added, making the doctor smile as he disappeared. He had moved on.

"Well," Seohyun said, "That was quick. I love it when ghosts are wise enough to actually know how to handle their mess."

San scoffed. "Let's go."

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

Grabbing some coffee from a café they passed by, they took a taxi to Seohyun's home. Seohyun insisted that they should eat before they packed the drums and go to the warehouse. San helped her set the table. She had made pasta last night, which she reheated, and had some chocolates for dessert.

"Does your mom ever come home?" San asked as he nibbled on the chocolate.

Seohyun yawned. San reflected. They both were tired and sleepy now. "She has an apartment near her office so she only comes once a week here."

San yawned again and Seohyun laughed. "Should I let you nap?"

San smiled lazily. "Let's just pack the drums while you're still angry. I don't want you to change your mind."

Seohyun threw the wrapper at him and he caught it before it hit his face, throwing it right back. She dodged it. "Come on, let's dismantle it."

It took them ten minutes to dismantle and pack the drums. But it was already night time, and the boys had locked the warehouse and gone home when San asked them.

"Well, I'll call them here tomorrow. They should take it if they want it so much."

"Good idea." San said, yawning again.

"I think if I let you go home now, you're gonna fall asleep in the middle of the road. Take a power nap, San."

"Oh no, I shouldn't. I'll just go," he said and walked past her, only to be grabbed by the arms and led to a room despite him insisting he was not THAT sleepy.

San entered the room and immediately knew it was Seohyun's. The potted plants, the books, the mess. And the painting.

"So that's the painting, eh," he said, walking towards it and looking at the detail, absolutely wowed by it.

"How do you know? I don't think I mentioned," Seohyun narrowed her eyes.

"Jiwoo told me she left a gift for you," he smiled. Seohyun went to stand with him, looking at the painting with him.

"She's really good," she said.

San looked down at her. She felt so small; he was about a head taller than her. He turned towards her, his hand going to play with her hair. "You're really okay, right?"

"I am, San," Seohyun assured him. "I do feel lonely when I'm home, but you guys make up for it everyday."

San nodded. He was still playing with her hair. Seohyun suddenly flushed; they were standing quite close to each other. San noticed her looking at him, her light brown eyes shining.

He seemed to be searching her eyes for something. And Seohyun wasn't sure what it was, but she felt her heart pumping louder every second. She was, oh god, she was so attracted to him. He made her feel so many things just by looking at her.

"What are you looking at?" Seohyun asked- almost whispered.

"You," San said, bringing his hand to cup her face, surprised when she leaned in to his touch and closed her eyes. It made him melt. He brought her in for a hug and she gladly wrapped her arms around his waist, his small waist. She could hear his heart beat just as loudly. San rested his face on her head, rocking them back and forth. He didn't want to let go, he wanted to stay like this as long as he could.

Seohyun sighed. All she could think about was how he felt. Her mind was truly blank.

San finally broke apart a little, Seohyun's arms still around his waist. He was staring at her, his hands cupping her face, putting stray hair behind her ears. Seohyun wanted to do the same to him, but at the same time she didn't want to let go of him.

"Seohyun, Seohyun," he whispered, loving the sound of her name on his lips. She bit her lip. It seemed like they just stared at each other for the longest time, afraid to say anything, until Seohyun smiled at the situation.

San kissed her forehead first, a light peck. When she didn't move away, he tilted her face a bit upwards to kiss her cheekbone, then her cheek, leaving butterfly kisses, making her tremble all over. She clenched his shirt tighter, out of breath already. Their noses brushed and she loved the feeling of it, his breath warm on her. And when their lips brushed, San finally kissed her properly.

And Seohyun's mind went blank.

San's hand went behind her neck and Seohyun finally left his waist, only to cup his face herself as she guided him along. They tasted chocolate on each other. Seohyun was deepening the kiss, she just couldn't get enough. San mirrored her movements, following along, making her bend backwards until her back hit the desk and her hand went to rest on it for support.

San broke apart to catch his breath. His eyes were glazed, and so were Seohyun's. He put his hand on Seohyun's, the one that was on the desk, and with a sultry look and half a smile, he kissed her again, so passionately that it made Seohyun curve back and back until San was half on top of her.

When they broke apart, finally short of breath, Seohyun smirked. "I thought you were sleepy."

"I still am," he said, resting her forehead against her and smiling, eyes shut.

Seohyun lead him to her bed, making him sit. She bit her lip and smirked as she positioned herself on San's lap. San held her by her waist and let her kiss him; on his cheeks, like he had done, a peck on his nose which made him laugh, and finally a kiss to the lips.

"God, the way you make me feel, Choi San!" She sighed dramatically.

"And how do I make you feel?" He questioned. Seohyun shook her head. "I'll tell you later. Now we sleep."

San set his alarm for a power nap and with Seohyun in her arms, they both slept peacefully. When the alarm did go off, Seohyun didn't budge. With a kiss on her forehead, he left the house.

----------

"There's something wrong with Seohyun," Yeosang announced and everyone turned to look at him.

"There's more?" Wooyoung asked sarcastically and Seohyun glared at him, turning to look at Yeosang, asking him what he meant by that.

"I don't know," Yeosang threw his hands in the air, clearly frustrated, "She keeps smiling to herself. It's creepy."

Seohyun and San shared a look and San, despite his struggle not to, burst out laughing. Seohyun pursed her lips, trying not to smile but failed.

"See?" Yeosang pointed at her, "Has she ever smiled like this?"

Wooyoung was looking at San and Seohyun. "You both.... Is there a secret I don't know about!?"

"I don't have secrets anymore..." Seohyun lied shamelessly, shrugging. San put his hands in the air and said, "I only laughed because of what Yeosang said."

"No, you're looking at each other with the most disgusting look in your eyes," Yeosang observed, "Don't tell me you two..."

"Ah, no, that cannot have happened!" Hongjoong waved him off as Seonghwa gasped.

"How could you even suggest such a thing?" Seonghwa shook his head, clearly disappointed in Yeosang.

"No, I didn't even say anything yet..." Yeosang looked at Seohyun to apologize but she smirked at him, making his eyes go wide.

"I am RIGHT! Something happened between these two, she smirked at me!"

Seohyun immediately put her poker face and looked at Mingi and Jongho, who were right in front of her, with the most innocent look in her eyes. "Did you see me smirk?"

Mingi and Jongho shook their heads. Yeosang shot Seohyun a glare. "I know I'm right. If this turns out to be true..."

"Stop being so dramatic," San said, shushing Yeosang, and got up to drink water.

They were all in the warehouse, having just left school, and were currently relaxing and drinking juice, chatting with each other. Yeosang had noticed Seohyun smiling more than usual, which made him think something happened. It didn't help that San and Seohyun couldn't stop exchanging glances.

Seohyun had brought the drum set with Yunho before coming to the warehouse. Seohyun motioned to Mingi and they got up, leaving the rest behind.

"Have you ever played drums before? Like, actual drums?"

"Yeah," Mingi answered, "A friend of mine had them."

"Alright, you should learn how to arrange them."

So Seohyun taught Mingi all about the components of a drum set, their various uses and how to dismantle them and put them back. Mingi listened carefully, and Seohyun smiled inwardly at how happy he looked. It made her feel guilty that she delayed it so much.

When they were done, they stood back to have a look.

"A much needed upgrade," Mingi smiled, ruffling Seohyun's hair, "Thanks."

"This drum set is my baby, okay? Use it well."

"Yes ma'am," Mingi saluted and Seohyun pointed at the drums. "Have a go."

Mingi sat on the stool, testing the weight of the drum sticks in his hand. He tested the sounds then, and played a little, freestyling, laughing as he did. The others had come to watch him, cheering and hyping him up.

"Not bad," Seohyun said when he finished, "Just go with your heart. Don't think."

"Your turn," Mingi handed her the drum sticks and she almost panicked.

"I think I'm good," she hesitated but someone pushed her forward. It was Yunho.

"I didn't go through all that trouble of coming to your house and carrying the drums to not see you play," he shook his head.

"Alright. Just a second," Seohyun said, tying her hair in a ponytail. "There you go."

Everyone hooted, clearly excited. This was the first time she was going to actually play in front of them, save for the time she had played the violin for San. San smiled at her as if he was thinking the same thing. Seohyun inhaled, testing the drums, and began.

She realized she really did enjoy playing the drums; there was just something about drums where you could express freely, and loudly, as if you wanted everyone to hear it. And it made her smile like crazy, put her brain on pause for a while and play with her heart.

She played like crazy, and when she was done, everyone was in awe.

"You're actually very good!" Hongjoong said, finally clapping. Seohyun bowed her head and got up. "I didn't expect this."

"It's like she was a different person," Jongho was looking at her with wonder.

"Teacher! you're my teacher from today," Mingi declared, and Seohyun scoffed at him.

"You don't need a teacher, teach yourself. I know you can."

"Nooo~" he wailed, "I would love you as a teacher!"

Seohyun just waved him off, going to San and smiling embarrassingly at him. He pinched her cheeks and she pouted, the two of them forgetting for a moment that everyone was still watching her.

"You two... there is something different!" Jongho laughed in disbelief. San and Seohyun started laughing. Yeosang just shook hands with Jongho, thanking him for finally noticing.

"They're not even bothering to deny it, guys," Yunho grinned.

"San is mine!" Wooyoung shouted dramatically, coming to hug San, sticking his tongue out at Seohyun. Seohyun glared at him, baring her teeth at him, and snatched San from him. Wooyoung gasped, and suddenly the two of them were in a battle, both pulling at San by his arms, who was laughing painfully, shouting for help.

"He's not even choosing!" Seohyun laughed, and winked at Wooyoung as she said, "Let's ditch him."

Wooyoung pushed San away, rather forcefully, who fell in Yeosang's arms. He put his arm in Seohyun and she flipped her hair as they walked away from him.

"No one loves me," San buried his nose in Yeosang's neck, pouting. Yeosang sighed, patting his head.

"You're right," Yeosang said, "Absolutely right."

"Hey..." San moaned like a little kid.

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