#the part of me that he lead on for 6 whole months however....... well. i Have been giggling to myself for the past 30 minutes

[darcyolsson]

as many of you are aware i lack any natural predisposition to be a true hater as i simply find it hard to relish in anyone's misery no matter the circumstances However i just found out that my ex situationship/ex best friend/current friend-of-a-friend who i run into from time to time who i try to implode with my mind every time he posts pictures w his gf GOT DUMPED!!!!!! absolutely BEAUTIFUL day to be ME 😁☀️💞💛🙂‍↕️🙏🤭🤭🤭🤭 LMAOOOOOOO

[garez19]

yandere! best friend’s brother x reader (pt.2)

notes/warnings: sibling abuse, gender neutral reader, english is not my language, i have ABSOLUTELY no idea how to use punctuation, not proofread

i really hope this one’s turned out okay. im pretty new at this whole blogging concept so… bear with me.

wc: 1.6k

[part 1] [part 2]

six months had passed since you graduated. you had been trying your best to find the common ground between iris and emil for six months.

as you both pursued your education further, you and iris had already picked different career paths, which meant your schedules weren’t as aligned anymore. however, you were still her best friend, and you were always going to be her best friend. iris, the master of destroying everything she’d ever touched, somehow couldn't break you, no matter how hard she tried. and for that, she felt blessed. you must’ve been a gift sent by gods, a reminder that she was, in some ways, truly special.

yet you weren’t sure if she'd still think that once she found out you started hanging out with emil. it shouldn’t have been such a big deal, but it was. hell, it wasn't even your idea.

it all started 6 months ago, the day you’d met in the coffee shop—desperate, looking for salvation in his demolished mind, and about to break. ready to collapse, something his sister wasn't able to cause. the reason he took the lead. the only thing iris wasn’t able to accomplish, which was why he took the lead—slowly, trying not to startle you.

“mind explaining why you’re telling me all this?” he asked as you took another sip from your coffee. he had reason to be confused, and you couldn't really blame him when he implied you were doing all this to feel about yourself.

“because, like I said, you don’t deserve it. and because I know iris is better than that,” you answered. he let out a loud sigh while contemplating leaving, not wanting to communicate with someone who idealized iris to this point. then he imagined the look on her face when she realized you were not her very dear friend anymore. he decided to pursue you a little bit more.

“okay, thank you, appreciate it,” he replied indifferently as he leaned in closer to you, “and how are you going to help me exactly?” he mumbled. were you going to try and fail miserably again? you pulled back to regain space. “I will try and talk to her. and then–” he cut you off, “I don’t want you to.” he was so certain about not wanting help, which certainly pushed you off.

“emil, you need–” you tried once more, yet he interrupted again, “look, I’m the one who has to deal with her when you’re done lecturing, and I don’t want any part of it, okay?” he took a deep breath. “I’m not a child anymore.”

you were so much like iris in the sense that you only did whatever seemed the best for you, and never looked back. he could sense that, hell, he could see that. and you seemed confused—like a spoiled kid who wouldn’t take no as an answer, like it was your first time getting rejected. and it seemed you needed some guidance, as you kept opening and closing your mouth.

“hang out with me.”

you were baffled by the sudden request. because, from what you’d seen, emil made it very clear that he didn’t like you any better than his sister. you looked at the dessert—a slice of cheesecake, untouched.

“if you want to help in some way, just hang out with me. I don’t have any friends, and I'm feeling quite bored.” he added. and you highly doubted it, given that you had seen him with a handful of people. but you did not really have the guts to turn him down, especially when he put it like that. he put the cheesecake right in front of you, as if he was getting ready to leave.

“well, sure.” you answered before he said anything. “should I keep it a secret from her?” you asked. you still didn’t want iris to cause him –and you– a headache. even though you still felt like she deserved knowing, no matter what.

“yeah, ideally,” he affirmed. dealing with iris was not quite the biggest problem, but her realizing the toy she’d adored so dearly was about to be taken wasn’t something he wished to happen so early. not when you were still a mere puppet of iris. (no matter how hard you tried to act like a saint) not when you were going to crawl back to her the moment she called out your name.

but no matter what, if she wasn’t willing to share her toys, he was going to carve one out for himself, one that is almost identical to hers.

***

you failed to understand how your best friend was cruel to such a person. you failed to understand why the two were never able to get along when emil was nothing but compatible all the time. he was okay with everything, not because he didn’t want to upset you –or anyone, for that matter– but because he never seemed to have any strong preferences for anything. he liked going around the town for new adventures, but if you wanted to sit down and drink a cup of coffee, who was he to say no?

“have you decided what you want to study?” you asked as he was absently scribbling down some song lyrics of an old band, wearing only one earbud. “I’m thinking of medicine,” he replied, still seeming unbothered. emil had a knack for biology, and he liked exploring the world studying it. he looked up at you when you didn’t give him a reaction, “how are your studies going?” you grabbed your book on the table and put it back in your backpack. “not bad, I guess.” you muttered. you two, seemingly bored with your little studying session, had agreed to study together at least twice a week. it felt nice, and although emil and iris didn’t resemble each other personality-wise, they still brought a similar type of comfort to you.

and they brought a similar type of suffering.

“your phone’s going off.” emil said as he looked at the phone on the table.

iris🤍

you took a peek at emil. he seemed still, not looking at you but the phone. he didn’t seem upset, bothered or disappointed. and it was as if he simply was not there. he just observed the whole scene as a spectator.

you took the call. and to be fair there wasn’t anything new. she kept going on and on about how busy she was, and how much she missed you, and if you were available anytime soon. you truly missed her too, but there was some weird sting on your stomach—like it was making sure you remember you keep secrets from her.

and well, it felt so stupid, if you had to be honest, because at the end of the day you didn’t do anything wrong.

“do you still only talk to me because you feel sorry?” he said, making you snap out of it.

“pardon?” you were taken aback by the sudden question.

“are you still trying to feel better about yourself?” he accused once more. still not a visible expression on his face, as if he simply asked out of curiosity.

you didn’t answer, more like, you didn’t bother to answer.

“it’s not like I’ve done anything I should feel bad about myself.” was all you told him. and when it was time to leave and you finally saw an expression on his face–a sour one specifically– you smiled.

“sure, there were times I felt bad, but I’ve never done anything out of pity.” you said genuinely. and you then saw another expression again, one you hadn’t witnessed until that moment: he was surprised.

then you left. to meet iris. your loveliest friend.

***

emil was intrigued by how honest you sounded. you didn’t try to hide anything, nor did you feel the need to sound sympathetic. it was a short, silly sentence. it was the sentence he wished he had heard six months ago, as it gave him a different type of rush—a different kind of validation. you weren’t running out with him for redemption. you liked his company–to a degree, at least.–

he didn’t care about iris, her stupid mind games, or his parents’ unconditional love for her, her promising future, or even her petty rivalry with him. because after all, it’d be a funny scene to watch when she found out you were, in fact, not hers.

however, he was still going to remove that white heart next to her name once he got his hands on your phone.

***

the more you’d spent time with him, the more anxious you started to get. you liked emil’s company, that much was true, but you were also frightened whenever you imagined iris’ disappointment.

you were not doing anything wrong. you were not. you were not. you

“you’re definitely going to fail.” emil said while he took notes on his book. damn, it really felt like you were cheating on your spouse sometimes.

“yeah, whatever, I’m bored.” you whined. “you still haven’t got any friends?” you suddenly asked; not realizing how that sounded, nor what came over you. he turned to you quickly. oh, welp.

“and what if I have?” he blurted.

“what? I was just wondering.” you said, laughing awkwardly. your nervousness made him snap back.

“just for the record, I haven't,” he chuckled. “I’m afraid you’ll be stuck with me for a little longer.”

although you hadn't noticed the tension, his firm grip on the pen very much proved he wasn’t feeling that humorous today.

another study session had ended. you were stretching your back while emil put your stuff in your backpack.

“come over for dinner tomorrow.” just when you were ready to go, he hit you with the offer.

however, having dinner with emil and iris as a friend of both of them was not the idea you’d had for tomorrow. definitely not.

[rando3w574]

S.R x alt!reader

In which the team catches Spencer staring at the “alternative chick” across the bar.

Warnings/genre: Fluff, reader is referred to as a woman and girlfriend, slightly feminine reader (description of makeup,skirt etc), not so secret relationship, brief cm content in the beginning.

Second/third person (idk), Enjoy!

The team had been in California for a week to investigate a string of kidnappings in the downtown area. The case contained its usual horrific scenes and events but luckily the skilled team of agents were able to find the unsub and arrest him without any extra gore. Leading to where they are now. At a bar for drinks somewhere in Virginia.

Spencer’s eyes are focused on your every movement, zoning in on every feature of yours from your precisely styled hair and makeup down to your intricate flowy skirt, paired with the equally as intricate shoes he insisted on buying for you. He longs to hear your laughing and feel your touch but is unfortunately aware of his own rule to keep you two private from the world, not wanting any harm to come to you because of his line of work. Right now however, Spencer has decided he hates that rule.

The team were on their second round of drinks when people noticed Spencer’s sudden lack of attention in the conversation, but instead focused on a group at the other side of the packed bar. The smirk on his face was hard to miss and inevitably caught the attention of Derek and Penelope, having finished being in their own little bubble.

“Hey pretty boy,” Derek teases, “pretty boyyy?”

“Hm” Spencer responds, forcing his eyes away from across the bar to focus on Derek.

“Who over there has got you so caught up?” Penelope questions, the whole team now paying attention to their conversation.

“Nobody. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Spencer quickly defends, causing a giggle from the girls at his nervousness.

“Sure you don’t,” Derek replies sarcastically, “So you don’t mind if I just, go over there?” Derek teases again.

But before Spencer can answer in protest or stop the, Derek and Penelope are already out of their seats and making their way over to you and your group of friends.

Although Spencer can’t hear much of your conversation over the bustle of the bar, he can imagine you recognise his two colleagues from the many pictures in his apartment as he notices your eyes widening at the realisation and your gorgeous smile making an always welcome appearance on your face. He thinks you’re an angel.

Soon enough, you begin to head over towards the table him and the remainder of the team occupy, excluding Derek and Penelope who are a few steps behind you with cheesy grins plastered on their faces.

Your smile hasn’t faltered and is still adorning your face as you near the table.

“Hello everyone, you must be the rest of Spencer’s team!” You beam while meeting the individual gazes of everyone including Spencer’s gazes.

Most of them stare cluelessly except for Spencer who is blushes in your unprompted presence. After a few seconds of silence, Derek thankfully cuts the tension and explains,

“This beautiful woman here seems to know Spencer pretty well. Do you care to explain that to us all pretty boy?” He says with a wink.

Spencer blushes even more at the sudden turn of heads in his direction, feeling your piercing gaze along with his colleagues inquisitive looks.

“Well uhm everyone, this is y/n. My girlfriend.” He stammers saying the last part in a hurry whilst gesturing towards you.

The table erupts into a flurry of “hello, nice to meet you”, compliments directed towards you and your style with the occasional “I didn’t know Spencer had a girlfriend” to which you responded,

“He’s been keeping you guys from me for 6 months. Can you believe?” You joke with a fake pout on your lips.

“Well we need to make up for lost time then.” Jj claims.

“Reid, the next rounds on you. We have some questions to ask!” Emily demands in agreement. The rest of team then seconding her idea.

Spencer sighs, already feeling sorry for his bank account about to feel the consequences of his team’s expensive taste but all distain is gone as soon as you slip into the spot next to him. And as soon as you kiss him sweetly in greeting and then again for fun, he knows he’s going to have a good night even if he’s the target of all teasing tomorrow. He’s glad you’ve finally met his makeshift family and knows he’ll not regret this unplanned introduction.

A/n: Hi all, this is literally my first ever actual oneshot not just hcs! Any tips are appreciated and of course any interactions! Thank you guys for reading!

[holdmymetaphor]

okay heres some things about houses childhood i think about

theres clearly a few dynamics here

-he hates his father, resents the abuse, recognizes that bad things were done to him

-probably when he was very young, he didnt understand why bad things happened to him, was not intentionally A Bad Kid

-because he surmised his dad was not his dad at 12 i assume the abuse started from a young age.

-house mentions ice baths and sleeping outside, but he also mentions his father not speaking to him for months at a time, which is interesting to me. when house tries to qualify the severity of abuse to eve he says "not as bad as your [trauma] if how your acting about it shows how bad it is." which to me is pretty noncommittal. was he doing that bc he was still kind of lying, trying to get info out of her? if not, it seems like house is actually unsure of how to qualify his own abuse, which would lead me to believe it was largely emotional and verbal. although i suspect that his father did physically abuse him at times, to me this exchange implies that house thinks the ice baths and sleeping outside were the worse of it (interestingly both acting on his whole body and ability to regulate temperature)

-at some point he acts out intentionally, instead of unintentionally, bc his father is Wrong and shouldnt be abusing house in these ways(the fact that the thing he wanted to hear from his father was "you were right, you did the right thing" 😭😭)

-this leads to worse and more cruel punishments, which house both detests and wants to avoid repeating. furthering his resentment, but reinforcing his fathers authority

- despite his knowledge that his father is wrong, his dad claims to do these acts out of love, to teach dicipline, to toughen him up. (in this way his struggle with god is really an allegory of his father: is it better he hates me (i deserve pain) or loves me (i dont deserve pain) when he does awful things to me? or is it better for him to not exist at all (things just happen, there is no deserving)?

-in my perspective, especially as house got older, into his teens, he was actually probably really "well behaved" finally smart enough to fake social cues and swallow his pride so that his father wouldnt hit him or what have you (which is why he regresses to a child often as an adult, because he was not allowed those things)

its interesting to me, to see how all of houses character is shaped around the shadow of his father. the parts where he is similar: rigid, principled, yell-y, and where he is intentionally different: encourages independent thinking, respects challenges to his authority (only when he has authority lmao that all falls apart when people take his power(read:agency) away, his biggest trigger)

and none of this even gets into his mother, blythe (a word which means both happiness and bland disintrest) which is a whole nother can of worms. the fact that at the funeral she said that "the war was over" (which implied that no matter how much house actually listened to his father, there was still a part of him that couldnt help but to point out the logical issues, and therefore continued abuse)

lastlly, she had said that john loved him. which i think house believes to be true. especially when he tries to talk to his dead father in season 6, he says "i think i focus on the wrong things," implying that he did want to find some peace with that relationship, and that he wanted his fathers love, despite it being illogical, painful and confusing.

that he was willing to look past the abuse was shocking to me, because house is right his father shouldnt of abused him. but it was coming from a place of love, however ill concieved.

this is as close as we get to house praying to god. to admit that the suffering of life cannot be defied or denied, and grasp for the love nestled in between all the pain, however flawed, wrong, or illogical.

in a lot of ways, his story is so much about houses struggle with the body, its agency, its disability, its doom. he literally becomes a doctor to grasp with this ideologically (at times paradoxically) instead of physics because his question isnt really about existance in general

its about why he exists in the broken, painful way he does. and at the end of it, he sets down his need for an answer, righteousness, and admits that despite it all, his body cant help but love. and that love is the death of him. the end of his suffering.

[dancinglikebutterflywings]

Runaway Kidnapping - Part 01: Murder Plot

-> Pairing: Non-Idol!Min Yoongi x Ex-Girlfriend!Reader

-> Synopsis: The night before her wedding, Y/N overhears her fiancée and his assistant talk about a plot to have her killed 6 months after the wedding. This opens the door wide to all the secrets and schemes her fiancée and his family have been keeping and planning the whole time of their relationship. It also leads to her re-connecting with her ex-boyfriend, Min Yoongi as they end up on the run together.

-> Warnings: Mentions of murder, murder made to look like suicide, mentions of fake kidnapping. Let me know if I've forgotten anything.

-> Word Count: 3,551

-> Taglist: Open. Leave a comment on this post, send an ask or fill out my Tag List Form.

Runaway Kidnapping Masterlist

As Y/N approaches her fiancée, Ji-ho's office, she notices the door slightly ajar, a sliver of light spilling into the dimly lit office space. He messaged her earlier saying he wouldn’t be finishing work until late. Since it’s the night before their wedding, she decided to surprise him, picking up his favourite takeaway food on the way to his office knowing he probably hasn't have eaten yet.  

Just as she reaches to push the door open, but she stops herself, her hand hovering mid-air as she overhears Ji-ho and his assistant, Su-mi talking.   

“I wish we didn’t have to wait six months,” Ji-ho expresses, his voice tinged with frustration. “If only my father wasn’t so stubborn.”   

“I understand, sweetheart, but I’m sure the next six months will fly by smoothly,” Su-mi reassures him, her tone soothing yet laced with an undertone of excitement and malice. “Y/N's not the type to stir trouble; she’s too weak and timid. Plus, think about the money - 5 million won just for being married for half a year.”   

Y/N feels her heart shatter as the realization dawns on her. The last two years have been nothing but a facade, a mere arrangement for her soon-to-be husband to claim 5 million won from his father. Memories of their laughter, the sweet moments they shared, and the promises whispered in the dark come crashing down around her like shattered glass. 

Su-mi’s laughter floats through the door, light and carefree, a stark contrast to the heaviness in Y/N’s heart. “Once the money is in your hands, you can finally escape your father’s expectations. We can quit this place and go somewhere else.” 

She takes a few steps back, her breath hitching in her throat. Her hands ball into fists at her sides, a mix of anger and sadness churning within her as she realizes her relationship was tainted with a hidden agenda. The image of Ji-ho, the man that she loves and thought she knew, is now a total stranger to her. 

“We just need to ensure he never finds out that her death is pre-meditated,” she hears Ji-ho say, his tone non-chalant, causing her to jerk her head toward the door, her eyes wide with shock. 

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Su-mi replies confidently. “We just have to inform my contact whether to stage it as a suicide or an accident.”  

“Suicide,” he responds without hesitation. It’s as though he’s thought about it a lot. “If there’s a suicide note, there won’t be an investigation. An accident, however, will lead to a deeper inquiry.”  

Y/N can hardly process what she’s hearing. Tears well up in her eyes as she listens to the chilling conversation between her fiancé and his assistant. As fear for her life sets in, she retreats further, quietly slipping out of the building, making sure not to be heard.   

As she exits the building the cool night air hits her face, her first instinct is to run, to get as far away from Ji-ho and Su-mi and their schemes as soon as possible. But with her wedding tomorrow and the length Ji-ho is willing to go to for money, she knows that running away isn't enough. As she continues to think about what to do, her mind flashes to the one person she swore she'd never contact again, the only person that will be able to help her out of all this, Min Yoongi. 

With trembling hands, she abandons the bag of food and reaches into her pocket, pulling out her phone. She opens her contacts and scrolls through the numbers. She hesitates when she finds his name, her thumb hovering over the contact she should have deleted four years ago.  

Will he even answer?  

Does he still have her number?  

Did he block her like she should have blocked him?  

Does he even still have the same phone number? 

She gazes up at the building, her fiancée's and his assistant's words echoing in her mind. The towering building above her, makes her feel small and insignificant, reminding her how much higher up Ji-ho is compared to her. The son of a successful businessman and community leader vs. a kindergarten teacher with almost nothing to her name.  

Her attention shifts back to her phone as she presses the call button, her heart racing as she brings it to her ear, hoping for a lifeline.  

Time seems to slow down as she waits for him to answer his phone. She lifts her hand to her mouth as she starts biting her thumbnail, a habit she thought she had outgrown.  

She's about to give up when the call finally connects, and Yoongi’s deep familiar voice comes through the phone. "Hello?" 

"Yoongi," Y/N replies, her voice shaky and her hands trembling, the weight of her emotions spilling over. 

There’s a long silence on the other end, and for a moment, she worries he might hang up. But then, with a tone full of concern, he asks, “Y/N? What’s wrong?” 

“I don’t know what to do, Yoongi,” she whispers, her eyes darting around the almost empty street, remaining vigilant in case the two plotting her murder appear from the building. “I’m scared. I need your help.” 

“Where are you?” he inquires without missing a beat. She tells him her location. “Don’t move, okay? I’m on my way,” he assures her before ending the call. 

Clutching her phone tightly, she searches for a spot to sit where she won’t be seen by anyone leaving the office building. She finds a small bench tucked away in a corner, half-hidden by a cluster of bushes and sits down. 

Minutes stretch into what feels like hours as she waits. Finally, she spots a familiar car pulling up to the curb, and Yoongi steps out. His expression shifts from confusion to alarm as he sees her state. Without a word, he hurries over and wraps his arms around her, offering a sense of security she hasn’t felt in years.  

“Let’s get out of here,” he murmurs, guiding her to the car. Once they’re inside, he locks the doors and turns to her, his eyes filled with concern. “Tell me everything.”  

She takes a deep breath, her voice shaky as she recounts the horrifying conversation she overheard. Yoongi listens intently, his jaw tightening with every word. He makes a move to get out of the car, but she stops him. “He doesn’t know that I know. It’ll make things worse if you go in there. I think I should go to the police.”  

“Do you have evidence?” he asks. “Because they won’t listen unless you have something. If you don’t, it’s just your word against his and guess who they’ll believe.”  

“I can get evidence,” she tells him.  

Yoongi looks at her with a mix of concern and confusion. “Evidence? How are you going to get that?”  

She takes a deep breath, her mind racing through different possibilities. “I don’t know yet. Maybe I can record a conversation or find some documents.”  

He nods slowly, considering her words. “They’re planning to have you killed, Y/N, who knows what else they're capable of," He says, echoing her thoughts from before. "You can’t just walk back in there and start digging around. Who knows what they’ll do to you if they catch you snooping around.” 

It’s then she gets an idea. “Do you still do what you do?” she asks, remembering his job of getting paid to do things like find people, cause a scene in public, and pretty much anything that doesn’t involve kids, sex and murder.  

“I haven’t changed much in four years,” he says, confirming he’s still in the business. “I do have two employees now though.”  

“Kidnap me from my wedding,” she suggests, causing him to look at her shocked. “I have money. I can pay you.”  

Yoongi blinks, processing her words. "Kidnap you? From your wedding?" he repeats, his voice filled with disbelief.   

“Yes,” she asserts, her determination growing stronger.  

“Okay,” he nods agreeing to the plan and starts forming a plan in his head, not needing much convincing. “Message me all the details and I’ll work something out.”  

“Thank you,” she smiles sadly, thinking about how her life has come to this.   

“Do you want me to take you home?” Yoongi asks her, as he starts his car.   

“I don’t think I can go home,” she sighs, she already shares an apartment with Ji-ho. They decided to move in together before the wedding, so they didn’t have to worry about it afterwards. “Ji-ho and I already live together,” she tells him. “All my stuff is there but I don’t think I can go back now that I know what they’re planning.” 

“Is there another place you can go?” he asks. 

“Taehyung. You can take me to Taehyung’s,” she replies, mentioning her younger brother and relays his address to him.  

As Yoongi drives toward Taehyung’s home, nothing more is said. The silence is heavy but not uncomfortable. It’s more like a mutual understanding filled with unspoken thoughts and memories of their past. The fear of bringing up old feelings keeps them from talking. Yet, Y/N can’t help but admire her ex-boyfriend, her heart fluttering slightly as she takes him in. He hasn’t changed all that much. The only difference being that his hair is longer now, cascading in soft waves that frame his face and his face looks leaner. Other than that, he still resembles the same Yoongi she fell in love with all those years ago. 

Arriving at Taehyung’s apartment building, Yoongi parks the car and turns to look at her, his expression serious. “Are you sure you’ll be okay here?” he asks, his brow slightly furrowed in concern for his former love. 

She pauses briefly before responding, “I’ll feel better once this is all behind me.”   

“Send me a list of your things,” he instructs her, his tone firm yet gentle.  

“Why?” she asks, puzzled.  

“Just trust me on this,” he replies, keeping it vague, a hint of determination in his voice that makes her heart flutter with a mix of anxiety and hope.  

She agrees with a nod. 

“Don’t stress about anything, okay?” he tries to comfort her, his voice softening. “I’ll make sure everything goes smoothly. Just try to get some rest.” She can see the sincerity in his eyes and for a second she can see a flicker of the boy she once knew so well.  

“Thank you, Yoongi,” she murmurs, her voice barely above a whisper. As she reaches for the car door handle, he stops her. 

“If you tell Taehyung what’s going on, make sure he doesn’t tell anyone else. The less people that know, the better,” he advises her, knowing how close her and Taehyung are.  

With a reluctant sigh, she agrees and exits the car. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she grips her phone tightly, as if it could ground her against the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside her. She turns her head, sparing one last look at Yoongi. His eyes are intense and filled with an emotion she can’t quite decipher. She offers him a small, grateful smile before turning on her heel and walking towards her brother’s apartment building. 

After pressing the number to her brother’s floor, the elevator doors open, and she steps inside. Distracting herself, she starts typing on her phone a list of her more sentimental belongings, the ones she can’t live without as well as the details for her wedding tomorrow.   

When the elevator finally dings, signalling her arrival, she steps out and makes her way to Taehyung’s door. As she reaches her door, she hits send, sending the message to Yoongi before she raises her hand to knock on the door.  

The door swings open after a few seconds, and she’s met with Taehyung whose smiley face turns into one of concern when he sees her. 

“Noona, what are you doing here so late?” he asks, stepping aside to let her in. “Is everything okay?” 

She offers him a faint smile, attempting to hide the chaos within her. “I’ll tell you everything in the morning. For now, can I stay here for the night?”  

“Sure,” he replies, understanding that it’s best not to press her for details right now. “You can take my bed. Jungkook’s out for the night, so I’ll see if I can crash in his room.” 

Y/N hugs him, before making her way to into his bedroom. Y/N wraps her arms around him in gratitude before heading to her brother’s bedroom. As she lies down, fatigue finally catches up with her, but sleep eludes her as her mind races with what's happened within the past hour—her relationship was merely a scheme for someone for her already rich fiancee to become richer, a crafted murder plot since divorce isn’t an option and reconnecting with her ex, only to ask him to kidnap her from her wedding. 

With a heavy sigh, she tries to quiet her mind and reaches for her phone. Her fingers hover over the screen, tempted to call Yoongi but ultimately decides against it. Instead, she texts Ji-ho: “Staying with Tae tonight. I'll see you at the wedding hall in the morning.” When she gets no reply, she isn't surprised. She wasn't expecting him too.   

Eventually, her weariness takes over, and she drifts into a restless sleep. 

As soon as Yoongi receives Y/N's message, he quickly finds her address and drives over to the apartment building. Once inside, he makes his way through the dimly lit hallway. Finally, he reaches her apartment, and a sense of determination washes over him. Figuring out the door code feels like a small triumph, sending a surge of excitement through him as he puts on a face mask and pushes the door open and steps inside. 

Upon entering, he’s taken aback by how empty and cold it feels. It lacks any personal touches or decorations. It feels sterile. He looks around at the minimal furnishing - A small coffee table sits in the middle of the living room, a lonely remote resting on top, a couch that appears untouched, a potted plant in the corner that seems to be struggling to survive. Looking at the kitchen, it’s just as bare, with only the necessities in sight. 

He begins to reminisce about the cramped, shabby apartment he once shared with Y/N. Despite its imperfections, she filled it with warmth and comfort, decorating the walls with photos of their adventures, friends, and family. There were books stacked haphazardly, each one a testament to love for stories, fictional or true. Plants thrived in every corner. And then there was the record player, a cherished relic handed down from her father, that always filled the air with music, creating a soundtrack to their lives together. He can almost hear the laughter that used to echo off the walls and the late-night conversations that stretched into the morning. 

But this apartment wasn’t like Y/N at all. It was the complete opposite. 

Yoongi takes a deep breath, trying to shake off the nostalgic feeling. He steps further inside scanning the room for security cameras, He finds one in the corner of the room and disables it before moving on to the first room he comes across.  Inside the room is a desk and computer with some shelves to the side. It has more of a personal touch than the living room. He quickly finds the camera in there and disables that one too. 

Realizing he can't tackle what he’s about to do alone, he quickly sends the address and access code for the apartment to Kim Seokjin, better known as Jin, his business partner. Within seconds, Jin is calling him.  

"What's up with the address?" Jin inquires as soon as Yoongi picks up.  

"Hyung, I need you and Namjoon to get here as fast as you can," Yoongi tells him, his voice quiet like he’s afraid someone is going to hear him. "I'll fill you in when you arrive."  

"We'll be there in 10," Jin replies without hesitation, Namjoon already being with him and hangs up.  

Yoongi then contacts a guy he messaged after dropping Y/N off at Taehyung's place, asking him to keep an eye on Ji-ho's office building in case he leaves before Yoongi can finish up at the apartment.  

When the guy messages him back saying Ji-ho hasn’t left yet, Yoongi walks over to the desk, and with gloved hands he begins to search through the desk drawers for anything that might help with Y/N’s situation. He soon discovers a key ring with three keys and slips it into his pocket.  

Before long, the sound of the front door opening and closing announces Jin and Namjoon's arrival. He steps out of the office to greet them in the living room.  

"What’s going on, Hyung?" Namjoon asks, his voice serious and low. 

Yoongi forwards Y/N’s message to them. "That’s a list of stuff we’re here for, let’s get it, trash the place and get out of here,” he tells them. “I’ll explain everything else when we’re done,” he promises them before remembering to tell them, “There’s cameras so wear a mask and keep quiet.” 

Without wasting any time, the three of them split up to search different areas of the apartment. Yoongi finds a couple empty boxes in the storage cupboard, and they start putting everything they came to get into them. Jin heads to the kitchen, grabbing everything from there, Namjoon starts combing through the living room, while Yoongi takes the bedroom.  

Yoongi then heads back to the home office and continues his search for stuff there, his eyes land on a locked drawer. He tries a few keys from the keyring he found earlier, and with a satisfying click, the drawer opens. Looking inside he finds an envelope with a few files. He goes through the files finding exactly what he hoped they would be. He places them on the desk and pulls out the envelope. He opens it and finds money, a whole lot of it. 

“Pabo,” he scoffs at Ji-ho's stupidity, closing the envelope. “I’ll take that as payment,” he adds as he pockets the cash inside his coat before grabbing the files and leaving the room. 

Once they were all done, they trashed the apartment to look like a robbery. They were just about finished when Yoongi’s watchman texted him to tell him Ji-ho was leaving the office. The managed to disappear from the apartment before Ji-ho arrived. 

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” Jin asks Yoongi after they get back to their so-called headquarters that's just a rundown apartment in a building that is set to be demolished in a few months and doubles as where Yoongi resides.  

Yoongi gives him a blank stare, having anticipated this reaction from his best friend. 

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t notice Y/N in those photos? What’s going on, Yoongi?" Jin continues to press him. "And don’t tell me you’ll tell me later. I want to hear it now.”  

“She’s hired me to kidnap her from her wedding tomorrow?” Yoongi reveals to the two men.   

 Jin stares at him in shock, trying to process what he just heard. “Can you repeat that?” 

“Y/N wants me to kidnap her from her wedding,” Yoongi repeats himself. 

“Who’s Y/N?” Namjoon chimes in confused, while Jin looks at Yoongi in disbelief, momentarily speechless. Kim Namjoon joined them after Yoongi and Y/N’s relationship ended, so he never had the chance to meet and get to know her.  

Jin turns to Namjoon, his expression morphing into exasperation directed towards Yoongi. “Oh right, you don't know who Y/N is? She’s only the most amazing person Yoongi ever dated!" he stops pausing for a moment as he thinks of something and then continues, "In fact she's the only person Yoongi has ever dated for more than a week. They were childhood sweethearts and practically inseparable until… well, things went to shit.” He glances back at Yoongi, searching for any sign of regret or longing, but finds only a stoic facade. "I'm pretty sure he's still in love with her." 

Yoongi's stoic look turns into a glare. “This isn’t about rekindling my relationship with her. She’s in trouble, and I’m just trying to help her out," he snaps, his voice low and edged with irritation.  

“Then explain to us what's going on so we can help you,” Jin urges, attempting to ease the tension. “And her,” he quickly adds, reminding Yoongi that he still cares for her too. During their relationship Jin was always like a big brother to her. 

"Fine,” he relents, his voice dropping as he calms himself down. “Y/N is getting married tomorrow to someone who plans to murder her in 6 months. Her fiancee seems to have a deal with his father that if he gets married, stays married for six months he gets 5 million won." 

"Why not just divorce her?" Namjoon asks.  

"Maybe its null and void if he gets divorced," Yoongi shrugs. "I'm hoping it's all in here," he says holding up the file he stole from the drawer along with the money. 

"So, what's plan?" Jin asks, his anger bubbling to the surface.  

Yoongi smirks and starts telling them everything he has planned. 

©️2025 dancinglikebutterflywings - Do not copy. modify and/or repost anywhere.

TAG LIST: @rainyday-daydreamer - @carattinymoa - @astuteataraxy - @jajabro - @baechugff

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[chunkypossum]

Azris Week 2024 Master List

I knew I wanted to participate in @azrisweek this year but I think I went nuts. Tried to make sure I planned only one shots but a couple of things will be WIP. I have also decided that I hate everything I have ever written but you’re getting it anyway 🤣

Going through final edits the next couple days. Here's a rundown….

Ps… I’m the worst summarizer EVER…

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Day 2: Familiars || Once Upon A Dream

14k words || READ ON AO3

Elain is nice, quiet and easy to be around. Azriel and his shadows find solace in her company. When her powers as seer become evident however, Azriel is forced to reckon with a familiar part of his past that is about to take on a whole new meaning.

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Day 3: Contact || Between Us

9k words READ ON AO3

Physics and the Immortality of the Soul . The most ridiculous notion Azriel could have picked to build his career around. He had spent half a lifetime tasking himself with impossible questions which very few people took seriously. A strange nostalgia for things he didn’t understand manifested after a childhood accident. This set his life on a path that one day leads him to the front doors of a strange library full of precious and one of a kind books and an even stranger connection to someone completely unexpected. One of which might finally give him the answers he was seeking.

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Day 4: Free Day || Just for Tonight

9k words READ ON AO3

New High Lords are extremely vulnerable. It’s a well known secret that as the new magic enters their bodies they have no more protection than a newborn. When Eris finds himself forced to take the throne, becoming completely helpless, he goes to the one place, and the one person he thinks may just save him.

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Day 5: Slice of Life || The Trees Told Me About You

8k words READ ON AO3

A few months after their mating frenzy “activities” in the dirt of the Autumn Court. High Lord Eris finds himself drawn to the very woods he and his mate had shamelessly rolled around in. 

What he finds there shapes their lives forever.

This can be read independently but if you want additional context and did not read Kerosene, you can read the first half of this chapter

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Day 6: Changes || When Even Moonlight Burns

Chapters 1 & 2 (WIP) || 10k words READ ON AO3

The long list of things Eris had found to be grateful for over the years, not so surprisingly, didn't exactly feature a quiet, unassuming existence. The thrill in what he was, demanded pride and exhibition, and gods was he good at playing that game. Well, he had been good at it. Now, as much as he loathed to admit it, there was an odd satisfaction to be found in the simplicity he had agreed to. Unfortunately, as Eris quickly finds out you can't always have the brutes you want... and eat them too.

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Day 7: Solstice || What we Deserve

Chapters 1 & 2 (WIP) || 13k words READ ON AO3

Once upon a time, Eris thought that he and Azriel could be mates whose bond just hadn’t settled yet. It didn’t make sense for him to be so drawn to the male when they were at odds in every other way. It had to be the Mother, had to be fate. Now he knew for sure, it had been none of those things, only simple, stupid want. What happens when Azriel finally finds his mate but it isn't the the male he is already in love with?

If anyone would like to be tagged, please just ask! <3

Holla at ya boi if you want on or off the Azris tag train : @talibunny30 @iftheshoef1tz @born-to-riot @fell-in-luvs @fieldofdaisiies @aktrain @honeysuckle-daydreams13 @secret-third-thing @acourtofladydeath @pippsmcgee @youvereachedthenearest-lovergirl @baileybird71 @skyesayshi @yanny-77 @areyoudreaminof @unanswered-stars @futurehunt @ninthcircleofprythian @matrixsss @going-through-shit @c-starstuff-man0 @jules-writes-stories @the-darkestminds @krowiathemythologynerd @cauldronblssd @hieragalbatorixdottir @yourlazykitkat @hellolordling @climbthemountain2020

[monstermoviedean]

i so so get your feelings about the michael arc as a whole, just spilling some added thoughts here, feel free to ignore, i just wanted to make it an ask so this mess wouldn't be an rb

the michael arc has a whole other layer of unfairness to me because it follows so much of the same plot threads as sam's issues with lucifer in season 4-5 and then hurts dean in a way they never hurt sam. when sam was panicked over what being lucifer's vessel meant and running around on cases, dean supports him (despite getting no sympathy when michael is also revealed). in s14 however sam not only, obviously, actively brings up dean's very valid fears like they're just him abandoning family (sammy, honey, look at your track record) and works behind his back with others. sam in the cage = dean in the malak box. but dean trusted sam to let him go, no matter how much it killed him. sam frames dean doing the exact same thing as another issue of trust. also also also if i remember right, sam wasn't even possesed by lucifer as long as dean and cas were by the archangels!!! not dismissing his cage trauma ofc, but there is a very clear level of repression that sam is trying to keep concerning everything, which also leads him making some bullheaded statements to dean.

like it's insane how they speedran the archangel vessel trauma from s4-s5 with michael, but proceeded to have no aftermath resolution for any of it. nor did they have sam really support and dare i say, comfort, dean, the way the reverse happened. (and obviously dean made his own mistakes in s4-s5 with sam, but the ratio is completely different). anyways, just found the repeated themes interesting and thought you might too

oh this is soooooo tasty thank you so much!!! i especially love it when people send me stuff like this that helps me connect dots. i hadn't connected the dots on how much of a speedrun this is! but holy crap. it really is!

they spend almost all of season 5 working on the lucifer + michael vessel buildup, and then most of season 6 and part of season 7 deals with the aftermath of sam's decision to say yes. to be clear, i don't have any issue with that! it makes sense in context and a lot of it is well-done. and i certainly don't begrudge the show for highlighting sam's feelings about being lucifer's vessel. but even if we round down, even if we say it's just one season of sam having this vessel arc, that's still way, way more than dean got.

i don't want this to sound like "wah sam got more screen time than dean" because that's absolutely not my issue. my issue is that both in their universe and in our universe, sam and dean can have the same exact problem and their problems can be assigned different levels of weight and attention. is this 100% true 100% of the time? no, of course not. but when it comes to being a vessel, the effects on sam are highlighted. the effects on dean are downplayed.

like you said - even in s5 dean barely gets to react to being michael's vessel. he gets one episode (05x18) to really consider it and we all know how that goes for him. and in s13-14 it's just as minimized. dean gets less than 5 minutes in 13x23 to concoct his plan. this isn't something he's agonized over. this isn't something that is foreshadowed even a little bit. and then dean is possessed for an unknown length of time. in my opinion, it was probably a few months.

that's a huge deal. that is a HUGE deal. even if he's possessed for the minimum amount of time necessitated by the episodes, it's still probably a month. i don't remember how long sam was possessed for in 05x22, but i'm pretty sure it was less than a month.

is length of time the only thing that matters here? nope! definitely not! in no way do i mean to suggest that dean automatically had it worse than sam simply because he was possessed for longer. as you point out, the cage.

but this brings me to one of my biggest issues with the whole arc: sam not showing a single speck of empathy for dean. as you noted - sam is going through it, he is feeling emotions and recalling memories that he has repressed, and i understand why those could come out in ways that are less than healthy. totally get it. but it is still just downright awful to watch sam talk to dean the way he does, especially knowing sam has been exactly where dean was.

dean doesn't do a perfect job handling sam being lucifer's vessel. no doubt. i don't remember it that well at this point; it's been a while since i've seen season 5. but look at what he says to sam when sam has made up his mind to say yes:

SAM: You're gonna let me say yes? DEAN: No. That's the thing. It's not on me to let you do anything. You're a grown – well, overgrown – man. If this is what you want, I'll back your play. SAM: That's the last thing I thought you'd ever say. DEAN: Might be. I'm not gonna lie to you, though. It goes against every fiber I got. I mean, truth is… You know, watching out for you… it's kinda been my job, you know? But more than that, it's… it's kinda who I am. You're not a kid anymore, Sam, and I can't keep treating you like one. Maybe I got to grow up a little, too. I don't know if we got a snowball's chance. But… But I do know that if anybody can do it… it's you. SAM: Thank you.

dean says it's not up to him to decide for sam, and while he doesn't necessarily like his decision, he respects it. and he wants sam to know that. he goes out of his way to comfort sam and to build him up, to support him. and it's a shocking contrast to what sam says when dean tells him about the ma'lak box plan. it's even more shocking when compared to sam trying to talk dean out of it.

does sam need to be 100% supportive and kind all the time? nope! but the way he goes about this is just so incredibly self-centered and so actively harmful to dean. as you mentioned - he frames it as dean abandoning his family. he also suggests dean is "giving up," "quitting," refusing to believe in/trust sam. i yelled about this yesterday but sam is, whether intentionally or not, picking at all of dean's worst fears while dean is facing down another worst fear and feeling shame for feeling fear. sam says and does some pretty awful things and dean does not get to respond to any of it. he just moves on. it's like it's not his story so it doesn't matter what he feels or how he's treated.

and to know that all of this gets heaped on dean - guilt for saying yes, guilt for letting michael out, guilt for "leaving the door open," guilt for what michael did, guilt for not being "strong enough" to keep him contained, guilt for "abandoning" sam, plus the very VERY real trauma of being possessed for a long stretch of time, plus what's about to happen to mary and jack - to know all of this happens back-to-back-to-back? that's hard enough. but to not even let him react to any of it? to force him to keep going as if this is all business as usual and he should just suck it up? so much worse.

and i'm just going to go ahead and assume sam never apologizes for any of it. i may be wrong. please correct me if i'm wrong.

[hirokiyuu]

been meaning to do one of these for yjn+their most significant rships for a while and finally got around to it today................ quality's kinda crunchy but its fine LOL

notes and other thoughts under the cut!

leona falls in love w/his fuckbuddy bc i love when he suffers. subconciously starts liking yuujin as more than just a fwb around book 5 but only has The Realization partway through book 6. meanwhile yjn is like "haha yea he's hot and i respect him as a person i guess" for Months until [leona's dream in book 7] which leads them to a few Realizations of their own LOL

ace is yjn's (platonic) no. 1 but i think yjn holds a bit of a grudge from how ace acted in the prologue thru part of book 1 esp bc it's his fault they wind up dragged into the book 1 stuff at the start LMAO unfortunately for them they do just naturally gel really well w/this guy so they end up besties. against their will.

deuce meanwhile is just "huh he's kinda stupid" to "oh he's stupid i gotta help him.........." LOL i think yjn initially wants to take care of him the way they would their sibs but as more time passes it evens out to a more equivalent friendship on their end. deuce has no idea abt any of this tho as far as he's considered he n yjn are just normal friends the whole time ALSKHDGLAKSHDG

adeuce coming to save yjn in book 4 is when they go from "these are my buds" to "i really really care abt these guys and (bewildered) they care about me too.....?" id say they consider ace probably their Best Friend (in the sense that ace is their closest friend) earlier htan that but theyre not ride or die until then

grim............ grim............... yjn+grim is so much to me bc yuujin has never had anyone who not just claims they'll protect yjn but actually does everything they can to follow thru. grim's kinda dumb and arrogant nad self absorbed but yjn really loves him for how much he tries to Protect Them. he's important to them in a way that even ace isn't. fambly........

OK THOSE ARE ALL THE SAPPY ONES. lets move onto the jokes. i should put leona here if im doing jokes now tbh but its fine he can lead off as the Official Love Interest

speaking of leona. ruggie+yjn is initially "who cares abt this guy" until yjn starts getting intersted in leona at which point theyre both like "wait is this guy gonna take my place..........." they settle down once they realize yjn isnt going to be leonas Top Servant and ruggie isnt trying to Seduce Leona tho. co-captains of the "keep leona happy" team LMAO

malleus having feelings for yjn is in line w/the way i think he tends to have feelings for Any Yuu lmao. i dont think theres much abt yjn specifically adn i think honestly even if they tried dating i dont think even Malleus would enjoy it. However. meanwhile yjn is like (wow this guy is in love with me? yikes)

HOWEVER. in an au where yuujin+kalmia (friend's yuu) isekai together and she's the one who's going out to meet suspicious loiterers outside their dorm. malleus dislikes yjn for getting to live w/kalmia while yjn dislikes malleus for hanging outside their dorm at night to talk to their amnesiac spacecase roommate. turns eventually into an odd friendship where yjn is one of hte only ppl alive who can criticize the crown prince of briar valley and live but it's grudging and there's no romance there at All LMFAO

vil doesnt think much of yjn until one night at ramshackle yjn is like hi......... can i get advice abt Gender Stuff.......... and is v shy and endearing abt the whole thing and vil is like. oh my god i need to adopt you immediately. vil would kill anyone for yjn. his little darling, has never done anything wrong in their life, (yjn hiding behind vil w/their tongue stuck out)

azul is "madly in love" with yuujin adn fully confident he will one day steal them away from leona. yuujin has never thought of azul beyond "wow he needs someone to be nice to him, might as well be me since i have practice with my siblings" LMAO good luck azul!

yjn hears jamil go "i spent my entire life living to take care of smoeone else, giving up on everything i ever wanted and carving myself into pieces for it" and went Oh My God. has never told jamil about how deeply they relate. meanwhile jamil is like "yeah yuujin's fine, they're levelheaded and dependable enough, i'd say we're not quite close enough to be friends but we get along." the other joke is the overlap is only like. 40% but yjn thinks it's higher ALSKHGAKLSHDG

OK THATS ALL I GOT if u read all my rambles u gotta like this or ill explode. cupping my little guy in my palms

[ayukaze]

For the requests:

“Wanna hear a joke?” “Absolutely not.” TyHil obvs.

I HAVE A VERY GOOD REASON FOR WHY THIS TOOK SO LONG

This dialogue is so perfectly TyHil that it fit well with 3 of my ongoing WIPs and I tried to write all of them ( w h y ) and ended up getting too lost and invested in each of them that the reason for including the dialogue kind of slipped away from me...TyHil really is a virus in my brain...

So finally I'm deciding to post the one I think makes the most sense (who am i kidding) since I still have 2 more requests to go and not enough time lol.

This is from my Fake Dating AU which is also a Rich Girl/Poor Boy AU. Since this particular excerpt skips ahead in time I tried to add as much background information about what's happening as I could without it getting boring. I can't post the whole thing yet because it's around 8k and the main angst/fight scene hasn't even started yet (can't wait to dump a super long update 6 months later that no one will read haha 🥲).

Thank you for requesting, and so sorry that my power of TyHil brainrot actually ruined the whole thing in a way 😭

Post dividers by @/cafekitsune

Prompt: “Wanna hear a joke?” “Absolutely not.”

One of the most distinct memories Hilary had of her childhood was when she’d told her first lie, blaming one of their house helps for a vase she’d broken and having her mother catch onto her immediately. The disappointed look on her mother’s face as she’d told Hilary that the consequences of her actions would always catch up to her, was forever etched in her mind, and even now, every time she decided to lie, that scene would play in her mind like clockwork. Yet, somehow that hadn’t kept her from lying to make things easier and only made her a little more paranoid about getting caught. Almost two months had passed since she’d announced to a room full of her close acquaintances, that she had a boyfriend and his name was Tyson, and two more since she’d somehow managed to rope in that very Tyson into playing the part. 

She was spending every day looking over her back and covering her tracks, hoping that at least this time she would be able to escape facing any of the consequences of her actions. 

Tyson obviously, did not make things any easier for her. 

After she’d gotten him to agree to her ridiculous demand, they’d met once for coffee to set down some simple ground rules, every which one he’d managed to flout shamelessly. Hilary was very particular about keeping their stories straight, since any discrepancy would lead to suspicion, while Tyson on the other hand, loved to make up answers on the go. Even if she spent a whole evening texting him the correct responses to any questions they may get asked at the party they would attend the next day, he made sure to make up extravagant incidents that anyone would find hard to believe as true. Hilary would then need to improvise her own version of the story on the spot, and that often led to the two of them arguing in front of her friends. 

To her relief, however, this oddity in their so-called relationship had earned them the reputation of 'the cute bickering couple' and managed to keep her lie afloat so far. Not that it stopped Hilary from trying to get Tyson to listen to her plan, or Tyson from trying to make sure that Hilary always looked like the loser in his stories. For instance, in Tyson’s version of their first meeting, Hilary had been the sad nerd pretending to read in a corner when all she really wanted to do was have somebody ask her to dance. Hilary always tried to interject and make it clear that she had been enjoying reading her novel, but somehow people always gravitated towards Tyson’s version more. 

Tyson’s only rule throughout all of this was that they shouldn’t get involved with each other too personally, though he did a bad job of explaining his reasoning, what Hilary gathered from his incoherent stuttering was that if they got too close, this thing would blow up in their face. She agreed with him, to a certain extent. Since the two spent most of their time together attending parties and events in her social circle, Tyson knew more about her than vice versa. Her acquaintances were notorious for wanting him to know just how much Hilary didn’t fit in before his appearance, and in doing that they overshared information about her life that she wouldn't have brought up with Tyson had it just been the two of them hanging out. 

In an attempt to keep things even, she would try her best to coax information out of him, about his family or about college, but he was a master of evasion tactics. He’d already made himself aware of all the things that made her tick, so anytime she tried to flip the question towards his personal life, he’d go ahead and do something to annoy her. If that didn’t work, he’d give the vaguest answer which would keep Hilary guessing about what her follow-up question should be, and by the time she was ready, they would’ve reached the venue or Hilary’s house and it was already time to say goodbye to the small amount of time alone they got with each other.  

She couldn’t be too mad at him for this either, since he was still playing along to her ruse and if she was being honest, he did clean up well after himself. There was no denying the fluttering of the butterflies in her stomach every time Tyson held out his arm for her to take with a lopsided smile gracing his lips and dark eyes shining with excitement as he took the lead. It was also hard to control the giddy feeling that swelled in her chest every time he led her to the dance floor and heads would turn to catch a glimpse of them. And of course, she couldn’t hide the smugness she felt when the girls who’d spent years laughing at her non-existent relationship status, drooled at the sight of him showing up on his bike to pick her up. 

That’s also why it was hard for Hilary to be afraid of the lie and all the things that it could lead to when it felt so good to live it every day. Until one day the ripples she was most afraid of setting off finally took effect. 

Her parents were bound to find out about her boyfriend sooner or later, Hilary had braced herself for this from day one. But she’d hoped that she would gather the courage to lie to their faces before this news reached them via different channels. But she had so much going on in her mind lately, that she kept putting the task off until her parents very dramatically confronted her about it over dinner one night. Caught like a deer under headlights, Hilary found it hard to argue back and instead became part of a very one sided conversation where her parents lectured her about mutual trust. They spared no antics in expressing how sad they were about being left out of her life like this, and somehow, in the middle of apologising for keeping them in the dark and consoling them about how she was still their little girl, Hilary ended up agreeing to let them meet Tyson. 

The graveness of her mistake only set in when Tyson was the one to put his foot down about going ahead with it. He echoed all of her thoughts out perfectly, and she wished that it would’ve been him sitting across from her parents at the dinner table that night. But what stung Hilary slightly was how adamant he was about not wanting to see her parents. She tried her best to apologise for slipping up and offered many services, such as writing his assignments for a month, in return, however, Tyson didn’t budge until she broke down and cried. Knowing that the only way to get her to shut up was to agree to her plan, he finally gave up with a loud huff and sigh. 

Setting up the meeting had been easy, as much as her parents insisted on having Tyson over for dinner at their house, Hilary managed to convince them to do it in a much more private setting considering how short notice the whole thing was. She patted herself on the back for picking a party her mother was throwing for a friend as the meeting place, giving her parents the restriction of behaving well in front of their guests and Tyson the chance to manipulate that restriction to his advantage if things went south. 

Luckily the evening had gone exactly how she had expected it to so far. Her parents were busy attending to the many guests and only had the chance to wave at Tyson and her from afar once. Hilary hoped that by the time they finished their social round and reached the two of them, they would be a little exhausted, giving Tyson and her the upper hand in the conversation. However, as she stood close next to Tyson in a corner and watched her parents hop across the room, the tension in her veins kept rising when her father only looked more excited the closer he got to finishing the required greetings. 

“Wanna hear a joke?”

Hilary averted her eyes from the party in front of her and turned to look at Tyson, leaning against a wall column, completely at ease as he gulped down the champagne in his hand at an alarming speed. While she had been tracking the movement of her parents, his dark eyes were fixed on her and his voice lacked the usual charm and humour he used when he spoke to her. Even his eyes, she noticed, seemed to be clouded with an emotion that was difficult for her to read. 

“Absolutely not,” she said, feeling a shiver go down her spine at how distant Tyson felt from her tonight, despite of standing so close to him. In an attempt to mask her nervousness, she shot him an annoyed glare before asking, “Why would I want to hear a joke right now?”

He rolled his eyes at her reaction, shaking his head before turning it around to signal to one of the waiters. Within a minute, he’d exchanged his empty champagne glass for a new one, and once again made to gulp it down in a way that he knew would get on her nerves. 

“So that your parents think you’re happy in this relationship and not so much constipated.” His lips curved up in a smirk as he gestured behind her, choosing to gulp down his drink after all. 

Hilary turned away, partially annoyed and partially anxious, only to have her heart jump out of her chest. It looked like her parents had rushed through their greetings and were now heading towards her and Tyson. She waved at them half-heartedly, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves as she edged closer to Tyson, who straightened up next to her. Her heart kept screaming at her to grab his arm and run from the scene. It may have just been the anxiety of having to lie to her parents so straightforwardly, but she still felt like something was wrong with Tyson and he wasn’t being his usual supportive self. The warmth that she always felt when she stood next to him was missing tonight and that itself was enough to make the alarm bells ring her mind.

“Here they come,” Hilary stated out loud, more to keep herself grounded in the moment than to let Tyson know. Risking a glance at his face from the corner of her eye, she fought the urge to bite her lip at the impassive expression that covered his face. With whatever courage she could build up, she added in a low voice, “Please, remember everything I told you.”

For a brief moment, just before her parents announced their presence, their eyes met and Hilary felt as if time stood still around them. She searched for any signs of familiarity in Tyson’s face but was instead met with a look of hurt and what she thought was betrayal. It confused her and made her mind turn into a bigger mess than it already was, but before she could ask him what was wrong and why he was so mad at her, Tyson gave her his coldest smile ever as he gritted his teeth together in response, “No guarantees, sweetheart.” 

Thank you for reading!

[menlove]

not sure how much traction this will get but! I just got top surgery friday and here's a short list of things I either wish I was told or wish was talked about more that might help some others!

you have to be so so so careful with what meds you take in the month/weeks leading up to surgery. I fucked up and got mine delayed by over a month because my adhd mixed up ibuprofen and tylenol. check the packet they give you a million times and if you're unsure about absolutely anything, ask. but in general: tylenol is the only pain med that's okay to take in the week leading up to surgery. be honest about alcohol/drug use because there's specific instructions for those as well.

a lot of insurances will need you to make sure it's coded as gender affirming surgery rather than plastic surgery or they won't cover as much of it. make sure you ask your insurance if there's anything like that that might screw you over later.

if you have a chronic condition like I do (type 1 diabetes) you and your surgeon might find it best if you stay overnight. if not, you'll likely be sent home day of so make sure you have a responsible adult that can drive you to and from your surgery.

if you are fat, that is totally okay and there's plenty of surgeons that will work with you. however, make sure your surgeon/hospital doesn't have a bmi/weight limit. it's bullshit and completely unfair, but you may have to look elsewhere (I'm lucky and my surgeon was amazing about that). besides, they probably aren't very good at their job if they have that and you'll find better care with another surgeon anyway

speaking of being fat and getting top surgery, ofc it's all personal preference, but I'd really recommend considering leaving some fat on your chest. fat cis men have some fat on their chests and it's easy for it to look concave if your surgeon removes all the fat. discuss some options w your surgeon and look up post op pics of other fat people that have had top surgery to find stuff similar to what you're going for!

they are going to put you on strong pain meds after, probably oxycodone. if you have a history of addiction or a family history, be aware of that and talk to your doctor about other options if you would rather not take it. if you've never taken oxy before, nausea is a super common symptom so you can totally ask your doctor to prescribe you an anti nausea medication to take alongside it. it doesn't always 100% help so I would also recommend making sure you don't take it on an empty stomach.

honestly, for me the pain hasn't reached above a 6. everyone is different ofc but it's a very dull achey sort of pain. the worst parts, according to me and others I've known who've gotten top surgery, are: nausea, itching, fatigue, constipation, the drainage tubes tugging (and if you don't have gauze under them like I do, chafing), and for me I've started to get back pain from having to sleep sitting up

have a ton of pillows on hand because you're going to have to sleep sitting almost the entire way up on your back. it sucks.

have easy to open and grab snacks piled up! even if you have someone around to help you, sometimes you won't have an appetite for a whole meal and it's always nice to still be independent

speaking of constipation, invest in some milk of magnesia or ask for medication to be prescribed to help you with it. the anasthesia and oxy are gonna work together to make you miserable on that front.

drink plenty of water! make it fun w packets if you have to but your body just went through major trauma and you're going to need it

every surgeon/hospital has different instructions. I see a lot of these posts and they'll list certain things as total fact that are completely contradictory to what I've been told and what my boyfriend was told when he got his. this isn't to say either one is correct, but in general take these posts with a grain of salt and go with whatever your surgeon/hospital instructs you to do. especially as far as exercise, arm movement, showering, etc is concerned.

[dojae-huh]

Momentum in Seoul Fancams

The shows were a month ago, and here I'm only now finishing familiarisation with the numbers, heh. Life...

I hope the links will last. I chose different angles to have an overview of the concert. Once again it became evident, that SM needs to improve how they film concert for streaming on Beyond. Both the picture (of the spectacle) and the sound are better in fancams.

(1) Intro VCR +Gas, Gas (close up)

(2) Faster

(3) Bring the noize (close up)

(2-4) Faster, Bring the noize, 2 Baddies

VCR1

(5) Skyscraper (close up)

(6) Chain

(5-6) Skyscraper and Chain (4th floor view, the lightshow)

(7) Designer

(8) Orange Seoul (close up), OS (screens)

(9) Touch

VCR2

(10) No clue

(11) Pricey (look at Haechan! it's his choreo)

(12) Regular

(13) Sticker

(14-15) Whiplash, Lemonade

(16) Raindrop, close up

(17) VCR3+Can't help myself (worst number)

(18-19) Gold Dust+No Longer

(20-22) Far/Kick It/Fact Check, Far (close up)

(23) VCR4+Wall to Wall

(24) Walk

(25-26) Meaning of Love+Time Capsule

Encore: Touch+Walk

The whole VCR movie (bad quality)

And now my comments under the cut.

Korean fans throughly expressed their satisfaction from the concert. They especially praised the fact that the 4th floor got a great view and experience (the view, you can read the comments as well). Apparently, during most shows in Gocheok Skydome the 4th floor seats are a pretty bad choice, sometimes not worth the money.

110 lasers were used. Again, happy SM listened to me through the Noosphere and mended its ways, lols. And 127 are to be praised as well as they have resolve to push and fight for their team. Plus, some of the members manage to build good relationships with parttime staff on a personal level (choreographers, dancers, make up and stylists, concert directors, etc), so those talented people are happy to work with them again and approach the task invested and motivated. Slowly but steadly the unit accumulates connections and a broader team, both inside and outside of SM.

The intro was epic.

Not all numbers were equally entertaining. Some needed different visual effects, something more than random air balloons, and some would have been better with other costumes ("Lemonade" stage is a prime example. Swag and IDGF don't go well with pseudo European aristocratic clothes). The green carts also need to go. There is room for improvement. Still, it was a good show for k-pop level.

Some albums didn't get love, heh. The only song ommited from "Walk" was "Suddenly".

Cherry Bomb - 1 song

Empathy - 1 song

Chain - 1 song

Regular-Irregular/Irregulate - 2 songs

Neozone - 1 song

Sticker/Favorite - 5 songs

2 Baddies/Ay-Yo - 5 songs

Fact-Check - 1 song

Walk - 10 songs

Mark is a true unstoppable force, he will always deliver with dance and loud voice, yet he is not very fit for the role of the centre and the frontman, afterall, in my opinion. It's not very evident in MVs, on the stage, however, Mark tends to constantly look down to the ground and overall he looks inward oriented in his movements (compare to Hyuk's style), and he doesn't embelish his movements with small details, which puts a wall between him and the audience. It's OK for a position on the side, but the frontman has to be the pinnacle of "look at me and my crew!". Taeyong manages it during dance-heavy numbers, Doyoung - during vocal numbers or languid choreos (like in DJJ, when his stifness and weak footwork are not noticeable, so he can draw attention with the upper body and facials).

The musical theatre education helped Woo, he sounds stronger and he is more confident than before. Still, he can't step into the main vocalist shoes yet and substitute Do. The songs for the future tour with TaeJae will be new versions again. It won't be possible to just hand Do's big notes to someone. Or, at least, put such a spotlight on them, make these parts carry whole numbers. Woo also was noticeable as a dancer with his sharp and precise movements. Overall, Jungwoo is a good lead position member. He isn't a frontman material (Koreans like his looks and cheer when he appears on the screen, I'm talking about the driving force), but he works diligently on his skills, improves, and serves as a proper support.

Haechan put himself in all choreos. He doesn't tend to steal the show, but once you zero on him, you are always greeted with precision and elegance.

Yuta was sick both days, but still tried his best. Good work ethic.

Even with limited members Doyoung didn't get to sing on his favorite song "Gold Dust", lols. Where is the greed?

I wish "Far" were re-arranged, the male chorus in the beginning is nice, but the middle is too simple, the "epicness" isn't as strong as it can be (Official video). Maybe the problem is that the bit is too slow to match the heartbeat? Bring in winds and metal percussions! They are singing about flying in the cosmos, it's not space opera enough. The final trombone should not be so shy when Hyuk sings that they have arrived. The director said that there was an idea to bring in tanks for this number. Thankfully, he declined it, having other vision. He wanted this number to reflect "the momentum", the unit's resolve to move forward.

I won't comment on live vocals, ups and dows were self-evident. Overall there was a big accent on everyone's participation, on performing as a group, so there were few moments when one of the members was given a spotlight. Mark stood out a lot because of his rap parts, but that was more in sound, than some special arrangement within a number. Even Doyoung didn't get as many vocal part as he could have (or should have as the strongest vocalist).

[beaningeneralacceptance]

Talking about Nimbus secrets, this post is not spoiler free!!!

I'm not going to talk about the Sameria secret because that is explained by the NPC in Al Jahili and I have no interest in buried treasure. Also keep in mind that I have not seen anything on fandom.

Starting off with Claw Island... I did not expect to find a skeleton at the shore, and apparently there is an Eden Empire somewhere in the War Seas??? And a King Prospero??? I won't lie that my first thought when reading this was "Are we getting Jesus?" but now that I revisit it, it says something about a golden orchard and specifically capitalises the word "Apple". This reminds me of the Garden of Hesperides, where there were golden apple trees. However, the mention of Eden would lead to the assumption that the golden orchard is the garden of Eden. After a quick wiki trip, I found that the two gardens are similar in concept, so perhaps this Eden Empire will be a mix of the two. AO is based on Greek mythology, so we'll continue with the concept of the Garden of Hesperides for now. The golden apples were given as a gift from Gaia to Zeus and Hera at their wedding, so I believe that the Eden Empire (or part of it) could either be where the ruins of Mt Olympus are or at the other end of the world, as the myth says. What makes me believe that this is the "Golden Orchard" mentioned in the note is the fact that the king uses the apples to help his people and in Greek mythology, the golden apples of the garden were said to grant immortality to those who ate one. In contrast, in the Garden of Eden, humans weren't allowed to eat any of the fruit. However, there could be a twist in here, we barely know anything about Sameria afterall. The skeleton appears to have no clothes on it and based on materials, cotton can take 5 months to decompose, while wool could take up to 5 years. If the note is written on papyrus, then it's probably very old because papyrus is very rot-resistant. Oh and bodies decompose within 6 months, so this note could be very very old. (Also I don't have a clear image of the skeleton and what the thing on his head is, if you're able to provide an image, that would be wonderful).

Moving on, Shale Reef. It is such a wonderful place, easily my favourite, similar to the Jaws that could be easily defended. There are springs and pastures, and many, many pots. If Link were to find that place, he would be the happiest man alive. The secret reveals a storage place within one of the shale spires, presumably it's used more as a fridge due to the water inside it (a very impractical fridge but oh well) or a a place to hide treasure. Because of this and the fact that there are no ruins on the island, we can infer that there were no people living on Shale Reef but the island is frequented by people, evident by the backpack near one of the shores. This one must be a candidate for the building update.

Finally, there is Drakos Arch. My buddy and I had a blast exploring the whole island. Not just the secret. The whole thing is full of lore! You'd think it's just the dragon but nope! But we'll talk about the secret for now because I'm short on time. The secret is a cave in one of the hills, which has been boarded up. Inside, we find a small camp and many, many skeletons of an unknown pirate crew, one of which is a captain sitting in a pile of coins. A small detail is the captain's hat, which has a flower on it. Now what could have happened to them? As we can see on the wall near the entrance, they were keeping track of the time and next to it is a skeleton that faces away from the door, stabbed in the back. This indicates an ambush but the enemy who attacked them remains unknown.

[meliake]

Just finished reading one of the fullmetal alchemist light novels, "The Ties That Bind," and overall I thought it was pretty cute.

I really liked the insight into Roy Mustang's character and the responsibilites he has to his men. There's a whole scene where he's thinkibg about why he decided to go on this mission at all as a commanding officer, and how he feels he needs to hide the inner rank politics from the people under him to protect them.

That and the heavy comparison the narrative places between him and Luon surrounding their methods of attonement following Ishbal lead to me to care deeply about his arc specifically. I was overjoyed reading the epilogue, in which it all was worth it and he finally could move to Central.

Other than Mustang, Kip's struggle between his identity as an ishvalan child and adoptive parents was developed well. Often, I found Kip to be annoying, as happens with literally every child in fiction, but these small moments flesh out his character and struggles in a realistic enough way, that by the end the emotional corr was not drowned out by my apathy towards him.

Edward had a good base of, "If something like the Ishvalan War happened again, could I live with killing someone? Would I give up?" and there are moments that really sold it for me. At one point he states, "I don't think I could ever bear with making kids like Kip orphans." and it stuck.

However- the end drew near and it just like- never resolved. In the last few pages he's still sitting there like 'Would I?!! 🥺´ and I was like I get it Edward you're having a moral crisis you have a page and a half left get over it.

It was unsatisfying.

One major thing I did not like- Luon.

Like bro was the worst. I get he was traumatized by the war and desperate to bring his friends back, but like- it wouldn't have worked? anyway?? He left his baby son and wife alone for months on end to attack people with chimeras for their blood to do experiments, and he justified the attack part to himself because supposedly they were all dicks, but its stated that they also just mawled innocent people sometimes and he just accepted it as 'I'll do anything for them'

All to perform human transmutation in friends he specifically cremated to keep some of their ashes. He was a State Alchemist, he knew it wasn't going to work. And all the while he's lying to everybody.

The worst part is his wife and kid find out and their just like?? fine with it????

Kip's like, 'I can't be mad at him for killing my parents and traumatizing me and lying to me for years guys, hes my dad!!' Not to mention Shelley. And when he takes one sentence to go to federal prison they say they'll wait for him. I want Luon to just sit and think about his actions a ling time. So dumb.

Second worst thing,

It all just felt very, childish?

Like the whole book they generally say all their thoughts and feelings iut loud to the reader and it can get boring. Dell becomes an 100 foot long blood octopus demon and its like, my suspension of disbelief was ruined 20 pages ago. What is even going on. The themes all seem very mature and all the blood and murder would make you think it was for an older audience, but at some points I questioned why I was reading it at all.

Overall fun at times, boring at others, down right goofy a decent portion. I give the book a 6/10.

(The art inside was gorgeous)

front cover ^

bear with me just taking pictures of the book- but you get the drift. Very cute.

[raw-law]

Pride months over (unfortunately), and ill be back in school by the end of july.. I HATE HIGH SCHOOL T-T

Im a smart kid according to what my other classmates say and they think i just get by easily (I DONT). I hate our school system so much i even considered my career in the department of education ^_^

Every single day i wake up at around 4 ish, i dont even set an alarm anymore because my eyes just automatically open around those times since i got used to doing all the time. My house is pretty far from school and bc the road is kind of narrow, traffic jams happen alllll the time so i had to leave early too. Did i mention how HOT it in our country, like regardless if its summer or not it feels as if you're a rotisserie chicken in a microwave. There were at least 13 or 15 students who fainted due to heat stroke and im one of them. One of the guys in my class were playing basketball and fainted during a match bc of heat stroke, when he woke up they still made him play :// we have to arrive at school before 6:40am, the gate closes after.. no, we dont have school buses for some reason. Everyday the teachers expect us to know every lesson so we would get to do quizzes right after the lecture. We have 10 subjects in total and everyday we have homework. Every two weeks we have exams. After those exams we get back to the lectures but we have projects that are due right before exams, we have 1 project per subject but nc we have to finish it before exams, that'll be 2 weeks. So 10 projects done in 2 weeks, along with homework. School ends at around 4pm but since i live a bit far + traffic, i arrive home at 6. I do chores for an hour and i have to eat dinner so i finish at 8 ish. I have to do my projects and homework for 4 hours which is barely enough time (i make up for it during lunch break so i tend to forget to eat which leads to me not understanding the very short lessons the teachers give). For 1 hour i study my current lessons and if i have time i advance study future lessons. I go to sleep at 1am. Once a month, our class gets an earful by teachers because we dont finish our tasks and we'll eventually fail. Aughshhhhhhhh Ill have to repeat this cycle for a couple more years but i genuinely hope theres a better school out there that ill like that wont treat me like garbage.

Anyways, Light, L, if you guys put yourselves in my shoes, do you think you would survive a whole year studying in my school?

L:

honestly, that sounds a lot like the experiences i've had with the educational system, save for the part about heatstrokes. (that sounds... highly concerning...)

i ended up attending a college preparatory school after passing the qualifications needed to get in. seems very similar to the circumstances you seem to be facing. waking up at 4 a.m., getting home two hours late because of traffic, taking quizzes right after lectures and overall just being expected to stay at the top of everything. very hellish overall, and that's only school. that's not even taking account the rest of life's cruelty.

i was lucky to make it out with a 4.0 last year, but it came at the cost of.. well. revolving life around academia and nothing else.

so, to answer your question, i do think i'd survive since i know what it's like to be in your shoes. you're definitely not alone in this suffering. however, since i understand said suffering, i would never willingly go through another version of it unless i was gaining something incredibly worthwhile, and i'm also deeply sorry that you have to experience such a horrid system at all.. good luck, soldier.

Light:

Well, actually, our school system here is rather notorious for producing gifted burnout kids, though we did score first for Math, Science and English in some standardised test whose name I can't remember.

It's hard, honestly. We're expected to plan school events and study and organise things among our classes and participate in school clubs and take third language classes. And since our school is the top school in my country we're learning things that normally we'd only learn 2 years later. At least, that's been my experience. And I know classmates who can't take the stress and have breakdowns one day, or who go to the toilet and cry because their A1 grade isn't a 'high enough A1). This is my second year in this school, and for the first I've been lucky enough to maintain the highest grades for all my subjects, but this year it's getting harder and the only way I'm getting through it is by studying.

You're definitely not alone. Hopefully it'll come as more of a comfort if you know we're all in this together. You can do it! And good luck, we're always here for you if you need it.

[ellesmera268]

V****** has happened since, and ...

It seems such another life away, looking at my last post. It must have been around mid-year, when Loc was on his last legs at G Group. Now, he's actually working to his full potential (and then some!), earning double my salary, and is contributing to his country as a whole (and this is not a fairy tale, so what if the work culture is toxic, the boss lady is a workaholic bitch, and we only get to see him two hours per day). But wow, can't believe it's almost half a year he's worked there, and at first we planned for 2-3 months. The work keeps getting interesting, he's doing something so substantial, and I now finally get to highlight his qualities at work - the integrity, the smart, the technicalities as well as the soft skills and emotional support. We compare his work now to some bimbo who's hot as fuck and mad in bed, but is hell-bent crazy. Anyhow, we could be on the brink of another phase in his career, but definitely a better phase. In the current phase, we know what we're getting into, having been here before, we're excited about the quality of the work and its impact and its potential for networking, and can't complain about the $$, we've never felt as financially secure. On the other hand, we do agree that we're sacrificing a lot of family and quality time here, so this is a gig that's supposed to lead to better things, not a destination, in as much as you're not gonna marry this gal for life.

So that's the update. Also, briefly, yesterday we agreed that we shall now be ready to take on a puppy. OK, end of major life events update.

What motivated me to write here again is Pea and Egg. The girls are growing so fast, they're so long now, Pea is already 102 cm and when I hold her, I wonder where that bundle that just fitted on my lap went. Just now, I slipped out of the bedroom to chitchat and just chill with Loc, but then I heard her sort of whining as I refilled my water. As I come in, I heard her say Please stay with me mommy and I was floored. I mean, it could be my mom guilt overdrive again. Is this some trauma unresolved from the time I was in confinement? Or the last overnight business trip? Is Egg still holding on to her pacifier a sign of fear of abandonment as I was away for the whole month of her 1st birthday? Short separations like that shouldn't scar the kids for life, right? RIGHT?

Of course, I find every possible moment to bond with them, given a choice (I think only 30% of the choices would be for me honestly) I try to pick up and drop off from school, I try to take them out on weekends and not send them to their grandparents, I try to bathe them if they'd let me and I'm not too tired, etc.

In terms of efforts, though, at least I'm proud to say I'm taking rather a well rounded approach. I'd scoff at moms who send their kids to nursery at six month old, saying "the teachers are great!" and "they have extra floating sessions!" At least, by 6 months, I have a nanny who is part of the family, so she's consistent, and she cares about the kids, and they get to stay at home instead of an institutional setting, however spa-like the marketing materials read. Both the kids seem ready at 18 months old though. In terms of education, I'm reading both Chinese, Vietnamese old school, French, Soviet (!) materials, while allowing them to go to a school with a rather well rounded curriculum save for the large setting and the lackluster English program and reading sessions. We're reading to them at home anyway, and the kids are so good, they can make up games to play with each other now.

At first I was going to have this piece of thought as someone who's still having illness in the back of my mind as I'm going in for a more definitive check up this weekend, but actually, it seems like, yes it's always there but I guess there are just so much life going on, I can't keep thinking about death for long. Oh, and by the way, Michelle Trachtenberg died. She's only 5 years older than me, and basically was in some of the cool movies (Eurotrip)/ shows (Gossip Girl) that I like. That's really sad.

Books I'm reading - Vasily Sukhomlinsky on Education, Nexus on AI & Information Networks, Atomic Habits as a bite-sized audiobook, Masterclass on Negotiations by Chris Voss during lunches, and some podcasts by Diepthebug - she's always been quite real and her recommendations are good.

[immigrant-rob]

Long time no see

Spring has finally arrived, after last weeks dump of snow temperatures are rising and I can see grass again. This must have motivated me to update my blog again after 3 months of hibernation... Though lots of updates!

Where do I start... Well, of course with the most important of all. I passed my exam! 6 months of studying lead up to me taking the written exam to jump the first hurdle in becoming a physiotherapist in Canada on March 9th. I knew ethics was a major component, but the exam still was surprisingly ''ethical''. Anyway, can't say more than that or I might go to jail (not allowed to share exam details), however, the exam has prepared me to provide physio in prison in case of such an event. I did not leave the exam with a great feeling, and it left me hanging for 2 weeks before the results came back. This was an opportunity for me to teach Naomi 2 new Dutch phrases; ''Heels over the pond'' and ''On the edge of the board''.

Passing the exam was not only a relief professionally, but also personally as we were going on holiday 4 days later. We spent 6 days in Hong Kong, visiting some of Naomi's relatives and being shown around by her parents as our local guides. For a guy coming from a town with just over 100.000 inhabitants, and the tallest building being a church reaching 109 meters, being amazing by HK architecture is an understatement. Never had I see neighborhoods consisting out of just skyscrapers. Or restaurant flats where the first 10 floors of a skyscraper are all restaurants. There is no meaning to the phrase; ''Even een terrasje pakken'' in this country. But maybe even more impressive was how clean it was. How can one of the worlds most densely populated places on earth be so clean, versus most other places I have been or lived?

But my report on this part of the trip would not be complete if I did not mention the food we ate. HK is known for its incredible gastronomy, and for the foreigners probably an interesting one as well. I tried many new flavors and dishes, and at one dinner had to particularly live up to my name as an adventurous eater. Maybe it was also because this was the first time I met some of Naomi's relatives and I knew I was being judged on what I would eat. To start off was shark fin soup, not too ''scary'' right? Then we had a roast piglet, presented as if it had been squished. Now we get to the exciting part, goose feet. And for dessert, pigeon spit pudding (edible birds nest). When you hear such ingredients you may be shocked, but in all honestly it tastes good, and I can often link such dishes to western dishes that I've had in the past. If you are interested in more details on our food from our trip (or the whole trip in general), check out Naomi's blog. As usual, she has done a way better job than me of blogging.

Other highlights of our trip in HK were a nice outdoor stair master with the cousin Isaiah, who spoke fluent Dutch self taught online; ''Faka met jouw G'' and who smoked us on this hike. The only other time I've seen Naomi that tired was during the last 10k of our Elfstedentocht. He was also so kind to let me try out the new Apple Vision Pro, currently only available in the US and wow... it blew my mind. I am fairly of of date on what tech can do these days, so such an experience was totally unexpected. We also visited 3 different graveyards and seeing the differences between Buddhis and Christian graveyards was interesting. And our trip to the gambling capital of the world, Macau. Where I visited Paris, London and Venice from the hotels in 1 day.

Next destination was 9 days of travelling around Japan, the country where you can be served by robots, but train schedules need to be manually searched in books by the desk clerks. A country that is proud of it's traditions and ways, for a foreigner sometimes confusing but beautiful. First we did 1 day in Osaka. Our hotel was right outside Osaka castle, and much to our surprise it was peak cherry blossom season! Usually it would've been earlier and we had already anticipated that we had missed it. Dinner that day was my first encounter with Wagyu, yummy!

The next day we spent travelling to Onomichi, stopping at Himeji castle which is considered to be Japans most beautiful castle. And beautiful it was indeed, but with beauty comes tourism, and with tourism comes crowdedness (pesky tourists). We were glad to have seen it, but the 1 hours line up and cattle like herding system to see inside were not worth it in my opinion.

Now comes my highlight of the trip! A 75k bike ride over 6 islands connected by massive bridges called Shimanami Kaido. Despite the small drizzle the scenery was stunning and it was a welcome change to the busy cities previously. It was enjoyable to explore the Japanese countryside and fishing villages while getting in some exercise. Naomi's managed to wobble off her bike 5,5k into the ride, which gives her a 100% succes rate of falling off bikes on excursion rides at an average distance of about 8% of the total distance.

Next up was Kyoto, a large but quieter city than what we were used to with many temples to see. We did a stepping stone river crossing which both gave us wet socks (and a good laugh), spent some time on the bank drying our socks and as always while we wait, played a game of Wingspan.

And lastly, 3 days Tokyo! After visiting the most densely populated city in the world, now it was time to visit worlds biggest city with 37 million inhabitants, including the metropolitan area. A cool variety between big modern architecture and narrow old streets filled with food joints, allowing only for seating at the bar due to how narrow they are. We were exposed to a whole new level of arcade gaming, and it reminded me of a popular saying; ''No matter how good you are, there is always an Asian better than you at it''. I've seen some impressive guitar Hero shenanigans during my high school days, but I've never seen a man in suit and tie octo-combo a Japanese KPOP song for 10 minutes straight. I used to think AFL was the peak standard of athleticism, but have my doubts now...

As an experienced Mario Carts driver I was sad to miss out on the Mario Carts driving experience through Tokyo streets due to not having an international drivers license. Unfortunately, they did not accept 7+ years of Wii MC driving experience with some top ranks in the world (but never first, remember, and Asian always beats you). I got to watch professional sumo wrestlers practice at their ''stable''. They even came out after training for some pictures which was really cool. And last but not least, what am I missing in my recap from Tokyo? Exactly, food. I had what was probably my best meal in my entire life! An amazing 13 course dinner with lots of different cuts of meat including wagyu. Who knew tongue could be so tender by the way?!

I have cut myself in the fingers by taking so long to blog. My recap of our holiday was not nearly as complete or detailed as Naomi's. If you are planning a trip to any of these places take a look at hers. She also has all the names.

That's all for now, hopefully I will have some exciting news in the next blog regarding work!