#this is both about my new celebrity crush and an internship i want to apply for

[gorgonsister]

i am still learning how to be evasive and not disclose precious information about myself and my desires willy-nilly. people i have good impressions of sometimes don’t know that what i am sharing is important to me and are indiscreet or dismissive about those things, because they seem unimportant on the surface.

i hope i can get better at discerning what information about my desires i am ok with sharing versus the things that i want to keep to myself before i interact with others even those i trust to an extent because information about my desires is precious and i don’t want my desires and hopes to be judged or discussed openly without my permission.

[raysofcrosby]

LITTLE DO YOU KNOW PT. 10

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦." ━  𝐙𝐚𝐲𝐧 𝐟𝐭. 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭, 𝐈 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫

gif credit (x)

series masterlist

requested: yes | no

warnings: just angst tbh

word count: 5,850 [again of un proofread material sorry lmao]

authors note: [quick sidenote: if you want to make this sad af, then listen to heal by tom odell here bc that’s what i did when writing lmao.] omg yay part 10 finally! when this posts i’ll still be at work, but i’m so happy that i was able to get this out to you guys today! this series is coming to an end soon and honestly i’m sad about it bc idk what the hell i’m gonna do once it’s over lmao. for everyone who reblogs, likes and even reads this series– thank you from the bottom of my heart. i enjoy reading everyone’s tags and messages and it makes me happy and want to write even more when i see how much you guys enjoy the series. i hope this part is good enough bc part 11 is coming up and well...we’ll see what happens :)

Two days after the incident in the training room, finals week had wrapped up, Kennedy had already gone home to celebrate an early Christmas with her parents before joining you in Victoria, campus closed down and you had found yourself displaced. Originally, pre-Typocalypse...you were supposed to stay with Jamie and Katie, then all fly back together after the game tonight. But those plans had since changed since Jamie was obviously still not talking to you. Kennedy offered you to come and stay with her, but you were already stealing her for Christmas, you didn't want to intrude on the few days her and her parents got to spend together for the Holidays.  Before you could even think about booking a hotel for the next few days, Big Rig offered you his guest room and the two of you have been temporary roommates ever since.

It was a great set up, honestly. Since you were still obligated to be at team practices, the two of you drove there together and left afterward. He was like the big shield that protected you from Jamie's glares and Tyler's horrible attempts at trying to please Jamie by not looking at you. When they went on their Florida series, Dave offered you a chance to go since you were on break, but you turned it down and made a joke about how if you went to Florida you might not come back. Instead, you relaxed on Big Rig's couch, thought about going to see Tyler's dogs and switched between binging 'You' and 'Fuller House' on Netflix.

But today was the day that you would be handing John the paperwork for your internship that he needed to sign and handover. Just things saying that your timesheet was correct, signing off and typing up a letter about how you did. The practice before they left for Florida, actually the same day he had offered you a spot on the trip, was when you broke the news to him that you wouldn't finish out the season with them. Of course, he probably had some kind of inkling as to the reasons why. You always thought that girls were the worst when it came to gossip, but it turns out grown men are a lot worse. But he was kind and never asked for the specifics and respected your decision not to continue and just told you to give him the paperwork whenever you could and that he'd fill it out for you. He also commented on how good of a job you did and that if you ever changed your mind, they'd welcome you back without a second thought.

And that's what you told Katie when the two of you went out to an early dinner before heading to the arena for the game. But now, as the two of you were in your uber and headed towards the arena, the daunting task of having to actually hand over your paperwork weighed heavy on your heart. Katie had invited you along to dinner and you thought that it was probably her way of reaching out to you since your brother was failing to do so, but you didn't mind. You really liked Katie and she was like the other big sister you never had. To your surprise though, the two of you didn't talk much about what had happened between you, Tyler and Jamie. Instead, she focused on your senior year, where you were applying to jobs and how life in L.A. had been treating her.

But now you were itching to get her opinion on the matter, because if there was anyone besides you who was closer to Jamie in this city and had the insight of his thoughts– it was her. When the two of you stepped out of the Uber and made your way through security to get to the back hallway, you broke the silence on the matter.

"Did you know?" You blurted out as the two of you bypassed security. She turned to you with a generic expression. "Did you know before he...found out?"

"I mean, I kind of had a feeling something was going on," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Just even during the few times I was down here and we all went downtown. The two of you had never really been as close or hung out too often before and I just noticed all of the little things that boys are too oblivious to see."

"Yeah, maybe going out together was a bad idea. Maybe this whole damn thing was a bad idea," you sighed, clutching the manilla folder close to you.

"I don't think it was a bad idea, I just think that you and Tyler approached it wrong. You guys should've been a little more upfront and honest with Jamie. He still might have been angry, but it would have been a lot better than the alternative."

You nodded, accepting her cold truth as the two of you made your way through the parking garage and towards the hallway entrance. "Has he reached out to you yet?"

"Jamie or Tyler?"

"Both, I guess."

You shook your head, pushing back the pain that came with the thought of the two guys you cared for most, ignoring you. "Not even an in-person acknowledgment."

"I've been talking to them both, trying to get them to see the sense of it all. I told Jamie he needs to talk to you before this gets any worse...but you know how he is."

"Yeah, I do," you nodded, opening the door and stepping into the hallway. You looked down the right towards the training room and took a deep breath. "Well, I guess this is it."

"I can come with you if you want? Give you a little moral support?"

"Thanks, but I need to do this on my own," you took a deep breath and nodded, giving yourself a little encouragement. "I'll see you at home in a few hours?"

"Longest plane ride of our lives," she joked, hugging you before turning towards the elevator. "Oh, one more thing about you and Tyler!"

"Yeah?" You asked, giving her a hopeful, but sad look.

"It wasn't just the physical things I noticed, like the small touches." She shrugged her shoulders and gave you a small smile. "But it was just how different the two of you seemed. You were a lot happier and open and Tyler...he was a lot calmer and genuinely happy. I think the two of you are very good together."

You didn't know what to say, but instead gave her a thankful smile and watched her get into the elevator to head up to the upper level. It hurt your heart, to think about how your relationship had changed the two of you for the better and yet here you guys were– avoiding each other at all costs. You brushed those thoughts aside and walked down the hallway. You needed to give Dave your paperwork, but there was something else you needed to do first.

You knocked on to the locker room door, hearing a voice on the other side. You covered your eyes with one hand and pushed the door open, stepping into the room. "Is everyone in here decent?"

"It's just me and Dobby, Y/N," Klinger said, laughing. "So yes, open your eyes."

You uncovered your eyes to see the two men sitting in their respectful stalls. "Where's everyone else?"

"Training room, on the bench or playing footy," Dobby said, standing up. "You okay?"

You nodded, walking over towards Big Rig's stall and holding up your purse. "Big Rig just asked me to bring something for him, he forgot it at the apartment."

They nodded and Dobby walked out of the door, Klinger stopping while holding it open. "Do you think you can tape me today?"

You felt a crushing feeling inside of you because he had no clue that you weren't here to work...but instead to quit. "If no one's busy." You smiled, as he nodded in reply before leaving the locker room.

You took a deep breath and sighed before walking away from Big Rig's stall and over to Tyler's. You dug into your purse and pulled out his house key, which was attached to the  '#1 labrador mom' keychain he had given you, and placed it right in the middle of his stall. You've been meaning to give it back to him since everything crumbled, but you just haven't had the courage to face him since the day of he and Jamie's explosion. Plus, you were flying home to Victoria tonight and there would be no better time than the present to give him back the gift. Now, you had to do the one thing that you came here for– turn in your hour sheet, along with some other internship paperwork, to John. You had talked to him earlier in the week about deciding not to finish out the season, and you had to admit that you felt honored that he was upset that you were choosing not to continue. For the first time in a while, it made you feel like you had accomplished something here and that your work was appreciated. But the hardest part wasn't telling him that you were quitting, it was turning in your paperwork for him.

You stood outside of the training room door, contemplating whether or not to call Katie and tell her that you had changed your mind, that you'd love for her to walk into the room with you so you could walk right back out. But then you thought back on all of your conversations with Big Rig since Kennedy left and how, in her absence, he's been more than willing to lend an ear and even give you some advice and boost up your confidence. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling and then opening your eyes again. "I can do this." You gave yourself a few more seconds before bringing your shoulders back, lifting your chin and pushing the door open, walking into the training room like you owned the place.

"Y/N!" Pavs cheered, throwing his fists into the air. "You're finally here! I've been waiting for you to come and tape my ankle for me, for like...ever!"

"Sorry for being late," you replied, looking immediately in John's direction to see him walking over to his desk. "I just need to–"

"And you're out of your uniform?" Dickinson scoffed, walking by you. "What are they teaching you at this fancy college?"

"Yeah Y/N, you're not on winter break yet. No, relax!" Rads chimed in as the rest of the guys just laughed.

You rolled your eyes at their chirping but kept the smile on your face because you were glad that things seemed to have rolled over when it came down to the tension whenever you, Tyler and Jamie were all in the same room. This was ringing true because the three of you were in the same room at this very moment. Tyler was sitting down by Big Rig, stealing a resistance band from him to work on his shoulder, while Jamie was lying on a table in front of John's desk, getting his hamstring scraped by Craig. Neither of them looked as tense as they had in the last week, but they still weren't paying any attention to you. Well, you thought they weren't until you caught Tyler looking away from you the moment you went to say something to Big Rig about his bands. He played it off, looking immediately to his right, probably not realizing he'd be staring at a blank wall– but you were over it all, so it didn't bother you one bit.

"Is this the paperwork we talked about?" Dave asked, finally sitting down at his chair and tossing a towel on his desk.

You walked forward with the manilla folder in hand and held it up, giving him a tight-lipped smile. "Yep, this is it. Sorry I couldn't get it to you sooner. It took a while to get together since Finals ended and everything is hectic."

You held it out to him and he grabbed it from you, placing it onto his desk and opening it, skimming through the pages and nodding. "Can I get this to you after you come back from break?"

"Absolutely. There's no need to rush," you looked off to see Big Rig giving you a supportive look. He was the only one in the room besides Dave, that knew just what those papers were for. "Just as long as it's before graduation."

"Y/N!" Miro said, rushing into the room and out of breath. "You're here! Please tape me, you're the only one who can."

"Looks like you're stuck with just Craig and me, Miro," Dave said, closing the folder and standing up from his chair. "You guys must have chased her away. She's finished with her internship and decided not to extend for the full season."

That non-existent tension that you mentioned earlier, sprung it's ugly head back into the room the moment that his announcement left his lips. Both Jamie and Tyler perked up at what Dave had said, both surprised and even had a split moment where they looked at each other. Though of course, they had no clue of your decision, so shock and confusion were along the lines of what you expected them to feel. You made eye contact with Jamie first and you couldn't exactly pinpoint just what he was feeling since three separate emotions ran across his face: shock, disappointment and finally, joy. When you acknowledged him back, he opened his mouth slightly as if he might just say something, but instead bit the inside of his cheek and rested his head back down onto his forearms as Craig continued to scrap him. Tyler on the other hand only had two visible emotions: sad and extremely pissed. And if it wasn't for the fact that his eyes carried hints of sadness, you'd only think he was extremely pissed, seeing as the scowl on his face and his knitted eyebrows were the key symbols of his anger. Rightfully, you were confused at his reaction. How could he even be bothered to be angry about your choice when he hasn't talked to you in nearly two weeks?

Screw him, he has no right to be angry.

You turned your attention away from him and started to make your way back to the training room door. "Well, shit, who the hell is going to deal with my shin problem now?" Big Rig said, clearing out the silence in the room.

Bishop laughed as well a few other guys who were still left in the training room before walking away from your desk and over to you. "You're 27 years old, figure it out, you dweeb!" He came to a stop in front of you and hugged you. "Good luck with the rest of your senior year. I hope you'll still come around."

"Eh, maybe I will," you joked, pulling away from the hug and giving the guys a small wave. "Good luck tonight guys. Someone fight Tkachuk or I'll disown you as my team and switch to the Canucks."

Your joke was followed by multiple groans and mumbles, in reply to your goodbye and to the fact that you were leaving their training room forever. Once the conversation returned to normal, you took that as your time to slip out of the training room unnoticed and back out into the hallway. The moment you stared down the empty hallway, you took a deep breath and felt as if a huge weight was lifted off of your shoulders. You, Kennedy and Big Rig had made yourself a checklist of things to do before the year came to an end and you came back from winter break.

The first? Talk to Dave and give him the paperwork to wrap up your internship.

The second? Somehow repair your relationship with Jamie, which has yet to even have an outlined plan.

And the third? ...Close things off with Tyler on a positive note. He was a friend way before he was a hookup and he's your brother's best friend. Just because the two of you had relations, doesn't mean you couldn't still be friends.

You weren't one to lie to yourself. You knew that the last one probably wouldn't happen before the end of the year, if at all. Confronting Tyler was terrifying to you. Sure, you've planned everything that you wanted to say to him– it's been boiling inside of you for days. But there was never a moment that presented itself to where you could get Tyler alone, and you no longer felt comfortable just showing up at his place. So, you just pushed it onto the backburner and knew that somewhere down the road, you'd be able to accept that things would be like this from here on out– avoiding each other and pretending like nothing ever happened.

"Y/N, wait!" Halfway down the hallway, you stopped in your tracks as you listened to the sound of a door closing and shoes scuffing along the floor.

You didn't want to turn around, hell, you didn't even want to stop. But it was like your body turned against you the moment that you heard his voice. His footsteps came to a stop just behind you and you could hear him panting a little, trying to catch his breath. In his hand, you heard the slight jingle of a single key on a lanyard, and your heart squeezed in your chest.

"You can't do this. You can't leave!" The anger in his voice took you by surprise, just like his reaction only moments ago in the training room had. "You can't let me stop you from keeping this internship."

"Excuse me?" You scoffed, whipping around and feeling pure adrenaline running through your veins. "That's awfully narcissistic of you."

He looked taken back as he held tightly onto the lanyard he'd gifted you. "That's why you're leaving, though. Because of...everything?" He took a step towards you, shaking his head. "If it is I–"

Maybe it was the way he had phrased the sentence or maybe it was the way that he had pretty much just written off every moment the two of you had shared in a hesitant state. Whatever it was, you felt a whirl of anger and adrenaline swirling around inside of you as you clenched your fists by your side. "I completed my hours, Tyler, meaning my internship is done. I've fulfilled my duties as an intern here and even if it was about you and 'everything'," you threw your air quotes as you stared at him, your eyes hoping to burn holes into his head. "My position here was never permanent and we both knew that."

You felt slightly proud of yourself for the sly insinuation you threw in at him, and even more so proud when you saw that he understood just what you were implying. "Y/N listen, we need to talk."

Even if you wanted to, you couldn't have prevented the laugh that escaped from your mouth. "You've had almost two weeks to 'talk', Tyler. Two weeks to send me a text or a phone call to meet up someplace! But now that I'm leaving and I'll no longer be around for your convenience, it's the perfect time to talk?"

He stood there silent because he knew damn well that you were right. He had plenty of opportunities in the last two weeks to reach out to you, but he hadn't even bothered to pick up the phone and there was no denying it. You stood there, taking him in and it only made you feel worse. He had a hurt look on his face like he was lost as to what you wanted him to say or to do– and that only made you angrier. It was simple, what you wanted him to do. For the last two weeks, all you've wanted was for him to just talk to you, to let you know that he hadn't tossed you aside like another pointless hookup. But now, all you wanted to do was get everything off of your chest, and it was then that you realized...the universe was granting you the alone time you've desperately wanted.

"You don't get it, do you?" You asked, shaking your head as you felt a knot tighten in your throat. "You don't get how...how embarrassed I am! Do you know how many people told me to avoid getting involved with you? That you'd do nothing but end up hurting me in the end?"

"'He has a reputation for a reason, Y/N!' 'All he does is whore around Dallas, Y/N.' 'You guys are in two different stages of life, it won't work out.'" You laughed again, trying your damndest not to try. "I've heard it all, Tyler. From Kennedy, from your teammates, from kids at my school, hell– I even heard it from my mom!"

You bit the inside of your cheek as you looked off to your left, giving yourself a few seconds to compose your thoughts before looking at him again. "But I brushed their worries aside because I saw a side of you that they never got the chance to. I saw how kind and sweet you were with me. How you'd jump at any opportunity to help me study and how you always made me feel welcome in your home."

"I saw it all and I thought, 'hey, you know what? They're all wrong. He's not that kid in Boston and he's not the same guy he was when he first got to Dallas.'" You pointed at him before letting your hand drop back to your side. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt because I know people can change and with my whole heart, I believed that you had."

He continued to stare at you, almost void of emotion now as if he had put up a wall and was just letting you scream at it, which only made you more upset. "I understand that you could have lost your best friend, I really do. And I'd never ask you to put our, whatever the hell we had, above your friendship with Jamie."

 Your bottom lip trembled as you thought about the nights since, where you've checked your phone every minute to see if he had texted you. "But you could have texted me. You could've said 'hey, I just need some space right now to figure stuff out' and I would have been fine with that! Instead, you just...tossed me aside and shut me out."

The more that you spoke, the more weightless you began to feel. It was as if speaking every word and feeling you had saved for Tyler was freeing you of the pain that him dropping you like nothing, had caused. Yet, you couldn't help but feel angry at how he was just standing there. You wanted a reaction, you wanted him to apologize– anything was better than this.

"Say something! Stop standing there and staring at me!" You yelled, feeling surprised at yourself for just how high your voice had gone and echoed off of the walls.

You watched his Adam's apple bob as his fingers tangled and twirled through the lanyard."Jamie and I... we've been talking and I think it's going well."

"Well that's great for you, isn't it?" You scoffed, shaking your head and motioning towards him with a hand. "At least my brother is talking to someone, right? Better you than me, I guess. I'm happy you got your best friend back, I truly am."

The longer you stood there, the more you felt your body begin to shake from the pure adrenaline running through you. And the more that he just stared at you, the more you felt your heart breaking because it was starting to become clear that you were the only one who was hurting from all of this. You laughed in disbelief at your revelation before turning away from him, preparing to walk down the aisle and out of his view.

"Why?" You asked, keeping your back turned. "Why did you do it?"

"...Why did I do, what?"

You turned around, your hair whipping into your face before you brushed it back with your fingers. "Why did you go back to Maisy?" Your voice cracked as you spoke softly, staring at him with the tears that were threatening to spill. "Why did you treat me like I was the most important person to you and then toss me aside like I was just another pointless hookup?"

"Y/N..."

"Did you even care? Wait, no, of course, you didn't and would you like to know how I know that, Tyler?" You stared at him, expecting an answer but knowing you wouldn't get one. "Because you practically rushed me out of your house and into an uber like I was nothing. You couldn't even be bothered to make sure I got home okay! The first sign of trouble and you toss me into an uber, sent me away and then ignored me like every..."

Your voice broke as you brought a hand to your mouth and turned away from him. You took a deep breath, trying to calm down your racing heart before looking back at him. "You ignored me like every moment we spent together meant nothing to you. And m-maybe they did but to me? They're some of the best memories I've had here in Dallas."

"So imagine how it made me feel, when my brother of all people, tells me that she's here...in your seats, not even four days after you had sex with me and tossed me aside." You glared at him as your bottom lip trembled once again. "You made me look like a joke Tyler."

"It wasn't like that, okay? Maisy was just–"

"I don't care what it was like, Tyler! She was here, in seats YOU bought her last season!" You yelled, throwing your arms in the air. "You told me that you guys were over! That you haven't talked to her since July and yet, there she was!"

The moment you felt the first tear glide down your cheek, you knew that you only had moments before you would burst into tears. You went to speak and a small sob escaped from the back of your throat. Tyler went into a small panic, his eyes widening as he stepped forward and reached out for you. "Y/N–"

"Don't," You stepped back, smacking his hand away. "Don't touch me, just...don't." You closed your eyes, focusing on your breathing and collecting your thoughts before opening them and looking at him one last time. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt Tyler, but it turns out everyone was right."

You laughed again, shrugging your shoulders and shaking your head. "You're still that 19-year-old kid in Boston, who doesn't have a clue about what he wants for his life...you're nowhere near the man I thought you were." You looked him dead in the eyes, not caring about the tears running down your face. "Grow up."

With that, you turned your back to him and started to finish your journey down the hall and to the elevator, choosing to ignore how his footsteps followed you. "Y/N, wait...please."

You stopped, this time choosing to and kept your head down towards the ground and holding back your sobs. "SEGGY WHERE ARE YOU? GET DRESSED, WE'VE GOT 5 MINUTES TILL WARM-UPS!" Big Rig called out, his loud voice echoing down the hall.

You expected to hear Tyler's footprints walk in the opposite direction, but you were met with silence. "Y/N, stay after the game, please? I just," he sighed, trying to figure out what to say. "We really need to talk about everything and just...please wait for me after the game? Five minutes, two minutes, one minute– whatever you want, I don't care. Just...please, let me explain?"

"SEGGY LET'S GO!" Rads called out this time, his voice louder as you kept your back to Tyler.

You heard him sigh again before listening to his footsteps run in the direction back towards the locker room. You didn't hesitate to walk as fast as you could to the elevator, letting out every tear and sob your body had held back as he pleaded for a chance to explain. It was all you wanted from him, an explanation, but he was too late. You weren't staying for the game, you were leaving the arena and hopping onto a flight to Victoria in two hours.

You just didn't have the heart to tell him that.

You were grateful for the elevator attendant who stayed silent your entire ride up to the upper level. Before the doors opened, you took a deep breath and wiped your eyes, fixing yourself up before you'd make your way through the crowds and out of the arena. The attendant gave you a friendly smile as you walked out of the elevator. As soon as the doors closed and you made your way through the crowds, you spotted Paisley turning away from the drink cart ahead of you and you were desperate for the crowd to swallow you up before she could witness you in all of your misery.

Unfortunately for you, the universe wasn't so kind because as soon as she looked up from her purse, her eyes locked on yours and she smiled and waved at you. You froze in place, probably bothering the fans trying to make their way around you as you watched in horror, Paisley coming towards you.

"Y/N, hi!" She smiled, just as cheery as the first time you met her, which again, made it so hard to dislike her. "What are you doing up here? I thought you were down in the training room and stuff?"

"How did you know that?" You asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cole," she scoffed, rolling her eyes before taking a sip of her beer, which was another shock because you took her for a wine kind of girl. "He complained about it and Tyler Seguin and some dude named Big Rig? But I don't understand why because like, your job sounds really cool!"

"Well, it was pretty cool, but I finished up my internship, so I won't be here much longer." You replied, stuffing your hands awkwardly into your sweatshirt pockets.

She looked at you, her eyes taking in your appearance and lingering on your face for much longer than you'd like them to. "Are you okay? You look like you've been crying."

There were a lot of things you wanted to do right now and talking to the girl your boyfriend cheated on you with, was not on the list. But she was being so nice to you and after the horrible moment you just had with Tyler, you needed a little positivity right now. "I kind of just maybe...broke up with someone? I mean we weren't a thing, but we kind of were and it's just...it's a whole hot mess." You sighed, shaking your head and brushing it off. "It doesn't matter anymore."

She gasped, bringing her drink to her chest and grabbing onto your wrist with her free hand as she leaned in. "You broke up with Tyler? But why? You guys seemed so happy whenever I saw you out downtown. Even when I saw you walking around campus, you just looked so...happy."

"It's complicated."

She shook her head, sighing and taking a long sip of her wine. "I guess it is true then, men are shit. College guy or NHL player." She must have seen the shocked look on your face because she shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, I dumped Cole's ass. Sometime after you left the ABC party. He's just an asshole! And I'm sorry about everything...I never knew and I feel horrible about it."

"It's okay, he really was an asshole." You laughed, feeling a small flutter of happiness rush through you for the first time in what felt like forever. As she joined you in laughter, you dug your phone out of your back pocket and smiled. "What's your number? Maybe we can hang out after break?"

"Oh my God, yes!" She squealed, taking your phone from your hands and bringing her own out. "And I'll add you on snap and Instagram, too! Honestly, you and Kennedy seem like the coolest girls and I've always wanted to be friends with you since freshman year English lit, but we never really had classes together again."

"We can make plans for spring break maybe?" You suggested as the two of you added each other on social media before putting your phones away.

"Yes! We can plan it after break! Maybe you can even introduce me to a cute hockey boy?" She winked, nudging you playfully. "It seems to have worked out for Kennedy well."

You laughed again, nodding your head. "I know a few single guys, we'll see what we can do." You felt your phone vibrating and you brought it back out to see the notification about your uber being ten minutes out. "Oh shoot, I need to go and get my bags before my uber gets here. But I'll text you later?"

"Sure thing!" She nodded before turning to walk away. "Oh, and one more thing!"

"Yeah?"

"Don't count him out just yet, okay? As I said, I saw how he looked at you whenever I saw you guys downtown and if I know boys like I think I do...I'd say that boy loves you. And a boy in love doesn't give up that easily." She smiled and shrugged her shoulders before winking at you. "Just a thought."

You watched her disappear into the crowd, wondering what the hell just happened. When you made your way down the escalators and into the main lobby, you navigated your way towards the front office where Big Rig had asked the staff to hold your bags for you. Sneaking in and then out quickly, you grabbed the Stars 'staff' lanyard around your neck and stuffed it into your sweatshirt pockets before walking out of the arena doors with your luggage in hand and made your way to the spot where you'd meet your uber. As you stood there, waiting for your Uber to arrive, you thought about what she said. Out of curiosity, you brought your phone out of your back pocket again to see a new text on your screen...from Tyler.

'see you after the game?'

You went to reply to tell him the news, but your uber pulled up and you locked your phone and shoved it into your sweatshirt pocket along with the Dallas Stars lanyard.

You were leaving for Victoria, Tyler would go home to Toronto and there would be no waiting for him in the hallway after the game, giving him a chance to explain.

The damage was already done.

[alchemist-shizun]

The Eyeless Cat

Part of the Welcome to Night Vale AU

Ts taglist: @whizzie72 @sapphire-knight @burningpersonflapsuitcase @softanxiouspatton @royallyanxious @kim-argent-moon @lance-alt @suffering-is-my-comfort-zone @sometimeswritingsometimesdying @pushussmollworld @mylifeisadeceit @spooky-scary-virgil @angstyfanfiction @artissijam @logicalberry (tell me if you want to be added or removed)

Word Count: 2,195

Characters: Deceit, Virgil, Roman, (Logan is mentioned)

Pairing(s): implied Loceit

Warning(s): eye injury, stitches mention, injured animal (please tell me if I missed anything)

Summary: Beware, the town's mascot appears to have found a new peculiar feline! Does it come for war or peace? Does it come aware of its conditions? Does it come? Does it at all? How many cats is Night Vale going to be filled with? Follow the subsequently solved mysteries with our two favourite beings.

A/N: Did someone order Deceit being excited about cats? The Night Vale aura might be a bit more off than the last fic but e h I'm trying my best. As well as Deceit might seem a bit ooc too as apparently I thought all of his dialogues in Cecil's voice (did I almost write Cecil and Carlos instead of Deceit and Logan? yes). I swear I will actually bring you Logan too, just you wait for me to write the 100th episode. That being said hope you enjoy! (Not all the events are actually taken from wtnv)

✾

❝ I'll morph to someone else

Defense mechanism mode ❞

« It was admirable how suddenly our favourite, and of course only, station cat was able to move from his spot. It did already happen once, back then when that ... devilish company unleashed an unharmful-looking beast that attacked him. » Deceit's voice lowered in a mix of repressed rage and regret.

Despite being in the past, memories would always come back to haunt you; sometimes they found you in a dark alleyway, sometimes they hovered over you when you pretended to sleep.

The black of the night seemed to be the most efficient medium to reminisce.

But other times all you needed was a detail, it would grasp your mind and never let go until you experienced second hand feelings from your past self. Everything at once in a matter of milliseconds.

When Deceit had seen Khoshekh's, or, rather, Virgil's cat body half bitten away by that horridly misleading creature, oh how deeply he had wished for his hands to be able to crush the toughest material.

The anger had soon left his skin and made way to concern and worry and that sense of impending doom impossible to ignore which set on the pit of his stomach.

It was one of the scariest days of his life, scarier than that one time he had almost died.

« And then he just … jumped out! I wasn't going to stop him, everybody knows cats can survive jumps from great heights. Like that one time Jasper,  Derek's cat, had jumped from the tallest building of Night Vale and landed on his paws without a single scratch. That, of course, was thanks to the enormous wings attached to his body, which we learn that cats tend to grow around the age of five months old. Adorable! »

The fondness of Deceit towards said animals could be touched between the radio waves. He straightened his posture in his seat and leaned over his microphone.

« I simply looked out of the window, bending slightly towards the outside to witness what Khoshekh had in mind. And, listeners, you will never believe this. » Deceit smiled through the anticipation. « There was another cat right next to him! His fur was of a soft orange alternated with whiter stripes, but, sadly, I wasn't able to catch the eye colour. I couldn't believe myself when I saw them interact; Khoshekh made his first friend and we will celebrate this and welcome this new friend in our community with the warmest greetings we've gathered in our hearts. »

A shuffling of papers was heard while his tone shifted again. « More on the possible blossoming of a beautiful friendship as soon as we get more news on the matter. Let me take you to the weather. »

And the blasting of guitars started.

Deceit wasn't sure how long that weather was going to be: lately they had carried on for hours, almost forgetting about the passage of time which stretched and renewed with every instant, giving it no purposeful meaning.

This could only hold one significance: he was safe to visit Virgil once again, to check on him and see whether there were updates on the stranger cat or not.

It had been a long day.

Their search for a new intern hadn't yet been resolved; it's not like none desired to undertake the task, but they were literally still looking for their newest intern who had just applied.

It was a pretty young boy who had just moved to Night Vale for the sole purpose of working in the radio's internship so he could be more comfortable in the upcoming play he was going to star in. But, ever since he had applied, he had never been seen, nor he had ever shown up.

Deceit had been moving as if on autopilot, his body did the exact same trajectory for as long as he had wanted to check on Virgil.

He would make his way to the bathroom, wait for his friend to feel comfortable enough to appear in anthropomorphic form, talk to Virgil and then go back to make his last recording before finally going back home, unless the weather lasted for more than four minutes.

But this time he found himself out in the pavement next to the station's building, observing Virgil's moves.

The younger boy was in his cat form, staring directly at the corner of the station, as though he had been expecting something to happen for hours and hadn't yet gotten any sign.

« Waiting for someone? »

Virgil turned, his black fur like a speck of void sitting in the air. In a moment, a pale face was glancing back at Deceit, dark circles linked the white skin to the colourful tones of his left eye.

« There's something odd. » he mused with his arms crossed over his chest, the same spot he had gotten stitches on some weeks earlier. Deceit shook off the memory for the second time that day.

It was okay, nothing had happened.

« Isn't there always? What is odd, anyway? »

« I know, but- this is another kind of odd. »

Deceit let out an amused huff and walked closer. « You're starting to sound like Logan. »

Ever since the bio-machine attacked Virgil, he had stayed at Deceit and Logan's place to recover his broken bones and … trying to readjust to his previous life while dealing with all the injuries, the missing right eye he was now covering with his bangs …

And that was where he had started to pick up their habits, on a brighter note. They both found it delightfully precious.

« It feels different when he's around. »

« He? »

« The other cat. The orange one. » Virgil gestured to a spot, but Deceit saw nothing else other than a bench. « It's like he holds my own aura, he's more like me than he is like other cats. Not like Jasper, or Copernicus. »

« You think he can shape-shift like you? » Deceit tried to follow his connections.

« I'm not a shape-shifter. » Virgil had repeated for the millionth time, followed by a quick “Of course you aren't.” of his interlocutor. « I simply appear. » he added, scrunching his lips to the side afterwards, eyes narrow as he stared ahead of himself again.

He couldn't quite put his finger on that newcomer yet.

Now the newcomer was standing right in front of them, a few meters away, looking at- well, actually …

« Oh, those are some pretty red eyes! » Deceit approached, careful not to upset the feline, which at first backed away, but was far more comfortable when he sensed the soft and measured movements of the man.

He crouched down to him and looked at two little pinkish eye sockets. Deceit turned to Virgil.

« This poor creature doesn't have eyes? » he gazed back at the cat's face, which seemed to be able to capture where the man exactly was even with the lack of sight.

« Yeah, but that's not what's off about him. » the other clarified, while Deceit had already befriended the cat and had started petting its head, cooing at how cute he was.

The cat seemed to soften under his gloves' touch. « Oh, I think nothing is off about this gorgeous little buddy. » a wide ridiculous smile spread on his lips when he turned to Virgil. « Come here, he's very nice. »

Virgil rolled his eyes and complied, kneeling down next to them. He tentatively raised a hand and slowly caressed the back of the cat's body.

« We should name him. »

« Oh, please, you would end up with absurdities- What even is Khoshekh? »

« Excuse you? First of all, it's wonderful and second, you definitely love it- »

« I do not. »

« -You do. Now, who shall this new pal be? »

Virgil promptly picked the cat up without any other warning, surprisingly getting no other response from him other than a mute “Oh, alright, I'm being lifted off the ground I suppose. Neat.”

« I'm not going to stand here and watch you ruin his reputation for the rest of his days. » he started to back away, subtly amused.

« You're so dramatic. » Deceit snickered as Virgil clutched the animal to his chest.

« Thank you, I took that after you. »

« Come on, he can't just be “that orange cat”. »

« Why not? »

« He deserves a proper name. »

« You don't give proper names, Dec. »

« Then what would you think a proper name would be? »

The cat in Virgil's arms abruptly disappeared.

Instead, in them there was now a boy around his age, just a little taller than him, and just a little too close for Virgil's personal space.

« Uh … » he didn't move, not free from the other's arms yet. « How about “Roman”? »

Virgil blinked once, then twice and three times, disbelief still washed over him as he let go instantly after regaining his composure.

« You're … » just like him! « … the new intern? » Deceit questioned, remembering how familiar that name sounded. Pieces were all coming together: of course people couldn't find him, they hadn't been looking for the right creature.

« Oh! Yeah, that. I apologize, I might have missed the first few days but- » Roman cut off, looking down at his own body as if that would have explained his absence. « I got stuck. I had no idea I could do that. » despite his composed tone, confusion and mild agitation were still accompanying his face's features. A face with eyes, differently from his cat form.

« Oh well, there's always a first time as they say. Maybe Virgil could help you control that so you can still work for us? » Deceit regretted his own words the second he captured Virgil's death stare at the new citizen.

Trustworthiness of rare beings of your own kind coincidentally moving to your town wasn't going to be an easy effort. Especially when it came to him.

« Mh? » the new intern looked at the boy in question and put on the friendliest face he could muster. « Charmed to meet you, I'm Roman. » as he was extending his hand for Virgil to shake, the other began to walk back to the radio station's bathroom without a single word.

Words, in fact, were more Deceit's thing than his own.

« Aw, don't mind that. » he chirped, clasping his hands together. « Walking away from conversations is an open invitation to seek your interlocutor's company once again. I learnt that at the social interactions course in the community college. »

All he gained was a perplexed glance from Roman. « That's rather odd. »

Deceit tilted his head to the side, eyeing him cautiously. « Where … did you go to school again? »

« Uhm, New York City? »

New York City? he thought, that's not a real place.

Deceit brushed it off as Roman simply wanting to impress him. « Well then, new yorker, I guess, you might as well follow me inside; I'll show you around the place so we can get started. »

They stopped right before the entrance. « Ah, do not be bothered by station management, they will stare at you until their necks aren't able to turn anymore, which is normally around 437,27 degrees. » Deceit showed Roman one of his most encouraging smiles. « It's their way of greeting you, you'll get used to it. »

Roman blinked multiple times before he was able to process the information and follow Deceit inside.

✾

« Listeners, I have such exciting news I can't wait to share! » the pitch of Deceit's voice increased slightly. « So, in the past few hours where the weather took place, I had the pleasure to meet our newest intern, who's taking the place of our latest, as the passage of roles requires. » he waved at his current colleague. « His name is Roman and he's from … a place. A place on the earth, smiling at the sky with the same intensity as our desert town is yelling at the moon. Sorry about that, moon. We're trying to be better. »

Deceit shifted in his seat. « As well as we're trying to look out for any comforting sign the stars, any soothing sound in the wind or any pacifying rumble in the ground. But the important thing is: you're here and you're trying. Whichever option flows your way, bound yourself to it and let it hypnotize you into the eternal slumber of vigorous impetuosity. »

He let his temple rest on his hand. « Stay tuned next for quiet yelling and boisterous nothingness. » a smile crept on his lips when he realized he was very close to returning home to his boyfriend. « And as always, goodnight, Night Vale. » the smile grew wider.

« Goodnight. »

[purplesurveys]

666

hi i’m a little drunk/hungover lmao so just a disclaimer if some of the answers sound a lil too out-there

What is your middle name? ‘Middle name’ is always a tricky term given the different naming customs in the Philippines. My second given name is Isabelle, but what means middle name here is basically my mom’s original surname before getting married, and I’m not giving that away haha. What was your first job? I haven’t had my first job but my first legit internship was at a PR firm. What is your favorite pizza topping? It’s not the most popular opinion out there, but barbecue chicken. I tried BBQ pizza once and never looked back. What was the name of your first imaginary friend? Katrina was the name of my first and only imaginary friend. I was annoyed it wouldn’t talk back to me, so I ditched her after like seven minutes. What was the name of the first pet that you loved? Tobi, my rabbit. He was a sweet one.

How tall are you? Somewhere between 5′1′ and 5′2″ but definitely not 5′2″. List three celebrities that are your height. Lady Gaga and AJ Lee are sort of my height, but I can’t think of a third one. What was your first CD? Pretty sure it was the Camp Rock soundtrack. If not, it would be Beyoncé’s I Am... Sasha Fierce. Idk, they came out the same year. Does your zodiac sign fit your personality? I’m a Taurus, and I’d say most of the descriptions/habits attributed to Tauruses apply to me, but then again so do the descriptions for all the other signs. What is your zodiac sign? ^ What is your Chinese zodiac sign? Year of the tiger. Does your Chinese zodiac sign fit your personalIty? I never cared for Chinese beliefs, so I don’t know how Tiger babies are supposed to be like. What is your favorite color? Right now it’s pastel pink but I also like black, sky blue, and mustard yellow. What was your first favorite color? Purple, because it was my great-grandma’s favorite and all her stuff used to be purple. Which travel destination is top on your bucket list? Right now, it’s Thailand because of all the museums, temples, and street food. Plus I want to conquer Southeast Asia first before I head out to other continents, haha. Have you ever been on a missions trip? Never. Back in my old school they used to give out envelopes to each of us once a year so those who were willing could donate to fund the people going on such trips, but that’s pretty much my only experience with the whole thing. What's your shoe size? My feet can fit in either size 6.5 or 7 shoes. What grade were you in when you had your first crush? My first legit non-celebrity crush was embarrassingly my Grade 5 science teacher. But if we counted reality in the picture, it was Andi, in Grade 6. What color hair did your first crush have? Black. Does anyone know who your first crush was? Not really. It was a small crush and she’s since migrated and is hella straight, so it would be weird to bring up a crush I had ten years ago. It probably wouldn’t be as weird if we stayed close, but we have definitely drifted apart since then. Who was your first celebrity crush? Ashley Tisdale. And that crush was also the reason Ashley was my favorite girl’s name throughout my childhood and tween years haha. Do you keep a diary or journal and write in it frequently? This is essentially my diary. I wouldn’t say I post frequently, especially when I’m busy with school. I usually post during weekends when I have some free time. What was/were the best years of your life so far? The latter half of high school was great, and so was the second half of my time in college. The thing with me is that my adjustment periods in new experiences usually initially go down messily and miserably for me and it takes a while for me to warm up to the environment and the people. But once I do, I end up having the good time I had been envisioning and wishing for. Do you have regrets? I have one big one, but that’s it. I don’t like storing regrets in my head. What do you regret the most? I’ve always felt sorry for myself for having a hard time adjusting in new places. It something I could never help; my first years in high school were marred by failing marks and having no friends, and my first years in college were also spent having no friends, no place to stay in but my car during my breaks, and a lot of self-pity crying and self-harming in said car. I know it was something I felt and couldn’t get out of during the time, but I wish someone told me to just not be afraid and start doing stuff much earlier. There’s been a number of opportunities that I let fly by me just because I was depressed and moped around all day. While I’m grateful for the experiences I have now, I just regret the fact that I could have had more if I didn’t adjust so badly. Are you double-jointed? Nope. What are you allergic to? No allergies. Have you ever owned a designer purse? A couple, but tbh they are hand-me-downs from my mom. Do you wear contacts or glasses? Glasses. I can’t imagine wearing contacts, I hate the idea of putting, dropping, or inserting anything in my eyes :/ Have you ever had to use an epi pen? I have not. Do you prefer online shopping or in-store shopping? In-store for clothes so I get to try them on or see their actual size; online shopping for literally everything else. Have you ever questioned your sexuality? Like I said in a previous survey, I still question it to this day. I’ve been in one relationship so I don’t really have a grasp of what I want, but it’s never bothered me... it’s not something I feel pressured to know or discover. Demisexual seems to fit me best, so that’s what I go by most days. Did you ever dream of running away from home? I did, as most disgruntled, emo, puberty-stricken teenagers do. What color was your first phone? I think the phone itself was gray? but I got it with a red Winnie the Pooh case. Who do you know who is colorblind? I may know someone, but I’m probably not aware that they are. Do you know anyone with Down's syndrome? Yesssss, one of my aunt’s has Down’s and she is the sweetest, most adorable person. How much do you weigh (only answer if comfortable)? The only time this question has been asked politely lmao. I’m a little under 100 lbs. Have you ever been overweight? Never. I’ve always been either underweight or just...healthy weight lol. Name one friend you miss. [continued from yesterday, so I’m definitely not hungover anymore haha] Sofie. She used to be a best friend, so I miss her the most out of all my past friends. Have you ever made a huge mistake? I’d be surprised if anyone also aged 21 hasn’t made a big mistake in their lives. What pharmacy do you use? My family never really needs to go to pharmacies. Our go-to drugstore is Mercury Drug, if anything. Do you take a lot of prescription meds? Nope.

Do you take vitamins? I used to, but my mom stopped buying when I was like 15 or 16. How many pairs of Lularoe leggings do you own? Zero. Do you prefer skinny jeans or jeggings? Both sound uncomfortable, but I’d wear skinny jeans between the two. What color is your Christmas tree? Green. What color Christmas tree do you want to have in your hosuse someday? Just plain old traditional green would be fine. It makes everything feel Christmassy the most. What color house did you grow up in? It’s white with a red roof and a maroon gate. Have you ever been baptized? If so, how and where? Yep. I got a Catholic baptism and if I’m not mistaken it was in a church in Makati. Do you ever feel embarrased and think to yourself, "I'm so stupid"? Duh. Do you think you look better with long or short haIr? Short hair. I actually just got a haircut (my first in nearly two years) and finally got bangs like half an hour ago lmao. What type of wedding do you want? I don’t know about ‘types’ of weddings... but my dream wedding would be big but still traditional, held in a huge venue with lots of flowers with either an all-white or pastel motif (or a bit of both) and 200-300 guests with delicious food and an open bar and a great live band. Who is someone you wanted to be able to trust but just couldn't? An old friend back in Grade 5 who ultimately taught me how much trust is supposed to mean, Marielle. Do you read a devotional? No. What's your favorite devotional? Where did you go on your first plane ride? My family and I went to Boracay. Who is your favorite Disney princess? Rapunzel from Tangled. Are you taller or shorter or the same height as your mom? I’m a bit shorter. Do you wish you could afford expensive make-up? Nah, I never wear makeup so it wouldn’t make sense for me to buy them to begin with. Do you make some of the stupidest decisions? I make at least one every day. What country would you most like to visit? Morocco! Or Turkey. What is your heritage? Filipino. What was your first job? I haven’t had a job. Did you like your first job? What are all the jobs you've had? What are jobs you'd like to have? These days I look for money more than fulfillment, so I think I’d be happy with any job that makes me loaded at the end of the day lmao. Have you ever experienced something supernatural? I have not, but I’ve endlessly heard stories from family and friends who have. Do you believe in God? Absolutely not. Do you love God with all your heart? Who is your best friend? Gabie. Do you make your bed every day? Yeah I do. My mom requires me to and besides, it feels so much better coming home to a neat bed. How do you most commonly wear your hair? I usually wear it down. Which family member did you get your hair color from? All Filipinos have black hair. What is your natural hair color? ^

[hyojinrk-archived]

&. plot call and updates!

please LIKE this post if you’d like me to slide in for some lovely plotting~

hi guys! 

pika here with my baby hyojin with some well needed updates! now that he’s gone through his run on the mgas, i have the ability to ( finally ) get back to threads i’ve been neglecting, as well as open up plots for new friends, as well as collaborations! more will be explained and listed out under the cut, but hyo and i would like to take a brief moment to thank everyone for taking good care of him so far, including the mods, fellow contestants ( whether they’ve interacted with him or not ), and everyone on dash in general for dealing with my shenanigans! i’m wishing the best of luck to everyone else in finals, and hope to have hyojin up and running with many new, exciting things!

because the post below is already quite long, i thought i’d first put a list of collaboration songs hyojin would love to do with some other muses on his cover channel h2yo! feel free to COMMENT with which one you’d like, or IM me! 

[ guilty ] by dynamic duo / one rapper needed / OPEN

[ hug me ] by crush ft. gaeko / one rapper needed / OPEN

[ don’t wanna know ] by jj project / one singer needed / OPEN

[ no.5 ] by penomeco ft. crush / one singer or rapper needed / OPEN

[ come over ] by dean ft. yerin baek / one singer needed / OPEN

[ sucker ] by the jonas brothers / one singer needed / OPEN

[ senorita ] by shawn mendes & camila cabello / one singer needed / OPEN

now, onto the updates and plots:

STATUS

( FAMILY ): after seeing him on tv, his mom has periodically been calling to check in on him and support him! his aunt and uncle have done the same, also encouraging him to come and visit them in anyang for a few days once he’s done with the show ( which may happen soon ic before school starts up again for him! ) ; they’re quite glad to see him singing again, especially considering the fact that he enjoys it quite a bit, too. 

financially, him and his mother are both doing better, as the debt she had before are entirely paid off, meaning that the stress on money is a little less despite still being present.

( FRIENDS - NPC ): some former hs friends back in anyang have called him to congratulate him as well! moreover, he’s now developed a bit of a popular reputation in uos as that guy who appeared on mgas, having already developed a bit of a name for his singing due to performing at seasonal festivals hosted by the school. as a result, he’s a little more out there amongst his peers in terms of being known. not exactly celebrity status, but his cheesy introductory lines have become somewhat of a trend across campus and online -- especially the healing voice one -- something which he is ( very ) embarrassed about.

( FRIENDS - NON-NPC ): after running into the new transfer on campus ( @rkwyatt​ ), hyojin has found himself getting closer to the male, despite being flustered by his advances. 

he’s also putting more effort into hanging out and nurturing his relationship with his cousins @rkseungmin​ and @rkwonpil​ now that he has a lot more time. 

the same applies for @rkseunghun​, whom he plans on collaborating with more now that the both of them are eliminated. 

finally, hyojin is supporting his remaining friends in the competition ( @rksakura​, @danielxrk​ ), along with his royal teammates ( @rksuwoong​, @ericxrk​, @rkheejin​, @rkkyungsoo​ ) for the final episode!

he’s also part of a band now with @rksophie​, @rkmiyeon​, @yuzurk​, @rkseokjin​, and @rksakura​ as the keyboardist and main vocal!

( EMPLOYMENT ): during the entirety of the program, hyojin has been working at his summer internship at motte finance firm, balancing both the job and practices. fortunately, he can get more sleep now, but nothing much has changed about this aspect, except for some of his co-workers congratulating him.

( MENTAL ): for the most part, hyojin is incredibly grateful for the good comments he’s received, as well as his final placement in semifinals. he’s ecstatic that his team won the top spot.

before entering the competition, he suffered from a lot of internal conflict about whether he wants to be a singer or not due to the financial instability of his family’s background, but after having his vocal capabilities validated by being on the show, he is now more confident in his desire to be an artist, albeit not to the extent where he’d quit his job or career path to do so. it’s more so just less of a guilty feeling for enjoying what he does.

his only regret is the possibility of @rktaeyang​ making it to finals instead had he not been eliminated instead of hyojin, but this insecurity isn’t particularly obvious, and he doesn’t really voice it out loud. he’s just glad that taeyang is doing fine, and hopes that the older male gets the acknowledgement that he deserves in the future.

despite the program playing a large role in his life for the past months or so, hyojin isn’t really the type to talk about it unless it’s brought up! otherwise, he’s just the same, sweet boy with slight wallflower tendencies that everyone knows likes to sing;;

PLOTS

he still has some plots that i’d love to be taken up HERE! but some more can be found below:

people who can help him improve his dancing! he’s still not the best at it, but he’d really love for some more experience! in return, he can also share some vocal tips that he has!

he’s trying to get more fit lately to make good use of his stamina, so gym buddies, maybe?

music performance friends! people who guest perform at his uni’s festivals as well, so they know each other through that and can maybe collab? 

he’s honestly a little too nice, and it makes you want to either protect him from any bad situations or teach him how to toughen up

not a must but! mga related plots too, if you’d like! as said above, he wouldn’t bring it up in normal circumstances, though! he’s pretty lowkey about these kinds of things;;

[isolctions]

y’all ain’t really ask but i’mma talk abt it anyway.

i’ve already started to tag things for them bc i had the idea formulated in my head since...the literal inception of the vaughn siblings, but being that bakari is the most reckless of them all, it kinda felt weird that one day i could potentially write his death (which, by the way, i will.) & feel like there’s no one set in stone in his life like with the rest of the siblings. so before any of bakari’s current ships, relationships, or any connections gained through writing him on my blogs, bakari has one other person as his confidant — nikita simms.

bakari met nikita the way he met a majority of the people in his life that he considers close friends, people outside of his family members that know him best, people that he treats as if they were his own blood: on the playground of a church down the block from the two bedroom project apartment that the vaughns were living in. they played together, sure, but he didn’t actually come to know nikita until the passing of cartier led the siblings to enter the public school system for the first time.

since bakari was six, he, nikita, and zay attended the same school, even if they didn’t have the same teachers as grades progressed. and while at first, bakari tried to pull the tough act by stealing nikita’s things on the playground, she essentially beat his whole ass during recess for trying her too many times and he respected her for it. zay included, they were a team, all throughout sixth grade — until, as they grew up and developed their own interests (zay with art, bakari with putting katya & damon’s drug dealings on a pedestal, nikita with writing clubs afterschool), they drifted apart. it didn’t officially start until the summer of seventh grade when she admitted, rather awkwardly after their first kiss, that she wouldn’t be going to school with him anymore.

from then on out, their relationship had been rather similar to the characters from the movie ‘the wood’, ronald & alicia. yeah they saw each other from time to time on the block...but not often. as for zay’s perspective, being that she’d been part of his first real friend group, felt so betrayed by her leaving suddenly and doing her own thing that he took to calling her ‘sugar hill harlem�� — when in reality, she’d still been living in harlem with her grandmother at the time, who sent her to a catholic school further uptown. but because bakari knows this, he defended her without looking ‘soft’. and yeah, they kissed that one time over the summer, but they don’t talk abt that! nor do they talk abt how irritated they get with the other while discussing their crushes or anything. just casual friend things.

their tenth grade year is when shit got tough for them. she hadn’t known, and had inadvertently found out from zay, that bakari chose to drop out of high school in favor of selling drugs. so at that point, their friendship had been low blows, arguments, and passive aggressiveness. they didn’t fully talk about this either, until one night at a house party where nikita got waaaaasted. and when she confronted him, she ripped into him. all his potential gone, all the hope to move in footsteps away from his father’s, and instead he went to sell drugs. she’s crying, he’s fuming, they’re upset — but he still got her home safe. cause, y’know...that’s his home or whatever.

and the next morning, they talk abt their lives now again. how this changes shit. bc no matter how mad she was at him for his decisions, she’s still in his life & still wanted be. that’s what friends are for, right? and through this vulnerable ass discussion they have, they happen to kiss...again...and again...and again...then they just ask: ‘what are we even doing?’

and so they have sex.

they both have done it before, so it was just whatever. life went back to normal. they still hung out and got dollar pizza every now and then. nikita still sat with zay, despite their differences, to help him study for shit he wasn’t planning on applying. and when she graduated high school, nikita got a full ride at spelman. bakari hadn’t seen nikita since 18, and that was just how it was.

fast forward to the tail end of 2017, october to be specific, when nikita finally graduated from spelman and took time off before starting her internship at a writing company in atlanta to come home to harlem — or, back to earth, as he’d call it. and they changed. he had a tattoo shop now, and the first thing that nikita does is get herself inked with her first tattoo at swavey’s. then, bakari invites her out to celebrate down at damon’s nightclub, 92nd’s. she’d only been in town for a few days, so why not? they dance, they smoke a few, they share a few drinks and memories and life stories since she left, and it felt just like they’d been on the block again, chasing after the ice cream truck and splitting their quarters for a sundae.

and then, when he drives her back to her hotel room in a damn porsche, they have sex. again. and they text in the days afterwards, and off to atlanta she goes.

2018, he gets the text from nikita that she’s pregnant. they’re both stubborn and hard headed, though, so he takes the first flight to atlanta despite her telling him not to, and they just...figure it out from there. and although he’s still working and moving weight and attending meetings for and with katya, and while he’s still the most reckless fucking sibling out of all of the vaughns, he tries his best! he keeps this mostly under wraps from the rest of his family though, bc he prides himself on being the only one aside from ni’kyah to not have kids yet. cause he’s just a lying ass bitch.

july 31st, bakari & nikita had themselves a little leo!! amari marquel vaughn came, with bakari in the room to witness the birth of his son and be with his best friend. he may be a piece of shit, but he still a good dad!

these days, their son is now one and a half, and they still maintain that same close ass friendship. nikita has considered moving back to new york just to make the distance between them bearable, because she really does hate him not being around his son although he surprises her with visits often to make that happen. he used to think that his death wouldn’t mean much of anything to the small circle of people he keeps close to him, but now there’s amari he has to think about. imagine finally growing up at a whole 23, almost 24 fucking years old.

and when does his family, namely his mother, find out about this? fucking thanksgiving dinner, when nikita surprises him with a visit for once with amari in tow.

and like i said...the relationships that are established for the vaughns in canon (aka my head) kinda come first to me. it’s what i immediately think of with certain things. so just know that i’m not invalidating any ships that he may have within indie, but nikita is a presence in his life that is seldom going away any time soon. so there’s that.

[mattlassen]

My Ascent into MADness

          I’ve seen a lot of eulogies to MAD from contributors and fans alike the past week since the news broke that they wouldn’t be printing new material going forward. Yes, it is a loss for me as a MAD contributor but to be honest, I have been processing this loss and the end of MAD for a little while now. As Tom Richmond said so dead on, this was not something we didn’t see coming.

           I wrote some tweets as a tribute to MAD the day after the announcement went public but I feel I owe it more. (I really am a millennial - I thought a tweet or two was enough!) MAD was a big part of my life. It changed my life. It deserves more than Twitter. We all do!

           I was a writer and artist (occasionally) for MAD since I interned at the age of 19 but not many people know how I encountered MAD for the first time. I was born with a pencil in my hand as my mom says which makes me question what she was eating and drinking during pregnancy. I was always drawing and dreamed of being a comic strip artist after my dream of being a basketball star went by the waist side when everyone got taller and left me well by their waist side! During high school, my family took a trip to California and being big fans of Peanuts (my mom and I), we visited the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. It was an amazing experience. We went around the whole museum while my dad and brother tailed off to let my mom and I experience it more in-depth at our leisure. When I met up with my dad later, he said “I was sitting in on this artist talk and the guy is pretty good. Maybe you’d be interested.” We went in and Tom Richmond was doing a talk about caricatures. They were amazing. Funny, exaggerated and completely dead on. You knew who it was right away! The perfect caricature.

           As the talk ended, Tom showed the opening spread artwork he just finished for MAD Magazine for the movie, Spiderman 2. Wow. Caricatures, amazing line, color and backgrounds together. Oh and stupidity! Spiderman’s pants were coming down so his underwear was showing, Doc Ock had big bandages on his tentacles and there was a paper that said “Man bites Dog, Dog sues.” The best was a spider web coming from the middle of Spiderman’s legs which I remember Tom saying, “Yeah, I’m surprised I got away with that one.” I left amazed but also thinking I can’t draw like that. Uh-oh.

           The museum announced that they would be doing a caricature workshop with Tom in about five minutes upstairs for free. We all went with a little encouragement from my parents. Tom started by asking for a volunteer that he could do a caricature demonstration of. My parents were very insistent that I do it, but being a teenager at the time (who looked quite younger than his actual age, short and scrawny!), I didn’t want to. I was picked and had to go up in front of everyone for an artist to pick apart my face and draw me. Yay! I was a good sport and a very jokey guy so I can take a joke just like I dished them out. He drew me on chart paper with big muscles and a mom tattoo because hell, my mom was the whole reason he was drawing me! I left the workshop with a caricature in my hand and MAD Magazine in my head. I need to get the magazine that had this Spiderman art in it. Many years later after hanging and talking to Tom on multiple MAD occasions as contributors, I told him this story at a party after a beer or two. He was a bit surprised to say the least.

           We went to a mall shortly afterwards and I was searching for the MAD art in the newsstands but it wasn’t out yet. I settled for the latest issue and was amazed by the diverse amazing artwork in the magazine. Since I met Richmond, I was fascinated with his work and it really stood out but there were other guys that were cool too like Mort Drucker, Hermann Mejia, Tom Bunk and John Caldwell (my all-time favorite since he was much goofier looking and simplified with his artwork just like I liked to draw!) Plus, he had this squiggle in his line which was intriguing. How? Why?

           I became obsessed with MAD for the art. I didn’t read it as much as I should have early on but I was just obsessed with the artwork as a budding cartoonist. The words were secondary to me. It was an art magazine. I drew everything in high school with chicken fat - gags on top of gags. My MAD subscription and obsession continued when I entered college. I went on the MAD website and saw they had internships in the New York offices for art and editorial. I was in no way a graphic design person. I hated it. Type and layout was boring. I wanted to be a cartoonist! I applied for both art and editorial. I wrote and mocked up my own outtakes from different TV shows such as The Office, Muppets etc. which was a recurring feature in the magazine at the time. It was something fun to do on a rainy Saturday night. I submitted and thought nothing of it. I wasn’t going to get it. Another summer doing art and taking summer classes. Yay.

            I checked my email on a slow Monday morning and to my astonishment, there was an email from Amy V. at MAD offering me an editorial internship. I was stunned. I told my family and they were ecstatic for me and soon I was starting my first day as a MAD intern. It was insane. The only magazine, I liked and I was going to work there. I got there and we had a morning staff meeting first thing. The whole staff (which wasn’t big at all!) and the four interns (two editorial and two art). I was nervous but was eased when the staff was grilling us about the magazine and I was the only one answering everything. I remember art leaving after giving their report on the status of their pieces and what they needed etc. John Ficarra, the editor (and best Benjamin Franklin impersonator I’ve ever met) took a piece of paper and wrote down what Michael and I would be doing. I got a big speech from my family about interns and how I shouldn’t expect much, I’m going to get coffee and do meaningless jobs that others didn’t want to do etc. John said “Okay, you’ll be writing fundalini pieces in house such as “The Godfrey Report”, “Celebrity Cause of Death Betting Odds” - give us a list of celebs to approve before you start and Fundalini asks “What If…?” etc.” He also said, we will have brainstorming writing sessions where you will work with us etc. I don’t think I blinked for the two minutes he was talking. Then he said, Dave will show you your office and get you guys set up. We had an office. We had our own desks. We had our own computers, phones. What?! Where was the coffee I needed to get them?

            We went right to writing, Michael and I. We came up with a bunch of celebrities etc. and got to know each other. I was always an art person and a little funny in classrooms and parties but never would I think of myself as a writer. We got a bunch of issues from the storage closet and focused in on the material we had to write specifically. I was seeing the magazine in a completely different light. It was incredibly smart and funny. Why wasn’t I reading this cover to cover all the time? We started writing together and putting out stupid jokes to try to make each other laugh. Sometimes successfully and most of the time, not. The soul crushing silence became the most dreaded thing in my life. The joke didn’t land and you just embarrassed yourself. That writing session was broken up by a call to come to the editor’s office because Al Jaffee was there dropping off the new Fold In. What?! This day is getting more surreal. That was cool is an understatement. Eventually, throughout the days at MAD, Michael and I wrote by ourselves and didn’t really collaborate on any pieces mostly because we had different comedy sensibilities and it was easier to write by ourselves. I started writing all day long and printing out my pieces to read and revise on my commute home.

            I got to sit in on fold in meetings, department writing sessions, general pitch meetings from writer submissions and what direction they wanted to go with content. I quickly figured out that I wasn’t as quick and funny as everyone else thought I was. These guys have been doing it for decades. Damn were they good! My first department writing meeting, they had an article about Fast Food and they needed a fake department name. I didn’t even get to process what the article was and the editor says “When Grease Meets West?” to which he is interrupted by Charlie singing “All We Are Sayyyyinnnnggg…Is Give Grease a Chance.” I was dumbfounded, out of my element and intimidated. I need to get better and quick.  

            As the six-week internship went on, I wrote so many pitches and submissions. I wrote three or four pages of Godfrey Reports (maybe nine got in), multiple Celebrity Cause of Death Betting Odds (three or so that got printed), so so many what ifs, that were off the mark. I loved it there! The people were funny, they were welcoming and better yet, they were kind and nurturing. They told you what worked and didn’t work. They didn’t care who had the best idea or the funniest line in the room, they liked that it was the best and funniest! It was comedy boot camp and you wanted to work there forever.

             We helped write fundalini pieces, department titles, articles in house, even an article introduction and so much more. I was like a staff member. I would get there early and leave later than I needed to. I met legends and heroes of mine when they would visit the office including Al Jaffee, John Caldwell, Teresa Burns Parkhurst, ironically, Tom Richmond and Hermann Mejiia among others. We got to go through original art for auction (where I found three Don Martins which they had to pry from my hands before I drooled on them), got to admire and examine Mort Drucker original pages that he just fed ex’ed in for a new parody with the staff, see the construction of a cover putting Obama and Alfred together (like 20 or 30 different versions) and the same for the Knockout Obama, Hillary piece both by Mark Frederickson. I felt like a staff member and left being assigned an editor to submit to and now you are a contributing writer, if you want to be. Submit anything you want. Now I’m a writer. They didn’t know who I was six weeks before. I’m just a college kid. I’m a contributor now? That was the best thing about MAD, they didn’t care what else you did for other people, they wondered what could you do for us. Don’t show me work you did for other people, show me a piece you wrote specifically for us. They looked at potential and built up talent to a new level.

            I wrote and wrote and there was a lot of near sales but a lot of not quites. I sold to MAD Kids before Christmas. That was a cool Christmas gift. In January, the magazine lays off three staff members and goes quarterly. There’s a famous Stephan Pastis line that I always remember and works best here “I finally get to play for the Lakers and the stadium is collapsing underneath us.” I came back the next summer and interned in the art department. Now, I’m getting to know people I knew but didn’t work with closely at all. Same old MAD but completely different. Instead of being with the editorial guys, I was with the art guys, Ryan, Sam and Doug. All smart, funny and amazing guys themselves. I came right into a deadline for the magazine and was put to Photoshopping different things. I was then tasked with restoring fold ins for a upcoming fold in collection. The previous intern did about ten or so which meant we were a long way away from completion. Over the next six weeks, I restored over 450 or so fold ins for the book, got to have lunch with and meet more artists and writers including Harry North, Jason Chatfield, Shannon Wheeler etc. and go through more original artwork to send back to the artists. Any cartoonists dream. I think Adam Cooke and Michael Slaubaugh visited that summer too! During this time, I wrote a piece on the weekend and submitted it to Dave Croatto, my editor, to which they eventually bought! Now I was actually a contributor to MAD! Not in house pieces but as a writer.

            After leaving MAD as an art intern, I looked for other places to intern/write for/work for. I knew MAD wasn’t going to pay the bills! I interviewed at The Onion where they told me I would hate working there after working at MAD because they didn’t care if it was the funniest idea or line in the room, if an intern said it they would ignore it. Nothing was like MAD and would be like it. I became very loyal to MAD. I only wrote for them. I didn’t consider myself a comedian, I was just a writer for MAD and MAD only. I temped after college in the editorial department for a month (literally, the day after my last final ever and took a day off for graduation!) We started the blog, established daily posting and internet presence through the current events that was happening. I started submitting more and selling on a more consistent basis. I valued their opinions and their direction. Nothing made me happier than seeing a MAD guy on the floor of a convention or visiting the office once or twice a year. They changed my career and the way I looked at things by just giving a 19-year-old kid a chance and some criticism and encouragement. They let me submit cartoons and I started to sell those too!

           I continued to write for the magazine and even got a page in their new book, Inside MAD, to write about MAD as a contributor. I did other freelance art jobs and eventually went back to graduate school to become an art teacher. Even throughout the four years I’ve been teaching, I continued to contribute and write consistently for the magazine. There are too many stories and memories to recount. (Believe me, this could be much longer!) When MAD announced they were moving to California, I went into mourning. My buddies were leaving. There were talks for years about this happening and they resisted as much as they could. I didn’t know what was going to be next for them and the magazine. I wanted to continue writing because it was my outlet and a nice hobby for me to destress from life and my full time gig of teaching cartooning. It wasn’t a job for me, it was fun!

           The new year came and it meant starting over with a new staff. It was hard. I tried but my heart wasn’t in it as much as when the New York staff was there. I wrote pieces and sold pieces (many that didn’t get printed because of the shortened run) but contributed none the less. As my job got more intense, I wrote less and less and without the same relationship, I had in the past my motivation folded a little bit before MAD did. My mourning period has lasted for a year and a half so the end of MAD wasn’t such a surprise or as much of a loss as it would have been otherwise for me. It still is a loss, don’t get me wrong but less so. This isn’t any slight to the West Coast MAD staff at all. It was me, not them. MAD became a fun hobby for me. Not my sole income and my way of life. I did it because I had the ideas and I enjoyed the people and the work. Plenty of people make fun of politicians, celebrities and the stupidity of the life but I occasionally got paid for it.

            I’ve been asked if I will try to get into other publications. I don’t know. Maybe. You might just see more MAD like pieces in my own webcomics and cartoons. The influence will be there forever and I hope people can clearly see that through the bad puns, the political stupidity and the irony.

            MAD is the cartooning and comedy bible. I loved the art as a cartoonist and grew to love the writing and minds behind everything as a contributing writer. My art and views are completely changed by my experiences working and being a MAD idiot. Everything I do is so idea based now because of MAD and being a MAD writer. They weren’t afraid of new blood or printing work from an unknown artist or writer. They gave chances and crafted things that were truly unique. I thank them for changing my life and letting me be a part of theirs and their legacy for the past decade. All of the amazing people and contributors I have met because of it is amazing. I will miss the occasions we would meet, share a joke or even lament about things. My life would be something very different if I didn’t go to a museum in Santa Rosa, if I didn’t submit an internship application and if I didn’t pick up a MAD Magazine on vacation. I would be called an idiot in different, not so surprising and endearing contexts and I wouldn’t have an Alfred sized hole in me today. I’m proud to sound off like I have to other MAD NY staffers and contributors in our coded communications.

Forever MAD

[princess-of-the-worlds]

in your arms (i am home tonight)

written for @klarolinevacay for @ashleigh-jewitt-xx

He was your first love, but I intend to be your last.

He’d said those words to her at her high school graduation, but they’d never really had a set plan. Klaus had gone south to hold down the fort in New Orleans while Caroline headed to Whitmore to forge her own future, following the path she’d marked out for herself as a hopeful and high-achieving human.

About a week after she had moved into the dorm she was to share with Bonnie and Elena, a large package had arrived at their doorstep: a mini-fridge. From Klaus. It wasn’t until the end of her freshman year that Caroline had learned about the Hayley-baby debacle, about how the devious brunette had attempted to trick Klaus and the other Mikaelsons into believing that she was pregnant with the hybrid’s baby. A ruse which, unsurprisingly, ended with her decapitation at Klaus’s hands.

Caroline hadn’t outright hated the werewolf, but she still felt indifferent about her death. (The bitch received the fate she deserved, in her opinion.)

Yet, that was the last she actually heard of Klaus, only receiving the slightest snippets or updates about his life from Matt or Stefan who were in contact with Rebekah.

Caroline buried herself in her studies instead, taking full advantage of her vampiric nature - which included not needing sleep at all - to accumulate as much knowledge as possible. She took and aced the hardest classes her university offered to the point where her most ruthless competitors and her most merciless professors were forced to admit their admiration for her work ethic. She also applied for the most sought after internships.

Throughout the last few weeks before school ended, she’d hoped, while Elena and Bonnie stayed up late chatting about their post-graduation plans, that she’d receive a phone call, a letter, a note ...anything from Klaus.

But she never did.

Caroline Forbes graduates from Whitmore College on an incredibly sunny day where the heat hammers down on her shoulders and seeps in through the thick fabric of her black graduation gown. A sea of black graduation caps toss into the air in celebration, Caroline tracking each one through the air with her supernatural senses. Watching as they’re snatched by smiling graduates before they hit the ground.

She weaves her way out of the crowd to join her mom and Matt. They wait on the fringe with a large bouquet of colorful flowers and a joyous smile each.

“I’m so proud of you,” Liz whispers into Caroline’s ear as the vampire sweeps her mom into a hug. “Your father would have loved to see this day.”

It’s been years since Bill Forbes attempted to torture the vampirism out of his daughter, and while Caroline is not sure she’ll ever be able to love her father in the same way she had before she turned, she still wishes he was alive to see this today. She’s mostly made her peace with him, with what happened. Time has been kind and has allowed her to heal some of her psychological wounds.

Sadly, her dad’s not the only presence she’s missing today.

Liz, Matt, and Caroline have dinner at a Michelin-star restaurant not too far away from Whitmore where they’re joined by Bonnie, Jeremy, Tyler, Elena, and Stefan. Elena and Stefan’s gazes never stray too far from each other, and Caroline’s willing to bet that the night ends with one of them in the other’s bed. They’ve been dancing around each other again, and enough time has passed now after that fucking piece of shit Damon slunk out of town, crushing Elena’s heart, for them to try again.

At the end of the night, after the food and the drinking and the dancing is done, Caroline exits the bathroom only for her mom to catch her by the arm. That’s when she presses a perfectly-creased envelope into her palm and gestures for her to open it.

With unsteady hands, Caroline folds back the envelope flap and slides out a first-class ticket to Rome.

The flight leaves tonight.

“I don’t understand,” she tells Liz in bewilderment. “What about Bonnie and Elena?”

Liz shakes her head. “Bonnie and Elena already know,” she says. “Just go. Matt’s waiting outside in the car, and I packed your purse with your phone and wallet. You don’t need anything else. Just go.”

As a still-befuddled Caroline turns to leave, her mother grabs her wrist and holds her hand briefly, squeezing it. “Remember, Caroline. I love you,” she smiles. “I want you to be happy.”

Caroline smiles back.

When Caroline exits the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport and spots a familiar head of blonde waiting, things start to fall into place.

“Finally!” Rebekah Mikaelson huffs from where she leans against a red convertible, Prada sunglasses masking the glint of playful irritation in her eyes. “Your flight was supposed to land an hour ago. Now get in the car.”

Her manicured nails click together as she taps a button on her phone to unlock the car, then waves at her flippantly to climb inside.

Compared to the perfectly-groomed Original, the high school Caroline would bristle at her own messy hair and wrinkled clothes, but now, she only throws her head back and laughs as she opens the passenger side door.“Oh, how I’ve missed you, Rebekah Mikaelson.”

“Save it for my brother,” Rebekah responds, the corner of her scarlet-colored lips turning up into a smirk that must run in the family.

The casual allusion to Klaus robs the metaphorical breath from Caroline’s undead lungs, and she settles against the butter-smooth leather of her seat in silence while her car companion continues to smirk.

To Caroline’s surprise, they head to the outskirts of Rome where Rebekah parks outside of a simple-looking shop with darkened windows.

“Come,” she orders without even glancing back, just clicking her fingers at the other blonde.

“What, no please or thank you?” Caroline grumbles as she follows behind.

The inside of the store starkly contrasts the outside. It’s a large open boutique with racks upon racks of colorful, expensive dresses and gowns, all brightly-illuminated by chandeliers that Caroline bets are made of actual crystal.

Rebekah bypasses the main area, heading straight for the back of the store where she calls for an Antonina. An employee who, later, proves to be a clever-eyed girl with nimble fingers and aristocratic features.

“Yes, Ms. Mikaelson?” Antonina asks, hovering by the doorway of the large changing room that Rebekah bundles Caroline into with haste.

“Send us the dresses I had you store away, please,” she says.

Hours later, after Caroline has paraded the boutique in over fifty gorgeous gowns, all designer and handmade, she and Rebekah come to a consensus over one before she’s sent off to the hairstylist and makeup artist.

(Both of which Caroline thinks work for celebrity clients. She swears she’s seen them her Instagram feed before.)

After Caroline is glammed and marched back out front, the Original appraises her with a smacking of her lips, “Perfect! Nik won’t know what hit him,” she says gleefully.

Before Rebekah sends her off to the limo waiting outside, Caroline catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair is pinned up with a few loose curls dangling down around her face, and her gown is a precious white silk that’s accented with tiny jeweled flowers. Her face is done in a way that only accentuates her natural features and doesn’t appear too artificial.

“Remind me to make you plan my wedding,” Caroline mutters, taken aback by the end result, only knowing that Rebekah has heard from the sound of her quiet laugh.

The limo drops Caroline off at the edge of a small plaza with tiles made of smoothened cobblestone and elegant iron-wrought streetlamps encircling the space. There is an intricately carved marble fountain in the center, cascading water over a series of sharp steps.

Tall, colorful buildings are pressed into the background, only visible to Caroline through the velvet curtain of night because of her vampire eyes. The warm light from the streetlamps only makes bright dots in the darkness, adding a hazy quality to the space.

And in the midst of it all, is Klaus Mikaelson.

He stands beside the fountain in a crisp white shirt, the top few buttons undone, and black dress pants. His curls are as roguishly mussed as ever, and he’s glancing down as if he isn’t aware of Caroline’s arrival yet.

But - oh, he is - because as her heels clack closer on the cobblestone, he glances up at her with a gentle smile.

“Caroline,” he says tenderly, and she didn’t know the utterance of her name could hold so much emotion.

“Klaus,” she states, smiling hesitantly.

Before she can say anything more, Klaus raises a hand to signal for music, a chorus of violins beginning to sound from somewhere in the darkness. He extends a hand to her, raising an expectant eyebrow. “Dance with me, if you will.”

Together, their palms kiss as she weaves her fingers through his and steps closer, their feet swaying in time to the lovely melody that drifts their way.

“What is all of this? Why did you bring me all the way to Rome?” she asks.

In the storm of his brilliant eyes, the same uncanny dark blue as Rebekah’s, she searches for answers, expecting to find nothing but hazy obscurity. Instead, she finds a quick flurry of warmth, longing, laughter, and above all, acceptance.

“Rome, Paris, Tokyo,” he quotes. “I promised to show them all to you, did I not?”

Frustration grows in her, a steady flame among the cool patience which flows through her veins. It ignites old emotions of rejection, of fear--all the emotions she thought had long grown cold or had faded away.

[hari-writes]

Break It In Two And Keep The Pieces For Yourself - Chapter 4

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Pairings: Marinette/Nathaniel, Adrien/Marinette, Chloe/Nathaniel

Summary: When Marinette and Nathaniel start dating, everyone is happy for them. Except for Adrien and Chloe. Chloe has a crush on Nathaniel and Adrien finally realises his feelings for Marinette. They decide to work together to split the happy couple up, but it’s not as simple as it seems.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Read on A03

She was getting used to waking up next to Nathaniel. It brought her joy to see him looking so peaceful, a contented smile on his face as he slept. After their late night at Adrien’s, they caught the last Metro home. Marinette’s apartment was the first stop on the walk back and they were both too weary to contemplate going any further.

They woke up in the same position they fell asleep, Nathaniel on his back with Marinette tucked under his arm, head resting on his chest, one knee bent over his leg. She felt like she could stay that way forever, but he was teaching an art class that morning so she dragged herself out of bed to make coffee.

“Are you going to open these?” Nathaniel pointed to a pile of letters in the kitchen.

She had collected the mail from her box last night but was too exhausted to do more than drop the bundle on the countertop as she slumped through the front door. Unenthusiastically, she picked up the first envelope and opened it. The letterhead alone perked her up better than caffeine ever could.

“It’s from Gabriel Fashion,” She yelped. “I got an internship for Men’s Fashion Week!!”

Marinette did a happy dance and Nathaniel jumped excitedly from his seat.

“Amazing! What will you be doing?” He asked, hugging her.

“I’m going to be backstage for Gabriel’s showcases. I’ll be doing whatever they ask me to do, dressing models, preparing outfits, sewing buttons, fetching coffee… It’s not going to be glamorous, but the pay’s good and the experience will be even more valuable.”

“I’m so proud of you. I guess I’m not going to see much of you that week?”

“Or the week before,” She said apologetically. “There will be rehearsals and lots of preparation to do, sorry. And, if it all goes well, I’ll have to do it all again for Haute Couture week in July.”

“Never apologise for following your dreams, Mari.” Nathaniel kissed her forehead, her nose, then her lips, lingering longer on the last one. “We should go out tonight to celebrate. I’ll send some messages out after my class.”

♥♡♥

Adrien was in makeup when Chloé called. He hesitated before answering, Melodie wouldn’t be happy if he messed up the base she’d just airbrushed on. Too many late nights were starting to show as dark circles under his eyes.

“Hey, Chlo, what’s up? You’re on speaker.” He warned her.

“Did you hear?” She demanded.

“Hear what?” Adrien tried to keep still as Melodie combed through his brows before filling them in with a light brown pencil.

“Marinette got an internship with Gabriel for Fashion Week. She’s going to be working backstage at your shows.” Chloé caught him up.

“That’s amazing! Those internships aren’t easy to get.” Adrien said admiringly.

“Yes, yes, very impressive.” Chloé replied, “Now, how are you going to capitalise on it?”

“I don’t follow.”

“Come on, Adrikins, you’re smarter than this... You’ve got two weeks with Marinette, sans Nathaniel, to convince her that you’re the better choice. How are you going to do it?” Chloé sounded exasperated.

He shot an apologetic look at Melodie, who was now waiting patiently to apply a coat of brown mascara to his blonde lashes so they’d show up in the photos.

“I don’t know if I’ll do anything, Chlo. Fashion Week is a big deal and I don’t want to jeopardize her chances for a permanent job.”

“Hmmm, I think you’d be a fool to pass up this opportunity, but whatever.” Chloé huffed. “At least say you’re coming out tonight to help her celebrate? I got a text from Nath.”

“Of course,” He checked his own phone and confirmed that a text notification was there. It was from Nathaniel, inviting him to drinks. “See you tonight Chlo.”

“Sorry, Melodie. Can I just send a text, then I’ll put the thing away?” He asked contritely.

After replying to Nathaniel to confirm his presence, he shot a quick message to Nino to ask if he’d be there, too. Suggesting Nino came to Adrien’s first and they could travel together. If his father insisted on Adrien having a chauffeur, he might as well use the privilege to the benefit of his friends, too.

“Ok, Melodie, I’m ready.”

♥

“I got an internship, bro!” Nino greeted him at the door wearing the widest smile he’d seen on his friend’s face in some time. “A photography placement with Vincent Otturatore for Fashion Week.”

“That’s brilliant, Nino! We should make it a double celebration.” Adrien slapped him on the back.

“I don’t want to steal Mari’s thunder,” He protested.

“Nonsense, you know Marinette will be delighted for you, she’s great like that,” Adrien assured him. “What will you be doing?”

“It’ll be backstage stuff, nothing as glamorous as what you do during Fashion Week. Mostly carting equipment from one location to another, lots of standing around holding a reflector, probably getting lunch for everyone. Then afterwards I’ll do some editing and retouching.”

“That’s great Nino,” Adrien encouraged him.

He wanted to build his friend’s confidence, this business with Alya and the open relationship had seriously knocked his self-esteem. He made a mental note to list all of Vincent’s peculiarities for Nino to help him make a good impression on the eccentric Italian.

The cafe Nathaniel had chosen was a few minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower and equidistant from Le Marais where Adrien, Kim, Max, Juleka, Rose, Alix and Chloé lived, Grandes-Carrieres where Nathaniel and Marinette were, Pigalle, where Nino and Alya’s flat was, and Montparnasse, where Ivan, Mylene and Sabrina shared an apartment. The food was reasonably priced, the wine was drinkable and the cafe owner was happy to let them take over the back corner of his business for the evening.

“Urgh, I saw you all last week,” Alix complained. “Why did we have a reunion if we were getting together so soon?”

“Oh, simmer down, Alix,” Kim laughed. “We’re celebrating Mari’s first step into dominating the fashion world.”

“And Nino’s,” Adrien said.

“What?!” Marinette grabbed Nino’s wrist, “Did you get the internship?”

When he nodded in response, Marinette flung her arms around him. Adrien felt a warmth in his chest at how fiercely she cared for her friends. She was like Ladybug in that way.

“The two of us working Fashion Week! It’s going to be amazing,” She glowed with joy and pride for Nino.

“Actually, it’ll be three of us working Fashion Week,” Nino pointed out. “Adrien’s modelling.”

“Of course.” She grinned at Adrien.

He was sure that she wasn’t as happy as she seemed about the possibility of working with him. It was more likely that some of her excitement for Nino was rebounding on him, but he’d take it. Having Marinette turn her celestial smile on you, even as a ricochet, was a gift.

“I guess it’s a double celebration,” Marinette announced to the group as they jostled for seats around the table.

“See?” Adrien whispered to Nino, “Of course she wants to share her moment with you, you deserve it as much as she does.”

“Thanks, man,” Nino said uncertainly.

Adrien managed to snag the seat next to Marinette, Nino on his other side. He noticed with amusement that Chloé was sitting next to Nathaniel.

♥♡♥

Marinette felt like she could float into the clouds with happiness. Not in an oh-no-Nino-got-akumatised-again-and-I’m-in-a-bubble way (although with his current state of mind, Marinette couldn’t say she wasn’t anticipating it) but in a light and carefree sort of way. She looked around the table of her friends, truly grateful for every one of them. Nathaniel on her left was talking animatedly with Ivan and Max about a new comic book store that was opening in town, Adrien on her right was laughing with Nino and Alix about her and Kim’s latest dare. Across from her, Rose and Juleka were speaking softly to each other, sharing a private moment. She caught Chloé’s eye and asked how the midsummer ball was coming along.

After university, Chloé had taken a job at her father’s hotel as an events planner. The midsummer ball was her debut event. It marked the end of the June Fashion Week and many designers and top models considered it to be the only afterparty to be seen at.

“It’s going well, but the next few weeks are so important,” Chloé explained. “I’ve decided to have a cubist theme because the rumour is that several designers are using it as their inspiration this year.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Marinette said, Chloé had a creative side that she often kept hidden. “And if you need any help with the theme, Nathaniel specialised in abstract art in his final year at ENSBA.”

“So he did,” Chloé smiled knowingly, “I’d completely forgotten that. I imagine you’ll be so busy with your new job that you wouldn’t mind if I stole your boyfriend for a few weeks, would you?”

“He’s all yours, Chloé,” Marinette said brightly.

[goodnightkisseu]

Park Jihoon - Rival [Part 1]

Requested By: Anon ^^ (Enemies to Lovers)

Genre: Slight angst

Parts: [Part 1]  [Part 2]

Note: Hi all, I hope everything is going well. The holidays kind of threw off my schedule, but I’ll be back on track this week. :D I’ll also make a master post of all of my past scenarios so that it’s easier to access as well :3 The second part to this fic will be up by the end of the weekend. ^^ Enjoy! ^^

As soon as the clock hit 9am, you knew you had to brace yourself. Every morning was exactly the same. A herd of female workers that were giggling amongst themselves arrived at the desk in front of yours, just as the elevator doors opened and a slew of people exited. The giggling intensified when the person the girls were waiting for approached his desk. They all quickly greeted him and he did the same as he happily chatted with them. This whole interaction only made your roll your eyes. What did they find so attractive about him? What did they like so much about him? You really couldn’t understand all this hype over your co-worker, Park Jihoon.

Granted, part of that had to do with the fact that you weren’t his biggest fan. The two of you started as interns for this publishing company at around the same time, only a few months apart. You had started first, this job being your first real job after your junior year of college, and if you were going to be honest, it wasn’t an easy one to get. You had sent your resume out to many companies, but most told you that you didn’t have enough experience to work there. It felt contradictory, seeing as an internship was supposed to help you gain experience, but you still wrote back to each rejection email, telling them that you were thankful that they considered you, and that you would apply again in the future when you were more qualified. Eventually you heard back from this internship and readily accepted their offer. The first couple of weeks were a little rough as people were getting used to having you around, but you made sure to show initiative, and they seemed to like that. It even encouraged them to hand you more complicated tasks.

And then Park Jihoon came along.

You still remembered Jihoon’s first day. He exited the elevator that morning, the CEO of the company and his son walking him to his desk. You remembered quickly greeting them, being a little surprised, but not thinking much about it at the time. Jihoon had been polite towards you and you thought that there was a high possibility that, being thrown into this situation as interns, that the two of you could bond over it. But you soon learned that how the others would interact with him would be different than how they interacted with you.

Whereas it took the other coworkers time to get used to you, actually leaving you alone to do your own work for a few days, this was not how they treated Jihoon. Your coworkers would constantly come over to introduce themselves to him and ask him if he needed help with anything. It irked you a bit that they didn’t offer you the same type of help, but Jihoon himself was pleasant so you never had any reason to get angry about it. They had told you that you were their first intern in a really long time. Maybe they learned what not to do with you and decided to be a little more hands on with Jihoon?

The truth was that Jihoon was a nice enough guy too. He greeted you every morning when he came in and the two of you would often chat when he wasn’t busy. You found that you had quite a bit in common with him, from the foods you liked, to the TV shows you watched, even to what you wanted to do later in your careers. The more you talked to him the more you felt comfortable with him. You could even see why some of the women in the office had a little crush on him. You were kind of developing one yourself.

And that’s when something happened. To celebrate Jihoon’s addition to the team, the office planned a small welcome party for him. You were invited of course, and though you mingled with your coworkers to a degree, you spent a majority of your night on your own at one of the more secluded tables, not being one for these types of festivities. At some point during the evening, Jihoon slipped away from the others and found you at your table, away from the commotion. The two of you chatted, had some laughs and somehow, one thing led to another and he leaned over to give you a kiss. It was natural, not forced, and it was quick. Nothing racy, just a light kiss.

It came as a surprise at first and before you could ask him about it, some of your coworkers came over and pulled him away. It had been on your mind the rest of that night and eventually you built up the courage to text him about it the next morning, asking what it meant. But, he never got back to you. It hurt a bit at first, but you tried to ignore it… until you got an interesting piece of gossip from your coworker, Minhyun. He told you that Jihoon was friends with the CEO’s son, Jinyoung. He didn’t know if that was how Jihoon had gotten this internship in the first place, but that did allow your mind to wander a bit. Maybe the reason he never got back to you was that you weren’t really worth his time. The thought of that hurt even more.

You didn’t want that little piece of gossip to color the way you thought of Jihoon, though it did make you notice some things about the way he was being treated versus how the others treated you. The reason they were so nice to him was because he had a connection to the higher ups. The reason he got more exciting work than you did was probably for similar reasons.

You had tried really hard to not let his situation bother you, but as he made more friends in the office and started to talk to you less, you started to see less of that Jihoon that greeted you on his first day. He was becoming no different than the others to you, and your view on him had changed. Your own personal doubts and the slight resentment you had towards him built into a full on dislike for Park Jihoon. Your demeanor towards him changed. You would rarely talk to him and he seemed to pick up on it. And soon his demeanor changed as well. He really wasn’t the same Jihoon anymore. Instead, most of your exchanges were a series of glances, usually you rolling your eyes at him as he chatted up all of the women in the office and him sending a smug look back. How you ever thought that you could get along with this guy, you never knew. Obviously it wasn’t meant to happen.

When the flock of women around your desk finally left, you were able to get back to work, typing up some ad proposals based on the research your manager had given you on one of the firm’s small time clients. A familiar voice called both yours and Jihoon’s names, pulling you from your task as your manager showed up at your desks. You both quickly greeted him as he gave you both a smile. “I have a surprise for the two of you,” he stated, confusing both you and Jihoon. “I’d like for you to think of it as a test of sorts. Something to prove that you’ve both learned something from this internship,” he stated, before gesturing for the two of you to follow him.

He led the two of you into one of the conference rooms where two of the seats had folders situated in front of them. He motioned for both of you to take the two seats before sitting in one of the remaining seats across the table. “Inside those folders are your tests. We’ve been asked to create a marketing strategy for one of the most anticipated books of the year. It’s described for you in the documentation. What I want you both to do is take a shot at creating a marketing strategy from the ground up and to present these strategies to me and the other team leads.”

“Now, I wouldn’t say that this would determine who stays on when your internships are over, because that would be cruel, but I do think that if you can put your best foot forward in accomplishing this task, then we’ll be able to better assess how much you learned and if a full-time position is in your future. So, why don’t the two of you take a look over these files and come up with some questions? We set aside some time for you to meet with the writer of the book to address any questions or concerns you may have. Other than that, good luck!” he said before leaving the two of you alone in the room together.

“Well that was a new way to drop a challenge like this in our laps…” Jihoon muttered as he took a look through the file.

“What, afraid I’ll do better than you?” you asked, doing the same.

“Oh no, the opposite. I don’t think you can keep up with me,” he whispered before grabbing his folder and leaving. You glared after him as he left, but you knew that he also had a point.

========

“You know, we wouldn’t be in this situation if you just listened to me…” Jihoon stated from his spot across the room from you.

“I do know. You’ve already said that multiple times already…” you mumbled back. You knew he was right, even if it was painful to admit it. The two of you were definitely in this situation because you wouldn’t listen to him, but you couldn’t help it. The fact that it was Park Jihoon just made it so hard for you.

~* Thirty Minutes Earlier… *~

The deadline for the marketing proposals was the following morning and you still felt like you weren’t ready. You had spent countless hours at work, and even taking your work home with you when it got too late, to try and come up with something that the writer would connect with. And, of course, also to beat Jihoon’s idea. But even now that you were trying to wrap it all up, it felt unfinished. You had never struggled to come up with a decent idea before and you had to wonder if it was the fact that you were competing with Jihoon that made it so difficult. He was the type of person that really was full of great ideas that really captivated people. You envied him for it, honestly.

Still, there was no point in turning in a half finished proposal either, so you stayed late that night to put together all of your materials… and you happened to have some company. Jihoon was staying late as well, you assumed, for the same reason. So when you needed a couple of report covers, as well as some other supplies to finish up your things, you decided to go in search of the supply room. Jihoon said that he needed some things as well and tagged along. Though you acted annoyed, you were actually rather glad to have him with you. The area the supply room was located was a little creepy during non-work hours. 

But when you arrived at the supply room, there were actually two doors, neither labeled, on each side of the hallway. You found yourself standing there trying to remember which one was the right one and eventually chose the door on the right. But as you were going to open it, Jihoon urged you that it was the wrong one and that it should have been the door on the left. You were stubborn though, and not wanting to back down on your decision, you slipped through the door on the right, Jihoon right on your heels. But when you came face to face with cleaning supplies instead of office supplies, you knew that you weren’t in the right place.

Obviously this was not the supply room. “I told you it was the other room…” Jihoon muttered, only receiving a glare from you.

“Well we can’t all be right all the time, can we?” you retorted, not bothering to actually say it was your fault. Instead, your moved passed him, going for the door so that the two of you could get out of the custodial closet. Thing was, when you pushed on the door, it didn’t open. You gave it another push, then another, really putting your weight into it, but to no avail.

Jihoon was quick to notice that you weren’t able to storm off like you had intended and he turned to face you, watching you struggle with the door. “Having some trouble there?” he asked.

“Yeah, it actually won’t open,” you replied matter-of-factly, your tone flat as you tried again, only to wince when you hurt your shoulder a bit.

Jihoon rolled his eyes as he came over to see what was so difficult about opening a door. “It can’t be that bad…” he muttered as he leaned into it, expecting it to open… and it didn’t. Flustered, he tried again with more force, but that didn’t work either. A slight bit of panic seemed to set in as he tried again and even pounded on the door, but nothing.

You were a bit surprised by his reaction, but honestly if he didn’t move you from the door to try himself, you probably would have started pounding on it too. “We’re stuck here, Jihoon,” you told him. He gave you a look then and you just kind of shrugged. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“You chose the wrong room in the first place. If you had just listened to me, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he replied curtly, and it actually stung a bit. There was a bit of bite behind those words and you weren’t feeling it.

“Fine, fine, blame me for getting us into this situation,” you spat back, moving away from him and going to take a seat, obviously a little upset by his words. “We just have to wait for the night custodian to get here. I think it should be in a couple of hours…”

“So I have to spend a couple of hours with you in here?” he asked, but you didn’t reply at this point, just curled up on your own on your side of the room. Jihoon sighed and moved from the door, also taking a seat on the floor, but on the opposite side of the room. This was not how he thought things would go...

[shortskirtsandsarcasm]

Gilmore Girls: Rory is Giving Us All a Bad Name

My childhood TV consumption came entirely from the channel TV Land, which almost exclusively broadcast reruns of American sitcoms from the 1950s-70s (think I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, Leave it to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, Three’s Company, and Happy Days), so Gilmore Girls was not on my radar; in fact, I was barely aware of it. I am sure that if I made any effort to watch it in real-time, my mother would have told me to “turn off that trash,” as she had when I wanted to watch anything on the Disney Channel or Downton Abbey. GG has been revisited in the past years as more people have become aware of all of its problems, and as the Year in the Life reboot has come out recently. Even though many of the re-visitations of GG have been to criticize it, it’s clear that this was an important and beloved show that people see as a seminal aspect of their childhood and adolescence. Reading around GG made me feel like I’d missed a defining experience, so I decided to watch all seven seasons and the reboot, even though I knew that I would hate it. And I really did. I started watching season 1 on Thanksgiving in 2016 and I finally finished the original series and the reboot not long ago, in June 2020. I had to take breaks from Rory and all her bullshit.

Superficially, I share so much with Rory: I am an only child; I love to read; I take books with me everywhere; and I have brown “straight, shiny Harvard hair,” as Carol from season 3, episode 3, “Application Anxiety,” describes it. Adults told me I was “mature” and “precocious” and would “go on to do great things,” without much more evidence than that I was a smart kid. I would like to think that I did not become an insufferable young adult as Rory did, but I write judgmental nonsense on the internet, so maybe I did.

I remember my mom making me read the article “The ‘Trophy Kids’ Go To Work” when I was in junior high that clearly framed millennials wanting financial security and job stability as a bad thing and invoked a moral panic about participation certificates and teachers not using red pens anymore. I thought the article was unfair to young people trying to find financial stability directly after the 2008 financial crisis then and I still do, but Rory is giving us all a bad name. She acts entitled to absolutely everything: Ivy League education, high-profile jobs, men, etc. She assumes that going to private school and getting good grades will be all that is required of her to get into Harvard, and she has no backup plan if Harvard rejects her. She just assumes Harvard can’t reject her. The only reason she even applies to Yale is to make her Yale alumni grandparents happy. But first, she has a meltdown because her grandfather was kind enough to organize an interview at Yale for her. The bastard.

As she enters her final semester of university, she seemingly only applies for three jobs. The one she really wants is a six-week New York Times unpaid internship that is in incredibly high demand. Again, Rory just assumes she will get the internship because she’s special and turns down a real job with a salary in Providence. After she finds she has been rejected by the NYT, she calls back about the Providence job, only to find the position has gone to someone else. She does not learn from this and continues to feel entitled to jobs just because in the revival. Rory has a few job possibilities in the revival, but one by one they fall apart, so she decides to go in for an interview with the website SandeeSays for a job she considers beneath her (but why? Because it’s online?). She is absolutely unprepared for an actual interview because she assumes Sandee will automatically hire her. When Sandee is disappointed that she is unprepared and does not hire her, Rory yells and insults her and her publication.

Whenever her narrow trajectory directly to success is challenged, she goes into a complete meltdown. When Paris says she has been doing community service since fourth grade to look good on college applications, Rory has a meltdown. When Mitchum Huntzberger, who everyone agrees is a giant asshole, tells her she’ll never become a real journalist, Rory has a meltdown. When she doesn’t get the job with SandeeSays because she is unprepared and unprofessional, Rory has a meltdown. When she finds out Logan slept with other women while they were separated but not broken up, Rory has a meltdown. I’m not defending Logan here — it was definitely a shady thing to do — but Rory is upset about her access to Logan being infringed upon and her solution is to bang Jess, to whom she is also entitled.

If you date Rory Gilmore, you belong to her forever.

It’s easy to see how Rory became so entitled in the first place. Stars Hollow is a quaint but bustling town, home to what might be described as a “colorful cast of characters,” who literally all dote on Rory and constantly tell her she is special. Stars Hollow is also home to its very own high school, but clearly none of them are special. Rory’s entire community bolsters this idea in her that she’s struggled against some sort of monumental obstacles, which is just not true. Lorelai is the only one in this family who has achieved anything through hard work alone, and that is because she absconded from the family home as a teenager with a baby Rory.

Rory’s “specialness” is something we are often told but seldom shown. For example, when Rory’s first boyfriend, working-class Dean, comes to dinner at Rory’s affluent grandparents’ house (s2e1), Richard and Emily grill him on why he thinks he’s good enough for their special granddaughter. Richard points out that Rory will be going to an Ivy League university, and that Dean has dimmer prospects, and will, therefore, hold her back. Richard implies that Rory will “go on to do great things,” simply because she is smart and not because she is incredibly privileged. It is obvious that Dean has “dimmer” prospects because he has to work alongside going to high school and has other responsibilities in Stars Hollow which preclude him from spending $$$ on an Ivy education and extensive travel. Rory does stand up for him and point out that being working-class does not make Dean less than, but she hangs on to the idea that she is more than because she is smart and does not acknowledge that her private school tuition, Ivy tuition, and travel is only within her reach because of her family’s money and connections. In her mind, she maintains that she is a lower-middle-class or working-class person who has achieved her “special” status through hard work, but she has never been the one to undertake this hard work. Through the entire rest of the series, she will never come around to seeing this, and interestingly the only time she gets close is when Logan calls her out on her snobbery. Logan, of all people.

This brings me to my hottest hot take on Gilmore Girls: Logan is Rory’s best boyfriend. Both Dean and Jess were possessive and emotionally abusive, so the bar is very low. Rory clearly has terrible taste in men, but of the three dickwads in Rory’s life, he is somehow the best. Logan is not possessive like the other two and seems to be the only man in the entire series that’s not unreasonably jealous. For example, when Rory develops that crush on the TA (even though he’s ugly let’s be real) he recognizes it for the silly passing crush that it is. Dean and Jess would have both lost their minds.

The possessive and jealous descriptors can also be attributed to Lorelai’s boyfriends, specifically Luke. Luke is so sensitive over Lorelai’s friendship with Christopher (pre the whole impulsive decision to get back together and get married in Paris mess), even though Christopher will always be a part of Lorelai’s life because he is Rory’s dad. At this point, Luke has found out about his secret daughter, April, and is fighting so hard to be a permanent part of her life and does not seem to appreciate the parallel. April and Rory are the subjects of Luke’s possessiveness. He feels entitled to be a parent to Rory, even before his relationship with Lorelai, but then refuses to let Lorelai get to know April even though they are engaged and kept her existence a secret for months. Again, he cannot see the double standard there. After they break up and Lorelai gets back with Christopher, Luke then has the audacity to ask Lorelai to write him a character reference so he can win custody of April. Luke also asks for parenting advice from Lorelai on how to deal with both Jess and April, but when he doesn’t like her response, he either says outright or insinuates that Lorelai is not qualified to weigh in, even though Lorelai is a parent Luke clearly loves and admires Rory, the product of her parenting.

On the subject of Lorelai’s parenting, I have some questions. When she ran away from home at seventeen, was she legally emancipated? I don’t think any court would rule in her favor if she had complained that her parents were rich east coast snobs. Richard and Emily are certainly overbearing and snobby, but is that enough reason to literally run away? As a result, Lorelai has become stuck in the mentality of her 17-year-old self and believes people are “against” her personally when they just have different opinions on mundane things. In season seven when her parents want to throw a party celebrating her marriage to Christopher, shoots down literally all of the party planner’s ideas because she feels threatened that her parents want to celebrate her marriage. She’s really out here at thirty-eight being moody and rude to the party planner like she’s a PMS-ing teenager. Richard and Emily did not get to see their only child actually get married — is it so much to ask that Lorelei goes along with their party plan?

This kind of thinking cultivates an “us against the world” feeling between her and Rory which also contributes to Rory’s feelings of entitlement — Rory’s high school valedictorian speech at her graduation was almost entirely about her relationship with her mom. It is absolutely no surprise that Rory has no empathy for anyone else and only thinks of herself and what she wants in the moment. This sometimes even backfires on Lorelai, such as when she graduated from her business degree. Rory chose that exact day to skip school to visit Jess in New York, miss her graduation ceremony, and leave her graduation present on the bus. Lorelai never got her Belinda Carlisle record, and I’m still mad about it.

I have many more thoughts about Gilmore Girls, like how they did Lane so dirty, and how unnecessarily rude Rory was to the Thirty-something Gang, but that would turn into a body of work rivaling my actual PhD thesis I am procrastinating on, so I will stop for now. Now that I can put GG behind me for good, I can finally “go on to do great things,” whatever that means.

[darcy137]

So my lovely @whalien27​ tagged me in this a long long time ago but I was in the middle of getting a new laptop (’cause my old ones heroically broke down right after my finals and after almost 5 years of loyal service to someone who is like the female version of Namjoon when it comes to destruction power), moving between my school and Boston and my internship place, and of course the start of my internship. Thus I had no time, until now, to do this.

Rule: Finish these 92 questions and then I’m supposed to tag 20 people. However my loser self don’t even have that many people I can comfortably tag so I’m gonna leave it open - you can do it if you see this on your feed and feel like doing it.

THE LAST: 1. drink: water 2. phone call: mom - which is funny, since I don’t call home that often 3. text message: with my group of roommate complaining about some projects I’m doing 4. song you listened to: Tomorrow - BTS. This is my motivational, my go to when I need a pick-me-up song. 5. time you cried: A few weeks ago - I watched The Ark’s The Light MV for the first time :/ 6. dated someone twice: yeah 7. kissed someone and regretted it: when I was in middle school and played a game where the game master would say things like “three arms” and you are supposed to make exactly 3 arms touching each other (you can join with other people). The game master said “two lips” and everyone thought it was a kiss, and since it was a kiss it would be better to do it with someone from the same gender so this girl grabbed me and kissed me before I could even react. Turned out by “two lips” the game master meant to press your lips together (a kiss would have been “two pairs of lips). I didn’t like the fact that the kiss was forced and it was to win a game, not for any romantic purpose - and we didn’t even win in the end, and it was completely unnecessary. So yeah, that was the only time I kissed someone and regretted it. 8. been cheated on: no 9. lost someone special: yeah 10. been depressed: yeah 11. gotten drunk and thrown up: no. I don’t like drinking, nor do I have high alcohol tolerance so I usually quit after one or two sips, and even I wouldn’t get pissed drunk that quick 

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS: 12-14. blue, pastel pink, purple, silver

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU: 15. made new friends: yeah 16. fallen out of love: yeah 17. laughed until you cried: yeah

18. found out someone was talking about you: yeah, but in a positive way: my Korean tutor (in our school for languages we usually have this system were we pair up a native speaker with a learner, so my tutor was a fellow student) told me her friend, who was a TA for our Korean teacher, told her that I did my homework well 

19. met someone who changed you: no, not during last year 20. found out who your friends are: yeah 21. kissed someone on your Facebook list: no. I didn’t kiss anyone last year, period

GENERAL: 22. how many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: about more than half of them - the other half are people I works with on projects, so while I don’t really know them in real life I have talked to them in some way before or right after adding them 23. do you have any pets: no. I wish though - my dream is to have two dogs, one must be a German Shepherd, and may be a cat 24. do you want to change your name: no. I have grown to love my name over the years 25. what did you do for your last birthday: enjoyed school, hanged out a bit with my friend, applied like crazy for internship, had a minor quarter life crisis even though I wasn’t 25 yet 26. what time did you wake up: these days usually 6-7 am  27. what were you doing at midnight last night: trying to use internet. Ok so for my internship I was assigned a room in a student dorm nearby, which is super nice and convenient. However, since it’s a high school dorm, they cut off all internet connection at 1am exactly, so these days at 12am I would be crazily trying to savour the last hour of internet :))))) 28. name something you can’t wait for: going to LA after I’m done with internship 29. when was the last time you saw your mom: August 24th last year - that was the day I left Vietnam to return to school. 30. what is one thing you wish you could change in your life: nothing. I sometimes wishes things like to be born in another country (because I’m always curious about what it’s like to be citizen of another country), or to know certain people (like, imagine what it would be if you are best friend with BTS!!), but ultimately, everything - both good and bad - that I have experienced in my life makes me who I am today, and that’s why I don’t want to change a single thing 31. what are you listening to right now: nothing. I’ll probably play something from BTS after I’m done with this though 32. have you ever talked to a person named tom: yes 33. something that is getting on your nerves: rude people 34. most visited website: tumblr, youtube, facebook, these days twitter as well since KCON is near 35-37. there was no question here so...  38. hair colour: very dark brown, like close to black brown, and the lower layer used to be dark bluish purple but it has faded a lot so it’s more purple mixed with light brown 39. long or short hair: long, like touching the middle of my back long. it’s the longest my hair has been in a while 40. do you have a crush on someone: normal people, not at the moment. celebrity, yes. 41. what do you like about yourself: my eyes and these days, my hair 42. piercings: ear piercings (the standard ones) 43. bloodtype: B, I’m about 60% sure it’s B positive but I don’t know 44. nickname: Darcy (yes it’s my English nick name - I don’t have it anywhere in any of my official paper), Huaiqiu, Gaeul, chubby cat, puppy, shrimp (apparently I sleep in curling position like a shrimp when it’s cooked so...), Mom, Aunt, Greatgrandma, Mama Bear 45. relationship status: single 46. zodiac: aquarius 47. pronous: she/her 48. favourite tv show: Criminal Minds 49. tattoos: none, though I sometimes flirt with the idea. If I ever do it, I would probably get a blue butterfly (something highkey reminding me of HYYH) or the sentence that I like the most from Tomorrow: Because the dawn before sun rises is the darkest). 50. right or left handed: right handed 51. surgery: does minor incision when they remove my wisdom teeth count? 52. piercing: wait does this question repeat? 53. sport: why do you think I was called “chubby cat”? Gym to me is like dance to Namjoon and Jin - something I can do if I need to, but probably not something I enjoy that much 55. vacation: I’m looking forward to my getaway to LA in August baby 56. pair of trainers: a blue runner pair

MORE GENERAL 57. eating: popcorn 58. drinking: water 59. i’m about to: read some fanfic 61. waiting for: the weekend 62. want: some motivation to study Korean, start learning case study and prepare my resume for consultant firms’ position 63. get married: I will think about it when my life and career are more stable 64. career: ideally HR, but I’m actually open to anything related to management, HR, development, customer services and even marketing

WHICH IS BETTER 65. hugs or kisses: kisses 66. lips or eyes: eyes 67. shorter or taller: for my partner, taller would be better but I don’t really care that much 68. older or younger: ideally older, but my ex was younger (though he’s probably as old as me, if not older mentally),so I don’t care that much I guess 70. nice arms or nice stomach: for others - I don’t really care. For myself, nice stomach - I’m a fatty especially around there :( 71. sensitive or loud: I’m more sensitive, and I would prefer people who are sensitive too unless you are Hobi then you are welcomed to be loud af my February Friend ~ 72. hook up or relationship: relationship, definitely 73. troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER: 74. kissed a stranger: yes. ^see my story above 75. drank hard liquor: I don’t think so?? I might have accidentally drank something when I was a kid but honestly I can’t remember 76. lost glasses/contact lenses: I don’t even wear glasses nor contact lenses (10/10 eyesight here) 77. turned someone down: yeah 78. sex on the first date: eh... I have never gotten pass first base with anyone so... 79. broken someone’s heart: ... unfortunately yes 80. had your heart broken: yeah... 81. been arrested: hell no 82. cried when someone died: yes 83. fallen for a friend: yes, and man I fell hard

DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 84. yourself: not really... it has been a struggle for me, though I think I start to be able to do so a little bit these days 85. miracles: nah 86. love at first sight: definitely no. I believe in attraction at first sight - like, you can feel attracted to a person at first sight. However, to love someone means to learn about them, understand them and grow together in a positive way, so no way you can achieve that at first sight. I feel like people who claim they fall in love at first sight probably are attracted at first sight, and because they believe it is love they try their best in getting to know the other person and improve the relationship, which then turn it into real love.

87. santa claus: no. I even act as someone’s Santa Claus before so definitely no. 88. kiss on the first date: I don’t mind, but I also rather get to know the person well before kissing them  89. angels: no

OTHER:

90. eye colour: dark brown 91. favourite movie: I probably have a list, but the one I can remember right now are Conjuring 1 & 2, Insidious, Guardians of the Galaxy, Boss Baby, Pirates 1, 2 & 3, The King’s Speech

92.????? Is this question lost too??

[lets-idont-even-know]

1-100

1. What are your hobbies?-Working out, playing video games, playing ukulele2. If you could have dinner with any 3 living or dead people, who would they be and why?-Selena Gomez, cuz god damn I want to meet her so badly. Lauren Sanderson for the same reason. And Lisa Kudrow because l love friends and I wanna hear all about it from her3. What makes you laugh?-Comedians and children falling4. What was the last good thing that happened to you?-I got my internship in San Diego for the summer5. What is your biggest goal?-To marry the woman of my dreams and be financially stable and happy 6. What do you think is the meaning of life?-To make the most out of it, however you can7. Do you believe in an afterlife?-Yes8. Do you have any pet peeves?-Semi trucks passing each other, asking for advice but completely disregarding it, and having your read receipts off (which Faith has hers off and it bugs the living shit out of me 🙃)9. What do you like to do on the weekends?-Ummm when I'm at home I do the same thing I do all week and play video games. But when I'm at school I go to parties and do my homework during the day 10. What was your favorite TV show growing up?-Wizards of Waverly Place11. What is your favorite TV show now?-FRIENDS12. What are your favorite movies?-Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Hurt Locker13. Tell me one surprising fact about you.-I'm not really surprising, what you see is pretty much what you get14. What do you look for in a significant other?-Someone who understands sacrifice, someone who is kind, someone who is understanding, someone who will reciprocate all of the love I show them, and someone who will always do whatever they can to pick me up when I'm down. 15. What were you like as a child?-Really really angry because I was in the closet for 10 years and wasn't happy with my life at all16. What are some things on your bucket list?-To go skydiving, meet Selena Gomez, get married to the woman of my dreams, have children17. Who has had the biggest influence on your life?-Honestly, I can't pin that down to one person. There's a couple people who have had a definite influence on who I am today 18. Do you have any pets or have you ever owned any?-I have a dog19. Talk about a challenge you had recently and how you overcame it or how you plan to.-I was struggling really hard to get an internship and it seemed like every place I applied just wasn't interested or I couldn't do it and I finally just kept at it and found the perfect opportunity 20. If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what song would you choose and why?-Anyone by Lauren Sanderson21. Talk about a favorite childhood memory.-the day we got our dog. We got him when he was a couple weeks old and he was such a little cutie and I remember how happy having him made me 22. What is your favorite commercial?-I hate commercials 23. If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be and why?-Stop being angry, your time will come. Just let yourself be happy and you'll come out when you can and you'll be accepted24. If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one thing, what would it be?-My girlfriend 25. Who is your celebrity crush?-Selena Gomez26. Who is your favorite musical artist?-SELENA GOMEZ AND LAUREN SANDERSON27. What is your favorite music genre?-Pop28. What is your favorite color?-Purple29. What would you do if you won a million dollars?-Move Faith here, get her anything she wants, and take care of my parents 30. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?-Flying31. What is your dream vacation?-An Italian Villa with the girl I love 32. What actor or actress would star as you in a movie about your life?-Selena Gomez pretty please33. Where did you grow up?-Central Indiana34. If you could trade lives with anyone else for one day, who would you trade with?-Lauren Sanderson35. What is your favorite book?-Jerk, California 36. Who is your favorite author?-Don't have one 37. Who do you look up to?-Selena Gomez, Lauren Sanderson, Demi Lovato38. What is your favorite food ever?-Mashed potatoes 39. Are you a picky eater?-Kind of 40. Drunken story time! Go!-This one time literally a couple weeks ago, I was really fucking drunk at a party across the street from campus. Well it started storming really really badly and I wasn't about to get in the car with my drunk friend. So I decided to sprint across campus back to my dorm. I got across the street and sprinted all the way to the main building, stood under the awning for like a minute, ran to another building and stood under the awning. Then, while having an asthma attack and trying not to get struck by lighting while completely hammered, I took off my hat and wasn't gonna stop running until I got back to my dorm building. It was still a solid 5 minute run. So I took off. I got to the building and was dripping wet. Like I just got out of the shower with all of my clothes on. And my asthma was killing me BUT I didn't throw up!41. What beverage do you consume most often?-Pepsi 42. What is the first thing you wash in the shower?-My hair 43. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?-Absolutely. I'll be kissin her soon 44. How are you feeling right now?-tired but happy and at peace45. Do you plan out your outfits?-Sometimes46. What is the closest red item to you?-my PS4 controller has a red Nike covering on it47. Talk about the last dream you remember having.-It was my dream where Donald Trump stole my puppies, I'll reblog it48. Do you love yourself?-Much more than I used to 49. When was the last time you cried and why?-3 weeks ago I think 50. Have you ever met a celebrity?-Unfortunately no 51. Have you ever been to a concert?-Yes52. What are you listening to right now?-Kodaline53. Have you ever flown in an airplane?-Yeahhh54. What is the craziest thing you've ever done?-I don't do too many crazy things but the craziest thing I guess I've ever done is borrow my friend's car to go meet my ex girlfriend who lived in Iowa and I couldn't use my debit card or they'd know and I ended up using it in Indiana for has a couple times and had to lie but yeah it was pretty crazy for me. I don't do crazy things 55. Are your parents or guardians strict?-Yeah kind of 56. Did you have a good childhood?-My childhood wasn't happy but my parents did the best they could for me so I guess so. Some people don't get that lucky so I'm appreciative 57. Have you ever been in love?-A couple times 58. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?-Depends 59. Did the one person who hurt you most in your life ever apologize?-No and I don't expect them to 60. What are some of your turn-ons?-Neck kissing, aggression, wondering hands, ear biting61. What are some of your turn-offs?-Skipping foreplay, not listening to what I say I want 62. Would you go skydiving?-Yes63. What are you thinking about right now?-How happy Faith makes me 64. Do you ever rent movies?-Sometimes65. Do you ever illegally download entertainment such as music, movies, etc.?-No66. What is your zodiac sign?-Gemini67. Do you believe in karma or predestiny?-Yeah 68. Is there anything you want to say to anyone right now?-Yeah69. Would you rather live a shorter life but be wealthy or live a longer life and struggle financially?-Wealthy 70. What is your stance on abortion?-Pro choice my dude71. Do you believe in ghosts?-ABSOLUTELY72. Who do you admire and why?-Lauren Sanderson because she never stops going after exactly what she wants and she doesn't settle for anything less than her dreams and she puts in all the hard work to get where she wants to be73. What was your worst experience while under the influence of drugs or alcohol?-I punched a wall at a party once 74. Have you ever had a near-death experience?-Yeah probably75. What do you daydream about?-I don't daydream76. Where do you want to live after retirement?-I don't know77. What would you change your first name to?-I wouldn't 78. If you believe in a God or Higher Power, what one question would you want to ask Him or Her?-why do you let your children suffer with illnesses like cancer and allowing some to be so unhappy they feel like suicide is their only option 79. Are you more optimistic or pessimistic?-I'm a lot more optimistic these days80. Are you more introverted or extroverted?-Introverted 81. What is your dream profession?-Acting, honestly 82. What do you worry about most?-My future and if im going to succeed 83. When was the last time you tried something new and what was it?-I honestly don't know 84. Who do you compare yourself to?-Nobody anymore85. What excites you about life?-Having the opportunity to love the girl that I do86. What five words would you use to describe your personality?-Funny, quiet, geek, weird, interesting87. What is one life lesson you learned the hard way?-sometimes things happen and you may not think it's for the best and it may be excruciating to go through, but you'll come out better at the end 88. What belief do you have that many people disagree with?-I don't know 89. If not now, then when?-What?90. Is it possible to lie without saying a word?-Yes91. What activities make you lose track of time?-Talking to Faith 92. If you had to teach an academic subject, what subject would you want to teach?-History93. What is your biggest regret?-I don't have regrets honestly 94. What will matter most to you when you're 80 years old?-If I was happy95. Are you a messy person or a clean person?-Eh a little of both 96. Are you a perfectionist?-Definitely not 97. How tall are you?-5'798. What is your guilty pleasure?-I don't have one 99. Do you prefer sweet or salty?-Sweet100. What is your favorite social media website?-Tumblr

[megbox]

On a scale from 1 to kindergartner, how much of an imagination do you have? I listened to a somewhat scary podcast a lot during the school year last year and began to think paranormal things were happening to me. LAST YEAR. Your girl has a wild imagination.  Do you have a camera that takes film? Do you use it? I used to but I don’t really use them anymore. Film is expensive and difficult to get processed and I also suck at manually operating a camera.  How many places did you apply to, before someone ever called you back for a job? I have been employed at the same place for so long, I kind of forget what it is like to search for a job. I suppose when doing practicum/internship interviews over the past few years I have been offered a job after one interview both times. Lucky me. 

What is something you’ve always wanted to learn how to do? What’s stopping you? Speak another language! What is stopping me is that it is very difficult to learn and I picked a language that I have nearly zero exposure to here in Canada. But I am trying.  

Out of all of the shows, movies, and books you love, who is your OTP (one true pairing)? Hmmm Ron and Hermione.  Is there a show that every time you watch it, it always seems like the SAME rerun is on? Which show and which episode is it that haunts you? No but my Mom and I have a joke that whenever I am at her place, the Joe Kenda Homicide Hunter show comes on. I swear to god, it’s on 24/7 repeat sessions.  What are some modern (past 5 years) bands that you think will be in the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame in the next 25 years? Oh god... lmao. I am so not good at rock music.  Do those jokes about women belonging in the kitchen offend you? I think at this point it’s so... tired and sad that it honestly reflects more poorly n the person making the joke.  Which one of your bf/crush/etc’s exes do you hate the most? Why? This is a hilarious question and I am almost sad I don’t have an answer for it.  Have you ever written a FanFiction? Did people actually like it? I am fucking loling I could easily delete this question but I wonder if anyone ACTUALLY reads these so I’m going to admit that sometime in the last 7 years, I wrote a very popular piece of fan fiction and had like multiple chapter releases and everything. I won’t say what for.  Would you rather watch a movie about a dorky michael cera type, a prettyboy zac efron type, or the rough around the edges channing tatum type? Michael Cera is my number one celebrity crush.  Do you like slow, sleepy, acoustic indie music or does it bore you? That’s my fucking favourite.  Do you have your future career all planned out or are you a bit confused about what you want to do with your life? I am getting closer and closer.     Do you seem to attract a certain demographic of the opposite sex? What are they? Actually, no. But one thing in common is that people fall quickly and I don’t always return the feeling and it has led to many an awkward and sad conversation.  When you were in high school did you find the band and drama kids to be incredibly annoying?   Drama kids yes, holy shit. I honestly barely interacted with anyone in the band.  What is something superficial or nitpicky that a guy could do that would make him “undateable” to you? Smoke cigarettes.  Have you ever liked playing dollmakers or online dress-up games? Nah, I was more about Habbo Hotel.  What is the biggest difference in age you’ve ever had while dating someone? Errr it depends on what you consider dating but six years older.  At your school, did all the band kids join track? No lmfao I wish then we maybe would have actually had a coach and been able to train at Centennial.  Do you save the confetti you get from concerts? No! That’s such a cute idea! 

Would you tolerate hanging around with someone you didn’t like, if your friends liked them? Uhhhhhhhhh I guess so but I am really bad at pretending to like somebody if I don’t. 

Where’s your favourite place to hang out with friends? Someone’s place. Fuck the bar, it’s too expensive. 

Do you remember the first conversation you had with the person you like? Yessssish. I remember the night but I don’t remember the specific conversation. 

Do you make an effort to talk to all of your Facebook friends, or are there certain people that you talk to the most? Are you serious lmfao... all my Facebook friends... that is laughable 

When was the last time you had butterflies in your stomach? This morning. 

How is the last person that texted you? Getting drunk in Banff right now so I assume she’s doing fairly well. 

How many of your friends are in relationships? GOD it seems like EVERYONE. 

Who was the last person you talked to whose name started with the letter L? Uhh Lejaimen at work, 

Have you ever liked someone younger than you? Yes. 

Are you a secretive person? I want to say yes and I know anyone that reads this tumblr will be like, “lmao yeah right I know more about your life from this very public social media outlet than I know about most people I actually care about” but there is so much I leave out lmao CONSIDER THAT, PEOPLE. 

How many friends do you have on Facebook? I have no idea 

How many people follow you on Twitter? 300-some. Likely largely comprised of robots. 

What does the last email you received concern? Event confirmation for the training I attended today. 

How many people have you kissed in the last twelve months? Literally probably like 50....... sorry. 

Do you think it’s okay to like someone else if you’re in a relationship? It’s so difficult because I know myself and I am exceedingly jealous and I really feel like it’s not okay even though it happened to me in a very real way many years ago. It’s like a weird double standard. I think there are definitely mature ways to handle being attracted to other people while in a relationship and it takes a little bit of growing up / life experience to get there. 

How long have you liked the person you currently like? On and off since the fall of last year. 

Has a close friend ever hurt you? Yep. 

What’s the biggest age difference between you and someone you’ve liked or have dated? Six years. 

Have you ever developed feelings for someone you were friends with? Yes! Duh! 

What is it about yourself that you dislike the most? Probably the crippling anxiety that will literally just randomly rear it’s head and always manifests in a new way lmao I can never get on top of it. 

How would your friends describe you? They would probably say I am suuuuper weird. Impatient as fuck. Messy. Likes to party and that I work too much. 

How long are you prepared to wait to be with someone you want before you give up on them? You can’t really put an exact time on that. It all depends on the situation. If I really loved somebody I would wait but I wouldn’t hold back on new opportunities.  

Describe, in no less than three sentences, your current relationship status or situation. I have no idea if I am falling ridiculously hard for this person or if I am just lonely. I have been extremely confused and been sending the most mixed of signals out into the world. At the end of the day though I am very happy. 

What would you say is the stupidest thing you’ve EVER done? Get chlamydia from my ex-boyfriend lmfao 

What does your family think of the person you like? They don’t know about any of that. 

What are your plans for tomorrow evening? IT’S MY FIRST NIGHT CLOSING AS A MANAGER

Last person you talked on the computer with? Technically Maeghan. 

Do you think you will have the same best friend a year from now? I hope so but you never know. 

Was New Year’s enjoyable? Lmfao. No. 

Do you have siblings over the age of 21? Yes. 

Will this weekend be a good one? It already has been honestly. 

Will tomorrow be better than today? Today has been pretty damn good. 

What do you currently hear right now? The Yawning Grave by Lord Huron. OBSESSED. 

What was the last thing to go into your mouth? A sip of a Bud Light radler. 

What happened at 3:00pm today? I was leaving my place to drive down to Somerset. 

Do you have a good relationship with your mother? Uhhh we aren’t like CLOSE in the traditional way but I love her very much and when times get tough she always has my back. 

Are you a mean person? Honestly yes. 

Are you named after one of your parents or grandparents? Nope. 

Does anyone hate you? Oh yeah baby I got haters  

Do you think relationships are even worth it? Yes yes yes a million times yes. 

Relationships or one night stands? Literally keep asking myself this question in this current period of my life. 

Are you currently wanting any piercings or tattoos? Nah.

Do you miss anyone? I miss my brother. 

What is stressing you out most right now? Doing a good job in my new role at work. 

Are you waiting for a phone call? Nope. 

Have you ever been with someone while they were throwing up? See: Drinking with Ali in 2012. 

Where was the last place you fell asleep other than your own bed? This couch I’m currently on. 

Could you handle being married to the last person you texted? LOLOL me and Harper would fucking kill each other 

Can you honestly say you’re okay right now? Yes :) 

Next time you will kiss someone? Soon. 

Have you told anybody you loved them today? Yes. 

When’s the last time you had grilled cheese? I ate it with my Dad one afternoon when I still lived at their place. With tomato soup. It was a DANK grilled cheese too, I put some fancy cheese on there with some prosciutto. 

Have you ever tripped someone? Not on purpose.

Do you have any scars? I have a looooot so many. Some I didn’t even notice but they were actually pointed out to me last night. 

Did you sleep alone last night? No. 

Yes. 

How old will you be in five months? 24. 

Something you do a lot? Drink coffeeeeeee. 

Do you like the rain? I love it.

Do you like sushi? HELL yeah. 

Have you ever had stitches? Nope but definitely needed ‘em for my knee. 

When was the last time you were tempted to do something you’d later regret? Every time I drink.

Are you in a relationship? If so, how long have you been? No.

Have you ever wanted to just run away and start over? Yes and that’s a telltale sign that things are going poorly because I do love my life and my friends here in Calgary very much. 

Does your mom like to burn candles? Oh yeah Sandy is all about the candles. 

How many hats does your dad own? LMAO what a strange question. 

Have you ever had your friends sleep over at your house? Uhh HELL YEAH I love having people stay over I fucking hate sleeping alone. 

Are you happier now than you were three months ago? What was three months ago - May? I was in Thailand three months ago. In Krabi. Not a care in the world. I am probably about the same level of happiness. 

Has any one said they love you in the last week? Yes. 

Have you ever liked someone who treated you like crap? We treated one another pretty shittily in different ways lmfao 

In the past week have you cried? Yes.

Do you get drunk every weekend? LOL like honestly yes 

Have you ever had a sleepover with a member of the opposite sex? Yes yes yes. 

When was the last time you wanted to punch someone in the face? Monday at work.

Is there someone you want out of your life for good? They’re already gone. 

Do you think you can love someone without trusting them? Nope but I think being able to trust someone fully also takes a lot of work on part of yourself. 

Do you have freckles? NO I WANT THEM 

Ever kissed a Robert, Tyler, Ryan, Andrew or Michael? Uhhhh I actually do not believe I have kissed anyone with these names but there are certainly people out there I’ve kissed whose names I do not know. 

Have you ever asked a boy for advice? Yes.

What are you thinking of right now? That I need to wrap this up and change and do my makeup to go out. 

Have you ever slept in the same bed as the same sex? Yeah.

How many months until your birthday? Eight! 

Have you been outside longer than 30 mins today? Nope, it’s been raining. 

Are you looking for a boyfriend? Good question. 

Why do you feel the way you feel? That’s how my brain works.

How has the week been? It’s barely the start of Wednesday, but so far it’s just been hot and miserable and also California is literally on fire, so the air has been really smokey and bad all over. Thursday I have a stressful doctor appointment that I’m not looking forward to.

Is there something you wish you could tell someone but can’t? I kind of sort of mentioned things last night. 

Do you sleep with the TV on? Not usually but I can. 

Have you ever liked someone so much that it hurts? I know I’m in deep when I start to think about them when they are not around and I get that like deep sudden clenching feeling right in the middle of your chest. 

Have you ever been cheated on? I have no idea tbh. It probably depends what you’d consider cheating. 

Have you ever broken someone’s heart? I’ve been told yes but like whatever lmfao 

Has someone broken your heart? Yep. 

So, what if you married the last person you kissed? LOL.................. 

What was the last reason you wanted to cry? Work. 

Do you have a best friend to lean on? Yes <3 

[slowlyhauntedlove-blog]

Eat As well as How you can Quit.

Among the most typical questions I receive from females is how you can get back right into shape after possessing a little one. You come to select what your finest is, and also it will certainly entail your body, whether you intend to conquer a sporting activity or even have a much better understanding from lawful regulation or become an ace quilter. With 74%. from business in the food items field utilizing fifty folks or even far fewer, business make up a big reveal of the market place. While Microsoft Saxelby does not suggest an ONE HUNDRED percent raw food items diet plan, she performs feel our company can gain by improving our uncooked food items intake and also boosting the volume from vegetables and fruit our team take in. At a workplace breakfast in which bagels, cream cheese, angel food items covered and fruit product were actually kindly delivered, the individual carving up the pie said, It is actually quite sunlight angel food items birthday cake so nobody must really feel bad regarding eating this." I could not aid yet ask, Are there foods that we should be actually experiencing bad concerning?" I make certain in everyone's thoughts, there are! That's true 4 or 5 oreos certainly never eliminated any individual, that's eating half the cram in one resting that ultimately performs. I watched your video on exercises for the road and this got me presuming- I am actually a business student and resting at a work desk for hrs at a time for internships creates me believe that I am actually losing sooo much time that I may be spending getting fit. My pictures off 2 summertimes back at my fittest- couldn't care less what the scale must claim considering that I remained in terrific condition & self-assured. His job relies on styles like the God's Acre, a Christian area garden that increases organic food for those in need. The death from BMX legend Dave Mirra highlights the risk from upsetting human brain trauma and its possible lasting results for activity sports participants. Next, lift in the air and also change lower leg placements, bending both legs once more as quickly as your shoes touch back down. Also, if you're tracking then you'll know if you possess the PointsPlus accessible for a particular meals. Skip morning meal Through denying their body systems of food after eight hrs from rest, their metabolic prices keep reduced. For air travel, I ensure because I might become rich when it is food items time in flight. I could frankly claim that My Spouse and I made an effort the food apiece of these solutions and that the BEST is actually most definitely the Diet-To-Go! Nobody has missed that Instructor Tim Noakes gets on trial for a tweet - which might sound like a really trivial point - however the end result might possess extensive ramifications for food items policy. This creates enhancing food sustainability, meals security, as well as the health and nutrition ability from our food units an issue of necessity. If you showed me a food-addicted individual which had actually never ever dieted, never ever felt bad about his or her look, never been actually subjected to our prevalent society from food items fear, and also certainly never observed or even experienced weight judgment, I might get the construct from meals substance addiction through which food items is actually the trouble more readily. Going to count on the method as well as hope Im not heavier tomorrow off all the lotion as well as butter in my foods today !! Carmel Howard: In a latest op-ed item for The Washington Message, Fred Bahnson checks out the connections between Christian spirituality, meals manufacturing, and the important duty of horticulture. Ironically, the woman in the brand new video clip which is actually complaining about food stamps is patronizing Walmart - a retail establishment where salaries are so reduced that several workers receive welfare aid. The United States Fda said that fat adds up be posted on food selections in establishment dining establishments, retail meals buildings, as well as vending equipments; all along with 20 or even more areas. Excessive drinks can easily lead to overindulging, along with studies3 revealing people consume more meals than typical during the course of and after a consuming session! So our team referred to exactly what they wanted, how they imagined Australian food items devices. Regional sportsmens, pets, and sporting activities individuals shoot hoops, fencing, practice throwing, and also join various other featuring occasions along with enthusiasts and also celebration individuals, while qualified BMXers and soccer charlatans" applied impressive screens from the human body's athletic potentials. French leg from lamb is commonly readied through placing shreds from garlic and also rosemary into slits in the pork just before roasting. I'm administering a research study on the kinds of body systems in the Blogilates neighborhood so that I could make POPFLEX accommodate you a lot better. The country's largest food relief organization, Foodbank, says most well-being and also neighborhood teams can not stay on par with requirement. In the course of instruction I put on a long-sleeved leading along with my boob-crushing soiled ye olde Enell sporting activities breast support beneath. Office chair Person from Sporting activity & Entertainment Training Australia and the President southern Australian Athletics Federation. This is actually due to the fact that this rapeseed oil essence was re-mastered through Canadian food items experts, from an industrial oil in to an edible oil, via certain breeding and filtering system approaches. Award Winning International Personal Personal trainer of the Year, 2015 & 2007, as well as the Life Exercise Global Trainer to Check out 2013, I am actually enthusiastic regarding aiding individuals as well as Groups become their ideal & beyond. Do away with the ego, go slower, get out the door a handful of times a full week, as well as watch your body system obtain even more fit in time. Yet as the BMJ staff defines, sports drink creators invested a great deal of amount of money financing less-than-rigorous study damning thirstiness as an overview of moisture and also spreading doubt on water as the refreshment for remaining hydrated. Prior to our team get involved in the vacay wrap-up (I'll share trendy pictures and accounts tomorrow), below's your brand new Monday online video on the #FABruary Exercise Calendar! However, another Australian victim of meals fraudsters strongly believes there is little federal government may do to address the problem. I suggest I would certainly possess my leg back tomorrow if that was a possibility, however obviously this isn't. Provide only http://personnalite-hypnotisante.info to your device so that can easily nourish your muscle mass but no more.

The Illustrated Guide to Extended Massive Orgasm by Steve and Vera Bodansky (/ doingmethod) This is a detailed illustrated how-to guidebook for the Doing Approach, which I made use of for my first successful test-drive from the essential upper-quadrant method talked about in this particular phase. The yogurt would stagnate and also the raspberries appeared like the gravelly bits at the bottom of a bag of dog food items. Like, how to opted for the appropriate food in the cafeteria, as well as stabilizing workout sessions with school job!