#this photo was taken on friday september 13th

[chimivx]

That one fucked you over last year, this one is fucking you over this year, you had no idea she was involved with him, someone over here has been lying to you, you didn't mean to end up in that ones bed, he told you he loved you... Does anyone even trust anyone anymore?

👫 -> college!teez x fem!reader/oc {frat/sorority} #️⃣ -> 7k (part FOUR of ten) ‼️ -> 18+, sexual content, drugs/alcohol, college life, all the drama, heavy angst, infidelity adjacent moments, mean boys, mean girls, mentions of anxiety/depression… IF I MISSED ANYTHING PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

september 13th ~ friday ~ 6:30 p.m

A week had passed. Seven days had come and gone, and everything was running as smoothly as humanly possible. The first week of classes went well, every one of your sisters in the house upbeat and smiling about their endeavors. There wasn’t much to complain about, within your schedule you had plenty of time during the week to get assignments done, to work on projects and any essays that were due… The academic year would be as close to perfect as it could get.

After a few days of chaos, you were looking forward to moving on. Looking forward to putting your focus on your work, on the job you had in this house, your duty as a member of ITZ. Recruitment breathed down your necks, the jitters growing with every passing day, the uncertainty that ITZ would turn back into what it once was.

At her desk now, Yeji felt the most pressure. It was evident in her creased brow and her pinstraight posture, her shoulders rolled back toward the leather of her chair. For a half hour the nine of you had been sitting in this room, discussing classes, throwing out ideas for recruitment, giving one another updates of the first official week back at Nasara… A conversation you didn’t have much to add to.

Your phone vibrated in your pocket.

You had nothing to add.

“Then, it’s settled,” Yeji sighed, signaling Chaeryeong to write down what she was about to say. “Photos will be taken, Tori will get the announcements together, Mina and I will make sure the services are scheduled to stop by and set up,” she paused, reading down a list, her breath releasing heavily as she said, “After recruitment dinner will be held at ATZ.”

Yuna swallowed a smile, sitting in the velvet chair she typically claimed. Her eyes traveled toward the back of the room, where the other four of you sat wedged on the couch together. You and Tori were on either end of Ryujin who held Isla half on her lap. Your roommate sent the girl a sly wink, the dinner location of her and Mingi’s doing. Mina, attentive beside her president, let her gaze find Tori. The two share something of a small smile.

Since last week they’ve been buddy-buddy. Adorable, really, the way Mina has suddenly started sitting closer to her, closer to you and your friends when you’d hang about the house, inserting herself into the dynamic like she didn’t fit in perfectly with the other half of the house. Tori took her in like it was nothing. Mina fit right under her wing so perfectly that the two have snuck out of the house three more times since last Friday.

Choosing to stay cooped up in your room, spending your time on your classes, hanging around Ryujin, Isla and Yuna, you weren’t into the idea of sweating in the living room of ATZ anymore. Not after the last party. Watching Mina and Yunho swap spit on the couches didn’t appeal to you like it might to some.

The rest of your friends couldn’t get enough.

With Mina around, you didn’t have to watch the Yunho stuff happen, you just had to hear about it. And, good god the girl wouldn’t shut up.

Yunho let me sip his drink, it was disgusting, how do you guys do it!?

Yunho taught me how to play beer pong, I’m actually pretty good, I wish you guys would come so we could play!

Of course Yunho kissed me! He does every time I see him now, it’s like nothing was ever weird between us.

On, and on, and on.

At least the attention was off of you. Not a soul has brought up Wooyoung, and not a soul has mentioned anything about Seonghwa. Not that they would, no one knew.

Your phone vibrated in your pocket again. Reaching a hand back you slipped it out and peeked at the screen before Yeji could catch you. Both messages on your screen made your nerves spark.

[starhwa]: Party tonight. I know you’re fulfilling your sisterhood duties by following the rules now, but if you came I promise I’d make it worth your time.

His message came first. The one received twenty minutes ago.

The second, the newest, made you want to snap your phone in half.

[youknow everythin]: I miss you I hate everything about what’s happening right now Rory

He hasn’t spoken to you since the party, the one you stormed out of because he decided to swallow Mina’s tongue in front of you. 

The following morning you woke up before Tori. Shuffling to the bathroom to wash up before anyone figured out where you were the night before, you found a purple mark in the shape of a heart on the base of your neck. Reminded of everything that had happened, the blurry words you said to him, you didn’t expect to smile.

Make me forget.

You covered the hickey, and have had to all week because that shit was dark, and sent Seonghwa a mortifying text message because you remembered what Yunho had told you a few days prior to you ending up in his sheets. Seonghwa was apparently with somebody, dating somebody, and was unavailable. 

A lie.

A Yunho lie.

So you’ve been talking to him everyday, all week. Yunho was content with Mina, he had his hands full with all that shit. Seonghwa was funny, he was chill. Sure, he didn’t let you rant about life like Yunho used to, listening to everything you would say, keeping mental notes for the future, listening like he was trying to memorize every word… Seonghwa didn’t do that, but he was still an alright friend.

You did miss the daily debrief about your day, about your classes… About his day, about his classes… The end of the first week of classes is when you two would hang at the party, drink yourselves silly and break down your professors and syllabuses. Judging by his message he was thinking and feeling the same thing.

[you]: promised the girls i’d do dinner tonight and i like to keep my promises.. i’ll try to come by after.. hopefully you keep yours 🤞

It was a nice distraction. There were no strings with Seonghwa. For a week it’s been silly banter and jokes. He wasn’t a guy who dated, and if he did you knew you wouldn’t be his long term type. Part of you is shocked that you’re possibly his short term type, never once in the past did Seonghwa ever make any sort of advancement on you. San on the other hand, he’s one of the only boys who’s tried unprompted by you, but, then again San went after anything that sparked his fancy.

Yeji exchanged words with Mina, then expressed something to Yuna. The higher ups spoke cohortly, the rest of you on the outside of whatever it was they were discussing. Something about… uniform? Dress code?

Your phone vibrated.

[youknow everythin]: What???

Whoops.

[youknow everythin]: Oh, that wasn’t meant for me, was it.

You started to type something smart, trying to be witty somehow, but you deleted everything you came up with. The bubbles appeared on the other side and you sighed.

[youknow everythin]: You’re talking to someone else in the house now?? 

Eye roll.

[youknow everythin]: Don’t ignore me, Rory, I really hate this. I feel like you’re angry at me, we don’t do this. 

A notification popped up at the top of your screen.

[starhwa]: What did you dooo Ror

Withholding your smile you took a screenshot of you and Yunho’s conversation and made sure to send it in the right thread, to Seonghwa. It took him a few seconds to ‘love’ the message.

[starhwa]: What a whiny bitch

[starhwa]: ‘We don’t do this’ sounds like something a liar says hmmm

[starhwa]: Come tonight, let’s piss him off

The corners of your lips perked up. Now that sounded like a good time. It would certainly make up for the time spent this week listening to Mina describe every single detail of every single kiss she and Yunho shared.

[you]: i have dinner tonight with the girls, i’ll sneak away and see you after, hwa :)

[starhwa]: You bad girl… I’ll see you later.

“Who are you talking to?” Tori’s quiet voice startled you. “Smiling at your phone like that, who is it?” Slapping the screen flat to your thigh you wiped your face clean and looked at her. The smirk she wore paired with her curious brows made your heart stop for a second. “No, no,” she giggled. The meeting was over, you missed whatever was decided and Yeji’s send off. The girls were rushing out of the room. “Are you talking to somebody?”

“Seonghwa,” you whispered. Ryujin and Isla were gone, Tori had scooted all the way over to your side of the couch. In her sleeveless denim jumpsuit she crossed her legs, leaning into you. At the mention of ATZ’s Vice President her jaw fell open. “Don’t make it a big deal, we aren’t talking.”

“But, you’re texting,” she said, shifting her eyes over to Yeji and Mina, still at the wooden desk. “How did this happen? When did this happen?”

“You know we’ve been friends,” you said, following the shift of her eyes, finding Mina smiling at her. “He’s friends with Yunho too, so…”

“Right,” Tori said, narrowing her gaze. “I’ve just never seen you two talk, that’s all.”

With a breath, you smiled. “Are we doing dinner, or what? I’m starving.”

Tori eyed you for a moment, then nodded. “We are, but we have to wait for Mina.”

Of course you did.

“Are the others waiting?” you asked, glancing over your shoulder to see if Ryujin, Isla or Yuna were still hanging around. 

Tori inspected her acrylic nails and shook her head. “We told them they could go.”

Your brows plummeted. “You and Mina told them they could go?” Tori nodded, picking at her cuticles. “Was I going to be a part of that decision?” She held her hands in front of her, judging her choice of polish.

“I shouldn’t have done teal, Mingi hates teal.”

“Tori,” you said, catching her attention. “Did you hear me?”

“Yeah, me and Mina said they could leave,” she said. “She’ll be done soon anyways, then we’ll catch up with them. What’s the big deal?”

Did this happen while you were texting Seonghwa, or was this orchestrated before like some sort of secret?

“Okay,” was all you could push out of your mouth.

Twenty minutes later you were finally on the move.

Plenty of time to leave Tori on the couch and scurry off to your bedroom to change your clothes and fluff up your hair. Taking your Nasara hoodie off you slipped into a dress similar to the one you wore last week, except this one was black with thin straps over your shoulders. Tight around your chest, it hung loose around your hips, swinging over the curves with every step taken. Tori exclaimed when you met her and Mina at the bottom of the stairs.

The sophomore took you in and smiled, her eyes falling to your thighs every so often throughout the night. She wore a striped crop top and high rise jeans, her hair styled perfectly beneath her chin, her accessories complimenting her perfectly. Always put together.

It made you sick.

But, that was his type, right?

Put together, hard working, pays attention to details, good girl.

Fuck it. If you were the opposite, which it so seemed, otherwise you’d be the one with him, you’d prove him right.

Tori drove and Mina insisted you sit in the front seat though the two yapped the entire ride over to the restaurant. Situated in downtown Delo, a ten minute drive away from the ATZ house, you sent Seonghwa your location as Tori pulled into the parking lot.

[starhwa]: You’re not far, had me thinking you wouldn’t be here till midnight again

[starhwa]: You’re not walking all that, Ror. I’ll pick you up.

“You’re quiet,” Mina said to you, leaning over the leather of Tori’s seats. Slapping your phone to your thigh, a recurring habit now, Mina watched it, eyed your skin, then smiled at you. “Everything okay?” Tori had gotten out of the car moments prior, pressing her own cell phone to her ear to give Mingi her every ten minute update of where she was and what she was doing.

Dragging your eyes from your roommate to the sophomore, you sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Really hungry, I wanted to eat a half hour ago.”

Mina pursed her lips. “I’m sorry,” she breathed. “Yeji’s so stressed, I didn’t think she’d keep me for so long after. I hope you know I’m really happy to be here with you guys.”

Sitting forward, pulling off your seatbelt, you let it hit the window as you reached for the handle. “Happy to have you, Mina,” you grumbled, slipping out of the car onto the asphalt.

This street was cute. One of the better ones in downtown Delo that’s been built up, heavy work going into it to make it a thriving city instead of one that people would shake their heads at if it were brought up in conversation. You were at one of many restaurants, a sushi place Isla was obsessed with. A sushi place Isla has drawn mad attention to, essentially helping with the flip of reputation, because of her and her brother.

Along the street lively people hung around, good crowds of smiling people and people playing music on the corners or inside some of the bars. There was a club a few minutes down the street, one that was closed for ages, but had recently reopened. This street was the first to flip people’s idea of Delo, that and the outstanding rep Nasara provided the city.

[you]: I’ll tell you when… are you sure you’re okay with that

[starhwa]: …

[starhwa]: Anything for you.

“There’s that smile again,” Tori teased, following you into the restaurant with Mina on her tail. Shooting her a look, you made her laugh.

“What smile?” Mina asked, her happy-go-lucky grin glowing as she stepped into the dimly lit lobby. Tori nudged her with an elbow and wiggled her brows.

“Her boy smile,” she said.

Mina’s smile faltered. Looking over at you, she seemed to force a laugh out of herself. “What boy?” she asked. “Don’t tell me you’re talking to Wooyoung again?”

Since when did she know so much about that?

You looked at Tori who went unaffected by her bestie’s words. 

“Why would you care if I am?” you questioned.

Tori decided to feel affected now.

“She’s just worried, Ror,” she said, wrapping a hand around your bicep. Guiding you toward the back of the restaurant, dodging tables and waiters, she said, “None of us want you to go back to him.”

Peering back to catch a glimpse of Mina, she gave you a smile. “Do you even know the full story?”

She nodded, her hair swinging below her chin. “Tori and I spoke about it a few days ago. She was giving me the group debrief so I’d be prepared for a night like tonight.” Stepping up to your side as you approached the table your friends were at, Mina took your other arm in her hand and tilted her head. “There are so many guys better than him, trust me.”

“Better than who?” Yuna asked, brows pulled tight in the center of her forehead. Her chocolate hair was pulled back into a bun, her bangs dusting her eyelashes. Glancing down at her and your friends, a laugh sparked at Ryujin with a salmon roll between her lips, frozen, staring up at you with widened eyes. Isla was focused on her plate, a wine glass on the table next to it.

“Wooyoung,” Mina said, and the two paying attention groaned.

“Nothing is going on,” you stated, taking note of how Tori sat beside Yuna, Mina taking the empty chair beside her. The last empty seat was next to Isla, her and her gorgeous hair not giving you the time of day when you slipped onto the wood beside her, across from Yuna. “We haven’t spoken at all.”

“You did at the party, right?” Mina asked innocently, studying the menu in front of her. Piercing her with your glare, Tori kicked your shin under the table, pleading with you with her own eyes to not freak out.

Ryujin, with her mouth full, asked, “You talked to Wooyoung and didn’t tell us?” She leaned forward to get a glimpse of you past Isla.

Yuna stared at you, eyes big and wider than they normally are. “What the hell did he say? What the hell did you say?”  Now, Mina picked up her head.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” you breathed, holding up your hands to feign your innocence. “We passed by each other, he told me I looked good, I didn’t say anything back, and that was it.” Tori had dropped her chin, she looked at you through her lashes. Mina, curious as ever, raised an eyebrow.

“Where did you find him, ‘cause…” she shared a look with Tori, “We didn’t see him all night.”

Probably because you were wedged so far up Yunho’s asshole to pay attention to anything or anyone else.

“I hung out with Seonghwa and Yeosang in the kitchen,” you said, keeping your gaze fixated on her to prove your lie was the truth. “I met some girls who are planning to come to recruitment, by the way,” you said to the table, Yuna’s eyes lighting up. “But, I ran into him on the second floor, leaving the bathroom. First floor was taken, so I had to go upstairs. You ever been upstairs, Mina?” The sophomores expression fell.

“Aurora,” Tori said, hushed, like she was disappointed.

“The fuck does that mean?” Ryujin asked genuinely, shoving another piece of sushi into her mouth. 

Isla, reaching for her wine glass, flipped her hair backward and sniffled. “I think she means sex,” she said without concern for how loud she was speaking. Licking her lips, she took a gulp of her glass and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “She’s implying that Mina’s never gone upstairs at ATZ.”

“Okay,” Ryujin muttered, helping Isla place the glass down safely. 

“Damn,” Yuna snickered, putting her focus on her plate.

Tori scoffed. “You guys are sick,” she started. “That’s not what we go there for.”

“It’s what you go there for,” Ryujin smirked, assisting Isla in picking up her sushi for her. Tori shot her eyes back and forth from the two, and clenched her jaw.

“That doesn’t matter,” Tori snapped. “Besides, we’ve been dating for a while, it’s totally different.”

Ryujin perked a brow. “Is it?”

“Doesn’t matter!” Tori nearly shouted. Mina put a hand on her arm, the two sharing a look. “Ror, that wasn’t nice,” she said to you, her big brown eyes now asking you to apologize. As you glanced to Mina, the girl who shared personal secrets with you about going upstairs, the look on her face made your heart twist.

Did she deserve an apology? Probably.

Did you want to give her one? No.

First she’s taken Yunho, now she’s taken Tori. She’s sitting here at dinner with you and your friends, winning them over with her good girl attitude, her good girl outlook on life. She was going to make a difference here, she was going to do some good, she was going to help Isla and be the best Vice President, and help Yeji get ITZ into good shape so more girls like herself would join. 

It’s no wonder he wouldn’t want you. What do you have to give?

Sex on the side because he wasn’t getting it from her?

A fuck when he wanted it because his good girl was being a good girl?

A wise man once told you, fuck him. He’s not worth it.

So, fuck him.

Pushing your chair out from under you with force, startling Isla and Yuna, you grip the back and shove it back under the table, muttering the quickest I’m sorry to either of the girls before hurrying off toward the lobby of the restaurant.

“Ror!” Tori called after you.

Mina’s voice boiled your blood. “Let her go, Tor, it’s okay.”

Tor. That was your Tor.

[you]: come get me now

[starhwa]: Babe, you just got there

[you]: yeah, well i’m pissed off. come get me.

september 13th ~ friday ~ 9:12 p.m

With his hand wrapped around the back of your neck, beneath your hair, Seonghwa kept you close to him while he spoke to potential members of his fraternity. All night since he came back with you he’s kept you by his side, replacing your drinks when needed, checking in on you when you got too quiet, and most importantly, keeping you away from Yunho.

Throughout the first hour of you being here you had your eyes glued to your phone, waiting for any one of your sisters to message you, or call you. You figured Tori would be the first, you’d have a text before you even walked out into the parking lot. But, it was radio silence. After your first two drinks with Seonghwa, who could easily outdrink you, he got fed up and snatched your phone from you, telling you you could have it back if it was an emergency, or if Tori was calling. It lived in the back pocket of his tightly tailored slacks now.

“Remind me your name again?” Seonghwa smiled at the boy in front of him, the freshman with bright eyes that occasionally lingered over to you while they spoke.

The blonde was familiar, you’d seen him before.

“Jongseob,” he said, a cocky smile growing on his face as he tipped his chin up. “Thank you for your time tonight.” He extended a hand to Seonghwa, one which he took and shook. “Your girlfriend is beautiful,” Jongseob turned his chin and extended a hand toward you. Swapping your red cup into the other, you placed it in his hold and he brought it to his lips, pressing the tiniest kiss to your knuckles. Lips parting in shock, he gave you a soft laugh. “I hear great things about ITZ, as well. If all goes well within the next few weeks, I’ll see you at dinner.” His charm was infatuating.

“See you at dinner,” you breathed, voice going shaky as he flashed Seonghwa another grin and turned away. Looking up at Seonghwa, he was already watching you.

“He just called you my girlfriend,” he said through a laugh.

Blinking, you smiled, shaking your head. “You are holding onto me like I’m yours.”

His eyes flashed with something dark, and he asked, “Is that a problem?”

Poking your tongue between your lips, making sure he watched, you smized up at him, knowing you were both thinking about the same thing. “I don’t think it is.”

“Perfect,” Seonghwa raised his eyebrows, shifting both hands to your shoulders, “Then, let’s go dance.”

Letting him guide you down the hall, you were tipsy enough to the point of not noticing anyone if they were watching you. You didn’t want to pay attention to anybody anyway, you were here to forget, you were here to have fun. The other people didn’t matter. Your friends didn’t matter right now. Yunho didn’t matter. All of the bullshit from before, from last semester, from last week… It didn’t matter.

“I wish we weren’t banned,” you said. “You get to have fun with all the interested freshmen. I think Yeji fucked us by banning us, we can’t be here to mingle.”

Seonghwa huffed a laugh. “Yeah, she royally screwed you guys.”

“Hey,” you tried to pause your walk, but he kept you going without missing a beat. “That’s not nice.”

He pressed his lips to your ear. “I’m not nice.”

Chills erupted down your spine.

“Oh my god, just take me upstairs,” you said, shaking your head, and he laughed.

“Not yet,” he mumbled, turning you into the living room full of people. An obnoxious club song from ages ago blasted through the speakers. “First we fuck shit up.”

“Gladly,” you sighed, letting him slip his arms around your waist, pulling you further into the mass of students of every age, the two of you getting lost in the pulse of the music.

Taking your hand to his shoulder you slide it around his neck, hooking it in your elbow, forcing him to lean over you. You danced into him, his hands guiding you against him again and again, his hold slipping lower with every twist of your hips. Sipping from your cup, you eyed him, then downed the rest of the contents. Seonghwa took the red plastic from your hand and threw it to the floor behind him, finally free to cage you against him, both of your hands finding sanctuary in his long hair. He pressed his forehead to yours, the sudden closeness knocking your breath from your lungs, Seonghwa pulling you under his spell within seconds.

“What do you want?” he asked, both hands gripping the round of your ass, pushing your hips into his.

Forced to your tiptoes, you pushed a breath from your lips. “What do you mean?”

Seonghwa’s eyes flickered to your lips. “Out of tonight. What do you want to get out of tonight?” He studied your face, every bit of it. “Last time you told me to make you forget. What do you want to do now?”

“I- I- I don’t…”

“Tell me,” he said, softening his gaze. “Let me help.”

“What’s in it for you?”

That devilish smirk found his lips. “I get you, Ror.” 

“What are you talking about?”

“All these assholes want you,” he said. “And none of them like each other.” The Greek life facade. “Help me piss them off, and I’ll help you piss them off.”

Now that sounded nice. Only, it wasn’t your goal. Pissing off Yunho sounded nice, maybe even pissing off Wooyoung a little bit, but in doing so that would mean your sisters would find out what you’re doing, and if they found out what you were doing you’d have to either tell them it’s fake and risk exposing your truth to the ATZ boys, or play it up that it was real and be forced to keep another thing from them…

“No,” you said, and he wasn’t the least bit shocked. “We shouldn’t even be doing this right now.”

“Why?” He tipped his head back to shake it. “Worried he’ll stop giving a fuck? Because you shouldn’t be.” Gazing up at him, his perfect honey skin dripping with utter lust, his words almost convinced you.

“Seonghwa!”

His voice punched a hole in your gut.

The vice president followed it, looking up, keeping you flush against him. Dusty brown hair and glasses pushed through the crowded living room, ending up at your side. Seonghwa took one look at you, begging for an answer before anything else happened. The smallest shake of your head made him let go of you, the loss of his warmth incredibly disappointing.

Yunho took you in, from what you were wearing down to how you reacted when Seonghwa took his hands off of you. “Hongjoong is looking for you,” he said to his advisor. His higher up. His boss. The two shared something between their eyes, something you couldn’t figure out.

“Is he?” Seonghwa asked, rolling his shoulders back. 

Yunho grit his teeth. “He is.”

You were out of there.

Getting lost in the heaps of people you made your way back into the kitchen, weaving through couples making out on the walls of the hallway. Wobbling to a fridge, you yanked it open, the heavy door swinging toward a group of guys standing against the other side of it.

“Whoa!” A hand caught the door before it hit him. “Hey, you’re Seonghwa’s girl.” That was a voice you knew. Taking a can of fruity bubbles from the shelf, you cracked it open and let the boy close the door for you. 

Jongseob, you think.

“Jongseob,” Jongseob said.

Right.

Sipping your drink, you smiled and stepped closer to him. He was dressed in black and grey, his blonde hair brushing his shoulders contrasting against the dark colors in a weirdly pretty way.

“Jongseob,” you repeated, and he smiled. “I’m not Seonghwa’s girl.”

Twisting his lips curiously, he nodded and glanced at his friends. “This is Intak,” he motioned to a boy with black cropped hair in a white button down and jeans, the top three buttons undone, “And this is Shota.” The third boy had blonde hair like Jongseob, only it was lighter, near white. His eyes were dark, almost void of all color, and the way he dressed reflected his age. An old band tee and ripped jeans with bracelets on his wrists.

“Call me Soul,” Shota said, splaying a hand over his chest. He was tall, all three of them were, but the other two had muscle to them. Soul was wide, but gangly, slimmer than his friends.

“Soul,” you whispered, and he smiled, his pink lips curving upward. “I’ve seen you before, Soul.”

He quirked a brow, his smile growing. “Have you, Aurora?”

You matched his smile. “Sannie’s fun, isn’t he?”

The boy who was attached to San’s hip last week laughed. “When you want a spot in the house he is.”

“Ooo,” you sang, stepping closer to the three of them. Intak, who couldn’t stop staring at your legs, took a step backward. Jongseob and Soul didn’t move. Both were eating you alive with their eyes, the intensity had potential to make your knees buckle. “Seems you already fit in just fine,” you said to Soul. Turning to look at Intak, the boy's brown eyes met yours, and he took a breath. “If I wasn’t in the middle of something I’d take you upstairs first.”

Spinning on your heels, missing the way Intak grabbed hold of Soul to steady himself, you sauntered out to the hall sipping your drink. You weren’t sure what number you were on, but you didn’t care. Everything that weighed you down before suddenly didn’t seem so heavy. These parties really were an outlet, Yeji’s a monster for taking it away.

Crossing the threshold into the living room, ready to find Seonghwa and get on with the night, the front door to the house opened. Tori, Mingi, Mina, Yuna, Ryujin and Isla filed inside.

“Oh, great,” you mumbled, and hurried deeper into the living room, hoping to go undetected. If Wooyoung could do it in this house, at his own party, you could do it too. How hard could it be?

You passed by Yeosang and the girl he was with the other night on the couch, the two sharing a drink, talking to one another in their own world, like there wasn’t a party happening around them. When people stumbled into them, they didn’t even react. He had his arm slung around her back, listening to her as she talked, nodding along, actually listening to her. Wanting to ruffle his waves, you decided to leave him alone. It’d been a week and he was still attached to this girl. That meant something.

Heading back toward the tables set up on the other side of the living room, a hand latched onto your wrist, tugging you backward. Whipping yourself around, wide eyed and ready to unload on the jerk who touched you without permission, when you met Yunho’s frustrated expression, you groaned. 

“What’s going on?” he asked, letting you go, taking note of the drink you were holding. “Why are you hanging around Seonghwa?”

“Why not?” you questioned, folding your arms after a gulp from your can. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah,” he answered without hesitation, his tone dripping in disbelief, like he couldn't believe you weren’t in agreement with him. “I know how he is, you shouldn’t get involved.” The song changed over the speakers and everyone shouted, another old song pumping through the air. Yunho cringed, sparing a glance at the crowd over his shoulder.

“Are you not drinking?” you asked, looking him up and down for signs of drunkenness. He was really good at hiding it.

“I am,” he said.

“What are you on?”

He shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

“Me either,” you said, shaking the can around.

It fell quiet between the two of you. Staring at one another, you couldn’t feel anything bad as you looked at him. For a second his eyes dropped down your body, so you let yours do the same. He wore ripped jeans and a white long sleeved shirt. Two necklaces hung around his neck over his shirt. The chain was gone.

He looked good.

“I need another,” he said, breaking the silence. Crinkling the can in your hand, you took the last sip and crushed it completely.

“So do I,” you mumbled.

Yunho rubbed his hands on his legs and took a breath. “Wanna go get one?”

Gazing up at him, you bobbed your head. “Sure,” you said, and he nodded with you. “I saw… I saw, uh, Tori come in… And Mina… And I think everyone else.”

He couldn’t look away from you. “Mingi told me they were coming.”

“Oh.” You pressed your lips together tight and sucked in a breath.

Yunho tore his eyes away for all of three seconds before they were on you again. “We can make it to drinks and back without seeing them.”

“You don’t wanna see them?”

He shook his head. “Do you?”

“No,” you whispered.

“Why?” he asked.

Your turn to shake your head. “Why don’t you?”

“Christ,” he muttered, grabbing onto your wrist. He pulled you out of the living room, his head darting back and forth searching for unsuspecting eyes. The only ones you passed on the way to the kitchen were the three freshmen. Intak, Soul and Jongseob, all taking account of who you were with and where you were going. You were goddamn lucky this house stretched on for miles.

He left you outside of the kitchen, planting you by the archway, in the small corner you found Yeosang in last week, just outside of the bathroom door. Disappearing into the kitchen, telling you that he would be right back and not to move, he left you.

The door to your right opened, and a very sloshed Isla tumbled out of it. She shoved it closed and looked up at you, both of you confused, both of you squinting at one another in the dim light.

“Hey,” she said, pushing her messy hair from her face. “When did you get here, Ror, I was worried about you.” She came close and put a hand around your shoulders.

Taking her hand in yours, you laid your head against her arm. “You were worried about me?”

She nodded, leaning into you. “I was, me. These other fake bitches weren’t.”

Your stomach rolled. “What?”

Coming closer to your ear, she said, “These other fake bitches weren’t.” Pulling away, she raised her brows and shot you a look. “They didn’t care where you went, they just kept… Blah, blah, blah, boys. Blah, blah, blah, we look hot. Blah, blah, blah, Mina’s so adorable. Blah, blah, blah… Yunho.” She looked up beside you, and started to smile. “Funny, they were talking about you almost the whole time.”

He had two drinks in his hand, in red cups. “Who was?” he asked, his eyes going slightly wild. Isla stepped toward him and slapped a hand onto his chest.

“Mi-na,” she sounded out the girl's name, then laughed at herself.

Suddenly, Vernon appeared around the corner and sighed, wrapping an arm around her back. “What did I say about wandering?”

Isla screwed her face up and immediately fell into him. “I had to pee, Nonie.” You giggled. “Unless you wanted to come with me…”

Vernon sighed, his eyes closing for a moment. “Definitely not, Isla, let’s go.” He sent his goodbyes to you and Yunho with a nod, then the two were gone.

Looking up at the giant beside you, you took the cup with a tiny thank you, then said, “I didn’t wander.”

Pressing the rim of his cup to his lips, he hid a smile. “Thank god.”

Drinking what he gave you, you could’ve gagged. Pulling the cup from your lips, you voiced your disapproval and he laughed.

He laughed.

He laughed and it sounded beautiful.

“Too strong?” he asked, and you scoffed.

“You think!?”

He took a step closer to you with his grin. “M’sorry, I didn’t think I did that, I can’t really… Couldn’t really tell.”

The dimples imprinted on his cheeks warmed your heart. “Yunho, you’re drunk.”

His eyes went crazy. Dropping his jaw, he said, “Rory, you’re drunk.”

Rory.

“I am,” you said, drinking his concoction, maintaining face, though you both laughed when the aftertaste smacked you across the face. “Fuck, Yo, what did you do?”

Yunho tilted his head, his smile softening. “I miss hearing you say that.”

Blinking, losing all joy in your face, you pulled your lips into a pout. “I miss saying that.”

Sipping from your cups, both of you, drinking a little faster, Yunho came closer to you and took your hand in his. “Come on,” he mumbled, taking you down the hall.

“Where are we going?” You glanced around you as you walked, not that you were vigilant in the slightest right now. Yunho took you around the stairs, pushing through a few girls crowded there.

“Somewhere where I can talk to you without feeling like I’ll get in trouble,” he said, his voice hushed, speaking only to you. 

“Have you been getting in trouble?” you asked, landing on the vacant second floor. The girls on the stairs had their eyes on your back before you disappeared into Yunho’s bedroom.

“Not necessarily,” he said, locking the door behind him. Looking around his room you were torn. You sipped from your cup, almost at the bottom, and contemplated walking out. You were just here almost two weeks ago, mere hours before the earth shook beneath your feet.

“Then what do you mean,” you whispered, turning to face him.

He walked over to his bed, his messy bed. Yunho was smart and intelligent, but he wasn’t organized in the slightest. He was a genius in the mad scientist way, his room was a mess. Clothes were strewn on the floor, his blankets were rumpled, books were scattered about the rug he’s always put down on the floor, and his walls were littered with polaroid photos and scraps of paper that meant something to him.

It was endearing.

“I mean…” he sighed, knocked back the rest of his cup, and threw it to the floor. Sitting on the edge of his bed he put his elbows on his knees and drug his hands through his hair. “It’s obvious, we both know it,” he said, looking up at you. “You said it to me, I pursued her, and here I am, losing my mind over you.” Coming to his side, you sat next to him and finished your drink. He took it from you and threw it to the ground, letting it roll over to his. 

“Yo,” you whispered, and he shook his head.

“No,” he said. “Don’t say what you’re gonna say, because I know it. What I don’t know is how to fix it, Rory. I miss you. This week is supposed to be ours.”

Dropping your eyes to his bed, you exhaled and whispered, “Now it’s yours and hers.”

Yunho moved closer to you, taking your chin in his hands, tilting your head up to look him in the eyes. “Stop, no it’s not.” He spoke in a whisper, you both did.

“Yes, it is, Yo. The week is over, and I haven’t spoken to you since last Friday.”

Last Friday when he kissed Mina in front of you.

Last Friday when you decided it’d be a good idea to roll around his friends sheets.

“Why’d you have to talk to her?” Your half broken whisper wrecked his composure.

Shaking his head, he parted his lips and released a breath before he kissed you. A kiss that felt like no other. A kiss that felt right. A kiss you wanted over any other kiss. It was warm, and heavy, and all the more insatiable. You could drown in it, and you wanted to. If you never took another breath again, so be it.

It happened fast, Yunho’s shirt hitting the floor. Between lips on skin and hands drawing everywhere, you were both barely undressed and he was inside of you.

And it was right.

It was how it should be.

On top of him, hands in his hair, straddling his jeans while he pressed kisses to your skin, tugging the straps of your dress down your shoulders so hard that one almost snapped… It felt right, and his strong hands pressing into your hips told you that you would be here all night.

NU home ✧ nice for what masterlist ✧ talk to me ✧ thank you for reading <3

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[jenniferlinderman]

MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION ONLINE ART CLASSES: FRIDAYS in SEPTEMBER 2024: 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th (12-2p PDT)

This month we will draw/paint ANIMAL subjects in COLORED PENCIL: Peacock on MiTientes paper, Favorite Pet on Hotpress Watercolor paper, Meerkat on Pastelmat, and a moth on drafting film.

This is a monthly subscription to my ongoing ONLINE art classes where each month we will choose a focal subject and will combine it with a particular media such as soft pastels, colored pencil, or acrylic paint. We will learn how to use a wide variety of substrates and solvents to help bring our subjects to life! With the subscription package you receive a $5 discount off of the weekly rate as well as a recorded video of the lesson emailed to you! In addition, I email the students a curated list of my personal photos references for the week’s subject/s as well as an itemized list of the materials I plan to use/demo for the lesson. Classes take place via Zoom platform and are emailed Zoom link before class.

TESTIMONIALS:

“Jennifer's lessons are exceptionally well organized, start to finish. Her instructions are, without fail, inspiring, challenging, clearly communicated, and always supportive. I've rarely experienced such a thorough and responsive drawing teacher.” Alice, Richmond CA

“Jennifer is a talented artist who works in many media. She is a wonderful teacher who has great patience with her students. She encourages all her students to to try new media and styles of artistic expression.” Linda, Denver CO

“Jennifer Linderman is a top notch teacher. She methodically teaches how to do each subject, and, educates her students with new and novel techniques. I have taken her classes now for 6 months with 1 class weekly. I never tire of her instruction and plan on continuing because her subjects and media are full of variety!” Andrea, Richmond CA

[yaovault]

Journal for Year 3 (Ng Zheng Yao) 23420

Week 1 (18th Aug)

spent my week promoting my latest single “For No Reason” on social media

Went out to film some videos to promote the single

Week 2 (25th Aug)

Edited some videos taken from my previous work trip to Tokyo

wrote a new song to perform for recital class

Week 3 (1st Sept)

Got invited to perform at Bras Basah mrt station for Hear65’s new initiative of playing local music in train stations.

Started brainstorming on my dissertation research proposal.

Week 4(8th Sept)

Posted an Instagram reel about a song called ‘Hostage’ that I was working on. It started to go viral on social media.

Took the upcoming Friday’s recital class as a chance to finish the song so I can plan to release it on the same month.

Week 5 (15 Sept)

Decided to record a solo guitar part for ‘Hostage’.

Found a day and sat down with my guitarist friend to write out a memorable guitar solo

Decided to take the week to prepare a press kit for the song. (Took press photos, do a write-up for the song and)

Ingested the song on time to be released on the 29th of September.

Week 6 (22 Sept)

Started working on my research proposal for my dissertation

was going back and forth with the type of dissertation I was going to write ( practise based or fully written)

Instagram reel about my single was going viral as the reel hits 100k likes

attended a talk hosted by LaSalle about music careers by Homeground Music.

Week 7 (29th Sept)

Recorded a reel of me showing the various inspirations behind my upcoming single ‘Hostage’

Went for a music work trip to Fukuoka on the 25th Sept.

attended a songwriting camp there

worked with a Japanese music producer and wrote 2 new singles.

Performed at a local club in Fukuoka.

New single ‘Hostage’ drops

Week 8 (6th October)

Came back to Singapore on the 1st of October

attended a Freelance 101 talk at Lasalle

Gave a talk at SIM about my music journey as an artist.

dropped an instrumental version of ‘Hostage’ on YouTube.

Week 9 (13th Oct)

Posted an open verse duet video for the release of ‘Hostage’

Started editing and posting videos taken from the Fukuoka trip to promote my latest single.

Started writing my research proposal.

Week 10 (20th Oct)

Latest single charted on Singapore’s charts at #52

Started working on the intro of my research proposal.

Week 11(27th Oct)

Came down and supported LAY YI’s EP launch. Performed as a feature on one of her songs called ‘Homebody’.

Helped out for backing vocals for Ryoko’s performance at the Esplanade Concourse.

Week 12th (3rd Nov)

Shot an Instagram reel of a collaboration with Philippino music artist Allison Shore and Rangga Jones at Homeground Studios

took the week to finish up a new song I was working on.

Week 13th (10th Nov)

Prepared for an upcoming festival show happening on the 18th of November

had to arrange and music direct a 30mins set with all my existing songs.

Did a Instagram ticket giveaway for the upcoming festival.

Week 14th (17th Nov)

Met my dissertation supervisor Natalie on Zoom to look through my current research proposal. Feedback was given that I needed a more detailed description of my methodology.

Week 15th ( 12th Jan)

Paid a visit to Spotify Singapore office to discuss more about my upcoming releases

Started preparing for another festival called Aliwal Arts festival which was happening on the 27th of January.

Week 16th (19th Jan)

Performed ‘Hostage’ for Open House at LaSalle.

Took the week to work on a demo I was writing.

Week 17th (26th Jan)

Went for a writing camp at GRYD studios and worked on some songwriting briefs.

Practised for my upcoming show on teh 27th of Jan

Week 18th (2nd Feb)

Finished writing a new song called “Die for you” during ensemble class.

Decided to release it on the 23rd of Feb

learnt a lot about mixing and mastering as this was the first time I tried doing it all by myself.

Week 19th (9th Feb)

Started shooting some videos to promote the upcoming track “Die For You” to garner some support online.

Started finalising my dissertation title

Week 20th (16th Feb)

Did up an arrangement for an upcoming performance at Cherry disco for a graduation party for Ngee Ann Poly.(It was challenging as I had to perform with just a backing track so I had to make the transition in between songs sound interesting)

Week 21st (23rd Feb)

Filmed a music video all the way at Sarimbum Scount Camp for ‘Hostage’

experience a lot of nature and also worked with a lot of passionate people on set.

Filmed a recorded set for SNS also known as Scratch n Shuffle. Managed to come up with an arrangement with a live band for my upcoming song “Die For You”.

Drop a new single called “Die For You”

Week 22 (1st March)

Posted the usual Instagram reels to promote my single.

however it did not worked as well as before(engagements were lower compared to ‘Hostage’

Week 23 (8th March)

Did up slides for my dissertation and attended Panel presentations.

Showed my slides and demo to Tim and James.

Tim and James mentioned that I need to do more research in terms of literary sources to back up my claims.

Week 4 (15th March)

Met my supervisor to clarify some questions in regards to my literary sources.

Prepared the backing track for a Charity show

started brainstorming on some major points I wanted to write about for my dissertation.

Week 25 (22nd March)

Performed for a Charity event with just backing track.

Managed to take what I’ve learned from the previous backing track performance I did at Cherry disco

Made the transitions more smooth between songs so there would be a seamless flow in the performance

Went to Samabloc Studios to work on a corporate gig. Helped with writing the melody for Hari Raya song.

Week 26 (29th March)

Got invited to radio station Kiss92 to promote my latest singles.

Hosted the Japanese producers who I’ve met previously last year for the songwriting camp in Fukuoka. Brought them around Singapore and even showed them art places like the Esplanade.

Week 27 (5th April)

Started working on my dissertation. Finished the intro and started on writing the main bulk of the paper.

Had a few practice sessions with my band to prepare for my final recital.

Week 28 (12th April)

Continued working on my dissertation.

Found some difficulty with wrapping up my points for the dissertation.

learned that I should have started the writing much earlier.

[trying-geology]

Sorry I’ve been so absent lately... stuff went down on this trip that made me lose a little faith in the people I study with plus I’m a busy human. I don’t remember where this was (it was someones backyard) but this was the first stop of the second trip of the semester! I had so much fun learning about structural geology in the wild. According to my professor this is one of the best outcrops of a syncline in the world. Unlcear if he was just bragging but a 5′3″ me for scale :) 

[myhauntedsalem]

14 Haunting Facts About the Winchester Mystery House

Despite the Winchester Mystery House’s cheerful appearance, this massive California mansion’s history is edged with tragedy, mystery and maybe some ghosts. Naturally, it has inspired a chilling horror movie, Winchester, which opens in theaters today. But before you go to the movie theater, wander through the curious past of one of America’s most infamous homes.

1. THE WINCHESTER HOUSE IS NAMED FOR ITS MISTRESS.

Sarah Lockwood Winchester—the wife of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester, whose family created the Winchester rifle that was heraldedas “the gun that won the west”—designed and oversaw the construction of the sprawling Queen Anne-style Victorian mansion that bears her name. Construction on the 24,000-square-foot home, which is located at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, California, began in 1886.

2. MANY BELIEVE SARAH BUILT WINCHESTER HOUSE OUT OF FEAR.

Overcome with grief in the wake of her husband’s death from tuberculosis in 1881, folklore states that Sarah sought out a spiritualist who could commune with the dead. While she was presumably looking for solace or closure, she was instead given a chilling warning.

Through the medium, William told his widow that their tragedies (the couple had only one child, a daughter named Annie, who died at six weeks old) were a result of the blood money the family had made off of the Winchester rifles. He warned that vengeful ghosts would seek her out. In order to protect herself, William said that Sarah must “build a home for [herself] and for the spirits who have fallen from this terrible weapon.”

Sarah was advised to leave their home in New Haven, Connecticut, behind, and move west, where she was to build a grand home for the spirits. There was just one catch: construction on the house could never stop. “If you continue building, you will live,” the medium warned Sarah. “Stop and you will die.”

3. THE HOUSE WAS UNDER CONSTANT CONSTRUCTION FOR 38 YEARS.

In 1886, Sarah purchased an eight-room farmhouse in San Jose, California, and began building. She employed a crew of carpenters, who split shifts so construction could go on day and night, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, for 38 years. The work only stopped on September 5, 1922, because the octogenarian mastermind behind the home died of heart failure in her sleep. It’s said that upon hearing the news of Sarah’s death, the carpenters quit so abruptly they left half-hammered nails protruding from walls.

4. THE HOUSE IS FULL OF ARCHITECTURAL ODDITIES.

Sarah issued many bizarre demands to her builders, including the building of trap doors, secret passages, a skylight in the floor, spider web windows, and staircases that led to nowhere. There are also doors that open to blank walls, and a dangerous door on the second floor that opens out into nothing—save for an alarming drop to the yard far below.

5. AN EARTHQUAKE ONCE RATTLED THE HOUSE AND TRAPPED SARAH.

In 1906, the great San Francisco Earthquake caused three floors of the then seven-story house to cave in. A 1900 postcard of the place shows a tower that was later toppled by the natural disaster. That tower—plus several other rooms destroyed in the disaster—were never rebuilt, but cordoned off. As for Sarah, she was safe but stuck in the Daisy Bedroom, named for the floral motif in its windows. She had to be dug out by her staff, as its entrance was blocked off by rubble.

6. THE HOUSE WAS DESIGNED LIKE A LABYRINTH.

Some say the labyrinth layout was meant to confuse the ghosts, allowing Sarah some peace and a means to escape them. She was the sole architect of this extraordinary home, and no master building plan has ever been uncovered. So Sarah may be the only person who ever truly knew all of its secrets. When movers were called in after her death, one lamented its labyrinthine design that includes many winding hallways. One mover told American Weekly the Winchester House was a place “where downstairs leads neither to the cellar nor upstairs to the roof.”

7. SOME SAY THE SYMBOLS IN THE HOUSE POINT NOT TO GHOSTS, BUT FRANCIS BACON.

An alternate theory on the Winchester House’s perplexing design declares that Sarah was creating a puzzle full of encryptions inspired by the work of English philosopher Francis Bacon. There’s speculation that clues to the house’s true meaning are hidden in the ballroom, the Shakespeare windows, and the iron gates. This theory suggests that Sarah was a member of a mystic society like the Rosicrucians, or a secret society like the Freemasons—or possibly both.

8. THERE ARE OTHER THEORIES, INCLUDING THAT SARAH WAS “CRAZY.”

Others speculate Sarah was coping with her grief with a flurry of activity, or that she was simply “crazy.” However, Winchester Mystery House historian Janan Boehme paints a happier picture, imagining that the continual renovations reminded Sarah of the good times when she and William built their New Haven home together.

“I think Sarah was trying to repeat that experience by doing something they both loved,” Boehme told the Los Angeles Times. She also suspects that Sarah was just an ardent—albeit eccentric—philanthropist who used her family fortune to purposefully employ the San Jose community. “She had a social conscience and she did try to give back,” Boehme offered, noting the hospital Sarah built in her husband’s name. “This house, in itself, was her biggest social work of all.”

9. ONCE IN WINCHESTER HOUSE, SARAH WAS RECLUSIVE, BUT NOT ALONE.

There is only one known photo of the widow Winchester, which was taken surreptitiously. Though she was reclusive, she was never alone. She had 18 servants, 18 gardeners, and the ever-present construction team working on the grounds. Every morning, Sarah met with the foreman to discuss the always-evolving building plans. And it’s said that each night, she visited the Séance Room to speak with the spirits, who weighed in on plans for the house’s unusual design.

10. THE HOUSE WAS AS OPULENT AS IT WAS ODD.

The home boasts 950 doors, 10,000 windows, 40 stairways, 52 skylights, 47 fireplaces, six kitchens, plus a trio of elevators, and once-groundbreaking elements like wool insulation, carbide gaslights, electricity, and an indoor shower, complete with a sewage drainage system.

11. NO ONE IS SURE HOW MANY ROOMS THE HOUSE HELD.

Following Sarah’s death, Winchester House was converted into a tourist attraction. But when trying to get a room count, the new owners kept coming up with different numbers. After five years of renovations, they estimated the number of rooms to be about 160, which is the number most often quoted today.

12. SARAH HAD AN OBSESSION WITH THE NUMBER 13.

Among the secrets Sarah took to her grave was why she insisted that so many things relate to the number 13. The Winchester House has many 13-paned windows and 13-paneled ceilings, as well as 13-step stairways. Even her will had 13 parts, and she signed it 13 times. But the pièce de résistance might be the house’s 13th bathroom, which contains 13 windows of its own.

13. IT’S A NATIONAL LANDMARK.

The Winchester Mystery House earned landmark status on August 7, 1974. The fascinating mansion is still owned by the family (families?) who purchased it from the Winchester estate in 1922 for $150,000—however, their identity is another Winchester House mystery. But thanks to them, tourists can now explore 110 of the 160-some rooms Sarah dreamed up. The Winchester Mystery House even boasts special tours on Halloween and Fridays the 13th.

14. IT’S REGULARLY CITED AS ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTED PLACES IN AMERICA.

To this day, Winchester House is a destination for believers who hope to have a paranormal encounter of their own. A popular spot for such activity is the corridors of the third floor, where tour guides have claimed to hear footsteps and disembodied voices whisper their names.

In a Reddit AMA, a Winchester House tour guide confirmed that the house’s third floor—only a portion of which is accessible during house tours—is definitely the spookiest part of the house, “because that’s where the servants lived, so there’s been a lot of reported activity there. Also, when you are on that floor you can never really hear any of the other tours, so you feel pretty isolated.”

[youareinlovees]

Taylor & Joe in 2018

January 12th – Taylor likes this Tumblr post following the release of the End Game music video (x)

January 27th – Taylor was spotted in Italy ordering coffee, the same week that Joe was there for a Prada event (x) (x)

January 28th – In an interview, Todrick is asked about Taylor’s relationship with Joe (x)

“I think that they've done a really great job at being very secretive and keeping that as a personal thing between them. All I can say is that I have met him and he is a lovely, lovely person.”

February 9th – The BTS of the End Game video is released, and Taylor talks about how she’s playing online scrabble against Joe (x) (via tayorswift)

“Oooh he played me in Scrabble. I’m about to– It’s a tight game, no I can wait, I can wait. I’ll make him wait. It’ll make him sweat, his game will get, you know, he’ll get stressed, he’ll be like ‘what’s she gonna play next? Is she gonna get that triple word?’”

February 21st – It is theorised that Taylor gave Joe this Patek Philippe watch for his 27th birthday. (x) (x)

February 27th – @ss_shans posts photos of Taylor in Big Sur, California from the previous week (x)

It is rumored that she was there with Joe and they were celebrating his birthday together (x)

A video from their trip is later included in the Lover lyric video.

March 7th – Taylor and Joe are seen hiking in Malibu (x)

March 12th – The Delicate music video is released, and a “Joe’s Deli” sign can be seen in the background of a scene. (x)

April 13th – Taylor covers September by Earth, Wind & Fire, and changes a lyric to “Do you remember the 28th night of September?”

In the original press release article by Spotify, Taylor says she chose to cover the song for sentimental reasons. (x)

She’s always loved the classic tune by Earth, Wind & Fire, and notes that the month of September is especially meaningful to one of her relationships.

April 17th – Taylor likes this Tumblr post (x)

April 24th – A family friend of the Alwyns says in a Tumblr post that Taylor gets on really well with Joe’s family, and she turned up to help paint Patrick’s room once. (x)

April 26th – The same family friend also talked about Taylor meeting Joe’s parents for the first time (x)

Apparently Joe’s mum didn’t realise who she was and told the two of them to go for a walk in the park because the food wasn’t ready. Taylor was like ‘I can’t….’ and Joe’s mum was like ‘what no don’t be silly’ and Taylor had to be like ‘no seriously I really can’t’

May 6th – Taylor likes this Tumblr post (x)

May 7th – Taylor and Joe post matching cacti pictures on Instagram.

May 8th – Joe and his mom attend the opening night of Rep Tour in Glendale, Arizona. (x) (x) (via joealwyndaily)

Taylor singing Gorgeous to Joe (video)

Joe watching Taylor perform Gorgeous (video)

Taylor singing King Of My Heart to Joe (x) (x)

Taylor pointing at Joe during Dress (video)

Joe clapping at the end of the show (via dallas_dante)

Joe and Jack Antonoff hug as they leave the stadium together (video)

Taylor and Joe backstage after the show (via nessa007)

In Rep Room, there were J necklace cookies

Taylor talks to a fan about how she plays Scrabble with Joe all the time

May 19th – A YouTuber named Lauren Lipman meets Taylor backstage at Rep Tour Pasadena and says she’s so happy for her and Joe, and Taylor replies “aww thanks he’s the best” (x)

May 12th – Taylor tells a fan (xiwantyourmidnightsx) in Rep Room that Joe is “the best” and “such an amazing person.”

“He calms me down whenever I see something mean someone says about me, he just takes me right out of it all. And he’s been my longest relationship!!! We’ve been together for 20 months now. When we get to two years, I’m going to freak out. I’m going to be so obnoxious about it.”

The fan also asked Taylor about this polaroid in the rep magazines, and she said people in England have bonfires all the time and she and Joe just hang out in his backyard burning stuff. Taylor also said Joe takes pictures of her all the time and confirmed that all of the pictures in the rep magazines were taken by him.

May 16th – Taylor releases the Delicate vertical video, in which she points to her J necklace during “you must like me for me” (x)

May 23rd – Taylor likes a chain post of fans recreating Joe memes (x)

May 30th – Taylor likes a Tumblr post about how she can relate to You Are In Love now (x)

May 30th – Taylor and Joe are seen leaving The Flask Pub and Restaurant in North London, after a fish and chips lunch. (x)

June 2nd – At night 2 of rep tour Chicago, Taylor sees a cardboard cutout of Joe in the crowd (x)

(via afterglowws)

June 9th – Joe and his brother Patrick attend night 2 of Rep Tour Manchester (x)

Patrick, Andrea and Joe in Club Meredith

Taylor smiled and winked at Joe during Gorgeous (via swiftiekyle)

Taylor waving at Joe during Bad Blood (x)

In rep room, Taylor tells a fan that it calms her so much knowing that Joe is in the audience (x)

June 16th – During night 2 of rep tour Dublin, Taylor says to a fan that her favourite fast-food restaurant in London is LEON. (x)

June 19th – Taylor posts a video of Meredith on Instagram, and Joe’s laugh can be heard in the background (x)

June 22nd – Joe and his family and friends attend night 1 of Rep Tour London.

During Taylor’s opening speech, she talks about how she spends a lot of time in London (x)

“This is my first time looking out into a crowd like this at Wembley Stadium (…) I spend a lot of time in London, so I know there's so many things you could be doing tonight - and yet you've decided to spend your Friday night with us here at the reputation stadium tour, thank you so much.”

Taylor singing Gorgeous to Joe (video)

Club Meredith during End Game and Bad Blood (video)

June 23rd – Joe and his family and friends attend night 2 of Rep Tour London.

Tom Hooper (the director of CATS) entering the stadium with Joe

Taylor smiling at Joe during Gorgeous (video)

Taylor singing King of My Heart to Joe (video)

Taylor during Dress (via paths-of-my-childhood)

Taylor pointing at Joe during “flashback to when you met me, your buzzcut and my hair bleached” (video)

Taylor pointing at Joe during Call It What You Want (via paths-of-my-childhood) (x)

June 23rd – Taylor talks to a fan about how she and Joe have a “relationship band.”

It is theorized that the band is The National because a lot of their songs are on Taylor’s playlists.

Taylor thanks a fan for the proud signs and says the project made Andrea and Joe so emotional

June 24th – In an interview with Metro, Niall Horan talks about performing at Wembley Stadium with Taylor. (x)

“When we caught up backstage we were talking about how she’s doing, where she’s living and what she’s up to. I haven’t seen her in about a year and a half so it was kind of a catch-up, how things are going with the new fella – just general chat.”

June 28th – Taylor performs at an AT&T fan event in Chicago and talks about reputation.

“It’s legitimately an album about finding love throughout all the noise."

She also says that she jumped into a freezing pool fully clothed two New Year’s Eves ago. (via speaknow)

June 28th – Taylor talks to a fan (keep-him-forever-vendetta) about Joe (x)

I told her that Ryan and I started dating around the same time and her and Joe and she goes “WAIT when” and I said it will be two years in September! And she said “YES that’s right! See the media thinks they’re sooo sneaky and they say ‘oh that’s her NEW boy’ and that we met in May. HA. They don’t know he’s been around!”

Her face literally LIT UP when she talked about him. Also I asked her if she had a great time in the UK and if she got to see Joe and his family a lot and she was like “oh I’m there like all the time!! Like this was just for work, but I go there literally all the time.”

June 30th – Taylor meets a fan in Rep Room Louisville who had a Joe meme on her sign. (x)

July 3rd – Taylor and Joe are spotted walking along the beach in Turks and Caicos (x)

July 4th – Taylor and Joe are seen snorkeling in Turks and Caicos (x)

July 10th – Several fans saw Joe and his mom in the soundbooth at night 1 of Rep Tour DC (x)

July 10th – Taylor says to a fan in Rep Room that Joe taught her everything she needs to know about the World Cup (x)

July 20th – In rep room at Metlife night 1, Taylor mentions how happy she is in her current relationship

July 22nd – Joe and his family attend night 3 of Rep Tour Metlife.

Taylor winks at Joe during Gorgeous (x)

During King of My Heart, Taylor can’t stop looking and pointing in Joe’s direction. (x) (x)

Joe singing along to Don’t Blame Me

July 27th – During night 2 of Rep Tour Gillette, a fan holds up a Joe meme at barricade (x)

July 28th – Taylor invites two fans with “Joe’s Deli” costumes to meet her backstage in rep room.

In Rep Room, Taylor also talks to another fan about Joe.

August 4th – Taylor performs Come Back Be Here acoustic in Toronto, while wearing the J necklace. (video)

In the last chorus, she changes the lyric “I guess you’re in New York today to “I guess you’re in London today” because Joe is in London filming.

In rep room, a fan talks to Taylor about how they both have initial necklaces (x)

August 17th – At rep Tour Cleveland, Taylor talks to a fan in rep room about Joe

August 22nd – Taylor and Joe go on a double date with two of their British friends at a restaurant in Covent Garden, London. (x)

September 19th & 21st - Joe mentions in several interviews that he wants to keep his relationship with Taylor private (x) (x)

September 28th – On Taylor and Joe’s 2-year anniversary, Taylor attends the NYFF premiere of Joe’s movie The Favourite, as well as the afterparty.

Afterwards, they are seen returning to Taylor’s NYC apartment. (x)

September 29th – At Rep Tour Houston, a fan met Taylor in rep room and wished her and Joe a happy belated anniversary. (x)

October 5th – Backstage at night 1 of Rep Tour Arlington, Taylor tells Ryan Hurd that she loves his song Love in a Bar because it was especially meaningful to her relationship with Joe. (x)

[Taylor] said, “I love that song” and something about her and her boyfriend and referenced my song and I was like, “That’s cool.”

October 8th – In an interview for W Magazine, Joe is asked about his Patek Philippe watch.

“It was a present,” he says with a wicked grin.

October 18th – A reporter asks Joe about his thoughts on Taylor taking a political stance (x)

“I think it’s great, I think it's important”

October 28th – Joe posts a picture on Instagram that was taken on the rooftop of Taylor’s NYC apartment (x)

November 15th – Taylor and Joe attend the after party for Mary Queen of Scots held at Chateau Marmont in LA (x) (x)

November 16th – Taylor was seen at the an afterparty for The Favourite LA premiere held at Baltaire Restaurant. (x) (x)

November 16th – A video of Taylor playing the guitar is filmed, and is later included in the Lover lyric video.

November 22nd – On her Instagram, Taylor posts a compilation of all of Joe’s scenes in The Favourite and calls the movie phenomenal.

She also posts about it on her Instagram story (x)

November 24th/25th – Taylor and Joe were seen hiking in Nashville

November 26th – In a GQ interview, Joe talks about how Lykke Li is one of his favorite artists. (x)

Some of Lykke Li’s songs, such as bad woman and utopia, have been featured on Taylor’s Spotify and Apple Music playlists. (x) (x)

December 4th – Joe is seen leaving Taylor’s NYC apartment (x)

December 4th – In an interview with Esquire, Joe is asked whether he sought out guidance on his relationship with Taylor (x)

“I didn’t seek out advice on that. Because I know what I feel about it. I think there’s a very clear line as to what somebody should share, or feel like they have to share, and what they don’t want to, and shouldn’t have to.”

December 5th – Taylor plays Delicate at the Ally Coalition and sticks her tongue out at Joe during “you must like me for me.” (via taylorswifh) (x)

After the show, they are seen returning to Taylor’s apartment together. (x)

December 8th –  Joe posts a picture of him and Jack Lowden from inside Taylor’s NYC apartment (x)

December 10th – Taylor is seen at the London premiere of Joe’s movie Mary Queen of Scots (x)

December 13th – Taylor spends her 29th birthday in London. A clip of her blowing out the candles on her birthday cake is later shown in Miss Americana (x)

December 24th-25th – Taylor and Joe celebrate Christmas together with both of their families at Glin Castle in Limerick, Ireland. (x)

December 25th – Joe posts a picture on Instagram that fans theorize Taylor took.

December 30th – Taylor, Joe, and some of their British friends go for a walk in the West Village to visit Taylor’s old Cornelia Street rental (x)

December 30th – Taylor, Joe, Abigail, Matt and Patrick are seen going out to dinner in New York City.

Joe turns his whole body and walks backwards to block Taylor from the paparazzi.

December 31st – Taylor throws a childhood heroes themed party for New Year’s Eve, and Joe is spotted in the background of some pictures (x)

Taylor is dressed as Ariel and Joe is dressed as Zorro (x)

2016 // 2017 // 2019 // 2020

[kristallioness]

2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019

*arrives a month late*... Happy 2021 to all of you, my dear followers! *raises a glass* It seems that my tendency to finish my artwork or personal posts on time has only gotten worse over time (I blame work *lol*). Oh well, better late than never, since there are things I would still like to take with me from this extraordinary year of 2020.

It is cringeworthy that I have two huge red X-s this year. But after I'd put these puzzle pieces together, I remembered far too well what was going on in my (work) life at the time, so it's completely understandable why I didn't have the time nor the energy to draw at all during those two months.

What were those typical statistics that I wrote about again to compare the years? *goes to read last year's post*.. Oh, right! In 2020, I managed to finish 3 full digital drawings (from the months of April, July and December) as well as work on several sketches. I wrote 28,154 words worth of fanfiction (oohh, that's a lot better than previous year), plus 3,126 words in English (I dare say I wrote an equal amount in Estonian) for the prompts I got during UYLD (making the total 31,280 words, which is quite impressive!).

I finished reading the 1st Kyoshi novel in the evening of the 20th and slightly past midnight on the 21st December (barely before the holidays, but I set this goal for myself and I did it!). Am already looking forward to starting with the 2nd part some time this year. Besides that, I ordered and received all the other new Avatar books that came out (3rd part of "Ruins of the Empire", "Katara and the Pirate's Silver", "Legacy of the Fire Nation") as well as BOTH Avatar series DVD sets (I still can't believe I found these on sale on some random online store in Estonia, but these are now among my most prized possessions!).

I finally started my Avatar rewatch last January, but merely got to the Ba Sing Se episodes in Book 2 (I need to continue with "The Earth King") and now it's been 5 YEARS since I last saw Korra. Reading through my journal personal posts from last year, I know far too well that it's not about rushing through it as fast as possible. Instead, I should enjoy the ride and continue watching the episodes when I'm well rested and in the right mood. That way I'll end up feeling much more at peace.

As for the entire year as a whole? I don't think anyone in this world of ours was prepared for the way this decade would begin - with an uncontrollable pandemic, the virus of which is randomly attacking and threatening to wipe out the weakest amongst us. If any of you (or even if you know someone who) have lost a loved one to this plague, there is not much else I can offer but my sincerest condolences! Me, my family, friends and colleagues seem to have managed to avoid catching it so far. *spits 3 x over her shoulder*

I had such high hopes for this year in so many ways. Event-wise I was looking forward to watching the Eurovision Song Contest in May (where Uku Suviste was supposed to represent Estonia for the 1st time ever after so many unfortunate failures to get selected as the winner of our local competition), the European Football Championships in June (asking my colleagues which countries they support, perhaps make fun bets / guesses with them to see whose team would win the matches), the Tokyo Olympic Games in July-August, the President of Estonia (Mrs. Kersti Kaljulaid) coming to visit my hometown to celebrate our Victory Day by taking part in the parade together with the Defence Forces (after 15 years *sigh*)...

I will always remember my last big event, which took place when life used to be "normal", so to say. It was the 102nd anniversary of Estonia on the 24th of February, when I took part of all the most important celebrations in Tallinn on our Independence Day, FULL-TIME (whenever I scroll through my Facebook timeline, I see the photos I uploaded of that day, my heart melts and I smile fondly). But the day after that.. utter hell broke loose. We had our first infected person in the country.

I will also remember the last day I went to work in "normal" conditions. Friday, the 13th of March (typically my lucky day-number combination): I missed the tram I wanted to get on in the morning, at work my team received great news that one of our colleague's family had grown bigger by a new tiny member the day before, we had our last team lunch together, we discussed the safety measures that we should take and joked about what might happen next week, I took the bus home instead of the tram (as the tram's route came from the airport and that place was considered to be more dangerous and with a higher risk of catching this virus).. It was another 2.5 weeks later by then (since the 25th of February) - Estonia (along with the rest of Europe) went into full lockdown.

The beginning was frightening and people were on edge, nobody really knew what to do nor what was gonna happen next. But in time, things began to shake into place and everybody developed a comfortable routine for remote work, including figuring out how to get everyday things done (such as grocery shopping). I found solace in taking photographs of various beautiful bird species, who began to fly around and serenaded me during spring, visiting the trees around my "nest" i.e. rented apartment (with a pair of them ACTUALLY building a nest in the chestnut tree right beside my window, thus turning me into a protective godmother of their chicks).

To be honest, I was awestruck by the positive / surprising aftermath of this lockdown: how the world / environment began to heal itself from the pollution that was normally caused by humans. I was taken aback by how dead silent our usually loud capital became in my neighbourhood (I could only hear trams passing by my house according to their schedules, practically no cars whatsoever, streets were empty of people.. absolute silence).

By May-June, things started to look up in Estonia (as well as the rest of Europe) and people were allowed to start travelling / moving around more freely. During my vacation in July, I managed to go to my last (open air) event (for the rest of the year) under these new "corona" conditions and ended up having a blast at the Open Farm Days in my home county for the first time.

Our country's shining moment came during the first week of September, when we hosted the first ever Rally Estonia of the World Rally Championship (WRC), where our very own Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja won. The event was so well organized and successful that nobody caught the virus nor did the spectators / participants spread it to others, which surely must've helped in ensuring us a spot in the WRC calendar for 2021 as well.

The remainder of the year was rather dull, with the exception of the US Presidential elections in November, when we were all holding our breaths that Joe Biden would win (congratulations, my American friends!). This eventually led to the painful downfall of THE WORST government the Republic of Estonia has ever had, and to the rise of our first female Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas (both happening in January 2021, I couldn't believe it all spiralled so soon, ha-ha!).

Anyways, during the last 4 months, work was very stressful and driving me nuts, so badly that when I eventually went on vacation before Christmas, I had a slight anxiety disorder that wouldn't let me relax for several days (luckily it went away just as quickly once I began to take it easy and managed to get some proper rest / sleep).

In hindsight, I kind of get this weird feeling as if I saw this whole thing coming, given how actively I was living my life throughout 2019. My final year of the 2010's was so full of important events and personal achievements. It's almost as if something mysterious inside was driving me, telling me to visit all the places and do all the things I wanted to do, cause I wouldn't have this sort of a chance again for a very long time.

This must be the main reason why I am thankful for 2020 for going the way it did. Sure, I'm disappointed that a lot of events were cancelled, that so many people have had to leave this world so soon due to this unpredictable disease.. But I think there are so many lessons to take from what came out of all of this. I believe the world needed some sort of a restart or break, given in what direction we were headed (politically, economically, environmentally, socially etc.). I'm just sorry it's had to come with such a high price of innocent lives.

I have even higher hopes for 2021, given how amazingly January has already passed for me and my country, and what is to come in my hometown in February. Let's take the lessons learned from 2020 with us and keep on heading back towards the "normal" lifestyle we used to know. Except this time, let's improve our ways, put all the hatred behind us, be more considerate, keep a distance, stay safe, but still try to make the world a better place for everyone. Thank you so much for reading, for remaining by my side, and for your support and love throughout the years, my friends! I hope to see you all alive and healthy at the end of the white metal ox year of 2021! *virtual hugs*

[novaent]

AND*ROMA’s comeback is right around the corner, set to happen on August 19th.

Ahead of the comeback to help with promotions, Younggi, Darae, and Meiqi will go together to a recording of The Return of the Superman on August 7th. This will air on August 16th. On August 14th, Kaeun and Gyeoul will be panelist guest members of King of Masked Singer. This will air on August 23rd.

Their comeback showcase starts at 7pm, an hour after the official release. The photo teasers will play on the big screen while ‘So Good’ plays followed by the ‘High Heels’ music video. The MC of the night, Kim Nahee, will step onto the stage to start things off. The members will be called onto the stage and introduce themselves to the public, as well as their brand new song. They’ll perform ‘High Heels’ for the first time. The MC will start a section of questions and answers regarding their new album and comeback preparations, as well as other major events during their hiatus period such as OST releases. They’ll then perform ‘So Good’ followed by a performance of ‘Summer Kiss’. During the next break, the MC will ask a few personal and variety questions, as well as their goals for this comeback and the future. They’ll sing ‘I’ll Hold You’ with standing microphones and then freely move around the stage during a performance of ‘Sugar Baby’. Their outfits will follow the one on this image.

The following is the music show promotion schedule for AND*ROMA’s ‘High Heels’ activities:

08/20, 08/27, 09/03, 09/10: Mnet M!Countdown

08/21, 08/28, 09/04, 09/11: KBS Music Bank

08/21, 08/28: Arirang Simply K-Pop

08/22, 08/29, 09/05, 09/12: MBC Music Core

08/23, 08/30, 09/06, 09/13: SBS Inkigayo

08/25, 09/01, 09/08, 09/15: MTV The Show

08/26, 09/02, 09/09, 09/16: MBC Show Champion

During the first week of promotions, AND*ROMA will use ‘So Good’ as an intro song and will perform it alongside the title track. For any day that you do not have to perform or have any other schedules, you may have a break at the dorms unless said otherwise.

Music show promotions will last for a total of four weeks this time. Programs will begin pre-recording early in the morning and groups are expected to stay at the broadcasting station until the live broadcast takes place later in the day. Although music shows in real life follow varied recording schedules, for IC writing purposes, the schedule for every music show will follow this consistent pattern:

06:20AM: at broadcasting station: basic first rehearsal on stage; no makeup, casual clothes.

06:45AM: head to salon: get makeup and hair done.

07:45AM: return to broadcasting station: eat breakfast, nap in dressing room/space.

09:00AM: dress rehearsal on stage; stage outfits, makeup on.

09:20AM: return to dressing room/space: rest, eat, nap.

11:00AM: final camera rehearsal on stage; stage outfits, makeup on.

11:15AM: greet senior artist groups at their respective dressing room/spaces, accompanied by a manager. you may not sleep during this time, up until the live broadcast.

07:00PM: live broadcast; when not performing, must stay in dressing room/space until the ending stage of the show.

08:00PM: line up in waiting room area to formally greet producers, director, and senior staff.

09:00PM: meeting time with fans who attended the recordings.

10:00PM: return to dressing rooms to clean up, change back into casual clothes.

11:00PM: arrive back at dorms.

On applicable Fridays, members leave the KBS building for recording Arirang Simply K-Pop which airs 1PM ~ 2PM.

Gyeoul will be given the news on August 20th the details of an OST opportunity. The drama ‘Entertainers’ has offered her to sing one of the OSTs for the show, ‘I Can’t Live Without You’. She’ll be given the lyrics and the demo to practice with before she’ll be taken to the recording studio on September 3rd.

On August 21st, AND*ROMA will be guests on Idol Radio and on August 22nd on Cultwo Show. On August 24th, Sora and Darae will go to the radio SBS Power FM. 

On August 5th, Darae and Meiqi will record an episode of IQS for the S-POP Channel to air on August 12th. On August 13th, the entire group will record ‘MV Commentary’ for their new title song’s music video to air on August 20th. On August 23rd, the group will also record ‘Idol Café’ to air on August 30th. On August 31st, they’ll record ‘After Mom Is Asleep’ as based on this episode. This will air on September 7th.

You will gain +5 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH, +3 DEBUT POINTS and +2 ACHIEVEMENTS for completing the written requirements explained on the idol tier page. As this is a song promotion month, one of your chosen achievements must be relevant to the above schedule and all required content should be written about activities listed on the above schedule for the month of August. There is a capped maximum of five solos, sets of starters and/or partnered threads you may write to collect this month’s points.

To clarify, the only form that needs to be submitted at the end of the month is a verification form for your debut points and achievements. Any SP points earned can be collected as soon as you finish the requirement for them. At the end of the month, as you did with your previous evaluation forms, you will submit the following form to the Points Verification blog:

IDOL’S NAME - NOVA ENT - AUGUST SCHEDULE (for the September 2 verification form)

PROOF OF ACTIVITY: [ x ]

POINTS: +00 SP [ distribute these however you like ]

TOTAL POINTS EARNED: +00 SP +00 DBT

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #1 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #2 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

IF DO MAX REQS. :  +1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #3 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

DEBUT POINTS SPENT ON THE IDOL SHOP THIS MONTH:

NEW DEBUT POINTS TOTAL:

**** Their promotional activities give 5 EXP. Their music show performances give 26 EXP. Gyeoul’s OST opportunity gives 1 EXP. Their appearances in the S-POP Channel give 4 EXP, making it a total of 36 EXP. For more information regarding GROUP EXP, refer to the idol tier page.

[devotedtocarisi]

New York’s Finest Detective Peter Scanavino Taking In A Mets Game

This gorgeous photo of Alyssa Rose & @PeterScanavino was taken this past Friday, September 13th at the New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game @CitiField 

Source: @AlyssaRose 

[joannef1]

Postgrad Matriculation Day

What is the postgrad life like?

I am a returning student of University of Dundee, Scotland, and I am here to talk about my postgrad experience in real time, on the day it happens. First up is, as the title of this post declares, matriculation day which was today, Friday the 13th September (I know it will say this was posted on the 14th, but it is currently 01:26am which is why it says the 14th - I didn’t have time to post earlier today).

So one thing I do know so far is that matriculation was a whole lot easier and smoother than my undergraduate matriculation day, which went something like this:

Undergrad matric day:

Meeting with Advisor of Studies to pick modules (and there was a lot of modules to look through and pick from, so that took time).

Stand in long lines in a different building (Bonar Hall) to get your finance (read: tuition fees) sorted, actually hand in your matriculation form so your record on the system can go from ‘Applicant’ to ‘Current Student’, or whatever it is they do to matriculate you into the system, get your photo taken for your student ID if you hadn’t already sent in a photo for them to use (this makes the process even longer, do not recommend), and finally;

Pick up your student card!

Now, the postgrad matric day was along the same lines, but it was much quicker. I think it’s because by the time you do a postgrad, you know what your general area of interest is, so you will automatically look for the modules that falls into that category, instead of looking through each module information (at least, I know I did). And then going into Bonar Hall was as simple as going to the finance booth to make sure you have a plan in place to pay for tuition, actually matriculating, and then just picking up your student card.

Don’t ask why any of that turns out to be quicker than matriculating as an undergrad, but somehow it was. 

However, stress levels turned out to be about the same as when I was matriculating as an undergrad; there was a couple of stuff I had to sort through before matriculation.

One of them was the photo for my student ID. A deadline of 5th September was given to upload a photo online for our student card. I don’t look any different now than I did four years ago, so I emailed the university admissions team or whatever it was that deals with that, asking if it was possible for them to just use my old photo (I know it’s fine, because a friend did the exact same thing and they gave him the okay).

On Wednesday 11th Sept, I uploaded a photo online anyway, because I got no reply and panicked about whether I would get my student card in time before classes start (how would I ever get into the library?!) and just had to hope that it would be okay, which it was as it turned out.

And then I had to sort out my tuition fees. Students from Scotland will know we are paid by SAAS (basically, our tuition fees are paid for, and then we can get a student loan for living costs and everything else). As a postgrad, you will get £10,000 from SAAS - a £5,500 loan to go towards your tuition fees, and the other £4,500 for living costs. And that’s it. For the whole year (I moved back home because I wouldn’t be able to pay rent AND have money for food AND have extra money for any extracurriculars).

So tuition fees were originally £7,300 but as a returning student, I get the Alumni Scholarship, which is basically a discount on tuition fees (a whole £1,500 gets taken off), meaning my tuition will actually only be £5,800. And then SAAS pays the majority of that with the £5,500 they put towards it, so in the end, I only have to pay £300 for tuition.

However, when I accepted my offer, they hadn’t added the Alumni Scholarship onto my tuition fees so it wasn’t on my Admissions Letter, but I hadn’t realised until earlier this week because I thought the original £7,300 was the final amount with the discount already added to it. But it wasn’t. I was lucky a friend had told me they had had the same problem and had to email Admissions about getting the scholarship added on, and then his tuition went down to £5,800.

So I emailed Admissions too, and the very next day I got a reply that they will immediately add it on (they were very polite and apologetic), so I’m glad I was told about that, otherwise I would have gone into matriculation day thinking they already had added my discount therefore the final amount I would be due was £7,300, and I would have spent the next year worrying about having enough money in the bank each month to pay all of that off. £300 is much more manageable in a year.

Basically, the pre-matriculation parts are more stressful than the actual matriculation day. And I guess some undergrads have similar problems like I did recently with getting everything sorted before matriculation, or realising something doesn’t seem right with your fees/funding a few days before your matric day, which is the worst.

But all in all, so far so good; I am doing the modules I want to do (I’m doing the MLITT English Studies course) which are the core module everyone on this course (and then some) has to do in both semesters, and I am also doing the Gothic Tradition module in Semester One which I am looking forward to (one of my favourite genres), and then in Semester Two, I am doing the Special Author module, which is when I can pick a writer I want to study and basically just read only their books, and do research only about this one particular person, and write my essays on them (I plan to look at Tolkien). So I am very excited for that. However, I am still waiting on my timetable coming online, despite classes officially starting on Monday...

Here’s to a (kind of rocky) start to the postgrad life in Dundee!

[nicolahndphoto]

Exhibition Review - Linda McCartney

Friday the 13th of September

During Wednesday afternoon class, we took a trip on the Subway to Kelvingrove Museum to see Linda McCartney’s exhibition; Retrospective whee I ended up spending £60 in the gift shop and I don't even regret it. I’ve forever loved Linda’s work as a lot of the images feature my home; Campbeltown as the McCartney’s bought a farm there. McCartney shot a lot of her images on film, most of which were of her family and surroundings. The only images that were planned were of musicians such as The Beetles.

My most favourite image is featured below of Paul and their daughter Mary, photographed in 1969 mounted as a black and white platinum print. My reasoning for this is that my Mum took a very similar photo of myself as a baby on my Dads chest - he was however, wearing trousers. McCartney’s photos of her family are so intimate and loving especially ones like this; Paul naked with his daughter keeping his dignity hidden. Such a simple and sweet image with nothing really behind the making. Down on the right hand corner, you can see the brightness coming from a lamp which can be evident by the harsh shadows at Pauls side. The lighting is very complementary to baby Mary’s face which is expressionless. If this image was taken with natural lighting, the atmosphere would be completely different as more of the background would be on show as natural light bounces more than a lamp with a lampshade. 

All three images above are featured in ‘Family Life’ on Linda McCartney’s website. Left to right: ‘Paul and Mary, 1971′, ‘Peggy Lee’s Christmas Tree, California, 1974′ and ‘Stella, Scotland, 1983′. The first image of the trio is so beautiful. A father and his daughter yet again, facing the same way as if he is teaching or showing her something very important; this can be seen by their facial expressions of seriousness. Natural lighting from the window they are standing at has allowed soft shadows to gather around their chins, behind their heads and on his arms. This image is clearly not set-up but was however captured at the perfect moment. 

The second image of the Christmas tree is so unusual. Their two children are photographed holding balloons in front of a huge fluffy white tree filled with multiple coloured balloons. Natural lighting is seen pouring in through the side door/window which causes delicate shadows on both the girls’ faces. Exploring the photograph, we can see different items stuffed in the background which could be because it’s a busy time of the year with balloons and decorations pilled on top of each other. Overall, it’s not a fancy image but it is special. A simple photograph of their two children that is in no way organised apart from a quick ‘don't move’. 

The third image is very interesting as well as comical. If this photo was photographed today, their would be a problem as a child holding a lighter but in the 80′s, people would have laughed like I did when seeing this image. Clearly photographed on a beach also with natural light which I'm guessing from the harsh shadows, was a very bright day. Even the shadows on her arm are sharp. I can’t get over the pin sharp focus in this image. This was taken on film and is very impressive with the final outcome. Composition of McCartney’s daughter shows the quick snap of her camera but yet works effectively - as it seems relaxed.

On Horse back - 1986, Paul, Stella and James - 1982 & Distillery Workers - 1970. Campbeltown, Scotland

All three images above are photographed in Campbeltown during their stay. First two are in Machrihanish where the farm was with the third one being from a distillery - which I'm guessing is Glen Scotia - in Campbeltown town centre. The first image is of a horse looking over the straight to Campbeltown. The gradient of greys are so satisfying. The horse blends in until its ears are on show and pocking over the hill. The next image features Paul balancing on a fence whilst their two children play - one of which is photographed in mid jump. Both children and Paul are visible with the two children featuring more highlights than shadows showing it was a bright day with the sun behind Linda. I find the image the best out of the three as to me its comical. Why is Paul on a fence in a dressing gown? Why is the little girl crouched on the ground looking as though she has nothing on? And why is the child jumping photographed as if about to jump on a dog? McCartney’s were just another family enjoying their time together and it shows in this mage. Lastly, we have the distillery workers photographed outside their work all smiling. Despite the focus being a tad off, I am very fond of it. All the mens heads are in an almost straight line which composes the image. Dark shadows behind the men makes them stand out - even the man to the far left in a black jacket in front of a white wall - despite it being considered a candid. All images were taken in black and white film.

Linda McCartney Memorial Garden

Linda McCartney sadly died in 1998 of breast cancer. After this happened, Campbeltown decided on a memorial garden to be produced in her honour.

‘Following Linda McCartney's passing, a group of friends and admirers in Kintyre, where she had felt so at home, resolved that her memory and her contribution to Kintyre where her ashes now rest, should be recognised in a fitting manner. Thus they decided to form a small charitable trust, the Linda McCartney Kintyre Memorial Trust, in order to create a memorial garden in her memory.’

Sources:

https://www.lindamccartney.com

https://www.net-a-porter.com/ca/en/porter/article-132beca947950bc1/lifestyle/travel/mull-of-kintyre

https://mapio.net/pic/p-122516223/

http://www.lindasgarden.co.uk/index.htm

[negahc]

June 23rd, 2020

We're very happy to announce that the Northeast Georgia History Center is re-opening to the public beginning Wednesday, June 24th with health and safety guidelines in place. We also have new hours to accommodate more local visitors and regional tourism! Visit us Wednesday - Saturday 10 AM - 5 PM and Sunday 1 - 5 PM.

Before you visit, please review our health guidelines at www.negahc.org/reopen

Historian Glen Kyle presented our first livestream trivia game about the American Revolution! Glen had a great time, and we hope you all did too. A special congratulations to our winners, Brendan and Olivia! They received a Digital Membership to the History Center.

If you are interested in Digital Memberships, they are as low as $3/month or $35/year. Become a Digital Member at www.negahc.org/member. Once you become a Member, you will receive invites to Members-Only events.

Members Livestream: The History of Vaudeville

Historians Marie Walker and Glen Kyle presented a livestream program on the history of American Vaudeville to our Digital Members! They discussed the types of performances you would find in a vaudeville show, successful vaudeville performers, the transition from stage to screen, the cultural impact of vaudeville theatre, and so much more!

by Marie Walker, Director of Education

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there for elsewhere”—General Orders, Number 3; Headquarters District of Texas, Galveston, June 19, 1865

Juneteenth is short for June Nineteenth, the day that approximately 1,800 Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved people there were now free. Granger was acting under General Orders, Number 3, and was also enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation. Slavery in Texas did not end overnight after June 19th, yet the atmosphere in the state and in the south shifted dramatically after Granger’s declaration. Today, Juneteenth is a regional holiday commemorating the effective end of slavery in the United States of America. 

President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had become official January 1, 1863, had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that as of January 1, 1863, all slaves in the states currently engaged in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” But Lincoln did not actually free any of the approximately 4 million men, women and children held in slavery in the United States when he signed the formal Emancipation Proclamation. The document applied only to enslaved people in the Confederacy, who were in rebellion and therefor were not following the instructions of the Federal Government. The Emancipation Proclamation also failed to free those enslaved in the border states that remained loyal to the Union.

When General Orders Number 3 freed the people who up until that point in their lives had been enslaved, the reactions to this profound news ranged from pure shock to immediate jubilation. It was reported that some of the newly freed men and women took to the streets, singing spirituals to rejoice together. Many of the formerly enslaved people lingered to learn of this new employer to employee relationship, but many left immediately decrying the conditions of the plantation and wanting to fully realize their freedom.Even with nowhere to go, with no or very little money, many felt that leaving the plantation would be their first grasp of freedom. 

The celebration to commemorate of Juneteenth began in 1866, the year after the order was given. This holiday was a time for reassuring each other of progress, praying for the future, and gathering remaining family members. A range of activities were provided to entertain those who were celebrating, many of which continue in tradition today.Some of those activities included rodeos,fishing,barbecuing and baseball. Food is often abundant because everyone is encouraged to prepare a special dish to share. Juneteenth almost always focuses on education and self-improvement as well. Therefore, guest speakers are generally brought in and the elders of the community are called upon to recount the events of the past.Prayer services are also a major part of these celebrations. Dress was also an important element in early Juneteenth customs and is often still taken seriously, particularly by the direct descendants who can make the connection to this tradition's roots.During slavery there were laws on the books in many areas that prohibited or limited the dressing of the enslaved. Early Juneteenth celebrations involved gatherings dedicated to prayer and spirituals. People came dressed in new clothes, worn to represent their new freedom. Juneteenth continued to be highly revered in Texas decades later, with many former slaves and descendants making an annual pilgrimage back to Galveston on this date.  

In the early years, this celebration created little interest existed outside the African American community. In some cases, there was outwardly exhibited resistance by barring the use of public property for the festivities. In the early 1900’s economic and cultural forces provided for a decline in Juneteenth activities and participants. Classroom and textbook education in lieu of traditional home and family-taught practices stifled the interest of the youth due to less emphasis and detail on the activities of those who were formerly enslaved.Classroom textbooks proclaimed Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 as the date signaling the ending of slavery, and little or nothing on the impact of General Granger’s arrival on June 19th.

It was not until the middle of the 20th century that Juneteenth really began its resurgence and made its way across the United States. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, his followers continued his plans for a Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C. The campaign culminated in a “Solidarity Day” rally on June 19th, nearly 100 years since the first Juneteenth celebration. Participants returned home and brought the festivities with them, and Juneteenth became popular in an increasing number of states. Alongside the civil rights movement, the massive migration of African Americans in the 20th century, know in history as the Great Migration, spread numerous aspects of Southern black culture. 

On January 1, 1980, Juneteenth became an official state holiday through the efforts of Al Edwards, an African American legislator in Texas. The successful passage of this bill marked Juneteenth as the first emancipation celebration granted official state recognition.Today, Juneteenth is enjoying a phenomenal growth rate within communities and organizations throughout the country all with the mission to promote and cultivate knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture. 

Sources: https://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/

https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/emancipation-proclamation

https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/13th-amendment#:~:text=Passed%20by%20Congress%20on%20January,within%20the%20United%20States%2C%20or

https://www.britannica.com/story/juneteenth-celebrating-the-end-of-slavery 

Everyone please give a warm welcome our new Museum Services Manager, MaryTess Syfan! MaryTess is a Gainesville native and UNG Communications graduate (but you can call her “Tess”!) She has a passion for animals and demonstrates that through volunteering at TLC Humane Society where she also serves as a board member. When she’s not loving on animals, you can probably find her traveling the globe and indulging in new cultures. Food, art and history are just some of her favorite things to experience while traveling. When she’s back home, you can usually find her curled up with a good book. Tess is excited to be joining a team that shares in her passions!

By Lesley Jones, Archives Manager

This week From the Archives is a 100 year old panorama photo of the Baptist Young People's Union convention that was held in Gainesville, Georgia in June of 1920. This event drew quite a crowd! About 800 people attended the event. The Gainesville News wrote about the convention saying, "The Georgia B. Y. P. U. convention is one of the greatest inspirational meetings held in the South. It is eagerly sought for each year and was awarded to Gainesville only after a very warm contest. Augusta and Savannah and other places invited the convention and vigorously pressed their claims. Gainesville won out over all others, so the Convention is ours this year."

Historians Glen Kyle and Marie Walker will present a livestream program on Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts to our Members on Friday, June 26th. They will discuss the interesting history of the manuscripts and some of the beautiful works that were illuminated.

This is a Members-Only program by the Northeast Georgia History Center. Digital Memberships are as low as $3/month or $35/year. Become a Digital Member at www.negahc.org/member. Once you become a Member, you will receive an invite to this event and future Members-Only events.

This program is made possible by the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center and the Cottrell Digital Studio.

June 24th, 2020 - 2 PM EST - American LGBTQ Civil Rights Movements

Historian Glen Kyle and Libba Beaucham will present a livestream program on the American Civil Rights Movements for LGBTQIA+! They will be focusing on the movements of the 60s-80s, and look forward to answering any questions you might have.

Facebook Live Link:

www.facebook.com/negahc

YouTube Live Link:

https://bit.ly/negahc

This program is made possible by the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center and the Cottrell Digital Studio.

June 29th, 2020 - 5 PM EST - Virtual Book Launch: Newest Born of Nations

Join historians Dr. Ann L. Tucker and Glen Kyle as they discuss the subject matter of Dr. Tucker's book NEWEST BORN OF NATIONS, which explores the origins of the Confederacy and the international aspects of the American Civil War. There will be a live discussion and Q&A during the program. Facebook Live Link

:www.facebook.com/negahc

YouTube Live Link:

https://bit.ly/negahc Pre-order a copy of the book at https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5042 at 30% off through June 30 with the code 10READ.

June 30th, 2020 - 4 PM EST - LoFi History

The History Center is now on Twitch! LoFi History is a special Twitch stream with historian Glen Kyle and musician Libbaloops. Glen will take your questions from the chat about all things history as Libbaloops creates live electronic music.

This program is only available on Twitch, a livestreaming website. You do not need a Twitch account to watch, but you do need a Twitch account to ask a question in the chat.

Twitch Channel: https://www.twitch.tv/lofi_history

This program is made possible by the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center and the Cottrell Digital Studio.

We are incredibly fortunate to have SEVEN interns this summer! Each week we will be giving a spotlight to a few of our amazing interns. We are incredibly lucky to have them, so please give them a warm welcome!

Carmen Villicana, Archives Intern

Hi everyone! My name is Carmen! I was an educational programming intern last semester and now I’m an archive’s intern working under the direction of the amazing Lesley Jones! I am studying History Education (secondary grades) at the University of North Georgia! I’m excited to help catalog our cool artifacts this summer and am hoping to learn as much about local history as possible. Some of my hobbies include watching Asian soap operas and spending time with my dogs!! Pictured is me and my pup Freddie who was also pictured last semester!

Shannon DI Virgilio, Research Intern

I'm Shannon DI Virgilio, and I attend the University of North Georgia. I am pursuing a bachelor's in political science with an intelligence minor. I am hopefully graduating this fall (fingers cross). I am planning on going to graduate school to get get a master's in public policy. I want to work at the state-level of government doing research. What I hope to get out of this internship are professional research skills that I can use as building blocks.

This newsletter is made possible by the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center and the Cottrell Digital Studio.

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[myhauntedsalem]

14 Haunting Facts About the Winchester Mystery House

Despite the Winchester Mystery House’s cheerful appearance, this massive California mansion’s history is edged with tragedy, mystery and maybe some ghosts. Naturally, it has inspired a chilling horror movie, Winchester, which opens in theaters today. But before you go to the movie theater, wander through the curious past of one of America’s most infamous homes.

1. THE WINCHESTER HOUSE IS NAMED FOR ITS MISTRESS.

Sarah Lockwood Winchester—the wife of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester, whose family created the Winchester rifle that was heraldedas “the gun that won the west”—designed and oversaw the construction of the sprawling Queen Anne-style Victorian mansion that bears her name. Construction on the 24,000-square-foot home, which is located at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, California, began in 1886.

2. MANY BELIEVE SARAH BUILT WINCHESTER HOUSE OUT OF FEAR.

Overcome with grief in the wake of her husband’s death from tuberculosis in 1881, folklore states that Sarah sought out a spiritualist who could commune with the dead. While she was presumably looking for solace or closure, she was instead given a chilling warning.

Through the medium, William told his widow that their tragedies (the couple had only one child, a daughter named Annie, who died at six weeks old) were a result of the blood money the family had made off of the Winchester rifles. He warned that vengeful ghosts would seek her out. In order to protect herself, William said that Sarah must “build a home for [herself] and for the spirits who have fallen from this terrible weapon.”

Sarah was advised to leave their home in New Haven, Connecticut, behind, and move west, where she was to build a grand home for the spirits. There was just one catch: construction on the house could never stop. “If you continue building, you will live,” the medium warned Sarah. “Stop and you will die.”

3. THE HOUSE WAS UNDER CONSTANT CONSTRUCTION FOR 38 YEARS.

In 1886, Sarah purchased an eight-room farmhouse in San Jose, California, and began building. She employed a crew of carpenters, who split shifts so construction could go on day and night, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, for 38 years. The work only stopped on September 5, 1922, because the octogenarian mastermind behind the home died of heart failure in her sleep. It’s said that upon hearing the news of Sarah’s death, the carpenters quit so abruptly they left half-hammered nails protruding from walls.

4. THE HOUSE IS FULL OF ARCHITECTURAL ODDITIES.

Sarah issued many bizarre demands to her builders, including the building of trap doors, secret passages, a skylight in the floor, spider web windows, and staircases that led to nowhere. There are also doors that open to blank walls, and a dangerous door on the second floor that opens out into nothing—save for an alarming drop to the yard far below.

5. AN EARTHQUAKE ONCE RATTLED THE HOUSE AND TRAPPED SARAH.

In 1906, the great San Francisco Earthquake caused three floors of the then seven-story house to cave in. A 1900 postcard of the place shows a tower that was later toppled by the natural disaster. That tower—plus several other rooms destroyed in the disaster—were never rebuilt, but cordoned off. As for Sarah, she was safe but stuck in the Daisy Bedroom, named for the floral motif in its windows. She had to be dug out by her staff, as its entrance was blocked off by rubble.

6. THE HOUSE WAS DESIGNED LIKE A LABYRINTH.

Some say the labyrinth layout was meant to confuse the ghosts, allowing Sarah some peace and a means to escape them. She was the sole architect of this extraordinary home, and no master building plan has ever been uncovered. So Sarah may be the only person who ever truly knew all of its secrets. When movers were called in after her death, one lamented its labyrinthine design that includes many winding hallways. One mover told American Weekly the Winchester House was a place “where downstairs leads neither to the cellar nor upstairs to the roof.”

7. SOME SAY THE SYMBOLS IN THE HOUSE POINT NOT TO GHOSTS, BUT FRANCIS BACON.

An alternate theory on the Winchester House’s perplexing design declares that Sarah was creating a puzzle full of encryptions inspired by the work of English philosopher Francis Bacon. There’s speculation that clues to the house’s true meaning are hidden in the ballroom, the Shakespeare windows, and the iron gates. This theory suggests that Sarah was a member of a mystic society like the Rosicrucians, or a secret society like the Freemasons—or possibly both.

8. THERE ARE OTHER THEORIES, INCLUDING THAT SARAH WAS “CRAZY.”

Others speculate Sarah was coping with her grief with a flurry of activity, or that she was simply “crazy.” However, Winchester Mystery House historian Janan Boehme paints a happier picture, imagining that the continual renovations reminded Sarah of the good times when she and William built their New Haven home together.

“I think Sarah was trying to repeat that experience by doing something they both loved,” Boehme told the Los Angeles Times. She also suspects that Sarah was just an ardent—albeit eccentric—philanthropist who used her family fortune to purposefully employ the San Jose community. “She had a social conscience and she did try to give back,” Boehme offered, noting the hospital Sarah built in her husband’s name. “This house, in itself, was her biggest social work of all.”

9. ONCE IN WINCHESTER HOUSE, SARAH WAS RECLUSIVE, BUT NOT ALONE.

There is only one known photo of the widow Winchester, which was taken surreptitiously. Though she was reclusive, she was never alone. She had 18 servants, 18 gardeners, and the ever-present construction team working on the grounds. Every morning, Sarah met with the foreman to discuss the always-evolving building plans. And it’s said that each night, she visited the Séance Room to speak with the spirits, who weighed in on plans for the house’s unusual design.

10. THE HOUSE WAS AS OPULENT AS IT WAS ODD.

The home boasts 950 doors, 10,000 windows, 40 stairways, 52 skylights, 47 fireplaces, six kitchens, plus a trio of elevators, and once-groundbreaking elements like wool insulation, carbide gaslights, electricity, and an indoor shower, complete with a sewage drainage system.

11. NO ONE IS SURE HOW MANY ROOMS THE HOUSE HELD.

Following Sarah’s death, Winchester House was converted into a tourist attraction. But when trying to get a room count, the new owners kept coming up with different numbers. After five years of renovations, they estimated the number of rooms to be about 160, which is the number most often quoted today.

12. SARAH HAD AN OBSESSION WITH THE NUMBER 13.

Among the secrets Sarah took to her grave was why she insisted that so many things relate to the number 13. The Winchester House has many 13-paned windows and 13-paneled ceilings, as well as 13-step stairways. Even her will had 13 parts, and she signed it 13 times. But the pièce de résistance might be the house’s 13th bathroom, which contains 13 windows of its own.

13. IT’S A NATIONAL LANDMARK.

The Winchester Mystery House earned landmark status on August 7, 1974. The fascinating mansion is still owned by the family (families?) who purchased it from the Winchester estate in 1922 for $150,000—however, their identity is another Winchester House mystery. But thanks to them, tourists can now explore 110 of the 160-some rooms Sarah dreamed up. The Winchester Mystery House even boasts special tours on Halloween and Fridays the 13th.

14. IT’S REGULARLY CITED AS ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTED PLACES IN AMERICA.

To this day, Winchester House is a destination for believers who hope to have a paranormal encounter of their own. A popular spot for such activity is the corridors of the third floor, where tour guides have claimed to hear footsteps and disembodied voices whisper their names.

In a Reddit AMA, a Winchester House tour guide confirmed that the house’s third floor—only a portion of which is accessible during house tours—is definitely the spookiest part of the house, “because that’s where the servants lived, so there’s been a lot of reported activity there. Also, when you are on that floor you can never really hear any of the other tours, so you feel pretty isolated.”

[juniorformulamotorsport]

Friday, 13th/Saturday, 14th September 2019 – Home to Boppard and Oberwesel, Germany

Early in the afternoon, after handing off some outstanding work to a colleague, we set off across country to Hull to catch the overnight P&O ferry to Rotterdam, stopping on the outskirts of Hull to buy a flat (please don’t ask; the short version is it got complicated and our vendors suddenly insisted on the Wednesday that we really had to exchange contracts that week – and no bank will let you transfer that amount of money over the phone or online, you have to go in)!

Despite hanging around the bank for some time, we made it onto the boat good and early and promptly found that P&O’s website had once again sold me two cabins instead of just the one I wanted, which didn’t become obvious until we went to what was supposed to be a premier cabin and found it wasn’t. A trip to the reception desk and it turned out we had two keys, for two cabins, and it was the other one that was the one I thought I’d booked. The charming man who sorted it all out gave me the HQ contact details and a short phone call later they agreed to refund the standard cabins. The ease with which this was agreed suggests it’s a regular thing… maybe someone needs to reprogramme the UI sometime soon so that when you opt for an upgraded cabin it removed the one you started out with, rather than requiring you to backtrack and actually physically clear the field yourself!

As we usually do, we had dinner booked in the Brasserie rather than dealing with the scrum that is the “all you can eat” buffet on the grounds that we don’t need that much food. It’s fair to say that the menu in the Brasserie seems to have been dumbed down yet again, so we struggled to find anything that appealed apart from the fish options. I really don’t want a 16oz steak thank you! Even between us we’d struggle to get through that amount of meat, and burgers hold little appeal at the best of times, so we opted to share a charcuterie plate, and then ordered the sea bream and the salmon. By the time we’d worked through that, we couldn’t manage dessert so we ordered the cheese and packed it up to take away with us. It would be useful on the nights we were self catering, and we weren’t going to get a refund if we didn’t eat all three courses, so we figured we might as well!

The following morning’s breakfast was very limited in terms of options, so we went for the continental basket of rolls and pastries and made sandwiches for later in the day out of the rolls we didn’t want to eat straight away. And then we went to the car when called only to find it wouldn’t start. Dead as a dodo. This is obviously something else P&O are used to, because a young deckhand was sent off to fetch a heavy-duty jump starter, and withing seconds had fired the thing up. We weren’t sure of the cause, though I had a suspicion that I’d left the portable fridge plugged in and over the course of 14 hours on the boat it had drained the car battery, but just in case we decided not to stop until we reached the hotel. That way, if it was anything more sinister we’d be better placed to get it dealt with. So four and a half hours flat out through the Netherlands and down into Germany, not stopping for anything at all. I really wouldn’t want to do that again, is all I’m saying.

When we parked up, I switched the engine off, waited ten seconds, and tried to switch it on again. It promptly started, so it looked like it had been an own goal, though not a serious one. We happily unloaded the appropriate bags at the lovely, quiet, modern and very comfortable Landgasthof Eiserner Ritter, just on the outskirts of the town of Boppard, within sight of the Rhine, though not on it. The restaurant was highly rated, and looked delightful, but we had a booking to participate in the annual “Rhein in Flammen” event starting from Oberwesel that night. In effect this is a light and fireworks extravaganza, held in several locations on the Rhine throughout the year. A number of tourist boats proceed in convoy up and down the river, all their lights turned on, and the scenery on the side of the river is also lit up, and then they all moor up and a massive firework display entertains everyone, accompanied by music. It’s something I’d wanted to do for some time, and realising we were going to be in the right place at the right time, had managed to get tickets for a seated dinner onboard the “Rheingold”.

As all of this coincided with the annual wine festival in Oberwesel as well, so we got ourselves cleaned up, organised, and headed out to look around the town and have a glass or two of local wine (this is the Mittelrhein wine region by the way). It helps that the Upper Rhine Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage site (the 65km stretch between Bingen, Rüdesheim und Koblenz) packed with gorgeous towns full of medieval half timbered buildings, old city walls, and dramatic castles. Oberwesel didn’t disappoint in that respect, with towers, walls and a massive hospital that dates from some time around the 1300s originally but is now apparently a specialist musculo-skeletal clinic that stretches over several blocks and still has its original chapel attached.

Having snagged what appeared to be the last car parking space in Oberwesel, we set off on foot to find the Tourist Information office to collect our boat tickets and our free wine glasses (needed for the wine festival). It was a glorious day, the weather warm and the skies a brilliant blue, so stopping for a glass of chilled white wine seemed like a brilliant idea. The main street was packed with stalls, and we soon found one we liked the look of, round the corner from the market square where a traditional brass band was playing less-than-traditional music with great enthusiasm. we didn’t see any sign of the 2019 Weinhex (wine witch) which Oberwesel has instead of the more usual Wine Princess or Wine Queen, though I’m sure she was around somewhere.

After that we decided that rather than be saddled with carrying the glasses around all afternoon and evening we’d drop them off at the car and then take a wander through the streets to see what there was to see. The town itself has a long history. Many towns along the Rhine started out as celtic settlements, and Oberwesel is no exception, and of course it was then taken over by the Romans, who set up a horse-changing station and a hostel. It later became a Frankish royal holding with a royal estate, passing from Emperor Otto I to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg in 966. In 1220, Emperor Frederick II made Oberwesel a free imperial city, and it eventually joined the Rhenish League of Towns (Rheinischer Städtebund), before being handed over to the lordship of the Electorate of Trier in 1309, a situation that continued until secularization after the French Revolutionary Wars in 1802. As has so much of the region, it’s had a lively history. In 1689, in the Nine Years’ War, it was destroyed by soldiers of the First French Empire. In 1794 it was occupied by French Revolutionary troops and in 1802 was annexed by France. After the Congress of Vienna, Oberwesel became, along with the rest of the Rhine’s left bank, Prussian.

The walls were started in 1220, work that was concluded in the mid 14th century, and included 16 towers, of which several are still in existence. A clamber on the walls, despite wearing wildly unsuitable shoes for such behaviour, was pretty satisfying, but we skipped the museum as there was only 20 minutes left till closing time, and that would have just been unsatisfying. And then it was time to go and find the landing stage for our boat. On the way we stopped for a second glass of wine, only to find we had to buy two more wine glasses as well! So now we had 4 and we were still carrying 2 of them around. Luckily, I had a large bag with me, so we slipped them in there and I hoped I wouldn’t break them during the evening.

There was a massive scrum on the landing stage, so we hung back but somehow still ended up getting on board well ahead of most people, just by not pushing but sidling… it didn’t matter because our tables were pre-designated anyway, and so Lynne and I got the window seats. We ended up sitting with a lovely Indian family who had come up from Frankfurt, and a less than lovely trio of grumpy Russians, who didn’t seem to be enjoying anything about the event. The boat left pretty promptly at 6pm, and glided up river and then down a couple of times, while we had the dinner that was included in the price (a place of pork fillet, in a mushroom sauce, with some potatoes and “seasonal vegetables” which was actually just romesco cauliflower – it was less than inspiring but the food really wasn’t what we were there for so I guess it was alright – the vegetarian option the Indian family had looked a lot better though).

If you wanted dessert you had to pay extra for it, so we settled for a local rose wine, and drank that while the scenery drifted past, castle after castle, vineyard after vineyard.

As dusk fell, the ships all lit up although sadly due to a technical issue the lights along the riverside didn’t work, so there was no spectacular illumination there. There was a very dramatic moonrise though, the beginnings of which can be seen here just behind the ridge in the middle of the photo. It took scant minutes to rise, but was really special as it did.

There followed a mad rush onto the top deck as the boat moored up, the music started, and the fireworks kicked off in fine style. It was a bit of a scrum up there, and one or two people refused to let anyone past them, even if there was space beyond, which was mildly annoying for a few seconds. However, the real interest was in the sky and it was a really fine display, accompanied by 1990s soft rock music for some reason!

Afterwards we finished our wine as the boat (one of 35 taking part) returned to the landing stage, and then walked back to the car to find we’d got really lucky, because the road was blocked off by the fire brigade for some reason, but our car was the right side of the barriers. It was back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep, happy and entertained. Would I play €65 a head again? Maybe, maybe not. I think you could probably see the fireworks just as well from the river bank, but it was an experience and it was fun.

Travel 2019 – Alsace and Baden, Days 1 and 2, Home – Hull – Rotterdam – Boppard – Oberwesel Friday, 13th/Saturday, 14th September 2019 - Home to Boppard and Oberwesel, Germany Early in the afternoon, after handing off some outstanding work to a colleague, we set off across country to Hull to catch the overnight P&O ferry to Rotterdam, stopping on the outskirts of Hull to buy a flat (please don't ask; the short version is it got complicated and our vendors suddenly insisted on the Wednesday that we really had to exchange contracts that week - and no bank will let you transfer that amount of money over the phone or online, you have to go in)!

[marchellema]

On Friday September 13th we were able to see the full harvest moon that was in the sky that night for those that were living in the Northern hemisphere. And has been recorded as one of the smallest full moons that has taken place so far in 2019.  The moon itself was visible in the United States before midnight. The full phase of the moon will not be seeable also Saturday on the 14th  and will be entering the waning Gibbous phase and will not seem are appear as full as it was last night which is a shame. It’s also a shame to not have the technology to take really good pictures of the moon in this phase as it appeared to having more of a orange tint, which definitely gave a beautiful grow last night and is seen in the pictures below that was taken. Also this is seen in the article that is listed below in this blog post. I’m looking forward to mapping out the moon in a future lab to be able to understand the moon more and to understand its phases.

Link to the website: https://www.space.com/33790-harvest-moon-guide.html

Photos taken by:

Haylin Blake Etheridge

[aussiboris]

Family fun and a birthday surprise

31st August 2019

The last weekend in August has turned into an annual gathering of the Fujino Family near the ancestoral home of Otsu. Otsu is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture and is the main port lake for Japan’s largest lake- Biwa.

The meal celebrating the meeting for 4 generations was expanded to include the newest addition Tazzy to the family. 

We got to explore a small part of the lake shore on a misty August morning then took a quick dip in the pool. Particularly as the Japanese shut most of their pools on September the 1st. It is still very hot and humid at that point but thems the rules!

It was lovely to spend time with the nephews and start to get to know them better. The pic above is Orion trying to jump - he has the right technique but just couldn’t get air! So that was the end of some nice summer family time or at least that’s what Rob thought.

The Surprise

13th September

So as it was Rob’s 40th I told him I was taking him away for a weekend surprise in September. The other surprise was that Alex and family were coming to celebrate with us. Our first Fujino/Clare holiday together! I packed for him and all he knew was that he had to be at the airport for 6.30 pm on the Friday evening.

I was doing very well at keeping it quiet until we got to the security area for our bag drop and the man wanted to know our destination so I had to say we were going to Okinawa. 

Rob was pleased with this as we have been wanting to go for a while. 

Rob at Okinawa airport - still unaware of the full surprise!

Eventually we made it to our hotel where we were greeted by enthusiastic staff. They led us to the premium floor. At this point I had to blag a bit as we don’t tend to splash out on accommodation. I was like oh I told them it was your birthday they must have given us an upgrade. 

As we were checking in (on the premium floor) the receptionist kept mentioning Alex and Eba, luckily she was quite quiet so Rob couldn’t follow everything she was saying, and I added bits like Eba had recommended the hotel maybe they had paid for the upgrade... Rob got a bit annoyed with me for texting ‘my mum’ ( I was frantically texting Alex) “we were supposed to be on holiday”.

Finally thinking that Rob must have caught on that something was up we made our way to our room. At this point Orion wandered into the corridor. Rob turned to me and said that looks like Orion? At which point Alex, Eba and Robby appeared. 

Rob was completely surprised - no clue! Apparently I’m a pretty good liar or more likely Rob is just unaware.

What followed was celebratory drinks from the lounge and some lovely beach time. 

Okinawa World

The weather was not great so we decided to explore the South end of Okinawa. One of the most popular attractions in that area is Okinawa World. There are caves with Stalactites and stalagmites, traditional lion dancing and many different crafts. 

There was also a Habu Park. Basically the most poisonous snake in Japan lives in Okinawa so they decided to have small theme park based around it. As part of the experience we got to see a show. In the show they raced a sea snake against mongoose - in separate tubes. They also demonstrated that a Habu was more likely to strike a warm balloon than a cold one. At the end of this strange ‘educational’ show we got to have a photo taken with a python. 

Driving near the coast of the island

Shuri Castle

Our final point of call was Shuri Castle. Okinawa was originally part of the Ryukyan Kingdom. This kingdom at varying times in history was independent but had strong trade links with China. In 1609 it was invaded by the Japanese and became part of the Shogunate system. 

This castle shared many familar Japanese castle features which recognised from the many we have visited. It was made of wood and as with most of the castles in Japan had burnt down many times in its history. Most recently it had been destroyed in 1945 during the battle of Okinawa. It carefully rebuilt in the 1990s using personal recollection and records. 

One of the main reasons we had wanted to see it was its bright red colour. We were excited to explore the sprawling network of buildings and collect the different stamps of differing locations. It was definitely one of the highlights of our visit so it was a saddening shock to hear that the castle had pretty much burnt to the ground just over a month after we had visited. 

The South of Okinawa is quite industrial but has a few cultural gems. We look forward to exploring the wild Northern part.