#to collage because it was SO MUCH rarer then to be able to find them

[13eyond13]

You couldn't look up a YouTube video to learn more about a topic, because YouTube didn't exist. Podcasts weren't really a thing either, you mostly would be listening to your local radio stations or the CDs that you owned. If your library didn't have books about a subject or your parents didn't allow you to take in certain media then you were mostly plum out of luck for learning more about it. And even getting recommendations for things from other people online or learning more about people from other backgrounds and cultures to help you expand your mind wouldn't be easy because of the lack of social media hubs for people of similar interests to find each other and congregate.

I sometimes wonder if it might be harder for people who didn't grow up until after the internet and social media and 24 hour news cycles etc. were a huge part of daily life to understand where Light is coming from with some of his naivete and sheltered ignorance in canon. Speaking from the experience of being a child in the 90s with strict parents who was sent to a very strict private school and surrounded by a very homogenous culture where everybody was pretty similar and had similar backgrounds and worldviews, I just think it was MUCH easier to be kept in a little bubble of ignorance like that in those days. When you're growing up in those specific circumstances then the only influences you are getting to shape your views are what your family believes and does, what the people at your school believe and do, and whatever other information you're somehow able to glean by the books you read, the websites you somehow manage to find and visit (though there wasn't much of any social media to use then, and you might not even have access to a family computer) or the movies and shows you watch (way fewer of those to watch and access easily back then as well).

[onlyjihoons]

college bf!jinyoung

req: collage bf!bae jinyoung au please? im in love with your writings!!!💕💕💕

a/n: special thanks to xuan @hwinkinghwi for the dope mb,, and tho i hate to admit it,, yes baejin looks good in a beret

major: early childhood education

honestly has no idea what to do with his life, but daehwi told him that he was very good with children so he listened lmao

this may or may not have been inspired by w1go

when he first stepped into the classroom, all the female students swooned, because its rare to find male students in that major

even rarer to find such handsome guys in early childhood education

needless to say, all of them shoved him their phone numbers, and when he reached home, he threw them all away LOL

honour roll student back in high school, and of course, valedictorian AND voted #1 cutest boy in the cohort?? oh yes good

people often doubt his ability with children, like,, with that face of yours, shouldn’t you be in mass media or fashion?

but jinyoung can calm a crying baby in less than 5 seconds and he just impressed all of his professors and lecturers

and also the ability to make children happy in just 1 action of his ggugguggagga

and no,, it isnt cute,, its just him badly imitating jihoon and his face does the scrunching thing,, children love it and find it amusing

able to master any baby sitting trick in just one glance and repeats it perfectly

now, lets imagine,, jinyoung cradling a 6-month old infant and singing a lullaby for him to sleep

walking around and swaying to mimick the movement of a rocking cradle

youre welcome

honestly,, jinyoung and babies are the next otp to biscuit wafers and chocolate aka kitkats everyong reference hah im so funny

a1 theory student, able to memorise a 101 page long lecture note in one week, and gets full marks in every test

also in the school’s dance club, dances fairly well, though very underrated

lowkey popular?? but only amongst people who have had classes with him,, is also very lowkey about his life

you, on the other hand, a vetinary major

the only major which actually gives you an excuse to avoid human interaction

to you, animals are true to themselves and dont lie, arent snakes like humans

you have a 2 dogs at home, a poodle and a maltese, which gave birth to tiny maltipoo puppies which were absolutely adorable

you even have 2 guinea pigs,,, your mother was about to chase you out of home because of the number of pets you have

an avid animal lover, the worst part of your major was to put down sick animals, you really hated that the animals were left with no choice but to die

anyhow, one day your professor asked you to bring some puppies over to the early childhood section

you wanted to question why they needed the puppies but you just kept quiet

so you brought over 2 golden retriver puppies, one in each hand

you didnt have enough hands to open the door for yourself, so you had to use your foot to gently kick it open

you were greeted with a room full of toys, and a mirror on one side

you were puzzled, but someone then came in after you

it was this boy, in blonde-brown hair, carrying a toddler in his arms

he looked way better than most of your classmates, to be honest

you regretted not removing your ugly white doctor’s jacket, and your hair was up in a messy bun, with your round rimmed glasses resting on your nose bridge

you were far from presentable, and that boy looked ready to walk on a runway in a simple pullover and jeans

“i--uh... professor lee told me to bring over these 2 puppers here, yeah.” you stuttered

“ah, thank you so much, i need them for a study, but dont worry, the kid wont harm them.” he smiled, as he let the toddler in his arms familiarise himself with the puppies

you nodded your head, then joined him at his seat at the side of the room

“uh, when can i return the puppies...”

“jinyoung”

“jinyoung-ssi?”

“i dont need them for very long actually,” jinyoung said while scribbling down notes on his clipboard, “just about 15 minutes...”

“y/n”

“y/n-ssi.”

you bit your lip, as much as jinyoung was handsome, he seemed cold and unapproachable

you wanted to make small talk but seeing how engrossed he was in his task you decided not to disturb him and observe along with him

after about 15 minutes, jinyoung stopped writing and approached the toddler to tell him they had to go

obviously the toddler didn’t want to, and threw a tantrum

jinyoung calmly tried to calm him down, but the tantrums got worse

so you had to step in and tell the toddler that he could visit the vetinary department anytime to see the puppies, in the kid voice you picked up from your brother when he tried to calm his crying son

the toddler stopped crying, much to jinyoung’s surprise

“this hyung right here will give you candy if you behave well and listen to him!”

“wha--”

“really?”

“really. right, jinyoung?”

jinyoung gulped, “yeah, i will.”

you winked at jinyoung, while carrying the two puppies

“i thought you would be better than me at this, jinyoung-ssi.”

jinyoung turned bright red, and laughed sheepishly, “yeah, i guess you’re good with kids, y/n-ssi.”

and that was prolly the last thing you heard from jinyoung after you left

you had to calm your beating heart as soon as you dropped off the puppies

you thought it would be your last time meeting jinyoung, but no fam heaven has loads more in store for you

you liked to do your work/study at macdonalds’ ,just because the smell of food motivates you

of course, with a mountain of french fries by your side and a large green tea

you have an insane addiction to french fries, you reckon you are gonna die of hypertension before the age of 40

but all’s good because you do exercise regularly, aka chasing after animals

one day you had way too many assignments, and your roommate being a light sleeper, you decided to complete it at macdonalds’ 

you were on your 5th packet of french fries and 3rd cup of coffee

at this point you were about to just drop dead but the assignment was worth alot on your grade

and you had to get that 4.0 gpa

suddenly Likey came on your playlist, and you had to jam to it

because its a bop guys pls support twice

and doing the likey choreography

“you’re good at dancing”

you got the biggest shock of your life, seeing jinyoung settle down on the seat opposite you with a tray of his meal

you also cursed at your luck, always looking at your worst in front of jinyoung

“n-no.. i cant really dance ahahahahAHHAHA”

“what are you doing?” jinyoung peeked from behind your laptop screen, “assignment?”

“yeah... i’ve got a presentation on thursday too.”

“does that mean you get off campus early?” jinyoung asked with his mouth full

“yeah, i guess.”

“do you want to, perhaps go on a date after your presentation?”

you stopped typing momentararily, “a date?”

“yeah, i want to thank you for helping me out that day.” 

you slumped, you thought he was actually asking for a date-date

“and also,, i think you’re kinda cute--”

your eyes widened, as your face blushed at jinyoung’s sudden confession

and that was how the both of you got together HAHAH

very abrupt im sorry

jinyoung would wait for you at the lobby of the dorms to walk to campus together

and go for a quick coffee run

barista!ong would shoot jinyoung playful winks and glances, and jinyoung will never patronise the cafe again 

macdonalds’ dates,, be it with homework or without homework

his lectures always end earlier than yours,, or maybe its just that he blasted off after his lectures to not keep you waiting

most of the time, its the latter

would ask you loads of questions

“how is your course like?”

“are animals more well behaved than children?”

“do you need to bribe them to listen to you?”

literally the type of bf that just walked out of a manga... like he is literally nunbuseyo shining shining without even trying fam

your presence would never fail to bring a smile on his face

would pinch your cheeks whenever he feels like it

lowkey annoying but you know he loves you

“why is my aegi so cute?!?!?!?”

“jinyounf plsf sthop”

your number 1 hypeman too

likes to see you in shambles(messy hair,no makeup, oversized outfits) because “no makeup aegi is the best”

has a habit of calling you aegi bc youre smaller than him makes no sense im sorry

often does the nose scrunch when he is in concentration which is super cute

yall know what im talking about

buys iced tea for you in the summer and hot tea in the winter

lowkey clingy and gets jealous easily

but most of the time he would be messing w you,, always ending it off with, “i’m just kidding, aegi”

whenever you’re stressed while doing work or anything he would have the 7th sense lol and immediately cuddle you with no warning and sometimes you end up having to rush your assignments bc jinyoung distracts you too much

when jinyoung gets stressed, he often bites his lips to one point it started to bleed

and you had to help him nurse the wound rip 

then sneaks a kiss to your lips,,

“my lips would heal immediately like that”

thats how your first kiss went lol

tbh jinyoung is hella shamless as contary to his image

but overall a sweet and caring boyfriend that loves skinship

[hickorycreekrp-blog]

Out of Character:

Name/Alias: Megan

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: 23

Timezone: PST

Face Claim Preference: Jennifer Lawrence

Character Basics:

Full Name:  Ella Carmen Romano

Nicknames/Prefers: Carmen

Age: 22

Occupation: Owner Hickory Creek Dance Academy, Hickory Square

Pronouns: She/Her

Gender:  Female

Hometown: Hickory Creek

Current Neighborhood:  Hickory Square, Lives above her Dance Academy in a 2 Bedroom Flat.

Highest Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts – Dance and Ballet

Religion: Familial is Catholic. Personally believes in God and is not churchgoing. Even though she has a Catholic upbringing she does not consider herself Catholic.

Family and Relationships:

Parents: Ethan Romano (father, 47) and Rebecca Romano (mother, 45)

Siblings: Ethan Romano (brother, 24)

Children: None

Other: Working to build.

Pets: None at this time

Sexual Orientation: bisexual (prefers women due to distrust of men, but is open to them.)

Romantic Orientation: Feminine with Chivalrous habits

Marital Status:

Personality:

Favorite Film: Hunger Games Trilogy

Favorite TV Show: Pretty Little Liars

Favorite Book: None.

Favorite Song: Katy Perry Roar

Favorite Color: Pink, Red, and then Black

Likes: soft hair-free skin, strawberries, romantic people, dancing, cooking, horse riding, photography, writing, romantic dinners, foreplay, after-care, taking time to enjoy a moment

Dislikes: liars, smelly people, smokers, abusive people, assumptive people, negativity, ridiculous people who are extremists, bullies

History:

TW: Bio contains mention of Rape

Ella Carmen Romano is a girl who has seen a lot in her life even though she grew up in the small town of Hickory Creek. She was born to Ethan and Rebecca and her older brother who was also named Ethan. While they were not a rich family they were well taken care of within the means of their combined incomes. Her father, Ethan Sr. was a car salesman and her mother Rebecca was a receptionist. Neither were jobs most people aspire to but what mattered is her parents seemed to enjoy them, or at least what they provided to give them the means to support their family. And that would be the true direction of her family’s happiness. They loved each other. Growing up her family mostly called her Ella until she started school and discovered Carmen sounded better to her.

While they were growing up her brother was not a typical brother in the sense that they barely fought about anything. They still had their moments when they did but it always ended in a caring hug. Most of their moments were filled with teasing, at least from Carmen’s part. She knew her brother cared about her and would protect her from people or being hurt if he ever needed to. It was actually a comfort to know that she had people to lean on who wouldn’t let her be hurt. Unlike many who might see that as smothering or other ways it was a good feeling.

Ethan was always playing football or working to get better at it all the while she was learning to dance and do ballet and especially enjoyed cheerleading, twirling batons, and in other ways performing. She loved to be the center of attention, but more loved the feelings that came from just being with music. That was much more fun than a life without music.

Right after high school graduation she went straight into college. She applied and was accepted after her formal auditions to Julliard qualifying for a scholarship. Each semester she trained as hard as she could and barely went out except for meals or whatever she needed for school. Even rarer were moments when she just went out to get away to breathe a moment. There were those moments though and for the most part they were very enjoyable.

There was one moment that she has yet to share with her family and especially her brother as it had become something so personal to her she isn’t sure she could talk about it without shaming them or at least that is how she saw it. During her first year when she was running in the park alone because her running partner had fallen ill she was abducted for a night who took her somewhere unrecognized because especially she was tied up in his trunk. He later raped her and released her but that night would change her forever. The true depth of that story she isn’t totally even sure how to begin to approach telling her family.

She was able to bounce back and keep her mind focused on Dance and Ballet and was able to graduate from her collage Summa Cum Laude and for sure knew her parents and brother would be proud of that, even if she still hadn’t told them what happened to her and wasn’t sure if she could. She knew it would be something that was noticeable by her family even if her relatives may not be able to put their finger on what was wrong. By the time she had graduated she had been to enough private counseling to have taken control of her life again and was even dating again on and off.

There were many job offers for her and she could have gone anywhere in the world. But truth is she loved her family too much to be without them. So she returned home and opened the Hickory Creek Dance Academy. It was a school that she wished would have been there when she was growing up but is so happy to be able to bring to her hometown. Everyone should have the chance to dance. She built her home on the floor above the dance academy so she is always there and can dance whenever she wants. It also helps her keep her passion as she works to rebuild her life and what was taken from her. She is currently working to find a relationship and put her life back together as close to before her innocence was taken as possible.

The return home is going to be hard and she is curious to see how that goes…

[thegrumpypenguin]

  He stole a lot of hearts last summer!

  *************************************************************************************

  We’re baaaaa-aaaack!

First things first: I’m very sorry for the delay of several days in posting this, but I had a very good excuse: we’re back at the Zoo!!!  Members were allowed to walk back into the Toronto Zoo with timed admission tickets for a temporarily modified unidirectional route on June 27, so naturally I booked every single day of the seven – and even went back for a bonus eighth yesterday, July 4. As a result, I have been exhausted for virtually every minute I have been home over the past week, and I would have already created this post had I had more than two days’ notice of the opening. I am so, so happy now, and here’s a special bonus for this post: I have some brand-new photos of Mr. Partington and the rest of the mob, taken in the past couple of days! Thank you all so much for your patience. And now, without further ado, here’s the Calendar Post for July, 2020.

  *************************************************************************************

  Tori and a very young unnamed joey

In my May blog post about Stevie, I spoke of the thrill of having the kangaroo walkthrough open again last year after being closed while the giant pandas were in Toronto. This being the year of Covid-19, I’m not sure it will be open for general walking through this year, but it is one of the Wild Encounters and, as of July 4, guests can once again pass by the perimeter fencing to see the macropod mobs. Last year, however, I spent a great deal of the summer amongst the roos and wallabies – at first waiting for Tori’s joey to start venturing out of the pouch, but eventually because I had pretty much fallen in love with every single one of them. Over the past 12 months, though, the demographics have changed a fair bit, due to a few deaths along the way (older or ill roos, they weren’t really a surprise). In one case it might almost have been a weird blessing in disguise, as one of the kangaroos we lost was Josie, who was the mom of Sydney, the youngest before this month’s celebrity roo – Mr. Partington – was born. As a result, Sydney – who to that point had been very clingy with her mom – began to spend her time with Tori and Mr. P, latching on to her as almost a surrogate mother and observing how she raised her new son. And now that Sydney has become a mom herself, it already appears to me in the few glimpses I’ve had of her that she is a lot calmer and self-assured than she might have been had Josie still been around.

  Sydney (left/rear), Tori, and Mr. Partington (before he was named)

  Meribah and me

The toughest loss for me, personally, was probably the very least surprising. Meribah, the oldest of the mob at (I believe) 24 years old, was humanely euthanized in early February of this year, as her quality of life had severely diminished over the winter. When I first began visiting the roos in early July last year, she would often not be far away from Tori as both were kind of isolating themselves from the bustle of the mob, albeit for very different reasons. When I squatted down to take shots of Tori in the shade by the rear fence and gate, I would generally be able to turn 180 degrees and spend some quiet time with Meribah right afterwards. She seemed to enjoy these sessions, as she usually would relax a bit deeper into the grass and turn her ears towards my while I quietly spoke to her. When Sarah and I did our first Kangaroo Wild Encounter near the end of July, I was so busy shooting photos of everyone else that I nearly missed my chance to feed any of the mob myself. When it was my turn, most of the usual suspects had no appetite remaining, so I looked around and spotted Meribah in her usual place at the south end of the exhibit, in the shade. I asked if I could feed her and the group leaders said I could certainly try, but they weren’t sure if she’d take it. As you can see from the above photo, she was more than happy to take the treats I was offering her, in much the same way I was able to be the only one who fed Stevie last year in our later Encounter.

  My elderly friend

Meribah was the first of the mob I was able to touch, as well, though not that day but on a later visit. She was soft and quite woolly for her age, and actually seemed to enjoy the contact every bit as much as I did. As the summer progressed and Mr. Partington became more active, I found myself spending less time at her end of the exhibit and, therefore, less time with Meribah. I kept my soft spot for her right up until the very end, though, and when the Zoo set up a special set of Wild Encounters on Australia Day on January 26th of this year (with all proceeds going to help the recovery from their devastating bush fires), I grabbed one of the slots, thinking it might well be the last time I would ever see my friend, and it was. I even managed to get her to stand up and wobble over to me, but I could tell she was very weak. She was gone 10 days later.

  Rest well, sweet friend

  Sassy little boy!

But this post is more about celebrating life and birth – the new arrival of a precocious little boy roo early in 2019. From my very fist visits to the walk-through I was able to view at least a piece of the joey’s anatomy (most often a leg or tail) protruding from the opening of Tori’s pouch, indicating that it wouldn’t be very long before the entire beautiful little creature would emerge and show himself to the world. When he finally did begin to spend significant time out of the pouch, I was one of the very first to discover that he was, in fact, a boy, as he had the interesting trait of extending and withdrawing his tiny penis every time he nursed from his mom. I didn’t see this as I was taking the photos but I noticed it pretty quickly when I was tweaking them at home and reported my findings immediately to the Keepers and the Comms Team at the Zoo. Another Keeper had thought he had seen a similar thing happen, so I was basically confirming his suspicions. Once his gender was established, it was a couple of weeks before he received his name. Most of the roos at the Zoo are named after Australian towns or cities, with very few exceptions; however, for the new lad they decided to honour a long-time Australasian Keeper who had just retired: David Partington. I had heard the baby was going to be called “David;” when they unveiled his official name it turned out to be Mr. Partington. Ironically, as luck would have it there is a very obscure town in Australia named “Partington,” so it all turned out very well, indeed!

Speaking of that little penis: the photos above show it off in all its glory and, as I shot this month’s eventual winner seconds after this picture, he was pretty erect in that one, too. So I, um… ahem … “removed” it from the photo I went with, simply because I really didn’t know who might have an issue with it hanging on their wall. Here was how the shot looked before the “tweak:”

  Mr. “P” indeed!!

  One day in September, I arrived at the walkthrough before it opened to the public. While I was leaning on the fence beside the gate, I spotted this little brat antagonizing his mom and his Auntie Sydney. I quickly shot a video with my camera that wasn’t particularly steady, but I had to set up quickly so as not to miss the moment. I showed it to a couple of the Keepers (on the camera’s viewing screen” and they urged me to send it in to the Comms Department, which I did. They took it and edited it brilliantly – even adding a funny soundtrack – and posted it on their social media feeds. Here is the finished work:

    As I mentioned off the top, I have been able to grab a few shots of the mob in the past few days: some taken during a Wild Encounter I did on Canada Day, and some taken, as a nice bookend, on Independence Day from the outside fence. I’ll post a couple of the best here now for you:

  Alice (left), Sydney and her joey

  Mr. Partington at about 18 months old

  For comparison: Tori (L/Mr. P’s mom) and Mr. Partington

  The “money shot:” Sydney and joey at dusk

  My other favourite (#1 now that Meribah’s gone) is Jeff. Jeff is a derpy, carefree, older gentleman (I think he’s the oldest roo in the mob at the moment) who I absolutely adore. I make a special point of looking for him whenever I visit the roos; I never have any trouble finding him. Here is a small collage of my favourite shots of Jeff over the past 12 months (my favourite is where he is photobombing my shot of Simon and Foster!):

    Well, I do believe I could write pages and pages more about these guys, but I should probably save some stories in case another one is featured down the road, so I’ll end it here for now. Thank you for your patience and thank you for reading! Next month: a shot which is rarer for me than it should be, given how often I try to grab exactly this pose. We’ll step away from Australasia for a bit… but, geographically in the Zoo, not too far away at all.

I’ll leave you with another mosaic of roos shots and wish you a happy July! Try and stay cool!

  2020 “HANGING OUT WITH ANIMALS” Calendar – July Story ************************************************************************************* First things first: I'm very sorry for the delay of several days in posting this, but I had a very good excuse: