#young k fiction

[prettywordsyouleft]

Impulsive

Pairing: Brian Kang x female reader

Genre: fluff / coffee shop au

Warnings: none

Word count: 1373

“What’s something you’ve never done before?”

Looking up from the toasted panini you were cutting in half, you frowned at your work friend Stacy. “What?”

Your other friend Zeke clapped his hands together and leaned forward. “Oooh! I like this concept. There’s plenty of things Y/N has never done.”

“Wasn’t this a generic question for us all?” you asked, slightly panicked at the way they were eying you now. You attempted a laugh. “What have you never done then?”

“I can’t think of anything,” Stacy responded with a shrug. “I’ve experimented with a lot of things.”

“So have I,” Zeke added on, shooting you a smirk. “Our Y/N here though…”

Looking between the pair, you gaped at them incredulously. “What? What about me?”

“Miss Routine that you are.”

“I’ve never seen you impulsive before. Everything is planned out, carefully thought about—”

“I like structure! And thinking about things before doing it means I save money and—”

“Eats the same panini every time we come here for lunch and grumbles when the table you like is taken. Face the facts, you do everything the same every time.”

You couldn’t refute it, looking down at your chicken cranberry panini, the same as you got last time you were here. You relaxed into the certainty of doing the same thing every time. You didn’t like surprises or change. Whatever you could keep the same in your daily and weekly rituals, you did.

It was out of habit, a necessity to your comfort levels.

Why were they pointing it out to you now?

Stacy cupped her chin in her palm. “Don’t you ever wish to do something out of the ordinary?”

“Not really, no.”

“Nothing major. That would be upsetting to you. But something different. Bold. Step out of the comfortable slipper life and stride through your day in heels or something,” Zeke suggested, animated as he imagined this strange version of yourself. You tried to follow his vision but soon scrunched up your nose.

“What’s the point?”

“You could be missing out on meeting someone new.”

Zeke nodded with a sly grin forming. “Or doing something about that crush of yours on Jason.”

“Ohhhh! Now there’s an idea.”

“No. No way!” you answered with a hasty shake of both your hands, warding off their merciless smiles. “Nuh-uh. I’m fine with it just being a healthy crush.”

“Of four years.”

“On a guy who’s never paid much attention to you.”

“Hey!” You held up the butter knife and pointed at them both, neither fazed at your choice of defence. “I didn’t know today was pick on Y/N day.”

“We’re not picking on you.”

Zeke reached out for your hand. “We want to see you shine. We love you, and we know routine means a lot to you. But you could do with shaking things up now and then.”

You didn’t want to admit his words stood out to you. Maybe you needed to just do something so entirely impulsive that you could hold up as a model for being capable of adapting to something out of the ordinary now and then. Glancing around the café you were eating lunch in, you caught the eye of another person seated across the shop from you. He smiled politely, and you looked at him, analysing.

He had to work in some type of professional position, given his neat green striped shirt and charcoal suit pants, the matching jacket folded over the adjacent chair. His dark hair was pushed away from his face, rich brown eyes now bemusedly catching your prolonged stare again. You blushed and darted your focus to the same-old sandwich you were eating at the same table, and suddenly were up on your feet before you acknowledged the reason.

“Did we push too far?” Stacy worried, glancing at your resolute stance, and over at Zeke who was equally at a loss. “We don’t mean to—”

“Never have I asked a stranger out in a random setting,” you told them before rounding the table and walking over.

Despite the amusement still etched in his handsome expression, you noticed the look of surprise in his eyes. “Hello?”

“Hi,” you said, holding out your hand. “I’m Y/N.”

“Brian,” he responded on instinct, slipping a warm palm against yours. “Can I help you, Y/N?”

“Yes. You see, my friends were just informing me how dull I am, and that I never do anything unexpected.”

Brian looked over at the table behind you but you couldn’t divert your attention from the situation. If you lost your resolve now, you’d stumble over your words and make an embarrassment out of yourself. Heck, you probably already were, but you couldn’t stop for a second to allow the thought to brew. The stranger’s gaze slipped back to yours and he canted his head to the side. “It appears you have their attention piqued.”

“And yours?”

He smiled easily. “It’s not every day a woman approaches me and tells me they’re dull.”

“I did say that didn’t I,” you murmured, feeling your safety barriers descend.

“That said, I am intrigued by your stepping over here. If this is you doing the unexpected, what’s my role in this?”

“You’re hot.”

He had lifted the iced drink on the table to his mouth as you blurted that out and spluttered the mouthful. “You’re really not holding back with your honesty,” he observed, reaching for his napkin to mop it all up.

“This is why I don’t do impulsive things,” you groaned, reaching out to help clean the mess.

“I’m not put off,” he assured you, cracking a grin. “So, I’m hot?”

“Now you’re fishing for more compliments?”

“I’m not opposed to receiving them,” he told you with a flash of his teeth. You laughed and sat in the chair he gestured for you to take. “Level of attraction aside, what does my appearance mean?”

“I told them I’ve never tried to pick up someone randomly before.”

“That’s evident.”

You cringed. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how badly am I doing?”

“A solid six. I’ve had worse.”

You scrunched your nose up, looking at him again. “Worse than some lady telling you’re hot and making you choke on your drink?”

“It’s a memorable meeting, Y/N.”

“I can’t tell if memorable is a good thing or not.” Brian checked his watch after it beeped and then looked back at you, crestfallen. You sighed. “Time’s already up?”

“I have to get to a meeting in twenty minutes,” he confirmed, reaching for his jacket.

You stood on shaky legs, unsure if you were mortified or not. Despite doing everything awkwardly, he wasn’t shooting you pitying smiles, and you didn’t wish for the ground to open and swallow you whole. That had to mean something, right?

“Well, thank you for humouring me.”

“Can I humour you some more?” he wondered, pulling out his phone and holding it out. You glanced at it and then at him, watching his lips curling into another smile. “It was the hot compliment that hooked me.”

“Of course, it was,” you replied with a laugh as you put in your number. Brian tapped out something, and you vaguely heard your phone chime over at the other table.

“I’ll text you to see where we can take this impulsive meeting?” Brian asked, and you nodded, farewelling him dazedly before walking back to your friends and taking a seat.

“Holy shit.”

“I cannot believe you just approached him and told him he was hot!” Zeke exclaimed and you buried your face in your hands and let out another groan.

“Never am I doing that again,” you admitted, fishing out your phone as it chimed again.

You opened the message from the unknown number on your screen, sitting up as you read it.

Hey, this is Brian.

I think you’re hot too. Text me a time to see if we can handle this heat together.

“Oh my God,” you breathed with a chuckle, fingers tapping out a reply. That was incredibly lame.

It wasn’t my best work. But I think you did well with doing something impulsive, Y/N.

Sitting back in your chair, you smiled. Brian was right. It hadn’t been all that bad after all.

_________________

All rights reserved © prettywordsyouleft

[DAY6 Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist]

[childrenofcain-if]

oh no, they’re not an RO but can be a fling option. you’ll definitely meet them again in all the routes to make the situations a little bit spicy 👀

#and by spicy i mean that punches are gonna be thrown #jealousy jealousy

Is Kyle a frat bro? I just find the idea of a frat bro (even one at Yale) being C’s love rival so funny, C would be so annoyed about it lmao.

lmao not you clocking them 😭 they’re not a frat bro/sorority sis yet, but it’s inevitable since they’re about to pledge soon 🫢

none of the ROs will be too happy about MC being involved with someone from the greek societies, especially C and M 💀

[jstor]

Nine covers of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (AKA Blade Runner, of course).

Cornell University's Images from the Rare Book and Manuscript Collections on JSTOR features lots more related content, including prequels, video games, movie stills, the covers of Alan E. Nourse's original Blade Runner—which had nothing to do with Dick's novel!—and William S. Burroughs' Blade Runner: A Movie which is an adaptation of sorts of the Nourse novel.

Oh, and there are more than 11,000 additional images that have nothing at all to do with these movies or books! Dig in, the collection is free and open for everyone!

[schlock-luster-video]

On August 21, 1982, Blade Runner debuted in Spain.

[stardustandrockets]

Here are some recs to read in lieu of the Boy Wizard series.

I asked my followers for recommendations on what to read instead of That Series™ and y'all definitely delivered. I included my own recs with little descriptions and most of the others are either on my tbr or completely new to me. I made sure to list whether it was a middle grade or young adult read.

I only put two of my favorite Diana Wynne Jones books on here, but anything she's written has magic in some form or fashion.

Books listed:

My personal favorites:

Slide 2: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones (middle grade); A 7 book middle grade series that follows the world of the Chrestomanci—a nine-lived enchanter who oversees the use of magic. The 7 books follow different characters that all intersect with one another. Did I mention there are parallel worlds?

Slide 3: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (middle grade); Seen the movie? The book is just like that but far more chaotic. It's still whimsical, but there's more depth and development. It's nostalgic even if you haven't read it before. It's also book 1 of a trilogy.

Slide 4: The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. LeGuin (young adult); A series of 6 books that follows the wizard Ged. Very reminiscent of Lord of the Rings to me, but in a more approachable way. (Idk, I haven't read LotR. I've just seen the movies.)

Slide 5: The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques (middle grade); A 22 book series featuring talking animals as protagonists, this series set mainly around Redwall Abbey has something for everyone. The books don't have to be read in order, but publication order is suggested.

Slide 6: Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (middle grade); A retelling of Greek myths. Neurodivergent rep, badass kids, humorous, and so full of heart! This series (and the others) aren't just for kids. I got into them late in the game (maybe early high school?) and revisited them as an adult and they're so good! Perfect for anyone wanting to dive into mythology.

Slide 7: TBR/Follower Recs (MG): Witchlings by Claribel Ortega, Nevermoore by Jessica Townsend, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Slide 8: TBR/Follower Recs (MG): The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton, Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, Septimus Heap by Angie Sage

Slide 9: TBR/Follower Recs (YA): Alanna the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, Little Black Bird by Anna Kirchner, Young Wizards Series by Diane Duane (falls between MG & YA)

Slide 10: TBR/Follower Recs (YA): Summoner Series by Taran Matharu, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (trilogy), The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper

[bigheartedbibliophile]

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Summary:🐱‍👤👩🏾‍🤝‍👩🏼🗡✨

SPOILERS

I was highly skeptical of this book going in. Everyone I know who has read it loved it, and it’s enormous on Booktok/Instagram. I figured they were overhyping it, honestly.

Boy, was I WRONG! This book was honestly so good. 

This book has everything: competition to become the King’s champion, female friendship, magic, foreshadowing, love triangle esque? But not overly complicated, humor, tragedy, EVERYTHING.

I enjoyed that the book had different POVs the entire time, although it mainly focused on Calaena Sardothien (the main character), who is such a badass. She’s an assassin who was in a labor camp (you'll find out why later in the series, I’m assuming) and spent a year there before being released by the prince to fight and win her freedom as the King’s Champion. She has a hard time trusting people, and letting someone close to her got them killed last time (again, explained later in the series)

Dorian Hallivard is the prince and one of the love interests. He’s annoying in this book, but I heard he gets better as the series continues. His dad is the king, and he is fucking evil. I kind of called that, and certain things, like the king attempting to kill his son’s champion, were pretty expected, but some of the other stuff, like the king’s heavy involvement in the magic he supposedly got rid of, was a bit surprising.

Chaol 🥗 Westfall goes with Dorian at the beginning of the book to get Calaena out of the labor camp and be Dorian’s “champion” in the competition. I love him; he’s sassy and no-nonsense, or at least he pretends to be. I liked him immediately. He’s the other love interest but does not act on his feelings in this book. He’s reserved and best friends with Dorian, and doesn’t want to get in his friend’s way of pursuing Celaena.

Calaena is initially interested in Dorian, but once she wins the competition, she knows they can’t be together, as he is the prince and she’s nowhere near royal.

One of my favorite characters is Nehemia, a princess visiting from another country. She is trying to get information and stop the king from taking over her country. She and Calaena become fast friends, and even though they lie to each other about things, they work through it.

What was wild was the way this book ended! I knew Calaena would end up fighting Cain, the most prominent and worst competitor in the “game.” What was surprising was how he was killing the other competitors through some sort of magic called Wyrd, where he summons demons and shit, and then absorbs the other competitors' strength!! Calaena is such a significant threat to him (and the King, we find out later) that she was poisoned, and she still fucking wins. The ancient Queen Elena is kind of a ghost, and she helps Calaena get rid of the poison in her body before she can get back to fighting seriously, but while the poison has her, she can actually see the demons Cain summons. The poor girl keeps going through some shit.

Meanwhile, Dorian, Chaol, and everyone else can only see her struggling, but can’t see the demons. Nehemia is pretty badass and starts doing magic secretly to help protect Calaena while she’s trying to get rid of the poison. Dorian does nothing to help her, and I get that his dad is the king, and interfering would invalidate and disqualify her from the competition, but come on. You guys made out a whole bunch, and you’re just going to watch her die? Chaol at least went to her side and kept her fighting, saying she couldn’t quit. From his perspective, he gets so worried about her. When she finally wins, the king not so subtly nods to Cain, who tries to kill her when she turns her back. Chaol, the Captain of the Guard, by the way, notices and kills Cain without hesitation. He’s obviously traumatized by this, and I don’t believe he’s killed before, but maybe he has. The king shows Calaena a hint of how truly evil he is by telling her that if she fucks up, she will kill Chaol, then Nehemia, then everyone else she cares about. And that’s pretty much how the book ends!

I’m excited to see where the series goes with everything and how certain things get explained. Questions I have for this series: How did the king eliminate all the magic in the land? Will it ever come back? What does the symbol that appeared on Calaena’s forehead mean? Who does she end up with? What will happen once she’s done her four years as the King’s champion? There are so many others that I can’t remember right now. 

I forgot to mention why I didn’t give this book five stars. The author keeps saying Calaena “isn’t like other girls,” I get that she really isn’t like other girls because she is an assassin! But there are ways to explain that without being a “pick me girl,” if that makes sense. I don’t know; it just feels like the author hates other women or at least has some underlying issues with women that came out in her writing. Maybe Kaltain, the woman who poisons Calaena and is trying to get with the prince, is based on a woman she doesn’t like, and that’s why everything comes off so weird.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy/young adult/romance. I read this in July/August 2024.

[madlovenovelist]

#bookquotes

The ‘Paper Girls‘ Netflix show inspired me to get my hands on a copy of the original comic series – and wasn’t disappointed. It’s got that ’80s vibe, sarcastic teens and crazy time travel.

[moranjpg]

the first quarter of the year readings

heres my eight titles that i read thus far! i loved or at least liked every single one of these - not one bad apple among them! im way ahead of my reading schedule as well, so before im starting hell bent im going to check into some books i wanted to reread last year …

[theinfinitedivides]

HELLO AGAIN 🙌🏻

was patiently waiting to see your takes on ktl ep 12 because lord what an episode that was.

i paused so much during the last scene just to take multiple deep breaths to prepare myself because istg i was literally dreading the whole thing. god, those maid outfits.. i can't.

the image of the plate breaking and sarang's heartbroken eyes are still so vivid in my mind, i literally cried the moment the episode ended because did i expect conflict and angst? yes. was i prepared for that? nope. not at all.

i feel like it hurts even more because we've had episode after episode of them being madly in love and now we see won seated at the table in his house being served by sarang in a maid outfit with the daughter of the other hotel's chairman sitting right next to him and we hear his dad say he wants them to get married within the year. like wow. that's just a stab to the heart.

absolutely can't wait to see how the rest of that situation plays out, but more than anything, i'm terrified about what's going to happen to sarang for breaking a plate because the manager kept mentioning how "the dream team" never makes mistakes and it's stressing me out.

on another note, that whole scene where sarang opened up about her mom to won at the sea was so beautiful. also, won's reaction to sarang telling him what she found out about his mother and giving him her picture.. i honestly couldn't quite figure out what won was feeling in that moment and don't think he did either. the way he was just so overwhelmed with emotions and had to walk away to look at the picture and process everything.

also, my heart broke for pyeonghwa. her backstory literally made my blood boil. WHO TF DO MEN THINK THEY ARE?

on a similar note, can daeul please take chorong and leave her husband and his shitty family. the amount of patience she has to tolerate the treatment they give her is insane. ofc that's easier said than done though and the heartbreaking reality is the stigma divorce has on women which shouldn't even be there in the first place.

lastly, hwaran. she surprises me every episode because somehow she manages to get worse and worse. terrible mother, terrible sister, full of greed, absolutely heartless, manipulative, cunning.. the list goes on. now she wants sangsik on her side too and i honestly can't predict this one but i'm putting my trust in sangsik. please do not let us down. 🙏🏻

no idea what's going to happen in this week's episodes but to everyone who complained about there being barely any plot in ktl what were you watching, first of all, and i hope you're happy because the drama is drama-ing rn. 😭

love how we're both having basically the exact same thoughts about all of the sh*t that went down over the weekend and now we get to pick it apart while still having somewhat of a meltdown, sksksksk. going to put this under a read more bc i don't know how much is going to be collapsed on the dash and i can almost guarantee that this will get longer than the last two asks i answered although i will try to avoid that, my apologies

i stand by my previous statement that bringing Sa Rang there to that specific meal as part of the Dream Team when the arranged marriage was going to come up was Hwa Ran's doing bc that overlapped too f*cking well to be a coincidence. she knew what that would do to Won, not only bc of his trauma but bc of the way he defended Sa Rang from the assemblyman (when he raised his voice at her *cough*) and she really came out here and said she'd milk that for all it was worth bc he handed that extra weakness to her and f*ck. she's one of the worst people in this series but hats off to her for going for the f*cking jugular and doing it well (and endangering Sa Rang's job in the process, bc hey what happens when you're part of a team that doesn't make mistakes and then you make a mistake? nothing good i'm assuming). i especially hate how this comes after they went to visit the sea and Sa Rang opens up to Won about her mom (and tells him about his own mom in the process, but we're getting there), bc we all know how much she has wanted to work at King Hotel, how much the memories of her mother are entangled with them. working at the hotel is like the causeway in the midst of the sea, the last connection she has where Won has none, and if this plate breaking is part of the catalyst excuse for Hwa Ran to try and force her out of the company (though i doubt that will be the only reason she'll use, we need something more substantial) it will be like the tide has returned and she is back at that beach, trying to go and see her mother, crying bc she is not able to, bc no wind turbine can bear the weight of her, and that will definitely f*ck me up more than anything else has so far. (writer-nim don't do that to me pls i don't think i'd be able to make it)

but Won. his dynamic with the memory of his mother flays me open and lays me out to dry and they really dug into that with the photo, bc the first thing i thought of when i saw his face (notice that we did not see hers clearly enough, that was a strategic choice; are they trying to say that he is a reflection of her in that as well, a la 'and they will recognize all the lines of your face / in the face of the daughter of the daughter of my daughter (son)'?) was Lucille Clifton's brilliant poem "oh antic God", seen below (screenshotted) and linked as well��

really and truly i can't pick any lines bc the whole thing applies (except for the part where she talks about her current age) and i hope you can see why, bc as much as he says he does not want to know anything about his mother i think something shifted when he took the photo from Sa Rang and he saw. Junho does so, so well here with all of the microexpressions, since that is what part of what makes the scene—there's a certain time where you think he could be angry, almost, at Sa Rang for going ahead when he told her he didn't want to but then she tells him that she does not want him to have regrets and he has to walk away from her. be careful or you'll end up like her, Hwa Ran said, unimportant and forgotten, but here is Sa Rang speaking of someone who remembers her, and she was good, and she was kind, and she was brave and beautiful and loved at least, and he doesn't know what to do with that information and we don't either. and so he steps forward, braces himself (i see this as a callback to his stance in ep 3 when he leaves the interview, bc i don't know why everything keeps coming back to that panic attack but i sincerely thought that the way things were going we would get his hands on his knees in the same way), and for a moment i looks like he is trying to say something, anything, lips parted, but there is no sound, no noise, only the single tear on his cheek, and God the camera cuts away from him—

i am trying to be very normal about this but uh. my brain is screaming 'COSMIA COSMIA COSMIA' (Joanna Newsom for the second time my beloved but this version too) interspersed with 'wish i knew / wish i knew the words to this one' and that's kind of complicating matters don't you think

as for Pyeong Hwa and Da Eul—ykw i think they deserve a little murder. they deserve to go batsh*t. just as a treat bc the men????? that they have consistently had in their lives????? no woman deserves that but especially not them. honestly i don't know who i want to go after first Pyeong Hwa's ex-boyfriend (#1 candidate for scum of the earth) or Da Eul's husband (ties for #1 candidate for scum of the earth and who also had the audacity to come out here with his ass and say she'd have bad karma come back on her bc she [rightly] complained about the invasion of privacy his family is perpetuating), but tell me when we decide on one bc i have the ammunition for it. wouldn't be surprised if that mf*cker is cheating on her too bc we did get a partial allusion to that in the earlier half of the series, albeit it could just be him choosing his work associates over his own family and not necessarily having a woman on the side. either way this sh*t needs to stop and i 100% support Da Eul taking Cho Rong and leaving. f*ck divorce stereotypes all my homies hate divorce stereotypes just make sure his ass pays that child support

and now for a bit of Hwa Ran character study to round this off (yay for me i actually followed the outline you set out in your ask asfdgjnlcisdwbkkq). as we continue to observe her and the way she interacts with her father, her half-brother, her husband (who is desperately trying to become her ex) and her son, i feel like the screenwriters are pushing the narrative that even if she is a horrible person she, too, is a victim of the system. and i get why they would do that, bc they do have a point. i touched on it briefly in the tags of this reblog, but i think there's a part of her that is doing these things in regards to the company bc she thinks she knows best. she believes that this is the way to not become irrelevant, not to stoop to the level of her father and her brother in becoming so sentimental at times they lose sight of the real goal (in her view, both times it has been bc of a woman). she puts herself out there so she can have power, since such a inbred, patriarchal society does not listen to you otherwise, and in return she is sacrificing her relationships. and even then, she still thinks that there is no other way to do this and survive. she has convinced herself of this, of so many things, that it has become a part of her, so the minute it looks like she is about to lose her control she looks for the closest thing within her grasp to regain. here, with the inheritance fight, it is the King Group and her leash on Won, and Sang Sik, bright eyed and ambitious as he is, looks like an extension of that leash to her. (after all, didn't he say he's the only one who can handle Won?) considering that Sang Sik has been by Won's side since they met, however, i don't believe he'll switch sides, but more that he'll weigh his options and play double agent in the process since they have spent basically the entire series showing us where his loyalties actually lie (and which she underestimates). tl;dr, Hwa Ran's personal arc is somewhere between Who Are You, Really? by Mikky Ekko, Spite by Vandaveer and Blood // Water by The Neighbourhood, and if they take her the way i think they're taking her (read: she spirals) then she's pretty much f*cked as a result

i am biting my nails rn with regards to the upcoming eps bc hey!!!! this threat of my OTP falling apart for fifteen seconds isn't the plot i asked for!!!!!! i don't need this kind of anxiety i decided against watching Revenant live bc of that!!!!!! just praying we get through with minimal damage that's all i can say

[victoriaperpetua]

Book Review: The Language of the Birds

Like the author, Stephen King inspired me to just write. His book, On Writing, is one of the reasons I now read at least a book a week. Also like him, I am a big fan of Andy Weir and Blake Crouch. But mostly I am thankful that Merson was duly inspired to write. Why? Because The Language of the Birds is a wonderful and unique book. The story, which revolves around real science and facts but is…

[rosepetals1984]

Review: "How to Lose a Best Friend" by Jordan K. Casomar

Initial reaction: Very strong 4 star read for me for a YA book that I’m glad I picked up upon release. This is not your typical romance story, and I’m actually glad to have picked it up. I don’t think we get as many teen books where the characters who are “fated” to be together just because they’re life-long friends actually end up at odds. Imogen is such a strong voice in this book and I loved…

[childrenofcain-if]

I'm low-key hoping that Kyle/Kyra really turn up the drama several notches high 😂

Do you have any faceclaims for them?

kyle tømmeraas:

kyra tømmeraas:

[orangemoonxworks]

LIFTED EPISODE 001: NOTEBOOK NOSTALGIA — 3 WRITTEN BY: K. Reynolds --------------------

Christine woke to the doorbell ringing and reluctantly dragged herself out of bed to answer it only to be greeted by Lox whose high presence cast a shadow over her. And then, there was the mortifying realization that she wasn’t in a “presentable” state. Her hair was frizzy, there were bags under her eyes, there was a long-dried saliva trail from the side of her mouth to her chin, the strap of her tank top hung off her shoulder, and she was still in her pajamas. She didn’t need to see herself in a mirror to know she looked terrible, and that reality made her heart sink.

(Why!? Why the heck are you here?!)

Lox, who was dressed as if he’d already been out for a while, asked “Are you just gettin’ up? It’s like one in the afternoon.”

Her voice shook as she spoke, surprised by his sudden appearance before her. “W-Wha…what are you…doing here?”

“I came to see you.”

“You came to…” she immediately turned away then put her hands on her cheek to hide her blushing.

(To see me?! What in the…?! Why?!)

“Yeah, I came to scoop you today. I know you not doin’ shit plus it’s the weekend. So, it’s just gonna be me and you.” he explained then, seeing the confusion on her face, asked “You got a problem with that, or?”

“It’s just…um, w-whatever was it that prompted this act of k-k-kindness?”

Lox’s right brow raised. “What? I just told you.”

Only a few days had gone by, and I was starting to settle into my new life. Well, sort of. I didn’t anticipate that the boy who I’d embarrassed myself in front of, then proceeded to unload my sad story onto the next day, would be a recurring character.

This was all too sudden to be a kind gesture to her, and after years of being fooled by such gestures made her wary/ “Did my mom put you up to this? If so, then don’t bother. I-I’m fine, really.”

“Ya moms got nothin’ to do with why I’m here. So, I don’t know why you bringin’ her up.”

“But, then why?” She grew even more confused. “I don’t…I don’t get it. You have friends to hang out with, and a girlfriend too, right?”

“Yeah, and?”

“Then why would you waste your day with someone like me? I’m pretty sure your friends are way better and fun to be around. You already know what I’m like, so –”

“You got cheese doodle crumbs in your hair.” he interrupted, pointing at the orange specks stuck in the strands of hair on her left side.

She quickly dug them out, stroking her hair with her fingers. Seeing rainfall of crumbs fall hit the floor made her face go pale. She raised her head like a zombie with an undead look on her face.

(Oh universe, why must you torture me?)

He smirked and chuckled. “Anyway, get dressed. I’mma be back in like 20 minutes.”

And with that said he walked off. She grabbed the corner of the doorway and leaned halfway out. “Wait! But I never said I –”

Lox ignored her and haphazardly waved as he went up the stairwell. She sighed then hopelessly whimpered “Augh, never mind.”

+

After Christine reluctantly got dressed and left with Lox, she aimlessly followed behind him with no idea where he was taking her or what they were going to do for the day. It wasn’t long before they stopped to rest at the base of the statue at Lafayette Square – a triangular traffic island next to Morningside Park. She sat down, slightly hunched over, resting her elbows against her thighs, then twiddled her thumbs while Lox downed drank the bottled water he bought earlier.

She still couldn’t fathom why he dragged her along with him, nor why she chose to tag along. Thinking back on the past few days, she thought it was strange that he’d want to hang out all of sudden considering how their last conversation went. They briefly spoke to each other in passing a few times since, but that was about it.

Christine finally decided to speak. “So, tell me the truth – you feel sorry for me, don’t you? You know, after what I told you.”

He finished drinking then sat the bottle side him. “If that’s what you wanna believe. I said point blank I got no sympathy for people who cry about shit but won’t do nothin’ about it. And you made it clear the other day you’re that type of person. So, what I gotta feel sorry about?”

“Wow, harsh.”

“It is what it is.”

“Then, why? Why do you want me to hang out with you if I’m such a disappointment to you?”

“Because I don’t give a fuck.”

She stared at him, confused by his answer.

(What does that even mean??)

“I told you I got a homeboy just like you, right? Even though he gets on my nerves with the woe-is-me shit and be acting like a punk sometimes, we still cool at the end of the day. I don’t gotta like it but that’s where he at right now.” he explained.

Christine smiled. “Aw, that’s oddly sweet.”

“You not any better than him.”

“Hey!” she crossed her arms, glaring and pouting.

“I’m just telling it like it is. So, what’s good with you?” he shifted his body toward her. “I ain’t get to talk to you like I wanted to the other day. Since we got the time, and now we can chill or whatever, I can get to know you for real.”

Her eye grew wide.

(Wait, what? He wants to get to know me?? ME??? But why???)

She hunched her shoulders as if she were retreating into a shell, clasping her hands together, wiggling her fingers. “Uh, well, there’s not much to know. I basically told you my life story already.”

He sucked his teeth. “Bruh, all I know about you is that you a loner. That don’t count as your life story or whatever you talkin’ about.”

“You’re just a jerk at heart, aren’t you?” she said, side-eyeing him, then groaned. “Up until last week I lived with my grandparents in East New York which isn’t the best place. But I’m sure you know that already. I always hated it there because it was dirty, loud, stinky, and filled with crazy people. There’s always something going on there, and trust me, none of its ever good”

“Most of the time I’d stay inside because it was so wild. Plus, I got bullied every day so that certainly didn’t help. And to make matters worse, my older sister a.k.a. the devil’s spawn, tortured me at home.”

She grabbed her arms, tightening her grip, and shuttering. “Gosh, she was so cruel. She locked me in the closet for four hours one time, and then tried to force me to eat rat poison another time.”

“Damn, that’s crazy” Lox replied.

She continued, “Thankfully, she went to live with our dad after a while. And then it was just me and my grandparents. My mom left to live with one of her friends while she went to college. It sucked not having her around, but I understood why she was doing that. I mean, look at where we are. This is a dream come true.”

“What? To live out here?” he asked, curious.

“Yeah. There was this tall building nearby and, on the holidays, and we’d go up there and watch the fireworks and the stars. You could see the Twin Towers from there.” she said, a nostalgic spark in her eyes. “We used to fantasize about living somewhere close like Brooklyn Heights where we could see them every day. Funny enough, I ended up going to a school there for a while.”

“For some reason, I always liked staring at those buildings. I asked my grandma about it once, and she told me they were my symbol of hope.” she recalled then mimicked her grandmother, “She said, ‘If this place is the darkness, then those buildings are your light’. I didn’t know what she meant back then but looking back, I kind of get it. I always hoped things would get better someday, and I guess that’s what those buildings meant to me. Of course, things never got better so…yay for me, right?”

She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, then lowered her eyes to ground. She brought her left hand to the side of her face, her fingers curled and palm resting against her cheek. “My grandma was my only friend. Both of my grandparents were – well, are. She was the sweetest person I’ve ever known, and she was always happy. We’d watch stories together sometimes, talked about a bunch of stuff, took walks and what not, and she even taught me how to bake. Almost every day was fun.”

A sad smile crept on her face, and she tried her best not to choke up on her words. “She passed away two years ago. And yeah, it still hurts sometimes but what can you do, right?”

She paused for a moment, taking a silent but subtle breath. “I miss her. She always told me to never give up and always believe in myself. But after trying and being alone for so long, I couldn’t do it anymore. I feel like I let her down but, I know she’d never think that.”

“A-Anyway, fast forward a bit and here we are, he-he.” she hurriedly finished, ending her story, and wiping her eyes. “That’s all there is to know about me. Not much of a story, huh?”

She looked to Lox only to find him blankly staring at her.

(Wait, did I bore him or something?)

Having heard all she said, Lox’s eyes dimmed as he spoke. “So, your solution to the problem is to be by yourself even though you don’t wanna be by yourself? Bruh, what kind of backwards shit is that?”

(Annnd he’s back to mocking me.)

She gave him a strained smile then replied “It’s not all bad, really. I’ll just get a few cats and live out the rest of my life with them. Sure, they’ll probably gnaw at my corpse when I’m dead, but at least I won’t be alone. Heh, look at that – a silver lining.”

His left brow raised and his right eye squinted in surprise. Realizing what she said, she shamefully looked away then balled a hand into a fist.

(Great job Christine! Tell a morbid joke! Ha-ha! That’s not weird at all!)

“Aight, well, whatever you say.” he replied, ignoring her bleak joke, then grabbed his water bottle and drank some more.

She frowned then looked off to the side, pouting like a guilt-ridden child. “What I said was totally weird, wasn’t it?”

He sat the bottle down. “Nope. That’s just you.”

“Just me? What does that mean?”

Ignoring her confused question, he stood up then took the towel wrapped around his neck and wiped the sweat from his face. “Ay yo, you hungry? It’s a spot on the east side that I wanna show you. They be serving breakfast all day.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure”.

She got up then dusted off the back of her jeans. Standing beside him reinforced just how tiny she was compared to him. She’d noticed it before, but now that they were in broad daylight, it’d finally set in. It was the difference between a teenager and an eight-year-old child, at least to her anyway. She let out a dejected sigh then followed him.

“Aight, look, we not about to walk in silence again. So, you better start talkin’ yo.” he said, looking over his shoulder.

“Wha –” she started to say then pouted. “Excuse me for lacking the proper social skills, guy!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. And I told you what my name is, right? So, you better remember that too.”

Peeved by his demands, she mumbled under her breath “Hard to forget when you’ve got a weird nickname like that.”

“You said something?”

“Nothing. Never mind” she said then quietly groaned.

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

[schlock-luster-video]

On February 25, 1983, Blade Runner debuted in Portugal.

Here's some new Sean Young art to mark the occasion!

[tintededges]

Animorphs The Graphic Novel: The Visitor

Graphic novel adaptation of middle grade sci-fi series Animorphs Somehow after reading this book, I managed to forget to review it, so here it is out of sync. I was so excited when I heard the “Animorphs” series was being adapted as graphic novels. I’m still trying to complete my collection of the original series (though I am getting a bit closer) and I will be making sure I collect all of…

[villanandrogina-cine]