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bangtanflirt · 9 months

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(Un)natural Instincts (Part 3)

angst, fluff, smut

Pairings: OT7 x Fem Reader, Human CEO Reader, Human Assistant Yoongi, Wolf Hybrids Joon, Jin, Hobi, Jimin, Tae, and Kook.

Basic premise: You and your assistant end up rescuing six wolf hybrids. No part of the process is easy.

Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3 > Part 4

General Warnings: Hybrid abuse and lab experimentation, hybrids as second-class citizens/owned property, future smut (Minors DNI, 18+ content)

Specific Warnings: torture collars, needles, surgical collar removal (implied not shown), drugs, one mention of euthanasia, misogyny in the workplace

____

Jungkook tries to hide behind you the second he walks into Dr. Gong’s office. The doctor greets both of you in a friendly manner, guiding Jungkook to the patient bed while you stand close by.

You can tell she wants to ask about the collar, but refrains. Even if she did, you’d have to make up some lie, as the product isn’t officially released yet. But you’re thankful she doesn’t. Dr. Gong is one of the top hybrid doctors in the country, and you’re sure her usual clientele expect her not to ask questions when it comes to their hybrids.

She wastes no time checking the wolf’s vitals and getting the needle ready.

Jungkook turns his head away when the blood is being drawn, choosing to look at your face instead. You make sure to tell him how good he’s doing every three seconds.

The receptionist comes in with an assortment of drinks and snacks as you wait for the results to come through. The second you give permission, Jungkook is diving his hands straight to the banana milk, making both you and the doctor chuckle.

“How did you do it Ms. Shin?”

“Do what?”

“Domesticate a 40% wolf hybrid? I mean, it’s remarkable. You two must have a really great bond.”

Yeah…a great bond.

You chuckle nervously, “We do.”

You and the doctor make more small-talk as Jungkook eats and drinks his way through every snack in front of him. When the results finally come in, the smile from Dr. Gong’s face drops immediately.

“What’s the matter? Is it severe? What’s the allergy?”

“It’s not severe, very mild actually…but the substance…”

“What is it Doctor?”

“Y/N, I need you to be completely honest with me, have you been giving Jungkook any substances lately?”

Substances? The hormones are in his bloodstream, but there couldn’t be anything sketchy in there when it’s been patented…could there?

“What substance did you find?”

“Fevocaine. To be specific, when I did an allergy test, fevocaine showed up. However, when I ran a secondary drug test specifically for fevocaine detection, the report was all clear. This is an advanced version of the drug that somehow goes undetected when tested for, I would have had no idea if not for the allergy test. You know how serious this is, don’t you? I’m going to need to get the police involved.”

Fevocaine? One of the most high-alert drugs on the government’s system? Oh…Kang was done for.

___

It’s not long after you, Dr. Gong, and Jungkook sit with the authorities that the Pet Paradise research facility gets raided. You guide the police there yourself, watching researchers scramble as their hormone development lab is found stashing copious amounts of the banned drug.

A special type of joy overtakes you when you see Kang Byung-hun grace the TV the next day, handcuffed and yelling over and over again about how he did nothing wrong. You know better than to think it’s over, as Kang’s lawyers are sure to put up a fight, but right now you just want to celebrate this moment. Jungkook watches alongside you, letting the question on the tip of his tongue drop at last.

“Does this mean I can see my pack again?”

“I don’t see why not. I’ll talk to the feds and figure it out.”

That’s the first time Jungkook hugs you, sobbing happy tears into your shoulder.

You have your schedule cleared for the next day, taking an emergency leave for the first time in your career.

“We really have to thank you once again for your cooperation, Ms. Shin. I know you’re a very busy woman.”

The head of the investigation, Special Agent Kwon, ushers you into a seat in his office.

“I’m just glad this is all sorted out. Fevocaine is no light matter.”

“It definitely is not. May I ask what brings you here today? If I remember correctly, we got all the statements we needed from you already.”

“I’m here to follow-up on what will happen to the hybrids. Jungkook is still under my care, and as you can imagine, he’s dying to be reunited with his pack.”

“Ah yes, I’m sure. Well, we’d love to reunite them. Thankfully, the fevocaine was given in doses too low to leave long-term impact, so the plan is to de-collar and give all the hybrids to the state.”

“To the state? Like an adoption center.”

“Precisely.”

“But they’re 40% wolf…they won’t ever be adopted once the collar wears off. Will they be released into the wild?”

Agent Kwon shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“We can’t release lab-hybrids into the wild.”

“So then what?”

More uncomfortable shifting.

“If they can’t be adopted, the shelter will have to consider euthanasia.”

No. Absolutely the fuck not.

“Let me take them.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I’ll adopt all six right now.”

“Ms. Shin, I don’t think that’s—”

“Rational? Probably not. But it’s better than the alternative. You and I both know no state-funded rehab is going to make a difference. I can give them what the government can’t. I can give them an actual fair shot at life.”

There’s a pause as the agent mulls it over.

“If you’re that adamant about it, I’ll see if I can figure something out.”

You get a call later that day, telling you that you have clearance to go ahead with the adoption procedures. It’s the first time you initiate a hug with Jungkook, telling him the good news.

“Thank you Y/N. Thank you so much. I don’t know how we’ll ever repay the kindness you’ve shown us.”

He’s sobbing again, and you hold him steady in your arms.

___

It’s the next day and you can’t help but feel antsy about your driver taking Jungkook to Dr. Gong without you. You know he doesn’t like doctors, but he needs his collar off as soon as possible.

You’re in the office kitchen when you get a call to begin the adoption process. All the worrying over the hybrids has you completely forgetting where you are and how you’re seen here—because the next thing you know, gossip is running wild.

And now you’re seen as everything you didn’t want to be.

The men aren’t exactly subtle, making jabs about how you’ve been an emotional push-over this entire time and how the mask is finally slipping off. You try to ignore it, but you can’t escape.

“Maybe she’ll invest in the HoloPad if we give her a sob story for it. She’ll buy six versions herself, I bet.”

“You think she has some supercharged maternal instincts from bottling it down all these years? She sees the six as her little babies?”

“This is going to be really good for the company. Six hybrids mean six ways to get dicked down. Maybe she’ll finally stop being a frigid bitch!”

“This was supposed to be the investment that give us our bonuses, and she snitched to the police because she couldn’t handle seeing hybrids cry…not even people…but hybrids! How can anyone take her seriously?!”

You told yourself you’d never cry at work, no matter the countless times you’ve wanted to, but you can’t help the tears from falling today. You’re in your office with the blinds closed, but it still feels like you’ve broken the promise to yourself: the promise to not let the people here break you.

There’s a gentle knock at the door.

“One moment” you say, frantically reaching for the powder foundation to hide your crying face.

“It’s just me.”

You stop, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Come in.”

Yoongi enters tactfully, making sure the door isn’t open enough for anyone to see you.

He sets a mint tea on the table, as well as a packet of ginseng which he mixes into it in front of you.

“Try this, it’ll calm you down.”

You don’t question it. He pats your back as you down the drink, watching over with worry etched into his features. It takes a while for the tears to stop falling and your breathing to steady, but he patiently stays by your side.

“Is it true that you’re adopting all six?”

You nod, putting the now empty cup down.

“The collar effects are going to go down Y/N…it’s way too dangerous.”

“If they do end up clawing my face off, I really think I deserve it at this point.”

It’s your poor attempt at a joke, but Yoongi isn’t laughing.

“Let me move in.”

“Excuse me?”

“Let me move in for a while. I can’t let you live there alone with six wolf hybrids. I won’t.”

“Yoongi, I appreciate you looking out for me, but the last thing I need are additional rumors. The people here are going to have a field day with the sugar-mommy jabs if you move in.”

“Y/N, they’ve been calling me your sugar baby since the second week I’ve been here. They’ve never cared for the truth when it comes to you. We’ll keep it low-key, but if they find out then they find out. Your safety is the priority here.”

He’s got a point. How much could anyone say that hasn’t been said already? And, as much as you’re trying to keep it from showing, you are scared of what could happen once their natural instincts kick in.

“Fine. I’m picking them all up after work tomorrow. I’ll text you when we’re all back home and you can come.”

___

The second you open the door to the doctor’s office, you’re ambushed by a mop of brown hair in a hospital gown.

You peel him off to take in his new appearance, with white, blood-stained bandages replacing where the collar once was.

“He was asking for you every five minutes.” Dr. Gong comments from her desk.

“Thank you so much for letting him stay here while I was working.”

“It actually turned out for the good, gave me some time to monitor his vitals and behavior. This isn’t exactly a case I’m used to seeing. I should probably monitor the ones tomorrow too.”

You give Jungkook a sympathetic look as he tugs tightly onto the sleeve of your blouse.

“And I bet you were so good for Dr. Gong, weren’t you Jungkook?”

He looks over in the doctor’s direction, only feeling confident enough to respond once she gives a reassuring nod.

“I w-was. She told me I was really brave.”

“He was scared, but he followed directions really well.”

“I even got a reward! Apparently, these taste really good” He holds up an orange lollipop, only to realize that he’s half-crushed it in his fist. He looks so devastated that you feel bad for wanting to laugh.

“Doc, you don’t happen to have any more of those, do you? I think Jungkook forgot his strength for a second.”

Dr. Gong smiles before tossing another one in his direction.

Jungkook entertains himself on the sofa in the waiting room, watching “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”—aka his first assignment from you. You fondly watch through the window of the office as he pulls out a little notepad and pen, eager to jot down the key points.

You turn your attention back on the doctor, ready to be briefed on next steps.

“As far as I can tell, the collar removal process went as smoothly as possible. I’ll give you a wound care kit and instructions before you leave today, but the wounds should heal in the next twelve days. For the changes inside his body, the synthetic hormones will take around twenty days to fully leave his system. I have to advise you to be careful of your safety as this process occurs, because his high level of wolf can make him dangerous in as little as ten days.”

You let the weight of her words sink in, the whole situation becoming more and more tangible now.

“I’ll be careful.”

She gives a nod before continuing, “I understand the other five are coming for collar removal tomorrow as well. It will be the same for all of them. Oh and one more thing,”

She shuffles through a file before placing a piece of paper in front of you,

“This is a record of his last heat suppressant. He’s due for a shot next week. My guess is that the other five are too, so you can schedule that with the receptionist accordingly.”

You’d been meaning to ask Jungkook when his next heat would be and how to prepare, but you’d completely forgotten heat suppressant shots were a thing; most owners would rather not deal with the “inconvenience” of their hybrids in heat.

“Is it necessary to keep them on it? Their hormones have already been messed with enough.”

“I wouldn’t advise them to be taken off of it for at least the next month. Give some time until after removal of the collar since it’s best to keep everything else in their bodies as stable as we can right now. If you still feel this way after then, you can stop scheduling the shots.”

You nod, “Thank you doctor. You’ve been such a great help throughout all of this.”

___

You wince as you undo the bandages and gauze, seeing the exposed wounds. He jumps the second you touch his skin with a cotton pad, applying the saline solution as gently as you know how, with the antibiotic cream right after.

“Here you go” you say, handing him his prescribed pain meds. “You have to take one every eight hours. It’s really important you don’t forget, or it will hurt really bad. Understand?”

He nods, making a face as he swallows the bitter pill. It’s not even one second after he swallows it that you’re holding the allergy one up in front of his face.

“Are you excited to see your pack tomorrow?”

His face goes from contorting in disgust to the biggest grin imaginable.

“I’m so excited! I missed them so much!”

“I can’t wait to get to know them. They’ll be getting their collars off in the morning, observed for a few hours like you were today, and I’ll pick them up right after work. My assistant will come a bit after, he’s staying over too. You were sleeping last time he was here, so I didn’t get a chance to introduce you.”

“Someone else will be staying too? For the night?”

“For a while actually. He’ll be helping me take care of all of you.”

You don’t dare say the real reason to the boy’s face.

“We won’t cause trouble, I promise! We’ll be really really well-behaved.”

“I bet you will be,” you chuckle, fluffing his hair, “but wound care for all of you is not easy for me to do alone. You’ll all love Yoongi, I promise.”

You aren’t completely lying; having Yoongi here is going to be a huge help in that regard, but the main reason is still because of how wrong all of this can go…because you can’t trust any of them yet…not even your sweet Jungkook.

____

Work is the last place you want to be right now, especially with the snickering and gossiping at an all-time high. It doesn’t help that you’re handing over your duties to the COO today, taking three weeks off to properly help all six of the hybrids. It’s the first time you’ve ever taken time off, and you’re paranoid about handing things over to someone else. It’s not like your COO, Hwang Minhyun, isn’t reliable or competent—quite the opposite, actually—but you’re just not used to giving someone control like this. Yoongi assures you he’ll stick by Minhyun’s side for the whole three weeks, reporting everything you need him to, and that makes you breathe a little lighter.

It feels like you’re taking a walk of shame when you leave work.

You know the latest whispers, people saying you’re taking time off because you got your feelings hurt…because you’re too sensitive…

It stings.

But you can’t let it show, and you certainly can’t break down when you have five hybrids waiting for you at Dr. Gong’s.

You drive with infinite worries in your head, almost running a red light on the way.

This time when you enter through the door, there is no hybrid running into your arms. It’s the exact opposite, with five bodies flinching and huddling together in fear—neck bandages matching Jungkook’s. They no doubt remember you as one of the many people ogling them at the facility.

There’s a social worker right by them, but he doesn’t look all too pleased to be there. Hybrid social work is considered the lowest position, and most don’t do it with much diligence.

Dr. Gong brushes past the group to welcome you, “Welcome back Ms. Shin. Happy to say all of the removal procedures went well.”

The social worker steps up,

“Hello Ms. Shin. I’m Jo, the social worker in charge of this case. I’m here to collect a few signatures and hand the hybrids off. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you as well” you say, meeting his handshake.

The hybrids’ ears stand straight on their heads at the mention of being handed off, you see their eyes widen in alarm, one of them—Jimin, you remember—squeaks.

“We-we’re going home with her?”

Jo shushes the wolf, glaring sternly before turning his attention back to you.

“Sorry about that.”

You raise a brow, “Why is he asking that? Surely, they know what’s happening right now?”

He gives a nonchalant shrug, “I don’t think anyone’s told them yet.”

“What do you mean? Why haven’t you told them?”

“With all due respect Ms. Shin, keeping them in the loop isn’t part of my job description. I just need to make sure they follow orders.”

The annoyance on his features makes your right hand itch to slap it off of him, but you take a deep breath, not wanting to make a scene in front of the terrified wolves. You need to be tactical and get them adopted as soon as possible.

“Of course, my apologies.” You deliver your signature tight-lipped smile.

Dr. Gong takes charge of the conversation, speed-running the post-surgery instructions as they are identical to yesterday’s. She tries to give them lollipops, but they start shaking harder and she quickly tucks them back into a drawer.

It’s not long before you’re signing the adoption papers, double checking to make sure Jungkook is included in the agreement as well. It baffles you that he doesn’t even need to be present for his adoption—a clear indicator of how much care the government gives towards hybrid autonomy.

“They’re all yours. I’ll schedule a house-visit in two weeks, to make sure they aren’t a danger to you. If we find anything alarming, the state will take them, as stated in the papers.”

It doesn’t go unnoticed that there’s no mention of whether or not the hybrids are safe. It breaks your heart knowing not even their own social worker cares about that.

“Thank you. I’ll take them off your hands now.”

___

The car ride gives you déjà vu, with four of the hybrids in the back, eyes trained on the floor. Namjoon takes the seat beside you, putting on his guard hybrid senses on display as he sits with his chin protruding in deep concentration. He’s the only one not looking down, but instead on the road.

“Sorry for springing all of this on you guys,” No one looks up, but you continue, “Jungkook is so excited to see everyone again.”

Suddenly, ten pairs of eyes are trained on you.

Namjoon speaks in an instant, forgetting to ask for permission in the haze of hearing his youngest packmate’s name “Jungkook? Our Koo?! He’s with you…he’s alive?!”

They really didn’t know a thing.

You can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for them, seeing him get taken away and having no idea if he was even alive. You hope Kang Byung-hun and his researchers are having a great time rotting in their prison cells right now.

“He’s alive and well, got his collar taken off yesterday.” You give the warmest smile you know how.

You hear various sighs of relief, paired with low whispers that you can’t quite make out in the back.

____

A/N: I cannot believe how much positivity and love this series is receiving so far. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! I love reading your thoughts and seeing you as invested in these characters as I am, and it gets me so excited to write future parts!

Series taglist is now closed (unless you asked me before this part was up and I missed @ ing you, in which case please DM me!)

Permanent Taglist: @skyys-universe @morelovefortn

Series Taglist [CLOSED]: @welcometomyworld13 @kalala22 @fxirytaetae @btsfluffsworld @belikejk @shycreationdreamland @danielle143 @singukieee @blackrockshooter780 @g-b-artist @i-have-no-life-charlie @wyldch1ld @no-regrets-just-confusion @acciocriativity @ldysmfrst @amara-mars @caelumwrites @estrellaburnxd @borahaetelevision @on-1ce @fuckthinking @jaiele

*If Tumblr doesn't let me tag you for some reason, I'll send you a DM instead!

#bts hybrid au #bts hybrid x reader #poly ot7 #ot7 x reader #hurt/comfort #bts smut #bts fluff #bts angst #unnatural instincts

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pablitogavii · 1 month

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Could you write one Gavi fic where he's talking to her through social media, just as friends, but he starts to develop feelings for her, his agent finds out and gets really worried about his career if he gets in a relationship, so he "makes" Gavi's mind to get away from the reader (she has abandonment and rejection issues) without a proper explanation, he excuses saying that the reader wants his money and whatever. But some months after the reader moves to Seville and gets really close to Aurora (she knows Aurora is Gavi's sister but Aurora doesn't know her), and one day Aurora takes her to a barca match, and Gavi tries to make up to her?

I guess I'm back y'all lol! I like this idea very much!

y.n.bebe

New York, USA

I think I like this little life...happy birthday to me hehe

liked by pablogavi and others

coments:

brimccormix: happy birthday bebsss

y.n.bebe: thank you gorgeous girl💗

stacymiggs: princesaaa

y.n.bebe: nooo youuu!🥺

brianfereda: happy birthday!

y.n.bebe: thank youu!

pablogavi: pretty girl

y.n.bebe: 😳

When you saw that THE Pablo Gavi called you "pretty girl" for the whole world to see, you couldn't stop staring at that comment for the next two weeks.

Your friends went crazy calling you lucky, and pushing you to send him a message but you were obviously too shy to do that. Besides, who knows how many "pretty girls" he's talking to on the internet.

Meanwhile, Gavi spent all of his free time and training brakes going through your posts and smiling like an idiot at your cute face on his phone screen.

When you first popped up on his screen, he just had to reach out and pray you don't find it cocky on his part. You were just so pretty...

"Sempre con esa nena, cabrón! Dale! Enviale un mensaje!"Pedri hit Gavi's head making him groan and finally get the balls to slide into your DMs. He said a simple "hey pretty girl" before leaving his phone in the locker room to join his teammates.

pablogavi: hey, pretty girl

y.n.bebe: hey😊

And ever since that night, you've started texting, face timing and chatting non stop. You haven't told anyone about it, not wanting to make a drama over something so new and also not wanting him to think fame is what you're after because it's not.

"I'm so tired, nena" Pablo groaned while laying in bed and face timing you as you did your math homework diligently.

"Then go to bed, tonto!" you giggle and he just stayed quiet staring at your face until you looked back at the phone screen and blushed at how intense his gaze was.

"Me gusta cuando hablas Español conmigo, bebé" he smirked making you blush bright red and roll your eyes pretending to be annoyed.

"When do you have training in the morning?" you ask while he yawns.

"Five am" he answers and you open your eyes wide really looking up to him being so diligent about his career.

"Then you really should get some sleep, and we can talk tomorrow again hm?" you ask not really wanting to end the call but also wanting him to get his rest. He always loved how selfless you are and how much you took care of him. It really warmed his hearts.

"I hate it that you're so far! I swear I'm gonna travel to New York and kidnap you and bring you back to Barcelona with me ... and never let you go ..." he said sleepily and you felt your heart jumping thinking about the possibility.

"Hm and if you get bored of me?" you smile and he shakes his head still staring intently at you in the eyes.

"Impossible, my pretty girl..." he said and you smile remembering the very first time you read those words on the screen.

Pablo Gavi was a man of his words, and since that conversation he promised himself that he will surprise you with a travel to Barcelona really soon. He planed everything and mailed you a ticket during his two week vacation.

He still remembers the nerves while standing at the airport waiting at your gate to see your pretty face finally in person. The moment you walked out he recognized you...he couldn't forget the pretty face he stared at through the screen for past four months just now it was real.

"Hi, pretty girl..." he said again and you jumped into his eyes smiling wide and holding onto him tightly. You couldn't believe this was real yet. It just felt like a dream.

"Ready to explore Barcelona conmigo huh?" he said and you smiled and taking his hand nodding and walking to him car with your baggage.

Days passed so quickly and everything was PERFECT. Ice cream dates, walks on the beach, coffee shops and all the infamous tourist attractions...you were falling in love with this city...and you were also falling in love with this boy.

Day before your flight home, Pablo took you to a football game for the Juvenil and you were excited to watch it with him knowing it was his passion.

"So what do you think?" you show him your Barça jersey and he so badly wanted to ask you to wear one with his name on the back but how could he? He still didn't have the balls to ask you to be his official girlfriend!

y.n.bebe

Barcelona, Spain

it's so pretty here 🥺😊

liked by pablogavi, pedri, joaofelix and others

comments:

pablogavi: pretty girl in barcelona 😍

y.n.bebe: hehe😊

brimccormix: girl!!?? spill the TEA!

y.n.bebe: what tea???

lucasmith: looks like someone stole my crush!

y.n.bebe: 😂

"Next time I come, I want to watch you play..." you said while the two of you sat sadly on the airport waiting for your boarding.

"Y/n..." he said looking down as you looked up

"Hm?" you say feeling your heart beating fast from how close your lips were to each other.

"Don't go..."he said and you swore your heart broke when you saw his pleading eyes. Neither of you wanted this distance...it was so unfair but there was nothing you could do about it now.

"Pablo we're friends now and you can visit me in New York..." you said but before you could finish his lips were smashed onto yours to shut you up and you closed your eyes enjoying the sweet sensation of his cold minty lips on your.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend, pretty girl?" he said and in that moment all your past insecurities and abandonment issues returned yelling inside your head. What if you get attached and he disappears like other did? You were so scared but looking at him it was impossible not to agree!

"Yes! I do Pablo..." you say and he kissed you again until they called for your flight to start boarding in five minutes.

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ecoterrorist-katara · 3 months

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Katara would’ve been such a good diplomat (it’s canon)

everyone rightfully hates on the ATLA comics because the politics are baffling and the characterization is even more so…but if there’s one thing we can take away from the dumpster fire that is The Promise, it’s that Katara was BORN to be a diplomat and an international force for peace, okay? Especially since her besties, the Avatar and the Fire Lord, aren’t actually very good at this.

If you haven’t read The Promise, the Wikipedia summary is pretty good. The TL;DR is that Zuko and Kuei agree that the Fire Nation colonies need to be returned to the Earth Kingdom. The colony of Yu Dao is not happy about this because the people of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom have been mixing together (under inequitable conditions) for more than a hundred years and “just kick out the Fire Nation” is not as straightforward as it seems, since there are blended families now. Zuko refuses to kick out the Fire Nation people from Yu Dao, Kuei wants to play hardball, and they almost launch another war. Oh and there’s a weird plot about Aang debating whether to put Zuko down like a rabid dog

For all that the Wiki page does a good job of summarizing the events, it forgets some key facts:

It’s Katara who first starts thinking about new solutions after witnessing the situation on the ground, and then comes up with the idea that Zuko and Kuei should meet and talk about the colonies:

It’s Katara who tells Kuei that Zuko has legitimate concerns (without saying that Zuko is right), when Aang tries to hedge and sugarcoat the truth:

And it’s Katara who says to Kuei, wait, what the hell do you mean that you have no idea what your people want, that Yu Dao is just a dot on the map for you? We’re getting you out of this stupid blimp and you’re gonna talk to people before you make a decision that affects their lives, you coward

To recap, Katara demonstrates some pretty freaking key political skills, like:

finding out what people want before making a decision for them

seeing people as people first and foremost, not as fire nation or earth kingdom

encouraging her loved ones, the Avatar and the Fire Lord, to resolve a conflict by beginning negotiations instead of brawling like a couple of drunks at a bar / kids on the playground (both analogies fit btw, 13-17 is a weird combination of ages)

realistically reporting tricky disagreements without sweeping them under the rug

kidnapping a king to the middle of a battlefield to give him a reality check about listening to the people he’s trying to rule

Anyway, Katara is hyper competent at both war AND peace! We see this in the show, with her compassion for the prisoners of the Earth Kingdom (by inciting a prison riot) and the suffering people of the Fire Nation (by committing ecoterrorism), only now that compassion is backed up not only by her fighting prowess and speeches about hope, but actual ability to manipulate the levers of power.

And have I mentioned that she has the ears of both the Avatar and the Fire Lord and her dad is Chief of the Southern Water Tribe? Even if Katara didn’t get a diplomat position based on her skills, or her status as a war hero, she could nepo baby her way in. The fact that she does not pick up a career in international diplomacy is a crime & a colossal oversight from the creators. At minimum you know Katara would’ve established Healers Without Borders or something. She deserves to be yelling at people at ATLA UN and then drafting world-changing resolutions.

And as a bonus, Katara demonstrates her gift for diplomacy by not smacking Zuko up the head for attempting to legitimize colonization through the argument of economic progress…

…and by not smacking Aang up the head for seriously considering anti-miscegenation as a viable political solution:

This patience is a new development because show!Katara did not have this in her, but maybe this is what growing up is all about and not just yet another strike on the “comics are wildly OOC” tally

TL;DR: ATLA boys lost their brain cells post-canon. All hail Katara, Sugar Queen of international diplomacy.

#Katara #Katara deserved better #atla comics #Chief Katara of the Water Tribes #United Republic Councilwoman Katara #Ambassador Katara #I’m not picky which one she becomes I just want her to exert political power as a principled and fair and compassionate representative #She saved the world it’s only fair she gets to run it especially since unlike most nepo babies (ie monarchy) she’s qualified #pro Katara #atla #my meta

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akookminsupporter · 1 year

Text

Namjoon gave an interview to El Pais in Spain and I wanted to share the translation of the interview for those who may not understand Spanish.

Question. The track opens with the lines: "Fuck the trendsetter / I'm going back to the age of 9 / when I was more human". Does the stratospheric success of K-pop dehumanise the artist? Answer. You start your career very early and as part of a group. There's not a lot of time to be an individual, but that's what makes K-pop shine: very young people, trying very hard at the same time…. You generate energy that you only have in your twenties. You fight day and night to perfect the choreography, the videos, the music, and there's an explosion, a big bang. From 20 to 30, we put all the energy and time we had into BTS. You get success, love, influence, power, and after that? The root of it all remains: the music… What was the question?

Q. Does the system dehumanise? A. My company doesn't like the way I answer this question, because I partly admit it and then the journalists throw their hands on their heads, "it's a horrible system, it destroys the young people! But it's partly what makes this such a special industry. And things have improved a lot, in terms of contracts, money, education, there are now teachers, psychologists...

Q. Korean record companies train their artists for years, you lived with your peers from 16 to 19 before your debut as BTS in 2013. What did your parents say? A. My mother spent two years, "Go back to school, you were so good at it, go your way, go to university, make music a hobby!"…. But there was no going back.

Q. The biggest lesson from your time as an apprentice? A. Dancing. I was incapable.

Q. And what did you miss out on by being one? A. College life.

Q. The cult of youth, the cult of perfection, the cult of K-pop overexertion? Are these Korean cultural traits? A. In the West, people just don't get it. Korea is a country that has been invaded, razed to the ground, torn in two. Just seventy years ago there was nothing. We were getting aid from the IMF and the UN. But now, the whole world is looking at Korea. How is that possible, how did that happen? Because people are working fucking hard to improve themselves. You're in France or the UK, countries that have been colonising other countries for centuries, and you come to me and say "oh God, you put so much pressure on yourselves, life in Korea is so stressful". well, yes. That's how you get things done. And it's part of what makes K-pop so appealing. Of course, there are shadows, everything that happens too fast and too intensely has side effects.

Q. What is the biggest prejudice about K-pop? A. That it's prefabricated.

Q. What would your career have been like if you had developed it on the alternative circuit or in another country? A. I think about the multiverse a lot, and the lesson of Doctor Strange is always the same: your version of the universe is the best possible one, don't think of others. There is nothing better than being a member of BTS.

Q. Did you imagine this version? A. Not at all. My dream was not to be a K-pop idol. I wanted to be a rapper, and before that, a poet.

Q. Your influences include rappers like Nas and Eminem, groups like Radiohead and Portishead, but you never mention boy bands. A. The Beatles were also called boy band... I'm not comparing us, they were the creators of everything. But I guess you mean NSYNC or New Kids on the Block: bands whose pop music I actually liked, although I wasn't a super fan… What got me was rap: rhythm plus poetry.

Q. You say you get jealous of who you admire, for example? A. Kendrick Lamar, always. And Pharrell Williams. He's living history, I'd like to be one too, maybe in the future. That's why I don't paint, to be jealous of Picasso or Monet would be too much.

Q. You do collect, how do you choose the pieces? A. I've only been collecting for four years and I've been changing. My focus is 20th-century Korean art. But I'm not Getty or Rockefeller…

Q. You don't do it to invest. A. I guarantee it. If I wanted to invest, I would buy black artists, women artists, emerging Indonesian artists… My goal is to open a small exhibition space in about 10 years because I think Seoul needs a place with a young taste, but respectful of the Korean legacy, to which I would also like to bring artists like Roni Horn, Antony Gormley or Morandi.

Q. Have you always had the collector's bug? A. I've collected toys, little cars or Takashi Murakami figures, then vintage clothes, then furniture, I love Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret [both collaborators with Le Corbusier], but my favourite is George Nakashima.

Q. On your album there are songs from very different genres, some critics say it's inconsistency, others say versatility… A. I think the word genre will disappear in a few decades. R&B, Hyperpop, Jersey Club, UK Drill, Chicago Drill, K-pop! They don't mean anything. Music is an accumulation of frequencies that makes people get into a certain mood.

Q. Are you fed up with the "K-" label? A. You could get sick of Spotify calling us all K-pop, but it works. It's a premium label. The guarantee of quality that our grandparents fought for.

Q. Your album features Anderson Paak, Youjeen and the elusive Erykah Badu, how did he convince you? A. She knew BTS because her daughter is a fan, but that's not enough. I had to persuade her, I sent her a text with Yun's story explaining why I needed her wise queen voice for those verses.

Q. You mix English and Korean sometimes in the middle of a line, how do you decide? A. Words in different languages have different textures; the same message, with a different brushstroke. It comes naturally to me. I don't play instruments, I compose and create melodies with my voice, which is my instrument and most of my songs start with words.

Q. You have also gone through several identities, as a teenage rapper you were Runch Randa, then in BTS Rap Monster and then RM (for Real Me). Have you thought about using your real name? A. [laughs] We all have a past, a dark history, we say in Korea. Runch Randa was my nickname in a role-playing game, then I wanted to be, you know, "a rap monster!″, then I matured… I prefer my name to be known by as few people as possible, I'm not John Lennon, Paul McCartney, I can check into a hotel quietly and I like that.

Q. You've also changed a lot in the way you dress. A. I went through XXL T-shirts and baseball caps. Then I got into high-end brands… Like Rap Monster, I started wearing only black and white [rolls his eyes and shrugs]. Now I'm interested in timelessness, I don't go for trends, I look for vintage jeans, cotton t-shirts, natural things, that don't scream "hey, I'm here".

Q. Rumour has it that you are going to collaborate with Bottega Veneta, whose fashion show you have just been invited to in Milan. A. I would love to. Although I've lost interest in brands, in fashion weeks and that constant change of Pantone… Bottega is different, they don't use logos, they have a history with fabrics and leather, they don't even have Instagram, they are beyond fads and fashions.

Q. How heavy is it to have an army of fans? A. You can't walk around in the middle of nowhere without being recognised and the standards to which you are subject weigh heavily. But you have to grow up and deal with it, not be pitiful like "oh, I just want to be normal". Look, if you want to think fame is a rock, it's a fucking rock, but for me, it's given me what I was looking for: to get influence and financial freedom as quickly as possible to make the music I want to make without worrying about the charts… I'm not there 100%, but I try to focus on the noise inside, not the noise outside.

Q. And how are you facing your thirties? A. I've never experienced such a confusing time. For a decade I was the leader of BTS, and it was very stable and fun, always going up. In 2023 a lot of things have changed, professionally and personally, although I can't tell. As I'm about to turn 30, I like myself more than I did when I was 20. Now I will spend a year and a half in military service, which is very important in every Korean man's life. And after that, I am sure I will be a different human being, hopefully, a better and wiser one.

#Namjoon #RM #bts #bts solo careers

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nobrashfestivity · 2 years

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Ana Mendieta

Cuban-born performance and multi-media visual artist Ana Mendieta died in 1985 at the age of 36, leaving behind a massive collection of un-exhibited works. Now on view at London’s Hayward Gallery is “Traces,” her first UK retrospective, in which slides of these pieces reveal an untold career.

Born in Cuba in 1948, Mendieta was sent to Iowa by her parents at the age of 13 to escape the communist regime of Fidel Castro. In a subsequent search for identity and belonging, Mendieta turned her attention to the Earth and the female body as her core subjects. Though documented across a wide breadth of medums-photography, film, performance, sculpture-they were, in essence, her only tools. Mendieta developed a visual vernacular of feminine forms through experimentation with materials such as blood, wood and stone. In her famous “Siluetas” (Silhouettes) series, created between 1973 and 1981, she left imprints or outlines in the earth with her body, sometimes adding ritualistic adornments of flowers or fire to those markings.

Mendieta died in New York in 1985 after falling from the 34th-floor apartment she shared with her husband, the sculptor Carl Andre. Some suspect Andre of having thrown Mendieta from the window, though he was acquitted after a three-year trial. In the last room of the exhibition, the duality of the show’s title, which references both the marks made by her body in the earth and the work left behind after her death, is drawn out to a haunting degree. Presented alongside notebooks, postcards, and other archival materials, several white pillars are set up as projection screens for old-fashioned slide projectors showing the un-exhibited works. Each pillar is marked with the year in which the works shown there were made.

(text from art in america)

#ana mendieta #performance art #land art #feminism

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ohtobeleah · 2 years

Note

Okay here me out…. DiNozzo and McGee going to your house to get you for a case and walk in to find you and Rooster after spending the night together.

I fuck with this concept I really do. As always here’s NCIS // Bradley Bradshaw if you missed the fix drop on Wednesday! And the new Masterlist

Honestly, I see this happening like a week before you and Bradley decide to make things official. Four weeks before he’s shipping out to TopGun. Four weeks before the very case DiNozzo and Mcgee are coming to get you for, ends up being the case that gets you shot for the very first time. Four weeks before Bradley Bradshaw is having an existential crisis over how fucking terrifying your job is.

“Why do you have a key to Junior Gibbs’s place and I don’t?” Tony questioned with a frown as he stepped out of the car he’d haphazardly parked in your driveway. “Seems a little off—“

“Seems like a question you’ll have to take up with her don’t you think?” McGee smirked as he casually jogged up your set of stairs, coffee in hand as he shoved the key to your townhouse into the lock on your front door. “Y/n? Hey it’s us! We got a—“ McGee didn’t even get to finish his sentence before he was staring down a sight in the living room of your home he wished he’d never had to bear witness to.

You were his boss's daughter, his partner. The sight of you sleeping on the couch in what he could only describe as one of those sheer babydoll dresses, wrapped in a mess of legs and muscular arms. Bradley Bradshaw who was still very much exposed. His junk still pressed against your ass as you slept. One wrong move and he’d be on full display for the entire world to see. Sleeping soundly with his face a mess in your hair. Still damp. Cheeks squished against the junction of your shoulder.

Since the moment Bradley decided enough was enough after having watched you aimlessly drift around the Carlton looking for your room, he knew he wanted you in his life in some way shape or form. After having spent the majority of the afternoon guiding you around the carrier—you exchanged numbers, emails, socials, everything. A friendship un like any other he’d ever known quickly bloomed out of thin air.

Bradley Bradshaw was happy to have you in his life as just that, a dear friend he’d walk across a burning hell to get to if you called. If you needed him. But let’s be honest here—Rooster didn’t have a lot of people in his life. His father Nick had died when he was three, his mother Carole had passed only a few short months before he was accepted into the Naval Academy, and the only father figure he’d ever really known had done the absolute unthinkable. Pulled his Naval Application. So when he started to realise you held a bigger place in his heart then he’d initially anticipated? Bradley knew he was down bad. He’d never had a best friend that was so effortlessly easy to love in so many ways.

And as for you? Bradley Bradshaw had managed to weasel his way into your heart from the moment he stopped you in your tracks on the Carlson. You weren’t a love at first sight kinda girl—but you quickly became the ‘My best friend is the love of my life but I’m too afraid to admit that to him or even myself bitch’.

So, as the years went by—mutual feelings developed fast, quickly and became increasingly fucking noticeable. The line between friendship and relationship blurred to something nonexistent and you and Bradley went about your lives perfectly happy with that. Until you both decided enough was enough��someone had to give, crack under the immense sexual energy that constantly radiated off the two of you.

It was Bradley. He was the one to crack first. He’d come to visit the week before he started his TopGun training. He’d always been very careful to keep his life with the navy, his aviation career and his colleagues and friends separate from the life he lived with you. Domestic, loving. Call him selfish but he wanted you all to himself. Bradley didn’t want to share or inadvertently collide his two lives. He had an irrational fear that maybe wasn’t all that irrational when you think about it, he was scared the moment he finally accepted the friendship and love you had always given him wasn’t a fever dream he’d lose you to some higher power. The same higher power that had taken everyone he ever loved away from him.

“Hey woah, hold on a second—“ Bradley didn’t know what to make of the situation unfolding before him. What the actual fuck were you up to. “I was walking by but this caught my eye.” Pushing the bathroom door open more as he walked in. “What’s going on in here?”

“Stop—“ You beamed at Bradley through the mirror as he stood behind you. A cautious hand coming to rest gently on your hip. The silk fabric of that dangerous white babydoll you wore under his rough palm.

“What’s this?” He asked again with more interest, a shit stirring grin evident on his face as he beamed back at you. Trying to make out what the fuck you were trying to achieve.

“This is—“ You tried to explain before Bradley cut you off with a chuckle full of glee.

“Oh yes, yes please do tell—“ Bringing his other hand up to play with the hair that was twirled tight around the legging of the pair of pants currently on your head.

“I’m curling my hair!” You couldn’t help but to laugh as Bradley eyes you down with shock in his eyes. That was not what he was expecting you to say, sure he didn't really know what to expect but it definitely wasn't that. “I’m serious it’s a legit thing Bradshaw—“

“With pants!?” God Bradley couldn’t believe it. In all the years he’d known you, this was never something he'd imagined you do. “What the fuck, is this something new?”

“It’s better for your hair because there’s no heat—“ That was a legitimate fact. Heartless curls were in fact in. A trend that had a chokehold on you.

“Where did you see this?” Bradley’s tone was quick to change as he asked more pressing questions. Who had filled your head with stupid hacks like this. But more importantly how was he supposed to control himself when you were wearing something as scandalous as a goddamn babydoll with such ease around him. Were you trying to kill him? He understood he was in your home, your safe haven. But were you honestly just unaware of how much of an affect you had on him? Or were you doing it just to fuck with him?

“I saw it in TikTok.” Oh. Yep. There it was. That’s just blatant stupidity.

“Oh my—“ Bradley threw his hands up dramatically. You missed his touch instantly. “In the year of our lord and savour twenty twenty two, we’re using pants to curl our hair now?”

“Yes!” You beamed, still working to twirl your hair around the pant leg.

“What is this! What even is this?” Bradley once again taunted you as he played with the loopy pant leg that hung by your neck twisted in your hair. The side you’d already done. “What’s going on here huh?”

“Rooster stop, I'm trying to get it all done right.” You only ever very rarely used his call sign, but when you did it melted Bradley’s top worlds together just a little more. His eyes on yours, looking at you with lust and need and all the admiration in the world through the mirror of your main bathroom.

“I’m so invested—when do I get to see the curled hair?” Watching as you finished the side you were working on. His hands coming to rest on your hips again, a wave of electricity racing through your body at his touch. Your skin hot with need.

“Are you ready for the finale?” Turning in Bradley’s grip that never faulted, you leaned against your bathroom countertop as he trapped you between strong arms like just looked way too fucking unreal in that plain black T-shirt. Biceps about ready to burst the hems open. He’d gotten noticeably bigger over the past few months, so noticeable you were even able to pick up on it via zoom. He’s been training a lot, preparing for TopGun. You were not opposed.

“Oh please, please show me—“ Bradley begged. He couldn’t wait for whatever stupid thing you were about to show him.

“You have to tuck the ears.” Pulling the two separate pant legs that held your hair in curls behind your head before folding them up and into the waistband that covered your head. “And then plop—“ You looked as if you were wearing a bonnet from the mid eighteen hundreds. Bradley Bradshaw had never laughed harder at how ridiculous you looked. But in the most beautiful way possible. For a brief moment, he wondered if you’d marry him one day. Because a life with you seemed not only one he’d wake up and pinch himself about every morning, but it seemed like fun. A life with you seemed fun and exhilarating because you were fun and oh so exhilarating.

“Oh you are just adorable.” He cooed, hands needing at your flesh under the silk that adorned your hips. “You are my favourite person. This right here?” Letting go of you as he circrled his hand around your face. “Is my favourite version of you ever— hands down.” Before bringing his hand back to you, your arms wrapping around his neck casually as he glared his way.

“I invite you into my home and all I get in return is taunted and teased for my beauty routine.” You snickered softly as the gap became smaller and smaller. Bradley had even gone as far as to gently pick you up and sit you down on the countertop. Your exposed thighs on either side of him as his sweatpant clad legs. “You’re so rude to me—“ It was just so natural to be like this, act like this. Nothing felt out of the ordinary. To you anyway.

“Am not.” That was all Rooster could really muster as a coherent response because he was so lost in your eyes, so lost in the moment, so lost in the fact he was one hundred percent committed to the fact he was about to kiss you for the first time that there was no brain power left to formulate anything else but a two word answer. His mind flooded with the possibility of rejection, but how could he ever really know unless he went for it.

“You just wait, these curls are gonna be show stop—“ Before you could finish, Bradley had his hands cupping your cheeks. Keeping you close as he pulled you towards him. His lips crashing into yours with so much passion behind his cry for love that you forgot how to breathe. It felt like tears but it was only mere seconds before he was pulling away to read the room.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just really wanted to do that since like—“

“Carlton, since the Carlton.” You finished Bradley’s sentence seamlessly because it’s the exact way you felt. Crashing your lips back against his you both fell into a needy state of just wanting to be close to one another in a way that had yet to be explored. Fuck the consequences. To know what it felt like to touch one another, to love one another even just for a moment in such an intimate way was worth the risk of losing it all.

“Hey! McGee! What’s taking so long?” That's what led to this very moment. Anthony DiNozzo didn't want to disrespect a boundary you had obviously set. He didn't want to step through the threshold of your townhouse if you weren't expecting him to be there. There was an obvious reason you had given Mcgee a key but not him. He just didn't know it.

He had tried his best to wait by the car, but time was precious and you were already running late. Hence the house call. Running up your porch stairs DiNozzo clapped his hands together as he entered your home, rounding the same corner mcgee had a few moments ago.

“C’mon people—chop chop! What happened to rule number three?” To his shock he stood beside Tim who was still trying to process the sight before him. Anthony pealled his sunglasses from his eyes as he scoffed aloud. “Holy fourth of July weenie roast, what the hell am I looking at?” Stirring awake shortly after your eyes fluttered open as you tired to stretch out. Bradleys body stopping you from moving too much as his arm splayed over your waist, holding you flush against his chest. “Good Morning–” DiNozzo smirked as your eyes bugged out of your head at the sight of him and McGee standing in your living room.

“Jesus Christ!” An audible gasp left your mouth as you flailed in shock, rolling off the couch onto the ground with a thud. Leaving Bradley totally exposed.

“Oh my–” DiNozzo was quick to quip as Mcgee looked up at the roof. Raising a horrified brow as Tony looked at you with concern. Gesturing to his own forearm in pure jealousy. “We may need to take a detour to the emergency department Mcgee.” Bradley Bradshaw was definitely blessed, but DiNozzo was over reaching just a tad. “Get the man something to cover up will you Y/n.” You were quick to throw a decorative pillow at Bradley’s junk trying to preserve whatever modesty he had left. The Thud it left against him jolted him awake with a quick snore.

“What the hell are you two doing here!?” You hissed as you gathered the nearest throw blanket, wrapping it around yourself as you threw another one Bradleys way as he stirred awake. “It's sunday!”

“Gibbs called, we got another case.” Mcgee answers as he stepped towards you, handing you the coffee he’d ordered you from the cafe downtown. “We’ll give you a moment to uh, change. meet us in the car?”

“Uh, like hell we will.” Tony scoffed again as he stepped forward, Bradley had woken up enough to realise what was going on although he stayed quiet. “One, this man who is very genetically gifted mind you has your federally issued handcuffs cuffed around his right wrist.” Fuck you’d forgotten about that. “Two, who are you and what are you doing with our Gibbs?” You could not have rolled your eyes any harder than you did as you worked to unlock the cuffs on Bradleys wrist with the key that was sitting on your coffee table.

“Uh, Yeah I’m Bradley.” You tried to say he didn't have to introduce himself like this as he rubbed his wrist, kissing you gently on the forehead. God you were so fucking embarrassed, and after such a good night too. But Tony beat you to it. His eyes wide and a cheshire cat grin evident on his face.

“You’re flyboy!” Tony bellowed through your townhouse. So enlightened with the situation that was unfolding. “Oh this is amazing, you finally made a move on flyboy!”

“Who?” Bradley turned his attention back to you as you huffed out a sigh of disbelief. Squinting your eyes shut in embarrassment as you felt the heat in your cheeks rising. Sitting beside him as he beamed your way. “Whose flyboy–?”

“You are, well, unless there's another Bradley who she drowns on and on about.” Tony taunted as he looked around your living room. “We started calling you flyboy before Junior here slipped up and gave us a name, does not shut up about you man– we even put a jar on her desk that she has to put a dollar in everytime she mentions you or somethin about you.”

“I think that fund is single handedly paying for the staff christmas party this year, right Tony?” Mcgee just had to jump in on the fun even if just for one small jab.

“Flyboy huh?” Bradley chuckled as you hid your face in his shoulder. “That's kinda adorable.” he’d never really known, but that was and always had been his name in your cell. Flyboy Bradshaw.

“Tony, we should go wait in the car.” Mcgee tried to be the voice of reason, but DiNozzo was having the time of his life. He never really had any dirt on you, but now? Oh this was his time to fucking shine baby. He liked you alot, as a colleague and friend. But god did he like to taunt you. It had to be fair game though, simply because your father would slap him upside to head if it wasn't.

“I'm telling Gibbs.” You stood with a look of horror as you held the throw blanket under your armpits. Coffee in one hand.

“I will shoot you in the fucking foot!” Pointing a finger DiNozzo's way you gritted your teeth. “I will tell my dad, myself.”

“I vote we don't, like at all.'' Bradley smiled nervously as he wrapped the blanket around his waist. Standing with a groan because much like you, he’d been curled up on the lounge all night after having gone another round after an impromptu snack. “Not until we at least talk?” Kissing the top of your head as he pulled you into his side, Bradley glared down the two NCIS agents that stood before him. “How about instead of flyboy you guys call me Rooster?” sticking his hand out the shake Tony’s, Tony was quick to reciprocate the gesture by taking Bradleys frimley. “Or Lieutenant Bradhsaw.”

“There a story behind that callsign, Lieutenant?” Although you always spoke highly and alot about Bradley Bradshaw, you never really spoke all that much about Rooster. To you he was two different versions of the same man you loved. You respected him too much to go about your day telling anyone and everyone who would listen about all the nitty gritty details about his life. You would of course drown on about how much he made you laugh, his smile, activities you would get up to, if he was visiting. All that jazz. But never would you out his private life.

“Perhaps over a beer sometime?” Bradley smirked softly as he shook McGee's hand. “Although it's good to finally meet you both I feel like the circumstances could have been better and less exposing.”

“And less rushed, Gibbs we really have to go–Older, more frightening Gibbs is blowing up my cell.” Mcgee gave you a worried smile. “We’ll be in the car.” Watching as th two agents that had taken you under their wings left your home, you let out a sigh as you let your head fall into Bradleys chest. His arms came to wrap around your shoulder as you both dropped your blankets.

“I am so unbelievably sorry about that–about them.”

“Don't be.” Bradley chuckled to himself softly as he kissed your head over and over. “Just uh, promise we’ll talk after you get back?”

“Yeah, uh yeah of course, I don't know how long I'll be but my keys are in the bowl at the front door and there's gas in the tank so please feel free to do whatever.” You mentioned to Bradley as you pulled away, sipping the coffee that was just perfect. “I'm going to go get ready really really quickly and I'll be right back.” You weren't kidding, Rooster probably counted a whole three minutes before you were racing down the stairs again.

“Don't forget these.” Throwing you the handcuffs you’d used to cuff his hands behind his back last night. “I won't lie, that was a little embarrassing.” He’d managed to find his sweatpants in the time you were gone. Standing to meet you mere the front door as he handed you the key to the cuffs. “But I wouldn't mind doing that again.”

“You wanna maybe get dinner tonight? There's a really nice place a few streets down that serves really nice fusion.” Nodding, Bradley was careful as he placed the stray hairs that had fallen across your face behind your ear.

“I'd like that, yeah.” He was trying to downplay it, but his heart was doing fucking backflips right now. “It’s a date.” The horn of DiNozzo’s car interrupted before you could stay in the moment any longer.

“Alright I'm coming!” You shouted. “Don't get your knickers in a knot!” Turning back to Bradley you kissed his cheek. “See you later.”

“Bye honey, have a great day–” Bradley beamed with a tasing smirk as you ran down the stairs. You didn't know it, but the second Rooster shut your front door he was cheering. He had gotten the girl of his dreams.

“Hey, why does Mcgee have a key to your house and I don't?” Tony asked as he looked at you as you slithered across the backseat.

“I forgot he even had one honestly, he watered my plants the last time I went out of town.” You answered the all pressing question as you clipped in. “But you can sure as shit give it back after that fucking invasion of privacy.”

****~****~****~****~****~****~****~****~****~****~

Tag: @auroraboreallisfine @tigerfan24 @atarmychick007 @rosee-sensuelle @unhingedhousehold @daisyhollyxox @luckyladycreator2 @86laura11 @justanothermagicalsara

#bradley bradshaw #top gun bradley bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw x y/n #top gun rooster #rooster x reader #rooster top gun #top gun maverick fanfiction #bradley bradshaw imagine #bradley bradshaw fic #bradley bradshaw fanfiction #ncis fanfiction #ncis fandom

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longliveblackness · 22 days

Text

While raising her children in Harlem, Hale developed a deep sympathy for abandoned and neglected children. In the 1940s, she began providing short-term and long-term care for community children in her home. She also found permanent homes for homeless children and taught parents essential parenting skills. In 1960, she became a licensed foster parent, providing care for hundreds of children in her home. Hale's success as a foster parent earned her the affectionate nickname of "Mother Hale."

In 1969, at the age of 64, Hale became the foster parent of an infant addicted to cocaine. She responded to needs of other children with this affliction by founding a groundbreaking foster care program in Harlem, Hale House. The respite care program also provided training to drug-addicted mothers on how to improve the health of their chemically dependent babies. Hale's unique program required mothers to live in Hale House with their children and attend a drug rehabilitation program. In the 1980s, Hale expanded Hale House services to include care for infants stricken with HIV and those who had lost parents to AIDS.

By 1991, Hale House cared for approximately 1,000 infants and toddlers. During her distinguished career, Hale received numerous honors and awards for her community service. She received an honorary doctorate from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and public service awards from the National Mother's Day Committee and the Truman Award for Public Service. In 1985, during his State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan referred to Hale as an "American hero" for her commitment to at-risk children.

Clara McBride Hale died on December 18, 1992 in New York City at the age of 87.

•••

Mientras criaba a sus hijos en Harlem, Hale desarrolló una profunda simpatía por los niños abandonados y descuidados. En la década de 1940, comenzó a brindar cuidados a corto y largo plazo a los niños de la comunidad. También encontró hogares permanentes para niños sin hogar y enseñó a los padres habilidades esenciales para la crianza de los hijos. En 1960, se convirtió en madre adoptiva autorizada y cuidó a cientos de niños en su hogar. El éxito de Hale como madre adoptiva hizo que se ganara el cariñoso apodo de "Madre Hale".

En 1969, a la edad de 64 años, Hale se convirtió en madre adoptiva de un niño adicto a la cocaína. Ella respondió a las necesidades de otros niños con este padecimiento y fundó un innovador programa de cuidados y crianza en Harlem, llamado Hale House. El programa de cuidados también proporcionó capacitación a madres drogadictas sobre cómo mejorar la salud de sus bebés químicamente dependientes. El programa único de Hale requería que las madres vivieran en Hale House con sus hijos y asistieran a un programa de rehabilitación de drogas. En la década de 1980, Hale amplió los servicios de Hale House para incluir la atención a bebés afectados por el VIH y a aquellos que habían perdido a sus padres a causa del SIDA.

En 1991, Hale House atendía a aproximadamente 1,000 bebés y niños pequeños. Durante su distinguida carrera, Hale recibió numerosos honores y premios por su servicio comunitario. Recibió un doctorado honorario por parte de John Jay College of Criminal Justice y premios de servicio público del Comité Nacional del Día de la Madre y el Premio Truman al Servicio Público. En 1985, durante su discurso sobre el estado de la Unión, el presidente Ronald Reagan se refirió a Hale como una "héroe estadounidense" por su compromiso con los niños en situación de riesgo.

Clara McBride Hale murió el 18 de diciembre de 1992 en la ciudad de Nueva York, a la edad de 87 años.

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businessabroad · 7 months

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Securing Contracts at the UN & UNRWA: Post-Israel Conflict 2023 Opportunities #19

Charting a Course for Impact: UN & UNRWA Jobs Post-Conflict

As the dust settles from the Israel conflict of 2023, the UN and UNRWA are ramping up their efforts—and that means opportunities for those eager to make a difference. Our video, "Securing Contracts at the UN & UNRWA: Post-Israel Conflict 2023 Opportunities - UN Jobs #19," shines a light on how you can be a part of this vital work.

Discover roles that match your passion for service and recovery, learn about the application process, and position yourself as an invaluable asset in this critical time. The path to building peace could begin with your next step.

#UNOpportunities #UNRWAJobs #PostConflictWork #GlobalCareers

Here are all the videos in this course.

The Benefits of Working at the United Nations

UN Duty Station: What it is and What you Can Expect

The Process of Getting A Job at the United Nations

How to Apply For A Job At The United Nations

United Nations Levels and Salary - What are they?

Type of Contract at the United Nations

United Nations Steps and Contract Negotiation

United Nations Jobs, Job Role, and Posting Locations

UN Job Opportunities - How to Increase Your Odds

Best Places for Your Family to Live

How are you Competing Against

United Nations Official Languages

This is What the UN's Application Process is Like

How to success your test at the United Nations

Before Passing Your Interview at the United Nations

How to Successfully Interview For a Competency-Based Job

List of Questions used in Competency-Based Interview

What to do After the Interview at the United Nations

#UN Careers Post-Conflict #UNRWA Employment #Peacekeeping Jobs #Humanitarian Careers #United Nations Contract Work #International Development Jobs #Post-Conflict Recovery #Peacebuilding Employment #United Nations Job Search #Conflict Resolution Jobs #Global Humanitarian Opportunities

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snakejar · 2 months

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the whole williams thing is so bizzare and i am sure absolutely nobody wins from it.

i get that alex is the objectively better driver. i get how important points or even positions are in the bigger picture of the constructors championship and finance wise, and i get that alex has a far better shot of doing better. but this leaves such a sour taste in everyone's mouth that im not sure its worth it.

if you look at the current scene on social media, its a shitshow. williams' comments sections are filled with disapproval, and people are hating both alex and logan with vigour. this is horrible moment for williams.

and what if alex gets into the points? what if he actually does deliver and bumps williams up the rankings? its not a good look anyway. people are going to say he hasnt earned it, he doesnt deserve it, and they're going to be annoyed. the f1 crowds love drama and they love it when drivers fail. they come into the race with expectations that alex is going to fail and fumble the second chance that williams has given him in the form of logan's car, and if he doesnt, then they're going to be pissed that their expectations haven't been fulfilled.

but what if alex doesnt get any points? people are going to point and laugh and they are going to turn their backs on alex and williams more than they have on friday and saturday. again, people love mocking mistakes and disappointment. worse yet, what if alex crashes again? sends it into the wall in turn 8 the same way he did in fp1? he and williams will never hear the end of it.

i cannot imagine the hit this will do to logan's confidence. he was the last driver to get resigned in 2023, but by signing him, williams have put faith in him. they have put trust in his development and his performance for 2024. the level of disrespect this is to logan is genuinely crazy. logan has done nothing but do his best and play for the team, but he has to pay for alex's mistake, and now it is another missed opportunity for him to prove himself. if you look at free practice results from the aus gp, logan and alex's times weren't even separated by a massive margin. there's a huge probability that logan is not going to get resigned for the 2025 season, and there are very few chances for him to prove himself this season. by doing this, williams is telling logan that they have no faith in him, they don't believe he'll perform when they need him to. im afraid this might be the start to the end of logan's f1 career.

what's worse is that williams has lately been the team that appealed to the fans. even if they consistently drove around in the back of the field, fans still loved them for their team dynamic and their drivers and being a small team. they need fan support, because if they dont have the best drivers or a decent cars, then they need to at least have people backing them. but this is just so cold and so un-williamslike, and is going to take a hit on the amount of support they have going forward.

at the end of the day, f1 will always be a game of money. time and time again formula 1 has proved that it cares more about profit than the careers of their drivers. teams will obviously do what will get them the most points, positions, and ultimately prize money. but unless alex pulls off a goddamn miracle in the race tomorrow, i really do not think that any of this is worth it in the end.

#f1 #formula 1 #williams racing #williams f1 #logan sargeant #alex albon #aus gp 2024 #formula one

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togglesbloggle · 8 days

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Okay now do Lysenkoism

Sexy as hell.

It almost had to be; science builds consensus through shared experiences, so it can afford to be boring an un-charismatic. If you're unifying people around truth-claims that can't be replicated or experienced, then you need something else to coordinate people and keep them in line once the bodies start piling up. Lysenko used a robust and varied set: grafting itself to existing communist ideology, violent enforcement by Stalin. But it (both the movement and the man) also had genuine charisma.

Lysenko himself clearly photographs well, but a ton of the claims here are also clearly oriented towards emotionally powerful experiences for the followers. The rejection of the uncomfortable chaos at the root of natural selection, the valorization of agriculture as the forefront of science, the capacity of soviet thought to improve science as a discipline, the supremacy of ideology over human development with no concern for the stubborn facts of genetic disposition... all of these things feel great, and they can be crowd-pleasing notes in a grand symphony.

"You have the power to sculpt the ecosystems around you as you please, right here and now. Hunger can just end, and this is only the first step in an absolute mastery over the world provided by the deep insights of our wise leaders, insights that will catapult us in to a glorious, infinite future. It is merely a social problem, and we have solved that problem as no one else has in the history of mankind."

We feel immune to this because we live in the post-Borlaugh era. But whatever intensity of feeling we have towards Borlaugh, the man who saved a billion lives- how much more intensely would we feel about a man who was successfully pretending to be the thing that Borlaugh actually was? A man who made his promises when famine was still a very real threat, and when even developed nations struggled with food security? Who was unconstrained by the need to actually solve the problem, and could instead devote his entire career to making us feel powerfully like the problem had been solved?

#yes I'm being trolled #yes I'm enjoying it #but to be very very clear #in this house we do not stan Lysenko #Lysenko was a bad bad bad bad man

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lboogie1906 · 2 months

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Léon Damas (March 28, 1912 - April 22, 1978) was a poet, editor, diplomat, and cultural theorist who was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. He was the youngest of five children born to parents Ernest and Marie Aline Damas.

He left French Guiana to attend the prestigious Lycée Victor-Schœlcher. He attended the University of Paris. His scholarship was for the study of law, he developed an interest in the humanities and social sciences. Influenced by Andre Breton’s anti-colonial pamphlet Légitime Défense, by his encounters with the work of Harlem Renaissance poets like Claude McKay and Langston Hughes, and by the growing community of US Black expatriate writers and artists, he began to assert his identity as a poète Nègre.

He and Aimé Césaire met Léopold Sédar Senghor. The three founded the journal L’Étudiant Noir, called Négritude.

He was the first Black writer to address the impact of colonization on the psyche of the colonized. He introduced this colonial and postcolonial condition more than 20 years before philosopher Frantz Fanon would label such traits “the colonized personality”.

He was the author of nine other volumes, including five additional books of poetry, three essay collections, and one book of short stories. In addition to a writing career that spanned 40 years, he held several prominent and influential positions in military, diplomatic, and government organizations. He served in the French army during WWII. He was elected to the Chambre des Députés of the French National Assembly. He became the overseas editor for Radio France, a contributing editor on the board of the journal Presence Africaine, and a representative of the African Society of Culture for the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

He traveled extensively in Africa, Latin America, the US, and the Caribbean. He settled in DC, where he accepted a visiting professorship at Georgetown University. He was offered a permanent position at Howard University, where he remained on the faculty until his death. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

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livesunique · 1 year

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Ms Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida OMRI (4 July 1927 – 16 January 2023)

Destined to be called "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World", Ms Lollobrigida was the daughter of a furniture manufacturer, and grew up in the pictorial mountain village. She studied sculpture at Rome’s Academy of Fine Arts, and started her career with minor Italian film roles before coming third in 1947’s Miss Italia pageant.

After refusing a contract with Howard Hughes to make three pictures in the United States in 1950, Ms Lollobrigida gained for starring turns in 1952’s “Fanfan la Tulipe” and 1953’s “Bread, Love and Dreams,” the latter of which netted her a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Actress.

Ms Lollobrigida’s first American film was “Beat the Devil,” a 1953 adventure comedy directed by John Huston that cast her opposite Humphrey Bogart. Over the course of the ’50s and ’60s, she starred in numerous French, Italian and European-shot American productions, with highlights including “Trapeze” with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” as Esmerelda, “Solomon and Sheba” with Yul Brynner, “Never So Flew” with Frank Sinatra and Steve McQueen, “Come September” with Rock Hudson, and “Woman of Straw” with Sean Connery, and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” with Shelley Winters.

Her roles made her a major sex symbol of Italian cinema; in 1953, she won Italy’s David di Donatello award for Best Actress for her performance in the opera star Lina Cavalieri’s biopic “Beautiful But Dangerous,” known in Italian as “The World’s Most Beautiful Woman.”

She later won two more David di Donatello Award for “Imperial Venus” and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” a Golden Medal of the City of Rome in 1986, a 40th Anniversary David in 1996 and a 50th Anniversary David in 2006. In 1961, she won the Golden Globes’ Henrietta Award for “World Fan Favorite,” and received nominations for “Falcon Crest” and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell.”

After the ’60s, Lollobrigida’s career began to slow down, but she continued to act intermittently, including in the 1995 Agnes Varda film “Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma,” and in ’80s TV shows such as CBS’ “Falcon Crest” and ABC’s “The Love Boat.”

Ms Lollobrigida also developed a successful second career in photojournalism during the ’80s. She obtained an exclusive interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and also photographed many famous film stars, as well as publishing a number of books of her photographs.

In 2011 she made her final film appearance, playing herself in a cameo for the Italian parody film “Box Office 3D: The Filmest of Films.”

The screen legend sale of some of her 23 jewels from her Bulgari collection at Sotheby’s in 2013 to help fund an international hospital for stem-cell research.

On 16 October 1999, Lollobrigida was nominated as a Goodwill Ambassador of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Ms Lollobrigida won the Berlinale Camera at the Berlin Film Festival in 1986, Karlovy Vary Film Festival special prize in 1995, and the Rome Festival’s career prize in 2008. In 2018, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ciao, Gina, Riposa in Pace

(Armando Pietrangeli, “Light and Shadow,” Gina Lollobrigida,1960, Trapeze 1956, Woman Of Rome,1954, Salomon & Sheba,1959, Come September, 1961,Un Bellissimo Novembre,1968, The Hunchback of Notre Dame,1956, In London to publicise her book of photographs titled Italia Mia,1974, Fidel Castro shot by Ms Lollobrigida,1974, Gina Lollobrigida pictured on July 11, 2022 in Rome).

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just-late-roman-republic-things · 6 months

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Time for the fifth and final chapter summary of Roman Homosexuality, by Cragi Williams! Tonight we're talking about deviants! Kink-shaming! And Roman gay marriage! Warning for discussion of sexism and gender-policing, as usual.

Cinaedus, Pathicus, and other insults were directed at men who were seen as effeminate. This could include being sexually penetrated, but not always. The "root" of the deviance lay not in sexual attraction to men per se, but in a failure to perform masculinity as expected.

Cinaedi were by definition adult men who acted effeminate. Children and adolescent boys could not be cinaedi, because they couldn't be men until they came of age. Thus, although it was still embarrassing for a Roman youth to be the penetrated partner, people would often cut him some slack and expect him to "grow out of it." Youths could also get away with being more androgynous than grown men. The cinaedus was a man who didn't grow out of it, or who outright embraced androgyny or femininity.

On the other hand, men expressing attraction to other men (or boys) was perfectly normal. Sexual desire was part of manliness. A man was only censured for pursuing a relationship in a way that was seen as un-masculine: losing his self-control, letting himself be penetrated, letting a woman dominate him, dressing or acting "like a woman" himself, or even falling too obviously in love.

So what were the consequences if you did get labeled a cinaedus? Stigma and embarrassment, mainly. You couldn't represent others in court (though you could still hire a lawyer or act as your own). You might get passed over for promotions or lose an election. But you weren't going to get targeted with lawsuits or violence. There are stories of men labeled cinaedi serving in the Roman army with distinction, and plenty of politicians hurled the word at each other, but still had successful careers. An effeminate Roman man might get bullied or discriminated against, but he was not an outcast, nor was he seen as a monster or predator.

The harshest condemnation wasn't reserved for cinaedi, but for people who engaged in fellatio and cunnilingus. Oral sex was thought to pollute and degrade the mouth, and was even more shameful than being anally penetrated. This even applied to husbands pleasuring their wives!

However, the men who penetrated other men (orally or anally) weren't censured in the same way; their manliness was considered intact. So a double standard applied in male/male intercourse, with one partner being judged more harshly than the other. And plenty of men both talked shit about effeminate men while also sleeping with those effeminate men in private, just like misogynistic men might talk shit about women but still sleep with them, too. Attraction and contempt could go hand in hand.

Other groups that got even more stigma than effeminate men were actors, gladiators, professional musicians, prostitutes and slaves. The emperor Nero's marriage to a man - with himself as the bride - was considered less shocking than his public theater performances.

Speaking of which, Williams thinks it's highly likely that occasional same-sex marriage occurred. It wouldn't have been legally recognized, and most of our sources condemn it. But the references are there, including a law banning it in the 4th century CE, which suggests it was a widely known if controversial phenomenon.

I'm not entirely convinced by Williams' argument that there wasn't a subculture for effeminate men. He argues that since it was socially acceptable for men to express attraction to other men, there would be no social pressure forcing men to develop separate spaces for finding male partners. But he may also be defining "subculture" more narrowly than I do.

#jlrrt reads #craig williams #roman homosexuality #jlrrt essays

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oiwxa · 1 year

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UMAZANE MISLI (teaser) | c.bg

or, the one where beomgyu hates that he's your biggest fan.

STARRING: choi beomgyu x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS: Beomgyu thought that a life of academic excellence, popularity contests, and ego trips were left behind the moment he graduated from a prestigious private school. However, he found himself locked in an intense, three-year rivalry with you. He always had to be number one in everything that the two of you were involved in, but god damn, your band makes incredible music. Lord knows what would happen if one day, you find him moshing to one of your basement shows. Alas, you were oblivious, and he managed to convince himself that an oversized hoodie immediately transformed him into a spy that infiltrated your band's smelly, sweat-infused, beer-rotting basement.

ESTIMATED RUNTIME: 25-30k

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

DIRECTOR'S CUT: please listen to umazane misli by joker out omg that band has a massive chokehold on me since eurovision smh

The sound of the drums resonated in his ears as he watched you effortlessly strike each component of the kit with what he thought looked like large chopsticks. Yes, those large chopsticks that his grandmother often used to cook meals in the Choi household apparently doubled as a percussive instrument played by some of the greatest musicians alive. It also just so happens that you were on his list of being one of the GOATs—he just refused to say it to your face. He wouldn’t necessarily consider himself a fanboy of you, nor did he want to believe that he had a giant, most likely unrequited crush on the persona you developed as a drummer. He just refused to let you bask in your own ego at the thought that he, Choi Beomgyu, had a hoodie on at the mosh pit to a band you held under wraps as one of your best-kept secrets. If you were to find out that the Choi Beomgyu never missed any of your band’s shows albeit being incognito, he knew you would never let him get away with it.

That was because, on campus, you were his biggest rival in everything. While he was the captain of the school’s well-to-do soccer team, you commanded the once dejected and loss-ridden volleyball team with an iron fist. On every test and assignment that each professor had to offer, the two of you were neck and neck, always first or second, but never third. Sometimes, the two of you felt sorry for every match that the debates club managed to compete in, because the entire competition would consist of you and Beomgyu bickering about whatever topic was assigned—leading both of you to utter controversial and extremely questionable comments about women’s rights, human trafficking, or space exploration. One time, both of you took things too personally at a model UN conference that tackled the gender pay gap. Even if the two of you were chairs that oversaw the entire assembly, there always had to be a competition in who spoke the most or who passed the most resolutions. The quality of these resolutions didn’t even matter when the two of you were constantly arguing about who was the most neutral voice in the room. The worst part about it all? It was a charity conference that your university hosted, with high schoolers as the main participants. Both of you weren’t even the main contenders for the event, and yet Beomgyu still found a way to make it a competition.

For as long as Beomgyu could remember, he always had the deep-seated urge to defeat you in everything—which was why he could never let you know that he was perhaps the biggest fan of your band and the music you produced with them. He contemplated starting his own band ever so often, but to him, the basement was a sanctuary that had to be protected. In these small, cramped, and beer-reeking venues, he could finally be himself, free from the bondage of academic excellence, gym locker insecurities, and the pressures of finding a fruitful and successful career. It was where he could cut his sleeves off and display all of the tattoos he’s poked in his skin with a cheap, 20,000 won tattoo gun that he bought on impulse after losing to you by half a mark on a finance exam. It was the place where he didn’t need to find an enemy in you—a place where he could be in the same room as you without wanting to rip your head off or beat you up into a fine, neat pulp.

—IF YOU WANT TO BE IN THE CREDITS FOR THIS FILM, DON'T HESITATE TO SEND AN ASK OR FILL OUT OIWXA MEDIA'S PARTICIPATION SURVEY FOR FUTURE RELEASES.

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