#I just can’t focus and read with my eyes so audio books are really important to me

[charmingyong]

Only Fate Can Tell

Prologue

Genre: Jaehyun x fem!reader, adorable bestfriend!Taeyong x Irene, marriage, fluff, slowburn, humour, angst

Warnings: slowburn, brief mention of mental health, babysitting children, alcohol consumption, awkward feelings, unrequited love, blinded by assumed thoughts,  an idiot to not acknowledge the feelings of love, suggestive at the end

Word count: 16k

Plot: You didn’t want to marry, but your parents were keen to find you a life partner considering your age. After numerous failed attempts of finding an alliance because you rejected all the potential ones after first meeting, your parents gave you a warning if you rejected yet another one. Therefore, much to your dismay, you chose to give Jung Jaehyun a chance.

A/N: This is a story of what happens before the marriage takes place (i.e. no married life scene in this part, and I will be writing a sequel). A few scenes were inspired by ‘The Return of Superman’ show. There’s a small surprise for Jaeyong stans. Songs of inspiration: Jaehyun’s I Like Me Better (Lauv), Love Me Now (NCT 127). Disclaimer: Taeyong x Irene is only for a fictional purpose in this story. If triggered, do not read this.

Gif: mine

© 2021 charmingyong.

- ❀ -

You dragged your feet to the entrance of the top floor restaurant, your palms getting sweaty as the doors slid open, making you hear the soft music more clearly. You were nowhere near interested in the blind date that your parents had set you up with. Even though you were itching to not show your face to the unfortunate man that had to see you, you didn’t have the heart to have your date be stood up by you.

You made eye contact with a female greeting you upon entry into the elegant establishment. “Hello ma’am. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, his name is Qian Kun.”

“Ah yes, please come this way.” She led you past the tables with light chatters, and you reached the end of the room where a man sat looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the miniature vehicles zooming on the highway.

“Sir, your date has arrived.”

Kun pried his eyes away from the window and towards you, a smile taking its place on his face. “Hello Miss Y/N. Please have a seat.” He gestured to the empty chair across him.

You nodded, timidly sitting down with your eyes wandering everywhere except on his.

“Would you like anything for starters?” he asked you gently.

You pursed your lips and shook your head. “Um, I need to tell you something.”

His lips formed an ‘oh’ and signaled for the server to leave you momentarily. “Yes, what is it?”

You took a deep breath in. “I only came here because my parents have been pestering me nonstop to get married. I’m really sorry but I’m not interested in marriage. It has nothing to do with you. It’s just me and I’m really sorry about that.”

Kun nodded, smiling tenderly at you. “I completely understand. I’m also here for that same reason.”

Your eyes widened slightly. “You too?”

“Yes. I actually want to focus on my career, and so I was hoping to get married like a few years from now. Definitely not now,” he spoke his last words quietly.

You smiled. “Well, I’m glad we’re both on the same boat. So I guess I’ll be going then since there’s no point for me to be here now,” you chuckled nervously.

He shook his head. “Please don’t. It’d be a shame to have you leave here with an empty stomach. This can just be a friendly dinner. That’s if you don’t mind, of course.”

You couldn’t say no to his kind eyes, especially when he was being a gentleman. “A friendly dinner it is.”

- ❀ -

You rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds. The door flung open, revealing a smiling Irene. “Y/N! How did it go?” she beamed, excited to hear the details.

“You know the answer to that.” You took off your shoes and walked inside the clean spacious condo. Your eyes landed on little Aera who was on her four and you cooed, running up to her. You picked her up, cradling her tiny body in your arms and smooching a number of kisses all over her face. In return, Aera squealed happily from the sudden love attack.

Irene sighed. “You seriously did it again? Not give him a chance?”

You sat down on the couch with Aera on your lap. “Well, we did have a friendly dinner. And besides, he wasn’t interested in marriage either and he wanted to focus on his career.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You got saved this time, but it might not happen again. I don’t know how many times your parents are going to let it slide until they’ve had enough and force you into an arranged marriage.”

You cocked an eyebrow at her. “Isn’t this arranged anyway? Having to go on blind dates that they set me up with?”

“Yeah but you have a choice right now to say yes or no. What if next time you don’t get so lucky and they get fed up with you having to constantly reject every single one, and they force you into a marriage without your consent?”

You stilled, staring at Aera’s joyful face. Irene was right. There was a chance that you might not be lucky one day and be forced into a marriage without love. But you wanted to trust your parents that they’d let you choose your partner, no matter how long it’d take.

- ❀ -

You drove to your next blind date a few days later. Your hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as you ground your teeth, remembering back to your parents’ words the previous night. Even though your head was heated, you tried to focus on the calming music that played from the audio system in your car, safely driving down the streets without any road rage.

You parked the car in the near vacant lot and stepped out. The date was held yet again at a luxurious restaurant and you sighed.

At least it’s not as expensive looking like the past ones, you thought.

You grasped the golden handle and pushed it open. The lighting wasn’t too bright, just dim enough to create a cozy ambiance.

“Hello madam, are you F/N L/N?” The male inquired.

Bewildered, you nodded. “Yes. How did you know?”

He smiled politely. “The entire restaurant is currently booked for Mister Jung Jaehyun.”

You looked around and indeed found it unoccupied of customers, only spotting a male figure at the opposite end of the place, his back facing you at a table.

“Please come this way.”

You followed, your legs becoming heavier with every step and your heart pounded in your chest.

Please let everything go well with him, you prayed silently.

The server pulled out your chair and you sat down without giving your date a glance. Once you were settled, you then looked up and your breathing halted momentarily.

His soft eyes were trained on you, along with a smile accompanied by dimples so handsome that you almost swooned.

But good looks aren’t going to mean anything if there’s no love, you thought.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Y/N,” he greeted warmly.

You forced a smile out of courtesy. “Same here, Jaehyun.”

- ❀ -

“So how’s Jaehyun?” your mother asked with an vibrant smile.

You sighed. “Okay I guess.”

“So it’s a yes then,” your father stated.

You almost glared at him. “The date was okay. I didn’t feel anything with him.” Your palms were clenched tightly while you tried to slow your breathing down.

“Oh sweetie, you don’t have to feel anything for him. Love doesn’t have to happen right now. And Jaehyun’s a good boy. I’m sure he’ll make you happy,” your mother said.

You groaned quietly. “What if love never happens? He can’t make me happy if I don’t love him.”

“Your mother and I didn’t have any love in the beginning, but we learned to care for each other.”

“Caring is not the same as love.”

His hard gaze was locked on you. “It is.”

Grinding your teeth, you could never beat your father with his words.

Your father mentioned beforehand that if the date with Jaehyun also failed, then he was going to force you in a relationship with a man that you wouldn’t see until the day of the wedding. This meant that you were now, technically, arranged to marry Jaehyun.

You were at an age where your friends and relatives were already married, even having children. Your parents viewed societal expectations more important than your own, and so that resulted in you having to go on numerous blind dates with you fully prepared to turn down every single guy no matter what. You wanted to marry someone that you would love, and all the dates that your parents had set you up with were of men that met their ideal type as their future son-in-law.

The date with Jaehyun felt more awkward than with any previous ones. That was because with Jaehyun, you weren’t just there ready to reject him in the face as politely as possible, but you were trying to accept him as your future husband. While that would be something teenage you would squeal about in high school, you cringed greatly at that in your twenties. Your teenage self always dreamt of a grand wedding with the love of your life. But growing up, you accepted the reality. Not everyone was lucky to meet their love and the fact that you hadn’t met yours made you pessimistic.

Pessimistic that love wasn’t written in your fate.

So far, Jaehyun did seem like an okay guy and you could only wish that your feelings would grow for him, especially before the marriage date. Nothing about him upon first meeting had you dreading of a thing that you didn’t like in him. But... “Can I please seriously ask you something without you two being biased?”

Your parents looked a each other, embracing themselves for what you had to inquire. “Sure sweetie, what is it?”

You gulped down the bump forming in your throat. “What if I find out something bad about him before the wedding, or something I don’t like in him? Do I have to force myself to be with him still?” you asked with a puppy look to make your parents grow soft for you and agree.

A brief silence was what you were met with as they silently conversed with one another through their eyes. Your father released a long breath afterwards. “You have up until the time before the wedding invitations are distributed to give me a reason why you shouldn’t marry Jaehyun. And it must be a valid reason.”

- ❀ -

“Tae, are you even listening to me?”

His gaze was lowered onto the floating strawberries that swam around in his drink. “Yeah I am.” He took a long sip and smiled, humming in satisfaction. “Are you going to eat your pastry?”

You crossed your arms and leaned back in your seat. “You’re clearly not. My future is on the line and you want my pastry? You’re not even reacting to whatever I’m saying.”

He lifted his doe eyes onto you. “I am. But based on whatever you just said, the date didn’t sound like it went necessarily bad. All that happened was small talk and you two were silent most of the time.”

Your jaw dropped. “So now your gonna be on my parents’ side? Just because we were mostly silent doesn’t mean it didn’t go bad. What if we’re going to be like this after marriage? I can’t handle this awkwardness, Tae!”

“I’m not saying that I’m siding with your parents but give Jaehyun a chance. It was only the first meeting so obviously it’s going to feel awkward. Plus, based on the picture you showed me, he’s good looking.”

You blinked. “So?”

He shrugged, looking innocently at you. “Cute babies?”

“Shut up Lee Taeyong!”

He laughed, his head falling backward.

You sighed. “I can’t believe this. Why am I being forced into a marriage? Can’t they let me choose my partner?”

“They have been letting you for years, but you kept putting it off, Y/N.”

“Because I didn’t find the love of my life? I don’t like my parents’ choices where they always choose the one with money. I don’t want to marry a guy who’s only good with first impression but ends up being boring after marriage. I wanna meet someone like you, Tae. You’re so easy to love.”

Taeyong giggled. “I’m sure there are better guys out there than me.”

You rolled your eyes. “Please, you’re literally like the biggest cutest sweetheart on earth. I can’t even imagine someone beating your level. Irene is so lucky. If you didn’t fall in love with her, I would have asked for your hand in marriage,” you joked.

He shook his head, laughing hard. “Stop! You’re too much, Y/N. But don’t assume that all guys your parents try to set you up with are going to be boring. You don’t know the charms that Jaehyun’s carrying and before you know it, you’ll be falling for him.”

You sighed heavily. “Sounds too good to be true.”

He smiled sincerely. “Leave it up to your fate.” He looked behind you at the display case of the various baked goods before looking at your untouched pastry again. “So are you eating that or not?”

A smile tugged at your lips and you pushed your plate towards him. “Eat up. You need it more than me to keep up with the little angels in your home.”

After Taeyong devoured the chocolate tart, you both stepped out of the coffee shop with plans of heading over to the movies.

“I wish Irene could come with us, but the kids...” you trailed off.

Aera was only 9 months old and there was no way that little bundle would sit quietly for two hours unless she dozed off. Even if the problem was solved with Aera, Jinae was a year older and she was quite a curious and an energetic one. Though not more than Chunghee, the 4-year-old boy who was at the perfect age to be labeled as the troublemaker in the household.

“When I watch over the kids, you and Irene can have your girls night out. Or day, whatever time of the day it is.”

“Please make a vlog. I wanna see you struggle.”

Taeyong laughed. “Sorry to disappoint you but they love me more than Irene so they’re always listening to me.”

You rolled your eyes. “Maybe they’re scared of you.”

He clicked his tongue. “I’m sure they’re scared of Irene.”

You giggled. “I can see that being the case more.”

After paying for the tickets, you and Taeyong walked in the direction of the designated auditorium. Halfway through, Taeyong halted. “Awe man!”

“What is it?”

“I want sweet potato chips. But the vending machines aren’t here anymore,” he pouted.

You pondered for a bit, recalling back to the food counter by the entrance. “I think I saw them selling it at the front.”

His eyes brightened. “Really? Okay stay right here. I’ll be back soon.” He sprinted off in the next second, leaving you amused by his usual childlike behaviour. You pulled your phone out to entertain yourself for the time being.

“Y/N?” A deep voice called out your name and you looked up to find the man that you were unexpectedly seeing for the second time. Your body tensed hearing his voice again, and your heart skipped a beat when your eyes landed on his outfit. It was nice to see Jaehyun wear denim, something outside of the formal attire at the restaurant. In his hands was a container full of popcorn.

“Oh Jaehyun. What a surprise,” you awkwardly chuckled.

He grinned at you. “It is. Are you here alone?”

You shook your head. “No, my friend went to get some snacks. Are you?”

“My friend had to go do something. I was waiting for him until I saw you from the distance.”

Right on cue, a tall man appeared beside Jaehyun and genuinely smiled at you. “Oh, hi there. I’m Johnny.”

You gave him a tight smile. “I’m Y/N.”

His eyes went wide. “Y/N?” He turned to Jaehyun and repeated. “Y/N?” Johnny raised his eyebrows incredulously. He received a nod from Jaehyun and faced you again. “Oh my goodness. I heard about you and it’s seriously a pleasure to meet you.”

“Huh?”

He laughed at your puzzled expression while Jaehyun avoided your gaze nervously, his cheeks dusting pink. “It’s nice to see Jaehyun talk about something other than his work. He’s so devoted to his work that he sometimes forgets to chill out.”

Your heart fell at his words.

Devoted to his work.

You were not into men who were so passionate about their work that they’d forget about their well being. And not just well being, but they’d spend less time with their significant other.

Taeyong used to be like that until Irene was diagnosed with postpartum depression. He then took time off from work for Irene’s recovery. With his full attention on her and taking care of their first-born, Irene fully recovered with the prescribed treatments and Taeyong’s love, and you were relieved that the illness didn’t come back with Jinae and Aera.

You weren’t necessarily afraid of what happened to Irene. Taeyong had to get back to work after Irene’s recovery and they were able to pull through because there was love and understanding between them. There was no love between you and Jaehyun, and so your relationship, whatever little there was, had to depend on understanding one another. And that was going to be difficult when you weren’t interested in the man.

You pursed your lip, anxiously waiting for your friend’s return.

And finally he did with three bags of chips in his arms. “Sorry I took long. Oh! Jaehyun, right? Hi, I’m Taeyong. And you must be his friend, am I right?” he asked the taller one, shaking his hand.

“Yes, the name is Johnny. Nice to meet you, Taeyong. And boy, you have some strength.” Johnny was always the one with the most amount of strength. Therefore, having to meet someone who possessed nearly the same amount was impressive to him.

Taeyong chuckled. “Well I definitely do need it when having to look after my kids.”

It was a coincidence that the other two were there to watch the same movie as you. Taeyong suggested for them to sit with you two, and you sent your friend a small glare to which he responded with a smirk.

That was how you ended up sitting beside Taeyong and Jaehyun, squirming a little in your seat. During the advertisements, you noticed a popcorn container being offered to you by none other than your future husband. And you felt a slight pang in your heart.

“Sorry but I don’t like popcorn,” you admitted.

He was taken aback slightly before nodding and placed his popcorn on his lap, all while avoiding your gaze. You felt a bit bad. He was trying to be nice to you, but you weren’t going to force yourself to eat something that you weren’t a fan of.

Right after, Taeyong offered you his snack. You loved sweet potato chips, being the one to actually introduce it to your friend and you were proud to have him addicted to them. You took hold of the bag entirely, hearing a whine from him. You munched on the chips and hummed happily.

Jaehyun observed this and felt a stab of jealousy.

- ❀ -

“Jinae!” you beamed at the little girl waddling up to your open arms. You picked her up and swung her around in circles, making her laugh cheerfully.

“Wow Jinae, you really betrayed papa for Y/N auntie,” Taeyong sulked.

You stuck your tongue out playfully at him and pecked Jinae on her squishy cheek.

Chunghee ran up to his dad, crying with teary eyes. “Aigoo, what happened?” Taeyong kneeled down to meet his son’s level.

“Mama force me fruits!” he wailed.

Taeyong closed his eyes. “I should have known Ten uncle was going to be a bad influence on you,” he muttered.

“I can’t believe you trusted Ten with Chunghee. Wasn’t it only for an hour?”

He nodded in response and wiped the little boy’s tears away, kissing his forehead and picking him up with his strong arms. He carried Chunghee off to the bedroom while you sat down on the couch with Jinae in your lap.

“Don’t become like your brother and eat fruits, okay? Don’t stress your papa out.”

“Eung,” she responded in promise. You smiled at her and ruffled her hair, earning a smile from the baby.

Your phone vibrated in your pocket, moving Jinae down beside you. You pulled it out that displayed Jaehyun’s name on the screen. Right after the movie ended, you bid Jaehyun and his friend a quick bye and dragged Taeyong out the theaters, not giving a chance for small talk.

You hesitantly answered the call and pressed the phone against your ear. “Hello?”

“Hi Y/N,” he greeted softly. “Are you busy tomorrow?”

You chewed on your bottom lip, guessing where that question would lead to.

A date.

As much as you wanted to lie and avoid him, it ultimately wasn’t going to do any good for anyone, including yourself. Spending more time with him meant more opportunities to find a flaw in him.

“Um, yeah- I mean no! I’m not free- I mean I AM free... tomorrow. Haha.” You wanted to slap yourself in the head.

If it weren’t for the silence on both ends, you would have missed the almost inaudible giggle from him. “Can I come pick you up tomorrow around lunchtime? For a date?”

“Sure, yeah, sounds great,” you smiled awkwardly.

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N.”

Once the call ended, you were ready to chuck your phone across the room before tossing it next to you and slumped against the couch, physically cringing at how the conversation went. Jinae curiously watched you, her baby lips forming an ‘oh’ followed by her eyes crinkling in amusement.

- ❀ -

The doorbell rang to your home, which your mother giddily ran up to the front. A smiling Jaehyun was revealed on the other side who held a bouquet of warm-coloured flowers.

“Hello Mrs. L/N.”

“Jaehyun! Lovely to see you. Come on in now,” she ushered him inside.

Jaehyun’s eyes wandered around the interior design of the house, catching sight of the wall with framed photos of your life, ranging from your birth to your graduation. The smile tugging at his lips was enough to have your mother beam at him.

“Y/N has always been such as adorable girl. Isn’t she pretty?” She cooed at the pictures of little you laugh towards the camera, your pupils hidden behind your closed eyelids.

Jaehyun felt something in his heart. When he first saw you at the restaurant, he thought you were more beautiful in person. The surprise encounter at the movies had his heart skipping a beat. Standing in front of a collage containing various stages of your life made his heart flutter, feeling butterflies in his stomach. He really liked you and wished everything would go well with this marriage.

“She’s beautiful,” he replied with sparkling eyes.

You stood hidden away behind a wall, eavesdropping. To say you felt embarrassed was an understatement. You cringed on the inside every time someone walked into the house and stared at your pictures. You never liked the idea, but you didn’t have a say in it as it was your parents’ house after all.

To hear your future husband call you beautiful after seeing those photos had heat threatening to burn your cheeks and a warm feeling spread in your chest.

“Jaehyun, can I ask you something?” your mother asked.

“Of course.”

She swallowed before parting her lips. “You see, Y/N’s been trying to put off her marriage for a while and I’m not sure exactly how she’s treating you.”

He nodded, comprehending her words clearly. During the first date, he noticed your jitteriness and near lack of liveliness to continue the conversation as if you weren’t interested in him at all, and that hurt him. To see you interact with your friend in a brighter manner made him jealous. Jealous that you wouldn’t see him like the way you would with Taeyong. Though he understood that your relationship with him was new and he was willing to give you all the time you needed to become comfortable with him one day.

“While her father and I made her give you a chance, you’re not obligated to be forced into this marriage if you’re not happy. If you ever want to back out, I ask you to do it only because you’re feeling that way. Not because of Y/N. I really think you’re a perfect match for her and I’m sure it’ll take time before you can fully win her heart.”

You gulped upon hearing your mother say all that to Jaehyun. This meant that if Jaehyun didn’t like something about you, he could back out of the alliance. Your brain celebrated in near victory that it wasn’t going to be a fully forced marriage, as both the bride- and groom-to-be had your voices free, increasing the chances for either of you to call off the wedding.

“I understand. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Y/N,” Jaehyun assured.

You stepped out, walking up to where they both stood. He caught sight of you and sent you a charming smile, his dimples on full display.

You on the other hand grew curious of the bouquet in his grasp. He realized what you were staring at and grew flustered.

“Oh sorry!” He seemed like he was in a dilemma, whether to hand the bunch over to you or your mother, opting for the latter. “I-I brought these for your home,” he stuttered with the tips of his ears turning red.

Your mother giggled at his behaviour. “Oh thank you, Jaehyun. I thought you were giving those to Y/N. Seems like you got distracted by pictures of baby Y/N,” she teased.

Both yours and Jaehyun’s cheeks burned at your mother’s words.

After saying bye to your mother, Jaehyun beat you to opening the passenger door, holding it wide open for you to get in. You thanked him with a tight smile.

He had one hand on the steering wheel while the other fumbled around with the stereo, a song played softly in the background as he focused both on the road and on your tensed figure.

“I know this ramen place if you’re interested,” he spoke after some time.

You remembered mentioning to him in your small talk that you loved to eat ramen. Having him remembering the small detail made you feel a spark inside. “Ramen sounds great.” And what felt like the first time when being with Jaehyun, a small smile slowly spilled onto your face, not going unnoticed by the one beside you.

After two sets of bowls arrived at your table, your eyes drunk in the beautiful arrangement of the toppings on the noodles. You were about to pick up your chopsticks until Jaehyun stopped you. “Don’t touch yours just yet.”

You blinked at him confusedly yet stilled.

Grabbing his chopsticks in each hand, he worked with his bowl, mixing the pieces of vegetables and meats into the broth, folding the noodles on top. Once done, he laid down the chopsticks in its holder and switched his touched bowl with your untouched one.

You stared at your meal, surprised that such a simple action had your insides squealing with a fuzzy feeling. “Thank you,” you muttered, a bashful smile tugging at your lips.

He felt pleased with himself to make you feel that way and hoped he could continue doing so in the future. “No problem.”

Both of you dug into your noodles, slurped up the remaining broth once finished. You were glad that Jaehyun brought you for a casual lunch where you didn’t have to worry about manners and etiquettes as that sort of stuff did not go with ramen.

He later suggested a walk in the park in order to digest your full bellies. The weather was perfect, the sun blazing down onto your head and you were glad to have chosen a light-coloured outfit. Summer was nearing and soon enough, you were craving for a frozen dessert.

“Do you want something refreshing?” Jaehyun asked, almost like he read your thought.

“That sounds nice. Ice cream?” You pointed at the ice cream stall from afar.

He followed your finger and turned back to you, dimples reappearing. “Sure. Let’s go.”

Both your steps were synced, and he craved to hold your dangling hand. Craved to have his first ever physical touch with you. But he was worried if it was too soon and clenched his hands into fists to stop himself.

Approaching the stall, you read the long list of flavours, cheering internally when reading your favourites. “I’ll have a scoop of cherry and green tea each.”

Jaehyun turned to you with a look of mild surprise. “You like green tea?”

His face was unreadable so you couldn’t figure out whether he liked that or not. “Yeah, I love green tea. Why?”

He blinked before forming a blinding smile. “I love green tea too.”

After the ice cream date, Jaehyun drove you back home, parking his car in front of your house. He was surprised to see his parents’ vehicle in the driveway. “My parents are here.”

You nodded wordlessly. Your parents didn’t mention anything about a meet up between the two families. They only knew that you were going out with Jaehyun. “Let’s both go in.”

When you strolled into the living room with Jaehyun behind you, laughter was heard as the folks shared stories of you two.

“What’s going on?” you asked.

The eyes of a woman, who you assumed was Jaehyun’s mother, lightened up. “Oh Y/N! It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She pulled you into a crushing hug, which you tried to reciprocate with your locked arms.

“Same here,” you chuckled breathlessly.

She pulled back and beamed at you, eager to spill the breaking news. “We finalized your engagement date.”

All the colour had drained from your face and you took a quick side glance at your parents. They knew that you weren’t going to be happy with the news and had hidden it from you. “When?” you asked.

You were somewhat glad that the woman in front of you didn’t notice your fallen face. “In two weeks. And after that happens, we’ll decide on the marriage date.”

This was happening way too fast for your liking. Even though it was just an engagement, why were they so eager for it to happen quickly? “Isn’t two weeks a little too early? We’re still trying to get to know each other,” you reasoned.

Your future mother-in-law’s excitement didn’t falter the slightest bit. “Nonsense. I’ve heard that this is your third time seeing each other. And I’m sure that if you keep meeting up, you’ll have a better idea of each other by the time of the engagement. Plus, the date falls on my birthday and it would mean the world if my gift happened to be my son’s and future daughter-in-law’s engagement.”

You understood her feelings, and she was right. Two weeks should give you a better idea of Jaehyun, give you time to grow your feelings for him if you could. And it was only an engagement. A marriage in two weeks would have been more devastating.

You stared long at your father, silently pleading for him to still remember the condition set. Sensing that he knew what your eyes were trying to convey, he simply gave you a curt nod. Meanwhile, Jaehyun met your mother’s hopeful gaze, who offered him a tight smile, wishing that everything would go well between him and her daughter. You noticed your mother’s eyes being trained behind you and turned to the man. He observed the worried expression plastered on your face, his heart breaking a little at the thought of you not being excited for the marriage like the way he was.

- ❀ -

“Y/N! Please be our angel and help us out,” Taeyong pleaded over the phone.

“Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I?”

A moment of silence before he replied, “Because of what I’m about to suggest to you?”

After the phone call ended, you lied down on your bed, not believing your fate. Though it wasn’t actually all fate. This was Taeyong partly trying to play cupid.

Both Taeyong and Irene had to go out of town for the entire weekend, including their parents. But children were not allowed at the event, and their babysitter also happened to fall ill, leaving them with no other backup than have you look after the three children. You had never taken care of three children at once and he knew you were going to need a helping hand. And that was when Taeyong suggested that you babysat the three with Jaehyun.

Your fingers hovered over the screen before pressing on Jaehyun’s number. You had met up with him the past week, for casual hangouts and meals. Yet nothing much had happened in terms of you growing feelings for the said man. The engagement was exactly a week away, and you accepted your fate of having to wear a silver ring as you failed to find a flaw in him.

“Y/N?” Jaehyun sounded quite surprised that you called him for the very first time when it had always been him initiating it.

“Haha yes, it’s me.” You really wanted to hit yourself for still sounding awkward with him. “I actually called to ask you... like are you busy this weekend? I mean including overnight.”

“No, I’m not busy. What is it?”

“Are you okay to babysit kids with me?”

“Kids? Well yes, but whose kids are you talking about?” Jaehyun was ecstatic to spend the weekend with you, even if it meant having to look after some children. He was good with children and hoped he could get closer to you through this.

“They’re Taeyong’s kids. Remember Taeyong the one you met at the movies? Him and his wife are going to be away for the weekend, and he asked me to babysit them with you because there’s three of them. It’s for two days and we’ll have to stay at their house overnight. Is that okay?”

I am more than okay with the plan! Jaehyun thought. But to not scare you, he pushed down the excitement bubbling in his chest and calmly answered, “Yeah that’s fine. No worries.”

- ❀ -

Before you could even ring the bell, the door opened, revealing an overly joyful Taeyong. He threw himself on you, hugging you tightly and you laughed at him. He did the same to Jaehyun, flustering him greatly. “Thank you so much for coming, Jaehyun. Come in and leave your bags over here.”

Putting down your duffel bag to the side, you found Irene sitting on the couch with Aera in her baby walker. The baby squealed upon seeing you, bouncing on her tiny knees. “Hi Jaehyun. Thank you so much for helping out. I’m Irene.”

Jaehyun smiled at her. “Nice to meet you, Irene. And it’s no problem at all.” Taeyong led Jaehyun to the kitchen to explain the procedures that you had already memorized from the numerous times you had visited them.

“You two are literally our lifesavers,” Irene said to you.

You laughed. “It’s nothing. I’m sure it’s going to be fun with the kids.” And not as awkward with Jaehyun around, you thought.

She shook her head. “We’re leaving you two with a challenge, and Chunghee is going to be a real troublemaker for that.”

After an hour later, Taeyong and Irene finally left after placing a ton of kisses all over their youngest daughter. Aera was the only one awake at that time while the other two slept. Once you locked the door, you turned around to find Jaehyun introducing himself to the little one.

“Hi Aera, my name is Jaehyun, but you can call me Jae uncle. Let’s be friends, hmm?” Aera bounced on her knees again, beaming at him and did her signature baby laugh.

The adorable interaction between Jaehyun and the baby girl made your heart melt.

Shortly before a loud wail was heard down the far end of the hall.

“Oh that sounds like Jinae. I’ll go get her,” you said. Jaehyun gave you a nod complemented with a smile. Aera let out a high-pitched shriek to grab the uncle’s attention again.

On your way to Jinae, Chunghee sprinted past you into the living room, his doe eyes searching for his parents and instead was met with an unknown man sitting beside his sister.

“You must be Chunghee, right?” The little boy nodded with confusion written on his face. “I’m Jaehyun. Jae uncle you can call me.”

“Where’s mama and papa?”

“They already left. They’ll be back tomorrow.”

Chunghee hummed and walked over to the uncle, sitting beside his sister. “Are you auntie’s boyfwiend?” he asked.

The curiosity had pink paint over Jaehyun’s cheeks. He didn’t know what to call the relationship to a four-year-old. “Not boyfriend exactly but we’re getting married.”

Chunghee blankly stared at Jaehyun. “Do you like each other?”

Jaehyun’s breathing halted for a second. “Um, yeah but not really. I mean- I like her, but I don’t know what she feels.”

You walked back in the room, noticing a calm Chunghee trying to process something into his small developing brain, while Jaehyun sat with a faint blush covering his cheeks. Jinae had stopped crying as soon as her little eyes landed on you and fell back to sleep in your arms. You gently laid Jinae down on the couch and recalled the first mission that your friends gave you.

Have Jinae and Chunghee eat fruits.

Jinae was sleeping soundlessly so that meant Chunghee was going to be the first one to eat them, and that was the real mission.

“I’ll cut up some snacks,” you said.

Jaehyun got up to his feet. “I’ll cut them. You can relax with them.” He knew what snacks you were referring to, sending you a comforting smile before dashing off to the kitchen.

“Auntie?” Chunghee called out.

“Hm?”

“Do you like uncle?”

Flustered, you asked, “Why are you asking me that?”

“Uncle like you. But he not boyfwiend. And you gonna marry him.”

What?

Jaehyun liked you?

“Jaehyun uncle told you this?”

He nodded.

Jaehyun likes you, you thought repeatedly in your head. 

But it didn’t mean anything when you didn’t feel the same way.

After a few minutes, the said man returned with a plate of fruit varieties chopped up into small pieces. “Okay Chunghee, eat up.” He placed the plate on the foam mat covering the floor, away from Aera in case her baby walker bulldozed over the snacks.

The little boy huffed and crossed his tiny arms. “No fruits!”

“It’s going to be difficult feeding him fruits. We’ll have to figure out a way to get him desperate to eat them,” you mentioned. You picked up this idea from a movie you watched a while back and the tactic worked on the child in the film.

Jaehyun nodded and in a gentle tone told Chunghee, “I’ll keep this out in case you change your mind and become hungry. Okay?”

“But you’re not going to get any other food until you eat these,” you added sternly, hoping the strictness in your voice would have Chunghee obey.

Chunghee’s scowl faltered, not believing your words. “You won’t do that,” he responded but there was a hint of shakiness in his words.

Jaehyun went with your flow. “We don’t want to but we’ll have to,” he ended the supposed scary words with a smile to not scare the little boy too much.

The rest of the day went on with Jinae getting along well with Jaehyun, Aera sleeping shortly, and Chunghee frowning. He was the only one remaining who hadn’t touched the fruits yet and you grew concerned. Dinnertime was fast approaching and if the boy didn’t get a proper meal, then he was going to throw a tantrum.

Jaehyun offered to cook for everyone and you were surprised that he took up the task solely. “Are you sure? I can help,” you offered.

He hesitated for a moment, thinking about something briefly before he raised his hand to cup your face delicately, smiling at you. “Don’t worry. I got this,” he breathed out quietly. He retracted his and made his way towards the kitchen. Little did both of you know the true effect that the small touch had on the other, both of your hearts beating erratically as Jaehyun hurriedly hid in the kitchen while you stood frozen in your spot.

Four bowls of food were set on the table. For you, Jaehyun, Jinae, and Aera (though baby safe).

“Woa!” Jinae exclaimed before digging into her food with her baby chopsticks. Jaehyun began feeding Aera spoonfuls in the form of an airplane swooshing in the air, making Aera squeal joyfully. You stifled back a laugh from how funny Jaehyun looked doing that.

Hearing a faint grumble beside you, you anxiously glanced at Chunghee. The plate consisting of his share of fruits was left abandoned in the living room. “Where’s my food?” he asked.

“You know the deal. First fruits, then food,” you answered.

Chunghee couldn’t believe his ears. His parents had always given up eventually, no matter how hard they tried to get him to eat the naturally sweet products. “I. Want. Food!” he screamed.

This caused Aera to start crying and Jinae to stop eating her food altogether. You gave Jinae a side hug, rubbing her arm and let out a deep sigh. “Chunghee, if you’re going to keep this up, go into the living room. Let your sisters eat. It’s not their fault that you don’t want to eat something that Jinae already had.”

Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes. “You’re so mean!” he yelled and ran into the said room.

Jaehyun wiped Aera’s tears away and picked her up to soothe her, calmly her down shortly. “We’ll have to think of something else,” he told you.

“I don’t understand why Chunghee has such a huge problem with fruits,” you spoke. “He became like this ever since Ten looked after him one time.”

Jaehyun took in what you said, his mind raking up on a solution. “I think I can figure this problem out. Can you feed Aera while I go see him?”

You nodded. “Of course.”

Jaehyun found the little boy whimpering quietly as he hugged his legs to his chest. Chunghee’s sad eyes made Jaehyun feel a twinge in his heart. If there was something else behind it like a fear, he would have opted for a better solution.

Jaehyun sat down beside him. “I’m sorry,” he spoke tenderly.

The boy stayed put and sniffed, letting tears slide down his reddened cheeks. Jaehyun wiped his tears away with his thumbs.

“What’s wrong, Chunghee? Why won’t you eat fruits?”

Chunghee was still upset with his auntie and uncle, and so he didn’t respond back.

“How can I help you if you don’t tell me? Did Ten uncle say something bad about it?”

Those words stirred something inside the boy and he let his guard down. “Yeah,” he mumbled.

Bullseye. Jaehyun felt like he was close to solving the problem. “What did he say?”

Chunghee finally looked at the uncle with glistening eyes and answered, “Fruits will grow in my stomach.”

Fruits...

What?

Bewildered Jaehyun tried to compose himself before confirming. “So you won’t eat fruits because you’re scared that fruits will grow in your stomach?”

A nod.

Jaehyun faced away from the naïve boy and a smile threatened to spill onto his face. He was amused by the boy’s innocent fear, but at the same time he wanted to meet this Ten guy and smack him for installing the fear into the poor child. He turned serious again and softly said, “Chunghee, don’t worry because that’s not true. If it was, wouldn’t everyone be scared to eat it? Auntie and I wouldn’t have eaten it earlier if that was true. You saw us eat it, right?”

A glimmer of hope sparkled in his doe eyes. “It’s not?”

He smiled. “It’s not.”

“But seeds...”

“Yes, there are fruit seeds that you shouldn’t eat. But if you accidentally eat those, then they’ll come out of you when you go for a potty,” Jaehyun said, ruffling the boy’s hair. A smile finally emerged onto the little boy’s face and they laughed. “So are you going to trust us and your parents now to eat fruits?”

Chunghee hopped off the couch and grabbed the abandoned plate, at last popping a piece of chopped strawberry into his mouth. “I will.”

You were shocked to say the least for the boy to have finished up all the remaining fruits and had his meal with his siblings. You gave Jaehyun a questioning look, to which he smiled and mouthed ‘later.’

After a bit of playing around to digest the meal, you tucked Jinae and Chunghee in bed and walked back into the living room and found Jaehyun carrying Aera in the baby carrier, soothing her to sleep. Aera’s bed was separate from her older siblings as she needed more attention from adults. Thus, her bed was in the same room as Taeyong’s and Irene’s.

You thought back to your day spent with Jaehyun and the kids, amazed by how great Jaehyun was with small children. From looking after Aera to playing with Jinae to making Chunghee eat fruits. He really was going to be a great father one day. But was he going to be the father of your children?

Cute babies. Taeyong’s words echoed in your head.

With Jaehyun’s looks, there was no doubt about that. But did you really care about that? No. All babies were adorable no matter what. 

Uncle like you. Chunghee’s words rang in your head just then, and you didn’t realize you were staring at him until he stared back at you, shaking you out of your thoughts. Clearing your throat, you spoke up an issue. “So Taeyong and Irene only have one bed, same room as Aera’s so...” you trailed off, not sure how Jaehyun was going to take that in.

He nodded, not displaying any emotions. “I can sleep on the couch here. You can take the bed.”

Your eyes widened. “No! I didn’t mean- I mean... we should probably start becoming comfortable with each other, you know?”

His lips formed a small ‘oh.’ “Are you sure you’re okay with it?” He didn’t want you to force yourself and feel uneasy.

This was your future husband for goodness sake. You had to become comfortable with him at one point in your life. “Yeah, I feel like I can trust you, especially since Aera will be in the same room too. Haha.” There you went sounding awkward again.

Jaehyun bit back a smile and nodded. “As long as you’re okay with it.”

In the bedroom, Jaehyun carefully laid sleeping Aera in her bed while you settled yourself on one side of the bed, facing away from Jaehyun’s side. You were glad that your friends selected a king-sized bed, giving you ample of space to maintain a comfortable distance from him. Jaehyun got under the shared blanket and before he switched off the nightlamp, he softly called for you. “Y/N?”

“Hm?”

He silently drunk in the scene in his view. You next to him, a baby in her own bed, almost like a small family ready to doze off to dreamland. He wished this was what his future would look like, though only with you in it. “I really like you, Y/N,” he confessed and right away turned off the remaining light source, leaving your heart to hammer loudly in the dark.

- ❀ -

“Papa!” Chunghee ran into Taeyong’s open arms.

“My baby! Mwah,” Taeyong smooched the boy’s cheek with a wet kiss, making Chunghee shriek and run away.

Aera beamed in your arms upon seeing her mama’s face, making Irene take hold of the youngest and planted a haste kiss on her forehead.

Jinae waddled up to her papa, babbling for him to do the same with her as her super tiny arms rose up, asking to be picking up. Taeyong laughed and submitted, smooching a huge kiss onto her chubby cheek.

“How did it go? I hope the kids didn’t trouble you too much,” Irene said.

Jaehyun shook his head. “They didn’t trouble us. We managed to get Chunghee to eat fruits.”

Shock registered on Taeyong and Irene. “Did you just say Chunghee ate fruits?” Irene asked.

Chunghee beamed. “I did mama!”

Taeyong nodded his head slowly, letting the news settle in his brain. “Let me take you two out. As thanks for babysitting them and completing the mission.”

- ❀ -

Taeyong drove you and Jaehyun to his favourite coffee shop, the one you frequently visited with him that sold the most delectable pastries.

“I cannot believe I didn’t think about him having a fear, which makes sense because Ten also has a fear,” Taeyong said and took a bite of his strawberry Danish.

“Does Ten have the same fear?” Jaehyun asked.

You shook your head. “Nope. Apparently for Ten, it’s because fruits just look scary. I kind of find it funny that Ten thought of the whole seed thing and it grows in your stomach. It sounds so real and I’m sure a lot of people had that thought once in their life.”

Taeyong stopped chewing, a thought clicking to him. “You know Ten isn’t exactly wrong.”

Both you and Jaehyun stared at Taeyong, waiting for him to elaborate.

“How else do you make babies?”

“Lee Taeyong!” you yelled and slammed your hands on the table out of sheer embarrassment.

His laughter resonated in the café while Jaehyun’s cheeks burned red.

You grabbed Taeyong’s strawberry acai lemonade, taking huge sips of it as retribution. He whined and successfully retrieved it from you, shielding his body with it so that you wouldn’t steal it from him again.

You pouted. “Hey! I want some too!”

Taeyong took a quick glance at the silent one across from you, noting how Jaehyun’s eyes were masked with a hint of jealousy as he watched you be your playful self with your friend. Taeyong then met your eyes and nodded in Jaehyun’s direction. You frowned, not understanding what he was trying to hint at you. He casted his eyes on Jaehyun’s drink and later raised his own to take a sip. That was when it clicked you.

Your lips parted in surprise and turned to focus on the man across from you. His eyes were trained on swirling his drink with the straw. You cleared your throat, hoping you weren’t going to sound awkward. And of course, you failed. “Um, Jaehyun, can I um... try your drink?”

Jaehyun froze and lifted his gaze slowly. “Yeah of course,” he replied quietly and pushed his drink in your direction. You pressed your lips together on the straw, sipping the iced caramel macchiato. “Mmm,” you moaned. “This tastes better than Taeyong’s.”

“Hey! Don’t insult my drink!”

You laughed and stuck your tongue out at him while Jaehyun stared at you with a growing tender smile, super pleased that you liked his drink.

- ❀ -

[Two months later]

For the long weekend ahead of you, Taeyong and Irene planned a trip for you and Jaehyun to a rental vacation home. Now that you were engaged, Taeyong reasoned that a bachelor and bachelorette trip was a must. You were super grateful that your two friends also tagged along after dropping the kids off at Taeyong’s parents’ house.

It had been over a month ever since the engagement and even more hangouts, yet you still felt a little awkward with Jaehyun. After all, he was the man that you were eventually getting married to and you didn’t have any strong feelings of love for him.

Even if you did, you didn’t realize it.

Once arriving at the vacation home in the rental car, you were stunned by its exterior design. The neatly trimmed grass with small evergreen shrubs ran along the edges of the huge light up swimming pool, located off to the side from the entrance. The pool was surrounded by floor-to-ceiling rooms of the house, giving a few rooms a full view of the amenity. Even though you weren’t a fan of luxury, spending three days at that specific rental home sounded exciting.

The interior was just as jaw-dropping as the exterior and you spent the next few minutes walking around, familiarizing with the layout and where everything was located. Your friends and your fiancé were already sitting in the living room.

“This place is so cool!” you grinned.

“I’m glad you love it. Irene found this so it’s all thanks to her,” Taeyong said and pecked his wife on the cheek.

Irene squirmed. “Hey! Not in front of the kids!” she scolded her childlike husband.

You quirked an eyebrow up. “Excuse me? I am not a child.”

“You still are considered one until you’re married and have kids,” Taeyong stated.

You rolled your eyes at his words. He was right, and you felt like that with the way they treated you at times.

When the sun reached its peak midday, the four of you got into the vehicle and drove over to the closest supermarket with plans of stocking up on food and alcoholic drinks. You decided to split up into two groups, making Jaehyun hang around Taeyong while you walked with Irene.

Jaehyun pushed the cart into one of the aisles, containing a variety of pasta and sauces. “Can I make Italian for dinner tonight?” he asked.

Taeyong nodded. “Of course. Do you like Mexican? I can make that tomorrow.” Jaehyun nodded, giving him a weak smile. Taeyong noticed it and asked, “Is something wrong? It’s okay if you don’t like Mexican.”

Jaehyun stopped pushing the cart. “No, it’s not that. I...”

Taeyong waited patiently.

Jaehyun pressed his lips together before continuing. “I’ll tell you later.”

Meanwhile, you and Irene dumped whatever caught your sight into the cart.

“Y/N? Can I ask you something seriously?”

You let out a hum as a yes.

“How do you really feel about Jaehyun?”

You suddenly forgot how to read the labels on the shelves. Facing her, all that came out of your mouth was a ‘huh?’

Irene slowly repeated yourself, as if you had a hard time comprehending her words. “How do you feel with the engagement ring on your hand that Jaehyun put on? I’ve been seriously observing you the past months. Your actions, your words. Never do you talk about Jaehyun and you still act like you’re new with him.”

You blankly stared at the sparkling diamond ring resting on your third finger. Irene was right. You never talked about him, not giving him much of an interest. It was as if you had gotten used to having around him for the sake of your future being tied with his. “I don’t really know, Irene. I mean I do at times feel like I have a small crush on him. He is a good guy, but I don’t... I don’t know. Even though he already confessed to me that he likes me. Plus, he’s really calm...”

Irene was silent for a moment. “He is. But do you ever notice the way he’s like around you?”

You blinked confusedly. “What?”

“He’s always looking at you. I mean not in a creepy way. But he’s always smiling around you. Taeyong tells me how you don’t notice the little things with him and it sounds like Jaehyun gets jealous? Everyone has their own way of expressing themselves, expressing their love for their significant other. Jaehyun might not be obvious like Taeyong, but that doesn’t mean his love for you isn’t there.”

- ❀ -

Arriving back with the trunk full of groceries, it was finally time for Taeyong to have fun. Once all the groceries were put away in the kitchen, Taeyong sprinted out the glass doors, screaming high-pitched, and jumped into the swimming pool.

You laughed. “He really jumped in fully clothed.”

Irene sighed, walking over to him. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m a mother of four kids.” When Taeyong’s head popped up, she bent down close to the edge. “You should have at least changed into your swimming clothes,” she scolded.

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he caught Irene off guard by pulling her into the water. She yelped, losing balance due to his strength, and felt the cold water hit her skin. “Taeyong! Are you crazy?” she yelled.

He laughed, pulling her into his arms. “I’m crazy for you, baby,” and smooched a wet kiss on her cheek.

You and Jaehyun ended up watching their adorable interaction from the sidelines of the pool and just then, Irene’s words voiced in your head.

Jaehyun might not be obvious like Taeyong, but that doesn’t mean his love for you isn’t there.

“Jaehyun?”

He turned to you. “Yes?”

“Do you know how to swim?”

He nodded. “Yeah I do.”

You pursed your lips. “I’m sorry.”

“For wha-”

You pushed him into the pool with all your strength, clutching your stomach as you laughed hard after he resurfaced. He gave you an amused smile with his hands on his hips. He loved that you were happily laughing at him, loved seeing you finally become playful with him.

“You know Y/N, it’s not fair that you’re the only one outside the pool,” Jaehyun teased you.

You agreed and backed up a few steps before running and jumping into the water. When your head resurfaced, you began splashing water on Jaehyun, to which he let out a hearty laugh and copied your actions.

Taeyong and Irene looked between you two in shock and then at each other. The husband took this opportunity to plant another huge fat kiss on his wife’s cheek, making her yelp again.

When the sky turned a shade darker and the hot humid air shifted slightly chillier, the four of you headed back inside to dry up. Of course, you were bound to share the bedroom with your fiancé, thankful of having previous experience with that. Jaehyun kindly let you use the room first, giving you privacy while he lazed on the outdoor chair, letting the sunset dry him up as much as it could before taking the matter in his own hands.

You stepped out of the ensuite bathroom, the covers of the floor-to-ceiling windows completely raised up and you spotted Jaehyun immediately. Knocking on the window, you got his attention right away and cued him that it was his turn.

Just like Jaehyun gave you privacy, you did the same for him.

You settled for the living room, the biggest area in the house. Taeyong and Irene were nowhere in sight, leaving you to entertain yourself. When you dug your hands into your pockets, you realized that your phone was forgotten in the bedroom.

If it was Irene or Taeyong in the room, you would have walked right in. But you stood outside the closed door, shifting on your feet and debating heavily as to what your next action should be. Knocking would be appropriate but this was your fiancé for heaven’s sake. You shouldn’t be knocking on the door for permission when this sort of thing was going to become a regular thing in the future.

You grabbed the doorknob, turning it clockwise and pushed it opened slightly. Your head peeked in, searching for him. When you couldn’t, thinking that he was already in the bathroom, you walked in cautiously. Right before you passed the bathroom, the door opened and out walked Jaehyun. His jeans and hair were still damp from the event earlier.

But what had you two react the way you did after was for the fact that he held his damp shirt in his hand, leaving his abs on fully display.

The speed at which both his and your eyes enlarged and twirled away from one another would make anyone think that both of you were not in a relationship. Let along engaged.

“Sorry. I didn’t know you were here,” he said and quickly put on his shirt. “I put my shirt on. You can turn around now.”

You let out an inaudible breath and turned, slightly disappointed to not see his abs anymore. “I’m sorry. I should have knocked but I thought... um...” You lost your words when a smile tugged at the ends of his lips.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you were comfortable enough to do that.”

You weren’t aware that your fiancé was in charge of dinner that night and was surprised to learn how much of a great chef Jaehyun was, even better than Taeyong as shocking as it sounded. Yes, he did cook before when babysitting but that was children-friendly, unlike the elegant cuisine of your favourite Italian dish that you had eaten in your first ever date with him.

- ❀ -

The next morning, you woke up feeling the bed occupied behind you. You stretched your limbs and turned around, suddenly forgetting how to breath when your eyes landed on Jaehyun’s sleeping face, facing in your direction. You wanted to touch his milky face, confirm whether it really was as soft as it seemed. His bare lips slightly parted and you wished to feel them on you.

Jaehyun felt a gaze on him and slowly fluttered his eyelids up. The eye contact had you jolt up from surprise while he stayed rooted in his lying position.

“I- I’m gonna go get ready,” you stuttered and bolted for the bathroom, locking the door behind you, and placed a hand over your racing heart.

Jaehyun sat up on the bed and smiled over how adorable you were. “Cute,” he whispered.

After breakfast, Taeyong and Jaehyun decided to go hiking nearby while you and Irene laid down on the outdoor lounge chairs, sprawling under the morning light.

The hiking trail was not too long and both men had reached the top in no time. Emerging from the trees, they were blessed by the breathtaking view of the mountains with a river that separated the mountains from where they stood. The morning birds chirped nearby, and the light breeze carried the echoes to their ears.

“Wow,” Jaehyun whispered. He felt as if a blanket was draped over him. A beautiful blanket consisting of your warmth.

“Beautiful, right?”

He nodded. “I wish Y/N and Irene came with us.”

“Same. I try to get Irene to come with me whenever I’d go hiking. But she would rather rest at home. I don’t blame her. Taking care of three small children is a lot.” Taeyong looked at the Jaehyun. “I don’t know how I survived all the times I had to do it by myself and Y/N always cracks jokes about me suffering.”

Jaehyun glanced at him with a small smile before turning back to the view.

Though Taeyong’s gaze was still locked on him. “Jaehyun?”

He took a deep breath, willing himself to take the time and ask your friend something that had been on his mind since the beginning. “How is Y/N so comfortable with you? I wish she could be like that with me.” Jaehyun was glad that he was starting to see you become comfortable with him during the trip. Even though it made his heart super happy, he craved for more from you.

Taeyong’s eyebrows raised up when finally learning the issue. “Well, that’s something that will depend on time. And the person too. When she first met me, I was a hot chubby mess, always clumsy and super clingy to my friends. I was naughty too, playful and pulling pranks. That’s how Y/N’s always seen me as since elementary school.”

The speed at which Jaehyun whipped his head to the man beside him had Taeyong chuckling. “Elementary... that long?” That all made sense to him. Being friends with Taeyong that long would only make you feel so at ease around him. And with that fact, another wave of jealousy hit him. How could Jaehyun beat that time before the marriage? Jaehyun was nowhere near Taeyong’s personality and he envied that to a great extent. On top of that, he didn’t want you to feel forced to marry him when you weren’t sure about it yourself.

A hand patted lightly on Jaehyun’s head. “Aigoo, is Jaehyunie jealous?” Taeyong teased.

Heat rose up to his cheeks, bluntly denying him, resulting in a roar of laughter from the married one.

“Don’t worry, Jaehyun. You’re a really good guy and I really think Y/N will like you back one day.” Sure, Taeyong was your best friend, but even he couldn’t figure out where a girl’s heart truly lied unless he had a chat with you. Regardless though, he would try to push you closer to Jaehyun, hoping that you’d break your assumed thoughts and give your fiancé a chance. A strong intuitive feeling of his told him that you and Jaehyun were destined to be together.

- ❀ -

Never Have I Ever.

That was a game that Taeyong had prepared for this trip. He had searched up a bunch of questions and written them down on a list of paper in case someone had a hard time to come up with a statement. The original game that he had planned included alcoholic drinks, but Irene had changed it to holding a hand up.

“Why? I wanted to drink!” Taeyong whined while wiggling in his seat.

Irene tsked. “Not right now. We’ll drink after dinner.”

He pouted, eventually agreeing with her words. Even though he was in charge of dinner that night, he couldn’t stop the desperate feeling of having one drink beforehand. “Okay, let’s start.” Taeyong spun an empty water bottle on the dining table and the opening pointed at Irene.

“Wow.” She picked up the list and scanned through the questions, immediately catching sight of one. “Never have I ever thrown a drink at someone,” she said and gave her husband an unamused look.

Only Taeyong raised his arm, knowing exactly what she was thinking about. And to his defense, he responded, “Come on, baby. You saw that guy! He was being rude to his mother. How could I not do anything?”

“But you could have talked it out. You didn’t have to throw your drink at him. We nearly got kicked out of the restaurant before we could even get our meal.”

“I would have made dinner for us then!”

“That’s not the point!”

“Okay guys, don’t fight,” you talked over them and grabbed the list from Irene, rolling your eyes at one of the questions. “Never have I ever fought in public.” You knew right away who were going to put up their hands.

Taeyong and Irene.

Irene crossed her arms. “Taeyong can get so childish when it comes to stuffed animals and chocolates that I have to nag him.”

Taeyong pouted. “Hey! At least I’m setting a good role model that adults should be child at heart, baby.”

But what you didn’t expect was that Jaehyun raised his hand up as well. “Well I wouldn’t say public like that, but I would hold onto my stand at work, which would raise some disputes. I know when to give up, but I can’t let a project go down the wrong path for the sake of maintaining peace in the company.”

You nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with that, and you liked that thing about Jaehyun.

Taeyong grabbed the list from you, going next. “Never have I ever went on a solo vacation.” Taeyong never went on one, and wished he never did. Where was the fun when you weren’t on an adventure with someone?

Jaehyun was the sole person to raise his arm and you were aware of what he was implying to. He had informed you that he would be gone for some business in Paris a few weeks back and asked if you wanted to join him. Jaehyun felt bad for leaving you, but you spending a whole week in Paris with only him made your stomach lurch. Whether in a good way or bad, you didn’t know, thus rejecting his offer. You weren’t ready for such a stage in the relationship despite being newly engaged back then.

Pushing his broken heart aside, he explored the city in his free time. But he couldn’t stop thinking about you throughout the whole trip, even during the conferences that he was there for. Trips were something he used to enjoy solely. But after meeting you, he would have liked them better if he was with you.

He pushed the feeling aside and merely answered, “I went to Paris, mainly for business though.” He then asked something interesting that caught his attention on Taeyong’s list. “Never have I ever broken someone’s bone.”

You turned to Taeyong, shooting him a ‘what the hell’ look. “What kind of question is that?” Breaking your own bone was understandable. But why on earth would someone break someone else’s bone?

As expected, no one else except for the man himself raised his arm and chuckled. “I tweaked the question up because I technically did.”

Irene sighed. “It wasn’t you. It was on accident and it wasn’t Chunghee’s fault either.”

He sighed feeling a bit dejected. “I know but I feel responsible for what happened to Ten. Like I should have taught Chunghee better. Anyway, let’s move on.”

It was Irene’s turn again, and this time she yelped at reading one of the questions near the bottom of the page. “Never have I ever went skinny-dipping. What the hell, Taeyong?”

No one had raised their hand, and you were thankful for it because you wouldn’t know what to do with that information if either your married friends or your fiancé had done it before.

Taeyong wiggled his eyebrows at his wife suggestively, making her smack him hard in the chest and causing a windshield wiping laughter from him. “I really think it should be on our bucket list, babe,” he said.

“TAEYONG!” she screamed.

He laughed at her while you retrieved the list. “Never have I ever lived alone.” You had always either lived with your parents or had roommates when away from home. Taeyong and Irene were high school sweethearts, and so their only home away from their parents were with each other.

Jaehyun raised his arm solely once again. “I actually live on my own right now. I have my own place,” he answered. He never suggested to bring you over to his place, assuming that you were still awkward with him. Therefore, he only ever took you to public places to prevent you from feeling uncomfortable.

A phone rang, making Irene pick up her phone. “Hey Yeri.” Yeri was a mutual friend of yours and Irene’s and based on the muffled sounds from the other end of the line, you assumed that she was crying. “Oh no, just hold on for a second.” Turning to you guys, she said, “I’ll go talk to her outside.”

“I’ll come,” you added. You didn’t know what the issue was, but two heads were better than one.  

“Alright. And Taeyong, do not drink out of my sight. You hear me?” Irene pointed her index finger at him as she reprimanded him.

Taeyong sulked like a sad puppy upon hearing his wife’s words. Once the two of you were out of sight, a smirk formed on his face and he turned to Jaehyun, wiggling his eyebrows alluringly.

Jaehyun acted dumb, not wanting to get in trouble for encouraging Taeyong and avoided his eyes.

Taeyong nudged Jaehyun in the elbow, making the latter sigh in defeat. “This is about drinking, isn’t it?”

He nodded eagerly.

But Jaehyun shook his head. “No.”

Taeyong deflated. “Why?” he wailed.

“You’re going to get in trouble. Didn’t Irene just warn you?”

“I always get in trouble by her. It’s nothing new. I really wanna drink.”

Jaehyun was in a huge debate. Should he let Taeyong drink? Would you get mad at him for letting your friend drink?

“Come on, man. Please?” The puppy look was too irresistible for Jaehyun to stop him. One drink wouldn’t hurt Taeyong, would it?

“Okay, I guess a little won’t hurt you.”

Taeyong’s eyebrows raised in amusement. “You mean us. We’re both drinking.”

-

After comforting Yeri with her boyfriend issue, Irene decided to call her in-laws and check up on the kids while you headed back to search for the boys and see what they were up to.

Only to witness the scene in front of you absolutely shocking.

Both Taeyong and Jaehyun unquestionably wasted.

Numerous bottles were littered everywhere on the dining table where the four of you previously played a game. Knowing that Taeyong was a lightweight, the majority of the bottles had to belong to Jaehyun. Like a koala bear to a tree, Taeyong clung onto Jaehyun from behind, splattering kisses on your fiancé’s cheeks and nuzzling his nose into Jaehyun’s skin. From the looks of it, Jaehyun didn’t seem bothered at all by your friend with the dimples on his flushed cheeks.

But you were.

“Taeyong! Let him go! That’s my fiancé you’re kissing!” you yelled and strolled over to them. Trying to split up your drunk friend from your future husband was close to impossible. When Taeyong was drunk, his strength nearly doubled. The only other approach to get Taeyong off Jaehyun was for you to take a deep breath and release a bloodcurdling scream.

Startled, Taeyong let go of Jaehyun and stumbled over his steps, landing flat on his butt. The loss of human physical contact had Taeyong become a crying mess, but you didn’t pay any attention to his melodramatic tears. Because right after that moment, Jaehyun wrapped his arms around your waist from behind and nuzzled his face in the crook of your neck. He took a deep breath of your scent and sighed in content. “Mmm, you smell nice Y/N.”

Your heart thrashed in your chest and all you could hear was your blood pumping loudly in your ears. All you could feel was the warmth of his arms around you with the tip of his soft nose pressed into your cheek.

When Irene reappeared and quickly sunk in the scene, she ran up to her husband. “Taeyong! Did I not warn you earlier?” she shouted. Taeyong was going to have a tough time from Irene when he sobered up.

Once Irene dragged her wasted husband to their bedroom, you were clueless of what to do with clingy Jaehyun and later chose to follow your friend’s idea. After much difficulty of attempting to pull him inside the bedroom, you dropped him on the bed.

Right before you left his side, you heard him faintly mumble the words, “I love you, Y/N,” before dozing off.

- ❀ -

“Y/N, Jaehyun, can you two go to the market and grab some food for the long drive home?” Taeyong asked.

The last morning of your time at the rental vacation home had arrived. Thanks to the drunken men from the day before, food stock had been used up considerably quick to battle their hangovers.

“Sure. Whenever you’re ready,” Jaehyun said to you.

You pursed your lips and nodded. Frankly speaking, you were beginning to feel uncomfortable with Jaehyun ever since you heard his confession. Even though it wasn’t the first time to hear him confess to you, ‘I love you’ was a lot more deeper than ‘I like you’ and you were more than glad that he had said it while he was drunk. If he was sober, you would have had no idea on how to respond back. It wasn’t necessarily his feelings that you were bothered by, but your own. You didn’t know where your heart was for him and that was what made you uncomfortable.

Taeyong tossed the car keys to Jaehyun while discreetly sending a wink in your direction. You rolled your eyes, aware that your friend was only trying to get you closer to Jaehyun.

The drive to the market was tortuously silent as you focused your gaze on the faraway mountains and grass fields.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Jaehyun began. “I didn’t know Taeyong’s light and when he’s drunk, it’s hard to refuse him.” Taeyong had forced bottle after bottle on the poor man, not stopping until Jaehyun was drunk like him.

You stifled back a small laugh. “It’s okay. I’ve seen it before. But do you remember what happened?”

He frowned and shook his head. “Did something embarrassing happen?”

“Well, I would say something entertaining happened. You and Taeyong were quite something.”

He paled, keeping his eyes glued to the road. “What did we do?”

You laughed. “I wished I recorded you two, but I guess I’ll forever cherish it in my memories.”

At the market, Jaehyun pushed the cart and your hand rested on the side of it. Halfway through, Jaehyun felt his phone vibrate. Seeing the caller’s name displayed, he sighed, slightly annoyed at the phone. “Sorry Y/N, I need to take this call.”

You were surprised that he was telling you, yet hummed in response.

He thanked you and answered the call, keeping his volume low. “Hello? Didn’t I tell you not to call me?” You weren’t trying to mind his conversation but sort of ended up eavesdropping. “Just talk to Jade for me, will you? Thanks.” He hung up the call, taking a deep breath before smiling at you and resumed the grocery shopping.

What was that about, you thought.

- ❀ -

“Oh my love! I’m so excited to finalize your marriage date,” your mother gushed. “The time has finally come!”

You stayed mute, letting your mother begin daydreaming of all the things that would happen at your wedding.  Recalling the condition set in the beginning, your father asked if there was a valid reason to break it off. Unfortunately, you weren’t able to come up with a single reason for why you shouldn’t marry Jaehyun.

Why did he have to be so flawless, you thought.

When the doorbell rang, your mother gave you a gentle push, cuing you to open the door. With a huge deep breath in and out, you attempted to put on your best polite smile and swung the door open. “Good afternoon, please come in,” your tone laced with such fake enthusiasm that you had never displayed to your future in-laws.

Mrs. Jung walked in and pulled you into, once again, a crushing hug. “Oh it really is a good afternoon, Y/N. Let’s get your wedding talk going!” Once Jaehyun’s parents strolled to the direction of the living room, you shifted your gaze to the man himself, standing still on the porch.

“Um, you can come in too. Haha.” You weren’t ever going to stop feeling awkward with him, were you?

Though Jaehyun only held a neutral expression. No smile or sparkle in his eyes. And it made you worry if he was okay.

“Jaehyun?”

“Y/N?” he called softly.

You blinked. “Yeah?”

He sucked in a breath and asked, “Can I hug you?”

You blinked again. Physical touches were going to be basic intimacy after marriage so he shouldn’t have to ask you for one. But then, nothing much had happened between you two in terms of it except for a few, and you thought he was only being a gentleman. He had only hugged you once and that was when he was drunk. “Yes, of course.”

He closed the distance between you two and wrapped his arms around your waist, flushing his warmth against yours. You felt butterflies in your stomach when he placed his chin on your shoulder, staying like that for what felt like a minute, just basking in your warmth before he pulled away. The slight smile he sent your way, not quite reaching his eyes, made your heart drop.

“Let’s go in,” he muttered and held your hand in his gently.

Your heart would have fluttered at the contact, but you didn’t like the feeling that began to settle in your stomach.

After you two walked in, Mrs. Jung began. “Now that everyone’s here, let’s think of-”

“Mom,” Jaehyun cut his mother off quietly but firmly enough to be heard, making her blink at him in surprise.

“What is it, son?” his father asked. Jaehyun was never the type to interrupt elders. But at that moment, he couldn’t let them begin planning, getting their hopes up when it wasn’t going to happen.

He let go of your hand and glanced at your mother. “I can’t do this.”

You were beyond confused with him. “Do what?”

He turned to you, his eyes holding sorrow. “This marriage.”

The eerie silence that followed was broken by your mother. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Y/N wanting to break it off, does it?”

You gaped at her. “This is my first time hearing about this. I didn’t know either.”

“There’s literally no reason why he would be calling it off,” she countered.

“Mrs. L/N, this doesn’t have anything to do with Y/N. It’s my decision. I’m just not ready. I’m sorry.” Jaehyun lowered his gaze to the floor while you incredulously looked at him.

Not ready? My foot! There was no way he wasn’t ready for this marriage. After the confessions, after all his smiles. He wouldn’t have continued taking interest in you if he was going to break it off.

“Jaehyun, this is unacceptable. You should have told us beforehand,” his mother scolded.

“And I’m sorry for that. I didn’t want anyone to know so that everyone knows this is my decision. I’m not being influenced by anyone for this.” He raised his eyes to meet your parents. “I apologize, once again, Mr. and Mrs. L/N.” Without giving you a glance, he turned on his heels and strode towards the entrance.

Your head was spinning, your heart aching for an unexplainable reason as you watched the man disappear out the front door. It happened. It finally happened. After all this time of you wanting the marriage to be called off.

But why weren’t you happy?

Jaehyun stepped out of your house, feeling slightly less suffocated and released the held back tears. He pulled out his phone, dialing a number and pressed it against his ear.

After the second ring, the call was answered. “Hey Jaehyun! What’s up?” Taeyong’s cheery greeting almost broke Jaehyun yet he willed himself to stay strong.  

“Taeyong, can we meet tonight?”

- ❀ -

Jaehyun asked for Taeyong to pick him up. With the plan he had for that night, he wasn’t going to be in the right condition to drive. Taeyong had gotten the news from you prior to the meet that Jaehyun had called off the wedding. While Taeyong was childish at times, he knew when to act responsibly and had opted for cola when Jaehyun ordered spirits.

You didn’t take the news well either and Taeyong could tell instantly by your voice. He was going to talk to you later in person when Jaehyun had reached out to him first.

First come, first served.

Taeyong pressed his back to his chair and watched the man across down his shots. The food had been left abandoned as alcohol became a source of comfort for the broken hearted.

“I- I couldn’t do it to Y/N,” Jaehyun choked out. “I can’t let her marry me when she doesn’t love me. I can’t let her feel that she’s being forced to marry me when she doesn’t want to. Not once has she ever admitted her feelings to me. It’s like she’s only doing this for her parents.”

Taeyong sighed. “Jaehyun, I think you shou-” He bit back his words upon hearing a sob. The sobs had progressively increased, and tears flooded down Jaehyun’s reddened cheeks. Taeyong rushed to his side and guided Jaehyun’s head to his chest, hugging him as he soothingly patted his head.

The sobs had only lessened when Jaehyun choked out, “I love her too much, Taeyong. I just want her to be happy.”

- ❀ -

Your eyes fluttered open, the light breeze gently swaying the sheer white curtains that hung off the rods of your canopy bed. A soft breath left your parted lips and the aching hole in your heart continued to consume you. Your hand laid beside your head, the sparkling diamond ring still resting on your finger. While you didn’t know if your fiancé, ex fiancé, had taken the ring off, you didn’t have the courage to take off yours.

Irene answered the door and was astonished by your surprise visit. “Y/N, what a surprise. And you don’t look good...” she trailed off.

And you weren’t expecting otherwise when you felt like shit.

She ushered you in, and your eyes skimmed throughout the home, getting flashbacks to the times spent babysitting with Jaehyun.

Jaehyun.

You sniffed and tried to push your incoming tears back. “Is Tae...”

She shook her head. “He got an urgent call from work so he’s going to be there till late night. I heard about Jaehyun.”

You merely nodded, not sure what to say.

Irene placed a hand on your shoulder. “Do you want to talk?”

You chewed on your lips and shook your head. You had no idea what to say when you were confused by your feelings. At times like that, you’d go to Taeyong. He knew you more than your parents, more than anyone in the world, and would have a better idea of what you were feeling before you could realize it yourself. Until Taeyong arrived, you were going to quietly seek comfort from your friend and the little angels.

Chunghee came into sight and his eyes landed on you, running to you. Your typical reflex would have been a cheerful smile and have your arms open for him to run into. But you didn’t do that. The little boy’s steps slowed upon approaching you, noticing something was off when not met with the usual response. “What’s wong, auntie?”

A cry that you recognized belonging to Aera pierced through the rooms, making Irene leave the two of you alone.

Jinae had waddled into the living room, her eyes forming crescent moons, delighted to see you. She wobbled up to your legs and held onto your leg for support. You sat down on the floor and pulled her into your lap. You forced a smile at Chunghee. “Nothing. Auntie’s okay.”

Chunghee sat down beside you, looking around the room. “Where’s Jae uncle?”

Your heart stopped at the mention of his Jaehyun uncle. You were flattered that he liked him enough to ask about his whereabouts. “He... Jae uncle isn’t with me anymore.”

He stared at you. “Not together?” You shook your head. “Why?” he whined.

“What do you mean why?”

He pouted, and if it weren’t for the gaping hole in your heart, you would have laughed at how much he resembled Taeyong. “I like you and uncle together.”

“I guess we’re not meant to be together.”

With a scowl on his face, he yelled, “No! You two are!”

Jinae kept her tiny gaze on you and released a ‘humph,’ agreeing with her brother’s words.

- ❀ -

Taeyong had received a warning from Irene to not make noise when entering home at night. His gaze fell onto the figure sprawled on the couch, facing the backrest. On his tip toes, he quietly moved towards it and peeked over to see your face. You were fast asleep with signs of puffy eyes, hinting that you were crying recently.

“You’re such a fool,” he whispered and kissed your head.

The next morning, you woke up, being greeted with a cheery Taeyong who dragged you to the dining table for breakfast. Even though you weren’t in the mood to, he nagged you into going out for a walk with him so that you could digest your meal. It made you think back to Jaehyun when he suggested the same thing on your second official date. You were secretly thankful that Taeyong dragged you out the door as your limbs were aching for some movement after being cooped up indoors due to your gloomy mood.

Spotting an unoccupied bench, the two of you sat down for a short break. “The weather is beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked, staring up at the fluffy clouds in the bright blue sky.

You puffed out as your gaze was fixed on the pebbles along the path. “I don’t know what to do. Why am I feeling like this?”

He snickered. “If I was in Jaehyun’s spot, I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself if I loved you.”

“Hey! Is that an insult?”

Taeyong rolled his eyes. “Seriously, only Jaehyun is supposed to be hurting right now. Why are you getting affected? Wasn’t this what you wanted all this time?”

It was.

But...

“Yeah... but I don’t know. I’m so confused. Jaehyun really is a good guy. But I- I don’t know.”

Taeyong watched you softly. “You know what the problem is?”

You scowled. “If I knew the problem, I wouldn’t be here with you and stressed out.”

He smiled warmly. “Your problem is that you’re holding onto your biased thoughts. The type of guys your parents had set you up with previously have been ones you didn’t like. So now that there’s a guy who is perfect for you, you can’t see that. Plus, all your life you wanted a love marriage. The second your parents interfered and tried to set you up for an arranged one, you thought love would never happen.”

You let his words sink in and felt a piercing stab in your heart after hearing his words. You wanted to fall in love the way you thought you would back when you were a teenage girl. You wanted to fall in love with the one you were destined to be with like the way it would occur in movies. Not through having blind dates with prospective partners.

“Y/N, let me ask you something and I want you to forget that you had ever met Jaehyun the way you did.”

That felt like another stab in your heart, even if hypothetical.

“If you never met Jaehyun through a blind date, but instead met him in another way, would your feelings change for him?”

If you met Jaehyun as a classmate, or as a mutual friend, or colleague, or even as someone you bumped into randomly on the streets, would your feelings change? “My head hurts,” you complained and slouched against the bench.

He tutted. “This isn’t something to use your brain for. What do you feel in your heart, Y/N? Would your feelings change? Would you then accept your love for Jaehyun?”

Love...

For Jaehyun.

You stood up from the bench, suddenly feeling a rush of emotions surging inside you. You began trembling, becoming hyper aware of what you had been doing all this time. You had been pushing away your feelings for him. Unknowingly had been denying your love for him. “Oh my God...” you breathed out. “Why am I so dumb?”

If you had met Jaehyun in any other way, then you would have realized your feelings way earlier.

Taeyong placed his hands on your shoulder, gently turning you around to face him. “You realize it now,” he chuckled.

You couldn’t see his face as your sight became blurry from the tears welled up in your eyes. “Why am I so stupid?” you cried, and Taeyong pulled you into his embrace, stroking your hair. Wet patches formed on his shirt as you sobbed in his chest.

Your friend kissed the top of your head. “After all this time of you wanting a love marriage, you didn’t even realize that the love of your life had been in front of you all along.”

“He’s never gonna forgive me,” you choked out.

Pulling away from you, he wiped your fresh tears off with his fingers. “He will. He loves you too much to hate you. Also,” he grabbed his phone from his pocket and did some tapping. Your phone chimed, displaying an address under your unread message. “That’s his address, the one where he lives on his own. Go to him, Y/N. Tell him your true feelings.”

- ❀ -

Jaehyun doesn’t hate you. He loves you.

With that thought, you quit being hesitant and rang the doorbell. Your foot tapped impatiently as you waited for a short time. When the door opened, you were met with a shocked Jaehyun. “Y/N?” Your name fell from his lips in disbelief, as if to see you again, let alone at his place, would be a dream.

A nod. “Yup. It’s me. Haha,” you chuckled nervously. “Taeyong gave me your address.”

He hit himself mentally for keeping you standing. “Come in.”

You walked in and weren’t surprised for the vibe his place radiated. After all the money spent on your dates, and being your parents’ selection, you expected he’d own a deluxe home, his being a modern bachelor pad. You couldn’t help but think back to a particular set of words when you second met him at the theater.

“Would you like anything? Coffee or tea?” he asked.

You shook your head. “No. I’m fine. Well... actually water.”

He nodded. “Of course. Please sit.” He shuffled his way to where you assumed was the kitchen. Out of sight, you cautiously sat down on the couch, scanning your eyes around.

Jaehyun came back with a tall glass of water, handing it to you. You thanked him and took a few sips before resting it on the coffee table. Your eyes landed on his ring finger, stunned to see the engagement ring still there. “You’re still wearing it,” you muttered.

He followed your line of sight and caught on to what you were referring to. Quickly, he placed his other hand on top to hide the ring from your sight. “Oh, um...” He glanced at your own hand and noticed it there as well. “Oh, you too?”

Nodding, you said, “Yeah, I...”

He kept his eyes trained on you, waiting for you to continue and explain for the sudden visit.

“I’m such an idiot,” you muttered under your breath.

He raised his eyebrows, hearing you clearly. “Why?”

“Because I didn’t realize that I loved you all this time.”

He froze upon hearing your confession for the first time, and his heart began beating faster. “You love me?” he asked, needing to make sure he wasn’t hearing things.

You nodded and laughed quietly. “If it weren’t for Taeyong to make me realize it, then I wouldn’t be sitting here with you. And I’m sorry that I’m late. I’ve been blind all this time because we were arranged, you know? I thought love wasn’t going to happen. But I’m so dumb to not realize it despite all the times you’ve made my heart flutter.”

A blinding smile took over his face and you were relieved to see it again. “I made your heart flutter?” Jaehyun’s heart was far from okay with your confession. There were rare times where he could figure out if he moved your heart, but you masked your emotions most of the time.

“You sure did. I’m seriously such a fool to not have- argh!” you groaned, frustrated with yourself.

He laughed happily, pleased with the effect he had on you. “Better now than never. So you love me? Like you don’t have any problem with me?”

Which reminded you... “Well, there is one thing.”

His smile faltered, anxious for what you had to state. “Yeah?”

You pressed your lips together. “What was your friend’s name? Johnny was it? At the movies. he mentioned something that you were devoted to your work, and I can tell you’re someone of higher position. Will that mean I might not be able to see you at times because you’ll be busy?”

His lips formed an ‘oh’ and his smile returned. “You’re right. I do work at a managerial position, so it is possible for me to be away. But did you ever feel that whenever I was with you? That I chose work over you?”

You shook your head. “I didn’t.”

“Good.”

“Huh?”

He grinned. “Remember our trip at that supermarket and I got a call? It was from work. Actually, that weekend our team had an urgent project to work on, but I was able to get someone reliable to cover for me so that I could spend time with you.”

Oh my God...

“Work is inevitable and rare cases I’ll have to be away from you. But I will do anything and everything I can to put you first.” His smile dropped quickly when noticing your tears. “Y/N, what’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

You sniffed back the wave about to hit you. “You’re too perfect. I don’t deserve you.”

The dimples that you loved so much reappeared, and he wiped your tears away. “Nonsense. More like I don’t deserve you.”

“Don’t say that,” you pouted, frowning.

He laughed and patted your head. “You’re so cute.”

Your cheeks burned with adoration for him, and you caught him off guard when you hastily leaned forward and pecked him on his lips. You pulled back and found him blushing.

Out of embarrassment, you diverted your gaze, looking at anything but his eyes. Jaehyun gently held your face in his hands and turned you to meet his twinkling eyes. “I love it when you surprise me, Y/N.”

You grinned and pecked his lips for the second time, wanting to feel his soft velvety lips again.

Surprised, he let out a hearty laugh. “Someone’s desperate for my lips.”

“After all this time, I can’t believe I didn’t kiss you once. Maybe that would have changed my mind and accepted you faster,” you joked.

He shook his head, smiling in amusement, and was startled when you threw yourself on him, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily. Jaehyun responded back, pulling you into his tight embrace and kissed back in a feverish manner. You moaned and combed your hand through his hair, earning a deep growl from him. You pulled back after what felt like a minute, both of you panting heavily. He stared into your eyes, and as a confirmation whispered, “You’ll be my wife.”

­You chuckled breathlessly. “I’ll be your Mrs. Jung.”

He crashed his lips onto yours, moving more roughly. He left your lips and trailed down below your jawline, leaving a wet trail on your neck. Your moans increased in volume and he was pleased by how sensitive you were just from his lips on your skin. He pulled back and watched your reaction.

You whined at the loss of contact. “Stop teasing me.”

He quirked an eyebrow at you. “You want more?”

You definitely did. “Please?” You batted your eyelashes.

A smirk grew on his face. “Of course.” He placed his hands behind your back and knees, lifting you up into his arms bridal style. On the way to his bedroom, the two of you didn’t stop the kisses. He put you down gently on the bed and crawled over you, closing the distance between you two as he gave all of his love to you.

#nct #nct 127 #jung jaehyun #jaehyun #nct jaehyun #lee taeyong #taeyong #nct taeyong #bae joohyun #jaehyun x reader #nct x reader #nct imagines #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun au #jaehyun fanfic #jaehyun fanfiction #nct fanfic #nct fanfiction #jaeyong #charm

[ceridwyn2]

This may seem like a stupid (and unpopular with some) question, with AO3, is there a way to filter out some writers in search results? I’m doing a search through a particular fandom (no, not stating which one, as I’ve seen it across more than just one fandom) at the moment, and there is a lot of crap there amongst the good gems. I’m picky when I read fanfic 😅 , and a lot of times I don’t have time to wade through hundreds/thousands of stories to look for the good ones.

By the way, this ended up being a lot longer than I originally intended 😂 as I was thinking it through. What I like in the stories I read as follows:

A) Be grammatically correct

B) Spelling correct

C) Sentence & paragraph structure correct. Dialogue for each character in separate paragraphs.

D) Point of View: maintain one person’s point of view either for the whole scene or whole story. Especially important if stories are written in first person (I/My/Me) or second person (You/Them/They). These stories are often harder to write and maintain throughout well. If it’s first person, you’re only writing from one character’s point of view: on how *I* see/hear/experience the things around *me*. *I* don’t/can’t know what the other characters are thinking/feeling other than what *I* see/observe in their behaviour, unless they tell *me* what they think/feel. Writing in second person is equally difficult to maintain unless you’re very skilled at it. You’re writing as though your addressing the reader/person directly, as if you know them personally, intimately (does not need to be sexually) by using *you*. / Example: You love to write; you should do it more often. / If you’re of a certain age and remember the ‘choose your own adventure’ child/young adult books of the 70s-90s, they were in a person point of view.

Majority of fanfiction, and fiction in general is written in third person. Third person is like you’re the audience watching a tv show/film/play/book. You’re a non-active participant of what is happening and cannot affect the direction or outcome of the story. The primary subject of the scene is referred to by their name or rank and their pronoun(s), and is often the first character mentioned at/near beginning of the scene / Example: DCI Cassie Stewart walked into the incident room of her Historic Cases Unit, with a quick glance at her officers before heading into her office. It wasn’t long before her second in command, DS Sunil Khan, or Sunny, as he preferred, wrapped on the glass window pane of her office door. / That scene is dictated from her point of view, how she directs those around her and how those around her interact with her. Had it been slightly different, but same scenario: /DS Sunil Khan looked up as the door to the Historic Cases Unit opened and saw his boss, DCI Stewart, make her way to her office, glancing at the team as she did. Having got some new leads on their current case overnight, Sunny headed towards her office to notify her ahead of the day’s briefing. / This obviously changes whose point of view is the primary for that scene to Sunil.

Third person It allows the writer to explore different perspectives and viewpoints of different characters to move the story forward. However, that being said, to avoid reader confusion, pick one character - a main character, supporting character, or a villain - as the primary character of that scene and stick with their focus/perspective for the duration of a scene/chapter. If you want to express multiple character’s reactions or points of view to a specific same scene (like say a team of detectives coming onto a murder scene) and if it makes sense to do so, you can write the scenes same but different as each character will have their own take on what they saw/perceived/when they entered/exited the scene - but each character that you’re writing about will have a separate section, separated by punctuation marks, above and below the change of perspective. However, that can easily come across as too repetitive for the reader. Might be best to put that in a notes page each scene of how each sees the same scene - because you as the audience can visualise the characters as being there, when they arrived and what they observed. When you write the scene, write it from one character’s point of view, but as you have the other characters interacting with them, they can comment on what they saw observed, contributing to the overall pieces of information, without repetition, unless it contradicts or adds to a specific point being made.

E) Age correlateable. By which I mean, if someone’s going to write about established characters that are in their 40s, 50s, etc., their life experiences, maturity, have them act/respond to each other as such. I have read stories - or rather attempted to - but the mental maturity of the author was showing through characters in their 40s, 50s, and it was obvious the writer hasn’t grasped that maturity of the characters. Listen to the character’s voices (what they’re saying, how they’re saying, even what they’re not saying but expressing visually) you’re writing about. This really comes out when writing arguments and sex scenes, btw.

F) Physical/mental characteristics: If a character has an illness or physical disability, or like affecting joints or paralysed limbs, amputations, or anything that affects movement, be aware of that, esp if writing a sex scene (a whole other rabbit hole of bad writing exists there, see next item). If in an argument, you’re trying to express the character throwing something in anger, like a mug/glass, etc., for example, and the character has an injured/disabled arm, their strength to throw is going to be limited. Show the character’s frustration that the action they wanted had less effect at releasing that anger/frustration. If the character has a visual (partial or full blindness) or auditory disability (eg. hard of hearing, deafness in one or both ears, over-sensitive to sound/volume), take that into account. Esp in arguments, if one of the people in the scene has a tendency to mumble, they may not be understood as words run together are not easily decipherable either by sound or lip reading. Mental health /illness (eg PTSD /complex PTSD [cPTSD], depression, anxiety affects physical health responses. If the characters have mental health disorders, be aware and maintain that continuity through the story. Don’t need to mention it all the time but be aware it can affect movement/physical responses, behaviour. And unless you’re House, you don’t need to include every odd, weird, very rare symptom he seems to need to diagnose something for the character 😂 .

G) Sex scenes: some are done so well that it’s seamless and flows well with the other parts of the story, where the intimacy blends well. Others, very much no so. Unless it’s a specifically written PWP (plot, what plot) story, and those can work when written well. Trust me, I’ve read otherwise well-written stories ruined by a sex scene that reads like a bad porn with characters that otherwise had physical limitation(s) in the rest of the story but were suddenly able to pull off manoeuvres of someone 20 years younger and fully able-bodied. Like someone just tacked on an explicit sex scene on that didn’t mesh with the story as if they were two completely different people that happened to have the same names as the ones in the rest of the story.

H) Continuity. Whether your story is short or long, be aware of where your characters are/what they’re doing. Having a sense of timing. Helpful to have a notepad (digital or paper) sometimes to keep track of movement. They can’t be in two concurrent scenes at the same time. Passing off information between the characters; don’t assume one character (or group of characters) knows what the other(s) are doing, unless they are in contact with each other (visual/audio/both/text). Cause/effect. Action/reaction. There may be delayed effects or reactions (over scenes/chapters), but reference them back to the original cause or action and why there was a delay. For example, somebody witnesses or experiences a tragedy, war, fire, sexual assault, accident, or other traumatic experience, and it triggers a delayed emotional or physical response hours, days, months, years later. The character may or may not be able to explain to their partner, colleague, friend what it was that caused effect/reaction. Similarly, following onto earlier example of a thrown glass/mug/vase, if it smashes there could be subsequent injury from ceramic/glass/etc. like a cut finger/palm of hand if picking up the pieces/cleaning the mess. So maybe it requires a bandage or wrap. Continuity would include making further grasping of things discomforting or painful, maybe a comment from another person inquiring what happened later on if they’re noticing a bandage that wasn’t there the last time they saw them.

I) Alternate Universe stories. I don’t mind AUs when done right - so that even if the characters are placed in a different setting, their general personality traits are very recognizable. I’ve read quite a few that nail this perfectly. Others, not so much. When it works, it works. Otherwise it’s just slapping familiar names onto original fic just to get more eyes on a story.

#fanfiction #fanfic #writing #preferences #edits #filtering #writing styles #this ended up being longer and more detailed than I thought #AO3 #AO3 filters

[mostly-marvel-musings]

Girls Night

A/N: This is a very trivial, fun fanfic that I wrote based on a prompt. Hope y’all enjoy ;)

Warnings: 18+, drinking, foul language, humor.

No pairing!

Word count: 766

Prompt: You, Wanda and Nat play fuck marry kill in her room on girl’s night. Thank you @the-mcu-horniest-book-club​ for the prompt!

Main Masterlist

…

What time are you girls coming over? – W

Smiling you exchanged looks with Nat who’d got the same text from Wanda. You had planned a girl’s night to make her feel more at home at the compound, and she was ecstatic to say the least. After losing Pietro, she focused all of her energy on training to become a part of the Avengers. She deserved a little break and so did you and Natasha.

Texting her back, you went ahead to check the computer that was currently being hacked by you to retrieve important information while Nat covered for you.

“We’re almost done here.” You mumbled, eyes focused on the progress bar that flashed 92%.

She’s not old enough to drink, is she?” Nat asked, glancing at you before turning her focus back towards the door, revolver at the ready.

“No. But we are. Boy, do I need an enormous glass of wine.” Grabbing the flash drive, you shoved it inside your unitard pocket and drew out your own gun before heading out where Clint was waiting in the quinjet which stood on standby on the roof of the building.

…

Wanda was the youngest in the team and without much field knowledge and yet had been through so much, training her and getting to know her was a rewarding experience. It was a refreshing change you’d never thought you needed.

“How did the mission go?” Wanda probed, as Natasha poured you a glass of wine, while you sat in a comfy armchair, checking the strings on Wanda’s guitar, playing a few odd tunes.

“Easier than we’d hoped!”

“Yes (Y/N)’s all about the action. Retrieving information is very unglamorous for her.” Nat smirked, handing you the glass. She wasn’t wrong, taking down Hydra bases or fighting bad guys was always more thrilling to you.

“Speaking of action, can we play a game I found on the internet? It’s called FMK.” Wanda looked at the two of you with hopeful eyes.

She explained the rules of the game as you got comfortable on her armchair, balancing a huge bowl of popcorn on your lap, taking a sip from your glass, Nat sat on the floor leaning against a wall facing you.

“Okay I’ll ask Nat first. Steve, Bucky and Tony.” You raised an eyebrow playfully as she rolled her eyes.

“Fuck Steve, Marry Tony and Kill Bucky.” She responded almost too quickly, making Wanda gasp.

“Whoa! Did you rehearse it or something? And you wouldn’t marry Steve?” you exclaimed, waiting to hear her explanation.

“The fossil? No thank you.” Her honesty made you chuckle.

“But sex with the fossil is fine? Woman you scare me sometimes.” You confessed.

“The only thing scarier is the fact that Wanda has a thing for an android.” Nat said, taking a sip from her glass, Wanda shook her head in renunciation.

“Okay, your turn (Y/L/N). Bruce, Tony and Thor.”

Nat was the only person who knew you had a thing for the Asgardian God—I mean who didn’t?, and when her question alone made your cheeks flush, she smirked making you throw popcorn in her face.

“Alright, I will Marry Tony, Fuck Thor and Kill Banner. And I feel bad for Bruce I really do but I can’t have him turning green at inappropriate times!”

“You’re such a liar (Y/N).” Natasha shook her head, faking disappointment.

“Oh yes she is lying. You forget I can read minds.” Wanda chimed in, laughing when you huffed in annoyance.

“You stay out of my head, Maximoff. Okay you got me. I’d like to marry and fuck Thor please. You happy now?” You playfully glared at the two of them, your cheeks turning redder at the admission, making the girls hoot.

“Yeah I mean who wouldn’t want to fuck the God of Thunder, am I right?” you stared off into the distance for effect.

“Yeah” the two of them sighed dreamily in unison.

Snapping them back to reality, you and Nat began grilling Wanda about her obsession with Vision.

…

“How am I not in the running? I’m a decent guy right?” Clint wondered to himself, making Steve chuckle as your giggling settled down.

He had invited Steve, Thor and Vision over when Nat had mentioned about the girl’s night on the quinjet, under the pretext that it was just a casual hang. He’d bugged the room and gained access to the audio in Wanda’s apartment to eavesdrop.

Steve had suggested against it, but he too couldn’t resist the urge, and Thor was busy beaming with pride at your confession.

“Are you not done listening to our lovely teammates objectify us all night?” Tony walked in assertively, looking around at the myriad of expressions across Clint’s room.

“You’re just reveling in the fact that (Y/L/N) and Nat want to marry you, Stark.” Clint gave him a dirty look.

“Well who wouldn’t.”

“And Point Break here was on everyone’s ‘to-do’ list.”

“Wait a minute, where’s Vision?” Clint looked around, not finding Vision anywhere.

“Friday?”

“He is headed to Miss Maximoff’s room to address the questions himself, Boss.” The AI’s clear voice echoed through the room, as the men panicked.

“We’re fucked.”

#the avengers #avengers x reader #avengers fluff #girls night #wanda x y/n #natasha x reader #marvel fluff #marvel fanfiction #wanda x vision #mostly marvel musings #platonic avengers #avengers imagine

[mikauzoran]

Lukadrien: Your Hands Hold Home: Chapter Seventeen

@lukadrien-june

Read it on AO3: Your Hands Hold Home: Chapter Seventeen: Broken Families

“Sup, G Flat,” Xavier-Yves greeted as he descended the stairs into the main cabin of the Liberty.

Adrien grimaced but mentally reminded himself to be nice for Luka’s sake.

“Hi, XY. Luka’s actually not here right now. He’s out with the Capitaine, and I don’t think they’ll be back soon,” he informed, hoping that that would be the end of his exposure to the popstar for the day.

XY shrugged, taking a seat on the opposite limb of the L-shaped couch from Adrien.

“That’s okay,” XY assured as he made himself comfortable, spreading out like a starfish and pulling his laptop out of his bag. “You probably don’t know this because you’re still pretty new here, but I have the okay to just kick it here whenever I want.”

Adrien nodded, internally cursing his lot in life. “I see. That’s cool.”

“Yeppers,” Xavier-Yves agreed, barely paying Adrien any mind as he started up his audio editing program.

Adrien set aside the book he’d borrowed from Luka, seeing that he wasn’t going to get any more reading done in XY’s presence.

“How long do you think you’ll hang out?” Adrien inquired, trying to sound interested rather than rude and impatient for Xavier-Yves to leave.

XY shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe a couple hours? Probably until this evening.”

Adrien mentally swore.

“I’m hiding from my dad,” XY added voluntarily.

Adrien frowned. “Why?”

XY clicked his tongue. “He’s trying to set me up with some actress. You know. For publicity and all that.”

Adrien shuddered. “My father made me do that a couple times. I’ve always hated that kind of thing.”

“Dude, I know!” XY exclaimed, looking up from his computer screen. “Sucks, right?!”

Adrien nodded. “I mean, some of the girls were okay, and I may have even been able to like one or two of them in earnest if we’d met more naturally and it had been our decision to date, but…those arrangements are so staged. I always resented them as just one more thing Father was making me do against my will and completely ignoring my wishes about.”

“Tch. Yeah,” Xavier-Yves scoffed. “Trust me. I hear you.”

Just as suddenly as the conversation started, it ended, and XY seemed to go back to his laptop.

Adrien gave his book a sidelong look, debating whether to take it up to the deck to continue reading in peace.

Before he could come to a decision, XY broke back into Adrien’s thoughts.

“…So…you’re bi or what?”

Adrien gave a start. “What?”

“You said you could have liked some of the girls your dad made you date,” XY explained, “but I always thought you had a thing for Luka…so are you bi or in denial or what?”

Adrien stared at his love rival for a moment, trying to determine whether he should be affronted by XY’s abrupt demands for personal information.

Xavier-Yves looked at Adrien expectantly with seemingly no malice or agenda hidden behind his words.

It was then that Adrien remembered what Luka had told him about XY’s penchant for coming across as rude due to his lack of normal socialization—something Adrien could, unfortunately, relate to.

Adrien decided to take XY’s question in good faith and answered, “I think I’m probably bi.”

XY cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean you think you’re bi? Isn’t that something you just know?”

Adrien shifted uncomfortably under Xavier-Yves’s scrutiny. “I think it’s confusing because the media really only shows men and women ending up with one another, so that’s how I thought it had to be when I was growing up. I didn’t realize guys were actually an option until later, and I’ve mostly just been interested in girls so far. I mean, I can tell if a guy is attractive, but Luka’s the only guy I’ve ever been attracted to in practice, not just in theory.”

XY blinked several times, trying to parse Adrien’s response. “…So…you’re bi?”

“At least as far as Luka’s concerned,” Adrien confirmed with a shrug.

“You make my head hurt,” XY announced. “You’re just thinking about it too much.”

“Maybe,” Adrien chuckled, musing that XY might have accidentally stumbled upon the truth.

Xavier-Yves shook his head. “I’ve always known I was gay. I never even looked at girls as a kid.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “I-I’m sorry. I always assumed you were bi. Well…after I found out about your feelings for Luka, anyway. Until then, I thought you were straight.”

XY rolled his eyes and waved dismissively. “That’s because my dad says I have to stay in the closet.”

Adrien’s jaw descended several centimeters. “He what?”

XY nodded, setting his laptop aside and angling more towards Adrien. “My dad says that gay doesn’t sell and that all of my fangirls will stop buying my music and coming to concerts if they find out I only like dudes, so I can’t tell anyone I’m gay.”

Adrien blinked dumbly, finding himself wondering if his own father would react similarly if he found out about Adrien being queer. A lot of people in fashion were, so maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal, but…somehow, Adrien got the feeling that Gabriel would probably prefer it if Adrien kept that fact to himself and found a nice female partner.

“…I’m sorry,” Adrien mumbled, suddenly seeing past the annoying, inconvenient aspects of XY to the very real person with problems and feelings and dreams underneath.

XY shrugged. “Is what it is. Just don’t you go tellin’ people.”

“I would never do that,” Adrien was quick to assure.

XY gave a snort as he nodded. “Good.”

“…So…you’re not allowed to date?” Adrien inquired, morbid curiosity getting the best of him.

XY shook his head. “Nah. Dad would flip. It’s okay, though. I’ve never been really into anyone before, so it was, like, whatever.”

Adrien’s eyebrow arched. “What about Luka? You seem pretty into him.”

“Luka’s different,” Xavier-Yves confirmed with a passionate punch to the words. “He’s the one, you know?”

Adrien dropped his gaze, wilting slightly because he knew that fact all too well.

“I’d come out, if he wanted me to,” XY continued. “I don’t know. Luka’s kind of quiet and private, so I don’t know if he’d want to make it all public, but he’d at least want to tell his friends who he was seeing, so it would get out there eventually. I wouldn’t care, though. He’s worth it.”

“You really care about him a lot,” Adrien whispered.

“You bet I do,” XY insisted. “You know how annoying and dumb I am.”

Adrien’s head jerked up at the blatant self-deprecation.

“Not a lot of people like me. A lot of people pretend to because they want something, but they don’t actually like me,” XY snorted.

Adrien suddenly felt a chill at hearing circumstances that so closely echoed his own.

“Luka didn’t like me at first, and he had a good excuse not to, but instead of telling me to get lost when I came to ask him to teach me about loving music, he put up with me,” XY recounted with a soft look of gratitude and affection in his placid blue eyes.

“He was really patient, and he taught me and helped me be a better person. My dad taught me a lot of bad things.” His eyes dropped to the floor as he confessed his past shortcomings. “I didn’t know they were bad until Luka told me so…so I owe him a lot. I’d do anything for him.”

Adrien nodded passively, averting his gaze as he wondered if Luka wouldn’t be better off with XY than himself.

Xavier-Yves could give Luka fortune and industry contacts, and while “Roth” wasn’t the most well-liked surname in Paris, it was worlds ahead of “Agreste” which had become synonymous with “dirt” a month previously when Papillon’s identity had been revealed.

Maybe Adrien should step aside romantically and focus on being a good, supportive friend to Luka.

“I’d do anything for him,” Xavier-Yves repeated solemnly, “…even if that meant bowing out and supporting his happiness with you.”

Adrien’s head jerked up again, and he gaped at XY in disbelief. “What?”

XY shrugged. “The most important thing is that Luka is happy, yeah?”

Adrien nodded, still not understanding. “Yes. Absolutely. But…what does that have to do with me?”

XY shook his head. “You’re important to him. We’re both really important to him. I can’t tell you how many times he’s asked me to try to play nice with you these past few weeks because he wants us both in his life, and he wants us all to get along.”

Adrien’s lips rounded into a small “o”.

XY nodded. “I want him to be happy. Even if you win, I want him to be happy, so I’m gonna try to be friends with you because it’s important to Luka.”

Adrien slowly began to nod. “Okay. I can’t promise I’ll ever really like you much, but I’m going to tolerate you for Luka’s sake. So, let’s make this work, okay?”

“Deal,” XY agreed with a wide grin, holding out his fist to Adrien for a fist bump.

Chuckling, Adrien leaned forward and touched his fist to XY’s.

“…So,” Xavier-Yves remarked after the moment had passed. “Wanna watch a movie or something?”

Adrien shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”

“How good’s your English?” XY asked, grabbing his laptop and opening up his video library.

“Not fluent, but I should be able to watch a movie without subtitles,” Adrien replied, moving to sit next to Xavier-Yves.

XY looked up at Adrien and tipped his head to the side. “You ever heard of Abbott and Costello?”

Adrien frowned, searching his memory banks. “…The comedy duo?”

XY nodded enthusiastically, a wide grin quickly spreading from one cheek to the other. “They’re super dope. You’ll love them. Let’s watch In Society. It’s got one of my favourite routines.”

“All right,” Adrien easily agreed, reasoning that he owed it to Luka and himself to make an effort. “Sounds good.”

 A little over an hour later, Luka returned to find Adrien and Xavier-Yves in a pile on the couch, leaning on one another to keep themselves upright as they chortled, “He’s not dead, Lady! He’s hiding!”

“I see you showed him Abbott and Costello?” Luka remarked, announcing his presence.

XY pushed himself up to grin adoringly at Luka. “Yeah. We were just thinking about watching another. Wanna join us?”

“Sure,” Luka chuckled, coming around to their side of the couch.

Adrien scooted over to make room for Luka between himself and XY.

“After all, it’s not every day that two of my best friends are able to spend time together without wanting to kill one another. We should do something to celebrate,” Luka reasoned.

“We’re not that bad. We just…verbally snipe at each other sometimes,” Adrien giggled, quickly snuggling up to Luka at exactly the same moment XY wrapped his arm around Luka’s shoulders.

“Yeah,” XY seconded. “The only friend of yours I want to kill is that Jacob loser.”

Luka groaned, rolling his eyes.

Adrien lifted his head to look around Luka at Xavier-Yves. “Jacob?”

XY nodded. “That bassist in his band. He’s Luka’s ex.”

Adrien quirked an eyebrow. “We can’t be civil with Luka’s exes?”

XY’s eyes narrowed. “Jacob’s one of the four he slept with.”

“Oh,” Adrien replied flatly, his opinion abruptly changing.

“Yeah. Those ones are dead to me,” Xavier-Yves snorted.

“Can we not talk about my love life?” Luka sighed, tipping his head back to stare up at the ceiling. “It’s really not that interesting. Let’s watch the movie.”

XY clicked his tongue. “I beg to be different. I am super interested in the people you’ve slept with.”

“Prune,” Luka groaned. “Drop it. I’ve been the adult in this household since I was ten. I’m allowed to sleep with whomever my little demi heart loves.”

“Would you sleep with me?” XY wondered curiously.

Luka’s cheeks flushed as he pointedly avoided Xavier-Yves’s gaze. “No comment.”

“Would you sleep with him?” XY pressed, jabbing a finger at Adrien.

Luka choked on air, making a wheezing sound of distress.

“No comment,” he managed with some effort.

“How about a threesome?” Xavier-Yves suggested amicably.

Adrien burst out laughing, snuggling in closer.

“For the love of whatever you hold sacred, start the movie already before I strangle you,” Luka pleaded.

“I could be into that,” XY replied, waggling his eyebrows.

Luka threw his hands up in the air, exclaiming, “Aaaaah!”

This caused Adrien to laugh even harder.

XY joined in.

#Lukadrien #LuXY #Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Luka Couffaine #Xavier-Yves Roth #XY #Love Rivals #Fluff #Slow Burn #Friends to Lovers #Pining #Mutual Pining #Broken Families #Lukadrien June 2021 #Writing Prompts #Mikau's Writings #Your Hands Hold Home

[deafblindshorty]

Poe and Rey’s Underrated Friendship

I noticed that not a lot has been said about Poe and Rey’s friendship in TROS and related EU materials. That’s probably because it’s not the main focus, which I sort of understand. There are a lot of subtle moments of their friendship (even some hints towards a romantic relationship). Some of these points come from @greysmartwolf’s tumblr, others come from a discord server.

Disclaimer: I am not diminishing or minimalizing Finn’s importance to both Rey and Poe, but if it seems like it, then I’m sorry. That’s not my intent.

Let’s start from the beginning: Rey and Poe have a LOT of parallels throughout the trilogy (some of the same scenes, the same lines, they both face their past in TROS, they both blame themselves for the Resistance dying at Exegol, they almost gave up but two Rebel veterans gave them pep talks, etc). So, they have quite a bit in common including their love for flying and droids.

Also, about the age difference, age really doesn’t matter in Star Wars. Han and Leia are 13 years apart, Wedge is about ten years younger than Norra, and Snap is 16 years older than his wife Kare (He could be her father!). Huge age differences exist in other fictional materials set on our Earth- Brooke Taylor and her late husband from Legally Blonde are 34 years apart, Remus and Tonks from Harry Potter are 13 years apart, an old soap opera supercouple (Doug and Julie Williams from Days of Our Lives) are 20 years apart. As for friends, Will from Glee is in his 30s and is friends with a few 19-20 year olds and Sue who is in her 50s is besties with a 19/20 year old, 30 year old Launchpad from Ducktales is friends with 10 year old Dewey. So, 19/20 year old Rey being friends or dating 32/33 year old Poe isn’t that crazy or farfetched.

According to the TROS Visual Dictionary, Poe left BB-8 with Rey so she won’t feel lonely (and that’s probably also why BB-8 is with Rey on Tatooine). 

Poe was the first man Rey met whom she didn’t physically attack upon meeting him, and also smiled when they introduced each other. I don’t recall her smiling that wide whenever she was with Finn or Kylo.

They get along well in Poe Dameron #26-27. Poe was even a bit flirty with Rey.

It was Poe’s idea to build a Jedi training course for Rey in Star Wars Adventures, so Poe understands the importance of Rey’s Jedi training.

Rey understands what Poe went through with Kylo ( Poe also calls them ”Torture buddies!”).

When Poe, Finn, and Chewie return from the Fortress of Hothitude (I can’t remember what that planet is called. lol), Poe was so happy to see Rey. The way he walked up to Rey, his smile and his hands on hips. He badly wants to impress Rey. Alpha male!

And right after that, they have their only argument throughout the entire film. Poe and Rey quarrel in TROS was because they both didn’t listen to each other. They really only fight over the Falcon and BB-8. They both care about each other a lot, don’t blame each other in anything (except the Falcon being on fire and BB-8 missing a disc) and admit when one of them was right in argue (but prefer not to tell about that). Then Rey ends up smiling at him and Poe ends the argument by complimenting Rey (”You’re the best fighter we have. We need you.”). Also, Poe is the only one whom Rey talks to with sarcastic smile. Also, also, that argument is meant to parallel Han and Leia’s many arguments. Han and Leia argued every five minutes throughout the entire Original Trilogy, and they ended up together!

After sinking in the sand tunnels, Poe catches Rey and holds her bridal-style for a sec to steady her and was worried about her.

“He thought of protesting, of asking how Rey could possibly know which equally unremarkable direction was the right one. But Poe had learned that when Rey said things that way, her face determined, her voice unwavering, a fellow ought to just follow.” -TROS novel Poe knows Rey well. He knows when he must just shut up and do what she says. It kind of reminds me of Anakin telling Padme “Don’t worry. I’ve given up trying to argue with you.”

Poe taking the dagger from Rey in the novel and it felt like a weight has been lifted from Rey’s shoulders. It’s almost like he knew that would help.

The sand snake- I’ve never seen Poe so scared. But he is not afraid of that snake, he’s ready to combat it. I mean, he piloted the Falcon without fear into the mouth of a giant worm! Poe is afraid that snake could hurt or kill Rey. Poe wants to shoot that snake and pull Rey back, and he almost does that. And Rey amazes him again! And Poe sighs in relief when the snake calms down and slithers away.

In the novel, Poe didn’t scream “Nooo!” or “What have you done?!” when Rey “killed” Chewie. Poe knows there is no scenario in which Rey would harm her friends consciously. He most likely knows about her dark visions (Rey tells BB-8 everything, who obviously tells Poe all important stuff). Poe is not mad at Rey and doesn’t make her explain how that happened. And honestly, if he did do that, then he’d be a huge hypocrite, since he accidentally caused the deaths of the bombers in TLJ and the soldiers on Crait, which is why Poe was gentle with her. Rey understands Poe. His usual anger. They both have a huge responsibility. The Resistance on Poe and Jedi legacy on Rey. And she was ready to hear his anger, but he didn’t even plan to lay into her.

Rey likes that Poe can steal speeders and she finds his past interesting. Rey was really interested in Poe and Zorii’s past connection and Poe felt a bit smug when Rey was able to beat Zorii (He said “Don’t Dja’kanka” because he was afraid Rey would slice Zorii in half before she could help them). According to some audio book excerpts, when Rey was thinking about Poe’s past or his criminal skills, her voice was mysterious and nonjudgmental. Finn wasn’t happy to find out Poe was a spice runner, while Rey was completely fine with that, it seems she even liked that

After the Spice Runner reveal, as they traveled a snowy passageway, Poe glanced over at Rey, who was silent and frowning, lost in her own thoughts. Or maybe she was focused. Sensing something. 

When Rey rushed off to look for the dagger on Kylo’s star destroyer, Poe didn’t stop her and trusted her feelings. Poe knows when he must just follow her instincts. He learned to read her.

Look at pain in Poe’s eyes after Finn’s words. Poe wants to be closer to Rey, he wants Rey to trust him more. But Finn and Leia were still closer to Rey than Poe was. “Perhaps, she didn’t want to put the rest of the team in danger, but they had already signed up for that by joining the Resistance.” (TROS junior novel, Poe)

"She’s out there, heading toward the Death Star. Her skimmer keeps tipping over – it’s damaged. What the heck is she thinking?” (TROS junior novel, Poe) Poe is so worried here. And angry. Now he’s mad at Rey, but later he will be angry with himself for losing her.

“Rey’s nobility masked an impulsiveness that might doom them all – and as highest-ranking member of the team, Poe felt responsible for not curbing it. He had flunked the leadership test yet again.” (TROS junior novel) Poe blames himself, not Rey.

“Maybe there was something the general could do. During the battles of D'Qar and Crait she and Rey had shared beacons. Maybe there was a way she could reach out to Rey or Rey could reach out to her.” (TROS junior novel) Poe planned to find Rey!

So, Poe doesn’t think Rey abandoned them and doesn’t resent her for leaving. If he did, he’d be a big hypocrite here, too, since he abandoned his father, who was dying from a poisonous Lurker bite in Free Fall for the Spice Runners.

Poe trusts Rey and knows she can take care of herself. That’s why he didn’t rush after her like Finn did.

“Poe didn’t have his usual pre-battle swagger. He seemed distress. “What’s waiting for her out there?” he asked Finn.” (TROS junior novel) Poe worried about Rey so much! That she’s somewhere alone and they won’t be with her there.

Poe was incredibly relieved when Rey was revealed to be alive (and he was also worried about Rey when he found out the Emperor wanted her alive).

The way Poe takes Rey’s hand is special, it’s pure tenderness, and the way he rubs his thumb over her knuckles tells everything. Poe loves Rey more than friend. Also, Rey pinches Poe’s elbow with a hope, like she tries to reach him. And when Poe does the same, she happily closes her eyes and pinches him again.

Poe and Rey also acted so jealous of Finn and Zorii respectively. Poe kept asking Finn what he was gonna tell Rey when they were sinking in the sand. On Kijimi, Rey couldn’t stop thinking about what Poe’s past with Zorii was.

So, usually, men tend to date women who remind them of their mothers (Take Harry Potter for example! Ginny looks a lot like Lily Potter.). Rey and Shara Bey (Poe’s mom) look similar and they’re both brave, adventurous, and great pilots.

Men also tend to date women who remind them of their exes. Rey also looks similar to Zorii, plus they are both cagey, kept secrets, both love to argue with Poe, but they care about him, and are extremely loyal.

TL:DR. My point is that Poe and Rey are actually good friends and would be a great couple. Disney/LF were just a bit more subtle about their relationship. 

#star wars #poe dameron #rey skywalker #damerey

[terryballs]

My favourite Doctor Who writers

10. Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is one of the most talented people to ever write for Doctor Who. Of course, talent alone is not enough - Douglas Adams, Alan Moore, and Naomi Alderman all miss out on this list. What makes Gaiman special is his fairytale, fantasy approach to the show. He has big ideas, full of heart, and I am always delighted by them.

Why isn’t Mr Gaiman higher up on the list? Simply because he has only done four stories. One of them, “The Doctor’s Wife”, is an all-time classic, while the others are at least good. With a couple more stories, Mr Gaiman would surely be higher.

9. Paul Magrs

Coming in at #9 is one of the most important writers of non-televised Who. Paul Magrs has written nine Big Finish Main Range stories (most notably “The Peterloo Massacre”), three Companion Chronicles, and two Eighth Doctor Adventures, including the exceptional “The Zygon Who Fell To Earth”, as well as a huge number of spin-off adventures.

It’s in print where Magrs really flourishes, though. It’s quite hard to get across just how influential Paul Magrs has been. Firstly, his three books in the Eighth Doctor Adventures range - The Scarlet Empress, The Blue Angel, and Mad Dogs and Englishmen - are hugely ambitious metatextual delights. These stories introduce Iris Wildthyme and the Smudgelings to the Whoniverse, and have each inspired their own spin-off series, collectively called the “Magrsverse”. Iris’s parody of the Doctor is a rip-roaring delight whenever she appears - and as you know, she’s famous for it - and will prove a lasting legacy for Mr Magrs.

I suppose, at this junction, I should mention Lawrence Miles, who has had a similar influence, but I just don’t find to be quite as good a storyteller as Magrs.

8. Rob Shearman

You probably know Rob Shearman for “Dalek”, the first good New Who story. What if I told you that “Dalek” is Shearman’s worst DW story?

The titles of Shearman’s audio plays are enough to send shivers up the spines of those who have heard them. There’s “Jubilee”, the loose inspiration for “Dalek”, which explores the Daleks as fascist iconography. There’s “The Holy Terror”, where the Doctor and Frobisher the Penguin Shape-Shifter have a similarly horrifying experience with a religious cult. There’s “The Chimes of Midnight”, possibly the definitive Eighth Doctor story, and “Scherzo”, itself perhaps the most experimental story in Doctor Who history, and “Deadline”, in which the villain is Doctor Who itself.

Like many of the writers on this list, Shearman has an eclectic back catalogue full of obscure oddities. But few people have quite his capacity for knocking it out of the park.

7. Chris Chibnall

It’s true that Chris Chibnall’s work before becoming showrunner is inconsistent at best. “42″ is bad and “The Hungry Earth” is uninspired. “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” is a fun romp, while “The Power of Three” is a great story that is let down by the ending which had to be re-written hastily due to unforeseen production issues. And Chibnall’s contributions to Series 11 range from “fine” (”The Woman Who Fell To Earth”) to “bad” (”The Battle of Ranskor Av Kolos”). But in “Pond Life” and “P.S.”, Chibnall shows that he knows how to write affecting character beats.

It’s in Series 12 that Chibnall really takes things up a step. His stories become sprawling and ambitious: globe-trotting thrillers crammed full of ideas. He’s still occasionally guilty of trying to throw too many ideas in, but his love for the story really shines through. There’s barely a weak moment in Series 12, and that’s largely because Chibnall himself steps up to write or co-write hit after hit after hit. It all culminates in the epic three-part finale, “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”/”Ascension of the Cybermen”/”The Timeless Children”, a hugely ambitious story that crosses space and time and pulls together disparate elements from the history of Who. It’s a million miles from “The Battle of Ranskor Av Kolos”: a fan-pleasing story that is truly epic.

6. Vinay Patel

Why is Vinay so high? Good question. Thinking about it, I can’t really justify this placement. Patel reliably produces great stories - “Demons of the Punjab” alone marks Patel out as a great, and to follow it up with “Fugitive of the Judoon” shows that it wasn’t a fluke. But Mr Patel has only got four stories to his name - the aforementioned TV stories plus “Letters from the Front” and “The Tourist” - so for similar reasons to Mr Gaiman, a high position is difficult to justify.

So instead, let’s give this position to Terrance Dicks. Mr Dicks has a bit of a reputation as more of a “jobbing” writer than someone like Chibnall or Shearman, Terrance Dicks was, first and foremost, a script editor. Yes, he co-wrote “The War Games” and was the sole writer for “Horror of Fang Rock”, but he’s best remembered for script editing the Third Doctor era (and part of the Second Doctor era), as well as producing an absolute mass of Target novelisations. But that’s not all - Mr Dicks has written original novels (VNAs, EDAs, and PDAs alike), Quick Reads, audio stories, two stage plays, and even the Destiny of the Doctor video game.

Sure, Mr Dicks didn’t burn as bright as Mr Patel. But his contribution to the Whoniverse is unparalleled.

5. Nev Fountain

Comedy writer Nev Fountain has written several of the very best Doctor Who stories. For some reason, these stories tend to centre around Peri (Fountain is married to Nicola Bryant). “Peri and the Piscon Paradox” is the best Companion Chronicle by far, due to a combination of great acting by Bryant and Colin Baker and Fountain’s sizzling script. “The Kingmaker” is an outrageously funny historical with incredible dialogue and multiple ideas clever enough to carry a whole story.

Frankly, those two alone should be enough to convince anyone of Fountain’s brilliance. But there is so much more - “The Widow’s Assassin”, “The Curious Incident of the Doctor In the Night-time”, “The Blood on Santa’s Claw”, “Omega“... if you like Doctor Who, make yourself familiar with Nev Fountain.

4. Robert Holmes

More than anyone else, Robert Holmes is responsible for the esteem which the Fourth Doctor is held in.

Holmes first wrote for the show all the way back in Series 6, with “The Krotons”. He wrote the very first Third Doctor story, “Spearhead From Space”, in which he also introduced the Autons. They reappeared a year later in “Terror of the Autons”, which introduced Jo Grant and the Master. In “The Time Warrior”, Holmes introduced the Sontarans, a pastiche of imperialism.

It was in the Fourth Doctor era that Mr Holmes really made his mark. He took over from Mr Dicks as script editor. In his own right, he wrote “The Deadly Assassin” and “Talons of Weng-Chiang”, but he also turned “The Ark In Space”, “Pyramids of Mars”, and “The Brain of Morbius” into usable stories, even appearing in “The Brain of Morbius” as the Doctor.

After stepping back from script editing, Holmes returned as a hack to write stories like “The Caves of Androzani” (probably the most popular story in Classic Who) and “The Two Doctors”, before dying shortly after his 60th birthday.

3. Jamie Mathieson

Putting Mr Mathieson above Mr Holmes really shows my bias towards New Who, but honestly, I’d rather re-watch “Mummy on the Orient Express”, “Flatline”, or “Oxygen” than any of Holmes’ stories. Mathieson is very inventive and extremely good at maintaining pace and tension. I’m sure we’ll get more stories from him in the future, but the ones we have so far should be used as inspiration by anyone wanting to writing exciting Who.

2. John Dorney

It is hard to exaggerate Mr Dorney’s contributions to audio Who. He may lack the external fanbase of Mr Gaiman, the influence of Mr Magrs, or the legendary status of Messrs Dicks, Chibnall, and Holmes, but make no mistake, Dorney is exceptional. In almost every range he tries his hand at - Lost Stories, Novel Adaptations, Third Doctor Adventures, Fourth Doctor Adventures, Fifth Doctor Adventures, Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition, Ravenous, Time War, Companion Chronicles, Short Trips, Jago and Litefoot, Missy, UNIT, Diary of River Song... Dorney reliably writes the best story in the set.

In particular, Dorney’s stories are notable for the way they focus on character drama. Look at stories like “A Life In A Day” or “Absent Friends” for particular examples of stories that use sci-fi concepts to draw emotion out of characters, particularly the stoic Liv Chenka. Other highlights of Dorney’s include “The Red Lady” and the “Better Watch Out”/”Fairytale of Salzburg” two-parter.

1. Steven Moffat

What more is there to say? Moffat is truly exceptional, reliably writing the best stories in TV Who for several consecutive years. The classics are too numerous to list, but the stand outs amongst the stand outs are “Blink” and “Heaven Sent”/”Hell Bent”.

Some of Moffat’s best work comes away from TV. The minisodes “The Inforarium” and “Night of the Doctor”, the novelisation of “Day of the Doctor”, the short stories “Continuity Errors” and “the Corner of the Eye”, and lockdown stories like “Terror of the Umpty Ums” are Moffat deep cuts which deserve to be held in the same regard as his great TV stories.

Moffat’s imagination lead to him creating multiple iconic monsters - foremost amongst them, the Weeping Angels and the Silence. Moffat emphasised the use of time travel within the stories themselves; other themes in his work include memory, perception, paradoxes, identity, sexuality, and responsibility. He is, without a doubt, the greatest Doctor Who writer, and I am so lucky to have lived through the period where he was active.

#Doctor Who #top ten #Steven Moffat

[growup-gloup]

I really hate myself. I hate my body and my personality. How do I start loving myself and forgiving myself for past mistakes?

Hello darling, 

I am so sorry that you feel that way. 

The answer exists in your question. You said “past” mistakes, meaning that that have already happened. Since you cannot go back and fix them, you have to accept that they happened, and then learn from it so you don’t make the same mistakes in the future. You are not the same person you were then. You are not the same people you were yesterday. And you will not be the same person tomorrow as you are today. 

And because of that, all you have to do is take it one day at a time. Instead of being overwhelmed by all the things that are going wrong, or all the things that you need to do to be better, think about what you could do TODAY. 

Furthermore, you are a multifaceted person consisting of many qualities. When you look at a flower, do you think to yourself that you have to like each and every petal and leaf? No, you like the flower as a whole, even if one petal is droopy and one leaf was half eaten by a caterpillar. It’s not possible to love every single thing about yourself. Your aim should be self-acceptance, not self-love. 

Because you are a real person, there will always be flaws, and that is okay. You do not have to love your flaws. In fact, you shouldn’t because that is what prevents us from self-improvement over time. And each and every one of us has something to improve every single day. Accept your flaws. Accept that some of them can be developed into strengths, and that some of them cannot. And that is fine too. Some of us will get plastic surgery to overcome our physical flaws, others will look at it and think, “it is what it is”, and move on. 

Because the thing is, when you’re focused on the good, and how you can improve it, then you’ll find that the flaws reduce over time. They’ll never be gone, but they won’t be in the center of your mind, which distracted you from reaching your full potential. You should also remember that you can enjoy doing something, and still be bad at it, and that’s okay. I love to sing but my voice is so off-key and I’m fine with that. I’m not singing to win The Voice. I’m singing to feel some happiness in this particular moment of time. 

Here are some things that may help you learn to accept yourself over time:

Start a gratitude journal. Everyday, you write down one (or more!) thing that you’re proud of. This can be something physical, like your eyes, or something intellectual, like your drawing skills, for example. But find something. You can also expand on this idea by writing down what exactly it is that is bothering you and what about it is bothering you. The concept behind this is that, even though you obviously know what’s bothering you, as you write it all down you, your mind slows down enough to process the situation. It’s as if someone else is telling you their problems, and you are like “hmm, well what if you did this instead of that?” This is especially helpful if whatever is bothering you is something you can’t or don’t want to talk to others about. If you’re worried about someone finding it, you can just open up a word document, write it all down, and then delete it when you are done. 

Take a break from social media. I don’t mean disconnect from your friends and family. But, social media is constantly bombarding us with these seemingly perfect people with seemingly perfect lives, and that really takes a toll on us. Yes, it is obvious that the persona people put on the internet is fake, but we’re still subconsciously absorbing those supposedly ideal figures and materials, and when we don’t have the same results in our body, or in our lives, that brings us down. Social media can be a great thing. I love it, but you have to be mindful of who you follow, especially when you’re not currently in the best place in terms of self-love. 

Build a healthier routine. You don’t have to be a certain weight to be healthy. All you need to do is eat more greens and less red meat when you can, and try to be active for at least half an hour every day. You should be turning off your phone at least an hour before bedtime, and getting at least 7 hours of sleep nightly and drinking plenty of fluids throughout the day. Also try to work on your posture and remind yourself to sit up straight whenever you can. A straighter posture is not only good for your overall muscular health, but also exudes confidence. Not only will you look like you know what you’re doing, but you’ll also feel it too.

Expand your intellect. If you can, take a course in what interests you, even if it has nothing to do with your career plans. If you can’t you have the internet at your disposal. Read research articles on topics that interest you. Read the news. Read books before going to bed instead of scrolling through your phone. If you can’t focus on staring at words for a long period of time, listen to audio-books and podcasts, or watch documentaries. If you don’t know how to do something, look it up before asking for help, but if you do need help, do not shy away from asking. Getting help can also be a learning experience if you pay attention. 

Practice self-care. Tumblr loves to preach it, and we often roll our eyes at how cliche it sounds, but it is still important. Take warm baths. Dance and sing along to your favorite songs, even if it is off-key. If you wanna paint your nails and do your hair and makeup, all the power to you. If you want to relax and spend time with your friends or pets, that’s great too. Or, you can do all of the above. The possibilities are endless!

💋

#carpe diem #mod stuff #Anonymous #AMA

[justinhubbell]

The reason i asked your opinion is because i saw your post about being suicidal. I'm so sorry if it's bothering. Really. I know this blog isn't about that but still.

Content Warning: Self Harm

Full disclosure: This was a four part message that contained sensitive/personal information. I’m responding to this segment because in comparison there is little here that might trigger any reader, or the writer.

“I have self harm issues. And i think i need help.“

This is serious but I just want to say, well done! You reached out! You took the first step! That’s a lot, and I’m proud of you. <3

Now it’s a matter of figuring out what kind of help is right for you. Here are some options that have helped me. And just for fun I’ll rank them:

• Self Help: (books, articles, podcasts, videos, blogs) - become your own champion and learn learn learn! Right now I’m listening to one of the Great Courses audio books called “The Addictive Brain” because I really want to cut back on my phone use, but am struggling. I’m also never not going to sing the praises of Christopher K. Germer’s “The Mindful Path to Self Compassion.” Changed my life.

Self help is tricky because it requires self-motivation so I rank this (2/5)

• Physical Self-Care: Sometimes I reach a point of overwhelm where I just can’t. I simply can’t manage my emotions - so instead I focus on the body. This includes exercise (for me it’s almost always going for walks), eating nutritious foods, sprucing up my sleep hygiene/schedule. One of my favorite techniques for forcing myself to exercise is downloading challenge charts online. You can find many “30 day _ _ _” challenges that will assist in incrementally building up a routine.

Physical Self-Care is a tried-and-true method that we frequently neglect because it seems too simple. It’s not! It’s science! (4/5)

• Emotional Self-Care: If I’m physically exhausted I’m not going to go for a walk. This is when journal writing, drawing, really any kind of self expression is best. Treat yourself! Let it out!

When we tend to our emotions we’re tending to ourselves, over time that helps to relieve bottled up feelings. Over time you get better and better at it, and sometimes you can actually read/enjoy your own progress!

I rank this a (5/5) because self expression is always always always powerful.

• Meditation: What an eye-roll this one is am I right? I resisted meditation for many many years because I just thought it was icky. Plus, having ADHD I’m not good at staying still or focusing my thoughts. Seemed like a lose/lose situation.

But truthfully having been practicing mediation for the last two years on and off? I wish I had started much earlier. Meditation is sometimes the only way I can let go of intrusive thoughts and be present. You can find dozens of guided meditations online, in fact, here’s one of mine!

I love meditating because at its core it’s just breathing. Anyone can do it, anytime, anywhere. It changes the chemistry of your brain!

Circling back to “The Mindful Path to Self Compassion” that book is how I learned to meditate and—again—changed my life. (4/5)

• Group Help: I tend to use Facebook groups for this, forums might work too. What I like about online groups is I can lurk without saying anything, and often I’ll see posts from folks going through exactly what I’m going through, describing their issues exactly as I would. The phrase “you’re not alone” is such a cliché to me, but with groups it’s legitimately hard to deny. Often in these groups people are sharing resources, tips, and asking each other important questions! (3/5)

• Therapy: Finding a therapist can be both tricky and costly, but also well worth the effort. Therapists are all about helping you learn better coping skills/techniques, providing safe spaces for venting and feedback, and helping you unlearn behavior/habits that lead to harm! These days I don’t meet with my therapist we just have phone sessions - and they work. I’ve also heard from folks that go online for therapy. Truthfully I don’t know where I’d be without therapy. There are lousy therapists out there, and navigating our healthcare system sucks. But again, a good therapist is worth their weight in gold. (4/5)

Those six options are just the tip of the iceberg! There are dozens more, hundreds even. You might get help from engaging your spiritual side. You might find help by talking to your doctor. You might find help confiding with a friend, if not your family etc etc...

What matters is you stood up for yourself when you messaged me.

To me that says you’re ready to start healing. Pick an option (or two!) and let me know how it goes! You can do this! <3

Thank you for messaging me!

[jarofrebuke-transcripts]

Jar of Rebuke Episode 6 Unofficial Transcript

Season 1 Episode 6: PTO

INTRO

The following audio recording is classified documentation for Case [audio distortion] with the Enclosure. Unauthorized access to this information will lead to immediate intervention. Progress further if proper clearance has been given.

JARED

Guess who got vacation? That's right, me. After days of online research and two times poking around the local school, I finally got that time off. I had to pester Todd about it for a while, but I got it. He didn't even call or email me about it, his secretary did. We'll just assume that he was uh just “too busy” to get around to telling me. So guess what I did today? Nothing. And yesterday? Oh, a whole load of nothing. And what do I have planned for tomorrow?More glorious nothing. I got a whole week off and I plan to spend at least at least most of it relaxing at home. I don't even want to change out of my PJs. After I shower, I'll just put on other PJs! No, not shower, I'll take baths! I got homemade bubble baths from the Chronicle Inn shop recently that I've been waiting to use. Holly texted me earlier which was nice. I haven't really talked to them much, at least not in a while. Originally they were just asking if I planned to go out to a an upcoming bonfire, before it gets too cold to really do much outside. And it was really nice to just tell them the full honest truth, that I'd been given a week off of work and I really didn't feel like going out and doing anything. It, just the idea of staying home and doing basically zilch sounds amazing. They then asked if they could call, which was equally nice as it was nerve-wracking. Nice because I liked the heads up for a call, but anxiety-inducing because I had no idea why they wanted to call, I said sure though, I had no reason not to. I think we talked for like an hour, just about whatever. As it normally goes with them. We went from one topic to another really quickly. It's nice to have someone that I can just flow from one topic to another with without having to explain my thought process. They just follow suit. Or, more often, take the lead in the leaps.

They told me about their job as a volunteer at the local school. Unlike me, they get along great with kids, always have. Hence why they worked the snipe hunt a little while ago. They heard about me looking into the haunting a few weeks ago, so I told them a bit about it, excluding the whole Enclosure business card thing. I also mentioned that I was finally given some paid time off work and they asked if we wanted to hang out. So uh, guess in a few days I'm having a movie night with Holly. They're going to show me some of their favorites, things I've never seen. One's called The Room? Apparently it's so bad that it's somehow good. I guess we're watching that later this week, and they're going to introduce me to some video games that they like. After we made plans for movie night I heated myself up some lunch and settled down in front of the TV.  After lunch and a few episodes of whatever show was playing I decided to just sit and check in a little bit, do a little recording.

So my research with the old business card led me to a Dr. Severin Kelder at the Enclosure, right? Well when I looked further into him at work, I actually found out that he passed away like 20 or 30 years ago. Apparently he was working on some top secret project that I couldn't find the details on, but I could find more recent projects that reference Dr. Kelder’s work. So whatever it was that he learned or created, people are still using it in their studies of the Enclosure. It's for branches and projects that I don't have access to so I kept getting asked for passwords that I don't have. I… I could ask Dr. Loma- Milo. Promised them I'd be more casual with them now. I could ask Milo if they know anything. I mean even though we aren't lab partners anymore we're still friends. I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping out. Maybe I could ask Jamie? But she and I aren't really close. Would that be weird? And I really doubt that Dr. Castillo would be at all interested in really helping, she doesn't really want to talk about anything outside of our current projects. Not as chatty. I have a therapy session with Dr. Daman right after I get back from vacation, but I have no clue if I want to talk to her about this. She'd probably call my fixation on it unhealthy or whatever, but I need to get to the bottom of whatever this is. And that smell…

When my brain fixates on things it's really hard to just think or even talk about anything else. It's as if my brain has focused in so hard that nothing else exists, and nothing else matters, unless something else sweeps in and snaps me out of it. It could be really helpful when my brain decides to fixate on work and things I need to do, but it can be so infuriating when it... I focus on the song I heard on the radio, or a book that I read when I'm trying to get work done. I think Dr. Daman has been getting frustrated with my lack of progress, but what am I supposed to do? I'm not having much luck with remembering, but, hey! I'm using the audio journal more regularly, so that's good. It does feel like it's helping. Even if I'm not remembering much about myself at least, I'm learning about myself? And Milo said that's what's most important, more important than remembering. Because they said that things have inevitably changed, as is human nature. I still want to remember though! And I feel like Milo understands that better than Dr. Daman. But I guess it's a good thing that I'm learning about myself. I mean if nothing else I'm not as chronically uncomfortable as I used to be. Even learning these little things. I think I'll talk more to Holly when we hang out though. There's things that I think they may be able to help me with. I'd like to talk to Darius but I don't know if, um…

[scratching sounds] Hold on, there's something at my door. [door opens, birds chirping] Oh, hey buddy! Uh, no collar, huh? Oh, oh. I guess you're coming in... excuse me. [door closes] Okay, so there's a dog. A dog in my house. A black lab? No, its features are a bit too pointed. Almost like a shepherd of some kind. It's docile, and has just laid by my feet. There's no collar, and I've never seen this dog before. So I don't think he's from around here. His eyes are a little strange. I'll admit, I've never had a dog just make itself at home in my house before. Uh… who's a good boy? Huh, are you even a boy? That's a weird assumption for me to make. Considering that you're just a dog who basically knocked, then let yourself in. Either way, the dog is super sweet. Do you have a name? Um, Grove. How does that sound? You look like a Grove. So I guess I have a dog. Unless someone claims him... her... them? Uh...

Don't look at me like that! Gendered language annoys me, okay? That's why I like talking to Holly and Milo so much, they both really don't conform to what society puts on them and they seem to be more aware of other ways that things can be. Ways that the Enclosure didn't teach me, that's for sure. I mean why do people keep saying I'm “one of the guys”? I like being included, yeah, but I don't know... I don't..  just don't see myself as “one of the guys”. It carries implications. I don't mind being called sir or whatever, but it's... Ahem. I'm talking gender. With a dog. No offense. Oh shoot, what do I feed you? Should I call around and see if anyone's looking for their dog? What do you want to eat? I need to look into how to take care of a dog! Would Darius know how? Okay, hold on, gotta make some calls. I might have to change out of my PJs and run some errands. I'll be back soon.

JARED (contd.)

Okay, back. So, Grove hung out in my yard the entire time I was gone. He actually responded well when I called him boy, so we're gonna go with that. He greeted me with a wagging tail and then followed me back inside. He's a big dog, like the top of his head goes to about my upper hip. I got a range of things- wet dog food, dry dog food, treats, toys, the biggest dog bed they had, and honestly a bunch of stuff. I had to make multiple trips to bring it all in. I mean considering I don't know if I'm keeping this dog maybe it was a bit overkill. But having him around feels nice. It feels right. I did text Holly to make sure that they're not allergic to dogs or anything since it seems that I'm taking in a dog, at least for the time being. And apparently they love dogs, so that's, that's good. That's good. Uh, I put the dog bed near my bed and put out a bowl of dog food. But he doesn't really seem too interested in the wet or dry dog food. He seems to like the homemade treats though. I remembered that Ester sold them, so I made sure to make a second stop and stop by the Chronicle Inn to pick up some of those dog treats. But Grove doesn't seem at all interested in the food, but the fact that he likes the treats indicates that he does have an appetite. What do you want to eat, buddy? Listen I can't just feed you dog treats, that can't be healthy.

[phone buzzing] Ugh, why is he calling me? I'm on vacation… [Grove barks] Oh… Grove? It's okay, it's just my phone. I.. oh shit! [Grove starts growling] Grove calm down, relax? I'm not, I'm not answering it, I'm not… [Jared falls over] Oh, Grove, you don’t fit in my lap! [Grove pants] You’re much… you’re much too big. Down! Back down on the floor, please! We both won’t fit in this chair. [Grove snarls] Hey… hey not the key! Leave the key alone, the key stays on. Oh, uh… [Grove barks] Grove, Grove, down! Oh gods. Grove, down, back down. [Grove’s barking gets softer] Good boy… okay… seems I. Okay. [Grove continues making soft sounds] So, I think I know why Grove wouldn't eat the dry dog food but would eat the treats. Meat, he needs meat. That would explain the eyes earlier, and why he lingered outside of my house of all places, without a collar.

Um, oh shit! [Grove starts barking loudly, running. Door closes] Oh, I don't know what happened. I don't know if it was the phone vibrating that set him off or what. [Grove continues to bark at a distance] He was fine until he sniffed the key! He's way too big to be getting in my lap and then when he started sniffing the key around my neck and then, then he got mad. He started snarling. Smoke came out of his mouth and his eyes. His eyes started to glow red, and for the briefest moment I smelled putrid rotting flesh. The smell of death. [Grove continues to bark and snarl loudly] Seems that my new buddy is a hellhound. I thought he was going to attack me, he sure seemed like it, went from my throat. [Grove stops barking, starts whining] But now, he's not even scratching at the door anymore. He's whining. He sounds so sad!

Grove, are you done chasing me? I'd really rather not die again so soon, okay? So you're gonna relax, right? [Grove whimpers, door opens, Grove starts sniffing happily] Good boy, good boy. No biting, no jumping. [Grove quiets down] How about we sit? That's a good boy. You… you know sit! Good. He's okay. He's calm now, leaning into my touch and everything. No more smoke. His teeth are more of a... mortal dog-shaped size again? His eyes aren't glowing anymore. Jeez, I've got no idea why he was set off so badly by my necklace. I mean, yeah, I assume that the key has magical properties which is how it keeps my brain in check, but I don't know why that would have set him off. It's okay buddy, not gonna hurt you. It helps me. Let's get you some food. Okay so, we're gonna try some meat. I don't know if I have it... I don't really have much that's raw, only a little bit that I got for a casserole that I plan to try and cook, but I can go get more meat, you gotta eat I don't mind putting off cooking. [doors open and close, sounds of dog bowl being placed, Grove eating] Okay yeah so, uh, raw meat is what he eats.

Why is a hellhound so far from the cemetery out in the middle of the day like this? There's all sorts of creatures that come by my house all the time but this one is a bit strange. I mean the black eyed children and the not-deer, yeah, those make a bit more sense. They're generally wanderers and I do live by the roads and by the forest. But a hellhound? Y’all normally linger near cemeteries and churches, right? And I don't live near a church or a cemetery. The weirdest thing is that when he's not trying to bite my neck out, his presence is really soothing. I don't know, it's like he belongs here. As long as you ignore the whole key thing he's really lax with me, and I've never seen a hellhound act so domesticated. Especially considering how they normally are with people. But hey, if nothing else at least this means that you probably don't have someone looking for you. So I guess it wasn't too much of an issue that the clerk at the store talked me into buying all of this stuff for you. Hey, don't, don't… don't look at me like that, I panicked. I've never taken care of a dog before, and you're, you're a big dog! Sharing the bed with you would be like sharing a bed with a whole other person, and I can't just make you sleep on the hard floor so I got you the bed! I guess I didn't need to get all of that dog food especially since you won't even eat any of it. Ugh, whatever. Okay, we'll make this work.

I mean even if disguised as a normal, albeit big dog, it's weird that he's out and about during the day. I mean the black-eyed children yeah, now and then come out during the day, not-dear, yeah they're not really restricted to either time of day, but hellhounds? I guess I gotta do some more research, huh? Okay. Well, hey, if nothing else at least I have the resources to look into how to take care of a hellhound. That's not true. I have the information on what hellhounds are, where they are, what they do. How to restrain them. But I don't have the information on how to take care of them. They normally take good care of themselves. I guess you're gonna teach me something, huh? Well we'll learn together. If nothing else it'll be nice to have someone else here, someone that I am not required to talk to if I don't want to. Someone that we can just, share space. It'll be nice to not be alone. I'm gonna probably have some ice cream and watch a movie this evening. Here soon I'll be doing the movie night with Holly, which is nice. And oh god, okay, I didn't tell Holly about the whole children knocking on my door thing. I guess I'm gonna have to give ‘em a heads up of some kind. “Hey, just a warning, I have ghost children that knock on my door! Every night! Hope you sleep deep!” Whatever, I'll let them know, and I'm sure they've heard of weirder. We'll see. So much for doing nothing. But at least it's not work! Maybe I'll message Darius and see what he's up to this evening. I'm gonna go eat that ice cream and watch a movie first. So this is Dr. Jared Hel, signing off. Come on, come on buddy!

OUTRO

Jar of Rebuke is written and produced by Casper Oliver, who is also the voice of Dr. Jared Hel. The intro is read by Vanessa Rosengrant, and credits are read by Ashley Craft, who has created the podcast official graphics. Music was created by Luke Menniss, spelled m-e-n-n-i-s-s, who you can find and support on Bandcamp, Spotify and Twitch. Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates. You can support us on Patreon or Podhero by following the links in our episode description. And special thanks to our patreon supporters, Tristan F., Perry B., Devin W., Becky T., Nico A., and Joyce B.

#jar of rebuke #jar of rebuke podcast #jor podcast #jar of rebuke transcripts

[deviant3lover]

Personal Headcanons for the Trio

On a rare spark of inspiration, I’ve decided to compile my list of headcanons for the Trio for you all to look at if you’re interested. :) 

I tried my best to make them rooted in canon so that they may be plausible while still allowing me to indulge. ;)

Putting this under Read More because boy, it is long.

Metal Bat/Badd

- From my asks to @atinychai​, Badd likes traditionally masculine things because it makes him feel empowered and keeps most people away. He shows almost all the traits: being into sports, working out, being fierce and intimidating… all except for being attracted to women. (Came as a real shock to him too: his team often found girls cute but Badd couldn’t help but notice that some guys were pretty hot and nobody pointed it out. Doubly so because he loves the thought of being married one day and none of the ladies appealed to him.)

- Very straightforward thinker, but unlike Genos, he isn’t completely tactless or over the top with it. His thought process focuses on what needs to be done, what is needed to do it, and to do it ASAP. Considerations are taken into account, such as what would happen if he doesn’t do it right or in a certain way. This is especially good for him since he’s a busy guy even by S-Class standards, but it does leave him vulnerable to not thinking through long term plans that well.

- The most empathetic and physically affectionate of the three. He keeps his tough look on him in public and in private, but he’s one of the first people to offer to hug it out if you’re breaking down. 

(Obviously where no one can see it: that’s embarrassing on you and would attract too much unwanted attention to him, so he makes sure there’s no one watching. If there is, he’ll clap you on the shoulder, look you in the eye, and offer some advice and encouragement.) 

Young boys and teenagers look up to him, and they usually feel better about crying into his shirt when Badd tells them how hard it was to stop himself from bursting into tears at his first loss in a match, or when he was trying to keep quiet for Zenko’s sake at her recital.

- Continuing on that note, he keeps a nice relationship with some of his sporty fans. Not anything too intensive, but he’ll keep track of the boys who come to him asking him what he was like on his baseball team, what to do if there’s infighting in their group, which ones are worried about their baseball matches and he gives them a proud congrats if they win, or a consolation + inspiration to do better next time if they lost.

- When he’s not blinded by anger, Badd’s surprisingly pretty adept at being a social expert. His experiences of being on the baseball team + hanging out with problem students like him has given Badd a pretty good perspective on both the popular kids and the hated, loner kids, as well as what they’re going through. As a result, he’s usually well received by them. Feels a little embarrassed and uncomfortable around smart kids though, especially when they explain something that sounds a little complicated to him.

- Back in his younger days prior to all the responsibilities piled on top of him, Badd was a pretty good leader for his baseball team. He checked in regularly with his team mates, their equipment, their training regimens, and their upcoming opponents. He helped some of his team mates with confidence issues, and made sure to keep in check with how they’re doing to prevent in-team fighting. All-star baseball team in their region for sure. :3

- In the future, I imagine that Badd might take up some boxing after taking a hint from all the times monsters knocked his bat out of his hands away from him. Lost his weapon? He’ll use his fists until he can get it back again, and he’ll use them well. Turns out loves the sport, but baseball will always have a special place in his heart.

- He empathizes easily with people experiencing stress; he goes through that daily with everything he has to take care of- but he’s more clueless with issues such as mental illness. Badd’s a little insensitive about it, sometimes suggesting things to take care of it which don’t work, but he’s trying his best to understand what someone is going through and knows enough to know that it isn’t something that can’t be solved by blowing off steam or cutting off some bad things in your life. Gets pissed off if someone dismisses it as ‘something that’s all in their head’ or ‘they’re crazy’ and will confront them. Forcing apologies out of the offender isn’t out of the question. Might want to stop him before he gets too pissed off.

- Like you’d expect, he’s a pretty big fan of sports, but in a more casual way. He likes hearing about his favorite athletes, training regimens, and certain meals/diets that helped stars to build up/maintain their strength and skill, but doesn’t obsessively get himself involved in the subject. On a more sentimental note, Badd finds some solace with famous athletes because they had to work hard to get where they needed to be, and on top of that, have to deal with the pressures that come with their popularity; whether they like it or not.

- Despite not having much time to cultivate attention to honing his skill and interest in cooking, he loves Gordon Ramsay. Seeing him rip entitled, spoiled people apart with words alone and gently encouraging + teaching kids has him placed high on Badd’s list of celebrities that he respects.

- Badd is a Closeted Romantic and a Family Man. Always found it touching where in some old action/thriller films, the male married lead thinks about his wife and kids back home and tells himself that he shouldn’t die, powering through the pain/adversity to get back to them. At some point it shifted to him liking some intense drama/action movie focusing on romance where the couple race against time to get to each other before it’s too late. The idea that someone you love and treat as an equal might actually be gone forever really gets him, and if done right, he’ll cry.

- Cannot, for the love of him, focus well on books. He’s literate, but he always wants to get to the most important stuff, often skimming over details that might be important later on. This is also evident in how he writes, explaining something simply and to the point, which makes him pretty good at teaching kids basic, simplified concepts, but not so good at constructing incredibly thought out and nuanced writing. Books and audio books just aren’t immersive to him. Consequently, English is one of his worst subjects in school, and he often has to rely on online notes and essay examples to help him out.

- Extending on that, I imagine him to be a kinaesthetic/visual learner. He was born with amazing dynamic vision after all. (Under ‘Fighting Style: Keen Perception.’)

- Loves American action movies, but they’ll have to be really well made for him to remember a specific one. If you asked him about his favorite action scenes, he’ll describe it, but more often than not, he won’t remember the movie’s name unless you gave him some clues.

- (Inspired by this fanfic.) His mother died in a monster attack just moments after giving birth to Zenko. Badd used to love and respect his father, but her death lead to him spiraling down to alcohol abuse and neglect due to his grief, leading to his broken pedestal status in his son’s eyes. Badd’s still bitter over it when he thinks about it, saying that his ‘old man nursed his bottle like it was his new kid’ instead of being there for him and Zenko. Caught between poor grades in school, a rough home life, and a baby sister he didn’t know how to take care of, Badd had to convince himself that he needed to be twice the man his father is, and ever was, to get through the worst of what life had to throw at him.

- No matter how hard he tries, he still loves his father, and wants to see him endeavor to become better again. But the combined grief of seeing him crumble and give up on himself, the bitterness over his dad failing to be there for him when he needed it the most, and the anger over how seemingly self-absorbed he was in with his booze and watching the static on the TV when Badd was struggling to cope, makes him force the thought of reconciling out of his mind. Badd forces himself to be outwardly angry over what happened to avoid the conflicted feelings he has over the man he used to see as his hero.

- That being said, if you know what his father used to mean to him, you’ll see subtle signs that while Badd can’t forgive, he had never forgotten him. His father was a big sports fan too, and taught him how to properly hit a baseball. If you knew what he taught and looked closely when Badd fights or does some swings, you’ll see that the tips and tricks that he taught his son has never left him.

- Wanted to get a dog because he thought they were cool, but realized he wouldn’t have enough time for it. Begrudgingly got a cat for him and Zenko after she picked one out. He expected it to be the widespread stereotype for cats: cold, mean, and ruins your stuff… and then he saw how lovable and sweet it was and fell in love. That cat is Tama.

- Hates horror films because some of them remind him of the fact that monsters can manifest for the stupidest reasons, anywhere, anytime. It gets him worked up and restless because anything can happen, and the fact that some monsters in the past had tried to target Zenko to lure him out doesn’t make him feel any better.

- When he’s sick/injured, he sleeps. A lot. A very heavy sleeper; expect snores and heavy eyelids. Seriously, this guy is practically stuck in either Stage 4 NREM or REM sleep until severe injuries heal quite a bit, and germs making him sick are killed off.

- Does not take kindly to anyone calling him weak or stupid. Despite getting angry easily, he’s very resilient (emotionally and mentally.) He knows from experience that if he can’t resolve it quickly, it’s best to put it on the backburner until the opportunity arrives where he can, and does his best to blow off steam in the meantime. He’s not that smart academically and he knows it, but it’s still a berserk button you should stay away from because while he’ll never admit it, it hurts him to know that despite forcing himself to attend school so that he can build a future for himself and Zenko outside of hero work, he’s still failing at getting the grades he needs.

- Expanding on that, he’s smart, but it’s more akin to Saitama’s words of wisdom than eloquent, polished reasoning and beliefs; straightforward and inspiring in a simple way that leaves no room for misinterpretation.

- Don’t let him play video games. Especially rage inducing ones like Cuphead. He will crush the controller and wonder why his character isn’t responding mid-game. The keys on the keyboard are smashed in. There are cracks on the area around the buttons. There’s a Wii remote sticking out of a wall after a frustrating defeat and the wrist strap wasn’t securely fastened.

Garou

- He likes athletic wear better than punk styles. They’re easier to put on and move in, whilst the leather from some punk clothes heats up too much/gets too stiff for his liking.

 - Hates being restrained. Sometimes, on a very, very rare occasion, it can be interpreted as him being scared of the idea since he lashes out pretty angrily at it. Garou had been held down and beaten up by bullies twice, pinned against a tree and choked by Genos before escaping his blast by the skin of his teeth, and then was implied to be chained up and tortured/punished for his insolence against the MA in their torture room. He’s strong enough to escape most bindings, but he will be on edge if he feels like he can’t get out of them. If you play your cards right, his attack patterns will lack their usual cunning and be more animalistic.

- He’ll eat almost any kind of food except for sweets. It’s too sugary for him, leads to a crash later on, isn’t sustainable, and it doesn’t offer much nutritional value to him either, so he steers clear of them if he can help it. The odd exception are energy drinks. The sugary taste isn’t something he exactly likes, but Garou loves the immediate rush that kicks in soon after drinking them; the slight burn on his tongue from carbonated drinks such as coca cola is a plus.

- Loves the thrill of the challenge of almost any sort. The excitement comes from giving it his all and not knowing for sure how things will turn out; if he won, that’s another trophy to him. If he lost, he relishes in a milestone he has to beat and loves the idea that there’s still room for improvement. Winning or losing too much tends to be boring for him, and he’ll abandon it if he sees no way to rectify it.

- When he’s sick or injured, he’s a restless sleeper; it’s hard for him to get the proper hours that he needs. He drifts in and out of sleeping and waking, usually sleeping a few hours at best before waking up for 10 minutes and falling back to sleep. Being attacked while vulnerable, in places with little means of defense or shelter is a pretty good plan for monsters/bigshots who want his head and he knows it. One of the places he can sleep more peacefully at is Bang’s Dojo, but he hasn’t been back there for some time now.

- Tsundere. Not necessarily the blushy ‘I-it’s not like I like you, b-baka!!’ sort of way, but he’s a more subdued tsundere. He’ll come off as mean spirited at times, but the most reliable way of knowing he loves and cares about his loved ones is when they’re being threatened; he’ll rough up the threat so they won’t get any funny ideas in the future.

- Is Russian-French, with some (suspected) Norwegian in there. Is generally a European mutt who takes a keen interest in Asian culture, especially those that developed sick martial arts and/or those who have interesting, complex histories; however, Garou isn’t as interested in wars and political intrigue as he is in weird, clever, and hilarious events and hijinks that sound too surreal to be true… like Zhao Yun's army being outnumbered by the enemy, retreating, and him choosing to make their fortress look empty so that his enemies get suspicious, thinking that it was an ambush and withdrawing... before launching an attack on them, killing off his enemy's army by inciting chaos. (E.g. Some of them got trampled, others fell into a river and drowned.) He won.

- Continuing off of that, he generally regards European history with distaste due to how... unkind, some of them are.

- (God, I love @the-goddessfighter​‘s headcanons for Garou’s parents, so honestly? I’m all for this being 100% canon. Murata or ONE, make it happen. In my eyes, this is as good as you possibly can get with Garou’s backstory.)

Check out her tumblr for her OC’s for Garou’s parents! (Although I do headcanon Toru as a more neglectful father who didn’t care much for Garou, if at all. He didn’t sugarcoat his words to him nor try to comfort his son.)

- Prefers black/white/grey/neutral colors for his clothes, if only to avoid people saying that the colors clash and that he looks like a fashion disaster.

- It’s an unconscious move on his part, and while he usually has impeccable control over his power, sometimes his fingers feel like they’re jabbing you when he’s distracted. Especially when he grabs or hugs you. Sometimes, there are some small bruises where they’ve dug in a little forcefully. When he’s feeling affectionate or sentimental and you’re his lover, he traces over your skin, and it’s a contrasting mix between the calloused, rough textures from the fingers, and smooth, fluid movements that slide like water. It’s a distinct Garou feature, and whether you love it or hate it depends on your tastes.

Genos/Demon Cyborg

- Doesn’t care too much about his popularity, but acknowledges the work that his fans put in when it comes to promoting his work and what little information he shares that others will pick up on. E.g. He doesn’t like to be bothered when he’s busy/with that bald guy, but otherwise is OK with signing a few autographs and shaking hands, he avoids certain obnoxious fangirls, he hates it when there’s a group and they crowd him, etc.

- Despite appreciating this info circulating so that some fans are more mindful about how they interact with him, he’s one of the hardest heroes to connect with due to how cold, closed off, busy, and/or socially awkward he may be. Not that many of his fans mind, as it feeds into the mysterious ‘Cyborg Prince’ fantasy that’s popular in his fan base.

- Thinks that Nice Guys/GirlsTM and people who use ‘I’m an Alpha, those betas/omegas can suck it’ are pathetic. At best. He thinks that they’re compensating for something instead of actually trying to improve themselves: for the latter, the added weight of using a disproved scientific theory makes him lose respect for them even more.

- He has a certain amount of fondness for fauna and flora. Prior to meeting Saitama, he’s had to travel long distances in search of the Mad Cyborg, and more often than not, company is fleeting, leaving him alone most of the time. Flowers by the side of the path, blue skies, the sound of chirping birds, or even some berries with rainwater droplets on them are familiar, nice sights that put him at ease. Some of his notebooks outside of taking notes on Saitama have hand drawn illustrations and notes on some plants he’s encountered, as well as their various uses.

- Conversely, barren cities will put him on high alert. Buildings act as great hiding spots, and Genos isn’t a stranger to being ambushed by monsters and criminals alike. (His eyes can be a great asset in these situations; scanning for threats and movements can give him a heads up on how dangerous the area is.)

- His sense of humor is pretty dark, if not outright sadistic at times; especially towards the people he hates. Otherwise, he likes making (mostly. Key word is mostly) harmless jabs and teases at those he loves because he finds it funny when the other person gets riled up/flustered. His tone and expressions don’t change (most of the time) when he makes them though, making it hard for others to know whether or not he’s joking until he clarifies on the matter.

- Hates those who spread misinformation about medicine, or demonizes scientists. He cares about keeping the public safe, and admires/respects science for everything it’s discovered for the sake of humanity: people such as those are a direct attack on both.

- Though on the outside he takes even the most inconsequential things seriously, to the point where he’s gullible and too honest to lie, he keeps his more solemn thoughts to himself and ingrains them at the back of his mind so that he’ll never forget them. His notebooks don’t hint at them even existing. The only way you’ll ever get to hear them is when you directly attack something he holds very dear to him (beliefs, values, aspirations) so that he may fiercely (and furiously) defend them. He berated Saitama for seemingly making a joke at his expense, but he was somewhat more lenient since he knew that Saitama wielded the power he needed. He won’t be nearly as nice if you’re not someone he likes or respects, so it’s a sure-fire way to get onto his blacklist.

- Is German-Japanese. German father, Japanese mother, though a lot of people mistake him for being fully German thanks to his looks. He understands some parts of the language, but isn’t fluent in speaking it. Japanese he’s fully fluent in, and English is getting to that point as well.

- He doesn’t usually use pet names if he gets a lover, but if he’s fallen in love hard, they get sort of ridiculous and a little cheesy. ‘My beloved’ and ‘darling’ are the most modest ones, but you’ll have to stop him from going after extremely specific and loving nicknames because they blur the line between being hilarious and embarrassing.

- Awesome at stake outs, and often keeps a first aid kit handy in his temporary bases (in the case of civilian injury) alongside a repair kit for himself. Genos is incredibly well prepared just from the equipment he has inside them, but unlike other matters (such as learning how to fold clothes efficiently and going taking it far too seriously), Genos shows pretty good judgment in how he sets them up. He doesn’t take more than what’s needed, and prepares some emergency supplies just in case there’s a new development and he needs to stay a bit longer. He’s learned from experience that taking too many things for them makes it harder for him to clear his tracks, and in return, the enemy (or enemies) that he’s been keeping an eye on might catch onto the fact that they’re being watched, making it harder for him to discover new information.

Shared Traits & Other Bits

- The no-brainer: you will get intimidated into fleeing if you mess with them. Things may get physical if you target their family/loved ones. Injuries vary depending on level of apologetic attitude, how much of a threat you pose, how far you’ve pushed things, etc. Best case scenario is that you flee the scene with no injuries, but scared out of your mind.

- Badd and Genos use the same nickname for their lover: ‘Darling.’ Although Badd will say it as ‘Darlin’’ instead. Other than that, their nicknames are fairly different, with Badd going for things such as ‘sweet cheeks,’ ‘babe,’ and ‘sweetheart.’

- Both Genos and Garou have the tendency to mess with people for their own amusement. Garou comes in the form of taunting and goading, whilst Genos likes to make underhanded comments and jokes that will infuriate you.

- Genos and Garou like books. Genos however, is more introverted and will share his knowledge more thoroughly when prompted by someone who needs it. Garou being Garou, you wouldn’t even know he was into reading until he offhandedly mentions a bit of knowledge from a book he read. Odds are you won’t have time to ask him if he knows how to do x because he would have already gotten up to do it before you can open your mouth. This occurrence is far more common in emergencies.

- Genos doesn’t take any visible joy in fighting. He sees monsters as a threat to society that must be eliminated quickly and effectively. Badd used to enjoy throwing himself into battles and coming out of them victorious, but thanks to time and HA’s obligations, he sees monsters as destructive assholes getting in his way and creating more work for him when he’d rather come home to catch up on other things on the forefront of his mind. Garou loves fighting, the challenge- but it has diminished by a notable amount after his webcomic arc as he’s reflecting on what he needs and wants to do now. Despite this, he usually keeps his eye out for any interesting challenges, if only to distract himself.

- Slightly digressing from the Trio: Zenko shares the burden of taking on responsibilities with Badd, though he doesn’t know they exist. She’s aware of the fact that her brother isn’t living a normal teenage life and is bothered by the fact that he can’t act like his own age most of the time, making her want to be headstrong, capable, and independent soon so he doesn’t have to worry about her. At the same time, she knows that there aren’t many heroes his age that he can get along with, so she tries to fill in that hole by spending time with him while finding heroes she likes, and hopefully her brother will like- the reason being is that hopefully, Badd will make friends with them, and she can meet her idol often! It’s part of the reason why she was so insistent in having him obtain AM’s signature.

- Genos can sing, but sometimes struggles with singing with enough emotion in his lyrics. Garou can sing pretty well, (and sings almost every Disney villain song like a champ) but he’d be resistant to others goading him into it. He’s pretty uncomfortable at the notion that he’d have to sing in front of people. Badd can… sing, but he’s best at singing the lullabies he sung to a baby Zenko- songs that get him into it can have him be really, really into it; to the point where it’s almost embarrassing to watch. He’s pretty good at rap/singing more sentimental pieces such as this:

#opm #genos #badd #metal bat #garou #shitty teen squad #hellion trio #zenko #headcanons

[dailyaudiobible]

10/12/2020 DAB Transcript

Jeremiah 19:1-21:14, 1 Thessalonians 5:4-28, Psalms 82:1-8, Proverbs 25:9-10

Today is the 12th day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is wonderful to be here with you as we move into our work week together, spending day by day time…time around the Global Campfire no matter what's going on, releasing, reorienting, refreshing. And, so, let's dive in. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Jeremiah chapters 19, 20, and 21 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Jeremiah today we…we do get very, very clear perspective on why people would speak against Jeremiah and why they would be upset with Jeremiah. We also get some pretty profound perspective on God's willingness to be as counterintuitive as He wants to be including dismantling what one would think was un-dismantlable. I'm not sure that's a word, but to tear down something that seemed to be indestructible, basically in order to achieve His purposes. That shouldn't be surprising because we see examples of it over and over and over in the Bible.  But we usually try to kinda gloss over and not look at it because it's so disruptive and uncomfortable. Basically, what God is telling the prophet Jeremiah to tell the people, all the people, including the royalty, including the leadership of the country that God's intention is that Jerusalem will fall. Okay, so those inside of Jerusalem who are seeing themselves as God's chosen people even though the prophets have been coming to them and talking about spiritual adultery and idolatry and all of the things including child sacrifice and all of the things, they still at an identity level believe there God's chosen people and that Jerusalem is the footstool of the Lord, like His temple. This is non-destructible; this is God's place and nothing is gonna tear it down. So, the closer they are to that orbit, no matter what they do, the safer they feel. Kind of a “too big to fail” sort of scenario. Of course, we…we in our time…we should be wise enough to know that nothing is like that. Nevertheless, God has made it clear that because of all the goings-on that have profaned what He had in mind in the first place that Je’s gonna tear it all down and He's gonna use the Babylonians to do it. So, Jeremiah is trying to tell the people this in a time where things are generally peaceful and prosperous. And it's only over the course of a couple of decades that these things…like that things heat up. So, the people are against Jeremiah, because he's saying things that they can't…that they don't believe can happen and that he’s just disrupting their good culture and their good peaceful time. And, so, they want to do away with him. And finally, God says, and I quote from Jeremiah here, “this is what the Lord says: See!” I love that because we’ve been trying to do that all year. So, for the Lord to say “see” is like saying, “open your eyes. Have eyes to see.” So, “this is what the Lord says. See! I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.” In other words, you are at a critical crossroads, “Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, or plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live. They will escape with their lives. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.” Okay, that is disruptive if you live near God's temple and believe that it's indestructible, that God put His name there and he would defend it, For God to come and say I have chosen another nation to come in wipe this place clean because I have been warning you and warning you and warning you and warning you about your spiritual adultery about your idolatry about you…you have abandoned me. You have broken the covenant. And, so, now your own actions, the choices you made to walk away, you’re about to reap what you knew the curses of the covenant would be, here’s where it gets really disruptive. God is saying basically you’re at a crossroads. I've put a choice before you and it's a life and death decision. If you want to live surrender to the enemy. Yeah! You see how hard what's being said here is. Not only for Jeremiah the prophet to say it, to deliver the message but for the people to believe it because it sounds utterly wrong to them. It's going to require something that they don't want to do. It's going to require them to take a very big, very counterintuitive, very disruptive step of faith. They're gonna have to believe the word of the Lord through the prophet over what they believe brings them security, their city, their nation. And we will continue to see this struggle as we continue through the…the books of prophecy but specifically the book of Jeremiah as we continue this journey. But it should give us clues, as if we haven't been given them already throughout the entire Bible this far, that when God decides that time is up, that His patience has run out in a certain direction and that wherever mankind would go from that point, will never circle back around to good, only evil, so He is starting over again, that that's going to happen no matter how secure people feel in their environment. So, we could take this on a macro level and just, you know, look into the world and look for the clues but we can take this at a micro level, at a personal level and understand how much disruption makes us squirm, how much the interruption of the status quo makes us angry, how willing we become to focus all of our energy to keep things the same when God is wiping the slate clean because we’re not gonna circle back and we need to restart again. As it turns out in the story that we’re reading, Jerusalem is invaded by Babylon is conquered by Babylon and the city is destroyed. The temple is burned and destroyed the people are carried into exile. Oddly enough, it's from that very context that we will see very soon the most famous passage in the Scriptures right now, “behold I know the plans that I have for you”, right? This is in the book of Jeremiah. And it's within this context of God saying, “we have got to bulldoze. Like we have got to start over, the foundations are fragmented, we have got to start over again.” So, let's ponder that as we move through the weeks ahead, the months ahead, around the world, in our own country, in our own hearts, in our own lives.

Prayer:

Come Holy Spirit we pray into this. We fight what is disruptive to us would, what causes us angst, what causes us confusion inside. We fight these things because they don't feel good. They don't feel right, and we can't see that they're not supposed to. They are escorting us. They are causing us to get up and move and You are willing to continue to make us uncomfortable until we will get up and move because we are not where we are supposed to be. Help us to trust in You, Father, even when it doesn't make sense to us. You are our ultimate source of life. We trust You. So, whatever we’re seeing the disrupts us is different than what You are seeing, and we will trust in what You are doing over what we think. Come Holy Spirit into this we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus’, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi Howard, I would like to pray for you dear. You have three daughters and you have a mom and you have a wife that you just dropped off for a biopsy. Lord I lift You up my brother. He has all these women surrounding him in his life Lord and every single one is so important for him. And I know that all the family is important for You. So, Lord I pray that everybody’s gonna to be safe Lord. And the boyfriend and daughters and grandchildren, first of all I pray for that Lord. I pray that their just gonna have company a great company and they’re going to be choosing just companions for themselves, saved people as well. So, I’m praying for that first of all. And I’m praying second of all for the health of everybody Lord. I know You give trials. We are so stubborn Lord. We know that You also give us all good gifts Lord. So, I pray Lord that You will open our eyes and we will see what we need to do in our situations, that You will open the eyes of this family and they’re going to see what they have to do in this situation of sickness, isolation. And I pray Lord that You will comfort this family with a lot of good things and a lot of good news Lord, and they will be rejoicing in You and Your will be done Lord. Let us take what You give. Let us be joyful in the day. Pour the joy into that family Lord. Pour the joy in every situation. Let them open their eyes to trust You in this.

Hey DAB this is white as snow in Tennessee except today it’s from Canada. One of the advantages of being a truck driver even though the borders still close because of Covid it is open for deliveries and things like that. So, I came in from Buffalo in New York into Ontario. So, I wanted to say hi to his little Cherry and all those who call in from Canada. And I was thinking that it doesn’t matter where I am, I can still feel close to anyone who calls in and prays through the good, the bad, the ugly. You know, this community is just so awesome it doesn’t matter where we are, we can still be connected. And it’s such a blessing. And just wanted to lift up Terry the Trucker. I pray that you’re granddaughters doing well and recovering and that if you haven’t gone home yet that you will be able to get home soon. You’ve…you know…being stuck in your truck having to quarantine until things are clear. But I just pray that your drawn closer to God through this and just know that, you know, there’s tons of people praying for you and thinking of you. And I just pray that everyone has a blessed day

Hey DABbers, this is Slave of Jesus in North Carolina. All right Holy Spirit let’s roll. Amen to prayers for Teagan and Hagan and their parents. Ronald Taylor, thinking about killing yourself brother. You know the enemy is all in…in your call because you got your name out, you said that, and everything else got garbled. So, we know that it’s the enemy. We know that. But here’s the cool thing. You’ve got tens of thousands of people praying for you and it’s like, you know, if…if you’ve never watched It’s a Wonderful Life, it’s an old classic movie, go watch that movie and see the beginning of the movie where all these people are praying and they send the guardian Angel down to help him. So, I can just see that happening for you. So, that is…that is just awesome. Pelham, I love your call about, you know, Joe the Protector who’s calling about Terry the Trucker, you know. See how this works everyone? This is like a pandemic of prayer, this entire society. So, I don’t know. I think that is so cool. Amen to prayers for Samson and his…his getting through college and for those that are trying to get in that class in Samson’s prison there. Amen to prayers for Jaelyn’s mom recovering from a wonderful birth. Darrell from Atlanta, man you’ve got a great voice. You’ve got, you know, you’ve got a voice for radio or something. But I just I love your call about using God’s word as a sword. So, you know, I love that too. Not much time I got left but Paul from South Wales, why follow Jesus 365 man. I just loved your call. That was really, really cool. Now, this call was supposed to be about Joe. So, I got 25 seconds left. Joe, you know, when I first came to Christ God was like, yeah I had this atheist family that I portrayed and God was like all these Bible verses about hey if you don’t leave your family than you’re not a real Christian. That was the enemy trying to destroy my wife, my marriage. They are gonna be…the only Jesus they’re gonna see is you. That’s it. You’ve got a chance with them. So, stick in there, Joe. Love you all…

Hello everybody this is God’s Smile here. I’ve struggled for a day to call in because it’s been really not worth it __. The pain that I live through has been with me since my 20s and I’m 54 but I would say the last 15 years have been very aggressive and most definitely the last couple of years have…I didn’t think these levels would be possible and this is with morphine and morphine based drugs. It still leaks through and becomes overwhelming. I usually get a couple of hours where I can ring in and smile with you and pray with you but it’s less weak, it’s not really, it’s been relentless. So, I’m just trying to get through. And I love Jesus and I sing praises to Him with tears. I will never deny Him, and I trust Him. I’m just finding it so incredibly hard because my __ the pain. Time’s running. I’m going leave it there. Kiss kiss.

Hi this is Radiant Rachel and I am just praising God today on my second anniversary October 7th. And I would like to lift some people up in honor of my anniversary. Dear Lord, I pray that you will surround the community of listeners here and will bless them in their relationships with partners who are seeking you Lord with eyes wide open and hearts wide open. I also want to pray for Howard who called in today from North Carolina. I pray that you will surround the women in his life with your healing power. And Lord you know what each and every one of their needs are. I pray that you will be with them and guide them and that you will bless that family. I also pray for Rebecca’s heart and Skye, her husband from Michigan. I pray for healing over Rebecca for her jaw and neck and spine as well as the seeds that they are planting. I pray that you will send good soil and water for them and that those people will join your kingdom in your name I pray. Amen.

[singing starts] Oh, how wonderful Oh how marvelous is my Saviors love for me. Oh, how wonderful Oh how marvelous is my Savior’s love for me. More. More about Jesus. More. More about Jesus. More of His saving fullness see more of His love who died for me. My Jesus is the sweetest name I know and He’s just the same as His lovely name. That’s the reason why I love Him so for Jesus is the sweetest name I know. His name is Jesus and He’s so wonderful. His name is Jesus and He’s so beautiful. His name is Jesus and He’s so marvelous just to know that He does love me [singing stops].

[mikami]

Death Note Audio Drama 03

Disc 3: Beloved Enemy - a summary / partial translation

Prior translations / an explanation as to what the fuck this is.

The title of this disc is so alarming, but it’s actually the first disc out of the ones I have listened to that doesn’t title drop in the text. The plot is still not going off the rails. In this: long conversations about porn, chips vs flips,  some good old L and Light first meeting (devoid of tennis) and..... Light being a nightmare retail customer who needs to speak to the manager.

___

We’re at To-Oh entrance exams. The teacher gives lengthy exam instructions, very teacher-typical. He also explains how big and important To-Oh is, because a German listener will naturally not necessarily be aware of that. The exam starts. The door opens.

TEACHER: You’re late, Mr...

LIGHT: Yagami. Light Yagami. I always get nervous if I have to wait too long.

TEACHER: You should still come earlier as to not bother the others. Please sit.

RYUK: Oh, he doesn’t like you, Light. Your cool attitude apparently--

Light coughs loudly. 

RYUK: Calm now. Nobody here can see or hear me. So here’s where the elite fights to get into University? All those freshly-scrubbed students with their freshly scrubbed brains... Oh, somebody is running even later.

TEACHER: What’s up with you millenials? As if there was nobody else in the world. And where’s your shoes? 

L: Bare feet help me think. 

TEACHER: It’s January. Aren’t you cold?

L: No.

TEACHER: You can sit here, next to the other one who was late. Mr...?

L: Erm, Ryuga. Hideki Ryuga. 

TEACHER: Really? That’s your name?

L: Yeah. 

TEACHER: Like the actor?

L: Yeah.

TEACHER: From TV?

L: Is there anything wrong with that?

TEACHER: Well, good luck, Mr. Ryuga.

RYUK: That’s not his name, Light. That’s not his name. He’s lying. 

LIGHT: I’m trying to focus here.

RYUK: I’ll bet. But I’ve got the eyes of a shinigami. And I know who that guy is. I can tell you, you’ve got a fan. A big fan. He pretends to study the task at hand, but he’s watching you. Like he’s been watching you for weeks. Don’t turn around now, but sitting behind you... is L.

____

TITLE MUSIC ____

Soichiro and L are watching Light. Soichiro insists Light is gonna study, but L points out that Light is about to leave the house. They notice the piece of paper that Light uses to check people coming into his room. Soichiro justifies it as “He’s a teen. And his sister always steals his pens”. 

_____

Ryuk and Light on the street. Light explains to Ryuk that someone was in his room, based on the door handle trick from the manga. They took out the more complicated pencil lead check. Light coerces Ryuk into looking for cameras the same way as in the manga. 

_____

Light returns home. We’re back with the surveillance team.

L: Now let’s see what your son is going to do with the rest of his evening. Camera 3. 

SOICHIRO: The exams are only a week away. He’s going to study until he falls asleep.

L: Weeell, you could put it that way.

SOICHIRO: Good lord. 

L: Is “Skimpy Cousins” on the curriculum this year?

SOICHIRO: My son of all people...

L (amused): It looks like a pile of books for studying... and with a very wide definition, that’s true.... Mandatory material, so to say. Camera 7, zoom in just a little... I’d like to read the titles. “Minxes in Uniforms”...

SOICHIRO: What we’re doing here isn’t right.

L: We’re looking for a killer. He’s looking at dirty booklets.

SOICHIRO: I’m just saying, watching this... is wrong.

L: If we witness it coming to a murder, it’ll be worth it. Though ‘coming’ might be the wrong term here. 

SOICHIRO: You’re enjoying this...

L: Not as much as he is, apparently. Or are we just supposed to think so?

L launches into his whole thing about how Light almost seems to just immediately want to point out what it is that he’s hiding. Soichiro is pissed. “You wanted evidence? There’s your evidence. My son likes to look at naked girls. Not quite a crime.” He’s very insistent that this is prove of Light’s innocence...

____

Ryuk chatters while he looks for cameras. He doesn’t get why human men love ‘the female form’. Women in the shinigami realm don’t even always have skin. Ryuk personally is very very into teeth on demon ladies. 

____

L and Soichiro are still arguing about the surveillance. L asks Soichiro if he’s told his family about the investigation, Soichiro denies and points out ruefully that he hasn’t been home a lot lately. L is like “Well, at least  every passing moment without your son doing voodoo magic or summoning the devil or whatever brings us closer to taking him off our list”.

_____

Ryuk found a lot of cameras and explains that to Light.

_____

A lengthy Sakura TV feature about a resident from an Australian village named ‘good old Tommy Smith’ dying. He left a goodbye message and shot himself. 

_____

STORE CLERK: Can I help you? 

LIGHT: Yes, I’d like to buy a portable TV. A small one.

STORE CLERK: Oh, alright. How small?

LIGHT: Small enough to fit into your pocket.

CLERK: Oh, you want a pocket TV? 

LIGHT: Exactly. The smaller the better.

CLERK: Oh, alright, good... Maybe you’d be better off looking on the ground floor.

LIGHT: Where they sell the cell phones?

CLERK: Yes. Practically every smartphone can stream TV nowadays.

LIGHT (in annoyed sing-song): But I don’t want a smartphone. I want a TV.

CLERK: Yes, okay, fine! Of course. I’m just saying. If you want a screen that fits into your pocket, then usually--

LIGHT: I said it before. I don’t want a cell phone. I also don’t want to use the internet. I don’t want to stream. I don’t want a two-way data transfer. 

CLERK: But--

LIGHT: I want a device that’s constructed to receive and display a TV signal. And I want this device to be small.

CLERK: Alright, I’ll just the manager real quick. 

____

A continuation of the Tommy Smith report. After his death it turned out he was a killer who was now in witness protection. People from the village get interviewed. Tommy Smith was a perfectly fine citizen to them.

____

MANAGER: Hello, sir. I’ve heard you’re looking for a portable TV?

LIGHT: That’s correct.

MANAGER: Did Gina tell you about our offers in regards to smartphones?

LIGHT: I don’t want one. Do you have portable TVs or not? 

MANAGER: You’re actually serious. 

LIGHT: The customer is always right, isn’t that so?

MANAGER: Well, we haven’t sold something like that in years. And even second-hand, you’ll probably be out of luck. An analogue terrestric signal hasn’t been broadcasted in forever. That means that everything that was produced ca. 2002 is only a useless pile of metal today. But wait... we still sell pro monitors! It’s what directors use to see what the camera is filming.

LIGHT: And those can receive TV signal?

MANAGER: Sure. But it really won’t be cheap.

LIGHT (sighs): I’ll pay in cash.

____

Muffled TV noises with cheesy lines.

SACHIKO: Sayu dear, do we really have to watch this during dinner?

SAYU: He’ll say it now! 

LIGHT: Who’s saying what? 

SAYU: He’s been taking his time for ten episodes now! 

SACHIKO: But you can record it and watch it later...

SAYU: Can not! I need to send my tweet right when he says it! Exactly in that moment! 

LIGHT: In what moment?

HIDEKI RYUGA (muffled from TV): I love you. 

Sayu gasping frantically.

SAYU: Yes! Yes! Oooooh my god. Oh my god! He said it! He told her! Hideki Ryuga is such a dream...

SACHIKO: And here I thought the guy was playing for the other team...

SAYU: Why can’t my school have men like you, Hideki? 

SACHIKO: Sayu, now come and eat your dinner.

SAYU: But mom...

____

The dinner conversation plays muffled. A phone rings. L picks up.

L: Matsuda, what’s up?

MATSUDA: Absolutely incredible. Hideki just confessed his feelings to Miko. 

L (through grit teeth): In the Kitamura household...

MATSUDA: They’re all watching channel 4. The whole family is parked on the couch in front of the TV.

Since everyone is watching the same channel, they’re broadcasting their fake message about 1500 agents being on the Kira task force now. Light calls them idiots for announcing this on the media. He also calls out that it’s an exaggeration by the police rather than true news. And he then takes chips and goes up to study.

_____

Ryuk explains some more about the cameras, that there are 64 and they cover every inch of the room. 

_____

SOICHIRO: What is he doing?

L: Studying. XXL party bag of chips, but... he’s studying.

SOICHIRO: This is exactly what we call a negative positive.

L: What do you mean, chief inspector?

SOICHIRO: We get a ton of equipment just to find out my son is doing.. nothing. 

L: We still don’t know how Kira gets his victims into his scope.

SOICHIRO: But we can strongly suspect Kira isn’t doing so by reading books and eating flips.

L: Chips.

SOICHIRO: They are flips.

L: Chips is the genus.

They are interrupted by another task force member (Matsuda?), mad about them wasting time watching Light doing nothing. 

_____

Light and Ryuk go out to the park, so that Ryuk can eat an apple. Light explains that nobody else likes Barbecue taste in this family (they kept the flavor change from the VIZ translation) and thus he can hide the TV in his flips bag. When Ryuk calls it a chips bag, Light actively corrects that it’s flips. Seems to run in the family.

_____

L is woken up because Ukita is calling on the phone about new murders that weren’t reported on while none of the suspects could have seen the news. L is suspicious that the family is cleared right on the first day of surveillance. Soichiro is annoyed.

______

The trash gets taken out and Ryuk points out how expensive the TV was, just like in the manga. Ryuk calls it a chips bag again and Light corrects to ‘flips bag’ again. 

______

A news report about Misa’s stalker dying. Misa herself is on air, recounting the event and claiming that Kira protected her like a guardian angel. 

_____

Paula Virilio calling L. She’s at a poolside because the FBI stint got her suspended. She wants L to rethink his illegal surveillance plans, since he might otherwise end up like her. L tells her the cameras were already removed. L briefly speculates that Kira might actually be God, then immediately gets rid of the thought. It’s the same as the thoughts he has as an internal monologue in the manga. Virilio says that once Light’s innocence is proven, he’ll be a totally normal college student again, and that gives L an idea....

_____

SOMEONE: You want to do what?

L: The entrance exams for college are next week. I’ll participate in them and naturally pass and thus go to college with Light Yagami. Look at him up-close, in person.

Agents laughing.

MATSUDA: L, come on, it’s not that easy. 

SOMEONE: Light does his entrance exams at To-Oh. That’s basically the best in the country.

MATSUDA: The average exam-taker passes at fourth try only. Those kids prepare for years.

L: Yagami seems pretty confident...

SOMEONE: He passed the test exams as the best. He’s the cleverest guy in the whole country. 

L: Out of the known guys. 

More laughter.

MATSUDA: Seriously now. You want to come in there, basically from the streets, and beat Japan’s best?

L: Hmm, yes.

MATSUDA: I’ll tell the others. We’ll open a betting pool. 

L: No, we’re not telling anyone. We’re just doing it. 

MATSUDA: Just... doing it?

L: Yeah, we’ll register and all. I’ll write the tests. 

MATSUDA: Okay, but you’ll have to give them a name.

L: Then let’s give them a name.

MATSUDA: Which name?

L: Just come up with something. Anything.

[ Side note but I have no idea if all of the Matsuda speech here is Matsuda, men’s voices are killing me. ]

____

L approaches Light at college and Light is annoyed, until L introduces himself as L. L is being a huge brat in this scene as well (”Oh come on, Light. You’re cleverer than you let on. Or at least I hoped so.”). Light lets on that he knows Kira needs a name, L points out that they haven’t released that info. Light justifies it by it being obvious because L is using a fake name.

L says Light could help with the investigation and invites Light to coffee. (He’s paying!)

_____

Soichiro and Kitamura are talking. Kitamura is noticing that he’s being watched and confronts Soichiro about it. (”Since Christmas, there’s been a few too many gas leaks in our street... or electric workers... even Jehova’s Witnesses have suddenly risen from their graves. I think if I was a criminal, I’d suspect someone is looking for excuses to snoop through my house. And then I think... No. Because last time I checked my business card, it said goddamn general inspector top honcho of the whole national police department! ”)

____

Light is hiding out in the café bathroom, having his little speech about L challenging him and him taking the challenge of them playing friends. (”Alright, L. You wanna be my buddy? Chill out with me? Let’s do it. Let’s see who breaks first.”) He’s far less angry than he is in the manga in this scene.

____

Ukita and Matsuda are supervising the scene from outside the café and L is bugged, too.

____

L tells Light he suspects him of being Kira. The L and Light dialogues in this episode are largely fairly close to the manga without too many amusing quips or interesting new bits. 

____

Soichiro and Kitamura keep arguing about the necessity of surveillance. Soichiro discloses that his son is a main suspect. 

SOICHIRO: The team is currently out trying to cross my son of the list once and for all.

KITAMURA: How can they do so?

SOICHIRO: Face to face.

KITAMURA: Isn’t that dangerous?

SOICHIRO: Mortally so.

KITAMURA: What exactly are they doing?

SOICHIRO: They’re probably having  coffee together. 

KITAMURA: Hah. Well that’s at least some not totally wasted working hours.

SOICHIRO: If you have a better idea, just come right out with it!

KITAMURA: How about this? Catch me a killer. 

SOICHIRO (tense): I’m sorry it’s not going fast enough for you.

_____

L shows Light the ‘L did you know’ message. Now (unlike at first mention), they point out the coded nature of the messages. L also gives out the faked ‘and they have red hands’ message addition. 

_____

Kitamura is still pissed about the Kira investigation not going anywhere and how it impacts his reputation. Soichiro gets extremely angry that they don’t have enough men and that just getting paid some more doesn’t solve the problem. 

SOICHIRO: Can you even imagine the pressure these men are under? Men with families? With children? I don’t think you can! If this was a flu epidemic, you’d mobilize the army. But sadly it’s just a row of unexplained heart attacks. So I’m left with just half a dozen men. 

KITAMURA: I gave you a cheque book with endless credit, Yagami.

SOICHIRO: Money doesn’t solve the problem, sir. The men think my task force is a suicide mission!

KITAMURA: Maybe that’s what it is, Yagami. But if we admit the full truth, we’ll have a nationwide panic.

SOICHIRO: We’re doing all we can. Everything. We’re following every hint. This criminal is smarter than any we’ve met before. He’s invisible! And kills from a distance! So... yes. I will bug your home, if it brings us even a centimeter closer to the truth. I can’t remember when I last slept. I haven’t shaved in days. And I go home and face my little boy, my firstborn, with all his potential.... his charm... his mother’s eyes... and grades most parents can only dream of... And I have to pretend... I have to... ghhgg. Uughh... [having heart attack noises]

____

Light says he wants his dad to prove L’s identity as L to him before he joins the investigation. Then both of them get the phone call that Soichiro is in the hospital. 

____

In the hospital. Soichiro’s gonna be fine, hurray. It was just stress. L lets Soichiro know that Light is gonna join the team now despite still being a suspect. That’s all the content in this conversation, everything else from the manga is cut. Soichiro asks L to watch over Light and L is like ‘yeah, I won’t take my eyes off him’.

Light immediately calls that out when they’re out of the room. (”Is that supposed to be funny?”). L and Light part ways outside the hospital, promising to find Kira together.

L’s car leaves, Ryuk points out that Light is playing with fire. Light ends the episode with the words “The game has begun.”

#death note #light yagami #l lawliet #audio drama translations

[artificialqueens]

(treat me nice) never let me go [branjie] 2/15 - pinkgrapefruit

chapter 2. first things first imma say all the words inside my head

previous chapter 1.

A/N - Hi! Welcome back to Pretty Woman branjie style - in chapter one we saw our leading ladies meet each other - who knows what they’ll get up to this time. Special thanks to Frey and Linda (Qtip) for always being my heros/betas/favourite people and Meggie for being my grammar hero Let me know what you think and Enjoy!

*

Vanessa is lying on the floor, eyes transfixed on the show on the screen, when Brooke’s phone goes off. She shoots the Canadian a glare, far too comfortable in the penthouse now to take anyone interrupting ‘The Office’, and to be honest, Brooke almost understands - almost. She’d put on the series to try and smooth over any tension from the bathroom incident and for the most part, it seems to be working, the Latina sprawled over the expensive rug, head propped up on her hands, and mini-bar snacks left forgotten as she laughs and awws at every movement on-screen. It’s Brookes favourite show and it makes her a little fluffy inside to know that Vanessa likes it too (not that anyone needs to know that, she is an ice queen, she cannot let that façade drop).

She has to pull her eyes away from the girl, as the man on the other end of the phone demand for her to read a case file that’s about sixty cases away from being important right now. She sighs, pulls herself into a more upright position and tries to mediate the call with snippets of information she’s sure any idiot could find if they read the file instead of asking her to do the work for them. 

“You okay?” Vanessa mouths, a difficult feat as she tries to chew a chocolate strawberry. Brooke finds it endearing and she nods tiredly, rolling her eyes as the man on the other end of the line yells about business numbers in Japan - she knows exactly what he’s talking about, but finds more joy in being a little bit difficult.

“You?” she mouths back, an eyebrow raised at how at home Vanessa has made herself. 

The girl smirks, “Carpet picnic,” she replies as if that answered the question. It didn’t.

The sigh of relief Brooke lets out when the call ends is audible, and it makes Vanessa giggle a little bit. She visibly relaxes into the armchair, lets the cushions absorb the leftover stress. 

“You want a drink?” the brunette chuckles as she watches the other woman rake a hand through her hair, flipping the parting until the blonde strands cascade over her left shoulder.

“I’m high on life, can’t you tell?”

*

Vanessa’s laughing and, god, if it isn’t the sweetest damn noise Brooke has heard in a while. She moves chairs to be a little closer, a soft smile on her face, as she watches the girl. Vanessa must feel her eyes and mutes the audio, looking at her with a tilted head. Brooke makes the mistake of poking her tongue out, letting it wet her lips, because suddenly they’re dry as a bone. 

The shorter girl pushes herself up from the carpet and crawls slowly towards the chair, holding onto the arms when the reaches it. She gently runs a hand up one of Brooke’s legs, the woman tensing at the feeling of cold hands on her warm flesh. She allows Vanessa to manoeuvre her, wonders where this is going, although she has a vague idea by the girl’s heavy-lidded eyes and quiet smile. The girl removes her skirt and bodysuit slowly, teasingly - allows Brooke to focus on every inch of skin for a second or two before another is unveiled. She’s good at her job, there’s no question about it. She’s wearing a matching red lace bra and panty set, and the way it hides a little too much, but still absolutely nothing starts to drive Brooke wild. 

Vanessa leans forward, breath warm and heavy on Brooke’s neck as she unbuttons the silk work shirt that the Canadian is oh so fond of. She feels the lace of the bra grazing her lower abdomen as the girl pauses.

“What do you want?”

“What do you do?”

“Everything.” She smiles seductively, places a small kiss on Brooke’s left breast before moving, so her face is an inch away from Brooke’s. “But I don’t kiss on the mouth.”

Brooke smiles - confident, not cocky. “Neither do I.”

As Vanessa leaves a trail of hot, lip-gloss kisses down her torso, Brooke leans back on the chair, relaxing into the feeling. She is good at her job.

*

Brooke showers to wash off the feeling of dread that encompassed her the second she realised that she’d paid for sex. She’s not ashamed, she doesn’t have anything against sex workers, not at all, she just hates that she paid for something with someone she actually likes. Maybe. She’s trying not to think too hard about the girl asleep in her bed - knows that this is a hole she really can’t afford to dig herself into right now.

After being pummeled with scalding water for twenty minutes, she decides she’s clean of her various sins and wraps herself in a fluffy hotel towel, letting her long, wet hair fall down her back. She’s just checking her phones when she notices a mop of blonde hair on a lamp. Brooke smiles to herself, clocking what’s happened with a quiet laugh. She paces around the corner to the bed, and her heart grows in size when she sees the short girl, curled up topless, surrounded by a halo of dark chocolate hair. The blonde suited her, the angled bob giving her face a more chiselled look, but this - it looks right. She looks younger and more innocent - gone is any power she may have held in the thigh highs and the wig - this is the real Vanessa.

Brooke clambers into bed as smoothly as she can, trying not to disturb the sleeping woman beside her. She flips, so she’s not facing her, and tries to fall asleep (definitely ignoring the way the smell of girl’s coconut shampoo fills her with a heavenly feeling).

*

Brooke’s taking a call when Vanessa wakes up. The blonde is sat at the table, body covered in a black silk robe, and hair cascading down her back. She’s got a coffee in one hand, a phone in the other, and her half of the table is covered in books, files, and the remnants of salmon, avocado and egg on toast left unfinished on a plate in front of her. 

“I’ll meet Shuga for dinner tonight, it’s fine,” she says, low and full of conviction.

“Brooke, I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to meet her alone. It could go really wrong,” comes the voice down the line, he sounds vaguely worried, although anyone could tell that he’s not worried for Brooke. 

The Canadian makes a humming noise, sips her coffee and pauses for a second, a mock consideration.

“Well, you know, there’s always a possibility things are gonna go wrong. That’s why I enjoy this so much.” She purses her lips and waits for a response, which doesn’t seem to be coming.

“Oh, by the way, Ru, about your car.”

“Oh, god. What?” She chuckles at the reaction she gets, can imagine Ru’s fear over his precious car.

“It corners like it’s on rails.”

Ru promises to make the dinner plans as soon as Brooke promises not to go alone - it’s a deal that will benefit them both and they both know it.

Brooke’s call finishes just as the shorter girl walks around the corner, and she watches as the Canadian visibly changes from ’work Brooke’ to ‘relaxed Brooke.’ She watches the way her shoulders loosen up and she clings to her coffee with a little less aggression.

The blonde looks up, smiles a warm, comforting smile and gestures for her to sit down. 

“Brown?” she asks in reference to her hair, eyebrow raised comically.

Vanessa nods uncomfortably but is quickly put at ease by how soft the taller woman is acting. There’s something quietly powerful about this Brooke, and she feels privileged to be able to witness it.

Brooke once again gestures to the spread of food taking up the not-case-covered side of the table.

“Are you hungry? You must be. Why don’t you sit and have something to eat? I, uh, took the liberty of ordering everything on the menu. I didn’t know what you’d like.”

Brooke rambles uncontrollably and Vanessa finds it endearing as she sits down, grabbing a danish pastry. She takes a bite before emptying six sugar packets and a tub of creamer into the black coffee waiting for her. When she sips it, she looks up to see the taller woman with a slightly disgusted look and almost snorts into the drink. 

“Oh, she’s a black coffee girl?” teases Vanessa and Brooke just laughs, feels the bitter taste on her tongue melt into something sweeter.

“So, did you sleep well last night then, Brooke Lynn?” the girl questions, mouth half-full of dough and eyes full of mirth.

She smiles, wipes a drop of coffee from the edge of her cup, before making a face indicative of a little sleep - not enough to feel rested.

“You don’t sleep, you don’t do drugs, you don’t drink, you hardly eat.” Vanessa reels off - still with a joking tone. “What do you do, Brooke? ‘Cause I still ain’t sure.”

Brooke swivels in her seat to face the girl, eyes a little harder than they were a second ago and coffee left on the table. “I’m a corporate lawyer,” she answers, an air of finality in her words. Vanessa tilts her head quizzically.

“Which means…”

“I help companies buy other companies, mergers, finances, stocks - that shit.”

Whatever cloud took over the Canadian, it appears to leave when a cocky grin spreads across the Latina’s face. “I was right!” she exclaims, bouncing a little in her seat, and Brooke is inclined to attribute it to the ridiculous amount of sugar she’s piled into the coffee. 

“What kind of companies?” she asks after a short pause - choosing to pile more pastry into her mouth as Brooke sips on a protein shake the waiter brought in.

“Uh, I buy companies that are in financial difficulties.”

“If they have problems, you must get ‘em for a bargain, huh?”

Brooke didn’t expect her to be so interested - even her mother won’t listen to her talk about work at family dinners - speaking of, she should really call her. She adds it to her list of things to do, below ‘find this protein shake recipe’, but above ‘learn how to use twitter’. She almost feels bad, but she doesn’t.

“Well, the company I’m helping someone buy this week, I’m trying to get it for the bargain price of about one billion.”

Vanessa looks a little starstruck., “A billion dollars?” she asks, mouth opened in a mix of excitement and shock. She doesn’t quite understand how anything can be worth so much, never mind how the woman in front of her - looking awfully disarming at this point in time - could do that.

“Wow. You must be really smart, huh?”

Brooke chuckles in response, it’s warm and melodic, and reminds Vanessa of a Tampa beach. They both stand up, moving away from the table and Brooke walks into the bedroom. She half closes the door, and so Vanessa just waits outside - she doesn’t want to intrude.

“I only got through the eleventh grade,” she says, wistfully. “How far did you go in school?”

“All the way through, law school and everything.” It’s muffled, and then Brooke walks back out - wearing burgundy slacks, a crisp white button-down and a matching blazer. She has a tie dangling around her neck and curses lightly as she tries to fasten all the buttons.

“Your folks must be really proud, huh?” She watches as Brooke clamps up again, feels like she hit a nerve - knows she did. Brooke sighs and Vanessa moves on.

“So what do you do with the companies once you buy them?”

“I sell them.” She struggles with the tie and after redoing it twice, Vanessa beckons to her.

“Let me do it,” she requests, although they both know she’s not asking. “So you sell them,” she leads on, tries to distract herself from how close they are, how she can feel Brooke’s hot breath on the top of her head.

“Well, I - I don’t help sell the whole company; I break it up into pieces, and then sell that off - it’s worth more that way.”

“So it’s sort of like, um, stealing cars and selling ‘em for the parts, right?” She sticks her tongue out in concentration - remembers tying ties on her brothers back in Florida.

Brooke exhales a laugh, but it comes out a little more breathy than she would have liked. “Uhuh, but more legal,” she replies.

She pats the tie when it’s done, a strange look of adoration in her eyes. Brooke smiles - she wants to ask where Vanessa learned to do that - it’s fascinating to her how multifaceted this girl is. 

“Mind if I take a swim in your tub before I go?” she asks, hopeful - and who’s Brooke to deny that?

“Stay in the shallow end,” she banters back before slipping on her heels and running to her now ringing phone. Ru’s on the other end and she curses herself for getting so caught up in, in - she catches herself before she can think of an end to that thought. She answers the phone.

“Hello? Look, Ru, I’m just running out the door.”

“I just wanted to let you know, Shuga is all set for tonight.” Brooke lets out a sigh of relief she didn’t know she was holding, but immediately regrets it.

“She’s bringing her protegee, the one she’s grooming to take over.”

“Ah, yes,” She knows who Ru is talking about - can’t tell if she’s happy or scared by the information. “Very intense young woman named Yvie. She plays polo.”

“Look, I gotta say this again. I don’t like you goin’ alone,” reminds Ru, the tone is a warning, but the sentiment is more concern. Brooke would be grateful if she really cared what he thought, if his words didn’t feel a little like paper cuts rather than constructive notes.

Brooke ponders this for a second, unsure of the path to take. She wants to tell him she’ll be fine on her own - because she would be, her mama didn’t raise someone who was scared of a woman who plays polo - but she understands that strategy dictates she take backup. You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, and Yvie is a gun ready to go off. 

In the midst of this, she hears a woman’s voice, softly (but very enthusiastically) singing. It’s coming from the bathroom, and whilst conceding to Ru over the phone, she moves to stand in the doorway. Vanessa is having the time of her life in the bath - eyes closed like she’s in a spa or on a beach somewhere - Brooke assumes she probably thinks she is. The song becomes more obvious as she reaches the chorus and begins to sing (if you can call that singing) Janelle Monae at the top of her lungs. 

It’s like I’m powerful with a little bit of tender

An emotional, sexual bender

Brooke has to stop herself from bursting into laughter down the phone, as her boss witters on about procedures and other things that she’s memorised way before now. She’s too focused on the brunette in her bath to really give a damn.

“Who is that?” asks Ru down the line, and it takes Brooke a heck of a lot of restraint not to say anything incriminating. 

“My waiter is singing,” she replies, hopes he can’t tell how she’s smiling.

That’s just the way you make me feel

“Look, Ru - I know a lot of nice girls,” she says, looking straight at Vanessa, who still hasn’t noticed she’s not alone.

“No, you don’t.”

She sighs, runs a hand through her hair that she’d left out of a restrictive bun today.

“You just concentrate on finding out what Cain is up to. I’m on my way.” She hangs up.

Moving back over towards the shorter girl, she taps on her shoulder (the one not submerged in enough bubbles to entertain an entire kindergarten).

“That’s just the way - “ Vanessa stops with a start, slowly removes the headphones from her ears and tries to regain any of the dignity she’s just lost. “Don’t you just love Monae,” she quips.

“More than life itself,” Brooke deadpans back, pulling over a chair, so she doesn’t have to kneel in the trousers she’s wearing.

“Don’t you knock?”

“Vanessa,” Brooke starts - calm and coolly confident. “I have a business proposition for you.”

The girl sits up in her bath, bubbles barely conserving her modesty, and Brooke feels like she’s invading some sort of privacy, even though the girl made her forget her own name with just her mouth last night.

“I’m going to be in town until Sunday, and I’d like you to spend the week with me.” 

There is no wobble in her voice that suggests uncertainty, she is collected and knows what she’s doing - this is Lawyer Brooke, there is no doubt.

“Really?” The other girl squeals in excitement and the blonde laughs with her.

“Yes, I’d like to hire you as an employee, would you - would you consider spending the week with me?” She laughs again to try and hide some of the awkwardness she is feeling. “I will pay you to be at my beck and call.”

“Look, I’d love to be your ‘beck and call girl’.” Vanessa smirks as she teases. “But you’re a rich, good-lookin’ gal, I’m sure you could get a million girls free.”

“I want a professional,” she replies simply. “I don’t need any romantic hassles this week.”

“If you’re talkin’ 24 hours a day, it’s gonna cost you,” the brunette bites back (there’s no sharpness behind it).

“Oh, yes, of course!”

“All right, here we go.”

“Give me a ballpark figure. How much?” Brooke would pay anything - money isn’t an issue here, but she likes the dynamic they have going. 

 “Six full nights, days too. - Four thousand.”

The Canadian raises an eyebrow at her boldness, she’s impressed, but she’d rather not show it. “Three hundred times six is eighteen hundred.”

“Well, you want days too.”

“Two thousand,” she raises.

“Three thousand.” Brooke gives in there, they could continue all day, but there’s no real point.

“Done.”

“Holy shit!” Vanessa exclaims, smiling at her like she hung the stars in the sky - she lets out a loud whoop before sinking under the bubbles. The other woman just laughs.

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #branjie #fluff #pretty woman #pinkgrapefruit #concrit welcome #submission #treat me nice

[aseel-alsallal]

MY prk eye surgery experience ,,

Reading all of the experiences that people posted on social media had helped me A LOT that’s why I decided to share mine and be part of this :D

So, 16th of May was the date of my surgery, 😖 I have never thought that I would ever choose to do it but I hated my glasses, my eye prescription wasn’t that bad though it was -1 in both eyes since TAWJIHI and 0,5 astigmatism, I can drive without them but the only complain was that I get a headache when I take them off, so I thought about it, I had to pray a lot (A LOT) and read around 50 experiences on the internet, whomever knows me know that I don’t like any unnecessary procedures on the human body except if what they have is fatal. After my prayings I was feeling ok about doing it. 

**Start using tear drops before the surgery (It will help).

Day 1 surgery, I was really nervous I thought about going home 2 minutes before the surgery and the doctor’s attitude didn’t really help 😤 but thankfully I went through the benefit/risk ratio again and I just had to do it ( The risks are: you might have permanent dry eyes (most likely with LASIK not PRK),  problems with night vision which scared me a lot actually and myopia regression 10 years after mostly or maybe less). The procedure is very quick around 4 minutes and DONE 😄 tell the doctor to wait a minute after he puts the anesthetic drop cause my doctor started immediately and I felt the dam* brush, not that pain though DO NOT WORRY. my sensitive eyes started tearing immediately hahha it was flowing non-stop for the whole day, the pain was like ( when you’re in a dark room and suddenly go out to the sun so you just clench your eyes 😖 but that feeling would be continuously and tolerable, you won’t be able to open your eyes though, sleeping would help, I saved some audio books but I didn’t feel like I wanna listen to anything.  

**Stay in a dark room IT HELPS A LOT A LOT A LOT, completely dark.

The drops were 3: FML steroid; helps in healing(3 TIMES a day), Oflox; antibiotic to prevent nasty infections (every 2 hours), and of course artificial tear drops  WITH NO preservatives (every hour) Artelac or Refresh plus. if you don’t want to feel the pain at all you can get numbing drops but it will delay the process of healing. 

Day 2, The eye sensitivity for light is a major issue so stay in a dark room, the pain is different it comes and goes it’s like burning, your eyes very irritated but less swelling and tearing basically no tears left to cry hahah I had a sever pain attack that night but thankfully gone after I slept. you can endure all of this do not worry.

**Keep eating and drinking water to help speeding up the healing. 

**Wear eye shields while sleeping so you won’t scrub your eyes and the new growing cells or the protective lens, I kept sleeping with them for 5 days I guess.

** don’t let your eyes touch the water for two weeks, if it happened just drop oflox right after and shower carefully.

** You can’t scrub your eyes for almost two weeks but I made it three weeks.

**  NO MOBILES AND LAPTOPS or TV for at least a week but i made it 10 days and it is better for one month.

** I changed the font size or screen size of my devices: mobile or laptop cause you’re gonna have some troubles in focusing and reading, so make sure to do that plus removing your passwords maybe hahha.

**Stay in a dark room for almost 4 days or 6 is better your eyes will tell you when to get out ahah.

** you can’t read and I will talk about it.. **No swimming for at least one month 😢 because of infections.

** no make up for one week and after a week careful with scrubbing your eyes while cleaning (it is your eyes and as careful as you can be as quickly as you can see haha perfectly).

**No exercise for one week but I made it 2; sweat might get into your eyes and relaxing would help your body concentrate on your eyes healing.

** Lool this was really an issue to most of people and me,  you actually can See after the surgery, first when you get out of the surgery you pretty much will have 6/6 eye sight but you won’t be able to open your eyes to enjoy it when the anesthetic effect is gone HAHA and when the days are passing it will get worse because of the random growing cells and the regeneration of a new layer (this is completely normal and might extend to 4 or 6 months rarely to 1 year) but you have to be patient.  right and left eyes will have a race so you would notice one is better than the other and it is totally normal 

Day 3, PAIN FREE 🤩 (It is different from one person to another but if you be careful you will help yourself and will speed up everything) so stay in a dark room doing NOTHING. My eyes were sensitive to light very, I could open them but they get really tired.

Day 4, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, no pain no sensitivity, I got outside the dark room but not for so long cause your eyes seem to get easily tired. still no mobile or any screens, I used my sunglasses inside the house when I get out of the room.

Day 5, started to notice some dryness, keep using the drops more frequently! do not forget it! Very Important. my eyes vision btw was better but still not perfect, Your cornea  helps with focusing so you will notice the terrible ability to focus whether the near objects like looking in the mirror and reading or the far objects. this is normal :) 

Day 6, (follow up date 1) not really different same same, eye sight is getting better day after day but might get worse sometimes for some reason haha do not tire or stress your eyes. and YEP I got the lens out ( they put a lens to protect the new tissue after the surgery, if you didn’t hydrate your eyes well it might hurt and causes problems but I was really careful, doctor might tell you: not to wake up while sleeping for eye drops, but lol you can’t really sleep more than two hours continuously the first days, psychologically you will keep waking up and going back to sleep, that’s good cause a lot lost the lens because of dehydration while sleeping and it is very very painful so HYDRATION. and I stopped the oflox (but use it if something got into your eyes or water for the next 4 days or so) plus start driving again 💪🏼🚘

Day 7, skip it cause all the same, used my mobile for a very very short time to be honest. and wore a sunglasses because my dear home has a lot of lights it’s like a concert here haha, slowly going back to normal activity reading and yoga 😍 but I didn’t exercise until the end of the second week I guess.

 Day 10, Vision was wohoooo such a great progress but noticed my right eye is better in seeing the far than the left (hydration is very very important these days)

Day 28, I had a follow up date with the doctor i saw all the signs on the board so 6/6 :D kept using eye tear drops as long as I can , FML once daily until I finish the bottle.

Nothing much to say now it’s been a month and 19 days here is some general talk , -Your eyes will lead you to when to start reading or looking at screens, it is important to not force them, do not stress them, if they get tired stop what you’re doing and keep blinking or close eyes when you concentrate a lot.

-Hydration is the most important thing I don’t feel the dryness but I still use them cause for at least 3 months your eyes is still working on the regeneration of the cell layer.

-Be patient be very patient, we have different bodies and different experiences but give your eyes time to heal. heard a lot about people reaching their perfect vision not before the 4th month so,,

I can see 6/6 with no complications الحمد لله  thank god and I do not regret it. 😊

I’ll be talking about the different corrective eye surgeries in the next article. 

[augustwash1]

Effective Guidelines to Love Life More Hiding your Cell Phone

Is incredibly regular for people to use somebody else's phone and be the first time. In doing so , were seeking to replicate that initial feeling of independence a mobile phone delivers. A relative in another point out was in the hospital. It was a Sunday evening, and I have been invited into a party. Instead of being away having fun I was sitting in my own apartment, awaiting the phone to call, troubled for reports. It was an associate who lend me his cellphone to make certain I will understand any news as quickly as possible, and in addition, be able to go to the party. There was no reason for me personally to be connected to my landline. We look back again at that occasion, and in addition for wondering at exactly how gracious my pal was in loaning me his phone intended for the night (who would volunteer their mobile phone away nowadays? ), My spouse and i couldn’t stop being amazed at the freedom this cellphone gave me. I had been able to venture out and be social - while still staying accessible simultaneously. This is the kind of freedom mobile phones give. But today our phones are about a lot more than audio calls, and they are no more an optionally available possession. They are really integrated into existence in ways not really their designers thought possible. However screen period is the new sitting in a desk chair all day at a time, which I happen to agree is a poor thing. I have a standing table and it is been a life changer. Industry when we are electronically connected more than ever, yet feeling alot more detached than ever, we are being taught, even cautioned, to minimize the dependence on cellular phones. To actually limit our time in front of screens, to put the phone down and also have a real discussion with someone, face to face. Prevention of gadgets and screen time has become becoming a extravagance item; being able to disconnect from your phones to get an extended time period bestows a status that a lot of us can’t afford or obtain. Do it, our company is told, for your sanity in the event that not humanity, and also for your neck: regularly looking straight down at your mobile phone strains your lower back, which leads to all sort of physical distress. I’ve also experienced repeating stress affliction with my hand from a lot of scrolling, and I could trust my forearm sometimes is painful in a odd place if I’ve applied my cellphone for very long. However can be using each of our cell phones a lot really so bad? Does being addicted to the phones genuinely disconnect all of us from others as much we think? Are not there positive factors for the activities that occupy all of us while our company is clutched to our mobile phones? Whenever we use our phones, can there be something we are missing that individuals would be carrying out otherwise? We get a great deal out of using my own cell phone, therefore no, Really dont want that will put it straight down. The answer is to not be socially shamed into using my own cell phone significantly less. The answer is to make certain cellphone use is hard to kick and beneficial and amusing, not a distraction coming from boredom or perhaps isolating you from sociable or professional settings. It is crucial to be intentional and conscious of how youre using your cellphone, not if you’re utilizing it at all or perhaps too much. The minds are constantly operating, processing our many thoughts, worries, problems, plans. We require a thoughts from all this, but sometimes, life is not so very clear cut. Take those movies. I go, nearly exclusively, into a movie theater which has a strict zero phones, no texting policy. They will put your rear end out if you utilize a phone in the theater. Nevertheless when I was having a friend, in which theater, who was being forever texted by his better half. As it happens her mother was in critical wellness trouble. He wound up leaving the movie to arrange to go to the international airport. As great as an uninterrupted movie encounter is, this doesn’t overcome emergencies if they arise. Couple of experiences with another individual will be as close and developing as a shared meal. (Hang on, I’ll get to love-making in a small. ) If there was ever before a moment once you’d wish to connect with somebody else, immediately, eye to eye, devoid of distraction, it might be over a meals. But, much like almost everything, there could be exclusions. What if, over the course of the chat, you start discussing going on a trip together, or about countrywide parks, or about endangered species? Looking up photos showing your associate can add towards the talk. Successfully Googling a well known fact or reference point can help within your debate. Writing a social media post you found provocative, interesting or perhaps important can be a launching level of a conversation. In those occasions, anyone is not distancing your self or placing something among you and someone else, you are sharing. ver post Believe me, sharing can be a magnificent point. What I’m not fighting is that the two of you should be taking a look at Facebook, independently, without interesting with one another. What I am declaring is that your mobile phone can be a conduit, a guideline, a personal guide for source materials, to bring and aid your chat. In case the focus continues to be on the both of you, the phone is really a prop. If the focus is definitely centered on the device, the gadget is the central magnet and you have shed attachment. The previous is very good, these is not. Each of our phones are a device. How we choose to use this instrument is what give them their particular benefit. You might think the very last place you’d want cellphone distraction could be the bedroom. On the surface, two people resting in bed next to each other, every single with cellular phones in their hands, all but disregarding each other, sounds like one of the most depressing, heart and soul-hurting displays one can easily think of modern life. But could it be naturally poor? If I’m reading the New York Times, what does this matter in the event that I’m browsing the actual conventional paper or the digital version in the device? In the event that I’m examining email, exactly what does it matter if I have a laptop or cellphone? If I am mastering games or otherwise distracted, how much does it subject if I am browsing a book of mastering some game? And in fact, rarely we sometimes glamorize reading in bed jointly? I love studying books, and locate it kind of hot my own partner truly does too. Carrying out that during sex together, then simply talking about what we’re browsing, is a great intellectual turn-on. So with every due value to several investigators, in this case, the carrier is usually not the response. What is important here is certainly not the device by itself, yet the activity you are involved in, either together or independently. There could be togetherness when two people are on their phones, just like there is once reading catalogs. Usually the problem arises when utilization of a gadget supercedes something, or perhaps causes a break up if a point of attachment could otherwise arise. Might associated with your telephones from bed mean more sex? Maybe. Should likewise lead to someone getting out of bed faster in the day time, or perhaps sleeping sooner at night. Although we’re while having sex, did you know that through your phone, you can view movies? Or look at photographs of…. whatever it truly is that arouses you? Or work with software meant to foster dialog or activity with a intimate spouse? The device is a tool. It exists without inherent judgment, qualities or worth. What we label of it is up to us. Should i really need to tell you this? Obviously there are times when you should absolutely never touch your smartphone, starting, surely, with driving a vehicle. (Guilty as recharged: I frequently use the Roadmaps applications in the phone to help me acquire where Im going. It’s not so straightforward, is it? ) I think faith based services must be device-free areas and specific zones, as should particular spaces, like gym bathroom rooms, exactly where privacy needs to be respected. I have a distaste for those who use their phone at the health club; I don’t need to hear your business calls although I’m strength training. Also, I see plenty of people using exercise and workout software on their telephones, showing the issue, that just as before, these types of mini-computers inside our pockets happen to be what we make of them. Should you be one of those people who attend a concert and require saving video footage and shooting photographs the full time, I actually ask how much of that is necessary. Taking joy in the moment for yourself, not merely through a device, is highly advised. But…. have I at any time watched concert footage online taken by somebody else? Yes, I use. A few years ago I was by a golf ball game with my Dad. I have been in the habit of checking Tweets during video games to follow along with the city of followers and media to help boost my connection with the game, and to know more about that which was going on. And that’s great for when watching at home. However I had been there. I didn’t will need that community - I had been with 20, 000 people, and my father. So I set my phone in my bank. I missed the comments. I skipped the details of issues I didn’t see since live, you miss much more than you think.

Yet I was in a position to soak in the surrounding. I had been able to talk to my Dad about what we thought would happen next. And later, at nighttime, when we brought up the game, we all reflected upon so many different occasions, details I might have overlooked had I looked at my own cellphone even more. So almost always there is a trade-off. You will come across moments when the mobile phone may distract you. That muddiness can be a awful thing (when you should be discussing with a loved one) or possibly a good thing (when you’re sad and alone and want something to cheer you up). It can disconnect you (when you avoid another person by diving into social media) or enable you to get together (if you look up a joke to see or employ your cellphone to turn on music to boogie to). Let us not hold our equipment responsible for your condition. A couple, lovers, let’s say, lying down in bed. In a single moment, they are both on their cell phones, lost within their own sides. In the next, their particular phones will be off, for the bedside table. What happens subsequent? Anything could happen. It’s up to the two people included. That’s true whether you may have your telephone in your hand or not. Of course, if you do, you also choose how to use your telephone: in a disconnecting way or possibly a sharing approach. If you’re sense bad or perhaps responsible about being with your mobile phone, guess what happens you should carry out. You really should trust your gut. Is essential to carry the person having the phone accountable, do not blame the product.

#smartphones

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Do Not Use your Cell phone in Sociable Environments

Is incredibly common for all of us to use somebody else's cellphone also to be each of our very first time. In doing so , were looking to duplicate that initial sense of independence a mobile phone provides. A family member in another express was in the hospital. It was a Saturday nighttime, and I have been invited into a party. Rather than being away having fun I was sitting in my apartment, waiting for the phone to call, restless for reports. It was a pal who lend me his cell phone to make certain I will understand any reports as soon as possible, and in addition, be able to go to the get together. Obviously there was no reason for myself to be connected to my own landline. My spouse and i look backside at that occasion, and in addition in wondering at how gracious my good friend was in loaning me his phone intended for the night (who would volunteer their cell phone away these days? ), I actually couldn’t has stopped being amazed at the freedom this cellular phone gave me. I was able to step out and be cultural - although still becoming accessible at the same time. This is the kind of freedom cellphones provide. But today our telephones are about much more than audio communications, and they are will no longer an optionally available possession. They are integrated into our lives in ways not really their creators thought. But screen period is the fresh sitting in a office chair for hours at a time, which I happen to concur is a awful thing. I have a standing table and it’s been a life-changer. In a time when we are electronically connected nowadays, yet sense even more disconnected than ever before, we are being taught, even admonished, to reduce each of our dependence on cell phones. To limit our amount of time in front of monitors, to put the telephone down and still have a real discussion with an individual, in the flesh. Avoidance of products and display screen time has become becoming a luxurious item; to be able to disconnect from your phones to get an extended time period bestows a status that a lot of us can’t find the money for or attain. Get it done, we are told, for your sanity if not humankind, and also for your neck: regularly looking down at your cellphone strains the lower back, that leads to all kind of physical soreness. I’ve actually experienced recurring stress symptoms with my hand from excessive scrolling, and i also could vow my forearm sometimes is painful in a strange place in the event I’ve employed my mobile phone for too long. Nevertheless is usually using our cell phones a lot really so bad? Does being addicted to each of our phones genuinely disconnect all of us from other folks as much we think? Are not generally there rewards for the actions that occupy us while we are clutched to our cell phones? When we use our phones, perhaps there is something we are missing that we would be carrying out otherwise? We get a lot out of using my own cell phone, so no, Dont really want to place it down. The answer is not to be socially shamed in to using my cell phone fewer. The solution is to be sure cellphone use is hard to kick and beneficial and entertaining, not a distraction coming from boredom or perhaps isolating you from cultural or professional settings. The key is to be deliberate and aware about how youre using your phone, not whether you’re using it at all or perhaps too much. Each of our minds will be constantly operating, processing each of our many thoughts, worries, concerns, plans. We really need a distraction from everything, but at times, life is not so clear cut. Take those movies. We go, nearly exclusively, into a movie theater using a strict simply no phones, no texting insurance plan. They will chuck your rear end out when you use a mobile phone in the theater. However when I was having a friend, in which theater, who was being endlessly texted by his partner. As it happens her mother is at critical well being trouble. This individual wound up leaving the movie to organize to go to the airport. As wonderful as a continuous movie encounter is, it doesn’t trump emergencies when they arise. Few experiences with some other person will be as romantic and connecting as a shared meal. (Hang on, I’ll get to sexual intercourse in a day. ) If perhaps there was at any time a moment once you would need to bond with another individual, directly, eye to eye, without distraction, it would be over a food. Yet, much like everything, there may be exceptions. Imagine if, over the course of the conversation, you begin referring to taking a trip together, or perhaps about countrywide parks, or perhaps about decreasing in numbers species? Looking up photos showing your companion can add to the conversation. Quickly Googling a well known fact or reference point can help inside your argument. Writing a social networking post you found provocative, interesting or perhaps important could be a launching point of a chat. In those occasions, you aren’t distancing yourself or putting something among you and another person, you are sharing your thoughts. Believe me, sharing can be a good factor. What Im not arguing is that the both of you should be taking a look at Facebook, individually, without interesting together. What I am stating is that your phone can be a conduit, a guide, a personal resource intended for source material, to bring and help the talk. In the event the focus continues to be on the both of you, the smart phone is a prop. If the focus is usually centered on the phone, the gadget is the main seduction and you’ve dropped bond. The previous is wonderful, these is not really. All of our phones are a device. Just how all of us choose to use this device is actually give them all their benefit. One could think the past place you would want cellular phone distraction could be the bedroom. On the surface, two people lying down in bed following to each other, every with cell phones in their hands, all but neglecting each other, feels like one of the most gloomy, soul-hurting scenes one may easily think of modern life. Nevertheless would it be naturally negative? If I’m reading the New York Times, what does it matter if perhaps I’m examining the actual paper or the digital version in the cellphone? If I’m checking e-mail, what does it subject if I possess a notebook computer or mobile phone? If I’m practicing games or otherwise distracted, what does it matter if I am browsing a book of playing some game? https://www.macworld.com/article/3278585/apple-smartphone-addiction-ios-12.html And besides, would not we occasionally glamorize studying in bed together? I love studying books, and discover it kind of hot my partner will too. Carrying out that during sex together, after that talking about what we’re browsing, is a great intellectual turn-on. So with all due admiration to plenty of experts, in this case, the medium can be not the message. What matters here is not the device itself, but the activity you’re engaged in, either jointly or separately. There can still be togetherness when two people are on their very own phones, in the same way there is when ever reading books. Their challenge arises when utilization of a phone changes something, or triggers a split up when a point of interconnection would otherwise take place. Might removal of your mobile phones from understructure mean more sex? Maybe. Should likewise lead to somebody getting out of bed faster in the morning hours, or perhaps sleeping faster at night. And while we’re while having sex, did you know that through your phone, you can watch video clips? Or perhaps look at photos of…. what ever it can be that arouses you? Or work with applications intended to foster discussion or activity with a loving partner? The product is a device. It is present without inherent judgment, qualities or worth. What we label of it is about us. Must i really need to tell you this? Certainly there are times when you must absolutely hardly ever touch your smartphone, beginning, certainly, with traveling.

(Guilty as incurred: I often use the Roadmaps programs on my phone to assist me acquire where I’m going. It isn’t really so straightforward, is it? ) I think religious services must be device-free areas, as should particular spaces, like gym bathroom rooms, where privacy needs to be respected. I have a distaste for those who use all their phone at the health club; I don’t need to hear your company calls while I’m lifting weights. On the other hand, I realize a lot of persons using work out and workout applications on the smartphone, demonstrating the point, that once more, these kinds of mini-pc systems within our pockets will be what we label of them. If you’re among those individuals that attend a live performance and insist on documenting video clips and shooting photographs the complete time, I actually ask how most of that is important. Experiencing the moment in time for yourself, not merely through a device, is highly recommended. But…. have got I ever watched live concert footage on YouTube taken by someone else? Yes, I've. Just a few years back I was for a field hockey game with my Dad. I have been in the habit of checking Myspace during games to follow along with the city of followers and mass media to help boost my experience of the game, also to know more about the fact that was going on. And that’s perfect for when watching in the home. But I had been there. My spouse and i didn’t need that network - I had been with twenty, 000 persons, and my father. Thus I set my mobile phone in my pocket sized. I missed the discourse. I skipped the details of items I didn’t see because live, you miss more than you think. Nevertheless I was able to soak inside the setting. I had been able to talk to my Dad as to what we believed would happen following. And later, during the night, when we mentioned the game, we all reflected in so many different moments, details I would have missed had We looked at my personal smartphone even more. So there is always a trade off. You will discover moments when your smartphone may distract you. That frenzymadness, desperation, hysteria, mania, insanity, delirium, derangement can be a poor thing (when you should be talking with a liked one) or possibly a good thing (when you’re miserable and alone and want something to cheer you up). It can detach you (when you avoid another person simply by diving in social media) or provide you with together (if you look up a joke to share or make use of your cellphone to turn on music to dance to). Let us not keep our products responsible for the human condition. A couple, lovers, let’s say, laying in bed. In one moment, they are both on their cell phones, lost inside their own sides. In the next, their very own phones happen to be off, for the bedside stand. What happens next? Anything can occur. It’s up to the two people included. That’s true whether you have your phone in your hand or not. And if you do, in addition, you choose using your telephone: in a disconnecting way or possibly a sharing way. If you’re feeling bad or guilty about being on your own phone, you know what you should perform. You are required to trust your instincts. Is undeniably critical to keep the person holding the cellphone liable, do not blame the product.

#smart phones