#There seems to be a trend of me thinking I’ve ruined a painting and then coming back to it and realizing it wasn’t ruined

[leapdayowo]

The Goat has arrived :3

A bit of season 9 art for y’all

let’s see… I probably started this around the end of January I think? It feels good to be painting again and to be finishing some of these WIPs!

#them <3 #watercolor #traditional art #hermitcraft #hermitcraft season 9 #docm77 #grian #goodtimeswithscar #There seems to be a trend of me thinking I’ve ruined a painting and then coming back to it and realizing it wasn’t ruined #I just needed to take a break and try again at a later date #also trust the process

[samkiszkasrealgf]

electric love.

request: none

paring: jj maybank x fem!reader

summary: y/n and jj have been best friends ever since the fourth grade. after creating a tiktok account as a dare, y/n decides to recreate the trend where you try to kiss your best friend/crush and see what they do.

warnings: TEETH ROTTING FLUFF. probably the cutest thing i’ve ever written <3 i’m hoping to GOD no one has done this with jj yet lmao

it had been nearing 8 pm. the pogues: jj, john b., kiara, pope, and y/n had decided they wanted to lay low after the events of earlier that day (finding the grady-white & sneaking into the motel) by hosting yet another kegger out on the beach. so, there they were; at the beach surrounded by the usual crowd of kooks, other pogues, and tourons.

however, y/n, who was almost always the life of the party, wasn’t really feeling it that particular night. she assumed she might’ve just been jittery from the crazy day her and her friends just had. after her first two solo cups of beer, y/n had decided to separate herself from the rest of her fellow partygoers & friends, making her way to the water just to get some air for a few minutes.

as the waves crashed against the shore, y/n tugged her ripped jean shorts off of her waist and let them drop to her ankles, leaving her in just a bikini top and bottoms. setting them down in the sand where they were guaranteed to stay dry, she placed her cellphone right on top of them. her hair, tied into a very messy bun on the top of her head, was let down immediately after. her hair spilled onto her shoulders and down her back in loose waves & curls. the sun has just begun to set, painting the sky with beautiful shades of orange, yellow, pink, red, and a bit of purple.

moments later, y/n was able to drown out the sound of drunken laughter and talkative teenagers as she focused on watching her feet as the waves pushed against them. after at least five minutes, y/n reached back to grab her phone that had been resting on top of her shorts. hesitantly, she clicked on tiktok, an app she’d downloaded just two days ago. scrolling through her “for you page”, y/n stumbled across a video captioned, “i tried kissing my best friend, this is how it turned out”, using the song elecric love by borns. the corners of her mouth turned upwards into a crooked grin. although she’d thought it was quite cheesy, y/n had to admit that it melted her heart. it was so romantic; the way they held each other, the way kissed each other like it was the last time they’d ever see each other again ... for some reason, y/n could only think about one person: jj maybank.

ahh, jj maybank. one of y/n’s best friends, and her secret crush, since the fourth grade. something about those blonde locks, those crystal blue eyes, the indentations in his cheeks when he smiled — not to mention his insanely perfect, greek-god like smile — and his charismatic personality struck her interest right from the start. it was hopeless, y/n continuously convinced herself. jj would flirt with her, but he flirts with everyone. no matter how many times she would feel that burning twang of jealousy in the depths of her stomach whenever jj would philander with other girls, nothing would change. jj wanted only to be friends, y/n was sure of it. though she had absolutely no issue with remaining jj’s closest female friend, it hurts knowing the one that which you most desire will never be yours.

“hey you!,” a voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

y/n glanced over her left shoulder, only to lock eyes with lover-boy himself. her stomach flipped.

she grinned. “what’s up?”

jj sat beside her with a grunt. “man, y/n, are you feeling okay? you’re usually the center of attention at our keggers — wait, are you on tiktok?”

y/n’s eyes widened slightly, realizing that the electric love sound, along with the same video, had been playing on repeat for at least five minutes. nervously, she clicked her phone off, setting it beside her in the sand as jj chuckled at her forgetfulness.

“i thought you were gonna delete it right after kie dared you to download it the other night!,” jj taunted as y/n grinned, thinking back to a few nights ago to the drunken game of “truth or dare” she played with the pogues on the boat. “i think someone’s addicted...”

y/n gasped playfully. “i am not addicted!”

jj shot her a look, and y/n caved.

“okay, okay. fine. i’m a little addicted, but i can’t help it! the people on here have really...interesting humor.”

jj chucked warmly, taking a sip from his beer.

as the two sat in silence for a moment, y/n began to think. what if she made a move on jj by recreating that tiktok?

no, absolutely not. the alcohol must be getting to her brain. if she were to kiss him and weird him out, that could ruin their entire friendship, and that’s the last thing she wanted. but what if that didn’t happen? he could react in the exact opposite way. anything was possible...why not take the chance?

y/n could not believe she was doing this at all, but after contemplating it for a few minutes, she gathered up the courage to ask: “wanna make a tiktok with me?”

jj looked over at her, cocking an eyebrow with a grin.

“are you being serious?”

“yes!”

“...i-i guess!”

y/n stood up, laughing. she offered her jittery hand to jj, who accepted it and used it to haul himself off of the sandy ground.

“what am i even supposed to do?,” he questioned, scratching the back of his neck.

y/n smiled. “just follow my lead.”

once the sound was ready, y/n grabbed ahold of jj’s hand and tugged him into the shallow saltwater, that stopped just about at their waists. with her phone propped up against jj’s halfway-full bottle of beer, she clicked the timer button and started the countdown for filming to start.

with each beep of the timer, y/n’s heartbeat thumped harder and harder against the inside of her chest.

with that, the song started.

baby, you’re like lightning in a bottle.

y/n stared into his eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat. hesitantly, she grabbed hold of jj’s biceps and pulled him towards her, softly. she pressed her lips against his.

i can’t let you go now that i got it.

jj pulled away from her, shocked. with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, all he could seem to do was stare back at her.

y/n’s heart sank. this was a failure. he looked incredibly uncomfortable, and this was certainly going to make things awkward in the long run.

and all i need is to be struck...

however, the corners of jj’s lips turned upwards into a cheeky smile. suddenly, he grabbed her lower back with one hand and her jawline with the other, pulling her back in towards him.

...by your electric love.

at the beautiful climax of the sound, jj’s lips found y/n’s again. her arms made their way around the back of his neck, her hands beginning to cascade through the golden blond tufts of hair. the entire world seemed to melt around her as a long-lasting dream had come true at last. all of a sudden, y/n’s feet left the plushy ground of the ocean as jj sent both of them tumbling into the cool blueness of the water, tangled up in each other’s arms.

#jj maybank x reader #jj x reader #outer banks #fandom #fanfic #rudy pankow x reader #jj maybank x y/n #jj x y/n #obx cast #obx x reader #obx jj

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Yeah,exactly. One of the main problems with M*lina is how static their relationship is. We’re told they’re each other’s home and have feelings for each other but we never really see their relationship evolve and once they reunite(which in other better written friends to lovers relationships usually means showing how they’ve changed and wether they’re compatible together)nothing really changes either they solve their misunderstandings in 5 min and that’s it and this is actually a great example of how boring and devoid of any real storytelling Western shows,etc are becoming. The fake/woke puritanical crowd refuse to accept that how a relationship begins isn’t as important as how it ends. Darklina might have toxic elements or whatever but in the hands of a better writer the process of their relationship and how it ends should be much more important than bring so pure and unproblematic.With Aleksander you get to see the progression of him being so stoic and unreadable when he first meets Alina to becoming more vulnerable and even at times unhinged(getting emotional in the war room scene,Alina’s potential kidnapping,threatening his mother,rejecting Zoya,begging Alina to understand him,etc)and we get to see how being with Aleksander affects Alina too and that’s what a well written relationship should strive to do. And let’s be honest I don’t think viewers would care very much about the destruction of the Fold if it wasn’t for Aleksander carrying the plot on his back instead of rooting for the two orphans in o defeat him like LB intended(sorry to break it to you B*rdugo but LOTR did it so much better yet it was supposed to be originally children’s books,imo).

And this is why I find Darklina a much more interesting ship, because you get to witness their relationship grow and change but as you said this isn't the case with M*lina, their relationship is the same throughout. I do agree with what you said about how there seems to be this fixation of characters and relationships being pure and unproblematic. I've been noticing it more and more often lately with various tv shows and books and the fandoms and especially with reviewers and reactors. It's like a character does one thing wrong and the attitude of some fans is 'hang them they are a terrible person and their character has been completely ruined there's no going back now'. Which to me is just nonsensical. The amount of times I've seen a character do something the fandom doesn't like or something that is questionable and they've then been marked as ruined or bad is ridiculous, its the same argument they use that their character development has regressed or been thrown out the window because they've done one morally grey thing. In fact I've said this before but character development does not have to be linear, a character can improve but they can also have set backs, that doesn't make it bad development it just makes it human. One of the most popular phrases I see is 'character 'A' would never do this' but the thing is as circumstances around a character changes so too does the character, so things they might not have done in say season 1 become a plausible character choice in later seasons.

But more and more lately there's been this trend of making sure that your 'good' characters remain pure and don't ever do anything wrong and unfortunately this makes them boring in my opinion. I like to see characters make mistakes and I like to see how this effects them and how it changes them, do they grow from it or does it lead them to making more questionable decisions? A flawed character has more room to grow and is just more interesting to me which is probably why I like the darkling so much. As you pointed out we get to see Aleks grow and change as the season goes on from someone who comes across as very stoic and cold, the perfect general to someone who is vulnerable and flawed. It's the same with Alina as the season goes on we see her shift from someone who is insecure and feels useless, who is overlooked by others around her to someone who is confidant and who in important within her society and who owns her own power.

M*l however is a different story and I think it stems back to this purity complex. I think they were so desperate to make sure the character was liked they tried to paint him as this pure, shining knight who could do no wrong. Unfortunately this really watered down his character to the point that there isn't really any substance to him at all and he is very one dimensional. And he has no development at all, the M*l we meet in the beginning of season 1 is the same M*l as at the end of it. As terrible as I think the character is in the books at least he did have some character development in the first book in that at the beginning he didn't see Alina and he had no feelings for her from what we could tell and he slept around but come the end of the book he does develop feelings and does confess them to her and commits to her. However in the show they wanted to keep this 'can do no wrong' character so they made it clear to the audience that he did have feelings for Alina in the pilot episode and so he has feelings for her in the beginning and he has feelings all through the season and he has feelings at the end and absolutely no character development. The ironic thing is though is whilst they made Aleks so much more human in the show in a way they made M*l less human. The fact that he has no flaws and that he never does anything wrong makes him seem like this pure angel caricature as oppose to an actual person. Even down to deciding that he doesn't sleep with Zoya despite the fact that at the time he was free to do so as he wasn't in a relationship with Alina and it being book canon. That would have made him less pure and the less ideal knight in shining armour. I also feel like they use this later as a way of kind of comparing pure M*l with evil Aleks because Aleks has slept with Zoya look how morally corrupt he is, unlike M*l who held strong against temptation.

I like what you said about how a relationship starts isn't as important as where it ends. I agree with this I think the thing that makes a relationship interesting and well written is seeing that journey and seeing it come to completion to look at where they started and see the growth and change. Which is why when you have a ship like M*lina where they seem very fixated on the past and where the relationship began and where there is very little to no change in their relationship, I find it very boring.

#darklina #anti malina #answered

[jhoudiey]

You like to play God, don't you?

Wrote this fic a while back, #ChickenChallenge starts trending on magicam again, and Yoru ends up trying to distract herself with her friends. Ends up watching Jade as he builds a terrarium, and ends with dumb and dumber fluff. 1825 words.

hey you’re that chicken girl from NRC right?

Yoru stared at her phone. Idia had finally updated it so that she was able to use it freely, her hands no longer an issue on the touch screen. She normally didn’t pay attention to notifications, but had texted him earlier that night hoping to hang out, instead her magicam had exploded, messages popping in so quickly she could hardly keep track

show me ur feet

where else do you have feathers?

check it out, I’ve got weird feet too!

Whoa! Is that from a magic accident!? Crazy!!

omg ur disgustingggggg!!!!

you fucking freak!

ahahahaha no way your real. You’re like a chicken!!!!

can you send me a pic of your chicken feet? They’re so freaky I wanna show my friend!

you ever jerked a guy off with those? Do you want to?

She stared at the picture of the penis in her inbox with disgust, is this how normal people communicated? Why were all these people she didn’t know suddenly messaging her anyway? It was already past midnight, didn’t they have anything better to do? She exited her messages and found there had been a series of throwback posts from NRC Halloween, #ChickenChallenge was trending again. She sighed and closed the application, having lived through that once had been enough, she had no desire to repeat the experience online.

Idia still hadn’t texted her back, but her mood was soured. Focusing on her alchemy work wasn’t enough to distract her from the constant buzzing coming from her phone.

“Fuck this” she grumbled, throwing her phone onto her bed before launching herself out the window. She didn’t need to wait for a text back from Idia, she’d just show up, the same as always.

As luck would have it, however, Idia was busy. He wasn’t gaming as was usual for him at this time of night, but was in the middle of a video chat with Vita, making it much more awkward to sit in the corner of his room quietly. She didn’t want to know what they talked about when it was just the two of them. She wandered back out of the dorm, hesitating in the Hall of Mirrors. It was late, she should just go home...but… he might still be awake too.

She knocked on the door tucked down the halls of Octavinelle dorm, silently cursing herself for going down there in the first place.

“Come in”

Jade welcomed her into his and Floyd’s shared room, a small smile painted on his lips. He was in his pajamas, though clearly invested in building a terrarium, plants and stones laid out carefully on his desk in front of him. She spied Floyd, his pajama shirt discarded on the floor beside his bed, fast asleep curled around one of his pillows facing away from them. He’d likely turned away from the lamp light Jade had kept on as he worked.

“Ahh, I guess it is too late, I’ll go” Yoru mumbled looking between them, she’d never gotten along comfortably with Jade.

“You can stay. I don’t mind, Yoru-san,” He held his hand out to offer Floyd's desk chair to her “Would you care to join me? Clearly something is the matter or you wouldn’t have come by so late. I do know how much you loathe to be here.”

She hesitated.

If she stayed, she’d have to deal with his casual cruelty and observant eye, if she left she may have to deal with another dozen messages about how she was a disgusting bird freak who really should be embarrassed to look like that, not that she needed the reminder. She sighed and crawled onto the chair, her legs tucked in against her body, arms clutched around them as she watched Jade work. He was meticulous.

Like everything he did, every movement was measured, everything planned well in advance to come together just as he imagined it.

“Is this what you normally spend your weekends doing?” She asked, her eyes following his graceful hands as he arranged some moss.

“Hmm, it is something I am quite fond of, yes.”

“Why? Wouldn’t it be better to keep a garden or something? What’s the point of this?”

He laughed quietly.

“This is what humans call ‘a hobby’ I believe. The point is to enjoy it, Yoru-san.”

She rested her chin on her knees, her eyes drifting across his desk to the discarded pieces of clothing on the floor near Floyd's bed. She felt Jade watching her and turned her gaze back to him.

“But why do you enjoy it? What’s so good about building a tiny garden in a jar?”

“You mean what’s so entertaining about creating and controlling an entire ecosystem one can hold in their hands? I wonder…”

She snorted.

“Ahhh, so it’s just something else you can manipulate. Makes sense.” She grinned at him, his hands expertly arranging rocks along the bottom of the jar.

“How cruel, Yoru-san, to suggest my innocent hobby is anything but… I can’t deny the implications though.”

“Hah, so you admit it then. No wonder you like it...” She chuckled, her eyes wandering once again to Floyds sleeping form, his back slowly rising and falling with his breaths.

“Admit it? No, I simply enjoy when certain things go as planned” He smirked at her. He’d caught her wandering eyes twice now, though she was trying to hide it. She hadn’t come here to see him, after all. She faced him again, not wanting to meet his eyes instead focusing on his hands.

“Do you ever add bones?”

“Oya? What is it you’re trying to imply, Yoru-san?”

“...They’d be good for the soil. I can bring you some, if you need.”

“I suppose that would raise fewer questions than gathering them myself...Thank you.”

“Mmmm” She nodded with her head still on her knees, content to watch him in silence. He was building a whole planet before her, a God playing with nature to whatever suited his whim. A rock here, moss there… no wait… over there instead. It was fascinating and tedious at the same time. His hands weaved patterns from nothing, a garden blossoming from his fingertips. She felt her attention slipping and closed her eyes, the soft tinkling of his tools being drowned out by the slow tide of Floyd's slumbering breath. She tilted her head towards him, her own breathing slowing to match his like the sea lazily lapping at the shore.

“Why don’t you lie down with him, Yoru-san? I don’t mind” Jades voice cut through her dreamy haze, jolting her upright.

“What? No. Huh?” She stuttered, horrified that Jade had somehow known the comfort she felt in that moment. “I’ve gotta go, I must have fallen asleep. Bye Jade” She hurried to leave, bumping into Floyd's desk in her haste. The precariously stacked books toppled over and fell to the floor, making an awful racket in the near silent bedroom.

“Oh shit, sorry!’ She whispered in a panic, hoping she hadn’t woken Floyd. She scooped to pick the books up, her wings threatening to topple the chair she had been sitting in just moments ago. Jade laughed as he watched her struggle.

“Fufufu, Yoru-san. You seem quite flustered, did something I say upset you? Perhaps my suggestion to sleep with Floyd-”

“No!” She yammered quickly. Too quickly. “No, I’m just tired. I have to go!” She pushed the books back onto the desk haphazardly and turned to leave, hoping that Jade hadn’t caught sight of her face, red as it was sure to be. How could he have known what she was thinking?

“Hmmpppfff” Floyd whined, wrapping his arms around her waist, his face buried in feathers. “You’re too loud, Fugu-chan, be more quiet”

Jade smirked at the pair of them as Yoru struggled to free herself from his grasp. Floyd whined into her back, dragging her into his bed so he could go back to sleep.

“Yoru-san, it’s better if you don’t fight him, he can be quite insistent when he wants something” She knew he was right. To get free she’d have to peel him off of her, and with how tightly he held her it would be hard, Floyd really was too damn strong. She sighed and stopped resisting, feeling her feet leave the floor as he flipped her over him to settle her between his body and the wall.

He murmured wordlessly as he shifted around her wings, careful not to pull out any feathers accidentally. He settled between them, his head resting slightly above hers, his face nestled in her hair, body pressed tightly against hers. She was glad Jade couldn’t see her anymore, she could feel him watching them still, but with their faces turned away from him he wouldn’t be able to read her expression. She felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest, she was sure Floyd must have felt it too, though if he did he made no mention of it. This wasn’t what she’d had in mind when she had come over, all she had wanted was to chat a bit, to forget about the people on magicam trying to ruin her night. She had to admit though… This was nice too. Ever since spring break they’d been more comfortable with each other physically, Floyd often clinging to her whenever he slept over, but so far that hadn’t left the confines of her bedroom. No one ever saw how often she clung back, she’d made sure to disengage from his grasp before he woke whenever she found herself too near him. It was much too embarrassing to be found like this, her face burning again knowing that Jade was probably enjoying himself immensely, proven right yet again.

The lamp clicked off, Jade finally retiring, Yoru felt herself finally relaxing. Her body jolted as tension left her, and she laid her arms across Floyd's, drawing lazy circles on the backs of his hands with her fingers. He sighed into her hair and pressed himself against her a little tighter at her touch, fast asleep once more. Yoru closed her eyes knowing it wasn’t safe to fall asleep where she lay, she had to get up and go home or she’d never hear the end of it. 5 more minutes then you have to go home she told herself, but it really was very comfortable, laying with Floyd like this.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Euuuggggghhhh Jaaaaade, turn your alarm offffff” Floyd complained loudly. He was close...too close. Yoru’s eyes snapped open with a start, she’d fallen asleep in his arms.

“Ahhh, I must have forgotten to turn it off. My apologies, you two fufufu”

“Mmmmm~ good morning, Fugu-chan” Floyd murmured as he tightened himself around her once more. She felt him smile as he nuzzled his face into the nape of her neck, her face blazed red once more.

#twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #yoru crowley #jade leech #floyd leech #dumb and dumber #canon x oc #spent all afternoon working on my new oc i forgot i wanted to post this today #whoops #amon coming soon tho

[bakujho]

Strap in folks, it’s rant time.

So, let's talk a bit about manipulation and abuse present in fandom. It’s uncomfortable, but fuck it lets go, I’m tired of the “good vibes only” push that sweeps all this shit under the rug. I’m not pretending to be an expert by a longshot here and I’m happy to discuss, but I have dealt with enough abusive and manipulative people personally and professionally to spot em a fucking mile away and generally keep my distance. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed a gross trend where there are people being attacked, then are guilted into keeping quiet because the Abusers make it seem like it’s not worth mentioning or that it doesn’t really matter... Unfortunately, the Abusers know exactly what they’re doing, they’re really fucking good at it, and they know exactly the kind of response they’re going to receive (because in some cases, this isn’t the first fandom they’ve pulled this same shit in). 

Right off the bat though, lets get some basic facts about fandom out of the way. No one in fandom owns any character: be it interactions, personality or anything else about said character. No fandom creator owns an idea, or has any right to tell people off for having similar ideas/techniques/styles etc. There’s no such thing as a completely original singular thought, and pretty sure if you think of something ‘original’, there’s inspiration from another source. No one owns a hairstyle, a costume, a backstory, a colour scheme, an item, a scar etc etc. If someone has a similar thing, neat, clearly you’ve got similar tastes. If someone has a carbon copy of your creation on multiple points, ABSOLUTELY question it, but having the same hairstyle isn’t copyright infringement, and having a similar history isn’t ripping someone off, it’s coincidence. 

Going to put the rest under the cut, CW for manipulation tactics, abuse, and all those sorts of goodies.

So, I’ll start with the Abusers here. Everyone knows who they are, they know who they are, unfortunately the victims of them are worried about speaking out because, for the most part, the ones abusing people are in a position of perceived power and speaking out against them can put the victim in a tricky position. No one wants to be ousted from a fandom they enjoy for speaking out against someone that’s been around fandom since its inception. Which brings me to my first point.

Power: Abusers LOVE the feeling of having power (be it follower count, general clout, perceived hierarchy etc) and get really uncomfortable when they feel someone new comes to threaten their position. So, what do these people do in that situation? Option A is to completely ignore and hope they’re not dethroned, Option B is befriend immediately and subtly manipulate the person to keep a close eye on their actions. Keep your friends close, but enemies closer amirite? 

So how the fuck does a person subtly manipulate another person, shouldn’t it be obvious? Fuck man, I wish. But there’s a lot of different techniques used to keep people reigned in and submissive: guilt tripping, evasion/diversion, attention seeking, lying, intimidation, playing the victim etc etc. So obviously these will all present differently based on the abuser, but the goal of all of them is the same. To stay in power, and keep control over everything they can. 

So how would all of these present online? (of course these examples leave some wiggle room for context lost in text/translation/cultural differences etc, but for the most part it all fits the same pattern that the abuser would use in a face to face situation). 

Guilt- tripping: “Well you wouldn’t be here if not for me” “You owe me for your place in the fandom” “well if we really were friends you’d do this for me…” etc etc. Things that pit your emotional attachment to the Abuser against you, the closer you are, the easier it is. Suddenly the Victim finds themselves indebted to the Abuser for their ‘friendship’ that the Victim didn’t realize was conditional. 

Shaming: Invalidating the victims feelings by saying things like “even a child knows better than this”, “it’s okay you don’t understand, you’re probably young”, “I’ve been around fandom longer so I know how things go” etc etc. It makes the Victim feel like they’ve done something wrong by drawing boundaries for themselves, or sticking up for themselves. Remember, the Abuser doesn’t want to lose their crown so they will talk down to their Victims to make them more unsure of their stance, second guess themselves, and feel bad that they spoke up in the first place. 

Projection: “Others have done X to me, I would NEVER do the same” It’s a simple yet effective tactic. The Abuser takes the things they’ve done to people, say it happened to them, and shift the blame to the now faceless enemy so the Victim feels obligated to side with the abuser because, yea, those things mentioned fucking SUCK and no one wants to experience it. No one wants to be that asshole saying “no you deserved it” (because no one fucking deserves to be doxxed, swatted, hacked, etc etc)

Playing-the-victim: Abusers LOVE playing this game. It’s their bread and butter to set the stage for manipulation. “Having a really hard time rn, sorry im such a fuckup”, “struggling with mental health”, “this is all so hard for me” (legit though, if you are struggling please seek help where/when you can, mental health is important). So any of these statements alone can be harmless, and overlooking someone's mental health can have dangerous outcomes, HOWEVER, when these sort of statements are paired with the other things mentioned, it’s no longer simply a vent or a way to work past personal demons, it’s a way to gain sympathy and support, and it is very intentionally done to garner that emotional response from those that will listen to them. 

Attention-Seeking: can be as simple as “no one interacts with me anymore”, making a dramatic vague post, deleting that same post and making a newer, more dramatic post but this time seeking affirmation from the good responses of the last post, posting cryptic messages that ooze “ask me what happened” (vaguebooking is a plague), basically anything that is asking for a response without asking. How is it manipulative though? Guilt. If you’re aware of the Abuser, these types of posts are meant to abuse the Victim's sense of empathy, the natural response to these sorts of posts is “what happened, I’m sorry that happened to you”. 

Diversion/Evasion: straight up changing the subject or switching the blame to anywhere BUT the Abuser. The Abuser says “change X you’re copying me”, the Victim responds “I feel I didn’t copy you”, and the Abuser presses “well the fandom might not think so” and changes it from a personal issue to a larger, more aggressive problem. In this case, the Abuser is the ONLY one with a problem, but are purposely misleading the victim to take the blame off themselves. It’s not THEIR problem, it’s the FANDOMS problem...now making it the Victims problem. 

Blame: Abusers love to blame everyone BUT themselves for their perceived problems. Fandom isn’t interacting with them as much? It’s the fandom that’s dying. More drama in the fandom? Well there’s too many people here now. Getting called out for bad behavior? That’s the problem of the person who CLEARLY doesn’t understand how fandom must work. It’s the age old tale of “I’m perfect, it’s obviously everyone else who is wrong”. At what point does the Abuser realize that they may be the cause for their own misery? They don’t. 

Intimidation: This is a fun one that’s usually a last resort because if the Abuser is pretending to be a sheep caught in a snowstorm, it doesn’t look good for them to publicly announce they’ve been the wolf the whole time. It looks like “well I have X on you”, “if you only knew what I could say about you”, and “I could ruin you” type shit. Of course, in most cases, the Victim hasn’t done anything to warrant this sort of aggression, but the queen is losing her pawns and is now grasping for anything to fight back with. And who knows what sort of lengths the Abuser has gone to to gain information on the victim. It’s pretty easy to find out a lot about a person online, so the Victims back down due to the threat of the unknown.

Avoidance: refusing to talk about the problem, which is an issue I have with fandom itself, in this case. The “no drama good vibes only” is so fucking detrimental when there are problems that need to be addressed. An Abuser will push the narrative that they’re only here for a good time and don’t want drama, while actively creating drama in the shadows. Its not a problem if we don’t talk about it, right? If no one knows, it’s fine. It’s fine. No, it’s manipulative, and if there are problems they NEED to be talked about, because that’s how you find resolutions. 

Denial: This one ties in with avoidance and blame, in that the Abuser will straight up deny that they’ve ever been, or have ever created a problem. The Victim is making a big deal from nothing, they can’t control how others feel about them, so they’ve done nothing wrong. The Abuser will claim they had the best intentions when approaching someone, so clearly they have done nothing wrong. 

Lying: Including omitting any information from arguments that may paint the Abuser in a bad light. The Abuser absolutely doesn’t want anyone to find out what they’re up to, so they’ll say exactly what they need to to change the narrative surrounding them. It could be minor changes to conversations to complete fabrications. Ex “I only approached X to make sure they were okay after X happened”, but X screenshots tell a completely different story. It’s not always easy to catch an Abuser in a lie, especially when there’s the push for “no drama” so no one talks about their personal experiences and can confirm/deny what was/reported to be said. 

So bringing all of those points together and bringing it back to the Abuser wanting to have the power to control what they like/don’t like in fandom. Once they have that feeling of invincibility, they may coyly ask people to delete posts that could lead back to them looking bad, politely ask another creator to change their creation because the Abuser doesn’t like it, or them asking nicely to stop interacting with another member of fandom the Abuser doesn’t like. It may not seem like much at a first glance...after all they asked nicely. However, once you look a little harder and a little longer, it becomes very clear that the intention is to stay in control. The Abuser will do ANYTHING to stay on top, and will employ every trick they have in their arsenal to sew discord and mistrust amongst other members of the fandom to keep the fingers pointed anywhere but at themselves.

So, sound familiar to anyone? My inbox is open for anyone who wants to chat about the topic. If I’ve now made you uncomfortable and you’re going to unfollow/block, cheers, wish you the best. And if you’re feeling called out and attacked by my post? GOOD, stop being a fucking shitty person. 

A few last reminders before adding some resources:

Setting and enforcing personal boundaries is not abuse.

Choosing not to interact with those who make you uncomfortable is not rude.

It is important to call out abuse when you encounter it, it could save someone from becoming a victim themselves.

Always stand up for yourself, you’re your own best advocate. 

Now for some resources: I used a few of these while researching along with my old textbooks from my psych, abnormal psych, and human relations classes I took back in university.

Manipulation tactics

How to recognize a guilt trip

How to spot an attention seeker

#deep breath #i think that's all i have to say about this right now #for now at least #when i get salty i get real salty #fandom is the worst sometimes #though people in it can be worse #discourse

[fluffyglass]

THE MR. RUDE APOLOGISM MASTERPOST

you may be asking "Oh dear god what has Finn gotten up to this time?" well, that my friend, is a very valid question! The answer to which is as follows: He's rewatched every single TMMS segment with Mr. Rude in it to prove that he's done nothing wrong!

After many many hours of rewatching, I've come to some conclusions on the depressed tomato man. I'll give a quick rundown here, then throw my episode by episode analysis under the cut.

Season 1

Mr. Rude is in 30 episodes in Season 1.

In only 3 of these episodes does he do anything wrong.

In 4 of the episodes where he's innocent, Mr. Fussy yells at him for no reason.

Season 2

Mr. Rude is in 30 episodes in Season 2.

In only 6 of these episodes does he do anything wrong.

In 1 of the episodes where he's innocent, as well as one where he did do something wrong, Mr. Fussy yells at him for no reason.

Conclusions

In total, Mr. Rude only actually did anything wrong in 9 out of the 60 segments he's in, which is 15%. That's less than a quarter of the time. Even counting the three episodes I was unsure about, that's only 12/60. 20%. Still less than a quarter.

Why have I been bringing up Mr. Fussy? Because this experience genuinely made me not like him anymore. In only one out of Mr. Fussy's 7 appearances with Mr. Rude does he not yell at him, and in five of the times he does - it was completely unjustified.

Now, onto the episode by episode section!

Ah, you wanna see my episode by episode analysis? Well, I'll give you a quick color legend first.

Yellow - Mr. Rude does nothing wrong

Red - Mr. Rude does something wrong

Blue - Mr. Fussy yells at Mr. Rude for no reason

Pink - I have no idea what to put for this one lmao

Also, there's a ton of cursing in here because I wrote these notes as I went along and I don't feel like editing them to be more professional. You get what you get when it comes to Mr. Rude apologism.

SEASON 1

Flying - He does nothing wrong, he just asked Mr. Grumpy to do his fucking job. Though, I will admit, he was a dick about it.

Music - He does nothing wrong, Miss Naughty is a fucking bitch and Mr. Fussy targeted him for no got damn reason even though he has fucking ears and should have heard Miss Naughty going off on her fucking cymbals. Miss Naughty also tried to poison him so

Farm - He does nothing wrong, those bitch ass crows broke his fucking robot I cant believe this.

Booboos - He does nothing wrong, he literally just wants some decent service while he is in the fucking hospital and Mr. Scatterbrain is a fucking moron about it

Mall - He's barely in it and I will admit he is a bit of an asshole in this one but he doesn't do anything explicitly wrong

Birthday - He does nothing wrong, he just wants to buy a birthday present for his homie Mr. Grumpy. In fact, he shows that he cares about his friend because he knows what he would want (and gets something he wouldnt like, presumably as a joke). Hes a caring friend but also a troll.

Superstore - He does nothing wrong, he just wants to return his shitty toaster. It ends up well for everyone involved :)

Books - He does nothing wrong, he is literally just neurodivergent and cannot read social situations

Camping - He does nothing wrong, he tried to warn everyone that they were going the wrong way, and then called out Miss Whoops on her fucking bullshit and putting everyone in danger. He then proceeded to fucking die. Miss Daredevil doesnt even give a shit about two of the raft riders fucking dying what the fuck.

Paint - He does nothing wrong, he just wants to finish his painting commission.

Jobs - This is the one I time I'll admit he does something really wrong. He commits multiple driving related crimes, as well as throwing his sandwich at Mr. Quiet, splashing Mr. Nosey and Mr. Small, and taking advantage of Mr. Scatterbrain's stupidity. He also crumpled up Mr. Scatterbrain's drawing of a hamster.

Trains - He does nothing wrong, Mr. Fussy's a bitch ass motherfucker, and he did more good than bad because he rescued Mr. Messy at the end.

Fair - He does nothing wrong, he got a fucking pie yeeted at him of course he wouldn't like it. He does put the pie in Mr. Scatterbrain's face though but he already got it in his face so it's just even now. He then proceeds to be pelted with pies. But thankfully it seems like they're both having fun by the end.

Movies - Yeah he's a bit of an asshole in this one. He puts too much cheese on Mr. Happy's nachos (and then throws them at him). He does get his karma though cause he gets fucking trapped in the popcorn machine someone please save him oh my god.

Dance - He does nothing wrong, he just has taste.

Inventions - He does nothing wrong, Miss Chatterbox just doesnt like him for the way he is which is super fucked up of her. What the fuck, man. He accepts Miss Chatterbox's invention regardless. He then proceeds to be abused by everyone around him. Hes totally justified in being mean at the end.

Amusement Park - Okay yeah he was an asshole in this one, cause he was rude to Miss Calamity about her supposed grooming habits. However, he was also abused a lot during multiple of the bumpers, which I guess counts as karma.

Adventure - He literally doesnt even do anything in this one

Rainy Day - Dude, his entire fucking family died. Give him a break.

Games - He did nothing wrong, he won the fucking game but Mr. Scatterbrain took the credit what the fuck he only had 3 POINTS MR RUDE HAD 4 MR. HAPPY YOU DUMB YELLOW FUCK LEARN HOW TO COUNT

Restaurants - He does nothing wrong, Mr. Fussy is so fucking mean to him I will never get over this he deserves so much better what the fuck

Cars - he's just vibin man

Canned Goods - He does nothing wrong, he just ate some beans man

Collecting - he's barely in it and just kinda vibes

Full Moon - He does nothing wrong, he legit just got kidnapped by some fucking aliens with his alien husband

Heatwave - He does nothing wrong, 6 gay men just casually committed acts of Home Invasion and are going to be arrested for their crimes against him.

Sleep - He does nothing wrong, and I doubt anyone would have even noticed he was asleep if Miss Chatterbox kept her fucking mouth shut. He cant control what hes doing if hes fucking asleep. Even after all that he still clapped for Mr. Fussy, who hates him, at the end. What a champ.

Carwash - He does nothing wrong, Miss Calamity technically fucking kidnapped him what the fuck.

Lawns - He does nothing wrong, he didn't want to take his lawn to begin with and then got his lawn ruined for literally no reason, even after warning Me. Nosey and Mr. Small that their invention was gonna explode. He even gave Miss Chatterbox the joy in knowing she "won".

Parade - He does nothing wrong, he legit just made a float and Mr. Fussy fucking bullied him for it. What the fuck.

SEASON 2

Clean Teeth - Yeah hes a bitch in this one but Mr. Fussy was also a bitch so it evens out.

Airports - He does nothing wrong, he just wanted to go on his flight. Of anything, Miss Scary was more rude than he was.

Game Shows - He does nothing wrong like. Genuinely nothing, and then gets physically assaulted.

Hats - He does nothing wrong, Mr. Grumpy's just a fucking bitch and took credit for both his and Mr. Tickles hats. What the fuck, man.

Robots - He does nothing wrong, he legit just got his baguette burnt wtf

Up and Down - He's fine for the first bit but I will admit hes an asshole in the second one

Gifts - He does nothing wrong, he's just trying to keep Mr. Tickle from fucking assaulting people. Then his entire store is destroyed for no reason.

Sun and Moon - He does nothing wrong, he barely did anything at all

Telephone - I refused to watch this one I just know hes a bitch in it

Washing and Drying - He does nothing wrong, he just wanted his laundry done and he got assaulted at the end. Why is this a trend.

Fruit - He stole Miss Sunshines fucking fruit and then proceeded to endanger everyone around him by driving recklessly. What the fuck, man.

Radio - He does nothing wrong, Mr. Scatterbrain is just a moron, and Miss Whoops is a dumbass.

Supermarket - ???

Cinema - He doesn't do anything wrong, and he looks very nice in his new hat.

Post Office - He doesn't do anything wrong, hes trying his best okay (he also gets covered in stamps at the end)

Pets - He doesn't do anything wrong, he doesn't do anything at all

Dance Dance Dance - He doesn't do anything wrong, Mr. Fussy's a fucking bitch

Trees - He doesn't do anything wrong, someone free him

Library - He didnt even do anything man

Pirates - He doesn't do anything wrong, in fact he is the first to jump in and protect his crewmates from the aliens. He also saves the entire space crew in the end.

Trains and Planes - He doesn't do anything wrong, he barely does anything to begin with

Out to Sea - He doesn't do anything wrong, it makes sense for him to act in his own self interest because he was stuck on a deserted island with those three morons for 30 fucking days. He didn't intend to take the boat, because the tide rolled him out. He is now inevitably going to die.

Next Door - Yeah hes a bitch in this one, but he didnt deserve to get his fucking car crushed.

Lunch - He doesn't do anything wrong, Mr. Stubborn drew first blood.

Machines - This is a weird one. Is he really in the wrong for wanting to go home? I mean, it's safe to assume Miss Giggles is fucking dead if she was taken by a dinosaur. He even vows not to doubt Miss Daredevil at the end and is happy to see Miss Giggles okay

Fairies and Gnomes - even though he thinks it's silly that Mr. Nervous is scared of a garden gnome, he still "arrests" it to make him happy :)

Home Improvement - He doesn't do anything wrong, Mr. Stubborn is just a moron.

Birds - He doesn't do anything wrong, he was even nice enough to invite Mr. Nervous along for the birdwatching trip. He's totally justified in not giving a shit about Mr. Fussy because Mr. Fussy has been nothing bit horrible to him the entire show.

Parks - He does nothing wrong he just wanted a burger

Surprises - Refused to watch this one again, I just know hes a bitch

Wow, that's a lot. Anyways, as a proud Mr. Rude apologist, I conclude that he's an innocent man and doesn't deserve the shit he gets. I can get taking his drivers license though that man cannot drive for the life of him

#mr men #the mr men show #mr men and little miss #mr rude #anyways #mr fussy SUCKS #I LEGIT PULLED A REVERSE MR STUBBORN WITH HIM #HE USED TO BE MY FAVORITE BUT I JUST #CANT STAND HIM ANYMORE #fuck mr fussy #all my homies hate mr fussy

[survey--s]

150.

Which fictional character can you not stand?   Cinderella, lol. I remember always finding her a bit wet, but I suppose she’s a product of her “time” in that respect.

What was the one subject in school that frustrated you because you just couldn’t process it?   Maths. I could never quite grasp algebra or geometry and as a result I mostly tuned it out and ignored it. I don’t quite know how I managed a B.

What do you spend too much money on?   Scented candles/wax melts.

What’s the weirdest compliment you’ve ever gotten?   I honestly have no idea.

What is an occupation that you would like to do just for one day if you had the chance?   Working as head keeper at a zoo - ideally with big cats.

What do you think people have an unnecessary stick up their ass about?   A lot of things. People seem to be so easily offended these days,

What common advice do you think never works?   "Just give it time” - it’s just a platitude. Yes, time CAN help but generally you need to work and do things to try and improve your situation too, you can’t just sit and around and hope things get better.

What’s the best movie without a happy ending?   The Road doesn’t have a particularly happy ending.

What is something you think is actually better about today’s generation?   Hm, as a general rule people are more open-minded (especially when it comes to things like race and sexuality) BUT I’ve also noticed that anyone who doesn’t automatically agree with the current narrative gets shamed and slammed on social media which I think is horrendous and it’s really put me off some people as I don’t trust that they won’t turn on me and shame me if I disagree with them in the future.

What movies has a worse love story than Twilight?   I mean, most romantic films have pretty appalling storylines.

What seems obvious to you that doesn’t seem to be for other people?   That it’s okay to not want children. 

If your partner in the zombie apocalypse was the main character of the last movie you watched, would you survive?   I’m watching Lord of the Rings so I suspect most of the characters on there could be quite helpful if necessary, lol.

What’s the worst episode of your favorite TV show?   I’m not really a fan of any of the episodes of FRIENDS after Monica and Chandler get married, but I especially hate the one where Joey tries to learn French. He was NEVER that stupid in the early seasons. They ruined his character by “flanderising” him and it sucks.

You can pick two artists to do a song together, dead or alive, but they have to be from different genres. Who do you pick and why?   Hmm, I have no idea. Dolly Parton and Leonard Cohen maybe, just because they are SO different lol.

What is something you would never buy again, even if you were rich?   A terraced house.

What do you do regularly despite it being considered very unhealthy or unsafe?   Eat too much junk food.

What is something that most people find attractive in a person that you find unattractive?   I don’t really know. I don’t like man buns, hahah.

Do you ever use facial masks or scrubs?   Not really. I like the idea but they’re not something I’d ever actually do in practise, really. It just never crosses my mind.

What do you think of the recent trend of adult coloring books?   I mean, go for it if that’s what you like? I have a few of them but I haven’t really sat down and coloured anything since the first lockdown. Mike does adult paint by numbers which are pretty good too.

Which fictional character do you think you’d be great friends with?   Alice from Alice in Wonderland, and maybe also Luna Lovegood.

What would you do if you found out your toys came to life similar to Toy Story? I’d apologise for all the shit they’ve seen and put up with, ha.

Do you own any cook books? Nope.

Is there anything that you’d like to eat right now?   I’m not sure what I fancy to eat but I am kind of hungry at the moment.

What book are you currently reading?   I’m not reading anything at the moment.

What is something that you believe in, but aren’t very outspoken about?   I’m not very outspoken in general as it typically always leads to confrontation and that makes me really uncomfortable.

do you think weird it’s for someone to have never tried soda?   I mean, it’s a little bit weird to have NEVER had any kind of fizzy drink, yeah. I can understand not liking them but most people will have at least tried something, surely?

is there any foreign film you recommend?   Amelie.

do you have the same religious beliefs as your parents?   Well, in the sense that none of us are religious, yeah.

which floor of your house/building are you on now?   I’m on the ground floor.

are there any maps hanging in your room?   No. Mike has loads but they’re all folded up.

are you often a third wheel? or is someone a third wheel to you?   No, but then I don’t really socialise much unless I know i’ll be comfortable with the people there.

what’s the last dvd you bought?   I haven’t bought a DVD of any kind for years.

tell me about your favorite pair of jeans.   I have two pairs of skinny jeggings from George. One black and one blue. They just fit really nicely, wash well and are really comfortable too.

would you ride a motorcycle if given the chance? (or have you?)   I’ve been on the back of one but it wasn’t really for me.

is your hair healthy?   It’s better than it was. I really need to get rid of my split ends but I keep forgetting to sort it whenever I wash my hair.

if a hotel offered free breakfast in bed, what would you order?   Waffles with bacon, creme freche and maple syrup and a large coffee.

how often do you take a train?   I haven’t been on a train since about 2018. 

what’s your favorite led zeppelin song?   Stairway to Heaven is the only one I really know.

does your home have a balcony/deck/porch?   No, we have a back garden. I’d LOVE to live somewhere with a balcony though ideally overlooking the sea.

what does your closet/wardrobe say about you?   That I dress for comfort more than anything else.

do you enjoy theatre?   Yeah, definitely, though I’ve not been to see anything for years now.

how would you feel about traveling abroad alone?   I’ve done it before - it was scary but I had a great time. I’d do it again but I’d obviously prefer to go with my husband if that was a choice.

who would you call a lyrical genius?   Paul McCartney, George Harrison.

how do you treat yourself?   Buy wax melts, get the odd fancy coffee, take time off and say “no” occasionally.

do you have an interesting passport?   I don’t have a current passport, but everyone thought my Australian passports were interesting as they were full of stamps.

are you going to pursue a career according to what you enjoy?   I did, eventually.

what happens to your old clothes?   I donate them to charity.

what’s your favorite frozen treat?   Good quality ice-cream.

who supports you financially?   Mike and I support each other.

if you wanted to go to the movie cinema, how would you get there?   I’d have to drive. The nearest is about 25 miles away.

how many pillows are on your bed?   Four pillows, two cushions.

would you pay more for organic food?   I can’t afford to pay more for organic food. I’m really not convinced by any of the benefits, either.

have you ever had a crush on a sibling’s friend or a friend’s sibling?   Yeah.

do you prefer being awake after everyone goes to bed or before they get up?   I like getting up before everyone and having some time to myself so I can wake up in peace.

do you know much about feng shui? (do you use it?)   No and no.

how would you make friends in a quiet class?   I probably wouldn’t, in all honesty.

are you generally a quick learner? Yes.

what’s your favorite spot to read?   Either curled up in bed or outside in the sunshine.

did you know that buddha is not considered a god to buddhists?   Yes.

do you save tickets from movies, etc.?   Not anymore, no.

without looking him up, who was jim morrison?   The singer from The Doors.

when’s the last time your bedroom was painted/wallpapered?   We painted it about four years ago.

teach me something in another language. Cosa mangia? Means “what are you eating?” in Italian.

what type of music do you like and why?   All sorts and because it appeals to me, I guess?

if you randomly want to eat something in the house, do you eat it or wait?   Depends on my plans for the day.

who knows the most about you (besides yourself)?   Mike.

do you have a nervous habit? (e.g. biting nails, tapping feet, smoking)   I bite my nails sometimes and play with my hair a lot too.

how’s your favorite pro sports team doing lately?   I don’t have one of those.

would you be/are you a good role model to a younger sibling?   In some ways I think I would be, but not so much in others.

#survey #surveys

[writing-and-rolling]

My First and Last

Chapter One - Two - Three - Four

characters: NCT Dream x OC Characters

summary: Because of his idol training, Jihoo had to miss school. Luckily there's Jisoo, his twin sister, who can go in his stead. Hence, the crazy idea commenced. What will happen to the shy girl once she enter the exclusive school for boys?

genre : chaptered, romance, slice of life, highschool AU, gender bender AU

chapter word count : 3.2k words

It's almost a week and Jisoo would often spend time with Chenle and Jisung or other guys from her class. So far, so good. No one would know that she's just pretending since he's always copying Jisung's actions. 

That Friday when Jisoo woke up, her roommate was nowhere in sight. A usual scenario. Does he really wake up early? But the classes start at ten and it’s only seven. She badly wanted to introduce herself to his roommate so they can get along but he looks cold and unapproachable. The girl only sighed as she sat on her bed, what should she do now?

With her PE uniform, she went outside and decided to explore the school before she could eat breakfast. The school is somewhat large, bigger than the school she used to go to in middle school. And since it’s a boys' school, it’s understandable that the facilities were larger. She was actually amazed at how big the soccer field is, as well as the outdoor basketball court.

Going to one of the buildings, she was surprised to find out that there are music rooms and dance rooms. Her twin brother will really have the best of his life here, she just hoped that his training will end faster and he'll return early.

Faint music can be heard from one of the rooms by the hallway and she decided to take a peek, surprised to see the small space empty. To satisfy her curiosity, she went inside and was greeted by the smell of paint, eyeing the picture on the canvas as the main source of the sensation. It was a really lovely painting of a woman, someone obviously older and would pass off as a mom. "What are you doing here?" someone asked from outside which startled her, causing her to stumble forward and crashing on the canvas while splattering the paint all over the painting.

Jisoo was so scared at the moment, she just messed up someone's lovely painting because of her clumsiness. "I'm sorry," she mumbled as tears started forming from her eyes. "I'm really a big mess." she claimed, sitting on the floor and watching how the canvas absorbed the paint, completely ruining the painting.

The guy from earlier chuckled, then sat in front of her. "I'm supposed to throw that anyway. You did me a favor, honestly." Then he stopped when he noticed the tears flowing from her cheeks. "Why are you crying?" he panicked which made her look at him. She immediately recognized him as the guy who helped her before, the angelic vice president.

A surprised expression can be seen on his face and she knows that he recognizes her, maybe he'll think that she's a really big clumsy mess now. The guy in glasses laughed and she immediately noticed the snaggle tooth that made him cute in her eyes. "You are a walking disaster, aren't you?" And that was the worst thing that someone can say to her. "Is your ankle alright?"

She nodded and he smiled warmly, handing her a handkerchief. "For a guy, you are pretty sensitive." And she took that back, that was the worst comment ever. What would they think of Jihoo when he gets back? A wimp like her?

Jisoo hastily wiped away her tears, "I'm sorry." she claimed before leaving the vice president looking at her in surprise and the painting already soaked with paint. She decided to go back to her dorm room and change her uniform when she bumped into someone. Maybe that guy is right, she really is a walking disaster. "I'm sorry." And she realized how many times she had said that already, is this her normal day in school? Before the guy could say anything, she walked away as if nothing happened.

Mark was looking at the student who just bumped him, maybe a freshman. But why is he crying? It's only the first week of class, is it tiring to be here? He sighed, why do they even need to exert effort for themselves in this school? The guys cannot even get thrilled or motivated to study but what can he even do? "Renjun," he called, surprised to see the guy seated on the floor of the art room. "What are you doing on the floor?" He then noticed the painting with splattered paint on it. "What happened?" But the other just shook his head and he decided to let it go.

Mark was about to leave to check on other rooms when the guy called for him. "President, we should really hire a school nurse," Renjun claimed eyeing a red blot on the floor which obviously didn't come from the blue paint that was splattered on the floor. "Lee Haechan knows someone. I already asked the headmaster about it."

That took Mark's attention, Haechan knows a school nurse and it already reached his father? "Why didn't you inform me first?" he asked before running away that left Renjun surprised. Why is he suddenly reacting like that?

-----

Jisoo found herself in the schoolyard and felt pain in her arm. Checking on it, she saw a deep cut that surprised her. How did she get hurt like this? Her first instinct was to go to the clinic to get treated then remembered the vice president saying that there is no school nurse present. She just headed back to her dorm room and got something to wrap her cut. She found a lavender handkerchief on the desk and started wrapping her cut just as her phone rang with Jisung asking her for breakfast.

"Jihoo, what's that?" Jisung asked, pointing at the arm with the handkerchief wrapped on it but the other just shrugged. "Are you sure? Did you hurt yourself?" She honestly doesn't want to seem so clumsy, why is she always hurt like this? The tall guy just gave her a questioning look that made Chenle laugh.

"Is that your handkerchief?" the Chinese boy asked as they lined up for their breakfast. "It looks so girly." Jisoo wanted to laugh, look who's talking when his shirt is light pink and blue? But then, she wondered why she had this handkerchief. Didn't she pack just Jihoo's things and refrained from packing hers? Why is this light purple handkerchief on the desk?

The answer came to her when a tall guy with blonde hair glared at her and pulled her up. "Didn't your parents tell you not to touch someone else's things?" he asked then held her arm that made her wince in pain. A stain of blood started to become visible on the handkerchief that made the guy held her tighter, pressing for more blood flow. Jisoo cannot say anything now that she's in pain and her friends cannot even react since he's a sunbae, a scary one of that.

The guy pulled the handkerchief from her arm then pushed her forcefully that her injured arm bumped on the table. The boys were just looking at the guy who left and Jisung helped Jisoo stand up. "We should..." But her vision started to blur before she could hear Jisung's words.

----

The coffee shop has always been so busy now that a young man is helping her in serving the customers. It all started when he was forced to help her since it was a jam-packed afternoon. A certain group of girls posted on their social media about the hot new waiter in the coffee shop. Girls from the neighboring school came to check on the trending boy that made the shop as noisy as ever.

"That would be sixty won," Eunbyul claimed to the group of girls that were looking at Jeno who was pacing back and forth with drinks at hand. To her defense, he does look charming while smiling at the starstruck customers. The girls gave her the payment after squealing when the smiling Jeno looked their way that made the older shake her head.

Since break time from the said university is over, she knew that the busy stance of the restaurant would come to a close. It's not that she's tired but she's worried about Jeno who still had a bandage on his arm from the injury he had. "Are you tired?" the younger asked when he caught her tapping her legs because of a cramp while standing too long. She shook her head, asking him the same question while gazing at the bandage on his arm. "I'm fine. Surprisingly, it doesn't hurt that much."

A week of staying together, Jeno already found out that Eunbyul is preparing for her nursing certificate and just continued her parent's business of the coffee shop. He never told her his age or where he goes to school, just saying that he can take a break for as long as he can. She just nodded although disappointment can be seen in her features. He had also witnessed countless guys hitting on the girl, older and more mature than him, but she never laid eyes on them. Maybe he has a shot on this girl.

The chimes opened to the shop and as usual, the two looked at the person coming in that surprised Jeno. "Yah Lee Jeno!" The said guy only stared at the girl who looked curious then pulled his friend. "Are you really staying here? I've been looking all over for you." The guy just shook his head, calming his raging friend. "Is she taking you hostage? She can get to jail for making you work..."

"Na Jaemin!" Jeno shouted then breathed heavily. "Why are you in such a bad mood? Let's just talk outside." he said while pushing him out of the shop, surprising the older girl.

She's holding him hostage? So that kid might be rich. And if she's getting in jail for making him work, then he must be underage. What has she done? Maybe Haechan is right. She is so trusting.

From outside, she could see how his friend was dragging Jeno away from the shop even if he kept looking back. That would be better, at least he's going back even if it meant sales will decrease. At least now, she won't be scared of getting in jail for housing an underage guy.

------

"Are you that smitten over that girl?" Jaemin asked while literally dragging Jeno to school. "Mark had been on my back because he kept looking for you." That made the other guy pissed off. Why is Mark looking for him right now? Is it their dad's order again? "I didn't believe that you were working in that shop at first but everyone kept on tagging your social media so I needed to check." he nagged that made the other sigh, stopping on his tracks and staring longingly at the café he just left. Noticing this, Jaemin stopped as well and gave a breathy sigh at the new image presented by his bestfriend. "Yah, who are you and what have you done with Lee Jeno?"

"You know what?" Jeno asked which made the other look at him in surprise. "You're right." Jaemin had to smile at that. Does this mean that Jeno, his bestfriend, is indeed back for good? "We're still not late for dismissal, right?"

The two started making their way to school when Jeno caught sight of something from Jaemin's pocket, something girly. "What is that?" he asked, then pulled the handkerchief from him, revealing a red spot that surprised the guy. "Did you kill someone?"

Jaemin started shaking his head then stared at the reddish part of the handkerchief. Damn it, why did he ruin this? "Someone just used this handkerchief," he said while gritting his teeth. "It actually annoyed me." This made Jeno smirk, a new prospect to their ever growing list of people to bully.

When the duo went back to school, everyone's eyes were on them obviously scared to cross paths with them. Jeno smiled, this is the thrill he's looking for, not waiting tables just because of a pretty girl. But he can't seem to shake off her from his mind. Is he crazy? "Where's that new kid pissing you off?" he asked, making Jaemin surprised. Already? But he just got back to school.

From the end of the hallway, they can easily spot Mark. He looked like he's going outside. Maybe to see this girl he had been crushing at. "Pathetic loser," he mumbled under his breath. How can he keep liking the same girl for eight years without even making a move on her? And an older girl? His tutor? That's really pathetic.

But then, older girls are not that bad. Especially if they are really matured and sympathetic. Someone really pretty with a lovely smile. No, this is bad. Jeno thought. He's not crazy but he's having a crush. And on an older girl at that. But why doesn't it seem pathetic like Mark's?

-------

Jisoo woke up with the light blinding her, where is she? And what happened to her? “Hey, are you alright?” Haechan asked, making her nod, sitting up. There’s no one inside the clinic but the two of them and she looked at the part of her body that’s hurting, surprised to see hasty bandaging. “What happened to your arm? Do you know that if noona knows about this, we’ll both get killed?” he asked in worry that made her sigh. Maybe going to a boys’ school really is a bad idea.

“Mianhe oppa,” she whispered that made Haechan shake his head. “I guess I really don’t belong here. I hope Jihoo oppa can replace me now' she stated that made the other guy sigh. Of course, this is all his fault. They should have listened to their noona when she said that it was a bad idea. But here they are.

Haechan shook his head. “You’re doing fine, Jisoo.” he complimented. “Just know that guys are a little brute so a simple accident will cause really great harm,” he claimed then gazed at her wounded arm. “Should we go and see noona?” he asked which made her look at him in surprise. See her like this? The older will definitely have a fit. “She’ll know what to do about you.” Surprisingly, Jisoo nodded which made the older smile.

Honestly, she’s seeing Haechan in a new light. She’s used to having him as a cute guy with lots of aegyo in front of her Eunbyul unnie but with his standing at the boys’ school, as a junior student and her sunbae, he seemed rather matured like his sister. Maybe if Eunbyul can see him now, she’ll be proud of her little brother.

The first thing that Jisoo noticed going to the coffee shop is how she really managed everything. This was honestly her dream, to have a small coffee shop and instead of studying for college, she’ll just take care of it. Unlike Jihoo who liked the spotlight, she just wants to live a simple life. “Unnie,” she called seeing her by the counter. But instead of being happy to see her, the older one looked rather worried. Isn’t she happy to see her? When Eunbyul glanced at the left side of the shop, Jisoo realized why. The school council president.

Mark only sighed as he was seated beside Haechan, in front of the two girls who kept on bowing as an apology. Letting a girl enter the school is an insult to the academy enough but that only means that something is definitely wrong with the system. Then there’s Eunbyul who is more mature and knows the risks of these actions yet she lets them do what they want. “It’s just until Jihoo gets back from training that Jisoo is filling him in.” the oldest explained and again Mark sighed. So this is why she wanted to take care of him? And why he - she rather - was crying that time at the art room.

“You do know that if dad finds out about this…” he started then lightly glanced at Haechan. “Everyone involved will be kicked out.” Eunbyul nodded, knowing that even before. But what can she do? They're already here. She can't blow Jihoo's chances to get into a good school and be a trainee. “And that if Haechan and I keep an eye on Jisoo-shii all the time, it will just raise suspicion.” Again, she nodded. That was right. “So noona, you should really work at school now.”

Eunbyul blinked in surprise. Mark is right. That's the only thing she can do now. Earlier, he told her about his dad wanting to hire her as a school nurse but she refused since she’s not licensed yet but he assured her that it's only a temporary position. “Work at school?” Haechan asked which made Mark nod. The girl almost laughed at her brother’s face. He was the one who gave the idea to them so why is he so surprised now? “You can’t. Boys at our school are wolves. They’ll eat you alive.”

The older girl glanced at Jisoo, she can take care of her if she works at school. Besides, Mark said that it isn’t really a full-time job and that she can still go home. “It’s fine, Haechan. I’m already old, they can’t bother me.” But Haechan shook his head and Mark sighed. “Let’s fix your bandaging. she told Jisoo who followed her to the backroom of the shop. Haechan was just whining at Mark, telling him to stop his noona from making the worst mistake of her life.

In the end, it was still Eunbyul’s yearning to take care of Jisoo that won, making her brother pissed off. “Don’t come to me crying if something bad happens.” Haechan warned that made Eunbyul nod. Really? Who’s the older one here?

Haechan just walked away without a word and Jisoo apologized once again. She had never seen Haechan this angry and it was all because of her. Eunbyul just shook her head. “It’s fine, Haechan is just like that sometimes.”

Mark told Jisoo to get to her dorm room since curfew will begin soon which she easily complied to. He brought the older to the clinic and she checked the facility. “It’s been so long since we had a school nurse. They would rather resign or be terminated.” When she asked why Mark just smiled. “Getting in a relationship with a student.” And she nodded, understanding it clearly. “Noona, don’t be too nice to all of them. Be strict if you have to.” He told him the basic rules in the dormitory and she listened intently. “If a student here lays a finger at you, just tell me.”

Eunbyul giggled, this is a really different Mark Lee from way before. When did he grow up like this? “Neh, President.” she teased that made the other laugh. He said that he’s going first since he had council duties and she nodded, checking the bandages and ointments. “Mark, thank you for doing this. I’m really sorry for putting you in a difficult position.” she said sincerely that made him shake his head.

“Anything for you, noona.”

------

Mark was in a good mood that Jeno found it odd during dinner, did he get laid or something? “Did you get a new school nurse?” their dad asked and Mark smiled before nodding. Jeno smirked, so this guy likes the school nurse. Maybe it was the noona he had liked from before. Seriously, he looked disgusting smiling like that. Now, he made sure to piss him off.

#nct dream #nct dream x oc #nct dream fluff #nct dream chaptered #NCT Dream Scenarios #mark #mark chaptered #jeno #jeno chaptered #jaemin #jaemin chaptered #renjun #renjun chaptered #haechan #haechan chaptered #chenle #chenle chaptered #jisung #jisung chaptered

[joon-ipersgirl]

O5 - “the coveted client”

genre: mafia!au, angst, fluff, slow burn, mystery-thriller

pairing: namjoon x reader (f)

word count: 4.6k

warnings: cursing

summary: charismatic. beautiful. fearless without question. the ambitious team of seven young men in charge of spiral, downtown district's hottest new club, go above and beyond to provide 100% satisfaction to their clients.

after an eventful night out, you have no choice but to join the team for property damages greater than your intern salary. challenging a series of events that can no longer be left to coincidence, secrets threaten to burst at the seams as your professional and private life collide, and another - more sinister - debt is added to your total.

how far are you willing to go to pay back your pound of flesh? remember nothing is ever as it seems...

a/n: hello friends. here is part 5. leave a comment on how you're feeling about this story. i'm debating on discontinuing it from tumblr. thank you vi for reading as always. enjoy everyone :)

full masterlist // series masterlist // previous // next

Training tonight @ 6pm. Don’t be late. You read the incoming text with a grin. Even in text, Suga is straight to the point. Shoving your phone back into your pants pocket, you leave the small kitchenette and head back to your small desk with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. You can still remember the looks of horror on the boys’ faces after Suga announced your immediate hire and it’s been two weeks since then. Was it wrong to take pleasure in their discomfort? Probably. Would you stop? Never.

“Is that a smile I spy on Miss Y/N Y/L/N’s face? The Devil must be here to collect his wife,” Paul exclaims as you sit back down. You laugh and prop your chin on your hand as you stare at him over your desktop screen.

“Can a woman not just be happy, Paul? Why does it have to come at the expense of a man?” you ask, a fake feign of hurt in your voice.

“Of course women can. Just not you,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. You shake your head, your smile still present on your face. Paul would not ruin your good mood.

“Ouch. That one might have hurt if I actually gave a fuck about your opinion of me,” you say while reorganizing the folders Manager Kim had dropped onto your desk from the day before.

“Y/N! Language!” Laura chides as she walks into your cramped office space. You roll your eyes and flip through the countless papers on your desk to order them in order of priority.

It’s honestly a miracle that none of you manage to murder each other while you work though it’s crossed your mind several times. JM Events and Affairs is a lucrative event planning company, but apparently could not afford to at least place its clerks in a room larger than 500 sq ft. Being entry level is a struggle most days, but eventually it would all pay off and you would become a successful event planning guru. For now though, you’re stuck here with the imbeciles you had to call co-workers.

“Manager Kim wants to see us in her office,” James says as he pokes his head around the wall of the cubicle, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. “Now,” he emphasised. He doesn’t wait for you to follow.

Paul shoots you and Laura a raised brow of confusion as you grab your notepads and file down the long corridor to Manager Kim’s well decorated office. She’s an older woman who’s been in the business longer than you’ve been alive. She credits her success to always staying ahead of the trend even if she didn’t create it, though most times she did. Her style is impeccable and she is meticulous as she is jovial. She’s, quite simply, a genius.

James has already taken a seat in one of the two plush grey chairs in front of her large, industrial sized desk. Rows of colorful binders are organized on her desk - no doubt detailing the new events the company is planning on hosting. Manager Kim enjoys the arts and it’s evident from the variety of paintings that hang on the wall. Today, she’s dressed in a powder blue knit sweater that matches whatever shade of nail polish she wears tucked into a pair of belted, high waisted wide leg pants. Her matching steel toe boots peek from underneath.

“Ah, good. You’re all here,” she begins as she sits behind her desk. You gesture for Laura to take the other available seat as you stand behind James and Paul stands next to you.

“We have a new client considering the company for an event. He’s very important for future networking opportunities so I expect the very best work from you.” Manger Kim usually wasted no time getting straight to the point and today is no different. “In fact, I’ve been monitoring your work very closely because I knew a client like this would be coming very soon,” she stands from her desk, navy blue binder in hand.

“What kind of event is he planning on having?” James inquires, his pen ready to take notes.

“He didn’t give specific details, but I’m sure if we can book him for this minor event, he’ll give us the main one. I’m quite sure of it.” Manager Kim snaps the binder shut and smiles at you all. Her white blonde bob is immaculate, not a single strand out of place.

“Should we start drafting ideas now?” Laura asks.

“Yes, I need several drafts from each of you by 4pm this afternoon. Please have them -”

“Are we just supposed to forget about the other events we have coming up? This guy didn’t even give us any major details for effective planning!” Paul interrupts. Manager Kim turns to look at him.

“Well Paul, if this client is of no importance to you -” Paul tries to backtrack, but to no avail as Manager Kim continues on “- I will not need your drafts or your portfolio.” She beams at him and Paul blanches. You grimace.

“As I was saying. Please have your portfolios and 4 drafts submitted to me by 4pm today. They should be in priority order and include everything from food to colors, entertainment and venues. Remember, the customers knows best -”

“- but finesse, finesse, finesse,” you, Paul, James, and Laura finish. Manager Kim should have that framed and put on her wall.

“Lovely. Goodbye,” she waves no longer looking at you, already lost in her grueling event editing process. You knew better than to loiter and the four of you head back to your small workspace.

“You really fucked up there Paul,” you say as you sit down at your desk.

“Thanks, Y/N,” Paul deadpans. He drops his head quite heavily on his desk. Laura winces.

“It’s okay, Paul. Maybe you can still show her something and -” she starts.

“You know Manager Kim isn’t the forgiving kind,” James interrupts. “There’s nothing more he can do,” he finishes nonchalantly.

“I hate to agree -” you begin.

“No you don’t,” Paul cuts in.

“- but James is right. Manager Kim is all about quick thinking and Paul failed that test. He’ll have another time to redeem himself, but he has to sit this one out. You should be happy, Laura. Less competition,” you say with a shrug and flip open your notepad to start drafting.

“Do you even have an empathetic bone in your body, Y/N?!” Laura hisses as she walks over to rest a hand on Paul’s shoulder.

“Sometimes,” you reply. “But everyone has to eat and I refuse to go to sleep on an empty stomach.”

Laura looks disgusted at your answer and she goes back to consoling Paul. James had left the conversation a long time ago and you admired his ability to ignore almost everyone around him. His coldness and detachment made him ruthless in an unsuspecting way and you’d learned the hard way not to underestimate him. Laura would learn eventually that while people thought it was the strong who survived, it was really those who were able to adapt to any environment that really thrived.

It’s after lunch that you receive an email from Manager Kim requesting for you to meet her in the lobby in fifteen minutes without any further explanation. You ask no questions and sit in the lobby, counting the people that come out of the elevator that were not Manager Kim. It’s already 1:24 pm and you’ve just started your third draft. Creating on a time crunch with no real guidance is no walk in the park and you try to keep your frustrations under control as you run through possible color combinations for the event.

“Y/N! There you are! Let’s go,” Manager Kim calls as she exits the building without checking to see if you follow.

You scramble to grab your purse and notepad, scurrying across the lobby in the high heels she insists you wear. Manager Kim is already seated in a company car as you yank the passenger side door open and fall into the seat.

“Very good,” she says and wastes no time pulling into traffic. You awkwardly try to secure your seatbelt as she zips through the small spaces between cars. Gods protect you from this woman and her hazardous driving.

“Where are we going?” you ask after you manage to situate your purse, coat, and notepad in your lap comfortably.

“Downtown. We’re meeting with the client.”

“We?!” you repeat, surprised.

“That’s what I said isn’t it? We’re also late,” she says as she makes a sharp right turn onto Matthews St. You barely miss hitting a cyclist and you send up another small prayer for you to make it to your destination safely.

“What about the drafts and portfolios? Aren’t you going to review -”

“Did I say I wasn’t?” She glances over at you from the corner of her eye and you close your mouth. You would not fail this test.

Manager Kim pulls over into an impossibly tight space in front of a large corporate building that reads Hastings and Lewis. A well established law firm if you remember correctly. It has to be at least 14 stories high and exudes the architect’s vision of simple modern design with large windows and exposed steel structural support. You both exit the car and you align your steps with hers, your heels clicking in time against the marble flooring as you enter the building. You say good afternoon to the doorman who simply nods at you in greeting.

“Hello. How can I help you?” the receptionist asks behind the raised desk, her head barely visible.

“Yes, hello. My name is Madeline Kim. I have an appointment to speak with Mr. Cavallero at 2:15pm.” You glance at the clock behind the receptionist. 1:53pm. You bite your lip to hold your outburst. To be early is to be on time, you could hear her say.

The receptionist smiles and nods as she searches her computer for the appointment. “Yes, here it is. Please have a seat. Someone will come and get you shortly.”

Manager Kim nods and perches in one of the available seats. You shake your head as you take a seat next to her, ignoring the itching in your palm to pull out your notepad and finish your drafts. You can tell by the way Manager Kim is sitting, not scrolling through her various binders or the calendar on her phone, this is a formal interview and you would not be the one to fuck it up. There would be time to finish the drafts. You would make sure of it.

“Ms. Kim?” A young man in a sharp, black suit stands in the center of the room smiling at you. 2:05pm. Right on time. “If you could follow me this way, please.” He turns towards the golden elevators and you follow behind him. “My name is Lewis Carlisle and I am the assistant to Mr. Cavallero,” he tells you as he pushes the button for the 10th floor. He sticks his hand out for each of you to shake.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Carlisle. Thank you for having us. This is my assistant, Ms. Amani Jung.” A lie, but you go with it.

“A pleasure to meet you,” you say with a bright smile and a firm handshake. He returns a smile of his own.

The elevator doors open and you follow Mr. Carlisle through the open workspace plan. This is the kind of place that promoted collaboration and teamwork. How could it not when the light airy feeling made you want to turn to your neighbor and ask them what they thought about a particular problem? JM Events and Affairs should have hired their interior designer. Maybe some of their employees wouldn’t struggle as much to meet their deadlines.

“Mr. Cavellero unfortunately will not be able to meet with you in person today -” Manager Kim’s smile tightens at his words “- but he did relay all of his expectations for the company brunch,” Lewis says as he holds open the door to a small meeting room. It’s in the center of the floor and the walls are made of pure plexiglass. It screamed expensive.

“How wonderful,” Manager Kim comments as she sits down and sets her purse down on the ground.

“Would either of you like something to drink? Water? A Coke?”

“ A water with light ice will do, thank you,” she says.

“I’ll take a bottle of water, please,” you reply and sit down beside Madeline. You discreetly pull out your design notepad along with your actual note-taking pad. Lewis nods and promises to return quickly with your drinks as well as the file containing the event details.

“You seem upset,” you comment while scribbling down the words brunch and law firm onto a new blank sheet for your fourth and final draft, your brain already conjuring up ideas.

“What makes you think that?” she asks, turning to you slightly as she too sets up her own note-taking station.

“Your smile failed to meet your eyes,” you say nonchalantly. From the corner of your eye, you see her break into a grin as Lewis enters the room, a cup of water in one hand, a bottle in the other, and a slim manilla folder tucked underneath his arm.

“Thank you again, Mr. Carlisle,” Manager Kim says with another bright smile, her hand in his as they shake hands again.

“You’re very welcome. I’m sure Mr. Cavallero will love what you put together for brunch,” he replies.

The meeting seems to be a success and you’d gained some much needed insight for your fourth draft while being Madeline’s “assistant”. You’re no longer paying attention as you exit the meeting room and head back towards the main elevator, Madeline and Lewis making polite conversation. You run over all of your drafts as you check the time discreetly. It’s 3:20pm. You would still have enough time to review your plans and work on the others files Manager Kim had assigned. You grin in victory.

“Mr. Cavallero!” Lewis exclaims as the elevator doors open.

The man is an older gentleman with neatly groomed hair and warm brown eyes. His coal grey suit is neatly pressed, a sharp crease present in the center of his pant leg. Definitely high quality and only dry-cleaned. His smile displays a set of perfect of white teeth. As he steps out of the elevator, holding it open so it wouldn’t close, the Armani Exchange watch glitters under the artificial lights.

“Mr. Carlisle. I assume this must be our event coordinators. I’m sorry I couldn’t meet with you. An emergency meeting was called for a major case,” he apologizes.

“I understand, Mr. Cavallero. Things are sometimes out of our control. No need to explain,” Madeline says with a smile as she enters the elevator. You follow behind her. “Mr. Carlisle was quite capable. I will have Miss Y/L/N send over the final details for the event by Friday for your approval.”

Mr. Cavallero’s eyes shift over to you and he smiles. “I look forward to it. Enjoy the rest of your day, ladies.” He let the doors go as Lewis tells you goodbye, the doors closing off the last of his words.

Manager Kim’s shoulders visibly relax as you descend to the lobby, but you make no comment. Though their conversation was brief, something had clearly transpired between them. Madeline seems to have noticed you watching her as she inhales and fixes her posture. She was back to business.

“I assume I don’t have to tell you not to say anything about this meeting?” she asks as she nods her thanks to the doorman, your steps once more in sync as you exit the high rise building.

“What meeting?” You say with a grin as you wait for her to unlock the company car.

The heat of the staircase in Spiral welcomes you again like a familiar friend after not seeing them for a long time. There is still the hustle and bustle of vendors dropping off boxes as the final details of the new designs are being put into place. People couldn’t wait to see how Spiral had fared after the robbery - which you still didn’t believe was actually what happened - and it seems like Friday’s opening night couldn’t come soon enough. Even Paul and Laura were considering stopping by after all of the shit they talked before.

You enter the main space and glance around, looking for one of the boys. Your purse bag is heavy from the event files and you head over to set it on top of the bar while resting your aching feet. Paul, Laura, and James could not believe you’d managed to turn in your drafts and portfolio at exactly 3:57pm after being gone so long; they would eventually learn to not underestimate you. You glance around again and notice a group of people sitting in one of the newly upholstered booths quietly chatting to one another across the way. Were these the new employees?

“Already lounging on the first day of the job, Y/L/N?”

You look to your left as you shrug off your heavy overcoat and see Honcho coming around the bar, a pile of clothes in his hands.

“Of course not. I just wasn’t sure who to report to,” you say with a shrug.

“Well, you’re looking at him,” he replies with a grin. You have to stop your mouth from falling open. Of all people, it had to be him? “What? Are you disappointed?” he asks as he continues across the room to the small group. You grab your stuff and walk over after him.

“No, I just thought -”

“Thought it would be Suga? As much as you like to charge in and demand shit sweetheart, Suga is a very busy man and doesn’t have the time to appease you all the time. Sit,” he commands with a jerk of his head. You narrow your eyes at him, but obey. It’s only then that you notice the other five persons staring at you in confusion as you bickered. You swallow the urge to huff in annoyance as Honcho begins speaking.

“Thank you all for being on time. Congratulations on being hired. I’m Honcho and I’ll be your manager at Spiral. You’ll meet the rest of the guys later. These are your uniforms. We have a strict adherence uniform policy, so please do your best to be dressed in your proper attire. If you have long hair, it will be tied up or back in a bun or ponytail. Ladies, we ask that you wear red lipstick to match our colors. We’ve also given you options for bottoms: a skirt or pants.” Honcho holds up a pair of each for demonstration. “Whatever you decide to wear is up to you. We only ask that all your shoes are closed toed and we would prefer no sneakers; we’re trying to sell a vibe here. Any questions?” He doesn’t wait for anyone to speak up. “No? Great. If you could introduce yourselves to each other, that’d be fantastic.” He looks over to the boy on the other side of the booth.

“Uh, hi. My name is Micah. I’m 21 and recently graduated from college.” He tosses up a small wave before pushing his glasses further up his nose. He’s narrow shouldered and naturally blonde. Cute, if you will. They would chew him up and eat him alive if he continued to be so timid.

“Hey, I’m Luca. I’m 23 and a graduate student at Oberman.” Luca definitely fit the vibe Spiral os going for with his dark hair and dark eyes. He would have no problem wooing the numerous women who would walk through the door. A great business move in your opinion.

“Hey y’all, Savannah here. I’m 22 and working part time while in school.” Another blonde hair, blue-eyed coworker. How fun. The bubbles in champagne had nothing on her as she beams at the rest of you around the table.

“I’m Jack. I’m 24 and I guess I’m here to save up for a new car? Need some extra cash,” he finishes with a bashful grin. The girl next to you snorts. Jack is a big man with broad shoulders and you would assume he was hired as additional security based on his size. Imagine a man as big as him bringing over your strawberry mojito? Exactly.

“Giselle. 21. Law student. Loans have to pay themself off somehow right?” Luca laughs and Giselle smiles. Yuck. If you weren’t already sick of the office romance - if you could call it that - between Laura and Paul at JM, you were going to have to endure another one here? Gods be with you.

“Y/N Y/L/N. I’m 22 and an event planner,” you say nonchalantly and turn to Honcho, waiting for his next instructions.

“Not going to tell us the reason you’re here?” he smirks and you roll your eyes.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“I’d like a lot of things, Y/L/N. In fact, I can think of a few -”

“Gross,” you say, interrupting him, your face turned down in disgust. He laughs.

“Always think someone wants something from you, huh?” He shakes his head, still chuckling. “Everyone, go get changed and I’ll explain your duties to you once you get back.”

The six of you ease out of the booth, grabbing your uniforms as you head to the restrooms to get changed. As you follow Savannah and Giselle, you can’t help but scan the hallway for anything you could have missed as the memory of your second night here flashed across your mind. There had to be something that you were missing.

“I hope these uniforms are cute,” Giselle grumbles as she steps into an empty stall.

“I’m sure it’ll look great,” Savannah chirps.

You step into your own individual stall and drop your stuff on the floor. Slipping out of your heels, you step out of your slacks and tug off your blouse. You hold up the uniform shirt. It’s a plain black t-shirt with the letters in red spelling out Spiral in a spiral formation. The pants are made of a faux leather shiny material. They look tight and the sides have cut outs with strings laced in them from hip to ankle. The skirt is exactly the same. You sigh. This was really the vibe?

You dress quickly and tug on your Doc Martens. Honcho would have to wait for the lipstick. Exiting the stall, you see Savannah trying to adjust the strings on her pants while chewing her lip.

“Is it supposed to be this exposed?” she asks, checking herself out in the mirror.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Giselle says exiting the stall and tugging down the hem of her skirt.

“So much for equality in the workplace huh?” you say. The two of them laugh.

The three of you return to the main space, Micah, Luca, and Jack already back at the booth with Honcho. Their eyes widen when they see you.

“Looking good ladies,” Honcho calls with his traditional large grin. Of course he would comment.

“Yeah, yeah. What’s next?” Giselle asks as she wiggles her way back into the booth, trying to cover her modesty.

“We’re going to take a tour of the facilities, get you acquainted with the space, and fill out the last pieces of paperwork. We’ll also have you help with some of the decorations; don’t worry, you’re going to get paid for this session. Then, we’ll see you on Friday for your shifts,” he replies. “Alright, let’s go.”

Again, he doesn’t wait for you to follow. As you’re setting your belongings down to catch up with the rest of the group, you spot Jin heading towards the bar. Just the man who you needed to see.

“Are you coming Y/N?” Savannah calls to you as the group heads up to the second level.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there!” you lie, knowing damn well you’re going to ambush Jin. You pretend to search for something in your purse as you double-check the group is far enough on the second level to not notice you not following before you head over to Jin.

“Well hello Jin,” you say as you wiggle your way onto a bar stool.

“Y/N,” he says with a chuckle. “What can I do for you?”

“Just answer a few simple questions.” you smile as you rest your chin on your palm.

“Alright,” he replied skeptically.

“Where’d you move the body?” The bottle of Aperol nearly slips out of his grip as he turns to look at you.

“Excuse me?” There’s no laughter in his voice.

“The body of the man in the bathroom,” you clarify. “How’d you get it to disappear like that?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replies, busying himself with stocking up the bottles of alcohol under the shelf. He won’t meet your eyes. You know he’s lying; his body language says it all.

“Oh come on, Jin. You can tell me. It’s not like I’m going to go to the cops or anything,” you say nonchalantly. “Clearly they didn’t seem to care since they weren’t that thorough with their questions.”

“Y/N, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. You were concussed remember? Maybe you imagined whoever you’re talking about.” He glances up at you. You roll your eyes.

“Really Jin? You’re going to use the concussion line on me? You knew that I shot him; I told you that. I just want to know where you put him and why there were no reports of a missing man from the incident on the news at all,” you say with a shrug. He finally turns to face you.

“Maybe nobody reported him missing. Maybe he slipped out after you ducked behind the bar. What does it matter? Look, it was a traumatic night. For all of us. I don’t know anything about whatever or whoever you’re talking about. Hell, you probably don’t know either. Please, don’t make this working relationship anymore difficult for yourself than it already is. Just come in, keep your head down, and head out.” His hands are splayed out on the bar and the distance between you has closed significantly from when he’d started talking as he stares you down. “Worry about the things that concern you, like repaying your debt.” His tone is sharp and final. There’s no friendliness in his face either.

“Y/L/N! You’re not getting paid to sit on that pretty little ass of yours. Get up here now!” Honcho yelles down to you over the railing of the second floor balcony.

Ignoring Honcho, you cock your head and look at Jin again, thinking. “Okay Jin. Heard you loud and clear.”

You hop off the bar stool and adjust your skirt. You say nothing further as you head upstairs. It seems as though Jin would be of no help to you, but honestly, it didn’t matter. If it didn’t concern you, why was Jin lying about knowing what man you were talking about? Why had Suga tried to discreetly cover up that paper in his office the other day? What was really going on at Spiral? You’re determined to figure it, even if you have to work extra hours to do it. What happens in the dark must eventually come to light.

full masterlist // series masterlist // previous // next

joon-ipersgirl, 2020

#bts fanfiction #bts mafia au #namjoon x reader #namjoon fanfic #bts fanfic #fic: double entendre

[knightsandjedis]

Let the pettiness commence

Let me be frank here when stating that if the quarantine weren’t happening I would probably remain the type of blogger to just re-blog posts without commenting or making my own posts. I enjoy looking at things more than commenting what can I say? I should say thanks and welcome to all the followers I’ve gained these past few years. You all are awesome and hope you all are staying safe during these troublesome times!

Alright, I’m going from civil to petty here and I should forewarn you if you’re a fan of Sarah J. Maas and her novels you’ll prefer to stay away then listen to my rant. Just being polite and giving a heads up.

Listen, there are periods where atrocious books become a major part of trending pop culture. Eventually, the hype dies down and people can take a deep inhale of relief. Around the 2010s time-period, the hype was focused on Twilight books. No matter where you went you felt suffocated by the hyper-fixation people had on this series. I’ll be honest I was an avid Twilight lover for a period until I wised up and had to recognize these books are horrendous and having a bad influence on teens during my era. Teens were getting Aids from drinking each other’s blood literally, they were drinking someone’s blood literally. While they’re still popular main society’s attention has begun to wane.

Pop culture has an new interest in Sarah J. Maas’s series: Throne of Glass (ToG) and A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR). At one time I was part of the fan-base obsessed with her books. During a bleak period where every book I purchased ending up a dud despite strong premises; Maas’s first books, in both series, were a breath of fresh air. They had characters you found hysterical and enjoyed the story-lines (even though the storytelling was meh at times) and you couldn’t help anticipating future novels to see where the novels took these characters. Both series died for me at the books: Queen of Shadows and A Court of Mist and Fury.

These novels were my wake-up call to Maas’ manipulative storytelling patterns and her inconsistent characterizations. She completely morphs characters depending on the scenario. A noble, decent character is turned heinous to either add unnecessary drama or to make readers turn their affections towards another character Maas’ manipulates into becoming “the hero”- typically a love interest. Usually, the first-or second in TOG- love interests are noble characters with a few flaws but nothing to make readers despise them other than the fact they’re not the prettiest men in the series. Literally, readers adore the male characters that are otherworldly attractive than an average looking male who is humane and unproblematic. Problematic much? The message I’m receiving is you should fall in love with a pretty face rather than explore the person’s entire being (this includes past history, personality, characterization, etc).

People will say I’m petty because I’m annoyed Chaol and Tamlin did not remain the love interests. This is absolutely untrue. I’m annoyed Maas had to pull absolute garbage reasoning out of her ass to make the characters despicable.

Let’s start with Throne of Glass. Celaena (I refuse to call her Aelin because the name visually repulses me, it sounds like something Maas stole out of better high fantasy novels) realizes she doesn’t find Dorian compatible and finds Chaol more of an equal. Chaol has flaws but his main one seems to be he’s good-looking but only average in comparison to Dorian and Rowan- whose sex on legs apparently. Maas realizes people will deny Rowan as a love interest (after he gets into a punching match with Celaena) so she has to make Celaena despise Chaol and interact towards him with hostility despite her recognition Chaol had his reasoning's for certain events in previous novels. Then, Maas takes Chaol’s character, who is known for being awkward around women and loyal to a fault, and make him have one night stands, cheating on women, and apparently the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong because Celaena can’t own up she made mistakes. Nehemia also died to give Celaena that necessary push to go against the king but it’s entirely Chaol’s fault for Nehemia’s death since Celaena can do no wrong. Horseshit I say.

Dorian is not a match, Chaol is the bane of Celaena’s existence so Rowan is her champion. Gag. I actually liked Rowan in Heir of Fire but I found it repulsive how Celaena keeps throwing herself at him in Queen of Shadows and growing dependent on him. When she put him in a bath and started throwing her favorite shampoos in I found it to be the most awkward scene. It’s a moment someone with limited knowledge of sexual encounters would conjure up. “Let me give my love interest a bubble bath!” I’ve read these type of bath scenes in other novels but they’re more maturely done. Although I have to remember these books are written for teens. Then, they become mates. A contradicting setup because he had a mate in the past. But, no one is compatible unless they’re mates in Maas’ world. So, mates are stuck together and seem to have a servant/master relationship in certain portions of the stories. Yuck, just yuck.

Readers if you have to state someone is someone else’s mate so you’re aware they’re a thing then it’s probably not a healthy relationship since you’re staying they own that person in Maas’ world-building.

I’m going to stop while I’m ahead when writing about Rowan and Caelena because they repulse me. Buuuttt not to the same extent as Feyre and Rhysand. I absolutely despise these characters with every fiber of my being. This is one of the most unhealthiest relationships I’ve ever read. Before I jump into why they’re disgusting let me just say I love how everybody hopped on the Feyre adoration bandwagon only when she got into a relationship with Rhysand. Nobody liked her until she got.into.a.relationship.with.Rhysand. Wow!

Listen, I understand why Feyre couldn’t stay with Tamlin after what he did (ahem what Maas decided he should do). However contradictory Tamlin’s characterization was the relationship had turned unhealthy. Yetttt, no one batted an eye with Rhysand was giving Feyre date rape drugs, forcing her to give him lap dances making her sick when she came out of the haze, and her being entirely repulsed when he made-out with her. Plus, I read Rhysand as a gay or bi character when he was introduced. I think he would be a better character as a gay male seeking a friendship than their disgusting love story. He goes from giving her roofies and at least seeming like a morally gray character to Feyre’s champion. Yeah, not buying the bullshit.

I pity Tamlin’s character truly- he was butchered beyond recognition. He goes from allowing Feyre to wander to her heart’s extent- as long as she wasn’t in dangerous areas- to locking her up because he thought it made sense. He’s suddenly possessive of her in the most disgusting ways (but Rhysand isn’t possessive in the slightest even when he calls Feyre his “mate!”). All these details were added to make Rhys’ character more heroic. Rhys goes from being a somewhat tolerable character in his actions to a fucking messiah. Rhysand goes from roofie expert to whisking Feyre away for her own safety. Rhysand assists Feyre under the mountain unlike Tamlin! (Because the queen didn’t give a shit about Rhysand and he wasn’t under her radar to the extent as Tamlin). He loves reading stories with Feyre unlike Tamlin. (Hmm, Tamlin offers to teach Feyre to read which she stubbornly refuses because she’s independent but Rhysand forces her to learn and he’s romantic!). And gasp, Tamlin ended up being the one who murdered Rhysand’s family hence their animosity (hahahaha how desperate are you Maas, I mean seriously how pathetic). Feyre, just like Caelena, was forced into this relationship with another abuser painted as a hero in storytelling. Rhysand and Rowan are constructed into heroes to make their disgusting actions justifiable in comparison to Chaol and Tamlin’s ruined characters.

I’m mostly focused on the main relationships since that’s all I keep hearing about. Changing subjects briefly, Maas’ does not acknowledge PoC or LGBTQIA unless readers are pointing out lack of representation. If they’re introduced you’re guaranteed either they die to promote the white lead’s agenda or forced to become a villain. What kind of statement does that make, Maas???? Also, her world-building is beyond odd. Random characters get introduced in weird scenarios that she has to force into the story-line just for sprucing purposes (Manon and the 12 and the 12 princesses from Earth or whatever). Really, what were the purposes of these characters???? And these kingdoms are written so bad. One realm has everyone wearing Renaissance era clothing while the next realm has people dressing hipster I mean wtf?

The reason for my rant is that I needed to get it out of my system. Lately, I cannot get away from these garbage novels. I’m on my Kindle the books are recommended. I’m on Goodreads her books are recommended and keep winning Book of the Year despite better novels being on the same list. I go on Facebook someone mentions deciding to give the series a spin under quarantine. I’m on tumblr (if you’re a fan then that’s fine, enjoy what you love) and artwork keeps popping up. I love it’s typically Feyre giving Rhysand lap-dances in the earlier part of the series where she’s desolate and sicken by these moments. People are quite forgetful when they want to ignore something in order to make Rhysand babe. I wish I knew how to block anything Sarah J Maas on here because I’m trying to escape. I want to read other authors’ novels and not have Maas’ smug face pop up on my recommendation lists. (Her books are on every list on Goodreads- every freaking list!) Hopefully, when quarantine ends the hype will quiet again but I’m getting ticked off here.

Just had to get it off my chest. I’ll probably go back to quietly ignoring the recommendations and artwork but I’m having a moment here.

#anti sjm #anti rowaelin #anti feysand #these books are trash #please make them stop appearing #anti throne of glass #anti acomaf #anti acotar #anti everything Maas

[ick25]

Pokemon Designs I don’t like. Part 4.

Gen 4.

Oh boy, now we are entering dangerous territory. This is the Gen that made me lose faith in the franchise because of the new Pokemon designs. There are a lot of good ideas, but it looks like Game Freak was in a hurry because many of these designs could look better. I might have to split this into two.

As always, some dishonorable mentions.

Chimchar.

This is more on a personally level, I just find Chimpanzees creepy, and this cutesy design doesn’t change that. Design-wise, it’s okay, but I think they’re just pushing it with the flame tail since they already did that with the Charmander line. And the shadow it has on it’s eyes, is that mascara? Seems unnecessary.

Shinx evolution line.

Shinx has always look like a colorful mess to me, I like that it’s based on a lynx, but the cyan and yellow combo clashes a little, and the red nose doesn’t help either. Also, those stripes on their legs look like stockings. I’ll give the star tail a pass. 

Carnivine.

Its eyes. It could look somewhat decent if it didn’t have slowpoke eyes, or no eyes at all, like a piranha plant.

Always liked these guys.

Gallade.

I like its design and I’m glad male Gardevoirs have an alternative evolution, even though the shiny rock seems a little unfair, but my only problem here is that weird bump in its hips. Looks like he swallowed a watermelon whole.

Now, on with the list.

1. Monferno.

And I thought Chimchar looked bad, Monferno makes it even worse.

The blue and red face paint might hint that it is based on a mandrill, but it’s not well done because the blue disappears as soon as it evolves, so what was even the point? The Charmander tail makes it look like a bootleg fire starter. And there is not much of a difference from Chimchar, it just passes from a chimp to a monkey (Or mandrill).

3/10.

2. Starly evolutions.

Frankly, I’ve seen more creative bird designs. Starly is cute, but its evolutions could be a little more creative. The Taillow and Swellow from Gen 3 started a new trend of “Regional Birds”, but these designs are just boring. Staravia looks like a slightly bigger Starly and Staraptor came out of nowhere with an emo haircut.

4/10.

3. Bibarel.

Speaking of boring designs, Bidoof’s evolution is not much of a change, it has those silly eyes that just don’t work for me.

I was considering adding Bidoof to this list, but it is actually a little cute. Besides, not every day can you see the absolute perfection that is shiny Bidoof!

All hail Peanut Butter!

3/10

Perfect Bidoof: 100/100

4. Kricketune.

Kricketot is cute and has potential, I like the idea, but they ruined it with Kricketune. Its design is a combination of a cello and a cricket, but why does it have that mustache? They had a good thing going on but they found a way to ruin it, it’s just bad.

2/10.

5. Cranidos and Rampardos.

This idea could’ve work as a stand alone Pokemon if they just made a combination of these two designs. They’re based on the Pachycephalosaurus, also known as that weird skull bashing dinosaur. The evolution form is unnecessary, it’s like giving Aerodactyl a baby form just because. I feel they could’ve give Rampardos a better looking design, one that doesn’t look fat in the anime.

It could loose a few pounds.

6/10.

6. Bastiodon.

Shieldon is adorable, but then they ruined it with the evolution. Bastiodon looks like it crashed head first into a dump truck and got it stuck on its face. I know what they were going for here, but it just looks ugly and dumb. How does the poor thing even eat? Maybe that’s why it went extinct.

7. Burmy.

It’s a bagworm.

I thought they already played with that concept in gen 2 when they made Pineco, but there’s just nothing special about Burmy. Without the leaves, or whatever the female finds to cover its body, it’s just a generic worm.

1/10.

8. Pachirisu.

A sad attempt to make a Pikachu squirrel. Cute, but not enough, it reuses the idea of Pikachu’s electric cheeks we’ve seen in the past 3 gens, worst part is that they’re yellow which makes them stand out. It’s really obvious that they were trying to make a new kind of Pika clone, but it just doesn’t work. Maybe NOT making it an electric type would’ve been better.

4/10.

9. Floatzel.

Look at that smug on its face, it thinks it’s better than Buizel, but it’s not! Buizel has an interesting design, but this guy is a fatter Buizel with a life preserver, not very new.

5/10.

10. Ambipom.

AHHHHHHHHH! AIPOM, WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?!

It looks like somebody threw this monkey in a barrel full of radioactive wastes! 

I hate everything about this thing! That nose that makes it seem like its face got melted, that bowl cut with two popping hairs that looks stupid, those red tips on its hands. WHY?!

I’m glad they got rid of it in the anime because I can never stand to look at it for more than a second.

Gonna have to make a break here, there are still a lot of horrible designs in gen 4.

#pokemon #pokemon design #videogames #anime

[sonicringbond]

Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 31

New year new cour!

Hopefully the start doesn’t feel too slow. I have to establish the plot a bit as and current state of the world. and the survey I had going while writing this scene was last trending towards having more plot over anything else. So i have quite a bit that I hope will wet your appetite in...

    ~Things had changed quite a bit since I met back up with Sonic. I couldn’t have been happier to find Sonic out of all my friends though, because with Sonic I just know we’ll find all our friends and continue our Journey home. At least I hope so.

    ~Like I said, the world really changed a lot. That red lightning bolt-like crack in the sky which is like a window to another world is visible all the time. For all the mountain ranges, prairies, deserts, islands, and towns and cities I’ve run through with Sonic, it never goes away, just like that horrible little planet which is always watching me. I can hardly sleep at all because of it. It makes my skin crawl, and something about it even affects my cards. I haven’t been able to read a fortune or ask for advice for some time now.

    ~And I could use it too.

    ~Sonic was right in that I didn’t understand. The damage done by those mean old pirates was a lot worse than I imagined. And it was easy enough to learn about it as more and more people took up the life of traveling sightseers after the crack appeared in the sky and that dreadful planet stopped going away at night. Everyone is afraid the world is ending and getting really funny about it. Some people have started traveling, others have given themselves even more to their work, and then there are those affected by the pirates in the worst possible way.

    ~They hurt a lot of people, but this was even worse. They also inspired a lot of other people to become sky pirates and hurt people too. It was the worst possible outcome, even with the old owl beat. At least I think he is. Despite all the stories of all the new pirates flying through the skies on airships they likely stole from the Engineers, I haven’t heard one about that mean old owl who we couldn’t keep that last Red Star Ring From. But I like to think we beat him. Because if we didn’t, I can’t imagine what he is up to.~

    “Nothing! To think I thought the fool fox the greatest enemy of the Battle Kukku Armada. But no, it’s little wonder why that clown Eggman always challenged him. Allowing him to live Is certain to assure complete and utter failure!”

    Tossing his feathered hands up in defeat, Doctor Fukurokov fell to his knees and looked out at the ruined city he had been wandering for what felt an eternity now. The concrete structures and skyscrapers could never have been built with glass and steel as they were with the typical steam and Ring technology he was used to working with. The city was obviously ancient and from before technology had fallen to the point of early industrialism and steam craft. Yet for all the wonder that could have built such a city, there was nothing left of value and an ever-growing forest had made it its home. Should Doctor Fukurokov not find his way to actual civilization either however…

    “A pitiable state for a creature of the heavens.”

    The voice that addressed Doctor Fukurokov was new to his ears, but he both enjoyed the recognition of his status and hated it.

    “Choose your words wisely, whoever you are,” the old, mad owl warned as he rose to feet. Turning he was greeted to a sight most peculiar. A stone golem fashioned after the long extinct echidnas, painted white and garbed in flowing purple robes adorned with massive gear like decorations. In its right hand he held a staff with half a cog for a head. Held between the two halves a crystal rose spun and glowed purple in contrast to the golem’s glowing blue eyes. “A golem that speaks?”

    “Indeed, elder of the heavens. I was once known as Pir’Oth, a very long time ago. Now I am known simply as Ix the Ring Striker. How the order of the world has fallen. Evident surely in your pitiable state. Bested by meager dirt dwellers as an old friend of mine would say.”

    “I suppose this old friend of yours has business with the leader of the Battle Kukku Armada?” Doctor Fukurokov probed the intentions of the golem, Ix, with a question. He was not prepared for the laughter that met him in answer.

    “If my friend were so readily at hand, neither of us would be in this pathetic state we find ourselves in. No, the one who has business with you is me.”

    Giving his staff a twirl, Ix slammed it into the ground and several cracks tore through it like a spider web. From those cracks, Rings burst forth and with a wave of his staff Ix gathered them to a single point. With a flash they formed into a massive Ring that anyone could easily step through, and then he looked expectantly at Doctor Fukurokov. “What I desire from you is your knowledge and loyalty. With these two things I can assure your return to glory and your rightful place in the heavens.”

    “A bold claim from a man made of stone.”

    “Only this body,” Ix countered,

    “Come, if you desire the return of what is rightfully yours. I can show that this simple vessel is but a small part of what I am.”

    Stepping through the portal, Ix left Doctor Fukurokov to make up his mind. But Ring gates did not persist indefinitely, and that with but a staff, animated stone formed one that could be used by several people and persisted at all was a curiosity he could not resist. Nor was he one to waste an opportunity to leave his would be grave.

    On the other side of the portal however, he found an even greater forest awaited him. One so thick and lush that it was impossible to see the sky or daylight. It was only the glow of Ix’s staff and eyes that illuminated the darkness. Save bioluminescent lifeforms Doctor Fukurokov had no intention to interact with.

    “I don’t see how this is an improvement,” The old owl sneered only to be met with more laughter.

    “No, as an outsider of this abandoned world, I suppose you would not.” Turning and walking away Ix explained.

    “This forest, much like the prairie you must have passed through is a prison for myself. With the Red Star Ring relieved of its power, we can access it once more. And within, find me again.”

    “Your words make no sense golem.”

    “And yet you follow.”

    There was no argument from Doctor Fukurokov. He followed as he had no choice. His willingness was a desire to survive, and the clearing with the dismantled golems of wood that resembled almost comical puppets was a sight he felt defied that. Yet, true to Ix’s words, awaiting them there was Ix again. Though this Ix was made of carved and polished wood painted white with only his robes hiding his nature as a puppet.

    “Then I am not the first to wake.”

    “The second, Pir’Oth,” Ix answered his wooden double. “Only two Red Star Rings of five have been used. But I suspect from the state of the sky that we are fortuitous that you woke at all. We have enemies in this distant future that still know of us.”

    “And the flightling behind you?”

    “A gift for your waking and our steady restoration.”

    “A gift? Doctor Fukurokov balked and moved as though to retreat. But he knew he had no such options as he again watched Ix strike the ground and summon forth Rings. “Preposterous. Doctor Fukurokov is a gift to no one. I am the ruler of the skies and–!”

    “You are no ruler of the skies flightling,” the wood Pir’Oth spoke into Doctor Fukurokov’s ear from behind him. He had never even seen the movement and turned in stiff disbelief. “But I must know the state of the world.”

    Caught between the stone Ix and the wood Pir’Oth, Doctor Fukurokov could do nothing as both threw out a Ring towards him. One pointed with open hand and the other his staff, and caught between the sudden locked in place Rings, Doctor Fukurokov could only let out a shrill scream of terror before falling to the ground. Twitching as he lay helpless, a swirling cloud of golden motes of light settling into him and the two golems.

    There was a long silence though before at last one of the golems spoke, and the stone Ix was astonished. “This knowledge! The world beyond this abandoned husk! Who is this Eggman it houses! His creations…! Never… never have I witnessed such things. I must have this knowledge he possesses!”

    Pulling Doctor Fukurokov back to bis feet, the wood Ix glared into his stupefied eyes with his intensely glowing blue ones. “This Eggman, and this fox who can make use of his technology. Tell me flightling, where are they.”

    “Hehehehehe…Doctor Fukurokov laughed amused. “So, you saw inside my head and don’t even know that much. It would seem I am more useful to you than you thought. But the fool fox is mine. If you want that buffoon Eggman, you’ll have to find a way to the lands I hail from. But I doubt you can pull it off. Whether you leave the fox to me or just seek out a way to Eggman, you’ll have to face him. The scourge of all who desire power.”

    “Who?” Ix demanded to know. “I would know the champion who would challenge my ambitions.”

    “Hehehehehe… It’s so funny you don’t know.”

    “Who, flightling!”

    “Who else? Sonic the Hedgehog…”

Scene 31 · CLEARED And After That, to be continued

-----

And there we have it!

Though I’ll dash any hopes of Eggman appearing soon. He’s getting a lot of mention, but if you noticed, so is Tails. That survey I mentioned above had had tails listed as the go to character for Rosy to go after next, and as he has knowledge about Eggman’s machines and tech, it’s a nice little way to mention Eggman and set up that tails is in likely danger. but that is for another time.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to see you next time!

-----

Special Thanks to Cutegirlmayra Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song – Lumacie Archipelago: Mystic Woodland – Tsutomu Narita – Granblue Fantasy Original Soundtrack

Fair Use Disclaimer

Sonic the Hedgehog and all affiliated characters and logos are the express property and Copyright© of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS used without permission under Title 17 U.S.C Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 in which allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Fair use” is use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be considered copyright infringement. The Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey alternate universe (AU) consumer written work of fiction is a non-profit transformative work primarily for personal use and can and will be taken down without warning or prior notice at the request of the copyright holder(s) should it not be recognized under “fair use”.

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

Sonic Ring Bond AU and Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey are the creation of Joshua David Tarwater/ynymbus/sonicfanj/@Joshtarwater and is to be, including all contents herein considered for all legal purposes the property of the Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property (IP) and copyright owners, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. All story contributors via prompt, suggestion, written scene, art, and all and every other contribution acknowledge that all contributed material is forfeit for legal purposes to SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS upon official request from SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fan fiction #sonic au #sonic au series #sonic ring bond #the journey #classic amy #amy rose #rosy the rascal #au amy #amy redesign #doctor fukurokov #pir'oth ix

[sometimesrosy]

I keep wondering what it is about Bellarke that’s got me right by the lady balls. I think it’s b/c they resonate with every ‘epic’ love story/ship I’ve ever known. Buttercup/Wesley (Death cannot stop true love/that CPR scene). Jack/Rose (You jump, I jump/if I’m on that list, you’re on that list). Leia/Han (Princess/Rebel dynamic). Anne/Gilbert (the LONG and COMPLICATED love story; enemies/friends/lovers/soul mates). What makes *you* love them so much? What ‘epic’ couples do they remind you of?

I agree with you about that epic love story thing. And that’s a big draw for the romantics in us. I also agree with you about the parallels with the above couples. I see all of those, particularly Leia/Han, probably because of the sci fi-action connection so it’s not just a similar relationship, but also a similar STORY.

Bellarke has a TYPE of story that is not your typical modern love story, simply because of the tropes of the modern genre and trends, and yet, it harkens back to an older romantic trope, seen in some NON-romance genre love stories. Fantasy (Princess Bride,) Action-Disaster (Titanic,) Space Opera (Star Wars,) Children’s Novel or Bildungsroman (Anne of Green Gables.)

There are a couple of other shows that Bellarke reminds me of. And I’m saying shows, even though these have a novel and a fairy tale attached, because I think the creators deliberately are making call backs to the MOVIES of these stories. First of all, there’s Tangled. Rapunzel/Eugene. We got a play by play of a shot from that in season 3 and that is a DELIBERATE allusion to a fairy tale romance. He was out for his own goals and she was imprisoned in her own idealistic world. Clarke and Rapunzel paint on the walls. The fairy lights ceremony. The hair thing. Ha! Octavia would be the horse. lol. The plot doesn’t follow Rapunzel, but I think a lot of the imagery and symbolism does.

Then there’s Pride and Prejudice. 2005 to be specific. And I actually think the plot of P&P matches the plot of Bellarke. I first saw it, I think, with Hakeldama, which seems like the first marriage proposal to me. Where she rejects him. Now, Bellamy and Clarke seem to switch roles as Darcy and Elizabeth, but the other characters also seem to fit. If Wickham is Finn, who had a relationship with Clarke/Elizabeth, then Lydia is Raven, the “ruined” sister. Social ruin for Lydia, but physical damage for Raven. Georgiana is Octavia, who Bellamy is protecting. Lxa is actually Mr Collins, who could save the Bennets but marries Charlotte. Eliza goes away with Collins though to his home where she meets the powerful Lady DeBourgh. There’s actually a lot more that fits, from hand imagery, to their separations, to a family member declaring to one of them the depth of the others feelings (Madi/Debourgh) to a couple of shots of the sun shining through an embracing couple (finale s5 AND finale s6.) Yeah, I think the writers are deliberately using P&P 2005 as a template for Bellarke over the course of all 7 seasons.  And while we’re at it, lets add Odysseus and Penelope to that deliberate allusions. I’m not as familiar with it so it’s harder to break down, but it’s also hard to ignore the DELIBERATE references to the Odyssey and the Iliad.

I really do think that romance genre stories are a certain KIND of thing and we get used to the pacing and the rules, and we expect our romances to follow those rules and then when they don’t, we get frustrated, and I think that’s part of what the frustration the fandom feels is coming from. They AREN’T following the format the romance genre stories lay out. 

But except they DO. It’s just all tangled up with the other story elements (fantasy- check. action/disaster- check. space opera-check. bildungsroman-check.) And you know what? It might be frustrating to see that delay and lack of resolution, but it’s also THRILLING! You EXPECT one thing, and receive another, and if you care to look, that other thing was set up also. So it is also just as much the story as the romance the shippers were expecting. If you refuse to accept the other elements of the story and demand only the one you wanted, then I think we get the frustration. I don’t think that’s a failure of the story, the story still works, I think it’s a failure of the audience. It’s nice to say that the writers are beholden to the audience to give them what they want... but that’s actually a load of crock. The writers are beholden to THE STORY to fulfill the narrative they’ve set up, stay true to the characters and resolve audience expectations based on canon. Neither author nor audience is king. STORY IS KING. If the author fails the story, that’s their problem. If the AUDIENCE fails the story (like comic book fans saying comic books are not supposed to be political. what comic books were they reading?) then that’s their problem.

I actually LIKE that Bellarke, as a romance, has stayed true to its story-- a long term story that has been building for 7 years and refuses to go for the cheap and easy resolution. No, The 100 is not a romance genre story, so we can’t have the expectations of that... but BELLARKE is a romantic, soulmate, epic love story! It seems like a contradiction and I think that’s where the frustrations can really explode, as it goes on telling a sci fi action adventure tragedy all the while feeding us bits and pieces of the epic love story.... which makes us EXPECT the romance genre tropes. AND I LIKE THAT. It keeps me on the hook for more, and makes some of the darker elements of the story bearable, because there’s this underlying hope and beauty of true love underneath it all.

I mean. This show is TERRIBLE in all it’s pain and suffering and horror and loss, and YET underneath it is the deeply romantic concept that even though love does not always save the day, LOVE SAVES US. It saves our souls. It makes the struggle worthwhile. It gives us something to fight for and someone to fight with. We are NOT alone.

And to me, that makes it so much more beautiful. It’s not even just an epic romance, it is a profound statement of philosophy. I really enjoy the mythic and symbolic element of this show, also, making me feel as if it is MORE than just an action show, or even an epic, slow burn romance, but that the struggles and victories of Bellarke are actually attempting to say something bigger about the nature of humanity, through the genres of the story.

#the 100 #bellarke #epic love story #allusions #genres

[mydisenchantedeulogy]

Live a Little [Part 3] Why the Hell Not [Billy Hargrove]

Tag List: @speedmetalqueen​

“I have no sympathy for that dingus,” Robin suddenly says. Her tone is laced with disgust and jealousy.

You pucker a brow and direct your attention from your studies to the snarky teen beside you. “Who might that be?”

“Steve Harrington,” she snorts. Turning to sit with her legs on either side of the bench, she glares at said teen from her perch overlooking the football field – he is in fact sulking about, which strikes you as weird behavior, considering who he is.

Smiling gently towards your friend, you feel a tinge of pity for her. Even you don’t like Steve – reputation seems to be the only thing he cares about – but you also don’t dislike him as much as she does. The reason is not your concern, but you know Robin will tell you if she wants; you won’t pressure her.

She glances over at you a brief moment, sees your smile, and pokes her tongue out at you. “Not going to ask why?”

“Not interested,” you joke. A laugh escapes you as she swats at your arm.

Robin glares at you, but continues on, despite your joshing. “Nancy made a fool out of him at the party. Of course, you wouldn’t have known; you were deep kissing Goldie most of the night.”

It’s your turn to glare. “Again … thanks for that.”

“No problem,” she chirps. “Anyway … word spread that she broke up with him. Serves the dingus right; he looks so sad though.”

“Which doesn’t concern you?”

She nods briefly. “You get me. But speaking of relations. How awkward is it seeing Goldie flaunt his new date after what you two did?”

Honestly, you don’t care. Billy is free to do as he likes; you don’t belong to him and vice versa. Besides, what had happened between the two of you was strictly a one-time thing. So telling Robin that you don’t feel awkward at all is partially the truth. He catches your attention every now and then; curiosity sometimes consumes you.

Robin stares at you intensely, brow raised. It takes a minute to realize that she’s looking behind you and not directly at you.

“What is it?”

Instead of waiting for her to answer, you glance briefly to the left. What you see fills you with unease. Billy is hiking up the stands, coming towards you. Shooting a flustered look at Robin, you mouth a silent plea; she just smiles.

To be honest, you just assume he’s passing by – maybe even looking for his date. However, when his large shadow consumes you – blanketing your textbook – a feeling of doubt does too.

“G’ afternoon, ladies.”

You frown at this. His tone is the same as before; charming and deep. It makes you recall every little detail about that morning, the way he looked and the way his sheets smelt. You curl your fingers around the sharp, metal edges of the riser you’re sitting on and hope for a miracle; something to end your embarrassment.

It seems like today, however, life just wants you to suffer.

“Afternoon,” Robin greets. “What do we owe the pleasure?”

His laugh makes you take in a deep breath. “I came to make an offer to Kelly.”

Robin gives you a look; a look that you can only describe as thrill. Again you silently beg her – thankful that Billy can’t see your wide eyes.

But she ignores you.

“Straight to the point,” the witty blonde says. Standing to her feet, she brings her leg over the riser. “I have some stuff to take care of, so I’ll leave you two alone.”

Waving over her shoulder, Robin slowly moves away. You can’t believe she would do this to you. It irritates you, but you have much bigger problems to deal with right now.

Billy sits beside you – a little too close – but you don’t mind as much as you should. His scent is stimulating.

It stays silent for a few awkward minutes before you softly clear your throat.

“My name isn’t Kelly, it’s [Y/N].”

“Billy,” he introduces.

You nod. “I’ve heard. Max told me. To be honest, Robin – the blonde that just left us – and I have been calling you Goldie for the past week.”

You have no idea why you just said this – word vomit, you assume.

“That so? Because of my hair?”

You give him a nervous look. “Because of your license plate; it still says California. I wasn’t referring to your hair. Why in th––

Goldilocks

Billy leans forward and places his large hand over yours. His breath tickles your cheek as he speaks. “You’re cute.”

Heat spreads quickly across your face, but you hide it by turning your head. A few deep breaths later, you drive his hand from yours.

“You said something about an offer? What did you want to ask me?”

“I want to take you out,” he says.

You pucker a brow. “Take me out? For what reason?”

“There has to be a reason? I’ve been thinking about you; that’s a good enough one.”

A soft laugh escapes you. He’s tacky, but also very thoughtful. You shake your head in disbelief – loose curls slip into your face. “I suppose, but even if I wanted to, I can’t. Curfew at my house is eight – my father is strict with rules.”

Billy grunts. “Ever slipped out before?”

Again you shake your head; this time to say no. He continues.

“I’m willing to bargain with you, because I know you’re going to have a good time with me, so let me take you out for milkshakes after school; my treat.”

It’s a tempting offer. You think about turning him down, because he is seeing someone else, but ice cream sounds perfect right about now. A gentle smile charms your face. His piercing blue eyes fill with excitement as you nod in agreement.

You don’t quite know what his intentions are, or why he thinks you are interesting enough to be considered as one of his girls, but you also don’t care right now. You figure all will be revealed in due time. Might as well go along for the ride. You deserve it.

--

Being spoiled by a blue eyed rebel has some perks; one being his obvious good looks. The next, his car.

As you follow him from the school, he leads you to his teal Camaro. You are in awe; it’s gorgeous.

“I know; you like.” Billy leans against the door and gives you a pleased look.

“Looks fast,” you state. Excitement fills you. Nothing like this had ever happened to you before.

Billy laughs. His tone drops quickly, sounding fuller than tight as he calls you over to him. Hesitant at first, you adjust your work books from one arm to the other, then do as he asks. He tilts up your head and leans in close – panic fills you.

“You want a ride?”

The first thing that pops into your head is the first thing that you say. “Please.”

His eyes widen, and for a moment you think you may have said the wrong thing, but a gentle smile raises his lips, and you realize he likes your answer; a little too much.

Before this moment can escalate, however, a voice breaks it up. You peak over the blonde’s shoulder and smile, seeing Max near the passenger door.

She gives you a look of disbelief. “What are you doing?”

“Billy offered to take me to the soda shop. Are you going too?”

“No, she’s going to the arcade. I’ll pick her up later,” Billy says. He moves you by the waist and out of the way so he can pull open the door, ordering you to get in.

Again you do as he says, clambering into the passenger seat after Max moves into the back. The leather seats are warm against your back and rear, but you honestly don’t mind. Excitement is fueling you; a need to see how fast this baby can really go.

You happily get what you want once Billy starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot. On the main road, he steps on the gas and lets her soar across the blacktop. It’s wonderful – the wind in your hair and the vibration of the engine rattling your bones – but also pretty terrifying. A car like this is too much for you, but for someone like Billy – excited by the aspect of danger – it is perfect.

He is perfect. What am I thinking?

A deep frown sullies your face as you for a brief moment catch him staring at you. It’s strange, because never have you been attracted to his type before. Guys like him are scoundrels. He is worse than Steve Harrington, treating girls like trends. Just look at how he is treating his date. This week his interest lies with you; next week it may be different.

You try to enjoy the ride while you can, and lean back in the seat as Billy slows the Camaro within the town limits. He pulls around the square like he’s done this millions of times before and swings into the parking lot of the arcade. You wait until the car is idle before you let Max out.

She doesn’t say anything as she passes by you, but she does nod. You wonder if for some reason she is afraid to speak to you with Billy around; it’s absurd, but makes sense. You get back into the car once she enters the building. Something about Max drives you to want better for her.

She said it back at the arcade the day you gave her money. She and Billy did not have a close relationship.

It’s sad, but also none of your business.

A hand on your bare leg brings you to reality. You shoot a nervous look to Billy and move his hand away.

“You promised me a milkshake. Let’s start there,” you say with a frown.

Billy nods. “That I did. Remember though … I also promised you a good time.”

“It remains to be seen.”

He fakes like he’s upset and starts the car up again. You aren’t sure, but you think he’s starting to grow on you.

--

“Vanilla, or strawberry? You look like a vanilla type of girl.”

You snort. “Why is that?”

“Because, who doesn’t love vanilla? It’s plain, but it’s good; damn good.”

Crossing your arms beneath your chest, you pucker a brow. You and Billy stand beside the Camaro outside the soda shop. Neither of you seem to know what you want. Well … you know what he wants – if his comment is any indication.

“Are we still talking about ice cream?”

Billy does the same. “Yeah. Wait … what are you talking about?”

“Vanilla is fine,” you say with a roll of your eyes.

He nods and pats the hood of his Camaro. “Get comfortable. I’ll be right back.”

“On the hood?”

You don’t want to ruin his car with your ass. What if you scratch the paint? Before you can reason with him, Billy lifts you up and gently sits you down. This takes you off guard; a cute squeak leaves your mouth – the blond laughs.

He quickly leaves you there and walks up to the front window. You wait patiently, almost certain that your face is red with embarrassment.

When he returns, Billy hands you a blue and white striped cup with a straw. You thank him and drink from it. The ice cream is so smooth, you don’t have to suck so hard to get the cold treat through. This would be embarrassing to witness. Oh the comments.

Billy doesn’t make a move to sit beside you, but he leans against the side of his car. His arm is pressed against your leg; a gesture you don’t seem to mind.

“Like that?”

You give him a nod. “You ask all the girls out here?”

“This place has good discounts for regulars,” he jokes.

Flicking his tongue over his bottom lip, he smiles up at you. “Actually, you are the first.”

“I’m honored.” You somehow doubt this.

Billy turns and slides his hand up your leg. His fingers are cold from the cup he’s holding. This brings goosepimples to you skin.

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” he says with a smile. An unexpected look crosses his face. “Be my girl.”

You nearly choke. “Are you serious? You barely know me. Why make such a bold move?”

“Like I said earlier, I’ve been thinking about you,” he answers.

You roll up your eyes. He doesn’t get it. His genitals are thinking for him instead of his brain. “That girl you took to bed was not me. I never planned to jump your bones. It just sort of happened.”

“So your not easy; that’s fine. If it had just been about sex, I could have settled with the last girl I was with,” he explains. His eyes are so pretty up this close. “Give me a week. Be my girl and if you decide you want to stay, then we can make something of it.”

Is he serious? You have no idea what to say. It would be stupid to agree.

“Can I walk away at any time?”

He nods and pushes himself between your legs. “Anytime you want.”

A sigh leaves your lips. Before you give it to much thought, you agree with a nod. What the hell. Why not? It can’t possibly go beyond the allotted time.

Billy leans up and kisses your lips; you hesitantly kiss back. What can go wrong?

#billy hargove x reader #stranger things #maxine mayfield #robin buckley #romance

[aizshamaf]

WHY AM I NOT GOOD ENOUGH?

Great, you woke up. Well;

1. Take a shower, you don’t want to smell.

2. Pick out an outfit that will fit in with the latest trends and won’t make you the laughing stock of the school more than you already are.

3. Put on some makeup so you actually look pretty and you can show your face in public.

You can’t even recognize yourself, and your face tingles with an itch you can’t relieve, otherwise you will have ruined the meticulous painting you applied to your hideous face.

4. Don’t forget to style your hair in elegant curls; you can’t let the people at school see how your hair frizzes up naturally like an electrocuted monkey.

5. Shove your fat feet into your toe-pinching, blood-blistering Converse shoes, because everyone at school is wearing them and you CAN’T be the odd one out.

As you gaze into your bathroom mirror, you see a stranger, that somehow stole your reflection, and replaced it with a completely different girl.

Every part of your outfit is uncomfortable. But even though you spent hours trying to look pretty, you’ll never be as good as those other girls at school.

You are really holding back a few tears, but you feel like you are holding back a tsunami of emotions that you can’t let anyone know that you feel because they may not respect you the same way–or did they ever?

Why am I not good enough?

Beauty is pain.

6. Get off the bus.

7. Find a group of people you can walk with to class, because heaven knows you can’t just walk alone.

But you don’t even like these people. They make dirty jokes and cuss a lot. They laugh and joke about you.

You know you shouldn’t hang out with them, but hey, they are popular, and you just want people to like you like they like them.

You are in the stocks, as people throw judging tomatoes and hating heads of lettuce at your insecure little head.

You cannot stand up for yourself, because you are alone, trapped, and defenseless. And you cannot stand up for yourself, because these popular kids are the royalty of the school, and what they say and do goes.

You take each comment, each judgement, each assumption, each opinion, each strange look, each remark, each criticism, each review, each report, each assessment, and with it your self-esteem plummets like a sinking ship–down, down, down, to the dark and dreary depths below.

You look at all of the other girls; your mind racing a mile a minute. I wish I had her hair. I wish I had her eyes. I wish I had her perfect teeth. I wish I was as skinny as her. I wish I had her social confidence. I wish that as many boys that like her liked me.

Why am I not good enough?

Well, life isn’t fair.

8. Get your work done.

The only part of your life that seems to be solvable is actual school work.

You take pride in your work, because it is possibly the only thing special about you.

You do it to see the radiant smiles on your teacher’s faces as they applaud your work. Their joyful praise is the gentle rain that brings a magnificent rainbow, the sunshine that brings forth fields of sweet daisies, and one of the only things that brings you happiness.

But, it is not popular to be smart. In fact, you are seen as a nerd, too smart, human calculator, brainiac, robot, geek, computer girl, know-it-all, teacher’s pet, suck up, and any other wonderful names you can think of.

Your peers’ jealousy is the pollution that prevents a rainbow, and the bulldozer that plows through the once golden fields of daisies, the intangible object that crushes your happiness like a bug.

A’s are getting you nothing but torment.

Why am I not good enough?

Just get over it.

9. It’s the end of the day, get ready for bed.

10. Undress, get your pajamas on. “Wow, did I get fatter today?”

11. Undo your hairdo. “Man, my hair looks like a mop.”

12. Wash off all of your makeup. “I can’t even look at myself.”

This is my life everyday. I can’t help it.

I’ve been told you can’t compare apples and oranges.

I’ve been told that I am distorted.

I’ve been told that I need to be grateful for who I am.

But going through your middle school years, you are in charge of your own journey to find yourself on a small jet, and sometimes you can’t control what happens to you–the turbulence will throw you off-course.

But, popular isn’t always a good thing.

You tell yourself, “I just want people to like me; I just want to be accepted.”

But skipping meals and marking up your wrist isn’t going to fix that.

You look at other girls and wish you could be like them, but other girls are looking at you and wishing they were you.

Society infers that girls have to have skinny waists, tan skin, long silky hair, perfectly straight and white teeth, big butts, and etc.

Society claims that girls have to wear lots of makeup to be pretty.

Society claims that girls have to wear skanky clothing and do inappropriate things to be happy as well as “cool.”

But society is wrong. You are loved. You are precious. You are beautiful. You are talented. You are capable. You are deserving of respect. You can eat that meal. You are 1 in 7 billion.

And most of all, you are good enough.

#poetry #poem

[emdythewriter]

Scars of our lives | chapter one (acotar)

A/N: I feel like I’ve been posting a lot of new fics lately and you guys are probably getting annoyed and just want me to update new chapters of the ones already posted (which will happen) but I wrote this in one sitting and am super proud of it and couldn’t want to share so here you go!

Summary: all three Archeron sisters are now business owners, which brings about some new faces. Every thing starts out perfect but life likes to throw a curve ball or two. Things are about to get a little complicated but whose to say the sisters have never dealt with complicated before, after all it only helps to find who you truly are, scars and all.

“Shit,” Feyre cursed as she tripped over an unpacked box, almost breaking the bottle of liquor in her hands. She was a few days away from the grand opening of her bar, Stars Eternal and nothing could go wrong.

“Are you okay?” Elain asked from where she was unpacking boxes of glasses. Both Nesta and Elain had come to help her out on their days off, and Feyre was eternally grateful. Both of her sisters had their own businesses to run and most of their time was devoted to maintaining the success they had found. Nesta owned a bookstore a few doors down and on the other side of the road. It was the first Archeron business to open and soon another Evening With Words location would appear on the other side of town.

Elain had a bakery directly across from the bookstore called Floral Desserts. The theme of the bakery was that everything was decorated with flowers and her sister had found beautiful and creative ways to make that work. Due to the uniqueness of her craft the business was increasingly popular over the summer during the wedding season, which they were in the midst of currently.

“I’m fine just missed the box at my feet,” Feyre answered her sister. With that she went back to unloading to copious amounts of beer, liquor, and wine she had ordered to supply her bar. Nesta carried thrings to the back storage room as Feyre filled up the shelves and storage cabinets behind the bar.

Everything was coming together and there was a buzz in the air as she anticipated the opening in a few short days. For years she had dreamed of having her own place, of having some accomplishment to call her own, and here it was. Feyre couldn’t help but smile for the millionth time that day at the joy of finally doing something she wanted. After the years of helping her father pay the bills, barely passing high school with the right grades. After being forced into going to college for two years, then dropping out and being considered a disappointment. She felt happy, truly happy. It was a wondrous feeling.

“You smile anymore and you’ll be stuck like that,” Nesta said as she came out of the back storage. She had a broom and dustpan in one hand and was rolling a garbage can in the other.

“As opposed to a permanent frown like yours?” Feyre teased with a satisfied smirk on her face. Her oldest sister had always been especially hard on her. She would get on her for staying up all night and falling asleep in class, though it was because she was too busy keeping their family under a roof during the day. Nesta didn’t talk to her for months after she left college, saying that she was tarnishing their mother’s memory. Eventually they found common ground after their experiences with their exes came to light.

“You aren’t starting a fight are you?” Elain asked coming over to join her sisters. She dumped an arm full of tape from opening boxes into the waiting trashcan before looking between her younger and older sister. As the middle child she was the barrier between the two hot headed women. Though she wasn’t always happy being the voice of reason it was worth it in the end to keep her family together. Even more so now that their father had passed away a few short months ago.

“Don’t worry Lainey we’re just teasing,” Feyre said as she wrapped an arm around her sister’s shoulders, hugging her close. All three of them turned to take in the space, from the long bar at the center of the floor, to the booths placed along the walls of the building, and the wide open dance floor all around them. It was a quirky layout but it was everything Feyre had ever imagined.

“I hope you're not regretting this decision because I don’t think there’s any going back now,” Nesta said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Despite the tough love in her words Feyre could sense that her sister was proud of her. Knowing it and feeling it are two different things and Feyre smiled again as she felt it.

“Nope,” Feyre said as she released her sister and turned to grab her stuff behind the bar. “In fact I think it’s time to get some food and celebrate.”

“Anyone else in the mood for chinese?” Elain asked as the three Archeron sisters walked out of the bar. Feyre turned to lock it up as her sisters discussed food options.

“I think that sounds perfect,” she said grabbing both her sister’s hands and heading down the street to order chinese at their favorite restaurant. The whole way Feyre found herself unable to stop smiling.

___

“Come on Cassian we’re getting impatient!”

“We? I think it’s just you Rhysand!” It was true Azriel was perfectly content waiting another hour for their brother, but Rhys wanted to get out of this apartment. He wanted to go out and get a little drunk and maybe find a girl to take home later. None of that was going to happen though if Cassian didn’t hurry up and get his ass out of his room.

“How long does it take to pick out a shirt that will end up ruined anyways?” Rhys called back. His brother had a habit of being a messy drunk, meaning the alcohol ended up all over him but somehow he still managed a hangover the next morning.

“Who says I’m looking for a shirt!” Cassian called back. This time both Rhys and Azriel rolled their eyes at their brother. For some unknown reason Cassian had always decided to act like a girl before going out, meaning he took a whole century to get his hair right before getting dressed in five minutes.

“Just put it in a bun if you don’t know what to do. That’s what you do most days anyways,” Azriel pointed out as he typed on his phone. For the past few days Rhys had noticed he was doing that more often, getting sucked in by his phone.

“When we get there I’m ripping that phone out of your hands, skin and all,” Rhys said to his brother just before they finally heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Both of their heads turned as Cassian entered the living room they had been waiting in for the last half hour. He had on an old pair of ripped jeans he always but on after a day at the office. His shirt was gray with a list of characters from The Office listed. The outfit was completed with a pair of boots he wore everywhere and would to his job if he didn’t work at a corporate office. Cassian had chosen to keep his hair down, the dark waves falling to his shoulders, and a grin plastered on his face.

“You ever going to tell us who the girl is?” he asked Azriel with a teasing smirk.

“Yeah,” his brother answered standing up and smoothing out his black shirt. “The day you stop taking as long as my sister to get dressed.” Azriel sent the same teasing smirk back to Cassian but his was more so done in satisfaction.

“I hate you,” Cassian said as he glared at the back of his brother’s head.

“No you don’t,” Az responded as he led the trio out of the apartment and onto the busy streets of Velaris. The city was always crowded and bustling with people but the night life changed the tone. Now instead of hustling and stressed pedestrians trying to get from one place to the other, it was happy and joyful. These were the people that lived and breathed the city of starlight, the people Rhys had grown up loving all his life.

Being the son of the former mayor was not easy, most of the time Rhys hated it in fact. Then he started going to charity events with his mother, helping people and he saw why his father remained in office for so long. Despite not being the best father he was an amazing mayor to the citizens of his city. Most people expected Rhys to take up the mantle after his father passed, but he went the route his mother had led him on. He started his non-profit charity where he made millions every year for five different programs and issues he was passionate about. Rhys lived off the money in his trust fund thanks to the long legacy of his family and remained CEO of hotel business that was passed down by his father’s family. These days however, his sister, Kingsley, ran the business while Rhys assisted when she asked for it.

Cassian actually worked for the business, overseeing the construction of new locations around the world. In a few weeks he would be travelling to Scotland to begin work on their first bed & breakfast which seemed like a popular trend in Europe. Azriel on the other hand was Rhys’s right hand man at the non-profit while also working out of the family owned garage he was raised in.

“What is this place called again?” Azriel asked as they round the corner of their street. Earlier that week Rhys had heard from an employee about a new bar opening up tonight. It was already getting a lot of buzz and had only just opened an hour ago.

“Stars Eternal,” Rhys said having remembered the name because of its uniqueness.

“Whoever the owner is must really like Velaris,” Cassian commented as they followed Az. Rhys chuckled at the comment having thought the same thing the first time he heard the name.

“That only makes it better,” Rhys told his brother. A couple more blocks and the trio were met with a line of people waiting to get into the bar. He took in the sight, a flashing violet sign with the name, a neon sign reading “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere”, and bright red double doors held open by two bodyguards checking IDs. The color didn’t match the black painted brick building, either of the neon signs, or what Rhys could see of the inside. Yet it matched it perfectly.

“Think we’ll be getting in tonight?” Azriel asked as he took in the line of people that kept growing.

“Of course we are,” Rhys said as he laid an arm over each of his brother’s shoulders. “You’re with me.” That being said he dragged the two up to the entrance, a resting satisfied smirk on his lips.

___

Nesta was in a corner booth with Elain as they watched their younger sister work. Feyre was flawless in her movements, as if she hadn’t just opened the bar not even two hours ago. She felt a mix of emotions as she watched, the first being proud. She knew Feyre had wanted something to call her own all her life and now she had it. Despite that overwhelming feeling Nesta also felt worried. She didn’t want her sister’s dream to crash and burn though based on the crowd it seems like that wouldn’t be happening for a while. That worry led to fear of what Feyre would do if her business failed. She would always have a place with Elain and herself if need be, but her younger sister had never spoke of a back up plan to this bar.

“Stop thinking so much you’ll make those frowns more permanent,” Elain said breaking Nesta out of her trance. She looked over to her younger sister who had her own expression of worry on her face. She knew Elain and Feyre both believed she thought too much, but Nesta couldn’t help how her brain was wired.

“I’ll always worry about both of you,” Nesta said looking at her sister, straight into those brown eyes. “That’s my job,” she turned back to watch Feyre, who was currently mixing a drink and talking to a customer.

“She won’t fail you know,” Elain said knowing that was exactly what was on her sister’s mind. “She’s an Archeron and not likely to give up even when she hits a roadblock.” Nesta knew that was true, hell she had hit her own bumps in the road and overcame them.

“Doesn’t make me worry less,” Nesta said. She stood up to go to the bathroom before Elain could see another word, which she knew she would based on how her lips started to part. She sighed as she watched Nesta go, wishing there was something or someone in Nesta’s life that would break down the walls her sisters never could.

She was heading for the back exit when someone bumped into her, someone with a fresh drink based off the sticky liquid that was flowing down her shirt. Nesta gasped at the contact while the other person swore under their breath.

“Shit I’m sorry,” a deep voice said before setting the rest of his drink on a nearby table. Her blouse would be stained if she didn’t get home soon to clean it. Feyre had warned her against wearing it but Nesta had wanted to prove nothing would happen to it. She should’ve listened to her sister.

“It’s fine,” she said stopping the man from reaching out with paper towels she hadn’t even seen him get. Looking up she met a pair of hazel eyes belonging to a tan and fit man. His hair was down to his shoulder in black waves, that looked blue when the light hit him right. His shirt had a cast of characters she didn’t recognize listed and his jeans were adorned with holes, the hem tucked into an old and worn pair of boots.

“I really am sorry. Someone knocked my shoulder and I lost my balance,” he said for all the world sounding like he had just run over her cat.

“Seriously it’s fine I might be able to get the stain out,” Nesta explained as she took the paper towels from his still outstretched hands. Those hands were big she noticed as they rested against his sides, so large they would swallow her frail ones. She had a feeling they were covered in calluses, he looked like a man that wouldn’t mind living off the land. If a zombie apocalypse ever came she would want to be at this stranger’s side.

“I’m Cassian,” he introduced after a beat or two of silence. He stuck out a large hand again for her to shake, and just as Nesta had suspected it swallowed her own.

“Nesta,” She didn’t know why she was still standing her talking to him. It was something she never did, talk to strangers. She hated repeating introductions, it was something Elain enjoyed though Nesta never puzzled out why. Despite her distaste for new people she felt a pull to him, and a weight in her shoes keeping her in front of him, and some unknown confidence forcing her to keep a conversation.

“Well Nesta sorry about the spill,” he gestured to the front of her blouse. “I can let you borrow my jacket if you plan on staying longer.” Nesta wasn’t planning on staying longer, in fact she was about to leave before his drink found her skin.

“That would be great. I’d hate to run out on my sister during her grand opening.” She was rambling, Nesta never rambled. Something had possessed her, a demon who found pleasure in making her talk to Cassian. The same Cassian that was now taking the leather jacket off his back and resting it on her shoulders. She slipped her arms into the sleeves being overcome by warmth and a woodsy outdoor scent that matched this man perfectly.

“Your sister is the owner?” He asked sounding surprised. Nesta hoped it wasn’t at the fact a woman was operating this bar, it would ruin him completely and she didn’t want that.

“That’s surprising?” Nesta asked giving him a look that said he better be honest with her or he might lose a body part.

“I guess I wasn’t expecting you to be related to the bartender,” Cassian said pointing over his shoulder in the direction of where Feyre was standing. She looked over her shoulder and found her sister chatting the ear off of the same customer Nesta had seen her talking to before she left Elain alone.

“Most people don’t until they see our eyes,” she answered, thinking of how the blue-grey coloring was her last connection to both her mother and little sister.

“Can’t really tell with the lack of lighting,” Cassian answered waving his hand up at the ceiling where there was a limited number in lights.

“It is a bar, what else would you expect?” Nesta found herself teasing him, another thing she rarely did even with her sisters. Cassian chuckled, and it was a deep sound she never thought she could want to hear again.

“Very true,” he smiled at her and Nesta smiled back.

“I should go before my shirt is permanently stuck to my body.”

“Yeah you probably are getting uncomfortable.”

“I do have beer all over my chest and it’s not for pleasure.” Nesta didn’t know why she made the comment but it was too late to take it back now. Cassian’s eyes lit up with mischief though she doubted he would make a move unless he knew she truly wanted that.

“You’re into that kind of stuff?” he sounded intrigued by the idea rather than appalled. Nesta’s nippled hardened within her bra, the place between her legs tingling.

“You’ll never know,” she shrugged with a teasing smile. Nesta wanted him to know. She wanted to drag Cassian out of this bar and to her apartment where he could lick the beer off her body, and then other things too.

“Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to say that to a guy?” he teased back and she actually laughed, laughed. She hadn’t done that freely in she didn’t even know how long anymore.

“Who said I didn’t like playing hard to get too.” she was on a roll but it was time to wind it all down and go home so she could strip out of her clothes herself. Though Nesta had a feeling she would imagine her hands as his when she did so. “I’m going to say goodbye to my sisters and then head out.”

“I’ll walk you home,” Cassian offered. He wasn’t ready to leave her side almost as much as Nesta wasn’t ready to leave his. She should say no but she knew that wasn’t on the menu for the night.

“Wait here I shouldn’t be long.” He nodded and she headed to the booth where she had left Elain. She was talking to some guy with long red hair, smiling happily. Nesta had never seen the guy before and was immediately put on edge as she approached the duo.

“Nesta, you’re back!” Elain said as she smiled up at her older sister. “Where’d you get the jacket?” she frowned as she noticed the new piece of clothing Nesta had acquired.

“Doesn’t matter,” she shrugged the question off and her sister seemed to accept it by the way her shoulders dropped. “I just had a drink spilled on me but it’s no big deal. Anyway I’m headed home so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Elain nodded. “Good night Nesta,” she added as her sister began to turn away. Nesta looked back to return the sentiment but Elain had already turned back to the man next to her. She could only hope the night continued to go well for her.

“Feyre!” Nesta shouted to the new bartender pulling her away from the man she had been talking to most of the night. Nesta looked at him as his gaze turned to her. His eyes were violet, almost matching the color of the building’s sign. His hair had a blur or purple tint to it, but was pure darkness besides that. His skin was the same tone as Cassian’s, maybe slightly lighter but Nesta couldn’t tell in the dark.

“What’s up,” her sister said as she came to the side of the bar Nesta stood at. She was washing a glass with a wet rag. She watched Feyre for a moment before shaking her head and meeting the eyes that matched her own.

“I’m heading out,” she said pointing to the back door where she noticed Cassian stood by still waiting for her. “The hulking body over there spilled his drink on me and now wants to walk me home as an apology.” For some reason Nesta felt more comfortable sharing this with Feyre rather than Elain, maybe because she knew her youngest sister was more experienced with men than the other.

“That also where you got the jacket?” Feyre asked looking from Cassian to her sister with a smirk on her face. She wiggled her eyebrows at Nesta as she set the glass back on a shelf at her feet.

“Yes,” Nesta didn’t see the point in hiding that fact after she had shared everything else with her sister. Feyre smiled brighter, a smile Nesta had never seen directed at her, especially coming from her youngest sister.

“Well good for you sis.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” the male towards the end of the bar chuckled drawing both the Archeron’s attention to him.

“Might want to tell my brother that,” he pointed to Cassian. “I think I can see his boner from here.” He took a sip of his drink with a smile that was really more of a suggestive smirk.

“He’s your brother?” Nesta asked incredulously. “You look nothing alike.”

“Not by blood,” the new stranger explained. “We grew up together along with another one of my friends who seems to have disappeared on me again.” The man turned on his stool looking around the bar, or what he could see of it at least. “Anyone seen a dashing fellow with his face glued to his phone?”

“‘Dashing fellow’?” Feyre questioned using air quotation marks as she said the phrase.

“I’ve been watching a lot of period dramas in my spare time,” he sighed as he turned back to the bar, taking another drink.

“Try reading them when you’re done,” Nesta told him.

“I’ll get a personal list from you.”

“Nesta,” she told him without a second thought. He gave her a quizzical look in response not yet understanding her meaning. “If I’m going to be giving you book recommendations in the future you should know my name.”

“In that case I’m Rhysand, Rhys for short.” He stuck out his hand for her to shake. She noticed his hand didn’t swallow hers as much as Cassian’s had and she kind of hated that it didn’t.

“I should get going,” Nesta said as she pulled her hand back. “The beer is really starting to stick and I’m beyond uncomfortable,” both Feyre and Rhys laughed at that. “Nice to meet you Rhys. Good night Feyre.”

“Try not to wake up your neighbors!” Feyre called out as she walked away. Without turning back Nesta flipped her sister off causing an uproar of laughter from both Feyre and Rhys. she shook her head as she headed for the back door where Cassian waited.

“Ready?” Cassian asked holding an arm out for her. She took and they began their journey without another word.

“I met your brother,” Nesta said as their feet met the sidewalk and the door to the bar closed behind them. “Rhys.”

“I’m sorry about that too,” she laughed at the joke smiling at him.

“Can I tell you something?” Nesta asked as her laughter died down.

“Sure.”

“I’m not usually comfortable with strangers,” she began. “Yet for some reason with you I am. It’s like I met you before.”

“You could have,” Cassian shrugged after a moment. “In another life that is.”

“You believe in that?”

“You don’t?”

“I suppose you might have a point.” Nesta smiled up at him and Cassian smiled down at her. The smiles didn’t disappear the whole way to here apartment, nor when they said good night and he headed home alone. They didn’t fade as both of them wrapped up in their beds and fell into a peaceful slumber.

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