#availing text loans

[a-pop-of-korean]

One-Page Masterlist

안녕하세요! Hey everyone! I recently got an ask about my old masterlist, which is the same as my broken-down masterlist except it has all of my lessons on one page, rather than on multiple separate posts. Some may find this expanded version easier to navigate, so I’ll keep this up for y’all! My broken-up masterlist, of course, will still be available for those who find that more helpful :)

Hangul Lessons

Consonants

Vowels

Writing/Reading Korean Syllables

Some 받침 Rules

Diphthongs

Stroke Order

Some More 받침 Rules

Irregular Verbs

The Basics

Common Phrases

Numbers

Sino-Korean vs. Native Korean Numbers (Instagram Post)

Sentence Structure and Particles

Present-Tense Conjugations and Formal Language

Adjectives

Questions

Honorifics and Casual Language

Beginner

Negative Sentences

잘 and 못

Past Tense

Future Tense (-ㄹ / 을 것이다)

-ㄹ / 을 까요? (Shall we…? / I wonder…?)

-(으)세요 (Giving Commands / Asking Questions)

Telling Time

-고 싶다 (I want to…)

How to Say “And”

-지만 (However)

아/어/여서 (So…)

Negative Commands

Spacing (띄어쓰기)

Adverbs

ㅂ Irregular

Comparatives and Superlatives

난, 날, & 내가

Upper-Beginner

 -(으)면 (If…)

아/어/여도 (Even though…/Even if…)

(으)면 되다 / 아/어/여도 되다 (I can…/You may…)

-아/어도 되다: Asking for and Giving Permission (Instagram post)

-(으)면 되다 & -(으)면 안 되다 (Instagram post)

아/어/여야 되다 and 아/어/여야 하다(Have to / Should)

Present Progressive (-고 있다)

How to Say “Or”

-아/어/여하다

All About 중

How to Use -(으)로

Before & After

-ㄴ/은 채로

Intermediate

Describing Nouns with Verbs (-는 것)

Describing Nouns with Verbs - Past & Future Tense (-ㄴ/은 / -ㄹ/을 것)

Nominalization

것 같다 (I think… / It seems…)

-러 가다 / -러 오다

-(으)려고 (In order to…)

-기로 하다 (to Decide to do Smth)

척하다 (To Pretend)

-게 되다 

-군요 / -구나

아/어/여 보다 (to try…)

-은/ㄴ 적 있다 / 없다 (I have / have not)

-ㄹ/을 게요 (Future Tense)

겠다 

-ㄹ/을 수 있다/없다 (I can / cannot)

-ㄹ/을 때 (When…)

-ㄴ/는다면 (If)

-(으)면서 and -(으)며

-(으)니까 (Because / So)

-아/어/여주다

-(ㄴ/는)다 (Narrative Form)

Quoting

Let’s…

Quoting continued

(으)ㄹ래요? (Wanna…?)

-죠

-대로

More Quoting - 대 & 래

잘하다 & 못하다 vs. 잘 하다 & 못 하다 

-아/어 가지고

-(으)려면

-는 길에 & -는 길이다

-(으)면 vs. -ㄴ/는다면 (Instagram Post)

-았/었을 것이다

-느라고

-는 데(에)

-ㄹ/을 뻔하다

Upper-Intermediate

-ㄴ/는데

-(으)ㄴ/는지 (Whether or not)

-(이)라는…

All About 아무리

-잖아요

Expressing Surprise

-시 (Honorific)

Making Comparisons

-아/어/여지다

I might…

So that…/To the point where…

Causative Verbs

시키다

Passive Verbs (part 1)

Passive Verbs (part 2)

-ㄴ/은가 보다 & -나 보다 (I guess…)

-ㄹ/을수록

Other Meanings of 싶다

-자마자 & -는 대로(As soon as…)

-긴 하다

-치고

-김에

차라리 (Rather)

-(으)ㅁ Nominalization

-기는 무슨 & -기는 개뿔

-고 보니까

-듯(이)

버리다

-(으)면 좋겠다 & -(으)면 하다

-길 바라다

Advanced

-거든(요)

-줄 알다/모르다

-ㄹ/을 테니까 and -ㄹ/을 텐데

-았/었던

아니라 and 대신에

-ㄹ/을 리가 없다

편이다, 별로, and More

-지 그렇다 (Why don’t you…?)

-ㄹ/을 걸

-ㄹ/을 까 보다

-다면서요

-다니 part 1 

-다니 part 2

뜻이다 & 말이다

-다가

-더라고(요)

-더니

Some colloquialisms: 아니시에이팅 and 뭐 이렇게

-(으)ㅁ Sentence Ending

 -다 보니까

What does 따위 mean?

-ㄴ/는데도

Korean Idioms

Vocabulary

Must-Know People

Must-Know Places

Must-Know Things

Must-Know Verbs

Must-Know Adjectives

Countries

Months, Days of the Week, and More

Clothing (옷)

School (학교)

Autumn (가을)

Autumn (w/Pictures!)

More Questions

House / Apartment (집 / 아파트)

Emotions / Feelings ( 감정)

Animals (동물)

Loan / Konglish Words

Food and Drink (먹을 것과 마실 것)

Parts of the Body (몸)

Counters

Modes of Transportation (교통 수단)

Colors (색깔)

Colors (with Pictures!)

Weather (날씨)

Winter (겨울)

Music & Instruments (음악과 악기)

Baking Gingerbread Cookies

Emergency (비상)

Hygiene & Bathroom (위생 & 화장실)

Indefinite Pronouns

Work / Office (일 / 사무실)

Spring (봄)

Coronavirus Prevention (코로나바이러스 방역)

How to Wash Your Hands (손을 씻기)

Time (시간)

Korean Cuisine (한식)

Summer (여름)

Summer (여름) w/Pictures!

Graduation (졸업)

Identity (독자성)

Korean Text Slang

Similar Words

Makeup w/Pictures! (화장품)

Family (with Pictures!)

Pronouns

How to Say “Still” and “Already” in Korean

Tastes & Textures (맛과 질감)

K-Pop Audition

K-Pop Fandom Terminology

Different Ways to Say “Change”

Flower Names

What Does 원래 Mean?

What does 오히려 Mean?

College

Hanja Lessons

최

수

악

식

급

동

부 & 불

애

출

퇴

예

음

중

학

습

연

생

대

입

인

문

감

과 

원

특 

만

후 

무

Charts

Present, Past, and Future Tense

Question Words

잘 vs. 못 and Negative Conjugations 

Future Tenses 

-았/었던 vs. -던 (at end of lesson)

Particles

Some 받침 Rules

Gifving Commands

Conjunctions and -아/어/여서 vs. -(으)니까

-(으)면 vs. -다/라면 and Different Ways to Say “And”

How to Say “Or” (at end of lesson)

Telling Time (at end of lesson)

Comparatives and Superlatives

잘하다 & 못하다 vs. 잘 하다 & 못 하다 (at end of lesson)

Comparing 잘하다/못하다, 잘 하다/못 하다, & 수 있다/수 없다

Irregular Verbs

Pop Quizzes

Level 1

K-Pop Breakdowns

TXT - “Cat & Dog”

Twice - “Feel Special”

Enhypen - “Fever”

2NE1 - “Go Away”

Lee Hi - “Only”

“기억을 걷는 시간 (Time Spent Walking Through Memories)”

KCM - “An Old Love Story (흑백사진)”

Taeyeon - “Can’t Control Myself”

Epik High - “Lost One”

Colde - “A Song Nobody Knows”

IU - “My Sea”

Enhypen - “Polaroid Love”

유라 (youra) - “하양 (RAL 9002)″

BTS - “Ddaeng”

Stray Kids - “For You”

Woozie - “어떤 미래 (What Kind of Future)

TXT - “Eternally”

LOONA - “Heart Attack”

Stray Kids - “Muddy Water”

LOONA - “Girl Front”

Pentagon - “Daisy”

BTS - “Sea”

Semester in SK

Nami Island (남이섬)

Things to Buy at Daiso

Shopping Phrases

Ordering Coffee

Signs in Korea

Ordering at a Restaurant

Riding the Seoul Subway

Things at the 편의점

Korean Curse Words

Etiquette in South Korea

Drinking Culture

Hanja in Real Life

Holidays in South Korea

Korean Cuisine

Concert Ticketing in South Korea

K-pop Comebacks in Korea

Summer in South Korea

What I Learned

#korean #korean language #hangul #korean grammar #korean vocab #korean vocabulary #learn korean #learning korean #langblr #Korean langblr #masterlist #apok #apopofkorean #study korean #studying korean #kpop #kpop lyrics #basic korean #beginner korean #intermediate korean #advanced korean #hanja #한국어 #한글 #한자 #한국어 공부하기 #한국어 배우기 #한국어 문법 #한국어 어휘 #초급 한국어

[talkdutchtome]

Glitch- chapter one

pairing . . . max verstappen x reader / mason mount x reader )

summary . . . when mason mount finds out that his assistant has been harbouring feelings for him for years, he makes it clear he doesn't feel the same way. but once he sees her become closer with formula 1 world champion max verstappen, he realises he may have underestimated his feelings towards the girl he has now pushed into the arms of another )

genre . . . angst )

song . . . glitch- taylor swift )

warning . . . tbd )

series masterlist . . . available here )

a/n . . .i wanted to thank everyone for the amazing feedback i got on my teaser. i hope the first chapter isn't too much of a let down after how long i made you all wait, i promise the wait for the next chapter won't be as long. also max will be in the next chapter )

Y/N was completely and unequivocally in love, the kind of love that made you feel like you were 14 years old in your room crying to Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’, the kind of love that hurt more than it felt good. When she moved to London, desperate to get out of her sleepy town in the English countryside, and applied for a job to be the personal assistant to somebody who was then a relatively unknown professional footballer; she could have never imagined that this is where she’d be 5 years later. Y/N had joined Mason Mount’s team just as he had joined Derby County on lone and due to the fact that the man had just moved to a brand-new city away from all of his friends and family, the pair quickly bonded and developed a relationship that became more than one of an employer and his employee; they actually became friends. So, when Mason moved back to Chelsea at the end of his loan and they gave him the chance to upgrade to an assistant with much more experience working with premier league football players, he turned it down; likewise, when Y/N was scouted by another footballer who was offering more money and better hours, she also turned it down. They were happy. They were friends, maybe even best friends. Why then did Y/N consistently feel like something was missing? For months she couldn’t put her finger on it, couldn’t understand why she wasn’t completely happy, it wasn’t until one day when they were sat having one of their infamous movie nights that she understood what it was she was feeling. Despite Mason living in a penthouse apartment in the middle of London worth millions of pounds, their movie nights always took place at her flat, a much smaller one-bedroom place in, to put it bluntly, a much rougher area of the city. They would sit together on her sofa and put on a movie, (usually a cheesy late 90’s to early 2000’s romcom). And one day, she found herself watching Mason rather than the movie; she watched him watching the movie intently, giggling at the funny bits, tearing up at the sad bits, and she realized that she loved him.  

Every so often she thought that she should maybe put some space between herself and the footballer, to try and move on from her feelings for him, but then he would do something that would reel her back in, something that would make her think that maybe she had a chance. He would fall asleep cuddling her on the couch, he would dance a little bit too close to her at a party, he would seek her out after winning a big game and hug her so tightly she couldn’t breathe. But then she would overhear him telling Ben and Reece about his latest conquest or she would get a text message from him 15 minutes before he was due to come to hers for a movie night cancelling because he had a date. To put it plainly, she simply just did not know where she stood with her best friend. Despite sometimes feeling like there could be a chance of more between them, she never said a thing to Mason, valuing their friendship too much to risk it; so instead she just went about her life, following her best friend and the man she loved around the country, always hiding how she truly felt, or attempting too at least. There had been a few times when she was spending time with Mason and his friends, that one of them would catch her looking at Mason. There was one time when Ben actually asked her about it, asked if there was anything going on between the two friends, she had told him that there wasn’t, of course, but she could tell from his facial expression that he didn’t believe her. Truth be told, a lot of their mutual friends were worried about the two of them. 

So, when Mason and Y/N walked into the club together despite living in completely different areas of the city, Ben and Reece exchanged a look, wondering how their teammate could be so clueless. The rest of the night they watched the way the pair interacted; they watched the way that Y/N would look up at Mason with such love in her eyes whilst Mason looked at her like he would look at any other friend. They were caught between a rock and a hard place, they wanted to tell Mason what they knew so that he could stop leading her on, but they didn’t want to betray Y/N by telling her secret. Even though she was Mason’s friend more than anyone else's, they both really liked her and wanted to protect her from the hurt that her situation with Mason would inevitably bring. But when they caught sight of Mason sat with his arm thrown around the shoulders of the girl, periodically leaning in and whispering in her ear, they knew that they needed to saw something; and when Y/N walked up to the bar and got chatting to somebody on the way back, Ben knew that this was his opportunity. 

“Mason why did you and Y/N come in together, aren’t your places on opposite sides of the city?” Ben asked his best friend already knowing the answer to his question. Despite the fact that Y/N worked for Mason as his assistant, the pair were close, very close; so when they arrived to the party in the same car, Ben didn’t have to wonder too hard about the reason why. “Oh, she was at mine for a movie night last night and she was too tired to go home so she stayed.” Mason told his friend matter-of-factly, not seeing what the issue was or why his friend in front of him looked so annoyed. Even if you took away the widely inappropriateness of an employer having his employee stay at his house, there was the small issue of the fact that Y/N was madly in love with Mason and had been for years now. As much as she tried her best to keep it hidden, the only person in their circle that didn’t seem to know about it was Mason himself. Ben and Reece had a conversation a few days before, discussing whether they should tell Mason as from an outside perspective, even if it was unintentional, he did seem to be leading Y/N on; they both knew their friend extremely well, so they knew that he didn’t have the same feelings that she had for him and they knew that if Mason knew the full story there are aspects of his relationship with her that he might change.  

“Look mate,” Ben started, unsure of exactly what to say but knowing he needed to say something. “I think you should know that Y/N has feelings for you” Mason’s brows furrowed, completely taken aback by his friends' blunt honesty. “What? No are you sure?” he asked him, truly hoping that he was mistaken or playing some kind of prank. “I’m 100% sure, it’s obvious to be honest with you mate. You can see it in her eyes when she looks at you, she really truly loves you. Having her stay at your place and being that close to her, it’s going to make her think that someday you two could be more than friends, so if that’s not the case then you really need to reconsider doing things like that as it isn’t fair on her. Y/N’s a good girl, you know that she deserves to be happy.” Ben’s words make Mason’s head spin. Y/N was more to him than just his employee, she was one of his closest friends, but he really didn’t see her as anything but a friend. “Oh, fuck Ben what should I do?” Mason asked with his brain completely frazzled at this point, 15 minutes ago he was feeling great, he had just had a great day with one of his best friends and then then he came to a party to blow off some steam after a very stressful week, but now it seemed like everything had come crashing down. “I think you need to speak to her, make it clear that you value her friendship but you don’t see her as anything else, let her down gently.” he told Mason who simply nodded before starting to walk towards the girl in question who was at the bar talking to one of the other players girlfriends., the second Ben realized what he was trying to do he put a hand out to stop him from going over there, causing Mason to look back at him with a puzzled expression. “Maybe telling her right this minute isn’t the best idea though mate, considering you’re in public. Not to mention the fact we’ve all got that trip planned for the Spanish Grand Prix in a few days, maybe you should wait until after that. If things don’t go well that could make the whole trip so awkward.” Ben pleaded at his friend, but he could see on Mason’s face that his words were going in one ear and out the other. “Fine go, but be nice to her and you better not ruin the race for everyone” he relented, taking his arm off of his friend and letting him walk towards the unsuspecting girl.  

“Hey Y/N, can we talk?” Mason asked with no regard for the fact that she was already deep in conversation with somebody else. His bluntness combined with the pained look on his face made her recognize instantly that whatever he wanted to talk about wasn’t likely to be lighthearted. She hesitantly followed the man as he gestured for her to come along to a quieter part of the bar. Before she could ask what was going on, Mason had already asked her a question that made her stomach sink - “Do you have feelings for me?” She had absolutely no idea how to answer his question, of course she knew the answer; she had been pining after him for years at this point, but she just wasn’t ready for him to know that yet. “Will you please just answer my question?” he almost demanded, his harsh tone making her freeze. Looking up at her best friend with tear filled eyes she muttered the last thing he wanted to hear - “Yes”. Her voice was so faint that it didn’t come out as anything more than a whisper but to Mason it was the loudest thing he had ever heard. Y/N had imagined having this conversation with Mason so many times, imagined herself finally telling him that she loved him but in all her fantasies, in all her daydreams, he had never flinched like he had done just now. “Mason I -” she started but stopped in her tracks when she saw tears forming in her best friend’s eyes. “How could you do this Y/N, why would you ruin our friendship like this?” he asked her in genuine disbelief. Mason watched the girl stood in front of him stumble over her words, clearly not expecting to be asked that question, before putting her almost full glass down on the table and running out of the bar. 

In all of the daydreams she had had where Mason found out she loved him, he didn’t react like that in any of them, even the ones where he told her he didn’t reciprocate her feelings he was never that harsh, never that heartless. Y/N was nothing if not a realist, she truly didn’t expect him to come to her and tell her that he had always loved him too but she at least thought he would try to be nice about it, try to protect her feelings as much as possible, tell her that no matter what they would always be friends. Instead, he basically told her that their friendship was over, and she was the one responsible. She didn’t even have to wonder how Mason found out about it either, she knew Ben knew and she had also seen Mason and Ben talking moments before he came storming over to her. More than anything she just felt stupid; stupid for believing that somebody like Mason would ever love somebody like her, stupid for putting one of her most beloved friendships on the line over a schoolgirl crush, stupid for running away instead of explaining herself to him.  

“Y/N, are you okay” she heard a voice come from above her, breaking her train of thought. She was sat on the floor outside the club, staring into space clearly lost in thought, looking certifiably insane. Looking up she saw Reece James stood before her. There was no question that Reece knew what had happened but even still Y/N wasn’t sure if she should talk to him about it. Whilst she was closest to Reece out of all of Mason’s friends and teammates and she would consider him to be a friend, he was still Mason’s friend before anything else. There was also a good chance that anything she does tell him would be repeated to Mason. As if he could read her mind, he spoke again “You know you can speak to me right, I’m not going to tell anyone. I’m sorry that Ben told him by the way” he sat down on the street next to her. “It’s okay I don’t blame him; I understand that he wanted to protect his friend” her words were met with Reece shaking his head, “No actually I think he wanted to protect you” he said causing her brows in confusion. “He tho- We thought that the way he acted with you was a bit unfair, doing things that were giving you hope that you could be more than friends. Mason’s not a bad guy and he wouldn’t do that stuff on purpose, so we wanted to make sure he knew what he was doing.” Y/N looked up at the man's face, his serious expression laced with sincerity; she could tell that he was telling the truth and that he and Ben truly cared about her and wanted to protect her from hurt. “Thank you, Reece, make sure to tell Ben that I’m not annoyed at him for saying anything.”  

“Of course, I will. I know we only know you though Mason but you’re our friend as well okay, remember that.” He said before he threw his arm around her pulling her into a hug. “So what do you think is going to happen now?” he asked her. “Oh I really don’t know, he seemed pretty mad at me. I think I’ll probably leave the Grand Prix this weekend though, give things a chance to cool off”  

“What no you can’t do that, you love F1 and it’s your first opportunity to go to a race, you can’t miss that because of him. Worst case scenario, go and stick with me. You can’t give up those sweet paddock passes, what if you meet a cute driver eh?” he said jabbing his fingers into her sides playfully teasing her in an attempt to get her to smile. “I’ll think about it” she said, attempting to fight the smile on her face but to no avail. “You going to come back in or are you going to head home? We probably look crazy sat out here like this” he asked her and she paused thinking about it, she thought about going back in and trying to talk to Mason, to try and fix everything. After a moment she shook her head “No I think I should give him some space” Recce nodded understanding her decision before walking over to a cab and giving them her address along with enough money in cash to cover her journey three times over. “You get home safe okay” she nodded before thanking him for being to kind to her tonight. Just before she had the chance to close the door he spoke again “Y/N wait, are you going to be okay? I could call someone if you need?” Again, she found herself smiling at the care Reece had shown her. “No, I’ll be okay, I always am” 

Tag list-

@nightlockcornucopia @jaydensluv @girlytots19 @formula1mount @alwaysclassyeagle @aundercover @sofifiia @dessxoxsworld @lpab @lorarri @thelovehypothesis @torrie421 @ironmaiden1313 @celesteblack08 @glow-ish @urfavouritef1girly

#f1 fanfic #f1 x reader #formula 1 #max verstappen #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen x y/n #mason mount #mason mount x reader #mason mount x y/n #football x reader #formula 1 fanfic #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 x you #formula one x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fics #footballer x reader #footballer x y/n

[ms-demeanor]

$7.25 $1231

Apply today Sign up for text alerts to see drive-thru pantries in your area Join us after services for a homemade meal and prayer support Limited to single mothers, the elderly, and the unemployed Sign up for a backpack plan: food assistance for low income families If you are in need of a hot meal join our waiting list Include your email for notifications if your cart is funded Your application will be reviewed in 7-10 business days Weekly shared meals on Tuesday at 2:30pm Those with current government ID and a local address are welcome What documents you need to sign up for SNAP benefits LEARN: click this link for tips on nutrition LEARN: where to find coupons online LEARN: penny-pinching tips at the grocery store LEARN: how to start a saving plan LEARN: part-time jobs that will work with your schedule r/personalfinace r/povertyfinance r/randomactsofpizza r/beermoney First time Donor? What you need to know First weekly visit: $40 Second weekly visit: $70 How to treat a hemotoma at home Can meditation lower your resting heart rate? Five foods high in iron Three signs that you might be dehydrated Securing a loan is easy and fast Available to consumers at all levels of credit To help cover life's little emergencies Your title is returned when the lien is released Get approved in minutes Apply today

[sashaisready]

The Blood Pact: Chapter 1 - The Viewing

Bucky Barnes Vampire AU x Female Reader

Series Masterlist

Chapter 2

Reeling from a bad break-up, you're desperately trying to find a new place to live but the Brooklyn rental market is a complete nightmare. You take a chance on an intriguing newspaper ad and enquire about a room in a shared house, where you'd be living with two mysterious men. The catch is that they want something other than your money for you to pay the rent...the one thing they don't have

Large double room and en-suite bathroom available in shared house in Brooklyn. Living with two male professionals. Rent reasonable and negotiable – call to enquire, ask for Steve – 555-6786

That’s all the ad said. You couldn’t help but be intrigued. After all, who even finds a roommate via the newspaper nowadays? You’d only found it because you were absentmindedly flicking through an old paper someone had left on your table in the coffee shop. In the last few weeks you’d spent hours trawling through apartment listings online, viewing terrible dump after terrible dump. Damp. Cold. Tiny. That one apartment with literal mushrooms growing on the ceiling. Another where the other roommates had clearly put a single mattress in a closet and were trying to shave a few bucks off their own rent. You’d met with potential roommates who all ranked highly on the awful scale – everyone from that potential serial killer looking guy who insisted you didn’t need a lock on your bedroom door, to that girl who kept jars of her toenail clippings on the coffee table.

Frankly, you were getting desperate. You weren’t looking for much, just a non-closet sized, clean bedroom that you didn’t need a lottery win to afford. But that was apparently a tall order.

You had been crashing on your friend Wanda’s couch for too long now. As welcoming as her and her boyfriend Vis were, enough was enough. Your break up with Peter had left you homeless. After a well-deserved period of mourning and ‘what the fuck?-ing’, it was time to move on. Move out. Give Wanda and Vis their space back, stop being a burden and get back on the horse.

…And that’s how you found yourself on the doorstep of a beautiful, nineteenth century townhouse in Brooklyn at 7.30pm on an autumnal Wednesday.

It was worth a shot, right? You genuinely had nothing to lose by now.

Maybe the room was perfect for you. Maybe they were hipsters who put the ad in the paper as a retro throwback thing. Maybe they were super old. Whatever, at this point as long as they were clean and not sociopaths you were willing to overlook all sorts of potential flaws. And rent was negotiable, so maybe you wouldn’t need a bank loan just to pay the deposit.

Steve had sounded nice on the phone when you’d enquired yesterday. Not super old. Friendly and sweet. Very polite. He had given you the address and directions. It was actually refreshing to speak on the phone, as normally your apartment enquiries took place over tedious exchanges via the SpareRoom app. When you told him 7.30pm was a bit of an odd time for a viewing he just explained that he and his roommate worked long hours throughout the day, so evenings were best. Fine. It was New York City, a night time viewing was hardly going to raise an eyebrow.

Even so, you were a young woman going into a stranger’s house alone at night. In the city. You weren’t stupid, you dropped your location pin to Wanda and texted her the address and details. Just in case. 

You took a deep breath and rapped your knuckles on the front door. You’d done so many of these that they were almost muscle memory now. Be polite, charming, make them want to live with you. You stretched out your shoulders as you waited and took another look at your potential new home. The building really was beautiful, a classic caramel colour with period features. Tall with big bay windows. A whirring noise caught your attention and you spotted a security camera perched just above the door. It turned to face you before whizzing back to its original place. They were clearly security conscious, so that was a plus.

Moments later the door swung open to reveal a tall, handsome man who must’ve been in his 30s standing in front of you. He wasn’t at all what you expected, blonde and classically handsome, a rugged beard and bright blue eyes. A bit on the pale side, but then summer was long gone. Your gaze couldn’t help but switch to the muscles clearly lurking under his tight white t-shirt, before you caught yourself and looked back at his face just as quickly.

“Hi…I’m-” you told him, slightly flustered.

“Hey. Right on time, I’m Steve” the man grinned, extending his hand to you as you shook it and introduced yourself. You were struck by how cold his hand was, hoping it wasn’t a tell-tale sign of the lack of heat in the house.

Steve smiled warmly and gestured for you to come in. “Thanks for coming. Let me show you around, and I’ll introduce you to my roommate, Bucky”.

You nodded, following him mindlessly. There was just something about him…something magnetic. He was cute. God, was he cute. But it was something else. You had no idea what had come over you.

Steve enthusiastically gave you the tour, guiding you throughout the ground floor. The house was just as stunning inside as out, with clean white walls and a mix of modern and antique furniture. A blend of modern and classic art adorned each room but didn’t seem to clash. The whole place was somehow both pristine yet comforting, spotless yet lived in. He showed you around the enormous kitchen with its big oak table, then the kitchen island which would bring any Pinterest interior design enthusiast to their knees. Huge windows framed the sink, thick blinds were pulled down and stopped the evening darkness from creeping in.

“Wow” you muttered as you took it all in.

Steve chuckled. “Yep…we’re pretty lucky” he smiled.

He took you through to the living room which to no surprise was equally stunning, your eyes found a chic cream couch which looked comfier than any bed, but you knew you would destroy with food and drink stains in a matter of days if unleashed upon it. Your feet padded on the wooden floor as she showed you the fireplace, then the television unit custom built into the wall which you knew must’ve cost a pretty penny.

The tour continued and he showed you a bathroom (one of many) and utility room (no more trips lugging all your clothes to the laundromat…genuine bliss) before leading you up the winding staircase. The stairs each creaked underfoot and you noticed every single window you’d seen had been fitted with heavy duty blinds. Even the tiny ones which must only allow the smallest sliver of light in. A little odd. But hey, it’s their house.

Steve was animated and charming throughout the tour, pointing out his favourite parts and telling anecdotes about where they found certain belongings. Asking questions about you and your job. He took you to the first floor and walked up to a closed door.

“And this would be your room”.

He opened the door and you nearly gasped at the size of the place, an enormous bedroom with a huge double bed and antique wardrobe. The vast window was covered by the yet another ubiquitous blind.

“Obviously it’s looking a bit sparse right now, but you could really make it your own if you took the place. We don’t care if you paint or whatever” Steve added, smiling as he moved to open another interior door across the room.

“And here’s the bathroom. This would be just yours, Buck and I have our own upstairs”.

You couldn’t hold in the loud, appreciative whistle you made as you walked in - which made Steve laugh.

“Are you kidding me?” you scoffed.

The bathroom was enormous. Perfect white tiles, every inch spotless. A beautiful waterfall shower stood in the corner, a vastly superior upgrade to the slightly dribbly shower head over the bathtub at Wanda’s. Along the wall was an immaculate marble sink mounted with a stunning vanity mirror, and the pièce de resistance was a huge copper bathtub in the centre – so deep that you could clone yourself and fit at least three of you in there comfortably.

After taking in the impressive room you spun excitedly on your heel to face Steve.

“You like it?” he said teasingly, a flash of mischief darkening his baby blues.

“Like it? I would happily live in just the bathroom, never mind the bedroom” you practically squealed.

Steve laughed good naturedly at your excitement. He seemed to view you with slightly bewildered amusement, but it didn’t feel patronising or snooty.

“Great. So you’re interested?”

You nodded enthusiastically. “God, yes. I just don’t think I can afford it…this place is so nice…” you mumbled, the realisation of how much this must all cost sinking in.

Steve eyed you with interest. “Well, let’s see shall we? It’s negotiable. We’ll have a talk with Bucky and see what we can agree”.

You nodded again, following him out into the hall. You had fallen hard for the room. It was the best place you’d seen by a country mile, let alone the ridiculous plus of having a private bathroom. Steve seemed…nice. Normal. Well, aside from being insanely hot and you clearly having a weird crush on him which made you feel strangely dazed…but that was okay. You would get over your crush. If your biggest problem with him was him being too hot, you would cope. Especially for your own copper bathtub. You wondered what exactly ‘negotiable’ meant. And what about this Bucky guy? You and Steve seemed to get along fine, but what was the other roommate like?

“Uh…where do you sleep?” you asked as Steve led you back towards the stairs.

He flicked a finger upwards. “Next floor up, Bucky and I have our bedrooms there. I would take you up there but it’s not particularly interesting” he said dismissively as he guided you back down the stairs.

You thought it a bit strange that he had left out an entire floor, after all the rest of the tour was so thorough he’d shown you inside cabinets and drawers downstairs. But bedrooms were personal, you wouldn’t be in their rooms or their bathroom anyway – so you supposed it wasn’t relevant.

Steve led you into the living room and you were surprised to see the wood fire roaring, as if it had been like that for hours. You had been in here not a few minutes earlier and there wasn’t even a hint of a spark. Someone must’ve got it going in record time…

“Hi there, nice to meet you” came a voice from behind you.

You flinched, surprised as you hadn’t noticed anyone else in the room when you came in. You turned and your stomach dropped when you locked eyes with the owner of the voice.

There sat nonchalantly in an armchair was possibly the most beautiful man you’d ever seen. He was dressed in a tailored black suit, every thread hugging his body perfectly. He had long chestnut hair slicked back into a small bun, and a jawline that could cut glass. A bit pale, like Steve, but it made his skin look porcelain. His lips were full and pouty, and you could see a glimpse of his shirt straining over his broad shoulders. What had stopped you in your tracks though, were his eyes. Perfectly cerulean pools that seemed to pierce into you, to penetrate your very thoughts and dreams. If you thought you’d felt a pull towards Steve, then this was like a blackhole – unstoppable and relentless.

You gawped open mouthed at him for a moment before remembering you were trying to impress and charm here, shaking yourself out of it.

“Oh yes, hi. You must be Bucky?” you managed to utter, extending your hand to his as you gave him your name.

He smiled back at you and for a split second you could’ve sworn he was smirking, entertained by how flustered you were. But it was a tiny glimpse, quickly swallowed by a more genuine smile. 

“Yep. James Barnes, officially. But everyone calls me Bucky” he replied. His voice was soft yet deep. His hand was just as cold as Steve’s had been, you almost flinched as his cool flesh met yours. 

“Ooh, I think you’re a little chilly. Hopefully the fire will warm you up” you stammered, still ruffled by the effect he’d had on you. 

Bucky just smiled dryly in response, gesturing for you to sit on the couch as Steve slipped down in the armchair next to his. 

As you sat you were suddenly aware of how warm it was in the room. How could he possibly be cold? It was sweltering in here with that fire. 

“So it’s great you’re interested in the room” Steve began. “We just want to check our compatibility, make sure you’re a good fit. And then we can talk about rent payment, alright?”

You nodded, grabbing your purse and pulling some documents from it. 

“Here are my last six pay stubs” you said as you passed the papers over to Steve, doing your best not to look at Bucky in case you had another meltdown. “I work full time, and I have good references from past landlords. So I can prove I’ve got a steady income and I’m good for the rent” you explained, with slightly more urgency than planned. 

Steve nodded and looked at them briefly, but didn’t really seem to read them. He passed them to Bucky who seemed just as disinterested. Your heart sank, that wasn’t a good sign.

“So where are you living now?” Steve asked. 

You giggled awkwardly and launched into the much shorter, less warts and all version of your break up and subsequent forced eviction. You explained you were staying on your friend’s couch but needed to move out, and that’s why you were house hunting now. Both Steve and Bucky seemed intrigued, studying you carefully as you awkwardly gestured with your hands, laughing nervously to fill the silence.

“Sorry to hear that” Steve finally said. “Break-ups are tough. Especially when you’re cohabiting. Did you just want different things?”

You nod. “Uh yes. I wanted to be in a relationship with him, and he wanted to be balls deep in other women while I was in the next room. You know, classic incompatibility”.

Steve looked at you sympathetically while Bucky let out a strangled laugh.

Up your hand went to your mouth as you realised what you’d said.

“Oh wow, I’m so sorry that was…too much” you cringed.

“Don’t apologise. Sounds like you’re far better off” Bucky said sternly, his eyes practically burning into you. 

You nodded, you felt your face flushing slightly from the intensity of his attention. 

Your eyes must’ve been playing tricks on you in the firelight as they both men seemed to tense up for a second. But then it was over as quickly as it started.

“Thanks…I guess it’s all still pretty raw” you chuckled weakly. 

They told you that they were business partners, dealing in antiques and doing some book restoration on the side too. They’d been friends for years, more like brothers really, meeting in the army and setting up their company after they were discharged. You were impressed, you didn’t know any former soldiers turned antique dealers.

They proceeded to fire questions at you. Standard stuff about your job as a copy editor, you explained you worked from home mostly and they said that was fine as they weren’t around much during the day and the WiFi was decent. Perfect.

They asked if you did any drugs or drank heavily. No and no. Maybe a few glasses of wine or a cocktail at the weekends. 

Then they asked if you had any medical conditions they should know about. You cocked an eyebrow, unsure of why that was necessary information for a roommate interview.

“I’m sorry, I promise we aren’t trying to pry” Steve advised, noticing your discomfort. “And obviously you don’t have to share anything you don’t want to. It won’t affect your chances of getting the room. It’s just we had a diabetic roommate once who didn’t tell us, he went into a hypoglycaemic coma in the kitchen and we had no idea what was going on and couldn’t help him. He was fine, an ambulance came in time. But now we just like to know if it’s not too intrusive to share, just in case we ever need to help”.

You nodded. That made sense.

“No, no medical conditions”.

They smiled at you, then exchanged glances. Both of them looked at each other for a moment before nodding in unison. 

“Okay, the room is yours” said Steve.

You couldn’t hide your squeal, your fists clenching in excitement. You almost wanted to run up and hug them both, but restrained the urge. You were already daydreaming about that tub. 

“Oh wow, amazing!! Thank you” you beamed. “But what about the rent…?”

They exchanged another look before Steve spoke again. 

“Well, you see. That’s where the more uh…unconventional elements of the contract kick in” he replied warily.

Your brow furrowed in confusion. 

“The thing is…” Steve continued, his voice solemn. “We don’t need your money for the rent. We require something else from you”.

You frowned, suddenly uncomfortable. “Look, I know this is the twenty-first century but I don’t do stuff like that to keep a roof over my head, no matter how bad the rental market is” you spat, getting to your feet as you felt your anger rise. Who did they think they were?

Steve and Bucky shook their heads, laughing, which just made you madder.

“No, not that” Steve soothed. “We want your blood, sweetheart”.

You scoffed. “What?” 

“Your blood” replied Bucky nonchalantly. “We’re vampires, Doll”.

You rolled your eyes. “What kind of sick joke…”

“We’re vampires and we need your blood” Bucky explained, cutting you off. His tone deadpan, as if he was explaining something as trivial as how to use the stove. “So you can stay here for free, no payment needed, we just need to feed from you every couple of days. We won’t take more than you can give. You won’t feel any ill effects, and you’re not in any danger”.

You laughed incredulously, clutching your face with exasperation.

“Really? Is this how you fuckers get your kicks? Pretending to rent a room so you can pull messed up jokes?” you hissed. You should’ve known it was too good to be true. 

Steve and Bucky seemed unfazed by your disbelief. They both watched you with merriment as you got up and grabbed your purse, stuffing your wage stubs back inside. 

“You wanna show her or should I?” Bucky asked Steve.

“Knock yourself out” Steve replied dismissively. He reached for his phone.

As you headed to leave you had just managed to wrap your hand around the doorknob when Bucky was suddenly inches away from you in a single second.

You sputtered, turning to face him. “H-how did you get here so fast?” 

You looked over at Steve who was mindlessly scrolling on his phone, unbothered by whatever was happening just a few feet away from him. 

Bucky grinned. His eyes glowed yellow for a brief moment which made you gasp and slump against the door. You watched in horror as his canines grotesquely lengthened, morphing into something like animal teeth before your very eyes.

No, not animal teeth. Fangs.

At first you thought it was a prank, some sort of special effect or trick of the light.  But it wasn’t, you saw it with your own eyes and you knew it deep down. This was real. 

Suddenly it all clicked. Their inhumanly cold skin despite the warm house. The insistence on meeting at night. The way Bucky had soared across the room in half a second. The covered windows. 

They were vampires.

“This can’t be happening” you muttered under your breath, your chest rising and falling as fear gripped you. You wanted to run but you couldn’t, your terror freezing you on the spot like a deer in headlights. Panic had overtaken you.

“Hey. Don’t get yourself too worked up, like Buck said - you’re not in any danger” Steve offered casually, not looking up from his phone.

“You’re safe” Bucky echoed, and you saw his fangs slowly switch back into normal, human teeth as they were before. It was almost like it never happened. 

Almost.

“You wanna continue this? Or you wanna go home?” Bucky asked. He sounded annoyed, like you were somehow the unreasonable one here, wasting their time. 

“You’d just…l-let me leave?” Your eyes widened with fear. “Even though I know your secret?”

“Sure” said Steve, as if it was nothing. He was much softer and gentler than Bucky. “We can hypnotise you into forgetting and send you on your way. You’ll just think the room was a bust and that’ll be it. You think this is our first viewing?” 

You flapped your mouth open and close like a goldfish while they patiently waited for you to decide. It was too much. You couldn’t process it. Vampires existed?? Really? How could this be happening?

You wanted to tell them to hypnotise you, to erase all of this and let you go back to your life. You could return to blissful ignorance, rent a shoebox room somewhere else with actual humans. Human roommate toenail clippings and all.

But something inside you rebelled against all reason. A tiny voice of dissent amongst the otherwise harmonious chorus. You had no idea where it came from, it was against every survival instinct you had as adrenaline coursed through you. You battled against the urge to leave, to run as fast as you could out into the night and never look back. You couldn’t justify it, you knew it was stupid…but you listened to that tiny voice. 

“Tell me more about how this works” you whispered, as your rational brain screamed at you. 

#vampire bucky barnes #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #the blood pact fic #james bucky barnes #Vampire bucky au #Vampire bucky x you #Vampire bucky x reader

[xarniae]

the lover of my dreams (2)

a/n: this chapter is so fucking wordy and rushed istg. anyway, enjoy! (I'll edit it later) comment if you want to be on the tag list synopsis:(slow burn) A few weeks after fleeing the Burgess Manor and setting the trapped Endless free you land a job at the Royal Empire Hotel in Georgia. warnings: a moment of deprecation/ breakdown, Morpheus lowkey on his stalker shit, stabbing, The Corinthian. pt1,pt2,pt3,pt4

✧༺♥༻∞

A few weeks had passed since the incident in the Burgess Manor, The mysterious sleepy sickness was cured and everything seemed perfect. Too perfect. Ever since the day, you released the demon you had a feeling that something was watching you every time you ready yourself for bed. It had to be paranoia, right? But it felt too real to be paranoia, the piercing eyes, like a predator examining its prey before capture. Some days you would look out your window late in the evenings and catch see a raven perched on a branch outside your bedroom window. You even named it Julie because it was there so often at least you assumed it was the same raven? It could possibly be a new one but who has time to re-name every raven you come across? But other times when you are sleeping, you can swear that there's a tall figure standing over you. You would always text your grandma telling her about these sensations at night, but she would laugh and say it's just the sandman pouring sand onto your eyes to help you sleep. She never could take these things seriously. What you didn’t know was that she was probably half right.

=====

Back in the Dreaming, Morpheus was on a hunt for the Corinthian and now to add to his list of problems he had to deal with the Vortex. He had to end her to save the dreaming, a really sad predicament. Even while his realm was cracking and falling apart he couldn’t stop thinking about the human who saved him. It was odd, to say the least. Why did she help him? What made her so different than those guards, Richard Burgess, or even his son Alex? What separated her from those people who captured him? Those thoughts ran through his head. He just couldn’t understand. For someone who had been alive for so long he assumed he had the answers to everything, but it seemed like he was wrong. He sat on his throne surrounded by books and slouched back in his chair, he was stumped. He would observe you when you were home, trying to find an answer. But you were normal, surprisingly normal and bleak. Nothing special about you at all. So why, why were you the only one to help him after all those years? He knew to find that answer he would need to speak to you, and have a genuine conversation. But for now, he was content observing you. He was sure one of these days he would figure it out. 

=====

Things had been looking up for you, you had landed a new cleaning job at the Royal Empire Hotel in Georgia and a new apartment. Guess what was even better, ever since you left London yesterday you haven’t felt those piercing eyes lurking in the dark It was beautiful, you finally felt free.

You exited the Airport terminal and inhaled a large breath of Georgia air and fixed your small duffle bag onto your shoulder, you were ready for the next step in your life.

You flag a taxi and head off to your new job. You were beyond excited, it was crucial for you that you had landed this job. It was a miracle that they even hired you, a blessing even. It didn’t even matter that you had to move far away, as long as it paid off your student loans and your grandmother's hospital bills you were content. There were not many jobs available to many English majors. That was the sad reality. It was your reality. It took about 30 minutes to arrive at the hotel. Then you were given a quick introduction and briefing. You would start work tomorrow morning until the evening and get paid $150 upfront when you show up. Apparently, there was gonna be a Cereal Convention tomorrow afternoon and they needed aid in cleaning up afterward. A cereal convention seemed like a fun event so you were pleased with the tasks you were assigned. You just wished there was leftover cereal. After that, you just grab your uniform and go to your new apartment. Now you won’t lie. The apartment was dingy, the wallpaper was falling down the walls and the lights flickered when you turned them on. You swear you could smell a dead rat, and see mold on the vents. At that moment you felt like you were shrinking to the size of a pea. You felt as if you might have messed up choosing a job like this. A job so far away from home. You sit on the floor and sigh,

“You did this for a reason.” those words didn’t seem to help for shit, self-reassurance was never your thing

So you just sat on the floor until the sunset, the occasional tear escaping your eyes. Why did things turn out this way for you, why did you have to carry this burden alone? Maybe if you chose something better for a major you would have gotten a decent job and let your grandma live at least somewhat comfortably. 

“Shut up you worthless piece of shit.” your whispers reach deaf ears, you already are numb from sitting on the rough carpet floor.

 But here’s the truth, you weren’t a piece of shit, or worthless. You were much more valuable than any diamond in existence. The reason behind that? You had a kind soul and a strong heart filled with compassion, sympathy, and empathy, you had humanity. You were special because you were normal. You were the farthest thing from pure but you were the only person to extend a helping hand to a trapped Endless in a cage. If that’s not special, then I don’t know what is.  That was Morpheus's reason anyway, that was his idea of you. He saw you as something rarer than a diamond. That was the reason he wanted to get his hands on you, to ask you, to understand you, and to learn from you. Humans were sometimes complex creatures, they had no rhyme or rhythm and that confused yet fascinated him. He watched you sink to the floor and lightly sob into your arms. you looked small and fragile. unlike the person who freed him from his glass prison. His heart felt a small prick of sadness but the just brushed it off. He couldn’t worry about that right now though, he had his own problems. So he turned and left back to the Dreaming, but he couldn’t get the sounds of your cries and sniffles out of his head. Maybe he would gift you with a good dream?

=====

That morning you called a taxi and drove to your new workplace, the rising sun gleamed over the towering palm trees. In thirty minutes you arrive at the hotel and in uniform ready to clean. You clean until the sun was at its peak taking occasional breaks. You had an uneasy feeling in your stomach, one that made your heart beat an irregular tune. A rhythm of anxiety. You could hear the bustling crowd in the lobby, they were all dressed well. Very professional which drastically contrasted their odd name tags. Another thing that made you uneasy was the way they would gaze at everyone. They seemed starved like they were filled with an insatiable bloodthirst. Your legs move quickly to the front desk and snatch your envelope filled with your money and hurry to the elevator. You weren’t gonna linger on this floor any longer than you have to.  

“Hold it!” You hear someone call out and indistinctively shove your hand to stop the elevator doors close,

“Thanks,” he said as he walked in, a small kid following in suit.

‘What floor?” You ask staring at the man, he was wearing a tan suit and sunglasses indoors.

“5th.” 

He had quite a creepy smile as he spoke. It was as if he was wearing a mask. Once again you felt that uneasy feeling. But you pressed the button nonetheless.

“You know not many people would have actually stopped the door.” The man was trying to start small talk. You hate small talk.

You could feel his charming, yet unnerving, smile. Turning around to look at him you just smile and nod at his statement.

‘I hope my floor comes soon.’

Your floor does in fact come soon, and you speed walk out saying goodbye as you go. You felt there was something wrong with this hotel today. To calm your mind you started cleaning, you cleaned almost every empty room on that floor until you ran out of disinfectant spray, that would mean you had to make a quick run to the storage closet which would have been fine. If the storage closet wasn’t located on the lobby floor. You sat for a few moments before gaining the courage to go to the lobby. You once again decided to go downstairs. When you get to the ground floor it's as packed as when you left. So you head into the closet, grab your spray and turn to leave. You are only a few steps from the elevator when you hear the lady at the desk, you forgot her name, call to you, You turn around and replied with a yes,

“Could you please show Rose Walker to her room,”

“Um- yes of course,” you stammer out

The elevator doors open and you walk in along with Rose Walker,

“What floor?” you question

“Oh, floor 5 I think,”

Yo press the number and stand there in silence for about 2 seconds before she breaks it. She says your name to start a conversation and you turn around to look at her, your face reading ‘how did you know my name?’

“Your name tag,” She points to the silver tag on your uniform

Your mouth shapes itself into an ‘o’ shape nodding in realization, your cheeks heat up in embarrassment

“It's a pretty name.” 

“Thanks, the name Rose is pretty as well.”

The atmosphere seemed lighter now,

“Are you here alone?” you ask Rose

“Um, no actually-” she has a light smile on her lips

“I was with a friend, but he had to leave because of an emergency, I’m actually here to see my brother.” 

“Oh, that's sweet.” 

The elevator dings and you show her to the room number she showed you, after the door opens you hear a little boy's voice shout from the corridor,

“Rose?” 

You can see Rose turn her head so fast she might get whiplash,

“Jed!” she utters out of pure disbelief, as they share a sweet sibling hug you can't help but stare at the man who was with the boy named Jed, and forbode that something was gonna happen. You could feel it, the air was tense and thick. Your suspicions were confirmed when the man reaches to grab Jed, yelling wildly and incoherently, It was all a blur, Rose was yelling and so were you. You remember Rose grabbing her brother and shouting run, You remember running fueled on fear. You remember being corned by the large man, his face drawn on with a wave of sick anger. Then you remember vividly the sound of a knife being lodged in his back. And the man with the sunglasses from the elevator stood triumphant as the large man flopped onto the ground dead. You remember the man's toothy smile and how he led the siblings away, leaving you shuddering in the small hallway with a corpse. 

“What the fuck just happened.” your breathy whisper escaped from your throat

You knew you had to get up and go, you couldn’t stay here. You gathered yourself and stood up on shaky legs. You slowly but surely made your way down the hallway and into the staircase, you sat on the concrete staircase for a few moments. You were nothing short of rattled. For 10 minutes you sat in silence until you decided that you had to get out of this fucked up hotel. Your head was all foggy and clouded, and your breath came in brief pants as you went down the stairs. When you finally reached the ground floor it seemed like the door opened into the convention area

“Shit” 

====

Morpheus had gotten word by Fiddlers Green that Rose was with The Corinthian. With that news, he hastened to the destination to eliminate the Corinthian once and for all. He knew he would see you there, he felt it in his chest. And maybe this time he would help you. Like you helped him.

=====

You walked down the dimly lit hallway of the convention halls. It had become late in the evening, your shift would have ended around now. Your ears and eyes were on high alert, You stopped for a moment, you heard a loud voice coming from around the corner. 2 voices? It sounded very familiar. You walked closer to the voices. The familiar feeling from that night weeks ago coming back. It was beckoning you. You looked through the tiny crack in the dual doors and see him. The demon from that night. Your brain couldn’t comprehend the words he was saying, you were shocked. He stood on the stage with the sunglasses man. You couldn't even describe what you had seen. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be possible. As the pale demon lifted his hand, he turned the other to sand, a small skull falling on top of the pile. A surprised gasp crawled its way up your throat and you swore you saw him twitch. But you didn’t stay to find out much longer. You ran to the lobby and out the front door pulling your phone from your pocket and calling a cab. You took a seat on the bench outside waiting for the cabto arrive. Finally, you were granted a moment of peace, the crickets chirping their songs. The moon had risen by now and was casting its gift of light to the earth. A deep breath of the night air had seemed to lightly soothe you. Too much had ensued today,

“At least it was over” 

====

Morpheus knew you were there, even before you let out your small shriek. He knew. He could feel you, he found it quite amusing the way you were trying to hide your presence. He walked out of the Hotel with the large crowd, His eyes caught a glimpse of a white car, and you inside it. He felt a bit disappointed that you left before he could have a word with you, but more trouble was on the way. He had to deal with the Vortex first before he could meet with you. He had so many questions he wanted to ask you. 

{end of part 2}

(and yes the reader and Morpheus will be meeting in the next chapter)

-please like and re-blog if you enjoyed-

#the sandman x reader #morpheus x reader smut #the sandman x you #the sandman netflix #netflix the sandman #the sandman #sandman #dream x reader #dream of the endless #dream the endless #morpheus x you #morpheus x y/n #morpheus x reader #morpheus

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The Roommate Agreement - Chapter 1

Pairing: Kang Yeosang x Reader

Genre: Slice of life, angst.

CW: Mentions of being evicted, mentions of homelessness, mentions of financial issues, themes of Anxiety.

Word Count: 1757

Summary: Just when you thought life was going great you get a red slip through your door. The eviction notice. Now it’s a scramble to figure out how you’re going to fix everything.

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“So are you going to see him again?” You ask down the phone to your friend as you make your way up to your apartment, fishing your keys out from your bag.

“I don’t know, it wasn’t the worst date I’ve been on but it wasn’t the best if you get what I mean.” She sighs in response. You could hear her quick typing as she had you on call and you chuckled knowing what she was up to.

“You’re already back on the dating sites aren’t you?”

“Hey I have to keep my options open.” You both laugh at each other and the laughter makes it difficult for you to steadily get the key in the lock, but upon opening the door your laughter soon dies off.

“I gotta go, I’ll drop you a text later.” You say, joy leaving your tone before you hung up and slowly leaned down to pick up a red envelope you found on the floor. Turning the envelope over in your hands your eyes are met with big bold black letters reading ‘EVICTION NOTICE’. 

Your heart sank and panic started to set in. You shut the door quietly behind you before sitting on the couch, not daring to open the envelope...but you had to. You tear the top of the envelope off with shaky hands and pull out the letter. You see clearly printed on the letter your name and address, so it clearly wasn’t put through your door by mistake, the rest read;

According to the lease agreement that was agreed to and signed before moving into the property you are required to

1) Pay the monthly rent of 300,000 Won.

2) Adhere to the rule stated in the lease agreement.

3) Failure to do so will result in eviction due to non-compliance.

You are hereby notified to vacate the premises in the address stated above within 14 days of the date of the delivery of the notice to you. 

Your rent is past overdue and you are required to pay 693,500 Won, this includes late fees. If this amount is paid in full before the eviction date, we will not proceed with the eviction.

And signed at the bottom was the signature of your landlady Mrs Kim. You couldn’t argue that your rent was overdue, you knew this and you’d apologised profusely to Mrs Kim, telling her that you promise to get the money to her as soon as you could but seeing how much you owed now it seemed impossible to do. Work had been messing you around lately, cutting your hours whenever they felt like it and your student loan wasn’t coming in until next month, not enough time for you to be able to use that for you rent.You’d been living off the cheapest instant ramen you could find for the last 2 months and you only used your heating for 3 hours as day at most to try and save as much money as you could to scrape together to make rent, but to no avail. You were well and truly screwed.

You needed to find a new place to stay but as it was your current apartment was one of the cheapest on the market and you couldn’t even pay for it, so how were you going to pay for a new one? In a state of panic you pick up the phone and call Mrs Kim to see if there was anything you could do to be able to stay.

“Hi Mrs Kim,” You started, trying to control the shakiness of your voice. “I just had this eviction letter through my door, is there anything I can do to persuade you to change your mind?” 

“I’m sorry dear but my hands are tied, you’ve been a lovely tenant you really have but my husband is starting to get really irritated by the lack of rent pay we’ve had off you.” She was so sweet in how she spoke to you, she was your typical old lady, the type of woman you’d see in a grocery store and would compliment you or shower you with thanks if you helped her reach something, she was a real sweetheart.

“My student loan is coming in next month, I’ll be able to pay you then. Is there any way I can get you to reconsider?” You were grasping at straws now.

“I’m sorry dear, my name might be on the door but it’s my husband that deals with the finances so if it’s his decision to evict you then I’m sorry love I can’t do anything to help.” She sounded genuinely sorry about the situation so you felt no need to get fired up and argue with her, it wasn’t her fault really.

“Okay, I’m sorry Mrs Kim, I’ll be out of here in 14 days.” And with that you hung up the phone and dropped your head into your hands, still holding the letter that counted down the days until you were homeless. There was no way you could go back to your parents house, first of all you no longer had a room there, your youngest sister claimed it as her own the day you left and secondly your parents lived too far away for you to commute back and forth to university every day. You had no family in the city you could rely on and you were too far into the academic year to apply for student accommodation.  

The next four hours you did nothing but scroll through every housing app and website you could find, you even broadened the distance field in hopes of any luck. If it meant it took you an hour to get to university you’d do it, you were desperate. 

You came across so many promising properties but you were quickly discouraged when you saw they either wanted 2 months rent upfront or the monthly rent was either the same or a bit more than what you were already paying. Your head was starting to hurt from the constant feeling of stress and anxiety mixed with the bright screens from both your laptop and phone, but you couldn’t stop, not yet. 

Your searches were cut short when your phone screen lit up with Yeosang’s name, you didn’t want to talk to anyone so you quickly hung up on him and continued your search, that was until he started to call you again.

“Y/n~, why’d you hang up on me the first time?” You could hear Yeosang’s pout over the phone.

“What do you want Yeo?” You tried to make your tone sound more joking than rude, he didn’t know what you were going through right now so you knew it wasn’t right to snap at him but the stress of it all was making it difficult for you.

“What’s up, you don’t sound okay.” 

“I’m fine, I just...have 3 assignments due in 2 weeks and I’m a bit stressed.” You lied.

“And that’s where I fit in perfectly, your personal de-stresser!”

“What are you talking about?” 

“I have a way you can de-stress, even if it’s just for tonight.”

“I highly doubt that.” You sigh knowing the extent of how fucked you were.

“Yunho is having a party at his place tonight, all the guys are gonna be there so I was hoping you’d be there too, we’re not the full group without you.” You could practically see how he was pouting his lips at you through the phone, the same pout he gives you when he’s begging you. 

“Yeo, I don’t think it’s a good idea, like I said I have 3 assignments due in 2 weeks.” You try to argue back.

“Y/n, I know you, you’ve probably already spent hours on them and you’ve most likely already got a headache, come on, even if you just come for a few hours to blow off some steam. It’ll do you good.” You mentally cursed Yeosang for knowing you like the back of his hand, granted it wasn’t assignments you were working on but he had everything right. Your eyes flick back over to the screen of your laptop, 6 or more tabs open with apartments that you can’t afford. The more you looked at the screen the more you realised...maybe he was right, head head was ready to explode so maybe getting away from it all for a little while would do you some good.

“Fine...Just a few hours then I’m coming home.” You could hear Yeosang cheer on the other end of the phone, but you could also hear someone else with him.

“Seonghwa is that you? Yeosang have you got me on speaker?” 

“I have a witness y/n, both me and Seonghwa have heard you say you’re coming so you can’t back out now, I’ll be with you in an hour.” And with that the two men said their goodbyes and the line went dead. You glance at the clock it was already 6:30pm, you worked it out if Yeosang was picking you up at 7:30 then you’d be able to stay at the party until 10 the latest then get back home for another hour or 2 of house hunting before calling it a night. It worked out well.

Getting up from the couch you go to your room to get changed, taking this opportunity to clear your head of everything. It worked for a short while, your mind too occupied on picking out something to wear but as soon as you threw on a pair of jeans and a top you were back to square one. Mindlessly floating around your room as you wait for Yeosang to turn up and your mind starts to wander again, visions coming to mind of you living in a cardboard box, sneaking into uni to sleep in the library, it was all getting too much for you. Your chest started to tighten and your breathing became faster. You wanted to do nothing but curl up into a ball and cry, but you were stopped once again by your phone.

[7:33 pm] Yeosang: I’m outside.

Hurrying to your feet you rush to grab your bag and throw on a pair of shoes, in that time you tried to get a grip on your emotions, fight back the tears that were going to spill any second. You didn’t want to burden Yeosang with your housing situation so you did your best to look like everything was fine. With one final look in the mirror you gave yourself a mental green light, you looked fine, no indication of distress, nothing to worry about and with a deep breath you grabbed your keys and headed out the door.

Tag List:  @kpopcrossworlds @kpopjust4u @whatudowhennooneseesyou @8tinytings   @jenotation @grim-adventures58 @owjohny   @ker1   @tinkerbell460   @haylstoney   @scuzmunkie   @halesandy @multihunbun​  @hellomingi @senpai-of-doom​  @kodzukein​ @black--awsum​

#ateez #ateez scenarios #ateez angst #ateez smut #ateez fluff #ateez series #yeosang #yeosang scenarios #yeosang angst #yeosang smut #yeosang fluff #yeosang series #kang yeosang #kang yeosang scenarios #kang yeosang angst #kang yeosang smut #kang yeosang fluff #kang yeosang series #kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop angst #kpop smut #kpop fluff #kpop series

[momo-no-tane]

Peach-Pit Artbook Scanning Project - Complete!

On August 1st, 2015 I made the first post of this artbook scanning project to provide high quality scans of Peach-Pit’s illustrations, because there was barely anything available online, or if there was the quality was absolute garbage. 7 artbooks and 648 illustrations later, the Peach-Pit Artbook Scanning Project is finally complete... really, really late.

I was supposed to finish this project in April 2018. I finally uploaded the last illustration yesterday - July 8th, 2023. Unfortunately I was never able to finish it back in 2018 like I wanted to. Life got really busy, I had gone back to school, my computer battery died, I started getting lazy... when I only had 5 illustrations left to post. I’m so sorry it took so long to finish. I really hated myself for not finishing it back then. I was constantly beating myself up over it. I really wanted to get it done this year though. Thank you so much for all the likes and reblogs over the course of this project. You can find each of the artbooks below.

Artbook 1 (Peach-Pit Artworks DearS)

Artbook 2 (Peach-Pit Artworks Sui Mitsu Kyo)

Artbook 3 (Peach-Pit Artworks Zombie-Loan)

Artbook 4 (Shugo Chara! Illustrations)

Artbook 5 (Peach-Pit Artworks Rozen Maiden)

Artbook 6 (Shugo Chara! Illustrations 2)

Artbook 7 (Rozen Maiden Illustrations: Rose Maiden)

Now for something really annoying... Tumblr’s recent bullshit is another reason why I finally forced myself to hurry up and post those final 5 illustrations.

Tumblr has decided to be completely and utterly stupid, getting rid of the legacy editor and replacing it with a garbage new post editor that makes posts look absolutely hideous on desktop. I initially made this post with the new post editor, but I was so disgusted at how ugly and awful it looked I deleted it. For some stupid reason, all posts automatically become text posts even if I specifically select the photo option. It makes no fucking sense. I realized that all the posts I had saved in my drafts still had the legacy editor, and thankfully I had a few photo posts still in there. So I was able to repost that news post.

The problem was that I only had less than 10 photo posts saved in drafts. If I had known Tumblr was going to be fucking stupid and get rid of the legacy editor, I would have saved dozens of posts to prepare. But I only had enough to make a few news posts and those last 5 illustrations. Now I have nothing but text posts left in drafts. I’m behind on some posts already (Nagj’s birthday post, new SC! Princess Cafe goods, new RM SOLWA goods), and I can’t make a post about them because Tumblr fucked everything up and I’m trying to figure out how to fix the posts on my theme so they don’t look like shit.

I don’t know what to do. I’ve been giving them grief almost daily on their change blog and support section. So many other people are also upset. I don’t want to get too backed up with news posts because there’s so much information that comes out monthly lately. Does anyone know how to fix this? Any code I could add to my theme to make my posts not look like shit because of the new post editor? It pisses me off that I have to waste time and energy focusing on this instead of the project I plan to do next - high quality manga caps. How can I even make nice looking manga cap posts when the new post editor will just destroy it? It’s so frustrating. I’m sorry this post turned so negative, I really needed to rant about this.

#DearS #Rozen Maiden #Shugo Chara #Zombie Loan #Peach Pit

[markatoto]

Furigana (振（ふ）り仮名（がな）, Japanese pronunciation: [ɸɯɾigaꜜna] or [ɸɯɾigana]) is a Japanese reading aid consisting of smaller kana (syllabic characters) printed either above or next to kanji (logographic characters) or other characters to indicate their pronunciation. It is one type of ruby text. Furigana is also known as yomigana (読み仮名) and rubi (ルビ, [ɾɯꜜbi]) in Japanese. In modern Japanese, it is usually used to gloss rare kanji, to clarify rare, nonstandard or ambiguous kanji readings, or in children's or learners' materials. Before the post-World War II script reforms, it was more widespread.[1] Furigana may be added by character, in which case the furigana character(s) that correspond to a kanji are centered over that kanji; or by word or phrase, in which case the entire furigana text is centered over several kanji characters, even if the kanji do not represent equal shares of the kana needed to write them. The latter method is more common, especially since some words in Japanese have unique pronunciations (jukujikun) that are not related to readings of any of the characters the word is written with.

Furigana fonts are generally sized so that two kana characters fit naturally over one kanji; when more kana are required, this is resolved either by adjusting the furigana by using a condensed font (narrowing the kana), or by adjusting the kanji by intercharacter spacing (adding spaces around the kanji). In case an isolated kanji character has a long reading—for example 〜に携わる (where 携 reads たずさ, tazusa)—the furigana may instead spill over into the space next to the neighboring kana characters, without condensing or changing spacing. Three-kana readings are not uncommon, particularly due to yōon with a long vowel, such as ryō (りょう); five kana are required for kokorozashi (志、こころざし) and six for uketamawaru (承る、うけたまわる), the longest of any character in the Joyo kanji. Very long readings also occur for certain kanji or symbols which have a gairaigo (loan word) reading; the word "centimeter" is generally written as "cm" (with two half-width characters, so occupying one space) and has the seven-kana reading センチメートル (senchimētoru) (it can also be written as the kanji 糎, though this is very rare); another common example is "%" (the percent sign), which has the five kana reading パーセント (pāsento). These cause severe spacing problems due to length and these words being used as units (hence closely associated with the preceding figure).

When it is necessary to distinguish between native Japanese kun'yomi pronunciations and Chinese-derived on'yomi pronunciations, for example in kanji dictionaries, the kun'yomi pronunciations are written in hiragana, and the on'yomi pronunciations are written in katakana. However, this distinction is really only important in dictionaries and other reference works. In ordinary prose, the script chosen will usually be hiragana. The one general exception to this is modern Chinese place names, personal names, and (occasionally) food names—these will often be written with kanji, and katakana used for the furigana; in more casual writing these are simply written in katakana, as borrowed words. Occasionally this style is also used for loanwords from other languages (especially English). For example, the kanji 一角獣 (literally "one horn beast") might be glossed with katakana ユニコーン, yunikōn, to show the pronunciation of the loanword "unicorn", which is unrelated to the normal reading of the kanji. Generally, though, such loanwords are just written in straight katakana.

The distinction between regular kana and the smaller character forms (yōon and sokuon), which are used in regular orthography to mark such things as gemination and palatalization, is often not made in furigana: for example, the usual hiragana spelling of the word 却下 (kyakka) is きゃっか, but in furigana it might be written きやつか. This was especially common in old-fashioned movable type printing when smaller fonts were not available. Nowadays, with computer-based printing systems, this occurs less frequently.

[byeghostsily]

MUN INTRO: hi folks! happy soft opening, jia (s/h, 21+) here. i'll be writing for daeun, and if she reminds you of d*phne from scooby doo... yeah. ims/discord available for plotting- please ask! ♡

MUSE INTRO: baek daeun, 22, also @danidanidaeuni on the interwebs. making a living out of yapping about gruesome murders (read: disappointing her parents). back in town for her mom's birthday dinner... or so she claims, with a camera and idea for a shiny new series in hand.

when did your muse first arrive in yuseong bay?

got here literally a couple days ago!!! is staying at her parents', but dear god is she regretting it. is already looking at alternative accommodation. has been doing her best to work off the jetlag, but its really mostly been andante for coffee and back to her place to sleep/work.

what does an average day look like for your muse?

wake up somewhere between 9-10, get caffeine in her. hunt down her latest victim for an interview, or whoever was unlucky enough to be scammed into bringing her around. with luck, she gets some footage. sometimes she's got an episode to record, so the yuseongers are rid of her for a couple hours. stay up til she falls asleep on her laptop. what a life, baby!

where can your muse usually be found?

andante, nursing a drink and going cross-eyed staring at her screen. her blue light glasses make her look like a dweeb, and yes, you can laugh. she has no qualms about asking to share a table <3 / lemon martes, wandering around like a lost ghost. she just likes looking at the displays, ok? / staring dubiously @ pierrot's clown mascot, the lighthouse, antique shop, the old mines, and hovering around the mouth of the woods. its like shes trying to stare them down.... see if something goes bump

how does your muse feel about hanhwa resort?

i don't think she even knows about the resort.. jk! its hard to miss a gigantic building smack dab where she used to go crabbing. there's probably a sense of nostalgia for what things used to be, but she understands that capitalism is a necessary and unstoppable evil. if her parents nag her about marriage one more time, she's booking a room there.

is there an aspiration for your muse to stay in or leave yuseong bay?

the expectation's always been that she'll leave--- while she doesn't have a return ticket booked, she's based in the us, and once she's got enough footage, she's gonezo.

extra, extra!

list your muse’s three favorite songs.

sza's saturn (yes, she's always the problem in every relationship) niki's split (asian diaspora reppppp) the japanese house's sunshine baby not a big fan of hearing men talk

describe your muse’s wardrobe.

she likes looking good, and her personal style leans more feminine. doesn't shy away from bright colours, but likes neutrals because she thinks she's taken more seriously like that </3 for brands, she's partial to hermes, chanel (tho she thinks they're losing their touch a little...) and miu miu!

what is a color, word, and emoji that you feel describes your muse?

purple, why?, 🧋

three strong likes and dislikes for your muse.

likes: windy weather, fruit (thinks korea is insane... wtf do u mean grapes are $10), reading comments dislikes: being rushed, not being organised, a meeting that could've been an email slash call that could've been a text

three positive and negative traits for your muse.

+ compassionate, sincere, enthusiastic - oblivious, naive, condescending

three talents and shortcomings for your muse.

has the ability to make you feel like you're the only two people in the room; a wonderful conversationalist, she's always focused on your conversation. good with names AND faces. you're the center of her universe! insane interpersonal intelligence. / no qualms dropping her (parents) money on things. need a loan? sure! some say its buying affection, but hey, she'd do anything for a friend :) / extremely open-minded. realises when she makes a mistake, and is quick to apologise and do her best to learn from it. someone who can put her pride down easily! condescends unintentionally, even though she has nothing but the best of intentions. it’s just what being so out-of-touch with the working class folk does to you, unfortunately. / she eats. so. goddamn. slowly. like its actually terrible. she takes an hour to finish one sandwich, because she chews so carefully, and then wants to say something but refuses to talk because her mouth is full. your muse is offered a meal in exchange for an interview? expect to spend at least 2h, MINIMUM with her. in that vein, also no respect for others' time / you've probably caught on by now, but she is always her first thought. she'll take her own sweet time doing things, and hates being put on others' timeline. everything is framed through her experience, which is an extremely privileged one.

what is a book/tv series/movie/video game character that you feel your character relates to? (you can include who you would say they’re alike, and who they would say they’re alike.)

she was heavily inspired by daphne blake from scooby doo, and even her name's a homage to that! daeun would like how she stays true to herself (and has great style!) while still kicking ass! she thinks daphne was ahead of her time, retaining her femininity while still pulling her weight and being useful to the scoobies in her own way.

a relevant goal or arc for your character to overcome.

accept she'll probably never make her parents proud, fully accept and move on from that. also pay her own bills, damn. something something true independence....

anyway. pls like to plot and i'll slide into ims :^)

#yshqs:intro

[macmanx]

The injunction clarifies that the Publisher Plaintiffs will notify us of their commercially available books, and the Internet Archive will expeditiously remove them from lending. Additionally, Judge Koeltl also signed an order in favor of the Internet Archive, agreeing with our request that the injunction should only cover books available in electronic format, and not the publishers’ full catalog of books in print.

Broadly, this injunction will result in a significant loss of access to valuable knowledge for the public. It means that people who are not part of an elite institution or who do not live near a well-funded public library will lose access to books they cannot read otherwise.

The Internet Archive may still digitize books for preservation purposes, and may still provide access to our digital collections in a number of ways, including through interlibrary loan and by making accessible formats available to people with qualified print disabilities. We may continue to display “short portions” of books as is consistent with fair use—for example, Wikipedia references. The injunction does not affect lending of out-of-print books. And of course, the Internet Archive will still make millions of public domain texts available to the public without restriction.

I can’t say that I’m surprised, but this still sucks. I don’t have adequate words at the moment, so I’ll just quote this again: “this injunction will result in a significant loss of access to valuable knowledge for the public. It means that people who are not part of an elite institution or who do not live near a well-funded public library will lose access to books they cannot read otherwise.”

All because publishers (who already keep the majority of a book’s profits, up to 95%) want more ways to line their pockets.

And, before it inevitably comes up, over 1,000 authors (many you’ve probably heard of) opposed this lawsuit.

#internet archive #open library #libraries #hachette v internet archive

[twoset-updates]

[041222 straits times article]

read online (subscribers only, video interview in the article is viewable without subscription)

[EDIT 051222] video interview now also available on youtube:

text of the article below the cut:

(typed by hand, there may be errors)

Practice makes perfect

Australian violinists Brett Yang and Eddy Chen tell Executive Editor Sumiko Tan that they set up TwoSet Violin to show how classical music can be fun, and to attract the young to it

Violinists Brett Yang and Eddy Chen are joking that if they must name their least favourite composer, Johann Pachelbel would be up there.

“Sometimes, some pieces are really overplayed, they’re put out of context. That gets a bit annoying,” says Yang, referring to the German composer’s pervasive Canon In D.

So you won’t play Pachelbel at your wedding then, I ask.

“Nah,” Chen dismisses.

“No way,” protests Yang. “Maybe at my funeral, you can play that.”

“But it’ll make you so angry, you’ll come out of your grave,” comes Chen’s rejoinder.

They laugh their heads off at this.

I decide not to mention that Canon In D was in fact what I had chosen to play at my wedding, and one of the few pieces of classical music I enjoy.

The two guys behind TwoSet Violin aren’t music snobs, really. They are just very passionate about classical music and see it as their mission to educate people about that world.

In 2013, the Taiwan-born Australians decided to form TwoSet Violin to make funny videos about life as classical musicians, which they posted on social media.

Their YouTube channel now has nearly four million subscribers, and the 1,300 videos there have garnered more than 1.2 billion views. There are also videos on other platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

Their live shows mixing comedy and violin recital have been seen in more than 20 cities, and they are planning another world tour.

There’s also TwoSet Apparel, a line of music-inspired T-shirts, hoodies and cardigans.

Their videos are both hilarious and educational. Often looking as if they had just tumbled out of bed, they discuss everything from violin hickeys (neck bruises due to prolonged violin playing; I see one on Yang but not on Chen) to misconceptions about musicians (”musical geniuses are born, not created” really riles them up.)

A video of them critiquing a Guinness World Record holder for world’s “fastest violinist” has drawn 9.5 million views. Their Pachelbel’s Chicken video, played with a squeaky rubber chicken, has 3.7 million views.

I’m interviewing the influencers ahead of their Nov 16 concert with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

This was a rather more serious performance. Yang played Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and then Bach’s Concerto For Two Violins with Chen. The latter performed the closing movement of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 2, better known as La Campanella, for an encore.

The SSO event was sold out within minutes and its livestream on YouTube amassed more than 986,000 views in two weeks.

Yang had asked over e-mail for restaurant suggestions. I give him four and he picks One-Ninety at the Four Seasons. The hotel says filming there would be difficult and suggests we eat at its quieter Jiang-Nan Chun Cantonese restaurant.

They are fine with Chinese food, and also agree to bring along their violins — in this case, two precious Stradivarius instruments on loan to them for the SSO concert.

In person, they come across as smart, decent and sincere. They also look as if they could do with more sleep.

Yang, 30, is the friendlier, chattier one. When he sees the camera crew milling around, he asks me: “Is everyone eating or is it just us?”

Just us, I say.

“Sorry, guys,” he waves to them.

With his floppy fringe and dark-framed glasses, his style is collegiate preppy.

Chen’s is more hip hop. He’s wearing trendy oversized wire-frame glasses, a big white T-shirt and a sprinkling of jewellery. He appears a little more distant at first, possibly due to a lack of caffeine.

You’re quieter than in your videos, I remark.

“Yeah, people say that a lot,” Chen, 29, says. “I am, actually. But I also think I just haven’t had my coffee today.”

Yang vouches for this. “There is Eddy pre-coffee and after,” he says, mimicking how a tortoise retracts its head in and out of its shell. It sets them off laughing again.

Over our two-hour set-menu lunch, they finish each other’s sentences and reaffirm the other’s opinion or observation, Chen warms up after his caffeine fix from the Chinese tea. They share the same humour and their affection for each other seems genuine.

Sharing similar backgrounds, they have been friends for more than half their lives.

Both were born in Taiwan. When they were four, their families moved to New Zealand before settling down in Brisbane, Australia.

Yang, whose Chinese name is Po-yao, adopted the name Brett in Taiwan when his parents asked his English teacher for Western names. She went down the alphabet in giving them suggestions. His older brother is Alan, he got Brett and his mother is Cathy. “We skipped D as we couldn’t find a good name. My dad’s Eric.”

Chen’s mother picked Michael for him when he started kindergarten in New Zealand, but there were three other Michaels in his class.

He asked her for a new name, and she told him to pick one himself. Chen, whose Chinese name is Wei-chen, decided on Eddy after a fighter character in Tekken, a PlayStation game.

They met when Yang was 14 and Chen 13, at a maths tutoring class in Brisbane attended by Asian students.

The next day, they ran into each other again at a youth orchestra rehearsal they had signed up for. They didn’t attend the same school, but the classical music world was so small that they stayed friends.

Chen’s father was a dentist and his mother a housewife. He and his sister, who’s five years older, learnt the violin and piano. When she was 18, she decided to focus on the piano. “My mum was like, ‘well, we have only one piano, so I’m not giving you piano lessons anymore.’” He did the violin.

As for Yang, his older brother played the cello for a while and is now a dentist — “he’s fulfilling that for my parents”. His father is a semi-retired architect and mother an artist and teacher.

Their childhood revolved around practice, performance and competitions. Both went to Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, one of Australia’s leading music and performing arts schools, and knew they would make a career in music.

Chen remembers what his father, who died in 2015, once told him.

“He said, ‘Look, I’ve done that whole make your Asian parents happy part, and it’s cool, but I’m staring at teeth every day from the moment I wake up till I go to sleep. So unless you’re really passionate about teeth, maybe think a bit about doing what you’re passionate about.’

“That stuck with me, which is why I chose to do music even though my mum was like ‘be a doctor, be a doctor’.”

Yang tells his friend: “Your dad’s the chillest dad.”

Did your father get to see your YouTube success before he died, I ask chen.

“We had just started. He saw a little bit, but he didn’t see our first world tour, unfortunately, which would have been cool,” he says, sounding wistful.

Yang adds comfortingly: “He left you with his blessing — and passion.”

Around the time they were in university, South Korean rapper Psy’s Gangnam Style video became a global hit. Inspired, they started to make videos.

There was then a popular duo called 2Cellos. Calling themselves TwoViolins would be lame, “like a copy-paste”, says Yang. “So our two set of violins? Okay, TwoSet Violin.”

They got jobs in orchestras after graduation — Yang with the Sydney Symphony and Chen with the Queensland Symphony.

The fanbase of their videos continued to grow. At the end of 2015, they left their jobs to do videos full time. Audiences lapped up content like 8 Most Epic Piano Performances Everyone Should Watch.

In 2017, they decided to raise funds for a world tour and, as they said at the time, “turn our viral classical comedy videos into one crazy recital”.

They busked and slept on the streets of Sydney, and hit their goal of A$50,000 (S$46,000) in five days. From 2017 to 2019, they performed in more than 20 cities, including Singapore.

INFINITE IDEAS

As classical musicians, they saw how audiences were ageing. A key motivation behind TwoSet Violin has been to win over young fans.

“At concerts, it’s a sea of white hair,” says Yang. “You see a few young people in the front, which is usually us, the students, going to watch their favourite artists on student tickets.”

Adds Chen: “In 20 years, what’s going to happen?”

Yang replies: “We’re not going to have a job... It starts from the younger generation appreciating these things.”

I wonder if making videos has felt like they were dumbing down.

Yang points out that they do play the violin. “It’ll be a different story if we were faking it... But we still offer the integrity of classical music.”

Chen reminds me that his partner would be playing the full Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the SSO. “No YouTube violinist I can think of could do that, right?”

They love it when people tell them how the videos have inspired them to pick up or relearn instruments.

They are brimming with “infinite” ideas on how to make classical music entertaining.

Anything, it seems, can be turned into content.

An idea like whether one can play the violin on the moon could lead to a discourse on how sound and frequency travel in space.

Some videos critique the treatment of classical music in popular culture. 

Their recent parody of the Korean group Blackpink’s use of Paganini’s La Campanella drew flak from K-pop fans for being disrespectful, which they have shrugged off.

Blackpink’s treatment of La Campanella was “pretty artistically uninspiring”, says Chen dryly.

“They turned such a great piece into one of the most monotonous-sounding loops. Like they tuned it down, they processed it to sound almost like a machine violin, and then it was just looping like half the sentence.”

Their critiques aren’t mean-spirited, they add.

“I don’t think we’ve ever insulted someone for the sake of insulting. When we’re making videos, we’re coming from a perspective of sharing the world of classical music,” Chen says.

“So it’s like we’re educating about classical music but in a fun and entertaining way. We add some comedy to it, and sometimes with comedy there’s a bit more spice to it, and we add a bit of roast occasionally.”

As performers, they have had their struggles with stress and exhaustion.

When Chen was about 20, he couldn’t play the violin for about eight months and was in a wheelchair for two. He was preparing for a performance when first his arms, then legs, became mysteriously wracked with pain.

Eventually, a doctor diagnosed it to be psychological, and he had to learn to push through the pain. He has since recovered.

In 2020, Yang took about three months off, suffering from exhaustion.

They have since tried to take more breaks. They manage themselves, with a team of about 12, half of whom work part-time. Big agencies have asked to represent them, but they prefer to be independent.

Covid-19 put a halt to touring, but they held a virtual tour in December 2021. The duo, who are single and semi-based in Singapore, have announced another world tour for 2023/2023.

They don’t have any significant sponsors or government funding, and get income from YouTube advertising, concerts and apparel. “We try to make it work from the resources we have,” says Yang. “It forces us to be super creative.”

They are certainly changing the way classical music is perceived. At their SSO concert at the Victoria Concert Hall, they tied up with Tiger Sugar to serve bubble tea. (They are big bubble tea fans.)

A lot of their success — as well as their future — hinges on them staying in sync with the other.

Chen says they are on the same wavelength in most things and have hardly ever fought. “We are very much on the same page in our bigger outlook on life. Obviously, there will be smaller decisions that we might disagree on, but we just discuss it.”

Yang echoes this. They approach situations not from a “me perspective” but seek to understand each other.

As we wrap up the meal, I ask what they like about each other.

Yang says: “Eddy’s a very open-minded person, and he also thinks really deep. So it’s not just one-dimensional. You think broadly, you also think depth.”

Chen says he appreciates his friend’s ability to be in touch with people’s feelings and be considerate in social situations.

“He knows how to bring uncomfortable conversations up in a non-confrontational way. You know how sometimes people just bottle things up and then over time it explodes, right? But with Brett, it never feels like it has to get to that.”

Yang says softly: “Thanks, bro.”

The lunch crowd has gone, and we take over the restaurant to film the video. They play for us a segment of Augustin Hadelich’s arrangement of Por Una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel.

Yang e-mails me later to ask if I’d like a ticket to their SSO concert. I ask for one to their open rehearsal.

There’s nary a head of white hair among the audience. The seats are occupied by happy young people — mostly women — clapping wildly when they walk on stage and soaking in the Mendelssohn and Bach that follow.

I’m not a classical music lover, but, I, too, enjoyed myself.

#twosetviolin #twoset violin #tsv on the news

[frostfire-17]

could you recommend any texts about the hittite language? (preferably including non-paywalled ones)

I can recommend a couple! For a broader look, you might check out A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages, which I will admit I haven't sat down and read, but all the chapters are by people who know what they're talking about and I believe it's designed for a layperson to read. (Yakubovich is probably going to give you a heck of a lot of sociolinguistics stuff in his chapter on Hittite, though, because that's how he rolls.) Don't know if this is available online; you might need to just try and interlibrary loan it if your library doesn't have it.

If you're looking for straight-up textbooks/grammars, I I think both of these are available in pdf on academia.edu (you need a free account), and possssibly elsewhere on the internet, or you can again try interlibrary loan. The first is van den Hout's The Elements of Hittite (which I learned Hittite from, in its pre-publication Kinko's-bound version, lo these many years ago!). It's a nice little textbook that walks you through the grammar and to a lesser extent the writing system, and has you read some of Mursili II's annals as you go. The second is Hoffner and Melchert's A Grammar of the Hittite Language, which I only ever used as a reference grammar, so I can't tell you how it is as a textbook? It's more comprehensive than van den Hout in terms of grammar, certainly, and more interested in a linguistics perspective, but it doesn't deal with the cuneiform system at all and is overall less user-friendly.

(I have to add, though, that I'm not sure how either of these will treat a lone user without an instructor. You will fare better if you know some Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit, to give you a sense of how ancient IE languages set themselves up - in general a familiarity with noun cases will at least help you out some.) Good luck!

#hittites yay! #asks

[isfjmel-phleg]

Why I like it: Psmith in the City

After I read and enjoyed Mike and Psmith, I interlibrary-loaned the rest of the series and read them in rapid succession.

And honestly, my greatest appreciation for this book came during rereads and the need to overanalyze the text for annotations and conversations with a very longsuffering Allie.

Mike and Psmith's friendship comes about in the first book, and we get to see how much Psmith is willing to sacrifice for his friend, but their connection really comes to the forefront during Psmith in the City.

There's something delightfully escapist about these two friends rooming in Psmith's luxurious flat, braving the drudgeries of their shared misfortune of working at the bank by day, and living it up in Edwardian London by night. It's a setting that feels very real--and it was! Wodehouse peppers the narrative with real locations, and when I was in London, I was able, using this information, to take a little private walking tour of Psmith's part of town and experience it. Even with the reality of the locations, though, there's a certain glamorization. Thanks to Psmith's father's money, the boys are able to afford an experience of young adulthood and a first job that isn't available to most people, either then or now. And perhaps there's some glamorization of the friendship too.

Because it isn't easy to be Psmith's friend, and this starts to be evident. Psmith is a jerk in a lot of ways in this book, more so than in the others--even in his interactions with Mike. But these moments are easily brushed aside, and the friendship never really suffers. This is a Wodehouse novel, so we can be confident that when things get really bad, Psmith will come through as the good friend that he really is, and he'll find a way to save the day for Mike. The worst of his behavior vanishes by the last part of the book, never to be seen again in how he treats his best friend. Not especially realistic, but it is compelling. A real-life Psmith would be absolutely dreadful to put up with; the page, however, allows us a distance that assures us that despite it all, his intentions are good and he himself is good at heart.

And on the whole, he is. We know this because he really does care about Mike, because he's capable of dropping the flippant mask to show compassion when the situation requires. He's just...a complicated mess here. He's under a lot of stress that he hides most of the time. He's angry at his father and taking that out on his awful boss. He's an arrogant rich kid with more money than is good for him. He has one (1) and only one friend whom he's clinging to like the only thing keeping him afloat in life. (Psmith's got attachment issues, I'm starting to realize. That may be another post.) He's a very complex character, not just the comic relief or the trickster archetype, and because of that, he goes beyond hilarity to being interesting, even if he's not always easy to like.

Mike is still the everyman, perhaps even more so because his story is such a relatable portrait of what it's like to be eighteen, fresh out of school, and having to take on for the first time an adult world that you're unequipped for. Mike's classical education and cricket skills aren't particularly useful now that he has to make a living. The former class clown and jock is now an awkward mess of social anxiety. Wodehouse pokes as much fun at Mike as he does anyone else in the story, but he also takes Mike's struggles and pain seriously--because much of it was probably his own. Mike's grief at losing the glorious future he was promised, his increasing frustration and despair at being trapped in a dead-end job that stifles his talents and personality--they're very real, and poignant.

Mike and Psmith may inhabit a glittering dream world in their version of London and maintain a desirably close friendship that would have probably fallen apart eventually if it existed in the real world. Their shenanigans are sheer comedy with no grounding in reality. But the heart of the story is two eighteen-year-olds on their own in the adult world for the first time, with no support system but each other, trying to figure out life and often failing--and this is what makes the story resonate, because we've all been there.

And sure, their ending is a fairy tale, down to the final lines in which Mike imagines his future as pretty much perfect from now on (which will not turn out to be the case!), but...well, when you're a twenty-something in your first non-college job, taking the bus, feeling incompetent, dealing with difficult coworkers...a fairy-tale ending alongside a true friend is pretty appealing.

#Psmith Pseptember #I RP'd Mike on another social media site for a few years and the City plot was mostly the same year I worked in a public library #and maybe it was silly but playing that character helped get me through that year #I loved having another life to imagine in obsessive detail

[the-wizard-library]

Sourdough Salutations! How does one go about acquiring a library card for this monolith of wisdom? I am looking to check your records for ancient Carbohydramancer Cookbooks. You see, I am one of the last of my order. That is, one of the last of the Carbohydramancers. Our sacred texts were burnt long ago. If any place had any manuscripts remaining, I thought it'd be here.

Signed, @panem-crustus: Bread Wizard.

Welcome, oh Starchy One. It has been a long time since one of your order has graced our halls, and the Librarian is honoured that you would like to make use of our resources. To the South of the Library's main campus, you will find the Baker's Tower, right beside our world-renowned magical boulangerie - you may need to do some dusting, but we offer state-of-the-art kitchens and a full library of magical cookery books. The Librarian would like to assure you that there are at least thirteen first-edition Carbohydramancer Cookbooks in the Tower, as well as a box of scrolls detailing recipes that nobody has yet had the skill or courage to test. If you get lost on your way over, just follow the scent of freshly-baked sourdough. It has never truly faded.

The Wizard Library operates on an honour-based system. Anyone is welcome to enter and browse to their heart's content, however if you would like to borrow any of our resources, then Wizard Library Cards are available, free of charge, from the Receptionist. Please note that they will ask you for an address (this can be as vague or as specific as you'd like), but this is only so that they can settle on loan periods and late fees, which may differ depending on your home dimension and intended method of payment. Cards can be customised as desired.

The Receptionist promises that there is no fine print.

#wizard blogging #wizardblr #wizard tumblr #library appreciation #books #carbohydrates #this does not count as fine print

[fivenightsatfreddysfanfiction]

Afton-Herrera Moments

Just random little moments of the household my brain comes up with.

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

.

Waking up slowly and contentedly was such a nice feeling still. Vanessa hummed softly to herself, keeping her eyes closed against the morning light as she gave herself time to luxuriate in the feeling of safety and comfort.

Each night as they drifted off to sleep, she and Sydney lay on their respective sides of the considerably large bed they shared, yet each morning they woke to find they’d gravitated to each other during the night, seeking closeness to reassure themselves the other was still there. Vanessa smiled a little to herself, cuddling closer to her best friend as he kept his arms wrapped loosely around her in a hug, his soft snores brushing over the top of her head. Warm, safe, comfortable.

She’d like to stay bundled up like this, wrapped in a hug and tucked under cozy blankets, but there was work still to be done to prepare their restaurant for opening and Gregory had to go to school, Alex to work, Freddy to the animatronic workshop for weekly cleaning…

Well, maybe they could skip a day. Alex could take care of Gregory himself for a while. Vanessa hummed again, pressing herself closer to Sydney as she drifted towards sleep again, only to grumble under her breath as the man shifted and yawned over her head. He gave her a light squeeze of a hug as his morning greeting before pulling away carefully and sitting up, blinking with squinted eyes at the thin curtains letting sunlight into the bedroom.

She whined at the loss of warmth and comfort, squeezing her eyes shut in refusal of fully waking and reaching out in Sydney’s general direction, childishly making grabbing motions as if she could latch on from a distance and pull him back down under the blankets with her. All she got for her effort was a very light tapping against her forehead that had her open her eyes to see the knuckles of Sydney’s fingers delicately pressed to her skin, an amused expression on his face and one brow raised as if to question her behavior.

“What?” Vanessa mumbled grumpily, pouting as Sydney’s small smile grew into a full grin, “I was warm and comfy! Don’t wanna get up. Lie down with meeee.”

He just shook his head at her, tapping his fingers against his wrist instead to remind her of the time. Spoilsport. She groaned loudly just to make sure he was fully aware of how much she didn’t want to do any of it before sweeping the blankets off herself.

Time for another day of bashing her head against the paperwork and red tape that seemed determined to work against her in financing and opening a restaurant. Sydney’s two million dollar infusion of funds at his personal risk could only take them so far. She had to pull her weight and navigate the legalities to carry them the rest of the way.

Didn’t mean she’d be happy with it interrupting her lazy morning cuddling.

.

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

.

Breakfast in the kitchen consisted of Alex sipping coffee after munching on toast and eggs, Gregory enjoying a glass of orange juice while Freddy packed a lunch for him for school, Sydney washing some of the dishes used in cooking and Vanessa pouring over several text-dense forms and documents. There was an air of domestic tranquility that seemed almost normal and so was eerie for the group.

“Hm,” Vanessa hummed as she sat up and lifted one of the documents to narrow her eyes at the text, “There’s a financing credit for young couples made available last year that’s still in circulation. Extra 5% in loans and lower interest repayment.” She looked over at Sydney, holding up the paper, “Hey, do you wanna get married so I can buy an extra pizza oven?”

Behind her, two violent sputterings erupted as brown and orange liquid sprayed over the table while Sydney turned to stare at her in confusion, head tilting. His gaze flicked over the document, then to her face, then to the nearby calendar where his eyes narrowed as he focused on the dates. Vanessa waited for a response or other reaction before catching on to what had his attention and immediately pouting.

“It’s not a late April Fool’s prank! I was just asking!” she declared, “Five percent is no joke!” Sydney just gave her a raised eyebrow, unimpressed, and she rolled her eyes. “Fiiine. I guess we can make do with just one pizza oven for now,” Vanessa sighed and turned back to her pile of papers, blinking at the stains on everything before looking up at Alex and Gregory coughing in tandem and thumping their chests. “What’s wrong with you two?” she asked them in concern.

Both of them looked at each other in disbelief before staring at her with the same dumbfounded expression.

#bits and pieces #fnaf vanessa #fnaf gregory #herrera brothers #fnaf au #parlourverse au #fanfiction