#beautiful photo they both look like they’re judging my life choices <3

[bilbao-song]

Good morning, Amy! Here’s a pre-Milli Vanilli photo that I found. I really like Rob’s natural auburn hair color. Wish he would’ve kept it this way.

awww yessss it’s such a pretty color!!!

#is he wearing. shorts over jeans #anyway #beautiful photo they both look like they’re judging my life choices <3 #blckvenuz #milli vanilli #rob pilatus #fab morvan

[ohheyitsokay]

ebb and flow

this takes place in my ‘poly frontier’ universe

pairing: Will “Ironhead” Miller, Santiago “Pope” Garcia, Francisco “Catfish” Morales, Ben “Benny” Miller and a female reader 

wordcount: 3.3k

warnings: all fics in this series are 18+, poly relationship domestic, romantic, and sexual intimacy. strong language, both implications of sex and brief explicit sexual content

note: this is set earlier in the relationship than “just a day” when there’s more they’re still figuring out

>>

Will, of all of them, had the hardest time with sharing you. It wasn’t that he didn’t agree – that it worked and was good, it’s just that he couldn’t stop… counting.

He wanted so badly to be steady for you. It made him fill with pride, almost shining with it when you called him your Ironhead. It was his pleasure, his joy, his job to be your rock, the best thing to come out of locking his heart away.

But he knew you liked it when he opened up, too, trusted you with the parts of himself that he was still figuring out. That was what he should do, whenever his vision blurred green, but it seemed petty and stupid.

At times, they each had to reign in their instincts to be possessive – you were theirs, after all. For Will it was small moments that piled up, stuck in his head like glue, coagulating until it was a jealous monster, growling and glaring and over-reading every moment.

You gave Ben and extra long hug. 3 seconds longer and a squeeze too. There was 11 minutes of his date with you that was wasted on the phone helping Santi with something. Twice in the last month he bumped into Frankie leaving your place when he arrived. That amounted to at least 6 minutes of conversation before he could go in and see you.

But the thing was, he couldn’t be mad, not at them for wanting you as badly as he did, or you, for doing your best to be enough for them all, and that left only one person. Himself.

You noticed, of course you did. He was your Ironhead - discerning and level and selfless and thoughtful. Of course you could tell when he yanked you a little closer, eyes flitting to the clock on his wrist or tapping his fingers, antsy, impatient. Counting. And you knew he would blame himself, for stupid reasons. Frankie noticed too, always the one who saw right through the other’s words, straight to their minds, their hearts. The two of you talked to Santi and Benny and as expected, neither of them even thought to complain. They knew him too, leaned on his strength in their own ways.

It made you feel giddy, the secret as you called his work and charmed them into letting him off early, as your other lovers made themselves scarce.

He came home confused – until he saw you sitting on the counter wearing his shirt. There was a second he froze, processing, and the next he was in-between your legs, mouth on yours and hands ghosting over your waist like he didn’t know if it was real. His kisses were firm, in stark contrast to the insecure tone of his voice as he asked, “How long?”

How long do I get you, until I have to give you up again?

You slid your hands from his hair down the sides of his face, thumbs in his beard, over his chest, before slipping them into his front pockets.

“As long as you want, Will.” His eyes had been watching your movements appreciatively, but they snapped up to meet yours.

“Really?”

He sounded happy, but a little disbelieving. As much as you enjoyed building the sexual tension between you, you moved to wrap your arms around him, trying ground him like he always did for you.

Your yes went into his beard. And he hugged you back, understanding, before gathering you up into his arms and off the counter. They were waiting for his okay, giving him giving him the gift of an uncountable evening.

And if he wasn’t going to be undistracted by counting down the minutes, he had plenty of better things to apply himself to. He whispered thank you to your into your skin 7 times, that night.

-

Towards the beginning, Santi struggled with the appearances of it. He hated having to explain himself, would honestly prefer it to never come up, but of course that was impossible. Hated not being able to take you out without knowing there could be judging, misunderstanding eyes on the back of your neck.

In his heart, it wasn’t as selfish as it sounded – it’s not that he wanted to be the guy who “won" or anything like that. He just wanted to show you off, take you places, do things with you. Splitting your time, or getting enough of them to organize something just made things messier, pulling his relationship with you out of his control.

So one evening, when the all of them were off for various reasons, you knew he’d be at a bar, pouring over case files he didn’t want to bring home.

It was easy, sliding up behind him, trailing your fingers over his broad shoulders before whispering in his ear.

“Hey, handsome,” and he turned. He knew it was you, of course he did, but when he looked at you, any words he had got caught in his throat before he swallowed them. You were wearing a little outfit he had never seen, a little bolder and a little sexier than you would normally choose. Bits of lace poked out in all the right places, and you tried not to beam with pride as his eyes darkened and raked over you.

“You look like you know how to show a girl a good time,” you added, introducing yourself to make sure he caught your drift. Gently, you fiddled with the hem of his shirt, the waistband of his pants, twirling your hair like you were really flirting with him. His beautiful jaw clenched a little, clearly thinking, and you knew you had him hooked. He couldn’t resist.

“Have we met?” it was sweet, watching him try to play it cool, like he wasn’t already rock hard for this, for you. You could feel it, as you pressed between his legs, and thanking your stars he’d picked a stool. His hands hovered a hair’s width away from your waist, waiting, and you only tortured him a moment longer – fingers just dipping in his jeans – before you confirmed.

“Not tonight.”

His grin was cocky, confidant and contagious, and you knew this was a good choice. Part of him surely wanted to drag you somewhere he could kiss you like he knew would make you wrap your legs around him, but the game , the opportunity was far too tempting. When his hands gently pushed you onto your own stool, and he bought you a drink with a Santiago Garcia, nice to meet you, you knew. It was indulgent, to spend the night flirting and falling in love like a “normal" couple and Santi couldn’t help but help himself.

There was a look in his eyes, even as he asked you questions he already knew the answers to, that was full of fire. It burned into you, possessive and powerful and a calculated level of restrained, and you felt light as ash, overwhelmed with the intensity of him.

For that, you were more than happy to play along.

-

Even before the very first kiss, Frankie liked to be the one who fixed your car. Or the one who helped clean up, or the one who opened the jars.

His ability to provide was the sword that parried his fear that he wasn’t enough for you, for any of you. And it seemed like an okay solution - every moment of self loathing for his mistakes countered with grateful smiles and relieved shoulders. He liked feeling like he was making the world better, making life easier for the his loves, liked the idea that he was in control of the value of his contributions.

And it would have been easy for you all to let him provide – he loved doing it, after all, but it was important that he knew that you didn’t love him because of his provision. He was your Catfish, worthy not because of the things he did, but because who he was.

You told him so, a day he insisted on grocery shopping and you insisted on joining him. When he heard you, a muscle in his cheek jumped and he almost dropped the melon he was holding. It didn’t sink it, you could tell because he brushed a kiss to your temple and thanked you without meeting your eyes.

It was hard to talk about because he was good at providing, and that in itself wasn’t a bad thing. Scanning the isles with purpose he knew what brands to get what everyone liked. Frankie had sharp eyes and ears and knew you all better than you knew yourselves.

As you followed him, and added your own observations, he took them gratefully and you knew it wasn’t going to be a single, grand moment that his mind understood, and that was okay.

You spend the evening kneading his back, his muscles jumping underneath your hands. When he murmured about needing to go read over something for Ben, you settled on his lumbar, wishing your knees were anchors and pressing kisses into his shoulders, promising it could wait. Telling him without words that he was allowed to enjoy the moment without earning it.

It made you smile, that you didn’t mention anything to the others, but they didn’t take advantage of him either.

If he came home with groceries, someone else would put them away, and the others would cook. When his eyebrows dipped and he offered to clean, you would gently, gently herd him out of the kitchen.

Any day of the week he looks through his bag and smile in spite of himself, overwhelmed with how you adore him for seemingly no reason. His gloves replaced, extra of his favorite snacks, or the occasional photo he had to hide from his coworkers. They’re consistent little reminders, telling him sternly that he is the reason and that is enough.

Together you fortify him from the inside out, a beautiful balance of accepting him for how he loves and matching it, reminding him the burden of provision is not on his shoulders alone. That what his does is a gift you all cherish, but who he is defined your love.

And when his hand is in your hair, and you’re kissing the inside of his thigh, knelt between his legs, you know he understands.

“You’re so handsome,” you murmur, sliding up to lick along over the bone of his hip. Santi is behind you, and you feel him murmur his agreement against your neck. Your Catfish tilts your head up to look at him, and his brown eyes are warm and pleased and just a touch greedy.

“Show me,” his voice rasps, as though the words are foreign on his tongue and the selfishness of it half catches him off guard – he leans into it. You don’t see, but you’re sure the others catch it too – the gradual disappearance of transactional love.

Frankie provides for you, and you, for him.

-

It was predictable, maybe, but an honest problem, that both Miller boys had a relationship with you.

Will had always been the star, hair like sunshine and eyes like the ocean, first child and first pick on every team he’d tried out for, and even a couple he hadn’t.

Ben, your Benny, outgrew him in height, but the swathe of the shadow still choked him at times. Especially when it came to you, his darling girl, his biggest fan, and the absolute love of his life. How could he keep up with Frankie, a man who provided for you as naturally as he breathed, or Santi a living, walking hero, right out of the movies? How could he keep up with his brother, the man he’d looked up to since he could see?

He picked hobbies and girls and careers his brother didn’t, almost couldn’t see how much he glowed on his own, and he ached for you, to tell him. Remind him that you chose Benny. Not as a backup Will, or an off-brand. Not out of pity or convenience or greed.

And you did, because he wasn’t – not to you.

You needed him, had a love for him the others couldn’t provide. It was part of your love to be intentional with each of them: reaching for him, rewarding him with gasps of his name alone, but that wasn’t always the total of what you wanted to communicate.

So it worked out perfectly one night, you even plan it.

Ben woke up to one of you hands over his mouth, the other on his thigh, rubbing circles high on the inside. It felt like a dream, hazy and delicious, but your voice in his ear dragged him awake. It’s just me, shh, get up! Your tone was… needy, so thick with your arousal he would’ve been halfway to hard without the teasing of your hand. Swinging his long limbs, he focused on your hands, now tugging him insistently all the way down the stairs to the couch, still too drowsy to quite comprehend what was happening.

He could do one thing without thinking, though, so his mouth pressed into yours and you nearly toppled before pulling him down with you, grinding into him as you explained.

“I – oh! – I was dreaming about you,” you pulled away from his kisses to draw your tongue down the column of his throat. “Needed you, Ben,” you added, as if that wasn’t abundantly obvious. It occurred to him that you were keeping your voice quiet, like you didn’t want the others to hear.

“Dreamed about us, baby?” he thought he misheard, his strong hands pulling your core into his, too impatient for your moans to wait until you were both undressed.

“Oh fuck,” you wriggled against him, fighting to say words. “No, Ben, just you,” you barely managed it, but then he paused, still as a knockout.

Now he was wide awake, your words sinking into his skin like a brand, hot and sharp.

“Just me?” his deep voice was clear, like misunderstanding would kill him, and you mimicked his stillness, pulling back to look him in his sweet blue eyes.

“Yeah Benny,” a chaste kiss, as earnest and honest and raw as he was. He knew your tells, as well as he knew his own – you wouldn’t lie to him. “Just you.” Your smile, even in the dark of the living room was adoring, and the one he shot back was bright enough to light up the room.

It crashed into him, his sharp mind processing it all at once. You dreamed of him. Woke up, pulled away from his brother, slipped past the handsome other men who called themselves your lovers and brought him, alone, to bring you your pleasure. It didn’t just make him proud – it made it feel real how much you loved him, needed your Benny. Nothing more, nothing less.

Then your world spun, and he was on top of you, palming your breast through the shirt you were wearing. He was reveling in it, basking in it the reminder like oxygen in his blood. Once he made sure you were comfortable – ever the sweetheart – he cradled your jaw, eyes clouded with intensity and a lust thick with love.

“Let’s reenact it then, shall we?”

-

It was insane, overwhelming, and positively daunting, the idea of pleasing, loving, existing with four men. The very concept of balancing your care for each of them in every aspect of your lives.

Of you had loved each of them any less you couldn’t have done it, wouldn’t have even tried.

What were you doing? How selfish could one person be?

Wouldn’t then be happier in the long run if you would just choose?

It haunted you, the months spent on sweet dates and awkward moments and nervous laughter at the beginning of your relationship. The five of you took it slow, their bodies acting like walls, guarding you as much as you could from the whispering voices.

Reassuring voices came in many forms, and for awhile, it was more than enough to keep your doubt at bay.

And when the relationship progressed to physical intimacy, at first you thought it was gone – you could do this. You could make it work.

The more comfortable you all got with each other, the arrangement, the more exhilarating you assumed the fucking – the lovemaking – would be.

But sometimes things didn’t happen like you assumed they would.

You were hovering above Frankie, your Frankie, his dark eyes blown wide with pleasure, his cock half inside you as you slid down his length. Hands anchored to his chest, you breathed slow breaths, wondering at the anxious feeling that was bubbling up inside of you. Behind you, you could feel the warmth of Will’s chest, his cock gently grinding on your backside, hands on your hips by Frankie’s, his thumbs rubbing lines into your skin.

It was strange, the brush of his beard by your ear, as he rumbled, “Do you have one more for us, baby?”

It should have been delicious, the feel of them, their words and touches and the gazes of your other lovers as they settled nearby, but all of a sudden, it was too much.

Shrugging, you shuddered.

You didn’t even have time to find the safety word in the fog of your mind, Frankie pulled you off of him, concern written on his face as you sunk to a rest on the thick of his thighs. The movement of Will’s his ceased as his hands increased their soothing circles.

“It’s – I’m fine,” you gasped, coming out of your daze, embarrassment and panic rising in your throat. Shaking your head, trying to clear it, you reached for Frankie’s length, wanting to apologize for keeping him waiting.

Buying yourself time.

“Hey, hey,” Santi, your Pope, caught your wrists, worry lines etched into his forehead. “Slow down,” he instructed, and you shuddered again. He could be commanding if he wanted to, but he rarely told you to slow down.

“I’m sorry,” you said, hands still occupied by his, feeling helpless.

You wanted to cry.

“Sorry for what?” Benny’s voice wasn’t as gentle as the others, lacking the practiced murmur, but it was exactly what you needed. It was so practical, so genuinely confused, you huffed in laughter and it was the first real exhale in long moments. His blues found yours, the dip of his eyebrows confirming his sentiments – you did nothing wrong.

You felt Will’s sigh as he coaxed you down onto the mattress, but as he pulled you into his arms, you realized he wasn’t disappointed in you.

“Should’ve known,” his annoyance was at himself, for getting too caught up to notice your signs. “This is too much, isn’t it?”

“It shouldn’t be,” you grumbled, still feeling embarrassed, trying to sit in the narrow space between him and Frankie.

Benny laughed, and even Santi cracked a smile when he spoke.

“Taking four fucking dudes in one night?” He gestured around at their bodies, looking at you incredulously. They were all solid, handsome and formidable, nothing to be taken lightly on their own, much less together.

You flushed.

“I just need a bit of a break, and then we can try again,” you offered, and Frankie joined their smiles, his worry lowering with your stress, and bumping his forehead into yours. Sliding off the bed, Santi was shaking his head as he went off to the bathroom.

“We can if you want, love,” Will pushed Frankie away just enough to kiss your temple. “But trust me when I say we’re good.”

“But –”

“Babe, it’s been three fucking hours,” he said with a squeeze. That seemed a bit generous, but you smiled.

Your lovers were looking at you, and you knew them too well to deny to satisfaction on their faces. They were relaxed, already sliding closer to all fit on the bed, tossing hastily discarded clothes into the hamper, exchanging content smiles and confirming touches.

Santi returned with a handful of damp rags and a small pile of blankets, saying, “We have time.” He really did seem unbothered, having already pulled on a pair of sweatpants. The cloth was warm on your skin and you knew what he meant. Whatever it was, that the five of you had, was just budding, really. 

“Yeah, and it’s not like we’re not going anywhere,” Benny added, leaning against Frankie’s pillow, and the knot came fully undone in your chest.

You settled back in their arms, cherishing the moment as the stickiness was whipped away.

They were right.

Together, you could do this.

<<

taglist:

@fangirl-316 @scribbledghost @writeforfandoms @beautyagegoodnesssize @princess76179 @mrsbentallmadge

poly frontier taglist:

@grogusmum

#poly frontier #triple frontier poly fic #triple frontier x reader #will miller x reader #santiago garcia x reader #frankie morales x reader #benny miller x reader #maybe i don't know people #thoughts from elle

[ssson-of-sparda]

A Dozen Ice Cream Cones (Dante x Fem!Reader)

Summary: Patty wants to know what happened to the girl who offered Dante his very first strawberry sundae. But to know the rest of the story, she must erase the dozen ice cream cones from Dante's tab. (Part 2 of A Tab To Erase) (Part 1)

Tags: Pre DMC3 Dante / Dante is Tony Redgrave / Flirting / Lost Friends to Lovers / Implied Sexual Content / Explicit Language

Author’s note: You wished for Part 2, there it is ;-) If you want to place this part of the story in the DMC timeline, I'd say that it is shortly before DMC3. Dante is roughly eighteen (and so is Reader) and still goes by the name Tony Redgrave. Again, the Dante who is talking to Patty is definitely post DMC Anime. I decided not to give many details about him so that he could be the one of your choice. Can definitely do a part 3 if you want.

MISSION 2

Dante was about to get fleeced. He could feel it in his guts, which had somehow developed this strange ability to knot tightly in his stomach each time he was about to lose. Probably the result of so many years of bad luck in gambling. And yet, Patty’s eyebrows were weirdly furrowed as she was quietly eyeing all of the cards in her hands. She had to have a straight flush. Dante had no doubt about that. So why wasn’t she playing? “You know, Dante. I was thinking …”       “Not again.” The man grumbled, wondering why she was taking her time. But Patty had learned to ignore Dante’s sudden irritations long ago, knowing they were always brief and harmless.       “You didn’t stay friends, right?” Dante arched an eyebrow and stared at the girl in front of him as she was sitting still, big blue eyes fixed upon his face, patiently waiting for the answer to her unexpected question.   “What are you talking about?” A sigh escaped his mouth. He knew what she was talking about. He just wanted to elude the answer. But the little blonde was not one to easily give up. “With the little girl. The one who made you first strawberry sundae. You didn’t stay friends. Why?”                   “What makes you think that?” Using a question to avoid an answer. Yes, could work.             “Well, if you had a friend making you strawberry sundaes for free, then you would not spend an unreasonable amount of money on them. So, I’m guessing she must not be around anymore.” Patty was perceptive. Dante could give her that quality, for sure. Though right now it was more a bother than anything else. “What happened?”       “She moved on with her life.” was the only thing that he felt like answering as he quietly stood up to take a beer in his fridge, certain that this was just the beginning of another long questioning.               “So you never saw her again after that night in the diner?” Patty asked as she watched Dante slouch back in the couch, taking his cards back in his hand to cover whatever expression Patty was trying to spot on his face.       “Yes, I did saw her again.” He finally confessed, eyes on the dog-eared Queen of Hearts he was grazing with his thumbnail.             “Then tell me!” The girl begged, unable to resist the excitement growing in her body any longer. “ Why would I? Don’t you have any stupid soap opera to watch?”       “ The TV’s broken… AGAIN.” She complained but he couldn’t care less. He had no money to afford buying a new one or fixing this one. Plus, there was nothing worth watching on TV so …“Come on. I’ll erase the dozen ice creams cones from your tab if you do.” Dante looked away from his cards with a sudden tiny smirk as he noticed Patty on the edge of her chair, impatiently waiting for the new part of his story to begin. “Now you speak my language, Patty.”         “ You never do something for free! It’s annoying!”       “Are you kidding me? I do a lot of things for free. That’s why I’m so broke and live in this hellhole.” He waved at the place with open arms before taking a gulp of his beer with a grimace. Yuck, it’s hot! And of course it was. He hadn’t paid the bills yet again.           “So we have a deal, then. Now tell me.”

A DOZEN ICE CREAM CONES

                 It was the nineties – perhaps the most awful period for anyone who had even just a small sense for fashion or music - and as the city of Red Grave was still lovingly dancing on ridiculous love ballads on Friday nights, wearing tight crop tops, colourful scrunchies and platform sneakers, Dante – now named Tony Redgrave - was trying to make his place as a young mercenary in the rough areas of the city, hanging in bars serving some drinks stronger than strawberry sundaes (though he would always order one at some point) and in clubs where women would gladly take their clothes off if asked too, mind a few bucks of course (except for Venus. Venus would always flash her breasts for free for her sweet Tony).

“Not sure I want to know that.” “ Oh yes. Forgot the story must be PG-13, sorry. Anyway …”

He was looking for jobs, something that would help him pay for a proper roof over his head and the fancy long red leather coat he had just bought (five hundred bucks but worth every single dime) and luckily for him he knew the perfect man to find him that.

His name was Enzo Ferino. A short and chubby Italian-American broker, probably the best informant in the neighbourhood, one who could smell high-paying jobs for miles around especially those Dante loved to refuse.

“Where was Morrison?” “Can I tell my story please?”

“Come on Tony! You can’t refuse that job. Not another one. Not again.” He almost threw a fist on the counter before he remembered the last time he did so. Two bullets had whizzed the top of his black curly head and he had had thanked his mama for making him so short. “Haven’t you heard the reward? Don’t you see all the zeros on that check, my friend?” Yes, there were four and enough to pay the bail and few rents of the place he wished to rent to create his own agency. But Dante didn’t want that check nor did he want that job.             “If he wants to recover a stupid necklace, he can call the cops for that … or a bailiff. I don’t go after silly poker players. I have better things to do.” He took a sip of his whiskey, the third of the night, not even looking at the two men sitting next to him and begging him to take that damn job with pleading eyes.               “You have nothing better to do!” Enzo shouted, throwing his hands in the hair like a living Italian cliché. “Please Sir. It’s my girlfriend’s necklace. One she offered me on our anniversary. It’s very precious to her.” The man who wished to hire him declared as he started rummaging in the pocket of his designer coat.               “And you bet on it?” Dante scoffed. “Damn. What a perfect boyfriend you are. But that’s still a no.”

The man pressed a piece of paper next to Dante’s drink. A photo, a polaroid, judging by the quality of the paper, carefully placed face down like a poker card, showing that that man was most probably a pro-gambler or at least was used to card games. Another reason not to help. He would probably lose the damn necklace right after recovering it.         And yet, Dante took the picture in his hand. Though he didn’t really know why he did. Certainly the curiosity to know what kind of chick that prick could have in his life or maybe the will to use the picture to taunt him about his taste in women. He imagined a prude church girl, some daddy’s girl probably as rich as him, not very pretty but fancy, wearing pearl earrings and silk headscarves matching her shiny shoes. The type of girl that swaggers in the street and roll her disdainful eyes when they see men like Dante (though they might secretly wished he would rumple their sheets).  

Patty cleared her throat. “What? Every girl loves some good bad boy once in a while... And how do you even know what that means?”

He couldn’t be more wrong. And he couldn’t be more surprised. He would recognize those big (colour) eyes and that sweet smile among thousands, despite the time apart, despite the years that had turned a fearful little boy into a daredevil mercenary and an adorable little girl into a magnificent young girl. He would recognize them always because they were the first that had made in smile when he thought he would never smile again.                 “Her name is Y/N. She’s the sweetest girl in the world. Innocent. Pure.” Dante cringed at the man’s words, finding them rather repulsive and somewhat perverted. Something in the way they were rolling off his tongue.       “Come on, Tony. You can’t say no to a sweet girl.” Enzo’s sentence was met with a glare that made him shiver but when he saw his partner stand up and empty his glass of whiskey, he somewhat relaxed. “You’re pieces of shit. Both of you.”         “Does that mean you take the job?” Dante didn’t bother answer.

                 But he took the job. Not for Enzo. Especially not for his shitty client. And even less for the cash. For her. Just for her. To finally return the favour after so many years. Because he owed her one. Because she was possibly one of the few humans he’s always respected in his ten years wandering the nighty street of Red Grave. And because she didn’t deserve an asshole like the one she dated to lose something apparently so precious to her in a silly game of cards. An easy job for someone like him but one he despised nevertheless. He hated to deal with humans. They were sometimes worse than demons and you can’t fix problems with them by using a sword.

“Don’t tell me you won the necklace back?” “ I did. Fair and square. Well … almost. I ended up using my sword. Turned out the Mafiosi who had Y/N’s necklace were a bunch of demons who had made a few bars in downtown Red Grave their lairs.”

But once Dante had Y/N’s necklace in the palm of his hand he did something only Dante could do. He refused the reward, refused all the zeros on the check and the chance to finally buy that agency he wanted so badly. “The things you do for beautiful women.” Gunsmith Nell Goldstein had said when she had given him back his guns, all polished and fixed, after he had wrecked them on the job again. “They’re your weakness, Tony. Always leading you around by the nose … or something else.” Perhaps, but he never minded.        

And as he watched Y/N approaching the door to her home out of the corner of his eye, a bunch of books under her arms, looking for her keys in her bag, Dante knew he would not regret his weakness for women or his decision to refuse the money.      

She looked as sweet as he remembered, as delicate as in the picture if not more. And just as her shitty boyfriend had said, she indeed seemed rather innocent and pure. Almost fragile. Nothing like the girls he had met before, especially those he had seen undressed at Love Planet or in one of the magazines he kept in his drawers.       “Goodness grac…” She almost dropped her books as she jumped, surprised and somewhat scared, and put her hand over her heart that had certainly missed quite a beat when she noticed this insanely tall stranger on her doorstep.   But her sudden fear disappeared immediately when she recognized the silvery white hair covering the icy blue eyes of the man before her. “Tony?” She arched an eyebrow and he smiled with the same childish joy she had witnessed on his face years ago. And just like that, she was certain it was him.       “Hello, Y/N” He offered his hand and she briefly stared at it, remembering for a small instant the time she held out her tiny hand to him the same way, the night they met. And so she grabbed it, genuinely happy to see him again and yet curious to know how he had found her and why he was back after so many years.       But when she fell something cold and metallic in his hand she got her answer. “My necklace. How?” “Won it back for you.” He simply answered but that was enough for her to understand what happened. “[Boyfriend] lost it on a poker game, didn’t he?” And even though that didn’t really surprised her as she knew how much he loved gambling despite her telling him not to, it disappointed her anyway. “You shouldn’t date boys who have a streak of bad luck in gambling… Except those like me.” She looked up at Dante’s piercing blue eyes, unsettled by his flirtatious humour, thinking he accidentally let that slip but he definitely did not. Those last words, impulsive and yet somewhat well thought out, had rolled off his tongue with a scandalous smoothness and a self-confidence that had rooted her to the spot, speechless, but in a weirdly pleasant way that made her want to slap herself. “Or especially me. Depends if you like trouble.”     With a smug smirk, he stared at her, deep in her eyes, almost … hungrily? She didn’t really know. All that she knew was that never a man had looked at her that way. Certainly not her boyfriend. And who knew such icy eyes could set fire to her cheeks like that? “But, judging by that place and your guy, you seem to enjoy some well-ordered life.”

Not really. Not at all. Her life was boring, plain and dull. Nothing like in the books she read. Nothing like what she had dreamed of. But exactly what her mother had wished for her.         She was an adorable daughter, a top student finishing up high school, ready to leave Red Grave with her well brought up boyfriend to start a life many would envy but that she cared little about.     She wanted adventure. She wanted excitement. Passion. Frivolity. Freedom. And maybe even some danger. She wanted all that and more.           And as she looked at the self-assured man in front of her, she couldn’t help but believe that he had somehow managed to obtain all that. And she wanted to know how. How did that life feel? How could he live such a life? How could she have the same?         And Dante noticed that small fire, that tamed lonely flame burning deep in her eyes that needed just a drop or two of gasoline to rage and shine brightly. Something he could easily provide if she let him, if that’s what she wanted.

“Take care of yourself, Y/N” He nodded her goodbye and as he shifted to walk away, she opened her lips to say. “Would you like a strawberry sundae?” And she cursed herself for this, so damn loud in her head. You have a boyfriend! A voice repeated on and on, feeling the temptation in her heart and the ideas of what some people would call unfaithfulness seeping in her brain. But as she opened the door to her apartment, ready to finally kick the boredom out of her life for something else, for something more, the voice seemed to fade.           Guess the Devil truly finds work for idle hands to do.

#devil may cry #dmc #dmc fanfiction #devil may cry fanfiction #dante #dmc dante #dante x reader #a dozen ice cream cones #a tab to erase

[onestowatch]

Aidan Gallagher Has No Limits [Q&A]

Photo By Allan Zaki

There are many facets to Aidan Gallagher. On the surface, his scene stealing prowess as the co-star of The Umbrella Academy has catapulted him to an immense level of popularity on a piece of prime real estate amongst Hollywood’s brightest young A-List celebrities. But beneath the surface of this 17-year-old actor lies a multi-instrumentalist. An independent singer-songwriter who doesn’t seem to care about the mainstream attention that his music may garner in the future, only the substance for which it can bare.  Musically, his original compositions like “I LOVE YOU” and “4TH of July” draw early comparisons to acoustic-pop artists like Jack Johnson and Passenger. While lyrically some of his introspective words jump off the paper as if they were indie pop-ballads written by singers like Jason Mraz or Aqualung back in 2003.

For Aidan Gallagher the musician, the year 2020 began with a sold-out show at the Troubadour in his hometown of Los Angeles, California. This live performance on January 6th was supposed to be his introduction to the tour life. In fact, a couple weeks later, he even announced that he would be playing a live set at SXSW in March.  But…just as quickly as the Neon Lights Tour began, it came to an abrupt end due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Although his first ever headlining tour has been temporarily delayed, it hasn’t stopped Aidan Gallagher from publishing fresh content for his listeners along with a series of new music videos.

There are many facets to the year 2020. On the surface the pandemic this year alone has derailed the plans of some of the world’s most talented independent recording artists. But when you’re an intuitive songwriter like Aidan Gallagher, times like these can provide the backdrop for some of the most emotional compositions that you may create.

We caught up with Aidan Gallagher to talk about his emotional subject matter, his dream collaborations and his future plans to balance his music endeavors with a budding acting career.

Ones to Watch: With all of the success that you've enjoyed over the course of the past two years, you've become one of the most recognized actors in young Hollywood. But now you're starting to get a lot more attention as a recording artist. In fact, you currently have four music videos that have garnered over 1 million views on YouTube. Those are very impressive feats to have accomplished without the support of a major record label. What was your personal goal when you first started releasing music? And are you happy with the reception that your music videos have received so far?

Aidan Gallagher: There was always less of a defined personal goal in terms of a release schedule other than just to make great music and put it out there and if people enjoy it, that’s really gratifying. I’ve always made music as a means of working out emotions and because it’s one of the most rewarding hobbies one can have.

Two singles that you've released this year are "I LOVE YOU" and "Blue Neon." Lyrically, they're both heartbreaking tracks that teenagers can relate to. But you also reference some introspective experiences that many adults in their 20s or 30s can relate to. What inspired the lyrics to these songs?

I've often found that the melodic structure and the micro-tonal characteristics of a riff are what inspire the emotional landscape of a song. When I hear music, I see colors and shapes and textures that I couldn't necessarily describe to another person. I let that imagery inform my emotional state and the subject matter of the song. The lyrics always coincide with this. Sometimes the lyrics relate more to the music than myself and other times they are stripped word for word from my own personal experience. Either way the lyrics always come from an honest place. I don't see how you could create anything of value without that.

“4th of July" is a Folk song that pulls on the heart strings of your listeners. The date is very specifically addressed in your lyrics, so why did you choose to release the music video on August 1st instead of the actual day of July 4th?

Thank you! I’m really proud of that song. It brought together a lot of what I’ve been learning about music production and engineering. It gave me a chance to show what I can do. A lot of people have asked about the timing of videos and our team has found through the advice of some very wise music industry people and just trial and error that it’s best to release a listening only video first. I like the idea that people will listen to the work before they start dissecting the visuals. I want them to have their own interpretation and not necessarily the visual scenery I put on it.

Of all the musicians and bands that have released music videos in 2020, which ones have inspired your imagination the most, when it comes to creating your own videos?

I often find myself influenced by a variety of artists across musical genres. To give an example or two, I really love what Jacob Collier and Finneas are doing with their videos. But at the same time, some of my favorite videos are the ones that are stripped down, and the artist is just performing their song in a studio or on a stage. I think it puts a beautiful focus on the music and the emotional texture of the song.

The 2020 Blue Neon Tour was going to be your first heading tour, but it was cancelled back in January due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Can you tell us a little bit about what you had in store for this tour?

Well, I was lucky that I got a chance to kick it off at the Troubadour here in Los Angeles.  Just that alone was pretty cool. I had a full tour planned to go around the country and then travel to international cities and do meet-and-greets with my fans and really connect. I was really looking forward to my first SXSW performance, so that was a really hard pill to swallow when they cancelled the festival. But all things considered, I’ve been incredibly lucky in my life and my little plans pale in comparison when you look at the state of the world right now.

How many songs have you recorded since the pandemic shutdowns began? And will you be releasing an EP or debut album anytime soon?

“I Love You” and “4th of July” were released this year but everything else I’m doing is currently in a state of flux. I’ve definitely got the songs but it’s a balance of finding the time to put into recording them. I have a large catalog that I’m really proud of that will be coming out one at a time as I can get to it. With (Covid-19) it’s really slowed down my ability to record because I have to engineer everything myself. With “4th of July” I had 3 different engineers on rotation come to my house to work so it kept me working on a strong schedule and we knocked it out fast. When (Covid-19) put everyone in quarantine I lost that team and schedule. We’ll get it back though.

Who would your dream collaborators be for a full-length studio album and why?

Wow, I mean, if I was ever lucky enough to work with any of my idols, I’d be over the moon. If I got to collaborate with another artist for an entire album it would probably be on a production or writing level. I’d love to work with John Mayer, Finneas, Charlie Puth or Ed Sheeran.

If you could pick any film director to direct the first music video from your debut album who would it be and why?

Honestly, I don’t think in terms of music videos. I only think about music. Once a song is produced then I have the luxury to get into the ideas for a video. I do have some raw visual impressions in my mind of what the song means to me but it’s hard to say until the song is done. Though there are many film directors that I’d love to work with as an actor such as Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Damien Chazelle and the list goes on and on and on.

We heard that you're a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Tell us about your work with the UN. What made you want to get involved with their efforts to stop Illegal wildlife trade? And why has it been so important for you to shed more light on the animal agricultural industry?

I can’t begin to tell you what a privilege it has been to be able to magnify my concerns about saving our planet through their channels. The environmental crisis is the largest and the most complex problem we face in the world. I have always wanted to use the platform I lucked into as an actor to showcase that. It all started with not being able to go surfing after a rain and that led to many realizations about carbon emissions and the role of the animal agriculture industry in those emissions. I don’t want to seem preachy to people or judge anyone’s choices, but I do want to spread awareness as I learn from the world’s top scientists. The truth is that if we don’t take aggressive action in the next few years, my generation isn’t going to have a viable future in a collapsed environment. The UN is calling the next ten years the "Decade of Action.” As individuals, there are a lot of small steps people can take that make a huge difference collectively such as “Meatless Mondays”, cutting down on single use plastic and cash voting for the environment with your daily spending.

You launched a five-part Q&A series on your YouTube channel back in September. Most of the questions from your fans were centered around your role as Number Five on The Umbrella Academy. Are you planning on creating any new content for your channel that primarily focuses on your musicianship and artistry as a songwriter?

I have a lot of plans for all kinds of content and ways to stay engaged with fans and it all makes me really happy. I’ve been doing music performances for my Patreon members every week, and music performing has always given me happiness. I bet a lot of performers are experiencing depression once they lost the ability to tour. Patreon brought back that happiness to me. Not every person who follows me is into my music, so it’s just for those who are and who would come to a show if I were touring in their city. I try to balance my time between the various things I’m passionate about; however, the past few months have really been about promoting the vote.

You play the guitar and piano. In addition to singing, producing and engineering. Take us back to the early stages of your timeline as a musician. Were you a self-taught musician or did you have instructors and mentors help you develop your skills?

Well, when you're first starting out you generally work on covers to develop your skills with your instrument while also making it fun. Once you can play the chords and you have an understanding of how your instrument works, you can learn things at your leisure. I started off taking lessons but eventually I stopped due to production and had to let my ear guide my learning. That's also when I started writing songs. I never took lessons for songwriting, I just watched YouTube. In particular I remember John Mayer’s seminar at Berklee College of Music to be a defining influence on my methodology for songwriting. As for producing and engineering, I'm completely self-taught and rely only on YouTube research and my own musical instinct to create.

Most of your songs could be categorized as Pop-Rock. What other genres of music would you like to incorporate into your sound?

I like all kinds of music, so I’m not necessarily trying to find a genre to incorporate but I guess you get influenced by whatever you are listening to. Genres are so blended these days, and I really think music operates on more of a spectrum than it does on individual categorizations of itself.

Who are your top five Pop-Rock artists/bands of all-time? And why?

There’s way more than five!  But since 5 is my lucky number I’ll try to narrow it down but it’s not in any order. Also know that this list is characterized by how I define Pop-rock. My Chemical Romance, The White Stripes, David Bowie, Queen and Foo Fighters.

We noticed that you filmed season two of The Umbrella Academy in Toronto. How do you think the experience of living in that city helped shape you as a songwriter and artist?

I think in order to write about life you have to live life. At this point in my life, I don't at all consider myself worldly as I simply haven't lived long enough and because of that I find that a lot of my music is introspective, and my songs often feel like the places I've written them. By putting yourself in new environments, I think it pulls new ideas out of you. Travel broadens the mind.

Hypothetically speaking, if you had to choose between winning a Grammy Award as a solo artist or a winning Academy Award with the entire cast of The Umbrella Academy, which option would you pick?

Awards aren’t why I make music or act. I don’t think about them. I just love music and acting. Any part I can play in those fields brings me happiness and I'd love to experiment with the different aspects of those art forms. Initially I got into acting because I wanted to be a director. I also loved listening to music, but I had no idea I would be a musician until I started taking piano lessons.

What’s the plan for your music career moving forward? Do you plan to continue to release material independently or would you prefer to be signed to a major record label?

It was a hard decision, but right now it’s best for me to remain an independent artist as I’m growing my music and balancing an acting career. I had really exciting offers from major labels, but they all want me to drop acting and tour full time. I also really enjoy having creative control over my songs. For the past couple of years, I’ve mostly been writing and because of that, I’ve built up a huge catalog of music to produce when I get the time. After that I’m really looking forward to being able to perform more and on tour.  For the time being, I’m really excited about catching up with what I’ve written so that I’ll finally be in a place where I can write a song and begin recording it the next day.

#Aidan Gallagher #Pop #Rock #4th of July #I LOVE YOU #Umbrella Academy

[septiembrre]

Rio Headcanons

Tagged by the wonderful @foxmagpie

What are your headcanons about Rio’s family? Siblings? Parents? Lifestyle growing up?

I really love the idea of Rio having been raised by a supportive, healthy, loving, beautiful nuclear family. I personally have imagined him with siblings -- sisters! Cousins! I think his respect for women and their power has to come from somewhere and it’s probably a matriarch. He has a strong handle on parenting and I think he must be modeling his own caregivers... 

But, @foxmagpie pointed out the black & white vintage photos in his closet...  Obviously, I had seen them but I just understood them to be like my family’s own old photographs. I had thought -- they’re just his ancestors, probably his grandparents or bisabuelos. But, then I realized there’s no sign of sisters, any siblings or of his parents in his apartment.  The Good Girls set design team loves a ridiculously terrible photo prop (hello old Dean/Beth family photos) and you know they would have been down to make the same thing for Rio... but alas. All we have are those photos of Rio + Marcus, an ambiguous baby picture and the black & white photo and it’s probably intentional. 

I come from a small, atypical Mexican-American family structure myself, but I feel for him. I always headcanoned that he had a dad who had died when he was a kid or a teenager and that maybe his mom was still around and involved in his & Marcus’ life. But, quizas no? 

I’m curious about how much Beth knows now about Rio’s family structure from Rhea. She knows Rhea’s a single mom, and her co-parent was out of the picture for a spell. But, I think Rhea would have also mentioned involvement or support from Marcus’s other set of abuelos/her former in-laws? 

So... who were Rio’s caregivers? His grandparents? No sisters??? We should all collectively DM Manny and ask him to share his own Rio backstory headcanons. Haha, watch -- the show is totally going to ret-con this in Season 4. 

It’s interesting overall how the writer’s deploy family world-building for the characters. Dean’s mom is the only one on-screen -- and Dean’s parents overall have gotten more build out than any other family history combined (wild!). I know that’s influenced by them casting Jessica Walter who is phenom, but expanding out the family histories is such a rich area for the show creators to play in if they choose to go there. All of our main protagonists have deceased parents. I think it’s been a choice on the show to play into a lack of safety net and support for the women. For better or for worse, Beth, Ruby & Annie are at a point where they are it for their children.  

That being said -- I would love to meet Stan’s parents! And I would love to get information about Rio’s coming-into-crime especially as a parallel to Beth’s experience. It’s the parallel we would all want and the parallel we deserve. (Dear show, Stop with the Boland family parallels, PLEASE! If I have to hear about Dean’s scummy dad one more time--). 

But, yes, I’m very invested in Beth & Annie’s, Ruby’s, Stan’s, and, of course, Rio’s families and hope we get to see more characterization unfold over the next seasons.

What are your headcanons for Rio and Rhea’s relationship? How do you think they met, at what point did Rhea learn about his work, was Rio in love with her, etc.?

I’m so curious about what attracts Rio to people/his love interests. It’s becoming clear what attracts him to Beth...  But, I wonder about has attracted him to others. 

While Beth & Rhea are both moms (haha, and beautiful, and well-endowed with the boobs), that’s in the present time on the show -- Rio was attracted to Rhea before she was a mom. I wonder what he looks for? What did he see in Dylan? 

Hmmm. 

What are your headcanons about Rio’s and Mick’s relationship? Did they meet through crime? Are they lifelong friends?

I want them to be childhood friends!!!! I want that so badddddd!!! 

Oh, god, can you imagine a flashback to them young in crime?! Like late teens or early 20s? Ha, as a parallel to the Beth + Ruby scene/origin story? I would die. DIE.

Do you think Rio’s been arrested before Beth got him arrested in 1.10? When, and what for?

Ha, I don’t think he’s been arrested for anything significant.  He’s plenty sanctimonious about keeping his name out of everything. 

If Rio weren’t a crime boss, what jobs do you think he’d be good at? Why?

I mean he’s probably great a math, phenom at managing a huge team/multiple business ventures, and super charismatic. What couldn’t he do? 

I think he was probably pushed to crime because of lack of opportunity for MOC and the need for money. This does make me think he came up poor. But, I think he stayed in crime because he’s so good at it, and likes the flexibility, the creativity, the $$$, and the power. 

I think he could go legit and still be pulling in decent buck with all of his business fronts but he doesn’t choose to. 

What are Rio’s hobbies outside of work and Marcus? What do you think he’d get up to on a day with absolutely no responsibilities?

He’s obviously an art heaux. The real question is WHAT’S HIS MEDIUM???? If he actually produces art like the abstract stuff up in his house, I would scream. I can see him being into photography when the mood strikes him and he has time. #hipster

I like the idea of Rio taking cooking classes in some sort of exclusive, foodie way (1:1 with a chef, or a compa who is a fly line cook). 

We know he plays tennis and I also imagine he boxes and works out at the type of high-end gym I could only dream of. It probably never smells of sweat, and all the machines are top-end, brand new. I mentioned in a post a while ago that I wasn’t sure if I wanted Rio to be my boyfriend, my bff, or to adopt me -- and I stand by it.  

Who do you think Dylan is to Rio (a friend, an associate, someone he was dating?) and why?

I do lean towards friend/associate/some one he’s fucked. Rio was very handsy with Dylan’s person. Obviously, in real life Manny & Adelfa are married, and I think they were leaning heavily on that intimacy in the scene. 

But Rio also didn’t kiss Dylan? Which leads me back to -- damn, Rio. You were fronting so hard. Like... that was high-school-level showmanship. 

What do you think Rio’s goals for the future are?

I think he wants to be his own boss, I think he likes being at the top of the food chain, and I think he wants to stay in crime because he still sees opportunities. 

I’m so curious as to what his $$$ bench marks are?

Beth’s are current financial security and probably college for all of her little ones. So what it for Rio?

- College for Marcus? 

- Inheritance for Marcus?

- Inheritance for all of his (nonexistent) family?

It has to be more than that. He’s already hit these benchmarks based off of the status symbols in the show (the G-Wagon, the quality of furniture in his loft, Rhea’s offer of maybe like a $5-10k check to Beth. Beth’s not family!).

What do you think Rio is bad at (cooking, dancing, singing, etc.)? How come?

I don’t think he can bake.

I also don’t seem him being good at boldly lying to people? It’s definitely not his style. He’s more of a lying by omission type of person. I don’t see him being able to spin a tale like Beth, but he also doesn’t have her white privilege/whole suburban mom aesthetic. 

Hm, I haven’t rewatched the show in a minute but I think the only time we’ve seen him boldly lie is to Beth -- when he lies about the nature of their relationship. Haha, and he’s really bad at it. Maybe this isn’t the fairest thing to judge him on. But, I think his lying relies on purposeful silence. 

Why do you think Rio is drawn to Beth?

I think Rio was drawn to Beth because she’s a survivor, she’s scrappy and she’s smart. I think he’s drawn to how quick she is on her feet. Beth has limited awareness but she can be really good at navigating what’s going for her and leveraging it for her gain (and Rio’s). I think he’s also been drawn to her because she’s a parent, and she can be really brave (I would say reckless!! Beth, stop endangering yourself!).

Beth’s also like absurdly beautiful. Christina is ethereal and they try to make her ... frumpy or something in the show. But... we have eyes. And Rio certainly has eyes for her figure, and her face, and like all the attributes and isn’t shy about letting her know. 

Why do you think Rio didn’t kill Beth? Was it their past, his present feelings for her, because he needed her business? Some combination?

I think Rio sees a kindred spirit in Beth and at this point (post-Season 3), she’s in his life now. Despite all that she’s done to him, he seems completely unable to extricate himself from her. I think this due to his present past feelings for her. The business is a bonus, a front if you will. 

In Season 2, there were these questions for Beth about whether all of it was real -- if she meant something to Rio, if Beth could walk back all of her crimes so far and retreat into anonymity. In Season 3, we know that Beth can’t let go of crime, and that she’s capable of the same dark deeds as Rio, and we know that Rio did care for her, cares for her still apparently because he’s very much in his feelings. Those Season 3 picnic table scenes? Wow. 

Ah, can you believe these two are going to like... have some sort of development in their relationship again? Obviously, it will be full of strife and conflict. But isn’t it wild that we have another Brio sex scene in store for us one day? Jenna Ban’s comment, “You don't go from having the hottest sex of your life to wanting someone dead without conflicted feelings” is just the BIGGEST TEASE.  How are our bbs going to be intimate with each other again? 

OKAY THIS ENDED UP BEING SUPER LONG. Jeez... If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for engaging with my headcanons. Lmk what you think :-) 

#ggweek2020 #rio

[wonderingarmy]

Prince Kim Seokjin

Links 

Parts 1 2 3 4 5

I have been really productive for two days, so here’s another part on Prince Kim Seokjin to all Jin bias like me. Hope you guys like it. Please look forward to part threes, they’re going to be under Princes POV. Thank you

A week had passed and Milo didn’t came back to your house or spread the video that he keeps telling you he’s going to leak if you leave him. So far, you don’t hear any news that he killed himself, which you hope he doesn’t ever do. The last thing you want to happen is for him to do that. You hate him, and he caused too much damaged to you mentally and physically, but you just don’t wish that to anyone.

You also haven’t heard anything from Jin because you chose to turn off your phone. You stayed at your parents place for awhile. Your mom said he tried to contact you but you just don’t want him to see you in that state. You just had your mom tell him that you’re busy with something and will reach him as soon as you get the chance. Yet, it never happened. You hate it when he worries about you because he drops everything he’s doing and come to you. You know he got so much on his plate too, especially now that BTS is selling out stadiums worldwide, you just can’t risk him having to stress out about you.

Weeks have passed and still nothing major had happened. While your on hiatus, you tried to heal physically and mentally, with the help of your family and some close friends. You’re friends were disappointed when they found out what happened but all they can do is be there for you and not judge you for all the poor choices you made. You did make some good friends and that’s all you needed in life.

You busied yourself with finishing all the projects that had a deadline. Going to a quiet place and taking beautiful pictures. You stayed at home and and painted, each painting represents how you’re still in a dark tunnel and still trying to get out. You also went to one of BTS concerts wearing a mask and a baseball cap, hoping no one would notice you.

Meanwhile, Jin already lost hope that you’ll ever contact him again. He hasn’t heard anything about you in the media considering that you’re a famous international model. He wished he could see you again. The more he doesn’t hear from you, the more he worries.

“Ah Jin hyung. Maybe she’s going through something” Jimin mentioned one time he seen that his brother is just sitting in the corner and just being quiet

“I know she doesn’t like me or I don’t really have a chance to being with her but I wish she tells me what’s going on. I mean, we’re friends. Like if I did something wrong so I know what to do.” Jin replied.

“Hyung,” Jungkook interrupted, “She’ll come when she’s ready. I am pretty sure she can explain what’s going on. Just try to be patient.”

“I think I am tired of waiting. It’s never going to happen. Plus we all know she is secretly dating that oh-I-look-too-good-on-everything model” he said and left the two maknaes, both looking at each other and shaking their head.

It’s been over a month and Jin lost his hope and tried to forget about you. He tried to get himself busy as well with tour and promoting their new album. It’s when you really started to miss Jin that you told yourself that you have to tell him what you feel about him before it’s too late.

You decided to go to a fanmeeting that will be happening in four days. You prepared yourself and told yourself not worry if he likes someone else as long as he knows about what you feel.

The day of the fanmeeting came and you wore a mask and a baseball cap so no one can recognize you at the fanmeeting. Jungkook recognized you as soon as you reached the panel.

“Noona!” he said surprised, “i didn’t think you’d want my signature for this photobook you made for us”

You smiled at him and said, “Let’s just say I am a big fan!”

“I missed you Noona, and you did really great in making the photobook”, he said while signing your copy.

Not long you were moved to the next member who is Hoseok, then Jimin, and Taehyung. Everyone recognized you and was so happy to see you. Then it was Jin, he recognized you as well, he recognized you the moment you reached the panel. You handed him your photobook, without saying anything and you gave him a small box wrapped in a floral wrapping paper.

“What is this?” he asked holding the box

“Please open it when you get a chance. I missed you Jinnie. Let’s talk soon?” you asked but he didn’t say anything. You smiled at him but you never got any reaction back. Not even a smile. Your time is up with him and you hurried to the next member, which is Yoongi, then Namjoon.

After Namjoon signed your photobook, you said goodbye to him and went back to your seat. You looked at Jin being busy talking to fans and signing their photo books.

After the fansign event, you left and went straight to the parking lot. Hoping that Jin is not mad at you or anything. He didn’t even looked happy to see you.

You were walking towards your car when you started to feel uneasy. You feel like someone is following you. You looked around but there are so many people that are walking down the parking lot. For some reasons, you feel like someone is watching you, and despite the fans walking with you to get to their cars, you don’t feel safe.

***

After the fansign event, BTS went back to their dorm to rest. They’re going to have another guesting the following day, so they were advised to rest for the rest of the day and sleep good. While the other members are doing a live broadcast, watching a movie and having conversations, Jin decided to go to his room and play video game.

“Jin-hyung, we’re going to order some food delivery, do you want anything?” Jimin asked while opening Jin’s door to his room.

“I’ll have whatever you’re getting. Thanks” he replied, busy with his game.

When Jimin left, Jin remembered the box that you gave him at the event. He paused his game and went outside to asked the members that were in the living room where they put the box full of gifts from the fans.

“I think it’s still in the truck.”, answered Taehyung. “One of the staff is going to bring it inside later”

“Do you need something from there?” it was Hoseok

“Yes. Do you think it’s unlock?” Jin asked.

“It should be hyung.” replied Namjoon.

Jin went outside and went through the boxes in the truck. When he found the box with his name on it. He searched for the small box that you gave him. It wasn't long until he find it. He went back inside, passed the other members, and straight to his room.

He opened the small box and found a pink USB inside.

He had to turn off his game to see what is in the USB.

“She should have just wrote a note or something.” he muttered to himself.

As soon as the USB is in, he opened the only file that was there and it was a video. When he played it, he couldn’t help but smile.

The video was a compilation of your first dates. The stolen videos and pictures that you took of him. The beautiful moments of him that you captured from their concerts you’ve secretly been too. At the end of the video, you put a message that says,

“I have fallen in love with you Jin. I fall in love with you everyday. I have a lot of explaining to do to you. You say you like someone else, but I want to let you know how I feel. I am not forcing you to be with me like how you didn’t force me to be with you. But, I wish you did force me to be with you. I wish I could spend another lifetime with you.”

After the video, Jin didn’t know what to say. He loves you too and he never stopped loving you though he lost all his hopes on being with you. He was about to text you when Jungkook came barging in to his room.

“Jin-hyung, watch the news right now!” he exclaimed

“What happened?” Jin asked, curious why all of a sudden he looks like he’s freaking out.

“It’s Y/N! Something happened to her!”, he replied, still not sure how to calm himself down.

Jin ran to the living room and saw the news. The rest of the members are just as shocked as you are. You were rushed to the E.R. unconscious due to head injury. Milo is wanted and police are searching for him.

“The bruises..” Jin whispered to himself. “That explains the bruises”

“Jin-hyung, what are you talking about?”, Yoongi asked

“Y/N didn’t have a bleeding disorder. I should have known. I have to go see her, Yo--”

Just then the manager of BTS came rushing inside.

“Jin…” he said, just like the members, he still can’t believe what he has seen in the news.

“I have to see her hyung” Jin begged.

“Jin, you will see her.” he replied, tapping Jin’s shoulders. “Just not right now. The media and the police investigating is hot right now and we don’t want you getting involve. I am sorry but I hope you understand.”

“But, I need to see her right now!” Jin is starting to raise his voice and Namjoon had to hold him to calm him down.

“Jin-hyung we know what you’re feeling right now, but we need to listen to hyung. He knows what’s best for us” Namjoon said.

“You guys don’t understand. I need to see her or I am going to lose my m---”

Jimin interrupted Jin to hand him his phone. “It’s your Eomma”

Jin took a moment to calm down and grab Jimin’s phone from his hand.

“Jin,” his mom said, Jin can tell that she is trying her best to calm herself down. “I know you’ve heard the news and I know that you are worried sick, you probably want to go to the hospital right now and see her.”

“Eomma, I need to see her.” Jin replied

“I know. I know you want to see her. But, right now is not the right time. I hope you understand. Your dad already sent one his staff to the hospital and he will keep updating us on what’s going on. Jin, I know you’re worried. But, just try to calm yourself down and you’ll see her, hopefully after tonight.”

When it comes to his mom, Jin always listens. He tried to calm himself down yet tears are starting to fall down his cheeks. Jimin and Taehyung gave him a hug. Hoseok is comforting Jungkook, who is also crying, because he loves his noona and he is worried as well. Yoongi and Namjoon talked to their manager privately about what they’re going to do next.

#Prince Kim seokjin #bts imagines #bts imagine #bts x reader #bts x you #bts x y/n #bts jin #bts kim seokjin #jin x reader #jin x you #jin x y/n #kim seokjin × reader #kim seokjin x you #kim seokjin x y/n #bts fanfic #bts fanficton #jin fanfic #jin fanfiction

[emilyplaysotome]

Chapter 6 - Friendnapped

Catch up on Chapter 1 - 5 here! (or just Chapter 5)

It’s never pleasant seeing an ex move on, especially when you’re not entirely sure that you want your ex to be an ex in the first place. Compounded with the fact that his new girlfriend was everything that I wasn’t caused every fiber in my being to want to flee. 

Thankfully, my legs refused to listen.

Instead I stood frozen and watched as she accepted his hand (one that dwarfed her own) and he helped her stand tall once more in a way that reminded me of how he had been there for me. She was far more feminine than I’ve ever been in my life, with a slender frame that complimented Zyglavis’ more androgynous features. Standing next to her, he looked like the God he was in a way that he never did by my side - proud, masculine, and strong.

I forced myself to stay present, assuming that the king was rooting for me to run from such an unpleasant scene, giving him the upper hand when it came to Zyglavis’ new life in this world. At the moment, sharing a kiss with the man I had assumed I’d share my life with only a few weeks ago seemed impossible but I did my best to stay strong in face of adversity.

Instead of running away I apologized further, introducing myself to both of them and handing the woman my business card in an attempt to prove to her that I was a normal, capable woman and not some crazy person off the street.

“Really,” I said again, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok,” she said in a tone that was far less aggravated than the one taken during our initial exchange.

“Please, allow me to pay for your dry cleaning or something.”

“No, it’s fine I…”

“Thea, you should take her up on it,” Zyglavis said sternly.

“Thea?”

“Yes, sorry. I didn’t say my name did I? And this is…”

“Zyglavis.”

He said his name flatly, barely looking me in the eyes. His gaze was firmly on Thea and I assumed as a result that he was checking to see if she was alright. I knew Zyg long enough to know that he could be a bit of a worrywart when it came to the object of his affection, and I could feel the muscles in my chest constrict as it sank in that he might never worry about me in that way again.

Thea tucked a strand of her long, jet black hair behind her ear and with a similarly cold expression noted, “Well, I suppose. Naomi was it?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you Naomi, that’s very kind. Most New Yorkers probably wouldn’t even offer.”

“Oh that’s not true,” I said with a forced smile. “We get a bad rap but we’re actually a lovely group of people.”

Zyglavis kept glancing behind him at the hostess inside and each time he did I could feel my new reality sinking in. 

He and his new girlfriend (a clear upgrade when compared to his last), were going to have a nice dinner and here I was keeping them from it. Seeing him again reminded me of how much I missed him - a fact that the chaos of the past few days had distracted me from.

I missed my best friend. Zyglavis had been a loyal, kind man who was always there for me no matter the circumstance. He was a man who could sometimes be too strict and slightly too grumpy, but underneath it all always had my best interests at heart.

For a moment, everything seemed incredibly surreal and I almost felt as if any second he and this woman would laugh and tell me the past week was all a shitty joke. I wanted so desperately to go back to what was instead of what is, but I knew that I had no choice in the matter once the hostess popped her head outside and called, “Ziggy? Table for 2?”

“We will be in shortly,” he said politely to the hostess, and then with a sigh addressed Thea. “Ziggy? Really?”

She giggled and for the first time I saw how beautiful and blinding her smile was, “I couldn’t resist.”

Zyg shook his head and before she could run away I exchanged contact information with Thea under the guise that I would follow up with her in regards to the cost of her dry cleaning. I then was forced to watch him hold the door for her as they went inside - not once did he even so much as glance back at me.

I stood there dumbstruck for a moment and once I was certain that I was alone again, a maelstrom of emotion hit me with such strength that I was not only caught off guard but found myself rushing to a trash can nearby and vomiting into it. I never thought I was capable of something as dramatic as becoming physically ill over seeing an ex, but the king’s trials always managed to surprise me.

It shouldn’t have taken a meddling king for me to understand what I had with Zyglavis, but far too often we take someone for granted until they’re gone. For ten years of my life I lived having friendships, but never having someone who I could call my own. I never experienced having someone who was able to be there for me the way that Zyglavis always was and now that he was gone I felt adrift. 

Looking back he had constantly been present in the sense that my apartment was always taken care of, and at the end of every difficult work week he’d bring back chocolates made especially for me, as a small token of his love and appreciation for the life we forged together in this world. He was always up for listening to my problems and for laughing at my funny stories or holding me during the difficult ones.

He was a best friend in a way I’d never experienced with anyone else, and even though he proved to be more imperfect than I ever thought an otome man would be, that made him and the relationship all the more real.

By the time I was back at Meg’s I was a certifiable mess with runny mascara, tinged with the faint smell of vomit. I planned to hop in the shower and then to try and pack my things in order to distract myself from what Thea and Zyglavis might be doing together, but when I opened the door I soon realized that I was not alone.

“Omi? What the hell happened to you?”

Meg was standing in the foyer of her apartment hanging her light spring coat up in the closet. Down the hall, I saw her away bag on the floor of the living room and figured she had just gotten back.

“I thought you were coming home tomorrow?”

“I was, but I missed New York and my parents were driving me nuts.”

“Oh. Welcome back. Are you doing ok?”

Meg shrugged and it was clear that my friend and I were in similarly messy places. Even though she hadn’t been gone long I knew her well enough to see that she wasn’t sleeping. On top of that she appeared a good deal thinner than when she’d left and having gotten her through a previous breakup in college, I was well aware of the fact that she didn’t eat when she was stressed or upset.

She crinkled her nose and straightforwardly blurted, “Omi - why do you smell like vomit?”

If I hadn’t had such a difficult day, I don’t think I would have told Meg the truth in that moment. I think I would have made something up or vaguely addressed bumping into Zyglavis but for whatever reason I found myself saying, “You know me well enough to know that I’m not a liar, right?”

Meg shot me a curious look and nodded, leading me to the living room and prompting me to tell her the whole story - the real story. 

I watched as she looked on skeptically as I spoke, occasionally clarifying that I “really believed” that I had gone to the world of my “weird anime games” but ultimately let me tell my tale. I knew how far fetched it must have all seemed to her, but when I got to the part about the games not working, I pulled up the facebook posts as well as old screenshots from Zyglavis’ route that fans had posted online.

It was then that Meg’s disbelief started to wane (in addition to the fact that in all of our many years of friendship I’d never once misled her in any way and I had no tangible reason to concoct such a strange story now). She pulled up a photo she had on her phone of all of us from a few months back (before her breakup or mine) and compared the man by my side to the cartoon man from the post.

“Holy shit.”

“I never told you any of this because, well - I know it’s pretty unbelievable and…”

“There’s more?”

“Well..I was afraid you’d judge me if you knew that I chose to be with a cartoon character from a game. I mean how many years did I watch you guys…and now…”

Meg quickly cut me off, “And now we’re both in shambles thanks to two dudes. Doesn’t get more real than that even if he started as a cartoon character.” 

“His new girlfriend is stupid pretty,” I complained.

Meg hesitated for a moment as she sank dejectedly into her couch and said in a quiet voice, “You know, I didn’t tell you guys this but Noah broke up with me for some chick he works with.”

“What?”

Meg scoffed, “Yeah. If you didn’t already smell like barf I’d have us doing shots or some shit.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because it hurts more knowing that he gets to be happy and I have to be hurt.”

“I’m sorry Meg…”

I could see that Meg was trying to be strong as she fought back tears, biting her lower lip in an attempt to stay in control of her emotional state. I always considered her someone who was pretty tough and resilient and as a result, seeing her in this state amplified the hurt that I was already feeling. She sniffled and tried to shake off her tears as she focused on my problems over hers.

“So wait - this asshole…the king? He just showed up and ruined your relationship?”

“Well, I mean I kinda had a hand in it too. I started to take Zyg for granted and…”

“But you didn’t even get a chance to work it out right?”

“No.”

“Fuck that. And fuck his new girlfriend - if you want him, you’re going to get him back.”

I loved the fact that even though Meg was heartbroken, she was still so angry on my behalf.

“I don’t know,” I said skeptically. “The king said I’ve got to win all my ex cartoon men back and right now 3 are unaccounted for, the one I want most has moved on, another tried to mug me, and the last one I have a date with in a couple of days. The odds are not in my favor.”

“Nah, fuck that noise. We’re New Yorkers - when the going gets tough we’re used to it because so are we.”

“You are maybe…”

“No I’m a mess, but I”m still going to help you. We’ll find your cartoon men and at least one of us will get to live happily ever after, ok?”

“Meg…”

“You’re gonna make me cry if you look at me like that and you still smell like puke so go shower and we’ll come up with a plan after.”

“Meg…”

“Omi! I swear!”

I knew Meg didn’t want to cry but I couldn’t help myself from doing so. Not only did she believe me (or at least was being kind enough to pretend that she did), but she said she’d help me. 

I was immediately brought back to that day during the Revance tweeter takeover where I fantasized about having my friends’ support as I made my final decision on who I wanted to bring back to this world. For the past few days I’d reminded of what it was to be on my own once more and how it felt to have to do everything by myself and bear that burden alone.

Now, thanks to Meg’s generosity I would have a partner in crime and I owed her one for it.

I returned to the living room freshly showered and vomit free, and took out my notebook re-creating a space in Meg’s living room similar to the one in Zyglavis’ bedroom way back when. I even told her about my operation GTFO area and with a dry laugh she noted that was “a very Naomi thing to do”.

Meg also set up a few online profiles in order to help me in my search, and talked me through the fact that we had eyes on 3 of the 6 men. Toshi and Jin were completely MIA and the mystery suitor of mine was most likely not Shunichiro. Meg had me make a list of every otome man I’d met who potentially carried a flame for me during my time down the rabbit hole and when I handed her what felt like a reasonable list based on the information I had, she smirked and noted, “Girl, get it.”

“You don’t understand what it was like - they’re all programmed to want you when you’re the MC.”

“I mean, I’ve seen Zyg so I have a pretty good idea of what this world is like. Perhaps you can take me with you next time,” she joked. “In the meantime, I’ll look out for these names as I swipe and you should call the switchboard to see if Jin is NYPD.”

“Ok…thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

There was a moment where I paused and Meg looked at me with a skeptical expression, “What?”

“You do believe me, don’t you?”

“I mean...do…ish. You have to understand, I can’t really wrap my head around -”

There was a bright light that filled the room, in addition to the sound of a snap and a familiar presence that caused Meg to practically jump out of her seat. The king glared at me, and with a chuckle I found myself muttering, “speak of the devil.”

As I once had, I glanced over and saw Meg struggle to accept the reality of how crazy it all was. It was strange to see my typically eloquent friend stammer next to me, but it was all short lived as the king snapped his fingers for a second time, causing Meg’s eyes to glaze over and her stammers to fade. My friend would have a hard time not believing my story once she returned from her catatonic state, and with a sigh I knew that I’d done something that prompted an IRL visit from the king versus a cheeky text.

“Well I see that you’re up to your old tricks,” the king snapped. “The agreement was that you were able to find them and romance them - not that you’d have help.”

“I don’t believe the issue of having help or not was ever stipulated in your terms and conditions,” I snapped back. “And I hardly have the home court advantage considering what I’ve seen the past couple of days.”

“What have you seen? He was always a criminal - even in my world, was he not?”

“Yes but -“

“And that didn’t stop you the first time around, now did it?”

“It absolutely did stop me!”

“Mmmm tomato tahmahtoe,” he said flippantly with a smile, and I realized that as much as I was a thorn in his side, the king was clearly enjoying himself.

He tossed his long silvery hair back and with an unreadable, etherial smile paced before me as he considered what having an ally in this world might do to his game. It was obvious that I was one of the few people who was capable of throwing curveballs his way and as much as it annoyed him, he obviously relished how unpredictable his life was when I was in it.

“Well,” he said finally, “I guess we’ll do this.” 

He snapped his fingers and Meg disappeared from the couch beside me.

“You’ll get her back once you’ve found them all on your own. I think that’s more than fair. Very generous in fact!”

“That’s not fair at all! You can’t do that you -“

The king threw back his head and laughed, “Oh Naomi. You silly, silly girl - haven’t you realized? I can do whatever I want. You’re lucky I’m even letting you play in the first place.”

And with that, he snapped his fingers and left me all alone once more.

Chapter 7

If you’ve enjoyed the story, please show your support by sharing it with a friend or buying me a coffee!  

Thanks for reading :)

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#scm zyglavis #star crossed myth fan fiction #star crossed myth fanfic #voltage fanfic #voltage fandom #Voltage fan fiction

[sparklyjojos]

400 pages into Cosmic, the plot picked up rather fast so here’s a short (’short’) recap of what’s been happening

As a foreword: the JDC books have weird chronology, so while Cosmic was released first, it takes place in January 1994. That’s two months after Tsukumo Juku solved the Geneijo case in Joker (solved it on the day of his 20th birthday, no less: 31.10.1993), and fourteen years after Ajiro Souji and 6-year-old Juku solved The Saimon Family Murder Case. (This chronological mess actually causes Seiryoin to spoil the other books in this. Which I understand, because the tragedy that was Geneijo influenced a lot of character development of the detectives.) After Geneijo, in December 1993, Juku traveled to England to help with the case of Jack the Ripper’s copycat, ‘Jackie the Ripper’, and since he’s still caught up in that case when Cosmic starts, he can’t (yet) go back to Japan to help Ajiro with the Locked Room Lord case. (The real reason is probably that Tsukumo Juku is like Son Goku, if you don’t carefully keep him away from the plot he’ll solve it in five minutes and there goes your tension)

---

So, the second part of the book starts with that thing I quoted about an unnamed mysterious androgynous stranger in a non-disclosed location sending a package with non-disclosed contents to JDC. (Hm, who can that be?)

Then we mostly follow Ajiro Souji, the JDC representative and a telephone detective, who’s having a very bad time. As if the initial murders and Pyramid Mizuno dying wasn’t enough, there’s also the thing where a guy they suspected to be the Locked Room Lord died in the locked room no. 20, and his place had evidence that he knew about the victims beforehand (but how?...). And then one of the newest victims of the Locked Room Lord is just a kid, murdered nowhere else but in Geneijo. That coincidence (or is it?...) spooks everyone in JDC, especially given that Souya -- Ajiro Souji’s son and the assistant of Ryuuguu Jounosuke -- was murdered there during the case just months earlier, and the wounds are still fresh.

(So basically, in 1980 Ajiro solved the Saimon Family Murder Case that had claimed Juku’s family including his birth parents, and then in 1993 Juku solved the case that had killed Ajiro’s son. It’s almost poetic, in a very tragic way...)

Anyway, stressed and exhausted Ajiro falls asleep and has a dream where he talks with Tsukumo Juku, who I guess is how his subconscious is showing ‘reason’ to him (Descriptions of their long-lived intergenerational friendship and mutual trust are really great, btw. Ajiro even notes that just hearing Juku’s voice is enough to calm him down completely, and that everytime they talk on the phone they’re both so happy as if they haven’t heard each other in years. Aww. Ajiro may be sort of a paternal figure to Juku, but it’s too early to tell for sure.) Anyway, dream!Juku tells Ajiro that to solve the current case he should ‘think backwards’, that is, think about the distant past; even more distant than the Saimon family case.

---

Upon waking up Ajiro is told that JDC got a mysterious package: a manuscript signed by a famous detective novel author Dakushoin Ryusui (濁暑院溜水). There are two problems here. 1) Dakushoin died in Geneijo, and the detectives even saw his corpse, and 2) the manuscript describes the first 19 locked rooms... including the ones that happened just hours prior to getting the package.

Other parts of the manuscript are 3 stories happening in 3 different times: in the Heian period, Edo period, and at the beginning of the 20th century. (It seems that what the dream!Juku told him about ‘distant past’ was true, huh.) The first two talk about alleged historical events when a ‘vengeful ghost’ called the Locked Room Lord caused the death of 1200 people each time, the third is about the famous mystery writer Edogawa Ranpo trying to uncover the truth about these events. The latter two stories feature a hundreds of years old man, Hikami Sensai, who relays the previous Locked Room Lord cases to the protagonists by giving them the previous written down stories.

Oh, and then there’s that part of the manuscript that talks about the future, predicting that JDC will fail to solve the case, the Locked Room Lord will complete his plan of killing 1200 people in a year, and then on New Year 1995 JDC will get another message from him that in that year, as well, 1200 people will die...

Ajiro is really spooked now. Soon after, when he calls Juku and discusses the contents of the manuscripts with him, they both suddenly realize they did briefly meet an old man called Hikami Sensai before -- fourteen years ago, right after the Saimon Family Murder Case. (There’s a very cute flashback, with Ajiro telling li’l Juku that he will surely one day grow up to be the pillar of all the detective work in Japan. Juku looks at him in a silent promise, his eyes shining with determination. I can’t overstate how much I love their relations in this.) They also talk about how the Jackie the Ripper Case and the current Locked Room Lord Case may have something in common, but we don’t learn the details.

---

Soon, Ajiro sets up a meeting to discuss the manuscript with other detectives. We meet the rest of the usual JDC cast, among them:

-- Hikimiya Yuuya, the statistics guy with a vast knowledge of mystery novels, usually Tsukumo Juku’s assistant (not now, since Juku’s abroad)

 -- Ryuuguu Jounosuke, the cryptography guy who wears all black, refers to everyone with very polite suffixes while talking about himself in third person, and while he looks really young he’s actually a few years older than Juku

 -- Kirika Mai, who mainly uses reasoning by elimination, who’s trying to figure out who her parents were (they died when she was a baby), and who holds Juku in very high regards after he saved her and helped her get into JDC

 -- Tsukumo Nemu, Juku’s younger sister by adoption (ie. she’s a Tsukumo by birth, Juku is a Tsukumo via being adopted by Tsukumo Ranma), whose reasoning is more based on ‘vague feelings’ about what happened than precise facts. She’s 18 in this book. She and Kirika seem to be great pals and work as partners, probably because tagging along through the Geneijo case made them understand each other

 -- Amagi Hyoma, who mainly drinks and sleeps a lot and I’m not sure what he’s even doing there

We also meet some not-detective assistants, as well as a bunch of police officers, including Tetsuko, an older sister of one of the Locked Room Lord’s victims.

Working together (mostly using Ryuuguu’s cryptography skills) the detectives discover that the names of the victims are all anagrams or otherwise wordplays on the names of the characters in the manuscript. It seems that whoever wrote it was either the murderer, or somebody who knew about the murderer’s plan, and encoded the victims’ names in the charactes’ names as a sort of ‘key’. The question is who wrote and sent that manuscript; Hikimiya (who’s a mystery nerd and read all of Dakushoin Ryusui’s books) believes it was written by Dakushoin judging by the style, word choices etc., but Dakushoin is dead (right?), so what’s going on? Some parts of the manuscript are different than reality, eg. the names of the victims, or that time a guy in one of the locked room stories calls JDC and talks with Ryuuguu -- in reality it wasn’t Ryuuguu, but a guy called Yaiba who picked up the phone. So maybe the writer lost contact with the culprit after some time and just guessed stuff? This entire mess is confusing to everyone.

At the point I stopped reading, the detectives all pair up and start serious investigation, chasing clues needed to discover the truth about the manuscript in many different places -- Dakushoin’s own house; Geneijo; the place where the guy suspected to be the Locked Room Lord lived that apparently has photos and maps related to the victims; a historical literature university group that can probably tell whether the Heian and Edo parts of the manuscripts are genuine or not; and also the place where Ajiro and kid Juku met that mysterious old man fourteen years ago...

---

Impressions so far:

I really, really like the parts with Ajiro and Juku. As you can probably tell.

Welcome to ‘things that only make you cry if you’ve read Tsukumojuku and also care too much about stuff’, featuring my poor detective son having a happy life and loving friends, and Serika and Tsutomu Kirika and Nemu being bffs and detectiving together.

There are some boring stretches, which I expected since Seiryoin’s slow pace is often criticized.

Juku’s biological dad was actually called ‘Ryusui’, even with the same kanji as in [Seiryoin] Ryusui, dkjfhkgjd, I mean yeah Seiryoin technically is his dad but still, really. I feel like at one point I’ll have to pull out one of those old Mary Sue Tests and put Juku through it just to see how many points he gets

The ‘historical’ stories were as expected a hell to read because of some archaic vocabulary and fragments like ‘Emperor X had two sons, Y and Z, and their mother was W, and then Y married J and had kids K and U with her’, that I guess the Japanese reader would recognize as historical figures but I don’t know anything about them and I got a bit lost. Yeah, that’s the fault of my ignorance.

This may sound funny, but if I didn’t know anything about the series and got to this point? I’d probably be 100% convinced that Tsukumo Juku is the Locked Room Lord. Solely because he’s hanging out conveniently away from the plot, and everyone describes him as so kind and smart and unearthly beautiful and trustworthy that he must be tricking everyone, right? I guess Seiryoin is playing on the readers’ expectation... by not playing on their expectations. The thing is, we don’t even know yet that Juku can faint people with his looks (a bit weird since you’d think somebody would mention that already). So all the descriptions like ‘his dangerous beauty’, or phrases that can be read as his looks / voice being both ‘amazingly beautiful’ or ‘terrifyingly beautiful’, or that his face and smile are juuust a little too perfect -- all of it kinda reads as if he’s actually ~secretly evil~, and not a genuinely nice man who just happens to also be basically the world’s least lethal basilisk.

#sparkly reads cosmic #maijo and jdc stuff #long post

[upthehillart]

My answers to the Harry Potter Ask Game!  *:・ﾟ✧

Hope I didn’t miss anyone! :) Thank you for asking, this was a lot of fun!!! <333

Dobby: Who are you most loyal to? Hm... I’d say myself first of all, even though me and I have a very love-hate relationship, mostly hate :D but umm, I guess I’m most loyal to my family, particularly my mom, grandmother, brother, and my partner :)

Sirius Black: Have you ever been accused of doing something you didn't do? I have, one instance in particular was extremely uncomfortable and didn’t end well (I mean now I’m glad it happened but at that time it was horrible), but that’s one of the most personal, private stories I have so I’m sorry I cannot share <3

Hedwig: If you went to Hogwarts, what kind of pet would you bring? (ex: cat, owl, rat, frog) Cat!!!!!

Remus Lupin: If you transform into any one animal or creature, which one would it be? Hmm... probably some bird? That’d be lovely :) OR some land animal that’s relatively small, pretty fast, strong when they have to be, good at camouflage and hiding... So what fits this criteria? A badger? :D Is this the ultimate confirmation of my Hufflepuff identity? :D It better be!

Draco Malfoy: Is it better to be feared or to be loved? Oh easy :) I cannot even stand the idea of somebody being afraid of me.

Harry Potter: Tell us about a scar on your body. I don’t have anything interesting with a cool story, I just have a few boring leftover chicken pox scars, an iron burn scar (lol), a little scar at the bottom of my chin from tripping on the sidewalk on my first day to kindergarten (i’ve always been a loser haha) and a few random cuts on my finger and forearm and elbow, I don’t even remember how they got there :D

Neville Longbottom: Tell us an embarrassing story. Does my whole life count? :D It’s funny how long it took me to think of an answer actually, I involuntarily think about all of my embarassed moments all the time, but now that I’m asked this question, it took me a lot of thinking to remember something :D I mean there was one short film competition I participated in as a teen, I was ambitious but very inexperienced, so after my video was played during the festival in front of the audience and the panel of judges, everyone literally started laughing because it was so fucking terrible :D It’s kind of funny now, but at that moment I wanted to disappear from the universe forever, I didn’t expect such a harsh reaction and I was very embarrassed. Plus I don’t handle failure that well so yeah, it hit me pretty bad :D But I’m over it of course, I’m a legit videographer now, I’m glad that moment didn’t stop me from continuing to pursue my dream :)

Narcissa Malfoy: Do you have a good relationship with your family? Who are you closest to? Yes, I think so :) I’m bad at showing affection but I love them very much :) And I’m closest to either my grandmother, she’s like my spiritual guide or something, always there for me and I love her so much, or to my younger brother, there’s nobody I care about as much as I care about him. They’re both very very important in my life because my grandmother is who is there for me, and my brother is who I am there for :’)

Dobby: Who are you most loyal to? (already answered and copy pasted) Hm... I’d say myself first of all, even though me and I have a very love-hate relationship, mostly hate :D but umm, I guess I’m most loyal to my family, particularly my mom, grandmother, brother, and my partner :)

Arthur Weasley: What do you think is the best "muggle" invention? Printing press :) Everything we value today started with that.

Severus Snape: Are you a trustworthy person? Yes, I genuinely think I am :)

Answered a few asks above! <3

Remus Lupin: If you transform into any one animal or creature, which one would it be? (already answered and copy pasted) Hmm... probably some bird? That’d be lovely :) OR some land animal that’s relatively small, pretty fast, strong when they have to be, good at camouflage and hiding... So what fits this criteria? A badger? :D Is this the ultimate confirmation of my Hufflepuff identity? :D It better be!

Aunt Petunia: What is your favorite flower? White tulips :) I remember sitting in my grandmother’s backyard as a kid, I just sat there enjoying the weather, and I looked at the white tulips growing nearby and I stared at them forever, loving them so much, and I said to myself, “this is the most beautiful flower in the world.” It still is :)

Molly Weasley: What is the proudest moment of your life? It’s not a very interesting answer but I guess getting into college :) I’m from Europe and I applied to the United States just to try my chances, just for “what if,” I did not expect to actually get in to my very top choice university AND be offered a full tuition scholarship. It was something I was afraid to even dream of, but it happened, and it makes me feel both very proud of myself and very fortunate :)

Lily Potter: What color eyes do you have? My eyes are of that weird color, neither blue nor green, kinda dark and greyish, really hard to describe :D

Cho Chang: If you were on the Quidditch team, what position would you play? First of all, I don’t know what in the world would make me join a Quidditch team :D Like I probably would have to have my family held hostage or something for me to actually be forced into Quidditch :D haha but if I were playing Quidditch, I’d go with Seeker.

Mr. Ollivander: What would your wand look like? Very simple, straight, smooth, easy to grip so it’s comfortable and doesn’t hurt my fingers, either clean black or looking like very old wood, and maybe with a little gem somewhere, a stone that has some significance to me, like a birthstone or something so that it serves like an amulet :)

Harry Potter: Tell us about a scar on your body. (already answered and copy pasted) I don’t have anything interesting with a cool story, I just have a few boring leftover chicken pox scars, an iron burn scar (lol), a little scar at the bottom of my chin from tripping on the sidewalk on my first day to kindergarten (i’ve always been a loser haha) and a few random cuts on my finger and forearm and elbow, I don’t even remember how they got there :D

Hermione Granger: What is your favorite book, how many times have you read it, and why do you love it? I mean it’s a boring answer but the Harry Potter series x) I’m not a reader, I don’t have much to choose from, so naturally HP is the most meaningful to me :) I’ve only read it twice (I read it in 2015 for the first time), and honestly it kind of changed my life? It inspired me to learn to write and to draw and to be creative, it led me to meeting new people (like my best friend) and learning a lot about myself and about the world.. I’ve changed so much since reading the books :)

Ron Weasley: Something you're afraid of? (Heads up it’s gonna be dark) Shame, failure, poverty, pain, losing my mind, and dying, or rather having my family suffer, because I don’t care about dying but I cannot stand the idea of my family grieving.

Aunt Petunia: What is your favorite flower? (already answered and copy pasted) White tulips :) I remember sitting in my grandmother’s backyard as a kid, I just sat there enjoying the weather, and I looked at the white tulips growing nearby and I stared at them forever, loving them so much, and I said to myself, “this is the most beautiful flower in the world.” It still is :)

Draco Malfoy: Is it better to be feared or to be loved? (already answered and copy pasted) Oh easy :) I cannot even stand the idea of somebody being afraid of me.

Voldemort: If you were to create a Horcrux(s), what would it be and why? I actually don’t know... I would want it to be meaningful, like Voldemort did, but I don’t really think I have anything like that. Well I mean I do have a gemstone amulet, so maybe that, but I can’t think of anything else besides it.

Answered right above!

Harry Potter: Tell us about a scar on your body. (already answered and copy pasted) I don’t have anything interesting with a cool story, I just have a few boring leftover chicken pox scars, an iron burn scar (lol), a little scar at the bottom of my chin from tripping on the sidewalk on my first day to kindergarten (i’ve always been a loser haha) and a few random cuts on my finger and forearm and elbow, I don’t even remember how they got there :D 

Ron Weasley: Something you're afraid of? (already answered and copy pasted) (Heads up it’s gonna be dark) Shame, failure, poverty, pain, losing my mind, and dying, or rather having my family suffer, because I don’t care about dying but I cannot stand the idea of my family grieving.

Rubeus Hagrid: What is your favorite mystical creature? I actually don’t think I have one! :) Probably because, when it comes to fiction, I prefer realistic over fantasy :) I want to say werewolf but really I just care about Remus only :D

Professor Sprout: What is your favourite class that is offered at Hogwarts? I think Arithmancy is really cool, I’m into maths and Numerology and Astrology and things like that, so Arithmancy would be my jam :D I also like Charms! :)

Aunt Petunia: What is your favorite flower? (already answered and copy pasted) White tulips :) I remember sitting in my grandmother’s backyard as a kid, I just sat there enjoying the weather, and I looked at the white tulips growing nearby and I stared at them forever, loving them so much, and I said to myself, “this is the most beautiful flower in the world.” It still is :) 

Lucius Malfoy: What is your most prized possession? If we’re talking about material possessions, then probably my photo albums I made from the time I lived in Thailand and from different trips I’ve taken so far :) There’s one huge section with photos from my trip to Harry Potter Universal Studios in Orlando, it was literally the best time of my life :D so I really care about never losing that album and those memories!

Voldemort: If you were to create a Horcrux(s), what would it be and why?  (already answered and copy pasted) I actually don’t know... I would want it to be meaningful, like Voldemort did, but I don’t really think I have anything like that. Well I mean I do have a gemstone amulet, so maybe that, but I can’t think of anything else besides it.

Hermione Granger: What is your favorite book, how many times have you read it, and why do you love it? (already answered and copy pasted) I mean it’s a boring answer but the Harry Potter series x) I’m not a reader, I don’t have much to choose from, so naturally HP is the most meaningful to me :) I’ve only read it twice (I read it in 2015 for the first time), and honestly it kind of changed my life? It inspired me to learn to write and to draw and to be creative, it led me to meeting new people (like my best friend) and learning a lot about myself and about the world.. I’ve changed so much since reading the books :)

Dobby: Who are you most loyal to? (already answered and copy pasted) Hm... I’d say myself first of all, even though me and I have a very love-hate relationship, mostly hate :D but umm, I guess I’m most loyal to my family, particularly my mom, grandmother, brother, and my partner :)

Molly Weasley: What is the proudest moment of your life? (already answered and copy pasted) It’s not a very interesting answer but I guess getting into college :) I’m from Europe and I applied to the United States just to try my chances, just for “what if,” I did not expect to actually get in to my very top choice university AND be offered a full tuition scholarship. It was something I was afraid to even dream of, but it happened, and it makes me feel both very proud of myself and very fortunate :)

Both of them answered right above! <3

Ginny Weasley: Have you ever been in love with an unexpected person? All the people I’ve ever had a crush on or loved were unexpected :) I wouldn’t like that person from the first impression (I would literally treat them cold because I simply disliked them this much lol), but then I would fall in love once I get to know them and get comfortable with them.

Peter Pettigrew: Are you a leader or a follower? Tough one because it’s something I cannot answer to myself x) I do often have an urge to lead, normally when I feel very strongly about what I think should be done, but I think I’m more valuable as a follower, I’m good at listening to others and doing my best to complete my tasks :)

Argus Filch: What's the worst job you've ever had? I’ve only had three jobs in my life, and all of them were pretty okay, especially the recent ones, so I don’t have an answer! :)

Nymphadora Tonks: If you could change one thing about your appearance what would it be? I’ve grown to love myself and all the little things I used to dislike, but one thing I’m still annoyed about is that I think my body is a little disproportionate, by that I mean my feet, hands/fingers, and my head are a little bit small in comparison to how tall I am :D And I’m not making it up, I’ve had other people tell that to me too :D I’m not exactly chubby, just generally a big woman hahah but my feet, hands, and head look kinda small for a body like this :D It’s not a big deal or anything, even kinda funny when saying it aloud, but if I could change it (preferrably become shorter/smaller) with a snap of my skinny ass fingers, I probably would :D

Lavender Brown: Who is the last person who texted and have you ever had a crush on them? That’d be my best friend, my bae Shelby ( @shewhomustnotbenamed ), but no, haven’t had a crush on her! But also like, I love her she’s my wife my bae I’m gay for her will u bear my children shelby????????? .....so... :D #bffgoals

Aw thank you so much, glad to be back! :)

Cedric Diggory: Have you ever had a near death experience? I did get very sick as a kid and stayed in the hospital for a long time, but I don’t think it counts as a near death experience :)

Severus Snape: Are you a trustworthy person? (already answered and copy pasted) Yes, I genuinely think I am :)

Arthur Weasley: What do you think is the best "muggle" invention? (already answered and copy pasted) Printing press :) Everything we value today started with that.

Dolores Umbridge: Make a list of rules that your family (or whoever you choose) would have to follow if you made the rules. I would love it to be the rule for my boyfriend to make sure we never run out of ice cream and roasted seaweed. That’s all that’s important to me :D

Harry Potter: Tell us about a scar on your body. (already answered and copy pasted) I don’t have anything interesting with a cool story, I just have a few boring leftover chicken pox scars, an iron burn scar (lol), a little scar at the bottom of my chin from tripping on the sidewalk on my first day to kindergarten (i’ve always been a loser haha) and a few random cuts on my finger and forearm and elbow, I don’t even remember how they got there :D

(Cute art btw! <3)

Love you too!

Remus Lupin: If you transform into any one animal or creature, which one would it be? (already answered and copy pasted) Hmm... probably some bird? That’d be lovely :) OR some land animal that’s relatively small, pretty fast, strong when they have to be, good at camouflage and hiding... So what fits this criteria? A badger? :D Is this the ultimate confirmation of my Hufflepuff identity? :D It better be!

#upthehillask #ask meme #personal

[downtowndaegu]

Get to Know Us: Moon’s BTS Edition

Hello Starlights! The admins and I wanted to post this “BTS questions/ Get to know us” thing that Kay found somewhere, so you get to know us better and know who is behind this blog! Each one of the admins will (probably) post one^^ I’m going to it today:D It’s quite long and since I don’t want to spam everyone, it will be under the ‘keep reading’ bar^^ 

How and when did you get into BTS? I got into BTS at the start of 2016 and discovered them thanks to a friend who introduced me to Exo/K-pop in general and I saw them in the recommended section of an Exo Video:) (Thanks for dragging me down this wormhole, G(:(:(: )

Did you make new friends thanks to BTS?

Yes! First of all, I made amazing friends in the three other admins, I wouldn’t trade them for anything<3 I also talked to some other people regularly, but I don’t think we could be considered real friends.

Has Bangtan influenced your life in any other way? 

The boys helped me an enormous amount with my depression and anxiety, I don't want to know where I would be without them. Top 10 Songs?

Uhh, that’s a difficult question! Tomorrow, First Love, Baepsae, Butterfly, 2nd Grade, Hold me tight, Lost, Lie, Forever Young and Ddaeng^^ Favorite album?

As hard as the choice is, It has to be Wings|You never walk alone. The member's individual songs really touched me because it revealed parts/emotions that we haven’t seen before.

Favorite lyrics?

No doubt, it’s tomorrow or First Love. I don’t even wanna reveal how many times I cried because of them since I relate too much. 

School trilogy, HYYH era or WINGS?

If it’s about the album then WINGS, but if it’s about the era in general then it’s HYYH for me^.^

Which Cypher part do you like best?

Cypher Part 3: Killer

Your favorite AGUST D and RM track?

For AGUST D it’s either ‘Tony Montana’ or ‘the Last’ and for RM it’s ‘Always’ :D

Your favorite cover of BTS? (Doesn’t matter if it’s one of Jungkook, Taehyung, Jin, etc.):

Honestly? Any of JK covers. The songs he chooses to cover are just beautiful and most of them fit into the music type I listen to if I don’t listen to K-Pop^^

Is there any BTS song that has a special meaning for you?

Like I mentioned, both Tommorrow and First Love are incredibly important for me. Tomorrow helps me when my struggle with anxiety and depression gets tough and First Love perfectly described something in my Life, except that for music, it was equestrianism/ working with horses. Otherwise everything is exactly the same.

Your favorite live performance?

The Melon Award BS&T and Fire Performance is my favorite so far^^ 

Your bias?

These two cuties!

At first, I was an extremely loyal Yoongi stan, but I have been struggling for almost 6 months now to choose between Yoongi and Jimin:/ But since another admin biases Yoongi, I’m gonna go with Jimin if I had to choose between these two^^ 

 Your favorite ships/interactions?

Recently I’ve been a sucker for TaeGi and Jikook, but I also love Yoonmin and Namjin. And Hoseok is such an angel that I just ship him with whoever would make him the happiest. Now, I personally don’t think these ships are real and only friendship until the bands confirms them, so they are more like bromance for me^^

Favorite fansite(s)?

I don’t visit fansites often tbh :,) But I read most of the news and rumors on soompi, if that counts!

What is your favorite hair color for each member?

In general combining all the members, my favorite has to be the hyyh era, but individually:

Jin: I really like black hair!

Jiminie: ... I can’ decide! So far there hasn’t been a color that I didn’t like (*cough* except for the blonde highlights/strands in Fake Love *cough*), so I can’t choose a favorite >.<

Tae: I really liked the DNA m/v hair color (the light silver/grey/really light brown (i’m super blind so I'm not too sure don't judge me))) or any lighter color while having soft curls:) But also any color in combination with a headband tbh

Kookie: With JK I like medium/ light brown (YNWA era) but I like any shade brown or black on him 

Hobi: The shade of brown in the run mv/ hyyh era!

Yoongi: My favorite has to be the mint color! But the blonde hairstyle in the Agust D m/v’s were just ruuuude *o*

Namjoon: Either the purple/grape (I'm sorry) color or the honey hair color!

Whose fashion style do you like the most?

I really like Jimin’s fashion style, not because he is my bias but because it’s similar to what I usually wear:)

Which member matches with your personality the most?

If it’s most similar then I would say Jimin, but about best fitting together it would be Taehyung^^

Who do you think would be your best friend in BTS?

I think it would be Jungkook:)

Which member caught your attention first?

If I’m honest, at first I really liked Tae, but after a week or two Yoongi was the one who got my attention!

Name the feature you like the most about each member!

Yoongi’s cute Gummy smile; The way Jungkooks eyes crinkle when he laughs; How Hoseok always looks so welcoming and friendly when he smiles; Tae’s unique double and mono-lid eyes; How caring Jin is, regardless if the people are members or not (the elevator prank for example); What an amazing Leader Namjoon is; How shy Jimin still is sometimes, because he is absolutely adorable in those moments

Your favorite photo of each member?

I don’t really have favorite pictures, but I love any picture, regardless of photoshoot or derp pic ^^ (Except for the whitewashed ones! Whoever whitewashed them, ur moms a hoe) But I also really love this picture/edit:

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Jin?

How caring this angel is and how much I love his jokes!

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Yoongi?

How admirable his passion for music is<3

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Namjoon?

Honestly? His seaweed dance XD (Lara is going to kill me when she sees this) But in seriousness: How glad I am that he is the leader^^

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Hoseok?

How he always lightens the room when he enters a room, our little ray of sunshine:)

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Jimin?

Squishy Mochi<3

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Taehyung?

How naive (not in a bad way) and puppy-like he is

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Jungkook?

Memes (I’m so not sorry)

Rank the dance line in terms of favorite dancing style!

Jimin - Hoseok - Jungkook. Every single member is amazing at dancing, but the reason I placed Junkook last isn’t because of how he dances, but because of his emotions during dancing. He is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I think in Jungkooks case it’s more talent than passion. While watching Jimin and Hoseok dancing you can feel how every single fiber of them is filled with passion, but I don’t get that emotion while watching Jungkook. And the reason I placed Jimin first is that I like his Style just a tiny bit better than Hoseoks, but that’s just preference^^

Rank the vocal line in terms of favorite singing style!

Jimin - Jungkook - V - Jin. I really like the uniqueness of Jimins voice, which is why I placed him there. And I always adored Jungkooks voice, especially in his English covers. With V and Jin I had some serious struggle, but I think I prefer Tae’s dark voice a tiiiiny bit more (/ω＼)

Rank the rap line in terms of favorite rap style!

Yoongi - Hoseok - Rap Monster. I could listen to Yoongi rapping 24/7 (*^.^*)  I placed Hoseok middle because I have a lot of fun listening to him, he just has so much energy in his voice, which I find rather unique^^ And I also love RM rapping, especially because his voice fits both calmer rapping as well as spitting fire! I can’t really decide so the order may not be that accurate

Who’d win in a dance battle? Jin or Namjoon?

If it’s spontaneous I think Jin would win, but If It was planned Namjoon would win^^ 

Jungkook’s thighs, abs, arms or veins?

Thighs!

Holly, Jjangu, Soonshim, Micky or Rapmon?

Soonshim, I love her soo much! She is so adorable, I can’t even describe it!

American Hustle Life, Rookie King, Bangtan Gayo or RUN BTS?

RUN BTS^-^

What variety show do you want BTS to be featured in?

I don’t really watch variety shows, so I would have to pick whatever ones make BTS happy^^ 

What accessory would you bring for a fan sign and for which member?

This question made me speechless tbh. I really don’t know.... I once saw rings which had ‘always’ on the inside which was raised so it would imprint on the finger after wearing it for some time, maybe one for each member so the ‘always’ is directed to BTS itself...

Have you ever been to a fansign or concert of BTS?

Sadly, no >.<

Have you ever sent a fan letter?

No, I’m too shy and I’m really bad at writing letters (unless they’re allowed to be suuuper long, I love writing long letters <3)

Did you ever join a fansite’s birthday project?

Like I mentioned I’m not really active on fansites, so I never joined one or missed them, but I plan to join projects in the future!

Are you a member of the fancafe?

Yes, but I’m not really sure how to use it (/ω＼) 

Do you talk openly about BTS in front of friends and family?

Yes! I managed to get my mom to like BTS and K-Pop in general (she knows the names/members of BTS and NCT and we listen to it regularly because I have control over what music runs in the car^-^). One of my best friends is a Kpopper as well, so we talk about it, but I don’t shy away from talking about it to other friends:D

If you were given the chance to say one sentence to all of them, what would you tell them?

I am so proud of how far you have come, you really do deserve everything and more.

If money, distance and the like weren’t a problem, what kind of gift would you give them to their birthday?

Buy them some sort of Cruise trip or any other holiday because my poor babies need to rest.

What subunit would you look the most forward to?

Yoongi and Jimin rap subunit. Not because they are my biases, but DAMN, did you guys see that Tony Montana stage?! I need more!

Do you prefer Hip-Hop BTS or the more Pop-ish BTS?

Hip-Hop^^

Do you watch their appearances on shows live or do you wait for subs?

I usually listen to the live appearance in the background (I love the Korean language) and then watch the video when the subs are out!

What kind of concept would you like to see in the future?

A really creepy themed concept, like the game ‘Alice: Madness Returns’ or Tim Burton for example. I’m not sure why, but I would love to see something like this!

Your thoughts on BigHit?

BigHit is one of the better Entertainments in my opinion. Yes, the boys are exhausted but compared to other Entertainments where the Idols are in living hell *cough* SM *cough*, they treat them fairly well. Only thing I would love to see are more Breaks for the boys^^

Oops, this got longer than expected! XDI hope you liked this post, I’m guessing the other admins will do it in the future as well^^

~Admin Moon<3

#admin moon #this took so long #get to know #moon personal #bts tag

[the-apocryphal-one]

Extra Life, 2, 3, 4, 14, 15? I really liked that fic, it totally sold me on Kamukura/Nanami, and I just found this Tumblr looking for those bonus route screenshots you mentioned :)

:D ahhh thank you there is nothing better than hearing your fic sold someone on your ship. Have you found those screenshots? If not they’re all under this tag!

also thanks for the ask, I’ve been wanting to talk gush about Extra Life for a while.

2: Whatscene did you first put down?

The very first one in the fic, where Izuru’s performingemergency medical aid. Like sometimes you plan a fic and the first thing youwrite is a scene later on, but no, not here. That scene was the first one Ithought of, since the entire premise is “what if he saved her”, which naturallylead to “how would he save her”, and that was something I had to get down ASAP.

3: What’syour favorite line of narration?

This was so hard, I have so many parts I really like. So I’mgoing to cheat and pick two, one from Chiaki’s POV, one from Izuru’s (and eventhen there are still more contenders).

Chiaki:

Shestared at the device for a long moment. The pink-haired girl slowly picked itup and flicked it on; the happy, bright colors and cheerful jingle of GalaOmega greeted her. Chiaki gazed at the screen with a slight frown,reminiscent. This was the one game she’d never played with her classmates,something she kept just for herself and Hinata-kun. They’d played other gamestoo, of course, but this one was…special. It was how they met. And it feltnice, having something she shared only with him.

Hereyes started to burn. Because of course, once she thought about her time withHinata-kun, she inadvertently thought about her time with her friends as well.The parties, the school activities, the field trips; especially the fieldtrips. Sonia-san was always so eager to learn more about Japan, and Soda-kunwould trip over himself to volunteer to show her around, and Tanaka-kun wouldsomehow blow him away with effortless theatrics…

Nowthose same friends were criminals without a future. Because of her actions.

Youweren’t just a terrible friend to Hinata-kun. You were a terrible friend toyour entire class. Someone like you was never fit to be class rep. You shouldhave just stayed in your little bubble where you belonged.

Tearstried to escape the corners of her eyes, but she pressed her knuckles into thesockets, forcing them back. What right did she have to cry? She’d tried herbest, and her best just wasn’t good enough. Worse, her best had doomed everyoneshe loved. Her best had twisted Nidai-kun’s loud speeches and Koizumi-san’sbeautiful photos and even Komaeda-kun’s hope—

Witha frustrated cry, she threw the Gamer Girl Advance across the room. The musiccame to an abrupt halt as the console broke against the wall, falling in piecesto the floor. Chiaki pulled the covers over her head and curled into a tinyball, desperately biting her lip to keep from screaming again.

Izuru:

A quick cross-reference with Ultimate Therapist supported thenotion that this was a prudent course of action. But still, his first impulsewas to reject the idea. He did not see the logical purpose of it. What would hugging her accomplish, other thangetting him dirty? There was no rational reason for…

His inner musings trailed off when he looked at Nanami,hunched over with her arms wrapped around herself, tears and snot running downher face. That pain stabbed his heart again. For only the second time in hislife, a great compulsion to act overcame him.

Slowly, his hand extended. It came to rest at the back ofNanami’s head, so light she didn’t seem to feel it. For just a moment, anuncharacteristic uncertainty crippled Izuru; then he shook it off and nudgedher forward into his chest.

She started and stopped crying, a surprised little noiseescaping her throat. Her shock was only to be expected: it was the first timehe had ever initiated physical contact for non-assistance purposes. For amoment she was still, and he began to suspect he’d miscalculated. But then hertrembling arms came up around his back, clutching him tight. Nanami buried herface in his shirt and resumed sobbing, the sound slightly muffled by fabric.

Keeping his hand on her head, Izuru noted with some interestthat his muscles were unusually tense as he stood there, her tears dampeninghis shirt. It was an emotion akin to awkwardness, but not as discomforting.Rather than return her embrace, his other arm hung stiffly at his side, butNanami didn’t seem to care. Somehow this seemed to have helped her, but hecouldn’t comprehend how—

…Actually, upon further reflection, this was like when they’dgone to the store and she’d held his hand after the attack. He hadn’trationalized the purpose for it at the time, but it had felt pleasant, so he’dallowed it. Judging from her reactions then and now, though, the contact seemedto be reassuring to her. Why, he still couldn’t rationalize. But the resultswere there, so he mentally compartmentalized physical contact as comfortfor Nanami. Then he waited for her to calm down.

I hate sad endings, but I like writing grief because it’s suchan opportunity for character development and reflection. I also hate writingIzuru emoting because he has to go through this logical analysis of it first,but at the same time it’s really satisfying becauseit’s a challenge. And like, these two parts are so crucial for Chiaki andIzuru’s individual development, and the development of their relationshiptogether. Chiaki’s faced with the full force of her mistakes and their consequences, and begins the process of growing from them; Izuru’s learning to actuallyexpress that he cares, even if just with actions and not words or his face; andthat first hug, that first physical contact, is the point their relationshipstarts to shift.

4: What’syour favorite line of dialogue?

Listening to what her heart was telling her, she quicklyfound the answer. “…Okay. I’ll hold you to that.”

He blinked at her. “You are not afraid? I just informed youthat you are completely defenseless and weak, in an unknown location with anunknown man as your only company. No one knows where you are, nor do they even believe you to be alive. Any other in yourplace would find that a frightening position to be in.”

Chiaki shook her head. “No. If you wanted to hurt me, you’vehad plenty of time to do it. And more than that…” She paused, trying to figureout how to verbalize her thoughts. “I just know I can trust you.”

“…You know you cantrust me.”

“I don’t know how to explain it.” She pursed her lips. “It’slike…I know I’ve felt your presence and heard your voice before. It’s…safe.”

If she hadn’t been looking at him in that exact instance, shewould have missed the fractional widening of his eyes entirely. As is, it wassuch a small movement she wasn’t sure she hadn’t imagined it.

“…Such a decision is most illogical. You are indeed a curiousperson, Nanami Chiaki,” he finally said.

“Well, not everything has to be about logic. The world wouldbe boring if it were…I think.”

This wasn’t as hard as the above, but still tough.But this part was the winner. It’s their first real conversation, and I feellike it really encompasses their relationship. You’ve got Izuru trying to lookat everything from this perfectly rational perspective and Chiaki just goingwith what she feels is right, and they can’t really understand how the othercan think that way but they try to. They both have things to teach the other.

14: Isthere anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

Honestly, I didn’t really have any sort of great ‘message’in mind when I started writing it, I just wanted to save Chiaki. But it’s endedup a lot longer than I initiallythought it would be, and a lot’s been added. So now I’m toying with atheme about moving past mistakes and being forgiving, both for yourself andothers, but it won’t really become prominent until later, in spoilerterritory.

15: Whatdid you learn from writing this fic?

A hell of a lot about medical procedures, physical therapy,and PTSD. I wanted to portray them all accurately, so that meant a lot ofresearch. Other than that, I’d say this fic is really where I started nailingmy ‘voice’ for Izuru—when the first three chapters are from the POV of acharacter like him, you don’t really have a lot of choice but to get him right,or fail.

#answers #dangan ronpa 3 #extra life #kamunami #izuru kamukura #chiaki nanami #thanks for the ask #i wanted to talk about this fic for a while

[jessicakehoe]

Texture Talk: Makeup Artist Tracy Peart on Embracing Her Natural Hair During Quarantine

The Covid lockdown and stay-at-home orders have no doubt effected our relationships with our go-to beauty routines. Here, Tracy Peart, a body positivity advocate and the resident makeup artist for CityTV’s Breakfast Television Toronto and Cityline, shares how months of quarantine life has shifted her hair routine from a long-standing love affair with protective braids to fully embracing her natural coils and hopscotching between hairstyles. Read on for her hair journey and what she’s learned along the way.

Pre-Covid hair journey:

“I always had somebody else doing my hair basically my whole life. Of course, I styled my hair and things like that, but I’ve never really dealt with my natural hair from beginning to end on my own. I started wearing braid extensions about 13 years ago. I relaxed my hair before that and I hated the process. I hated the burning and all of that, and just felt like my hair wasn’t healthy. Eventually, I decided to cut my hair very short, but it was still relaxed. My hair felt like too much work and I just didn’t want to go through the chemical straightening process anymore, so that’s when I started my braid journey. I wanted something that was going to protect my hair: braids are a lot less stress on natural hair and my hair felt much healthier.

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I’m wearing no pants…Lol!😉😆 #BusinessOnTop Photo📸: @LitBeautyAndPhoto _________________________________________________

A post shared by Tracy P. (@tracypmakeup) on Feb 21, 2019 at 4:56am PST

For me, everybody should find a style that works for their lifestyle. I didn’t start wearing braids because I didn’t like the way my natural hair looked. It came down to time for me. I’ve been waking up at 4:00 AM for work for, like, 15 years, and I don’t have time to give attention to my natural hair in the morning. Protective styles like braids are just so much easier and faster for me. Yes, braids take a lot of time when you’re putting them in and taking them out: my go-to braiding technique takes four hours to put in (I don’t just do straight single braids) and roughly two hours to take out, which I undo myself. But there are weeks in between where you don’t really have to do much. I would go see my hairstylist every six to eight weeks, and in between I wash and condition my hair and run product along the scalp to keep it moisturized. That was my routine. My hair was pretty much done in 10 minutes and I mostly let it air dry. Sometimes I would scrunch it and use a diffuser for curl definition or put it all up, but I didn’t find my hair was a lot of maintenance. It was very simple. Transferring to braids from relaxed hair just made sense for me.”

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Don’t let life take the smile off your face!😀 Photo 📸: @LitBeautyAndPhoto _________________________________________________

A post shared by Tracy P. (@tracypmakeup) on Jan 29, 2019 at 5:00am PST

Hair under quarantine:

“Honestly, I’m glad this all happened because I wasn’t very educated on my own hair before this. And I don’t pretend that this was my choice: This pandemic forced me to embrace my curls with salons being closed, and I didn’t want to go the route of going into hiding and not wanting to be seen. I know a lot of women who are hiding right now because they feel like their hair doesn’t look good. Many people are going through the same thing right now. And it doesn’t matter what race you are: There are so many women who are dependent upon salons, whether to get their hair done, their eyebrows waxed or nails done. We all have to learn everything by ourselves right now.

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Everywhere Beauty is being presented, someone who looks like me isn’t there. I’m omitted. Forgotten, either intentionally or unintentionally. Both are equally bad. Either way, that sends a message to you your whole life that you’re not pretty, you’re not worthy, you’re invisible. Society doesn’t like what I look like. I’m judged for what I look like. I’m punished for what I look like. And in some cases, people are killed for what I look like. However, I know better. They don’t know what I know. They don’t know I come from Kings and Queen. They don’t know my skin is kissed from the sun. They don’t know God made me perfect the way I am. • Therefore, I refuse to hate myself. I refuse to fall in line. I refuse to hate my blackness. So, despite the strife, I LOVE being black, I love my dark skin, I love my lips, I love my nose, I love my dark eyes, and I love my hair. I’m a BLACK QUEEN!👸🏿👑 #BlackBeauty #BlackGirlMagic #MelaninPoppin #LoveThyFro #EffYourBeautyStandards ___________________________________________________________

A post shared by Tracy P. (@tracypmakeup) on Jun 3, 2020 at 6:46am PDT

It’s been quite the hair journey with everything shut down. I’ve learned so much about my natural hair and so much about the styles I can do. I’ve been playing around with side parts, Afro puffs, Bantu knots, braids and twist outs to figure out which curl pattern I like the most. I also do wash-n-gos. I’ve been going on YouTube and watching all these video tutorials to learn, and even embrace the techniques that fail. It’s been fun, but, at the same time, the more I’m getting familiar with my hair, the more I’m realizing just how much time and love natural hair takes. Some hair techniques can take me two to three hours. And that’s the main reason why I didn’t wear it like this before. It wasn’t because of how it looked — I love my hair — a lot of it was time. I also was not aware of how much constant moisture free-flowing natural hair needs, with oils and products, to keep it looking soft and healthy. With protective styles like braids, you moisturize your hair, yes, but not in the same way as you would with hair worn in its natural state.”

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Fun Friday Fro!😁 #BlackBeauty #LoveThyFro #NaturalHairJourney _________________________________________________

A post shared by Tracy P. (@tracypmakeup) on Jun 19, 2020 at 6:43am PDT

Post-quarantine plans:

“I know that I will go back to braids — they’re just much easier for my lifestyle — but not right away. Before, my routine was to take my braids out that night and the next morning I was at the hairdresser. I didn’t expose my hair to anybody because I didn’t know what to do with it. But now, I’m glad I have relief moving forward: I feel like I can go a week or even a month in between my braids because I now know how to handle it. I won’t be so regimented. That’s what I love about what I’ve experienced within this quarantine journey. I’m more open to and have the freedom now to experiment with different hairstyles.”

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Check out this @Anthropologie jumpsuit!👌🏿 #Anthropologie #MyAnthropologie #APlusByAnthropologie _________________________________________________

A post shared by Tracy P. (@tracypmakeup) on Jun 11, 2019 at 5:01am PDT

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The post Texture Talk: Makeup Artist Tracy Peart on Embracing Her Natural Hair During Quarantine appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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love status in english { LATEST 300+ } IN 2020

cute love status in english Friends, nowadays, every person who has a multimedia mobile. WhatsApp is definitely in his mobile. Nowadays WhatsApp has become a way of talking with people. Through WhatsApp, we are connected to the small news of people. WhatsApp Status People post about their daily life on WhatsApp status. Whether it is to go somewhere or to roam somewhere. In this way everyone gets to know about them. Apart from this, Low also posts a lot of thoughts on WhatsApp status, which the rest of the people are also impressed by reading this. If you want to share an idea or photo with everyone, then you just post it on WhatsApp status, it will be shared with everyone. New love status in english Many people post important information on their WhatsApp status. By viewing this kind of WhatsApp status (WhatsApp Wiki), we get important information. Apart from this, many people who are associated with education, share information related to education on WhatsApp status. It proves beneficial for all of us. Many times when our mood is very bad, in such a situation, if someone posts a good joke on WhatsApp status, then our mood automatically gets corrected. Many people also post the words of knowledge on Hindi WhatsApp status, seeing which we also get the purpose of living life properly.cute best love status in english Best love status in english for girlfriend Friends, almost everyone uses WhatsApp New Featuresp. Nowadays there is a lot of practice of applying different types of status on whatsapp. People use whatsapp status according to their mood. Or you can say that people use WhatsApp status to express their feelings of mind. Not only this, if someone has to do a special feel or they have to tell their heart to someone, then people have started resorting to WhatsApp status. People also use WhatsApp Hindi status to celebrate them all from birthdays to special festivals. WhatsApp status has become a medium among people through which people are expressing their thoughts and ideas in front of people.best love status in english Friends, in this post, we are going to tell you some such status which you can use as your WhatsApp status and make it great.   cute love status new You are the one person that I don’t have to explain my craziness to and the one person whose craziness I can’t

Love does not consists of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.

Love Is Just Love, It Can Never Be Explained.

  Love cannot always be measured by how long you wait. It’s about how well you understand why you are waiting

  Love + Trust + Loyalty = Unbreakable Relationship

I Love You More Than I Ever Found A Way To Say To You.

Love is like a rubber band, when both can stretch ,and then one can release then it can heart the other!

I love you no matter what you do, but do you have to do so much of it

I still remember that feeling I felt when I first started talking to you.

I love you yesterday I love you still, I always have…. I always will

Love yourself. It is important to stay positive because beauty comes from the inside out.

  Cute Couple love status for whatsapp Some ❤️love stories starts from time pass but turned into true love.

  Love Is Like A Wind, We Can’t See It. But We Can Feel It.

  True Love = No doubts + No jealousy + No worries then life is good

  Love is That Which can not see the Religious, Caste, Rich, Poor..in life..   Love Is A Policy, Without Terms And Conditions.

  You Are The Guy All My Love Quotes Are About.

  Love Is Just Love, It Can Never Be Explained.

  one line whatsapp status for love Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.

  If I Know What Is Love, It Is Because Of You.

Even On Bad Days, I’Ll Still Be Happy With You.

Love When You Are Ready, Not When You Are Lonely.

Every Has An Addiction, Mine Just Happens To You.

You are one of those beautiful things that happened to my life and made my life worthwhile

Smiling is my favorite, you make me smile, that makes you my favorite

I’N Lover Not A Fighter But I’Ll Fight For What I Love.

Love Is All, Love Is New/ Love Is All, Love Is You.

If You Really Lovesome, Don’T Tell Them. Show Them.

2 line love status whatsapp We Fal In Love By Chance. We Stay In Love By Choice.

If I Had My Life To Love Again, I’D Find You Sooner.

Every friendship dosen’t change into love but every love begins with friendship.

You Are My Best Reason To Lose Sleep. I Love You Babu.

  If I could chose between loving you and breathing I would use my last breathe to say I love you

  I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.

  Lifes greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved. Happy Valentines Day

There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.

  Every time I look at you, my heart misses a beat.

  Best status of love for whatsapp You Can’t Build A Relationship On Promises, You Build It With Love, Determination, And Trust

  You know he’s something special when no matter what kind of mood you’re in, he always manages to make you smile

Place your time and energy on someone who will add sunshine to your life. Life is too short to waste on the wrong one.

Everyone goes through emotional problems, Some people are just better at Hiding it than others

  When you judge someone before knowing them, you do not define them: you define yourself.

Sometimes I feel that, there is no one Awesome Than me, to be loved..

Everyone says u fall in love only ones, but i fall daily with the same person.

cute love status fb and whatsapp Jealousy is no more than feeling alone against smiling enemies. Happy Valentines Day

Every moment I spent with you.. is like beautiful dream come true.

True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice.

There are some beautiful hearts that you talk to once, and desire forever.

You may be someone to the world but you are the world for someone

I’m not jealous, I’m just afraid of losing you.

People need love even when they do not deserve it.

true love status for whatsapp Some people are very much important in my life and you are one of them When I Look Into Your Eyes I Tend To Lose Thoughts. When people can walk away from you, let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody who left. Every girl deserves a guy who looks at her everyday like its the first time he saw her Don’t love too much, don’t care too much, don’t trust too much; because that too much can hurt you too much.. When You Are Important To Someone.. You Can Feel It Through Their Actions You Are The Perfect Combination Of Sexy & Cute. best status of love for whatsapp A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. True love doesn’t come to you it has to be inside you. If someone asked me what my future looked like, I’d show them you. Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. Bees love honey…people love money…but I LOVE YOU Treat me like a joke and I’ll leave you Like it’s funny. I’m not worried about losing people anymore, I’ve realized that they’re all going to leave at some point. facebook & whatsapp status for love When I dream I dream of you. Maybe one day dreams will come true. Because I really love you. Every love story is beautiful but ours is my favorite. There are only two times that I want to be with you… Now and Forever. If I could be anything I would be your tear so I could be born in your eye live down your cheek and die on your lips. This is going to sound crazy, but…from the moment I first set eyes on you I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. If you expect something in return, It’s called business, not love. I need you so much closer. I’ll never forget the first time I saw you. love status whatsapp gf & bf You re special to me in every way. Thank you for being who you are. Love has no limits. He loves death, she loves life, he lives for her, she dies for him… If you are not interested then don’t cheat him.. Better leave him.. Whenever i see your text the first thing comes in my mind is YOU. ♥ :p Better to b alone than being wid sme1 who makes u feel alone… If you were thinking about someone, while Studying you’re definitely in Love… No matter what has happened. No matter what you’ve done. No matter what you will do. I will always love you. I swear it. There’s only 1 thing 2 do 3 words 4 you – I Love You. My heart is perfect because.. you are inside. Love is just a word until someone special gives it a meaning. I don’t need a burning sun and a cooling moon to show me my way. Just want you to hold me whenever I tumble. Go for someone who is not only proud to have you but will also take every risk just to be with you. Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart. The minute you think of giving up think of the reason why you held on so long. If I could be with you in my dreams. I would never wake up When I talk to you i fall in love over and over again. love status for whatsapp couples Always Love your GB from your Heart not from your mood or Mind.. Every love story is beautiful but ours is my favorite. No matter how “busy” a person is, if they really care, they will always find the time for you. Love When You’Re Ready, Not You’Re Lonely Do The Math. Me+You= Love. I want to run away with you. Where there is only you and me. Don’t say you love me unless you mean it. You are my favorite reason to lose my sleep. cute whatsapp status love in english I will be yours, you will be mine and together we will be one love When Love Is Not Madness, It Is Not Love. Love Is Just Love, It Can Never Be Explained. When the heart takes over, the mind can’t do a thing!! Someone Asked Me How’s Life I Just Smiled And Replied, She’s Fine. The Essence Of Romantic Love Is That Wonderful Beginning, After Which Sadness And Impossibility May Become The Rule. Every Love Story Is Beautiful But Ours Is My Favorite. beautiful whatsapp status for love I Can’t Be Your First Love But I Promised To Be Your Last Love. Life Is Not The Amount Of Breaths You Take, It’s The Moments That Take Your Breath Away. Wanna Hug You So Tight.That Even Air Couldn’t Fill The Space Between Us. Love Is Cute When It’s New, But Love Is Most Beautiful When It Last. An Eye With Dust ‘n A Heart With Trust Always Cries. If Life Really Does Flash Before Your Eyes, I Only Want To See Pictures Of You And Me. Hello, I’m a thief, and I’m here to steal your heart. Best Gf and Bf status for whatsapp on love Girl, you better have a license, because you are driving me crazy! I can’t read lips unless they’re touching mine. If love was easy, there would be almost no music. Love starts with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear. Love is master key that is capable of opening a gate of happiness. Friendship is not a big thing … it’s a million little things. I Avoided Many Things Only For U In My Life..Don’t Ever Make Me Feel For Why I Left All That. The two hardest things to say in life are hello for the first time and goodbye for the last. Most emotional moment in a boys life, When a girl says, Can you give me your number fb love status english The TRUTH hurts only once but a LIE hurts every time you remember it! Love is cute when it’s new, but love is most beautiful when it lasts. Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it’s the moments that take your breath away.. If life really does flash before your eyes, I only want to see pictures of you and me True Love Does Not Have A Happy Ending, Because True Love Never Ends. The difference between like, love and in love is the same difference between for now, for a while and forever. The greatest feeling in life is to find someone who knows your faults and weaknesses but still willing to embrace you with so much love without doubt. The one who actually loves you will never use or abuse you, but protect you from those who will try. The only thing we never get enough of is love and the only thing we never give enough of is love. best status for whatsapp on love gf and bf There are only two times that I want to be with you... Now and Forever. There can be no better inspiration for life than love. Without love, life exists nowhere, so let you live your life fully and enjoy love. There’s no past tense in loving someone. It’s either you always will or you never did. They say penguins are the only animals that stay together for life, Will you be my penguin forever? True Love = No doubts + No jealousy + No worries! True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen. True love is not finding someone else but finding your other half. Cute couple whatsapp status with love What I want, I will work for, What I need, I will fight for, What I love, I will die for… Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember someone you never knew. True love is when your heart and your mind are saying the same thing. The person who loves you is not the person who sees you every day, but the person who looks for you every day. If you Speak the truth you _don’t have to remember anything.?? Can I borrow a kiss…I promise I’ll give it back. Do The Math. Me+You= Love. I Love Things That Makes You Happy. whatsapp status for love Love Has No Age No Limit & No Death. I want to be in your arms, where you hold me tight and never let me go. Missing someone+No text from ’em = Worst feeling. Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control. There are only two times that I want to be with you… Now and Forever. Every moment I spend with you is like a beautiful dream come true. I Can’T Taste My Lips. Could You Do It For Me ? I fell in love with you, not for how you look, just for who you are. Always Be happy that when others look at you they also become happy too!! Cute whatsapp status love in english Gf It’s our tongue, our words that makes us enter someones heart or exit it You can’t control love. That’s the best and worst part of it If you only have one smile in you, give it to the people you love. The sweetest things you can do for a girl are the little things that let her know she’s in your heart and on your mind The person from whom U r maintaining Distance is always the person who had most Special place in your Heart. Life is not a big thing, It’s a million little things. new status for whatsapp on love I dreamed about being with you forever. The moment I met him, I knew I was looking at my future. Make her your everything, in front of everyone, every time. Love has made millions of poets. Love is the honey and our life is a flower. The goal is to laugh forever with someone you take seriously. We spend too much time looking for the perfect person to love instead of perfecting the love we give! best whatsapp status for love in hindi I fell in love with your personality, your looks are just a bonus. A loving heart is the truest wisdom. Love is often the fruit of marriage. Is Something More Peaceful Than Being With Someone Close To Your Heart? Yes Being With Yourself  Don’t Love The One Who Loves You Back, Love The One Who Never Leaves You. Rainbow: Mixture Of Colours🌈 Love: Mixture Of Feelings If Every  Rain Drop Had A Feeling Then I Would Make It  Rain Forever Just For You  When Life Gets Tough, Remember: There Is Someone Who Loves You More Than Anything Cute Couple whatsapp status for love True Love,  When You Hear Her/His Voice Even Just By Reading Their Messages. How The Love Is Expressed: When Contact Name Is Decorated With Emoticons. ou May Be Not Perfect In Many Things But Many Things Cannot Be Perfect Without You  Long Life Or A Happier Life ? He Asked A Long Happier Life With ♥️you I Replied very Time I Decide To Leave You The Entire Universe Tell Me To 😍 Love You, We Are Trapped In A Beautiful Conspiracy.  There Are Much More Things You Don’t Know About Me, But I’m Hoping You Know One Thing, How Much I Love You. best love status Download  2020 Never forget that I love you for exactly who you are, and I’m with you every step on the way of who you’re going to be. Being in love with you makes every day an interesting one. I love you no matter what you do, but do you have to do so much of it? You are my second weird half, I love going crazy with you. I love you for all that you are, all that you have been, and all that you are yet to become. Best love status english Facebook Before I met you I never knew what it was like to look at someone and smile for no reason. I don`t know why I`ve fallen in love with you. But I know for sure that you are my destiny. No one can ever replace your love. In my heart and in my soul, you will always be my one and only love. My angel, my life, my entire world, you’re the one that I want, the one that I need, let me be with you always, my love, my everything. Every conversation, every date, every drive, every smile, every laugh, and every moment in between– I fall more and more in love with you. My queen, my immense love for you is undiluted; with you, my love is protected. with you, my love is secured. best love status for whatsapp in hindi The best love is the one that makes you a better person without changing you into someone other than yourself. I’m so happy for you, that you’ve got the most good-looking boyfriend ever. If you see a shooting star, close your eyes and make a wish. It worked for me, I wished for you! Thinking of you keeps me awake. Dreaming of you keeps me asleep. Being with you keeps me alive. I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there’s a life after that, I’ll love you then. When you see a falling star tonight, make a wish, it will come true because I wished and I found you. New whatsapp status with love Bf and Gf i need you like a heart needs a beat. Love is just love, it can never explained. Some love one, some love two. I love one that is you I love my life because it’s you. Love is like a baby, it needs to be treated gently. A successful relationship requires falling in love many times, always with the same person Nothing is fine, but when I’m with you everything is fine. Every moment I spent with you.. is like beautiful dream come true. Some love one, some love two. I love one that is you Through everything that I actually passed this year, it would be the same as at the beginning. 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God is keeping me alive but you are keeping me in love. I love you every step of the way. I may not be your first date, kiss or love...but I want to be your last everything. Together with you is my favorite place to be. I still fall in love with you every day! (One of the best short love quotes for him) Thank you, my love, for always making me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever. -Alfred Lord Tennyson I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you are the world. You stole my heart, but I’ll let you keep it. When I listen to my heart, it whispers your name. Ever since I met you, no one else has been worth thinking about. love status in english He smiled, and all I could think was ‘Oh shit.’ If I did anything right in my life, it was when I gave my heart to you. I love you more than words can define, feelings can express and thought can imagine. I wish dreams were like wishes, and wishes came true, cause in my dreams I’m always with you. My heart for you will never break. My smile for you will never fade. My love for you will never end. I love you! My love for you is a journey; Starting at forever, And ending at never. I fell in love with you and fell so deep down that nothing in this world can pull me up from here. It is not being in love that makes me happy… but it’s being in love with you that makes me happy. Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control. The only reason I believe in destiny is that I met you. I would be kissing you forever if it could tell how much I love you. A real man never stops trying to show a woman how much she means to him, even after he’s got her. My thoughts are free to go anywhere, but it’s surprising how often they head in your direction. You make me laugh. You make me smile. You make my whole life seem worthwhile. Cute Love Status for Her Do you even know how special you are? I wouldn’t trade you for all the heartthrobs in Hollywood. There is no other woman in the world like you. I am the luckiest man alive to be able to call you mine. I love being in love with you. Real love never asks a reason for loving. Loving is not just looking at each other, it is looking in the same direction. Every love story is unique in its own ways but ours is the one I love the most. Dear Crush, please don’t crush my little fragile heart. The moment I wake up, thoughts of you sweep my mind. I don’t mind waiting as long as I can finally be with you. I am vitamin ‘U’ deficient. When I see you, electricity and fire courses through my veins.   Read the full article

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[celebritylive]

The trick of The Circle is that anyone can be anyone else — the married man can play the Casanova; this guy can play that girl; a mom can play with her son — and Joey Sasso’s trick, it seems, is that he only ever played as himself.

Netflix’s latest reality series released its first season finale on Wednesday. The Circle saw a rotating cast of strangers sequestered in individual apartments in a building in the U.K. and forced to become friends while only interacting with each other using a social media platform in a kind of online popularity contest.

After 12 episodes, 26-year-old Sasso was named the winner of $100,000… to his obvious shock.

“I firmly had no idea it was happening,” he tells PEOPLE.

“I’m down to the final two and my hand is shaking, and my hand does not shake,” he says, sounding exactly like he does on The Circle. “I do not get nervous.”

RELATED: Netflix Drops Trailer for The Circle, Where Strangers Compete (and Catfish Each Other) for $100K

He shouldn’t have worried: The slick-haired New York bartender and self-proclaimed “proudest mama’s boy you’re ever gonna meet” pretty quickly charmed the rest of his castmates and (to take a very unscientific sampling) a lot of Netflix viewers as well.

In a show about who ends up as the most popular, it definitely didn’t hurt that he was never really hated by anyone else.

Shubham Goel — also known as “Shooby”and Sasso’s best Circle friend — remembers “the first day when I imploded and had a breakdown of a large magnitude, Joey was completely backing me up and supporting everything I said,” he tells PEOPLE.

“Me and Joey were different in every single way, but we were best buds in there,” says Goel, 24.

Proudly loyal, loudly (loudly) endearing and both childlike and competitive, Sasso, like Goel, largely cruised through the season as lesser-liked players got the cut. He had to make a few tough decisions himself, such as eliminating fellow contestant Sean Taylor soon after she revealed her real identity and allowing Miranda Bissonnette to get the boot even though they’d opened up to one another and traded sexy emoji.

“I love these people, but it’s a game, which was so hard and difficult to do,” Sasso acknowledges. “I’ve always been able to read people really well. I think that helped me tremendously.”

“My thing has always been, just don’t judge me even though we’re supposed to be judging each other,” he says, adding, “My whole thing was at any point in the show, if I got blocked or go home, I just wanted to make sure I had no regrets and stayed true to myself.”

While he gushes — really, he gushes — about his fellow contestants and the time he spent with them, he admits he had to make some difficult choices. It was a game, after all.

“It’s hard for me to say what the best part was, because honestly every day was amazing and the games were great, the challenges were great, interactions were great,” he says. “However, the low point for me is so easy to remember, which was when I had to block Sean.”

RELATED: What to Know About Netflix’s The Circle: ‘A Sassy Big Brother’ with a ‘Dollop of Catfish’

“Legitimately,” he says, he “struggled, cried and went to sleep just feeling absolutely terrible,” after one of the season’s most emotional moments. Taylor had just opened up about catfishing the other players as a skinnier version of herself, then uploaded real photos of what she looked like — and received a lot of love and support from her castmates. And then she got the boot.

“I gotta protect the OGs,” Sasso explains, referring to the original group of players who all made it to the finale instead of people like Sean, who joined midseason. “I’m just a loyal dude,” Sasso says.

And he’s not one to forget a spark — of friendship or romance. “You really hold onto these people and you really start caring,” he says.

“We definitely all stay in touch and touch base and it’s kind of a beautiful thing,” he says. Multiple Circle players tell PEOPLE they’re planning to reunite soon in Miami, where Sammie Cimarelli lives.

And Goel, Sasso says, is “my boy, I love him… I legitimately wanted him to win.”

“Shooby, he’s just such an interesting person and his outlook on life and the way he looks at certain things and the modern world… I think that’s what makes him a really, really beautiful person,” Sasso says.

View this post on Instagram For everybody continually asking about @randibananas and me, stay up to date on my insta later this week and we can finally dive into this and everything in our lives post @thecirclenetflix #thecircle #netflixtv #netflix #thecirclenetflix #netflixandchill #kiss

A post shared by Joey Sasso (@joeysasso) on Jan 13, 2020 at 2:12pm PST

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Since the show started airing on Jan. 1, Sasso has been getting a lot of questions about his relationship with Bissonnette since they shared a kiss after she was eliminated, and he vowed to take her on a date after all was said and done. They had a spark, so would they ever get together? So far, they’re both just saying how great the other is, but that will likely change. Sasso noted on Instagram that he would “finally dive into this and everything in our lives” in the days following the finale’s release.

What’s true, to hear the cast tell it, is how close they all got. “Everyone’s like, ‘Dude we’re a family, we did this,’“ Sasso says. “It’s a shared experience that nobody can ever understand. We know that, and we try to hold that bond and keep it together.”

Part of that shared experience was being alone in his apartment (with only some company from the producers). And that did make him go a little stir-crazy, “but not in a bad way.”

“The most surprising thing for me was how much gameplay there was,” he says. “Truly you wake up and it’s on, you’re rolling.”

View this post on Instagram If you were going onto @thecirclenetflix who would YOU be, yourself or a catfish?! Never crossed my mind to be anybody but myself. #thecircle #thecirclenetflix

A post shared by Joey Sasso (@joeysasso) on Jan 5, 2020 at 5:28pm PST

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View this post on Instagram Wow!!! My entire life I have always been “The Fan” who collects Fan Art and loves to geek out with likeminded people, but never in a million years did I think with @thecirclenetflix that Fan Appreciation would go so far that I would be warranted with Fan Art! Look at how DOPE this is. Sending so much love and a special shout out to @alicia.rene_ for for doing this. You absolutely killed it and put such a big smile on my face. Please FOLLOW her page… What better way to get ready for THE FINAL FOUR episodes of @thecirclenetflix dropping at Midnight PST. #thecircle #thecirclenetflix #netflix #netflixandchill #netflixtv

A post shared by Joey Sasso (@joeysasso) on Jan 14, 2020 at 3:39pm PST

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On the finale, Sasso said he had just moved into a new apartment. He’s still bartending, he tells PEOPLE, and also going on acting auditions.

He also co-wrote and starred in the independent film The Young Lion of the West, which took years and years to put together and, now that it’s done, he’s hoping to take on the festival circuit.

Sasso describes it as a little Mean Streets, a little Saturday Night Fever; he plays a club promoter in Rochester grappling with ambition, greed and family turmoil. But he could almost be talking about The Circle.

“It’s a magical thing that happened where all these amazing, amazing people got picked to do this thing,” he says, “and it also taught me that, yes, I’ve been hurt and let down by friends in my life but I also never want that to make me feel jaded and change my trust in people.”

from PEOPLE.com https://ift.tt/3ad3JDN

#Celebrity

[theinvinciblenoob]

The iPhone XS proves one thing definitively: that the iPhone X was probably one of the most ambitious product bets of all time.

When Apple told me in 2017 that they put aside plans for the iterative upgrade that they were going to ship and went all in on the iPhone X because they thought they could jump ahead a year, they were not blustering. That the iPhone XS feels, at least on the surface, like one of Apple’s most “S” models ever is a testament to how aggressive the iPhone X timeline was.

I think there will be plenty of people who will see this as a weakness of the iPhone XS, and I can understand their point of view. There are about a half-dozen definitive improvements in the XS over the iPhone X, but none of them has quite the buzzword-worthy effectiveness of a marquee upgrade like 64-bit, 3D Touch or wireless charging — all benefits delivered in previous “S” years.

That weakness, however, is only really present if you view it through the eyes of the year-over-year upgrader. As an upgrade over an iPhone X, I’d say you’re going to have to love what they’ve done with the camera to want to make the jump. As a move from any other device, it’s a huge win and you’re going head-first into sculpted OLED screens, face recognition and super durable gesture-first interfaces and a bunch of other genre-defining moves that Apple made in 2017, thinking about 2030, while you were sitting back there in 2016.

Since I do not have an iPhone XR, I can’t really make a call for you on that comparison, but from what I saw at the event and from what I know about the tech in the iPhone XS and XS Max from using them over the past week, I have some basic theories about how it will stack up.

For those with interest in the edge of the envelope, however, there is a lot to absorb in these two new phones, separated only by size. Once you begin to unpack the technological advancements behind each of the upgrades in the XS, you begin to understand the real competitive edge and competence of Apple’s silicon team, and how well they listen to what the software side needs now and in the future.

Whether that makes any difference for you day to day is another question, one that, as I mentioned above, really lands on how much you like the camera.

But first, let’s walk through some other interesting new stuff.

Notes on durability

As is always true with my testing methodology, I treat this as anyone would who got a new iPhone and loaded an iCloud backup onto it. Plenty of other sites will do clean room testing if you like comparison porn, but I really don’t think that does most folks much good. By and large most people aren’t making choices between ecosystems based on one spec or another. Instead, I try to take them along on prototypical daily carries, whether to work for TechCrunch, on vacation or doing family stuff. A foot injury precluded any theme parks this year (plus, I don’t like to be predictable) so I did some office work, road travel in the center of California and some family outings to the park and zoo. A mix of uses cases that involves CarPlay, navigation, photos and general use in a suburban environment.

In terms of testing locale, Fresno may not be the most metropolitan city, but it’s got some interesting conditions that set it apart from the cities where most of the iPhones are going to end up being tested. Network conditions are pretty adverse in a lot of places, for one. There’s a lot of farmland and undeveloped acreage and not all of it is covered well by wireless carriers. Then there’s the heat. Most of the year it’s above 90 degrees Fahrenheit and a good chunk of that is spent above 100. That means that batteries take an absolute beating here and often perform worse than other, more temperate, places like San Francisco. I think that’s true of a lot of places where iPhones get used, but not so much the places where they get reviewed.

That said, battery life has been hard to judge. In my rundown tests, the iPhone XS Max clearly went beast mode, outlasting my iPhone X and iPhone XS. Between those two, though, it was tougher to tell. I try to wait until the end of the period I have to test the phones to do battery stuff so that background indexing doesn’t affect the numbers. In my ‘real world’ testing in the 90+ degree heat around here, iPhone XS did best my iPhone X by a few percentage points, which is what Apple does claim, but my X is also a year old. The battery didn’t fail during even intense days of testing with the XS.

In terms of storage I’m tapping at the door of 256GB, so the addition of 512GB option is really nice. As always, the easiest way to determine what size you should buy is to check your existing free space. If you’re using around 50% of what your phone currently has, buy the same size. If you’re using more, consider upgrading because these phones are only getting faster at taking better pictures and video and that will eat up more space.

The review units I was given both had the new gold finish. As I mentioned on the day, this is a much deeper, brassier gold than the Apple Watch Edition. It’s less ‘pawn shop gold’ and more ‘this is very expensive’ gold. I like it a lot, though it is hard to photograph accurately — if you’re skeptical, try to see it in person. It has a touch of pink added in, especially as you look at the back glass along with the metal bands around the edges. The back glass has a pearlescent look now as well, and we were told that this is a new formulation that Apple created specifically with Corning. Apple says that this is the most durable glass ever in a smartphone.

My current iPhone has held up to multiple falls over 3 feet over the past year, one of which resulted in a broken screen and replacement under warranty. Doubtless multiple YouTubers will be hitting this thing with hammers and dropping it from buildings in beautiful Phantom Flex slo-mo soon enough. I didn’t test it. One thing I am interested in seeing develop, however, is how the glass holds up to fine abrasions and scratches over time.

My iPhone X is riddled with scratches both front and back, something having to do with the glass formulation being harder, but more brittle. Less likely to break on impact but more prone to abrasion. I’m a dedicated no-caser, which is why my phone looks like it does, but there’s no way for me to tell how the iPhone XS and XS Max will hold up without giving them more time on the clock. So I’ll return to this in a few weeks.

Both the gold and space grey iPhones XS have been subjected to a coating process called physical vapor deposition or PVD. Basically metal particles get vaporized and bonded to the surface to coat and color the band. PVD is a process, not a material, so I’m not sure what they’re actually coating these with, but one suggestion has been Titanium Nitride. I don’t mind the weathering that has happened on my iPhone X band, but I think it would look a lot worse on the gold, so I’m hoping that this process (which is known to be incredibly durable and used in machine tooling) will improve the durability of the band. That said, I know most people are not no-casers like me so it’s likely a moot point.

Now let’s get to the nut of it: the camera.

Bokeh let’s do it

I’m (still) not going to be comparing the iPhone XS to an interchangeable lens camera because portrait mode is not a replacement for those, it’s about pulling them out less. That said, this is closest its ever been.

One of the major hurdles that smartphone cameras have had to overcome in their comparisons to cameras with beautiful glass attached is their inherent depth of focus. Without getting too into the weeds (feel free to read this for more), because they’re so small, smartphone cameras produce an incredibly compressed image that makes everything sharp. This doesn’t feel like a portrait or well composed shot from a larger camera because it doesn’t produce background blur. That blur was added a couple of years ago with Apple’s portrait mode and has been duplicated since by every manufacturer that matters — to varying levels of success or failure.

By and large, most manufacturers do it in software. They figure out what the subject probably is, use image recognition to see the eyes/nose/mouth triangle is, build a quick matte and blur everything else. Apple does more by adding the parallax of two lenses OR the IR projector of the TrueDepth array that enables Face ID to gather a 9-layer depth map.

As a note, the iPhone XR works differently, and with less tools, to enable portrait mode. Because it only has one lens it uses focus pixels and segmentation masking to ‘fake’ the parallax of two lenses.

With the iPhone XS, Apple is continuing to push ahead with the complexity of its modeling for the portrait mode. The relatively straightforward disc blur of the past is being replaced by a true bokeh effect.

Background blur in an image is related directly to lens compression, subject-to-camera distance and aperture. Bokeh is the character of that blur. It’s more than just ‘how blurry’, it’s the shapes produced from light sources, the way they change throughout the frame from center to edges, how they diffuse color and how they interact with the sharp portions of the image.

Bokeh is to blur what seasoning is to a good meal. Unless you’re the chef, you probably don’t care what they did you just care that it tastes great.

Well, Apple chef-ed it the hell up with this. Unwilling to settle for a templatized bokeh that felt good and leave it that, the camera team went the extra mile and created an algorithmic model that contains virtual ‘characteristics’ of the iPhone XS’s lens. Just as a photographer might pick one lens or another for a particular effect, the camera team built out the bokeh model after testing a multitude of lenses from all of the classic camera systems.

I keep saying model because it’s important to emphasize that this is a living construct. The blur you get will look different from image to image, at different distances and in different lighting conditions, but it will stay true to the nature of the virtual lens. Apple’s bokeh has a medium-sized penumbra, spreading out light sources but not blowing them out. It maintains color nicely, making sure that the quality of light isn’t obscured like it is with so many other portrait applications in other phones that just pick a spot and create a circle of standard gaussian or disc blur.

Check out these two images, for instance. Note that when the light is circular, it retains its shape, as does the rectangular light. It is softened and blurred, as it would when diffusing through the widened aperture of a regular lens. The same goes with other shapes in reflected light scenarios.

Now here’s the same shot from an iPhone X, note the indiscriminate blur of the light. This modeling effort is why I’m glad that the adjustment slider proudly carries f-stop or aperture measurements. This is what this image would look like at a given aperture, rather than a 0-100 scale. It’s very well done and, because it’s modeled, it can be improved over time. My hope is that eventually, developers will be able to plug in their own numbers to “add lenses” to a user’s kit.

And an adjustable depth of focus isn’t just good for blurring, it’s also good for un-blurring. This portrait mode selfie placed my son in the blurry zone because it focused on my face. Sure, I could turn the portrait mode off on an iPhone X and get everything sharp, but now I can choose to “add” him to the in-focus area while still leaving the background blurry. Super cool feature I think is going to get a lot of use.

It’s also great for removing unwanted people or things from the background by cranking up the blur.

And yes, it works on non humans.

If you end up with an iPhone XS, I’d play with the feature a bunch to get used to what a super wide aperture lens feels like. When its open all the way to f1.4 (not the actual widest aperture of the lens btw, this is the virtual model we’re controlling) pretty much only the eyes should be in focus. Ears, shoulders, maybe even nose could be out of the focus area. It takes some getting used to but can produce dramatic results.

A 150% crop of a larger photo to show detail preservation.

Developers do have access to one new feature though, the segmentation mask. This is a more precise mask that aids in edge detailing, improving hair and fine line detail around the edges of a portrait subject. In my testing it has led to better handling of these transition areas and less clumsiness. It’s still not perfect, but it’s better. And third-party apps like Halide are already utilizing it. Halide’s co-creator, Sebastiaan de With, says they’re already seeing improvements in Halide with the segmentation map.

“Segmentation is the ability to classify sets of pixels into different categories,” says de With. “This is different than a “Hot dog, not a hot dog” problem, which just tells you whether a hot dog exists anywhere in the image. With segmentation, the goal is drawing an outline over just the hot dog. It’s an important topic with self driving cars, because it isn’t enough to tell you there’s a person somewhere in the image. It needs to know that person is directly in front of you. On devices that support it, we use PEM as the authority for what should stay in focus. We still use the classic method on old devices (anything earlier than iPhone 8), but the quality difference is huge.

The above is an example shot in Halide that shows the image, the depth map and the segmentation map.

In the example below, the middle black-and-white image is what was possible before iOS 12. Using a handful of rules like, “Where did the user tap in the image?” We constructed this matte to apply our blur effect. It’s no bad by any means, but compare it to the image on the right. For starters, it’s much higher resolution, which means the edges look natural.

My testing of portrait mode on the iPhone XS says that it is massively improved,  but that there are still some very evident quirks that will lead to weirdness in some shots like wrong things made blurry and halos of light appearing around subjects. It’s also not quite aggressive enough on foreground objects — those should blur too but only sometimes do. But the quirks are overshadowed by the super cool addition of the adjustable background blur. If conditions are right it blows you away. But every once in a while you still get this sense like the Neural Engine just threw up its hands and shrugged.

Live preview of the depth control in the camera view is not in iOS 12 at the launch of the iPhone XS, but it will be coming in a future version of iOS 12 this fall.

I also shoot a huge amount of photos with the telephoto lens. It’s closer to what you’d consider to be a standard lens on a camera. The normal lens is really wide and once you acclimate to the telephoto you’re left wondering why you have a bunch of pictures of people in the middle of a ton of foreground and sky. If you haven’t already, I’d say try defaulting to 2x for a couple of weeks and see how you like your photos. For those tight conditions or really broad landscapes you can always drop it back to the wide. Because of this, any iPhone that doesn’t have a telephoto is a basic non-starter for me, which is going to be one of the limiters on people moving to iPhone XR from iPhone X, I believe. Even iPhone 8 Plus users who rely on the telephoto I believe will miss it if they don’t go to the XS.

But, man, Smart HDR is where it’s at

I’m going to say something now that is surely going to cause some Apple followers to snort, but it’s true. Here it is:

For a company as prone to hyperbole and Maximum Force Enthusiasm about its products, I think that they have dramatically undersold how much improved photos are from the iPhone X to the iPhone XS. It’s extreme, and it has to do with a technique Apple calls Smart HDR.

Smart HDR on the iPhone XR encompasses a bundle of techniques and technology including highlight recovery, rapid-firing the sensor, an OLED screen with much improved dynamic range and the Neural Engine/image signal processor combo. It’s now running faster sensors and offloading some of the work to the CPU, which enables firing off nearly two images for every one it used to in order to make sure that motion does not create ghosting in HDR images, it’s picking the sharpest image and merging the other frames into it in a smarter way and applying tone mapping that produces more even exposure and color in the roughest of lighting conditions.

iPhone XS shot, better range of tones, skintone and black point

iPhone X Shot, not a bad image at all, but blocking up of shadow detail, flatter skin tone and blue shift

Nearly every image you shoot on an iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max will have HDR applied to it. It does it so much that Apple has stopped labeling most images with HDR at all. There’s still a toggle to turn Smart HDR off if you wish, but by default it will trigger any time it feels it’s needed.

And that includes more types of shots that could not benefit from HDR before. Panoramic shots, for instance, as well as burst shots, low light photos and every frame of Live Photos is now processed.

The results for me have been massively improved quick snaps with no thought given to exposure or adjustments due to poor lighting. Your camera roll as a whole will just suddenly start looking like you’re a better picture taker, with no intervention from you. All of this is capped off by the fact that the OLED screens in the iPhone XS and XS Max have a significantly improved ability to display a range of color and brightness. So images will just plain look better on the wider gamut screen, which can display more of the P3 color space.

Under the hood

As far as Face ID goes, there has been no perceivable difference for me in speed or number of positives, but my facial model has been training on my iPhone X for a year. It’s starting fresh on iPhone XS. And I’ve always been lucky that Face ID has just worked for me most of the time. The gist of the improvements here are jumps in acquisition times and confirmation of the map to pattern match. There is also supposed to be improvements in off-angle recognition of your face, say when lying down or when your phone is flat on a desk. I tried a lot of different positions here and could never really definitively say that iPhone XS was better in this regard, though as I said above, it very likely takes training time to get it near the confidence levels that my iPhone X has stored away.

In terms of CPU performance the world’s first at-scale 7nm architecture has paid dividends. You can see from the iPhone XS benchmarks that it compares favorably to fast laptops and easily exceeds iPhone X performance.

The Neural Engine and better A12 chip has meant for better frame rates in intense games and AR, image searches, some small improvement in app launches. One easy way to demonstrate this is the video from the iScape app, captured on an iPhone X and an iPhone XS. You can see how jerky and FPS challenged the iPhone X is in a similar AR scenario. There is so much more overhead for AR experiences I know developers are going to be salivating for what they can do here.

The stereo sound is impressive, surpassingly decent separation for a phone and definitely louder. The tradeoff is that you get asymmetrical speaker grills so if that kind of thing annoys you you’re welcome.

Upgrade or no

Every other year for the iPhone I see and hear the same things — that the middle years are unimpressive and not worthy of upgrading. And I get it, money matters, phones are our primary computer and we want the best bang for our buck. This year, as I mentioned at the outset, the iPhone X has created its own little pocket of uncertainty by still feeling a bit ahead of its time.

I don’t kid myself into thinking that we’re going to have an honest discussion about whether you want to upgrade from the iPhone X to iPhone XS or not. You’re either going to do it because you want to or you’re not going to do it because you don’t feel it’s a big enough improvement.

And I think Apple is completely fine with that because iPhone XS really isn’t targeted at iPhone X users at all, it’s targeted at the millions of people who are not on a gesture-first device that has Face ID. I’ve never been one to recommend someone upgrade every year anyway. Every two years is more than fine for most folks — unless you want the best camera, then do it.

And, given that Apple’s fairly bold talk about making sure that iPhones last as long as they can, I think that it is well into the era where it is planning on having a massive installed user base that rents iPhones from it on a monthly or yearly or biennial period. And it doesn’t care whether those phones are on their first, second or third owner, because that user base will need for-pay services that Apple can provide. And it seems to be moving in that direction already, with phones as old as the five-year-old iPhone 5s still getting iOS updates.

With the iPhone XS, we might just be seeing the true beginning of the iPhone-as-a-service era.

via TechCrunch

#IFTTT #TechCrunch

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Social Identity 

Social identity is the way in which individuals present/express themselves to the public, predominantly via social media. A person’s social identity is usually warped in some way to appear more acceptable to society. This is due to the standardised factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, nationality and fear of judgement from others. Below I have collated several entries from individuals via social media and asked them to describe themselves briefly based on what they believe to be their social identity. I gave minimal guidelines and asked for a small about of information to pressure individuals to be concise. The results are evidently varied, and represent the varying identities people can present on social media. 

Lachlan Baker: Male, 20 white Australian,  party animal, friends and family means everything, adventuring, life is a beach ride the wave of life, stay positive go forward never go back. 

Jean Cameron: Almost 50 years old (April 3) Carer  One beautiful son ☺ Married 2 cheeky dogs Favorite movie is Labyrinth with David Bowie  Favorite musician is Bruce Springsteen  Favorite colour is orange 

Dylan sky:18 years old, male, Australian, the wheres wally books

Angela Callaghan: 50 years old, Love my kids unconditionally, I commit to what i feel is important, And My priorities are family first then work, I love the honest relationship I have with my kids and cherish them every day. 

Jennifer Dias: 44 | female | Australian / Brasilian heritage | Employed as a youth events development worker. I am passionate about all art forms, cultural diversity and in developing networks and providing opportunities for young people & 50+ers | in MyTime I'm a volunteer/an artist/a photographer/ a tone deaf singer/ songwriter and an off key guitarist/ an interpretive dancer/ an observer/ a mother/a grandmother aka Vovo / and a friend | I absolutely love love love my family unit in all its complexities and moments of joy and appreciate the lessons I learn along the way that assist me in my own personal growth. 

Stacey Harrell: The Indispensable Man (by Saxon White Kessinger) Sometime when you're feeling important; Sometime when your ego 's in bloom; Sometime when you take it for granted, You're the best qualified in the room: Sometime when you feel that your going, Would leave an unfillable hole, Just follow these simple instructions, And see how they humble your soul. Take a bucket and fill it with water, Put your hand in it up to the wrist, Pull it out and the hole that's remaining, Is a measure of how much you'll be missed. You can splash all you wish when you enter, You may stir up the water galore, But stop, and you'll find that in no time, It looks quite the same as before. The moral of this quaint example, Is to do just the best that you can, Be proud of yourself but remember, There's no indispensable man.

Britney:  20yrs, female, Australian. Favourite bible verse: Philippians 4:13 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. I like to take photos of stuff, im a 3rd Year Nursing Student and I like spongebob memes.Also, I am super normal and quiet when people first meet me and then when I get comfortable  i get real weird.

Caley Cameron:19 Years Old, Male, Australian 

Nicola Turner: I'm 18 going on 81  my favourite food is toast, I love my pet rabbit and second hand clothes. I can't add up in my head, I'm more of an english person. I like to think I'm independent but I'm a sucker for other people's company.

May Louise Bouchet: 28 Australian Profession- teacher Heritage- French/Mauritian, Italian and Polish Favourite music- anything popular I enjoy cooking, renovating, shopping, travelling, eating and playing sport. I like to be busy but also enjoy downtime and most days I feel mentally drained. If I could start my life over I would become a historian and work in a museum. I value family, friends, history and a good education. I'm also a feminist.

Denham Callanan: artist, friend, dreamer, romantic, procrastinator. 19 Male Love, family, philosophy, history, comedy, sarcasm, animals, nature. "He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt" -Joseph Heller, Catch 22 "Everyone you meet you start to fall in love with, what separates your enemies from your friends, and your lovers from your soul mate is at which point you stop"  -Me 

Sarah Bloggs: 35 your cousin from England :-) xx

Holly Schwebel: Female, 17, and I attached a picture of a poem that has resonated with me for as long as I've known of it. Let me know if you need anything more.

Sophia Blackwell: 19, and gender: female :--) I like the words captivate, kind, lovely, brilliant and fun. And those are things I'd like to surround myself with. I'd describe myself as a pretty easy going person and I care a lot. I'm pretty sensitive but not in all areas, definitely not when it comes to romance hahaha. Uhm, when it comes to an occupation I'd love to pursue something creative like cinematography. I'm learning Danish at the moment. I'd like to become stronger when it comes to speaking with confidence especially when I don't agree with something. I love doggos, well all animals and wholesome healthy foods and most certainly taking photos of both. I really like the outdoors because it makes me feel good inside and alongside that taking photos on old cameras.

Elizabeth, Renae, Anderson, Wisely: age- 18 gender: dinosaur (jk) I'm female nationality: Australian I like cats a lot and food. I'm obsessed with Alice in wonderland.  um I really love history and wish to pursue a career in it. I'm an introvert. I like to read and rarely watch movies or tv.

Hayley Watt: Age:18 Gender: Female "A rose grows best in a pile of shit" Music: welcome to your life by Grouplove I think of myself as a positive person and I believe everything happens for a reason, or at least I tell myself that to prevent deeper questioning about the meaning of life.

Anonymous: Age: 24, Male Came from a rough family background that leaves me drifting through experiences. I socialise while holding up endless walls. Everyone likes me, but no one gets close. Song that best describes me would be Hellfire from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. There's a constant nagging in my mind that I'm being judged severely for whatever reason. It's maddening. My interaction with the real world is to deal with people without them ever figuring out that I'm a 'fraud', whatever that means. I feel dishonest, even when I explicitly don't mean to be. I am sustained by my Catholic faith, and its instrumental to my being and keeps my cynicism in check. I wish it could be socially acceptable to talk openly about it, it feels limiting otherwise. My favourite quote is "Sometimes you have to walk past the good to get to the best." - Susan Calloway

Coby Borg: Well im me. Im half maltese. Born in straya. Lover of music. Pretty much any genre. Struggling to keep on top of work as we all are... 

Katie Hall: Gender: female Age: 19 Nationality: let's say I'm a "bitzer", no clue on where my parents come from, so I'm just a bit of everything A hole bunch of random stuff: Live by Disney's world famous Nanny's quote, "Anything can happen if you let it". I love dancing but not as much as I love my sister and I'm deadly afraid of elephant seals. Here is a picture of an adorable puppy!

Tahlia Gill: 18, Australian My fav quote is Shakespeare (I'm original I know ) “Cut him out into little stars And he shall make the face of heaven so fine That all would be in love with the night And none would worship the garish sun.” My fav songs are zombie by the cranberries, american pie by don McLean and anything by Hudson Taylor Another quote by William Blake: a truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent Love Harry Potter, lotr, avatar and soppy rom coms haha

Amber Walker: 18, British Adventures, outdoors, camping, hiking, explorer, Hippie, coffee, animals, love a bit of ed sheeran and Adele I'd live out of a backpack if it meant i got to truly see the world.

Genevieve Blenkin: 19, female, ginger, "you always miss the shots you don't take". The picture is of the country because its such a big part of my identity.

Stefano Rankin:20, Male, Australian, quote: victory stands on the back of sacrifice.

Mat Percival: 20, Aussie. Love a good beer and laugh with my mates and love any fiddly past times I can afford. Creative design and cars play a big role in my life, and I guess my goal is to produce works/products and a service (whatever it be) that people are amazed by and are impressed enough to tell their friends. Love a good burger as well and Hotwheels are my fav.

Allie Cook: 21, American, favourite quote: "And in this moment I swear we are infinite." -- Charlie, Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is my life outlook to always live life like I am infinite. 

Stephanie Hirsh: I like ball park music and I make cakes

Cameron Raymond Rawstron: Age 20, Quote: “That’s a bit how ya going”, I love Amity Affliction (anchors, Don’t lean on me), What do I do: Learn about computers, occasionally exercise, try to be socially accepted, hide my pan behind a smile, am brutally honest/too real. What I wanna do: re rich, be happy, be meaningful, listen to Amity Affliction, achieve happiness. Such memes, very wow. 

Taylah Zanardi: 18, female, chronic sick kid, "there is no magic to achievement. It's really about hard work, choices and persistence", I like to present myself as someone very put together and who knows where they're going in life, citity