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#links for sample of my work on the group names
conditiosuspensiva · 19 days
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Mentions of TLSP in articles about Miles
Well-well-well. As a long time Miles fan I get very angry when I see someone asking our Turtle about TLSP. But, I’m a rational man also, so I decided to do a quick research to see Is TLSP really mentioned that often or is the problem my overly emotional reaction? 
Hypothesis: TLSP is mentioned more often in interviews with Miles Kane than his solo work, especially his new album One Man Band.
number of publications included in the sample: 23 (links to articles in additional post)
publications excluded from the sample: excerpts from the interview, multiple citations by the same resource of the same article, note or interview, short notes (less than 120 words) announcing the album, short audio notes, articles available by paid subscription
data is current as of 09/03/2024
Only articles, notes and interviews related to the One Man Band era will be considered.
questions:
Is the posibility of TLSP3 was mentioned
Is the Alex Turner was mentioned
Is there a correlation between the first two questions?
Was the question about TLSP included in the title?
The ratio of the number of questions about the new album and tlsp.
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Among all the notes reviewed, 79% mentioned TLSP and Alex Turner in one way or another. 
In 10% of cases, it was only mentioned that Miles was a member of the group.
27% of articles specifically mentioned or asked a question about Alex Turner
Let's consider the correlation: mention of TLSP and Alex Turner and attention paid to the new album in articles focusing on the teamwork of Alex and Miles. 
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On average, among the articles reviewed, greater attention (44,4%) in the articles was paid to Alex Turner, AM or TLSP. 
TLSP and Turner were included in the headline once in a large article.
Separately, it is worth mentioning Radio X and NME. It is these resources that pay more attention to Arctic Monkeys, The last Shadow Puppets and Alex Turner. Also, it is they who, in their short notes, most often put Alex’s name in the title. Also, these are the resources that mention Miles primarily as a member of TLSP (including the headlines). 
Well, now the problem seems even bigger. I don’t want to draw any conclusions, everything is so obvious. 
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jademichelle · 2 years
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Building Your LinkedIn Profile 
From the Top:
Professional “Headline”: After your name, this is the first line viewers see. Go beyond simply putting “student.” (Examples: Marketing Intern, X University College Junior or X University Graduate Student Seeking Digital Advertising Positions or Junior Environmental Studies Major at X College).
Photo: This is the first image a viewer will have of you. Be mindful of how you want to project yourself and be sure that it is appropriate for the audience.
LinkedIn URL: Claim your personalized URL and consider including the public URL at the top of your resume, just under your name with your email and phone number.
Summary: Highlight your key work experiences and accomplishments. Include specialties and skills. Keep it concise, specific and keyword rich.
Sample Summary:
As a student, I have devoted my studies to ______, and am seeking employment in the following areas: _______ and _____ . My work as a _____ and ______ complemented my academic coursework at X University and allowed me to develop an understanding of ________. I am excited to apply my strengths in _______ and ________ to the field of ________.
Experience: Include experiences relevant to your career goals. Give a brief description of each position, the dates you worked and the name of the organization, similar to what you have on your resume.
Education: Include, in reverse chronological order, X University and any other schools or programs.
Additional Sections & Information: Add additional sections to your profile, or incorporate this information in your education, experience or summary sections, such as languages, volunteer experiences, courses, certifications, publications, honors & awards, groups and associations, interests, skills and expertise.
Applications: LinkedIn Applications enable you to enrich your profile, such as Creative Portfolio Display, Blog Link, WordPress, Company Buzz.
LinkedIn Groups: Join groups that are of interest to you and you will receive periodic emails and be able to engage with others in the group.
Populate your profile with connections: First search for people you know and send them an invitation to connect. Be sure to customize your invitation as most people won’t accept a generic invitation. Keep in mind online networking does not replace in-person relationship building.
LinkedIn Checklist
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bfpnola · 6 months
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about the ongoing hunger strike to ensure that the historic anti-casteism bill passes in california ^^ wanna support?
if you’re on mobile, go to: https://tinyurl.com/Signsb403
other devices, like laptops: https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/
sample email below from the mobile link, not my own writing:
Subject: Please Sign SB403 (Wahab) to End Caste Discrimination
I am writing to request the governor to sign the historic bill SB403 introduced by State Senator Aisha Wahab, which would end discrimination on the basis of caste. This bill aims to clarify existing California state law and make explicit that discrimination based on caste is illegal by adding caste to ancestry and defining caste in the Civil Rights Act, Fair Employment and Housing Act, and Education Code.
Caste systems are social stratification where each position is characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social exclusion. Caste discrimination manifests as workplace discrimination, housing discrimination, gender-based violence, and other physical and psychological forms of violence.
Caste discrimination occurs across industries, including technology, construction, restaurants, and domestic work. In these sectors, caste discrimination has included harassment, bias, wage theft, and even trafficking. Caste is today inextricably intertwined with existing legal protections in state and federal civil rights laws such that discrimination based on one’s caste is effectively discrimination based on the intersection of other protected identities. However, because of the grave discrimination caste-oppressed Californians face, these existing protections must be made explicit.
Caste is a workers rights issues, a women's rights issues, and racial justice issue. It is also a bill that has bipartisan support. That is why we are joined by Asian Law Caucus, Stop AAPI Hate, AAPI Equity Alliance, Tech Equity, Equality Labs, Alphabet Workers Union, Ambedkar Association of North America, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO, Californians for Caste Equity, Hindus for Caste Equity, Jakara Movement, South Asian Network, Sikh Coalition, and Sikh American Legal Defense Fund. Every major legal association is in support of caste equity and the lawfulness to make caste equity explicit. This includes the American Bar Association, South Asian Bar Association, National Asian American Pacific Bar Association, and Asian Law Caucus.
That is why we urge you to make history and sign his bill without hesitation. Justice delayed is justice denied. Let's ensure California opportunity for all by ensuring that ancestry and caste discrimination is explicitly prohibited and make history across the country.
Thank You,
[Name]
and if you don’t know what caste is? send in an ask @bfpnola or join our Discord server, link in bio, so we can answer you in real-time!
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2chopsticks2eyes · 1 year
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What You Deserve: Part 3
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This is part 3 of a three part series, please be sure to start from part one!
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3
Pairing: Lee Minho/Lee Know x Fem Reader
Themes: Smut, Angst, Fluff
Word Count: All parts are ~67k | AO3
Warnings: Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, mentions of non-con, PTSD, Anxiety, Alcohol, Cussing, Come Eating, Oral Sex, Hand Jobs, Vaginal Fingering, Blow Jobs, Loss of Virginity, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, References to Drugs, Drug Dealing, Alternate Universe - College/University, Eating Disorders, Childhood Trauma, Vaginal Sex, Protected Sex, Unprotected Sex
Summary: After unfortunate circumstances, you pack up and move to Korea with your best friend Bang Chan to attend college. After falling into Chan's group of friends he had established, you find yourself getting a little too close to the mild tempered and snarky Lee Minho.
Author's Note: I am probably spoiling the whole story with the warnings, but I like to be safe. I originally was only on AO3, but I wanted to link platforms with Tumblr and Twitter too. Hope you enjoy!
__________________________________________
Part Three: Making Amends
Minnie🐱🔥💋:
U looked sexy today dancing
U should wear that shirt more often
Little Mouse🐭😘:
My crop top?
U might need to convince me
What do I get out of it? 😏
Minnie🐱🔥💋:
Maybe u should come over and find out
Little Mouse🐭😘:
Lucky for u, I don’t work today 😌
Better make it good
On my way
Minnie🐱🔥💋:
I think u will be VERY convinced 😉
You smiled at your phone and decided to shimmy into one of your more sexy pieces of lingerie, a silky black crop top (might as well give him some incentive) and grabbed a light cardigan for the spring weather to leave. It had only been a couple days since you’d been outside of class with him, but it was enough to get you excited to go to his place. When you stepped out into the living room, Chan was lounging on the couch by himself. “Hey Channie! Where’s Lix?”
“Hyunjin’s place.”
“No surprise there.” You chuckled and he smiled at you. “Holy shit! I forgot to tell you! So you know how your lounge’s coffee is shit?”
“It’s hard to forget.” He grimaced.
“Well, I didn’t tell you, but I asked my boss if he was considering a sister store and I suggested setting up as an addition to collaborate with the lounge! He said if I planned everything out and it would help with both yours and our revenues, he could let me set it up!”
His eyes turned into saucers. “Kiyomi!” He stood up and abruptly wrapped you in his arms. “You are so fucking amazing! That’s an amazing idea!” He stood back with his hands on each side of your arms. “Let me know if you need help with anything. I’m always here for you, sweetheart.”
He gave you a sad smile and squeezed you closely. You were slightly confused, but you tightly hugged him back.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around lately, Y/N…”  He sounded hesitant. “I… I found a girlfriend..." You pulled back and your eyes widened. "-her name is Lisa - she’s fucking gorgeous and I realized I’ve been spending a lot of time with her lately. I hadn’t even considered that you were probably feeling lonely at home.” He raised a hand and cupped your cheek.
You felt guilty and glad at the same time. “That’s great Channie! I’m so happy for you! This wouldn’t happen to be miss couch cowgirl would it?” You tauntingly grinned.
“Well… so what if it is?” His face was bright red and you pinched his flushed cheek, which was immediately swatted away.
“Well at least you tasted a sample before committing.” You winked at him and he gave you a disgusted look while stepping back with an unamused expression. “But really, Chan. I really am happy for you. I will have to meet her at some point.”
“Yeah definitely, I’ve already talked her ear off about you.”
“All good things I presume?”
“No, I absolutely trashed you. Told her you were a piece of a shit.” He said nonchalantly.
“Well joke’s on you. You’re the one who loves this piece of shit.” You poked your tongue out at him and he laughed at you, wrapping you in a warm hug again. You thought about it and you wanted nothing more than to ease his worries. “And about the… loneliness, don’t worry about me, pup. I have 7 new amazing friends that will help out with that. Min and I hang out all the time!”
He tensed at that last bit and you froze. “Minho?” You pulled back and searched his eyes for what he was thinking.
“Y-yeah… he tutors me, remember?” You tried to deflect the attachment to ease his worries.
He physically softened. “Oh yeah. I forgot about that.”
“Channie?” He hummed in response, smoothing the hair on your head while doing so. “Do you have a problem with me and Minho?”
He retracted his hand and sighed. “I- I dunno, Kiyomi. I love him like a brother, I do, but when I first met him… he was a real playboy. He would pick up girls every time we all went out together and would take them home, and the next time we would see him, he would be marked up all over and he was constantly hungover. When we asked about the girls, he just said it was a quick fuck and probably wouldn’t see them again.” He looked up at you with sad eyes. “He hasn’t really done that within the past year as far as I know, but I dunno, I guess I just worry about a pretty girl like you hanging around him a lot.”
Your mouth was agape and your stomach had dropped. How many girls had Minho been with? Is he just waiting to fuck me then bounce? No that doesn’t make sense, he is the one that is wanting to hold off. Well, he could just be playing with his food before… Your mind wouldn’t stop racing at this new bit of information and you started wondering about his past. You really didn’t know much about him before you met other than his cats and the fact that he lived in Gimpo.
“It’s stupid though, he’s an amazing friend and I wouldn’t ever want to change him now. He really seems to have cleaned up his act.” Chan reiterated.
“S-so what? You’re worried we would start dating or something?” You tried to dance around the question, trying to understand what his stance was.
“I mean I guess. I dunno, like I said, it’s stupid. But it’s Min we’re talking about, completely not your type.”
You rolled your eyes. “Chan, you must be really naïve if you think my tastes haven’t changed since high school. I think I prefer actual men other than whiny jocks and stoners nowadays.”
“Touché.” He looked down at the cardigan you were holding. “Going somewhere?”
You panicked. You couldn’t tell him you’re going to hang out with Minho right after he said he didn’t feel comfortable with it! “Uhhh, Ji said he wanted to hang and watch movies tonight.” Guilt overflowed your heart, but Chan wasn’t ready to know the truth quite yet.
“Oh okay cool. Have fun! Be safe!” You breathed a sigh of relief and waved as you stepped outside. Once you got on the bus, you immediately texted Jisung.
Kiyomi Aussie😍:
Jisung! My Blueberry #1! 🥰
My best little quokka! 😍
My handsome piece of cheesecake! 😘
Quokka🐿🍰:
…🤨
What did u do and what do u want from me?
I refuse to bury a body 🙅🏽♂️
Even if it is for a pretty girl 😉
Damnit now I’m craving cheesecake
Kiyomi Aussie😍:
Ji, u always want cheesecake
But I will def buy u one if u do me a solid
I’m going to Min’s place but I told Chan I’m going to hang w/ u for a movie night
Can u PLEASE cover for me? 🙏🏼
Quokka🐿🍰:
U had me at cheesecake
I don’t know y he would check in w/ me
But I’ll cover for u beautiful 😚
Kiyomi Aussie😍:
Ur a saint Ji! Next time I see u you’ll get u ur cake
Quokka🐿🍰:
So, do tell…
What is it that u and Mr. Lee REALLY plan on doing tonight?
...😉
Definitely going to ghost that text. No regrets. When you stepped up to Minho’s apartment door, you adjusted your bralette underneath your shirt and checked your makeup from the camera on your phone. You paused for a moment and laughed at yourself, never did you think you would try this hard to look good for a man. The thought of his previous escapades popped into your mind and you briefly got nervous. Maybe I can slip in the topic at some point…
You knocked on the door and it took a moment for him to answer. When he opened the door, you saw that he was dressed up, had beautiful dark makeup on, and had his hair done with shaggy looking waves. In other words, he looked like a whole motherfucking snack. His eyes went wide as he looked down at your midriff. “Well hello beautiful! You’re bribing me aren’t you?” You sauntered in and gave him a sensual kiss.
“So what if I am?” He ran his hands over your exposed waist and slightly dipped his fingers up under the hem of your top. All according to plan.
You started to pull your cardigan off, but he stopped you. “Don’t, we're going out.” He grabbed your hand and led you out of the apartment.
“Oh really? And where is it, pray tell, that you plan on taking us?” You clung on to his arm and the two of you walked down to his motorcycle. 
“It’s a secret.” He winked at you and strapped on your helmet. Then he fucking lifted  your whole damned body to seat you on the back. I know I weigh very little, but damn, that’s fucking hot. You bit your lip and he gave you an expression that he knew exactly what you were thinking.
The ride was another free flying experience. Adrenaline, excitement, and arousal overflowing your senses. You had never been this horny around anyone before, but it seemed like this man exuded sex appeal wherever he went. Your hands moved from grabbing onto his waist, to grabbing onto his muscular thighs, teasing him by sliding up and down them, moving closer to his groin.
He turned his head for a moment with a glare and then picked up the speed, making you cling to his waist for dear life. You heard him laugh loudly and you smacked his chest, making him laugh even louder.
He turned into a dark, sketchy alleyway and parked in a small car lot with very few cars. When he helped you off the bike and removed your helmet, you gave him a suspicious gaze. “Is this where you murder me and throw my body in a dumpster fire?”
“Of course not!” He looked utterly offended. “I would sell your organs for petty cash first!”
You couldn’t help but guffaw at that. “Ah, that makes much more sense! You’re so smart, babe.” He snickered as well, as he held his hand out.
“This way to your demise, darling.” You dramatically bowed and took his hand. He led you out of the lot and down a half staircase on the side of the alleyway and what you saw when he opened the door blew your mind. 
A night club with colorful and flashing lights filled the room. It didn’t look trashy unlike what resided outside. A whole ass dance floor filled the room with a lit up bar fully lining the back wall. “Holy demented shit, Minho?! Where the hell did this come from?!” You had to yell over the loud EDM music filling the air.
“Old spot I used to regularly go to a year or two back! The drinks are badass!” Your mind filled with images of him dancing up on other women and you had to shake it from your mind. He’s here with me now, that's all that matters.  
The air was electric and the building smelt like smoke, sex, and liquor. The neon lights that flickered over Minho’s face were mesmerizing. You couldn’t even come up with a witty response to his smirk with how beautiful he looked. He looked completely in his element with his age worn leather jacket and lax disposition. Shadows danced underneath his cheekbones and his eyes twinkled in the lights. Your body moved before your brain did as you placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
“Well I definitely would like to put our dancing skills into action! Let’s go!” You grabbed his hand and dragged him around the mounds of dancing and grinding bodies. When you reached the bar, Minho raised his hand to the bartender and he immediately left the line of people he was tending to.
“Holy shit! If it isn’t Lee Minho!” He grabbed his hand over the bar to shake it firmly. “Where the hell have you been?!” The man looked close to Minho’s age and had handsome features. Damn, why does every man I meet in this country have to be so goddamn beautiful??
“Hey Jackson! Long time no see! I’ve just been busy as hell!” This supposed ‘Jackson’ turned his gaze over to you and offered a debonair smile.
“Well who’s this lovely lady?” He picked up your hand from the bar and chastely kissed the back of it. You mildly flushed at the action and Minho cutely swatted him away.
“This is my girlfriend, Y/N. Isn’t she a beauty?” Minho looked at you with pride and you nudged his side when your stupid face blushed.
“Girlfriend? Out of anyone I’ve seen you with, since when did you grow a sense of commitment?” Minho’s expression was undiscernible and he punched Jackson’s shoulder over the bar.
“Since I’ve been away from your shit influence!” Minho quickly deflected. “Babe, get anything you like, it’s on me.” He beams at you with an unfairly sexy half grin.
“It’d better be! I’m broke as fuck!” He laughed and wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you close. “Well I want some Bullet Bourbon and Coke, but I want you –” You shoved your pointer finger into his chest. “-to take some shots with me first!”
He cackled at you. “Whatever you say, your highness!” He turned back to Jackson. “I’ll take the usual.” He winked at the two of you as he took Minho’s credit card and rushed off to mix some concoctions. You turned back to Minho with a raised eyebrow and a half grin.
You figured now was as good a time as any to bring it up. “No commitments Mr. Playboy? Exactly how many women have you brought here?” Your voice sounded teasingly, but your mind was dreading the answer.
Again, his expression was unreadable, but quickly turned into a cocky grin and he closed in on your ear. “Why? Is my little mouse jealous?” You shivered as the hot breath rolled across your neck and you pushed him away rolling your eyes.
“More like I want to see how many women I’m competing with around here.” You crossed your arms and eyed him down.
His expression turned soft and your concerns started to melt. He wrapped his arms around your waist again and linked his hands behind you. “There is no competition, Y/N. No one can compare to you. Mind nor body.” You were positively swooning and there was no way he didn’t notice. But before he could comment on it, Jackson showed up with a tray overflowing with drinks.
You deadpanned over to Minho. “This is your usual? Min, you don’t need to get me shitfaced to get me to want to fuck you. I’ve literally been begging. ” He absolutely cracked up and doubled over.
“Maybe I just wanted to see you wasted out of your mind!” You glared at him and he abruptly leaned in for a sweet, sensual kiss. You felt kind of awkward with the intense PDA, but his lips were so addicting that you couldn’t care less. You melted into it and wrapped your arms around his neck. Before it could get any more heated, he broke the kiss by shoving a shot glass in front of your face, instantly catching you off guard. “ This beauty is called the Screaming Orgasm.”
You looked at him with wide eyes. The shot looked like a mixture between chocolate milk and an espresso shot. In other words, it looks delicious . You grabbed the shot and cocked your eyebrow. “Is this a threat or a promise?”
He grabbed his own from the tray of four more of the same shots and held it up for a toast. “We won’t know until the night ends, will we?” He had a cheeky smile and was looking down at your lips, licking his own in temptation.
The sex this man exuded was beyond belief. “I’m holding you to your word, babe.” The two of you threw back your drinks and your taste buds were stimulated with a creamy, coffee-like taste and the sting of vodka. You closed your eyes and relished in the taste as it slid down your throat. The warmth that hit your stomach was the familiar feel of intoxication that would surely hit you soon. You opened your eyes and Minho was smirking at you. “It’s delicious! But I couldn’t say that I had an orgasm, screaming or otherwise.”
He scoffed at you. “Patience, little mouse.” He picked up his drink which was a delicious shade of dark red. He watched you eyeball it as he took a sip, smirking at you then promptly handing it over to you. You sniffed it and it smelled absolutely divine. When you drank it, the fruity, bitter taste drowned your senses and warmed up your nerves. “Bokbunja, it’s a Korean fruit wine.” You took another gulp with an innocent look and he just rolled his eyes at you. “I guess we’re switching then.” He grabbed your bourbon and coke and took a couple of large gulps as well.
He sat his newly appointed drink down while you gulped down your fruity wine like you hadn't had anything to drink in weeks. When you finished, he laughed and gave you the rest of your original drink which only had about a third left. “Let’s take another shot and go dance!” He yelled over the ever growing noisy crowd. You nodded your head, reluctantly sat down your drink, and clinked your shot glasses together, downing them whole. He grabbed you by the hand and dragged you to the dance floor with a seductive smile on his face.
He pulled you close and brought your arms to wrap around his neck, to which you complied eagerly. The upbeat music overflowed your senses and you felt like it was only the two of you in the room. Of course, with the both of you being dancers, you tore up the dancefloor. The two of you were perfectly in sync and your bodies couldn’t get any closer. You could feel your combined touches heating up and his hands were roaming all over your back and ass.
You turned in his grasp as he wrapped his arms around your waist and hips, pulling you close to him. You leaned your head back onto his shoulder and wrapped your arms around his neck from behind. You’d never felt so sexy in your life and you could definitely thank your beyond gorgeous boyfriend for that. 
You felt like you were floating on cloud nine. The bass of the music shaking the floor, the gentle hands ghosting up and down your body, and the buzzing of alcohol in your veins. It was euphoric.
You had no clue how long you two had been dancing, but the more you felt the alcohol getting to you, the more daring you became. You rhythmically rolled your hips back to grind up against him and he groaned in your ear, his hot breath sending heat waves through your core. He suddenly dug his face in the crook of your neck and started sucking at your pulse point, commencing the soaking of your panties.
You turned back around hungrily and repeated the same action to him, re-darkening the already purple marks on his neck. He snaked a knee in between your legs and you started to grind on it, stimulating your clit and not giving a damn that there were hundreds of dancers around you because - let’s be honest - there were others dancing a lot more provocative than you were right now. When you released Minho, he growled in your ear. “I need to sober up or I’m going to fuck you right here in front of everyone.”
“Better than nothing, babe.” You flashed him an evil grin, which he took away with a ravenous kiss. You could feel the reluctance he had to pull away, but when he did, he grabbed your hand and led you back to your spot at the bar, drinks right where you had left them. Jackson hurried back over to you guys.
“More shots? Drinks? Condoms?” He smirked at the two of you. You threw back the two remaining shots. 
“Condoms please!!” Your inebriated state didn’t give a fuck for shouting that to a complete stranger.
Minho rolled his eyes and mussed your hair. “No, just a couple of waters and the tab please.” A moment later he returned with the aforementioned items. Jackson slid over Minho’s card and he scooped it up.
“You good to drive, man?” He said as he slid the waters towards you, which you happily clambered it over to sip on, enjoying the refreshment from the hot atmosphere.
“Yeah, the dancing sobered me up a bit and I didn’t have nearly as much to drink as this little firecracker.” He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and you fell into him, looking up at him with a gummy grin which he returned with a look of adoration, pinching your flushed cheek in the process.
“Okay, man! You two have fun tonight! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
“Jackson, there’s literally nothing you wouldn’t do.” Minho deadpanned.
“Exactly!” He laughed as he walked away.
You watched as Minho downed his water to catch up with your already almost finished glass and he grabbed you by the waist. “Let’s get out of here, little mouse.”
- - - - - - - - - -
You crashed through the apartment door, lips still latched onto each other while you stripped off your cardigan and shoes, Minho kicking the door shut behind him. Your hands were all over each other and Minho grabbed your wrists to pin you up against the wall. You whined and tried to free your hands as he flexed his thigh against your pussy, sucking and licking your neck in the process.
“What was it you said about convincing you, little mouse?” He was rapidly breathing against your neck and you had to reclaim your mind to remember what he was talking about. His full body pressed against you did nothing to help with your muddled brain.
Right, this was all about the damned crop top . You scoffed at the stupid idea. “I can definitely say I am getting there.” You gasped as he bit your earlobe.
“I guess I’ll just have to try harder.” You shivered at his whispered words. Your hands clawed at him to pull off his shirt and he did the same with yours. You immediately took off your pants as well and his eyes went wide as saucers as he saw your lingerie underneath. “Holy fuck…” Without warning, he lifted you up by both of your legs and wrapped them around his waist, grinding into your soaking panties in the process. The feeling of his rock hard bulge against your sensitive clit was enough to make you cry.
“Min, please. Please ! I want you so badly, baby!” You threw your head back against the wall as he kneaded your ass and pulled your bralette to the side with his teeth so he could suck on your nipple. You removed one of your hands from where it was wrapped around his neck and reached in between the two of you to fumble with his belt buckle, unsuccessfully unfortunately. 
He pulled you off the wall to venture into the bedroom with your writhing body wrapped in his arms, throwing the two of you down on the bed. You finally pulled off his belt and pants and pulled him back down on top of you. You grinded up onto his warm erection through his boxers and moaned at the feeling of only having two pieces of fabric between you and the scorching heat in his pants that you most desired. “Kiyomi… fuck… you’re making this so hard on me, baby… I want… ngh… it to be special…” You could see he was quickly losing his composure.
You knew you were still drunk, but all you could think about was how good it felt for him to be pressed up against you, your vagina cupping around his bulge perfectly through your panties. Your whines only seemed to egg him on further. He growled and glared down at you with fire and passion in his eyes. He jumped off of you and only got your panties down about halfway before he plunged his face in you.
You screamed as he roughly sucked on your clit, fully thrusting two fingers in and out of you while aiming for your sweet spot over and over and over again. It was too much stimulation all at once and you didn’t know if you wanted him to slow down or speed up. Your hands were tearing through his messy hair, but that seemed to push him even further. His mouth moved to your thighs and you gasped and swore at the delicious pain of his biting and sucking.
You screamed at what was probably the quickest orgasm you had ever experienced, drenching his sheets and vision going fuzzy. He didn’t stop there though, he continued to abuse your aching pussy and ran his mouth and tongue over every inch he could reach. 
He kept on and on and on. You are sure you came at least three times, Minho’s hand pleasuring himself underneath his boxers all the while.
Before you knew it, he had ripped off the remaining distance of your panties and climbed back on top of you. He wrapped your legs around his waist and dry humped your clit through his boxers like a mad man.
The oversensitivity to your clit drove you mad and you could feel your juices seeping through his boxers, the tip of his erection peeking out just through the top of the hem of them. “Holy fuck baby, you’re going to kill me…” He shakily said through his desperate thrusts. You squeaked and gasped at the sensation of his heat pressed up against you through his offending piece of cloth and you could tell he was getting less and less controlled. You both fucking lost it when the bare tip of his dick rubbed up against your clit. “F-fu– fuck!”
His semen completely covered both of your chests from where his head was peaking out of his boxers, completely falling on top of you with an exhausted huff. You ran your fingers through his hair as the both of you were panting heavily against each other. Once you regained a modicum of a brain cell, you breathed out. “Minnie… I’m tired of waiting…”
He leaned up and kissed you on the forehead. “I know, baby. I know…”
- - - - - - - - - -
A couple days after that, the group decided to get together one day after you got off work. You were all going to go to Eunsincheo to hang out so everyone could harass the Aussie to serve your every whim. You really didn’t want to go out in your grimy work clothes, but it had been a while since you had all gotten together, so you said why the hell not.
You were going to go to the lounge and then the coin karaoke again once Chan got off work. The first thing you saw when you entered was the unmatched beauty of the man of your dreams, Lee Minho. For some reason, Chan was nowhere in sight. Everyone was ecstatic to see you and jumped out of their sofas and lounge chairs to come hug you.
Of course it was Felix and Hyunjin first, hugging you from each side and brightening your mood with Felix’s sunshine smile and Hyunjin’s natural humor. Changbin almost squeezed the life out of you. Seungmin and Innie - thankfully - gave you normal hugs. And Jisung picked you up and twirled you around, kissing your cheek when your feet touched the floor again making you giggle hysterically.
Minho came up behind him and shoved him away with a glare. “Whaaat? I haven’t hung out with her in ages!”
“Channie-hyung said you and Kiyomi were together the other day though?” Felix questioned Jisung with an utterly confused look on his face. Your body tensed up as nervous ice froze your nerve endings and you had hoped no one noticed.
Jisung looked at you with a terrified expression. “Uuh y-yeah, we did! But we were just watching movies so… uh, we weren’t really ‘hanging out’ if we weren’t talking?” He nodded his head as if he was satisfied with his own lie. Felix thankfully seemed content with it as well.
Minho finally looked at you with a bright smile and wrapped his arms around your waist, you bringing your arms around his neck and burrowing your heads in each other's necks. “Hi.”
You chuckled at his simple greeting. “Hey, loser.”
The two of you pulled back and realized the whole group was looking at the two of you. You and Minho immediately took a big step away from each other and cleared your throats.
“Kiyomi!! I saved you a seat!” Jisung was bouncing on the cushion as he patted the spot next to him. Bless Jisung for dissipating that tension. Again, you were squished between the two best friends on the couch up against the wall.
You ruffled both of their hairs. “Aw, my blueberry boys are together with me again!” Minho rolled his eyes and flicked your hand away and Jisung just snuggled into your touch, leaning against your shoulder.
“Where’s Chan? I thought he was working today?” You peered around the area and he was nowhere to be found.
Changbin spoke up. “He’s in the back, the shitty coffee maker broke again. Which, in all honesty, might be a blessing. The coffee here is shit.” He took a sip of his smoothie he obviously brought from elsewhere.
“Well then you will be happy to hear what I have to say.” You declared smugly to the group. The circle was silent in suspense. “I am working on convincing my boss to let us join up with you and add a small branch here in the lounge. I feel like if we sell our coffee here, you guys will get a lot higher customer flow.”
The whole group exclaimed different levels of excitement from your statement. “Holy hell, that’s awesome Kiyomi!” Little Innie leaned forward in his seat with intrigue. 
“Oh my god I could kiss you right now! I always knew you were my type of girl, Kiyomi. Strong, independent, smart. You have single handedly saved all of our taste buds.” Ji simply stated as he leaned back against the arm of the couch and spread his legs across yours and Minho’s laps. You watched in amusement as your blueberries stared at each other on either side of you. Jisung with a shit-eating grin and Minho with a bone-chilling glare.
“I just have to draw up a game plan and talk to your boss first before I can even think of that dream coming to fruition.” You stole a drink of Changbin’s smoothie and you were grateful that he didn’t even bat an eyelash. He actually smiled fondly.
“I may or may not have mentioned something to the boss man already.” Everyone looked up and saw Chan wiping his hand on a rag and walking up to the group. “He said he is very interested in meeting with you and wanted me to give you his number.” You jumped out of your chair and ran to hug him. He laughed at you and wrapped you in a tight hug, lifting you up in the process. “Kiyomi, you literally saw me just this morning.” He chuckled as he lowered your feet to the ground again.
You gasped in mock offense. “What? I can’t thank you? Fine! I guess I’m not worthy anymore for the great ‘ Captain Bang Chan’ .” You said with finger quotes. “I guess I’ll find someone else to receive all of my hugs.” You dramatically and wistfully remarked as you turned back to your seat. You felt hands wrap around your waist and Chan squeezed you painfully from behind. Already facing your seat, you saw Minho balling his fists with white knuckles with an unamused face while everyone else was chuckling.
Oh? Is someone jealous? You couldn’t control the smirk that grew on your face and you decided to test your theory. You reached back behind you and poked Chan’s side, making him release you from the tickles. When he did, you turned around and started poking him in all the spots you knew would make him jolt.
He squirmed with a giggle that looked completely ridiculous on a man of his size and muscle mass. He abruptly bent over and threw you over his shoulder, slamming you down on the empty loveseat. You screeched as he jumped on top of you, preventing you from running away, tickling you relentlessly.
“Chan! Chan! Haha! Stop! I’m gonna pee!”
“That’s what you get, runt!” Apparently at some point, Jisung and Minho had stood up from their spot on the couch and lifted Chan off of you, tackling him to the ground and wrestling him. Chan was laughing but he was annoyed that he was outnumbered. “Guys! What the hell?!”
“Kiyomi was sitting with us, you thief! We are reclaiming our honor!” You giggled at Jisung’s bravado as you sat up and walked back over to your place on the couch, making the two blueberries pop up and bound over back to your sides. They wrapped their arms around you, caging you from both sides and shot threatening looks over at Chan. Jisung really looked more adorable than fearsome, but Minho looked down right pissed.
Chan just chuckled as he stood up and then froze when he looked over at you three, instantly putting you on edge. Is he seriously that pissed from just a hug? “Jesus Min! Who the fuck did that to your neck?” Oh. You felt chills down your spine, knowing exactly what he meant.
The marks. The marks you intimately claimed him with. The hickeys that ran all up and down his jaw, neck, and much further down the collar of his shirt than they even knew. Everyone but you and Jisung instantly whipped their heads to look at Minho and they all sniggered. “Is our devil hyung finally getting some action again?” Changbin clapped his hands together as he laughed.
“I knew this would happen again at some point.” Jeongin scoffed and looked down at his hands.
“Hyung, you getting back in the swing of things? Kiyomi! You wouldn’t believe it! Minho-hyung used to take home chicks left and right almost every time we hung out! It was absol–”
“MAYBE I’M DONE FUCKING AROUND!” Minho stood up, cutting off Hyunjin mid-sentence, startling everyone. Everyone was silent and staring at Minho in awe. You had seen him upset before, but he was downright seething now. “Maybe I’m not a fuckboy anymore! Maybe…” He turned around to you and stared into your eyes. “...I found someone worth a damn.”
Your heart ached and you wished you could stand up and wrap him in a big hug. You wished that Chan could accept it. Chan was your beacon of light in your life, but suddenly, Minho was a light in the darkness as well.
Hyunjin stared at him with mouth agape. “Hyung, I-”
“I’ve got somewhere to be…” With that, Minho marched out of the lounge, leaving everyone speechless.
“What the fuck was that about?” Seungmin casually sat back in his chair and you and Jisung looked at each other with worried faces.
“I- I’m gonna go check on him, see if he’s okay…” When Jisung stood up to chase after him, Hyunjin grabbed his arm.
“Can you tell him I’m sorry…?” Hyunjin looked down at his feet and Jisung patted his hand.
“Of course, buddy.” And with that he was off. You wanted to run off to comfort him as well, but you knew Chan would have something to say about it. So you just sat back against the empty couch and numbly accepted Chan’s cuddles when he plopped down on the couch with you as the group started talking about your plans to collaborate with the lounge.
You didn’t engage in much conversation after that.
- - - - - - - - - -
After a very fruitless attempt to enjoy your time at karaoke with the remaining boys, you told Chan you were going to go bring something to Min to cheer him up and hang out with him and Ji. Thankfully, not only did he not protest, but he encouraged it.
You stopped by the store and got some horror movies, popcorn, soda, and some bourbon. And, since you were already there, you got a whole ass cheesecake for Jisung. You hoped and prayed that they were at Minho’s place because you definitely didn’t want to have to get back on the bus with all those groceries again.
You walked up to Minho’s apartment with your arms loaded with bags and knocked on the door with your foot. After a moment, Jisung answered the door when his face completely lit up. “HYUNG! I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU!” He yelled across the tiny apartment as if he wasn’t just a few feet around the corner. You shucked off your shoes and walked into the kitchen to set the bags down on the island. Minho turned around from his spot on the couch and the glower he was sporting turned into a Cheshire grin.
He just about leaped over the couch and pushed you against the fridge, kissing you tenderly with his hands on the sides of your face. His tongue explored your mouth unexpectedly, but fully reciprocated. Your whole body warmed with affection and your arms wrapped around his waist. Shit, PLEASE don’t get turned on with Jisung watching.
As if he could hear your thoughts, you both heard Jisung clear his throat from beside you and you turned your head apologetically. Minho, however, just kept on kissing down your neck and ran his hands down your shoulders. You had to push him away with an exasperated face. “Sung, you’re such a cock block!” Minho groaned.
“Don’t say that about my little quokka!” You shuffled over to wrap him in a hug, which he nuzzled into. “I want to spend time with him too!”
Minho crossed his arms with an unamused face. “Well I guess I should leave you guys alone then. Should I turn on the mood lights before I head out?” 
“Yes please!” Jisung threw his arm over your shoulder as he excitedly responded.
You elbowed him and pointed a finger, motioning at both of them. “Neither of you are leaving because I have planned an extraordinary night for all of us!”
The both of them smirked. “I don’t think I’m down for a threesome just yet, beautiful.”
“Yah!” Both you and Minho shouted at Jisung’s giggly suggestion. Minho immediately tackled him and they started wrestling on the ground. You couldn’t contain the smile of adoration at their stupidity as you pulled out all of the contents of the bags, throwing one of the bags of instant popcorn in the microwave. Their attention didn't waver at all due to Minho having his thighs wrapped around Jisung’s head like he was trying to squash a damn melon.
“BOYS!” You called their attention and they quickly untangled their limbs, standing up immediately, Minho with a smug smile and Jisung with an apologetic face. You gave a satisfactory smile and displayed your assorted items on the countertop, the microwave beeping with perfect timing.
“CHEESECAKE!!!” Jisung dove over to you and wrapped his arms around you possessively. “Hyung, I’m sorry, but I am marrying her. You have no say in the matter.” He kept his arm around you as he lifted off the plastic covering and inhaled the sweetness.
Minho grabbed your arm and pulled him toward you harshly, catching you and snaking his hand around your waist. “Yah, do you want to die, Han Jisung?” He took an aggressive step toward him and the quokka cowered away.
“On second thought, I think I’ll just marry this cheesecake.” Jisung grabbed the container and moved safely to the other side of the counter. 
You pushed Minho away. “Yah! I’m not a ragdoll, you assholes!” They chuckled at your whining and Minho kissed you on the cheek.
The quokka looked down at the rest of the goodies on the counter and squeaked at the movies. “Horror movie night!” He grabbed a fork, cheesecake, and the movies and shuffled to the living room, plugging in a DVD.
“Who uses DVDs anymore?” Minho smirked, taunting you. He placed his hand on your shoulder with mock consolation. “Your age is showing, noooona . We use streaming services now.” 
You punched his shoulder and he fell against the wall and acted like he had been shot. “Maybe the same person who still owns a DVD player!” You pointed to the opening trailers of the movie on the screen.
“Hah! She’s not wrong, hyung!” Jisung yelled from over the edge of the couch.
Minho refused to respond, but instead repeated Jisung’s words with a mocking tone like an adolescent teenager. You rolled your eyes amusingly and poured the popcorn into a bowl. As you pulled glasses out of the cupboard and turned back around to the island, Minho was instantly in front of you, bracketing you with his hands on each side of the counter.
“Are you trying to get me drunk so I’ll fuck you?” He whispered with a menacing tone.
You shivered as he ran his finger down the side of your jaw. You tried to regain your composure. “Maybe I just thought you needed to take the edge off. Either way, Ji is here so I think that would be off the schedule anyway.” You winked at his dark expression and pushed past him, going to pour everyone’s drinks.
- - - - - - - - - -
The three of you were lazing back on the couch, Jisung on your left and Minho on your right, all of you having finished about three drinks each. You were leaned back against Jisung’s chest while Minho was between your outstretched legs down the length of the couch, on his stomach and arms wrapped around your waist. You ran your fingers through Minho’s hair with his head stuffed right in between your boobs, head still turned toward the TV.
Eventually, you realized that your boyfriend had fallen asleep, indicated by his deep breaths and turning his head to snuggle further into your breasts. You chuckled at him and Jisung looked over the side of your head to examine the sleeping beauty.
“You know he really likes you right?” Jisung said in a low voice from where he was positioned behind you. You slightly leaned your head over on his chest so you could look at his face. You smiled at him and nodded.
“I really like him too…” You looked back down at your purring kitty and continued petting him.
“He probably doesn’t want me talking to you about this, but…” You looked back at the quokka. “He had a really hard time a couple of years ago. It made him desensitize himself and he did some really messed up things that he regrets.” Jisung looked down at Minho with sad eyes. “I won’t get into the details of why, but I just wanted to fill you in what the guys were talking about at Eunsincheo.”
“Yeah, um…” You guiltily looked away. Movie completely forgotten. “Chan might have mentioned something… but he was kind of vague…”
He looked down at you with worry. “He doesn’t want to say anything because he is afraid of how you will react, so I won’t say anything other than the fact that that life is behind him. You’re all he sees, he won’t shut up about you.” Your face lit up at Jisung's words. “It’s annoying, really. Especially since Minho is usually broody and distant with people… Out of everyone in the group, I’m glad you ended up with him. But I might be biased.” He winked at you, making you giggle and turn your attention back to the man on your lap.
“Out of everything I’ve done, he should know that I would never be able to judge him.” You looked back up at Jisung. “I’m glad he has you too, Ji.” He gave you a soft smile and gave you a whisper of a kiss on your hair, hugging you gently and laying his head on top of yours to redirect his attention back to the TV.
Again, you were submerged in unexpected emotions of how unreal this new life felt. You still expected to wake up and it all be a fever dream from either being knocked out cold by your dad or fainting from hunger.
The warmth emanating from the men around you gave you the feeling of sanctuary. You closed your eyes for a moment and before you knew it, you were dead asleep.
- - - - - - - - - -
For the next several days where Minho was over to tutor, Chan made sure to be at home. Not only at home, but over on the couch watching TV while you and Minho were across the room at the dining table. Needless to say, it was pretty obvious he wasn’t fond of the two of you alone anymore. It really pissed you off, but you couldn’t really say anything without rousing suspicion, so you kept quiet.
You and Minho would sneak amorous glances and light brushes of the fingers in attempts to show any semblance of affection. For some reason, with the way Chan seemed to want to monitor you around him, it just made you want to jump Minho’s bones even more than usual.
Minnie🐱🔥💋:
Someone is looking sexy today 😉
Little Mouse🐭😘:
I am legitimately in sweats and an shitty T-shirt
 
Minnie🐱🔥💋:
I didn’t say it was u
Chan is looking like a damned snack in that tank top
Little Mouse🐭😘:
Ah yes, how selfish of me to assume
...🙃
Minnie🐱🔥💋:
U do rock that outfit though
Tho I really think I much prefer what’s underneath 😏
Your whole body heated up as Minho texted next to you under the table. You clenched your thighs together and of course the bastard noticed it. You saw a simper form on his face as he side-eyed your dilemma and he turned back to his phone.
Minnie🐱🔥💋:
U like the sound of that baby?
Want me to throw u down on this table?
 Show Chan that ur mine?
I’ll make u cum so hard that u won’t even care if he knows anymore, baby 👅
Your thighs were clenching and crossing so hard it was almost painful. You glared at him as he smugly continued to feign studying. Your hands that were holding your phone moved closer to your crotch so the heels of your wrists could add at least a little pressure on your throbbing sex. You continued to type with your hands pressed against your lap.
Little Mouse🐭😘:
Do u want to die? 
Because Chan would be out for blood
Plus, I’ve begged for u to fuck me
But SOMEONE is too much of a pussy
...🙄
You grinned to yourself as a thought crossed your mind. Maybe he needed a taste of his own medicine.
Little Mouse🐭😘:
Speaking of pussy
Mine is so wet that u could drown a baby down there
It’s a shame that I have to resort to finger fucking
I can’t wait to find out how my soft walls feel around ur dick
Imagine how much of a mess I would make if I came on ur cock
You felt kind of embarrassed talking this dirty, but it was worth it when you could see his face drop as he shifted in his seat and leaned forward a tad bit. Time for the killer blow.
Little Mouse🐭😘:
I want to feel ur hot cum shooting deep in me
Drizzling out of my cunt and down my legs to mix with my juices
His whole form froze, his thumbs that were about to type had suspended above the screen and the muscles in his arms and legs tensed. It almost looked like he couldn’t breathe. You figured it wouldn’t hurt to play with him a bit more.
You scooted closer to him so that the two of your backs created a wall between you and where Chan sat.
“Can you show this to me again, Min? I’m having a hard time with it.” You leaned forward and closer to him and pointed at something in the textbook in front of you with one hand. The other hand, however, glided down to rest on his inner thigh, slowly climbing up to his growing erection.
He slowly turned his head your way, forcing you to look at his bone-chilling glare.
“Hey, I’m gonna take the trash out and run down to the convenient store. You guys want anything?” The two of you swiveled your heads to look at Chan next to the front door with his keys in one hand and a trash bag in the other. Thank the lord and everything that is holy.
“Uhhh, yeah. Do you think you could get me some grape Ramuné, Channie?” You silently applauded yourself. You knew for sure that the nearest convenience store didn’t have any because you spent what felt like ages looking for some last time you went. That should buy you and Minho some time to ‘sort out’ this debacle.
“Will do, sweetheart! Be right back!” Once he stepped out the door and locked it, Minho lunged at you.
He circled his long arms around your frame and lifted you, only to plop you back down again on the couch. “Sweetheart? What the fuck is that about?” He stared down at you with fire in his eyes. He was hovered over you with his thigh between your legs and the other standing him up off the ground, trapping you in his space.
“Why, are you jealous , Minnie?” You taunted him with a raised eyebrow and a condescending tone. You stared down at his bulge and caressed your hand over it, feeling the heat through his thick jeans. “Or was it what I said that got you all hot and bothered?” You were increasingly more bold the more time you spent with this goddamned ethereal creature.
He borderline growled and pressed his body down against you. You bit your lip from the pressure of his thigh against where you most desired him. “You’re playing with fire, little mouse. I’m just itching to expose us with your filthy words.” The whisper against your ear made your back arch and the hand against his bulge palmed him even harder.
He removed his thigh -making you whine- but lifted your legs around his waist, pulling himself flush to you and grinding his erection onto you. You gasped with a smile on your face and he pressed an open-mouthed kiss on your jawline.
He grinded again. “You drive me absolutely fucking crazy, Kiyomi. I’m a completely different person when you’re near.” He whispered with a sound of wanting. There is no way there is another man on this earth that is more perfect than this human being.
You caught his lips in a hungry kiss with your hands on each side of his face and explored each other’s mouths with abandon. It was messy and ravenous and filthy and your panties were surely soaked through. You were loving it.
You wanted him as close as humanly possible and you made that abundantly clear with the way you looped your arms around his back and clawed him in attempts to get him closer.
His hand snaked down your body and dove underneath your drenched panties, pinching and swiveling your clit between two fingers. You yelped in ecstasy and the mixture of the two of your breaths pressed against each other was intoxicating you.
You didn’t even hear it. The sound of your heartbeat and the heaving of breaths between the two of you completely deafened the sound of the door unlocking and opening.
“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!” Minho flew off of your body like a damned froghopper. The two of you peered over the back of the couch to be met with the mortified faces of Hyunjin and Felix.
You and Minho looked at each other in complete shock and turned to the pair with shaky breaths. Oh, why does this world hate me so?
- - - - - - - - - -
You handed Felix and Hyunjin a cup of tea and sat next to Minho on the couch, eyes glued to your fidgeting hands. “So this has been going on for a while now? And Ji knows already? I would have never guessed…” Hyunjin sounded flabbergasted as he sipped his tea.
“I just don’t understand why you are hiding it from Channie-hyung. He loves you both. I think he would be happy for you…” Felix looked at you with pleading eyes.
You put your consoling fingers on Felix’s hand. “I know Lix, but he has made himself clear. He really hates the idea of me dating anyone let alone someone in our group. I love him to death and he is the only reason I am here, so there is no way in hell that I want to stomp on his wishes.” You looked over to Minho who was faced away with an annoyed face. You placed a hand on his knee and he instantly deflated, his eyes melting into a soft warmth that peered into your own with affection. “But… I really like him… He makes me happy in more ways than I can count…”
Minho laced his fingers into the hand on his knee and kissed it softly. Damn him for being so goddamned sweet and making me melt no matter where we are. Or who we are around for that matter…
“Who are you and what have you done with Minho-hyung?” Hyunjin pointed accusingly at Minho and you giggled. 
Minho quickly stood up and towered over him. “Do you want me to show you where he is, Hyunjin-ah?” He said threateningly. 
“No! No, it’s okay…” He cowered behind Felix to which you and the other Aussie laughed at.
You pulled the hand you were still holding and sat him back down. Felix looked at you with a twinkle in his eye. “Okay… we won’t tell Chan. But I expect you to tell him eventually. He deserves to know, Kiyomi.”
You sighed as you stood to pull Hyunjin and Felix in for a hug. “I know, Lix. I will. And thank you guys. Really.” They rubbed your back and you, once again, swam in your adoration for the men around you.
“Of course, darling. Of course.” The two of them sat back down at the very moment the front door opened again with a very disgruntled Chan walking in the door.
“Kiyomi, I couldn’t find your drink, so I just got you this generic grape soda. I’m sorry, love.” You rounded the couch and gave him a big hug, startling him for a moment but then he dropped his bags and wrapped his big arms around your lithe frame.
“It’s okay, Channie. Thank you, pup.” You pecked him on the cheek and turned back to your friends with a soft smile that was returned by each. You would tell him soon. You wanted everyone to know who you belonged to. Your mind had been made, you just needed to find the right time.
- - - - - - - - - -
“Pst!” You felt an elbow nudge you from the seat next to you. You elected to ignore it to focus on the shading of your self portrait. “Psssst!” Another nudge. “Kiyomiii.” You rolled your eyes and turned towards your annoyance.
“Lee Minho, I am going to fail this class if I keep sitting next to you.” You nudged him back and he just smiled back. Stupid sexy man with his stupid sexy face. “You already ruined my watercolor painting last week from teasing me so much I knocked over my wash cup.”
“Hey now, technically you were the one who tipped it over, not me!” You mockingly raised a fist at him and he just smugly crossed his arms with grandeur. He glanced over at Jeongin that had left his seat across from you guys to go ask the professor a question, though he leaned in to whisper anyway. “All I wanted to say was that I have to go back home this weekend to take care of the cats. Mom and Dad are going to be gone and they need someone to stay at home for them.”
“Oh…” You were a bit disappointed because you really wanted to be with him this weekend, but it couldn’t be helped.
He rolled his eyes and nudged you again. “I’m inviting you to go with me, moron.” You whipped your head up and stared at him in the eyes, gobsmacked.
“Y-your parent’s house? To meet them? To stay the weekend? Alone? Cats?!” He vibrated in laughter and pushed your arm just enough to sway you.
“Yes to all, m’lady.” He gave you a soft smile with a tiny hint of something else behind his eyes. Desperation? “So, will you come with me?” Did he even need to ask?
You nodded frantically and threw your arms around him to which he chuckled at. “Of course! I can’t wait!” You praised the heavens that you didn’t have to work that weekend.
“Can’t wait for what?” Jeongin’s smiling face appeared from across the table.
You rushed to pull away from the feline to think of an answer. “Minho wants to plan a trip for all of us to go to Jeju together one day!” Nailed it!  
“Awesome! Count me in!” Well shit, could have thought that one through a bit better. Jeongin looked genuinely excited and you felt like you might just need to make that a reality now. 
- - - - - - - - - -
It felt like ages before Friday came around, and even then, classes felt like one minute lasted an hour. The last class felt like a day long, the bus home felt like a year long, the time waiting at home and dolling yourself up to leave felt like a century long.
The plan was this, you told Chan that you, Jisung, and Minho were going to Gimpo for the weekend to visit some of their old friends (which wasn’t entirely a lie except for the fact that Jisung wasn’t going and the ‘friends’ were Minho’s parents and cats). Close enough, right?
By the time Minho and Jisung showed up at your flat, you were fully packed and vibrating in anticipation and anxiety. You were going to meet Minho’s parents. He was an only child so Minho was their entire life. No fucking pressure, right?
You wanted to look nice for a good first impression, so you wore a cute, modest red dress with a floral pattern embellished in the fabric. You wore red heels and black stockings with garter straps that the dress was long enough to cover perfectly. And lastly, you had an elegant black choker to finish off the look.
When Chan showed the two of them inside, you felt instantly relieved of your tension at the sight of the two bright faces beaming at you. You bounced up from your seat on the couch and bounded over to hug them both.
“Hah! I just saw you at dance practice a few hours back, little mouse. No need to get riled up!”
You pouted at Minho. “Well I’m sorry Captain Doucheweed, maybe I’m excited to explore more than just this part of Korea!”
He smirked. “More of Korea, huh? Maybe we could stop by up North, I heard they love foreigners.” The cheeky bastard had the gall to wink at you after that. You tried - and failed - to flick him on the forehead as he dodged the contact. Chan wrapped his arms around you from behind.
“Yeeeah sorry Min. That wasn’t quite on the itinerary when I brought her here. I’m sure the northerners would have different plans for her just ‘stopping by’.” Chan also winked at you and you felt an awkward tension in the air as Minho glared at him.
You and Jisung looked back and forth between the two and your blessed quokka spoke up. “So, beautiful, where’s your bag? I’ll help you lug it!”
“I’ll get it!” Minho and Chan said in tandem and the tension returned. Damn it all.
“Guys! I’m not a child! I’ll carry my own damned bag!” You tossed your duffle over your shoulder and wrapped your arms around Chan’s neck. “I love you, Chaaannie. Behave okay, pup?”
He scoffed and hugged you back as he buried his face in the crook of your neck. “Look who’s talking, you’re a magnet for bad luck. Don’t let these two guys get you into any trouble.”
You pulled back and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “Where’s the fun in that?” You cracked a smile. He glowered at you and you rolled your eyes. “Chill, man, I’ll be fine! I’m in good hands.” You broke the hug and smiled at your two blueberries.
All of you whipped your heads to Felix’s bedroom door when a very loud and deep moan belonging to Hyunjin seeped through the door.
“Ooookaaay I think that’s our cue to leave! You ready?” Jisung jovially asked, Minho already headed to the door with an annoyed aura. Jealousy looks cute on him.
You amusedly rolled your eyes at his behavior and placed a consoling hand on Chan’s shoulder. “See ya later, pup. Have fun listening to Hyunlix’s symphony!” You waved at the man who was now burying his face in his hands and followed the boys out the door.
Before your foot could cross the threshold, you felt a strong arm hold you back. You turned around to look at Chan’s worried face and gave him a sentimental smile, placing a gentle hand on his cheek and rubbing your thumb across the smooth surface.
Chan had always worried about you. Growing up, unless you had to go home or on a drug run, he was attached to your hip. When he visited during holidays from school, you couldn’t find one of you without the other.
There were so many instances where he refused to let you go, afraid of what was waiting for you at home. The only way you could prevent him from further action was to remind him of his family’s safety. There were many times where you had tried to avoid him, thinking he would be happier and less anxious without you around. 
To say the least, he was not okay with that idea. 
The last time you tried to do that, he had a nervous breakdown and almost went directly to your house. The house where your parents were. Where Chan could be discovered. Where he would be put in danger.
You stopped trying to leave him after that, deciding that it was best for both of you to accept that fate had brought you together. Every part of your being was connected to Chan. The only reason you were still alive was because of Chan. So it only made sense that he would be wary of having you travel in an unknown country without him.
You looked at the desperation in his glossy eyes and instantly wanted to quell his anxieties. You jumped into his arms as he wrapped them tightly around your waist. You whispered in his ear as you stuffed your face in his soft hoodie. “I love you so so so much, Channie. You know that right?” He meekly nodded into your shoulder. “Please try not to worry too much. I’ve been through a lot and I think I can handle a simple trip to Gimpo. I trust the boys to take care of me.”
He nodded again and kissed the side of your head. “I love you too, Kiyomi. Please keep me updated alright?” You released him again and gave him an enthusiastic nod.
“Hey! We’re not getting any younger over here!” Minho shouted from Felix’s borrowed car they just finished loading. You stuck your tongue out at Minho, which he returned in kind. You squeezed Chan’s hand one more time.
“Bye, baby bro! I’ll text you later!” All he responded with was a hum and a meek wave as you jumped in the passenger seat.
You watched Chan through the window as the car drove down the road, feeling guilty in more ways than one as you watched his downcast face turn around and head inside. You felt an endearing hand smooth over your own and looked to the driver's seat to see Minho comfortingly smiling at you.
“It’s okay, little mouse. If you want, you can stay. I don’t mind going alone if you aren’t comforta—“
“No! No…” You grabbed his hand with both of yours. “I want to go, I just… I dunno, I feel guilty…” You hated keeping secrets from him, you never kept anything from each other and it just felt wrong that he didn’t know about this. Even if it was your idea and yours only.
“You said you’re going to tell him soon, right?” Jisung piped up from the back seat.
You felt Minho slightly tense underneath your hands. “Yeah… I think I’m gonna tell him when we get back home.” You saw Minho’s head whip around to face you.
“Really?!” You pushed his face away.
“Keep your eyes on the road, dumbass!” He turned his disbelieving gaze to the narrow, uneven streets ahead. “And yes, I think I’ve had enough sneaking around. I just hope he doesn’t kill you.” You squeezed his hand again. “I don’t want to have to buy a new cat, I kind of like this one.” He scoffed at you as Jisung cackled from the back seat.
The car pulled up to Minho’s apartment and Jisung hopped out. He beckoned you to roll down your window as he rounded the corner. “Stay safe, beautiful. I’ll hold down the fort!” He quickly pecked your cheek and winked as he ran away from Minho’s jealous yelling.
“Damnit what is with all of the fucking kissing?!” He huffed and you couldn’t help but giggle at him.
You leaned over the center console of the car and placed a slow, tender kiss on his jaw. “Why? You jealous, kitty cat?” He growled and abruptly grabbed your jaw with one hand.
“The only one who should be giving or receiving any kisses from you is me. ” He crashed his lips against yours and you melted in his firm touch. He was ravenous and there was no control in the kiss at all, only tongues, lips, and spit dancing around between the two of you.
When he pulled back, he stared into your dizzy eyes for a precious moment before releasing your jaw and starting the car again. “Goddamnit Minho! You can’t get me all hot and bothered like that in these situations!”
He just smugly grinned to himself. “Oh well.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Guess you’ll just have to deal with it, darling.” You huffed and turned to your window, crossing your arms and legs in defiance. 
You two had traveled to the point where you were mostly on back streets and uninhabited roads and you were amazed with how smoothly he drove around the sharp and narrow lanes. However, you were also horny now and you were pissed . Every bump and curve rubbed your crossed legs together and you clenched them tighter to gain pressure on your sex.
It was quiet for the next few minutes and you thought, fuck it. You uncrossed your arms, leaned back, and snaked one of your hands down your torso to creep underneath your dress. You let out a heavy sigh as you felt the pressure of your fingers rub directly on your pearl over your panties.
Minho glanced over briefly and you looked directly at him, biting your lip when he had to do a double take. “W-what the absolute fuck do you think you’re you doing?!”
“You said I’ll have to deal with it. This is me ‘dealing with it’, baby.” Your left hand snuck up your dress and under your bra to play with your nipple and you deftly slipped underneath your panties with the other. You watched as his mouth watered and he kept glancing between your wandering hands and the road. “Keep your eyes on the road, baby.” And just to kind of milk it, you said it with heavy breathing.
“Goddamnit, Kiyomi.” Minho grumbled.
“ Guess you’ll just have to deal with it, darling.” You mimicked his words from earlier, earning you an annoyed glare. You wanted him to feel as frustrated as you, so you took it for all it was worth. You looked at your surroundings to make sure the coast was clear and, thankfully, you were riding down the outskirts of town, nothing much but empty highways and open fields. Not only that, but it was starting to get dark out too. You took the opportunity to raise your ass and shimmy your panties down to your knees the rest of the way, freeing up some space to spread your legs.
“The fuck, Kiyomi?! Do you want us to crash?” You huffed out a half chuckle, but you were becoming enraptured with the feeling you were giving yourself. You licked your lips and set your sights on the pure personification of sex of a man next to you. His veiny forearms that you could see below the rolled up sleeves of his favorite mint-green button-up, reaching out to grip the wheel with white knuckles.
His grumpy furrowed brow even looked sexy. His blazing eyes focused on the road, with the occasional flickers of looks at your working fingers. He grazed his tongue over his lips and finished with a bite of his lower lip.
You spread wide enough for him to be able to see everything you’re doing to yourself. You moved the fingers that were working your clit further down, skirting its way through your soaked lips. A small mewl escaped your already panting lips and you could see Minho’s black jeans get tighter in his crotch.
You couldn’t help but have your mind slip back to the fantasy you’ve constantly thought of ever since you met Minho. He would feel so fucking good inside me. Minho watched as you slipped your middle finger in slowly, reaching as far as you could and curling up into your sweet spot. You breathed out a shaky moan and Minho snapped.
For some reason he maneuvered one hand off the wheel so he could grab his black sweatshirt from the back seat. He then grabbed the hand that was stimulating yourself and threw it to the side, stuffing his sweatshirt between your legs and under your ass, making you gasp with the roughness of his movements. And, without further notice, he plunged two fingers in your dripping pussy and drove with the other hand, leaning forward to get a better angle.
You yelped in surprise and started whimpering and bucking your hips into his fingers that were relentlessly massaging and thrusting against your g-spot. “Who’s fingers do you like more, baby? Yours or mine?”
You could tell how much he was enjoying this himself with the pure electricity in the tone of his voice. “Y-yours! Oh god!” You closed your eyes and your head fell back against the headrest. God, you could never get enough of this man’s touch. You cried out when you felt his fingers leave your heat and, in frustration, you whined as you looked up in panic, frantically missing the delicious build up. “Wh-what?”
“Suck...” He was holding his slick fingers up to your mouth with your juices glistening on his knuckles. “...and I might let you cum.” You probably should’ve been put off or had a touch more pride than to allow it, but the thought of him being the only one to allow your orgasms made you that much more turned on. You decided you wanted to be good for him just this once, wanted to earn it.
You waited for his eyes to flicker back over to you from the road, then you stared at him as you licked a stripe up between them, wrapping your mouth around the digits and sucking and licking around and between them to make sure everything was collected. You could hear a deep hum in Minho’s throat before he pulls his fingers from you and plunged them back inside you.
You screamed at the sheer force of his thrusts and expert maneuvering to hit just the right spot. “F-fuck Min! R-right there!” Your fingernails dug into the fibers from your grip on the nylon upholstery of the car seat for dear life as he single handedly worked to dig your orgasm out of you.
“See what you get when you behave, little mouse? Such a good girl for me, baby.” He doubled his efforts and you felt the quickest orgasm you’d ever had crash over you. You released your tidal wave of arousal on his sweatshirt underneath you and thanked the heavens he thought of that ahead of time for Felix’s sake. After your high settled down, you slumped back into your seat, wiped out.
Your eyes still wandered to the man next to you as he brought his fingers up to his own lips and sucked off the remainder of your fluids for himself. “Holy fuck, your hands belong to the gods.” He just chuckled and brought your hand to his mouth to kiss it. For some idiotic reason, that is the reason you blushed, not the fact that his hand was just inside your cunt, no, it’s because of his act of being a stupid romantic piece of shit.
He grabbed the soiled sweatshirt between your thighs and wiped the rest of you clean, removing the cloth and throwing it on the floorboard in the backseat. You pulled up your panties and readjusted your dress, but saw that Minho was still hard as a rock. You licked your lips at the sight and reached towards him. “Let me–”
He blocked your hand and interlaced your fingers with his. “Don’t. Or else we will definitely crash.”
- - - - - - - - - -
The car ride was more fun than you thought an almost three hour car ride would be. You and Minho would switch from deep conversations, to singing playfully along to the radio, to simply sitting in content silence - just enjoying the scenery and each other’s presence.
When Minho started to pull into the quaint suburbs of Gimpo, your anxiety made itself known. You started wringing your hands together when you thought of all of the ways you could screw up your first meeting with his parents. You wracked your brain to remember all of the proper Korean etiquette techniques you were taught. When you met Chan’s parents, you were like, what? Eight years old? You didn’t have to worry about that kind of shit at that age! Not to mention you were in Australia.
Of course, you did your research, but nothing could ease the worry that you might miss something or screw it up somehow. You checked your makeup for the umteenth time in the little mirror on the sun visor and took a deep breath as Minho pulled into a small lot next to some condos. When parked, you texted Chan of your arrival and you mentally prepared yourself to go inside, but Minho placed a hand on your knee.
“Jagi, you really need to relax. They aren’t piranhas, they are going to love you!” He chuckled as he, of course, saw right through you.
You traced the veins down his arms with your index finger and kept your eyes down. “Well… what if, like, I forget the correct manners without knowing it? Or I get nervous and mess up my Korean and accidentally call your mom a crazy bitch or something? Or I ending up breaking some sort of hundred year old family heirloom and they–”
“Y/N!” You halted your words and meekly looked up at your boyfriend. “Even if any of that happens, they’re really cool, okay? Do you trust me?” 
Do I trust you? Of course I trust you. You trusted him more than you trusted yourself. It really was amazing how fast he earned your trust, really. After everything from your past, finding someone to trust was few and far between. You knew without a shadow of a doubt that you would lay your life in Chan’s hands, and now, Minho was starting to be another you could say that about. “I trust you…”
The sincerity in your words made him smile and he pressed a sweet, tender kiss to your lips. “Let’s go, yeah?” 
After Minho’s collected all of the baggage - because of course he insisted on carrying it - you stood at their front door, adjusting every piece of your outfit perfectly. You found him smirking at you and you scowled as you smacked him with the back of your hand.
He snorted as he knocked on the door and your mind was running at a thousand miles a minute. You suddenly noticed every little thing around you. You saw the light just inside the door turn on through the peephole. You heard a rustling on the other side of the freshly painted white door. You watched with anxiety as the age-worn doorknob turned.
You were met with a short, beautiful older woman with laugh lines and a sweet smile. Her skin wasn’t much unlike Minho’s and you could see where he got his beautiful eyes and cheekbones from. “Hello! You must be Y/N! We’ve been so excited to meet you!” Both you and Minho were caught off guard when she pulled you in for a hug, which you happily returned.
“Yes ma’am!” You deeply bowed when she releases you. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Lee. Thank you for inviting me to your home! The neighborhood seems lovely.” Little did she know that you were just about pissing yourself with nerves.
She gave you a sweet smile and Minho spoke up. “Um hello? Darling mother of mine?! The one I haven’t seen in months?! Any hello for me?”
“Oh shush, Minnie. Don’t be whiny.” She just waved him off with a small pinch on the cheek while she whisked you inside with a hand on your shoulder. You removed your shoes as soon as you entered and allowed her to pull you up to round the half staircase and into the living room. A tall, slender man with bifocals and a tired look turned to you after pulling a couple suitcases into the room. You could feel your heart drop out of your ass when you looked at his stern face.
You immediately dropped into a deep bow. “Good evening, sir. I’m Y/N! Thank you so much for inviting me into your home.” You sounded like a broken record. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lee.” He smirked and glanced at Minho. Well I can definitely see where Minho gets it from. That and his intimidating features with a sharp nose and defined jawline.
“Oh no need to be so formal, sweetheart! Feel free to call us eomeonim and abeonim!” Minho’s mother said as she put a shawl over her shoulders.
“Yes ma’am! Thank you, eomeonim!” It felt odd to call her ‘mother’ but a good kind of odd.
“Very lovely to meet you as well, Y/N.” Minho’s father walked up and encased your outstretched hand with both of his, shaking it slightly. “What is a beautiful young lady such as yourself doing with my son?”
“Yah!” Minho protested and his father just chuckled and ignored him.
You giggled along with him. “Well, he seems to be doing well so far. I thought I’d go ahead and keep him.” You said sarcastically with a sly look and a wink at Minho.
“Hah! I like this girl.” His dad guffawed at his mom and patted your shoulder with a force that would’ve knocked you over had Minho not had a hand around your waist. 
“Well, dear. I’m terribly sorry that we have to leave just as you have arrived, but we really need to catch our bus. Thank you two so much for watching the place for us while we’re gone!” You and Minho walked them to the front door you had entered just moments before. “Please help yourself to whatever you like and make yourself at home! I will just have to break out the baby photos when we return!”
“Yes, please–!” “God,no–!” You and Minho said over each other, making his parents laugh.
“Okay, well you two have fun! See you two on Sunday!” Her bright tone completely erased all of your worries and you and Minho waved them goodbye, bidding them with safe travels.
As soon as Minho shut and locked the door, he was all over you. Mouth latching onto yours like you were the air he needed to breathe. One hand tangled in your hair while the other squeezed your breast through the material of your dress. Pelvises slotted together as he pushed you against the wall. You were in love with it all, but something snatched your attention away when you felt something brush against your leg. You broke the kiss as your gaze wandered down and Minho’s eyes followed yours.
A bright-eyed orange cat weaved its way throughout Minho’s legs. “Soonie!” You crouched down to allow the feline to sniff your finger.
“You actually remembered who he is?” Minho seemed flabbergasted.
“Of course I do! You’ve talked about them so much and I’ve seen enough pictures and videos that I feel like I already know them!” Your heart filled with warmth when Soonie rubbed his head up against your outstretched hand in invitation to pet him. Minho squatted down next to you and you could see him watching you through your peripheral vision. You turned to look at him and saw a fond smile on his face, which you returned without thinking.
“C’mon, let me show you the rest of the place.”
- - - - - - - - - -
Dori had briefly shown herself once in the tour, but Doongie was nowhere to be found. “He’ll come out when he’s ready.” You were dejected to hear this, but you knew he was right. The only problem was that you had shit patience.
 You were filled with fondness and adoration for this man as he took you around the house, recounting different stories from his past that he wanted to share. Each story was so expressive and you could tell he was excited to get to share his precious memories with you. It was moments like these that made you really love Minho…
…Wait.
What?
Love? The thought had come to mind plenty of times, of course, but this time you thought without hesitation. Love didn’t come to your head as a question to yourself, it was a fact. Love as in, yes, this is one of the reasons why you are in love with this man. Love as in, yes, there is nowhere else you would rather be right now. Love as in, yes, you want him in your life from here on out.
Your face turned impossibly red as your mind brought the solidarity of your feelings to fruition. He definitely noticed because one moment he was describing how he would always help his mom with dinner while the two of you were chatting on the couch, and the next he was turned toward you, caressing your face. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, gorgeous?”
You could only shake your head as you stared up at him with starstruck eyes. He’s so fucking beautiful. “You are amazing, you know that? How did I get so lucky?” The words naturally rolled off of your tongue and the scoff he let out brushed across your face.
“Trust me, I’m not all that great, sweetheart.” He paused for a beat. “There are things that–”
“I don’t care.” You cut him off. You didn’t even have to cogitate on it. You already knew there was something he was holding back, but you didn’t care. Whatever it was, however bad, it made him the person that he was. And without a shadow of a doubt, you were in love with the Minho he was now . The only thing you did doubt was if he loved you back or not.
You knew it was stupid to ruminate on it, but if you said it and he didn’t love you back? That would make for a very shitty weekend. But damn him for looking like a fucking lovesick puppy with the way he was currently gazing at you.
His thumb glided across your cheek and over your lips. “You’re perfect, Y/N…” He slowly leaned in with his sights fixed on your lips. The kiss he placed there was delicate and chaste, as if you were made of porcelain. When he pulled back, the look he gave you made you break.
“I love you…” It was barely a whisper but you knew he heard you from the astonished look on his face. Well shit. I was just telling myself not to say it and the bastard made me slip! You were internally having a meltdown and the silence between words seemed like an eternity.
To say he looked shocked was an understatement. It looked like he just discovered the taste of cheese or something equally as life changing. His eyes were wide as saucers as he stared down at you with a slack jaw. You wanted to curb stomp yourself and crawl into a hole. But what’s done is done…
“I-I’m sorr–” Your words were cut short by a pair of lips searing its heat all over yours. Sensual and ravenous. Romantic and wild. You almost felt dizzy from the pure intensity and abruptness of it. His hands had grabbed you by each side of your face and you could hear your own heart beating out of your chest.
“I love you too, Y/N.” Another kiss. “So fucking much.” You couldn’t contain your giddy stupidass schoolgirl smile that grew on your face as he continued showering you with kisses. The kisses gradually became more solid and the breaths that mingled between the two of you became heavy and laden with want . Need.
You only momentarily parted before Minho heaved you up with his hands under your thighs and your legs surrounding his hips. He must have had this house read like the back of his hand because he didn’t let up on the assault of your lips even as he shuffled through the hallways to his bedroom. He kicked the door closed behind him and the only light that illuminated the two of you as he laid you down on the bed was his dim bedside lamp and the moonlight shining in the window.
Minho was slower, more controlled now. Hovering above you, he slowly, painfully slowly, pressed tender kisses from your lips, to your jaw, to your neck, and finally to your shoulder where he slid the seam of your dress over slightly to skim down your collarbone.
You laid there aching, but you waited patiently, loving the careful attention he was committing to you. With the hand that wasn’t holding himself upright, he slid down from the sleeve of your shoulder, around the crest of your breast, down the dip of your waist and hip, all the way to the hem of your dress. His eyes explored your body the whole way.
His hand slipped up your thigh under your dress and he returned to languidly kissing and suckling on your neck as he kneaded your ass, making you mewl with need. You could feel his weight shift to his knees as the fabric of your dress was being bunched upwards by both of his hands. You stopped his ministrations on your neck for a moment so you could rid yourself of the offending piece of fabric.
However, before he could continue, his eyes were glued to what you wore underneath. Red satin and lace lingerie were matching underneath your dress and you wondered how he didn’t notice it with the way he finger fucked you on the way here. He stared at you like you were the finest piece of artwork alive and his hands skimmed up and down the sides of your boney frame.
“Breathtaking…” He laid a sweet kiss on your exposed navel.
“Minnie…” You couldn’t say anything above a breathy whisper as you watched him meticulously unlatch your garters with feather light touches. His fingers hooked under the hem of your stocking and slowly pulled them off one at a time, kissing his way down your legs while doing so.
This was a whole different experience than what you had known Minho to be like in bed. This was tender and patient, an intimacy like you had never experienced permeated the room and made your heart swell painfully. His movements were soft and calculated and the fingertips he ran across your skin left chills in its wake. Your entire body was trembling with nerves and anticipation.
When he had removed your stockings, he breathed his way back up your legs, over your wet panties, up your torso, and to your lips. His kiss was long and languid, moving sensually and when you felt his tongue slip out to meet yours, you could feel it was almost hesitant.
You tried to control yourself but you were so painfully desperate that your hands moved on their own. Your fingers ran through his hair as your kisses made your eagerness known. The light tugs you gave on his blue locks pulled a groan from his throat and one of his hands skimmed around to your back to deftly unlatch your flimsy bralette.
You ran your own hands down the front of his minty shirt and clumsily started unbuttoning him with your shaky fingers while his lips were still savoring your own. Once you had successfully undone the last button, he sat back and threw it off to the side, leaving his top half naked.
You had seen him shirtless many times, but you could never get over the sensation you felt in your gut as you looked at him. You sat up to meet his toned frame that was nestled in between your legs, kissing slowly down his abdomen as he ran his fingers lovingly through your hair. When your lips met the hem of his jeans, you mimicked his slow movements as you looked up into his eyes as you lazily unclasped his belt and pulled it from its loops.
He lowered his hand to thumb at your bottom lip as you unbuttoned his jeans and pulled down the zipper, indicating you wanted them off by tugging down the thick material over the cleft of his ass. When he stripped them the rest of the way off and returned to you, he laid you back and pressed into you again. The feeling of his throbbing tumescence against your heat with only your undergarments separating you two made your head spin. I’m turning into a goddamn bitch in heat.
You desperately rolled your pussy down on him and he attempted to suppress a moan as he reciprocated the movement, suddenly more eager than before as he started biting and sucking on your pulse. You threw your head back in ecstasy of the pressure and whimpered. “M-Minnie… I want you so bad, baby.” You reluctantly pulled his head away from his assault on your neck with your hands cupping his cheeks to look straight into his eyes with a dead serious composure. “Please make love to me, Minho… I’ve never been more ready…” 
His glossy eyes searched yours and your heart rate spiked as you could feel his head nod in your hands. He quickly and clumsily stumbled over to his wallet and pulled out a square foil. Really? In your wallet? You didn’t have much time to think about the less than optimal storage space as he climbed back on top of you and tossed the rubber to the side.
His fingers went back to exploring your thighs as he leveled his face to your sploosh-soaked panties and hooked an arm underneath one of your legs. You felt a jolt spring through your body as you felt the white hot pinch of teeth sinking into your inner thigh and then felt the softness of a tongue smooth over the pain.
Your breaths became louder and whinier as you felt his hot breath ghost over your wetness. He slowly dragged his unoccupied index finger up the inside of your thigh and hooked it into the crotch of your panties, pulling them aside so he could delicately flick your throbbing bead with his tongue. You craned your neck as the pleasure overpowered you, the anticipation making everything that much more delectable.
He obviously was starting to get impatient as well as he decided to loop his fingers in your panties and garter belt and slide them off the rest of the way. He gazes at you with desire dripping from his eyes as he lowered his face into your dripping folds and dipped his tongue in, reaching as far as he could and pulling out again. After only a moment, his mouth returned to suck on your clit and his fingers snaked their way into you to work their magic.
“Ngh! Min!” You grabbed onto his hair as he ate you out like a carnivorous animal. His fingers worked with a clear goal. To make you cum as fast as possible. “M-Min! I want to finish with you !” His whole body froze and his fingers inside you stilled.
“Holy shit. Okay, baby. Okay.” He quickly shucked off his boxers and for some reason you got super anxious, even scared almost. It’s like the excitement of getting your ears pierced for the first time, but when you see the needle, you get scared shitless.
You’d already known that he was rather large and could probably split you in two, but to realize you were just a few moments away from it happening made you worry about the pain even more. Whatever, this pain can’t be nearly as bad as what I’ve had to endure before. He seemed to read your turmoil as you stared doe-eyed at him ripping the packet open with his teeth and rolling on the condom. He paused after it was fully on and he kissed your forehead. “Don’t worry, little mouse. I will try to make it as painless as I can.”
Your gaze returned to his eyes and you saw the sincerity within him. You trusted this man so wholeheartedly that all of your worries subsided, only leaving you to dumbly nod at him. You gasped as he slowly pressed his head against your opening, swirling it against your sopping clit around your folds as you keened at the devastating heat and pressure against you.
“You ready baby?” You nodded frantically and wrapped your hands around his nape with both hands, refusing to look anywhere but his eyes and grabbing the fading blue hair on the back of his neck. The two of you groaned in unison as you could feel him intrude your walls, your eyes fluttering violently at the stretch. “Oh, fuck… Shit, you’re so tight.” His words were strained and he looked as if he were about to bust a nut right on the spot.
He paused once only his head was in to let you adjust. “O-oh god!” Well, that was what you tried to say, but really it only came out as a choked squeaking noise.
“You okay, jagi?” You could see he was struggling himself, but he used his free hand to gently caress the side of your head. Unable to release any words, you just nodded your head slowly and wrapped your legs around his waist, imploring him to keep going.
After a minute or so, he was fully sheathed and you could barely breathe. The pleasure and pain of being completely full was intoxicating. “I need words, baby girl.” He breathed out against your neck.
You had to shake yourself back into a conscious state so you could find a proper sentence. “F-fuck… You’re splitting me in two…”
His eyes went panicked and he loosened himself from you. “Do we need to stop?” You almost growled at him once he started to move away and you latched your legs around him impossibly tighter, making him slam back into you. You let out a yelp and he choked on his own gasp.
“I will legitimately kill you if you leave my pussy right now.” He breathed out a shaky laugh against your neck and placed a small peck there. You waited another moment before speaking up. “O-okay… I think… I think I’m ready for you to start moving.”
You felt him start to pull back shallowly before pushing in again, pulling back further the more times he did it. You squinted the pain away and tried to focus on the captivating man above you.
You were entranced by the glistening sheen of sweat that started to form across his forehead and his heavy eyelids consumed with lust. You watched his toned abdomen contract and relax as he pumped into you, and when you looked down to where you two connected, you almost orgasmed on sight as you watched him slide in and out of your dripping cunt, his dick coated in a thick sheen of your arousal. He was so loving and gentle and your heart swelled almost painfully with the tenderness and care he was treating you with. Each thrust was calculated and intimate, you couldn’t imagine anything more perfect.
He abruptly stilled his movements, making you whine at him because you were finally getting past the pain. He stared down at you with wide eyes and brought his hand up to your face. “Y/N baby, you’re crying…” He smoothed his thumb over the dark mascara line of your tears and you were surprised with yourself. You didn’t even know you were crying. “I think we need to put this on hold, Kiyomi. I’m hurting you too badly.”
“No!” You clung onto him for dear life, shoving your face in his neck. “Seriously, Min! It barely even hurts anymore! I think… I dunno, I guess I’m just really lost in the moment…” You lifted his head up and gave him a soft kiss. “I’m just amazed at how I really don’t deserve you, Minnie…” You closed your eyes and pressed your forehead against him.
Desperate for him to continue, you rolled your hips up, making him groan. He pushed deeper and you gasped. “It’s me—“ Another deep thrust. “That doesn’t deserve you.” He slowly pulled back and looked directly into your eyes. “You deserve every wonderful thing in this world.” He slammed back into you deep and hard at the same time he captured your lips in a searing kiss.
You moaned into his lips and happily gave him access to your mouth as he collided tongues with you, followed by a long lick across the roof of your mouth. Your kisses started to turn sloppy and you mostly breathed into each other’s mouths as he rocked into you, occasionally colliding tongues as your foreheads mashed together. You started to lose control of your senses when he sat up and strengthened his thrusts, grabbing onto your hips and lifting you up using only pure muscle power to pump right into your sweet spot. His manic movements were causing his old and rickety high school bed to creak and bang against the wall furiously.
“Oh shit! Fuck! Right there Min! Oh god!” You could slightly see the smirk cross his lips from the pride of his efforts, but it was quickly replaced with a look of determination and euphoria. “Please d-don’t stop! P-please Minnie! I’m so close—!“
“Me too, baby—“ He started to replace his power with speed, repeatedly pounding against your delicious bundle of nerves and making your body shake in ecstasy. Your hooked legs around him clenched him closer and deeper with each thrust. You could feel his thrusts start to get sloppy and you dared to look down at his throbbing cock impaling you over and over again.
That finished you. You screamed as you came all over the bed coverings and his twitching dick, your clenching walls causing Minho to empty into the condom himself with a choked growl. His stuttering hips rode out both of your orgasms and he fell on top of you, sticky sweat coating both of your bodies.
The only noise that filled the air was the mingling of both of your heavy breaths and the approaching summer night’s cicadas. You wrapped your arms around your exhausted lover and kissed his shoulder, running feather light fingers up and down his back and through his sweaty hair. It was an interesting sensation to feel Minho’s erection slowly soften inside you.
After a moment he pulled out and tied the condom, disposing it in the bin by his bed. When he returned to your side, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you on top of his chest. He closed the distance of your lips and kissed you languidly and intimately.
You eventually pulled back and rested your forehead against his, breathing into his mouth. “That was even better than I could have ever imagined. I love you so fucking much…”
“I love you too, my little mouse.” You smiled against his lips and left a chaste kiss against his mouth before sitting up and scooting to the edge of the bed. “Where do you think you're going?”
“Oh, well I hate to break it to you, but I only stuck around for your dick. I’m actually gonna head back home and find another boy-toy.” You winked at him and he looked furious. He lunged for you and you screech-laughed as he pinned you down.
“You think you’re funny, huh? You’re lucky I only had the one condom or else I’d be making you scream right now.” A delicious shiver ran up your spine and you lost your cheeky smirk from before.
“Well… um… I may or may not have gotten an IUD a month or two back…” His face turned completely gobsmacked. You felt partially guilty for not telling him that the doctor basically said it would be difficult for you to get pregnant at all with all of the previous internal damage you had suffered.
“Fuck, Kiyomi. You’re going to kill me…” His lips attacked you again and, if you weren’t already sore and tired as all hell, you would totally be down for round two. 
You reluctantly pushed him away and rolled him off of you, making him whine. “I need to shower and sleep so I can be alive tomorrow! You big baby. You made me wait long enough, it’s your turn bitch.” The smirk on your face, however, was wiped off when you tried to stand and your legs buckled underneath you like a baby deer.
You flopped back onto the bed and Minho cooed at you. “Aww, is my mouse tired? Too much exertion for her weak little body?” You glared at him and his petulant baby voice. “Don’t worry, baby girl. I’ll help you.” Before you knew it, Minho had hooked his arms underneath your knees and was lifting you into the air. 
“Minho! What the fuck?! I’m too heavy!”
“Tsk. Please.” He said sarcastically.. “I’ve lifted paperweights heavier than you.” He rolled his eyes. “Plus, I've already carried you several times before! I don’t know why you’re only saying this now!”
“I’ve gained weight since then!”
He scoffed. “Ah, yes, very true. Now you weigh about two paperweights.”
You huffed and clung onto his shoulders. “Fuck you…”
He responded with a wink. “Any time you like, darling.”
Once he entered the bathroom, he plopped you down on the vanity countertop and turned on the shower to warm up. You took a few moments to, once again, appreciate his beautiful naked body. All of his muscles were beautifully toned and he wasn’t too buff or sculpted like some beefcake. He looked like a goddamned piece of art, a true personification of a dance statue. His skin was absolutely flawless like chiseled marble and as soft as silk. His ass was the perfect balance of plump and toned.
When he returned to you, you could see hearts in his eyes as he looked at your lustful face. You could never fathom what he saw in you. You reached out to him with a pout and grabby hands and he chuckled. Without any words, he stepped in between your legs that were dangling off of the counter and wrapped his arms around your waist.
“How did I fall in love with such a bratty, badass little mouse?” He said in a low voice as he leaned in to kiss you long and languidly. “You think you can stand in the shower, jagi?” You smiled as you nodded at him, standing up with newborn legs and taking his hand to step into the blissfully hot shower.
You leaned your head back underneath the water and sighed. This has to be one of the best days I’ve ever experienced, you thought as you felt the trickling heat loosen your tense muscles. You melted as you felt two strong arms wrap around your waist from behind. You leaned your head against his chest and closed your eyes, the two of you swaying under the water in silence.
He was sweet and gentle as he helped you clean your skin and wash your hair for you, delectably massaging you all the while. He was a truly perfect man. You spent most of the shower lazily kissing and embracing each other.
Once the two of you finished getting ready for bed, you thanked yourself (and Felix for buying it) for bringing a lace and satin, mint green camisole. Once you slipped it on and Minho got in bed with only a pair of boxers on, he looked at your dressings and glared at you. “Are you wanting me to ruin you? Because that kind of bullshit is a one way ticket to getting cross eyed screwed.”
You fluttered your eyes and sat on your knees next to Minho on the sheets, slightly emphasizing your breasts (that had blessedly started filling out with weight gain) as you puffed out your chest. “I thought this was your favorite color, baby.” You flourished your sweet words with a slight lilt to your voice. You crawled to hover over him with your upper body to whisper against his lips. “If you want to ruin me, your going to have to earn it, kitty cat.” And with that, you left a peck on his lips and rolled over to lay down, facing away from the shirtless, baffled man.
You suddenly felt a strong arm around you yanking you tight to his chest. “You’re a fucking tease, little mouse. One day, I’ll make you learn your lesson.” You just hummed in response and rolled over to face him, still encased in his warm embrace.
Once you threw an arm and a leg over him and snuggled into the heat of his chest, he completely melted, letting a heavy sigh escape his mouth. “It's weird that I get to tell you I love you, my MeanHoe.”
You felt him squeeze you tighter. “Wow, that was almost romantic.” You giggled into his chest, smelling your freshly brushed, minty breath hit his chest and waft back into your senses. “But I love you too, my bratty mouse.” He kissed the top of your head that was snuggling ever closer into him. “Sweet dreams, jagi.”
You were already drifting off as you heard the words leave his mouth. Fading to black with a smile spread across your features.
- - - - - - - - - -
You couldn’t run fast enough. With every step, you felt him getting closer, breathing down your neck. You could see Chan in the distance, standing outside his house back in Australia and waiting for you with open arms. You desperately wanted to be held by him. You wanted to feel safe again. Wanted to feel loved again by the only person who ever loved you. However he wasn’t the only person now. You could see Minho stand up next to him, both of them exchanging worried looks to each other then back at you.
You were using all of your strength to reach them, but you felt like you were going at a snail’s pace, barely moving an inch at a time. You could feel the fingertips of the man trying to grab you, just barely out of reach, and you thrashed your body away from every touch.
Out of nowhere, you heard a loud crack in the air. A boom that you knew all too well. The boys that were your whole world were no longer in front of you and you could no longer move. You could feel something was wrong. Your hand traveled to your stomach to feel the warm, sticky substance and you looked down to see blood seeping through your thin camisole and onto your hand. You were surprisingly calm. Like you secretly always knew that your past would catch up to you, making you defenseless in the end.
The hand behind you grabbed your arm and threw you to the ground. You watched in silent defeat as your father stood over you and your mother faced the other way. The blood draining from your body made you violently shake. Seriously, you felt your body uncontrollably spasming around on the ground like you were being shaken furiously–
“Y/N!!! Wake up! Baby, please!” You gasped for air as you watched Minho grabbing your arms and shaking you violently. “Kiyomi, baby…” He hugged you tightly. “It’s okay, love. You’re okay…” You hadn’t even realized that you were sobbing loudly until he wiped the tears from your eyes and kissed your forehead. “It was just a dream, baby. It’s okay now. I’m here. I’m always here.”
Sadly, this wasn’t the only nightmare you’d had from your past, but it was definitely worse than others. “I’m so s-sorry Min. I w-woke you up…” You stuttered through your trembling voice.
“Shut up. Don’t be ridiculous. I’m always going to be here for you. Always …” Your heart palpitated with these words. Always. He said always.
You hugged him tightly and silently cried into his chest. There was a long while - you don’t even know how long - where the two of you laid against each other in silence. You, coming down from your panic attack and him, comfortingly smoothing his hand up and down your back. “Minnie?” He responded with a questioning hum. “What if I still haven’t escaped them? What if… what if they are looking for me…”
He stilled his movements and was quiet for a minute. “Then we will protect you. All of us. I won’t let anything happen to you, Y/N.”
You looked up at his face with tears in your eyes. “How can you know that for sure?”
He looked back at you and smiled sadly. “Because I'm not the only one that loves you. They all do too, dummy. Their love may be in a different way, but you are one of us. No one will hurt the family we have become. No one .”
You knew it was foolish but, just once, you wanted to believe it.
- - - - - - - - - -
The weekend was full of Minho taking you around his hometown and showing you a whole bunch of places from his childhood. He taught you how to fish, showed you cute little shopping strips, and took you on romantic dates. You met some of his old friends and they were more than complimentary toward you. The teasing of Minho was relentless and you couldn’t get enough of it. It really was the most ideal and wonderful first time going to see where Minho grew to become the man of your dreams.
Sunday morning after the two of you woke up and Minho cooked you a phenomenal breakfast, you wanted to get presentable again before Minho’s parents returned home that evening. “I’m gonna go take a shower, Minnie!” You yelled behind your retreating frame to Minho who was still cleaning up the kitchen.
“Sounds good!” You were beaming with pent up happiness as you stepped in the bathroom and stripped off your clothes. You were all too eager to take a relaxing shower.
The hot water cascaded down your hair and you tilted your head back to take in the exceptional pleasure of the soothing heat. Yesterday had been so packed full of activities that you automatically crashed after returning to the house. You felt disgusting and you sighed at the relieving feeling of getting clean again.
You must have been lost in your own head thinking about the amazing previous day that you didn’t hear Minho come in, because you jolted in surprise when you felt a pair of strong arms wrap around you from behind.
“Jesus, Min! You about gave me a heart attack!” You slapped his forearm that was wrapped around your waist, to which he just chuckled wickedly and placed a chaste kiss on your shoulder. The two of you stood in silence under the water, happy with just existing in each other’s presence.
After a moment, he removed one of his hands from your waist and ran it over the back of your drenched hair, moving it to the side of your shoulder and tucking his head into the crook of the bare side of your neck. Once he returned his hand to its previous position wrapped around your waist, you could feel the wet heat of his mouth press just below your jaw. His hands dipped down to your hips and he pulled you closer to him.
You let out a long, satisfied sigh and leaned your head over to lay back against him to give him more access. This seemed to spur him on more as he ran his tongue over your pulse and up to suck hard right behind your ear. There was no way that there wasn’t going to be a hickey there later, but you didn’t care anymore. If need be, you could cover it with makeup or your hair. Your knees went weak when he suddenly snuck his left hand down to your clit and started rolling it between his fingers, coaxing a breathy croon from your lips.
Your vagina still hurt tremendously from the other day, but you could feel yourself getting painfully horny again, and you knew he was too once you could feel his hard-on pressing against your tailbone. You figured you could handle a bit more pain. Why not?
You spun yourself around in his arms and smashed your lips against his, tongues and teeth clashing. He seemed just as eager as you as he grabbed two handfuls of your ass and pulled you flush to his erection, squishing and massaging your plush cheeks in the process. You moaned into his mouth and tried to wrap a leg around him. He obviously took the hint as he lifted you up around his waist and pressed you up against the tiled wall.
“Shit, I’m a weak man. You’re too addicting.” He whispered as he frantically kissed down your neck. You started to feel desperate as you could feel him so close to your entrance. Your body moved on its own to try and wiggle around to feel him against you.
“Min…” You whined. “God, please just fuck me.” He looked like he was fighting an internal battle. You were quickly losing your dignity as you realized you were literally begging him to ruin you. 
“Oh yeah?” He slipped his hand in between your bodies and grazed over your clit again. “You want that, little mouse? Want me to fuck you up into the wall?” His fingers found their way through your pussy lips and teased at your entrance.
You tried to grind down on his fingers but his strong hold under your ass kept you firm in his grasp. “Minnie… please…” You looked and sounded pathetic - you knew you did - but the feeling of your walls fluttering around nothing due to him circling your opening was driving you insane. You huffed in frustration. “You can cum on my face if you want, but I just need you in me right now .”
You saw his fiery gaze waver only slightly before returning with a vengeance. “As you wish, my good girl.” He slipped his fingers in to get you nice and stretched, digging right up against your sensitive bundle of nerves and making you twitch and fall apart in his arms. Your squeaks and high-pitched grunts earned an evil grin from Minho as he upped his efforts. Once he felt you were fully prepped, he pumped his erection a couple times before he swiftly lined up to harshly slam into you. You gasp-squeaked and wrapped your arms around his neck, compressing your upper bodies tightly. You wanted him as close as possible, both inside and out. You left open-mouthed kisses against his shoulder between your breathy yelps and croons. He was relentless. He enraptured you into a haze of pain-pleasure as he pounded into you. He fucked you into the wall just like he said he would and his labored breaths fell heavily on the side of your back. “Kiyomi– *ngh* –you feel so fucking good.” 
You could only respond with a choked gasp as he rammed into you with a particularly harsh thrust. “F-fu–” There were no words. As much as you tried, your body and voice were no longer yours. They were his. His to control and mold into immense pleasure, leaving you stuttering like a complete brain-dead whore.
He sped up furiously and you couldn’t even fathom how he had the strength to not only hold you up, but also fuck into you so enthusiastically. You could feel your high quickly approaching as he painfully nailed into your cervix and rolled into your g-spot. After a particularly painful thrust, you borderline screamed as you came all over his cock. “B-babe… I–I’m–” He sounded frantic.
You could tell he was just about to cum from his choppy thrusts and you quickly hopped off of him and sank down to your knees, trying to ignore the throbbing in between your legs. The shower water uncomfortably sprayed the side of your face, but you couldn’t be bothered with it as you were preoccupied with stuffing your mouth with dick to help him chase his orgasm. He fucked deep into your mouth and you tried to hold back your gags as you swallowed his length. Without warning he whipped himself out and jerked himself in your face, painting you white as your mouth hung open.
You watched his face as he rode out his orgasm and you’d never seen or heard anything more beautiful in your life. His breathy, velvety groan when he came was music to your ears and you never thought getting manjam all over your face and hair would be so exhilarating. You stood up and let him get a good look at his artwork. “Holy shit…” He breathed against your cum covered lips. He then promptly ran two fingers across the strings of white fluid and shoved his fingers in your open mouth, making you wrap your lips around them and suck seductively. “Damn, you are fucking unreal.”
You quickly rinsed off his sperm so you could dive right back into kissing him. You had wrapped your arms around his neck and you kissed him with a gentleness that showed your appreciation. He cupped his hand over your cheek as you parted and looked into your eyes lovingly. As you looked back at him with a similar expression, basking in the silent moment, you decided to speak up. “My pussy hurts like a motherfucker.”
His face morphed into one of pure bemusement. “Way to ruin the moment, brat.”
“What?! It’s the truth! Your dick destroyed me! You're lucky that I was horny enough to go again!” You turned around to finally start showering yourself with a proud pout as he chuckled.
He wrapped his arms around you again, similar to his previous position, whispering in your ear. “Extremely lucky. Your cunt feels like heaven.” He pressed a chaste kiss against your cheek as you shivered. You used to hate that word but it sounded so delicious coming from his mouth. Probably your new favorite.
Your libido must have been through the roof that day because as you both showered off, all you wanted to do was jump on him. Thankfully, your body was too weak and exhausted to do anything marginally active.
- - - - - - - - - -
When Minho’s parents arrived back home, they greeted you with open arms again. As promised, Minho’s mom showed you all of the embarrassing childhood photos of him and his adorable, nerdy, high school selcas.
Minho’s dad patted him on the back as he lamented and protested the entire time. You cooed an extraordinary amount of times and gave Minho shit-eating glances, earning you daggers for eyes.
During dinner, just like Minho said, he and his mom worked together to create the most succulent, delicious Kkanpunggi Chicken you have ever tasted. The table was packed with food. Kimchi, pork dumplings, and kimbap covered all corners and you quickly found out where Minho got his habit of force-feeding you. With the three of them combined coaxing you to eat everything and your will to not want to displease them, you ate until you felt sick and your back hurt with the pressure of fullness. It took an immense amount of concentration not to throw it all up with the slightest movement.
Small talk was easier than you thought it would be. You and Minho’s dad discussed how well you were adjusting to the transition to Korea and all the differences and you discussed with his mom how you liked everything at school.
“So, Y/N, what do your parents do for a living?” Fuck. You supposed you should have anticipated this, family was of great importance in Korea and it only made sense that his dad would ask, but still…
You subconsciously wrung your hands together in your lap under the table and had an internal panic attack just thinking about them. You could feel Minho burning holes into you with his eyes but you couldn’t bring yourself to look anywhere but his parents' awaiting faces.
“That’s not impor—“
“Not much, they just run a small family business. Mostly just transporting goods.” You cut Minho off before he could utter another word. It’s not really a lie, right? They technically transport 'goods'... Their contented smiles stayed on their faces and nodded.
Minho’s mom propped her elbows up on the table and rested her head on her knuckles. “How lovely! Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“No ma’am, it’s just me.” You said easily with a polite smile. “Only child just like Minho!” You cheerfully said while looking at Minho, hoping to ease his tension. By the look on his face, you weren’t entirely successful.
“Awe, well your parents must miss you terribly. I can’t imagine what it would be like if Minnie was in an entirely different country.” Your heart ached with the realization that you would never have that.
But…
You still had Chan’s parents… 
You would talk to them a couple times a month and they would check on you, tell you they missed you and Chan, and tried to refuse your money every time. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself that you did, in fact, have parents that loved you and missed you unconditionally.
You smiled up at your boyfriend’s parents and confidently spoke. “Yes, eomeonim. I’m sure they do.”
- - - - - - - - - -
You reluctantly bid your farewells to his parents as Minho finished packing up the car. You warmly hugged his parents goodbye and his dad told you to come back any time ‘free of charge’ he said with a chuckle to which you couldn’t help but giggle in return.
You watched Minho’s parents retreating frames as the two of you drove away, heart swollen and contented with your perfect weekend getaway. You turned back to the man in the driver's seat as he silently grabbed your hand to kiss your knuckles. You smirked at him. 
“You’ve been too nice to me. When we get back home are you going to be a pain in my ass again?” A smug smile took place on his lips.
“Only if you’re lucky.” He winked at you from the side and you giggled.
The trip back passed surprisingly quickly and the two of you were almost back home. You were excited to finally see Chan and get everything off your chest.
When your phone started buzzing, you were startled at the irony when you saw Chan’s contact popped up. “Hey, hun! I was just about to call you to let you know we are headed back! Almost home now!”
“Nice, how are the boys?” His voice sounded very flat and almost even pissed.
“Th-they’re great! We had a great time!” For some reason, you were starting to feel anxious and apprehensive.
It was silent for a moment and then Chan spoke up. “Is Sung available? I need to ask him something.” Your stomach dropped out of your ass.
You puffed out a nervous chuckle and Minho gave you a confused expression. “Nah, he’s passed out in the back right now. Eventful weekend, you know?”
More silence.
“Y/N.” Okay, using your first name confirms that he was pissed. “In all of the years I have known you, I have never seen you so shamelessly lie to me.” Your heart sank. Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped. “It’s funny how you think that I wouldn’t see Jisung around. Considering we work together and I can blatantly see when he clocks in and out.”
You knew that Jisung had to work, but he reassured you that it was nowhere near the hours that Chan was working. This was definitely a factor that you three had overlooked. “Channie…”
“Save it, Y/N. I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, and I know you had some sort of reason—“ You could feel tears build up in your eyes. “—but whatever the reason, I never expected you to lie to me about it.”
The tears were falling more consistently now. “Channie let me—“ your voice was uncontrollably shaky.
“You‘ve been a completely different person lately, Y/N.” He sounded like you had broken him. “If I’m not able to trust you anymore, don’t bother coming back.”
“Channie—!!!” He instantly hung up the phone and you found that you...
...you were suffocating.
You felt like every breath you took was filled with water and your face burnt from the friction of your hands rubbing your streams of tears away unsuccessfully. There was a ringing in your ears and the constant words of ‘don’t bother coming back’ filled your entire being. It was happening again.
You’re worthless .
You aren’t welcome .
You deserve to be alone .
You could feel a hand shaking you but could barely hear the muffled yelling of the man next to you past the overflowing thoughts in your head.
No one loves you.
You’re just a tool.
‘Find somewhere else to sleep tonight, bitch. I want you out of my sight.'
Your father’s words ran on repeat in your head and you wanted to smash in your own brains to escape them. You could feel your body close in on itself and your chest palpitate with hyperventilation. You were minutely aware of the door opening next to you and strong arms lifting your balled up form.
You didn’t care what happened to you anymore. You deserved nothing but to be used and discarded. Your mind brought you back to the nights you would wander the streets all night without any place to go. You didn’t want to burden Chan, and yet, here you were. You were more of a burden to Chan and his family than anything in this world. 
You. Are. Nothing.
Your vision was blurred with tears and the dazed over pain of your mind. You didn’t know what was happening around you and you couldn’t remember anything but Chan’s words.
‘...don’t bother coming back.’
‘...don’t bother coming back.’
‘...don’t bother coming back.’
You suddenly felt warm all over. A pressure consumed your body like a comforting cocoon and you melted into it. The cold, stiff tension in your body subsided and your body allowed you to feel again. You could hear yourself sobbing and realized that you had been all along, along with the repeated words of ‘worthless, I’m worthless’. With this realization, you allowed yourself a breather from the frantic words escaping your mouth.
The suffocating air had minutely thinned to an acceptable viscosity and you could feel your nerve endings returning to a modicum of function. First, you felt the soft embrace of your favorite blanket. Fluffy and thick with the perfect amount of weight to it. Second, you felt arms squeezing you tightly and a body pressed against your front and another from your back in a warm embrace. Lastly, you felt gentle hands comb through your hair and over your scalp, soothing the heat that was coursing through your brain.
You were starting to realize that you were having an anxiety attack. The last time you had one was during the last years that Chan was gone and you rationalized your mind to figure out how to climb out of it again. You focused on the feelings around you, trying desperately to escape the relentless thoughts coursing through your brain. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. You discovered that these words were being told to you by the arms around you. The fog in your vision started to clear and the light blinded you. Your eyes adjusted and you could see tendrils of curly, dirty blond hair in your field of vision.
The tears that were streaming down your face had decreased in consistency and you could feel the pain in your throat from the strain of your sobs. You could feel an aching in your back from being hunched over and you instinctively straightened up, stretching out the dull throbbing. You felt the hands loosen around you and realized you had two pairs of eyes plastered to your ugly crying face.
You allowed yourself to accept the focus of your surroundings. You were in your room, centered on your bed with a blanket around you and two men surrounding you. 
Then you focused on the man in front of you. Chan.
Your brother.
Your savior.
The sanctuary that had always been your beacon of light.
You broke out in sobs again as you clung to him for dear life. Afraid that if you let him go, you would lose him forever. You couldn’t hold on tight enough, close enough. Even though you could feel him hug you back, your body wrapped around him like a monkey, arms and legs circling his entire form. Your face buried in the crook of his neck and you could feel tears and snot rub up against his ivory skin.
“Ch-Channie! D-don’t leave me! P-please!” You were frantic. You were almost screaming out your plea’s to him. “Don’t th-throw me out! I love you! I’m s-so s-sorry! Please! Please !” You were clawing at his shirt as your body begged to cling onto him.
“Shhh shhh, you’re okay, love. It’s okay.” His soothing voice was being drowned out by your sobbing. He smoothed circles over your back with his wide hand. “Don’t be afraid, Kiyomi. I’m right here. You’re not going to lose me, baby girl. I’ll always be here.” You weren’t entirely sure, but you could have sworn you heard a crack in his voice and felt the wet heat of tears settle on your shoulder.
You weren’t sure how long time had passed. With the gentle shushes and the rocking and swaying of Chan holding you, time was irrelevant. “D-don’t leave me Channie…” You whispered against the soaked crook of his neck. Your throat was raspy and you could feel your eyes were swollen and strained.
“Shhh, I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. And neither are you… I’m so sorry, baby girl.” His voice was gentle and soothing, even if you could hear the lump in his throat.
You hiccupped back your sob. “I’M the one that’s sorry, Channie. So fucking sorry… I lied… I deserve to be thrown out on the streets.”
You felt him pull back and you picked up your breathing in a panic. That was until he grabbed your face with both hands. “Don’t you ever FUCKING say that, Kiyomi. I’m a goddamned piece of shit for even THINKING of saying that to you. You deserve better than me, Kiyomi. God, I’m so fucking sorry!”
You watched as the tears streamed down his face and by pure instinct, you stopped all thoughts other than wanting to make him quit hurting. “Why are you apologizing, Channie? I’m the one that fucked up…” You wrapped your arms around him who now had his crying face buried in his hands.
“I’m such a fucking idiot! I hurt you, Kiyomi. I swear to fucking god I will never forgive myself!”
“D-don’t you dare say that, Channie!” He popped his head up at your angry outburst. “I did this. I’m the one who fucked up. You deserve to hate me. After everything you’ve done for me, I hid this from you…”
Chan glanced behind you and you realized that Minho had been sitting behind you the whole time. “I can understand why you did, sweetheart. And that’s my fault too…” You looked at him with wide eyes. Did he already know? “Minho told me everything... I was the one who tried to forbid you from being together… I’m the one who made things harder on you…”
“Y-you…” You looked back at Minho with worried eyes.
He offered a sad smile and caressed your face. You were sure you could feel Chan stiffen underneath you, but you elected to focus your attention on your lover. “Come on, my little mouse. We can talk about this later. Let’s just calm down for now.” He held out his hand and you eagerly took it, trading your embrace from Chan, to Minho.
- - - - - - - - - -
“I’m so sorry Channie… I really was planning on telling you…” The three of you were sitting in the living room with the comfort of junk food and anime in the background filling the room. There was definitely tension, but you could tell that it was minimized for your sake.
Chan sighed. “I’m not going to lie and say that I am thrilled with the prospect of you being together, but…” Chan focused his sights on Minho. “Min says he is in love with you… and I am choosing to trust him.” His eyes turned into daggers. “But I swear to god, Min, if you hurt her, you better pray that I don’t find your sorry ass.”
Minho doesn’t scare easily. Hell, he is usually the scariest one in the group. But you could see the panic in his eyes as Chan spoke those words. “I wouldn’t dare…” Minho looked at you like you hung the moon. “She means more to me than anyone in the world…” 
You could feel your doe eyes glue to his as a single tear dropped from your eye. Minho reached his hand out and folded your hand in his. There was a moment of silence before Chan decided to add a meek response. “Kiyomi… I can’t express to you how sorry I am for saying that to you. I don’t know what was going through my head, but I hate myself for it. I hate to know that I am the one that caused your panic attack when I swore to myself that I would always be the one to ease them…” He glanced over at Minho with what looked like a tiny smile. “I suppose I have Minho to thank for taking care of you when I couldn’t…”
You were completely lost. What exactly had happened when you were trapped in your mental confinement? You must have shown your confusion on your face because Minho stroked your hair as he spoke up. “I didn’t know what happened on the phone with Chan-hyung, but I definitely knew something was wrong when you wouldn’t respond or look at me…” His face turned downcast. “You… you started screaming and crying and…” He swallowed dry. “I rushed to get you out of the car and carry you inside.”
Chan piped up from where he was looking at his fiddling hands. “When I opened the door and saw the state you were in and Minho’s panicked face, I knew that I had caused this. What I did to you…” His face lifted to Minho again. “I may not like the prospect of you two together… but I at least know that you are in good hands…”
Minho's face went dead serious as he straightened up. “I will do everything in my power to treat her how she deserves, hyung.” Minho softly smiled at you. “Because she deserves the world…”
________________________________________
If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading all three parts! Please like, follow, and share! Thanks baby stays! 😘
2chopsticks2eyes - Masterlist
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my-mt-heart · 4 months
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I want to address a few things that Norman said in Le Parisien. The article isn't free, and I'm not going to encourage anyone to pay for something they might not like, but if you do want the link, DM me and I'll send it. Thank you to the person who read and translated this:
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Defending himself against others trying to throw him under the bus is one thing, but denying all responsibility for the title accomplishes absolutely nothing except further insulting a significant portion of Daryl's fanbase. These fans, specifically Carylers, were all paying close attention when he said the exact opposite on Jimmy Kimmel. Watch at 8:45:
youtube
The video is from late last year. Melissa's negotiations for S2/S3 started last summer and her deal closed at the end of the year per my sources, which means there was (at least) a loose plan to bring her back before S1 started shooting. Norman confirms Pilgrim was a working title at some point, but he doesn’t mention Raise the Dead, which was more than likely planned as the official title of the show while they were shooting between October '22 and February '23.
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I bring up the timeline because even if you believe Melissa was always part of the French spinoff, Norman’s other favorite narrative right now, the implication is still this: Norman, AMC, and the other EPs were fully aware that Melissa was coming back when they officially landed on a title excluding her. You could argue Daryl has the most name recognition from being the most marketed character or that his tags on SM have 6 billion views or, hey, let’s make it 6 trillion (how much of that overlaps with Daryl and Carol content btw?), but as we saw, that doesn’t guarantee all those viewers will watch the show, which is how AMC makes money. If there are two leads on the show, naming it after one lead doesn't make any sense from a marketing perspective because AMC is missing out on attracting more audience, promoting two characters and their chemistry instead of just one character.
So. They either manipulated the situation to give Norman and the other EPs what they wanted or, once again, they dismissed Melissa’s/Carol’s vitality to the show. Or both. Regardless, it poses a big problem for me, because Carol's ability to stand her ground against anyone who thinks less of her is what draws me to her character. I can't reconcile that with the obvious tactics Norman and the other EPs use to claim the show for themselves, completely ignoring fans who may be critical, yes, but ultimately just want the story both Daryl and Carol have earned.
Speaking of being ignored, I heard from multiple fans that AMC did in fact send out a survey regarding the title. I can't confirm because I haven't seen the survey myself, but if you're doing market research, you need a target audience, and if you're doing market research on what you know will (eventually) be a Daryl and Carol show, you should probably target Daryl and Carol fans, shippers or otherwise. Not that it's the most appropriate way to choose a title (not even close), but where's my survey? Did any Carylers get to participate? Did anyone bother to check? Because to me, it sounds like the focus group they used for their market research wasn't aimed at their target audience at all. It's possible they did the market research with a sample audience of the flagship show or just Daryl fans who are a percentage of their audience but not all their audience. If they used an audience that incorporated Carylers, Daryl fans and GA — the feedback for that title would've been mixed. If they focused their market research on mostly Carylers, the feedback would've heavily leaned towards having an inclusive title.
So many fans, not just Carylers, hate the title. It's boring, it's offensive, it's pretentious, it's misogynistic, etc. etc. These are fans who want to watch and enjoy the show, who are expected to pay for it, so why don't their opinions carry more weight? Why is there still such a strong disconnect between AMC and Carol/Caryl fans when that's exactly what caused the backlash last year? Why are they not doing everything they can to avoid the same mistakes?
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As for this:
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Most of it is true except for one important detail. Angela Kang's spinoff was going to be a road show shot and set in the U.S. That's the phone call Norman is alluding to. That's the spinoff Melissa signed on for. To say otherwise makes her look unprofessional and flaky for "dropping out" knowing all along she'd have to relocate, and that's not what happened at all. It's like there's no consideration for his co-workers' images while he's trying to rebuild his own, and that is unprofessional.
To be very clear, this is not meant to be a smear campaign. My intention here is to point out how deceptive the PR/marketing strategies have been and how they're hurting everyone, including Norman. I can't for the life of me see any business sense in repeatedly gaslighting and alienating a profitable fanbase, treating Daryl and Carol fans like they're stupid, or insinuating a Daryl and Carol show can't belong to Daryl and Carol fans. The more Norman talks about the spinoff's inception, the more it ensures people will never trust a single thing that comes out of his mouth ever again, and that sucks because if he just focused on what the audience wants, insisting that Melissa is his equal on the show, talking about the characters in meaningful ways, supporting Daryl's and Carol's relationship, he could sell it easily. Fans should be getting excited for their story, not reliving last year's trauma over and over and over again. Melissa is back and that's exciting, but story still matters. Both on and off screen (precisely why we need someone else on board who can manage all of that really well). I've asked this several times before. I'll keep asking until someone listens. Can we please move the fuck on from the spinoff fiasco?
And change the title.
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ettawritesnstudies · 22 days
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Hi Etta! Sorry if you already mentioned this, but where/how did you find your editors? (If you don't mind sharing)
Don't mind at all!
I know there are companies like Reedsy and the Writers Digest which have databases of editors, but that seemed really overwhelming. At the end of the day, the best way to get resources is to network (make friends, and hope their mutuals like you too).
Last year, I did an interview for Amanda Auler on Instagram and she boosted my account, so months later I ended up doing an interview for Addison Horner. He does editing for indie authors, so I asked him for a sample edit and liked it, but I wanted to get other points of comparison first, so I asked around and came up with a short list of editors. I contacted them, and when I had enough to compare, I ended up deciding I liked Addison best and drew up a contract with him. God moment that I found him so quickly.
But if I had to give this advice to someone else I'd recommend following these steps:
Read books in your genre. Read INDIE AUTHORS in your genre. Review their books. Follow them on social media. Be a friendly fan but don't make it weird.
Indie authors are one person publishing teams desperate for engagement and positive attention. They will thank you for your help and be willing to pay it forward when the time comes.
Once you have a handful of books you like that have similar vibes to your book, flip to the acknowledgements and find the editors name.
Google the editor, find their site, submit your inquiry, email works better than a form.
If you can't find the editor online, DM the indie author and ask "hey I really liked your book and it's a good comp title for my WIP. Who's your editor and what was your experience with them like? Do you mind pointing me their way?" Follow the author's advice. Repeat as needed.
(I've only ever received nice responses to this, don't be anxious. If they don't reply they're probably just busy, not annoyed).
When you contact editors, ask about their availability, rates, and be specific about what type of editing you need. Ask for a free sample edit. Mine were 250-2500 words.
Supply details about your WIP. Mine looked like this:
Title: Runaways
Genre: Middle Grade Portal Fantasy. I'm not labeling it as "Christian Fiction" as religion isn't a focus point of the story, but there are significant underlying Catholic themes.
Premise: When Cecelia goes missing one stormy Halloween night, her older sister, Hannah, must venture into the faerie courts to learn the truth about their past and bring her home. (Linked WIP Page with additional information)
Length: About 86,000 words, 180 pages (Times New Roman, 12pt, double spaced, standard 1in margins formatting). 21 chapters with an epilogue
Style: 3rd person limited, present tense. 3 POV characters: primarily Hannah at first, and then Cecelia and the third added later, alternating.
Status/Timeline/Availability: Currently with a 2nd round of beta readers, and I'll be getting feedback by March 31st. After editing the draft to reflect their feedback and doing my own line edits, I'll be looking for a line/copy edit around April/May or early summer.
Types of edits needed: As I understand, every editor uses "line" and "copy" edit slightly differently, but I'm looking for a combination of both styles if possible: checking for internal consistency, logical choreography, adequate descriptions, minor plot or worldbuilding errors, as well as language concerns like cutting crutch words, making sentence structure more dynamic, choosing the right verbs, etc. Developmental editing not needed. Waiting to do proofreading at the moment
When perusing at the editors site, look for credentials/certifications, their backlog of works, and testimonials
If you don't have enough options following this method, join some discord servers! I'm in a local NaNoWriMo group and a Catholic Writers Guild called Inkwells and Anvils which were both useful. I think there might be some writeblr ones as well. Find the critiques channel and send the same information there^^
Compare sample edits. Who respects your voice? Who supplied the most insightful comments? Do you vibe over email? Are they willing to do a stylesheet? Do they like your book? Can you set up a 15 minute zoom call to see if you vibe and discuss details?
Look at prices. My rate is $.015 a word but that's pretty cheap for the industry. Most of the rates I saw publicly were between $.02-.03/word for line editing.
Pray/sleep on it
Once you pick your best option, set a date to send them the manuscript, sign contracts, and make payment.
Send a polite email to the other editors and say "I regret to say you're not quite the right fit for this book, but I appreciate all your time, help, and advice! I hope to work with you in the future" or something along those lines. Don't burn your bridges.
Celebrate!
This whole process took me a couple weeks, everyone was very punctual and professional and friendly. I ended up going with Addison not only because he was the cheapest but also because he made 3X the number of comments as any other writer, and his comments were specific and useful. He understood my characters immediately, I think in part because his writing style is similar to mine, based on his debut novel, Marrow and Soul. We're both Christians who like YA dark fantasy. It's a good match. He's still taking clients for later in the year if that's your vibes. I also worked with Amber Burdett and Sariah Solomon, who were both lovely.
I wish you the best of luck finding an editor who fits your story! I hope this was helpful and not overly long.
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tomorrowusa · 3 months
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The increasing number of wildfires is linked to the effects of climate change. The increasing presence of a carcinogen is a result of those fires.
It's widely known that wildfire smoke is bad for your health, but a group of researchers recently found a known carcinogen in California wildfire ash, raising concerns about just how harmful it could be to breathe the air near a blaze. According to a study released in Nature Communications last week, researchers discovered dangerous levels of hexavalent chromium in samples of ash left behind by the Kincade and Hennessey fires in 2019 and 2020. Workers in the manufacturing industry who've been exposed to elevated levels of hexavalent chromium,or chromium 6, have higher rates of lung cancer, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Scott Fendorf, a professor at the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University who worked on the study, said he was shocked by the results. "Up until that point, if we had a wildfire, I was pretty cavalier about it, to be truthful. We get the alerts and I would still go outside and exercise, thinking exercise was the better factor for my health," Fendorf said. "Now it completely changes my calculation. When we start to get wildfire warnings or smoke warnings, I'm going to be wearing an N95 mask." In some affected areas, the study found that the concentration of chromium 6 was up to seven times that of unburned land. [ ... ] Metals such as chromium naturally exist in the environment, such as in rocks like serpentinite. In this case, Fendorf said, the wildfires' intense heat appears to have transformed chromium into its hexavalent state. "The fire changes a benign metal into a very toxic form of that metal," he said. Hexavalent chromium is also known as the "Erin Brockovich chemical," named for the consumer advocate whose legal battle to help a small California town affected by the compound was immortalized in a now famous film starring Julia Roberts. The Stanford team only tested ash from several areas in California, but Fendorf said the test sites contained various types of geology and vegetation, leading researchers to believe the results would be applicable to many regions across the globe. The study's findings also open the door to further investigation of possible wildfire exposure risks for other toxic metals.
The simplistic view of climate change is that Earth's thermostat is just being turned up. But as CO2 and other greenhouse gases increase, a complex series of chain reactions is taking place. The spread of hexavalent chromium is another product of those reactions.
Only one of the two major parties in the US is willing to take action on climate change. In Sean Hannity's famous dictator interview with Donald Trump, the indicted ex-president promised: "I want to drill, drill, drill".
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chickenpeep77 · 4 months
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Read my mom's books
She is writing Christian (Presence of Christianity; Christians; no profanity) vampire books. I enjoy them. Some vampire lore from here:
Vampires don't have to kill people. They can hypnotize people, take some blood, and seal the bite wounds back up. Young vampires are a lot of trouble. They are weaker and have to drink blood more often. As they age they don't need as much blood; sunlight hurts them less. At around 80 years of age, they develop a power, such as telekinesis, illusions, fire starting by thinking it, super speed, strength; jumps, invisibility, mind reading, intangibility, perfect memory, turning into an animal besides a bat, etc. The power grows stronger with age. The power they get usually has something to do with something they want during their mortal life. Yes, they can turn into bats but they are more easily killed and can't use their power during this. Are hurt by garlic; can break and enter homes without permission. During the day they like to sleep upside down to make their blood circulate a bit, by locking their ankle joints hanging on poles. Vampires usually live in small territorial groups. They can interact with humans by using makeup to cover their pale skin, and by learning how to open their mouths without revealing their fangs. A new vampire is made by forcing a human to drink some of their blood. A stake in the heart does not kill them. It only injures them and makes them unconscious. One has to drag the vampire into the sunlight to burn it up to kill them. An injured vampire is extra dangerous because they can't control their hunger as well.
There are multiple series with a few books each, following different vampires. Sometimes they interact with another. The main one has the most books, and each one in this series includes them having an animal companion for each book. She's working on a series finale that brings everyone we've been following in the multiple series together.
The cover graphics on each book are home made on the computer, so they don't look the most professional, and we don't seem to be that good at thinking up title names. But I like the stories.
There is fun violence with different vampires and vampire hunters,
and also some humor scattered about. A silly thing in one book is a vampire that works as a firefighter and discovered he can go outside during the day if he wears the fire suit. So he just wears it all day and takes naps throughout the day. His co-workers think he's weird. Another is unintentional, but there's a vampire named Lola with super jump powers, and my mom is unaware of Lola Bunny. There's a fight with an obnoxious sound illusion vampire that used to be a court jester - my idea. Something that sounds unhinged out of context, is telling a doggy in That Voice, "are you ready to go for a ride down the drain?" This vampire has the power to turn himself and others into water and move around that way, and needed to escape with his dog down a sink drain. Another from the same book, which is not out yet; I'm helping go over it, is the same vampire telling a vampire hunter that his friends have already been taken care of, so he runs terrified to go find them, and the other vampire just, called the police on the people trying to kill them. The police don't know they are vampires. Such a dumb way to stop vampire hunters, I love it.
Link to Night Kingdom book 1; you can read a sample of it:
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klenda-v · 1 year
Text
Thinking about the King’s Jubilee special of 2003,
which featured Every Ultra they had a suit for at the time, an absurd amount of rap music, an Ultraman hip-hop dance troup, and Zearth’s hip-hop son, B-Boy Zearth Junior. He looks like this.
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Literally I have difficulty watching this because this might be the single piece of ultra content that delivers the most psychic damage to me. It’s just. It’s absurd, it’s a musical, it revels in its shamelessness—or at least I think it does?
Link and more specifics below:
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Just gathering screenshots I feel my soul deteriorating. For the curious and foolhardy, here’s a link to the video. No, there are no subtitles; no, you won’t need them. CONTENT WARNING: flashing lights and images, absurdity.
I will go briefly through each song, to give you an idea:
Song 0, 2:27 - Meet the performers
A dance/rap(?) group made of kaiju, aliens, and maybe bedazzled ultras? Or maybe they’re just dressed up as Ultras, the eyes are dark and they’re slightly Off? Maybe the announcer actually says, I think the general consensus is that they’re not true Ultras, but some other kind of alien cosplaying as ultras to…honor them? Or at least play as them for the purposes of the “narrative” they’re about to play out.
It’s also an incredibly large cast of performers. We’re just starting, we’re barely three minutes in.
UPDATE: My friend Emcee was kind enough to share the names of all the performers, which I will now relate to you:
"Ultra" dancers, referred to as Ultra Funk Jam:
Dyna Rocksteady, Gaia Electric, Zearth Funkygroove, B-Boy Zearth Jr., Cosmos Air, 80 Super Cool, Agul Boogiedown, Tiga Spinning, Ace Galaxy Step, Seven Shuffle, Justice Pointer
"Kaiju" Dancers (IDK their group's name):
Baltan Big Twister, Pit Flash, Izaak Wildstyle, Magma Freeze X, Dada Sexy (YES REALLY), Lady Benzene Hypnotic, Godola Popping, Bomberhead Gan-Q, Deban Floorcrown, Chaos Headder Grandmaster, B-G-RL Lady Benzene Daughter, Z Capsule Kouju Miraclon
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Song 1, 3:15 - four-man hip-hop dance
There are no words I can possibly use to match the actual experience of watching this. I think it’s the fact that I can’t tell if this is satire, or if they’re playing it completely straight. They never tell us. Or maybe they do, I don’t speak Ultra.
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Imagine if you will, any late 90s rap. Then imagine the music video for it. But filmed as if it’s a live stage performance, but also everyone is a trained gymnast and we get synchronized flips with Zearth Funkeygroove, Justice Pointer, Gaia Electric, and Tiga Spinning.
Song 2, 4:14, Kaiju Team’s turn
Now that I’m watching this, I think it’s framed as a dance competition? Where the kaiju and “ultra” teams alternate songs, like a rap battle with performances?
Anyway this song starts with an audio sample from, of all things, the sound Ultraman’s timer makes when he’s in mortal peril. This audio blinks sporadically throughout the song, hitting that sweet spot right between “huh I guess it’s just playing at the beginning, huh” and “actually using it as a sample/carrying any meaning.” Maybe the weird timing of the audio has significance with the JP lyrics, but I doubt it. The timer blinking tempo doesn’t quite sync up with the tempo of the actual music.
While the NotUltra’s solo performance had heavy use of flips, the kaiju team impliments a lot of floor work. Lotta breakdancing, if the camera cuts slowed down enough for me to catch most of the moves. Honestly the dancing throughout is very solid overall, with, again, the big caveat being the bewildering editing choices.
Also I think the ultras in the audience are moshing? Maybe I don’t know what moshing is. Watching this, I don’t think I know what anything is anymore.
Song 3, 5:21 - Kaiju Team, or the “Sexy Dance Time, Check It Out” one.
I…wish I were making this up. This one stars Dada Sexy (his [their?] actual name), alongside a feminine-coded alien I only later learned was Lady Benzene Hypnotic. At this point I wonder whether this is better watched high, or if this is already making me high.
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The groove to this one starts notably different, but like…if the Cha Cha Slide tried to be steamy. And no I didn’t grab a screenshot mid-frame-shift, this part is literally shot like this. It goes on for several seconds. They wanted it to look like this.
Oh and the Not-Ultras are here too. Seven Shuffle is one of them. Do with that what you will.
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The dancing itself is definitively less hip-hop and more…interpretative dance? I absolutely believe that this is an alien party, because nothing about this presents as remotely normal or human.
Partway through, a green screen cape (Kings?) flies through the screen. I can’t bring myself to care. Every Ultra in the audience is Very into it.
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Then about halfway through they switch it back to…hip-hop? I think? It still has multiple Interpretive Dance elements to it. The Not-Ultras bedazzled suits have neon lights on them, btw, I think you should know that.
And yes, by the end, they have the (male) narrator's voice chanting variations of “oh, sexy” in a way that makes me feel. vEry uncomfortable and I wish I could turn back time. I can only hope that the writers truly, legitimately didn’t know what that word actually meant in English, or what it implied if you sing it with the breathy energy they put into this number.
Benzene Hypnotic lets out an alien scream/trill at the end of the song, and we cut to the Ultra audience applauding at what a fun song that was. I want to go home.
7:43 - The Kids Come And Do a lil dance!
This next song is the intermission, a little ditty sung by and danced to by children. One of whom is B-Boy Zearth Jr. Zearth has a child. I barely notice; I’m still reeling from Sexy Dance.
This song, inexplicably, also has the “Dying Ultra’s color timer” sound. It actually appears more here than in the “villain” song. The song itself is…I think cute and charming? It’s hard to tell, my eyes are still glazed over. The kids do a pirouette or a cartwheel or something. The song ends, the announcer praises how super kawaii the performance was, I get a drink.
9:03 - Actual Dance Battle
This one has Justice Pointer, Agul Boogiedown, and I think Dyna Rocksteady (Might be Gaia Electric; his head is weird so I can’t tell), in a dance battle against three Kaiju Team members. This one’s probably my favorite, it sums up the weirdest parts of this while also having some legit solid dance moves. That and since it’s turn-based, we get lots of cool freeze-poses. Plus Agul Boogiedown throws up some gangsta peace signs, which is deeply funny after watching how edgy he is in his show.
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The rap song itself appears to also be framed as a rap-battle? I think? My JP is limited but each team’s bar of music seems to be lightheartedly dissing the other/pumping themselves up. Everyone ends the battle by doing the splits on the floor, which is what my head’s gonna do in a minute.
10:42 - A Ballet Number
What’s that? You wanted this to make less sense? No? Well that’s okay, this is basically a ballet number (??????), with violin and slow swaying from the crowd. Zearth Funky Groove is dancing ballet with Lady Benzene Hypnotic. It’s actually…you know what, this is kinda nice. It’s a nice break from—NOPE ITS HIP-HOP AGAIN, LADS
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But like a…flamenco (I think?) influenced hip-hop. This song is actually really interesting in terms of merging VERY different influences. Definitely a musical style inspired by the carribian or one of the Romance languages, but asking me to search my mind for factual information while watching this is like asking a boxer to do trigonometry mid-match.
The announcer tells the crowd to grab your sweetheart and dance with them. Tiga bows before Camearra and offers to dance (she graciously accepts). A Daadaa propositions Seven to dance, which seems to catch him off-guard in a bad way. Ultra Father offers his wife his hand, though they don’t properly dance, they just hold hands and sway to the music. Incidentally, Yullian and 80 are present and clearly went together, but they don’t couple up for this dance (that we see).
This doesn’t fit anywhere, but Zoffy is REALLY into the music. Like I’ve never seen him this enthusiastic for anything before. It's really sweet honestly. He’s dancing alone but is clearly more than happy that way.
12:22 - Final Dance
I have trouble articulating exactly what happens in this segment. Clearly it’s framed as a final battle, but those interpretive dance bits are still mixed with the hip-hop. As before, the dancing itself is quite good, if you like incredibly 90’s hip-hop dancing and breakdancing. It’s definitely the most floorwork-heavy of any of the songs.
The camera-work, while strange but functional before, takes a turn even further into the surreal. Some of the camera cuts are so rapid you’d think it was a stage-3 marvel movie; in places it gets to about 5 cuts per second. It will also cut not only between angles on the same person mid-action, but to random other shots, like the crowd of ultras, or a different dancer, or someone unrelated doing half a flip before cutting back again.
I think this must be the point in production where someone discovered you could rotate a camera, because suddenly multiple flips or dance moves are filmed with the camera spinning—presumably to follow the movement, but not quite synchronized and there’s no way we’re doing another take.
At the climax of the song, I can only assume Ultra Father saw some risk to the child-dancers; the music gets tense, and the kaiju-dancers close in around the kids, who cower back-to-back. Ultra Father exchanges an urgent glance with his wife, and together they SHOOT A PULSE OF ENERGY AT THE PERFORMERS ON STAGE.
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Which puts everyone on an acid trip. Or I think it does? The colors turn negative/green/weird, and then all the adult-coded performers drop to their knees in a clearly rehearsed part of the dance.
I’m losing my mind. What was this? Was this choreographed or not? Was Ken supposed to do that? I can only think he must have, but then why did his body language radiate legitimate fear for the children’s safety? Why have the Ultra Parents do that part, isn’t this King’s party?? What am I going to do with the avocado I bought two days ago and is gonna go bad??
Not labeling this as a separate song, because the last one never truly ended. But this is clearly the epilogue of the “fight”; the ultras do elaborate secret handshakes with the aliens and monsters, indicating everything’s A-OK now. I will never be A-OK again. The announcer is chanting “happy," though I think he’s repeating the last syllable a bit too much. I don't think they thought through what yelling "HAPPY-PEE" would actually mean in English.
The experience ends with King’s greenscreen cape floating down and King materializes onstage between the two child performers. He then levatates back up, which is the most normal thing to happen this whole time. He says something in English that sounds like maybe “Happy Mercy?” Messy? Blessing?
After the third listen, I realized he’s saying Happy Birthday. It’s his birthday. He’s saying it to himself. The crowd wildly applauds his self-congratulation and repeats the English phrase, and King makes his bows. My splintered psyche notices that the foley-work on his cape movement is very nice.
The end closes out with what I at first think is a hip-hop version of Dyna’s opening theme. I am wrong. They start a weirdly paced hip-hop beat with Cosmos’s “Something You Can Do” vocals. They loop the opening line twice, then go back to rap.
The announcer delightedly cries in English “See you NEXT YEAR!”
I take this as a threat.
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from-ultra-space · 2 months
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Nori’s First Mission
//This will be the second entry in Nori’s Stories, a collection of drabbles and short stories about the little blue dude or his little blue friends. This one is unrelated to the first but if you want to read it you can find it linked in my pinned post. Nori’s First Mission covers, well, Nori’s first mission out of the city. It happens many years before the current time and includes: blood, major injuries, mention of death (although no one dies), a little bit of found family, Nori imaging a sunrise, and is overall pretty long. I was hoping to show a bit more than what I have but that would take too long so just posting as it is. Hope you enjoy :)
-Mod Cucco //
     It was a little while after the team originally found Nori that he went on his first mission. He had been trained in common Ultra Beasts (specifically how to avoid them) and general procedures for how things worked. Still, just because you're trained in what to do if something goes wrong doesn't mean that's always what happens. It was supposed to be something simple, the mission that is. Nori was going to follow a few of the members in the Ultra Defense Force outside the city, collect some basic data to update their records, and maybe learn some stuff from more experienced people along the way. 
     The sky was always dark but Nori was noting it anyways, just like how he noted the sound the group made as they walked further from the light of the city. Osmund, the lady in charge of the expedition, marched confidently in front with something that could be considered a flashlight. As Nori was the only Recon Squad member there he also marched in the front, and even though it was just to gather the highest quality undisturbed data, it made Nori feel important.
     After a few minutes of quiet walking Osmund decided to be the first one to talk. "Your name is Nori, right? Sorry, I'm terrible with names."
"Yes, at least I think my name is Nori," he said back, "I'm not quite sure after all that's happened"
Osmund nodded, "I heard about that. I'm sorry Phyco couldn't find your family, not to mention losing your memories must have been a struggle. Still, I'm happy to have you working with us!" She smiled when she patted Nori on the back. "Just a tip but you don't need to be stiff to be professional. If you keep your posture relaxed while talking all fancy it helps your back and your confidence."
Nori hadn't even noticed he was tense until she said that. "Oh uh… thanks!"
"Hey It's my job. One of the reasons why Phyco sends all the new guys with me. That and the fact that I've walked this route so many times I'd notice if anything was off."
     They walked for a while longer after that. Nori noted (just as he was told) every rock and ancient building foundation. Each sample was one more weight added to his already sore legs until he eventually asked for a rest. Nori carefully went through his data and thanked his suit for being comfortable even if it was a little bulky. From the vantage point he was at there was still light emanating from Megalo Tower and for a moment Nori could imagine what a "Sunrise" might have looked like. Maybe there would be stars, tiny sparkles in the sky that would represent the people's dreams. Maybe there would be farms longer than buildings were tall. Maybe there would be "Trees", plants so big you could live in them. Just as Nori was about to write this down in his Personal Thoughts section of the notes he got interrupted by Osmund.
"We must have taken a wrong turn." She said, "I don't remember this place. Dalis, what's the distance to Megalo Tower?"
One of the members of the Defence Force, who must have been Dalis, looked down at an instrument with a confused look on his face. "That's strange, the number hasn't changed since I last checked it," He thought for a moment, "That must have been at least 20 turns ago. It's just… strange. I did a full diagnostic on it before we left, there should be no issue with it."
"Well nothing we can do about it now. Let's turn back before we get into any trouble… Nori, what's beeping?" Osmund asked.
Nori didn't notice anything though. It took him a bit to find what instrument was going off, his energy monitor. The small device was beeping like crazy, probably for so long that Nori had stopped noticing it. To put it simply, this was not good. "This is not good." Nori replied.
Dalis yelled, "Alright everyone get going. GO." Immediately everyone picked up the pace. Someone called the headquarters for a Lunala but it wouldn't arrive until well after the standard time simply because of how far out they went. Nori was so caught up in the group that for a little bit he didn't even notice that Osmund wasn't following them. 
"Osmund, come on!" Nori called out. She didn't move, just stared in the direction everyone was running.
"oh no. not good." Osmund murmured. "DON'T RUN THAT WAY" The entire group halted as Osmund finally ran to catch up with them. "TURN AROUND NOW!"
Nori was confused. Why wouldn't they head back? Why was it so bright all of a sudden? Nori's head hurt and he felt like he might fall over. Where had he felt this before? The world seemed to slow. Behind him the universe tore itself in two, and a monster entered the world. 
     Nori turned around In horror, his legs shaking as two hands emerged from the Wormhole, each larger than him. The hands forced the rift wider until the creature’s torso could fit through. Before Nori even had a chance to think, the Ultra Beast’s long needle of a mouth had focused its next target, him.
It was that moment that the Buzzwole came crashing down like a force of nature and everything went red. Somehow Nori wasn't dead. Somehow Nori was still conscious and as he lifted his hand to his head he felt something there aside from the blood. Don't panic, he thought, pleaded really, Osmund. Where is Osmund? 
     Nori crawled through the rubble spread by Buzzwole's entrance. He could see the destruction it had caused now,  people fell to its might, some fled but probably wouldn't get far. Finally, he saw Osmund. She was trapped beneath a rock that fell when she must have shoved Nori out of the way. He stumbled across the chaos until he fell next to her, both terrified and in pain. It was there that they waited for help. Osmund was nearly dead, barely breathing but still struggling to stay conscious even if it was only to warn Nori everytime the Beast returned to look for them. It felt like a long time before any help arrived.
     Sometime between rescue and being transported back to the city Nori must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he remembers is waking up to Phyco and Soliera looking down at him. He was told that the Buzzwole had been defeated and that everyone had survived, even if they did so with injuries. A large chunk of rock had to be removed from Nori’s head and it would leave a permanent scar just above his eye, but surprisingly he and Osmund sustained the most damage. Ms. Phoris (as Phyco had called her) would most likely not be able to go out on missions due to complications with her legs. Still, that certainly wouldn’t stop her from training others in the future. Nori would always be her favorite student though, enough that she even gave him her last name.
     While much has changed since this incident (mainly safety procedures) it’s content continues to affect those involved. Aside from the main physical injury Nori received, from this point forward he almost refused to get too close to any kind of Ultra Beast or pokemon. It also kickstarted Nori’s relationship with Osmund, one of the primary people who he considers his family, as he has none by blood. Like a few other of the accidents Nori continues to find himself in, it still bothers him a little, even if he won’t admit it.
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dealbrekker · 3 months
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YEAH that tvxq Mirotic video you reblogged awakened something in me. The moment that dude started singing I clicked off the video bcs my jaw dropped so hard I was like WAIT FUCK WAIT WAIT WAI
PLS GIVE ME RECS 🙏🏻 I know literally nothing about them beyond seeing you scream about them (Changmin and Yunho if I’m not wrong) anyway yes I find your blabbering very endearing actually. love you <3
Obviously you can't see me rn but I am smiling so big omggggg
I guess as a brief introduction I do some bullet points and then give you some songs to check out!
They go by TVXQ for the most part, but you'll also see their Japanese name, Tohoshinki, and their Korean name Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK). All translate to roughly Rising Gods of the East.
They debuted in 2003 as a 5 member group, and 3 of them left in 2010. Anything from before 2010 you come across will have the 5 voices. Yunho and Changmin stayed as TVXQ and "re-debuted" in 2011.
Personally I think it is totally worth it to listen to the old stuff. I don't think there ever was and ever will be a phenomenon like TVXQ/DBSK as a group of 5, and their korean and japanese songs and ballads are mind blowing.
That being said, I stuck with Yunho and Changmin more than the others after college (funnily I was introduced to them just as they were breaking up), and consider them to be the true TVXQ. They worked insanely hard to make TVXQ theirs and their vocals and talent have grown so, so much to fill in the voices that left.
So some song recs! I'll stick to the Korean songs for now, but their Japanese catalogue is NUTS. I think at this point they have more Japanese songs tbh.
3 big pre-2010 songs:
Mirotic Rising Sun Love in the Ice (this one makes me cry every time, especially the re-arranged duo version since they cover all the voices so beautifully)
All of their old songs have been rearranged for the 2 of them, so you can certainly find those versions too. All the links above are the originals.
3 big 2011 and on songs
Keep Your Head Down (their comeback as a duo song) Humanoids (this link actually will take you to the Japanese version of the song, live concert performance because it is THE Standard for live performances) --- Also, this is a facebook link, because I couldn't find this on youtube for some reason??? Let me know if it doesn't work and I'll try to find a better one!! Spellbound (my favorite song/mv experience. It's straight choreo with only 1 camera cut)
3 Yunho solos:
Drop (I'm fine it's fine it's not insane king shit or anything) Thank U (this one has some blood and violence heads up. If that's not for you, any of the live performances are stellar) Vuja De (this one has scenes from his longer NEXUS mini film which I also recommend. It samples all the songs from that particular album)
3 Changmin Solos:
Chocolate (he can cut it out, quite frankly) Maniac (so theatrical, so musical, so AHHH. I think this is my fave of his solos) Fever (I lost my ever loving mind when I saw this for the first time. Face clutching ensued.)
Picking 3 for each of them was incredibly difficult omg. I'm excited for your thoughts! Completely understandable if you don't go through all of them, but these are some personal faves.
Finally, they just did a Killing Voice episode where they do a half hour medley of a ton of songs if you prefer to sample them that way! This is where the mirotic clip I reblogged is from :D
Their new album just came out and is called 20&2 if you want to take a listen. It's their first Korean comeback is 2018 so we've all been feral lately.
Thank you for getting through this info dump. I'm glad my blabbering is enjoyed lololol XD.
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theroseunblown · 2 years
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Goodbye Earl - An Eddie Munson x Reader fic
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Genre: Fluff
Word count: 1608
Summary: It's the earliest part of the early 00s, and you think you've finally got a way to convince your metalhead work friend that country music isn't all that bad.
Content: mid-30s Eddie x late-20s GN!Reader (no pronouns or gendered descriptions as far as I'm aware), no Y/N, flirty friendship, bratty!reader, quick hint of a "sir" kink at the end, a lot of nerding out about the history of 20th century country music, The Chicks pre-name change, minors DNI this blog isn't for you.
A/N: Whew, the brainworms got me on this one. If you're not familiar with the song from the title, you're going to need the context: here's a YT link. If you've got thoughts to share, I do love an ask or a comment. Everything related to 20th century country music history comes from my own research and I can provide sources if you want 'em. My thoughts on 21st century country are summed up well by this 5-year-old post (not mine), but I'm still happy to talk more about it or anything else anytime.
March 2000
You don’t know much about the manager of the Hot Topic next door to the FYE where you work at the Starcourt Mall.
You know his name is Eddie. You know he’s got a second job at the place that sells comic books and board games off Main Street. You know he’s friends with the owner of the Baskin Robbins franchise that opened downstairs a few months ago (you think his name is Steve). You know he plays in a metal band on Fridays and has dinner with his uncle every Tuesday night. You know Metallica is his favorite band and that he listens to every new release in the metal section, but he rarely buys anything from new groups.
It's probably time to revisit your definition of “much”, but whatever. The first thing you ever knew about him was that he hates country music.
Back in January, right when you first started at FYE, he came in two hours before close, all black jeans and pins and chains. He spent an entire hour listening to samples and finally came up to the counter with the new Kittie CD. As you rang him up for Spit, he’d winced and pointed up to where the speakers were playing Tim McGraw’s “Something Like That”.
“Sorry they make you listen to this crap,” he’d said, pulling cash out of his wallet.
You’d looked at him, stone faced. “I’m the only one working the floor. I put this CD in the stereo twenty minutes ago.”
You still laugh sometimes when you think about the face he’d made, eyes wide, lips pressed together and sucked into his mouth like he was trying to physically eat the words he’d just said. “Um,” he’d said.
“Eh, don’t worry about it,” you’d told him. “I’m just impressed you’re not walking out of here with Slipknot.”
His shoulders had relaxed then. “That’s because Slipknot’s garbage.”
“They really are. Here’s your change.”
From then on, you and Eddie struck up a casual friendship based on partially shared interests and good-natured mutual mockery. He always waves at you when he walks in, no matter how busy you are, and you usually find a way to step out from behind the counter and go “organize the CDs” in the metal section while he shops. You rarely go into the Hot Topic on your breaks – for some reason, you feel the same energy in there as in the Abercrombie & Fitch downstairs, just with a very different aesthetic. His after-work sojourns into the FYE are the only time you get to talk.
Correction: They’re the only time you talk. “Get to talk” makes it sound like you wait for it all week or something, which you definitely don’t, because you’ve got better things to do.
Anyway, today is one of the days he got a minute to come in after his shift, and you’re talking country music… again.
“I don’t understand how somebody who likes Green Day and Joan Jett can possibly also be into country music,” he says to you, deftly flicking through CD cases in the punk section. “I mean, all the twanging, and the tractors –“
“The tractors are a niche that I’m not into,” you say, fake-rearranging the albums in the shelf next to him and keeping an eye out for your boss. “And the twanging isn’t the point. It’s a storytelling medium.”
He snorts. “Yeah, stories about tractors.”
“Stories about dreams! And loss, and families, and love…” The two of you get too close, and your hand accidentally brushes Eddie’s as you pretend to re-alphabetize. You make eye contact with him for a charged second. You clear your throat, turn around, and start pretending to work on the cart behind him. “I mean, have you ever actually sat down and listened to a country album on purpose?”
“Not on purpose, no,” he says, “but Wayne used to play this one Johnny Cash album over and over when I was a kid.”
You cut your eyes at him. “Which one was it? The one about the theft of Native American land, or the one he recorded from a state prison?”
Eddie’s hands stop. He thinks for a second. “You know, the prison thing sounds familiar.”
“At Folsom Prison, got it. Your uncle’s got good taste.” You keep organizing – this cart actually needs it. “If he had any Loretta Lynn on hand, you might have also gotten to hear one of the first songs ever recorded about birth control in America. Or Charley Pride – not only the most successful African American country singer to date, but also the guy who broke the de facto ban on touring concerts in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. They still play ‘Crystal Chandeliers’ over there as a unity song, you know that?”
“Okay, okay.” He turns to you and holds up his hands, suppressing a laugh. “I’m crying uncle.”
You meet his mock surrender with semi-mock preening, holding your chin up. “As well you should. And I didn’t even tell you about Willie Nelson smoking weed on the White House roof.” You look at him, grinning, and wrinkle your nose. “I figured you might be into that.”
Eddie narrows his eyes and goes back to flipping through punk CDs as if he hadn’t heard what you said. “I’ll concede that it’s fine that you like it,” he says, “but country just isn’t intense enough for me. Not like my usual stuff, you know? I like to be a little pissed off when I listen to music.”
You pause, forming an idea. “Do you trust me?”
The sound of rattling plastic stops as his hands still. “I think so,” he says.
You smile at him. “Come on.” You grab him by the sleeve of his leather jacket – how the hell is he not sweltering, wearing that thing inside? – and snag a copy of the new Dixie Chicks single on the way to the listening station. You pop it into the player and hand him the case.
Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Already the name of this band concerns me.”
You sigh. “Yep. I’ve written to them about it, but they’re releasing their fifth album this year, so I don’t think it’s going to change.”
He smiles, surprised. “You wrote to them?”
“Yes. Now bend your head down.” He rolls his eyes but deigns to do as you say. You nestle the headphones over his fluffy brown curls. You’re close enough to notice that he’s starting to get little individual silver hairs growing in, but you decide to save teasing him about that for later. He straightens up and you hit play.
Not even a second passes before he’s commenting. “Okay, the accent is a lot,” he says, slightly louder than what’s appropriate for the distance between you.
“Well, get used to it, it’s a staple of the genre.”
Another couple of seconds. “Aww, Future Farmers of America. Cute shout-out.”
“Quit it with the comments and listen to the song, Eddie. This isn’t Mystery Country Theater 3000.”
He snorts. As the song goes on, his face changes. “Oh, no,” he says, looking genuinely sad.
You nod. “Wait for it.”
Within 30 seconds, his face goes from frowning to solemn nodding to full eyebrows-raised, mouth-agape surprise. “Holy shit.”
“I know.”
“They’re killing him!”
“I know!”
“They’re poisoning him!”
“I know!”
“It’s… kind of great?”
“I know!”
He finishes the rest of the song, straight through to Mary Ann and Wanda selling jam by the road and Earl in a tarp at the bottom of a lake. He even laughs a couple of times. By the time it’s over, his eyes are alight, looking off in the distance, and he’s biting his lip in a way that you already know means he’s deep in thought. He takes off the headphones, hangs them back up, and looks at you with approval in his eyes. (Not that you care.)
“I won’t be walking out with this record today,” he says slowly, “but that wasn’t half bad.”
You roll your eyes, but you’re smiling. “The CD will be here when you’re ready for it, sir.” You’re teasing him about the “record” thing, but something new flashes behind his eyes when you call him “sir”. You decide to leave that for another day, too.
He bites his lip, suddenly the tiniest bit shy. “They’ve got the right idea, I think,” he says, his voice low and quiet. “I mean, I’ve only known you a few weeks and already I think I’d maim anybody who hit you.”
You can tell by the look in his warm brown eyes that he’s not joking. “I… don’t hate that,” you say quietly. You break eye contact with him to look at the clock. “Hey, it’s time for my thirty.” Your normal voice is back, bright and shiny. “Wanna grab a pretzel?”  
He blinks a few times, like he’s stepping out of a movie theater into broad daylight. “Uh, yeah,” he says, “if you’re buying. Gotta make up for making me listen to a country song somehow.”
You roll your eyes again. “Yeah, yeah, sure. I should have started you with Reba.” You glance around – the store is empty, and your boss is in the back office. You kiss Eddie on the cheek. “Be right back, gotta clock out.” You feel your cheeks burning as you turn around, unable to even look at his face, and head for the back room.
“I’ll… be here,” you hear him say, and you smile despite yourself. At least there’s that.
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rosentinted · 5 months
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updated:  13 december 2023
000.  basics
hi, i’m ness and i’m looking for rp partners in doubles rp on discord.
so yeah, i'm looking for people who are willing to rp oc x idol for me. in exchange, i will do oc x idol or idol x idol for you. i write a couple of groups and soloists, but i might add more once i get to know the members better. please only request groups i already listed below for your side of the rp.
groups: bts, stray kids, got7, monsta x, nct, (g)i-dle, twice, loona, red velvet, blackpink.
soloists: zitao, zico, jay park, cl, iu.
001.  guidelines
you must be twenty or older.
you must also be familiar with tupperbox, or willing to learn about it.
i will write all kinds of ships, like m/f, f/f, m/nb, nb/nb, etc.
i am not comfortable writing smut with idols, but things can still get pretty heated. i'm still open to suggestive themes and fade-to-black for implied smut, just not explicit detail.
semi-lit to literate partners. i write a minimum of 2 paragraphs per response, and i only write in 3rd person pov & present tense.
i'm looking for partners who are okay with lax activity. i'm talking okay with only one response a week, and no hounding for faster replies. this is a hobby, and i intend to keep it fun and light.
put in effort for both sides of the roleplay. if you only consistently reply with long paragraphs to your side of the rp, i expect you do the same for my side. if i feel you're not putting any effort in my side of the rp at all, i will talk to you about it. if it continues, i will drop both rps.
lastly, i'm here to have fun, and i want you to feel the same way. if anything i say or do makes you uncomfortable, please let me know and i'll remedy it. if you feel better dropping the rp and distancing from me, you may let me know or just do what's best for you.
002.  requesting a roleplay
if you’re interested, please send me an ask or message with the following info in this format:
name: the name you want to be called
pronouns: so i don't misgender you
age: use numbers for exact age or age range
discord: your discord id so i can add you
ship: oc x (idol's name you want for your oc) / (idol's name you want to rp) x (idol's name you want to ship)
groups/soloists: list any groups or soloists you can rp for my oc
triggers/banned topics: anything you'd like to avoid in chat or rp
prompt/plot: this is for the plot you want to rp for your side
writing sample: minimum of 2 paragraphs ; a link to your sample also works
don't worry if you send it an ask, because it will not be published. i might not also rp with everyone who reaches out if i don't like the plot or i feel like our writing styles won't match. i'll still let reach out and see if we can compromise.
003.  the banned list
i’m very into dark plots and themes, but i won't say no to lighter themes and plots. i'm pretty adaptable, however i do get bored if there's no action going on. it doesn't have to be majorly earth-shattering or some extreme conflict.
i'm just asking if you want to say do a domestic plot, please introduce some kind of conflict. maybe there's a reservation they had planned weeks ago, but someone made a scheduling mistake, so now they have to choose between the dinner reservation or the job meeting. or maybe someone's just running late while the other's already waiting at the restaurant. just something to keep the excitement going, and it's not just tooth-rotting fluff all the time.
these, however, are banned plots / themes that i will not do whatsoever:
idols being themselves as idols
abo dynamics or omegaverse
homophobic / transphobic / xenophobic / etc. themes
004.  conclusion
i promise i'm not super mean or strict as my post suggests. like i am happy to just chat with my partners about anything and everything, it doesn't even have to be about our rp. i'm also happy to share like inspo posts, musings, headcanons, or pinterest boards about our rps, so don't be put off.
if we get along, that's great and awesome, and i can't wait to write with you! if we don't, that's cool too, and i hope you find the partners who fit for you!
this is such a long post, but thank you for reading! i hope to hear from you soon 💙
* note: you can use the tags below to look through my wanted plots, writing samples, wanted opposites, and muse faceclaims.
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kotonas · 8 months
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Hi there, My name is Claudia and I'm currently writing my MA dissertation which will be on how the subtitles of K-dramas may influence people's opinion of Korean culture of their viewers. I'm doing a survey to understand more deeply to what extent this is, and I was wondering if you could help me share it around. 
Here's how the survey works:
> It will take roughly 15 minutes to complete as there are quite a few questions and clips to watch.
> The survey is anonymous, it requires the email to do it but that information is strictly confidential and won't be shared with others.
> I have used short clips from the following dramas: The Glory, All of Us Are Dead, Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Squid Games. However NO SPOILERS to the plot have been used - all the clips are a few seconds long and only include idioms, expressions and cultural elements so no spoilers are intended nor shown.
> In the last section you'll be asked to watch said clips and reply to the questions related to it but again NO SPOILERS to the plots. I'd really appreciate your help! Here's the link: https://forms.gle/6hkJMG9p3232LZB47 
oh wow that's a very interesting study!! but i think i don't really fit into your sample group? i know korean to an extent that i understand when subs are off or are missing the "cultural context"? wouldn't knowing korean mean i would skew your results if the point is to look at the situations portrayed in the dramas you picked solely through the "english translation" lens?
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dontlookdown · 1 year
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Nick’s Favourite Music of 2022
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Those who have followed my work for a while know that I usually start the new year with a collection of reviews looking at my favourite songs of the year. This year, I’m only doing the one post. If my experience with burning out halfway through last years’ list taught me anything, it’s that I can’t commit to the traditional series of twenty-plus blog posts when I know full well that I don’t have the time or the energy to see it through. Maybe things will be different next year. For this year, I’m happy to compromise.
Below, you’ll find the list of my 20 favourite songs of 2022 (YouTube links in the headings, Spotify embed at the bottom), along with a few words about why I love each particular one. Let’s go!
Röyksopp – “Speed King”
I started putting this playlist together with the first and last tracks already in mind, due to their lengthy runtimes. Normally, I’d kick things off with a true opener, something loud and driving. Despite its name, “Speed King” is not that. It’s a slow, electronic burn that builds into something truly formidable. My immediate reaction upon first hearing it was “This is the Daft Punk track I’ve been waiting for since 2005,” but that backhanded compliment ignores how the way the bassline steadily bubbles away in the background is pure Röyksopp, a hallmark that you’ll find throughout their work. The duo released three albums over 2022 and, while there’s great songs on all three (especially the tracks featuring Alison Goldfrapp and Susanne Sundfør), they saved the best for last.
††† (Crosses) - “Procession”
We’re going to stay in a low-key mood for a bit with the next two songs. Considering how I fell in love with Deftones in 2020, it seemed right that I should check out Chino Moreno’s side project when they re-emerged with their first new material in nine years. The PERMANENT.RADIANT EP turned out to be the perfect taster for this group’s softer, more atmospheric sound. I particularly loved “Procession”, which is the perfect showcase for Chino’s distinct voice and a show-stopping bassline that kicks in at 2:40.
The 1975 – “About You”
I find it difficult to pin down my feelings about the 1975. They’re a band I always want to keep at arm’s length, and yet they’ve ended up my year-end lists three times now. That’s an achievement in itself, but doing it with three songs that sound nothing like each other is something else. “About You” is the most U2-ass sounding song of the year. And I like U2 a lot.
Asunojokei – “Diva Under the Blue Sky”
Here we fucking go. Asunojokei are a Japanese band that have picked up the “black metal but happy” torch from Deafheaven and ran a mile with it with their album Island. I keep getting Undertale vibes from “Diva Under the Blue Sky”. Something about the main melody feels very reminiscent of the excellent work Toby Fox did on that game's soundtrack.
The Beths – “Silence Is Golden”
A bit of blistering Kiwi indie rock to get the pulse up.
Phoenix – “After Midnight”
I was not expecting this. A beautiful reminder of what Phoenix are capable of, absolute masters of a slick, twisty pop-rock style that’s very much their own.
Fred again.. – “Jungle”
A true club banger. Turns out you can do an awful lot with a chopped vocal sample, a savage beat and a great sense of dynamics and timing.
Ibibio Sound Machine – “Protection From Evil”
I’ve got a lot of love for tracks that find ways to keep building and building upon themselves. Having a truly magnetic presence like Eno Williams front-and-centre on the microphone would’ve been enough, but having her vocals and the rhythm behind her slowly rising in intensity before colliding together with horns for the climax is downright magical.
Beyoncé – “Pure/Honey”
Never bet against Bey. There’s a reason RENAISSANCE was the near-unanimous critic’s pick for album of the year, that’s because it’s just so damn fun to listen to in full. “PURE/HONEY” splits the difference between the album’s two moods: hard-edged house to start, with shiny disco as a chaser. The way the songs shifts between those two gears makes it the perfect pick for this playlist.
The Weeknd – “Take My Breath”
I remember first hearing “Take Me Breath” and thinking “this needs something extra”. That something extra turned out to be the extended version on the Dawn FM album. Almost twice as long as the single version, it allows the backing beat room to stretch out, with the chugging muted guitar and arpeggiated vocoder properly setting the scene for song to make more of an impression. It doesn’t just benefit the song, but the album as a whole. The three-song-run of “How Do I Make You Love Me?”, “Take My Breath” and “Sacrifice” is a thrilling moment from an artist with a career full of them.
Spoon – “Wild”
“Wild” is my favourite song of the year. I knew that the second I laid ears on it. Spoon have been one of my favourite bands for a long time, and the fact that they can still come up with songs this good after 25 years is awe-inspiring. “Wild” is such a perfect Spoon-esque song, it’s honestly incredible that they hadn’t written it already.
Alvvays – “Belinda Says”
A blast of aural sunshine, with a key-change befitting of its namesake.
Camp Cope – “Running with the Hurricane”
This was a late discovery for me in December. While making my way through all of the hyped releases I’d missed, it was refreshing to come across music that was so direct and earnest. A true breath of fresh air, which I assume a hurricane would also have plenty of.
Shamir – “Reproductive”
By contrast, this was an early favourite that I rediscovered while combing through my existing collection. It always takes me a few plays to properly acknowledge the lyrics of songs. Once I noticed the streak of self-loathing running through this one, it just made the deep sadness of the music hit harder.
The Smile – “Free In the Knowledge”
Choosing my album of the year was tricky. This and the next four acts on the list were all contenders for the crown, though none jumped out as instant picks like previous winners have. In the end, I gave it to A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile (the new band featuring Thom and Jonny from Radiohead, and Tom Skinner from Sons of Kemet), simply because I had a nice little moment to myself while listening to it for the first time. Relaxing alone in the park, in the warm sunshine, feeling at peace with everything. By the time I’d gotten to “Free In the Knowledge”, I felt a calmness I hadn’t felt in months. Other albums just can’t compete with those personal moments.
Big Thief – “Change”
One last quiet moment before things pick up again. “Change” is a cool breeze of existentialism on a warm day, the kind of vibe Big Thief have been very good at for some time now.
Black Country, New Road – “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade”
I’d said in the introductory post for my 2021 blogs that, after being slightly disappointed by their debut, I was looking forward to Black Country, New Road delivering on their next album. And boy, did they. Ants From Up There is a record that was fascinating on first listen, and keeps revealing hidden layers on repeat plays, especially when digging into the lyrics. “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade” (it’s about cooking, not killing) is a rich portrait of domestic malaise, the kind Jarvis Cocker used to dabble in. It’s sad that vocalist Isaac Wood has decided to move on, but I’m glad he’s putting his mental health first. That can’t have been an easy decision. And, once again, I’m very interested to see where the band goes from here.
Black Midi – “Sugar/Tzu”
I’d lumped Black Midi together with BC,NR and Squid (or Black Midi, New Squidi, as I liked to call the grouping) in that 2021 post, but they really couldn’t sound more different from each other. While BC,NR spent the year chasing a deliberately pastoral sound with strings and all, Black Midi made a record that sounded like an arson attack at a Cole Porter recital. Hellfire is Black Midi’s most accessible record yet (not a high bar, admittedly), and it’s helped grow my appreciation of their previous work too. If you’re in the mood for hearing three musicians (plus a brass section) playing the ever-loving shit out of their instruments, “Sugar/Tzu” is the song for you. I’m a very big fan of the little guitar break at 3:20.
SpiritWorld – “Relic of Damnation”
My ferocious appetite for metal and hardcore did not diminish in 2022, and SpiritWorld’s DEATHWESTERN was the best the genre had to offer this year. It’s loud as hell, yes, but there’s a buoyancy to this band’s music that harkens back to the thrash metal of the late ‘80s. A song like “Relic of Damnation” isn’t just interested in pummelling your ears, it also wants to propel you forward, smashing through whatever boring chore you have to finish. This band is almost single-handedly responsible for me processing as many invoices as I did this winter. I’d listen to Randy Moore make that demonic horse neighing sound with his guitar all fucking day.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – “The Dripping Tap”
This isn’t the longest song I’ve featured on these year-end lists, and it sure-as-shit won’t feel like it either. Of the five (yes, five) albums worth of music Oceanic overachievers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard released this year, “The Dripping Tap” is the crown jewel. While I’ve found some of the band’s other work to be somewhat meandering, this song is 18 minutes of pure, focused, fast-paced psychedelic rock. It’ll take you on a wild ride without even leaving your living room, and the time flies by whenever I put it on. The way the opening verse returns with a vengeance (and the full band behind it) for the final minute feels like a real gift, and the perfect way close out both this playlist and 2022 in general.
Thanks for reading! I enjoyed writing this! If you fancy reading more from me, I’ve done similar series for every year going back to 2011 (and basic lists for 2008-2010). Just copy and paste this link (https://dontlookdown.tumblr.com/tagged/best-of-20xx) and edit the year to see them!
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baeddel · 2 years
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could you (or any of your followers perhaps) point me in the direction of... good reads about 19th century russian literary criticism / intellectual history? currently cramming for a term paper. i am thankful
don't you have, like, a teacher? what are you paying them for, if you still need to deputize crazy internet trannies for help? well, i'll do my best! also, use anki to memorize stuff! it's the memory machine!!
[900 words, mostly quotes]
anyway, when you talk about early Russian literary theory most people think about formalism, which didn't come around until the 1910s. from my textbook:
The most prominent members of the group were Victor Shklovsky, Boris Tomashevsky, and Boris Eichenbaum, whose work can be sampled in Russian Formalist Criticism: Four Essays, edited by Lee T. Lemon and Marion J. Reis (University of Nebraska Press, 1965). Their ideas included the need for close formal analysis of literature (hence the name), the belief that the language of literature has its own characteristic procedures and effects, and is not just a version of ordinary language, and Shklovsky's idea of 'defamiliarisation' or 'making strange' (expounded in the essay 'Art as Technique', which Lemon and Reis reprint) (Barry, 2002, Beginning Theory, pg 109; all page numbres correspond to the pdf)
and their rivals, "the Formalists' intellectually strongest opponents, the circle of Mikhail Bakhtin" (from that book, Lemon & Reis eds., 1965). i wanted to look at this to see if the editors or the formalists themselves grounded any of the discussion in 19th century precedents. thankfully they did! from the introduction:
The Russian Formalists, like the New Critics, learned much from the teachers whose works they were forced to attack. Historical scholarship had made extensive and precise information easily available; indeed, the Formalists’ work depended upon the availability of a huge reservoir of historical data. The moral-social critics like Vissarion Belinsky, Nicholas Chernyshevsky, Nicholas Dobroliubov, and Dmitry Pisarev contributed indirectly and negatively. [...]
But the Formalists learned most from the philologists—from Alexander Potebnya (1835–1891) and Alexander Veselovsky (1838–1906). Each in his own way worked toward a distinctly literary study of literature; each contributed to the discovery of an approach to literature that would prevent its subservience to any and all other disciplines. Potebnya’s insight was one of those simple discoveries that, when proclaimed, inevitably lead to a revolution in thought. Following Wilhelm von Humboldt, Potebnya saw poetry and prose (aesthetic and nonaesthetic language) as distinct, as separate approaches to the understanding of reality linked by their dependence upon language. Like many British and American critics of the following century, he drew two basic conclusions from this insight: that the study of literature as literature must be primarily a study of language, and that the preliminary problem in such a study is to define the peculiarities of poetic language as opposed to prose or practical-scientific language.
and:
Potebnya [...] made metaphor the basis of all poetry. But as Victor Shklovsky points out in “Art as Technique” (see pp. 5–6), Potebnya’s metaphors work in only one direction: they work only by presenting the unknown in terms of the known. Thus for Potebnya metaphor is essentially an aid to understanding, and poetry, the particular example of a general truth. Potebnya’s work was much more subtle than this; but the course of Russian poetry and criticism in the first two decades of the twentieth century led to the simplification, and it was the simplification that the Formalists felt they had to attack.
as for Valesovsky, he
arrived by a long and difficult process at the conclusion that the study of literature had to be self-contained—that it could not legitimately overlap into other disciplines—he argued that the motif and its uses were the proper subjects of literary study.
and he leaned a lot on folklore. this is a lot like what i know about 19th and early 20th century philology and folkloristics in general; that it began with something moral, nationalsitic and evaluative, and evolved into something formal, historical-linguistic, sociological, universalist, and sometimes excessively scientistic and prone to overgeneralization. this overall tendency is covered well by Peter Barry in the first chapter of the book i mentioned earlier (pg 16, titled Theory before 'theory'—liberal humanism) as well as by Michael Lapidge in the first chapter of Reading Old English Texts (1997, pg 32).
another secondary text that might help you make the garden path is International Folkloristics: Classic Contributions by the Founders of Folklore, ed. Alan Dundes, 1999, particularly chapter 10, In Search of Folktales and Folksongs, on the Russian folklorists Boris and Yuri Sokolov, who lived in the late 19th and early 20th century. in a later chapter on Vladimir Propp (an influential formalist) there is a book cited called Precursors of Propp: Formalist Theories of Narrative in Early Russian Ethnopoetics by Heda Jason, 1977, which might be helpful if you can access it (i couldn't find it).
oh yeah, and one right angle you might find interesting is Tolstoy's interest in Daoist texts. Tolstoy was extremely influential in the 19th century as an anarchist thinker, promoting a kind of pacifist, nonviolent moralizing anarchism which is not popular anymore. he was also interested in Daoism and talked about it a lot. he produced a Russian translation of the Daode Jing despite not speaking any Chinese, instead translating a French translation (which he had been warned was an awful translation and ignored this advice). i think i read about that in that one article about translations of the DDJ by people who don't speak Chinese lol (see). there's also an article about Tolstoy's use of daoism here.
hopefully those things help you some. if any of my followers can help out please do!
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