#ignoring my input on why I don't think she's right was bothering me

[saucetail]

I love waking up in the morning and having the first thing my mother talks to me about being "you know I was speaking with this woman with an autistic child and I don't think you're autistic because I don't remember you having autistic traits as a child" as if ignoring or not noticing isn't like. one of the number one reasons some people don't get diagnosed until adulthood lmao

[geospiral]

The stage was always Luka’s world, and everyone else was just living in it.

Luka’s first round in the 50th Alien Stage competition was the fourth round, but really it should have been the second given the predetermined matchups. The Segyein were saving his round for later in order to excite the in-universe audience to the previous winner’s grand return.

(There is no dimmed profile in the second bracket.)

Luka being set up to go against either Mizi or Sua was absolutely intentional; the Segyein knew whoever came out of Round One would be an easy target for Luka’s manipulation, which, in their eyes, would make for a good show. When organizing the rounds, it seems like the Segyein try to go for which setups will elicit the biggest emotional responses out of the contestants. They clearly already knew about Mizi and Sua’s intimate relationship with the fact that the contestants’ profiles are most likely created by the Segyein with little to no input from the humans themselves (probably made with the help of the ever-present camera flowers in Anakt).

(translation)

This would also explain why Sua and Ivan were so certain about Mizi going up against Sua in the competition despite them not being told about the round matches yet.

(Take this with a grain of salt because it is possible they were already told who was against whom before this comic, but given how young they look, I'm thinking that it's probably too early for them to know.)

(translation)

If Luka weren’t in this year’s tournament, they would have probably set Till up against Mizi in Round 5 instead since the Segyein are aware of how much she means to Till. They technically could have still done that with Luka in the competition and had Round 6 be him vs. Ivan, but they most likely didn’t want to save Luka’s signature act until the final round, which the Segyein would have believed themselves to be doing given how they don’t seem to know how important Till is to Ivan (probably intentionally on Ivan's part).

(Text: "Intimacy: 70% It feels like I'm being chased all the time, but I can't find any evidence, so the teachers only suspect me!!! I'm so pissed!! He's always done things I don't like, and I don't understand... Anyway, he's a bother.)

Note: While I think the character profiles were probably made by the Segyein, I don't think the intimacy levels from the artbook are. I'm showing Till's intimacy level for Ivan to highlight his comment about the teachers not believing him when he says that Ivan is constantly following him around.

The Segyein knew the two were friends at least, but that seems about it. Maybe that was enough for them to be a possible sixth round setup if they came out of 2 and 3 victorious, but given the vast potential there was for Luka vs. Ivan after a Mizi vs. Till round, I don't think the Segyein knew the depths of Ivan and Till's relationship and therefore didn't care until it became blatantly obvious after the canon Round 6 and could be capitalized upon for the finale.

From a meta perspective, an Ivantill round was obvious, but my personal opinion is that in-universe I think that matchup was more akin to a happy little accident on the Segyein's part.

This is also all ignoring the huge elephant in the room, which is the Rebellion throwing a wrench into the competition.

I think the biggest change in the direction of the competition (not the results of the rounds but in how the rounds themselves were organized) due to the rebellion was how the Segyein decided to have the finale be mere hours after Round 6. If the fifth round hadn’t been interrupted, I think that the sixth would have been performed right after, like how the first four rounds were. Also, I don’t think they would have tried to aid Luka in his manipulation by throwing up pictures of Ivan on the screens and would have just left him to his own devices like in Round 5. But the Segyein wanted to lure the rebels out to save Till, so basically flashing a big sign that says, "THIS GUY IS MESSED UP FROM THE LAST ROUND AND WILL DIE IF YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING" was probably the best way to do it.

This is all to say that I think it's a lot more interesting if Luka was being set up to be the winner the entire time. Obviously he still had to work for it, but I like the idea that almost everything was set up in his favor; he just had to take advantage of it. The Segyein wanted a good show, and Luka knows how to perform. He did not disappoint them.

[beta-adjacent]

@fairytalesociology

Thank you so so so much for your patience with me; I've been getting my footing back after starting school again :') I honestly don't remember what you'd asked me about anymore, but I know it was Zombies related so I'm just going to ramble about the franchise until I run out of steam, haha

The first Zombies movie has bothered me since it I first watched it, especially because of its ending. It looked like there was another cheerleading school competing against the Mighty Shrimp!! But that other team doesn't say Anything about Seabrooke, which irked me because.. why didn't they? If they knew about a zombie outbreak in this one town, and they saw cheerleaders who looked exactly like a zombie..... why did no one say anything about the zombies? The lack of their input implies, to me, that either this other school is a farce and Seabrooke is some Orwellian nightmare, OR that everyone is fully aware of Seabrooke and they do not care about the zombies for whatever reason (e.g. zombie outbreaks are common, the politics behind zombies has long-since been discussed, Seabrooke is a really conservative town). I wish we got Zombies 4 so we could see the world outside of Seabrooke!!! And it's a crucial part of my rewrite, especially since it'd make Addison realize how everyone thinks she's human, regardless of her hair color and rhinestones.

Speaking of Addison, I love her potential. Addison is best when she is played as an accidental villain, or at least constantly at moral odds with herself. Addison's flaws primarily stem from her privilege and white guilt, originally perpetuated by her environment being too close-minded, but continues to be perpetuated by her choosing ignorance and neglect of her privilege (which unfortunately in the canon leads to little or no consequence). Even now, in the main series, she's got good foundations for showing how activism can go downhill, or be/become superficial; there's a powerful story there that I want to tap into.

So, in my rewrite, I want Addison's journey of becoming a proper activist to be really clear. In Zombies 1 & 2, I need the characters to full-on call her out on her malarkey. I'd love it even more if marginalized groups like the zombies can't say anything right away, and that builds and builds, and suddenly Zed and Addy get into a huge argument. I even like it if Brianna -- yes, Brianna, the "black best friend" stereotype in the movie about battling racial stereotypes -- had this fight with Addison!!!

I want Addison to have a big fight with Zed, hear the things she doesn't want to hear, and be a coward for a second. I need her to run back to her human friends and family to get some space, only for her to realize that she has the privilege to run away at all Maybe she cries to her parents and her dad threatens to tell the authorities about Zed, despite him doing nothing wrong, and Addison gets this clarity. . She could've done anything to Zed, to his reputation or career or life, in that moment due to her anger; he was lucky that all she did was go to her family. And realizing the power she has over her boyfriend because of her social statuses is what makes her return to Zed with humility. I mean, maybe this borders on too unrealistic, haha; the point is simply that Addison needs to see how she is still like her human friends/family in many regards.

By the end of the series, I want Addison to understand that, regardless of her heritage, her role in Seabrooke is as a human ambassador. Her arc should feel like she learned how her privileges and guilt impact those around her, and how to help a new race of monster without immediately trying to become one of them.

But, of course, that all doesn't even begin to touch on the other major gripe people have with Addison-- her suspicions that she's different were actually correct, and worse, she's rewarded for it. In my rewrite, I want Addison to get confirmation that she's part alien way earlier, ideally at the end of Zombies 2. I think for the best long-term arc, her learning she's generally not human should start at the end of Zombies 1.

Ideally, the reveal she's not human is a private confession from the mom at the end of Zombies 1, which makes Addison's conflict in Zombies 2 a choice-- she can either reveal herself as monster, or she can keep it to herself. Again, that's a huge privilege for her, one that the zombies and werewolves can't afford (as Zed himself demonstrates in Zombies 1). Based on Addison's choice, the world becomes our oyster! Addison can try sneaking away by herself to find answers in Zombies 2 such that she finds the werewolves (instead of it being a matter of fate/luck); she can try leaving Seabrooke altogether; she can come clean and watch her human peers not care (or maybe they do ostracize her like she feared; that's a plotpoint that's not really explored in the original canon). In my perfect world, Addison ends up doing some research, and ultimately causes the aliens to arrive. Maybe the group decides to help her at the start of Zombies 3, or they try to but can't because they're all going away and graduating while Addison feels stuck. Maybe Addison talks to her to-be-deceased grandma, or a similarly-knowledgeable loved one, and inspired by those stories, she chooses to summon the aliens despite not knowing the worldly consequences. Regardless, when Addison gets to engage in her alien culture, I think she needs to be an outsider who learns (hopefully already knowing how to respect another culture thanks to Zombies 2).

Again, Addison is root of a majority of the conflicts in this rewrite because I like her that way, haha. The original canon makes her so paradoxically selfish despite her empathy with sense of justice. It just makes sense to explore a world where Addison's selfishness keeps getting the best of her. I want redemption for Addison; I just make that a very difficult process, haha.

Here are some other comparatively small thoughts about the franchise:

The end of Zombies 3 where Bucky takes over the ship absolutely rocks me because for someone who cared so much about hating on the zombies & co... how did he handle learning he's an alien?? Similar to Addison, Bucky in the canon gets all the benefits without the repercussions. So when Addison learns about the alien thing, I want Bucky to be there too. Actually, wait here we go!!!! Bucky summons the aliens, not Addison; he becomes the villain for Zombies 3. This then allows Addison to teach Bucky everything she's learned over the last two movies about how to be a good person.

Also, Eliza should've been president in Zombies 2; her entire arc was building up to that and her subtle ways of demonstrating how she is a leader and struggling with how to be a passionate revolutionary without turning to violence. Zombies 3 should've then been about her struggling to make change within the bureaucracy of the school instead of being away at college.

[multiversehotline]

Uh hello there? The name's Deco and I'm calling to... lodge a complaint I suppose? I mean I don't really want to but I know out of everyone who can, I'll be the uh nicest about it. Or at least I'm trying to be. I do hope i'm coming across alright..

Okay so. Some strange Fresh calling himself Divine has come into my multiverse and claims you sent him? To get help from us? Or maybe more accurately from me... I mean don't get me wrong; I don't mind helping out a fellow Ink, we've got to stick together, but uh why us? It feels a little strange I can't entirely put my finger on why. Is it even right for me to use that phrase? I don't exactly have fingers. Just finger bones.... Uh, if you heard that just Ignore it.

Where was I... Oh right. It's weird. That he got sent here? I'm confused. I mean he's not bothering me- he's been fairly polite actually, all things considered- but he's not supposed to be here. His presence is also pissing off Mar, which isn't good for anyone and just gives me more work to do. Not to mention how upset the Creators have been about this, something about 'us not supposed to be meeting this way'? They're not being very clear on what that means but what else is new... Um that's about it I think. Please don't send anyone else out way, for everyones sake. Our multiverse isn't particularly open to offering help like this. Even if I do wish Divine & his Ink all the best...

(Coming from the distance) Actually, for the record helpline brahs, I didn' say that. Not cool puttin word all up in my mouth like that broseph.

[Deco is/was actually supposed to end up becoming friends with Creation. Which both what's got the Creators in a huff as well as giving him a strange feeling/sense when it comes to Divine. And also AV!Fresh picked to go by Divine while he's out in the wider MV, since he figures he aint the only Fresh out there & it would be less confusing. Mar is just this MV's Error, she's underdevloped / has little lore other than being a girl and soooooo sick of everyones BS. Including MVH's causing disruptions she now has to deal with...]

* Hello Deco! I’m sorry you feel this way. The Multiverse Hotline strives to help those in need and gives advice where we see fit.

* We gave general advice to our clients and we are not responsible for any actions they may have taken. We have no control over who our clients meet and what Multiverses they may run into, they have only met you by chance.

* Our main priority is to help those who are struggling or are in bad situations. The Creators input is not our primary focus at this juncture but if they ever lodge a complaint they will be noted and given the attention they deserve.

Our Kindest Regards,

- Multiverse Hotline

[introverted-ghost]

Hello, hyd? :)) (tw for long ask below. Feel free to ignore)

Could you help me w something, pretty please?

I need to do an informative speech for college about an "interesting" topic. So I made a list of topics and now am asking my friends what topic/s they like the most/think are the most interesting. I was hoping you could take a look and give me your opinion (no pressure tho, if you don't wanna/are bussy, whatever, it's totally okay.) Here's my list:

1. Agnes Sorel. She was King Charles VII of France mistress in the XV century. She saved France's economy and prevent a British invasion all by herself. She was so cool some painters from the time used to portray her as Virgin Mary.

2. Dance plagues.

3. Gorbals' vampire hunt. In 1954 all the children from a town in Scotland were so convinced there was a vampire killing people, that at night hundreds of them went out with axes and knives looking for the monster.

4. What would happened if the sun disappeared/what would happened if the moon disappeared.

5. Why do people like to be scared (horror movies, ghost stories, roller-coasters, extreme sports...) (like. the scientific reason.)

6. The case of a woman who went to the hospital because she had "lost her body." She could see, and feel, and move her whole body, but she felt like the left side of her body wasn't hers, as if there was a void in there. This happened after she had a brain surgery to remove a tumor.

7. Missing 411 phenomenon. I really don't know if it is like a well-known topic in North America. Here in the south almost nobody knows about it, so I think it would be cool to explain how weird all these missing cases are and how non of them has ever been solved.

In case you actually read all this, thank you v much :) have an amazing day.

(I heard about all these stories a long time ago, I could be giving some incorrect information lmao.)

FUCK MY CULMINATING IM GONNA GIVE MY INPUT

1. Wow she does sound really cool. From the information provided and what I remember from 5th grade French history agnès sorel would be pretty cool to write about

2. This is the one I know the most about out of those you’ve listed. The dancing plagues were so weird and I think it would be really interesting to write about

3. After brief research this also sounds super cool. Especially since it happened so recently and it would be so interesting to research further

4. I don’t know about this one since it’s pretty obvious what would happen. Like since we’ve seen the outcome of what happens when sun-like stars have died before. Don’t get me wrong it’s super cool I just don’t know if people would want to continue paying attention to it as much if they already knew what would happen (same with moon scenario) but they’re still really cool and interesting which is what you’re looking for

5. Once again this one is just kinda obvious as an answer. Like it triggers the brain to release dopamine and Idrk how you could expand on that. Though if you could it’d be interesting

6. I have literally never heard of this before. All the other ones I knew a bit about but I’ve never heard this before and it sounds pretty cool

7. Yeah we don’t hear much about this in Canada since it was a us thing. But I do think it’s kinda cool since they all went missing in parks right? And like their cases didn’t get solved etc. pretty neat if you ask me

This probably wasnt the answer you were looking for and I also answered this like 2hours post sending so sorry for that. And you’re never bothering me dw man I’d love to see the speech you come up with. Anyways now I’m gonna work on my stuff and listen to some guy on youtube talk about journey to the west

I hope you have a wonderful evening and best wishes to you for your speech

[renhy6ck]

closer of you – renjun & donghyuck.

warnings: fingering (f!), voyeur & dom!donghyuck, hard dom!renjun, dirty talk, degradation, fighting for dominance?, masturb4tion (m x m!), pet names, big c0ck! hyuck, oral (m!), creampie and vaginal penetration.

synopsis: porn without some specific plot. just pure and clear smut.

—

you know how much renjun needs you when he tilts his body against yours while you are still lying on the bed. donghyuck's silhouette sitting on the next bed does not seem to bother him, as he makes no mention that he would stop.

the babylook that barely covered yourbody is on the floor, your pink chess skirt is wrapped around your waist and the panties are put aside. the silence kind of scares you and you don't know very well where to look, holding a groan when you feel your boyfriend's thin fingers playing with your input. you contracted a few times with the mention of his fingertips getting into you, in a few seconds, two fingers were burying into you.

"you don't have to get that nervous, kitten" donghyuck's soft voice echoed through your ears, his eyes immediately turned to a relaxed face. a few drops of sweat fell from his cheeks and his dark eyes showed how much he was focused on you. "pay attention to how your boyfriend wants to fuck you... if you are a good slutty to him, maybe i can play with you a little"

a smug smile appeared on his smelling lips, causing your heart to beat. renjun pragued, using his free hand to tighten your waist, sinking his fingers into your skin waveously.

"you can't be satisfied with just one cock, angel? do you really need to be numb with cum until you can't stand it anymore?" the tip of his tongue makes a noise when it collides with the sky of his own mouth. then his fingers went in and out quickly and with some violence.

you close your eyes, throwing your head back, throwing your hip forward, in a desperate search for the tasty sensation that his fingers brought you, amid the rapid palpitations of your heart, just with the idea of the other two eyes on you. you wanted to look beautiful to donghyuck as you never looked before.

renjun wasn't a bad boyfriend, he knew very well of your secret wish for his flirtive and sticky best friend. he was unable to ignore the jokes about your beautiful ass or how your eyes shone at the moment haechan appeared. even if hyuck irritates him, he would be too cruel if he didn't give you that chance. you were so good, why deprive yourself of tasting the one thing that seemed so tempting and so impossible to have?

 "you didn't tell me that your little toy was dumb, hyung." the acidity of hyuck's voice makes you choke with your own saliva and the daydreams disappear.

renjun stops when you were about to get there, the diver pounding in need as his fingers drifted away.

"do you want him, princess?"

you hesitate and settle.

"yes, master..." the subdued voice softens the hyuck's ego. "i want his dick first"

your sudden confidence made him blink a few times, incredulous. jealousy tightened on his chest, his eyes half-closing as he split between facing his large western eyes and his open, reddish lips.

quickly, his hand went towards your beautiful and reddish face, squeezing it tightly, causing your lips looking small. your open legs against his body was an impulse for renjun's free hand to come into contact with your sensitive clit, depositing an aggressive slap.

"i'm not good enough to be the first, huh?"

it's not difficult to repair the pulsing vein in renjun's tempora, the loud and irritated voice already denounced the displeasure. renjun wouldn't admit it, but his ego was slightly hurt.

with a look of disgust, renjun releases your face, gradually moving away from your body. your elbows leaned on the mattress, pushing your body forward slightly. the blonde's hands tidy his black shirt, walking towards his friend, while his eyes look at them curiously.

"don't let her cum until i say to"

a presumptuous smile appeared on donghyuck's face, his tongue running through his lower lip as his hands strolled through his thick, showy thighs amid black skinny pants.

"that's a little hard to guarantee, man. look how she is now. if i touch her, she can melt"

renjun's jaw is locked now. you decide to be quiet a little, using your own fingers to squeeze and play with the nipples while you watch them fight. the idea of them having you both seemed too good to be real, you thought.

"do you want to see me end the show?"

donghyuck stands up, or looking into his best friend's eyes. the smooth white shirt contrasting with your tanned skin made you sigh. how could he be so beautiful? releasing a low groan, you soon squeeze your clit between the indicator and the thumb.

"you don't have courage enough, injunnie. not while she's enjoying her own little pussy" haechan's peripheral vision did not let your movements be ignored.

 "don't make her cum." renjun touches the shoulder of the youngest boy before sitting in the place where hyuck was previously.

donghyuck approached you slowly, gently touching your wrist, taking it away from your own intimacy. you groaned, looking at him among your eyelashes with some difficulty. the neon red light preventing you from seeing it so clearly.

"are you a good girl, hm, angel?" he interrupts you even before you can answer, touching your hair and putting it behind your ear. "of course you are. you're a needy little girl, aren't you? you need a real man to eat this cunt in the right way am i right?"

renjun was already about to touch his own stick, lowering the zipper of his tight pants, pulling on the mattress, squeezing the erection through his underwear, but the youngest words dispersed him. you looked at him, feeling a certain apprehension in giving any answer to the boy in front of you, but not preventing his cold hands from going down and up through your thighs, squeezing the inner part, avoiding your nucleus in a frustrating way.

"i swear by god, haechan, that if you continue with this thing, i forbid you to touch her"

donghyuck turns his eyes, opens the button of his pants and quickly puts his erection out, brushing it against your thigh. you groaned with the amazing picture in front of you. you blinked a few times to try to see more clearly. haechan's cock was thick, bigger than you could think, making your mouth salivate.

"it won't fit...i'm sorry. but it can't fit on me" you groaned.

"ah...it is. you know it is"

one of haechan's hands wrapped itself around the base itself, guiding the dick to your entrance, entering little by little, enlarging its inner walls as each centimeter sank inside you. the free hand grabbed both of your wrists, placing them above your head, pushing his own hip forward.

"be quiet, babe and don't cum, i don't want your pretty boyfriend to kill me"

the delicious laugh of the tallest made you into a trance. his eyes couldn't at least remain open, fighting against the neon light to observe your beautiful face while the noise of his hip against your echoed through the room.

renjun's hands were agile on his cock, going down and up, playing with his own glans, squeezing and rubbing his thumb in circles sometimes. it didn't take long for him to approach, kneeling close to your small body.

donghyuck approached, touching your boyfriend's face, turning to himself. he kissed him, entering the older man's mouth with his tongue, reducing the stools to something slower. renjun was slightly confused, but gave in to the touches, weaving his tongue into each other's, bringing a nice feeling. your eyes blinked a few times, not believing in the warm sight in front of you.

you felt your entrance pulsate in the middle of haechan's stick, pressing it with some force, going against your order and releasing some moans with your lips between open. the hand before on the boy's face, now was already involving renjun's extension, puncturing it quickly.

"master please, please." you wriggle on the bed, pushing your own hip against the cock, shaking your body in a desperate way, letting the tricky groans escape from your mouth. when they stop, your boyfriend announced with some arrogance:

"it's my turn"

haechan leaned over your body, kissing your lips then for a few seconds. the soft and warm mouth touched your jaw, your neck, your shoulders, your clavicle, the space between your breasts, while the stocking became desperately slow. soon, he was already out of you.

your boyfriend was quick to get into you, squeezing the skin of your hip with his fingers, sinking them heavily there, probably leaving marks, stocking quite quickly.

"squeeze my fucking cock, cockslut" he grunted in an order, entering more and more, moaning with the image of your messy face and the strands of your hair fallen on your face.

you obeyed him immediately, pressing and pressing your entrance around the extension of renjun. receiving slight slaps on your cheek; donghyuck's cock was hitting your face, looking for your attention, making you turn your head to the side and open your lips, letting it stick into your cavity, storing your mouth willingly.

"fuck, she still accepts me so well." he sighed, clenching his fingers in your hair, pulling your face against him.

you blinked, controlling the tears as you felt his glans reach your throat at the same time as its apex approached. you needed confirmation so much, otherwise you would succumb, you were sure.

 "don't you like to have two cocks using you like a stupid little slut? if you keep pressing like that, i'll finish you off"

with a few more stabs, you felt the sweet and bitter taste of  sperm coming down your throat, leaving only the caresses of his fingers on your face and hair. meanwhile, renjun slowed down in your grip. now with your mouth free, the moans escaped easily, hoarse and low.

"let her cum, hyung. i don't think she can stand it any longer"

a cunning smile grows on renjun's thin lips, slipping his hands through your body in a lingering caress, whispering quietly.

"enjoy it, princess. you heard him."

wiithout waiting, you have broken down around him, who in a few stools empties his liquid into you, relaxing his own muscles and laying his body on yours, hiding his face in the curvature of your neck.

"that was good, wasn't it?" haechan asks in a pleasant voice, getting up and straightening his pants, buttoning itand sitting at the edge of the bed. "did you like it, my baby?"

"it was amazing." you blink, letting some tears fall on your cheeks.

"i only have one thing to say" renjun started.

"i did something wrong, love?"

"no, y/n. the problem is him"

i the middle of a laugh, the youngest's hands rest on his own waist.

"aren't you going to tell me that you are mad because i fucked her, right?"

"if you kiss me again, i will kill you."

[rodneymckays]

rusted wheel | 'the last man' inspired rec list gen(ish) & mcshep fic under the cut

At Least In This by Chandri

Rodney was always going to be the last one standing.

john finds out just how much rodney gave up to send him back where he belongs. he isn't happy about it.

The Bird Watcher by kariye

“I know,” he says, and she says, “Do you know what love is?” and she uses his own images against him:

query: image: Rodney McKay: status: hologram: speaking: do you know what love is image: John Sheppard: location: infirmary: Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Rodney McKay sitting around him image: Rodney McKay: speaking: do you think he’s going to be all right image: Teyla Emmagan: speaking: I know it image: Rodney McKay: speaking: you don’t know that, medically image: Teyla Emmagan: speaking: then I believe it query: image: Rodney McKay: status: hologram: speaking: do you know what love is image: Rodney McKay: speaking: okay, maybe something like that

i don't wanna write a summary blurb for this one because i think going in blind and trying to sort out whats happening as you read is a part of the magic of this story. but i will say this; reading this felt like returning to a place you remember fondly and never thought you would see again. kariye's ability to use sci-fi elements to tell a beautifully emotional story makes this a must read experience.

Dream a Little Dream by tzzzz

Rodney asked Carson if he wanted to dream. He didn't bother to ask John.

rodney programs a sort of vr for john, to help him pass the time while he's in stasis during 'the last man'. some dreams are harder to wake up from than others.

Gravity by Rheanna

If Sheppard had a physical body, he'd be waking up, looking around curiously, frowning. As it is, his program is doing similar things: testing input/output connections to the rest of the database, running self-diagnostics and sending data packets out over random paths to check for responses. It feels strange to Rodney not to be able to directly observe the processes running in the partitioned cluster but, then again, that's exactly why he set it up this way. After all this time, there's another independent entity on the network, one program out of tens of millions that Rodney has no control over.

He's not alone anymore.

set in the time between john entering stasis and his return to atlantis. rodney makes an AI sheppard to keep him company.

Last Man Reshuffle by pir8fancier

...classy." John held up the glass, which had a picture of William Shatner as Kirk emblazoned on the front.

"Given current events, you're lucky I'm not chugging directly from the bottle. We bought a set of twenty-four at a Star Trek convention we went to a few years ago. Only proving, once and for all, that collectively we have an emotional age of about twenty-two."

an alternate take on 'the last man'. john is sent to another sort of future he is ill-equipped to deal with. luckily, he's with genius. (seriously, sheppard's unconditional trust/faith in rodney, to both save his ass and fix the universe, is one of my favourite things about their relationship, and this fic exalts in it.)

Nothing Like the Sun by mandysbitch

He’s cutting his thumb when John shows up again. “You shouldn’t do that,” John says. He leans over Rodney as he writes a formula on the floor. This time, Rodney’s done with ignoring him. Phantom, apparition or vision, John’s just as provocative as he was in real life. “I’m doing it for you,” Rodney says. “I’m trying to save you.” “Me?” John says. “What about Carter and Ronon and Teyla? What about Keller?” “Yes, them too,” Rodney says. “I can save them all.”

rodney's need to fix everything at the expense of everything else lands him in psychiatric care before he makes it back to atlantis in 'the last man'.

That Which by Darsynia

"McKay to Sheppard—you have five minutes to find your guy," Rodney reminds him. John's really kind of scared that he already has.

wow. just wow. an epically long 'the last man' tag, canon au, where not one word is extraneous. after being rescued from the rubble of michael's sabotage, john, rodney and ronon are more desperate than ever to find teyla. emotional and plotty. the epitome of 'leave no one behind'.

big thanks to the lovely @cassiope25 (&anon!) for asking for this rec list <3 i had a ton of fun putting this together, and i hope u enjoy these as much as i do!!

also, if ur looking for more recs, check out my recs page here! it is not complete by any means bahaha. i had a bunch of fic saved to my ibooks (and then all my notes and stuff got deleted 🙃 honestly felt like a part of me died) sooo i've been rereading a bunch while reading new stuff. and whatever i love gets added there! check back periodically for updates!

[deleteddewewted]

Ok, this is my last request, I swear and scout's honor...I'm sorry for bothering you and being annoying, please forgive me!

Uhm...how about a fic or headcanons on Monoma with a female s/o who's short (as in, 4' 11"...I think our boy is 5' 7", but I could be wrong) and is a coffee-addict, and it gets to a point where Monoma's worried for her addiction and health, so he tries to keep it away from her for a few days, please? He can also like, tease her about it and play the height bully since she's a shrimp compared to him when she tries to get her coffee back?

Like last time, I don't mind if what you write is sfw or nsfw. I just need more blonde copycat boi in my life, lol! Thank you! 😊 I hope you have a good day/night/weekend!

I’M SO HAPPY YOU CAME BACK!!! Don’t ever feel like your annoying, i love hearing from you.

It took me a bit to make this, sorry about that. Hope you enjoy!

Caffeine Rush

Monoma x F! Reader

Note: H/c (your hair color)

W: Mentions of NSFW, Monoma Being Absolutely in Love With You

TW: Vomit, Addiction

Monoma’s favorite thing to do each morning is to wake up to your beautiful face. You always tell him that it isn’t but he gladly disagrees with you because you’re wrong. He would watch you sleep for a few minutes, hours if the day before was truly exhausting for you, and just sigh like the lovesick fool he was. That peace becoming disrupted when the alarm in his phone would go off indicating the beginning of the weekday.

“My love, wake up.” Monoma leaned down to shower you with kisses, even as you swatted him away with your hand. The attempts that were made to cover yourself with the blanket didn’t stop him from attacking you with hugs. Warm and inviting rest but quickly changing to panic as he lifted you from the bed and walked out to the common area blanket included. Your other classmates were already up doing their usual morning routines. They found your relationship with Monoma adorable, concerning but adorable. The way Monoma brags about you and your achievement was sickening.

“Nei! Put me down, please. I was comfortable and warm.” Monoma laughed at the whining and placed you down on the couch.

“No can do my love. You need fuel in that body of yours. A healthy meal makes a healthy body. A healthy body makes a healthy mind.” You rolled your eyes at your boyfriends’ poetic speech and made yourself comfortable on the couch, laying down and covering yourself again with the blanket he wrapped you in.

“What do want for breakfast, my love?”

“Give me coffee, no sugar. If there are any muffins, give me one please.” Monomas posture deflated a little to the request.

“Coffee, again?” He questioned. You nodded your head and drifted back to sleep. The rest of the class watched as Monoma begrudgingly made the coffee you requested. The entire time he was mumbling something under his breath, something about how you loved the tar drink more than him.

You thanked him once he handed over your drink while Monoma sat down next to you with his meal. He leaned into you and ate in peace. He kept grumbling from time to time and chewed violently when he took another bite.

“Monoma? What are you doing?” You asked him.

“Nothing.” Was his only response before continuing to shovel food into his mouth. Once finished, he took your empty cup and his plate to the sink to wash. You on the other hand had other plans.

“Neito, I’m going out. I’ll see you later.” Monoma said goodbye to you and let you go. He knew what you were planning on doing and he wasn’t happy about it. Honestly, it was ridiculous how much you seemed to depend on it. It was the weekend, so there was no harm in leaving campus.

You got dressed back in your dorm room and said your goodbyes to your classmates who were still in the common area. As you headed into the city you went straight to your favorite shop. It was a small business run by a college kid who had too much money and too much time to burn. You weren’t about to complain, the coffee was good and the environment was pleasant to be in. Once there you ordered your usual coffee variant and sat down to enjoy it, not being aware that you were being watched the entire time.

Monoma was fuming. Another cup of coffee right away? You just drank your first a few minutes ago, why would you need another one? It wasn’t like you didn’t work hard, that wasn’t the problem. You were dedicated to training and your relationship with him. He understands that he could be a hassle sometimes and he’s very grateful for the opportunity to be with you, but this was just ridiculous. He didn’t want to destroy your piece but it had to be done.

“Y/n, what are you doing?” You turned towards the voice and watched as your boyfriend walked up to you. He was marching, an interesting choice but he was him so it wasn’t out of character.

“Hi, Nei is there a problem? Also, why did you follow me?” You asked amused. Monoma didn’t bother to sit down once he was next to you instead, he opted to bend down to look at you. He wasn’t happy.

“I followed you to see if you were going to buy another cup of coffee. Do you want to guess what happened Y/n? Hmm?” You giggled at him and took a sip from your drink.

“I bought coffee.”

“Yes, you bought coffee!” The other customers in the shop turned to look at the scene Monoma was making and the sudden attention filled you with embarrassment. You didn’t think Monoma would make a huge deal out of something so meaningless.

“Nei, cut it out!” You whisper yelled at him. You tried pulling him down so he would sit, instead, Monoma grabbed your cup and your hand. He dragged you out of the shop and walk with you to the train station.

“Where are we going now?” Monoma didn’t bother to respond to you. He just stared ahead of him and kept your coffee cup away from you. Once the train arrived he practically picked you up and took you inside. It was a bit empty so he was able to find seats for the both of you, he wrapped an arm around you as he kept the cup in between his legs and out of your reach. He pulled you up once you got to the correct stop and took you to the entrance of the mall.

“Whats this Nei? A last-minute date?” You teased. Monomas face flushed and just ignored your stare.

“We haven’t gone on a date in some time-”

“We had one yesterday.”

“So I thought that this would be nice and I also get to spoil you, so don’t complain.” He took your hand and brought you inside.

It was bustling with life. People walking around looking for things that they need and buying others that they don’t. It was a pleasant scene yet your body would disagree with you. The throbbing that you felt in the front part of your skull wasn’t pleasant but it was constant. It’s been like this for a few weeks. You read that coffee could help with easing it, something about it probably the throbbing being due to some visual exposure. Monoma had taken your drink so that was no longer an option. Knowing him, he probably takes a small sip and then spits it out while berating you on how your taste buds must be dead if you didn’t react as he did.

“So where to?” You asked him. Monoma laced his hand with yours and walked you to a clothing store. He looked at different articles of clothing and asked for your input. Most of the things he picked out were simple in design or minimalist, nothing that needed consideration. Yet he asked and you being the ever caring girlfriend gave some input.

“This would look nice with um, with some light blue jeans” The throbbing in your head was beginning to get worse and it wasn’t helping that the bright light within the store was the only thing to look at. It was too much for you.

“Hey, Monoma. I need to go to the bathroom, ok?” You left Monoma in the middle of the store as he just watched you go. He spoke to you but you couldn’t hear him.

He had tried reaching for you but you were already too far for him to grab. Monoma. You called him by his last name instead of his first. In the times that you both have had arguments, you always called him by his first name no matter what the situation was. You’ve been acting odd for some time and it was worrying him. He was aware that you drank more than the recommended when it came to coffee, so it wasn’t surprising that you felt ill. Monoma was no stranger to bad habits, he was being too clingy and overly competitive. You reassured him that he wasn’t clingy and that you found it endearing more than anything. Regarding the competitiveness, he could tone it down a little bit when it came to arguing with the other hero course. He felt like he was annoying to you and that you only started dating him because you felt pity for him after he fell on his face as he was running up to you. His nose was bleeding but that didn’t stop you from kissing him on the lips and accepting his date offer. He loved you, he’s known this since his first year. Seeing you sick was upsetting, he felt like a lost boyfriend for not helping you. He tried, he hides the coffee grounds, he hides your wallet sometimes and even started having you sleep in his dorm to ensure you slept.

Monoma waited outside of the store for a moment, waiting to see if you would come back once you were done in the bathroom. You never came back which lead to him going towards the bathrooms. He was met with a line of women waiting for the bathroom and a few people waiting outside of the all gendered bathroom.

“Hello. I’m sorry to interrupt you but did you by any chance see a woman who looked ill come by here?” The person turned around to look at Monoma.

“Was it someone with h/o hair?” Monoma nodded his head and the stranger pointed at one of the bathrooms that were occupied. Monoma thanked them and knocked on the door gently.

”Y/n. It’s me, are you ok?” You tried answering but the sound of gagging and something liquid hitting the toilet was indicating that you wouldn’t answer him. Monoma quickly asked around to see who had a quirk that allowed him to help you. He found someone whose quirk allowed them to change their fingers into any key, interesting quirk, and he opened the bathroom door. When he closed it he saw you slumped over the toilet throwing up.

“Nei- I can’t- breath.” You hiccuped. Monoma pulled your hair back and rubbed your back in a soothing motion.

“It’s ok, I’m here.” You continued to throw up everything in your stomach. Almost everything that came up was liquid and smelled heavily of stomach acid with a touch of coffee. Monoma watched in horror as you emptied yourself. He felt useless. He couldn’t do anything other than making sure that your clothes stayed clean.

“Y/n, let me take you back to the dorms. You need to get checked by Recovery Girl.” You felt too dizzy to protest and just lifted your arms and had him carry you out.

On the train, Monoma draped his jacket over your head, hiding you away from any light that could worsen your headache. He kept you close, your head laying on top of his shoulder and his hand on the side of your head keeping you steady as the train rocked. Once off, he picked you up and carried you to Recovery Girl. She asked him a multitude of questions about what happened and asked him to step outside of the infirmary. She sent you to your dorm to rest with a bottle full of medicine and Monoma picked you up again to make the trip easier on you.

At your dorm, he laid you down on your bed and went down to the kitchen to get you a glass of water. You sat yourself up on your bed and took some of the liquid medicine. It was bitter yet sweet, it soothed your aching throat and helped ease your agitated stomach. When Monoma came back he crouched down in front of you, handing you the glass of water he had gotten for you.

“How do feel?” His face was showered with concern. This wasn’t uncommon for him when it came to you or any of his classmates. He didn’t like seeing you hurt nor sick, so this was overwhelming his heart a little bit.

“My throat burns a bit but I’m ok.” You smiled weakly. Monoma didn’t believe anything you were telling him but he also didn’t want to start an argument.

Monoma decided to pull you into bed and lay next to you. He covered your body with his arms around your waist as he tangled your legs with his own. He gave you a quick kiss on the lips, then placing his chin on the top of your head.

“Rest my love. You’ll feel better tomorrow.” You didn’t attempt to argue with him. Your head was hurting badly and your body was still tense from the vomiting you did earlier. You made yourself comfortable within Monomas chest and used him as an anchor. He was warm and welcoming, how couldn’t you take advantage of this.

The morning came and so did the sunlight that invaded your room. Monoma woke up ready to look at your beautiful face, a smile already forming as he imagined how you would look that morning. Ethereal as always he believes. Yet, when he opened his eyes you weren’t comfortably placed in his arms. You weren’t even in the room. He shot up from the bed and went rushing down to the common room.

“Y/n! What are you doing!?” Monoma watched you as you were seated on one of the tables. With a cup of steaming coffee. Again.

“My head hurts, the coffee helps it feel better.” Monomas eyes widened as he walked towards you.

“I understand, but couldn’t you have taken some pain medication or have at least told me?” He stood next to you and looked at how much coffee you still had left in your cup. It was at halfway. He made an executive decision and grabbed it from you.

“Neito, what are you?” You tried to reach for the cup but it was immediately raised above you.

“Nei, that isn’t funny. Give me back my coffee!” Monoma only grinds at you.

“No, it isn’t my fault you’re the shortest person in our year.” You used your quirk to try and inflict some damage onto him but to no avail. He just raised it higher.

“Nei! I swear you’re all legs and arms. How are you this tall!?” Monoma could only laugh at your silly attempts to reach for the cup. He leaned down enough for your faces to meet.

“I’ll give it back if you promise me something.”

“Sure, what is it?” Monomas grin softened around the edges. His eyes looking briefly at your lips and back to your eyes.

“For one, limit your coffee intake.” You frowned at him.

“Didn’t you just hear me? It helps with the headaches.”

“And for two,” He got closer to you. His mouth inches from your own. “For every time you minimize, ill give you whatever else you want.”

You cocked a brow up and returned the sly grin.

“Oh, like what exactly Neito Monoma?” He shivered at the mention of his full name. A tint becoming present on his cheeks.

“I don’t know, maybe kissing.” He leaned closer. Your lips touching but just by a little.

“Or maybe something more.” He added in. You decided to take the lead and closed the gap between the two of you. His lips were surprisingly soft, must be because of the religious chapstick use.

He became impatient and pushed his tongue into your mouth. He sighed into the kiss and pull you in closer by placing a hand on your lower back. You kissed back with fever and played with his tongue a bit. You made him moan, the hand holding the cup lowering to place it on the table. You quickly snatched it from him and backed away from the kiss you were sharing. A  wet popping sound made itself present once you parted from him, a light string of saliva attached to your once connected lips. Monoma looked confused, his eyes hazy from the euphoria of kissing you.

“What?” He asked confused. You just giggled and walked away with the cup of the now lukewarm coffee. Monoma quickly trailed behind you, hand reaching out to take the cup. You walked to the sink and dumped all of the coffee down the drain.

“I know I should stop. I know.” You turned towards him and place your hand on his cheek. You admired him for a moment. His face was still red and his chest was still expanding slowly trying to get more air in. You gently caressed his lips with your thumb and quickly gave him a peck on them.

“But I’ll only stop because you asked me to.” You kissed him deeply. Monoma wrapped his arms around your waist, holding you in place.

“I love you Nei.” Monomas face flushed deeper and he hid his face on the crook of your neck. He had to bend down to do so but it was worth it.

“I love you too Y/n.”

[anarmorofwords]

Hi! You're probably not going to like this ask, but before getting into it I'd just like to say that this isn't meant as Kamala hate or anything, and I don't really want to offend.

Having said that, wouldn't it make sense that we get to see how Kamala treated Anna after she came out? It's in all likelihood one of the things that's weighing on Anna the most.

Obviously Kamala had her valid reasons: her parents aren't as liberal as the Lightwoods, she believes (knows?) their love is conditional as she's adopted, she's not white and not being heterosexual could further any treatment she's suffered from being different... Her reasons have already been listed multiple times by multiple people. Kamala has the right to stay in the closet and fear coming out. And while that shouldn't be villianised, we can't forget that closeted people can harm those around them.

If Kamala had kept treating Anna like a good friend, rumour would've sparked, and even if it was denied, she'd have been harmed by merely associating with Anna. Especially with the life Anna began leading; she could have been labelled as one of Anna's 'conquests' by the Clave. That, as we've established, is detrimental for her safety.

But at the same time, it would create a breach between Anna and Kamala. And Anna had the right to be hurt by it and weary of it when Kamala said she wanted a relationship.

If we look at it from that perspective, Anna's actions (though inexcusable in how they treated Kamala --who was also at fault for not accepting a negative for four months) make sense. Kamala wasn't only a fling of a week*, but also the girl she lost her virginity with, who asked her to be her secret (until she married Charles, after which Anna's affections would be discarded), who hid her sexuality for two years and sat back while Anna suffered from homophobic commentary, and who now wants a relationship hidden from most of the people that know her.

Kamala shouldn't be forced to come out; but the harm that can do to the women she may engage with is reflective of what happens nowadays. I can mostly think of examples with gay men, so my apologies in advance. But how many women have seen their marriages ruined by their husband having affairs with men?

Creating characters that reflect a toxic part of the 'hidden' LGBT community shouldn't be seen as hating or villinifying. Thomas isn't out and he isn't labelled a villain by the narrative --because his actions don't harm anyone. The hate Alastair gets in-universe is because of his past as a bully, not because he's gay. Matthew's not fully out and he isn't villianised --like Thomas, because the decisions he makes to keep his sexuality hidden don't impact anyone negatively.

I'll even go as far as saying that not even the narrative villianises characters like Kamala and Charles. If it were, they'd be seen more like Grace in Chain of Gold. We'd see how Kamala's actions are affecting Anna's in more ways than anger (that in itself put the fandom against Anna), and the characters would note so. We wouldn't see scenes were Cordelia empathised with Charles, nor Matthew said he loved him.

Be it as it may, Kamala and Charles represent ugly parts of being closeted that can naturally occur when someone is in their position. LGBT people are human. Humans, when put into very difficult situations (and Charles risks his career; Kamala her safety), can make decisions that harm those around them. Consequently, the people they're harming have a right to feel, well, harmed in whatever range of ways --this goes mostly for Alastair, and very partly for Anna, whose treatment of Kamala was horrible.

Readers need to understand what is pushing these 'villianised' characters to harm (again, mostly for Alastair) the more prominent characters and go beyond how they are instantly depicted. Because these are complex characters based on complex real people influenced by very ugly realities we will move on from someday, but sadly not yet.

By the way, Charles and Kamala's situations aren't that similar beyond the closeted thing, but I crammed them together because of a post I saw you reblog.

Please understand I'm not justifying Charles's actions; that I understand the pain he's put Alastair through, and know that he shouldn't ever be near Alastair. Nor am I trying to justify Anna's actions nor hate on Kamala.

I'll just finish my pointless rant by adding that I do think cc has sensitivity readers. I think she asked a gay man to go through tec (I don't know if he still revised her other books, though), and know she asked POC's input when writing someone for their culture. I don't know much beyond that, but I doubt who revises her stuff is up to her. Wouldn't that be something the publisher is responsible for (honest question)?

*I've also noticed people using the argument that they didn't know each other long enough for Anna to harbour such ugly emotions towards Kamala, but Kamala also remembered Anna pretty deeply and is 'in love' with her. I just wanted to say that considering cc writes (fantastical) romance where someone can ask a woman they met two months ago marriage, stressing over time spaces doesn't make much sense. Just my take.

hi!!

alright, where do I start? probably would be best with stating that while I can analyse Kamala's situation with what I know/see/read about racism and discrimination and reasonably apply things I've read/heard from PoC to the discussion, as well as try to be as sensitive about it as possible, I'm still a white woman, so not a person that's best qualified to talk about this.

that being said - if someone wants to add something to this conversation, you're obviously more than welcome to, and if there's something in my answer that you don't agree with or find in some way insensitive or offensive - please don't hesitate to call me out on that.

back to your points though: (this turned into a whole ass essay, so under the cut)

I don't think Anna shouldn't be able to reminiscent on Kamala's behaviour/reaction to her coming out, or be hurt by it. what bothers me is the way CC talks about it - I can't remember the exact phrasing, but the post where she mentioned this suggested something along the lines of "you'll see how Kamala sided with the Clave and didn't defend Anna after her coming out", therefore putting the blame on Kamala and completely disregarding the fact that Kamala wasn't in position to do much at all. It suggest that their situation was "poor Anna being mistreated by Kamala". therefore I'm afraid Kamanna's main problem/conflict will remain to be portrayed as "Anna having to allow themselves to love again and forgive Kamala", while Anna's shortcomings - and Kamala's vulnerable position - are never discussed. I think it would be possible to acknowledge both Kamala's difficult situation and the possible hurt her behaviour caused Anna without being insensitive towards Kamala's character, but it would take a really skilled - and caring - author to do both of the perspectives justice. CC would have to find a balance between being aware of the racism/prejudice Kamala faced/ writing her with lots of awareness and empathy, and still allowing her to make mistakes and acknowledging them. As it is however, I'm under impression that she's just treating it as a plot device, a relationship drama.

I'd say no one expects characters of color to be written as flawless or never making mistakes, it's mostly the way these mistakes are written and what things these characters are judged/shamed/

And that's - at least in my understanding and opinion - where the problem is. it's that the narrative never even addresses Anna's faults, and portrays Kamala as the one that caused all - or most of - the pain, without ever even acknowledging her problems and background.

White characters in TLH make mistakes and fuck up - because they're human and they're absolutely allowed to - but the thing is, non-white characters aren't afforded that privilege. Anna's behaviour is never questioned - none of it, shaming Kamala for not being able to come out, dismissing her desire to be a mother, or any of the questionable things she did in ChoI. Same with Matthew, James, Thomas. Alastair and Kamala however? they're constantly viewed through their past mistakes, and forced to apologize for them over and over, forced to almost beg for forgiveness. Moreover, those past mistakes are used as a justification of all and any shitty behaviour the other characters exhibit towards them now, which is simply unfair and cruel. They're held to a much higher standard.

So I'd like to say that yes, Kamala was in the wrong to keep nagging Anna after numerous rejections, and she was in the wrong to not inform Anna about Charles prior to them having sex - but that doesn't give Anna a free pass to constantly mistreat Kamala. And let's be real, Anna isn't stupid - while at 17 she could be naive and uninformed, I can't imagine how after years of hanging out with the Downworlders and numerous affairs and being out and judged by the Clave she's still so ignorant about Kamala's situation. I definitely think she's allowed to be hurt, but to still not understand why Kamala did what she did? Anna isn't blaming her for not telling her about Charles earlier - which would be fair - but instead for refusing to engage in an outright romance with her. She's being ignorant - and consciously so, I think.

Overall, I think you're definitely right about how coming out - or staying closeted - can be messy and hurt people in the process, especially in unaccepting environments/time periods, and I've seen enough discourse online to know there will never be a verdict/stance on this that will satisfy everyone. I, for one, would really like to refrain from putting all the blame on a single person - but, at least the way I see it, CC is pointing fingers. maybe not directly, but she is. Kamala, Alastair and Charles have no friends or support systems, and the only people in the narrative that defend them are themselves (ok, Cordelia does defend Alastair from Charles, but not from shitty takes about him and his "sins"). Also, sorry, but I don't like how you say "hid her sexuality for two years and sat back while Anna experienced homophobic comments" - it sounds very much judgemental. Kamala had every right to do that? The fact that she slept with Anna doesn't means she owed her something, and certainly not coming out and most probably destroying her life, or even defending her at the - again - expense of her own reputation, or more possibly safety.

As for Charles - it's a different issue here, at least imo - I fear that it'll be implied that his refusing to come out will is his main "sin", and therefore not something he can be judged for, which ironically, will be villainizing, but mostly will mean his actual sins are dismissed. This is where the scene with Cordelia feeling a pang of sympathy for him comes into play, and it worries me. I've never hated Charles for not wanting to come out, but rather for, let's see - grooming Alastair, disregarding Alastair's needs and feelings, disrespecting his mother, being a sexist prick, being low-key far-right coded "make Shadowhunters great again" etc.

As for sensitivity readers - I'm no expert, so I don't think my input is worth much. From what I've gathered from multiple threads/discussions on twitter, tho it is probably consulted/approved by the publisher, many authors push for that - and authors less famous and "powerful" than her. I'm not a hater, but seeing fandoms' opinions on much of her rep, I think she could do better. Because if she does have sensitivity readers, then they don't seem to be doing a great job - maybe they're friends who don't wanna hurt her feelings? Or maybe she thinks a gay guy's feedback will be enough for any queer content - which, judging by the opinions I've seen from the fans, doesn't seem to be true.

Again, these are mostly my thoughts and I'm more than open to reading other opinions, because *sigh* I really don't know how to handle this.

Bottom line - I really really don't want to be hating on the characters in general, playing God in regards to judging the struggles of minorities, or even criticising the characters too harshly for being human, flawed etc. What my main issue is is how CC handles those complex and heavy topics.

I hope I make sense and this answer satisfies you somehow - I also hope someone better equipped to answer might wanna join this conversation.

* I desperately need a reread of TLH before I engage in any more conversations like this, but I didn't wanna leave you hanging. So yeah, I might be remembering things wrong. Again, let me know, I'm very much open to being corrected as well as to further discussion.

* I use she/her pronouns for Anna because that's what she uses in canon

[interstellarre]

Delve In The Depths. Chapter II.

Word Count. 1.5k

a/n. Just a quick btw, Meno gave Xiao the nickname "Emerald duck" because emerald ducks have greenish teal stripes on their heads and Xiao has teal undertones in his hair.

Trigger Warnings. Mentions of death and violence

Series Masterlist

Chapter II.

Again and again these waves crash over Xiao's subconscious. Riptides of lost human dreams, the tsunamis of guilt, and the eons of pain build each other up, growing larger as they drown him in endless suffering. Waves of black vapor cloud his person. He clutches his mask

He can hear their screams now as he writhes on the top floor of Wangshu Inn in agony, barely supporting the weight of his body with his arms leaning on the balcony rails.

"Xiao, Xiao!" he turns his head to see Verr Goldet franticly searching for him.

"There's someone downstairs, the-they, Verr Goldet stutters on her words, waving her arms around unlike her usual composed self.

Xiao doesn't wait for to finish, he grabs his pole arm by reflex prepared to strike the threat down.

Instead he's met with a person grappling with pain on the floor.

"Why slime condensate exactly?"

"Hm?" Xiangling gives you a genuinely confused look despite it not exactly being the social norm to add slime liquids to a meal. She was climbing up a sandbearer tree. The striped squirrels on the ground scatter upon her arrival.

"What gave you the idea to add slime into your dishes?" you clarify, trying not to come off as rude. Tossing the wicker basket between your hands as a form of entertainment while your culinary friend ducked her head underneath a branch.

The trees ruffle and flocks of crimson flinches and golden flinches fly off to the sky as Xiangling forages around in the tree branches for bird eggs.

"What gave you the idea that not everything is edible?" she playfully teases, now placing bird eggs by sets of two in the basket she previously gave you in Wanmin Restaurant.

You giggle, covering your hands with your mouth. She motions for you to put the basket down and come over while she grabs you by the shoulders ("Don't you dare-") and hops down. Unfortunately, you aren't heavy enough to support her body weight when she jumps down with her full force.

"Ugh!" you groan as you both tumble down to the floor. You raise a hand to your head and cover your forehead. "Was that really necessary?" you sigh, already far too used to her antics. She snickers.

As you regain your footing, you ask, "How far along are we exactly? My mother will have an aneurysm if we step foot in Moon City.*" Xiangling had already run off, and with the basket no doubt.

You look to your right and find her by the lake counting hydro slimes behind a crack between a few slabs of stone. You crouch down besides her. Her charcoal hair brushes against your mulberry silk skirt.

"1,2,3,4." Yes! this is definitely enough for my new dish!" she pumps her fist in the air.

You don't remember there being a lake to the far right in the places your mother told you to stick to.

"Let me guess," you strike a thinking pose, you want me to set up a new shop here for your new culinary competition?" you sarcastically muse.

She rolls her eyes. "No, silly I-," she stops at your amused expression. "Ah- well go on than."

You reach your arm to summon your now unsheathed dagger attached to the leather belt on your waist, ignoring the long bow and arrows attached on your back and rather choosing a melee weapon,

Standing up from your hiding spot, the group hydro slime flock, well bounce towards you.

The air turns frosty and Xiangling's teeth chatter while she rubs her arms in hopes of warming up. "Don't turn me into a chef popsicle before I get the slime condensate [Name]!"

As you kneel down to slam the stiletto dagger into sand, sharp edged flower patterns appear on the ground. The slimes teeter back at the sound chill between their mass before large icicles spring up, piercing their bodies and turning them into goo.

"Woo!" Xiangling jumps above the rock pile and excitedly cheers. Pumping her arms up. "That's my girl!"

"It was nothing really. What was it you needed next again? Of course after you've collected the slime condensate of course." you stop talking as Xiangling sweeps the slightly frozen slime fluids off the crystals you've created into a glass bottle.

"Well talking about other ingredients, I actually wanted to try something." she mentions with a certain twinkle in her eyes.

"You have my attention." You wave your hand at her to go on.

"You know that cooking competition? The one I had in the Mondstadt with the chef named Brooke?"

"I don't recall you telling me that, can you specify?" racking your brain for memories of Xiangling's rantings about food. You suddenly feel drops of sweat on your back despite not being lukewarm at the very best. It must just be from the excitement from fighting the slimes, you think pushing away your other thoughts on the matter.

"Well anyways, we found this extinct species of boar with the help of the traveler, I believe they're called the honorary knight now?" she taps her chin. "That's besides the point but, anyways, it made me think of the different varieties of possible meat options I could use with different monsters. Can you go with me north of Jueyun Karst with me to find a Stonehide Lawachurl?" She claps her hands together into a begging motion. "Please, Please?"

"Mhm, I'm not sure how fast we can make it there? You didn't hear my question before when I was asking where we were before. I'm planning on packing my bags early when I go home overmorrow." you say counting the possible time it would take you to pack all your belongings. Black spots appear in your vision. You open your mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

"Hmm, I'd say if we're lucky, a few hours? It's lucky that it's still the early morning huh?" Xiangling turned her attention to you from the mushrooms she was picking underneath the trees.

"[Name]?"

She looks over to see you on your knees, black substance withering out of your body. Sweat drips down your forehead.

She frantically shakes you, but your vision has gone black.

"[Name]!"

The blood on Bosacius' arm dripped to the ground creating a thin string trailing only to be diluted by the pouring rain water behind Bosacius and a certain teal haired adeptus. Bosacius gripped his injured arm with his other.

"You need to treat that wound," Xiao said, glaring at his fellow adeptus' wound. He could see the majority of Bosacius bone creeping out of his flesh. A familiar sight.

"Rest assured, I've been in worse state. I just never expect it to hurt as much as it always does," grimaced Bosacius through his smiling expression. The water soaked through his garments and drenched his hair.

"You sound like one of those mortals, trying to fight through their deathly injuries only not to see the next day," replied Xiao looking forward to their destination of Jueyun Karst. He could see the towering peaks getting larger and larger as they move on despite the misty atmosphere.

"We're all too mortal for our liking these days." said Bosacius, his expression unreadable.

The sound of steps softly crushing the blades of grass underneath them and thunder rumbling filled the air while their owners remained silent.

"Have you told Rex Lapis about the constant pain you've been experiencing?" said Xiao, breaking the silence.

Bosacius bit his bottom lip while his working hands, well, what was left of them tensed up. "No, I didn't see the need to bother him. I'm sure he has other pressing matters to attend to now, especially with the incline in aggression from monsters around Liyue Harbor recently. It's strange," The older man looked up to the sky, while Xiao had a distracted look on his face from thinking about the increased monster attacks. "I have yet to figure out the cause behind it."

"I believe Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper are free this evening, I'll ask them for their input on the situation later."

They had arrived at Jueyun Karst, the floating island in the middle of the adepti abode was lit up, symbolizing the availability of Cloud Retainer.

"I'd imagine we don't have the need to place an offering in the middle of the lake huh?" Bosacius winks at Xiao. Xiao looks down at the lake, full of ripple currently from the cloudburst. The empty bowl in the middle overflowed with liquid.

Bosacius gave a forced smile at his correct prediction of their fellow adepti's availability. "Well, I suppose it's best for me to head off and find Indarias to heal my wounds."

"That would be for the best." confirmed Xiao

"Thank you for accompanying me for this trip."

Xiao turned his back and Bosacius was gone

"Hey! Emerald duck!"

Xiao swore he heard the inter layers of hell again as he pinched the bridge of his nose

"Oh archons," he cursed under his breath. Menogias tumbled towards him, no grace or posture in her current childlike state.

*Moon City refers to Mondstadt as Mondstadt translates to Moon City in German.

a/n. Incase anyone was wondering the reader's constellation is "The Maiden" or "Virgo". I'm planning on making a character sheet for the reader soon, so watch out for that!

[bigtiddycommity]

Clé: Miroh (3)

Clé: Miroh (3)

Pairing: Bang Chan x reader ft. Stray kids & Got7

Warnings: Slight profanity

Summary: An up and coming singer is introduced to the rough and unfair world of the music industry when she is tricked into a fake relationship with a popular idol. Her entire world has been turned upside down and now not only is she hated by millions of fans around the world but she is now despised by her...boyfriend?

———————-

Auriella, though seen as a bubbly and happy person, did not live a simple life. When she was born, her birth parents abandoned her at an orphanage with nothing but a raggedy baby blanket and her name written on a note. That's it.

Her life in the orphanage was hell, to say the least. Young Auriella was bullied, mistreated and lonely. The other orphans at the home she was in always felt the need to push her around and belittle her in everything she did. Auriella tried hard to fit in and did all sorts of favors in hopes of being accepted, but to no avail. The mistreatment didn't stop until Auriella was taken out of the orphanage by her record label.

Auriella has been through hell and back yet still woke every morning with a smile on her face. She had her group, who she had worked skin and bone for, be taken away from her, been forced to uproot her entire life and move across the world for a group of people she had never met. Nevermind all of the bullshit she had to endure in her childhood. She was far from selfish and this ignorant stranger, Bang Chan, had no right to sit and assume he knew anything about her.

She tried to be nice and civil but enough was enough. Auriella would not sit back and be treated unfairly by someone she sacrificed so much for. Yes, both Auriella and Chan were forced into this situation but Chan had nothing, absolutely nothing, taken away from him. Okay, he moved from a tiny dorm and into a gigantic mansion, free of charge. So what? No. He didn't get to complain. He didn't get to complain because he still had his group and he still had his parents. From Auriella’s point of view, she picked the short stick of the situation. Yet, he had the right to complain? Hell no.

“I was tricked into signing that contract. I was in a pretty successful group back in the states, but you wouldn't know that, would you?” She looks deep into Bang Chan’s eyes. “We just released an album, that I spent a year writing and perfecting by the way, and the next thing I know I get called into a meeting expecting a conversation about the songs I wrote for the album but you wanna know what I got instead?” Auriella was standing now. He wanted answers? He was about to get them. Loud and clear.

“Pray tell, your majesty, what did little baby Auriella get?” Chan continued to tease her despite the tears of anger and frustration he saw rolling down her face.

“A plane ticket and a letter of termination from my group.” Everyone in the room was shocked to hear the young girl’s blunt response.

“What are you-” Chan began to ask but Auirella wasn't done.

“That's right. I was pulled out of the group that I started and shoved on a plane. Why? Because your company wanted you to have more publicity to promote your group.” She made sure to maintain eye contact with the leader while she emphasized to ensure he was getting the point.

“You hear anything odd about what I just said, Chan? Because I did.” Auriella made sure to single him out. He was the only one of the members to treat her unfairly. “All of this was done for you, therefore you are the only one to benefit in any way. I lost my group, so you could keep yours. I had to halt my career, so you could get more attention for yours. I had to move to the other side of the fucking world for you! So no, Chan, this isn't my fault, it's yours.” She pointed an accusing finger at the now silent idol, who continued to stare at the spot in front of him.

“I tried to make the best of the situation because at least one of us would benefit somehow. Even if I lost everything, at least you and your group would be better off. Hell, I even bought this house so you could all be more comfortable. I chose not to fight and throw a fit over this situation because I don't want to be selfish and only think of myself. What do you know about that? Being selfless?” She had lowered her voice now, drained and frustrated from the treatment she had received as well as the unnecessary argument.

Some of the members who were still learning english turned to Felix and Jisung for a better translation of what had just occurred. By the time the two boys had finished explaining, Auriella had vanished. The entire dining room fell silent as the shock set in with the new information that was revealed.

“Like I was saying, hyung, she was forced into the situation too, but what do I know, right?” Changbin said looking at his leader in irritation. He had tried to say this earlier but Chan was quick to cut off his words and deem his input as irreverent.

“Changbin-ah-” Chan sighed, disappointed in himself.

“Don't bother.” Changbin pushed out his chair and walked off towards the staircase leading to his room.

Chan messed up. He knew that now. Not only had he misjudged an innocent girl but he also unfairly lost his temper on one of his members and he knew he had to make things better.

Since dinner was clearly over, the remaining members cleared the table and soon excused themselves to their respective rooms. Bang chan stayed behind though and went out to the balcony to get some fresh air. On days when he felt overwhelmed or stressed, he liked to go out alone to think and reevaluate things that were on his mind.

Chan wished he had given Aurilla a chance. All of the things Chan fought for, Auriella had taken from her and it was her fault. He cursed at her, teased and made fun of her while she had been nothing but nice and welcoming to him and his group. She cooked for them and even bought a large house so that they could more comfortable. How did he repay her? By calling her names and blaming her for something he knew nothing about.

“I am such a dick.” Chan muttered to the dark sky, as he looked to the stars.

“Yes, you are.” A soft voice startles him out of his thoughts. “Glad to know that you’re aware.”

“Auriella..” He stands to find the new voice in the darkness.

Coming into the light and closing the sliding door, Auriella signed and sat on one of the many chairs out on the deck. “I get it, Chan. You fight tooth and nail for your group and to make your family proud and you didn't want to risk a stranger messing up any of that for you. I get it.”

“If I knew..I am so sorry, Auriella. I swear, I had no idea that they did all of that to you and your group. You did so much for us and I just..” The disappointment and shame was clear in the boy’s voice.

Auriella stared at him for a moment. He wasn't a bad person, he was afraid and fragile. Auriella knew the music industry all too well and she was aware of the harsh conditions and rules of it as well. Though Korea was an entirely different place, she had heard enough horror stories of the industry on this part of the world to stay away and be cautious. He was just trying to protect himself and his group from the harsh world that was K-pop.

Thought she understood, that didn't give him the right to treat her the way. She had lost too much and sacrificed too much for him and all he could do was judge and assume. He didn't have to like her and she didn't have to like him but they were stuck. Al they had to do was pretend until their companies took pity on them and let them out of their contract.

“How about this,” She suggested with a smile, a faint outline of her dimple making itself clear. “You stay out of my way, and I stay out of yours. We do what JYP wants until this whole thing is over and we leave it at that.” She said, keeping firm eye contact.

Chan was startled to hear that. “I-i dont-.”

“You don't have to like me. You don't have to be my friend. But you don't get to judge me or assume anything about my life because you don't know me.” Without giving the boy a second glance, the small girl walked off back into the house, her footsteps fading into the darkness.

__________________________________

The next morning, sounds of laughter and squeals filled the large kitchen. After Auriella had gone back into the house the night before, Jisung bumped to Auriella and saw she was upset. After staying up most of the night venting and getting to know one another, Jisung and Auriella had gotten close.

“You're gonna burn the bacon, Han!” Auriella giggled as he bumped his hips into hers, pushing her away from her mixing bowl of pancake batter.

“Me? I have no idea what you mean.” Jisung laughed, his Malaysian accent stronger than ever.

The two were oblivious to the nine pairs of eyes watching them from the entrance to the kitchen. The ruckus of pots, pans and laughter had awoken the group of sleeping boys from their slumber. Meeting each other in the hallway and sharing looks of confusion, they followed the sounds down the stairs and soon found their member and the young girl cooking. Together.

After a few moments of watching and whispering to one another, Minho cleared his throat to break apart the giggling pair.

“Uh..good morning?” Hyunjin greeted in english.

“Good morning! How’d you all seep?” Auriella beamed.

“Umm pretty good. I see you two are friendly this morning.” Felix said, eyeing the two cautiously.

Jisung shared a kind smile with the smaller girl and turned back to the stove.

“Jeongin, honey?” Auriella called out sweetly to the young boy. She was going to need some help setting the table for breakfast.

“Noona?” He replied almost instantly, seemingly out of habit.

The room grew quiet. They hadn't gotten a chance to talk about honorifics yet, seeing as Auriella wasn't a korean but would be living in korea from now on.

“I’m sorry?” Auriella looked shocked. Had he just cursed at her in korean?

Jisung laughed at the girls offended expression. “We need to teach you korean as soon as possible.”

As the group sat down eating breakfast, Chan’s phone rang and his tone changed from calm to serious and down to business. Once he hung up, he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

“That was JYP, he wants us to meet him at the company.” He announced.

“Us as in..?” Felix asked.

Chan turned to Auriella, looking in her general direction but still not directly at her, “All of us.”

In the car on the way to the company, the boys told Auriella about basic korean expectations when it came to elders. They told her about bowing and taught her a few polite words to use in vase they ran into any other artists that were older than them. They were taken through a back alley way and into a secret door to avoid being seen and photographed. They didn't need to explain a ‘mystery girl’ to their fans just yet, not until the company was ready for them to.

After getting into an elevator and going up a few floors, the group walked into the room they were told to go to and walked in to find JYP sitting behind his desk.

“Welcome come in, come in.” Auriella was surprised to hear english coming from the man.

“Hi! What’s-” The bubbly girl began to say just as the boys behind her bowed and greeted in korean. Whoops.

“Auriella, remember what I said about-” Felix started.

“No, no it's okay. So you must be the famous Auriella. You're very cute.” JYP said smiling down at the small girl.

“Oh, thank you, sir.” The girl blushed and began fiddling with her fingers.

“Aigoo.” The man cooed. “You'll fit right in here. Everyone is going to love you. How are you all getting along? I hope these boys haven't given you any trouble. “He looked back up to the members behind her, raising an eyebrow.

Auriella didn't hesitate. “They've been great! I think we’ll be good friends.” she smiled big.

Chan let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Even though him and Auriella had talked, barley, he didn't expect her to be so quick to cover his unfair actions towards her.

“I’m glad to hear that!” He exclaimed. “Well, the reason I called you all down her is because I thought you might be a bit more comfortable if you met some more people. Since you're going to be around from now on, I thought it would be nice to introduce you to some other artists here at the company.” He explained.

“Oh, yes! That would be nice. I’m always open to making new friends.” She was excited. If she was going to be stuck in a foreign country, at least she could make new friends and memories.

“Great! A lot of our artists are busy with tours and comebacks at the moment but one of our other groups happen to have a free schedule today and are very excited to meet you.” He said.

“They know me?” She asked shyly.

“Yes, they do and one of the members is your biggest fan, so he's been waiting to meet you.” He confessed with a wink and kind smile.

“Now I cant wait. I love meeting my fans.” She said, feeling giddy.

“Well, come on, they are in one of the practice rooms.”

The group followed JYP down the hall and into a room that had loud music and laughter coming from it. Walking in, there were 7 boys total spread all throughout the room. Some were lying across the floor while some stood against the mirrored wall or in a chair. They all turned their heads towards the door when they walked in.

Jyp said something in Korean to the new group of boys after one of the men turned off the stereo. They all got into a line and bowed to their CEO and the members of Stray Kids did the same to their superior group as well. The tallest member of the group locked eyes with Auriella but quickly looked away when she sent a smile his way.

Auriella, I would like you to meet Got7. They-” The CEO didn't get a chance to finish before an excited male voice squealed.

“Ella!?”

The girl was confused. The only person who called her that was-

“Jack-jack?” The boy in question opened his arms wide towards the small girl as she ran to him and jumped onto him with a loud giggle.

The remaining people in the room were confused at the sudden interaction of the two hugging people.

Felix turned to his leader. “How does she know Jackson sunbaenim?” he whispered.

“I have no clue, mate, but they seem..” Chan paused as they all watched Jackson kisses her forehead and spin her in a circle. “Close?”

Chan didn't know why but he felt his face reddened slightly in envy as Auriella looked up to his sunbae with such a bright smile. She tried to be kind to him and he ruined it. Now she hated him, and it was his fault. She didn't smile at him like that. So bright and happy. How did they know each other? And how were they so close?

Chan had a lot of time to re-think and regret his actions towards Auriella. He tried many times to approach her but each time, she brushed him off coldly. He just wanted to start over. He had unknowingly ruined her life and he wanted to at least try to make that better, but he couldn't do that if she avoided him like the plague.

He wanted to be her friend too. In the short time she was around, he couldn't help but notice is members becoming more and more infatuated with her. Her tiny squeaks when someone would pop up in front of her unexpectedly, how she would turn red in the face when one of the members would keep eye contact a little too long. She was sweet and kind and innocent and she had been handed an unfair battle that she couldn't win; a contract. Bang Chan just wanted to fix the mess he caused. That would be though, considering she wanted nothing to do with him.

“I heard an Auriella was coming but I had no idea it was my little baby! How have you been? Last I heard you were trying to get signed to a record label.” Jackson Wang said as he looked down at the small girl.

“I got signed to one! Ugh so much has happened, you wouldn't believe.” She said with a look. “ Hows mama? And papa? Are doing well?” She started up at Jackson.

“Wait, how do you guys know each other?” JYP asked, his voice full of confusion.

“We met a national tournament. I was on the national fencing team and little Ella here,” He rubbed her head affectionately. “was chosen to sing the national anthem. My family and I were assigned to take care of her while she was in China and she stayed with us and traveled with the team while we competed.” He explained.

“Ah, I see.” The CEO said. “Well, it's nice to see that she already has a friend here. You guys seem close.” He observed.

“You have to meet everyone!” Jacson exclaimed, jumping about. He pulled the small girl by her waist towards his eager group mates and began introducing them to each other.

“Oh, and this is our youngest member, Yugyeom. He’s your biggest fan.” Jackson wiggled his eyebrows as he introduced his two friends.

“I heard you were a fan. I’m so excited to meet you!” Auriella smiled brightly as she held her hand to the taller boy.

“I-it is nice to meet you.” He stuttered, discreetly wiping his right hand on his shirt before shaking the girls petite hand. Yugyeom’s heart sped up the moment their hands touched. The boy had been a fan of her and her group for years, constantly talking about her to his members which led to teasing but he never thought he would ever get the chance to meet her, let alone be signed to the same company.

Jackson saw how flustered his bandmate had become and laughed and put his arm around Auriella once more.

“You can stare at her later, maknae.” He teased before turning to look at the young girl at his side. “You and I have some catching up to do.”

Across the room, the members of Stray kids stared in awe at the unexpected reunion.

“Wow, that's so amazing. It's a small world, huh?” Felix said, amazed.

“Yeah, crazy.” Chan replied, sounding distracted, staring at the group before him but his eyes were distant.

[youdajiji]

1. Reunion

Yongsun loved going by her English name - Solar. That was a cool name. Just like herself. She ran a Youtube channel called Solarsido with a few hundred thousands of subscribers, those who liked videos of her experience. Sometimes Yongsun would call for input from me and the other two house mates. But most of the time, my ideas were ignored. 

"Your idea is ok but spending 4 hours working on meditation painting is a bit... too popular, don't you think so? I need something energetic and unique."

Yongsun circled my idea with a Sharpie on an A0-sized paper which was already full of text. Had she not want to let me down, she would have strike through my idea of making meditation painting. 

"Unique?" - Hyejin crawled on the bed speaking up with her husky voice - "It's difficult, unnie. You have done quite a few unique things." 

Hyejin concluded her statement with a yawning. She was the same age as me, and was a real workaholic as except for her main job as a wedding planner, she took on some part time jobs. That's why at home, Hyejin usually appeared lazy - she had used up all her energy at work.

"Recent trend is about doing common stuff, of course with attractive storytelling, I think so."

Byul Yi spoke up next to me. She was the second oldest in the house, yet the most mature and calm. Byul Yi liked it logical, so she wanted to research and back things up before making a statement. I bet she had just spoken up after going through no less than 10 reports about trends.

"If that's the case" - Hyejin rose up from her place with a yoga pose - "How about living a day as Wheeinie? Her life is the most normal among us, right?"

I shot her a glance askew. She must be mocking at me. But Yongsun, on the other hand, found it interesting. She thumbed up at Hyejin.

"DJing a radio program sounds great Hyejin ah. That's quite different from my channel's vibe."

I pouted. Excuse me, who had just "criticized" that my idea lacks of energy?

"But Wheein ah" - Byul Yi glances at me - "Does Yongsun need approval or something?"

I shook my head.

"They are quite easy. You just need to do your job well as I have already settled the script."

"So" - Yongsun's face brightened - "Tomorrow, right?"

"Up to you. I just need to give them a call. Lucky you that I really want a day-off."

I was dreaming of a chilling Friday, relaxing with a cup of mocha and spending time on my ongoing novel which I would never have the chance to get it published. But the dream had been extinguished. Totally.

"No no no" - Yongsun shook her head and grabbed her phone. She had tons of things to do every week so her schedule was full of notes - "I have class tomorrow at the center for the disabled."

I rolled my eyes and let out an exhale while the other three exchanged a laugh at each other.

***

"Long time no see, Wheeinie!"

The director of Pyeong Hwa center for the disabled welcomed me with a happy smile. She spoke to me but her words were followed by sign language.

"Ah, yes. Solar unnie is busy so I will help her out today."

"That's more than awesome." - The director showed me the way - "The members will be so glad to see you again."

Sure. Because I was the one who introduced Yongsun here. I worked as a volunteer here from my freshman year until about 1 year ago - when my job started to keep me busy. Back then, Yongsun was looking for experience for her newly opened channel so I brought her here. It turned out Yongsun liked this place so much that she kept on teaching piano here even though I left the center after that.

And now I was back to the place I used to be so familiar with. The old piano was still there - Yongsun told me that it was the biggest evidence of resilience - and I could recognize some familiat faces who I had taught before. They were all muted - innate or by diseases but that didn't stop their love for music.

"Oh gosh, Soyoonie ah!"

I almost cried when a 15 year old girl ran to hug me. I hugged her back and looked around, people were all smiling and signaling to me, things like:

"Welcome back!"

"I thought you've gone forever."

"Stay for lunch, ok?"

I replied them with smile. And with the sign language they were using, I told them with seriousness.

"Let's focus on today's lesson first!"

I sat down at the piano and played a few notes. The piano sound brought me back to my youthful days when I spent the majority of my time with these people, disabled yet still positive. When I first came here, I - the freshman who was about to go crazy with my workload at university and a hopeless unrequitted crush - only wanted to find a healing place. But things didn't go well at first. I had thought I had the wrong choice as I struggled a lot with communicating with them. Luckily, I got exposed to sign language. And this language, however difficult it might seem, turned out to be so attractive to me. Perhaps I liked the silence in this means of communication - Hah!

The challenging days of learning to understand and getting myself understood gradually passed by and I was finally capable of communicating with sign language to teach them music until the day I left.

 And right at the moment, the person that brought me to sign language was standing at the threshold, smiling brightly.

"Look" - I read the sign from him - "Whee-pup is back!"

Hyojin was only one year older than me but he had been working here since high school - a few years earlier than I did. We were quite close after nearly 5 years working together on multiple activities for the center, from piano to painting and even dancing. As Hyojin was still here, I felt more welcomed coming back, despite being nagged at once we meet.  

"Hey, why do you keep getting thinner everytime I see you?"

Years working here had taught me to get used to Hyojin's nagging. I would be worried if he did not spend a day without nagging about someone or something. 

"Geez, and you are getting chubbier, my Deer!"

Hyojin usually callsed me Pup and I called him Deer - the old Deer. But he was an old man for his nagging; except for that and the chubbier cheeks, the 27-year-old Hyojin was not much different from the 22-year-old Hyojin when we first met. 

I comfortably adjusted my seat on the ergonomic chair in Hyojin's own office - now he was the operation manager at the center, such a prestigious reward for his never-ending contribution - and drink the mocha Hyojin bought at the canteen, along with a bunch of snacks. I bet that was the reason for Hyojin's gaining weight lately.

"If I say that gaining weight is gaining more energy for work, you'll take it as making an excuse." - Hyojin shrugslged and opened a pack of potato chips. Putting a piece into his mouth, Hyojin smiled at me - "But why are you here today? You didn't inform me for a proper welcome."

I stuck out my tongue. That action has two meanings. First, I had totally forgotten informing Hyojin. If I told him that it was due to urgency, he would take it as making an excuse. And second... what kind of welcome? He was just joking. 

"Yongsun unnie is busy. I just help her out on my annual leave."

"So" - Hyojin raised his eyebrows sarcastically - "Had Yongsun noona not been busy, you would never have thought of paying me a visit, right?"

I smiled crookedly at those burning words from Hyojin. Right, if it hadn't been for Hyejin's unconventional idea, I would never thought of coming back here. Busy work, that's the only reason. Also due to a hectic life, I and Hyojin had gradually grown apart, no longer as close-knitted like when we were in the same volunteer team. However, deep down inside, I believed Hyojin still remembers our purpose.

"Do you still remember my goal back then?" - I shook my plastic cup of coffee and the ice cubes inside make cracking sounds. - "About becoming more sociable?"

"Yup" - Hyojin looked serious - "I do. I have been joking so far. We are both making effort right?"

Hey, had I mentioned that we became close because we both had mental problem back then and went to the center for the disabled to widen our network as well as to be more active, more sociable as a cure? After all those time, Hyojin had made much more progress than I did. Not only had he became a manager at the center, but he also learned to become a coach to assist people. I was, meanwhile, at a slower pace. I only opened my heart for a limited number of people and chose to do something that only required my individual effort to refrain from bothering others.  

"So" - My voice trailed off - "I haven't visited you because I am busy working on that and..."

"Come on Whee-pup" - Hyojin interrupted me and leaned over to throw the empty pack of chips to the garbage bin in the corner of the office. - "I did not ask you to explain. I'm happy because you're getting brighter days after days."

Suddenly, Hyojin exclaimed as if he recalled something.

"And by the way, I did listen to your radio."

My eyes widened.

"How come? It's internal radio."

"Ah" - Hyojin scratched his red hair - "The Earth is round. There was your colleague in my coaching class. I asked him if he knew Whee-pup..."

"How come that person knew if you mentioned Pup?"

I pouted. But Hyojin just smiled and corrected himself.

"Ah no, I asked if he knew" - Hyojin intentionally stressed on each word - "MC Jung Wheein. He said that you were very well known in the company. So" - Hyojin shrugged with pride - "As Jung Wheein's close brother, I asked him to share me a sample session of your program."

"And what do you think of it?"

I raised my chin. It just made Hyojin laugh harder as it had been a while I did not ask him anything. I was originally not a decisive person; hence, I tended to ask my close friends for advice and Hyojin was among my top priority for to-go people.

"Surprised  of course." - Hyojin, again, scratched his head. Had I ever mentioned that Hyojin looked best with red hair? - "Because you produce everything. At first I did not believe but your colleague assured me. That is... how to say... quite impressive."

My grin got bigger. But Hyojin did not let my pride last for long as he concluded:

"But perhaps I found it impressive because I have not heard from you for a while, right?"

I stood up and leansled over to his place, grabbed his shoulders and shook as hard as I could.

"Shut up Kim Hyojin! I knew you've been joking around!"

Both of us bursted out laughing. No matter how long we hadn't seen each other, we were goofing around as if we were still in those youthful days 5 years ago!

[hello-akprince]

Online Dating - What Men Don't Want to See in Your Profile

Dating apps - the modern way to date. Media portrayal of "when dates go wrong" has taken isolated incidents and made them the norm, so the likelihood of meeting somebody in a bar and starting something new is now very small. People just don't trust each other.

Dating apps make dating safe and easy. Scrolling through profiles and choosing whether you like them or not has never been easier. It's like shopping for your soulmate and you get an entire aisle to pick one from. All of them are different in their own way, but a lot are the same in many ways too.

I have been using dating apps for over a year, have had my own degree of success, but am now just using them to people watch and for entertainment - yes that's right, entertainment! I use Plenty of Fish, Tinder and Bumble. Let's explain a little about each one first:

• Plenty of Fish (or PoF) - this is the most complex of the three. You input a lot of information about yourself, likes and dislikes, what you are looking for and personality, there is even a "Chemistry Test" to complete for compatibility (although I am yet to see a profile with this completed). You then add photos of yourself, in the hope of attracting that one person, and write a detailed "About me" description. You are shown photos of potential matches in your area and when you click on them you are taken to their profile. There is then lots of information allowing you to decide whether or not to make contact. PoF also has a "Meet Me" section, which is a quick swipe where you decide based on one photo whether or not you would like to meet somebody - this is however a paid section and as such nobody uses it! • Tinder - this is the famous dating app, where users swipe left or right depending on whether they like the look of the person in the photograph. Right for yes and left for no. Tinder allows you to view all of their profile photos, which can range from 1 to 8 images. If you like the look of the person and want to learn more, then you can tap on the bottom of the photo for their description - some people use it and others don't. When a match occurs, the onus is generally on the male to make initial contact • Bumble - this dating app is similar to Tinder, but laid out differently. On Bumble, the user scrolls up page by page to view details of the person that they are looking at and their additional images, but like Tinder it's a left or right swipe depending on whether you are attracted to that person. Unlike Tinder, when a match occurs, the onus is on the female to make the first move, in fact the male cannot send the first message and the lady has just 24 hours to send that first message. If you particularly like your match then you can use a function to extend that 24 hours to 48 hours.

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All sounds very complicated, but it really isn't. I have found that the best "quality" ladies use Bumble, then Tinder and bottom of the pile are users of PoF. Bumble users tend to be professionals who enjoy "the finer things in life and world travel", Pof users are less likely to be professionals and mostly enjoy "watching tv, going to the pub and family time".

I have decided to write this, with a view to pointing out, from a man's perspective, why the women on these apps become unattractive, despite how they may look. I also want to point out where women have their information wrong, when it comes to the male users of these apps. I know some men do not read the description that is painstakingly laboured over and go purely on looks, but there are many female users who do exactly the same thing.

PROFILE DESCRIPTION

Let's look at how the profile is viewed when read.

There are many ways that profiles are written and the majority are very negatively composed, others are amusing and others are very sensitively and intelligently put together.

By "negatively composed", I mean that they are an endless diatribe of why the user is hacked off with dating apps and men in general and what a potential match shouldn't do, shouldn't say in the first message and a very tight description of how they should look! They use phrases such as "just jog on" if a user is looking for something particular such as "one night stands", "a skinny supermodel" or even "doesn't like children". These are all things that put a potential match off when they read your profile - it comes across as aggressive and being written by somebody with "attitude" and a dislike of men in general... I mean if you dislike men so intensely then why are you looking for one?

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Sizeism is rife - I once read one lady's profile and it simply read:

"What do you call a man under 6 feet tall? A friend"

How is this conducive to finding a match? OK it made me smile, but also made me realise what I was facing - I am 5 feet 8 inches and in the dating game, considered a "short a**e" and therefore not worthy of a date. Why limit your options to finding a good man, who can satisfy your every requirement, because he is an inch or two shorter than you when you have your heals on? It all seems to be about appearance, which immediately is a left swipe for me, because it shows how shallow these "beauties" are. "I want to wear heals when I go out and therefore this adds 4 inches to my actual height of 5 feet 3 inches" - oh so you are actually a "short a**e" too then?

Here is a quote from another profile. This one belonged to an attractive woman of 52 who was 5 feet 2 inches and looking for somebody of a similar age:

"Must be over 5 foot 10 (as I like to wear heals) and have a full head of dark hair".

I thought, honey if he's reached 50 plus and he still has a full head of hair he's done well, but if it's still dark then he's using Grecian! If I wrote a similarly specific profile description and said, for example, "Must be a size 8 to 10, 34 BB and have red curly hair" I'd be shot on sight and get ignored by every woman who came into contact with my profile for being a misogynist! And it would probably be screen shot and shared around social media.

Clichés are another overused medium in Profile Descriptions - two of my absolute no-no's are "looking for my partner in crime" and "love to travel abroad and in the UK".

Looking for your "partner in crime"? Well I have no desire to help you bump off your ex, dismember him and scatter him around the county! I work in prisons, but have no desire to actually reside in one, thank you very much! LEFT SWIPE!

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So you like travelling and holidays abroad and in the UK? I think that goes without saying, we ALL do! The fact that you mention it in your profile, for me, means one of two things. Either you could not think of anything interesting to write in your profile and thought "travelling" made you sound interesting or mysterious, OR you are looking for a partner who will whisk you away somewhere warm and sandy 3 or 4 times a year! LEFT SWIPE! I once called somebody out on this, we matched and I asked her "I see you like travel, what's the nicest place you've ever been to?" She replied "Scotland." I asked "No outside the UK". Her response "Oh, I've never been abroad, but really would like to; maybe we could go somewhere together." So you want me to take you abroad, because you can't or won't take yourself? Yet her profile stated that she liked to travel abroad.

Ladies complain that they feel their profiles go unread, but given the amount of profiles that I have read which are written in this way, there is no wonder that men don't bother reading them. I can now quite accurately predict, just from a photograph, whether a profile is written in this way.

The other thing that puts me off potential matches is "attitude" in a profile - when a profile is worded in a way that is aggressive towards potential matches. Many profiles are worded in a way that aggressively states what the person is looking for, what a match should and should not have in their profile photos, what a match should and should not behave like, how they should word their contact message etc., these profiles usually end with the words "if this is you then 'jog on'." I hate this expression.

If you are writing a profile, ladies, and you want to attract a potential mate, then tell us about yourself, put some effort into it. Make us smile, grab our attention. Don't, don't, DON'T use clichés, or drone on at inordinate lengths about how bad men are, or Tinder in general is; listing your assumptions about how men are all after one thing, hung up on their ex, or married. These things just make you sound like Eeyore talking politics and nobody dates a donkey!

PHOTOS

The profile picture is the first impression - it's the thing that makes us decide if we wish to delve deeper into this person's profile. In which case why put your profile image as a meme, a black screen, a photo of your kids, a photo of a landscape or a really close up photo of your eye? Really? Am I going to look at the rest of your pictures? Erm... no! As for my last example: is your profile a jigsaw, do I have to print off each photo in order to build a composite of your face?

There are a few things not to do when deciding which photos to include in a profile:

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• Don't use filters, ESPECIALLY Snapchat filters - if I want to see you with bunny ears, then I will buy you some, and if I want to see you with stars around you I will bang my head on something solid! These filters do not give an accurate representation of you and most of the time make you look scarily gruesome! When I meet you, I won't recognise you and when I finally do see through all of the wrinkles, I may feel the need to iron your face and make you wear the rabbit ears and shiny red nose that I bought along with me to make you actually look like your profile picture! • Pouting - NO! Some of you look like a puffer fish trying not to kiss a shark's backside! Just smile and be natural - show me the sparkle in your eyes and the smile that makes the sun jealous. • Skiing Photos - women complain that men's photos always show them holding a fish (you would be surprised how many women have photos like this - you CANNOT describe yourself as an animal lover and stand there holding a suffocating fish) or standing by their car or motorbike. Well in my experience 75% of the female profiles I have visited show a photograph of them on the slopes leaning on their skis or something similar. We do not wish to see you in skiing goggles, hat, scarf, gloves, skiing overalls, big boots etc. All we can see is your red nose and all we can imagine is the copious amounts of snot you were trying to snivel up it, in order to have the photo taken without it running down and over your top lip onto your cashmere scarf! • Tongue - Please do not upload a photo of you sticking out your tongue, especially if you are over 50. It just isn't attractive in the slightest. I guess ladies think that it makes them look playful and fun, maybe even mischievous. It really doesn't, it just makes me think that you ran out of photograph ideas • Blurry Images - Given modern technology and the age of the selfie being upon us, there is zero excuse for the photos on your profile to be photos of old photographs or blurry in any way shape or form. They do not allow us to see what you look like • Face Only - Please do not give me 8 photos of your head, from pretty much the same angle! I get what you look like after the first 2 or 3. I want to see more - show your personality in them, your style, show me what you like to do in your spare time (except skiing for obvious reasons) - it's amazing what can be hidden when all that you are seeing is a face. Show me you in different clothes and at different times of the day - do not show me photos of yourself in different outfits in front of the same mirror, with the outfit that you were in in the previous image lying on the bed behind you or in a heap around your feet! • Cheesy Puffs - Specific example here of what not to do. This particular (large - I think BBW is what they refer to themselves as) lady thought that it was attractive to place a photograph of her sitting in a plastic chair on her patio, legs out in front of her, slippers on, fag in one hand and an oversized packet of cheesy puffs in the same hand, her other hand shoving a handful of said cheesy puffs into her mouth! Hmmmm, NOT attractive in the slightest!

The things people do! And then they wonder why they are having little or no success. Many will even combine all of these things into one profile.

My profile has a variety of photographs, all taken recently, in different places, doing different things and in different forms of attire. One photo in particular got me a great deal of abuse from a few women. It is a photograph of me and a horse, I'm sure that I have no need to explain the quantity of female profiles that I have come across where they are pictured with a horse! Apparently the fact that I am shown with a horse who had buried his head in my chest upon our first meeting, shows me to be weak and feeble and not a man at all; I was told that it was not manly, was unattractive and "wimpish". One woman really went to town on me about it, in a very abusive way, and it was really quite upsetting, but in essence shows the sort of person that she is and many others are on these sites.

CONCLUSIONS

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Lots of ladies are looking for a gentleman, who is attentive, compassionate, caring etc., but when they get one, you discover they are actually attracted to bad boys and find that they think you have some kind of ulterior motive because you are "too nice!" No, I am just being who I am - a genuinely nice guy and a gentleman who wants to treat you right.

Another reason for the above, of course, is that these women have been treated so badly by other men, that they do not believe they deserve the right to have somebody actually be nice to them. This really saddens me, that many men treat women in this way, which gives women the impression that this is normal and being treated properly is not. I had one match who took advantage of me being nice, to the point where I found myself paying her household bills as I felt sorry for her. I had another who was convinced I was a really nasty narcissist, using incredibly complex psychological games to entrap her, when all I was doing was being genuinely kind and caring towards her because that is who I am and who I was brought up to be. She could not find a box to put me in, based on her past experiences, and consequently I was told it was over.

My experience and the matches that I have dated have, unfortunately, led me to conclude that the majority of us who use dating apps are, in some way or other, "damaged", usually psychologically, by some incident in our life or experience with past partners. This therefore hinders our ability to "relationship" normally and consequently leads to us repeating cycles that ensure we remain in. To think that at some point in the future, every person in the modern world will have been on a dating app at some point in their lives!

Statistics actually show this to be true - they show that twice as many single people (compared to married people) suffer from mental illness, with single women being twice as likely as single men to suffer from severe psychological disorders. Showing that the majority of women on dating apps (at least two thirds of them) are completely bonkers! You have at best a 1 in 3 chance of dating a decent woman (women your chance is 2 out of 3 for dating a decent guy) - therefore for every 3 women I am matched with, only one is not suffering because of her past, if I am lucky.

All of that said, women are definitely the controllers where on line dating is concerned. They have the upper hand in what is acceptable for them to put in their profiles and photos. A guy doing the same sort of thing would end up having his profile reported a number of times and considered insulting or offensive for his wording. Women can state exactly what they are looking for even down to height, hair colour, facial hair etc. - a man doing that would be considered as an "AVOID". Apparently women can write whatever they like, regardless of how offensive it is - again, a man would not get away with this. It seems people forget that they are trying to attract somebody who will like them and want to go out with them and at some point, presumably, enter into a relationship with them.

own view on the whole profile thing is: honest images, that show not just my face but my whole clothed body, in clothes I like to wear and regularly do, in places that I like to visit. In terms of description, I describe myself and my personality honestly and succinctly and am honest about what I enjoy doing. I've been told that all of this makes me stand out from the crowd, but because it is so different to most male profiles it makes it look suspicious to potential matches! How ridiculous, that an honest profile can create suspicion amongst a myriad of fake ones, or rather people being insincere about who they are.

Due to everything I've detailed here, I have decided to limit my use of dating apps to "fun" only - by which I do not mean one night stands or any such shenanigans - that is people watching and entertaining myself, trying to guess from the initial image what the person will say about themselves and how their profile will read. I have also come to the conclusion that the majority of profiles are just people looking the way they think will attract the opposite sex, in terms of both images and description. I think many of the images are staged specifically for the dating app and that the description of self is worded using "commonalities" that are identifiers when searching for a compatible match.

During my research for this piece, I did speak to people who had matched on dating sites and found the love of their life. I spoke to more, however, who had trusted in dating apps for years (7 years is the longest anybody I spoke to had continuously been using these apps) and had no success at all. So it can be successful, but only for a very small minority of people.

I have decided to match the organic way, i.e. the meeting of minds and physicality that comes from a natural meeting somewhere, by chance, be it at a park or a bar or some such. Using dating apps just causes you to force the issue, when in reality it should happen naturally and in its own time. If it doesn't happen, then at least I have known true love, which unfortunately ended due to terminal illness. I am just going to get out and actually talk to people and if anything is meant to happen then it will. If not, then I will just enjoy my own company and continue to take myself on dates! Or I guess I could register as an escort and have the ladies pay me to take them on dates or better still on holidays abroad... certainly worth considering if all else fails!

I will leave you with one final thought, rather 'helpfully' provided by a friend who has been happily married for many, many years. He said "You should avoid the Supermarket Dating App. I've heard that you just end up with a 'bag for life'!"

Thank you for reading, I hope that you found this article of use.

Peace, light & love Click Here For Dating Tips For Women & Men

[reactionsthatigot-7]

lol ok didn't know you did it😂 but I'm disappointed in people these days! Like just say you don't have time for me instead of shutting me out completely without no warning cuz that's just childish and fucked up! And for a boyfriend? Throwing away a 10 years friendship for love is just not right! I dated before but never have I ever neglected my friends especially my bestie or ex-bestie now I guess because of my boyfriend! It's really hard to find someone faithful and trust-worthy these days!

i didn't do it on purpose, but it just happened in my first relationship, i was 16 and didn't know better. maybe they tried to but find it hard to just blow someone off like that, not doing anything might be a way of solving it in a less painful way. but i do agree its not great, but there could be more reasons than just ignoring you. clearly your better at dividing time than i am :P but like you said its stupid to throw away a 10year friendship over something like this, so try and be forgiving. talk to them about it if it really bothers you. its not hard at all, its all about being open about everything. i dont want to sound like I'm against you, because it does suck. but maybe she didn't think it through the way you have, and thats why you need to talk it out. maybe it'll work out or maybe things will get out of hand, but at least you have her input too to end things instead of just your own.

~ahgase Omma