#(but yes she's also going to milk this a bit by demanding a book club deal)

[ikkaku-of-heart]

@polarurchin​ asked: Setting himself down onto Ikkaku's bed with what room his lanky body could spare, Uni hunches over on himself as he twiddles his thumbs. His gaze seems to wander, looking about the room and to what plushies he can spot before finally settling on Ikkaku herself across from him.

He had made his request to see her alone urgent so he might as well be out about his desires where no wandering ears can hear them.

"So Ikakku... You know those smutty books ya got that some of the crew joked about some one time?" He begins picking at the gloves covering his webbed hands as he grew nervous, a blush now making itself known over top the bandana dominating much of his face and even casting a fine shade of crimson up to his ears.

"I was wonderin' if any of them had a gal with tentacles in any of em. Like an octopi mermaid of sorts." This was a start. Now it'd be a wonder if he doesn't combust from the steam threatening to blow out of his ears before he confesses to wanting one such erotic novel himself.

"... I was hoping that maybe you'd have a copy to spare or something. But if you don't that's fine, I can always search for one on the next island." The words seem to spill over in a hurried rush from his covered lips. Even harder to hear too hushed as they were almost as though he'd hoped she hadn't heard him in his scramble to get to the point finally. Hopefully the engineer would have mercy on him and didn't tease too harshly.

Ikkaku sat cross-legged on her bed and waited patiently for Uni to speak, curious as to why he’d asked to talk to her in private. She liked to think they had a good enough friendship that he trusted her with stuff, so it was clearly a topic he was sensitive about. So, she let him take his time, simply toying with one of her adorably round plushies until he was ready to spill the beans.

Her initially lips pursed when he first brought up her erotic fiction collection. Oh, the boys had made fun of her for them on more than one occasion. Which, ok, she did get because it was a weird hobby for most people but some of those books were good! Certainly better than the more vanilla erotic fiction that she’d found in book stores. And hell, she came from an island with a history of marrying merfolk so they really shouldn’t be that surprised if she found herself drawn to books with more monstrous love interests. Plus, those covers were still more tasteful than most of the porn magazines she knew half the crew kept stored under their bunks...

The annoyance swiftly passed as Uni got out the rest of his request, and her expression turned into a smile that was both accepting and perhaps a bit more mischievous than her shipmate would like. Oh ho ho, so the nurse was curious himself now, huh? Seemed he’d managed to get more than just mermaid tail on Fishman Island, because that was a pretty specific request. One she was more than happy to fulfill.

Practically bounding off the bed, Ikkaku perused her bookshelf, quickly selecting a pair of novels - both with octopi ladies, though one was embracing a red-haired heroine while the other had a muscular man entangled in her tentacles.

“Here,” the engineer said, offering up the two books. “It’s a trilogy. The third book comes out sometime this month so I can get you the finale on the next island. And you can keep them if you decide you like them. I’ll even take the heat if the guys find them since they are technically mine.” Leaning forward, Ikkaku gave him an evil smirk that could have put Law’s to shame. “In exchange, we’re gonna have a little book club once you’re done with them so we can discuss all the details of the plot. The characters. The accuracy of the sex scenes.”

[clandonnachaidh]

Light Across The Seas That Sever (Ch6)

AO3

“Mind ye’ve got that meeting this afternoon?” Ian reminded him for the thousandth time as they all sat at the breakfast table and Jamie fought the urge not to roll his eyes, already mildly annoyed at the fact that his bowl of porridge wasn’t quite right. He should’ve made it himself without backing down when Jenny had insisted on doing it for him, that way it would’ve been thick enough to plaster a wall with, just how he liked it. But his sister would never surrender the spurtle, working it through the oats and milk until they became creamy and setting a large bowl of sugar on the table, much to Jamie’s distaste. Thick enough to clart a wall and with enough salt to make your eyes water, that was exactly how he’d had it since he was a bairn, their mother taking hers in the same way. Only Jenny and their father had preferred that their breakfast be covered in sugar and the sweetness of the Scottish strawberries that grew wild on Lallybroch estate.

“Aye, I ken fine well enough,” Jamie grunted without turning his eyes towards Ian who was trying to encourage a spoonful into Wee Ian’s mouth. “Whit was the name of the estate again?”

“’Tis the only estate in Tomich but did I no’ tell ye? He’s changed the meeting to the golf club.”

It had been his idea to begin with but now Jamie was uncertain about how their drunken plan was taking shape. After one too many whiskies of a night, he and Ian had been sprawled in front of the fire as they chastised the blend that they were imbibing, arrogantly announcing that the two of them could do much better. Jamie hadn’t thought anything of it as he’d stumbled to his bed and let sleep take him but a few days later he found himself mending a fence post in the back field as Ian continued his musing about Broch Mordha putting its stamp on the world as a new destination for a premier whisky distillery and the two of them, its innovative creators.

Jamie grunted as he rose to his feet and deposited his bowl into the deep sink, letting the tap run to soak the dish and refusing to turn his body to take in the picture perfect family scene that was sat at the kitchen table.

“Mr Dunsany—“

“He’s a Lord, is he no’?”

“Is there a reason yer being a particularly crabbit arse this morning, brother?” Jenny’s voice was dripping with irritation, not wanting her nice family breakfast to be ruined by the interminable grey cloud that had been brewing over Jamie’s head for the past few weeks.

“Jen, leave him be.”

“I will not. He’s been a moanin’ greetin’ face since he came back from that bloody reunion and ’tis hell time he snapped out of it,” she said a little louder to ensure that Jamie heard the emphasis that she placed on the insult as it flew from her mouth.

This caused him to turn on his heel and level his sister with a careful eye.

“I’m sorry, Janet, but sometimes I think ye forget that there is a world outside of Lallybroch. Life can be a damn sight more complicated than poppin’ out weans and tending tae chickens, ye ken.”

If her temper didn’t hit the roof, her eyebrows certainly made a good go of it. Silently, her fingers curled tightly around the spoon, stilling herself against the pull of Wee Ian’s chubby little hand that was fisted in the material of her shirt, demanding attention.

“I ken that fine well, James. But ye canna jus’ come home every time ye see her and sulk like a wee bairn that doesna get what he wants. Grow up a wee bit, aye?”

At the end of her parting shot, Jamie felt the anger licking at the sides of his throat. The rage that he’d been directing towards himself was now begging to be let loose on someone else, someone that would bite back and Christ, Jenny would do just that. It had been this way since he’d come home, the frustration melting into a sullenness that had punctured the idyllic bubble that the family lived in at Lallybroch. In his worst thoughts, he resented both his sister and his best friend and the happiness that they shared. Jamie loved them to their bones, of course he did, but after leaving Oxford with yet another memory of how he’d let Claire slip through his fingers, the last thing he wanted to see was the very evident love between Jenny and Ian and their three children.

And so he found himself, in a suit that was a bit tight across his shoulders but he’d purchased anyway in a department store on the Inverness High Street, shaking hands with Lord William Dunsany in the bar of a golf club that he’d never seen fit to frequent himself. Jamie tried his hardest not to let the glances from the club members get to him as they walked around the lounge with an understated belonging the he’d never feel himself. He made sure that he gave a strong handshake, looking the shorter man straight in the eye and made the informed decision to swap from his usual Scots to his best Received Pronunciation, assuming that Lord Dunsany was one of those people who claimed to be a ’Scotchman’ but was as English as they come with the age old story of inheriting Scottish land as a birthright. Jamie had realised, however, that the man certainly knew his whisky and would make a not-half-bad business partner with himself and Ian if he managed to convince him to part with some cash.

Jamie was fuzzy on the details of how’d they’d come to the agreement but two hours and four whiskies later, he found himself once more shaking hands with Dunsany. The Lord would foot the seed money in exchange for a fairly sizeable but not unfair amount of the business and as a personal favour, Jamie would escort his eldest daughter around Edinburgh the following evening.

“She’s up here with me to get away from some nonsense that’s gone on at home but she’s been cooped up in her hotel for days while her mother tries to organise a townhouse for her. I just want her to get out and see the city. Who better to show her around than a native?”

Late next afternoon, his slight hangover thankfully having subsided after a coffee and a square sausage roll, Jamie stepped off of the train and onto the platform of Waverley Station in the heart of Edinburgh.

The tang of the breweries immediately filled his nostrils and he breathed deeply as the ever present sound of bagpipes floated down from the upper level of the street. While Lallybroch where was his heart lived, and he loved the humour and familiarity of Glasgow, Edinburgh held a special place in his heart. He never got tired of grabbing a coffee and walking the length of George Street in the sun, the castle bursting into view if he turned his eyes to the east.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he made his way towards the hotel that Dunsany had insisted on to putting him up in, the same one as his daughter just to make things simple. Although Jamie had spent many a morning diving into the spectacular breakfasts put on at one of his favourite places in Edinburgh, The Huxley, he had never imagined staying at The Caledonian that loomed over the small establishment just metres from its door.

Jamie didn’t quite know what to do as the doorman who was wearing a bloody top hat opened the door to the hotel for him so he settled on giving the man a polite smile, resisting an absurd urge to give him some type of formal bow. He had been in nice hotels before but nothing like this with its polished marble floor and a huge vases of fresh cut flowers on most surfaces that he could see.

“Mr Fraser, we have you in the Robert Louis Stevenson Suite for two nights. Here is your room key and it also includes the number for the Concierge, should you have any need. We have a table booked in the Peacock Alley bar for you and Miss Dunsany at 6pm this evening and I would be happy to make any dinner reservations you would like to make, within or outwith the hotel. Michael can get the rest of your bags from the car,” a neat blonde woman smiled at him from the reception desk as she inclined her head to the bellboy hovering at a polite distance over Jamie’s right shoulder.

“It’s nae bother, lass, I’ve only got the one bag,” Jamie muttered with a hint of embarrassment as he pulled the bag from the floor and swiped the keycards from the desk, smiling back at her. “Thank ye.”

When he stepped through the door that bore the name of one of Scotland’s most beloved authors, his growing Imposter Syndrome ramped up a few notches. Crossing the floor towards the window, Jamie was greeted by a beautiful view of the castle as it loomed over the city. He didn’t quite know how to act, having never been in such a large and clearly expensive hotel room. In fact, it wasn’t even a room, the woman at the desk had called it a suite.

Flicking through the TV channels for a little while, settling on the new show about Billy Connolly’s upbringing in Scotland, his fingers lazily scratched at the bare patch of skin just above his belt buckle. Something about being in a different city and having some time to himself made him feel lighter than he had in weeks and he gave himself permission to laugh at a particularly lewd joke that spilled from The Big Yin’s mouth on the TV.

Jamie’s phone, lying face up on the mattress beside his left shoulder, startled him as it gave a firm buzz. Sitting up, he opened the latest message from Geneva, telling him that she wanted to go out for dinner somewhere nice tonight. He was under no illusion as to the fact that when someone like Geneva Dunsany used the words ‘somewhere nice’, she was actually saying ‘somewhere expensive’. But thankfully, Jamie knew just the place and sent her a reply saying that he had it in hand before phoning down to the reception and having the helpful woman book a table at a restaurant he knew would be impressive enough but not so posh that he would feel out of his depth by eating there.

Although they’d messaged back and forth that afternoon, he hadn’t bothered to enlarge the tiny picture next to her name at the top of the screen. Toying with his phone, Jamie resolved that he had to know what the lass looked like, not wanting to have to shuffle embarrassingly around the bar trying to figure out who he was there to meet.

Her picture brought to its full size, he looked at her for the first time and tried was pleasantly surprised. She was clearly beautiful. Dark hair that flowed in loose waves over bare shoulders, her skin a beautiful olive brown from a summer tanning on a beach somewhere. She was looking at the camera dead on with a surety that came from a privileged upbringing, her face painted perfectly and a twist of the lips that couldn’t really be called a smile, as if she didn’t want to be seen to be having fun. She looked like every posh girl that Jamie had met in his life, every girl at university who would air kiss their friends on both cheeks while their manicured hands clutched at bags that cost more than his first car.

Suppressing a groan at the thought of spending a weekend with a person who no doubt came from an entirely separate world than the one he’d grown up in, Jamie divested himself of his socks as he plodded, bare feet on plush carpet, through to the bathroom to take a shower and clean himself up ahead of his evening.

Later, he sat at the bar, his fingers playing with the patterns on the cut crystal glass that housed his double whisky, he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder.

“James Fraser?”

His stomach dropped into the floor.

The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind at what hearing his name fall from the lips of an Englishwoman would do to him. He felt an absurd wave of revulsion swipe through him in an instant and he took a quick drink before turning on his stool to face her, swallowing the bile that had risen up in his throat.

“Och, lass, nobody really calls me James. Ye can call me Mac. ’Tis another one of my family names,” he tried to sound light and not as if the sounds of his name leaving her lips felt like the flesh on his back had been ripped open to the bone.

There was a reluctance in her eyes and he immediately knew that she was uncomfortable so he did his best to send her his most charming smile, gesturing for her to sit and then signalling to the bartender.

“What would ye like tae drink?”

“Martini, if you would, extra dry, extra dirty,” she ordered confidently as the bartender nodded and turned to begin preparing it for her.

With her chin in the air, she asked, “So, my father said you were a business associate?”

“Aye, I suppose I am now. My brother-in-law and myself wish to start our own whisky company. Your father has kindly offered to help.”

“My father isn’t generally in the habit of helping out of kindness.”

“Aye, well, hopefully he trusts that we ken what we’re doing. Or that we’ll figure it out at the very least,” Jamie tried to joke but she gave him nothing. There was something cold in her demeanour that he hoped he wouldn’t have to fight against for the whole evening.

After watching the martini disappear down Geneva’s throat in record time, he offered her an arm as they left the hotel and were hit by the cool air of Edinburgh in the evening. As soon as Jamie took the first step towards Princes Street, Geneva halted.

“We’re walking?”

“’Tis no’ far, only ten minutes or so. We have time before our reservation,” he replied, gently tugging on the arm that she’d looped through his so that she would begin to walk with him. Her feet stayed firmly planted on the concrete.

“These are £500 shoes, I’m not walking anywhere.”

“Lass, Edinburgh is a city tae get lost in. If we get a taxi we’ll just be looking at the sides of buses and traffic lights. Yer father asked me tae show ye the city,” letting her arm slip from his, Jamie took a step forward and gestured towards the castle, atmospherically lit from beneath now that the sun had gone down. He turned back to her with a kind smile and held out his hand. “Let me, aye?”

Reluctantly, she acquiesced and let him lead her away from the hotel. Jamie’s skin tingled at the contact and he realised that he hadn’t touched a woman apart from Jenny since the university reunion with Claire. He flexed his fingers experimentally and felt something swell in the pit of his stomach when Geneva tightened her grip in response.

The two of them made small talk as they walked through Princes Street gardens and up towards the restaurant, Geneva seeming happy enough with the venue that he’d chosen. He’d heard good things about The Witchery before and as they sat down at a table covered in a pristine white cloth, surrounded by painted dark wood on the walls and ceilings, he noticed how pretty Geneva looked in the candlelight. Only a fool would try to argue that she wasn’t beautiful. But there was a coldness to her that hadn’t warmed yet and so he kept on being as charming as he could, hoping that another glass of wine might bring down the steely demeanour that she seemed to hold on to for dear life.

Oxford had been full of girls like Geneva Dunsany. Wealthy, privileged and confident. After four years of university, Jamie had perfected the art of tuning out their inane conversation about which exotic place they’d spent their summer, who’s guestlist they’d been placed on for the weekend and what they were planning on wearing. So he knew how to respond to her constant stream of speech, nodding and agreeing in the right places and sending dazzling smiles across the table when he felt like rolling his eyes. Though somehow, he found that he didn’t actually dislike Geneva Dunsany. Something in her eyes, or maybe it was the way she chose her words, showed Jamie that the poor little rich girl personality was an act. Underneath the mask, she felt the same way that he did—unfathomably sad.

Something inside of him felt sorry for her, recognising the pain that he knew all too well in another. And while he didn’t particularly care for the woman, Jamie decided to be kind to her. He leaned closer across the table and started to respond to her stories with anecdotes of his own. With the help of another two martinis, she began to blossom in his company and the two shared a relatively pleasant evening together.

When they reached the hotel elevator, Jamie had nothing on his mind other than stripping off his constricting shirt and sleeping off the whisky cloud that was hanging somewhere around his temples.

“What’s on the agenda now, then?” Geneva asked as they stood side by side.

“Shower then bed, I think.”

“Sounds good to me,” she all but whispered, Jamie’s head twisting to see the dark look of seduction that was painted on her face. “Mind if I join you?”

He didn’t say no.

It was shocking how easily he slipped into the worst version of himself. There had been a few nights in the past where he’d spent too much time and money in the pub in Broch Mordha and woken up the morning with some woman curled around him at whatever bed and breakfast they’d invited him back to. He only ever slept with women who were in the area for the moment, never anyone who he’d run into again. It was always when he was half gone with drink, his body acting solely on blind need that he succumbed to his baser instincts.

The doors of the elevator opened and Geneva walked in purposefully, turning to look at him with an alluring smile. Jamie walked in beside her and pressed the number for her floor.

They found pleasure in each other’s bodies but it was skin deep at best. A simple matter of scratching an itch that they both clearly had and had resolved to using the other to sate that particular need. There were no delicate touches or gazes held for any real length of time. Jamie set himself to work, making sure that she got hers before followed suit. It was perfunctory. Pleasant. And when they both uttered their subdued sounds of fulfilment, Geneva immediately rolled away from him, shielding herself once more.

“Do ye want me to go?” Jamie’s voice broke through the dark silence of the room.

Her response was barely a whisper, “Please.”

He dressed quickly, roughly, and scrambled around in the dark for his phone that had fallen from his pocket. Geneva was lying as still as a statue but Jamie could hear the odd sniff from her and realised that she had begun to cry. After dithering between his options, his inherent gentlemanliness won out.

“Is there anything I can do?”

There was no response for a few seconds and he took that as his answer, beginning to move towards the door of the room when a single word stopped his hand from turning the doorknob.

“Stay.”

Keeping his eye on her as though she was a frightened animal that might bolt at any provocation, he slowly began to undress. When she moved over slightly to give him room to get under the covers, he did just that and felt a strange sense of kinship as she wrapped her body around his. Jamie held her, stroking her hair until she fell asleep in his arms. The sound of her gentle breathing was the only thing filling the room until his phone suddenly pinged with a notification.

Facebook Congratulate Claire Beauchamp on their engagement!

Before he could stop himself, he opened the app and looked at the posed photograph of the two of them, her left ring finger showing off an almost comically large diamond ring.

After telling our friends and family, we are so happy to announce that we are engaged! We thank everyone so far for their kind words and well wishes. From the future Mr and Mrs Frank Randall.

Every muscle on his body was thrumming with energy. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what the energy was made from. Rage? Fear? Utter desolation? Whatever it was, it was coiling its way around his ribs, holding him in stasis and holding him hostage as he experienced it.

He wasn’t even considered a friend anymore, seeing as he hadn’t been given the privilege of a private message, having to find out through fucking Facebook. She had clearly changed in her time in Boston, the Claire he knew would never have given up her name and become Mrs Frank Randall. Randall-Beauchamp at the very least, for Christs sake.

Tasting the rare metallic nature of blood in his mouth, Jamie realised that he was biting the inside of his cheek. He felt the need to get up and do something, anything to expel the energy that was going to burst out of him if he didn’t channel it into something. But he was stilled by the feel of Geneva’s naked body against his and a rush of guilt tried to swallow him whole.

How dare he question Claire’s life, assume to know her situation all the while he was in bed with another woman. Reminding himself for the hundredth time that Claire had made her choice and it wasn’t him, he swallowed his pride and went to send her a message, even though he knew it wasn’t a smart idea.

He shouldn’t have had that final whisky.

Jamie: Just seen the news. Congratulations to you and yours.

A blatant lie but what was he supposed to say?

To his surprise, her reply was almost immediate.

Claire: Thank you!

Short and to the point. Two words that would shut down any further conversation, a feigned attempt at excitement and gratitude that he prided himself on being able to see through.

He knew that he would have been one of many to send the same sentiment that day but he had kidded himself that his text would receive a more personalised response. Maybe all she thought of him was a copy and paste response as she planted her phone down screen first on the sofa before climbing into the arms of her future husband.

In an attempt to hold the tears at bay, Jamie curled an arm around Geneva’s prone body, bringing up his hands to his arm and pressing his palms into his eyes until he saw stars.

[nct-jungjaehyun]

[6:15pm] “and then you go bam and bam bam bam,”crush!jaehyun was currently teaching you the dance moves to simon says.

you copied his movements the best you can. despite your best efforts, your arms flung left and right awkwardly. laughter erupted from the both of you when your left foot hooked behind your right and you fell forward.

thankfully, he caught you every time.

while you gulped down the rest of your water, he turned off the music and leaned against the wall. “i was ten times worse than you when i first started.”

you laughed, “ayy, don’t lie. you probably had it in you from the start.” your hand pointed at him accusingly.

he hit your hand and pushed it down, smirking at your teasing.

your arm brushed against his as you leaned on his right side. “i want ice cream,” you sighed.

he straightened himself, picking at his pockets to find extra change. “i can run and go buy some at the convenience store. it’ll take me like five minutes.”

you nodded and wiped away the sweat on your forehead. your hair was beginning to stick to the back of your neck. “i’ll wait. take your time.”

he jogged out of the practice room. like a spy, you silently crept behind him and watched as his figure disappeared from around the corner of the bright hallway.

calm down, you told yourself. your heart was pounding against your chest. the dancing must have increased the beating. but most of all, it was jaehyun’s fault. to be precise, it was the fault of his beauty, his voice, his every touch. even after two hours of exercise, the sweat only seemed to add a touch of fire to his beauty. when you struggled to pick up on a certain move, he would rush over and hold your arms and lead you through the choreography. the contact kept your blood pumping and adrenaline rushing.

all the times that you saw him, before he offered to teach you some dance choreographies, he always wore a variety of hoodies and the same pair of jeans.

this time was different. he carried a white tee that highlighted his wide torso and basketball shorts that showed off his toned calves. it was impossible to take your eyes off of him, perhaps that was why you messed up so much during the dance.

you shook your head and laughed to yourself. you could not believe that you were doing this to spend time with jaehyun and get him to like you. when he first asked if you wanted him to teach you how to dance, you accepted his offer without thinking. your heart screamed yes. your heart excited when he was around and your mind failed to keep up with your emotions.

indeed, it did not take jaehyun long to get to the convenience store and back. he returned and aside from the bag of ice cream hanging from his fingers at his side, he brought someone with him.

the person behind him had almond hair and carried a black tee and joggers. he reminded you of a teddy bear. he was shorter than jaehyun, but he was still taller than you by, you suspected, a few inches. he waved sheepishly and brushed his hand on jaehyun’s back.

jaehyun handed you the bag and squeezed the stranger’s shoulder, “this is haechan. i ran into him at the store. he said he left something here from last night.”

you smiled at haechan and attached your eyes with his round ones for a mere second. eye contact was always difficult for you. you much rather make eye contact with inanimate things, such as the ice cream in your hands.

however, as haechan walked towards the corner of the room, where he last left his charger, his eyes lingered on you.

you set the ice cream on a chair and backed away for jaehyun to pick one from the many flavors. while waiting for him to choose, your mouth salivated. your body was begging for something cold to wash away the heat burning your skin. to distract yourself, you moved your arms around to remind yourself of the dance movements that jaehyun had just taught you.

out of nowhere, a loud gasp resembling a siren erupted from the corner of the room. your heads spun up in alert and faced haechan, the source of the sound.

jaehyun stomped his foot like a little toddler, “look what you did!”

your eyes followed his finger, which pointed at the floor where his ice cream was smushed against.

haechan ignored his tantrum and rushed towards you, “apple! it’s you, isn’t it?”

you returned his excitement with confusion. “i’m sorry? apple?”

it was haechan’s turn to stomp his feet now, but it was from happiness, unlike jaehyun, who is now finding paper towels to wipe away the milky mess.

haechan leaned forward to smack jaehyun’s back, “your girlfriend is an alumni from my school. she was my upperclassmen!”

jaehyun threw the wet paper towel at haechan, an attempt to shut him up.

after throwing a kick in haechan’s direction, he turned to you. “g-girlfriend,” jaehyun forced himself to smile, “ignore what he said, i-i, i’m sorry.”

he even started to bow in apology, but before you can stop him, haechan did. he pushed jaehyun to the side.

you almost wanted to laugh. they looked like two toddlers trying to get your attention for more candy.

“do you remember me? i’m the one that performed baby shark with you at the main quad.” haechan said, full of hope.

you thought back to your high school days. most of your time was occupied by clubs. there was volunteering clubs, books clubs, and dance clubs. dance clubs.

wait a second. did he say... baby shark?

you jumped up and down. “you’re the one who bought me milk tea. the cup cracked and it spilled all over me.”

haechan clapped repeatedly, hopping with you now, “yes! i gave you my jacket after, do you remember?”

you nod, excited to be reunited with a classmate. your eyes finally adjusted to jaehyun in the background. admist the excitement of reuniting, you forgot about him.

haechan put his hand to his mouth and sighed, “wow, it’s been so long. i never thought i would see you again since you’re a foreigner.”

he turned to jaehyun to explain, “she was like a superstar, i’m telling you. she knew all the dances to super junior and exo. her stage name was apple.”

you laughed loudly to cover his bubbly voice. you get between the two of them before haechan can ruin any more future plans of dance practices with your crush, who looked pretty crushed.

jaehyun frowned, “you two were that close?”

“yeah, from the dance club. she was the president, can you believe it?” haechan answered for you.

jaehyun shook his head, “not really.”

“why is jaehyun teaching you how to dance?” haechan was mentally pushing you into the corner.

rather than toddlers getting your attention for sweets, it was more like demanding it now.

you glared at him, “i, uh, i-” looking around the room, you struggled to find a reason to make up your lie. you attempted to distract haechan first, “the ice cream is melting, haechan, hurry and eat.”

while haechan minimized himself from the conversation, jaehyun grew more dominant.

you looked at your toes, wiggling them absentmindedly, “i’m sorry i lied, okay? i just wanted to get closer to you. i love dancing and yes, i led a dance club in high school, but that’s behind me now. right now, i just want to run my flower shop the best i can and also find someone to spend time with.”

you filled your mouth with air until it was round like a balloon and then released it. right as jaehyun was about to speak, you interrupted him, “that person is you, by the way.”

jaehyun’s expression broke into adoration and fondness. he couldn’t contain his happiness, “so that was why you picked up some of the difficult parts with ease and struggled at the easy moves.”

“it’s not my fault the easy parts are the only parts where you can come close to me...” you said under your breath.

he bit his lip as roses bloomed on his cheeks, “stop being so cute.”

your head flips up at his compliment. this entire time you were too embarrassed to face him, or see the hearts in his eyes. “was what haechan said real? the girlfriend part.”

“do you want it to be?” he grinned shyly, “i want it to be.”

“oh, just kiss each other already! everything is melting from the cuteness, even me!” haechan exclaimed.

———————

*it would mean a lot to me if you can check out my pinned post and give me some feedback!!🥰

[everlarkbirthdaygifts]

Happy Birthday, jbsaucy!

Happy belated Birthday, @jbsaucy​! We hope you had a wonderful day back on the 16th, and that you celebrated in style! To bring your party back around, the lovely @mega-aulover​ has written a story just for you!

For this year, I am recently divorced and trying to get the nerve up to get out there. So I would like to request a 30/40s Everlark, post divorced meeting

Jbsaucy

Dear Jbsaucy I hope you had a wonderful birthday. I apologize for the lateness, and I hope you had a wonderful day. This prompt BTW was amazing and I had a great time writing it. It was a blast. Thank you to Norbertsmom for Betaing 

Rated T 

Title:  OFF THE MARKET

-kpkpkpkp-

Divorce sucks. SUCKS.

Getting divorced sucks, being divorced sucked.

But nothing, not the tedious nature of dividing unwanted movies, the fear of root canals, or getting a speeding ticket, compared to dating. Dating, ladies and gentlemen, after being married for ten years sucked royally. 

ROYALLY!

After my divorce, my attorney suggested I get a hobby or join a club. I really wasn’t a social person. Not much of a talker, and avoided any and all spotlights. It was this fear of the spotlight that originally brought me in contact to my now ex-husband, Darius.

My best friend Gale pushed me to do one of those karaoke nights. I panicked and ran straight into Darius. He thought I was cute, and I was grateful he went up with me to the karaoke microphone. He sang and I laughed. The rest is history; the marriage only lasted ten years. But I knew we weren’t right for one another, partially because Darius was a very sexual person, for me sex wasn’t important. I got more enjoyment out of getting my teeth cleaned. He found someone who revved his engine and I got the fica and dates. 

Yup Dates.

How did that happen you ask?

Well, I’ll tell you I followed my divorce attorney’s suggestion. Preface-OUTSIDE OF A COURTROOM NEVER EVER FOLLOW YOUR DIVORCE ATTORNEY’S ADVICE.

With that warning sign, I digress. Taking a deep breath, I pinch the bridge of my nose. Wait for it... I joined a book club. 

It was the only natural course of action. After our divorce I got all of the books. You see one of the things Darius and I loved to do was go to bookstores. We’d buy all of these books with the intention of reading them, and we never did. We had bookshelves filled with books from the 100 Must-Read Classic Books by Penguin. So after my divorce, I sat in my newly minted apartment with a box of wine and all of these books. 

I was looking at the boxes, my divorce papers jutting out. Amongst them there was a note - with the name of a book club, the real 451 book club, with an address. I called them the Squad 451 or the Squad. The women were a hodgepodge of personalities; the right blend of sweet and crazy. There is Mags, the motherly type. She has boatloads of grandchildren. Then there is her neighbor Greasy Sae  who runs a diner in town. I used to go to her diner as a kid and consume her mystery meat soups. The older woman is bawdy and half of the things she says makes me blush redder than a red bean. Next is Annie, a shy, slightly mad girl who is a librarian. Delly has the personality of the southern bell who wears pink and believes in romance. I’ve known of Delly forever; she and I went to the same high school. 

Foxface,  has one of those names with multiple consonants and vowels but prefers to go by Foxy or Foxface. She is freakishly smart and sometimes, I think she has blackmarket dealings because she’s so secretive. Then there is Effie, the middle aged, tightly wound woman whose book choices are as repressed as she is, like Jane Eyre. And last, but not least, is my divorce lawyer, yes the very same one who suggested I get a hobby, Johanna Mason who is, well, a sex fiend. 

I started meeting up with them, and six months after my divorce, that’s when the ladies conspired against me and set up my profile on one of those dating websites looking for men, for me. I had no idea, and on my birthday, they presented me with their “gift.” 

It was the gift you didn’t want, like a pimple on your wedding day or the runs before an important interview, or bad breath before a first kiss. 

Greasy said that if I didn’t use my, well, feminine - looks around - petals. That they’ll dry up and turn into ugly petunias. I announced sex wasn’t important, and even friged Effie said a lady needed to literally, figuratively, and metaphorically, occassionally let her hair down. 

 I said NO.

I demanded.

I scowled.

Nothing helped.

They created a profile based upon themselves, and yet through describing themselves they pegged me. I was nurturing. I had a sexy edge. I was introverted, and yet mysterious. I was smart, honest, loyal and a closet romantic. But if you tell anyone that, I’ll hunt you down, even after I’m dead. 

They split me up like a kid of divorced parents being schlepped from one house to the other. They set themselves up in teams and each team got to pick my dates. And everytime we met for a book club meeting, I was to dutifully report on the date. Based upon their success, a second date would be permitted. 

It was a simple proposition. 

I was naive. A stupid idiot, or as Bugs Bunny say’s, a maroon. 

Because I hadn’t really ever been out there. 

To be honest, I met Darius right out of high school, at my first college party, and we were married - okay it wasn’t a big wedding. It really wasn’t a wedding at all. It was a spur of the moment, we got drunk and ended up at one of those Elvis chapel impersonators. Annnnd bada-bing. 

I never really dated, so I agreed with the book club’s plan, because how hard could dating be?

 And thus began my nightmare.

I must state, or emphatically note, not all of my “dates,” were catastrophically bad. To be fair, most of the time I wasn’t interested. Delly said I wasn’t romantically pulled. Johnna said my engine wasn’t revved up. Greasy said if the man didn’t make me want to orgasam with a look, then he wasn’t worth my time. I posed this question to the universe: How in blazing blue inferno does a man make a woman...well you know, with a look? Was that even possible?

A hazy yellow fuzz enters my head and my mind wanders. I conjure up blue eyes and translucent lashes that never tangle.  

Sigh.

…. (my brain just short circuited at the thought of large hands)

Earth to Katniss. 

Okay sorry, I spaced out for a little bit, and their words spurred me on to continue my journey. And one year after my divorcce I had stories, no I have battle scars.  To prove my point, the following are my top three worst dates. In no particular order.  

Date Disaster # 1 was with an artsy type at a chique Italian restaurant. He arrived late, and was drunk, high, or both. Then fell asleep on his plate of bolognese. Yup, in his plate of spaghetti and meat sauce. I paid for my half, tucked my tail between my legs and left.

Date Disaster #2 was with a small man with glasses and a massive intellect who didn’t stop talking about flamingos. FLAMING PINK FLAMINGOS. My brain shut down. I didn’t hear the music in the jazz themed restaurant. I didn’t even taste the heat in the gumbo. The only factoid I remembered when we said goodnight was that flamingos were gray when they were born. I couldn’t even tell you how they became pink. The man was the human form of anesthesia for my soul. 

Date Disaster #3 was a nice man. We laughed. And everything was going well. We ordered drinks, a cranberry and soda for me, the bartender special for him while we waited for our table. Turns out he has a milk allergy and the bartender special had milk. When we sat down at the table and we were talking about our hobbies, his stomach began to grumble loudly. He became pasty and then as the waiter brought out our appetizers, he threw up all over the place. It was a good thing that throwing up didn't bother me, but it bothered our waiter who gagged. Needless to say, I burned the outfit I was wearing.  

Those were the top three...but there were more, just simmering to become the top one. And for a time I thought I wasn’t made to date.  But the ladies had faith and they were really trying to choose nice, interesting guys. However, nothing, nothing that I could ever imagine could top my latest date. 

I’m rushing along the sidewalk. I don’t want to be late, but at the same time, I don’t want to tell them how much of a calamity my latest date was, but to be completely honest, I don’t want to miss it. Tonight is also the night the group meets at Mellark’s. The friendly cafe style bakery with its rich and yummy pastries, both savory and sweet. It is my favorite place to meet. Squad 451 meets twice a month in different locations, including one of the two meeting rooms in the library, one of the community rooms in the Justice Building, and on our birthdays, we meet in a restaurant, but the bakery on Main Street is our favorite location. The Mellarks owned several locations. The flagship store was always managed by one of the original family members.  

If George Senior, or the middle son Ryan Mellark is at the helm of the bakery, they allow us to cavort in the shop until close. When his older brother George Junior or their Mother Muriel was in charge, we tended to be quiet, relegating our conversations to the books. When Peeta is in charge, there are free cheese buns and chaos. 

Please, stomach gods, let Peeta be there. I skipped lunch today because I had a deadline. I also forgot my wallet at home. Thankfully, my license was at the bottom of my backpack. I need food before my stomach eats itself. I am starving when I walk into the bakery. When I see Peeta, I stop. His blue eyes meet mine and my stomach flip flops. He gives me a slow sweet smile, before his eyes slide back to the customer who is ordering.

“Katniss,” Delly squeaks, waving frantically.

Somehow, my feet carry me over to the table and there is a plate of cheese buns and I thank every celestial being in the universe. His buns are heavenly. Sitting down, I take a napkin and snatch one.  My mouth waters and my lashes close as I bring the cheese bun to my mouth.  The smell of melted cheese, fresh bread, and the hint of dill, assuage my nose, before I bite into one of Peeta’s coveted flaky concoctions. The combination of the oozing cheese, the herbs and the buttery bread elicit a moan from deep within my being. These freaking cheese buns will be the death of me. 

“Wow.” Peeta’s voice causes my lashes to fly open. 

Peeta is standing near me with a cup of tea; his face and neck splotchy and red.  

My mouth is full of delicious food, but I forgot how to chew. 

Delly is looking between us. Her pale blue eyes quizzical, like when she’s trying to understand a concept or theme in a book.

 “Okay, bitches,” Johanna says, slamming her brief down. “Where’s the rest of the motley crew?”

“Mags and Greasy just arrived,” Delly answers absentmindedly. 

“Hey, Peeta, I need a strong black coffee.” 

“Sure,” Peeta says, all the while staring at me. I finally remember to chew. “Here Katniss, your tea.”   

Taking the paper cup, I can’t help feeling bashful. “Thank you.”

“Peet,” the girl behind the counter calls. 

Whenever Peeta is here, the business is brisk. He is charming. He was always charming, even back in high school he was the most popular guy, not only because of his looks, but because he was genuinely nice. I, like all of the other girls, had a mini crush on him. 

Looking over his shoulder he says, “I’ll be right back with your coffee, Jo.” 

Now Jo is looking between him and me, but hers is a wicked grin, like right before she nails a sleazebag who doesn’t want to pay for his children. I quirk an eyebrow, clueless as to what has Johanna showing off her predatory gleam. 

“Oh, it’s chilly outside,” Mags says.

“It’s colder than Rudolph’s balls outside,” Greasy says, her gruff voice is booming. Several patrons look at her. Greasy does not care. She’s well past her sixties and it’s her motto that she should live each day as if it was her last. 

In walks Effie, Annie, and Foxface, and they all say, “Hello,” in unison. 

The book of the month is actually a YA fiction called, The Fault in Our Stars, about teens with a terminal illness. I cried when Gus...I tear up once more...at the memory. But I know we aren’t going to discuss Hazel’s predicament with her parents. 

“So,” Delly says, bouncing in her chair.

I can’t help but grimace.

“How did it go?” Foxface says. She has an accent, but I can’t place it. 

“He looked like he belonged on one of those erotic books Johanna loves to read,” Greasy says, grabbing a cheese bun.

She’s not wrong. Gloss was a blond adonis, with slate blue eyes. And abs that have a flipping twelve pack, I ought to know, I counted them. The words are out of my mouth before I am aware of what I am saying.  “He really does with a twelve pack,” I say drinking my tea.

“Did you say twelve pack?” Johanna sat up. 

My eyes widen. 

“Wait, why are you blushing Katniss?” Foxface narrows her eyes.

“Did you and he…” Annie trails off. Her doe eyes are wide. 

“Did you have your first sleepover?” Effie leaned in. 

“Or did you dry hump him like a horny-toad dog?” Greasy’s voice bounces in the bakery.

Peeta’s pauses , wiping down the counter and looks directly at me. 

“NO!” My voice sounds half strangled.

Jo and Delly exchange a look. “Peeta,” Delly calls him over. 

Oh, no, no, no, I say to myself, eyeing how quickly I can get from the back corner to the exit. It is one thing to tell the squad, it is another to have Peeta know. I think I can sprint around the chairs and clear the table near the door like an olympic hurdle jumper. 

Peet walks over. “Hey Dells, can I get you ladies anything?”

“Katniss was going to regale us with her latest date,” Delly says.

“She’s going to tell us how she knows her date has Thor’s body.” 

“You’re dating?” Peeta asks, looking at me intently.

He doesn’t know I am dating or rather, being raked through hot coals.

“Oh,” Foxface chortles. “She’s dating.”

“Remember the guy who was texting with his mother during the entire date,” Effie said.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Mags saids grinning.

“Only the part when he had Katniss talk to her, and it turned out she was psychoanalyzing her to make sure she wasn’t an ax murderer,” Annie said laughing.

“Or what about the guy who kept on mentioning his ex and cried through the crème brûlée,” Greasy slaps her knee, laughing.

I can’t help but laugh. 

“Man, those are pretty bad,” Peeta says.

I hold up my finger. “No, those are tame.”

“Tame?” His blue eyes are sparkling. “You mean there are worse dates?”

Delly snorts. “Oh there are worse. I am so glad I am out of the dating pool.”  

“Yeah, Gale just loves you,” Annie sighs. 

Delly and Gale met when I joined the book club. And while I floundered, they fell in love and now Delly was pregnant.  

My eyes shift to Annie. “It’s so much easier when you fall in love.”

“Oh?” I say.

“I met someone,” Annie says softly. “He wants to meet all of us.”

I wonder what type of guy would date quiet, shy, introverted Annie who sometimes says things that remind me of that song from those Freddy movies from the 80’s. I shake my head.  Then I narrow my eyes. “Bring him to the next session,” I hear myself say. I want to meet this man, and make sure he will take care of my friend. 

“Really.” Annie clasps her hands.

I nod, but I notice Peeta is looking at me with this strange gleam in his eyes.  “Ah...yeah.” My voice sounds breathy. I frown, wondering why the heck I sound like one of those girls. You know the ones that always appear in the music videos washing cars and dancing on super yachts. Darius was fascinated by those girls, heck, his new girlfriend looks like one of those girls.

The women are chatting with Annie about the new guy in her life.  

“We'll discuss Annie’s beau later,” Mags holds her hand in the air. “I want to hear about Katniss’ date.” Her white hair spills over her shoulder as she fixes me with a look. “So tell us, how do you know Thor has a twelve pack?”

Somehow or another I knew the scrutiny on Annie would be short lived. My time to shine would come, but when I open my mouth to speak I can see a conspiratorial glance between Mags and Annie. And it hits me that they chose this man, because he looked like Thor. I scowl at the women who set me up on this one. Mags and Annie both have a pink tinge to their faces. I would have expected this from Jo or Greasy, but Mags and Annie, well it’s INCONCEIVABLE! 

I begin to speak. “He asked me to meet him at the edge of town, near route twelve.”

“Isn't that where Ripper’s place is?” Effie questioned, and she couldn’t hide her revulsion. 

“Yup,” I said, popping the ‘P’, thinking of the bar that disguised itself as an eatery. It was a seedy diner with cracked linoleum floors, yellowing formica, booths that had patches, blinking lights, and rickety chairs. 

“That’s where he asked you to meet him?” Mag’s sounds outraged. “That place is…is-”

“- a bedhaven for unsavory characters,” Foxface finishes. 

“You're brainless,” Jo mutters darkly. "Ripper's isn't the type of place you can go to Katniss. You should have called me."

As protective as I am about my friends, so is Jo. She's tough on the outside but has a really soft center. It's what makes her a perfect shark in the courtroom. Not that Darius was a jerk during our divorce. He actually wasn't. Johanna was present at the restaurant where he announced he wanted a divorce. Johanna later said it was my face, the vulnerability I tried to hide was why she took my divorce pro-bono. 

“I drove and brought my bottle of mace.” I know what everyone was thinking. The area in town where Ripper’s is located at, made the bad side of town look like a tourist destination. I didn't mind meeting my date there. I was looking forward to a basket of fries. Ripper's had amazing beer-battered fries. 

I've been to Ripper's once. I was with Gale and Thom who needed to score fake IDs. I ordered the fries, since I wasn't there for an ill gotten identification. But let me tell you, those fries. Oh! Holy mother of fries, no other fries can compare. 

Shivers!

I love food; it's why I'm a food critic now. What's so funny is that it was those fries that began my career as Buttercup, the elusive food critic. Back then I was Buttercup, the fussy eater. I blogged about them, no, I lavished them with love. I love my job. I can go into any restaurant, order anything on the menu, blog about it and get paid handsomely. And, most importantly, I can do it anonymously. Not even Darius knew I was Buttercup. He thought I was a boring housewife. Getting back to the fries, I wasn’t deterred from getting my fries.

“So then what happened?” Annie asked.

“He was there waiting for me. He stood up and smiled. And he's massive-"

"Just like a book cover," Foxface mutters.

 "He said his name wasn't Anthony, it’s Gloss.”

“Gloss?” Everyone said at the same time.

“Yup.” I sighed. “It was a sign. I should've left." Damn those fries! 

“So Gloss…" Peeta's sparkling eyes are on mine, his are an amazing hue of blue, like the indigo milk cap mushrooms. "Looks like Thor."  He frowns. "Thor with the long hair or short?"

"Long." The women around me answered as one.

Peeta turned those gorgeous eyes back to me.

Thor isn’t my cup of tea. I shrugged to show my indifference. "Gloss was sporting the Ragnarok look, short hair with facial hair."

 I swear I watch Peeta mouth, "short hair."

"Anyway, we sat at a booth. It was packed, actually." That should've been clue number two. Men at a joint like Ripper's at 8:30 on a Friday night, it was by the highway, plausible. But packed with just as many women. "The waitress who took our drink order could barely hear me."

"Was he nice?" Annie asks.

"He was sweet." Truthfully Gloss was a sweet guy.  He talked about his mother in a positive way, even if she gave him the name that was another descriptor for shiny objects. "He was attentive too. He told me his mother worked in the makeup industry. "

"That doesn't sound too awful," Delly says.

"He sounds delightful." Mags pushes her reading glasses up the bridge of her nose.  The gang is getting tired of the story and I hope they will move on to the reason we are  gathered, discussing the book we were reading. I begin to reach into my backpack because I really hate purses.

"If he's so delightful, why did he ask you to meet him at Ripper's?" Johanna says in her cross examination voice.

I wince as I take out my book.

"Yes, you must explain." Foxface demands.

"It's not nice to leave us dangling." Effie levels a look at me that has me squirming, feeling like I was being summoned into the principal's office. 

"I wanna know how you know Gloss has a twelve pack," Greasy says.

Peeta looks at me expectantly. 

Anndddd were back. I sigh. Will he run for the hills when I tell him? Most likely.

"We were talking about dancing.” My voice loses all it’s warmth. “I don't dance."

This causes a rumble of laughter and giggles amongst the women. Peeta looks confused. Finally Delly wipes the tears from her face and gasps, “You should never dance. Ever!” 

"That poor man’s toes,” Mags says, her shoulders shaking.

“Do I need to know?” Peeta looks between them. 

“I don’t dance!” I growl. The group erupts into another bout of laughter. 

“It was a scheme, a dirty underhanded scheme,” Effie says. 

The guy I was supposed to date was a dance instructor. He used the dating app as a way to drum up business. When the women meet him, he pairs them with guys who were there for a lesson. He paired me with a poor man named Harry. My nerves got the better of me, because I don’t like to be touched. Harry’s hands were sweaty. Harry tried to dip me as per my date’s instructions. I tripped, and in the process his toes were crushed, and I ended up with a sprained ankle. 

When I arrived in crutches to the next book club, well, that was one of those dates that simmers at the surface vying to be in the top three. 

“Gloss didn’t believe me. He said anyone can dance. I told him no, and explained that there are people who are predisposed to fly in airplanes, and some who get motion sickness in a car. “

“What happened next?” Foxface asks, moving to the edge of her chair.

“He went to the jukebox.”

“Oh no,” Johanna mutters. “Did he end up in the hospital?” 

“Is that how you know he’s got a twelve pack?” Greasy questions. The ladies, and Peeta are all staring at me. 

I shake my head. Why couldn’t there be a rush of customers right now? It is calm and I know the odds are against me. 

“Spill it!” Johanna demands. 

“Well, he queued up a song and waited a beat, and then Lenny’s Kravits’ American Woman started blaring. Gloss started sauntering and spun and did the splits on the floor. Next thing I know, the women in the place go nuts. They surround him, like a rabid pack of wild dogs.”

“Wait, what!” Delly exclaims her pale eyes bright, she grips the book in her hand. 

“That doesn’t happen,” Peeta says.

“It does to her,” Foxface said, her eyes shining with ferocity, like the eyes of those women at Rippers.

“Shut it blondie,” Johanna orders. 

“Yeah,” Annie says.

Taking a deep breath I continue. “He started dancing...hips…” my brain flashing to his hips gyrating. “...jutting out and…”

“Ohhhhh yeah,” Greasy cackles.

“Gyrating, his hips gyrating,” Foxface gasps.

With eyes closed I nod. “His hips were doing that all over the place. He then jumped on the table and proceeded to rip off his shirt. He shouted my name and told me his next move was his favorite. He spun onto his knees and slid up in my face before dropping his drawers.” I lower my eyes. 

“What,” Delly squeaked. “His pants?”

“It’s like Magic Mike,” Mags whispers.

I know the movie Mag’s is referring to. I’ve never seen it. “Yes.” 

“Was he naked-” Foxface began.

“-or was he wearing-” Annie cut Foxface off only to be cut off herself. 

“A G-String!” Greasy shouted excited.

I shook my head no. He wasn’t wearing anything, I can feel the heat burning my ears.

“Well don’t stop! What happened next!” Even Effie has lost her sense of propriety. 

“As I looked for an escape. It’s then I noticed  the poster on the wall, for the Slag Heap.” I pause and sigh, “Men’s Magic Friday Night Extravaganza, and Gloss was the headliner. I realized he’s a stripper.” 

And the place erupts in laughter. 

“What did you do?” Peeta asks.

My eyes connect with his.

“I slunk down to the floor and crawled my way out...drove to the hospital and made my sister administer a tetanus shot.”

 “Can I have his number?” Johanna says laughing but her eyes are dead serious. 

Peeta is smiling at me and I grab a cheese bun because they are as delicious as the man staring at me. 

Eventually we do get to the book, and it’s a pretty good discussion. Peeta let us stay until closing. Mags and Greasy are the last of the ladies to leave. It’s just me and Peeta since he let the staff go home. I’m loitering because I feel like I need to explain to Peeta why I let the ladies talk me into dating. 

I’m putting up the chairs on the tables when Peeta comes out. 

“You’re still here?”

“Yeah.” I look down at my feet.

“Katniss.”

“Peeta.” We both say at the same time, followed by a nervous chuckle.

“You first,” Peeta insists, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Dating wasn’t my idea.”

“It wasn't?” He raised an eyebrow.

I shake my head. 

“So what happened?”

“The ladies, they got me a year long subscription for my birthday, and knowing I wouldn’t go through with it, they choose who I date...until I find someone,” I can feel the heat rising from my neck and reaching my cheeks, “I like.”

“Really?”

I nod, incapable of speaking.  I cannot stop watching the way he blinks, those darned translucent lashes that never tangle. 

“Dating is pretty brutal.”

“Yeah,” I snort because dating is horrible. 

“My family is constantly setting me up. I went out with a girl who sang through the entire meal. She chose the pasta and sang On Top of Spaghetti.”

“What?” I laugh.

“That was my dad’s doing. My mom’s choice was a lot scarier. She made me do an obstacle course and made me do it three times until I beat the time she wanted me to reach.”

“Wow.”

“I was dressed in dress slacks, a nice shirt, and a tie.” He deadpans, “I even had on dress shoes.”

“I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he shrugs. 

I couldn't help but smile. 

“Dating sucks until you find someone who makes you laugh, someone who makes dancing easy.”

He approaches or maybe it’s my own feet that carry me to him. But it doesn’t matter because when his arm slides along my waist, and the other cradles my hand, I have no fears. There is something familiar with him as I dance with him. A slow shuffle, that has the room spinning but none of it matters because I feel at home.

“Will you dance with me Katniss?” His voice rumbles in my ear and my heart is pounding in my chest.

His scent is a warm heady mixture of spices, dill, vanilla, and cinnamon. 

“Would you go out with me Katniss?”

“Yes,” I answer, and just like that my dating profile goes up in flames. Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially off the market.

[nightspeckle]

High School Au {Part 3}

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 4

this one is like sorta long-ish? (for me lol, in actuality its like super short) and it’s trash so my b 

******

Here’s the thing. Working with Cardan was actually pretty good. I never thought I would ever think that and yet here I am. I’m pretty sure my delusions are growing but that's not really the point. 

The point is that the kid knows his shit. I mean really knows his shit. 

Noggle gave us Scipio Africanus’ Tactics which was an adventure in itself. Cardan had just looked at me with a toned-down version of his death stare and asked me if we wanted to break up the work. 

It was that simple. We made a combined slideshow that took about 20 minutes in total with each of us splitting the research. I was looking over the slides and when I got to his I think my brain imploded.

They were extremely detailed, more so even than mine and he had been on his phone half of the time. I mean even the sentences sounded smart.  He used the word consternation. I mean what does that even mean? Not that I was about to ask. 

Noggle basically pushed us out early when he saw how good our slides were considering this was just a club and so he shoved us out with a big smile. 

So in all working with Cardan wasn’t terrible. I barely even noticed how clear his skin looked from close up! So progress for me. 

But now as we currently exit out the east side doors to the parking lot I can’t help but notice how he seems to glow in the sunlight. Or the fact that something about him just feels ethereal at this moment. 

So I book it. Walking as fast as I possibly can to the back of the parking lot. 

I’m so focused and hightailing it away from the beauty that is Cardan that I don’t realize anything is amiss until I’m standing in an empty parking spot. 

I do a little 360 standing in the place where the car is supposed to be.

Fuck.

I should be surprised, or even concerned that my car is missing. But I’m not. 

Three sisters and two cars is not a perfect equation. I check my phone to see if I missed anything in the group chat. 

Viv: I’m taking Carol to work

Taryn: I thought we agreed on Joan? 

Vivi Yeah but saying I’m taking Joan makes me feel like a 40 year old mom who drives a minivan

Taryn: And Carol doesn't give you the same vibes?

Viv: Nah, Crackhead Carol is wildddddd 

Taryn: I hate you.

Taryn: I’m taking Olie to the mall, Jude can you catch the bus?

Viv: I can not believe that you give me shit for Carol and then named our beautiful baby after Oliver Wood.

Taryn: Excuse me? Oliver Wood is the god of the century

Viv: Bitch can't beat Luna

Taryn: You would

Taryn: Do we think Jude will even see this or am I gonna have to go back to pick her up

Viv: She’s probably to busy dreaming nasty thoughts about her ghosty boy and his little ghost

Taryn: Let's not start on this again pls

Viv: I’ll be home at 9 don’t die in the meantime xx

First of all, Shit. 

Second, I’m going to strangle Vivi with my bare hands. Garrett and I are friends and it's actually starting to piss me off.  

Third, how the fuck do they expect me to get Oak with no car? Fucking idiots.

Jude: Which one of you dumbos is gonna get Oak?

Viv: Workingggggggg

Taryn: I’m 45 minutes away... so like u

Jude: I am wishing death upon your souls :)

I look at my watch to see It’s already three. Shit. 

What am I going to do? Walk? I can’t call Orianna or Dad. I am not in the mood to face Oriannas snarky comments or Dad’s lectures about responsibility.

So that leaves walking. Or more like running. I am so going to be late.

But as I’m dashing across the parking lot I almost get run over by a black Porsche Cayenne.

 Which p.s. is one sexy ass car. 

Usually, I might stop to give the driver an earful about how running over pedestrians is not the vibe. But I have 15 minutes to get to Oak’s school which is like 20 minutes on foot.

I start walking again when I hear the car's window roll down and a voice from the driver's seat.

It’s Cardan.

Of course.

I’m waiting for a comment about idiotically walking behind moving cars but it doesn’t come. Or for him to unleash the snide comments he has been holding back all afternoon. However, what does come out is even worse.

“Do you need a ride?”

....

I’m staring at him through his open window. I’m about two feet from the driver's door and Cardan is tapping his fingers methodically on the door.

He doesn’t look very menacing. His eyes are flickering over my face and he raises an eyebrow up at me. 

“Well?” He asks probingly. I’m all too aware of what this means. The dude who terrorized my childhood is reaching out an olive branch. 

There’s a part of me that wants to turn and walk away from his cruel glares and the comments he used to spit at me and Taryn. But I really could use a ride. 

Plus, he looks extremely hot with one of his hands on the wheel which is like an added bonus.

“Yeah, I do.” He seems a little surprised that I said yes. I watch as a small smirk graces his face. Damn. 

He nods his head to the passenger side and I walk around the car and slide into the seat. Just FYI these seats are comfortable as shit. 

I look over at Cardan as he starts to back up. Which is a terrible idea. He looks so laid back and comfortable. He looks like he fits here and his face is blank of that awful sneer he seems to have on every day at school. 

It makes me despise him a little less. I should have walked. 

“Can you drop me off at Elfame Elementary?” 

He looks over at me quizically. “Yeah.” A pause. “Why do you need to go there?”

“I need to pick up my little brother,”. 

“Is that why you were running around the parking lot like a headless chicken?”. He looks amused as he says this.

“I was not running around like a headless chicken.” My voice is a little cold as I speak. His face goes a little more stonelike at my tone. 

Jude! Wtf, this guy is giving you a ride. Pull it together!

“My sisters took the cars and left me stranded,” I attempt a little more warmly. “So thank you.”

His face twists a little surprised at the thank you. Mind kind of does too. Me saying thank you to the kid who poured milk all over me on picture day for years throughout elementary school.

Cardan doesn’t say anything else as we drive to Oak’s school. He just turns on some music and drives. It’s actually kind of nice being able to watch the vibrant green trees go zooming by. 

Before I know it Cardan is pulling into the parking lot of the elementary school.

A little bit of me is disappointed it's over so soon. I actually feel a little peaceful.

I look down at my watch to see it’s 3:10. Perfect! 

“Thanks, Cardan, truly this was life-saving,” I reach over to the handle about to push the door open when I look back to see an expression on Cardan's face that matches my own.

“How are you going to get home after?” Cardan’s voice is soft as he asks.

“I was going to walk to Ralph’s, Viv has one of the cars with her,”.

“That's like a mile away,” Cardan says laughing a little as he does.

“Don’t really have any other options here buddy,”

“Buddy?” He looks offended. As if the word is a personal assault to his well being. I can’t help but roll my eyes. To which he notices and roll’s his eyes back at me.

“I can drive you and your brother home. If you want?”.

Yes. I do want. But I’m not really in the mood to owe Cardan anything and this feels like a favor a little too out of his way. Why is he helping me out?

So no?

But I’m also not in the mood for the complaining Oak will give me for walking in this sweltering heat. 

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Then I shut the door and head into the school.

....

Oak is looking up at me with a puzzled look on his face.

“I thought Viv was going to get me today?”

“Sorry, bud. She had to work.” He just shrugs. “Does that mean shell bring me back a milkshake!” He’s popping up on his toes almost jumping in joy. I just stifle a laugh and shake his hair up.

“Where did you park Olie?” Oak is looking around quizically trying to spot the black jeep named after the quidditch legend himself. When he cant spot Ollie Oak turns to look at me with a full face of disappointment. “Did you drive Crackhead Carol?”

The dad who walks by as he gives me a wide eyed look before shuffling his kids along in the opposite direction. I can’t help roll my eyes even though Vivi isn’t even here. 

Oak is still looking at me in despair. He hates Crackhead Carol. Says that it’s scary driving in it. Which is not true. The only reason he hates Carol is that every time he’s in Carol is when Vivi is driving. Which is an experience to drive any person to full body fear. 

“I did not drive Carol.” Oak’s shoulders un-tense and he goes back to bouncing as we make our way past the busses and smiling bus monitors to the parking lot.

“So how did you get here?”

“Oak, chill out we’re not walking to Ralph's,” I say still heading to where Cardan parked his car. 

Oak just stops halfway through the parking lot with his hands on his hips demanding an explanation. As much as he is trying to be serious he just looks adorable. 

“I’ll give you a piggyback if you stop being an annoying little butt.” He just smiles and catapults onto my back.  I don’t often offer to give Oak piggybacks any more. He’s gotten heavier as he's grown. Plus sometimes he thinks he's too old and cool for them. I guess today is not one of those days.

When I get back to Cardan’s car I can see he has an amused smile as he watches my cart around my lanky 7 year old brother. 

Oak looks at me with wide eyes as I buckle him up in the back and plop down in the passenger seat. Cardan has turned off the rap he was playing early and switched it to that teeny bob that I despise but Taryn loves. 

I look over to see that not only is the amused look on his lips but also in his eyes. He doesn’t say anything and instead just pulls out of the parking lot.

Oak who has been unusually quiet finally opens his mouth.

“Are you Jude’s boyfriend?” Oh my god.

“Oak!” My face has most certainly paled to the color of ice. Cardan looks at first like he might throw up with the thought but then he starts laughing. 

And damn is that a nice sight. His sharp features are relaxed and full of laughter.

“Jude’s never had a boyfriend before.” Oak pauses for a second before continuing. “Actually she had one boyfriend but now he’s Taryn’s boyfriend so that doesn’t really count.” 

I think I might strangle Oak. I look over at Cardan who seems to have gone a little rigid with this turn of the conversation. Having Cardan sit here with my brother telling him about my relationship disasters is embarrassing.

I mean, of course, he already knows this. He’s friends with Locke. But still, something about this is bugging me. 

“Oak,” My voice is diminished when I speak. I’m looking out the window forcing the feelings I've been fighting for months to go away. Taryn and I worked things out. We always do. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting sometimes. 

That's when I feel a strong nimble hand grab mine. I look over to Cardan as he drives. His eyes are focused on the road as he squeezes my hand.

I think my heart is going to melt. 

But then I think I’m going to attack him. I remember seeing Nicasia laugh along with Valerian and Locke. Who’s to say he didn’t poke fun of the fool I was. I bet he’s only doing this now to go laugh at what an idiot I am later with all of his cronies.

But then he catches my eyes and he seems genuinely sad for me so I don’t attack him. But I do pull my hand from his and look back out the window. I don’t care if he’s been nice today. That does not exclude the years of name-calling. Of making me and Taryn feel small. Of how he glared at me at the party. What the fuck changed so quickly?

Oak is apparently not done talking. As usual. “Only Heather and Locke drive me places too. They're both my sister's boyfriend and girlfriend.” That makes me turn around.

“Cardan is not my boyfriend.” My voice is firm as I speak. 

I look over to see a little bit of anger on his face. He has both hands on the wheel. No aimless tapping or anything. He looks over with that cold glare he gave me at the party. 

Great! He’s mad because I pulled my hand from his. What an arrogant bastard.

....

When we finally get home Oak jumps out of the car running to the door. Something about Fixer Upper being on. What an odd kid.

Oak’s gone before I can even open the door leaving me and Cardan alone.

He’s staring dead out the window not even bothering to look at me. Which is fucking annoying. This dude needs to get a grip on his mood swings. I’m irritated enough to the point where I have to say something.

“Why the fuck were you being so tolerable early? You're usually pretty shitty to me. So whats up? What's with the bits of decency all of the sudden. You hate me. What's going on here?” 

He turns his head to meet me eye to eye. His lips are sent in such a hard line I don’t think I’m going to get an answer. 

“I do not hate you.” 

“No? What about that time you called me and Taryn lowlife orphans who were less important than the dirt on your shoe? Or when you would steal my lunch money every day? Or that time you tripped me at elementary school graduation? I broke my ankle.” I’m seething. My whole body hot with anger.

He just sits there. Stone cold as ice.

“I was a child.” It's icy. Dismissive. As if the pent up anger, the feelings I had that I didn’t belong where nothing. 

“Fine. What about Friday night? That lovely moment when you basically kicked me out of that party? Omg, what about when I started dating Locke and you called me a filthy slut! That was a fun one.”

He’s staring at me with a hard unrelenting stare. 

I can not believe I started to think he wasn’t such an asshole. Just listening to myself speak I realize how dumb I am. I’m too pissed at the feelings that have been in that dark space next to my heart to even wait for his answer.

I’m curious sure. But I’m done. I’ve put up with this shit for too long.

I’m storming out of the car. Slamming the door to his precious car as hard as I can. 

“Jude.” His voice is hard. Commanding. I feel like smacking him into next week.

I turn to see him standing out of his door arms crossed defensively. I can't help but match his stance. He’s only 3 ft away and I feel the urge to run as far as I can. 

“I don’t hate you.” He’s spitting the words out now full of force.

“You looked hot as fuck Friday night,”. What? “And that pissed me the fuck off because I like you.” 

What the fuck.

“I can’t stop thinking about you.” Oh my god. “And I hate that.”

 He takes a pause, “I despise you for it.”

I’m frozen in place. Just staring at this asshole who had the nerve to tell me he likes me? After the torment, he inflicted on me as a kid. After the name-calling and the glares and the...

My entire brain freezes as he tugs me into his chest. Hard.

Because now he's kissing me. And damn is he a good kisser.

He has a hand tangled in my hair and the other one is keeping me pinned to him. I’m a stone statue for a whole 3 seconds before I acknowledge what is happening. But then I can’t stop myself as my arms wrap around his body and I'm pushing into him as much as I can. 

He’s turning us around backing me up to his car door. The kisses becoming hungrier, needier. His hands have moved down to my ass. Holding me as close to him as possible. I can’t stop the roving my hands are doing. Finding their way to that sweet soft black hair.

I can’t let go. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of this. What it feels like to not have a single space between us. What it feels like for Cardan's hand to be intertwined with my hair, pulling me into him. 

“See I told you Jude had a boyfriend!”.

I hate my life.

~~~

My one tag hehe:

@fireheartbuzzard

[knyenthusiast]

Kimetsu no yaiba as a

k-drama

Lowkey inspired by boys over flowers, literally everyone x reader,, just introducing the characters roles if they were in the k-drama. Probably gonna do more with this au plot ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I feel like this isn’t a kdrama based au but a WATTPAD GENUINE GUIDE STORY,,

You know those types of dramas where every boy or girl story x you, and you either get bullied or maybe loved, popular etc, am trying to do that

I’ll be using girl pronouns because,, gender neutral pronouns is a bit hard in this one, sorry 😔!!!

-

Tanjiro : would be the first kid that pops up to you when you first entered the school, since you just moved in the school. He would introduce himself and show you around the school, the teacher doesn’t mind him skipping class because he’s the goody two shoes of the school, you weren’t really surprised by the fact that he is, he radiates soft boy energy. Oh yeet surprise surprise, you’re in the same class as him, he might actually have to tutor you, he would actually voluntarily ask

“Would you like me to help ?”

You might sometimes borrow his homework if you forgot to go yours, hehe. He wouldn’t let you but you were too cute so,,,

He has a girl, who follows him around and you asked him who she is oh!?

Nezuko: , loves you so much, treats you as a little sibling no matter the age, she lowkey wants to be dominant for once. Takes really good care of you, i feel as if she would bake cookies for you or like buy you snacks and banana korean milk and gives it to you every morning, so you can have more energy for the day, gay for you but doesn’t show it much,

If you were into kpop, I’m pretty sure she would be neutral with you screaming to your kpop husbands but she also secretly tries to learn your kpop husbands just so she could scream with you and talk to you more but is still a confused baby,,,and tanjiro would just look at you, conFusiOn intensifies,

This is where zenitsu pops up: and is literally the woman magnet,

“TANJIRO YOU HAD A CHIC ALL ALONG?!”

He was so eager, and screamed, the classmates doesn’t even bother looking, since it’s the usual, but since there was you involved, loOks his way. He’s that one sad kid who wants a lover but never gets one because people think he’s a loud sad cry baby, he’s close to tanjiro because tanjiro was the only one who accepted his obnoxious ass. He quickly tries to make a move on you after you breathed. He tries to look cool infront of the ladies, thinks he’s a pro with the chics, but isn’t.

“Did you know that I’m the hall monitor ?”

Tries to impress you and fails because tanjiro kept on spitting the truth about him to you and zenitsu quickly screams at him and tells him to shut up.

-

Class has started !

The teacher had told you to introduce yourself in front of the class and suddenly...

B A M

door opens, another flower boy slams opens the door , toast in the mouth. Clothes, belongings and hair messy, casually walks to his seat, doesn’t care that the teacher is scolding him, he does as he wants

Inosuke : opens his top buttons a bit to show that he ain’t no girlie, has a very pretty face, secretly a softie, causes trouble, lowkey bullies tanjiro but not too harsh on him, apart of tanjiros friend group, feral loud baby, ain’t that smart so at one point you had to tutor him. Really likes the idea of teasing,

Inosuke : causes trouble

Tanjiro : gets him out of trouble

Would be that one person who gives out bad advice,

Craves for your compliments, he tries to do everything better than you but fails, tries to blackmail you to praise him, very competitive, but I swear he is a supportive friend, he just....

Doesn’t look like it.

-

Pretty girl has appeared and greeted you!

Kanao : everyone loves her, she isn’t mean. The calm one of the class and the smart A+ student and says that 97 as a score is still not good enough. Somewhat passive aggressive, always a smile on her face, she just suddenly sticks herself to you because she’s concerned, you were already glued to 3 guys,,,, and the one girl,,, your somewhat trustable girlfriend.

Would always scold you, she’s just so concerned for your well being,

-

You were walking down the hallway till

Oh no!

You saw a crowd and In the middle was a fight between to very tall men and they were both covered with scars !

The shinazugawa bros :

Genya : after you saw him fighting who you thought was a bully but was actually his brother, you tried to help him but he kept on pushing you away because, he doesn’t want a girl knowing his problems, he’s usually alone. It’s not like he hates girls no no no, he’s very shy. Doing his stuff alone, everyone fears him, but not as much as they fear his brother. A bit of neutral with the classmates but they still somewhat fear him.

You were suddenly paired with him for a project so you knew you had to get close to him somehow, he told you that he would do all the stuff for the project and told you to leave him alone but you kept on following him around, tanjiro warned you about him that he was scared he might attack you or something, zenitsu being the protective boy he is told you to s t o p, cried rivers of tears, but you told them you had this all under control,

In the end you two bonded and became good friends

+ 1 genya to tanjiros friend group. He now hangs out with you guys,

Sanemi : OH BOI, R U D E, doesn’t care if everyone can see his bara bara tiddies, even the teachers were scared of him, like damn he looked menacing, especially with his scars,

Apart of this outside of school gang,,,,

You wanted to confront him about the genya problem and he should’ve taken better care of his brother, so you went up to him and his friend, probably his only friend rengoku,,, and he was like

“Go away, pimp”

Really dislikes you at first, he might actually be a bully to you, because you annoyed him so much, but you guys might fall in love suddenly like, BAM. Yes this is what usually happens, the bully might actually fall in love with the one he bullies as obnoxious as it sounds. :x,

Everyone’s worried for you because, a GORL going up to THE SHINAZUGAWA BARA TIDDIES SANEMI Like WOAH,,, everyone warned you like, even your classmates,,,

Rengoku : has a pack of girls making a fan club for him, he’s a very popular guy indeed

“You can’t touch rengoku oppa 😩🤬”

But he just sticks himself to you so his fan girls won’t touch you and hurt you, he is Genuinely a nice guy, wants to help as much as he can as a senior, Since he’s sanemis only best friend, he would always say sorry to you if sanemi has hurted you by any chance, says sorry for his behalf, honestly... trusts you with ‘tanjirou my boy’.He’s really neutral with anything but he’s very protective over sanemi,

Come and question me but I ship sanemi and rengoku. Come fight me.

He Has a little brother, and talks about all his little brothers achievement because he loves his brother, you two would go to the park and have hangouts a lot, he’s apart of the baseball club :,^). Shines like the sun, you gave him a sunflower once and he cherished it because it was from s/o and he loves you.

Himejima : would also most likely be around sanemi and rengoku, hehh, the three make a great team, himejima is probably busy doing student council activities since he is the leader/head, he has great leadership things and always corrects zenitsu on doing his hall monitoring job correctly, but he hangs out with his friends as well, people kind of question on why he’s friends with sanemi, since bad guy and good guy, doesn’t make any sense, but himejima can be a gangsta as well, he sometimes helps sanemi bail out of class,

Gangsta🤙

Y’all gangsta till himejima finally snaps and gets his portable axe out of his backpack, people count him as the most chillest head student council ever, because the previous ones were way strict than him, but I swear he gets things done as well!, passive aggressive way, says things nicely but what he’s saying is demanding, also apart of the baseball team and basketball!, you see him a lot there and he looks hot there 😳, he smiles when he senses you around him, don’t underestimate him,

-

There’s this one girl with this devious smile plastered on her face,, I wonder who she is?

Shinobu : best girl, everhone has this weird senior relationship with her, since sometimes we all can get along well but when she serious and angry, you don’t miss with her, just because she small, don’t mean she has no power,

She the chief student council, don’t mess with her,

Teases you a lot because you surrounded by the oppars, and the hotties, passive aggressive aswell, especially with that smile of her, sometimes unpredictable, but she tries to be close to giyuu?, wonder who that is, teases him but he doesn’t really care, some of his fan club hates her and some loves her, but giyuu and shinobu sometimes make a good team and she watches over you well even tho it doesn’t look like it since she teases you a lot

A bigger crowd has emerged, ! What’s that ? A guy in the middle???? Has a spikey pony tail?? Hmmm???

Giyuu : really awkward, but is smart boy, he doesn’t really know what’s going on around him, but he actually has a bigger fangirl base than rengoku’s,

Girls swoon over him, crave for his attention, Lucky you, he had interest for you but didn’t show it much, how did you know him?, he helped you pick up your fallen books in the library, and first love music intensifies *

-

let me think of a kpop song, OH WAIT

Park kyung - inferiority complex

Day6 - when you love someone

STAN DAY 6 OMG PMENALFLAJGLOQ,; have y’all heard of time of our life by day6 like uhM BITJ SNAPPED, ok continue. I’m a jyp Stan so like 🤭

-

he played hard to get, so you went to him and asked him stuff while he ignores you but actually enjoys the time together, you follow him around with Tanjiro because Tanjiro also wants to know him better,

You’d visit him every morning, and share to him nezukos banana milk that she gives you every morning :,^),,,, jkjkjj you bought your own banana milk and gave it to him, but he looked as if he doesn’t care but he secretly drinks it.

Sabaito: big BABY, acts like the maknae *young kid* but is actually the most experienced, I feel as if he would be a perfectionist but no one would really notice it ?, the only one who could get giyuu to smile, knows everything about giyuu, the number one ship from both fanclubs,

Whose both?

Sabito and giyuuus fanclub OF COURSE!,

Would be that one ghost kid, sometimes mysterious, sometimes eaves drops, sometimes competitive, but he just wants the best for the earth and lead a better generation, leadership type of guy, if there were to be a senior x junior event, the teachers would most likely pair him with you since, there’s a lot to be learnt from him,

Would be asked to tutor you, very popular among the moms,

‘Have you heard about all of sabitos achievements?’

‘Must be so lucky to have him as a son!’

Your mom would lowkey ship you with him, and ask him to tutor you more,

Every mom would approve of him

Y’all thought he big brain but he medium sized baby, giyuu would most likely be found around him, you see sabito? There has to always be giyuu, or else there would be something wrong, he sometimes quirky, and tries to speak slang, but that just breaks his character,

Fan service with giyuu, and he would always make the first move, looks out for giyuu and you aswell,

But he trusts tanjiro to do that, but sometimes don’t trust him aswell,

The two would always be found in food areas, such as the tempura shop near school, and food fairs,

Sabito has an Instagram about food but never posts his face, typical,

-

Since giyuu was a tease he told every girl in his fan club he’d date the girl who gets his Rolex watch from the scary cat near the school area, damn giyuu with cla$$

You went searching for the cat, you knew it was dangerous but you tried to go to the cat anyways and now you were full of the cats scratches, :(

You were so exhausted that you laid down under a tree. You didn’t know there was a boy next to you. He had long black hair with blue tips at the end of his hair...

Muichiro : he really likes cloud gazing, his special spot is the tree you just found while searching for the nasty cat. He Is actually close to tanjiro but he doesn’t hang out with him much because his friend group was too loud, he easily dozed off but tries his best to listen to you.

At first your relationship with him was just a quiet atmosphere but that changed till you got to know him better,,, so here you are cloud gazing with him, and he just tells you random things with his soft voice, he’s very mysterious, more mysterious than giyuu actually... he likes sleeping in class so whenever you go to his class for recess, you have to wake him up, and let me just tell you that he looks CUTE, he skipped a few grades because he was just too smart...

While cloud gazing, two people were screaming muichiros name??? Who could they be ???

Mitsuri : really concerned for muichiro, really loud and energetic, the nicest purest girl you met, the whole school loves her, gymnastic club, real flexible, dancer baby, but more to ballet because she’s elegant, lots of guys ask her out but she’s kind of taken by y’all know who... she was searching for muichiro because she was worried about him, he didn’t look well that day and the school nurse told her to give him some pills... so here she was searching for him. Really determined to find him.

You didn’t know muichiro was sick because he always looked pale, but today he sounded off, so here you are with mitsuri, trying to make muichiro eat his pills and feeding him before he gets his pills, since it was recess, he was really shy because you were feeding him, he internally passed out, this was probably your first time seeing him this shy around you, but since you thicc as a brick and you didn’t get any hints yet, you thought he was just very sick.

A cold atmosphere had emerged, whose giving off this aura?

IGURO: really cold, protective over his gf, deals with the bs around mitsuri since mitsuri is lowkey like a child, he’s a bit neutral towards you, and muichiro, yoU four look like a happy family,

The first time you two met, uhm- he was really cold and gave you a glare, but since mitsuri had literally glued herself to you, he had no choice but to spare you and muichiro was close to you as well!, you two are at a neutral bond stage, you can get a long, sometimes can figt as well, he slick as f,

Sometimes appear at times you don’t want him to appear, eavesdropping at its finest, lowkey claimed himself as your protective brother from another mother.

-

And your day is always full of randomness when you’re with them, they very precious beans and they all love you and would figt for your love

[lighthouseofthewanderess]

Experiment

Have you ever done something you clearly know isn’t meant for you? If yes, welcome to the club of Unlucky yet Brave Experimenters. UBE was a one member secret club for the longest time before the founder, me, dissolved it out of realization that life itself was about experimenting. But I could resurrect it and we can pretend to be the Illuminati or something.

My years of experimenting started long ago. I don’t know if we can count it, but I ate chalk when I was in kindergarten. In my head, I had eaten earth from the garden and it had tasted so rich. The texture was brilliant, and the color stuck to my fingertips. Some of the earth got under my nails and I could snack on that later. Chalk I thought was no different. But when I ate it, oh boy it tasted so much better! It even came in an easy stick format to break off into bites. My grandpa on my mother’s side looked amused every time I bounced up to him demanding slate chalk. I would always say it got over,  I’m studying well, or that my friends stole it from me. He willingly gave into my trickery till he caught me chewing on it while practicing my alphabets on the slate. I just couldn’t help it; I need to think and chewing chalk helped. After that, my grandpa made it a rule that I drink a glass of milk -- “she’s eating chalk because her body needs calcium.” he would scold my grandma like it was her duty to have figured this out before him.

Anyhoo, I kept UBE a secret affair. The caterpillar that just won’t float on water? I really thought they were capable of it. The dolls with eyes carved out and replaced with marble? Why was it creepy, she had beautiful eyes now. For a long time I stuck to things around me and it fueled my curiosity but I also got bored of it too soon. I gave it up  -- for the poor butterflies, the ants, and flowers that were getting tortured by me. My heart was a noble one. Head held high I went about life accepting things the way they were. Then I got the brilliant idea of experimenting with myself. The mission was simple; do one unexpected thing every day. What was I on the search for? The million different parts of me that make me who I am. It started with the coloring. My teachers in India complained that I might have an eye problem. “She is coloring roses blue and all.” I wish I can see their faces now when there’s not just blue but black roses as well. Ha! Then I thought why not fight for the things I believed in. I undid the red ribbon of a girl in class and when she yanked it from my hand, I yanked it back. It turned into a fight just like I expected and we stood on top of the benches and wrestled with each other. That experiment ended up with bruised elbows and a 100 ‘I am sorry’ on the blackboard. Damn that girl. I was just trying to see if I had a fighter in me. UBE would have to some basic rules that saved them from situations like this. Rule #1: If your experiment involves a person, an animal, a flower or any living thing… do not harm it. Fate will boomerang back. That left me the only choice of putting myself in awkward situations. After pre-school, mom would take about 2 hours to come pick me up. Her job was tricky. So I would play around, seesaw on my own or just sleep on benches. A light bulb went off in my head during one of those slumbers. Next day after I finished up, I climbed the stairs and sat inside the 5th grade class. The teacher didn’t object, the students welcomed me with open arms. Literally. They picked me up and took turns seating me on their lap. The blackboard swarmed with letters and symbols I didn’t understand but I stared at it fully in awe. In my eyes,  this experiment was a successful one. I would come back and wait right on time for mom to pick me up. I was so used to the routine that even the lunch my mom packed would be forgotten, eaten only minutes before she arrived. One unlucky day she caught me eating my lunch, which had kind of gotten spoilt in the summer heat, on the steps by myself. I looked super content, but my mom almost burst into tears. After that she got an aaya to pick me up right after school and keep me with her, make sure I was fed on time. Time for UBE to have another rule. Rule #2 - Tread with caution when there are moms involved. They have the power to banish all experiments.

With these two rules, I had my fill of experimenting without hurting anyone for years. Even in the US. Climbing trees, hanging like a bat, fries in my ice cream. Life was so rich when every day was a new affair. There was one time I took UBE to the next level. A midnight release of a new Harry Potter book was announced. There would be games and exciting gifts, almost the whole school was going. But I wasn’t a fan. I knew nothing the other potter heads knew. Rise to the experiment, oh brave one I told myself and dragged my mom with me. At the library every one had dressed up. Polaroids were being clicked. There were cauldrons with little wands. There was a line of people waiting to answer and get their prizes. I happily went and stood there. As my turn approached, I didn’t have the slightest fear that I wouldn’t be able to answer. The point wasn’t to win, it was to experiment. The lady at the counter asked me a question.

“What was the name of Ron’s brothers?” Um, no clue. I shook my head. The line behind me gasped. I heard them whisper that I didn’t know even the basics.

“Okay. Here’s an easy one, hon.” She asked me about the platform number. Someone in line even offered to answer for me. I shook my head again.

“I just wanted to know what the prize was, that’s all.” I said to her, shrugging my shoulders. She smiled and gave me one last questions.

“Who are Muggles?” I paused to give it a thought. The line was getting restless, they hated my guts. Well, everyone has to human right? Plus she used ‘who’.

“Humans?” I stated. Everyone broke into an applause and some even clapped me on my back. Well done they said. At least you know the difference between the wizard and the human world. I was just happy I get the gift. It was a pack of gummy worms. Aw man, really? Rule  #3: A smart experimenter assesses risks.

From there I went on try one thing after another. Spanish classes. Adding ‘ito’ to everything didn’t work so I stepped out of class. Bharatnatyam went on for a bit but Ballet was more fascinating. Swimming felt like I still needs to sprout some fins so I made a mental note to try it out later. Caramel apples. Plaster-of-Paris. Swinging from the door. They all went down in UBE’s history. I remember playing the piano for a recital. I practiced with a Casio keyboard at home and rendered the beautiful ‘To a wild rose’ by McDowell. Bach. Beethoven. It started getting too sad for some reason. Switch to something else. Karate. Held onto that till the gold belt and then tossed that away too. I was super restless. I was focused so much on getting my little feet into everything that I never stuck to anything for too long. What if I’m meant to do something more? Ice skating. The flute. Singing.  It was all a whirlwind when I look at it now. I don’t even know if I had a favorite hobby. Well, maybe climbing trees. But I couldn’t choose one. Too much experimenting. Rule #4: UBE practices a good interval between two experiments. To learn and experiment better in the future.

Somehow, on the way to India, I lost UBE. Maybe I packed it with the wrong boxes. Maybe I have to join another secret club when I land there. I knew it the minute cranberry juice was placed in front of me, a thousand feet above sea level. I didn’t feel like trying it out. What? That doesn’t normally happen. I tried to sleep it off. Then I blamed it on the jet lag. Then came the ‘national’ language called Hindi and what a horrible experiment. When my Principal, John Zachariah, admitted me in the middle of the year he asked me why I was hell bent on Hindi. Why not try French? “I am a secret experimenter” I whispered when my mom stood far, straining to hear what we were discussing. In a year, I changed that to Tamil, another experiment but a successful one at that. I tried my hand at throwball, loved the matches in the rain. For the sports day, I did the ridiculous thing of trying out for tug-o-war. Here was another joke -- this girl was underwait, a thin fragile thing and she fainted a lot. But when pitched with others at the tryout, I won all three. Pure bone weight. All those glasses of milk and chalk must have nursed my bones. The last significant thing I tried, apart from writing, was the National Cadet Corps. NCC in a lot of ways made me tougher, even thought I was just eyeing the 15% marks that would come out of it. On my first NCC camp, I tried a lot of new things and every night I would ache all over but feel intensely successful as a member of UBE. In the early morning jogs and yoga, I came to realize two things about me. I am not a morning person and Yoga made me sleeps. And just like that, I was able to draw observations about myself after every lab session. Even from the ones I think I would suck at the most. Rule #5 - When you’re unsure about it, that’s the UBE sixth sense telling you that you have to do it.

I have been following these rules for a long time now. I have surprised myself time and again with the things I set out to do. Solo travel. Tattoos. Gardening. Oh what the hell, even babysitting. And I think the only mistake one can make as a member of UBE is fearing the outcome. That gives birth to normalcy and monotony. The kind that makes you pick the same things from a menu, the same colors from the clothes aisle. Choose a heavier ball when you go bowling, take a different route to work, eat Doritos with chopsticks. Sometimes I’ve taken a chance on people too; meeting them once just to see how it goes. I love getting to know them and experimenting in understanding what I feel for them. Even if this goes against Rule#1, I know I wouldn’t harm them no matter what. I know to step back from there. One can argue that repetition of certain tasks and decisions forms tastes, styles, and shapes one’s personality. And I agree. Yes, comfort in the familiar is a safe thing, but then again as Tove Lo puts it, ‘If you had any flavor in the world, would you still choose vanilla?’

[theladyjojogrant]

The Missy Chronicles and why it’s one of the best Doctor Who books ever made.

Is it as hilarious as it sounds? Even more so. 

I just read The Missy Chronicles and I still can’t believe how perfect it is. Each story brings something unique to Missy’s character and adds some interesting things to Doctor Who canon that you really, no I mean really, don’t want to miss. 

(Below is a short synopsis of each story and some memorable quotes/things that happened. If you don’t want spoilers, come back and read this once you’ve read the book!) 

1. Dismemberment by James Goss

Basically, the Master always goes to this sketchy gentlemen’s club after he regenerates to just chill and be around other morally questionable people. But this time there’s a problem. The Master (as Missy, though she hasn’t decided on her name at this point) goes to the club like usual after her regeneration, but gets kicked out because she’s a woman. The rest of the story is her carrying out very extravagant plots for revenge on each of the members of the club, including, but not limited to: making it rain blood; tying a man to train tracks, marrying him, and then letting him get run over; and last but not least, freeing an African American slave and letting her poison the food at the club’s big annual celebration, telling them they can be cured if they eat some paper, and then telling them after they eat the paper that she was lying. 

Favourite quotes:

About Missy: “Her eyes possessed that cold burn you got from holding ice.” 

Missy: “So sorry I’m late. Just been running over a maths teacher with a milk float. You know how it is.” (GUYS I’M NOT CRAZY MY THEORY WAS RIGHT AND IT’S NOW CONFIRMED, MISSY KILLED DANNY!!!!!) 

Generally, this story was funny and very typically Missy. Also the African American slave Missy saved is the one who eventually comes up with the name Missy, and the only person from the club that Missy didn’t kill was a certain man named Dr. Skarosa...

2. Lords and Masters by Cavan Scott 

The time lords recruit Missy to go on a mission for them, so they hijack the Eye of Harmony in her TARDIS and send a time lady to hold a gun to her head. Basically she has to figure out what’s causing some strange time disturbances, and it turns out this doctor genetically engineered a creature that could travel in space and time and kept it in stasis so that he could gain the power from its energy or something like that. Missy was supposed to kill the creature, but instead she manipulated the time lady to kill the doctor, kept the creature, and miniaturized then killed the time lady and sent her back to the General on Gallifrey. 

Favourite quotes:

“Missy had places to go and people to subjugate.” 

“Missy gave her the look she usually reserved for simpletons and UNIT personnel.” 

Not too much went on story-wise, but it was interesting to see how Missy dealt with being pushed around by the time lords. She also gets her first “companion” in this story: Yayani, the time lady who’s supposed to kill her if she doesn’t obey the time lords’ instructions. 

3. Teddy Sparkles Must Die! by Paul Magrs

Yes, it is just about as strange as it sounds. Missy becomes the governess of three children in early/mid-20th century England. The children are suspicious of her and go through her things, only to find a sparkly teddy bear who’s really an alien who can distort time and complicated stuff to grant wishes. The teddy bear lets them go to crazy places like the moon and Missy gets the kids out of trouble. In return for her rescuing them, she wants the kids to wish to grow up to be powerful people in the world, and the kids do it because they don’t really get it. So they grow up and become powerful people, forgetting about Missy. Then Missy comes back when they’re older and demands they give her the world. Teddy Sparkles (the alien bear) thwarts Missy’s plan by rewriting time and sending the kids back to their childhood, though he also accidentally incorporates crazy creatures that Missy told the kids stories about into the world. Teddy Sparkles uses up the rest of his energy/life to set everything right again, even inventing a fictional story about a governess with a carpet bag and an umbrella who takes children on fantastic adventures so that Missy will become famous, which is something she hates because she gets crowded by people gawking at her. Missy leaves, and in the end one of the children grows up to be a grandmother, and Teddy Sparkles shows up as a Christmas present for one of her grandchildren. 

I didn’t write down any really memorable quotes from this one, but the whole Mary Poppins connection was great, and I found it interesting that Missy actually “lost” in this one; it wasn’t from her point of view at all, either. 

4. The Liar, the Glitch, and the War Zone by Peter Anghelides

This one is pretty complicated to explain because it’s very timey-wimey, but basically Missy runs her TARDIS into some Gryphons (after escaping from the Daleks at the end of The Witch’s Familiar) and then crash lands in 21st century Venice. Through a series of things happening (time rifts and stuff are involved), Missy’s dematerialisation circuit ends up in 14th century Venice and she goes back in time with a random girl (Antonia) and also tries to destroy 21st century Venice in order to get her TARDIS working again and escape the Gryphons. After the TARDIS starts working again Missy time rams her TARDIS and everything undoes itself, so 21st century Venice goes back to normal. Missy tries to leave Antonia in 14th century Venice with her dead friend who fell through a time rift, but Antonia mysteriously ends back up in the TARDIS. More on that in a sec because...

GUYS. THE THIRTEENTH DOCTOR IS IN THIS STORY. NO JOKE. Missy discovers her dematerialisaiton circuit went back in time when she sees an ad for it being on display in a museum. She tries to ask where it came from, but all the employees keep telling her to talk to the curator. So finally she sets up an appointment, and that’s where I immediately became suspicious. The curator’s office is very thoroughly described, and while the combination of old and new stuff (including a plague doctor’s mask) could be telling of the Doctor (I mean, Day of the Doctor and the Curator, hello???), it also could just be a typical curator. But what set me off was that the curator is never physically described at all. There are other clues (before an obvious reveal at the end of the story.) Through the whole story people keep calling Missy “signora” and she insists that she wants to be called “signorina” instead. The curator calls Missy “signorina” without any indication from Missy. And as the curator is helping Missy find out where the dematerialisation circuit came from, she says “I do enjoy this kind of research myself. It’s a real trip into the past.” Missy also runs into a plague doctor back in the 14th century when she’s getting her circuit back. Then at the end it’s made really clear. Antonia shows up in Missy’s TARDIS (after Missy tried to abandon her) saying “If it wasn’t for her, no one would have seen me again.” She then gives Missy a note: “...two short paragraphs of neat handwriting chastised Missy for her lack of caution, and told her that she would need to try much harder.” Missy goes back to the curator’s office and finds it empty except for the plague doctor’s mask. All the curator’s secretary can tell her is (and it’s the last line of the story): “The doctor doesn’t work here any more.” (*SCREAMS*) 

Also, Missy decides to call one of the Gryphons “Hermione” and then says that she’s a Slytherin girl herself because she goes for the bad boys. She also says that she sees some Severus Snape in herself. 

5. Girl Power! by Jacqueline Rayner 

I don’t know how Jacqueline Rayner can write perfect Doctor Who stories. Every. Single. Time. 

This story is not told in traditional narrative fashion, but initially through messages that Nardole and the Twelfth Doctor send back and forth to each other. Nardole is guarding Missy in the vault and is worried when she seems to be putting together some sort of plot. The Doctor tells him to go along with it, and soon enough Missy is contacting important and influential women all throughout history to create MADAM, Missy’s Army for the Demotion of All Men. (I’m still dying over that XD). She creates a group on “Spacebook” and chats with these women, including Henry VIII’s wives, Joan of Arc, Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, Agatha Christie, and Jane Austen. Basically Missy just wants them all to kill all the men on the planet. But the Doctor joins the chat pretending to be Circe and gets all the women to leave the chat. He and Missy end up talking because Missy of course knows it’s him, and the Doctor thinks she came up an elaborate plot so that she could escape the Vault. Missy sort of accidentally confesses, however, that she was trying to have the oppressed (women) fight their oppressors (men), like the Doctor would do. 

Favourite quotes: 

Literally the entire story. The synopsis is vague because the meat of the story is Missy writing all these feminist things about how to respond to stupid man questions and how to do things that women can’t do at certain points in time (like vote, own property, etc.) and sending them to the members of MADAM. At the beginning of the story Nardole relates to the Doctor things that Missy has asked for, and the Doctor approves or disapproves them. These things include: hairspray, history books about important women (which was where she got the MADAM idea), marshmallows, a campfire (to roast the marshmallows; however, the Doctor doesn’t approve that one because “If she’s still got that can of hairspray, we could all be in big trouble.”), a tiger, and sherbert lemons. 

Missy: “It has come to my notice that being a woman isn’t just about the addition of some wobbly bits and a sudden inability to grow a goatee.” 

Missy on her Spacebook profile under the section ‘other names:’ “Professor Thascales, Colonel Masters, Reverend Magister, Sir Gilles Estram, Mister Saxon. Look, if I called myself ‘Reggie’ or ‘Dave’ the Doctor never even had the decency to suspect it was me. I used to go to a lot of trouble dressing myself up for him so is it so wrong to want some attention?” 

Missy on her Spacebook profile under the section ‘life events:’ “Born, Died, Died, Died, Died, Died, Died, Died, Died, Died, Died, Died, Died Died, Died, Took over some bloke’s body, Died, Died, Died, Became a human, Stopped being a human, Died, Died, Became a woman, Ruled!”

Missy: “I’m 100% done with human women. Hate the lot of them. Hope they all use lead-based makeup and die.” 

I literally did not stop laughing throughout this entire story. And I really mean that. My abs hurt. 

6. Alit in Underland by Richard Dinnick

Takes place during World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. Missy and Simm!Master travel around Floor 507 with Alit, the girl who gave Cyber-Bill the mirror in The Doctor Falls. The Masters (with Alit in tow) take out some Cybermen who come after them and find an elevator to leave the floor. 

Not much plot-wise, as you can see, and it’s a fairly short story. But bantering between the Masters is fantastic, and one of the best parts is Missy and Simm talking about how much they love cartoons. Missy tells him that she and the Doctor watched Frozen together and Simm can’t believe it and keeps judging her for it, when finally Missy tells him to “Let it go.” 

The other interesting and really cool aspect to this story is Missy’s character. She comforts Alit, tells her a story when she’s frightened, and even holds her hand. She also deliberately saves people, but keeps that a secret from Simm. I really like how the final two stories incorporate Missy’s slight moral shift. And the last little bit of the story, and of the book itself, is awesome: 

Simm!Master: “Tell me. Travelling with the Doctor. What is that all about?”

“I was imprisoned. It was the only way out.” 

“So you did have a plan before you ran into me. Get rid of him; betray him?” He licked his lips. “Kill him?” 

“Get rid...?” Missy looked at the Master, and her face became a stony façade. “That has a certain ring to it.” 

...

“Note to self: Get rid of...betray...kill.” Missy nodded. “Yes. I suppose that’s the only way.” 

The Missy Chronicles, everyone. If you have the chance to read it, please do.

[thotyssey]

On Point With: DJ William Francis

One of 2018′s most in-demand dance floor DJs, this son of a choir director is a true beatmaster working overtime keeping you twirking through the city’s sexiest, chicest parties. DJ William Francis takes Thotyssey to church!

Thotyssey: William, hello! It's nice to catch you during a minute when you're not at a gig. Do you enjoy working this much, or does it ever get overwhelming / exhausting? DJ William Francis: Lolz! I love the work! I usually don’t even think about it, to be honest. I just try and tackle each gig one at a time... and take care of myself so I don’t look too worn out!

What do you like to do on your downtime?

Sleep, mostly! And working on some side projects with my super talented friend Nashom. Also, Fire Island--for self-care, obviously!

So okay, we have lots to talk about, so let's go right to the beginning... where's your hometown?

I was born in New Rochelle, but grew up in Virginia.

Has music always been a part of your life?

I was a choir boy, always begging for a solo. But I never got it, ‘cause my mom was the choir director.... or I was terrible! But I was always playing an instrument: piano a bit, and I used to play the guitar. I led a youth group...: God Rock, I guess it’s called. Anyway, it was a dark time.

Was it always a big conflict with you, religion and family versus being Fabulous?

Mixed. My mother wasn’t really religious... just spiritual (jk)!. But seriously, she was just in it for the music. She LOVED a hymn, and the only reason it was worth it to go [to Church] on Sunday was when she would do her solo with the organ playing. Oh, honey! It would make anyone a believer, even for a second! There’s few places to get that energy out when you’re raising kids in Virginia. I think my dad still prays for my soul, though!

Hey, whatever helps! 

What brought you to NYC?

My whole family’s from New York, and I always had a strong connection here and knew this is where I wanted to be. I remember coming to visit my aunt and walking through Greenwich Village, and my parents warned my siblings and I that we might see some homosexual things. I saw two guys kissing unabashedly outside a cafe, and I was like I want that life. I had to have been 10 or 12. And look at me now! 

And then how did the DJing start?

After college, I moved here with my college boyfriend and friends, hungry to hit the scene and express ourselves. As I found myself and my place in the city, I was always drawn back to the music. Once I touched those decks, it was all over.

Where was your first gig?

First real gig was Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny’s Vandam. I was opening for Michael Magnan in the basement, and Johnny Dynell was playing upstairs. Will Automagic was booking DJs for it, and he gave me my first real shot. I still have the CDs I burned for that night in a book somewhere. They’re so sticky and don’t work anymore! 

I was also playing the backroom at Westgay at the same time. But there was no equipment back there, so I just brought in my little MacBook.

Is William Francis your Government Name, or a DJ alias?

It’s my first and middle name.

That works! So what was on those sticky first CDs?

Yikes. A lot of gems. I remember really going for it with the most iconic tracks--probably some of my all time favorites, honestly. And then a LOT of trash. A lot of times I would love a sample, but it was to a very basic beat and I would play it anyway. That made me always hunt out where the sample came from, which really broadened my lexicon. It’s always a hunt. 

How has your musical lexicon changed over times since then?

I’m drastically different in my own mind now, compared to when I first started. But I think my goal was always the same: to play good music. People’s ears have changed, and my own definition of what’s good has narrowed, I think. But I still love trashy music sometimes!

Do you tend to be more driven towards house, or pop remixes, or both, or something else?

Disco actually, and classic house. There are, however, these remixes Nita Aviance did for Beyoncé that I can never get enough of.  I’m also obsessed with mixing in some nu-wave and R&B, and some harder beats, too. I have a hard time staying in one genre, honestly. I bounce all over the place or I get bored. And I probably slip at least one Whitney song into every set, for good measure.

What are some changes you've noticed in the habits of your dance floor kids over the years? Have they gotten easier to please, less attentive, more adventurous? All the above! People are less attentive in general, but far more adventurous. The biggest difference is the exploding Brooklyn club scene. For a minute, it was like pulling teeth to get people to come out and move around. And there really weren’t that many large venues to go to, as places in Manhattan closed one by one. The kids are more willing to trek deeper and deeper into Long Island to dance. They aren’t looking to sit around a bottle or hear and experience something they’re used to, either. People are really here for that release that a good night out dancing provides, and they know what they’re looking for.

Speaking of Brooklyn, let's talk about some places where we can find you, starting with: Furball Brooklyn Pride at Analog, June 9th! The Furball brand seems to be expanding and getting more popular every year, what do you attribute that to?

Joe Fiore, who does Furball, is a great promoter who has been doing it forever, and is just about the sweetest guy to work for in the scene. He books some great talent, and has a great crowd that likes to have a lot of fun. What’s not to like? I’m super excited about about playing there this weekend. I love a Furball!

And still in the bear vein, June 16th is Bear Milk at the Deep End! That's a really interesting venue. you've done this party a bunch of times before, right?

Yeah! The Deep End is my favorite place to play. I always come in early and grab some tacos before I spin; I think spinning on a full stomach makes for a happier set! Bear Milk is always a super fun and wild time there... very wild. The owners, Jorge and Jon, are so great, and created a cool space for the community. It’s awesome to be able to play for them and that party. They’re really, really, really fun over there, lol!

And Sunday June 24th, you’re back with Ms. Bartsch, in the booth for KUNST!

KUNST Is another wild one. Susanne and The Dreamhouse parties always draw the coolest and most colorful crowds. So much fun to DJ and spiral there, and this Pride Sunday afternoon party is going to be even more legendary! All the kids will be at this one!

And on July 14th, you'll be spinning the Fire Island Pines version of HARDER! This is the cruisy Euro-flavored party that's been bouncing all over the place lately. How do you think it will translate in the Pines?

I mean, it can’t get more cruisy than the Pines, and HARDER is gonna fit in perfectly at the Pavilion. The party has grown and changed a lot over the years. It still has it Euro-cruisy roots, but Ricardo--who’s party it is--has turned it into the kind of powerhouse of talent and production New York deserves. I’m happy to be part of the HARDER family, and anytime I get to spin with heartthrob resident Eric Bloom is also worth it!

Most of your Tuesdays these past few months have been spent at Acme spinning for Deryck Todd's party STRUT, where club kids and regular folks convene and sometimes craziness happens. Have you had a Most Memorable Moment there yet?

I think when Rosario Dawson came. I’m a huge nerd and love her in all the Marvel Netflix shows, so I gagged a bit ‘cause she’s also stunning.

Where else can we find you in the near or distant future?

I’m doing every Thursday at Club Cumming starting this week for a diva- focused party...

...and I’m also playing tunes at The Cock every first and third Wednesday of every month, which is my most family friendly gig, lol!

Otherwise, I’m traveling a bunch. Going to Chicago with HARDER, and doing a fun party in Baltimore with all the drag queens down there. I think it will get more busy too as the month goes on, and I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff. Pride is always the most exhausting, but so worth it.

Yes! Okay, final question that I ask all DJs: What's the best advice you can give to someone who wants to break into the biz?

Just do it. Trial by fire, baby!

Thank you, Mr. DJ!

Check Thotyssey’s calendar for DJ William Francis’ upcoming appearances, and follow hum on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and SoundCloud.

On Point Archives

[shazyloren]

The Dragon Club: Chapter 40 - Offices and Encounters

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12018519/chapters/28252617

-----------

Jon flicked the lights on to his brand new office. Small, but still had enough space for the two desks he'd had installed for him and his new apprentice Alys Karstark. She had given him some of her work on the female orgasm and while he had found it weird she'd chose to write on that in particular, her writing style was everything he was looking for on his sight. She gave balanced arguments, she gave correct facts but the emotion was there too. So now here they were, both of them looking at the light and white space which held potential.

"Let's get started then" Alys excited spoke as she went to her desk by the window, it was ten stories up in the office building and the view was quite magnificent. Jon could see Valyrian from the window, the tallest building in the skyline. Alys plonked her bag on the desk before plodding to the small kitchen at the back of the office. She shouted to Jon through the door. "Do you want a coffee, Mr. Snow?"

"Please, two sugars and a small amount of milk" Jon replied as he switched his own computer on. He had a bookshelf on the spare wall installed, 6ft across and floor to ceiling length which held books upon books upon books. There was fiction, non-fiction, feminism books, animal books, ones on politics and ones on writing.

Jon loved reading a book, and even thought he was only paying the apprentice three hundred dollars per week as a starting wage (she was only seventeen), he said she could take any of the books home for extra reading if needs be. He glanced at the clock, ten. They would usually be doing nine to five but as he had some errands to do (get a second key made so she could get in and out on weekends if she wanted to write) they were starting at ten.

"The water tastes decent, I'm surprised" Alys said as she returned with two coffees, putting Jon's down on his placemat. He had a photo frame of his family he'd put on his desk and one of him and Daenerys dancing at Arya' wedding. There was also one of Lyanna his niece. Alys had put a photo down of her and her cat, which Jon thought was the grumpiest cat he'd ever seen. "So, what's first on the agenda"

She booted up her computer too. "Well, I'm going to make an announcement on my site of a new writer. Then we're going to work on your first piece together. I know you're more than capable but I think we need to make the right impression and with a stand out first piece for you on the site, you'll get welcomed very quickly. but of course, we need to agree on what it is you want to write about. There's several stories I've picked up on that need addressing"

"You said you wanted to cover the election?" She asked.

"Yes, but I've not formed enough of an opinion on each candidate to start that yet. There is some more pushing concerns such as the sexual assault allegations against that hollywood producer, the WWF's new partnership with Valyrian, the education levels of animal welfare in schools, many things. But I want you to choose, let it be something you're passionate about seeing a change to"

"Okay, while you're making the announcement, I'll get to researching" She nodded in happiness and began by taking some books of the shelf before opening google chrome and diving head first in whatever it was she wanted to cover. Jon opened up his site and opened a new section on his announcement page. After half an hour it was posted.

Date: Monday 12th June 2017

Time: 10:39 AM.

Announcement: It is with my greatest pleasure that I can announce that the wolf online has a new writer! Alys Karstark is an apprentice writer who wants to go into Journalism. She will be covering subject we've already touched on here and new ones that have never been explored before. Her first written work will be posted by the end of the week. Welcome Alys!

Jon nodded before he got to answering some emails before her began helping Alys with her first piece. They bounced ideas back and forth before they realised it was five to five, and Daenerys would be meeting him here with Jorah to go to dinner afterwards. Saving their works on the computers and shutting them down, they locked up and made their way to the elevator together. "Good first day, you hit some real good points today. You've got a lot of potential"

"Thank you Mr. Snow" She blushed a little in embarrassment.

"Please, call me Jon" He laughed. She muttered a small okay before they reached the bottom of the lift. When it opened, Daenerys was stood at the bottom waiting with Jorah lurking a few feet back. Jon grinned and almost skipped to her. "Hello, my fiery dragon"

"Hello, stupid wolf" She grinned. Jon rolled his eyes. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Yes, sorry, where are my manners!" Jon fumbled a bit and found that he was the one blushing. "This is Alys Karstark, my new apprentice"

"Pleasure to meet you, Alys" Daenerys held a hand out to shake. Alys' eyes went wide. She shook her hand a bit too enthusiastically. "Do you need a lift home?"

"Oh that's okay, I just got my first car. Thank you for the offer though, I appreciated it!" She held onto her handbag a bit tighter before excusing herself. "Good evening, Mr. Snow. I'll see you tomorrow" Jon raised an eyebrow at her. "Jon, Sorry"

She walked off leaving the three of them. "She seems nice"

"She is actually. And she seems to actually want to do some good in the world rather than just go through the motions of life. Her writing is excellent, almost better than mine I'd say" Jon smirked as Jorah came over to them. "Evening Jorah"

"Good evening, Jon" He nodded. "Are we ready, the car is expensive and I don't want it being stolen"

Daenerys shook her head as Jon offered his arm for her to take. She does. The three walk out of the building and turn left towards the Rolls royce. It's a beautiful evening, the sun is still bright in the sky meaning the temperature is still warmer than most days during spring. They laughed as Jorah recounted the story of his niece painting him as a fairy and giving him in, before suddenly, Jorah froze.

"What is it?" Jon hissed. Daenerys gasped. They turned to see a woman stood a few feet from where they were. She had her hands up as if to say she did not mean any harm, that she just wanted to talk. Instinctively, Daenerys hid behind Jon.

"Miss. Qaath" Jorah spoke at an even tone.

"I- I'm not here to s-shout" She said shakily. Her hair was greasy , her skin sallow and her eyes were dull. She was wearing grey sweatpants and a white tee with a black leather jacket and trainers. She wasn't doing well, as you would expect someone who lost a child. "I promise"

"You also promised to leave Miss. Targaryen alone, you don't seem to be honouring that promise" Jorah replies. He didn't reach for his gun, but he flexed, showing it to her. Jon felt the energy in his body drain at the situation before him. What was going to happen? He did not know.

"I just want to talk" she said, not moving a muscle from her spot.

"Then do it and be on your way" Jorah snapped.

"I-I saw the article, I saw you admit what you failed to do for me and my child" She said shakily. "My little Rose suffered and you didn't do anything to help, but I see now, I see that it was not your... child. It was not your responsibility and I was looking for someone to blame" Daenerys came out from behind Jon a little, to see her properly. Jon felt her hold onto him tightly however. "I've been... consumed with grief... and I've let it get the better of me, and I'm sorry"

"Sorry?" Jorah asked incredulously. "You attacked Miss. Targaryen in her own office!"

"I know" She looked at the floor.

"Did you send the message?" Jon asked, wanting more information.

"Message?" She said confused.

"We received a message demanding Jon stay away from Daenerys, a threat. We thought it may be you" Jorah sniffed.

She wracked her brain, she looked like she was having a hard time thinking. "I don't know of a message, I don't know many things these days"

"Why are you really here?" Daenerys asked. "And how did you know I was here more importantly"

"I've been following you" She said sadly. "Not all the time, just whenever I feel the anger again, i'd wait outside your apartment and see if you'd show, if you looked happy. I'd cry every time you looked happy, annoyed I wasn't" She breathed in deeply. "And then, I found out something, perhaps it's karma for being horrendous to you"

"What is it?"

"I'm dying, a tumour, same as Rose, both beyond treatment" The air was silent. Jon felt his breath be sucked out of his lungs. He heard Daenerys gasp and even Jorah's stance shook a little. "I had a scan... lit up like a christmas tree. I won't be on this earth long, I'll be with my little Rose soon. I just had to make peace, for my own peace"

"Doreah, I- I don't know what to say" Daenerys' voice was shaky.

"Don't say anything, it's better this way" She sighed. "I do have a parting gift for you - information"

"Information?" Jon furrowed his brow.

"A man approached me and asked for my service, he wanted me to spy on you. I don't know what he looked like, he kept a hood up while he spoke. But you say you received a message of warning, it's probably him. Just thought you should know" She said as she began to walk away. "Goodbye, Daenerys. I'll see you in the afterlife"

If there is one, Jon thought.

[voodoorhythmrecords]

Tour Report 2019-South East Asia Tour The Monsters

This is a tour where Greta would Kill us Immediately, 7 flights, around 40'000km in 2.5 weeks, a city with about 7'000'000 mopeds, 26 of them battery operated at most ... I have only seen a few bikes driven by women over 100 years old (at least that).

I am the writer, Reverend Beat-Man, singer and guitarist of THE MONSTERS we have been touring with the New Zealanders THE CAVEMEN trough Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan

 We already did the preliminary work a few years before this tour, we is: Pete Menchetti from Slovenly Records (Sticker Guy) from Reno (USA) ... he calls his series WE'RE LOUD FEST and Swan Lee our drummer both had exchanged about one Trillion mails, made balance sheets, culture suport Letters etc ... Money Zero but Fun= Factor +180 we were lucky to be supported a little bit by Pro Helvetia and the SUISA Fondation with a deficit guarantee (in Switzerland this is possible... thanks to my lovely country)

 On Monday the Nov 19 we flew 12 hours to Vietnam and went in a taxi to Saigon (Ho-Chi-Minh City), in town there are over 7 million (they told me i didn’t count) motor scooters and they drive as it looks like all at the same time like maniacs mostly 2 but also 5 people on it, a huge chaos, everyone drives according to him just so fits first on one lane and then if enough space on the opposite lane as well no rules at all, we thought.. In the beginning it looks ultra chaotic, but i tell you if you make your own chaos music you know the deal, that there is a system in every chaos... so as well on Vietnam's streets... the trick: All vehicles are slow and they never stop, that means the traffic is always running and there is never a jam... unless someone is lying dead on the street... crossing the road as a pedestrian is a big challenge the trick is to never stop while walking Close your eyes and walk slowly in a straight line, then the mopeds will drive around you... if you make a stop or jerky movements you will be knocked over and die on the spot, like in a game, it's very simple

We're Loud Fest

———————

the welcome party was in the club Indika, in the front room a marriage orchestra playing the same shit music like all over the globe, just in vietnamese, in the back room DJ's Pete and Daddy O from Tokyo and as surprise act WASTED PIDO from Venice the One Man Band from the great DESTROY ALL GONDOLAS (Death Metal Surf).

One day later we had a party on an old Vietnamese steamer, the whole vehicle was finely carved out of rosewood and almost collapsed while dancing too wildly, I was allowed to start as REVEREND BEAT-MAN and KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW closed the evening, I can’t say anything about my show because I played it myself but it was fun, my striptease interlude and Tibetan vocal act were i guess a bit too much for them and king khan bbq show had taken over, the 2 were in a great mood and squeezed everything out of the kiddie PA System, the guitar was completely out of tune from the beginning to the end you could even see it as a concept and every line more stupid than the next one it was a great party..  i could hardly enjoy the concert because i stupidly switched to flirt mode and fell in love with all the women on the boat, after an unsuccessful tour we got drunk and at 2am we got into a strange taxi that took us to the hotel with 200 km/h in 3 seconds, the hotel was a family affair, the doors close after 8pm, the mother manager and wife for everything, i fell in love immediately, she had welcomed us, her children and husband and other family members of unknown origin all slept in the lobby under or on the table, temperature was estimated 10000 degrees and they all snuggled up comfortably in the thermo- feather blanket, we switched off the air conditioning for solidarity reason to the Family and Great off course and then got up in the morning in a sweat bath. For Breakfast you drink cold coffee with condensed milk or sit with diarrhoea on the Toilette.

We were lucky to be in Saigon in the un-touristic part (tourists quarter you recognises if it has Mc Donnalds/Starbucks sign… do not go there !! its shit 10 times as expensive, and full of Europeans and ‚i wanna see the amazing world‘ Americans) we walked around in the evening in our quarter and landed in the residential quarter, everyone had the doors far open, a honest driving between all inhabitants (not sexually) was to be observed.. i think loneliness and anti-social behaviour doesn't exist there, or hasn't arrived yet, because it's still something like a communism, an open one, whatever that means, i think when capitalism will take over, it will turn into a big fuck up shit shit hole like everywhere else,I think. Anyway but everybody in Saigon had some kind of business and sells something like living chickens (plucked alive they are then decapitated before the other living chickens ... shock therapy or something i guess) Rolex watches or fine sugar cane juice also skinning cute cuddly dogs is very popular, everything is on the ground and the ice-block supplier cleans his cocktail ice with stones from gutter, washed with stale water that dries quickly in the burning sun.. we have eaten and drunk everything, no matter how bizarre (dog (the one with the short legs, but no poodles) to the sky like rotten dicks stinking fruits and fermented fish) thanks to the demand we are still alive, and happier than ever.

  On Saturday was the official festival start which ended one day later, many bands from the Asian region played, among others URGENT MATTER from Singapore I and all others Loved them very much, super cool old school hard core punk style, without stupid jumping around in ’shorts’. the songs are about 30 seconds and then one minute break because the singer tried to say something in English REIGN IN SLUMBER from Cambodia crusts Metal Punk super trash and the Ueber Hammer the same with DISTRICT 105 (Saigon) the headliner of the evening was CUT LON from Hanoi also known as Picachu Band, Hard Core, with official jumping and macho arm contortions and those Short Long shorts.. the shit ones, I think they are relatively famous and were not very friendly to us, that’s probably why, on the same evening THE CAVEMEN first with their country n western set THE VETERAN OUTLAW on the roof terrace, then as a complete band of Super Retards in the club, and like every evening and every time I saw them the kicked so much but that there was no butt anymore, Early Stooges paired with Glitter Punk and GG Allin, completely stupid and horny, everything is possible and everything they do especially drinking and taking drugs, THE TEWWZERS from Tokyo ex Teenegenerate, Power Pop high-flyers I have unfortunately missed because I was flirting, what one from Hawaii and her girlfriend from Brooklyn i think ajajaj... but all of them said they were great, THE CARRISON from Malaysia we met at dinner is Punk Rock'n'Roll and then TOTAL CONTROL from Australia from the asylum escaped Kraut Rocker and punks on LSD played with violins and flute but they also had problem with the 15 buck guitar amp for the estimated 100th time because there is no equipment in Vietnam, everything has to be ordered somehow PA amps etc.. and things like that are very hard to find and the equipment is not made for Rock'n'roll... rather for cuddle karaoke or Wedding Bands, at the end of the Night the: STOMPIN' RIFFRAFFS from Tokyo and they ruled the party, rock'n'roll covers with a Japanese attitude, piano and a theremin player who masturbated on stage in fishnet stockings. and i fell in love again, we (the Monsters) played as well, it was great, but i never get much out of it, because i'm playing... but i remember we played a piece in slow motion (sounds as stupid as it is)

 We had to leave Saigon with a weeping eye and flew to Hoi An, Central Vietnam, We played again together with the Cavemen in a beach bar, because in Hoi An there are seldom or never concerts, they had problems to find a guitar and bass amp, the guitar amp was the size of a toaster, and with the bass amp they said it was the only one in Hoi An, we should pay attention and the Cavemen took it very seriously hahaha. in the middle of the show the guitarist came up with the great idea to do a somersault from the table down to the stage, in his imagination he would then land heroically on both feet and end up in the greatest guitar solo the world ever has seen, in reality he got stuck in a roof batten when he jumped off and a somersault turned into a New Zealand Meat bag that hit the floor and in between hit his backside of the head and the blood pulsating spurted out, the guitar head was broken off, luckily a doctor was there (someone who had read a book about a doctor) and everything turned out fine, after I fell in love with the hotel manager we went to Hanoi in the north of Vietnam at 5am, there it is much more communist, that means more bourgeois, you have to start haggling and so on.. we were too much overweight and they wanted a horrendous amount of money from us ... and we as honest and sincere Swiss were shocked and wanted to pay until Pete came and handed over 50Euros in his passport to the employee and everything was done with a friendly smile, Anyway I think I will never learn such a thing, I am too honest for me it is so embarrassing, I would like as well to be a little bit spoiled and and do bad things like all the others.

 In Hanoi we then played in the first "real" club... with PA, a Soundmann Stagehands light and drum carpet etc

We played with EYEHATEGOD from New Orleans (USA) who I thought was OK but didn't knock my socks off, was a bit cool and serious and the whole thing and somehow wasn't dangerous at all, they were super cool guys except the singer, I think he's famous or something (back in switzerland i googld them and yes the are famous and i even have a record in my collection) anyway. my favourite band was TIMEKILLER from Saigon which is like Zeni Geva but on speed punk... so fucking cool and terrable loud they dont even have songs its just stupid and loud.. something… then I fell in love (one sided) with the singer's girlfriend and couldn't think anymore, the evening ended with a booze party and with noodle soupe and 2h sleep until the next flight to Taiwan.

 Taipei is so Ultra Modern you won't believe it and you feel like a Swiss postcard mountain farmer, and the people Ultra Intelligent and also intellectually inspiring, ASA our Taiwan Manager, was beautiful as a picture and an organisational talent, photographer and main professional photo model, and multilingual of course. the Revolver Club was then also a regular club and as Taiwan is close to Japan, fans from Japan came to the show and we realised that we were back in civilisation. Records sign good backline, ATM's and Mexican food, unfortunately BB BOMB (taiwan girl punk band) had to cancel their concert because the singer got sick, but the whole band including the singer was present... maybe they were just too nervous you never know, but L-SCHEMA played, noise crusted punk of the local town with a drummer who hammers the beat with his lead foot in the fast lane, no sex and without any feeling, just go for it stupid punk as we love it, we finally arrived in the tour and gave our best concert so far I think, it was just dirty diarrhoea coming out of my mouth and it was a lot of fun, also for the Cavemen, whose guitarist played now on a Taiwanese cheap guitar played and gave everything and much more, the people were enthusiastic, I asked around about the situation with China and so, they said that they were all afraid of what zz going on in Hong Kong at the moment, because the origin of the whole problematic is in Taiwan, but they are mainly afraid of the Chinese spies who spy in Taiwan and no one can talk free from the liver.. everything is a little bit tense the whole thing I think and makes me worried, they are beautiful great people.

 Then we were allowed to sleep for 3 hours and off to the plane to Nagasaki in Japan, where we were warmly welcomed by a punk grandmother (Kaori, our Japanese tour manager) and a Japanese 30's swing cowboy who turned out to be a fan of the Monsters and in real life is a real estate agent, and I was happy to be in my beloved Japan.

 The Beta Club is small but nice, I forgot with which bands we played together, I was so tired from not sleeping and still had the Taiwanese tour manager in my head, but we went by bus in the early morning to Tokyo, my musicians told me this was the best trip of their lives, rice fields, remote villages, picture Beautiful landscapes women with strange Hats and Japanese folk music etc, I have unfortunately completely overslept the whole trip, do not even know if we flew again or not, a complet Black out.. sorry readers.

In Tokyo we were welcomed we gods and were allowed to play 2x in the Heavy Sick Club and our old friend Mr Dead at the cash desk gave us free drinks the whole night, the first evening my favourite Japanese One Man Band KATZGRAIS (Tokyo) played who is also a guitar builder and introduced his invention of the shovel guitar, after that he also played with his psychobilly band THE PSYCLOCKS , on the same evening we had PHANTOM TIKIRARZ a surf band with masks on the program after that i leaned towards the sake on ice and hot and MADPPETS entered the stage this is like Addams Family music but punk and sex, first i fell in love with their music then with the bass player and finally with the organ player and flirted it into the floor after the concert, on drums was Yuki Kono from the legendary THEEE BAT (Mika Bat †) but my complete favourite was HASIL NUTS from Tokyo with our tour manager Kaori on drums, the whole band can't play at all they are terrable great, Kaori (drums) is somehow hitting the drums without any concept, the guitarist is very concentrated and messes up everything and the other guitarist who would actually be the drummer is shrinking and just making pointless noises, the singer wears a net stocking full body dress and around his loins an apron made of nuts and sings 'king of the laod' the sound settles down, to a David Lynch movie but even weirder paired with The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, can you follow? that was awesome, we (the Monsters) played great and the people were almost freaking out, so did the Cavemen, the same evening THE FADAWAYS played they famous in Europe (soundflat records) and are super killer back from the Grave Garage Fuzz Punk.

 We invested our last money in food and useless Japan junk, on the return flight we had again huge problems checking in the guitar cases into the plane (SWISS) they were 7cm too big and they made a huge drama, they charge 300euro more per guitar and we almost went crazy, already completely blank and so on, then we fell asleep in the plane completely exhausted.

 My conclusion is that I had a huge after tour blues, not like normal, it was much bigger, and had to do with how the Vietnamese live together, talk and function, all doors open and treat everybody as equal, had reminded me of my time in the Squats i lived in and how much I miss it and how I hate to live in a society where people work against each other and not with each other.. i also know that what is here will also come there and i am so sorry for that i hope you learn to appreciate what you have and that not having more is more... yes less is more, but im a Dreamer and live in Utopia

 anyway i love you Vietnam i love you Taiwan and i love you japan and i hope to come back soon and i am very proud that my stupid music works there too, thanks

 Links

Guitara Kyo (Japan) https://youtu.be/LAFPnH5Blak

Urgent Matter (Singapur) https://youtu.be/xOp1qSr1A3w

Reign in Slumber (Cambodia) https://youtu.be/NEwjni4tXvY

District 105 (Saigon) https://youtu.be/npft6MHufqc

Timekiller (Saigon) https://youtu.be/bAAkwYqTN1o

Cut Lon (Hanoi) Picachu band https://youtu.be/lhOxr6v_Gvk

the Tewwzers (Tokyo) Teenegenerate, power pop https://youtu.be/zJbgHBpXXVo

the Carrison (malaysia) https://youtu.be/EXenEY8-Fu8

Total Control (Australia) https://youtu.be/RYrME08UPE0

the Cavemen (NZ) the Veteran Outlaw https://youtu.be/67dJ-E61AcY

Stompin' RiffRaffs (Tokyo) https://youtu.be/j4v2FjIxNLQ

BB Bomb (taiwan) https://youtu.be/SYXu7eSIjJg

L-Schema (Taiwan) https://youtu.be/bcNHGc7OAJM

Phantom tikirarz (japan) https://youtu.be/kBprrMnYuVk

Madppets (Japan) https://youtu.be/dvmlzZr-Kjk

The Psyclocks (Japan) https://youtu.be/znIWURke2zw

Katzgrais (Japan) https://youtu.be/QkSIShkPI8Y

Wasted Pido (italy) https://youtu.be/k5JuVA7RJn4

the Fadaways (Japan) https://youtu.be/yT62UfKbBlg

Hasil Nuts (Japan) https://youtu.be/-kOUHDJbcSo

Eyehategod ( usa) https://youtu.be/VepTkVmh-WA

King Khan & BBQ Show (CAN) https://youtu.be/LpA7I8SpkxQ

Reverend Beat-Man (CH) https://youtu.be/zUlCyhpovjE

the Monsters (CH) https://youtu.be/zs7CQBHyo3Y

 19.11 - Flug CH - Saigon

22.11 - Saigon - Indochine Junk Boat Cruise

23+24.11 - Saigon - Arcan (Vietnam)

26.11 - Hoi An - Soul Beach/Hon Bien (vietnam)

28.11 - Hanoi - Hanoi Rock City (vietnam)

29.11 - Taipei - Revolver (thaiwan)

30.11 - Nagasaki - Beta (japan)

1+2.12 - Tokyo - Heavy Sick Club (japan)

4.12 - Flug Tokyo-CH

[blkwidowsweb]

A Conversation with DJ Spivey

Originally from Detroit, now living and working in Miami, DJ Spivey fell in love with Dance music at the age of 13 when he was given his first set of turntables and has been in love with the music ever since.  After a break from the music, he returned in 2012 and his journey began again.  The dance music prompted him to start mixing on the internet via his YouTube channel with over 30k followers and his SoundCloud account with over 5k followers.  Those mixes caught people’s interest and he became a DJ in demand traveling as far as China.  He is currently DJ'ing and producing edits and remixes and working on Producing original music.   I had a chance to speak with him about his journey and playing at this year’s Summer Oasis Music Festival for the second time!

Black Widow:  What was your introduction to House Music and House Culture?

DJ Spivey:  I’m originally from Detroit.  It wasn’t called house music back then.  We were playing what we call, Progressive Music”.  This around 1980/81.  It was dance, euro, and disco music.  The music all had that 4/4.   It was a lot of R&B Artists that created dance songs. That’s what we were playing.  I had a guy who was somewhat of a mentor to me. I remember going in his basement and I fell in love with the DJ gear. I begged my grandmother and mom to buy me a system and I started to collect records. From that point on and all throughout high school, I was spinning records. 

Black Widow:  You fell in love with the art form before the music?

DJ Spivey:  Yes! I fell in love with DJ’ing before the music. I loved music but when I saw the setup I was infatuated with it. It wowed me.  I wanted to know how to do and he walked me through it. I started collecting music after and from there I started buying music with more intention. I was purchasing music I wanted to spin.  I remember the first record I ever bought was “Don’t make Me Wait” by the Beach Boys.  I used to love the crack in the song. I thought it was so cool.  I remember the day I found my first milk crate in the back of the store. I remember bringing it home and putting my records in it.

Black Widow:  Once you get the crate you are official! [LAUGHTER]

DJ Spivey:  Yes! [LAUGHTER] Exactly I had the bug for sure!

Black Widow:  So what was your first gig? How did you know this was more than a hobby?

DJ Spivey:  In Detroit we had social clubs and I was a member of one. Social clubs threw parties and I was the DJ for the social club I was a member of.   I loved spinning records. It was fulfilling and I loved making tapes too.   We would pass those tapes out at schools and such.   It was just fun.

Black Widow: I told you earlier but I actually learned about you from a DJ Friend of mine, who sent me one of your YouTube Mixes.  She knew I was a huge Jill Scott fan and you had a mix of some of her classics.  What I noticed is that many of your mixes on YouTube and SoundCloud are artists specific.  What makes you create so many artist specific mixes?

DJ Spivey:  I do. I like to look at them as tributes.  The first one I did was at the suggestion of a friend. I did a best of Josh Milan mix.  I was hesitant initially but did it and was amazed at the incredible response.  It was a huge hit.  I had no idea people were going to dig it like they did. It felt like I was on to something.  Since then I’ve done a few; Sade, Jamiroquai, Monique Bingham.  I collect so much music and I loved so many artists and their catalog so it’s fun to create mixes covering the catalog of certain artists.   It also brings a lot of people to listen who may not necessarily be “househeads’ to the genre.   They listen and end up enjoying the groove because they love the artists.  It may turn them on to another house song and artist.  

Black Widow: I found your marketing style to be really interesting.  You’ve built your brand and following almost completely via social media.  

DJ Spivey:  I started while living in Atlanta. I was a bedroom DJ. I didn’t think it was going to get big but it gave me a chance to play and get my ideas out there when I wasn’t being booked.   From there people started to contact me and booking me for jobs.  AS my audience grew, I got more offers.

Black Widow:  Everyone has to start somewhere and it looks like you’ve utilized social media to your advantage to help you create and build a brand and create even more opportunities for yourself.

DJ Spivey: Yes absolutely! Even now in Miami, it’s not a big house town. We don’t have a scene.   We get the big stars but we don’t have a week to week scene like you have in Chicago. I keep my energy out there by continuing to play online and putting my mixes out when I’m not playing clubs and such. It’s been instrumental in getting my name out there and I’ve been able to travel quite a bit as a result.

Black Widow:  Do you find that Social Media is a double edge sword for you?

DJ Spivey:  I haven’t had too many negative experiences with social media.  What I like about social media it is that it keeps my wheels turning. I’m learning new things, meeting new people, learning new ideas.  One of my favorite artists of all time is Herbie Hancock.  He is constantly evolving and reaching out to younger artists. He just did a project with Carl Craig who’s a Detroit techno guy.   I’m always trying to keep my mind open to new ideas, new directions and see where it takes me.

Black Widow:   What inspires you to create?

DJ Spivey: wow…good question.  I get inspired by other songs, things I like, or even photos. Movies too! It hits you in crazy ways. Some of my best ideas come from movie soundtracks.  Even long road trips where I’ll listen to the radio and hear certain songs that are so random. 

Black Widow: I definitely relate. For me it can be a party that I attend or other music that I hear. I actually write songs while listening to other people’s songs sometimes.  It’s weird; I’m usually creating new house songs while listening to neo soul music! [Laughter] it’s really about allowing life to inspire you.

DJ Spivey:  I feel you! 

Black Widow:  I think it’s so interesting to speak with other artists, especially DJs because you have such a vast array of music to pick from and get inspired by.    Music from all genres.  That’s always reflected in a DJs set. 

DJ Spivey:  Right, you have a million records to choose from so now which ones are you going to choose? I always find that interesting

Black Widow:   Exactly! I would be totally overwhelmed! [Laughter] you really have to think fast and really have an incredible ear in order to blend music property, put songs together that work…it’s definitely something I know I couldn’t do! [LAUGHTER]

DJ Spivey: It definitely gets interesting.  I’m usually more relaxed when I start the event. I get nervous beforehand sometimes.  Once the system is on, I’m free.

Black Widow:  I noticed you do remixes and edits, are you breaking into producing?

DJ Spivey:   I’m trying to find my sound and what direction I want to go in.   I definitely want to get into it.

Black Widow:  My dad always says your art will make space for you if you allow it.

DJ Spivey:  That’s exactly where I am.

Black Widow: so let’s talk about Summer Oasis! This is your second year playing this event.    What do you love about Summer Oasis and playing this event?

DJ Spivey:  It was so magical last year!  I didn’t know what to expect but it was almost spiritual. Once I arrived, I felt free and connected with people I didn’t even know.  I’m looking forward to that again. I don’t know if it was the spirit of the ancestors or what but it felt great. 

Black Widow:  I really believe it is the ancestors. Just knowing the history of that land. I remember walking around and just being transported in a way. I totally get it.  Their spirit is definitely present.  I really felt connected to that space knowing our ancestors came to kick it and let their hair down and be free…

DJ Spivey: …Yes! It was a safe space! That’s really it!  That’s what Summer Oasis is too in a sense. It’s a time for us to leave that hustle and bustle and let our guards down and just enjoy. No TV…just free.

There was a little spot right by the campsite and there was a man, the owner I think. I was literally talking to him most of Friday. He and his friends would grab a beer and just tell stories. I loved it.  They reminded me of men I knew growing up.  He was amazing. It was so much history; he was funny and had a cool demeanor. I’m looking forward to the entire vibe. The entire vibe of Summer Oasis is just amazing.

Black Widow:  I agree.  It’s the peace of the lake, the music, the community…

DJ Spivey:  It’s a magical thing! 

Black Widow:  I can’t wait to hear you play! You gotta stop by my Moroccan Hideaway!

DJ Spivey:  Oh for sure! Absolutely!   I’m looking forward to it.

Black Widow: See you in Idlewild!!!

You can listen to DJ Spivey on the following:

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/djspivey

MixCloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/discover/dj-spivey/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3V1k-v-bMwDsvxtUZCwBgA

[uterusclub]

As any Native Chicagoean can attest, the winter never fails to destroy our souls – at least temporarily so. But as that weary tail-end concludes, one gradually regains hope, energy, and enthusiasm. These are the trappings of no more woe. 

Our first expedition involved a visit to the Otherworld Theatre Company to see a choose-your-own adventure style production of ‘Quest for Thrones.’ We were beckoned to make several decisions for the Game of Thrones characters which mostly involved death or killing and to no surprise of mine, our crowd was an outwardly, murdery bunch. So we got along just great. The only downside to the show was the mold-induced smell of the lobby area where I quite literally gawked around the room to see if anyone else was just as disturbed as I. They did not appear as such which daunts me even more. Following the very short but delightful show, we made our way home but the night just didn’t feel complete. So we made a stop-off. Well, 2, actually. Sharon had demanded a hot dog the entire day so we stopped at my beloved Susie’s and then headed a few blocks down to my treasured karaoke joint, Sidekicks! It had been quite some time since my last sing so it was well-overdue. Upon arrival, we noted several people already singing which took me by surprise. While Sharon hit the bano, I was met by my long-time waitress friend who’s name I can’t completely remember – Christine – Christina? Christy? Something like that. I’m horrible. In any case, she offered me a mis-remembered test-tube shot (Sex on the Beach) to which I declined (my favorite is the Buttery Nipple) and ordered us a few drinks. I immediately trolled through the song book to figure out my agenda which, let’s be honest, is usually the same couple songs. Due to low attendance, I was announced very quickly. The night continued much the same aside from several interruptions from ‘the mutants at table 9’ who attempted to Facebook us (we DID give them Uterus Club as our contact but perhaps they considered this a joke as nothing ever came of it). We had met our end all be all of interactions with these folks when one of them dedicated a song to me. It was at this point, we slipped out, past the bouncer and I quite literally ran to my car even though Sharon had my keys and fumbled around for horror-movie record time. Surely, we would have been killed. Regardless, wonderful, hilarious night.

Onward. Sharon has been madly obsessed with a man by the name of Max Frost whom she played a few songs of a little while back. She missed a previous concert of his as my schedule wouldn’t allow it but recently discovered he was once again, back in Chicago! Naturally, she grabbed tickets and demanded (or rather, asked super nicely) we go. The last time we had been to Subterranean in Wicker Park was for Allison Weiss which was a blast! I recalled our hanging out on the upstairs area and peering down at the entire performance. Max Frost was equally rewarding in this sense. Unfortunately, getting awesome seats around the threshold of the upstairs area meant getting there early and listening to the opener – a girl we had already pre-researched and were not impressed with. Ironically, she ended up sounding way better live. Further irony kicked in when we discovered there was an ADDITIONAL opener who no one knew! THIS guy? Oh man. This was your stereotypical, dirty hipster trying-to-be-real with the ‘people’ who attempted to be deep and introspective while sitting on stage without shoes on. Absolutely horrendous! It should come as no surprise that we were a tad bit ecstatic when Max Frost FINALLY showed up on stage. Yes, we were ecstatic for approximately five songs and then all fizzled out into exhaustion. Capping the night and our very classy ride home via the most wonderful CTA, we listened to a homeless man reflect on his rejection of a plus-sized lady whom he compared to several, large animals. Always an adventure.

But wait. There’s more. ‘March madness’ couldn’t possibly be complete without a little festive shout-out to the Irish. And we went all out people. Having said that, I believe I’m some ridiculously low percentage Irish but I’ve also BEEN to Ireland so I think I get a free pass on that one. In any case, Sharon suggested we hit up the downtown dying of the river in the morning since neither of us had actually seen it live. Sure, the videos are fun but it couldn’t possibly be the same. So bright and early, we headed downtown to park and walk over to one of them many bridges to catch a peek. I had no goddamn idea shit was going to be that cray! Seriously, it was college town USA and like, early. The only good part of the situation is that everyone was very merry but not obnoxiously so (yet). The bad part of the situation is that the color saturation hadn’t exactly made itself evident enough from our viewpoint and therefore, we saw a little bit of green far off in the distance. Major fail. Our follow-up idea was to hit up Public House for their themed

cake shakes, however, we later realized it was already privatized for some wrist-band drinking event all morning and not open to the public! So we hit up the ‘poor man’s’ Public House ie. JoJo’s Milk Bar. The place was small and unimpressive to say the least. Sharon ordered us a ‘shake’ which was sad. We took a few obligatory sips before headed out. Next stop? Milwaukee! That’s right!

There’s absolutely no musical I love more than Phantom of the Opera. I legit have this shit memorized. On our way up to Milwaukee, I googled us a place to stop and eat nearby before the show. The Internet gods brought us to Ale Aslyum Riverhouse. It’s difficult to explain the complete awe of driving from a crazed downtown Chicago to a completely abandoned downtown Milwaukee. Streets were desolute! We had apparently come to the right place. Upon grabbing a quick lunch and Sharon randomly bumping into an ex-client of hers, we made our way to the Marcus Performing Arts Center. As usual, I had completely forgot what sort of seats I had purchased us but apparently I did well since we ended up in the back row on the end of the aisle. The performance was most enjoyable – although some of the singing was a bit inconsistent and I think we both spent a questionable amount of time wondering what the race of the Phantom was. We stayed long enough to hear by favorite trio part before seamlessly ducking out and venturing over to one last stop before home: Mars Cheese Castle. To say this place is anything other than completely overwhelming would be a lie. We came away with a few bags of curds and not much more due to ambivalence. Next time I’ll do some research.

St. Patrick’s Day! The OFFICIAL! Our festivities for the day mainly included eating and drinking. Oh yes, we also threw in a little Boondock Saints as well and some Pandora Irish playlist to accompany our cooking. Menu included Guinesse drumsticks, spinach puff-pastry shamrocks, mashed cauliflower and corned-beef eggrolls. Don’t forget, topping off our day-drinking of Magners Hard Cider which was doused with a few drops of green food coloring! We completed the meal with alcohol cupcakes purchased the night before at the previously mentioned Mars Cheese Castle. And that’s a wrap!

So guess what? We loved Milwaukee SO much that we decided to visit it AGAIN! But THIS time, we really meant business. First stop? Plato’s Closet. It’s tradition after all. Next stop? A little Milwaukee Burger Company. Ginormous, Deep-fried cheese curd cubes, anyone? Stomach – my apologies but worth it. Where to now? Our most beloved Lost Valley Cider Co. where we met an Irish wolf dog who was HUGE and wonderful! We also got our hands on a peanut butter and jelly cider as well as a Hibiscus cider we enjoyed so much we ordered some to go!

Catching a nice buzz now, we made our way to Swing Park where a bunch of hoodlums roamed and I tried to do fancy moves for photographic integrity. Sharon captured what appears to be a child abduction in progress which is absolutely priceless. Our journey now took us to the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum which, not gonna lie, I didn’t know anything about and frankly, still don’t. But it was pretty and had a cheap Groupon and had a fantastic view! Finalizing our self-guided tour here, we finally headed to our haunted (that’s right), Bed and Breakst: Brumder Mansion.

We were met by innkeeper, Tom who was an absolute joy! Unfortunately, he didn’t give us much intel to go on as far as ghosts were concerned – only to say there were 13 and none sounded menacing (how very disappointing). He also mentioned there being some children that tend to fidget with items left out if you ask them to which Sharon left out a ridiculous amount of things. I’ll save you the suspense – nothing was moved. In any case, we hung out for a little while before heading out for our dinner reservation at the Pasta Tree. This has always been a favorite of mine, however, both service and food was mediocre at best for some reason. We followed up dinner with drinks at a nearby Irish bar by the name of Paddy’s Pub which ended up being one of my favorite parts of our trip! Decor was beautiful and sweet and the employees were homey and gracious.

The pinnacle of this trip was our finalized stop-off at the Oriental Theater to see a viewing of the Room with actor/director/writer, Tommy Wiseau present! The line for this event was literally down the street and around the corner! It took me a second to realize that Tommy was signing autographs and taking pictures BEFORE the actual showing so we jumped ship from our spots in line to meet the man himself who was kind and sweet (and apparently dug my tattoos). After re-joining our original line, we eventually made our way back into the theater and  headed up to the balcony for anti-social viewing. Oh! And I mustn’t forget the spoons. While we had been in line outside, someone was passing out handfuls of plastic spoons which we didn’t take out of confusion – only to research and later discover it was a ‘thing’ that went along with the movie. Our bad. Next time! Show was scheduled to start at 9:30pm. Show started at, I’m going to say 10:45pm after all the delay and opening shenanigans. We were tired as all hell. And made it just about 15 minutes into the movie before calling it a night. Unfortunately, leaving out of the theater, Sharon predicted Tommy might be hanging out in the lobby and of course, lo and behold, there he blew! Goddamnit! So we attempted to casually saunter out only to be met with a very saddened, ‘Where you going? Home?” It actually broke my heart. Poor Tommy. Heading back to the B&B, we both eventually passed out and roused for our adorable breakfast. Parting fairly quickly after our meal, we had a final, triumphant stop off at the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino and endeavored in a little morning Bingo. Again, I’ll save you the suspense – we didn’t win. And I’m sure I demanded vengeance per usual.

Wrapping up the wonderful month of March was our visit to the United Center to see Mumford and Sons! I had purchased tickets for Sharon for her birthday back in February. She had been talking about wanting to see them for as long as I can remember. It was only after I had purchased said tickets that she vocalized her hatred of their latest album. Fortunately, they didn’t play much of it. As a precursor to the show, we stopped

off at Viaggio for some Italian dinner. Twas splendid! We then took a buzzed walk over to the show and awed over the comfort and view of our seats! No one in front of us and at the end of the aisle! Cat Power was the opener who I am familiar with but don’t know much about. I described her as ‘more depressing than Aimee Mann’ which Sharon could barely wrap her head around. Crowd became super anxious as a result but as soon as

Mumford showed up, the energy was electric! I’ve never been the hugest fan of theirs but I will say they put on a damn, fine show! Again, left after a handful of songs but know, I would have stayed til the end. And as we left, drenched in the cold rain whoring our make-up, I knew that this and everything else had all been worth the wait.

Oh Hi, March As any Native Chicagoean can attest, the winter never fails to destroy our souls - at least temporarily so.

[roundtheworldwithtaytay]

If I were to paint a picture it would look like today. Love, contemplation, gorgeous colors, kindness, loneliness... I could have painted it all. It was such a perfect day so I get out of London.... Wimbledon and Mosley to be exact. I hop on a train and then another and I end up in the quaint little town of Wimbledon. Now everything I know about the tournament has always been huge. Martina, Chris, Federer, Murray, Venus, Serena, Macenroe and Bjorg to name a few. I mean, I watched Bjorn and John live in their crazy match back in the day and still do during the rain delays now as it is a favorite of the BBC and tennis lovers everywhere. The thing that struck me about this town is that it was small. Also... for such a huge tournament, the venue is fairly small. According to Keith, who takes only me on a tour of centre court, it will never expand because it is to the maximum height that you can still see the ball. Keith is a delight. He gives me all the information about the court that I have watched so many times growing up. The history is incredible and the thing I find most fascinating is that they hire a hawk for the tournament to keep the pigeons at bay. His name is Rufus and according to Keith, he has his own name badge as well. His wife works in that department so he knows and tells me about the whole process. He is fantastic and since I'm the only one lets me walk around a bit in the restricted areas. I ask all the questions especially, "where does Johnny Mac sit?" He shows me. I see the royal box and Keith quite thoroughly tells me how they set up for filming once he knows that I'm into tech stuff. He is so kind and lets me also spend more than the allotted time, filling it all with stories and knowledge. I had skipped breakfast this morning so I go up and have strawberries and cream with tea and a mint water at the club. It is very appropriate given where I am. I finish up and take it all in one more time. The green is the most absurd green you will see (with the exception of Ireland), the strawberries are bright red and perfect while the sky is so crisp and blue. All the colors of a gorgeous painting. I spot Keith again who comes and instructs me on how to get to Mosley by train. I hop on the Southwest trains and end up in Mosley, U.K. Most known for Hampton Court, home of many royals, but most notedly known as the palace of Henry the VIII. Now I'm obsessed with Henry's reign but more specifically this castle. The history of it is incredible being a Tudor castle and then being built onto in the Victorian and Baroque styles by William the III. I must walk miles while there. My barometer is my poor broken toe, but everything here is sooooo full of history and the gardens are some of the most spectacular gardens I have ever seen. I also go check out the largest grape vine in the world as well as the royal tennis courts. Such a treat because there are two gentlemen playing during my visit. It ends up being a mix of tennis and racquetball based on how they can hit the ball. As I have walked forever I get a bit hungry so stop for a pie and mash in Henry's kitchens. Fully satiated I then go tour Henry the VIII's historical kitchens which are spectacular. I also go peek into Henry's section of the mansion one last time, including the hall that wife, Catherine Howard ran down begging for her life. I do believe in energies and this part of the castle feels a bit congestive and uncomfortable so I leave. I head out through the gardens stopping once again to see the grand building at the gates, before looking for a pint. My toe is killing me so I duck into, The Mute Swan just across the road from Hampton Court Palace for a pint. First they are playing one of my favorite songs of all time, "I Need Your Love So Bad, by Little Willie John. Second I get the most delicious damn beer. Church End Brewery's, Goats Milk Ale. Third... yes there is a third, the most adorable cocker spaniel flutters across the room to nuzzle up to me. I must have died and I can admit when I am wrong, there is in fact a heaven. This is it. I finish my pint but can't possibly leave right now. This. Dog. Needs. Me. & My. Toe. Hurts. The man at the bar recommends a gin and tonic. Now... in the states ordering a gin and tonic is hit or miss. Here it is an art form. As important as the gin (Silent Pool in this case) is the tonic. Their tonics are on another level. So far I have seen a large variety. Just now I also notice that the bartender is upset that the beer I got is now gone. Apparently this is one in demand and in small quantity. I finish up my drink. It has given some relief and go get on the train back to London. It is dinner time/rush hour here. The pubs are rumbling with patrons. I sit down for a small bite and a pint of, "London Pride." It is pretty pedestrian so I follow it with a Guinness. It is really good I'm leaving tomorrow as I cannot keep up with this pace. I don't have a place to sit so Nigel offers me a seat at his table. He starts talking about movies, books, philosophy, politics. I listen. To be honest I"m just hungry and want to eat this bit and go back to the hotel. We talk for a while before another younger gentleman named Michael comes over and interrupts us. After a bit Nigel leaves and I talk to Michael. Somehow we get to talking about the Daily Show for a while (all the while I really just want to go rest my foot). It is fine. One thing I have noticed on this trip both in people as well as myself is that we are all just trying to get by in this world. If the person is good they are just trying to do their best. If they are bad they typically hurt people. So if there is someone (now another guy that I think is named Smith, but looks Swedish) wants to talk, sometimes they just need to be heard. I can do that. For the entirety of this trip I have scanned pubs, the streets and everywhere else. I see a lot of people either lonely or too scared to talk to people. I wonder what their story is. What made them this way. I know on my own journey a lot of the time I'm ok to go it alone and I'm really good at it, but I know I prefer to be in the company of people, especially when they are good. That is why I keep the small circle of people I do. Just as it is easy for me to paint myself as a loner, running from those that pay too much attention to me while doing my own thing, the type of painting that will challenge me is letting those in. So tonight I try. I know the thought in the back of my head is, "what do you want from me?" As my experience has been negative for many years, but I know this is very important to let those in. Like tonight I figure out when Nigel needs to move along, that Michael is very kind and even gives me a contact and invites me to join he and his friends while Smith is very young and while he is flattering I know he will find his way, just probably not right now and not with me. I leave the company of these people feeling better that I took a chance. I didn't run. I am still ok and I had a lovely night out having conversation with locals at the pub. This is the thing I miss most about London and why I keep coming back. Pub culture is a way of life here. I love how all the pubs here fill when work lets out and eventually spill out into the streets. All of them have street ledges because they know this will happen. It is civil. It is proper. It is London. I head home and crawl into bed with my clothes still on. I'm so exhausted and my body is worn. Pain from my toe has worked its way up my foot and into my ankle and heel. So much for starting back doing yoga when I get home. I must be missing Chicago because I put on, "The Fugitive," to watch (different from my regular drag queen banter I usually fall asleep to). I drift off midway through the movie. MJ comes in. I assume she has a fantastic night. I might be sleep walking. I don't remember much but I apparently plug in my phone, crawl back into my fluffy bed and drift off to sleep. See you tomorrow Chicago. London you have been proper and posh as ever.