#I Will Take Responsibility for the Welfare of the Male Lead

[cherchersketch]

Writing my Male Lead’s Happily Ever After / I Will Take Responsibility for the Welfare of the Male Lead

It’s the same artist as  50 Tea Recipes from the Duchess :3

Summary How do all these authors end up isekai-ing into their own novels? Lol That’s what happens to our girl, but she finds out some details in her current life aren’t anything she even wrote about? This villainess suddenly applied to be the caretaker of ML’s (adopted) children?? She tries to screw up the interview until she sees how the kids are getting punished, so of course she has to intervene. Our girl’s the new caretaker now! And of course, to quash rumours of the duchy’s downfall, the ML proposes a ~contract engagement~. This will totally not come back to bite him in the ass at all.

Tropes   - isekai-ed as the villainess   - yo some details ain’t adding up from the original novel (even though she’s the OG author?!??)   - original character and isekai character actually meet   - just throw this whole family away   - cute babies doing cute baby things   - 21st century thinking in a historical setting   - this is a totally FAKE and not at all real RELATIONSHIP   - what do you mean I’ve drastically changed the plot the original FL and ML definitely still belong together

FL - Lady Laria Sherwood

 - it’s fun to write the *~angst~* until you’re the one having to live through it ;w;  - shoulda finished writing your novel, girl.   - conveniently a preschool teacher in her past life. yey  - of course there’s always a depressing backstory. why else would she attempt to write a hurt/comfort novel for ~catharsis~ 🙃

ML - Grand Duke Nocturn Blackwell

 - *real nobles* don’t know what ~proper childcare~  - hereditary ~madness disease~ mmm the backstory angst is *chefs kiss*  - him eyes glow when him ANGRY  - I love it when a guy do the blushublushu ///UwU///  - the guy always falls in love first ;w;  - mans gotta keep them yandere tendencies in check tho

babies - Mikhail Blackwell, Janet Blackwell

 - why is it always the (dead) older brother’s kid(s)  - sweet summer children precious cinnamon roll  - protecc the cinnamon rolls  - manhwa children always be a mix-and-match of the parents’ hair and eye colour

Rating: I enjoyed my time reading this It’s a fun little read Status (as of 23 Feb 2023) Ongoing. Nearly 60 episodes in but there hasn’t been any sign of the OG!FL (yet).

Same Same but Different  - Author of My Own Destiny  - I found a Husband when I picked up the Male Lead  - Daisy - How to become the Duke’s Fiancee

full rec list

[oocontextmanga]

Why the ML always got their tits out

[dannydevitosthiccdog]

I love reading manhua set in medieval fantasy times because the male lead is always a tall dude(often a Duke or Emperor) who for no reason will wear a really nice embroidered shirt with a tit window that would show off chest hair if any artist was brave enough to draw it.

This is Nocturne Blackwell from the Manhua 'I will take responsibility for the welfare of the male lead' and this is how he dresses in front of his 10 year old children.

[annastrxng]

Random question because I'm curious: do you relate to Anna at all? And/or do you have some similarities with her?

Funny enough, I do very highly relate to Anna. We're both females in male dominated worlds. I shocked my family and friends by choosing a degree that is less demure and timid. I worked security with an all male team. When I was working, I operated a significantly important position-- where it was my job to be the eyes and ears for my crew while also being responsible hundreds of peoples welfares. I was sometimes overlooked in my field because I am supposed to be less intimidating than my coworkers. That isn't entirely the case- as I was trained in how to take a few people down if I had to. And I can and will use a voice that'll knock dread in most people when I have to. I can occasionally be stubborn and unwavering.

Unlike Anna, I'm a decent marksmen especially from sizeable distances.

Like Anna, I have been creepily hit on and stalked while at work. I've had to fend for myself in a few really sticky situations.

I share a lot of Anna's personality. I have zero trouble telling people how I really feel about them, what they've done to hurt me, or why I feel the way I do. I'm usually very amicable and soft towards people I trust, but I do have a sharper edge than most. I can be sarcastic when the occasion calls for it. My fuse is just about as long as Anna's is. (I can not say if that is a blessing or a curse)

I've been engaged before, only to realized that the man I had fallen for, wasn't someone I wanted to be with forever. I figured out he was cheating on me with another woman. A woman he later married, much to my relief. I've also strangely dated a few military men and a nerd.

I also know what it's like to not feel safe in one's own home. It's a hideously awful experience and it's a long story. No, my parents aren't abusive. I have been threatened by an asshat who, knows where I live, promised to come find me because he did not appreciate me exposing his lies.

Anna and I both have a quieted adoration for the sciences. Her with her interest in the stars and spying; and me with my absolute obsession with forensics/ forensic technology and spy gadgets. I did have an interest in studying the constellations.

We both love to read. In the years leading up to University, I was an insatiable devourer of books. I read over 300 books in one school year. My teacher realized that I hated books early on because I wasn't being challenged enough or being given the right materials. Once I got my hands on the appropriate materials, I took off and never looked back.

Anna tends to show a liking for the classics. While I do enjoy them, I tend to be more apt to pick up mystery/crime dramas.

Anna and I tend to have crazy friends. Anna has Caleb and I had two besties in middle-school and high school who, thought randomness was AMAZING (and it was). Anna tends to keep her friends for long periods of time. She's kept her inner circle from childhood. I very much mastered doing the same until University when I got too sick to keep up with everyone. I still have my besties 20 years later. That said, I would NOT even consider sleeping with them. Although there was definitely rumor about me and my best guy friend. Apparently, we had "off the charts" chemistry. I never really saw it, but it was enough, that several teachers approached me.

Oh, and like Anna, I would move heaven and earth for my friends. If they asked, I would try to be there for them-- day or night.

Anna, in the series, tends to exhibit a lot of the same nervous tells that I do. She'll curl her fingers into fabric, clench her jaw, or brace herself in a corner if she has too.

We also share an innovative spirit. If you don't have the answers or solution, improvise. Like Anna, I tend to offer as many creative solutions as I can. They aren't always the right call, but you can count on them being abstract and intuitive.

We also care more about people than we really like others to know.

Anna was accused of in Season 1, sharing her father's views and politics. I too share my father's views on the world. I am very much like my father (almost eerily so). It drives my poor mother insane.

Anyways, I'll cut it off before I ramble on too long. I definitely associate a lot with her even if I'm not really that interesting of a character. XDD

[itsrattysworld]

Without Prejudice Mervelee Myers Take Drastic Actions To Protected Children Young People Vulnerable Adults From Predators Latest Is Imanii Zenawi CEO Blac Awards Use Female Male Aliases To Conduct Criminal Activities Online In Person At Events YouTube That Contacted Me Must Act About How I Am Target Of The Systemic Discrimination Of LEYF Abusers Rings Operate HOC Nursery When Contents Removed Malicious Reports Strike Restrictions To Make Me Voiceless Vulnerable On Behalf Of HMCTS CPS CJS MOPAC IOPC JCIO BSB SRA CCMCC CLCC HMPPS DBS Social Media Google LinkedIn Twitter UEL Financial Ombudsman Service Barclays Santander Nationwide Individuals Time I Make Implicit Knowledge Explicit To Safeguard Human 21/9

Without Prejudice Mervelee Myers Must Make Safeguarding The Responsibility Of Everyone In Line With EYFS Welfare Requirements When As The More Experienced Early Years Practitioner Develop The Listening Ethos I Provided The Curriculum As A Coordinator SENCO Multigenerational Working Approach Facilitator At LEYF LSCN Lead Helping To Build Brands To Be Recognised As A Beacon Of Best Inclusive…

[tallmantall]

#JamesDonaldson On #MentalHealth - Why Do So Many #American #Men Die By #Suicide?

Most #American #men who die by #suicide do not have any known history of #mentalhealthproblems. So, what is to blame? KEY TAKEAWAYS - It is commonly thought that greater than 90% of people who die by #suicide had a diagnosable #mentalhealthcondition.  - A new study finds that this is not the case for #American #males. About 60% of #male #suicides were not linked to #mentalhealthissues.  - Instead, #suicide is more driven by sudden impulsiveness in reaction to acute stressful situations. #Men with access to #firearms are most at risk. #American #men kill themselves at much higher rates than #American #women. In 2019, #males accounted for nearly 80% of the 47,511 #suicide deaths in the U.S., and #suicide was the eighth leading cause of death for #males over the age of ten. But counterintuitively, about 60% of #American #males who died by #suicide had no known #mentalhealthissues, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the #CentersforDiseaseControl and UCLA. Rethinking suicide “What’s striking about our study is the conspicuous absence of standard psychiatric markers of suicidality among a large number of #males of all ages who die by #suicide,” Mark Kaplan, a professor of social welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, said in a statement. This sharply counters a commonly cited statistic “that greater than 90% of people who die by #suicide had a diagnosable #mentalhealthcondition,” Kaplan and his colleagues wrote. Instead, they found that #alcohol and #firearms heavily contributed to the deaths of the majority of #men who commit #suicide. Poring over data collected between 2016 and 2018 via the #CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System, the researchers found that #males without known #mentalhealthissues who died by #suicide were between 50% and 90% more likely to use a #firearm and 20% more likely to have tested positive for #alcohol postmortem compared to #males with #mentalhealthissues who committed #suicide. They were also 40% to 50% more likely to have been in a recent argument with a friend or loved one, 30% more likely to have suffered a recent eviction, 60% to 80% more likely to have faced recent legal problems, and 30% to 50% more likely to have relationship problems. #James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleOrder your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife:From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com Impulse control While it’s likely that some of the #males without known #mentalhealthissues were concealing struggles, the study hints at a different explanation for why #males commit #suicide rather than just poor #mentalhealth: #Men are more impulsive than #women. This emotional reactivity, exacerbated by #alcohol intake and coupled with much greater access to #guns (#men are twice as likely than #women to own a #gun), result in far more #males taking their own lives. About 83% of #suicideattempts with #firearms result in death, by far the most “effective” method. Greater investment and focus on #mentalhealth is undeniably needed in the U.S., but to make a dent in the tragic number of #American #male #suicides, reducing firearm access, advocating responsible #alcohol use, lowering poverty, and teaching #males healthy coping methods to deal with acutely stressful situations might save a lot more lives. Read the full article

[fendaira]

[waaanderingluna]

🥀 𝖂𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕸𝖞 𝕸𝖆𝖑𝖊 𝕷𝖊𝖆𝖉'𝖘 𝕳𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖎𝖑𝖞 𝕰𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝕬𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖗

[baeshijima]

ahhhhh miss sophie, do you have manwha recommendations? and where to read them???

I don't want to read it in probably illegal sites cus I'm scared that I might get a virus ;-;

i have.... a lot....

i'll start with sites since theyre easier ;w; personally i use webtoon app, 1stkissmanga.io, and harimanga.com !! the sites are safe compared to a lot of other ones i have encountered, and in my opinion they have more variety in terms of manhwas available ^^ if needed u can use an ad-blocker but i havent really encountered a pop-up but i would recommend it just in case !! webtoon is pretty self explanatory but they dont have as much variety since the stuff is posted directly there !!

for recs, i will start with the ones i love and always go back to on webtoon :D

leveling up my husband to the max

act like you love me!

happily ever afterwards

omniscient reader

my younger brother's friend

the first night with the duke

tricked into becoming the heroine's stepmother

from a knight to a lady

the remarried empress

my irresistible ex

your throne

men of the harem

wished you were dead

sixth sense kiss

there's a mix of genres here, but primarily romance bc thats all i read JGHBKS (tho omniscient reader is action but in my top manhwas ~~)

now onto the super long list of my favs u can find on other sites/the sites i mentioned earlier :DD

the abandoned empress

beware the villainess

survive as the hero's wife

dr elise: the royal lady with the lamp

a villainess is a good match for a tyrant

the reason why raeliana ended up at the duke's mansion (they recently announced an anime adaptation for this and hhhh im so excited ><)

who made me a princess

business proposal (it has a kdrama which a lot of ppl know it for, but personally i prefer the manhwa ;w;)

father, i don't want to get married!

the way to protect the female lead's brother

the villainess reverses the hourglass

inso's law

death is the only ending for the villainess

kill the villainess

a way to protect the lovable you

how to get my husband on my side

i'm stanning the prince

i tamed a tyrant and ran away

a false confession

the princess imprints a traitor

charlotte has five disciples

actually, i am the real one

becoming the villain's family

i became the wife of the male lead

a stepmother's marchen

today, the villainess has fun again

if you touch my brother and you're all dead

the strongest characters in the world are obsessed with me

the villainess is a marrionette

i found a husband when i picked up the male lead

how to hide the emperor's child

princess' doll shop

a tyrant's only perfumer

a symbiotic relationship between a rabbit and a black panther

i became the male lead's mother

i'm only a stepmother, but my daughter is just so cute!

my in-laws are obsessed with me

the bad ending of an otome game

untouchable lady

the lady wants to rest

my husband hides his beauty

the villainess needs a tyrant

limited-time extra

i didn't mean to seduce the male lead

i will take responsibility for the welfare of the male lead

[thegirlwholikesbl]

Sauce: I will take responsibility for the welfare of the male lead

[oocontextmanga]

Mans trying to flirt with her when she hasn’t even recognized the efforts of the ML yet.

[beardedmrbean]

So my point was proven, nunya! Might as well go all out.

Savethefox, who hide their abuse and normalise owning exotic wild animals, manage to manipulate people so well that even when shown several compilations proving abuse and neglect of foxes, fans will blindly defend them.

A shelter that has fishers in the same house as cats (fishers eat cats and can and will eat small foxes), a shelter that not only lied about foxes dying due to having no sensible safety to stop them from digging or climbing over only to get hit by cars or just disappear, but never actually makes the changes to keep them safe.

Savethefox claims to "rescue" foxes, when they actually buy foxes from fur farms (going in the thousands of dollars) therefore financing the industry they claim to hate.

Savethefox doesn't buy female foxes. They refuse to take them in. They don't care about them. Which is curious, considering they happen to be a rescue...but only for male foxes.

They keep foxes alive when it would be more humane and ethical to have them put down due to the tremendous amount of pain they're in because of a cranial malformation.

They keep a fennec fox as an indoor pet and admit to not letting them out because fennecs and foxes don't mix. Also they admitted to their main mascot fox, Finnegan, having been STOLEN.

They also continue to buy foxes despite at the same time begging for donations because they don't have enough money to feed the foxes they already have. These foxes are going to starve because of one lady's selfish desire to own exotic pets and rake in the monetary benefit of treating them like nothing but toys for the internet to see.

Do not support Save the Fox.

To that lovely person who came into my DMs to bother me about this: Ignoring this massive amount of proof of neglect and mistreatment of foxes is to condone their abuse.

Animal abuse isn't a joke. It isn't fun or quirky.

I'm tired of being nice to people who condone animal abuse, nunya. Sick of it.

I'm back and forth on Save A Fox, I see stuff like what you've provided then I go and look around and see only good or neutral things like i was saying to you about the fox subreddit not having anything negative about them.

NatGeo article I found on the place was a puff piece, only thing I really got out of that one is she needs a taller fence.

Charity navigator has no review, scam advisor has they at 96/100 very positive but that financial responsibility or something not animal welfare.

Really at this point with the whole thing where I'm running into brick walls, which is utterly bizarre. Which with one more bit of information leads me to a plausible theory

You ain't getting a 4.9 star review with 261 reviews, statistically impossible unless you flushed all the bad ones and left a few 4 star to try and add legitimacy. Kind of how I feel with the 96/100 from scam advisor too.

Not gonna flat out say they're bad every single place that was critical of them that I could find was a tumblr blog.

That rubs me the wrong way, there is nearly always going to be something out there so this feels like someone is manipulating the numbers to squelch the bad reviews. Not saying it's happening, but it doesn't sit right with me.

Between what you've got here and the other links you've sent my way there does absolutely look to be something shady.

Really hope she's cautious about adopting hers out, but even if she is she does make it look easy and fun and there will be plenty of disreputable people that won't give a single shit about the animal.

Personally can't go totally negative on the place, but there's a lot of blank spots in the information I can find, which is weird for me.

This is where I usually tell people to do their own research and come up with their own conclusions, but I've been dancing around for over an hour now there's not much out there, so still do it and draw your own conclusions but good luck finding much info.

[popanalysis99]

Women abusing men in pop culture: Why is it taken so lightly?

We all know how horrible it is when us women are physically, emotionally and mentally abused by men. But when a man suffers the same with the woman being an abuser, why is it taken lightly and brushed off? 

For many years, domestic violence has mostly focused on women as the victims and men as the perpetrators. If the domestic violence case involves a man as the victim, it goes unnoticed because men refuse to report it otherwise they will be embarrased, ridiculed or mocked for their struggles. 

Men who report domestic abuse will face a social stigma regarding their lack of machismo and other denigrations of their masculinity. And not just that, they end up being accused of abusing the woman they are in relationship with or they are forced to be separated from their kids if they want to leave their abusive wives.

When men are expected to take responsibility for their actions, no excuses are accepted, but when the women are the perpetrators of the abuse, they are given the excuses such as: stress, menopause etc. 

Why can’t men report abuse?

There are many reasons as to why men can’t file a domestic violence case against their abusers which are:

Fear of not being believed

Fear of not being able to see their kids

Fear of being accused for the abuse due to society prejudices

Fear of revenge by the abuser

Fear of the abuser making fake allegations against him in order to look more innocent.

Fear of being left homeless

There are even long lasting effects of the victims of female-on-male abuse which are:

Low self-esteem

Anger

Depression

Anxiety

Loneliness

Sleeping Problems

Substance Abuse

When Domestic Abuse against Men is brushed off in the media.

There have been countless depictions of domestic abuse in the media, with both female and male victims. But when it’s the female victim, it’s a serious matter, but when it’s a male victim, either people laugh at it or treat it as justifiable or treat the female abuser as some sort of a “ feminist girlboss”.

Mostly in Anime when a female character abuses a man, it’s treated as comedy. Most of the scenarios involve them accidentally walking in on them changing or accidentally crashing into their bodies unintentionally and then they get beaten up for it and are falsely accused of being a “pervert”. The anime Baka To Test To Shokanjuu perfectly sums this up when the lead female characters bullies and humiliates the main male characters. Minami and Shouko are the biggest examples when they are shown physically abusing their boyfriends for smallest mistakes they make.

This happens a lot in TV shows as well, mostly in comedies. Like in Two and a Half Men, which sends a toxic message that “men will be men”, it also shows that Judith is a much bigger bastard like them, possibly a sociopath. She divorces Alan out of boredom, then proceeds to financially and mentally abuse him for sadistic pleasure and frames him for being a horrible father to Jake. She hates it whenever Alan shows a bit of independence and goes out of her way to make sure he will be miserable forever. She does it again with her new husband Herb, who is only flaw is being nice to everyone around him and still misuses his trust and uses him as her personal punching bag. Honestly, I wished the show would’ve ended with her ending up alone and homeless for everything she did.

Another example of this was in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Before there was Amy Dunne from Gone Girl, there was Janet. when Will begins dating his friend Jazz’s sister and while they are at a restaurant, she drops her sweet facade to reveal herself as a tyrannical sociopath who controls Will based on what he eats, where will he go to college and what will he do with his life. When he tells Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv, they brush it off. But one day when Carlton tells her off about what a horrible human being she is, she immediately becomes polite and drawn to him. So the message that they showed here is that it’s the guy’s fault if they don’t stand up for themselves, while his controlling girlfriend gets away with irreversibly ruining the lives of almost everyone who didn’t meet her expectations.

A bigger example of female-on-male abuse in dramatic shows was in the series Mr. Robot.

In the series, Angela Moss is the best friend/crush of the protagonist Elliot Alderson. Her only goal in life is to get justice for her mother’s death at the hands of E Corp and become the most powerful woman in the world. While it’s understandable that she is stuck in a male-dominated workplace and how the E Corp CTO and her ex-boyfriend treated her badly, she begins to misuse her victim mentality and ends up getting brainwashed by Whiterose. She then begins to psychologically abuse and gaslight Elliot in order to complete Stage 2 and not just that, she even emotionally abuses him when he finds out and plays the victim in this entire debacle, she sees not listening to Elliot and Darlene when he tries to warn her about the Stage 2 bombings as her personal “feminist” moment. And then weeks after the attack, due to her clinging onto her beliefs about Whiterose’s machine, she begins to blame Elliot for manipulating her into telling him about Whiterose’s plan when she herself was the one doing the same thing to him. While Whiterose’s manipulation was mostly the main reason for this, another part of it was probably because she was jealous of how Elliot was the “chosen one” in taking down E Corp and wanted to punish him for it and take over the mantle.

Most of the fans saw her actions as “sympathetic” and “justifiable”, with some of them calling her treatment of Elliot, who was nothing but kind to her the entire time, a “feminist girlboss move” and overlooked the fact that she psychologically tortured Elliot and reminded him that he was worthless and nobody was going to love him, not even Angela herself. Even if there were some fans who called her out for doing this and pointed out how horrible it was, others would brush their opinions off as “misogynistic” and “sexist” because “they apparently don’t like seeing a powerful corporate woman.”

Angela even kinda represented a privileged white feminist who believed that she was the only one struggling with issues and had bigger problems than anyone else, overlooking the fact that her friends that were on the lower position than her and brushed them off because her issues were more traumatic than theirs.

It even further showed a lot of double standard of Angela and Elliot manipulating someone to do their job. While both actions were horrible, Elliot got a lot of hate and scrutiny for blackmailing Olivia and drugging her coffee with the drugs she tried to stay clean from, calling it as something he “crossed a line in”. But when Angela almost did the same thing with him and drugged him as well, it was treated as “sympathetic” and “heroic” by the fans and treated her as some sort of a “feminist” for it, overlooking the fact that she was abusing a man to the point he almost lost his self esteem. At some point I even saw someone say that Angela did “nothing wrong” at all and didn’t like how Elliot was in season 3, was it because he was trying to stop her from going through with an attack that could kill thousands? Did they expect him to stay silent, not stand up for himself and let Angela stomp him a lot?

Conclusion

Abuse is something which is extremely serious, whether it’s a female or male victim. Like the female victims, men too deserve to have their voices heard and taken seriously if something terrible happens to them and we should believe them. 

Here are the helpine numbers if you or someone you know is facing domestic abuse:

Central Social Welfare Board -Police Helpline - 1091/ 1291, (011) 23317004

SAARTHAK - (011) 26853846/ 26524061

Nirmal Niketan - (011) 27859158

National Domestic Violence Hotline - 1.800.799.SAFE 

National Domestic Abuse Helpline - 0808 2000 247

[pan-era-musings]

Mother and child restitution

Who helps the mother and child?

I am particularly irritated about the current spate of self-righteous anti-abortion laws being passed by GOP lead states.

Not because they are anti–abortion laws but because they fail to address certain concerns that should be vital to the pro-life troops.

First, none of them hold the rapist, family member or sperm donor responsible for the resulting child.

Should not the sperm donor have to pay the medical costs and the costs of raising the child to adulthood?

Isn’t that part of responsible parenthood?  Why do these so-called family friendly legislators fail to make their bills more family friendly by providing for the mother and child?

Leaving the care, feeding and upbringing of an unwanted child to a traumatized rape or incest victim is hardly family friendly.

Equally important, why do these laws assume someone other than the state will be responsible for all costs for the baby?

Why are these legislators not making sure the law demands the father to take financial responsibility for the child he helped create?

Second, particularly when rape, incest and under 18 mothers, why are there no provisions for mental health care?  Surely the traumatic events surrounding rape and incest need professional psychological care for the mother.

Can you imagine how traumatizing it is for a teenage woman to care for a baby and try to go to school.  I know it sometimes happens, but that scenario is hardly the norm.

Why are there no provisions for medical care for a forced pregnancy to term?

Who pays for the pre and post-natal medical costs?  Why are there no specific provisions for the father requiring him to pay for the costs associated with the pregnancy?

Why are there no special provisions for people who want to adopt the child?  Tax break? Cost break?

We give them to businesses, why not adopting parents?

 Lastly, let’s have a look at this little gem.

“It is a shame that it happens, but there’s an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old she is, to make a determination about what she’s going to do to help that life be a productive human being.”

“Rape is a difficult issue, and it emotionally scars the individual … for the rest of their life, just as child abuse does,” Schmidt replied. “But if a baby is created, it is a human life, and, whether that mother ends that or not, the scars will not go away — period.���

-      Ohio state rep. Jean Schmidt

In Rep. Schmidt’s bill are there zero provision s for the care and feeding and nurturing of the baby born to the hypothetical 13-year-old mother.

 If Schmidt and the rest of the anti-abortion crown are so vehement about “saving life”, why are there no provisions in their bills specifically designed to help mother and resulting child?

 In all of these bills there are great pains to protect the zygote, zero pains to protect and help the victim of rape and incest.

 Can someone explain why anti-abortion activists, who profess to be pro-life, offer zero help to the mother and resulting child?

If they are pro-life, shouldn’t that be upmost in their bills and dogma regarding abortion?

 My best estimate is they don’t care one whit about the mother or the child, they just care about making everyone toe their line on abortion.

These anti-abortion activists talk a good game, but they are hardly pro-life.

All of us should be asking why not?

I propose that every anti-abortion bill passed must provide for the health and welfare of the mother and child until both are mentally, physically and financially able to care for themselves.

That means adding specific language to these anti-abortion bills that mandate the father (family if the male is under age) pay the costs… all of them

It’s past time to stop blaming the mother and leaving her to fend for herself.

This is a no brainer. If legislators and the courts can force an unwanted pregnancy to term, they can also hold the man equally responsible.

[haddonfieldproject]

<<PREVIOUS⏺<<CONTENTS>>

1.3.13 SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1st 1:29 PM

Warren County, Illinois

Reverend Taylor snapped off his goggles and threw them down on his work table. He then put down his welding torch beside the goggles and inspected what he had done. Nodding approvingly, he picked the remote control up from the table. An old fashioned box shaped television sat on top of a behomith blue toolbox across the workshop. The Good Reverend, hit the VOLUME UP button and the room was filled with the voice of James Christian, the high profile reporter from Vision World News:

“You are looking live now outside of Haddonfield County General Hospital as we await Governor Kathleen Joyce of Illinois to come to the stage for an official briefing on the crisis situation going on in her state. As soon as she takes the podium we will cut in so we can listen together to what she has to say...”

Reverend Taylor held up his handi-work. Forging the symbol had not been difficult. He had decided that the pair of stainless steel chopsticks that his father had given him as a house-warming gift all those years ago to be the best instrument for the job. Stainless steel chopsticks had been quite the “far out” and novel thing to have in 1973, but he had maybe used them once in all those years. He was a meat and potatoes kind of man, rarely branching out from American cuisine, and when he did, he used a knife and fork like any normal red, white, and blue male. In Rev's mind, these pieces of retro utensil novelty had finally found a reason for existence in his house.

We all have our purpose, he had thought.

His welding torch was strickly that: a welding torch—-the small compact kind that he had bought at Hagan's Hardware Store fifteen years ago. What it was not, was a cutting torch, so heating one of the chopsticks to the point of severing the piece in two had been tedious, but it had been done.

Rev took one half of the now severed piece and flattened one end so it nearly matched the other, as neatly as he could. Then he took the other piece, and heated the center just enough to bend it into a right angle, forming two sides of a triangle. This piece, he then welded to the other, completing the triangle, but leaving about an inch of stick at the top and an inch of stick at the bottom. Like a straight vertical line merged with an arrow pointing to the right. Like this:

He then took the other chopstick and welded one end of this to the center of the long and straight piece to create a handle. This he held now as he padded across to the corner of his workshop and to the potbelly stove which stood there. The stove had belonged to his great grandmother when she had lived in a one-room shamble shack off Harris Road... what was then called Crow Coal Bluff.

Ina Shirlene Taylor sold the house, and her land on the “bluff” to Morgan Strode in 1906, who removed the escarpment from the landscape, scooped all the coal out underneath of it, paved Harris Road, turning it into a “street”, and by 1928, selling all of the land for retail development. The sight of the old Taylor shack was now the sight of a Crazy Chan's Chinese restaurant. The stove was the only relic from that old place, and now it most of the time gathered dust in Revered Taylor's basement workshop.

Rev opened the little door on the stove and stuck his masterpiece into the hot coals, leaving the handle sticking out of the hatch. He then turned toward the television. The Governor was taking the podium. Her expression, which generally always gave the impression of a lack of concern for the welfare of other people was enhanced by the severely short spikes adorning her head.

Reverend Taylor scoffed when he saw her, “But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering, sayeth God in Paul's testimony to the people of Corinth, chapter eleven, verse fifteen”, he thought to himself, pulling his little office chair from his work table toward the center of the room, and grabbing a seat in front of the television.

“Good afternoon.” The Governor began, “Beginning at midnight on Friday morning and ending at roughly eight o'clock this morning, an unfortunate and terrible series of events combined together to create a tragic state of emergency for our friends and loved ones in North-Central Illinois.”

The Reverend smiled to himself. The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil, sayeth Solomon's proverb, he thought.

Governor Joyce continued, “At 12 am on Friday October 31st, an extremely disturbed and dangerous patient by the name of Michael Myers escaped Smith's Grove Psychiatric Hospital during a routine patient transfer. We strongly believe at this time that he may be responsible for several deaths and injuries to persons both in Smiths Grove and Haddonfield. At this time, out of respect for the victims and for the integrity of our investigation we cannot give you the names of any of the victims or even an accurate count of the casualties.”

The Reverend stood up and walked to his work table, grabbing the gray oven mitt he had brought down from upstairs. The prophet Isaiah sayeth, 'I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.'

Rev put on the mitt and walked across the room toward the potbelly stove, listening to the Governor's speech: “In addition, approximatley twenty-four hours after Myers' escape, the brothers' Lloyd and Lee Chumway, two armed and dangerous and wanted individuals out of Biloxi Mississippi entered Warren County and were also responsible for several deaths in the area. Again we cannot turn over any names or any numbers at this time.”

Swinging open the door, Rev pulled what he had fashioned from the stove. The design on the end of the handle burned red hot. He looked at it with a smile and then he looked across the room. His basement was a long rectangular room with the stairs on one end, and the only window on the other. His work bench ran along one of the longer concrete-block walls. On the shortest wall, opposite the wall with the steps leading up into the rest of the house, was where the pot belly stove was, along with the furnace to the house and the large tank of the water heater. On the other long wall, opposite hit massive work table, stood his gun cabinet, his large blue tool chest that held up the television, and a long wooden table.

This table was mostly kept clear, and most often than not was for drying things that Reverend Taylor had freshly painted. The other table was littered with tools, pieces of wood, rolls of tape, markers, papers, and the like. On the wall before it was a peg board, with numerous pegs, on which were mounted various other tools and work utensils. The wall behind the opposite table was clear, like the table most often was, only now, the table was not clear.

The Shape lay upon the table.

Reverend Taylor had fastened a thick metal chain around the hulking body of the man, wrapping it several times around his chest and thighs, threading it through the bottom of the thick oak table, and locking it with a large padlock. The Shape lay on his back, with his blackened face to the ceiling, his feet slack to either side, and his arms by his side. He had not moved or made a sound since Rev had knocked him with the stock of his shotgun. The Shape's left arm lay palm down on the table, the blackened sleeve of whatever remained of his garment was down to his wrist. Reverend Taylor had turned The Shape's right arm however so that the palm was facing up. He had peeled back the sleeve—peel being a good word for it considering that large chunks of the man's burnt flesh had come with the sleeve, giving off a pungent sickly odor in the process. The underside of The Shape's forearm sat bare in the harsh flat glow of the basement's florescent lights.

The Reverend came toward The Shape now, holding his glowing brand before him.

“The mercy of the Lord is liken to a rose, but His vengance is liken to the thorn.” He spoke aloud, and then pressed the red-hot symbol down into the flesh of the forearm.

The Shape's head snapped back and forth, the feet began to move as well. There was a hiss as the steel cooked off a layer of skin, followed by a whiff of the odor of burning flesh. The Shape snapped up his right arm in a flash, knocking Reverend Taylor back. He stumbled against his office chair and crashed into the opposite table. A roll of masking tape and a red Solo cup filled with screws crashed to the floor, along with the brand, which hit the smooth concrete with a large TING!

Reverend Taylor watched, not wanting to move, not wanting to breathe even as The Shape bucked and thrashed in his chains for a few seconds, and then abruptly fell silent and still. The Rev gathered up the misplaced items off the floor and then took a seat in the chair with a long exhale.

It is finished, he thought with a smile. He turned toward the television. The Governor had been replaced at the podium by a face he knew well. Fred Colbourne, Deputy Fire Chief of Warren County. A member of the press in the crowd in front of the podium had raised her hand, Fred pointed to her.

“You say at this time you believe the fire was accidental, do we know how this fire started, how you came to that conclusion?” The woman asked.

Fred responded, “The fire originated from a supply closet near the front of the building. The closet had various flammable tanks inside and we believe that something caused ignition here and led to the explosion. We have not found any inciderary devices such as a bomb or a fuse or what-have-you that would lead us to suspect foul play, that being said, the cause of ignition itself still remains a mystery.”

Reverend Taylor smiled. The Lord works in mysterious ways, he thought.

NEXT>>

[closer-stars]

Silence - Seonghwa

Member: Seonghwa Genre: Comfort, Fluff, mild angst?  Requested: Yes Word count: 3.7k Content: Insecurities when it comes to picking at skin and lips. Seonghwa wants to help you. Food mention. The rest of the boys are touchy as heck. Stress.  Note: This thing is long winded cause a close friend requested this so I wanted to make this something that they can read whenever it hits them especially when their stress is high. Also since this is comfort fic that they requested, I won’t tag for their privacy. The same goes for any comfort fic that might be requested in the future. 

There was something about you today that Seonghwa couldn’t help but notice. He knows how stressed you’ve been lately. Too many things are happening at once in your life, and while you could manage a smile that reaches your eyes whenever someone asks if you were okay, the spark you put in your eyes dims once when they look away. Whenever you look at anything, your focus just isn't there. It was one thing to look at something and focus on it but it was another to look at it and look as if there was nothing. 

This goes on for the next few days as he notices more things. You did say you didn’t mind physical affection and to an extent it was true. The moments where the boys come up to you with a hug, you welcome it, the moments where they lean their head against your shoulder, you welcome it. But when one of them try to reach for your hand, you find ways to slip away from doing so, sometimes opting to fiddle with your phone or with the zipper of your hoodie, just anything to give yourself an excuse to not hold hands with them. 

A part of him wants to think it was because of how your exams were making you stressed and fidgety. He remembers how clammy you can get when you’re overwhelmed with your workload in the past. Yet another part of him counters that claim, even when you aren’t occupied with your responsibilities, you still slip away. You were a sneaky one in his books. For now, he’d support you quietly as you tackle each and every exam that lay ahead of your week. 

On the late night study sessions you pull in living room, he would put a bottle of water by you and some snacks to help keep you alert and awake. After Hongjoong came into his life, he knew better than to argue with someone hardheaded. “Don’t forget to drink water too okay? You’ve been focused on that subject since this afternoon.” He says while his fingers thread through your hair, gently massaging your scalp. 

“I just want to do well, Seonghwa.” You admit with a tired sigh. You lean back into his touch and somehow Seonghwa couldn’t help but think of you as a kitten who found relief with scratches on their head. 

“And you will. Pace yourself okay?” He lets go of your head gently, pressing a quick peck on the top of your head. “I’m going to bed already, get some sleep also after that.” He advises while he stretches his back. 

Your eyes graze at the amount of notes you’ve had spread across the table. “I’ll try.” You say, and even to yourself, it doesn’t sound promising. The stern look he gives you was enough for you to retract your statement. “Okay, okay. I will. Just wake me up when you do please?” Even if the exam is in two days and you’ve already covered a good percentage of the coverage, you just didn’t feel like it’s enough yet. 

A sigh slips through the male’s lips and he nods. He can’t win with two stubborn heads in his life. “Fine. Good night..” Thus leaving you on your own with your notes. 

So you continue to study, until you raise the white flag. You pack your notes in between the textbook, put away the bowl then head to bed. 

The sleep you had feels more like a nap as Seonghwa gently shakes you awake. “Morning.. I made you breakfast.” He whispers, waiting for you to get up. At least you weren’t as difficult as San to wake up in the morning. Those words are enough to get you up from your still sleepy haze. The older male couldn’t help but chuckle softly at your excitement over his cooking, letting you get ready as he prepares your first meal of the day. 

If you weren’t in school, you were with the boys but even then, you were reviewing. Your fingers constantly fidgeting against your own skin as you try to focus. Sometimes one of them would attach themselves to you, a welcomed distraction before more concepts melt your brain. But whenever you find yourself relaxing from their touch, their fingers would always brush upon yours and it always wakes you up, pulling away from them a little more. Even if Seonghwa had to do damage control with Wooyoung and San bickering, he easily notices your discomfort along with Yunho’s pout when you pull away. Before he could say anything, Wooyoung and San were back to bickering about what to play, causing him to turn his attention back to the two. 

It’s clockwork from then on. Seonghwa preparing your meals day in and day out throughout the week. You getting next to no sleep as you prepare for each exam but as the week progresses, your mental state declines. You were starting to get impatient easily, you were berating yourself over the smallest errors, you even shy away from any sort of physical contact even if it was your love language. It was clear that you were on tunnel vision now. The stress was starting to take a toll on you and Seonghwa had to do something about it before you break.

The stress peaks when you are holding your head in your hands. Your nails dig into your skin as you try to keep your composure. Nothing in your notes was making sense anymore. Everything just seemed like jargon. He had your usual bottle of water and snacks in hand when he entered the room and saw your current disposition. He sets them down quietly and slips himself next to you. 

He quietly calms you down: arms around you, hushing you like a parent would to their child when they were crying uncontrollably. You weren’t. You couldn’t get yourself to cry. The only thing in your system were the equations, theories, definitions, and the connections of one topic to another. “I’m here. Hey, talk to me..” He gently urges as he moves himself into your line of vision. You turn your teary face away from his line of sight as you try to regain your composure. Your fingers find themselves threaded through your now messy hair as you try to train your blurry eyes at your notes. Holy fuck why is nothing getting into your brain? 

With a sigh, Seonghwa gently turns you to him, letting you cry against his chest. It’s obvious that you aren’t in the right state to talk so he whispers reassuring promises. “You’ll be okay.” He says softly into your ear as he rubs your back up and down. You were still shaking from the stress and how you were pretty much going through a breakdown. “Can you follow my breathing?” He asks softly as he brushes your hair delicately away from your face. Though you don’t reply, you try to focus your attention on his breathing, a feeble attempt to get your heart to slow down. Your tears and whimpers eventually stop and you still in his arms. “Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight?” His voice never raises in pitch or volume. You nod at his offer. He asks once more if you would rather be carried to bed or stand on your own. You opt for the latter, not that it surprises him. You were a strong one after all. But the strong ones sometimes had their down days. 

He walks you to his bed and almost immediately you plop yourself onto it. He tries to remember how your schedule would go tomorrow. Saturday. Rest day. He sighs in relief. He brings a bottle of water for you when you wake up. For tonight, your solace was in his bed and in his arms. 

You wake up with a pounding headache. The thin sunlight telling you that it was morning. A dry groan as you try to push away the headache as you shift. Your hands feel the material beneath you and it hits you that this isn’t your bed. You look to your side and you're greeted by Seonghwa’s sleeping face. That’s when you remember what went on last night. “Shit.” You mutter, sitting up immediately. “What day is it?” You groan out, disoriented by the sudden rush of blood. 

“Saturday. Your rest day.” Seonghwa returns, his voice raspy from having just woken up. You turn to the male who rubs his eyes awake then reaches for the bottle of water. “Drink. I’ll make us breakfast.” Glad to know it wasn’t only San who seems to go straight to the point when they wake up. You take the bottle and watch him stagger to the kitchen. 

After freshening up, you see that your notes lay untouched. Some of the notes had tear stains, a reminder of what happened. Considering what had went on last night, you figured it was better to keep these out of your sight for the rest of the day. By the time the male calls for you to eat, you’ve put your notes on your table. 

“Eat.” he says almost as an order. It was a hearty meal: rice, egg, meat, oatmeal and fruits. 

“Did you just make an entire course?” 

“Considering how you’ve worked your ass off the past few days leading to exam week. I have to step it up for you.” Seonghwa says as he slides onto his seat across yours, digging into his own meal. You look at your share in guilt but you start to eat as thanks. “You know..” He starts as his eyes stay on his meal. “Working hard is one thing but working yourself senseless is another thing.” He continues. “Getting good grades is important, sure but at the price of your own health?” His frustration was built from concern for your welfare and your recent habits.  “Maybe that exam is important sure but really... Your health is more important.” He goes on.

No wonder his members found him scary when he was angry. He means well but you can’t help but be focused on your academics. That’s the environment you grew up in, unlearning that mentality was going to be hard. “I’m sorry.” You say softly as you eat quietly. You looked like a sad kitten that just got into a fight with their sibling. 

He sighs. “Don’t be. I know how hard headed and driven you are. It’s like juggling two Hongjoongs.” It was a joke just to make you smile even a bit. “I’m just really worried for you.” 

“If it helps, I kept my notes for the day.” 

“Thank god.” 

That makes you laugh. Feeling light for the first time in a while, you finish the food in a better disposition. The rest of the day goes by quietly and for the first time in a while, you find yourself completely relaxed. Seonghwa notices this before you do. Your fingers weren’t fidgety and you just look like you were at peace with your surroundings. He smiles to himself and slides next to you. 

“Wanna play Overcooked?”

The following week goes by almost like a breeze. While you reviewed, you’d talk about it to Seonghwa to test yourself. Even if he didn’t understand any of these concepts you speak of, if it helps you then so be it. He asks you questions on certain topics, making sure you’ve covered everything. It does help you. Sure there were some topics that were tricky but you managed to get through the tests with a little more confidence than before. You had to thank Seonghwa after your exams. By the time you were done with your final exam, you felt a little dazed. A huge weight was off your shoulders and quite frankly, you couldn’t believe it. In your dazed state, you don’t realize your fingers against your lips, unconsciously playing with the skin. It was only when you tasted the iron on your lips that you realize the extent. So you suck on your lip, as you walk home. 

On the way home, you couldn’t help but stop by a few shops to buy some snacks for yourself and Seonghwa. In one shop, you find yourself with front row seats to a couple’s PDA. On normal days, this wouldn’t have affected you but considering how you are now and your nervous ticks have affected you, it hits you harder than usual. You tear your eyes away from them, opting to look at your phone, thinking if there was anything else you think Seonghwa would like. It was a good distraction but it still lingers in your mind. 

“I’m home.” You say as you put the snacks you bought on the counter. Seonghwa manages to welcome you with a proud smile. “Bought you some snacks too.” You add, gesturing to his strawberry milk tea among other things. While he was happy with your purchases, he catches the exhaustion in your eyes. 

“You look like you need rest..” He takes the food you bought for him and also ushers you gently to the living room. He has you sit down on the couch, before he does as well. The way you just drop yourself onto the couch, your eyes trained up on the ceiling as your body practically melts onto the material has the male sighing. 

“What?”

His eyes are trained at you. His gaze heavy with emotions that he had to keep at the back burner for your sake. “You know, I’ve been worried about you since you’ve been preparing for your exams.” He explains and you already know where this was going. Already defensive, you keep your hands in your pockets as you continue to keep your eyes up. The corner of your bottom lip is caught in between your teeth and it makes your dear friend tread carefully. “The boys asked me the other day,” he says slowly. “If you didn’t like holding hands with people.. I meant like, is it something you really don’t like to do with just us or really anyone..?” God why is it now that his speaking skills were going down the drain?

You had to admit, hearing him flounder for the right words was a little endearing. How were you going to tell him though that your evasion to holding hands was due to insecurities? The insecurities only rising when someone’s hand brushes against yours, when someone’s eyes flit to your bitten lips, when you see couples on the streets express their love to each other. Quite frankly, you found it so shallow and stupid to be this conscious but you couldn’t help it. The amount of times you wonder how it would be to be with someone, that question leads you to the imagery of being physically affectionate with them too. 

“I just don’t like the idea of having anyone hold my hands that have been roughened by stress, I guess.” Even to you, you didn’t sound that convincing. You look at your hand, lit by the lamp near you. You could see the picked skin: some healing, some freshly picked at. They feel rough and downright uncomfortable. With the boys, they were already mere friends but they want to hold your hand, what more with a potential lover? 

“What do you mean?” Seonghwa never really expected this type of answer from you. His eyes drift from your tired features to the digits that are up against the light. 

“Don’t you think it’s gross, Seonghwa? The idea of holding someone’s hand that’s been picked at from stress or unconsciously? Cause I’m looking at my hands right now and I can even feel the unevenness from my lips too and even I don’t want anyone touching these.” You admit with a dry laugh. 

It hurts him to know you see yourself like such. The way he sees you was far from it. He admired everything about you. Especially how you’re able to create things with your hands. How deft and agile you can be with your hands to get things done. How your lips were always expressive of your emotions. He realized how seeing your lips curve into a smile or how they let you laugh without a care in the world was his favorite. While others do say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, he wanted you to change that mindset one way or another. The boys saw you in an amazing light and for you to not see yourself as such, it sucks. 

“Look at me..” Seonghwa says after a moment. You do, you drop your hand and you had a hard time reading his expression. “Do you trust me?” He asks.

“Seonghwa, if you’re going to give me some sort of gag gift from Wooyoung I swear--”

“I’m being serious, do you trust me?” 

They weren’t joking when they say Seonghwa’s scary so you nod. “Yeah, I trust you.” You answer. So he pats the space in between you and him, gesturing for you to come closer. So you do. Your knees touching his from how close the two of you were sitting. He takes a deep breath, his heart racing but there weren’t any thoughts in his head except to reassure you. To reassure you that these perceived flaws will not be a big deal to the ones that love you unconditionally. His hands reach up to your cheeks, thumbs running gently against your cheeks. He brings his lips to gently graze against your forehead, to your cheeks, for a split moment you thought you would feel his lips against yours by how close he was to you but he presses a final kiss on your chin. He respects you so much to go past the boundaries of your friendship so he settles to end the kisses with one on your chin. 

“We don’t mind your imperfections. I’m sure as hell that I don’t. Holding hands, to the boys and to me, is a way we show our appreciation.” His hands drop to his lap. “While yes, hugs, snuggles, nuzzling against you do express those. Have you ever understood why holding hands have been a little different?” 

You shake your head. You always thought that such action would be for couples, always opting to link arms instead with your peers. His hands are then facing up, asking for your hands in his. You hesitate but slowly, you let your guard down, you let your hand rest on top of his. “Holding hands..” He trails off slowly as his hand slowly slips into yours. He doesn’t let your hands come into your line of sight.  The insecurity of seeing how your hand looks was already understood in the first mention. “Is intimate. A soft way of saying, ‘I care about you. I don’t want to lose you. I want you by my side. Be with me in this situation.’  A reassurance. A sign of support. A sign of hope.” As he lists these various reasons, his hand would eventually shift around your hand, holding your hand in his in different ways. In one moment, his hand held yours tenderly, then his fingers interlaced with yours, then he’s linking his pinky with yours. He goes on to give your hand a gentle squeeze. 

“If you’re worried about how someone will think of kissing these lips of yours.” he adds, making you look at him with a gentle nudge of his free hand. “You really shouldn’t worry about it.” He explains with a light chuckle. “The first kiss is rarely an ideal kiss.” Well, he had a point. “The succeeding kisses? They’re still an act of love. Though more intimate, I should say as compared to holding hands.” His eyes flit to your lips for a moment. He does understand your insecurities. He’s been there too; could barely look at his own face on any reflective surface. He didn’t see himself as someone visually appealing. It takes time and he knows that. “Will you let me help you? Help you through these habits and insecurities?” he asks, pulling back from you but still not letting go of your hand. You look at him, feeling oddly naked and vulnerable under his gaze but you nod. A glimmer of his usual bright self peeks through afterwards. 

Without being able to see your hand in his, you bore your watery eyes onto the folds of his shirt. You couldn’t get yourself to look at his eyes, at his face, right now you felt so vulnerable, so naked and only because he had pressed kisses and held your hand. You didn’t see how he smiles warmly at you. 

The next few days were calmer. Your skin is still healing from the picking you’ve done before that talk. It was the days after that proved to be a challenge. You were so focused with your readings that you don’t realize your fingers moving against your skin, trying to remove the uneven bumps that form as it heals. Seonghwa notices though so he brings a book with him and sits next to you. He even brought you a bottle of water with your favorite cake. The movement causes you to stutter in your mindless movement, bringing you momentarily out of your focus. Your eyes sparkle at the snack near you but you manage to focus on your work again with no problem. Seonghwa continues to look as if he was reading, thoroughly interested in what Thomas More thought of what a Utopian society could be. Without missing a beat, his hand slips into the hand that picks and fidgets. He pretends to not notice you looking at him with pink cheeks as he continues to read, pretending as if the book piqued his interest. His fingers intertwined with yours stops you from picking your skin and you reach for the bottle of water that he had already uncapped. It was only then that you realized how much you needed water. The beverage provides cool relief to your body and your lips. 

You don’t notice how your lips have healed from the water he reminds you to drink, from the lip balms he suggests you try, but he does. He sees the improvement, one step at a time. 

As thanks, you squeeze his hand gently. A silent thank you. 

He squeezes your hand in return. A silent reassurance and a silent declaration of his love for you.