#I got that teardrop tutorial and followed it

[thefreelanceangel]

what, I wonder, is worse to be the only living thing alone on a dead planet

or to be as I exist half-dead, yet breathing alone avoided by all warmth and life

[hueningkoi]

So we wanted to have a group paint day and follow a tutorial on YouTube and my neice picked a rainbow unicorn one and I was like why does it look so sad... I'm gonna paint a teardrop on it! And then I was like it needs a word or something so i used a random word generator and look what the first word i got was 😂 lol look at my masterpiece lolol

[icancdramahanfu]

An idiot’s guide to making cdrama period dress - the Wen Ke Xing edition.

Like many people, I was sucked into the cdrama Word of Honor and it has consumed more of my life than I’d like to admit.  I’m always big into making character outfits under the pretense of a great Halloween costume, but really, I should come clean that I just like to do some cosplay/historical dress/fun outfits.  Thank you pandemic lockdown and lack of traveling; I really got into historical dress youtubers and it shows in my new interest in natural fibers and vintage patterns.

My goal is the make a full replica of the following outfit from the show. 

I chose this one for several reasons.

i.) this is one of the simpler outfits that WKX wears.  The outer green jacket has a fairly straight cut in front and has unstructured shoulders. ii.) the blue and red layers and both following a ‘long shirt’ pattern, and again are simple in structure. iii.) the belt is also a large band with a red cord as the major accent. iv.) color scheme; I personally prefer his blue/green/purple outfits and I like the pop of red he frequently wears as a part of layer 2, a reference to his role as the ghost valley master. With this in mind, I did some research using ye olde interwebs. I tried to find resources, but they are rather limited in English.  I can find tons of images for patterns in Chinese with an image search, but what I want is a step by step guide for how to sew it together and to know what parts can be modified and what parts have to be kept constant.

There is a website with resources based in Toronto, but I suspect this was written by an engineer based on how text heavy it is and the use of a CAD program. https://torguqin.wordpress.com/hanfu/hanfu-tutorial-list/ I’ve read it several times over and as someone with sewing experience, I would have preferred more pictures.  Maybe this makes more sense to other readers, but I felt pretty meh about it.

I turned to finding a more traditional pattern making guide and purchased this book;  Hanfu Pattern Making by TT Duong.  It is available as an ebook on Amazon with both metric and English units.

I chose the English units version as I’m currently in the States.  Sure, I could have gotten the metric one - I use metric for my job and lived in Canada for 5 years for work meaning I only do temperatures in Celsius but but but. . . . I bought my sewing machine in the States and the seam allowance markers are all in inches.  American scientist problems, am I right?

The Hanfu Pattern Making book is fairly easy to understand; the major concepts for making a wide variety of garments and highlights the mix and match abilities of them as well.  This was how I determined that the red and blue layers of WKX’s outfit are following the long shirt pattern shown here.  I think this corresponds to the Zhiju/直裾 - straight-hem robe as described by @ziseviolet​

Most importantly, the book helps you estimate the total yardage of fabric you will need and instructs how to lay the pattern down on the fabric and how to cut it out according to the grain line and selvedge.  This is critical for getting the correct draping effect with the fabric and will it allow to fit and flow better when you are wearing it. With the wider teardrop shaped sleeves, I decided on an extra yard of fabric.  I’m still not sure if this will be enough - I may need to make it a little less curved and not quite as wide but I’ll update as necessary.

This requires you to draft your pattern ‘from scratch’ and I can already state that a mock-up will be essential.  The guide also has estimates e.g. a curve of 4-6″ at the base so make sure you are consistent with your choices.  I am going to give a suggested order of events on how to most efficiently establish your workflow.

Fabric selection:

Although a bit counter-intuitive, I chose to purchase my fabric first.  After over thirty minutes of searching for good fabric matches from domestic suppliers ranging from Mood to JoAnn’s to my aunt’s sister’s shop, I realized it would be easier to [gasp] order fabric directly from China even with a variable shipping time.  Plus, I could find patterns that are much closer matches to the original than anything here in the States.

I picked a bamboo fabric for the coat in a baby green color ordering 4m which is ~4 yards.

The fabric was in stock and shipped out fairly quickly and cleared customs without issue arriving 20 days faster than expected.

For the blue layer ( Zhiju/直裾 - straight-hem robe?) I went with this fabric with a leaf pattern.  I choose it as a color match, not as a pattern match since I couldn’t find any fabrics in dusty blue with blades of grass. I also ordered 4m, again ~4 yards.

Unfortunately, this was still in production when I ordered it and I’m currently waiting for it to ship out.  The seller has updated me on the status and I’m hoping it ships out soon. Update - my blue fabric arrived safely in the States, 1 day after the original predicted delivery date.  Nice!  I would highly recommend this fabric seller; excellent customer service.

The red layer ( Zhiju/直裾 - straight-hem robe?) I decided to save some money and purchase a cotton fabric locally at JoAnn’s.  I wanted cotton since it breathes and something that looked close-ish but under $10/yard.  I chose this cotton calico, which normally would be used for quilting, but the calicos have abstract patterns that mimic the patterns woven into silk. I bought 4 yards.

Update - I had to buy another 1.5 yards b/c I couldn’t quite fit my pieces; the fabric isn’t very wide and my sleeves were going to end up too short.  Double check the width of your fabric.  Unlike the imported fabrics this fabric was pretty short for width compared to other fabrics.

I may change my mind in the future and upgrade it also to silk but for right now I’m curious to see if it works out fine as it is only the second layer. For the white Zhong Yi/中衣 (middle clothes) first layer, I just got basic cotton twill, and purchased 3 yards.  I’m not including a picture b/c it is just basic white cotton.

Lastly, I bought 4 yards of white cotton muslin at $6/yard to make a mock-up.  Also no fun picture of crappy fabric for you.

Make sure to wash and iron all of your fabric before using! I washed the cotton on cold with an unscented detergent air-dried it and then ironed out major wrinkles.

Drafting the pattern:

Following the directions in Hanfu Pattern Making, I took a bunch of measurements of myself.  This would likely be slightly more accurate if someone else did this for me, but I live alone and my cat isn’t capable of assisting me.  The fact that the book tells you exactly what to measure and then how to apply it, is vastly easier than the link above (sorry likely Canadian engineer).

The measurements allow you to plug and play to generate your draft pattern. This was my first sketch, which is rough and not drawn to scale.

On the left you can see the measurement for various parts.  Above was my first attempt for layer 2. For the flare at the base, I chose 4″ and followed the suggested 3/4″ curve.

back armpit measurement is equal to: 1/4 bust + 5/8″

my bust is 32″, so 1/4 is 8″ and I add 5/8″ to that = 8 and 5/8″ waist is equal to: 1/2 waist + 2″

my waist is 27.5″, so 13.75″ (13 and 3/4″) + 2″ = 15.75″ (15 and 3/4″)

Therefore, once you are done calculating the various measurements you can add them onto a rough sketch of the shape of the pattern. I choose to start with what the book refers to as layer 2 for my initial measurements.  This is because I wanted to do the mock-up to correspond to the red second layer.  I don’t think it matters which layer you decide to start from since you will either be adding or subtracting from a layer to change to the one above or below it.

With my Hokkaido cat notebook in hand, filled with my notes and numbers, I drafted the pattern.  For drafting paper, I went to Target and bought gift wrapping paper as it has a grid pattern on the backside.  This pattern is massive, even with my kitchen table, I still couldn’t fit all of it on my cardboard cutting guide!  You can’t clearly see the grid on the ‘wrong’ side of the wrapping paper, but it is there. Since the wrapping paper wanted to curl, books were used on the corners and I didn’t need that many extra tools.

For drafting, I used a 2B pencil, the 2″ wide by 18″ long ruler with holes in the middle (from JoAnn’s) and the 12″ curve ruler.  I also had a measuring tape to roughly mark of distance.  I went over the pencil with a ballpoint pen once I decided on the lines and shape. The curve of the neckline was the hardest part.  I made an X in the corner of the neck line and an X at the waistline point.  I then connected this with a straight line and at the halfway point took the line in by 1/2″ (towards the side of the body).  The suggestion of the book is 3/4″, but I decided to be a little more conservative.  I then gently made the slight curve by hand so that the most curved point was by 1/2″. The armpit/shoulder is the next most difficult part.  My sketch above isn’t quite correct, the 6″ should be doubled, 6″ for the front and 6″ for the back based on my measurements.  You need to make sure that the armpit curves are in line with each other!  I had the back one off and I had to erase it and redraw it.

I started with the initial curve of a 1″ armpit as suggested in the book.  It says the curve can between 1/2″-2″.  Note that the book is designed for a very small size range, from about 5′ to 5′5″ (152.4-165 cm) and I am 5′3″ (160 cm). To make the curve, I used the curved ruler to trace a nice smooth line.  Just make sure you use the same part of the ruler e.g. 1″ to 3″ or 9″ to 12″ etc.  I went with the curve that looked the best.

This pattern doesn’t include seam allowance - you will have to add that on when cutting.  To be most accurate, trace the pattern onto your fabric.  I like to use the removable fabric markers like these:

You can then use the other color to mark out dots along the fabric for seam allowance, like 5/8″.  If you can’t use fabric markers there are also removable mechanical pencils that come in yellow, magenta or you can be old school and use chalk. I transferred the pattern to the cheap cotton muslin fabric and cut it out.  There aren’t many seams to sew and I ignored the sleeves since I wanted to determine if the pattern fit me well.  I placed the right sides together and first sewn together the back seam.  After that I did the armpit/side seams, leaving the armpit unfinished on the end and check the fit.  Already you can see that the neckline isn’t laying flat and the armpits are super tight.

I just grabbed a long scarf to tie it down and adjust the fit at the waist.

Leaning forward you can see the neckline is even more of a mess and the armpits are far to tight even though I am wearing a fitted t-shirt underneath (as this is layer two).

I went back to the drawing board to adjust the pattern.  I kept my original pattern and added more paper to the armpit and neckline area to draft a new pattern and cut it out instead of a completely new draft since the waist down was totally fine, falling around my ankles.

This time I made a 2″ curve for the armpit, added more length to the armpit as well and only sewed the top with some scrap blue fabric.  As you can see here, it was a more optimal armpit fit.

I also shifted the neckline curve to reduce it to 1/4″ instead of the 1/2″ from the first mock up.  This was an excellent decision as it fit in the chest area much better. This is my sketch to reshape the neckline.

This is how it looked on me.  Excellent!

The neck still looks wide because I haven’t added the neck placket but the fabric lays much more naturally. My conclusion to date is that if you don’t have a very large bust size, err on the side of making the neckline less curved. 

What I also concluded from this mock up is that my measurements for layer 2 are more likely my layer 1 measurements since they were quite form fitting on top.

The next step (backwards compared to the suggested order in the book) was to add sleeves.  I guessed what shape would work best and my first draft was terrible as shown here.

The bottom was too square and I was trying to figure it out based on this scene from the drama.  I chose this model for the sleeve since you can tell that the white layer in WKX’s outfits has a relatively wide sleeve.

The only part that I used the pattern for reference was how to attach it to the armpit at the shoulder.  The overall sleeve shape was just what I thought looked nice.  Keep in mind that the shoulder seam sits fairly low on the shoulder compared to a modern garment. The seam line is a few inches down from the shoulder and you can see that the garment will naturally pucker in front of the armpit.  In his several days of drunken sulking, you can see the seam line is even with the back of the chair.

The weight of the sleeve itself helps to hold the shoulder structure and it doesn’t pop up as you see on my second mock-up with the blue fabric.

I drastically reduced the size of the sleeve curve and made a pattern based on something that seemed alright.  With all of this mock-up work done, I decided to turn to making the first layer, the Zhong Yi/中衣 which I have summarized as a separate post.

[crispycrimebrulee]

🎄25 Days of HXH: Day 11: Hisoka x Festive🎄

You would think, knowing Hisoka all this time, looking through his closet, inspecting his day-to-day outfit, studying his personality and all its nuances, that you would have figured out what types of things he likes to wear. In his closet was nothing but designer heels and crop tops, mixed in with fancy turtlenecks and couture brands and cuts and patterns, equal to that of a VOGUE Model’s closet. Bright colors, expensive fabric, you’d think the answer would jump out at you, but no. Here you were, sitting around, unsure of what to get him. Hisoka always made sure to look the part of the season too, at least once during all the festivities. Although those outfits were rare, he made sure they had their debut, retiring them for a year before pulling them out again. Winter Wonderland by Eurythmics 

Taglist: @to-move-on-means-to-grow , @lifescreams27, @twistedsmth​, @dukinaxael​, @weeb-chick-181920 @errorpeachy​ @my-child-gaara​ @absolute-flaming-trash​ @yep-seeyalaterbranflakes​ @demon-hugger​ @whistlingastronaut​​​

Getting up, you walked over to his section in your closet and ran your fingers over his clothes, admiring the expensive fabrics as they passed between your fingertips. You couldn’t get him something overly expensive, seeing as that would make your bank account cry. Besides, picking out an item from a couture brand was never a good idea in terms of Hisoka, his tastes were peculiar but particular, being very picky about the pieces he owns. Moving your hand over to his jester get ups, you could see the small patching and different stitchings in them, suggesting the tears and rips had been sewn up by him or a tailor, but covered up nonetheless. It was almost unnoticeable if you weren’t close enough, but the outfits were somewhat tattered and well worn. Few things he had a love for, but his outfits were clearly one of them. You flipped through them, a sense of confusion slowly crawling into your mind. He had one in black and gold for New Years, one with hearts on it for Valentines Day, and every holiday up until Halloween, but the festive outfits stopped there. He had no Christmas outfit. The gaudiest possible outfit he could probably put together, and he didn’t have one at all. You’d been with him for quite some time, at least two Christmas’ together, but the most he’s ever had in terms of outfit was a Christmas hat, or the star and teardrop he adorned would be red and green.

Pulling one of his outfits from the closet, you set it on the bed before you, taking note of the fraying threads and patterns, thinking of perhaps fixing his outfits for him. Fixing them would be a gesture in itself, but not necessarily a gift. It was more like a thought of courtesy, or a simple act of love you could’ve done any other day of the year. You also knew getting him a gift from his favorite brands would also be a bit of moot point. 

On thoughts of earlier, it’s much easier to get a gift shrouded in a show of money, or shrouded in the capability to spend said money than find an appropriate gift that is an act of heart and thoughtfulness, because you realize the person you’re trying to gift has so many qualities and wonders that you’re trying to convey with the gift, that again, buying something generic, or something they asked for, or even a gift card was easier to produce. On another note, it’s quite difficult to impress Hisoka, furthermore difficult still to catch his attention with something. He’d said so himself in terms of your relationship; he was impressed by everything you are, and he’d admitted to you that you had most of his attention, being absolutely captivated by you. What could you give him that would captivate him, have all of his attention yet be a direct gift of heart, a gift full of meaning, conveying all that he meant to you. 

Running your fingers over the fabric inattentively as you let the gears turn, trying to figure out what would be suitable, you nearly jumped out of your skin to feel Hisoka’s breath tickle your ear. He always did have a knack for sneaking up on you when he wanted to.

“Somebody's brooding, I’d love to know what about~” Hisoka implored, using a lovely manicured nail to turn your face towards his own, his eyes boring into yours.

You pouted, seeing as you almost hurt yourself from being startled. You huffed in response to him, which earned you a giggle from the jester.

“Seems like I scared sweet y/n, eh?” commenting on your pout as he ran his fingers over your lips, his stare passing between them and your eyes.

Rolling your eyes you pulled away from him and picked up his outfit, making your way to put it back to the closet, but not before he pulled you back gently, quietly clicking his tongue.

“I don’t even get a hello, y/n?,” he began, poking your cheek and then poking your nose, “you clearly missed me, seeing as you’re fiddling with my clothes, dear~”

You scrunch your nose, and swat at his hands.

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t” choosing to indulge his ego just a bit with your response.

Clearly it had as he pressed you closer to him, allowing his lips to hover over yours, making your chest tingle with anticipation, unable to deny that his kisses always held some sort of power over you. You grew antsy with him being this close to you, getting quickly fed up with his teasing. He took note of this, chuckling and closing the gap, allowing you to taste strawberry chapstick and bubblegum, soft and sweet, contrary to the actual person in question. 

He pulled away, humming at your pleased expression, poking your nose again as he let you go.

“I suppose you’ll tell me what you were brooding about now?” he queried again, cocking his head slightly as he watched you put his outfit away.

“No”, you answered, walking back to him and briefly peeking at banding on the clothing on his waist before passing him, “I won’t. It’s a secret.”

“A secret? Oh dear y/n secrets are hard to keep from me!” gushed Hisoka, clearly excited at the revelation of a secret. 

In truth, it was indeed difficult to keep secrets from him, intentional or not. He always had a way of knowing things and finding out secrets. You knew he was going to do everything in his power to figure out what this secret was, and you knew your plan was now that much harder. 

“Try not to get your nose too deep in my business, Hisoka” you muttered, moving towards him to check him for injuries, something that’d become customary in the relationship. Stopping at some blood on the back of his shirt you looked at him, ready to start patching him up.

“There’s blood on your shirt…” tugging at his shirt as you spoke, worry filling your voice.

“Not mine, dollface~” beaming at you in response.

Of course it wasn’t. 

Later the next day on your way home for work, you stopped at a fabric store and wandered the aisles, looking for the brightest red fabric available. You’d already taken the measurements from Hisoka’s clothes in the morning when you’d left for work, writing them down, careful to keep them hidden just in case he was lurking around. Picking out a red fabric, you moved and picked out a white one, and then white feather strip with bits of sparkly tinsel in them, planning on making a classic outfit. As a last minute decision, you picked up a red and white ribbon, remembering the banding around Hisoka’s waist. You had an only sewing machine at home, and you were prepared to sit down and watch a lot of tutorials so you could make your gift perfect.

Eventually arriving home, you were relieved to find Hisoka out of the house, knowing he wouldn’t be back until late. You got to work, following countless youtube instructions and tutorials, nicking your fingers ever so often with sewing in the minute details of your handiwork. Bits of feathers and tinsel would fall around you, as well as bits of red and white fabric in small strips, leaving the area around you look like an arts and crafts nightmare. You’d spent hours, but you finished, of course with some loose ends to cut and bits of this and that to sew in and overall perfect your work. It was one of Hisoka’s classic outfits but in a much more festive fashion. A red base fabric with white hearts and feather strip hem, tailored pants that tighten at the ankle to match, and a homemade Christmas hat to top it off. For under the shirt, his classic banding was red and white ribbons, adding a gentle sheen to the matte fabrics. Your hands were sore, and your thoughts sluggish. It was well into the night, and you had yet to clean up the mess you’d made. 

Although it took some time, you’d made the living room spotless, you showered, tucked Hisoka’s new outfit away in a box and tucked it under the bed and crawled under the covers and dozed off almost immediately, content with the gift you’d created. 

Rummaging around with the occasional thud was what woke you slightly, not enough to promptly spring into action, but enough for your drowsiness to be mixed with weariness. Propping up on an elbow, you squinted into the dark only to be met by the telltale silhouette of Hisoka approaching you and you let yourself flop back down on the bed as he crawled in next to you, pressing kisses into your shoulders, quietly talking your ear off, seemingly also drowsy.

Once again awoken by slight morning noises you groaned and rolled over, trying to see just what Hisoka was up to this time. Although your vision was clouded by sleep, your heart sank, rose and began beating out of your chest all at once upon realizing what you were looking at. Hisoka had the box you’d hidden, open on the bed staring in pure shock at the gift you’d prepared, an expression you rarely got to see.

“Hisoka...nooooo��.” groaning as you sat up and crawled towards him, reaching for the box.

He moved his hands and the box away from your grasp, causing you to whimper.

“Y/n...do tell me, what’s this?” glancing at you as he whispered, clearly in awe.

“It was supposed...to be a surprise,” you started, your heart sinking again, feeling absolutely defeated, “it wasn’t finished yet…”

Hisoka seemed to connect the dots in that moment, remembering you in his clothes and talking of secrets and he gasped as he pulled it completely out of the box. You curled up as he inspected it, quietly giggling as he held the matching hat, trying it on, finding it to be a snug fit. He was clearly in a state of pure genuine joy, a most precious smile on his face as he played with the ball on the end of the hat and squeezing the fuzzy fabric. 

“It wasn’t good yet…” you whimpered, upset that he’d found out early, and he stopped, looking at you as he took note of your voice.

“Oh hush y/n..,” his voice full of veneration, “this is perfect, love..”

You glanced up at him, and you could tell he meant it, that look of astonishment, he was fully impressed, his attention was well caught.

“I still have to fix some of the stitching…”

“When? I’d love to wear this soon!” he exclaimed, turning the shirt this way and that.

“Well-” 

“OH y/n you shouldn’t have” Hisoka gasped, picking up the shiny ribbon bandage you pieced together, running it through his fingers, his eyes ablaze as he inspected it.

“Well I could fix it now, I suppose,” you sighed, getting up and getting the sewing kit you put together. Coming back, you sat down and essentially put the final touches on the outfit, cutting the frays and rough bits of extra fabric, and watched him try on the outfit, seeing Hisoka grinning from ear to ear, looking festive as ever. It was gaudy, in a sense, but perfect for him in his own way. You could only sigh happily, seeing him this way.

Hisoka materialized in front of you, catching you off guard and making you yelp as he planted kisses across your face, taking you out of your disgruntled mood, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“I’ll have to ask you for clothes more often, y/n,” he said in the middle of pressing kisses into your neck, “this fits wonderfully~”

You nodded as you let Hisoka drown you in early morning affection. In a cheesy sense, you could say Christmas came early for Hisoka, but one should leave cheesy endings for another day. 

[pitrsattabhaadmeinjaa]

How had you do the daisy stitch on that shirt of yours

Please tell T_T

Oh that? Ok um I’ll try to explain in words. Or wait I’ll just give you a video.

Yeah I tried to film the video but Tumblr said it was too big so I’ll just give you images step-to-step.

So first you just just make a hole? with your needle and thread

Then you put your needle thru that same hole again. Not necessarily the same one, just really fucking close to it

Then you keep on pulling your needle thru the other side, but not fully. Leave a little thread on the front side and arrange it like this, so there’s a bit of space between

Then your needle comes up thru the shirt to the front side again, but somewhere in the middle of that teardrop-y shape, as follows

And then you keep pulling carefully all the way through. Your teardrop shape will also become small and a straight line, kinda like this

Then to secure the shape of the petal, you put your needle on the top side of the petal, outside it, and then pull your needle thru

And one petal is done. You can just repeat these steps as many times as you want, and you got a full flower.

Also I’m aware this is a really shitty tutorial, I just suck at teaching.

[svtscutie]

The Dating Form: #6

__ y/n's pov _____________________________

"Y/N"

I know that voice. I know that voice a bit too well. Jihoon.

I turn around and see him, he's holding flowers...my favorite, red carnations.

__ Jihoon's flashback _____________________

"Why are red carnations your favourite?" I ask Y/N as she brings the carnation over. She just got it from a street vendor as we are on one of our usual late night street walks. I couldn't get inspired to work and Y/N being great girlfriend she is, took me out of the studio.

"because one, no thorns so they're not as dangerous" she responds and I chuckle. Of course, it'd be something like that.

"but two, no matter the shade of red, it shows you admire the person" she adds. She passes the carnation towards me. What's this supposed to mean?

"This is for you, the carnation should show you... I feel something special for you" Y/N says, quietly. Shyly, even. It takes so much courage to just say it honestly like that. Wow, what a woman standing in front of me.

I lean in to kiss her and she closes the gap, our lips meeting. I don't deserve her. She puts everything on hold for me. She pulls away, n-

"Jihoon...why are you crying? What's wrong?" She asks me. I touch my face and feel the teardrops. Am I actually crying over her?

"You don't need to tell me, I trust you" she says and adds "I love you". She hugs me tightly and I hug her back. I couldn't say it back. I know we won't last. She has her goals in life and I have mine. And my goals always get in the way. I don't think I can allow her to sacrifice any more for this relationship. Not for me.

She gave up her late night parties with friends, her movie nights with Seungkwan, her stable bond with her brother, all for me. And I never give her anything back.

I don't deserve her. Everyone says so. Maybe they're right. What have I done for her?

__ y/n's pov _____________________________

"...how did you know I'd be here?" I say.

I'm in shock, it's an unfamiliar sight. When has he ever done this for me? He hasn't done this for me. Ever. He never had time to surprise me with flowers, let alone show up where I was when I least expected it.

"I still follow you on social media..." He says and I nod. I unfollowed him but that doesn't mean he unfollowed me back. Makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is the fact that he's here? Why did he feel the need to talk to me? We haven't spoken since we broke up. I told him I didn't want to be friends until I was over him.

"I also needed to drop off some new tracks to get produced into mixtapes" he adds. There we go, back to his focus on music. That sounds more like him.

The silence is hitting us both, both of us being very awkward and not knowing what to say. I know he's thinking about something. I just wish I could read his mind.

"These are for you, by the way" Jihoon says, passing me the flowers. I take them in my hand and put them next to the pile of cds I had next to me.

"Thank you, you didn't need to, we're not together anymore" I say. It takes all the strength I have to utter those last couple of words but I knew it's the truth.

He looks down at me and nods.

"I hope we could be friends though... I've missed you" he admits.

"I've missed you too, but... honestly..I'm happy, I finally went to those parties I've been meaning to go to. Seungkwan and I have been hanging out more. My brother and I can actually talk without us getting angry at each other. I've gotten to do what I've been wanting to do without hesitation. It's been nice" I say and something in him changes. That calm demeanor has changed, he's staring at me intensely. Maybe I should've said things nicely. I thought I did say things nicely.

"Like selling yourself out to go on dates"

He did not say that.

How dare he says that?

How does he know about that?

"You and I both know that I don't need to do that. Is that why you're here? Cause you're afraid I've moved on" I say, knowing it'll bite back. Jihoon always knew what to say to get me to admit defeat.

He faces away from me.

"Tha-"

"Maybe you should leave her alone" a person butts in and we both turn to face him. This person looks familiar.

"This is none of your business" Jihoon says, instantly biting back.

"You've obviously pissed her off with that comment and I'd rather not hear bickering while I'm trying to listen to music" he says.

"Please, let this go" I say and Jihoon's face softens.

That's different.

He calmed down just like that.

What's going on with him?

"I'm sorry" he whispers and leaves the store.

What is up with him? Why is he acting like this? What is going on? What does he want from me? Why is this so confusing?

I look at the helpful stranger again, he's calmly listening to songs from the students. Oh that's awkward, that cd was Jihoon's. He just told Jihoon off two seconds ago when he's trying to listen to his songs. Should I say something?

Surely a thank you from me isn't weird, right?

"Thank you for that" I say and he smiles at me. Okay yep, not weird, cool.

"No problem, it sounded rough" He says and adds "I've seen you in my classes so I felt like I should help out".

I don't have a clue of where I've seen him before. Like the face is familiar but I don't know where.

"I'm Vernon by the way" He says, offering his hand and I shake it. "Y/N" I respond back.

He dresses up nicely, chill and casual but still makes himself really good looking. He's honestly kind of cute, in his own way. Maybe I'm just interested cause he stood up for me. Or maybe he is just really cute.

Oh my god woman, make up your mind.

I begin to pick up my cd's and I hear a comment "wait, you listen to 88rising?"

Oh, okay so cute and has good music taste. I can roll with this. Maybe I won't need that dating form after all.

"Who doesn't?" I say and he laughs.

"None of my friends have heard of any of the artists" he responds.

NO.

WAY.

"But their music is soooo good" I say and he nods, enthusiastically.

"Legittt, what's your favorite song by the whole group?" He asks.

"Favorite song from the Head in the Clouds albums would be 'I Want In' and then just from the artists' works is 'I Like You' by Niki" I respond, he nods.

"'I Want In' is such a vibe, I'm more of 'Nothing Wrong' type of guy though and favorite from artists' works is 'Slow Dancing in the Dark' by Joji" he says.

Yo, those two song choices are like polar opposites. Like one's so hype and one's sad boy hours.

"Oh my god, Slow Dancing in the Dark makes me want to cry at all times" I say and he laughs at me.

"Top tier in your feels songs for sure" he says and then asks "Do you have the economics tutorial at 3?". I nod.

I wonder what he's trying to do with this information.

"Yeah, I do" I say and he asks "want to discuss music before the class?".

"Let's do it!"

—–

Day Two: #6

[masterlist]

—–

6 months after a breakup, a girl asks for some spice in her life. What she didn’t expect was a dating form being posted in honor of her. Multiple love interests, a regretful ex, a nosy brother and his friend and the college life ensures that the spice level is 1,000,000 on the Scoville Rating.

—–

A/N: So, what's our thoughts people? Do we feel sorry for Jihoon or no? Also Y/N and Vernon? Is that a vibe? (Or any of the characters actually?)

Has anyone filled out a dating form? Or have seen one? My university has an unofficial Facebook page where they upload dating forms (it’s more like hookup forms), hence where this idea came from. I don’t know if this is a common concept in everyone’s university though.

also yes check out 88rising hehe

[hannahindie]

I Believe In Miracles: Part 2

Characters: Cas x Reader, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester Word Count: ~2,600 Warnings: Violence, Super over it Cas, the use of hallucinogens, ;anguage, a lot of sass, getting lost in a corn maze...just shenanigans in general. A/N: This is the second part of my challenge fic for @winchesterprincessbride! You can catch up on the first part here! This was beta’d by the lovely @trexrambling and @pinknerdpanda and I love them more than I love most things on this planet. I hope you enjoy! As usual, tags are at the bottom. If you’re missing or would like to be added, please let me know!!

“I don't want to go over this again,” Dean practically whined as he spit more blood and grimaced at the sting in his lip. Cas moved as if to heal him and Dean waved him off, “Don't bother.”

Sam groaned as he picked a piece of glass out of his bicep, “The one time I’m not wearing a jacket, and I get thrown into glass table. By the way, thanks for that Dean.”

Dean glared at Sam, “You didn’t have to run after me. I had it.”

Sam rolled his eyes, “Oh, yea, you had it alright. You had two giant ass guys chasing you down because they thought you were some sort of religious zealot trying to save Y/N’s soul.”

Cas looked between the two battered brothers, a look of annoyance on his face, “So Y/N is still in there and you have been banned for life, do I understand correctly?”

Sam looked at Dean, then dropped his head, “I mean, if you want to be technical about it…”

“What is the plan now? Do you have a goal, or are you just going to sit and argue with each other while Y/N takes her clothes off for financial compensation?”

Dean looked at Cas, his eyebrows raised, “Listen, Jealous McAssface, we just got our asses handed to us while trying to keep her from taking her clothes off. I don’t need your holier than thou attitude right now.”

“Dean, I am an-”

“I swear to God, Cas, if you say you’re an Angel of the Lord one more time, I’m going to kick your feathery ass.”

Sam’s phone rang and he hurried to answer it, “Hello?” He grimaced and held the phone out from his ear, “Hey, Y/N….No, we….it’s not that we didn’t think you could....now wait a second, that’s a little harsh...I can go and do what?....Oh….Come on, we didn’t….sorry, Y/N. Yep. ‘Kay, bye.” Sam slowly slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Y/N is fine.”

Dean looked at Sam expectantly, “Is that it? She’s fine?”

Sam shook his head, “No, she had some other things she wanted us to do but...um...they weren’t relevant to the case, nor something I want to do with my brother, so.... Anyway, she said she would call us when she found something and for us to just leave.”

Dean opened the driver's side door and looked at Sam, “I say we head back to the hotel, get cleaned up, and wait for her to call. Clearly, she can take care of herself.”

Sam walked around to the passenger side and started to sit when he saw Cas looking forlornly toward the strip club, “Cas, you comin’?” Suddenly Cas was gone and sitting in the back seat, and Sam sighed, “Alright then.”  He slipped into the car and Dean took off, the roar of the Impala echoing off the building as Cas watched it shrink in the distance.

“I do not like the idea of leaving her, Sam.”

Sam looked over his shoulder at Cas and smiled gently, “She’ll be fine. If I’ve learned anything about Y/N, it’s that she knows how to take care of herself and when to ask for help. We aren’t too far away. It’s okay, man.”

Cas shifted his gaze from Sam back to the window, “If that is what you truly believe, then I will accept that answer.” He fell silent, and Sam and Dean exchanged looks. The next couple of days were going to be long...and probably weird.

 Yesterday

Sam and Dean were sitting in the hotel researching when Sam’s phone buzzed against the table.

“Hello?” Sam’s eyes jumped to Dean, concern etched in his features. “Y/N, slow down, what happened?” He put the phone on speaker and laid it in the middle of the table so that Dean could also hear.

“Listen, there’s so much corn….maize...maze? Maize maze. I think...I think I’m in the middle? The club owner….he’s got a teardrop, I think it’s him. TEAR DROP, SAM.”

Dean leaned forward, “Y/N, where are you?”

They heard a rustling, then Y/N cursing, then more rustling, “I told you, Dean, the maize maze. I’m in it. I think….there were some mushrooms? Maybe some flowers? They were pretty and smelled good. Have you ever had mushrooms on your taco? I highly recommend...hahah….high.” Dean looked at Sam, confusion clearly written on his face.

“Y/N….are you...are you high? What happened?”

They heard something else rustle, then Y/N giggled, “The nice man made me some tacos. ….Well...he was a nice man. But I think there was-” the connection started to crackle and Sam and Dean exchanged concerned looks, “-shrooms, but I’m not so sure I like them, and the owner left me-” there was more static, and then Y/N’s tiny voice came back through, “- I’m tired. I’m gonna lay down now.”

Sam grabbed the phone and held it closer to his mouth, “Y/N, don’t do that! Stay with us, okay? Where are you? Are you in the maze?”

“MAIZE. I am surrounded by maize. Sam, the owner has the tear drop! THE TEAR DROP-” the line suddenly went dead and Sam looked at Dean, his eyes wide.

“What was that?”

Dean spun Sam’s laptop around and started typing, quickly read down the page he’d pulled up, and groaned as he spun the laptop back around, “She’s high as hell Sam, that’s what happened. Xochipilli is also apparently known for his use of flowers from psychotropic plants and hallucinogenic mushrooms, which I think our precious ‘Angel’ found out the hard way. How many things is this guy the god of?!” He slammed the laptop shut and leaned back in his chair as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes. “Dammit…maybe we shouldn't have left her alone-”

“Why would you have doubts about that?” Cas interrupted, causing Dean to nearly topple backwards out of his chair .

“Shit, Cas! We've talked about this!” Dean rested his head in his hand, “Warn a guy before you freakin’ pop out of nowhere. Jesus.”

“I am sorry. But that does not answer my question. Why would you doubt your decision to leave Y/N behind? You specifically said she could take care of herself.”

Sam looked over at Dean, then back at Cas, who had narrowed his eyes at them, “Cas, listen, we’ll get her back. It shouldn't take much to narrow down where he took her-”

“Get her back? She should not be gone! And what do you mean, ‘narrow it down’? You promised that this would not be an issue, and yet here we are. I should not be surprised, getting involved with a Winchester, never mind both, tends to lead to kidnapping, torture, or death. I should not have allowed this.” The lights had begun to flicker as Cas went on his tirade, and Sam’s eyes widened as he saw the dim outline of wings on the dingy wall behind Cas.

Sam held his hands up as if to surrender, “We’re sorry, Cas…we’ll get her back. I know the general area she was talking about, and her cell phone should be on so we can track it. I promise, she’ll be fine.”

“I am going after her. I can locate her quite easily-”

“No, Sam can go get her.”

Cas glared at Dean, the shadow of his wings growing more pronounced, and Sam nudged Dean, “Dude...maybe don’t interrupt him…”

Dean flipped the laptop around so that Cas could see it, “Tomorrow night there is an amateur guys night at the strip club. Since Sammy and I aren’t allowed to go back in…we’re going to need you to do it.” The wings grew darker, and Sam silently shook his head. His eyes moved towards the door as if judging whether he could make the distance before Cas went into full on smiting mode. “Also….fun fact….Xochipilli is also the god of homosexuality and male prostitution, so maybe you could, uh...work some magic with those baby blues of yours.”  The only thing that saved Dean from Cas’s obvious rage was Sam’s phone ringing. He quickly answered it and put it on speaker when Cas switched his glare from Dean to him.

“SAM. Listen...I’m not sure exactly where I am….but there’s still a lot of maize. Maze. …Corn. I think I’m in the middle. Things are a liiiiiiittle spinny….and by a little, I mean a lot. A lot spinny.” There was a small thud and then the sound of Y/N sighing.

“Y/N, what was that?” Sam asked as he looked up at Cas, who was staring at the phone in Sam’s hand, his anger replaced with concern.

There was another sigh, then a quiet giggle, “I found a box, so I climbed inside of it. It’s nice. I think I’ll live here now, in my maze box. Maize box. Maize mazey maize…”

“Y/N, are you okay? You sound strange.” Cas’s voice had gone back to it’s normal, deep tone, and the room had returned to its well lit, wingless state.

“Cas!! Listen...I need you to follow the mushrooms. They will lead you to the….the umm….shit. Mushroom...leads to the….sadness. Yea! The mushrooms are the key to the Aztec’s tears. Corn tears. Wait...no. Maize? No...TALISMAN. Cas, follow the mushrooms!” The line went dead, and Dean looked at Cas with raised eyebrows.

“Now are you in?”

Cas’s shoulders dropped and he sighed, “Fine. May I please borrow your laptop? It seems I have some research of my own to do.”

Right Freakin’ Now

 Outside Poppin’ Pacoani

“Dean, I do not know about this. I do not think watching several hours worth of Youtube tutorials regarding pole dancing is sufficient training for this.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “It’s amateur night, Cas. They aren’t going to expect you to be perfect, and it’s not like you’re trying to get an actual job. I just need you in there to distract everyone while I look for Xochipilli, grab the pendant, and destroy it. You can do that, right? Y/N would be super impressed by such a selfless display of taking one for the team.” Dean winked and Cas frowned at him.

“Why would it matter if Y/N was impressed? I have told you, I do not-”

Dean waved a hand at Cas, “You aren’t kidding anyone, but if you want to keep denying that you have a thing for Y/N, that’s fine. We’ve all gotten pretty good at lying to ourselves about our feelings, so welcome to the club.” Dean looked at his watch, “Looks like we’ve got some time to kill. Why don’t we head over to the diner and grab some food, maybe go over what your game plan is?”

Cas shrugged, “As you are aware, I do not eat...but going over strategy would probably be a good idea.”

Dean rubbed his hands together, “Great. I saw that they had a special on the ‘World’s Best Bacon Cheeseburger’. Maybe they’ll have pie, too. Let’s go.”

 At the exact same time, in the middle of a corn maze

 “Y/N!” Sam half whispered, half yelled into the falling darkness. Although they were pretty sure Xochipilli was at the strip club, especially for their amateur night, Sam wasn’t taking any chances as he wandered alone through the corn, his gun drawn. He heard a rustling to his right and quickly turned to investigate the sound. “Hello? Y/N, is that you?” He glanced down at his phone to see the blinking dot he’d been following was straight ahead. The maze did not have a path that went in the right direction and he sighed before plowing through, nearly tripping over a large wooden crate when he came out into a cleared section. His foot connected harshly with the crate, knocking it over, and Y/N toppled out like a drunken toddler. “There you are! Jesus, Y/N, are you okay?”

She sat up and blinked slowly at him, “I don’t know...am I actually awake right now?” Sam nodded, and she rubbed an arm across her face sleepily. “Good news is...I don’t think I’m high on those mushrooms anymore. Bad news is that my head feels like it’s going to explode, and I have no idea how the hell I ended up in a crate….or in a cornfield.”

Sam reached out to help her stand, “Well, we think Xochipilli must have dropped you off here, although we aren’t sure why, other than this is where the bodies were found. But we’re pretty sure he’s at the strip club, so maybe he just wanted to mess with you...although I’m not sure what good that would do for him. Hmm…”

Y/N cleared her throat, “Umm...Sam...I’ve got some more bad news.”

Sam looked up from his phone, “What?”

Y/N pointed over his shoulder, and he turned around to find himself face to face with what looked like one of the Aztec statues of Xochipilli, only life sized. “Are you freaking kidding me?” he groaned as it shoved him out of the way and walked slowly towards Y/N.

“Now listen here, buddy, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I am not about this life right now. I guess this could be part of a bad trip...yea...that’s it. This is just a really bad trip. Have I mentioned how much I hate mushrooms? Why don’t you tell Chief Cornstalk that I’m gonna opt out of becoming a human scarecrow? It’s not really my style, and honestly I’d make a terrible one, too many curves on this bod. You’re not gonna fool anyone that I’m just made out of straw, ya know?” She ran out of room to back up and looked over the statue’s shoulder at Sam, “A little help here, Moose!”

Sam rolled his eyes at the nickname, but fumbled for his gun that had been knocked out of his hand when he fell. He finally found it, but the statue had grabbed Y/N, and he was afraid he would hit her if he shot.

“Sam, what are you waiting for? He’s...he’s trying to squeeze me to death!” Y/N was struggling to break free, but he could tell she was having trouble catching her breath. He looked around and felt relief when he saw a piece of rebar lying near where he'd found Y/N.

“Y/N, DUCK!” She ducked down as well as she could as Sam swung, the rebar connecting with the statues stone head. The statue shattered and Y/N fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Sam dropped the rebar and shook his hand as the vibrations from the metal connecting with stone traveled up his arm.

“This is the worst corn maze ever,” Y/N gasped as she leaned back on her hands and looked at Sam.

“It’s maize,” Sam corrected. Y/N flipped Sam off and he laughed. They both froze when they heard a rustle, “Are there any more of those things?”

Y/N scrambled to her feet, “How the hell am I supposed to know? I’ve been high as balls this whole time.”

Sam nodded, “Fair enough. Let’s go.” They took off running toward the car as the rustling began to come from what seemed like every direction.

Continue to part 3 HERE.

Forever Tags: @trexrambling @pinknerdpanda  @wheresthekillswitch @emilywritesaboutdean @arryn-nyxx @emptywithout @escabell @charliebradbury1104 @@jarpadandjensenaremyheroes  @deanssweetheart23  @canadianjelly @super-not-naturall @aubreyreadsstuff @dean-winchesters-baby @melissaj616 @fandomismyspiritanimal @keepcalmandcarryondean @assbutt-still-in-hell @owllover123 @rosie-winchester @amionthetumblr @duubaduu @hiimaprofessionalfangirl @goldenolaf25

I Believe In Miracles Only: @eringva @night-thinker-23 @curlyblondexoxo @deaths-damn-fruit-basket @thedevilinthedetails

[recentanimenews]

Let's Make Futoshi's Bread from Darling in the FranXX!

Darling in the FranXX, most people I think can agree, was A SHOW that HAPPENED to a lot of people in a lot of different ways. For me, the most interesting thing Darling had to offer was Futoshi's bread in like the very last episode, far in the future when they're all living happily on a replenished Earth.

        Overall, the plot thread focusing on Earth's renewal and attempts to rebuild got a little lost amidst all the space stuff, but I was pleasantly surprised to see this bread pop up at the very end. Up until this, we were sort of left to wonder if the farming stuff really worked (which, by the way, HOW did it work??? It's not that easy to just plant stuff and watch it grow. They'd have had to do a LOT of work on the soil to get it hospitable for growing plants again.) In the end, though, I wasn't happy just because I like food, but because bread is a huge indicator of a successful civilization. 

  Though it's clear that at the end they are able to have kids and replenish Earth's supply of non-immortal humans, we don't know quite the extent of this growth, but the bread provides a vital clue. I mean, think about it: in order to make bread, you have to first grow wheat. After you grow wheat, you need to collect and mill the grain. Then you have to grind the wheat down into flour, and have the wherewithal to practice combining it with water and yeast--yeast, a resource that would not have been as simple to come by as wheat, and even that wasn't easy--to make a dough, and THEN also have the resources to practice turning the dough into cute little shapes to serve to adorable children. 

  In our society, it doesn't seem like much of anything to do, but in a society that is struggling to relearn how to do these things without the aid of the technology they'd grown accustomed to, it would be quite a feat to produce specialty bread products. So then the next question is.... is this bread worth the time and effort?

  I mean, yes. Do you like bread? I like bread. You know what makes bread more fun? Eating it in adorable shapes! This recipe is fairly easy to combine together, but it needs a lot of kneading. Like, 15-20 minute's worth, though the original recipe only called for 10. The most difficult part about it is shaping the bread into your desired shapes, but that's more fun than hard, and it all tastes good in the end no matter what shape you come up with.

        By the way, what are these things? Seriously, are they baby Klaxosaurs? Weird birds? Is it symbolic of 002 and Hiro? I'd be curious to know what you think.

  Watch the video below to see the full process.

      Ingredients for Futoshi's Bread

(Adapted slightly from this recipe)

-2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

-1 package Active Dry Yeast

-1 tbsp Sugar

-1 tsp Salt

-3/4 cup Water

-1/3 cup Milk

-1 tbsp Butter

-2 Eggs

-Red candies or berries for eyes

      To Make Futoshi's Bread

1. Whisk the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar together.

2. In a microwave or on the stove, heat milk, water, and butter so that it is warm--not burning--to the touch. (Within 120-130 F).

3. Stir milk mixture into flour until the dough starts to come together. Add in one egg.

4. Turn dough out onto a table and knead, about 15-20 minutes, until dough is soft, smooth, and pliable.

5. Cover with a damp cloth and rest until doubled, about 60 minutes, in a warm place.

6. Punch air out of dough. Split into 6 pieces and form each piece into a ball, and then into a teardrop shape. Cut the tail feathers of the creature into thirds, and shape appropriately. Set on a baking sheet, and add in berries or candies for eyes. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F.

7. Mix up final egg with a splash of water. Brush the tops of the buns with the mixture, and bake in the oven at 400 F for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

8. Enjoy with butter and jam!

    I hope you enjoyed this post! Check in next week for another recipe, and to check out more anime food recipes, visit my blog. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below! I recently got a Twitter, so you can follow me at @yumpenguinsnack if you would like, and DEFINITELY feel free to send me food requests! My Tumblr is yumpenguinsnacks.tumblr.com. Find me on Youtube for more video tutorials! Enjoy the food, and if you decide to recreate this dish, show me pics! :D

  In case you missed it, check out our last dish: Hot Tub Tamago from Kakuriyo-Bed and Breakfast for Spirits-. What other famous anime dishes would you like to see Emily make on COOKING WITH ANIME?

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com