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studentinpursuitofclouds · 1 year

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Could you do townies reactions to a non-human farmer? I imagine my farmer with mouse ears and a tail! Thank you!!!

Sure thing :D

Since you picture your Farmer with mouse ears and a tail, the Farmer will be like that in the stories. Thank you for asking! 🫰 Enjoy!

SDV townies react to a non-human Farmer:

"So that gnawed through bag of grain and seed was your doing, Farmer?" Well done Pierre, very considerate of you. What makes him think that even if Farmer has rodent-like body parts, they should behave like a rodent? Pierre decided to quickly fix the not-too-successful dialogue with his client for the better, offering the offended Farmer to purchase delicious cheese with a 45% discount, because they must be very fond of cheese! *judgmental look* What, he screwed up again?

Strange, Haley could have sworn something had changed in Farmer. Tell her the truth? What are they talking about? Oh? Hee-hee, why were they wearing those funny furry mouse ears? They're kinda cute, Haley's already reaching out to touch them and recognize the quality of the fabric and- Yeeeeeeeee! They move!?

Emily knows the feeling: only yesterday she felt like a fragile butterfly flitting from one flower to another in a flurry of dance. Today she feels like a free bird, spreading the wind with her feather wings! Ah, she can tell the Farmer a lot about- What? Not just a feeling? Are they real? That tail.... Oh. She doesn't know what to say. Maybe they could come over for tea and talk about it.

The Farmer can trust Marlon with their secrets without fear - the old one-eyed adventurer won't tell anyone about their inhuman origins if they want to keep it a secret. Furthermore, if the Farmer is persecuted because of their non-human origins, he will give them refuge in his Guild (only if the Farmer hasn't done something illegal or immoral).

Hold on... Caroline needs to check her herbal tea. Hmm, no, it's fine, nothing toxic in it. So Farmer's mouse ears aren't a figment of her imagination? Interesting. She's not really surprised (which surprised Farmer themself). The thing is, Caroline has dealt with something unusual before when she was younger. Well, to be more precise - with someone unusual, but she decided not to go into details, or else there would be too uncomfortable questions. She treats the Farmer's secret with respect, and they treat hers with respect. Wouldn't you agree? Excellent! More tea?

Gil will also keep their secret, and give moral support to their young Guild member. If the Farmer is comfortable, then maybe they will tell Gil about their non-human and not-so-ordinary life. Gil would be interesting to hear, he'd just about pour brandy (or tea if Farmer don't like alcohol) for everyone.

Young man/lady, why are you wearing those silly mouse ears? The Fall festivities are still a while away, so what's the point of this masquerade? What? Speak up, George can't hear you. Are they real? Yeah yeah, and the tail too, he bet, you can't fool him. He may be old, but he's not stupid enough to believe this nonsense.

When Rasmodius looked into the future, he saw vaguely that the new Farmer would be an unusual person, but even he had no idea they would be so unusual. Well, he would react to it calmly (the wizard had seen a lot in his life), even suggesting a special magical ointment if they wanted to hide their non-human origins from unwanted attention.

Haha, good one. Wait, they're not joking...? Wow, interesting. Looks like the Valley holds more secrets than Leah could have imagined. But... What does that change? So, a little non-human, so what? They're kind enough to her and the other people of the Valley, so Leah will accept them warmly and without prejudice.

Heh, what a weirdo. Spirits Eve is a whole season away and they're already wearing a costume. Alex can't figure out why they're wearing those mouse ears. Wait, did they twitch? And the tail, too? !?!?!??! What?

Being an outcast is nothing new for Linus at all. He knows that those who are different from the many are usually subject to ridicule and bullying. Fortunately, Stardew Valley is inhabited by people who are kind and patient enough. And Linus wants Farmer not to feel like an outcast because they are different from humans either. Let Linus repay you for the kindness you showed them at the very beginning of your arrival at the farm.

*Gasp*! Jodi dropped the plate and it shattered. Yoba, how is that possible? Wait, surely it's not a contagious disease or mutation? If they have limbs like a rat, they don't transmit diseases like rats, right?! She's terrified of rats and mice! Was that rather rude of her? Forgive her, Farmer. But they can't just go to her house and tell her that they're- half mouse? Or half rat? Or... She still doesn't get it.

And when Kent came out of the bedroom at the sound of a broken plate to see if his wife and Farmer were all right, he saw Farmer in their real guise. Kent's reaction was just 🗿 You shouldn't expect anything else from him. He'll stand there with 🗿 face and look at the guest, and then with the same 🗿 face he'll go get a broom and dustpan to pick up the plate shards from the floor.

Willy learned of Farmer's secret by accident when he was returning late from the Saloon and caught Farmer on the sandy shore as they were engaged in night fishing. It would not have surprised the old fisherman..... Except that the Farmer was fishing with their tail instead of his rod, and quite skillfully, aye aye! Willi immediately assured the Farmer, who was frightened at the sight of him, that he would not give away their secret. He also wondered if fish really bite better on their tails.

Abigail, in addition to delight and surprise, will also find reason to tease Farmer a bit. Just a little. She won't mock Farmer, of course, but she will often blow into Farmer's mouse ears to annoy them a little, especially since the ears twitch so amusingly from the ticklish sensation. Alright, alright, don't look at her so grumpy, she'll be a goody-goody :3

"....Are you one of those weirdos on TV who claim to be dogs/cats/any other animal?" Pam always watches that show over a bottle of beer and laughs at the absurdity of people. Hey, what are they looking at her like that? Yeah yeah yeah, they're not lying of course. They even can get a number and sign up for their show, might become a new TV star.

Uhhhh.... Yeah, sure, that's great! Penny is so happy for them! Oh no Penny seems to have forgotten to turn off the iron, the stove, the faucet, whatever, she has to go now, bye! (Oh Yoba oh Yoba oh Yoba... Either the Farmer's crazy or Penny's crazy.)

"Holy shit" was all Sebastian said, dropping cigar from his mouth as Farmer revealed their true colors to him. Farmer might think that Sebby felt disgusted with them, but he actually thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Sebastian will keep their secret and not show any negative emotion (inside he squeals like a girl "oh Yoba this is so cool" but he won't show that emotion either. Sebby is pretty reserved on emotions).

Wow, what a miracle... Gus has seen and heard all sorts of things, but this is the first time he's ever seen anything like this. Still, it doesn't change anything, and his Saloon's door to the Farmer is always open. He can also understand that sometimes constant secrecy can bring a lot of stress, so Gus will make them their favorite meal on the house. If they can't make it to the Saloon, he'll deliver the meal directly to their home. Human or not, no one should be hungry and sad.

Oh, my goodness! They have whiskers and mouse ears! And they're real! Marnie got a little scared. Oh, no, no, no, she didn't mean to hurt them, please forgive her! They're not scary, she was just more surprised. *Sigh* Now she feels bad. Maybe a treat of tasty cheese will make up for it? No, she's not teasing them, the cheese actually turned out delicious.

To say that Harvey was at a loss for words when Farmer was x-rayed is an understatement. The doctor was in complete shock. At first he was a little annoyed and didn't understand why Farmer didn't want to take those toy ears off their head. But when the x-rays and tests showed that it was all their body parts..... Okay, he'd have to look up in medical books if there was such a phenomenon at all to at least understand what he was dealing with. Hold on, not a human? Okay, now he doesn't need books, he needs wine. A very... strong... wine.

What? How? A change in the body? A mutation? Animal ears and tail?! They need to get him to a lab right away, Demetrius needs to take tests and x-rays! It's a real phenomenon. He can't believe it. He.... Oh, sorry Farmer, he shouldn't have overreacted and embarrassed Farmer so much. Apologize for that.

"Dad..." Maru knows that her dad can overreact if he gets too passionate about something, so her mom or herself needs to remind her dad about respecting personal space. And though Maru herself is very interested in Farmer's singularity, she's more worried about their health. It doesn't negatively affect their lives in any way, right? If Farmer feels unwell, let them turn to her or Dr. Harvey.

"What's happened? Don't tell me you almost burned down the lab again-" Robin hadn't really woken up yet (especially after a night at the Saloon with her husband), just yawned tiredly.... and looked first at the Farmer with the mouse ears for half a minute. Then she looked at Demetrius and Maru. After that she decided to turn 180 degrees and walked back to the bedroom. Well, she won't be ordering that new Gus cocktail again.....

"What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho Cheese! Oh, how about this one: What did the teenage cheese yell at its parents? Leave me provolone! Hah! And another one-" even Farmer in their hidden thoughts couldn't imagine that after telling Sam about their real self, the young musician would start telling dad jokes instead of, you know, being frightened or surprised. Sammy, dear, you're too young for that. On the other hand, Farmer is glad Sam hasn't changed his mind about them. "What kind of music does cheese like?" Oh, gods...

Shane spent literally two minutes looking at the mouse-eared Farmer and replaying in his head Farmer's admission that they weren't quite human. Then Shane looked at his can of beer. It's full, which means he's still sober. He looked at Farmer again. Then at the can of beer. And again at the Farmer. And again at the beer. "Fuck..." He wasn't going to have a good day off today.

"My dear, I've known about this for a long time" "What?..." As it turned out, Evelyn was very close friends with Grandpa - so close, in fact, that he had told her about his family unusual origins, knowing that Evelyn would keep it a secret. And it makes no difference whether Grandpa is human or not. They were the kindest person and a wonderful friend. And his grandchild is just as kind and wonderful ❤️ Oh dear, Farmer, why are you crying?

Lewis only shook his head at that. In the Farmer's family, it seems to be some kind of strange joke that has been passed down from generation to generation. First their Grandpa also claimed to be non-human, and now the Farmer. Heh, hilarious, made the old major laugh. You're so much like him, Farmer, and the jokes are the same. Lewis warmly remembers his youth and his friendship with Farmer's Grandpa...

When the Farmer decided to tell the secret to the children of Stardew Valley, Vincent was the first to bombard the poor Farmer with a bunch of questions. He believed that the Farmer is like a superhero who could hear better, or they could smell better. Oh oh oh! And they can talk to animals, mice particular? Because if yes, then wow!!!

Leo also decided, along with Vincent, to question the Farmer about their unusual origins. It turns out that they are as strange as Leo himself. That is probably why they so quickly found a common language on the island. You could say two birds of the same feather. So you can really talk to mice like Vincent claims?!

Despite her great curiosity, no less than that of her friends, Jas refrained from asking many questions, realizing that perhaps telling this secret was not easy for the Farmer. And the fact that they had to hide their non-human origins upset Jas a little. Oh! Maybe she and Vincent and Leo will also wear toy mouse ears and claim that they all and Farmer have organized a secret club? Then the Farmer can walk around in peace without fear! (The Farmer laughed off the idea, but decided to give it a try. Surprisingly enough, it worked).

"Yeah, so?" Clint can safely compete with Kent for the best reaction to Farmer with their story about their non-human origins. Just pure 🗿. And it's unclear if Clint is either tired of all this shit with blacksmith that he doesn't show a single emotion, or if he's seen weirder people.

Yoba! Unbelievable! So his dear friend isn't human? That is so amazing! Wait, wait, wait, Elliott is interested in hearing about their lives as non-humans. No, wait, he has to put it down on paper. It'll be like their biography (he'll hide their real name if Farmer wants to). What? What do you mean he wasn't surprised? He was very much surprised, all emotional right now! Disgusted? Absolutely not, nonsense! Elliott generally thinks their mouse ears are quite cute. *Ahem* Well, let's not get distracted, he's already got the paper and ink pen. The story begins...

"Fascinating. It's either a race unknown to mankind or magic", Gunther scratched his chin for a long time, lost in thought. In any case, the door to the library are always open for Farmer, maybe they would find useful information about their unusual case. Or they come to him for a cup of hot coffee, maybe they'll talk about the various civilisations whose artifacts have survived to this day.

"Discounts at JoJa Mart for cheese and seeds! Seeds are discounted by as much as 50% off! You can buy enough to both plant on the farm and nibble on the seeds yourself. You love them as a mouse or something, don't you? Then buy from Joja before they sell out!", and it seemed to the Farmer that no one could outdo Pierre in his tactlessness. They were wrong. First place went to Morris. Well done. The fuck is wrong with these two...

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preciadosbass · 2 months

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6/8/24 [did quite a few crafts today — pics at end … this read does get more interesting over time, i promise.]

woke up at 10 and laid aimlessly in my bed thinking about having to see my prevision. i’m never usually very active in the mornings, as is obvious in my other entries, but i’m especially not when i have to see a keyworker. i eventually step foot out of my room and sat outside with boris for 20 minutes. i would’ve been out there for longer, but i was paranoid my prevision would turn up early and see me on the driveway without me being prepared.

while i sat there with boris to my side i looked through the new gerard way photos/videos and made a highlight on |nsta of [mostly] faceless pictures of myself because i’ve been meaning to put my outfits online for a while — [@/iloveechicheng]. i went back inside at 10:50 to get dressed and sort out my hair as the straightening had long worn off from when i went to zoo. i also stress out over my outfit when this particular prevision comes round as allegedly her son dresses the same way as me. it honestly feels like a dress to impress with her because of that and it’s kind of tiring.

i took a while debating what shirt to wear as i didn’t want to repeat the same outfit as last week, i ended up going for my new slipknot shirt. this person i met at a sailing ‘expedition’ [it was almost the same as those camps that teens get sent off to and abused] got me it for my birthday. i hadn’t worn it before because i didn’t know how to style clothing in that colour but i ended up wearing it with these really baggy black jeans [of which have a barn owl keychain on a carabina among with other things which, i guess, make them more interesting], my zip up mcr hoodie, a can tab necklace, alien socks, and spiked cuffs. it was a pretty low effort outfit but i honestly couldn’t be too bothered to do much more.

my provision got here at near 11 and i took a few minutes to prepare to see her. i went out to living room with my dad and she attempted to make small talk but we were both clearly feeling very awkward so she brought out uno flip and we had two games. the second game ended up being over an hour and a half, maybe two hours long. which dosent sound like it’d be draining or scary, but it is - she’s still a stranger to me and you could literally feel tension in the air. she left at 12 and i spent a bit of time with boris until i decided i was going to tag along to my sisters asthma appointment because i felt like going out and she didn’t mind.

we left at 12:15-19 and i listened to mcr demos on the way to the hospital. i’m trying my best to excessively listen to as much mcr and fall out boy as possible for that tribute concert coming up. we got there at 12:25 and i briefly watch a skateboarding competition on the tv infront of us in the waiting room until i felt awkward by the silence and showed my mum some of gerard’s stage outfits. she seemed to think they were cool. we were called in for the appointment at 1, and i don’t have much to say about it, it was what you can expect, it’s self explanatory.

on the way out of the childrens section i saw that a few kids younger than me were colouring in a picture of pikachu so i asked my mum to ask if the receptionist had any spare copies. she luckily gave me two which means i can colour one, and decide whether i prefer it plain or not for it to go on my wall. i’m not even into pokémon, i know absolutely nothing about it, but i think the designs and things are cool. we walked back to the car and left for town at 1:45 or something along those lines.

once we got into the shopping centre i headed to hmv to check a few things. i wanted to check if there were any new magazines or discounted shirts, as the last time i came i got a fall out boy magazine and a reduced silverstein shirt from the so called ‘bargain bin.’ there weren’t any magazines i was interested in because all of them were related to glam rock however there was an asking alexandria shirt. i decided not to get it because i wasnt keen on the colours and i have a purple one similar. i looked at some of the other shirts that were on display and fell in love with a specific five nights at freddy’s shirt and a nightmare before christmas one. i wasn’t willing to pay over £40 for the both so i took a picture to remind myself to check for them on ebay/vinted/depop.

i went to get my safe food at 2:20 because there isn’t anything for me to eat at home even if i wanted to and got boba at 2:30 because i found out that this specific brand isn’t even too high in cals, well not for what it is. once we’d payed and gotten our [me and my sisters] drinks we set off for home. we got back at 3 and i cuddled boris on the sleeper again. it unfortunately started to rain almost as soon as i got out there so he crawled under my dads car, meaning i couldn’t stroke him anymore, so i went back inside.

my sister followed me back into my room and went through all her pokémon cards with me and let me keep the ones i like as she dosent ever plan on using them. i felt bad ultimately taking her cards even though she wanted me to. once i’d gone through them all and wound down from being outside surrounded by people my age, i decided to look through this 2000s arts and crafts book i must’ve gotten from a bootsale or something as a kid. i didn’t find anything to do at the time so i went out to my dad and asked him to paint my nails as id picked off the excess from last week, or whenever they were last done.

its only been up until recently that i’ve ever had them painted. i mean, it’s nothing fancy, just black — but i like it. i also wanted them repainted because at this point in the day i thought i was going bowling but that didn’t end up working out as it would’ve been too much hassle. also ignore that i cant paint my own nails.. i have the worst hand coordination *cries* / after theyd dried i went back into my room and remade that can tab necklace with the skull bead on it with a bigger tab. it took longer than the original did as i had to manipulate more metal and make a loop for the actual string of the necklace to go through. [pictures at end]

once i’d done and shown my parents, i continued looking at the book at 5 and saw a homemade trinket box shown on it so i started cutting up a cat food box into various rectangles until i had a lid, base, and the sides of the box ready. my hot glue gun and tile were still in their places from when i made those hot glue pins so i got started and glued the thing together. i finished at 5:30 because the gun took ages to get hot/i kept on accidentally burning myself/i had to adjust the sizes of the card multiple times during gluing. after id finished with that, i painted the box black. it took me barely any time at all and i left it on my windowsill to dry.

i went outside with boris while i was waiting to be able to customise it. i got a little nervy as he kept on going further away from me and more out into the driveway to be around the grass. i walked myself back to my room at 7 and looked through a few band font/logo things to draw on the top of the box. i settled on my chemical romance’s text font in the black parade era. i ‘rehearsed’ the writing a couple times on a scrap envelope and used a red paint pen on the actual box. it didn’t turn out like the actual thing, as i noticed that one’s drawn in a paintbrush kind of style, but i’m not disappointed with how it came out, i like it. [pictures at end]

while i was waiting for that to dry i collected a few examples of raccoon tails on dyed red hair to show my parents and hairdresser. i also found out that she [my hairdresser] had found the straighteners she’s been planning on giving me as the one i use is at least 20+ years old and has cut the fronts of my hair to the size of my pinky 😭, so it’s good i’m getting something that’ll take that out of the picture and prevent it from looking as fried as it does now.

that didn’t take long at all so i drew spirals on either side of the box while the top was still drying. it isn’t perfect as i had to go over the hot glue i used which makes it mismatched but i much prefer when spirals are ‘messy’ so i’m not bothered. id drew on the longer sides of the box multiple times at this point, but kept on painting back over it. so while i was waiting for that to dry to have a fresh start, i made a friendship bracelet. [pictures at end]

the technique was in that same arts and crafts book but it was so much more confusing. with the box i just looked at the end product and easily knew what to do because like.. it’s just a box. so i thought a bracelet would be the same, but no - i ended up having to get both of my parents to try and work it out but my dad eventually figured out what i needed to do, and once i’d done it a few times i got the knack. i made it out of yarn in black, medium light blue, and gray. i finished that at 10:20 and took pictures of all the stuff i’ve made today.

i started writing about my day [finally] at 11 on a draft, but while i was halfway through and had already written in detail about a number of things, it deleted itself. i had to re write and re word everything, which took up until 11:50 before i went upstairs to ask my parents questions about boris. i know it took over an hour today, but i don’t know how many more minutes after that. i think it was a lot as we all kept on getting sidetracked.

i went downstairs at 1 something and made toast while speaking to boris about my day/apologising for going out and everything else i need to address. i unintentionally switched up the routine a bit today because i obviously couldn’t brush my teeth before having food. i finished at 2 and got into bed a few minutes past 2. i had to end off this entry so i did that and actually went to sleep at 2:20.

have a good day/night O_o

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horsesarecreatures · 5 months

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I got a few more discus for the aquarium today. They are rehabs from a local store that I previously passed up because I saw they had gill flukes. I didn't want to introduce them to my tank, but now that I'm treating for flukes anyway...

I asked the staff to feed them and they ate ravenously, so I don't expect them to have high loads of hexamita or other internal worms. They are thin, but that is probably because they are using up so much energy on respiration. This first one which is a tiger turquoise (he's just dark because he's sick) also has fin rot. It's just along the front part of his dorsal fin, which makes me think he either scraped himself on something, or some idiot cut the fin to make him look rounder. Note how much the gills are flaring and how the one on my left is opening more than the right one; that's how I know he likely has flukes. It could in theory also be gill damage from ammonia burns, in which case there won't be much I can do about it.

The second looks very similar to the Penang Blue Knight. It was not labeled but based on the coloration and the fact that the middle bar is thicker than the rest, I'm pretty sure it's a F1 or F2 turquoise x heckel cross. Its breathing is better.

Hopefully these guys will make it. They were very cheap (discounted to $45 and they're about 5 inches - if they were healthy they'd be $100+), and it's best to keep discus in groups of at least 5.

#discus #aquarium

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whatevermywpis · 1 year

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: ̗̀➛𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭. : ̗̀➛𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fluff

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Unnämed.

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞: On.

𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞: Oneshot.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬: They/Them.

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: First date?

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐎𝐂 𝐔𝐧𝐧ä𝐦𝐞𝐝

﹒⪩⪨﹒🗝️𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪﹒⪩⪨﹒

Dirty plates on the sink, messy bedroom, this was definitely your apartment alright. It was definitely different from how you remembered it… what happened last night? Suddenly a phone rang on the counter, you hesitated after seeing the number but something tells you to pick up the phone.

“Hello..?” It was… quiet on the other side. “Look it’s early in the morning and I don’t think a scam call would save me the headache”

“Who said anything about a scam call, wait, don’t tell me you didn’t save my number?” Realization hits you like a train as you recognized who’s voice it was. “It make me kinda sad..”

“…It’s 5:30 in the morning…” an awkward silence prologue. “So what the special occasion?”

“Nothing much, I was just wondering if you’re free for the day.” Looking back at your schedule… you didn’t have much to do.

“Nah I’m pretty free, why’d you ask?” Opening your window, the sun was rising slowly in the horizon, still cold but, you liked this view from your window.

“Well, was thinking on asking you to go out with me?”

“What?!” You just froze then right there on the window, you can’t feel your face from the shock someone in next door shouted a ‘it’s 5:45’.

“You don’t have to it’s just that there was a discount for couples at this place and I didn’t really know how to ask and-“ you didn’t completely follow but a date was still a date. “You know?”

“Sure I’ll go, but don’t get cold feet and leaving me alone.” You kind of stuttered but all you received was their light hearted giggling, it’s only 5 in the morning… why are you already catching butterflies?

“I won’t… I’ll pick you up at six thirty?” You had at most… 40 minutes to prepare, good enough.

“See you then.” You breathed in relief but then your face quickly flushes once more as you hugged your knees to your chest, you’re going on a date.

So you quickly jumped to your feet, and looked through your closet like a madman for the ‘decent outfit’ you almost never use unless it was a special occasion, but what you didn’t notice was the time passing by like water. And then the door knocked…

Spooked out, you looked at the clock and saw the time, it was 6:35… you were nowhere prepared… and so began your ‘panick like bocchi from bocchi the rock’ era. You didn’t even have time to clean the place up due to how busy you were frantically running towards the door before another knocked was heard.

“Good morning- a-are you okay (Y/n)?” Here lies you on the ground, ready for another battle to the death with your lungs.

“S-sorry just outta breath… pheeeeew..” you definitely felt the urge to crawl back into your closet again.

“You didn’t prepare for anything?” You feel like the kid who forgot to make the rice when your mom asked you to do it, shame, guilt…

“I didn’t know what to wear..” so you stood up and welcomed Unnämed inside, you definitely need to pull your life together…

You scratched your head in embarrassment as Unnämed looked around your messy apartment, surprisingly they didn’t look like your disappointed mom (sorry mom.). Instead they dead to your kitchen and looked through your fridge, ‘no need for the make yourself at home’ then.

“What are you doing..?” You looked curiously at them rummaging through your fridge.

“Making breakfast, there’s no rush for now so I thought I’d help out.” U-san said looking guilty. “And I didn’t have breakfast too…”

“Ah, of course but you don’t have to do anything I’ll-“ “No, I can handle a cooking, you look like you have others things to clean too right?” So you begrudgingly left the kitchen, praying that it wouldn’t burn down-

After awhile you finished cleaning up your small apartment as the smell of pancakes caught your attention, looks like they found the pancake mix. You walked into your small kitchen and found two plates of pancakes and a sink still full of plates plusing a dirty bowl of pancake mix and pan.

“Just in time! I made some pancakes, you didn’t have syrup or honey so I took your vanilla ice cream.” You sat down and stared at the stack of pancake on your table, it looked… really good.

“..No way..” you were a little stunned, not by the pancakes but by the look of U-San in a ‘kiss the cook’ apron. (Don’t mind if I do-)

“Is it… that bad?” You quickly snapped out of your trance and frequently shook your head, U-San looked happy again. “I’m glad… maybe we can go help you get ready next?”

“Eh?”

Pancakes were a little burnt but still good, you kinda liked it a lot but what came as a challenge next was your attempt to to keep U-San away from your bedroom, why? Well do you have to let them get to your mess of a closet there? Of course not so that’s why you’ve been stuck in an awkward position where every time U-San tries to open your bedroom door you drag them away.

“Come on! Just a quick look through your closet?” Unnämed said with puppy eyes, but you can’t allow it.

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No”

“Yes”

“No”

“No..”

“Yes, WAIT-“ you’ve been fooled by the oldest trick in the book.

You begrudgingly opened your bedroom door and ignoring the fact you had Chinese leftovers on your study table and a board filled with plans, U-San immediately started opening the drawers, this was a bad idea.

“So many… pjs…” you weren’t the type to go out too often so you were big on comfy.

“Ehe… sorry?” U-san seemed to be in deep thought before they grab some clothes, except for a shirt-

“Let’s go to my place, I think I have something that might just help you~” so are you two still going to that arcade or not-

7 am… you reached their place after a small walk. It was a pretty decent place too, Ah but then again they’re probably living better than you are with their friend group and popularity, who were you in someone else’s eyes.

It was oddly peaceful their place, not exactly clean but still it had a calming vibe to it. Quickly being pushed to the couch you sat there awkwardly as U-San rummaged through their closet for a shirt or something, but wait a minute why do you need to borrow their shirt-

“Here! You can try it out in my bathroom, it’s just right over there~” U-San handed you your clothes and pointed at a room a little further down their bedroom.

“Are you sure I don’t think I can just accept this-“ “(Y/n), it’s fine, besides it’s been a while since we hung out so why not?” You shook your head and took the clothes either way.

Stuck in the cramp bedroom you twist and turned around hanging your clothes, they picked out a pretty decent outfit to say the least. You smiled fondly at the printed borzoi doodle on the shirt.

“I knew I had some taste in fashion~” you shook your head but still gave them a silent agreement.

“I admit it alright? Now when’s our little date starting.” Wasting no time U-San grabbed your hand and took their keys, you left your clothes in the bathroom-

“Starting…now~!” You can’t help but stare at those gleeful blue eyes.

You wonder how you became so lucky to have known them in the first place, because truly you feel like they deserve better than someone like you. You’re even going on a date with them, if you shut down that call earlier… you might have really regret it.

You both walked towards a crossing before they stopped and looked back at you, they looked a bit hesitant.

“(Y/n)-san, I need to ask you something.” You paused for a moment wondering if you did anything wrong before trembling asked them if anything was wrong. “Ah no it’s just that I wanted to hold your hand.”

“Huh-“ you just stood there like a statue as all five of your senses went into fight or flight mode.

“You get lost too easily, the place is pretty big as well so I don’t wanna loose track of you while we’re there.” They spared no time and grabbed your hand, you both quickly rushed through the crowd as their excited laughs were heard.

What was that smell? Oh wait it was the smell of your burning face and the butterflies threatening to eat their way out from your stomach.

You weren’t sure why they asked you instead of everyone else but now you’re pretty sure you know why, the said place they were taking you out on a date was the newly opened arcade, it was only a few blocks away from your place. The other reason was because it was somewhere deep in the alleyway, not a good place to start a business but really rent is too expensive.

“…This is crazy.” What you didn’t mention though was the fact that this alleyway was a mini China town, so yeah it super crowded.

“I forgot how crowded these places get…” this still was busier than the usual, looks like the opening got to people’s ears and tripled.

“Let’s go?” Still you look back, they nodded as you smiled.

Navigating through the alleyway was no problem for you except for when you’re being squished through the crowd like pancakes, maybe you should have eaten a dumpling for breakfast instead… Eventually you stepped on something, it was a cat, and don’t worry as soon as you felt something wrong you let go, so the cat was okay, but not you fell.

“Careful now.” You braced yourself for the impact yet instead you felt someone’s hand behind your head, as you opened your eyes you realized… you were facing U-san’s chest, yep you’ve been unintentionally kabedonned. “ I didn’t think things would get this messy.”

“So… I’m pretty sure we’re close to the arcade so it’s… fine.” Unnämed slowly moved along with the crowd still holding your hand. “Just a little more.”

Unnämed felt happy, maybe a bit better due to them pulling you out of your comfort zone and you seemed to be enjoying it. Normally they couldn’t even talked to you that much due to your more… reserved nature, but it was such an improvement for them to see you like this.

You were very timid, at least that’s what they think, it could be different for others though… Unnämed liked it whenever you smiled but it was always so hard to grab a hold of it, should they have captured your moments on camera? Their emotions are in a mess, do they like you? Do they see you as a friend? Do they think of you as a sibling? Do you look like them?

“We’re here.” They have a habit, it was something they picked up from your words. “Phew… I hate crowds.”

“Yeah, let’s go have some fun.” You once told them that whenever you get caught up in a problem, you’d close your eyes and stop thinking about it. “Betting that I’m gonna win more prizes than you~”

“Is that a challenge~?” God must have really hated them, because they don’t even know what they could do to help you feel better with all the stress and problems bothering you. “ Well then let’s turn this into our little bet, then, whoever wins more tickets has to do what the other says then.”

“A bit cliche but, I’m willing to take my chances.” In the end, it’ll work out, they’re sure of it…

So you ended up getting separated… it’s alright you’re in a challenge! No time to waste you started to use the more ‘cheating method’, it was a dinosaur game that makes you throws balls at targets to earn points, the higher the score, the more tickets! Sometimes it’s good to cheat with what you have.

Another game you tried was more of a classic type, whack a mole, you might have accidentally hit the machine too hard but you got your tickets! Feeling like a gambler you tried out the lucky spin, you actually won 500 tickets from it, nice.

You also managed to get a stuffed fireball with a cute face on it, very warm. You haven’t seen Unnämed anywhere, seems like they’re on the upper floors… but then again you two did split out… there’s an hour left before you two meet again for the bet.

Let’s count your finances first, so far you got 652 tickets, 2 fireball plushies, and 1 free lollipop from a kid. Not bad but you still had some coins left for another game, however coincidentally you also met U-San there as well.

“ ah, how many tickets did you get?” You saw them holding a few plushies in their arms as well, you wonder what it would be like to be the plushies-

“Somewhere around 650-ish, how about you?” They nodded, seems like you and them either have a close amount or just behind each other a bit.

“Cool, want a plushie? I accidentally got too much.” Aren’t most of the machines rigged though?? “Here.”

“Oh uh thanks?” You’re still questioning the amount their holding right now after taking three from them.

Apparently you lost… you were short on five tickets, however they don’t know that yet since there’s still an hour left. You have to win another game before losing, you were a competitive person to say the least.

“I wonder how much I’d get from this game…” your eyes caught onto a punching game, how hard you punch it will determine the amount of ticket you get. “Let’s see..”

“Looks like you found an interesting game.” U-San peered over your shoulder, looks like you’ve found yourself in a pickle. “Looks fun!”

“…I’m almost out of coins so this would be my final game.” You had like four coins left, curse the rigged claw machine.

“Oh I also have four coins left too, how about this being our last game before we settle the bet?” Well let’s hope you’re strong enough.

You weren’t, you had a good punch but nope you were still weaker than U-San, you scored 145 psi… but U-San scored 180 psi. Gawd damn it, you didn’t know being weak was a mistake!

“I lost…” you felt your soul leaving your body, Unnämed pat your head with a sympathetic smile as they lead you to the gift exchanging booth.

“There there, don’t worry I’m not gonna make you do something uncomfortable.” That’s what they all say at first! “Okay you might be a bit uncomfortable but you might also be happy?”

Unnämed didn’t know how to console you, it looked like you wanted to win. You were kinda cute pouting so it was kind of a win for them either way. They had around 657 tickets, not including the amount they won from the punching game.

“I don’t know what to exchange… what do you think?” Snapping out of your sulking episode you looked around the counter, nothing caught your eyes yet.

“I’m not sure..” you caught sight of a cute dog plush, it looked like Mephistos. “How about that one?”

“Looks like, Mephistos.” Not like you wanted the plushie but it looked the most decent out of them all.

You both exchanged your tickets and got a few toys, surprisingly U-San gave you the Mephistos plushie, but then again who needs a knock off when you got the real thing.

For the rest of the day you both walked around all of the arcade, looks like you’re trying your best to make them forget the bet you made in a spur of moment. Unnämed knew that but they decided to play along, they’ll just remind you after you both had fun for now.

The stars flicker under the night sky… it was a new moon that night, it was dark but you didn’t feel so afraid nor lonely. U-San held your hand as you both walked home holding bags of today’s memories, too many stuff to keep but you decided to keep it either way.

“You know… you still haven’t heard of what I want you to do..” you froze in your steps looking nervously at Unnämed.

“Right… so what do you want me to do for you..” you nervously squeeze a fireball plushies with a tag that says ‘squish’.

“Well…”

They haven’t really thought about it either… what do they want them to do? They aren’t so sure but maybe they’ll just test the waters first…

“Go out with me.” The awkward air starts to rise, U-San looks to the ground their face a bit flushed not daring to face them. “It’s a bit sudden but that’s what I want you to do.”

“I’m not sure what you’re implying by that.” They could hear the hesitation in your voice, should they go further? Would this ruin what you both have?

“I…” their voice gets stuck in their throat.

Everything they do… sudden they find it embarrassing, the times where they would spend checking up on you, the times where they would hug you and give you head pats, the times they enjoy seeing your true personality shine through… they suddenly realized maybe they really do like you, but the question still stands… do you like them?

“(Y/n), I really have to ask you this..” they’re afraid, what happens if you only see them as friends? “And please be honest with me.”

“Do you like me? And more than a friend would.. I need to know.” You don’t know what to do or at least how to answer… did they know the answer before hand?

“I do, I’ve always liked you from the moment we meet.” You closed your eyes preparing to be rejected like how you always saw it, who would like someone like you?

“Thank you..” instead you felt them hugging you… you let go of your held breath and pat their back, you felt a single tear running down your face. “I like you a lot, so I hope this means you’ll hear my request?”

“Yeah, let’s go out again soon.”

𝙾𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛: Fey

𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚙𝚝: 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎! -𝙰.𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕~🖤

#unnämed #Unnämed x reader #u san #u-san #u-san x reader #ur ärt #u san x reader

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omegaremix · 3 months

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Needle & Groove, 2022.

Years ago there was a record store called Slipped Disc in Valley Stream which specialized in metal, punk, and hardcore, just like None Of The Above in Centereach. Both stores no longer exist with Slipped Disc exiting out in 2008. Owner Mike Schutzman now sells records online and is the organizer of Vinyl Revolution Record Show. What had this store on my radar was that his daughter Amanda was interviewed for No Echo’s record collector’s spotlight. She’s no longer really there but still acts as their buyer and distributor. My friend Danny From The 209 loved Slipped Disc back in his Brentwood days but I never got a chance to visit. Now, here’s Needle & Groove. I had an inkling that maybe there was a little sliver of Slipped Disc’s soul. I’d find out soon enough.

Driving there was a daunting ride taking five major roads to get to. Five. Long Island Expressway, Sagtikos Parkway, Sunrise Highway, Meadowbrook Parkway, and finally Route 27. It’s placed in the busiest and tightest section of Lynbrook, right across from the train station. It was fucking hell trying to find parking. Either you find a parking meter or pick a very tight spot behind a small out-of-the-way shopping center and cross your fingers that you won’t get towed. I chose the latter.

Needle & Groove was the Nassau County equivalent to Riverhead’s Sunday Records. (How many times will I mention that place again? Fuck around and find out.) Shelves all against the walls, boxes on the bottom, and a long middle island of more records. I walked around and saw the vinyl layout of the store. New arrivals, the used alphabet and dedicated artists section. Jazz, soul, reggae, soundtracks and 7” hits. The kicker? They’re having a June sale. $3.00 and $5.00 records, and 50% all 45’s and 12” singles. Any time a store offers you a discount, you take it. All throughout Needle & Groove I noticed that their stickers could be considered a tad high. They’re certainly not (Plainview’s) ‘Vinyl Bay 777’ high which price based on condition and justify jacking up the prices three to four times what you pay elsewhere. Needle & Groove didn’t do such a thing, thankfully. Unless marked, the lowest price for any above-bin record starts at $6.99 and go up from there. As I’d later find out, it wasn’t the pricing that prevented me from buying a lot there, as you’ll see.

Right where I walk in to my right are several rows of discs. Five minutes of quick perusing and I found nothing special. I look up at the cassette rack and I found nothing, either, but the usual pop and best-sellers of the Eighties and Nineties. More cassette racks on the bottom. Nothing. Amusingly, there were a few crates of $1.00 and even 25¢ records, but how good could those be? That’s only the first ten minutes of looking. I had to find something, right? Right? I didn’t think there were any new release LPs I wanted, so I kept perusing through the used bins. They had tons of mostly used soul, R&B, and jazz in the racks. I’m not one for the former two, but I’m always curious as to what jazz titles they carried. At least they carried a lot of obscure artists and unknowns I’ve never seen before. Besides, that section was where my most essential scores were.

I still have a few Ron Carter, Deodato, Hank Crawford, and Ronnie Laws albums I don’t have. Ron Carter’s Blues Farm featured the usual suspects of Billy Cobham, Bob James, Richard Tee, Hubert Laws, Ralph MacDonald. Hank Crawford’s We Got A Good Thing Going also has Bob James, Richard Tee, and Ralph MacDonald plus Bernard Purdie and Idris Muhammad. Deodato’s Artistry featured John Tropea and that was an automatic grab. You can very well see what makes a small portion of my vinyl library.

I spotted several bins of 45’s and thumbed through those as well. I didn’t find much, to be honest. Just only a handful of 7” singles of my Atari childhood and maybe one or two I grabbed if only for the paper sleeve design. They carried so many 45’s from Bobby Darrin…Bobby Vinton? - oh, they’re all the same to me. Lots of blank sleeves so unappealing that I jumped right past them and didn’t find much that struck me. I look below and there were a few more wooden filled with 7” records and 45’s. They were so heavy that I couldn’t lift them up and set them on a flat surface, so nothing helped that I had to kneel down to find gold. Not much luck. No shamrocks, no bars, no lucky ‘7’’s.

My knees were already aching from all that bending but there was no end in sight. Onto the 12” singles sections I go. The 12” format is where I usually land a lot of golden-era hip-hop and rap. I was satisfied to pick out some selections from old-school legends Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel; both from the Sugarhill label. One that caught my eye was a Solitair record in a generic black sleeve with matching shiny black and silver sticker. But that wasn’t the reason why I caught it. Appearances by Cardinal Offishal and Choclair made it mine since I remembered them from MuchMusic. There were a couple of more pop hits from my Atari childhood I took with me. And how about this one: Techno Animal’s “We Can Build You” from the Brotherhood Of The Bomb era featuring Vast Aire and Company Flow’s El-P. That one was the only compelling pick of my expedition, and one from a few key months at Stony Brook. By then I was aching. My knees were getting tired. “But don’t quit just yet!”, my head tells me. After another thirty minutes going through their used soundtracks, alphabet and dedicated artists’ LP sections I found nothing appealing. Now there were even more vinyl crates sitting on the floor I wasn’t looking forward to.

I took a few moments to re-collect and start digging through those $3.00 records on the floor. I was hard-pressed to find anything. Nothing but the typical ‘been-there seen-that’ albums and artists in rock, R&B, soul, and your gramma’s classic basement records I wanted no part of. Then I get to dive in through the $5.00 records. After sifting through two of those boxes and still coming up blanks, I knew what to expect. I just gave up and called it a day.

Not much from Needle & Groove struck me. There was almost no element of surprise. The only record that really did it was that Techno Animal single, and it was the furthest thing from everything that the store carried. It’s not that I was expecting gold and pearls and stacks of Benjamins because I drove 35 miles to get there, but you can’t control what stores carry so it’s not their fault. No, really. So what’s the point of staying? Don’t get me wrong, Needle & Groove is a neat store and they’ll definitely have their clientele whose into their selection, but that selection is just not for me. That’s the big reason why I left with only $50.00 worth of records.

Here’s a fun fact for that day: it took me two hours to get home. I drove east on Route 27 during rush hour traffic. Sure, it was congested and every vehicle jockeyed for mere inches, but I had layers of puffy high-altitude clouds and plenty of sharp blue sky to look forward to. I had no work the following day, so I could afford to relax and enjoy the tunes playing from my now-disconnected iPhone SE to my system and out of my speakers.

Deodato: Artistry LP

Hank Crawford: We Got A Good Thing Going LP

Ronnie Laws: Friends And Strangers LP

Ron Carter: Blues Farm LP

Grandmaster Flash: “Flash To The Beat” 12”

Melle Mel & Duke Booty: “Message II (Survival)” 12”

Solitair ft. Choclair & Cardinal Offishall: “No Doubt” b/w “S.O.T.” 12”

Nu Shooz: “Point Of No Return” 12”

Techno Animal ft. El-P & Vast Aire: “We Can Build You” 12”

Frankie Goes To Hollywood: “Relax” 7”

System, The: “Don’t Desert This Groove” 7”

#omega #music #playlists #mixtapes #personal #Long Island #cassettes #tapes #records #vinyl #CD #jazz #fusion #old school #hip-hop #rap #backpack #white label #new wave #pop #industrial

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jaerang · 1 year

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𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐈 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐄𝐒.

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 : £15 an hour. a normal charge for babysitting bc apart from being just a teeny bit cringe at times (hb dabbing in big 2023!!) he’s well behaved and wouldn’t annoy me too much. huge ego booster as well.

𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐔𝐍 : £10 an hour. people would charge more bc he can lowkey be just a bit mean but this man is literally me just chinese and male. i’d love to hang out with him.

𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐎 : £14 an hour. he’s a bit boring but really nice and usually well mannered. low maintenance and would let me get on with what i need to do.

𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍 : £45 per hour. would’ve charged £60 but bc i love him i gave him a discount. he’s so cute and can cook so he can take care of himself but he’d just act like he’s unable to do anything on his own and would force me to do shit for him. spending more than 2 hours with this man would surely drive me mental, i’d need a smoke break every two minutes.

𝐉𝐀𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍 : £20 per hour. i love him and he’s usually an angel but those spontaneous bursts of energy can be just a little bit too much for poor old me. he’d try and convince me to drink his coffee 🥶 otherwise he’d honestly try babysitting me (tries to get me to do things for him pt. 2, we saw how translator noona suffered).

𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐄 : £100 per hour. even if he wasn’t so loud and energetic as well as judgemental id still charge him a lot bc he is loaded and i need money.

𝐉𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆 : £30 per hour. awkward shy boy who won’t cause me toooo much trouble, would probably break something tho and that would probably get me annoyed.

#ˋˏ mimi talks 😗 ˎˊ #nct dream #nct crack #nct scenarios #nct #nct dream scenarios

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mapsoffun · 4 days

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The last time we flew out of Cancun, we had a lot of time so we had a long lunch at the Air Margaritaville, which wasn’t cheap. This time I had done a little more research and saw that there was a VIP lounge in our terminal--two, in fact, depending on your destination--that offered unlimited food and drink (including a premium bar) for three hours. Since we were flying out on a Thursday (something I definitely recommend), we were able to pay a discounted rate of I think $35 per person (normally $45 USD), which given how expensive that airport is for food and drink, is a steal. We were there right in time for them to transition from breakfast to lunch service, and I definitely enjoyed the experience. If you needed to work they have plenty of outlets/charging stations and work carrels, and plenty of regular seating if you just want a comfy couch before you head back home.

Note though, that this place can apparently get packed on peak travel days as I’ve seen people note in reviews that they had to wait an hour to even get in there, so definitely have a backup plan if the wait is long to get into the lounge.

#travel #travel photography #cancun airpor #food #cancun vip airport lounge #where to eat at cancun airport

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thathusenfulhu · 1 year

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the fall of the house of sushi

i remember when in the late 00s, a restaurant near STELCO called cafe mignon popped onto the scene serving sushi in male, likely for the first time. they only made sushi on order and you'd have to wait about 45 minutes for the rolls. they were big fat maki, with centres of either vegetable, teriyaki chicken, beef, or canned tuna. OK, not the best, yes, but finally, there was sushi in male. and like those of us with some experience of the culinary realms abroad, especially in east and south east asia, i welcomed this development wholeheartedly. things could only get better, right?

but the place closed down and male was sushi-less again. a giant step back during a time of progress – the first multi-party elections, the first democratically elected president, free health care, etc. things were silent on the sushi front until a young man and his russian partner (i think) opened a restaurant on rah dhebai magu. the sushi there was more than edible and i was starting to become hopeful again. but this place too had to shut its doors because, the guy told me, there just wasn't enough demand. people were still too conservative when it came to food.

so i waited. i was waiting on the naruto generation to mature and start earning, hoping that would end it once and for all.

the wait lasted a few years. and then sampaafulhu showed me something on instagram. it was maybe 2014 and a little place in hulhumale was doing sushi. we went almost immediately. it was in a guesthouse, on the ground floor. and the sushi was good. but i had been let down too many times so i didn't let myself get carried away. and just as well because that place went down.

but then in 2018, when greater male was getting funky with its cuisines (gg's kitchen, blood orange, the goat fish cafe) a japanese place opened up again. oishii by young chef fatheen and his then-girlfriend, the culinary artist shifu, started stirring things up almost from the get go. in an interview with lonumedhu (written by yours truly), fatheen – who was brutally trained under a japanese chef licensed to prepare fugu – said their restaurant was getting mostly maldivian customers.

yes. the tides had finally turned. and the food was GOOD.

a few years later, something happened. things started going downhill in the period right before their move to male. it was a slow descent and easy to chalk up to a string of off days. but by the time they moved to the portside in maafannu, it was starting to show. even then, there were plenty of customers. but i heard fatheen and shifu had gone their separate ways.

then a week back, i saw oishii in henveiru, near the post office. i was surprised by this move, but it seemed logical. there's a lot more going on here than over in dingy north maafannu. i wondered about the quality of food. there was only one way to find out.

so, i went with moosaalhu and took our seats upstairs. it was pleasant, with a good view of the docks from the floor-to-ceiling windows. however, when it was time to order, i found out that half the things i wanted weren't available. including miso soup! that should have been a red flag. but i asked for salmon maki and a stir-fried beef don and moosaalhu a katsu kare.

the food didn't take long to arrive. moosaalhu emptied a forkful into his mouth, chewed and grimaced. 'the chicken is dry af and bland as cardboard,' he said.

the maki was encrusted with sesame seeds and the rice was tasteless so i tried the beef. dear god. it was like biting into little bullets.

it was too much. i asked for a discount. they gave me 20% plus an apology. but it's like they aren't even trying to keep up a pretense anymore. it's clear. oishii is no longer in the game. it's just sushi zu now, and a sad state of affairs for those who love japanese cuisine in the city.

#oishii maldives #japanese food #decline #sushi

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umichenginabroad · 1 year

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Week 3 - Salon-de-Provence

Before heading our of Paris, 6 of us decided to take a weekend trip to Amsterdam while we still were close (ish). Friday night at around 10:45, we hopped on something called a BlaBlaCar, which is an overnight bus. About 8 hours later, we pulled up in Amsterdam! It wasn't too bad of a bus ride since it was overnight - I just slept and avoided checking the time so it would go by faster. After getting to the Amsterdam train station, we took the metro to Central Station. It was really early, so we burned a bit of time going to McDonald's and using their bathroom to change and brush our teeth before going to a really good pancake place. We bought iAmsterdam cards, which got us discounted food and free admission to a lot of attractions around the city. To start us off, we went to the zoo (free with the card) and saw lots of cool animals. There were flamingos and panthers and butterflies (the butterfly exhibit is always my favorite at zoos). After a few hours at the zoo, we headed to a WWII resistance museum. It was a very interesting and informative museum and had English guides to carry around (as well as Dutch and English descriptions on everything). It was a really long museum (but I highly recommend going!), so it took us right up to check in for our hotel. Settling in the hotel made it difficult to leave because we were so tired, but we managed and went back out for dinner, the Heineken Experience (a silly tour through the original brewery), and a few of us went out to a karaoke bar to drink and sing. It was my first time doing karaoke, and it was SO fun. Those of us who went out were from Michigan, so of course we sang Mr. Brightside. Gotta represent.

The zoo, the city, and the brewery.

For Sunday, the only opening to go to the van Gogh museum (a definite must-see if you ever find yourself in Amsterdam!) was 9:15 in the morning, so we really had to rally to get up only about 5 hours after getting home to go. The museum had a temporary exhibit talking about van Gogh near the end of his life, and it definitely let me grow a greater appreciation of his art. I also got to see a painting there that I had seen the year before in Paris, so that was very cool. The museum took HOURS, but it was (I think) around 4 very full floors. I didn't love van Gogh's art before going, but I think that was an exposure issue!! I just hadn't seen enough pieces because he had some really incredible paintings, and I'll share some of my favorites below! After van Gogh, we got lunch, where I tried the famous stroopwaffle. 10/10, highly recommend. It's just a waffle that somehow has caramel inside, and it's so, so good. We then hit the NEMO, a famous interactive science museum. It would've been cooler if there were about 100 less kids inside. The activities seemed fun, but it was difficult to do them because random kids would just come up in the middle and press buttons or flip things and generally just mess your stuff up. Not to mention that at least 3 kids got separated from their parents within the span of 30 seconds. It was super chaotic, so if you ever go, go at the least busy time so you can enjoy it more. From NEMO, we headed to a boat tour on the canals. It was so beautiful, and maybe a little too relaxing because it was starring to put me to sleep. But Amsterdam was built around the water, so you definitely have to see it from the water. After the boat tour, we got a quick dinner before heading back to the station to catch the BlaBlaCar back to Paris.

Some cool van Gogh paintings and a view from the boat.

I got a quick nap at the hotel in Paris, packed quickly, then it was time to head to Salon-de-Provence. Monday was a very long travel day - we hopped on the RER, then the metro, then a train, then a bus to the hotel. It was pretty exhausting but did allow for a lot of nap time. We checked in, walked to dinner, then came home and crashed for the night.

Tuesday had us starting our first class at a Feench Air Force base. It was a cool experience, but my one complaint was that it was 90 degrees, and we had to wear pants - I would definitely bring thinner pants if I ever did this again. At the base, we learned about space and satellite communications, both in linking to sats and in types of image capture that sats take of the Earth. Lunch at the base was the worst of the trip for the whole time that we were there. Not yummy, and extra not fun for the vegans and vegetarians on the trip because I don't think the Air Force believes in that. After class, we went out to the town for food and to check it out. It was small but very cute, though about a 40 minute walk back to the hotel (we did not have bus tickets yet).

Views of the city.

Wednesday started off similar to Tuesday with long class hours, but we got to finish out the day with a visit to Château Virant, which, despite the name, is not actually a castle. They make and sell wine and olive oil, so we got to tour the facilities and see the machines where it all happens, ending the visit with some taste tests. It was a lot of fun and an interesting visit! Plus the scenery around it was just gorgeous.

Château Virant, outside and in.

Thursday was a nice break. We went to the base but just watched their acrobatics flyers practice and got to hear some about the competitions they enter (where they can pull plus/minus 10 Gs! 0_0). I've never been all that interested in planes (I'm more for the space side of things), but they were really getting me hooked....Anyway, after the mini show in the morning, we went into Marseille and to the beach. The water was cool, though very salty and rocky. Most of us left with cuts all over our feet, but honestly it was worth it. I've missed the beach so much since being here!

The class in front of one of the planes the acrobatics team uses.

Marseille and everyone at the beach!

Salon was a short visit, so Friday we took our exam in the morning and watched an airshow on the base in the afternoon. It was honestly better than the Paris Airshow. Everything was closer so you could see it better, and it was significantly cooler outside. One more instance of planes actually being pretty interesting. That evening, we went into town where they were hosting a fair, so I went on a silly ride and did bumper cars. I don't think I've laughed so much the entire trip, it was so fun.

The airshow and the fair.

We had a free day Saturday before heading to Toulouse Sunday, so 6 of us took a trip to Cassis and hiked through the Calanques. They're a little mountain area/national park not too far outside Marseille, and it was honestly one of the best days of the trip. A guy in the group, Nick, misread a sign, so instead of a 20 minutes hike to the beach we were headed to, it was closer to 2 hours. It was absolutely worth it though. There wasn't much if a view on the short path (which we took back), but it was so cool and beautiful on the way there. We stopped for a quick lunch of sandwiches that we brought and sat on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, which is so crazy. When we got to the beach, we were all pretty hot, so we hopped right into the water. It was pretty cold but so refreshing. We swam out a bit to this area where we did some cliff jumping (it was maybe about 15 to 20 feet high? I don't know, I'm bad at gauging that stuff). It was so incredibly fun. We go out after an hour or so, got dressed and headed back to the city for food. Overall, we spent around 7 or 8 hours in Cassis, and I'd recommend the trip to everyone who likes hiking!

The view from Cassis.

Finally made it to the beach!

The big jump. I'm 5 foot for height reference.

Crazy sights during the hike.

That was all for Salon-de-Provence, so I'll see you soon for the Toulouse update!

Aryanna Thompson

Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace Summer Program 2023

P.S. Sorry this update is kind of late, the WiFi at the current hotel is very, very bad. It took so many hours to get all of these photos to upload.

P.P.S. Because this group is so funny and I've done a bad job showing it, goofy pictures will be at the end for the last few blogs:

Sam taking a picture of what I quickly learned was a classic Ethan pose, and Chris asleep on the bus after the wine visit.

Jon will cook anything in that little pot, Nick will eat entire rotisserie chickens at a time, and Tash will be pretty normal with her snacks (this was also moments after Nick tried his first ever hard boiled egg?). Picture on the left is when a waiter stole my phone while we went to take my BeReal.

They are all so determined to photobomb me. One of David's many successes.

#umichenginabroad #ipeaerospace #aryannathompson #ipesummer23 #france

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kat13thoughts · 2 years

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Part 1: The Start

***Trigger Warnings for SA and depression***

@taylorswift was first introduced to me the first time I heard Tim McGraw on the radio. I remember sitting in my room doing some homework and listening to the radio. I thought huh I don't know who that is but it's nice. I immediately wrote it down to ask my mom to maybe possibly download it on her work computer later and burn me a CD with other songs I wanted to listen to. I grew up very poor so to get my mom to download anything was a challenge, it involved lots of chores on top of my regular duties. Daily I was coming home from school around 3:45-4:00pm to start dinner and clean. Then my parents would go to work until 5:00 am and I would take care of my 5 and 3 year old siblings. Feeding, bathing, and cleaning the house was almost my whole life. I worked for almost a month and my mom said she couldn't afford to buy all these songs online I wanted. I was sad but I understood. Even at the age of 11 I knew what money meant and how much every penny mattered. A few weeks later, I told my mom she needed to buy some diapers and my mom picked some up at our local Walmart. She saw a Taylor Swift Debut CD in the clearance aisle. There was a crack in the packaging and it was heavily discounted so she got it for me. I remember feeling like I had won the lottery when she came home with it. I treasured this CD with my everything and convinced my mom to put it on her computer and burn me an extra copy so I could use that one and not ruin the lovely CD I had. I would listen to it every night to bed and just sing the songs, never knowing how important this album would end up being to me. Flash forward a few months and it's Christmas 2007- I got an I-Pod Nano for Christmas which was a HUGE Deal! My parent's business had made a little bit of extra money and they wanted to give me something to hold my music. I was a band kid already and music was already starting to be my escape. I had been dealing with bullying due to my race. Growing up in an all White town and being the only Hispanic in my school was tough. But the music-Oh the music blocked all the pain and made things so much easier. I turned it on-and all my CDs had been put on here and Taylor swift's debut album was on it. I remember I cried such happy tears and felt so emotional. I tried to get my mom to return it because I knew it was expensive, even if it was the oldest model. I knew what that money meant. In the end I kept it and even 17 years later I'm so extremely grateful for it.

#taylor swift #my story #emotions #life story #growing up

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usedpidemo · 2 years

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Get a room (Oh My Girl Arin)

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

You’re not even halfway past the door of your designated hotel room when Yewon suddenly exclaims in shock and disbelief. Though you are carrying both your luggage and hers, you hastily put the bags down to rush toward her. The bags prevent the electronic door from closing automatically and slamming it shut.

“What’s up?” you say when you reach her, immediately discerning the disgusted expression on her lips.

She pays no attention to your question; instead her eyes focus on what’s in front of her. Taking the hint, you look on as well. The main takeaway is that you don’t really see anything wrong with the room you’ve booked—at least for the discounted price you found it. It appears perfectly adequate and suitably equipped, with a perfectly clean floor, a small coffee table with two couches, transparent sliding doors that connect the suite to a boxy terrace with a lovely view of the seaside cliffs overlooking a close but still relatively distant island, and a 45-inch television fastened to the wall.

For the most part, it looks perfectly normal, until Yewon points out the immediate problem.

“We made sure to ask for a twin room, right?”

Turn to Yewon again. You clearly hear the concern and repugnance in her tone. She can’t look away from the most obvious elephant in the room—a single bed that normally rests only one person. There’s two of you. It’s not rocket science to figure out, but your mind still denies the evidence ahead of you.

“Ummm,” you can’t process the situation properly and answer her even plainly, causing you to trail off until you somehow get it together. “I think we did?”

“No—yeah, we definitely did.” She directs her finger to point out the obvious. “We definitely asked for a room with twin beds. That isn’t a twin bed, that’s a—”

Return your glare back to the single queen bed, then your eyes shift back-and-forth between the mattress and Yewon a few times, asking for confirmation. She catches a glimpse of your stupefied reaction, and her response is blunt but says everything, with a nod of her head and a quiet, “Yup.”

Letting the scene completely sink in, your first thought running through your head is: This is going to be the most awkward night of your life.

Indeed, you booked a twin room for you and Choi Yewon as part of your two day road trip up in the mountains, your getaway vacation back when you were childhood friends. Even though somewhere in your teens you went your separate ways, with her becoming a successful idol as part of Oh My Girl and you focusing on a career in journalism, you still connected with each other though you never really saw her in person until way after her group became incredibly popular. With more solo activities on her plate, she decided to call you up and relive fond memories before she’d return to her busy life as a star.

“I swear to God, this is just—” Yewon stops herself from complaining some more. Even though you had not seen her in years, everything you remember about her is still present. The cuteness, the dorky attitude, and the playful innocence in her tone whenever she groaned about something remain part of her, now in a more gorgeous package. She’s become so eye-catching that you can’t really look away from her no matter how much you continue to remind yourself you’re merely friends.

“No, no, this is fine. It’s fine.” She shakes her head, pretty much accepting defeat in this situation. “We can deal, we’re both adults.”

“I can sleep on the floor if you want—”

“Definitely not.” She turns to face you, her tone quickly changing in a defensive manner. “Well I’m not taking the floor because I drove the whole day, and you’re sure as hell not sleeping on the floor either, because you’re driving tomorrow. So, let’s just adult it up and share. It’s a big bed with plenty of space.”

Convincing as she might sound, it won’t suddenly change the size of the bed, which would awkwardly fit both of you, nor will it split into two like magic.

“I mean I guess we can’t completely adult it up,” she follows. “We can put a pillow barrier or something if that makes you feel better?”

“Pillow barrier?”

“You know? The kind we had when we used to have sleepovers at your place?” she lightly giggles as she remembers your fond childhood memories together. “I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable or anything.”

“I appreciate your concern, but you’re being silly.” Remembering what she said a moment ago, you deflect her own words back to her. “We’re both adults now. Besides, I’ve slept in worse.”

She pauses, thinking things through. You don’t know what’s going on in her mind, but you can at least find some comfort knowing she’s most likely just as stunned as you are.

“You know what, you’re right.” Yewon shakes her head again, internally beating herself for not being mature about it. “I’m being silly. Let’s just pick one side, and stick to that.”

She walks over to the right side of the bed, designating it as her spot in the little mattress, leaving you without any opportunity to choose. Her graceful hands flow along the silky, clean sheets. “I’ll take this one, is that okay?”

You simply nod while you raise your eyebrows and nod in agreement. Even if you didn’t like your lack of freedom, you didn’t have the will to deny her what she would have liked, especially with those kind features of hers.

“Great.” She looks outside, then to her wristwatch, then back to you. “We should probably shower and get ready for bed. It’s getting late, and we still have quite a way to go. You can go on ahead first.”

Wasting no time, you turn away from her to pick up the luggage you left at the front door. You barely catch her mumble another complaint, “Oh boy.”

—————

The bathroom door opens. Out comes Yewon, with freshly wet hair and changed out of her clothes, only sporting the customary black hotel bathrobe. She wraps her locks around a braid as she walks back to the living room.

“The water pressure here is ass!” she chuckles as she finishes tying her hair. “I literally—and you’re asleep.”

She gasps in shock. You’re in bed, arms and legs spread wide, snoring like a whale, and obviously oblivious to what she was ranting about. Thankfully you’re mindful enough not to fully occupy her designated side of the mattress.

“Shit.”

Yewon walks over to the opposite side of the bed, footsteps as quiet as a mouse in an effort not to wake you up.

“I’m dry enough,” she whispers to herself. “Maybe if I just slide quietly right in, on the right side—”

Without stirring up the bed to cause even a slight rumble, Yewon gently lowers her ass on the partially ruined sheets. All the while, her stare lingers to your face, trying to look on if you’re actually asleep and if her entry might possibly disturb your peace. When you don’t react, she sweeps her toned legs around in an upward motion off the ground, then she carefully slides upward to reach the pillow. Eventually, her head rests on the cushion without drawing even the slightest commotion.

Successful, she sighs in relief. Her eyes look up to the ceiling and the four unopened lights that form a square. The only things she can hear are her own deep, heavy breaths. Your snoring has gone radio silent. Drowsiness begins to flow down her exhausted body, preparing her for dream land.

But just as she’s relaxed enough to settle in, a sudden weight that bears itself on her breaks the silence.

“Are you really asleep, you absolute dick?” she sneers venomously. Her glare points toward you. Unknowingly, your right arm is wrapped around her belly, while your right leg is coiled over her own right leg. To make things worse, your lips are close to her bare shoulders, grazing her soft, dainty skin. Despite the sudden screech from her mouth, it doesn’t elicit a reaction from you.

“God, I should have showered first,” she hisses to herself. The pillow barrier was a good idea, why didn’t she press on with that? “How am I supposed to fall asleep when you’re right fucking there?”

Though she clearly hates you draped around her, she tries her best to ignore your presence. Intentional or not, you won’t let her have any sort of peace.

Much to her dismay, half of your frame is all over her like your warm, favorite blanket. Any sort of space between you is gone when your lips leave saliva trails over her right shoulder.

Yewon looks behind her, angered and evidently upset. Any little form of subtlety and quietness left is unceremoniously thrown out the window. “No, no, no, you’re kidding me! You asshole! This is so not fair! You cannot sleep spoon me! How are you supposed to be asleep? This is literally the worst version of my—”

She stops herself again from gushing, suddenly remembering you have a chance to hear her deeper, more intimate feelings. Yet you don’t respond in any shape or form. There’s an essence of innocence and gentle warmth as you embrace her without your knowing. Yewon can’t bring herself to push you away, annoyed as she is.

Eventually, she does find some comfort and adapts herself to the cuddle. She sighs again wistfully. “I guess this is nice, though. Figures you’d be a good cuddler.”

Yewon sinks into her pillow once more, determined to put aside her discomfort just to be able to fall asleep. Minutes, perhaps hours, pass. Her eyes remain wide open as she can’t bring herself to completely relax. Something’s definitely preventing her from snoozing.

“Okay this is comfy and all, but if you’re gonna poke my back with your knee I—” A brief look behind her and she finds a noticeable protrusion between her legs, sending her into a wild panic. Instinctively, she pushes you off her, perhaps further than she expected. “That’s not your knee—oh shit!”

Distress builds on more stress. She watches as you roll off the bed and onto the floor, causing you to yelp loudly and snap wide awake. Yewon crawls to your side of the mattress as you sit up on the ground. Her hands cover her mouth as she checks in on you, whether you got hurt or not.

“Fuck, I am so sorry— Dude, are you okay? I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to kick you off the bed, you were just really fucking close,” she says, the words leaving her in rapid succession, like she was blurting. “Here, let me just—Oh my God!”

Before she reaches her hand out to pick you up, she catches a glimpse of your raging erection. Your pajamas are halfway off. She turns away with cheeks completely on fire, hands on her eyes, and her mind with a new memory she wants to unsee. Her mouth is completely unrestrained.

“Why the fuck are your pajama bottoms so loose, dude?”

As you get up and push up your underpants, you retort, “You got really excited when you saw them.”

“No I am not flustered, shut up! This is the worst fucking night!” she replies with her back turned against you, but even in the dark, you can see her red cheeks from embarrassment. “Can I uncover my eyes yet?”

“Yes you can, you horndog.”

“Okay, thank you.” She promptly draws her hands back then faces you again. Not even the snarky word you called her draws away from her awkwardness. As you stand in front of her, not willing to rejoin her in bed, she draws her breath, then exhales, regaining her composure.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I really did think I was going to be fine with this.”

You cross your arms and raise an eyebrow, questioning her comment. “Are you sure? I think you’re weirded out by this.”

“No, no. I’m not weirded out or anything,” she replies. Her eyes look away from you, unable to face you directly. “It’s not like I feel unsafe or anything.”

“Are you nervous?” You gently approach the bed.

Yewon pauses for a second, trying to formulate a reply that hopefully won’t offend you.

“Y-yeah, I’m nervous, b-but not like that, you know? Not because I’m uncomfortable with being near you, or not, not uncomfortable in a bad way—”

She stammers through her faulty reasoning, ultimately giggling as she struggles to finish her justification.

“I-I can’t do words right now! I mean, you literally just spooned me with an erection, you cannot expect me not to talk about it?”

Look down and find that your boner seems to have calmed down. Hopefully, she is too.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I never meant to—”

“No, don't be sorry,” she interrupts. “It’s not your fault, umm, I mean, it’s kind of my fault for kicking you off the bed?” Can we just go back to sleep? I promise not to kick you again.”

Wanting to move on, you simply accept her offer and slide back to your side of the bed while Yewon wiggles back to the opposite end. This time you leave a wide space between you two. Both of you lie back down while staring at the ceiling, allowing silence to fill the room for a few minutes.

“So, the shower here kinda sucks, right?” Yewon breaks the still quietness, recalling the awful water flow. You might as well just have used a dipper or swam in the pool as an alternative. You simply nod as you place your arms behind your head.

“Yeah. Bad water pressure,” she continues with a chuckle. “And maybe it’s just me, but the room heater is kinda terrible too.”

She’s right. Even though you’re confined to a shut room, the coldness of the outside still peeks through the windows. You’ve mostly overlooked the chills and shudders until she pointed it out, to which you nod in agreement again.

Yewon turns to you while you shiver from the cold. “Do you wanna huddle a little closer? Instead of us both hanging off opposite ends of the bed?”

Facing her again, you ask, “You won’t kick me off, right?”

She shakes her head with a cheeky grin. “No more kicking off the bed. I promise.”

Her welcoming smile is enough to draw you back to her again. She also reciprocates your approach, steadily inching close to you until you both meet halfway in the center of the bed. Then your arms wrap around each other as you feel the heat of the other’s body pass through yours. Inches apart, cold breaths on each other’s chin, the awkwardness has faded to make room for soft, intense tension.

Your hands explore her hips, and hers roams yours. One move and this could end in a complete mess. While you feel every delicate sensation of her toned body, gasping and sighing with restrained lust, Yewon closes her eyes as her hands claw through the fabric of your shirt, struggling to keep herself together.

“Oh this is nice,” she says, her tone wavering between formality and passion. “I did say you were spooning me in your sleep earlier.”

Your cheeks are flushed with a bit of embarrassment, even though she doesn’t fully blame you. Of all times your hormones decided to lose control, it just had to be with her.

“I didn’t mind it. It felt nice,” she continues, gently reassuring you from your guilt. “You felt nice. Better than I imagined you would, you know?”

“You imagined this?” you ask, raising concern over her thoughts regarding you.

“Yeah I imagined this before. Cuddling you like this, not because of warmth or anything, but because we wanted to. I mean, not like this, but you know—”

Yewon’s heart is slowly gushing about her true feelings. There’s very little left in her that can resist from admitting the truth. She knows if she can’t admit it now, there won’t be another opportunity for her to do so. Her hands pull back from pinching at your shirt, still preventing herself from opening up to you completely.

But there’s nowhere left to go.

“Of course, I wanted to,” she continues. While you brush streaks of her hair away to clearly see her beautiful face, she averts eye contact with you. “I’ve been into you, okay? I’ve been into you for years. I’ve literally had a crush on you since we were kids. I—”

Yewon realizes what she’s just said and stops herself short. She retreats her hands back and spins away from you with immediate regret. “Fuck, I shouldn’t have said that. I should just go and ask for another room and I—”

Before she turns away from you entirely, you cup her face and meet her in a fiery, passionate kiss on the lips. Any sort of barrier between you is completely shattered. Without any inhibition, Yewon sinks into the smooch with every bit of her passion, love, and desire that had been contained for so long. And now, she has an outlet to pour her every bit of affection onto you.

“You fucking idiot,” you murmur in her mouth. Drawing her back to keep her close, you peck at her lower lip as she freezes in place.

“Wh-wh-what do you mean I’m an idiot—”

This time you’re the one to interrupt her. You dive back into making out with her, your childhood friend and longtime crush. Both of you realize how much you have deep, intimate feelings for the other and never really had the chance to share how you needed each other. Perhaps this single bed was the best thing to ever happen for you two.

Yewon suddenly breaks away with a cheerful laugh, the brightest she’s ever been. “Maybe we’re both kind of idiots.”

Then you pull her back in again. You have no intention of letting Yewon escape from your grasp, especially not after your mutual feelings of affection for each other.

“You genuinely have a crush on me?” you ask, mumbling between her lips. Part of you still refuses to completely believe her, even when her tone meant complete sincerity.

“I meant it,” she replies softly, reaffirming herself. “I’ve always really, really liked you.”

She crawls on your chest, slowly climbing up your body until she’s on top of you. Now it’s her weight pressing against you, a retaliation for what you did to her earlier. Her eyes gleam in the dark, full of burning desire. “I’ve imagined it—what it would be like to cuddle with you.”

The sudden change in her eyes, the wide smirk on her lips, and the heat emanating from her hands—you feel a lot hotter. Then she leans her face directly close to yours. Those luscious lips demand your attention, but you stop in place. Your heart races with anticipation and tenseness, allowing Yewon to have her way with you, the way she always wanted it to be.

“And also what it would be like to kiss you,” she continues, following it up with a gentle peck on your lips. Then another. And a third one. She’s so hot when she slowly teases you, with that alluring stare and irresistible sweet lips all over your mouth. You feel tingles all over your nerves as her hands run down all over your body, shuddering from just her sensitive touch. “And put my hands all over you.”

Any fleeting thoughts supposed to run through your head instead flow down your groin. Your shaft hardens as your childhood friend continues to toy with your patience and restraint with each delicate kiss and flick of her fingers against the soft fabric of your shirt.

Allowing the pleasure to consume you, you close your eyes and release an airy groan. Another step closer to breaking.

“If I put my hands under your shirt, is that okay?” she asks. They’re already halfway underneath the cloth. There was no other answer she’d accept other than a clear yes.

“Go,” you reply, still winded from the sensation of her tender fingers on your body.

Yewon immediately slides her hands deep into your chest while she kisses you to distract you from the sharpness of her nails. You jerk and groan a quiet sigh as her sensitive touch steals your breath away.

“Can we keep going? I want you to touch me too.”

The idea of having a piece of her snaps you back. Her chest is the first point that your eyes go straight through. Somehow, you feel like you’re in a dreamlike state, as if all of this is just a part of your fantasy, something long gone when the morning comes.

“Your tits,” you blurt, the heart expressing their first desire. “Let me touch them.”

“Of course. You can touch me there,” she replies almost instantaneously, her own eyes shut from pleasure as well. “Just place your hands over—ugh!”

You didn’t need any further instructions. Your hands slip between her thin bathrobe and grasp handfuls of her shapely breasts. They aren noticeably huge, but they feel so hot and warm in your palms. A couple of fingers twist and flick her taut nipples, eliciting a whine from Yewon. The smooth sensation of her flesh also causes you to moan pleasurably too.

“Do you like how they feel?” she asks, to which you nod enthusiastically. “They fit so nicely in your hands, like they were made for you.”

Her words bring a smile to your face. She’s matured so well in all the right places, and yet they feel incredibly welcoming and warm as you fondle and massage her mounds. In response, she presses her hands tightly against your cheeks, as if to suffocate you. Even as you play with each other’s bodies, you’re still occasionally drawn to the other’s lips.

“Fuck, you’re smothering me, Arin,” you say as you lightly choke from her clutch, ignoring that you addressed her by stage name rather than her personal name.

She giggles heartily while shaking her head. “No, I won’t let go of your face. I’m just gonna keep cradling your head in my hands,” her lips smother yours for a moment, “And running my fingers through your hair,” her right hand brushes up a streak, “And I’m gonna pull you close and suffocate you with tits if I have to, but I’m not letting go.”

As if she knows what you’re thinking of, she continues with, “I want you to feel that this is real, and this is really happening. Come here.”

When she kisses you for the umpteenth time, even if her lips feel like a familiar presence, it’s only now do you truly accept and come to understand that this is real. Yewon is truly in love with you, your hands are really on her tits, and this is as intimate as you can possibly get with your childhood friend.

Yewon notices the sudden lack of heat on her chest. “Wait, why are you taking your hands off my—fuck!”

A stream of hums escape her breath involuntarily. She whispers and whines against your lips. The lace separating her bathrobe is loosened, and so is your lust. Your digits find their way between her slit and her sensitive hole. Immediately, wetness protrudes your fingers as they dig into her pussy.

“Oh, that feels good, too. Oh fuck, mmm.”

Her airy and sensual moans arouse you even more while her juices coat your fingers as they explore and pleasure her cunt blindly.

“You’re so wet,” you say, whispering into her mouth as you continue to satisfy her hole, hitting all the right spots.

“Yes. You made me do that, made me hot and dripping.” Yewon wrestles with the overwhelming pleasure coursing throughout her body to kiss you again. “I’m like this for you, okay? Just for you.”

As if you needed any more motivation to bring her all the pleasure and lust she wanted. Your wet digits pump inside her faster, making her jerk and buckle on you as she whines and moans uncontrollably, feeling waves of wanton bliss surge all over her. With two fingers buried to her hilt, poking at her most satisfying spots, Yewon is a few moments away from flying over the edge.

“Wait, wait, wait. Stop, stop, stop.” she gasps, feeling tense and on edge from her impending climax. You don’t waste a second as you regrettably draw your wet digits back before you proceed to taste her juices in your mouth.

“Is everything okay?” you ask, puzzled by her sudden change of heart. She looked like she was enjoying every second of it. “I thought you were liking what we were doing so far.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s really good, but I want more.”

After you give her a moment to catch her breath, she catches your lips in another kiss. You’ve lost count long before that. When she breaks the smooch, her lust-filled eyes look down on you with renewed passion. She’s ready for another round.

“Sit up now, right against the headboard,” she says, commanding you like a superior, which you immediately comply with.

Though her frame presses against you, you lean your body upwards in a sitting position before you arch your back against the wooden headboard.

“Now, take off your shirt.”

You waste no time and immediately lift it over your head almost as fast as she demanded it. Her eyes peep down to gawk at your bare chest, brimming with even more lust than before.

“God, you’re gorgeous.” She can’t help but place her hands against your stomach again. In the process, she props herself against your lap, making sure her plump ass is all over your pajamas, making your cock twitch beneath her perfect butt.

“Fuck, I’ve wanted to do this for years, baby,” she whispers in your ear. Her tone changes with the ever growing neediness in her soul. “I can feel how—how hard you are. Mmm. You like it when I grind against you like this?”

Her hips gyrate around your pitched tent, stealing more of your air. When she finds your eyes twitching up from the immeasurable pressure you feel, she smirks with greater confidence.

“Do you like having me in your lap where you can feel my warm, wet pussy through your pants?”

Between her sultry inflection and her shapely butt against your groin, you’ve never felt more suspended in such a pleasurable sensation in your life. Much like your restraint slowly slipping down, so do your loose pajamas. Yewon feels a thick protrusion beneath her, partially stimulating her moist cunt.

“You know those pajamas are really loose? They slip off so easily.” She suddenly reminds you of those damned bottoms. Her flesh feels so tight around you that you forgot you were still clothed at all—not that you need other thoughts lying around when she is effortlessly grinding you like a high-class lap dancer. “And I think I want them off again.”

It isn’t really a want, but more like a need. With a few powerful swings of her backside, she manages to pull down your pants again. This time your cock has room to breathe, unlike you. Somewhere in between her loosened bathrobe slips off her too. Now there’s really nothing between you two—only bare souls, both literally and figuratively.

“Fuck, wow.” Her eyes linger on your hard shaft, brimming with desire like she’s looking at shiny jewelry. The little precum that glistens under the dim light add to the effect.

Yewon plants her hands on your legs, her body stretched out before you as she brings herself closer to your dick. She looks up to you with pleading eyes. “I need you in my mouth, okay?”

With your eyes completely shut, you merely nod. The only want in your mind is the hot sensation of Yewon’s mouth or cunt—any piece of her to fill your need.

You hear your back thump against the headrest, but it’s immediately forgotten when you hear her lips smooch and peck your tip. Her soft hums send you into a pleasure-filled craze. When she gently kisses up your length, you hiss and recoil even as gently as she goes. Out of desperation, your hands flail and grapple for something, anything—until you settle for the edges of the board that you’re leaning on.

She releases your dripping shaft from her plump lips. A little peek and you find it stained with dashes of white. You haven’t cum yet, but with the amount leaking, you might as well be.

Yewon looks up again. She notices your barely opened gaze. “Did I do this to you?”

Yes. Absolutely.

Is what you would say if your brain can register and deliver language to the other parts of your body. Instead, what comes out of your mouth are indiscernible babbles. She doesn’t need to understand baby talk to realize what her babyfeels about her.

“Did you get hard for me?”

You’ll never outright admit this to her, but those peeks of her cheeks on stage, her ass trying to make itself known through tight underwear definitely turned you on. Maybe she does know; that’s why she’s doing it in the first place. To drive the point home, her bare ass sticks out, inviting you to grab her.

Works well enough, because a moment later, a hand is firmly planted on her backside. Her skin has never felt softer and more inviting.

Forget about the question at hand; Yewon takes you into her mouth again. Your other hand positions onto her hair. You tug her forward whenever she pulls back. At this point, it’s a complete mess. Her mouth is full of spit and precum; your cock is full of spit and precum. There’s a bit of red on your legs thanks to her nails, you leave spots on her butt in kind. She laps around your shaft until you’re full of imprints written in her saliva.

“You taste so good,” she says between licks. “I love the way your cock feels in my mouth.”

It’s almost dreamlike how she feels around your shaft. Her tongue swirls all over your length so smoothly it’s unreal. Everything about what she does feels almost like a mirage. She works to pleasure your dick harder as you ease into a more relaxing, comfortable position. Your eyes slowly fade back into the darkness again. You wish to never wake up from this dream, at least until after you’ve reached the climax.

That is, until you’re given a hard reminder that you haven’t fallen asleep yet.

“Look at me. Look down at me. I’m here. This is real—mmmph!”

Open your eyes; hers meet yours in a melting gaze. She takes you into her mouth completely, piercing her throat, more than enough to force you back to life. You gasp and pant while she continues to choke herself on your dick, coloring her tongue with even more little shots of white. Then you feel a sharp twitch on your groin; the sign of imminent release.

Feeling your probable burst, she quickly drops you with a pop louder than the last two. With a few swift motions, she rises to your level again, straddling your lap while her hands rest on your shoulders once more.

Lifting herself slightly, lining your cock against her dripping slit, she whispers into your ear, “I want you inside me. Can I have you?”

Safety was a bottom priority to both of you. If anything, her soft bottom was what you needed the most.

The little nod signals your approval, much to her delight. With that, Yewon lowers herself down on your throbbing shaft. Seconds feel like minutes with each moment that you don’t feel her presence in your body, yet you still feel unprepared for how tight she was.

A collective groan escapes both your lips as Yewon impales herself to your sheath. You slightly hurt the back of your head as you recoil against the headrest, but it matters little, if not at all, when the pleasure of her suffocating pussy clenches greater than anything you’ve felt tonight—and she gave you head minutes ago.

“God, I feel so full of you. It feels so good, mmph.”

Yewon’s nails dig deep into your shoulders, drawing more marks on your body. She moans into your ear as you start to pump upwards into her tight, wet cunt, almost as if it was second nature even though it was your first time. In turn, she grinds her hips against yours, rolling her round ass around your lap like rubber. You grit your teeth as she sinks into your body deeper with each thrust, restraining your own moans to make room for her singsong, throaty whines.

“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this for so long.” The words leave her in a rushed, desperate way, but she meant every single one. “You feel so good—aahh!”

Your mouth latches onto her bouncy nipples as she rides you wildly, forgoing all sense of pace and timing. Elsewhere, your hands find themselves with handfuls of her plump, shapely ass. Full of bliss, she throws her head back as she wraps her arms around you in a deep embrace. Neither of you have the intention of letting the other go—not that you want to.

“Can I go faster?” she asks, between moans. No need to ask, that’s exactly what you desire her to do.

Except that asking is meaningless when she proceeds to throw herself down quicker and quicker. She pushes your head into your chest when you start to slip away. The bed creaks as you continue to fuck her hard. Her cunt pulsates tightly against your cock as you thrust in her with just as much vigor as she has. As the friction builds up, you begin to feel like you’ve been set on fire.

Yewon then pushes your face up as you moan into each other. No eye contact, just the sounds of skin slapping skin and the occasional squeak of the small mattress. You don’t know what will break first: you or the bed.

The yelp you make abruptly turns into a sharp scream. Suddenly you both grind to a complete halt.

Yewon’s no longer in front of you. She’s on your right shoulder, her teeth somehow deep into your skin. Realizing this, she pulls back a bit then looks at you with apologetic eyes.

“I’m sorry, sorry! Did I bite into your shoulder?” Her stare returns to your sore spot.

“I mean, you did, but it’s okay.”

“Really?” She looks at you again with twinkles in her eyes. “You don’t mind? You want me to leave marks?”

“Fuck, I do.”

“Fuck yes.” Yewon doesn’t waste a second to leave another red mark on your other shoulder, grazing your sensitive flesh with her teeth. To distract from the pain, she begins to bounce against your lap again. “I’ll mark you.”

It’s not fair she gets to have fun alone. So in turn, you nibble her delicate collar bones back. She whines between nibbles, a distraction you cause when you spear her constricting walls.

“I’ve wanted you for so long.” Yewon cups your face and intercepts you for a brief, passionate kiss. It’s immediately broken by her body riding up and down while you fuck her. She glares at you deeply. “And you’re mine now, right?”

You hurriedly nod, as if you already knew the answer—and you do. She kisses you on the lips once more. Undoubtedly correct.

“I’ll mark you so that we’ll both remember that—hnnghh!”

Your lips burrow on her neck first, taking her by surprise. She retaliates by gnawing your nape. Before you know it, both of your upper bodies are colored red, from the collar bones, neck, shoulders, and chest. Somewhere in between, your fingers are intertwined together as well.

All of it is a temporary distraction from what’s really happening: your eventual finish.

Push Yewon down to the mattress. Now you have the top position over her. Locking your fingers tighter with hers, you thrust in her faster and faster, all the while relentlessly nibbling her sensitive flesh with your teeth. Yewon might be a girl group member and under some company’s management, but you made it clear that she belongs to someone now.

Her marks can easily be hidden. Your budding relationship can be hidden. What cannot be concealed anymore was your utter hunger for her.

You thrust in her faster and faster, her moans reaching a high you didn’t expect her to hit. Even as you try to slow down, attempting to save the hot sensation of her tight pussy suffocating your cock, you can’t. Try looking away, only to be brought back to her when she announces her impending end.

“Fuck, I’m so close, please! Please, I’m so close—”

There was no going back. You proceed forward with harsher, deeper thrusts as you hiss back, “I’m close, too.”

“That’s it. Please, cum for me. Cum for me.”

And that’s enough to finally push you over the edge. One was good enough, but two seals the deal. A handful of hard pumps and your mind goes blank. You hiss while Yewon groans your name louder as you reach your orgasms, one after the other. Her jaw drops as you fill her womb with a big load of warm seed, followed by her slick juices on your shaft. An exchange of moans of relief and satisfaction accompany your peaks as you drain the other more than you anticipated.

Even as you orgasm, your body has no willingness to stop. She loosens her grip on you and lays dormant on the bed while you thrust in her until you eventually grind to a full stop. You lay your body beside hers as your cock withdraws, creating a thin string of white while the rest of your cum forms a huge puddle on the sheets.

Much like your position on the bed, you’re both upside down. Things won’t ever be the same.

Both of you allow silence to fill the room. There’s much to think about and you’re still sure this is a dream, even with her constant reminders.

Out of nowhere, Yewon starts to giggle. “When I said ‘We should adult it up,’ this isn’t what I meant.”

Roll your eyes with a bit of disgust, then turn to her. “Well we definitely acted like adults there, did we?”

“Shut up.” Yewon slaps your back jokingly at your retort before giggling heartily again. Afterward, she kisses you on the lips. She doesn’t regret a single moment that happened regardless.

“I did mean it,” she continues, caressing your face with a wide smile and pecking you on the lips again. “Everything I said.”

Another kiss, another confirmation.

“Look,” you say before uttering a wistful sigh. “I’ve never felt happier with you until tonight, but we should really talk about what this means for the both of us.”

“Yeah, I know. But we should probably go to bed, though. We have a long drive tomorrow.”

Your smile turns to a frown. You wonder if Yewon’s just dodging your questions or setting you up, especially after a confession like that, possibly leaving you sleepless for the night.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you, but if we’re gonna do this—”

“I promise. We’ll talk about it more in the morning. Definitely. Okay?”

You give her a nod, but with a brief reluctance in your motion. She reaches her pinky finger out. This can only mean one thing.

“Pinky swear.”

You extend your own pinky out in response. She hasn’t made a promise like that since you were children. Only then do you finally come to understand she genuinely means it, finally leaving you at peace about your long term relationship—at least for now.

“Well if we’re gonna be like that, might as well just sleep on the couch,” you say before turning away from her.

Yewon yanks your arm as you turn around and try to roll off the bed. She reels you back to her while both of you use your feet to grab the pillows away from you. You wrap your arms around each other as you cuddle yourselves to sleep, but not before you share another intimate kiss on the lips.

“Just come here and hold me, you dork.”

(A/N: This came out a lot longer and took longer than expected. I was really feeling lukewarm when it came to writing lately, but yeah. Unfortunate news for Jiho, hopefully she succeeds in her future activities. Anyway, I was surprised at how fluffy this was. Thank you for reading!)

#smut #kpop smut #oh my girl #arin

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libraford · 4 years

Text

The short version: We had a serial thief at the flower shop. She’s retired recently and I think that due to Covid she really means it this time.

The long version? hoooo boy, here we go.

This story, and others, are viewable on Tablo

There are rules and there are rules.

In dealing with shoplifting in retail, there are rules on how one engages with a thief. The handbook, if there were one, would consist of a single word.

Don't.

Don't pursue, don't interrogate, don't accuse. Let them take the merchandise, let them get away. Let them return the Cricut machine for an equivalent amount on a gift card to be exchanged once again for drugs.

Let them.

There is no handbook on how to handle Flower Thieves. Prior to working in a flower shop, I never thought that this was a problem.

Life is surprising.

I'm sure some of you have figured that out by now.

The Flower Thief is notorious, and she has a system. There are days when you simply know that she's going to be in.

"Break the heads off the flowers before you throw them away," Grandpa will say. "She's going to be here tonight, I think."

And sure enough, she would be. At 6:45, a quarter til we close- the Thief would announce her arrival. Loudly.

"Heeeeey, baaaaaaby!"

The very first time I encountered the Flower Thief, she came in through the back door.

"Oh Hiiiii, Darlin'- ain't seen your face around here: you must be NEW! I'm Wren, you know- like the bird? Well, Kyle and I have an agreement that I come and work for y'all sometimes. You should take out this trash, it stinks to high heaven. Anyways, nice talkin' to ya, see ya later."

I may only be a little bit psychic, but I've spent enough time around liars to know insincerity when I see it. Kyle, at the time, was the manager of our store and I have it on record that he's tried to throw her out of the building once or twice.

While I was taking out the trash, her pile of purchase became so tall it towered over her. I watched Clark massively undercharge her for the sake of getting her to go away.

She has a pattern.

She comes in during the design classes because she knows that when there's twenty people in the store, there's not enough people to watch her and make sure she's not stealing. "There's a class today," she asks as if it's not literally every Tuesday. "Don't worry I know you all wanna get out of here on time."

The Flower Thief announces her presence in a grand way and then makes her way to the back to grab a trash bag or an empty box and then proceeds to bury any spare parts she finds in the cooler in the trash bag, hiding them under the things that she's actually buying.

After that, she checks the garbage cans for things we might have thrown away that will last another three days and stuffs them underneath her other ill-gotten goods.

Just when you think she's finished, she'll go through her pile of flowers and say: "You know what? I don't need this eucalyptus." And she'll go back into the cooler with it, stuff it in her purse, and walk back to the register.

And when she's all done being sneaky, she asks one of us to come ring her out.

This is the part that no one wants to do. Because ringing out the Flower Thief means haggling with the Flower Thief.

"Oh baaby, you know I don't pay those prices."

"Oh baaaby, I only pay $19 for roses."

"Oh baaaaaaaaaby, those carnations were on special."

She'll talk you down to under $100 with a sob story:

"Oh baaaaby, you know I'm donating this spray to the family. It's for that woman you know- you know the one. She got herself murdered a couple nights ago? Two children and she was pregnant too! Pregnant! Can you believe it? Who murders someone with child? What's the world coming to? So I need a good discount to make sure we treat this family right because they got a looooong road ahead of them."

"Oh baaaaaaby, you know this one's for that car crash over on Cleveland Avenue? I hear he was taking care of his dying father himself, so it's such a shame for him to go first like that."

"Oh baaaaaaaaaaaaaaby, this is for that little boy that shot himself, isn't that sad?"

Thank you, Sister Mary Loquacious.

And you nod because you don't want to come off as an uncaring sociopath. And while you're nodding and adjusting the price for her sad, sad consequence and mulling over how good she is for donating to these people in their time of need, she steals some greens from the trash can and sticks them in her bag.

She hands you crisp $100 bills. You check them and she makes jokes about how she printed them this morning. They're legit. Counterfeiting isn't why she went to prison.

What she went to prison for was drug trafficking.

"Do you need some help," you ask, trying to be a good citizen.

"Oh no, I got it," she insists. "I'll make it in two trips. I'm stronger than I look!"

And don't you dare get caught looking to see what she put in the bag or she will give you one hell of a lecture.

By the time all of this has passed, the class will be over and there will two minutes left in the work day. She's spent thirty-seven minutes in the store. Your register is unbalanced because now you don't have enough small bills to balance it and only have one $100 bill to get you through tomorrow.

And that's why there are rules.

On occasion, a new person will break the rules not knowing that there's rules. One such occasion was when Clair decided to be helpful.

"You know what? I don't need this eucalyptus," Wren said.

"Oh! I'll put it back for you," Clair suggested. And before Wren could protest, it was out of Wren's hands and nowhere near her purse.

It was mentioned to Sage, who only worked for us one summer, that Wren had failed to pay for something and she immediately chased her out into the street.

Wren drives very fast.

If you cross her too many times, she'll make sure you never forget it. One day, she stomped her way in through the front door, angry.

"You ain't treated me better than a damn THIEF," screamed the Flower Thief.

Grandpa, who was helping Blue make a wedding bouquet at the time, departed from the desk. "Beg pardon?"

"A thief! You been treating me like a thief ever since they made you manager and I'm sick of it! I see you bringing in your henchmen, following me in the cooler, chasing me down the street. Treat me with some damn respect."

Words were exchanged. They were not kind. We thought we'd seen the end of her.

But she was back one week later, doing the same damn thing.

So now there are rules.

If you make something and there's an excess of flowers left over from the pack, you have to make something out of the leftovers or she'll pick through them and stuff them in her bag.

If you cannot make something out of them, you must throw them out.

If you throw them out, you must break the heads off first.

The trash cans must be emptied every night before 5:00.

We do not keep trash bags in plain sight.

Break down all empty boxes, or she will use them in place of trash bags.

Do not leave any food or drink where she can find it.

Do not leave any half-used rolls of floral tape where she can find it.

Do not let her know anything about you- lest she use it against you.

If you speak of a Thief, you summon a Thief- speak quietly, and never her name or you invite trouble.

The basic rules one makes when dealing with pests. Or fairy-folk.

There are rules and there are rules and there are rules.

If you want to keep a pest away, you make these sorts of rules. But if you want to get rid of a pest indefinitely, you have to remove their food source. And Wren's food source was her discount.

You start exercising your right to say 'no' to a customer in small ways.

She saw a bunch of carnations in the trash and said:

"Oh baby, these are still good! I'll take them off your hands for you!"

"They've been sitting without water for hours."

"They're still good!"

"They were out in the sun."

"Oh baby, I've been working with flowers for 40 years and I know that these will still be fine for a couple of days!" She picks a bunch of them out of the trash and shoves it in my face. "See, it's still stiff- it's still good!"

"Okay," I said. And before I could stop myself: "Full price."

Her eyes just about popped out of her skull. If it were just a little bit colder, I would have been able to see steam coming out of her ears.

We stared at each other for about a minute, waiting for the other to flinch. She took the bunch away from my face and threw them back into the trash. While she was in the cooler, I took the liberty of snapping the heads off of them and burying them further into the garbage.

And so began a war between the flower shop and the Flower Thief.

She came in: every single night. And each night, she got me.

Again.

"Oh no, baby! These carns are supposed to be 39 cents a stem. I can bring up the email."

"Sure." She brings up the email. "I see that they are 39 cents but... this was for Saturday."

"Yea, and I bought those carns on Saturday and you charged me full price!"

"Saturday."

"Yeah."

"You didn't buy these on Saturday. You bought them Friday."

"Well I didn't know that they'd be on sale, so I need them for that price because I didn't know they'd be on sale."

"The sales are one-day only. I can't adjust a sale from Friday to reflect Saturday's sale... on Sunday."

She made a noise that reminds me somewhat of a cement mixer.

And again.

"I got a bad banner last time, can you print me a new one?" She shows me the banner in question. It's white. The 't' and the 'h' in 'mother' ran together.

"Sure."

"Okay, I need it to say 'Beloved Mother' and I want it in pink."

"Sure."

I print it. I ring her up $5.

"Oh baaaaaaby, no, that one should be free."

"Grandpa said- banners start at $5."

"Oh, but you sold me a bad one last time."

"We haven't sold you a banner in three weeks. How long have y'all had that body sitting in your cooler?"

She grumbled, and paid.

And again.

"I swear you been workin' every night this week! You must be tired," she said, nerves plain in her voice. "When do you get a day off?"

"When the work is done."

"That ain't what I'm askin'. When's your next day off, baby?"

"I stop working when the work is done, Wren."

She narrows her eyes, which is a fun change from them bugging out of her skull like a fruit fly. "You don't ever get any days off?"

"When the work stops, I rest."

And again.

"I'll be in and out, I know y'all want to get out of here on time," she said- announcing her presence to the entire class. She piled her stuff across the register counter and Grandpa began ringing her up.

"Oh baby..."

"No. We're doing away with the discounts."

There are twenty people in the workshop for the class and Grandpa doesn't want to make a scene. She pulls her into the back, and I choose to make my instructions louder to mask the sound of them yelling.

"So you're going to take your hypericum berries and you're going to cut the stem to about ten inches-"

"How can you do this to me?"

"And you're going to slowly fill the vase with these berries to kind of set the shape of the arrangement."

"After all these years and this is how you treat me?"

"Fun fact- you might know hypericum berries as their more common name: St John's Wort! St. John's Wort has been used as a medication for depression prior to modern medicine." You see- I, too, have taken notes from the Chattering Order.

"You can't do this to me," Wren said, stamping her feet like a toddler.

"But I wouldn't recommend eating them. However, they do smell somewhat like baked brown sugar."

Stamp, stamp, stamp.

Wren threw herself into the cooler and began putting a bulk of her flowers back.

"This is robbery," I heard her say to Grandpa at the register.

"Is it now?"

And again.

She came in and immediately reached for a half-empty box of oasis bricks (the green sponge material that we use to hold flowers.) She said few words to me, few at all. She talked to Carrie about how she was going out to the country for awhile, to take care of her nephew's property. She needed to stock up. And oh- don't worry about it, she knows what she's doing. She's part of The Family.

She is in no manner of speaking, a member of The Family that owns this shop. Not even a third cousin.

I saw her beeline for a rose I'd set in the trash. I picked it up, opened my mouth, and bit the head off of it. She stood in the middle of the workshop, absolutely stunned.

Rose petals have the vague texture of arugula, by the way. Slightly sweeter, though. Tough to swallow in one go.

She ran back into the cooler and didn't talk to me.

I began taking down numbers.

27 bricks of oasis. One pack of roses. Ten calla lilies. 1/2 pack of assorted greens.

I punched the numbers in to the register. As if sensing something was amiss, she emerged from the cooler.

"$54? What do I have that's $54?"

"The oasis. They're $2 each."

"Oh no baaaaaby, they're $1."

"I can text Grandpa and ask her."

"... that won't be necessary. Why are you charging me $22.50 for roses? You know my prices by now!"

"22.50 is the price for a pack of roses."

"22.50 is everybody prices."

"Welcome to 'everybody.'"

"I ain't paid a price increase in 7 years!"

"The price of milk went up, Wren. So does everything else."

She was seeing red, I knew it. There's a vein in her forehead that pops out when she's angry and it's the same shape as the river that runs through my home town. She sized me up, as if wondering if she could take me.

I'm 256 pounds of 4H beef, and I have a knife. Try me.

"I'm gonna call Kyle on this."

"Do it." A lifetime of retail has made me immune to 'I'd like to speak to the manager.'

She grumbled and put things back. Carrie offered to watch her, I held up my hand.

"Can you do something for me on these carns? They're the last pack in there and they're lookin' kinda ratty."

"9.50."

"9.50's the regular price."

"Regular price is $14."

"No it ain't."

"Is today. You're taking our last pack and we need those for funerals."

She put them back.

She gave me a credit card. It seemed fake, but it ran. Every time I see here, she's got a different card. Did she print this one this morning, too? At least she stopped trying to sell me on Bitcoin. As you can see, it made her incredibly wealthy.

She gathered her things and left. "Guess I'm getting the rest of my flowers from KROGER!"

There are things you want to say. Like... I hope they enjoy your company just as much as we do. Or: Haven't graced them with your presence in awhile, huh? But at the time, it was better just to watch her leave with her minuscule bunch of flowers. I get a choice in where I loan my voice.

Not here.

Is it over? Nah. She'll be back for another round. But one day she'll finally retire in the way that she's always threatened to. And then? Then it can be as over as it ever will be.

It is shocking to come from a history of retail, where you're not allowed to even hint at the idea of a customer being wrong, where you have to override every single price change to get the scores up, where you have to just let them steal your things and pull the wool over your eyes...

... to flat-out telling someone 'no.'

"No."

It's such a great word.

There are rules and there are rules.

And there are thieves that the rules are made for.

And there are words like 'no.'

And all those things are magic in very human ways.

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sortasirius · 4 years

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What the Fuck Happened to the SPN Finale?

Okay so here it is, my Charlie Kelly style manifesto.

Before I get into it, I recognize that I will look like this to many of you, and that’s okay, I understand:

Secondly, your personal Takes about the writers don’t interest me, I don’t need to hear them. This, as I’ll explain, is going to remain a writer positive blog, and that’s the end of it.

Third, and most importantly: some of what I’m going to talk about is fact, and some is highly educated speculation. I will notate what is speculation, just so there’s no confusion or hot takes in my inbox that I’m a conspiracy theorist or stirring shit up for no reason.

A list of what I’ll be discussing

The episode in regards to the rest of the season

The episode issues: length, editing

Scene placement and speculation of scenes cut

The scrubbing of Jack, Cas, Eileen

Network involvement and general timeline of when things were cut

Misha: theories on where he was, official company line, why we can’t expect to hear anything directly

The silence of the cast post episode (in Misha’s case, mid episode) and what this might mean

Jensen speaking with Kripke about the ending: why it doesn’t mean what you might think (also why kripke remained positive on the ending)

Walker, and why this episode had a major shift

Why the network would do this or get involved

Why the writers of the show simply aren’t the bad guys here, and what I “want” out of this post, since I know it’ll get asked

This is very long and under a cut, but I hope you’ll give it a read.

The Episode In Regards to the Rest of the Season

So, I’ve discussed this already here, but it’s the most obvious thing to me, and that’s the way this episode simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the season.

These people in this room have, truly, been nothing but consistent when it comes to their arcs, especially this season, and the marked dropoff in quality for the finale episode is just too sus to discount to me. Dabb’s whole focus has been character-based. In his seasons, we’ve moved far away from MOTW and bro-codependency, the found family taking it’s place. Does it really sit right to anyone that that was all thrown away in literally the last episode of the entire show?

This is speculation on my part, but as a writer myself, there is no way I would be happy or willing to stamp my name on something that I didn’t think would, at the very least, wrap up the season+ character arcs that I and my team had been crafting.

And before anyone comes in here saying, “well GOT did that!” Bruh. The writing was on the wall for GOT long before the final episode. You could tell that the showrunners just wanted to be done (not only from the plot, but from the fact that they lobbied for a shorter season). Miss me with that, it doesn’t apply here. Andrew has, besides Singer and J2, been with the show longer than anyone. He cares, he is meticulous and detailed, and this ending feels worse than anything Bucklemming has ever written, let alone Dabb.

Additionally, I’ve seen a lot of people say that Dabb was never behind Destiel, that it was all Bobo and Meredith and no one else. That is reductive to the point of insult of the work Dabb has done to get this greenlit. This man did not write the s13 Dean grief arc to be slandered like this. That being said, YES, Bobo and Meredith were the leads on the DeanCas arc this season, but ANDREW IS THE SHOWRUNNER, TO GET EVEN THE CONFESSION APPROVED BY THE NETWORK HE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THEIR BACKS. AND HE DID.

Finale Issues

So, now that we’ve gotten the fact that this episode doesn’t hit on any of the major themes the show was barrelling towards all season, let’s discuss the fact that the episode is just...weird.

Not only is it shorter than any other episode (I think with the intro and the credits/crew thing at the end, it was around 38 mins), but it was also...idk, 90% filler?

One of the lovely humans in the POLOL server did the legwork here, and broke it down:

This is weird, y’all. Most series finales are LONGER than normal (Lost, SOA, Longmire are the ones I can think of off the top of my head), and for the final episode to be this? I saw more than one person point out that we only really needed 19 episodes, what was the point of 20? AND THAT’S EXACTLY IT? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS FINAL EPISODE IF THIS WAS ALL WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET?

It simply doesn’t make any sense, the first half of the episode was rushed, a final monster hunt gone wrong, but in the second half? Nothing really happened? Sam lived his entire life and Dean just drove around. It doesn’t make sense to have all the emotional arcs left unaddressed in an episode that definitely needed some kind of spark.

Here’s the speculation I have: the episode seemingly went through a lot of changes between the initial inception of the final season and when we actually got it, but I think it would have been passable (as in, we wouldn’t be sitting here asking each other why each arc feels incomplete) until the editing room got ahold of it. The only think that makes this episode make sense is network fuckery. Truly, that is the only thing. It explains the weird, cuts, the rushed pacing of the first half followed by nothing in the second half, the double montages of “Wayward Son” back to back, and Dean just...driving around for the last half of the episode.

Scene Placement and Speculation of Scenes Cut

Before I get into this section, the info of the shots in the episode I have come from a source that @occamshipper got a week or so before the finale. She’s talked about this here.

So here’s what Min was given:

1-5: 1 INT MEN OF LETTERS – DEAN’S ROOM Dean is greeted by Miracle

6-10: 6 INT MEN OF LETTERS – HALLWAY/SAM’S ROOM Sam has his routine

D1 1 11-15: 15 EXT FARM HOUSE Establishing

N1 1/8 16-20: 19 Dad’s journal, marker, drawing of masked man in journal.

21-25: 23 INT IMPALA – PMP Driver picks the music

N2 1 3/8 1,2 26-30: 28pt2 INT BARN: A face from the past

28pt3 Sam and Dean say goodbye

28pt4 Shot early for technical reasons, presumably the overhead shot

N2 31-45: 41 INT MEN OF LETTERS – SAM’S ROOM Sam’s alarm goes off D4 1/8 1 46-60: 56 INT N7glasses for Sam, laptop.

So...it all fits right? It all tracks with the actual episode, where it lands, etc. The issue is between shots 29-40 which were apparently “too big to spoil.” Uh. Where are they? And where’s 28 pt4?

After Dean dies, the next scene is Sam burning him, then shot 31, the shot of his alarm going off.

So. Where are those 11ish shots?

PLUS we have the boards, which are scenes we KNOW were actually shot:

As well as scenes for 20 that were shot in 19.

It’s just...weird, it’s weird and again hits on the fact that the episode is so short and like 80% montage.

The Scrubbing of Jack, Cas, and Eileen

So now we have to reckon with the fact that Eileen was last mentioned by Sam after she got snapped by Chuck, Jack’s last mention is that he’s off being God somewhere, and Cas’ last mention is a ~knowing look~ between Dean and Bobby.

I’m sorry, make it make sense:

???????? That’s the end if it? They don’t need to be discussed after this??? It’s just simply not something a writer would do, they would not introduce these characters, these arcs, without thinking there’s going to be some kind of follow through here.

So not only were three major characters (including two leads and both of the original characters’ love interests) completely wiped from the finale episode, it was as though Sam and Dean never even needed them, which just...ain’t it.

So why Eileen and Jack too? Why not just take Cas out of it if they were afraid of the gay? Because, ultimately, the episode went back to Kripke’s original story: just the bros, they only need each other and no one else. They don’t want anyone else, they don’t need anyone else. Easier to go back to something they knew was successful than trust the writers and their audience and take a big leap.

Alex even said he shot for 20 with “some of the guys” here. What happened to that footage?

The complete 180 of it all still shocks me, I still cannot believe that we were essentially at the finish line, and the network just stopped short, and decided to go run another race, at the expense of the arc of this fifteen year legacy show.

Network Involvement and When Things Were Cut

Okay, now into the juicy stuff.

So I’ve pretty well established that network fuckery is clear, but how much did they get involved, what was the original intent?

Well again, we may never actually know what Andrew’s original script was, but I think, at the least, it would involve Dean speaking his truth to Cas and Sam living a life with Eileen.

Now, it seems today, that Misha said that Jimmy Novak was supposed to be in the finale in one iteration of the script, and while initially my brain was like “that truly makes no sense and he’s either straight up lying or telling a half truth,” I think what may be happening is Misha talking about as much as he can right now.

So Jimmy right. Weird as fuck. Why would he been in the Roadhouse and not Cas? My current thought (this is about as reachy as I’ll get) is that Jimmy had no lines, could he have been in the Roadhouse as a red herring, like it said “Jimmy” in the script but it was just Cas in human clothes, a way to get around the network saying Cas couldn’t be in the final scene. Also, you’ll notice that Misha didn’t say that Cas wasn’t supposed to be in the ep at all, just Jimmy in the last scene.

All this to say, there have clearly been multiple versions of the script, getting lighter and lighter with Cas and Eileen as the network pulled further and further back. Remember, Dabb has to get things approved before they get shot, and if the network kept asking and asking and asking to cut Cas and Eileen, he had to find a way to work around it. Granted, I still think that if we had been able to get a Dabb script that wasn’t torn to shreds in editing, it wouldn’t be so bad. It may not be what a lot of us wanted (Dean speaking his truth to Cas and a reciprocation), but doing everything he could to give it to us in subtext or visual clues.

Plus, in all honesty, my man can’t keep his story straight anyway. He said twice in his panel that the Empty and offscreen Heaven ending weren’t his original ending either.

In addition, remember that Jensen did ADR post episode 18, AND said in a meet and greet last weekend that Dean’s reaction to Cas’ confession was “cut down.” (Source here). Many of us clowns got excited when we first heard about ADR, because we thought it would be upping the ante on Dean’s reaction, but I remember being a little sus when it was just crying. My speculation on that is that they cut out Dean actually SAYING something, @winchestersingerautorepair spoke about that here.

The biggest sins were, in my opinion, committed during editing, where the network got too gun shy and sliced the episode until it was nothing but a heartless bro-fest of a finale, not mentioning anything about the other major characters that we all love, and letting the boys just suffer in separation until Sam died and finally joined Dean in Heaven. The editing came by cutting all the major emotional beats between anyone other than Dean and Sam, leaving the skeleton of the story intact, just shorter and less...poignant than it was ever supposed to be.

Misha

We know Misha was in Vancouver, we know he quarantined, but we also know he wasn’t in the final scene, when he spoke about being in the last moment of the show months ago. We were not crazy, he was there, he quarantined, and, in all likelihood (speculation but fitting with the timeline), he actually may have shot something (not much, but something).

I have sources here, here, here, and here showing where Misha was at that time.

Remember, the man was completely open about coming back until they finished shooting (look at this thread). The switch happened, just like everything else, halfway through them shooting.

Please also remember Jake Abel posting his “Where’s Misha” video here. Jake isn’t malicious, he isn’t being nasty here. Misha was there, and everyone that’s trying to convince people he’s wasn’t just...isn’t telling the truth about it.

This is one of the things that makes me really mad, because they’re literally attempting to gaslight people into thinking, “oh we were totally wrong he was never supposed to be there” WHEN HE WAS THERE, WE KNOW HE WAS THERE.

So we’ve already heard from several people (Meghan Fitzmartin, Jay, a PA on the set of 19 (WHO WAS NOT WORKING FOR 20), Misha himself) that this was all down to Covid restrictions. Ultimately, as this post says, we’ve heard FIVE versions of where Misha was. None of it makes sense, but the Covid protocol seems to be the company line that others are repeating.

You may ask: why? Why lie to all of us when we have questions? Why, in Jay’s case, say that we’re all spreading false lies to stir up trouble, when we just have questions and things that do not make sense. Simply? Warner Brothers is absolutely massive. These people have their careers to protect and are likely all under NDAs. They want to work for WB again and don’t want to burn bridges, including Misha. It sucks, but that’s why it’s unlikely that we’ll hear someone come out and say, “yeah we’re lying to you.”

Silence of the Cast Post Episode

So this is...probably the worst part of all this, at least in my opinion.

The guys had all been pretty excited about the end of the show (especially Jared, but Jensen’s panel last week was Jensen as happy and jokey and positive as I’ve ever seen him. He was so excited about episode 18, about what it meant for Dean and for Cas, and I just cannot buy that he would have been that excited unless he thought there was something more in the episode.

Misha live-tweeted the episode, and was watching it with his kids. It’s well known that Misha and the kids don’t watch the show because it’s too scary, and let’s ask ourselves, why would he have them watch an episode that he’s barely even mentioned in?

He also stopped live-tweeting at a very specific point in the episode (Dean’s death) and has not mentioned Supernatural since then.

None of them, not Jared, Jensen, Misha, or even Alex, said anything about the episode for nearly 36 hours, when Jensen posted a salty photo on instagram. It’s just...not what you’d expect for the end of a 15 year show, when the cast and crew are so close to the fans, so close to each other.

My theory? They didn’t know. They thought Misha was, at least, going to be in the episode in some way, and when he wasn’t, they decided not to say anything.

You really think that Jensen “Heller” Ackles would have been so excited about the end of the show last week if he thought Cas wasn’t going to be in it at all? Nah son, doesn’t make any sense.

Even today, in Jared and Misha’s panels, they seemed sad and...more than a little careful, both saying that there were things they couldn’t say, both talking around things that we all have questions on.

Jensen Speaking with Kripke

So this is where a lot of people are getting fodder to take shots at the writers, saying that Jensen hated it from the beginning, but I don’t think so. I actually think I know what Jensen went to him about, and it wasn’t the lack of Cas or the weird pacing or the montages (which I don’t think were there when Jensen got the script); I think it was the manner of Dean’s death.

I know a lot of people were upset about that, upset with how...normal it was, coming off an episode where they literally beat God. I actually didn’t mind it, I thought it was an interesting thematic take to be like: you can be a hero all your life, but sometimes shit happens, and you just die.

But imagine how hard that was for Jensen to read. He would run to Kripke for that, because for him, Dean dying by being impaled by a piece of rebar had to be tough to swallow.

So, why didn’t Kripke say that? Why didn’t he say, “oh well he had a problem with Dean’s death, none of that other stuff was in the script.”

Guys. Why would he get involved? He’s not going to burn bridges any more than anyone else is. He said the ending was good because it’s the easy thing to do, it’s simple, will cause him no problems in his career, and he can just ignore the people trying to engage with him on it.

Walker

Something else to talk about is the major shift this episode had from the rest of the season: the shift from Dean to Sam. I am NOT saying that Sam isn’t important, he definitely, absolutely is, but it was DEAN who really needed to wrap up his arc, Sam just needed to move on, get married to Eileen, become the leader he was always meant to. So what changed? What was with the shirtless scene, the Austin number and random case there, most of the episode being heavily Sam focused, going through his entire life in a montage?

Anyone else notice the 375 Walker promos, or Jared’s little spiel about Walker and how he hoped SPN fans would “come along for the ride.”

It’s...kinda obvious? CW wanted to appeal to who they think the key demographic of SPN and Walker is: rural areas in the South. It would explain a lot, why so much editing, why so Sam focused, the Austin number, the number of Walker promos, all of it.

I’m not saying this is fact, I don’t know that it is, but it is a little suspicious that even in Jared’s panel today, he talked A LOT about Walker and how he hopes SPN fans will watch it.

Why Would the Network Get Involved?

Simply put: $$$

If they think Walker can be the new SPN, and that those crazy SPN fans liked it originally, it’s a lot safer to go with the “original intent” of the show than do something risky (like making one of your two original leads queer).

And? They don’t care. They don’t care that the episode didn’t make sense, they don’t care that all the emotional arcs were left hanging, they don’t care by (potentially) smashing together two of Dean’s monologues (one to Sam, one to Cas) that it came of as...gross. ( @curioussubjects wrote a beautiful post showing how part of that death speech was likely meant for Dean here). They don’t care, they never have, they just want to make their money and move on from the too-loud fandom that fought for representation too hard for too long.

It can’t help but feel insidious, which, honestly, it might be, but it really all comes down to the next cash cow, which, they think, is Walker, even at the cost of the fifteen year legacy show.

The Writers and What I Want

So here it is, all this weird, sus shit laid out on the line. And you know what? To me, there is no way to blame the writers, because they didn’t want this.

I don’t think Dabb and Bobo would have gone ahead with the confession in 18 without thinking that there would be some closure to that arc, they wouldn’t have done that not only to the fans, but for the sake of their own story as well: no writer wants to start something that they can’t finish. (And this applies to both Cas and Eileen).

Here’s a basic rundown of what I think happened: they had a clear arc from 18-20, ending in reciprocation at some level from Dean, Sam marrying Eileen, Hunter Sam as the new Bobby, Dean in heaven with Cas and big roadhouse reunion at the end. Covid prevented a good amount of that. Network had to stare at big gay 18 for six months, got cold feet. Thought about Walker, target audience and alienation of the rural areas if it went full gay. Misha quarantined and likely shot something (not much), he was then cut by execs and went home. They likely added in lines referencing Eileen and Cas to make it clear but more subtextual. They wrap, editing gets it and hacks it to pieces, so we get a shorter episode that’s mostly montages and jarringly bro-centric with nothing else. Arcs are left hanging. Dabb gets episode but it’s too late, there’s nothing he can do. Actors aren’t told so they can continue to do positive PR for the ending, they all found out at the same time we did: hence almost complete silence about the finale.

And you know what? They warned us. I talked about it here, but they’ve been telling us all season that Chuck wasn’t the writer, he’s the network. I don’t think, still, that they thought it would be cut up like this, into something so unsalvageable that it’s been panned by almost everyone, even people who didn’t care much about Dean and Cas.

Finally, a masterpiece can be ruined by editing, and while I’m not sure even the script they ended up shooting on was a masterpiece (due to the network meddling already), but to me it’s blatantly obvious that it’s no one but the network that caused this, that took away closure for Dean, Cas, and even Sam.

So what do I want? Nothing really, there’s nothing we can do, but I wrote this mostly to show people that the writers are not your enemy. In fact, to the people trashing them? You’re doing exactly what the CW wants you to: blame the obvious targets, blame Misha, blame Jensen and Jared, blame Dabb. Scream and yell at them on Twitter and about how the show is ruined because of them. The network keeps their engagement levels high, they don’t get as targeted for their behavior, and just keep moving along.

Just, please, think about who did this, Mourn the show, be angry, but not at the people who fought tooth and nail for this for literal years, not the people who wanted it more than we did, not the people who cannot say anything because of their careers and the NDAs they’re bound by.

Someone is going to spill eventually, but until then, we just have to wait, and continue to be loud.

#my writing #my meta #supernatural #spn #spn finale trash fire #MY MANIFESTO IS DONE

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