#also. winny is currently my favorite boy.

[aprilblossomgirl]

Winny Thanawin in Our Skyy 2 x My School President Behind the Scenes

[teriwrites]

about me: a writeblr re-re-re-introduction

Hello! My old pinned post is officially over a year old and makes me cringe whenever I'm on my blog, so it's time to freshen things up again!

me

I'm Teri, I'm smack dab in the middle of my 20s and figuring out life. My writing is pretty exclusively original stuff, a lot of novels and a lot of fantasy, but I play around with various genres in short stories. Sort of a jack-of-all-trades in regards to hobbies - aside from writing, there's anything from baking to drawing with my ancient art tablet to cross-stitch to playing music to rambling around the patch of woods near my house to watching long-form D&D let's plays.

my goals

I recognize that every time I post something like this, it's with the intention of finally becoming as active on writeblr as I was during the pandemic. I also recognize I've never quite managed that.

So here are some more general goals to get me through 2024:

Finish my 2nd draft of Beyond Alder Creek

Write as cringey and brutally honest as I never allowed myself to as a teenager.

Speaking of, a large reading/writing goal of mine is to go back through every NaNo draft I've ever written (I've participated since 2011). So aside from just reading that and likely turning it into a whole spectacle on here for people's amusement, generally just survive reading through the writing from 8th grade. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks lol

Finally, I have a general goal every year of reaching 100K words, between writing and editing and the like, but I'd happily be a little looser with that goal if it meant getting through others.

And now, without further ado:

my writing

Before I get specifically into WIPs, a general overview of the kind of writing you can expect from me:

As I said, I'm a fantasy nerd. I love worldbuilding, both on a large scale (nations and cultures and political relationships) and a small scale (a magic shop in an otherwise contemporary setting).

There's not a lot of romance in my writing, but there Are a lot of transformational relationships and codependency. Friendships, siblings, guardians, general ride-or-dies.

Thought experiments. I've been trying to catch and indulge more in my 'wait, what if?' ideas. Sometimes, that's fun little snippets of silly ideas, sometimes it's a majorly emotionally heavy scene for a story I'll never write. Sometimes, it's coming up with ideas to 'combine genres'. It's all about expanding the range.

wips*

Beyond Alder Creek /// draft 2 /// tag: bac

Winnie Pewitt has never believed in the fae. That is, until her little brother disappears, and she stumbles upon a faerie ring on the edge of town. Inside, a man seemingly carved from gold suggests that he knows who took the boy. With everyone else around their hometown accepting her brother's fate as certainty, Winnie takes it upon herself to craft the perfect deal and enter the realm of the fae with her new companion in tow.

The Lies in the Legend /// draft 1 /// tag: litl

The fictional autobiography of an elven noblewoman who rose rapidly in station and influence from an unremarkable youth to a diplomatic powerhouse. Spanning centuries during the prime of her life, Lady Ghislaine Agassi charts the course of her career and reputation, and highlights the dangers of making myths out of our idols.

*Though these are my primary WIPs, I have a page that covers various other WIPs and projects that I've brought up over the past few years.

I think that about covers everything! As always, I can't make any promises about how the year will wind up and where it takes us. But I will say, I've actually been writing recently, and yk I'm just gonna ride that high.

And for fun, here's some random facts about me:

fun facts

I have degrees in psychology and music!

I've lived across three continents, but currently live in upstate New York for whatever reason lol

The animals I've ridden on the back of include: horse, pony, elephant, and ostrich. The horse was my least favorite. By far.

I got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a couple months after Covid landed stateside (in May 2020) and am Always ready to talk someone's ear off about it.

The first story I ever wrote was on PowerPoint and was about war breaking out between humans and aliens that had taken refuge on Earth after their planet was destroyed. I was 8. There was a Lot of Clipart involved.

I've never been published, but I once secretly planned out, wrote, edited, and self-printed a couple copies of a novel about my best friends and our college apartment. They received it for Christmas last year and loved it (or at least were kind enough to tell me they did)!

[jo-harrington]

Blurb request: The immortal snail ☠️

…anon what?

But I have an idea.

Find other Hymns of Heaven here.

And find the Master List for As Above, So Below here.

April 1984

Eddie’s first DND character with Hellfire Club had been a Tabaxi Rogue named Perceval Stayne—after Sir Perceval of Arthurian legend…and of course who could pass up playing a cat burglar. He’d been a freshman, eager to play with real players and not just his friends. Mickey had said Perceval was cool.

Harvey Simpson, the founder of the Hellfire Club and the DM at the time, told him that Perceval would have been great…if only his best stat wasn’t charisma, of all things.

“Dexterity,” Harvey tapped at the character sheet. “Or intelligence should be your highest.”

“My uncle says my mouth is my best feature,” Eddie explained. He wanted a cool character..but he also wanted one that felt true to him to begin with. Make a good impression and not fumble endlessly. He’d get better. “I could sell ice during a blizzard.”

Harvey had huffed and puffed but ultimately let him do what he wanted. And Perceval’s big mouth is what got the party out of a few pinches several times.

Eddie’s big mouth got them out of several pinches.

It also got him a second date with you at, coincidentally, the library so he could do some prep for the next few sessions.

“It’s a really cool game, I swear,” Eddie explained. “I’m DM this year and we’ve got this freshman Gareth who is like…he’s been trying so hard. But seeing his eyes light up…that’s just why we play, you know?”

You whispered questions and answers to each other as the two of you perused the shelves—what kind of books you liked to read, favorite book as a child, that kind of thing—and then Eddie surprised you with a study room in the depths of the library reserved just for the two of you.

“So we can have snacks without getting yelled at,” he explained.

“Just snacks?” You teased.

“And maybe kiss a little without getting caught,” he grinned mischievously and you shut the door before planting one on him with a giggle.

The date was spent mostly in silence, the study room filled only with the sounds pages turning, a pencil scribbling, snack wrappers crunching, and the occasional laughter as one of you—usually Eddie—started playing footsie.

You grabbed a few books for yourself, easy reads, simple chapter books with mystery and fantasy and intrigue to keep with Eddie’s theme.

Currently you were lost in the pages of Tuck Everlasting, you even ignored Eddie’s last attempt to get your attention. He watched you for a moment, memorized the way your eyes darted across the pages and your expression changed.

He wanted to live here forever, in this moment. And something at the very depth of his being thought that he would feel this way about every moment, every second, that he was gifted with you.

“Obviously your favorite is Jesse,” he broke the silence and your eyes darted up to meet his. You fidgeted in your seat as you watched him watch you. “Handsome, adventurous—”

“Cocky,” you smirked.

“I would say ‘confident.’” Eddie shrugged. “Tell me I’m wrong though.”

“You are wrong, actually,” you set the book down and folded your hands over it. “Miles is my favorite.”

Eddie frowned.

All of the girls in his 6th grade English class had a silly crush on Jesse. He never understood until he reread the book last summer when he was preparing for his first campaign as DM, hoping to include some secret stranger like the man in the yellow suit. Then he likened himself to Jesse. Enjoying life where he could, despite the hand he’d been dealt…or in spite of it. He was romantic…wanted Winnie to marry him one day…drink from the spring so they could be together forever.

“Jesse…he was impulsive,” you began, as if you could read his mind. “What more did he love about Winnie than the fact that he could be himself around her. Because the family’s secret was finally free. She was just a child who saw this…fantastical thing, this family and this fun older boy, and she thinks she’ll be free of this stuffy life in Tree Gap…and when trouble arose, she wanted to protect her friends.

“Jesse just wanted to repay her…there was no…real love there outside of maybe friendship. But he’s lonely too…wanted to reward himself. Maybe he could actually love Winnie one day…maybe…but he’d always have another person to be free with. Offering her immortality is for him more than it was for her. Or for love.

“Miles though…Miles was bitter, sure. Because he loved with everything he had in him. Love his wife, loved his family so deeply that he never wanted to be without them. He wanted a normal life together with them. No matter the circumstances.

“He would give anything—would rather die—than see his his wife and children hurt or unhappy,” you concluded, breathing heavily.

Eddie watched you for a second and contemplated your words. He’d never really thought of it that way before. Yes Miles was a character you could empathize with, his loss of the ones he loved…but…

“But he couldn’t die,” Eddie muttered.

“No he couldn’t.”

“So what would you pick then?” Eddie challenged. “A normal life with someone you loved, grow old, and die together…or an eternal carefree life?”

“Eddie, eternity isn’t carefree,” you deadpanned as you picked up the book and shook it at him. “Case in point.”

“Ok fine…you can live forever and do whatever you want,” he started and looked around the study room for a second to come up with some idea. “But…your eternal nemesis is a snail that will kill you if it finds you and touches you.”

“What the fuck?”

“Answer the question ma’am, the audience is waiting,” Eddie spoke into an imaginary microphone and then held it to you across the table.

“I would take the normal life, Monty,” you answered.

“Interesting,” Eddie leant back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.

“Really heavy second date questions here.”

“Thank you. Gotta know if I’m gonna keep you.”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” you replied and shook your head. “I already kissed you after you said you’d drink trash juice.”

“Ha fucking ha.”

“Alright, spotlight’s on you now,” you held the imaginary microphone to your lips now. “Edward Munson. Normal life with someone you loved, or a carefree eternity?” You held it out to him.

“You forgot about the snail Alex,” Eddie spoke into the microphone.

“Clock’s ticking,” you urged and hummed the Jeopardy theme song.

“If I really had to choose, sure a normal life with you would be my choice sweetheart.” He winked and watched you fidget again.

“But I think we’re missing one key factor here. Miles didn’t know he was immortal until his kids were grown, until his wife was old. Otherwise, I would bet he would have definitely had them drink from the spring too. Both of the brothers had the same idea.

“So if, if we’re playing by Tuck Everlasting rules here,” Eddie leaned forward and spoke into the microphone, eyes never leaving yours, never blinking. “I think I would say ‘why couldn’t we have both?’”

[girlfailgaymer]

15 QUESTIONS FOR 15 FRIENDS 🌸

@avataraloy and @minniestronni both tagged me in so thanks to u both :3

i for SURE don't have 15 ppl to tag but i'ma play along anyway ✨️

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE - no but i could have been! my parents' other potential name for me was Kristopher Robin, like the little boy in Winnie the Pooh, but also their best friend Kris and my grandpa Robin :') kinda wish it'd worked out that way tbh but my current name is also cool so can't complain

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED - oh like an hour ago, listening to hozier in the shower. empire now amirite guys?

DO YOU HAVE KIDS - nope lucky me!!!!!

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY - HAHAHAHAH that's funny!! does riding my bike in college count? i was already unathletic but then i broke my leg real bad at 19 and it's been all downhill since 🙃

DO YOU USE SARCASM - nooooo i'm like totally serious all the time (/sarcastic/)

FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE - tattoos and jewelry for sure! whatever little accessories say the most about a person 💓

WHAT'S YOUR EYE COLOR - denim blue with a faint gold streak in one eye 👁

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS - both make me cry but happy endings all the way

ANY TALENTS - ummm hmm. i'm a pretty good writer, or at least i used to be. i make a mean breakfast sandwich. gaming for sure. i make cute bracelets sometimes. often a thoughtful gift giver 🎮🩶

WHERE WERE YOU BORN - bay area babyyy 💃 central california along the coast. blessing to grow up there, i would never go back

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES - watching anime playing videogames reading gardening crafting drinking and 3hr phone calls with my friends 💞

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS - one old lady kitty cat! used to have dogs but when we moved they went with mom :(

HOW TALL ARE YOU - 5'5" with a terrible slouch

FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL - english bc i got to read & talk about books. science because it's FACINATING (ecology and geology specifically)

DREAM JOB - AUTHOR!!!!!! i wanna stay home and write books that make people feel things so badly :'(

okay i'm gonna tag kinda generously here, obviously only engage if yu want to <3 sorry if this annoys anyone i'm just having fun being part of the tumblr community

@charlottebiscuit @pure-of-fart @azaraeth @ego-rapture @springbeemaya @theoldgodsaredisappointed @dysaniadisorder @vinylfruitcake

[theobrowningfd]

Merrock Task #13: Short and Sweet

 ♥ What is your favorite book from childhood?: Probably either The Hardy Boys series of books or The Outsiders.

ღ Do you own an item that comforts you when you’re sad?: I've got an old shirt my kids gave me for Father's day years ago that always makes me smile.

✿ What makes you happy?: Helping people in any way that I can. My wife Winnie, my kids Riley and Lilly, and my family and friends.

♛ What are three things you like about yourself?: I think I'm a good father and husband, I always like to help out, and I push through whatever challenge faces me.

☾ Which season is your favorite?: Probably all of them except the winter. Fighting fires in the winter is the hardest.

† Do you believe in the supernatural?: Not really.

♪ Name a song that has a deeper meaning to you.: Yellow by Coldplay

Ⓒ What do you think about social media?: I think it depends. It's great for connecting people around the world but it also can be used for the wrong reasons.

ꕤ What would be your dream job?: I currently have it.

☼ Name three things you don’t leave the house without.: My cell phone, my wallet, and my keys.

❧ What is your favorite comfort food?: Hm, probably a nice pie. Something about a warm pie gets me all warm and happy.

⤷ Are you an active person? / What do you do to stay active?: Yes! For both work and pleasure, I tend to keep up with a routine. Going to the gym is usually what I do, but when weather permits I do enjoy a nice jog or run.

★ Name your three biggest inspirations (people-wise).: My mentor back in the Fire academy, my wife Winnie, my kids, and my brother Jason honestly. Okay yeah I know that was four but I couldn't choose between my wife and kids.

✘ What is currently your favorite airing show?: I don't really have time to watch TV, but maybe Yellowstone? Is that still on?

✈ If you had to go anywhere right now, where would you go?: Probably somewhere warm, and off the beaten track.

[moss-sprouted]

Tagged by: @bluemouseblackpad mousepad which was technically an accident, but now apparently i Have to do it so :3

Last Song: ..."circus music" on spotify

Favorite Color: like a forest or army green!

Currently Watching: the vod of a youtube livestream ranking weird game of thrones book covers by my favorite asoiaf video essay boys! (glidus and alt schwift x, who has a stupid long name)

Last Movie: Beetlejuice with my partner which was the last i actually watched,but Technically my lasted watched is Winnie the Pooh's Grand Adventure to go to sleep ahdkdk

Currently Reading: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, as well as a Clash of Kings by George RR Martin, both audiobooks but i havent picked them up in a while!

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Savory, spicy hurts me since i had covid :(

Relationship Status: in a qpr like relationship, and im also polyam, but not actively looking for anything else rn except some attention and to feel desired ig?? if anything happens it happens, and im always down for flirting

Current Obsessions: I want to rewatch Over the Garden Wall so bad im vibrating about it, but dont really have time yet :( otherwise im on a asoiaf/hotd kick and probably will rewatch that soon too!

Last Googled: literally just "safeway" to figure out what time they closed lmao

Currently Working On: a gouache painting of my nephew's favorite pokemon for his birthday, a knitting project cause im still learning, and a red cardboard shark also for the aforementioned nephew, though none of that im actively really working on this second

uhhh this was titled as "tag people you want to get to know better" so

@melaniefangz if you want to do this and anyone else can say i tagged you if you want! (or i can just tag you, no biggie)

[lesbianjackies]

❤︎︎ about me ❤︎︎

hi!!! i’m meredith, but you can also call me lottie, steph, briar, or elia <33 i use she/lil pronouns and i’m bi, demiromantic, and aceflux. i’m neurodivergent so be patient with me if i don’t understand things/talk too much!! i’m a writer and i used to have over 200 fics on this blog, but i’m starting from scratch bc tumblr broke my links <//3 hope you have fun here!!

currently reading: i kissed shara wheeler by casey mcquiston

currently watching: yellowjackets

currently listening to: preacher’s daughter by ethel cain

❥ my favorites

movies/books/tv shows:

steel magnolias, 10 things i hate about you, the corpse bride, marvel cinematic universe, mean girls, pirates of the caribbean, puss in boots: the last wish, the princess bride, monster high, tangled, edward scissorhands, easy a, colette, ella enchanted, the princess and the frog, barbie movies, beetlejuice, coraline, summerland, ever after high, six of crows, the school for good and evil, the hunger games, harry potter, if we were villains, edgar allan poe, the lunar chronicles, miss peregrine’s home for peculiar children, dc comics, shatter me, the folk of the air, lore, the arc of a scythe, percy jackson, new girl, avatar: the last airbender, a series of unfortunate events, winnie the pooh, teen titans, the amazing world of gumball, the good place, brooklyn nine-nine, community, newsies, yellowjackets

artists:

marina, lana del rey, lorde, børns, mother mother, poppy, studio killers, twenty one pilots, wallows, hozier, aurora, florence + the machine, phoebe bridgers, arctic monkeys, the neighbourhood, conan gray, harry styles, taylor swift, the smiths, zella day, declan mckenna, my chemical romance, fin, flower face, cults, melanie martinez, boys world, clairo, bad suns

things to do:

write, sing, read, listen to music, go on picnics, watch tv, swim, take walks, spend time with people, talk

❥ my comfort characters

patrick verona, peter parker, briar beauty, dexter charming, kitty cheshire, madeline hatter, lizzie hearts, darling charming, daring charming, jesper fahey, nina zenik, anadil of bloodbrook, hester of ravenswood, peeta mellark, johanna mason, finnick odair, harry potter, george weasley, cedric diggory, mary macdonald, lily evans, pandora lovegood, luna lovegood, sirius black, regulus black, remus lupin, james potter, meredith dardenne, millard nullings, hugh apiston, emma bloom, tim drake, stephanie brown, cassandra cain, bart allen, jason todd, harley quinn, poison ivy, aaron warner, kenji kishimoto, cardan greenbriar, percy jackson, leo valdez, hazel levesque, jessica day, zuko, klaus baudelaire, violet baudelaire, sunny baudelaire, the hook-handed man, isadora quagmire, quigley quagmire, winnie the pooh, robin, starfire, beast boy, chidi anagonye, troy barnes, abed nadir, jack kelly, nat scatorccio, jackie taylor, lottie matthews

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet Episode 3-4 Recaps: Very Nice

If you’re following the MNET show Boys Planet, you probably know by now that the editors are extremely irritating. For a song “mission” like this, they show 2-3 minute montages of some of the teams practicing, then fast forward to show time passing, then make it look like the performance will start any moment, and then have a lengthy flashback before we finally get to see the performance. 

So, I made a main recap that takes you through episodes 3 and 4 in a linear way, but then when it comes to focusing on each team, I’ll put all those thoughts in a separate post so you can keep the storylines straight. This post covers the Very Nice teams' rehearsal and performance.

The Teams

K team:

Leader: Lee Dong Yeol 

Other members: Cha Woong Ki, Jang Ji Ho, Jung Min Gyu, Mun Jung Hyun, Seo Won, Yoo Seung Eon

You must recognize Jung Min Gyu, the 23 years old who auditioned with My House in a red shirt. He was ranked 50th then 39th, and has been 0 stars the whole time. 

You might also recognize Seo Won, because we see him all the time in reaction shots. He’s 22, auditioned with Attention, was ranked 18th then 22nd, was a 3 star at first and then got lifted up to 4 stars with his cute level test. 

Jang Ji Ho is 18 years old, also auditioned with Attention, was ranked 72nd then 75th, and has been a 2 star the whole time.

Both Won and Ji Ho are members of the nugu group NINE.i  (along with Thai idol Winnie).

Lee Dong Yeol, the leader, is 24 and is better known (maybe) as Xiao in Up10tion. He was 2 stars at first and is now 1 star, and was ranked 26th and then 33rd. 

Cha Woong Ki is 20 years old, auditioned with Bloom Bloom, was ranked 10th then 17th, and was a 1 star at first and then was lifted to 2 stars. He used to be in T01 under the name Woongi, where he held the position of “vocalist.” 

Mun Jung Hyun is 17 years old, auditioned with The Real, was ranked 24th then 35th, was a 3 star at first and then was lifted to 4 stars. 

Yoo Seung Eon is 19 years old, auditioned with Kick It, was ranked 19th then 44th, was a 4 star at first and then dropped to 3 stars along with his whole team. He introduced himself as “The main vocalist with a titanium voice,” and he was my favorite on this whole team during their audition. I thought his vocals were fantastic and that his dancing was better than many currently working main vocalists. 

G team:

Leader: Ouju (eventually)

Other members: Hiroto, Cong, Ichika, Ma Jing Xiang, Wen Ye Chen, Yuki

These collages take 100 years to make, so I can’t promise I’ll keep doing it for my readership of 3, but maybe. 

Ma Jing Xiang is 19, Chinese, auditioned with Reveal, was ranked 16th and then 27th, was 2 stars and then dropped to 0. You may remember him as “the handsomest one” on the very tall Reveal team.

Hiroto is 20, Japanese, auditioned with Conduct Zero, was ranked 11th and then 15th, and has been 2 stars the whole time. We haven’t seen a ton of him on the show, but he was ranked 4th when they ranked the trainees based on the views on their Signal Song fancams. He was most likely the “chooser” of this group. 

Ichika is 30 -- the oldest in the competition, Japanese, auditioned with Shine, was ranked 58th and then 62nd, was 1 star and then 0 stars. We haven’t seen a ton of him, but we did hear him shouting encouragement to Matthew in excellent English. 

Ouju is 18, Japanese, auditioned with Shine, was ranked 67th and then 78th, was 0 stars and then 2! You may remember him as the “dance captain” of the zero stars, and a generally sweet guy.

Yuki is 21, Japanese, auditioned with Crown, was ranked 36th and then 40th, was 0 stars and then 1. You may remember him from the Zero stars singing lesson in episode 2, telling us in an interview that he has never taken any singing or dancing lessons and that his trainee period is “0 months.” 

Cong is 22, Vietnamese, auditioned with View, was ranked 66th and then 48th, was 1 star and then was lifted up to 3 stars! He was ranked 4th when they ranked the trainees based on the views on their Signal Song fancams. 

Wen Ye Chen is 22, Chinese, auditioned with Call Me Baby, was ranked  56th and then  57th, was 1 star and then 0 stars. He was the main vocal in his audition team, and didn’t do as badly as the edit made it look.

Team Selection:

We didn’t get to see either team as it is being picked, but as far as I can tell, this is the 4th K-group picked and the third G-group picked. Cha Woongki picked his team, and Haruto picked his team. 

Episode 3, 1:06:55 

Part Selection

K-group elects Lee Dong Yeol leader immediately, as he is the oldest and also is a member of a debuted team (though so are/were Seo Won, Jang Ji Ho, and Cha Woong Ki).

Meanwhile, G-group is having a lengthy debate on who should be the leader. Ouju basically just wants to be the dance captain, which is a good thing for him to be. He’s good at that, as we’ve seen. Ichika agrees, and goes further, suggesting that they could have multiple leaders, one for each aspect of the performance. Again, not the worst idea -- that’s what Seventeen does, and ONF as well. But Cong doesn’t like the idea, and basically will not budge.  

Their debate is clearly hampered by their difficulties communicating. Many of the team seem relatively comfortable speaking Korean -- notably, Ichika, who uses Korean even in his interviews -- while some clearly prefer their native language (notably Yuki, who defaults to Japanese in interviews, and Cong, who seems most comfortable in English, but even that isn’t terrific). To be clear, I’m not critiquing their language skills. I know from personal experience how completely mentally draining it is to be somewhere where you don’t speak the language well (or at all). I think the show should have given them a translator or two. Hell, google translate would have gone a long way. I’ve sat at youth hostels with new friends and we just type back and forth in google translate and have a whole long convo like that! It’s obvious that this is really hampering their success.

Weirdly, for some reason, the rule is that they can’t distribute the parts until both teams have picked a leader, so K-team just has to sit there in an awkward semi circle waiting. If I were them, I’d be trying to remember the lyrics of the song and at least talking about who might want to be a main vocal, maybe do some vocal scales to warm up, that kind of thing. Just get the ball rolling. 

It looks like they discuss this for at least a half an hour, maybe a lot longer, but eventually pick Ouju as leader. Good call! I have such a soft spot for Ouju, you guys. I don’t know what it is but I just find him charming. Ouju, ganbatte kudasai! 

K-group needs to pick a main vocal, and “titanium voice” Yoo Seung Eon steps forward. He has no rivals, so they just choose him. They also must have picked Cha Woong Ki for the “Killing Part” right away, most likely because he’s the most popular on the team (though I might have gone with Seo Won). There is also a subvocal 1 part that appears to have a lot of high notes, and it looks like it’ll go to Seo Won until the multi talented Mun Jung Hyun steps forward and kills it. So he can do a deep raspy rap, but also this sweet high melody? He’s great. 

Meanwhile, G-group has given the killing part to Hiroto, which makes sense as he’s the most popular member.  And Cong has taken the main vocal, which might turn out ok. He actually sang decently well in his audition, even though the judges subtracted 3 stars for his pronunciation or some horseshit. They’re arguing over the last two parts as we move on to the next segment. 

To continue with the Very Nice teams, skip to 1:34:33, where we see the teams coming out. The K-group is dressed in shades of blue, while the G-group is dressed in shades of pink. 

The K-team introduces itself first, and we see in the audience that a girl is holding a sign that says Lee Dong Yeol, and another girl has a sign that says Mun Jung Hyun. The boys do a cute thing where they all “shoot hearts” at the audience but we don’t see them each introduce himself by name. 

The G-team introduces itself by saying “Welcome,” each in his own language (though Ouju says it in Korean). They say they’re at the Very Nice Cafe, which, I don’t know why they do these things in Kpop in general so I have nothing to say.  

We see a girl in the audience has Ma Jing Xiang written on her hand. 

Then there’s a bit where we cover the arm wrestling they did to decide who goes first, which I cover in the master post. 

We’ll skip to 1:39:15, when we get back to the Very Nice stuff. We find out that one of the psychopath dance judges choreographed this song. Good for him. He’s a good choreographer. I wish he had the ability to demonstrate basic empathy, too, but I guess there’s only so much we can ask for from one person. 

So now that we’ve spent more time with the judges than we have with the trainees, we go directly into flashback mode. 

It’s sometime in the past, and both groups are meeting for a dance lesson with a psychopath. As such, the trainees are all terrified, not that they’ll do a bad job, but that they’ll be psychologically tortured by a crazy person. We find out that Cha Woongki and Hiroto each picked their team with “Very Nice” in mind. The judge goes fishing for compliments on his choreo as a little warm up for his psychological torture.  

The boys compliment him on his choreo, so that’s…. Fine. 

Listen, if you’re reading this recap along with the show, or before you watch the show, let me advise you that you might want to skip this segment if your mental health isn’t great, because I know that when I’m feeling a bit blue, watching someone  psychologically torture a group of vulnerable people really isn’t it, you know? And that’s what you’re about to watch.

G-group goes up first, and the teacher compliments Cong for going up from 1 star to 3 stars, but no one says anything to Ouju for going from 0 to 2 stars, which is just as impressive to me. They perform the dance, and seem to know the steps and be performing with enthusiasm. But the psycho fuckface literally laughs at them, then looks really sad. “You’re dancing isn’t just bad, it’s embarrassing. I did a lousy job with the choreography. I’m sorry. Even if you practice a lot more, I wonder if you’ll improve much.” 

Oh my GOD I could rant for HOURS about how horrifically abusive and gaslighty this shit is, but you see it already, right? That it’s not ok to say this shit? They’re still just rehearsing and they’re trying their best? They have 8 stars between the 7 of them, but they learned the song more or less. 

He gives a backhanded compliment to Hiroto, Cong, and Ouju by saying that they’ll have to help the others a lot.

Ouju interviews (in Japanese) that some members of his team weren’t really focused during rehearsals, watching the video instead of rehearsing with the team. Hiroto interviews (also in Japanese) that everyone was being selfish. So, after their horrible, unnecessarily cruel beat-down, they regroup and talk about how they need to focus -- don’t look at Group K, just focus on themselves.  Ma Jing Xiang says he wants to practice by himself, and Hiroto points out that they really need to be a team. (He’s speaking Korean the whole time, but it’s funny how with what must be his Japanese accent, my brain keeps thinking it’s Japanese, even though I hear Korean words in the mix.) Ichika adds in his freakishly perfect American-accent English, “Trust each other and care for each other.” Apparently, Ichika is half Korean and half Japanese and can speak both languages, along with English, Chinese, Tagalog and Thai. He must be some sort of language savant. 

Side note: It bugs me how they give both groups one shared room to rehearse in. Could they really not find any other rooms? Are there not 7 more rooms in that giant building?

So the G-group continues to rehearse, and begins to show improvement in their synchronization -- enough so that the K-group begins to worry! 

We move forward to their dress rehearsal, and again get a flashback to psycho teacher’s cruelty. This is flashback within a flashback to something we saw literally 3 minutes ago -- thanks, MNET. Ouju is traumatized and scared of being scolded again -- so he can’t even enjoy this experience. We, the viewer, watch and think they look good, and the K-group thinks we look good, but no one can exhale until Psycho Asshole compliments their improvement. Then all the judges compliment Cong’s singing, which really should be the main story here. Who knew Cong could sing so well? Hint: I did. I knew that. I said so in my first review. 

Here’s their full performance on Youtube, if you’d like to see it without constant interruption. 

Cong starts off strong with some strong singing, and Ichika sings mostly fairly decently, and Ma Jing Xiang poses and raps a bit and so does Hiroto, so far so good. Then my li’l duckie Ouju sings, and his voice is on key and has a pleasant sound, except that it cracks over and over. Oh no!! Ouju! That is the voice of an untrained singer who has been singing too much. I wish the vocal teachers would give them advice on how to take care of their voices in general. But Ouju’s facial expressions and dancing are, to me, great. Am I biased? Maybe? Yuki is cute, though he looks kind of lost on stage, and Hiroto has a decent falsetto actually. 

And holy shit, Wen Ye Chen sounds awful but looks great. He’s giving off big time Jackson Wang vibes -- is it just me? Do I just have Jackson on the brain? I’m not saying they look identical or anything, but just that they have a similar “look”. 

I mean, I don’t think he should debut, but maybe he should go into acting (if he can act) or modeling, if he doesn’t already do those things. Or take a LOT of singing lessons. 

I didn’t want to watch the aired version, because I assumed they were going to play and replay and replay my duckie Ouju’s cracking. But they actually don’t -- they’re remarkably kind.

 In the edit everyone reacts to Cong’s excellent singing, making him look even better. After Wen Ye Chen’s pretty bad singing, they show the audience reacting to his handsomeness. I also noticed that MNET edited it so you don’t see Yuki looking lost. All in all, it was a fairly gentle edit, I have to say. 

When it’s over, the judges praise Hiroto, and talk about Ouju’s issues with a bit of compassion. Ouju interviews that he’s proud of his team.

At 1:50:20, the K-group comes back out, and then we head into a flashback. We’re back at the same dance rehearsal where the psychopath viciously attacked the G-group. It becomes clear that the drama is going to be that mostly about our red house, Jung Min Gyu, who doesn’t really know the steps or the lyrics, and runs out of breath so badly he can’t deliver his rap even if he did know the words. The edit also tells us that my little muffin Mun Jung Hyun is struggling with the vocals, but he doesn’t sound too bad to me -- like maybe a quarter tone flat, but I mean, he’s close. Lee Dong Yeol, the only 1 star (in yellow), is struggling with his vocals a lot more. 

When they’re done, instead of coming down on them as if they tortured his mother to death, he laughs sort of at them, and sort of with them. I guess they were just soooo much better than G-group at this rehearsal, even though no one in G-group outright couldn’t get the words out. He calls out Mingyu for his lack of breath control, then he tells Mun Jung Hyun that his singing ruins it, and I don’t get it. I have a decent ear and it really doesn’t sound that bad to me. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. Like, sure, he’s a bit flat but it doesn’t stand out to me at all. A lot of trainees are flatter than that when they sing and get praised so this seems so random. The fuckface goes so far as to tell them that they should switch positions. What the fuck? We see that in a vocal lesson, Solji praised his singing when he was standing still, but apparently he can’t sing while dancing.

Fast forward to more practice and as my little muffin Junghyun tries again and again to hit the notes, he sounds worse and worse, because he’s wearing out his throat. It would be better to rest his voice than to sing it over and over. 

At the interim group check -- where apparently all of the trainees watched each other perform and gave each other feedback -- we see that everyone is shocked by Yoo Seung Eon’s vocals (why? He sang that well in the audition, you dumb dumbs), but it’s clear that JungHyun‘s voice has gotten even worse. REST YOUR THROAT!! And Dongyeol doesn’t sound great either, but he never did. 

Turns out all the trainees said that JungHyun’s vocals were a problem, so he suggests that  Dongyeol, who, may I note, is much worse, take the part. His team doesn’t jump on that idea, so there is talk of maybe giving it to Seo Won, who says he can try his best if they want him to, but that he can’t guarantee he’ll do any better. You guys, I love Seo Won. I want to have tea and a nice gossip session with him. He seems like a fucking hoot. 

Junghyun’s team encourage him to keep the part and just try to improve his condition (health). Poor little muffin isn’t sure, and says he feels a lot of pressure right now (whenever a Korean translation says “pressure”, replace it with the word “stress”). 

We cut to the dress rehearsal, and poor little muffin Junghyun sounds worse than ever. He can’t hold the note. It must be a combination of nerves and him scraping his throat raw with over-rehearsing. ARRRRRRGHHHH. The judges can’t believe it. 

Poor Junghyeon has fallen on the sword, taking on a part no one in his group can sing (except Seung Eon, who has to stay on main vocal). So Junghyeon has to keep the part and do a not-great job and get attacked for it. 

The performance starts. Here’s the full cam if you want to watch it without interruptions. 

Overall, it was cute -- I mean, any decent performance of this song is going to be fun to watch because the song itself is so great, and the performance is at least decent. Obviously, Yoo Seung Eon does a fanfuckingtastic job and I’m so glad that he’s getting some spotlight time. Mun Junghyeon really tries, and it’s much better than in rehearsal. He actually hits a lot of the notes, and there are some lines that come out fine, but he does crack quite audibly many times, poor kid.  The rappers do their thing; I don’t know, it doesn’t sound great to me but I seem to be alone in thinking that. Seo Won sounds nervous but has a cute smile. Cha Woong Ki in the hat is pretty off key. I guess he’s cute, but not in a way that appeals to me personally. Jung Min Gyu does the robot I guess, and that’s cute. 

Poor Mun Jung Hyun. He looks sad in his ending fairy, even.  But if anything, this shows that he has vocal potential, as long as he sings something in more of a baritone range. 

My take:

It’s actually hard to pick a team that I think did better. I guess K takes it by a hair, but it’s not as if it’s a blow out or anything. 

Voting:

At 2:01:30, both teams come up on stage. We see in the audience that people are holding up signs for Jiho and Woongki. The audience votes for the one person who did the best, and then the teams each go back to their segregated waiting room to find out who did best. How awful this all is. 

Yoo Seung Eun beats Cong by a landslide. 

He can barely believe it. I’m so happy for him, but so sad for Cong! Oh man, I’m no good at competitions. I want everyone to win and that’s not possible. Poor G group is heartbroken. They don’t get many votes. Here’s the full break down. 

Main Vocal: 

Yoo Seung Eon  248

Cong 30

Sub vocal 1:

Mun Junghyeon 29 

Ichika 3

Sub vocal 2:

Seo Won  76

Ouju  19

Main Rapper

Jang Jiho   10

Ma Jing Shiang 87

Sub Rapper 1

Lee Dongyeol  49

Yuki  30 

Sub vocal 3:

*Cha Woongki* (also killing part)  79

Wen Ye Chen  21

Sub Rapper 2:

Jung Mingyu 39

*Hiroto* (also killing part) 53

Total: 

K: 530

G: 243 

In other words, Yoo Seung Eon alone beat all of G team. And really, no one in K embarrassed himself; Jang Ji Ho gets only 10 votes -- I assume one came from that girl in the audience holding a sign with his name on it -- but he seems ok with it.

Meanwhile, on team G, it’s just… so sad. They’re hurt for Cong, because it’s not as if Seung Eon was eight times better than him to deserve eight times the points. And they’re hurt for themselves too. Poor Ichika, getting only 3! He seems like a sweet, upbeat person -- I guess being an idol isn’t quite for him, but I hope he finds something to do with his life that makes him happy. Ma Jing Xiang hangs his head sadly for getting 87 votes, almost like he’s embarrassed. Aww, you got the most votes on your team and you can’t even enjoy it because you’re sad for your teammates. What a bummer for them. I don’t want to screen cap their misery. 🙁 

And that ends my recap of this part of the show. 

Click here to return to the main recap, or click here to go on to Kill This Love, the next song (coming soon!).

[liunaticfringe]

(via Lucy Liu's Independent Woman - Interview Magazine)

There have been many great sidekick pairings in the history of modern literature. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout, Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet…the list goes on. Yet, it seems there has never been a delightfully tumultuous relationship that comes close to echoing the one embodied by rogue detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend and assistant Dr. John Watson. Written in the form of short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the opium-den loving Holmes would terrorize London with his intellectual, astute, and stubborn prowess, with Dr. Watson providing medical expertise and chronicling their entertaining exploits along the way.

Doyle’s works have now long been entered into the public domain, with many film and television adaptions cropping up every few years. Still, when CBS announced in 2012 that it would be turning Doyle’s works into an hour-long crime-drama series titled Elementary, it elicited an unusually high response—this was mostly due to the news that a woman would, in fact, be portraying Watson. Her name would be Joan, not John. And she’s now a fallen from grace surgeon-turned-sober companion and private detective, forfeiting her “Dr.” title in the process. The woman chosen to take on this exciting, contemporary role of Joan Watson was none other than seasoned actress Lucy Liu.

Liu, who’s best known for her roles as a fierce and ill-mannered lawyer in Ally McBeal, an ass-kicking “angel” in the rebooted Charlie’s Angels, and an equally ass-kicking bad girl in the Kill Bill series, certainly provides the yin to the yang of Jonny Lee Miller’s gritty portrayal of Holmes. Elementary chronicles the duo’s relationship as they consult for the NYPD on various criminal cases while living in a shared brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. Initially starting off in Season One as a substance-free friend to the fresh-out-of-rehab Holmes with a keen interest in solving crimes, Watson quickly transformed into a sharp and observant right-hand woman who now clearly has the aptitude to work on her own. And it appears she’ll be doing just that—the end of Season Two left viewers witnessing Watson’s decision to move out of the brownstone and start a new career as a solo private detective, seemingly fed-up with Holmes’ erratic behavior.

The warm and delightful Liu recently called up Interview from her home in New York City to discuss Elementary’s upcoming third season.

DEVON IVIE: Were you on set today?

LUCY LIU: I was running around like a maniac, yeah. It’s beautiful today, it started getting a little bit cooler again. But of course I’ve been bitten by the two mosquitos that are still alive in New York City.

IVIE: I know you were recently at New York Comic Con. How was it?

LIU: It was amazing. It’s such a spectator place. Not only do you get super fans, but you also get people who are curious and inventive and imaginative. It’s fun.

IVIE: Did you run into any cosplayers dressed as Joan Watson?

LIU: Oh, no, I don’t know about that. That’s funny! We did a panel with a huge audience so I couldn’t really see if anyone was wearing anything specific, but it’s an excuse for kids and adults to get dressed up and just be crazy. You know you’ve made it when you have super-fans out there.

IVIE: When you first read the scripts for Elementary, what was it that attracted you to the role of Joan?

LIU: I liked the fact that it was going to be about [Joan and Sherlock’s] relationship and their friendship, and bringing that into modern times. And I thought it was wonderful to change up the gender.

IVIE: Did you immerse yourself in Arthur Conan Doyle’s work as preparation at all?

LIU: I did, I did! I started reading the short stories. I never read them before so it was a really great excuse to read them. I can’t believe it was written so long ago, because it’s so current. The characters are so colorful, which is why I think there are so many incarnations of Watson and Holmes.

IVIE: Do you have a favorite story? I love “A Scandal in Bohemia.”

LIU: There were some pretty amazing stories. The one that stood out to me, which was a Watson story that I got to know him a little more through, was “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” He really is on his own in that. Of course it turns out that Holmes has been there all along, but it’s interesting looking into his interior.

IVIE: Yeah, the entirety of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is narrated just by Watson. And his diary and letters, too.

LIU: Yeah, I think it’s really cool. We started incorporating that into the show, too, the letters and journals.

IVIE: Has this detective genre always appealed to you? Did you grow up watching or reading detective whodunits?

LIU: I remember more of the old school Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys sort of thing. I also grew up with the Scooby-Doo mysteries. Remember when the villain would go, “I would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for you rascal-y kids!” Those were the kind of the things I immersed myself in. I have to say that my mother has always been a huge fan of Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, so this show was her dream come true. I don’t think she totally understood what was going on with Ally McBeal. [laughs]

IVIE: I’ve enjoyed witnessing Joan’s evolution throughout the course of the show, starting off as a sober companion and eventually ending up as a trusty sidekick and confidant to Sherlock. What can we expect from Joan in Season Three?

LIU: When you see them in the third season, you see some friction between the two characters. Joan is now on her own, she has her own detective agency, has a boyfriend, and has been without Sherlock for eight months. She’s got her own apartment, she’s settled, and he shows back up. I think she’s a little bit hurt by what happened and how their relationship and partnership ended, which was basically his decision and his choice, and he left it all in one little note for her. I think she felt that their relationship was much deeper than that, and that he was dismissive in the way that he handled that.

IVIE: How would you define the relationship between Joan and Sherlock?

LIU: I think that it’s a really positive and good relationship, overall. They really have a good chemistry together, work really hard together, and understand each other. They acknowledge each other and respect each other, which is a really important way to have a friendship. And they can learn from each other, you know? She’s very curious about him and I think he sees that she’s a very smart person—that’s vital for him in having respect for someone, having them be intelligent and thinking for themselves.

IVIE: Do you see any of Joan in yourself?

LIU: I do to a certain degree. She’s a lot more measured and patient, for sure. She’s a very curious person, which I think I am, and I think she isn’t afraid of change. She was a doctor, and then became a sober companion, and then jumped off and became a detective. I think sometimes it’s good to make big leaps.

IVIE: You’ve probably been asked this question many times, but do you think a romance between Joan and Sherlock could ever fittingly happen?

LIU: It’s a question that’s often asked and I think it’s really up to the executives. Rob Doherty, the creator [of Elementary] really feels incredibly strongly about keeping their relationship platonic. He has already taken great strides to keep the relationship as clean as possible according to the literature, but he has also changed so much of it by changing the gender of Watson. To have them have a romantic involvement would turn the whole thing upside-down in a way that might really jump the line. [Doherty] felt really strongly about it and I think that’s the one thing he really wants to stay true to.

IVIE: I totally agree. Even on the BBC’s Sherlock, there are campaigns to get Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Martin Freeman’s Watson to become romantically involved. It’s like, enough already, no!

LIU: No way, that’s so weird! People do have that level of friendship oftentimes, but it doesn’t mean it’s physical. I think that everyone just assumes because there’s chemistry the next thing should be happening. I would vote “no” for a romance. I think for sure the creator would vote no on that, too.

IVIE: I’ve talked to both women and men who watch Elementary, and they all consistently mention how well dressed and fashionable Joan is. Do you collaborate with the wardrobe department on styling decisions at all?

LIU: That’s awesome. Yes, I collaborate with Rebecca [Hofherr], who’s the costume designer, who’s wonderful. She’s very easy to work with. One thing we try to maintain about Joan and her style is that she’s a bit wrinkled, you know what I mean? Sometimes it looks like things are really put together, but we always want to make sure things aren’t too tight and are comfortable, kind of like she throws things together. We don’t want it to seem so business-y, so we go away from suits. Chic, but not corporate. Also just to make her seem like her outfits aren’t so put-together all the time. But I’m glad that people really seem to like it, it’s a relief! We don’t splurge a lot on the show, we try to do cheaper things, like things Joan would wear a lot. She wears the same white jacket and shoes frequently.

IVIE: Will we be seeing more of the infamous Clyde the Turtle in the upcoming season?

LIU: Clyde will indeed be in it again. We have to share custody of Clyde.

IVIE: Is it true that Clyde is actually two tortoises? Pulling a Mary Kate and Ashley in Full House on us?

LIU: Yes. It’s just like having twins on a show. Just in case one is crying and screaming and passed out or something.

IVIE: You made your directorial debut for an episode of Elementary last season [“Paint It Black”]. Do you have plans to direct an episode again soon?

LIU: That was so exciting. I’ll be directing another episode again very shortly in December, so you’ll be seeing it in a month and a half.

IVIE: Where did your interest in directing come from?

LIU: I guess I was curious about it. Having been in this business for a while, you kind of see and get a glimpse of everything doing film and television. I think it seemed like a natural progression to go into directing, and I hope to explore more of it, because it’s very exciting and a really good way to collide all the things that you’ve known and experienced in the business and put them all into one.

IVIE: Is there an ideal guest star that you’d like to see on the show in the upcoming season?

LIU: I would love to see Mycroft come back. I really think there was a wonderful tension for Mycroft and Sherlock as well as the triangle that occurred when Joan became involved with him. There’s something very deep about that relationship, and I also think that Rhys Ifans is a fantastic actor. He commands the screen, but off-screen he’s incredibly lovely. A real treat to have on the show.

IVIE: I remember the first few episodes that I saw Rhys in, I was like, where have I seen this guy before? So I looked at his Wikipedia page and it became obvious: he was the crazy guy from Notting Hill!

LIU: Yes, the roommate! So good! Everything he does, he just kills it, no matter the role.

IVIE: And it’s always good to have some MI6 action on the show, which Mycroft provided. Some international flair.

LIU: [laughs] International flair, exactly, some added spice. Just throw some spy stuff in there to throw people off their game. You just don’t expect it, you know? It came out of nowhere.

IVIE: That whole three-episode arc at the end of the second season…

LIU: That was awesome. I was lucky enough to direct one of those episodes, which is more narrative in tone. It’s more fun in some ways, too.

IVIE: You’ve done a range of acting work for both television and film. Do you now find yourself preferring one to the other?

LIU: I love both of them equally. The lack of predictability with television is something that’s constantly changing what your perception of who you think your character is. Suddenly I have a father that’s schizophrenic, or I discovered something else, or I have a relationship with Mycroft. The things that pop up and change the game for you and always keep you on your toes. The wonderful thing about film is that you have something that has a beginning, middle, and end, and you have a concrete amount of time to shoot it. And the process of that can be longer, like editing and advertising and testing the movie, so it’s very different. Television you just continue going, no matter what’s happening outside of your world. You get lost in that vortex a little bit.

IVIE: It’s interesting that America is now embracing the “mini-series” format that has already been so heavily utilized overseas, where there are a set amount of short episodes, and that’s it. In a way, it’s kind of like a cinematic experience.

LIU: I like that, too. It allows you to have a freedom of creativity and at the same time you don’t feel like you have to be contracted to something for that long; you’re really working on a piece of art. And then you’re done and you move on, or it comes back, like Downton Abbey. You don’t know. Those things become little masterpieces. The thing about television is that you see a range of actors now that you may not have seen five years ago even, 10 years ago absolutely not, and I think now there’s no wrong about doing television. There’s no definitive category for what kind of department you fall into anymore.

IVIE: What’s a fun, secret fact about your costar Jonny Lee Miller?

LIU: A fun fact about Jonny Lee Miller is that he oftentimes does handstands on a wall before he does a take, sometimes with pushups, to get blood to his brain and get him geared up for a long monologue that he may have. He stays there, hangs a little bit, and then turns around and does the scene. Most of the time in the brownstone more than anywhere else. He’s in full costume and everything. That’s trivia!

IVIE: I wish I could do wall-handstands by myself.

LIU: Oh my god, I need someone to push my legs up and then hold me there. I’m a cheat!

ELEMENTARY PREMIERES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30 ON CBS.

[scnteria]

( alex wolff, cis male, he/him, muse b ) oh snap! is that THEODORE “TEDDY” WELLS ? they work over at high volume where some of the other employees have labeled them as THE MISCREANT. that’s probably because they can be a bit ( affable ) but also pretty ( misguided ). they’re 22 and they’ve been living in woodstock for FOUR YEARS. it must be their shift because i totally hear RADIOHEAD blasting from the record store. 

( @volumeupdates )

hi everyone !! phew i’m so hype to be here... hello... you can call me wren ! i’m in the est timezone and use she/her pronouns. a lil bit about me: i love making playlists and my silly little lattes every morning, i have two puppies at home that i love more than anything, and i’m currently watching ted lasso and falling in l*ve with jason sudeikis and no i do not think i named teddy after ted lasso but it might’ve been an unconscious thing idk

anyway, i’m going to try not to ramble too much about my boi teddy but you’ve been warned:

sweet boy theodore ! he mostly goes by teddy. i don’t think he minds being called theodore but he DOES hate the nickname ted. sorry to mr. sudeikis

he was born and raised in chicago but his father is from woodstock. he has some distant family here but growing up, it was teddy, his mom, dad, and older brother mccartney ( mick !! )

( alcoholism, hoarding disorder tw ) teddy’s older brother was like a refuge for him in a household that was pretty tough to live in. his mother is an extreme hoarder so teddy felt pretty trapped in his own home. on top of that, his father is a functioning alcoholic who had a tendency to pick fights when really wasted. ( end tw )

teddy shared a room with mick, so that was like their little escape from it all ! but mick left for college because he’s a Smart, Good Boy when teddy was fifteen ! so he took it super hard to be living alone in this environment

( depression tw ) naturally, at that age ( and with evident mental health issues running in the family ), teddy started to show signs of depression. in an attempt to alleviate that, his fam fulfilled a lifelong dream and adopted a lil border collie pup ! ( end tw )

he realized his home wasn’t suitable for him, his mental health, or his dog winnie. he saved up money by working odd jobs throughout high school and on his eighteenth birthday, he and his pup moved to woodstock.

his dog winnie is named after his celebrity crush, winona ryder ! he absolutely carries a polaroid photo of her in his wallet because truly that is his child and god bless you if you even mention dogs around him

he got the job at high volume four years ago so he’s been around for a bit ! jerry was actually really good friends with teddy’s father, so he’s known jerry pretty much his entire life. 

( drug use and alcoholism tw ) teddy has a chronic intestinal disease that basically attacks his immune system and can be preeeetty painful ! it’s manageable ofc and although teddy would say: “kurt cobain had it too so it’s fine,” it still Sucks to deal with. he is on medication for it, though another prescription works wonders for pain too...... and that ‘prescription’ is just Weed. he smokes a lot lol and also likes to drink, both as a source of self-medication and just because ! ( end tw )

( violence and ptsd tw ) oh haha also he saw jerry get shot in an alley but i imagine he is currently going through the many phases of ptsd at this moment. very much trying to keep it together but in reality, he’s a ball of pure anxiety and could crack at any given moment. definitely going through some bouts of denial and doubt ? jerry is not only his boss but he’s a family friend and someone he kind of looked up to, so it’s safe to say he’s not Doing Well ( end tw )

ok now more about his CHARACTER:

teddy is a sweetheart. he’s got golden retriever tendencies, i’d say ! verrrry sociable, loves to be around people.

he’s pretty independent and self-sufficient for someone who makes dumb decisions and doesn’t vibe with being alone  ! he has learned to look out for himself but at the same time, he’s one of those people that make you wonder how he got this far ??

overall, a pretty great friend to have. he’s a man of his word and basically likes to make people around him feel comfortable and happy ! 

kinda charming, an accidental flirt at times. like i don’t think he realizes when he’s flirting ? he’s a little oblivious and definitely does better with people who are direct with him. like if you’re dropping hints that you like him or need him to do something, he won’t pick up on it at all lol the boy is stuck in his own little world that has karma police playing on a constant loop

walking into a shift with him means you’ll either be: entertained, annoyed, distracted, or high lol

( drugs tw ) like he has shown up to work high before and probably has smoked outside during a slow shift i’m SORRY ( end tw )

messy, messy boy makes questionable decisions because he doesn’t quite think them through. he’s SO responsible with his dog, but himself ? a hot mess

perhaps he’s not ... wise when it comes to money... i’ll leave it at that for now :)

perpetually running late and rambles a good amount

weak-willed and self-destructive ! he’s easily swayed to do pretty much anything bc he’s kind of a happy-go-lucky kind of dude. pretty much does Not say no to plans and maybe he pushes his alcohol tolerance from time to time

CONNECTION ideas !!

he moved to woodstock four years ago and i wanna say he lives alone but tbh a roommate would be Cost Effective ( must like dogs tho )

that being said, if your character happened to grow up in chicago let’s do some childhood connections ! maybe an old friend, previous unrequited crush, etc.

pls give me a favorite coworker that just doesn’t get anything done when they’re working together

he absolutely will get on people’s nerves. he gets on MY nerves. so give me enemies of any sort lol

i don’t think he’s much of a relationship guy. i could see one longterm relationship in his past so an ex is a possibility ! 

a previous one-night stand is pretty accurate for him too, but i don’t see him thinking it’s weird or anything. i see him being pretty casual with hook-ups in general, so... do with that as you will

friends ! teddy is a talker and really likes to get to know people, so i can see him having friends of varying levels lol whether you’ve spoken twice but he’s like That’s My Guy ! or you regularly see him walking his dog or you just vibe at work... truly this man will talk to a wall. the possibilities are endless

a BEST friend ! i would very much like someone that teddy spews mostly everything to. he will indeed lay his life on the line for this person lol

party-goers, fellow druggies ! this is a scene teddy OFTEN dabbles in, whether you indulge yourself or provide. >:)

could definitely see him on the receiving end of a mom/dad/parent friend kind of relationship. like that john mulaney quote GET SOME REST, TALL CHILD

okay i seriously need to stop this got so long please end me anyway hit me up here or on discord for all of the plots. i really like to get into the nitty gritty of plots so if that’s your jam, let’s make some toast, baby ! i’m SO excited to get things going !

[minghaocouture]

Pairing: Hong Joshua x Fem!Reader

Genre: Friends to Lovers, fluff, angst

Warning: mentions of a toxic relationship, loneliness, language

WC: 3.6K

A/N: Happy Holidays @yutacrush​!!! You absolutely amazing bean!! ily SO MUUCCCHHH! You are such a joy to be friends with and i hope this fic brings you even half of the joy you bring our group chat <3333 

Age 10

“Sweetheart, this is Joshua. He’s our new neighbor.” The boy across from you stood before you, all smiles and cheer as you cowered behind your mother’s legs. You didn’t have too many friends in school and more often than not, felt isolated from your peers who seemed to almost look down on you. This boy was a stranger, a potential new villain in your life and you wanted nothing to do with him. 

So when your mother left you in the room alone with him, while she and Joshua’s mother went to go have tea in your kitchen. You quickly dashed to the living room and snatched your favorite Whinnie the Pooh plushie off of the couch, and made your escape to the far corner of the room where you crouched down and hid behind the plush bear. As if Pooh bear was the perfect line of defense 

The sound of soft footsteps hitting the hardwood floor had you cowering, covering your eyes as you prayed that he would just leave you alone. When the footsteps stopped you assumed that he had done as you silently wished, left you alone to continue your day in peace despite the wishes of your mothers. So you slowly pulled Pooh bear away from your eyes. Only for your eyes to meet the rich deep brown of Hong Joshua’s, the male who was now crouching down not even a foot away from you.

A small shriek left your lips as you quickly brought your favorite plushie back to cover your face again. Your reaction seemed to prompt a small laugh to leave the male, obviously amused with the situation. 

“I’m Joshua, but my friends call me Josh!” He said, talking to you despite the fact that you were currently trying to disappear into the wall behind you. “You like Winnie the Pooh too? Roo is my best friend!” 

At the mention of baby Roo, you slowly peered out and looked over at him with your eyes barely peeking out from behind the plush bear.

Age 13

“Joshua Hong, I swear if you don’t get out from in front of the tv I’ll make you regret it.” Your threat wasn’t as real as you wanted it to seem. After three years, Joshua knew that you were all talk and no action when it came to him. Which is why he didn’t even flinch at your harsh words, he knew he was safe.

“Your mom asked me to make sure you did your homework while she was gone, so turn off the tv and let’s work!” He was almost too responsible for his own good, at least when someone asked him to do something. Most of the time, he was just a goof ball and you honestly wish that translated over when he had ‘responsibilities’ 

Currently your mother was out on a business trip, so you were left alone in the house so she had asked Josh to keep you ‘in line’ since he lived right next door. Apparently, he was taking that request more seriously than you had expected. 

With an overdramatic groan, you grabbed the remote and shut off the soccer game you were in the middle of watching. At your compliance, Joshua let out a small laugh. 

“You’ll thank me later.”

“Yeah, seriously doubt that Josh.”

Age 16

“Josh! Seriously, that’s what she said to you?”  You were fuming, pacing around your room while your best friend sat on your bed. You had honestly never seen Joshua so...down. This girl had stepped over so many lines and you were livid.

“Yeah, and then she left. So...guess I’m single again.” Even his voice lacked the usual energy it had. It hurt your heart to hear him this upset. 

You took a second to take a deep breath, calming yourself. Now wasn’t the time to be angry, that could come later. Right now, Joshua needed you more than anything. This was about him and the pain he was currently feeling. Your need to punch that bitch in the face could wait. 

You joined Joshua on the edge of your bed, quickly wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling the male into a tight hug. For a moment he was limp in your arms, just resting his head on your shoulder. It was soon followed by the feeling of his arms wrapping around your waist, his hands gripping tightly at the fabric of your shirt as he clung to you. 

This wasn’t the first time you had seen Joshua cry, and it surely wouldn’t be the last, but it never got any less painful. Your heart ached for your friend, the feeling growing stronger as you felt moisture from his tears seeping into the fabric of your t-shirt. You hated it. 

The only thing you could think was that you never wanted to see Joshua like this ever again. 

A week later you were suspended for breaking his ex girlfriend’s nose.

Age 18

Over the years, your duo had become a trio with the addition of Yoon Jeonghan. He was...fun to be around but if you were being honest, a lot of the time it felt like you were being left in the dust. 

It wasn’t that you disliked Jeonghan, you were just...jealous. You kinda missed it being just you and Joshua. It had just been the two of you for so long that sometimes it felt like an outsider had come in and simply stole your best friend. 

Which is why you were currently sitting alone in your bedroom on a Friday night. Jeonghan had taken Joshua out for a ‘boys night’ as a way for Joshua to get to meet Jeonghan’s other friend group. 

You were lonely, and jealous and that didn’t make for a good combination. 

Your solution? Swimming. 

The pool in your backyard was cold, but the chill was something you needed at the moment. The water encompassing your frame as you delved beneath the surface, the ice cold waters completely chilling your core. It was terrible, but it felt better than being lonely.

Popping back up to the surface for air, you flipped over onto your back and stared up at the stars above you. Counting them as you slowly drifted through the water. Your thoughts began drifting from the stars and back to your friends, it was honestly pathetic how you were acting. You knew that Jeonghan wasn’t ‘stealing’ Joshua from you, he was your friend too! It just so happened that he and Josh were...closer, and yet here you were acting like a child because of it. You felt pathetic.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing?” Your thoughts were quickly stripped from you as you heard the familiar, although muffled, voice of the person who had been running through your mind. Quickly you maneuvered yourself in the water so that you could turn and face the back door of your home where Joshua and Jeonghan had just exited from. Joshua moved quickly to grab the towel that you had brought out with you, while Jeonghan moved to the edge of the pool and knelt down to watch you as you swam over with a look of concern blanketed across his face.

“I think it’s a bit too cold for a swim, don’t you little Piglet?” The nickname hit your heart, it wasn’t a mean one. It was an old childhood nickname that Joshua had given you based off of your first interaction, how scared you had been of him. When Jeonghan had joined your friend group he just adopted it since Josh called you that so frequently. 

You brushed off his question, ignoring it in favor of asking your own. 

“What are you guys even doing here? I thought you guys were hanging out with Seungcheol all night?”

Jeonghan reached out a hand and you got the message, taking it as he helped hoist you out of the pool. He let out a small giggle as he watched you shiver when the cold air hit your skin. He quickly began rubbing your arms gently to try and warm them as Joshua rushed over with the towel. 

“Well, Pooh Bear here said he was worried about you, guess his little hunch was right.” Jeonghan tilted his head to gesture towards Joshua, who surprisingly ignored the male in favor of wrapping the towel around you which thankfully provided some much needed warmth. Though that could also be coming from the feelings in your chest at Jeonghan’s explanation. It made you feel better to know that Joshua...hadn’t forgotten about you. 

“Go inside and get dressed, we’re gonna go out for dinner and we need you to not die of hypothermia before then.” Joshua ordered, a stern look on his face as he spoke. It was rare to see Josh this serious, but you supposed that you did just go for a swim in the middle of a chilly autumn night so...it was to be expected.

“Anything you say Pooh Bear.”

Age 22

“I seriously can’t believe Jeonghan, our little Roo,  of all people is the first to get married.” You laughed happily. Sure this day had been coming for months but it was still just exciting to think about. You were doing your best to contain your excitement, but sitting with the two in Jeonghan’s dressing room as he prepared to stand at the altar and wait for his blushing bride, you couldn’t contain your excitement. 

Jeonghan laughed along with you and Joshua as he straightened his bowtie...for the third time in the past 10 minutes. You could tell he was nervous, though you weren’t sure what for, you had seen the couple together and you could tell just how in love they were. It was quite adorable.

“I mean, I’m surprised too,” He confessed, glancing back at you through the mirror. “I always thought you and Josh would get married first.” 

Across the room you heard Joshua cough loudly as if choking on his own oxygen, you flashed him a look of concern until he calmed down before turning back to Jeonghan. 

“Don’t even joke like that dude. Chan would flip if he heard that.” Chan was your current boyfriend, he was sweet if not a little possessive. Something that both Joshua and Jeonghan had spoken to you about in concern.

At the mention of your boyfriend’s name you saw Hannie roll his eyes before reaching up to fiddle with his perfectly styled hair once again.

“Red flag~” He sang out, causing you to roll your eyes. It was frustrating that they were talking about this today of all days. You didn’t notice Joshua’s face harden in something that could only be described as irritation. 

“If she’s happy with him then just drop it, Roo.” hearing Jeonghan’s familiar nickname warmed your heart. “Besides, this is your day. I thought you’d be happy to focus on yourself today.”

“Oh, you’re absolutely right. I’m going to bask in this. Doesn’t mean I can’t worry about my friends.

Age 24

To no one’s surprise, Joshua and Jeonghan had been right. Chan’s possessiveness had taken a turn for the worst. Asking you to cut off contact with your two best friends so you did the only thing you could do. You broke up with him, decided you would be cutting off contact and now you were driving away from your former shared apartment and making the hour trip to Joshua’s new place, hopefully he and his new roommate would be cool if you crashed on their couch until you found a new place.

Despite the fact that you knew this break up was for the best, it still hurt and you couldn’t stop tears from shedding while you drove. The liquid sadness blurring the road as you sped down the highway.

Once outside the door to his third floor apartment, you gave a firm knock. Eventually the door opened to the familiar face of Joshua’s new roommate, Seungcheol. You knew the guy fairly well as he’d been a mutual friend of Jeonghan’s and Josh’s during high school, you never really hung out with him too much but you knew he was cool. 

Seeing your puffy eyes tear filled eyes, he quickly moved out of the way and gestured you in. With a small mutter about going to grab Joshua. 

You took a seat on the familiar royal blue sofa, the plush fabric sinking down and pulling you in as you sat down. It was almost like the sofa was pulling you into a hug and you were grateful for the soft plush fabric. You had left your old Winnie the Pooh plushie in the car with the rest of the belongings you had been able to quickly pack after Chan had stormed out of the apartment. 

You heard the soft sounds of speech as Seungcheol explained to Joshua what was going on, you couldn’t quite understand the words but it was followed by the slamming of a door and the sound of footsteps rushing to the living room. 

All too soon, Joshua was in front of you and you felt the tears well up once more as you explained to him what had happened...why you had left Chan.

“He didn’t hurt you did he? I swear if he touched you I’ll go kick his ass myself.” You didn’t trust your voice so you simply shook your head, sniffling as you tried your best to keep a strong appearance despite the tears. It didn’t work, and he gently gripped your shoulders giving you a once over, looking for any sign of possible injury and letting out a sigh of relief when he found nothing. 

Just as you had done during his break up in high school, his arms quickly wrapped around you. Pulling you as close to him as he possibly could. It was like whatever had kept your sobs held it was completely broken, and soon you were all out sobbing. A complete blubbering mess as you gripped his shirt and buried your face in his chest. 

His hand lifted and gently patted your head, his other hand rubbing small circles on your back as you let out all your welled up emotions. It was all too much for you, everything was too much. 

"You were r-right," you exclaimed between sobs, your voice muffled as your tears continued to stain his sleep shirt with your tears. "H-He told me...told me that..." Just thinking about it made your heart clench as you tried your best to continue. Joshua shushed you softly, trying to lull you into a sense of security so that you could calm down. He knew that you would get sick if you continued to wail as you did. 

"You can tell me later, just breathe right now okay?" His soft calming voice hit your heart, but it was still quite a little while before your sobs died down. Once they did, you explained to him just what had happened. How Chan had told you that he didn't feel comfortable with you hanging out with Joshua or even Jeonghan anymore, despite you explaining that they were just your best friends and going so far as to remind him that he was AT Jeonghan's wedding. 

Despite you being calm, you hadn't moved out of Joshua's grasp and the two of you had simply...migrated. Now the two of you were laying on his insanely comfortable couch, with you resting on his chest. It was far too hard to look up at him right now, your heart hurt too much and looking up at him was just a reminder. Right now, all you needed was just to be in his arms, the comfort of your best friend flowing through you as he did his best to comfort you. 

"You deserve better than him anyway. Much better. You don't need someone who is gonna try to control you like that." He declared, his voice soft and calming as he rubbed your back. It was nice, it felt right. Maybe it was because it was natural at this point, the two of you had been there for each other through everything. "You can stay here as long as you like, I know Cheol won't mind. Hell, we'll even grab Hannie and go to help you grab the rest of your stuff." 

You heard Seungcheol rummaging in the kitchen for something for a minute before joining the two of you in the living room and plopping a tub of ice cream onto their coffee table, along with two sets of spoons. He smiled down at the two of you as he did.

"Just think of us as your own personal bodyguards. I've got a few friends too that could help move stuff. My friend's Hyunwoo and Hoseok are built like they lift boulders for a living. They'd probably be enough to scare away any evil exes." 

Joshua laughed softly at the mention of Cheol's two friends, glancing down at you with that soft smile of his. The same one that always warmed your heart in a way you couldn't describe. 

"We're here for whatever you need little Piglet." 

Age 25

"I am...so sorry, I didn’t mean to- I mean I just...” Trailing off, unable to think of the right words. You couldn’t look Joshua in the eyes, not after you had pressed your lips against his own...after kissing your best friend. You weren’t even completely sure why you did it, yet you had and you had also probably completely ruined the decade old friendship. Guilt welled in your gut. Out of everyone, you couldn’t lose Joshua. He was too important to you. 

As soon as that thought crossed your mind, you seemed to all at once understand the cause of your actions and why you were so scared to lose him. Somewhere along the road, you had fallen in love...with your best friend. Your heart sunk into your stomach, if you felt like this for him then this was even worse than you thought. It wasn’t like Joshua had ever shown any kind of interest in you like that.

“You can do it again if you want.” His words caused your brain to freeze as if someone had frozen you solid. Thoughts raced through your mind as you tried to think of an explanation for why he would say something like that. Confusion etched across your face as your eyes hesitantly lifted from the floor to meet his. “I really don’t mind.” 

“Josh, I just kissed you! I probably broke like, 30 laws of whatever best friend handbook there is!”

Your words simply caused Joshua to laugh, shaking his head lightly as he laughed. It was if you had just told the most hilarious joke. 

“You know I’m in love with you right?” Well it seemed that Joshua was determined to take you off guard today. Though to be fair...you caught him off guard first. 

“Since when? You never acted like it, or like...told me?” 

“I mean, not for Han’s lack of trying. Did you really think he joked about us being a couple for no reason?” Now that he mentioned it, Jeonghan did make...quite a few jokes about the two of you just settling down together and they only got worse after you broke things off with Chan. 

Rubbing the back of your neck in exasperation, your feelings being tugged in so many directions as you tried to comprehend the situation you were in. 

“Okay that explains one thing but like, since when?” You had just realized your feelings but from what he said this had been...a long time thing. A small humorless laugh left your best friend, avoiding your gaze. 

“You remember when we were in High school, and you got suspended for breaking my ex’s nose? Yeeeah.”

“That was...eight years ago Josh!” You were completely struck by this information. He had been secretly in love for that long? It would make sense when you truly thought about it, he hadn’t dated or shown any real interest in anyone after that year. As the pieces connected in your head, you felt Joshua grab your hand and lace his fingers with your own. 

“Yeah, nothing’s changed though. Honestly i’ll probably never stop loving you, even if you don’t love me.” He gave your hand a small squeeze. It felt right, like his hand was made to fit with yours just like it always had. Maybe this was why Chan had felt threatened by Josh, maybe he could tell, maybe he knew where your heart belonged even if you hadn’t known at the time.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. I think somehow you’ve always had me.” You began, unable to stop yourself from smiling as you saw his eyes light up at your words. “So now, I’m going to kiss you again and then we have to let Jeonghan know that we’re not being stupid anymore.” 

You didn’t give Joshua a real chance to speak again before you pulled him close and once again connecting your lips once again. Your free hand weaving through his hair and your other gripping his hand tightly. Joshua wasted no time returning the kiss, free hand grabbing your hip and pulling you closer. 

In all your life, you had never imagined making out with your best friend, yet here you were locked in an embrace. You gently nipped his lower lip with your teeth before pulling away and resting your forehead against his own.

“You know, we could always just keep it a secret from Hannie? See how long it takes him.” you couldn’t help but laugh at Joshua’s suggestion. 

“I bet it takes him a whole year.”

“I’ll take you on that, baby.”

[soundofseventeen]

Snapshoot (OT13)

Hi, in case y’all didn’t know, I have declared war on Erin and Haley and this was one outcome lmao! It’s also one of my favorite songs and I’m really happy with these! Credits to the owners for the gifs!!! I couldn’t find names!!!!!

Seungcheol: (Ahh, that’s how it’s done...3,2,1 shoot) the way you had fallen on your butt when you two had decided to take an evening stroll after dinner one night. You circled the nearby park a couple of times when you noticed your shoe had become untied. You let go of Cheol’s hand and knelt down to tie it up. You’d been so focused on looping the laces, you didn’t notice the furry little creature trotting up to you until it barked to get your attention. You let out a small yelp and fell back from the scare, only to squeal in delight when the pup sniffed your face and licked your cheek. She ended up sitting next to you while you petted and cooed her. Seungcheol took out his phone and snapped a photo of you nuzzling noses, the biggest smile on both your faces, until the rightful owner came calling for the pup a moment later and she vanished, breaking your heart. Cheol did help you up eventually, shaking his head at your expression. He posted all over social media, gushing over your cuteness.

Jeonghan: (snap shoot, you) the way a bucket of paint managed to fall, spilling the orange color all over you. After agreeing to help one of your friends paint their new house while they went furniture shopping, you invited Jeonghan to help you. Okay, he wasn’t really helping, but he did occasionally dip his brush in the paint and got it on the wall, and he liked changing every song that came on because it didn’t fit the mood, but you couldn’t complain much. At one point, Jeonghan did get up on the ladder to paint the parts you missed (because his eyesight was better than yours), and when he had forgotten he had the can of paint on the top step, he buckled his knees and one of them hit the can and it spilled on the ladder and on you while you were removing the tape. He captured the perfect moment with you rubbing the paint off your clothes and hair, the laughter being heard throughout the house. And before he could do anything else, you splashed a different color of paint on him and going to hug them so the colors could blend together as well as you did.

Joshua: (the way to set the focus on you is a tutorial of love) the way you held his guitar in your hands. In the entire time you’ve known Joshua, his most prized possession had never been far behind. In the midst of his collection of rice cookers, Winnie the Pooh plushes and never ending love letters, his guitar had been his first and only love. He loved dedicating a few minutes of his day playing Encantadora, the name he had given her because he was so enchanted by her. And whenever you hung out together, he’d always ask if it was okay if he could fill the silence with her music. And it’s not like you could say no. Sometimes he sang along with her and sometimes she sang alone, but both were always beautiful. The last time he was at your place, Joshua had been called back to work for some last minute changes and Encantadora had stayed with you since then. You were always afraid of carrying his guitar, because of the things that could go wrong and you couldn’t handle him hating you if something did happen. So naturally, it stayed on your couch where you hardly moved her. But Joshua was picking Encantadora up today, so after Google searching what was safe, you cleaned her up, making sure to rid any specs of dust. Curiosity eventually got the best of you and picked her up and fixed her on your lap, strumming the chords lightly and cringing because she didn’t sound anything like when Joshua played her. Joshua had quietly let himself in during this time, just in case you were asleep, and he saw you tenderly caressing the strings, you frowning when it didn’t like the way you expected it to. He smiled, exiting the app he currently had and opened the camera. He clicked the button a couple of times before announcing his presence and taking a spot next you, showing you how the basics. 

Junhui: (capture this moment right now) the way you stopped to smell the roses, literally. One of Junhui’s favorite times of year was the rose festival. Businesses all around the Seoul area closed and gathered at the park to support the small businesses. Jun often woke up early to get a good seat for the parade that kicked off the momentous occasion; the only difference was that this was the first time that you’d be joining him. Other than being mostly sleepy and resting your head on his shoulder it was fun. The people on the floats engaged with the crowd, throwing candies and small toys and even fliers to vote. Junhui constantly disappeared and then reappeared with food, only sharing sometimes. And with the parade ending, he brought you to your feet, making you follow it (yes, walking) until you ended up at the park which had been up with various booths, the dj barely setting up his stage, and the bounce houses getting ready to go. You didn’t know how Junhui managed to fit so much food in his stomach throughout the day, and how many items he buried in his pockets and once he started getting recognized by the fans, he had to hide in one of the public bathrooms until you got him a hat and sunglasses. And once the early evening followed the humid afternoon, he pulled you onto one of the benches to let you catch your breath and once you were on your feet again waiting for your ride, you recounted the day’s events, you swearing you were gonna be full for the rest of the year when you noticed the rose bush. You stopped in the middle of the story, making a beeline for the bush and petted the flowers, adoring the color and everything and even inhaled the scent, praising their beauty and you didn’t notice Jun pulling out his phone and taking pictures of the candid moment, your nose pressed to the petals, your skin tone complementing the rose.

Soonyoung: (to me baby, you are the greatest gift) the way you ended up falling asleep on him curled up on the couch. He had just come after an exhausting practice and all he wanted was to cuddle you in his arms until his idol duties separated you again...or until his limbs fell off; whichever came first. He opened up Disney plus, telling you about the movie that he had been wanting to watch since forever just to see if he still remembered it. Soonyoung found the movie, pressed play, and let you snuggle close to him, throwing a blanket over yourselves. At one point he asked you if you wanted to order pizza for a late, late night dinner when he noticed you weren’t responding to him. He turned to you, ready to ask again, but he saw your eyes closed, breathing in and out deeply and he smiled. He kissed your head and fumbled around for his phone, wanting to capture the moment. He finally found it and after turning off the flash, took a couple of photos, even coming in for a few of them and sent them to you so you’d have something to look forward to when you woke up in the morning. 

Wonwoo: (let’s remember this happy day; let’s capture it in a picture) the way you lit up with your photocards. Wonwoo had promised you that when your albums from the other kpop group that had stolen your heart arrived at the boys’ dorms, he’d let you know (even though you got the notifications by email to track their every movement.) Sure enough on a clear Saturday afternoon, he had woken up from his second nap because of your constant knocking. He let you in, rubbing his eyes and grumbling how he could never get any peace and quiet, despite being the only one home. You saw the package on the couch addressed to you and you ran, tripping over someone’s blanket. And then the package disappeared from your sight as Wonwoo picked it up and said you weren’t opening it until you had something to eat and as if knowing you, your stomach growled so you complied grumpily slurping the ramen noodles without really tasting them and being the little shit he was, didn’t let you open the box until he finished eating. You didn’t ask for much, just that you’d be gifted with a bias card. Just one, and then you’d be happy. And with each one you opened, you could feel a little sadness at not seeing your favorite face and Wonwoo made sure to capture your reaction each time. You had given up hope at the fact you weren’t getting your bias this time, but still you opened the final album, thumbing through the photos when you saw the photocard. You flipped it over, and then you showed it Wonwoo with a big grin on your face, radiating with the same happiness and he snapped away, the smile making its way to his face.

Jihoon: (you in viewfinder, the focus is auto. Naturally following the movements, it follows you) the way you covered your face when he was singing the song he wrote for you. You had been under the guise that he had been holed in Universe Factory while everyone spent the day in the great outdoors, so he asked if you could pick up his lunch order and bring it to him. You didn’t bother changing out of your comfortable clothes so you left almost as soon as you read his message. He was surprised to see you so soon, but stammered out how you didn’t want him to be hungry when he still had so long to go. Jihoon smiled at your sweet response, otherwise not being able to form any words. You feel your face warming up, so in order to move away from the awkwardness, you asked him if you could hear what he was working on. He was slightly embarrassed but he took a collective breath and went to pick up his guitar and played. Once you realized it was about you, you looked for something to hide behind so you didn’t notice that Jihoon had stopped playing and quietly pulled out his phone and captured the moment until the sound gave it away but he set it to his lock screen to remind himself of his muse. 

Seokmin: (to me, you’re the most precious) the way the wonder etched across your face. You weren’t sure how you managed to convince Seokmin to play hooky but here you were at the sea turtle reserve you volunteered at during the season. You showed him the in and outs of the place, giving him the rundown of how you normally spent your time here. He nodded along, not really understanding a lot but he enjoyed hearing you rave about it and seeing you light up. You even got to show him the nest that you found one day while picking up trash and gave him an estimated date on when they were gonna hatch. You picked up an egg, dusting the sand off when it began to shake and move. Seokmin, not knowing what else to do, searched his phone, finding it in his back pocket, and almost dropping it while trying to unlock it so the perfect moment wouldn’t pass him by. He snapped several of them, from the way the shell cracked open to the way the baby sea turtle popped its head out, all the while you being so mesmerized with a live baby in your palms and he swore he found a new favorite animal as you gingerly placed it on the sand and said goodbye before the ocean wave took him home.

Mingyu: (I want to capture that smile, just as the way you are) the way he got you laughing again. After a long week of struggling with your work life and being dragged into unnecessary family drama, Mingyu snuck into your house and turned it into a mini photography studio, complete with stuffed animals, all your favorite foods and running up your energy bill from all the light sources. The moment he heard you unlocking your door and stepping inside, he ambushed you with his camera, throwing out every compliment that came to his mind and it took everything in you not to cry into the plush when he tossed one at you. He reassured you that you didn’t have to talk to him but he wasn’t gonna leave you alone until you smiled like you meant it. Mingyu then proceeded to poke your cheek, telling jokes, doing aegyo and impersonating his brothers until the corners of your lips turned upwards and you forgot about your hard week. He even went as far to develop the photos and telling you he was keeping them somewhere in the studio so he could always see you happy (and you bawled.) 

Minghao: (Ahh, this is how it feels like...3,2,1 shoot) the way the leaves fell around you. When Minghao’s Polaroid came in, the first thing he wanted to do was take you out on a date and capture as many moments as he could. The only problem with that was that he forgot to order extra film, so he had to wait until that arrived. The air had a crisp feeling to it, an uncommon occurrence during the hot weather, but he took advantage of that and took you hiking. The camera was a little heavier than he expected it to but he carried it around, nonetheless. The few butterflies that came out, he snapped; the names you engraved on a tree to symbolize you were together forever, he got twice. He even got the little squirrels chattering at you as if getting you in trouble for vandalizing their home. He loved your hand around his, feeling as if you were one with nature. Minghao, at times, felt as if he was looking at you for the first time, because he couldn’t speak. The light breeze that followed you around blew on the tree as you carved your favorite lyrics into a different tree and you had to stop to catch the falling leaves. Minghao, after refilling the film, raised the lens to his eye and clicked on the camera, the candid moment captured and already developing. He was almost sure he’d put the photo behind his phone case. 

Seungkwan: (me by your side and you by my side) the way the fantasy life took over your life. When Wonwoo had raved about a book, your curiosity had gotten the best of you and bought the book for yourself just to see it was worth the buzz that he created and unfortunately for you, it did. Even worse was that Wonwoo failed to tell you that there wasn’t a sequel, but it was a series that just had you ordering all of them at once to save you shipping costs. In that week you read them cover to cover, Seungkwan invited you to Pledis while they worked on songs, vocals, choreos and antics of every size, especially since they stayed late to the point where they went straight home after work. One night while they were perfecting the choreography, you finished another one, and you couldn’t remember where you placed the other book to start reading it, until you found it under Chan’s hoodie and opened it straightaway, immersing yourself in the newest adventure. You missed the way Seventeen finally nailed the moves and the 15 minute break they took to enjoy their soda and burgers and just how loud they were in general. The only thing you complained about was how you couldn’t find a comfortable reading position so Seungkwan took a spot next to and draped an arm around you to bring you close to him and you decided to rest your head over his heart and resumed your reading, although you could feel yourself growing more tired now that you were finally comfortable. Seungkwan picked up his phone that had been charging by an oultet and called you softly once he opened the camera. He placed a soft kiss to your cheek and clicked on the shutter, ecstatic that you didn’t push it away.

Hansol: (a perfect subject that is more than perfect) the way you modeled an old hat you didn’t wear anymore. After your family had threatened to throw away the belongings in your old room, you asked Vernon to take a trip with you to your hometown to clean it out and take with you what you wanted to your new home and the rest could be donated or trashed. He helped you throw your posters away (although that hurt your teenage self a bit), stuffed the shirts you cringed at in a trash bag, and packed some CDs into boxes so you could ship them back. While clearing out one of the drawers on your nightstand, he pulled out a digital camera, the strap decorated in puff paint peeling in some parts. Hansol pressed the power button, unsurprised when it didn’t turn on, so he asked if you had any batteries and you pointed him in the direction of where you remembered you kept them, but you focused more on throwing everything you kept hidden from your nosy family, making sure to rip your notes into tiny pieces in case they decided to rummage through the trash, even going as far as dousing them in water just to be safe. When Hansol managed to finally turn it on, he skimmed across your photos, hardly recognizing the person you used to be but also believing it, since you never lost your smile. He came back into your room, telling you to wear the first thing you grabbed and snapped photo after photo, capturing every movement, even going as far as throwing the hat as you posed for the grand finale. Naturally, Hansol dragged you to the nearest place that developed photos, and picked out a book to keep these in. 

Chan: (I know, even if it turns to be hard somehow, but since I have you, everything is alright) the way you couldn’t stay still before getting ready to go to work. When you had quit your last job, you felt a mixture of emotions but mostly the relief of no longer taking people’s shit and the fear of not knowing how you were gonna survive without money. Chan had been more than helpful, letting you move in with him while you got back on your feet. During those days, you had grown closer and eventually started dating, and you found a short college course that could help you in achieving something close to what you wanted. And when you received the degree, you immediately looked for a job in hopes of paying Chan back as soon as possible (even if the idea did offend him. He was more than happy to help you out after all. It seemed that Chan was your good luck charm because you found it...your dream job and got it almost as quickly. You guys celebrated that night and you found yourself being unable to sleep the entire night and you were still up early the next morning. Chan, feeling more like a proud parent than a supportive boyfriend, made you breakfast while you got ready and didn’t let you leave the house until he got many, many, many pictures of you to show off to his friends when he left for Pledis. He sent the selfies to you as a way to remind you that you could conquer the day.

[some-lists]

My Favorite Movies & TV Shows About Sisters

I already did a list of my favorite movies and tv shows about best friends. As I was compiling that list, a number of movies and shows about sisters popped into my head. I didn’t include them because I thought, “Well, they’re sisters, not friends.” So, now I present a list of my favorite movies and TV shows about sisters!

10. Switched at Birth

Switched at Birth is about two teen girls who discover they were switched at birth. They both choose to meet their biological families and become forever connected. Though Bay and Daphne are not actually sisters, they become sisters as they now share parents, siblings, and homes. They come from different walks of life. Bay is wealthy while Daphne was raised by a single working Latina mother. What’s especially great is the inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing leads and the use of sign language.

9. Sense & Sensibility

Pride & Prejudice is usually the most popular of Jane Austen’s novels (and movie adaptations), but I personally like Sense & Sensibility more. The 90′s version has an excellent cast that includes Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman. Marianne Dashwood (Winslet) is the hopeless romantic who wears her heart out on her sleeve. Sensible, dutiful Elinor (Thompson) keeps all her feelings to herself. They fall in love, have their hearts broken, and have each other’s backs even if they don’t totally understand each other.

8. Fuller House

The original Full House is a better show than Fuller House, but I like the female trio of DJ, Stephanie, and Kimmy in the sequel series. Kimmy isn’t a sister, but she essentially becomes one of their sisters and officially Stephanie’s sister-in-law. They all have their different personalities that align with the original male trio in Full House. DJ is the goody-goody, slightly OCD supermom (Danny). Stephanie is the fun loving aunt (Uncle Jesse). Kimmy is the wacky best friend (Joey). We get to see them go on girl nights out, plan parties, serve as bridesmaids, and more. Full House may be the classic, but I think Fuller House is more fun.

7. Charmed

I haven’t seen the new reboot of Charmed, so this is about the 90s-00s version. I’ll admit the current drama between the two casts has left a sour taste in my mouth. But the original show was one I looked forward to watching with my two sisters each week. We loved that each sister had their own distinct magical power and their own successful careers. I preferred when Shannen Doherty was in the cast as oldest sister Prue over Rose McGowan’s Paige. But watching either trio combat demons while navigating their love lives was good entertainment.

6. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Even though To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is mainly a rom-com about Lara Jean’s love life, it’s also a sweet story about sisters. The sister relationships were especially wonderful in the books, and one of the things I really loved about it. We see even though Lara Jean has had some sadness in her life, she is supported by her loving family. It’s nice that they are not jealous of each other or resentful towards one another. They may bicker from time to time, but ultimately the love between the three of them is clear.

5. 10 Things I Hate About You

One of my favorite movies of all time! Just like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, 10 Things I Hate About You is a rom-com that happens to feature a great sister relationship. Kat and Bianca are total opposites. Kat is anti-social while Bianca is a social butterfly. In the beginning we see resentment between the two due to their differences in personality. Bianca thinks Kat is a bitch. Kat thinks Bianca is shallow and conceited. But by the end they grow to respect each other. We see that Kat is actually a very strong, driven, independent woman. Bianca grows from a spoiled rich girl to someone who sees past vanity and stands up for her sister. Also, Heath Ledger.

4. Wish Upon a Star

Someone brilliant took the concept of Freaky Friday and applied it to sisters. The younger bookworm sister swaps bodies with her older, popular sister. While in each other’s bodies, they both grow into better people as they walk in the other’s shoes. The younger sister becomes more confident. The older sister becomes less superficial and a better student. They both learn to like themselves for who they are and grow closer as they have to rely on each other to switch back.

3. Hocus Pocus

In the spirit of Halloween, I had to include the Sanderson Sisters. Even though this movie isn’t exactly about sisters, it features one of the best sister trios ever. Winnie is the bossy one, Mary has hound dog-like sniffing abilities, and Sarah is the sexy airhead. They are so entertaining and funny. Classic!

2. Little Women

I haven’t seen the newest version of Little Women -- though I really want to. The 90′s version was one of my all time favorite movies. It had an all star cast with Winona Rider as feisty Jo, Claire Danes as shy Beth, Kirsten Dunst as young Amy, Christian Bale as boy next door Laurie, and Susan Sarandon as Marmie. They are all wonderful. We see the sisters play together, fight, and grow up. It sticks pretty close to the book, and it has a warm, charming Christmas vibe to it. Now I just have to see the new one!

1. Sister Sister

Two identical twins discover they were separated as babies after being adopted by different people. They find each other again and move in together. Tia is studious while Tamera is a party girl. They have a pesky little neighbor to deal with along with other high school adventures. Their parents, especially Tia’s mom Lisa Landry, are hilarious. Sister Sister was just a really cool show.

[monicaposh]

Do you watch any other shows? If so, who do you Ship?

xoxo

Hmm. Obviously Varchie but I assume that’s what you meant by ‘other shows’. Surprisingly I watch a lot of shows without heavy ships or I’m just indifferent to them. Below are some of my all time fave show ships tho, might add to this if I missed any:

90210 — Brenda & Dylan ofc. One of my first ships 🥺 They live in my mind rent free. Stay tuned for a fun take on them in the next installment of across the stars!!

SBTB — Zack & Kelly forever. They have owned me for almost thirty years. This show is certainly outdated but I loved it growing up. You can’t imagine how many times I’ve rewatched the Vegas wedding 😂 also I don’t claim the reboot

Dawson’s Creek — Pacey & Joey this was one of the biggest coming of age shows on the air when I was growing up. I shipped Joey with Dawson for the first ten years of my life until seeing the light during a rewatch with my girlfriends in college. Ships aside- watch this because it’s a classic.

Gilmore Girls — Rory & Logan ofc Ive been in too many debates over who was best suited together but Logan Huntzberger ALL DAY. although the REAL OTP of this series will forever be the twin pillars of strength Richard & Emily

Gossip Girl — Blair & Nate *it should be noted I heavily multiship in the gg world (obviously) even the darker ships, crack ships and those from the books that never saw the light of day. Erik and Blair were a ship in the books I loved but Nair will always be my OTP. Don’t @ me. I come from nearly twenty years of gossip girl background and my origin lies with the book series. So many missed moments the show couldn’t even begin to capture. The ruby ring, the heart pin, two teen lovers sailing the sea together feeding each other artichoke hearts, ugh they are everything to me. Goes to rewatch The Grandfather ep and reread the books! (I’m also a Blair/Nate/Serena enthusiast)

The Office — Jim & Pam this adorable and quirky work romance certainly resembles how my own marriage came to be and I have such a soft spot for these two. I love this show and I love this ship!

The OC — Seth & Summer (Alexa play champagne supernova) but also ofc Ryan & Marissa. Literally the greatest core four to exist. A dynamic foursome of two great ships that Riverdale only wishes it could replicate. Also- top tier soundtrack.

OUAT — Snow & Charming, (I will always find you 🥺) and CaptainSwan/OutlawQueen. this show is always a comforting one to rewatch for me. The best take on Snow White and Prince Charming I could ask for from my favorite Disney pairing of all time. My wedding was inspired by their Enchanted Forest I loved it so much! Also the unexpected ships of beloved fairytale characters created through the storylines are truly amazing!

PLL — Haleb and Spoby forever!! Both of these ships drove me through every season (except the one we don’t speak of🥴). Scrabble games, secret living arrangements, ugh missing it all! Though I’d be lying if I didn’t love Wren Kingston shaking things up from time to time.

SATC — Charlotte & Harry ugh the unforeseen romance, a Park Avenue princess falling for her seemingly sloppy divorce lawyer, the conversion to Judaism, and OF COURSE Elizabeth Taylor. This couple is forever a favorite of mine!

Honorable Mentions:

The Wonder Years — Kevin & Winnie 🥺 hurts so good

The Sopranos — Tony & Carmela

True Blood — Eric & Sookie

Boy Meets World — Shawn & Angela

*This is probably more than you asked for but once you had me thinking I couldn’t stop 😂 I’ll be back if I think of any others or have new ones to add as I watch other shows! Currently watching lost!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #406

“turned on all the lights, the tv, and the radio  /  still, i can’t escape the ghost of you”

Have you ever had an ulcer? No. Do you have any rare medical conditions? I believe AvPD is considered to be a rare mental disorder. Do you have to carry an epi pen? No. What color is your mailbox? I think it's black. I don't pay attention. Would you ever want a job working with animals? I'd love to. The thing is, without a degree in something, my duties working with animals would almost certainly involve cleaning up after them, which I am WAY too squeamish with fecal matter and vomit to do. It's extremely embarrassing, but I've never even been able to clean up after my own pets if they ever had an accident or got sick. I obviously couldn't do it with random animals. Did you have a good high school experience? It's... so odd, retrospecting on high school. In some ways, it was the best time of my life because of my memories with my friends and especially Jason, but at the time, I absolutely loathed it and was horribly depressed. But at least I saw a future for myself. I took better care of myself, all that stuff... That Brittany would be fucking mortified to get a glimpse at who she becomes. Have you ever watched any Monty Python movies? Which one is your favourite? I know I've seen some of at least one. Would you ever get a "below the belt" piercing? Nah. If a couple is married, do you think there should be any legal punishment if one person cheats? No...? Like don't get me wrong at all, I am firmly against cheating under any circumstance, but for there to be legal retribution seems extreme. What is the greatest source of anxiety for you? My future. Are there any hallucinogenic drugs you’d like to try? Nah man. What made you choose your current job? I'm unemployed. Do you feel uncomfortable on the dance floor? Or are you confident with you dancing abilities? Oh hunny, you won't see me on the dance floor. Unless MAYBE if the Cha-Cha Slide comes on, or the Cupid Shuffle. That's as skilled as I get, haha. Is it exciting to you to imagine having an affair with a teacher? ... No??????????? It's fucking creepy. Adultery isn't exciting. Do you like your smile? No. I absolutely look high when I smile. What is something silly that you believed to be true when you were a child? That I could invoke the traits of any animal, which I just referred to as my "animal powers." Like for example, if I "called upon" a kangaroo, I could jump higher. I was a weird fucking kid. Have you ever been in a relationship with someone you completely connected with on a mental/emotional level, but did not find physically attractive in any way? Was physical intimacy a problem? How did it work out? I was never really physically attracted to Girt, but it was never a big deal to me. I cared way more about his personality and how much he cared about me. We were never really "intimate," per se, we just would give each other a simple peck. It didn't work out, but not at all because of physical things. He was just too much of a brother to me. What classic or cult movie have you never seen and have no desire to? Hm. I know there's some, but I'm blanking. Does The Human Centipede count here? Like everyone knows about it, so I would assume it does. I have ZERO desire to see a second of that repulsive movie. Have you ever taken a real liking to a band/singer you never ever....ever thought you'd enjoy? Maybe Melanie Martinez? Her voice is so cutesy, as are some of her songs, but I really enjoy how dark her lyrics can be. People who know me would probably be shocked to hear I thoroughly like her. After seeing the movie Avatar did you suddenly view our Earth as ugly and/or boring? If you have not seen the movie, do you think it’s worth your time? I've seen a little bit of it, but I never finished it because I was very tired and chose to go to sleep. I actually do want to see the full thing, though; it looks very good. How helpful are your parents to you? Would they help you to pay for your first apartment? College? Where does the line end? My parents are truly incredible with helping me the best they are capable of. They helped me pay for school, among other things, but I doubt they'd help with my first home, whenever that is. I wouldn't really want them to, either, because that's my responsibility for sure. Do you like playing video games? If so, what do you usually play? I love video games, and horror is absolutely my favorite genre. I also love fantasy games though with deep stories. I've never been the best at playing super long games, like Final Fantasy games, even if I'm seriously invested in the story, though. I burn out. Have you ever sewn a garment? No. Are there any plants in the room you’re in? No. I don't bother with plants. What’s your highest level of education? Some college. What’s the most important thing in any kind of relationship? Proper communication, probably. If you wear lipstick, what’s your favourite colour to wear? I only really put on lipstick to occasionally take a picture, and it's pretty much always black. Is your style feminine, masculine or somewhere in the middle? Somewhere in the middle, I guess? Are there a lot of dragonflies around your house? I've never seen one around this house, and I doubt I ever will because it's too urban. When we lived in the woods, however, I saw them a lot. Of all the Disney couples, which one would you say is your favorite? Kovu and Kiara came to my mind first. Do you think it is cute/funny or disgraceful when a child swears? It's shocking, more than anything. You don't expect it. I don't believe it should be encouraged, but only because children just don't know when swearing really isn't appropriate. If/when you have a baby, how do you think you would want to decorate its room? I don't want kids, but I'll entertain the question and assume this is before the child is born and develops interests. Whether it's a boy or a girl, I'd probably go with a cutesy animal theme. Would you more likely buy a shirt with a picture of Mickey/Minnie Mouse, a Winnie the Pooh character, Snoopy, Hello Kitty, or Tweety Bird on it? None, honestly. Perhaps like, a gothic Hello Kitty. Of all the states you have been to, which one did you have the best experiences? Putting aside the AWFUL heat and humidity, I probably had the best time in Florida. I loved all the palm trees, seeing so many lizards on my grandma's patio, and going to Disney World was a blast. I liked that swimming pools were always warm, too. Have you ever had a crush on someone “too young” for you? No. Do you regret losing your virginity to who you lost it to? No. I was madly in love with him, so no regrets on that. If your boyfriend ever hit you, would you dump him? HA, BYYYYEEEEEEEEE MOTHERFUCKER. ZERO hesitation. Did the one person who hurt you most in your life apologize? He did, but I honestly don't know if he meant it. Is there anything you want to say to someone? It'll probably go unsaid for the rest of my life. If they were to televise a live execution, would you watch it? Yikes, hard pass. If you could be the president of the USA, would you be willing to do it? Noooo thank you. Did you wake up in the middle of the night? I always do. Does your animal sleep with you? My cat does. Venus obviously sleeps in her terrarium, but she is in my room. Last color you dyed your hair? Red. Will you keep your last name when you get married? Very unlikely. I don't like my last name. What are you looking forward to? Hearing back again from the woman whose wedding I shot literally two years ago. I thought she ghosted me, but she messaged me the other day about seeing the pictures again and going through them to actually buy some. I don't know why the hell it took her two years, but whatever, I guess? I spent two whole hours resizing the files and re-adding the preview watermark (I deleted the OneDrive folder for space forever ago, but I have the files still), so I hate to sound like an ass, but she better buy something. Between sweating my ass off on location when I shot the wedding, editing those 100+ pictures two years ago, and now re-doing the previews, I have invested so much goddamn time into them that yeah, I think I have the right to be pretty damn salty if I don't hear back from her again. If your significant other cut sex out of your relationship for any reason, what would you do? It'd be whatever. I mean sure, that sort of intimacy is a very special part of serious romantic relationships to me, but I can live without it pretty easily. What was the last thing you said out loud? "Thank you for dinner" to my mom. She brought home Hardee's. Who are your godparents? I don't believe I have any. Do you like Gushers? omggggg yes Can you touch​ your nose with your tongue?​​ No. Is there a particular sport you follow on a regular basis? Nope. Are you waiting for something to arrive in the mail? No. Think of the last film you watched. Who was your favourite character? Uhhhh what was it... The Shining, I think? I didn't really develop a favorite. Do you have a friend whose name starts with ‘L’? Describe him/her. Lisa. <3 She's one of my WoW friends. She'll talk your ear off, but I don't really mind. She is SO sweet and caring for other people and loves to cook. She recently had triplets, and seeing as she had a son only months before accidentally getting pregnant with the triplets, she's obviously been MEGA busy so we haven't talked much lately. When you’re being kissed do you like it when they hold your face? Yeah, but not too early on. Doing that has a promise of seriousness and passion in it to me, and it would probably weird me out if that happened too soon. Last thing that made you cry? My health. Would you ever consider getting a piercing in your septum? Nah. I don't think it would look good on me. Do you enjoy being outdoors? If it's cool outside and I have a place to sit when I want to, yeah. Do people tell you that you have an accent? Only sometimes. It's definitely not as bad as your average Southerner, though. Do you enjoy watching fireworks on the 4th of July? Ha, what nice timing. I think they're very pretty, but I believe I went over in a recent survey how I don't encourage their usage in consideration of veterans with PTSD as well as being conscious of animals and the absolute terror it can cause for them. What’re some unspeakable subjects for you? So my sister is a children's social worker, and she shares a LOT of stories with Mom (and me, if I'm present) that I can't listen to. The ones that involve pedophilia and/or rape, especially from the child's very own parent(s), I just cannot listen to. Period. It's so fucking repulsive and just unimaginable to me how even a monster of a human can commit something THAT goddamn vile. What’s your opinion of root beer? I'm not a big fan. I mean I can tolerate drinking some of it, but I don't really *enjoy* it. Have you ever seen The Breakfast Club, and what’s your opinion of it? I have, and I didn't get the appeal at all. Did you have a Furby when you were younger? Oh god, I did. Those things are so creepy. If you had a baby boy, what would you name him? Damien, most likely.

[sinfullypassionate]

The Nanny - G.D.

summary: y/n’s helped grayson take care of his beautiful daughter since she was nine months old. over the years, she’s fallen head over heels for not only his daughter but grayson himself.

a/n: here’s my new fic i’m super excited for y’all phew pls enjoy

"Winnie, time for supper baby." She called out to the four year who was coloring in the living room.  She had made her favorite, chicken fingers with barbecue sauce. As she set the table, She heard her feet running down the hall and the older woman couldn't help but shake her head with a bright smile on her face.  "Y/N! Y/N! Look what I did!" The raven haired beauty showed her a picture she colored. It was a puppy with purple fur and pink eyes. "It's beautiful! Is it for me?" She asked the girl, picking her up. She nodded her head with a wide smile on her face, "Yeah! I'm glad you like it!" She giggled. "I'm gonna be coloring one for Papa before he comes home!" Winifred wiggled in her chair once she set her down. Y/N couldn't help but smile at her, she was so adorable. "Your Papa would love that." She said as she placed her favorite plate with a panda face on it, in front of her. "When is Papa gonna be home?" Questioned the four year old. "Soon, pumpkin. He had a meeting with uncle Ethan, but he promised to be home before you went to bed." She sat next to her and poured her a small glass of milk. "I miss him.." She pouted before taking a large bite of her chicken finger. "He misses you too, sweetheart. But, he'll be home soon!" She tapped her nose gently which caused the little girl to giggle.

As she watched her eat, she couldn't help but think about how much she looked like Grayson. She had his beautiful hazel eyes and her hair was a beautiful shade of brown just like his. Winnie was so beautiful and Y/N loved her, loved her with all her heart. She also loved him, but she was just the nanny. He had tons of girls throwing themselves at him who were ten times prettier than her and it hurt the woman sometimes; but right now what made her happy was watching that beautiful little girl who made her heart soar. If Gray had a new girlfriend, she rarely let them meet her. Winnie’s not her daughter but she feels like she is. Y/N had been her nanny since she was nine months old, so obviously she felt like she was her’s. See, what happened was Grayson met this girl back in Jersey when he went back for a few months with Ethan. They ended up hooking up and she got pregnant, she didn't want nothing to do with the baby and Grayson had always dreamed of being a dad so he just said fuck off to the girl and took full custody of baby Winifred when she was born and nine months later Y/N had her job.

Y/N walked into Starbucks, her sister’s daughter holding tightly onto her hand as her two older kids followed close behind. She had agreed to watch her nieces and nephew so her sister could have some much needed alone time with her husband. “tell me again why we decided to go into Starbucks?” Caroline grumbled, the fifteen year old staring down at her phone. “Because I wanted coffee since it’s almost ten am and we have errands to run.” the twenty one year old said. “gray, baby. go sit with your sister while i go order coffee okay?” Y/N said, smiling down at the twelve year old. “okay, Y/N! can i get a hot chocolate please?” the blonde haired boy asked, Y/N simply nodded before noting to also order one for the grumpy fifteen year old dirty blonde who was already sitting at the table.

picking up the three year old in her arms, Y/N held her tightly on her hip as she decided what she wanted to drink. “auntie, i’m hungy.” the three year old whined, “i know, punkin’. i have your snack in the car, just give me ten minutes okay?” she smiled, kissing her cheek. the little blonde haired girl just nodded and started playing with her aunt’s hair. finally deciding on a caramel macchiato, she walked up to the counter at the same time as probably one of the most beautiful human beings she’s ever seen. “oh, i’m sorry you can go first.” the male spoke and Y/N couldn’t help but look down at the adorable little sleeping baby in the stroller. “oh my god, so precious.” Y/N spoke, a smile on her face.

“thanks, she’s six months old. her name’s Winifred.” spoke the beautiful hazel eyed boy. “and who’s this cutie? she yours?” he asked. Y/N simply shook her head, a soft smile still on her lips. “this is my beautiful niece aurora. say hi, rory.” Y/N said, giggling a little as the shy little three year old simply just waved before burring her face into her aunt’s neck. “she’s always shy around strangers.” the girl spoke, just as the mysterious male was about to open his mouth up ran grayson. “auntie! caroline won’t let me borrow her phone charger to charge my tablet.” the twelve year old rolled his eyes. “gray, i’ll literally be done here in like twenty minutes. you can clearly just read a book, there’s one in my purse.” she simple stated before shooing her nephew away. “sorry about that, grayson and his sister fight all the time. i swear, i have no idea how my sister handles it.” she laughed. “wait, did you just say his name was grayson?” the male questioned, cocking his head to the side. “yeah..” Y/N said slowly, not understanding where the stranger was going with this.

“my name’s grayson too. grayson dolan.” grayson said, shooting her a wide smile. that’s when it clicked, she knew he looked super familiar. caroline was completely obsessed with the dolan twins and Y/N would be lying if she said she didn’t watch a few videos with her niece just to stare at grayson. “my sister’s husband is gonna be pissed. he thought grayson was a unique name.” she shook her head, giggling. “how old is your sister?” grayson asked, gently moving the stroller that held Winnie since he heard her fuss. “Twenty four, Caroline and Gray are her step kids. she’s been with her husband since she was twenty and they just got married a year ago when this little one was two.” she tickled her nieces belly which caused her to giggle. “and you’re taking on watching all three because?” Grayson questioned, chuckling a little. “I’ve always been good with kids plus I love spending time with them.” Her face seemed to light up at those words. Grayson couldn’t help but smile as she spoke, she just lit up like a Christmas tree when she talked about taking care of kids. Gray could always read people very well and there was something about Y/N that he couldn’t shake. She had a good soul and he wanted to get to know her better. “How about I buy you a coffee and we get to know each other a little?” Grayson smiled at her which caused Y/N’s heart to skip a few beats.

the girl smiled at him before frowning, “I have so many errands to run and I wish-“ before she could finish, Grayson cut her off. “Drive your car over to my place and we can go together. All four kids and us.” He suggested. This wasn’t like Grayson at all, he didn’t even know this girl yet here he was offering to take her around just to get to know her. Y/N was a bit taken back as well but the second she saw his smile, she knew she couldn’t say no. “I’d love too, also please get ready to get hounded a little. Caroline absolutely loves you and your brother.... Evan right?” She made a face. Grayson just chuckled, “Ethan but close and don’t worry, we love our fans.” He told her before picking up Winifred once she started crying. Taking out his wallet, he handed Y/N his card. “Get whatever you like, I’m gonna go change her real quick.” Before she could even protest, grayson was already heading to the bathroom with his daughter in hand.

Y/N and Grayson got to know each other over the next few months and when Winnie turned nine months, Gray asked if she would become her nanny and Y/N didn’t even hesitate. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t grow quite attached to the little bundle of joy over the course of three months. Y/N’s been with her every day since and she wouldn’t change it for the world. Once Winifred was done eating, she leaned up to kiss her cheek, "Thank you, Y/N!" She giggled before running off back into the living room. She just smiled before cleaning up the mess she made in the kitchen, Y/N usually ate when she was sleeping or when she got home. The twenty five year old lived about thirty miles away, but it was so worth the drive there and back every day because she adored Winifred and Grayson counted on her. Hours had passed and it was now time for Winnie’s bath and then Grayson would be home to tuck her in like he always did. No matter where he was or what he was doing, he'd always make sure he'd be home to tuck her in. "Winnie, sweetheart. It's time for your bath." Y/N walked into her bedroom, to see her playing with her barbies. "Nooo! I'm playing!" She whined as she changed her barbie's clothes. "Winifred Lisa Dolan.." the woman looked at her, arching her eyebrow and placing her hand on her hip. The second Winnie saw that plus hearing her whole name; she instantly threw her barbie down, hopped up on her feet and ran to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, her bath was over and Y/N was currently brushing her raven haired locks as she stood on her bed. Y/N then heard the door downstairs open and close, the four year old started getting excited knowing her papa was home. "Win, hold on baby. I'm almost done." She told her, as she gently held her shoulder as she continued to brush her hair. Y/N seriously couldn't get over the fact on how much Winifred loved Gray, and just how much he loved her. It was so precious, she loved when they were together. Sometimes, Y/N really wished Winnie was her’s and they were a family but being her nanny was enough for the older woman. "Okay, sweetheart you're-" Y/N couldn't even finish her sentence before the little four year old was already off her bed and out the door. Y/N soon followed her, smiling as she saw Grayson crouch down to her level to pick her up and spin her around. "Princess! I missed you so much!" He held his daughter so tight the girl thought her head was going to pop off. "I missed you too!" She giggled as he kissed her face. Yawning, she cuddled into her papa and Y/N knew she wanted to stay up and spend some time with him but Gray just picked her up and carried her to bed even though she was fussy. "Honey bunches, you need sleep. Papa will be here when you wake up okay?" He told her, smiling as he placed her in bed kissing her forehead. "Okay, Papa. I love you.." The second her head hit her pillow, she out like a light.

When he took her up to bed, Y/N finished cleaning up the house before walking to the window and pulling the blind down. There was a massive storm coming and she was a little nervous to go home. She turned around and jumped a little when she saw Grayson standing there. "You seriously scared the living hell out of me, Mr. Dolan!" She placed her hand over her heart and giggled a little. "Y/N, for the millionth time in the span of four years.. call me Grayson." He told her, chuckling as he shot her his beautiful pearly white smile that caused her heart to do flips. "Sorry, sorry. I forget sometimes." The woman giggled once again before walking over to the door and slipping on her shoes. She grabbed her purse and jacket before sliding the fabric over her arms. "I should really get going, there's a massive storm coming and I'd rather not get stuck in the middle of it." Y/N simply said as she dug her keys out of her purse. "Or you know... you could just stay the night?" He rubbed the back of his neck as he gave her a half smile. "Are you sure? I don't wanna impose.." Y/N looked down at her feet, clicking her heels together. "Y/N, you take care of my daughter. I think having you stay the night so you don't get stuck in some storm, isn’t you imposing." he chuckled a little. "Yeah, I guess that' s probably the right thing to do. I'll just sleep in the spare room, yeah?" She peeled off her jacket before hanging it back up and kicking off her shoes.

"Or you could just lay with me in my bed?"