#but it was too expensive. so naturally. i got angry at capitalism

[lonely--seeker]

I made a Tiger and Bunny bookmark, I drew op fanart, I made a real life version of my Sona's mask and I started crocheting that cute bunny from Tiger and Bunny... I just love the creation juice that just posseses my hands and things come out of it. It's purely insane. Purely joy. Half magic and half sorcery with the finest flavour of oh shit i fucked that up oh shit oh fu k

[sportyclown]

how sawamura, miyuki, yuki, and kuramochi text (friends + s/os)

will most likely do a part 2 with more boys at a later date! these got freakishly long because i am, at my core, a very mad. also might revisit as i get re-familiar with the characters, i just had this idea floating around in my head. also the way these got pro

sawamura eijun

no matter who he texts, it’s always extremely extra. not only does he always give more information than you asked for – ex. if you text him wya? he will give you a play by play of his entire route or something

 he also uses tons of emoticons. and yes I do mean emoticons, baby boy has a flip phone. ifhe does eventually get a smart phone, then this boy overuses tf out of emojis. he’s the sort of person that sees someone use a combination of emojis he likes and then tries to copy them, but uses it completely incorrectly, but its v cute.

if you send him a meme, he will respond with an unnecessary amount of hahas. 

when he’s texting his lil bae, they’re always on his mind so he ofc texts them every thought that comes to his mind! when he sees something that reminds him of you, he won’t hesitate to share it with you. 

if you have been together for a long time, then we will definitely text you words of affirmation and be very honest/blunt about how he feels about you. he’s also always sure to ask you about your day - and he seriously cares. but i still i feel like with a s/o he would prefer facetime to texting just because he likes to see you :)

overall, a very adorable texter and his enthusiasm is just as contagious when texting as it is in person. he’s kind of clueless so he doesn’t pick up on subtext. so be blunt, just like he will be with you~

kuromochi youichi

my bias might be showing here, but I feel like he is one of the most well-adjusted boys in terms of being ready for a serious relationship tbh (at least post-high school). i mean we all saw that he regularly corresponded with wakana wish that were me lmao

i think he would most often use proper capitalization, but not to the point where he uses a period after every text

would send his friends news articles about his favorite fighting games where u like gaming or not

a meme fiend in general. the sort of person who uses reaction images of people he knows. (if you’re dating, he would still have a stash of funny pics/screenshots of you on ft, but he’d ofc only use them with you <3). his convos with his friends are rarely serious

 i don’t think he’d be the type to text haha out loud, but he does use LOL on occasion. with close friends/his lil bae he might send a voice memo of him laughing hysterically if you send him something REALLY funny. ugh my annoying king <3

unlike eijun he’s the king of being perceptive / picking up subtext. 

similarly, i do think he’s pretty reliable, but for friends i feel like he might make a lil bit of a stink lmao. like lets say a friend wants him to pick something up for them, he might play like he won’t do it then miraculously shows up with the requested item. its giving tsundere vibes on the low.

with his partner: i feel like he would use emojis when he’s trying to be ~cute~. i think with a established partner he’d be pretty flirty still but he’s v much whipped for his partner so its way more mushy than it would be early in the relationship.

yes your name has hearts/stars in his phone. mans is a SAP for you

his love language is more quality time imo, so I think he values time spent with you over texting time. so a lot of your texts might be asking you to come over to hang out / get a meal or vice versa

like eijun he wants to hear about YOU, and is very supportive and good at advice when he wants to be. he can be goofy but this is how he shows you he cares/sees you as more than a friend

he’s a blushy/shy boy with his s/o esp early in the relationship, so he might be hesitant or nervous to say “i love you” or anything like that outright, but you know anyway, which just makes the times when he does outright say it that much sweeter.

miyuki kazuya

i mean it goes without saying that this man is snarky. he’s not a meme king himself but he enjoys when people send them to him and will usually play off the meme to make his own jokes.

i feel like he also likes deep-fried memes or the very abstract, post-modern memes. miyuki is good at making other people laugh, but he has a generally very-off brand humor and the things that make him cackle hardest are either at someone else’s expense (very similar to kuramochi, so they bond a lot over that) or just indiscernible without access to a huge layer of context/background

saves the reaction photos kuramochi sends him, but doesn’t usually use them. but seeing an ugly pic of eijun yelling never fails to make him grin LMAO

i think he also texts A LOT about baseball, even more so than these other baseball dummies. texts his teammates a lot of articles he reads or clips from games/cool plays. this is mostly about texts, but in terms of social media I think miyuki uses twitter/instagram the most especially for baseball related reasons, while kuramochi uses snapchat the most. 

he probably texts a lot about baseball as well, both seriously and playfully

i can see him using hahas and LOLs in equal measure, but he would also utilize the haha reaction if he had an iphone. this boy does value his wit so he would definitely have commentary about any memes or jokes he’s sent

you won’t win a joke war against him, he will definitely one-up whatever you send him with either a one-liner or another joke. how tf does he do it?

definitely ignores people/conversations if he really wants to - but ofc he never does that to his BAE

if miyuki give you a dry one-line response...he’s not interested at all or he’s feeling frustrated about something else. but when he’s really happy? he will text his friends all the time and spam them! i see him as someone who enjoys texting when he has the attention span/state of mind for it. and when he’s texting his s/o his texting gets even more ~flavorful~

wit his lil bae: i don’t think miyuki would switch it up much w his s/o. is probably even more teasing with you over text than he is with his friends, which is saying something.

like talking with you just by nature of you being his partner. prob prefers texts to facetime because text kinda allows for maximum snark

he LIVES for you guys’ witty back and forth 

if he’s traveling for work or something, will definitely relish in you guys binge texting a tv show or something but just making funny commentary (or he’ll just send you funny commentary to get a reaction)

 he can dish it and he’s also not a super sensitive guy so he can take it tenfold from you as well. nothing y’all wouldn’t be used to when talking in person!

sometimes when texting him you’ll want to beat his a*s because he can be so cheeky but its endearing in a way. he definitely adds emojis to the end of his more annoying messages to give it that loveable vibe (and it works ofc, we love u miyuki)

he’s kinda clingy on the low so i think he’d prefer a partner that’s more open with their affection via text than he is. he would live for your random ilys or whatver throughout the day. also would not mind at all if you updated him on your actions throughout the day or sent him snaps - might not be able to respond to everything, but will react and appreciate it. very likely to make jokes about whatever you’re doing.

would also apologize over text. he’s not always used to apologizing can be awkward about it, so text makes it easier for him.

he would use emojis w you in a joking/ironic way. would absolute use those dumb but genius emoji combinations

yuki tetsuya

i’m literally cracking up thinking about texting him. he is one of my ultimate baes but im sorry i just know he texts dry asf. but its part of his charm!

has a flip phone. either never upgrades or gets the chunkiest most basic android if he is forced to

the thing is this man thinks that he is infusing all his texts with, like, tajin level seasoning, when in reality its pepper

uses punctuation. always. exclamation marks are used sparingly to express excitement.

but i can’t get the image out of my head of an upset tetsuya texting you a simple angry emoji (or the angry emoticon >:( LOL) if he’s reeeeeeally mad. but its v cute i can’t take him seriously. i just want to give him a hug <3

 but you know what he is so PASSIONATE about whatever he’s talking about that his passion bleeds into his text through sheer quantity of words and depth of thought. ultimately, all his conversations end up being extremely flavorful in terms of content. he is surprisingly good at having deep conversations over text.

he’s better at holding conversations with more extroverted personalities, truthfully.

he’s another one who sends random things to people when he thinks about them. miyuki of course gets so many texts/thoughts about shogi. if you get a random haiku, poem, or quote from testu, that means you’re blessed enough to be in his inner circle! he definitely thought of you when he read it and and wants you to respond!

with bae: he doesn’t really change up his texting style tbh, but he has a stronger outward reaction to what YOU text in response.

definitely the type to smile almost imperceptibly at his phone as he texts you, even if you send him something like “hey i’m at the store, want anything?”

he’s not great as verbal affection early in the relationship, so you’ll have to discern his love/affection. however baby boy is NOT afraid to just straight up say he loves you, he does it all the time and early.

he’s KNOWN for being reliable and responsible, so he will be at your beck and call when he’s able to for anything you need, but his heart is also warmed by the thought of you reciprocating that care. if your texts show him you’re thinking of him just like he does too. he’s very gentle and sweet, and checks up on you when he’s able to see if you need anything at all.

he might be reliable, but that doesn’t mean that he’s the quickest guy to respond to texts. he’s a busy guy, and he doesn’t think about his phone all the time, but he will always get back to you (bae does not play when it comes to completing things).

if they came up with a shogi game for gamepidgeon and tetsu had an iphone, your phone probably would be spammed with requests for games lol.

this is my first time doing headcanons like this so please let me know what you think or give me tips on how to improve! I really enjoying thinking about it so I hope to do more in the future <3

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Understanding the aftermath of r/wallstreetbets

A couple days back, I wrote up my best understanding of what happened with /r/wallstreetbets and meme stocks like Gamestop, trying to show how all the different, seemingly contradictory takes on the underlying financial stuff could all be true.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/28/payment-for-order-flow/#wallstreetbets

In the days since, a new series of contradictory takes has emerged, these ones disputing the meaning of this bizarre financial spectacle, and likewise what response, if any is warranted as it unfurls.

I think that all of these takes can also be true, and as with the trading itself, reconciling them requires that we widen the frame.

Let's start with Jimmy Carter.

In 1978, Carter's IRS created the 401(k), a tax-sheltered account for people who wanted to gamble on stocks to fund their retirement.

That was a fringe proposition at best.

The normal retirement system was a "defined benefits" pension where your employer guaranteed you a certain monthly percentage of your salary from retirement to death.

The vast majority of Americans wisely prefered a guaranteed payout to a tax-advantaged gambling account.

Obviously, right? On the one hand, you have the guarantee of a pension (maybe even inflation-indexed); on the other, you have a bunch of bets, that, if they go wrong, leave you literally homeless and starving.

When gamblers remortgage the family home and cash in the kids' college funds to play the tables, we consider them to have a mental illness, a pathological condition that harms them and the people around them.

Giving up a defined benefits pension in favor of a 401k is just the same kind of bet - staking all the money that will support you when you exit the workforce on the movement of stocks and bonds.

Who would do that voluntarily?

Pretty much no one. But the transition from defined benefits to 401k was not voluntary. Finance ghouls like Ethan Lipsig wrote memos to major employers like Hughes Aircraft showing them how they could ditch their pension obligations by moving workers to 401ks.

In the 80s, Reagan created a bunch of legal tools that allowed employers to coerce their workforces into giving up the security of a pension and force them into gambling their salaries on the prayer of a win in the markets.

This was insanely, amazingly great for the finance sector, in three ways:

1. It made companies more profitable. Guaranteeing that the workers whose labor made your company viable wouldn't spend their dotage starving and homeless is expensive.

Helping fund wagers on shares is much cheaper. The finance sector represented the major shareholders of the companies that transitioned to 401ks. The savings were transferred to these shareholders and the finance sector got commissions.

What's more, this temporary inflation of share prices disguised what was going on with the pension switcheroo: workers' defined benefits pensions were liquidated and turned into stocks, just as stocks were going up because their pensions had been liquidated!

Their legs had been amputated out from under them, but so subtly that they didn't yet feel the pain - and now their bosses cooked their legs and snuck them into their dinner, and everyone marveled at how full they felt after that hearty, meaty meal.

2. 401ks brought a lot of suckers to the table. The market was - and is - dominated by "sophisticated investors," AKA predators, who knew all the ways to fleece the rubes who had no idea how any of this worked.

The predatory nature of finance only increased over time. Hedge funds, for example, exist to find unethical practices that are legal (thanks to loopholes in the rules) and exploit them until they are illegal.

3. 401ks created a political force outside the finance sector that would lobby on its behalf. Transforming America into a nation of stockholders meant that workers had to choose between supporting rules that protected their jobs and rules that protected their retirement.

For your pension account to grow, you had to support policies that permitted finance ghouls to offshore your job, or misclassify you as a contractor, or eliminate the safety rules that prevented you from being maimed, or take away your right to sue for compensation.

Every time there's a particularly ghastly bankruptcy driven by PE or hedge funds - Toys R Us, Sears, etc - it emerges that at least some of that money is coming out of a union pension fund.

That's marketization - turning the once obscure, boring business of market-based capital allocation into a matter of import to everyday people.

Marketization begat financialization.

While marketization is primarily about capital allocation (who gets what money), financialization is about bets. Sometimes those bets are about things - businesses, houses, coal and timber - but things are limited. Mostly the financial market consists of bets on other bets.

Bets are infinite. Every time you make a bet, you create inventory for a market in a bet on the outcome of your bet. And that's inventory for a new market: bets on the outcomes of bets on the outcomes of bets.

It's called Wall Street Bets for a reason.

Bets need referees, someone who decides who the winner is. In sports, it's a major scandal if a referee is caught wagering on one of the teams in a match. In the financial markets, it's the norm - referees that lay wagers on the outcome of the contest they're overseeing.

Let's take stock:

Workers are forced to play the casino, and if their bets fail, they spend their old ages homeless and starving;

The vast majority of casino games are wholly abstract - bets on bets on bets - and require layers of refs;

the refs are all crooked.

Every couple of years, we have a massive, systemic financial crisis, and every time that happens, the finance sector lobbies for a no-strings-attached bailout, abetted by suckers who hate the finance sector but fear starving in their old age.

We're about to be engulfed in the second-largest crisis of our lifetime - the reckoning from trillions in capital market gains propped up by the Trump administration's policy of buying all corporate debt as a covid stimulus.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/28/cyberwar-tactics/#aligned-incentives

(the largest crisis of our lifetimes is a few years off, as the climate emergency piles losses on losses, stranding tens of trillions in assets, from fossil fuels to obsolete gas-stations to literally underwater coastal real-estate to whole towns incinerated by wildfires)

That's where we're at: a crooked casino that we've trusted our futures too, a crisis on the horizon, and a bunch meme-stock "players" who have thrown the normal weirdness of the market into stark relief through a spectacular stunt.

A lot of people are angry at Robinhood, the stock-trading platform at the center of all this. Robinhood froze trading on meme stocks, and has only allowed it to come back in a useless, performative trickle that is seemingly calculated to prevent more meme-stock gamesmanship.

Is Robinhood just another crooked ref? Yes…and no. The meme stock run upset the stable cheaters' equilibrium whereby cheating never escalated to the point where the game just collapsed.

For example, the total short position on Gamestop exceeds its total stock issuance.

Translation: there were more Gamestop shares promised between bettors than exist. When the game stops, all those promises come due, and they literally can't be paid off because there aren't enough tokens in circulation to settle all the debts.

Robinhood halted trading in part because the big fish upstream of Robinhood also halted trading, because they have even more at risk than Robinhood does if the game collapses - they the refs for MANY players, all the same size as Robinhood or larger.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-29/reddit-traders-on-robinhood-are-on-both-sides-of-gamestop

But remember, the refs are cheating. And they are both downstream and upstream from other games in which the refs are also cheating.

And the games, as a whole, encompass our economy, including the solvency of the "real economy" (the people who make masks, deliver groceries and drive ambulances), and whether you spend your old age homeless and starving.

So the people who say, "Don't blame Robinhood, they didn't halt trading to help billionaires, they halted trading to prevent the game from collapsing are right."

But they're not the only ones who are right.

Also, there's the people who say that meme stocks aren't making money for little guys at the expense of the big guys. They're right too.

First, because these stocks will all need to be converted to cash, and that means selling them.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/01/the-gamestop-bubble-is-going-to-hurt-a-lot-of-ordinary-investors/

When the selloff starts, the price will plunge, because even if the stock was undervalued before, it's certainly overvalued now. Every bubble produces wealth for its early bettors who sell out to later players who lose everything when they can't find a sucker later on.

From Beanie Babies to subprime, bubbles burst and leave suckers holding the bag. If you just heard about meme stocks last week, you're too late to make money off of them.

There's another version of the "this isn't little guys, it's big whales" that's *also* true: the main beneficiary of the meme stock runs is giant funds who magnified and the bets from r/wallstreetbets and got out smart and fast.

https://twitter.com/zatapatique/status/1354904995901136896

So given all this, what can we make of calls (from parties as varied as AOC and Ted Cruz) to investigate Robinhood and other retail brokerages to see whether they're honest refs, or in the tank for billionaires?

At Naked Capitalism, Yves Smith calls this a "fatuous uproar," saying that the Senate has more important things to do during the racing-out-of-control pandemic than to investigate a literal penny-ante grift.

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/01/the-fatuous-uproar-about-robinhood-and-gamestop.html

Do we really care who the winner is in "a beauty contest between Cinderella’s ugly sisters" ("clueless new gen day traders versus clumsy shorts")?

Smith is right too.

A speculator-v-speculator contest that falls apart when the crooked ref halts play to prevent collapse - who cares who "wins?"

But here's how they can all be right - the "who cares" and the "goliath v goliath" and the "bubble" and the "Robinhood is a plutes' honeypot."

*If* there's hearings, and *if* those hearings expose the absurdity and corruption of the system, *then* there is a chance to build the political will to make real, systemic changes when the crisis comes.

And there's a real crisis coming: two, in fact. The covid junk bond financial crisis, which is due very soon, and the climate crisis stranded asset emergencies, which will unroll with increased tempo and intensity for decades to come.

The half-century cycle of "addressing" finance crises by increasing financialization MUST stop.

If the meme stock spectacle gets us to pay attention to hearings that reveal the irredeemable rot of the system, then it's a unique chance to spread *real* "financial literacy."

And that literacy is the necessary (but insufficient) precursor to taking action when the time comes - and the time is certainly coming soon.

[the-mercurial-star-o-vesper]

TEN OUTTA TEN 1010

Welp, its happened. I’m into No Straight Roads, and the boys with the K-Bop in their step has got me hooked.

So I’m gonna celebrate (for the moment) with lots of gathered info I’ve found, seen, or heard speculated, regarding the Top Boy Band of Vinyl City... 1010. [Possible OCs to come later]

Some of this stuff might be common knowledge, some is already on the wiki, but hey, no shame in having a consolidated list.

But for now...

The Names of 1010 were deciphered by out of universe fans. They are Rin (White), Haym (Yellow), Eloni (Green), Purlhew (Blue) and Zimelu (Red).

An old placeholder model for 1010 had Black Hair and different tron lines.

1010 in binary is... literally just 10.

Eloni does not get fan letters; He’s the “Funny Band member”, and Funny Band Members don’t get fan letters.

1010 wears Sailor uniforms (The US Navy would call them Dress Blues, so think... Popeye. But no hat.) In fact, their flying limo is a god damn Tron-lined Battleship. Even the Cannons dance to the music.

They’re a parody on K-Bop bands or Boy Bands to the West. And while they’re listed as Funky, they’re technically Synthpop. (Haha, Synth)

In the background of their fight, when the Battleship Limo stops for pictures, you can see that there is a set of pictures of 1010. Rin the White has a Fuschia or Purple Background, while all the others have a background matching their aesthetic colors.

1010 have common powers... ... Firing Lasors. ... Levitation (Or small time Flight; as they rush to the side to meet the Cameras) ... “Taking to the Sky”, or just really powerful jumping. ... Being powered by Cheers. ... There’s a reason I left Shield off in a moment.

1010 are both outrageously tall (Mayday only comes to their waist when they stand up properly), and outrageously heavy (did you hear them walk backward in their intro cutscene? How heavy are these guys!?)

It could whatever kind of AI they have, but they are waaaay insynch, almost preemptively. Perhaps 1010 are directly linked to each other?

In most of their appearances outside of battle, they all have the same colored eyes as their aesthetic colors. But in Battle, they all have White eyes. Mind that in their Show Stopper picture, they’re back to having their aesthetic eyes again. Take that as you will.

1010 has associated attacks, when you’re in the Phase facing the Factory and Neon J. ... Yellow has Missiles or Splash Damage explosions. No literally, the yellow droid is the missle. ... Green has Bombs. HIS HAIR IS A BOMB. ... Red has Saws. He-He literally uses Red Droid as the Saw. ... Blue has some sort of Staffs or Whirlwind strike. They are staffs made of Purl-Hew. ... Because of his Picture’s Purple Background, White’s likely isn’t an attack but is, in fact, the Shields that occured early in the battle. Which is probably why they’re never deployed, because how the hell can you make a shield out of Rin Bots.

It was pointed out in one of the many Youtube Comment Sections that 1010′s hairstyles match their respective attacks in some form or fashion. ... Zimelu’s Mohawk indicates his associated Saws. ... Haym’s hair looks like a missile. ... Eloni’s hair looks line a Grenade Pin. ... Purlhew’s flat top hair could indicate the fact that he’s literally used as a Staff End. So basically he’s Blue. That’s his attack. [Hah] ... Rin’s the sexy one. Look, for a Band of Robots with fancy hairdos and attacks, he’s not considered remarkable.

As they are a parody of Boy Bands across the World, they may follow the boy band “archtypes” ... Rin is the Leader, and the Heartthrob (He doesn’t have a weird hairstyle, and he does the most flirting / talking; as well as the most promoted) ... Eloni, as already established, is the Funny Guy, or the Comedian. ... Purl-Hew is the Cool Guy, (consider his Sunglasses) ... Zimelu is the Bad Boy (Mohawk, his ANGRY EYES AARGH) ... Haym’s is apparently considered a Pompadour. Maybe he is also a Bad Boy? Consider his name, he may be the Smart Guy. ... There is no known “Shy Guy” or “Cute Guy (Technically, the Second Heartthrob, but isn’t a threat to first Heartthrob’s position). So, go forth and create.

Fun Consideration on my part. Since Names can have meaning in No Straight Roads and meaning in personal names... ... Rin is a japanese name, and boy can it mean a lot of stuff depending on the Kanji (Some of the meanings are “Dignified” “Compassion” “Cold”). He’s probably coolly impassionate off stage. ... Purl-Hew is apparently a pun on Pearl Hue (cos I guess blue Pearls). Perhaps he likes puns. ... Zimelu is an ooold fortress in Lativa apparently. Perhaps he has a warish personality. Or I guess knows very Niche military history. (Perhaps, in-universe, it was the name of a base Neon J served at?) ... Haym is the name shared by a few people, but in the themes of music, its probably Nicola Francesco Haym (Italian Poet, Opera Librettist, Composer, Manager, Editor and Numismatist (That’s uh, a guy who studies Currency)). Perhaps our Haym is quite the Nerd. ... the name Eloni means Lofty. Which can me “Of Imposing Height” (They all are), “Noble or Exalted Nature” (Possibly?) “Proud, Aloof or Self-Important” (They all are that too, yes), or in regard to Lofty Wool “Thick and Resilient” (I mean, if you look at those thighs-- Ahem). So basically Eloni’s name defines all the group... Wow, poor fella. No wonder he’s the Comedian, he’d have to pull anything to get noticed (when its not about his hair) [THE DUDE DABS]

If Battledroids all have background memories to be more efficient in combat... Does 1010 have backup memories from Neon J?

Metro Division shows other kinds of Robots, and the progression of 1010′s Mark Models (1 looks like your typical Sailor, 2 looks a bit like our 1010 but more droid, jointed and blocky, and our 1010 is currently mark 3... There are 4 known Types of Droid, so a 4th Mark may be on the way)

Neon J, Manager and Creator, is a Vetren of Vinyl City’s Navy (It only has a Navy); and his District is literally a Theme Park mashed with a Ship Yard.

Neon is the 10th element of the Periodic Table, and J is the 10th letter. Dude loves his 10s.

Considering how he replaces the bots in battle, or even outright uses them as weapons... Perhaps his “Troops” are not the Bot bodies, but the AI possibly hosted inside? 1010 has more personality out of battle after all, and Neon is seen fervently protecting 1010 when their eyes share their hair color. (As their eyes are only white in battle...) Hm, mayhaps the HC is, that when their Eyes have color, the AI is truely present.

Neon is a Cyborg, note that his body appears to be the same kind of droid as 1010′s, with a Radar head. His brain is apparently in his radar, and as we saw post-battle, that head was smashed to hell. Perhaps the reason he was reminiscing so much and though that BBJ was really after him, was because of some serious onset head or brain trauma.

Apparently, Vinyl City has or has had Border Wars. This could be a reference to the Korean DMZ Conflicts (As 1010 does distinctly include Korean K-Pop, and South Korean men do have to serve 2 years in the military forces by law), but there have been hundreds of different Border Wars throughout the world. [ I wonder what war Vinyl City was in. Perhaps against the Artist Capital of the World, Canvas City ] [ Oh take me down to the Canvas City, where the grass is green and the pics are pretty--]

Neon’s passion is Dancing.

Neon J and DJ Subatomic Supernova do seem to be in a lot of pictures together. No wonder everybody ships them.

Neon J used to make toys, as seen by the collectibles you can get. Done by hand too. Though if each toy found is a stage in his life... I wonder who the doll with the violin is.

Think maybe Neon J has direct control over 1010? I mean they share the same voice, they have a passion for poses and dancing, he does directly command them...

Are Cyborg parts cheap? Or was Neon J someone important enough in the Vinyl City Navy to actually become a cyborg? Military doesn’t do expensive prosthetic surgeries for random grunts without reason.

Okay, regarding what the Azkar faction is. Its probably suppose to be Askar. Azkar is a type of Islamic Prayer. Askar is actually Arabic for Army. So it’d be The “Army Faction” (which makes more sense for a nation city-state that only has a Navy)

The place he called “Kewan” is not a real world place. Its either Persian for “Saturn” (What, is he... Is he a SAILOR SCOUT!?) or Kurdish for Mountains (He does mention mountains).

Possibly more as information arises.

[toaarcan]

One ship exposes everything wrong with TRoS

Heaven help me, I’m back on my bullshit.

Alright, so, I enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker when I watched it. I actually watched it twice, once on my own when I rushed to see it as soon as possible in order to beat spoilers, and once with my family, in what was a semi-annual new year tradition for us during those four years that a Star Wars film released.

But that doesn’t mean it was good. I enjoyed Transformers: Dark of the Moon the first time I watched it, and that movie’s still a steaming pile of shit. I was admittedly fifteen when I saw DotM, but still. 

My point is that I’m fully capable of enjoying crappy films.

But there’s one thing, one thing about TRoS that exemplifies so many of the problems with TRoS as a whole, if not everything (And by that I mean with TRoS specifically, the woeful treatment of John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran is a Whole Trilogy Problem). And it’s a ship. Specifically this ship.

The Resistance Y-Wing. I hate this ship with the fiery passion of an exploding star, and to talk about why, we need to first go back to The Last Jedi and its conspicuous lack of Y-Wings.

One of the things that I disliked most about the Sequels before TRoS put all the other problems into stark light was the lack of new ships. Instead of new vehicles, we got shinier, sleeker versions of the ships from the original trilogy. And I disliked this because it’s the opposite of what the Prequels did.

Episodes I-III don’t feature more primitive versions of the X-Wing and TIE Fighter, but instead have similar vehicles that evoke the classics while still having an identity of their own.

The ARC-170 looks kinda like an X-Wing, but it’s bigger and has more weapons and crew, and you get why the well-funded Republic can afford things like this while the scrappy Rebels can’t.

The Eta-2 is a predecessor to the TIE Fighter, but it being employed exclusively by Jedi makes a lot of sense, of course a precognitive wizard with superhuman reflexes can do well in a light, unshielded ship, while in the hands of the Empire’s military they’re just expendable swarm fighters.

But then in the Sequels, rather than evolve the ships into new forms, they just made new incarnations of the X-Wing, TIE Fighter, A-Wing, TIE Interceptor, B-Wing, and of course the Y-Wing.

Well, except for one movie: The Last Jedi.

At the outset of the film, we’re introduced to this ship.

This is the MG-100 StarFortress, AKA “That ship all the Star Wars Youtubers hate”. It’s designed to be a much heavier and bulkier version of the B-Wing Starfighter, and is even made by the same people.

From questions about how the bombs “fall” toward the Dreadnought (The answer is magnets) to claims that they’re completely useless because most of the ones in the film died so easily, these things have been put through the wringer by the fandom, and honestly they don’t deserve it? What destroyed the StarFortresses in the film wasn’t their own weaknesses, but them being deployed in too tight a formation. It was a tactical fuckup, not a problem with the ship’s design.

And given that the whole point of the battle over D’Qar is that Poe makes a tactical fuckup to kickstart his development into the new leader of the Resistance as a whole, adding another layer makes sense to me.

But we live in a post-CinemaSins world of media consumption, where every plot-point that isn’t spelled out with a flowchart and an audio commentary by the writers is actually a plothole. 

We also live in an era where Star Wars fans pine for the days of the Legends canon where everything about new ships, species, and worlds was explained in background lore and books, and are angry that the new Canon is... doing exactly the same thing?

Seriously, how much exposition and lore dumping is actually present in any of the Star Wars films? Not a whole lot. And that applies to all three eras. 

So the StarFortress’ appearance in the film and the lack of Y-Wings led to a bevy of armchair writers demanding to know why the Resistance weren’t using Y-Wings and why they were using those “Resistance Bombers” that are just ‘terrible’.

Answer? Because the Y-Wings sucked shit.

Seriously, go back to the Original Trilogy and try to keep track of the Y-Wings, and see what they actually do, and you’ll find that what they do is “Explode, mostly.”

We’re first introduced to the Y-Wings in A New Hope, and they’re supposed to be the ones performing the Trench Run while the X-Wings cover them, and to their credit, they try.

And then they all get blown up by Vader and his wingmen before they can even take a shot at the exhaust port. Well, except that one that appears with the rebel ships flying away from the Death Star.

Where the fuck were you when the X-Wings were doing the attack run?

The Y-Wings got absolutely wrecked.

Ancillary media would go on to explain that the Y-Wings were beat-up old vehicles that were no longer fit for purpose, but the Rebels had to use them anyway because they had basically no money. They’d stripped down the ships and removed a bunch of their more costly features just to make them viable, and the results of that were pretty clear.

Of course, the Y-Wings were still present in the later films. They don’t do anything in The Empire Strikes Back, but they play a role in Return of the Jedi.

Naturally, that role is mostly “Get blown up while the other ships do the important stuff”.

Despite supposedly being a fighter-bomber that was designed to do significant damage to capital ships, does the Y-Wing play a role in the destruction of the Executor? Does it fuck. Destroying the Imperial flagship’s deflector shields and the subsequent suicidal ram attack on the bridge are tasks that are both performed by the goddamn A-Wings. Y’know, the light interceptors?

The Y-Wings get shown up at their own job by the ships that are there to protect them from TIE Fighters.

Ancillary media again explains why they’re still there. While the Rebels have a newer, better fighter-bomber in the B-Wing, the B-Wing is expensive as fuck and also really difficult to fly. 

A non-centreline cockpit that rotates will do that to a ship.

Still, the B-Wing was a better bomber than the Y-Wing ever was (And the StarFortress was better than them both at that role).

All this adds up to a simple fact: There were very good reasons why the Resistance weren’t using Y-Wings. And there were even reasonable reasons to choose the StarFortress compared to the B-Wing itself, given that the Resistance are still undermanned and under-funded, especially with the New Republic getting nuked midway through The Force Awakens. It being easier to fly and having more armaments would have made it a viable choice for the Resistance.

Buuuut oops, people didn’t like the StarFortress and we can’t make the Internet angry at us again! Better put the Y-Wings back in for Episode IX, and show them destroying a Xyston-class Destroyer, that’ll make them happy!

And sure, okay, giving the Resistance a fighter/bomber is probably a good idea. And they already have New X-Wings and New A-Wings, so where’s the harm in a New Y-Wing?

Alright, alright, sure. But why the fuck does it look like this?

If this is a new ship, why is it already stripped-down like the ones in the Original Trilogy? Why doesn’t it look like the actual brand-new Y-Wings we saw in The Clone Wars? 

Now that’s more like it. Still visibly a Y-Wing, but with more of an identity of its own. 

Seriously, “Literally the same ship but without its armour pulled off” has more of a unique identity than the crowd-pleasing New Y-Wing.

And that, in and of itself, is the essence of The Rise of Skywalker.

It’s blind, empty fanservice, rushing to include as much nostalgia-pandering as possible to try and get the fanbase back on-side after The Last Jedi didn’t do what the fanboys wanted it to do.

This is a whole near- three hour movie whose only message is “Yes, Youtubers making TFA critiques longer than an entire season of TCW, we hear you, we’ll make it for you, please love us!”

And, almost entirely predictably, it was shite.

It was riddled with plotholes and none of the scenes had any time to breathe because the movie was too desperately trying to rush itself to the next crowd-pleasing scene in a desperate attempt to wank off as many disgruntled fanboys as it possibly could.

Luke with his green saber! Jedi Leia! Chewie gets a medal! Lando! Luke raises his X-Wing out of the water! The main villain is a testicle in a bathrobe again! Snork origin! Original-flavour Star Destroyers! Rose doesn’t exist! Rey had a super-special secret magical bloodline the whole time and Luke and Leia totally knew even though Luke has literally no idea who she is in Episode VIII! Luke actually was just afraid of the bad guys in Episode VII, none of that self-imposed exile for his own mistakes nonsense! Y-Wings.

I mean fuck. Disagree with Luke’s portrayal in TLJ all you like, I certainly have my issues with it, but I lay those at the feet of JJ for making Luke’s absence into one of his fucking Mystery Boxes, and then deciding that, even though last time Luke sensed Leia and Han might be in danger, he abandoned his Jedi training, hopped in an X-Wing, and flew halfway across the galaxy to try and save them, he wouldn’t do shit when the First Order pointed a star-powered System-Killer 9000 at Leia, and Han got himself killed trying to redeem Kyle Ron. Like how in fuck was Rian supposed to explain Luke’s inaction in VII?

But regardless of the problems with that Luke portrayal, at least Mark Hamill gave it his all. Hell, it might be his best performance in the Star Wars franchise!

 In TRoS, he shows up in a bad wig, waves a middle finger at TLJ, and ascends to his final form as a Lightsaber Delivery Boy, because apparently all you need to kill a Sith who literally clawed his way back from death is two lightsabers. Haunting Kyle Ron? Nope. Providing guidance as a ghost? Not really.

And y’know what the kicker is? It didn’t fucking work. Lucasfilm and Disney fucking gutted this trilogy, sliced out the integrity, surgically removed the soul of Episode IX in a desperate effort to make the Internet’s most unpleasable fanbase happy, and it didn’t work. They still hate it! Now they just concoct hour-long videos about how much they would’ve preferred to have the Trevorrow script (Which is admittedly much better, albeit still with it’s far share of giant flaws), which was probably thrown out because it wasn’t fanservicey enough!

The Rise of Skywalker is an awful film. It’s a loose collection of nostalgia-baiting moments, roughly stapled together around the skeleton of a plot that was never properly developed. It’s a Frankenstein’s Monster of a movie, but, and I say this with full offense, the Victor Frankenstein in this tragic story isn’t Lucasfilm or Disney or Kathleen Kennedy or Rian Johnson, or even JJ Abrams. It’s you, Star Wars Fandom. It is your monster. 

[dawnsociety]

Starry eyes

Chapter 1

6:26 pm

The semester had already started and you had no idea why you felt so behind already. You knew it would be hard but never thought it’d be THIS hard. You were still adjusting to the (new) uni life - classes to attend which never seemed to end, coffee soon becoming your companion for life, friends inviting you to too many drinking parties (“this new place in Little Italy just opened up, and the drinks they serve for uper- aperitiv- whatever, they’re the best!”). It already felt too much for you, even if this wasn’t actually new for you.

Although this was your first year as an art major, with a minor in sociology, you weren’t exactly a freshman. Actually, you were even older than most of your colleagues. When you had first enrolled in uni, you chose to attend an Economics program, hoping it would make your mom happy. “Make the most sensible choice!”, she had told you, even though it seemed it was a choice that sounded the most sensible to her.

Being very young and insecure, you didn’t really feel like going against her and choosing what you actually liked doing. You had even fancied the idea of taking a gap year, but the mere thought of telling your mom you’d be taking a break sounded in your head more menacing than being held at a gunpoint. You knew you’d feel guilty if you had chosen to pursue your path, especially considering how expensive it is to attend college.

Things, however, soon started to get bad: skipping classes became a habit for you, and you’d rather spend your time drinking and smoking with friends than to attend your Microeconomics class, even if your professor was actually nice and not the typical douche. You didn’t even notice it at first, how hard you tried to escape your feelings and admit to your mom - and to yourself, first - that it wasn't the right path for you. But eventually, the smell of cheap alcohol and low quality cigarettes gave her a hint of what was actually going on.

You didn’t know how you had gathered up the courage to tell her how things really were. How you actually tried your best to make it work, but it just wasn't suited for you, Heck, you even despised the idea of having to deal with money - especially, other people’s money. It made you sick in the stomach and feel like you were contributing somehow to capitalism (which, of course, you weren’t really a fan of). You wanted to be free, to feel free, at least for once. And that meant being honest to your mom, and yourself.

A few months later, you found yourself in the college library, working on your presentation for your History of contemporary art class. You couldn’t understand why your professor - a non binary black folk with dreads who wore birkenstocks even in the freezing cold (you had no idea why they did that, but oh well) - decided to make you do a presentation when you weren't even halfway through the whole class, let alone the semester. To you, having to study the whole syllabus at once right before the final test sounded way better (so you could actually procrastinate, but this is a story for another day), but you were just a student, a small fish in a tank with bigger ones.

You were finishing up this PPT on Basquiat, when your friend suddenly appeared out of nowhere. You were sitting right beside the big, white windows that made sure the sun would light the whole place beautifully. Frankly, that was your favorite place on campus, if not in the entire world. You had spent so many nights there, crying your eyes out when you couldn’t let your words out - the ones that would probably make your mom angry, but make you feel so much better.

The typical quietness of such a place was soon being interrupted by your friend, who ran to you as soon as they found you. “Hey, finally I found you!!!”, they screamed while running to you. Startled, you looked up from your laptop screen only to find your friend running to you. They were the only person you had actually managed to become friends with during your brief time as an Economics major. You had no idea why, or how, you were still being friends - you didn’t really have much in common, but it was nice to have someone who knows you on campus.

“I tried to reach you but you didn’t reply to my messages, or phone calls. I almost got worried!!”

“You could try harder so you could actually be completely worried for me, not just almost”, you replied half jokingly. Your friend made an annoyed expression at your sarcastic remark, before adding: “I was looking for you on the entire campus. I wanted to ask you to come to the soccer game with me, but I couldn’t reach you, so I went there but I couldn't find you either. I tried looking for you but there were too many people. That’s definitely the Yunho factor!”, they ended with a small laugh.

“The Yunho factor?”

“Yeah, Yunho’s in the team! He's an amazing player. not to mention, he looks really cute, but that just might be because i love everybody”, they replied amusedly.

“That's amazing but… who is this Yunho, exactly?”

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHO YUNHO IS?!!?”, your friend screamed while jumping on their feet. If the first scream wasn't enough to make everybody side-eye them, this one was definitely a second strike to be kicked out of the library indefinitely.

“Sit down and lower your voice! Do you want to be expelled from campus?”, you whisper-yelled, making them sit down. “and by the way, is this some Necessary Information i need to know to be considered cool?”, you continued jokingly, laughing at yourself.

Your friend scoffed. “He’s simply the most popular guy here on campus, and the best player at every game on earth! Not to mention he’s actually very handsome, tall, and is friendly to everyone… the whole package! how come you don’t know him? He’s in his third year of college, and you’re not really a freshman here!”. They sighed, while you wondered why a tall guy like Yunho hadn’t joined the basketball team. Or maybe he had, you had no idea and you didn’t care much.

“I didn't know of the game and I don't know of this yunho. Can you please go now? I need to keep working on this presentation.”

They scoffed. “Alright, I'll leave you alone. good luck on your medieval art project!”, they yelled while leaving the library, earning another round of nasty looks from the other students in the library

“It’s a con… never mind”, you said, almost  to yourself.

8:34 am

You didn’t know how you managed to get up early and get ready for class in time but you did. Working on this presentation took longer than expected, but you had managed to almost finish it. you just had to revise it and then it was done.

You were walking down the hallway when suddenly, you heard people whisper. Actually, lots of whispering. You looked up from your smartphone where you were looking at the newly released pics of this new group you had just gotten into, when you saw people whisper-talking to themselves. You couldn't understand why at first, but soon you realized why: a tall, handsome guy with blonde-pinkish hair was walking down the hallway, direction opposite to yours. He wasn’t handsome - yes, he was, but most of all, he was… pretty.

You had never seen such a face before: his gracious features were being framed by his beautiful blonde hair, with a subtle pink hue. it looked so natural you actually wanted to ask him to give you the address of his hairdresser. His sparkly eyes gave off a genuine, good natured vibes - they looked like the gateway to his precious, yet hidden world where nobody is allowed. a place only he knew, and that you found yourself to want to explore.

You didn't know yet, but you had just met Yunho.

[cecilspeaks]

160 - The Weather

No man is an island. Some men are fjords. Most men are oxbows. All men are ravines. Welcome to Night Vale.

The news coming up. But first, let’s go to the weather.

[nature noises, birds cawing]

There’s a cold front moving through Night Vale. Temperature at City Hall is currently 63 degrees and sunny with wind gusts later this afternoon of up to 40 miles per hour. These winds are expected to bring cold air as low as 20 degrees this evening, and possibly dropping to below zero overnight. It’s unknown what’s causing this weather, is a statement I make every day, looking out into the sky. Is it God? P-perhaps it is the government. Perhaps Earth itself is, is it out of boredom that the weather exists? Maybe it is out of care. That would suggest the existence of a God who wishes us well, but it does not explain the fierce destructiveness of a blizzard, or a heat wave, or a tornado, or a tsunami. Is a tsunami weather? That is a question best left to oceanographers, meteorologists, or a Tarot deck. But why would God make a thing, then mar it? What mood change is this? what care can this god have for humanity? Ahhhh. And maybe that’s the point. Ah, that does make me feel better, to think that it all doesn’t matter. It really takes a lot of pressure off, doesn’t it?

Let’s have a look at agriculture. John Peters – you know, the farmer – says his orange crop this year is massive. He says the quantity of product has not deviated, only the quality. “Them oranges are huuuu-uuge!” John said, holding an orange the size of the 2002 iMac computer. “I can’t fit this thing into one of them orange crushers (what that) I make the juice with!” he said, struggling to keep his back straight under the weight of the abnormally sized citrus fruit. But John says he’s excited for his orange grove, which has been doing great ever since he genetically modified his crop to no longer cause teleportation across existential dimensions when consumed. Despite his excitement for orange sales, John says he’s worried about next year’s crop of invisible corn. He said he looked up summer 2020 in his farmer’s almanac and all it said was, “Wellll crap. Good luck.” John plans to diversify his farm investment by raising cattle for slaughter. He’s vegan these days, so he does not want to sell the cattle for meat or dairy. He’ll just raise the cattle until they’re old enough to kill. Best of luck in all your endeavours, John! Hope you finally win that coveted Best Orange at the Citrus Festival this year.

Many of our listeners have written concerned emails about the temperature possibly falling below zero. Bob Sturm of Old Town said: “Zero is the lowest number, Cecil. I’m a big stats guy and I can tell you that you cannot have less than nothing, that’s impossible.” Well listen Bob, I’m a journalist, not a numerologist, so I don’t know what to tell you. Apparently there are many unknown numbers below zero, and as they are discovered, rest assured I will be here to report on them. (Reina Guerrero) from the west side asked if there’s anything we can do to better prepare ourselves for this weather. Well (Reina), here are some tips I just looked up online. One: bundle up. Yeah, your heater can only do so much. Two: bring your pets indoors, and if you have an agent from a Vague, yet Menacing Government Agency outside your home assigned to record your every movement, invite them in as well. You don’t want them freezing alone out there in their black sedan. Three: light a fire, if you have a fireplace. If you do not have a fireplace of pellet stove, try using a refrigerator or sink. Four: if you should lose power at any time, do not panic. Just curl into a ball breathing heavily and repeating: “Oh God no, oh God no, oh God no, oh God no”, through loudly chattering teeth.

Now, we’re not expecting precipitation tonight, but should it snow, I recommend making a snow angel. Yeaaah, that’s always fun. All you have to do is lie flat on your back, arms and legs outstretched, until you are called into celestial service to whatever greater authority rules these beautiful creatures. Thank you for your questions and comments. I’ll do my best to keep our town up to date on the latest weather.

But first, this Saturday is Night Vale’s annual Holiday Fireworks Extravaganza at the Night Vale Harbor and Waterfront Recreation Area. There will be live music by local bands, including  a new band by Dark Owl Records owner Michelle Nguyen and her girlfriend Maureen. [quietly] Ah, my old intern Maureen. Their band is called The Funtastics, and it’s a folk country slash (trans) tribute band performing the acappella covers of Philip Glass scores. According to Michelle’s press release: “Please do not watch our show. I’m very angry you even know about it. I hate that our secret concert at the annual Holiday Fireworks Extravaganza, Night Vale’s most anticipated and attended annual event, was leaked to the press.” Following the concert, there will be a collective prayer to the [gong, echoing] Great! Golden! Hand! And then the fireworks will begin. Event organizers say they have a special fireworks display in store for attendees this year. Traditionally, the biggest explosions are reserved for the end of a half-hour long buildup of lesser explosions, but focus groups have indicated that people are tired of having to wait for the best part. So instead of normal boring fireworks, they will be blowing up old cars using the 18,000 tons of solid fuel they found at an abandoned missile silo on the edge of the Sand Wastes. The Holiday Fireworks Extravaganza would like to thank the Sheriff’s Secret Police for the vehicle donations, which are mostly cars impounded this past week for overdue state inspection stickers. Can’t wait to see everybody this Saturday at the Fireworks Extravaganzaa!

Brrrr! It’s getting pretty bad out there, Night Vale! The temperature has fallen dramatically to 20 degrees outside the radio station. I can hear the creak and groan of our antenna straining under the 40 mile per hour winds. I’ve seen three different minor accidents outside my window as drivers lost control of their vehicles. I’ve got my little space heater under my desk. Huh, but I can still barely feel my feet. [chuckles] I regret choosing today of all days to bike to work. [sighs]

Oh, I’m getting word that power is out in the Barista District, and dozens of leather apron wearing people have been forced to make torches out of Irish cream soaked biscotti stuffed into (-) [0:09:16]. And the only thing available coffee wise right now is cold brew. Gross.

Employees at the Night Vale power plant are working to restore power to that area of town, but they have run into some difficulties. The blustery winds and extreme cold have kept some of the workers from being able to drive to the plant, and the ones already on site re perplexed by how any of this works. “We are not sure if this is a nuclear plant or electric or coal or what,” said Mike Reiner, director of operations for the power plant. “We tried turning the whole thing off and back on like a computer, but the switch didn’t really do anything. Nobody labels anything around here, for crying out loud.” Reiner then began to cry out loud, as dozens of workers rushed to put their arms around the sobbing man. “We’re sorry, boss, we’re sorry,” the frantic workers all repeated. In the chaos of the consoling, a single worker was heard whimpering: “Oh god! Someone do something before he changes back into…” But that voice was quickly and fearfully shushed by the others.

More on the power outage and weather conditions soon.

But let’s get to some good news. Our population is booming, Night Vale! We have more people than houses. But thankfully, the good folks of the private land development industry are helping out. Ah, the altruistic hand of capitalism! A new housing development named The Final Destination is going up in Radon Canyon. New homes start in the 130’s for 2 bedroom semi-detached townhouses, all the way to expensive 10 bedroom estates with beautiful views of the blue..ish mist that settles every morning along the canyon bottom. Representatives from the EPA have warned against building residences in an area known for producing toxic gases, but the developers said they will equip each home with a large exhaust fan and provide a lifetime supply of rebreathers for the first 15 home buyers. The EPA has tried repeatedly to stop this development, stating that excavation of the canyon floor could lead to the release of more gases, which would catastrophically imperil not only the lives of those in the canyon, but the Earth’s atmosphere for hundreds, if not thousands of miles in all directions. “Who knows what’s beneath the shale in that canyon?” one EPA representative said. The representative was wearing a sports coat too large for his frame and comically out of date glasses. He continued: “We have been trying to declare Radon Canyon a Superfund site for years, but Night Vale doesn’t show up in any government database and so it cannot receive its projection. Didn’t you ever see the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, how everybody’s faces melted off, it’d be just like that.” When it was pointed out that the end of that movie was good because it was Nazi faces melting, the EPA representative said: “Yeah yeah you’re right, that was pretty cool but still, get what I’m trying to say right?” Nobody did, because it was a weird thing to bring up a 40-year-old movie about Nazis and museum artefacts. So, now we will have new housing in the heart of Night Vale’s most beautiful scenic attraction, beginning spring next year.

I’m getting word that the power is out now in Old Town Night Vale and at the library, and on the south end. The temperature has dropped to 5 degrees and I think it will continue to plummet throughout the night. People are doing everything they can to prepare. Before the stores close, I recommend driving out and picking up some water as well as canned goods, even some fresh produce and raw meat while it’s still there. I mean, people worked hard to grow that food ten states away and then drive it across the country right here to you and you haven’t bought it yet? Even if your refrigerator’s not working because of the power outages, it’ll be cold enough in your house to keep it all fresh. So get out there and spend your money on food! We have so much of it. Let’s use it, Night Vale.

But above all: stay warm! If you’re alone, visit a neighbor. Body heat and company can help a lot in weather like this. And if you have room in your home, welcome your neighbors in! There’s no reason to be alone at a time likes. Plus it’s the holiday season, why not keep each other warm with stories, with camaraderie, with good fellowship? [shivering noises] Yet, if you can’t be with others tonight, [groans] then I will do my best to keep you company through this brutal cold.

Ah, I’d like to tell you a story of my childhood. It’s a very personal story, one I‘ve never shared on the air before. [shivering noises] I’m a bit nervous to tell it to you all, but if ever there was time for a story to bring us closer together, now is that time. I will tell you that story in a moment, but first, let’s have a look at sports.

[“Suspension of Disbelief” by Victory Soul Orchestra https://victorysoulorchestra.com]

[beeps] Computer: The National Weather Service has issued a severe weather warning for the greater Night Vale area. Temperatures as low as -10 degrees are predicted with high winds gusting up to 16 miles per hour. Wind chills overnight may reach -30 degrees. Residents of Night Vale and the surrounding towns of Pine Cliff, Red Mesa, and Desert Bluffs too should seek shelter. They should band together around fireplaces with heaters at their highest settings. In cases where heat sources are not accessible or operating, residents should huddle in the vacant lot out back of the Ralphs. Come huddle with us. Come huddle with us. There is a barrel here. It is filled with trash and we have lit it on fire. It is so warm, the trash. The trash is mostly paper and cardboard, but it is also something greater than that. It is a symbol of progress of the great tower of industry (and need) [0:19:51], a ruined towel like Babyl, which just toppled down of the weight of its hubris, and in the language of flame it tells us things. It tells us so much, not through words but through visions. 

Here is a list of visions the fire has revealed to us. One: two spools of coaxial cable. Two: a single white bulb atop of an anthill. Three: an empty keg around squat cylinder of frosting, beneath which lies nothing, not even air. A void (cake). “Happy birthday,” echoes the choir from a good distance away. Four: a great black bird whose white wings brush along the castle turret. Five: a snake spiraled and asleep inside a leather boot. Six: a wheelless tractor in a vast wasteland of cracked earth. Seven: your brother. Not a brother you know, but a brother you once had. He looks like you and he repeats your name, but backwards. Eight: smoke clouds shaped like vice grips.   These are the visions of the flames in the barrel in the vacant lot out back of the Ralphs. 

Beneath our gaze and across our minds, beyond our consciousness, these are the remains of the great tower of humanity. Come huddle with us. You without heat. You without home. You without hope. Come huddle with us. 

This severe weather warning is in effect (through) 8 PM tomorrow, when the warm front is expected to move through the region bringing sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid-80’s, and everyone will return to their normal lives, satisfied that they have (-) [0:21:51] death once again, confusing accidental survival with competence and immortality. What doesn’t kill you only makes you more complacent. The National Weather Service knows this is but a night together with you, not a whole life. For what we have in this moment is (truer) than rain, but deeper than thunder. Parting is such sweet sorrow. Blah, blah, blah. I’m not saying the morning will not hurt. I’m only saying the joy of memory is stronger than the prick of any (plate) upon my heart. This has been a severe weather warning from the national weather service. Stay tuned to the station for further updates.

I love you. I have always loved you. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[beeps]

Cecil: And that is what I saw in the mirror that day. And why I do not like to go near mirrors. Ever.

[sighs] I never told that story to anyone before. I hope it has kept you company throughout this treacherous night. I hope it has kept you warm. Just knowing you’re listening somewhere out there in the cold dark has kept me warm. Stay safe, wherever you are. Good night, Night Vale… [shivers] Good night.

Today’s proverb: Who called it Snowpiercer instead of Chris Evans’s Polar Express?

[argyrocratie]

To most people, a union is an organisation of workers created to defend and improve its members' conditions with respect to things like pay, pensions and benefits.

This is partially accurate, but definitely far from the whole story.

It leaves out the other side of trade unionism: the backroom deals, the cuts in pay and conditions presented as a "victory", the strikes called off pending endless negotiations, the members told to break the strikes of other unions, the union activists disciplined by their own unions…

Time and again, union leaders - even left-wing ones - disappoint us. And just like with politicians, every time they do, there's always another one telling us it'll be better next time if we elect them.

The problem, however, is deeper than having chosen the wrong person for the top-spot.

(...)

Whereas their representative function makes dealing with the trade union bureaucracy extremely slow and draining for militants in them, these changes to the job market have made them more or less irrelevant for many workers outside of them.

When industrial disputes come up, non-union workers feel they can't do much to support while even those striking may feel they are just going through the ritual of official strike action: management put forward a terrible offer, the union is 'outraged' and calls a one-day strike (maybe a few), negotiations restart and strikes are called off, management come back with a very slightly less terrible deal and union bosses declare victory and recommend it to their members.

However, it does not always have to work like this. The important thing – whether we are members of a union or not – is that we go beyond the limits set by the official unions and restrictive labour laws. Instead of voting for different representatives or passing motions in stale union branch meetings, we need to organise together with our coworkers, to break their rules and stick to our own:

Workplace meetings need to be open to all workers, regardless of what job they do, which union they're in (if any) or what kind of contract they're on.

We need to respect each others' picket lines. Too often workers go on strike only to see their colleagues in other unions go into work. This makes all of our strikes weaker and only by sticking together can we shut down our workplaces and beat our bosses. For instance Shell tanker drivers won above inflation pay increases in 2008 when drivers from other companies refused to cross their picket lines. In the same year NUT and Unison crossed each other's picket lines in education, and neither won significant concessions.

We rely on direct action and collective strength to get what we want, whether covered by industrial relations law or not. In 2008, Brighton bin workers fought back against management bullying, winning after barely two days of wildcat action. Another wildcat later that year confirmed their willingness to strike, with or without official union backing. So in 2009 when management tried to cut their pay by up to £8000 (per year, per worker), they forced management to back down just two days into a week-long official strike.

Strikes need to be spread. Often issues don't just affect one workplace but whole industries and even across industries. We need to make links between our workplaces so we can come out to support each other. In 2009, when oil company Total tried to sack 51 workers, everyone walked out in support. Total responded by sacking over 600 workers for taking unofficial action. However, strikes spread across the energy industry and in just over a fortnight everyone got their jobs back.

Solidarity needs to be as international as our employers. Instead of blaming immigrants taking jobs or undercutting wages, or foreign workers when factories are moved overseas, we need to support migrant workers and workers in other countries struggling to improve their pay and conditions. This will not only benefit them directly but will also mean that employers will no longer be able to use them to undercut wages of native workers either.

These are not new ideas. These are things which workers – both in unions and out – have done throughout history and, in doing so, have often come into conflict not just with their bosses but also their union bureaucracy.

[citialiin]

STUDY    :   ziggy stardust , baybee !!!  TAGGED BY    :   @ thatcertainnight​ ... thank you !!!  TAGGING: you !!!!!!!!!!!!!! i guess !!!!!!!!!!!!!! tag me in it so i can seeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

—    BASICS.

▸     IS    YOUR    MUSE    TALL    /    SHORT    /    AVERAGE ? pretty tall ! 5′10″ -- not super tall, but when you add an extra 3+ inches due to high heels or platforms, he is Monstrously tall.  how thin he is also gives the illusion of extra height.  

▸      ARE    THEY    OKAY    WITH    THEIR    HEIGHT ? he’s fine with it -- he likes the respect that comes with the height.  

▸      WHAT’S    THEIR    HAIR    LIKE ?

bright, deep orangeish red -- looks like it’s dyed, but its au naturale, babey.  his hair is about shoulder length and curls at the end -- it’s swept back, out of his face, and usually held there with hairspray.  no mullet. citialiin is an anti-mullet zone, and for that i sincerely apologize.  

▸     DO    THEY    SPEND    A    LOT    OF    TIME    ON    THEIR    HAIR     /    GROOMING ? o absolutely.  he has elevated vanity into high art.  he has meticulous routines for hair, skincare, etc. and spares no expense in buying the best for his physical appearance.  it eats up a lot of time to look this good, but he would rather be late and hot than on time and unkempt.  he almost refuses to be seen without at least some amount of time to get ready -- this is also because he has to cover his weird alien forehead mark, lest his strange secret be revealed to the world.  

▸      DOES   YOUR   MUSE   CARE   ABOUT   THEIR   APPEARANCE   /   WHAT    OTHERS    THINK ? enormously.  in a sense, he doesn’t care what others think in that he obeys only his own fashion tastes only, as eccentric or weird as they may be. if people tell him some shoes are ugly but he steadfast believes that they’re great, he’s still going to wear those shoes anyways and mock you for having bad taste.  his appearance is a deeply important thing to him and a form of self-expression and individuality, which he considers tenants of his personality.  how he looks is a reflection of who he is, and he is cool and better than you. he is more apt to wear something hideous that he likes than something considered fashionable but he considers boring: luckily, he has pretty good (if not very bizarre) taste in clothes, and looks somewhat avant-garde, but also somewhat like a closet threw up on him.  

—    PREFERENCES.

▸     INDOORS    OR    OUTDOORS ?    indoors. ▸     RAIN    OR    SUNSHINE ?    sunshine -- but not too much, because he hates being uncomfortable. ▸     FOREST    OR    BEACH ?    neither. outside sucks.  ▸     PRECIOUS    METALS    OR    GEMS ?  both--together, preferably.  ▸     FLOWERS    OR    PERFUMES ?    perfumes. ▸     PERSONALITY    OR    APPEARANCE ?    he might initially say appearance, and while he certainly is very superficial, what truly makes him iconic -- and what he most likes about those who he is close to -- is personality and individuality.   ▸ BEING    ALONE    OR    BEING    IN    A    CROWD ?     both, but at different times -- he needs attention just as much as he needs privacy.  he can’t go too long without either.   ▸ ORDER    OR    ANARCHY ?    anarchy. ▸     PAINFUL    TRUTHS    OR    WHITE    LIES ?   white lies. ▸ SCIENCE    OR    MAGIC ?     science.  ▸ PEACE    OR    CONFLICT ?    peace. ▸     NIGHT    OR    DAY ?    night. ▸     DUSK    OR    DAWN ?    dusk. ▸ WARMTH    OR    COLD ?    warmth. ▸     MANY   ACQUAINTANCES    OR    A    FEW    CLOSE    FRIENDS ?   he has many acquaintances, and he has very few close friends, too; he prefers his friends, but he needs the attention and blind worship and endless compliments from the acquaintances.   ▸     READING    OR    PLAYING    A    GAME ?  reading.

—    QUESTIONNAIRE.

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    OF    YOUR    MUSE’S    BAD    HABITS ? the list is eternal!! there are things that hurt only himself: excessive drinking, staying up until four and sleeping until two, cigarettes, drugs, sex, the perils of Dat Rockstar Lyfe, but there are a lot of things he does that also affect others: he tends to be careless with people’s feelings and can sometimes be callously rude or mean.  it’s difficult for him to look past himself and be selfless, because he’s so stuck up and so lost in his own world that he never really manages to consider that other people feel just as deeply as he does until it’s too late.  he’s also gullible and naive, but hardly realizes this, making it pretty easy to manipulate him, not that he isn’t often also (unintentionally) manipulating others for his own selfish benefit.  most of these bad habits, however, are learned, and not necessarily innate to his personality; he was a much Nicer alien before he got lost in his lifestyle.

▸      HAS    YOUR    MUSE    LOST    ANYONE    CLOSE    TO    THEM ?      HOW    HAS    IT    AFFECTED    THEM ? not yet.  he’s only twenty six and has only been on earth for four years.  he has a very long lifespan, over twice what a normal human would live, so this is going to be an inevitability that he hasn’t considered either due to his short-sighted nature or because he intentionally isn’t willing to think about it.  

▸      WHAT    ARE    SOME    FOND    MEMORIES    YOUR    MUSE    HAS ? mostly memories of his various successes -- selfish things, like sell out concerts, iconic interview moments, climbing his shiny ladder of stardom.  but there are personal things that may not be quite as exciting to relive but that he considers important: meeting his bandmates for the first time, meeting anyone who he considers himself close to for the first time, hearing music for the first time, etc. he has so many firsts and they’re all in his very recent memory.

▸     IS    IT    EASY    FOR    YOUR    MUSE    TO    KILL ? o fuck no. he’s just some dude.  he would never hurt another person beyond maybe a punch or a slap if they made him really angry.  i think the planet he came from before he came to earth was so far advanced that any semblance of violence was just some primitive memory of lesser-evolved society; upon coming to earth, knowing that there’s still stuff like murder and whatever is horrifying and freaky to him.  it’s like if you went to go live with a tribe of chimps and you just  have to accept that your brethren regularly kill smaller monkeys and tear them apart as a means of bonding (i hate chimps. fyi)

▸      WHAT’S    IT    LIKE    WHEN    YOUR    MUSE    BREAKS    DOWN ? equally heartbreaking and laughably pathetic.  he’s a very dramatic, over the top person, but he’s also very genuine in some ways, so it depends: if he had a freak out over something insignificant, you’d probably think it was funny that he let himself get so worked up over some dumb thing and now he has like mascara tears and he’s sobbing that life is unfair and he never gets his way wah everything is awful he hates everything !!!!  but in the same vein, he has a lot of things to rightfully panic over: he’s far from home and utterly alone. so if he had a freak out over that, it would be a little more sympathetic, because he is under a lot of strange pressure, and even if he is a whiny dipshit, he deserves to feel sad for things that are genuinely upsetting. when he’s upset, however, spotlight’s on him, so you wait your turn to be upset when he’s done. 

▸      IS    YOUR    MUSE    CAPABLE    OF    TRUSTING    SOMEONE    WITH    THEIR    LIFE ? sort of -- maybe.  i think he trusts himself, most of all, but his more whimsical or romantic side likes to think that he could utterly give himself to another person.  but he’ll always be withholding some sliver, just because he’s Weird and Not Human and ideas of things like romance are very human-centric.  

▸      WHAT’S    YOUR    MUSE    LIKE    WHEN    THEY’RE    IN    LOVE ? strangely enough, equal parts terrible and equal parts very sweet.  being comfortable with another person clearly means that he has some level of trust in them and that he will likely allow himself to be rude, callous, talk too much, whine a lot, etc.  you’re supposed to take care of him !!! how can you not want to cater to his every weird ass whim and fancy !!! but in the same vein, i think he understands he has capital i Issues and if anyone could force him to change for the better, it would be because he loved them (whether romantically or platonically) and sought to make them happy.  i think the thing is that while he’s a very flirty or coquettish person, he isnt very keen on romance and tends to be weary of devoting himself in any sense to other people.  so it’s difficult for him to get to this point at all, unless you’re Real Special.  

[bluehhj]

listen to me — chapter 31

LISTEN TO ME — 0031

listen to me masterlist;

WORDS: 3.3K

(a/n: ohhh, i’m finally back with another chapter, yeah? enjoy guys!)

                               [Approximately two months later]

It was quite valid to say that, after several long days with Choi Jinah, Han Jisung had become another person, and all in such a dynamic way that the boy, even in his best dreams, imagined that he was capable.

They still hadn't taken any steps, nothing beyond the kisses exchanged at all times and the walks on weekends — unless, of course, the fact that Jinah turned out to be a pervert in the last days (this from Jisung's point of view, who thought it absurd for the girl to let her perverted personality pop out so suddenly, but it was not like he was in a condition to complain about anything at all). In addition, nothing very surprising happened in the meantime. Jinah's disturbed ex-boyfriend was seen only once, but she just ignored. As for Jisung, it was no longer so uncomfortable to meet Chaerin and Seungmin together, although Han's feelings had turned into a ball for a few weeks, but the reason for the mess inside his heart wasn't only due to Kwon. Anyway, it was complicated, although Hwang Hyunjin was showing himself to be a good therapist in his spare time, as at this time.

"You two are what, anyway?" — Hwang asked as they sat at one of the empty cafeteria room tables. The break hadn't yet begun, but their class was so boring that it seemed telepathy that they had decided to leave the room at the same time. — "It's no use telling me that it's friends with benefits, because I won't believe it like the last time" — Hyunjin always stood with one foot behind, wondering if he was being fooled so that the story would repeat again and he'd be one of the last to know something important. One of the biggest contributors to his mistrust was the episode about three weeks ago, when Jisung said that Jinah and he were nothing more than friends with benefits — such an old term! ─ and suddenly they were having a crisis of mutual jealousy. It's okay that Jisung didn't like the way a boy from the Pedagogy class looked at Jinah, and it's okay that Jinah didn't like the way one of the girls in her class got all happy when she was in the same room as Jisung, but, if one thing Hyunjin was sure, was that friends with benefits didn't work that way. It was more for real couple, Hwang could write a college article about it.

"I don't know" — with a shrug and a small smile on his lips, Han replied quietly. — "Since you don't accept the term which, to me, seems appropriate as an answer, I really don't know."

"But, Jisung, it's wrong" — Hyunjin raised his hands and began to list the next items on his fingers. — "You two kiss so much that I don't know how you still have mouths; you go out together almost always; are always messaging and calling each other; you two embrace in public very often; feel jealous; share the same circle of friends after so much coexistence; the two are always with those idiot smiles in the face day and night and, finally, you admitted to me that you're in love with her without me needing to make psychological pressure. If this isn't a couple relationship, I'll resign from this life."

The last item wasn't intentional, Jisung just thought a little too loud. But no one could blame him for falling in love with Jinah, since being able to do otherwise was practically impossible.

There was no way not to fall in love with Jinah, it was unfeasible, unlikely.

"And there's that subject too," — Hyunjin added, now in a lower voice. — "Look, if you admit it too and keep insisting on that indefiniteness, I swear I'm going to be ignorant with both."

"I don't know if I can admit that subject, it's still very confusing... It's early too."

"And since when do these things have a right time?" — Hyunjin asked rhetorically. — "You should be thanking for being so lucky for all this to be reciprocal."

Jisung quickly looked up from the bottle of natural juice that rested beside his phone: — "How do you know that part is reciprocal?"

Hyunjin was caught in the jump and couldn't even turn away from the answer as it sat down in front of him about two seconds later: — "Ask her."

"Ask what?" — Jade's voice was slightly hoarse, denouncing that she had slept during the slide show.

"So are you accomplices?" — Jisung folded his arms, casting an indignant glare at them. — "I thought they would gather to talk productive things, not gossip about your friends."

"But who said it isn't productive?" — the american defended herself. — "Since you two don't talk about it, it's up to other people to do that."

You couldn't even have privacy in your personal life, it was unbelievable.

"And what do you guys know about Jinah that I don't know?"

"Now you're forcing the friendship" — Jade chuckled, refusing to talk about her best friend's confessions. The break signal was triggered at this point, but the distraction didn't stop Jisung from being even more indignant.

"But you told Hyunjin and vice versa!"

"It's different," — Hwang interjected. — "We"— he pointed to Jade and himself — "are mere spectators and friends of the two. If we tell you it's not going to be fun anymore, even though I've already given you lots of spoilers and you're extremely slow because you still didn't understand."

Jisung was thoughtful. One side of him only had to pop the cork from a bottle of champagne, but the other was still unsure. In the rhythm that things were happening, it was better that he resolved his inner conflicts sooner rather than get in the way and complicate matters. He had the mental debates interrupted, however, when he felt a pair of warm arms embrace him in the back as a delicate chin was supported on his shoulder. The smell of peach caught his nose quickly.

"You should wear these glasses more often," — Jinah commented, then sat down next to the boy. — "It makes you look smart, it's not often that it happens."

"And you should shut up before I leave you without teeth."

"How beautiful this relationship" — Woojin laughed and sat on the other side, being accompanied by the new pair of best friends, Chan and Felix, next to Changbin and Yoorim. — "Changing the subject, are you guys going to Yugyeom's party, on Saturday?"

"What party?" — asked Changbin and, judging by the same questioning expression that the rest of them had, he assumed that no one there had been invited.

"I didn't tell you guys?" — Woojin asked back, not getting anything more than negative swings of heads. — "I forgot... Anyway, he asked me to invite everyone, it's a surprise party for his girlfriend."

"But surprise party shouldn't be something intimate, only with important people?" — Felix asked, frowning.

"The more people, the more gifts. You need to wake up to capitalism, my son."

"Where is it going to be?" — Yoorim wanted to know, struggling to remember who Yugyeom was, for she didn't even know that.

"At his house, at nine. It's in Gangnam, then I'll give you the address."

Jade wrinkled her nose: — "Didn't he have a less modest place?" — she joked, emphasizing her displeasure at attending a major event in one of the wealthiest parts of the city. It wasn't a matter of pride, the american, just like Jinah, just didn't feel right through so much luxury and futile people.

"Don't start, Jadey, it'll be cool," — Woojin countered. — "Everyone has confirmed presence, it's not just high society people who will be there."

"Okay, but is it my budget enough to buy a souvenir that, in Sana's case, mustn't be less than a swarovski ring?" — said Chan, sounding falsely thoughtful.

"Do I have to wear an expensive dress?" — Jinah asked.

"No, guys, no" — Woojin put both hands to his head, indignant at how difficult his friends were to understand. He usually had a lot of happiness when it came to persuading people, but it was getting complicated. — "You don't have to wear expensive dresses or buy swarovski rings, it's a normal party with the same normal people you're used to seeing around here everyday."

"We're going," — Hyunjin said, also speaking for Yoorim, who just shrugged. — "But mostly because of Sana, she's nice."

"I think I'm going too," — Felix added, though he had no idea who the girl in question was. He only liked quality food and drink. — "I'll lend you the clothes you said you liked, Chan hyung."

"But I didn't even tell if I'm going..." the australian replied quietly.

"Of course you're going! It's your duty as a best friend to accompany me to places."

"Pleeease," — Woojin clasped his hands in a pleading gesture and wore an expression that looked like a child who wanted candy. Chan rolled his eyes.

"Okay, just don't make me regret it."

Felixcheered as Woojin's eyes flew to the last two remaining couples: — "Jinah?" — he started with the most malleable of the four. Choi stared at Jisung and found herself obliged to ask a question before making any decision.

"You want to go?"

"Do you?" — Han returned it.

"It's up to you."

Finally, Jisung also shrugged and Woojin already faced that simple gesture as the answer he craved, then focusing on the last and most difficult problem that was Changbin and Jade.

"You're not going to do that, are you?" — he began to do emotional blackmail. — "Not accepting isn't cool."

And unlike the imagining, the couple exchanged a look that showed how much they had already surrendered, after all, neither of them was strong enough to deal with Woojin's too much insistence, for they both knew that if they said no, it was likely that Kim made them angry for the rest of the day.

"All right," — Changbin answered. — "But I make Chan's words mine"

"You won't regret it, I assure you" — Woojin had a big smile on his face, which incited Yoorim's curiosity.

"Why do our presence seem so important to you? You never needed any of us to leave the house."

"Girl, you offend me" — Kim's smile was replaced by an insulted expression. — "Can't I want my friends together anymore?"

"But this is not you, oppa, it's wrong."

As Woojin tried to make Yoorim understand that he was only trying to be kinder and more careful with the people he liked, there started a debate involving Hyunjin and the others, Changbin watched the problem approach the table with a stupid smile on his face — smile that he wanted to break. Months could go by and he'd still continue to harbor rancidness through Josh's face, it was utterly and absolutely unavoidable. And as if that weren't enough, the reason for his usual stress was studying Biomedicine, as well as Hyunjin, what resulted in his closeness to the group both because of the ties he had with Jade and the friendship he developed with Hwang. In short, seeing him around was becoming something more common than Changbin would like.

"Hyung, I got the apostille," — Josh said as he stood by Hyunjin's side, extending the bound that Hwang had been needing so much in recent days to do some notes related to the subject of Epidemiology. — "You can keep it until the day of the seminar, I've already got what I need."

"Okay, thank you" — Hyunjin smiled and started flipping through the pages. — "Maybe my grade will change from zero to two and a half, I'm happy."

Josh smiled as well, guiding his gaze to where Jade was sitting. Automatically — just as every time that encounter happened — the american intertwined her fingers with Changbin's under the table.

"Are you going to Yugyeom's party, Jade?" — he asked in an average voice, trying to see if Sana wasn't around.

"Yes, we were just talking about that" — Jade opened a smile that Changbin found unnecessarily gorgeous to send to someone as irritating as Josh. — "Are you going?"

"I'm going, yeah. See you there."

"See you there my ass," — Seo muttered, almost inaudibly, but it was enough to snatch a chuckle from Jinah. "What? You wouldn't like it if it was with you, too."

"But I didn't say anything," — Choi defended herself, though an amused smile was present on her lips. Changbin huffed, both for his friend's attitude and for the discomfort of the situation. The taste of jealousy was, definitely, the most bitter one he had ever had the pleasure of tasting. For a while.

                                  ♡˖°

That same day, Jinah and Jisung took advantage of the fact that they had been released from work earlier and decided to hold their usual late-afternoon gathering at the girl's house.

Maybe it was routine fatigue or any mood swings that were making them talk about the guinea pig promotional prices during the elevator ride to the apartment, something that could be considered a totally random subject that wouldno' add anything too much in their lives, but the important thing was that they were at peace, otherwise, cute little pets would never become main characters in their dialogues.

"I thought you liked cats more," — Jisung said, waiting for Jinah to turn the key in the lock and unlock the door.

"And I do, but little guinea pigs are so cute that there's no one who doesn't love them, truth be told" — after seting her feet in the silent apartment, and Choi turned on the lights and opened the windows. — "They don't make noise, they aren't extremely hyperactive and don't pee on your foot during a distracting moment on your part. It's almost as perfect as a cat."

"I always thought dogs would match you more" — Jisung sat on one of the armchairs in the room. — "Because of personality and such."

Jinah raised her eyebrows for a moment, should she take that as an offense?

"No, I don't have the patience."

Surprisingly, Jisung preferred dogs, but then he remembered all the times that Hyunjin and Yoorim went into serious confrontations to decide who had the best taste for something and came to the conclusion that it would be best not to take that topic much further.

"Wasn't Chan supposed to be here already?" — it was impossible not to notice Bang's absence, since he was always there at those times.

"Maybe he got stuck in traffic or stayed in the hospital to do something else" — Jinah shrugged and started untying her tie. — "The important thing is that we get a few minutes of privacy."

Jisung stared at the scene and laughed weakly. He was sitting with his back relaxed in the chair, having a pretentious Jinah in front of him while, unintentionally, she did some sort of striptease by getting rid of her tie and opening the first two buttons of her social shirt to make herself more comfortable.

"That looks very dirty in my mind."

"And then the pervert who thinks only bullshit is me," — the girl rolled her eyes, reminding herself of all the times that she was taxed that way just to let the progesterone bloom a little too much. — "But since I'm a very nice person" — she smirked —, "I'm not going to leave you with desire, that's unethical."

"The funny thing is that I don't remember saying I had any desire at any moment."

"I'd even believe if you took your eyes off of here," — she said of the little skin that was revealed when she opened the first buttons of her shirt, not slowing to open one more, revealing a little of the neckline. — "But that's what you least did so far."

The same smile also surfaced on Jisung's lips: — "I looked just by looking," — he pretended foolishly, this was becoming his best specialty in the last few days. — "You're the shameless one who hasn't yet learned where to change clothes isn't in the living room, especially when you have a visitor."

"You make me completely unmotivated" — Jinah gave up trying to look sexy, what, in her view, wasn't working at all, and let her arms fall. — "I'm here, trying to be sexy, and you don't even enter the mood. What a horror, Jisung"

"But look at the time you're trying to do this, this room is going to be filled with people soon."

"If I called you to my room, then, would have no more excuse?"

The boy opened and closed his mouth again and again, uncertain about what he could answer and fearing stuttering if he did.

"It's because of your panic that we don't fuck," — Jinah grunted and shook her head in disapproval, then realized what she had just said and was a little ashamed of her own lack of discretion. She decided to go to the kitchen to disguise her merely colored cheeks. — "So what? I didn't want that anyway."

Jisung remained paralyzed for a few more moments before rising and following her. It wasn't panic, it was just Jinah, who couldn't wait for the right moments of things.

"You don't have to come after me. You reject me and I can accept that."

"JinJin, I don't reject you" — Jisung hugged her from behind. Shit, Choi thought. Weaknesses were low blow. — "But you wanted to stay that way in the college bathroom, in my car at noon, at the movies and now in your living room. Do you understand how this can go wrong?"

"But forbidden is always better."

"Better for you, the inconsequential one" — Jisung turned her face to face, tearing the little pout into her lips with a peck. — "I'm not leaving here, we still have plenty of time for this."

Jinah didn't want to get so emotionally soft whenever Jisung wore that affectionate tone of voice, and she didn't want to feel her heart almost tearing her chest whenever she was near Han, so fast that the organ was beating. The truth was that Choi couldn't tell how or when, but, from one moment to the next, she relied so much on Han that she could no longer find a name that defined the force of that feeling but love. Jinah loved Jisung. She loved as she had never loved anyone, no matter how clichéd that might be. And, sometimes, she felt that she was reciprocated in the same way, but she couldn't reveal anything, for, on some occasions, it was as if the gaps that surrounded them were transformed into abysses. Not even a couple they were, to begin with.

"You got sad?" — Jisung asked as he realized that her features, before being free of any sadness, had become a little depressed.

"No, of course not" — Jinah smiled. She wasn't lying, for the reason for her sudden discomfort had nothing to do with her own lack of judgment. — "It's just that you've been so cute to me that it makes me sad."

The boy tipped his head and opened the smile that is directed at babies or adorable little animals and held the girl's face to fill her with kisses on all sides, receiving several laughter from Choi during the process. In the meantime, the front door was opened by Chan, who had Jade and Changbin as company. Jisung raised an eyebrow at Jinah, who could do nothing but quietly admit that the Han was right. The living room, definitely, wasn't the best place to play improper jokes with her future boyfriend.

[queerautism]

Commercial Zero Waste trends and greenwashed consumerism promotion

Zero Waste is a philosophy that seeks to reduce the amount of trash we produce by using resources more efficiently and avoiding unnecessary or single use stuff. Things like plastic or excessive packaging are common targets Zero Waste is against.

As a philosophy, it is generally quite positive. It does focus way too much on individual changes and individual responsibility, however, when most of the waste produced in our society is commercial waste produced by businesses and corporations. But hey, little changes, right? Helping people be more aware of the waste they produce is definitely a good thing.

Then we have Zero Waste stores. Here I'm going to be talking about them, and especially my experience with the one in my city, as a way to illustrate a pretty awful trend of capitalism co-opting eco friendly ideas for its own means.

Zero Waste stores typically sell dry goods (like rice, pasta, flour, beans, baking soda, spices, etc.) by weight, with people bringing their own reusable containers, plus a variety of household items.

In theory, this is something I'd be super into. In practice, though, going into the store you'll only find 'organic' versions of everyday staples, which are about x10 more expensive than what you'd find in a regular supermarket. The latest 'superfood' fads, and products imported from countries all over the world.

The focus on all the nice sounding but completely unnecessary 'organic', 'all natural' foods hikes the price up in such a way that the whole thing becomes extremely inaccessible to anyone without a lot of disposable income, like myself. For about the same price I can get 500gm of their organic wholegrain flour in my own little glass jar, or 5kg of chapatti flour at my local Tesco supermarket which already comes in a recyclable strong paper bag, for example. Just ain't worth it.

Reducing some amount of packaging just isn't that great either when you factor in the carbon emissions produced by the transportation of all this stuff from all over the world into England. Convenience and preserving the amount of choices you're offering to the consumer are a way bigger consideration than focusing on offering what can be grown locally or in our own country. The Morrisons supermarket near me already does better just by having eggs from local farms you can buy for a reasonable price.

Then we have the reusable bags, metal straws, compostable sponges, beeswax food wraps, etc... Which are all well and good except, again, expensive as hell. You don't actually need a £10 metal tupperware for your food leftovers to be zero waste, especially when you already have some random plastic ones at home you can keep reusing. You don't need a cutesy £5 a piece set of bamboo cutlery, when you can get a second hand set for 50p in any charity shop around. It's all designed to make you think you can buy your way into a more eco friendly lifestyle, without any of the actual work.

Using your own old clothes to make rags, sew a reusable bag, or a washable face cloth is way more 'zero waste'. Or using newspapers to wrap your sandwich. Keeping the plastic things you already have for as long as they're useful. Repairing things. Sharing things. Pretty much anything but buying more shit.

But this is more work, for something that doesn't look as pretty and glamorous, and businesses can't really make money off that. So they 'greenwash' their message of increased consumption, paint it as the better option for the environment, the woke choice, with any words majority white, upper middle class people will have a positive association with, and pat themselves in the back for all the good work they're doing for the planet.

It pisses me off so much because a community oriented cooperative buying the staples wholesale for people to access at better prices would be such a better idea ugh and it'd still reduce a lot of waste.

Oh, and for this store in particular - I got angry too because they have some succulents around for decoration, since it's so trendy, but they were in the shittiest no drainage pots in a very low light environment. It's a real bad look to keep flaunting how much you supposedly care about nature when you're using living plants for the aesthetic while they slowly die because you aren't actually caring for them.

Anyway I said my piece, fuck capitalism real hard and be wary of any business that wants to use progressive ideas to sell you overpriced things you don't actually need!

[sugarcontent322-blog]

Reminiscence — A Trip to Remember

This article was first published on Medium.

It’s been a few months since my solo trip to Japan, and I still remember vividly every single moment with precise detail. I mean, how could I not? It was the most memorable trip that I ever had, not to mention, my very first solo trip. Remembering every moment brings joy and excitement to my heart, which gave me the motivation and drive to write this journal.

I wasn’t planning to travel alone in the first place, to be honest. The thought of solo travelling never did cross my mind whenever I planned an overseas trip. Part of the reason was because I felt it would be too boring without friends, without having someone to talk to. But, circumstances *psst— leave approvals* prevented me from joining my friends’ itinerary. And thus I was left with the option of planning a solo trip.

Planning an itinerary alone proved to be very enjoyable, as I realized. Researching on places to visit, planning the route and mode of transport, day-to-day schedules, it gives you a sneak preview of what kind of adventure awaits. Not to mention, I can go wherever I want to go, as my mind pleases. That’s sort of a main perk of solo travelling I guess, flexibility in plans. Few days before my flight, I switched a day in Osaka with a trip to Hiroshima, just because I suddenly had the urge to explore. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

My trip lasted for 10 days, travelling through Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. Looking back at my itinerary, I wondered how I was able to follow through such a spartan schedule. Everyday was a visit to a new area, and I never did spend much of my time in the city, only at night when I’m done for the day.

Waking up at 7.30am every morning (why can’t I have the same motivation for work!), I planned to start my day early so I could maximize my time spent at places I was visiting. Having bought the painfully expensive JR Pass, I had unlimited rides on JR lines and also the shinkansen, so I was determined to capitalize on it as much as possible. Booking my shinkansen ride at 8/9 plus, I was always rushing to the station without having breakfast. Hunger wasn’t a concern to me, but missing my ride was. And yes, I have missed x number of trains throughout this trip, and 1 particular shinkansen which got me panicking for the first time on the trip.

Kamakura

Throughout my stay in Tokyo, I visited Kamakura, Nikko and Hakone. Approximately 1 hour away from the capital city, each of these places have their own iconic landmarks. My first destination was Kamakura, a suburb filled with Buddhist Zen temples and shrines. Walking on the streets of Kamakura felt different from walking in Tokyo, there was no no urge to walk briskly, no rush. Everyone around me was strolling casually along Hachiman-gu street, occasionally stopping halfway to indulge on the variety of souvenirs, sweets and snacks that the roadside shops had to offer.

I was absorbed into the 'slow-paced life’ of Kamakura, and took time to appreciate the traditional architecture of the shops, before reaching Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu at the end of the street. At the entrance of the temple, I chanced upon a pair of Japanese newlyweds decked in Japanese wedding kimonos, having a photoshoot with a group of people who seemed to be like their families and relatives. The tourist spirit inside me sprung into life, as I whipped out my phone to take a couple of photos and an instastory. Mind you, I wasn’t alone in doing this.

Venturing into the temple, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw yet another pair of Japanese newlyweds! This time, the pair were in the middle of a ceremony, exchanging vows as per tradition, I guessed. Then again, Kamakura is a place famed with its shrines, so its no surprise that newlyweds would hold their wedding ceremony here. But still, to chance upon two wedding couples on the same day, I think I was very fortunate and lucky. On towards Hase, which is 3 Enoden (the local railway in Kamakura) stops away from Kamakura station, I went to visit the famous bronze Great Buddha Daibutsu.

The Great Buddha statue, Daibutsu

A majestic, magnificent statue. I stood still for a few minutes, just staring intently in awe at the great figure in front of me. The interior was open to visitors for a small fee, and there were details of the weight, the height of each part of the statue. I took a few photos, paid my respects to the Daibutsu, and headed back to Tokyo for dinner.

I met up with my Japanese friend in Kanda, he brought me to an Izakaya his friend owned. While we were having dinner halfway, there were a huge group of people in colourful traditional costumes, parading and cheering down the streets of Kanda, carrying a lavishly decorated palanquin. My friend explained that there was a festival happening— the Kanda Matsuri. Another lucky coincidence!

Although this was supposed to be a solo trip, I did meet up with some groups of friends for dinner sometimes. Honestly, I was really lucky to have company for some parts of my journey, given my talkative nature, so shout-out to those people (you know who you are ☺).

Nikko

The next day was a long, long journey into Nikko, taking the Tohoku shinkansen to Utsunomiya station, the local Nikko line towards Nikko station. I used the 2 hour travelling time to review my plans for the day — head to Ryuzu Falls, which is the start of the nature trail, towards Senjougahara Marshlands, Yudaki Waterfall, and finally Yumoto Onsen. Never would I have thought that I’ll willingly go on a nature trail myself, but hey there’s a first for everything I guess.

Ryuzu-no-taki, Ryuzu Waterfall

Alighting at the Ryuzu-no-Taki bus stop, I stared at the limitless flight of stairs in front of me. Did I mess up, I wondered? I didn’t know these stairs existed when I was researching the area! Well, that was the start of my “spartan” trail, as I dubbed it. When I reached the top, I realized that the flight of stairs was not even part of the nature trail! If I alighted one stop after, I would have skipped the stairs altogether. Oh well, lesson learnt and I continued (started) forward nevertheless.

A warning sign at the entrance of the trail — beware of bears!

Unfortunately (or fortunately), there were no signs of wildlife to be seen throughout the trail, only birds which I was unable to identify. The journey to Senjougahara marshlands was a brief one; took roughly half an hour to reach. I was greeted by the majestic view of the marshlands — its hard to believe that such a breathtaking landscape was 1400 meters above sea level! The rustling of leaves in the wind, the serenity it exudes, made the whole hiking trip worthwhile.

Fast forward to the journey back to Tokyo city, I was racing for time to catch my shinkansen to Shin-Osaka at 8.33pm, because my accommodation for the night was there. Unfortunately, I was 6 minutes late (Yes, I vividly remember) and my shinkansen had left without me. I went to inquire at the ticketing counter in Tokyo station whether there were any Osaka-bound trains left, and the earliest ride was next morning. Then the sudden realization hit me. I was left stranded in Tokyo, without any accommodation.

Hungry and angry — “hangry”, I was walking around Tokyo station aimlessly. The cons of solo travelling started to surface: I felt lost, I didn’t know what to do, nobody was around to tell me what to do, there was nobody for me to discuss with. Cold sweat, goosebumps — you name it, I felt it. Firstly I had to find a way to calm myself down. I went into a Family Mart, dragging my luggage along, bought a bottle of Mitsuya Cider (good stuff, highly recommend), and took a huge gulp.

Now that I have calmed down, it’s time to make a Plan B. I whipped out my phone, opened the Agoda app and searched for the nearest capsule hotel with a vacancy. Fortunately, capsule hotels are aplenty in Tokyo, and I had no issues finding one with a vacancy — in Kanda, just a street away from the Izakaya I had dinner at the day before. After settling down in my new accommodation and grabbing dinner at a nearby eatery, I crashed into my bed. It was a long roller-coaster ride of a day, and it was about to get even more exhausting, because I would be starting the next day with a 6.26am shinkansen to Osaka!

Miyajima, Hiroshima

For my first time stepping outside of the Kanto region, I was excited to explore more places that I could only see through the Internet. The first place I visited was Miyajima, an island off the coast of Hiroshima, western Honshu. Though Miyajima was totally out of the way for my plans, I just went with it because hey, with the power of my JR pass I can go anywhere! It was really easy to get to Miyajima also, connected by local trains from Hiroshima, since it’s a popular tourist destination that hosts the World Heritage Site: Itsukushima Shrine.

On board the JR ferry, I could clearly spot the iconic “floating” torii gate over the distance. Its tall orange pillars stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the green and turquoise landscape of Miyajima.

Spotting the torii gate over the distance

When I disembarked from the ferry, I couldn’t believe what I saw — there were deers all around! There was no mention of deers roaming around the populated areas of Miyajima when I was doing my itinerary planning, or so I believed. But, unlike their counterparts in Nara, the deers in Miyajima are not really as tame and friendly. They don’t bow unfortunately, I tried in embarrassment. There were warning billboards that advise tourists not to feed the deers as they are considered wild animals. Nevertheless, I did spot some deers approaching tourists for snacks, though in a slightly aggressive manner.

Stare-down with a deer outside the Miyajima pier

Before heading into Itsukushima shrine, I took a little detour to take a look at the floating torii gate. Luckily for me, it was low tide and sightseers were able to walk down the coastline and get a close-up with the majestic torii gate. I stood in front of the torii gate, staring intensely at its pillars. To think that this structure remained unscathed and survived the destruction brought by the atomic bomb in World War 2, it truly is a miracle indeed. The bottom part of the pillars were eroded though, because of the waves. Tourists took this opportunity to grab a selfie/group photo with the torii gate, including me.

Up and close with the famed ‘untiltable’ torii gate

After visiting the torii gate and Itsukushima shrine, I headed out for my main objective of the day: reaching the summit of Mt Misen, the highest mountain in Miyajima. Of course, I wasn’t going to start my ascent from scratch, there were ropeway services that brought tourists up to Shishi-iwa observatory, and another 30 minutes walk up to reach the summit. However simple it sounds, this walk is far from easy. Slopes after slopes, I kept leaning my body forward to push myself up these slopes.

Along the way I met a bunch of hikers, tourists and locals. When we walked past each other, I was caught off guard by their afternoon greeting konichiwa, I couldn’t react in time to give my reply, barely giving a smile and bowing my head slightly in return. Such an act of courtesy was heartwarming. Almost every Japanese people greeted me on my way up to the summit, to the point where I started to initiate the greetings myself.

Rock formations at the summit of Mt. Misen

The view at the summit of Mt Misen was absolutely breathtaking. You could see the Hiroshima Bay in its entirety. Fresh air, clear blue skies and clouds, invigorating wind, all these made my effort (and money spent) worthwhile. Having accomplished my plan for the day, I spent the remaining afternoon browsing through Omotesando shopping street.

On a side note, if you’re planning to visit Miyajima, don’t forget to grab some Momiji Manjyu as souvenirs on your way back! They are Miyajima’s specialty, and they well deserve that title.

Kyoto

Kyoto — the land of temples and shrines, was nothing short of amazing. In this laid back town, the streets are not as bustling as its neighboring city Osaka, just peace and quiet. Also, the number of temples and shrines in this town is astonishing; for every few hundred meters you walk, there is almost certainly a temple or shrine nearby. But, each and every temple or shrine has its own story to tell, with different history and architecture. For travelers seeking out Japanese religious culture, Kyoto certainly is a must-visit.

As I was travelling solo, I could quickly decide what I wanted to do, so I tried to visit as many landmarks as I could within the two days I allocated in my itinerary. Places like Ginkaku-ji, Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera are “mandatory” visits for tourists in Kyoto, so I prioritized those places first. I was fortunate enough to be accompanied by a friend of mine, despite a hectic schedule, if not I’ll be hopelessly lost in Kyoto’s complex bus system.

I have to say, riding on a Kyoto bus was interesting, and a tad scary. The entrance is at the back, which was supposed to be where the exit is, and vice versa. Only at the terminus do commuters board from the front. Also, I noticed that Japanese drivers like to drive very, and I mean VERY, close to one another, leaving just a few inches of gap, too close for comfort. So when the bus I was on came utterly close to a car beside (I sat at a window seat, so I could see the car being CRAZILY near), I felt very uneasy and claustrophobic.

Shortly after I arrived in Kyoto, I was told by my friend that there was a festival Aoi Matsuri, one of the three main festivals in Kyoto, happening at the Kyoto palace. Second festival that’s happened during my trip, how lucky I was, really! I pushed my plans back and headed straight for the palace. A large crowd had already gathered outside the entrance of the palace, with some photographers setting up their gear in preparation for the big event. But the first of the palanquins appeared only an hour later, and suddenly the crowd sprung into action, whipping out their phones and cameras and snapping away. Of course, that included me as well!

The parade heads off from the Imperial Palace

It was a grand festival all right, with horses and oxen walking beside people in ceremonial attire. A strikingly beautiful palanquin stood out most of all, with the high priestess Saio riding in it. After walking alongside the parade for a while, I decided to call it quits and head for my next destination.

The Golden and Silver Pavilions, I could only see them through the Windows wallpapers when I lock my computer. They already look magnificent digitally, but seeing them in person is truly a sight to behold.

The Golden Pavilion, Kinkaku-ji

While being surrounded by greenery and a pond, the Kinkaku-ji stands out with its striking gold. Covered in gold leaf for its exteriors, you could see the gold brilliance clearly reflected by the surrounding pond.

While the Ginkaku-ji is not as flamboyant as its golden counterpart, the Silver pavilion offers a dry sand garden with a striped line pattern situated just beside.

Sand garden of Ginkaku-ji

The simplicity of the garden gives off a serene vibe, I felt at ease while looking at the pavilion, also maybe because the crowd here was smaller here compared to Kinkaku-ji. After a few walks around the garden to make my money’s worth (the entrance fee is 500 yen, goodness!) I decided to head towards the most famous structure in Eastern Kyoto: Kiyomizu-dera.

Similar to the two Pavilions, Kiyomizu-dera is widely popular on various mediums. Any travel ad and tour package would feature the temple as one of the main highlights in Japan. Unfortunately the roof of the main hall was under construction when I visited, so the scenery of the whole temple wasn’t as great as before, but at least the main hall was open for visits, so it’s not all that bad.

The temple is located up in the hills, so there’s a arduous 10 minute uphill walk to expect. The walk was not in the slightest boring though, because you’ll be walking through the Higashiyama district, where a whole line of shops and cafes awaits a curious traveler. There were a lot of shops selling Japanese sweets, and a few of them offered samples to shoppers (wouldn’t have known if I wasn’t guided by my veteran friend!). There were samples for matcha tea as well! What a great pit stop in the middle of the district, perfect for a short tea break before continuing further.

At the top of the hill, at the entrance of the temple, the view was simply breathtaking. I could see the entirety of Kyoto all the way to the mountains in the west.

The view atop of the hills, outside Kiyomizu-dera entrance

The crowd here was really huge, probably double the size of Kinkaku-ji crowd. That’s to be expected from the most popular temple in Kyoto, with tourists flocking in to see the temple and the spectacular view.

After a full (scorching) day of temple-hopping, what better way to cool down than to visit an onsen? What I like about Japan, especially Kyoto, is the abundance and convenience of bathhouses, there’s bound to be one around your vicinity (provided you are in an urban area of course).

For the remaining 3 days of my trip, I decided to spend my time leisurely. I spent the late afternoons on an onsen spree, going to popular onsens. In total I visited 4 onsens within these 3 days (maximum health & wellness!) One onsen that left a deep impression on me was Yunessun in Hakone, the place is a water theme park combined with an onsen. Visitors can check out the unique wine/coffee/sake pools and then relax in an onsen, it really is a cool concept, I don’t regret spending half a day there!

Four buckets of coffee ready for splashing people!

Afterthoughts

Honestly, I felt very skeptical about going on an overseas trip all by myself. All the what-ifs fogged my mind, while worrying about safety and the probable loneliness. However, this trip made me realize that a leap of faith into the unknown was the push I needed to understand how enjoyable and exciting journeying solo could be. From the start of the trip planning till the end, it was a phenomenal experience.

The power of the JR pass is limitless

I’m really glad that Japan was my first country to experience solo travelling (not to mention how safe Japan is), definitely would recommend Japan for avid solo-trippers! Writing this journal has spurred me on to plan for my next Japan trip already. If you have any recommendations on where/what to visit in Japan, please do share them with me! Or, if you are planning a trip to Japan yourself and would like some ideas, I’d love to share and discuss my thoughts and experiences!

Special thanks to Nurulhuda, Lee Ming Rui and Wilson for taking their precious time to proofread and provide their valuable inputs!

[leejihoonownsmyheart]

Chaos of Life

Summary:

Yoongi doesn't do things he doesn't like to do. He doesn't talk to people he doesn't like. He doesn't go to class if he doesn't want to. He doesn't even bother to look at those he doesn't think deserves his attention. So, Jimin can't help but wonder what on Earth he did to deserve this strange boys attention.

Chapter  1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Yoonmin University Fanfiction. Multiple Chapters. Warnings Don’t Apply. Good for General Audiences.

You can also read it on: Archive Of Our Own and Fanfiction.net

Chapter Six:

Jimin had always found it hard to concentrate on his studies. There were so many other things that he could be doing, that when it came to looking at some stupid flash cards and practicing their definitions Jimin easily got distracted.

It was a lot harder to concentrate when he was this close to Yoongi.

At first, they were sitting at a normal distance away from one another. They sat across the table, and Yoongi held up flash cards to test Jimin. No physical contact, very little eye contact, normal distance away, casual study circumstances.

At some point, they had decided to look up more flashcards on the internet. Jimin couldn't find a good one so Yoongi came over to the other side of the table to help him search. The more trouble that Jimin had with words the closer Yoongi got to him, and the closer Yoongi got to him, the more trouble Jimin had concentrating. By the time they were at the bottom of the large list of flashcards, Jimin's face had seemingly permanently adopted the hue of a shiny red apple.

"Are you feeling okay?" Yoongi asked, his lips twitching upwards a little. "You seem really hot."

He reached forward without hesitation and slid his hand onto Jimin's forehead, his fingers slipping beneath Jimin's bangs. The action only made his face grow hotter. He knew that he shouldn't let it bother him so much, there was no way Yoongi, didn't know what he was doing to him and this would only encourage the behavior but Jimin couldn't help it. He peered into those inquisitive dark eyes, swallowed his pride and engaged in a silent battle of the wits with the older boy. Even the tips of his ears were burning.

"You're the worst," he murmured, his eyes dropping to the table. Yoongi retracted his fingers, and his gaze lingered for a moment too long on Jimin.

"I know," he stated. Jimin peeked up at him in time to see his head turning away. From the angle, Jimin was sitting at he couldn't see Jimin's face, but he could see that his cheeks were puffed out a little more than normal. Was he… smiling?

"Let's go over the cards one more time," Yoongi suggested softly, picking up the physical pile of cards they had. "If you get them all this time, I'll give you a reward."

"A reward?" Jimin asked, his head perking up slightly. "Why?"

"You've been studying hard despite all of the distractions," he responded. "Good behavior ought to be rewarded."

"I'm not a dog," Jimin murmured back, but he didn't mind the idea. No one had ever cared that much about his study habits, it was kind of nice to think that Yoongi did. Unless it was all part of his plot to get him to trust him of course.

"Yeah, you're not nearly as obedient as one," Yoongi teased back. Jimin stuck his tongue out at the older boy and picked up the pad of cards handing it to him so that they could start the terms again.

"Accounts," Yoongi murmured. Jimin looked away from him, trying to recall the definition. He vividly remembered what had been going on the first time he heard the word in class. Yoongi had picked up a water bottle and had been drinking from it.

"They are records of all financial transactions," Jimin answered. Yoongi raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Including?"

In Jimin's mind, he could easily see Yoongi set down the bottle and pick his pencil back up to write down the rest of the definition. It had been…

"Including expenses and receipts of an organization or individual."

Yoongi nodded and switched the card.

"Capital Gains Tax?"

Jimin didn't miss a beat this time.

"The amount of tax that is payable on the profit from the sale of a capital asset, either a property or an investment."

"Liquid asset?"

"This refers to cash or any asset that can be quickly converted to cash without loss in value."

"Keynesian Economics?"

"The various theories formulated by the British economist John…" He paused. He had to know the exact definition for the quiz. These were going to be short answer questions, not multiple choice. He tried to remember what had been happening when he last heard this definition. He could recall Yoongi, reaching over the table to scroll further down on the computer, his body brushing against Jimin's. "John Maynard Keynes during the Great Depression, which he published in his book "The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money" which came out in…. 1935?"

"1936," Yoongi corrected, his hand reaching up to brush his hair out of his eyes. Ah, Jimin would definitely remember that date now.

"Macroeconomics and Microeconomics," Yoongi continued after a moment. Jimin had to really scrape his brain to remember that one. He remembered the actual day that his professor spoke about it. Yoongi had been wearing a pink dress shirt that had looked so good on him that Jimin had almost complimented it. Emphasis on almost. Instead, he kept quiet all of class, trying to focus on the work. At the exact moment their professor covered Macro and Microeconomics, Yoongi had gotten distracted by one of the buttons on his shirt and had undone it.

Jimin's face turned pink again as he murmured the definitions of the words.

It went on like that until they had recovered the full list of vocab terms. Yoongi took the time to jot down small stars next to the words that Jimin needed to review, and after taking a moment to jot something at the top of his paper, he folded it and stood up. Jimin watched him silently, sort of afraid to get up before Yoongi cued him to do so. He busied his hands by beginning to put his things back into his backpack.

"Are you doing anything after this?"

Jimin was taken aback by his words, so naturally, instead of responding he ended up staring stupidly at Yoongi. Yoongi didn't seem to mind Jimin's stupidity which was a relief (then again he didn't ever seem to mind the moments when Jimin was caught completely off guard by the elder boy). Instead, he placed his hands on the table and tilted his head to the side as he stared thoughtfully at Jimin.

"No? Let me take you out then. My reward is your dinner, with me."

"Just the two of us?" Jimin blurted. Yoongi's lips spread into a smirk, an expression that only made Jimin more uncertain about the situation. Yoongi didn't smile often, but this wasn't really a smile. It was much, much more mischievous.

"Yeah."

Yoongi stood up straight again, seeming to take Jimin's lack of a response as a yes, which it absolutely was not. Of course, the longer that Jimin put off protesting, the more that Yoongi seemed to expect him to do whatever it was he wanted to do.

Jimin stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, looking at Yoongi expectedly instead of walking away. Yoongi puffed out his cheeks nodding as he turned and began to lead Jimin towards their destination. For a second, Jimin just watched him walk, considering running off in the other direction. Yoongi wouldn't notice right away, and he could get away with it.

But if he did run off, Yoongi would probably just be angrier with him. If he was angry at him at all, which, if Jimin was completely honest he didn't think Yoongi had anything against him.

Against his better judgment, Jimin bit his lip and rushed to catch up with Yoongi. Once he had fallen in line with Yoongi, the other boy glanced at him.

"I was starting to think you wouldn't come," he mumbled thoughtfully.

"Me too," Jimin admitted. Yoongi looked away from and his expression was empty so Jimin couldn't help but wonder if maybe he shouldn't have said what he said at all.

Yoongi took Jimin to central campus to the cafeteria that housed a number of small stand restaurants. Yoongi led Jimin confidently over to the Panda Express on campus and began to talk to the attendant softly.

The attendant seemed to recognize Yoongi but to Jimin's surprised wasn't scared. She spoke respectfully to him, never addressing him by name but it was clear from the first moment her eyes fell on Yoongi that she knew him because her eyes shone. Jimin got so lost staring at Yoongi as he interacted with the girl that he almost didn't notice when Yoongi turned to him.

"Have you ever eaten here before?" He asked softly. Jimin shook his head blankly, even though he vaguely remembered coming to a Panda Express once or twice as a kid with his family. Yoongi turned and began to explain how the restaurant worked and even told him what he had gotten to help him decide what to order.

He was soft when he spoke to Jimin. Jimin knew he was supposed to be scared of Yoongi, but he couldn't really put his heart into it when Yoongi was so unbelievably patient with him.

"I'll get what you got," Jimin said softly. "You know this place better than me."

"I doubt we like the same foods, are you sure?" Yoongi asked, quirking an eyebrow up curiously. Jimin smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I bet you have a good taste," he responded. Yoongi's lip twitched up a little in a motion that Jimin wouldn't have caught. A motion he genuinely wouldn't have noticed at all if it hadn't been for the female employee who pointed as her entire body jerked backward.

"Did you just smile?" She exclaimed. Yoongi seemed taken aback by the outburst, and the girl herself seemed surprised as well. She bowed deeply murmuring an apology, but throughout the entire rest of the transaction, she kept giving both Yoongi and Jimin odd looks. Jimin tried not to think about it.

Yoongi volunteered to carry their trays to a table, so Jimin made sure to grab utensils and napkins on the way over to the table. Yoongi chose a small circular table near a window. Jimin watched him from the condiment bar for a long moment before he actually moved to sit with him.

Yoongi was very precise as he set the food out on the table. He set each plate out by each of their chairs and set aside the lunch tray. When he sat down at the table he pulled his phone out of his pocket briefly and slid through his notifications. Then he sighed and put the phone back into his pocket, his eyes wandering around the room.

He seemed to notice that the few other people in the room were nervously moving away from where Yoongi had sat at the table. He didn't seem to be too bothered by the situation, but it looked like it was more in a used to it sort of way than anything else.

Jimin's fingers tightened around the napkins in his hands. Did Yoongi really deserve the treatment he got? He tried not to think too much about it.

He walked back over to Yoongi and handed him a pair of chopsticks.

"Do you eat here often?" He asked him conversationally as he began to pick at the noodles and meat that Yoongi was already digging into. Yoongi nodded, his mouth full, not speaking until he had swallowed all of his food.

"Yes, pretty often."

"That explains why the lady at Panda Express seemed to recognize you," Jimin said with a chuckle. He frowned and circled the noodles with his chopsticks. "Do you come with people?"

He glanced up at Jimin and swallowed again.

"I don't really have any friends to go with."

"Well, you must still have dates right?"

Yoongi stared at him blankly so Jimin continued.

"Besides the lady at Panda Express seemed to really like you."

Yoongi snorted and set down his chopsticks, intertwining his fingers. Amusement riddled across his face.

"And what about you? A cute guy like you must get a lot of dates," he said pointedly. "Do you really want to play this game?"

Jimin's face reddened and suddenly he found his food to be interesting. He wanted to say that it was because of Yoongi asking about his dating history, but the way his heart had raced at being called a cute guy was an undeniable clue at the real reason behind the sudden curiosity with his noodles. He plucked up a piece of meat and put it into his mouth.

The meat was sweet and tangy. A brilliant distraction from his former embarrassment.

"This food is incredible," he said, letting a low whistle escape his mouth. "What beverage did we get again? Sprite?"

He was so busy shoveling noodles in his mouth, trying not to look stupid that he almost didn't notice the way that Min Yoongi's lips slowly settled into a soft smile. One that didn't leave his mouth as soon as it arrived. Instead, it was a smile that stayed in its place for a few long minutes as he watched Jimin eat his food and stammer away his insecurities. If he had noticed, he surely would have had to excuse himself from Yoongi's presence for a while...

When Jimin finally got back to his room after a surprisingly comfortable but quiet walk back to his hall he found that he was utterly exhausted. Jimin hadn't even given himself much time to say goodbye to Yoongi. Instead, he had nervously fumbled with his keys to the point that Yoongi had to help him get the door open for him. He had stammered out a thank you and nervously bowed before shutting the dorm door.

The only one who had found his behavior at all odd was Namjoon. He quirked an eyebrow at Jimin, but in response, Jimin just mumbled a "hello" and rushed into the bathroom to prepare for bed.

What Namjoon didn't know at the moment would not hurt anyone at all.

Chapter Seven

[lgbtqiauthor-blog]

WIP Questions!

Very kindly tagged by @adenhamcreations​! This took me much much too long.

I would like to tag @abalonetea because their story seems awesome and I don’t really know anyone on here but I do know I would like to know more about Groundhog Day.

It’s twenty questions so I stuck it under a read more.

For A Phoenix Rises - Book One (1) of the Silver Phoenix Trilogy.

1: Describe the plot in one sentence

Given the power to shape the world, Alistair tries to balance tradition with the change he hopes to bring, but when his family and even his heart betrays him and his ideals, will he sacrifice them to bring about the future he always hoped for?

2: Pick one sight, smell, sound, feel, and taste to describe the aesthetic for your WIP.

Sight: Red. Red hair, red lips, red sunsets and the smouldering cherry of an ember that starts a forest fire.

Smell: The smell of the air after hot rain, the tang of salt on the wind, the familiar warmth of someone who smells like Home.

Sound: The sharp half breath that comes with realisation and discovery.

Feel: A heart quickening inside your chest. It is anger, its love, it is passion overriding sense.

Taste: The overpowering sweetness of warm honey on your tongue that hides bitter lemon.

3: Which 3+ songs would make a playlist for your novel?

I legitimately got stuck on this for so long. I couldn’t make one. This is why it took me FOREVER to respond.

4: What’s the time period and location in which your novel takes place?

The time period is most similar to late medieval, but as it is fantasy there are some notable exceptions due to the influence of magic in certain areas of the world. The location is the continent of Ateraxia, and mostly centres around the Alsarian empire at the north of the continent.

5: Are there any former titles you’ve considered but discarded?

Not really, it took me six years to name it properly. I mostly just referred to it by the name of the continent it occurs on - Ateraxia.

6: What’s the first line of your novel?

‘Jendra watched the procession with an intense interest: in front of her stood the man who had bought her, and riding high and tall down the main streets was the man she was to be gifted to.’

7: What’s a line of dialogue you’re particularly proud of?

“I carried that thin sliver of metal around inside my leg and I ignored the twinges and the aches, until one day I pushed too hard and it tore it’s way right out of me.” Javier turned his dark eyes on her, they were filled with sympathy and righteousness “You are too smart to act the fool Jendra. Your fear, your flinching at the rough sounds of men, those were your warnings. And you ignored them. Your injury was real and you told yourself it was not because you couldn’t see blood or broken bones,” He took her hands in his, “Treat your wounds seriously, especially when you cannot see them. Because those are the ones that can destroy you.”

8: Which line from the novel most represents it as a whole?

“I know what you are going to say uncle, duty over passion. But it is already too late, I chose passion, and I cannot take it back, even if I wanted to change. No one would let me.”

9: Who are your character(s) face claims?

None of them have face claims but I have jokingly discussed that

10: Sort your characters into Hogwarts houses

I think of these phrases when I think of the houses, so based on that these are the houses I’d pick.

Gryffindor (I will fight for my friends): Alistair, Georj, Aaliyah Hufflepuff (I will fight for my friends): Jendra, Asha, Slytherin (Knowledge is Power): Torven, Scotian, Ravenclaw (Knowledge is Power): Vaskain, Accalia, Javier

11: Which character’s name do you like the most?

Aaliyah as it relates directly to the name of the novel. Where in Hebrew to make an Aliyah is ‘to rise or ascend.’ Which with the phoenix theme, makes my heart happy.

12: Describe each character’s daily outfit

Alistair wears a lot of understated blacks and silvers, with very simple clothes made from very expensive materials.

Jendra mimics this a lot in the first book, wearing his colours and clean simple lines that accentuate but hide her. As she gains in confidence she wears more layers and comfortable clothes in private.

Aaliyah wears the white and gold robes of a Priestess of the Soulfire until she marries Alistair. Then she wears a silver diadem with sapphires and diamonds. Having grown up in the cold and snow of Melghain, she chooses to wear light, breathable clothing to cope with even the temperate heat of the capital.

13: Do any characters have any distinctive birthmarks/scars?

Asha has several scars across her hands and arms and shoulders from her time studying under the Thanomancers.

14: Which character most fits a character trope?

I don’t really know. Maybe Alistair. I tried to make him SEEM very ‘White Boy Who Is Good At Everything’ at the beginning but then as you get to know him you see that he really is just a mess with good intentions.

15: Which character is the best writer? Worst?

Javier spends so much of his time observing other people that he would probably cut right to the heart of human nature in anything he wrote.

Torven cares so little about the motivations of others and how they relate to the people around them that it would probably be hard for him to write a story that involved… Well. Characters.

16: Which character is the best liar? Worst?

Accalia starts off as the best liar, she’s trained for it and it can flow from her as easy as a breath, but the thing is, people might suspect Accalia of lying even if she sells it completely. Alistair, when he does lie, is never suspected of it. No one would dare. So he becomes quite flawless.

Asha is the worst damn liar. If someone asks her something she has to lie to. She just walks away or teleports out.

17: Which character swears the most? Least?

Scotian probably swears the most, but tries to cool it when Javier is around.

Accalia on the other hand only swears when she is angry, and strangely no one ever seems to live to tell that tale.

18: Which character has the best writing? Worst?

Vaskain’s handwriting is completely level, small and rounded. Not a curve out of place. It might not be the best, but it is obsessively neat.

Scotian’s handwriting is so unbelievably horrible. Once he had to label the poisons and Javier made him spend eight hours practicing lines when someone nearly used amanita instead of mint.

19: Which character is the most like you? Least like you?

Asha’s need to help everyone and anyone around her because she can’t fix her own pain and she can’t stand to see others hurting is something that I feel a LOT. Plus, upon learning about a species of terrifying magical giant wolves her first response was ‘guess I’m going to camp out in the freezing snow until I make a wolf friend’.

Aaliyah never questions whether she is doing the right thing, her self confidence and self assurance is off the charts. Which shocks the people around her because of how young she is. And she is graceful. Something I don’t think I’ll ever manage.

20: Which character would you most like to be?

In the first book, Alistair. He has the potential to bring about so much good, and the drive and power to do it. What's more, he also wields unbelievable magical power which is. Y’know. Pretty cool.

[purplesurveys]

382

-What was the last song that you sang out loud? I played a Destiny’s Child playlist when we were out for a bit earlier so I was most likely rapping along to Bug A Boo before we got home. -If someone has bad breath, do you tell him or her? I don’t think I can. I’d rather just not have my face directly on them when talking. -With which friend are you most likely to share a secret? Angela. She knows e v e r y t h i n g. -Do you have an item that comforts you when you are sad/scared? My...phone? Haha. If I get anxious I need to watch videos to distract me. My phone has YouTube. Also bracelets that Gabie has given me over the years. -When are you likely to hide your emotions? When I’m with people that don’t really know about my anxiety. People I’m not close to, in general.

-Which is scarier: Dying of thirst or of starvation? I think both are equally terrifying??? Both put the body in immense pain and it goes through a slow, agonizing shutdown and I don’t even want to think about experiencing other lol. -Who was the last person to take your breath away? MY GIRLFRIEND -When you turn on the TV, what channel do you flip to? Probably a movie channel but I legit have not watched television in yearssss. I watch everything on Netflix now. -Have you ever tried to help someone quit smoking? No. -What was the last comment someone made on your music taste? I don’t have much of a music taste so it’s not really something people tend to make comments on. -Where do you go/what do you do when you need to calm down? My room. Or to my best friends. -What was the last mess you cleaned up? I had a stack of readings and stationery scattered all over the dining table last night when I was studying, so I cleaned everything up before going to bed. -Have you ever had to talk anyone out of suicide? Yes I had to talk to Toby because he made a series of disturbing tweets a couple of weeks ago. We aren’t close per se, but he’s an orgmate and therefore a friend, so I messaged him immediately. I’m happy it worked, cos he showed up to school the next day and gave me a bear hug. -When you think of tomorrow, what feelings come to mind? Work. -Who, in your opinion, has an amazing voice? Hannah sings a lot, and I really like it when she does because she sounds great. -Would you ever camp out on a beach, under the stars? Of course.

-What is the last thing you complained about? I need a printer to print out my readings (I absolutely cannot study from an e-book) but ours has been broken for years and there’s no Internet/printing shop nearby. UGH I’m serious about complaining over not being able to study haha.   -What was the last curse-word you said? Fuck. -When you fake sick to get out of school, what do you say or do to convince your parents that you are sick? I would never fake sick to my Asian mom.  -How did you recover from your last bout of tears? I slept. As is always the most effective way to stop crying. -Do you still talk to your very first best friend? Yes. I talked to her last night. -When was the last time something went terribly wrong? Well a couple of weeks ago Gab and I had a huge, really serious fight that had just been unfixable–it was the kind of fight that you just had to wait. And the wait was torture. I was really scared then and I stayed in bed for what was probably 48 hours and ate like two times in that period. -How do you console someone when he or she is upset? I stay with them and listen to them if they have to let things out. -Have you ever seen either one of your parents cry? Just my mom. I don’t know what I’d do if I saw my dad cry. -Choose one: Trip to outerspace, or trip underneath the oceans? OUTER SPACE. I’d do anything to have a glimpse into my astronaut dream. -How often do you feel overwhelmed? 7 days a week. -How do you deal with everyday life? Get by. Aren’t we all forced to? -Do you have any secret obsessions or guilty pleasures? I don’t think so. I’m never guilty of whatever it is I’m obsessing at the moment haha. I am into serial killers, like reading and watching docus about them; and obviously I never announce it the world unless it comes up in conversation. -Aside from on this survey, what was the last thing you wrote about? I was writing down notes on my readings from my Southeast Asian history class. -Who in your family do you act like the most? I’m a mix of my mom and dad. I seriously can’t tell you who I act more like. There are certain phrases my mom says that I say, and certain intonations and mannerisms I got from my dad.  -What is the most romantically sweet thing someone has done for you? I’m into intimate, more between-the-two-of-you kind of stuff, so I always appreciate it when Gab volunteers to drive my car if I ever drink a little bit too much for the night. She helps me get to bed and gets me some clothes to wear too, which is always sweet.

-When you go out to the mall, do people stare? Not me, but my girlfriend and I obviously will get stares from time to time for holding hands. -Have you ever been confronted by a mall cop for your behavior? No. -What just tears at your heartstrings? Videos of dogs reuniting with their owners, abused dogs getting saved and all groomed up, or dogs getting adopted. -Is there a show you swear that you will never watch? GAME OF THRONES -What was the last topic that you ranted about? The lack of a printer that I delved on several survey questions ago. -Is there someone that makes you feel like you're walking on eggshells? Jane lol. She’s the president of our org and will easily get pissed the fuck off sometimes, and it never does my anxiety any good. -Were you ever afraid of one of your past teachers? Yes. We had this monster of a PE teacher in 2nd grade who would literally kick down doors if she gets angry and would yell at 8 year olds. How she ever got employed in the first place still baffles me. -Have you ever been in a physical fight on school grounds? That’s a huuuuuge no-no in our school, so no. Plus I came from an all-girls’ Catholic school; it just wasn’t in anyone’s nature to pick a fight. -Have you written anything in a bathroom stall? What, if anything? No, I feel so iffy about vandalizing in public. -Is your school like the drama capital of the country? HAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA. You can say that, damn. -A homeless man asks you for 50 cents; how do you respond? I give them a little more and a snack if I had any. -When was the last time you visited a thrift store? I don’t remember. I don’t think I have? -Was there ever a time when you wished you'd never been born? Always. I didn’t even choose to be born lol. -Can you handle constructive criticism? Uhhhhhh only if it’s from someone I truly respect. Otherwise I can honestly be a big baby about criticism. -Who is the most sensitive person that you know? ME. Also one of my friends, Mils. -Have you ever had a tooth (or teeth) pulled? Nope. -You can have one famous person's wardrobe; who do you choose, and why? Kate’s!!! She dresses so well and looks pretty in all of her outfits. -When was the last time you wrote someone a note? I think December? Aya was down in the dumps pretty bad so I dropped her a short message on Facebook to let her know that I’m always around for her. -Do you tell your parents before you go somewhere, or just leave? I ask permission. Duh. I’m Asian.  -What was the last thing you tried to get out of doing? Agatha’s birthday party. She’s a good friend, but I’m not friends with any of her friends and I just can’t relate with the college block we both belong to. I scheduled a date with Gabie’s dad on the same night because I didn’t want to go to the party. -On average, how many surveys do you fill out in one day? If I had a lot of time, I could fill out three. Nowadays it’s like once a day/a couple of times a week. -How many hours a day do you spend on Bzoink? I don’t stay on Bzoink; I just go on there to look for surveys. -Which season do you dread the most? I hate Philippine summers. -Do you ever brag about your achievements? Oh god never. I hate putting any attention on me. -If someone makes fun of you, are you able to laugh it off? Tbh no, I’m pretty sensitive and serious in that aspect. I mean I’d smile to be polite but will most likely be whispering something evil about them in my head hahahaha. -When was the last time that you watched the sun come up? Three years ago, in Sagada. -What did you do last Halloween? I think I went out with Gab that day, but it wasn’t to celebrate Halloween. -Last Thanksgiving? -Last Christmas - if you celebrate? I like how Christmas has the *if you celebrate* disclaimer but the North American-centric Thanksgiving doesn’t. Anyway, we had several family dinners and we ate and drank and caught up with one another. -How did you celebrate the arrival of the new year? Also saw some relatives and ate and drank and bonded with my cousins. -Is there a foreign culture you'd like to learn more about? I’d like to know more about all of them if I had the time and the chance. -Have you ever (purposely or accidentally) played with someone's heart? I possibly might’ve with Mike but I don’t want to be an ass and assume. -Has anyone ever played with yours? Sure, you can say that. -Have you ever seen a famous painting and thought "I could have done that?” Not famous, but expensive ones. The ones that are paint splatters hah. -Fire drills: Did you ever wish they were real ... just once? LOL YES. I’m terrible for thinking that but yes. Mostly because everyone was such kids about it and never took the drills seriously. I secretly wanted a real one to happen just to see those people regret not being any more serious.

-What is the scariest thing about attending your school? Nothing’s scary about UP. If you’re scared to be in UP you can’t survive in it. -Are you a good judge of other people's intentions? Meh. I can tell sometimes. What was the last thing that you felt strongly about? I’m not so sure, it’s been a while. -Shopping: best with friends, parents, bf/gf, or alone? Girlfriend. -What is one insecurity you have about your body? Teeth. -What is one part of your body that you are proud of? My overall figure. -When was the last time someone told you to turn your music down? Ages ago. I’m getting old myself and don’t want my music too loud lmfao. -When you don't know how to spell a word, do you look it up? Yes, of course. -Are you one to spend a lot of time in the bathroom? Nope. I hate making people wait. -Have you seen the movie Super Size Me? No. -Do you still eat at McDonald's, regardless of that film? I’d probably continue eating at any fast food establishment even if I watch a billion documentaries exposing them, being completely honest. -Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a different race? Sometimes. -Do you ever consider the challenges other races go through? Of course. Except for one snowflake race out there, lol. -When was the last time you doubted your abilities? Now? -At your favorite restaurant, what do you order? I don’t pick favorite restaurants. -What was the last thing you wished for? A DAMN PRINTER. -How many times a day, on average, do you look at the time? Too many. I’m perpetually impatient.

[buttsonthebeach]

ok ok ok. this would not be canon. prompt: ashara and lucius are invited to to a fancy council thingie to talk about something important, but it is assumed that they are still together. they have to pretend to be in a relationship for it to go smoothly. UST and HEA would be nicest!

ANON. ANON. I know it has been forever but can I tell you how happy this ask made me?? I love Ashara and Lucius so much. So so much. It adds 10 days to my life every time I find out that someone else loves them.

Have some shameless, fluffy fluff, and I’m sorry for the wait :) I am always down for more SFW or NSFW prompts for these guys!

Ashara’s dresses are from this post - her first dress is the bottom right picture, and her second is the one above it (far right of the second to last row).

Pairing: Ashara Lavellan x Lucius Talvas

Rating: Teen for some sensuality, but absolutely nothing beyond that

Note: In an AU of Reckoning, Ashara and Lucius meet again at a Council on Arcane Affairs in a time when prejudice against elves is running high, and must confront the end of their relationship at last.

************

1.

When Lucius saw Ashara on the first night the International Council on Arcane Affairs, hosted in Cumberland, he couldn’t breathe. Mostly that was because of the absolute, undiluted rage in her face as she argued with one of the guards hired for the event. He so rarely saw her angry. But also it was also because of her stunning gown - thin gauzy blue folds draping into a small train on the floor, a high waist, a deep V neckline and thin straps made of tiny blue roses, with more scattered throughout the skirts. Her curls were piled on her head in an intricate hairstyle studded with more of the roses. She was stunning. That was why he could not breathe.And because he had not seen her at all in the year since their relationship ended, and yet he still knew the exact place of each freckle on her cheeks.“This is absolutely preposterous,” Ashara was saying as he approached. “I have an invitation to this conference. Of course it includes an invitation to this dance. Aren’t there dances every night this week?”“I’m afraid this event simply isn’t suited for mages of your - kind. Not after what happened in Clermont.”

Ashara’s face, if at all possible, grew more angry. Lucius felt that anger spill over into him. The murky incident in Clermont - blood magic, elven immigrants, illegal Orlesian templars, intrigue at court - had been the fixation of too many people in the last weeks. To think Ashara could have been involved - she had almost worked for Vir'anor, the group involved in the incident, before Enasan’s top university offered her a coveted position - or to generalize what happened there to all elves… it was ridiculous. No one deserved this treatment.What Lucius did next, he did without thinking.He walked up to them, and put his hand on the small of Ashara’s back, the same way he had done a hundred times in the year that they were lovers.“There you are, amata. I know Magister Tilani will be thrilled to see you tonight. I hope these men have not kept you waiting.”Lucius was not sure whose eyes were wider - the guards’, or Ashara’s. Those blue, blue eyes. She smelled like crystal grace, and the fabric of her dress was soft and thin and he could feel her warmth and suddenly the last year, the loneliness, the million ways he questioned his decision to leave her, evaporated.“Oh,” Ashara said. “Emma lath. I thought I could get in without you, but apparently these men do not realize that we are both honored guests tonight in our own right.”“Indeed. We can always speak to Magister Pavus about this, though. Doesn’t he arrive soon?”“That will not be necessary,” the guard said quickly. Then, more grudgingly: “Enjoy your evening.”He kept his hand on Ashara’s back as they passed into an antechamber situated before the main ballroom. She seized hold of that hand and dragged him into a corner of it.“Lucius! I didn’t even know you would be here. That was kind of you. Kind, but unnecessary. I would have gotten around to dropping Dorian’s name eventually. I like your beard.”She had not changed. Her words were quick as her mind and she was so, so close.“It is no trouble. I did not want to see them harm you.”A change came over her - like she remembered, suddenly, that day a year ago when he ended their relationship, saying that he did not want to hold her back from the life she so richly deserved among her people back home in Enasan. She put more distance between them, backing towards the center of the antechamber.“Yes, well. How have you been since - that is to say, how are you?”Things had gone well for him since their relationship ended. He’d made great strides towards his dream of creating a magically-powered printing press, having partnered with dwarven enchanters from Kal-Sharok and merchants in Vyrantium to secure the necessary resources and contacts to make his plan a reality. He had made new friends. He had moved to a nicer flat in Minrathous. But somehow, all of that stuck in his throat, looking down at her now - no longer an abstract idea or memory that he could pretend didn’t hurt him, but instead a real woman - tall and curly-haired and lovely and no longer his.

“I’m well,” he lied. “Shall we go in?”

2.The International Council on Arcane Affairs was formed from a partnership between Grand Enchanter Vivienne and Minaeve, the new leader of the College of Magi, who had taken Fiona’s place after a sudden illness. Apparently they had grown close during their time in the Inquisition. So it was even more ridiculous that the anti-elven sentiment continued to circulate at the event, despite earnest attempts to stamp it out.

Lucius had thought that the whole charade between he and Ashara would be done after that first night. They’d spoken for a while - she still lived with her parents in the capital city of Enasan, she’d made a few friends at the university, her research into the possibility of spirits crossing the Veil without suffering harm or changing their nature was going well - and he’d lingered close to her for some time after that, making sure no one else gave her trouble. But surely it would go no further.

But that was before the protest began outside the grand dome of the College of Magi on the morning of the second day. Before the throng of people flinging mud and rotten food and offal at the white marble, demanding they hand over every single elf mage inside, to answer for the dead Orlesians in Clermont.

Before he heard one of the rabble say: “Most of the knife ears aren’t even staying here. They’re in taverns and inns around the city. We should flush ‘em out of their holes like the rabbits they are. There are only so many inns that give rooms to their kind.”

Lucius’s heart was in his throat. Ashara had mentioned the inn she was staying at that - the Dirty Duck, or the Black Swan - or maybe it was called the Black Swan but locals called it the Dirty Duck -

He found it quickly enough. It was a decent inn but not one of the nicer ones, and it was close to what remained of Cumberland’s alienage. A sovereign got him Ashara’s room number from the bored serving man in the tavern area, and his long legs ate up the steps two at a time.

She was still radiant.

Her hair was wrapped in green silk and she was wearing a long linen tunic and her leg wraps and she seemed utterly bewildered to see him.

“There’s a bit of an incident outside the College,” he said. “A crowd of anti-elven protestors. They were threatening to come and find the inns where elven guests were staying and do -” He felt heat creeping across the back of his neck. “Well, I didn’t wait that long. You shouldn’t stay here. There are so few places in the city that will rent rooms to elves, and if this kind of sentiment continues…”

“Fenedhis,” Ashara swore. Her face fell. She turned and went into her room, and after a moment’s hesitation he followed. “I can’t believe this. Everything my parents fought for. And humans still react this way.”

The door shut behind Lucius. They were alone. In her room. With her rumpled bed. She never made her bed. He knew that because of all the times they’d shared a bed, because he knew the smell of her skin in the morning and what it was like to kiss her shoulder when it was warm with sun -

“I can’t believe it either. It’s ridiculous,” he said, though the words felt like they came from somewhere outside of his body. Ashara was pacing now, her arms wrapped around herself.

“I suppose the easiest thing to do would just be to go home. But that’s what they want. I refuse to be intimidated that way. I’ll go there myself now and tell them that. I have every right to be here, and -”

“Come stay with me.”

Again, Lucius’s words came from someone that was and wasn’t him. Ashara stopped pacing and looked at him, her eyes wide with shock. She was flushed. What was he thinking? He couldn’t ask her to come and stay with him - what would she think?

“Would that even work?” she asked. “Aren’t you and Maevaris staying in one of those expensive new hotels near the center of the city? I don’t even know if they’ll let me in.”

She said it with such bitterness, and he wanted to go back to the college and shake every protestor there by the throat. How dare they make anyone feel this way. How dare they make her feel this way, when she had such a good heart, such a keen mind, so much to give the world.

“I’ll make sure they do.”

In hindsight, the problem that arose next was a rather obvious one.

He forcefully, calmly, told the (human) servant in the entryway that Ashara needed a key to his room, and that she was staying with him, and the servant glanced between the two of them and said:

“I take it this is your wife?”

Of course.

Of course he said that.

Well done, Talvas.

“Yes,” Ashara said, putting her arm around his waist. “I am his bondmate.”

And of course Ashara used the Dalish word for spouse, and her hair was still wrapped so her long, bladed ears were on full display, and her normally wide eyes were narrowed and angry. And of course his heart leapt all the same at how close she was.

This would not end well.

3.

“I’m sorry, you’re going to need to explain this to me again,” Claudia said. “In what universe, present, past, or future, was the only solution to this problem to pretend that you two are married?”

Claudia never did mince words.

Lucius sighed and pinched his temple.

“I already did explain it. The protestors -”

“And you didn’t think to have her stay with Mae? Or to stay with her at her inn until Dorian and I arrived and she could come stay with us? And somehow she didn’t think to mention any of these options either?” Claudia took another long sip of her wine.

“I don’t know, Claudia. It’s all that came to us.”

They were in one of the small sitting rooms in the College, in-between salons and discussions of all kinds. Ashara had gone to a different one from the two of them, and she was not back yet, which had led to the two of them sequestering themselves while they waited. They had not had a chance to talk in private that day before that moment.

“Fasta vass, Lucius. You two are the biggest idiots I know.”

Lucius’s anger flared. “I am trying to help her. To protect her.”

Claudia rolled her eyes. “So did you two sleep in the same bed last night?”

Lucius’s back still hurt from the night he’d passed on the floor. “Of course not. That’s not what this is.”

“Indeed.”

Lucius threw up his hands. “Claudia, this isn’t easy for me. Why would I do something that hurts me, if not to help her?”

Because it hadn’t been easy, lying there that night, hearing the rustle of her in the bed nearby, her quiet sleepy sounds. He was always one to sprawl out in every direction when he slept but he always made an effort to hold her while she fell asleep, when they shared a bed. Did she still have nightmares about what happened in Oruvun? If one woke her, what would he do? He could not kiss her eyelids and her forehead and her lips until her breathing slowed again.

It had not been easy when he woke before her that morning, stood and stretched, and saw that she had kicked off all her covers in the night, and was in her smalls and tunic alone, and he was greeted by the sight of her long legs, her skin nut-brown against the cream-colored sheets, her thighs dotted with yet more of those freckles.

Claudia, for her part, did look shocked at his vehemence. She put down her wine glass.

“I think you should stop and think about why it hurts that much.”

4.

Ashara insisted that he sleep on the bed on the third night, and that she could sleep on the floor. He woke up at one point to the weight of her sitting on the edge of his bed. She said something in Elvhen. Her hand rested feather-light on his shoulder. He found that he could not sleep the rest of the night, waiting for some sign, some sound, that would tell him it had not been a dream. That maybe, just maybe, this was hurting her too. Walking hand in hand through the throngs at the various events in that glittering marble building. Calling each other amata and arasha and husband and wife Averting their eyes or leaving the room when they changed back in their room.

That maybe it was hurting her too because she also wished so badly that all of this was real.

5.

It was on the fifth day that he kissed her, without any premeditation, of course.

The gala that evening ran late, and she was wearing another beautiful gown, handpainted cream-and-rose silk this time, a fuller skirt, and a neckline that plunged nearly to her navel, leaving that perfect expanse of skin between her breasts bare to the warm Nevarran air. She was laughing, stumbling against him, and that was when he saw two or three men coming down the road towards them, rough-looking sorts, angry-looking men, and before he could think of anything else he had pulled her to one side of the road, turned so that she was nearly against the building, and kissed her, trying to shield her from sight with his body. His heart raced in his ears. She made a startled sound - and then she melted against him, her hands on his waist. The men passed them by. He stepped back from her.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry, I know this is all supposed to be fake, I don’t know why I -”

She took his face in both her hands and kissed him, and her gown was smooth and cool under his hands but the skin on her back was hot, and when she parted her lips she tasted just like he remembered.

She pulled back, her breath already drawing short. She gestured nervously with her hands while she talked.

“No - I - now I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. You had your reasons why you ended things and we haven’t even talked about any of this, and I’m sure I’m just taking advantage of your kindness -”

He kissed her, and he let every ounce of longing, every regret he’d ever felt in the time they’d been apart pour into that kiss. A fine tremor ran through his hand where it rested on the small of her back, and this time they were both out of breath.

“Then let’s talk,” he said.

She beamed at him. “Okay. In the morning. And - I think maybe I should stay in Claudia’s room instead.”

6.

The International Council on Arcane Affairs was full of watching eyes, and naturally people had noticed that the daughter of Fen’Harel and Maevaris Tilani’s protege had been seen in each other’s company and were even, reportedly, claiming to be married. So people did talk when they arrived to the sixth day’s events separately.

But, more importantly, they talked that afternoon, in one of the libraries.

“The moment I saw you,” Ashara said. “The moment you put your hand on my back and called me amata -”

“I know,” he said.

Ashara wet her lips.

“But you were the one who ended things, Lucius. And I accepted that - and - so much of what you said that day hasn’t changed. Your life is in Minrathous and mine is in Enasan. I don’t know that I could ever live in Tevinter long-term. Not as an elf. You could come to Enasan, but things are so unsettled now, after what happened in Clermont…”

She was right. She was. And good things had happened in Lucius’s life since he walked away from her - but as he sat there in a library bathed in light, not quite touching her, he realized that none of them quite compared to the way he felt when he looked in her.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “If you are willing to try - I know that I am. I want this to be real.”

“Me too, vhenan.”

She took his hand, and smiled at him, and he realized in that moment - it already was real. It always had been.

7.

They didn’t make it to the seventh day of the council. There were too many other lost days they needed to make up, too many smiles to share, too many plans to make.

Claudia was the one who came looking for them, although when she took one look at them, she had only one word to share: “Finally.”