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fluffynexu · 4 years

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Astralignment

and the Korribani Calendar System

Before the arrival of the Exiles the native Sith on Korriban had their own system of keeping track of time. Over the years, this became standardized and refined and is still in use by a large portion of the modern Pureblood community. Since the ancient Sith were observant beings of their world, many of the names and symbols reflected their natural environment. All of these aspects go into what is known as a Sith’s astralignment (astro-alignment).

Since the Empire runs on Imperial Standard Time (IST), anything relating to Korriban or any other Imperial world is referred by the local time of that planet.

Compare a year on Dromund Kaas to Korriban:

Dromund Kaas (everything in standard)

24 hours/day

312 days/year

7,488 hours/year

60 minutes = 1 hour

24 hours = 1 day

5 days = 1 week

7 weeks = 1 month

35 days = 1 month

8 months (+4 weeks and 4 holidays) = 1 year

312 (standard)days = 1 year

Korriban

28 (standard) hours/day

780 (local) days/year

21,840 (standard) hours/year

70 (standard and local) minutes = 1 hour

24 (local) hours = 1 day

10 (local) days = 1 week

6.5 (local) weeks = 1 month

65 (local) days = 1 month

12 (local) months = 1 year

780 (local) days = 1 year

This roughly makes 1 Korribani year approximately 2.9 [Dromund] Kaasi years.

Calendars

The days on Korriban are annotated on some versions of the Imperial calendar alongside the standard days.

In this example, names of the days on the calendar reflect the IST. The black numbers indicate the date in IST, the red numbers represent the date of the Korribani calendar. Placement of the Korribani date indicate when that day begins in relation to the Kaasi one.

A. 00:00 is the same for both. B. 00:00 K starts at 04:00 DK. C. 00:00 K starts at 08:00 DK. D. 00:00 K starts at 12:00 DK. E. 00:00 K starts at 16:00 DK. F. 00:00 K starts at 20:00 DK. G. Loops back around and 00:00 K lines up 00:00 DK .

While seemingly complicated to some, most Sith have grown with this system of overlapping calendars and can easily tell the date by the positioning of the numbers in this format.

There are of course, electronic versions where the date is shown simply:

Since the Korribani month is longer than the Kaasi one, the dates will continue through the Kaasi months. These next two pictures show how long 1 Korribani month is in relation to a Kaasi one.

There is also a version of the Korribani calendar that does not overlap with IST. These are used locally on the planet.

The days of the Korribani week were named after major gods from the most widespread pantheon on the planet:

Ahmuriq, from Ahmurn: the creator god.

Marseriq, from Marserha: mother goddess of the Sith.

Bashariq, from Bashara: goddess of passion.

Teraiq, from Teral: god of protection and justice.

Iskarliq, from Iskarln: god(dess) of conflict and war.

Marduriq, from Mardur: patron god of the Massassi and strength.

Rusaniq, from Rusanel: goddess of knowledge.

Zefiriq, from Zefir: goddess of the hunt.

Shumariq, from Shumari: god of the harvest.

Goruiq, from Gorul: the trickster god(dess).

Months

There are numerous constellations in the Korribani sky. Twelves of these mark the months of the year as well as going into the astalignment. The 12 major, monthly constellations all depict local fauna from ancient fables and have certain characteristics that are commonly associated with them.

1. Yuninchâtsutuyok, the jiminat and agzonûboj engaged in eternal conflict. Dedicated, ambitious, and insightful.

2. Qyalatuyok, the qyalak. Calm, sentimental, and inquisitive.

3. Badzuriqatuyok, the badzuriqash. Tenacious, practical, and direct.

4. Kaarjontuyok, the kaarjontû. Spontaneous, contemplative, and observant.

5. Tukatatuyok, the tukata. Loyal, respectful, and staunch.

6. Hatyatuyok, the hatya. Articulate, perceptive, and adaptable.

7. Lomaituyok, the lomait. Disciplined, fearless, and competitive.

8. Dzushatuyok, the dzushaj. Private, calculating, and flexible.

9. Mowhetuyok, the mowhef. Stern, traditional, and ruthless.

10. Dyaltituyok, the dyaltir. Mischievous, studious, and charismatic.

11. Jhan’dikanatuyok, the lost dikana. Creative, sociable, and resourceful.

12. Niqoituyok, the niqoit. Erudite, cunning, and free-spirited.

Years

The years are also represented by local animals. No one, not even Sith scholars or historians, are sure of the origin of how these animals came to represent the years on Korriban’s calendar. It is one of the many parts of Sith culture that have been lost since it is believed this particular record has been passed down through oral tellings.

The years are kept track of in a 6-year cycle with each year emphasizing a likely success for the ones born in that year.

Chiroik - Wealth

Wokinai - Knowledge

Natûsh - Fame

Dzenal - Influence

Litskoj - Power

Sulemish - Longevity

(ie. Those born in the year of the Sulemish will have a long life.) This again factors into a Sith’s astralignment.

In addition to the years, these 6 animals are also used for the hours on Korriban. But time is not conveyed in the same manner as Basic. While in Basic one would simply say “14:25” (or two twenty-five in the afternoon) the Sith have a much more involved way to convey time.

For example: Shyracks screech and return to their caves as the priestess prepares the altar in the hour of the wokinai.

Translates to: 07:15 local time (or seven fifteen in the morning).

As a side note, a few centuries ago Darth Feras domesticated and bred wrats within the Empire. At first they weren’t seen with much interest by her peers. But popular rumor has it that she pointed out her creations embody the physical traits of the yearly beasts.

Eyes - Chiroik

Ears - Wokinai

Body - Natûsh

Hands - Dzenal

Feet - Litskoj

Tail - Sulemish

Afterwards they quickly became a favored pet and companion among the Sith, being seen as an auspicious animal.

While not related to their calendar there is a tradition of being assigned a birth flower. For this, the Sith do not look to their skies but rather, when a child is born the placenta is buried in a pot with 12 seeds. The first of these seeds to sprout becomes that Sith’s birth flower. These 12 flowers are also used in medicine, therapeutic or preventive, for some common ailments.

Serla for headaches.

Roshal for good eyesight.

Nashkir for sore throats.

Atsudqâ for heart health.

Hyaranjat for good digestion.

Mûyoin for muscle pain.

Shasâyar for fertility.

Jûzon for blood circulation.

Ashanin for bone mending.

Qoyo for fevers.

Chisiqsanu for irritated ridge skin.

Kûsk’inti for fatigue and replenishing energy.

The last two parts that go into a Sith’s astalignment are their energies. The weekly energies correspond with 4 classic “elements” of earth, fire, air, and water. While the daily energy simply refers to day or night (d/n) in regards to when the person was born.

Combined with all aspects mentioned in this document, year, month, weekly energy, day (+energy), and flower, one can study a Sith’s astalignment. ex. Darth Vowrawn’s astalignment factors:

The study of these astralignments is a complicated field on to its own while the findings can be very important to some among the Sith. There are specialized scholars who offer their services to the old families so that the “perfect matches” (marriage, business, or otherwise) can be set up.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

aaaaahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S DONE. i feel like frodo at mt. doom after the ring is destroyed omg... ;-;

SOOOO. i wanted, and i mean REALLY wanted, to finish this for lunar new year (for pretty obvious reasons lol)...... :,) welp. then i was like “i can do may 4″ lol NOPE. but here we are! still technically sith day? whatever. imma say I Did It. :D

also pls don’t laugh at my stupid drawings. i already know i can’t art. ok??? >,<

special thanks to @snootysith for giving me a bunch of sithy names and words for me to use. c: like y’all... coming up with fake words, that look and sound ok is really HARD (for my dumbass anyway)

other worldbuilding posts that are... sorta mentioned/used in this:

@inquisitorhotpants‘s dk calendar

BOOS! x3

and some other stuff ....

but uh, yea. if you’re wondering “hang on there fluffy... did you really make a big, dumbass zodiac/astrology post??” the answer is...

yes.

yes i did... xU

but also i imagine the ancient sith had a lot of special and important dates for you know... religious things? *shrug* and over the many, many years all of this was passed down and prob altered in some way to fit into modern sith society? idk...

now imma say some things here bc i know For A Fact!!! that ppl don’t go onto original posts to read op tags on this hellsite lol.

and this isn’t me trying to sound like an arrogant asshole... but these are for some common questions that’ll undoubtedly come up:

yes, you can use this in any extent or manner.

no, you obvs don’t have to. ignore it if you want. i’ll be ok lol.

no, i’m not gonna write a long ass book with all the little details on every aspect of all the traits and then assign these things for your character(s). just make something up. that’s what i did here xD (plus my brain is d e a d from this)

yes, this is seen as a mostly(!) tomato pureblood sith thing but obvs attitudes are different between individuals. some are super into it, some could careless and think it’s all fake news, some have parents that care too much about it which is annoying and interfering with their life so they lowkey hate it lol.

no, i couldn’t do a read more bc it wouldn’t look as nice and i worked hard ok? ;-; i apologize for clogged dashes in advance.

i think that’s it? ofc feel free to hmu if you’re ok with a reply that can take anywhere from a few min to 3 business days ^-^;

#swtor #sith pureblood #sith warrior #sith inquisitor #y'all know how surprisingly hard it is to make constellations???#like...#DX #they have to look like the thing and i had to know what that Thing was #but also! have you seen rl constellations??#they don't look like The Thing at all!#so i had to make it kinda abstract? idfk #now if you'll excuse me #i'm off to be a completely unproductive member of the fandom again #:')#worldbuilding #long post

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theadusa · 3 years

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All the dramas I’ve watched in 2020

These are all the dramas that I watched in 2020, with some review there should be NO Spoilers. I think I watched a lot more than usual probably because what else am I supposed to do between school and quarantine. So this is gonna be a long one...

Crash Landing on You (Lee Jung-hyo, 2019-2020)

Main Leads: Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin

Episodes: 16, 70 to 110 Minutes

Thoughts: I enjoyed this drama, and it was a good one to start 2020 with. I thought it was a perfect blend of romance, comedy, heartfelt, found family, action, and some tragedy. I would highly recommend it, especially for those who are new to Kdramas. Also fun fact this is my first Hyun Bin drama. Rating: Fun and adorable

Tale of Nokdu (Kim Dong-hwi, 2019)

Main Leads: Jang Dong Yoon and Kim So Hyun

Episodes: 32, 35 minutes

Thoughts: I actually started watching this when it was airing but I stopped around episode 13 because of my busy schedule and finished it in the new year. I adore the main couple, the romance, comedy, the found family, and the women center story. I thought it shined the brightest when it was focused on the group and its funny and warm moments but once it got too political it kinda fell flat. I loved the ending, however. Also, I really like Jang Dong Young as an actor, I saw him in Solomon’s Perjury (2016) and Mr. Sunshine (2018) and I loved how he played Nok Du too. Rating: I love a women’s only widow village

I’ll Find You When The Weather is Nice (Han Ji-seung, 2020)

Main Leads: Seo Kang Joon and Park Min Young

Episodes: 16, 60 minutes

Thoughts: I really liked this drama, probably one of my favorites this year. As you will notice I enjoy quieter and more slow-burn stories. Also, I am a fan of Park Min Young she tends to pick more interesting and strong-willed female roles, so it is really enjoyable to watch. Rating: makes me want to own a book store.

King: The Eternal Monarch (Kim Eun-sook, 2020)

Main Leads: Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun

Episodes: 16, 70 Minutes

Thoughts: Confession; I am actually not the biggest fan of Lee Min Ho, nothing against him I just hate rich bratty characters and he tends to play them. However, I surprisingly really liked his character, he wasn’t a rich brat he actually was likable. I also really like Kim Go Eun, she is actually one of the main reasons why I watched and also with all the hype around it. Woo Do Hwan, who I have always liked, stole the whole show, however. I didn’t hate it like a lot of people, I really liked the characters, I liked the romance and the action. Also, Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun’s hugs were absolutely fabulous. It wasn’t my favorite and there were too many product placements, but I don’t think it was the worst drama this year. Rating: Lukewarm

A Piece of your mind (Lee Sang-yeob, 2020)

Main Leads: Jung Hae In and Chae Soo Bin

Episodes: 12, 70 minutes

Thoughts: I actually really liked this drama despite the low views, again I’m big on slow burn stories and character focus. I believe the episodes were cut from 16 to 12 I don’t know exactly why maybe because of the Pandemic or due to viewership or a mixture of both. Despite its being cut short I really liked the ending, and I thought the two leads were sweet. Rating: Wish we had more time to develop the characters.

Its Okay not to be Okay (Park Shin Woo, 2020)

Main Leads: Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Yea Ji and Oh Jung Se

Episodes: 16, 70 to 85 minutes

Thoughts: Out of all the dramas I talked the most about this one. I have always been a fan of Seo Yea Ji since Save Me (2017) and Lawless Lawyer (2018) and I am happy to see her getting more recognition because of this role. The entire cast was amazing and I think I cried every episode. Such a good and heart-wrenching drama which is why I chose to watch it before work every time. Rating: I would let Seo Yea Ji stab me with a knife anytime.

Mystic Pop up bar (Jeon Chang-geun, 2020)

Main Leads: Hwang Jung Eum and Yook Sung Jae and Choi Won Young

Episodes: 12, 70 minutes

Thoughts: I actually watched this while I was watching Its Okay Not to Be Okay and it was a nice balance to it because this was more of a found family story with less heartbreaking moments. Though it did have its share of heartbreak. I really liked all the characters and their relationship. Also, I am a sucker for bureaucratic fantasy/ magic, and kdramas are so good at it. Rating: I wish it was 16 episodes.

When the Camila Bloom (Cha Yeong Hoon, 2019)

Main Leads: Gong Hyo Jin and Kang Ha Neul

Episodes: 20, 63 to 75 minutes

Thoughts: I liked the story overall, the romance was cute and the mystery was interesting but I thought the family expectations was the best part of the story. This was not my favorite drama, but it was enjoyable and heartfelt. I watched it right after It's Okay Not to Be Okay and while I was watching Flower of Evil (2020) which probably is why I was so underwhelmed by it. Rating: Sweet romance and adorable found family.

Flower of Evil (Kim Cheol Kyu, 2020)

Main Leads: Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won

Episode:16, 70 minutes

Thoughts: This was my favorite drama of this year. I went into this drama not thinking much of it, and I mainly watched it as a post drama blues drama. It was an action and thriller which I mainly don’t get attached to plus I am a huge fan of Lee Joon Gi. I should have known better, I cared so much about all the characters, the acting phenomenal, also every time they showed their hands I cried. This drama left me shriveled and empty inside. Rating: Lee Joon Gi will literally kill me one day.

Put Your Head On My Shoulders (Zhu Dongning, 2019)

Main Leads: Xing Fei and Lin Yi

Episodes: 24, 40 to 45 minutes

Thoughts: This is the first Chinese drama on this list. I thought it was cute, I liked the couple and thought it was alright. I started to dislike the male lead later in the series but it was overall fine. It was basic and sweet with very little drama. Rating: It did its job.

The School Nurse Files ( Lee Kyoung Mi, 2020)

Main Leads: Jung Yu Mi and Nam Joo Hyuk

Episodes: 6, 45 to 57 minutes

Thoughts: This is probably my second favorite drama. I couldn’t tell what happened in the drama but I loved it. I thought it was weird and fascinating, and just so magical. I loved the children and just how the whole school was just off its rocker. I also think that Nam Joo Hyuk does really well in serious roles, and I thought he did a really good job here. Rating: 1 jelly heart.

Mr. Heart (Park Sun Jae, 2020)

Main Leads: Cheon Seung Ho and Lee Se Jin

Episodes: 8, 11 Minutes

Thoughts: This was 8 episodes of start fluff and I adored it. Apparently, it is apart of a BL series by Park Sun Jae and there is a movie version that I haven’t watched. If you want to destress and watch just fluff this is the show for you. Rating: If it is any sweeter I would be going to the dentist.

You are My Destiny ( Ding Ying Zhou, 2020)

Main Leads: Xing Zhao Lin and Liang Jie

Episodes: 36, 45 minutes

Thoughts: I hated this drama, I thought it was the worst thing ever. I don’t know why I even watched all 36 episodes. Apparently, it is a remake of a popular 2008 Twaniese drama Fated to Love You and there is a Korean remake of it as well. I have watched neither of them, so I was brand new to this story. I hated, despised the male lead. He was whiny, entitled, and an asshole. The only good part of the drama was the male and female lead actually had a lot of chemistry, unfortunately, they are playing awful characters. Rating: This was made in 2020???

First Romance (Ding Pei, 2020)

Main Leads: Wan Peng and Riley Wang

Episodes: 24, 45 Minutes

Thoughts: This is another Chinese drama. Similar to Mr. Heart (2020) this show was super fluffy. I really liked the main couple they seem to respect each other and they both had adorable crushes on each other. I loved the whole dumb jock and dumb artist dynamic it was so funny. Rating: Cute!!!

Lost Romance ( Eri Hao, 2020)

Main Leads: Marcus Chang and Vivian Sung

Episodes: 20, 70 minutes

Thoughts: This is the only Twainese drama on this list. I think I liked this drama, I actually only remember very little of this drama. I like the CEO in the real world more than the book world, and I also really liked the female lead except she lowkey stalked the CEO like that was not okay. Rating: I think I liked it???

When We Were Young ( Deng Ke, Liu Guo Hui, 2018)

Main Leads: Neo Hou and Wan Peng and Gala Zhang and Pan Mei and Ye Marcus Li

Episodes: 24, 45 minutes

Thoughts: I really liked this film, I loved all the characters and thought it was all very heartfelt. I cried like a baby, and Hua Biao was such a touching and relatable character. And the whole grandma story hit so close to home. Rating: Made me cry like a baby.

Moment of 18 ( Sim Na Yeon, 2019)

Main Leads: Ong Seong Wu and Kim Hyang Gi

Episodes: 16, 70 minutes

Thoughts: I really liked this drama, and I thought the romance was so cute. I also really liked the relationship between the moms and was sad that the rich mom was a bitch and ruined the friendship. I also wasn’t a big fan of the ending, but I loved the rest of it. Rating: The main lead is part of a boy group because he had a random singing moment.

Perfect and Casual ( Li Shuang, 2020)

Main Leads: Miles Wei and Xu Ruo Han

Episodes: 24, 45 minutes

Thoughts: This is another Chinese drama on this list. I’m pretty sure it's considered an Idol drama so that sets your expectations. I really liked this drama a lot, I am a big fan of contract marriages and I thought the leads were so cute together. Also, this is the first contract marriage drama where the leads don’t break up which I like. A lot of the drama came from outside of the relationship. Rating: You can’t analyze love.

Le Coup De Foudre ( Wang Zhi, 2019)

Main Leads: Janice Wu and Zhang Yujian

Episodes: 35, 45 minutes

Thoughts: My favorite Chinese drama on this list. I loved this drama, I thought it was sweet and simple and the main couple was so realistic. Unpopular opinion I disliked the second couple and the best friend I thought she was annoying and brattish. However, I adore the main couple and their relationship. Rating: Realistic sweet romance.

More Than Friends ( Choi Sung Bum, 2020)

Main Leads: Ong Seong Wu and Shin Ye Eun

Episodes: 16, 70 minutes

Thoughts: I enjoyed the overall story and characters. I loved the group and their relationships. Also, Young-Hee made me cry, and her relationship with Hyun Jae was so sweet. The main leads were also sweet, and I related a lot to Lee So. I just didn’t like the back and forth. Rating: How many times can we break up in a drama.

Be With You ( Zhou Miao, 2020)

Main Leads: Ji Xiao Bing and Zhang Ya-Qin

Episodes: 24, 45 minutes

Thoughts: This is the last Chinese drama I watched this year. It was alright, the romance was sweet, I really like the female lead, and the male lead was nice to look at. It was okay. Also, the second couple was so ??? She was his boss, enemy, and older than him, what?? Rating: Sometimes you need to fall in love to be creative.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo ( Kim Kyu Tae, 2016)

Main Leads: Lee Joon Gi and Lee Ji Eun (IU)

Episodes: 20, 60 minutes

Thoughts: I know I am really late watching this, but I finally did. I went in knowing this would hurt me and Lee Joon Gi already scared me this year ( damn this man) so I was fully prepared. I really wasn’t, it so much. (SPOIlERS) When Wang Eun and Park Soon Deok died I sob like a baby (SPOILER ENDING). It took me a long time to finish this show because its heart so much, like it physically hurt me. The show was really good, and heartbreaking, and the ending stabs me in the heart 20 times. Rating: Lee Joon Gi is trying to kill me with tears.

Persona ( Lee Kyoung Mi, Yim Pil Sung, Jeon Go Woon, and Kim Jong Kwan, 2019)

Main Leads: Lee Ji Eun (IU)

Episodes: 4, 19 to 27

Thoughts: This is a collection of mini-films by directors. 4 separate stories are starring Lee Ji Eun. I thought all of them good, especially “ Kiss Burn” and “Walking at Night.” There isn’t much else to this, more than it is an artistic display of filmmaking. Rating: Hipster Kdrama

Come and Hug Me ( Choi Joon-bae, 2018)

Main Leads: Jang Ki-Yong and Jin Ki-Joo

Episodes: 32, 35 minutes

Thoughts: I actually just finished this show today. I really liked it, I thought it was both sweet and heartwarming/wrenching. I hated that one journalist and the public like why are they blaming a victim. I didn’t watch it with my full mind because I’ve been distracted lately, but I did enjoy it. Rating: another cute but sad couple.

Movies I watched this year:

Spell Bound ( Hwang In Ho, 2011)

Main Cast: Son Ye Jin and Lee Min Ki

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Thoughts: I watched this at like 12 am after a bad day and it was cute. I love RomCom fantasy, which I think Korean media does really well. I don’t know what else to say except it is a really cute romance. Rating: Is it the ghost or the butterflies

The Host ( Bong Joon Ho, 2006)

Main Cast: Song Kang Ho and Byun Hee Bong and Park Hae Il and Bae Doona and Go, Ah Sung

Running Time: 119

Thoughts: This film I had to actually watch for class. It was a really good film which is expected from Bong Joon Ho. I love monster films and I thought this was a good rendition of this film. Also, The monster was so cool especially from 2006. I thought it was heartbreaking, stirring, and so beautifully shot. Rating: Oscar-worthy Direction

Little Forest ( Yim Soon-rye, 2018)

Main Cast: Kim Tae Ri and Ryu Jun Yeol and Moon So Ri and Jin Ki Joo

Running Time: 103 minutes

Thoughts: I really, really liked this film. It reminded me so much of I’ll Find You When The Weather is Nice (2020) that I thought that it was based on this film but it isn’t. I have watched this film 3 times since October and every time I watch it have made bread. I really just love everything about this film, how quiet it is, the cinematography, the acting, just everything. Rating: Three loaves of bread.

Always ( Song Il Gon, 2011)

Main Cast: So Ji Sub and Han Hyo Joo

Running Time: 106 Minutes

Thoughts: I thought it was okay, I watched it while I was knitting so I was distracted a bit. But I thought the couple was sweet, and the characters were interesting. Rating: It's Okay.

Currently watching

True Beauty ( Kim Sang-hyeop, 2020-)

Main Cast: Moon Ga Young and Cha Eun Woo and Hwang In Yeop

Episodes: 16, 70 minutes

Thoughts: This is currently an ongoing series that is actually really popular. Apparently, it is based on a webtoon, which I haven’t read. I like it so far, I always liked Moon Ga Young and I think she is a great actress. She plays Im Ju Kyung in a likable and insecure way, instead of someone annoying which could easily happen. I will be continuing watching. Rating so far: Okey dokey yo.

Live On ( Kim Sang-woo, 2020-)

Main Cast: Jung Da Bin and Hwang Min Hyun

Episodes: 8?, 60 Minutes

Thoughts: I really Like this show. The main couple is sweet and supportive. I really like the female lead, I like that she is cold and kinda quiet, but with a sweet spot if you are not a dick. I really like the main relationship conflict comes from friendship instead of romance, I think it makes the show more interesting. Rating: I want to Join a Broadcast group.

On My List:

I actually don’t have anything else on my list so if anyone has recommendations please tell me. I am thinking about watching Mr. Queen ( 2020) because I really like Shin Hye Sun. I also want to watch Sweet Home (2020) the Netflix series. But please recommend me some dramas!!!

This is such a long list, and I had fun doing it and going back over all the dramas. I hope everyone has a good New year and that we will have many more good dramas in 2021!

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drivingsideways · 4 years

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WIP Wednesday

So @rain-hat said I should post a bit from the latest fic so she can read it (properly formatted and not in a chat window, I think??), so here’s a bit from an as yet untitled fic set post-canon verse TKEM, featuring our favourite cop-who-got-a-different-life and also orphan-who-got-a-different-life thanks to Lee Gon being a total ass.

The White Lily Orphanage isn’t a state organization, instead it’s run by the nuns from the Sisters of the St.Paul of Chartres Convent, one of the earliest established Catholic orders in the Kingdom. It’s not a large home- they have the ability to take in around twenty children at a time, though at the moment they have only half the number. The youngest right now is a three year old ball of sunshine, Jia and the oldest is the lanky fourteen year old Jihun. Hyeon-Min has been attending Mass at the church attached to the convent with eomma since- well, since he was ten.

(God sent Prince Buyeong to us, eomma had said, having found God via the kindness of a stranger, we must be grateful.

Hyeon-min had accepted her explanation then, and now, twenty years later, he doesn’t feel the need to tarnish her faith with his cynicism. He maybe agnostic about God, but he knows that the sisters are kind, that they try to do their best by their young charges, and that’s enough.

He knows enough about the world that he believes that one of its rules should be to pass on the kindness of strangers.)

He parks his bike and grabs his gym bag with the change of clothes, noting a rather beaten up looking sedan in the parking lot. Perhaps there were some potential adopters visiting today, not a very frequent occurrence.

The rates of adoptions in Corea were low, compared to the number of children who needed families. Usually, children who lost their parents were taken in by grandparents, if they were still alive, or the parents’ siblings, if they were not. The ones who ended up in the system- they were truly society’s rejects, the ones who had no one left who cared about them; a patrilineal society obsessed with bloodlines didn’t see them as anything but an inconvenience, or a shameful secret. That their own king was an orphan was not a hypocrisy; Lee Gon was king first, orphan second.

The slack with respect to the less nobly orphaned was picked up by religious or charitable trusts, and only a little by the government. The rules governing adoption were prohibitive- Seo Ryeong had told him about the circles that eomeonim and she had to run to officially take Gyeong-ah into the family. At some point, it had come down to bribery. She’d been tight-lipped and her eyes had glinted in fury, when she’d told him, though it had already been far enough in the past that Gyeong-ah no longer woke up crying from nightmares, and didn’t stuff her food down at each meal as though she didn’t know when she’d next get one, or try to take as little room as possible in their already tiny apartment.

Gyeong-ah usually accompanies him on these visits too, though she couldn’t make it today.

“LET ME SLEEP” she’d texted in all caps, “I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE FOR AT LEAST 24 HRS HYUNGNIM” .

He figured that meant she’d drop by when he wasn’t around.

Jia-ya is the first one to spot him when he enters the common room, which is where the kids are normally, at this hour. She runs toward him, almost tripping on her toes, with her hands already raised high above her head. He drops the bag on the floor and swings her up, twirling her around, while she squeals delightedly. When he lowers her, she throws her arms around his neck, placing a candy-sticky kiss on his cheek.

“Hyungnim, where were you??” she demands. “You’ve gone so long that Chia forgot you”.

Chia is her favourite toy- a rather ratty looking cloth panda.

“Sorry Jia-ya” he says, “I had a lot of work”

She pouts. “Have you got chocolate?”

“Mmmhmm” he replies, nodding, “But let’s share with everyone later, ok?”

He puts her down on the floor, and turns to the others who’ve come up, all grinning, except Jihun, who’s trying to look unconcerned, remaining where he’s seated at one of the two computers, headphones in, fingers flying rapidly over the keyboard.

“Hey everyone” he says, reaching out to ruffle a head, tweak a chin. “Ready for a game?”

They’ve got a small basketball court at the back, not professional, by any means, but enough for the kids to work out some of their energy. For soccer, and other games, Gyeong-ah and he take them to a nearby sports club. Ryeong-ah had been the one who worked out a deal with the local residents association that owned the club when she’d made Assemblywoman; it was her constituency after all, and she had cultivated her relationships at local level, as much as she had in the higher echelons. Thanks to (former) Assemblywoman Koo, the kids now had access on alternate Sundays to the club. Luckily, the Sisters of St.Paul of Chartres weren’t too strict about preserving the holiness of the Sabbath rest; as long as the kids attended Mass in the morning, the rest of the day could be spent as they wished. Today is a Sunday when they don’t have access to the sports club, so Hyeon-Min’s plans are adjusted accordingly- a game, then lunch with everyone, and then piling them all into the small van the orphanage has and taking them for ice cream, before he has to drop back at the station, just to check in on Woo Ji-hyun and Bo-Young who have the day shift today.

“Where’s Sister Lee?” he asks, and twelve-year old Su-bin pipes up “She has a visitor today” and her twin, Yun-seo adds, “He’s a handsome oppa”.

“Is he now?’ Hyeon-min grins down at her.

“Not as cool as you, hyungnim” she assures him earnestly.

“Drop the flattery” he tells her seriously, “You’re not getting an extra scoop later. Everyone go on and get changed.”

The twins and the others- Ming-yu, Jun-ho, Min-su, Seong-min, Min-ji and Eun-ji- dart off.

He picks up his bag again, heading off to the guest room to get changed, calling “Jihun-a, c’mon, let’s go” only to get a shoulder lifted in a shrug, Jihun not even bothering to look at him.

Well, he thought, that was new.

He didn’t press him, confident that Jihun would find his way out later. The problem, perhaps, was that Jihun was a few years older than the others, almost fifteen, ready for high school. The next oldest were the twins, at twelve, and the others fell between nine and eleven, except Jia, who was everybody’s darling at three.

Jihun was preparing to write the same scholarship exam that Hyeon-Min had taken all those years ago, to get into CNA. His grades at the local public school were pretty good, and he excelled especially at art- but it was a tough school to get into, given the sheer number of candidates applying, even more than when Hyeon-Min and Ryeong-ah had given the test.

Hyeon-min thought he could recognize in Jihun the same kind of hunger that he’d seen in Ryeong-ah, all those years ago. And just like all those years ago, one part of him was amazed, and proud; another was just scared for Jihun, for what the world might do to him, outside of the safety of this place. He tried to shrug the fear off- what use could it be to Jihun- and had begun helping him prepare for the test, instead.

Perhaps Jihun was upset because he hadn’t been able to come by for three weeks, although he’d spoken to him a few times on the phone and had checked in with Sister Lee as well.

When he changes into his shorts and t-shirt and comes back to check in, Jihun’s disappeared. Perhaps he’d changed his mind and decided to join the game, after all.

He’s about to duck out of the room, when Sister Lee comes in accompanied by a young man- the “handsome oppa” of Yun-seo’s description, clearly.

“Ah, Inspector Kang” she says, giving him her usual warm smile. “Good morning. You finally have a day off, I see.”

“Good morning, Sister Lee” he greets her, bowing.

She turns to the man with her.

“This is Senior Inspector Kang Hyeon-min from Busan PD” she says, and the man gives him a strangely assessing look, and bows. He’s fair, slightly shorter than Hyeon-Min, a dark eyes and a sharp nose in a square-jawed face. The glasses and the clothes- a light blue button down shirt that’s unbuttoned at the collar over khaki slacks, give him the look of a librarian on vacation. He’s probably a few years younger than Hyeon-Min.

“I’m Kim Jun-Yeong” he says, bowing toward Hyeon-Min.

“Mr.Kim teaches art at the school” she says, meaning the local public school all the kids here attend. “He came by to talk about Jihun.”

“Is something the matter?” Hyeon-min asks, immediately. “Is Jihun in trouble?”

“Nothing like that” Mr.Kim says, with a smile. “In fact, I came by to chat with Sister Lee about Jihun’s future plans. He told me that he was preparing for admission at CNA.”

Hyeon-Min nods. “I’m trying to help out” he says. “When I can.”

“Inspector Kang has been a huge support to the children here for years” Sister Lee says, giving him another warm smile. “And since he’s a CNA alumnus himself, he’s probably the best suited to help Jihun ace the exam.”

“Yes, of course”, Mr.Kim says, adding, “Jihun-a has told me a lot about you already, Senior Inspector Kang.”

“Oh” says Hyeon-Min, politely, “He’s never mentioned you to me.”

Something wry passes over Mr. Kim’s face at that, and it makes Hyeon-min feel a little silly.

“Mr. Kim is of the opinion that Jihun should perhaps try for an art school later” Sister Lee says, “And finish high school at some school less demanding than CNA, Kang-ssi”.

“Did Jihun-a say that’s what he wants to do?” Hyeon-min asks, stunned. Jihun had never mentioned it to him.

There’s an awkward silence.

“He did seem open to the idea” Mr.Kim says, sounding a little apologetic. “He started asking me about art schools and scholarships a while ago. I didn’t know then that you were already preparing him for the CNA entrance.”

‘But” says Hyeon-min, feeling like the rug had been pulled from under his feet.

Sister Lee says, thoughtfully, “Perhaps he was uncomfortable bringing it up with me or you, Kang-ssi.”

“We never forced him”, Hyeon-min feels compelled to protest.

“Jihun-a admires you a lot, Kang-ssi” Mr.Kim murmurs, “It is but natural he would want to follow in your footsteps.”

Hyeon-min looks at him and meets that calmly assessing look again.

“Did he ask you to meet Sister Lee and talk about this?”

“No” says Mr.Kim, “He didn’t. In fact, I think he was a little upset when he saw me today.”

Well, that explained earlier, Hyeon-Min realizes.

“Will you—” starts Sister Lee, nodding toward back, from where they can already here the shouts of the children.

“Yes” Hyeon-Min answers. “I’ll have a chat with him.”

“Good” she says, smiling again at him. “I’ll talk to him later as well.”

She turns to the teacher.

“Mr.Kim, I really appreciate your dropping by. It’s not often we get teachers who are so concerned with the well-being of our students.”

Mr.Kim says, quietly, “I was brought up in a home too- not as good as this one” he adds. “I know what it’s like.”

Oh.

Well, now, Hyeon-Min feels like a total piece of shit.

“Thank you, Kim-ssi” he says, and tries to infuse it with something more than stiff formality.

Mr.Kim gives him a short nod.

“I’d better head over before the fighting starts” Hyeon-min says, giving Sister Lee a smile. “I’ll see you at lunch, Sister Lee.”

They part ways, and when Hyeon-min reaches the court just in time to stop Min-ji from punching Eun-ji in the face, he sees that Jihun is there as well, but sitting on the side-lines, playing with Jia, although he’s changed into game clothes as well.

He darts a glance at Hyeon-min and then quickly looks away, flushing.

Hyeon-min jogs up to him.

“Get in” he says, clapping him on the back, “So I don’t have to keep the peace all by myself”

Jihun looks up at him, uncertain, as though he’d expected Hyeon-min to be- angry- with him.

“Jihun-a” he says, holding out a hand toward him, “ C’mon.”

Jihun takes his hand and lets himself be hauled up, and Hyeon-min even manages to get a one-armed hug in before he scampers off, suddenly cheerful.

It’s a good game, and after, as they’re all chattering at the lunch table, Gyeong-ah comes in and plonks herself down opposite the twins, and they stuff themselves to the gills before piling into the van.

Gyeong-ah’s driving, and as they pull out of the gate, Hyeon-min notices a black Hummer parked in the alley, five cars away, the glasses shaded so dark, he can’t see inside.

He has an idle moment of wondering what a car like that was doing in the neighbourhood but is distracted by Jia-ya climbing into his lap to tell him all about Chia’s adventures in the place she calls “Funderland” (like Wonderland, but fun, she insists).

On the way back, Gyeong-ah drives again, and this time the kids are mostly in a food coma, some of them burping softly, sprawling on the seats, so he gets a chance to talk to Jihun, settling beside him, right at the back.

“So” he says, “art school, huh?”

Jihun glances at him quickly and then away, head bent.

“Do you know which ones you’re interested in?”

Jihun looks up then.

“You’re not angry?” he asks, uncertainty writ large on his young face.

“Just surprised” Hyeon-min admits. “Why didn’t you ever tell me or Sister Lee? You know we wouldn’t have stopped you.”

He shrugs, looking away.

“Everyone’s expecting me to become the first CNA graduate from the home” he says, softly. “All these years”.

“Nobody wants you to be anything other than happy, Jihun-a” Hyeon-min contradicts him, gently. “I’m sorry if I ever gave you any other idea.”

Jihun turns to him.

“I did think I wanted that too” he says, candidly. “But then—I don’t know, hyungnim, frankly, it sounds like an awful place in other ways.”

“Who’ve you been talking to?” Hyeon-min asks, surprised, because he’d never said anything to Jihun about it other than good things about the academics, and the opportunities it would open up for him.

Jihun gives him a pitying look.

“Hyungnim” he says, “You know the internet is a thing right? Or was it not a thing when you were young?”

“Hey” he says, “I’m thirty-one, not a dinosaur.”

Jihun looks unconvinced.

“Student forums” he says, helpfully. “And even Mr.Kim—”

“Mr.Kim went to CNA?” Hyeon-min asks, surprised again.

“No” says Jihun, “But I think he knows people. He’s a teacher, right, he knows this stuff.”

“Hmm” says Hyeon-min, miffed.

Jihun eyes him again. “Are you angry I didn’t tell you, but I told Mr.Kim?”

Wow, Hyeon-min thinks, dissected by a fourteen-year old, wonderful.

“Don’t give me your backchat, Jihun-a” he says, and Jihun grins at him.

Hyeon-min diverts the talk into the art schools he’s interested in, and they spend the rest of the ride like that.

Later, before Gyeong-ah and he head off, they have a talk with Sister Lee.

Sister Lee Jeong-hui- or “Dragon Lady” as Gyeong-ah liked to call her- was a petite woman with delicate wrists, and long fingered hands that poked out of the sleeves of her habit. Unlike most of her contemporaries, she’d joined the Order, not as a young girl, but in her mid-thirties, after making a name for herself as a labour rights lawyer, working up north, in the mining communities. She’d moved to Busan when her health took a downturn- her asthma was something terrible- and she’d been shunted around the diocese until ending up at the orphanage ten years ago. She’d taken one look at the lackadaisical administration of the Orphanage- then run by Sister Pa, who was already in her seventies, taken a deep breath, and got to work. She’d transformed the place, scrounging funding wherever she could- sometimes by just persistently annoying the powers that be- and was currently in a long drawn out battle with the Bishop of the Diocese over her demand that they expand their current home to start a support home for single mothers- the people most likely to abandon their children, for lack of resources and societal stigma.

They talk about her latest efforts in that direction, after Hyeon-min tells her about his conversation with Jihun.

“Thank you Inspector Kang” she says, softly, “I hope you’re not too disappointed.”

“Of course not” he says, staunchly, though perhaps he was, a little. “Jihun’s going to be great at whatever he does.”

“Yes” she agrees, a fond smile transforming her rather grave face into loveliness. “He’s a blessed child”.

“Anyway” she says, sighing, “Perhaps it’s just as well. Even with a scholarship, funding for other expenses would have always been a tension. This way, we have some time to prepare before he goes to art school.”

Gyeong-ah says, “What did the Welfare Association say?”

When the Diocese had hummed-and-hawed about the home for women, Sister Lee had turned elsewhere.

Sister Lee makes a rather un-saintly face. “That government policy doesn’t include- and you won’t believe this, or perhaps you will- doesn’t include subsidizing and rewarding irresponsible behaviour”.

“I thought Ryeong-ah said they had a specific budget for women’s welfare” Gyeong-ah says, hotly. “They can’t deny it only to some women, can they? Plus it’s a discretionary budget.”

Sister Lee sighs. “Child, I don’t know if I have the energy to fight that battle right now. If we had someone on the Committee there- but it’s all bureaucrats who think of it as a sinecure position really…”

She shrugs, and pats Gyeong-ah’s shoulder, comforting.

“I’m not giving up, Seo-Gyeong” she says, “Not yet.”

They bid her goodbye.

As she puts on her helmet and climbs onto the bike, Gyeong-ah says, abruptly, “Sometimes I’m so angry with unnie for what she did- because she fucked up her chance to help people like Sister Lee, who really need her”.

“ Song & Kim will get her out” he says, “Right?”

“But what about after?” she argues, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Her political career is probably over.”

“It’s never over with Ryeong-ah” he reminds her, belting his own helmet, and adjusting the strap of his gym bag over his jacket.

As they drive out of the gate, he sees that the Hummer isn’t there anymore.

#wip wednesday #tkem #this entire section is full of characters #that i have no idea where they came from #they just wrote themselves in #DO NOT BLAME ME #'WRITE A ROM COM ' SHE SAID #' I WILL '#I SAID #AND THEN I DIDN'T

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kumoriyami-xiuzhen · 3 years

Text

Translation Plans

Well... my break was pretty good. was finally able to download the clean fresh live version of the cxm secret mission that i had my eye on since i ranked up, saw the 1984 wonder woman movie (it was okay and I could write an essay on what didn’t sit well with me as a fan of the comics [im kinda of a comic book purist when it comes to the way characters think and their behaviour] but I really liked Lynda Carter’s cameo).... made a lot of progress on one of the hakumyu piano arrangements i’m working on (have now probably listened to certain parts of that song over a hundred times now), watched a bunch of the original hakuoki musicals in hd.... and I finally got my dad to play Batman: Arkham Asylum. My bro and I have been trying to get that to happen for years lol... especially since it has Conroy and Hamill doing the Batman and Joker voices (the animated series is the best!). super steep learning curve tho since it’s being played on the ps3 and the last console he used was the Nintendo Gamecube.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stock up on translations as much as I would have liked to during this time on account of my hardware seriously acting up... to the point that I needed to send my laptop in for repairs and get a new one. Aside from how unresponsive my keyboard was and how hot it got, the laptop itself had become quite slow... though that might have been because my passport [external storage drive] took a bad fall which made a lot of my files harder to access since it was barely able to handle files being accessed/copied/moved off of it (this is after diagnosing it and repairing it via command prompt chkdsk x: / r), with the latter being what I spent most of my break waiting for as i avoided using my laptop since the majority of my drama rips and game capture videos were on it... To give you an idea of how long this took (and how long it is still taking), I went from being able to transfer my 50mb of files in a few seconds... to sometimes taking more than a day (tho other times i’d be able to get 4gb moved in >24 hours, making the timing super inconsistent. also i don’t have access to a cd drive now so i can’t just re-rip things)... which is why I haven’t been able to work on any videos since my last post (I have more than 1.3TB of stuff to move, so my new laptop isn’t exactly at its best right now and won’t be for a long while since I’m not going to be using a recovery service as waiting out the transfers for everything out will definitely be cheaper... the ballpark estimate I got was being anywhere from $500-2000, which is money that i am not exactly eager to part from just for the sake of saving time)... meaning I also probably won’t get to videos for a while since subtitling requires accurate timing and im not fond of things freezing on me while working on videos... ugh. i still have to do an insane amount of grinding later in warframe once my current batch of files finishes transferring...

Anyway, below is a list of what I’ve mostly managed to schedule (anything with a “?” is something that I haven’t committed to) and a list of what I’d like to get done this year (can’t make any guarantees... however, im probably going to try and translate some things with souma this year cuz of hakumyu), while the stuff in bold text is on my shortlist of things I intend to prioritize (Saito’s Ginsei no Shou chapters and Shinsengumi Oni-tan are still being worked on though not as actively since they’re a lot longer...).

Also, aside from December, the month that CNY falls on (February this year) and March (bday) will be the only foreseeable times when I put out less translations tho I’ll probably be playing video catch-up during that time this year since i’m not sure what i’ll be able to get done as i wait for my files to get moved.

oh well. I’m still aiming towards posting stuff on a weekly basis for the rest of the year... here’s hoping that it’s less volatile.... tho i unfortunately have non-existent expectations given what made the news yesterday. just glad i don’t live there.

YAISA!

------------------------------------------

January

Yuugiroku 3 Saito Fall story today!

Chapter 7 of Saito’s route from Ginsei no Shou + 4-koma

Hakuoki Kyoka-Roku Kazama CG Character Perspective [no vid. havent beaten this game and im not sure when i’ll feel like speed running through it]

Hakuo Gakuen Q & A

February

Stellaworth Hana no Shou After Story - Harada

Chapter 1 of Saito’s route from Ginsei no Shou

Web drama 8

March

Yuugiroku 3 - Short Episode #8 (Kazama/Amagiri/Shiranui) [still need to get video and screenshots]

Yuugiroku Drama CD Thumb Sized Samurai Track 1-4 (4 is WIP)?

Char monologue?

April

2017 Otomate Hakuoki SSL April Fool’s Day

薄桜鬼遊戯録隊士達の大宴会店铺特典「教えてください山崎さん！」 (completed yesterday)

Yuugiroku 3 - Short Episode #6 “Yukimura the page’s secret”?

char perspective?

Other

Hijikata Biyori (cuz these are short)

Yuugiroku 3 Short Episodes (these are longer than the ssl cross and daily stories)

Kyoka Roku Conversation in the Rain - Okita/Toudou/Kazama

Kyoka-Roku CG perspectives

2013 Otomate Party Hakuoki drama “Ideal place for a disagreement”

Saito Ginsei no Shou Chapters

Shinsengumi Oni-tan

Stellaworth Hana no Shou After Stories - Souji, Heisuke (THIS YEAR FOR SURE DAMMIT!)

2011 Hakuoki Reimeiroku Otomate Party drama

Stellaworth Nightshade Kuroyuki CD

薄桜鬼遊戯録弐祭囃子と隊士達 A店特典「あなた好みの想いの形」

薄桜鬼真改 ~風華大全~ 特典「稽古の痛み」

2016 Otomate Party Code:Realize drama* (this is almost 30 min so i will probably translate less that month if i get to it)

2019 ????????????? Halloween SS?*

????????????? Stellaworth Vocal CD (8 tracks)*

*have to check these 3 since I don’t actively follow these fandoms/tags tho im pretty sure no one has translated anything from the fandom for the last 2 items.

also, re:patreon goal - i am currently not able to access the files for the drama i am looking to get a translation commissioned for as it is in the process of being moved off of my damaged passport. 29gb remains as part of that transfer, which is the result of me trying to move all 865 files from where i keep the majority of the hakuoki dramas i’ve saved all at once... ended up doing that because every time I access that hard drive, each time i open up a folder, and every time I highlight a file to move, the file explorer goes “not responding” for an uncertain amount of time, and have instead opted in doing something that would hopefully reduce the likelihood of something crashing.

#personal post #update post

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moon-yeongjun · 3 years

Text

Money Money Money || Mu Jun

Summary: Jun mentions the spring break trip that Marlin had no idea about!! Or: how Nemo came to go on the Spring Break trip pt 1.

@baenxietydad

JUN:

It was another couple of slow hours at the store, a small relief that only came once a day. Jun could more or less predict these hours; Swynlake had its schedules, its ebbs and flows. And over the years, Mu-yeol knew these hours well too, and sometimes stopped by to do his shopping when the crowds were sparse and he could linger, chatting for a few and sharing a bag of imported shrimp crackers with Jun.

Right now, Jun was also grading some of Tae’s extra credit that he was doing so he could go on that upcoming trip to the middle of some mediterrean country (where was it? He forgot). That had been the deal. They could not have a repeat of last year after all, when Tae had failed his exams and was now repeating the year.

“Aish, this is so depressing,” Jun complained as he looked up from his brother’s grammar quiz. “English isn’t even my first language, and look at this! That kid.”

MARLIN:

“English isn’t even my third language and...aiya. I’m not his parent, I can’t judge Tae harshly.” Mu-yeol was already trying hard not to be too harsh on Tae for other things. Namely, for being what he saw as selfishly holding onto his son when he couldn’t be out yet, making Nemo feel like a dirty secret.

Just like Robbie.

His son deserved better than either of them but at least Tae wasn’t a disgusting vampire. And it wasn’t like it was Tae’s fault he couldn’t be out. Mu-yeol didn’t fault him for that, not one bit, and he had genuine compassion for the young man, but that didn’t excuse letting Nam-min’s only teenage flings be secretive and shameful.

No matter how much Nemo told himself that wasn’t the case, a part of him would feel it.

“You could talk to Eun-jung noona about seeing if Tae has dyslexia or something. He’s not a lazy kid, that’s why I bring it up. Maybe he just isn’t being shown the best ways to study and improve for him. Children aren’t a monolith and cannot possibly learn like they are.”

JUN:

Dyslexia? Jun made a disbelieving face.

He knew such things existed of course, but it wasn’t like his family to talk about such things as learning disabilities. They had always been told to work hard and if they needed extra help, well, there were tutors for that kind of thing! Jun himself had used tutors when it came to his French class. And he offered that to Tae all the time, but did Tae ever take advantage of such an opportunity? No, no.

Because he was a lazy kid.

Or-- maybe it wasn’t laziness. More likely it was frustration. He knew that Tae thought he was stupid, so he treated himself like he was stupid, like it didn’t matter how much he tried. But that kind of defeatist attitude just made things worse.

“I’m not sure it’s like that. I think he just has the wrong attitude about these things,” said Jun. “He isn’t motivated, doesn’t even want to go to uni. I have to bribe him to do this work, did you know that? He’s only doing these things so he can go on the spring break trip-- maybe. Though--” Jun sucked his teeth, eyes bulging as he looked back down again. It did not seem likely.

MARLIN:

Mu-yeol was about to say ‘then look into it and be proven right’, but something Jun said gave him pause. Spring...break...trip? What trip? Were the Moons going to Korea for Tae and girls’ spring break? Oh, maybe Eun-jun noona wouldn’t mind sending some small things to his parents in the Korean post. They’d reach them much faster than if he mailed them all the way from Swynlake.

“Are you visiting family in Korea?”

JUN:

His brows furrowed at the mention of Korea out of nowhere, but he did not look up from where he was marking Tae’s quiz. He’d gotten a question right! Who knew if it was a good guess or not, though?

“What?” Jun flipped over the paper, then looked up and snorted. “Eh, you know we don’t have money for something like that. Besides, Samchon lives in Toronto now, you know that.”

He was referred to Abeoji’s younger brother, Nam-seok who had immigrated and married a Canadian-Korean music teacher. They had two sons, Jacob and Kevin, who were right in the middle between himself and Tae-- 24 and 23 respectfully. They only ever saw each other every five, six years.

There was no other family in Korea-- not really. Eomma had no siblings. There were his Abeoji’s and Eomma’s cousins, but it had been years since they had talked to them.

MARLIN:

“Ah, that’s right.” Mu-yeol said, nodding slowly. “Taekwondo trip, then.”

He said this knowingly, because that was obviously the answer.

Mu-yeol couldn’t think of any other possible trip Tae could be trying to go on. And Tae did taekwondo! That had to be it. A competition perhaps that was further a drive than the Coventry trip had been.

JUN:

Once again, he looked at his hyung, bewildered.

There could only be one trip. Why didn’t he know? Well, he supposed Mu-yeol was not going to send Nemo-- that made sense, it was expensive and normally the Moons wouldn’t spend money on such things, but Eomma was feeling guilty these days, and most of Tae’s friends would graduate after this year. Using the trip for educational incentive was a good trick anyhow. Tae couldn’t fail again.

“No! Spring Break,” said Jun, and when Mu-yeol still looked at him blankly, he scoffed again. “You know? To Budva or something? It happens every year, all the upperclassmen can go.”

MARLIN:

“...spring what? Do they really? Nam-minnie never mentioned such a trip last year. Or this year. I wonder why.” Mu-yeol looked down at the counter, chewing on his inner cheek.

He knew why of course. Nemo didn’t think he could afford it and while that was probably true, it hurt that Nemo assumed he shouldn’t bother asking. Would his Appa not do all he could to make his son happy and give him opportunities?

Was he not an Appa that prioritized Nemo over all else?

“Budva sounds Slavic.”

JUN:

Jun’s lips pulled down in a surprised sort of frown. “Really? It’s all Tae has been talking about for weeks.”

Well, not all, but it was quite the focus. He even wanted a new bathing suit for it. But he’d not gotten a new one in a few years, so it wasn’t so much of an expense.

“Eh, I don’t know, it’s been too many years since I’ve taken any geography. It’s in Montenegro, a little peninsula. It looks nice.” He shrugged as he looked down at the quiz again. “Though it’s far, so-- maybe-- maybe that was why he didn’t say anything.”

No. Jun knew too. When Tae asked, he had said it like this: I know it’s too expensive, but…

Eomma had scoffed, insisted on looking at the papers, refused to grimace at the number.

MARLIN:

“I’m sure that’s it.” Though he knew Jun knew the real reason was money. “I would never let him travel so far without me. I wouldn’t even let him go to Coventry alone and I trust you with him.”

Yes, the distance. That was all.

“I’ll...talk to Nam-min about it. Maybe he doesn’t care for beaches.”

JUN:

The air was tense and heavy now, the subject of money, this terrible, huge brick wall between them. Or maybe that's the wrong metaphor. Maybe it was more like a heavy, dark cloud, and if they said anything about it, then the cloud would unleash.

And so Jun did not want to look his hyung in the eye.

He just nodded a little. “Eh, smart boy. Beaches are messy, crowded, terrible tourist traps, you know.” A beat. His pen moved over Tae’s quiz but he had already finished grading it. “Though they do let parents go as chaperones.”

MARLIN:

“Ah, I see.”

What he saw was GBP signs asking him for money he didn’t have. Because of course he’d still have to pay his way. Fun was the privilege of the wealthy, see.

“I’m not sure I’m one for beaches either.”

Read: you know I’m too broke for that.

JUN:

He got the message.

He wished he could offer some sort of solution. That was what Jun did. But aiya, he couldn’t go on the trip. No one would care for the market in his stead; his Eomma could not do such a thing and take care of his three sisters, who would still be in school several weeks before their holiday. And he knew better to offer money. He did not have much money to offer anyway.

And so Jun just nodded. Best to...change the subject. Let Mu-yeol’s pride remain as unwounded as possible, even if, Jun could tell, his ignorance of the topic was a cut quite deep.

“Eh, well that’s because you’re smart too!” Jun exclaimed, grinning. “Now anyway, how’s Pixie’s doing, eh? Any more terrible tourists these days?”

#mu jun #para

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rhysand-vs-fenrys · 5 years

Text

My Fanfic Library: The Masterlist (As of 03/26/20)

**For the sake of space, only Chapter 1 of long-form fics is linked.**

The Shadows of Night (Ongoing)

A mysterious army appears in the mountains of Night and soon declares war against the High Lords. The conflict will shed light on Night's darkest secrets and reveal the horrible truth behind every Daemati and Shadowsinger in Prythian.

Tumblr: ~1~ || ~2~ || ~3~ || ~4~ || ~5~ || ~6~ || ~7~ || ~8~ || ~9~ || ~10~ || ~11~ || ~12~ || ~13~ || ~14~ || ~15~ || ~16~ || ~17~ || ~18~ || ~19~ || ~20~ || ~21~ || ~22~ || ~23~ || ~24~ || ~25~ || ~26~ || ~27~ || ~28~ || ~29~ || ~30~ || ~31~ || ~32~ || ~33~ || ~34~ ||

AO3 || Fanfiction.net

The Cabin By The Lake

Cassian has been keeping a secret- for the past 300 years he has been building cabins around a lake to house the Inner Circle and any family they might have. Five years after the end of ACOWAR, the cabins are finished and the Inner Circle descends for two weeks in paradise.

**Even-number chapters contain smut scenes.

Chapter 1 || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Velaris

“Protect Velaris. Protect each other. I love you all.” With Rhys’ final words, the shields around Velaris rise, trapping the Inner Circle inside for fifty years. This series follows Mor, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren as they struggle to adapt and fulfill Rhys’ final request.

Chapter 1 || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Velaris: Fury and Ruin

Following a disastrous attack on Hybern, Cassian’s wings are broken, Azriel is critically wounded, and Feyre is dragged to Spring by Tamlin. Rhysand must now earn the forgiveness of his friends, protect his new sisters-in-law, and find a way to protect Prythian from a looming war- all without his mate and best friend by his side.

**You do not need to read my previous series "Velaris"

Chapter 1 || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

The Feast of Souls

Everyone gathers at the estate in Velaris for the Feast of Souls- and to quietly investigate Feyre’s erratic behavior and strange temperament. Figuring out what is wrong with her is the easy part though- the hard part will be saving her soul before the clock strikes midnight and she is lost forever.

Chapter 1 || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

An Elucien Epilogue

Lucien returns to Velaris after the events of ACOWAR, determined to be a better male than Tamlin and put aside his mating bond if that’s what Elain wants.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Bring Her Home

After forty-nine years in hell, Rhysand has returned to Night. A piece of him will always belong to that human who saved Prythian- the fae female now poised to marry his sworn enemy. As the sun sets on that horrible day a plea goes out across the Courts- “please, save me. Get me out. End this,” and Rhysand is only too happy to oblige.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

The Poison in the Wound

Feyre and Tamlin meet to try and finally clear away some of the bad blood between them.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Strength in Darkness

After she is woken by a particularly horrible nightmare, Elain asks her husband to take her to the only place that might help her make sense of everything that has happened to her: Under the Mountain.

Elucien Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Elriel Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

What Rises from the Ashes

Tamlin confesses that he and Amarantha were incompatible mates- and the role that played in his downfall.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net || (New) Authorized German Translation

When the Darkness Comes

Lucien recalls the day Amarantha took his eye- and the difficult weeks that followed.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

The World Beyond My Cage

Azriel recalls his childhood, how he ended up in an Illyrian camp far from his cell, and how his world was changed by an arrogant little Lordling with a chamber pot.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

A Peaceful Night (18+)

The holidays are a time for too many parties, too many people, and too much noise. After the festivities are over though, one can take solace in the love of their other half and the light that person brings into their life.

Feysand Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Nessian Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Elucien Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Elriel Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Azuala Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Amrian Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Morridwen Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

A Sweet Treat (Feysand 18+)

On Feyre’s first Feast of Souls in Velaris, she finds a new way to give Rhys his holiday chocolates.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

A Midday Treat (Feysand 18+)

Rhys has been skipping meals again, so Feyre decides to give him an incentive to eat his lunch.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Alone in the Townhouse (Nessian 18+)

When the Court of Nightmares visits Velaris, Nesta and Cassian plot to take advantage of their time alone and finally take things to the next level.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Nessian: The Mating (Nessian 18+)

At long last, Cassian and Nesta's wedding (and mating) day has arrived... along with most of Prythian.

*This is a sequel to "Alone in the Townhouse"*

Extended Re-Post Chapter 1 || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Short Version || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Simply Love (Morridwen 18+)

In a thinly veiled attempt to seduce Cerridwen, Mor takes her lover of three years to day for a date before spending an evening at home. A simple, sweet fic for a simple and sweet love.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Slowly (Nessian 18+)

Cassian returns from a fierce Illyrian civil war weary and on edge. Nesta wants to welcome her lover home after weeks away, but she knows the lust that comes on the heels of bloodshed has been building in Cassian the entire time he’s been gone. Both desperately want to be with one another, but for Nesta’s sake he must shove down the Illyrian and proceed slowly.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

A Bargain Well Struck (Nessian 18+)

Their deal is simple enough- if Nesta trains hard enough, she can claim a massage as her reward. Cassian’s hands never venture beneath the modesty-towels, so Nesta makes sure all the right places are exposed.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Sharing Heaven (Nessian & Azriel 18+)

Nesta and Cassian invite Azriel to join them in bed, and Nesta finally gets what she’s been dreaming of all year.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Alone in the Garden (Elucien 18+)

As the Inner Circle tricks Nesta and Cassian into spending some alone time together, Elain and Lucien find themselves unchaperoned at the House of Wind. **Contains ACOWAR Spoilers** (This is a quasi-sequel to "An Elucien Epilogue" and runs concurrently to "Alone in the Townhouse")

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Cazriel: The Spongebath (Cazriel 18+)

In this AU of my fic "Velaris: Fury and Ruin", Cassian and Azriel explore previously untouched desires each male feels for their friend (written for Court-0f-Dreamers on tumblr in 15 min after too much alcohol).

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net: NOT AVAILABLE

The Torturer’s Throne (Cazriel 18+)

Cassian helps Azriel push his darkness aside and takes a bit of relief for himself in the process.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Until the Shadows Are Silent (Cazriel 18+)

For eight years the shields around Velaris have kept the Inner Circle trapped. Azriel is drowning under the wrath, rage, and pain of being caged in the city, so he turns to an old lover, one who is very good at bending fae over and not stopping until their minds and bodies are ravaged– Cassian.

*Contains strong BDSM themes, DM if you are concerned about a specific TW*

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanficiton.net

One Year in Heaven (Elucien/Elriel 18+)

Elain and her husband celebrate their first anniversary in style. A romantic dinner, an exchange of gifts, and a new suite of bedroom toys to try out.

Elucien Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Elriel Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Watching (Elucien 18+)

Elain and Lucien head into the foothills of Velaris to attend the opera, but their true destination is an exclusive club hidden deep beneath the theater. They’ll still get a hell of a show- and have a chance to put on one themselves.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.Net

Sharing (A Watching Sequel) (Elucien 18+)

For years Elain and Lucien have been loyal members of (and performers in) the sensual club hidden beneath Velaris’ opera house. Now- after months of discussion- they have decided to test the waters on expanding their display and changing their masks. No audience, no stage- and no longer just the two of them.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.Net

Incense Burner (Ongoing (Elucien 18+))

After a collapse in the Hewn City reveals a long lost Vault of the High Lords, Lucien and Elain accidentally come to possess one of the Lord’s treasures. What appears to be a simple incense burner turns out to be something far, far more. As Elain and Lucien fall under its spell time and again they will be drawn into a world they could only imagine in their wildest dreams…

Chapter 1 || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Chapter 2 || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

A Peaceful Night (18+)

Manorian Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Chaorene Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Elorcan Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Rowaelin Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Nesraq Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Lysaedion Edition || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

The Calm After the Storm (Rowaelin 18+)

Erawan and Maeve have been defeated, the armies of Morath are vanquished, and Aelin rightly sits on the throne of Terrasen with Rowan by her side- and Lord Darrow as a constant pain in her ass. Frustrated and in need of a break, Aelin orders Rowan to do his job and consort with his Queen.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

To Spite the Shadow (Rowaelin 18+)

Nearly a year has passed since Aelin and Rowan destroyed the forces of Maeve and Erawan. Terrasen is rebuilding, Aelin is healing, and the world is finally at peace. Rowan conspires with Lysandra to give his mate a rest from her Queenly duties.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

For You (Lysaedion 18+)

Lysandra and Aedion enjoy a peace and freedom they never knew before Erawan and Maeve’s defeat. Still- something isn’t quite right. Aedion is keeping one of his desires secret, and Lysandra is determined to figure out what it is.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

A Familiar Stranger (Lysaedion 18+)

Tanned bronze skin, piercing violet eyes, night black hair- after a nightmare week in Orynth, Aedion goes for a drink and catches the eye of a beautiful- and familiar- fae male. When the male leaves, Aedion follows him to a dark, secluded alley where they can both blow off some steam.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

The Path Ahead (Elorcan 18+)

For Elide, it is the end of her virginity. For Lorcan, it’s the last ‘first time’ he ever wants to have. Both are nervous about the evening to come, but neither would change it for the world.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

A Cure for Nightmares (Manorian 18+)

Mere weeks after the events of “Empire of Storms”, Manon and the Thirteen conspire to give Dorian the break he so desperately needs.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Curing the Fever (Manorian 18+)

Manon is forced to leave a meeting early due to a suspected illness. Luckily for her and Dorian, none of the Thirteen guessed exactly what was wrong.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

One Year in Heaven (Manorian 18+)

Dorian and Manon celebrate the anniversary of their meeting in style- with ropes, chains, and a bit of domination.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Morning in the Jingshi

A new merchant has moved into Caiyi Town, one who deals in sinful wares. Wuxian places an order and decides to model a whole suite of new toys for Wangji. Wei Wuxian has always liked it rough, but he may have been too ambitious this time.

Tumblr || AO3 || Fanfiction.Net (Not Available)

Project: Echo (Part 1)

A long-buried Hydra disaster, a monster in the shadows, a missing child. Eight months after the events of “The Winter Soldier”, Bucky turns himself in to the Avengers on one condition: They must help him find a girl snatched off the streets by Hydra seven years ago. In their quest, the Avengers accidentally unleash a horrifying creature of darkness and shadow, intent on making their quarry its prey.

Prologue || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Project: Echo (Part 2)

A new enemy surfaces with a team of the Avengers’ greatest foes, hand-picked for their destruction. Meanwhile, Inessa’s pre-Hydra past begins to surface, casting doubt on where her loyalties truly lie.

Prologue || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Project: Echo (FINALE)

Seven years after the events of “Part 2”, Avengers Tower explodes, fulfilling Bucky’s vision. All evidence points to Avengers Shadow-Ops leader Inessa Ryker, who is forced to seek out Bucky in hiding. Together they must determine who the traitor is in their ranks and if their friends are still alive- all while trying to survive deadly ambushes orchestrated by Sam Wilson and his hand-picked army.

Prologue || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

Avengers: Valkyrie Wars (Part 1)

When a young woman stumbles across a Valkyrie artifact the Avengers will fight Asgard, Valkyrie, Loki, Hydra, and the last of a monstrous race known as the Norn. Whoever claims the weapon can unleash Hell, but when it vanishes Loki takes the only person capable of finding it again: Steve Roger's lover.

**All cannon through "Winter Soldier" used, NO "Age of Ultron" or "Civil War"**

Tumblr: Not Available || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

To Save Her Soul (Ongoing)

After the events of "Captain America: Civil War", Alice Pierce (the granddaughter of Alexander Pierce), a drug addict, is pulled off the streets and forced through detox by the Avengers so that she might help infiltrate her grandfather's compound to rescue Clint's wife and children.

**Trigger warnings noted above chapters, overall warning for drug use/withdrawal**

Tumblr: Not Available || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

X-Reader Format (Abandoned) || AO3 || Fanfiction.net

The Ridiculous Ground-Up World Building Sheet

Shorter: World Building 101

World Building 102: World Building Tips

The Ridiculous Ground-Up Character Building Sheet

General Writing Tips

Master Plot Types

Things to Ask Yourself

Dialogue

How to Write Smut

Tough-Love Tips for Writers

894 notes · View notes

tarontherocketman · 4 years

Text

Mr Madden | Madderton Teacher AU | Chapter 4

TW: BRIEF MENTIONS OF SUICIDE

Taron stirred in bed, glancing to the clock for the umpteenth time that night; it was only 4:57am. He had just over 2 long hours until his alarm was supposed to sound, it was still dark, and the birds hadn’t even thought about chirping yet. The entire night had been a series of waking up and drifting off, usually multiple times within the hour. His mind was disturbed by the thought of arriving at school to find out that Ella hadn’t made it, he had visions of her parents coming in to blame the school, leading to Taron being ratted out for not doing enough to help her, her poor parents screaming and crying at him, telling him that they killed their daughter. He made himself dizzy filling his head with these thoughts that deep down he knew just weren’t true, and Richard has done everything he could to assure him of that. The light from his phone and a soft vibration pulled Taron out of his dark thoughts as he rolled over to pull it out of its charging port and squint at the bright screen.

Rich: you up, T?x

Taron: yep, been up most the night, why are you up??x

Rich: set an alarm for 5 cos I knew you’d be up and I wanted to check up on you x

Taron: what? really? Rich you didn’t have to do that you have work too..x

Rich: course I did I couldn’t bear the thought of you alone in bed feeling shit so I thought instead of another 2 hours of that you’d want to go for breakfast before work? Obviously the only place open is mcdonalds but you can’t go wrong with a maccies breakfast x

Taron: you’re right you can’t go wrong with a maccies breakfast, thanks rich I need this I was preparing for a long couple of hours, was considering going for a walk but this sounds much nicer x

Rich: no worries bub, I’ll come pick you up in 20 mins then we can go straight to work after breakfast x

Rich got himself up and ready for work, a routine that didn’t take long. As long as his face was washed, teeth were cleaned and his hair was tidy he was quite happy to get dressed and go within 15 minutes. He grabbed his keys and jogged down the stairs of his apartment to the resident car park, making the short drive to Taron’s place and sending him a quick text to let him know he was outside. Taron appeared quickly, looking a little less put together than usual. His hair wasn’t quite as neat as he usually bothered to make it, and his eyes were puffy from the severe lack of sleep.

“Jeez you look shit T,” Rich commented.

“Cheers,” Taron sighed.

“No I mean you still look handsome, obviously,” Rich scoffed playfully, “but you literally look like you haven’t slept for a minute.”

“You’re not too far off the mark there,” Taron replied as he pulled the seatbelt over him. “Seriously though thanks for doing this Rich it means a lot, you really didn’t have to wake up so early for me.”

“Don’t worry about it I knew full well you’d be up most of the night worrying, I know what you’re like by now, I’d rather that you get out of the house and have some breakfast and coffee rather than tossing and turning for another 2 hours and coming to work without eating anything,” Rich said softly as he put the car into 5th gear along a long, empty main road.

“Thank you,” Taron replied, at a loss for what else to say to his incredibly thoughtful friend who knew him even better than Taron thought he did.

The pair rode out the rest of the journey in silence, neither knowing exactly what to say at a time like this. Rich pulled into the car park of the 24 hour McDonalds and made his way inside with Taron following miserably behind. Rich noticed him trailing behind and stopped at the door to wait, putting an arm round him when he caught up as they walked into the building. Once the two had ordered, received their food and sat down at a booth table in the window, Taron held his egg muffin limply, taking tiny bites. Rich, having already finished the tiny thing in what felt like less than 5 bites, sat with his hands wrapped around his coffee for warmth.

“Look T, I know this sounds obvious but please stop blaming yourself for this, no one is mad at you,” Rich soothed, taking one hand away from his coffee to place it on Taron’s arm.

“But what if she dies, Rich? How am I supposed to deal with a student dying at my hands?”

“T, if she did die it wouldn’t be at your hands! Not one bit! You did what you could. And anyway there’s no point worrying about death now, if you worry about something that hasn’t happened you’re potentially putting yourself through it twice, ok?”

“That’s actually not bad advice,” Taron said, perking up ever so slightly.

“Yeah I got it off one of those facebook posts with inspirational quotes,” Rich admitted, laughing quietly at himself.

“Oh christ,” Taron chuckled softly, “well thank you anyway, I don’t know why it’s got me this down, I know it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid at all you’re a worrier, you worry for the world Taron, and it’s a heart warming trait but you’re gonna worry yourself sick,” Rich spoke in almost a whisper, rubbing Taron’s arm comfortingly.

“I know, I know,” Taron took a long sigh and finally finished his breakfast. Rich’s words did actually make quite a big difference, he didn’t need to be so miserable about something that he shouldn’t even blame himself for in the first place. “Thank you again for this I do feel better.”

“Anytime,” Rich smiled. Taron and Rich sat for the rest of the wait before work, sipping their second coffee and chatting mindlessly to keep Taron’s mind off things. As the time passed quickly, the morning drew closer to them having to go to work. The sun rose at last, and they knew they’d have to go sooner or later.

“You ready?” Rich asked, offering his hand to Taron, who reluctantly took it, deciding that there wasn’t really anyone around at this time of the morning who would see them and so they walked hand in hand to the car.

“I might not even hear anything about it today, no point getting worked up,” Taron assured himself out loud, staring out of the window at the sunrise lined buildings of the city that zooming past the window as they travelled.

“Exactly,” Rich agreed, putting his left hand on Taron’s knee in between changing gear. They arrived at work, deciding that a third coffee probably wasn’t a smart idea, but a visit to the staff room before they started might be worthwhile, in case there did happen to be any news on Ella.

“Morning,” they both said politely to the other staff gathered around the room, all looking a little bit like they didn’t want to be there for another day in the mad house that they called a school. Taron bit his lip, not sure whether to ask the question. The Headteacher, who was leaning against the kitchen counter waiting for the coffee in the coffee pot to brew, seemed to have read his mind.

“Ella’s parents got in contact, she’s fine,” he smiled, almost as relieved as Taron.

“Really?” Taron beamed happily, relief washing over him like a tidal wave, his whole body relaxing as if he’d been tensing for a week straight.

“Yes she’s stable, already recovering, and will be back in school next Monday if she’s ready so she’s got a little while to get better,” he informed, now turning around to pour coffee.

“Thank god,” Taron breathed heavily, taking a seat on one of the old tatty sofas and slumping forward in relief, rubbing his temples. Rich looked at him, longing for a cuddle, but knowing he couldn’t so just settled on patting him on the shoulder casually, avoiding the curious gaze of Mrs Reynolds who was clearly trying desperately to sniff out some gossip again.

“Coffee?” the Head asked in Taron and Rich’s direction, who both declined rather quickly.

“Suit yourself,” he smiled. Mrs Reynolds was now looking quizzically in their direction.

“Already coffee-d out?” she questioned, an eyebrow raised suspiciously.

“Yep, uh, we do both have coffee at home, so,” Rich trailed off uncomfortably.

“No of course, I just don’t tend to get up early to use up the coffee in my house when it’s free here.” Taron was now looking up at her, his eyes narrowed slightly as if to say ‘keep your nose out of our business’ “Anyway,” she quipped, putting her mug in the sink and turning on her heel “I must be off to class.” At that she scurried out of the staff room making brief eye contact with the rest of the staff before she left, leaving them to sit in tense silence as they all attempted to sip their coffee nonchalantly, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Taron and Rich took this as their cue to leave and head to Rich’s class, walking quickly down the hallway.

“Oh my god do you think they’re all onto us?” Taron whispered, leaning into Rich as they walked.

“I don’t know, but like you said the other day, there’s no proof, they have nothing on us!” Rich loud whispered back.

“You’re right, we just have to be extra careful,” Taron nodded as they arrived at Rich’s classroom and scuttled inside.

“Yeah we will,” Rich assured.

“Extra careful,” Taron smirked, leaning flirtatiously against the door to the supply closet.

“Taron..” Rich warned, knowing exactly what he was suggesting.

“Do people usually come snooping in your supply closet at 7:30am on a Tuesday?” Taron joked.

“Well no, but they do walk past the classroom and snoop through the big obvious window in the door, what if we get seen going in or out?”

“We won’t! We’ll make sure,” Taron reassured the Scotsman, who stood shifting on the spot nervously, his hands fiddling with each other.

“Your mood has certainly improved in the past 10 minutes,” Rich observed.

“Of course,” Taron started, “I spent all night worried sick and now I know she’s ok I feel like a massive weight’s been lifted and I have some emotional catching up to do.”

“Right, that’s your logic?” Rich laughed, “in fact, you’ve changed your whole tune about doing things like this since I met you.”

“I know, like I said, everything changed when I met you! Now are you joining me or do I have to please myself?” Taron wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Argh, T!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” Taron assured quickly, laughing at Rich being a typical serious History teacher. “You coming in?” Rich shuffled on the spot some more, glancing back and forth at the door suspiciously.

“Hmm, ok, but we really shouldn’t be doing this though,” Rich muttered, following Taron into the cupboard.

“No we should not,” Taron agreed with cheeky smile, pulling Rich in and locking their lips firmly, hands running up and down each other’s backs lovingly.

“No really we can’t make a habit of this,” Rich said, pulling away for a moment in between breaths. Taron shushed him, pulling him straight back in, gently grabbing his thick, lovely hair from behind. The lovebirds carried on having their moment until they accepted that they’ll have to stop eventually and get ready for class. Taron cracked the door open slightly to look at the door to the classroom, making sure the coast was clear before grabbing Rich’s hand and pulling him out of the now fully open door.

“Hey look we literally came out of the closet,” Rich snorted, Taron nudged him playfully, laughing along. “Seriously though we can’t get too comfortable doing that.”

“I know, it’ll be fine!” Taron assured, following Rich to his desk to take a seat next to him. The two of them sat in silence while Rich turned his computer on and watched it boot up, the logo appearing across the screen in big letters. Rich looked down at his lap, and then back up at Taron, the secret kiss they just had now playing on his mind.

“T, what are we?” Rich asked, now ignoring his computer entirely to look into Taron’s pretty eyes. Taron sat thoughtfully.

“I don’t know, Rich,” he admitted, avoiding Rich’s gaze.

“Are we a thing or is this all just for fun?” said Rich, biting his lip in thought.

“Why don’t we talk about this later, you need to get ready for class,” Taron smiled, glancing at his watch.

“Yeah, you’re right, come round mine tonight?” Rich offered.

“Pizza and beer?” Taron said hopefully.

“Course,” Rich agreed, turning to his computer that had now turned on, asking for his password.

“I better get ready for class too, I’ll talk to you later,” Taron said, getting up from his chair and planting a small kiss on the top of Rich’s head. There was a somewhat solemn feeling between the two all of a sudden, they hadn’t delved into the relationship conversation yet. In fact, neither of them knew if they were ready for a relationship, it had all been fun and games up until now, but they had to decide if settling down was something that they both wanted to do now.

The day passed, slowly. Taron and Rich’s thoughts consumed by the reality of the conversation that they would be having that evening. At least there were some distractions through the day, working in a city secondary school always came with its daily challenges. Taron broke up two fights in one lunch break, had to mediate an argument between four girls in his afternoon class that had suddenly turned 2 vs 2 during a script reading exercise when he stupidly split the class into groups of 4 and not only let them choose their groups, but let them choose between them who gets to be which character, as if that could have ever ended well.

Rich had a student storm out of his class angrily after having to tell him more than five times to get off his phone, the students argument being ‘it’s my personal property fuck off’, and he had a 10 minute job of calming down an over-hyper class of year 7s that had just had a P.E class and were now on the last lesson of the day, which was just a recipe for disaster. Rich knew that being a secondary school teacher would come with challenges, based off his own experience as a student many years ago, but he swore teenagers had become 100x times crazier since then, but maybe that was just him remembering it from the point of view of a student, never really knowing at the time what teachers actually had to go through every day.

Once the day finally drew to an end, Rich and Taron met up to go straight to Rich’s seeing as they had both come in his car that morning.

“You sure you don’t need to pop home first? I don’t mind,” Rich offered.

“No it’s all good, these clothes are comfortable enough and we’ve got the same phone if I need a charger,” Taron replied.

“True.”

After a short journey home, Rich and Taron climbed the stairs to Rich’s apartment, he unlocked the door and let Taron in first, following straight after him. Taron stopped to look around the place, observing the colour schemes and decor themes going on.

“Nice place,” he commented, nodding in approval at the well decorated room.

“Thanks!” Rich said happily as he threw his bag on the dining table and slung his jacket over one of the chairs, Taron did the same and joined Rich on the couch, both sinking down into it after a long day. Taron even more exhausted from his extreme lack of sleep the previous night, knowing full well everyone he had talked to today had just politely ignored the bags under his eyes.

“So do you want a beer now, or?” Rich offered.

“I can wait, we should talk,” Taron said slowly, Rich nodded nervously, breathing heavy enough for Taron to hear it clearly now.

“So.”

“So..”

“Ok, look, T, I’m just gonna say it- I really love you, and I think I’ve fallen fast, and if you don’t feel the same and are just in it for the fun I understand but,” Rich babbled, Taron trying so hard not to giggle at not only his rambling but the fact that he swore the Scottish accent was getting thicker as the sentence progressed.

“Oh shut up,” Taron chuckled, shushing him fully with a kiss. “Mr Madden, will you be my boyfriend?”

“Um, obviously!” Rich breathed, laughing from relief and leaning back in for another sofa make out session, one that meant even more to the two of them than the last time it happened, now that this had developed into a real relationship. One that neither of them were expecting considering they both had intentions to lay low in their jobs, but they couldn’t help it. They wanted each other so badly and would freely admit at this stage that that had been the case for quite some time now.

“So you wanna order food?” Rich asked as the pair pulled away from each other.

“Hm, not yet,” Taron replied.

“You not hungry?” Rich asked in genuine surprise, feeling his own stomach rumble from a long day at work with not enough food, knowing Taron had eaten even less.

“I’m hungry, but not for pizza..where’s your bedroom?” Taron smirked. Rich scoffed in surprise at the extremely forward question.

“I- wow, that is very bold of you, Mr Egerton!” Rich said, taken back but not actual displeased by the question.

“Well, you’re my boyfriend now,” Taron smiled flirtatiously.

“Good point, right this way,” Rich grabbed Taron’s hand and let him into the door that was only a few metres away from the sofa, pulling him into the room and gently shoving him onto his king size bed, pulling his shirt off in excitement and kicking the door shut behind him, knowing that he hadn’t felt this content in such a long time.

___________________________________________________________

So. You may have just figured out, but I don’t write smut! Sorry! Love reading it but terrible at writing it, so you’ll just have to leave it up to your imagination if you so wish! Anyway sorry this isn’t quite as long as the previous chapter, I just went off on that last one, this is more the length that I’m keeping them. Although I’m slightly worried this chapter is a bit boring, but I hope you all like it regardless tho!

Tag list: @taron-eggmcmuffin @coffeetalkbaby @nataschalenasblog @stateofloveandvedder @winterismyfavoriteseason1945

#taron x richard #madderton #richard x taron #madderton fanfiction #fanfiction #taron egerton fanfiction #richard madden fanfiction #madderton au #madderton au fanfiction #teacher au #madderton teacher au #mr madden #taron egerton #richard madden #taron x richard fanfiction #richard x taron fanfiction #madderton angst #madderton drama

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doux-amer · 3 years

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Last but not least, here are my favorite shows that I watched for the first time in 2020 (with one exception)!

BARRY (HBO)

2 SEASONS | 16 EPISODES | 25–35 MIN

A hit man from the Midwest travels to LA to kill someone and accidentally joins an acting class that makes him question his life.

Dark, absurd, and hilarious. It’s such a good character study. The show isn’t for everyone, but I love it and it made me appreciate Bill Hader as an actor and director (the “Ronny/Lily” episode really showed how skilled Bill Hader is). And you have to watch it for Noho Hank but the other characters are interesting and grow in unexpected ways. You may not like them all the time—you may actually want to throttle some to death while those you found silly may end up worming into your heart—but you get them.

SUCCESSION (HBO)

2 SEASONS | 20 EPISODES | 55–65 MIN

When the founder of the biggest media/entertainment company in the world decides to step down, his children fight to become the next CEO.

It took a few episodes for me to get hooked, especially because everyone is terrible, but it’s worth sticking it out. The characters are still terrible even then, and you shouldn’t root for any of them—except you do. This is truly one of the best shows out there and while it’s gotten critical claim, it feels like it’s still somewhat under the radar. The second season is one of the best-made seasons of a TV show I’ve seen in recent years, and I want to yell because I only have a few people to yell about it with. Anyway, this is a show about power! Trauma! If you like that, watch it. The dialogue is ridiculous (even ridiculously good) and memorable. SICKEST THEME SONG, HANDS DOWN.

KINGDOM (NETFLIX)

2 SEASONS | 6 EPISODES | 45–55 MIN

In 16th century Korea, a crown prince goes on a suicide mission to investigate a mysterious plague overtaking the kingdom and uncovers a political conspiracy.

If you want good zombie content, Korea’s the best at it now. Even if you don’t like zombies, I recommend giving Kingdom a try! I was neutral about zombies until Train to Busan changed my mind and now, Kingdom. Kingdom is so unique, and it’s a timely show in that there are so many parallels to present-day politics during the pandemic. The show is a critique on the privileged and those in power, but it also is chock full of engaging action scenes. Some of the acting is over the top, but the writing is strong, the story is engrossing, and it’s most likely going to be the most gorgeous show you watch this year if you haven’t seen it yet. The cinematography is stunning and words can’t express how incredibly sumptuous the sets and wardrobe/hair are. Kingdom is a visual feast!

KILLING EVE (BBC AMERICA/HULU)

3 SEASONS | 24 EPISODES | 41–55 MIN

Two women, a British intelligence investigator and the psychopathic assassin she's after, develop a mutual obsession as they try to capture and evade each other.

Wow, I loved the first and second season (but not the third). This is a riveting, unpredictable cat-and-mouse chase that keeps you at the edge of your seat, and there’s intense chemistry between the actresses. Sandra and Jodie are SO. GOOD. Is it a healthy relationship? No, not really. But Eve and Villanelle understand each other in ways no one else can. Everything falls away so only the two of them exist in the world, which has its consequences. If you like love/hate relationships and enemies-to-reluctant-allies/enemies-to-lovers, this is for you (yes, I’ll say enemies-to-lovers because come on, they pretty much made the interest/affection reciprocal in season three, with the wildly seesawing emotions they had for each other reaching an equilibrium).

SCHITT’S CREEK (NETFLIX)

6 SEASONS | 80 EPISODES | 22 MIN

The formerly wealthy Roses suddenly find themselves broke and forced to move to a motel in a middle-of-nowhere town that they bought as a joke years ago.

I assume that by this point, you all know the show so I won’t get into too many details. This is my one exception to the “new shows only” rule for this post because I had so many feelings about the last season. Schitt's Creek is the rare show that had the perfect ending for all the characters. T_T The character development is just so, so well done. This is my comfort show and the final season made me so happy/sad because I was so satisfied with where all the characters ended up but reluctant to say goodbye to them.

SIGNAL (NETFLIX)

1 SEASON | 16 EPISODES | 65–75 MIN

Communicating via a walkie-talkie that transcends time, a profiler from 2015 and a detective from 1989 work together to solve cold cases.

MY FAVORITE SHOW OF 2020!!!!!!!!!! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

I DON’T CARE IF YOU DON’T WATCH KOREAN SHOWS. WATCH THIS ONE. If you know me, you know I’m not big on Korean dramas, but I’m obsessed with Signal. I kept thinking about it when I watched it, and there hasn’t been a day since I finished it that I haven’t thought about the show. Everything about it is so good. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I LOVE EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT IT. THE WRITING IS PHENOMENAL. THE STORY IS GRIPPING AND SUSPENSEFUL BUT SO FULL OF EMOTION. THE SOUNDTRACK IS STELLAR. THE ACTING IS, FOR THE MOST PART, REALLY GOOD. THE CHARACTERS. UGH. THE CHARACTERS. The show focuses on platonic relationships, and you care deeply about all of them even if they’re minor—and of course, the relationships between the main trio. No character suffers from or is sidelined by unnecessary romance even if there is a bit of romance in this. I have so many feelings. Please get into this so I have people to talk to about the show because I got into it years after my friends urged me to watch it. :’’’’’) I’m a clown. A clown who loves Signal.

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callbucket70 · 3 years

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softyoongiionly · 5 years

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Fear and Dumplings: Chapter Nine

Confronting your fears for a final grade sounds unappealing but, with Yoongi as your partner, things might not be so bad.

Summary: You’re in your final semester at University when your Abnormal Psychology professor assigns you a partnered project surrounding your greatest fears. Lucky for you, your partner just so happens to be a cute boy named Min Yoongi.

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

Genre: Underground Rapper! Yoongi, Soft!!! Yoongi, Fluff!!!, some moderate angst (later), smut (later later), slow-ish? burn.

Word Count: 8.3k (holy moly)

A/N: Thank you all for waiting! Don’t forget to check out my post to weigh in on my upcoming fics :)

Warnings for this Chapter: language aka the bros are wild as usual, smut, also if you’re afraid of spiders, they are mention in (gross) detail later in the chapter.

Warnings for the Fic: mentions characters confronting their fears, characters in uncomfortable situations, emotional moments between characters, mentions of bad parenting, explicit language throughout the fic, moderate angst, and very explicit smut later in the story.

Chapter 9: Spiders and Scary Movies

“So…like…was it big or?” Jimin’s mischievous voice twinkles though the speaker causing Tae to chuckle. Jungkook wrinkles his nose, vigorously shaking his head.

“I don’t know why that matters, when all they did was hold hands…right Y/N?” Jungkook chimes in over Jimin’s voice, giving you a pointed look.

You giggle, shaking your head before leaning back against the arm of your couch. As promised, you had FaceTimed your friends after your study group to inform them that, no, you did not in fact sleep with a man named August.

“Right, that’s it, just a lot of hand holding and absolutely nothing else.” You agree, your lips pursed in attempt to hold in your laughter.

Jungkook looks pleased with your response, his face relaxing momentarily but, its short lived when Taehyung pipes up to give his two cents.

“That’s funny…” He begins smirking, nodding to you. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a hickey from holding someone’s hand before.”

Jungkook’s brows raise up in horror as his face snaps up toward you, wide eyes frantically searching your face and neck. With a furrowed brow you look into the screen, trying to locate the cause of the commotion. Your teeth tuck into your lip as you finally spot the aggravated bit of violet skin near the base of your neck. You hadn’t even noticed it when you were rushing to get ready earlier in the day and, the realization that your friends at your study group had definitely seen it, quickly washes over you

“Must have held his hands too tight…” You concede, smirking to yourself

“Y/N…” Jimin whines, he flops his head back onto his bed, looking mildly impatient. “Tell us what happened…I’ve been waiting all day. Kookie just cover your ears if you don’t want to hear about it.”

“I’m not giving you his measurements Minnie…” You insist, giggling at his antics.

“If you guys keep talking about the details of his dick, I’m hanging up.” Jungkook grumbles, his lips pouted and, you can’t help but notice how much he looks like his younger self: pouting because Jimin and Tae forgot his banana milk on their convenience store run.

You recount the story to your best friends, detailing the events over the last 24 hours however, you are careful to avoid any details that involve Yoongi’s behavior during sex. To be honest, it was something you were still mulling over in your own head and, so much had happened so fast, you still hadn’t had much time to process it. Besides, you liked Yoongi and, you didn’t feel right exposing a part of him that he likely wanted to keep private.

“Wait…you like…like him like him…” Taehyung observes ever so eloquently as you wrap up your story, his face slightly surprised.

You bite your lip in thought, giggling at his jovial conclusion before nodding.

“Yeah…I think I do.” Your voice wavers slightly but, you smile up at the faces on your screen, confident in your response.

“Awwwww my baby has a crush.” Jimin coos, his eyes swimming with fondness as he beams, his puffy lips making kissy faces at the screen. “…and she got some good dick, I’m so proud of you.” Jimin finishes, pretending to cry as he wipes invisible tears from his cheeks.

“So, since he’s a rapper does he say “Skrrrt!” when he cums?” Jungkook finally pipes up after a long period of silence, his initial apprehension clearly wearing off.

His comment causes the three of you to burst out in a fit of laughter, Jungkook joining in soon after as he sees that his ridiculous joke was successful.

Eyes rolling, you reply through the chorus of giggling, “You’re so dumb, stop!”

Jungkook snickers, clearly proud of himself as he adjusts the collar of his sweater, he looks over at Taehyung for a moment, mumbling something to him, before Tae nods in response, smirking.

“Yah! Secrets don’t make friends! What are you two mumbling about?” Jimin protests, one of his hands running through his pink locks, his eyebrows raised in offense.

They both chuckle shaking their heads at him before Tae nods to the screen.

“What are you two doing next weekend?”

“Probably studying for finals…and crying…definitely crying.” You conclude, accepting your fate as finals were only three weeks away and, you had so much left to do.

“I’m in rehearsal most of the weekend but, I have Friday night off so, I can rest.” Jimin explains and a soft smile graces your features momentarily as you hear that Jimin scheduled a rest day; proud that he had taken your advice.

“Well…Kook and I are gonna be at Kappa Sigma’s senior party so, you guys should keep Friday night open…for some entertainment” Taehyung casually drops the bit of news, still smirking towards Jungkook who is now looking toward his floor. A flash of different emotions play on your face as you look between the two men. Jimin obviously responds first, failing to address the confusing aspect of their announcement, his excitement bubbling over.

“Yay! Really? Wait does that mean you’re coming two weekends in a row then? Cause my showcase is the weekend after that…”Jimin’s voice fades at the end of his sentence, his eyes holding a bit of concern before, Jungkook quickly reassures him.

“Yes, Jimin-ssi…we would never miss the nation’s sweetheart, brutalize his competition for the fourth year in a row…”

Jimin’s face blooms with a beaming smile, clearly satisfied with Jungkook’s response, his body shifting happily in his seat.

You smile fondly at the two of them before nodding to Taehyung, the charm emitting from the exchange wearing off as you still have no clue why Jungkook and Tae would be at another fraternity’s party 300 miles from their own.

“Wait, why are you guys gonna be at Kappa’s party? Doesn’t your frat normally do something for seniors?” You smirk as Jungkook seems to shrink away with uneasiness, Tae chuckling at his side.

“Well, our Jungkookie here thought it would be a good idea to shit-talk the president of Kappa Sigma while they were playing games on live and, made a bet with him that he could…” Tae trails off as he shoots a taunting glance towards Jungkook, mischief in his eyes, “What were your exact words Kookie?”

“…crush his high score, wasted, with one hand tied behind my back…” Jungkook mumbles in response, a cheesy smile on his face as he avoids eye contact with the screen. You burst out in a fit of giggles, Jimin joining you soon after.

“Oh my god Kookie’s such a light weight he’ll be wasted after one drink!” Jimin wheezes through his giggling, the corner of his eyes wrinkled in absolute delight. “You know who Kappa’s president is right? Were you drunk when you made the bet?”

The president of Kappa Sigma is none other than Kim Seokjin; resident ladies man, beer pong champion and, e-sports legend. Seokjin, or Jin, as you called him, was a good friend of yours and, aside from his incredibly large ego, is a pretty great person. The two of you had met your freshman year during your human sexuality class and, spent most of the time trying not to laugh every time your professor said phrases like “low hanging balls” or, “orgasmic euphoria” or, your favorite, “cursed clitoris.” The two of you never had much time to hang out but, Jin never failed to let you know that he was there if you needed anything. Back in your first years of university, partying was something you did more frequently, you used to frequent the Kappa Sigma house a lot and, Jin taught you most of what you know about drinking games, hangover cures, and cooking. He used to FaceTime you when he was preparing food for Kappa Sigma’s party and, showed you probably 50 different ways to make ramen and, at least 14 or so, different chip dips. In essence, Jin was the fucking best and, you missed him a lot.

“Hyung, he talks so much shit! I want show him who the champion is so we can squash this beef once and for all and, I can play Mario Kart in peace!” Jungkook gripes, passion in his elevated voice as Jimin’s eyes widen before, falling back into his previous giggle fit. Your eyes widen with him as Jungkook mentions that he would be battling Jin in a game of Mario Kart aka the game Jin was an expert in.

“What? Why are you guys laughing at me, have a little faith, I’m Jeon Jungkook! I always win.” He insists, puffing his chest out and slapping it lightly.

“Kook, Jin has won the national,” You emphasize the word, trying to let your giggling subside so as to reason with your overly confident best friend “competition for Mario Kart for the last 6 years and, you bet him that, not only could you beat him, but, you could beat him wasted, with one hand tied behind your back, at his best game. We love you but, are you insane?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes, waving you off as Taehyung and Jimin continue to snicker occasionally at him.

“The only reason Seokjin has won for the last 6 years is because, I’ve never entered his stupid little competitions.”

At this, Taehyung scoffs, “The one’s you watch every year?” He accuses, with his brows raised and Jungkook shoves him playfully, the two of them snickering.

The conversation ends with a mutual agreement that the four of you would see each other next Friday and, that would all be wearing “Team Jungkook” shirts to the party. You made a mental note to text Jin and explain that, you still love him even though, for one night only, you would be actively rooting against him

You lean over to the other end of the couch in an attempt to coax a curious Marzipan into your lap. She reluctantly follows the movement of your hand and plops down onto your lap as a satisfied smile makes its way onto your face. You can feel the heaviness in your lids take over and, you decide that it was time to start your #nighttimeroutine that consisted of you, turning on Netflix, falling asleep on your couch with your mouth open and, waking up at 3am to drag yourself into your bedroom. Subscribe!

Anyways...

The TV lights up with the trusty red logo, you know all too well and, you begin searching through your “Continue Watching” section because, let’s be honest, you’re not going to be watching anything new tonight. As you make it to the section, you feel a little flutter in your stomach as you spot the dragon documentary you and Yoongi had started (but definitely not finished) earlier in the day. The thought to text him plays on your mind for a moment before, you squash it, remembering that he was working on his project tonight and, deciding that you didn’t want to disturb him.

You did however, find yourself replaying the events from the last 24 hours in your head, again. Thoughts of Yoongi had been looping in your head the entire day despite your best efforts. Yoongi wasn’t exactly an open book so, it’s not like you knew all of his deepest secrets but, you had to admit that his behavior during sex was surprising. Hell, your behavior was surprising, there wasn’t a single sexual experience that you’ve had that could replicate the energy you felt when you were with Yoongi. You had never really thought of yourself as a dominate person in the bedroom but, there was something about Yoongi that made you want to fuck him so good that he couldn’t remember his name. A smirk plays on your lips as you log that idea away for another time. There was a small amount of anxiety around being with Yoongi as you had never really been in a real relationship before. You hooked up with a few people and, saw a guy briefly during your sopohmore year but, no one had ever made you feel the way Yoongi did. Quite frankly, he had you feeling all kinds of soft and mushy.

Gross.

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Sunday had passed with minimal excitement. You spent the day cleaning up your apartment and, tackling the mountain of laundry that had formed in the corner of your bedroom. There was an attempt to work on your final paper but, you only managed to get out a page or so before, getting distracted by more important things i.e., using a laser pointer to play with Marzipan because, lord knows, she needs the exercise.

Monday moved agonizingly slow but, you made it to all of your classes without being overtaken by senioritis. Although, you did attempt to talk yourself out of going to your 8am class but, thankfully (?), the logical side of you prevailed. The rest of Monday evening consisted of spicy Ramen (Jin’s recipe of course) and, more coursework that you definitely did NOT fall asleep on.

Tuesday had mercifully arrived and, you were now currently seated in your Psych class, eagerly looking towards the door, waiting for a certain platinum headed boy to trudge through into the room. Morning lectures were the worst but, getting to spend them with a sleepy, pouty, fluffy haired Yoongi made them a little bit better. Professor James strolled through the door moments later, smiling softly at everyone, waving a hand to the lecture hall. He busied himself at the front of the room as began getting things ready for class whilst the students who were filing in started pairing up with their partners and, pulling out their research journals. As the classroom fills more and more you feel a bit of disappointment brewing in your stomach. It wouldn’t be unusual for Yoongi to miss class as, he was absent quite frequently but, you had been looking forward to seeing him.

The hope of Yoongi showing up to class slowly dissolves as the last of the students trickle in and, Professor James turns on the projector.

“Morning everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend.” He begins, his voice echoing throughout the lecture hall.

There’s a chorus of unenthusiastic murmurs responding to his greeting causing him to chuckle, his brows going up in mock offense.

“Wow, chill, the energy in this room is off the charts.” He jests, and scattered laughter is heard throughout the room as he continues. “Alright so, most of you are nearing the end of your projects and, from what I’ve seen so far, everyone seems to be doing a great job.”

You glance down at your research journal, your fingers flipping through the pages as you nod to yourself. Time had been flying by and, until Professor James said something, you hadn’t even realized that you only had two fears left to tackle.

“I only have a couple things I want to mention before letting you guys pair up with your partners. First_” Professor James stops abruptly as the door to the hall swings open.

You bite your lip to stifle the incredibly huge smile that is threatening to overtake your face as, Yoongi walks in, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and some ripped gray jeans. His bag is slung over his shoulder as usual but, his hands are clutching a drink carrier. You squint your eyes slightly to catch a glimpse of what he’s brought but, your question is answered as he stops momentarily at Professor James’s podium, his hands extending slightly toward him.

“Mr. Min you are a life saver, thank you so much, 50,000 extra credit points to you…” Your professor bellows, hands outstretched to take the tall paper cup currently nestled into Yoongi’s drink carrier. As Yoongi nods to him, he turns around and you catch him smirking at your professor’s comment. Wow, he has no business looking this good at 8 in the fucking morning. Looking into his carrier, you notice he’s still wielding two more drinks and, as he makes his way towards your desk, his eyes find yours. The smirk dissolves into a softer smile, his feet picking up slightly before finally making it to the desk you had saved for him. You smile back at him, looking curiously at the drink carrier before; Yoongi pulls one of the cups out and places it on your desk.

“I hope they made it right, the lady behind the counter was new…” He whispers to you and, you just about melt into a helpless pile of mush. “Also, this still doesn’t count as one of the times I’m paying so, don’t get any ideas.”

You giggle at his comment, his small gesture touching you more than you cared for him to know.

“You are the best person in the observable universe…” You whisper back to him, eyeing the drink eagerly.

“It’s just coffee, don’t be ridiculous.” He grumbles but, the playful glint in his eyes makes it obvious that he’s kidding.

“Did Professor James ask you to get him coffee? I’m so confused.” The question passes your lips as you move to take a sip of your coffee. It was perfect and, there’s another annoying flutter in your stomach as you realize that Yoongi remembered your order despite only ever hearing it one time.

Yoongi takes a sip of his own drink, an iced Americano, his dark eyes normally puffy from the lack of sleep, lighting up slightly as the caffeine hits him. He nods, chuckling, the two of you keeping your voices down as Professor James continues speaking.

“James is actually a good friend of my roommate so; he’s at the house all the time. He texted me this morning and, said he forgot his coffee and, asked if I could pick something up for him.” Yoongi explains, his morning voice crackling in the space between you. “Luckily for him, I was already at the coffee place.”

“Really? How does your roommate know him?” You can feel your energy elevating more and more as the caffeine and Yoongi’s presence work wonders on your previously sleepy self.

“I think they met in their undergrad?” Yoongi’s eyes are squinted in thought before he nods to himself. “Yeah, I think that’s what Namjoon said. They go way back.”

You cock your head, confusion painting your features. Undergrad? You had assumed Yoongi’s roommates were still in their undergrad.

“Is Namjoon in grad school?” You ask to sate your curiosity, taking another sip of coffee.

Yoongi smirks, his eyes flitting over to you as he shakes his head.

“No, he’s in his third year of medical school. Namjoon got his bachelors 4 years ago.” He explains and, your confusion doesn’t wane. This must have been obvious as Yoongi just chuckles before speaking up again.

“Yeah, he’s kind of a genius. He graduated high school two years early and, started college while he was still in his junior year. He got his bachelors at 18 and, then started medical school. Him and James roomed together during their freshman and sophomore year. That’s how they know each other.”

Your eyes are wide with amazement, shaking your head, impressed with Yoongi’s explanation.

“Damn…that’s insane. I just assumed he was in our year, did you guys not meet on campus then?”

Yoongi shakes his head, “Namjoon and I have been friends since we were kids. We went to school together when we were little until he moved away but, we always kept in touch. When I was looking for a place to stay after I moved out of my dorm, Joon offered his place to me. Hoseok and I moved in at the same time.”

“…and I’m guessing Hoseok is Jay right?” You clarify, only remembering Yoongi mentioning two roommates.

Yoongi rolls his eyes, chuckling as he nods, his hand coming up to scratch the back of his neck.

“Yeah, that’s what he goes by on campus but, in my house he’s Hoseok or, Hobi. That’s what I usually call him, Jay just feels weird.” He explains as he scribbles down something on his notebook. Professor James had left a few reminders up on the projector after he finished wrapping up his introduction. You followed suit, a fond smile still on your lips as you listen to Yoongi talk about his friends.

“They seem like good people, it’s good that you ended up living with your best friends instead of ending up with a college roommate horror story.” You point out

“Yeah, yeah they’re alright.” Yoongi waves you off but, the fond smirk doesn’t really leave his face. “I’m sure you’ll meet them someday, you guys would get along well.”

Yoongi’s comment sends another flutter to your stomach but, you attempt to keep the conversation going without melting for the millionth time.

“I’d love to meet them.” You murmur, smiling softly. “My friends know Jay pretty well actually.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Yoongi chuckles airily, his dark eyes regarding yours. Yoongi is definitely one for subtly and, although he doesn’t do anything obvious, you can tell he is much more comfortable around you than he ever has been. “How do your friends know him?”

“He was in a few dance classes with my best friend Jimin and, he was in my other two best friend’s fraternity before he transferred to our campus.” You explain and Yoongi nods in understanding, taking another big gulp of his Americano.

“Hobi knows everyone, no matter where we go; he’s always running into someone. It gets kind of annoying actually because, then he spends way too much time talking their ear off before we can move on with our day.” Yoongi laments, his expression shifting to one of mild annoyance.

“What, you don’t love standing by awkwardly and doing that polite little wave when you’re friend finally introduces you? That is peak social interaction.” You lean back in shock, earning another eye roll from Yoongi as he chuckles, shaking his head.

“Fuck no.” He states bluntly, the two of you laughing together as class begins to wrap up.

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The two of you had decided to combine your fears once again and, agreed to meet at your apartment later on that night. After the remainder of your classes you headed back to your place to get everything ready for the night ahead. You and Yoongi had decided you would watch a horror movie that contained spiders in it thus, tackling his fear of scary movies and, your fear of spiders.

Joy.

Yes, you were spending time with Yoongi and, that was a well and good but, you were not (!!!) excited to spend two hours watching a movie about the creepy crawly creatures that had plagued you since childhood. You shuddered at the thought of it before attempting to busy yourself with preparing the living room for your morbid movie night. Yoongi had, of course, insisted on bringing the food and, as promise, you had allowed it with no resistance. You were thankful that you had spent Sunday cleaning your apartment because, normally, you would be cleaning Marzipan’s litter box and, frantically shoving a pizza box into the garbage chute before Yoongi arrived. However, today you decided to put in a little extra effort since you had the time.

After about an hour of work, you had transformed your living room into a sleepover scene that Pintrest users everywhere, would envy. Your couch was pulled out into a bed that you had lined with your fluffiest pillows and covered in the large fluffy white duvet that normally resided on your bed. You had your end tables positioned on other side of the bed, for optimal snacking, both of which held your homemade caramel corn and, snack sized bags of chips. Your fairy lights framed the walls surrounding your living room ,illuminating the space with a soft glow.

If you were going to spend two hours staring into the (eight) eyes of evil, goddamnit, you were going to do it in style.

The final step was for you to change into something more comfortable so, you opted for one of your biggest black hoodies and, your favorite pair of PJ shorts. You pulled your hair out of your face and, decided that reapplying a little bit of concealer was a good idea but, decided not to fuss with too much considering that any makeup you apply may fall victim to your tears. Because, you know, spiders. Whilst strolling out of your bathroom, your phone vibrates with a text from Yoongi.

Yoongi: I’m here; can you open the door when I come up? Hands are full.

You feel your mouth water at the thought of food before quickly sending your reply and, heading towards your front door.

You: yeah, no worries

A minute or so later, a knock emits from your door and, after fluffing the pillows a final time, you walk (run) to the door to let Yoongi in. As you open the door, you see him standing there, dressed in a pair of gray jogging bottoms and a black hoodie that’s easily four times his size. His hands are clutched tightly around two pizza boxes and, you move quickly to open the door wider so we can enter.

“You read my mind; I’ve been craving pizza all week.” You groan, hungrily eyeing the boxes he was carrying.

Yoongi’s brows rise, placing the boxes on your countertop, “It’s only Tuesday.” He points out, chuckling at you, his eyes holding a bit of fondness.

“Well, it’s a good thing you took care of my craving today, who knows what could have happened.”

Yoongi snorts, his eyes rolling as he braces his hands against the counter, he opens his mouth to respond but, stops himself as he catches a glimpse of the living room. You notice his eyes soften for a moment, his lips pursed as nods toward your finished project.

“Did you do all this for tonight?” He inquires, his voice less snarky than before, dark eyes scanning the room.

Your teeth nibble on your bottom lip as you follow his eyes to the living room. For some reason, his soft gaze is making you nervous but, you play it cool as you nod.

“I’m hoping the snacks and mood lighting will distract us from the awful, awful things we are about to witness.”

A soft smile graces Yoongi’s pout lips momentarily as he snickers, nodding along to your response.

“It looks great.” He concludes, the softness never really leaving his features.

The two of you decide its best not to start the movie while you’re still eating and, you’re grateful for this because, you really don’t want to watch a movie about one of your least favorite things whilst eating one of your favorite things. Roughly 7 slices of cheesy pizza are demolished before; you grab the remote, your thumb hovering over the play button.

“Are you ready?”

Yoongi had himself propped up against the mountain of pillows, wearing an uneasy expression. He finishes wiping his hands on his napkin before nodding to the spot beside him, brows raised expectantly.

“Well you’re over there…when you should be over here so… no.” Yoongi’s crisp voice is dripping with sarcasm, his eyes playful during his comment but, you can tell he’s nervous.

A giggle bubbles over your lips and, you shake your head, eyeing the spot beside him before situating yourself against his side. His arm wraps around you, his hand loosely draped over your shoulder as he pulls you closer to him. A smile touches your mouth momentarily as you lay your arm over his stomach and, although you don’t see it, Yoongi smiles softly down at you.

“Are you ready now?” You inquire playfully, looking up at him.

He pretends to think for a moment, eyes squinted in thought before nodding thoughtfully.

“I think so.”

You laugh at his antics before, your thumb presses the play button on your remote. The opening credits for the movie start playing and, you feel yourself growing slightly uncomfortable at what was to come. The movie was called Under My Skin and, it was about a town afflicted with a horrible disease that caused spiders (!!!!!!!) to grow underneath a person's skin. Like, seriously, who the fuck comes up with these things??? You tried to focus on how unrealistic the premise of the movie was but, all your brain kept going back to how horrifying that reality would be.

“I think we’ll be okay; this movie seems too stupid to be scary.” Yoongi assures the both of you, confidence in his voice.

“I agree, it doesn’t make any sense. How does a disease just make spiders grow under your skin? It’s so dumb.” You agree, eyes trained on the screen as the main character is introduced.

The two of you zone out, focusing on the movie as it starts progressing more and more. As usual, the silence that settles in is natural and pleasant. You tuck your fingers underneath Yoongi’s hoodie, your nails lightly brushing the bare skin over his hip. Yoongi feels himself warming up at your touch and, it frustrates him slightly that he’s so affected over such a small gesture.

“Oh god why is it so big???” You groan, your legs subconsciously curling up to make yourself smaller.

Yoongi snickers beside you, his hand patting your shoulder, lazily attempting to comfort you.

“Cause the guy forgot to take his medicine and, remember, the scientist said they would grow bigger if they didn’t take it.” He explains matter of factly as a giant hairy spider pops onto the screen.

Both of you jump at that, Yoongi’s grip tightening on you slightly, a grimace on his face.

“fucking jump scares.” Yoongi grumbles to himself and, you bite your lip to keep from giggling, choosing instead to press a kiss to his side. “This movie is horrible.”

You nod as you look up at a slightly scared, disgruntled Yoongi: Brows furrowed, lips pouted, his voice a slight whine as he stares at the screen. You’re about to agree with him right as a giant spider bursts out of the main characters skin, followed by hundreds of other spiders running all over his body. Your eyes widen as you cringe harder than you’ve ever cringed in your entire life.

“EW! Oh my god, what the fuck, what the fuck???? I hate it....I hate it....” You exclaim, voice elevated slightly as you practically pounce onto Yoongi causing him to erupt in his rickety laughter, his hands coming up to steady you. “Yoongiiiiiiii” you whine, brows furrowed in disgust, your skin crawling.

Yoongi’s laughter doesn’t cease and, if you weren’t so grossed out, you would take time to appreciate it. Groaning, you stuff your face into his chest, taking solace in his scent.

“We could have just watched a video on tarantulas...” Yoongi points out, eyes damp with tears, no doubt from his fit of laughter. “Why did you pick out such a disgusting movie?”

“Cause I was trying to challenge myself...” You grumble, voice muffled by the material of Yoongi’s sweatshirt.

He chuckles, his hand coming up to rub the back of yours gently, his fingertips lightly brushing your scalp.

“I think you went a little overboard...” He’s smirking now, looking down at you fondly as you pull your face from his chest.

“Hindsight is 20/20.”

Pieces of hair have fallen in your face, from your previous outburst and blowing air from your lips doesn’t help you but, it does cause Yoongi to laugh again (a beautiful sound). He lifts a hand, gently brushing the hair from your face, a faint smirk still on his lips as he shakes his head at you.

“Do you want to turn the movie off?” He suggests, brows raised, his teeth chewing on the inside of his lip as he nods to the TV.

At his suggestion you perk up, quickly moving off of him as you turn around to grab the remote. You press stop right as another spider tries to make its way onto the screen. The main menu of Netflix pops up and you grimace as you see that “Under My Skin” is now suggested on your ‘continue watching.’

“They can’t hurt us anymore...” You vow, drama coating your voice as you nod solemnly towards the TV.

Yoongi rolls eyes, his expression incredulous as he snorts, “You’re ridiculous.”

Your head whips around in his direction, eyes widened in mock offense. “I’m not ridiculous, I just saved our lives. You’re welcome.”

Yoongi bites his lip, stifling his laughter as he nods thoughtfully, his hands raised.

“Thank you, your bravery will not go unnoticed.”

Your eyes slit momentarily before pouncing on him, your legs making their way around his waist. Yoongi eyes widen, his hands coming up to catch your hips, his face blown out with shock.

“Why are you always such a punk huh?” You tease, hands worming their way in the crook of his neck, tickling at the skin there.

Yoongi squirms, laughter bubbling over his lips as his face scrunches up at the sensation.

“Yah! Why are you always so theatrical?” He cries out through his laughter as one of his hands makes its way to pinch at your side.

A squeal leaves your lips, eyes widening as you loose your balance, falling backwards onto Yoongi’s legs.

“You know what??? I’m not theatrical, I’m just expressive unlike some people I know!” You retort, eyes pointed in his direction.

Yoongi scoffs, acting quickly as he moves on top of you, nimble fingers pressing into your sides, causing rather unattractive giggles to leave your lips as you try to wiggle out of his grip.

“What was that Y/N? I can’t hear you.” Yoongi tilts his head in a mock attempt to listen to you, all while his hands tickle over every surface of your body he can reach.

“You’re an ass oh my god!” You giggle, hands desperately trying to tickle him back but, he manages to pin your arms above your head in the process, leaving you helpless.

“Oh I’m an ass am I? Well that’s just rude.” He admonishes, eyes a light with amusement as he moves to tickle over your ribs.

Your feet frantically kick behind you, stomach clenched as you giggle harder, thrashing beneath him before, an idea pops into your head. Yoongi’s lips move closer to yours, and you take advantage of the moment, pushing your lips against his. At your gesture, Yoongi’s hand stalls, the hand that’s holding your wrist softening as he leans into your mouth.

You tuck your lips between his, nibbling on his bottom lip as he sighs out through his nose. A twinge of satisfaction stirs in your stomach; you were amazed at how fast you could get him to react. He kisses you back with gentle but firm lips, his hands braced on either side of your head as the kiss deepens.

“You’re cheating...” He mumbles against your mouth, words slightly muffled by your lips.

“I wanted to kiss you.” You smirk, your voice reduced to a shallow whisper as you lean up into his mouth. Yoongi’s lips were made for kissing, everything about them made you want to suck and bite and kiss into them until they were wet and swollen from your movements.

Yoongi pulls back momentarily, breathing slightly ragged as he looks down at you. His hair fell into his eyes that were dark and deep with want, his cheeks flushed as he returns your smirk. Your own eyes travel over his body before zeroing in on the seam of his joggers that were inflated with his hardening dick.

“It’s not polite to stare...” Yoongi whispers, tongue licking over his lips as he regards you with mischievous eyes.

Your brows raise at his comment, head cocked slightly as you return his stare before pushing yourself up on your elbows.

“You’re being awfully bold today Yoongi...I think you’re forgetting your place.” You whisper and, your smirk grows as you see him visibly inhale at your comment, his dick twitching in his pants.

However, he doesn’t back down and, instead tries his luck once more, “Oh my place huh? What place is that?” The questions leave his lips with a scoff and, his attitude ignites something inside of you. You push off your elbows, hands coming up to press against his chest, pushing him back against the bed. The motion makes him gasp slightly, his brown eyes wide as they stare up at you, some of his attitude wiped from his expression.

You giggle lightly, head tilting to the side, lips moving slowly to hover over his as you respond to his question,

“Beneath me...” You whisper and, at your response, Yoongi’s dick seems to swell from underneath you, the breath he held escaping shakily through his lips.

“You want to do all the work again huh? Please, be my guest...” He smirks, eyes scanning over your body he does, his attitude quickly returning as you kiss his lips again. Your lips start moving along his jawline, paying careful attention to sensitive spots. Yoongi sighs, a slight groan catching on the end of it as he tilts his head back for you.

“You talk a lot of shit for someone who’s going to be whimpering in a few minutes.” You say simply, feeling your panties dampen as you start to kiss over his collarbones. You may have a slight fixation with them. Teeth nibble and suck over the sensitive skin as Yoongi opens his mouth to respond. His response is quickly cut off when you press your hips to his dick, words caught in his throat as he groans slightly.

“Talking shit is my kink...” He whispers, smirking, his eyes lulled with lust, teeth biting into his bottom lip as he pushes his hips back against you.

You giggle at his comment, lips pressed against his skin as you do. Your careful to ensure that the seam of your leggings lines up with the seam of his joggers so, that you can feel his swollen dick press against your clit. The sensation sends a shiver down your spine and, you hate that you’re already so eager to have him inside of you again. Your hands slip underneath his hoodie, pushing it up further and further, exposing Yoongi’s chest. He takes the hint, hands quickly coming up to remove the article of clothing, revealing his body to you. His nipples are hard, his smooth stomach clenched slightly in anticipation as he looks down at you. You bite your lip at the sight of him, lips returning to his collar bones, kissing and sucking over the skin there.

“Is that why you’re so hard?” You quip, Yoongi’s hands coming up to push at your own hoodie, encouraging its removal with furrowed brows. He gets his way as you briefly pull away from his neck to take off your sweater before, returning back to kissing your way down his chest.

Yoongi’s soft laughter can be felt against your lips, his hips pressing up into you again before he responds, “No.”

“No? Then what’s making you so hard?” You pull back, sitting on him, putting your lace covered chest on full display.

With eager eyes, Yoongi scans over your body, taking in the sight before him, sucking on his bottom lip.

“You’re so hot...” He mumbles, mostly to himself, his hands coming up to squeeze at your hips.

“That doesn’t answer my question...” You retort, voice soft and raspy with lust as you smirk down at him.

His nimble fingers find the clasp at your back, undoing your bra in no time, pulling back to look at your breasts, licking his lips as he does. Yoongi’s gazes shifts to meet your own before returning your smirk, sitting up slightly to wrap his arms around you fully.

“Yeah...” He presses his lips to yours “it does.”

He’s leaning you back slightly, your legs wrapping firmly around his torso as he kisses at your lips, a gummy smile flashing when he pulls away. Another laugh leaves your lips as you come up to place your fingertips on either sides of his cheeks. The energy between the two of you is so pure and refreshing, you felt so comfortable and elated and turned on all at the same time and, by the way Yoongi was peering into your eyes, lips still playfully attacking your own, you could tell he felt the same way.

Yoongi leans forward a bit more, laying you down on the opposite end of the bed, hands eagerly tucking into the band of your leggings and pulling them off in one quick motion. You squeal slightly as he does, feet landing on either side of his knees, as you stare up at him.

“Your turn...” You nudge his hip with your foot, toeing the hem of his joggers. Yoongi snorts, batting your foot away before pulling his joggers and boxers off at the same time. His dick was so hard it stood prominently away from his hips, veins pushing against the smooth skin, as the tip of him shined slightly with precum.

“You left my panties on.” You point out, eyes swimming with desire as you pry your eyes away from Yoongi’s cock. The black lacey panties you chose to wear for the evening we’re drenched and, you wondered whether or not Yoongi could tell.

Yoongi’s heavy eyes meet yours, the corner of his mouth pulling up in a half smile as his hands come up to rest on your knees, parting your legs.

“I know...” He whispers, licking over his lips as he slots himself between your thighs.

The smirk returns to your mouth as you pull him closer to you, your breasts pressed to his bare chest as you place a searing kiss against his bitten lips. He smiles into the kiss, hips aligning with your own as he does, his swollen dick agonizingly close to where you want it the most.

“Is that another one of your kinks? Fucking me with my panties on?” You mumble into his lips as he braces his hands on either side of your head.

Yoongi smile waxes again, his teeth biting into your bottom lip as he nods, his brown eyes wide and falsely innocent as they look into yours.

“Can I?” He murmurs, fingers tracing patterns on your inner thighs, only adding to the wetness in your panties.

You nod eagerly, looking down at where the two of you are connected, your fingers moving to tuck themselves into the side of your panties, pulling them over to expose your bare pussy to Yoongi’s gaze.

His eyes close momentarily as he lets out shaky breath through his nose. They open seconds later, a renewed amount of darkness in them as he looks up at you, his hand wrapping around his dick. As he strokes himself a few times and lines himself up at your entrance, his eyes never leave yours even when he pushes himself into you. The moment you feel him enter you, your pussy tightens around him, contracting and pulling him closer to you. A drunk smile graces Yoongi’s features as he lulls his head back towards you, his shallow breath catches in his throat as he starts to move in and out of you, grazing that spongey spot inside of you as he does.

“Good?” You whisper shakily, giggling at the blissful smile on his face.

Yoongi stares down at you, chuckling darkly, his words slurred slightly as he responds, “So good.”

You start to meet the motion of Yoongi’s narrow hips, your feet planted on either side of him for leverage. Yoongi leans down, kissing into your neck and across your chest as his hips start to subtly pick up the pace. You can feel your clit swell at his motions, the increased speed nudging that spot inside of you more consistently. Everything about him felt so fucking good, his hips, his lips, his dick, even his breath. If you had it your way, it would last forever but, things with him were so good that you found yourself wanting to cum way too early.

Yoongi sucks on a particular part of your neck that makes your eyes roll back and, you tense at the pleasure, your hands coming up to grab at Yoongi’s back. He picks up the pace of his hips slightly as he feels you on his back, soft grunts leaving his pouted lips as he does.

“You always make me feel like I could...cum so fast...” Yoongi’s gravelly voice is muffled by the skin of your neck, the tone almost pained as he grinds slower momentarily before picking up the pace again. “It’s not fair.” The last bit of his sentence sounded very much like a whine and, you giggle softly, feeling very drunk yourself as you meet the motions of hips with your own.

You feel your nails press into the skin of his back, digging in roughly and, you realize you must be doing something right because, you literally feel Yoongi throb inside of you.

“You like my nails?” You whisper in his ear, nibbling on the curve of it, sending a shiver down Yoongi’s spine as he still continues kissing over your chest and neck.

He nods, not fully attentive as his lips wrap around one of your nibbles, soft tongue coming out to rub against it. Your back arches into his mouth, eyes closing at the feeling, hips moving faster and slightly harder as you run your nails all over his back. There is a familiar tightness in your stomach that’s weaving its way into your pussy, your clit jumping in response as Yoongi hits your spot with more force.

You moan softly, as Yoongi kisses his way up your neck, settling on your lips. His eyes are wild and blown out as he looks into yours, his lips lacking all sense of technique as he kisses at you.

“Jagi...” He whimpers into your mouth and, the sudden change in his tone makes you almost loose it right then and there. You suck on his bottom lip in response your hands rubbing on his shoulders as the two of you fuck into eachother harder and harder.

“Are you close?” You whisper, a moan catching on the end of your question as Yoongi delivers a harder thrust, your orgasm rapidly approaching as he nods, his teeth knocking against yours slightly.

“Want your nails...” He mumbles again, lips kissing on your lips.

You flex your fingers over the skin of his back, hoping to find the motion that makes his dick throb, trying to keep focus through the hazy fog of your impending orgasm.

“You want me to scratch you baby?” At your question, Yoongi snaps his hips against yours, the movement causing you to almost loose it.

Yoongi pulls back from your lips, flitting his eyes toward yours, his gaze intense and, swimming with pure desire as he forces out a raspy, broken response.

“If you scratch me, you’re gonna make me cum.” He warns, hips grinding upwards to focus on your g-spot and, your thankful for his warning because, you were not in a position to last any longer either.

“That’s ok, I’ll cum with you, I’ll cum too.” You assure him, hand coming up to brush the sweaty hair from his eyes, his lips turning to kiss against your palm before he nods.

“Do it...I’m so close jagi, please.” He pleads with you and you oblige, digging your nails into his back, scratching against his skin as he starts to fuck you so hard, it forces air from the back of your throat.

“fuck...” Yoongi whimpers, his voice almost small as you feel his hips tense against yours, his first rope of cum hitting the walls of your pussy. Yoongi’s eyes find yours and the desperate, fucked out expression he sports, is enough to send you over the edge. The tension in your hips breaks as warmth and euphoria spread throughout your body. Yoongi’s hips are unrelenting as he fucks through his orgasm, a deep shaky moan leaving his lips.

“Yoongi...” You moan softly, still scratching at his back and, at the sound of his name, Yoongi crumbles, his eyes rolling back as his orgasm continuing to shatter him as he collapses onto your chest, his lips sucking on the skin there.

The two of you start to come down as Yoongi slows the motion of his hips, his body covered in a sheen of sweat and goosebumps. The nails on his back soften as you ride out the rest of your orgasm, your fingers brushing against the battered skin of his back gently. There’s quite a few moments of silence before he pulls out of you and, if your panties weren’t wet before, they were completely soaked now. Yoongi cuddles up into the crook of your arm, his sweaty blonde head, resting on your chest as he does. You smile softly, still breathless as your hand comes up to comb your fingers through his hair.

“Do you want to stay the night?” You whisper finally, breaking the few moments of silence.

His eyes are shut, a blissful smile on his face as he cuddles into you further, his heart still pounding when he nods.

“Yes please.”

Skkkkrrrrt.

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somecunttookmyurl · 5 years

Text

The skincare post, or “I’m 29 and 18 year olds keep flirting with me because they think I’m 20″

DISCLAIMER: I am not a dermatologist. This is not a recommendation for specific products so much as an explanation of the routine I use. My skin is... well it’s normal. Not oily, not dry (not after I got into a routine and it balanced itself out, anyway). I don’t have acne, or dermatitis. My skin isn’t even sensitive. People with particular skin needs should use products suited to them.

The other reason this isn’t a product recommendation is that, for the most part, I just get whatever is on sale whenever something is coming to an end. Since I don’t have any particular skin conditions to cater for, it doesn’t really matter what particular stuff I buy. But I do get most of my stuff from maskhouse.co.uk who almost perpetually run offers and have a good loyalty point system. I’ve never paid full price for anything. Ever.

It’s long. The children are eternally disappointed when they ask me how this works and actually find out. Also: stay hydrated and go the fuck to sleep. Seriously.

PART 1(a): The morning

Step 1: Cleansing. Use a gentle foam cleanser (or even just plain water!) to wake up and refresh your skin. Pat (for the love of god do not rub) your face dry with a clean towel. Pictured: Hyggee Care Cleansing Foam, RRP £24.

Step 2: Toner. Toning sets your face up to properly absorb the rest of your skincare routine, and different toners can provide additional benefits. I have The World’s Largest Pores on my nose so I have an astringent toner aimed at minimising them. Gently wipe over face and neck never forget your neck with a cotton ball or pad. Leave to air dry. Brush your teeth or make the bed or something in the meantime. Pictured: SecretKey Black Out Pore Clean Toner RRP £16

Step 3: Essence. Essence is a very lightweight moisturiser designed to be used over your whole face. This light hydrating layer is designed to prime your skin for the more intense hydration, and you can buy them catered to all manner of skin types. Pat gently into the skin of your face and neck. You’re probably noticing a pattern here. Pat, never rub, and be as gentle as you can through the whole routine. Leave to absorb whilst doing some other part of your normal morning routine. Pictured: SecretKey Starting Treatment Essence RRP £35 Step 4 (a+b): Serums and eye cream. Serums are thicker hydrating layers that target specific problems and areas and are only applied where they are needed. As mentioned, I have Crater Pore Syndrome so my serum is meant for that. If you have red skin on your cheeks, you might use one for that. At the same time, apply an eye cream. The skin around the eyes is particularly delicate and needs extra care. Again, leave to absorb fully. Pictured: Its Skin Power 10 Effector Serum (PO) RRP £12 / SecretKey Snail Repairing Eye Cream RRP £30 Step 5: A light all-over moisturiser. Finish off the hydration with a lighweight all-over cream applied to the face and neck. Pictured: Simple Kind To Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser RRP £4.29

Step 6: Refreshing under-eye roll. Especially useful for those of us with perpetual tired eyes. A cooling under-eye roll on with refresh and rejuvinate the under-eye area. Like wearing a cucumber mask for half an hour, except instant. Pictured: Polaar Icymagic Instant Eye Contour Multi Energiser RRP £24

Step 7: SPF. I don’t care if it’s deepest darkest December. UVA and UVB rays cause damage to the skin even when the sun is at its weakest. If you’re going to be leaving the house, apply a high SPF cream at least 15 minutes before leaving. Suncreams specifically designed for the face are more lightweight. Pictured: Berrisom Essence Sun SPF 50+ RRP £14

Part 1(b): The morning (alt.) or: GOOD GOD I LOVE SHEET MASKS

On alternate days (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) I replace the entirety of steps 3, 4, and 5 with a sheet mask whilst I go about my business. Sheet masks are soaked in essence and are left on for 15-20 minutes whilst your skin absorbs it all. After removal, pat in the remaining essence (and dig out what was left in the package for your hands)

I get all of mine from MaskHouse.co.uk who frequently run kickass mask sales. I use 4 a week, in total, so I have a stash of like... 80 various masks under my bath right now.

Pictured: Berrisom Water Bomb Jelly Mask RRP £2.25 / Holika Holika Juicy Mask Sheet RRP £2 / Holika Holika Pure Essence Mask Sheet RRP £1.50

Part 2: The Evening

Step 1: Oil cleanser. Washing your face with oil might sound dumb as heck, but like clings to like and oil-based cleansing is an excellent way to remove makeup and daily greasemonkey buildup. Massage 1-2 pumps gently into the skin and rinse off. Pictured: SecretKey Lemon Sparkling Cleansing Oil RRP £24 Step 2: Foam cleanser. Remove additional debris and fully cleanse the face with a gentle foam cleanser. There’s no reason to use a different one to the morning I just got this one free and my Hyggee is running low. Pictured: G9Skin Milk In White Foam RRP £3.99

Step 3: Exfoliating. A gentle chemical exfoliator can be used every day to renew the skin. Gently wipe over face and neck with a cotton ball or pad in place of toner. Pictured: The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution RRP £6.75

Step 4 & 5 (a+b): Essence, serum, and eye cream. As with the morning, apply essence to face and neck, and once absorbed proceed with seums and eye cream.

Step 6: Night cream. Heavier than the moisturiser applied in the morning, designed to absorb overnight. Pictured: Berrisom The Prestige Balancing Cream RRP £55

Step 7: Sleeping Pack. Even more intense than the night cream. Sleeping packs are mightily thick solutions that are almost mask-like, to keep your face fully hydrated overnight. Pictured: Missha Nearskin Egg White Pack RRP £11.99

Step 8: Balancing gel. This is the only time I’m going to make a specific product recommendation, if only because I know of nothing else like it. This balancing gel product forms a barrier over your skin, effectively “locking in” all the moisture you’ve already provided and allowing for better absorption. To apply, squeeze on to fingertips, press fingertips together, and press on to skin. Rubbing this product at all will not work. Especially recommended for winter, or dry climates. Pictured: Pyunkang Yul Balancing Gel RRP £27

Part 3: The full facial (Sundays)

Every Sunday I throw the normal morning routine out the window and perform a full thorough facial. This takes a long-ass time, but most of it is sitting around waiting so it’s a good excuse to lounge around watching cartoons in your PJs. If you have a problem with sebaceous filaments (that’s the shit on your nose that looks for all the world like blackheads but actually isn’t) this is good for reducing that. Also: do not do this for the first time right before a major event. Trust me on this one.

I forgot to include it in the picture, but cleanse before starting.

Step 1: Exfoliating Peel. A stronger chemical exfoliator than the one used daily. Always do a patch test when using a new product like this. Apply as directed and leave for 10 minutes before rinsing off and patting face dry. Pictured: The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution RRP £6.25 Step 2: Clay mask. After your skin has been peeeeeeeeeeeeeeled, it’s fully primed for a clay mask to bring out all the impurities in your skin. You know how I said “don’t do this right before a major event?” yeah. You’re probably going to have pimples tomorrow if this is your first time. Better out than in, eh? Apply an even layer to face and neck, avoiding the eye area, and leave for 15-20 mins. Rinse thoroughly and pat face dry. Pictured: Sun Privé Sun + Shine Skin Pink Clay Mask RRP £24.99

Step 3: Pore strip. With your pores thoroughly exfoliated and deep-cleaned, this is the best time to do a nose pore strip to remove blackheads. Pictured: Holika Holika Pig Nose Clear Blackhead 3-step Kit RRP £3.50

Step 4 (a+b): Sheet mask + hydrogel eye patch. Sheet masks you know about, but hydrogel eye patches are specifically shaped and designed to be applied to the under-eye area and provide some deep moisture to your delicate skin. Apply eye patches, and pop the sheet mask on top. Pictured: Petitfee Gold & Snail Hydrogel Eye Patch RRP £10.78 / Missha Pure Source Cell Sheet Mask RRP £1.50

#skincare

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linkisntrelevant · 4 years

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✧｡ kim hanbin. 22 .he/him. ｡✧ is that LINCOLN “Link” KWON living at THE LINKS in APARTMENT #204? i heard the COMIC BOOK STORE WORKER has lived there for 18 MONTHS now. every time you pass by you can hear I Fall Apart by Post Malone playing. maybe they play it because they’re friends would say they’re the GIVER. it could just me assuming things. even if they would say they are (+SELFLESS) and (+DETERMINED.) that doesn’t mean they can’t be (-BRASS) or (-STUBBORN.) let’s just stop by and ask them sometime. considering they’d describe themselves as (second hand everything, finding pacifiers and baby toys everywhere, sleeping alone, crumpled up bills because he isn’t sure how to pay them, studying in between shifts.) that’s if they’ll actually answer the door. good luck. (ooc: shelby, she/them, 26, cst.)

Basic:

Birthday: 6 August 1998

Sign: Leo

Nationality: Korean

Sexuality: Bisexual

Pronouns: He/him

Background:

Birth Place: Austin, Texas

Hometown: Austin, Texas

Health Issues: minor depression, three screws in his knee from surgery he had when he was a teenager

Trauma: warched his girlfriend die while giving birth

Physical:

Faceclaim: Kim Hanbin

Eyes color: Brown

Hair color: Black

Height: 5'10

Weight: 142lbs

Dominant hand: Right

Tattoos/scars/birthmarks: "I think I saw you in my sleep" with a pair of small hands tattooed on the back of his right arm, a tombstone tattooed on his wrist “death is a thief,” flowers and spiderwebs tattooed on his elbows, 0 gauged ears

Relatives:

Mother: Min Byeong Soo

Mother’s Occupation: Labor and Delivery Nurse

Father: Kwon Jin Eun

Father’s Occupation: Accountant

Siblings: Min Joo Kyung (27), Sun Min (24)

Children: Ensley Kwon (3)

Random Facts:

His favourite food is dinosaur chicken nuggets. He always has a bag of them in the freezer. He says its because his daughter, but they are really for him.

He hasn’t been in a proper relationship since he was with Harmony. So he’s been single for 3 years.

He still draws when he has the chance, which is when it’s slow at the comic book shop. He’s been working on drawing a comic book series for years.

Past:

Link is the first generation born in American from his Korean immigrant parents. For years they waited, studying American history and culture in hopes to move to America, to give their children a better chance at life. Sure enough in 1998, the same year they learned they were pregnant with Link their citizenship was granted. No more green cards, actual American citizen identification for them and all three of their children. In a way of celebration, they named their new child, their first son Lincoln, after their favourite president.

Being the first son put a lot of pressure on Link. He always tried his best in school, playing on the baseball team as well as studying hard to live the life his parents so desperately wanted for him. The pressure was a lot for him, since it was coming from his big sisters as well.

It wasn’t until the boy was in seventh school that he had the vocabulary and knowledge to understand that the pressure he was feeling wasn’t normal. That the nights he laid awake at night weren’t normal. Other students weren’t put under as much pressure or held to such high expectations as he was. That was the first time that he told his parents that he thought he was depressed. Both parents dismissed him, telling him that was a rich person’s sickness. He had a roof over his head and hot meals on the table every night, he had nothing to be depressed about

So he ignored it, going on as if nothing was wrong. But deep inside he knew that what he was feeling was valid. That something was wrong in his head.

Link’s sophomore year, he met Harmony and his world was shook. The second he laid eyes on her, he knew he wanted her. She was in the stands at one of his baseball games. He kept an eye on her the entire game, just to make sure she didn’t leave before he had the chance to talk to her. Sure enough, she was waiting for him by the dugouts after the game was over.

The rest became ancient history. For the rest of high school they dated and were practically inseparable. A high school romantic just like all the cheesy movies. Link knew it too, but he didn’t care. He loved this girl with everything he had inside of him.

Their first year at college, they took too much advantage of their freedom and ended up in the family way. The pregnancy was complicated to say the least. Neither of them were ready for a baby and not a single one of their parents was supportive when they told them. Abortion was never on the table, as Harmony was already four months along when they realized what was going on. So they decided on adoption, giving the baby the life they knew they would never be able to give it. For months they met with couples until they found one that seemed nice and would love their child unconditionally.

A week before the due date, Harmony went into labor in the middle of the night. A few hours later, around sunrise their daughter was born. She was healthy and safe, but Harmony was not. She wouldn’t stop bleeding and unfortunately didn’t make it. When the adoptive couple came to collect the baby, Link couldn’t part with her. This little girl was all he had left of his Harmony and he couldn’t bare part with her. So he didn’t. Ensley Julienne Kwon was his baby and he wasn’t going to give her up for anthing.

For the first year of his daughter’s life, he lived back at home with his parents. Trying to make things work while listening to their constant badgering and negativity. They helped with the baby but were always reluctant and negative about it, criticizing how he decided to do certain things and judgmental of how he was caring for himself. But the young father was still drowning in the loss of his love.

One week after Ensley’s first birthday, Link packed up his car and left with no real plan of where he was going or what he was doing. Talking to some of his online friends, he decided to head for California. A couple days of living in his car and he found himself an apartment and a steady job at his friend’s comic book store. It’s not an ideal living situation, but he’s happy...for the most part. At least happier than he was back in Texas.

Wanted Connections:

Besties with Benefits: I want this to be a legit friendship, like the bestie who hook up with each other

Just Benefits: A simple hook up, someone who they don’t even need to hang out after they finish or even really get along. Just good sex

A shoulder to cry on: it’s no secret that Link is having a hard time with life and he needs someone to act as his support. Someone to act as an older sibling, a mentor, a therapist. Someone to be there when he needs it the most.

Wanna Be Baby Mama: this one has to be female, because I want this person to become very close with Ensley, almost to the point where she starts calling this person Mom.

Nerd Buddies: Someone who comes into the comic book shop a lot because they’ve seen his work and like it. These people don’t have to be close, but the potential to be more is there. Future besties maybe? Maybe more. Who knows! We’ll find ot

#twenty3:intro #bio #how could you be so heartless [self]

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christinaengela · 4 years

Text

Hello friends and fans!

Welcome to my 44th newsletter – August 2020!

On A Personal Note

The 17th of July was a terribly sad day for our family because of the death of one of our fur-children, Ming. She was my little writing companion who used to sit across my shoulders sometimes, or on my knee while I typed away on my laptop.

I love all three our kitties, but Mingy-moo as I used to call her, held a special place in my heart… and to be frank, I miss her presence in my life terribly, as does Wendy.

Lily – our giant white mommy-cat, and Nyx – our little black one, were clearly in mourning as well. Their behavior has changed since she disappeared so suddenly from our lives, and even after a week, Nyx still hovers around the spot where Ming sat the last day she was with us, and Lily still searches the house for the missing kitty.

Ming used to do little things the other two kitties don’t do – some endearing, and some outright naughty – whose absence only makes her loss that much more tangible. Somehow the house seems so much more quiet and empty. Something is missing, and for weeks the empty-nest feeling has hung over it like a pall. It will be a while yet before we lift ourselves up again, and move on.

Then, in the early hours of Friday 24 July, more bad news! Someone asshat with sticky fingers burgled our Golf! Fortunately they were unprepared and set off the alarm and fled, leaving the driver side door open. There was some good news with the bad – there was no damage at all. The enterprising individual must’ve used a ‘slim-jim’ or similar tool to lever the lock open via the window channel, so no windows or locks etc. were damaged. I figure they also probably tried to steal the wheels – and then discovered I had a lock-nut on each wheel, because the only thing the bastards seem to have got away with is one single, solitary wheel-nut!

That aside, on other, much happier fronts, I completed another two paintings since last time we spoke – bringing my total number of paintings to five – and then I returned to writing again! On that front, among the BIGGEST news items I have to share with you this time, is the release of the audiobook version of “Blachart” – it’s finally here – and after three weeks of availability, I’m happy to report that it’s doing very well! More about that below!

Art

I also indulge in painting from time to time – and no, I don’t mean walls! The following paintings are in my portfolio:

“Human Nature” 2017 A4 acrylic canvas

“Balancier” 2020 A2 acrylic canvas

“Rescuer” 2020 A2 acrylic canvas

“The Awakening” 2020 A2 acrylic canvas

“The Earth Wept” 2020 40x40cm acrylic on canvas

I completed “The Awakening” on June 5, and started “The Earth Wept” just a few days later. “The Earth Wept” is on 40x40cm canvas and I finished that on July 12. I’ve also since renamed “Untitled” to “Human Nature”.

You can read more about my art projects on the Art page.

What do you think of them? Feel free to let me know!

Music

Yes – I also make music from time to time!

A selection of music tracks I made using eJay and other similar apps between 1999 – 2008 are available on my YouTube channel.

You can read more on the Music page on my website!

Activism

For those of you interested in my activism-related posts and activities, you can follow them at “Sour Grapes: The Fruit Of Ignorance“.

Current Writing Projects

In the past few weeks I deviated from writing and went into art for a while, delivering four new completed paintings in a little over a month! In the meantime however, I made a return to writing by starting the long awaited next title in the Galaxii series!

Book 4 – still under a working title – is currently at a little over 18,000 words and growing by the day!

Editing

On the editing side of things, my friend Brandon Mullins has been getting me into a proofreading and editing sideline over at Moon Books Publishing, and I’ll let you have any news on that as it happens!

I’ve just received the first submission for a new project entitled “Captain Jockstrap and the League of Do-gooders”! Yes, it probably is as silly as it sounds – but that’s the idea!

In the meantime, I still have a horror anthology on my desktop, which still needs a couple more submissions to reach publishing length – and more than that wouldn’t hurt! There will be no payment to writers, but participation will help get your name out there. If interested, please send them along to [email protected].

Marketing – The Dreaded “M” Word!

Portfolio 2020!

I thought it would be nice if I could produce a neat, organized catalog of all my books that interested parties could download and browse – a free, distributable and shareable catalog, and so I created “Portfolio 2020!” – a listing of all my currently available titles!

Portfolio is more than that though, because it also contains a biography as well as synopses for most of my titles – and I have a plan to update it regularly, perhaps on an annual basis! Portfolio 2020 is available as a free download from my website.

Videos

In July, I made a new book trailer video for the audiobook version of “Blachart” – and so did Nigel Peever as it turned out!

youtube

https://christinaengela.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/blachart-video-by-nigel-peever.mp4

Aren’t they great? 🙂

Sales

Getting my writing available in audiobook format seems to have been the ticket I’ve been waiting for, and these are truly exciting times for me as a writer! At this stage I have only one audiobook out, my first, and with its first month almost complete, sales are really encouraging! For the past month most of my marketing has been aimed at promoting “Blachart” and upcoming new audiobook titles “When Darkness Calls”, “Malice!” and “Demonspawn”. With more to follow, these items really could be the thing that helps promote my writing and blow those doors open that so far have tended to keep me out!

Publishing

Under recent releases this month, these are the six books I’ve released so far this year!

July really has been a month of change. Not only was there a death in the family, but it’s also the month I closed my account with Lulu.com – the self-publishing platform I’ve used since 2005. Although I am angry with Lulu, and sorely disappointed in what they’ve done – and how they did it – I am grateful for what they did for me over the years. There’s no way I would’ve had the foundations in self-publishing I have today, were it not for Lulu. At one time, they were the ONLY self-publishing platform that would take on writers from South Africa – let alone being willing to accommodate paying us via PayPal!

Sadly, I simply couldn’t get to grips with the awful new changes Lulu inexplicably inflicted on loyal users that – in my view – rendered the platform unfriendly and totally useless. In the second week of July I redistributed the titles that were based on Lulu between Moon Books (publishing eBook, paperback and audiobook via Amazon) and eBooks via EBooks2Go, Draft2Digital and StreetLib. Frankly I think some of them that were available only on Lulu will have an even wider reach as a result. I sent Lulu the account deletion request on the 20th.

Unfortunately, due to Lulu’s short-sighted idiocy, I now have to edit and update “The Pitfalls of South African Self-publishing” as well – there’s an entire section covering how to self-publish a book via the system Lulu just casually chucked into the bin that needs to change. Frankly, I’m thinking I’ll need to base that portion on EBooks2go instead – since their system is far simpler and easier to use, not to mention less fiddly.

Also as a result, I’ve had to update purchase links on my website and social media accounts that referred directly or indirectly to my books via Lulu. If you find any I haven’t got round to fixing yet, please drop me a line and let me know! 😉

Hally Park Publishers

For quite a while now I’ve been working to expand my marketing reach, and in the spirit of that endeavor I recently contracted with Hally Park Publishers – a South African small press who also list suitable self-published titles on their website – to list my eBooks!

It’s taken a little time for them to appear on their website – after all, I’m not the only author they have listed, and I have just over 30 books – so I’m sure that was quite a job! Nevertheless, the first fifteen appeared on their site during the night (yes, I’ve been watching)!

The advantage of this arrangement – that is, listing my books on a local South African book selling site – is that it’s a new local market which already attracts its own traffic! Additionally, the prices are displayed in Rands, as well as my books being displayed alongside titles by other local authors – which should attract more local readers looking for some local literary South African flavor!

You can view my listing there by clicking on the link, or the screenshot below!

Audiobooks

“All That Remains” JEA (2019)

“See Them Aliens” MBP (2019)

“Blachart” MBP (2020)

I mentioned previously in my post “Coming Soon! “Blachart” – the Audiobook!” back in May – and in my newsletters for June and July that I’ve been eagerly awaiting the audiobook release of “Blachart” – and I’m sure you have too!

On the July 10th I got a notification that “Blachart” the audiobook was available on Amazon! As I promised in February this year, “Blachart” has (finally) been released as an audiobook! It doesn’t usually take this long to go through the production process, and I’m sure the current pandemic must’ve had something to do with it – but regardless, the eagerly-awaited finished product has arrived at last! And – WOW – what a product it is!

Narrated by Nigel Peever, “Blachart” – book 1 in the Galaxii series – is 10 hours 26 min long, and is nothing less than a rip-roaring sci-fi adventure! You can read more about it here.

I’ve also had to review a string of auditions for “Malice!“, “When Darkness Calls” and “Best Served Cold” – and I have to comment on the diverseness of the sort of voices, accents and personalities that sent their auditions in! Wow! For a writer, nothing encapsulates the diversity of one’s audience more than listening to a variety of people, male and female, reading words you wrote in a variety of accents! It’s even more of a compliment when you can hear them enjoying it as they do so! “When Darkness Calls” is narrated by Miciah Dodge, and Michelle Innes had me covered in goosebumps as she read an excerpt of “Malice!” in her Scottish accent! Currently, “Malice!”, “When Darkness Calls”, and “Demonspawn” are in production, and we’re still looking for a narrator to read “Best Served Cold”!

Coming Soon

In the meantime, here’s a look at the covers for the coming audiobooks of “When Darkness Calls” and “Demonspawn”:

Reviews

You can see all my previous reviews here.

Currently Available Titles

I now have 29 unique titles available in 4 series (not including books I’ve been the editor for, and my 16 free promotional items)! My books are available in three different formats: EBooks, Paperbacks and Audiobooks. Click the links or images below to view titles available in these formats.

Communication

Below are links to a few of my most recent posts and articles since my last newsletter:

Expand The Brand: Hally Park Publishers

Guest Writer #4: Lee Hall

Coming Soon: “Malice!” – The Audiobook!

Coming Soon: “Demonspawn” – The Audiobook!

“Blachart” – TWO Audiobook Trailers!

“When Darkness Calls” – Actually A True Story

A Visit To The Archives!

“Blachart” – A Writing Journey [cross-posted on Moon Books website]

Unleashed: “Blachart” – The Audiobook!

Free Download! Portfolio 2020!

Another Round At The Crow Bar #43 July 2020

If you want to see more articles, just click on the category links below:

Elements of Horror

FAQ Answered

Fun Facts

LGBT Heroes

The Tech Side

Secret Weapons of the Resistance

Writing Advice

Guest Writers

Newsletters

Interactions

Fan Mail, Reader Reviews & Honorable Mentions

I very pleased to have quite a few items to show you this month!

Parade.com shared one of my quotes in a listing titled “150 of the Best Relationship Quotes and Sweetest Couple Quotes That’ll Make Your Heart Flutter” on July 08, 2020. “Regardless of what language it is said in, ‘I love you’ stays beautiful, and two hearts beating together make the same sound. It is the language of Love.” – Christina Engela

The Satanic Church of South Africa shared my academic book “Satanism: The Acid Test” on their website resource page! (found on July 12, 2020) This is of course, what this book is supposed to do – educate people, demystify the occult, and relieve people of their ignorance!

Miciah Dodge, the narrator recording “When Darkness Calls” sent a message via ACX on July 07:

Jennifer Shepard really seems to have liked my article about “Blachart”! (July 11, 2020):

The audiobook version of “Blachart” received a gracious reader/listener review on the 5th of July:

On July 21, Brandon Mullins, CEO of Moon Books Publishing shared the following compliment for “Blachart” in a publishing group on Facebook:

On July 26, Scott M. Darrah gave me his opinion of the audiobook:

Miciah Dodge, the narrator for “Christina Engela’s Strangely Compelling Scifi Stories vol 1”, “When Darkness Calls” and “Duck Blind” sent me this nice email on July 26, 2020:

I display my Fan Mail, Reviews & Compliments with pride, gratitude and humility. You’re always welcome to have a look.

Hate Mail & Horrible Mentions

On July 17, somebody thought it would probably be hilarious if they spam bombed my inbox with email notifications for a fake account they created in my name – on an Asian Dating Site in Indonesia! Unfortunately for them, I left the factory with a warped sense of humor, so instead of being bent out of shape by their ‘ingenuity’ all they did was give me a few good laughs… I mean have you seen half the profiles on any dating site?? Anyway, I know how to filter and block email addresses – and the admins of said dating site were kind enough to delete the profile for me when I asked nicely, so – better luck next time, whoever you are!

I’m rather proud of my hate mail, and you can review my collection here – but be forewarned, don’t do it while eating or drinking, or you might choke while laughing!

Interviews

All my interviews are linked to from this page. If you would like to do an interview with me about my work, please do get in touch!

In Closing

Well, that’s all for this time, folks! 🙂

Thanks again for all your support, friendship and interaction!

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Until next time, keep reading!

Cheers! 🙂

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Another Round At The Crow Bar #44 August 2020 Hello friends and fans! Welcome to my 44th newsletter - August 2020!

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