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theyshareoneheartbeatnow · 5 months

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COVID-128: A Lunar Chronicles Story

“In just a few minutes you’ll be hearing from Earthen Union’s lead medical researcher, Dr. Fuacino,” said Kai, his expression serious yet calm as he looked into the netscreen. He was used to this, of course. He’d been making public addresses to the world for years and had been in the media’s eye long before that. Still, it never ceased to make Cinder’s heart swell, just a little, to see him in his element. Being the leader he was born to be. She often wondered if she would ever be as comfortable in front of the cameras, despite how Kai and so much of her own royal staff persisted in telling her that she was doing great.

“For now,” Kai continued, “Lunar Ambassador Linh Cinder and I encourage you to continue using the protocols our medical experts have recommended to keep yourself, your family, and our society as safe as possible.”

“Wash your hands frequently,” said Cinder, reciting the words she’d said at the end of each of these press conferences. Words that she’d probably started to say in her sleep by now. “Avoid touching your face. And practice social distancing. It really is making a difference. We’ll see you back on Earth as soon as we can. Believe me, Iko—my adviser and public relations representative—has already started planning our celebratory ball for when this pandemic is over.”

“Stay safe, and take care,” said Kai. They both smiled at the netscreen for a beat, then Kai reached forward and ended the transmission.

They turned to each other and shared a mutual sigh.

“Another day, another press conference,” said Cinder, taking his hand. “You were great, as usual.”

He groaned. “Thanks, but . . . I know I don’t need to tell you how much I hate this. The world is facing yet another crisis, and here I am, stuck on Thorne’s spaceship. Again.” Despite his complaining, he gave her hand a squeeze. They both knew this was for the best. Most everyone on the planet knew it was for the best.

They’d been returning from Luna after a congenial visit with the newly instated Lunar cabinet when the outbreak had occurred—a new disease spreading rapidly across planet Earth.

“At least we learned a thing or two after dealing with Letumosis,” said Cinder as they left the crew’s quarters that had been set up as their official press room after the lockdown had gone into effect, suspending travel to and from Earth and leaving thousands of spacecraft, including the Rampion, orbiting the planet.

Kai chuckled humorlessly, dragging a hand through his hair. It was a habit that Cinder had noticed he did after every conference, almost like he had to untidy himself as soon as their transmission was over, transforming from the Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth back to . . . just Kai. Her Kai.

“We did learn a lot, didn’t we?” he said. “I’m embarrassed to think about how we handled Letumosis. Hardly any social distancing at all. Can you imagine—I even still held the annual ball!”

“And none of the markets shut down. I was working at my mechanic booth like nothing had changed. I mean, I guess my shop was an essential business, but still.”

“It would have been a lot better if we’d known to shut things down. Practice social distancing.” Kai shrugged. “Live and learn. At least we’re getting this COVID-128 taken care of a lot more effectively.”

A door opened in the corridor and Scarlet appeared, looking slightly bewildered, her mess of red curls tied into a messy bun on top of her head. “Is the press conference over?”

“Just finished,” said Cinder. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said, rubbing a palm into her eye. “Didn’t get much sleep last night, but I had to finish the tenth season of Friends.”

“What’s Friends?” asked Kai.

“Oh, this thing, it’s called a sitcom. They had a lot of them in the second era. Sort of like a netdrama, but”—Scarlet searched for the right word—“happier.” She shook her head, her eyes widening conspiratorially. “Anyway, now I’ve started watching this second-era documentary and I’m telling you, people back then were so weird. Did you know they used to keep tigers as pets?”

“Uh . . .” Cinder glanced at Kai, who looked equally confused by this statement. “You mean, real tigers?”

“Weren’t they nearly extinct back then?” asked Kai.

Scarlet nodded sullenly. “I’m so glad we don’t live in those dark ages.” Then she laughed as she started to retreat into the darkness of her quarters. “Now that your press conference is over, I should be able to stream the next episode. I swear, it’s tooth and nail fighting for bandwidth these days.” With that, she disappeared, shutting the door behind her.

Kai cocked his head, frowning at the door. “Should we be worried about her?”

“Let’s give it a few more days,” said Cinder. “We’re all coping with this in our own way, right? For Scarlet, that’s evidently binge-watching all the second-era media she didn’t have time to watch while she was too busy running the farm.”

Fast-paced techno music with a thumping bass drew their attention toward the cargo hull. It was followed by Iko’s chipper voice barking orders, drill-sergeant style.

“Six! Seven! Eight! Don’t quit now! You can do this! Push push push!”

Cinder followed the voice, though she already had a good idea of what she would find. In the cargo hull, Wolf and Iko were powering through their virtual wellness class. Iko had proposed it a few weeks ago as a way to help people take care of themselves while they were stuck at home, but Cinder had started to suspect it was as much for Wolf’s benefit as for their watchers’. Wolf, more than any of them, was suffering from being trapped aboard the ship for such a long period of time, but the classes had proved an effective way for him to burn off all his extra energy. And Iko enjoyed bossing people around, so they made a good team. Their classes ranged from yoga to kickboxing, and Iko had even thrown in a fair amount of self-care sessions, talking their viewers through guided meditations or teaching them how to make skin-care masks out of pantry staples (all the while pointing out the fact that her own manufactured skin was naturally flawless).

Today they appeared to be focused on strength training. When Cinder and Kai entered the room, Wolf and Iko were switching back and forth between push-ups and jumping jacks. It looked exhausting, but they both had huge grins on their faces, and a glance at the netscreen on the wall showed that they had more than half a million live watchers. A perk of already being semi-famous after the whole Lunar revolution thing.

“Okay,” said Iko, pausing to talk to the screen while Wolf pushed out a few more rounds. “Great job, everyone! We’re going to wrap up this workout with a cooldown and some stretching. Ship, reduce music volume by forty percent.”

As the volume lowered, Thorne appeared in the door to the cockpit. “Are you two almost done? I’ve got a podcast to do here!”

Iko shot him a glare, hands on her hips. “Excuse me, but we are trying to better the lives of people all over the galaxy.”

Thorne quirked an eyebrow. “And you think I’m not?”

“It’s a subjective argument,” Kai muttered, making Cinder smile. Not long after Iko and Wolf had started their virtual classes, Thorne had the brilliant idea to start his own project for the betterment of humanity. His idea was to start a podcast called The Happy Captain with Captain Carswell Thorne, in which he spent literally hours explaining how his listeners could become more awesome . . . like him.

His listener stats had also risen astronomically over the past weeks, and the gushing fan mail had started to pour in, which Cinder found baffling. When she’d brought it up to Cress, though, Cress had just shrugged and confessed that if Thorne had been recording a podcast when she was stuck in her satellite, she definitely would have been listening to it. “Besides,” she added, “he’s started taking live calls from listeners who want relationship advice, and surprisingly . . . the advice he’s been giving hasn’t been terrible.”

Speaking of Cress . . .

Cinder looked around, but she wasn’t in the cargo hull, and she couldn’t see her through the doors to the cockpit or medical room, either. “Where’s Cress?” she asked, as Iko and Wolf worked on some hamstring stretches.

Thorne shrugged. “She said she was planning something for us and we shouldn’t bother her. Another one of her games, I think.” Turning, he ducked back into the cockpit.

Wolf, pressed up into cobra pose, sniffed loudly at the air. “I smell pie.”

Iko turned to him. “Pie?”

A second later, Cinder smelled it too, as the aroma of pastry and sugared fruit, along with Winter’s serene voice, wafted in from the galley. “Behold! I discovered two cans of peaches and the cutest little bear-shaped bottle of crystallized honey.” Winter appeared, carrying a perfectly lattice-topped pie in her mitted hands. “The cabinets in there are truly a gold mine of possibility.”

“Don’t we still have a few dozen cookies and half a cake left from the last couple of days?” whispered Kai.

“Unless Wolf got to them,” Cinder whispered back. Which was silly, as Wolf’s ears immediately twitched toward them, no doubt hearing every word. He didn’t look too guilty, though.

Winter’s means of coping during their time aboard the Rampion had mostly revolved around stress baking. A whole lot of stress baking. For the most part, no one was complaining. Most of her creations had been delicious, though the dried-prune-granola-condensed-milk trifle hadn’t been one of her better experiments. Luckily, Wolf would eat anything.

Of all of them, Winter probably had the most to be worried about, anyway, at least on a personal level. Yes, Kai was concerned for his entire country and everyone was anxious to hear about the ongoing vaccine research, but Winter was mostly worried for Jacin. He’d been attending an Earthen medical school for the past couple of years in order to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor, and had just started an internship when the pandemic hit. He’d been on the front lines, caring for infected patients, ever since. Winter was so proud of him—they all were—but there was also a lot of unspoken anxiety swirling through the ship.

“Someone will have to make an emergency supply run soon,” said Winter. “I’m almost out of flour and Scarlet promised to share her croissant recipe.” She passed Cinder and Kai, forcing them apart as she set the steaming pie down on top of a storage crate. Wolf sniffed again and licked his lips.

“I’m not sure croissants constitute an emergency,” said Cinder.

Winter stripped off the oven mitts. “If croissants aren’t an emergency, then I don’t know what is. Oh, but I did find a bag of almonds in there. Perhaps I could make almond flour . . .”

“Have you spoken to Jacin today?” Kai asked.

Winter shook her head. “He’s supposed to comm when he has a free minute.” Her smile trembled, but it was only slightly noticeable.

“All right, that’s plenty of sweat for today,” said Iko, finishing up with their last stretch. “At least, for those of you who sweat.” She smirked at Wolf, who was indeed looking a little damp around the edges, though his bright eyes appeared more exhilarated than weary.

He bounced from foot to foot, clearly still harboring more energy to burn. “It felt good to get moving. Hope you all enjoyed the workout. See you next time!”

Iko shut off their feed, then turned to the group with a wide smile. “I always knew I had the makings of a netfeed star! I just always assumed it would be in the guise of a great netdrama actress, not . . . you know, as a health coach.”

“You’re a natural,” said Winter. She flourished her hand toward the crate. “Pie, anyone?”

“Yes!” said Wolf, turning to loom over the delicious-smelling pastry. He looked ravenous, but managed to resist long enough to glance around the room. “Does anyone else want some?”

Cinder waved a hand at him. “You’ve burned off more calories today than the rest of us have all week. It’s yours.”

He took a slice that Winter had precut and gobbled it down in just a few bites. Cinder would have thought that maybe he was stress eating as much as Winter was stress baking, but she’d been around him and his appetite enough to know this was standard practice for him, and for all the lupine mutants that had come out of Queen Levana’s reign, for that matter.

Upbeat music started to pour out of the cockpit—the “theme music” Thorne had started using for the intro to his podcasts. It continued for a few seconds before fading out.

“Welcome back to The Happy Captain!” Thorne’s voice rang through the cargo hull. “I hope you’re ready to become even more awesome, with me, Captain Carswell Thorne, showing you the way. We’ve got an exciting show lined up—”

“What happened?!” Scarlet emerged from the corridor, looking frantic. “I was watching that show, and it was getting so good—this guy, he tried to have this woman killed and now there’s going to be a trial and I have to know what’s going to happen, but my signal just cut out and—” She paused and blinked toward the cockpit, where Thorne could be heard reading quotes from recent fan mail. A shadow fell over her face. “He’s doing his show live again, isn’t he? Can’t he just record it like a normal podcaster? When all eight billion of his doting fans sign on at the same time, it completely monopolizes the signal!”

Before anyone could answer, a bang made Cinder jump. She turned to see the hatch door that led down to the ship’s lower level lying open. Cress poked her head up, a grin stretched across her face.

“Oh good, you’re finished with your workout,” she said, climbing out of the hatch. “Perfect timing. I have a new game set up for everyone!”

Cinder managed to stifle a groan. Scarlet did not.

Cress heard it and frowned, hurt. “You . . . don’t want to play? I mean, you don’t have to. I just thought it would be fun . . . it’s kind of a team-building, educational, puzzle-type—”

“No, no, no,” said Scarlet, pulling her hair back to try to tame the snarls. Cinder couldn’t help but wonder when was the last time she’d showered. “That sounds great, Cress. Really. So much fun. I’m just not sure we’ve all fully recovered from yesterday’s murder-mystery game . . .”

“Or the game show from the day before . . .” Kai added gently.

“Or the spree of second-era-style party games . . .” muttered Wolf.

Winter hopped excitedly. “Oh, I liked the party games! Especially that pin the tail on the donkey one. A donkey! Of all things! Earthens are so strange. A lizard would have made more sense.”

Kai blinked at her. “Why would a lizard make more sense?”

“Because they lose their tails sometimes. And can grow them back. Clearly.”

“Ah.” Kai nodded. “So much more sense.”

Cress’s smile returned, but weaker now. “We could do more party games, if you’d rather . . .”

“Cress, we’ll happily play your new . . . whatever it is you got set up for us,” said Cinder, trying to sound enthusiastic. “I’m sure it’ll be great.”

“I’m game for anything,” said Iko with a wink. “Game. Get it?”

Cress gave her an appreciative smile. Of all of their quarantine coping strategies, Cress’s was by far the most . . . interactive. It was as though she were determined to show the rest of them that, as quarantines went, this was nothing! After all, she’d been stuck in her satellite, all alone, for seven years, whereas it had barely been seven weeks since COVID-128 had struck. It seemed that being stuck on the Rampion with her dearest friends was more or less a dream come true for Cress, and her goal was now to make their time in isolation a memorable bonding experience. She’d spent hours preparing highly involved and rather complicated experiences for them. There had been myriad crafts and scavenger hunts. Board games and “themed” parties. Treasure hunts and trivia competitions and various tutorials she’d found on the net, demonstrating how they could make origami flower bouquets or grow a potato plant from their food scraps.

Cinder was fairly certain she was getting a lot of her ideas from the many virtual homeschooling initiatives that had taken over the netfeeds lately. And sure, some of the activities had been fun at first, but the novelty was wearing off and the rest of the crew was pretty much over it, though no one had the heart to tell Cress.

“I’ve got it all set up in the podship dock,” she said. “Where’s Thorne?”

Thorne’s head popped out of the cockpit door, as if summoned. “Hey, Cress, get in here! There’s a fan question for you.”

Cress’s brow furrowed, hesitant. She approached the cockpit, the rest of the crew following behind. The cockpit felt less like a recording booth and more like a nightclub, with bass-heavy music droning in the background and a mix of fluorescent lights flickering around the flight panel. Thorne claimed he needed to have the right atmosphere to bring his A-game. And his listeners deserved his A-game.

Cress perched awkwardly on the edge of the copilot’s chair. They had all made guest appearances on the podcast from time to time, at Thorne’s request, but of all of them, Cress was the least comfortable speaking to Thorne’s adoring masses.

“All right, folks, we’ve just been joined by the luckiest girl in outer space, who has also made me the luckiest guy. My girlfriend, Cress! Okay, caller, what was your question?”

“Hello, thanks for taking my call,” came a male voice, which surprised Cinder. She’d expected it to be some fangirl wanting to know how she, too, could capture the heart of someone as dreamy as Captain Thorne. “There’s a rumor,” continued the caller, “that you’re pretty good at hacking software, and I have a favor to ask of you.”

Cinder traded suspicious glances with the rest of the crew. All except Winter, whose head tilted to one side, as if trying to listen more closely.

Cinder sensed it, too. There was something about the voice that was . . . familiar. She wanted to ask Thorne to turn off the music, but before she could, Thorne leaned forward into the mic. “Uh . . . sorry, but did you have a question?”

“My question is whether or not Cress could realign a satellite to take a photograph of the location on Earth at the coordinates I just sent, and then broadcast that imagery to the world? Or at least show it to the rest of your friends up there.”

“Sorry,” said Thorne, “but that sounds illicit and suspicious and, frankly, my criminal days are behind me. Next—”

“Wait!” Winter jumped forward, grabbing Thorne’s hand before he could end the call. “Cress, do it.”

“What?” Thorne turned to her. “This is clearly a scam. He’s trying to get some sort of free publicity for . . . something. That, or this is a nefarious setup, and I won’t be a part of it. Not on my show, which is billed as wholesome entertainment for the masses, you know.”

Winter raised an eyebrow at him. “Really, Captain? You aren’t a tiny bit curious?”

His jaw tightened. A few seconds passed before he groaned and threw his head back. “Yes, I am so curious! Okay, Cress, go ahead, overtake some government-controlled satellite imaging software to obtain whatever piece of blackmail it is this guy is after.”

“I already did,” said Cress, smiling over her shoulder at them. “And you should probably see this.”

They all leaned forward. A photo on the nearest screen showed a rooftop in the midst of a densely populated Earthen city. A landing pad for a podship was nearby and Cinder thought it might be a hospital.

Taking up nearly the entire width of the rooftop, someone had written the words in what appeared to be bed linens:

W-

I MISS YOU.

I LOVE YOU.

-J

A man stood not far from the words, staring up at the sky with a medical mask over his mouth, his yellow hair glinting in the sun.

“Jacin?” said Winter, stepping closer to the microphone.

“Hi,” he said.

She beamed. “Hi,” she returned, breathless. In the midst of her smile, tears started to cloud her eyes. “I love you, too.”

“I’m happy to hear it.”

A beat of silence was followed by Thorne groaning. “Terrible, you guys. You can’t let the silences drag on like that. We’re live, you know.”

Cress punched him lightly on the shoulder. “We’re missing you, Jacin. Are you all right down there?”

“As well as can be expected,” he said. “Our social-distancing tactics seem to be working. We’ve successfully flattened the curve in most of our major cities, and we’re optimistic about the new rounds of vaccines that are being tested.” He paused before adding, “Honestly, the biggest problem I’m having right now is that every time I try to comm Ambassador Hayle, some guy with a podcast is taking up all the signal and not letting me get through.”

For a moment, Thorne almost looked sheepish. “But, hey, have you been enjoying the show?”

There was another silence, before Jacin admitted, “I like when you have the rest of the crew on as special guests.” His voice was strained, as if it was physically painful for him to continue. “I guess I kind of miss all of you.”

“We’ll be together soon,” said Winter. She kissed her fingertips and placed them against Jacin’s image on the screen. “Now, Captain, could we please end this show so I can talk to our favorite medical intern in private?”

Thorne sighed. “Fine. Sorry, listeners, but true love calls, and I am nothing if not a romantic. It’s just one of the many things that makes me so amazing. Go ahead and add it to the growing list.” He winked—at literally no one, since none of his listeners could see him.

Cinder rolled her eyes, and she was pretty sure she wasn’t the only one.

She and the others vacated the cockpit, letting Winter and Jacin finish their conversation in peace.

“I know I’ve said this before,” said Cress, shutting the door behind them, “and you’re all probably sick of hearing it, but . . . difficult as these times are, I am glad we have each other.”

Scarlet nodded. “It’s nice to know we’re all in this together, isn’t it?” She entwined her fingers with Wolf’s. He smiled down on her, so wide that Cinder caught a glimpse of the fangs he was usually careful to keep hidden.

Kai nodded, draping an arm around Cinder’s shoulders. “And that we’re all trying to make the best of this situation. To find the bright moments wherever we can.”

“On that note!” said Cress. “Who’s ready to play my new game? There are clues and puzzles you have to figure out and a coded secret language! Oh, and booby traps!”

“Pick me!” cried Iko, jutting her hand into the air—while the rest of them grimaced.

“Or . . .” said Scarlet, “we could go see if this guy goes to jail and all the tigers are set free into the wild, officially restoring my faith in humanity?”

A round of agreement swirled through the group and they started meandering toward the corridor.

Cinder paused, realizing that Cress and Thorne weren’t following. Frowning, she turned back to see Cress looking disappointed. Guilt dug into Cinder’s chest, but before she could call the others back and rally them to give Cress’s newest activity a go, Thorne leaned over and pressed a kiss against Cress’s cheek.

“It’s been a long day in quarantine,” he said. “I’m sure everyone will be ready to play your game tomorrow.”

She turned to him, pouting. “Maybe I’ve been taking these activities a little too far?”

He shrugged. “It’s not your job to entertain us. But if you enjoy doing them, you should keep it up.”

Cinder stepped forward. “Thorne’s right. That murder-mystery one was actually really fun.”

Cress chewed on her lower lip, considering. “You know, I would have given anything to not be so lonely when I was on the satellite. I just want everyone to realize how lucky we are to have each other right now.”

“Trust me, Cress, we all know how lucky we are.” Tucking her against his side, Thorne guided her after the others. “In the midst of this sickness, there’s nowhere I’d rather be quarantined than right here. On my ship . . . with my crew.”

Cinder smiled. She couldn’t help feeling exactly the same way.

#cinder #marissa meyer

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existentialmagazine · 8 months

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Review: Empowering listeners, the vibrant pop artist Lucy Crisp shares her new infectiously upbeat anthem ‘Locked Down’ laced with an inspiring message

Since her 2020 debut, Lucy Crisp has found herself pouring her infectious activism into songs that cannot help but delve deep within. As this Nottingham-based pop singer and songwriter uses her personal experience of living with Cystic Fibrosis as a core part of her empowerment, she seeks to create a safe space for her fans to feel comfortably vulnerable. Now sharing her second track from her upcoming debut EP ‘65 Roses’, Lucy proudly bares yet another parallel of sunny sound with more meaning seeping within in ‘Locked Down.’

Bright and vibrant in aura right from its shimmering beginnings, ‘Locked Down’ makes sure to shine into your eardrums straight from pressing play. Dancing in through a bedroom pop and synth pop daze, Lucy immediately clasps around you with a dominant scattered electronic beat you won’t be able to shake yourself free from. Slowly building with the addition of colourful drawn-out guitar strums, the easy-going lacing of sound entices you in and never lets you go. Complemented gorgeously with Lucy’s confidently soaring vocals, her clean and powerful words ensure they’ll be ringing through your mind long after pressing play, urging you sing along before you even know the words. Driving dominant beats climb in for the choruses push, a crash of momentum that’ll see you dancing along at full force. Allowing Lucy to stretch her vocals even more prominently, the chorus bursts from the seams and flows emphatically with the addition of heavenly backing vocal harmonies. Progressively building as things progress forwards, the track slowly incorporates more and more sparkling layers of sound, an arrangement of electronic subtleties made even more grand by their entwining. There’s not a second of ‘Locked Down’ you won’t feel completely inspired by, as Lucy serenades you with the most addictive of musical concoctions.

Filled with pick-me-up optimism, Lucy writes ‘Locked Down’ with an empowering message of feeling unstoppable despite any adversities. Without allowing any limitations to be placed upon her, Lucy found herself reflecting on her feelings amidst the COVID-19 lockdown as someone with a disability, striving to not allow anything to stop her thriving. As she opens with the all-too relatable line ‘I’ve been stuck in a game for the past two years, nothing has ever stayed the same’, Lucy not just delves into her own experiences but seeks you to do the same, allowing yourself the grace for going through an unexpected few years of tumultuous times. Finding herself longing for company, lyrics like ‘everyone disappeared, had to hold back the tears’ perhaps don’t just relate to COVID’s interjection but also the loss of her friends that have moved away and started anew. Double-edged nods like ‘I’m not the person I used to be’ carry both the sadness of what has been lost and the growth of who she has become all in one, stronger and self-empowered but in ways still mourning who she once was. Continuing ‘one day I’ll leave this town and nothing can stop me now’, Lucy finds herself looking within and not allowing anything to hold her back from what she wants. Refusing to be stuck behind while everyone else moves forward, Lucy embraces every part of herself and her identity, feeling only more fuelled by the adversities she faces that she continues to prove cannot restrict her immense talents from exceeding well above and beyond.

Check out ‘Locked Down’ here for a definite mood booster filled with contagious lyrics and technicolour sounds!

Written by: Tatiana Whybrow

Photo Credits: Unknown

// This coverage was supported and created via Musosoup, #SustainableCurator.

#tatiana

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makeatune · 1 year

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2022 Wrapped.

Happy New Year everyone! With the holiday season wrapping up, I wanted to recap on all things Make A Tune last year:

SOREUM

Musically, I got the metal out of my system with a 4 track Djenty EP, with riffs that had been hanging about in musical purgatory ever since I acquired my 7 String guitar.

A classic musician trope is being too precious with ideas, waiting too long, and never putting them out into the world.

The ep has my first attempts of adding synths and sounds outside of just guitar bass drums into a metal song.

The song that came together the best for me was “Gatekeeper”. Not only was it my favourite riff, but the lyrics of the song are very much about what “make a tune” is conceptually.

GATEKEEPER MV

My second DIY music video, shot on iPhone, where I used multiple takes of myself whilst keeping the phone in the same place, then editing them together to look like a band lol. I made something similar at the end of 2021 when I recorded 3 songs in one take, 4 times (bass, guitar 1, guitar 2, vocals) to create a sort of fake but real live show. This was easier as it was just for the visual purpose. Still worked out pretty well for a budget of Zero!

MAKE A TUNE CONTENT

I know, I know. It is what it is. Everyone calls it content, to the point where I think it’s either lost its pretentiousness or it’s just eaten all other possible words around it. Anyway, there was a few interesting things on YouTube.

My baritone video did really well. I guess it was a new guitar that must have peaked a lot of people’s interest. I really enjoyed hearing people’s thoughts and engaging in the comments with questions people had. Whilst I definitely don’t have the credentials to be a product review guy, I think if there’s anything new things I pick up this year, I will put more effort into sharing my thoughts on it.

MAKE A VLOG

I didn’t do as many KPop metal covers this year, mainly as I was working on Soreum. My first venture into mixing my metal riffs with KPop was inspired by Dreamcatcher in 2020, when Scream showed up in my timeline and opened my ears to the possibility. This year they have inspired me to grow the channel in a different way: by documenting my journeys seeing them live!

BEATS AND PIECES:

Even with all the travel, it wasn’t till last month that I actually got Covid for the first time! I WORKED THROUGH LOCKDOWN 2020 AS AN ESSENTIAL WORKER AND EVERYTHING, SO ANNOYING!

Anyway, whilst I self isolated, I got to do a project that I had wanted to do for a while. Similar to what I said before about my metal riffs, I have built up so many little musical projects that were gonna sit there doing nothing on my hard drive. So I went through a bunch, picked a mix of genres, filled them out, and released them as instrumentals in an album called Beats and Pieces. Are they all bangers? Nope! But it’s a good starting point to hear where I’m at as a total novice producer trying new things, seeing what works, what resonates with people. It also serves as a good way to free myself for this year.

2023

I literally have no idea, AND ITS AWESOME!

SOREUM got the metal out my system, Beats and Pieces got all the little half ideas and experiments out there. I feel like I have a blank canvas with no lingering projects I need to finish off.

I want to make something fresh, something that doesn’t exist yet not even as an idea or a humming tune in my head, or a specific genre of music that I always said I would do. I’m just going to make the music I feel like making there and then, and go for it!

Content wise I think I might go back to live streaming, but just on YouTube not twitch. I think I can engage with an audience more if there’s no definite goal with the tune making. Like if I was live streaming producing SOREUM it would have been very dull, messing up, taking no suggestions, getting frustrated at not achieving the exact thing I’m wanting to do. But freestyle music making with people suggesting ideas could be a lot of fun!

That’s it from me, thanks for everyone showing interest in my weird little musical world. Here’s to another year of good times and good tunes!

Much love

Scott

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hwangsies · 4 years

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LIMERENCE

(n) the state of becoming infatuated with another person

pairing: hyunjin x female reader

summary: you haven’t spoken a word to hyunjin since he ghosted you after a fun new years eve together, so what’s the worst that could happen when fate (or chaeryong,...well, same thing) pairs you up for a road trip across the country?

warnings: e2l (ish), university student!au, non idol!au ,a lot of swearing. alcohol consumption,long flashback, mentions of infidelity, hyunjin is a giggly sweetheart, smut as in: dom!hyunjin, unprotected sex (wrap it up luvs),fingering, oral (f recieving), slight choking, praise kink, hand & strenght kink (manhandleing oopsie), slight overstimulation, hyunjin is really enthusiastic about consent (as you should be, periodt), reader is nervous and scared of hyunjins big pickle (ew i hate myself), motel sex (but it’s not trashy i promise!)

8.6 k words ,meaning grab a snack and a drink,

and enjoy!<3

---

"alright everyone" your professor rubs his hands together "that was it for today... i hope you all have a great break and i'm very exited to see all of you again next semester. hopefully in person again" he chuckles.

You and your classmates exchange goodbyes with him before one after the other exits the zoom call.

"fuck" you sigh after closing your laptop and lean back on your bed.

"you did it girl" your dormmate chaeryong claps, at which you giggle before shifting your eyes to her on the other side of the room.

She's sitting on her bed, folding her clothes before putting it in her suitcase thats placed in front of her.

"finally" you sit up and watch her roll up a pair of socks.

"my last class was yesterday and mrs kim teared up" she giggles "it was kinda cute not gonna lie"

"oh god" you snicker.

"hey did you find someone to take to yongin?" you ask, remebering chearyong talking about wanting to find someone to share gas expenses with in exchange for a ride to her hometown.

"oh yea, i did" she turn to you "i think you know him, seo changbin?"

You furrow your brows in thought, you feel like you've heard of the name.

"he's a music major, one year above us, hes also from yongin" she continues folding a pair of jeans "funny you'd ask actually cause he told me one of his friends was looking for a ride to seoul, isn't that where you're going?"

"Yea i was thinking about finding someone honestly because gas is really fucking expensive if you aint rich" you say, placing your laptop onto your nightstand.

"Mm you aint gotta tell me girl" chaeryong mumbles, folding a sweatshirt.

"so who's that friend?" you ask, stretching out on your bed.

"he's in his grade, hyunjin"

Your neck almost cracks from how fats you whip your head “hwang hyunjin?”

"Oh yea" she points at you "you know him?"

"unfortunately" you huff.

"o-oh, what"s the tea?" your roommate wiggles her brows at which you shake your head.

"nothing much really" you sigh, leaning back again "he's just like the most arrogant and stuck up fuckboy ever"

"wow, well thats not nothing" chaeryong laughs "any reason as to why you think that?"

"you could probably ask any girl on campus and she'll tell you the same" you scoff.

"really girl?" chaeryong squints an eye at you playfully "cause i've only heard of him being hot but never of him being a hoe. And you know i'm the first to know the hot gossip" she winks.

Laughing defeatedly, running your hand through your hair.

"it's just- we hit it off at the campus' new years eve party, like really hit it off- at least thats what i thought"

"oooh spill it spill it" chaeryong leaps over to your bed to sit at the end of it.

"well there's really not much to spill, i gave him my number and he was talking all that smack about taking me out and stuff aaand to make a long story short i never heard from him again"

"well" chaeryong speaks slowly, biting her lip guiltily "i dont think you'll be very happy about me giving changbin your number for him, then?"

"you did what???" your eyes almost pop out of your head.

"sooorryy" she jumps up from your bed, clutching her hands apologetically "i didnt know"

"aaaaarghh" you whine, burying your face in your pillow.

"maybe he won't even text you though" chaeryong tries to console you, but the damage is already done...

unknown number - hey i got this number from changbin, i heard you're driving up to seoul, i'd love to tag along if you're looking for someone to share expenses with -recieved at 9:12 am

You huff looking at the message on your phone.

After chaeryong had left last night you really convinced yourself that he couldn't possibly dare to reach out to you.

But here you are reading his message after just waking up, and your day is already ruined.

you - who is this? - sent at 9:56 am

You know who it is, but you're not going to give him the satisfaction of thinking that you do.

Scoffing when he answers almost immediately.

unknown number - this is hyunjin, did i reach the right person? - recieved at 9:57 am

You have two choices at this point.

1. be petty and bitter about a boy who probably doesn't even remember you.

Or 2. move on and help someone who is also just trying to get home and also maybe get some closure.

So you curse your mother for rasing you so well and suck it up.

you - yea sure, i planned on leaving tomorrow at around 6 pm - sent at 10:02 am

Damn you and your common human decency.

he sus - oh okay great :) i only have one suitcase and a backpack btw so i wont take up alot of space or anything - recieved at 10:05 am

he sus - also i feel weird bc i dont know ur name or anything changbin literally just sent me the number and nothing else lol, also 6 sounds good should we meet at the main building then? -sent at 10:06 am

You're quite honestly not shocked that he seems nice over text because he was the same when you met on new years eve.

you - sure lets meet at the main building, my car is white and my name is y/n - sent at 10:09 am

Cringing as you press the send button because you are 99% certain he won't answer anymore; not that you'd care, obviously.

he sus - alright y/n see you tomorrow at 6 then :) - recieved at 10:14 am

You raise your brows when your phone lights up with his message, does he really not remember you?

Was he that drunk?

Well, it doesnt matter because you don't want to pay for all this gas alone and he seems to be the next best option to fix that.

So you shrug it off and get out off bed to run some last errands and start packing.

Your heart is beating unreasonably fast when you take a turn towards the main building at 5:55 pm the next day.

Calm down y/n it’ll just be 5 hours and who says you have to talk to him?

However you do know deep in your heart that you only wanted to arrive just a little early so you could complain about him being late.

That plan got cut short because your eyes fall on him as you pull up to the main building.

He’s- oh my god he’s blonde. You stop your car and he looks up at you.

“it is you!” hyunjin smiles at you when you step out of the car.

“who else would it be?” you ask, a little irritated at his reaction.

His face drops a bit when he sees you clearly annoyed by him, but the doesn’t blame you; he’d be mad too.

You open your trunk for him to put his weirdly small suitcase into, looking him up and down as he lifts it inside.

He’s wearing dark baggy pants and a windbreaker jacket, the top part of his chin-length blonde hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail.

He seemed to have bulked up as well, shoulders looking broader than what you remember.

The hair is different than the jet black hair that you remember on him, but it suits him very well; to be honest he would look good in any hair colour, not that you’d care though.

The first thirty minutes of the ride go by agonizingly slow and in complete silence.

When you drive onto the freeway you can’t take it anymore and mumble something among the lines of ‘wanna listen to some music?’.

You don’t wait for an answer, pressing the radio button right as you finish your sentence.

“uh, actually” hyunjin starts, his hand lifting to turn the radio back off, your eyes snap towards him, is he serious? Turning off your radio in your car?

“I wanted to address this situation” he says rather quietly.

You scoff “what? You realized that this is awkward just now?”

“no- I mean- yes I understand why you would think that but I just really want a chance to explain myself” he stutters.

“explain yourself” you repeat after him before mumbling “sure because there’s so much to explain”

“listen, I know you think I’m an asshole who just ghosted you b-“

“listen, I can handle rejection, you could’ve just said that you weren’t looking for something serious and I would’ve accepted that. The thing I’m mad about though is you literally making false promises and shit”

Hyunjin blinks at you “can I please just explain to you what happened?”

You let out a long huff “sure” you wave your hand “go ahead”

“when you and your friends left at around 4, you wrote your number on my arm with your eyeliner, correct?” he asks.

Glancing over at him, you nod.

“after you where gone, I was already pretty drunk but then my friends decided to drag me with them to a different party that was still going” you see him fiddling with his hands in your peripheral “well I got super fucking shitfaced at that party and ended up puking on this one guys shoes”

You raise your eyebrows and hold back a laugh, which he notices.

“its okay you can laugh” he chuckles as well.

“anyways that guy was not very happy about it and busted my lip before kicking me and my friends out, so then back in the dorm my roommate sat me in the shower because I was full of alcohol, blood and puke”

“ew” you chime in.

“and when I woke up the next morning your number was gone” hyunjin looks over at you “we don’t have any mutual friends, I didn’t know what your major is so I couldn’t even asks for you in the administrating office, and then the covid lockdown happened and here we are”

“you called the administrating office?” you look over at him, he nods a little smile on his stupid pretty lips.

“yep, so, sorry to tell you but your eyeliner is not waterproof” he jokes at which you playfully knit your brows at him.

“believe me, I wanted to text you. I really wanted to take you out; and when you sent me your name yesterday I didn’t know if this was a lucky coincidence or if you’re a different y/n, that’s why I didn’t say anything” he explains.

You take a deep breath as you realize you have to apologize for going off on him just now, you believe him but you hate apologizing.

“well, I feel like an ass for going off on you like that after hearing all this” you chuckle “I’m sorry” you eye him shortly before looking back on the road.

“it’s okay, you don’t have to apologize I get how it looked, very much sus” he laughs with you.

Coming back to your car after you took a bathroom break on a highway rest-stop, you see hyunjin sitting in the drivers seat.

“what do you think you’re doing?” you smile as you sit down on the passenger seat.

“I thought maybe you’d like to sleep since its dark already and you’ve been driving for almost 3 hours” he suggests while putting on his seatbelt.

“well, I wont say no to that” you shrug and put your seatbelt on as well.

“so when did you go blonde?” you ask curiously.

“uh- around end of june” hyunjin chuckles “it was a dare if I’m being honest but I ended up liking it and got it redone”

“oh okay” you check out his profile once more and follow his hair with your eyes “I like it”

“yea?”

“yea, which is weird cause I’m usually not into blondes at all” you wonder.

“hm” he grins “must be me then” he says before winking at you.

“pfff, in your dreams” you rebuttal playfully, at which he laughs and mumbles a ‘true’.

You don’t react to it because you think your ears are playing tricks on you.

“hey I have a question too” hyunjin says.

“what’s up” you lean your arm against the window as you look over at him.

His face is slightly lit by the lights of the other cars, no seriously, how can a side profile be so perfect?

“why did you even agree to take me with you if you thought I ghosted you?” he grins.

You laugh “well, I’m a nice person and I know not a lot of people there are from seoul and my mom raised me right, okay?”

“okay okay” he giggles, the way his eyes crinkle when he does makes you smile everytime.

“or…did you have such a good time with me on new years that you just had to jump on this opportunity?” he quips, carefully stealing a peek at you.

“sure, why do you think I was so upset when you didn’t text” you feign sadness.

The both of you laugh before falling into comfortable silence.

When looking outside your window, you think back to said new years eve.

-(flashback)

“oh my god” you said, stepping into the big hall that usually is the universities gym. But whoever planned this outdid themselves.

A dj was placed on one of the tribunes and a whole buffet of drinks and punches on the other, as well as a big disco ball hanging from the ceiling, making the room shimmery and shiny.

You could see people coming out of the doors that connected into the universities hall on one side and into the locker rooms on the others, as if it wasn’t already packed.

“this is fucking insane” lia, your roommate from last semester, squeaked while grabbing your arm and jumping a little, her voice overpowering the blasting music..

“I wanna get fucking hammered tonight” you turned to her.

“oh babe don’t worry, we didn’t come here to drink soda” she laughed before spotting some of your other friends.

About five minutes before midnight you and some more girls gathered at the buffet of drinks and started doing shots.

You all had decided that instead of kissing someone at 12 o’clock you’d ring in 2020 with a shot, because alcohol can’t cheat on you.

You were laughing at something when some people started the countdown.

10!

“HAPPY NEW YEAR”

Every one shouted and celebrated in union as you downed your shot.

“happy new year babe” lia hugged you after downing hers.

“happy new year!” you shouted into her ear, full of relief that this stressful year was over.

“lets do another one” she grinned widely after your whole friend group had shared their wishes with each other.

A girl you didn’t know very well handed you another shot, just as you emptied your glass you heard a guy yell something before stumbling into your back.

“jesus” you stumbled forward a bit before turning around, ready to throw someone a dirty look.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay?” in front of you suddenly stood a tall dark haired young man with almost too perfect facial features, frowning a little out of concern.

“nothing happened” you smiled, taking a step towards him so he’d hear you better.

“I’m glad” he replied, a grin slowly stretched across his handsome face

“I’m y/n” you giggled as you held out your hand.

His eyes crinkled with his smile as he took your hand in his “I’m hyunjin” he said before pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.

“okay guys let her have her fun lets go over there” you hear lia usher your friends away from behind you.

“happy new year y/n” he said before instinctively pulling you a little closer to him when a group of people passed behind you.

“happy new year hyunjin” you replied, a slow blush creeping on your face from how intensely he was taking in your appearance.

“well yea happy fucking new years to me for running into you” he joked before taking a sip, your brain wasn’t able to function anymore so you just giggled and nervously pushed your hair behind your ear.

It had been way too long since you’d talked to a guy, especially someone as attractive as him

“you’re fucking stunning” hyunjin complimented you and lifted your hand with his to make you spin for him, to which you complied because you took a long time getting ready and always appreciate being appreciated.

“thank you” you were crimson red by now but hoped he wouldn’t see because of the dimmed lights.

“how come I’ve never seen you around? I would’ve remembered you” he tilted his head.

“oh this was my first year here and I live on the other side of campus so…” you nodded slowly “but yea I would’ve remembered you too”

He grinned before downing his drink and putting on the table next to the both of you.

“wanna dance?”

That’s how you found yourself on the dance floor with hyunjin pressed against your back.

Slowly but surely the alcohol made you braver; and it didn’t take long for the dj to play perfect songs to grind yourself against his toned body to.

His reaction was instant, hands gripping even harder at your waist and his own movements matching your own.

You looked back at him just to have the air knocked out of your lungs, a barely there sheen of sweat was covering his forehead; his pupils were dilated and his lips were slightly parted before his tongue swiftly swept over his lower lip.

He looked like sex on legs and moved like it too.

His plump lips formed into a grin when he noticed you staring, you didn’t know if it was the alcohol running through your system but you so desperately wanted to kiss him.

“can’t stop looking at you either, pretty” he lowered his head to mumble against your cheek before pressing a kiss there.

“you’re so goddamn sexy” you blurted out as you turned around to face him, running one of your hands through his dark hair before positioning them on his firm chest.

He threw back his head as his chest vibrated with laughter.

“don’t laugh at me” you laughed as you locked eyes again.

“you’re cute when you’re drunk” hyunjin brought one hand to your face to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

“you dont even know me sober” you giggle “also i’m not drunk!” you protested playfully, his hands found your waist in the meantime to pull you flush to his body; at which you gasped almost inaudibly.

“oh really?” he looked down at you, clearly amused “didn’t you drink like 5 shots half an hour ago?”

“well well well, I didn’t know I had an audience” you countered, looping your arms around his neck.

Hyunjin prodded at the inside of his cheek with his tongue before looking away for a swift second, slightly embarrassed because he just exposed himself.

You felt yourself gush a little when he licked his lips again after bringing his gaze back to you.

“so you almost knocked me over on purpose?” you grinned even bigger when he shook his head laughingly.

“listen” he chuckled, leaning down unnecessarily close because you could hear him perfectly fine but you weren’t going to complain.

“I actually didn’t run into you on purpose, that was my friends doing after he saw me notice you” he said.

You mouthed an ‘ahh’ while nodding, feigning disbelief.

“I’m serious” hyunjin laughed “I still have to thank him later; I would’ve probably chickened out”

He got quieter at the end of his sentence, his eyes jumping to your lips when you wet your lower lip with your tongue quickly.

“i-m glad he pushed you then” you replied, trying to hide the fact that your heart was pumping your blood in record time.

“yea” he inched his face closer to yours as you tilted your chin up to meet him in the middle “me too”

His eyes switched from your lips to your eyes one more time before closing the gap between the both of you.

His lips were firm but soft at the same time in the way they moulded against yours, you swore you could hear lia squealing from somewhere but maybe you were just hearing things.

But when his tongue touched yours in the most tentative way you lost contact to what was going on around you, slinging your arms tighter around his neck and deepening the kiss.

A tiny groan escaped hyunjins throat when you carded your fingers through his hair to tug on it and release some of the adrenalin that rushed through you.

He was slow and explorative and let you take control from time to time before sucking on your lower lip and making you loose it.

You didn’t know how many songs had passed; to be honest you didn’t even remember what song was playing when you started kissing.

All you knew in that moment was hyunjins lightly flushed cheeks, swollen lips and dark glistening eyes.

“let’s go somewhere else?” he questioned in a whisper when you bit your lip, nodding at his question.

He grabbed your hand in his before manoeuvring the both of you through the dancing and celebrating crowd.

Before you knew it, hyunjin pulled you into the entrance hall of the university where multiple people had the same idea as you.

Couples scattered across the big room, some just talking, most of them however making out heavily.

“come on” he softly tugged at your hand, smiling when your gaze falls on him.

He lead you up the big flight of stairs onto a floor of the building you’ve never been to, stopping in front of a random room before pulling a small set of keys out of his back pocket.

After unlocking the door, he opened it to let you step inside.

It was a dance studio, the wall right across from you was just one huge mirror through which you could see the big couch in the back of the room and the water dispensers next to it.

“why do you have the keys for this room?” you asked, giggling.

Hyunjin grinned as he closed the door “I’m a dance major, we all have keys for the practice rooms”

“that’s so cool” you beamed “I wish I could dance” you looked around the room, walking towards the mirrored wall a little bit.

“you were moving just fine earlier” hyunjin came up behind you, nimble hands finding your waist as he looked you up and down through the mirror intensely, now that you were under the bright lights of the room.

You couldn’t help but to smile a little at that, the tight little glitter dress that you had chosen really did accentuate your curves in the best way possible, paired with the cute black heels which made your legs look way longer than they actually are.

“but that was like club sexy dancing, you know?” you elaborated.

“hm” he hummed amusedly “whats wrong with sexy club dancing?” you turned around to him.

He didn’t look to shabby himself, all in black, a chic button up with some jeans and a belt; accessorized with rings on his pretty fingers, a dainty silver necklace and some small earrings.

Some might say he was underdressed, but the way he carried himself with such confidence, and that face of his must for sure be a panty dropper, you thought.

“nothing but… I don’t know, teach me something” you pleaded.

“what do you want me to teach you?” he laughed.

“I don’t know a pirouette or something” you suggested, laughing as well.

“okay” he grinned “this is like the base stance” he positioned himself correctly before looking at you to see if you were following his instructions.

“mhm” you hummed, replicating what he was doing.

“and then you get momentum with one leg to be able to swing yourself around, like this” hyunjin explained before executing a perfect pirouette and ending it back in the base stance.

“that was fast” you chuckled.

“your turn” he grins before moving behind you “try to keep your eyes on yourself in the mirror otherwise you’ll loose balance”

“okay” you said unsurely.

“I’ll catch you if you fall” he winked at you, at which you scoff playfully before carefully swinging yourself into a pirouette.

You landed on wobbly legs but before you could tip over hyunjin stabilized you with a firm grip on your hips.

“you’re a natural” he grinned at you through the mirror.

“well thank you” you playfully feigned cockiness before he spun you around himself.

A few seconds pass of the both of you taking in each others features in silence, the only thing you could hear was the faint music of the party downstairs, before hyunjin spoke up.

“can I kiss you?”

You fell into giggles again as you let your forehead rest against his collarbone before looking up again “we’ve kissed before”

“yea but that was like a moment and I don’t want to catch you off guard or anything” he mumbles cutely.

“mm” you nod “ you can kiss me”

And with a smile, he does.

You weren’t surprised when his first gentle ministrations turned into more desperate ones rather quickly because you could feel the warmth spread in your lower regions as well.

He walked the both of you over to the couch, only parting from your lips when he sat down on the black leather material of the couch.

“come here, pretty girl” he took your hand to help you straddle him, your dress riding up but you couldn’t care less if he saw your safety shorts, and he didn’t seem to care either by the way he feverishly connected your lips again.

His hands travelled down to squeeze at your waist before smoothing over your ass and grabbing a handful of each cheek, you moaned into the kiss when you realized how big his hands were.

Your own hands were squeezing at his shoulders before one moved into his soft hair while the other softly rested on his cheek.

The kiss was messy and desperate, teeth clinking together and tongues licking at each other.

The things that riled you up the most however were his groans and praises.

“you’re so fucking sexy” he groaned before moving down to kiss at your jaw and down your neck.

A needy whimper escaped from your throat when he started suckling the sensitive skin at the base of your throat.

“fuck-hyunjin” you moaned when his teeth grazed over your clavicle.

Your hands fumbled before landing on his belt, at which he pulled away from your skin, gently taking your hands off of his belt.

“I’d love to take you out first, actually” his pretty kiss swollen lips twitched up into a shy smile as he pants.

“oh” you were taken aback, you were almost certain that this was something regular for him “I thought-“

“I mean if you just want to fuck we can fuck of course” he chuckled “but- I actually think you’re really cute and fun and I’d love to get to know you better”

Your mouth stood a little agape “uh- I mean-I” you stuttered, your brain not functioning properly because of the alcohol running through your veins but also him!

“its okay if you just want, you know-“

“no!” you blurted out all over sudden, making him flinch a little “sorry, uhm- its just been a while since I had a date” you smile apologetically.

His expression visibly brightens “that’s okay” he giggled “so is that a yes?”

You grinned, leaning in to just barely brush your lips with his, his head twitching upwards in an attempt to connect them fully.

“yes” you whispered, at which he smiled brightly before pulling your in for a kiss by your neck.

-(flashback end)

“y/n”

“hey, y/n” you grumble when you feel someone gently rocking your shulder.

“mmm-what?” you peek your eyes open just to see hyunjin smile at you.

“good morning sunshine” he teases as you sit up in your seat when you realize you aren’t driving anymore.

“just kidding its not morning” he says as you look around your car, realizing your on a parking lot.

“where the fuck are we?” you whip your head towards him “did you bring me here to kill me? kidnap me?”

“wha?- no” he laughs “no, I’m sorry. Right after you fell asleep there was this huge traffic jam because of an accident and we stood there for almost 3 hours so I drove off and found this” he points out the rear window, where you see a small motel building.

You look back at him before checking the time on your phone, seeing it was indeed almost midnight.

“fuck” you swear to yourself.

“I didn’t know if you wanted to keep driving because I was getting tired so I thought maybe-“ hyunjin starts rambling guiltily, not wanting you to thing that this was an attempt to get in your pants.

“hey” you put your hand on his shoulder after taking off your seatbelt “this is good, you made the right decision I think we both could use some sleep” you say.

You each take your suitcases and walk inside, it’s an old building but it looks pretty clean for a motel off of the highway.

“good evening you two” an old lady sits behind the, probably just as old, reception.

“good evening, could we get 2 single rooms, please” hyunjin speaks up politely.

“I’m afraid we only have 2 double bed rooms available, if you’d like to take them, they will however be more expensive than the rooms for one” she explains politely.

“its okay, we’ll take one of those, please” you decide, hyunjins head snapping towards you.

“is that okay?” you ask him.

“yea- sure” he nods.

“alright, room 301 it is” she hands you the key before stating that you’ll have to checkout before 12 pm and what the room costs.

“do you accept card?” hyunjin asks at which the friendly old lady nods before taking his card and swiping it through her little machine.

“I’ll venmo you half of what you paid” you say after unlocking room 301.

He tsk’s at you before shaking his head “don’t, it was my idea so I’ll pay”

“are you sure?” you ask closing the door behind you when he turns on the lights.

“yup-oh” he exclaims.

“this room is cute” you say, it’s small but the walls are a soft sunflower yellow, decorated with paintings of autumn leaves .

The bed looks clean, and when you smell the mouse gray blankets and pillows, they smell fresh as well.

“stop smelling the pillows” hyunjin laughs.

“I’ve never been to a motel, I thought everything would be dirty or ancient” you confess comically.

He chuckles as he comes out of the small bathroom “the bathroom is clean too, don’t worry” he says when you look at him expectantly.

“I’ll sleep on the floor if you want” he offers as you open your suitcase to get out your toothbrush and pj’s.

“it’s fine, hyunjin I’ve slept in the same bed as a male before” you joke.

“well how am I supposed to know that?” he counters, at which you throw your pj shorts at him out of reflex.

When you realize what you had done it was too late, he was already holding them out in front of him before giggling.

“very cute choice” he mocks the small white shorts with red hearts all over it.

“stoop” you whine, trying to fish it out of his hands but he holds them over his head like a kindergartener.

“I remember why I don’t like you” you pout, crossing your arms.

His face drops alongside with his arms “I thought we were past that”

You use his moment of weakness to snatch your shorts out of his hands “gotcha”

“see I told you I was gonna take you out” hyunjin beams at you before looking down at the various snacks he took from the motels vending machine, which were laying in between the both of you on the bed.

“and so luxurious too” you joke, crossing your legs.

“only the best for you” he grins when you open a pack of fruit jellies.

“you know, I was thinking about new years” you say “ and I realized that it was your fault!”

Hyunjin throws his head back as he groans playfully “why?”

“if you hadn’t lost your phone when we got back downstairs, I wouldn’t have had to write my number on your arm; or you could’ve just given me your number and I could’ve text you. But you didn’t even know your own number!” you laugh in reminiscence.

“listen” he laughs “I was drunk and you’re hot! I couldn’t think” he defends himself before taking a bite off a chocolate bar.

You blush a little but play it off with a laugh.

“but yes, I admit, it was indeed my fault” he dramatically holds his hand in front of his eyes.

“yeeees!” you exclaim victoriously.

“I’m kidding though” you pat his knee “I forgive you”

“I’m glad” he smiles.

After the both of you are done eating way too many sweets, you find yourself being really comfortable when talking to hyunjin.

He’s funny, doesn’t seem like he’s full of himself and just in general seems like a very kind person.

“I thought you were a fuckboy when me met” you confess, looking at him.

Propped on one elbow looking down at you, while you lay on your side towards him, his face illuminated only by the little lights on each of your nightstands.

“you did?” he asks confusedly.

“yea” you chuckle “you were so confident and…sexy I don’t know” you place your hand over your face in embarrassment.

“oh that was the liquid courage talking, I’m usually pretty shy” he shakes his head smilingly when you peek through your fingers.

“don’t lie” you push his shoulder softly.

“I’m serious!” he laughs.

“you were the first guy to approach me at a party” you pause “like ever”

“no way, you’re lying now” he furrows his brows.

“nope” you shake your head.

“but I was really close to not talking to you as well, I’m sure there were many guys before me that just didn’t have the liquid courage, like I did” he speculates.

“maybe” you say.

“have any exes?” he asks after a few seconds.

“yea, one”

“well how did you meet him?”

“he showed me around on my first day of freshman year, I transferred like in the middle of the first semester so I wasn’t with any other freshmen” you tell him.

“why’d you break up if I may ask?” hyunjin asks carefully.

“oh we were only together for like three weeks, you can’t even call I relationship. He used me to make his hot ex jealous and cheated on me with her” you say “but hey they’re back together at least” you scoff.

“i’m sorry” he mumbles at which you look up at him.

“it’s not your fault” you chuckle.

“well, still no one should feel that way” he says “you know that you were way too good for him right?”

You nod.

“what about you? Have any exes?” you ask back.

He snickers “only one in seoul”

“why didn’t you last?”

“it was a long distance situation, she was super jealous and couldn’t trust me. which I can understand to a certain degree but everytime I went out she wanted me to facetime her and show her what kinds of people were there with me. That was just too much” he explains.

“wow” you chuckle “that doesn’t sound fun either”

Hyunjin shakes his head “nope, but hey we got rid of ‘em, didn’t we?”

“yea” you giggle “plus if I hadn’t broken up with him I would’ve probably never gone to the new years eve party”

“I guess I owe him something then” he grins as you scooch up on the bed.

“can I kiss you?” you ask after a few seconds of silence.

“hm?” hyunjins eyes almost spring out of his head.

“I don’t want to catch you off guard” you grin as you repeat his words from the night you met, sitting up.

He licks his lower lip as a grin stretches over his face as he sits up as well “do your worst”

You get up on your knees to shuffle over to him, when you get close enough hyunjin grabs one of your thighs and lifts it over his legs so you’re straddling him.

Once you sit down on his lap, your eyes lock again and you’re once again baffled as to how someone can be so god damn attractive.

His eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips expectantly, a shaky breath leaving his lips when you lean in.

Your lips connect and it feels like all the pent up energy of liking him since that night finally gets set free, sparks glowing behind your lit and his hands leaving a trail of fire where ever they go.

They squeeze at your thighs and waist, pulling you impossibly close to himself.

A whimper tears from your throat when his tongue licks at yours, he tastes like chocolate and what could only be described as him.

He moans into the kiss when you tug at the blonde locks that weren’t pulled back into the ponytail; before pulling the hair tie out of his hair to free it and finally card your fingers through all of the blonde glory.

Before you realize what’s going on, hyunjin lifts the both of you before dropping you on your back and crawling above you.

The fact that he just lifted the both of you from a sitting position as if you weigh nothing makes you feel all types of hot.

“you’re so hot holy shit” you pant as you push his long hair out of his face.

“ditto” he only grins before attaching his lips to your exposed collarbone and sucking a bruise into the skin.

“take it off” you moan as you tug on the dark blue calvin klein shirt he’s wearing.

His lips release the skin of your collarbone before sitting up to pull the shirt over his head.

If your mouth wasn’t already open from your heavy breathing, you would’ve opened it now because his body is more sculpted and toned than you had expected.

Your hand lifts to smooth over his abs, muscles flexing as he connects your lips again.

His one hand slides from your waist up to cup one of your breasts, gently palming the soft flesh.

“I know I said I wanted to take you out first but-“ he mumbles against your lips.

“you bought me a lovely dinner” you interrupt him, threading your fingers through the hair that’s falling down into his vision.

He grins, dropping a short peck to your lips before his the grin gets wiped off his face “I don’t have a condom with me”

“I’m on the pill” you let him know “I got tested before the lockdown and I haven’t been with anyone since soo…”

“yea, me too, I was tested a few months ago” he nods.

You nod back, biting your lip as you absently play with his hair.

“do you trust me?” hyunjin asks, observing your demeanour.

“yea- yea I do I’m just nervous” you smile awkwardly.

“no” he coos before kissing you “why are you nervous?”

“just haven’t been with anyone for a while” you confess.

Hyunjin nods understandingly “if you don’t want to do this we’ll stop”

“no I really want to” you look into his eyes as confidently as you can.

“okay” he smiles, planting his lips on yours again.

“can i?” his voice gives you goosebumps when he mumbles against the sensitive skin under your ear, his fingers slowy undoing the loose knot of your heart shorts.

“yes” you say when he locks eyes with you.

“I love these shorts” he softly presses a kiss to your knee, trying to calm your nerves a little, before he gently rocks your hips to pull them off of you.

You blush a little out of embarrassment but smile when you lift your hips to help him.

“cute” he whispers when he see’s your panties have a little bow on the front.

He chuckles when you hide your face in embarrassment, pulling you closer to him again by your thighs before you let him kiss you again.

“can I take this off too?” hyunjin whispers, softly pulling at the fabric of the tank top you’re wearing, at which you nod.

You are still wearing a bra when he pulls it off so you take it into your own hands and unclasp your bra.

Your nipples stiffen a little at the sudden exposure to air, as well as to hyunjin’s admiring gaze.

“fuck” he muses when palming your breasts in his big hands, gently pushing them together an running his thumbs over your nipples.

A whimper involuntarily leaves your lips when he wraps his plump lips around one of the perked up nubs and sucks gently.

“so fucking pretty, princess” you feel yourself pathetically clench around nothing at his praise.

You feel one of his hands wander downwards to provide some friction for you, he slots his lips against yours when you tentatively roll your hips against his hand.

Hyunjin feels his cock get even harder when an almost desperate moan tumbles from your lips against his. So he ads a little more pressure and starts circling your clit with two fingers, your sighs of pleasure mixing into the kiss.

“you’re so sensitive baby” he whispers as he parts his lips from yours “can I go down on you?” he grazes his lips over your chest, looking up at you seductively.

You nod as you bite your lip, hyunjin placing a few kisses on your tummy before shortly sitting up to also free you from your soaked panties.

The first stripe he licks up your slit, and how he swirls the tip of his tongue around your clit expertly sends you to heaven.

His hands are gripping your thighs to prevent you from closing your legs, your hands are tangled in his hair and the sheets.

“hyunj-fuck” you cry out when his tongue enters you.

He carefully prods one finger at your entrance “is that okay?” he asks, his voice hoarse and dripping with lust.

“yea” you sigh.

Once you adjust to one finger, he adds a second one, curling them upwards to search for that specific patch inside of you.

“yes-fuck right there” you moan when his fingers press onto the sweetest spot inside of you, tugging at his hair a little harshly. But you feel him moan against you, getting lost in your taste as he sucks your clit in between his soft lips.

Your hips buckle against his mouth as your eyes roll backwards, feeling the warmth of your orgasm approach rapidly.

“fuck fuck yes-hyunjin” you cry out just before he tipped you over the edge with his skillful ministration, your orgasm rushing up your spine and into your head, endorphins spreading everywhere.

A cry of pleasure fills the room as your thighs starts trembling with the aftershocks, clamping around his head when he drives you into overstimulation.

“oh-shit-“ you pant as you softly pushed on his forehead to get him away from your clit, his fingers still inside you, guiding you through your high.

He nibbles on your inner thigh apologetically. You can still hear your heartbeat in your ears after hyunjin removes his fingers from you and sits up, gently holding your legs together to help you calm down.

“fuck” you mewl, a soft smile tugging at his lips.

He’s wanted to do this for so long and there you are, with all of your naked glory in front of him.

While he’s daydreaming about you, you sit up and start fiddling with his sweatpants.

“you want more?” he quips, once he realises what you’re doing, leaning in to kiss you.

“mhm” you humm into the kiss affirmitavely when his hand holds you close to him by your jaw.

With a quick last peck to your lips he simultaneously shimmies the soft black sweats and his boxers off of himself.

You apparently visibly gulp at the sight of his cock because hyunjin smirks cockily “like what you see?” as he crawls above you again, his lips finding yours again and not waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know if you’ll fit” you mumble when he suckles at the soft nook of skin under your ear.

“we can stop here” he offers softly before locking eyes again.

You shake your head as you reach down to fist his length, slowly pumping it and smearing the few drops of precum around.

“no, you’re just really big” you huff with a shy smile on your lips at which hyunjin groans.

“you’re gonna be the death of me, you know?” he mutters against your lips before kissing you deeply, his hand smoothing over the slope of your waist before coming up to gently pinch at one of your nipples.

Eliciting a soft high pitched moan from you, this only spurs him on.

Rolling his tongue against yours desperately and making you taste yourself before sinfully sucking at the wet muscle.

All the while you’re stroking him with your small hand before cupping his balls, as if he didn’t already feel like he’s gonna blow his load way too early.

“please” you whine, guiding his reddened tip towards your entrance.

Hyunjin releases a shaky breath before replacing your hand with his, rutting his hips against yours a few times, coating his length in your wetness.

This already had your toes curling, suppressing a whine as you lock your legs around his waist.

“tell me if it hurts, yea?” he breathes, only pressing inside you after you nod, dropping a kiss to your swollen lips.

“fuck” he swears softly, tucking his face in the crook of your neck when he breaches your tight walls for the first time.

Your fingers tighten in his hair at the back of his neck when a subtle sting flares up inside of you.

“ah-“ your body flinches a little when he presses further inside, hyunjin notices, observing your expression before kissing your cheek and sitting up slowly.

“you’re doing so good, baby” he lifts his thumb to his lips, swiftly kitten-licking the digit before bringing it to where your bodies join.

Gently rolling your clit under his thumb to distract you from the pain.

“you look so perfect like this” his other hand travels over your stomach to gently squeeze at your breasts “all spread out for me”

You whimper, arching your back when hyunjin thrusts into you carefully; the pain slowly subsiding and the ache to be fully filled up by him growing exponentially when his cock rubs against your g spot.

“hyunjin” you moan, gripping onto his hand, which is resting atop your breast.

“yes baby, I’m here” he groans at how tight you feel once he’s balls deep inside of you, abandoning your clit to grab you by the hips for leverage.

His other hand resting on your cheek now, after a few trusts you moan “harder, please”

Hyunjin groans and fulfils your wish, at one particularly harsh thrust, you latch your lips around his pointer and middle finger, sucking at them.

“oh my god-that’s so fucking hot” he grunts through clenched teeth.

His cock dragging along your walls deliciously, filling you up to the brim as you hum around his slender fingers in pleasure.

“you like my hands that much baby?” his jaw is clenched and the grip on your waist is rough , the contrast to how sweet he was just a few minutes earlier had you clench around him furiously.

“fuck-“ he breathes when you nod to the best of your abilities, eyes wide open and holding his gaze.

You only release his fingers from in between your lips in favour for a loud high pitched moan when his other hand finds your clit again, rubbing harsh circles into the bud.

“-gonna cum-huynjin” you dig your nails into his biceps, eyes squeezing shut.

“yea?” he grits through his teeth the fingers that were previously trapped in your mouth now wrapping around your bared throat.

Not squeezing tightly, just resting there as if to show you that you’re his now.

Your thought gets confirmed when he rasps “you’re gonna date me after this, right pretty girl?”

You do look so pretty right now, tits bouncing and skin slapping because of the fast rhythm that he’s snapping his hips into yours, not to mention the subtle sheen of sweat that’s coating the both of you.

A desperate breathy chuckle tumbles from your lips “ yes-yes fuck” you feel your second orgasm creeping up on you.

“cum for me princess, all over my cock” he urges you on, his tip hammering into the sweet spot inside of you repeatedly before you crash into your second high of the night.

Your body convulses in pleasure as you call out his name mixed with profanities, your toes curling so hard you’re not sure if you can ever uncurl them again, and your nails probably leaving painful indents in his skin.

His thumb on your clit slows down until you grab his hand for him to stop, his hand around your neck grabs your free one, holding both of your hands over your head now.

“so good, baby” he mumbles, kissing your lips; mostly just breathing into each other as he rocks you through every wave of your orgasm.

Hyunjin looses himself in you not long after with a guttural moan and his eyes squeezing shut.

You coax him through it when he rests his face against your neck again, running your fingertips through his damp hair and over his broad back, muscles tensing under your gentle touch.

i“don’t fall asleep on me” you whisper sneakily, grinning when he chuckles against your neck, tickling the soft skin there.

He props himself up again to scan over your features, pushing some hair out of your face before kissing you tenderly.

“you okay?” his hand resting at your temple as he gently runs his thumb over your hairline.

“more than” you assure him, cupping his cheeks to pull his lips onto yours again.You think you can never get enough of his lips, anything about him for that matter; not when he makes you feel so cared about and safe.

“so does this mean we’re dating now?” he whispers after he has cleaned you up and tucked the both of you in bed.

“hmh” you nod your head sleepily, positioned on his bare chest.

“so I can spoon you once we fall asleep?” he asks, grin evident in his voice.

“you can spoon me but you can’t wake me up in the middle of the night if you get horny” you mumble jokingly, enjoying his fingers running down your spine as your eyelids get heavier.

“okay” he giggles softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head before you whisper your good nights to each other.

And as promised, he doesn’t wake you up in the middle of the night because he’s horny.

It’s you who wakes him, because after 10 months of wasted time, you have a lot of catching up to do.

a/n: oml this is my first ever long fic so pls pls pls give me feedback, i had so much fun writing his even though it made me feel even more single but hey :))))

allsooo i waited til after work to publish this and i just saw i hit 500 followers?!?!?! thats crazy to me omg i started this like 2 months ago and so many ppl liked my stuff so much that they decided to follow me?? so i just wanna say thank u thank u thank u for hitting the follow button even though im very unorganized and everything i do is spontaneaous and not thought out well. but hey i guess there is a reason that u followed me so thank u!

(i’d love if u sent me an ask with the first one of my writings that u stumbled across, and how <3 ...only if u want tho no pressure)

anyways thank u so much for reading if you’ve made it this far! i hope you have a great day/ night! much love

-aj

(this is a work of fiction and does not represent the real actions of stray kids or hwang hyunjin)

#omgaaaaa im finally done writing this oof it took forever but it was so much fun #thank u for reading my loves #and dont forget ur beautiful and loved and drink water #ily #hwang hyunjin #hwang hyunjin smut #hyunjin smut #hyunjin oneshot #straykids smut #stray kids #stray kids hyunjin #hyunjin e2l #hyunjin fluff #hyunjin college!au #big dick hyunjin #skskksks im sorry #i guess this is my 500 followers special lol #idk ahh ill add more tags later my brain be empty its late okay hahajajss

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the-necessary-unnecessary · 4 years

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My top 7 Arsenal wfc players, aka the whole team because they're all my children and you can't chose between children

(And they're not many more than seven anyways)

Beth Mead: a wizard on the wong and the original crot queen. She may not have had the best season this year but shes still managed to play an important part in the team and has conquered many hearts in the process. If she has to retire early because of all the hits she receives during matches then she's got a bright future ahead of her as a cringey tiktok star or, if that fails, a career as a HSM impersonator on cruise ships

Cailtin Foord: there were mixed opinions when she was first announced as a new signing, but she almost immediately became one more member of the arsenal family amongst players and supporters alike. Before Covid struck shes already stamped her mark on the club with her skill and made her way onto the scoresheet, and now shes also made her way into Lia's house and infected the squad with the chaotic tiktok bug

Dan Carter: literally a gooner through and through having played for arsenal for practically all her life and pulling through in the big moments. Heartbreak and injury have been her middle names for over the past year having sustained two ACL injuries in 14 months. Even if she hasnt had as much of an impact on the pitch shes still been a large part of injury fc, with her and her diary always being a source of sarcasm and banter through it all.

Danielle Van De Donk: she probably described herself best when she said she was a feisty puppy who wants to ball. A woman who takes no prisoners during matches, opponents refs and the back of nets all fear her. Off the pitch though shes a real softie who radiates chaotic energy and yet has developed over the years into quite the leader (even if she still follows beth around on her tiktok adventures)

Jennifer Beattie: a friendly giant who quietly puts in all the work at the back, being an absolute unit as a last line of defense which was sorely missed during her injury. She came back from City because arsenal is home and that's beautiful. Talking about beautiful, her and Chloe. That's it, nothing more needs to be elaborated on. Pretty underrated although shes been getting more attention lately, she makes Kim company as the quiet Scottish duo who are lethal on the pitch

Jill Roord: despite her love hate relationship with goal posts, shes still made her mark at arsenal this year especially thanks to the fact that she has remained injury free this year (dont worry I touched wood when I typed that) and hopefully next year when shes settled in even more to the team and the league then she'll be able to show what she's truly made of. That is, if she lasts that long before the team kick her out for being too annoying. A woman who likes the two extremes, Frozen and Olaf as well as blonde tattooed players and famous thirst traps, she epitomises this soft yet hard personality dichotomy too

Jordan Nobbs: calm, composed, skillful, professional, dynamic and with the capacity of being able to astutely read the game, she's the personification of arsenal in a player. Having been at the club for a whole decade now she's practically lived it all and yet she continues on hungry for better and more. With the way she acts on the pitch you would never guess her forgetful, dorky, awkward nature off it. The woman with both the longest nando's order ever and the shortest attention span.

Katie McCabe: the Irish devil, the arsenal player founder of the tucked in shirt, member of the love to hate her girlfriend club. Her almost permanent move to left back this season has reaped bountiful benefits for her, a flexible player who always finds freedom on the wing shes proved herself as lethal as both a defender and a finisher. In Jordan's words, she talks about her biceps all the time, but so would I if I was that stacked. That being said, Ruesha always finds a way to beat her which is probably payback for her scoring against West Ham in the cup

Katrine Veje: another player lost to injury this season, although lockdown has treated her well (that makes one of us) and she's apparently fully fit again. Shes been sorely missed as a fullback for most of her season, her explosiveness and crosses in particular. As it is shes used her time to get in some spectacular photoshoots and just be and just be a source of clownery as a veteran at injury fc

Kim Little: as silent as Kim and as deadly as Kim should be new british sayings at this point. Quick on her feet with nerves of steel shes an impressive player to watch and is sometimes the glue in the midfield that keeps arsenal together. Her professionalism both on and off the pitch is as big as her dislike of cameras

Leah Williamson: the face of arsenal and not because of her looks, rather because of her insane talent and her embodiment of all things arsenal. From the moment she was born arsenal was pumping through her veins. One of the best up and coming CBs with long range passes for days she has been a crucial part of the arsenal squad for so long you forget she's just 23. What she lacks in some of her fashion choices she makes up in her bright and nerdy personality and her never ending stream of insults directed at Jordan

Leonie Maier: she recently said that she has never regretted the decision to move to arsenal and that has been because shes been able to shine in defense mainly alongside Leah, each playing off each other's strengths and developing herself as a player in a new league which is never an easy transition. Dont let her banana bread making trick you into thinking shes the mum in the group, shes proved herself to be as chaotic as the rest of them.

Lia Walti: arguably the best thing to come out of Switzerland since toblerone (much better than swiss cheese though). Like a lot of arsenal players, it sometimes seems like she would be better off playing in bubble wrap so she wouldnt sustain as many injuries. She's an intelligent player, one of the best qualities to have as a midfielder, with skill coming out of her ears and unfulfilled potential still to come. Her sunshine-like looks can be deceiving though because she leaves her brain cells in the changing room, as is becoming an arsenal tradition.

Lisa Evans: another alround players who, as a winger-cum-fullback, has thrived in her position this year. Her defensive position yet forward thinking mentality has proved deadly and when shes been given space to roam the wing too shes provided goals and assists a plenty. Her unpredictability on the pitch translates into her chaotic tendencies off it and a love for the arsenal anthem “we've got McCabe, Katie McCabe”. Sometimes she likes to pretend that she's a seal (exhibit A attached below)

Louise Quinn: it would be stereotypical to say that it's natural that shes so good at headers due to her height, but stereotypes exist for a reason and her tower-like build makes her a match for any Millie Bright in the heading department. She's a consistent, sturdy player who is great at starting up play from the back in many cases providing that vital first past (sometimes with her head because she's tall). Her pastimes include drinking a lot of coffee, understandable that she needs to refuel considering her height, and making fun on her teammates so that they dont make fun of her accent and her 183 cm length. Have I mentioned that she's tall?

Manuela Zinsberger: an extremely talented goalkeeper although sometimes people can excusably confuse her with being arsenal's eleventh outfield player. Another bayern recruit she's been key this season making some great saves and causing a few heart attacks in the process (west ham's penalty box free kick anyone?). She may look tough but she's just as much a clown as the rest of them

Pauline Peyraud-Magnin: the second proud member of the goalkeepers union. Shes not called the Hulk for no reason, racking up some great saves and skills with her feet even as Joe's second choice. What she lacks in command of the english language she makes up in utter chaos including hand gestures, shouting and eratic dancing, well as staging photoshoots at arsenal's gym.

Viki Schnaderbeck: shes been able to mostly avoid injury fc this season after a long stint there last year and her hardwork has paid off to establish her as a mainstay here as a skilled defensive player. Shes been loud and proud recently on social media and I am loudly and proudly here to support it

Vivianne Miedema: in Katie's own words “the goat”. Absolutely lethal as a center-forward, calm collected and composed in front of the goal, and also crucial in providing build up play and assists. She can both hold off opponents and reach an unmatched maximum speed with surprising ambidexterity and complete nonchalantness. The only player who is actively lazy and is able to get away with it. She puts up with a lot of chaos but is not unknown to add to it too, mainly providing subtle humor and sarcastic wit. Not a personality for the faint hearted.

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ceo-of-daichi · 4 years

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Characters - Sawamura Daichi x Fem!Reader

Summary - Lockdown had really affected your social life and daily routine, luckily a certain someone was willing to help you get your life back to somewhat normal. What will happen when you start catching feelings?

Genre - Fluff

Warnings - Slight mentions of anxiety

Word Count - 2.3k

A/N - Back again with another Daichi fic! Are you surprised, probably not i got a one man mind lmao. This one isn’t as long as the last but still as fluffy, hopefully you enjoy reading it :) p.s. this was almost called Toothpaste I blame Jas👀

Covid-19 had really flipped your year in a completely different direction to what you were expecting. You started the year hoping to finish your last year of high-school on a high, helping the volleyball team get to nationals and getting into university. However, the world clearly had a different plan for you, when the virus first started you didn’t think much of it. Why would you? It was only when the announcement came that the country was going into lockdown that your brain finally registered what was actually happening. Being the slightly more extroverted individual you thrived off seeing your friends, plus both your parents worked as nurses. You were going to be alone.

The first few weeks went by pretty fast, managing to keep up a routine by going out for runs and making yourself eat at certain times. Even keeping in touch with your friends from the boys volleyball team as well as Kiyoko, one of your closest friends. However, after this fairly stable period you had a really bad day. Nothing went your way, blender… broken, guess you weren't having a smoothie this morning. After that frustrating incident Tanaka and Noya decided to start poking fun at you in the group chat, which you were NOT in the mood for. Group chat… Muted. It was also raining extremely heavy so you decided maybe a well deserved rest day was in order, throwing on the TV you flopped down on the couch to start your film marathon.

5am. That was the time it was when you finally passed out on the couch. How did you end up staying up that late, Harry Potter. Why you thought it was a good idea to start watching the films you don’t know, but you managed to watch them all, all 19 hours of them. That was all it took to mess your routine up for the next month, not waking up till 2-3pm everyday just to lounge around. Barely keeping in touch with anyone, you hadn’t talked in the groupchat for close to 3 weeks, hardly even thinking about eating anything but snacks.

Luckily you had a saving grace, Daichi. After going MIA , the third year’s started to get worried about you, especially Kiyoko. She had dmed you multiple times and got nothing in return, mainly because you saw the messages but forgot to reply. You were a whole ass mess to put it plainly.

~ 3rd Years Group Chat ~

Kiyoko - I’m worried about [y/n]...

Suga - Tell me about it, she hasn’t been in the chat for weeks

Daichi - Have you tried dming her?

Kiyoko - She is ignoring me, she hasn’t replied to one of my messages

Asahi - Maybe she’s just busy?

Daichi - In the middle of lockdown…

Suga - Yeah thats unlikely

Kiyoko - Can one of you dm her as well? I just want to make sure she’s ok?

Daichi - I can... i’ll let you know if she replies and if she doesn’t Asahi or Suga can try

Having received a concerned message from Daichi, you realised how much you had lost track of everything and anything. Replying to both him and Kiyoko apologising and explaining you had just forgotten to press send. Although Daichi wanted to believe that was the case he couldn’t, instead of being upfront about it though he started messaging you throughout the day. Just small things asking if you had eaten and if you were staying hydrated, little did he know that this helped you get back into a better rhythm of lockdown life.

You slowly fixed your sleep schedule and got back to eating 3 meals a day. Although you hadn’t managed to get back into running, your talks with Daichi slowly got more frequent and for longer periods of time. The more you talked to him the more motivated you started to feel, eventually you got back into your running routine. It no longer became the odd message to make sure you were eating, but full day conversations about anything you could think of. Eventually you started relying on talking to him to cure your lockdown loneliness, a day without talking to him was not a good day for you. Daichi being the fairly observant person that he is, started to realise and eventually bought it up.

Daichi :) - Hey [y/n], I've been meaning to bring something up with you, you mind if we call?

[y/n] - Yeah sure Dai, just call me whenever i don’t exactly have anything going on

Receiving this was like a bullet to the chest, worrying what it could be about you pulled your knees up to your chest steadying your breathing. As you were lost in your head, your phone started ringing. Answering it you heard his voice for the first time in close to 3 months, it was music to your ears. Slowly over these 2 months you had grown fond of the boy, but you had quickly dismissed the idea of anything forming between each other. Both having different priorities in life, being scared of rejection also didn’t help.

After an hour and a half of deep conversation, a couple tears shed but more laughter at the end. You collapsed backwards onto your bed, he had found out everything. How your parents were barely home, always doing long shifts at the hospital, how you felt like you had no one during those 3 weeks you were MIA. Most importantly though you had confessed that talking to him was like receiving a warm hug. It's exactly what you needed at this time, obviously you would love an actual hug as well but that's pretty hard from a 2m distance.

~ 1 week later ~

Your eyes went wide as they announced on the news that lockdown was starting to be lifted, you were now allowed to meet up with people outside at a safe distance. Smiling you quickly messaged Daichi telling him how excited you were that restrictions were finally being lifted.

Daichi :) - That's Great [y/n]!! So.. you fancy going on a socially distanced pic-nic tomorrow? Don’t worry about bringing anything but yourself. I got the rest covered, obviously if you're ok with that?😃

Reading the text over multiple times, pinching yourself to make sure it was real. You hadn’t seen Daichi in close to 3 months, and within that time you had developed feelings. What would it be like seeing him in person now, generally being awkward with past crushes, you started to worry about scaring him away. You couldn’t do that, you needed him. Taking a couple paces around the room thinking about what to reply, before realising you were most definitely overthinking it. He didn’t see you that way…

[y/n] - Yeah sure! Just let me know a time and place, i will be there

Daichi - 1pm at the park round the corner from your house?

[y/n] - See you there!!

The next morning you woke up with a huge smile plastered on your face, excited for the day ahead. Jumping out of bed and rummaging through your wardrobe you pulled out a cute summer dress, not too dressy but showed you put effort in none the less. The summer dress was red and was covered in little white flowers, you had only worn it a couple times and decided it needed another outing.

Walking down your road and around the corner to the park, the wind hitting your face made you feel like maybe the world was getting back to normal. As you walked through the gates, you noticed Daichi stood over by a slightly more wooded area, smiling as you made your way over to him. Greeting each other you forgot how much his laugh and smile made it seem like nothing else mattered, making your heart beat faster in your chest. He ended up leading you through the woods and into a small opening which had 2 picnic blankets laid down at the appropriate distance. As you got closer you noticed that there were sandwiches, fruit and small cakes on both.

‘You didn’t have to do this Daichi you know? A simple sandwich would have been fine?’ You started smiling at him, no one had ever gone to this much effort for you and honestly you felt bad. ‘It must have taken you a bit to set this up…’

‘Oh no, honestly don’t worry about it… i wanted to, neither have been out in a while so i figured why not?’ The laugh that came out sounded almost nervous, which confused you slightly… Was he really as nervous as you?

The afternoon went by quicker than both of you wanted. Chatting, cracking jokes and eating, which the food Daichi had made was really good. You had asked why he had never told you about his clear culinary skills, apparently this was the first time he had attempted something like this. Trying not to get too far ahead of yourself when he had mentioned this, even though you were freaking out. Mainly chatting about quarantine life and how you missed being out of lockdown, being able to socialise freely and do whatever you wanted.

You only realised how long you had been with Daichi when it started to get dark, letting him know you should probably be getting back. Even though in reality you could have stayed there for the rest of the night and into the early morning. Helping him pack everything up occasionally sneaking glances at him, wishing you could pull him into a hug or give him a peck on the cheek. Just to let him know how much he had helped you over the past month. Sadly you couldn’t, once everything had been packed away Daichi (being the gentleman that he is) offered to walk you back.

‘I had a really good afternoon, thank you for this Daichi…’ Smiling at him as you walk up to your front door.

‘Would you want to do something like this again maybe?’ The way he looked at you, his eyes almost pleading, with a slight smile gracing his lips. This made your heart instantly melt.

‘If you want to? I would love that!’

‘[y/n]... why would i ask if i didn’t want to?’ Raising a brow at you playfully.

‘Shut up you dork, i’ll see you soon then!’ Laughing as you walk through your door giving him a wave before closing it and sliding down it on the other side, trying to calm your heart that was about to burst through your chest.

Another couple weeks past, you had only met up with Daichi once more, but both were still texting all day with the occasional call. You also had met up with Kiyoko within these weeks, explaining your situation. She thought it was really funny how much you were worrying about it because to her it seemed obvious that he returned your feelings. You were still completely denying this fact though, it was something your brain really couldn’t fathom. However, the next day lockdown was reduced once again, you were now allowed to have people in your house from other families.

Being as excitable as you were and the fact your parents were out almost all of the time, you rattled off a text to Daichi asking him if he fancied a chill movie marathon night? Both of you deciding to watch The Hobbit trilogy later on in the evening. Hopping up from the couch you started cleaning the house, preparing snacks and setting up pillows as well as blankets on the couch. Seen as though it was a chill night you had decided on a pair of grey sweats and a plain v-neck t-shirt, that was tied so it wasn’t too long.

You had just finished setting everything up when there was a knock at the door, practically running to get it. Opening the door to his smiling face made something snap and you don’t know what came over yourself as you jumped into his arms, wrapping your own around him. Luckily he was quick to catch you.

‘What did i do to deserve this hug?’ He chuckles to himself as you nuzzle into his neck.

‘Everything. Daichi I owe you so much, you don’t even understand’ Letting out a sigh, he closes the door and carries you over to the couch. Placing you down next to him as you pout at him, sad that the hug was over so soon. You had waited for so long to be wrapped up in his arms and when you finally get the chance it barely lasts 2 minutes.

‘Listen Daichi… you have helped me so much over the past few months, and honestly…’ Taking a breath to figure out how to phrase your next words, however before you could say anything else he had pulled you back into his chest.

‘I like you too dork…’ Frozen in his arms, how long had he known… How long had he liked you back? All you could do in that moment was snake your arms round him and enjoy each other's company as he started the first film.

~ BONUS ~

‘How long have you liked me Daichi?’ You question him half way through the first film.

‘About 6 months give or take why?’ He turns his attention towards you and gives you a quick head kiss, before looking back to the film.

‘6 months… that's before we went into lockdown..?’

He hums, smirking at your clearly oblivious nature, as your brain was spiralling thinking about how many signals you missed.

Tags: @super-noya @stcrryskies @iwaxme @bb-noya @vventure @ardorwrites-hq-mha @scorpiosanssexy

#Daichi #sawamura daichi #daichi owns my whole ass heart #haikyuu #daichi #daichi sawamura #haikyuu fanfic #hq fanfic #daichi x reader #sawamura daichi x you #i am in love with this man #fanfic #oneshot #hq writing #daichi writing #daichi x you #haikyuu x you #hq daichi #hq anime

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daesungindistress · 3 years

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Now that you bring it up past anons, I don't think how I'll ever get over how everything went down. I found kpop through Bigbang right at the 10 year anniversary mark, and learned that I started out at the top. Learning how powerful Bigbang was all those years was euphoric. Buy then it was like watching the fall of an empire, and it's just been cataclysmic. Nothing but scandals a country's worth of immense hatred and a fandom civil war! I'm loyal beyond rationality, but good grief I want to experience good days as a vip for once, because from Last Dance era onward feels like I'm constantly burning 😭😭😭

Sorry I'm dramatic, but every experience is tainted and somebody needs to hit the refresh button QUICKLY

See, this is what happens when I reply to anons in a regular fashion -- you all start talking to each other through me. What do y’all think I am, a VIP conduit 😭

lol I’m just playing. And it’s better than y’all fighting through me, which is one of a few reasons why I’ve stopped responding to OT5 provocations here. But yeah... the fall of an empire... and what a fall it was. First there was SR and Burning Sun starting in late winter and ramping up in spring. When he left, a surprising number of people were sure it spelled the end for BB. Then another YG group lost a member (iKON) because of Burning Sun; Han Seo Hee, though I think we can all agree she’s a snake, claims the handling of Burning Sun and the whistleblower situation re: the chats emboldened her to speak up about her dealings with Hanbin. Of course, this brought her past with TOP from several years prior back to the public’s attention. Great. Then YG lost its founder to similar accusations as SR -- and soon after, its CEO. Then another BB member came under scrutiny, and at that point all I could do was hold my breath, wait out the gunfire, and hope for the best.

2019 was a fun year, huh? All this while fending off OT5s whose modus operandi is turning a blind eye.

Coincidentally, my favorite band ever, who’s been around exactly as long as BB, went independent in 2019 and spent the year working on a war-themed album, which, when completed, was also coincidentally scheduled to be released on the same day BB were set to play the first weekend at Coachella in April 2020 -- though with COVID lockdowns going into effect they were able to fast-track the release date and get their music to fans a week ahead of schedule. A perk of being independent, I guess.

Anyway, in June, around the time things were heating up again with YG and related parties, this group dropped a single called The Evening Hate. And there’s this part in the bridge that I thought summed up the situation surprisingly well:

like cinders it rains

we fall, we fall

an empire in flames

we crawl, we’re crawling out

It’s pretty heavy, so for those who aren’t into that sort of thing there’s a far softer and very pretty alternative version here.

Anyway, in terms of warfare, BB aren’t in the trenches anymore, so where are they? Hiding in the woods or something. Waiting for an opportune moment to reveal themselves and announce their presence again. As a reformed team of four, of course.

The thing is... when it comes to comeback stages, nothing beats Coachella. That was it for them, that was what they needed to pull them onto their feet and propel them back into, what... relevancy? Tragically, it’s gone down in history as a false start. Or really, no start at all. Our starting line keeps getting pushed back, pushed back, pushed back, our flower road walled off until another, kinder spring.

The world is still struggling with COVID, yes, and Korea in particular seems to have its hands full with a third wave that’s proving more severe than the first two. I follow a few kpop news accounts on Twitter and every day is filled with updates on this or that music show, pre-recording, online concert, etc involving a staff member who tested positive for COVID, and suddenly everything’s halted, production put on hold, and all the members of these idol groups are undergoing testing and self-isolating with their agencies announcing the results. Blackpink was supposed to stream an online concert at the end of this month, but unsurprisingly, that too has been postponed. In conclusion, this is no time for BB to attempt to be active. No time for their grand, long-awaited comeback. No time at all.

They will rise again, it’s just a question of when, where, and how.

we are fighting to survive

from the ashes we ignite

we live, we die

we fall, we rise

You know, I had a dream once that BB came back with an album called RESTART, but hey, REFRESH works too.

#no need to apologize for being dramatic #if I'm in the right mood (a writing mood) I bet I can out-dramatic all of you #bigbang #red #ask #anon #I also made a graphic poking fun at the whole 'civil war' thing lol #so it seems you and I are on the same page anon #ps. I hope this makes sense if it's a little disjointed it's probably bc I've had a whole bottle of wine tonight and am a tad tipsy

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giftofshewbread · 3 years

Text

Created Problems (Prophecy update)

By Daymond Duck Published on: August 22, 2021

Created problems are piling up in the U.S. as the globalists continue their effort to weaken America and establish a world government by 2030 or sooner.

These are facts, not conspiracy theories.

Oil—The Biden administration deliberately reduced America’s oil production by stopping construction on the Keystone XL Pipeline, halting oil production on federal lands in Louisiana, New Mexico, etc., and this caused the price of oil to soar. Now, Biden wants production increased to bring the price of oil back down, but he doesn’t want U.S. companies and U.S. workers to increase production, get their jobs back, etc.; he wants OPEC and foreign workers to increase production and have those jobs.

Crime—The Defund the Police movement has resulted in police budgets being cut in many cities, thousands of criminals being released from jails, soaring shootings, killings, and thefts; this is by design because globalists want to gain control of the police.

Border—The Biden administration has deliberately destroyed what few immigration laws the U.S. had. This week, Biden’s Homeland Security Sec. visited the U.S./Mexico border and was secretly recorded saying the border crisis is unsustainable (just the opposite of what he is saying in public). About one million immigrants (many with Covid) have come across the border, drug and human trafficking have increased, etc., and there is no effort to stop it (just an effort to hide what they are doing by lying about it.).

Covid—Only U.S. citizens are required to wear masks and be tested. Illegal aliens are not required to be masked or tested, and many are deliberately bussed and flown to other parts of the U.S., especially TX and FLA (at taxpayer expense) in what appears to be an effort to spread Covid, turn TX and FLA from Red to Blue (from Republican to Democrat) and blame unvaccinated citizens for spreading Covid to justify forcing everyone to be vaccinated for the global good or the common good (deceptive phrases meaning world government).

Inflation—Inflation is rising faster than wages are increasing, meaning money is declining in value and buying less and less. There seems to be two reasons: 1) Unending stimulus packages with pork-barrel spending, and 2) Disruption of production due to the deliberate spread of Covid and imposed lockdowns. This is increasing the price of everything (food, clothing, vehicles, rent, mortgages, medicine, etc.; gas is $1 per gallon higher than it was this time last year). It is destroying the U.S. economy and hurting every American, especially the poor.

Critical Race Theory (CRT)—Socialists have increased their power in the Democrat Party, and they are pushing CRT (a new form of segregation) to divide the U.S. They know that a nation divided against itself cannot stand. Why else would they want to re-establish segregation? Note: On Aug. 16, 2021, the Arkansas Attorney Gen. said separating children based on race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Afghanistan—Biden told America the Afghan military had enough modern weapons and troops to defend itself. Then, we read that Biden sent a letter to the Taliban asking them to hold off taking over the country until we could evacuate our people. Then, we read that most of the major Afghan cities fell in 24 hours. Then, we read that the Afghan capital fell a few hours later. Then, we read that Biden offered the Taliban foreign aid for a promise to not attack the U.S. embassy.

Biden’s hasty exit sends the message that America is not a reliable ally; it dooms thousands of Afghan soldiers to death that helped the U.S.; it dooms Afghan women to second class citizenship, covering their face, etc.; it dooms Afghan girls to forced marriages, no education, etc.; it dooms Afghan boys to brainwashing, very little education, etc.; it dooms Afghan men to beatings, amputation of limbs, etc.; and it dooms the Christians to convert to Islam or be executed. Thousands of Americans were injured or killed in Afghanistan, and Biden squandered everything America accomplished in a matter of hours.

Update One: On Aug. 16, 2021, it was reported that French Pres. Macron was advised to call an emergency meeting of the EU Council because “the security of the world” is in danger. Some EU leaders say an Islamic Caliphate in Afghanistan will be a serious threat to the western world.

Update Two: On Aug. 16, 2021, an editorial in a Chinese-affiliated newspaper declared that war will break out between China and Taiwan, and the U.S. will not help Taiwan. Amir Tsarfati said China, Russia, and Iran are declaring that the post-American world order is over, and he believes that Russia and Iran no longer believe the U.S. will help Israel if they decide to launch an attack.

Update Three: On Aug. 17, 2021, it was reported that China has been emboldened by America’s apparent weakness, and her military is already preparing to practice an attack on Taiwan.

Update Four: On Aug. 17, 2021, it was reported that the Taliban is already sending letters to house churches saying, “We know who you are, and we’re coming for you.” The Antichrist will use beheadings as a terror tactic, and the Taliban does that too.

Here are some of my afterthoughts on Biden’s Afghan debacle.

Biden had a choice. He didn’t have to run. He was advised against it, but he did it anyway.

Biden has led America to defeat in the War on Terror, and his claim to love women and children is nothing more than a campaign slogan that he used to get elected (tell the women and children of Afghanistan that Biden loves them).

The Taliban, Iran and others will declare that Allah has given Islam a major victory over the Great Satan and be encouraged to fight harder (and Biden has just given them weapons worth many millions of dollars). They are surely blaspheming God, His name, and His people.

The success of radical Islam will increase the pressure on Israel and the Arabs to sign a peace treaty.

Israel must realize that she needs to rely on God, not America.

Biden has created a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists, and a borderless world is more dangerous than ever. (The security of the U.S. is threatened by America’s open border, and the Taliban won’t hesitate to cross it.)

It is clearer than ever that the Christian’s hope is the Rapture, not a better, stronger America.

As the world grows darker, the cries for a world leader to solve the world’s problems will grow louder.

God brought Afghanistan (and Babylon) down in a matter of hours, and He can bring the U.S. down in the blink of an eye if He wants.

The U.S. is led by people that are following Satan or it wouldn’t be supporting a godless world government, godless world religion, abortion, gay marriage, censoring Christian ministries, etc.

Biden raised the gay flag over our embassies, and the Taliban will probably take it down and raise their flag over our embassy.

There are many reasons to believe the lukewarm church needs to wake up, or God will eventually bring our sin-filled nation to its knees.

Here are some more reasons to believe that the Rapture is close.

One, deceit and lying have existed at least since God created Adam and Eve, but it will be common practice at the end of the age.

What could be more deceitful than deliberately spreading Covid-19 and blaming it on the unvaccinated?

Could it be internment camps to deliberately incarcerate the falsely accused unvaccinated?

This writer has seen several reports lately that the CDC is planning to have incarceration camps in every U.S. city.

Several sources have reported that on Aug. 6, 2021, TN Gov. Mike Lee signed an executive order authorizing the National Guard to seize unvaccinated people for incarceration.

Natural News reported that it has information that the CDC has been working with the University of Chicago to develop a plan to call homes in an effort to determine if there are any children between 6 months and 17 years in the home that have not been vaccinated.

The activation of incarceration camps in every U.S. city and perhaps a phone call to every household is very troubling.

It has also been reported that starting this month in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, people will not be allowed into restaurants, theaters, and several other venues without proof of vaccination.

This writer is far from knowledgeable on Covid-19 and the mutations or variants, but this is some of what I have read and the way I understand it:

The Covid-19 virus doesn’t want to be killed by a vaccine, so it tries to stay alive by mutating.

Some medical professionals believe the mutations are developing in and being spread by vaccinated people.

This explains why the world will never reach herd immunity (vaccinate so many people on earth that the spread of Covid-19 is unlikely). For whatever it is worth, about 2/3 of the new Covid cases in Israel are people that have been fully vaccinated.

Here is a repeat from my last week’s article with the addition of one sentence: we are seeing the global development and advancement of technology and policies that many excellent Bible prophecy teachers believe will lead to the Mark of the Beast (forced compliance, loss of one’s job, development of passports or passes, a demand for government databases to track people, a demand to prevent the unvaccinated from entering stores to buy or sell, the spread of anti-Christian rhetoric, etc.). We are seeing a preview of things to come and a warning from our merciful God (that knows what is going to happen before it happens) to be sure we are saved.

Two, concerning earthquakes:

On Aug. 11, 2021, a 7.1 quake struck off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines.

On Aug. 12, 2021, an 8.1 quake struck near the South Sandwich Islands (South Atlantic Ocean).

On Aug. 14, 2021, a 7.2 quake struck Haiti. Three days later, it was reported that 6,900 were injured, 1419 were killed, and 84,585 homes were damaged or destroyed.

On Aug. 14, 2021, a 6.9 quake struck in the Gulf of Alaska.

On Aug. 16, 2021, as Haiti was trying to deal with the 7.2 quake, Tropical Storm Grace was bearing down with strong winds and perhaps as much as 8 inches of rain (up to 15 inches and flooding in some areas).

Three, concerning an increase in frequency and intensity of natural disasters (like birth pains): on Aug. 14, 2021, The Moscow Times reported that Russia’s Pres. Vladimir Putin said the scale of natural disasters (floods, droughts, and forest fires) that have hit Russia this year is “absolutely unprecedented.”

According to the article, “Russian weather officials and environmentalists have linked the increasing intensity of Siberia’s annual fires to climate change.”

On Aug. 15, it was reported that at least 51 people have been killed by floods and mudslides in Turkey.

On Aug. 16, the U.S. announced that the water level in Lake Mead is at the lowest level since the Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s, a water shortage on the Colorado River was declared, and it was announced that there will be water cut-backs in 2022. Farmers and ranchers will cut production.

Four, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog: on Aug. 13, 2021, Monte Judah (Messianic World Update) said, “It is very clear that the IDF and the government of Israel is planning to attack Iran soon to stop the nuclear weapons program. This is evidenced by the fact that the IDF, the Air Force, has been running long-range bombing training missions with the nation of Greece, and they have been doing in-flight refueling and other things of that type with Benny Gantz, the Defense Minister, announcing and giving warnings to the U.S. and other nations that Israel is going to stop Iran if they continue to do it.”

FYI: Several pastors say they are being inundated with requests for a “Religious Exemption Letter.” Here is a link to a letter that Rock Harbor Church (Rev. Brandon Holthaus) is using, and it can be printed off:

RHC Religious Exemption for Vaccines and PCR Swabs.pdf

Finally, are you Rapture Ready?

If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

#news #cute #home #lifesyle #sports #weather #music #movie #pics #vids #august #2021 #art #western #country

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afibrunner · 3 years

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How It All Began

For more, visit my blog at 1080Park.com . . .

My story leading up to the catheter ablation procedure went something like this:

- I was in pretty good physical shape. I was in my mid-30s.

- One night my heartbeat went crazy.

- I freaked out a bit, but calmly went to my personal doctor: Google.

- It took me all of 20 minutes to diagnose myself with Atrial Fibrillation (AF).

- I decided to sleep on it, and the next day my symptoms were gone.

- I was living overseas at the time, so I was a bit untrusting of the foreign medical system.

- Despite knowing the risks associated with AF, I stupidly decided to just live with it rather than treat it.

My AF symptoms came and went over the years, often brought on by a few distinct things: Adrenaline or quickly-induced stress, certain types of alcohol, strangely enough, laying back in a very distinct position on the couch, and (I think but not certain on this one) a large intake of sugar like eating a big desert at a restaurant. My irregular heartbeat did not seem to be triggered by caffeine as far as I could tell.

If I went into AF at any point, it would automatically go away on its own. Usually overnight, but almost always within 48 hours. At first I would have instances of it once a week or so, but over the years it began happening more often. Sometimes every other day. I continued my misguided approach of ignoring it because I didn’t ever really feel very poorly during the times I was in AF . I don’t remember ever feeling tired, fatigued, dizzy or short of breath. Sometimes I wouldn’t know I had it until I put my finger on my wrist to check my heart rate. If it was steady, I was good to go. If it was beating randomly, I knew I was in AF. I could run normally, and although my times weren’t super fast I don’t remember every missing a run or a strength workout because I was in AF.

I returned to live in the United States about three years after first realizing I had AF. During a routine annual physical with my primary care physician, he picked up on my AF and freaked out. I wanted to say, “Yo Doc, simmer down now. I’ve been living with this for a long time, and it’s not even bad right now. No need to panic. But panic he did. He acted like he found something that was found something that was an immediate threat to my life. He mentioned a few things I already knew like AF puts someone at an increased risk of stroke, etc. He ordered an EKG that confirmed what he heard through his stethoscope. I had AF. My secret was now out. He made such a big deal of it that I was too embarrassed to admit I already knew I had it. He had me follow him out of the exam room into his office where he proceeded to make a call to a cardiologist he knew and recommended. Using first names, he called in an obvious favor and got me a same-day visit with this specialist in AF. My PCP bid me farewell in a somewhat dramatic fashion, proud of his accomplishment in finding the AF and saving my life. (He really is a great PCP, and although I was certain he was overreacting he my have indeed ultimately saved me from a stroke by scaring me and highlighting that AF is something that should be dealt with sooner than later.)

The new cardiologist was awesome as well. He looked at the EKG I had taken an hour before and said, “Yep, you’ve got Atrial Fibrillation.” He was awesome. He stepped me through what was happening in my heart, and then helped me feel like a bit less of an invalid. He explained that it isn’t uncommon for long distance runners to develop AF. He had a very technical reason for why you can be in great physical shape with a very strong heart, but that extreme endurance training can sometimes trigger AF. He was very positive and went through the equation cardiologists use to assess the risk of stroke to patients with AF: CHA₂DS₂-VASc. (See my resources page for more information on this risk score and how it is used.) He basically “white boarded” out an equation to assign points to certain conditions. He explained each risk factor and why they were important. I was under 65 years old, male, no history of congestive heart failure, no hypertension, no history of stroke, no vascular disease history and no diabetes. Compared to someone with no diagnosis of AF, I was still at an increased risk for stroke, but I was on the lower end of the spectrum for those diagnosed with AF. He was awesome in that he made me feel good about the fact that I was in great shape and that this definitely made me healthier than most AF patients. But he stopped just short of making me feel like I had nothing to be concerned about. He thought I would be a perfect candidate for a cardiac catheter ablation, and explained the procedure in very basic terms. He referred me to another physician who does the ablation procedures, and said he wanted me to get started on the blood thinner Xarelto, and gave me a sample pack of the drug. In his notes on this visit, the doctor wrote the following: “Patient has asymptomatic atrial fibrillation of unclear duration. His atrial fibrillation is probably related to his high vagal tone as he is a marathon runner and quite athletic. His CHADS VAS score is 0 and aspirin should be sufficient. However, I have explained to him that personally, I prefer Xeralto or Eliquis. Furthermore, I anticipate eventual cardioversion or ablation and therefore, I will start patient on Xeralto 20 mg dally at bedtime.”

I didn’t see that third physician on the same day, but his staff helped me get scheduled for a stress echo to “rule out inducible ischemia or structural heart disease.”

Approximately two weeks later I reported to the third physician for the stress echo using the “Bruce (Accelerated)” protocol. (I’m not sure what that is, but I wrote it down.) I got wired up with a bunch of cables attached to my chest and ran on a treadmill for about 13 minutes. I wasn’t in AF at the time of the test, so I felt really strong and I think I did well in the stress test. The doctor commended me for reaching stage 7 of the protocol, but I’m not sure if he was being sincere or just knew I was competitive with running and wanted me to feel better about myself. From the Doctor’s notes: “Conclusions: 1. Excellent exercise tolerance. 2. Normal blood pressure and heart rate response to exercise. 3. Negative exercise echo tor Inducible ischemia or arrhythmia.”

So that was it. I went home feeling like I had killed the test. From this point on I continued to make bad decisions. I continued to blow off my new AF diagnosis because 1. I didn’t want to be on medications or blood thinners, and 2. the thought of having surgery on my heart when three weeks earlier I had run a half marathon averaging under 8 minute miles sounded crazy to me. So I decided to do some research on ablation to figure out if I’d still be able to be a runner after the procedure.

And two weeks later the entire country went on lockdown for COVID-19.

Most elective procedures were cancelled as we all tried to figure out how we were going to get through the pandemic. I was ok with that because I felt healthy. After all, I had been living with AF for a few years already. I saw no need to panic. I just continued running . . .

On many occasions I would begin a run knowing I was in AF, and then the irregular heartbeat would be snapped back to normal at some point during the run. This happened quite often with tempo runs. I wasn’t overly concerned about it because at first I didn’t recognize a decrease in performance. Later it became a bit more noticeable, and my Garmin Forerunner 945 had a problem with my AF.

There is a feature in the Forerunner to help you watch for abnormal heart rates. You can have the watch alert you if it detects an abnormally high or low heart rate. I left this feature on. Every so often, when I was in AF after a run it would trigger the alarm. Not during the run, mind you. For some reason it only triggered the alarm after I was cooling down. Maybe it was because the watch knew I was no longer running and was worried that my heart rate was still high when I should be recovering. Keep in mind my resting heart rate was around 42 bpm at that time.

I remember being angry following a run when I was in AF because my Garmin 945 got so confused. My VO₂ Max was 54 according to my Garmin, but after a run wherein my watch got super confused, it dropped my VO₂ Max down two points to a 52. I was mad! I had a particularly bad bought of AF and ran through it. Normally during a tempo run my heart rate would take a while to increase, and then would top out at around 150 when I was running at a perceived exertion rate of about 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

During this run my heart rate was through the roof because of the AF. I might be making this up, but I’m pretty sure my Garmin watch sent me an alert during the run saying, “Did you give your watch to someone who isn’t in very good running condition by any chance?” (I hit the back key on my watch to blow off the notification.)

Later while still in AF during that same run:

Garmin: “Are you in imminent danger or running for your life?” Me: No. Shut up Garmin, it’s just my AF making you think my HR is way high.

5 minutes later. Garmin: “Need me to call 911 for you?” No, damnit, now leave me alone so I can complete this tempo run. It’s just AF and I’ll have a much lower heart rate the day after tomorrow when I try this again.

As I mentioned, my Garmin punished me after that run by dropping my VO₂ Max by two points. I was mad, and that was the point where I decided to have the ablation procedure. All because my watch downgraded what it assessed as my VO₂ Max following one time I ran during AF. Crazy right?

Next up: Choosing my surgeon. . .

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solarsmith49 · 4 years

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First Entry

So I figured I should have a preface/background post before I jump into sharing my writing lol, be warned this is kinda sappy but necessary haha. I’m going to focus on writing for Creatus Annus; I got back into watching Mark’s channel during the initial March lockdowns after being away for a couple years, and from there into Ethan’s channel and Unus Annus. I relate so much to Ethan in the brutally honest video talking about how he’s felt aimless and drifting the last few years, because that’s exactly how I felt for a long time- I started 2020 unemployed, no money, no direction, with seemingly no passion or drive to really get out and /live/ instead of just existing. In April I had a breakdown, and I realized I had to get myself and my life together while I still could because it really did seem like the world was burning down (thanks covid!) and if I didn’t do it now then there wouldn’t be another chance. I was able to mentally get myself together, and I did find another job in May (which has been a godsend). And at about the same time as I got hired, I found Mark’s vlog talking about his surgeries and the post-op pain medicine screwup that almost killed him. I closed my laptop and cried after that, because it was exactly what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it, by the right person I needed to hear it from. Because I realized it described me perfectly, not acting on my potential and (even worse) not feeling the /need/ to do so. So I took a long look at myself, and this essay below is the first thing I wrote after watching the video, exploring my complete love of space and /why/ it drives me in the way it does. I think it fits the whole message of Unus Annus, and what we’re trying to do here with Creatus Annus, trying to give our own answers to why our lives and our art matters. Space colors all of my poems (as you’ll see later haha), as well as the creative tension I have from my religious and spiritual background (I was raised Catholic, and still am to a degree, but my personal beliefs range all over the place and the relationship and dialogue I have with God/the Divine and what it means to Create Things is a major theme with space). So, here’s my first entry for the project; I’m going to write my general ideas for specifically what I want to do in the ideas thread later, but enjoy the essay - I think you guys will like it.

Even until just a few days ago, I didn’t think I had any life passions, or at least, any passions that mattered. I have hobbies, sure - gaming, crafting, reading, general learning - but I never thought much of them because I didn’t see how I could use them or even if I should bother trying to make anything of them. Certainly I didn’t think I had any interest that moved me enough to devote a life’s pursuit ot it - but that was another self life, perhaps the greatest, one born from a mix of complacency, lack of faith in myself, and a fear of really facing what truly honestly drives me and the action that that would demand. The change that that would demand. Because I do have a passion, and I love it in a general sense, learning about it and following it casually. But it's also something I turn to in dark hours, something that resparks me when I’m tired, that keeps me going and holds my faith and sustains me when everything else fails - family, friends, my job prospects, failing health, chaos in the larger world, evil in the larger world, even when my belief in the Church burns down and God as seen through the “Catholic” lens seems distant and irrelevant. Something that I adore with every fiber of my being and in the core of my very soul. That something is space: the stars and galaxies and their natural functions and processes, but also in particular the space program and what it says about human nature and our relation to the wider universe and ultimately to God himself.

I believe the human endeavour to get to space and the various space programs throughout the world showcase the pinnacle of what our species can do, the best of humanity in terms of technology and cooperation and curiosity, and one of the most fundamental drives we have as humans - the drive to be remembered. Every single human being, from the greatest to the worst of us, is the end product of 13.6 billion years of cosmic cycles, stars being formed, exploding, sending out dust that forms new stars. Every single atom and primal element in our bodies, our carbon, iron, calcium, magnesium, everything was forged in the nuclear fusion reactor in the core of a star, untold eons ago and untold millions of lightyears away. Probably more than once as the dust clouds combine, are forged, and then scattered by the shockwaves of supernovas across time and space. Over and over and over again, until 4.6 billion years ago when our Sun grew from dust and the planets grew from the leftovers. And the Earth - the Earth! - undergoing the same process in microcosm, plates shifting and rock melting and gas expanding and water sifting until the Earth was made solid, and then! In the process, as a by-product, a side effect! The right combination of star forged elements and electricity and chemical reactions was struck and gave the collections of dust atoms Life and Breath! Living, self sustaining action on its own accord, independent of outside forces, movement greater than the stars because it happens on its own! And THEN - a more focused microcosm of the star forge, as 4.5 billion years of evolution refine Life, uncounted species live and die and refine their genes and physical makeup and brain processes and living interactions with the inert world around them; the decay of their bodies feeding plants which feed animals which lets them reproduce and keep the cycle going, echoing the ancient and unaware supernovas, until at last! 100,000 years ago the human species was fully evolved, and, miraculously, became self aware.

Think about that for a minute. As wonderful as Life is, we could have been just another species of animal, but for the greatest innovation and combination of stardust the universe has ever seen. We were cavemen, we knew next to nothing about the stars or the wide earth or about our potential, but for the first time Life had gained the capacity to know. For the first time in 13.6 billion years, dust atoms had gained the capability to learn their origins and how they were made and ultimately to define why they were made. So, what is almost the very first thing we do with this capacity of thought as an infant species, newly self aware? We make art. We make, preserved by some quirk of fate in a French cave, handprints on a rock wall. We - living stardust - take inert ochre and pigment and stamp an outline on the wall, and those outlines survive intact for 50,000 years. In this scribbling of an infant species we can already recognize the drive still present in ourselves - the need to say “we were here once, and our existence mattered”. Humanity for the first time, living relics of ancient stars, giving voice for the first time to those stars, saying in art and words what stars declared in the mute atoms and elements and light they left behind: “we existed once, and that existence mattered.”

Humanity is the universe made self aware. And just as galaxies are made of millions of individual stars, so too do we as individuals make up Humanity as a collective. Every single one of us is the universe learning about and defining itself. And the impulse behind our earliest achievements of cave art is present in everything throughout our history, our collective achievements, our art, our architecture, literature, science, theology, our empires, our struggles, our failures, our compassion for each other. It's present in all of us as individuals, for which of us doesn’t want our life, our memory to be remembered when we are gone? We as a species are capable of such great things, great destruction and great good. And throughout our entire history as a species, we’ve never stopped looking up at the moon and the stars, admiring them, fascinated by them, studying them, unaware at times of our origin among them but always drawn to their light, their unspoken promise. Until finally in the 20th century, the culmination of thousands of years of research and science and engineering, the best efforts of the best we humans have to offer - we unlock the sky we’ve dreamed of for so long and we build machines to take us to the Moon. We build the Saturn V, the Apollo capsules, we push ourselves from the cradle and beyond our ancient limits and we - fragile, living mortals - walk upon the Moon itself. We leave our handprints, after all this time, in the purest form of star dust we will likely ever physically encounter, the living imprinting its shape into the inert, like a brother finally coming home.

But we don’t stop there. We build satellites and the Hubble Telescope, the International Space Station and satellites and rovers and probes to pave the way for us, our reunion with the stars. We take more stardust and primal elements and fashion them in our image, to go to other worlds and scout the cosmos for us. We name them after the best of ourselves: Pioneer, Perseverance, Curiosity, Sojourner, Spirit, that they may represent us well to the cosmos and whatever it may contain. We build Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, currently the furthest of our creations from the Earth in the cold vastness of interstellar space, and in Voyager 2 we place the Golden Record. A disk of pure gold upon which we recorded the sounds and voice of Earth - water running, leaves falling in the wind, ocean waves, volcanoes bursting, birds singing, and us - human voices, human laughter, human crying, greetings in every language, our music, a baby crying, a heart beating. We took inert stardust and imprinted ourselves, living dust, upon it, and sent it out into interstellar space to be our witness and our message. That we, the universe living and self ware, see the stars we came from and that we understand; we say through the pinnacle of our innovation and with the same depth of expression as those first handprints, “We, the living dust, give this record back to you and for ourselves, that we existed once, and that it mattered.” We sent it as a testimony, as an offering, as a prayer, and as a vow: that we aren’t done yet, that as long as Humanity lives we will never be done, and if we do eventually end that there will have been a time, if only briefly, that the stars knew and understood themselves, and that despite or even because of its brevity, it will have mattered.

#creatus annus

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