Field Trip To Greece

My own take on the Field Trip salt stories that usually are crossovers with Batman and have Damienette. But this is my version with them going to Greece and involves my OCs Lyon and Vallia Garden.

*****

“Mari, Mari, MARI,” Adrien basically yelled into his friend’s ear.

Marinette woke up with a jolt in her bus seat.

“What,” she groaned, never being much of a morning person.

“We’re almost at the sanctuary, so I figured to wake you up,” Adrien smiled at his friend.

“Thanks and curse how fast this bus is,” Marinette said.

“And curse Hawkmoth for late night akumas,” Adrien suggested.

“That to,” Marinette agreed. “Even in Greece, he still finds a way to annoy us in Paris.”

“Well, you brought the horse miraculous for a reason,” Adrien said.

“How are you not tired,” Marinette questioned him.

“I’ve always been a morning person,” Adrien shrugged. “Blame my father for a lot of early morning photoshoots.”

“I’d slap your father if it did not mean risking my future as a fashion designer in the process,” Marinette says.

After revealing themselves to each other after Miracle Queen, the two had developed a more brother-sister relationship. They both thought that it would be better for them to know each other after having all their allies exposed to Hawkmoth and Mayura. They joked around, teased each other, and also always had each others backs.

Having each other’s backs certainly helped them when Lila’s lies got worse. After Chloe had willingly helped Hawkmoth, she had been sent to a private reformatory school in Sweden. Lila took the opportunity to tell more of her lies, saying that she had been telling her “best friend” Ladybug to keep the Bee miraculous away from Chloe for months. And just like everything else Lila ever said, their class ate it up like it was their last meal.

Adrien had joined Marinette almost immediately after he made his “deal with the devil” in order to get her back into school. He threw himself off the “high road” the moment that Marinette told him that Lila threatened her. But even with him backing up Marinette every time she caught inconsistencies in Lila’s tales, there were still few that actually believed them. Some even went as far as scolding Marinette for her “brainwashing Adrien” into thinking that Lila was a liar.

Kim, Juleka, and Nathaniel were the only ones that stayed loyal to their friends. Especially since Marinette had done so much for them in the past. Like curing Juleka of her photo curse, helping Nathaniel get together with Marc, and Kim had been her friend since they were in diapers. With their group was also Kagami, Luka, Marc, Aurore, and Mireille. The rest of Bustier’s class was pretty much made up of Lila’s attack dogs.

What annoyed Adrien the most was how his so-called best friend. Nino may be siding with his girlfriend, Alya being Lila’s biggest supporter/attack dog, but that also meant he was part of the problem. He certainly never helped Adrien when Lila would constantly hold onto his arm no matter how many times he told her to let go. It was driving Adrien crazy and he was very close to taking Plagg up on his offer to Cataclysm the liar.

“I bet the garden is going to be beautiful,” Juleka says, her seat next to the two heroes.

She was sitting next to Nathaniel while Kim was in the seat in front of Adrien and Marinette. They were all in the seats at the back of the bus.

“I heard that the Garden Family Sanctuary is ranked as an unofficial wonder of the world,” Nathaniel said.

“Anyone else find it odd that a nature sanctuary is run by a family with Garden as their last name,” Kim asked.

“I think this is one of those ‘don’t think about it too much’ times,” Marinette shrugged.

“I haven’t been here in years,” Adrien was glad to be back.

“You’ve been here before,” Juleka asked.

“There was a charity fashion show here about a year before my mother disappeared,” Adrien explained. “I was here with my parents for it.”

“Did you meet any of the animals here,” Kim looked excited. “I heard that they let any animals here roam free even when they have events or tours here.”

“The animals do roam around the sanctuary as they wish,” Adrien says. “But the Garden family and all their employees work hard to tame all their animals privately to make sure that even the predators do not harm anyone. They spend months to years taming them before releasing them into the main part of the sanctuary.”

“It really sounds like an amazing place,” Marinette said.

“I can’t wait to draw some of the animals,” Nathaniel already had out his sketchpad. “Marc requested I draw him the most amazing animal that I see. No pressure. Haha.”

Juleka patted his shoulder, but her obviously hiding her laughter made her attempt to comfort him fail. 

But, as usual, their good moods had to be ruined by the Italian that never seemed to go five minutes without hearing the sound of her own voice. And, also as usual, she was spouting her nonsense. They were very close to throwing her out the back of the bus if she did not stop talking.

“Of course I know the Garden family,” Lila brags, lying through her teeth. “They are basically family to me.”

“Here we go again,” the five friends groaned.

“The mother and her two daughters mostly handle the plants,” Lila continues. “The father and their son handle the animals. It’s only natural since they are the only ones that can stomach having to put down the more dangerous animals.”

“Tell us more, Lila,” Alya was recording the entire time.

Adrien growled. “There has never been a case of an animal being put down at the sanctuary. The closest that comes to that is when an animal gets sick and there is nothing they can do to help it.”

“They have to put it out of its misery, don’t they,” Marinette asked.

Adrien nodded. “The youngest two Gardens speak fluent French, so I was able to spend some time with kids my own age during the fashion show. They told me that while it breaks their hearts, it is better than letting the animal suffer.”

“I can see where they come from for that,” Juleka says. “They love, take care of, and train all the animals. So it’s only natural that they form a bond with them.”

“I know I am not the brightest person in class, but how can they believe such crap,” Kim shook his head. “Whenever anyone even slightly mentions someone famous, she instantly says she is either best friends with them or somehow related to them. It’s impossible.”

“Tell that to the sheep that follow her around like she’s god’s gift to the world,” Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Makes you wonder if we really are the only ones in class with braincells,” Nathaniel, of all people, said.

The bus doors opened as it came to a full stop at the sanctuary. Bustier was the first out and the class followed her. They all first went into the sanctuary. And even from what little they could see from where they were, it already was one of the most beautiful places any of them have ever seen.

Trees, flowers, and even fruit and vegetable plants were growing as far as their eyes could see. The entire sanctuary also seemed to be covered by a glass dome, making an environment similar to a greenhouse. It made sense since there were probably plants in certain areas that needed to be grown in certain temperatures.

But today the dome’s windows were open, letting in the natural light of the sun, even if it looked like squares on the ground because of the dome’s window linings.

As Bustier lead them to a stop, two teen their age approached the group. Adrien recognized his two penpals. The ones he met in Greece when he was there for the fashion show. Lyon and Vallia Garden.

Vallia was quite beautiful and had a grace and elegance to her style. She had long blond hair braided with roses and butterflies and had pink streaks. Her eyes were a stunning silver that you could see, if you were close enough, had specks of blue in them. Her style was a red, pink, and purple dawn colored dress with gold flats. On her wrists were diamond rose cuff bracelets, a butterfly on the one on her right wrist.

Lyon gave off a very icy exterior that also screamed honor and loyalty that only a knight would have. A tall boy with hair that was black with streaks of white and blue in it, coming to the length of Adrien's. His eyes were the opposite of the girl's, blue with silver specks. His outfit of choice was a sky blue t-shirt under a white jean vest, matching the blue pants with white boots. On his hands were white fingerless gloves. Around his neck was a sword and shield pendant as well as a white cloak only going down to his knees.

They all also saw that the two did have crystal medallions on their foreheads. Vallia’s was a rose quartz butterfly and Lyon’s was a sapphire wolf.

“Your pen pals are hot, Adrien,” Marinette smirked as she saw her honorary brother staring at Lyon.

“Shut up,” Adrien grumbled, making Marinette giggle.

Bustier turns to the class. “These two are going to be our guides through the sanctuary. Please show them the proper amount of respect since they are the ones that work here.”

Lyon and Vallia gave the teacher the side-eye. While they technically did work there, their family owned the sanctuary and it was like Bustier had completely forgot about that and thought that they were just employees of the sanctuary.

“Shouldn’t we be guided by adults,” Mylene asked, trying not to sound offensive to the two teens.

“We’re your tour guides because we are the only ones here fluent in French,” Lyon told the class, his French flawless.

Adrien hid that he was chuckling behind his hand. He knew the twins were fluent, but the looks on his classmate’s faces when Lyon spoke in French was just so funny.

“Before we begin, let us introduce ourselves,” Vallia said, also switching to French. “My name is Vallia and this is my twin brother, Lyon.”

“Please also take note of a few rules of the sanctuary,” Lyon says. “While the animals here have been tamed, do not touch or interact with them without permission. Certain movements or actions could cause them to badly react. They are all also on specific diets, so do not feed them unless we give you food to give them.”

“The plants should also all remain untouched,” Vallia added. “There are certain plants here that are not native to the area and survive here only because we created the right environments for them. Especially the ghost orchid. There are barely even 2000 ghost orchid plants left in the world and they need to remain here so that they do not go extinct.”

Most of the class nodded, understanding the rules. Lila hid how annoyed she was at not being able to take whatever beautiful plant she wants or touch any cute animal that she sees.

The tour than began, the class following the twins deeper into the sanctuary. Already they were starting to see a ton of the animals that lived there. There were some animals of Greek origins. Such as brown bears, red deer, lynxes, rock lizards, weasels, and wild boar. There were also more international animals. Like white-tailed deer from North America, jaguars from South America, pandas from China, African panthers and lions, Indian tigers, horses from Canada, even komodo dragons from Indonesia. And that was just the beginning.

“The Garden Family Sanctuary was founded almost a hundred years ago by siblings Apollo and Persephone Garden,” Lyon says. “Having been named after the god of the healing and the goddess of flowers, they had always loved helping nature and animals.”

“They started out with an animal shelter that took in any and all animals,” Vallia continued for her brother. “They had a very clear rule about being a no-kill shelter. The more popular they became, the more room they needed. And since they already came from a rich family, they bought more land. And over the years, it grew into the sanctuary you see today.”

“With the amount of animals and plants coming, there has been chat about buying land on another island to expand the sanctuary,” Lyon said. “Which means more area to protect from smugglers and poachers.”

“Your French is very good,” Marinette compliments them.

“Thank you, we’ve had years of practice,” Vallia says.

“It helped when we hosted a few French fashion designers here a few years ago for a charity fashion show,” Lyon said.

Adrien caught the smirk that Lyon sent his way. It made the blond blush.

The group continued walking through the sanctuary. A few of the animals curiously looked at the group, but chose not to get near them. There were a few did cuddle up to the twins, who happily petted them before sending them away with a treat in their mouth.

But even as the twins tried to talk about the sanctuary, Lila was still telling her lies as the classmates not under her spell surrounded her. They listened to her more than they did their actual tour guides.

“Yeah, poachers and smugglers try to get in all the time,” she was saying. “The first time I was here, I saw one and tried to tell the employees and they didn’t believe me. They certainly did after I single-handedly stopped him from taking a rare blue tiger.”

“That is so cool, Lila,” Rose unknowingly encouraged more lying. 

“They should make you a partner here if you caught a poacher that they did not even know was there,” Alya said.

“They wanted to, but my mother said I was too young to be part of a business,” Lila says.

Adrien saw the twins look at each other as they hear what is being said. He knew that while the two were mostly quiet around those they do not know, other than when they gave tours, they would definitely not take liars sitting down. They were extremely protective of their family, which was why Lyon practiced archery while Vallia is an expert with the bo-staff.

“The Garden family would never offer someone outside of the family a part of the sanctuary,” Lyon stated, making the class look at him.

“We would appreciate you not tell such tall tales about such a charitable family,” Vallia crossed her arms. “They are well-respected by all of Greece and do not deserve to have such lies told about them.”

The class looked very insulted at the accusation of Lila being a liar, which happened whenever anyone said that. It happened more than you think since Bustier’s class was the only one in the entire school that actually believed her. Everyone else knew that Lila was nothing but a liar.

“Something tells me that things are about to get interesting,” Juleka whispered to the rest of their group.

“You’re the one that knows them, Adrien,” Marinette says. “What do you think they’ll do?”

“I’ve been in contact with them for years,” Adrien said. “And from all I know about them, it’s a slight miracle that Lyon hasn’t already threatened to shoot her with an arrow.”

“Does he do that often,” Nathaniel raised an eyebrow.

“Only to those that really anger him, really annoy him, or threaten his family,” Adrien said. “But that last part also includes the sanctuary and all of the animals kept here.”

“Guess we should be thankful that he doesn’t have them on him right now,” Kim says. “Even if he could get rid of our liar problem with a single shot.”

“Lyon was actually scouted by the coach of the Greek Olympian archery team,” Adrien tells them. “But Lyon doesn’t like competition. He says that they are nothing but barbaric events meant to to do nothing but enlarge egos and decrease braincells.”

“Can are class even lose what they don’t have,” Marinette smirked.

All of them laughed at her joke. When Marinette got sassy and sarcastic, it was hilarious. She could sass-talk like nobody’s business.

“Haw dare you,” Lila put a hand over her heart and then started up the crocodile tears again. “How could you be so mean to me?”

That was when her sheep glared at the twins.

“Lila is not a liar,” Alya was her main supporter as usual. “You’re nothing but simple employees. I bet you do not even know the Garden family. Lila, on the other hand, is basically an honorary member of their family.”

Both twins crossed their arms this time, staring down the class.

“Let us fully introduce ourselves,” Lyon narrowed his eyes at them. “My name is Lyon Garden and this is my twin sister, Vallia Garden. Our family owns this sanctuary and neither of us nor the rest of their family have ever met this girl.”

Adrien was seriously smirking at this point. He had seen this coming and was very glad that it had finally was. Especially since Lila did not even get the number of family members right. There were two Garden parents, but the children were another story. Lyon and Vallia were the youngest of the family, but Vallia was the only girl and they had two older brothers.

“You’re probably just lying to make Lila look bad because you’re jealous,” Alix glared at the twins. “She’s connected to the Gardens while you are not.”

“Don’t believe us, we don’t care, but we do have a friend in your class that knows who we are,” Vallia giggled. “Isn’t that right, Adrien?”

The sheep looked at the model. He only smirked as he joined Lyon and Vallia’s side.

“You two certainly know how to make an impression,” Adrien tells them, chuckling.

“If we really wanted to make an impression, I would have started at my favorite wolf den,” Lyon snickered. “But I would have been too tempted to order my wolves to eat them.”

Adrien laughed at the looks of horror on his classmates’ faces.

“If you guys haven’t figured it out, it was my family that the twins were talking about before,” Adrien says. “We were the ones that came here for the charity fashion show. It was great to meet the two youngest members of the Garden family.”

“So these are the sheep that follow that liar like lost puppies,” Vallia looked at Adrien. “The liar that doesn’t know how to take ‘no’ for an answer?”

“Got it in one, Vallia,” Adrien says. “And she’s been telling lies about your family since this field trip started. She even said that your family was three girls and two boys.”

The twins rolled their eyes.

“Wow,” Lyon shook his head. “Vallia might wish she had a sister, it’s just us and our two older brothers with our parents.”

Vallia playfully slapped her brother’s shoulder.

While Adrien took his two friends over to the rest of his group to introduce them, the rest of the class finally seemed to get that Lila did indeed lie to them. They turned on her like lions on an antelope and started yelling at her for lying to them.

The twins made mental notes to contact their parents about needing to sue a girl for slander and defamation. 

I'll Always Fly Back Home to You - 40s AU (R. Hintz)

Summary: With the threat of a Soviet Union invasion, the Hintz family moves to America to escape death and war. What happens when Roope moves in next door to you?

Series Masterlist

A/n: This is the fourth installment and one of the best things I've ever written, I believe. This fic exists in the same universe in the Jamie Oleksiak fic that comes later on. I hope you enjoy this!

Warnings: mentions of war, death, breaking up, the Soviet Union (?), suggestive photos

Word Count: 9.1k

November 20, 1939

You could do this. Yeah, you could. All you had to do was bring a tray of cookies to the new neighbors next door. This was going to be simple, right? Introduce yourself, offer any help, give them the cookies, and welcome them to the neighborhood. You walk over to their house, and you instantly catch a whiff of something that smells amazing. You walk up the steps and knock on the door. You weren’t sure what you were expecting, but it wasn’t the person who opened the door.

“Hi, my name is Yn, and I live next door,” you begin after overcoming the initial shock. “My mom is also the one who works for the agency you and your family used to come here.”

“Oh, hi Yn,” this boy tells you. He was really cute, you thought to yourself. “My name is --”

“Mrs. Yln, thank you so much for coming,” someone interrupts. “I was going to ring you up. Can you help us figure out how to use the oven?”

“Mom, this is her daughter, yn,” the boy who answered the door corrects. He gives you a smile and your face warms under his gaze.

“Oh you’re right. Yn, forgive me, please. Roope, welcome her in, please.”

So his name is Roope.

“Come on in?” Roope asks.

“Oh, sure. I made cookies for you guys as a welcome gift.”

“Thank you, so much,” Roope’s mother gushes. “I hate to ask, but do you know how to use the oven?”

“Maybe? I mean, I had to use the oven in order to bake these cookies.” You walk over to the oven and notice that it’s exactly like yours. You begin to explain how it works and strike up a conversation with Roope’s mother who tells you to call her Mrs. Hintz. You learned that the Hintz family immigrated from Finland because of the aggression of the Soviet Union. Most of the extended family was able to immigrate over and are now spread across the Dallas area.

You left about an hour after you arrived happy that your mother sent you to welcome the new family.

. . .

. . .

The next morning, you were walking out the door to go to the grocery store. It was a morning out of a novel. The sun was out shining and the temperature wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was absolutely perfect. There was dew sitting on the grass, and it seemed like a day full of potential. You walk out of your lawn and turn right; incidentally, you’d have to go past the Hintz house. You are about to pass their walkway when you hear someone call out to you.

“Yn,” you turn around and see Roope walking out the door towards you. You stop and smile and wait for him. “Where are you headed?”

“The grocery store, you?”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Go with her,” Roope’s mother yells from the door. “She knows where to go; you don’t.”

You smile and look at Roope. A soft blush is now covering his face; you laugh softly. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Is that okay? I have no idea where I’m going.”

You laugh at his comment. “Of course. It is my job as a neighbor to help you assimilate to the town best you can.”

Roope looks at you. “And I thought you wanted to be my first friend here.”

“I can do that as well, if you’d like.”

“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you in any way..”

“I doubt that being friends would inconvenience me, Roope.”

“You say that now, but, let me tell you, you might regret that sentence one day,” Roope says and winks at you. You feel the warmth reach your face as you look away bashfully. What was it with Roope?

. . .

In the days that followed your trip to the grocery store, a budding friendship blossomed. One day, you walked to your backyard to escape the rowdiness of your sisters and brothers. Sometimes, all you needed was to just leave for a bit.

You walk to the edge of your backyard where there is a giant tree that sits on both your family’s property and the Hintz property. You walk out and see Roope sitting under the tree. Opting not to bother him, you turn around and walk away. You thought that Roope didn’t see you; however, when he calls out to you, you know he saw you.

“You’re allowed to sit under the tree, too, yn,” Roope tells you as you sit.

“Yeah, I know,” you begin. “I just didn’t want to disturb you. I’m not sure why you’re sitting under the tree.”

“Well, don’t worry. You can sit. Why do you want to sit here?”

“Because you told me I could.”

Roope laughs. “That’s not what I meant.”

You smile at him. “Yeah, I knew that. No, I come out here at nights to get away from the loud and rowdy behavior of my family. Why are you out here?”

“Because you come out here often.”

You raise your eyebrow at him. “So, you notice when I sit out here?”

Roope blushes under your words and the sunset behind you. “My bedroom faces the tree here, and I always see you.”

“So, you decided to come and sit with me?”

“I can leave if you want.”

“No, Roope, I’m only teasing. You can stay.”

“Maybe we can make a habit out of this.”

“How so?” you question.

“This can be our escape. You can escape from your family, and I can escape from the prying eyes of my family.”

“Yeah? Let’s do that. I like that idea.”

Roope smiles at you. He was starting not to mind the move to the US.

. . .

December 1, 1939

“Hey, Roope?”

“Yes, Yn.”

“The other day, you said that you wanted to escape the prying eyes of your family. What did you mean by that?”

Roope sighed heavily and you instantly felt bad. “They aren’t sure if I’m happy here. I mean, I am. We are safe and alive which is more than many can say considering the invasion.”

“But it’s hard being new.”

Roope nods. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with the friends I made, and you, but sometimes I miss where we lived.”

You nod. “So, that’s why you want an escape.”

“Mhm, but not the only reason.”

“What’s the other reason?” you ask inquisitively.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal. Don’t worry.” How was Roope supposed to tell you that his family wants him to ask you out but don’t realize that the two of you were just friends? He didn’t want anything else but a friendship with you. His family couldn’t understand that.

“Oh, okay. Well, is there anything I can do to help you with homesickness you’re feeling?”

Roope smiles at your concern. “Just be my friend?”

You smile at him. “That I can do.”

. . .

June 14, 1940

“Did you see?” you say to Roope as you walk up to him where he’s sitting under the tree.

“I mean, I can see what’s in front of me,” Roope teases.

“Haha very funny. No, did you see that the Germans are marching into Paris?” you sit down next to him and he puts an arm around you.

“Yeah, I saw that.”

“Are you worried?” you ask. Roope knows you well enough that you’re only asking because you’re worried and want reassurance.

“It depends. On the fate of the Parisians? Yeah, I’m terrified for them. On another war? I mean, it’s already started. What are you worried about?”

“Probably another war because that means that the people I love will be enlisting. You, my brothers, cousins, friends. It’s just worrisome.”

Roope begins stroking your arm in an attempt to try to calm your nerves. “Well, I promise you, that I’ll always find my way back home to you. Whether it be flying, driving, running, walking, or skating. I’ll be by your side.”

You look up at Roope and your eyes meet his. You always felt safe in his embrace and knew that he wasn’t lying. He’ll always find a way back home to you.

. . .

September 19, 1940 - the US Congress passes the Selective Service Act

“Well, I guess we can’t escape war, Roope. I mean, you knew that.”

“How so?”

“You are the same person that moved to the US from Finland because of the Soviet Union, right?” you joke lightly.

“Oh, right. Yeah. So, your brothers are enlisting?”

You nod. “Only the older ones. My younger brother is a bit too young, but he’ll be enlisting after his nineteenth birthday in a few months. What about you?”

“Not right now. They told me that I should wait until war was declared because I’m not a US-born citizen.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Yeah, look, let’s forget about the worries of the world for right now, okay? My mother made some cookies, and I brought some out. Let’s just relax and live in our own bubble, okay?” Roope says to you as he offers you a cookie.

“Okay,” you nod and take a cookie that Roope is offering to you. “Oh, these are good.”

“I mean, they aren’t as good as the ones you made for us when we first moved in, but sure.”

“You remember those?” you ask comically.

“Of course I remember those! A pretty girl showing up at my doorstep offering us cookies? Kind of hard to forget. A pretty girl who is quite young that my mother mistakes as being the girl's mother? Even more memorable.”

You laugh audibly remembering the memory. “You know, I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t you.”

Roope gives you a look of mock offence. “What does that mean?”

“I wasn’t expecting someone my age; I was expecting a family with young children that I could babysit or watch not you and your family.”

“Do you wish I was younger?”

“Absolutely not. Who else would be my best friend?”

Roope smiles at you and pulls you into his embrace. Best friends forever, they said.

. . .

October 28, 1940 - the Italians invade Greece

On a normal October day, you always made sure to have a sweater on you in the event you grew chilly. However, today, you forgot. By the time you walked into the backyard, your arms were cold, and you wanted to turn around. You were running late to meet Roope, though. You decided that if you got sick, then it’d be fine.

“You’re late,” Roope tells you from across the backyard. If you didn’t know him so well, you would have thought he was mad. However, you knew better.

“Yeah, I know, sorry. My sister wanted to go to the cinema, and she picked a long movie.”

“How was it?” Roope asks you as you sit down.

“Pretty good, I liked it. If you want to go see it, I’d definitely go and see it with you.”

Roope smiles at you and wraps his arm around you but flinches the moment he touches you. “Yn, why is your arm so cold?”

“Oh, I’m cold; it’s fine, though.”

Roope immediately shakes his head and begins shrugging off his jacket for you. “Here.”

“Roope, no.”

“Yn, yes. You’re cold, and I’m not. Just take it.”

You look at him and see that there’s a red tint coating his cheeks. Huh, you wonder what that’s about. “Fine, but only because I’m cold.”

“Why else would you take my jacket?”

“I, okay, whatever,” you deflect. What were you supposed to say? Giving a girl your jacket was what boyfriends did not friends.

When you and Roope both said goodnight that night, you walked towards your house and were about to step inside when you realized you were still wearing his jacket. You were about to turn around but you hear Roope call out to you.

“Keep it, it looks better on you, anyways.”

You laugh. The coat sat on the hook in your bedroom; you looked at it each morning and smiled at the memory of your best friend.

. . .

April 13, 1941 - Japan and the Soviet Union sign a neutrality pact.

“How was your date last night?” you ask Roope when you’re both settled under the tree.

He shrugs.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, I mean, she was nice. It was nice. I walked her home, but she told me that she didn’t want to see me again as on a date.”

“Oh, did you want me to talk to her?”

“No, that’s okay.”

“Do you think you know why she doesn’t want to see you again?”

“Not sure, probably something along the lines of there just isn’t a spark.”

“Did you want me to vouch for you? Tell her how amazing you are?”

Roope laughs. “No, don’t worry about it.” He wasn’t going to let you talk to her because she told Roope that it wasn’t fair for him to be dating other women when he was in love with you. Roope denied it, but as he walked home that night, he realized she was right. Roope was in love with you, his best friend. The first person he met when he moved to Dallas. He loved you. The one person who would probably only ever see him as a friend.

. . .

December 6, 1941

You were sitting under the tree reading a book while you waited for Roope one evening. It was a chilly evening, and you were starting to get cold. You contemplated going inside and getting a jacket, his jacket. However, when you saw Roope exit from his back porch, you decided against it. Anyways, the warmth that filled you by seeing your best friend made you forget about the cold.

“Hey,” you say to him as you close your book.

“Hey, ynn,” he says to you. “This is for you from my mom. She was going through some of her old stuff and found this. No one else wanted it, so I thought that you might like it.”

“Oh, wow, just giving me things your family doesn’t want anymore.”

Roope laughs at your teasing remark. “No, I didn’t know about it until before dinner, and mom asked if I wanted it. I obviously don’t but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you will.”

“What is it?” you ask, taking the box from his hands.

“Why don’t you just open it?”

“Wow, sassy. I wasn’t expecting that tonight.”

“Just open the box.”

“Fine,” you retort and open the box. You gasp and look at Roope. “I can’t take this.”

“Yes, you can. I think you will have a better use for it then the cabinet shelf in the basement.”

“But, it must have been so expensive. Don’t you want to keep it in the family?”

“You are family, yn.”

“I mean blood family, Roope,” you say. He has given you the most stunning teapot you have ever seen.

“If my mother wasn’t okay with me giving it to you, then she would’ve said something.”

“What about your aunts?”

“Same. They all think we’re going to get married one day, so what’s the point if it’s going to be back in our family again.”

You look up at Roope, and you have a weird feeling in your stomach that you can’t explain. Did you want to marry Roope? No, you were both just friends, right? “Well, too bad we aren’t going to be getting married.”

“Yeah, too bad.” You were surprised with the tone that Roope had in his voice. Was he feeling the same conflicting feelings you were?

“Well, thank your mother for me. This is beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it, Roope, thank you!”

“Of course, anything for you.” And, he’d do anything for you.

. . .

December 11th, 1941 - Germany and Italy declare war on the United States

After getting the teapot from Roope a few days ago, you decided to bring lemon squares to the Hintz household to thank them. You pack them into a tray and head out the door. You walk over to the Hintz house and knock on the door. Roope’s mother opens the door for you and wraps you into a large hug and begins to sob.

“Mrs. Hintz, are you okay?” you ask clearly knowing she isn’t.

“I’m not sure. Oh, come in, come in. Roope’s not here right now.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’m here to see you, actually. I made lemon squares to thank you for the teapot. It’s beautiful, and I love it.”

“I’m glad, sweetheart.”

“Um, Mrs. Hintz?” you ask cautiously. She looks at you, and you know it’s safe for you to continue. “May I ask why you were crying?”

“Oh,” she says and the tears slowly start again. “Roope went to the navy offices to enlist. He’s going to war, and he’s going to be a navy pilot. You obviously knew that though because he tells you everything.”

The heat drains from your face. Roope was going off to war. You knew that eventually this would happen as your two older brothers went to bootcamp a few months ago and your younger brother’s number came up just yesterday. However, you weren’t expecting for Roope to be enlisting right away. It made sense, though, considering that the Soviets invaded his home. The one thing, though, that’s sticking out to you is that Mrs. Hintz thinks that you knew. This means that he definitely made the decision without talking to anyone, even you. “No, I didn’t know that, but he’s doing what he feels is best, right?”

“I know that, it’s just going to hurt when he leaves.”

You nod. “Did you want me to make some tea, and we can have the lemon squares I made?”

“Would that be okay?” she asks.

You smile. “More than okay.”

Roope enlisting is not your sadness to be felt. You were going to help his family in any way you could.

. . .

December 15th, 1941

“Do you miss home?” you asked Roope. Roope never not talked about his time back home, but he also wasn’t the most open about it. You never pried and you never asked for more. You were willing to just take as much information as he would give you.

“Like my bedroom?” Roope asks.

You laugh and Roope smiles at you. There was something about your laugh that made Roope melt. “No, like Finland.”

“Oh,” Roope’s smile fades and you instantly feel bad for bringing it up. “I miss some of the older extended family that couldn’t come with us and some friends, but I’m not sure about the rest of it.”

You nod. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m happy that you’re here.”

“You are the best thing that came out of my move to the States,” Roope tells you and you feel the warmth spread to your face. “Yn, I have something to tell you. You might not like what I have to say.”

You knew what he was talking about; his mother told you. “You’re joining the navy and are going to be a navy pilot.”

Roope sits up and looks at you. The two of you were laying down under the large tree in your backyard. “How did you know that?”

“Your mother told me.”

Roope laughs sarcastically and shakes his head. “Of course she did, when you brought the lemon squares?”

You nod. “She was crying when I went over, and she told me. Don’t be mad at her.”

“I’m not, don’t worry. Did you cry too?”

“No, I didn’t,” you say but your voice wobbles. Roope looks at you and puts his hands on your cheeks to catch any tears that might fall.

Roope smiles at you; he looks like he’s contemplating something. He looks down at your lips and you feel the warmth rush to your face again. “Can I kiss you, yn?”

You nod. “Yeah, please kiss me.”

He leans down and gently places his lips on yours. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, but it’s enough for you to know you don’t want to kiss anyone else ever again. When you both pull away, you stare into each other’s eyes, and you know you’ve made a tremendous shift in your relationship. No longer were you and Roope good friends. No, now you were two people who finally realized their feelings after a few years. You know that there was no one else for you, and you hoped that Roope felt the same.

“Can I kiss you again?” Roope eagerly asks. He wants nothing in the world except to kiss you again but doesn’t want to overstep his boundaries.

“Of course.”

He kisses you again, and you’re pretty sure you melt. How could just one touch make you so happy and giddy and excited at the same time? This time, the kiss is longer, and you both deepen the kiss not wanting to separate. You couldn’t be without him and he without you.

“About time,” your sister yells from the porch. You pull away from Roope and giggle.

“I guess so,” you say to Roope and he smiles back at you.

. . .

The days leading up to when Roope was set to go to bootcamp were spent together. You both tried to fit years of couple things into three days. It was hard. You both knew that navy pilots were one of the most dangerous positions in the military, and they might not make it home.

On the day that Roope was set to leave, he asked his family to go to the train station on their own so that you and him could walk together. How romantic, you thought, despite the circumstances.

“Do you promise to write to me?” Roope asks before he’s about to get on the train.

You smile. “Of course, silly. I’ll write to you all the time that you’ll ask me to stop.”

“I highly doubt that,” Roope tells you and kisses you. “Goodbye, my love.”

“Goodbye, Roope,” you tell him with tears in your eyes. “Fly back home to me?”

Roope smiles and kisses your forehead. “I’ll always fly back home to you.” He gives you one last kiss and picks up his bag and walks away. He turns around one last time to wave. His last thought is wondering if this’ll be the last time he sees your face.

. . .

Dear Roope,

This letter might take a while to get to you, but you knew that. Now that you’re overseas, it might take a bit for my letters to come to you. Let me tell you, though, just because they are further apart or might take some time doesn’t mean I’m going to stop. Why would I? Why would I ever stop writing to the man I love? I hope I’m not jumping to any conclusions by telling you I love you because I do. I think I always did. The minute you moved in next door, I think I fell for you. It just took some time for me to realize how I felt. Let’s be glad that we finally realized, right?

Did you know that my sister is getting married? She is settling down with her childhood sweetheart. Isn’t that so romantic? Can you imagine marrying your childhood sweetheart? I have a question. Feel free to ignore this question. Did you have someone you loved back home? Did you love her and think you’ll marry her? If you don’t want to answer, feel free not to. I’m just curious. You don’t often talk about your life before moving to the US, and I just want to know more. Care to share? Please? How about for the woman who loves you to pieces?

What's flying like? You don’t have to tell me where you’re flying over or anything like that. Just tell me, is it beautiful? Have you touched a cloud? Is the sun just absolutely beautiful? Is looking at the ground from the sky put everything in perspective?

Fly back home to me, right?

With love all the way from Dallas,

Yn

Dearest Yn,

Just know, I love every letter you write to me even if they are weeks apart. I don’t care. Any letter makes me so happy. Some of the other members in my company always make fun of me for having a girl I love, but I don’t care. Mail call is always the best part of my day because I get to hear from you. The anticipation I feel is unbelievable. And no, it’s not too presumptuous to tell me you love me because guess what? I love you, too! More than you could possibly know. The minute I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were special. Every time I saw you and we hung out, my heart always had this weird feeling. I thought it was just nerves of being in a new country or having a new friend. However, as the months went on and I got to know you, the feeling didn’t go away. It took for a war to be declared for me to make a move and tell you I loved you and not just in a best friend's way. I hope that’s not too presumptuous, but, then again, you did say it first.

Send my congratulations to your sister from me. That must be awfully romantic for childhood sweethearts to be falling in love and getting married. And now, to answer your question. Let me quote you first. You said “did you have someone you loved back home?” Let me tell you, you are that girl back home. Home is in Dallas now because it’s where my family is and where you are. You are that girl back home that I dream about marrying one day. I know that you mean in Finland, and, let me tell you, no, there was never anyone who I loved as much as I love you. You are the girl back home that I want to marry one day. As for stories from Finland, what do you want to know?

Flying is beautiful. To answer you questions: it’s absolutely beautiful (but not as much as you). No, I haven’t touched a cloud. Just so you know, I’m not sticking my hand outside the window or cockpit in order to do that. From that far up, the sun is still bright, so I’m not sure if it’s beautiful. I try not to stare at it. However, if you’re talking about the sun in my life, then it’s beautiful because you are the sun and center of my life. Looking at the ground truly does put it into perspective. It makes me realize how much I want to be with you when this hellish war is over.

I’ll always fly back home to you.

With love from the sky,

Roope.

Dear Roope,

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Oh, you want me to say it again? Gladly. I love you, Roope Hintz, and I can’t wait to spend every single day with you after this war. Getting my letters is the best part of your day, huh? Maybe I should send more to boost your morale. (or maybe something a little bit more suggestive? Actually, no, my mother would kill me if I did that and considering I still live in her house, nope. Sorry.). I’m glad, though, that you have something to look forward to everyday. I can’t imagine what it must be like over there. If you want (and can) please do share. I want to hear about everything. You don’t even have to tell me about the combat or any of that stuff. How about what you do on your days off? Who are the men in your unit? Tell me all about any friends you made. I’m not sure where you are because, you know, classified and all, but tell me, have you been able to see any of the sights? How beautiful are they? I don’t care what you tell me; I just want to read about what you’re doing because I miss you so much. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t head to the backyard to wait for you. Everyday. Like clockwork. I go to where our backyards meet and wait. It always takes me a moment to realize that you’re not coming to meet me and it makes me sad. Just know that I think about you all the time.

My sister is grateful for your congratulations to her. She told me to tell you that she is expecting our wedding next and that you should get on it, Roope. I only laughed at her. I’m sure you have other things going on in your life, so don’t worry! A wedding can wait. All I want is that you one day promise to love me for all my life because I promise to love you all my life.

Finland. What do I want to know about your life in Finland? How about, what did your house look like? Is it anything like where your family lives now in Dallas? What did your bedroom look like? Is it similar to your room here? What did you do in your free time? I want to know it all, Roope. Everything there is to know.

Your words about me being the girl back home? Melted my heart. I reread them every night before I go to bed. I didn’t know you were such a romantic, Roope. I guess it takes a war for your true romantic side to come out. Well, you’re my guy overseas that I’m waiting for.

Flying sounds so beautiful. Maybe, one day, you could take me up with you? But for now, I just have to experience flying through your words.

Fly back home to me?

Love,

Yn

Dear Yn,

I’d write how much I love but then I’d be writing for all of time and we wouldn’t want that, right? If that were the case, then I’d never win this war and come home to you! Even then, I wouldn’t be able to ever spend time with you. Because you asked, let me tell you about some of the other pilots in my unit. My CO (commanding officer) is Tyler Seguin, and he’s great. Believe it or not, there are two other men who are also from Finland. They moved away at a young age so not as recently as me but still. Esa and Miro. It’s nice having people to talk to about Finland who have a slight inkling about what I’m talking about. There are other guys in my unit - Jamie Oleksiak, Denis Gurianov, Ben Bishop, and more. This unit is like a family, and I hope that they get to meet you one day. Actually, not Jamie Oleksiak. I feel like he has the charm and looks to take you away from me. However, he has a Red Cross worker that he’s absolutely in love with who wants nothing to do with him, so maybe not that much of a threat. On my days off, I normally just hang around the base. I often reread you letters to me and it almost makes up for me not being by your side each day. Sometimes I’ll venture into town and go for walks or to a local restaurant. Before you ask again, yes, I have seen some of the sights. I’ve seen some beautiful, grand buildings that are just so beautiful. I hope, one day, I can bring you back here to show you the beauty. There might be a war but the beauty and glamour are still there. Some of the palaces or mansions are just beautiful but not as much as you! Sometimes I’ll go for a walk and see a big tree and I will sit under it thinking you’re going to join me. Every day at the time we would normally meet, I always take a step outside, if possible, and just sit there thinking about you. Because of the time difference, it’s probably early afternoon for you but know that there is not a day that goes by without me thinking about you, darling. (Don’t feel the need to send me anything suggestive; I’d rather your parents not have a negative opinion of me one day if I am to be their son-in-law. We all know that I’ll be doing worse things to you once we get married. How else are babies made?)

You can tell your sister that a wedding can be arranged the minute she can get Hitler to surrender. If she can manage that, then I’ll marry you the minute I touch Dallas soil and can get you into my arms. Better yet! Why don’t I meet you at the church and we just get married right away?

My house in Finland was slightly smaller than my family’s house in Dallas. It wasn’t painted the vibrant yellow like in Dallas; it was a beige hue that was fairly bland. I far prefer the color of the house in Dallas because it’s the same color as your house and reminds me of you. Whenever I see something yellow, I always think of you. Most things in the world that I see go back to you. My bedroom in Finland? Pretty bland and similar to the one back in Dallas. When we made the trip, we only carried what we could so many of the posters or books I had stayed there. I did get to keep a few mementos; however, I’d rather fill a home with memories and mementos of you and our relationship. My free time? Same as before. I did play more hockey, however. There aren’t many frozen ponds in Dallas, but it’s okay. Playing on the road with the neighbors is fun! Maybe I should get you to play. What do you say?

My darling yn, you should know that I can be awfully romantic. I used to charm all the girls back in Finland. Actually, that’s a lie. You’re the only one. Maybe I should be more romantic. Just wait and see, my love, I’m going to be so romantic that you’re going to get sick of it! You’ll forever be the girl I’m going home to! When asked about if I have anyone back home, it’s always you. No one else. I guess my family, but you’re always first.

With love from the sky,

Roope

. . .

August 14, 1943

Roope took to the sky as normal one morning. Mail call was just before his scheduled time to fly, so he saved your letter for later. Flying over occupied France was always dangerous, and Roope’s CO told the unit to make sure that their wills were in check for the worst case scenario. The men were expecting the worst, so it’s only important they prepared for the worst.

After flying for twenty minutes, Nazi fighter pilots began shooting at Roope and his men. To his right, Roope’s wingman went down. He didn’t see a parachute which likely means he didn’t make it out. This really shocked Roope. He knew that there was a possibility that he might die or his friends. However, this was the first time that someone so close to Roope died. It could have easily been him.

Once he touched down, Roope headed to his barracks to read your letter. Only your letters could shake away the horrors of war.

Dearest Roope,

How are you, darling?

He read the first six words, and he instantly broke down. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t keep writing to you when he knew that he’d be dying next. It didn’t matter if he loved you more than anyone or anything in the world. It didn’t matter if he had been sending money back to his mother to put aside so that he can buy you a ring. None of it mattered if he died and you were heartbroken. Nothing mattered. Roope knew that he was going to be gone soon; it was part of the job being in the military but especially a pilot. There was only one thing he could do: he had to let you go.

Dear Yn,

It pains me to write this; however, just know that I love you. I’m doing this because I love you. I think that you should stop writing to me. I believe that it will be easier for you when I’m gone if we weren’t in contact. You should be out and having fun. You should be the young woman in your twenties doing things young women do. You should be going on dates, going out dancing, and not writing to a pilot whose life is short. It pains me to write this. Please, forgive me. I’m doing this because I love you. I love you so much that I want you to be happy when I’m gone. Please, I’m sorry. Forgive me.

With all my love,

Roope.

He sealed up the short letter into an envelope, wrote your address and put a stamp on it immediately. He knew that he would regret this later on, but he knew that it was for the best. He knew that you were going to write him one last letter asking him to change his mind. He wasn’t going to. Roope was doing this because he loved you. There was nothing else. He couldn’t fathom the idea that he might die in combat one day, and you’ll never move on because you dreamed of marrying him. He couldn’t. That would be so much worse than dying. He loved you so much that letting you go was what was for the best. Roope walked to the post office; he took a deep breath and gave the mail person his letter.

Now, he was awaiting your letter that would absolutely break his heart.

. . .

You received his letter three weeks after he sent it. You opened your mailbox and smiled widely to see it. You sat on the porch swing with your sister, heavily pregnant, sitting next to you. You carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. At first glance, the letter looked really small, but you didn’t think anything of it. He was fighting a war; it makes sense if his letters weren’t as long as yours.

You read the first line, and you felt the tears begin to fall down your face. Did he find someone else? Did he not love you anymore? Deciding to ignore your thoughts, you decide to continue to read.

No, this was so much worse than Roope finding someone else. This was the worst. No, he was telling you to stop writing to him.

You finish the letter and cry out. Your sister looks up next to you. She grabs the letter out of your hand and begins reading. She briefly skims it but understands the overall message. Roope wanted you to stop writing to him; he wanted you to stop talking to him. Roope was letting you go. Your sister wraps her arm around you and begins to console you. You brush her off, excuse yourself, and run to your bedroom. How could Roope do this to you? Does he not understand that it didn’t matter what happened? You would always love him no matter what? You instantly pull out a sheet of stationary and begin to write your reply. You knew that he asked you not to write to him, but you felt he should know the pain he was putting you through.

It took you four times to finally put words to paper.

Dear Roope,

I know that you asked me not to write to you, but I feel like you should know how much you are breaking my heart. I apologize that this paper is tear-stained. I was going to write it without the tear-stains, but I feel that you should be able to see firsthand the pain and heartbreak you’re putting me through because you are the cause of it. How could you feel that this is any better? Is this what you wanted? For me to be crying in my bedroom? Did you see me being okay with your letter? Am I supposed to be okay with the fact that you don’t care enough about how I feel? Just so you know, I love you more than anything in the world. So, tell me, how does me crying in my bedroom and getting over heartbreak equal what you wanted? You tell me you want me to stop writing to you and enjoy my evenings as a young woman. How am I supposed to do that when I’m sitting here with a broken heart? The idea of me going out tomorrow? No, nonexistent. You hurt me and I don’t want to do anything. Just the idea of being with someone else makes me sad and sick. Is this what you wanted? For me to be heartbroken?

Do you remember what you told me the day you left? You told me that you would always fly back home to me. Always. You added that always. What happened to that?

Let me say one last thing: who are you to tell me what I want? I think I am perfectly capable of knowing who or what I want.

Yn

You were angry now. How dare Roope assume he knows what you want? Why can’t he understand that you love him and would do anything for him? Why would he do this to you? You angrily seal up the letter and add a stamp. You set it on your dresser to be put in the mailbox the next morning. What were you going to do now? What do you do when the person who you love more than anything in the world doesn’t care for you anymore? What do you do when the person who you’ve been dreaming about marrying says he can’t give you the same thing? Why would he do this to you?

. . .

Roope isn’t surprised to see your letter. He knows you; he knows you well enough that you definitely gave him a piece of your mind. However, what he wasn’t expecting was to see a tear-stained letter. It immediately breaks his heart knowing that he is probably the cause of your tears. Roope can’t read the letter in front of his friends, so he walks into the barracks. They’d be disappointed in him. They’d tell Roope that he was being an idiot. He was head over heels hopelessly in love with you, so why would he ruin that?

Roope reads your letter and there are tears in his eyes. What hurt the most was the way you signed the letter. You just signed it “yn”. There was no “love” or “yours”. It was just your name. What was he expecting? He basically broke up with you; there was no reason for you to remind him of your love.

“Where did you run off to?” Esa says as he barges into the barracks. “Your girl send any suggestive photos for your pleasure?”

When Roope doesn’t answer, Esa gets nervous. Roope was always very smiley and happy after he got one of your letters. Esa takes the letter out of Roope’s hand and reads it. When he sees the stained writing and what it contains, Esa instantly knows why Roope is upset.

“You love her, so why did you do this to her?”

“Because I’m not going to be able to give her what she wants. She wants to marry me one day.”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

Roope nods. “I can’t marry her, though, if I’m dead.”

“Who says you’re going to die?”

“I think the fact that pilots have the highest death rate speaks for that.”

Esa sighs and sits on the bed next to Roope. “We’re in a war. We should be able to have our dreams right next to us, right? You shouldn’t have to give up everything. You’re giving up your twenties, happiness, and strength to fight a war you didn’t start. The one thing you should be able to have is your dream. The letter you wrote her? Ruined that dream. Why did you do it?”

“I don’t want her to love a man who is going to die one day. I don’t want her to dream and imagine what our wedding would look like. I don’t want her to dream about the life we will have together one day. That’s not true. I want her to dream about those things. However, I don’t want her to dream about those things if I can’t be there. I don’t want to get shot down only for her dream life not to be able to happen. More than anything in the world, I want her to be happy. I don’t think I can give her that if I die. I want to give her a life in which she can be happy.”

“Roope, from what I can tell, you made her sad and miserable.”

“If I end things with her now, then when I die, she’ll already have a mended heart and be able to move on.”

“I don’t think so.”

Roope looks up. “What?”

“Firstly, you keep talking as if you’re going to die tomorrow. There is no definite evidence that points to that. You know, she could always die in a car accident tomorrow, God forbid. Secondly, from this letter, she loves you and you broke her heart.”

A look of realization crosses Roope’s face. “Damn, you’re right. I ruined everything, didn’t I?”

“Maybe when you go home you can fix things?”

Roope nods. He only hopes that whenever this war ends you’ll still love him enough to give him a second chance.

. . .

September 13, 1945

A knock on your parent’s door has you shocked. You were sitting in the kitchen making a pie to bring over to the Hintz’s house. Despite not talking to Roope in two years, your family and the Hintz family were still close. You clean your hands on the dish rag and walk over to the door. You don’t take the time to check who it is before you open the door. When you see the person on the other side of the door, you gasp and slam the door in their face.

It was Roope.

The love of your life who told you two years ago that the two of you shouldn’t write to each other. He threw away years of love and friendship in one letter. However, it was rude to shut the door in his face, right? You open the door again carefully. Part of you is hoping he took the hint and walked away; however, the majority of you is hoping that he’s still there. Despite him breaking your heart, you still loved him with your entire heart and being. You doubted you would ever love anyone as much as you loved Roope.

So, you open the door. Thankfully, he’s still out there. “Hi, Roope.”

“Hi, Yn,” he says nervously. “Um, these are for you. Your favorites.”

You take the flowers he’s handing to you and smile. Of course he remembered. “Thank you. Why don’t you come in, and I’ll put them into water and a vase.”

Roope nods and follows you into the house.

“When did you get home?”

“Oh, um, just a few days ago,” Roope is confused at the friendliness of the way this conversation is going. He figured you would have some harsh words for him considering what he did to you.

“And you’re only stopping by to say hi now?” you tease.

“I mean, I’m not sure how much you hate me considering I broke your heart.”

“Oh, so we are addressing the elephant in the room, then.”

“Look, yn, I’m really sorry; I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted what’s best for you.”

“So, you broke my heart?”

“No, that’s not what I wanted to do.”

“Then what did you want to do.”

Roope sighs and looks at you. “I wanted your heart to get over me earlier, so that when I died, it wouldn’t hurt as much. I didn’t want you to dream of this life with me after the war only for it to be destroyed by me dying in combat.”

“What would have happened if you didn’t die?”

“Like before I wrote that letter or after?”

“Both, Roope.”

“Before? I would have flown back home to you as promised and married you. After? Well, this.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s this?”

“An apology tour?”

“A tour? Who else’s heart did you break?” you tease.

“My mother’s.”

You giggle softly. “What?”

“My mother was heartbroken to know what I did. She was so upset and sad that you wouldn’t be her daughter-in-law one day.”

“Oh.”

Roope isn’t sure how to take this. “If you’ll forgive me, yn, then that would make me so happy. I know it’s not me fixing what I did but it’s a start. Even if you don’t love me as much as I love you or at all, that’s okay. I just need you to forgive me.”

“If I forgive you, what comes next?” you add on.

Roope knows you well enough to know that this means that you’re leaning to forgiving him. “Well, I’d probably ask you out for dinner and then another and another and another and that pattern would continue. After a while, I hope, you’ll realize that I never stopped loving you and still want to marry you one day. When you finally realize that, I’ll ask you to marry me and we’ll live the life you always dreamed about.”

Roope’s words put tears in your eyes. He still loves you? He still wants to marry you? “I forgive you, Roope. I could never stay mad at you,” you say as you jump into his arms.

Roope smiles and wraps his arms around you. He strokes your back as you cry into his chest and softly kisses your forehead. When you finally stop crying, Roope decides to test the waters. “Does this mean I can take you out for dinner?”

You laugh. “Yes, Roope, you can take me out for dinner.”

“I did promise to always fly back home to you, yn.”

You smile. “And that you did.”

. . .

June 15, 1946

“Hey, step outside for a moment?” Roope whispers into your ear. You were sitting in your living room celebrating the birthday of your sister’s son. You nod and take Roope’s hand. After that day he came home and visited you, Roope has spent every single day since then showing you how sorry he is and reminding you everyday of his love for you. There was not a single day in which you doubted his love for you. Roope leads you out your back door and out to the tree in your backyard. When you walk out, you notice that there’s a blanket sitting on the grass underneath it and small lights hanging from the large branches.

“Roope, what’s this?” you ask.

“The last part of my apology tour.”

“Roope, we’ve gone over this verbatim. I forgive you; there is no need to keep trying to prove you’re sorry or love me.”

“You say that now but I think you’ll like this final part. Come sit?” Roope sits on the blankets and opens his arms so that you can join him. You do. You sit with your back to him and he wraps his arms around you. You can feel how fast his heart is beating on your back.

“Before you say anything, I need you to know, I am truly sorry for all of the heartbreak I put you through. That’s the one thing I will regret for the rest of my life. There is nothing I can do to ever make it up to you. However, I hope that marrying you will help me make it up to you.”

“You’re going to have to prop-- oh!” you’re interrupted when Roope places a small velvet box in your hand. “Roope.”

“When my parents told me we were moving to Dallas, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. I knew why we were moving, but I didn’t want to. But then, you showed up on my doorstep with a plate of cookies in your hand and my life changed forever. My family knew before I did just how much I loved you. It took some time, but I wouldn’t change a single thing. Actually, I’d change the letter I wrote during the war but nothing else. I wouldn’t change the friendship we had and the meetings under this very tree. None of it. I only wish that we didn’t lose so many years together because of the war. Yes, I’ll admit, I ruined that a bit. We probably could be married by now and maybe have a little one of our own running around or you were close to giving birth to one. However, life happened the way it did.”

There were tears starting to form in your eyes. Roope releases his hold on you and guides you to stand up. You stand, and he goes down on one knee.

“Yn, there are no words to describe the love I have for you. Not a single one. However, I hope that if you let me be the happiest man on earth, it might give me enough time to find all the words. During the war, I was sending money to my mother to save for me to use to buy you a ring. That didn’t stop when I did what I did. I actually bought this ring the day before I went to see you. I felt that, though, despite my want to marry you right then and there, I knew we weren’t there yet. That doesn’t mean we aren’t there now.” Roope takes a deep breath. “Yn, will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes of course!” you tell him and Roope smiles.

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely!”

He gets up and places a kiss on your lips. It was salty from your tears but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Roope breaks away and places the ring on your hand.

“You did fly back home to me even if it took some time.”

“You never have to doubt it, yn,” Roope tells you as yours and his family cheers from the back porch. “No matter what, I’ll always fly back home to you.”

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my long ass review for S32E03 Now Museum, Now You Don’t

warning: LONG because i rambled about history more than i thought i would

id been looking forward to this one because i like art history, especially after seeing how they tried their best to stick to historical accuracy in the previous episode I, Carumbus. this time however….they didnt try that hard. i dont know why i thought theyd go through that sort of trouble again LMAO

but its okay, i dont really expect the simpsons to be the paragon of historical accuracy or anything. especially in anthology episodes told through a particular character's lens (in this case, lisa, whos already feverish so whatever)

first i just wanna say that this is, i guess, less of a review and more of an accidental list of history fun facts. so im just gonna get my general thoughts out of the way first.

the episode was fun! to me at least haha. i mean it got me to think and do a lot of research on my own so that must count for something. besides a couple of really weird ones, the jokes were good. anthology episodes tend to be….not that good but i thought this one was one of the better ones so far. idk.

anyway on to lisanardo da vinky its the renaissance! jesus christ the italian accents in the beginning of this segment were annoying as hell but i also feel like that was the joke lmao. ill be real i kind of tuned out for a second there when grampa started rambling so idk what he said.

i told myself i wouldnt get nitpicky with historical accuracy if the jokes were funny (final edit: so that was a lie) but this meh bit with the pizza guys and mascots was really not worth ignoring the fact that its impossible for italy to have any tomato-based food in the 15th century (tomatoes were brought to europe from the americas in the 16th century, and pizza as we know it today—flatbread, cheese, tomato—originated in the late 18th century)

oh this next part was kind of legit tho. lisanardo, like the real leonardo, became andrea del verrochio's apprentice at his workshop. i loved this next bit:

"Whoever paints the sweetest cherub will have the honor of having MY name signed on their work. That's what great artists do!"

SO YEAH as it turns out, lisanardo painted the sweetest cherubs. the painting here is called The Baptism of Christ, and the real leonardo assisted verrochio in finishing it. specifically, he painted the cherubs in the corner.

this causes verrochio to quit and go someplace with less talented people: a music school (yes, verrochio did quit painting after getting owned by young leo and his mad angel painting skills. he never did anything with music tho, he was more of a sculptor)

alongside lisanardo, in mr largo-verrochio's workshop we have barticelli (botticelli bart), dolphatello (donatello dolph), ralphael (raphael...ralph) and mediocrito (no one that i know of. sorry milhouse) (and kearney i guess but they dont refer to him by name). botticelli and donatello are said to have also been apprentices at verrochio's workshop, but raphael came a couple of decades later so he couldnt have been there. and donatello was too old so that claim is a bit questionable. but anyway

it IS true that leonardo's peers envied him, to the point where he was anonymously and purposefully accused of being gay (a major crime punishable by death in 15th century florence) while he was still working at verrochio's workshop

we are then treated by what im pretty sure is the fourth time the show has used 'at seventeen' by janis ian, this time sung by a dejected lisanardo (man they really do keep making yeardley sing these days huh) who only wishes to be appreciated and not envied.

"I'll show them all! I'll show them all in a secret diary that no one will decipher for 400 years!"

some of lisanardo's future inventions. who wouldve known

so after barticelli, for some reason (revenge??? or something?? what was his plan here idgi) steals lisanardo's diaries full of blueprints of her inventions and takes them to mr burns who i have to assume is pope alexander VI here, they decide to use her inventions for war.

"With these, we can kill the most evil people in the world!! ....Slightly different Christians."

leo actually did this of his own accord. im surprised this is what they decided to do with lisanardo instead of talking about leo's love of nature and vegetarianism (not a single mention of that in this episode? come on...) then again, trying to do good only to end up indirectly making things worse is a very standard lisa storyline. i guess they didnt want to miss the chance to have evil pope burns (very fitting, especially for that era since they were all about money and controlling the people)

so lisanardo decides to leave for france, unlike the real leonardo who was more or less persuaded by his ultimate fanboy king francis I to move to france.

"Lisanardo, I have many questions. Why are you hitting yourself? A nerd says 'what'? And how is it possible that I am rubber and you are glue? Et cetera, et cetera."

that line may seem a little random, like hes just nelson saying nelson things (and i mean, obviously he is) but the real francis also "had an unquenchable thirst for learning, and Leonardo was the world’s best source of experimental knowledge. He could teach the king about almost any subject there was to know, from how the eye works to why the moon shines." so yeah, he did have many questions and lisanardo, finally being appreciated for her intellect, was happy to answer them all. its very interesting how lisa assigned this role to nelson in her retelling of da vinci’s life :^)

and so she lived the rest of her days in france, nat king cole's 'mona lisa' plays because duh, and they make a da vinci code reference because duh. and the segment ends. and not a single time did they show the actual mona lisa painting. the fuck?

(ngl i was fully expecting bart to say 'leonardo da vinky' for a second here)

so this next segment is about french impressionist painters, most likely the batignolles group, a name adopted by the early representatives of impressionism. its much more vague than the lisanardo segment since no one here is referred to by name (except moe, more on him in a sec) but i dont feel like it really matters in this case. bart is prrrrooobably claude monet but its hard to say, this segment is kind of a mish-mash of a lot of things. also i gotta say i really liked how lisa introduced the story to bart with an 'if you hate the formal study of art' and not 'if you hate art' because thats exactly my headcanon. i LOVE the concept of artist bart and whenever its referenced it just makes perfect sense to me.

anyway the segment opens in 1863 at the école des beaux-arts (back then it was actually known as the académie des beaux-arts), preserver of traditional french art styles. skinner reviews his students’ paintings one by one. praises the plain, unimaginative paintings depicting your typical european countryside landscapes. very run-of-the-mill (haha get it...cuz theres….a windmill) (although the real académie didnt approve of such basic stuff, they wanted artists to draw epic historical and mythological scenes) then he gets to barts painting and he gives him an F- because the painting made him think.

(the paintings in this scene arent real famous paintings as far as i know but they are inspired by real paintings enough to get the point across)

in comes barney dressed as bacchus as a model for the students to sketch, which i just loved:

barney: “You prefer robe open or robe off?” skinner: “Just cover your privates with this walnut shell.” barney: “Whoa!!! So roomy!”

skinner gasps in horror at bart’s sketch, which “looks nothing like him” and bart explains that “it shouldn’t; we’re making the art that we feel because we can’t compete with a camera.” damn, you go bart. take that, realism. draw what you feel!!

(also no, you didnt need to hold still for 17 hours for a daguerreotype. 30 min tops.)

nelson haw-haw of the week: FOIE-gras!

so here they are at the moulin rouge (“enjoy it before baz luhrmann ruins it” hey shut up. i love that movie), which wouldnt be built for another 26 years, but it is the most widely known gathering place for bohemians in the public consciousness so i can understand why they went with the moulin. nelson delivers this anachronistic line:

“This époque keeps getting beller and beller!”

which alludes to la belle époque, the golden age of france usually dated from 1880 to 1914. made me snort so ill let that slide

and heres moe! as henri de toulouse-lautrec, who was actually born a year after the year this segment is set in. yo moe szyslak he was just 1

toulouse-moetrec introduces himself as the chronicler of the demimonde (not an actual job). an iconic figure associated with the moulin rouge (largely due to his affinity for alcohol and prostitutes), toulouse-lautrec was also a painter, having illustrated a series of posters for the moulin himself. he simply had to be in this segment, anachronisms be damned, just because they decided to include the moulin. cant have one without the other.

and yes he did have a walking cane where he kept his liquor.

i love how everyone drinks absinthe in this place. theyre bohemians what else would they drink

toulouse-moetrec points out that barts paintings are the greatest thing hes ever seen (and hes seen like five things!) and that hes a genius. milhouse realizes that they should stop doing what the teacher says and use their own minds to instead...start doing what bart says lmao. to the easels!

next we have skinner hyping up chalmers about the art his students made for the salon de paris, an art exhibition that the emperor of france will attend. he assures him that none of these paintings will encourage debate, provoke thought or be out of place at a dentist’s office. when they unveil the art, theyre both SHOCKED at how scandalous the paintings actually are.

this reaction was kind of accurate. impressionism was severely rejected at the salon de paris, due to paintings not looking finished enough to them, they thought they were ugly and vulgar for depicting nudity in a contemporary setting (historical and mythological nudity was fine). these impressionist paintings were sent to the salon de refusés, which is. yeah. the place where they sent the rejects. the salon de refusés does not make an appearance but this scene makes a reference to it when the artists get expelled from the royal salon. also:

“What about our student loans?” “Oh they’ll be refunded. We are not barbarians, I mean, come on.”

(god if only)

so the painters are down because they want the emperor to actually see their paintings. toulouse-moetrec pipes in once again with an idea.

“There is one thing the emperor loves more than anything.” “France?” “No, he hates France.”

apparently the emperor really loves cheese, which makes sense since its napoleon III (who loved cheese) and homer (who loves cheese.) so the painters roll into the salon inside a giant wheel of cheese (obviously.) as lenny said, “Eh, you know French cheese. Very runny.” napoleon III chases after the wheel into a room, where the wheel falls apart after getting chomped on by the emperor. now that they got his attention, the painters proudly show the emperor their impressionist art, which he couldnt be more indifferent about because he just wants to eat his cheese dammit, and he awards them with the royal medallion just to kind of get them out of his way. skinner immediately starts kissing ass (as he does) until marge’s like ‘hey wait a minute. you expelled these students from the royal salon’ and an executioner immediately starts ominously measuring skinners neck.

“Uh, sir...is your tongue sticking out because you’re dead or because you’re mad at me?”

and thats the end of that lmao (gore in this episode, gore in the last episode, and next week we’re getting gore too cuz its THOH, what the hell is goin on)

we get a short intermission with maggie, who wants a story for her too! lisa tells her that renaissance artists loved to put babies in their paintings, especially baby angels.

here she is showing her The Triumph Of Galatea by raphael:

King David Playing The Harp by peter paul reubens:

and a very simplified version of pretty much any depiction of hell by hyeronimus bosch lmao:

not much else to say about this one, really. but i really liked that sky!

the last segment is about frida kahlo and diego rivera. or as bart puts it ‘the one about a fat guy whos wife is too good for him.’ i was REALLY looking forward to this one because i love frida and i thought itd be a cool opportunity for animators to go bonkers and do really cool shit with her art as inspiration…..but the segment is not about frida, its about diego and his selling out to capitalism. and its also yet another story with homer and marge drama. no funky cool animation here. sigh i guess i’ll take it

the story begins in 1929 at la casa azul, frida’s home (now museum dedicated to her life and work.) frida and diego are getting married. this courtyard definitely did not look this way yet back in 1929. also theres something very cringy yet funny about lovejoy saying spanish words the way he does, i honestly cant decide how i feel about that one

the writers know theyre being cringy with their gringoness so they go along with it.

moe: “Spanish for ‘best wishes’!” mel: “Spanish for ‘congratulations’!” bumblebee man: “Spanish for ‘muy bueno’!”

OH YEAH BUMBLEBEE MAN this is his new voice actor, eric lopez! hes not mexican but its still great to finally have a latino actor voicing a latino character and hes very excited to be part of the show so i hope to hear more of him!! im rooting for him

el barto/zorro makes an appearance which i am very confused about. he has jack shit to do with frida and diego and mexico in the 20s-30s. el zorro was set in the spanish california of the early 19th century. their use of the original theme song makes me think they just wanted to flex their disney privileges tbh

lets not talk about that that whole scene was bad

anyway diego announces he and frida are going to new york, without even asking her first. frida is obviously pissed.

“Don’t worry, as a woman, you’ll be treated with much more respect in America.”

so in new york, diego is having a bit of a business meeting with mr burns as one of the members of the rockefellers, who is commissioning him to draw a mural for the rockefeller center. its kinda funny how he refers to him and frida as socialists even though they were very much communists lmao its okay you can say it. ok so far, but then frida says ‘yes, we hate the capitalists! right now, a young socialist is being born who will take them down! mr. bernie sanders. i hope hes quick about it’ and that was a simple enough joke and couldve been left at that but then its immediately followed by this weird as fuck family guy-esque cutaway gag to bernie as a baby:

“Getting a cootie shot should not cost your lunch money. And if you don’t listen to me, listen to the Bernie Babies! What? Everybody’s got goons.” *larger babies start beating up this other baby* “I disavow that, and welcome it.”

this confused me so much that i had to ask one of my american friends to help me understand, but even she was like ‘uhhh yeah thats a weird joke,’ especially now that hes been out of the race for months (then again these episodes take almost a year to produce. i guess they couldnt be bothered to replace it with something more relevant.) whatever that was weird and confusing and unfunny moving on

frida is pretty irked that diego is going through with this deal. after all, it goes against everything they believe in. im not sure how the real frida felt about diego doing the mural, but she did feel a bit of rage during her visit to the united states, especially the obvious disparity between rich and poor. she hated having to interact with capitalists and found americans very boring. in this segment, frida seems to be acting more like the american communist party, which diego got kicked out of for accepting commissions from wealthy patrons. in any case, frida is pretty upset about this whole thing.

and finally we get the first and only kind of surreal frida moment. kinda. maybe. its more cartoonish than anything but im desperate ok

interesting how they felt like they had to add a “don’t smoke” in big letters after showing patty and selma flying away on their giant cigarettes. i wonder if this is something theyre making them do now? i remember hearing something about them toning down patty and selma’s smoking

diego comes home to frida, drunk as hell, followed by the marx brothers. i cant believe they didnt make a marxism joke come on it was RIGHT THERE. THE MARX BROTHERS. KARL MARX. COME ON

frida paints her feelings.

this makes diego realize that frida is a genius and he is not half the artist she is. he proclaims he will now show his awe of her by sleeping with other women, starting “an hour ago.” to which frida replies, “and i will start sleeping with other women, starting two hours ago.” yes this was pretty much their relationship. though im just wondering how the hell did diego not know frida was this kind of artist until now? i know homers an idiot but jeez. art was how frida and diego met, diego knew from the get-go that frida was an incredible artist. i guess the fame got to his head or something. again, homer just being stupid.

“well enough already, while the art is still deco, okay?”

its time for the mural diego painted, Man At The Crossroads, to be unveiled:

rockefeller examines it. good and great so far, and then...uh oh

“Who’s that fellow…? With the beard, and the bolshevik smile…” “That’s the founder of Soviet Russia, Lenin!”

“B-b-but he’s a communist!” “Oh he just attended a couple of meetings.”

rockefeller will not have this communist in the temple to capitalism that is the rockefeller center, so he orders diego to paint over it. diego stands his ground and refuses. despite rockefeller’s threats, diego says that theres only one person he wants to be proud of him no matter what and in true homer & marge fashion, frida is touched by this. they happily leave the rockefeller center.

now, the real story of Man At The Crossroads and the rockefeller center was actually not that different. as soon as the rockefellers found out diego had snuck in a portrait of lenin into the mural, they ordered him to paint over it, to which he refused. diego even offered to include abraham lincoln and even american abolitionists in the mural as a compromise, but the rockefellers simply did not want any references to communism whatsoever. they did not complain about the hammer and sickle, though. yes, they did know diego was a communist and hired him anyway. what did they expect? lmao. diego said:

"Rather than mutilate the conception [of the mural], I shall prefer the physical destruction of the conception in its entirety, but preserving, at least, its integrity."

so they decided to destroy the mural before it was even finished and they never talked to each other again.

diego then repainted the mural at the palacio de bellas artes back in mexico, this time known as Man, Controller of the Universe. this new version included even more communist leaders and a depiction of john d. rockefeller jr. drinking at a nightclub, right underneath a depiction of syphilis bacteria. cue nelson haw-haw:

this was the version they used in the episode also, since the original was, well, never finished and also destroyed. only a black and white photograph of it exists, taken by diego before it was destroyed so he could remake it.

right so, homer!diego then pulls a Barthood and finishes the episode with a large mural summarizing the entire episode. he says some rick and morty thing i didnt get because i dont watch the show idk idc

the end

ALRIGHT NOW ITS TIME FOR THE STORY OF VINCENT VAN MOE

hiii congrats on 200 !! 💞💞 could I please join your event? My top 5 are oikawa, suna, sakusa, akaashi, and kenma. My pronouns are she/her. I am 5’4, an ambivert and a Latina. My enneagram is type 4. I have pale skin, mid-length brown wavy hair with bangs, and hazel eyes. I am described as someone who comes off as cold or aloof when I’m around people I don’t know. After getting to know me, I am the complete opposite. I’m just a bit shy at first lol. I like to make people laugh and try to make the best of any situation. However I have a hard time expressing my emotions. I’m also described as easy going and fun to be around. I am a hip hop dancer and love to perform. Dance to me is very freeing and I'm usually dancing anywhere anytime haha. I choreograph a lot as well. I also enjoy reading could vary from manga to non-fiction. I love music especially hip hop, rap, & reggaeton. I also love to write music/poetry. I never show anybody though since I’m really shy about it. I'd love to one day tho! I can be playful and love to tease my friends. I also really like to eat and travel. I really enjoy having deep conversations. I speak English and Spanish (learning Japanese & Portuguese). I would love to learn ASL and Hawaiian one day as well. I don’t really have any fears, just not being able to accomplish my goals/dreams. I tend to daydream a lot and I’m also a big procrastinator 😭. I'm usually overthinking a lot which tires me a bit. Alone time for me is definitely important. I would say my love languages are words of affirmation and physical touch. I tend to be a bit jealous/possessive, not in an unhealthy way though. I'm also a bit touch starved lol. tysm and congrats again 💕💞

tysm bb !! omg you sound super similar to me wtf that's so funny, you're learning portuguese ?? man i really want to but i can't figure out how to PRONOUNCE anything i just read it all as if it were spanish :,) also the procrastination omg, i've been meaning to learn italian for like the past two summers and ended up not because i sleep too much to do anything,,, anyway,,,

i think you'd go so well with oikawa ! you both seem to be super passionate about what you do and you'd push each other to take pride in things that you're shy about, just overall bringing out the best in each other :)

you can't just say that and then not let me see, he'd whined in response to you casually mentioning the volumes of poetry he'd been the muse for. so now you don't know why you said it... it just felt right in the moment, maybe? too late, though, he's scrolling intently through the notes app on your phone in the middle of dinner in a restaurant, like, in public, and you really want to excuse yourself to go hide in the bathroom or something. he'd know, though, so all you can do is sit and hide your face in your hands and hope he doesn't look up at you.

of course he does, though, god, he's such a pain sometimes, and you pray he can't see how hot your face feels, but he just smiles and hands your phone back to you. hang on, he tells you quietly: he's got something to show you. you're confused when he picks up his own phone, appearing to be looking for something, but a minute later you receive an email from him that's blank except for a file attached. it's a love letter. i was too scared to give it to you, he says, but, you know.

deux-cent: l’évènement [OPEN]

aesthetic & headcanon — art muses

summary: she loves art, but not in the ‘haha funny i love art and i’m so artistic and creative look at me sense’. the aesthetic highlights her top three current favorites — agnes martin, giovanni boldini and egon schiele. all for various reasons, but she uses them as muse in terms of things musically and visually when she does get time to sit around and paint. she doesn’t get excited about much, but you bring up artists to her and take her to a museum that houses these artists — done and set, she loves you already. (headcanon on elaboration on what she loves about the artists / more artists that she admires). warnings: none wc: 906

as i’ve said it before — minjung is not one of those “haha i love art, i’m so pretentious look at me i’m so creative and artistic” type muses. yes, she does love art but it’s more of a familiar feeling the art brings her and she actually has a real appreciate for the fine details / lines, and keeps track of her favorite pieces — aka, she has it written down when certain cities have specific exhibitions that she wants to go to. (kinda big brain, but you know — minjung has the biggest brain out of my three muses).

she buys art pieces with the money she makes — yes it’s a shit load of money, so she has very few real pieces.but she spends because 1) they’re investments / not taxed in korea 2) the pieces mean more to her than any other superficial items she’d buy otherwise.

 agnes martin — the american abstract artist.

minjung really loves agnes martin because of how well and tasteful the minimalism is inside her subtle changes in the works. there’s geometric patterns such as grid work that becomes a commonality throughout all her pieces —but the part that gets minjung the most? is that each line and brush stroke is hand drawn. she doesn’t think she’ll ever be that steady, but she can only hope.

the geometric pencil lines are her favorite!! there’s a softness to pencil / graphite, and the way it often smudges across the palms of hands. yet, there is none of that to the point where it is eerie perfection inside agnes martin’s work.

the last thing she gets inspo from is the coloration — a lot of the colors are often muted, pastels. imperfections that almost mimic watercolor. however, minjung knows watercolor is a hard medium because of how unpredictable / uncontrollable it is. agnes martin is a genius for keeping the small imperfections and keeping it perfected and crisp. 

giovanni boldini — the italian portrait painter

to be fair, she doesn’t actually like boldini’s actual pieces always on display. she’s a fan of his sketches, and how it inspires her own sketches. his actual works are too finessed to her liking, and often takes the ‘oohs and aahs’ from the crowd. what she fell in love with was his sketches

a portrait painter, there was always a detail when it came to facial definition. even in his sketches, he would do very impeccable work by grabbing all the details and honing in on them, only to leave the outlines of the body in lines — this juxtaposes the differences between the face versus the body, and she likes that disparity.

often his works take in a lot of neutral colors with pops of pink whereas his sketches are primarily in black and white with pops of watercolor — maybe, seo minjung is just a sucker for the mixture of graphite and watercolor but it just amazes her how so much detail can be done in showing expressions and cheekiness through the face while leaving the body almost subjected to the background.

because of boldini, she often experiments with this graphite / watercolor mix.

egon schiele — austrian figurative painter

he’s probably one of her favorites if not most. yes, gustov klint is all fun and games but she thinks egon takes the cake as his protege one upping him all the time.

his line work is out of this world (i hate this saying, but literally she does not take any inspiration other than his lines). the lines he uses she hopes to inspire the lines inside the sketchbook she has.

the one line drawings in the present, she takes that all as an ode to egon schiele and wonders why people don’t appreciate his linework more. i think she started doing a lot of one line work (for fun, and for friends who just want a special drawing on their walls) but always 

she also enjoys the subtle pops of color — aka the often times oranges and red, the warm vibrant colors he adds into his figures. 

the faces arent often realistic, nor are they ‘aesthetically pleasing’ to look at but the beauty of mangled faces and people drawn gholish — that’s her ish. his sensual nature of his work also inspires minjung a lot when she’s inspired by him.

jenny saville — the english flesh painter

she LOVES jenny savile!! this is mainly because of saville’s works on the human body and capturing each curve and roll to maintain realism

the coloration of human flesh is done so perfectly in minjung’s opinion. 

along with that saville explores more gory aspects? blood, human face — captures the bruised and swollen details with the perfect colorations and overlap of brush strokes. it’s this perfect harmony portrayed inside the paintings that makes minjung fall in love with saville each time she sees a new piece

yes, some times the bodies are overdrawn and over-exaggerated to look grotesque? but it’s that morbidity in the realism that she appreciates so very much about saville

i’m gonna shut up now because this sounds really ridiculous to go on about why minjung loves certain artists. however — i will mention there are a few honorable mentions she’s not particularly inspired by but does see the beauty in how they’re publicized on mass platforms.

honorable mentions: warhol, basquiat, rothko, picasso, piet mondrian, and yayoi kusama.

Perfect- Chapter 8

masterlist | ch. 7 | ch. 9

Word Count: 1,166 words

POV: Jordan and Reid are paired together. But how was Jordan able to figure everything out so quickly?

(This chapter is back in Jordans perspective)

“Morgan, Emily, you two go to the most recent crime scene and see what you can find out. JJ, I want you to go to the local police department and gather as much information as you can and coordinate with Garcia. Reid, (y/n), you two go to the first and second crime scenes and see if you can find any patterns. Rossi and I will go speak with the latest victims' parents and get them into custody in case they are in danger. We’ll bring their parents back to the station and coordinate with JJ,” Hotch orders.

“Okay, Hotch” Emily, Morgan, and JJ quickly say.

“Uh- um okay sir,” Reid says shakily and confused. Why would he pair US together? Of all people, it had to be him. Seriously? Today is just going downhill for me.

“Hey, partner! I’m glad to be paired up with a fellow genius for this case.” I said to Reid attempting to mask my hatred for this man. He almost unveiled all my secrets. Ugh this is gonna be torture.

“Haha, yea I can’t wait to work with someone that matches my IQ. It'll be interesting.”Reid responds, seeming just as unenthusiastic as I am inside. “We should get to the car now and head out,” he informed me. Reid and I get in the SUV and wait 5 minutes until Hotch exits the building and gets in his car.

“So, Reid do you know any cool facts about where we’re going?” I attempt to spark some small talk.

“Nope.” Reid responds clearly uninterested.

“None at all? That’s not like you.” I say knowing he’s lying through his teeth.

“Well, now it is.” He said which makes me think the hatred is equal. At least we have that in common.

“Is something wrong, did I do something to upset you?” I persistently ask, trying to figure out why he’s lying to me.

“Nope. I just wanna get this case over with.” This car ride feels longer than it really is.

“Just tell me what’s wrong! Did I do something wrong? OH, I know. It’s because I talked to Hotch first, right?” I ask although I know the real reason.

“You don’t even know half of it (y/n), you wouldn’t understand.” Oh no Reid YOU don’t even know the half of it.

“Look, Reid, I’m sorry I didn’t mean-”

“Just don’t bother okay? It’s pointless.” He rudely cuts me off.

“No, I have to say this. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble within the team. I stole something when I was a kid, and I should’ve told all of you right away. I don’t blame you for wanting to look into me. I see how close you guys are. I would do the same thing in your shoes. I’m not mad at you at all, I just wanna put this all behind us.” I said in my best fake apology voice. He thinks he knows the truth about me but he only knows a fraction of it. I think he bought it though. Hopefully.

“Oh, look we’re here.” He quickly changes the conversation.

“So it seems that our victim was an avid reader, judging by the number of books they’ve acquired over the years.” I pointed out to him.

“Hmmm. There are a lot of books, but when you open them they still have that new book smell and the pages are far from ever being used,” He informed her.

“So why did they have so many books? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Some people say that having an overstuffed library is a badge of honor. People that do this are called tsundoku. There is a known legendary library of Italian writer Umberto Eco, which contained a jaw-dropping 30,000 volumes. Did Eco read all those books? Of course not, but that wasn't the point of surrounding himself with so much potential but as-yet-unrealized knowledge. By providing a constant reminder of all the things he didn't know, Eco's library kept him intellectually hungry and perpetually curious.” Now that's the Reid I know and love! Wait. No. I didn’t mean that. I mean. Ugh let's just forget it.

“Forget I asked, wow.”

“No, that could mean something. It also shows that our victim was self-aware of their ignorance which puts them above lots of people in the world.”

“Okay and?” I ask pretending to not understand.

“My point is that this could be a pattern our unsub might be targeting consciously ignorant people. But how are they connected?” He starts to spiral and think out loud while staring at the impressive book collection.

“Uh, maybe this book club membership has something to do with it?” I said. Hopefully he didn’t see me plant the card here earlier.

“Call Garcia and let her know what you found, ask her to search if our other unsub had the same membership. I’m gonna keep looking around for more evidence,” he barked orders out.

“You got it, boss.” I pulled out my phone and texted my boss I was able to plant the evidence he had given me. Then I called Garcia, still pretending to be on the BAU’s side.

“Hey, Garcia! I’m putting you on speakerphone ’cause Reid and I found something.” Which is a blatant lie.

“Speak and you shall be heard!” Garcia says in her usual bubbly manner. She makes me wish I was really on her side. She’s so sweet… wait no she found out my identity to begin with. I hate her. I think.

“We found a book club membership with our victims' names on it. Could you cross-reference our other victims’ names with ‘Barnes and Noble Book Club Membership’ for us?”

“On it J-, sorry, I mean (y/n). I was just on the phone with JJ, so I was about to say her name.” She almost said my name… it’s been so long I forgot who I actually was. She doesn’t know that I overheard her did she?

“No worries! Just let me know if you find-” I start and then get cut off by Garcia,

“Bingo! All of our victims had a membership to the same book club. Huh, it turns out they all sent each other books, too, with a weird message on each delivery.”

“Garcia, could you send me a list of every book and message the victims were sending to each other?” Reid asked.

“Consider it done boy genius!”

“Thank you, Garcia,” I said before hanging up the phone. After I hung up I made sure to tell my boss everything that happened.

“(Y/n), let’s grab all of the books on Garcia's list and take them with us.”

“Okay, I’ll grab the laptop as well to see what else we can find.” We were gathering all of the books and putting them into a box and I couldn’t help but think about what I thought earlier. Loving Reid? I mean who wouldn’t love him? He's so smart, cute, and sometimes funny. NO, no Jordan he’s your enemy stop this.

tag list: @omgbigfluff @criminalvampminds @louiscardinalsshi123 @less-intelligent-spencerreid @ariccio50 @emilyprentissistoocute

no editor anymore so apologies if it isn’t as strong

Janis & Jimmy

Janis: [Okay, so I think you should go to Libi's room and help her get ready for nursey/fake get ready for school so then no one has any need to burst into the spare room and your idea is he can keep sleeping, whether you will be woken up by everyone else going about their day is up to you] Jimmy: [that's cute Libi will be buzzing and that boy does need to keep sleeping so I will let you] Janis: [she will, we gotta keep her away and distracted, fingers crossed mcvickers are also working and busy today, at least enough that we can get out later if we need to] Jimmy: [there's every chance you'll still get woken up by Cass blowing your phone up because obvs she'd be worried about you but at least that wouldn't be as early as Libi would rock up] Janis: [that makes sense, that will probably be before Janis comes back in the room, like when Cass and Bobby are up and getting ready to go to school 'cos we're likewise faking it] Jimmy: [yeah that's what I figured so I shall hit you up] Jimmy: You going to school? Janis: 🤫 Janis: just going for my oscar Jimmy: 👏👏🌹 Jimmy: What you gonna do to ❌📞 that takes it off you? Janis: I don't care if they know I'm bunking Janis: just didn't need them to come in and see you Jimmy: you could just go in Janis: well yeah, I could Jimmy: I get that you don't fancy it but Janis: You don't have to stay here Janis: or have me come with you Jimmy: 💭 about you, not me Janis: well it's nice of you to be worried about my education Janis: but there's no need Jimmy: even Lucas'd be a right laugh compared to me, is what I mean Jimmy: but there's no need to give him a 🏆 Janis: not about to give him anything 💔 Janis: school's never a laugh, weren't planning to go anyway Jimmy: he'll have to wait a bit for the 💌 you wrote with your other hand Janis: That's DISGUSTING Janis: how dare you Jimmy: 🤐 Janis: my hands have been busy nursing you, nothing else Jimmy: secret's safe with me, mate Janis: yeah, likewise Janis: as I'm out the house for a while, do you want anything? Jimmy: I'm alright Janis: 👌 Janis: Left the 💊s in there if you want more Jimmy: 👍 Janis: Did you get your keys last night? Jimmy: Spare'll be [whatever random location it is] Janis: as long as you can get back in Jimmy: be piss easy to break in if we had to, nowt to worry about Janis: you can't move that fast Jimmy: don't have to, that's what I'd be bringing you for Janis: really Janis: didn't sound keen 5 minutes ago Jimmy: I dunno what you're on about, Joanne Janis: 👍 at me dickhead Jimmy: [a picture of him doing it like there you go] Janis: 😒 Janis: SO pleased your terrible sense of humour hasn't been affected Jimmy: *😁 Jimmy: can't have you missing me, girl Janis: I'm getting bagels, no time to miss you Jimmy: sounds fake, that Janis: you DON'T believe I'm getting bagels? Janis: bit weird, that Jimmy: who the fuck eats bagels outside of the CG? Janis: excuse me Janis: why are you judging my breakfast choices Jimmy: no need to go there to call in sick for me, I can @ my own 👻 manager Janis: I'm obviously 👀 for Pete now you ain't in my way Jimmy: that'd be about right Jimmy: can believe that Janis: you should Janis: very true, very real Jimmy: very 💔 an' all OBVS Janis: I'm sure he'll still hit you up from time to time Jimmy: weren't worried about him Janis: me either, tbh Janis: 😎 and laidback that one Jimmy: there you go then Janis: I’m well concerned about your lack of appetite Janis: Who even are ya Jimmy: SO funny, you Jimmy: never heal if you keep on making me 😂 Janis: That’s why I’m being so 😠😔😒😑 Janis: No 🤡 behaviour Jimmy: 😭🤡🎻 only Jimmy: I get it Janis: You don’t do Italian do you? Jimmy: 🐩🥖🧄🥐🧅🍷🍾 Janis: Of course Janis: sad mime is perfect for you Jimmy: DUH Janis: was thinking Pierrot but you can make it work Janis: Don’t they ALL do French? Unlucky Jimmy: 😭🤡🎻 Janis: Je suis désolée Janis: Yes, I’m very talented, you can @ em Jimmy: [does because no shame and very easy to make that sound saucy and goals especially because they aren't going to school] Janis: 😏 alright I believe it’s you again Jimmy: but do you miss me yet? Janis: Do you want me to miss you? Jimmy: 🤏 Janis: Then in that case I can’t Jimmy: bit rude but alright Janis: s’rude ‘cos you expect me to only miss you a bit Janis: that I can’t do Jimmy: you asked what I want Jimmy: I don't want you to be 💔 Janis: I’m not Janis: I’m coming back once there’s no chance they’ll be coming back Janis: Unless you ain’t gonna be there Jimmy: Do you wanna stay here? Janis: I’m not 100% on their plans Janis: might be easier to be at yours? At least til Ian is home Jimmy: long as you can keep the 🐕 off me Janis: you know she’ll be all over me only Janis: her 😍 are real Jimmy: til I've got something she wants to eat Jimmy: might have to eat your hipster 🥯 here, dickhead Janis: 1. You’re rude and hangry 2. I still won’t let you get ravaged by anybody Jimmy: hang on, I'll send a tweet about not deserving you Jimmy: 🗑 the one I were about to send to Helena now I get why she's always fuming Janis: With big 🍈🍈s Janis: We can get you drugs Janis: Do you want to go drs today? Jimmy: What kind of question is that? Janis: Say you’re a 😎 boy and got in a brawl Janis: If they ask Jimmy: ✔ Janis: Don’t have to Janis: But you would get your own supply Janis: There’s other ways though, I can do it Jimmy: It's a 🥇💡 Jimmy: I just Janis: I get it Janis: I mean I think Janis: It’s a risk Jimmy: if we only get one go at it Jimmy: I might end up wishing I'd waited for worse Janis: It’s alright Janis: I can sort it Jimmy: What does that mean? Janis: I can get you some Janis: No need for Helena or doctor Jimmy: how? Janis: Why ask? Jimmy: 'cause I know you're not making that much 🐕🏃💰 for a start Janis: It’s not that pricey Janis: My dad was a drug dealer you reckon I don’t know any that’ll give me a discount? Jimmy: I don't reckon you should bother Janis: Look Janis: You remember my cousin, Astrid? Jimmy: yeah Janis: Her dad still is Janis: He’d sort me out so someone else didn’t Jimmy: and what if it gets back to someone in your massive family? Janis: He’s not that bothered Janis: Long as he gets enough cash Jimmy: alright, but Ian's paying, you're not Janis: got no problem with that Jimmy: You coming back first or what? Janis: Yes Janis: You’ve got the rest of the ones I took last night Janis: I need to see you Jimmy: Oi, that's what I were gonna say Janis: Say it then Jimmy: come here Jimmy: I miss you Janis: Okay Janis: [come back and you’ve clearly brought him some breakfast and made tea before you came up] Jimmy: [kiss her immediately because we're starting out extra] Janis: [when you’re trying really hard to be gentle and careful ‘cos it is an effort to NOT get caught up in the feelings of it all] Jimmy: [soz to add to the frustration you already feel at being injured and basically having to hide boy cos we all know you likewise wanna just go in and can't] Janis: [we’re so rude, when you finally pull away just looking him over and then looking in his eyes ‘cos best indicator of everything tbh ‘morning’] Jimmy: [never backing down from eye contact even if he probably should rn because we're struggling not just on the physical level but also with his big brother guilt but obvs we're saying it back as we fix her hair because you can't tell me he didn't mess it up just then considering how little else they can touch] Janis: [likewise fixing his as if that’s top priority rn but actually the excuse to touch his hair and face and anything we can is all we need ‘you got some sleep’ because you can’t tell me she didn’t stay up and watch him whilst the drugs low-key knocked him out] Jimmy: [a look like did you because you can't tell me that he isn't worried that she didn't when he's 100% that bitch] Janis: [‘you aren’t that fun to look at’ but a look like that’s not true obvs 😍] Jimmy: [😍 af back because we're essentially saying that she is without actually saying it] Janis: [lowkey shoving that mug at him like now drink ‘cos it’s a love language honey] Jimmy: [drinking it but obvs giving the 😍 still the entire time and I like to think that she put extra sugar in it like my boo does for me sometimes so he's tasted that and done a lil smile because we're in love] Janis: [for your strength boy, definitely, smiling back ‘cos likewise and cannot help it ‘what do you want to do today?’ Like the world is our oyster and we’ve not got all the limitations, sweeping his hair out of his face and throwing out ridiculous suggestions ‘London? New York? Tokyo?’] Jimmy: ['Amsterdam, obvs' because you literally get offered hard drugs when you're just walking about that's a true story and he is genuinely worried about her having to do this even though we know Drew is basically harmless at this point he doesn't] Janis: [‘druggie’ but we’re being playful not actually shady, dramatically rolling our eyes and tutting, that said about Drew if he’s not with his missus or another woman yet he might tell your mum but we can use that if we wanna] Jimmy: [yeah I think he will have just got out of prison if I have my timeline correct so it's likely he's not with her yet and that's worth noting, but Jimothy is just playfully nudging the bae with his good side] Janis: [probably thirsty for some Alison attention then tbf, but for now we’re rolling up last nights sleeping bag like we’re packing for Amsterdam] Jimmy: [eat your breakfast boy and give her a begrudging nod because the bagel is actually nice] Janis: [‘I didn’t get it from CG’ like that’s why it’s nice lol] Jimmy: ['wouldn't have you back yet if you had done' do he mean that it's always busy and he's not there working doing the most or do he mean because Pete might be working or both haha] Janis: [‘called that about him’ and we 😉] Jimmy: ['he'll be chuffed to bits that you get him'] Janis: [‘I’ll be chuffed when I do’ and putting the sleeping bag away and sitting back down with him] Jimmy: [putting his head on her shoulder like we're so forlorn and pouty about this] Janis: [‘should’ve never of introduced us’ like he did not lol, we tugging at his pouty lip with our fingers to switch it up] Jimmy: ['I never' when he can still get the words out before she's got his lip lol but then we're just giving her a LOOK because that's distracting excuse you gal] Janis: [a LOOK back that’s like yeah I regret it also because it was distracting and now we’re like] Jimmy: [running his thumb across her bottom lip because we always do that and also like well I've got this good hand here we can make use of] Janis: [ACTUALLY pouting because we can’t do anything to him ‘you’ll get out of breath’ brag but true] Jimmy: [😏 because we love the brag 'I'll live' like it already hurts anyway so what does he care is very much the attitude here now since we can't pretend we're fine this time because she knows] Janis: [‘yeah and I wanna kill you’ like that’s the problem ‘we could just-‘ and kissing him with our hands dramatically up like remember the rules] Jimmy: ['it's still gonna hurt' said as we kiss her really intensely anyway so she knows we think it's worth it] Janis: [making a noise in protest but it just sounds hot ‘cos we cannot protest enough for it to be meaningful rn with how much we wanna] Jimmy: [and we all know whenever she makes any kind of noise she gets one back so that really won't help the protest soz] Janis: [we are going in as much as remotely capable rn] Jimmy: [hard same so I hope you took those painkillers jimothy] Janis: [you’re young and hardy and in love so even though you are injured you’ll be okay I think] Jimmy: [the feels will get you through it] Janis: [you can’t help yourselves we can’t help that] Jimmy: [you've gotta do what you've gotta do lads and I respect that] Janis: [we’ll make you do an ice bath or something else to help you later it’s okay we’re looking after you as well as, just looking at him with so much love] Jimmy: [snuggling as best we can because 1. we don't want her to go back out 2. the love 3. we know she didn't get hardly any sleep and we want her to] Janis: [‘we should go to yours before we get comfortable’ but we’re not moving yet] Jimmy: [a noise like mhmmm yes we should but we're not moving either and we're just doodling on her with our fingertip like shh go to sleep] Janis: [kinda chasing his finger with ours around and then doing a little thumb war moment] Jimmy: [that's so cute and you're 1000% getting that look of love returned] Janis: [big yawn ‘you need a double bed’] Jimmy: [playing with her hair because she's adorable and we're redoubling our efforts to get her to fall asleep 'I'll @ Ian in a bit, he'll be chuffed to sort it for us' we all know he is on his best behaviour for at least a while after this kind of thing has happened so we're not even joking really] Janis: [‘braid it if you like’ amused because we know it’s a mess, moreso when we start furiously shaking our head like no no don’t mention him ‘we’ll steal this one’ which is an amusing mental image, mcvickers like excuse me lol] Jimmy: [he is braiding it even though she was taking the piss because he's got a sister and shit parents so he obviously can and will be making a rose out of paper or something for that throwback when he's done 'if you carry it' because remember when he had to carry that desk, there's no chance haha] Janis: [when that’s shaken you to your core because it’s so soft and intimate and you can’t, just nodding like yes I will do that] Jimmy: [just having that soft moment] Janis: [‘you’re...’ and just shaking our head ‘I wish I could explain you’ and poking him in the cheek like how dare you] Jimmy: [presenting her with this 🌹 you've crafted before you stick it in her hair like look how much of a Pinterest mum art hoe I am, I get why you're speechless because #goals '@ Bill he'll give you a hand, might do with the bed an' all' playfully push her down like poltergeist energy which is accidentally saucy af] Janis: [when it’s genuinely impressive but you’ve got to take the piss because it’s too much all ‘round ‘been going to see Asia’s ma, yeah?’ A look like such a hun babe but we’re literally shhed by this sauciness full 😳 because we can’t even fight back or anything to diffuse the tension] Jimmy: [poke her in her 😳 cheek because gotta take the piss too for the same reason] Janis: [‘dickhead’ and going to get up like right we must go now] Jimmy: [stopping her from going but in a soft way not like !!!!!! because he doesn't want to go home yet even though it makes more logical sense] Janis: [‘you can’t go out the window’ like if they come back we won’t be able to sneak you out ‘that said-‘ because we understand not wanting to go back even though Ian is not there ‘-if they come back, we could be quiet til they go again’ because they have no reason to go in the spare room] Jimmy: [an anxious lip bite that he can't stop himself from doing because they are hiding here and it's nice but when they go back it'll feel real again and he'll be watching the clock for when Bobby's back because that's a whole thing of not wanting him to know that he's hurt but knowing that there's shit he won't be able to do in terms of big brother duties even before you get into the Ian-ness of it all but she's not wrong that it makes sense for them to go for that reason and because Twix but DUH that's all too real and emosh to express when you can just instead take the piss about not being able to be quiet so we're obvs doing that instead] Janis: [immediately going to squeeze his hand when the lip bite and then retracting like oh too serious but we’re kinda stuck like well what do we do though] Jimmy: [the audacity of this boy then being like okay come on let's go as if he didn't just stop her in her tracks] Janis: [tryna roll with it regardless because it’s not our struggle so we’ll go either way] Jimmy: [hold hands as you strut on over the road lads, we all know he's gonna smoke even though he isn't supposed to, tut tut] Janis: [not asking for/taking one ourselves to show our disapproval] Jimmy: [a look like ? because in no world has he not noticed this] Janis: [a look like don’t be daft] Jimmy: [passing her the 🚬 like are you gonna take this or what] Janis: [‘you’re alright’] Jimmy: [looking at her again like why are you being weird but not saying anything] Janis: [looks at him like why are YOU smoking dickhead but likewise we’re not saying stop or anything] Jimmy: [thank god it's a short walk so shit can't get too tense] Janis: [not trying to start an argument about it] Jimmy: [get in the house please and see what carnage you're gonna be greeted with because Jimothy has not been there to tidy up and Twix will be feral] Janis: [oh twix gal, just waving him up the stairs like you go, I’ve got this] Jimmy: [trying to get her to come with you like leave it even though you know she won't] Janis: [obviously not, but we will come up to tell him we’re gonna take her for a quick walk] Jimmy: [lowkey fuming because he can't do anything like he doesn't even ever want to take Twix for a walk but it's not the point so he's just 😒 because it's obvs not her fault and we don't wanna be a dick] Janis: Won’t have time to miss me Jimmy: What else have you got planned for me to do? Janis: Well she’s going for a piss Janis: Have a race Jimmy: 👍 Janis: Hmm, could be a bit more enthusiastic Jimmy: might do when you have a more 🥇💡 Janis: I’ll get to 💭 Jimmy: ⏲ Janis: You ain’t going anywhere, boy Jimmy: it's you who reckons you won't be long out Janis: Okay admit you miss me already Jimmy: or what? Janis: what do you reckon Jimmy: I reckon that's a question instead of an answer Janis: Pot kettle Jimmy: 🙄 Janis: 🙄🙄 Jimmy: 🙄🙄🙄 Janis: Is this you having fun, like? Janis: Mission accomplished for me Jimmy: just you asking questions you already know the answer to, nowt else Janis: Already got you food Janis: What else do you reckon I can achieve in 5 minutes 🤔 Jimmy: loads obvs Jimmy: that kind of mate and fake boyfriend, me Janis: Delusional ✅ Jimmy: *dead supportive of owt you might wanna achieve, more like Jimmy: 💪🏆🥇 Janis: *for your own benefit only Jimmy: bit rude Jimmy: what makes you 😁☀ does me, Jules, you know that Janis: SO sincere Jimmy: Tah, I'll take my 🏆 whenever Janis: You can have whatever you like today Janis: The rules Jimmy: sounds fake, that Janis: Don’t act like I don’t give you EXACTLY what you want Jimmy: never said that Jimmy: but I don't want owt 'cause you feel sorry for me Janis: It’s not like that though is it Janis: That’s if it’s unwarranted Janis: Getting beat up IS shit undeniably Jimmy: I just don't want it to get like that, alright Jimmy: he fucks up enough bollocks for me Jimmy: without making this weird Janis: Okay Janis: Fair enough, I mean Janis: But I’ve already said I can’t just pretend you ain’t injured when you are, so that’s the bare minimum Jimmy: I heard, you're alright Jimmy: be enough of that going about Janis: And you know feeling bad that you have to put up with this shit doesn’t mean I think it’s your fault Jimmy: it were my fault Jimmy: he's a knobhead, I get that, but I give him loads of chances to be a massive one with what I do Janis: You’re not doing that for no reason though Janis: Not that it’s an excuse for overkill anyway Jimmy: when I've literally had a plan to make him fuming I don't get to be all 🎻💔😭 that he is Jimmy: or even 😒🌧 Janis: Your plan ain’t to get the shit kicked out of you Janis: It’s for the kids Janis: He’s the one fucking up Jimmy: I knew what would happen Jimmy: I'm not a kid Jimmy: and he's been like this since I were Janis: Just because you knew it’d happen, don’t mean that’s why you did it, that’s all I’m saying Janis: You’ve got a plan and you don’t have to feel like a dickhead about acknowledging how shit it is even if you knew it’d happen Janis: It’s a byproduct not the end result and he’s still a tosser for it, not you Jimmy: I feel like a dickhead 'cause this plan's for nowt Jimmy: you said it before, it's not working or gonna Jimmy: only way he's ever chucking his job in or doing owt else is if it suits him, it don't matter what I do Janis: You can always force someone’s hand Janis: You just need to rethink and keep thinking Jimmy: you can always let someone down an' all Janis: You’re never gonna be the one making them stay here, that’s on him Jimmy: I'm the only one who's about to make it better, that's on me Jimmy: and I've not Janis: It isn’t your fault that that’s impossible Jimmy: I don't want our kid 💭 owt's impossible, he's 6 Janis: It’s fucked up Jimmy: yeah Janis: and it is Janis: but he ain’t the only one Janis: there’s groups and shit that might actually help a kid his age Jimmy: well social him, he'd be 😁😁😁 about that Jimmy: I can't do everything and be everywhere Janis: alright Janis: never mind Jimmy: if you're volunteering to go sign for him, Libi'll chuffed an' all that you're practising Janis: Just leave it out yeah Jimmy: alright, calm down Janis: I am calm Jimmy: 👍 Janis: He can come now Janis: So I’m gonna be a while longer Jimmy: right Janis: Shouldn’t be ages Janis: He can’t be far Janis: #parolelife Jimmy: Dunno if it's meant to be comforting or what that you know a shite drug dealer Janis: Shit drug dealers still have good drugs so what’s it matter Jimmy: what's it matter that he's been caught before? Oh I dunno, mate Jimmy: must just be paranoid, me Janis: 🙄 Janis: No one gets done for personal use, you won’t get in trouble Janis: Anyway he just got out so he’s super paranoid himself Jimmy: don't 🙄 @ me for being bothered about you, dickhead Janis: But I’m fine, seriously Janis: It’s safer than stealing helenas even Jimmy: I'll leave it out then Jimmy: 🤐 Janis: You can Jimmy: I just said that, yeah Janis: I mean, worrying about me is not ever something you need to add to your to-do list Janis: I take care of myself Jimmy: never said owt else Janis: 👌 Jimmy: 👌 Janis: not making it weird remember Janis: you need the drugs, I can get them without having to do anything crazy Janis: I’ve known him all my life, my ma hers basically, it’s chill Jimmy: you heard me say I were leaving it out Janis: yeah Janis: I heard Jimmy: no need to try and convince me of owt then Janis: sure Janis: No need to chat til I’ve got your shit then Jimmy: if that's what you want Jimmy: in a bit Janis: I just need to focus Jimmy: alright Janis: there’s too much bullshit to explain Jimmy: It's alright Jimmy: don't need your life story Janis: 👍 Jimmy: *👋 Janis: [however long that actually takes, come back and throw these at him ‘you only need one, and don’t take another til tonight if you can’t sleep’] Jimmy: [IRL 👍] Janis: [awkwardly hanging round for a bit before going downstairs to sort the dog out with food water etc] Jimmy: come here Janis: why Jimmy: why not? Janis: I’m a bit busy Janis: So if you’re not dying, like Jimmy: you'll be fuming if I come to you, know what you're like Janis: seriously Jimmy: just come here Janis: [show up like what] Jimmy: [a look like no come as close to me as physically possible thank you] Janis: [holding out for a hot sec but we’re begrudgingly coming over ‘what?’ bemused like] Jimmy: [a soft 'hey' as we playfully but softly tug on the braid we did earlier because we love and missed you gal and we wish you didn't have to just do that but it means a lot that you did] Janis: [trying to shrug him off because we know lowkey we're gonna get in a lot of trouble if Drew does tell for all the reasons] Jimmy: [will not be shrugged off and will instead cuddle you because we know something is wrong obvs] Janis: ['ugh, you're so needy' but we're 😏 like bants and not pushing him away because that'd be a step too far even if we are in a mood] Jimmy: [kissing her neck as if she's challenged us to be needier by saying that] Janis: ['oi...' like distracting, 'scuse me] Jimmy: [doing it again but softer] Janis: ['what are you- why are-' stopping 'cos both stupid questions] Jimmy: [just looking at her like ? but also 😍] Janis: ['aren't you mad at me?' genuine q 'cos think he is] Jimmy: ['what for?' another genuine question because we're clearly not] Janis: ['no need to go over a convo we already didn't wanna have'] Jimmy: ['I've got nowt to be fuming at you for, not that massive of a dickhead' because she's literally doing everything to help him] Janis: [nods like okay because we're truly not trying to beef if he's not 'you don't want my life story, I heard'] Jimmy: ['what I said were I don't need it, I told you ages ago, it's up to you what you wanna tell me' we still mean that, we're not trying to get the goss here like one of the gals] Janis: [laying down on this bed and sighing 'it'll be fine'] Jimmy: [lying on her in a very Twix manner like this will cheer you] Janis: [just reacting like can you please be careful omg but a lil smile 'you're a nerd'] Jimmy: [writes 'you' on her and draws the 🤓 'nowt's changed just 'cause you've one upped Helena this time'] Janis: [IRL 🤞] Jimmy: [signs 'I promise' because we all want it to be fine] Janis: ['don't care anyway, it'll just be a lot'] Jimmy: ['I don't need to worry about you, I heard' but we clearly are] Janis: ['worry's the wrong word'] Jimmy: ['is it?'] Janis: ['it'll be a timesuck' pausing like this is just being confusing and I cba 'he isn't just Astrid's dad'] Jimmy: ['Who else is he?' Oh boy you're not ready for what we've done with this family tree] Janis: [rolling our eyes then closing them like it's nothing but a chore/embarrassment and not a mess that hurts us all 'let's see, my half sister's dad, my dead sister's dad, dad's adopted brother...what else? Oh, he tried to fuck my oldest sister, that's about the latest incestual connection we tried to make happen'] Jimmy: [let's take a moment to appreciate the genuine shock, confusion and wtfness of his expression even if Janis can't see it because her eyes are closed] Janis: [lol soz to just unload that on you boy but we're in a preemptive mood about all those people coming at us potentially, literally sounds like it doesn't make sense 'he fucked my ma and her partner, they both had kids with him, the white ones, he lived with my dad growing up, who they also fucked but just my ma got knocked up by him'] Jimmy: ['is he gonna tell your mum?' cos lbr that's what is important here, not the messiness of Ali and Carly which you can think about on your own time if you want boy] Janis: ['might do' 'cos we really don't know 'obviously not in the good books since the whole trying to get off with an 18 year old thing, he might reckon it'll work, he's clearly pretty thick'] Jimmy: [a look like fuck's sake and you still thought it was a good idea to go meet and get drugs off him] Janis: [a look like duh] Jimmy: [just shaking his head because we're not trusting ourselves to say anything rn with how fuming we are/how much we already have to worry and feel guilty about] Janis: ['it's not like he's gonna bother again, not really his type anyway' and a little tap like come on] Jimmy: [the most unamused sound ever] Janis: [just like pfftt in response 'I know I was safe'] Jimmy: [a sigh in response 'and you know I don't want owt if it might fuck you over, that's been part of the plan since there were one'] Janis: ['I don't care, I can handle them so you can have some painkillers' shrugging like I was just saying, not saying I shouldn't have] Jimmy: [about to say that he cares because duh but doesn't because it's extra and she's being really casual] Janis: [sitting up dramatically like fuck this 'I am going to work though' like we just realized how much this all is and we gotta bounce] Jimmy: [going against not wanting to be extra immediately by stopping her from going in a more !! way than we did last time because we don't ever want her to go but especially not like this] Janis: ['don't' like we can't keep doing this 'you've got all you need'] Jimmy: [the actual 💔 on his face though because OUCH] Janis: [oh gal, when you immediately wanna take it back and you literally like go back towards him to say something but you don't 'cos you think that's not fair, so we're biting our lip and blurting out 'see you later' as we run] Jimmy: [oh lads, the drama] Janis: [ugh, idk how you're gonna come back from this hun, we're gonna have to give it some time for sure] Jimmy: [these dogs just going on the longest walk they ever have lol] Janis: [when you've burnt all your bridges everywhere if Drew blabs tehe, just gotta weigh up all your options here] Jimmy: [are we gonna say he does or no?] Janis: [I think it makes sense to do it to ramp it all up] Jimmy: [agreed and we know Drew would] Janis: [he's got form, and then you lowkey have an excuse to hit him up later/stay/so then Ian can't do shit again either] Jimmy: [it's coming together honey] Janis: [we could also do some sibling moment when this does come out if you wanna] Jimmy: [I'm always down for that] Janis: ['cos we can always do Grace but also Billie probably is not gonna be happy gal] Jimmy: [the Drew of it all will upset her for sure] Janis: [we're all triggered] Jimmy: [Tess gonna be livid thinking she's not realised someone else in this fam has a drug habit] Janis: [lol @ the habit it looks like you have, straight up pain pills] Jimmy: [you really have triggered your mother into thinking about Carly's accidental OD] Janis: [lordy the argument we're gonna have to have, hooray] Jimmy: [derailing ourselves here but I do love the drama that will blatantly ensue] Janis: [soz for the level you don't need this and we are fully aware of that fact which makes it worse but] Jimmy: [I just hope Rio don't try and weigh in on this in a big sister way cos gal no] Janis: [you know she will but luckily we can only reference this lol] Jimmy: [we could literally have Tess ban her from the house and Libi off the back of this if we want, like that's enough considering this fam's history] Janis: [it is, I can restart this convo with all this in mind like this evening, assumedly late like when everyone's gone to bed] Jimmy: [go for it boo] Janis: you still not want me to run away? Jimmy: What kind of question is that? Janis: just answer it Janis: it's time sensitive Jimmy: don't be a dickhead Jimmy: 'course I don't want you to piss off again Janis: then I need a place to stay Janis: for a bit Jimmy: you know where the spare is Janis: thanks Jimmy: it's nowt Janis: not to me Jimmy: alright then Janis: I'll be quiet when I come in Janis: I just need the bed Jimmy: it don't matter, you can't wake him with a slamming door and I know my sister ain't 😴 Janis: It'll take me a while to get there Janis: no buses at this am Jimmy: you need picking up? Janis: nah Janis: I need the walk Janis: and you don't need to drive right now Jimmy: I'm not off my head on any 💊s if that's what's bothering you Janis: you're also in a sling Janis: even if it were me that did it not a dr Jimmy: and what, I'm the first dickhead to drive one handed? least I wouldn't be pissing about texting with the other one Janis: I wanna walk, don't worry Jimmy: 👍 Janis: Sorry about earlier Janis: and this too, whilst we're at it Jimmy: you can leave it out Jimmy: told you before apologies do my head in Janis: clearly my aim, like Jimmy: 🏆 Janis: right Janis: 🥇 Jimmy: or nowt, exactly Janis: nowt very impressive about that Jimmy: I dunno, something to be said for how fast you 🏃 out of here Janis: Well I weren''t helping Janis: was trying to undo some of the shit I'd blabbed and done already, believe it or not Jimmy: got no reason not to believe you Janis: don't reckon me couch surfing is remotely helpful/works in my favour there but whatever Jimmy: I get that you've got it in your head that I only do owt when it benefits me but Janis: not saying that Janis: I did but not in that context Jimmy: whatever you �� girl Janis: don't 'cos I fucking didn't Jimmy: I'm not thick, I were there AND I understand context Janis: Don't act like you know what I meant better than I do Jimmy: not doing a scene Jimmy: your motivations are up to you Janis: yeah Janis: you don't need to tell me Jimmy: 🤐 Janis: never mind Jimmy: how much trouble you in? Janis: it's a matter of opinion, really Janis: everyone's got one an' all Jimmy: if you haven't already said it were me, you should do Jimmy: not a stretch with the accent and that Janis: that's assumed Janis: even if we're all assuming I'm a druggie now, they've at least been nice enough to reckon I'm not doing it alone Jimmy: that you'd come from a family of romantics were assumed an' all Janis: already told you about the multiple baby daddies and child bride nonsense Janis: no sherlock points for putting that together Jimmy: you're assuming I didn't before that but alright Janis: always saying you ain't a mind reader Jimmy: don't need to be Jimmy: SUCH a romantic, you Janis: ha ha Jimmy: 💕🌹 Janis: we get it, I'm as romantic as you are funny Jimmy: Tah very much Janis: Well everyone's being dramatic as fuck anyway Janis: why I couldn't get out 'til now Jimmy: but you're alright? Janis: yeah Janis: I just can't be around mum, she can't be around me, either or Janis: not allowed 'round nans, officially, as they can happily kick me out without it being rude Janis: and my sister is trying to kidnap me as if she's not actively fucking up her own kids like mother of the year Jimmy: you can stay here long as you want, I promise not to let Ian or my sister chuck you out Jimmy: 🐕 might kidnap you though Janis: They won't know I'm here Janis: and not even my grandparents actually know where your house is Jimmy: Libi does Janis: 🤞 we're above interrogating a 4 year old Jimmy: I'll cross what I can Jimmy: long as you don't get mardy about it Janis: got my own problems now Jimmy: thank GOD Janis: I'm not in the mood Jimmy: I got that Janis: you could act like it then Jimmy: alright Jimmy: in a bit then Janis: yeah maybe Janis: might come tomorrow night instead Jimmy: do what you like Janis: that's the other option Jimmy: meaning what? Janis: it's pretty obvious Jimmy: shouldn't be hard to 🗨 then Janis: I didn't want to stay Janis: I asked you Jimmy: Bollocks Jimmy: if you didn't want to stay you wouldn't have asked me fuck all, you'd already have pissed off Jimmy: having said nowt, same as before Janis: no, actually Janis: because I give a shit about not making it worse for you Jimmy: what were it you said? act like it then Janis: fuck you you literally couldn't care less Jimmy: based on what? Jimmy: all the times I've literally said I do or all the times I've shown you it Janis: based on I try to have an actual conversation with you and you won't Janis: you don't wanna hear it Jimmy: you don't wanna 🗨 it, more like Jimmy: unless it's bollocks about how unbothered you are Janis: I've not been the one making shit jokes this whole time Jimmy: you're the one who pissed off earlier Jimmy: and chats about how you might show up Jimmy: like I haven't been worried about you this whole time Janis: You know why I left earlier because I told you that too Janis: and nothing about this conversation has made me want to stay any more, sorry about that Jimmy: if you gave the slightest shit I wouldn't have to beg you not to fucking leave me in the first place Janis: that's no more fair than me saying you don't care 'cos you're gonna leave Jimmy: What weren't fair is you being fake about what would happen when I said yeah to you getting the 💊 Janis: Because I could predict all of this Jimmy: you didn't have to act like it was nowt Jimmy: piss easy compared to nicking off Helena, you said Janis: and it was Janis: not my fault he reckons this will score him any points Jimmy: fuck's sake Janis: if he had any sense he'd see how bad it makes him look, it was 50/50 and I lost Janis: so what, you needed them Jimmy: so what? Jimmy: 'course I don't wanna hear how fucked it all is now there's nowt I can do about it other than feel like a massive dickhead Jimmy: it's my fault, you should've told me Janis: doesn't matter what I told you I would've done it anyway Jimmy: yeah, I really wanna hear that an' all Janis: what, that I don't do exactly what you tell me to Janis: must sting, sure Jimmy: that you don't care what I 💭 Jimmy: it does Janis: it's not all about you Jimmy: it weren't you who needed them, dickhead Janis: I got 'em though Janis: even if it weren't meant to get back to my entire fucking fam, it's still nice to get one over on 'em regardless Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: forget I said owt then Jimmy: you're obvs #thriving Janis: don't remember asking for your judgment either so easily done Jimmy: make up your mind, you've either got problems and I'm the twat who won't let you 🗨 about them or you regret nowt and you'd do it all again given the chance Janis: They ain't mutually exclusive, believe it or not Janis: I don't need to regret it to still be fucked over by it Jimmy: convenient, that Janis: yeah, it's well convenient having to beg a bed off you Jimmy: about as much as me apparently having to force you not to go anywhere else Janis: apparently, fuck off Janis: what'd be the point in that, attention? Janis: I'm good for it Jimmy: how one sided to do you wanna make this sound? Jimmy: you literally said the only reason you're hanging about is so I'm not 🎻💔😭 Jimmy: fuck that Janis: I said I would so you didn't have to think up yet another lie about where I am and why Janis: 'scuse me for not giving you more to do Jimmy: yeah, that's what'd bother me about you being gone Janis: I know it wouldn't be ideal Jimmy: I don't give a shit about my to-do list, you twat Janis: don't call me a twat Janis: twat Jimmy: stop being one Janis: alright Janis: truce Jimmy: 🤝 Janis: 🤝 Jimmy: bit rude that we can't start this whole day over Jimmy: probably would've gone loads better if we had nicked the 🛏 Janis: we'd both have room to sleep anyway Janis: and desire to, like Jimmy: the sofa's massive Jimmy: we could just sleep there Janis: weird flex Janis: but we could Jimmy: might be if I'd bought it Janis: save your money for rehab, junkie scum Jimmy: 💕 Jimmy: as meet cutes go Jimmy: I'm gonna be SO chuffed to bits to see you there, my dear Janis: bit awkward when Helena waltzes in Jimmy: Bill's 👻'll sort it before there's a proper love triangle, we're alright Jimmy: sounds fake that she'd be capable of owt like 💃 any road Janis: DUH Janis: the back pain ain't real, babe Jimmy: bit awkward that she looks like that then Jimmy: 🐪💔 Janis: shut up, you're ALWAYS going on about her 🍈🍈 Jimmy: that's you bringing her MASSIVE tits up Jimmy: I've never even 👀 Janis: I know the 😎 ain't 'cos you're blind, mate Jimmy: but I am as 🥇 as one of their 🐕s, babe Jimmy: proper dedicated to you, me Janis: that's the right level of 🤮🤮 Jimmy: There you go Janis: well done you 👏 Janis: tweeting it ain't a great use of my phone's battery though so I'll leave it Jimmy: can take care of you for a bit now you're 🤮🤮 there's nowt else I want, duh Janis: natural order has been restored for you  🦶🪓 Jimmy: 😁 Janis: 💕 Jimmy: least it'll stop you going Jimmy: and I won't have to 🥺🥺🥺 Janis: I never said you were gonna 🥺🥺🥺 Jimmy: but I'll have a go now if it'll do owt to get you here Janis: I'll come Janis: I want to Jimmy: UGH FINE, I'll put my 📷 down Janis: 😁 instead Janis: seemed a bit fake, tbh Jimmy: [of course we are] Jimmy: 💔 the lighting ain't 🔥 Janis: I know, I look mental with the 🔦 right now Jimmy: could've looked 🥇 in the 🚗 but you said no Jimmy: nowt's more flattering than headlights, ask anyone Janis: sounds like something someone who wants to go dogging would say Janis: bit suspicious Jimmy: #datenight Janis: be good to get some other people's bodily fluids in the car before we roll Ian up in carpet Janis: 💡 Jimmy: Lucas' especially Janis: 😱 Janis: the betrayal Jimmy: daily DM off him since we ain't been in just isn't the same, can't help that Janis: was talking about him murdering his BFF Janis: but nice to know you've been up to your usual tricks Jimmy: ❌ Jimmy: hang on, I'll delete that Janis: such a slag Janis: always known it about you, don't worry Janis: have to put up with it Jimmy: trapped you now 🛏⛓🦶🪓 Jimmy: should've been more 🔊 if you had complaints Janis: I'll live Janis: maybe Jimmy: you'll 💀💀💀 Janis: promise? Jimmy: I promise Janis: 😁 Jimmy: show me Janis: it'll be spooky Janis: 🔦 remember Janis: [but do] Jimmy: 🎃 Jimmy: you're still top rated, don't worry Janis: good to know Janis: all about the 🥇s Jimmy: 👻 kinks Jimmy: that lighting Janis: can do it when we get to yours but neighbours might reckon you're being raided or something Jimmy: 👮🚔 kinks an' all Jimmy: you're ✔ them all off Janis: you're very welcome Jimmy: you an' all 🚪🔑 Jimmy: but not just 'cause of how fit you are or how it's been ages since you were here Janis: you still wanna be my mate too then? Jimmy: never stopped wanting you Janis: good Janis: me either Jimmy: where the fuck are you? Jimmy: on a scale of middle of nowt to outside here Janis: maybe half way Janis: bit stupid to stop for an argument but there we go Jimmy: you gonna let me pick you up now or what? Janis: mmm Janis: go really slow Jimmy: what, so you can overtake me 🏃 past? Jimmy: #fortheflex Jimmy: I'll let you drive back 😇 Janis: you'd just really prove their point if you died Janis: be careful Jimmy: only 💀💀💀 at your hands, baby Jimmy: Bill ain't having it any other way Jimmy: 🖋🩸 Janis: 👍 Janis: I'll be the 🎃 Jimmy: your fake tan is too good for you to pull it off Jimmy: soz Janis: 🥺🥺 Jimmy: @ Ella for how to get orange Janis: might be medical Janis: I'll see whilst you're driving Jimmy: eats nowt but 🍊🥕 Janis: bet she can see in the dark no prob Jimmy: don't even need a long lens to stalk 💀👑 Jimmy: go on, if you could only eat one thing what would it be? Janis: 🥧 is actually a good answer Janis: you could fill it with loads of different things to make it not boring and monotonous Jimmy: bit better than 🥔 Janis: you can have potato a few ways Janis: but no dessert option Jimmy: don't even need school, you Jimmy: 🥇🧠 Janis: I'll let them know Janis: hand in my resignation Jimmy: 👍✔ Janis: and I'll 🤐 now Janis: let you concentrate Jimmy: but Janis: but nothing Janis: you're already one-handed Jimmy: [the poutiest selfie ever from behind the wheel like okay I'm in and gonna drive but 💔] Janis: 🥺 Janis: see you soon, baby Jimmy: [drive and get her boy and don't die please] Janis: [you can do it boy, the levels of pleased to see you cannot be overstated but reign that hug in a little bit so we don't injure him further] Jimmy: [it's okay we know he's as pleased to see you gal and will cling to you if it kills him and we've got those 💊s waiting for us whenever they are needed] Janis: [trying not to say sorry over and over but you gotta say it at least a few times even though you know he does not care for it] Jimmy: [will shh you by kissing you even though I usually hate to do that trope because how rude] Janis: [sometimes it's warranted] Jimmy: [in this case I'll allow it because you're not literally having an argument which is when I hate how it's done the most and also he would do it rn so I have to be true to Jimothy] Janis: [we know we're all allowing it because it's what we both want anyway] Jimmy: [the feels are never gonna be higher than any time she might run away so] Janis: [instead we're gonna hide at yours and pray that Libi doesn't blab lol, we're trying honey, 'cos this is a lot worse than the shit nan situ tbh] Jimmy: [it is and I'm honestly proud of her for not just panicking and going because that's #growth and he can't go on a full roadtrip to rescue you driving one handed rn] Janis: [this is us trying babayyy] Jimmy: [jimothy will be very appreciative like honestly if we don't hook up in this car rn it'd be a miracle as will me stopping him from dropping the L word at all times] Janis: [we do have to switch seats so she can drive, any excuse and it's really not needed when we're so emosh] Jimmy: [again, we're allowing it because you both blatantly want it to happen] Janis: [when do we not tbh but yes, you deserve all the moments] Jimmy: [I'm cackling as I always am because where are they even] Janis: [lord knows lmao, hopefully far away enough from hers that no one is clocking you and not far enough into town that anyone else really is] Jimmy: [I just picture some random little housing estate like] Janis: [we'll be nice and say it's not getting up for work/school time yet huns, last thing you need is getting arrested for indecent exposure in a car that ain't yours lmao] Jimmy: [likewise last thing you need when you get back to his is to meet Ian getting ready for work that's a hard no] Janis: [yikes lmao, casually try to brawl you, not now, at least Bobby will be pleased to see you] Jimmy: [even though he'll wanna talk about Libi when he knows Janis is here which is a touchy subject] Janis: [just gonna have to blag our way through that for a while, soz boy, I think she'd be at school though like 99% so you can hang out at lunch and breaks] Jimmy: [jj keeping everything from Bobby like it's their job cos he's already pretending to be much less injured than he actually is as per] Janis: [mhmm, nothing to see here babe] Jimmy: [anyway, drive back gal so he can stare at you with 😍 the entire time] Janis: [literally just 😍😊 so much but try to focus even though this road'll be dead tah] Jimmy: [will shamelessly hold your hand like look how easy it is to drive one handed and that's obvs the only reason] Janis: [obviously, not like you constantly need to touch each other for reassurance] Jimmy: [of course not] Janis: [get in lads, Twix don't bark honey we're pleased to see everyone too] Jimmy: [she probably will but we don't care if she wakes up Ian as long as he doesn't appear] Janis: [we know you're on best behaviour rn sir but we don't wanna see you now because we're all about each other] Jimmy: [don't wanna see you ever lowkey but yeah rn we're busy gesturing to the living room and up the stairs like where do you wanna sleep/get comfy and be] Janis: [genuinely pondering this 'do you need to be on a bed?' and going into the living room and testing how squishy the sofa is casually] Jimmy: [just following her around amused which is making me smile cos I imagine Twix is following her too] Janis: [that's cute and we definitely think so, 'we'll try the sofa tonight but if it's no good then we'll make your bedroom work, yeah?' 'cos we wanna snuggle so we must] Jimmy: [IRL 🤞 because we promise and also we hope it'll work because sick of that bed when you know he was sulking in there for ages after she left, but don't worry gal you'll know if he's not comfortable as he literally can't fake anything around you] Janis: ['can make a den if you like' throwback 😏 but actually being useful and getting the blankets etc] Jimmy: [obvs pretending like we are going to for a sec but actually sit down boy because you're probably hurting quite a lot by now and Twix shall calmly chill with you because she been knew] Janis: [sneak upstairs for that duvet gal] Jimmy: [I like to imagine that he's left her a doodle for today up there that he quickly did before he got in the car to get her because he's a nerd in love] Janis: [we fully would not be expecting one today so we're buzzing and bringing it down like 😁 'always showing off, Mr Ambidextrous'] Jimmy: ['can't have you thinking I forgot' because literally first chance he would've had to do one because we've had a busy day of both highs and lows soz lads] Janis: ['I'd forgive you' and a feelsy lean like obvs and also this has been a DAY 'but I like it'] Jimmy: [just casually undoing this braid and combing through her hair with our fingers so softly because it has been a DAY you're not wrong boo and all we want is for the bae to actually get some sleep tonight because we know she didn't before] Janis: [happy sigh and leaning into him as much as makes sense right now 'I'm not going to leave again' which sounds like never but lol 'I missed you'] Jimmy: [literally don't need to still be playing with her hair but of course he is and of course he nearly said that he wasn't gonna leave either because of how much he doesn't want to 'only if you chuck us in your bag' a nod to Twix who is blatantly snuggling with them and probably already snoozing 'no need to miss each other then'] Janis: [probably snoring too so we're like 'who wouldn't miss this?' like it's all bants but obvs not] Jimmy: [pretending like we're gonna chuck something at or nudge awake this poor pup but we obvs don't 'I don't wanna do this without you' so quietly it's like did you even say that sir and not elaborating because we mean literally anything] Janis: [lowkey smacking you with a pillow like how dare you but obviously we're being so soft in everything we're doing rn, so when we're cupping his face like that really hurt and then he says that we can be sincere 'you don't have to' 'we're a team, right?'] Jimmy: [a nod because I don't trust you rn thank you Jimothy and then we're cupping her face and kissing her really softly but intensely] Janis: [y'all do need to shh so go in for this kiss because it'll be everything] Jimmy: [enjoy all the softness and intense feels] Janis: [I hope the necessity of not wanting to be any more extra than we have been already keeps y'all quiet but who knows lol] Jimmy: [oh lads I do love you] Janis: [least you will exhaust yourselves into some sleep pretty quick] Jimmy: [you both very much need some so please do] Janis: [have some before the kids get up lol, never ending truly] Jimmy: [Gonna have to get Bobby ready for school and take him because Cass did yesterday and so your big brother guilt meter has gone up] Janis: [best bet for you is to walk the dog and then go to his room so you aren't in the way gal] Jimmy: 👍? Janis: 😁 Janis: how's the kid Jimmy: he's trying to take your 🥺🏆 Jimmy: but I ain't letting him stay here Janis: you've got 2 working feet to put down, babe Jimmy: but if it comes to dragging him kicking and signing I'm gonna need a hand off you Janis: is he too old to promise/bribe with a treat after school if he behaves Jimmy: What kind of question is that? Jimmy: I'd be chuffed with that still Janis: we'll talk about it when you're ready to go back then Janis: what's he really like for tea? you could do that tonight Jimmy: 🥧 DUH Jimmy: #cantakealadoutthenorthbut Janis: are you serious Jimmy: What do you 💭? Janis: taking copying you TOO far Jimmy: it's 🍕 mate Jimmy: he loves chucking the toppings about 🧀🍅🎨 Janis: technically a pie Janis: but much better and more normal for a 6 year old who doesn't work down a mine Janis: we can do that easy then Jimmy: steady on, bit early for 🤯 Jimmy: you and your bloody 🥇🧠 Janis: yeah, I could do with a few more hours too Jimmy: soon as they've gone and the 🐕's knackered an' all Janis: you had her beat for 😴 in the end Jimmy: 💊💔 Janis: a deadly combo or? Jimmy: @ Helena for the full list of ✔❌ but that's one Jimmy: 😴😴😴 Janis: wonder if she has a valentine Jimmy: other than me, you mean? Janis: 😡 Janis: oi Jimmy: you're alright, I'm just gonna post her a card Jimmy: no 🎁 Janis: who else are you gonna send a 💌 Jimmy: Depends Janis: ? Jimmy: do you mean for 💔 or 💕? Janis: we'll have to go back to school to see how many couples are left to 💔 Jimmy: When? Janis: when do you want to? Janis: considering we'll have to, eventually Jimmy: I don't want to Janis: of course Jimmy: Ian'll have a massive strop if I leave it ages though Janis: what about we take a week off? Janis: should be doable Jimmy: from now or including the days we've already been pissing about? Janis: you choose Janis: you're the actually injured one Jimmy: and my 👻 manager's actually FUMING Jimmy: gonna have to go back there first Janis: yeah Janis: 💸 calls Janis: that's gonna be hard though Jimmy: should've taught you more ☕🎨 Janis: yeah Janis: I can try and help but they won't let me make the shit Janis: maybe I can chuck it at the people eating in though Jimmy: You're so Janis: you can come with me when I walk the dogs Janis: at least when we're not at school, we can make it all fit Jimmy: alright Jimmy: I'll practice faking my customer service 😁 on them Jimmy: before I have to crack on in front of 💀👑 and her 👀🔪🔪 Janis: and if you get bit, we can have another week off Jimmy: I get it, that's your real plan Jimmy: tah, dickhead Janis: 'course I want to hide forever but Janis: 🤏 unrealistic and a lot more rude to sacrifice you to the cause Jimmy: just not the face Jimmy: never earn any tips else Janis: I won't let you get hurt Janis: are all of your coworkers dickheads? Janis: you could genuinely @ the decent ones for an IOU on helping you out for a bit Jimmy: you just wanna slide into Pete's DMs Jimmy: he's already been covering Janis: well it would be my pleasure, obvs Janis: but I'm just tryna help tah Jimmy: I'll @ him Jimmy: don't you worry your pretty but massive head Janis: 🙄 Janis: FINE Jimmy: I'll tell him you'll 🎤 for his band, yeah? Jimmy: since you wanna help Janis: help you, dickhead Janis: don't you wanna be special? Jimmy: the favours were your 🥇💡 Jimmy: I ain't special enough to reckon I'll get away with just 💰🍻 Janis: awh babe Janis: don't do yourself down Jimmy: you've never done a proper shift at the CG Jimmy: dunno what a pisstake it is Janis: okay so you need to do him an actual favour Janis: 💭 Jimmy: UGH fine Janis: when would I have time to moonlight as his singer Jimmy: how many 🐕🏃 are you doing by 🔦🌙⭐️ Julie? Janis: I can't sing, soz Janis: you're delusional Jimmy: Bollocks Jimmy: I've heard you Janis: you've got the 👂 equivalent of 😍s Jimmy: piss off Jimmy: you're too 🙀🙀🙀 more like Janis: shut up Jimmy: I still like you Jimmy: and reckon you're 🎤🤩🏆 Janis: yeah there's only so far I'm willing to go to help you, like Janis: draw the line at looking that much of a twat Jimmy: 💔 Jimmy: bit rude Janis: you'll survive Jimmy: have to Jimmy: 🎻🎻 Janis: I won't ask you to join any shit band for me either Jimmy: difference is 1. I would do 2. they wouldn't have me Jimmy: but alright Janis: I wouldn't whore you out for favours is the the difference,boy Jimmy: but you COULD, girl Janis: 🙄 Janis: you'd be mad if I actually fucked him though Jimmy: I never said take the favour that far Janis: 👌 Janis: good thing I said no then Jimmy: 🙄 Janis: 🙄🙄 Jimmy: 🙄🙄🙄 Janis: when are you back Jimmy: when do you want me back? Jimmy: were gonna leave you to your 💭💕 for a bit Janis: come back Janis: but do you want ☕🍽 first or straight to 🛏 Jimmy: What kind of question is that? Janis: Just tell me which room you wanna find me in Jimmy: 🛏⛓ or nowt, you know that Janis: okay Janis: ⏲ Jimmy: you want me to 🏃? Janis: You doubting my ability to be patient? Jimmy: or your nursing kink being #ultimate far as the list of ones I've 🔓 goes Janis: but I want you to come and look after me, not the other way 'round Jimmy: and I want you to 💀💀💀 me, nowt else Jimmy: ❌🏃 Janis: I can wait Jimmy: I'll make it worth it Janis: You do Jimmy: won't even ask for a lullaby in a bit as you're so mardy about it Janis: if you can't get me to make the right sounds, that's on you Jimmy: and if you can't wear me out, that's on you Janis: I know I can Janis: and I've got faith in you, for the record Jimmy: I know what I'm doing an' all Jimmy: no need to put your faith anywhere else Janis: I won't Janis: not that fussed about God, like Janis: don't tell Jimmy: 🤐 Jimmy: he'll never have a clue after you did such a good job on the outfit Janis: more for you than him as well Jimmy: I'll keep that between us an' all Janis: 🤐 Jimmy: Dunno about faking I'm not 💔 when you're best mates with him in heaven and I'm left with his fit ex boyfriend or whoever the fuck the devil is meant to be but Janis: you're not going to hell Janis: and I ain't going to heaven Jimmy: Chuffed to hear it, LDR from here to the north is one thing Janis: Catholics are big on purgatory Janis: we're all gonna be stuck there for ages, apparently Janis: I'll find you Jimmy: 🤞 Janis: how hard can it be? Jimmy: you're asking the wrong lad Jimmy: might get a 🤏 lost, me Jimmy: have to draw a picture and ask every dickhead if they've seen you Janis: Or I'll 👀 for the lost boy Janis: sounds like something Bill'd approve of, so it'll work Jimmy: There you go then Jimmy: we've got a plan Jimmy: be alright Janis: just about Jimmy: [come back boy and find her IRL] Janis: [have your moment honeys now the house is free] Jimmy: [oh the freedom to actually be alone and not have to worry about anyone else for a bit] Janis: [y'all should have a shower 'cos it's a mood and you probably need the help Jimothy lowkey] Jimmy: [the bruises will be !!! by now so we'll all be shook] Janis: [at least it means you healing but gonna kiss every one of those] Jimmy: [what a mood, I hope you do get a bit more sleep as well kiddos because we know that's always needed] Janis: [you truly can sleep all day, set an alarm lads] Jimmy: [only got dogs to walk and pizza ingredients to sort out] Janis: [awh a lil grocey trip, that's a mood, get all your stuffs] Jimmy: [omg yes because that's a nice throwback to when you got snowed in and you made the bubs breakfast and had to go get ingredients, love how coupley and domestic y'all are effortlessly, the gals will be losing it all the updates] Janis: [it's so foreign to how you generally are as people and that's what makes it amazing] Jimmy: [we love it for you] Janis: [we should get Cass a takeaway style one you know when you can buy 'em hot from sainsbos or whatever, in case she thinks this is lame so we don't lose points lol] Jimmy: [that's a good save boo because even if she wanted to decorate pizzas you know she won't because moody tween] Janis: [mhmm, I know your age hen and you're angry enough without us forcing frivolity on you] Jimmy: [it's annoying enough that JJ are living their best life in your gaff, we get it] Janis: [it's been a while since you moved, you can meet your friends soon and feel a bit better] Jimmy: [getting that vday card soon hun, hang in there] Janis: [meanwhile we're truly having the best time even though we gotta do a lot of resting like it can't even bring us down] Jimmy: [he should definitely steal something for her because it's been ages since that happened] Janis: [ooh, what could you steal] Jimmy: [probably needs to be something little because we're not trying to set off alarms here hmmm] Jimmy: [Winnie says it should be a keyring so when they get back he can put one of the spare keys on it for her, though I dread to think what the actual keyring will look like cos supermarkets only cater for kids and huns] Janis: [Good idea Winnie, the funnier the better with the aesthetic clearly] Jimmy: [it'll make you laugh and then be feelsy when he puts the 🔑 on so we've covered some bases there, I'm devastated that Jimothy is hurt so he can't try and squeeze himself into the child trolley seat because you know he would, another time sir] Janis: [very good idea, my boo says devastated honey, also can't race around on the back of trolleys but there's literally all the time, you should lowkey have a competition to see who can find the most embarrassing item for the other to have to take to the till] Jimmy: [there will be other supermarket shops, hang in there lads, you've still got #bants] Janis: [I'd say get weird pizza toppings for each other but also want you to have a decent dinner so don't actually buy 'em thank you] Jimmy: [we love taking the piss but we won't actually commit to making you eat it, likewise try and find the creepiest toys as a nice throwback to China's birthday party present list and the best hun outfits and accessories] Janis: [supermarket clothes pop off sometimes that will be amusing] Jimmy: [and any excuse to go into a changing room tbh, we know what you two are like] Janis: [shameless, like you've not been doing it any time you woke up in the day lol] Jimmy: [I don't think this is the exercise that nhs direct meant for fucked ribs Jimothy but live your best lives] Jimmy: [also if this supermarket has any make up testers on that aisle please piss about with those like you're the gals thank you] Janis: [lmao probably the opposite but you know, only a teenager once, one of the actual gals should come in 'cos we're clearly doing this for when the kids get home, so whoever it is can report back] Jimmy: [love that and I hope you did see us taking the piss, also he's gonna pick out the ugliest hair accessories like we're just gonna braid those in rn in the middle of said aisle, all the mums trying to shop will be fuming at y'all] Janis: [so mad they're not at school like who can force them, will see Jimmy is injured though which don't think anyone else knows yet so you can get your gums flapping about that] Jimmy: [seems like somewhere Hollie might be and it's never you so why not, like maybe Asia and her mum saw him on the school run this morning but he was downplaying it majorly then for Bobby and also obvs trying to avoid you so as likely you didn't] Janis: [I vibe it, you're probably not even being that bitchy just like oh Jimmy's got a sling on btw] Jimmy: [yeah she'd probably just like ?? wonder what he did @ Grace like do you know and then Mia and Ella will be !!!] Janis: [like it IS something scandalous but the odds of it being are so low like come on gals get a grip] Jimmy: [we get it you've got nothing going on in your own lives but for god's sake] Janis: [Grace could put it together about the need for pain pills though FYI] Jimmy: [totally, she isn't as thick as she's pretending to be so we could do the Janis and Billie convo like when it all kicks off but leave the one with her until more like now potentially] Janis: [that makes sense to me too, obvs she'll still be like why can your bf not go to the drs like a normal person but you know] Jimmy: [yeah, that is still very weird and god knows what Grace will be thinking happened but at least she won't be thinking Janis is a junkie so we'll take it] Janis: [fun times babayyyy] Jimmy: [can you think of any more supermarket shenanigans or have we milked this as hard as we can?] Janis: [we probably have, get home for these kiddos, can take Twix for her other walk] Jimmy: [she'll be buzzing] Janis: [can take Bobby to the park that's always a treat after school] Jimmy: [and when he's around you won't be smoking so the bae won't be fuming at you] Janis: [and we can subtly run around after Bobby so you don't have to go as hard] Jimmy: [the teamwork makes me happy] Janis: [hard same] Jimmy: Don't chuck the swing over, know what you're like Jimmy: 👀 Janis: excuse you Janis: that was chav boy #2 get it right Jimmy: 😏 Jimmy: convenient scapegoat, him Jimmy: when we get back to school, be piss easy to blame that dickhead for loads of shite Janis: dunno what year he's in Janis: or if he goes to our school Janis: still Jimmy: can't believe you didn't do a Q&A with him Jimmy: who are you? Janis: bit busy Janis: you've called me a pisshead way more Jimmy: should've called you a lightweight an' all Janis: if you wanna lie Jimmy: you can't 🤹 owt unless you're sober, what'd you call it? Janis: tbh I weren't that interested in them Janis: was you who had the questions, apparently Jimmy: I got that from how chuffed you were to piss off with me but tah for 🗨 Janis: obvs Janis: in it for the free shit not 😍 Jimmy: 💔 for them Janis: ikr Janis: Mia'll probably fuck 'em Janis: or make one of the others Jimmy: speaking of her Jimmy: we going to school tomorrow or what? Jimmy: been 👀 now Janis: really fucked up sending their biggest spy Janis: we don't have to Janis: but might wanna get your story out there before they can make one up Jimmy: longer we don't, more of a #scandal it'll be Jimmy: ✔ Jimmy: I'll @ Lucas now to chuck me in isolation before they can get the 🍿 out Janis: loads of girls DYING to take your notes for you Janis: it'll be alright Jimmy: not the 🖋 bit I'm bothered about Janis: you know they're crap liars and storytellers Janis: no 🏆👏 Jimmy: yeah Janis: what do you want to do? Janis: fuck them Jimmy: I don't know Janis: you don't need to work it out now Janis: you can sleep on it Jimmy: what do you wanna do? Janis: I wanna stay with you Janis: whatever you're gonna do Jimmy: [coming to hug you IRL because that's adorable and we love you] Janis: [OTT being like EWW get off me @Bobby for his sake but secretly giving him a loving squish] Jimmy: [kissing you on your head gal like we did when you were drunk at the other park and you can't stop us] Janis: ['nerd' but full of love] Jimmy: ['you' likewise] Janis: [Bobby probably wants to go get Libi though so we're gonna have to be like no no] Jimmy: [casually ruin the mood there bab] Janis: [whisk you away to make pizza 'cos not got time to explain that ban] Jimmy: [we'll all have fun messing about doing that at least] Janis: [even if we're now distracted by these thoughts, we trying] Jimmy: [he'll be knowing and trying to distract you by being a cute nerd, don't worry girl] Janis: [where should we skip to next?] Jimmy: [we could do them in school tomorrow because he's blatantly gonna go even though he should have more time off] Janis: [yeah I'm down for that, you would've actually brought your uniform gal so you can lol] Jimmy: [easy way to also sow the Harry seeds too] Janis: [you've probably missed a practice or two so we can totally get back on that train honey, maybe we should do that in another convo so we can do the Billie and Grace though, 'cos there might be things said that are relevant going forward at least somewhat?} Jimmy: [true yeah we do need to those first realistically]

Jeanmarco Revival Week Day 7 - Meet the Family

“Are you sure it’s okay with your family that I come?”

“Yes Jean, for the hundredth time. I’m not leaving my boyfriend alone on thanksgiving vacation. Besides, they’re all dying to meet you.”

“Who’s ‘they’ exactly?”

Marco snickers. “Well, there’s my parents, My older sister Nessie and her husband Matt, their little girl Emma, my little brother Marius, my uncle Mickey and his boyfriend Mike… Ymir and Krista will be there.”

“How exactly is she related to you again?”

“She’s uncle Mickey’s daughter from his first marriage.”

“Huh, where’s her mom?”

“She… well, they got a devorce for a few reasons but… In my opinion, she was kinda crazy. Her name was Anna. Ymir doesn’t really like to talk about her.”

“That’s fair, I barely talk to my dad anymore either. He’s got issues.”

Marco moves across the floor and comes to let next to Jean on his bed. “You really don’t want to go see your mom for break?”

“Nah, I already talked it over with her. I’m not driving eight hours just to spend one day at home.”

“But you don’t mind driving for two with me?”

“Nope, I’m looking forward to it.”

Marco gives him and easy smile. “Glad to hear it.”

-

Stepping into the Bodt household was like stepping into another world for Jean. The whole place was decked out in autumn dicor, Marco’s father, taller and a little broader than Marco with the same dust of freckles over his nose, greeted them at the door and ushered them into the house without a second thought.

“Hi I’m Dave, Marco’s dad. Nice to meet you, Jean right?”

“Yeha, I’m Jean. Nice to meet you too.” Jean holds out his hand and Dave takes it pulling him into a manly hug.

“It’s about time my son finally brought someone home, I was getting to think he’d be alone forever!”

Marco groans shutting the door behind him. “Dad, please!”

“Go see your mother in the kitchen, she broke out the good Chianti.” Dave leads them both by the shoulds to the kitchen where they were greeted by a short, bubbly little Italian woman with a glass of wine in hand.

“Marco, baby! Welcome home!” She sets down her glass and rushes to her son pulling him into a bear hug. She pulls back and dusts off his sweater beaming.”Oh, and this must be Jean! Nice to meet you sweetie!”

Jean smiles as he’s pulled into a similar hug. “Nice to meet you too ma’am.”

“Oh no no, call me Aurora! Or mom, if that’s easier!”

“Mom, please don’t scare him off.” Marco begs.

“It’s okay.” Jean laughs. “”This is a nice change of pace from my family.”

“Would you like a glass of wine dear? Or anything else? The pantry and the fridge are stocked.”

Jean grins at her. “I’ll try some of that wine.”

Aurora pours them both a glass and tells them to go see everyone in the living room. Jean meets Marco’s little brother Marius first who is an exact carbon copy of Marco but about two feet shorter and had his nose buried in his phone. He gets a simple “hey” before being directed to Marco’s sister Nessie and her little girl Emma on the floor.

“Unko Maako!” Emma squeals in delight as she gets up from her spot on the floor and rushes to him. Marco scoops her up and kisses her on the cheek.

“Emma, this is my friend Jean. He’s going to stay for Thanksgiving with us.”

She gives Jean a bashful wave and hugs Marco’s neck. “Hi Jean.” she says hiding her face.

“Oo, you better watch out Marco, I’ve seen her give those eyes to boys before.” Marco’s sister snorts.

“And this is my sister Ness.” He says rolling his eyes.

“Hi Ness, nice to meet you.” Jean says shaking her hand. “And It’s nice to meet you too Emma. Can I shake your hand?”

Emma gives Jean another bashful smile and holds out her hand laughing a sweet little laugh as he takes it. Marco sets her down and she runs back to her mother giggling.

“Where’s Matt?” Marco asks turning around the room.

“In the garage with the other boys. Ymir Included.”

Marco shrugs. “Figures. Okay, well I’m going to take Jean to meet everyone else. We’ll be back.”

Jean waves and doesn’t miss Emma waving back at him.

“Man, your family really goes all out for these things, huh?” Jean asks falling in step with Marco.

“We’re a close family, we get together as often as we can. Mom loves having everyone over, so the holidays are big for us.”

Jean chuckles. “My family is the polar opposite. We avoid each other at all costs. Your family is great though.”

Marco grabs Jeans hand. “I’m glad you think so.”

They make it into the garage to find Ymir and who Jean assumes is Matt, Mike, and Mickey.

“Is this him?” One of them with a hat and a beer can pipes up. “Nice Job Marco! He’s got a nice ass.”

“Are you kidding?” the man next to him chides in. “I don’t buy Marco as a top for one second!”

Ymir bursts out laughing.

Marco is absolutely mortified taking a step in front of Jean as if to shield him. “Oh my god! Can you guys not? What is wrong with you?”

“Cheer up Marco! Nothing wrong with being a pillow princess!” The man in a hat stands up and holds his hands out to Jean. “I’m Mickey, Marco’s favorite uncle!”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jean.”

“And I’m Mike! Want a beer Jean?” Mike asks holding up a can.

“I’ve got a glass of wine, thanks though.”

“Posh.” Mickey and Mike respond at the same time.

“Hi Jean!” Krista says coming over with a smile and a glass of wine in her own hand.

“Hey, you hanging out with the boys too?”

Yeah, it’s pretty entertaining.” she says smiling.

Matt stands up last offering Jean his hand. “Hi I’m Matt, Nessie’s husband.”

“More like wife.” Mike jokes.

“Haha, very funny uncle Mike.”

Marco sighs scrubbing a hand over his face. “Well, this is my family…”

“It’s nice to meet all of you.” Jean says grinning.

Ymir throws an arm around Marco and pulls him in for a nuggie “Ain’t it great to be home Marco?”

Marco shrugs her off and wipes a hand over his face.“You all exhaust me…”

Much to Marco’s relief, dinner goes extremely well. Jean seems to have a great time eating and laughing with his family. Marco’s mother talks them into spending the night and it was when they were curled up in Marco’s old bed in his childhood room Marco can laugh about his family’s actions.

“I can’t believe uncle Mike said that to me. I could totally top you.”

Jean snorts. “Yeah, and is probably love it…. your family is great. I haven’t had this much fun in a while.”

Marco grins leaning in to kiss Jean on the cheek. “They’re a bit much sometimes, but they’re family. I’m glad you had a good time.”

“Thanks for inviting me Marco.”

“Thank you for coming. This is going to sound stupid, but I was kind of scared you wouldn’t want to.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to?”

Marco shrugs burying his face into Jean’s neck. “Meeting the family is kind of a big step I guess. I didn’t know if you were ready for that.”

“Marco I… I love you. And I’m glad you want me to meet your family.”

Marco pulls back and gives him one of the most beautiful smiles he’d ever seen. “You love me?”

“Yes! I love you, and it’s cute that you’re so shy about things, but you don’t have to worry. I love this. I love you.”

Marco presses their foreheads together and leans in to press a soft kiss to Jeans lips. “I love you too Jean. Thank you.”

-

This fic is also on AO3

Kofi | Twitter

Grenache

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Genre: Flirty Fluff

Word Count: 1,664

Synopsis: Grenache is “bold and spicy” and so is Jimin.  Also, you’re apparently really funny when you’re drunk.  

Author’s Note: Feedback is always welcome! Sorry for any typos and such!

   “Really, _____, it’ll be fun!” Lorraine nearly pleaded.

  _____ crossed her arms, head tilted in skepticism. “Wine tasting with you and your boyfriend?  No thanks; I’d rather not be the third wheel and-”  

  “It’s free~,” her best friend sang.  

  _____ pondered the idea for a moment.   What’s the worst that could happen?  Besides, going anywhere for free alcohol is almost always a good idea. “Fine…Pick me up at seven.”

     She walked into the lobby of the building and looked around, absentmindedly adjusting the strap of her dress as she took in the ostentatious décor.  As her eyes skimmed the room, a poster caught her eye.  “Wait a second…couple’s wine tasting?” she asked incredulously.  

    Lorraine and her boyfriend, Taehyung, trailed in behind her, nervously smiling at their friend’s discovery. “Yeah, we just thought that maybe since you recently became single…”  

    “No.  No.  Hell no,” _____ stated firmly, already moving towards the door.  

    “Oh, come on, _____.  One blind date wouldn’t hurt,” Taehyung reasoned, lightly grabbing the flustered girl’s arm and turning her back around.  

    “You both know how much I hate blind dates,” she said, speaking in a barely hushed tone, hoping not to draw any attention.

    “Yeah, but he’s my closest friend and a really great guy.”  

    “And he’s really hot,” Lorraine added, earning a quick, irritated look from her boyfriend.  

    “He could be the sexiest man alive, and the answer would still be-”  

    “Hey, Jimin!  Over here,” Taehyung called out to his coworker, motioning for him to come over.  

    “Too late; haha!” Lorraine whispered.    

    _____ rolled her eyes, figuring that she should at least get a good look at the poor soul they had invited on this double date.  ‘…Well I’ll be damned…,’ she thought to herself as she came face to face with a definite candidate for the title of sexiest man alive. Dark brown hair fell over deep brown eyes, and pleasantly round cheeks contrasted perfectly with a deadly sharp jawline.

    He came over and greeted Lorraine and Taehyung before turning to _____.  “And you must be _____,” he smiled.  

    “I must be,” she laughed awkwardly, holding her hand out for him to shake.  He gently grasped it without hesitation and brought it to his pouty lips for a soft kiss.  “I’ve heard a lot about you.”  

    “Only good things, I hope.”  

    “Of course, of course,” he chuckled, the sound a gentle melody that she desperately wanted to hear again. 

     The two couples separated but were close enough to keep an eye on each other. Jimin pulled out _____’s chair for her and she thanked him as she sat down.  ‘So far, so good….,’ she thought to herself. Then she perused the menu for a few moments before the dark-haired stranger spoke up.

    “Any preferences?” he asked.  

    “I’m really not too knowledgeable about this stuff, so it’s all Greek to me,” she replied shyly.  

    “More like Italian, but I get what you mean,” he teased with a slight smirk, causing her to smile and blush a bit.  A waiter stopped his cart by the table and asked for the first wine selection, making sure to suggest a few. Jimin gave _____ a quick look in a questioning manner, but she simply shrugged nonchalantly as if to say, “your choice”.  

    “Moscato d'Asti to start with, please,” he requested, not even bothering to look at the menu.  The waiter nodded and grabbed a bottle from a bucket of ice before filling two glasses halfway.  He then placed them on the table and the two thanked him as he moved on to the next couple.  

    _____ took a sip, letting the saccharine taste overtake her taste buds, and nodded in approval.  “Good choice; I like it.  It’s sweet and refreshing,” she smiled.  

    “Well, they say a person’s wine preference is reflective of their personality,” he replied, tilting his glass slightly.  

    She raised an eyebrow as her finger danced across the rim of her wine glass. “Then, what’s your preference?”  

    “Grenache,” he stated simply, eyes swimming dangerously deep into hers.  

    She quickly glanced down at the menu to find the words “spicy” and “bold” written under his wine choice. “So, let’s try that one next,” she suggested.  

    “You sure you want to skip to that one?  I mean, it’s soft on the palate, but the alcohol content is pretty high and…to be honest, you seem like a bit of a lightweight,” he said in the politest way possible.  

    “Excuse you, Mr. Wine Connoisseur; I am not a lightweight,” she retorted playfully, setting her glass down on the table.  

    “Alright then, if you insist.”  Jimin got the attention of the waiter and ordered her request.  The waiter gave them an odd look, since he knew that particular wine was supposed to come later but did as he was told and went back to another table.  “Cheers,” Jimin smirked, holding out his glass to her with a mischievous glint in his eye.  

    “Cheers,” she answered with a similar expression as she tapped her glass against his.

     About an hour, 3 bottles, and a very in-depth conversation later, it was safe to say that _____ was far passed tipsy.  She moved her hand to grab her glass and almost knocked it over before Jimin caught it.  “Oops,” she almost laughed.  

    “I think you’ve had enough for tonight, _____,” he said, trying not to laugh, himself.  

    “Agreed,” she responded, massaging one of her temples.

     Unwilling to ruin her friends’ date night, she accepted Jimin’s offer to take her home.  As she sat into the back of the cab, she turned to her date.  “Hey, Jimin?”  

    He looked at her with a crooked smile, eyebrow quirked in curiosity. “Hm?”

     “You were right. I am a lightweight,” she said, launching herself into a fit of giggles as the two settled in.  

    He couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she was, even in her drunk state.  Placing a hand on top of hers, he replied, “I figured as much.”  The entire ride was spent with him listening to _____’s drunken rambling, engaging her in conversation as much as he could manage and finding the entire endeavor to be quite amusing.  

     “Here, let me,” Jimin suggested, gently taking the keys after her fourth attempt at opening the door.  “Think you can make it in okay?” he asked, a bit skeptically.  

    “Of course I can!” she said indignantly.  She took about two steps into her house before tripping on the mat at the front door. With a sigh, he bent down to help her up, bracing her weight against his body as they made their way upstairs.

     She flopped onto the bed as Jimin found the bathroom.  “Do you have any pain killers?” he called.  

    “Medicine cabinet!”

    He shuffled through a bunch of pill bottles and went for the lowest dosage that would still help with the massive headache he knew she’d eventually have. “Here, take this,” he said, hurrying back into her room with a pill.  She grabbed a nearby bottle of water and chugged everything down as he bent down to her eye level with.

    “Are you okay now?”  

    “I’m fine.”  

    “You sure?  What’s twelve times twelve?”  

    “One forty-four.  I’m drunk, not stupid,” she deadpanned.

    “Touché,” he laughed.  There was a comfortable silence for a moment, until she felt bold enough to interrupt it.  “You’re really pretty,” she hummed, still emboldened by the fiery liquid courage running through her system. 

    He looked at her in surprise for a second but smiled right after.  “So are you, _____.”  

    “And you’re really sweet,” she added warmly.  

    “So are you,” he chuckled.  

    “And I really want to kiss you right now.”  

    He paused for a second before answering.  “And I really want to kiss you, too…”  

    _____ leaned in with closed eyes and felt something soft press against her lips.  However, it wasn’t his lips…It was the pad of his finger.  “But you said you never kiss on the first date,” he grinned, repeating what she had told him earlier.  Finally opening her eyes, she couldn’t help but pout as he removed his finger. He laughed softly and tilted her chin upward to place a light kiss on her forehead.  “Goodnight, _____.”  

     _____ woke up the next morning with a slightly nagging pain instead of a massive headache, and a vague understanding of exactly what had happened the night before. Slowly rising from the mess of sheets and clothes, she looked over at her nightstand and saw a piece of paper with writing on it. 

    “I had a great time last night. ;) ***-***-****,” she read the neat cursive as her mind drew a complete blank.  ‘What the fuck happened last night…?’

     “Please pick up, please pick up,” she muttered, listening to the phone ring.

    “Hello?”  

    She swallowed nervously as his smooth voice reached your ear.  “Um…Hi, Jimin.  It’s _____.”  

    “I had a feeling you’d call,” he chuckled.  

    “Yeah, I saw your note and I was just wondering, uh…What exactly happened…last night?”  

    “It was amazing, _____.  You made sounds that I never heard a woman make before.”  

    “What?…I-I…Look, whatever happened, or didn’t happen last night-”  

    “I’m joking, _____.  We didn’t have sex,” Jimin interrupted her stuttering with a laugh and she felt relief wash over her before a wave of ‘wtf’ hit.  

    “What the hell, Jimin; I almost had a heart attack!” she exclaimed. Laughing a bit, herself, she pressed her hand against her chest to calm down.  

    “But last night really was amazing to me…and incredibly entertaining, because you’re hilarious when you’re drunk.”  

    “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she retorted in a playfully sarcastic tone before adding, “But remind me to never drink that much again.”  

    “Gotcha….So I guess that means you’ll go on a second date with me…?”  

    Smiling at the sound of uncertain hope at the base of his voice, she replied, “Only if there’s no alcohol involved.”  

    “Agreed, Little Miss Lightweight,” he nodded, feeling his mouth stretch into a wide grin.

Maybe blind dates weren’t so bad, after all.

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 15X9

Wow. There was a lot going on in this episode! As mid-season premieres go I really liked it! It was a very strong episode. I went into it expecting to hate the Meredith/DeLuca/Link storyline and came out loving it! It was really funny and entertaining to watch. If they keep going in this direction I can get behind it. Meredith is having fun! She’s not settling down or introducing them to her kids. She’s having fun and she deserves it! 

I loved the opener where Glasses and Nico are still getting in on in the ambulance! Haha! Their scenes were hilarious. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this couple. When Alex almost caught Glasses and Nico in the act! My friend and I nearly died laughing! Glasses’ line, “What is the deal with this elevator!” cracked me up! Alex’s speech to them at the end is everything! I love him! Any other Chief would have suspended or fired them. 

I went back and forth on DeLuca in this episode. I hated that DeLuca was being so flip about the elevator situation. Being stuck in an elevator is scary and after what Meredith has been through she really doesn’t like being stuck in small spaces. I liked the Dr. Who reference. Meredith did not and I could see why. 

I liked that we got to know more about DeLuca in this episode. It looks like the writers amalgamated some of their ideas about Meredith’s new love interest that were reported last year into DeLuca. Also it gives Meredith and DeLuca something in common which they didn’t really have before. 

I love Meredith’s dark sense of humour! I also love that they are employing the actors’ language skills more now. It’s a nice nod to the international fans of the show and it leads to some interesting storylines and storytelling. I wonder whose idea that was? I’d love to know. My heart broke for the people DeLuca’s father killed in his manic state. What a horrible way to go. Their poor families and friends! Also to see that person get away with it. I don’t know if I could sleep at night after that. 

I loved Meredith’s fake out in the elevator! That’s our girl! We also got an explanation for the misleading promo which was nice. I’m glad Meredith is focusing on learning from her mistakes and I’m glad that they’re finally addressing Meredith and Derek’s complicated past. I totally wanted to hit DeLuca for that comment though! Meredith’s kids are NOT mistakes! That’s not what she’s talking about!

Marrying the love of her life and having three amazing kids with him was not a mistake! Dating her attending who was married was a mistake. THAT’S the part she’s trying to learn from. Know your history DeLuca!!! Jeez! When they revealed that Meredith knows and speaks Italian because she took it in Undergrad I almost died laughing! She’s been understanding everything he’s been saying! Oh Grey’s!

That also means that Meredith can understand Spanish as they’re closely related. It would be cool to see something surrounding that in a future episode. Then they’re about to kiss ... annnd the elevator doors finally open! Of course! In true Grey’s style! That one Nurse in the hallway! She knows what’s up! 

I felt bad for Jackson in this episode as well. That’s terrible news to receive. I also liked that he challenged Link in the OR. Link was out of line. An amputation is never the best option. It’s a last resort option. That’s their freaking leg! It was nice to see more of Qadri in this episode. I liked that we got to know Helm better in this episode too. I really empathized with both Bailey and Helm when they were having panic attacks in the elevator while trying to keep their organ donor’s body alive. I think I wound have done the same thing. I liked that Helm helped Bailey through her panic attack. 

I felt so bad for Bailey when she was having another panic attack! She was so worried about Ben! And then Alex saved the day! Poor Alex. He’s always stuck saving the day and supporting everyone around him. He doesn’t get enough credit! He also needs to have his own character centric episode. It is well past time! 

I felt so bad for Amelia in this episode. Everything crumbled around her without warning. I liked the way the elevator scenes between Owen, Teddy, and Amelia were written. Amelia was hilarious and spot on. Owen was angry and confused. Teddy was upset, confused, and snarky. I felt bad for Amelia when she saw how in sync Teddy and Owen were. That must have been so hard for her. Clamshell double entendre! Haha! 

When Owen turned the licence plate into a knife and hit it with a battery to crack the patient’s chest and then wanted to talk about Teddy’s pregnancy that was crazy! Teddy was all excited and Amelia was freaked out as hell! Such a fun elevator ride! I never realized before that Brain surgery is largely bloodless. It makes sense but it also means that Brain surgeons aren’t as accustomed to seeing large amounts of blood pouring out of a patient as other surgeons are. They played into that really well in these scenes. Jo’s line, “You should go.” was hilarious. 

I felt bad for Jed the maintenance man when Webber was taking his terrible mood out on him. And then Jackson did the same thing. That being said Jed was a real curmudgeon. He was pretty useless while there was literal crisis going on. All he did was tell everyone what they couldn’t do and refused to help. It’s a hospital. Helping is literally their job! He also appeared totally nonplussed that his actions were causing people to die and suffer until it affected him and then he cared. That’s pretty darn selfish especially for a man who works in a freaking hospital. 

I totally rooted for Helm in this episode! She does need to learn when to stop talking though. Despite what a jerk he’d been when Jed got crushed by the elevator I freaked out! It looked so so bad! The fact that Jed likes CeCe because she set him up with a critical care nurse was sweet though. And it got him singing a different tune about the elevators! Link’s line, “Or maybe her name is Joy.” Cracked me up! And of course while everyone is taking their anger out on the elevator doors is when Alex shows up!

The minute Webber spotted Betty walking around aimlessly I knew something was up. I think he did too. Then when Webber got a page I though uh oh! I don’t think Betty’s going back to the ER! I turned out to be right and Betty was looking for drugs.

I was SO sad when CeCe died! GOSH DARNIT GREY’S!!! I LOVED Meredith’s monologue to CeCe after she had died. It was perfect! Mer is happier than she’s been in a long time and she’s having fun and dating hot guys and I’m happy for her. She deserves it. I feel like she’s echoing the way fans are feeling in this monologue. Thank you CeCe. Poor Helm! One of the things that I took from the CeCe OR scenes is that DeLuca likes Meredith more than she likes him.

Teddy’s wearing her bird scrub cap again! Owen’s so happy that they’re having a baby and Teddy’s so sad that she gets to have the baby, but not him like she always wanted. Poor Teddy! I loved Amelia’s line, “I shoulda said take condoms!” God she is funny and heartbreaking all at the same time. I really like her character now. Poor Owen. 

I think there are a lot of parallels to be made about the scene between Owen and Amelia in the stairwell and the scenes from earlier seasons between Owen and Cristina in stairwells talking about Teddy. I like that Amelia is recognizing that she needs to give Owen time. Part of his problem is that he dives into things headfirst without thinking in his personal relationships. He’s been here before and it didn’t end well. He needs to take time to figure out what he wants. 

Amelia’s single tear broke me! Such good acting here by Caterina Scorsone. We also learn that Betty is going to Rehab to get clean. And they saved Jed’s legs! Yeah! I loved his line, “I gave this building everything and then it tried to eat me!” Haha! The episode ends with Jackson and Maggie about to tell Richard about Catherine which is heartbreaking.

I loved Meredith’s Leia braids! DeLuca went WAY too far with those comments though! I’m team Link on this one. Meredith and DeLuca on a date. Now that would be funny. I laughed when he realized that he wanted to go out with that night … and then Link showed up! 

And then Meredith channeled CeCe and said, “I’m so sorry. I’m being haunted.” Hahaha! Perfect! So in the end she decides to go home and see her kids and leaves them both wondering. This is why we love her!

Next week’s promo looks so intense! I’m so excited! I’m really excited for the return of Thatcher Grey. I hate his character, but Jeff Perry is so brilliant at playing him that he makes it fun to watch. The interactions between Link and Meredith look entertaining. I’m curious as to how Owen gets accidentally injected in the OR. I like how they are drawing attention to the fact that it’s not a love triangle with Link and DeLuca because as Mer says there’s no love and no triangle. This I can get behind! Teddy is making a terrible job pitch and it looks like Catherine has her surgery. Fun! 

That’s it for now folks! Tune in next week!

Y’all I saw  Bandstand last night

Warning this is literally 7 pages worth of writing so long post ahead 

Where do I even begin oh god

Ok so first off the Jacobs theater is absolutely stunning

Like wow

So we were sitting right orchestra like row H or something

We were pretty close to the stage

ThE sTaGe

Oh god it was beautiful

Like the drum kit was so nice

Generally the stage set up was fantastic

Ok so we’re waiting for the show to begin when I hear a group of girls who were sitting behind us freaking out

I couldn’t really hear what they were saying except I heard one of them say something like “Anthony Rapp is here”

I was like holy shit

That ain’t true

Then my friend leans over all excited

She was like “Did you hear them? Anthony Rapp and Lin Manuel Miranda are here!”

I was like HoLy SHIt  

Then a minute for so later I look behind us and there he is

Two rows behind me

Anthony fucking Rapp

Mark Cohen was there

So i’m like freaking the fuck out

Because well

It’s fucking Anthony Rapp

I got into like panic mode

Then all the light go off

Holy shit

Lighting

I’ve said this before but just a reminder

I”M A HOE FOR GOOD LIGHTING

Just like it was before starts off with a bunch of booms and flashes of lights

It’s intense my dude

Donny is yelling at everyone

There's guys running everywhere

Julia is also on stage during this part

She’s looking all cute and happy putting some flowers into a vase

Julia moves the the middle of the stage and one of the guys goes with her

He salutes Julia and she just fucking collapses to the floor

She starts sobbing

It’s completely heartbreaking because you realize that was when she was told about Michael

The Donny moves to the front of the stage when the music changes and the other guys come out in a different uniform and Donny’s like

It’s over

It’s actually over

Then the music changes again and so do all the costumes

My girl Carleigh Bettiol

She’s so beautiful omg

Corey Cott is so cute

All the costumes are so nice like I want one

Donald Novitski

Somebody let this boy sleep

Somebody also give this boy a job

When he yells “GET OUT” it’s really upsetting

Like you don’t really understand it but like he looks so sad

“He’s got a baby face” Yeah so does Corey

Donny tries to get into a fist fight with the club owner who won’t hire him

Donny gets beat up because of this

Don’t beat up Donny please

The PTSD attack Donny has at his piano is so intense

Wow

Corey is such a good actor

I love Donny Novitski

The song

Well also the character

Corey does this little shimmy while singing and it’s really cute

CREAMEEE RISEEEEES

Corey’s little laugh after talking about Frank Sinatra is so pure

The fake

“HE’S SO FLAT UGH”

Donny takes off his button up and is walking around in a white tank top

God that boy looks good

The last rise note

It’s so good

So good

Jimmy aw

Jimmy’s so cute

“I would fire the kid if we wasn’t a player”

Donny runs in

“You can’t be in here. We’re not open yet”

“The back door is”

Donny just tells Jimmy he was friends with Michael and makes Jimmy play a song as he starts playing the piano

I live for playing instruments live on stage

Everyone calls Michael Rubber and it’s funny  

“ He’s better than anyone...when he’s not high…”

“Jesus”

“He’s army too”

“I’ll take my chances!”

“WOAH! He plays at the Rio??”

“No. He drinks there”

Davey is just telling stupid jokes at the bar

So Donny joins in

“ What does an accordion and Hitler have in common”

Oh god Donny

“ One perpetrated years of oppression and humiliation on Polish people and the other one is Hitler”

Davey reads Shakespeare

I love Davey

Nick is a teacher and absolutely hates it

Nick you’re such a bad teacher

Johnny is my favorite

He’s so pure

Ain’t we proud is such a  good song

Donny and Julia finally meet

“Aren’t you a little old for ding dong ditch?”

“Well are you gonna come here or am I gonna have to keep yelling down the street”

Julia invites Donny over for dinner

Every single time Laura starting singing I got chills

Julia’s mom is great

“The paprika shaker lid fell off”

Donny and Julia are going through pictures of Michael and Donny during the war

“We just got off the ship and i’m already ready tan because well, I’m Italian”

“ Michael is Polish so the boys boiling”

Michael was called Rubber because his last name was Trojan HAHA

Julia is a church singer

So ofc Donny shows up to church to hear he sing

She sings like a goddess

Donny is like ‘Holy shit’

So Donny invites Julia to see the Donny Novitski band

While their performing Donny like pressures Julia into singing at the set

First steps first is so slow at first then Donny is like guys speed it up

Davey is like thank god and rocks the bass

“Oh all I could do is teach the children at church”

“Don’t teach”

Donny changes his name to Donny Nova

Julia gets mad at Donny about something he said

He talks to her at her job the next day and fix everything

So Julia joins the band

Breathe is one of my favorite songs

“THEN I’M BREAKING THE RULE WAYNE”

The proud and tall part is my favorite

Donny and Julia are so cute

“Haha Hornagraphy”

I cried at the end of Breathe

You deserve it is such a bop

The dancing is so good

Davey stands on his bass while playing it

Julia gives Donny a book of poems she writes

And he turns one into a song for her to sing

So they sing Love will come and find me for the band competition

They get through and it’s so great

But then are told that the travel and hotel expenses for New York is all gonna have to come from them

That’s a lot of money that the band does not have

Davey gets pisses the fuck off and is rolling up his sleeves and I honestly thought he was gonna fight someone

He did not

But Donny has a really intense PTSD attack

Like the boy completely collapses and is shaking so badly

Yet again a great example as to why Corey Cott is such a good actor

So Julia runs over to him

But everyone freezes and Donny starts singing Right this way

Slowly everyone starts moving again

It’s a really tense moment

So all the boys and Julia get together and decide to book as many gigs as they can because god damnit they are going to New York

Nobody

So good

Back at it again with the amazing dancing

The costumes are so nice

Julia sings upside down at one point and it’s amazing

My queen Laura Osnes is amazing

Johnny’s drumming part was cute

This is such an iconic song

The boys are back

They’re going to new york

Johnny is drumming on Davey’s bass as Davey downs an entire bottle of beer

Wayne’s wife left him so he moves in with Nick

Julia and Donny are at her house and they’re just talking it’s real cute

Julia picks up a ukulele and starts playing I got a theory

Donny joins her and it's cute

God I love these two

They all get so excited when they get offered the extra cash

Johnny the mathematician

“I am not suffering from what some people call alcoholism….I’m LOVING EVERY MOMENT OF IT”

Davey puts his hat on Julia

Julia’s red dress is so cute

Julia gets fired from her job because she wanted to take off to go to New York

Her father left her mom and her

Donny tells Julia everything

Michael and Donny were in a trench when they threw two grenades but Donny dropped his and couldn’t find it in time

Donny got out before it exploded but Michael didn’t

Julia stops coming to gigs and is avoiding the band

Everything happens is such a good song

Julia’s mom loves her so much

Julia talks to Donny and they sort things out

She wrote a poem about the boys during the war

And gives it to Donny

The second she said that she wrote something

I started crying

Because I knew

I knew Welcome Home was starting

I love Welcome Home

It’s my favorite song

So I cried a lot

THe dancing during the instrumental part of welcome home made me cry because it’s so beautiful

ALSO

I DID NOT KNOW WELCOME HOME ROMANTIC WAS IN THE SHOW

I THOUGHT IT WAS A DELETED SONG

BUT THEN SHE WAS SINGING AND SAID HERO INSTEAD OF BOYS

I STARTED CRYING SO HARD

OH MY GOD

When I first heard the romantic version I figured it was about Michael but I seriously think about her writing it to Donny now

Anyway the band ends up not having to pay for New York and it’s great

THE COSTUME CHANGES

I know we always talk about Laura’s but omg Corey’s

He looks so good

Then queen Laura does the spin chance and it's amazing

Johnny looks so good

The train scene is really cool

I love that Julia calls Donny kid

I love how Davey says in my life

Get Davey to a nightclub

Donny loosen up a bit

So Donny walks Julia back to her hotel room

They kiss and honestly it was so pure

I love them

“What a prick”

So the Donny Nova band is performing as the finale of the contest

But the day of the show Jimmy was reading over a paper that the company made Donny sign

It basically says that if they go out there and perform then the company owns their song and can do whatever they want with it

The band gets pissed the fuck off

Like they are mad

But like they still wanna do something

So Donny is like ‘ Julia do you remember every original word to welcome home’

She says yes but if they sing that then they could get blacklisted

They do it anyway

“What I feel for you Julia is true”

Donny and Julia kiss

Welcome home finale

Oh boy

I BAWLED LIKE A BABY

Like I don’t think i’ve ever cried so much in my life

It’s such a powerful song

My parents and friend made fun of me for sobbing

I was a wreck

The epilogue is fantastic

The Donny Nova Band won the competition

They all go to see the movie their song was in

It was a bad movie

Two fans see the band at the end and one girl fucking jumps on Wayne

It’s so funny

God I love this show so much

I cried for another ten minutes after the show because this show deserves so much better

Why the fuck is this closing tomorrow

OK SO AFTER THE SHOW

I got a picture with Anthony Rapp and he is honestly so cute

“Where are you two from?” “New Jersey” “Ohhhhhh”

I was having trouble opening my phone camera and just

Anthony laughs and was like “You gotta get that ready. You gotta be prepared!” 

And “You know you could just slide up and have the camera” “I know but it’s not working” “Oh I see”  

Not much happened at stage door so whatever

Except I tweeted out to Carleigh the other day asking if she could stage door and she liked my tweet

Guess what

My girl pulled through and came out

I love her

So we’re driving home and I check twitter

Lin Manuel Miranda was also at the show

But not only that

My boy

The love of my life

Ben Fankhauser was there too

And I missed him

I’m so upset about that

I literally cried for 30 minutes because I didn’t see him

But anyway Bandstand was amazing and I love it

The Summer In Prague

My gift for the lovely @caren-ortensia for the @emimikeweek exchange thingy! I sent this gift privately for the giftee to enjoy beforehand, so now it’s time to show it to the world, too!  Because of the wonky format I decided to make this at, I had 0 idea how to publish it, but, here we go :D 

Dear Mila,

We’re finally in Prague! But the ride was terrible. The AC in the bus stopped working shortly after we left and the weather is crazy here. Is it so fucking hot in Saint Petersburg, too? It was like 36 °C all day, Mickey almost fainted at one point.

But we’re finally here and that’s important! The hotel is bomb. I was angry at first since Mickey chose a really expensive one, but after the ride we’re so glad to have such a comfy room with GIANT beds and an ENORMOUS bathtub! Mickey is soaking in the tub right now, so I have a bit of time for myself here, unpacking and stuff. You know, this girl’s dresses have to hang!

We’re having dinner in the hotel restaurant tonight and tomorrow we’re starting our adventure! I booked us a guide because I’m pretty sure we would get lost here in no time. Prague has so many back alleys and side alleys, it’s insane. Besides, we don’t want to spend money on overpriced stuff and the guide should help us with that!

But I’ll tell you more tomorrow. Super sleepy now. Talk to you soon!

Love you,

Sara <3

Dear Mila,

Today was, um, very interesting, I’d say??? If you want to know what we had for breakfast and lunch, just go to Mickey’s Instagram he’s got everything there, you know him. The real deal was the sightseeing today!

You know how I told you about booking a guide? Turned out he’s the cutest thingy ever! His name is Emil and he’s tall and all goofy! Such a sweetheart. His English sounds funny, it’s adorable, and his Italian is even better hahaha he’s trying so hard! He’s friendly and helps us with everything. And he took us to places that are not even in our guide books! Prague is full of surprises, I love it here so much.

On the other hand, Mickey’s been really quiet today. He tried to growl at the guide at first, as always, but it just slid down on Emil as if he said nothing. The boy keeps smiling and smiling and smiling, it’s contagious! Well, for me, not for Mickey, unfortunately. He really didn’t seem like himself today. But maybe he was just hungry or something, who knows. I just hope he likes it here and isn’t suffering through it just because of me.

How is your vacation? Are you enjoying time with your parents? Can’t wait to see you boo!

Love you,

Sara <3

 Dear Mila,

I hope your dad feels better. But, as I know your mom, he definitely will. One or two cups of her chicken soup and he’s gonna be as healthy as ever! Woah, your grandma sounds so cool! At 70 in a hot air balloon?! FIERCE!!!!

Today I forced Mickey to pose for a few pictures. We took it a little easier because Emil figured out we were tired after all the walking we did the day before, and so he took us mostly to famous restaurants, cafés and pubs! He said he would look into the event schedule and maybe he’d be able to get us some concert tickets for the end of the week, if he finds something that we’d like and that’s not sold out.

He spends so much time with us! I actually have him booked for only a few hours a day, but he just keeps hanging out with us for the rest of the day, he doesn’t mind! Such a nice boy. I will have to give him a big tip or something, even though he does seem to enjoy spending time with us. I think you’d like him, too, he’s so happy and bouncy all the time and you’d love love love his stupid sense of humour. I even caught Mickey to fight laughter and that’s something!

But he still looks kinda… sad? I don’t know, I’ve never seen him like this. He’s kinda annoyed, too, whenever Emil tries to talk to him, Michele starts cursing in Italian and I really don’t know what the deal is. But, other than that, everything is absolutely beautiful and so much fun!

Take care and say hi to your mom and dad from me!

Love you,

Sara <3

Dear Mila,

I THINK I KNOW WHAT THE DEAL WITH MICKEY THE GRUMPY PANTS IS!!!

Mila, no kidding, I think he’s got a crush on Emil. I know, weird, right? But I think he really might??? Apparently, he’s been taking pics of Emil secretly the whole time. I caught him in the morning just sitting on his bed and going through the album full of smudgy Emil pics, it was so funny, but, I don’t know, kinda cute? Hahahaha that poor kid. Any time I try to talk about Emil, he starts blushing and tries to change the topic. I think I’ll try to hook those two up, even if it was just for one night. It’s our vacation, Mickey deserves some fun after working so hard all year. And Emil is a real sweetheart, I don’t think he’d want to use Mickey or anything like that. We’ll see.

He took us to the Faust House and told us the story about it. Honestly, he knows the most badass and scary stories about Prague ever, I love it! He promised to take us to some night sightseeing, I can’t wait!

Please, send me more pics of your family dog! She’s so cute and chubby, I love her~

Love you,

Sara <3

Dear Mila,

I’m sorry for not getting to you sooner, hope you’re not too worried, I know sending an e-mail at 3am is not very responsible. But holy shit we had a blast of a day! Emil surprised us and took us to a steamboat to sail on Vltava! So beautiful and refreshing. Emil is still trying to talk to Mickey, but my brother is a stubborn old fart. So, I decided to just leave them alone and go talk to some older Italian couple who happened to be there with us haha they were really nice and I got a recipe for what sounds like the best cake ever, you just wait when you come visit me!

Mickey looked so much more relaxed when I came back, they talked about skating and we found out Emil is actually trying to get back into figure skating after an injury. It’s so weird we’ve never met him before! But it’s so sweet, they finally found something they have in common that they can talk about. I knew it was serious when Mickey decided to add Emil on facebook. Savage.

We didn’t do much more, but then Emil called us if we wanted to go clubbing. I’ve never seen Michele get out of the bed this quickly. He was so cute trying to brush his teeth, get into his jeans and comb his hair at the same time. Let me tell you, Czechs are party animals. I’ve never been to a party like this, we definitely have to go here together one day, it was lit! At one point Mickey and Emil disappeared, I think I saw them kissing near the restrooms, but I’m not sure. Either way, Mickey looked really happy (and slightly tipsy) when we got back to the hotel. I think he’s starting to feel Prague finally.

Could you ask Georgi what the eyeshadow he used on his last Instagram pic is? I need it. Like, right now.

Love you,

Sara <3

 Dear Mila,

Thanks for the pictures! Also, I think the blue dress looks better than the pink one. Not that you don’t look hot in pink, but it’s a wedding, I think the bride would appreciate if you didn’t try to outshine her.

As of Mickey, he had some hard time this morning. He’s really confused. He’s never even done anything with a girl, yet alone with a guy. I don’t think he’s sure what he wants at this point. At least he decided to talk about it and doesn’t try to keep it in as always. He’s uh… Quite shook by the discovery that he might be gay and I think the fact that it seemed totally natural to Emil made it just worse. He feels better now, though. He seems to really care about Emil and that’s what’s important.

He wasn’t talking much the whole day, not even to me, but the smiles and looks the two of them shared were so precious. They look adorable together, have you seen the pictures? It’s so funny to see someone taller next to my brother. Mickey spent all his life protecting me, but had no one to do the same for him. I think Emil would be the best candidate for that, but, you know. He’s Czech and all that jazz… Not that Italy is that far away (says the girl dating a Russian), but you know how Mickey gets jealous over me all the time? I don’t think he’d be able to take that with a boyfriend so far away. But I’m thinking about the future too much, it’s irrelevant now.

The important thing is that we went to the concert Emil promised us and he went with us, of course. It was a really good Czech band, I’m not even sure what their name was, but it was amazing, definitely something you would enjoy! They held hands on the way home. I think Mickey is still a bit too shy to show any affection on the day light, but the night makes him feel safe. He tried to stop me from taking a picture, buuuuut I made it! B)

Sleep well, love you!

Sara <3

Dear Mila,

I love the new haircut! As always, you look cute and badass at the same time. Can’t wait to see it in person, the new red is super adorable on you, too. Only two weeks and we’ll be together! How amazing is that?

I got so lost in everything I forgot yesterday was the last day we had Emil booked for us. We’d already seen everything Prague has to offer, so we went shopping today instead of sightseeing! Got you a reeeeeally cute top and a few more things I’m sure you’ll appreciate. Mickey had been quiet for most of the day again. It was as if he was missing a limb without Emil around. So strange! I wanted to take him to the movies or something, but he wouldn’t go anywhere.

At about 7 pm, though, he suddenly got up and told me he was going out. I’m not his mom to keep an eye on him 24/7, but I was a bit worried, so I tried to ask Emil on facebook. Turned out he invited Mickey over to his place. Those two have something going on, I’m telling you. Not complaining, though, as long as they’re happy, I’m happy too.

The fun part is that it’s almost 11 pm and Mickey’s still not here hehe. But it means I can watch some of my favourite movies without being bothered! It’s a total win.

I can’t believe our vacation is almost over. We’re leaving tomorrow evening, I’ll miss it here so much. But, oh well, home is home. And I can’t miss Prague more than my girlfriend, that’s for sure!

Take care, love you!

Sara <3

 Dear Mila,

Sorry for not messaging you yesterday. It was all so hectic and I’m just so glad the ride is over and I can rest back at home!

Anyway, Mickey came back to the hotel in the morning. I was starting to worry, Emil said the streets can be pretty dangerous at night. But, instead of coming home with an empty wallet and a beaten up face, he came home with… wait for it… a boyfriend! Well, not literally. Emil wasn’t with him. But I tried to carefully ask what happened that night and it seems like they had a really nice talk and they seem to just click, you know? I’d never think someone so goofy and lively would click with my grumpy brother, or that my brother would ever let anyone touch him. I’m so happy for them. I just tried to make sure Mickey did think it through, I mean, they’ve known each other for what, a week? But he seems to be sure, so I trust him.

We ended up making big snack and water supplies for the long ride home in the morning, had our last huuuuge Czech lunch in a restaurant (pics, again, on Mickey’s Instagram) and then we hang out with Emil for the last time. I don’t know what they talked about the previous night, but holy shit. I’ve never seen Mickey so happy and sad at the same time.

Emil even came to meet us at the bus. I think it was the first time I saw him really sad. He was hugging Mickey for solid ten minutes and didn’t want to let go, it was heart-breaking (and reminded me of you and that was even worse, curse you, you damn gays!). Mickey was very quiet and sad the whole ride home, but that goofy Czech idjit kept sending him dog pics, it was adorable.

Soooo I decided to invite Emil over! For the two weeks you will be in Italy, too. I think Michele would be too embarrassed to have someone over alone, a double vacation will feel safer for him. And you’ll get to meet Emil! I’m so sure you’re gonna love him. He was saying something about a lifting-your-partner competition, so you might want to start working out again, we’re noT LOSING TO THESE TWO WIMPS!!!!!

Well, I think that’s all from our vacation. It was lovely, Prague is stunning and Mickey seems so happy after a very long time. I think it was a success. Message me when you get back to Saint Petersburg, let’s skype when you have time. I miss you so much!!!

Love you,

Sara <3

the biggest tag ever

@joz-stankovich tagged me in this because they are so sweet and kind, bless.

THE LAST:

1. DRINK:  water, I’m lame. 2. PHONE CALL:  today at work, I call patients all day long. Last personal call was to the doc for my kid. 3. TEXT MESSAGE: my last text was to a group text with my husband and our two friends - “We still bringing yeungling to Denver though, right??” (We leave for Denver Comic Con on Thursday morning and Yeungling is a good ass beer, ok???) 4. SONG YOU LISTENED TO:  Black Sheep  - Metric 5. TIME YOU CRIED: Oh god, probably two days ago or so? HAVE YOU: -6. DATED SOMEONE TWICE:  yes, then I married him, so it worked out alright. 7. KISSED SOMEONE AND REGRETTED IT: eh, not really?  8. BEEN CHEATED ON: yes 9. LOST SOMEONE SPECIAL: Yeah - my husband’s granny passed away last year, and we were super close. She always supported us even when we were young and dumb, and inspired me to become a nurse so she is missed immensely. 10. BEEN DEPRESSED: yes 11. GOTTEN DRUNK AND THROWN UP: ugh yes, though its been quite some time since that’s happened (thank god)

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: purple, black, red

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. MADE NEW FRIENDS: Yes! I’ve made so many awesome friends through tumblr and mystic messenger, it’s kind of crazy and I love it. 16. FALLEN OUT OF LOVE: no 17. LAUGHED UNTIL YOU CRIED: Yes, so many times, most recently yesterday. My husband took me on a date to celebrate our dating anniversary (13 years we’ve been together, wtf) and was being stupid in Target and I couldn’t handle it 18. FOUND OUT SOMEONE WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU: yeah, but that stuff doesn’t really bother me. 19. MET SOMEONE WHO CHANGED YOU: Yes - in the last year, I met my daughter, and she’s changed me the most. 20. FOUND OUT WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE: I mean, I’ve always known. There are a few people I’m not as close with but I wouldn’t say we aren’t still friends. Life happens. 21. KISSED SOMEONE ON YOUR FACEBOOK LIST: Yes, I kiss my husband daily (I can almost hear @feelsgood-anon saying GAAAAAAAAY) 

GENERAL:

22. HOW MANY OF YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS DO YOU KNOW IN REAL LIFE:  All of them. I don’t use FB as much as I used to but I keep it pretty private. 23. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS: a cat Harlow, and two corgis - Eevee & Winry. 24. DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR NAME:  I’ve never been a huge fan of my name but I’m used to it, I don’t even know what I would change it to. 25. WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY: Every year for my birthday, God blesses me with a new Star Wars movie (seriously, they either come out near or on my birthday - December 15th) so it usually evolves going to see those. Last year we saw Rouge One & I also did a Krampus Pub Crawl and it was awesome. 26. WHAT TIME DID YOU WAKE UP: 11:30 pm, 12:40 am, 1:30 am, 4:00 am, and then for good at 6:33 am (thanks a lot, tiny human). 27. WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT MIDNIGHT LAST NIGHT: Sleeping, I’m an old ass woman. 28. NAME SOMETHING YOU CAN’T WAIT FOR: I’m so excited for Denver Comic Con this weekend! A week away from work in a different city, dressing up and nerding out with my friends. It’s gonna be dope. 29. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR MOM: December. I live across the country from my family. 30. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH YOU COULD CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE: Oh god, I’m really not sure? I wish I could spend more time doing things that I love and figuring out myself, I guess. 31. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING RIGHT NOW: I am watching The Bachelorette because I have a trash kink and I enjoy screaming about it weekly with @zombolouge 32. HAVE YOU EVER TALKED TO A PERSON NAMED TOM: My first crush was on a kid named Tommy if that counts. 33. SOMETHING THAT IS GETTING ON YOUR NERVES: Work being stupid. 34. MOST VISITED WEBSITE: Tumblr, AO3, my email, reddit. 35. MOLE/S: I don’t have any, just some freckles. 36. MARK/S: I have a scar from an ice skate (lmao true story) on my wrist, two surgical scars (one on each wrist) from my carpal tunnel surgery, a c-section scar, a scar on my knee from a door jam, and numerous tattoos and piercings. 37. CHILDHOOD DREAM: A singer who ONLY sang slow songs. Obviously. 38. HAIRCOLOR: Right now, it’s bright red again (yaaaassss). Naturally, I’m poop brown. 39. LONG OR SHORT HAIR: In general, or mine? Mine’s medium ish I guess. 40. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON SOMEONE: Saeyoung, Jumin, Zen, Masamune, & @serensama 41. WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF: I like to think I’m funny and I’m fun to be around? Physically probably my eyes. 42. PIERCINGS: my ears & my nose. 43. BLOODTYPE: B+!!! 44. NICKNAME: Jackie is a nickname, haha. My real name is Jacqueline. Other than that? Jack, Kiki, JG, Nurse, Hey you, Have you ever seen that show Nurse Jackie?, Babe, Mama, Babes, other inappropriate names my husband gives me. 45. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: married 46. ZODIAC: Sagittarius & Dragon 47. PRONOUNS: she/her 48. FAVORITE TV SHOW: I recently just finished The Handmaids Tale, Seraph of the End, and American Gods, they were awesome. Game of Thrones, Westworld, Stranger Things, and so many anime that I probably shouldn’t list.

49. TATTOOS: I have 7 - a huge shoulder/back lace piece, a sugar skull & French phrase on my back, a sparrow on my chest, a tree of life on my hip, a shooting star on left foot, and a phrase in Italian on my right foot. I need mooooooreeee 50. RIGHT OR LEFT HAND: right 51. SURGERY: bilateral carpal tunnel surgery bc I’m an old ass birch, c-section, wisdom teeth removal. 52. HAIR DYED IN DIFFERENT COLOR: My hair has been every color, haha. I’ve been dying it since I was 13. Brown, Blonde, Red, Pink, Purple, Blue, Orange/copper, combinations of all of those. 53. SPORT: I like watching football, hockey & baseball 55. VACATION: I’ve been on a bunch throughout my life all over, though my most recent favorite was my trip to Mexico with husband & friends after his most recent deployment. 56. PAIR OF TRAINERS: I legit couldn’t think what trainers were?? why am I so stupid??? Probably my grey chucks.

MORE GENERAL:

57. EATING: dick. I mean... what? 58. DRINKING: nothing, currently. 59. I’M ABOUT TO: fart around on tumblr, catch up on AO3 61. WAITING FOR: Wednesday to be over with, so I can get ready for my long weekend and Denver! 62. WANT: uhhhh a million dollars? not to work tomorrow?  A PONY. 

63. GET MARRIED: I already did, hopefully won’t need to do that again 64. CAREER: I am a Registered Nurse & BSN and I currently work in a Gastroenterology & Hepatology clinic.

WHICH IS BETTER

65. HUGS OR KISSES: I love hugs but there is just something special about kisses. 66. LIPS OR EYES: eyes 67. SHORTER OR TALLER: I’m pretty fucking short, so I need someone taller to reach all of the things. 68. OLDER OR YOUNGER: eh, I don’t really care. 70. NICE ARMS OR NICE STOMACH: oooooh arms 71. SENSITIVE OR LOUD: I like both. 72. HOOK UP OR RELATIONSHIP: I’m a relationship kinda gal. 73. TROUBLEMAKER OR HESITANT: I’m a well known troublemaker, woops.

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. KISSED A STRANGER: No. Well, kind of? I kissed a girl who I didn’t realize I knew but apparently we went to high school together. 75. DRANK HARD LIQUOR: of course, probably more than I should. 76. LOST GLASSES/CONTACT LENSES: Not my glasses but I’ve totally lost contacts and it suuuucks 77. TURNED SOMEONE DOWN: yup 78. SEX IN THE FIRST DATE: No 79. BROKEN SOMEONE’S HEART: Yes, though it was never intentional :/ 80. HAD YOUR HEART BROKEN: yes. 81. BEEN ARRESTED: nooooo 82. CRIED WHEN SOMEONE DIED: of course 83. FALLEN FOR A FRIEND: yes, this is how most of my relationships started.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. YOURSELF: on occasion 85. MIRACLES: sometimes 86. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: No. I like the idea? But not realistically. 87. SANTA CLAUS: No, though my dad had us fooled FOR YEARS. He even got us gold buttons with the initials ‘SC’ on them and said they were from Santa. He was a sneaky bastard. 88. KISS IN THE FIRST DATE: sure? I haven’t been on a date with not my husband since I was 15 soooooo 89. ANGELS: Of course, it’s the only way I can describe some of the cherubs I’ve met through here.

OTHER:

90. CURRENT BEST FRIENDS NAME: I have many different people that I would consider my best friends that I talk to daily, but if I had to pick one, It’d be my husband probably - Aulin. 91. EYE COLOR: green! 92. FAVORITE MOVIE: Too many to name, once again (i’m awful at picking favorites) but Howl’s Moving Castle & The Princess Brides are two classics.

This thing is a BEAST so I won’t tag anyone - if you are interesting in doing this, consider this your tag! 

Hey! Could I request how the RFA+V+Saeran would react to an MC who was learning Korean as their third language and is still pretty choppy/needs them to talk a bit slowly? Like I've known Japanese and English since birth pretty much, and I might learn Korean in the future, so maybe something like that if it makes sense? You don't have to use those languages btw! Sorry if that's too specific! I love your work so far, and I hope I see more from you soon, have a nice day!

Hell’s yeah I can! Don’t apologize either, sweet person, you have done no wrong. Also, don’t worry about how specific it is; it helps me understand what you’d like to read! I think it’s pretty rad that you’re learning another language, too! Thank you for supporting what I write and enjoying it. I hope you have a nice day, too; much love!

Yoosung:

He had to take a couple English classes to gradate highschool and get into uni, so he completely understood if you weren’t 100% fluent!

If you were pretty good at reading it, he’d lend you some random books so you could get practice

Wouldn’t pressure you to speak Korean in public either

that shit’s scary sometimes

He was really excited that you could speak Japanese, too

languages are really scary sometimes, okay?

Yoosung would brag to people on and off campus about your ability to speak multiple languages

He’s just really hyped that you’re really smart

He’d want to learn really cheesy phrases in Japanese and English

Extra excited if you wanted to learn Korean ones

Would be really nice to correct you if your grammar or pronunciation was off

8/8 would try to learn another language with you

“Yoosung, I’m already trying to figure out one right now” “But it’d be fun!” “You’ll probably stop practicing after a couple of weeks” “Well you’re not wrong, but-” “Yoosung, no” “Watch me”

Now he would say random things in Italian because sOMEONE missed the opportunity to when he signed up for a class

Jaehee:

You knew that Jumin probably had her be somewhat proficient in a couple of languages for business affairs

She might’ve only dealt with that for less than three years, but Jaehee wanted to enrich herself anyways

Then she found out that your Chinese was really good on top of your Tamil

Jaehee was happy that you were fluent in some of the languages of the countries she dealt with the most (no, I totally didn’t google what countries south korea imported and exported with the most)

You two became the couple that spoke different languages at home than in public

However, your Korean wasn’t as close to fluent as you’d like

I mean, she could tell from phone calls early on by your accent that Korean wasn’t your native

She really liked to sit by you while you were translating something aloud and she was working

Those were her favorite nights

Especially since you usually got her to pause working to help you work out a sentence or two

Then it turned into encouraging cheek kisses

Then she couldn’t completely focus

oH WELL

guess you both just have to….be….cute..what..a….tragedy

She would also buy you cute-looking books that were in Korean

It may or may not have been so she could get more of those nights 

Zen:

He’s probably had some scripts that weren’t completely in Korean, so he’s familiar with some language patterns and can say “je suis un pomme”

dAMMIT, ZEN

Okay, so you were just slightly offended, because he thought he was saying he’s a prince

You’ll admit that knowing English and French then deciding to move to Korea was a bit odd

But c’mon, man

“…you do realize you just said you were an apple, yeah?” “No, I called myself a prince’ “We’re speaking in English right now” “That’s correct” “It’s literally prince in French” “Well, how was I supposed to know” “Dumbass”

You wouldn’t let him live that down for weeks

Zen then tried to get you to speak a bit more Korean when you were on set rather than confusing people

oh shit

my cover’s blown

Well, now you were the one getting made fun of

“You called me a table” “That may be true” “A tABLE, MC” “At least I said you were a pretty table?” “You called me a moist table, MC” “Okay, okay, you see-” “Mhm” “Shut up, pretty boy” “I thought I was a table?” “That wasn’t even funny” “…” “You’re still a dumbass”

Nobody in the rfa chats knew what you meant by calling him an apple

Then Zen just had to talk about The Table Incident

MC has left the chat

cue him running into the living room

“but, bAAAABE” “Leave, you apple” “MC, love meeee” “I already do” “Can I at least get a hug” “Nope”

MC has entered the chat

He then tried to get take the phone while you were typing out The Apple Prince Incident

You got Seven in on it to change his name in the messenger to je suis un pomme for a week

Seven: (slight route spoilers, but I changed it a bit anyways)

blah, blah, taxes, blah, author of several books in Arabic, blah, likes cat

w a i t  j u s t   a   d i d d l y d a r n   s e c o n d

Arabic? And Portuguese?

aww yisss

This was probably when he approved you and went straight to V

Plus cats?? That was a bonus

He really liked talking to you with the messenger even if your grammar was a teensy bit off

may or may not have recorded a few phone calls to hear your accent

Once you had gotten to meet him at the apartment

whoo, boy

He was getting on your nerves just a bit

You snapped just a bit and kinda sorta went off on him in Arabic and he just sat there

“You done?” “Yes, was there an issue?” “Yeah, it was kinda hot”

*narrator voice* He realized he had Fucked Up right Then And There

“You didn’t hear that” “Sev-” “Good day”

This time he wasn’t staying away to protect you, he just didn’t want to turn as read as his hair next time he had to see you

He finally had been able to hold a conversation after staying stonefaced in an attempt to forget

You didn’t tho

After everything had gotten sorted out and you had understood why he was acting like that, it was pretty okay

Neither of your dumbasses realized that you were both speaking Portuguese during the Incident, so the only time he heard your Korean was on the phone

He’d take breaks from working whenever you wanted to practice the language

I mean, if he could be fluent in seventeen, so could you

Seven regarded your ability to speak Arabic as something “holy” and was ecstatic that you were one of the few that didn’t need his help to get home

Jumin:

Once he found out that you could read and listen to Korean, but not speak it all that well, he immediately found a tutor

He’d like when you’d hold short converstaions with him in his native

However, Jumin just didn’t know that you were fluent in Russian and German

It took him a couple of weeks until you greeted him as “dorogoy” (my dear) when he came home from work one night

Jumin knew a fair bit of other languages, so you both spoke to each other in this odd Franken-language (lmao but that’s German already)

He really loved it when you’d forget a word in Korean and looked confused for a second before saying it in German

Would always help you with a word or slang phrases

just because he had to look them up does not invalidate this

Definitely would buy you so many books

You’d probably end up with the same book as multiple copies in other languages

He just wanted the best access to literature for “mein liebling“ (my beloved)

Would be the Softest if you had a question or wanted to carry longer conversations in Korean

V:

So! Supportive!

Since he’s traveled so much, he knows how to ask and follow directions, ask how someone’s doing, and general things like that in a variety of languages

Once he found out you spoke Dutch and Hebrew, he wanted to learn more about the languages

You’d lean against each other on the couch at night and ask questions about each others languages

“How do I call you my moon?” “Mijn maan” “I like that; it suits you” “How do I call you my star?” “Naui byeol” “I think that suits you, too”

If he ever went to a country where many people spoke either languages, he’d ask you to come

Definitely took photos of you interacting with people and reading plaques at exhibits

Was kind of an excuse to take you on a vacation

V would also would carry both a Dutch to Korean and a Hebrew to Korean dictionary for you if you couldn’t remember the word to say something to him

Started having you write descriptions of his work for exhibitions so he could broaden his market

Would 784282/8 continuously help you if your speaking was a bit choppy and lessen any anxiety you had about it

Saeran:

“Just buy some dictionaries” “Yeah, well, what if I don’t want to?” “Then google translate” “But then I’d end up saying something stupid” “You always say stupid things, though, MC” “Don’t be an asshat” “Suggestion taken” (haha, what? me? use google translate for the languages I don’t speak for this post? pssh)

He’d be the ones to leave passive aggressive sticky notes in other languages if you weren’t paying attention

Also the one to label things if he didn’t understand the yelling in Haitian Creole

he’s trying, okay?

Saeran may speak multiple languages but not whatever that spewing was

“Saeran, that was Korean” “Yeah, and I’m a cat” “Hey, at least I tried” “You asked me if the parakeet gave a prophecy, MC” “…That’s besides the point”

Would correct you bluntly

Would continue with the sticky notes on everything

started learning Greek and Haitian Creole so he could add proper translations to things

One morning, he woke up with a sticky note on his forehead that labeled him as “내 사랑, αγάπη μου, doudou mwen”

He ended up keeping that in a drawer on his nightstand

I’m sorry that I write this at several different times. I’d be glad to fix any of these if you don’t like them. Especially Seven’s. I did horribly with his. I hope that they were semi-decent, though, and that you enjoy a few of them!

Please correct any mistakes I made with the languages. I can only vouch for the ones I speak, the rest were google translate. If there’s any other issues, I’d be glad to fix them as well!

okay, well, I should write. today was...fine I guess? I don’t know. there aren’t going to be any more good days in a while, I know that much. I set my alarm for 8, then reset it to 8:30 so I could get a bit more sleep. I then woke up and got dressed, I was going to be like well I’m not going to wear makeup if I’m just going to cry it all off but let’s be real my makeup is so waterproof that I could jump in a swimming pool and it’d barely smudge, I just didn’t want to do my makeup lol so I didn’t. we headed to the funeral home from there, and we had a while in the room before the service started. it was all so surreal to be honest. I’d gone all this time without actually seeing him, seeing his face, and there he was lying in a coffin, but it didn’t quite look like him, more like a what a wax figurine of him would look like. when I knelt in front of the coffin I touched the sleeve of his blazer, and touched his hand for a moment but it didn’t feel right, it was weird to feel. With everything I know, as I knelt there, my brain still couldn’t help but scream wake up!! wake up!! over and over again even as I knew it was impossible and wouldn’t happen. it was all just...a lot. lots of hugs, lots of tears. afte about an hour or so our pastor had arrived. he’s great, the head pastor of the church but he knew my dad for decades, and of course he was very willing to do the service. We had it set up to livestream too, which we’d put up the link for on facebook. the service itself was nice, not too long but a lot of comforting things said and real reminders of the amazing person he was. we ended it with a song one of my good friends had recorded himself singing for us (he has an incredible voice) called “Well Done” which I hadn’t heard before, but was absolutely perfect. so that was good. after it concluded they said you know take your time, just let us know when you’re good to leave. so we stood and cried some more and took turns going up to him. as I looked down at him all I could think was I’m going to make you proud, dad. I’m going to make you proud of me. of course he’s already told me dozens of times that he is proud of me already, but I’m going to live out every day so that he will be. right before I left I had a strange urge to scratch off a fleck on my peeling nail polish onto his arm, just a tiny tiny piece of me for him to have I guess. once we’d all finished they carried the coffin out to the hearse, and from there drove to the cemetery. my dad had plenty of friends in high places, so we had a police escort as well, which was nice. when we got to the cemetery they had it set up with the coffin on a platform over the hole with a pile of dirt next to it, and they had us each take a flower and place it on top of the coffin, and that was about it. so we left from there, ended up going to Starbucks because we wanted to get something, and of course the drive thru line was almost down the street haha but it was very satisfying so it was worth it. home after that, had a little lunch, and basically just hung out for the rest of the day. someone brought dinner, surprise surprise more italian food, not that we’re actually complaining because we do love italian food. after dinner a bit later we decided to watch a movie and ended up with The Pink Panther (the Steve Martin one) because it was just funny with no drama or angst. we’d watched it a lot when I was younger but it’d been quite a while since I’d seen it so that was nice to get to see that again. after the movie we all just milled around for a bit and people started going to bed, my younger brother’s girlfriend was getting emotional because she’s heading back to her family tomorrow after being with us for the past two months, so we made sure she felt loved and I told her as far as I’m concerned she’s the best thing to happen to my brother in quite some time, so they definitely get an A in my book. it’s funny, if years were adjusted a bit there’s a pretty good likelihood her and I could’ve been friends long before she met my brother. but anyway. I showered and such, then spent a bit of time talking to my brother about things going forward and what the plan is. the biggest thing right now is the law firm which we don’t really know what to do with, the plan was always that my older brother would take over for my dad but we never planned on it being this soon, and it’s still pretty early in his career for him to make a jump like that (he got admitted to the bar in 2015, normally people spend 10-15 years on one side before jumping ships) so he doesn’t know if he wants to do that or what, so we’ll have to figure that all out., and yeah, we talked for a bit and then I came upstairs and started getting ready for bed, and now I’m here. I had been planning on making a positive fb post today about my feelings and everything that I’d had the basic layout for in my head for the past few weeks, but I just really did not have it in me to write it today. maybe next Saturday when I’m leaving, but we’ll see. We had also discussed the memorial service we’re eventually going to have, we’ll ask my friend to sing the song again live if he can, and I’ve been debating if I want to sing something, and if so what I do want to sing. I have a few ideas that I’m playing around with but I have plenty of time to figure that out before the service. and yeah, that’s about it, it’s almost 1 am so I should definitely be getting to sleep now. Goodnight loves. Hope you had a good Saturday.

Week 15 (Last week!)

Since my parents had came for the weekend preceding this week, I had no work until Tuesday! On Tuesday I went back to Printed Matter. I began the day by organizing all of the alphabetized books (because I was told that I was the best organizer that had been in intern in the past five years or so!) which took a good period of the day. I continued on by finding orders to be shipped out, and also began to create some signage for the event happening later that night, which was a olive oil can signing by the author David Shrigley. I did not actually really know who he was at the time so It was pretty interesting how everyone thought it was funny the way that I was interacting with him because to me he was just a dry-humored british guy! Everyone thought it was funny because I was kind of just joking with him in a friendly way because I wasn't really nervous as I didn't know who he was! While even the older people were nervous to ask him to sign things or get picture with him, and I was just like I can ask him for you guys! Since they were all so nervous. The olive oil can signing was an interesting event, as was the olive oil tasting that was accompanying the signing as well! An old italian man named Giuseppe showed me the correct way to taste olive oil - and I figured out that I really hate tasting Olive oil! It was very bitter and also weirdly spicy at the same time! Anyways, the next day I worked this week was Thursday with Queer Thoughts. I went in and at first made shipping labels for all of the Puppies Puppies pieces since they were all being put into the QT storage unit since they were then getting the gallery ready for the Diamond Stingily show that would be opening in the next two weeks. Throughout the day I helped scrub the wall that previously had the wall vinyl on it, as the wall vinyl left a weird sticky residue on it, so we had to scrub it off prior to repainting it. Then I spackled and sanded all of the holes int he walls that were made from the Puppies show. Next, I taped off the things that were screwed into the wall to hold some rods that Diamond’s kanekelon hair braids would hang off of, and painted around them on the wall after they were taped off. Finally, we just painted the walls and called it a day! It was a really nice last day as Sam and Miguel were both there and it was nice to work with them both all day doing various tasks. Friday I worked at PM to make up for the previous Sunday I missed since I spent that with my family while they visited me. Friday was my last day at Printed Matter at the actual location where I had been working the entire semester, as where I would be working Sunday was at the St. Marks location helping out Yuchen, who runs the bookmaking class there once a month. At the beginning of Friday, I was tasked with organizing the Mezzanine book section, and actually was told to take photos of the shelves after I was done organizing them so that they could be used to train future interns!! Which made me feel quite validated as I do love to organize things. After I finished organizing I was tasked with writing synopsis for all of the featured books I picked to showcase above the newly organized mezzanine section books. At the end of the day I picked my two free printed matter publication books, as well as picked three other books to take home with me that I had been eyeing! I then had a really nice conversation with the bookstore manager Craig, who basically said that everyone really liked me, (”you have a lot of fans here,”) and that he wished I could stay and that everyone agrees that I should let them know If I come back to NY, for just a visit or especially if I move back. We talked about how if I was to come back Craig would love to have me on the Printed Matter team full time, as everyone there now started out as an intern that everyone really liked and then transitioned to working there. Which I was extremely happy that everyone really liked me, as I really liked working there too! I was also really happy that Craig later said that If I ever decided to make a book to just send it straight to him instead of submitting it to the open submission call, because he basically was like we will definitely accept anything you make! So basically I ended my time at the regular printed matter location on a really good note - alongside everyone that I did say bye to also saying I could use them as a recommendation because they would all love to vouch for me! During the day Friday, Em texted and said she needed me to make her a model of a gallery she was going to be showing in soon, out of foam core and hot glued together, and to exact measurements at a one to one ratio. So after leaving Printed Matter for the night I went and bought foam core, a ruler, hot glue gun, glue sticks, and scissors from a CVS and got to work on the model. (as this was a last-minute request and I already had plans all day saturday as it was my second-to-last day in NY) so I spend the rest of the night working on the Model and finally finished it at midnight. It was done - or so I thought! The next day Em replied to my finished model photos and said that she wanted it made larger, and just of a specific portion, so therefore I had to go out and buy more foam, and remake the entire model the next night, after I went to the events I had already planned on going to (the Columbia MFA thesis show that Peter invited me to come to and Gordon’s talk at Printed Matter about his new books,) and worked on this new model until 12 again. The next morning I woke up quite early to go drop off BOTH models at Em’s studio, and then was on my way to the St. Marks printed matter to help with the BookBinding class. When I first got there I helped to set up the tables and chairs and the workstations for each participant (aka materials and tools they would need) and then was sent on a errand by Yuchen to go to a Paper supply store to get more 12 x 12 cover paper for a book that was going to be made later in the day! So on the errand I went, and returned with various colors of fun metallic paper (the color choice was left up to my discretion, I just had to bring back 30 sheets) and then some regular boring paper that was matte and grey and tan (for the boring people that did not want my fun metallic paper - haha.) Anywho, the rest of the day was spent learning how to make two book types - pamphlet and longstiched, as well as documenting the entire day for the St. Marks instagram. It was a really nice last day, as Yuchen then took me out for lunch and also talked about how much the PM people really liked me and wished that I would stay in NY so I could stay there! So it was very nice to feel validated. 

Printed Matter: 11-7, 12-8, 12-6 (22)

Queer Thoughts: 12-6 (6)

Em Rooney- 8-12, 8-12 (8)