#cherry with signatures??? its more than u think

[miraclecherryblossomsblog]

Some doodles from twitter with fave monkeys 💕

#macaque #monkey king #poly #comic #self insert #self ship #cherry with signatures??? its more than u think #wukong x self insert #macaque x self insert #sun wukong #lmk #lego monkie kid #canon character x self insert

[why-so-serious-lucifer]

K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Chung Ha

Chungha first debuted in 2016, through the temporary group I.O.I., which also launched the careers of soloist Jeon Somi and actors Kim Sejeong and Kang Mina. As a soloist, she debuted with Why Don’t You Know in 2017 after I.O.I. 's disbandment.

Here are my credentials: I’d consider myself a casual fan of Chung Ha, who I know mainly through her friend Sunmi. I’ve heard a decent amount of her title tracks, and a few b-sides, but I’m looking forward to hearing more of her songs and forming a more accurate opinion of her work as a whole.

Why Don’t You Know is surprisingly chill with its acoustic guitar and lighthearted whistling effects, but has a calm kind of tropical summer catchiness that’s honestly pretty effective. It’s not an instant classic, as it does sound a lot like other tropical-inspired songs, but I did like it, minus the rap, which felt a bit too harsh for a song like this. (Also, can I say, I love that yellow, green, and red cardigan she wears in the MV! It’s stunning.)

From the EP, Hands On Me is a jazzy little opening, and I wish it was longer. It reminds me of a 9Muses track in the best way possible. Make A Wish continues that jazziness with a self-assured, smooth Chicago-esque showmanship that I really appreciated. It’s definitely a shoulder-dancing song, if you know what I mean. Cosmic Dust is a pretty traditional ballad, but provides a nice showcase for Chung Ha’s vocals.

Roller Coaster is pretty minimalistic at its beginning, and I was a bit worried that it’d be boring, but it turns out that those worries were unfounded. By the chorus, it spirals into an engaging dance floor bop that had me nodding my head. My only gripe is that I wish it took its high points a little higher, with perhaps more vocalizing or more of a cathartic point at the end of the chorus (a la TXT’s Chasing That Feeling), but overall that’s a small critique.

From the EP, Offset, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Do It at the beginning but I grew to appreciate its energy. I liked Bad Boy a lot, though I enjoyed the fast-paced verses and pre-choruses more than the chorus. Its last minute got me, though, and it became a solid hidden gem of mine. It was a bit of whiplash, though, to go from the fun of Bad Boy to the abject heartbreak of Remind Of You, a good lesson that not every album necessarily needs a ballad if it doesn’t fit in.

Love U is a song that I hadn’t realized I’d actually heard before, since I’d only heard the chorus. The opposite of Roller Coaster, its intro starts with a hard-hitting trap beat, while the song itself feels more like Why Don’t You Know with its bright summery energy. I enjoy the background vocalizing and the underlying drum beat too, though I feel like the chorus is a bit too empty for me to like as much as I did Make A Wish or Bad Boy. From the EP, Blooming Blue, I enjoyed the bright call-and-response of “I’m in love, I’m in love” from Cherry Kisses and the bass guitar contrasted with Chung Ha’s high voice in Drive.

Gotta Go is a single, and intrigued me right from its unique flute-meets-trap sampling, that matches with Chung Ha’s signature synthy background. The chorus is very interesting, because it both is and isn’t an anti-drop; it doesn’t exactly release the tension of the song, but it doesn’t let it fall away either. Instead, it’s a little like a Taemin track in that the tension never really goes away. I do like the high note before the last chorus, though I wish that there was more of a bridge. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this one. It’s not a favorite, but I don’t hate it, and I don’t think I’d skip it if it showed up on my shuffle.

Snapping picks up similarly to where Gotta Go left off, with a beat in the middle of a lot of k-pop; not a super invigorating one, but not boring by any means. I’m glad that the anti-drop was left until the end of the chorus, as if it was the entire thing, I would be disappointed. I do really like the “now I let you go.” As is, I don’t mind this one, and I wouldn’t skip it, but I wouldn’t search it out either.

From the EP, Flourishing, I had a clear standout in Chica. Clearly taking influences from Latin Pop and some Spice-Girls-esque feel-good-you-can-do-it-babe Girl Power, it’s hard not to smile when you hear it, especially at the “chica, chica, see you’ve got it all; chica, chica, see you’re beautiful!” All in all, it’s a delightful addition to my playlist. I also liked the song Flourishing itself, especially its pre-choruses.

Now, we start Chung Ha’s 20-song epic Querencia, which has four sides, Noble, Savage, Unknown, and Pleasures, and each has a title track. Side A, Noble’s, is Bicycle, a sing-talk track that leads with a trap-beat background and melds K-pop girl crush with Ariana Grande-esque lyrics. I…really do not like this song. I have a very low tolerance for “I’m cooler than you” music in general, but when it’s pared with such an empty chorus and feels like a recycled Blackpink b-side? Yikes. Sorry, Chung Ha. From Side A {Noble}, I liked the subtle Latin-pop influences and interesting percussion of Masquerade and the great, chugging beat that’s so great at leading Flying On Faith (a rare completely English song that I loved).

Stay Tonight is Querencia’s second single, and thankfully returns to her signature synthpop. The verses had me nodding my head—a huge improvement from Bicycle—and had me excited for the chorus. But, after the great high note in the pre-chorus, the chorus itself didn’t feel like enough of a payoff, instead feeling more meandering and unengaging. While I absolutely liked it more than Bicycle, it’s not in my top 10 of her singles.

From Side B {Savage}, I enjoyed the way-too-short a-capella section at the beginning of the choruses and the “don’t make me, don’t make me dream of you” in Dream Of You (another English language track I enjoy). I also liked the breathy vocalizations in both Bother Me and Chill, Chill especially.

Play is the third single, and embraces a more playful and upbeat sound that harkens back to Why Don’t You Know, Love U, and Cherry Kisses. Though the subject isn’t that different from the other two, the genuine fun that its chorus is when it explodes and the excellent interpolation of reggaeton (in both the beat and the choreo) and brass makes this one something special. The chorus here absolutely delivers, with several parts all coming together to form a very satisfying payoff. Definitely my favorite single so far.

Demente is also a single from this side, and shockingly, it’s all in Spanish. It’s not unusual for K-pop idols to release songs with Latin pop inspired beats, or even in different languages, but this is definitely a rarity. Demente (which means “crazy” in Spanish), is honestly a really solid, catchy pop song, and (though Spanish isn’t my first language) if I didn’t know that she wasn’t fluent in it, I wouldn’t have guessed. As I’ve mentioned on my blog before, I’m a linguistics major, so this was a delight to listen to. Genuinely, kudos to Chung Ha, and to Guaynaa, the featured artist, who has the distinction of having a rap that I thought really added to the song. From Side C {Unknown}, my hidden gem was the acoustic guitar and piano led, comfortingly slow Byulharang.

X is the final single from Querencia, and is a more emotional, stripped-back performance that Chung Ha dedicates to her mother and the work that they both put in to achieve her dreams of becoming an idol. Filmed entirely in black and white and featuring an enormous, Godzilla-like Chung Ha wandering through a tiny, closed-off city fighting against her, it’s a great example of why soloists should write their own tracks. It’s imbued with a lovely sense of pathos and feels like a fitting way to end a magnum opus of an album. From Side D {Pleasures}, I liked the restful album closers in Everybody Has’ traditional ballad structure, the calmly catchy Comes N Goes, and the instrumental Querencia.

Killing Me is another single, and while it’s similar to Gotta Go, it feels sleeker and more streamlined, focused on achieving the goal that is its chorus. Because of this, it’s quite short–under three minutes–and, though it’s not the best of her singles, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Another perfectly fine track that I wouldn’t skip but wouldn’t search out.

Sparkling feels more like Roller Coaster than anything from Querencia, which had me excited right away. It has, well, unsurprisingly, a sparkling quality to its instrumentals, and would be right at home on a dance floor. It’s delightfully bubbly, tip toeing and tap dancing all over the place with delight, and that energy is infectious. As always, I wish it had a more defined chorus, but I really like the lead-in in both the bridge and pre-choruses.

From the EP, Bare & Rare, Good Night My Princess caught my ear immediately with a sense of warmth that’s unusual for a ballad, and I loved it even more when I found out that Chung Ha wrote it as a thank you for all the sacrifices her mother made for her to be able to grow up and pursue her dreams, similarly to X. The song features Chung Ha’s voice at its most lovely, and it made me tear up a little, if we’re being honest. I also enjoyed Bibi’s feature and the excellent sense of drama in Crazy Like You, the celebratory mood in Louder, and especially the crying-on-the-dance-floor vibes of Love Me Out Loud (which gets more addicting with every repeat).

I’m glad I did this! I enjoyed Chung Ha’s work more than I thought I would, although I shouldn’t be surprised as a big fan of Sunmi and synthpop in general. I learned that she writes many of her own songs, and that she speaks some English and a little Spanish, so color me impressed. I found a bunch of songs I enjoyed—mainly b-sides—that I added to my playlists. So I’d say you could consider me at least a fan now!

My Top 5 songs are Play, Love Me Out Loud, Chica, Cherry Kisses, and Flying On Faith, with Good Night My Princess as an honorable mention. Chung Ha gets an 8.25 out of 10 from me, which is about what I expected. I think that where her songs often falter for me are the choruses, which unfortunately is one of the most important parts. When she pulls it off, she’s made some excellent tracks. But more often than not, I find myself loving the buildup but being disappointed by the pay-off. There were very few tracks I didn’t at least enjoy, and this isn’t me saying that I think her work is bad. But with just a few changes and a greater sense of pay-off, she would have a pretty unbeatable discography.

Next time, we’ll be starting a two week series on a pretty huge girl group, and we’ll be having a boy group supplemental next week. Tschüss!

#ioi #ioi Chung ha #chung ha #K-pop #K-pop soloists #k pop girl groups #discography deep dive #review #sparkling #why don’t you know #play #Demente #love u #querencia #Spotify

[moodys-art]

I finally thought of my request!! Hopefully 3 characters aren't much of a count !! :"D how about headcanons for Diavolo, Risotto, and Prosciutto with a femme fatale reader? (She/her please ywy. Also she's not entirely their s/o or a part of la squadra!! She's just this mysterious mafia member no one's heard of. I'd like to see how they'd fall for her charms.) (U can look it up if you aren't familiar with the term :^) hopefully this won't be nsfw. If it is feel free to ignore this ask!!)

Thank you again :^}c

Yes, I was looking forward to your request ! I am a bit familiar with the theme, I think I get what you mean and the overall aesthetic of femme fatale, there's a lot about the subject and it can no doubt be sfw ! Notes in the tags 💗

Risotto, Prosciutto and Diavolo falling for femme fatale reader

Warnings : a bit of stalking and creepiness for Diavolo's part, but you know, typical Diavolo behavior...🙄

Femme fatale, definition : « an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who is likely to cause distress or disaster to a man who becomes involved with her.»

Risotto

No need to say, Risotto has noticed you. After all, he's a very observant man, and a very good Capo as well, so it's only normal he's aware of his surroundings and the environment in which his team works.

However, as he doesn't know anything about you, he thinks that it's only a matter of time before he has to introduce himself to you and try to assess if you're an enemy to his team or not. He's fairly comfortable with the idea of going up to you and engage in a conversation, but is reluctant to use his invisibility powers to spy on you, as you could be an ally.

Risotto isn't one to be easily attracted to people, but he has to admit that your extremely elegant and sharp looks is something he doesn't see quite often. He's really quick to guess that this is also a way for you to assert dominance in whatever mission or deal you may have to complete; you're in the mafia, after all.

He comes up to you on an ordinary day while you are out in the park, profiting from the shiny sun of the early afternoon. Risotto stays very diplomatic, sitting accross from you on the bench, introducing himself very clearly. "Should my team be involved in any business with you, and/or your teammates if you have any on your side, I sincerely hope it will be from an ally perspective." It could sound like a threat, except that the man is lightly smiling at you, meaning that he truly looks forward to seeing you again, and that if your businesses were to mingle, he hopes it wouldn't end up in you being his enemy. After discussing with you for a moment, he realizes that you're quite appreciable.

If you, on your side, make him know that you're willing to help him get some missions done - you're quite powerful, after all -, he could be interested in the offer. If it means his team can make more money, and gain an ally, why not ?

Your newly born 'work-mates' relationship is something that Risotto really appreciates, and not only that, but he also has a deep respect for the way you accomplish your work. It will maybe take a time before he finally decides to ask you out - on the account that you've already made him know that you're interested -, but it'll get there. Even Risotto cannot resist your charm.

Prosciutto

It's been a quite a time since Prosciutto noticed you in the streets of Napoli. Whether he was out in the evening, eating in a restaurant, or taking a stroll after his mission while smoking, it was difficult not noticing you.

You had an outstanding attitude, a proud look on your face, along with a very nice shade of lip color that looked like dark cherry. Prosciutto knew, someway, that you were part of the mafia as well, but he'd never heard about you in his team's reports, nor in the discussions he oftened like to partake in with a few other gangsters outside of La Squadra. No, he didn't know who was that mysterious, charming woman he'd seen several times before, but he was sure annoyed by that.

Prosciutto likes to assess people's personalities by looking at them first and foremost. Hence, that is with no surprise that both of your gazes come to meet each other a few times during the week. Except, Prosciutto holds himself to that. No more. He knows he shouldn't get involved in any other thing than work with another mafia member, as he's part of a team that has its own interests. So, no place for romance...

That is until one evening, you both end up in the same bar, sat next to each other due to nothing else than pure fate. So now that you're both here, why not seize the day ? Prosciutto thinks.

After having assessed your willingness to get involved in a talk, he'll engage in a conversation. "I've seen you around for quite some time now. What does a person like you does while wandering the streets of Napoli on her own?" It's up to you to answer him, but Prosciutto lives for quite mysterious auras like yours. He will not hesitate to make you know that he's interested.

Your bold and confident personality surprise him, in a very good way, and he doesn't refuse the drink that you offer him. Witnessing your seductive and charming manners, he can't help but to look at you, admiring how you present yourself.

If you two decide to follow-up on that encounter and to see each other more often, he's surely not against that. As the gentleman he is, one day will come when he'll be happy to invite you to eat in a nice, classy restaurant.

Diavolo

Well, it's a tricky situation, because first of all, in no way Diavolo would allow himself to let any person stay in La Passione if he feels like they are in for power and have too much ambition. Although he doesn't recruit members -as it's the job of a Capo,not a Boss-, he likes to do his own research on who is in the gang. He needs to know who could become a potential threat to him, after all.

After having spied on you from afar and collected some information on you as he does for everyone in the gang, he's a bit relieved. But for heaven's sake, he's Diavolo, so let's not forget that he still doesn't trust you, let alone anyone really.

The fact that you often encounter this pink-haired man at your local bakery is no coincidence. After a while, he'll come up to you to ask about the kind of bakery he should consider buying, because you seem like a regular here. The way you carry yourself is something that intrigues him more than anything, and maybe so much to the point of him being willing to consider letting you in in his life, - a very small part of his life at least.

Diavolo will not introduce himself. Even his outfit, for anonymity purposes, will be as discrete as possible, a dark costume and an ordinary hat. However, it will really be him, and not Doppio, unless he comes here a few times to look at you from afar. Diavolo will do everything in his power not to be noticed, or at least to be considered like nothing more than a civil; but he will allow you to ask him some questions as most people that come to you are usually from La Passione.

If you're risky enough to flirt with him, he'll maybe consider taking you out on a date. But you've got to be aware, that if you get to see his face, you'll no longer be ever alone in the streets of Napoli, and always looked over - if things turn to good, or to bad.

You two really make a classy and powerful pair. Your daring and smart looks is the spice to his overly secretive life. Watching you reapply your signature lipstick to readjust your femme fatale look makes him think that maybe, maybe, he could trust you enough to let you in the Unità Speciale and know that you will do a wonderful job.

#this reminds me of a prompt I like to daydream about actually! #i often like to imagine reader not being the s/o of a character and to develop from that #and for example reader is part of bucci gang and when going to a bar to get some mission papers or whatever she sees some members of LS #without necessarily interacting with them but one of them notices her and is intrigued #and later they have the opportunities to complete missions together as the 2 teams unite or something #jjba headcanons #jjba x reader #jojo x reader #risotto x reader #prosciutto x reader #la squadra #la squadra x reader #la squadra esecuzioni #diavolo x reader #jjba part 5 #vento aureo

[katastrophekidarchive]

kj space pirate au appearance/fashion hcs!!

Jacket hcs for the Four are here! Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the backs, but the embellishments would be the same as canon pretty much I guess.

Jet • Him tall. Big. • Probably the most traditionally piratical-looking of the Four • Cutlass to go along with his raygun • Blue & purple hair! I don’t think they bleach it, just dye it over their natural brown so it’s definitely visible but not like, neon. (Haven’t decided for sure yet if it’s going to be mixed in all galaxy-like or like, half and half. thank u to everyone who chimed in on the poll lol i hadn’t thought to do both until that)  • Haven’t decided if they have their eyepatch yet or not in this first fic either :/ :/ They’ll have one eventually tho!! Either way he looks bad@$$ • Stompy pirate boots, the kind with the big cuff folding down over the top. u know. • I’m feeling dark purple trousers?? They could either be loose for more of the pirate look or more like skinny jeans for more of the scifi look, idc • Earrings! Small hoops, I think, for everyday, but they probably switch them out when they want to be fancy

Ghoul • His signature green shade is super neon and loud • Truly awful hair, just chunks sticking up everywhere bc he just hacks bits off when it starts getting too long. Styles it in a messy mohawk sometimes • is That One Character who has miscellaneous weaponry stashed Everywhere. In shoes, stuffed in the endless cargo pockets of his vest jacket, in secret pockets, in pant legs, sleeves…. • Has a pair of machetes he keeps at his waist that are his favorite weapons when he has to go acoustic. He’s totally ambidextrous, but he only has the one raygun so sadly unless he can borrow another off of someone else in his crew he can’t go into laser claps two-handed • Does already have his mouth scar, and the opposite eye has an x scar cut over it too. (Eye’s fine tho, unlike Jet’s rip) • Almost laughably short but makes up for it with crackling energy and a vicious good humor, almost spiteful in its intensity. Always grinning that grin of his and making offensive jokes in the worst of deadly-serious situations.

Kobra • Would cut quite a dashing figure, if he weren’t such an awkward dork and constantly tripping over his own boots or falling off the rigging • (That said, he’s a d*mn good fencer, it’s like a whole different part of his brain clicks on.  A fencing rapier is his favorite acoustic. He’s a terrible shot with a raygun tho) • Perhaps a delicate snake tattoo winding up his neck? (Again, it’d make him look totally bad@$$ if he wasn’t so babey) • Long, slim, swishy red leather coat (picture linked earlier), just perfect for swashbuckling. • Still has his fingerless leather gloves. Great for racing and for Not Having To Touch Things • Maybe little stud earrings, just for a bit of shine without the danger of them catching on stuff

Poison • I feel like he has two full tattoo sleeves that he’s very proud of/vain about even though he wears his long-sleeved coat most of the time?? • His red hair shade is vivid, but not orangey. musicvideo!Poison’s hair is too bright and orange, but pirate!Poison’s isn’t rusty or dark exactly, either. idk • Has that swashbuckley/gunslinger thigh-holster crap going on for his raygun. Lots of extra straps and doohickeys because he thinks it’s cool (it is). • I’m playing around with the idea of him not having a sword, exactly, because he more prefers hand-to-hand over at-arms-length skirmishing when going acoustic. Maybe he has a switchblade he likes to whip out in close quarters

Bonus: Cherri • Blue hair streak! Of course!! Maybe even slightly longer hair than comics!Cherri • Classic white blouse, poet/pirate style, u know how it be • Coat something like this with that cape-thingy bit on top, a whatsitcalled. Majority of the time he can’t be assed to actually put his arms through the sleeves • Katana he borrows from Doc. Ooh maybe he could have a back sheath for it that would be cool. (Doesn’t carry his gun anymore, for reasons. Doc keeps his old one for him) • my freehaw-obsessed brain wants to give him a battered old stetson, but that’s sadly probably not true to the ‘verse • Maybe just a forehead scarf/bandana sometimes, yknow? • Adorkable round glasses for when he’s reading

And alas, the Fab Four have only one (1) classic pirate tri-corner hat between them. They each think they look coolest in it and fight over it and steal it from each other constantly

#killjoys #danger days #jet star #fun ghoul #kobra kid #party poison #cherri cola #kj space pirate au #i'd put show pony too but #show pony dresses the same in every universe: terribly #you love to see it

[hoeforbilly]

science project

MASTERLIST

request: Hey!! Could u please write a Billy x f!reader where the reader is new to school and has like this super cool car and when she gets out of school she sees a bunch of people around her car and like Billy is there because he thinks it belongs to a guy and it's ready to beat his ass so he gets and idea of who runs this school and he doesn't care about his stupid car (because everyone is paying a lot of attention to your car) and then when you get there you just get on your car and get out of there and he waits for the next day to talk to you (because you know, y/n is a cutie) and you can still from there however you want @amarachoren

Hey! I love your writing and I was just wondering if I could request a smut where Billy and the reader are paired up for a project. Reader tries her hardest to ignore his attempts at flirting but as we all know... he's irresistible. He states that he'll get to work if she gives him a kiss. She obliges but it's really hard to stop kissing him. Especially when his hands are touching her and he smells so good. @jamesbuckybarnes13

warnings: filthy filthy smut, daddy kink, choking, spanking, overstimulation, orgasm control, basically everything oops, also unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it pls)

genre: fluff, smut

word count: 4.3k (my longest one yet!)

There was a fucking Toyota Supra parked outside of Hawkins High and Billy didn't like that. People swarmed around the car, pointing out how awesome it was and how the red outisde matched the burgundy leather seats, and how sick the pop up headlights were and blah blah blah. Every square inch of that car oozed with coolness and Billy was furious about it. It drew attention from his Camaro and as much as he hated to admit it, it stung. He was the cool guy with the cool car. He ran this school. And he was determined to make sure whatever asshole drove the Supra new about it.

The final bell rang through Hawkins High and Billy sped to the parking lot. There were already people waiting around the Supra, curious to see the owner. He stood a few feet away from them and lit his cigarette, waiting. Not even halfway through his smoke he noticed a girl he's never seen before, confidently walking through the parking lot. Tommy said something about a new student at lunch but Billy never payed much attention to what he had to say so it just flew over his head. She was cute, pretty face and a nice body, he smirked scanning her figure. She wore a short skirt and an oversized denim jacket and the closer she got, the more he liked the look of her.

She stopped right in front of the little crowd formed around the Supra and cleared her throat. Billy raised an eyebrow, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Excuse me, guys I'd like to get to my car" his jaw dropped at her words. She couldn't be the one who drove that car, there was no way. But sure enough, she took the keys out of the pocket of her jacket, opened the door, threw her bag on the passenger seat and drove away, leaving everyone dumbfounded. As much as Billy didn't wanna admit it, he enjoyed this little turn of events. He decided it would only be appropriate to give the new girl a warm welcome. And maybe a tour of the town. Or his bedroom. Whatever she was into.

You were used to your car getting a lot of attention and you didn't really mind it. It got annoying at times, especially when people were more interested in the Supra than you but you didn't take it personally, not interested in getting to know most of them. Pretty much the only person who caught your eye was the tall blond guy you saw in the parking lot. He had a cute curly mullet, a little moustache and that look in his eyes that made girls melt as soon as it landed on them. He radiated confidence, the cigarette hanging from between his lips, and that's why you noticed him. He looked like fun. And you were determined to find something fun to do in this boring town.

When you rolled into the parking lot the next morning he was already parked in the spot right next to yours. A smirk on his lips as he leaned on his blue Chevrolet Camaro. Cool car. You chuckled realizing he was probably waiting for you.

"Hey there sweetheart" he looked at you from under his lashes and extended his arm to greet you. "Name's Billy, I hear you're new around here" you shook his hand and held it a little longer than appropriate.

"I am, actually" you smiled as sweetly as you could. "My name is Y/N."

"Pretty name for a pretty girl. How 'bout I show you around huh?" he offered. You thought it would be harder to get his attention but it seemed like being the new girl had its perks.

After a rather rushed morning tour with Billy you couldn't stop thinking about him. You were convinced he was pretty much the only interesting person in Hawkins. Some kids were talking about Steve Harrington but he seemed too stuck up to be fun. So did his girlfriend, Nancy. You quickly decided to stick with Billy, at least for now.

You smiled as you noticed him at one of the desk in the science lab. He waved at you to sit next to him and you gladly obliged.

"Mr. Newman hates me" he whispered right into your ear, sending chills down your spine "He might hate you too if he sees us together" he had a cheeky grin on his face.

"I think he's gonna love me" you winked at him, getting your folder out. "I mean, look at me" he chuckled as you turned to face the front of the classroom. He liked how no matter what he did, you weren't intimidated. It was refreshing.

You didn't really take notes the whole class, occassionally scribbling something down when you thought it was especially important. You noticed Billy glanced over at you pretty regularly.

"Do you wanna hang out today?" he whispered in your ear, making you jump a little.

"We can talk about that later" you simply stated, returning your attention to the teacher. Since when was science more important that Billy Hargrove asking you out. You really were something else.

The bell rang and people started pouring out of the classroom.

"Miss Y/L/N, would you mind staying behind for a second?" Mr. Newman didn't even look at you from the paper he was studying.

"Of course" you smiled politely, gathering your belongings.

"You too Hargrove" Billy's face twisted into a grimace but he nodded, moving to the front of the classroom. The last student left, closing the door behind him and Mr. Newman turned to you.

"I've had the chance to get familiar with your report card Miss Y/L/N" he started and you saw Billy's expression turn into a smirk. "And I have to say, I'm extremely impressed" this time it was you smirking.

"Thank you Mr. Newman" you answered with a wide smile.

"This here, Hargrove on the other hand" he scoffed. "Let's just say he could use some help" you stopped yourself from laughing at the offended expression on Billy's face. "I'd like for you to work with him on an extra credit assignment. It would help his grade a little and give me an insight into how you work" you nodded, a polite smile ever-apparent on your face.

"Of course Mr. Newman, if Billy doesn't mind" you turned your eyes to him just to see him blush furiously.

"I don't mind" he tried to sound confident but it was apparent how out of place he felt.

"Then it's settled. I'll give you the topic today after 5th period. Have a nice day" he smiled at you and left. Billy swore it was the first time he's ever seen Newman smile.

"Seems like we'll be hanging out more than just today" you winked at him and left the classroom before he could say anything.

Billy managed to collect himself pretty quickly, determined to get you back for how flustered you made him. He was excited to see you again and spent the whole 5th period staring at the clock. When the bell finally rang, he quickly walked over to Newman's classroom. You were already inside, collecting the papers from Newman.

"Billy Hargrove, that boy is bright I can't deny that" he heard the teacher say from outside the door "He's just so damn lazy. Don't let him talk you into doing the whole project alone Miss Y/L/N" Newman warned you.

"Oh I won't let that happen" you answered with such confidence in your voice, Billy almost believed you. Almost.

"So how about we go over to my place?" he shot you his signature smirk but you shook your head. "Can't do, I have to go get my brother, his baseball practice ends at 5". you weren't just gonna give in to him that easily.

"My place at 6?" he winked and you laughed.

"Works for me. What's the address?"

"4819 Cherry Lane" you nodded and got into the car.

"See you then!" you shouted over the music and drove away.

"She really is something else" Billy mumbled under his breath and got into his own car.

You pulled up into Billy's driveway, instantly recognizing his blue Camaro. It was just a few minutes past six, if he asked you would blame it on the fact you were unfamiliar with the town. In reality you couldn't decide what to wear. Eventually, you opted for a denim skirt, a cropped sweater and high top converse. Casual, but cute enough to make you feel confident. "Here we go" you thought getting out of the car.

The house was empty except for the two of you, seated on the floor of Billy's room. Despite what you had told Mr. Newman, you were finding it extremely difficult to make Billy cooperate.

"Come on" you moaned, frustrated "We gotta work on this Hargrove. I'm not doing it alone" the smirk never left his face, your irritation amusing to him.

"I can think of a lot more fun things to do" his voice was so sensual you wanted to punch him.

"Quite frankly, me too" you scoffed "So let's get to work so I can go home."

"I wanna get to know you better" he stated, completely ignoring what you just said. "Where are you from?" maybe the best option was to just answer him?

"New York. We moved cause my mom was tired of the city. She grew up here" he nodded. "What about you?"

"California. We just moved out here last fall."

"So you were the new guy before I was the new girl!" he just shrugged.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna stay here any longer than I have to. It's a real shithole".

"It really is huh?" you pulled your legs up to your chest, resting you chin on your knee. "I can't wait to get out of here too" he gave you weak smile.

"So you have s brother?" he seemed genuinely interested.

"I do. He's 14."

"My stepsister is 14! They probably go to school together."

"Probably. He's been hanging out with some kids, I don't remember their names though." he chuckled.

"So, Y/N..." he inched closer towards you. You crossed your legs. "How about we make a little deal princess" your heart fluttered at the pet name.

"And why would I wanna make any deals with you Hargrove?" you raised your eyebrow. He reached out to brush a strand of hair behind your ear.

"I'll work on the project. I'll actually try. But that's if..." he moved his face closer to yours, leaving less than 2 inches between the two of you "You let me kiss you" he finished.

"You're nuts" despite your harsh words, you didn't move away from him.

"It's your call sweetheart" he smirked and you nodded slowly.

"Okay Billy. One kiss and we get to work."

"Whatever you say" he smiled and leaned in, placing his lips on yours. It was almost as if he wanted you to take the lead. You tangled your hand in his hair, moving your lips over his. He hummed approvingly, deepening the kiss, placing his hand on your waist. Before you knew it, you were seated in his lap, his hands roaming under your sweater.

You pulled away to look at him, your fingers still playing with his hair. His eyes were filled with lust, heavy breathing sounding in the room. He gripped you waist tighter and you couldn't stop him if you wanted to. Everything about him was intoxicating. From the way his hands felt on your body and how he looked at you to his scent lingering in the air. He smelled like a mix of cigarettes, cologne and leather. You didn't hold back when he pressed his lips to yours again.

His hands held your ass firmly, guiding him to grind into him.

"That's right baby" he mumbled, kissing your neck. A small moan left your lips, your pussy getting wetter with every movement. You threw your head back, and swiftly took your top off. He groaned at the sight of your boobs, cupping them through your bra.

"Such a pretty girl" he moaned sucking a hickey onto your clevage. You rythmically moved your ass on his clothed dick, rubbing him through the denim of his jeans. You felt one of his hands leave your body and not even a second later a slap landed on your ass. You didn't even try to stop youself from moaning. His hand rubbed over you ass before spanking you again, gaining another moan from you.

"You like that baby don't you?" you nodded furiously and he laughed. "You have such a pretty little mouth, so use it". Another slap landed on your ass.

"Yes Billy, I like it" you managed to get out, the throbbing between your legs making you go crazy.

"What is it that you like babygirl?" he asked making you blush. "Don't be shy now".

"I like it when you spank me..." you opened your eyes to examine his face "Daddy".

His eyes widened at the name, cupping your cheek to bring your face closer to him.

"What was that princess?" your heart was pounding so fast you were sure it would jump out your chest.

"I said I like it when you spank me daddy" you whispered and he spanked you again.

"Like that?" he wrapped his fingers around your throat. Another spank.

"Yes, fuck, just like that."

"And do you like daddy's hand around you throat?" you nodded. Another spank.

"Use your words baby."

"Yes daddy. I love feeling your hand around my throat" he gave you a proud smile.

"Good girl" he rubbed your ass before spanking it again. And again. And again. "Go lay on the bed and spread those pretty legs for me" he whispered and you nearly tripped trying to get there as soon as possible. Your skirt was bunched up around your waist, leaving your lace panties on display. You quickly layed on your back, leaning on your elbows, legs as far apart so you could get them.

Billy stood up and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, finally throwing it to the floor. His pants quickly joined the rest of your clothes, leaving him in nothing but his underwear. Your mouth salivated at the sight of the buldge.

"Like what you see" he laughed and you nodded, your own smile just as wide. He finally started making his way over to you and you felt your pussy throb in anticipation.

"You're so pretty" he whispered running his fingers up your sides. "Such a good girl" he squeezed you boobs and let out a moan.

You reached behind your back and unclasped it, revealing you hard nipples. He instantly leaned down and took one into his mouth, sucking and biting a little. The way his tongue felt on your body was heavenly.

"Fuck Billy, you're so good" you moaned, tangling your fingers in his hair. He hooked his fingers under the waistband of your panties and looked at you for permission. You nodded furiously, lifting your hips to help him get them off. Your skirt shortly joined them on the floor, leaving you completely naked under Billy. He kneeled down and inched his face close to your pussy.

"So wet..." he whispered, massaging the insides of your thighs. "So fucking goregous, just for me" the last words came out close to a growl. He looked up at you before running his tongue down your slit. And you just melted into his touch. His blue eyes, probably the prettiest blue eyes you've ever see, analyzed your face as he places his mouth around your clit, sucking gently.

"Please more, I need more Billy" you moaned to which he hummed in approval, picking up his pace. Your pussy was so wet his chin was coated in your juices. He ran his two fingers down your slit, gathering up some of the moisture and moved them up to your face. You instantly started sucking on them.

"That's it baby, taste yourself on daddy's fingers" he squeezed your boob with his free hand. "Good girl" he smiled as you let his fingers out with a loud pop.

He attached his mouth to your clit, licking and sucking, while his fingers teased at your entrance.

"You want my fingers princess?" you nodded, eyes rolling at the very thought of how good that would feel. "Then you gotta beg for it" there was a challenge in his voice and you were always up for a challenge.

"Please finger my pussy daddy" your voice came out a lot weaker than you expected. "Fuck Billy I need your fingers inside me, please, I promise I'll be good" you felt like your whole body was on fire.

"Good girl baby" he pressed a kiss to your clit, making you tremble. His fingers stretched you out in the best way possible, he slowly slid them both all the way in, giving you time to adjust. You felt your pussy clench once his tongue came in contact with yout clit again and he let out a low growl.

"God baby girl I can just imagine how my dick is gonna feel in that tight little pussy" his words made your walls clench once again. "You like that huh? Such a dirty little slut" your pussy tightened around his fingers again. He started moving his fingers, while his tongue found its way back to your clit. Not even a minute later you could feel your orgasm coming.

"I'm getting close daddy" you panted and you just knew he had that smirk on his lips.

"You don't get to cum until I say so" he responded, going right back to sucking your clit. You whined at his words, knowing you wouldn't be able to stop yourself much longer.

He kept working his magic on you until you couldn't take it anymore.

"Please let me cum, please. I need to cum so bad daddy please" you cried out but he shook his head. "Fuck daddy please, I can't hold it anymore" you sounded desperate and he chuckled a bit, his eyes finding yours.

"Who does this pussy belong to?" he asked, his voice so raspy you basically saw stars.

"You, fuck it's all yours Billy" he smirked. "I'm all yours just please let me cum" you cried.

"You can cum now" he said, fingers moving in and out of you even faster. "Come on now baby girl, be a good girl and cum for daddy" these words were all you needed. You threw your head back, toes curling and felt waves of pleasure go through your body. It was the strongest, most amazing orgasm you've ever had. He never stopped sucking on your clit, making you ride it out for as long as possible. Even longer than that. Your pussy was so sensitive you tried to squeeze your legs together but his firm grip made it impossible.

"Please stop Billy" you moaned out. "It's too much, I'm too sensitive" he didn't say anything and just shook his head. It was like nothing you've ever experienced before and you felt a knot form in your stomach once again.

"Come on princess, I know you can take one more" Billy murmured into your pussy, the vibration making you arch your back. "Just like that, that's my good little girl" you felt yourself get so close and you tugged on his hair. "Fuck yes baby, cum for daddy" you let yourself go at his words, wetness pooling out of you. He keeps his fingers on your clit, but moved up to attach his lips to yours. By the time you came down from your high you feel him smile into the kiss, his hands caressing your sides with such affection it was unbelievable.

"You did so well for me angel" he whispered. "Such a good girl" he placed a kiss on both of your cheeks and despite how sweet he was, you could feel his hard dick pressing into your core.

"I want you so bad Billy" you whimpered and he smiled at you, kissing you once again.

"Ass up, face down. Right now" he growled getting off you. You didn't waste any time, immediately rolling over and doing as you were told. "Good girl. You like to do what you're told don't you?" his hand ran over your ass, making you shiver.

"Yes daddy. I only want to be a good girl for you" he spanked you and you jumped a little, not expecting it at all.

"Such a perfect little slut" he spanked you again before he lined himself up with your hole. "If it hurts or feels uncomfortable just tell me and I'll stop" he reassured and you nodded, excited to finally feel him inside.

He moved his hips, sliding his dick into you painfully slow. He was even thicker than you aniticpated, the size making you gasp. His pace was slow and steady, and before you knew it he was moving in and out of you. One of his hands rested on your hip, the other wrapped around your throat. He bagan to pick up his pace, making you cry out in pleasure after every move. You heard him moan behind you and it made you feel even better. It was you making him feel good.

"Fuck Y/N your pussy is so tight" he panted.

"It feels so good Billy" you cried and he started going in and out even faster. His left hand found your clit, fingers rubbing furiously. He was making you see stars.

"I want you to cum for me angel" he whispered. "I need to feel this wet little pussy squeezing my dick" his voice alone was making you tremble. There was no way in hell you weren't gonna cum when he asked you like that. You felt a knot form in your stomach and seconds later, your whole body was shaking in pleasure. Billy let you ride out your orgasm, not sure how he managed to keep himself from coming when your perfect pussy was clenching on his dick. He swiftly turned you around, and nearly choked at how gorgeous you looked laying under him. Your cheeks were flushed, forehead glistening with sweat. Your lips were red and there was nothing he wanted more than to kiss you. So he did. He leaned down, placing the most gentle kiss on your lips. You both felt like you were in a different world. The kiss grew more and more intense and before you knew it, he was sliding his cock back into you. You threw your head back, eyes shut tightly, it felt even better than the first time.

"I need you to look at me babygirl" Billy mumbled and you did as he said. Strands of hair were sticking to his forehead, his eyes glued to your face. "How are you this stunning" he asked before kissing you again. You wrapped your legs around his waist and he moaned into the kiss. "I'm not gonna last much longer" he warned.

"Me neither" you smiled weakly and he picked up his pace once again.

"I want you to cum with me princess" he was back in his dominant persona, voice low and movements sharp. "Do you think you can cum again?"

"Yes daddy" you gripped his bicep, pleasure building up.

"Yes what?"

"I can cum again daddy" you managed to get out. "Please make me cum again".

That was all he needed. He didn't know what about you made him feel this way but it was like nothing he's ever experienced. He slept with plenty of girls in his time, most of them absolutely gorgeous. Not a single one made him feel the way you did.

"Come on babygirl" he gripped your throat with one hand, the other lowering down to rub your clit. "Show daddy how much of a good girl you are." he was determined to make you feel so good you would lose control. There was nothing he wanted more than to see your body shaking under him.

"I'm so close Billy" you panted and he hummed approvingly.

"That's right angel, get right to the edge" he felt himself get close too, his movements getting slightly sloppier. "Don't cum before I tell you to" he warned. A few thrusts later both of you were ready to let go.

"Daddy I need to cum please" you cried.

"Not yet" he growled. He wanted to make you hold it in just a little longer, though he wasn't sure he could take it.

"Billy I can't" you whimpered.

"Yes you can" he squeezed your throat harder. He was hitting all the right spots inside you and you really didn't think you could take any more. Thankfully he didn't either. You felt his dick twitch inside you.

"Come on baby, cum for me" he moaned, letting go as well. You watched him throw his head back, waves of pleasure going through both your bodies. You've never felt this good with any guy you've been with before. No one could stand a chance with Billy.

You had no idea Billy was currently breaking all of his rules for you. He let you sleep in his bed. You were cuddled up to his side with your head on his chest and he was stroking your shoulder gently not to wake you up. It wasn't something he ever did, Billy Hargrove didn't cuddle his flings. But you were so pretty and your skin was warm and soft and your hair smelled nice and you just seemed like someone he could actually talk to. He didn't want you to end up just being a fling.

He thanked heavens that Neil tagged Susan along for one of his work event thingys and that he had the house to himself. He didn't want you to see just how fucked up things really were for him. Maybe this could turn into something. He wanted to get to know you better, try to actually be friends with you first and he was determined not to let Neil scare you away.

#billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove fanfic #billy hargrove smut #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove #billy hargove imagine #billy hargove x reader

[keatsblue]

Want a Piece of Me?! - a Kiribaku Baking AU fic, pre-slash.

*** 

It was something he’d picked up from his mother, before she’d gotten too sick.

She’d let him roll out flour-dusted dough into thinned sheets, let him taste a batter mix or two on the tip of her spoon. Whenever he was tasked with packing the buttercream, he’d unerringly return to her with a dollop of icing on the end of his nose. She’d let out a laugh like windchimes as she wiped his face off with a multi-stained washcloth, would murmur, warm against the skin of his cheek as she kissed it—did my little dragon get greedy for some sugar again? Well, here’s some sugar!

Kirishima was her little dragon, and she’d made sure his early life was filled with candied nights and warm bellies, gingerbread castles with marshmallow spires.

After she passed, he kept it up to feel close to her.

He was far from an expert baker, but he knew his way around an oven. His hands were large and not the most suited to handling delicate fondant, but he managed. His arms were strong, good for hefting bags of fresh ingredients.

Pineapple upside-down. Triple-tiered, Italian wedding crème. Chocolate lavender truffles, topping his signature cherry cordial mousse. Delicate macaroons and finicky meringues, mirror glazes so seamless he could see his reflection. Kirishima baked his way through the entire grieving process, inviting his closest friends over for tastings, and he won.

I’m okay, mom.

He wasn’t certain when it had really started, this online business. Mina had actually made the first post, snapped the first photo. He hadn’t expected it to get a single comment.

It got hundreds. Then thousands.

People contacted him, wanting to know how they could make their own cakes look like that.

Kirishima obliged, of course. How could he not? He was going to bake anyway. Might as well help a few other amateur chefs while he was at it!

Mina helped him film. “I discovered you, so I’m your manager for life,” she’d say, with a wink. “Don’t forget about me when you make it big and become a world-famous baker, somewhere.”

World-famous, my ass, he always thought, whenever she’d suggest such a thing. He still made far too many mistakes, for that.

It was okay, most of the time. Many of the people who followed his little baking ‘show’ were more than understanding, and incredibly supportive. When he read their kind comments, it gave him a warm, fluttery kind of feeling—almost like one of his mother’s secure hugs.

There were always those few, though.

He was just getting off the rickety bus that stopped near his neighborhood when he saw it. He almost missed the last step on his way down, stumbling for a few paces as the telltale sound of a screen door sliding shut behind him signaled the bus’s departure.

However, Kirishima wasn’t paying attention to any of that. Instead, his eyes were glued to the screen of his phone, where he’d just called up his latest baking stream.

xxxx: ur cakes suck a**

He frowned down at the comment, checking the timestamp. So, it was just posted a few minutes ago.

Huh.

It was obviously a troll, no doubt about it. They didn’t even have a profile picture to go with the nondescript name. And usually, usually, Kirishima would just let comments like that slide right off his shoulders.

But he’d had a bad day. And it was funny, how something so small could pierce his heart sometimes, a sharp spear to the mighty dragon’s soft underbelly.

It was safe to say, making his way up the rusted-out stairwell to his college-budget apartment took a little more energy than usual. He jammed his key into the lock with punishing force, twisted.

The door swung upon under his palms, and the familiar scent of his home wafted toward him, riding along the sudden gust of warm air escaping. Kirishima was careful to shut the door quickly, before too much of the heat was let out. Breathed in the fruit-sweet smell from his kitchen, so if nothing else, the familiarity of it could ease his scattered mind.

His phone chimed, before he could get too relaxed. When he checked the message ID, though, he couldn’t help but smile.

alienqueen: ughhhhh I hate this asshole already

alienqueen: obviously, he’s never tasted 1 of kiri’s cakes

ducktapes: kiri’s cakes <3 ahhhh my heart

sparksmcgee: dude same, want me 2 get sweet vengeance?

As soon as Kirishima’s smile had appeared, it vanished. He frantically opened the chat, his thumbs too large to type with the speed he needed.

There was no way to tell if Denki was serious. And his friend could do it, too—every day, Kirishima thanked his lucky stars he was on the excitable hacker’s good side.

kiricakes: no need!! it’s just a troll, guys

kiricakes: super manly of you to think of me, though

sparksmcgee: ur too nice, fams

sparkmcgee: guess the troll lives… for now

ducktapes: TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! THERE’S A-

alienqueen: aksnfkasnof

kiricakes: lolllllll

Before long, he was able to lose himself in mindless chatter. The antics of his friends never failed to bring his spirits up. He plugged his phone into one of the few outlets in his crummy apartment, embedded into the wall just over the kitchen counter, so he could continue the conversation even as his battery started to wane.

The hours grew long, though, and time was scarce mid-week for exhausted, assignment-laden college kids. It wasn’t a surprise when Denki soon begged off on some coding or another that he had to re-run, or when Sero and Mina similarly slipped away (they were researching something together for Comparative Physiology, it was all very much over Kirishima’s head). In the end, he was left with only his thoughts, and an empty kitchen.

He locked his phone, and the screen went dark. He could see his reflection in it, baggy eyes and downturned lips. A shock of red hair, which had once been midnight-black.

Like his mother’s.

Kirishima turned his head. In the low light, his appliances gleamed from their shelves. Almost mocking, in a way.

“My cakes don’t suck,” he said, to no one. His grin stretched wide, and he could tell from the burn of it that he was showing far too many of his sharpened teeth. “I’ll prove it to you.”

He set his phone to record, and made another cake. It was triple-tiered, funfetti, because that was the batter mix he had on-hand. He watched the batter rise within his dented iron pans with all the patience of a general considering the battlements—or perhaps, a dragon considering its’ hoard.

Any spare buttercream was packed into a dispensary, silken and primed to hold his creation together. He spliced it evenly between his cakes with a practiced ease, layer after layer.

Then, the whipped frosting. It was a simple recipe, one of the first he’d learned. He worked the whipping cream within a chilled bowl, adding scoop upon scoop of powdered sugar until the mixture obediently began to rise, forming soft peaks.

He made several batches, and then added some orange food coloring to each.

Fuck it. I’m in an orange sort of mood.

His second favorite color, after red.

All that remained was assembly.

… throughout the process, he talked.

Kirishima didn’t typically make a habit of speaking while he baked. He certainly didn’t speak while he recorded, but this—this was a special occasion. Soon, he found himself opening up in front of the camera like never before. He spoke of his mother, briefly. Of his love of baking, and how much he didn’t want to lose that little piece of her he had left.

It was all he had left.

The whipped frosting went on like a dream for him, a smooth and even ombre that when he finished, reminded Kirishima just a bit of an orange sunset. It was soothing, and right, and exactly what he needed.

He didn’t think much of posting the video, largely unedited, to his public account. His was still a small corner of the internet, after all—a solitary baking channel in a sea of thousands. Maybe even millions. How many people would even see it, really?

“Oh, and by the way, can you guys stop saying my cakes look like shit?”

It was only one cake.

With great effort, Kirishima stumbled his way to his bedroom. He hadn’t realized how tired he was, how much all that time in the kitchen had taken out of him.

Before his head even hit the pillow, he was out.

He dreamed of his mother’s sweets, and orange.

***

sparksmcgee: dude wake up

sparksmcgee: wake uppppp

sparksmcgee: KIRI

sparksmcgee: KIRI U GOTTA SEE THIS

sparksmcgee: KIRIIIII

sparksmcgee: fine, ignore me, Mr. Internet Sensation

sparksmcgee: wait I was joking, I was joking!

sparksmcgee: I’ll call u! I’ll do it!!

sparksmcgee: damn it kiri

sparksmcgee: just watch the fuckin’ video

sparksmcgee: https://twitter.com/Simplemachines_/status/1297739774795509761

***

Kirishima groaned, slamming a fist down on top of the source of that incessant beeping. It was too early in the morning for such ear-splitting noise.

But what was done couldn’t be undone. He was awake now, for better or worse.

He cracked one eye open, squinting against the bright blue light of his phone screen. Still bleary-eyed, he scrolled through all of Denki’s messages (seriously, man?) and pressed a thumb over the hyperlink his friend sent. It was probably just some dumb meme—

Wait. Wait.

That was his cake video from last night. And… that wasn’t all.

Some blond guy with an angry face took up the other half of the split screen, but he wasn’t doing anything. He seemed to be waiting for something.

Kirishima blinked. A… reaction video…?

He heard himself begin to speak, to layer the buttercream. Internally, he cringed.

Well. In his defense, he had been having one of those days—

He almost dropped his phone when the blond guy yelled at the top of his lungs.

“WHO WAS MEAN TO YOU?!”

Huh? Was this guy speaking… in Kirishima’s defense?

“WHO SAID YOUR CAKES LOOK LIKE SHIT?! POINT ‘EM OUT!”

Slathering on his nice, ombre whipped frosting, now. The blond guy (who was kinda cute, actually, even with his angry face) continued to watch and listen with rapt attention, occasionally letting out another unholy screech.

The video progressed to the part where Kirishima had begun describing his day, and really, he could’ve kicked himself. It’d just been a math test. He’d been excited at the time, because he’d gotten his grade back and hadn’t completely failed it, but now, he wondered. Who would want to listen to such inane, boring—

“YES! I’M SO FUCKING PROUD OF YOU, SHITTY HAIR!”

Shitty hair? Inadvertently, he felt the hand that wasn’t currently occupied supporting his phone drift up toward his hairline. He knew he applied a lot of gel, spiked it up on purpose. Surely it didn’t look that bad.

But even with that last comment, the guy had said a lot of nice things. And how manly, to post such a wholesome reaction video, where all the world could see?

His phone beeped again as a message banner flashed across the top of the screen. He opened it with a flick of his finger.

It seemed this time, Denki had messaged in the group chat. He didn’t have long to wonder whether his other friends had seen the video, either, messages were fired at rapid speed.

sparksmcgee: did you see it?!?? I found the guy! Your dream man!

sparksmcgee: his name is **drumroll**

kiricakes: denki, no

ducktapes: denki, YES

sparksmcgee: BAKUGOU KATSUKI, HE’S FROM JAPAN

alienqueen: Kiri go get your mans!!

sparksmcgee: if you want I can also get his credit card

kiricakes: DENKI NO

Bakugou Katsuki. Huh.

As his friends continued to bicker amongst themselves, Kirishima stretched out his limbs. He let out a soft sigh when his shoulders popped, already considering what he would bake himself for breakfast.

Maybe he’d have a slice of orange funfetti. And perhaps as he did, his mind would drift to an angry fan.

One he hoped to meet, someday.

#bnha #mha #kiribaku #baking au #bnha fanfiction #oneshot

[citialiin]

LITTLE CHARACTER THINGS

Just a fun little character game. Fill in the below categories with 3-5 things that your character can be identified by. Repost & tag away !

tagged by: @lupichorous  ( ˘ ³˘)♥ i love u bun. so much. i went crazy for this meme and wrote way too much for the answers. tagging:   @zhrets @gothsic @beiiadonna @talonness and .... you !! idk 

EMOTIONS / FEELINGS:

001. Vanity -- like, aren’t you just better than everyone else ?  Maybe its a weird delusion of grandeur or maybe you really are hand-selected by the universe to be more than your planet’s limitations (so you relocate !!  )

002. Ambition -- you know what you’re capable of, so you don’t let anyone stop you from achieving.  luckily for you, you’re good at everything.

003. Envy -- isn’t it frustrating to see human beings waste their potential and squander away all their years of life when you’ve accomplished more than any of them in four itty bitty years on earth ? they take this all for granted and they don’t even know how much worse things could be.

004. Hope -- but more than anything, things can change for the better if you want things hard enough.  if you’ve made it this far, surely you have something to offer the planet earth.  maybe a message of hope, of acceptance, of empowerment, of tacky glitter eyeshadow.

005. Innovation -- you’re a maverick !! you’re unlike any human -- or atominan -- the galaxy has ever unknown.  and you love yourself despite all your oddities.  other people ought to know that what makes them different makes them special.  

GREETINGS:

001. Getting an expensive red guitar thrust into your hands as a real star walks off stage and ignores you.  Be glad he lets you even touch his stuff !!

002. A quaint little kiss on the cheek; people did this in the first country he lived in, and even if they don’t do it that much here, the motion has stuck with him.  people find it charmingly foreign.  

003. A poised, perfect wave, followed by an almost mechanically perfect handshake, punctuated by exactly whatever a music journalist wants to hear.

004. Stuttering static through a translator not yet used to human words and linguistics -- with enough time and practice, he’ll get a hang of something other than the meekest, quietest ‘ hello. ’  

005. A washcloth over his forehead, a stain of human colored pigment wiped clean.  The shimmering mark, and undeniable proof of inhumanity, stands as a wordless way of explaining the depths of his trust.  

COLOURS:

001. Glowing neon orange.  Possibly best paired with a deep navy blue.

002. Mossy green, the very blood in his veins, liquid copper from a planet far away. 

003. Glittering gold, like expensive jewelry, like the heel of his favorite black vinyl boots, like the strange mark that is undeniable proof of his star-flung origins. 

004. Cherry red, the most inhuman shade of hair imaginable.

005. Chrome white walls, the barest pearly incandescence of a home left abandoned.

SCENTS:

001. The lingering stench of cigarette smoke left on clothes.

002. Alcohol on someone’s breath when they slur their words at you.

003. Hair spray -- enough to make your eyes water, but not enough to keep your ‘do from getting all fucked up on stage.

004. Cleaning products.  These actually taste pretty good.  You wonder why they make humans sick.

005. Green tea, without sugar.  The bitterness settles your stomach when Earth food upsets it.  

CLOTHING:

001. some ridiculous latex space suit with red and green stripes and giant flared shoulders, neon, cherry red platforms all the way up to your knees -- you wouldn’t look complete without an equally blinding red guitar and golden gloves, blue eyeshadow streaked across your face.  your hoop earrings get a little distracting when they tangle in your hair, but when you obsessively watch your own concert footage, you find you like the way they catch in the stagelights.  everything about you is over the top and excessive.  

002. a tasteful suit well tailored to your slight figure, but suits are boring, so yours is bright red with a blue and yellow pattern crawling over the fabric, or perhaps a delicate powder blue with a nice red and white tie -- your heels hurt your feet, the enormous, single chandelier earring strains your neck and you can’t eat or drink for fear of ruining your lipstick, but one must suffer for fashion.

003. a mint green shift dress with some groovy pink flowers, with big orange drop earrings and white boots up to your knees -- you aren’t copying twiggy, she’s certainly been copying you.  

004. pajamas. the aliens on your boxers are for irony and you’ve never seen that cartoon with the little purple and green square things, but human made perceptions about extraterrestrials are endearing to you. you don’t often dress down, but you can’t live your entire life in designer, even if you’d like to.

005. a black uniform with a high neck.  it’s simple, fitted against your form, and the only suggestion of decoration is the little silver badge that designates your occupation.  everything about this is built for practicality: silver boots with a low heel and a square toe, cloth gloves to keep you from getting fingerprints on the machines.  you’ve got drawers and drawers of this exact same outfit; you’ve worn the same thing every day since you graduated out of your last identical uniform.  

OBJECTS:

001. a cherry red guitar perched in a stand. your signature.

002. a silver bracelet.  someone you love has its twin, and luckily for you, it goes with every outfit, so you wear it every day.

003. a little tube of concealer, as ghostly olive white as your strange complexion.  you wouldn’t go anywhere without it, lest you need to fix your make up, hide your mark, keep your secret.

004. a silver spoon -- it’s an accessory to your worst vice, and despite its harmless appearance, it’s seen you at your lowest point, some mocking reflection of the wash up you’re petrified you’ll become.

005. a strange device that looks like a tablet.  the language on it is beyond any humans comprehension and it contains enough data to stump even the most seasoned astronomers -- but you take it for granted, and you’re sick of looking at it.

VICES / BAD HABITS:

001. OVERINDULGENCE,  you drink to excess and you smoke a pack and a half a day and you spend money like it grows on trees -- nothing, no luxury, no drug, no material object could ever fulfill the strange little crack you have in your heart, the longing for something that you cannot quite articulate.

002. SELFISHNESS,  not just with things -- with the egregious amount of money you have, you’re actually rather generous.  once upon a time, this selfishness led you to innovation, to self-expression, to creativity, but now it manifests in the way you treat people, the way you look down on everyone else and deem them expendable, objects for you to use and discard at your leisure.  the universe bends to your whims or you throw a righteous tantrum.

003. ENVY,  you’ve lived a life few could ever dream of and yet you scowl and stomp your feet that you don’t get what you want -- no matter how much you preach about loving your eccentricities and individuality and the power of the outcast, you wish you were a human, a real one, it eats you alive to think that you’ll never have this one wish granted to you and no matter how much you fake it you’ll always be you, hiding, afraid, unhappy.  

004. DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR,    it’s a frantic ouroborous, how much you’re unhappy with your existence even when you are firmly convinced you are practically earth’s savior, the way you oscillate between hating yourself and loving yourself, the sole prodigal champion of the universe’s unfathomable destiny.  before there was rock, humans only had god, and you are giving them a precious gift -- you are better than everyone for a reason.  

005. NAIVETY,  you -- for all you act like you do -- dont know much about this planet and how insidious it is.  perhaps you have a feeling -- the slightest inclination -- but the full depth of just how terribly you’re being ruined by earth’s corruption is lost unto you.  you are too easily beguiled and you see things far too plainly, black and white without shades of gray.  humans are deceiving, humans are malicious, humans are not to be trusted the way you so eagerly and gleefully trust them.  

BODY LANGUAGE:

001. a sneer -- it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?  they always seem to take it as a smile no matter how poorly you think of them.

002. a cocked hip and square shoulders -- you didn’t always used to stand like this, but no one likes a timid rockstar, so you’ve learned to aggressively take up as much space as you know is owed to you. 

003. calloused fingers across strings -- if you’re gonna talk the talk, you sure walk the walk, and you are objectively one of the most talented musicians this planet has to offer. 

004. two-toned irises cast across the room -- you’re easily confused because there’s just so much to learn and understand, and you often play things by ear. so far, you’ve never fallen under too much suspicion, thanks to your quick thinking.

005. a hand creeping over the left side of your breast -- you often forget that that’s where humans keep their hearts, and yours is elsewhere.  if you do this often enough, perhaps one day you’ll feel your heartbeat here instead.  

AESTHETICS:

001. GLITTER GLAM.  less is worse, more is better -- glitter eyeshadow and bright pink lipstick and mile high platform boots, stage shows that verge on theatrical productions and outlandish outfits changed at every song; gender is an accessory, and you discard it and redon it as you please.  it’s parody -- it’s plastic -- it’s something else entirely, and it’s just as stupid and tacky as it is high art.  you’re a funky psychedelic far out space freak and no one will get on your case for wearing a bell bottoms and a crop top because you’ll put your cigarette out on their hand.   

002. MIDCENTURY MOD. you keep things groovy and you like a bit of retro with your futurism -- greens and baby pink and orange and blue, white gogo boots and shift dresses with your baby blue eyeshadow and frosted pink lipstick.  

003. B-LIST SCIFI. mr spock’s green blood and little flying saucers and life, jim, but not as we know it.  your band is named after war of the worlds and youve internalized humanity’s alien mythos to the point where you’ve replaced your own real, palpable existence with their movies, their novels, their paranormal paranoia.  no one would understand that they’re the aliens, to you, and you’re just as petrified of them cutting you open on an operating table as they are of your kind coming to invade the earth.   

004. A HINT OF ELDRITCH MACABRE.  your blood is an ichorous green, verdant as malachite, and your festering, putrid organs would stump even the most seasoned of scientists -- you are proof of life not as we know it, made in their image but separate in every possible way.  harmless as you are, he is not, and your four-eyed paramour from a planet of rot and decay is not as kind as you and your gentle clemency.  space is vast -- space is limitless -- humans must look beyond their atmosphere if they are truly to grasp their insignificance in a cold, uncaring universe.

005. THE CHROME-WHITE FUTURE. the future is cold -- progress is aseptic -- science will make the world look like the jetsons.   a white-roomed apartment, a bed with no blanket (unnecessary in a perfectly temperature controlled room), black uniforms with perfect silver trim, gestation tanks and pills to supplement limited diets.  life is not for pleasure; life is pragmatic. 

SONGS / PIECES:

001. the entire ziggy stardust album, duh ──  david bowie

002. evening wear ──   mindless self indulgence

003. cartoons and vodka   ──   jinkx monsoon

004. kaun komsott   ──   ros sereysothea

005. id engager  ── of montreal

#hilariously half these answers are written in third person and some of them are inexplicably written in 2nd person #it took me like 2 weeks to do this meme man i dunno #just weird sad ziggy feelings i guess #ooc #KEEP YOUR 'LECTRIC EYE ON ME ; queue

[stagekiller]

@chumpchxnge​ ; The gift is immaculately wrapped, thick gold ribbon crisscrossed over a sturdy, but light weight box taped with cherry red paper that leaves little remnants of glitter on the recipient and delivery handler's palms when they pick it up. Should Jerome open it, he will find something ornate yet vaguely off putting inside; the Venetian jester’s mask staring back up with hollow eyes rimmed with the same gold as the packages ribbon, a close mouthed smile sporting painted pursed lips.   It’s as over the top as any carnival mask would be, sporting high peaks both at top and around its collar, crimson fabric silhouetted by excessive amounts of gold thread and stenciled designs, each point’s end adorned with a large bell that jingles with every jostle the mask is given. It was gifted with care, even if Jerome does not see that. Jeanie chooses to keep her note short, humor in her message and signature eloquently written underneath it.‘ For the next part of the act? You tell me. '

     ONE COULD ASSUME that a person of her caliber was just as likely to have this mask custom made or purchased over the interwebs. Maybe it was a gift that took three days to envision & order, or five minutes to pick out from a bunch of identical ones. Either way, however, one could not deny that it was very classy. Nothing akin to Jerome’s personal tackiness. Its opulent nature is a perfect match for the carnival from which it hails, and yet not too flashy to where it would be blinding.

   When gloved fingers traverse over the porcelain, Jerome quickly estimates the quality. He can tell the object is valuable, when it feels so fragile. And this is how he also doubts it will last on his face for more than one occasion. He ought to be meticulous with picking when to wear it, which makes it all the more priceless. How thoughtful. And how characteristic of his good friend a choice.

  He wears no expression upon regarding the note, but his gaze remains attentive. Jerome has never been one for the details. Details are subtleties and subtlety is not his style. But he has to congratulate her on picking out something that is equal parts useful & beautiful. It does bring a note of awareness, however. As pristine as it looks; there is simply nothing funny about this. It is only valuable while it still looks good. And, once it inevitably breaks during Jerome’s endeavors, it won’t be anything anymore. Nothing left.

   Ah, the emptiness of beauty. What a horrible realization. He wonders if Jeanie ever thinks as such of herself. Jerome can see that she really is beautiful. Does she know that, in his eyes, she looks as fragile as this here mask?

   He might text her a thank you later. If he remembers it.

#You'd better not forget to clap! || {Asks answered} #// when u send ur friend a birthday gift and he don't even have the courtesy to say thanks #{ chumpchxnge }

[soflsms]

   ( sorry  I'm  late  to  the  party  im  in  pst  so  i  was  at  work  til  now  sdkfjl )  ANYWHO  hi  pals  what  the  h*ck  is  up  !!  im  chloe  ,  im  21  ,  i  use  she / her  pronouns  &  im  a  broke  a$$  geography  major  !!   i  am  SO  excited  to  be  her  &  get  to  rp  with  all  y’all  bc  judging  by  your  apps  skdflj  i  fuck  with  u  all  .  anywho  ill  stop  my  rambling  ,  below  the  readmore  is  stuff  about  sofie  &  some  wcs !!  

trigger  warning  !!  sex  work  ,  deportation  ,  neglect  ,  bad  writing  ,  alcoholism  &  substance  abuse

HAILEY BALDWIN  /  SHE/HER  /  TWENTY TWO  /  BILLIE EILISH VC

welcome to los angeles , sofie almeda ! the glitterati has been watching you . rumour has it you made your first mark in the industry two years ago & that your net worth currently stands at  8m . it seems as though you’re enjoying being a  singer since relocating from  harlem , new york city . some might say you’d be a good fit for the glitterati due to your hollywood ranking being a solid  #3, & it helps that fans speak so highly of your  individualistic & assiduous ways . unfortunately , our sources cite that those closest to you aren’t particularly impressed with your  self-destructive & choleric tendencies .

stats

name  :   sofie sydney almeda

nicknames  :   sof

age  :  twenty - two  .

birthday  :  december  eleventh  .

zodiac  :  sagittarius  .

gender  :  cisfemale  (  though  doesn’t  vibe  with  the  idea  of  being  STRICTLY  a  WoMaN  ,  she  finds  labels  restrictive  )  .

pronouns  :  she    &    her  .

height  :  5 ′ 6 ″  .

hometown  :    recife  ,  brazil  &  harlem  ,  new  york  city  .

nationality  :  american  ,  brazilian  .

ethnicity  :  english  ,  portuguese   .

label(s)  :  the  venereal  ,  the  bellwether  ,  the  opulent  ,   the  anaxiphile   .

occupation  :  singer  (  vc  billie  eilish  )  .  

quirks  :  fidgeting  ,  allergic  to  shellfish  ,  walks  quickly  ,  cracks  knuckles  ,  always  wears  her  lucky  ‘  st  christopher  ’  necklace  from  her  grandmother  ,  has  a  weird  ability  to  talk  herself  out  of  trouble  ,  can  tie  a  cherry  stem  in  her  mouth  ,  messy  emotionally  but  on - point  physically  ,  vvv  bad  driver  ,  loves  a  good  theme  party  ,  can’t  get  through  the  day  without  multiple  cups  of  coffee  ,  refuses  to  wear  glasses  in  public  even  though  she’s  quite  far - sighted  ,  always  carries  hand  sanitizer ,  prefers  rain  over  sunshine  .

background

         her  mother  ,  marcia  almeda  ,  was  a  recent  graduate  from  secondary  school  who  packed  a  backpack  and  went  traveling !! before  long  tho  she  ended  up  knocked  up  by  another  backpacker  ,  this  one  american  ,  while  they  were  having  a  fling  in  sydney  (  hence  sofie’s  middle  name  lmao  @  her  mom’s  humor  )  .  she  flew  back  home  when  she  found  out  &  never  told  sofie’s  father  oops !! so  marcia  had  sofie  at  home  in  recife  just  before  her  nineteenth  birthday  ,  and  marcia  was  enthralled  w  little  sofie  .  ofc  she  inherited  her  mother’s  beauty  (  i  hc  marcia  looks  like  alessandra  ambrosio  bc  hello !  )  &  little  sofie  lived  a  happy  early  childhood  life  in  her  grandparents’  home  in  recife.

         brazil  isn’t  the  safest  of  countries  &  marcia  didn’t  want  the  same  dangers  she  experienced  growing  up  for  her  young  daughter  ,  so  around  sofie’s  eighth  birthday  ,  her  &  her  mother  packed  up  and  went  on  a  ‘ trip  ’  to  new  york  city  .  joke’s  on  sofie  ,  though  -  it  wasn’t  actually  a  trip  ,  but  rly  they  were  trying  to  move  there  to  find  sofie’s  father  to  confirm  his  paternity  and  get  sofie  american  citizenship  .  it  was  proving  more  difficult  than  she  thought  ,  &  marcia  was  quickly  running  out  of  money  .  with  a  face  like  hers  ,  though  ,  making  money  wasn’t  too  difficult  ,  but  it  was  time  consuming  .  marcia  found  herself  escorting  older  men  in  order  to  pay  the  bills  ,  all  the  while  leaving  little  sofie  to  fend  for  herself  .  some  of  her  earliest  memories  are  of  strange  men  in  their  tiny  apartment  &  sofie  trying  to  block  out  their  conversations  with  her  lil  cassette  player  hiding  in  the  corner  of  her  room  .  eventually  ,  marcia  was  able  to  contact  the  father  &  they  set  up  a  meeting  .  sofie  had  gotten  her  hopes  up  that  she  would  finally  have  a  dad  (  she  got  dressed  up  in  her  sunday  best  &  everything  bc  reuniting  her  dad  was  a  BIG  deal  ) ,  but  the  meeting  ended  up  being  a  quick  exchange  of  words  ,  a  mouth  swab  and  a  couple  signatures  .  sofie  never  even  learned  his  name  ,  & this  queued  up  a  lifetime  of  daddy  issues  &  distrust  of  men  !!

        while  marcia  was  able  to  stay  in  america  much  longer  than  she  was  legally  supposed  to  ,  eventually  she  was  facing  deportation  ,  which  meant  lil  sofie  ,  with  her  citizenship  finally  confirmed  ,  was  put  into  the  hands  of  her  father  who  sent  off  to  an  american  boarding  school  in  new  york  without  even  contacting  her  .  she  would  spend  the  summers  in  brazil  with  her  mother  or  ,  as  she  got  older  ,  couch - surfing  with  different  friends  throughout  the  months  .  she  started  growing  apart  from  her  mother  as  she  aged  since  she  wasn’t  going  home  every  summer  since  she  didn’t  rly  feel  any  connection  to  brazil  .  her  grandfather  had  passed  away  &  she  only  has  faint  memories  grandmother  ,  plus  the  city  wasn’t  at  all  familiar  to  her  &  she  wasn’t  practicing  her  portuguese  after  her  mother  returned  to  brazil  .

         through  it  all  ,  music  was  proving  to  be  the  one  constant  in  her  life  she  could  use  to  escape  from  reality  .  she  had  never  done  any  training  or  classes  ,  but  she  just  liked  singing  along  to  whatever  was  on  the  radio  & practicing  on  her  own  .  she  also  found  a  passion  for  writing  poetry  which  she  later  would  realize  was  compatible  with  music  .  she  would  spend  HOURS  in  the  school  library  working  on  garage  band  lmfao  bc  she  couldn’t  afford  her  own  laptop  to  produce  music  &  her  dad  sent  just  enough  money  as  he  was  legally  supposed  to  .  but  she  worked  her  lil  tushy  off  &  applied  to  a  music  academy  in  nyc  &  was  rejected  the  first  year  (  DEVASTATING  when  mixed  with  her  impostor  syndrome  &  daddy  issues ) but  she  practiced  more  &  more  &  edned  up  getting  accepted  the  next  year  .  here  ,  she  worked  on  her  vocal  skills  &  music  production  ,  &  started  accumulating  her  own  music  &  selling  songs  to  music  producers  on  the  side  for  some  ca$h  money  .  

          by  the  time  she  was  16  the  state  decided  she  was  old  /  mature  enough  to  live  on  her  own  so  she  got  a  TINY  lil  studio  apartment  in  harlem  where  she’d  grown  up  with  her  mum  &  she  had  friends  who  she’d  grown  up  with  .  while  it  wasn’t  the  safest  neighbourhood  statistically  sofie  felt  safe  &  just  like  one  of  the  neighbourhood  kids  .  it  was  the  first  time  she  genuinely  felt  like  she  belonged .

        she  was  accepted  on  full  scholarship  to  nyu  & majored  in  music  composition  &  vocal  performance  where  she  started  finally  feeling  secure  in  herself  &  released  her  own  music  on  soundcloud  ,  quickly  amassing  a  following  &  becoming  an  ‘ up  &  coming ‘  artist  !!  she  was  contacted  by  a  scooter  braun  type  guy  who  was  interested  in  taking  her  on  under  his  management  so  she  dropped  out  of  uni  in  her  2nd  year  (  bc  tbh  her  grades  in  anything  other  than  her  music  classes  were  v  subpar  )  .  soon  enough  producers  wanted  to  work  with  her  &  she  was  making  enough  that  she  didn’t  have  to  sell  her  songs  which  she  hated  doing  but  had  to  pay  the  bills  u  know  .  oh  &  her  vc  is  billie  eilish  bc  ofc  shes  my  queen  go  stream  when  we  all  fall  asleep  where  do  we  go  on  spotify  u  won’t  be  disappointed  

        she  also  started  getting  into  the  partying  scene  here  yikes  !! it  was  a  method  for  her  to  numb  all  her  pain  from  her  past  &  impostor  syndrome  &  drown  all  that  out  in  pills  or  tequila  .  it  rly  wasn’t  healthy  bc  of  how  she  would  binge  for  a  weekend  then  try  to  stay  sober  throughout  the  week  but  failing  by  about  wednesday when  she  started  to  feel  hollow  .  she  wasn’t  gonna  be  a  one  hit  wonder  &  her  mom  sure   as  hell  didn’t  go  through  all  that  trouble  just  for  sofie  to  be  a  nobody  addict  !! so  she  kept  it  together  enough  to  start  making big  bucks  & well  …….  here  she  is  :~)

personality

        sofie  blames  it  on  her  brazilian  heritage  but  this  bitch  loves  a  party  !!  like  shes  the  one  who  gets  happy drunk  at  the  pre  then  is  the  first  on  the  dance  floor  then  later  falls  out  of  the  club  &  into  some  rando’s  bed !!  in  the  back  of  her  mind  she  knows  her  drug  &  alcohol  use  is  self - destructive  but  she  figures  shes  allowed  to  let  loose  sometimes (  even  if  that  ends  up  being  most  nights  )  ;  rly  she’s  just  in  denial  bc  she  doesn’t  want  to  change  her  ways  &  lose  her  identity  !!

        doesn’t  put  labels  on  her  gender  identity  or  sexual orientation  .  she  finds  them  restrictive  &  useless  for  herself  ,  labels  would  only  be  to  satisfy  others  .  she  doesn’t  see  herself  as  110%  female  either  like  she’s  all about  gender  being  a  social  construct  /  a  spectrum  ;  some  days  she’ll  get  dolled  up  &  wear  heavy  makeup  &  six  inch  heels  ,  some  days  she’ll  walk  around  in  a  bun  &  tracksuit  &  trainers  .  anyone  who  asks  abt  it  will  swiftly  get  2  middle  fingers  in  their  face  !! shes  uncontrollable  i  swear

         puts  up  a  tough  bad - ass  front  like  billie  does aksjdh  like  nah  nothing  can  hurt  me  im  bulletproof  !!  but  is  rly  just  kinda  broken  underneath  .  she  doesn’t  even  let  her  closest  friends  know  how  hurting  she  is  bc  she  doesn’t  wanna  burden  them  .  she  rly  uses  mmusic  as  an  outlet  tho  so  she’ll  act  totally  tough  then   go  to  the  studio  &  record  all  about  her  heartache  .  will  NEVER  let  someone  see  her  cry  no  matter  how  close  she  is  with  them  .  she  rly  sees  it  as  a  sign  of  weakness  &  shes  in  a  much  better  place  than  she  was  5  years  ago  so  she  figures  she’s  not  ALLOWED  to  feel  anything  but  grateful  .  

         this  bitch  overthinks  everything  !! half  the  time  she  isn’t  rly  listenning  to  whoever  bc  she’s  thinking  about  what  they  just  said  &  if  they’re  mad  with  her  .  she’s  that  friend  who  will  ask  u  to  come  over  to  formulate  the  perfect  text  response  &   fuss  over  it  for  hours  .  that  being  said  ,  if  someone  talks  shit  abt  anyone  shes  tight  with  ,  they’re  gonna  get  it  the  next  time   she  sees  them  .  she  isn’t  about  violence  &  would  never  get  into  a  physical  fight  ,  but  she’d  work  behind  the  scenes  to  ruin  their  life  .  but  then  she  pretends  like  she  rly  doesn’t  care  though  its  obvious  to  those  close  to  her  that  she  cares  way  too  much

has  a  very  hard  time  expressing  love  bc  she  didn’t  have  much  practice  w  it  growing  up  .  she  was  on  her  own  most  of  her  young  life  so  even  if  her  mom  would  tell  her   te  amo  she  would  be  like  uh  huh  gtg  bye !!  

tldr ;  poor  bitch  w  abandonment  issues  who  was  able  to  get  out  of  it  by  channeling  her  energy  into  music  &  numbing  the  stress  with  pills  or  alcohol  which  she  def  still overuses  but  she  doesn’t  think its  a  problem  !! yikeroony  !!  loves  partying  & having  a  good  time  ,  puts  up  a  tough  front  but  is  rly  soft  underneath  .

wanted (* = mw)

friends  from  high  school  !! -  people  sof  stayed  with  in  the  summer  bc  she  wasn’t  going  home  to  brazil  .  

friends  from  music  school  !!  -  she  def  felt  like  an  outsider  among  the  music  prodigies  at  this  school  ,  &  maybe  this  person  was  one  of  the  ppl  she  actually  connected  with  . 

come  out  &  play  !!  this  person  acts  as  a  good  influence  to  sofie  .  they’re  level - headed  &  very  grounding  ,  &  sofie  doesn’t  let  it  show  but  they’re  really  important  to  her  .  this  is  the  Softest  billie  song  (  prob  bc  it  was  for  an  ad skdj )  &  they  inspired  it  bc  it’s  how  she  feels  when  shes with  them  .  they  encourage  her  to  be  all  that  she  can  be  &  they  believe  in  her  ,  &  they’re  prob  the  one  person  sofie  trusts  the  most  which  is  SAYING  something  !!

*exes  on  bad  terms  !!  -   ok  this  would  basically  be  based  on  all  the  songs  billie  has  about  a  failed  relationship  /  heartbreak  !! shes  got  a  bunch  .  im  thnking  maybe  she  was  actually  rly  into  them  but  had  a  hard  time  expressing  it  bc  she’s never  been  good  with  emotional  expression  ,  &  it  led  to  the  relationship  feeling ?? unfaithful  /  disconnected  ??  idk  but  she  rly  loved  them  &  is  still  nursing  that  heartbreak  .  (  x  ,  x  ,  x  )

the  paris  to  her  nicole  !!  -  ok  i  f*cking  hate  that  i  said  this  but  she’s  nicole  richie  its  true  !! she  needs  a  messy  gal  pal  exactly  like  how  paris  &  nicole  are  i  stan  them  (  x  ,  x  ,  x  )

roommate  !!  -  bc  of  her  abandonment  issues  she  rly  doesn’t  like  living  alone  so  prob  is  the  roomie  who  will  sleep  in  their  bed  from  time  to  time  bc  she  doesn’t  like  being  totally  alone  .  

*when  the  party’s  over  !!  - these  two have  been  hooking  up  for  a  while  no  strings  attached  but  recently  feelings  have  been  caught  !! &  now  they  still  hook  up  quite  often  but  sofie’s  kinda  harboring  feelings &  pretending  all  is  well  but  she  rly  hopes  they’ll  just  stay  the  night  from  time  to  time  ,  &  gets  secretly  heartbroken  when  she  sees  them  flirting  or  leaving  with  someone  else  . they  can  also  have  feelings  if  u  want  that  angst :~)

fwb  !!  -  sofie  is  pretty  transparent  when  it  comes  to  what  she  wants  &  she’s  got  a  bad  habit  of  replacing  dealing  with  problems  with  getting  laid  !! like  u  know  in  movies  when  the  man  opens  his  wallet  and  a  row  of  like  20  pictures  of  different  women  fall  out  ??  that’s  sof’s  aesthetic  .  she’s  got  a  bunch  of  fwb  of  all  genders  so  bring  me  some  pls

***mutual  dislike  /  copycat  !!  self - explanatory  ,  sofie  thinks  this  person  is  copying  her  in  everything  she  does  &  thinks  its  annoying  af  so  she  wrote  a  song  abt  it  &  hopes  they  indirectly  get  the  message  even  if  she  drops  not  so  subtle  hints  .  skfldjh  itd  be  messy  pls !!

party  buddies  !!  -  someone  who  encourages  sofies  wild  ways  .  when  the  two  get  together  its  usually  to  get  drunk  or  high  &  thats  the  way  they  like  it  .  sofie  doesn’t  feel  judged  by  them  as  she  does  by  others  who  don’t  get  obliterated  at  every  social  event  (  what  an  idea  !!  )  so  she  rly  values  them  ,  even  if  she  doesn’t  express  it

 ** 8 !! - someone  who  kinda  reluctantly  got  into  a  relationship  with  sofie  out  of  maybe  a  desire  to  save  her  from  herself  ??  like  u  know  that  good  girl  bad  boy  trope  where  the  girl  tries  to  save  the  boy  from  whatever  he’s  struggling  with  ?  that’s  them  but  the  roles  are  just  reversed  -  good  guy  ,  bad  girl  .  it  was  kinda  just  filled  w  her  being  self - destructive  &  confiding  in  him  but  not  rly  reciprocating  the  care  so  he  became  kinda  distant  bc  of  it  .  tbh  she  prob  knew  he  was  too  good  for  her  but  had  a sliver  of  hope  he  wouldn’t  leave  her  even  tho  eventually  she  became  too  much  for  him  .  (  lyrics : you said, "don't treat me badly", but you said it so sadly, so I did the best I could, not thinkin' you would have left me gladly. i know you're not sorry, why should you be? 'cause who am I to be in love, when your love never is for me?” )

good influence  !! this  person  can  tell  that  her  beahvior  is  unhealthy  &  are  trying  to  gently  nudge  her  abt  it  .  she  can  tell  what  they’re  doing  but  her  addict  brain  is  telling  her  its  invasive  &  threatening  so  shes  not  the  fondest  of  this  person  ,  but  deep  down  she  really  appreciates  them

music buddies !! these  two  are  both  in  the  music  industry  &  rather  than  it  being  competitive  ,  they’ve  developed  a  friendship  from  it  & enjoy  working  together  .  

* someone  sofie  ghostwrites  for  !! for  whatever  reason  ,  this  muse  doesn’t  write  their  own  songs  & instead  pays  sofie  to  write  them  for  them  .  she  doesn’t  love  it  but  its  a  way  to  make  money  &  give  away  songs  she  doesn’t  feel  attached  to  but  are  worth  something  .  maybe  its  tense  bc  they  claim  the  songs  as  their  own  &  sofie  doesn’t  like  it  ,  this  could  be  ~escandolo~  later  !!

*** my boy ( high school bf ) !! - ok  tea  this  song  is  the  one  that  broke  her  into  the  industry  .  she  produced  it  all  herself  &  just  relased  it  to  her  soundcloud  thinking  it  wouldn’t  rly  go  anyway  but  !!  joke’s  on  yung sofie  .  essentially  he  thought  the  relationship  was  going  well  ,  she’d  met  his  family  &  they  rly  liked  her  but  !! sof  was  feeling  kinda  smothered  &  told  herself  he  was  lying &  cheating  on  her  n  shit  so  she  wrote  a  song  about  it  !! &  once  it  was  starting  to  get  attention  he  was  like  ….. uhhh  what  the  fuck  & she  was  like  haha  sorry  !! so  they  broke  up  &  ever  since  its  been  animosity ,  but  she  realizes  she  fucked  up  but  it  launched  her  career  so  she  doesn’t  know  whether  to  keep  up  the  idgaf  i  hurt  you  or  apologize  .  

* ex - friends  !!  ok  pls  i  have  this  hc  where  sofie  got  way  too  high  one  night  &  slept  with  this  person’s  dad  or  sibling  or  smth !!  u  know  that  line  in  ‘ bad guy ’  where  she  goes  ‘ might  seduce  your  dad  type  ? ’  ya  that’s  got  sofie  written  ALL  over  it  !!   &  now  they’re  not  friends  bc  sofie  can’t  keep  it  in  her  pants  but  both  sides  kinda  misses  the  other  but  are  too  stubborn  to  say  anything  :~(

exes from college / high school  !!  - ok honestly i just love all the exes plots . gimme someone who like maybe they were hooking up & decided to give it a shot dating & it worked for a while but ultimately fell apart bc of sof’s inability to open up. maybe theres still tension or maybe theyre friends now !!

* lovely  !!  -  i  need  a  male  voice  for  khalid’s  part  in  lovely  bc  i  need  this  song  in  my  life  bc  its  a  whole  ass   sofie  mood  ok  .  

i’ve  also  got  a  wanted  connections  tag  linked  HERE  dksfj there's  not  much  in  it  yet  but  feel  free  to  check  it  out  .  ok  i  love  y'all  

#glitterati.intro #excited to be here :~)

[cliftonsteen]

The Success Of Locally-Produced Coffee In The Philippines

Philippine farmers have grown coffee for hundreds of years. The country has produced commercial Robusta for decades, with specialty Arabica production making up a tiny percentage of the local coffee industry. 

A number of factors have kept Philippine specialty coffee from reaching a wider audience. Natural disasters, environmental issues, and unstable economic conditions have hampered production in recent years. Demand is also considerably higher than local supply: in 2018, the Philippines consumed 170,000 metric tons of coffee, but produced only 35,000.

While 2020 brought further challenges – including the Covid-19 pandemic and the Taal Volcano eruption – it could also mark the beginning of a new era for Philippine specialty coffee. For the first time in history, a locally-produced coffee won the 2020 Philippine National Barista Championship (PNBC). Read on to learn about why this success is so important for the future of Philippine coffee production.

You may also like Understanding Specialty Coffee in The Philippines

Philippine Coffee Production 

Spanish monks first brought coffee to the Philippines in 1740 in Lipa, which soon became the country’s coffee capital. Production soon spread across the country and by the 1800s, coffee was being exported to the USA via San Francisco and Europe via the Suez Canal. 

By the late 1800s, the Philippines was the world’s fourth-largest coffee exporter. At one point in the 19th century, it was the only source of coffee in the entire world when coffee rust destroyed crops in Africa, Java, and Brazil.

However, when coffee rust eventually reached the Philippines in the early 1900s, it devastated the country’s coffee production. It destroyed almost all of the country’s coffee plants, leading many producers to abandon the crop altogether. Production slowly recovered throughout the 20th century, and in the 1950s, the Philippine government introduced a disease-resistant variety into the country.

However, production is still far behind local demand. According to the Department of Agriculture, the country imports between 75,000 and 100,000 metric tons a year from Vietnam and Indonesia alone.

JC Martinez is the President of BrewsCo, a Philippine coffee brand. He explains that in 2019, most of the coffee produced in the country was Robusta, followed by Arabica (with only a small percentage at specialty grade), Excelsia, and Liberica. It’s only in the past three to five years farmers have focused on increasing specialty Arabica production. 

To make matters worse, 2020 has brought a completely new set of challenges for Philippine coffee farmers. When the Taal Volcano erupted in January 2020, more than 450,000 residents were urged to leave their homes and farms. Damage to farmland, crops, and livestock was estimated to cost around 577 million Philippine pesos (around US $11 million) with more than 5,000 metric tons of coffee damaged. 

And just weeks after the eruption, in mid-March, the government declared a lockdown across most of the country. This has only further impacted the Philippine coffee sector; co-chair and president of Philippine Coffee Board (PCBI), Pacita U. Juan, said that major local roasters have “suffered a drop of about 80% in demand”.

The 2020 PNCC

From 2013 to 2019, the licensed body for World Coffee Events (WCE) in the Philippines was the Phillipine National Barista Championship (PNBC). 

However, in 2020, a new WCE-sanctioned body, the Philippine National Coffee Competition (PNCC), took over the event, with the aim of improving global visibility for the Philippine coffee industry. The PNCC presented the 2020 National Barista Championship, Philippine Latte Art Championship, and Brewer’s Cup over a three-day event in early March. 

The National Barista Champion was Adrian Vocalan, who was also 2017’s Philippine National Latte Art Champion. Unlike previous winners, however, Adrian won using a local coffee – an experimentally-processed Typica from Itogon, Benguet. 

Adrian prepared an espresso, milk beverage, and signature beverage, highlighting the coffee’s more nuanced flavour notes with each preparation method. The espresso highlighted orange, cherry, and cocoa tasting notes, while the milk beverage had notes of vanilla, butterscotch, and caramel. PNCC organiser Nina Guinto described the signature beverage as tasting floral and juicy, with pineapple, honey, and sweet tamarind notes.

Unlike previous competition winners, Adrian picked the coffee himself and oversaw its processing and roasting. By doing so, he was able to share its production and processing details with judges, connecting them with the people producing it. 

The Typica came from a lot produced by Elma Serna, a producer from Sitio Hartwell with a farm 1,300 to 1,500 metres above sea level. Sitio Hartwell is in the Cordillera region, which is known for producing specialty Arabica. 

Michael Harris Conlin, the 2019 Philippine National Barista Champion, was part of the team that sourced Adrian’s winning coffee. He says: “Elma is a backyard farmer whose family’s livelihood before getting into coffee was mining. After mining was banned by the local municipality, she shifted to coffee production.

“Adrian’s coffee was processed in a very special way. He used carbonic maceration as well a piece of yeast from kombucha grown in a lab. This gave the coffee a nice, effervescent mouthfeel that is not typical of Philippine coffee.” 

When I asked Michael what made this coffee special, he said: “I think the most special thing about that is the way it was processed, but Adrian was involved from start to finish. He picked the coffee himself, processed it and was involved in the roasting. The only thing he missed was planting it.”

The fact that a Philippine coffee won the 2020 PNBC is testament to the fact that local specialty coffees are improving in quality. Sly Samonte won the PNBC in 2016 and 2017, and he says that six years ago, he looked for locally-produced competition-grade coffees, but couldn’t find any. 

Raoul De Peralta roasted Adrian’s competition-winning coffee. He says: “[A few years ago], the quality of coffee production, in terms of the soil processing and harvesting practices, was not properly refined. Philippine coffee was only ready [for competitions] when more independent coffee producers started to be more hands-on. In maybe 2016 or 2017, you started to see a shift in local coffees.”

Many people who enter barista competitions use coffees that are already well-known and recognised for their quality. Adrian acknowledges that, in the Philippines, using a local coffee is risky. However, he explains that he “wants to break that mindset”.

“We are proud to have this coffee. And using our skills, we needed to prove that our coffee and our ability can win in a competition like this.”

The Future Of Philippine-Produced Specialty Coffee

Coffee professionals in the Philippines hope that a local coffee winning 2020’s PNCC will help bring attention to locally-produced specialty coffee. Rosario Juan is the owner of Commune and part of the PNCC’s leadership. She says: “At the most basic level, this gets people talking about Philippine coffee. 

“The buzz will give it more attention and will interest many. There is a small but steadily growing push for Philippine specialty coffee. The fact that we can start talking about quality shows that the work that has been put in over two decades is finally starting to bear fruit.”

Sly agrees: “There’s a lot of intrigue. There’s a lot of desire to improve Philippine coffee and another win is going to add some fire to that. I think that, yes, people would fly to the Philippines for coffee. I believe that some unique varietals have cropped up in the last few years.”

This win will also encourage local producers to keep growing specialty coffee. Lloyd Eric Lim is the PNCC head of finance and CFO of Conlins Coffee, a Philippine coffee roaster. 

He says: “I do feel this is a much-needed boost to the morale of our coffee farmers. I think having the coffee take on such positive national attention is the first step to bringing awareness and growing interest in specialty coffee.”

For the first time in competition history, a Philippine coffee has won a barista competition. This is clear proof that interest in Philippine specialty coffee is only growing. The next test will be competing on an international level; displaying a Philippine coffee origin on a global stage would surely only grow local and international demand even further. 

Enjoyed this? Then Read Beyond Manila: Drinking Specialty Coffee Across The Philippines

Photo credits: Michael Harris Conlin, Raoul De Peralta

Perfect Daily Grind

Want to read more articles like this? Sign up for our newsletter

The post The Success Of Locally-Produced Coffee In The Philippines appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.

The Success Of Locally-Produced Coffee In The Philippines published first on https://espressoexpertweb.weebly.com/

[imagineproduce101]

Picture Perfect Ch. 2

You’re not particularly into BNM, the new rising kpop group, but your best friend has fallen head-over-heels for their adorable maknae, Lee Daehwi. Your days in college are filled with working on your photography portfolio in hopes that a magazine will hire you, while your best friend’s is filled with stalking keeping up with BNM. However, when one day, your best friend decides to attend a fansign with your best camera, your entire world changes.

A multichaptered fic ft. Park Woojin, the trainees of Brand New Music, Yoo Seonho and the pd101 boys. In this story, your best friend’s name is Lee Seonmi; you two have been friends since high school, and you attend university in Seoul and room together.

Chapter One

Chapter Two: Loyalty

ft. Bae Jinyoung as your classmate in university!

2.6k works

Preview:

“Seonmi!” You yelled loudly, racing up to her. She looked up, makeup smeared and cheeks stained with tears. As soon as you pulled her into a hug, she burst into tears again, resting her face on your shoulder.

“T-they kicked me out!” Seonmi wailed loudly, “I didn’t do anything wrong! I was just standing there!”

You pulled Seonmi away from you, gripping her by the shoulders. Fumbling, you pulled a napkin out from your pocket and wiped the makeup away, mouth set firmly.

“Yah, I’m not letting them get away with this,” you snapped, setting off in the direction of the music store. “You didn’t meet them right? Because you got kicked out?”

“(Y/N), no, it’s okay,” Seonmi tugged on your hand, trying to stop you, “I’ll just get into the next fansign.”

“And waste even more money?” You shook your head defiantly, “Hell to the no.” No one-- no one-- was allowed to treat your best friend like that.

+

As you quickly wrote down your contact and identification information for the manager (and apologized for causing a scene), you had the sensation like someone was staring you. The manager punched your information into his phone, giving you time to glance up.

Your glance was met with an intense stare, coming from the dark eyes framed by the burgundy fringe of Park Woojin.

“Thank you so, so much,” Seonmi gushed, clutching your baby, your most prized possession in one hand. In honor of her special day meeting the boys of BNM, you had lent her your nice DSLR camera and taught her the basics. In the other hand, she held the ticket to the BNM fansign that she would be attending later that day. “I’ll get a lot of cute pictures for you!”

You just sighed and checked the subway stop to see when you’d be getting off. You didn’t really trust Seonmi to go to something like this by herself, so you were going with her, and would wait in a café near the music shop of the fansign. One of your friends from university, Bae Jinyoung, worked there, so you figured you would drop by and say hello.

“(Y/N), I can’t believe this is finally happening,” Seonmi wrapped her perfectly manicured nails around the pole as the train speeded up, and you braced yourself so that you wouldn’t fall over as well. “I’m meeting the love of my life, Lee Daehwi.”

“I can’t believe this is happening either,” you nodded, “Honestly, I’m glad that you got into the fansign—you deserved it out of all their fans. I know how many albums you’ve bought just for this moment.” Seonmi gasped playfully, whipping out her cell phone.

“(Y/F/N) (Y/N), did you really just admit that I deserve to meet BNM?” Seonmi giggled, “Are you saying that maybe, I’m not crazy for loving them?” She quickly checked her own reflection in the cell phone screen, smoothing down her wavy cherry red hair.

“Oh no, you’re definitely crazy,” you replied as you two got off the train. You began pushing your way through the lunchtime crowd that was entering the subway from the Gangnam station. You felt your body being shoved and elbowed, and stayed close to Seonmi so that you two wouldn’t be separated.

Once you finally got out into the open air on the bustling street, you scanned the street for the café that Jinyoung worked at, while Seonmi hunted for the music store.

“What time does this thing start, anyways?” You asked your best friend curiously. It was 11 in the morning, and while you were happy to indulge your best friend, you also wanted to know what time it would all be over.

“At 12,” Seonmi responded, “I didn’t want to get there too early, because my friend told me that the girls who get there super early are, like, super obsessive and creepy, so I’d rather just get there later.”

“Super obsessive and creepy, like you?” You teased your best friend, who groaned and shoved you. Snickering, you darted out of her way. “I’m just joking. Anyways, here’s the café, will you be okay getting to the music shop?”

Seonmi rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mom, I’ll be fine,” she pointed up the road, “and it’s right there. I’ll text you when it’s about to end, okay?”

“Gotchu,” you sent Seonmi finger guns as you stepped inside the café, “see you on the other side of the living, nerd!”

“Bye Mother!” Seonmi called after you, before setting off down the street.

Instantly, the aroma of sweet milk and bitter coffee washed over your senses.

“(Y/N)!” The cashier greeted you with a wave.

“Hey, Jinyoung-ah!” You waved back, taking your wallet out from the canvas bag you’d slung over your shoulder, “Not too busy today?”

“Ah, not really,” Jinyoung shook his head, “It’s actually kind of surprising, normally when there’s an event at the music shop, there’s a ton of girls waiting for whatever group here.”

“Do they ever end up coming?” You asked curiously, thinking that maybe you’d relay the information to Seonmi.

“Occasionally,” Jinyoung smiled sheepishly, “I’ve served EXO before.”

“What? EXO?” You nodded, impressed, “look at our Jinyoungie, making connections in life.”

“Dude, are you actually gonna order anything, or are you just gonna flirt with Jinyoung the entire day?” Yoon Jisung, the barista who worked with Jinyoung, chimed in, wiggling his eyebrows at you. You rolled your eyes and turned back to Jinyoung.

“I guess I’ll just have a regular coffee with room for cream,” you sighed, as Jisung chuckled and slunk off to make your drink.

“Sorry about that,” Jinyoung chuckled at your irritated expression, “he can get a little, uh… out of hand at times.”

“I’ve noticed,” you laughed. Jisung was the TA in the Art History class that Jinyoung and you had met in, and you’d never met a more enthusiastic, albeit strange, person in your life. “How much?”

“No worries, it’s on me,” Jinyoung flashed you his signature small smile, “take it as a thanks from me for saving me from that last quiz.”

“Thanks, Jinyoungie!” You chirped, going to collect your coffee from Jisung.

“Not dating, my ass,” the comical barista winked at you as he slid the coffee mug across the counter.

“Oppa, one day you’re gonna get punched for your antics,” you commented dryly, adding cream and sugar to your drink, “and I’ll just be standing there. Laughing.”

Once you were done chatting with Jisung, you found a table near the large windows that let in ample natural light and set your bag down. Once you were settled in, you pulled out your latest book about color theory in photography. While it might seem stupid or boring to some people, you knew that the only way to make photography into an actual career was to learn everything you could about technique and the art form.

+

new text from: seonmimi!

hey girl, the fansign is taking longer than usual? the fans are being really rowdy and so they spent a while trying to get ppl to chill before the boys came out

anyways idk what time its gnna end now??

so ill try n text u updates but ppl are fucking crazy I did NOT expect this

I can barely move this is so disorganized ugh

The things I do for daehwi

+

You wrinkled your nose, looking down at your phone. Hopefully Seonmi was alright; you’d heard so many stories about poor girls getting trampled by stampedes of crazy fangirls.

“You good?” A shadow was cast over your seat, making you look up. Jinyoung stood there, a small plate with a pastry in one hand. “Mind if I sit? I’m on my break.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” you gestured to the empty seat across from you, “I’m just stressed about Seonmi, she sent me a text that things are getting crazy over there.” You jabbed your thumb in the general direction of the music store.

Jinyoung frowned. “Yikes.”

“Yeah,” you swirled the dregs of coffee around in your mug, long cold. It was 2:30 in the afternoon, meaning that the actual fansign was coming to an end, but Seonmi had mentioned maybe trying to stick around afterwards to use your camera in order to get good pictures of the members. “I dunno, I just can’t help but feel like something bad is going to happen?”

“Understandable,” Jinyoung shrugged, “I don’t think it’s worth stressing over, though. Just keep an eye on your phone. You know Seonmi wouldn’t want you stressing like this.”

Just as Jinyoung finished reassuring you, the door to the café was yanked open, and a large group of girls came in, all chattering loudly.

“Yah, did you see my Donghyun?” One of the girls sighed, clutching her chest dramatically.

“Youngmin was so handsome!” Another squealed, waving her hands about.

“But did you see Dark Horse masternim?” The first girl asked her friends, eyes widening.

“I know! I can’t believe her and that other girl fought!” A third girl chimed in, shaking her head, “all that screaming just for a good spot for pictures.”

“And right before they would have greeted the boys,” their second friend tsked under her breath, “I feel really bad for the girl that got caught up in the middle of it, though, the one with the red hair? Dark Horse masternim shoved her, I think, cuz I saw from where I was sitting. But the managers kicked the red hair girl out anyways, even though she wasn’t involved in the fight at all.”

Jinyoung and you traded worried expressions.

“I know! And she wouldn’t stop crying, and the manager just told her to stop acting! Man, that was actually messed up.”

“Jinyoung, watch my things,” you said quietly, getting up quickly from your seat. No one—no one—was allowed to treat your best friend like that. “Excuse me,” you greeted the first girl, bowing, “he girl you were just talking about, with the red hair?”

“Yes?” She replied, obviously looking a bit confused.

“Sorry, was she about this tall?” You motioned with your hand, “Uh, I think she was wearing a black sweater and ripped jeans?”

“Yeah, that was her!” The girls all nodded in agreement. Cursing under your breath, you dashed out of the café, yelling a thanks to the girls back in the café. There was no way that was a coincidence.

Sure enough, about a block up, you caught sight of Seonmi’s firetruck red hair, head hanging down as she trudged slowly down the sidewalk.

“Seonmi!” You yelled loudly, racing up to her. She looked up, makeup smeared and cheeks stained with tears. As soon as you pulled her into a hug, she burst into tears again, resting her face on your shoulder.

“T-they kicked me out!” Seonmi wailed loudly, “I didn’t do anything wrong! I was just standing there!”

You pulled Seonmi away from you, gripping her by the shoulders. Fumbling, you pulled a napkin out from your pocket and wiped the makeup away, mouth set firmly.

“Yah, I’m not letting them get away with this,” you snapped, setting off in the direction of the music store. “You didn’t meet them right? Because you got kicked out?”

“(Y/N), no, it’s okay,” Seonmi tugged on your hand, trying to stop you, “I’ll just get into the next fansign.”

“And waste even more money?” You shook your head defiantly, “Hell to the no. Let me see your entrance ticket. Did you sign anything else to get in?” Seonmi handed you the slip of paper and shook her head no. As you stalked down the street, Seonmi in tow, you scanned over the ticket.

“The manager who kicked you out, what did he look like?” You asked as you neared the music shop.

“H-he was taller than me, white t-shirt, I think a leather jacket?” Seonmi sniffled, dabbing her eyes with the tissue. “But the fansign ended already, I was just waiting to see if maybe I could explain myself, but the manager cursed at me.”

“He did WHAT?”

“Fuck, I really shouldn’t have said anything,” Seonmi groaned, “Please, (Y/N), it’s not worth it, I don’t want you to get in trouble on my behalf.”

“The only person who should get in trouble is the manager, not you,” you said firmly, knocking on the music shop’s door. “I’m dealing with this.”

“Excuse me miss, the event is over,” the shop owner answered the door, obviously tired of girls trying to get in.

“I don’t care,” you snapped, holding up the ticket, “let me speak to one of BNM’s managers now. I don’t give a shit about seeing the idols, I just need to talk to a manager.”

“Ma’am, I really can’t let you—“

“Move.”

Shoving yourself past the shop owner, you marched into the shop towards the back room where there was still some commotion. You vaguely registered Seonmi sheepishly apologizing to the store manager. As you entered the room where the fansign had presumably been held, you scanned the people for the manager that Seonmi had described.

On one side of the room, four boys sat at a table, chatting and looking at their phones. Two guys chilled near them, standing up when they saw you. On the other side of the room stood the makeup and clothing people, holding large makeup and outfit bags. As soon as you entered the room, they all jolted, looking at you and Seonmi in shock.

“Yah, you, you’re back?”

You felt Seonmi jump behind you, clutching your sleeve, and you whirled around. A tall man with black hair, a white tshirt and a leather jacket met your gaze.

“Yah,” you approached him, “what’s your problem, man?”

“Excuse me?” The manager got in your face, clearly already pissed at the disrespectful tone that you took.

“Seonmi-ah, film this so that I can expose this shitty company and the rats that work for it,” you commented, handing your cell phone to Seonmi.

“No, you can’t film this,” the manager blustered, crossing his arms. The other two managers came up as well, obviously worried.

“Well, asshole, actually, I can,” you started, “And guess you can do? Apologize to my friend, shithead, for kicking her out of the fansign unjustly. She had nothing to do with the fight, but you kicked her out anyways without any proof, before she was able to greet BNM. Seonmi-ah bought a ton of albums, and has stayed up late voting for that stupid group on so many music shows, and you can mark my words you had better let her talk to them for a quick minute, or you’ll be met with a breaking headline: Menacing Manager Verbally Abuses Innocent Fan; Drives Young Girl to Tears. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Who the hell do you think you are, anyways?” The manager shouted, “she was in a physical altercation with another person, obviously we’re going to escort her out.”

“I’m sorry, do you have CCTV to prove that?” You retorted, arching an eyebrow, “Because not only do you not, I also have multiple eyewitness testimonies that prove otherwise. In addition, this ticket,” you shoved Seonmi’s ticket in his face, “is the only legally binding contract pertaining to the event, and nowhere does it say that engaging in a physical altercation can result in ejection from the venue, nor did you explicitly reserve the right to do so. Therefore,” you mimicked his pose, crossing your arms as well, meeting his angry glare, “give her a chance to talk to them.”

“You…” the manager’s face turned progressively red and he stepped forward, looming over you.

“Sejun, take a walk,” the second manager said stiffly as he approached you all, placing a stern hand on the first manager—Sejun’s—shoulder. Sejun sent the second manager a dirty look and stalked off. The second manager turned to you with a kind smile, clearly attempting some damage control.“Now, Ms…?”

“Ms. (Y/G/N) (Y/N).” You responded stiffly.

“Right. Ms. (Y/G/N), I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. Sejun is a new manager assigned to our team from the higher-ups, and it appears that he is not a good fit for us,” he explained calmly, “I would be happy to offer you and your friend a chance to talk to the boys, along with complimentary tickets to our next concert here in Seoul, if we could negotiate you deleting that video file.”

Seonmi turned to me with a huge smile that she was obviously trying to contain.

“Go,” you whispered quietly to her, figuring that you would settle out the information with the much nicer manager while she had her time talking to the group.

As you quickly wrote down your contact and identification information for the manager (and apologized for causing a scene), you had the sensation like someone was staring you. The manager punched your information into his phone, giving you time to glance up.

Your glance was met with an intense stare, coming from the dark eyes framed by the burgundy fringe of Park Woojin.

Chapter 3

#produce 101 #produce 101 season 2 #produce 101 imagine #produce 101 fanfiction #produce 101 season 2 imagine #produce 101 season 2 fanfiction #park woojin #park woojin oneshot #park woojin imagine #park woojin fanfiction #bae jinyoung #bae jinyoung imagine #bae jinyoung oneshot #wanna one #wanna one imagine #wanna one fanfiction #wanna one reaction #wanna one scenario #wanna one oneshot

[chongjojunsalsa]

Ice Pops

Word Count: 3079 words

Pairing: Seokjin/Everyone (because i’m thirsty like that)

Summary:

sunshinehobi i don’t know about you guys but that ice pop made my boner pop

[ alternatively titled: Popsicles, because they have a different name for it everywhere I swear]

Note: also posted on ao3, but tumblr is irresistible. come find me or continue reading under the cut!

The tension surrounding the coffee table in the Bangtan dormitory is thick and heavy and not something everybody is willing to wake up at 2am for. An emergency meeting, Yoongi had called it, while frantically knocking on everybody’s door in the middle of the night, his face a shade paler than it already is.

So around the table they sit, muttering under their breath how this is fucking stupid, let me go back to sleep, groggy eyes directing expectant stares at Min Yoongi while he paces back and forth, trying to think of a way to put his thoughts into words without making it sound too blunt. Nobody in their sleep-deprived state seems to notice that Seokjin is not sitting in his usual seat, wedged in between Taehyung and Yoongi, except for Jimin, who raises his hand half-heartedly and mumbles, “Why are we conducting an emergency meeting without Jin hyung?”

At the slight mention of Seokjin, Yoongi freaks. He slaps a hand over Jimin’s mouth with unnecessary strength, wide eyes darting around maniacally, his voice urgent and frenzied as he hisses, “Shut up, he’ll hear you.” Jimin grunts in pain and shoves Yoongi away, eyebrows furrowed in irritation, it’s too early for Yoongi’s bullshit.

Namjoon flattens his lips into a thin line, he knows how Yoongi is when Seokjin stays elsewhere for the night. “Yoongi hyung, Jin hyung isn’t even here, he can’t possible hear you,” he points out and barely manages to avoid the hand coming for his mouth.

“Yah! This is really an emergency!” Yoongi slams his hand onto the table in frustration unexpectedly, startling an already dozing off Taehyung and causing him to tumble off the couch. He glares daggers at Yoongi as he seats himself back onto the couch, a hand cradling the elbow that he’d hit on the coffee table. All of a sudden, the members are alert, it’s rare to see their second eldest hyung this worked up. He wouldn’t act this way unless it were really an emergency. They exchange worried glances and comply immediately when he gestures for them to come closer.

Yoongi has them huddled towards the centre of the table and they wait, at the ready - they think - of whatever he has to say to them. He lowers his voice to a soft drawl, “Have you ever seen hyung eat an ice pop?” All at once, they scatter, profanities rolling off the tips of their tongues in a series of “fuck this, i’m out“s and ”what the fuck, hyung“s. Like Jimin had mentioned earlier, it’s too early for Yoongi’s bullshit. In fact, any time is too early for Yoongi’s bullshit.

“Hyung, you’re drunk, aren’t you?” Hoseok presses the back of his palm on Yoongi’s cheek, to which the latter slaps his hand away indignantly and scowls.

“I’m not drunk, you shits,” he snarls and blocks their way as they try to make their ways back to their respective rooms (read: attempt) with his small stature.

“Let us go and Jin hyung won’t hear a word about this,” Jeongguk finally speaks up, the first words he had spoken since they had gathered around the coffee table, a wry smile playing on his lips. Yoongi’s expression darkens considerably, but he concedes anyway, he won’t hear the end of it if his hyung were to corner him and question him about the emergency meeting he held at 2am in the morning, only to ask the members if they’d seen him eat an ice pop. Truly mortifying.

But Yoongi knows he can’t possible go to war all by himself again, it was already that difficult surviving the first time. He needs comrades, he needs a plan.

suga&spice created emergency meeting. suga&spice invited rapmoney to emergency meeting. suga&spice invited sunshinehobi to emergency meeting. suga&spice invited chimmers to emergency meeting. suga&spice invited taelien to emergency meeting. suga&spice invited seaguk to emergency meeting. suga&spice invited everythingnice to emergency meeting.

suga&spice oh fuck

suga&spice removed everythingnice from emergency meeting.

suga&spice ok hear me out u have to see him eat an ice pop

chimmers so that wasn’t a bad dream

sunshinehobi wtf hyung

taelien yoongi hyung rly wants us to watch jin hyung suck a popsicle off

chimmers ice pop*

sunshinehobi theyre the same thing dumbass

suga&spice how did u know

sunshinehobi that they’re the same thing??? i’m not a dumbass like jimin lol

chimmers bitch

suga&spice no as in that is literally how he eats an ice pop like hes eating d

sunshinehobi oh my god

chimmers youre kidding

taelien LOL R U SRS

seaguk that probably happened in your dream hyungie~~~

suga&spice i texted jin hyung and he said hed get ice cream w us shut up maknae

taelien ice cream or ice pops??

suga&spice hed get an ice pop either way

chimmers this better not be disappointing

sunshinehobi ive always wondered what jin hyung looked like eating d

chimmers ^

taelien ^

seaguk ^

suga&spice dont make me regret this wheres namjoon btw

seaguk still sleeping lol

suga&spice wake him up and meet me outside the dorm in five

“I don’t get what’s so interesting about Jin hyung choosing between Zesty Lime and Cherry Bomb,” Namjoon tells Yoongi blandly, to which he responds with a flick to his cheek - right in the dimple - and an annoyed but otherwise barely audible ‘sh’.

“Wait for it, you impatient fuck,” Yoongi grits his teeth at the other members’ fidgety restlessness. Seokjin was taking his time to choose a popsicle, completely oblivious to the fact that the other members had been hiding behind the shelf in the convenience store, in patient wait for him to just shove it down your throat already.

Shut up, Jimin.

After twenty seconds or so of flirting with the cashier, she blushingly tells him that he need not pay for it, to which he replies with a sly wink and a flying kiss. She looks like she’s about to faint, but immediately tends to the next customer as soon as he shoves a packet of cigarettes onto the counter. Yoongi rolls his eyes, but it’s better that she doesn’t witness what he knows is about to happen.

When Seokjin is done unwrapping the ice pop, the other members’ incessant pockets of whispers cease and they wait with bated breath for what Yoongi had been fearing for his life for - except Namjoon, the bastard doesn’t check his messages.

He first wraps his full lips around the tip of the Zesty Lime ice pop he had opted for, shuddering in unsullied delight as the refreshing iciness melts onto his tongue in a burst of flavour. With his lips still on the ice pop, his tongue pokes out from on top his bottom lip, first to collect any juice that has dissolved onto his bottom lip, then to curl around the popsicle and lick a stripe towards his lips before disappearing into his mouth again.

Fuck, Yoongi can already feel the wretched and all-knowing twitch in his jeans.

Without warning, Seokjin shoves the whole ice pop into his mouth, the whole fucking thing, his plump lips stretching around the end of the popsicle, red from effort and the frigid ice pop. Yoongi can’t possibly ignore the small choke erupting from the back of Seokjin’s throat or the tears bunched around the edges of his eyes, all the while allowing the ice pop to stay in its place. The last straw is when he hollows his cheeks.

Yoongi dares to chance a glance towards the other members. Namjoon has a trembling hand over his mouth, Hoseok’s jaw has gone completely slack, Jeongguk is muttering a long string of curse words under his breath, Jimin’s tongue is swirling on his bottom lip, and save the best for last, Taehyung’s face is a brilliant shade of red. Yoongi would laugh at them if it weren’t for the gradually taut feeling in his jeans, fuck, and he knows it isn’t even the worst part yet.

And as if Seokjin had read Yoongi’s mind, he moans around the popsicle in unadulterated pleasure, eyes lolling up for a split second before flitting back to maintain a loving gaze at the popsicle, painfully oblivious to the mortified stares the others were giving him (cashier included, whoops). When he decides that he’s done - thank God - he pulls the ice pop out of his mouth, the bright green of the popsicle reappearing at a sickeningly slow pace, and finally, finally coming out of his mouth with a slick ‘pop’ sound. (Yoongi vaguely remembers wondering if that’s why they called it an ice pop.) Everybody tries their best to ignore the glossy string of saliva connecting Seokjin’s mouth and the ice pop.

“What– what the fuck was that?” Jeongguk is the first one to speak up, his voice coming out as a squeak more than anything.

“That was way worse than any porn I’ve ever watched,” Namjoon has the cheek to say, and Hoseok hits his shoulder.

Yoongi smiles bitterly. “It’s already my second time witnessing this, and I still can’t get used to it.”

At this, Jimin chuckles and licks his lips. “Au contraire, Yoongi hyung, I think I could get used to this.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“I cannot believe you’ve been hiding the good stuff from us, hyung,” Hoseok mumbles, still recovering from the daze.

“Firstly, I’ve only seen it once before this. Secondly, who are the fucking idiots who ignored me when I was trying to tell them about this?” Yoongi sneers, face marked into a frown.

“You didn’t tell us he was going to deep-throat a-”

“Yah! What’s going on behind here? A secret cult meeting that I wasn’t invited to? I’m hurt,” Seokjin’s voice joins the conversation unexpectedly, his signature squeaky laugh bouncing off the shelves, and everybody startles. “Aren’t any of you going to get anything?”

Nobody knows how to respond for fear that he had been listening in on their conversation the whole time. To everybody’s relief, Taehyung breaks the silence.

“Ah,” Taehyung gestures towards a stream of juice flowing down Seokjin’s finger, onto his palm and down his arm. “Hyung, do you need a tissue for that?”

Seokjin responds in the form of a slight shake of his head before bending his head towards the trickle of juice down his right arm, and licking it, his tongue curling and flicking at every single last drop of juice. For some godforsaken reason however, nobody seems to be able to take their eyes of him, the way his tongue works up his arm (his arm, for God’s sake) in a way no person should ever be allowed to. Ever.

He pauses halfway, somewhere at his wrist, hooded eyes suddenly darting up at the rest of them, holding them in an accusatory stare, and Yoongi thinks it’s specifically directed at him. He gulps. Seokjin’s gaze doesn’t tear away from them until he’s done, and when he is, he simply beams at them and walks away, stuffing the ice pop down his throat once again.

“Do you think he knows?” Jeongguk croaks out, and everybody looks over at Yoongi apprehensively. And Yoongi doesn’t know how to respond to that.

Soon enough, everybody decides on an ice pop, Taehyung and Jeongguk opting for none - dietary reasons, they called it - and they make their way out of the convenience store, steely eyes too trained on Seokjin to notice a certain somebody sidling up next to Seokjin.

“Jin hyung, do you want to try my ice pop? Mine’s pink,” Jimin has an arm around Seokjin’s wide shoulders, his other arm outstretched towards the taller male in an attempt to feed him the Cherry Bomb. Seokjin gladly accepts any offers of free food he sees and allows his tongue to coil around the tip of the dark pink ice pop, humming in approval of Jimin’s choice. Jimin’s internal victory dance is short-lived as he is torn away from Seokjin’s side by a wild Taehyung.

“Hyung, I know you don’t like using tissues, but you’re making a mess,” comments Taehyung as he swipes his thumb on the corner of Seokjin’s lips, and bringing it to his mouth. Seokjin subconsciously flicks his tongue at the spot Taehyung’s thumb had been resting just moments ago, leaving Taehyung very flustered, who resorts to burying himself in Jin’s broad back to hide his pink cheeks. Yoongi would like to say that this was the end of the maknae line’s tactics, but it isn’t.

“Can I have a lick at your ice pop, hyung?” Jeongguk appears out of nowhere, and flashes a blinding smile at Seokjin. Yoongi lets out an audible gasp, the nerve of that brat, he knows how weak Seokjin is to the maknae, he’ll have to depend on the fact that Seokjin can be stingy with his food.

Seokjin chuckles at Jeongguk and ruffles his hair. “Only for my Jeongguk,” Seokjin coos and extends the arm holding the popsicle to Jeongguk, who responds more than happily by sticking it in his mouth and side-eyeing anybody who was throwing jealous glares at him. He smiles around the ice pop, but eventually moves away from it, a satisfied grin playing at his lips.

The elder hyungs can’t help but click their tongues at their dongsaengs, immature brats, Namjoon says. Except that he says it with the tone of voice that gives away the fact that he wants to be young enough and cute enough to get away with anything those “immature brats” just did, Yoongi duly notes.

Yoongi knows better than to brood over this, so he does the only thing he knows how to do in this sort of situation. He, in this opportune moment, decides that he is going play the roommate card, the card deemed the most despicable in the Bangtan dormitory, according to everybody but Yoongi.

But Seokjin beats him to it.

“Yoongi-chii, can I have a bite of yours?” Seokjin had somehow managed to shake off the three brats and sling his arm around Yoongi, a smile on his lips as he leans in to taste his ice pop, with absolutely no regard for Yoongi’s decision. Consent is important, kids.

“Yah, this hyung,” Yoongi bites back at him - albeit a little too affectionately - in the pretence of not enjoying all the attention the oldest hyung was spoon-feeding him. He loves it, he’s just had enough dignity to keep it in his pants so far, which reminds him of the boner residing in his jeans, which he has artfully hidden with a jacket tied around his waist.

Hearing Seokjin burst into his trademark laugh, Yoongi can’t help but smile.

chimmers changed his nickname to jinmin. jinmin changed the group name to jin’s tongue appreciation cult.

jinmin ah thats better

suga&spice changed the group name to he will call the cops on us. jinmin changed the group name to jinnie oppa fan club!!!!.

suga&spice fuck no only the nickname stays

suga&spice changed the group name to emergency meeting.

jinmin i like my nickname very much tqvm

jinmin updated the group picture.

suga&spice is that when did u take that wtf park jimin u creep

seaguk ah

seaguk changed his nickname to jinkook.

jinkook i dont mind it though???

taelien changed his username to taejin.

taejin neither does yoongi hyung but he isnt about to admit it

jinmin ;) no need to say thank you boys but i will fight you on the nickname thing

suga&spice that is a fucking picture of jin hyung eating the popsicle if he chances upon any of our phones were dead

jinkook i like living on the edge

suga&spice u are all horrible people i never should have let u sorry bastards know about this istfg

taejin esp park jimin u sneaky rat

jinmin jeongguk though????

jinkook ha

rapmoney since when did we have this group

suga&spice u were sleeping

jinkook arent you lucky we woke you up

taejin lol joonie hyung went back offline

jinkook lol

suga&spice uhh btw just asking but how do you change your nickname in a group

jinmin thought you’d never ask press the settings bar at the top right corner of the group chat the group chat ok if you do it elsewhere you’ll change your nickname in that chat there’s a button all the way at the bottom that says change nickname press it

suga&spice removed nickname function in emergency meeting.

taelien YOONGI HYUNG i h8 u

suga&spice wait i swear that was an accident uh wtv it was confusing anyways

sunshinehobi am i late to the party anyways i don’t know about you guys but that ice pop made my boner pop #shameonme

chimmers #shameonme

seaguk #shameonme

rapmoney #shameonme

taelien #shameonme

suga&spice oh look joonie’s back on and btw all of u are nasty ass bitches

seaguk really now

chimmers i think you should be the most ashamed

suga&spice #shameonme

sunshinehobi #shameonyou

chimmers #shameonyou

suga&spice STOP

taelien #shameonyou

It’s an hour to showtime and the members of Bangtan Sonyeondan are holed up in their dressing room, some of them drumming their fingers on the pristine white couches while staring at the wall on the opposite side of the room, some of them aggressively tapping on their phones, letting slip a curse word or two once in a while.

Seokjin, meanwhile, is thinking of what to do for his next Eat Jin, and he’s hungry to hear the members’ opinions on the idea he’s settled on.

“For my next episode of Eat Jin, I was thinking I could have something sweet to eat,” Seokjin muses out loud, tapping a finger on his chin. “A popsicle, maybe?”

At the mention of popsicle, all the members swivel their head around at him with wide eyes and parted lips and flushed cheeks. “No,” they respond, creepily in sync.

Seokjin’s head tips to one side, doe eyes wide with innocence, eyebrows arched up in confusion. “Why?”

“No reason,” Jeongguk replies hastily. Hoseok offers an unapologetic shrug.

Seokjin looks offended and while crossing his arms over his chest, huffs, “Then each of you is going to buy me a popsicle to make up for that.” His frown quickly melts into a toothy smile.

Taehyung is sent into a coughing fit, along with Namjoon. Jimin merely mirrors Seokjin’s expression.

And Yoongi doesn’t quite miss the way the edges of Seokjin’s lips quirk up into a knowing smirk.

#jinkook #2seok #yoonjin #taejin #jinmin #namjin #i am unashamed #bts fic #jingko writes #jin harem #ksj #jjk #jhs #myg #kth #pjm #knj #(ꈍᴗꈍ) #(ง •̀ •́)ง #(◕ᴗ◕✿) #( ˘ ³˘)♥ #(´・ω・｀) #ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

[lenin-it-to-win-it]

tag game

tagged by @bandaged-chessmaster

Rules: 1. Post the rules 2. Answer the questions given to you by the tagger 3. Write 11 questions of your own 4. And tag 11 people 

1. Favourite flavour of ice-cream? cherry vanilla or butter pecan!

2. Dawn or Dusk? dusk bc its more Edgy TM

3. Hogwarts house? slytherin bc i lie in every house quiz i take to get slytherin (if i was honest i’d probably be ravenclaw)

4. Have any stuffed toys? several, including seven stuffed rabbits, a kermit the frog toy, a purple panda, a teddy bear my mom had when she was a kid, a russian elephant that shrieks when you squeeze it, and a little tiger named atsu, a red panda named chuuya, and a black cat named agugu!!!

5. Cats or Dogs? i love cats in theory, dogs in practice (ie i prefer cats in general but i have a dog and i love him more than anything else in this world)

6. How many hours of sleep do you get?  sleep? i dont know her

7. Tea or Coffee? neither, but ill chug the shit out of some hot chocolate

8. First thing you notice in a person? physically probably their hair, if u mean like first thing i notice about their personality  its their sense of humor 

9. Monochrome or Colour? color!!!! i fuckin love color so much, coloring is my favorite part of doing any sort of art its so much fun and i love it

10. Song currently stuck in your head? I THREW IT ON THE GROUUUUUND

11. Do you play an instrument? Which one? violin and piano, and ur moms not an instrument but i sure played her last night oH SNAP

my questions:

ya like jazz???

would you rather have your fingers turn into thousands of tiny rats or have your left leg turned into one gigantic rat that says “yee” really loudly with every step you take?

TURN DOWN FOR WHAT??!??

if you had to eat a rock, how would you go about doing so?

what’s your favorite idea?(mine is being creative)

youre a prosecuting attorney who will lose their job unless they receive a conviction on their next court case, and you’ve just gotten a confession from a criminal but u forgot to read them their miranda rights, thus rendering their confession null, so do u forge their signature on a document stating that they’ve been read their miranda rights or do you allow the court to disregard the confession and lose your job?

how many big-ass knives do u wanna shove up the festering anus of capitalism?

is THAT a WEED!????

check yourself or wreck yourself (or shrek yourself)?

how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if she sells seashells down by the pickled pack of peppers if the speed of acceleration is 9.8 m/s/s and the circumference of the triaguloid is 4 degrees centigrade by 93 inches longitude?

on a scale of yes to hell yes how much do u agree that lenin can eat the booty like groceries?

tagging:

u know what i went thru all the trouble to make questions for this so im actually gonna sack up and tag people this time (altho probably not 11 and feel free to do this even if i dont tag u or opt out if i do, whatever floats ur boat)

@amarashii-am (what better way to celebrate the end of the school year than with Suffering?)

@theseerofdoomisunaltered (you seem to like these things so i thought u might enjoy this meme lol)

@kiimone (i saw u did a tag game earlier today so i figure u like them? and im always excited to learn more about you!)

@ch-ch-ch-chuuya (i think you’ll be confused but pleasured)

@anemiaman (top kek get rekt)

@akuchuus (u strike me as a rat fucker)

#tag game

[ismael37olson]

Jon ALi Presents: The Top 50 Albums of 2017!

My beautiful music lovers: We have (almost) reached the end of 2017!

This year has been a true test to the human psychique with the mess that is our current Presidential reality – but, luckily, in the midst of life’s many expected ups and downs this year, there was (thankfully) a ton of music to help distract, heal and lift us up.

First up, I’m counting down my Top 50 Albums of the Year! As per usual, this list is usually my favorite because its much easier to rank my love for an album based on if I can get through the whole thing from start to finish without banging my head against a wall (repeatedly). WITH THAT SAID: That doesn’t necessarily mean I find album #29 any more or less tolerable than the ones before or after it so please save your trolling for someone who actually cares. I love music. You love music. We love music!

K, without further ado, here’s the list:

50. Terror Jr – Bop City 2: TerroRising 49. Oliver – Full Circle 48. Erik Hassle – Innocence Lost 47. Nelly Furtado – The Ride 46. Hey Violet – From the Outside 45. Betty Who – The Valley 44. Loreen – Ride 43. Paloma Faith – The Architect 42. Shakira – El Dorado 41. Snoh Aalegra – Feels 40. Perfrume Genius – No Shape 39. Michelle Branch – Hopeless Romantic 38. N.E.R.D – NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES 37. Lights – Skin&Earth 36. Paramore – After Laughter 35. Miley Cyrus – Younger Now 34. Niia – I 33. Bleachers – Gone Now 32. Haim – Something to Tell You 31. Katy Perry – Witness 30. Tyler, the Creator – Flower Boy 29. Superfruit – Future Friends 28. Zara Larsson – So Good 27. Cashmere Cat – 9 26. Kelly Clarkson – Meaning of Life 25. P!nk – Beautiful Trauma 24. St. Vincent – Masseduction 23. The xx – I See You 22. Jhené Aiko – Trip 21. Halsey – hopeless fountain kingdom 20. Taylor Swift – Reputation 19. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me 18. MUNA – About U 17. Calvin Harris – Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 16. Majid Jordan – The Space Between 15. Kesha – Rainbow 14. Drake – More Life 13. Tove Lo – BLUE LIPS (Lady Wood Phase II) 12. Khalid – American Teen 11. Allie X – CollXtion II

10. Kehlani – SweetSexySavage: After years years of dropping mixtapes and collaborations, Kehlani finally properly broke out in 2017 with her full-length major label debut LP, SweetSexySavage – an appropriately direct nod to TLC‘s CrazySexyCool. It’s a sleek, self-assured, and polished body of work from an artist that took her time to perfect her sound and get it just right. Though she proudly wears her influences — Aaliyah, Brandy, and any number of Y2K era of R&B belters — on her sleeve she never once sounds like an imitator or cliché. Kehlani‘s many strengths as a songwriter and singer outweigh any possible charges of imitation, and her willingness to apply subtlety, make unapologetic choices, and simply have fun is what makes her a true star. For an album released at the very top of the year, it’s had undeniable longevity, both in the R&B and Pop world. The crossover queen we deserve in 2017. Highlights: “Keep On,” “Distraction,” “CRZY,” “Advice,” “Get Like,” “In My Feelings,” and “I Wanna Be.”

9. Lana Del Rey – Lust for Life: Five albums deep, Lana Del Rey is very aware of the fact that her signature sleepy sound isn’t necessarily everyone’s cup of tea, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to stop making the music her loyal fanbase has grown to love. Compared to her other albums, especially its drowsy 2015 predecessor Honeymoon, Lust for Life is positively sunny in tone, and certainly more upbeat in tempo. Lana may sing about a “Summer Bummer” and being “In My Feelings” but the songs aren’t inline with hazy unforgotten daydreams; they shimmer, offering a confident bit of seduction for chill nights in with your bae. Lana keeps this delicate balance throughout the lengthy Lust for Life (at 71 minutes, this is an album as much as it’s a playlist, designed to be played on loop as “vibe” music), never quite committing to either distress or euphoria but rather finding an effortless place somewhere in-between the two. That said, Lana does lean slightly more towards ecstasy on Lust for Life, bathing comfortably in her slow rhythms and luxurious surfaces. She manages to sustain this mood over the course of Lust for Life‘s 16 songs, every one of which is a genuine variation of her adored signature sound. Highlights: “Love,” “Lust for Life” (feat. The Weeknd), “Cherry,” “Groupie Love” (feat. A$AP Rocky), and “Get Free.”

8. Kendirck Lamar – DAMN.: On DAMN. Kendrick Lamar proved you can actually take a more “mainstream” approach while maintaining your musical excellence. Although its definitely sonically less cohesive than to his predecessors (To Pimp a Butterfly and good kid, m.A.A.d city); the lyrics are just as strong and impactful and the music is just as vibrant and exciting. In fact, Kendrick‘s reached a whole new level of self-awareness on DAMN., he’s better than ever. In my honest opinion, Kendrick‘s been on a non-stop winning streak, and his closest competitors are still miles away and this album it’s just another proof of his genius. Highlights: “HUMBLE.,” “DNA.,” “LOYALTY.” (feat. Rihanna) and “LOVE.” (feat. Zacari).

7. Miguel – War & Leisure: Every year, thre’s one artist drops an absolutely incredible album at the tail end of the year that makes music writers everywhere wish they would’ve waited on publishing their year-end lists. This year, that artist is Miguel. 2012’s Kaleidoscope Dream and 2015’s Wildheart, saw this R&B crooner master the early versatility he displayed on his debut All I Want Is You, showcasing a playful-yet-wise mix of pop, funk and soul that certified him a true star. War & Leisure is a more ambitious, bold and confident move: a non-stop joy ride that doubles as a master class in futurist hypersexual R&B. He never fails to impress and expand within himself. Highlights: “Sky Walker” (feat. Travis Scott), “Banana Clip,” “Told You So,” “Caramelo Duro” (feat. Kali Uchis), “Come Through and Chill” and “Now.”

6. Jessie Ware – Glasshouse: Like most of Jessie‘s stellar back catalog, her third studio LP Glasshouse revolves around her signature lyrical themes: Sadness, isolation, lust and most importantly, love. But Glasshouse strives as a much bigger and mature deal than anything she’s done before, catering mostly to her husband, Sam Burrows, and the arrival of their first child. Jessie‘s has always had the effortless ability to wrap powerful emotions in irresistible melodies but here she channels that skill into soaring new heights. And with additional production credits from the likes of Kid Harpoon, Starsmith, Happy Perez, Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Julia Michaels and Ed Sheeran, there was already little doubt that Jessie would come through strong. But, make no mistake: It was Jessie‘s very own signature sensual stylings that made this record a win from start to finish. Forever my queen. Highlights: “Midnight,” “Stay Awake, Wait For Me,” “Alone,” “Selfish Love,” “Hearts” and “Sam.”

5. Mura Masa – Mura Masa: In a year when mainstream radio became increasingly defined by island-like musical trends, the first full-length by Guernsey-born DJ-producer Mura Masa (aka Alex Crossan) was refreshing for the way it leaned proudly outward, bringing slinky disco, shimmering electro-pop, garage house, Hip-hop and throwback R&B together in the name of finding musical transcendence. Mura Masa‘s unlimited playfulness and genre-bending production skills — not to mention the help from Bonzai, A$AP Rocky, Charli XCX, Desiigner, Nao, Tom Tripp and Christine and the Queens — show that there’s still uncharted territory left in the land of UK dance-pop, and that thankfully someone like the young and talented Mura Masa is more than willing to put in all his time in order to find it. Highlights: “Love$ick” (feat. A$AP Rocky), “1 Night” (feat. Charli XCX), “What If I Go?,” “Firefly” (feat. Nao) and “Second 2 None” (feat. Christine and the Queens).

4. Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa: Pop music needed some serious saving in 2017. Weighted down by tired-less, island-lite radio trends, EDM beat drops (thanks a lot, The Chainsmokers) and One Direction members going solo, the pop music landscape was missing a dose of originality. Enter Dua Lipa, aka Jesus Christ. Kicking off her rise with a slew of anthem-ready singles “Be The One,” “Hotter Than Hell” and “Blow Your Mind (Mwah),” the young and versatile beauty reminded us all that, pop at its finest, all comes down to melody. While it took a lot more time than it should’ve, Dua finally blessed us with her highly anticipated self-titled debut in 2017. And the record was worth the wait: Each song bursts with huge choruses, from the truly stunning opener “Genesis” to the unstoppable force that is “New Rules,” which is finally giving her the visibility she deserves. As with Adele, Ellie Goulding, Charli XCX, Marina And The Diamonds, and so many English queens before her, Dua‘s got the undeniable gift. Dua for President! Highlights: “Genesis,” “Lost In Your Light” (feat. Miguel), “Hotter Than Hell,” “Be The One,” “IDGAF,” “Blow Your Mind (Mwah),” “New Rules” and “Homesick.”

3. Kelela – Take Me Apart: Where 2017 mostly failed in delivering huge pop records, it made up in supplying us with stellar R&B. When Kelela arrived on the scene in 2015 with her unique brand of futuristic-yet-nostoglic-R&B-electronica, we already knew her debut record would be something special. And that it most certainly is: Take Me Apart‘s title track is R&B at its most cosmic and forward-thinking, “Better” is post-breakup relatable gold, and the nostalgic Aaliyah-sounding greatness that is “LMK” is the stuff of legend status. While she might not have made the biggest noise this year, she did deliver artistry at its finest. Kelela‘s got plenty of talent up her slick sleeve and this here is just the beginning of a long career. Take notice! Highlights: “Frontline,” “Take Me Apart,” “Better,” “LMK,” “Blue Light” and “Turn To Dust.”

2. Lorde – Melodrama: Lorde delivered one the best records of the year in 2013 with her debut Pure Heroine. In the time since, she’s become a true superstar all while going through her very first real breakup. Her long-awaited sophomore album Melodrama documents the time spent between her stardom and breakup: It is a honest, sometimes dark and extremely liberating body of work, in which Lorde delivers some of her strongest, tightest and certainly most teary-eyed music to date. In the few years since her debut, Lorde‘s improved substantially upon her melody-making, resulting in massive heartbreak and youth anthems like “Sober,” “Homemade Dynamite” “Perfect Places” and “Green Light,” which is absolutely the year’s most overlooked single. Haunting, lonely and utterly empowering the whole way through. Highlights: “Green Light,” “Sober,” “Homemade Dynamite,” “Liability,” “Supercut” and “Perfect Places.”

1. SZA – CTRL: No other album quite did it for me other than the long-delayed debut from Solána Imani Rowe. SZA‘s CTRL is a straight-up, cohesive masterpiece from beginning to end about a girl navigating life in her “20 Something”‘s (see what I did there?) — dating, falling in love, dealing with fuck boys, self-doubt, anxiety, self-acceptance, growing up and much more. Her full-bodied voice floats over each intricate production effortlessly as she spits her unapologetically honest and relatable lyrics. “The Weekend” is pure genius; “Love Galore” is just as addictive; and “Drew Barrymore,” “Prom” and “20 Something” prove that SZA is not one of those alternative R&B artists with just one or two tricks up her sleeve. To put it simply, SZA is the voice of a generation. GIVE HER ALL THE AWARDS! Highlights: ALL OF IT.

Honorable Mentions: Niall Horan – Flicker, Shania Twain – NOW, Fergie – Double Dutchess, Fifth Harmony – Fifth Harmony, Galantis – The Aviary, Kelsea Ballerini – Unapologetically, The Killers – Wonderful Wonderful, Marc E. Bassy – Gossip Columns, Maroon 5 – Red Pill Blues, Harry Styles – Harry Styles, Beth Ditto – Fake Sugar and Sam Smith – The Thrill Of It All.

from Jon ALi's Blog http://jonalisblog.com/2017/12/23/jon-ali-presents-the-top-50-albums-of-2017/

[raystart]

Print Ain’t Dead!

Whether standing in line for checkout at a supermarket, sitting in a local coffee shop, or browsing in a modern bookstore, it’s not unusual to see magazines with $15, $20, even $25 price tags. Deluxe paper, niche topics, beautiful design; at a time when there are plenty of articles about the decline of newsprint sales, where on earth did these elegant creations come from?

They’re known to the world as independent magazines, as if this emphasizes their maverick attractions. There are the lifestyle giants that fall into this category, like Kinfolk, the magazine about slow-living that’s cultivated a huge audience of alternative aspirationalists, and Monocle, the high-end bible for business entrepreneurs and jetsetters. You might know Cherry Bomb, a magazine founded by two restaurateurs in Brooklyn that features interviews with women chefs, or Gather Journal, the digest for the organic food movement that comes complete with rustic art direction. (We’ll even give our own Ninety Nine U magazine a plug here.) Designers inevitably love these lovingly-designed magazines: they collect them, they read them, they study them. Some even make them.

Soda Books, Berlin

The idea that print is dead has been prevalent for over a decade, digital warriors saying print is dead and buried whilst print devotees proclaiming with reverence that its fighting back. Digital vs. Print: the two pitted against in a bloody battle to the death. Which will win? The presence of the defiant, glorious spines of Cherry Bomb, Gather, and more, along with their vibrant online community of followers tells a whole different story though, as does a recent report showing that the number of magazines in the U.S has stayed consistent since 2008, varying from around 7,100 to 7,300 over the years.

The truth it, there’s no real battle. Print is in a co-dependent, productive relationship with digital, and the function, meaning, and use of a magazine is simply evolving as times and habits change. It’s no surprise that the Internet does fast, cheap disposable content and vital, instant news much better than print does, which is why newspapers have had to adapt: its true a certain kind of print is dying, but digital media has created a space for more interesting, thoughtful, and innovatively-designed printed material.

The central change is a liberating one. Print is no longer the business model: print is the heart, the core expression, of an idea. And it’s this shift that has allowed graphic design to flourish. The idea given visual presence; the idea as an object.

***

The turn of the century is always a moment given to apocalyptic predictions. For print in the 2000s, several things began happening all at once to create the kind of landscape where people could easily—and with style—self-publish.

Large publishers became distracted and obsessed by the developing power of digital—there were countless conferences about how the iPad would change publishing, and titles like Wired and the Guardian poured huge amounts of cash into digital projects. Meanwhile technology gave way to better versions of InDesign and desktop equipment steadily democratized, making it a lot more accessible for people to experiment creatively with page layout in their own homes, in coffee shops, in libraries, wherever they were.

Images courtesy of Newspaper Club.

In 2009, a small, idealistic Glasgow-based printing company, The Newspaper Club, helped shift the landscape even more. Inspired by the original power and presence of the newspaper, the small company would allow all types of clients—from students and photographers to large tech companies—to self-publish by uploading their designs online. In the same year, Kickstarter partially solved problems of funding. Print self-publishing flourished because, some might say ironically, of the Internet.

For graphic designers with passion for editorial, the change in technology was a revelation. At mainstream magazines things like the quality of paper often gets cut in order to keep costs down and a lot of design decisions are driven by marketing and profit requirements— a cover’s design often determined to be what spurs mass market sales. When creating their own magazines, people could do something different, outside of market place constraints. And because of low print runs, they were able to experiment. They could do more with die cuts, they could select higher quality paper if they wanted to.  

This freedom and potential was especially revealed to others when they saw the success of a small group of film enthusiasts in 2005 in the UK. While sipping beers in London pubs after work at their jobs for commercial publishers, the group dreamed up the idea of a different, cooler kind of film magazine from the uninspiring commercial glossies around them, one that would reflect the independent cinema they loved. They called it Little White Lies, which is now a film buff’s favorite. 

Images courtesy of Little White Lies.

“Film magazines at the time were dominated by clouds of cover lines. We felt like these were a cheap marketing knee-jerk response that most magazines on the shelf were blindly perpetuating, and didn’t seem to be questioning,” says the founding art director of the title, Paul Willoughby. Today, he works with the Little White Lies founding editor Danny Miller at their Human After All design agency; after they first published Little White Lies and it gained attention, they then went on to publish a magazine for Google and started up another magazine, this time about subcultures, called Huck.

“With Little White Lies, we aimed to make a magazine with a very pure visual approach, eschewing the design conventions that were steering magazine culture towards a homogenous mass.”

Illustration was their prime differentiator; a signature strength, and one ripe for a renaissance in editorial design since it had died away during the arrival of Photoshop compositions. Presenting illustrated portraits on each cover with little or no cover lines, and illustrating the magazine’s interior in its entirety, Little White Lies catered for intelligent, curious readers, and their appetite not just for intelligent film writing but for fresh perspectives on design. On the other side of the globe in San Franscisco in 2003, a similar tactic had been taken by best-selling author Dave Eggers for his literary magazine The Believer: each cover of the magazine beautifully illustrated by notorious comic artist Charles Burns.

Both magazines were probably aware of each other online, drawing confidence from the other, as several blogs had sprung up showcasing the work of innovative editorial designers. One such blog is magCulture, founded by self-proclaimed magazine enthusiast Jeremy Leslie, a graphic designer who has art directed numerous titles including Time Out and the very design conscious 1980s style bible Blitz. The blog loves print, but celebrates it using the Internet, seeing it not as a threat but a way of transmitting forward thinking enthusiasm.

Images courtesy of The Believer.

“The networking of the Internet allows people who are making magazines in different countries to realize what other people are doing, to get inspired and see how they can do it,” says Leslie. “People say there’s now an independent magazine renaissance, but really, there have always been people making independent magazines. In the 60s, you had the alternative press, there was the avant-garde in the 70s, fashion mags in the 90s. The difference is today magazine makers can see one another around the globe.” A few lightening rod shops then stock these publications—Do You Read Me!? in Berlin, PRINtEXT in Indianapolis for example—and in London, to help distribute these magazines, a delivery service called Stack established in 2009 to sends subscribers a different indie every month.

mono.kultur, the interview magazine taking on one person at a time was established in 2005 in Berlin; in London, the first issue of Monocle, for the stylish world-traveller, in 2007; Fantastic Man, the ground-breaking men’s style tome, appeared in Amsterdam in 2008; Apartamento, for those with eccentric interior design tastes, in the same year from Barcelona; for stylish women carrying great books as well as solid purses, The Gentlewoman, from London in 2010; and then Kinfolk, for the aspirational creative, from Portland in 2011.

With each new magazine, a design and style emerged to react to and energize its reader: design directly expressing the identity of the person carrying it.

***

I contributed to the magCulture blog for two years between 2015 – 2017, and during that time, I’d receive around three or four new magazines each week. New titles crop up all time, some good, some great, some bad, and some wonderfully peculiar. When tracing the origins of these titles, it often is apparent that the idea for an independent magazine first appears online: people develop their opinions and voices writing blogs and sharing ideas on social media, they connect with like-minded individuals, and the next step from there is to create something permanent.  To give visual shape to beliefs, opinions, and preferences through graphic design. An identity. There’s something defining about making a magazine: This is who we are. This is what we look like.

The ones I find the most exciting are by those who feel underrepresented in the mainstream; makers create their own space through self-publishing, an act of legitimization where design subverts the media norm. From New York, there’s Banana magazine about Asian-American creatives with a mission to obliterate stereotypes: its design is a lively, energetic assortment of stimulating cross-cultural references. From London, there’s Niijournal, a fashion magazine exploring issues of diversity in the British fashion community, showcasing shoots only by and with people of color; its title pages are the color of various hues of black and brown. There’s the fiery and fantastic Krass Journal from Adelaide in Australia; a third wave feminist title about queer theory and gender politics. Its active design breaks away from feminine stereotype; its typography jarring and loud as if demanding for people to pay attention.

In 2013, Riposte appeared in London, an alternative to mainstream women’s magazines fronted by a design curator Danielle Pender and creative director, Shaz Madani. Its name is a blatant proclamation that they are a riposte to mundane mainstream content shackling women with unattainable beauty standards. Instead, Riposte features strong, intelligent role-models with plenty to say. With a brave, all-type cover featuring the names of the women interviewed in the pages, the first issue visually expressed its aim: This magazine is about more than the way women look. This is about who they are. Their minds, their words. Their energy.

Images courtesy of Riposte Magazine.

“The typographic cover was a way of stripping away the over styling and false glamour, to try and shift the focus back on to the women, their achievements and what they have to say,” says Madani. The design decision defied the conventional wisdom that all-type covers are newsstand disasters, and that year, the cover secured Riposte a nomination for the Design Museum’s Design of the Year Award in the UK, and it won them gold at the European Design Awards too.

“Now that we are a bit more established with our own voice, we’ve started to introduce photographic covers as we as the type ones,” adds Madani. “With this we aim to change the way women are perceived. As an indie publisher we can push and challenge what more traditional titles are not able or willing to do. On our last cover, we featured black activist and cancer survivor Ericka Hart with her post-double-mastectomy, post-reconstruction breasts gracing our cover.” 

Design can perfectly express what magazine makers most believe in.

That’s not only for individuals creating initially self-funded, passion driven projects alongside their day jobs. Online media platforms and companies have embraced the creative potential of a magazine as a way of articulating core values. The traditional media enlivens parts of their business that other solutions can’t reach. Airbnb, Google, and Net-a-Porter, and other Internet regulars have made them. A magazine is a character: it can purely represent the voice style, tone, and look – the innate personality – of its makers.

The Vice magazine model especially articulates why print publications can be central to a brand: the publication that started the empire still exists, it anchors the world wide media giant, it defines and maintains their irreverent voice, even though money comes from partnerships, events, and TV channels. The media giants have also taken heed of independents and their flair for design as enlivening the meaning of a magazine: memorably in 2015 for example, The New York Times Magazine brought in Matt Willey as art director, who has his roots in the independent magazine community where he launched men’s mag Port and guide for the modern adventurer, Avaunt.

It’s safe to say that the idea that “print is dead” is dead. Print was never really going to go away in the first place, it’s simply evolving. If there ever was a threat to the future of magazines, graphic design saved the day; freed by the internet to not have to bother with certain kinds of content, designers can concentrate on new ways of producing and presenting the page and the image. They can create publications that complement the Internet, that emerge from it, and that feed back into it. In a new world magazines mean something different to what they once did, but they are as necessary as ever, as lovely objects, statements of intent, emblems of defiance, and personal and collective manifestos.

#startups #text #startup #advice #busieness #howto #news #tech #love

[epchapman89]

At Seattle’s Street Bean, A Better Life In Coffee

Walking into this Belltown, Seattle, cafe feels like walking into any other coffee shop. Large, sliding windows let in a ton of natural light. Wooden tables and chairs and local art furnish the interior of the shop. Happy baristas greet me from behind a Mahlkönig K30 grinder and a La Marzocco Linea PB. A mixture of young professionals, street kids, and tourists exploring the neighborhood are among the patrons. A long row of tall boy-ish cans of cold brew line the entire counter, announced proudly by a balloon banner reading “COLD BREW” in gold letters along the back wall. Balloons adorn each end of the bar, as well. Walking in, you’d think this was just another coffee shop—and one that was really excited about cold brew.

Street Bean Coffee Roasters is leagues more than that, though. Street Bean does far more than just prepare and serve coffee for anyone who visits. This is a coffee shop that offers the building blocks necessary for disenfranchised youth—a demographic of Seattle’s population often ignored—to get back on their feet. At Street Bean, you will not be turned away or looked down upon whether you’re an aspiring employee or a patron coming in to try something new. The pressure to fit into the elite aesthetic of specialty coffee, as we know it, is non-existent.

Street Bean’s purpose is to provide job experience and relevant, foundational skills to young people wanting to exit a street-involved life through coffee training, Street Bean Director of Operations Sean McDonald tells me. The coffee shop is part of a larger non-profit organization called, New Horizons, which offers services like case management, housing, job placement, and more, to Seattle youth in need.

“There are preconceived notions that homeless youth are runaways or bad kids,” says McDonald. “Some were pushed out of their homes due to lifestyle or grew up in homelessness. We try to be aware of the systemic issues of perpetual homelessness in Seattle.”

I was personally invested in learning more about Street Bean because of the story’s familiarity—I grew up cycling through poverty and homelessness, and similar programs kept my family and me afloat. At 19, I found myself homeless, again. While temporarily staying with a family member, I scored an opportunity to break the cycle: a steady job at a coffee shop.

I didn’t fit the stereotype of what a homeless kid was supposed to be—and neither did the baristas I met working at Street Bean.

Anthony Harris has worked at the cafe for over four years, beginning in the apprenticeship program. He’s now a shift supervisor at Street Bean’s flagship Belltown location. Harris didn’t plan to work in coffee. He was a five-year high school student, and through a job placement program at his alternative school, he landed at Street Bean.

“Sure, I’ll try coffee,” Harris remembers thinking to himself. “I don’t drink coffee very much, but I’ve always wanted to learn about how it works.”

Street Bean started out in the “second wave” of coffee when it first opened its doors in November 2009. In the years following, its coffee program moved towards contemporary specialty, allowing baristas more in-depth training. A Street Bean apprenticeship now includes a six-month training program that runs through customer service, filter brewing methods, espresso, and milk steaming, which includes latte art. (Sprudge covered the shop’s fifth-anniversary party, which featured a slew of fun staff-conceived signature drinks, in 2014.)

The Street Bean name is familiar to nearby cafes like the La Marzocco Cafe, Honor Coffee, Cherry Street, and Drip City, and building good rapport with them is essential to ensuring the success of apprentices once the program is over. “We encourage our apprentices to go and do their own personal networking to find jobs after Street Bean. We have a few graduates who’ve continued to work in coffee, and others have found jobs elsewhere,” says McDonald.

In an industry still struggling to overcome sex, race, and class bias, Street Bean’s program is quietly combatting these factors by offering as many opportunities as possible to their staff.

“We went to the barista competition [at this past SCA Expo], and it was so cool,” Ynga Chernogradskaia, a current apprentice at Street Bean, tells me. “I realized that being a barista is much more than a service job. It’s a whole culture.”

Chernogradskaia is a Russian refugee—and queer woman of color—seeking political asylum here in the United States. Her story is a poignant example of how meaningful opportunities like those afforded by Street Bean can be.

Russia’s extreme social and political climate made life for Chernogradskaia not only dangerous but life-threatening. Seeking a way out, Chernogradskaia came to the United States as an exchange student, and when the program ended, she decided to stay. Having settled initially in Bozeman, Montana, where she still felt visibly different than the surrounding community, she then decided to explore Seattle.

“I heard Seattle was one of the most tolerable cities for people of color to live in, so I moved,” said Chernogradskaia.

For six months, Chernogradskaia lived in multiple homeless shelters before she was led to New Horizons, and eventually an apprenticeship at Street Bean. “I was really concerned about working here, at first, though I didn’t have a choice. In Russia, there’s no good coffee. I thought I hated coffee but that was because I’d never tried good coffee,” she admits.

She remembers her manager serving her an espresso and latte for the first time. “Oh my god.” I watched as her face lit up and she mimed worshipping two invisible coffee cups. “It was so good. I fell in love with coffee. I ended up drinking way too much for a whole month after.”

Unlike Harris, who plans to finish a college degree in accounting and pursue a career in finance, Chernogradskaia wants to stay in coffee.

“I want to be a barista competitor,” she says with confidence. “Slate [Coffee Roasters] is my favorite shop, and it would be amazing to work there after my apprenticeship.”

Hearing Chernogradnskaia’s story led me to a realization I always knew but was experiencing for the first time with Street Bean: coffee is truly a beverage of massive impact, and it does not conform to any singular way of pursuit. Coffee is scientific, technical, social, and political. To people like Ynga Chernogradskaia, Anthony Harris, others in the Street Bean family, and me, coffee is an opportunity for a better life.

And now, with the official launch of Street Bean canned cold brew, made in partnership with Seattle-based company Schilling Cider, the company is taking that impact even further. Bartell Drugs in the Seattle area is already stocked with Street Bean Cold Brew and soon, other major grocers will be, too. For every can purchased, a portion of the proceeds goes back to Street Bean to continue running the apprenticeship program. McDonald is excited for the opportunity to explore this venture with Schilling. “It’s a really cool way for us to get our name and our story out there.”

Street Bean has also recently opened a second location up north in the U-District and has hopes to expand its roastery into a fully equipped training lab in the next year.

Though despite the program’s growth, it’s largely designed as a stepping stone to further-flung pursuits. When apprentices graduate from the program, both Street Bean and New Horizons staff take time to celebrate them on their journey to the next step of self-sufficiency. Some are offered permanent positions at the shop, like Harris for example, while other past apprentices have moved elsewhere. No matter the path taken after Street Bean, most do walk away with more preparedness than before for any obstacles that may come their way.

“I have financial stability,” says Harris, “And I can take care of my family.”

Chernogradskaia, too, beams when she talks about Street Bean. “It’s amazing all of the opportunities they give you to learn about coffee. I’m happier now. I have friends. I have a job. I have a home.”

Visiting Street Bean, reminders of how powerful the coffee world can be are all around you. From the care taken in preparing coffee innovatively, the conscientiousness towards sourcing the product itself, to the immediate, street-level difference it’s making in baristas’ lives. Like them, I’ve found in coffee a particularly special substance that’s nurtured, inspired, and empowered me. There’s no question that for them, and for me, coffee has made a difference.

Street Bean Coffee Roasters is located at 2711 3rd Ave, Seattle. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Michelle Johnson (@thechocbarista) is the publisher of The Chocolate Barista, and the marketing director at Barista Hustle. Read more Michelle Johnson on Sprudge.

The post At Seattle’s Street Bean, A Better Life In Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

seen 1st on http://sprudge.com