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hansols-yoda-boxers · 4 years

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Kitten Ears - Prologue 5

Cat Hybrid Female!Reader x SVT

Word Count: 1466

Tag List: @skjdln, @funinfundamental, @kwanismsworld, @taikalinna, @svt-mangos, @strawberry-artini, @marksloveletters, @cliffordmonarchy, @skylions-den, @karenbcy, @jisooderulo, @sleepy-star-boy, @brokenheartloving, @sno-leopards

It seemed a little silly to you know that you hadn’t questioned how people know so much about hybrids before adopting them. The boys seemed to understand a lot of what you needed without you having to say so and you weren’t sure at first how that was.

But now, peeking at the pile of pamphlets on the table, it all made sense.

You had padded out of your room in the afternoon, a little grumpy because Soonyoung had to leave early and couldn’t stay and cuddle you like you wanted him too. You were getting good at shaking that sort of thing off, they were all busy so sometimes they couldn’t be home with you. But today you got more emotional and whiny than normal when he tried to leave and he was almost late with how much he had to soothe you. You weren’t too sure why you were so emotional the last day or two but you didn’t want to think about it. Maybe it would go away on its own.

You had gone about showering and picking out something cute to wear that matched the pretty grey collar from Wonwoo since he promised you he’d read to you this evening. It was always so nice reading with him, his voice was calm and soothing, he would stroke your ears or hair while he let you lay in his lap. It was your favourite place to be when you needed to calm down.

You had wandered towards the kitchen to grab a snack but something on the coffee table caught your eye. There were often different things in the living room, unless you and Mingyu had just cleaned. He always thought it was funny how quickly your nose told you what belonged to who. Today though, the table was littered with a number of pamphlets. You forgot about your hunger as curiosity got the better of you and wandered into the living room. You sat on the edge of the couch gingerly and peered at the pamphlets on the top of the pile. You felt your cheeks heat up a little as you read the titles, your eyes scanning the top of the pile.

You bit your lip and picked up one, flipping through it to read. Most of it was fairly simple. It talked about the kind of space cat hybrids needed and what sorts of emotions to expect if you bring one home. You wondered if that was why Joshua was always so kind and thoughtful right from the start. This probably did help him to realize that you would be nervous. Then again you were more nervous than most hybrids.

You couldn’t help yourself as you started reading through the pamphlets one by one. A lot of them had similar information, some a little more detail than others. You had to wonder why they would suddenly all be on the table. What could be in here that they needed to know about? They were doing a wonderful job taking care of you so they didn’t need to reread anything.

You picked up the next pamphlet and quickly dropped it with a gasp as you read the title.

Oh no.

Oh no no no.

Your face was hot as you peeked back at the title to make sure you read it right. You let out a whine as your eyes took in the words “So Your Hybrid Is In Heat” again. Your ears flattened against your head and your tail started to flick, hitting the back of the couch. Why did that have that? Why did they need to know?

You shifted through and found at least four more pamphlets about being in heat. You couldn’t help the heat in your cheeks. You had hoped they wouldn’t know about it and when your next one started you could just hide for a few weeks until it passed. You hadn’t even considered telling them about your heat. Your first family didn’t like it much when you went into heat. They seemed to think it was weird and you were as happy as they were that you left when you were old enough. At the shelter you could normally beg them to let you stay in a separate room so nothing happened with the other hybrids and they always did.

You lightly picked up one of the pamphlets and held it away from you, curiosity overriding your nerves. You let out a distressed whine as you read through the explanation of what a heat was and how to help your hybrid. You really thought you might combust if any of them offered to help you. You didn’t even help yourself as it was, the idea made you incredibly flustered.

You noticed one pamphlet at the bottom with a sticky note attached to it. You opened it to read the note quickly taking in the details before dropping it and covering your face.

You had no idea the shelter had told Joshua when your last heat had been and how long it lasted. You didn’t want him to know anything about that, he probably thought you were gross. You wished you could fall into a hole and never come out. Why would they tell him about all of that, it was so embarrassing?

“Aww, what’s wrong?”

You jumped and turned to see Chan in the doorway, the other members of the household slowly filing in. He must have been the first through the door or you would have heard the others talking. You sat frozen, save for your tail that was flicking madly, as your face got hotter and hotter. You couldn’t seem to find the words to explain.

Joshua peeked around the corner at you and frowned as he approached you. Chan, Soonyoung, Seokmin, and Wonwoo wandered curiously into the room behind him.

“Hey, are you okay?” He sat next to you but when he reached out you curled up into a ball, hiding your face. How could you even look at him right now? How could he look at you?

You heard someone move closer and shift the pamphlets around. “Ah,” Wonwoo hummed. “We probably shouldn’t have left those out. Were you embarrassed about…?”

You nodded quickly as he trailed off and felt Joshua gently rub your back.

Soonyoung giggled. “It’s not a big deal. Who doesn’t get horny?” You let out a whimper and heard a loud smack and Soonyoung cursing.

“Not funny,” Seokmin hissed.

“I was just trying to help,” Soonyoung muttered.

Joshua said your name softly and you peeked up at him. “It’s really nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” you whined. “You’re not the one who gets hot and sweaty a-and needs… n-needs…” You hid you face again and pulled away from him. “I can’t believe they told you all about… m-my last…”

“It’s really okay,” Joshua said quietly, his voice laced with concern.

“I don’t wanna talk about this anymore,” you whimpered.

“Okay, okay we don’t have to talk about it anymore,” he soothed.

“Do you want to go read now?” Wonwoo asked. You nodded and took his hand, clinging to him and hiding your face in his back as he led you to his room. He did his best to get you settled and started to play with your hair as he read to you. You slowly calmed down and cuddled with him until he finished the chapter and put the book down. You pouted up at him until he cupped your cheek with his hand and smiled softly at how you nuzzled into his touch and purred.

“That collar looks cute on you,” he hummed.

“I dressed to match it,” you said shyly.

“I thought so.” He sighed. “Now, I know you don’t want to talk about it-”

“No,” you whined, rolling over and hiding your face in Wonwoo’s stomach.

He gently stroked your ears. “I know you’re embarrassed. I know you don’t want to talk about it with everyone in the house. But you know every hybrid goes through it right?”

“Yeah,” you said. “I just didn’t want you all to know about it.”

“We would be a pretty bad family if we didn’t know about it,” he chuckled. “And you’ve been here for over three months now.”

“So?” you sniffed.

He lifted your face to look at him. “So…” he gave you an expectant look.

You felt your face heat up as you picked up on what he was saying. “I-I- i-i-it I mean i-it varies s-so…”

“It’s okay,” he said calmly. “Just… you can tell any of us when it starts, okay?”

You looked away from him and he sighed, rubbing your back comfortingly. The last thing you wanted to think about was your heat starting soon.

#seventeen imagines #seventeen #svt imagines #svt #kitten ears #hybrid au #hybrid reader #wonwoo #wonwoo imagines #joshua #joshua imagines #soonyoung #soonyoung imagines #seokmin #seokmin imagines #the smut begins tomorrow #get pumped

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pillowfluffs · 5 years

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Study Buddy!Renjun

Pairing: Renjun X Reader (gender neutral)

Genre: high school fluff

Summary: Renjun brings you a sweet snack before he comes over to study with you!

Author’s Note: I should’ve had Y/N and Renjun study chemistry together since they got it in this story uwu

“Electron transfer from NADH to oxygen is an exergonic reaction with a free-energy change of —53 kcal/mol. Instead...” You could barely keep your eyes open and you could feel the energy draining out of your body as you pushed through. Honestly, you didn’t care about electrons and how they move, chain to chain, but you were sat in an uncomfortable chair in your room, hunched over your desk writing out pages of notes for an upcoming test. You huffed out air, looking back and wondered why you thought AP biology as a freshman was a good idea, especially when everyone else was wise enough to steer clear, unless they chose to go down the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) path in the future.

Your eyes felt like they were about to fall out of your head if you continued to fill it more with information about cells and their respiration and fermentation. This was not at all at how you wished to spend your Friday afternoon, alas, you were only a few textbook pages to finishing the second-to-last chapter. You rolled back from your desk, letting your entire body just collapse into relaxation. Your arms dangled and your head just hung from the back of the chair.

Fortunately, you weren’t left to suffer alone. Renjun took the class too and it didn’t seem like he was suffering as much as you were. If anything, he was on top of the work, somehow, always ahead, which made him seem even more inhuman. All your friends had dodged the bullet of AP bio and even tried to warn you of the work loads, but you had brushed them all away.

You took a deep breath, looking at the time. “5:23” it read. You had been sitting here for almost two whole hours since school ended and Renjun said he would come over and study with you, but you hadn’t seen nor heard from him since sixth period. sitting back up in your seat, you patted your cheeks, waking yourself up before you buried yourself back into the world of cells and biology.

Your eyes were glued on the text, absorbing the best you could of the material. It was the final concept of the chapter you were on before you moved on to the final chapter, but it was like a giant rock blocked off whatever you were reading. Nothing made sense, no matter how many times you reread it from beginning to end, as slow as you could, word by word, but nothing. It seemed so unrelated to the topic and chapter. You finally reached your burning point and just gave up. The earbuds went in and the music played. You rolled back, sitting right in front of the window, watching the clouds float past and the sky change colors as the sun set. Your eyes began to droop as the music began to drone in your ears. It was a burning satisfaction now that your eyes were closed and you yawned, feeling the hot tears roll down your cheeks.

“Y/N?” You were shaken awake from your seat with your music paused and your phone on the ground. You were met with Renjun who knelt before you with his backpack slung over one of his shoulders. You pulled them out of your ear, stifling another yawn.

“Hey, what time is it?” your voice soft with sleep.

“Almost six.” He looked at his watch. He combed his fingers through your hair, knowing how much you found comfort whenever he did it. His hands cupped your face and his thumb rubbed your cheek soothingly.

“Where have you been?” You leaned against his touch, holding his hand in yours.

“Well, I first went home and made some material to help you study this chapter and then I went to the grocery store to get some fruit and here I am.”

He grabbed the platter of sliced fruits spread out in a way to make it look too pretty to eat. Strawberries and mangoes looked like flowers and kiwis accented the fruits as if they were leaves for the flowers. Tangerines and apple slices were spread all around and the center of the platter had a small bowl of grapes and blueberries.

“Wait, but we were assigned these chapters yesterday. I barely got through three chapters today and I couldn’t even understand the end of the fourth, but you already finished? Within a sitting?”

“Uh, I guess.” He scratched the back of his head standing up, placing the fruit platter onto a clear space on your desk. “I made flash cards and brought my notes so you could reference. I’m all yours for the rest of the night... Well, until I have to go home later.” He walked around you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders, pressing a kiss to your temple and cheek. “Ready?” He pulled up another chair and pulled you next to him to your desk.

“I don’t deserve you and how you understand and keep up all of this literally blows my mind.” You rested your head on your notebook, meeting his eyes with a pout on your lips.

“Golden hands, golden mind.” He winked at you with a smirk on his lips. “Okay, so, what do you need help with?” He reached into his backpack and pulled out his notebook, flipping through his prestigious notes.

You leaned back on his shoulder and flipped open your textbook back to where you had stopped. “This, I don’t get the versatility of catabolism and biosynthesis,” you sighed, feeling the frustration of rereading the same words over and over again to no prevail.

Without missing a beat, Renjun flipped to the pages in his notebook relaying his notes to you. You knew his words were from the textbook itself, but he just paraphrased them in a way that it all clicked. He fed you fruit as he explained, always asking you if you understood and if not, he would reword and rephrase.

Before you knew it, Renjun walked you through the entire five chapters, taught you with his flash cards along the way, and constantly fed you fruit until the plate was empty and your mind and stomach fuller. Crickets sung into the night as fireflies competed with the stars in the night sky for which captured the most beauty during the late hours.

“Get it?” He brushed away the eraser shavings from your notebook. “It’s a tough concept and to me honest, it took me awhile to pick it up.” He scratched the back of his head, hoping you weren’t as confused as he was when he first read it.

“I think so...” You stared at his notes, relaying his words in your mind. “Ugh, this is all so much, I shouldn’t have taken this class,” you groaned leaning back in your seat.

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up so much. Plus, this is only the beginning. We haven’t taken a science class with a sudden demand of workload like this before, so cut yourself some slack.” He took your hand in his and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Plus, think about it. Everything we learned within this one assignment. So many things are going on within our bodies and all around us in all different shapes and sizes. There’s so much to learn and we only have a single lifetime. Just like our universe, there’s so many stars and endless possibilities out there. It could be all right next to us and we wouldn’t even know-“ he caught his own words when he saw the look in your eyes and the small smile on your lips. “Sorry, I’m rambling.” His eyes fell to his hands playing with yours, hiding the shy smile on his face, hoping you didn’t see the flush on his face.

“No, it’s fine. I love it when you ramble. You make life and the world and everything else sound so interesting and just, otherworldly. Plus.” You leaned closer to his face, seeing his eyes cast from yours to your lips just a few mere inches away. “Your eyes light up brighter than all the stars and fireflies when you do.” You smile pressing a chaste kiss against his lips making his hand tighten around yours, never wanting to let you go, never wanting this night to end. “And I hope you never lose that light.”

“When I’m with you, I could never.”

~~~~~ Masterlist for more! Thank you for reading!

Draft made: August 30, 2019 at 9:36pm EST Final Draft made: September 8, 2019 at 6:48pm EST Posted: October 6, 2019 at 4:00pm EST

#huang renjun #renjun #nct imagines #nct #nct dream #nct dream imagines #nct dream scenarios #nct scenarios #renjun imagines #renjun scenarios #nct dream x reader #nct x reader #renjun x reader #pillowfluffs #huang renjun x reader #huang renjun imagines #huang renjun scenarios

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deadparrish · 6 years

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BOOKS READ IN 2017

total count: 78

goodreads: punknicole

i’m going to give a rating and a brief review of each book— just a sentence or two, depending on how much i remember about the book. this is mostly for fun, but I hope someone gets some use out of this! happy new year and happy reading! and, of course, possible spoilers ahead.

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson: 5/5. Everyone and their mother has read this, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. I really enjoyed this book because I found it difficult to support just one specific character— everyone had flaws and they were all multi-dimensional. I appreciated the fact that each part of the story eventually matched up with the others.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: 4/5. This was a cute book. I didn’t have too many strong feelings about it when I first read it, but it was enjoyable in a passing way. I thought the diversity was really wonderful but it was a bit overhyped.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater: 5/5. I was rereading this and I loved it even more than the first time I read it. I feel like if you follow me you’ve probably read this, since this is a mostly trc blog, so I won’t go too deep into this. It’s wonderful.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker: 5/5. I loved this a lot!!!! I think that the style it was written in is really interesting and the fact that it’s about a black lesbian is wonderful. It’s also a classic so I’d say that this should be on everyone’s reading list!!

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavik: 4/5. I never got as into these as everyone else seemed to. It was good and I read it really quickly, but it isn’t something I’d want to read again? I only read it because it had lgbt+ representation and honestly I think that’s all it has going for it.

The Raven King by Nora Sakavik: 4/5. Again, I read this really quickly. I can’t really remember what happens. I think this is the book that triggered me a bit— there was some pretty awful sexual assault.

The King’s Men by Nora Sakavik: 4/5. I remember being really disappointed in the ending, but I’m not sure why. I think I expected something a little more dramatic. Again, I read the whole trilogy over the span of two days, so it all kind of blended together. I’d suggest reading these so you can understand what all the tumblr posts are about, but they aren't my favorite.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk JR. and E. B. White: 4/5. Ah, the first book that I finished that was for school! This was basically a mini textbook, and I found it really informative if a bit dry at times. I’d recommend reading it if English is something that you’re passionate about.

Another Day by David Levithan: 2/5. This was awful. I had high hopes for it, because I really liked Every Day, but this just gives you insight into how awful the main character is. It’s completely unnecessary, and I wish I hadn’t read it.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: 5/5. I LOVED THIS!!! I read it for school and I absolutely fell in love. It’s extremely heavy handed on symbolism, but the language is so beautiful. I have a twitter thread about how I think that Nick is in love with Gatsby here.

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson: 5/5. I really liked this too, and I recently gave this to my mom and grandma to read and they loved it too!! I think that the storyline was really interesting and it dealt with some really existential issues about life, which I always really enjoy.

You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour: 5/5. This was really cute!! I remember really enjoying the wlw representation in this, because most lgbt books focus on white guys, so this was refreshing.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: 5/5. I bawled my eyes out reading this. I can’t even explain it but it is... so fucking good.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: 2/5. Ugh. I didn’t even finish this. I know it’s a classic, but I just really couldn’t get into it. I might try again in a few years but it just didn’t work for me.

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente: 5/5. I tried to find this books in stores for at least a year before I finally took the leap and ordered it online. I love it so much— it’s one of the first books on my reread list. The language is really beautiful and I love the aesthetic, but it is a bit dark.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls: 5/5. A book straight out of my childhood! I love it just as much as I did when I was a kid, and I cried even more than I did the last time I read it, which had to have been at least ten years ago. It’s timeless and beautiful and I think it’s a must-read!

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur: 4/5. Honestly, I think this book is a bit overhyped. I enjoyed some of the poems but it didn’t leave a huge lasting impact.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray: 3/5. This was a really fast read for me, and I sort of liked it? It was lighthearted and kind of funny and had incredible representation, but it wasn’t a favorite for me.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: 4/5. I love Oscar Wilde, so I’m a bit biased, but I thought this was enjoyable. It was clever and passingly funny, but I think it would be better to see it performed live.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: 5/5. This was my second time reading this, and I loved it even more than I did the first time I read it. I read this for school the first time and I’d definitely recommend that everyone read it at least once! It’s an incredible story and it really touches your heart.

The Black Swan by Mercedes Lackey: 4/5. I consider this a guilty pleasure book but I’m not exactly sure why. I read it when I was really young, which might be part of the reason why, since it has some really mature themes, but it’s a good read.

The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude: 2/5. I remember seeing a lot of posts on here about this book, so I was disappointed when it ended up being really boring. I just didn’t like it, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: 4/5. I read this for school, and I’ll probably never pick it up again. I didn’t hate it, but it definitely wasn’t a favorite. I would recommend it, though, just because it’s a classic and it’s something that you Have To Read at least once.

Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan: 4/5. This was another book that I had really high expectations for because I saw a lot of hype for it on tumblr. I did like it, but it wasn’t life changing like I expected it to be.

The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: 5/5. This is probably my favorite book of all time. I can’t say enough good things about it, so just read it.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: 5/5. This was incredible! It really makes you think about American standards of beauty and how that affects your day-to-day life.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: 4/5. I’ll be honest, I feel like I missed a huge part of this book because I read it really quickly, but I still liked it.

1984 by George Orwell: 5/5. Everyone needs to read this, especially in our current political climate. There are quite a few parallels between what happens in the novel an what’s happening today, and it’s really helpful when it comes to trying to understand what people on the news are talking about when they say we’re “living in 1984.”

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp: 4/5. I remember being a little disappointed in this, but I still really liked it! I think I cried but I’m not super sure? I guess it didn’t leave as lasting of an impact as I thought it did, but I remember liking it as I read it.

Vampirates: Tide of Terror by Justin Somper: 4/5. This is definitely a guilty pleasure book and I’m not ashamed to admit it. My cousin recommended them to me at least ten years ago and every so often I get into a phase where I want to reread them. The title is pretty self-explanatory— vampire pirates.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: 5/5. One of my favorite reads of the year! The narrative style is really interesting and it’s really beautifully written. I absolutely recommend it!!

The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: 2/5. Ugh. Again, I couldn’t even finish this, and I’m not sure why. It just seemed so boring! I’ll try to reread it at some point but definitely not any time soon.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: 5/5. I really enjoyed this!! It also got me into the good graces of my english teacher this year (she saw me carrying it around school and talked to me about it) so I’d recommend it!

Animal Farm by George Orwell: 5/5. I first read this in middle school and really liked it, so I figured I’d reread it and see if it held up, and it did. It’s another classic that I think should be on everyone’s read list!

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart: 5/5. These are really fun books that I’d recommend you read if you have a free afternoon! They’re clever, engaging, and easy to read.

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie: 3/5. I didn’t like this and I can’t remember exactly why. I think that it was a bit dry for my liking, although it might have just been because I didn’t like all the talk about mothers. Either way, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Calahan: 5/5. This was really interesting! I don’t usually read memoirs, but my mom gave this to me to read and I actually really liked it.

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner: 4/5. I’ve tried to get into the Maze Runner series a few times, but it never quite manages to get me interested enough. I liked this well enough but it didn’t leave me invested enough to go out and buy the next book in the series, so it’ll probably be another year (at least) before I revisit this series. Oh well.

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux: 4/5. The movie with Gerald Butler is yet another guilty pleasure of mine, so I really wanted to like this, but it kind of fell short. It was decent, but it took me a while to read, which always means that I’m not loving it.

The Holy Bible: 1611 Edition, King James Version by Hendrickson Bibles (compiler): I can’t write a real review for this because I only read certain parts of it for school, but I counted it on my goodreads because I wanted it to count towards my 2017 reading challenge. It was interesting, I guess?

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: 4/5. I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did! The characters were really sweet and I enjoyed their growth, and the plot was interesting.

Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg: 4/5. I picked this up because I had just watched Kill Your Darlings and I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. There were some good poems but nothing that stuck with me.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. The beginning of my series of unfortunate events reread! I love these books a lot and they were a huge part of my childhood. Everyone should read these books! I don’t have much to say about each individual book but I’ll try to make a comment or two on each one.

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. I love snakes so this is one of my favorites out of the series!

The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. This book helped create my tentative fear of heights. I always remember being horrified of the image of Aunt Josephines house.

The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. Nothing about this one really ever stood out to me besides my own outrage at child labor.

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. This is my favorite of all the books!! I think it’s because I’ve always been obsessed with the idea of boarding school.

The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. Climbing an elevator shaft would suck.

The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. I would love to live in a village filled with crows.

Mythology by Edith Hamilton: 5/5. I read this for school and it was really fascinating! I already knew a bit about Greek and Roman mythology (mostly because of Percy Jackson) but it was cool to learn more about it and Norse mythology.

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin: 5/5. All I have to say is that A Song of Ice and Fire is so much better than Game of Thrones.

Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet: 3/5. I had found this in a box and wanted to reread it, and it wasn’t as good as I remember it being. It was a really fast read and fairly interesting, though, simply because of the magic.

The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. I feel like this is when the books really take a dark turn, which makes them really interesting to read.

Blockade Billy by Stephen King: 5/5. I listen to this in the car with my dad whenever we take a long trip, and I always really enjoy it. There’s nothing super special about it, and I’ve never been super interested in books about sports, but this story is cool because it’s also about murder.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: 5/5. This is amazing! It’s another book that’s been in the news a lot due to the Trump presidency, so I’d say give it a read simply because of that, but it’s incredible and should be read in its own right. A total cliffhanger ending.

Witch & Wizard: The Gift by James Patterson and Ned Rust: 3/5. Honestly, I can’t remember what this was about.

The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket: 5/5. Those lions deserved better.

Holes by Louis Sachar: 4/5. This is one of those books that you’re supposed to read as a kid that I never got around to. I did like it, but I think I would have liked it a lot better if I had read it ten years ago.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster: 5/5. Another really awesome pseudo-textbook! It really teaches you a lot about certain aspects of literature that you’ve probably never thought about before, and it’ll really change the way you read!

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll: 3/5. This was really boring for me to read and I’m not sure why. I think I just expected it to be something else, and I didn't really like it.

Medea by Euripides, translated by Rex Warner: 4/5. My World Mythology class read this out-loud and it was really entertaining. It’s not a necessary read but it’s kind of fun.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: 5/5. This is super hard to read so I’d definitely recommend paraphrasing it as you go, but it’s a classic, so you definitely need to read it at least once.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: 3/5. Again, this was a book that I really wanted to like, but just couldn’t force myself to. I think I ended up skim-reading at least three-fourths of it.

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks: 4/5. I think this is probably the first straight up romance novel that I’ve ever read, and I actually kind of liked it. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was cute and I cried a little bit at the end.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon: 5/5. This was excellent! I’d never read anything like this before, and the format was super unique as well, and it was all around a good read. It was also really sad and made me really uncomfortable at times, which I think speaks to how well it’s written.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: 5/5. Super good. I read this for class and I’m really thankful for that, since I think there’s a lot of deeper meaning to the book that I was able to examine thanks to class discussions.

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater: 4/5. I liked this okay, but it’s definitely not on the same level as The Raven Cycle. I really enjoyed the characters in this— they were all extremely different from one another, and that was refreshing.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: 5/5. This started a minor obsession with murder/thriller novels!!! It was extremely well written and had me guessing until the end (I didn’t see the final twist coming!) I actually leant this to my mom and she also loved it!

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien: 4/5. I was desperate to like this more than I actually did. There were parts of it that I really liked, and parts of it that had me literally falling asleep.

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding: 3/5. Ugh. I didn’t like this at all. It’s only redeeming factor was that it’s a really fast read.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber: 3/5. Extremely underwhelming.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien: 5/5. I wasn’t super into this in the beginning, because I don’t like war books, but I had to read it for class and I ended up loving it by the end. There’s definitely some triggering content but the book mainly focuses on the idea of truth and storytelling, and it’s really fascinating!

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson: 4/5. This was okay. I found myself getting annoyed with how dramatic everything was, but it’s a story about overcoming odds and finding strength within yourself, which I know some people are into.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger: 3/5. Yikes. The narrator is so fucking annoying in this that I couldn’t take it seriously. I know it’s a classic, but I really didn’t like it.

The Giver by Lois Lowry: 4/5. This is another book that I wish I had read in a classroom setting when I was a little younger because I feel like I missed out on a lot of the deeper meaning because I sped through it in an hour or two. I did really enjoy it, though.

The Martian by Andy Weir: 4/5. This is one of the rare instances where I prefer the movie to the book. I liked this book okay, but there were big lengthy descriptions of the “science” that I found really tedious.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: 5/5. I wish I had read this before I watched the movie, though I still really enjoyed it. It’s another book that leaves you guessing about what’s going to happen until the very end, and it leaves you feeling really unsettled.

Misery by Stephen King: 5/5. This is my first Stephen King book that I actually read (aka didn’t listen to)! I’m glad I picked this as my first book of his to read, because it’s shorter than some of his other stuff without being boring. It’s more violent and gory than I usually go for, but I still really liked it!

And that’s it! Happy new year, everyone!

#mine #books #books read in 2017 #books read #book recommendations #book rec #2017 books

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silhouettesandsalsa · 7 years

Text

June Eleventh

Dan did not like birthdays. He didn’t have anything against the desserts, or the presents, or the scent of birthday candle smoke. He quite liked all of those, actually. One of his first childhood memories was going to his friend Christopher’s third birthday party. He remembered the velvety chocolate cake, and thinking that one day, he would have that same cake on his own birthday. His mother had always bought vanilla cake for birthdays, and he’d never had the heart to say he’d prefered chocolate. But despite all that, he liked nearly all aspects of birthdays.

For other people. Not for himself.

As a kid, Dan had liked his birthdays. Heck, he even looked forward to them, the presents and candy and pinatas. But gradually, as he grew older, he noticed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Winnie the Pooh themed decor start to disappear, until themed parties were deemed only for “losers.” In fact, it was on his fifteenth birthday that he realized-- he was no longer a kid anymore, and all birthdays did was tell you that you were a year farther away from watching Sesame Street and playing Pokemon, and a year closer to the adult world and boring office jobs and worrying about bank loans and dating, which he thought was disgusting, and inevitably, he realized, death. That day, he excused himself from his French classroom and ran to the boys’ bathroom. He stood in front of the foggy mirror, peering at his pale reflection tinged with green from the faulty bathroom lighting, wondering when he’d suddenly become so old, and exactly when his childhood had slipped from his desperate grasps until it only existed in his memory.

That was why, on June 11th, 2017, Dan did not want to wake up. He had though, a few rays of sunlight beaming in through the windows in his room, shining directly in his eyes.

This, he thought as he pulled the grey covers back over his head, was not a good way to start a day. Having your eyes directly assaulted by a sunbeam. He wished it would rain, or at least be cloudy, as a way of watching his already somber mood. But upon checking the weather app on his phone under the covers, the light illuminating the creases of fabric, he was informed that his birthday was going to be, as he muttered to himself, “bloody brilliant.”

The sky was an exuberant shade of royal blue, with puffy clouds almost resembling marshmallows inching proudly across. The sun was shining brightly, and the birds outside his window were trilling a morning sonata.

“Bloody brilliant,” he repeated. It was as though the entire world wanted him to be happy today, when all he could think about was the inevitability of death. He felt like lying on his bed for the rest of the day, curled into a lump of bitterness and regret.

He knew that at any moment, Phil would come bursting in with some silly cake and party hats, or a messily-baked pan of homemade brownies, or cupcakes from the bakery down the street in some exotic flavor like “avocado” or “mango-chili” or “dark chocolate-bacon.” The thought of Phil brought a small smile to Dan’s lips. Even on days like these, somehow, Phil was always able to make Dan happy. He remembered when he’d been in college, horribly unhappy with his life, in what he liked to describe as his quarter life crisis, and Phil would randomly grab his hand and pull him out of the apartment on mystery outings. Sometimes they’d go buy ice cream cones and eat them in the park nearby. Sometimes they’d buy weird board games from Japan or Italy and spend the night trying to figure out how to play. Sometimes they’d just wander around, their fingers almost touching as they walked side by side. Whatever it was, Phil would always manage to make Dan laugh, even if it was just with a stupid pun.

Dan lay on his bed, letting his eyes shut. His breath became even, and after a few minutes, he was fast asleep again.

Dan woke with a start. He pulled the hot covers off his head and grabbed his phone from his bedside table. It was three o’clock! He’d been asleep for hours! He scrambled out of bed. Phil must be worried sick! He grabbed a pair of dirty jean off the floor and pulled them on over his pajama shorts.

“Phil!” he called as he hurried downstairs to the lounge. His voice echoed off the walls, mixing with his heavy footsteps. He opened the door to the lounge to find… no one. He checked the kitchen. Nothing. Phil’s room. The bathroom. The gaming room. The balcony. Phil was nowhere to be found.

Huh, Dan thought, brewing himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. He must be out, he reasoned, pouring coffee into a large mug. He took a sip and sighed. Perhaps this wasn’t so bad. Dan never liked big celebrations for his birthday. He always tried to act happy and upbeat, when really, he just wished that he could sit alone in silence, mourning another year closer to death.

He padded back to the lounge, where he scrolled through Tumblr on his phone. Birthday messages from his friends and followers filled his screen. He sighed and tossed his phone aside. He couldn’t escape from his birthday. Any other day, he’d appreciate those posts, but today he couldn’t stand them. Mindlessly, he grabbed his phone to tap out a thank you tweet to everyone, knowing it was the nice thing to do. Still, he couldn’t help feeling like his somber mood leaked into the tweet as he reread it before posting it. Everyone would notice his lack of enthusiasm, he worried, before realizing it was hard to ever sound enthusiastic over a tweet without overusing all-caps and emojis. Oh well, he thought.

He pulled out the Nintendo Controller and launched himself into a game of Mario Kart, hoping it would take his mind of off everything.

Hours passed.

Dan finally looked up from his hundredth game, realizing it was already six o’clock. Phil hadn’t bothered to text or call or leave any signs. No DMs, no Snaps, nothing.

But as Dan refreshed his Twitter feed, a tweet caught his eye. It was Phil’s. Just random gif of a birthday cake.

Dan thought nothing of it until he noticed Phil had tagged his location. Someplace called “Bob’s Boba.” Dan remembered walking by it a few weeks earlier and agreeing to try a bubble tea from there at some point with Phil. Now, as his stared at his screen, he almost felt betrayed. Sure, it was small, but they had agreed to go together! And now Phil was off galavanting with who knows to get bubble tea!

Dan frowned. Phil wasn’t one to go back on his promises. What if Phil couldn’t help that he was at Bob’s? What if-

No, Dan shook his head. It was too impossible. But what if? Dan bit his lip, and couldn’t help but let the thought flood his mind.

What if Phil had been brought there by a kidnapper? He hadn’t told Dan about any plans he’d had today.

The hairs on the back of Dan’s neck stood on end. Phil, poor innocent Phil. Kidnapped?

Dan couldn’t stand thinking of his best friend being dragged around by some huge thug, tweeting random gifs to make it seem like everything was normal, against his own will!

He should phone the police, Dan realized. His finger hovered over the nine on his phone’s keypad. No, he thought. He wasn’t even sure that Phil had been kidnapped. He would go to Bob’s, he reasoned, to find Phil for himself.

He ran upstairs and quickly changed out of his pajamas and old jeans into a pair of clean, nondescript ones and a shapeless black hoodie. He couldn’t be bothered to be recognized today, not when he was on a mission. He grabbed his headphones, his wallet, and his keys, shoved them into his hoodie pocket, pulled on a pair of worn black Vans, just in case he needed to run, texted Phil a few hundred times with no response, and headed out the door.

He passed the cute hipster cafe, the grocery store, and the Starbucks. After a while, the buildings began to blur together into a jumbled mess. He was sure he was going the right way. Right? He looked up at the street signs, but they all seemed unfamiliar. He turned to his phone to check Google Maps, but suddenly realized, to his dismay, that he was over his monthly data limit, only eleven days in. He muttered curses to the sky, which, he noticed, was looking grayer than before. In fact, it looked positively cloudy, the cheery sun from before blotted out by ominous masses of cloud.

It started raining a few minutes later. Dan groaned, cursing his earlier self for wishing it would rain. This wasn’t a light rain, either. At first it was a few drops, but then, just like that, it was pouring. Dan was soaked to the bone in an instant, water sloshing around inside his drenched shoes. He shivered in the dark light, ducking under awnings in an attempt to keep dry. His teeth chattered, his hunched figure dripping and dark. His hair stuck to his forehead, and his fingertips grew freezing in his pockets. The rain stung his arms, coming down almost sideways in the wind.

Finally, he came to a street called Borrows Avenue, which sounded familiar. He could’ve sworn Bob’s was nearby, so he picked a direction and walked in it for a while, hoping he was going the right way. After a few minutes, a glowing neon sign came into view up ahead.

“Bob’s Boba.” Dan grinned, breaking into a run. He flung the foggy glass door opened to find a nearly empty shop. A woman with blue hair stood at the counter, a few years younger than him, looking boredly at her phone. A pretentious-looking older man sat by the window, stroking his pointed beard and scratching away in a small leather notebook. Beside those two, they were alone.

“Um, excuse me?” Dan approached the woman at the counter. She looked up, snapping gum in her mouth, and raised an eyebrow, as if to say “what do you want?” Dan bit his lip and continued. “I was just wondering if you’d seen a tall guy come in here, about my height, with uh, black hair? Blue eyes? Pale skin?”

“Nah,” she mumbled through her gum. “I didn’t see no one lookin’ like that come through here.” She looked thoughtful for a moment, or as thoughtful as one could look while blowing bubbles with their gum. “Wait, actually. Black hair, right?” Dan nodded. “He left, like, twenty minutes ago, or somethin’. He was with a tallish guy and a shorter woman. Blonde, I think. They went that way.” She pointed out the window.

The man sitting in the corner looked up from his work. “I could’ve sworn they went thataway!” He gestured in the other direction.

The two argued for a few minutes while Dan used the Wifi to check for new tweets. Indeed, Phil had tweeted another gif, this time a bowtie tying itself. Again, he’d tagged the location, somewhere called “Pixel.” Dan loaded Google Maps, thanked the woman as she yelled, “No, you’re wrong, you bloody twit!” at the man, and hurried out the door.

Another ten minutes in the rain and he arrived at the store. It was a video game store that Dan made a mental note to return to. Again, he asked the cashier if he’d seen Phil. Again, the guy described the same group of people as the woman at Bob’s, and directed Dan in their direction. Again, Dan checked Phil’s tweets and found another gif. This one, however, was not tagged with the location. Dan sighed with defeat as he stepped out into the rain. Phil, wherever he was, was definitely not kidnapped, and was obviously avoiding Dan. Surely he’d gotten his hundred texts! Surely he knew!

Dan wandered dejectedly home. What was he even doing with his life? Twenty six whole years of what, chasing his friends who clearly didn’t want to be found? He sighed. Another birthday went wasted. Dan hated birthdays, but even he couldn’t help feeling the slightest bit annoyed with his friend. Deep down, he knew that he really didn’t hate the silly cakes and streamers and party hats. Deep down, he liked knowing that his friends cared, even if he didn’t like knowing he was a year older.

Dan was shivering by the time he reached his building. He rubbed his red nose, thinking about Phil on the elevator ride up.

Phil was the one person he knew he could depend on. Phil, who would bring him little gifts without any real reason. Phil, who had supported him for years. Phil, with his clear blue eyes and brilliant laugh that could light up any room. Phil, who, Dan realized, he desperately wanted to be with. He wanted to spend his birthday with Phil, he realized. He wanted to spend today with Phil, and tomorrow with Phil, and, he realized he sounded a bit like a strained fanfic writer, everyday with Phil. He couldn't erase those eyes, that smile, those eight years of companionship. And yet… he thought, as the doors opened to his floor, there was something missing. Some little piece of the puzzle that was Dan and Phil… gone. Had it ever been there? He trudged to the apartment door, dripping, sultry, and alone.

A sliver of light shone onto his feet from under the door. He must have left the hall light on. He pushed the key into the lock, leaned into the door, and…

“SURPRISE!” The light blinded him for a moment, and suddenly Dan realized he was facing his friends. There was PJ and Chris and Louise and Cat and Joe and Alfie and Casper and even Tyler Oakley in the back. And then, popping up right in front of him was Phil. His glowing face, his shining blue eyes, his dark hair falling in his eyes. And suddenly, Dan grabbed Phil into a huge hug. Phil, his Phil, had been planning all this for him! Phil leaned in Dan, even though he was getting wet from Dan’s jacket.

They both pulled away after a moment, realizing their hug had lasted a little long.

“Happy birthday, Dan!” Phil grabbed Dan’s hand. It was warm and reassuring. Dan was too busy grinning to speak.

“Thank you guys so much!” He finally said after a moment of standing there, awestruck. As his friends started to mingle and chatter, Phil explained that he, Louise and PJ had gone to Bob’s and Pixel to get presents, and to get Dan out of the house so they could set up for the party. It touched Dan that Phil had done all this for him.

The party started to wind down a few hours later. Dan’s friends stood in small clumps, talking and eating slices of rich, velvety chocolate cake. (How Phil had known that Dan loved chocolate cake, Dan had no idea. Lucky guess, he assumed with a smile.)

Dan had wandered away from the friendly conversations and up to the second floor with the balcony that looked out over the city. The rain had stopped, but the scent still lingered in the night air. Dan sighed, staring up at the huge, glowing moon. A few small clouds scuttled across it, but otherwise, the night was clear. The stars formed criss-crossing constellations above, and the street lights did the same below. For once in his life, Dan felt truly happy. He hadn’t known this feeling in a long time. He wasn’t worrying about the future or wishing for the past. He was thinking about now. He was living in the moment, like Phil had to always remind him to do.

The door creaked open, and as if on cue, Phil slid onto the balcony beside him. Neither one of them said anything for a while, but instead, they stared out at London in silence, their shoulders touching.

“Beautiful night,” Phil finally remarked, breaking the silence.

“Kind of like you,” Dan blurted out before he could think. He blushed, looking away.

“Or you.” Dan looked back at Phil, surprised. He’d never really been the flirty type. They were flirting, weren’t they? Dan’s heart began to flutter without any reason to. He didn’t need to be nervous around Phil, right?

“Thanks so much for everything, Phil. I mean it. The party, the cake, everything,” Dan looked into those familiar blue eyes for a moment before he realized the were getting closer to him.

“How about this?” Phil’s voice softened as he leaned into Dan. They grew still for a moment, their lips almost touching. Then, as if he’d played out the moment many times in his head, Dan brought his lips onto Phil’s. It was so natural, their bodies intertwining together, their hearts beating as one. They finally pulled apart, smiling and blushing. Their fingers remained intertwined.

“I should probably go back inside,” Phil smiled up at Dan. “They’ll wonder where we are.”

“I’m going to stay out here for a moment,” Dan beamed back. Phil shut the door quietly behind him, leaving Dan to stare up at the sky. For some reason, his cheeks ached, and then he realized it was because he was grinning so hard. He brought his fingers up the his lips. He could still feel the pressure of Phil’s lips upon his own. The puzzle that was Dan and Phil was complete. He laughed out loud, knowing he was the only one who could hear it.

And that was how, on Dan’s twenty-sixth birthday, on the balcony on a flat in London, on a cool summer night, Dan suddenly realized-- he had loved his birthday.

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otabekismybff · 7 years

Text

The Matchmaker’s Theme (Leojichu)

Pairings: Leo de la Iglesia/Guang Hong Ji/Phichit Chulanont (poly) Rating: T Words: 3504 Summary: Phichit has never touched a dating site, but now he's getting desperate since all his friends have coupled up. He's eager for a relationship of his own. Two different boys on the dating site capture his attention. Will this online messaging lead to love...? Prompt: @deadeyellentigh (posted at end of fic)

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Couples spring up all around Phichit. Yuuri and Viktor. Chris and his choreographer. Otabek and Yuri. And most recently, Leo and Guang Hong. He's happy for everyone, of course, but Phichit can't help but feel left out.

Always, always the third wheel. Always, always the matchmaker. Never, ever the matched. He's like Emma from that Jane Austen novel. So when will his Mr. Knightley, his friend-turned-lover, appear? Why are all of his friends already matched up?

...

Phichit has never touched a dating site, but now he's getting desperate. Maybe a few dates will cheer him up. He takes his time filling out his profile, writing out an extensive list of hobbies and favorites, and posts one of his favorite selfies from Barcelona.

Then he turns off his computer, turns off his phone, and goes to the rink. As he skates, he tries not to think about what he's just done. Tries not to worry about an inbox full of creeps. Or worse, an empty inbox.

...

Hours later, he returns home and cooks himself a full meal. Time passes. He watches TV. He showers. He feeds his hamsters. Finally, when it's close to midnight, he pulls out his computer and checks the dating site.

Ten new messages. Not bad.

Eight are nudes. Delete.

The last two catch his attention. Their profile pictures are fuzzy, but their messages seem to be only words. That's promising.

He clicks on the first message. The name line reads Levittome, 19.

Hi, phichu! Is that your name? If so, I think it's super cute. Your profile is so detailed! It feels as if I know you already lol. We have a lot in common. If you click on my profile, you can see that we like a lot of the same movies and shows. But really, what drew me to your profile was your honesty. I see so many fakers on here, so it's good to see someone real, you know? If we could chat and get to know each other, that would make me very happy. Hope to hear from you soon! -levittome

Phichit smiles and tries not to squeal. Honesty. It's something he values too. This “Levittome” person might be interesting. He clicks on the profile to compare favorites. Levittome wasn't kidding. They have so much in common that Phichit half-wonders if he copied his profile. Thankfully the site shows the date the page was last updated. Weeks ago. It's legit. Hurriedly he types up his reply.

Hi, Levittome! I'm guessing that's not your name. Lol. My name is actually Phichit, but Phichu is a nickname some friends call me. Wow, we really do have a lot in common! I know exactly what you mean about someone real. That's what I'm looking for too. I hate to ask this, but are you a boy or a girl (or something else)? I can't tell from your profile pic. Thanks. -phichu

“Auuugh, I'm such an idiot!” Phichut buries his head in his pillow, then peeks up at the screen. The cursor blinks at him. No reply comes. After a few minutes, he sighs and opens up the next message. This one is from Bearycute, 18.

hey hey! today i got gelato from the supermarket. when i ate it, i got brainfreeze uwwaa. but it was super tasty. do you like gelato? i'm asking bc on your profile you said you've been to italy. what's it like? are there really statues everywhere? i've been begging my bf to take me there, but we haven't had a chance yet. it would be nice to have a tour guide lol. anyways, i hope you'll reply to me. i'd love to chat with you. goodbye~ -bearycute

Phichit blinks at the message, a bit stunned. He likes that Bearycute just jumped into the conversation part, and he wants to reply that he really loves gelato, but he's a bit confused by the i've been begging my bf to take me there line. Bf usually means boyfriend, right? Or could it mean best friend? Phichit feels stupid as he types his reply, but he sends it anyway.

Hi, Bearycute! I absolutely love gelato. Mango is my favorite flavor. What about yours? Italy is a very interesting and fun place. In Rome, there are statues all over. It's like an outdoor museum! When you say 'bf,' do you mean boyfriend or best friend? I'm a little confused about whether you are interested in dating me or just being friends. Sorry if that's a strange thing to ask. I'm still new to this dating site stuff. Thanks. -phichu

He goes back to his inbox and is surprised to see a reply from Levittome.

I'm a boy. You're a boy too, right? If you're not, it's still okay, but I definitely have a preference for boys. -levittome

I'm a boy too. No worries. I prefer boys too. Lol. Most of my friends are gay or bi. -phichu

Oh really? How come you aren't dating any of them? -levittome

They're all taken. I'm the only one still single. Kinda lonely tbh. -phichu

Oh no! I don't want you to be lonely. Maybe if we talk more, we might turn out to be compatible? I suck with dating sites btw. You're the first person I've messaged on here. -levittome

You're kidding. Has anyone messaged you? -phichu

A few, but I'm most interested in you. -levittome

Phichit puts a hand to his chest. His heartbeat is thundering. He's only talked to this Levittome guy for half an hour and already his body is responding. Thankfully a new message from Bearycute saves him from having to answer right away.

strawberry is my fave! ahhhhh, i wanna go to rome now. that would be so much fun. we could take pictures everywhere. of everything. and eat all the delicious foods. you'll show me the best places, right? lol i mean my boyfriend. i'm gay. don't worry! that's fine to ask. i am def interested in dating you. you're super cute and seem like a fun guy~ -bearycute

What...? Phichit rereads the message to make sure he read it right. Bearycute is a guy who has a boyfriend and wants a new boyfriend??

Sorry. I'm still confused here. You want a new boyfriend? Are things not going well with the current one? I think he'd be pretty mad if he found out you were looking for somebody else. Cheating isn't a good idea. I speak from experience. My boyfriend in college cheated on me with a girl. -phichu

The reply comes minutes later.

yep i want a new bf, but don't worry! things are going great with the current one. i think you'd like him. you both have a lot in common. i let him look at your profile, and he said you were super cute. we're looking for a third person to form a triad. we're polyamorous, so we'd love to both date you. -bearycute

Phichit doesn't know what to say. This is getting weird. He opens up Google and spends the next hour researching polyamory. It's an interesting concept, sure, but he'd definitely get jealous since Bearycute is already close to his bf. That would give him a huge advantage, and Phichit would just end up feeling like a third wheel again. No, he can't do this. He needs to stop talking to Bearycute and just focus on Levittome.

Levittome, is there a name I can call you? It doesn't have to be your real name, if that makes you uncomfortable. Just I'd like to associate a name with you instead of just a username. -phichu

You can call me Lev. It's pronounced like the word “leave.” My username is a pun actually lol. -levittome

Hi, Lev! I like that name. Where are you from? -phichu

I travel a lot, and I've lived many different places. Right now I'm staying in Bangkok. What about you? -levittome

No way! I'm in Bangkok too. That's a crazy coincidence. Wait, do you follow me on Twitter? Is that how you found my dating profile?? -phichu

Lol busted. I've been curious about you for a while. You post the most interesting things. I thought you weren't interested in dating, so I never reached out to you. Then I saw your post and just had to give it a try. Ah, does that make me a loser? -levittome

No, no! You're not a loser. It's okay. Honestly that makes me feel relieved. It would have been too crazy a coincidence otherwise. Have I seen you around town? -phichu

No, I'd definitely remember if I saw you here lol. It's such a big city anyways. -levittome

Halfway through typing his reply, Phichit notices another message in his inbox. It's from Bearycute. Hesitantly, he clicks on it.

i'm so sorry! did i make you uncomfortable? i'm not in it just for a threesome, i promise. i'm really poly. your profile said you value romance more than sex and that's how i am too. please consider talking to me some more. i'm not a bad person, though i guess i get anxious sometimes. if you don't want to talk anymore, just tell me, okay? i don't like when people never reply. it makes me feel bad about myself. Dfhaskghasa i'm sorry i'm so awkward... -bearycute

Now Phichit feels bad for ignoring him. It isn't like Bearycute said anything mean. He should just calmly tell him that he's not interested in a “triad,” as he calls it, and move on. But maybe he won't tell him right away... That would be too abrupt and rude, right?

No, no. Don't feel bad! It's my fault for taking so long to reply. I got distracted talking to a friend. You didn't make me uncomfortable. We can keep talking. Cheer up, okay? You seem like a fun person, and I'd love to hear more about you. -phichu

Phichit bangs his head on the keyboard. What is he doing? He's not interested, so why does he care so much about how Bearycute feels? He's probably used to getting ignored. Phichit feels bad for him, honestly. This boy is earnestly trying to find a boyfriend, and even taking the care to make sure his current boyfriend likes the new one. He's not being selfish or pushy. It's kind of endearing actually.

The hours pass. Phichit exchanges messages with both Lev and Beary until he's too tired to type. He falls asleep with his laptop still on his lap. In his dreams, Lev is a handsome Russian model visiting Bangkok for a photoshoot and Beary is a cosplayer dressed as a bear and his boyfriend is dressed as a rabbit.

When Phichit wakes up, he's confused about whether he dreamed up the conversations from last night or not. He opens his computer and sees the messages still there. Relief washes over him. They're real. And he's got two new messages.

The one from Beary is from the previous night.

i'm guessing that you fell asleep lol. hope you have sweet dreams! i've really enjoyed talking to you. let's talk again tomorrow! i wake up late so i'll message you when i'm up. -bearycute

Good morning! It's Lev again. I fell asleep on you last night. So sorry. It's because I'm so not used to staying up late. Did you sleep well? -levittome

Since Beary said not to reply yet, Phichit replies to Lev's message.

I slept great. Feel well rested. But I fell asleep with my laptop on me. Lol. I have practice this afternoon, so I can't talk for long. -phichu

Practice? Ice skating? -levittome

Yep. It's a closed session though. Do you skate? -phichu

Yeah, but I'm not nearly as good as you. Do you have a theme for next season? -levittome

Not yet. Still working on the choreography for my short program. And **fingers crossed** trying to land a quad Salchow. -phichu

Oooooh, good luck! I bet you can do it. Have faith~ -levittome

…

Phichit does not land his quad Salchow. He falls on his ass more times than he can count, but he still stays cheerful. Celestino keeps trying to comfort him, but Phichit assures him he's okay. Honestly, he's just anxious for practice to be over so he can message Lev again.

...

When Phichit finally gets to his computer, a message from Beary awaits him.

good morn—or afternoon now i guess. i just woke up lol. did you have a good day so far? or are you sleeping in like me? reply when you can! -bearycute

Hey, Beary! I've been having a good day. Sorry about falling asleep on you last night! I'm a total morning person. It drove my old roommate nuts. On days off, he'd sleep through most the day so I had to try to be quiet, but I'm not a very quiet person so it was difficult. I woke him up several times accidentally. -phichu

my bf is the same way lol. he's a morning person, so when he stays over, he ends up waking me up in the morning. i get really groggy and tell him to become a mute. oh and i make him wear slippers in the morning cz his footsteps are loud. -bearycute

...

Phichit becomes addicted to his computer for the next week. Anytime he can get on, he messages Lev or Beary. He's not even sure who he enjoys talking to more. They're both interesting in different ways. He no longer feels the sting of jealousy when Beary mentions his boyfriend. His brain has gotten used to the idea that he has one, and he feels as if he knows him too, just from what Beary's said about him. He's almost okay with it...or so he thinks...

me and my bf want to meet you! well, not meet-meet, but video chat with you. would you be okay with that? it would be like a skype date, just the three of us. -bearycute

The invitation surprises Phichit. Beary's never even sent him a picture, and now he wants to video chat? With his boyfriend too. Phichit's stomach churns. He's not sure how to feel about this. Curiosity makes him want to say yes, but he's so worried he'll freak out once he sees them being intimate. Better not to accept, right? But Phichit doesn't want to seem rude...

I'm sorry. I don't think I'm ready for that yet. Let's talk more first, okay? -phichu

The reply doesn't come until an hour later.

no problem. we can talk more. it's only been a week after all, right? i'm sorry if i moved too fast. -bearycute

The absence of exclamation points worries Phichit. Beary is clearly disappointed. Phichit almost changes his mind, but a message from Lev pops up.

I apologize for being the most tactless boy in the world, but I really want to meet you. It's killing me knowing you're so close and not being able to see you. Would you like to go on a date this weekend? -levittome

Phichit doesn't even need to think about it.

Yes! Do you have a place in mind? -phichu

…

A few days later Phichit is freaking out about what to wear on this date. They're going to meet at a seafood restaurant near the movie theater. Lev didn't say anything about a movie, but Phichit is hoping they can watch one after they eat. It's been forever since he's seen anything in the theaters.

He decides on a dark-green collared shirt and black trousers. Somewhere between casual and fancy. He can always roll up the sleeves if it's too fancy.

When he reaches the restaurant, he walks up to the host stand, feeling more nervous than he's ever felt before a skating competition.

“Table for one?” the host asks.

“I'm meeting someone,” Phichit says. “It should be under the name Lev.”

The host smiles and nods. “Right this way, sir.”

He leads him through the restaurant all the way to the private room at the back. The host gestures to the door and leaves Phichit to stand there awkwardly. He's surprised that Lev is going all-out on their first date. All of this. Just for him. He takes a deep breath and opens the door.

Colorful streamers decorate the room and cutouts of animated hamsters are taped to the walls. Phichit walks inside and sees a long table decorated with rose petals. He reaches for the chair nearest him when suddenly a pair of hands cover his eyes.

“Guess who,” a seductive voice whispers in his ear.

Phichit chuckles. It's just the silly thing he would do. “Lev?”

Lev spins him around and kisses him on the lips. Phichit's too close to get a good look at him, but he can see thick, long lashes, tan skin, and thick eyebrows. Handsome from what he can tell. He puts his arms around Lev and kisses him back. Then he feels a kiss on the back of his neck.

Phichit jumps a mile in the air and pulls away from the two. Leo and Guang Hong. What the hell is going on? he wants to scream.

“Sorry, we didn't mean to ambush you.” Guang Hong looks sincerely upset. “We just wanted to surprise you. I'm so sorry. I planned all this.” He gestures to the decorations and the rose petal-strewn table.

Leo rubs his thumb across Guang Hong's cheek. “Don't take all the blame, babe. This whole scheme was my idea in the first place.”

“Can one of you please explain what's going on?” Phichit says, trying to keep his voice steady.

“I'm Lev,” Leo says. “From the dating site.”

“And I'm Beary,” Guang Hong says.

Then it clicks. The boyfriend Beary was referring to was Leo. But this is too much for Phichit to comprehend. Was everything a joke? Or...?

“Why would you two flirt with me on a dating site? Were you making fun of me?” Phichit demands. He can't even hide the hurt in his voice.

“No, of course not.” Leo takes a step towards him, then stops when Phichit flinches. He rubs the back of his head, his cheeks going red. “We saw your post on Twitter about wanting to try online dating. Before that, we always thought you weren't interested in dating anyone. I mean, we flirted with you all the time, but you never responded.”

“We honestly like you,” Guang Hong says. “And we never lied about anything. Please don't get angry at us.”

“I...you...the reason I never said anything about dating is because you guys were dating. You never told me you were poly or whatever, so I didn't want to interfere. But I...” Phichit pauses as his thoughts trace over the last few years. “I've liked you, Leo, since I first met you at Four Continents. And then when Guang Hong came along, I liked you too. But you guys hit it off right away when I introduced you, so...”

Leo and Guang Hong exchange knowing smiles.

“So,” Leo says, “what you're saying is that you like both of us and you wouldn't mind forming a triad with us?”

“I...” Phichit thinks back to his earlier worries. His main reason for rejecting the triad was because he was worried Beary would give more attention to his boyfriend since he knew him better. But with Leo and Guang Hong, he knows them both equally as well. He likes both of them, as friends and romantically. And they like him. So what's the problem? “Yes.”

“Huh?” Guang Hong tilts his head.

Phichit beams and bounds over to them. “Yes, I want to be with you guys.” He kisses Guang Hong this time, and Leo wraps his arms around him from behind, then kisses the top of his ear.

“Wait, wait!” Guang Hong says, his voice chipper. He rushes into the corner and comes back with three hats. He places one on each of their heads. Hamster hats.

Phichit's heart practically melts. “You guys know me so well.” Happiness bubbles through him, and all he can do is embrace his two new boyfriends. Finally, his friend-turned-lover match. Only it's two friends instead of one. (Somehow he one-upped Emma. Take that, Jane Austen.)

...

Afterwards, Guang Hong turns on a stereo and they dance in a circle, hands linked. Laughing and smiling and taking pictures of each other. Once they're worn out from that, they sit down to eat and take turns feeding each other. Then to make the evening even more perfect, they head to the movies and sit in the dark theater. Phichit sits between the two, and by the end of the movie, the boys are resting their heads on his shoulders and he's holding their hands tightly. Phichit kisses Leo's head, then kisses Guang Hong's.

Guang Hong stirs and smiles at Phichit sleepily. “What's on your mind?”

Phichit squeezes Guang Hong's hand. “We should have gotten together a long time ago.” ... NOTES: Based on the prompt by @deadeyellentigh: "Leoji adorably begging Phichit to make a triad of suffocating cuteness, complete with an elaborate welcome party involving hamster hats, would be adorable." - It got longer and more dramatic than planned, but hopefully the cuteness still came across! And I made sure to include the hamster hats. XD

#leojichu #leoji #phichit chulanont #guang hong ji #leo de la iglesia #yuri on ice fanfiction #tumblr prompt #characters are 18+

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