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#i'm tryna talk to the friend who streams about my feelings on this but shes too busy streaming to check her messages
hyunnie · 3 years
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#i get kicked out of my friend group chat sometimes cause i say stupid shit and most of the time it's funny and i get added back in p quickly#but this time i actually have stuff i wanna tell them so i ask the friend that usually kicks me out to add me back in#and he just goes no who are you gonna talk to anyways our other friend is busy streaming#and im here like so do you not care about what i have to say?#like you guys are my closest friends i dont have a lot of them is it so bad for me to want to tell you things#i know this kicking out thing is a joke but to say that to me#i've known that he doesnt care about the things i say in chat cause he never responds to them but this just confirms it even more#i just feel like i'm 3rd wheeling my two other friends at this point man#like once we went out for boba and my other friend asked him to buy for her and he immediately agreed#and he didnt even bother offering to pay for me#even though i offer to buy all the time#and my friend recently got into streaming and he watches her streams#but i;ve had my dance instagram for 2 years and he;s never watched or liked a single video#my other friend says something in chat and he'll respond#but when i say something he just reads it and doesnt do anything#we've been friends forever but i guess we're growing apart now#and i'm too scared to bring all this up cause our friend group doesn't have that dynamic#i'm tryna talk to the friend who streams about my feelings on this but shes too busy streaming to check her messages#i used to be able to say whatever in this chat without feeling anything but now i only message when i have important things to say sigh
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theficplug · 4 years
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|Next Lifetime|Erik Killmonger|
previous chapters : Part 1 Part 2  Part 3 
erik killmonger x black reader
|part 4|
warnings: um definitely smut this chapter at the end. so 18+ for this chapter! and a possible trigger warning for grief but i promise it gets better and its a romcom.
synopsis:  reader grieves Erik until she doesn’t (i’m trying not give too much away). This one is a long ass chapter. So, grab you a snack and something to drink! I hope y’all like it.
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“You promised on our birthday that you would give me something far more special than the charms you would gift to me. In 2018, you wanted to avenge your birth parents and you went off and did something foolish and when you- when they returned you to me you were-.” you struggle for a bit to find the words to explain it all to him as he takes a step back to gather himself. 
He rubs his eyes before grabbing your arms gently and massaging them . He leans down to look you in your eyes before asking “Ma, did you take something before I came to pick you up? You alright? Cause what you saying don’t make no sense at all... Your pupils don't look dilated though.” 
“I know how this must sound. Batshit crazy. I know it sounds crazy to me too. I’m still trying to figure out if I’m losing my own damn mind. I don’t know how or why. I just know that you came back to me.” you say to him and he shakes his head. 
“Erik. You’re talking about your ex boyfriend...The one that passed... . Alright, I’m going to take you home now... I still don’t understand what’s going on here and I’ve had about all I can take of trying to understand what’s going on here.” N’Jadaka says quietly to you before going around and opening your car door. 
The drive was silent as you picked at your nails and let the soft r&b roll over the tension between the two of you. 
Your own thoughts were going in about a billion different directions again. It didn’t feel right to just sit on all of that and not say anything at all. As ripped from a science fiction film as it sounded at least he knows. 
He was never one to think quietly because you could practically read his thoughts with the changing of expressions across his face.
The relief of seeing your building washed over you as he offered to walk you to your door. 
It was bittersweet because there was still so much of him in this different version of him. Even when he was upset with you or livid with whatever ghost that was haunting him back then,  he still showed nothing but tenderness to you.
You nod and give him a small smile before following him up the stairs , to your elevator, and finally your door. 
“I know that this is a lot. I mean who in their right mind would be able to process all of that.I wish there was any other way to say it... But thank you, I had a really nice time.” your soft words snap him out of staring at your face as if he was trying to piece it all together.
He knew deep down that there was something about you and what happened that weekend while dreaming in colours and other worlds but he couldn’t wrap his head around all of this happening in real life.  
You lean up to kiss his cheek and he grabs your shoulders softly. “With all due respect. You seem like a lovely person and a good woman, but I just - this all a lil too weird for me and I don’t think it’s a good idea that we continue seeing each other.” 
He kisses your hand and leaves with one look over your shoulder as you call out “Meet me at our spot. If you are still anywhere in there. You’ll know what I mean.”
“What the hell happened ? I didn’t expect you back until tomorrow morning?” Iri says as she settles on the other side of the sofa and patted the spot next to her as you kick off the sandals and lay your head on her lap with tears already prickling your eyes. 
“Oh you didn’t? Please don’t tell me you told him about the soulmate reincarnation thing? Sweets, you probably scared the hell out of that man. We needed you to keep that waaay down in the vault.” Tiki adds as she pops the cork off the bottle of wine in her hand and pauses the movie playing on the screen in the background. 
“Here’s what we’re gonna do . You’re gonna text him and tell him that you had just gotten your wisdom teeth removed earlier today and the meds had you unexpectedly zooted as fuck. “ Iri suggests and you chuckle softly.
---
Meanwhile at N’Jadaka’s house he was already being pestered by Lina and Penn for some type of details about what happened during the date. Orleans was already in the kitchen cooking and ear hustling but went back to his conversation on the phone with Big Mike when he realized there wasn’t any tea. 
“I don’t feel good. I’m finna go lay down. I’ll talk to y’all in the morning”. He says simply to them before trudging his way to his part of the house.
They had been friends since college and just got used to the idea of living together as they did in the dorms so they made it work after graduation. 
It helped them save money for when they finally separated and all of their schedules kept them busy so they didn't have time to get sick of each other. They also knew him well enough to know when something was bothering him and to leave him alone when he gets this moody.
"What the fuck?" He whispered under his breath 
"What the fuck was all that?" He continues talking to himself as he strips and walks past the bathroom mirror to the shower. 
He stops when something catches his eye. He sees a birthmark on his chest that almost resembles the shape of claw marks. He lets his fingers linger over the mark for a second. Thoughts of a panther mask clouded his memories for a moment before he shook his head and entered the shower. 
---
A few hours later of talking through it with your girls about possibly seeing a therapist about all that's going on and you were ready for bed. 
It didn't take long to drift off, you were ready to put the whole thing behind you. 
The familiar setting of purples , pinks, and hues of blue came into focus and you looked around letting the butterflies land on you again.
 You walk through the flowers and find Erik sitting by a stream of water weaving some of the flowers together. 
"What the hell, E?" You ask as you run over to him and wrap your arms around his neck
He turns to you and smiles big , his dimples on full display before shrugging. 
"It ain't perfect but it's the best I could do. They said it's like a do-over or something like that. I get a second chance but as a result of the way I did things the first time it's a lil different. Like when you restore a computer and it lose all it's files and shit. I get a new life but I'm still kinda stuck. I kinda like it though. I don't remember all the other shit when I'm awake. It really is like starting over. Shits crazy to explain when you think about it. But for you , you already know. I'd find you in this life and the next and the one after that. I don’t think I’mma ever fully remember what happened with all of that when i’m awake. I’m cool with it. It ain’t something I’m tryna remember." He says tipping your chin up to look at you and kissing you softly 
"I know. At least I get to hold you in the real world. It's just different. But guess what I saw today? I seen that bench that you and me signed all them years back. It's still there." You say to him and he places the lil flower bracelet around your wrist as y'all sit and talk for the rest of the night.
By the time you wake up with the aroma of breakfast wavering throughout the loft you feel a little better about the whole situation with Erik, not Erik. 
You opened your phone and sent him an I'm sorry gif with a few extra words inspired by Tina's wisdom tooth lie. 
 After easing into the kitchen and standing in the doorway you see the two lovebirds dancing around the kitchen singing to each other and laying food on the plates. 
"Morning lil sleepy head. Don't forget that I'll still be coming down to the center with you today for the seminar. You hungry?" Iris asks as she places the plate in your hands with a kiss to the top of the head. 
"Of course. There's a young girl, Sophie there that I really think would love to talk to you. She's just starting her transition. And her parents are wonderful but they don't really have much money. She hasn't really had the chance to get more “feminine” presenting clothes and she likes makeup.  " You say and she nods catching your drift.
"Well it'd brighten anybody's day seeing a beautiful successful trans woman like myself honey. But let's lift her spirits even more. I'm gonna bring some of the makeup I got from pr packages and some of the clothes from this collection. I really hope it helps." She answers and Tika just saunters over to her proclaiming her love for her. 
"Alright alright alright. I get it. I'm single as hell." You say laughing softly
---
Two weeks ticked by with radio silence on N'Jadaka's end. After the 4th day when he gave you the cold shoulder at a coffee shop, you decided to stop trying.
Maybe it wasn't fate and maybe you were just believing what you wanted to believe. 
You reason with yourself as you walked around the loft making notes about the new housing project you were working on. 
Finally having the house to yourself with the lovebirds gone for the day on a little adventure. You got to work budgeting and calling different areas to rent out apartments to you for women and lgbtq+ with housing insecurities. 
Your ramblings and thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door , thinking that Iri or Tika left something behind. 
"I told you to take your sunscre- Daka?" You question as he stands in front of you
You cross your arms and furrow your brows while waiting for an answer from him.
He stands for a moment like he’s trying to gather all of his thoughts together in a way that makes sense to both of you. 
"What're you doing here?" You ask putting your hand on your hip. 
He drops his shoulders and lets out a soft sigh before looking at you.
"I didn't wanna believe it. What you said that night cause like how the fuck does something like that happen? I’mma be honest.  I wanted to just believe that you were a lil off and leave it at that but something keeps telling me that you right. I can't remember shit before college and all I wanted to do was be with you. From the moment I met you in the store. I was like, this is it. This is what's missing. A piece to a puzzle that's all jumbled up." He admits and you nod slowly before letting him in. 
You walk around the kitchen getting a cup of tea for yourself and sitting a cup of coffee down on the counter for him.
“Don’t worry it’s black, I know you dont like it sweet.”
"You know I didn't exactly expect my fiancee that I buried months before to show up at a damn supermarket of all places. This isn't some movie or fanfiction. These kind of things don't happen in real life. Daka you, you had claw marks all over you. The last time I laid eyes on you. And now you're here in front of me. I thought that I was losing my mind." You say and he starts to unbutton his shirt.
"These." He says peeling his shirt off and showing you the birthmarks on his chest and shoulder.
You trace your fingers over it before leaning your head on his shoulder. 
"I asked my parents about my childhood and when I passed by my old neighborhood a few days ago andI remembered some things. I remember what happened to my other parents, in pieces. Shit’s brutal." He says dropping his gaze
"It's okay." You whisper to him and wrap your arms around him. You rocked him for a moment letting him let all of those feelings wash over him. 
He embraced you for a moment before kissing you tenderly. You tug at his bottom lip before deepening the kiss when he press you against the counter. 
"We'll figure it out... Something telling me I'd be a fuckin fool to lose you again." He says quietly against yours lips. 
"Are you gonna make love to me or are you going to keep looking at me like that?" You ask as he studies your whole face like he's looking at art. 
"A memory. It's you. We stood right here and I kissed you the same way. You were saying something like "you bring yourself home to me"." He says and you nod frantically, holding him closer to you.
"I did. It was right before you left." You admit and he nods before lifting you up onto the counter and kissing you heatedly this time. He kisses down to your breasts before looking up at permission from you to unhook your bra. 
Always a man that knows what he's doing. He takes kisses around your breasts and nipples. He takes his time to lick and caress you until he works his way down.
You shake your head yes before moving to slide off your panties but his kisses and his mouth is already beating you to it as he kisses down to your thigh.
He slides your panties off with his teeth and tosses them over his shoulder. 
You tilt your head back as you feel him wasting no time massaging over your clit and working you over with his fingers, curling them and stroking you gently. 
Your soft moans fill the room when he hooks your leg over his shoulder and begins to suckle your clit softly , swirling his tongue over it. 
"Tika will kil- Ooh god. How does your tongue feel like it's vibrating?" You ask and he only chuckles and grips onto your cheeks to bring you closer to him.
He was feasting on and devouring you like he was going to lose again and you could grind your hips down against his tongue and moan his name sweetly.
He didn't stop his tongue or fingers working in you until your legs are shaking and you're gripping at his head. 
"You have- fuck. I'm a squir-" you moan his name brokenly while trying to get out your words and lean back for a moment licking his lips before realizing what you're trying to say.
"Hold that for me. I wanna come with you." He says to you and you pout and protest as he removes his fingers. He picks you up off the counter and carries you bridal style asking you which room is yours.
"Left , left." You giggle into his shoulder as he helps you slide your dress off and you unbutton his jeans for him. 
You capture him in a kiss for a moment feeling his soft plump lips against yours again for the first time in what feels like forever. 
"It's been a long time since I've done all of this. . . Gentle." You say and he runs a calloused finger over your cheek moving a curl away from your face as he looks at you. 
He gets a quick flash of a memory of you and him in bed. You wore a smile on your face before telling him "happy anniversary".
He trailed his fingers down your body remembering almost every scar , every moment. 
When Erik got to a scar at your side. He chuckled, unlocking a memory of you two running from the neighborhood rottweiler , Smokey. 
That old ass dog hated you and he hoisted you over the fence first after being out late one night in high school. The gate had caught your side when you jumped. 
Erik felt so bad he brought you food from anywhere you wanted everyday from to school for a month. 
He leans down to place open mouthed kisses to it. 
He traced over your thighs to the cellulite and stretch marks remembering when you first got them. 
He was moving homes at the time and he wasn't ready to be further away from you yet.  You two just sat for hours at the park in the grass, talking. 
" You know white men behind all of that anyways. They want y'all to feel like you gotta look the same way. That's how they make them billions. My mama had 'em . Yo mama , and generations back. And it ain't ever stop them from being the women they are. Besides if any dirtneck nigga ever try you , just tell me. Imma handle it." He would say as you sat with your head on his lap, staring at the sun setting, knowing good and well your grandparents were gonna ground you for being late when you get home. 
They never did though cause you were with Erik they knew you were gonna be alright. 
"Nothing to worry about. I… I've never done any of that stuff before…Have you?" you question hesitantly as you stare off. 
"Tisha. From Ms. Wilkes class. We was coming from the kick back-" 
"Uh uh . That's your business , you ain't gotta tell me all of that." You say slightly upset at the fact that Tisha of all people was his first. 
----
"I got you." He says kissing your forehead then your nose before hooking your leg over his hip and easing into you slowly while his lips are still on yours. His eyes never left yours as he cupped your face sweetly like he didn't want to lose you again. 
In this moment he gets a glimpse of prom night and how things changed between the both of you forever. 
He wraps his hands around your waist. One of his hands splayed across your belly. 
He remembers the pregnancy scare you both had afterwards with him holding your hand and telling you no matter what happens he wanna be there for both of you.
Luckily, nothing came of it but you were definitely closer because of it.
You let out an open mouthed gasp at the feeling of being so full of him after so long. 
You rest your hands on his neck and shoulder and he bottoms out fully settling into you as he moves his arms next to  balance himself. 
You close your eyes as he begins to stroke into you trying to set a rhythm for you as his praises for you fall from his lips. 
He kisses his way down your neck licking the marks that are already starting to form there. 
"My lil baby." He mutters out after licking a freshly formed hickey forming on top of your breasts. 
You open your eyes slowly , looking at him and the way he's looking at you . 
"It's been way too long since I've heard that from you. You're remembering?" You ask quietly as you let out a soft moan.
N'Jadaka's muscles flex and tighten as he picks up his pace. His abs clenched as he  pulls out almost completely and filled you at a different angle.
 The sounds of your moans filling the room with every stride and stroke of his hips,  it seems like you're closer to floating in space. The man was fucking you like his life depended on it and at this point all you could do is wrap your arms around him again to comfort you as he shutters and rolls his hips deeper into you. Your walls tighten around him as you relish in the feeling of him. 
"Fuck. I remember all of it." He says half chuckling at the way it's coming to him and half nearly in tears cause he really missed being with you. 
"I also remember that this is your favourite position cause you like to see my face." He teases before leaning down to kiss you again with them plump ass lips.
"E?" You ask , grabbing his face with trembling hands.
"Baby?" You ask again 
He moves his hands from your waist and places your hands in his. Then moving them above your head as he flashes in between making love to you for the last time and now.
You roll over with him and place your hands on your chest riding him slowly getting the rhythm as he strokes into you from below. 
He laughs softly when he realizes what you're doing. 
"Are you spelling my fucking name , baby?" He asks and you tell him that you can spell both.
You let out a whimper when he brushes your spot and let him take over as he runs his hands over your thighs to your butt and over your back as he strokes into you. 
He plants his feet on the bed and work your hips in rhythm with him. 
It didn't take long for you to orgasm with a loud shriek of his name . You had forgotten how he gets when he's close as his hands on gripping all over your thighs and your back. You were already feeling sensitive with your second orgasm coming through and this man felt like he was trying to put it in your belly. 
He rolls you onto your side giving it to you deeply. 
With a loud hiss and panting from him he cums , holding you in his arms.
"I don't think it has felt like that since our birthday last year." He says into your ear as he pulls you closer into his arms. 
He engulfs you fully in his embrace and presses a kiss to the side of your head. 
You laugh softly and roll over to face him , resting your forehead against his.
"I remember. You took me to Paris. I had never been and at the time I was obsessed with everything Parisian. We fucked on the balcony and somehow I ended up popping the straps to my favorite dress. You still owe me by the way." You tease and he shakes his head laughing. 
"I think we ended up saving they marriage from across the way though. They was arguing the whole time. Then they gon watch us like we ain't see them." Erik says laughing as he squeezes your thigh playfully.
"I know they was trying some things." You joke 
"I missed you so much. You don't even understand." You admit with a somehow saddened and relieved expression. 
"I know.  I want to start over this time. All of that Erik Killmonger shit is over with. I wanna keep the name N'Jadaka and just start over. All of that was too heavy on me to carry. I wanna let it all go. I wanna do it right with you." He explains 
"Good because if you put me through that again. Wakanda will be the least of your damn worries." You say to him and he nods giving you his word, sealed with a kiss.
"It'll be alright. Everything happens for a reason. And I think that right now a bath needs to happen and I'm gonna need you to do that thing again that you did in the kitchen cause I'm tryna figure out when you learned that-" 
At some point after the bubble bath/ shower combo you were both out like a light until Iri and Tika decide to come busting in like they usually do with little gifts and food for you. 
"Guess who's your fave- SHE GOT A WHOLEASS MAN IN HER BED" Iri announces to Tika before your pillow hits the door as she closes it. 
"Sorry about that. This is kinda our cuddle hour so they're used to just coming on in." You say sleepily and he just laughs it off while holding you closer. 
"It's all good. I remember that I ain't know them much before but when we did spend time with them, they were good people." He says, still trying to piece it together.  
----
You fell asleep more peacefully than you had in a long time. Now granted, good sex didn't fix the many layers of issues and mysticism surrounding everything.
But for now, you knew that you had him, you had your girls, family and your business. Everything felt alright again. 
Right up until the point of sleeping through the first alarm to meet the property owners.
"Bae. Bae your phone going off." N'Jadaka whispers in the dark room , voice still riddled with sleep and grogginess. 
"Shit. Shit. I'm gonna be so late." You call out , quickly jumping out of bed and stumbling around the room. 
It takes you about 25 minutes to speed through getting dressed in your best skirt suit. 
N'Jadaka sits on the end of the bed putting on his shoes and watching you shuffle around. 
He had offered to drive you there and stay with you and check out the property with you. 
He slows you down by grabbing you by your arms gently and placing a kiss to your lips. 
"Good morning, handsome. Let's go" 
You walk through the living room with Iri and Tika already posted up in the kitchen placing two breakfast burritos in a container to grab and go. 
You grab your things from the counter all while thanking them and jetting towards the door.
"Good luck pooh!" Tika calls after you. 
"Byyyyeeee Dakaaaa" they call out after him
---
"Here it is . These are the apartments. I know they don't look like much now from the outside. But from the pictures it looks great. And they'll be safe and comfortable here-" you babble on to N'Jadaka while you both stand outside of the building where Erik grew up , until you notice two women walking to  a car that clearly wasn't from this area. 
You notice Shuri and your breath hitches in your throat. 
Frozen in your anxiety, the seconds ticked by and it was too late to leave. She looked you dead in the eye and then at N'Jadaka like she had seen a ghost.
She gasped and Nakia followed the eyes before back into the car. 
"SHURI WAIT - PLEASE" you yell out to them but the car was already speeding  away. 
tag list : @doublesidedscoobysnacks @chaneajoyyy @mirandkimy @doitforthevine67​ @amyhennessyhouse @dasia21​ @depressionandfandomsinc @sinfully-dope @ambitionwood @heybriheyyy @wholelotta-melanin @theesotericqueen​ @mbakuwife​ @spookys-girl @teardropzih @bigchoose @ceo-of-baby @sweetpeachjones @lost-ssoull  @shyblackgurl @justpeachee @nijajoha @imayhavemisunderstood @beautifullmelodyxx​ @alookintohersoul @rbhp @champagnesugamama​ @just-peachee @almeda-344  @mahogany2021 
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I just cried till I felt lavender all around me and I was back at grandma's house, sleeping on her couch and hearing CSI and law and order play.
I was screaming because of how painful this is.
My dad isn't the same father I grew up with, I know.
He and mom did the exact same thing to me around New years back when I was leaving to go to college soon in 2016, but I had been depressed since school started or maybe b4 that in 2015.
and they were both judging me, both ranting and wouldn't let me leave to go upstairs crying and I had to sit there and just listen to them both talk about how I should be grateful, and mom saying maybe if I would just made more friends and stop being so anti social then maybe I wouldn't be so depressed.
It was fucked up, and they didn't help me feel any better. It made me feel worse, like why the fuck did I even tell yall and why are you judging me for something I had experienced by myself, all alone for the very 1st time and all you guys are doing is just sitting here judging me for even being depressed 😔 and it was something my high school self couldn't even imagine my parents would do to me for feeling sad and wanting to be alone all the time in my room.
Their words felt like whoopens and it was a crime to be sad or angry in this house. While mom and dad get to argue and yell at me while I'm already snot nosed crying, tears streaming out of my puffy eyes, and when they finally told me off, finished.
Told me to go to my room. And just finish crying and then come back downstairs for new years celebration.
It wasn't safe there. And my sister, who came back up to check on me saw how much pain I was in.
I didn't even want her to see my face.
Why do they always assume that we are the ones who should be happy not getting what we asked for, not trusting anyone to tell how we feel about being alone to ourselves or to our parents because they think it's our faults that we're suicidal, stress eating and depressing....and me substance abuse.
They don't see that they're the ones who helped create the toxic environment we fail to runaway because they are the ones who gsve birth to us.
The Bible says honor your mother and your father.
But what does it say about mental health and mental abuse?
I've never heard a preacher say it's ok to runaway from your mother and father when they hurt you more than a stranger on the corner looking to steal or kill somebody.
We get lashes on out backs, the shoulders, the pops on the hand, the nail flicks to the head, and their words feels like those very same lashes.
We have emotional ptsd from them.
And this is finally the end.
I'm leaving my star wars troupe commander and allowing him to be the robot soldier father he's tryna be for his wife and kids.
But he'll never be the dad I thought he was.
He's just an overbearing father figure, who doesn't want his kids to see him unhappy and yea cosigns his mom/gf/wife to force her kids to be happy even if it means choosing to overcriticize them so they don't make their own mistakes or wear whatever they want to school, tell them they're not allowed to be upset or catch an attitude at them for making us do something that we don't want to do or need to. Choosing to hit us or aggressively threaten us by getting in our faces and bucking up at us if we says no to anything she asks.
She's basically bullying us to be people pleasing. And dad supports her because we're the kids, who have no right to say anything against them.
Including now. And I'm about to be 25 on Tuesday.
How horrible could you say I feel? I'm ready to go watch a Star Wars marathon in order to remind me that my father loves and cares about me even when he gaslights my emotions and tells me they're not real.
So I guess if he sees a slit on my wrist, we'll just make it a joke and say that it's a tattoo alright? 👍
Better not say anything gay, cause pocahontas sounds good too and anything that's reminds him or me of grandma is gonna make him pop off apparently.
Yup, my mouth shut like they taught me. Feeding myself baby food and applesauce. Locking my door.
Throw away the key.
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thisnerdsadventures · 3 years
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a 2021 update
Ah, so I have forgotten to update in a million years, per usual
~ Random thought section ~
I woke up this morning and read this tweet thread about Alice Wu's director's note for her movie The Half of It. It's streaming on Netflix, and I highly encourage to go watch it, it's probably one of my favorite movies from the past few years. Anyways, she talks about how she produced the film while digesting the heartbreak of a friendship breakup - the whole thread hit me on a different level, but here's a quote that really hit home for me, especially a month from graduation: "The end of the film is each of their beginnings. And for my characters, I can think of no happier ending." We spend a lot of time worrying about the end of things and the uncertainty of things to come. Yet, there was a time where we worried about the exact same things for the very chapter we are now so nervous about leaving.
1. I'm nervous about leaving school and starting the..... rest of my life???
2. I'm nervous that my friends will slowly fade away. I'm nervous that they'll get on with their lives and I'll be slowly still trying to get my bearings, stuck in limbo.
3. I'm nervous that starting adulthood will be difficult because there are no more college orientations, no more awkward freshman dinners, perfect opportunities to meet new friends who are just as nervous as you are.
In writing this out, I felt a sense of deja-vu, like I had written these words before. So I just looked back at some of my posts right before entering college, and lo and behold:
08-18-2016: Today I said goodbye to one of my closer friends, and i realized that without even knowing it, Sunday’s party was the last time I would see some of my closest friends. It’s awful that way, that you don’t even know it’s the last time until it’s passed, and you’re left to pick up the the end of a chapter of a relationship from the scraps of an unexpected and improper farewell.
I feel like I’m in a weird twilight zone between college and high school where my present friends are all beginning to fade away to move on in their lives, and I’m yet to really meet anyone in my class yet, so at the moment,,,,,,there really isn’t anyone.
I wrote this less than a week from moving to Boston, and it's so shocking to me that I also experienced the "unexpected and improper farewell" part in senior year. It's almost the exact same thing that happened in COVID and is continuing to happen. You never know when the last time you might see someone might be, except instead of consolidated over the course of one pre-college summer, it's over the course of more than a year, the time that this pandemic has been going for.
And I hate that I said the "fade away and move on" thing verbatim, literally nearly five years ago. To be honest though, it's true, a lot of them did fade away and move on. But so did I, I wasn't left behind. To some extent, I was the one who did a lot of the moving away. And like many things in life, a couple of us continue to hang around, and maybe our friendships cycled in and out over college, but have come around again after a few years. I guess those are the ones that you know will stick around. The limbo period between chapters is a hard one, and it's nice to know that present-day me isn't the only one who has felt this. It's nice to know that past me met so many incredible people so fast, that I forgot this limbo period happened.
I know this part is getting a little long, but there's just a couple more snippets I want to share:
08-13-2016: I recently read Marina Keegan’s essay The Opposite of Loneliness, and one line resonated with me a lot: We’re so young. It seems silly and almost pretentious for me to think that this party would be so final, and yet it does, even though we have decades upon decades to build and connect or reconnect.
We’re so young, but that doesn’t stop the understanding that we are going to a new chapter in our lives and that it’s going to redefine our relationships. I hope it doesn’t change them too much.
I suppose much of the anxiety of going to college results from having to build my own community from the ground up again.... I tell myself the pieces will fall together and everything will be ok, but it doesn’t stop the increasing anxiety from, well, increasing.
I loved this collection of essays, if you haven't read it, I recommend you do. In moving around for so many years, I haven't been able to keep a lot of books in my possession, but I kept this one because that essay really hit home for me, and continues to, no matter what part of life I'm currently experiencing.
I think moving to college did change my relationships. But change is not a bad thing - your childhood friendships, the few of them that survive, end up strengthening and growing into adult friendships. And in the end, isn't that better than not changing at all? I'm hoping that a few of my college friendships will do that too - we'll go from college friends to family friends, and my kids will call them "Aunt" and "Uncle" and they'll grow up watching their parents talk for hours in the front yard before finally getting in the car and leaving for home.
08-13-2016: But hey, this is part of what I signed up for, I knew I wasn’t going to have much of an initial safety net, but I’m sure I’ll survive. We, as humans, always find a way to adapt right?
I think I survived and adapted. Not in the way I saw things going, but we can never really fully predict things, can we? One day, I'll learn to give myself a safety net for the next chapter, I'm sure. Today's not that day though.
Going back to her director's note, there was one more thing that just struck an emotional chord for me:
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Fun fact, Alice Wu actually went to MIT for a bit before transferring to Stanford, and then she became a software engineer at Microsoft! I relate a little too much to her. Maybe one day I too will dump coding for my art form. But for now, in this above example, I relate far too much. I worked on my album, Imperfect, a little too obsessively this past winter while trying to digest the throes of heartbreak from one of my own friendships that ended. I still don't know if there was an ending for that friendship. I think I've spent a lot of time trying to put off the end, like a TV series that just keeps adding more and more seasons. Regardless of whether it needs to end or not (which I have not decided and will continue not to do so), I spent a lot of time thinking about who I was before and after that friendship, and I've concluded that a lot of who I am now, what my life looks like now is a result of that friendship. I'll give you a hint: I really like who I am now, compared to who I was before, and it showed me a lot of parts of life and friendship that I never expected would happen. That friendship was (is?) one of the most beautiful things that has happened to me in my life.
Let's finish off this reflective post with a quote from Khalil Gibran, that's kinda related to that point about how transformative the past can be, and how we're far better off in future chapters of our lives because of it.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
Again, if you haven't read his collection of poems, you should absolutely 100% drop whatever you're doing right now and do so! Wow, I really just assigned an entire reading list in this post.
I hope in making this movie, Alice found peace. I would hesitate to say that I found peace when making my album. I wrote a lot of songs about the heartbreak I felt from that whole experience. But the last song I wrote, "Best Friends," ends the whole thing on a positive note, that at the end of the day, I remember how my friends (past and present) literally saved my life and how things are looking a little better, and whatever happens, I hope my best friends will be there waiting for me, whoever they end up being.
- OK I PROMISE I DIDN'T SET OUT TO BE 100% SO EMO -
But yeah, I haven't really been doing much otherwise? I guess just tryna stay alive, I've been cooking a lot and cooking a lot of good good food, I did apply to an MBA program, I got my COVID vaccine (second shot this week!), I am excited to announce I am publishing a paper in my MEng lab, which is a really big accomplishment imo, I am thriving in my (1) econ class that I kept, even though I didn't realize we had readings assigned like for the past month, I went to try pastries from this Turkish bakery, I biked, probably, 15 miles over the past month, I've read at least 4 or 5 books this year so far, and am hoping to knock another one out today. Currently dying because trying to finish my thesis in like . a week, which is looking a little challenging, but I'm sure it'll happen!!!??
#m
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