Greetings! The name is Time Lizzy, or Time as my friends call me. They/Them pronouns. I love to try new things, draw, sing, dance, garden, and I do some witchcraft in my free time. I'm a Hetalia role playing partner if you guys are interested.
Hmm some of his texts reminded me of a manchild throwing a tantrum, tbh 8D; I chose all the defiant options when he was taunting the MC during the phone calls as well haha– His behavior during those days certainly makes one either want to cower in a corner or take up a fighting stance lol 😡
A/N: No regrets writing this during class. Couldn’t get this out of my head after seeing it so. I put some words together. 🙂
Spoilers for Ray route beneath the cut!!
Click. Click. Click.
You were mindlessly fiddling around with the ‘lock’ button on your phone. The screen flashed on and off, the time stamp 01:48 appearing in blinks.
Your eyes were getting sore, the burn of exhaustion wearing them out. You could feel your eyelids beginning to slip downwards, but you hastily shook yourself awake. Just next to you, Saeran was hard at work, fingers dancing across the keyboard and eyes focused intently on the screen of his computer. You couldn’t possibly rest while he was working so hard. You discreetly glanced over at him from the corner of your eye, and you observed how his brows were turned downwards slightly, the intense concentration causing him to frown and purse his lips together. You noted the dark bags beneath his eyes, and felt a twinge of pain in your chest. He needed rest. Desperately so. But Saeyoung needed even more desperately to be saved.
Worry caused your eyebrows to knit together, and frustration bubbled up in you again. You’d lost count of how many times that had happened over the past few hours alone. Your fingers were itching to do something, your feet restlessly tapping against the wooden floorboards. You wanted to do something to help, not just sit around idly while Saeyoung was missing and Saeran, Jumin and Jaehee were staying up and working hard to trace his whereabouts and execute a plan to attack the Prime Minister.
There was just so much danger, and too many secrets. You just hoped all this would end soon, with everyone in the RFA safe and sound.
Deciding to make an attempt to distract yourself before you ended up dozing off, you leaned over to peek at Saeran’s computer screen, hoping to make some sense of the monstrous bulk of near un-readable data flying across the monitor. Maybe you’d be able to figure out something. It wouldn’t hurt to have more heads working on this together, after all.
Of course, Saeran’s head was probably worth more than an army of scholars, and it didn’t really help that your brain wasn’t registering much, but you could still try. At least it was keeping you a little more awake now.
Soon, you found yourself absorbed in the sound of keys clacking away on the keyboard and the speed at which Saeran was pulling up articles and cases on the screen. You could only catch the titles because his reading speed was terrifyingly fast, and you found that most, if not all, of them were related to giant corporations and suspicions of corrupt dealings between them and the government.
You were so engrossed in your attempts to process all the information that you didn’t even notice that the sound of the clacking keys had stopped, or that the screen wasn’t changing or moving as fast anymore.
It was only when you felt someone take your chin that you snapped back to reality, your eyes jerking to meet his beautiful, glowing mint green eyes.
You didn’t get the chance to react in the slightest when he leaned in, tugging you forward gently by the chin, to capture your lips with his in the most tender way imaginable.
Your eyes widened to the size of a goldfish’s and your breath caught as you felt his lips glide over yours softly, like a gentle brush running along the surface of a canvas. Your heart was beating in a rapid crescendo, and within seconds it was drumming loudly in your ears, while blood and heat rushed to your cheeks like a rising tsunami.
Saeran pulled away then, lips curling into an amused smirk at the sight of your flaming cheeks and bewildered expression. His eyes were bright and twinkling with happiness, and the embarrassed protests that were ready to burst out from you died instantly on the tip of your tongue. How could you possibly chide him when he was smiling such a radiant smile, when joy — pure, unadulterated joy he had never known all his life — was blooming in his pink-tinged cheeks?
So all you could manage in response to his teasing smirk was a soft whisper. “T-That’s not fair…”
He dropped his hand from your chin, the smug smile on his face merely deepening in a gorgeous crescent moon curve.
“Payback for that time in the garden,” he shot back, humming a little tune to himself as his gaze returned to his computer screen, and the clacking sounds resumed.
You could only stare at him, slack-jawed. He actually remembered what happened in the garden. He remembered that time when you pulled him in and kissed—
The thought recurred in your mind, which only served to fan the flames that was currently engulfing your entire body.
You hastily looked away, frantically trying to gather your wits about you. With a huff, you blew out your cheeks. Unfair. Here you were, unnerved and undone by his surprise attack, while he looked completely recharged and ready to continue working through the night.
‘Oh well,’ you thought to yourself in defeat, finger tracing your bottom lip, where the heat and imprint of his lips lingered. At least you were wide awake now.
And on that note, you would most definitely spend the rest of the night thinking of ways to get back at him for this.
Today I got to go on one of our runs to more rural shelters to help relieve overcrowding there. We ended up bringing back 21 kittens and 10 dogs. So fun day. But this morning, while I was getting stuff together in preparation for the 90 minute drive…. This happened.
Excuse you Tiniest Opossum, but you are NOT allowed to escape through the front bars of the cat carrier we were housing you in. I’m going to put you back.
“NO!”
I am going to catch you and put you back and you have no say in this matter.
“NO!”
Catching you and putting you back now.
“NOOOOOO!”
Aaaand back you go. Let go of the purple towel and go in the cardboard box.
They are the equivalent to strippers here. They never engaged in sex acts but if you look throughout their history they were not treated well. Most being sold into that profession.
If by “here” you mean Japan, i’d just like to say that it is well known that not even the average Japanese citizen is aware of the true nature of the Geisha, Geiko and Maiko. they are not strippers and to say things like this is demeaning to the women who work hard and are trained in the arts (dance, music, tea ceremony, etc.).
Geisha became what they are known as today in the mid-1700s. the first actual geisha were men and they entertained shogun and samurai (and other wealthy men) with dance, music and the art of tea ceremony and theater. when courtesans were losing money to these male geisha, a few of them broke away from being in the sex business and became female geisha. therefore, geisha as an occupation never was a thing of the sex trade/prostitution and absolutely NOT stripping.
let me dispel some common misconceptions:
so, geisha were never prostitutes, never perform sex acts or even accept relationships/marriage proposals until after they retire from being a geisha (usually in their 30s, tho some women stay geisha until death by choice).
while geisha in the past (we are talking almost 100 years ago by now) have been given to Okiya (geisha houses) by their families, it was usually due to the families inability to afford their child and rather than let the child be homeless and starve, they gave them to an Okiya where they would live a much better life (Okiya housed other geisha within that Okiya’s special “familiy”; the Okasan–”Mother”–of the house protected them, gave them a comfortable living, fed them, sent them to all their classes, spent money on their personal kimono and make-up, and who arrange their finances and plan their parties and events). Nowadays, and pretty much since the 1940s, Geisha become Geisha by choice and enter into the profession after they graduate middle school (it is even required in most cases that they complete at least that level of schooling before becoming a Geisha) willingly.
GEISHA wear their Obi belts tied tightly in the back to hold together their Kimono; these belts are so long and heavy that the Okiya hires a male dresser to assist in tying these Obi every night before a party or event. a geisha could not strip or easily take off her many layers of Kimono/undergarments and so the assumption that they are strippers just doesn’t make any sense. a traditional courtesan or TAYUU/OIRAN wore her Obi belt loosely tied in the front so that she could easily untie it for a customer.
There is no empirical evidence of there being any such thing as “mizuage” (as referred to by Arthur Golden in ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’) in the geisha world. there is however evidence of the ritual of mizuage in the Tayuu (or Oiran depending on the region, i think) courtesan tradition. a courtesan who was being initiated would have a ceremony where wealthy men bid for her virginity, with the highest bid being the winner. These Tayuu (or Oiran) are absolutely NOT in any form in relation to a Geisha. i will also mention that prostitution in Japan has been illegal since 1959, officially.
“Comfort Women” from the WWII era were prostitutes that told American GIs that they were “geisha” in order to make more money and to play on the exoticism that was so popular in the US at the time. this is where a big portion of the “Geisha are prostitutes” misconception came from.
“Hot Springs Geisha” and Bar Hostesses in Tokyo are trained in a similar way to traditional Geisha in that they have skills in the art of conversation and even some musical skill, however these women are NOT Geisha. “Hot Springs Geisha” are also known to engage in sex acts with hot springs patrons (though it is frowned upon) and so bring another incorrect image of sex-acts to the name of Geisha.
While there have I’m sure been cases of abuse from an Okasan to her Geisha throughout the history of the profession, this is usually not the case, and to say that “many or all Okasan are abusive and manipulative to their Geisha” is ignorant and offensive.
DO NOT READ “MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA”!! If you already have, I would strongly suggest you read other books on the subject of Geisha. Arthur Golden (a white man) wrote this book to make money off of the many misconceptions about Geisha, Geiko and Maiko. Everything he says about the Geisha tradition is incorrect, from the part where he explains why “some Geisha” wear lipstick only on the bottom lip (this actually signifies that a Maiko has only been in training for under a year) to his horrible, offensive and incorrect description of a Geisha going through mizuage. He interviewed a very well-known geisha named Mineko Iwasaki for his book, which he then exploited and changed around for his benefit. She even tried to sue him for libel for taking stories from her personal life, twisting it and turning it into a book that lies about the fundamentals of being a Geisha. I would recommend reading, “Geisha, A Life” by Mineko Iwasaki. she has written about what it really means to be a Geisha.
Here are is a picture of a Geiko (a fully-fledged Geisha who has completed most of her training and has become a professional):
Here is a picture of a Maiko (a Geisha-in-training who is still an apprentice and usually works alongside her “Older Sister” or her assigned Geiko partner; her Older Sister is in charge of most of a Maiko’s social training):
Here is the difference in dress between a Geiko and a Maiko:
Here is a Tayuu courtesan (high end prostitute); this profession no longer exists, any modern photographs of one is of an actress for historical theater purposes. Notice the Obi belt tied in front and the overall difference in dress. This was what courtesans looked like:
This is a photo of “Hot Springs Geisha” in the 60s. Notice the women serving drinks and entertaining men at the tables:
Here is a picture of an Ozashiki (party, event or gathering where Geisha are hired to entertain with music, dance, conversation and drink serving) today. It is much, much, much different (and more expensive) than an average hostess bar, and takes place within an Ochaya (traditional teahouse). As you can see, men are not the only ones who have booked an Ozashiki with Geisha:
Please do not spread misconceptions about these hard-working women artists. They deserve respect and have persevered for centuries with women at the forefront of these professions. Not only are these women trained to entertain party patrons, but they are also highly skilled in theater and the performing arts. Surrounding the Geisha are women wigmakers, female Shamisen, drum, flute ensembles, hairdressers, kimono artisans, well-respected dance/music/tea ceremony teachers, jewelry and hair accessory makers, Okobo and Zori footwear artisans, teahouse staff and Ozashiki planners, instrument craftsmen, and many, many more. If you would like to know more about Geisha, there are many books written by former Geisha out there.
Here is a short video of a Geisha performance, it is the annual Miyako Odori (”Cherry Blossom” Dance):
So these Christian anti-feminist protestors showed up at my school and were just yelling misogynist things at everyone, when this guy suddenly walks up in front of them mid-rant and just starts…. singing opera
Think Things 