#byadane

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New chapters of The brightest star in my constellation | BTS Office AU

Story summary: You had never imagined that you’d actually get a chance to interview and become part of the famous team BTS team of Big Hit Advertisement. It’s not a dance on roses and you have to prove your worth but it is all worth it as you get to know seven special, kind-hearted and hard-working boys and work on projects that actually have a positive impact. It’s a world-wind to be wrapped up in, but you find yourself happily spinning along and the work and team dynamic might not be  all that you end up falling in love with. 

Average chapter word count: 6.6k

Chapter Ten: Headphones Happening

Chapter Eleven: Boisterous Babysitting

Chapter Twelve: Compatible Colours

Chapter Thirteen: Charity Campaign

Weekly updates every Saturday

지나가 | BTS fic

Summary: An international student and fan of BTS is visiting an art museum in Seoul and runs into Kim Namjoon. It would be a shame not to take this opportunity to tell him how much his lyrics mean to her and practice Korean using her limited vocabulary. When would you ever get the chance?

Word count: 4.4k

Hung(over) On You | Phan University AU

Summary: Tipsy Dan were brave enough to talk to boy. Drunk Dan was secure enough to make out with them. Blackout drunk evidently went home with guys - or well, one guy who seemed much too kind and considerate for someone who had been forced to deal with blackout drunk Dan’s incompetence.

Word count: 3.3k

Red and the wolf | Phan Horror AU

Summary: Phil was used to walking through the forest after having visited his grandmother’s cottage. He never felt particular unsafe… until his possible-physic nana - at least if you asked her - was warning him that someone would take his heart and he might not make the trip alive. Phil wasn’t sure if her words caused the paranoia or if someone dangerous were truly lurking in the bushes.

Word count: 5.7k

don’t start fires, darling | Phan

Summary: Phil wanted to expand his and Dan’s repertoire of dishes, so they didn’t need to live off of stir-fry and delivery. He thought that cooking lessons would be an awesome way to do that and have a fun date activity. The people in the restaurant do not agree but he and Dan find the humour in it.

Word count: 3.1k

Press play, gamer | Phan

Summary: They have done many joint projects through the years, but they have never seriously dabbled in gaming, even if it has always been something they’ve enjoyed together. Dan and Phil decide that it’s the year to change that and they could never have imagined how big a part that little gaming channel would become.

Word count: 1.5k

Hold my hand, honey | Phan

Summary: Dan likes the minimalism of being on tour and he doesn’t really get homesick, as long as he has Phil by his side. Phil, however, misses home at times, he clutches onto his pillow and scatters his various little knickknacks all over the tour bus. But he might also need to hold onto Dan when it gets really bad.

Word count: 2.7k

Blog posts on By a Dane

Thesis Struggles

11 pieces of writing. Approximately 52,100 words in total.

I don't have a lot of artists that I would call my favourites but Ed Sheeran has been up there for years. I first found him shortly after he published his second album, X and that album quickly became sort of a safe, comfort album to me. I remember checking out his early EPs and the first album and becoming hooked. It's only become deeper with the release of new albums but I had still never seen him live despite being a big fan of his music since 2014. Until last week.

Before I left to meet up with my friends that afternoon, a tiny part of me said that I should just stay home and that it would be too much for my bad brain space and how my anxiety can spike around crowds. I'm so glad that I smothered that destructive thought because I had such a wonderful time. My friends were wonderful, Ed was wonderful and the whole experience was (you guessed it) wonderful. For five years, I've listened to the man's music and it was amazing to be able to see him perform so many of his incredible songs live and I hope I'll be able to see him again in the future.

I am nothing if not a person fond of traditions and as such I will now commence to talk about our family summer holiday destination of 2019, which was Dublin, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland. I wasn't particularly focused on filming or photographing this holiday since I decided to give myself a break to just float through life and experience it calmly for the ten days I was abroad.

To be honest, I embarked on this holiday with a bit of trepidation since I have not been in the best mental space lately. I was worried that I'd shut down or be more sensitive than normally (which is saying a lot) but overall, I will say that my fears were unfounded. Yes, I did struggle a handful of times, opting out of dinner plans on some days as well or plugging in my headphones and letting them drown out the world a little, but I managed to go to most events scheduled by my family and most importantly, I managed to enjoy them and learn new things too.

I got my very first iPhone on my sixteenth birthday and half a year later my very first MacBook Air followed suit and since then I've been using Apple products. My first MacBook Air 11" lasted roughly four years before I replaced it with another MacBook Air 11" where the most noticeable differences were the fact that the keyboard had lights in it and the screen quality was improved. I've loved my second MacBook Air so very much and I have written millions of words on it through the years. But at nearly 4.5 years of age, I thought it was about time to get myself a new beloved laptop. Let me present MacBook 12".

I'm just a little bit in love with it and I suppose that it's about time now that I get ready to write that thesis, which was one of the main reasons that I wanted to invest in a new laptop. My old one had, on the rare occasion, an unfortunate habit of shutting down or going dark momentarily without reason. It's not something you want when you're working on such a big academic project. That being said, I can't deny that there was a part of me that has also been looking forward to getting this colour MacBook ever since the colour was first introduced. I know it has no actual bearing on functionality of the laptop but it just makes me love it a little more. 

I am not a big fan of that whole New Year, New Me-shit. It always felt a little off-putting, like you could change your life completely from one day to the next and you did it based on a number on a calendar changing. However, I do also see the appeal of having earmarked days and tethering goals to dates to stick to them better. I just don't believe that we can change old, in-grown habits so rapidly or suddenly but routinely stick to something you might never have done before. It may sound a little cynical but I'm still a softie at heart, and I do believe that New Years resolutions can do you good.

You would need to do construct them cautiously and also be aware that you could literally start this thing on any other day in the year and it would be wouldn't change the resolve you'd need to accomplish your goals. I like even numbers and I like structure so I like the appeal of starting on the first day in the year but time is still simply a construct. I only remain sceptical because it always seems like people are going all-in, overestimating their capability to commit to the goals with aims too far out of reach. When they inevitably fail, everything just falls apart. There's no forgiveness for stumbling and screwing up and then it feels easier to give up entirely rather than continue with a tainted record.

In 2019, I only have one resolution, if you can even call it that. I want to have the courage to exist. I now wear the saying around my wrist but I need to learn how to wear it in my heart and in my actions as well.

I looked at [my banana bread] this morning and a thought struck me. I had never quite been able to explain or capsulate why I found the process of baking rewarding and soothing but I think I might have cracked it now. It's a very personal reason and it might only be applicable to me.

I think I like baking because it's like writing. Okay, I do realise that sentence sound a little weird but let me walk you through it. You start with ingredients, you follow a set of rules, usually leaning on a recipe but with experience you also learn to trust your gut and eye measure and when the process is finished, you have something to enjoy yourself and share with people that will hopefully bring them joy. Ingredients are your characters and your universe, the rules of mixing (such as wet ingredients first and then dry) act like your plot moving the process along, you write within a genre or possibly apply tropes, thus following a recipe of sorts and with more and more experience you get better and better to create something. In the end, you have your creation that you can enjoy and you can share it.

That intimate feel of a concert in a smaller venue with a smaller but engaged crowd is something quite special that the big stadiums with thousands of people can't quite capture. Last week, on my Dad's birthday, I went to see dodie perform and I was very excited to see the awkward but talented girl flaunt her musical talents without a screen in-between.

She's a bit of a niche artist, even as she is gaining more recognition. She hugely deserves it but I can't help but fully embrace and enjoy her while she is at this stage in her career and I hope she can keep that authentic feel about her. When she asked everyone to get down into a crouched position towards the end, everyone did it without question and we somehow all fit and made room for each other. It felt like a community, a little concert family for a couple of hours, even if I didn't know anyone.

On the 8th of December 2018, bright early on a Saturday morning, we drove to Jutland to pick up our little boxer puppy. She has run right into all of our hearts with only the charm of a puppy and she is now a full-fledged family member and it has been a blessing, even when she's chasing us and biting our ankles or accidentally peeing inside. She makes up for her mischief by being utterly adorable.

It feels a little like fate that it would be Robin that would come into our lives. The first two breeders didn't work out, we nearly missed emailing Robin's breeder and Robin is born on the tenth of October which is World Mental Health Day but also a nice number in itself. She is ours, our new family member and therefore she is already a 10/10 to us.