#... I swear the Japanese names are not me being pretentious that's just how they appear on my music player

[kyouka-supremacy]

you can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. put your favorite playlist on shuffle and list the first ten songs then tag ten people! no skipping!

Thank you so much for the tag @head-empty-just-sigma, @soupyhands, this was fun!!! <3

-ERROR by cillia

Without a Believer by Sara Bareilles

カゲロウデイズ by じん

タイムマシン by 1640mP

ずれていく by wowaka (現実逃避P)

リスキーゲーム by 黒うさP

モノクロアクト by doriko

ココロ by トラボルタ

ヒバナ by DECO＊27, Rockwell

ぽっぴっぽー by ラマーズP

Tagging: @violets-arepurple, @aforgottenballad, @akuta-gawa, @bethiewhimsy, @dopposboytoy, @edettethegreat, @lowestechelonabomination, @note-boom, @soupyhands, @strayai with no pressure, and everyone who wants to do this!!!!!!

[kurtty-drabbles]

Pirate au Redone (Part 4)

N/A: I think I´ll have to make a bonus part of this au later. This was a challenge to do and I hope I got it right.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @bamfoftheundead @everykurt @muninandhugin

The ship has the name " Sesame" in big letter and font very eye-appealing and one lonely woman is watching the sky- seeing the birds flying by near the ship/yacht completely oblivious to the inner turmoil she carries in regards her new life- and the contemplation only stops when the Captain of the ship sits next to her offering her a drink-nothing alcoholic as she promised with a mischievous smile and a wink- and replies. "How life is treating so far, Kwannon?" and the Japanese woman has to pound this question for a minute or two.

"Captain Pryde" she humors the other woman even if she knows that pirates, well, real pirates, don´t have a yacht or aren´t so heroic as she´s lead to believe. "I have issues with Krakoa but I´m also ...thankfully for that abomination...look" she gestures her own hands and Captain Pryde follows the motion with her eyes calmly. "I´ve my body back...I´m not dead nor in some white woman´s body. I´m me again and ...this makes me think..." she trails off and Kitty Pryde encourages her to speak freely.

"I was born with nothing, I die with nothing and now I don´t even have the ''nothing'' anymore...Kitty, does God truly exist, or is this all a cosmic joke for him or her?" Kwannon question plug´s Kitty heart and she can remember a certain mutant who aside from loving piracy (among other things) and whose faith was something Kitty and him could talk freely-even through both have different religions it was also covered with a deeper respect for each other- and Kitty only answeres "I believe there is a God or even Gods...but, trying to understand them is a null point"

Kwannon nods but doesn´t seem to be a topic well- answered for her, yet, she´s gracious enough to change the topic. " You think we can trust her...of all people?" and Kitty narrow her eyes.

"Are you going to call her the pretender?"

"No...I´m just unsure of what to feel about her"

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Getting the title of the sorceress supreme from Dr. Strange is not something that will give any dark pleasure- Dr. Strange was a friend, if nothing else, and while his taste for women can be questionable at best, there´s no real pleasure in getting his tittle now- and Wanda Maximoff donning herself with the famous crimson cape is in agreement with its new master.

Tommy and Billy are working with her-Billy return from the space to learn his "twin" not only is working in a magic school but has some small traces of magic, and Billy, only respond by hugging his twin until the other threats to curse him for all eternity- and her magic school is now a real vision(sometimes, Wanda chuckles at this word. Sometimes, Wanda cries) with demons kids from Limbo and other parts of the globe or planes wanting safe heaven to learn magic.

The X-men used to be like that...or am I wrong?

The Sesame´s flag is in view and Wanda shakes her nostalgia away ("let the past in the past, Wanda") and is there watching as Captain Pryde is present and the one who is making an effort to go talk with Wanda-the rest of the crew looks unsure, she de-powered them not too long ago and not everyone is forgiving nor forgiving means friendship- and the two woman are now facing each other.

"You really are here..." Wanda´s tone is laced with surprise as she watches the yacht on the port and back to the captain. "Afraid of me?" she asked still impressed.

"I´m really here...Am I afraid of you? No, not really Wanda...Yet, I can´t ignore M day, I´d not blame you...in the full extension the others do...you were out of your mind and others try to take advantage...still, I won´t call you the pretender or any shit like that" Kitty responds with honest and while she´s never one to use swear words- and is something Terry Pryde installed on her since a young age- she feels this is an appropriate moment to use it.

Wanda only nods at her words. It is much better than she was expecting or hoping for. "Do you really want to do this? Krakoa isn´t supposed to be a paradise to all mutants?" 

"The paradise is more for horror island than anything else...and while I think Utopia is still a pretentious name...is better than a cult on an alive island...Can you help us, Scarlet Witch?" Kitty asked sincerely now. Nothing is bounding Scarlet Witch to do this task.

Wanda closes her eyes and opens with now crimson. "I´m Scarlet Witch for a reason...and I´m sorry...for what the Avengers did"

"Apologies from them mean next to nothing"

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Kurt Wagner noticed the absence of Logan, Scott, Jean, and even Ororo and is surrounded by people who in the past-and, not a too long past- were his enemies. Looking at Apocalypse gazing at him with wraith in his eyes mixed with envy does make his stomach rumble. Prof X is speaking and to be frankly, Kurt is not interested in listening any more.

"This is a cult!" Kurt shouts ignoring Raven´s look- the woman may have given birth to him, but, she´s far from being a mother in any sense- and looks in disgust to the villains on the quiet council. "There´s only villains here. What type of paradise is this?"

And Prof X put an uncanny smile on his face-still wearing that helmet and Magneto is close by. As always- as he speaks in a leery way. "And that wouldn´t make you a villain as well? I know...I know what you did in some other universes. Nate may have used you as an avatar to live his wet dream, but, in other realities, you make you with a woman in front of your dead daughter´s cold corpse" and show the image to Kurt who denies this as being a trick.

"I´m not a monster. I´m not like this. I´m Kurt Wagner...and I refuse to be on this island" and tries to attack Prof X and is only meet with vines wrapped around his waist.

"Do you miss Kitty Pryde that much or are you just lonely?" Prof X sounds different now. "Because...I never thought you´re worth her time" and his golden eyes watch as each member on the clan is nothing more but vines. And Krakoa has made her decision to reject Kurt.

Sesame managed to fish Kurt Wagner with a bit help of luck- Kurt opens his golden eyes to see Kitty Pryde staring at him with a myriad of expressions. Concern is one of them- and Kurt breaks down crying as Kitty only hugs him.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Doug Ramsey is not one to think of himself as a James Bond type of spy or archetype, yet, Captain Britain aka Betsy counts on him and Doug wants to do something, anything to help his fellow mutants. Doug uses his power unashamed and telepathically calls Betsy.

"We have to take as many mutants we can..." his eyes are watching the scene incredulous. "That story of Dr. Moira being a mutant? Well...is fake as much everything else in this island" and the call ends with Doug looking at the clones of every single X-men and the versions of Dr. Moira...It has the words written "the last clone" and it sends a shiver to his spine as the clone opens her eyes and speaks one line.

"I´m a mutant, just like you" and the others continue to do so.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Queen Lilandra is looking at the New Mutants with a stoic expression enrobing her face and body language as well- The X-men aren´t enemies, per se, but aren´t allies and Queen Lilandra has a daughter she wants to prevent the X-men to ever meet- and Karma is the one to break the silence again.

"Where is Pheonix?"

"What do you mean? Pheonix has never left Earth...."

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Captain Britan and the Neo Excalibur are working to smuggle as many mutants they can from Krakoa- Doug can only calm the island for so long as he repeats his words to Neo Excalibur-and Rogue and Remy are running from the time. "Are they the real thing or ..." Rogue will later wonder if she jinxed this rescue mission as a good part of the mutants rescued...turned into green goo.

And Betsy takes a whiff in the air and screams. "Fire!" and Neo Excalibur runs away in their ship as Rogue can swear the shape of the fire is similar to...

No...it can´t be...

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Madeline Pryor concludes her tale many days ago, yet, still feels as if is lingering on Scott and Jean´s mind and Jean is the one not taking the news well-the resistance against Krakoa is ever surprised to see Jean and Madeline in a semi civil way- as the New Mutants confirm Madeline´s tale and everything else.

"So...this is all because I´m a bad mother?" Jean asked almost laughing -not a joyful one, rather one devoid of any positive emotion- and Madeline is not taking pity on Jean.

"Is a way to see things...Look, I´m not the greatest example either...Nate became a monster" Madeline´s expression softened a little. She can feel sorry for Meggan if nothing else-she, among all the members of the resistance, can understand how cruel truly is when someone takes your ability to do anything for their own gain- and she continues not bothering to look at Jean. "You thought Nate as your own and ignored your own daughter...yet, Scott is the only one who seems to still remember her"

Jean says nothing as she watches Scott and Kitty talk -whatever is about Utopia or how to deal with Krakoa is not important right now- and she wonders why she never bothers to check on Rachel Grey.

Thanks to Scarlet Witch, Utopia is back and unlike Krakoa there´s a chance of organic change into a real country-Emma Frost is taking diplomacy like a fish to the water and all the surviving mutants have no more complaints in regards Scarlet Witch, at least, it appears so- and Captain Pryde looks at Nightcrawler who looks still befuddled by everything, yet, refuses to leave Kitty behind.

If Pheonix wants a fight...she´ll get one...but if Rachel wants revenge...can I give this to her?

[nagatsukinura119]

Japan Expo Malaysia Day 1 (26 July 2019)

Okay, it’s the first day for one of the biggest Japanese events in Malaysia, I originally came here only to attend AKB48’s concert, because my Oshimen, Okada Nana (Naachan) was one of the members who were coming. Since I live in a nearby country, so it was possible for me to come (with my parents) not to mention the ticket prices were considerably cheap. So I was a bit bummed that my mother might not let me go alone to attend the concert, but thankfully from the first day my parents seemed to feel comfortable and confident to let me go to the venue (Kuala Lumpur Pavilion) since it is located near to our hotel (Capitol Hotel). So in the morning I arrived at Pavilion at 11 am and killed some time at Daiso at the top floor and got a sweet black hat with golden Apple logo (if you know me, you’d know why I had a compulsion to buy this hehe). When I came downstairs, they were just opening the expo and the very first performance, a Kyodo (archery) performance was starting and I took the time to rest at the Coffee Bean next to the stage. Afterwards, the first idol group to perform was called KiREI. Now, I’ve never heard of this group before this expo and I didn’t bother checking on them. But we were told that KiREI is a group made up of 3 disbanded idol groups in Tokyo. Their theme is to "Make Everything Beautiful" not just their inner but outer appearances. One of the hosts (Aki) kept telling us audience that they were super cute and I challengingly said, “Sway my heart babe”. So the girls came in; Tanaka Hana, Konatsu Mia and Miyadera Miho. Sure they were cute and beautiful (which idol isn’t, am I right?)

(From the left; Hanapii, Mianyan and Chori-chan)

Nevertheless, I took the chance to take pictures of them with my Nikon camera. I was standing at one side of the stage and since there were some empty seats it was quite easy access for me to take pictures of them. But what I did NOT expect was when one of the members, Hana (nicknamed Hanapii) actually made an eye contact with me and WINKED. My heart MELTED (jokes on me; my heart wasn’t just swayed lololol). Maybe I’m a sucker because this was my very first time attending an idol concert, but gosh darn it I just fell for her on the spot. Aside from that coincidental moment, I realized her face is totally my type among the 3 of them, not to mention she’s also pretty tall (well I’m super short so for some people she could be a medium height). Side note: during their performance the wotage group was doing the Overture chant and I joined them from far away (lol) and it was actually a bit awkward since it seemed like I was the only female who was chanting passionately. Also, another side note, there was this adorable old man who was a huge fan of Harupiii (another idol that performed after KiREI) but I think he’s a fan of idols in general cuz he was also singing along to KiREI’s songs. Back on track, after getting wink attack-ed by Hanapii I was so moved that I paid 150% attention on them. And while I was snapping pics at every second and taking vids, what do you know? She saw me again and made an eye contact again! I realized that she was THE ONE in this group. She’s my KiREI Oshimen.

(Yeah baby!)

Time flew really fast and before I knew it, their slot time was over (most of the idol performances had only 30 to 45 minutes time slot) but thankfully they were having another performance outdoor in the afternoon so I was sure I’d attend it. After KiREI was Harupiii (who is an idol who has performed in this event for 3 years).

Harupiii definitely looked younger than the KiREI members but you know what, that didn’t stop me from staying and watched her performance till the end. What I like about Harupiii is that despite being quite small, looked young, she definitely slayed the performance and I was hooked with her. All the more when she saw me, and finger gunned me (OOF!!) Another hit right on the heart! What’s with these idols making me fall faster than flies lololol!

The wota guys were more hyped this time and so was I and the old man fan ran to the wotage guys and started to enthusiastically chant for her. And you know what, I find it adorable. Especially when one of the guys was carried on other men’s shoulders to the front. I really really like their enthusiasm and I can see why wota life is pretty exciting. I just wished that the awkward atmosphere wasn’t lingering, but YOU KNOW WHAT? SCREW IT, LET’S HAVE FUN!

After the end of Harupiii’s performance I was exhausted so I went back to my parents at Coffee Bean. They told me to get an autograph and picture from KiREI’s members you gotta buy some merch (I mean, that’s how their business works so I knew the procedure). At first I wasn’t sure to go or not but my mother was being encouraging and persuasive made me go for it, and you know what, GG mum! You made the right decision for me! It was worth spending RM80 ($14) to get 2 Cheki tickets (one for autograph and handshake, and another for polaroid photos). I was legit happy since this was my very first time attending a meet-and-greet event with a Japanese idol, and while I used to do translations and subs for some AKB48 stuff, I’m not that confident with my Japanese speaking skills but Hanapii made it so much easier and fun. Albeit she knew limited English, but we managed to communicate successfully. As for the poses I thought we were gonna do the usual heart poses like the guys in front of me did with other members. Well we did just that, but since I bought two tickets so I got to take two photos, and I did not expect that she hugged me (well more like she reached her arms out towards me and leaned in, but close enough, man!) The conversation continued as she was signing the polaroid frames (side note: she asked for the alphabets for my name which was pretty funny considering how easy the pronunciation is, even in Japanese) but at the same time it’s nice how considerate she was. So she asked me if I was a Malaysian and I told her no, I’m a Bruneian which impressed her and I told her that it’s because of this event that I flew over which impressed her even more (I really like how idols tend to give cute reactions when they’re impressed). Then she complimented me for my Japanese and naturally I was like “No no no~ I need to study more” and she was like “Ganbatte~!”. AH SO CUTE! She then asked if I liked idols. If only she knew. But I just told her, “Yes, I love idols”. As much as I loved talking to her I didn’t want to take too long since there was a long line behind me so I told her I was leaving and she was like “We’re gonna perform again outside!” and I responded with an enthusiastic nod, “I will DEFINITELY come!” I was legit happy to the point of shaky hands and happy tears when I came back to our table (Extra note: mum took some pics and video when I was lining up for the merch).

(Polaroid photo with Hanapii! I’m too ugly so I blocked my face lololol)

My parents wanted to go elsewhere, but I told them I was gonna stay there for more performances. So I was finally left on my own (WHOOOOO!). While waiting for KiREI’s next performance I decided to take the time to post things in my social media, and also look for KiREI’s and Hanapii’s Twitter accounts. I love that when I shared my experience with my Discord friends, they were so supportive and happy for me (I love y’all!).

So for the afternoon performance at the outdoor stage I was surprised that 15 minutes before it began the space was rather empty except by shoppers and a handful of fans so I was like shimmying my way to the front because once again, I was self-conscious for being like the only enthusiastic female fan (was I already considered a fan?). There were even some guys nearby who I could hear talking about me, saying, “Look, she’s waiting there, how cute”. It wasn’t anything negative per say, but it just made me more self-conscious lol. So about 10 minutes before starting and the girls were seen strutting towards the backstage and I find it funny yet adorable that they didn’t need some security to cover them. I guess this shows how chill the audience here is. I mean, Mianyan jogged past me and brushed my shoulder a bit, but I just acted chill. I know why one can get excited when their favorite celebrity is around, but for goodness sake some crazy fans need to chill.

Since no one was really taking the front row (this time it was an outdoor stage so there were no seats), I just slipped my way to the left side of the stage. A few more minutes till starting and the girls made their way next to the stage and it’s adorable I could see them doing the chanting thing, where they go “Ganbatte, ikuzo! Ohh~” I was already in my wota mode so I managed to take pictures of them doing that.

Before I attended this concert, I didn’t know why people would kill their money to get front rows, but now I can see why! The reason why I know now is because as I watched their performance right in front, the eye contacts you get from the artists are more direct and you feel like you made more intimate and personal connections with them. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE HANAPII MADE SEVERAL EYE CONTACTS WITH ME THAT I FELT SO OVERWHELMED I HAD TO LOOK AWAY (not all the time). Okay this may sound pretentious, but I honestly think when Hanapii saw me her smile doubled the radiance cuz I could see her smile reaching her eyes during those times. I tried to take pictures and videos of all three girls but you can really tell my bias for Hanapii was evident from the pictures I’m sharing here lololol.

(KiREI performing)

(Chori-chan at the back is literally me on the inside lol)

More, more fun things happened when I went to take pictures with Hanapii for the second time. This time it seemed Mianyan and Chori-chan were familiar with me and they kept looking at me as I interacted with Hanapii. She remembered me so she was like “Ahh~ Nura-chan~ welcome back” and I swear my heart was pierced by that and I just covered my face out of embarrassment and said, “I’m back”, then she responded with the heart throbbing line, “Eh~ I’m so happy! I love you!” which naturally made me embarrassed and hid my face again and she was like “Nande, nande?” GURL YOU DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH POWER YOU HAVE OVER ME EVEN THOUGH I’VE ONLY KNOWN ABOUT YOU FOR 3 HOURS! So we did new poses and while she signed the polaroid frames she started chatting with me like “Where are you staying” and so I told her I was staying at a nearby hotel and she was like “Ah me too! I stay in a hotel” Ah of course you do sweetheart, so cute. And I jokingly asked, “Which hotel?” And she responded, “We’re not supposed to say yet.” AHAHAHA SO CUTE. Then she told me she saw me taking so many pictures (well I did stand at the first row so heheh). I complimented everyone and naturally they thanked me (Ahhh Mianyan and Chori-chan were so cute too). After that I made a mistake to look at Hanapii in the eyes and once again hid my face, but to make things worse (or better) they were all like “Kawaii~~~” GAH THESE GIRLS I SWEAR. And she also patted my head while doing so. I. Was. Dead. So after that she apologized for being sweaty and I was like “No, no, you’re still very cute.” And believe me when I said that she gave this blinding smile and I thought, “Welp, she got me in the palm of her hands.” Once again she apologized for sweating so much and started to talk about the heat. Being the concerned fan that I was, I asked her, “Are you okay? Y’know, with this crazy heat?” I could tell she was trying to ease my worries and said “Yeah! I’m okay, I got used to it.” Once again, I didn’t want to take too much time, so I proceeded to leave but before leaving I told her that I was coming again the next day, to which she thanked me for and said she’ll look forward to it. As I was leaving (while clutching on my new polaroid pictures) I looked at all three girls and said “Ganbatte~” and they all cutely waved while saying their thanks.

(More pics with Hanapi hehehehehe)

Since I was sweating bullets (curse the heat and black clothes lol) so I went back inside for the AC and sat on the stairs leading towards the center stage. What was going on was an AirAsia dance performance by their staff. I gotta say for non-dancers, they did pretty good, especially with the fact they danced in their working uniforms! Then I looked around the shopping mall in search of my parents, only to find out they were elsewhere. So I decided to stay a bit longer. While doing that, a boy band called cosmic!! was performing and for goodness sake were the boys CUTE! Okay, I may be biased, but I really prefer J-pop male idols over K-pop male idols because I can actually distinguish their faces, and not to mention they did not to wear much makeup and to me they still looked handsome and cute. Also based on their facial expressions, they looked they were having so much fun and also interacting with the fans (who were definitely having so much fun too considering how vigorous they were with their glowsticks).

(cosmic!! having fun performing on stage)

To be continued in Day 2!

Bonus picture

(Hanapii be like ‘I’m a goddess’ lmaooo)

[khaleesimaka]

@cronashy-absentia asked for Burn + SoMa

This is set in my old Maid Sama AU because I got struck with some feels for it and needed to write something. I hope you enjoy this ❤︎ and it makes you smile ❤︎❤︎

“Augh, shit,” Maka curses, promptly dropping the hot tray to the floor. Inspecting her scorched finger, she sees the top half of her palm and index finger blooming red. “Dammit.”

“What happened, kitten?” Blair asks coming up behind. “Oh, that looks bad. Come, we’ll run some cool water over it before we patch you up. I can’t afford to lose my best maid at the start of peak season.”

Maka half-heartedly glares at her boss as she’s lead over to the sinks and mutters, “Why am I not surprised you care more about making money than my well-being?”

Blair throws a feline grin over her shoulder as she flips the faucet on. Without saying a word, she sticks Maka hand under the cold water, causing Maka to hiss at the sting, but it isn’t so bad compared to when she had burnt herself. The other girls at the maid cafe had taken it upon themselves to do the cooking for patrons since their chef had up and quit the other day and Blair had yet to hire someone new, much to everyone’s dismay. Maka likes to think the woman is biding her time because she wants to save on paying someone else, but Blair has promised this isn’t the case. Apparently, no one has applied yet.

“There,” Blair says patting Maka’s wrist after she finishes bandaging her up. “Good as new.”

“Thanks,” Maka tells her.

While the bandaging isn’t the best (loose strips are still hanging out on the side) it’ll do for the time being. At least until she gets home later.

“Maka,” comes Liz’s voice from the entrance to the kitchen, “your little boy toy is here. I think he wants you to take care of him ‘cause he hasn’t said a single word to me since he sat down.”

“Tell him I’m busy,” Maka scowls.

“I did, but he still isn’t talking to me.”

“Then let him leave on his own,” she sniffs, going back to where she had dropped the tray and clean up. “Like I care if he leaves on an empty stomach.”

She manages to scoop up a handful of the ruined cake before a pair of strong hands lift her up. The smell of honeyed perfume invading her nostrils and the glimpse of dark, purple hair tells her who it is, and she sighs. Of course Blair would refuse to allow her to ignore a customer. Even when the customer is the douchiest guy in the world.

“Now, now, kitten,” Blair mewls. “That isn’t how we treat our paying customers.”

“But it’s Soul,” she hisses his name. “He isn’t a real customer, and you know it.”

“He pays. He’s a real customer.” Blair sets her on her feet, smoothes out the black maid uniform, adjusts the ribbons in her pigtails, and smacks her butt. “Now get out there and put on that award-winning smile and please your master!”

Heat blossoms over Maka’s cheeks as she stares wide-eyed at Blair before harrumphing out of the kitchen and into the main dining room. If she didn’t need this job to help pay for her college tuition and living expenses, she would have quit long ago when Evans first showed up at the maid cafe. It was enough to be working such a demeaning , minimum wage job in Death City, but with him knowing about her special secret, it made things particularly awkward. Especially when he shows up at the cafe, unannounced, or saunters around with her at school with the looming threat of telling everyone where she works.

Her life is hard enough trying to maintain her high grades and getting herself through college without her papa’s help. She doesn’t need Evans fucking everything up.

Plastering the sweetest smile she can muster, Maka says in a too perky voice, “Good afternoon, Master. How may I help you today?”

Those deep burgundy eyes of Soul’s turn to her, and she hates the way her stomach tightens and backflips under their gaze. He’s a dumb, pretentious dick who was born with a gold spoon in his mouth, she reminds herself. There isn’t anything cute or endearing about him.

The lopsided smile he seems to always save for her begs to differ, though.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” he smirks and stretches out in his chair, resting his feet on top of the other as they peek out from under the table. “I prefer my favorite maid be the one to service me instead of her co-workers.”

“How you manage to make the word service sound perverted, I’ll never know,” she says maintaining the sweet voice and smile. “Did you want anything to eat, Master?”

“What about a Cutesy-Cutesy Rice Omelette?” he says with a semi-straight face.

“Of course! Coming right–”

“And how about a date with me on Friday?” he tags on.

A strangled sound comes from her throat and her blush deepens, but she tries not to ruin the facade of being a cute maid.

“I think the omelette will do for now,” she tells him, turning on her heels to head back into the kitchen.

Before she can get far, though, Soul gently grasps her elbow and spins her back his way. She’s ready to reprimand him for touching her, but the softness in his eyes as he stares at her hand halts her from doing so. Long gone is the smug boy she’s come to know over the months and has been replaced with someone who seems to be the complete opposite. She can’t put her finger on what caused the sudden change, but it is interesting.

As soon as the magic appeared, he gives her his signature smirk and says, “I’ll also take tea. Thanks.”

“Coming right up, Master.”

Maka heads to the back of the kitchen to put Soul’s order in, muttering under her breath how stupid and annoying white haired boys are as she works. It’s ridiculous how her body reacts to his smug face, how the timbre of his voice sets goosebumps to prick her skin; utterly and madly ridiculous because she hates the boy. He’s smug, arrogant, pretentious. There isn’t a redeeming quality about him as far as she can tell. Soul Evans is just another trust fund kid who’s never had to work a day in his life, and she doesn’t understand how he still manages to make her flustered and warm.

“He’s an idiot,” she tells herself before going back into the dining room and jumping back into her role as a maid.

“Here you are, Master!” Maka announces. She sets the plate of food in front of Soul followed by his tea and grabs the bottle of sauce she had brought with her. “Would you like me to write something on your omelette today, Master?”

Soul seems to mull it over before saying, “Surprise me.”

“Are you sure?”

Out of everyone who comes to the cafe every day, he should know better than to give her such free reign considering the last time he said surprise me she had written the word dumbass in Japanese on his omelette.

“I trust you,” he says simply.

Inwardly shrugging, she bides her time with opening the sauce bottle trying to decide the correct words to write on top of his meal. Maybe something along the lines of pervert or pain in the ass or bag of dicks will suffice. He hasn’t been particularly mean to her lately – either at work or school – but a part of her does take enjoyment in being petty for his past actions. She’s settled on the perfect word when Soul’s voice breaks through her thoughts. A soft, kind voice low enough for only her to hear, and it sets her heart to stumble a beat.

“What happened to your hand?”

Green eyes flit over him as she hesitates before going to her bandaged hand. “I burned myself on a tray I was taking out of the oven.”

The softness in her voice surprises her. There isn’t a hint of malice in it which Soul notices if the slight rise of his brows is anything to go by.

“Why were you taking something out of the oven? Isn’t that what the cook is for?”

“He quit a couple days ago, and Blair hasn’t found a replacement yet.”

“I see,” he simply says.

She holds his gaze for another second or two before going back to the task at hand. In the end, she doesn’t feel like mean words suit him in the present matter so she settles on writing kindness in Japanese instead.

“Enjoy your meal, Master,” she smiles.

Soul looks down at his omelette, and she sees the ghost of a smile float across his lips. “Cool. I thought today you’d write something inappropriate and mean.”

Her brows knit together in confusion. “You can read Japanese?”

He shrugs before picking up his fork. “I’ve been learning it if that’s what you mean.”

“I see,” she nods.

Something warm and bright flickers in her chest at the idea of Soul Evans bothering to learn anything that isn’t a required part of his major. From the few times she’s seen him with Black*Star, he always seemed like the kind of kid who didn’t bother to go above and beyond, settling for the bare minimum as it is, and was the epitome of a stoner kid. But something about him learning Japanese – a difficult language in its own right – speaks to her. It’s cute how he decided to pick up on the language now, and a sense of pride sparks within at her at being the person behind it.

Before she can be overwhelmed with it, though, she simmers the fire out. Soul is still a pretentious, pile of dicks no matter how she spins it.

Maybe even a cute pretentious, pile of dicks.

The next day Maka stares wide-eyed at the cute, pretentious, pile of dicks standing next to Blair wearing one of the chef uniforms.

“Everyone,” Blair coos, “I want you to meet our new chef! Soul Evans.”

While everyone around her claps and welcomes the new chef, Maka silently fumes and glares at him and the stupid smirk he gives her. In a way, it feels like the universe is taunting her by throwing him in her face like this, but it also means Soul won’t be acting as a patron anymore.

No. She gets the delight of seeing his stupid, shark face every day when she comes to work.

She doesn’t know which is worse.

When everyone disperses, Soul walks over to Maka with his hands stuffed in his pocket and she very much wishes to wipe that stupid look off his face. Permanently.

“Evans, I swear to god if this is some kinda–”

“Relax, Pigtails.” He rests his hand on her head and musses her hair, causing Maka to growl like a small kitten and wave it away. “I need the extra money. I’m not here to ruin your life or anything.”

“Good. Because if you so much as–”

“‘Sides, now you get the pleasure of seeing me every day at work. I think that’s a win your book.”

A sound that isn’t human emits from her throat as she goes to kick him, but he jumps out of the way of her blow and walks off chuckling to himself under his breath.

This is definitely worse than him being a customer, she decides.

[theconservativebrief]

Chip Wilson, the founder and former CEO of the yoga apparel brand Lululemon, has written a tell-all book about his life and the business he built — and it is one wild read.

Little Black Stretchy Pants, which comes out on November 27, is being marketed as “the unauthorized story of Lululemon” — fitting given that the infamously controversial Wilson stepped down as CEO in 2013, and hasn’t been on the company’s board since 2015. (Lululemon has also distanced itself from its rogue founder; Wilson’s name isn’t even on its “our story” page. Vox reached out to Lululemon for comment on the book and will update if we get a response.)

Wilson’s Lululemon kick-started the athleisure market boom. Its $100 “Wunder Under” spandex leggings became ubiquitous in the fitness world, and the company convinced wealthy women they needed its luxury gear for working out. In the 20 years since its inception, Lululemon has developed a cult following; women and men alike swear by its products, to the point where there are underground markets dedicated to buying used Lululemon goods.

Under Wilson’s stewardship, the company has also been dogged by controversy and media blunders, and developed a reputation for being insular, pretentious, and eerie at times, due to the company’s obsession with developing employees under the self-help movement Landmark Forum.

Chip Wilson’s “unauthorized” book, Little Black Stretchy Pants.

I have covered Lululemon for almost five years, writing about the company’s products, fan groups, marketing efforts, and workplace culture. I read Wilson’s book in part to learn if the media’s depiction of him as being “socially inept,” unfiltered, and arrogant was unfair.

I found little to convince me he has been mischaracterized. This is, after all, a man who said in a videotaped interview that Lululemon pants weren’t made to be worn by all women; scolded a reporter for being late and invoked the phrase “Jewish Standard Time”; and checked out a woman’s butt while being interviewed by another reporter. (His book’s front cover, it’s worth noting, is an illustration of a woman’s butt, in Lululemon leggings.)

In the book, he’s similarly tactless, and it’s often cringeworthy to read; there are whole sections devoted to taking down specific Lululemon executives he disagreed with, and he claims to have singlehandedly invented the concepts of stretchy pants, minimalist marketing, and reusable shopping bags. He also refuses to take any responsibility for calamities he caused along the way, and instead paints himself as a victim of clueless CEOs, salacious media reporters, and disloyal board members.

Here are a few major takeaways about the world of Lululemon from Wilson’s account.

Wilson sold his former snowboarding apparel business Westbeach Snowboard in 1997 and was living in Vancouver when he took his first yoga class. He’d been having back issues due to participating in triathlons, and he took a class at a local gym. Wilson noticed the instructor was wearing clothes from a dance apparel company, which was thin and sheer.

He says that made him think about starting a yoga apparel company and “believed that if I could solve the transparency problem, address camel-toe, and thicken the fabric to mask any imperfections, I could create a perfect athletic garment for women.” At the time, brands like Adidas and Nike were using the “shrink it and pink it” philosophy to turn men’s athletic clothing into gear that could be sold to women. His idea was to create clothing designed specifically to emphasize women’s figures.

Wilson goes on:

Accentuating what made people feel confident — wider shoulders, smaller waists, slimmer hips — meant Guests would feel and look good in our clothing. I realized that the shape of our logo provided a perfect contour to enhance the natural shape of a woman’s body… There was a huge debate about where to set the seam lines on pants. Women told me they preferred side seams because when they looked in the mirror, side seams slimmed their hips. I wanted to move the side seams to the back to frame the bum and make the bum appear smaller. I persisted because I believed that eventually, men would tell women the pants looked great without really understanding why.

In executing the design of Lululemon stores, Wilson also writes that “the lighting would be perfect, and each room had to have a three-way mirror so a woman could be self-critical of her back side.”

Throughout the book, Wilson oscillates on whom Lululemon was created for. Initially, he talks about the opportunity to dress people who practice yoga regularly but also mocks that world, calling Yoga Journal a “mediocre publication wallowing in the depths of the granola world.” He also says Lululemon was propelled by “wealthy women” who could “‘buy’ time in their lives and were consequently often in great shape and very healthy.”

What he does make clear, though is that the brand was meant for a very specific type of customer: a demographic he calls “Super Girls.” This shopping segment were the daughters of “Power Women,” a group Wilson defines as a “female market segment in the 1970s and 1980s” who were divorced — which he claims was a result of the rise of birth control.

Men “had no idea how to relate to this newly independent woman” who “suddenly had significant control over conception,” and “thus came the era of divorce.” These daughters, he claimed, had single dads who got them involved in sports, and wanted to be like the male characters they saw in Saturday morning cartoons, “wearing capes and stretch fabric outfits.”

This demographic, Wilson writes, was “the best of the best.” For a 22-year-old college graduate, he believes “utopia was to be a fit, 32-year-old with an amazing career and spectacular health. She was traveling for business and pleasure, owned her own condo, and had a cat. She was fashionable and could afford quality.”

There’s long been a rumor that Wilson invented the name Lululemon because he thought it would be funny to listen to Japanese people pronounce it, and this comes up in the book.

Wilson writes how he came up with 20 names and logo possibilities, with one of them being Athletically Hip (the stylized A of the Lululemon logo comes from this original business name). He then recalls how he sold the name of a skateboard brand, Homeless Skateboards, to Japanese buyers for a large amount of money because, he believed, “Homeless” was a desirable brand name: “it seemed the Japanese liked the name Homeless because it had the letter L in it, and the Japanese language doesn’t have that sound. Brand names with Ls in them sounded even more authentically North American/Western to Japanese consumers, especially the 22-year-olds.”

He goes on to write how he “played with alliterative names with Ls in them, la la la, jotting down variations in my notebook” until he came up with Lululemon. Wilson doesn’t explicitly say he created this name as a way to exploit Japanese shoppers or make them stumble, but elsewhere in the book, he makes fun of Japanese tourists for traveling to Canada and buying Roots clothes. Lululemon’s first ad was a photo of three girls wearing glasses and a Roots sweatshirt, with the tagline, “Trendy Clothing for Rich Japanese Tourists,” which Wilson said was message for his “Super Girls,” that they’d “understand the nuances and subconsciously want to be a part of the Lululemon ‘tribe.’”

One thing Wilson makes clear in his book is that Lululemon is not meant for soda drinkers. In the original set of brand values that were printed in stores and on Lululemon’s ubiquitous red shopping bags — the company “manifesto,” which he admits comprised “random statements about how I lived my life” — he initially stated that “Coke, Pepsi, and other pops will be known as the cigarettes of the future. Colas are NOT a substitute for water. Colas are just another cheap drug made to look great by advertising.”

Wilson writes that “Coke and Pepsi threatened to drown Lululemon in lawsuits,” but agreed to cut the line from the manifesto only after a Lululemon employee pointed out that the line made the company look dated, since soda wasn’t aligned with health anyway (though he writes that he “wanted our Super Girl market to know the Lululemon brand was not for soda drinkers”).

He goes on to say that in 2012, he was upset to find soda cans popping up in the office, because being anti-soda “was fundamental to our health culture.”

Wilson also refuses to refer to Lululemon as an “athleisure” brand because he is personally not a fan of the term, as he believes it connotes “a non-athletic, smoking, Diet Coke-drinking woman in a New Jersey shopping mall wearing an unflattering pink velour jumpsuit.”

As a workplace, Wilson writes, Lululemon “screened for people who wanted families.” He writes how the company wanted to thrive off of family values, but he also doesn’t see a problem with forcing his narrow idea of relationships and family.

He writes how “we wanted our people to meet the perfect mate, we wanted people to have children, and we wanted the family nucleus to be an energy generator.”

In his original manifesto, Wilson also included this line: “Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them. Children are the orgasm of life.”

Wilson goes on to write about how Lululemon initially hired a type of employee he calls “Balance Girls,” who were “type-A Wall Street personalities,” but the company had to get rid of them because “they had been working 14-hour days in finance, were not dating, and could see no prospects for marriage or children.”

Throughout the book, Wilson’s account of how he developed the business illustrates some autocratic tendencies, with specific rules for how employees should approach goal-setting and lifestyle. The most striking example is his 6/13 rule, which was an exact formula of how and when store associates, or “Educators,” as they are called, could talk to customers.

The rule was that “if a Guest was looking at a product for six seconds, an Educator had a thirteen-second window to educate them about the item. Barring any follow up questions, the Educator would then leave them alone until they looked at another item for around six seconds.” Wilson writes that this method would work because “our Educators [would] impress customers with their sheer knowledge of and enthusiasm for the item.” While it might sound like a shopping nightmare for some, it also might explain how Lululemon’s sales per square foot were in line with Apple and Tiffany & Co.

Inside a Lululemon class at a store in London on March 28, 2014. Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

In his account of the Bloomberg interview in which he said Lululemon pants weren’t right for women whose thighs rub together, Wilson says the publication edited his words and presented them out of context. (For the record, Bloomberg did not isolate that portion of the interview, and Wilson did say that “it’s really about the rubbing of the thighs.”)

He also insists that Luon, the proprietary fabric used for Lululemon leggings, which many people complain pills after many wears, didn’t pill because of poor quality but because women were squeezing into sizes that were too small for them.

Wilson takes no responsibility for offending women; instead, he insists the media is rooted in sensational reporting. He points to another time in 2007 when the New York Times challenged him on a clothing line called VitaSea, which he claimed was made with “seaweed-based technology … that would make the shirts anti-stink, as well as moisturizing for the skin of the person wearing it.”

The Times published test results that showed the clothing had no seaweed in its particles. Wilson calls this “mean-spirited” in the book but does not offer an explanation for the results; instead, he pivots to claim the story was probably planted by an investor who wanted to short the Lululemon stock, and that the reporter probably received “a backroom payoff.”

In one especially bizarre chapter, Wilson basically defends Nike, which in 2001 was accused of using child labor. He says he “felt bad for Nike,” and sides with the company over the reports.

“In North America, I noticed there were some kids not made for school, who dropped out with nowhere to go,” Wilson writes. In Asia, if a kid was not “school material, he or she learned a trade and contributed to their family. It was work or starve. I liked the alternative.”

Wilson boasts that to respond to the Nike story, he decided to make the whole thing into a joke. He appeared in an ad in Yoga Journal with a few Lululemon employees, “dressed in diapers and baby outfits at sewing machines in one of our factories.”

In the book, Wilson writes that “if we were ever accused of child labour, I would just agree.” He then goes on to joke that “my own children have worked in the business from the age of five with no pay; working young is excellent training for life” — a tone-deaf take on child labor, especially coming from a white, Western billionaire.

Elsewhere in the book, Wilson mentions that “stores created tongue-in-cheek windows with a controversial political or social point of view.” When the brand opened its first store in Vancouver, he took out an ad in the paper promising free clothes to anyone who showed up to the store naked — and plenty did. Wilson describes this type of publicity as “worth millions and so much more fun than a standard press release.”

In Wilson’s account of how Lululemon went on to sell yoga apparel outside of women’s leggings, he tries to paint a picture of resourcefulness. When searching for the best type of material that would later become Lululemon’s $68 yoga mats, he admits he scrounged in the trash of a supplier to find the address for a source of materials in Asia.

In another anecdote, Wilson writes how he saw bits of fabric being discarded inside factories and he was trying to think of ways to use them: “One of the seamstresses used to take the ends of the pants she cut off and wear it as a headband because her hair got in her eyes while sewing. We thought, ‘what a great idea! Let’s take these pant ends and sell them!’”

Headbands, Wilson goes on, ended up becoming one of the brand’s best-selling items, thanks to “young girls who used them to differentiate themselves amidst a sea of school uniform.”

Original Source -> Lululemon’s ex-CEO wrote an “unauthorized” history of the brand. Here’s what we learned.

via The Conservative Brief