#I went into the tag once there's like 5 people wah

[rikushka]

"What if I drew teen chuuya he's cool-"

12 year old me taking possession of my body after I saw a few memes: "you spelt Ayato Kirishima wrong."

[lilithsgayadoptednephew]

Holy Hands

Fandoms: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!   Not Rated Graphic Depictions Of Violence F/M, Other Complete Work

Chapter List

Chapter 18

Lucifer was still dizzy, but now he could manage being awake for a few hours at a time. He wasn't a fan of this whole "needing rest" business and honestly he didn't know how Belphie didn't go insane. He stared out the window as the van rumbled along the seemingly endless stretch of road.

36 hours to go.

0MC drives like an absolute maniac, it turns out. They drove down the yellow line in the center of the road, didn't even bother to look at speed limits, and straight up cut through people's lawns at times. Everyone had had enough when they took a sharp turn at nearly 80 mph while yelling at the top of their lungs.

Satan drove after that.

"Yeah I should never drive." They admitted as they sat down between Asmo and Acacia. "It's like I'm a different person behind the wheel and all I know is "fuck the system, I wanna hit a stop sign." Acacia giggled and there was a muffled "Hell Yeah!" from Mammon.

Satan did ok until he hit the highway, that's when he revealed he'd never actually driven before.

"What? Why'd you take the wheel then?"

"Because anything is better than your suicidal thrill seeking." He reasoned

"Well can anyone else drive?" There were murmer's of no's around the car and MC rubbed their temples in irritation.

"I know how," Lucifer said bitterly.

"Yeah but you're not fit right now" Asmo responded as gently as he could.

"Yes" he had to agree as just looking out the window was giving him a headache.

In the end MC had to verbally walk Satan through highway etiquette and safety. They were a much better backseat driver than a driver.

0The car had been silent for a while, almost painfully so. There was only one thing to really occupy their minds and that was the events of the last few weeks. It wasn't a fun silence.

Acacia was the one who came up with the idea. Her eyes caught a light blue PT cruiser parked at a kwik fill as they drove past. Punching MC as hard as she could in the arm she yelled

"Cruiser bruiser, blue! No punch backs." MC winced from the sudden assault before they too noticed the car.

"Oh it's gonna be like that is it?" They smirked and then the game was on.

Woody wack's for station wagons; punch bugs for buggies; Rams, Dodges, juice, no car was safe from an excuse to have a fist fight. The brothers caught on to the game quickly and soon there were raucous shouts of car models and fists flying between the rows of seats.

Mammon would just make up cars even though he didn't see them. Asmo would hit the hardest but complain the most when he got hit. Levi would continuously moan "I'm not playingggg" when someone tried to hit him. Satan claimed to have drivers immunity but still would hit others. Belphie completely ignored the "no punch backs" rule, and poor Beel never actually figured out how the game worked so he just got pummeled.

Then Beel figured it out.

"Hah! Punch-bug yellow!" he called gleefully as he punched Lucifer right in the arm.

The car went silent as Lucifer gave Beel a look as if he'd actually murder him. Then, without changing expression, he jabbed Beel so hard in the back of the neck that the poor guy folded in half.

"You didn't say 'no punch backs'" he grumbled, turning to resume his glaring out the window.

0"Oh come on!" Levi shouted from his spot in the passenger seat. "You just need to make it to that smudge" he urged.

But the raindrop on the windshield didn't budge.

"Give it up" Satan said darkly. "Your puny drop was a lost cause from the time mine got that speed boost from merging with MCs" he laughed an over-the-top maniacal laugh.

"That's not fair, you can't team up!"

"Friendship is magic, Levi." MC called nonchalauntly from the seat behind them. "Get with the times."

Levi muttered something under his breath.

"What was that, loser?" Satan mocked.

"I said rematch " Levi spoke very seriously.

"You're on. I call that one!"

"I call-- ah man!" Levi slumped in his seat. "Fine, that one then."

The race was on. Satan's drop held a steady lead down the majority of the windshield. Hardly wobbling as it streamed steadily down even the driest parts of the window. Levi seemed to be at a huge disadvantage as his drop moved a few centimeters at a time before stopping and faltering. The tension rose as Satan's drop started to lose momentum near the end. Levi's started to pick up speed, a few drops boosting it along the way.

It was neck and neck, such a bad start but it looked like Levi's was gonna pull a comeback!

MC was on the edge of their seat as the battle of ages waged before their very eyes. Satan's drop stopped! Just before the finish it halted entirely! Now all Levi's drop had to do was make it to the finish. It was so close they could almost taste it!

Suddenly a rogue windshield wiper swept through the battlefield, taking both drops to their fate and leaving dry clean windshield in its wake.

"Guess we'll never know" Satan shrugged as he flicked the windshield wipers off again.

"GODDAMNIT SATAN!!!" Levi practically screeched, but Satan just laughed at his anger.

0"Come on Beel, this is your 4th bathroom break already!" Levi called from the van. Beel came back and hopped in, climbing over Asmo and MC to get to his assigned seat in the back.

"Sorry! Human bodies don't hold food and drink like demons." He blushed.

"TMI Beel" Satan wrinkled his nose as he stepped on the gas. "Why aren't we moving?"

"You have to put it in gear" MC said patiently.

"Right, I knew that." Satan blushed as he put the car I'm gear and backed out of the gas station parking lot.

Skreeeeech!

Everyone in the car winced at the sound. Putting it back into park, Satan instructed Asmo to hop out and see what happened.

"Good news!" He yelled. "We're ok! It's just the other car that's damaged." He hopped back in.

"Great" Satan sighed as he continued driving away.

"Wah! Awahawa! Guys! That's a hit and run!" Acacia shook MC as she spoke.

"So?" Satan peered at her through the rearview mirror.

"So? So that's illegal!"

"So's driving without a license." He countered.

"And living in the United States without a birth certificate or visa." MC deadpanned.

"Oh shit!" She realized "you guys are illegal aliens!" The car was silent for a minute. "Well now I just feel stupid"

"You're not stupid Acacia," Beel put a large hand on her shoulder from the back seat.

"Thanks Beel."

"Either way it's best we avoid any human authorities." Satan confirmed, there were nods and soft murmer's of agreement around the car.

"Heh heh"

"What now?" Levi snapped.

"Heh... we're criminals." She elbowed MC.

"Oh yeah we're bad, don't fuck with us." They agreed sarcastically. "We live outside the normal order."

"Yeah I ripped a tag off a mattress once." She laughed.

"I pirate all my music." MC countered.

"I'm going 5 mph above the speed limit right now." Satan added.

"I commit felony tax fraud!" Mammon yelled from the trunk.

The car went silent at that.

"What?"

0When they stopped to rest for the night there were 26 hours left to go.

[manjuhitorie]

undefined

Muro Festival, is a rock festival! Which invites newcomers, upcoming artists, veteran come-on-ers, and all hard song enthusiasts alike to celebrate. Named after Muro Kiyoto, who is the manager of a Shibuya concert venue. As an avid enforcer of music events he’s esteemed by many in the scene, so the event draws in people who are driven by the fuel of that pass. At least bands will comment “Muro fest is an adhesive (Arukara)” or “The number one trait of Murofes is that the performing bands have awesome strong connections even on the side, and that the essence of that friendship engulfs it (Wasure).“ or “Even if Murofest was hosted at a small park or a in the middle of the street or in Muro’s house or even in a public toilet, I would perform. I love Murofest (Mizuno Gii).” 

Anyway the performances are full of power! Full of summer heat! Full of maudlinism to soar like Muninn! Full of a favorite: there’s Hitorie’s dead pan heartfelt bassist, ygarshy! 

And you were able to watch it on a niconico livestream but...

 IT’S ENDED NOW

 I will preserve this post as a report.... Doubling as a source for various trivia....  I’m considering maybe if a fan makes a purchase of a Wasureranneyo album, or something of similar sentiment, and DM’s me a screenshot, I could share the recording... Even if you see this in a billion lightyears from now. Because sharing is caring, all around yeah!!!

You have to get niconico premium to watch it, which is only 540 yen. Nothing compared to the fest’s ticket fee of 10,000 yen (Plus airfare fee for us overseers). You can use foreign debit cards, or even Paypal… ! Much of the performances were locked up, only for Premium members originally even for those who were able to watch real-time, so there’s no regrets in seizing the now. Thumbs up. Live shows enhance a whole different essence, so more than listening to a J-rock playlist on Spotify I’d recommend taking a dive into this while you can!!

Not only can you upfront witness the air around their electric pickguards warp to their technique, you can see them hop and whomp and throwmp around! What chords they clench with their teeth, what lines they unleash from the pit of their lungs, what parts the band will huddle together for and what songs mean the world to them! Also the crowds reactions, I move when I see them move, in polysemy. If there’s any niche J-rock band names you’ve maybe been curious about, or just want to find some new indie J-rock, the artist line-up is here! LAMP ON TERREN: wowawawa’s best buddy ‘Dai-chan’ is in there… *Waves hand* TERREN were once scheduled for a joint live with perfect timing, so they brought a birthday cake for wowaka and they got friendly with Rie... or so they thought.. The next day SND was ready to beat the shit out of them on stage. But they’re all friendly now (I think)))) Arukara: They master the standard rock setup with wads of distortion, wah effects, while sometimes make instrumental songs with violin etc. even! They do podcasts! And they reinforce cats a lot. I recommend Chigirero.  majiko: Village Man’s Store: Who are the band with bright red suits, bright firey songs, and bright red lips who kissed Shinoda that one time - In seriousness I could recommend them though, they’re sweet with only a little taste of the sleazy!  KAKASHI are rejoiced by quite a few Hitorie fans I know. There’s CIVILIAN: A three-piece whom all graduated from the Tokyo School of Music Shibuya, the bonds roam, who also hosts Nanou HoehoeP, another past utaite like majiko. LEGO BIG MORL: Sukippara ni Sake: Who are swanky with Kachāshī-like dances to the stretches of never making a boring song. And so so many more! J-rock band names start to make more less sense the more I’m in here! Wahoo! A band named Hitorie performed two years ago, and there’s LEGO BIG MORL this year, which is hoisted up by the same manager as Hitorie, Mika Arara! The members separately will some participate in cooking shows(), some each do acoustic shows on their own accord, each ego-search, and their stoic songs together are bound to at least make your foot tap from their flavored textures. For this sake I’m eyeing up the band’s particularly memorable whiz named Hiroki Tanaka. Hiroki is not most notable for his #My ygarshy hashtag, but for the sake of this he is. Under the tag is either Hiroki posting a picture of him together with ygarshy or him commenting #My ygarshy on pictures ygarshy of himself with others. Or the “What? Are you a couple?” on ygarshy’s “It’s our 9th year anniversary” photo of him with SND… yg “Sorry.” In general ygarshy and Hiroki are friendly, they drink and vent together time to time.Also Hiroki and Shibata Takahiro, the character who comes in soon, have a unit called Takahiroki. Which is the two of them fused to make flurry, with only an acoustic guitar and a mic as their weapons even!  Their concerts tend to break the norms of the non-flamboyant J-rock scene, as they screw around with their power with no real point, just a joint to a jollity! Where as many J-rock shows will use screens of music visualizers to engross, Takahiroki will use the crowd by galvanizing them raise their signature rainbow towels or make explosive call-outs towards the flames of reality. Where many will use subdued dance to party, Takahiroki will chit-chat about food and females as they swing their limbs like spinning amusement park rides or dress as bartenders and drink . Though all rock shows are have their unique tricks and spirit, it’s nice to see it super shaken up also… I introduce these two for good reason! It’s background for what’s feautured in the niconico livestream! The band Wasureranneyo! That Shibata is on vocals and guitar, that Hiroki is on main guitar, our ygarshy is on bass, and Takayuki Tomita is on drums! Tomita is from a band called THE LOVE NINGEN, whom I’m not sure how came into relation with Shibata, but Wasurerannee yo is constantly borrowing members to fill it’s blanks due to . ygarshy has been consistent for more than half a year now! Hiroki also bounces in whenever he can an ex. Wasurerannee yo member once filled in for Love Ningen. They themselves most likely meet at festivals like this! Where similar bands get together under a sonic medium and spend the crepuscle ball. But I’m going back to ygarshy! Him! His performance is a spotlight!

the important part     THE SHOW    highlights 

Wasureraneeyo start at 1:27:28, end at 1:58:39. You can manually copy-paste, and it’s a whole 30 minutes action-packed. There's about 48 hours before a the single watch instance will expire, but it's possible to close the window and come back anytime between then.

The first 5+ minutes are rehearsal, they’re muted to give the live-goers an extra extra incentive. It’s still worth a peak to see how musicians will stroll as they test. They played their theme song and also a cover of Alexandros’ Wataridori there’s nothing worth hearing anyway right (*wails).

The rest is 100% worth the buck!  ●Shibata starts off by whimpering over an urge he needs to burst out, he needs everybody to cheer him on. When he Says “Miyamoto - Ryou!”, you have to shout “You can do it!” Note: Miyamoto and Ryou are a comedian duo, who just days ago were revealed to the victims of a corrupted corporation, who was holding absolute control over them. People have cheering for them to win better circumstances in the case. Yet the apologies and the press conferences have been fantasy football battles.... Ugh... It's a riot for sure though! Official news reports are here or here or etc. ●He gets everyone to wiggle their arms 90° angles above their heads “like we’ve gone crazy!” and shout a nonsensical “Yossoi hoi hoi!” chant! With the heat as the beat! yga just plays bass! ●He makes noise for his mom, multiple times throughout! His T-shirt even has his mom on it! Specifically a picture of 2 year old himself being embraced by his mother printed on it, with the word “Mother” metallically written on the back… Source from his past diary entry of him expressing his maternal love. I can’t believe this ygarshy no wonder you can’t help but smile a lot during these shows. ●He complains about the shitty time he “went out drinking when he two cute girls walked through the door in, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’ he thought, only for them to start chit-chatting about how small their boyfriend’s dicks are! What kind of damnation is this bullshit!” ●The lyrics are about that stuff anyway!! ●There’s also a special appearance from Kanata Takehiro, the vocalist of LEGO BIG MORL. Shibata bitches at him mid-solo because “Fuck you! All the girls are staring at you now damn it!” *He is actually popular in the band due to being good and cooking and math and being an overall goofball behind the gallantries. The original of Odore Hikikomori features Hiroki and Sekihan, of Happy Head NANIYORI also he was in the niconico scene a long time ago, both dressed in clothes that you may find very unlikely but 100% plausible. ●ygarshy smiles and then recalibrates his hair over his eyes to look like a dark souls boss faceless again. He holds his bass with the neck upwards, he’s reviving his high school orchestra club bass playing sensibility. Virtuoso. The high tempo of Wasureraneeyo’s songs is definitely on par with Hitorie’s, Rie's irregular metres, swapping, interchanging and 456 metres are monstrous, but the sheer volume of tutti and strumming in Wasure’s punk songs seems to be something else as well…! yganbare!! ●Also don’t worry about those missed minutes because Shibata crowd-surfs again. This time with cash in his hand a mission! Saying “I’m glad to be here! Take me to the cute beer darling!”, as he is driven by the hands of the compliantly ecstatic crowd towards a staff member waiting in the middle of the crowd, holding up your average beer! Shibata trades the cash for the cup, he orders everyone to gather under him, “I can’t stand up if you’re pushing my ass! Oh now I can thank you”, and at last he gains the support to stand up! On top of a crowd for God's sake he rises. To glug the beer like a food chain top predator of the wild. Then to slide back to stage while crying for his mom again.

●Hiroki physically shoves ygarshy around while they have the stage to themselves. Ahh how the tables turn, the kicker to the pushee. ●In his black robes ygarshy is just such a trance to witness play throughout… It’s really great in motion and as a whole I love dirty rock concerts. Music has to be heard, my lumberous lumpy text can’t convey those sound waves… So give it a watch if you may have free time to do so! Only if you can please!  Source for comments and some info: https://skream.jp/feature/2019/06/muro_festival_2019.php  More photos and videos can be found on their official twitter! Photos by Suzuki Kouhei woah...

[hillariat]

When I’m with you

Tags: Original work, Fluff, Romance, F/F, wlw, Comedy 

Word count: 3,066

Summary: She followed me to my doorstep, and we embraced in a hug that lasted way longer than it should. As she departed, bidding an I'll text you when I'm home -a mere formality in Singapore- I began to wonder.

Did she feel the same?

In which Rachel has feelings for her best friend Jiamin.

Author’s note: This is just something to take note of before reading if you aren’t familiar with Singapore. This story uses some Singlish, mostly in dialogue. Singlish is the colloquial variation of English in Singapore. It has its own unique grammatical structure and slang terms borrowed from multiple different Asian languages. Different people integrate Singlish into their speech to varying degrees. For Singlish terms, I’ve given in text translations in [ ]. 

Also I’ve cross-posted this on Royal Road under the same title and author name.

____________________________________________________________

The first time I felt it, I was at the park with her in the middle of the night. She kept nudging me to try the flying fox. I rebuked that it wasn’t my thing, that it wasn’t appropriate with the skirt I was wearing, that she wasn’t strong enough to push me all the way to the other end.

In essence, I was scared. Yeah, a 15-year-old was scared of a piece of playground equipment that little 5-year-olds rode on a daily basis. Jiamin mocked me in much the same way, as if my reaction were a teleprompt script of my thoughts. I relented and awkwardly attempted to sit on the damn thing. She saw me struggle and halted her sharp remarks, most likely to not dissuade me from my reluctant decision. Instead, she opted for a constipated face, struggling to contain her laughter.

With an effortful push from Ms constipatedface, I was sent gliding across the playground with the whirring noise of cables being my only company. It was....not as bad as I thought. The slight breeze that brushed against my face, the passing scenery of a peaceful night was relaxing, the - yeah I was lying to myself. This was fucking scary. My feet were suspended a meter off the ground, ripping any sense of control I had over this damned thing away from me. I was at the mercy of the imparted force of Jiamin's push and whatever resistance the ill maintained wires provided. Without my calculator and notebook, I had no clue when or where exactly I would stop and not knowing brought upon deep seated feelings of insecurity that I thought I had tucked away under piles of 100th percentiles in report cards.

Fortunately for me, the flying fox slowed down to a stop whilst I was buried in my thoughts. The wires sagged under my weight, leaving my feet within reach of the ground. Jiamin jogged to me with a gleeful expression painted on her features, clearly very entertained by my suffering. I on the other hand probably looked like I came out of the Vietnam war. She asks me how it was, and I groaned. Well, “weh” was more accurate, but I’d like to think it was a groan. She chuckled, her deep voice filling the otherwise empty park. It wasn’t any different from her previous chuckles, but my heart clearly felt otherwise.

It fluttered.

 I mulled over that feeling for several weeks. It wasn’t a foreign concept to me. I’ve heard friends talk about it at the canteen, heard hushed gossip amongst classmates during lessons and dramatized portrayals in media. But why now? Nothing has really changed between us; she hasn’t changed at all. So why now? 2 months ago, I would’ve said her laugh sounded like a dying pig but now I’m not so sure.

I took a glance at her, seated at a table diagonally to the right of me. To the undiscerning eye she was diligently taking notes in class, her face laser focused on what she was producing on paper. But I knew better. She was probably drawing bats and skeletons and anything else that could pass as a villainous henchman in a kid’s cartoon. She never cared much for math, or any other subject outside of recess. She once told me that she didn’t see the point of trying since she wasn’t planning to go anywhere after secondary school. When I pried further, she said “I’m damn stupid. Confirm cannot go anywhere”.

I think the only time I've ever seen her willingly try to study was in primary 5, a year before our Primary School Leaving Examinations. She suddenly became very interested in studying after I told her I wanted to go to Bukit Panjang Government High, a top public secondary school. Maybe she finally realized how important studying was. For that entire year she was buried in textbooks. I swore her head could've become a bookmark. When results came around, everyone thought it was a miracle, some divine intervention from god, that she did as well as she did. But I knew better. She was never one for prayers. We both entered Bukit Panjang Government High and Jiamin went back to slacker mode.

 She turned to me, sensing my stare. We made eye contact, chocolate brown meeting chocolate brown, - yes Chinese kids all look the same – but for some reason I was ensnared.

I felt my face flush red.

I want to die. Please take me now death.

Bewilderment was plastered on her face. A moment passes. Then, as though she was struck with a thunderbolt of genius, her expression turned to a knowing smirk. Death, anytime now please.

She stuck her tongue out at me like the child she is and I, obviously, returned the favor. Because what else do you do when someone flicks their tongue at you? Ok, no death for now.

We shared a quiet giggle before turning back to our work. Well, I tried to. My whole body was consumed by….nice feelings. Warmth that felt like a hug. Butterflies threatening to break from my ribcage. That sort of stuff. It was topped off with starry eyes and a dreamy smile that probably made me look crazy.

I was so glad I didn’t have a tablemate, else I’d be probed on my strange expression. I don’t think claiming that I was merely enjoying the lesson at hand would’ve been believable. If it was it would imply that I was going gooey eyed over first order derivatives. I know I’m a nerd but I have standards. It’s got to at least be partial derivatives in a matrix to get me flustered.

So uh yeah, “mulling” didn’t actually involve thinking about my feelings. More like awkwardly fumbling through the full spectrum of emotions. I should do something about it. Just as I was about to plunge into another train of thought, I received a text from none other than her.

Jiah Lian: Wanna go monti next week?

That’s weird. Monti was a candlelit atas* [Fancy & expensive] restaurant that sat on Marina bay, aka the kind that people bring their lovers to for a proposal and have anniversaries and junk.  I’d been wanting to eat there for months because apparently the pasta is to die for and they cook it tableside (I know, I have spoilt rich girl tastes) but I never really got around to it. I didn’t think it was her kind of thing. If I nagged her enough, she’d probably go with me, but show up in shorts and sandals and complain about spending $58 on pasta.

Trash bag: Sure, but don’t wear shorts

Jiah Lian: Wah, u wan see me naked alr? Pervert

Trash bag: Gross

Jiah Lian: ILY too :)

Trash bag: Wed?

Jiah Lian*: Caaaannnn

[*a pun on the Singlish word “ah lian” which means female gangster]

 Wow. Oh wow. Out of all the things I thought would happen today, seeing Jiamin in a dress was not one of them. To be frank I was expecting her to show up in either shorts or a shirt-pants combo. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pleasantly surprised though. She was wearing a spaghetti strapped cocktail dress that hugged her in all the right places, accentuating her slim form. The dress slit went all the way up her smooth, never-ending legs, leaving just enough room for the imagination. It was bare back too. The dress probably showed a bit too much skin considering she came from a conservative household, but I’m not complaining.

In a manner that was so unlike the way she was dressed, Jiamin yelled “Rachel!” and hurriedly made her way across the train station to me. She was like a puppy bolting towards its owner when they came home. Adorable.

She circled me once over, eyeing up my outfit in enthusiasm. Seemingly satisfied with what she saw, she gave a smile that ended at the corner of her eyes.

"Wah you damn chio*"[Pretty] She said, gesturing to my dress. It was a simple, off shoulder, A-line affair.

I nudged her shoulder playfully with my fingers.

“You also”

In response, she gave a goofy, ear to ear grin, her normal go-to reaction to compliments. Though this time I could’ve sworn there was a tinge of red coloring her cheeks. Maybe it was a trick of the light.

We made our way to the restaurant, talking about anything and everything from some idiot in history class that declared that they didn’t need to know about Hitler because, and I quote; “all the Jews are dead” (I don’t know how he got into an elite school) to whether or not caviar and white chocolate would taste nice together. Our hands brushed together once.

“In theory it should work because, according to food science, they have similar flavor compounds, like trimethylamine which has a fishy odour. So they – “

“What the shit! Who the fuck thinks white chocolate tastes fishy?!”

“Science does!” I happily sang. “and it thinks white chocolate would be very good with caviar.”

She cringed.

“Eeeeee, fuck that’s damn gross.”

“Hmm I dunno, now I’m very tempted to try it. Maybe I’ll order caviar later.”

She grasped her chest in relief.

“Thank god, Monti don’t have caviar.”

I gave her the most innocent and earnest smile I could muster.

“Then next time, we’re going to a seafood place and I’m bringing white chocolate.”

She looked at me with absolute horror. “I don’t know you! Who is Rachel?!” She proceeded to wander off in faux abandonment. I on the other hand am cackling with laughter. I loved grossing her out with science.

Once I caught my breath I jogged after her.

 Our dinner was filled with idle chatter and a savored appreciation for the food. There was a moment where I thought she was going to place her hand over mine as she lightly grazed it, but in reality she was just trying to steal my phone. I would’ve thought that after the 10th time she’s failed that stunt, she’d know better. When the bill was settled, Jiamin of course complained about the exuberant price of pasta and my 'atas' tastes.

"I can treat you, y'know as 'compensation' for your company."

She snorted.

"You make me sound like a prostitute." We both chuckled. I continued.

"Legit though, I can treat you if you want."

She dismissed me with a wave.

"No need, hanging out with you is treat enough" She had a smirk and a...blush? Or was that the lighting? Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I've gone into cardiac arrest and I haven’t told my family that I wanted a secular funeral. God bless the dim lighting.

 On our way out, Jiamin's hand brushed against mine again.

Normally I wouldn’t think much of this, but the fact that it’s the 3rd time it happened today and on the same hands mind you,I was a bit perturbed. Jiamin was never shy about physical affection. In primary school she would constantly hold my hand, stating that it felt “nice” or something. I didn’t know why it’d be nice though; I was a sweaty kid; my palms were nasty. A couple months ago she tackle-hugged me because I helped salvage her “hopeless” physics project. In that same timeframe she pinched the crap out of my cheeks after we looked at my old childhood photos when we were at my grandparent’s place. That’s on top of her still holding my hand all the time. Then again recently there’s been a lot less physical affection. Maybe I pissed her off. Eh, she’ll talk about it when she’s good and ready. After all, she’s that kind of person. If you try to crack her open like an egg, she'll call you bitch and stop talking to you for 2 weeks. Trust me, I've tried.

Her hands brushed mine again, though this time she seemed more daring. Her index curled up around my pinky, as if testing the waters. I responded in kind, and she took that as a sign to be bolder. Her fingers cautiously crawled up further and soon our hands were intertwined. My stomach did something that the rest of me could not; a fucking backflip.

 I really didn’t want this night to end so soon and it seemed as though Jiamin thought the same. She suggested that we take a walk along the bay because ‘food coma’. I happily agreed and that’s how we wound up walking along the bay hand in hand.

Her gaze was drawn to the city skyline on the opposite side of the bay, just as mine was to her. Her deep brown eyes hidden among too long messy bangs, petite pink lips and razor-sharp jawline were all illuminated -no- highlighted by the moonlight. She really was something else. I could almost just-

"The view damn nice."

My head snapped to said view. Little boxes glowed with artificial hues of blues, greens, whites and yellows. They peppered the orderly array of skyscrapers, starkly contrasting the night sky. Each building was interwoven with one another, smaller ones disappeared in the shadow of larger ones and the ones that were front and center demanded attention like a whiny 5 year old. Some towered above others in a supposed race to be the tallest, but never in a disorderly fashion. Every tower had its own distinct curves, angles and edges. Shapes that would normally belong in a dull geometry paper were fused together into deceitfully simple artistic hybrids, giving each building its own sense of character. Yet they all managed to fit together nicely into a coordinated group of semi homogenized modernity.

Pristine, structured, and beautiful. Truly fitting for a metropolis.  

 "It’s weird how every tiny box that’s lit has a worker inside" Jiamin gestured to a well-lit office building. She turned to me.

"Do you think our lives are gonna be like that? Working until 8+ in a box then go home and sleep and then do it again?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe? That depends on the job type and-"

"Do you want that?"

My expression furrowed. I’m not really certain of my reply but let it slip anyways. Bad Rachel.

" I-I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far. I mean we're so young and all.”

She quirked her brows.

"Then why you study so hard?" Despite her choice of words, her tone holds no animosity, just genuine curiosity.

"Well, because I like it." Jiamin continued to look at me, expecting more. I took a deep breath and continued. "And also because it gives me security"

"Like it opens up more doors? "

"No. It gives me something..." My eyes searched the ground as though the right words would appear at my feet. I swallowed. "to be proud of"

Jiamin fell silent at that. Her eyebrows furrowed, whether in thought or in sympathy I don’t know, but I hope it wasn't the latter. I don’t need that.

She chewed on her lips, contemplating on whether or not she should say whatever it was that was on her mind. I had half the mind to ask but again, I knew better.

"Sometimes I fail things on purpose."

My jaw dropped.

"What? Why?"

She shrugged.

"People think I damn useless. Like cannot do this, cannot do that. -she brought up her fingers to count - I lazy, stupid, hopeless, cannot make it."

I frowned and knitted my brows, trying to stitch together what she was trying to say.

"So you want to spite them?"

She sighed.

"Maybe. At least I know I'm good at failing"

I fell into silence, letting that sentence stew in my thoughts for a moment. I knew what I wanted to convey but I didn’t know how to convey it right. Neither of us cared much for words of pity after all.

"You know, I heard the best way to say 'fuck you' to someone is to be happy."

"You think I not happy is it?" She growled.

I held my hands up defensively. "No no. That’s not what I’m saying. I'm trying to say that maybe you should consider what does make you happy."

Jiamin paused for a moment, lips pursed in thought. She turned away to look at the skyline again and that was the end of that conversation. There were more words to be said about this topic, but they weren't going to be said today. That's fine with me.

 The journey home was filled with a comfortable silence, the kind that I've always enjoyed with her. Though this time there was an added feeling of warmth and a silly soft smile plastered on my face. I never thought I'd like hand holding this much since primary school.

She followed me to my doorstep, and we embraced in a hug that lasted way longer than it should. As she departed, bidding an I'll text you when I'm home -a mere formality in Singapore- I began to wonder.

Did she feel the same?

 My answer came the next day, when I found a bouquet of flowers carefully tucked under my desk. Attached to it was a handwritten note with an anonymous sign off. I had only read half the note when I realized who my secret admirer was.

The messy scrawl was practically indecipherable to all but the best doctors, but I had seen it far too many times to not know what the squiggles conveyed. I sighed. I told her more than a dozen times that she should've done her handwriting homework, stating that unlike every other mundane piece of work she never did in primary school, this would come back to bite her. Only once had she listened.

It was apparent from the first line of the note. The ‘a’ in dear, in my name and scattered about in every other word that demanded the vowel stood out like a sore thumb. Unlike every other letter which was hideously malformed beyond recognition, the ‘a’s were written perfectly. From the not quite circular tri-pointed body to the tail flick at the end, the ‘a’ was a perfect imitation of the template we were forced to trace over as kids.

I pulled out my phone, shooting my not-so-secret admirer a text thanking her for the bouquet, watching in amusement as her face turned the same color as those flowers.

[khirsahle]

30 questions

Tagged by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels

1)  Nicknames - Hmm, not really. My name doesn’t lend itself to nicknames, alas. In school, I was often called “Kitty” or “Kitten”, but if someone tried that now, I wouldn’t be so amused.

2.) Gender - Cis Female

3.) Star sign - Scorpio and proud, muthafucka!

4.) Height - 5′5″ - You know how when you’re young, doctors will sometimes guess how tall you’ll be? My doctor was convinced I’d be over 6′0′‘. Nooope. That skipped me.

5.) Time – Currently 6:39 PM

6.) Birthday - I’m a Scorpio.

7.) Favourite band – I...do not have one. I have bands I love to listen to, but not a single favorite.

8.) Favourite solo artist – Vienna Teng is pretty high up there, so sure, let’s go with that.

9.) Song stuck in my head – Call Me Maybe, and it is ALL LadySass’s fault. Ever since she started writing Cullen Me Maybe, that is all I can hear. I’m cursed.

10.) Last movie you watched – It. I went with the boy and some close friends. So, look. I hate It (the book). Massive massive hate. Not only is the structure absolutely ridiculous (seriously, his editor should have known better), but the sexism is just off the charts. But while I hate the book, I can’t seem to quit King. He’s one of the major influences on my own writing. So I went to see the movie, and hey. It was decent. Not great, but they fixed some of the things I hated most even if they totally forgot Mike was even there and went schlocky horror instead of suspense.

I’m just saying, if they had gone pure kids on bikes horror genre, it would have been a good movie. As it was...eh! It was okay! Too many jump-scares and not enough actual scares.

11.) Last show you watched – The Good Place. I love it so much.

12.) When did I create my blog – ...*shrugs*. Right before I posted Lonely Ghosts.

13.) What do I post – Mostly fic-related, plus reblogs. I’m not much of a discourse-poster, as I tend to prefer sticking to the outer rings of fandom whenever there’s a fight.

14) Last thing I googled – Beat the bushes. I said this today to someone at work and they stared at me like I was INSANE. I hadn’t realized it wasn’t a term everyone knew. (She’d heard of “beat around the bush”, but not “beat the bushes”.) Funnily enough, I’m pretty sure the two come from the same source and yet mean opposite things.

15.) Do you have other blogs – Nah. That seems like a lot of work keeping them separate.

17.) Why did you choose your url – *laughs* Because someone already took “Khirsah” (JERK!) and I’m bad at French.

18.) Following – 55

19.) Followers – 2,455. I keep thinking I should do a giveaway at 2,500. That seems like a good time to do something.

20.) Favourite colours – Torquoise, robin’s egg blue, etc.

21.) Average hours of sleep – Around 7. I cannot function on 6, though I function just fine on 4.

22.) Lucky number – 33, 24, 27, 16. 0/00. Funny story. I am kidnapped and taken on cruises about once a year. I know, wah wah wah, but see, I am 1) allergic to the sun and 2) TERRIFIED OF MARINE LIFE. So I can neither sit on the beach OR go into the ocean. I usually just sit under an umbrella or in the cabana, editing/working. But anyway, the future in-laws always give us money for gambling. I? Am also not a gambler, but I play along every year and play Roulette whenever the family goes down to the casino. Because whatever, it is easy and doesn’t involve math.

Turns out, my apathy breeds insane luck.

I always play those numbers, plus sometimes a few others that I like the looks of at any given moment. And so far, I always come away with multiples of my initial money. Like, sometimes around 5-7x the amount. Any time I actually start to care, I totally do terribly. But when I don’t give any fucks? By the end of the trip, I’m always up by quite a bit.

Once, this man--who was losing heavily, which is usually my cue to leave, as I REALLY HATE watching people lose their money, omg, it makes me so uncomfortable--kept talking about his “system”. “You’ve gotta have a system!” he kept saying, playing Roulette what I assume is the correct way. He kept losing and losing, and I kept winning and winning. Finally he turned to me and begged me to tell him my system.

“...I just pick numbers I like,” I said. “I really don’t know what else to tell you.”

He was...less than impressed. And left almost immediately after. But hey, lucky 33, 24, 27, 16, and 0/00, amirite? (Gambling is the worst.)

23.) Instruments I played – Voice and fiddle, neither well

24.) What am I wearing – Today I went with a cranberry-colored A-line dress with a sweetheart cut-out and swiss dot-style mesh collar. Hair up in a bun, with my black frame glasses and wingtip eyeliner. A necklace that says “There They’re Their. Idiot.”

25.) How many blankets I sleep with – One sheet and one fuzzy aquamarine blanket. The boy has his own sheet and blanket. I do not share.

26.) Dream job – Already pretty much there, actually. God, sometimes I want to punch me. I’m sorry. If it helps, I’d also love to be a Young Adult author.

27.) Dream trip – Antarctica!!

28.) Favourite food – I love chicken satay to an unhealthy degree. I’m also a huge fan of Israeli couscous.

29.) Nationality – United States. Southern United States. (But I don’t really have an accent unless I get REALLY excited or REALLY mad. Then the drawl is unleashed as the claws extend.)

30.) Favourite song – My Medea by Vienna Teng

I tag anyone! Anyone including @ardatli @delazeur @sasskarian @pluckyredhead I don’t want you to feel pressured, though, so only answer if you want.

[jeonpalette-archive]

- ̗̀92 truths ̖́-

tagged by: anotherbtslaundry  thank you bub! you’re so precious ♡ anyway it’s cool that your name’s tj bec mine’s ej! that’s so cuuute! and why don’t you believe in angels? you are one : ) 

rules: once you have been tagged you are supposed to write 92 truths about yourself. at the end, choose 25 people to tag!


LAST

[1] drink: coffee 

[2] phone call: my dad

[3] text message: my mom

[4] song you listened to: controlla bec i was watching tom holland dance : ( here’s the link if you want [x] jfc he’s so hot, did u know he dance ballet before

[5] time you cried: a while ago. i was reading a fic. sue me.

[6] dated someone twice: yes, i do admit i’m a v bad decision maker.

[7] been cheated on: no

[8] kissed someone and regretted it: no, why would i

[9] lost someone special: yes

[10] been depressed: what do u mean depressed? it’s just normal mood tbh

[11] gotten drunk and thrown up: yes, told u i was a bad decision maker

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS

[12] black

[13] nude

[14] teal

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU…

[15] made new friends: yes

[16] fallen out of love: yes

[17] laughed until you cried: when i’m with my friends, always

[18] found out someone was talking about you: like bad things? no but i had this instance where the friend of my x answered an ask about me on ask.fm and shared it on twt. they prolly talked abt me tho, couldn’t care less

[19] met someone who changed you: yes, you guys know who you are : )

[20] found out who your true friends are: yes, i found a family and a support group in the group of friends i have now.

[21] kissed someone on your facebook list: yes

[22] how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: like know-know? first name basis and facial recognition is all, but i don’t rlly know their story or smth

[23] do you have any pets: a dog named kean and a fish named ‘pogi’ [that’s handsome in filipino]

[24] do you want to change your name: i do like the name margaret, but nah i like my name too so i wouldn’t change it

[25] what did you do for your last birthday: went swimming with fambam !!! 

[26] what time did you wake up: 5:35 am, school rockz /raises heavy metal hand sign/

[27] what were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping (╥. ╥)

[28] name something you cannot wait for: the radical part of me screams a decent president but tbh i just really can’t wait of finally being able to decide for myself without my parents opinion.

[29] when was the last time you saw your mother: n minutes ago

[30] what is one thing you wish you could change about your life: i wish i had more motivation instead of just being lackadaisical [WoW BiG wOrD]

[31] what are you listening to right now: stay with you - cheat codes

[32] have you ever talked to a person named tom: does tommy count? if yes, then yes

[33] something that is getting on your nerves: college applications

[34] most visited website: tumblr

[35] elementary: /insert sherlock’s voice/ my dear watson. omg that’s so lame. 

[36] high school: literally this gif

[37] college: idek if i still want to go to college lol

[38] hair colour: black

[39] long or short hair: i just had a haircut so it’s short, but not short-short. goodness, you guys know what i mean 

[40] do you have a crush on someone: crushes as in crushes-your-heart-bec-you-know-you-will-never-be-together? uhh no thank you. i have my fictional characters and bts, i’m fine.

[41] what do you like about yourself?: 

[42] piercings: one in both ears, i’m thinking of having helix piercings

[43] blood type: O

[44] nickname: ej 

[45] relationship status: single but not interested

[46] zodiac sign: aries

[47] pronouns: she/her

[48] fav tv show(s): himym, got, skins

[49] tattoos: i badly want one!!!

[50] right or left handed: right

FIRST…

[51] surgery: does tooth surgery counts? bec i had one 

[52] piercing: ears

[53] best friend: a girl named nica

[54] sport: volleyball, wAh i miss

[55] vacation: bohol, philippines

[56] pair of trainers: puma 

[57] eating: what do u mean? like breastfeed or what lmao AHAHAH

[58] drinking: how tf can i remember the date : (

[59] i’m about to: sleep

[60] listening to: survival - eminem, idek whose playlist this is i just searched for fireflies a while ago and the transition is so confusing

[61] waiting for: the classes to be suspended like give me some rest pls it’s only been three weeks and we’ve been doing a lot of performance tasks already

[62] want: to not fucked things up 

[63] get married: i do want to get married and have babies (that needs breastfeed)

[64] career: just shouting into the void, I REALLY WANT TO BECOME A DANCE MAJOR but like i want to be practical as well so i’ll choose engineering instead.

YOUR TYPE…

[65] hugs or kisses: hugs AND kisses

[66] lips or eyes: eyes 

[67] shorter or taller: taller

[68] older or younger: older

[69] romantic or spontaneous: spontaneous

[70] nice arms or nice stomach: doesn’t matter

[71] sensitive or loud: sensitive AND loud 

[72] hook up or relationship: relationship

[73] troublemaker or hesitant: troublemaker so we can be fuck-ups together


HAVE YOU EVER…

[74] kissed a stranger?: no

[75] drank hard liquor?: yes, way more than necessary considering my age

[76] lost glasses/contact lenses?: never wore glasses nor contact lenses

[77] turned someone down: yes

[78] sex on first date?: no

[79] broken someone’s heart?: yes

[80] had your own heart broken?: yes, i think it’s vice versa because if you broke someone’s heart, you’ll be affected about it as well

[81] been arrested?: no

[82] cried when someone died?: yes

[83] fallen for a friend: no


DO YOU BELIEVE IN…

[84] yourself?: no

[85] miracles?: yes

[86] love at first sight?: yes

[87] santa claus?: yes, up until now ♡

[88] kiss on the first date?: yes

[89] angels?: yes

[90] current best friend’s name: a girl named enya

[91] eye colour: dark brown

[92] favourite movies: kimi no na wa, ironman basically anything marvel, collateral beauty, i rly should update my recommendations bec i have a lot of faves wAh

i’m not following anyone at the moment bec i still have a goal to reach so, i’m tagging everyone! feel free to do it and just put that i tagged you okiz. thank you for tagging me really, i enjoyed answering!

[theasexualscorpio]

11 Questions

I was tagged by the glorious @alittlestardustcaught. Thank you!

Rules: Answer the following 11 questions and then ask 11 of your own and tag people.

1. Skirts or trousers?

I prefer trousers.

Would you rather go abseiling or potholing?

I had to google both of these.

Christ on a bike, they’re both dangerous. Potholing? I guess??

3. What is your favorite memory?

My sister and I went grocery shopping once, and I realized I left my wallet at home. We decided that she’d go get the wallet while I finished the shopping. I got the rest of the groceries, but my sister wasn’t back yet. I was starting to get a little worried, because the store is ten minutes from where we live, but she had been gone nearly an hour. Just when I was really starting to get worried, I get the following phone call. 

ME: “Hello?“

SIS: *loud enough that I needed to pull the phone away from my ear* “YOU. FUCKING. SUCK!!”

ME: “Why?”

SIS: “BECAUSE YOU ARE A FUCKING DUMBASS WHO FORGOT YOUR FUCKING WALLET, AND NOW I’M FUCKING STUCK BEHIND SEVENTEEN FUCKING CARS! SEVENTEEN! I FUCKING COUNTED! AND YOU KNOW WHAT’S IN FRONT OF THE SEVENTEEN FUCKING CARS?!”

ME: *small voice* “No...”

SIS: “A FUCKING GARBAGE TRUCK!! AND YOU KNOW WHAT’S IN FRONT OF THE FUCKING GARBAGE TRUCK?!”

ME: *even smaller voice* “No...”

SIS: “A FUCKING BUS!! AND. DO. YOU. KNOW. WHAT’S IN FRONT OF THE FUCKING BUS?!”

ME: *tiny frightened voice* “No...”

SIS: A FUCKING TRACTOR!!  AND DO YOU KNOW HOW FAST THE FUCKING TRACTOR IS GOING?!

ME: “No...”

SIS: FIVE FUCKING MILES A FUCKING HOUR!! IT’S 90 FUCKING DEGREES OUT, SARAH!! I’VE BEEN STUCK BEHIND A FUCKING TRACTOR, A FUCKING SCHOOL BUS, AND SEVENTEEN FUCKING CARS FOR ALMOST AN HOUR IN 90 FUCKING DEGREE WEATHER!! I HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN DYING OF FUCKING HEATSTROKE IN YOUR STUPID NON-AIR-CONDITIONED CAR OR ROLLING DOWN THE FUCKING WINDOWS TO CATCH A FUCKING BREEZE THAT SMELLS LIKE DIESEL EXHAUST AND ASS!! WHEN I GET BACK TO THE STORE, I’M KICKING YOUR FUCKING ASS. 

She hung up on me after that, and I was still laughing when she got to the store and threw my wallet at my head.  

4. What one thing do you think should be taught in schools, but isn’t?

You know that one post about texting your crush “I wish they would teach us more about Vikings in school?”

That’s not even a ploy for me, because I do wish I had gotten to learn more about Vikings. Viking women in particular were fucking amazing. 

5. There are two types of people in this world. What are the two types?

People who have chill and people who do not have chill. 

6. What’s your favorite word?

Loquacious. It’s just a fun word to say. 

7. You’re trapped in a TV show for a month. Where would you choose?

The Golden Girls. 

I would honestly love to be a financially stable, sassy, old lady living with my three equally sassy best friends.

8. How different was your life one year ago?

The biggest differences are about my father and my own future. 

A year ago, my father was living here and was probably going to live the rest of his life here, and I had no idea how to go about actually starting a Life™ now that I was no longer in college. 

Now, my father is in the hospital and will probably never come home, and I’m planning on moving to Seattle later this year with @creepylynz. More job opportunities and independence. 

9. What city would you most like to live in?

Seattle, ay!

10. As you get older, what are you becoming more afraid of?

Being alone. 

Not necessarily “wah, I’ll never be in a relationship,” but more “What happens when my mother dies, or my brothers and sister have families of their own?”

11. What’s your favorite film quote?

“Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most; that people are basically good, that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything, and power and money, money and power mean nothing, that good triumphs over evil…that love, true love, never dies. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.”

-Robert Duvall; Secondhand Lions

Good lord, that was time-consuming. But I liked it. I hope others do too. 

I tag... @pippaofhainault, @finnicksstrident, @sassylorastyrell, @gendryxaryatrash, @furious-winter, @rabbitbaratheon, @tayl0crow, @myrish-lace-love, @qinaliel, @ladybladewarangel, and @epicallycosmic

Here are my questions:

What is your current favorite song?

Favorite historical figure?

Have you ever seen a film adaptation that was BETTER than the book?

If you could be a cartoon character for a week, which character/show would you choose?

Was there ever a book you had to read for a class that you actually REALLY liked?

Is astrology fun, something to be a taken seriously, or an irritating waste of time?

Cake or pie?

What fictional character would you meet if you could?

Road trip, plane ride, or ocean cruise?

Leave the link for your favorite audio post on tumblr.

If you were guaranteed to be successful in a different profession, what would you want to do?

[livingthervdream]

Big heads and big bears!

Today we head for Mount Rushmore! It was nice this morning not to have to rush to get going. We headed out to a local Custer restaurant for a nice cooked meal. GB was very particular of how people dressed today. He wanted to make sure everyone looked nice for our family photo that we will have forever in front of Mount Rushmore. He also made a point that everyone was to try and stay clean during breakfast…yup….good luck with that! As we look at the menu, the waitress comes over and begins to stare st GB. She made a comment of “Hey I have heard of that school! Are you a coach or something?” GB had to break the news that he was not a coach but we did talk about how we both went there and how great it is. I wanted to ask her why she thought he was a coach, nothing against GB at all. And if so, what sport did she think he coached? Too bad the clamor from the kids distracted me and I never found out my answers. Kids had Mickey Mouse pancakes, as always, with each plate getting devoured!!! Andrew ordered berry pancakes that were literally covered with black and blue berries. Remember GB earlier??? Well needless to say Andrew’s new yellow shirt I had just bought ($2.50 from a used kids clothing store, so I wasn’t too upset) was now sparkled with blue and purple streaks. GB was livid and insisted that we buy another shirt for the picture. We ended up stoping at a T-shirt shop just down the road. I am sure you have see these shops before…reminds me of those tourist shirt shops in the Wisconsin Dells. They have prints of South Dakota and Buffalo as well as Mount Rushmore. But this shop also had the shirts of “I don’t get drunk, I get AWESOME” “I’m with her ➡️” “It’s 5 o'clock somewhere”, you get the picture. So how this shop works, they are all screen prints, you just pick the shirt, size and color and then he screen prints it right there for you. I grabbed one that had a buffalo on it and said South Dakota “the great outdoors”. The guy did it lickity split and I headed back to the car. As we drive away down the road, I go to show Andrew the shirt. It looks really cool except for one thing, when he screen printed the shirt all that got stamped on was “the great outdo”. You really would only notice it if you were taking the time to read his shirt and we just wanted to get to Rushmore so we just let it go. Now, South Dakota will be known to us as the Great Outdo! The scenery on the way to Rushmore was beautiful, thanks to GB for pointing it out to us as all 4 of our heads were stuffed in electronics (Kids on the tablets and me blogging). We then voted on no electronics so that we could all enjoy the view. I go to reach for my fancy shmancy camera but there is nothing there! I completely forgot to grab my camera!!! I was so bummed! Here we are heading to a major landmark with beautiful picturesque backdrops on the road and all I have is my iPhone. First world problems right?! I surprisingly got some cool shots but the whole time I am kicking myself for forgetting the camera. The views truly were majestic. I would have to say one of the best parts was GB’s soundtrack that really brought it all together. He downloaded John Denver’s “Country Road”. I know it’s about West Virginia but the song just seemed to fit. The best part was when the older kids and GB began to sing along (we have heard it a couple times 😊). Let’s just say glad I had sunglasses on cause this Momma was tearing up big time just listening to it all. Memory locked and loaded in this head forever! We park the car and head into the park. The heads look above on the mountain as the valleys below are tree covered sprinkled with rocky edges. Definitely not in Wisconsin anymore! As you approach Mount Rushmore there is the Avenue of the Flags. Each state is represented with their flag and marked on columns the date they became a state. GB and I are looking at the flags trying to find Wisconsin. We get to the end where find Wisconsin, to which Andrew chimes in “ they are all in alphabetical order mom!” Thanks buddy, that would have been helpful to know as we were craning our heads through each flag. “You never asked!” Touché kid, touché! We then proceed to take an exorbitant amount of pictures, As any tourist should of course! We aim to represent the great state of Wisconsin! And now we enter the dreaded...GIFT SHOP!!! On every trip we always get an ornament to remember where we have gone as well as a little tote to use for groceries...again us being very resourceful! This time there was one exception. When I was in college, I had some amazing roomies who are now my nearest and dearest friends❤️❤️❤️❤️. We have gone on many Girl trips together and one roomie got us hooked on a passport book in order to collect stamps at each national park/landmark/historic site just as she had done growing up. Well now it was time for me to pass the torch! Today we purchased each of them their own passbook and got their first stamp at Mount Rushmore. I have to say I ran them through clearly what to do (Lots of 1,2,3 eyes on me). 1. Check the date on the stamp is correct. 2. Make sure you hold down for about 3 seconds and pull up so as to avoid smudging and to insure all on the cancellation is present on your stamping. 3. Practice several times on pieces of paper that is provided to make sure you have a feel for the stamp. 4. Pick out a location so as to allow room for other cancellations to be placed. Ok I guess I am a little of a perfectionist, only so after years of experience with my roomies!! The kids did great and each were super excited about their book. Andrew and Ali both wrote their names (Andrew in cursive and Ali placed her full name Alicia). I helped Libby write hers. One older gentleman commented on Andrew's handwriting surprised that they still teach that. I told him our school does so in 2nd grade and I am sure it will continue. Shout out to his teacher and OT with how impressed the gentleman was! Props to you ladies!!! We then left Mount Rushmore and headed to Rapid City. GB had a script sent to the CVS and the closest one to Custer was in Rapid City. We make our way and stop for lunch at a Pizza Ranch. This buffet was Awesome!!! Awesome because not only did it have pizza (kid and GB friendly) but they also had...wait for it...FRIED CHICKEN (very me friendly, for anyone who knows me knows it's my utmost favorite food). It was the best surprise ever as I would never expect fried chicken at a place called Pizza Ranch! I guess never tell a book by its title!😜. We then picked up a couple things at Target and then headed to Bear Country USA! Bear Country USA is a drive through wildlife animal park where you drive around in your car while observing various animals including elk, deer, various rams, goats, mountain lions, bears, buffalo. Their tag line is "Remember to stay in your cage, the animals roam free here!" The kids had a great time pointing out all the animals and letting us know what was coming next. Libby was especially excited building up each moment to the next animal, we filmed her a couple times just because she was just so over the top! We even got to see 2 bears fighting up on their hind legs...very cool! There were also buffalo there but after our buffalo tour the three they had were very unimpressive...wah wah. We then walked over to their exhibits where they had other small animals including beavers, lynx, grizzly bear (who was kind of unimpressed with the locals and just sat in a corner and slept). There was even a badger! He was passed out on his back sleeping under a rock formation. Funny thing, I have been to the Milwaukee Zoo millions of times having lived their for close to 20 years and I have yet to see the badger. It took a trip out to South Dakota to finally see a real live badger! But the best part had to be the super cute bear cubs! There were about 10 of them running around playing with each other and climbing on their little cabin that they sleep in. The kids loved them and did not want to leave their side. They also had this awesome gimmick that for $5, you could get a Bear Country cup that had food in it to dump out and feed the baby bears. Well I have to admit this was an epic parent fail. GB paid for two cups and all three were going to share...well that went over like a lead balloon for the littlest one. So much so she needed a time out. Well it took 4 days for a time out so I would have to say that was pretty good for her. Gb just ended up coughing up another $5 for a third cup and once she calmed down and apologized things were back on track. I am sure other parents there were nodding their heads as they too had been there before but it still makes me feel crummy and embarrassed...you never want it to be your kid. It was nice that those that stick around to the end of the tantrum were able to see an honest apology and hug. Hopefully that scores me some points! Now this whole time, I had been coordinating a meeting spot of one of Ali's school friends. Their family and our family were going to be in the area at the same time as they were driving up from Denver. Well it just so happened that they were in the area and ready for us. Ali knew nothing about it...I know...we are like the best Mom's ever to work this out😜. We arrange a meeting spot and as we park our car I see them walking down the strip mall. I am now giddy like a school girl ready to go, while GB reminds me to relax and at least let him park the car safely...he keeps me grounded! We are about 4-5 stores away from them and are walking towards them. I am filming pretending I am checking my email with Ali walking in front of me. She keeps pointing out the clothes and what to buy as I keep telling her keep walking we are not buying that now. Her friend walks right towards her and she walks around her as if she is another tourist. She then looks up and realizes it is one of her buddies from school and then she just literally stands there. She says nothing as if in shock! She finally snaps out of it and they both give each other the biggest hug...pure❤️❤️❤️! Her family and our family are good friends and we begin to catch up on each other's trips. We head to a restaurant where the wait staff sits us at 2 tables...one for the kids and one for the adults...brilliant! We sit and chat as do the kids and we enjoy just a nice evening and dinner among friends. How funny that we both planned a family vacation to the same destination at the same time...what are the chances? We then take the kids to a playground where the girls play on the play set and the boys go play a life size board of chess. Unfortunately, we forgot to take into account that we as families do have to go on our separate ways. Ali's buddy and her family were heading to Mount Rushmore and we needed to head back to the campsite. We said our good byes as all you know was almost a 30 minute ordeal in and of itself but promised we would see each other in a week for a play date at Hoyt Pool and more summer fun. That slightly appeased the girls enough to get each in their own cars. As we headed back, GB and I commented on how lucky we are to be in such an amazing school community with such amazing people/friends. We truly are lucky. On the way back, we took the more scenic route (more by accident) which included many one lane tunnels and winding roads decorated with deer and 1 bull buffalo. "On the road again" and "Country road" played as the older two sang along and the littlest fell asleep in her car seat. This truly is what family vacations are all about, yes there is the bickering but in the end everyone enjoys each other's company and we truly love one another. I know it's only 4 days in but I would totally do this again in a heartbeat! Can't wait to see what is in in store for the next 10 days!