#and if tumblr tried to ask for donations you would eat them alive

[desolationlesbian]

I am never inclined to make fun of tumblr's cheesy attempts to make money and generally support them even if you consider them cringe. Websites need money to operate and tumblr needs to find a way to make money consistently or it will cease to exist. I do not want tumblr to cease to exist, and the most common alternative method of making money is to collect and sell all of our personal data, which I do not want either. Websites that can support themselves via people willing to spend $25 bucks to commit to a bit is a sign of a brighter and more sustainable version of the internet.

[unrestedjade]

I’ll be adding this to Cigarettes and Cassette Tapes later, but for now I wanna puke this onto Tumblr before I nitpick to absolute death. @chupacawha this was inspired by something you said when we watched the Genkai Tournament arc but I can’t remember what lol.

The walk back to the train station felt about a hundred times as long as the trip out to the temple. And that wasn't even touching climbing down all eighty million steps leading from the temple grounds just to get back to the damn road in the first place. Botan helped as best she could, but most of Kuwabara's weight was on Yusuke. The taller boy leaned heavily on him as they stumbled along, his arm bearing down on Yusuke’s shoulders. Yusuke’s arm around Kuwabara’s waist trembled with effort, hand fisted in tattered fabric to anchor himself. If either of them stumbled, they were both going down.

Yusuke wanted nothing more than to fall face down in the ditch and stay there. Fuck it, let the weeds reclaim him. There wasn't a square inch of his body that didn't hurt, and he was running on less than fumes. The only thing that kept him putting one foot in front of the other was the fact that Kuwabara was having an even harder time staying upright and was somehow doing it anyway. Stubborn bastard. Stubborn, heavy bastard.

The sky was passing from twilight to true night by the time they reached the station. The girl at the ticket counter shot them a look that was equal parts suspicious and alarmed, which Botan smoothed over with some line about a hiking accident. Blah, blah, worse than it looks, blah, blah, bald-faced lie. None of them were dressed to go hiking, and the state of Yusuke and Kuwabara's clothing ruled out any kind of nature-y mishap short of a bear attack. In any case, they must not have looked sketchy enough to call for security, because soon enough they were joining the evening commuter crowd on the platform.

Not many people headed into the city at this time of night, preferring to live out in the smaller towns and suburbs and commute in for work. Botan helped Yusuke maneuver Kuwabara into a window seat. He was pretty out of it after all that walking, eyes glassy and unfocused. Yusuke didn't feel so hot himself, and dropped into the aisle seat next to him-- too much effort to take even one extra step to sit next to Botan in the seats opposite.

"Well," Botan sighed as the train got underway, "that was certainly an eventful day." Her ponytail, normally high and bushy, was wilting down the back of her neck, strands falling loose into her face. Mud smudged the knees of her jeans. On the seat next to her, her bag bulged with the jar holding the shrunken Randou. Yusuke recalled seeing a logo for some brand of pickles stuck to the glass. He hoped it stunk to high heaven in there. And that Botan had forgotten to punch air holes in the lid.

Yusuke slouched in his seat. "That sucked." The train's climate control chilled the sweat soaking his ruined t-shirt, raising goosebumps on his arms. Not that he'd admit he was cold, but he was kinda envious of Kuwabara's jacket-- what was left of it, anyway. "All that shit, and no Tokyo Dome. Don't know what I fuckin' expected."

"Language," Botan chided, more out of reflex than actual offense. "And if it makes you feel any better, I never had a ticket in the first place. I just didn't know how else to get you out here." She had the gall to smile and shrug.

"Y'know," Yusuke sighed, "you're kind of an asshole sometimes." He didn't know why he was surprised. He was starting to get the feeling that getting his life back just meant he was stuck being the spirit world's bitch for the indefinite future. They could at least throw him a bone now and then.

Botan dropped the ditzy sidekick routine, along with her smile. "Don't forget that this is your job, Yusuke. Koenma was generous enough to-"

"Yeah, yeah, enough. I get it." More lectures. Dead or alive, he could never get away from people who wanted to nag at him. Beside him, Kuwabara snored softly, head resting against the window. It didn't look terribly comfortable, but at this point he probably didn't give a shit.

"You did amazing work today," Botan said, relenting. "Really." She reached out to lay a hand on her bag. “Thanks to you, Randou won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

Yusuke couldn’t help but glance over at Kuwabara’s right arm, the elbow of which had been bending the wrong direction only a couple hours ago. Botan followed his gaze, a frown creasing her brows. “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” she said, softly. “What happened wasn’t your fault, it was Randou’s. And luckily, Genkai is an incredibly gifted healer.” She smiled. “All’s well that ends well, isn’t that right?”

Just because the bones were mended didn’t mean they hadn’t been broken in the first place. But it hadn’t been Botan’s fault, either, so Yusuke kept his mouth shut.

A rough spot of track made the train car shudder. Kuwabara was dislodged from the windowpane and leaned over in the other direction, head thudding onto Yusuke’s shoulder. Apparently, his skull was thick enough that this didn’t wake him up.

“Super.” Like Yusuke really wanted to prop him up for the entire train ride after propping him up for the entire walk from the temple.

The googly eyes Botan was aiming at him just made things worse. “Oh,” she exclaimed, “isn’t that adorable?”

Yusuke glared. “No,” he sneered. “Are you sick in the head, or something?”

“I think the two of you have gotten a lot closer after the day you shared.” Botan rested her chin on her hands, a syrupy grin plastered on her face. “How heartwarming!”

“Revolting.”

Giving Yusuke a conspiratorial wink, Botan stood, hefting her bag over her shoulder. "I have to use the bathroom!" she announced to the train car at large. "I will probably be a while!"

Nearby passengers looked up from their magazines and conversations at her. Yusuke only raised an eyebrow. "What a lady."

"And you're such a gentleman," Botan shot back as she stepped into the aisle, aiming a pointed smirk at Kuwabara's head on his shoulder. She walked away too fast to see the one-finger salute Yusuke gave her, but she could probably guess, anyway.

For the next few minutes, Yusuke pondered whether Botan actually did have to take a shit or something. He’d seen her eat before, but he had no idea how any of that stuff worked for a spirit, and he wasn’t about to ask. He figured she probably just wanted a place to leave her physical body while she checked in with Koenma. That was probably for the best-- she always forgot to close her eyes first when she left it. Looked creepy as hell. Well, if she was gonna be gone for a while, Yusuke could catch a nap. The combination of the cool air and Kuwabara's warmth against his side had him sleepy.

As exhausted as he was, no matter how much he tried to relax, he just couldn't let himself fall asleep. It didn't help that other passengers kept stealing glances at them. Yusuke caught a salaryman three rows down glaring disapprovingly over the top of his newspaper. "The hell are you looking at?" Yusuke snapped. The salaryman hid behind his paper. Good. Uppity guys in suits were especially annoying.

Kuwabara stirred, a confused croak in the back of his throat.

"You're awake," Yusuke said, voice low so the busybodies sharing the car wouldn't overhear. "Sit up and get off me." He didn't even elbow Kuwabara that hard, but Kuwabara hissed, curling an arm over his side. Fuck, that's right. His ribs had been busted up pretty bad— probably still hurt like a bitch. "Shit, sorry. You okay?"

"You're a dick, Urameshi." Kuwabara's speech was slurred, like he was buzzed. Botan had been babbling something about accelerated healing and reiki donation on the walk to the station that Yusuke hadn't listened to at all. Maybe she'd meant that Kuwabara was gonna be a little fucked up for a while from whatever Genkai had done to fix his injuries.

He was also still resting his stupid heavy head on Yusuke's shoulder.

"Seriously, sit up. Do I look like a pillow?" Yusuke gave him a shove, gentle this time, because there was nowhere on him that hadn't been horribly injured. Kuwabara barely moved, mostly because Yusuke was still too worn out to do much more than lift his own arm, much less push the larger boy away.

"...You smell real bad."

Great. This was exactly how Yusuke wanted to spend the two-hour ride back into town. "Lean against the window, then!" It wasn't his fault he'd taken a dip in a damn swamp today.

Kuwabara shook his head, the frizzy remains of his pomp tickling Yusuke's cheek. "Nuh-uh. Too hard. Makes my head hurt."

"What are you, a little kid? Man up."

Ordinarily, Kuwabara would bristle, say something about being ten times manlier than Yusuke, and sit up straight to prove that he was just fine and in no way had gotten seven kinds of shit kicked out of him. He didn't budge. His skull was really starting to dig into Yusuke's shoulder. Fuck it. Yusuke shifted his weight, leaning into Kuwabara so that they were propping each other up and Kuwabara's head was resting on muscle instead of bone. His forehead against Yusuke's neck was warm, feverish even. He had to feel even shittier than Yusuke did, weird psychic healing bullshit or not.

"For the biggest punk in school, you're pretty clingy," Yusuke joked, because nothing about this wasn't awkward as hell. He was going for a mocking tone, but it didn't quite come across. "Were you worried about me?" It was hard to sneer effectively when you had to whisper to avoid the attention of a dozen strangers who'd turn around to see you totally not cuddling with your big ugly classmate.

"Yeah."

Well, shit. Yusuke didn't know what to say to that. He huffed out a sigh. Winding Kuwabara up was the easiest thing in the world any other time. Just one normal thing tonight, that was all he was asking for…

"Thought you were gonna die again," Kuwabara murmured, because of course he couldn't just shut up.

"Don't be stupid," Yusuke snapped. "You're the one that..." A mouthful of bile stopped him from finishing his thought. He swallowed, throat burning. Just the reminder of what that psycho had done to Kuwabara had his guts churning again, enraged. He hadn't been that angry since the shit that had gone down with Keiko at the warehouse, and it caught him off guard even now. If Randou had been a human and not some stupidly strong demon from Hell, Yusuke would have killed the fucker. But Randou would get his in Spirit World. That would have to be good enough. "How are you feeling?"

Kuwabara squirmed a little, trying to find a position that didn't leave the armrest between them pressing against his abused rib-cage. "Like shit," he said. "You?"

"Like shit," Yusuke repeated back. It was true. He'd never felt so used up. Leaning against Kuwabara was at least a little more comfortable than trying to slouch down against the seat back. If you can’t beat ‘em, or whatever.

"If I ask you something weird, will you laugh?"

That was not a question Yusuke was prepared to hear right now. Then again, sitting in silence while they were both awake would be even more awkward. "Probably. What's up?"

"Was I at the bottom of the swamp with you?" Kuwabara twisted to look up at him. Huh. His eyes were gray. Yusuke had never noticed that, but then he wasn't usually this close to Kuwabara's face when he wasn't busy pulverizing it.

More importantly, he hadn't hallucinated Kuwabara showing up underwater like he’d started to convince himself. "Yeah," he said, glaring down at Kuwabara and trying not to accidentally take a bite of his stupid hair. "Real nice, showing up to shit-talk a dying man one last time. How the hell did you do that, anyway?"

Kuwabara shrugged. "I dunno." He looked forward again, his face turning out of view. The hint of redness across his cheekbones Yusuke caught was probably from the fever he was running. "You were drowning, and I really had to get over there, and I couldn't get my stupid body to move. So I guess I kinda just...left it?" He chuckled once, wincing as his ribs protested. "Felt kinda nice to take a break from just lying there feeling like crap. It was getting pretty hard to breathe."

"You had a collapsed lung." Among many, many other things. Yusuke had the feeling the image of Kuwabara so mangled that his body looked vaguely off and uncanny would be featuring in his nightmares for a while.

"I guess that'd do it," Kuwabara said. He didn't seem too alarmed, which could have been down to him being punch-drunk and tired. "Did you get him?" Botan had talked at length about the justice awaiting Randou during their long walk. Add a concussion to the list of things Kuwabara was healing from. "Yeah."

Kuwabara made a pleased sound. "Good."

"Yeah, fuck that guy," Yusuke said, in the understatement of the century.

Kuwabara was quiet for a couple minutes. Just as Yusuke was wondering if he'd fallen asleep again, he said, "What do you think his deal was? I can't figure it out."

Yusuke shrugged. "From what the old bitch said, he might not have a reason other than fighting and throwing his weight around."

"I don't think that's it," Kuwabara said, his speech getting, if anything, even less distinct. He’d probably doze off for real pretty soon. "You like fighting, but you don't keep beating on people after the fight's over.”

“You’d know better than anyone.”

Kuwabara didn’t rise to the bait, too lost in his own train of thought. “Guys like that, I don't think they care about the fight at all. Just wanna hurt someone."

Yusuke frowned. Kuwabara wasn't wrong. And for whatever reason, he seemed to keep running into the kind of guys who were out to spread hurt around for the sake of it. Kuwabara definitely had a talent for sticking his nose into trouble, like he had today.

Another flash of anger. Yusuke had a feeling it would take a while to really calm down, even if the adrenaline rush of the fight was long over. "I shoulda killed that asshole."

Kuwabara shook his head, jostling Yusuke's jaw. "You're not that kinda guy."

Yusuke wasn't so sure about that, at all. He hadn't spared Randou's life, he just hadn't been strong enough to take him out. He'd have to accept that whatever punishment Koenma came up with for the guy would be enough, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the world would be better off without Randou in it. In the moment, with Randou gloating over all those people he'd killed and Kuwabara lying shattered on the ground, he'd wanted nothing more than to break his own fists turning Ranou's face into an unrecognizable lump of meat until long after the demon stopped moving.

He didn't say any of this out loud. Despite being one of Randou's victims, Kuwabara wouldn't agree with him. His honor code didn’t have a lot of flex in it. Yusuke didn't want to think about Kuwabara being disgusted by him, or scared of him.

Or wrong about him.

"Sorry," Kuwabara said. "I wasn't much help, either. Just got in your way."

Okay, now Yusuke knew for sure that Kuwabara was completely out of it. He never talked down about himself. "No, you didn’t." Shaken from his dark thoughts, Yusuke nudged gently against Kuwabara's side. "You were great," he said, the compliment sticking in his craw out of habit. "I'm glad you were here."

Kuwabara caught himself before he laughed and hurt himself again. "Y’know, not counting the whole...monster serial-killer thing, it was kind of fun."

Parts of the day, Yusuke had to admit, had been fun. The ordeal had been a pain in the ass overall, but in bits and pieces, for a few minutes at a time, Yusuke had forgotten he was working a case. "Well, next time you wanna change of pace I can kick your ass at the arcade instead of in the alley."

"Whatever," Kuwabara said. "Don't forget who schooled you back at the temple."

Yusuke scoffed. "You're psychic, so you had an advantage. With normal machines, I'd murder you."

"We’ll...” Kuwabara was cut off by a yawn. “We’ll see about that.”

Minutes passed, and Kuwabara's breathing gentled as he drifted off. Yusuke looked over the top of his head out the window, watching the nighttime scenery whip by outside, fields and little stands of trees partly obscured by his own reflection staring back at him. It would be at least another hour before they got back into the city, and then they still had to walk all the way to Kuwabara's house. And then Yusuke would have to walk all the way back home. And then he'd have to go all the way back to that stupid fucking temple in the middle of nowhere for six whole months.

Sometimes it felt like staying dead would have been easier.

Warm air gusted across his collarbones as Kuwabara sighed, as if he'd heard Yusuke's thought and was irritated by it.

"Take it easy, big guy," Yusuke murmured. "Not going anywhere." At some point he'd leaned his cheek on top of Kuwabara's head, sweat and grass and pomade mingling in his nose. As much as part of him needed to stay alert, keep watch for threats, be ready to defend himself, he was just too tired. He let himself stay where he was, not thinking of much, listening to Kuwabara breathe and the muffled shift and clatter of the train around them.

Quietly, Botan slipped back into her seat across from Yusuke. When she set down her bag, it was clear that the pickle jar was gone. So, Randou had been delivered to the proper authorities, whoever that was. Botan's eyes were glassy, and she was blinking furiously. She'd forgotten to close her eyes before she left her body again. Heh. It would be sort of cute if it weren’t so damn unsettling. She smiled drowsily at Yusuke, taking in the tableau of him and Kuwabara sitting peacefully together.

“Don’t,” Yusuke said, heading off whatever cutesy crap she was about to say. He was too tired and semi-comfortable to move, but she could shut up about it.

Botan’s eyes twinkled. “I didn’t say anything!”

[pengiesama]

Home for the Holidays (Fic, TOZ, Sorey/Mikleo)

Title: Home for the Holidays Series: Tales of Zestiria Pairing: Sorey/Mikleo

Summary: It's Shepherdsmas Eve, and Sorey and Mikleo are preparing to host dinner at their place. Then Maotelus rips a hole in reality and accidentally resurrects their dead biological family as seraphim.

Meeting the in-laws for the first time is always awkward.

Part of the Sormik Advent Calendar 2019, for the “12 Days of Christmas"/"12 Pains of Christmas” prompt “Meeting the In-Laws”.

@sormikadventcalendar / sormikadvent (Twitter)

Link: AO3

Read on Tumblr!

“Hi,” Maotelus said, popping his head out of the chimney and into the fireplace.

Mikleo screamed, dropping the tray of sweets and hot chocolate he was carrying with a loud crash.

“Merry Shepherdsmas Eve,” Maotelus continued, undeterred. “Sorry to drop in unannounced, but got a quick question for you. I kinda did something that might’ve torn a rift in the Earthpulse and I need someone to keep an eye on a few things while I figure things out down there before it eats reality. And ruins Shepherdsmas.”

“Wh—wh—” Mikleo sputtered, trying to get a handle on the situation he was being presented.

“Mikleo? I heard a crash, are you okay?” Sorey poked his head into the room. “Mao? When did you get here?”

“Sorey!” Maotelus greeted warmly. The red pom-pom hat he was wearing had caught fire while he dangled upside-down over the fireplace. “Merry Shepherdsmas Eve. Listen, I need you two to babysit some new seraphim that popped out of a teensy tiny little fissure in the Earthpulse that I caused while I was trying to break someone out of Hell Prison.”

“Oh,” Sorey said. “Um. That sounds fine?”

Mikleo made a strangled quacking noise, like a furious, confused duck. Sorey gently reached out and hugged him around the shoulders, stroking his long hair back from his face.

“It’ll be fine, Mikleo, it’s just hosting some guests! That’s what Shepherdsmas is all about, right?”

“Shepherdsmas was originally observed as a religious holiday in the Asgard era and was intended by the human religious authorities as an extremely solemn and boring occasion to reflect upon the accomplishments and sacrifices of past Shepherds,” Mikleo said flatly. “And today it is mostly about buying presents.”

“Sounds like someone needs to learn about the true meaning of Shepherdsmas,” Maotelus commented.

Mikleo sounded like he was about to explode. “EVERY YEAR! EVERY YEAR YOU SAY THAT AND EVERY YEAR WE’RE CLEANING UP THE MESS FOR DAYS AFTER—”

The air shimmered with iridescent energy, and the earth rumbled ominously.

“Okay I gotta go now have fun with your guests and by the way they’re the seraphic reincarnations of your biological human families be back soon!”

Maotelus blew out the fire in the fireplace with a puff of breath, darted up the chimney, and stuffed a big red bag down after him. The red bag landed in the fireplace, and wriggled this way and that, as if stuffed full of living creatures.

…like the seraphic reincarnations of their former human families.

The bag tumbled over, and the tie at the top was finally yanked open from the inside.

There were two women; one, Muse, as Mikleo dimly remembered her from that tiny, lonely room in the Mabinogio Ruins so many centuries ago. Her hair had turned a shining pearl white, with green tips. The other woman, with white-red hair, was unfamiliar, but had Sorey’s wide green eyes, and a distinctive resemblance besides. Selene, he remembered her name, and her name alone. To his shame, he knew nothing else about the woman…but the way she clung to Muse’s arm, seeking comfort, was a start.

The other bag inhabitants were…

…not quite the kind of seraphim they had expected.

“Get that ratty tail of yours out of my face!” snapped a bluish-purple Normin.

He shoved another Normin away from him, who fell to the floor with a sound resembling a squeaky toy. This Normin had a small lion’s tail, and a mane that caused his beret to not fit quite right. The lionesque Normin flailed furiously, like an upended turtle.

“Another life! Another life and another chance to take my revenge on you and this miserable world!” snarled the lionesque Normin.

The bluish-purple Normin spotted a fireplace poker, and immediately went for it. Muse yelled in dismay and picked him up before he could grab it.

“Um…” Sorey cleared his throat. “Merry Shepherdsmas?”

Their guests startled, only seeming to just realize they were in someone else’s house, and being watched. Muse’s gaze fell on Sorey first, then Mikleo. Her eyes were clear, unclouded, focused; not like their sightless gaze from their last meeting. She stared at him; stared right into those eyes that matched her own.

It was a long moment before Mikleo could find the words to speak.

“Hello,” Mikleo said quietly. “I don’t know what Maotelus told you, if anything. But, you’re seraphim. This is a land called Glenwood. Do you remember anything from before he plucked you from the Earthpulse?”

“Mikleo?” Muse asked, her voice trembling. Tears welled in her eyes. “A-are you my Mikleo?”

It was odd, being hugged so tightly and loved so desperately by someone he didn’t know at all.

 --

 “Michael,” Lailah said sternly. “Stop fighting with your tablemates. It’s Shepherdsmas and we must put past squabbles behind us.”

“I am one of the Shepherds in that Shepherdsmas,” Michael replied. “And that means that I can squabble as I choose to.”

Everyone was trying very hard to enjoy their annual Shepherdsmas dinner. Michael and Heldalf – for it was indeed they who had reincarnated into Normin forms – were strapped into makeshift baby highchairs and were currently locked in a ceaseless battle of wills. This took the form of Michael throwing his vegetables at Heldalf and Heldalf making grand and impotent threats as he was steadily coated in mashed potatoes.

Mikleo didn’t know why this kind of thing always happened when it was his and Sorey’s turn to host dinner at their place.

“I shall bring darkness down upon this world! Malevolence to smother out suffering!” Heldalf yowled, thrashing in place in his highchair.

“I shall bring peas upon your head,” Edna replied, scattering a handful of peas on top of the mashed potatoes covering him. “Man, Meebo, your uncle is way cooler than you. This is the best Shepherdsmas ever.”

“Michael, please,” Muse pleaded. “Mikleo, he’s not usually – well, no, he is usually like this, but…”

“It’s fine,” Mikleo assured her.

And honestly, it was; Mikleo was used to the house being a mess after these dinners. And beyond that, he didn’t have strong feelings about his uncle, even knowing his…contributions to what happened during that time. It was just so long ago, and he didn’t remember him at all. Or anything, from back then. One of the perks of living such a long life was the ability to have all such things lost to the mists of time.

But unfortunately, it would take some time for these new recruits to adapt. Surely it would’ve been more merciful for Maotelus to keep their memories from back then locked away.

For all Mikleo’s awkwardness with his biological mother, it hardly compared to the palpable awkwardness between Sorey and Selene.

“…”

“…”

“…good chicken,” Selene commented, poking the meat on her plate.

“Yeah,” Sorey replied. “It’s, um. Really good.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…I put some spices on it.”

“A-ah. Yeah.”

“…”

“…”

Mikleo couldn’t really blame Selene for being disoriented. Surprise, you’re alive again, it’s a thousand years in the future, and that premature baby you thought was probably going to die right after you died is actually alive and well and also saved the world a while back and is now an immortal being of the elements. He could deal with her reaction to the information a lot more easily than he could Muse’s – Selene reacted to these things like Sorey did, after all; by going quiet and inward to process. Mikleo could handle that. He would give them space and hover on the sidelines to fret. But Muse was hovering, herself, and fretting a whole lot, and was still clearly eaten up by guilt and trying way too hard to make things okay when things weren’t un-okay in the first place and he’d just really like some space. Every time she tried to reach out and awkwardly touch his arm he’d flinch away from the unfamiliar contact and she was clearly taking that as some sort of sign that he hated her. Mikleo understood for the first time in his life why humans disliked family gatherings so much. He wanted to set a fire on the table, grab Sorey by the wrist, and escape off into the winter night.

“So…” Zaveid said, bravely steaming in to steer the conversation. “Wind and fire, huh? I got some know-how about that kinda magic, if you ladies need a teacher…”

The table went dead silent again. After a few moments, a handful of mashed potatoes hit Zaveid square in the nose.

“Who keeps giving him more potatoes!?” Muse outburst, somewhat hysterical.

“That’d be me,” Edna said, holding out the serving bowl of mashed potatoes to Michael so he could refill his plate with ammo.

“Everyone,” Lailah announced, rising to her feet. “On this day, this Shepherdsmas, we are here together as a family, to come together and celebrate togetherness…”

“Together and stuff,” Michael said under his breath. Edna snickered.

“MFF,” said Heldalf, under a mountain of muck.

“And so,” Lailah went on. “We should give thanks and reflect upon the meaning of the season…”

“Um,” Selene quietly interrupted. “I’ve been meaning to ask…Shepherdsmas. That’s a…thing now?”

“Oh, yes indeed,” Lailah said. “Please don’t hesitate to ask things, dear, I’m sure you have questions.”

Selene gave an awkward smile, and Mikleo felt his heart warm at how the expression so resembled Sorey.

“T-thanks. Back…back then, I guess, I thought it was just some thing the Shrinechurch made up to let them trot out a fake Shepherd and scam donations out of people…”

“Well,” Sorey began. “Historical sources indicate that was definitely the case for the holiday during several periods. But when resonance started to improve and humanity began to establish stronger ties with the seraphim again, it started to gradually change form, eventually becoming the gift-giving exchange it represents today…”

Sorey was in his element, infodumping on history, and when Sorey was comfortable, Mikleo was comfortable. Selene began to relax in turn – Sorey’s good moods were truly contagious – and with Selene and Mikleo soothed, Muse herself settled as well. Even Michael’s potato assault began to peter off in the face of Sorey’s continued lecture.

They could count another Shepherdsmas as saved.

 --

 Everyone else was asleep for the night, sequestered in guest rooms, and Mikleo and Sorey finally had some time to themselves.

Mikleo sighed deeply, allowing himself to decompress to the rhythm of Sorey’s heartbeat under his ear, and the feeling of his fingers in his hair.

“It’s always a surprise with Shepherdsmas, isn’t it?” Sorey said.

Mikleo grunted. “At least when your friend gets it in his head to mess around in the Earthpulse. Or get drunk. Or both.”

Sorey laughed, and Mikleo’s mood couldn’t stay sour for long at the sound of it.

“I guess. But the weather tonight is so cozy, and everyone’s asleep now, so…”

Mikleo could guess at what he was implying. He closed his eyes, leaning in, pressing against Sorey’s mouth with his own…

A flash of light filled the room, and in an instant, there was a cat-sized white dragon sitting in the branches of their Shepherdsmas tree; tangled in the lights.

“Okay, now that’s cleared up,” Maotelus said. “A little more help fell out of the rift in space-time. It’s a Shepherdsmas miracle.”

“Hello boys,” Zenrus said warmly. “Good to see you again.”

Sorey and Mikleo startled, and leapt from their spot on the couch to greet him.

“Gramps!”

“By the way, I’ll be doing this again sometime,” Maotelus said. “Hell Prison ain’t easy to jailbreak. I’ll try to grab your two squires next time though – they ran away from me when they saw me for some reason.”

“Were you a giant dragon at the time?” asked Sorey.

“I was a giant dragon at the time,” Maotelus confirmed. “And breathing fire.”

“Hmm,” Sorey said.

“Hmm indeed,” Maotelus said. “But it was still pretty rude, I think.”

[mysterious-prophetess]

Top Five Academic and Publishing Scandals of the last Decade

So, I’ve seen people do stuff like this, a round up of sorts and the 2010′s were an insane decade to be alive.

So, I thought I’d compile my personal favorite publishing and academic scandals

Note: This will concern only things that were actually published or a scandal to do with Academia. The Rose Christo incident with the infamous fanfic didn’t have the biography make it to print so it’s right here as a Dishonorable Mention. No sources, because this was a home-grown tumblr disaster (much like Dashcon). 

So, 

#5 That Book that Used Scammy Tactics to Become a Best Seller Before Anyone Ever Even Read It.

Remember that time when Handbook for Mortals used shady tactics to make it look like it was selling better in pre-sales than it actually was? I barely remembered it, but then as I was adding in our Dishonorable Mention, I suddenly had the thought of “remember that...” so here it is at #5 since this book was actually published, and it was allegedly terrible. It has 3 stars on Amazon, but with its past, I can’t even trust that.

I didn’t read it. I had, and still have, better things to do than to read subpar fantasy that tried to be the next Hunger Games/Harry Potter/Divergent. 

It turns out, if you have wealthy enough collaborators, or people who know how to game the system by which the NYT Bestsellers’ List operates, you too can buy and cheat your way onto that list with a terribly written book like these guys.

What’s even more ridiculous was there were already talks of a movie version and this unknown writer turned out to be, surprise, an actress too! And guess who’d be playing her own main character in the movie? The author! So, once this was unraveled as being a bulk-book-buying-cheat-tactic-to-get-on-the-NY Times-Bestseller-List, they lost their rank and were completely off the list. The movie is also toast, I think, since it would have come out in 2018. We’re now in 2020.

(x) (xx) (xxx) (xxxx)

#4: That time Bethesda Plagiarized Dungeons and Dragons.

That’s right folks. Bethesda, who cannot catch a break after their hilariously disastrous launch of their ongoing garbage fire, Fallout 76, were in trouble whenever they released a TTRPG module for an Elder Scrolls game that was suspiciously like a previously released Dungeons and Dragons adventure...because it was very much ripped off from the D&D book.  

There were articles highlighting just how they did this and how blatant it was. 

Some articles would do a side-by-side of huge chunks of the text and, yikes, that’s some obvious copy-pasting.

Suffice to say, they yanked this e-book down ASAP. (x) (xx) (xxx) (xxxx)

#3 That Time a Youtuber Turned Professional Games Media Editor Plagiarized for Most of His Career and Only Got Caught After He Plagiarized the Wrong Person on a Very Public Platform

So, yeah. There was a review last year for a game called Dead Cells (published by Motion Twin). On July 24, 2018 a smaller Youtube channel called Boomstick gaming would upload their review to the game. Then August 6th, IGN’s Nintendo editor would post “his” review up and Deadite from Boomstick Gaming, who was actually a fan of IGN, noticed a lot of eerie similarities between the reviews. He did a side-by-side video comparison (here) and it looks like a case of barely even changing the words around after copying someone else’s homework. As an English major, this is a clear-cut case of plagiarism. IGN agreed too, as did most of the internet. This reviewer had fans who still believe in him even after he’s been proven a plagiarist but, no accounting for taste am I right? And this would have been the end of it....had he just accepted his fate and just slunk off into the dark recesses of the internet. 

But, then he had to provoke both Jason Schrier of Kotaku AND the Internet in a now deleted non-apology video to “looking as hard as you’re able, you won’t find anything.”

Yeah. That didn’t end well for him. So, people went digging and found a shitton of evidence he was a serial plagiarist. No shock to me, because plagiarism is never something a plagiarist ever does just “once.” He’d ripped off his fellow IGN reviewers as well as forum posts and articles from other publications. He also plagiarized a resume template. Now, when you use one of those, you’re SUPPOSED to mimic the style, put place your own information, right? Well, he didn’t even do that.

Link to YongYea, a youtuber who covered the topic in depth. He has his videos on the topic in a playlist. (x)

#2 The Professor Who P-Hacked His Results to Pieces

Now if you don’t know or remember who Professor Brian Wansink is, he’s a former faculty member at Cornell who rose to fame with his papers on nutrition and people’s eating habits. I’m still not entirely sure how a guy whose degrees were not in nutrition OR psychology ended up being the face of this field that seemed to have a lot more to do with nutrition and psychology, but here we are. His degrees were, in fact, a B.S. in business administration from Wayne State College, an M.A. in  journalism and mass communication from Drake University, and a PhD in Marketing-Consumer behavior- from Stanford. In a move that one might call pure hubris or just complete and total social ignorance, he made a blog post that started to bring eyes on his work. Thanks to the efforts of other scientists (Like the Skeptical Scientist) and Heathers and Brown as well as the computer programs GRIM and GRIMMER, it was found the man who was cited over 200,000 times was a fraud. As of now 17 papers have been retracted and 15 have been corrected. He is no longer employed at all by Cornell, resigning a disgrace to his field and his former place of work.

The only reason he managed to get so big was he was able to make his so-called science digestible for the masses and able to give his works palatable titles. Ok, I’m done with the food puns. He was a superstar (even worked with the previous first lady on her health initiatives), which is why his fall is also meteoric. This is why you don’t torture your data into false positives, folks. Also, he’d target science journals that weren’t as prestigious and therefore wouldn’t have as rigorous a peer-editing process, allegedly. 

His actions have brought thousands of papers into jeopardy and destabilized his whole entire field because nothing he did was reproducible and that’s already a huge problem in science. 

(x) (xx) (xxx) (xxxx) (X) (XX)

And.... now for the worst Academic Scandal of the 2010′s....

#1 The College Admission’s Scandal

Because despite Wasink’s damage to his field (because now there are literally thousands of papers who cited him in jeopardy), and two separate cases of Plagiarists on this list, I really can’t help but feel this has to be one of the biggest College/Academia scandals of ALL TIME. Sure, it’s old news now but I’m recapping it because that’s what this list is for. So, A bunch of wealthy people who wanted their children to go to prestigious universities wanted a guarantee that just buying a new wing for the library/science buildings/etc wouldn’t get them. You know, the normal way the super rich buy their children’s ways into schools. Instead, they went to this guy Singer whose group masqueraded as a charity (and that’s what got their asses nailed) and facilitated bribery, cheating, and deception. They caught one of these parents who’d gotten their children in with Singer’s plans for a different crime, and he offered to squeal on Singer and his plot for leniency with his other charges.

Singer’s plan usually involved bribing coaches to get these undeserving students recruited for sports teams (and therefore displacing an actual athlete who should have gotten their spot) as well as having people alter SAT scores and other deceptive actions. 

It’s unknown if, at this time, any of these children of the 34 charged parents, actually managed to graduate with degrees from any of these institutions. However, those that had any of these students have to now decide what to do with them since these admissions are now verifiably fraudulent. Some are going to whole-sale kick them out or “cancel their admission” and others aren’t speaking up, and one has already decided the student gets to stay. Because they might not have known what their parents did, and its possible for the ones whose parents DIDN’T have them fake athleticism to not know what their mom and dad did. Hell, even most of the fake athletes might not have known thanks to reports of photo shopping their faces onto uniformed bodies. I do not know if any of these children were in on what their parents did, thought I suspect some might have been, but that’s merely speculation on my part. At the end of the day, it’s up to each affected university to carry out what they wish to do next.

The fact they made donations to a fake charity (and therefore skirted the tax man) are the reason they’re REALLY in deep shit. You don’t deny the IRS its money or the IRS will come for your blood. Just ask the ghost of Al Capone. 

(x) (xx) (xxx)

So those are my top 5 Publishing and Academic Scandals of the past Decade. 

[winterwriter8845]

In Love With My YouTube Hero

Masterlist

Chapter 1

I walked into my English class where my teacher, Mr. Newman was writing our final project on the Promethean board. I sat down in my usual seat in the second row towards the window. I didn't like to be in front of the class, but I didn't want to be called on if I sat in the back. I don't have a problem with the teacher; he was a good teacher. I just have anxiety with being wrong, if he picks on me to answer a question, and I will most likely be chosen to answer if I sit in the back or the very front. I pulled out my laptop and started to prepare for the class.

I saw a notification from YouTube on my notification box. It was a notification from my favorite YouTuber, XavGame, and the thumbnail was just him sitting in front of the camera, not his usual colorful thumbnails of his face on whichever character he was playing as in a game. I pulled the video up on YouTube and watched it, as I had nothing to do for the next ten minutes before class started. Xavier, or XavGame, was a couple of years older than me, and he was my YouTube hero. His videos had always cheered me up when I was depressed or needed to distract myself. He was a very inspirational person as he would do multiple charity streams a year, most of them for donating to children hospitals or to fight world hunger. But once a year, he would use the money he got from donations to go to a poverty-stricken country and build things that were needed, like houses, hospitals, wells. He would even bring basic medicine to those who couldn't get to it.

The video went on, and Xavier went on to say that he was going on a short break. He had realized that he needed a break from making videos and traveling to just enjoy some alone time to clear his head and relax. I didn't blame him. Even being a small part-time YouTuber is hard and stressful; I can't imagine what it's like to be a full-time YouTuber that uploads videos twice a day, along with planning and organizing mission trips.

I finished up the video and clicked off the video and pulled up my Tumblr account. Someone had found out a proxy that gets past the firewalls, so everyone uses it to get on social media and watch YouTube videos. I looked through my feed and reblogged some aesthetic pictures and then looked through my message to work on writing commission. I saw that I had some new messages. I started to talk to my patrons and got the commissions straightened out.

I closed my laptop as class started. Mr. Newman started the class by greeting us. He then proceeded to tell us about our final project. Our final project was to choose a unit from our studies and write a piece of writing that goes along with that unit, and he was giving us the entire block to work on it. I looked through the units that we had been through and decided to write a Medieval narrative. I decided to write the medieval narrative in the perspective of my original character who is a pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy. I began writing, and I didn't even stop writing when the bell rang as I had my earbuds in my ears, my music blaring through them.

There was a tap on the edge of my computer screen, and I looked up to see my best friend, Teegan, standing there with her arms crossed. "Hey, T-Bean," I chuckled. My other friend, Val, and I had always called her "T-Bean" because her name is Teegan Bean.

She sat down on the desk next to me, pulling out a hair bow. She started to fix her long, wavy dark brown hair, putting it in a ponytail. "We better hurry up to Photojournalism. We've been late every day this week so far." She smiled, her forest green eyes scanning over my face and desk.

I started to put away my laptop after saving my document with my Medieval narrative in it. I closed my laptop and slid it into my messenger bag. I got up and left the English class with my bag and Teegan. We walked down the hall, taking a stop at our lockers to change our binders before arriving at the Photojournalism classroom. There were already people are the Mac computers, working on Yearbook spreads. We only have eight Macs and about twenty people, because the school won't give us funding to order more Macs, or at least more computers in general, or order more Nikon DSLRs because they literally put all the funding into the football team. Every other organization in the school must do their own fundraising to be able to compete or make whatever they're making, whereas the football team doesn't have to do fundraising and can afford to travel all over the state and don't even have to pay for jerseys. I even offered some of my own money that I make at the small shop down in town to get the cameras and Macs, but Ms. Dyer refuses every time I do.

But that's my ranting for now. I walked to my usual seat towards the corner of my room with my laptop as Teegan takes her seat at the middle Mac and begins to work on fixing some photos in Photoshop. I sat down and pulled out my laptop. I started to work on the blog that I ran on the school website. The yearbook staff had agreed to do a feature in the yearbook where we put pictures of students or teachers and the give a story about a time in high school that they will always remember for as long as they are alive. Since we get so many good stories, we decided to make a blog on the school sight to feature the ones that we couldn't put in the yearbook. We called it "the Humans of James River."

I began to transcribe stories and select photos. Once I had a few done, I started to type them onto the blog. I finished up when the bell rang. I grabbed my laptop and slid my laptop into my bag. I walked out of the classroom and down the hall to my locker. I open my bookbag and started to put my binders and notebooks in my bookbag. I closed my bookbag and shut my locker.

I walked out of the school to Ruby, my red mini cooper. I unlocked the car and put my bag in the passenger seat. I plugged my phone into my car and scrolled through my Spotify playlist. I found my playlist and put it on shuffle, and Without Me by Halsey started to play. I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

I live in a small town in Virginia where everyone knows each other; the population of my town was about 600, and that included the town itself and the rural area surrounding the town. The body count of the student body at my high school is about 400 kids, the senior class, my grade, having about 150 kids. But the high school covered about four different communities, not just the town of little ole' Buchanan.

I honestly hated it here. There isn't anything to do, and there are old people galore. But aside from the old people and nothing to do, the reason I hate it is because of my parents. I have to live with them despite me being 18 because if I leave them, they will go nuts and call the cops on me and make it a whole big deal. They're the type of parents that don't care about their kid's wellbeing, just if they have someone to baby them. They drink themselves away each night and fight with each other, or worse: take their anger out on me, despite me staying in my room and not speaking nor interacting with them at all so I won't provoke them to cause harm to me. I'm used to them hitting and kicking me, mentally abusing me, and causing me to go to the hospital for their harm inflicted on me. I, as well as others, have tried to get my parents turned, but the cops didn't have any evidence to hold against them. Then after that, my parents threatened to harm me or anyone else who tried to turn them in, so no one has tried to help me.

I eventually arrived at my house and got out. My mother was home, but my dad wasn't. That was a relief, as my dad was always the reason that my mother went to drinking. She is nice when she isn't drunk, but my father is just mean in general. I wish mother would leave him, but she wouldn't be able to support herself and me.

I grabbed my book bag and walked into the house. "I'm home, mother," I called out.

"I'm in here, Darcy." I heard her from the hallway, so she was probably in her bedroom. I walked in her room to find her walking out of the bathroom that was connected to their room. In her hand was a couple of pregnancy tests.

I looked up at her eyes. "You're pregnant."

She nodded. "Yes." She looked down.

"Who's is it?" I asked, knowing she's had a past of having affairs behind my father's back.

"Darc-"

"Who's?" I cut her off.

"His name is Mark... He's your AFDA teacher from last year...." She sighed.

"Mr. Wilson?" I felt shocked. I knew he was a good man, but I was just scared of what father would do to her if he found out it wasn't his.

She nodded. "Yes. He's taken care of me when your father wouldn't. He's a better lover than my husband is." She sat down on her bed. "You know that..." I only nodded. She looked at me. "Please don't tell your father."

"I won't. You know I won't. I just don't want him to find out on his own and hurt you..." I sat down beside her and put my arm around her shoulders. "You need to give up the alcohol. It'll hurt the baby."

She nodded. "I know. I'm trying to stop."

I leaned against her. "Go live with Teegan and her parents and I. Or go live with Mark."

"I don't know... I'll talk to Mark."

"You need to live with him. He can take care of you." I looked over at her. "Please. If not for me, then do it for the baby. I don't want dad to be the reason you lose the baby."

She nodded. "I know." She stood up. "Enough of that for now. I'm going to go pick up something from North Star. Do you want anything?" North Star was a restaurant near my town that had the best food. It was very small, but it was very popular, so the seats filled up fast.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "North Star? You rarely eat anything from North Star."

"It's the baby." She chuckled. "Do you want anything?" She repeated.

"Hmm, I'm feeling a bacon cheeseburger. I have a charity stream tonight, so I'm not going to eat a lot, and I didn't eat at school so I'm very hungry.

"Okay. I'll order our food."

I smiled. "Here, take some of my money." I pulled out my wallet and handed her some money for both of our meals.

She smiled at me. "Thanks, sweetie."

I smiled as I walked into my room. I walked in and sat my book bag down on my bed. I made sure everything was neat before I walked over to my computer desk.

[priboltao]

here’s some more triggery fucked up shit [all triggers apply]

i’ll just spare your 173 dashes

i cut real bad today and i felt fucking proud i managed to do that

like “fuck yeah i really gave myself what i deserve! cut this bitch!”

im not even joking, that was what i was thinking

also i tried being happy with brendon coming out

i should, right

but the internet made me a suspicious bitch so i just got like “is he really tho”

also over the past hour this fucking hell hole of a site reminded me of every single bad thing he ever did and can i be honest? I don’t wanna know

i  dont  want  to  know

I just wanna keep looking up to him cause his music helped me so much during this very dark moment im going through and believing in him being a good person (although slightly misguided at times) makes this so much easier

(like when he donated a fucking million dollars to charity and i couldn’t even be happy about it cause you fuckers made me second guess that too)

but my point is, i wanna be happy for him and be like those people like “omg he’s such a legend” and then i go to all-loving-ryan tumblr and all i see is the bad shit he did and my point is i don’t wanna know. I literally wanna overlook everything and pretend everything is fine. Let me say that again

i wanna pretend everything is fine

cause it just makes my life so much easier, it’s so much better when i want to die just because i’ll never go to a panic! concert instead of wanting to die because the one person i admired and looked up to ends up being a fucking idiot who harrasses people and jokes about stuff that should never be joked about

i just wanna love something and not be fucked by it

even though this is also becoming a problem because looking at photos of a happy couple also makes me wanna kill myself because i’ll never ever find love in life and it kills me even tho i say it doesn’t

love really is the most important because even if you’re super broke, when you really really love someone that seems to be less important cause at least you have love

but if i’ll never find love i wish i could at least be filthy rich, but hey, i can’t - i’ll be broke forever cause that’s how capitalism works

(we have a song in brazil about it that goes like “the rich gets richer, the poor gets poorer; and everyone knows the reason why: those who are up go up, and those who are down go down”)

So, the two most important things in life are: love (like real fucking undying love) and money (a real obscene amount of money) and I have none of those and never will

also the only two times someone said they loved me romantically i didn’t love them back, and one of them assaulted me

also there’s the sex thing - don’t ask. there’s abuse involved.

also i’m super broke even tho i work full time in a job i hate cause i have no prospects of supporting myself in any other way- well, my mom. It’s just to support my mom, if i didn’t have to do that, i would have killed myself long ago and even she knows that

(not that she cares, she’s too busy being depressed as well and expecting me to be supportive when she never was supportive of my mental ilnesses. In fact, to this day, when she sees new cuts she calls me stupid and says she should hit me. I’m thirty, mind you.)

also my dream of becoming a writer tanked so many years ago and people go like “why don’t you write anymore” and i’m like bitch i would if i got paid but money is the only thing that matters to even get published in this shitty country and i dont have it

maybe im just not talented enough

to overcome what everyone knows is a business where you have to have connections

and if we’re being honest being a writer is a plan B cause its the only thing i do sort of well (not well enough to succeed apparently) cause what i really wanted was to be a singer or a performer or to be in broadway but the thing is i suck and i missed my window to try and succeed by looks, and i sing like a dead hyena and move like said hyena was hit by a truck and act like, well, nothing, i took six months of teather in college and chickened out because of the pressure so broadway would eat me alive (but at least i would die in NY instead of stinky brazil)

So, big summary

im cutting like hell cause i deserve it

i wish brendon was a better person but if he’s not i’ll just ignore his shitty behaviour like the coward i am and just c h o o s e to believe him

of the two people that make me feel amazing things with their music, one is problematic as fuck and one killed himself (and i won’t go into it, but it fucks me up to think it’s being a year and only now i’m getting the realization he did that and he’s not coming back. LIKE, JUST NOW)

i’ll never find love or happiness cause i’m just shit and don’t deserve anything

i’ll never have enough money to just try and fill this hole i have where my soul should be, i barely get by to pay my bills

i can do only one thing sort of well but not well enough to succeed 

i suck real bad at everything else i would love to do

i’m ugly as fuck

i wish i could end my life like yesterday but i can’t cause it would crush my mom’s feelings and i cannot do that even though i’m sure she would thrive without my toxic influence

so i’m just dragging my ass through life, living paycheck to paycheck and pretending everything is fine cause if i don’t, i’ll cave in and breakdown and i don’t even have the right to do that

and i’m like, beyond any help at this point, like there’s literally nothing i can do to change how i feel and i’ll just have to suck it up and hold it together till the day i can die which can be like 50 years from now

it will be pretty pathetic when i get to kill myself really cause it will be like “ok, but you could have waited you’re really old already ur gonna die anyway”

but it will be a fucking while

long story short

this has been a post.

[shadowinacorner]

Bored, so why not!

Lets see if I can answer these. 1: Name Mandy

2: Age 26

3: 3 Fears Spiders Burning alive Bungee jumping

4: 3 things I love Food Accomplishing something productive Sleep

5: 4 turns on Assertiveness Kindness Sense of humor Forwardness

6: 4 turns off Rudeness Narcissism Bad habits Excessive negativity

7: My best friend My buddy Allison

8: Sexual orientation Not big on labels. Bi I guess is a good umbrella term.

9: My best first date Winter formal in ‘05

10: How tall am I I’d say 5'10. I think I technically have been deemed to be 5'7 though.

11: What do I miss Being taken care of as a kid.

12: What time was I born 9am ish I think?

13: Favourite color Purple or black

14: Do I have a crush He’s pretty cute

15: Favourite quote The bird on your shoulder quote from tuesdays with maurie

16: Favourite place My living room (don’t you judge me)

17: Favourite food Pizza

18: Do I use sarcasm Never, who would do such a thing?

19: What am I listening to right now Assasination Classroom

20: First thing I notice in new person Jewelry

21: Shoe size 10.5/11 womens or 9 mens

22: Eye color Brown

23: Hair color Brown. I change it alot and right now it’s got some pink.

24: Favourite style of clothing Modern kinda urbany or punky I guess?

25: Ever done a prank call? Nah. Not my style.

27: Meaning behind my URL Nothing deep

28: Favourite movie Harry Potter I guess

29: Favourite song To the moon and back by Savage Garden

30: Favourite band I couldn’t tell you honestly. I like too many.

31: How I feel right now Tired and unaccomplished

32: Someone I love Mr. Leo Bunny

33: My current relationship status Married

34: My relationship with my parents Strained and unconventional

35: Favourite holiday Christmas

36: Tattoos and piercing i have I have 2 piercings in each ear and 1 cartilage. Also a small tattoo on my upper back.

37: Tattoos and piercing i want I always wanted a eyebrow piercing and the really dainty bullrings are cool. I’d also love to have full sleeves of tattoos but I’ll probably never get another of either.

38: The reason I joined Tumblr My hubby got obsessed with it.

39: Do I and my last ex hate each other? Nah, he’s a cool dude and finally forgave me for being a terrible child when I was with him.

40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts? Definitely always get good morning ones since we get up at different times.

41: Have I ever kissed the last person you texted? Definitely not. Keagan is probably onr of the few I haven’t actually.

42: When did I last hold hands? Last time Marku and I went to the store I’m sure.

43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning? No makeup: 5 minutes from bed to car. With basic full makeup a solid half hour. With going out makeup and clothes like 2 hours.

44: Have You shaved your legs in the past three days? Yes! Actually.

45: Where am I right now? Laying in Marku’s bed

46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me? Definitely Marku. He usually camps in the bathtub and sets me up on the floor by the toilet.

47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level? Too loud. Always.

48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad? Nopppeeeeee

49: Am I excited for anything? Someday we’re going to travel!

50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to? Definitely Marku.

51: How often do I wear a fake smile? Everyyyy dayyyyy. Customer service at it’s finest.

52: When was the last time I hugged someone? Earlier today I hugged Keagan, Angie, AND Mark. So many hugs!

53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me? He might have some ‘splanin to do

54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not? Hmm, yeah probably a couple family members.

55: What is something I disliked about today? I woke up late and didn’t accomplish much

56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? I have no idea… maybe bernie?

57: What do I think about most? What I’m doing wrong

58: What’s my strangest talent? Noticing small details (but only when I’m trying. Otherwise I’m oblivious to my surroundings)

59: Do I have any strange phobias? Chalkboards. They freak me out and I can’t touch them.

60: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? Behind!!!

61: What was the last lie I told? “You don’t have to do that, I can pay for it”

62: Do I perfer talking on the phone or video chatting online? Neither. But phone if it’s between the too.

63: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens? I half believe in ghosts, aliens seem probable but not little green guys.

64: Do I believe in magic? I wishhhhhhh

65: Do I believe in luck? Kinda actually.

66: What’s the weather like right now? Kinda nice actually! Wet but mild.

67: What was the last book I’ve read? Kane chronicals

68: Do I like the smell of gasoline? Mildly

69: Do I have any nicknames? Mandoo

70: What was the worst injury I’ve ever had? I accidentally cut a large chunk out of my ankle when i was a teenager… otherwise no broken bones or anything.

71: Do I spend money or save it? I have a spending problem.

72: Can I touch my nose with a tounge? No :(

73: Is there anything pink in 10 feets from me? My pj pants

74: Favourite animal? Kitties!

75: What was I doing last night at 12 AM? Playing on my phone and watching netflix

76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is? I think Satan /is/ his last name lol

77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it? Uh… something pop-y I’m sure.

78: How can you win my heart? Food.

79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone? That I was super nice!

80: What is my favorite word? Totes

81: My top 5 blogs on tumblr That I posted? None. I have like no followers that aren’t porn bots.

82: If the whole world was listening to me right now, what would I say? Let’s just all get along

83: Do I have any relatives in jail? Not currently

84: I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power? Shapeshifting

85: What would be a question I’d be afraid to tell the truth on? Depends on who is asking it.

86: What is my current desktop picture? The inside of a midevilish zeldaish tent with a woman lying in the bed.

87: Had sex? Yeap

88: Bought condoms? Yeah. Still awkward no matter how old you get for some reason.

89: Gotten pregnant? Nope

90: Failed a class? Yeah

91: Kissed a boy? A few

92: Kissed a girl? A few

93: Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain? Not dramatically

94: Had job? For years

95: Left the house without my wallet? Just yesterday

96: Bullied someone on the internet? Nah, not my jam.

97: Had sex in public? Nah

98: Played on a sports team? Plenty of them

99: Smoked weed? Nope, not on my list

100: Did drugs? Never have, never will

101: Smoked cigarettes? Nope, terrible habbit

102: Drank alcohol? On occasion

103: Am I a vegetarian/vegan? Not anymore

104: Been overweight? I am morbidly obese technically atm

105: Been underweight? Once

106: Been to a wedding? A few

107: Been on the computer for 5 hours straight? Jesus, is that suppose to be a long time?

108: Watched TV for 5 hours straight? Every weekend

109: Been outside my home country? Nope

110: Gotten my heart broken? Once

111: Been to a professional sports game? Big leagues, no. Minor, yea.

112: Broken a bone? Nope

113: Cut myself? Yea

114: Been to prom? Yeap, twice

115: Been in airplane? Twice

116: Fly by helicopter? Once

117: What concerts have I been to? Hinder, buckcherry, paproach, death cab for cutie

118: Had a crush on someone of the same sex? Yea

119: Learned another language? Started japanese, never went very far

120: Wore make up? Pretty normally

121: Lost my virginity before I was 18? At 18 I think

122: Had oral sex? Yea

123: Dyed my hair? Alot

124: Voted in a presidential election? Every year

125: Rode in an ambulance? Sat in one, refused the ride

126: Had a surgery? Just wisdom teeth

127: Met someone famous? Voice actors, and there was a famous guy staying at our wedding hotel that I rode the elevator with. I always forget his name.

128: Stalked someone on a social network? Mildly

129: Peed outside? Ya, camping

130: Been fishing? Mmhm

131: Helped with charity? I actually don’t think so. I’ve donated before.

132: Been rejected by a crush? Never got myself to be in the position to be rejected

133: Broken a mirror? Yeahhh

134: What do I want for your birthday? Yummy food

135: How many kids do I want and what will be their names? 1-3 & no clue

136: Was I named after anyone? A barry manilow song

137: Do I like my handwriting? No i hate it

138: What was my favourite toy as a child? Barbies

139: Favourite Tv Show? I don’t have any active shows atm

140: Where do I want to live when older? Back in my family home

141: Play any musical instrument? I’m not musically inclined in any way

142: One of my scars, how did I get it? Have an L on my finger from slaming and locking my finger in the car door as a kid. I was stuck there for a while.

143: Favourite pizza toping? Sausage

144: Am I afraid of the dark? Nah

145: Am I afraid of heights? A little

146: Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad? Nope

147: Have I ever tried my hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end? Plentybof times

148: What I’m really bad at Doing anything consistently

149: What my greatest achievments are Graduating college

150: The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me There would be a list.

151: What I’d do if I won in a lottery Buy out my family home, remodel, set up my inlaws and grandma for life, get a working car, change jobs, and if I had enough I’d set up my parents and college funds too.

152: What do I like about myself My hair

153: My closest Tumblr friend I have some of my best friends irl on here

154: Something I fantasise about Being a normal person

This is way too long. I’m not tagging anyone and bringing this onto them. Yeesh.

[serenityinsabr]

even numbers!

I appreciate the anon, but you're a little shit for this 😂 I've been working on this here and there since last night 
2: What’s your dream pet? (Real or not)Either a wolf or tiger. But like I would feel guilty keeping them captive instead of allowing them to be wild.

4: What was your favorite video game growing up?I really liked Sonic the Hedgehog games and Grand Theft Auto haha

6: If you had a warning label, what would yours say?Cares way too damn much

8: What is your Greek personality type? [Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, or Melancholic]A tie between Sanguine and Melancholic. I'm an ambivert so I guess that makes sense.
10: Are you allergic to anything?Random perfumes, and I have seasonal allergies to certain pollen. 
12: Do you prefer tea, coffee, or cocoa?I love tea, but I also love coffee. That's a difficult choice to be making.

14: Would you rather be a vampire, elf, or merperson?Haha an elf 

16: How tall are you?5'8 

18: Are you religious? Yes and no. My family is Muslim for the most part by we are not practicing Muslims necessarily .. We don't pray 5 times a day but we pretty much follow everything else. Personally, I'm more spiritual than religious. My parents raised me to accept all religions so I've always had an open mind. When I was young, my mom would take me to Christian Sunday school while my grandma would teach me about Islam and they'd encourage me to learn about Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism, etc. I fast during Ramadan, donate a portion of my income to charity, pray when I can and have taken classes on Islam but I don't know, I think I'd consider myself more spiritual than religious. 
20: Do you like space or the ocean more?I enjoy space. I'm an astrology need. Even my first tattoo is a constellation haha. 

22: Pet peeves?
-I hate when people don't clearly end a conversation. -When people eat with their mouth open. -Ignorance -When someone doesn't know what they're talking about and they're trying to argue with me/ convince me of something 24: Favorite constellation?
Hercules 
26: Do you like ball-jointed dolls?
They're pretty creepy, so no. 28: Do you think global warming is real?Hell yeah I do.
30: Favorite movie?
I have way too many, but Home Alone is like one of my all time favorites 32: How many pets have you owned in your lifetime?
About 9. Currently only have 2 though. 
34: What is a color that calms you?Light blue 
36: Where were you born?The Bay Area of California.
38: Introvert or extrovert?Ambivert 40: Hugs or kisses?
Why not hug me and kiss me??42: Who is someone you love deeply?My dad and my mom44: Do you like tattoos and piercings?
Yes I do!46: Talk about your crush, if you have one!They're sweet from what I can tell, intelligent, caring, and absolutely beautiful. I also haven't met them yet..😂

48: A sound you really love?
The voice of or cat or dogs feet pat patting on the ground 
50: Can you do the splits?
I haven't tried for sooooo long, I don't think I could.52: Favorite movie?
I have way too many. 54: What color would you like your hair to be right now?
I like the natural dark brown hair I have and the blonde I added in.56: Something that calms you down?
Being around good friends or talking to good friends 58: What does your URL mean?
Serenity in the streets means that I'm calmest when I'm out and about. I feel calmness in traveling, experiencing the world and that's when I'm most calm and feel like I'm living.
60: Do you believe in evolution?
Yes I do. 62: What makes you follow a blog?If I like what the person posts or am interested in getting to know them.
64: Favorite animal(s)Dogs, tigers, baby bears. 
66: Favorite emoticon:
 😁👉 👉It's like a person with the shooting gun fingers. 68: What is your MBTI personality type?
It switches between ENFJ and INFJ 70: Can your dog roll over on command, if you have a dog?If I had a dog they'd be able to 😂72: Post a selfie or two?
Umm sure will do after after allll the questions. 74: What is one random but interesting fact about yourself?
I can shape my tongue into a clover and I can beat box76: Do you like birds?
Yes I do78: Is swimming or ice skating more fun to you?
Swimming, I love being in the pool.
80: Some thing you wish did exist.Time travel82: Something you really enjoy doing. I really enjoy those random deep conversations my friends and I will have that start out of nowhere 
84: What was your first impression of Tumblr?
How does this work? What's the point of just reposting pictures 86: Can you run a mile within ten minutes?
Yes
88: Can you touch your toes and keep your legs straight completely?Lol I just tried I have to bend just a liiiiitle bit

90: If you were an animal, which one would you be?
A bear, hibernation sounds pretty dope. Plus I'd be oh so cuddley. 92: A store you hate?
Hollister, turn the lights one!94: Would you rather be able to fly or read minds?
Read minds.96: Winter or summer?
I love Christmas time, buuuut Winter is like peak depression level time, so Summer. 98: Least favorite person?
That's alive?? Donald Trump. Bashar al-Assad100: A store you love?
I could spent sooo many hours inside Target102: Where do you live?Bay Area, California

104: What is your favorite mineral or gem?
Turquoise 106: Do you like bugs?
Heeeck no I don't 108: Something you get paranoid about?
If someone will ever actually love me and stay. 110: Nosiest question you have ever been asked?
"What is it like to no longer have a dad."
112: Ever been bitten by a spider?Yes, I have. 

114: Do you prefer cloudy or sunny days?
Sunny but briskly cold days 116: Favorite cloud type:Animal shaped kinds 118: Do you have freckles?
Just two small ones on my cheek and a handful of random ones120: Fruits or vegetables?I absolutely love fruits, but I don't many cause I try to keep a low sugar diet. So I have to go with veggies. 122: Is the ocean or sky prettier?Depends on the day and where you are honestly 
124: Bright or dim lights?
Bright lights unless I have a headache 126: Something you hate about Tumblr:I feel like people are very critical and judgmental.. Like literally 80% of their posts will be about equality, compassion, human rights, but then they don't really encompass those things.128: What do you think about the least?Aglets
130: Who would you like to punch in the face right now?That Orange Cheeto who is going to call himself president.132: Do you smile with your teeth showing for pictures?
Not really, sometimes I do lol134: Do you like roller coasters?I love them!
136: Are your ears lobed or attached?
Nope
138: On a scale of 1-10, how attractive would you say you are?Anywhere between a 6-8 hahaha
140: Did you have any pretend or imaginary friends?
When I was a kid I used to 142: Would you say you are a good or bad influence to others?
I'm mischievous as hell, but I would say I'm a good influence overall. I have pretty good morals and such and I encourage growth and learning... I also encourage road trips at 3 AM to abandoned haunted houses with a Ouija board in tow. Back in high school my friends parents would always let them go places with me cause they trusted me the most, but I always was up tosomething mischievous lol. 144: What makes you angry
Manipulators, abusers, cancer,Social injustice, animal cruelty, world hunger, when someone doesn't text me back. 146: Do you prefer boys, girls, and/or non-binaries?I technically guess I consider myself bi, even though my last two long term relationships were with girls.. But I would say I prefer girls 148: Favorite physical thing about yourself:My lips, eyebrows, or lashes 
150: Name three people you would like to talk to right now in person.
-My dad-My grandma-Whoever the hell is going to be the person I end up with 152: Do you like BuzzFeed?
Sometimes their posts are annoying and repetitive but other times I fully enjoy them lol.154: Do you like to kiss others’ foreheads or hands for platonic reasons?Hell yeah I do. Especially when you're holding their hand and you kiss it. Or kissing them on the forehead so they know that they are adored.
156: What embarrasses you?
Like once in a while, although it's pretty rare, I'll accidentally stutter and I haaaate when someone points it out. 158: Biggest lie you have ever told?We will be okay dad, you can let go.

160: How many posts do you have on your blog(s)?22,143
162: How many likes do you have on your blog(s)?
5,126164: Do you have long or short hair?I have long hair :)
166: Why do you like, dislike, or have neutral feelings about religon?I'm neutral about religion because I've seen the best and worst of it. I've seen it lead people down beautiful and disastrous paths. I've seen those who are such beautiful human beings because of their spirituality but I've also seen some destroyed by what they claim to be their interpretation of a religion. 
168: Do you like to wear makeup?
Yes I do :)
170: Did you answer the questions you were asked truthfully?Yes, I did!!