#btw I am still not trying to put any identity on this guys fr

[mitamicah]

I woke up with this realisation today:

So Bojan's favourite colour is pink right?

And Jere's yellow?

Guess which flag features BOTH pink and yellow >:3

Never beaten the alligations for my queerplatonic headcanon x'D

[alicepink-me]

Secrets Revealed

By: Alice Pink (Btw I was 14 when I wrote this, so not my best work)

Story Summary:

Chat Noir’s goal has always been to find out Ladybug’s true identity. Can one hint about Ladybug lead to the truth? Secrets will be revealed about the past as mysteries unfold. How will Marinette and Adrien react to everything?

Chapter 9: The Truth

Alya dashed up the stairs to Marinette's room and ran over to her friend who was sitting on the chaise.

"I have so much to tell you, but I still don't see why I had to come over here."

"I told you. It's easier to feel your excitement in person."

"Okay." Alya said giving Marinette a confused look. "Well . . . you made me come over here, so you better listen to my whole story before you freak out."

"What? When do I freak out in the middle of your stories? I'm perfectly relaxed."

"Yeah . . . your are so calm and collected." Alya chuckled. "So, what I asked you over the phone. Have you ever heard of it? The name kwami."

"I u-uh . . . n-no. I haven't heard of it." Marinette tried not to get nervous. She knew that Alya would notice.

"Well, a kwami is a sprite-like creature that helps someone with a miraculous, transform. They're amazing little creatures that are basically immortal."

"How do you know all of t-this?" Marinette said, starting to sweat.

"Well . . . I know all of this . . . because . . . I have a kwami!" Alya squealed. "I also have a miraculous too. Isn't this amazing?! I get to help save Paris."

"Wait. You have a miraculous?! But . . . how?!"

"I don't really know how. I just found a small box in my room with a necklace inside. When I opened the box, a kwami appeared and told me that I'm now a superheroine named Volpina."

"T-This is insane. Are you sure about being Volpina? That could have all been a dream." Marinette babbled.

"I'll prove it." Alya announced, unzipping her bag. A fox kwami floated up from the bag as she pulled out a necklace. "This is my kwami, Trixx. And this is my miraculous." Alya clipped the necklace around her neck and smiled.

Marinette's eyes should have fallen out of her head by now. She was astonished by what Alya had just showed her. Marinette slipped her phone out of her purse and started to text Adrien while Alya talked.

Marinette: We kind of have a problem. May or may not be good.

Adrien: What kind of problem.

Marinette: Alya has a kwami and a miraculous!

Adrien: Really?! She has a miraculous?

Marinette: She's Volpina! The real one at least. She came over to my house and told me everything, but I don't think she knows about us.

Adrien: We'll have to tell her the truth about us now. If she's going to be helping us protect Paris, then we shouldn't be keeping secrets from her. I'm coming over right now.

"What are you doing!" Alya shouted.

"U-Uh . . . texting Adrien."

"Adrien?" Alya glared. "And why are you texting Adrien?"

"Me and him are . . . dating . . . now." Marinette squeaked as she sank down into the chaise and hid behind her knees.

"Dating?! Marinette! Finally! It took you guys forever to get together." Alya screamed, hugging Marinette. "You should have told me sooner though. But at least now you guys can double date with me and Nino."

"U-Uh yeah. Why not?"

Marinette hadn't read Adrien's last text yet because she was questioned by Alya.

'I'm coming over right now. What?! No! He can't come over. Alya can't know yet.'

Marinette: No! Don't come over! Not yet! Not now! No!

Just as Marinette sent the text, Chat Noir fell through her trap door that led to her balcony.

"Aahh!" Marinette shouted in surprise.

"No way. Chat Noir?!" Alya said, in awe.

"Now Alya, I know everything must be confusing, but we had to lie to you before." Chat started as he walked over to Marinette and pulled her up from the chaise. "Me and Marinette know that the truth is surprising, but . . . " Marinette motioned for Chat Noir to stop, but he didn't notice and kept talking. "I hope that you can forgive us for not telling you that me and Marinette are Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Marinette hit her hand against her forehead in anger as Chat Noir released his transformation, revealing to Alya that he was actually Adrien.

The three kwamis joined together in the corner of the room as they watched and laughed at their chosen ones. Tikki and Plagg hadn't met Trixx before, but they were excited to. They hadn't met very many kwamis in their lifetime.

"I can't believe it! You two were Ladybug and Chat Noir the whole time?"

"Yeah." Chat said, confused. "I thought that Marinette would have told you the truth already by the time I got here."

Marinette looked towards Alya with an apologetic look. She was trying to think of ways to apologize.

"Look, I know that I didn't tell you before Alya, bu-"

"I understand, Marinette." Alya interrupted. "I can see why you didn't tell me. I mean, I do run the Ladyblog, which I'll be shutting down soon to protect your secret. I only told you about my new miraculous because I knew that I could trust you, but you probably thought that if you told me, then I would put it on the news or something."

"I'm just glad that we don't have to keep it a secret anymore." Adrien sighed. "But . . . can I tell Nino? I'd feel bad if we all kept secrets from him."

"I was going to tell him anyway." Alya started. "I was just going to tell you guys and Nino. I don't want to keep secrets from my friends since it causes trouble. I don't know how you two have lasted this long."

"You gave me a heart attack like fifty times with your Ladyblog." Marinette laughed. "Every time you mentioned something about Ladybug's identity, I thought you had found out that it was me."

"Now that I think about it, I was really stupid for not seeing it before. You guys are a little obvious." Alya laughed. "The only characteristic that's not obvious to figure out is your personalities. It's like you have two minds in each of your heads. That's probably why I didn't predict it to be you before."

"Yeah." Adrien smiled. "I get to say what I want whenever I want, so I definitely have a different personality as Chat Noir. I have freedom to be myself without judgment."

"That sounds amazing." Alya agreed. "But . . . you two liked each other this whole time . . . and aren't dating until now? Why?"

"Well . . . we didn't know each others identities before. Adrien had just found out that I was Ladybug. It's a long story, but basically I dropped a charm bracelet that Chat Noir gave me in front of Adrien and he connected the dots. And I only found out that he was Chat Noir two days ago."

"At least now you're finally together. Marinette has been obsessing over you ever since she met you." Alya snickered. "And now we get to double date."

"Oh a date." Adrien smiled, putting his arm around Marinette. "I'd like a double date. Any date is great with Marinette."

"And I do owe you a date." Marinette said, looking up at Adrien. "Since I kind of abandoned the last one."

"Last one?" Alya said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep. Me and her went on a date up on top of the Eiffel Tower with ice cream."

"Technically . . . " Marinette started. "You forced me to go on a date with you, but I did leave you to go see . . . you."

"What?" Alya said, confused.

"I told Chat Noir that I liked Adrien and I wanted to go see him, so Chat said I could leave the date to find him at the dance. I left but . . . I told him I'd go on another date with him."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. How about we go on a double date tomorrow? We could see that new movie that Jagged Stone is starring in." Alya smiled.

"Uh . . . " Marinette looked at Adrien for an answer, but Adrien just smiled. "Fine. We'll go on a double date, but do you think that Nino will be okay with it."

"Of course he will be. He's my boyfriend. I'll text him right now." Alya said, looking at her phone. "Alright well . . . I have to get back home, so I'll see you guys tomorrow Ladybug and Chat Noir." Alya laughed as her kwami flew back into her bag.

Marinette and Adrien waved to Alya as she left through the trap door on Marinette's floor.

"I finally get to go on a real date with you." Adrien said, pulling Marinette closer. "We get to go on a date as ourselves and I didn't even have to force you to agree."

"Lucky me." Marinette chuckled. "Although, I'm pretty sure that Alya is forcing Nino."

"Yeah. Nino doesn't stand a chance." Adrien laughed. "I should probably get going now before my dad or his assistant realize that I've been "in the shower" for a really long time."

Adrien stepped back from Marinette. "Claws out!" Chat Noir smiled at her before climbing through her trap door and left.

Marinette slumped down on her chaise and buried her face in her pillow.

"My mind has melted, Tikki. After blowing up from earlier, it's now completely destroyed. And adding to the list we have . . . Alya knows mine and Adrien's secret, Alya's Volpina, and I'm going on a double date tomorrow."

Tikki flew over to Marinette and sat in her hands.

"Don't worry, Marinette. Tomorrow will be much better."

. . .

Marinette's day at school was boring as usual. Although, this time Chloe didn't bother her for once. Now she just had to go on that double date with Alya and Nino.

Marinette sat in a chair up on her balcony, looking at the spell book. She was waiting for Adrien or Chat Noir to come and get her.

Marinette looked up from the book to see Chat Noir drop in front of her.

"Are you ready to go My Lady?" Chat Noir said, bowing.

"Yep. Just looking at all of the spells."

"Did you learn any of them?"

"Yeah, watch." Marinette closed her eyes and put her hand out. "Die Blumen und die Sonne leben!" As Marinette chanted, a flower rose from a pot on the balcony. "Well, if I'm ever sad, I can grow a flower."

"Cool." Chat awed. "Do a spell on me." Chat pointed to the book, bouncing.

"Fine." Marinette flipped through the pages of the book and held her hand out again. "Der Wind weht durch deine Seele!"

"Wh-What d-did you d-do to me? I-I am fr-freezing!"

"I know." Marinette smiled. "You did tell me to cast a spell on you, so I did."

Chat glared at Marinette. "U-Undo it!"

"Ugh fine. Rückgängig alte Wünsche!"

"Thank you." Chat said with a sigh of relief. "You had to learn a spell that will make me freeze. Why is your heart so cold Marinette?"

Marinette rolled her eyes at Chat. "Wow more jokes. I should have froze you in ice."

"I have a better idea. Let's go on our date."

"Okay." Marinette said, quickly jumping through her trap door.

She set the spell book on her bed and transformed into Ladybug. She stepped through her trap door again and leaped off the edge of the building. Chat Noir followed her and they swung through the city to the movie theater. They both hid behind a bush and detransformed into their normal selves.

"Shall we?" Adrien said holding out his hand.

"Let's go." Marinette smiled, taking Adrien's hand.

They both saw Alya and Nino waiting for them outside the door and waved.

"Hey Guys." Adrien said, waving.

They all walked away from the door so no one could here them.

"I can't believe that you guys are superheroes." Nino said in amazement. "I would have never guessed. Adrien was texting me last night when he told me."

"Are you mad?" Marinette asked.

"No. It all makes sense now. That's why you two would always leave class instantly when something went wrong. I just thought that Marinette was following Adrien out because she has a crush on him."

"Did everyone know Marinette had a crush on me, but me?" Adrien questioned.

"Pretty much." Alya and Nino spoke at the same time, laughing.

"Well then I'm glad Marinette told me because I would have never guessed."

"I'm gonna try to keep secrets better next time." Marinette said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, yeah. We're all clueless idiots. Now let's go see the movie." Alya said, pushing everyone through the door.

They all found the right room and sat in the first row. The movie was just starting as they sat down. At the start of the movie, Jagged Stone appeared on the screen, playing his guitar.

Adrien reached over and took Marinette's hand. She smiled back at him before they both stared at the huge TV screen.

. . .

"That movie was awful." Alya said, as they walked out of the theater. "Jagged Stone should stick to music."

"Yeah. He's a much better mus-"

Marinette was stopped by a sudden scream outside. They all ran to one of the theater windows and saw an akumatized villain terrorizing Paris.

"We have to go." Marinette finished.

Adrien and Alya nodded their heads in agreement as all four of the friends split up into the bathrooms.

Nino had followed Adrien and stared at him in amazement as he transformed into Chat Noir.

"That . . . is . . . amazing." Nino awed.

"I know." Adrien smiled.

Alya and Marinette called to their kwamis from the other bathroom and transformed.

"Wow. My first mission." Alya said, looking at her suit and tail.

"It's sort of like a mission. A mission to save Paris." Marinette started. "I never thought that me and you would be fighting crime together. Actually I never thought you'd ever find out . . . but . . . let's go save Paris."

They met up with Chat Noir as they exited the building. They listened for danger. All of the screams had stopped, as if the people couldn't speak. Paris had been silenced.

The villain floated over to the theater. She was an older lady with a black and white outfit and white hair. Her hair stood in a bun and she carried a big dictionary in her arms.

"Silencer, there's Ladybug and Chat Noir. Take their miraculouses now!" Hawk Moth shouted.

"You two! If you want to keep your voices, hand over your miraculouses!" Silencer screamed. "If you don't I'll take them and you can join the rest of Paris. They talk and talk forever and never stop, but now they will."

"Hey Silencpurr! Have you ever heard of headphones? They can be useful."

"Shut it, Chat Noir! Give me your miraculouses now! You and Ladybug and yo-! Wait! Who are you?"

"I'm Volpina." Alya smiled.

"Hawk Moth didn't say anything about you." She thought, aloud. "Oh well. I'll have to take all of your miraculouses."

"Chat Noir, Volpina!" Ladybug whispered to her partners. "She looks like that librarian at the city's library. And I think the akuma is in her book. She uses the book to capture everyone's voices and she never lets it go."

"Okay. Now let's see what I can do." Volpina said, running towards Silencer.

Volpina pulled out her flute and lunged at her. Silencer quickly opened her book and stole Volpina's voice in a matter of seconds. Volpina borrowed a piece of paper and a pencil from a bystander and wrote a message:

                                      "Sorry. I'll follow you guys on this one."

Volpina gave them an apologetic smile as Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other.

"I guess it's up to us." Chat said, spinning his baton.

"She's too fast. If we try to attack her, she'll steal our voices before we can do anything." Ladybug said, watching Silencer.

"We need to slow her down."

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted, throwing her yo-yo into the air. "A top hat? What am I gonna do with this?" Ladybug looked from Volpina's flute, to Silencer, and then Chat Noir's hand. "I have an idea." Ladybug smiled. "Volpina, flute and Chat Noir, book." Ladybug whispered.

Volpina gave Ladybug a thumbs up and played her flute. She blasted the music towards Silencer and slowed her down. Volpina's power is to slow down or completely stop villains, but the stronger they are, the harder it is to stop them. Silencer was powerful and could only be slowed down.

Ladybug launched herself above Silencer and pulled the top hat down over her face so she couldn't see.

Chat Noir immediately shouted "Cataclysm!" and touched Silencer's dictionary.

The dictionary broke apart and the akuma flew out as Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo.

"No more evil doing for you little akuma." Ladybug dropped her yo-yo. "Time to deevilize!" She spun her yo-yo around in circles. "Gotcha. Bye-Bye little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug shouted.

The citizen's voices were restored back into their bodies and that cheered in happiness. They had realized that the duo had become a trio and that they had another hero to help protect Paris.

"Ah . . ." Alya sighed. "It's good to have my voice back."

"Citizens of Paris." Ladybug shouted from the top of a building. "Paris has a new superheroine named Volpina. The three of us will continue to protect you and all of Paris."

The citizens started to cheer again as Ladybug turned to her partners.

"We should get going." Chat said pointing to Ladybug's earrings. "Your earrings are blinking and so is my ring.

"Yeah. And your necklace is blinking, Volpina."

"Oh . . . yeah. Let's get going." Volpina said as she flew off of the building.

Ladybug and Chat Noir jumped off of the building and followed her to the corner of a  nearby building. They all detransformed into their normal selves.

"I'm really sorry that I was stupid at the beginning of the attack." Alya said, apologetically.

"Don't worry about it Alya. I was worse. When I first became Ladybug I had tried to quit and give it to you instead . . . but I transformed again to save you . . . and Chat Noir cheered me up. So . . . luckily I'm still Ladybug. And you can't do worse than I did the first time."

"Wait! You tried to quit?! I almost lost my partner? My favorite person to see everyday!"

"Wait!" Alya cut in. "You tried to give up your miraculous to me?! Why would you even think you shouldn't be ladybug and why me?"

"Well . . . I thought that I was too clumsy to be Ladybug and you were so confident that I . . . was really stupid."

"No kidding. You can pretty unintelligent sometimes. Like giving up a miraculous." Alya laughed.

"Yeah, yeah." Marinette smiled. "I have to go home now. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Marinette waved bye to Alya and Adrien and walked back to the bakery.

[bpd-black]

hey guys, so this is gonna be a long ass post, but here’s the tldr version: i love you and i hope you continue to learn about yourselves, and advocate for your mental wellbeing cause y'all are literally so beautiful and important and an integral part of our universe, the world literally wouldn’t be the same without you ✊🏾💕

SO, i just wanted to let y'all know that if you’ve ever messaged me (and this is for my black followers, btw, the rest of y'all … i don’t know why tf you’re here, but none of this is for you so ✌🏾bye, you can leave lol) please please know that i almost always read whatever’s in my inbox right away, and that i do care about your questions and what you have to say, even when i don’t answer right away or at all. you guys reaching out to me is NEVER bothersome. NEVER dumb. NEVER ridiculous. and tbh, it’s always flattering to think anyone would come to me w/ mental health concerns, considering that this blog literally started as a place for me to just vent out into the void & that i used to block anyone that followed me, lol.

(i jus didn’t want people to follow my blog ??? idk, i just felt like i had no other outlet to scream, and i was in a really bad place back then, idek, it made sense at the time. anyway, NOW this blog is a place for me to store information, affirmations and links to resources that i find informative or helpful. and i actually really love getting feedback (cough and validation cough) from you guys 💖 so pls, just know that you mean a lot to me.)

THE THING IS, though: i’m still not a professional. and when it comes to something as serious as mental health (especially in the black community) i just feel like i still have too much learning to do and too much healing to do before i’m qualified to offer any real advice. rn, all i have to say to most of y'all is ‘damn, thas unfortunate, me too’ and i really don’t want to give anyone a half assed answer like that, lol. it might take me a while to research what you wanna know, so yeah. bls be patient with me.

also i kinda wanted to introduce myself, since i don’t think i’ve ever posted an intro on this blog lol:

in summary, i’m a twenty one year old black girl, gay as hell, still living at home, still unemployed, still on leave from college, and still struggling just to shower and get out of bed every day :)) which sucks and i hate my life rn and i battle with like, intense self hatred cause a lot of my family is very disappointed in me and, quite frankly, i’m very disappointed with myself.

moving on, lol, more about my mental state: i’ve only ever been professionally diagnosed with depression and gad, though i personally believe i experience too many bpd symptoms to rule out the possibility that i am, in fact, borderline, and so i consider myself as such.

(( a small rant about that real quick: imo, and tbh, labels are just terms that researchers make up to help organize studies, keep track of patterns, and come up with plans and solutions to help large groups of people. so, basically, i am a strong advocate of NOT beating yourself up too much when it comes to finding the ‘right’ label for you and NOT attacking someone else that you don’t think ‘fits’ the description for a disorder or illness according to your research. like, yeah, fake ass neurotypicals are annoying as hell and they can all choke but ! the only person who really knows what’s going on in someone’s brain is that person themselves. and NO ONE owes you a dissertation on their mental struggles just to ‘prove’ they’re in pain. so, imo !!! it’s just a lot more important to recognize and identify what SYMPTOMS you struggle with, and the severity of said symptoms, and worry about umbrella terms later !! cause that insight will make it easier to look for help and advice and !! mental illness and personality disorders are all on a spectrum. so yeah. go easy on yourselves 💕 anyway, i struggled a lot with that concept, and for far too long, SO just wanted to get that out of the way before i continue (hope that made any sense) but i digress!!! ))

i also struggle with both intrusive and suicidal thoughts, a few minor self destructive habits, and i’m currently taking medication for my depression and anxiety. and tbh, though i still have some pretty terrible days, i will say the meds have helped a LOT. and i’m so glad, cause i’m the first in my family to openly take medication for a mental illness (stigma stigma god fucking stigma) and i was so so scared the meds would just make it worse, but they didn’t, so yeah :)

also, and this is a bit personal (but i’m willing to be a bit vulnerable with you guys, if it’ll help anyone at all) but, i planned on killing myself last year. it didn’t happen (evidently lol) but i ended up staying at the hospital for a week and then participating in a two week partial program after that. i’m currently looking for a new partial program or support group that i can join, and i’m trying to get a job and get back to school.

also, i have been seeing a therapist since my senior year of high school (which !!is a bit of a wild tale tbh, but long story short, my parents literally refused to believe mental illness was a real thing for the longest time. and it wasn’t until i told them i literally wouldn’t graduate high school if i didn’t get some help that they believed me.) my first two therapists were awful racist white women (still fuckin hate them btw) but my third therapist was a really cool white woman who actually introduced me to my current therapist who is this really amazing black woman and so far, i feel like she’s been the best fit for me. but i’ve very recently had to put my therapy sessions on pause cause i’m poor as hell and couldn’t pay for them anymore, so yeah. and, tbh, that’s really been stressing me the fuck out as of late, but what i’m trying to do is make the most of whatever other resources are available to me (helplines, textlines, self care strategies, forums, blogs, google, etc.) and i still have a social worker so idk, i should be okay 👌🏾

anyway, that was a lot of oversharing but, now you all know where i am atm ;) and i only share this with you guys cause a lot of asks i receive are about feeling like shit for not knowing what pd you have, or about being too poor to afford good health care, or not knowing how to convince your conservative ass black parents that you’re dying and need help and like !!! all of those topics are so so important to me on a very personal level !!! and i wanna help y'all so bad. but tbqh, i’m still trying to figure this shit out myself 😕 so, what i’m hoping is, just by letting you know more about my experience and being as honest as i can about it, at least one of you readin this might feel a little less lonely dealing with your pain. idk.

anyway, second to last thing: fr tho, i hope y'all know that it is both a rare, and amazing trait to be as insightful as so many of you are. even just trying to figure out ‘god, what is wrong with me’ and taking the time to do the research, is self care. it’s defiance. it’s acknowledging that a better life is possible, and it’s straight up refusing to settle for the pain you’re in now, for a life less fulfilling than what you know you deserve. i feel like the generations before us didn’t do that enough (with good reason, tbh, even today it’s still hard to know who we can trust) but it’s high time black people start healing our minds and our hearts. so power to you ✊🏾

and yeah. that’s all i wanted to say this morning. i’ve been wanting to say all that for a while, but wasn’t sure where the hell to start. i just hope that was all coherent and made sense, lol. don’t ever hesitate to message me guys. i may be an emotional wreck that takes too long to reply, but i do love you. lol.

and please please please continue to research things on your own as well, like. keep up with the latest studies, the TED talks, the blavity articles, the mental health blogs etc. etc. learn as much as you can about how to take the best care of you, even if my executively dysfunctional ass can’t help right away lol.

also !! (last thing, i promise) a quick update about this blog: i edited it a bit, namely my tagging system, to make it a bit more useful. i won’t go through all my tags here (maybe i’ll add an about page and a tag page later) but, for example, there’s my new affirmations tag (full of helpful reminders that i like to think about everyday) my positivity tag (just, yk, positive shit that makes think positive thoughts) and my black tag (whatever content i feel like pertains to just my fellow black + mentally ill peeps, cause lbr a lot of our struggles only happen at the intersection of both identities) 💕

i also have a music tag for music recommendations!! cause i like to believe music is very healing all on its own ;)

AAAAND that’s it lol 😘 stay safe out there guys !! this world is wild but, tbh, we know better than anyone what it means to make the very most out of our lives no matter what. happy black history month 🖤

[enlit12ww]

Congratulations! You have a new match!

This is the third time I have read the same six words today. I just turned 20 yesterday and yet I still haven’t engaged in a romantic relationship. It’s not that no guy has ever tried making a move. In fact, I can’t even count the number of men I rejected in the past. It’s just every guy I meet doesn’t fit my type. Some were too lanky, others lacked definition, and most looked unappealing.

This is why I recently signed up on Tinder[1], the ever-so famous dating app[2], hoping to finally see the one. With a single swipe[3], I can easily snatch any good-looking guy. But then most of the time, the attractive men were either tactless, rude or even worse, vulgar.

“Could be just another troll[4]”, I muttered under my breath as the sound of the ping[5] didn’t excite me as much anymore.

Lam-Ang, 22, Manila. Hello! I am awfully new to Tinder, so I apologize to the people I accidentally swiped right on!

I found myself giggling as I read over his bio[6]. I’d love a humorous man. However, the real deal lies on this random stranger’s photos. Why were there only two? Perhaps, he still wasn’t familiar with the app. Lam-Ang’s only photos were him smiling with a dog by the beach and him on top of a mountain. Well, I couldn’t see his face on the second photo, but from the first one, my jaw instantly dropped. Lam-Ang was probably over six feet tall. He had broad shoulders and a chiseled jaw. His furrowed eyebrows were offset by the boyish grin he had painted on his face. He was gorgeous.

“Very charming… Well, here goes nothing”, I sighed as I had my fingers crossed while staring at the three dots[7] on our empty conversation box.

Hello, Ines! Please know that I didn’t accidentally swipe right this time!

Hi! Oh, really now?

Yes. Btw[8], you can call me Lam.

How would I know you aren’t just being polite, Lam?

I swear I really am telling the truth.

You swear?

Yes. Trust me. Anyway, how’s your day going?

My day’s been pretty much normal. Nothing exciting. Hbu[9]?

Well, I’m still getting the hang of this Tinder thing. I never thought it would be this complicated.You’ll get the hang of it, don’t worry. I remember on my first day I unintentionally swiped right on a guy twice my age. It was sad because I didn’t know how to respectfully turn down his sugar daddy[10] offer.

Oh, damn. That’s unlucky.

I know I felt bad.

Not for him. For you! It’s not every day you get an offer like that.

WOW. Are you fr[11]?

I was kidding! Brb[12], Hayley stepped on a fork and now she’s crying.

Who’s Hayley?

Oh, Hayley’s my dog! The cute pup on my profile is her.

____________

Lam and I conversed day and night, for days and weeks. He was such a breath of fresh air. His charming personality added an intensity to his good looks which I absolutely admired. Our relationship was actually going way better than I expected, but the problem was that he would always be unavailable when I wanted to meet up or video chat. I was starting to become skeptical, so one day, I dropped the bomb[13].

Hey, Lam. Is there something wrong?

What do you mean? What made you say that?

It’s because you’d always start to slow-fade[14] whenever I try to initiate a video call or a meet up.

Hey, I don’t do that. I’m just really busy these past few days. I’ll make it up to you.

Okay, if that’s what you say. So, are you free Friday night?

Friday night? Er, I have a dinner with my friends.

But that’s what you said last week! Don’t you think it’s time for us to finally meet in person?

Alright, I’m sorry. Let’s meet up at that restaurant you love near your place.

Great! I can’t wait!

____________

It was Friday. The day I get to finally meet the man of my dreams. I put on my favorite red dress and arrived at my favorite restaurant just on time.

I scanned the bar for a guy wearing a white button-down. Finally, I see him seated at the farthest corner. From afar, I could already tell that he was skinnier than I expected. As I was walking towards him, I got confused. The guy wearing the white button-down was nowhere near the beautiful man I saw on Tinder. He was slim and angular, and his features were not as striking. Immediately, I turned around. Perhaps, that wasn’t him. I looked for another guy wearing a white button-down, but then to my surprise, someone tapped my shoulder.

It was him. The scrawny guy.

“Ines?”, he mentioned with a bashful and somewhat embarrassed tone.

“How do you know me? Who are you?”

“It’s me, Lam”, he answered and with that, I stormed out.

“No, you aren’t Lam. Lam is six feet tall with broad shoulders and a chiseled jaw. He is gorgeous, breathtaking even. He’s nothing like you!”, I said as my tone increased.

“This is me. I’m so sorry, Ines. This is why I didn’t want to meet up. I had a feeling you would react this way. I didn’t know how else to tell you because I really liked you and I thought telling you about the truth would just ruin everything”, he tried to explain.

“Well, you just did. I can’t believe you catfished[15] me!”, I retorted.

“Are you really this dense, Ines? I genuinely apologize for having to cover what I look like but do know that everything else was sincere. I really like you, but now that you think of it that way, I wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with someone who has superficial and hollow ideas of what love and beauty are”, Lam said as he walked away.

1  Tinder: Tinder is the world’s most popular app for meeting new people. It is a location-based social search mobile app that allows users to like (swipe right) or dislike (swipe left) other users, as well as permits users to chat if both parties swiped to the right. It is a platform commonly used by young adults ages 18 to 24 in order to engage in a sexual or romantic relationship.

2  App: App is short for the term application which means a downloadable software for a mobile device.

3  Swipe: Swiping is central to Tinder’s design. Users swipe right to “like” potential matches and swipe left to “dislike” or continue on searching for other potential matches.

4  Troll: An internet troll is someone who actively go out of their way to cause trouble on the internet. Their intent in engaging in social media platforms are commonly for disruptive and misleading purposes - often for no real reason at all.

5  Ping: A ping is the sound a mobile device makes whenever it receives a notification.

6  Bio: Bio is short for biography which is a space allotted for users to introduce themselves on the Internet.

7  Three dots: The three dots in an application refer to the opposite user typing a message.

8  Btw: An abbreviation for ‘by the way’

9  Hbu: An abbreviate for ‘how about you?’

10  Sugar daddy: A sugar daddy is a rich older man who lavishes gifts on a young woman in return for her company or sexual favors. An attractive young woman and a generous older man engaged in this type of relationship is termed as a sugar baby relationship.

11  Fr: An abbreviation for ‘for real’

12  Brb: An abbreviation for ‘be right back’

13  Drop the bomb: To drop the bomb is to do or say something very shocking and unexpected.

14  Slow-fade: Slow-fading is where a person slowly winds down contact with the other person he or she has been dating, leaving longer and longer between replies.

15  Catfishing: A catfish is someone who adopts a fictional online persona, particularly to lure someone into a relationship and to pursue deceptive online romances. Catfishers would often use fake profile pictures, names and even genders. The term “catfishing” gained popularity after the 2010 film Catfish. The movie is based on the story of a man named Yaniv Schulman who fell in love with a girl online who was actually using a fake identity.