#i got lazy with updating the dates throughout the post

[kingofbodyrolls]

My Heart's Home (m) | pjm | teaser + drop date

Hi all you lovely people 🥰

I just want to give you an update on ‘My Heart’s Home’, because I said I’d hoped to be able to post it this week (week 9), but I have to push it one more week— IT HAS BEEN RELEASED; chapter 1 🥳

And then, a chapter will be posted twice a week! (on Mondays and Thursdays)

I want to thank each and every one of you— especially those on the taglist and @letjungcoook7! Thank you so much for being interested in the story, and Lua, for reading some of it and hyping me up 🥹 To be honest, I didn’t think anyone could be interested in it, or care. So I’m over the moon, and I hope you will enjoy it ✨

*the book cover is just me having fun lol, I couldn’t help myself 😂 Because you’ve been so patient and nice, I’ll give you a 1.2k teaser for ‘My Heart’s Home’.

Summary: You’d never thought you’d step foot back at the ranch– a place you used to call home a long time ago. When you are forced to go back, reconcile with your sister and a certain childhood friend that you had long forgotten, will sparks reunite?

Pairing: jimin x reader (main) and jungkook x reader (one time). There’s other pairings throughout the story, but those aren’t with the reader, but between the other characters— there’s one mxm relationship but it’s very minor.

Characters: female reader (isn’t mentioned by name and no “y/n”), Jimin, Jungkook, Namjoon, Yoongi, Hoseok, Seokjin, Taehyung and four female original characters.

AUs: ranch!au, slice of life!au

Genres: smut, humor, fluff, slow burn and angst (yes, it’s got everything lol!)

Rating: mature/explicit/R18 – this is mature/explicit content, so minors, please do not interact!

Word count for the teaser: 1.2k (approx. 180k for whole series)

Taglist: @kookswifesblog @kiki-zb @babejinnie @ownthesunshine @allie-is-a-panda @glllhjh* @bergandysam @13-manggaetteok

*tumblr isn’t letting me tag you! There could be a lot of reasons for that, please check out this lovely post about it.

Looking for the masterlist?

In the morning, you gradually rouse to the sensation of something firm pressing against your face, yet there's an unexpected tenderness, a gentle caress against your skin. Your pillow, typically mundane, now cradles your head in an oddly satisfying manner, prompting you to nuzzle into it, seeking additional solace. A contented murmur escapes your lips in fatigue as you attempt to stretch your limbs, only to discover the subtle ache that permeates your entire body.

Wait.

Your eyes snap open in realization. This isn't the familiar embrace of your bed, and the comforting pillow beneath your head is anything but ordinary. A surge of awareness courses through you as you come to terms with an unexpected reality – you're sprawled across Jimin's thigh. 

More precisely, you’re nestled against his groin, where you abruptly discover the undeniable evidence of his morning arousal.

You spring to attention, the warmth of embarrassment coloring your cheeks, heart racing like a runaway train against your ribcage. In the hazy glow of early morning, you fumble for the most sincere apology you can conjure, breathlessly exclaiming, “Oh, goodness! I'm so sorry!”

As you settle onto the couch, your gaze locks with his still sleepy and drowsy eyes. The realization hits that you both must have drifted off in this intimate position, with you cradled in the warmth of his inviting lap.

Jimin's chuckle resonates like a melodious tune in the early morning, a soothing sound that plays a soft serenade to your ears. Despite your efforts to steady your heartbeat and contain the fluttering sensations, his laughter creates a symphony that dances through the awakening air.

“It's okay. I just woke up,” he rises and stretches, a lazy yawn escaping his lips. Why does he have to look this enticing? His blonde locks cascade in unruly curls, framing a face that's both soft and slightly puffy from sleep. Those pink lips, as if kissed by the night, slightly nibbled, beckon dangerous thoughts. As he stretches, biceps tensing and shirt teasingly riding up, a glimpse of his happy trail emerges, a sight your eyes try to resist but fail. Damn it, you scold yourself, but then his armpit becomes visible, and even that seems inexplicably appealing.

Oh, he smells divine—powdery softness, a hint of sweetness, warmth, and richness all mingling to craft an intoxicating musky scent. It envelops you, leaving your entire being tingling with an irresistible allure.

Jimin appears entirely unfazed, but you're left feeling utterly flustered, convinced your cheeks must be ablaze. “I'm so sorry for dozing off on you. I meant to offer you my bed, but I guess I fell asleep before I could say anything,” you chuckle, trying to shake off the lingering traces of sleep from your weary body.

A sudden realization strikes you like a bolt of lightning. 

Oh my god. If you’re sore, Jimin must be too! You practically slept on his injured leg!

“I apologize for your leg—I can't believe I slept on it. I might have undone all the massage from yesterday,” you groan in frustration, scolding yourself for your apparent weakness for this man. He's your childhood friend, the one who came and told you that you belong— at the place you once called home, reigniting something dormant within you, a feeling that has slumbered for centuries, now awakening and blossoming slowly.

“It's really okay,” he assures you with a soft squeeze to your leg. His hand feels firm and warm, mirroring his comforting presence. You realize a desire for more, but you tread carefully on dangerous waters, doing your best to keep your more horny thoughts in check.

“I'll have to head back soon,” he says, punctuating his statement with another heartfelt yawn, a languid stretch emphasizing the inevitable departure.

“Do you like pancakes? I could whip up a batch before you head out,” you suggest, caught between the genuine desire to treat him to a hearty breakfast and the subtle hope that it might extend his stay, sparing him the long drive on an empty stomach.

“Absolutely,” he responds, his soft smile revealing a glimpse of those charmingly crooked teeth. As you rise from your seat and head into the kitchen to whip up the pancakes, a subtle urgency whispers in your mind, warning that if you linger too long, keeping your hands to yourself might become an increasingly challenging feat.

With a culinary flair, you whip up the pancakes in record time, the aroma of warm batter filling the air. As you both settle around the small dining table, the atmosphere is filled with the comforting clinks of cutlery against plates. Amidst bites of fluffy pancakes, Jimin unveils the captivating tale of wild horses roaming the ranch, a narrative that unfolds with tales of Yoongi's quest to tame these untamed spirits, turning them into dependable companions through a gentle, patient approach. 

Fascinated, you ponder the intricacies of Jimin's story. “I had no idea such a thing was possible,” you muse, savoring a sip of water as if to quench not just your thirst but also your curiosity.

“Yoongi has a real knack for gentling horses, it's like second nature to him,” he shares, his smile lighting up the room as he effortlessly joins you in tidying up after the meal.

As the moment lingers, a subtle sense of farewell hovers in the air, but you're not quite ready to part ways with Jimin. The warmth of his company, the echoes of the past, all make you wish he didn't have to leave just yet.

Gratitude colors his words as he stands in the hallway, boots on, ready to step out into the world again. “Thank you for having me over,” he expresses, his gaze carrying a blend of sincerity and a hint of reluctance.

“No problem,” you respond with a soft smile, “having you here was truly enjoyable.”

“I hope to see you again, maybe back home?” His gaze lingers in your eyes for what feels like an eternity. There you stand, like a lovestruck fool, anticipating the one thing your brain has been yearning for since you glimpsed his softly bitten lips in the morning. The hope in his voice resonates, causing your heart to beat erratically in your chest once more.

Your gaze rises to meet his, and as he strides closer, his eyes lock onto yours. The proximity is electrifying; you sense his warm breath teasing your face, and anticipation builds as he leans in, closing the space between you.

You surrender to the moment, shutting your eyes as his warm hands cradle your cheeks. A delicate touch, his nose brushes against yours, setting off a delightful jolt that courses through your entire being. Then, in a tender ascent, his plush lips descend upon your forehead, leaving an imprint of warmth that lingers.

Instinctively, your fingers tighten around his biceps, a reflexive response to the unexpected closeness. A soft chuckle escapes your lips as the realization dawns – he's kissing your forehead, a gentlemanly gesture that leaves a trail of warmth lingering on your skin.

He withdraws, and as you open your eyes, his warm, smiling face is the last thing you see. “See you at home,” he whispers, leaving you with a fluttering heart and a lingering promise in the air.

As he gracefully exits the room, descending the stairs with an effortless charm, your heart beats wildly, a flutter of butterflies threatening to carry you away. Your entire being tingles, breath caught in a sweet suspension. A lovestruck smile plays on your lips, lingering like the echo of his presence.

Home.

He wants you to come home.

Author’s note(2): Thank you so much for reading! 🌸

[seka1-k0k0ro]

CRYS OMG.

bf kei taking care of u when ur sick omgomg and maybe kageyama n kuroo too? omg.

(i'm currently sick rn and this idea just hit me AHAHAHAHHA)

-🍙

OMGGG awww this is so cute; yes ofc onigiri! also get some rest and drink lots of water, hope you feel better and get well soon!! 💓

bedridden.

*post timeskip!*

tsukishima kei, kageyama tobio, kuroo tetsuro x gn!reader

cw: lots of fluff, mentions of sickness, some cursing

[i will format this better later + lower case intended]

tsukishima kei:

this man is the type to complain at first and silently take care of you until you feel better

and whenever you do end up feeling better and thank him he would have the worst blush on his face and pass it off like its nothing

you both live separately, but he has a key to your apartment

so when you didn't pick up your phone and text him back, he got a bit worried

after his uni classes, he raced to your apartment, mind running wild as to why you weren't responding to him

he unlocks and opens your door, confidently. he takes his shoes off and dumps his bag on the ground while calling out to you.

he hears you cough and his worry only worsened

he beelines to your room, and opens it harshly to see you coughing while laying on your bed, underneath the blankets.

"so you've been sleeping all day, huh?" he got no response from you besides a cough. he lifted a brow, confused as he slowly made his way over to you. he saw your cheeks were flushed and you let out another cough. his hand grazed your cheek, in a lazy attempt to check your temperature. "shit, y/n, you're burning up. why didn't you text me for help?" you melted into his hand as an apology and relief. that he was there.

kei got up and immediately searched for a glass of water and a cold compress. he found medicine on his journey as well and brought it back over to you. he made sure you were fed (he ordered it, he's not that good) and stayed by you until you felt better. he ended up sleeping on the floor in case you needed anything.

~.~

kageyama tobio

mans is clueless however he's not dumb

he rarely takes care of himself but when it comes to you, he'll bend the universe to make sure you're okay.

you'd text him you would be able to have your weekly breakfast date (put in place due to busy schedules) because you were sick and he cancelled everything except volleyball practice to help you.

def the type to call him mom or sister while he's at the store for help

"i just don't know how this is going to help."

"just listen to me and you'll be good," answered his sister. they bickered about getting too much or too little and which food he had to bring you. he stood in line of the store with thirty things all variations of other items in the case you reacted badly, or didn't like it. he checked out and headed immediately to your place.

he got back and saw you were walking to the kitchen. he gasped, "what are you doing out of bed? i told you to stay there." you looked him up and down as he looked also more disheveled than you with five plastic bags in his hands.

"i wanted a water."

~.~

kuroo tetsuro:

def the type to scold you the minute he found out

you're his personal assistant, and when you called in sick he laughed and said some stupid ass shit like "damn i did you that good huh?" even though literally nothing happened the night before.

you hacked out a bad cough and said you were really sick, and his entire mood changed.

trying to be professional, he said "alright, take the day off, and keep me updated."

yet he would send you emails, text-after-text, of him keep you updated.

he would send pictures of him throughout the day captioning it like "picture of my beautiful face to instantly make you better"

you're usually the one that takes care of him, so he's at a loss but he sends you flowers and your favorite takeout in the mail.

'dingdong check your front door,' said the millionth text from kuroo that day. you begrudgingly got up and made you over to the front door, and when you opened it, there it was. you smiled as you smelled the fresh roses and still warm takeout.

'thank you, my love,' you texted back with a picture of it. you took everything inside and downed your food. halfway through eating your phone started buzzing uncontrolably again.

'are u better yet? i'm bored.' you rolled your eyes as he was literally a busy ass businessman, and you only juggled half the work.

'stfu kuroo, im trying to eat then sleep.'

'gobble gobble that shit up, babe!' you questioned everything then and there, with a smie.

feel better lovely! inbox is always open. 💓

[acidproofnotebook]

I posted 44 times in 2022

19 posts created (43%)

25 posts reblogged (57%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gofancyninjaworld

@katyatalks

@koumbaya

@opmanime

I tagged 41 of my posts in 2022

Only 7% of my posts had no tags

#opm - 31 posts

#translation - 19 posts

#manga - 14 posts

#mob psycho 100 - 9 posts

#revisions - 9 posts

#omake - 7 posts

#genos - 6 posts

#drive knight - 3 posts

#update 160 - 3 posts

#update 163 - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 114 characters

#and it's good to see sekingar carefully weigh up his options before deciding to trust the hero with the dodgy past

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Volume 26 Bonus chapter “The Great Selection” -- partial and rough translation

The first four pages (of eight).  It’s not joking about being rough and there may be some passages that will be understood differently once a fuller translation is done.  But it’s still interesting!

Translator/ Typesetter: u\Bald_Caped

Date: 3 June 2022

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n-UghKI90sQY1vT6WNBgk_vjiCyzfTaL/view

14 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

#4

Update 160 (previously 159). Changes between online and print versions, part 2

Yup, this goes on!

Unlike the previous version, this time Nyan ignores Food Battler and was dragging just Waganma off to his most painful doom when lo, an intervention!

Fear not! Drive Knight is here!

See the full post

18 notes - Posted February 26, 2022

#3

Update 163 (previously 162). Changes between online and print versions. Part 2

So, where we left off, it looked like a tense standoff between Genos, who wants to go back to the battle, and Sekingar and Waganma, who most desperately don't want to be ditched by an S-Class hero. Food Battler Futoshi steps up to offer a solution (revised version on top, old at the bottom).

Sekingar does some thinking before deciding to trust Genos (no equivalent in older version)

See the full post

25 notes - Posted February 26, 2022

#2

ONE/Murata 2015 Joint Interview

Because I'm always concerned about old blogs going down and taking material with them, please find below a transcript of one of their first interviews on the subject of One-Punch Man.

Link: http://opmcityz.blogspot.com/2016/04/onemurata-2015-joint-interview.html

Translator: Herms

Translation Date: 2 April 2016

For no Earthly reason, it’s taken me this blasted long to finally translate the ONE/Murata joint interview from the 2015 guidebook OPM: Hero Encyclopedia. The notes throughout are the same ones as in the actual book, although towards the end I got lazy and didn’t write out the full details on such topics as the plot of Eyeshield 21 or the explanation for what fencing is. The curious may look that stuff up on Wikipedia. --Today I’d like to ask you two to provide the “definitive edition” of the story of One-Punch Man’s birth ONE: I’m much obliged. Yusuke Murata: Yes, thank you very much. --ONE-sensei, tell us how you began drawing One-Punch Man. ONE: Well, I wanted to try drawing manga digitally; that’s how it all started. There was this place (*1) online for posting up manga, and lots of people submitted their stuff there, so I wanted to submit something too. I bought a PC and some tools for drawing pictures digitally (*2). I tried out drawing 15 pages, and uploaded it with my PC for the first time…that was One-Punch Man Chapter 1. I didn’t have any real plans for continuing the story, and just posted it up without thinking of what to do next. But perhaps because I submitted it as “Chapter 1” it got a great response…OK, maybe not “great”, but a decent response. So I figured I might as well try drawing a continuation of the story. That’s when I really sat down and worked out how the story would continue, which made me realize this could turn into quite an interesting manga. And that pretty much brings us from Chapter 2 right up to the present. --Where did you get your ideas? ONE: To start with I simply tried to draw the sort of manga I’d want to read myself. I’ve read loads of Shonen manga throughout my life, and am particularly fond of battle manga. Generally speaking those types of stories are all about growth, meaning that by the last chapter the main character has grown stronger than anyone else and lives happily ever after. So I wondered what would happen if I started the story off with the main character already in peak condition. That became my jumping-off point. --So it’s a complete 180 from existing Shonen action manga? ONE: Which makes it fun for people who have already read lots of those typical Shonen manga. It’s like they’ve run the first lap, and this is their second time around. Murata: Yeah, it’s really exciting for Shonen manga aficionados. ONE: I also love it when a series creates friction between drama and humor. With One-Punch Man I wanted to try doing that through the worldview itself, rather than through specific plot points. The series is set in a dangerous, monster-infested world, but since Saitama’s there you don’t really notice just how bleak the world is. I think it’s that friction between Saitama and the rest of the world that makes things interesting. --Murata-sensei, what do you think makes One-Punch Man so appealing? Murata: It all boils down to Saitama’s appeal. In some ways, Saitama is incredibly similar to Son Goku from Dragon Ball (*3). It was Dragon Ball that first got me started reading Weekly Shonen Jump, so I find those similarities particularly appealing. Dragon Ball’s Goku (*4) is a very memorable protagonist: he does whatever he wants, fights strong guys…he’s only after excitement! He goes through life full of spirit. Even when the world’s in peril and he’s surrounded by chaos, it doesn’t bother him one bit. Like when Piccolo’s reincarnation entered the Tenkaichi Budokai (*5) and if Goku lost the world was doomed, even then Goku himself simply fought to win the tournament. After he beat Piccolo, he didn’t care that he had just saved the world, he was just happy to finally be crowned tournament champion. It’s that sort of detached easy-goingness, the sense of operating under a completely different logic than those around him. This type of aloofness, of doing things at one’s own pace, really screams “hero” to me. That’s what Goku and Saitama have in common. Another similarity is that they’re simply the strongest guys around. When things are looking hopeless, the moment

they show up you know things are going to be OK (laughs). --How did you find out about One-Punch Man, Murata-sensei? Murata: I follow this illustrator called “Akiman” (*6) on Twitter, and when I heard about One-Punch Man on his blog, I read the entire series overnight. I got a bit frustrated, because I realized I had become a manga artist precisely to draw something like this (laughs). At the time I was in sort of a dead-end career-wise, and (my apologies to Ootagaki-sensei[*7]) thanks to my incompetence things weren’t going very well with Donten Prism Solar Car (*8)…It’s safe to say I ended up causing Ootagaki-senseiand the readers a lot of trouble. Back then, I viewed my job simply as illustrating the stories given to me. But really, isn’t an illustrator’s job to visually convey the charm of the characters? You’ve got to understand what makes the characters appealing, or otherwise you’ll have nothing to show the readers. Once I read One-Punch Man, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. I sent ONE-sensei a message right away, asking if we could meet. I told him point-blank I wanted to work with him… ONE: I was surprised to get a message from Murata-sensei. Frankly, at first I thought it might be a prank… Murata: Sorry… ONE: It was a real shock! (laughs) --Did you two hit it off? Murata: Yeah. I was so nervous about meeting him that I ended up being 30 minutes late (laughs). By that time I was already starving, so first I suggested we go get some yakiniku. (laughs) --What did you talk about at the yakiniku restaurant? Murata: I asked “hey, why don’t we do a one-shot together first?” --Your first collaboration was Earth Monster. ONE: With Earth Monster, I made storyboards so that Murata-sensei would have something to work off of, and to give us something to show the editorial office. I took it as an opportunity to make something really flashy, the sort of thing I could never draw on my own. I stayed within manga contest regulations (*9), so it was probably around 31 to 45 pages. Murata: But I wanted to use bigger panels, and expanded it to roughly 60 pages. --So you submitted Earth Monster (*10) to the editorial office as a one-shot? Murata: Actually, wasn’t Cockroach Busters (*11) the one we ended up showing to Young Jump first? ONE: That’s right. Before that we showed it to your then-current editor at Weekly Shonen Jump; I think we made about four copies. Murata: At the time I had an exclusive contract, so I felt obligated to draw it for Jump, but it wasn’t really panning out…And while I was wrapped up with that, I came down with gastroenteritis. ONE: Your wife found you and called an ambulance. Murata: I couldn’t move at all…That’s when I started thinking that if this exclusive contract was going to keep me from doing the work I wanted, then I had better do something about it. I called ONE-sensei from the hospital and told him “I’m terminating my contract, so how about we get a bunch of different one-shot manuscripts together and shop them around at different companies?” And that’s how things went. --How did you end up at Neighborhood Young Jump? ONE: Several different people had approached me with proposals for commercializing One-Punch Man. The question was, would I handle the illustrations myself, or get someone else to do them? Although personally I thought Murata-sensei was the best man for the job…Later there was discussion about me trying to draw a revised version, but after drawing about two chapters worth it became painfully obvious it would never sell. At that point Murata-sensei asked if he could take a stab at it. He redrew the first chapter with a felt-tip pen, and it blew me away. From there we started thinking about the best place to distribute this out to the world. With Murata-sensei’s connections we hooked up with an editor at Young Jump, and this led to the plan to run it in Neighborhood Young Jump, on condition that it be drawn by Murata-sensei. I thought it was incredible of Murata-sensei to publish this manga on the web rather than in print form, and I was sure

everyone else would be impressed with it too. So with that, we made our proposal to Young Jump, and it began. --Murata-sensei, were you in any way reluctant to publish the series online? Murata: Back when I was doing Eyeshield 21 (*12), I had never read any webcomics, and my thoughts towards them didn’t extend much beyond “eh, doing one might be interesting”. But when this proposal came up, I had by then read ONE-sensei's One-Punch Man, so I felt like publishing on the web had real merit. For instance, with a weekly magazine each issue disappears from stores when the next one comes out a week later, but on the web people can read the previous chapters too. And since it’s available to the entire world, it seemed like a good way to gain a larger audience. Viewing something published online on my monitor, I was amazed at how pretty the lines were (laughs) (*13). But since up until that point I had only ever worked with lines on paper, I had absolutely no skills at making them look pretty on monitors...So me and my staff went through a lot of trial and error. That's what made it so interesting! Mastering a new field was a lot of fun. Another advantage of drawing on the web is that you can make corrections. With Eyeshield 21, I was always pressed for time, which didn’t leave room for much trial and error…I’d question if what I was drawing was really up to snuff…then realize it wasn’t. But even after a chapter ran in Jump, there still wouldn’t be any time to fix it, so it would just remain as-is forever. This happened all the time, and really stressed me out. Online though, I can fine-tune things until I’m satisfied. Particularly the characters’ faces. I mean, when anyone other than ONE-sensei draws Saitama, he ends up a different character. Though at first I was real keen on putting a Shonen manga spin on him. --I hear there were a lot of rejected Saitama faces. Murata: That’s right. It wasn’t until I had drawn a good number of pages that I finally got the hang of his expressions. It was when he and Genos are listening to Sneck’s lecture at the Hero Association, and he’s noisily chewing gum. The moment I saw this bored-looking Saitama, a lightbulb went off in my head (laughs). I realized that because Saitama is so strong, for him everything is always boring. This made me want to redraw the whole thing from square one. Me and the staff had by then learned the ropes of drawing online and were really into it. I told them that this was the first step in what would be a historic manga; I was drawing in a daze of ecstasy. --How do you two work together during the writing process? Does ONE-sensei create new storyboards? Murata: With the main storyline or anything else where I’m going off of ONE-sensei’s original, I’m generally given free reign with page distribution and whatnot. But I’ll ask ONE-sensei if I have any questions. ONE: That’s right. Murata: For the main storyline, the dialogue stays pretty much the same. But with side-stories, sometimes I’ll try adding in scenes to ONE-sensei’s storyboards, or change the dialogue up a bit. In such cases, I’ll always ask ONE-sensei’s opinion. We’ll go back and forth fine-tuning it…and sometimes it’ll just end up reverting back to how it was in the beginning (laughs). ONE: Murata-senseialways shows me whenever he thinks up new scenes or dialogue to add. For instance, with the A-Class hero Spring Mustachio, my storyboards just had his name and general appearance. He talked a bit and got beat up by the monster, nothing more. I didn’t plan to highlight what weapons he used or anything like that; that part was really cut short. But the storyboards Murata-sensei came up with featured him using his weapon against the monster, showing off his fighting chops so that the monster looked even more impressive by comparison. It was fantastic! Murata: When I heard his weapon was a fencing (*14) rapier (*15), it reminded me of that cool swordsman from Wheels on Meals (*16). Sometimes it’s fun to add in more action like that. --On the flipside, has ONE-sensei ever given you pointers on how

to draw something? Murata: On occasion. For instance, during the big showdown with Boros. Since I felt this was the heavyweight championship of the universe, I tried to make it as flashy as possible. However, midway through when Boros starts losing ground to Saitama, there were places where he appeared clownish…ONE-sensei pointed out to me that the reason Boros is popular is because he always retains his dignity, even against Saitama. That made it all click for me, and I redrew things from square one. When it comes to the storyline, characters, and dialogue, all of that flows from ONE-sensei’s head, so I constantly check in with him. --Thank you very much. Finally, what do each of you consider a “true hero”? Murata: "Even if you’re the strongest around, not letting it go to your head”, I guess. Abiding by your own rules. A true hero never waivers. ONE: I agree; someone who never waivers. A true hero is someone who follows their dreams to the very end. ==[Notes]== *1: ONE-senseibegan serializing One-Punch Man in Weekly Shonen VIP on the community site Toshanai in 2009. *2: A graphics tablet and related software. *3: One of Weekly Shonen Jump’s most well-known series, a battle/adventure series by Akira Toriyama that ran in Jump from 1984 to 1995. *4: The protagonist of Dragon Ball. A member of the Saiyans (a warrior race) who grew up on Earth. Though pure-hearted, he is also a super-warrior who loves fighting against strong opponents. *5: The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai (“Strongest Under the Heavens” Tournament). The reincarnation of the supposedly defeated Demon King Piccolo entered the tournament and battled Goku. *6: A Japanese illustrator who has worked on numerous games and anime, including Street Fighter II. *7: Yasuo Ootagaki-sensei. Wrote the story for the series Donten Prism Solar Car, which ran in Jump Square from 2010 to 2011. *8: The aforementioned series which ran in Jump Square from 2010 to 2011, depicting the struggles and friendships of young people involved in the development of solar cars. *9: There is a set number of pages for Rookie of the Year awards. For instance, the Tezuka Prize requires 31 pages. *10: Original story by ONE-sensei. A doujinshi by ONE-sensei, Yusuke Murata-sensei, and Kinu Nishimura-sensei. An action story depicting the struggles of a father who becomes a giant to fight monsters, and his frustrated son. *11: Comedy depicting the adventures of soldiers who undergo special training to exterminate cockroaches. Ran as a guest one-shot in the July 2015 issue of Young Gan-Gan. *12: American Football manga series which ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2002 to 2009. *13: The current Neighborhood Young Jump browser is improved constantly to allow everyone to read the latest One-Punch Man as soon as possible. *14: A European style of swordplay, and now an Olympic sport. *15: One-handed sword with a sharp point. *16: 1984 Jackie Chan movie.

27 notes - Posted January 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Update 171 (previously 170). Changes between online and print versions

Murata has taken advantage of the revisions he's doing for volume 25 to make a few small but important changes to update 171.

Amai Mask calling for help

No excuses, just a straight out plea for help. Which isn't forthcoming

See the full post

28 notes - Posted February 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[queerlyglittering]

LETTER BOY UPDATE

ok! This is long overdue lmao. but until the other day I was feeling a bit mopey and sad and also just generally tired and didn’t wanna talk about it BUT THEN  E X T R E M E L Y  LONG POST AHEAD

so lemme see where I last left off re: Letter Boy.... ok so like, to recap: there for a while we’d barely been talking. He didn’t have time to write to me most of the time, and then half the time when we did write to each other our letters kept getting lost in the mail, etc etc. I know I’d been like pretty obsessive over the whole letter-writing thing for a while so I thought I’d been pushing him away and like at one point I wrote him a goodbye letter? Like I was really out here like “I’m so sorry for bothering you so much, I’ll leave you alone now” like what sort of passive-aggressive bitchy monster lmao. And then eventually I was like nah fuck that, that’s not ok and I’m not leaving things like that, so I wrote him an apology and we kinda got back to talking a bit. And then he finally wrote me back! And his letter was deeply personal and emotional and I cried! He came out as ace! He told me he loved me! The absolute drama of it all! (Which it turns out, at that point he didn’t mean it in terms of like, romantic love, just like... he really cared about me as a person and was glad that he felt comfortable to write about his experiences re: being ace to me and it was sort of cathartic. BUT THEN!) So I wrote back almost immediately, telling him that I loved him too and that he was valid and shit lmao. That was all back in late May/early June I think... tbh I don’t remember what happened over the summer, lemme go back and reread our messages? b/c I know neither of us has physically written to the other since then.  Ok so we messaged a bit about potentially meeting up at a Pride festival, either there in Houston or up in Dallas, but the timing just generally didn’t work out in our favor for either event, so we wound up not going. And then we kinda sporadically messaged each other here and there, usually when he was stressed with school or I was stressed with work, etc, but we barely talked off and on for a couple months. Then I started my current job, and my sleep cycle got outta whack for a few weeks, and that’s when things started to get interesting again lmao

ok so sometime near the end of August, he had like a minor depressive episode or something in the middle of the night and messaged me at like 4 am saying he felt “gross and sad” and I slept through that because it was Saturday but I wound up waking up at like 6:30 out of habit from getting up for work, and I ended up calling him and we talked for a while and I vented about some stuff in my life too and then we both went back to sleep lmao. And after that things got a little more active in terms of communication; like y’all know me, I’m a Needy Bitch, so of course I wound up messaging him like once every couple days or so whenever I started to miss him and needed Attention. Like it kinda started with a tarot reading I got, just a standard past/present/future 3-card reading, but she pulled the Lovers for my present, so I mean.... and basically she said something about there being a person in my life whom I had feelings for, and who reciprocated those feelings, but there was a communications disconnect, and the relationship was getting to a point where it could begin to go stale, and that we shouldn’t block ourselves off from progress. After that reading I reached out and messaged him again, and we ended up literally speaking every day for a week. Like I think I’d made a post about that on here about not messaging him for the 8th day in a row and thought I was exaggerating but then I went back and counted and IT ACTUALLY WAS THE 8TH DAY, WOW AUDREY, YOU’RE OFFICIALLY ANNOYING. So I tried to get better about leaving him alone lmao but I started messaging him a bunch of stuff about my singing, because my old community had a brief resurgence in September. and he said he wanted to sing something with me someday and I’m 🥰🥰

So then at one point I had mentioned coming down to Houston for the weekend of the SFA/Sam Houston State game (which was last weekend, 10/5-6) with my friend, and ditching the game to hang out with him instead. I kinda let the subject drop for a couple weeks because at that point it was almost a month out and I wasn’t 100% sure I was gonna be able to go so I didn’t want to get both our hopes up. But then work started being really shitty and dicking me around about my schedule change that was supposed to have happened once I got out of training, and my home life wasn’t gr8 either, so I kinda latched onto that weekend trip as like a bright spot, or something to hope for. Something to keep me going. And he’d basically forgotten about it, which is fine, except I wound up springing it back on him at the last minute lmao. But then my friend who I was supposed to go with (because I can’t drive so she was gonna drive us down there) was like ‘nah I’m not going to the game, I have no money for tickets.’ So I was like well shit, there goes my happy thing. And I talked to her about it and basically begged her to just go down to Houston for the weekend anyway, I’d get us a hotel and everything, because I needed this. So she was like ‘alright, look at hotels.’ But then HER friend got very sick, like in-the-hospital having-mysterious-seizures sick, and she went to go stay with her in the hospital for a few days because the girl’s husband was being a dick about it (it turned out to just be an infection from a contact lens that got stuck in her eye and like melted??? idk. but it was BAD AND SCARY). But that was like Wednesday-Friday of the week we were supposed to go to Houston on that weekend and I wasn’t sure she’d be up to going. So I asked last minute if she still wanted to go or if I should cancel the hotel (not realizing that it was too late to cancel it anyway lmao RIP) and she said ‘ok sure but I wanna bring my kid, since I’ve been away from her for 3 whole days.’ I was like that’s fine, I already thought you were gonna bring her lol. So we wound up going down there on Saturday but we left a bit later than we’d meant to, and by the time we got to town, Letter Boy was already at work. So I missed him that day. The three of us (me, friend & kiddo) wound up swimming in the hotel pool and then ordering Chinese takeout for dinner so that was pretty fun. 

Then the next day, Sunday! Letter Boy called as we were checking out of the hotel to try and figure out what the plan was, where we could meet up, etc. We decided to meet at the mall nearby, since it was an easy landmark for all parties, and we could find each other pretty easily there. He took me (and my friend and her kid, though apparently that wasn’t the plan, and he would’ve preferred to spend time with just me; she even gave me the option to not have the two of them meet us at the restaurant and I decided not to take it because i was a nervous anxious coward lmao) out to lunch at this Korean place in town, where he loves to eat. We played a few rounds of a card game and talked and ate and it was great fun. Then he had to bail and go to work, and we had an interesting goodbye because I’d been out here trying to respect his personal space and all because from what he’d said in his coming-out letter, it sounded very much like he was touch-averse - but then he hugged me goodbye? and kept coming back for more hugs?! like “one more? ok just one more? and one more?” like nonstop for a good five minutes lmao. I was a bit confused but I loved it (my primary love language is physical touch; hugs are my kryptonite. And he gives AMAZING hugs. like I may have even actually dreamed about his hugs before I ever got to experience one, but that’s whole other post lol). Anyway so after that my friend and I went to hang out at her brother’s in-laws’ place because they lived in the area lol. Letter Boy had asked me to message him once I got there, so I did. I told him I wished I could’ve spent more time with him one-on-one, and he said “well if you’re still in town maybe you can sneak away when I get my break later” So I basically said hell yes, just tell me where to meet you, lol. We wound up meeting up at Starbucks and getting coffee and continuing to talk and hang out for the half hour of his break, and he really didn’t want to leave when it was time for him to go. Like he actually contemplated kidnapping me and bringing me to work with him lmao. If my ride hadn’t already been on her way, I would’ve gone with him in a heartbeat. I didn’t want to leave either. And he told me he loved me again!  🥰🥰🥰 It was sappy and sweet and just aghhhh <3

So that was a week ago today! And there’s been some interesting developments since then too. Starting off with that Sunday night when I got home, I’d had too much coffee (starbucks messed up my order and had to remake it so I ended up drinking both lmao, big mistake). So I was over-caffeinated and v emotional and couldn’t sleep so I started writing out all my anxious confused feelings in letter form, and wound up just linking Letter Boy to the Google Doc I’d been writing in. This was at almost 2 AM. Apparently I woke him up and he read it and replied to me over messenger and basically we talked about how like. when he first said he loved me in the letter, he didn’t necessarily mean it in a romantic context but it was definitely more than just platonic and he wasn’t sure how to quantify that. But now that we’d met in person, and got to spend some actual time together, he felt a little differently and that he was “not 100% sure but WAAAY more than 50% sure” that he loved me romantically, because partially because he’s ace, he’s just kinda unsure about romantic relationships in general and he’s reluctant to commit to them because the sex thing always becomes an issue. I reassured him that I completely understand and respect his orientation and would never ask him to change that aspect of himself or do anything that would make him uncomfortable, and he seemed immensely relieved. At this point I’m honestly not even sure how much of his feelings are genuinely for/about me, and how much of them are just some sort of general euphoria at having someone basically validate his orientation and his existence, because he’d spent so long being mocked and tormented by friends and lovers alike, and basically just feeling broken and worthless. And I completely understand that reaction. I’m not even sure I care if that’s all this is, if it comes down to it; I’m happy to be here to love and support him and make sure he never feels less than whole and valid again, no matter my context in his life. I just want him to be happy. I’d love to be the one who makes him happy, but if ultimately that is not my part in his life, then so be it. I’m at peace with it.

Anyway so that was Sunday night, we talked a little bit on Monday and Tuesday and then like,, nothing at all for a few days? And so of course my immediate instinct is that I came on too strong and pushed him away, just because he doesn’t want to talk to me every day?? so I got all mopey and sad and weird, because I thought I’d scared him off and lost him and idk. Also I was in a funk b/c my hormones are being wacky this week; I don’t really get periods per se with my IUD, but sometimes I’ll get phantom cramps and/or mood swings, etc. but this past week i’ve been spotting and cramping AND moody af, so that’s been fun. So I’d been all weird and sad and shit, and thinking he didn’t want to talk to me = he didn’t want me, and I was so paranoid and afraid because I still think this whole thing is too good to be true and I can’t trust it. I know it’s silly and far too early to be serious and it’ll never last and probably won’t end well. I know that it’s fun and easy and idealistic and won’t stand up to reality or practicality, when it eventually has to face them. So I’ve been bracing myself for that ending ever since it began. And I know three days isn’t very long, but after having a whole conversation about how we love each other, and how we love each other, it felt like an eternity. BUT THEN!!!!!!!!!

So ok, we did talk briefly on Friday, in passing. but it was a very short little conversation; the only major thing to come out of it was a further confirmation that yes, he’s serious about coming up here to see me. BUT THEN Saturday night (10/12), he got home from seeing Eric Andre perform live, and he was hanging out with his sister and drinking and generally being a goof, and he messaged me! UPDATE: It’s now sunday 10/20 and I’m still writing this. idk it’s been a lot, everything else in my life has been rough lately, idk. im not feeling as positively about this as i was before, but i’ll keep writing the update. I’ve written too much

SO! Anyway. he came home from the comedy show thing, and he was hanging out with his sister watching some Japanese reality show and drinking, and he messaged me out of the blue. Funny thing I’ve noticed is that he doesn’t generally reach out to me first and he’s not too expressive generally but whenever he’s intoxicated in some way, be it alcohol or pot or even benadryl, he gets really effusively, gushily mushy and sweet. So on this occasion he was drunk, or at least tipsy, and that means he was being extra affectionate and dumb lmao. He started out telling me about his night and then hit me with the “I wish you were heeeerrrrreeeeeeee” lol. And he said something about how one day when he graduates, we should get a place together, where we can “be non-binary and own our dreams” (the second time he’s mentioned possibly being nonbinary to me - or possibly third time, he said something in passing about being confused about gender roles, in a context that implied ‘in relation to himself.’ meanwhile I haven’t actually said anything at all to him about me being nonbinary, he just kinda assumed b/c i have a rly butch-y looking haircut rn lmao. but like.. he ain’t wrong tho 😂 so that’s a conversation that we need to actually have sometime.) He was like “it’s sorta romantic that you live up there and I live down here and we’re so far apart and we have to just kinda pine after each other basically” and i was like oh good, I’m not the only one pining lmao. But then he asked me to come with him when he moves to Japan to teach English there, sometime after he finishes his degree. Which like, I wish I could go with him, and I know that if we’re still talking at that point/especially if we actually get together, it’s gonna be hard to be that far away from him and I’m gonna miss him. But it’s just eminently not practical. I don’t have any college degree and I don’t speak a lick of Japanese, there’s no way I can teach English with him; and there aren’t many other jobs there for Americans. And he won’t be making enough to support both of us on a teacher’s salary, i know that much. So that’s where I start to get a bit disillusioned. Like I know it was just a drunk suggestion out of a desperation to not be apart anymore, and despite the fact that a drunk mouth often speaks sober thoughts, I know better than to assume that either of those offers to live together were any kind of a promise, and I have no intention to hold him to either of them. But in the moment I very much got my hopes up and I let myself get really excited and I regret that now lmao because like I knew even then that it wasn’t real. and now i’m just sorta disappointed because I’ve had to confront the fact that he’s very much a daydreamer and I, for all my delusional fantasizing, am at heart more practical than that. I don’t like to hope for things that I know can’t happen, because it’s just setting myself up for future devastation. And he just wants to hope and wish for everything, and maybe some of it will come true and maybe some of it won’t, and he just sort of seems unbothered by either outcome. For all my hopeless romanticism and my overemotional nature, I can’t bring myself to do that, to hope without expectation. I don’t know how. it’s so antithetical to my understanding of the world. And it just serves to highlight another of the many ways in which we are almost complete opposites - which isn’t a bad thing! but it can make some things harder. like handling distance, or hoping for the future, or just communication in general.

but anyway! back to drunken happiness lmao. he started saying really sappy shit like how he wants to be there for me when I’m feeling down, and he wants to have big dumb fights with me just so he can make it up to me with a big grand gesture like flowers or edible arrangements or something. and then he wrote me a drunken limerick and it was actually surprisingly good and really cute lmao. and he said he wanted to cuddle me. and then we got into a mini-fight over which one of us was cuter lmao. and he called me queen and said that he just wants to like. make me food and take care of me and stuff lol. and that he doesn’t even HAVE a type but somehow I am exactly his type? which is still fucking me up, that’s the sweetest shit i’ve ever heard. (because i know what he means, he’s dated around quite a bit with different types and genders of people and stuff because he didn’t really know how to handle his asexuality and of course the myth is that you just haven’t found the right person yet, so he just kept trying and feeling broken and then here I am, the first person he’s found to be accepting and understanding of that part of him, and still want him and care for him and be all lovey-dovey and shit with him, and he just wants me to be happy in return.) meanwhile I of course have several types, including different types for girls and guys etc, but he’s hitting all my boxes - tall, handsome in a kind of adorkable way, smart, funny, sarcastic, sweet, patient, sensitive, similar tastes in media and similar political alignments, queer. plus he’s just cute as fuck. like out of my league cute lmao but again, that’s exactly my type OTL so like I told him that, and that I just wanna like. hold him and be with him and help him be successful in whatever he wants in life. and he freaked out and was like ugh you should just come here rn i’ll hide you under my bed if i have to and i was like i wish i could :( and he was like THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH AUDREY COME HERE and i was like OK IM LEAVING ON FOOT SEE U IN 3 DAYS and it was funny. and we flung a bunch of heart emojis at each other. and then he made a passing reference to his mood swings and i kinda ended up ignoring it because i sent a message at the same time but in my head i was like boy have you even MET me, 1. the swings have always been my favorite piece of playground equipment, 2. i’ve got mood swings down to a fine art, and 3. i’m more worried about whether you can handle mine. i’m pretty sure i can take yours in stride lmao. and then there was more talk of cuddling, and HE STARTED HEART REACTING ALL MY MESSAGES and i’m just like WTF STOP IT THAT IS THE CUTEST SHIT <3333 and then he sent me a dollar by accident? and I sent him the “i love you bitch, i ain’t never gonna stop loving you bitch” vine lmao

and apparently this whole time he was still sitting around with his sister? lmao because he said she told him she approved of me after i sent that vine 😂 and she apparently likes my hair! which is good lol (reminder I need to post some pics of it on here, I posted selfies to fb but i don’t think i’ve posted on here yet). his sister is also bi lmao and seems cool in general (and also from what i’ve seen creeping her fb, she’s REALLY GORGEOUS, like it runs in the family, these fuckers should be models, it’s ridiculous really) so having her approval is v nice. like at least one member of his family approves of me! now to work on the rest 😂😂 and then he was talking about he was gonna get high also (despite being already drunk) and i was joking with him about bogarting the weed and he was like “when we live together I’ll share my weed with you” lmao but he said it with such certainty, like it was just a given. not an if, but a when. which threw me for enough of a loop. But then he started in on this fantasy scenario where like it’s late at night and we can’t sleep so he makes me sushi by hand, and we feed each other with our chopsticks (he was impressed that I already knew how to use them lmao) and we sit on the couch arm in arm watching reruns of cheers and laughing way too loudly and fall asleep in each other’s arms as the sun comes up outside but we don’t have anything to do the next day so it’s ok. and it was the sweetest most romantic shit I’ve literally ever heard in my LIFE, like it sounds like actual heaven and i was crying happy tears at this point lmao. just 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 like in that moment i felt so fucking loved i couldn’t even speak and y’all know i’m never speechless, i literally can’t fucking shut up most of the time lmao. and like at that point his phone was dying so he went to plug it in and go to bed and I did the same because it was like 2:30 in the morning but i was just giddy with affection and couldn’t sleep. 

anyway so the next day (sunday) i had a party thing to go to that was really fun but i’m socially awkward so i texted him a lot as a crutch. and then the next day (monday) he had given me “permission to bug the crap out of him” so i messaged him a lot throughout my work day because it was an unusually crappy day anyway. and the day after that (tuesday) we messaged about the democratic debates and stuff. and then i kinda tried to give him some space, because i felt like i was smothering him, and i made it all the way to friday evening before i caved in and messaged him again. like i don’t wanna bother him by messaging him every day, i know he’s busy. whenever he doesn’t actively have class, he’s got homework or he’s working (which usually means he’s driving and can’t talk). but i’m like so addicted to the affection i get from him, it’s bad. my anxiety just keeps building and getting worse if i try to avoid messaging him and I don’t make it very far before i end up giving in and messaging him for a hit of that good ol’ dopamine. so we ended up catching each other up on the events of the latter part of our week, and talking about sushi preferences. and he apparently has never had eel?? like that was probably the 2nd or 3rd thing i tried lmao 😂 but then to be fair I had a boyfriend at the time who was very interested in making sure i tried new things, and who had been stationed briefly in japan so he knew a lot about sushi and wanted to show off. anyway Letter Boy is like me, he prefers salmon by a wide margin. and we talked about how he’d tried squid and did not enjoy it, and that turned into a mini battle to see who could post the weirdest squid-themed gif lmao. and then i sent him the playlist but he still hasn’t listened to it yet I don’t think. but he also wants me to write him a poem lmao so that’s something i should start working on i guess. but idk i’m not feeling it rn but that’s not his fault. 

and then today happened and i had another incident with my mother and her narcissistic bullshit and i was feeling like shit so i reached out to my best friend to kinda get some validation that i’m not actually the narcissistic one (which felt shitty and manipulative, like if i have to ask i’m probably at least a LITTLE narcissistic. but then again if i actually was narcissistic i guess i wouldn’t even have that doubt? like i would just be certain that i wasn’t and not second-guess it because i wouldn’t care? and like making their victims believe that THEY are the narcissistic ones and the abuser isn’t, is a classic hallmark of gaslighting and narcissistic abuse? but i still felt like shit about it idk). And I also reached out to Letter Boy because while I love my best friend more than words can say, like she’s my sister-from-another-mother, Letter Boy has kind of become my comfort person. like i always used to write letters to him whenever I was going through a rough spot, as a distraction. and usually I’ll message him whenever I’m starting to feel anxious or sad, but lately it’s gotten to where I’ll start to feel anxious and sad whenever I don’t message him regularly. like i’ve said, it’s getting bad and i’m worried about it. like that’s not a good sign of a healthy relationship. and it’s nice to have some positivity in my life, especially given all the negative shit i’m constantly surrounded by. but that doesn’t mean this relationship is healthy or good for either of us. so that’s yet another thing on my list of shit that’s making me anxious lol. but anyway he tried to be supportive when i told him about what i’m dealing with in re: my mother, and encouraged me to get out, but he just seemed kinda generally lost. like he didn’t know how to deal with it. and if that’s because he’s been fortunate enough that in his life, that kind of behaviour is not something he’s experienced, then I’m happy for him. but he said some stuff about not really believing in labels, but specifically in regards to mental health issues? which like. that’s all fine and good in terms of gender and sexuality, but with mental health, that’s a medical issue. you kind of have to have names for things in that context so that you can treat them. and i get that he was kinda trying to be encouraging to me, to not let my mother make me think of myself as a narcissist, and to not feel so shitty about myself in terms of like my depression and anxiety and stuff. but it just felt like it was sort of coming from a place of very neurotypical privilege and misunderstanding, and it was sort of unintentionally invalidating. and then he brought up the idea of us living together again, once he graduates, but he said it in a slightly more realistic way which i should have been happier with but that only wound up disappointing me. he said “maybe when i graduate we can get a place...” instead of like his certainty from earlier. and i said i wish, and he said that he wishes too and we should both hope for it and maybe it’ll happen. and i’m just like... hope is a dangerous thing for my emotional health, i don’t want to hope for something that isn’t going to happen. and he basically said that i need to learn to hope without expectation, and set small goals as baby steps toward that bigger dream, and i’m just like. i don’t understand but thank you lmao. and that’s where we left off this evening. and i’ve been crying, about shit with my mom and my life in general and worrying about all this bullshit with letter boy and how like a week ago we were blissfully happy with each other and now things are feeling increasingly less certain and i have this burning feeling in the back of my mind that he’s not gonna actually show up for the Syrup Festival in 3 weeks - which again, i’ve pinned all my hopes to, it’s the light at the end of my newest tunnel. and i’m so nervous because i want to show him everything and let him get a feel for where i live (and why i feel trapped here lmao) and yet at the same time i don’t know how to handle it because i don’t think he’ll feel the same way about it as i do. and i’m still not sure he’ll even come. because despite him telling me repeatedly that he wants to come, i can’t help but feel that either something will come between us within that time, or he’ll just end up having to work, or something, and he won’t actually come. i’m so terrified he won’t want to come. I’m terrified i’m pushing him away. because this whole thing, ever since we started writing letters, has felt mostly one-sided, like i’m out here sharing everything with him and flinging my love and attention at him, and getting scraps in return, just enough to keep me coming back for more. and i don’t know if he’s stringing me along or if he’s serious. he is a bit flighty. I don’t want him to fly away. but i don’t want to hold him down, either.

i don’t know.

[thewickedkings]

Between the Two of Us ~ Chapter 5

Masterlist || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

Summary: Jurdan High school AU. Rivals Jude and Cardan are forced to partner up for a history project, and drama ensues. Filled with banter, pranks, an unhealthy amount of pining, and Jude being clueless as usual.

Trigger Warnings: I don’t think there’s anything so far, but please let me know if there’s anything I missed!

Jude went through her shift at work in a distracted haze. Locke had texted her this morning that he would pick her up at 6:30 and to dress casually. The reality of her situation set in. She was going on a date. With a boy.

“Jude, are you okay? You look… tense,” the Bomb said as walked past Jude to the blender.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She paused, hesitating. The Bomb had noticed Locke was into her. “Okay, so I might have a date tonight. With the guy that came in last week.”

The Bomb’s face lit up. “Wow, he moved faster than I expected. Do you like him?”

Jude’s face scrunched up. “I mean… I think. He’s cute.” When the Bomb made a face, she added, “and nice!”

“Okay… so what’s wrong?”

Jude had no idea how to express everything that was bothering her, so she just said, “I have no idea what to wear.”

The Bomb smiled. “That, I can help you with.”

~~~

A couple hours later, after they had finished up their shift, Jude was watching as the Bomb sifted through the clothes in her closet. It was slightly disconcerting to see her coworker in her bedroom, but Jude found that she didn’t mind.

“These pants are so cute!” The Bomb exclaimed. “You are going to look so good in these.” She tossed them at Jude. “Try these with a black tank top. Oooh, and this belt. How have you never worn any of these clothes before?”

Jude laughed and walked into the bathroom. “I never had you to style my outfits for me, that’s why.”

When she returned from the bathroom, the Bomb gave her an approving look. The tan plaid pants loosely fitted her legs and cutoff around her ankles. They were cinched at the waist by a black belt, with her black tank top tucked in. When Jude looked in the mirror, she was surprised to find she liked how it looked on her.

“How do you like it?” The Bomb asked.

“I think… I think I really like it,” Jude replied, a hesitant smile pulling at her lips. She rubbed her arms self-consciously. “But maybe with a jacket on top.”

The Bomb grinned. “Yeah, I was thinking you could wear this black jean jacket on top. What shoes though?”

Jude dug to the back of her closet and pulled out her doc martens. She’d barely worn them, usually opting for the comfort of her converse, but she had a feeling they would work with her outfit.

“Yes, perfect. Those. You are going to knock that boy off his feet.”

A strange feeling enveloped Jude. She’d always imagined that Taryn would be there freaking out with her on her first date, but when Jude had tried to bring it up to her, Taryn had just mumbled a “cool.” They’d always been close, especially after the death of their parents, sticking together through everything that had changed in their lives after. But recently, Jude felt a distance growing between them that had never been there before, and she had no idea why. Even Vivi had her own life in college, and she only visited on the weekends.

Jude swallowed, sorting out her thoughts. “I- thanks. For helping me. I’m not the best at this stuff.” She gestured vaguely at the clothes littered on her bed.

The Bomb beamed, sitting down on the edge of Jude’s bed. “It’s no problem. I love messing around with clothes. And my love life has been pretty boring recently, so it’s fun to do this with you.”

“I feel like I saw some sparks between you and a certain someone on Wednesday.” Jude had been introduced to the Roach and the Ghost during her previous shift, and she had sensed some weird sort of connection between the Bomb and the Roach, something a little more than friends.

“Me and the Roach are just really good friends,” The Bomb said, averting her gaze.

“I never said anything about the Roach.”

The Bomb groaned, pushing back a strand of frizzy white hair from her face. “Is it that obvious?”

“I mean, I noticed.”

“Point taken.” The Bomb huffed out a laugh, and then flopped back onto Jude’s bed so she was lying down. “I’ve had a huge crush on him since high school. We’d both transferred to our school in the middle of high school, and so we were both kind of the awkward outcasts and we became friends. I’ve been stupidly pining over him ever since.”

Jude’s eyes widened. “Wow.”

“Yeah, I know. But enough about my hopeless love life. Today, you’re going onto a date. You have to text me with updates.”

Jude nodded and then the Bomb helped her do her makeup. By the time Jude was ready, a knot of anxiety had formed in her chest.

“It’s fine if it’s not perfect,” said the Bomb reassuringly as Jude led her to the door. “Just let yourself have fun and enjoy it.”

“Okay. I can do that… I think. I’ll text you after. Hopefully with good news.”

The Bomb laughed and walked to her car. “I’ll see you at work!”

Jude smiled. Even if this night ended terribly, at least she could say she’d made a friend out of it.

 ~~~

Jude shut the door behind her and dropped against it, sighing happily. She, Jude Duarte, had gone on a date, and it had gone well. Really well.

Locke had picked her up exactly on time and driven her to a cute burger place. At first, the conversation was a little stilted. He’d asked her about her project with Cardan, and she might have nervously blabbered to fill the awkward silence.

But eventually, Jude had let herself relax and the conversation came more naturally. They moved on to other topics, talking about everything from college plans and parents. In the middle of their conversation, he had reached out and clasped onto her hand. Jude had flushed, but he had kept talking like he hadn’t done anything.

Throughout the whole date, he was charming and sweet. And he looked really good in his white collared shirt. And then after, when he’d walked her back to her door, Locke had kissed her. Just a brief brush of lips, but it was nice.

Jude floated up the stairs to her room, lips tingling from the memory, and bumped into Taryn. She stepped back in surprise. “Oh, hey.”

Taryn’s eyes took in Jude’s outfit, expression unreadable. “He dropped you off?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Right.”

Annoyance sparked inside Jude. “My date was nice, thanks for asking.” When Taryn didn’t respond, Jude grit her teeth in frustration. “What’s up with you? Why are you being all weird?”

Taryn scoffed. “Nothing. Maybe I just don’t want to hear about how perfect your date was.”

“Fine. Okay. Forget I said anything.” Jude marched into her room, shutting the door behind her. She didn’t even know why they were fighting. Frustration pricked at her, and her good mood disappeared just as quickly as it had come.

 ~~~

The next morning, Jude got ready with a renewed determination not to let anyone ruin her day. Not Taryn, and definitely not Cardan, who had invited himself over by text to work on their project. Jude hadn’t even bothered objecting, knowing it was useless.

After texting the Bomb about her date and receiving an excited frenzy of messages back, she peeled off her face mask and turned on her favorite playlist as she ate her breakfast.

When the doorbell rang a few minutes later, Jude put her plate in the dishwasher and washed her hands before going to open the door. Jude exhaled and mentally prepared herself, peeking through the peephole on the door.

But nothing in the world could have prepared her for what she saw next: Cardan Greenbriar, standing outside her front door, bouquet of red roses in hand.

A/N: The next chapter is definitely going to be interesting hehe. I was too lazy to edit anymore so I figured I’d just post. Hope you like it!! :)

Tagging: (Bolded tags didn’t work. I don’t know why, it might be your settings or just tumblr  acting up, but I’ll tag you in the comments for now! If I forgot to tag  you our messed something up, just send me an ask and I’ll fix it as soon  as I can!)

@jurdan7 @cardan-greenbriar-tcp  @amoosewithflannelforfur @aneuwin @mercrutiodidntdieforthis  @hizqueen4life @mi-mavencalories @simonelovesff @b00kworm @nope-has-lied @andromeddea @aesthetics-11 @queen-of-glass @runnybabbit9  @afexiss @the-keen-queen @yesimtheslytherinwitch @fizziefaerie @abigneignenn @storiesandschemes  @aelin-queen-of-terrasen @words-of-the-wise @thedazzlingheights @magicalbookwyvern @kittkatandbooboo @queen-of-no1 @iminsanenotobsessed @dorkzrul @snusbandxknifewife @aknymph @clouds-and-peonies @thefolkofthefic @snorting-up-pizza @fandomfanatic987  @fandom-will-be-the-death-of-me @cardanslittletail @curlyredqueen06 @losssssstttttt

[bxttxrflybxddie]

this is a bold request from me and. i Totally get if you don't do it bc it's hard but,,, can you do neal x reader headcanons? Yeah neal the eel he is my guilty pleasure 😔✌

a/n: i got you dw! this is my first time writing for neal so i hope it's okay!! tysm for requesting! these headcanons were updated may 6th, 2023!

pairing: neal the eel x reader

post type: headcanons + little dialouge

word count: 0.6k

warnings: mentions of violence bc of vile, these were originally written before s4 so i kept that timeframe, an electric eel for a pet, slight mention of being bullied. i wrote these in google docs and was too lazy to not capitalize everything like how i usually do lol

I have to start with the fact that Neal did not think he was going to get this far with you. He’s always fancied you, and a part of him is still surprised that you want to be his just as he’s yours. Definitely No Complaints!!

Everyone here knows that he's physically flexible, but he’s also flexible in other ways as well. A very go-with-the-flow fellow! From missions being on date night to a sudden change in emotion from you, you can count on him to be readily prepared!

Neal absolutely uses kiwi slang! If you also speak his slang he’s overjoyed! He makes fun of you if you don’t lol, he’ll teach you though don’t worry!

“Rattle your dags, love! We’re going to be late!”

“..????”

Yes yes, he calls people ‘love’ platonically, yes yes. However, you’re his love. He uses that term romantically only with you. You have backup nicknames as well! His favorites include Honey, Dear, Darling, and Dearest. Call him Baby. Do It.

Neal has naturally slick skin. Since he uses this ability in his line of work often, Neal makes sure to stay properly hydrated. Your bathroom counter is covered in his lotions, creams, and vaselines. (Surprise him with his own organizer.) Skin care also includes the two of you doing face masks together. He prefers the gel kind since sheet masks don't fit his face. 

I cannot shake the feeling that you would own a pet Electric Eel. Her name is Madame Mia and she’s his best friend (you’re in second place, sorry /lh) Her aquarium is huge and contains countless water life plants. Neal treats her like royalty, giving her the best food he can find!

Neal is a cuddlebug!! It’s comforting to him to know you’re right there and not leaving. He likes to be all over you, he’s very affectionate and not scared to show it! He gets hot and sticky quickly, so he’ll keep his distance throughout the night. ((Keep an arm around him anyways!))

Neal has two wolves inside of him. One wants to be the King of PDA, letting anyone and everyone know you’re together. The other wants to act like he doesn’t know you in public to protect you.

Working for VILE means giving up normal routines that you won’t realize until it’s too late. Any pair of eyes could mean losing his memory of you forever, it’s quite nerve wracking to be out and about with you :(  Despite this, Neal goes out of his way to assure his love for you.

A way he does this is by being a chivalrous gentleman. Expect your doors to be opened, seats pulled out, and your knuckles kissed! Fluster him when he does this. Run your fingers gently across the side of his face, tuck a string of his hair behind his ear, kiss his cheek. A simple “Thank you, Baby.” will have him come undone in your hands. Physical touch is his weakness. 

Neal is a Little Stinker (affectionately) who lovingly pokes fun at you, in all good fun ! He knows when to stop! Due to his upbringing being made fun of for his physical attributes, he swore to never do the same to you. Instead, he loves to leave you flustered! 

Compliments and flirting, galore!! He wants to remind you of all the little things that had him falling for you in the first place. From the way you bounce back on his witty remarks, the feeling of your skin against his, your smile after he litters your face with kisses. You have him wrapped around your finger!

He’s insatiable about you. You’ve stolen his heart and his life with it! He’s proud to be yours!

© BXTTXRFLYBXDDIE

[onisiondrama]

Onision: IRL EP: 2 - Onision’s Response videos summary Part 4 (Final part for his Reacts channel responses to episode 2.)

These videos are all over the place with everyone referring to Kai with different names and using different pronouns. I'm just going to refer to him by his current name and pronouns.

In the video summaries, I’m going to refer to James as “Onision” during documentary clips and “James” during his responses. Hopefully that makes things easier to read.

"Onision Documentary Dead Names and Misgenders Trans Man Repeatedly" (7 of 8)

Clip from the documentary plays. BigMoneyOnision says Onision is the most reviled person on the internet and someone needs to hold him accountable. James insults BMO’s appearance and says, "what the hell is this creature?" BMO says he's been following Onision for over a decade. James calls him a loser. They play a clip of Jaclyn Glenn saying Onision calls himself honest as a shield so he can be a dick. James plays a clip of Jaclyn saying she wishes him the best that he has a beautiful family. James says she doesn't sound like a very consistent person. He says one day she hates him, the next she doesn't, and now she is hating him again.

That clip of Jaclyn came from her response to his 2018 public apology to her. Hmm.. first he hates her, then he likes her, now he hates her. Seems inconsistent. 🤔🙄

Steven says Onision's relationship to Kai was his longest and most complicated relationship. James says he doesn't know what he's talking about. He says they're still married to this day. He points out they deadnamed Kai and says Kai hates everyone involved with this documentary. Steven continues to talk about Kai, but every time he misgenders Kai, James pauses it to point it out and tells them to stop misgendering transgender people. Steven says Kai would constantly reply to Onision's twitter. 

In the beginning of the second episode, the documentary has this text:

I don't buy it. Everyone who misgendered and deadnamed Kai during the storytelling parts continued to misgender Kai throughout the rest of the documentary. It's a mess and people call Kai by three different names throughout the whole show. I think the people who made the documentary were too lazy to tell the interviewees to either consistently misgender / deadname during the appropriate times for story telling / timeline purposes or to get everyone to call Kai by his current name and correctly gender him. Everyone who was interviewed seem to be on a completely different page when it comes to talking about Kai.

Steven says by December 2012, Onision and Kai are married and Kai's parents don't understand why a man nearly 10 years older married Kai within months of meeting. James says that's a lie and he's on good terms with his in-laws. He says they all flew across the country to be at "my” wedding. He calls Steven a dumb-ass. James shows a photo from his wedding and points out Kai's father, mother, step-dad, and sister. He says Steven recklessly said they don't support their unity, yet here they are supporting their unity. He says, "you guys are an embarrassment to journalism."

So James' #1 evidence that Kai's family is on good terms with him is the fact that they showed up to their child's wedding 8 years ago? James is conveniently leaving out the multiple videos he's made about how Kai's father tried to break them up while they were dating due to their age gap (17 and 26) and the grudge he’s held against his father for years. James even banned him from their home a few years ago.

"Onision Documentary Slander, Complete Embarrassment to Journalism, Discovery +" (8 of 8)

Doc plays. Clip of Repzion saying he didn't write the letter. They show a clip of Onision saying Repzion is the reason people are afraid to post videos online, because of psycho, creepy stalkers like him. James shows the email from Repzion apologizing to him back in 2017. He says Repzion is admitting to sending his in-laws an email and apologizing for it. He says his in-laws are no-doubt disgusted by him.

I just want to point out, the clip of Repzion was from when James was accusing him of sending his in-laws a physical letter in the mail. Repzion admitted to sending them a Facebook message and denied sending the letter. DSSCTM admitted to sending the letter.

James shows this on screen:

Edwin says Onision was pressuring Kai to date a girl. James says Edwin is being transphobic by misgendering Kai. Steven says we don't understand what was going on behind the scenes, but whoever Kai was is gone. James says they don't understand what went on behind the scenes, yet they make a whole documentary about it. He says himself and Kai don't talk to the doc because they are idiots that self-admittedly talk about things they don't understand.

Shiloh says she watched Onision break Kai like he broke her. James says he never called the cops on Billie or Sarah, yet he called them multiple times on Shiloh because she's a "psycho bitch." He says everyone else he dated were all way better than her. He shows thumbnails of videos he uploaded with Shiloh to his main channel and he says you don't see someone being broken. He says in the "My Girlfriend Is Beautiful" video, you see her have a mental breakdown and him being supportive. He says she thinks she can just eliminate his entire video library that proves their final videos were all positive and she fabricated the entire abuse concept. He says she got caught cheating and getting pregnant with another man's baby and she didn't like getting caught so she fabricated the abuse story. He references his page about Shiloh and goes over points he's already made in previous videos. He says she's proven a pathological evil liar.

Doc plays a clip of James and Kai with Kai looking uncomfortable. James jokingly says, "add that to the abuse reel." Edwin says he believes James is molding Kai. James says Edwin has no excuse for misgendering because they just announced Kai identifies as a guy. He says Edwin continues to misgender Kai because he's a piece of shit.

Shiloh says she no longer believes that Kai is a victim, she thinks Kai is a predator. James says it's a waste of time to speculate and it's an opinion reel.

The doc tells the story of Alicia Kozakiewicz. James says it's inappropriate they brought up a story that has nothing to do with himself and Kai. He says he's a law abiding former US air force cop.

He goes through his Sarah page on his website to prove she wasn't groomed. He says he found more texts and is going to update the page. He says Chris Hansen and anti-o's are morons for believing anything illegal happened.

Alicia K says she believes Onision and Kai found venerable victims. James says they're using the chick who was beaten and violated to speculate they are bad people. Alicia says they became friends with the girls, then they took away their power. James challenges Alicia to do research and look at his Sarah page. He says they blatantly ignore the texts he shared because they want to cash in on a fraudulent #metoo. He says there literally no actual victims.

Text on screen says in 2012, Kai begins an online relationship with 15-year-old fan, Regina. James says Kai was 17 for the majority of 2012, so it was a 2 year age gap. He says the first time he was Regina was on Chris Hansen's interview. He says they apparently dressed up as a dude to be on the show twice. [He plays the same clips as every other time he accused Regina of this. 🙄] He says the documentary admits Kai never met Regina.

I don’t think this needs to be said, but Regina did not pretend to be another person to get on Hansen’s show. Also, James was so upset the documentary misgenders Kai, but he keeps misgendering Regina.

Regina says they initially lied about their age to Kai. Regina told him they were 19 when they were really 15. James says Regina admits they'll lie to your face. He calls Regina a "stone cold liar."

Even though Kai did the same exact thing to James that same year? He lied to James about his age, yet Kai is not a stone cold liar?

Regina says they asked their mom if they could visit Kai, but she said no. James says he doesn't know what Regina is talking about. He says that's news to him. He doesn't know why Regina would visit them. He plugs his Sarah page again.

[purplesurveys]

1052

surveys by lets-make-surveys

1 - Who was the last person to knock on your door? Were they there to see you? Nina usually knocks briefly in the evening to let me know it’s time for dinner. Other than my ex in the past, I don’t let anyone stay in my room for long. Knocking and peeking into my room is enough.

2 - Have you left the house yet today? If not, do you have plans to leave the house later on? No, as it’s only 10 in the morning and I don’t really have a reason to be out somewhere this early. I might go out to buy presents for more relatives, but that’s only if I feel productive enough today. We’ll see.

3 - What’s your favourite brand of chocolate? What type of chocolate bar from that brand is your favourite? The older I get the more I feel like gagging from the idea of chocolate bars lol; they’re all just so sweet. These days my top three would be Hershey’s cookies and cream bar, Whittaker’s chocolate peanut butter bar, and Twix bars. I also love Reese’s, but they aren’t bars.

4 - Have you ever met someone in person who you first met on the internet? Do you have plans to do that anytime soon? Yes, I’ve done this before and I’ve recounted the stories on here multiple times. As for the second question, yeah I technically do? I’ve only met my workmates online so far, so I’m constantly looking forward to the opportunity to finally meet them all in real life.

5 - What was the last thing you used a blender for? I’ve never used a blender. We don’t even own a blender.

6 - Have you ever got into an argument with a stranger on social media? Do you remember what it was about? Yeah, but I don’t even remember what it was about anymore...I do know it was this year, and the person deleted the comment that I replied to not long after.

7 - When was the last time you cracked your joints? Is that something you do often? Now that you reminded me, I just did. I do it at least once a day, whenever my fingers start to feel tight and tense.

8 - What time is it right now? If you weren’t doing a survey, what else would you be doing right now? It is 1:52 PM. I’d be heading to the mall to buy more presents, but I don’t feel like getting out of bed yet. I’d also do embroidery, but my online orders are taking a while to arrive :( My online shopping app says I'll be getting them by Jan 3rd, but the shipping tracker says it’s already being shipped from China to here so I’m looking forward to receiving it this week. I hope that’s the case; otherwise it’ll miss the point of being my hobby this Christmas break.

9 - If you had ten minutes to run around an empty supermarket and fill your trolley for free, what’s the first aisle you’d go for? The fancy meat/fish section. Then I’d go to the condiments/spice section, then frozen food, then chips.

10 - Aside from Tumblr, what websites do you visit the most and why? YouTube, because I find videos a soothing distraction; Twitter to keep me updated on local and international news; Reddit for quirky posts; and Wikipedia so I can continue learning trivia I’ll never have to use but want to gain anyway.

11 - Has COVID had any impact on your Christmas plans this year? What’s going to change or be different to normal? My dad is home for Christmas this year, which is one silver lining from Covid. But my relatives living abroad who usually fly back to the Philippines for the holidays obviously won’t be able to this year, so we’re not gonna have a packed family reunion like we normally do. Everything else is the same, but I think the biggest thing about this whole thing is that I can barely feel Christmas coming this year. I think it’s going to feel like such a plain Friday this week; and that makes me a little sad.

12 - What’s your favourite flavour of cake? Are you any good at making that kind of cake? My favorite flavor is chocolate, but my favorite kind of cake (which I enjoy a lot more than general chocolate cake) is cheesecake. I cannot make either, nor can I bake at all.

13 - Do you prefer sweet or sour candy? Sweet. I hate any sour foods with a passion lol especially sour candy; it is my absolute least favorite taste. I don’t find anything enjoyable or fulfilling about it.

14 - What colour is your favourite fruit? Is this a fruit you eat often? Already made my feelings for fruit clear on this blog, haha.

15 - Is your favourite restaurant an independent place or a chain? What is it that you love about it so much? It’s a chain, like most popular restaurants here. Independent places are a little hard to come by, to be honest. They make the best katsu I’ve ever had; and I also like that despite being a chain restaurant, the ambience is still quite sophisticated and date-friendly so I always feel like I’m treating myself whenever I eat there.

16 - Are you genuinely a fan of Starbucks or do you think it’s all hype? I personally enjoy everything about Starbucks. I like their coffees, their Frappes, the ambience in their coffee shops, their playlists, and their line-up of mugs and tumblers. I’ve always felt right at home in their shops and out of all the cafés I’ve been to, it’s always their baristas that have been the nicest.

17 - Do you own a Christmas jumper? What design/pattern does it have on it? No, I don’t.

18 - What’s your favourite fit/style of jeans? I was obsessed with mom jeans throughout 2020.

19 - What was the last non-essential item you spent money on? Overpriced coffee and a sandwich.

20 - Are you currently under any COVID-related restrictions where you live? Are people generally following the rules? Public places are super strict with requiring everyone to wear a face shield and face mask; before entering any establishment, people’s temperatures are taken and everyone’s also required to take a contact tracing form. Anyone under the age of 21 still isn’t allowed to go out for the most part, though I think there are some exceptions now because I see kids younger than me already going on out-of-town trips again. Some places that are big on tourism like Sagada, Batanes, and Baguio are still closed off from the public; those that have since reopened, like Boracay, follow strict protocol and everyone going there is required to undergo a swab test. Everyday Filipinos follow the rules; it’s the politicians and police force who don’t, which feels disgusting to say.

21 - What did you last leave the room you’re in to do? A package arrived for me so I had to pay for it. It was the phone case I ordered for my cousin.

22 - Have you ever read any self-help books? Did you find them useful? No. I don’t really believe in that genre, so I never felt pulled to buy a book.

23 - What’s your favourite programme on the Food Network (if you watch it)? If you don’t get that channel, what’s your favourite food/cookery show in general? All things Gordon Ramsay, man. MasterChef, Hell’s Kitchen, and Kitchen Nightmares are all *chef’s kiss* The Great British Bake Off is also great and something I like watching when I want to wind down :)

24 - Do you still watch cartoons? From time to time.

25 - Who do you know with the most number of siblings? Would you ever want to live in a huge family? My grandpa was one of nine siblings, if I’m not mistaken. I’m not sure if I know a bigger set than that. Unless my family was filthy rich, I would not want to have such a big immediate family.

26 - Are you a fan of garlic bread? Sure. I tend to ask for others’ too, heh.

27 - Do you own any personalised clothing? What’s the reason for getting it? No, not a fan. Two years ago we had a huge family reunion on my dad’s side and we had to wear these cheesy shirts that said “[Last Name] Reunion” with some cheesy motto at the bottom. My parents hated it, which made me feel better about my own feelings about the shirt lol.

28 - Is anyone else in the same room as you right now? What is that person up to? No, it’s just me here.

29 - What colours are you wearing right now? Does your wardrobe contain a lot of those colours? White, maroon, and scarlet. I have a lot of white and maroon; not so much of scarlet as I find the color too bold.

30 - Do you like adding condiments to your food? If so, what are some of your favourites? Yes. My food always needs to have soup, condiments, or sauces; otherwise I tend to feel the dish is too dry. I like mayonnaise, banana ketchup, hot sauce, and lechon sauce.

--

1 - What have you been up to so far today? Is that a typical thing for you to do on this particular day of the week? I’ve taken a couple of surveys and started binge-watching segments of my newest Korean reality show discovery, 2 Days 1 Night. The breakout actor from Start-Up and the newest love of my life HAHAHA is a cast member on the current season of 2D1N so I’ve been all over the show today. It’s hilarious; I can hardly believe I’m only discovering the show this late.

2 - Did you get a decent night’s sleep last night? How many hour’s sleep do you consider a decent amount? It was around five hours, which isn’t a lot to me. I usually sleep 7-9 hours these days, but I might wreck my body clock during the holiday break because I want to keep being awake and do the things I haven’t been able to do because of work.

3 - What is one silly thing that really gets on your nerves? Seeing pickles in a burger.

4 - Who was the last person you saw who wasn’t family? What did you guys end up doing together? The friendly Starbucks barista from yesterday; her name was Princess. We didn’t do anything lol, she just took my order and was super friendly about it, and she also gave me the Starbucks planner that I chose to redeem.

5 - Do you prefer hot or cold drinks overall? Cold. I avoid hot drinks now haha. Ever since I had that incident with the takoyaki, I’ve been too scared to let any hot food or drink touch my mouth.

6 - Do you own a decent set of waterproofs? If so, what do you use them for the most? If not, do you think that would be something you’d find useful? I don’t know what this is referring to, and I’m too lazy to Google right now. I’ve only ever known this word as an adjective, whoops.

7 - Do you have any plans for the rest of the day? Take more surveys, and maybe have another cup of coffee. I’ll also have to get started on a daily report I submit for work every weekday morning so that my load will be lighter tomorrow. Our office is technically on shutdown until January 4th, but some clients require a daily report every day and I’ll have to shoulder that with another co-associate. It sucks, but at least it’s the only thing I’ll have to do for the next two weeks.

8 - How often do you get your hair cut? When hairdressers were closed due to COVID, did you try cutting it yourself at home? I only go to the salon once a year, and I already did it this 2020 when I chopped off my hair and got bangs. Yeah, whenever my bangs start to get too long I either ask my mom to trim them or I do so myself.

9 - What did you wear the last time you left the house? Is that different to what you’re wearing at the moment? I walked Cooper half an hour ago and I just stayed in the same clothes I’ve been in all day, which was a tank top underneath an oversized hoodie and a pair of shorts.

10 - Would you rather have a relaxing beach holiday or a more active holiday in the mountains? The beach would be perfect right now, but I think my answer changes every time this is asked and I’m pretty sure I picked mountains the last time HAHAHA. I just realized being in the mountains would give me the same cooped-up feeling I’ve been having from staying at home for such a long time, and it might not be the best and healthiest trip for me...the beach definitely sounds more freeing and therapeutic.

11 - Do you know how to tie a tie? Nah, never learned. I’ve never been good at tying anything up, period.

12 - How old were you when you first had a sleepover at someone’s house? Did you miss home? I was 15 or 16; I’m not entirely sure anymore. Not at all, I was so excited to have been allowed to go to my first sleepover.

13 - How often do you spend time with your extended family? Under normal circumstances, we’d visit my grandma and cousins on my mom’s side once every few months or so. It was pretty regular since they’re just a stone’s throw away. But obviously we’ve since had to drastically cut our get-togethers back, and I’ve only seen them around three times since the beginning of the year. My dad’s family lives pretty far south, so I only get to see them once or twice a year even in pre-Covid days; not much of a difference there.

14 - When you get up in the morning, do you have a set routine? No. I just wake up feeling dread and have no choice but to wait for the weight in my chest to subside.

15 - Do you remember the last time you cried? Were they sad or happy tears? Yesterday in my car, in the mall parking lot. Sad tears.

16 - What do you have planned once you finish this survey? Look for another one. I misseddddd taking surveys and I plan on taking a crap ton of them this Christmas break. I may also be called for dinner, so there’s that.

17 - What was the last thing you cooked? Did you cook from scratch or just heat something up? I dunno if it counts as cooking, but I just made the DIY ramen kit that I received as a Christmas gift from the branch I was originally an intern at. Everything was already prepared in the kit and all I needed to do was boil water for the noodles and prepare the broth. Turned out surprisingly good.

18 - Are you a fan of hot chocolate? Do you like it plain or do you prefer to add things like whipped cream or marshmallows? I love hot chocolate and will order it sometimes, but given my aforementioned fear of hot beverages I always wait for it to considerably cool down hahaha. I like my hot chocolate plain.

19 - What caused your last injury? Cooper’s nails.

20 - How many tattoos and piercings do you have? Do any of them have an interesting story behind them? Just a piercing on each of my earlobes. No interesting stories...yet.

21 - What kind of flowers do you like the best? When was the last time someone bought those for you? I like peonies, though I’m not sure if my ex ever gave me a bouquet that included those.

22 - What’s the smallest thing you’ve ended a relationship over? I’ve only been with one person and I dated her twice, but I was never the one who ended the relationship either time so can’t really answer this.

23 - Would you rather order a starter (appetiser) or a dessert? Or would you be able to manage a full three courses? Three-course meal, pls. I’ve only experienced it once, when my parents treated me to dinner during my cruise gift for my 18th birthday; it was great and every dish was made amazingly well.

24 - How do you get most of your news, if you pay attention to it at all? I catch the evening news every weeknight because we keep the telvision turned on during dinner. I also get to read articles on social media.

25 - Have you or a member of your family been diagnosed with COVID yet? None that I know of, thankfully. It’s always been someone that a relative knows, but so far none of us have gotten it.

26 - Are you a vegetarian? If so, what persuaded you to stop eating meat? If not, is it something you’d ever consider? No. I have been considering it for years, but I truthfully don’t know if I could give up meat.

27 - Do you prefer rice or pasta? Rice.

28 - Is anything you’re wearing a gift? Who bought it for you? No.

29 - What’s the dominant colour in the room you’re in at the moment? I guess white, since my walls are white and that’s the first thing you see when entering my room.

30 - Did you do laundry yet today? If not, do you need to do any before you go to bed? Not my chore to do, but it was already done a few days ago.

[worldoffanficskpopcpop]

Bang Chan Fluff Fanfic Recommendation Masterlist

Hello! Welcome to my fanfic recommendations! If you would like to see other groups or other content in regards to this artist or their group, please click the links below! All of the masterlists/posts I’ve made will always be updated when I find new content or scenarios! Feel free to recommend me some blogs to check out! Also, you like my fanfic recommendations, please like and/or reblog so that more people can see it! I will release more groups as time goes on!

Go Back to Stray Kids’ Main Masterlist

Go Back to All Group Masterlist

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4 AM Nostalgia: Things change so fast in four years, so when you arrive back in Sydney, Australia - your hometown, you’re a little emotional - but Chan is a source of comfort for you 

17: “Loving you just like when we were 17”

100 Ways to Say I Love You: Between busy schedules and cozy cuddles, you both knew just what to say in times of contentment

A

A Little Help: Sometimes People need a little help. Chan was no exception, but he never wanted to admit he needed someone next to him

Almost: You’re missing Chan and he has an idea

Anniversary Gift: Chan really is the type of person to make and perform a song on your anniversary

Anything Less: You’re scared to confess to Chan because of your age gap

B

Bothered: “Babe, I’m on the phone”

Bubbles and Cuddles: “Room for one more?”

Breakfast: Chan made your breakfast and it’s the most sweetest thing ever

C

Cafe Comfort: Cafe date during the winter season with Chan!

costume: Chan really likes the couple’s costumes

Comfy: Chan comforting you after work

D

Distraction: when you are competing, maybe playing video games or something so you press kisses anywhere available; arms, nose, knees, ears, knuckles, temple, just anywhere to distract them.

Don’t Let Go: Ice skating with Chan!

don’t talk, sing: just two people spending time together. few words spoken, many lyrics heard

E

 Everyday: Almost every day was spent with Chan, and almost everyday was the same. But you wouldn’t have it any other way, no matter what.

F

Favorite Variable: You worked with variables, but he was your favorite.

first time making out with chan: Minh has never made out before, so chan teaches them how

Forever: Chan’s cute proposal to you

G

Got Me Happy (slight smut): Having gone through a serious relationship and falling into this one seemed to perfect…cause he’s your soulmate and all that. 

H

Happy Birthday: It was your boyfriends birthday 

Happy Ending: Chan proposes to you 

Happy Two Year Anniversary: Chan always have the craziest of ideas for your guys anniversary

Hi i miss you: first love type thing

Home is Where You Are: Home was truly wherever Chan was, and right now, you couldn’t be more relieved to see him

I

It’s the small things that matter: You’re a bit... short

I Sea You: Beach day with Chan

It’s Not Even December Yet: You and Chan are just a tad bit excited for Christmas.

J

Just a Cute Date: “Why the fuck are we at Chuck E. Cheese?”

K

L

Late Night: Chan met you through a friend but he didn’t know he would fall this hard for you 

Late Nights: “hi baby I’m sorry for texting you so late but I’m at the studio and I have to finish this demo tonight but my heads just not in the right place. If you’re awake and it’s not too much, would you mind stopping by for a bit? I could really use your company”

Lazy Day:  My boyfriend has some good tits, like damn

lego house: “Hey, you look kinda hot shirtless and with an apron on.” 

Love song: You ask Chan to help you write a love song, little did he know, it was for him (Male!Reader)

M

Marry Me?: “You are that person”

mcdonald’s drive through: chan just really loves you 

Missing You: Oh how you’ve missed the boys who had quickly become your family

morning cuddles: Just a morning with clingy sleepy Chan

Mornings With You: Mornings spent with Chan are always the same but you wouldn’t trade it for the world 

Music to his Ears: Watching comedy movies was Chan’s favorite activity with you.  Hearing you laugh instantly made him smile and all his worries seemed to vanish just by hearing it

my angel..: just some sweet words with Chan

N

Nightmares: You have a nightmare and Chan is there to comfort you

Night Night: Chan helping you through your sleepless nights

O

Only You: “You didn’t have to ask”

P

paint our love: A game of truth or dare with Chan

Perfect: you have been asking Chan to cover Ed Sheeran’s Perfect for months. he finally decides to do it with a special ending. 

Please Don’t Leave: “Baby, you have to breathe. Listen to my heartbeat and take deep breaths. I’ve got you now, you’re safe. I’m not going anywhere.”

Pool Day: A day in the water park with Chan

Pregnant: You’re pregnant and Chan is now a bit more protective of you 

proud of you: You’re so proud of Chan and you want to make sure that he knows it

Q

R

S

Scrunchies: You were looking for your scrunchie, but guess who had it?

Seven-Thirty: Tranquility: a concept that your boyfriend still did not seem to comprehend

Sit Next to Me: Christmas Movie Night with best friend!Chan

Sleep Tight: While doing Japanese promotions, Chan always found it hard to fall asleep. It got really bad this trip.

Sundays, Sun Daze: Your favorite mornings are the ones where you wake up wrapped in Chan’s arms.

sunrise: sometimes it takes a little push in order for love to blossom.

T

The Morning After, Bang Chan: You wake up next to a stranger, it’s Chan.

Throughout the Ages: An affectionate love that slowly develops from friendship

Thunderstorms: chan comforts you bc you’re scared of thunderstorms

U

Under the Mistletoe: “you know how my family keeps on setting me up on horrible blind dates? Well, to make them stop, I told them that I was in a relationship and now they all want to meet this mystery person so… can you pretend that you’re dating me and come to my family’s christmas party?”

Under Your Shirt: Chris had today off and we spent it cuddling with each other.

unenthusiastically: chan meets his best friends unenthusiastic younger sibling

V

Vocal Message: You go to a dance practice only to meet Chan

W

Warm: “You’re warm”

welcome back: You missed Chan after he flew to Australia to visit his family

while we’re young:  “In a few years though baby…we should just have fun while we’re young…” 

Wholehearted Love: Buried in the warmth of blankets and your boyfriend’s arms, you couldn’t ask for a better day than today

Worry:Cuddles with Chan

X

Y

Yah! It’s Two in the Morning: Helping Chan through long nights of hard work

You’re so clingy. I love it: “Stay,” Chan mumbled into your neck. 

yours truly: you have a secret admirer and chan’s very grumpy. correlation? perhaps.

Z

[imthepunchlord]

For all the new things, I kinda wished they showed all of this before SwSh was released, now it's a bit more pricey and I feel like it's kinda rushed. Also for the Mystery Dungeon, I'm excited for that bit I really hope that include all the starters and non starters as well in the final.

I wish they went ahead and pushed back SaS so it’d be released 2020, with this expansion back already included, and the new places we go to can be unlocked during our adventure or as postgame. I would’ve fine waiting and would’ve preferred it, especially to give them a chance to do more with the main story which is pretty weak and made little sense, and Rose was a very forced in villain. Also made no sense in the story climax. Watching playthroughs and seeing the climax of SaS I’m just... 

Its also frustrating that you get to hear about things happening and not actually witness or help. Like, its nice having adults acknowledge that you’re a kid, don’t worry about it we’ll handle it, but at the same time, that’s a chunk of story we have a right to see, and we’re kids in this game, we don’t always do what adults say we should follow and see what’s going on. That could’ve been something optional. Go to event to see what’s happening or skip it to go to the next gym. 

And this is turning into a rant so I’m going to put this below. For those that just want to read my comments on Mystery Dungeon, scroll down till you get to the Pikachu gif, I’ll talk about it below. 

Also there could’ve been improvements with the rivals. Marnie is suuuuper intriguing and I love her, Bede I also like though that’s more me missing mean rivals and man, he’s a brat and I say that with affection. But in the grand scheme of things, they felt pointless. More could’ve been done to include them. And Hop. God, Hop. I know people like him, but from what I’ve seen, he seems like the most annoying “friend rival” made to date. He does not know what personal space is. He waits for you in front of gyms. He waits for you on new routes. He has to comment on almost every move you make in your fights with him. 

I don’t even own the games but just from the playthroughs I’ve watched I’m just... go away. Leave the lead alone. Everywhere you turn, he’s there, waiting for you. It also feels like he only got endorsed because he’s Leon’s younger brother. There’s nothing about him that I like. And, I don’t know why he gets the other wolf legendary? What makes him worthy?What makes him want to be a Professor in the future? That’s out of nowhere. 

Something more could’ve been done with Hop, maybe an arc of him resenting you a little because every match you beat him, and he’s the Champion’s younger brother and you just seem to stay ahead. Maybe let us have more scene of him talking with Sonia since he’s going to be her future assistant. If he’s going to be constantly stalking us and waiting for us, then yeah, let’s at least better build up where his character will go. 

Then there’s the issue of pokemon. With it pretty much confirmed they just reused models from gen 7, yeah, there’s no reason to not include more pokemon. If not the National Dex, which wouldn’t bother me too much, then go ahead and add about half. At most, I’d love pokemon included that would make the most sense. Like, lion is a big symbol throughout all of Europe. There should be a lion in Galar, either Litleo or Shinx returning if not a new lion pokemon. And with the expansion packs, yeah, they’re already adding 200 each pack. 

And a lot of this dlc should already be in the game. If 400 pokemon are going to be added in, they should already be there. The new Giga forms should already be there and we should’ve seen the Giga Venusaur and Blastoise the same time as Charizard. 

I’m also salty that there’s no going to Kalos. Maybe it’ll be a future expansion, and that’s a dlc I wouldn’t mind, but those are two very linked countries they’re based on. And Galar truly isn’t a big region. The Wild Area isn’t as big as it could be. Like, it doesn’t have to be BotW big, but it could’ve been bigger than what we got. And if not expanding the Wild Area, we could’ve had Kalos as a new region to go to, and more gyms for us to do. 

ALSO.

I am not a fan of you refacing the gyms and having them act as your “Elite Four”. 

They’ve already been fought. Aside from the first two, you’ve already fought all the star Giga forms they have. Its a really lazy decision. At least, you can have the two first gym leaders come in since you didn’t fight their star Giga forms, and include the other two version exclusive gym leaders as the other two. Just for some freshness in this final challenge. 

I know they’re not big on voice acting, but, they should’ve put some form of VA into these games. Its a little awkward to get animated cutscenes and there’s no voices coming forth. And its at its worst when you get to Piers and you see him singing away, I presume loudly, into his mic and its just awkward cause there’s no voice and you can hear him tapping his foot to the music and its just so off putting to watch cause something is missing: a voice! And you know what’s the kicker? Pokemon has included voice acting before. 

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There is no reason to not do something similar, at least for Piers’ intro so its not so awkward to watch. 

And then post game... the official post game... I, I honestly can’t say what is even going on? Those two blonde bimbos, those designs, who agreed to pass them? For sword guy, I don’t know whether I should be laughing or uncomfortable. Its like, an in between especially when his hair flops around. Also, their reasoning, they’re causing chaos in Galar because they didn’t like a book Sonia wrote??? 

The villains in these games are just so dumb.

Like, Rose had a good motive but, he is still forced in. And he activates the climax for no reason. He was promised by Leon that he would help with Eternatus, all he had to do was wait through one match. One match that would’ve been 30 minutes at most, roughly. Yet he couldn’t wait for one match and went ahead and woke up Eternatus, does a video asking for help, and when you arrive, stops you for a battle that doesn’t make sense to have cause he asked for help why is he holding you up with a battle?? 

And Team Yell. Supposed to be like, a 2nd Team Skull and these guys could dream to live up to Team Skull. They can’t. They’re not funny or enjoyable at all. And my friend brought up a good point on the issue of having Team Yell based on punks when they’re supposed to be the “villainous” team. Punks, historically, were rebelling against an unfair system, they were progressive and revolutionary. They stood up for LBGT rights, they stood for having individual freedom, and just wanted to break the restrictions society wanted to place on people, let people express themselves and be who they want to be. 

If you want Team Yell to be a 2nd Skull and play around with punks as their theme, then they should’ve been set up to be red herrings as well. Be wary at first and then later find that they have hearts of gold, and mean well, even if they can be a tad extreme sometimes. And maybe they can help build up the danger of Rose, who in turn wants to paint them in with a bad image since they’re going against him and what’s normal in society. 

Anyway... Sword and Shield honestly should’ve been pushed back. They should’ve been saved for 2020, or even 2021, or however how much time they need. I would’ve been fine waiting. A lot of fans would be. But what we got wasn’t worth the $60 it was being sold at, and definitely not worth the $90 its being sold at with the expansion packs, and as far as I know, these are very, very small areas to explore. Cause as we’ve seen with SaS, they built it up to be big and grand and, well, the Wild Area was smaller than expected and the whole was far shorter than expected. You could beat it in 20 hours roughly. 

I even have mixed feelings on there being no enhanced version, cause these games do have potential, they just needed more time and polish, and then it could’ve worth the $60 price. But also thankful that there’s not another 2nd version and we may be getting a few expansion packs instead. 

Though I do think a lot they’re bringing in should already be in the game. 

Anyway, enough ranting about Sas, onto Mystery Dungeon!

Demo I think could’ve been a little longer, they stop you before you go on the Skarmory mission, I think it could’ve been a better placement to end after the Skarmory mission. 

Anyway, I like the changes so far. I love you can choose a different pokemon if you don’t like what you got from the test. I love that you have an updated move pool, though I feel kinda OP but you also kinda need it for these games cause I remember them being so hard and as a starter that can’t evolve till like, post game, yeah you’re going to need that help. I love that you get to wear a little scarf. Design wise, a little weird at first but it grew on me. Kinda reminds me of Okami. 

By trailer, for sure they’re adding more pokemon in. Lucario is seen in the team, when before, you only saw Lucario as a statue in Red Blue, I believe? Its been a long time. But they only had Gen 1-3 in RB, and Lucario is there so I would think they’d add in a lot more pokemon. 

For starters, I’m hopeful that beating the game, if you replay, you’ll get more options for the starters to play as and have as your partner. I’d loooove to have a chance to play as Popplio. Mega Evolution is confirmed, I wonder if regional forms would also be playable, like if we could evolve into Alolan Marowak or be one of the other two regional Meowths. Otherwise, everyone you could be in the old game is there, with no gender restriction! You can be a female Cubone! A male Eevee! A female Cyndaquil! I’m so happy about that since as a kid, I wanted to play Cyndaquil but never got it in the test and had to look it up and was bummed that it was male only and I wanted to be a girl. 

My biggest hope though is that with this, we’ll have a chance to play two player, since you have a team of two usually, and your friend or sibling or SO can play your partner. 

I am pleasantly surprised with it so far, though I will be holding off when its released in a few months, just going to listen to all reviews once they beat the game and if its very positive, cause SaS had a strong start and then went down hill with Gamefreak rushing it and cutting corners. I’m hopeful for this remake but cautious still. 

[mystical5hit]

Life Update 8/30/2020

Hello, hello! It has been awhile my friends, I have been I guess busy. Busy healing, busy working, busy living, dating, all the good stuff (& the bad too, mostly good). Where do I even begin???

Well, I finally graduated college. Bachelor’s of Social Work <3. Technically cannot call myself a social worker until I am licensed in my state and I did not intend on obtaining license until I graduated with my Master’s, but due to the current pandemic plaguing my country, I have been forced to tweak my plans. No big deal, I’m adaptable, I am capable of making changes. I mean hell we have ALL been forced to make changes because of the pandemic. It has been frustrating, nerve wrecking, yet inspiring finding a new normal with everything going on. Frustrating because the switch from in class instruction to online schooling during my senior year was a nightmare, everything was up in the air, no solid plans, no one knew what to do. Also frustrating because of course I did not have a proper graduation, luckily I have an awesome support system that threw me a surprise graduation party on my graduation date. It was one the sweetest thing I’ve ever had anyone do for me. It meant the world to me. It truly did. Y’all know my college struggle was too real, so I naturally had all the feels when I walked in to confetti all over the floor and I loved the idea a friend had of people reading off what they thought about and giving me well wishes. It feels good to know that I bring my friends such great joy and they have my back no matter the circumstance. 

Anyway, so yeah I graduated college, very trying time and it is finally over until Master’s time, but I could not be any happier to close out my undergrad chapter. I truly evolved so much throughout the years and I am so proud of who I am now. I guess I could tell the story of my first job post-grad (what a nightmare!!!). This job is the reason why I have decided to get licensed at a bachelor’s level instead of waiting to get my master’s first. In reality it would make sense to wait because the test is at least $200 and I would have to pay that twice, but this experience was the push I think I needed. 

Alright, so as I stated above in order to officially call myself a social worker, I must be licensed, so my first job was working as a mental health tech in a psychiatric & behavioral health hospital. A completely brainless job which I hated because basically I was a glorified baby sitter responsible for 16 patients at a time. I took the job because 1.) it was working with those who have mental illness which is my dream population, I want to do so much work with mental health, so I figured this would be a great starting point. I’d be able to have direct contact and learn from them. 2.) the job got me away from my restaurant job where I was a hostess making $4/hr. and the only reason I took the job hostessing was because I could not juggle working full time, interning full time, and going to school. so the hostessing job was great for my mental, not so great for my bills & pockets. 

So, here I am working at this place for ONE month and really within the first few weeks I noticed how crumby the place was. Staff is incredibly rude to patients and that was starting to rub off on me. I did not like that one bit. I literally felt like I was the only in that facility that cared about these people and I think they knew it too. I actually had a nurse tell me that the last person who was empathetic did not last long, SMH. So yes, staff was rude to patients, wrote them off as “crazy” most times when a patient would tell a staff member of a problem and it really broke my heart when I would overhear patients say things like, “they don’t care about us.” or “they’ll never believe the crazy person.” THAT IS SAD. The treatment of mentally ill people in this country is SICKENING. The nurses are incredibly lazy, only a few would actually help. You almost never had a break. It was just god awful in that place. And do not get me started on the discrimination I faced in there from my nursing manager. Don’t worry though, I wrote a nice complaint :). And when I quit I voiced all my concerns about the treatment of patients there because there was soooo much that I would see and hear that I do NOT agree with and did not align with my personal values. I was reaching the point where I hated going to work. My safety was always in jeopardy because security was not a thing at the place. It was my little 130lb ass job to safely detain patients when they started acting rowdy. TUH. Guess what? I stood and watched like everyone else. 

I’m so very proud of myself tho, I seriously stood up for myself and my beliefs and quit the job, which was very uncomfortable and awkward by the way. But hey! It is done and I have my peace back. 

The spiritual journey I’m on has taught me so much about myself, the world around me, how I can utilize the world around me for my own benefit, how great nature truly is. I’m currently working on changing my diet. I’ve started meditating which I love. Life is good and I cannot complain at all. I feel like I am truly stepping into my power and purpose with all that I’m doing and I know that I am aligned with the universe. My only job is to continue to be better than who I was yesterday. 

I hope someone took the time to read this all and if you did, thank you. I hope I inspired you to never sacrifice your own beliefs and values for a check because no matter what you do, as long as it comes from the heart, God, the universe, divine, however it resonates for you will ALWAYS have your back. Keep on your path :)! Do not place limits on yourself, you create the life you so desire, so go get it. What are you waiting for??

[yourfandomfriend]

Femmerwacken | AIW Meta

Okay, I was going to write a follow-up to my post “Kindness as a Verb” by talking about how Disney’s animated film, Cinderella, isn’t the backward, misogynistic mess even the Disney company makes it out to be... but then someone beat me to it.

So instead, I’m going into the looking glass to talk about something that's supposed to be better than Snow White and Cinderella combined. Something that’s supposed to be super-duper feminist but is barely just duper.

**SPOILERS** For Tim Burtin’s Alice in Wonderland **SPOILERS**

No offense if you like this movie, but there’s so much bad here, even when you compare it to old movies without out-dated everything. But everyone’s already talked about that stuff*. No, there’s one thing no one talks about that burns my biscuits. Even if it had been successful in its attempt at conveying a message, it’s one that would be outdated by the 1920s. 

And before anyone says boo about “historical accuracy,” it’s not like this movie is in any way authentic to its time period enough to justify maintaining realism. It’s anachronistic and lazy enough that it might as well just go all in and be modern, but Alice doesn’t do or say or want anything that would threaten anyone still breathing in the modern western world.

But this movie wants you to feel like she did.

Alice isn’t an advocate for anything that hasn’t been within the grasp of every middle-class white woman for the last one-hundred years and I can’t help feeling like that’s the Freudian secret of these "modernized” re-imagined fairy tales. They’re low-balling feminism. For all our crap about how these stories “used to be really sexist” and “we're updating the classics for a modern audience” we tend to keep our enlightened eyes on the past and leave critiquing the present for future generations.

AIW wants to say, “rah-rah-girl power!” but then, whether it means to or not, it defines feminism and modernity as showing your ankles and refusing a proposal and traveling the world with the massive pile of equity your daddy left you.

(What, you can’t afford travel? How can you empowerment if you’ve never rented a yurt in Bali? That’s, like, the first rule of feminism.)

But sword! Girl with sword! Not passive, right? Passive BAD. Never mind that Alice gets carried around from place to place like a damned baton throughout 99% of the film. For that other 1%, good old male-coded violence makes her a positive role model. Who needs the empathy, compassion, and cooperation of an old school princess when you’ve got real virtues like murder, misanthropy, and disdain for anything coded as traditionally female**?

Dear Hollywood, if you must put morals and messages in kids movies no matter what, then let’s try teaching kids, rather than just reassuring and congratulating adults. Yes, we get it, women can vote and wear pants. But while you’re patting yourselves on the back for something your great-grandmother did, can we actually deal with something from the last ten or twenty or even thirty years? You know, something you can actually help change?

If the subject is supposedly too hot to handle for a kids film (like anything to do with gender or sexuality, etc.) Wonderland is the perfect setting for a metaphor. In a world where anything is possible, you could do something really subversive or original or at least clever***. How ‘bout we score another goal before you celebrate winning a game that isn’t half over yet?

...Or you could just keep dancing in the end zone.

*The only characters that are allowed to be interesting and do more than one thing that’s important to the plot are men. Alice defends the status quo -- as represented by the dominion of a placid, conventionally attractive woman who rules a white kingdom -- by defeating a new regime represented by a queen who’s always been othered over her appearance. Alice escapes from a world that wants to force her into a role she doesn’t want and into a wonderland... that forces her into a role she doesn’t want. And this somehow gives her the strength to refuse a role she doesn’t want, even though the lesson in Wonderland was to fulfill the role that... RRG!

**including other women.

*** especially since you clearly don’t give a crap about the book enough to care if you add something new to the story.

[australiaun-blog]

Australia Unwrapped

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[collegegirldiariess]

The bad texter

4/20 (4/19 but it’s past midnight so)

I have to write up an update on the bad texter/really confusing guy from previous posts.

So, about two weeks ago, he reached out and we made plans to go to a show (Manic Focus). We literally did not talk for a week since we made the plans..it got to a point where I wasn’t even sure if it was still happening or not (we had tickets though..). I know it’s the norm for some people to make plans for a date and not message in between, but I’m REALLY not used to that AT ALL. Buuut he did confirm the night before (last Friday). We decided we’d meet up earlier before the show.

On Saturday, he texted and asked if I wanted to go to the Dogwood festival (a local art/music/cultural festival). I was already going to be there with a friend earlier, so I told him we can meet there. Our long night started here.

We met up at around 6pm. We grabbed drinks and walked all around Piedmont park and through the festival (it was a lot of walking). Honestly, I wasn’t really feeling a connection during this. I think I was salty from his previous behavior/his not making it clear if he was into me, so I was fed up. But either the alcohol kicked in or I changed my mind as the night went on.

We walked on the Beltline to Ponce City Market (non-ATL people: a trail to a shopping/restaurant building). We actually went to a really cool bar across from Ponce before going there and had drinks/dinner there then went to Ponce and had more drinks before heading to the concert.

The concert was pretty cool. I was a bit nervous beforehand because the music wasn’t really my normal taste, but I actually ended up enjoying it. It was at Variety Playhouse and it was my first time going there so that was cool. But let’s get to the juicy stuff.

At some point during the show, he was about to go to the restroom and right before he went, he kissed me! I was caught so off guard! It was super adorable haha. He literally did it right before he walked away, so it left me in shock. 

We made out more throughout the night, and then after the show, we sat outside for a while to wait for surge prices to go down and drunk me brought up how confused I’ve been with him. He made it clear that he was interested lmao. This whole part of the night is a bit hard to explain/is fuzzy, but he really seemed genuinely into me. Again, we had been drinking for hours at this point so who really knows. He really seemed like he just wasn’t that experienced (even though he had a girlfriend before?) and just was different. I already had these vibes before, but it keeps getting confirmed.

We ended up getting an Uber pool together. He (drunkingly) wanted to grab food after, but I was tired and just wanted to get home to my dog. When we got to his place, he kissed me one last time as he got out and it was super cute haha. 

But yeah, the next morning was a bit rough. I texted him first even though I jokingly told him that if I didn’t hear from him the next day then I’ll know he ain’t into me..cause he never texted the day after a date before (he made it clear that he wasn’t a big texter and that he didn’t realize that he needed to...still not 100% sure if I believe this..but I also sorta do). Our convo literally lasted like FOUR messages TOTAL. Ugh. I was pretty annoyed at this. At least TRY to talk more because I explicitly told you that’s what I wanted.

(I’ll put a note here that I don’t need a guy to text 24/7 or anything, but ending convos in the middle of the convo and not hearing from when you’d expect to are not things I can deal with...)

So that happened then I was back in he loop of “fuck him”. Then we texted yesterday for a good bit of messages (wow!) which, again, ended out of nowhere. 

So that’s where we stand now. I was saying I’d give him one last chance before this previous date, but since that was very alcohol-driven, I will try this again one more time (if that happens). Just wanted to get this story on the books. I’ve been slowing down (aka not going on any new dates) lately because I’ve been a) lazy b) trying to see where this goes. There is some small stuff that has happened outside of this in the last few weeks, but it’s nothing I want to write about/care too much about.

[glamrus-puta]

Help I Start School Tomorrow: A Check List

Do you need some sweet ass advice from somebody who’s spent no less than 18 years struggling through the muck of academia? Of course you do! Here’s a handy-ass dandy-ass guide to wtf should be going on in your pre-school prep!

Let’s get started~

1) What should I do with my day before I go back to the hell hole that is school?

I’m glad you asked! Do things that make the start of the semester feel like a fun and luxurious adventure awaits you! Especially for college and university people, the start of the semester loses pizzazz with age (and time).

Hype yourself up with some simple self care, these things don’t have to be expensive or cost anything at all if you can utilize what’s lying around in your kitchen, bathroom, neighbour’s house or wherever.

Wash your damn hair! Shower and take all the time you need, shave if you want to while you’re in there. The goal is to feel fresh and a lil less greasy the next morning.

Are you a lazy ass that doesn’t have time to moisturize? Me too! Get some Nivea in-shower lotion if you can, and before you towel dry douse yourself with baby oil gel (or literally just some olive oil or coconut oil- whatever you got lying around). Show yourself some love!!

Now is a great time to style your hair for tomorrow and protect it with a low pony or a night cap, btw

Do a face mask! Do a hair mask! Do a foot mask! Do whatever tf kind of mask you got handy! Use foods from your kitchen, or try Freeman masks they’re around 4$ each. Dollar store prices, department store quality.

Take an hour to fix your nails, toe nails, wax the stache or do any body maintenance you usually do. Pretend you’re going to a sick ass party and you’re grooming your meat vessel to perfection.

Lay out your sick outfit for tomorrow- pro tip: you want to be comfy and functional on buses/trains/on foot or however you commute. Think hard about the kind of weather you’ll be up against, and the general state of the terrain on your commute. Put your outfit on a hanger so it’s ready for tomorrow, even if you can’t do this every night during the school year it’ll get you in the right mental state to have your first day

Prep your meds! A big part of feeling good is taking our medications on time to reap their maximum benefits. Put them out on your kitchen counter if you think you’ll forget, go through your medicine cabinet: is there anything you need to remember to take with you to have during the day? Set alarms on your phone if (like me) you’ve got pills to take at different times of day- label them something that you’ll understand. (I use the names of the doctors that prescribed them so I know which pills are physical health and which are mental health).

Pack your lunch for tomorrow. Fruits and veggies bitch none of this “I’ll buy it when I get there” nonesense. Remember to stay hydrated! Bring some kind of receptacle to hold water/tea/coffee whatever. This is a solid habit to have year round, but remember the first couple school days can frazzle you pretty good and it’s good to have snacks on hand.

CLEAN YOUR GODDAMN ROOM. You’re gonna be shooketh in a bad way if you wake up on the first day of classes with a messy bathroom and shit strewn all over your sleeping space. Take all the time you need to put things lovingly away, if you’re feeling ambitious update your calendar and spray a little room spray or light a scented candle. Ooh la la

Do something fun. Do something distracting. Go out with a friend, read a book, take a couple hours of ‘me time’. You’ll be ready to die for it during the semester.

Feeling nervous? Call literally anybody you can stand to talk to for more than five minutes. Talk about dogs, talk about boats, ask them to guess how many jelly beans you’re holding right this second (sike b the answer is 0)- take a couple steps away from the whole school thing.

2) What the hell do I put in my backpack??

So this is where I fly into an unGodly rage. I’m so tired of seeing Instagram posts telling people their make up, perfume and breath mints are the most important of their school arsenal. What’s gonna save you when you bleed through your pants at school cause Aunt Flo decides to come chill on campus? Your perfume? Unlikely.

Here’s the real tea on what you should have in your bag, based on years of oopses, dire situations, and general mishap management.

A pencil case. Preferably full of writing implements. I can’t believe I have to tell people this but like......I do.....y’all childish

MEDICAL BAG: A small pouch is all you need! Tuck this away in your bag’s inside pocket, or in your purse, it could save not only your life but somebody else’s too. Get your prescriptions you need throughout the day like inhalers, anti anxiety meds, lactose intolerance pills, Imodium, symethicone etc.

Pack some ginger gravol (or regular drowsy gravol) for motion sickness or for when the flu season hits

Benadryl pills (and your epipen if you have one!) this is one of those things you should always have lying around at home and in your car

Alcohol swabs and band aids of your choice. Most pharmacies will sell 100 swabs for around 3$, look in dollar stores for discreet 1st aids packs and band aids. Stash them in your little pouch, it might not be you who falls down a flight of stairs and needs to bandage up their elbow- but at least you can help. (Based on a true story!!!!)

Panty liners/ tampons/ pads- this is another one of those things that others may benefit from

Get yourself a mini deodorant (3$ at Walmart) and wrap your hair ties around it. Double trouble, double storage capacity!

Tylenol/Advil, hunt around for little plastic pill holders like Pill Pals, they’re not usually more than 2 or 3 bucks and they hold A TON of pills

Vagina Bonus Round: do you take birth control? Have a tube of Canesten/Monistat/Vagisil or whatever for when the yeast season is upon us

Remember to carry your hospital card and/or medical insurance card on you at all times

Pharmacies will give face wipes individually wrapped for free. Usually brands like Cetaphil will dump them off as testers for customers- ask your local pharmacy cashier for stuff like mini hand creams, spf lip balms and face wipes. We’re happy to give them to you and you’ll get some real use out of them!

ASS WIPES. GET SOME. You can wipe down your bag with them, wipe down tables with them, flush them, and do all kinds of damage control. Trust.

Emergency money- the medical bag is a great place to hide emergency money (think bus fare, or 5$ for emergency food) because people are unlikely to rob what looks like a 1st aid kit

3. Friends come and go but portable chargers are forever- you can find cheap key chain ones at dollar stores. If you’re going to spring for one that lasts a few days on one charge I suggest the OKZU from Amazon. It’s HELLA SLIM and I can hold a charge for about 3 days before it reaches even 75% battery capacity. (It’s also the most budget friendly I’ve found to date about 14$ after shipping).

4. Remember make up, gum, little travel items and perfume can have a place in your bag but I would suggest transferring as much as you can into smaller and smaller containers. A whole bottle of perfume is a lot to carry around, imagine a water bottle bouncing around your bag- that’s the kind of space you’re using up. Be mindful of just how many books/ copy books/ textbooks you’ll be toting around and if it gets to be too much- get an actual tote!

5. A little clip on hand sanitizer never hurt anybody...also Kleenex I promise you’ll use it. (And if you don’t I’ll be there to borrow it lmao) ALLERGY SEASON BONUS ROUND: a small bottle of off brand artificial tears are great to stow in your glasses case for all those shitty October mornings where your eyes refuse to act like eyes and not the Sahara Desert 🐫 off brand artificial tears run for between 2-4$ at most Walmarts!

3) I’ve used my last 24 hours to get my shit together- but I have a horrible impending sense of doom! What should I do?

Ah anozzer day in bikini bottom, which means another day of crippling anxiety for 25% of adult Canadian students! (Wow that’s a lot of students!) Boy do I know how tough it is to be thrown back into the pressure cooker of life that we call school. Here are some tips from me to you that I hope help a little bit:

I believe in you! It’s not a tip, but I want you to know that I do. If you’re feeling unsure/ silly/ out of your element/ etc think about me wandering around just as confused as you are! And have a good laugh at my expense! Shoot me a DM, scroll around my nonesense blog- wow check me out I’m a real living person and I made this post for you- because why? I care about your well being! Sometimes it just helps to know that there’s somebody out there thinking about you and wishing for your safe return home at the end of the day~ for the start of your semester I’ll be that person. *smooch*

Arrive early! My therapist once told me that rolling out of bed five minutes before I have to be somewhere limits my chances of having a calm and meaningful experience where I’m going. I hate to admit it but she makes a good point. Wake up early and do something nice for you: have breakfast, just sit on your balcony and breathe some fresh air, pet your cat and gaze upon their stupid face. Take the time.

Arrive early BONUS TIP: get to where you’re going an hour early and just wander! Window shop, roam the building, learn where the fire exit is, sit outside on a bench and watch the students come in and out. The longer you chill at school the homier it’ll feel, and the more you feel at home somewhere the more you feel at ease. Strike up random convos with strangers if you’re feeling brave, or text an understanding friend to meet you there and roam alongside you.

Plan your day! Get an agenda if it’s in your means, or just scribble on some scrap paper. Make your grocery list, write your tasks of the day, your goals of the day, or even just a positive affirmation. Sometimes even when I know exactly what I’m doing that day, or have something trivial to do (like laundry) I’ll write down “do laundry” to feel like I have a clear path to follow.

Embrace your local accessibility Center and school councellor. Don’t live in fear of the resources your school provides. It seems scary/embarrassing/weird to have to have special accommodations to deal with your anxiety or depression but GIRL once you’re all set with the appropriate tools there’s truely nothing that can stop you. This was my experience anyway, but I strongly urge everybody I meet to take advantage of school services and wring them for all they’ve got. They’re there for you boo!

HOT TIP: feeling dizzy and overwhelmed on the bus? Look at the wall or something that isn’t moving. DONT LOOK OUT THE WINDOWS AS THIS MAKES DIZZINESS WORSE. Breathe in 2 beats and out 3 beats- this cuts your fight or flight. If you’re going to drink take small sips out of a straw or without moving your head. My GP gave me this advice and it’s saved my whole ass quite a few times.

Download free apps that are anti anxiety in the form of fun games. I’ve had positive results with Viridii (where you grow a little succulent garden) Tap Tap Fish (basically you’re a sentient coral that decorates the sea floor) and Polytap (you basically count the vertices of spinning polygons). A cursory google search will reveal more fun games for emergency anxiety relief! I also like to go on YouTube and search for positive affirmation anxiety videos, or storm/white noise/ ocean anti anxiety sounds the night before to get me in the right headspace to sleep!

So this has been your lightning round/ crash course for what to do the 24 hours before school! I hope you feel a little more prepared to take on the start of the semester!

A dios hoes!!

[becomingkatie]

Just gonna post an update without any pics bc all my pics are on my phone but I prefer to write out posts on my computer and the mobile/web bug is still ruining things.

I am draggingggg on this Monday. BUT this weekend was really good! And I think this week will also be really good!

(also gonna put a cut here bc this became super long. TL;DR: ate a lot of food saturday bc it was my “cheat day,” got back on track Sunday with TJ’s cauliflower gnocchi, went to see Sorry to Bother You, Ken rode 100 miles on his bike, and life is good)

Saturday Ken and I had a lazy morning, then went into DC to meet up with a friend and coworker who was in town from LA for a wedding. We wandered around a hip neighborhood and got lunch at a seriously overpriced but still tasty lunch spot. I made Saturday my “cheat day” for my meal plan, so rather than scrambled eggs and a side of fruit or salad, I went with french toast. YUM.

Ken and I tried to go see Sorry to Bother You more than a month ago, but Patton Oswald was at the theater that night hosting a Q&A after the screening (we did not know this ahead of time) so tickets were an extra $20 apiece and there were only two seats left in the house. Those two seats weren’t next to each other, and we weren’t eager to pay extra to sit separately, so we decided against it and then got really busy and couldn’t go see the movie until it was out of alllll the theaters near us.

BUT, it is still showing at a few small indie theaters in the DC area, so we moseyed on over to this adorable little theater (after getting ice cream and a beer, of course!) and finally got to see the movie! Verdict: weird as FUCK. Seriously. I mean it was good, and I’m glad we went to see it, but I did NOT expect it to be the way it was.

From the movie we headed back to the suburbs and tried a restaurant we’ve been meaning to try for a while. I thought it was going to be a lowkey American restaurant/pub fare with a variety of burgers, sandwiches, chicken fingers, etc. Nope. It wasn’t fancy, but it was a level above what I was expecting, with one burger on the menu and most of the options in the $20+ range. We both got the burger, and it was adequate. We also got a slice of cake to take home and split, and it was better than the burgers.

I fell asleep at 9:30 Saturday night, which meant when Ken’s 6am alarm went off on Sunday so he could go ride 100 miles with his friends, I was up and at it. I headed to Aerie and spent money on adorable bralettes and sleep shorts because I have no self control, then met up with a good friend for a coffee date (which we’ve started doing weekly and which makes me feel so much more connected to her!), then met up with Ken and his friends following the bike event.

Since he’d just burned 4,000+ kcal riding his bike, Ken ate a whole pizza for dinner while I had Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi and chicken. Honestly, it was delicious, but if someone is eating pizza next to me then whatever it is I’m eating is not gonna make me happy, haha.

BUT, I was stoked to finally try the cauli gnocchi since it has been sold out every time I’ve tried to get it for months. I’m not a big fan of cauliflower, so I definitely wouldn’t want to eat it on its own, but with chicken in each bite it was really tasty and definitely something I’ll have on repeat. 

Also, pro tip: the TJ’s chicken nuggets are big hunks of yummy chicken breast, so when I want to cook less than I want to overspend on groceries, I cook those nuggets and cut them up to use in pastas or with veggies or in this case with cauli gnocchi. Expensive, but delicious and only marginally worse for you (probably) than just cooking some chicken for yourself.

We also just finished Season 3 (I think) of The Americans last night and I am LOVING this show so much!! We’ve been going through it slowly and I’ve been savoring it and looking forward to it every night throughout the week. If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend! It’s on Amazon prime streaming!

Anyway, sorry this got so long! Hope you guys all have a fabulous Monday!