#inbox detox

[monzamash]

to be loved — carlos sainz

carlos sainz x you — “i can take care of you. you won't need anyone but me.” requested by @dancininseptember masterlist

The short stroll from your office to the apartment never really bothered you. In fact, you typically enjoyed the fresh air and the chance to enjoy the city you loved. But it was early February; rain was threatening the Spanish skies and the frost bitten breeze stung your already tear-filled eyes. It was a crappy end to an even shittier week, your energy wasted on people who didn’t deserve it.

You practically flung yourself through the door of the apartment and shed all remnants of the day – coat, beanie and scarf, all strewn haphazardly, and in that order, on the floor of your small entryway. It took every ounce of energy you had to kick off your heavy boots, each one hitting the wall much harder than you intended. Maybe it was an unconscious way for you to let out frustration, the scuff marks on the white wall a stark reminder of your last straw.

The smell of fresh bread and bolognese sauce hit you as you slunk down the hallway, your tummy grumbling on instinct. You hadn’t eaten since yesterday, a terrible habit you had fallen into lately and Carlos had noticed. He was home more during the cooler months, easily picking up on your little habits that both endeared and worried him. So he made sure, while he was close to you, that you came home to a warm meal every night – because looking after you was his calling in life.

“That smells incredible.”

Carlos briefly glanced over his shoulder and gave you a bright smile before turning down the stove and grabbing a washcloth to clean his hands. You loved him like this; soft and relaxed, in his element. The kitchen was his playground and you remember the sigh of relief that left your lungs when he told you he loved to cook on your first date, because you weren’t particularly gifted when it came to the pots and pans.

“Hope you’re hungry,” He sang, circling the island in the middle of the kitchen to say a proper hello to his beautiful girlfriend, “How was your day?”

A rigid sigh fell from your lips as you fell into his arms, the loving embrace triggering tears to spring to your eyes for the third time today. Carlos held you tight and brushed his hands down your back, comforting you through the sobs wracking your aching body.

“Ay, mi amor,” He soothed, “Breathe for me please.”

Carlos guided you through a couple of deep breaths, chests rising and falling together in synchronicity until your sobs subsided, air finally filling your lungs again. A tight squeeze around your waist brought you back to the man holding you in his arms, worried eyes searching yours for a sign that you were okay as you pulled back and gave him a soft smile.

“I’m okay, I’m sorry.” You sniffled, head shaking.

Carlos tutted as he thumbed away the trail of tears from your face, “Do not say sorry, my love. Talk to me…”

Anger replaced sadness as you told him about how your sister had completely disregarded your feelings for the millionth time, accusing you of only caring about yourself while she’s all alone and stressed about wedding planning. Carlos has managed to get you to sit up on the counter beside him while he finished dinner, but not before pouring you a glass of red wine to nurse while you purged all the negativity from your day.

“She called me a bitch and then uninvited us from the wedding, which by the way I didn’t want to go too to begin with,” You huffed, hands animatedly flying around while he tried to keep up with the drama.

“And all I said to her was that work has been stressful and that us trying for a baby hadn’t been… fruitful, I guess. She flipped out when I said that because her dickhead fiancé doesn’t want kids and she thinks she can change his mind…”

You took a sip of wine and noticed Carlos' eyes rolling like they always did when the topic of your sister came up. He was as sick of her shit as you were, unapologetically scoffing at her selfishness. Making you feel bad when all you needed was someone to confide in was one thing, but lashing out on you was something he couldn’t stand by and watch. He knew he couldn’t do anything right now; maybe he would make a stern phone call tomorrow once the dust had settled.

So instead of getting upset, he put down the wooden spoon coated in the most delicious sauce you had ever tasted and nestled himself between your swinging legs. His warm chocolate eyes stared into your soul as he planted his palms on your thighs, tethering himself to you.

“You know I can take care of you, mi vida,” He said, voice deep and barely above a whisper, “No matter the problem, you won't need anyone but me, I promise.” 

For the first time in weeks, you felt your heart slow down and return to a normal rhythm as Carlos pressed a sweet kiss to your lips. You softly moaned in unison and gripped the grey shirt hanging loosely from his shoulders, pulling him in closer – not that he had any plan on going anywhere.

No, all he wanted was for his girl to feel heard and to be loved because all he needed was you.

a/n — loved writing carlos again. inbox detox is still open !!

[monmuses]

QUICK LITTLE UPDATE BEFORE I FORGET!! BUT!! I LEAVE FOR COLLEGE IN ONE WEEK!!

this is important because i will be doing a couple of things before the new year. one big thing is a NEW INBOX! i will wipe every ask i have left over once im done with replying to asks. which means, i will reply to as MANY asks as i can while i work & pack my things.

second thing is NEW SCHEDULE!! classes are set and im gonna try to land a part-time job but i will be somewhat busy with classes as i will make that my main focus. BUT! my queue will start back up when i officially start college on the 8th of January!

it's gonna be a new start and its hopefully gonna be MUCH better than last year. i promise nobody is gonna be left behind in my replies or asks nor will i dip anytime soon, but im slowly figuring shit out and will be doing replies as often as i did for this year.

anyways i love yall and hopefully we'll kickstart 2025 to a much smoother and exciting start. :)

[hexedwinchester]

What's your favourite episode?

hi tough question noni!!

I'm assuming you mean SPN (because I do Walker reviews too)

i love quite a few episodes for different reasons but if there's one episode that I can watch anytime and I've it saved in my phone like a rainy day stash it's S04E21 When The Levee Breaks.

Why? Because it's Sam centric and purely focuses on his psyche. I love his interactions with his hallucinations, it's so distinct, isn't it? He is scared around Alastair but gives a tough talk to Young Sam. He is hurt and vulnerable around Mary and appears shattered around Dean.

Massive kudos to Jared Padalecki for beautifully portraying all of this and an addict on withdrawal: the shakes, the tired eyes, the conscious swallows and his magical ability to make himself appear small and vulnerable. Like damn, this man !

And you know what's the banger? Despite Dean letting him rot away into his detox, when he catches upto Sam, Sam is still willing to forgive him. He asks his brother to join him and Ruby to kill Lilith. He wants his brother by his side but Dean denies because of Ruby and calls him a monster to his face. I love Sam's tolerance here, he is so patient until the last straw and then it's over. After everything that Dean out him through, he was still willing to forgive Dean who didn't deserve it btw, but finally stops putting up with his bullshit.

And you? What's your episode and why? 😊

Thanks for this ask! 🤗

[waitineedaname]

psa I am gonna be on a trip til Sunday and i will have absolutely zero internet connection so if you message me and i do not respond that is why!!

[diaryofaninsanewriter]

8 Common Mistakes That Are Cluttering Your Digital Life (And How to Fix Them!)

In today’s world, our digital spaces are just as cluttered as our physical ones. From overflowing inboxes to messy photo galleries, digital clutter can slow us down and make it hard to find what we need. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by digital mess, you might be making these common mistakes. The good news? They’re easy to fix! 1. Letting Your Google Drive Overflow with Redundant Files Google…

[mariasont]

RAINY WITH A CHANCE OF HOTCH - A.H

a/n: hi wow it's been a hot minute!

firstly, i just want to say i am so incredibly grateful for everyone who has reached out <3 i love you all and once i am not as overwhelmed i promise i'll go through my messages and inbox. you all are amazing and im kissing you all through the screen.

secondly, this summer was the hottest messiest express that could have been is the short n sweet explanation to my disappearance (sabrina reference, sorry i had to) but i just struggled hard core with my mental health and needed a detox from social media.

thirdly, but i'm back and i love you all and here is a short like fic featuring everyone's fav miss bimbo reader <3

masterlist

parings: aaron hotchner x bimbo!assistant!reader

warnings: just some cuties being cute

wc: 0.6k

Hotch hesitated to acknowledge the fact that he found himself often gazing out of his office window, discreetly observing your arrival in the parking lot each morning. He attempted to justify this behavior by reasoning that, as the unit chief, it was within his responsibilities to monitor the welfare of his team.

He mentally recited the same mantra repeatedly as he moved towards the exit, an umbrella tapping persistently against his side. Hotch found himself calling out your name before he realized it, his hand shielding his face from the unrelenting raindrops as he took in your appearance.

"Stay there," he borderline commanded, moving towards you as you clung to the driver’s side door.

You looked as pretty as ever, with your hair swept back from your face and curls framing your doe eyes. It made you that much more alluring and, consequently, even more distracting.

When you first joined as his assistant, he discreetly suggested to whoever was in charge of the hires back then that he was less than pleased with the arrangement. He found it hard to focus, his eyes constantly drawn to you. He wanted to claim it was involuntary, but he knew there was intention behind his constant search for you.

"Well, hi there, boss man," you chirped, your disposition utterly unaffected by the water that had dampened your outfit. 

He considered himself a noble man, honorable even, or so he told himself as he resisted the urge to glance down at your blouse that was now nearly see-through.

He quickly unfurled the umbrella, taking the liberty of shielding your perfect face from the onslaught of raindrops. You smiled up at him in a way that was so carefree it made his heart clench in his chest.

He cleared his throat. “You’ll catch a cold if you stay out here.”

“Good thing you’re here to prevent that.”

Aaron’s face was now wet, rivulets of rain tracing paths from his hair to his chin. He struggled to prevent a smile at your words, tucking his chin into his chest to conceal it.

He let you take hold of his arm, your purse occasionally tapping into his leg as he closed your car door and started towards the entrance. You leaned in closer, earning a knowing look from him.

You smiled into your coffee, pink lipstick staining the travel cup. “What? I wasn’t all the way under the umbrella.”

He knew that was a lie because he wasn’t all the way under the umbrella, ensuring you were fully covered.

“I didn’t say a word.”

“Your eyes are very expressive, Mr.”

“Then you should know I’m thinking we need to get you inside and dry." He looked at you knowingly, his grip on the umbrella tightening as you both reached the entrance.

“Dry? Around you?” you questioned, smiling innocently towards Hotch as he closed the umbrella and opened the front door. “Wishful thinking, sir.”

“Do I need to remind you we’re at work?”

Hotch combed his semi-damp hair with his fingers, flicking some water in your direction. You squealed, hands flying to shield your face, a stream of giggles following. The smile on his face was now inevitable.

“Sorry, can’t help myself,” you managed to say through the laughter.

He kissed your cheek softly, then started to walk to his office. Glancing back, he adds, “You’ll be sorry when we get home.”

That shut you up.

taglist: @readergf @edencherries @aurorsworld @princess76179 @malindacath @freyy253 @broadwaytraaaaash @sunfyyre @sleepysongbirdsings @trulycayla @crouchingapple @navia3000 @aaronlovesava @bakugocanstompme @pansexualhailstorm @averyhotchner @looking1016 @everythinglizzy @sky2nd @messylxve @alexxavicry @yaykeira @spencerssatchel @candyd1es @storiesofsvu @pleasantwitchgarden @kodzukenmaaa @hiireadstuff @dilflover-3 @spenciesslut @phoenix-le-danseur-de-pole @deadofnight0 @sabmichell @jstcln @just-here-to-read13 @c-losur3

join my taglist here!

[lilyprettyremy]

Polished and Productive: The It Girl Playbook for Organization. 💋☕️

- The Power of a Chic Planner 📄 Your planner is more than just dates and deadlines, it’s your daily sidekick. Opt for one that’s stylish and functional—think sleek leather covers, minimalist designs, and plenty of space for your goals. Use it to jot down tasks, appointments, and those brilliant ideas you get on the go.

- Create a Morning Routine That Sets the Tone 📋 Start your day with a quick, five-minute planning session. Outline your top three priorities, a to-do list, and a motivational quote. This mini habit keeps you focused and ready to conquer the day ahead.

- Declutter Your Digital Space 💻 Your phone and laptop should be as chic as your outfit. Organize your apps into folders, clear out your camera roll, and set a wallpaper that inspires you. Keep your inbox clean by unsubscribing from emails that no longer serve you—it’s like a digital detox.

- Capsule Wardrobe, but for Your Desk 🖋️ Keep your workspace minimalist and clutter-free. Think of it like a capsule wardrobe: only the essentials, but each item should be purposeful and aesthetically pleasing. A sleek pen holder, a chic planner, and a scented candle are all you really need.

- Time Blocking: Your Secret Weapon 🗓️ An It Girl knows that multitasking is out, and time blocking is in. Set specific times for studying, working, and breaks. This method keeps you in control of your schedule, so you can slay your to-do list without feeling overwhelmed.

- Organize Your Thoughts with Brain Dumps 📓 Feeling overwhelmed? Do a quick brain dump—grab a notebook and write down everything on your mind. It’s like a reset button for your brain, clearing the clutter so you can focus on what truly matters.

- Weekly Reset Ritual 🕊️ Dedicate one day a week to reset. This is your time to clean your space, plan for the week ahead, and refresh your mindset. Light a candle, put on a playlist, and make this ritual something you look forward to.

- Stay Inspired with a Vision Board Keep your goals front and center with a vision board. Whether digital or physical, fill it with images, quotes, and aesthetics that align with your dream life. It’s a daily reminder of what you’re working towards and why you’re putting in the effort.

[live-laugh-lenney]

LOCKED IN | ARTHUR FREDERICK

chapter three is here! i'm so sorry about the wait but i'm hoping to become a lot more regular with my schedule and posting this story. thanks for all the love so far! feedback is always welcomed and my inbox is always open so please, please, please don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts on the story. enjoy! <33

MASTERLIST

- C H A P T E R T H R E E -

“YN, to the Store Room.”

“Are you really going to make me get out of bed to come for a brief chat, Sugarlips?” YN groaned, letting out a disgruntled sound as she rolled over and planted her face into her pillow. She felt Steph rub her shoulder from above the duvet, having perched on the edge of YN’s bed as they said their good morning’s to each other. “I’m so cold. Don’t make me go.”

“Maybe it’s another secret challenge…” Steph wondered, standing from her place and grabbing fistfuls of the duvet with both of her fists, “come on, lazy bones. Up you get.”

“I’m cold,” she reiterated, feeling the chill of the bedroom air hit at her exposed legs, “please. Do not make me get up.”

Her socks felt twisted and uncomfortable on her feet and she guessed it was a good enough reason to sit up on the mattress because she couldn’t stop thinking about the feeling below her ankles. The sleeves of her jumper had risen to her elbows, the cuffs feeling tight around her arm and left crease marks in her skin, which she would use as knowledge that she had slept brilliantly through the night. 

Because she was finding it much easier. 

Everyone was pretty relaxed around one another now and everyone had adjusted to routines and little habits that needed to be done before ending their day. Snoring became a sound that soothed her to sleep rather than woke her from her slumber. The background chat that came in the mornings became her alarm clock and she didn’t mind waking up to join in with whatever topic they were talking about. Everyone’s mess became everyone’s mess around the house and she found herself busying her mind by tidying the different rooms in the house every so often. Because once she picked a t-shirt up or put a pair of shoes away at the end of someone’s bed, she had to pick the rest up. Time was still a struggle and she was finding it hard to go about her day without reaching for her phone or her laptop, needing some kind of escape from the small bubble, for just a moment but it was a detox that she’d be thankful for once she left the house and went back to the normality of her day-to-day life in London.

She slipped her feet into her slippers, a big and yellow smiley face adorned on the front in a carpet-like material, and scuffed down the alley of the beds and into the hidden room round the corner, opening the door and closing it behind her.

“Good morning, YN.”

“Sugarlips,” she greeted with a soft smile, sitting down and crossing her legs like she was back in a school assembly, hands holding her ankles to keep them in place, “what information can I grace you with this morning? Since you woke me up and had me leave the warmth of my bed.”

“How did you sleep last night?”

YN smiled a genuine smile at the camera.

“I slept brilliantly, thank you,” she nodded, sticking her two thumbs up, “I really did, honestly. It’s becoming so much easier to just fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. No snoring keeps me awake now.”

“That’s good for a light sleeper.”

“I am not a light sleeper, let me tell you, Sugarlips. I just struggle to get to sleep, especially in a place where I’m surrounded by strangers who might look at me weirdly in my sleep,” she took a second to clear her throat into her fist before she continued, “once I’m snoozing and I’m all comfortable and warm, I’m out for the count.”

It sounded like heaven.

Most people could only dream of falling asleep as soon as they clambered under their bedsheets and and as soon as their heads hit the pillow behind them. As soon as their eyes closed and as soon as their brain switched off from the day, into a state where nothing was able to distract them from a much needed slumber after a busy day of working. 

YN saw it as a curse.

Where she loved being able to nap anywhere she wanted, loved being able to have a quick ten minute shuteye session on the train or in the back of a taxi cab, there had been many times where she would curse herself for being such a deep sleeper. Many a time where she’d slept through an alarm and had been late for work or for a meeting or for something as important as a video shoot for a channel she had been asked to be a guest on, many a time where she had overslept on a day off and wasted half of her day in bed because she was far too sleepy and far too comfortable to move elsewhere in her house (and why would she need to move if she had no plans?), and there had been many a time where she had overstayed her welcome in hotels because she would work hard for the event she had been invited to and really reap the benefits of being in a five-star bed in a five-star hotel building in a location that she could only dream of working in. 

In a house full of people who slept so differently, she felt it was more a blessing than a curse, at that very moment. 

“Who do you think is the loudest in the house?”

“Oh god, in what way?” YN sat herself up a little straighter in the chair and clasped her hands together in an excitable way, “because if we’re talking in general, I’d have to say Spuddz. He’s such a loud character who gets passionate and really excited about things that happened in here.”

YN had become used to his antics now.

Spuddz was the prankster of the house who liked to play jokes when there was a tiny lull of boredom; he’d hide and jump out at people when they walked passed him, he’d take away something they would use quite often and pretend he had no idea what they were talking about to only place it somewhere so inconspicuous that they wouldn’t even think to check there, he would jump on someone if they were snoozing under the covers in the bedroom, and he’d tell the wackiest jokes that you’d just have to laugh at because it was his delivery rather than the punchline that made it. 

He brought a bit of chaos to the place and he was entertaining, to say the least.

“But if we’re talking about snoring, god, then it has to be Jokeman. Without a doubt. I feel bad for Arthur having to sleep next to him,” YN admitted and shook her head in amusement; there were many times when a group of them would giggle amongst themselves at the sounds escaping his nose and throat, “I think I’ve just learnt to drown everything out now. It’s become such common knowledge in the house that you just learn to live with it, almost like it’s background noise.”

“And who do you think is the messiest in the house?”

“The messiest? Oh god,” she cackled softly and rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers, holding them there for a brief moment as she tried to recount everything from the last two days of being in the Locked In house. Her mind raced between everybody; their beds in the bedroom, their section of the bathroom, who left their shoes out and about and how they were when it came to cooking and cleaning after themselves. Including herself in the mix because she knew she wasn’t the cleanest person that entered the house. “I honestly, honestly couldn’t tell you. I feel like we’re all incredibly messy. My clothes are always all over the place. Spuddz always chucks his clothes out of the bathroom when he’s getting ready. All of us girls leave make-up everywhere when we’re getting ready in the mornings,” she tapped her chin in thought, “everyone contributes to the mess without really thinking about it.”

“Everyone?”

“Well, apart from Arthur, I guess. He might leave the odd bowl out from breakfast but he’s pretty neat with everything. His bed is always so pristine in the mornings,” she smiled softly, “he’s a neat freak, I think they call them.”

She remembered just what his bed looked like when she woke up that morning. Not a single trace of him left behind; no dip in the mattress where his body had situated through the night, no dip in his pillow from where he’d laid his head, no crease or lump to signify he was still there. He’d seemingly woken up before everyone that morning, she assumed, because his duvet was pulled up and his pillows were neatly placed at the head of the bed like he was done with it for the day, and YN wondered where he’d gone before Steph had made her way to her bed and flopped herself down. 

“I need him to start making mine, I think. Nothing is allowed to touch that bed from the moment it’s made, till the moment he gets in it at nighttime. He hates it.”

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The kitchen, just after lunchtime, was the perfect level of quiet. 

With the humming of the kitchen fridge and the whirring of the extractor fan above the oven and the trickling sounds coming from the tap once everything had been washed and left to dry on the drying board, it held a sense of silence that was the complete opposite to how it was just a mere half an hour ago; lunchtime being the time when everyone congregates in the kitchen to decide who wanted what for lunch with the limited items they had left from their big shop down just over two days ago. Shouting over each other as they let everyone know their orders on fried eggs opposed to scrambled, ketchup instead of baked beans and who wanted nuggets instead of sausages. All whilst other conversations were happening between he housemates. 

Chaos.

A lovely chaos but pure chaos, none-the-less.

“So, Youtube chat.”

“Yes,” YN grinned, taking her seat on the stool beside the brunette dressed in her peach tracksuit, “the one you wanted to have earlier?”

Anastasia nodded softly, watching as YN opened the pack of digestive biscuits and set them between the two of them.

“Now, I’d say we’re quite similar in what we do on Youtube, wouldn’t you think? I think we’d both fall into the subtopic of Lifestyle,” Anastasia stated, reaching for another chocolate biscuit from the pack that YN had placed on the kitchen island not too long before, pairing nicely with the two cups of tea she had made when Anastasia had asked her if she fancied going for a private chat somewhere - so they could get to know each other in a little bit more of a deeper level than just leaving it at a minor introduction, “I do a little bit of everything and I find I can’t stick to one topic in life. Where most of these guys have make-up or football, I feel like I dabble in a bit of every kind of thing you can show on Youtube.”

“Quite similar? I’d say very similar in terms of what we post,” YN laughed softly, “I just sit and chat. Almost like a vlog-style but not in the format of a vlog. I’m also yet to introduce my family onto my channel, like my parents and my grandparents and whatnot, and I want to make sure they’re comfortable before I bombard them with a camera in their face,” she took a sip from the mug of tea in her hands, “I have no siblings so it’s just me doing my own content. With the occasional pop up from a friend.”

“Do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend?”

“I don’t,” she shook her head, placing the mug back down on the island top and pulling the sleeves of her jumper over her hands, “no boyfriends for me currently. I’ve been so thrown into this Youtube thing over the last twelve months that I just don’t find myself looking.”

“Not even just swiping Tinder or?”

YN shakes her head.

Sure, she had the dating apps downloaded on her phone; Tinder, Hinge and Bumble. 

But they were only there because her friends had encouraged her to put herself out there in the world of dating and had practically downloaded them to her phone themselves one night when they were together. Insisting that she had something good going for her and that people needed to see the true her and not the girl she portrays herself as online and in her Youtube videos. She found herself using them a couple of times, when curiosity got the better of her and she was in the mood to be nosey, when she was at home by herself and trying to find something to cure her boredom… yet nothing ever came out of swiping right or agreeing to a conversation that would become the driest chat she’d ever had.

“I feel like boyfriends, in this line of work, are something hard to find.”

Boyfriends would come and go in her life. 

Where she would love to have someone to settle down with, go on late-night drives with and take romantic walks through London with, her job came first. With her schedule being something that would almost look crazy busy to someone with a normal 9-5 office job and with her job being something out of the ordinary and not a sit-down job, it was something she thought would scare people off; who would want cameras in their face all day? Who would want their life to be broadcast for millions of followers to see? It would be somewhat of a dealbreaker between her and someone she liked to be around so she saved herself the heartache.

“Yeah, I find that everyone feels intimidated by it when I say I’ve got 1.3 million subs. The look of overwhelm on their faces just says it all really.” 

“Not that I’m holding back on relationships but,” YN sighed heavily and the feeling of dejection ran through her body, “I guess I’m just waiting for someone worth it. I don’t want to go through heartache after heartache, dealing with break-ups, when I could have saved myself from it from the very start.”

“Youtube is tough of the private life sometimes,” Anastasia agreed, nodding softly and she chewed upon a bite of a digestive biscuit held in her hand, chocolate coating her fingertips, “but once you find someone who loves you for you, who supports you and becomes your number one fan, who cheers you on and agrees to do things you want them to do for content, yeah… it’s the best feeling in the world.”

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“When was the first Nike Air Force 1 first released?” 

Johnny turned from the screen he read the question from and looked to face his team; Jemel, Jamie, Anastasia and YN, all of them looking at the four answers with puzzled looks on their faces as they thought long and hard about what the correct answer could be. Throwing around different ideas, conferring as a team, looking frantically at the brand-new white shoes on YN’s feet as they searched for any kind of clue that could give away what the answer could be.

“Does it say anything? At all?” Jemel questioned, looking over YN’s shoulder and shaking her head, “nothing at all.”

“Just split the items across the board. At least we win something, if not nothing,” YN suggested, “but put more on what we think may be the correct answer. If we win then there’s a lot of our items to have and, if we lose, then there’s a small minority of our items. A win-win either way.”

Johnny split the luxury items according to how YN stated, confirming with his team what number they were going for, dividing everything up and placing them on the dropboards before him.

“Lock in number 4. 1991,” Johnny confirmed, standing back from the table, “fuck.”

Number 2 dropped before them.

Number 3 dropped before them.

“Look me in the eye,” Johnny stated confidently as he made eye contact with the four players of his team, “this isn’t going anywhere. This,” he waved around the pile of items on number 4’s dropboard, “this isn’t going anywhere. Just look me in the eye and trust me.”

Trusting him is what they did…

… and trusting him is what they wish they didn’t do.

Number 4 dropped before them and they watched as the majority of their luxury items disappeared beneath the table. Sounds of complete shock filled the challenge room as they watched the events happen before them, leaving one tiny luxury left behind on number 1’s dropboard. YN frowned as she watched the collection of Cadbury’s Caramel chocolate bars disappear, her heart instantly dropping with them, and her face dropped to her hands. 

“You’re joking,” Jemel groaned behind his hands, hiding his face and dragging his palms down his cheeks, “we were certain.”

“Johnny, we’re not listening to you again,” YN frowned playfully at him as he paced the floor in front of the table, “you were so confident.”

“We’re a team, we all went for it. If you thought differently, you should’ve said,” he bit back in a tone that sent an ache through her chest. Making YN’s fake frown turn into a real frown. The creases on her forehead became more prominent, her eyebrows furrowed closer together, her eyes held a dark look behind them and she chewed her tongue in order not to fight back with him - it was a game after all. “Next question, next question.”

Cashews were on the line.

And the question was to do with the population of London, with answers varying between 2 million and 13 million, yet YN chose to keep herself from inputting an answer, staying put and staying silent. 

She watched as they dropped into the table and Johnny slammed his palm upon the tabletop, jumping in her place on the bench beside Anastasia, her cheeks going bright red and she could feel the two men behind her as they hunched over and groaned into their hands, crouching towards the floor. 

“They were cashews, the least they owed us was cashews,” Johnny hurled the words into the room, “cashews.”

The blue team thought they’d done the worst out of both teams partaking in the challenge… until the red team took their turn. 

As quick as the new piles of luxury items had been placed on the four dropboards, they had quickly disappeared after they gave the wrong answer to their first question. A question on Chunkz and his music. With a musically-inclined person in their team. 

The irony couldn’t have been any better.

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“Which one of you is doing the secret hiding challenge thing?”

Arthur broke the silence that had fallen amongst the group, all eyes focusing on him as he stood before the group, asking the question that had been brewing in his mind for the most of the afternoon once he realised a piece from his chess set had gone missing. Knowing that Jokeman wouldn’t have done it and that YN wouldn’t have taken it from him because she hadn’t had a reason to mess with him like that, and he hoped she didn’t take his accusation personally, but he had his suspicions on who it could be. 

“It’s not me,” he pointed to himself, “and it’s not you,” he pointed to Anastasia, “so who is it? Someone’s taken the rook from the chess set.”

YN gripped hold of the edge of the make-up table with her fingertips and leant back upon the yellow stool she was perched upon and tilted her head back to look at him, genuine concern on his face as he looked around the room and made eye contact to see if anyone was lying to him. His eyes holding more on those he thought could be the culprits. 

“It’s not me, I promise,” YN smiled softly, “I’ve barely been down there all day.”

Arthur looked down and nodded, “I know it’s not you.”

“How?” Johnny asked, “it could have been? Just because you fancy her, it doesn’t mean she couldn’t have stolen it as a joke or something.”

YN rolled her eyes.

She wasn’t entirely sure what she’d done to annoy Johnny and it hurt her brain to think about anything she could have said to him, in the three days they’d been there and in the very few conversations they’d had, that would have upset him or given him a reason to treat her poorly with his words. 

The words twanged at her insides and she frowned, eyebrows pinching together and her eyes went darker than usual, and she busied herself by cleaning up the make-up table in front of her and organising things into a more structured layout. 

And it wasn’t just YN who was upset by his words.

Arthur wanted to bite back. He wanted to defend her but it wasn’t worth the hassle because he would have fought in a game that would have had dangerous consequences on the outside world; he wasn’t a fighter, he wasn’t one for confrontation and he didn’t need to argue back in front of cameras that would have picked up the entire thing. He watched her, eyes flickering back to her every now and then, and he could see YN’s mind thinking the same thing with the way her eyes were dark yet still holding a touch of her usual spark when she made eye contact with him. 

“Bold on that one, Arthur,” Jokeman laughed from next to him, in an attempt to lift the mood and nudged him in the arm with his elbow, “although, YN’s far too sweet to even think about making someone so paranoid. This man is going through it right now. Look at him.”

Arthur’s cheeks flushed a bright pink.

“I just, I’ve been down playing chess for most of the day and I haven’t really seen YN all day so I didn’t think she’d do it,” he explained, “she might have done it behind my back or when I disappeared for a moment but I don’t think she would have done me over like that. She knows that chess is one massive love of mine.”

YN’s cheeks mirrored Arthur’s and she felt the heat creeping up her neck. 

He disappeared from behind her and into the bedroom where she could hear him asking Anisa, Jamie and Spuddz on whether they had taken the rook to his chess set and, once they swore to him that they didn’t, whether they knew who did take it from the board because he was determined to find the one who had done it.

“I think it’s you,” he stated, looking at Steph as she feigned shock, a hand placed over her heart and her eyes widening, “it has to be you. I’ve asked everyone else.”

“It’s not me,” Steph argued, shaking her head and placing her hands on her hips, “Arthur, it’s not me. I didn’t do it.”

“We’ve been upstairs,” Anastasia chimed in, “she wouldn’t have done it. She couldn’t have done it. She’s been with me.”

“I’ve managed to cross everyone else off the list. It’s you,” he frowned, “it has to be you. I’ve asked everyone else and they’ve all got pretty good alibi’s.”

He stood and waited for a reply. His eyes darted between the two girls before him. 

“Well, it’s not me,” Steph said, “it’s not, I promise you.”

Getting nowhere close to finding out who took the chess piece, Arthur gave up. 

A permanent frown etched on his face for the entire early evening and annoyance written across his body, his body language changing from his usual bouncy self to a more constricted self, because he was being kept away from doing something he enjoyed doing. Something that helped pass the time. Where others had the art of coming up with conversations to help them through the lingering hours, Arthur didn’t and he didn’t excel in conversations with people as well as everyone else so chess was his solace.

Minutes passed by, that turned into hours passing by, and by then, they’d all disappeared and dispersed into another room. YN found comfort on a beanbag with a blanket wrapped around her, to the back of the room where everyone had seemingly congregated so she could still listen to what was going on and she could still be a part of conversations that were happening, and it was the one thing she was thankful people understood about her; how she liked to be by herself, with her own thoughts, without forcing her to do things she didn’t want to do.

And her moment was torn from her when she watched Steph take Arthur aside.

She wasn’t staring, she wasn’t really interested in what they were saying and she didn’t really care for them being sat together and having a chat in the corner, but what seemingly bothered her was how she pulled him into a hug and kept him close, arms wrapping around his neck as his snaked around her waist. And she felt a pang of… dare she say it… she felt a pang of jealousy surge through her chest and she found it hard to take her eyes away from what was happening. She knew the cameras were on her and she knew they were watching her every move, as they were with Arthur and Steph, and deep down she knew she needed to stop feeling that way… yet she couldn’t stop herself.

“I did take your chess piece,” she announced proudly, “it was me. I’ve hidden it in one of the kitchen cupboards.”

And YN was torn from her distant gaze as he let out a blaring ‘I knew it’ into the quiet room and shot up from his seat, chasing Steph from room to room and ending out on the patio of the house where, just for a tiny second and through the gap between the doorframe and stairs, YN saw a second hug happen.

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‘Steph, your Shrimp 🍤 crew is absolutely here 💯 goooooo Steeeph 🤩’

“Shrimp crew?” YN laughed and looked across to Steph, “what’s that about?”

“It’s because my posture is always like this,” she hunched over in demonstration and brought her chest to her knees, letting her posture drop compared to the straight back she was sitting with prior and YN cackled softly, “it’s so bad so I just call my little following the Shrimp crew.”

“Do you know that girl?” Arthur questioned and looked at her and everyone snickered around them, even YN had a small smile tickle at the corner of her lips as she looked at his flushing cheeks and clueless look behind his eyes, “what?”

“It’s a comment, bro,” Johnny teased, pushing Arthur’s shoulder in amusement, “just a comment.”

‘Here we go!!!’

“Saffron,” Steph cooed, “that’s so cute.”

“That’s my best friend,” Anastasia grinned, pointing her fingers at the camera and smiling wide, “that’s my best friend. Love you Saff!”

‘I can’t wait, rooting for Jamie!! (LDN movements)’

“Jamie!” 

Everyone cried out his name once they read the comment on the screen and he stood to his feet, a bashful look on his face and he played shy for the group and for the cameras, clasping his hands before him and doing a tiny twirl before he sat back down on the sofa.

‘Arthur is too sweet. What a winner’

Everyone clapped for the comment and Arthur blushed a bright pink, Jokeman clapping him on the shoulders and giving him a gentle shake, cheering behind him. 

YN blushed when he looked at her after the noise and the commotion had died down, giving him the softest thumbs up and the cheesiest grin she could muster, and he shot her a wink before he turned back around and looked back at the screen. 

‘YN all the way! Love you girl! Smash it in there!’

“Yes, girly,” Anisa grinned and wrapped her arm around YN’s shoulder, pulling her into a hug as gave cheers of agreement with the comment before them, “guys, this is my winner right here. Along with me, of course. We can split the prize money.”

Arthur gave her the cheesiest grin he could muster and threw her a thumbs up, in the same fashion that she had done to him, and she giggled to herself and looked to her hands. 

The cutest, she thought to herself, absolutely adorable.

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The house had finally settled.

And, for YN, it was the first real moment of solitude that she’d felt that day. Night time seemed to be the first time, that day, where she managed to find time to herself, and it was like a breath of fresh air after another day spent navigating through people, friendships, challenges and tasks to win points throughout the show. She didn’t have to convene with anyone, no conversation was needed and she could finally be at peace with her thoughts as she reminisced on what was happening around her.

As her housemates retreated upstairs, either already asleep or engaged in the familiar ritual of preparing themselves for bed, she found herself drawn to the sanctuary of the lounge. She’d said goodnight to everyone as they made their way into the bedroom as she collected her lounge clothes and slippers so she could chill out in the living room, dragging the duvet down the stairs behind her, and saying goodnight to the last few housemates who were trudging themselves up the stairs.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you all day,” Arthur hummed quietly, taking the seat beside her on the sofa and pulling some of the blanket from her legs so he could cover his own from the chill in the air, “I definitely haven’t spoken to you all day, I don’t think.”

She smiled softly and shrugged gently, cosying back into the sofa and pulling her legs up to her chest.

“Are you okay?” 

He gazed at her face as he waited for an answer, whether it be a change in emotion or verbal, yet nothing seemed to make it obvious to him. 

“I’m fine, I’m just…” she watched as Spuddz and Jamie walked through the lounge area and towards the kitchen, saying their goodnights as they were the last two to disappear upstairs and get ready for bed, “I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine,” he pointed out, watching as the features of her face contorted into a look that seemingly made her look like she was about to cry, “did I say something?”

“No,” she frowned and she refused to let the tears that had been stinging at her eyelids come to bay, “I’m fine, honestly. I think I’m just overtired and now I’m struggling to feel tired enough to lay down and go to sleep so I just feel all-”

“Emotional?” 

She nodded and giggled softly, pulling the blanket up to her chin and focusing her attention on the soft fabric between her fingertips.

“You weren’t upset about what happened earlier, were you?”

He didn’t need to remind her; the situation had sat at the front of her brain for the majority of the evening. 

“Not really, it just annoys me that they insinuate things after everything we do together or whenever one of us defends the other,” she admitted, shrugging her shoulders and the stinging of tears seemed to subside a little as she spoke about what she had bottled up all day, “I think I just need to stop letting words affect me and grow up a little, I guess.”

“I think it was a valid reason to be upset,” Arthur said, “there’s a lot of loud voices in here that it’s hard not to feel upset when something is said with a little vigour and brashness. If it helps, I was going to bite back but I didn’t think it was worth it… he has a lot more fans than I do. I think, publicly, I’d have been torn to pieces.”

YN smiled softly at him and shook her head, “I think you’d have a lot of defence behind you. I’d be your number one defender, for sure.”

“Likewise,” he jabbed his elbow into her side, “we make a great team.”

[soleauclub]

The 7-Day Glow-Up: A Beginner’s Clean Girl Health Reset

By Soleau Club

If you're feeling dull, puffy, sluggish, or just… not giving main character energy lately, this one’s for you. We’re not talking about a juice cleanse or a 5AM military bootcamp. This is your gentle, aesthetic, hot-girl-reset—a full-body refresh that’s clean girl-coded, beginner-friendly, and still lets you eat actual food.

Think: radiant skin, calm gut, high vibes, and an inbox that’s finally at zero.

Here’s your 7-day plan to glow from the inside out—without going feral in the process.

Day 1: Hydration Nation Start with a big water flex. Aim for 3 liters a day and throw in electrolytes (we love coconut water or a little sea salt + lemon). Your organs? Thriving. Your under-eyes? Less corpse-like already.

Bonus: Ditch the dehydrators—alcohol, soda, coffee overload. Try matcha or herbal tea instead.

Day 2: Clean Girl Kitchen Only No dairy, no gluten, no added sugar. Just for the week—calm down. Focus on colorful veggies, clean proteins, good fats (hello, avocado and salmon), and whole carbs like quinoa and sweet potato.

Your plate should be something you’d post on IG stories. Chic, not sad.

Day 3: Move, But Make It Feminine Pilates. Hot girl walks. Stretching. Nothing aggressive. We’re waking up the lymphatic system and releasing energy, not maxing out at the gym and collapsing.

Put on a cute matching set and make it romantic. This is soft fitness.

Day 4: Lymphatic Drainage & Skin Reset Dry brushing. Gua sha. Facial ice rolling. Slather on a non-toxic body oil (or Soleau Club shimmer, obviously).

And exfoliate—everywhere. Head to toe. Dead skin? Gone. Glow mode? Activated.

Day 5: Digital Detox + Declutter Turn off your push notifications. Unfollow any “inspo” that makes you feel bad about yourself. Clean your car. Organize your bathroom shelf.

Clear space = clear mind = clean girl era unlocked.

Day 6: Gut Health Reset (No Sauerkraut Required) Add a good probiotic, eat prebiotic foods like bananas + garlic, and skip the processed junk.

Sip on ginger tea, bone broth, or warm lemon water throughout the day. And yes, you can still eat. This isn’t a punishment—it's nourishment.

Day 7: Energy Check-In + Intentions Do a vibe audit: what drained you this week, and what lit you up?

Write down 3 things you’re grateful for, 3 things you’re releasing, and 3 things you’re calling in. Light a candle. Do a face mask. Romanticize your night routine.

After 7 days… you’ll feel:

Less bloated

More energized

Glowy as hell

Actually back in your body

It’s giving ✨I’m the vibe✨. And it only took a week.

Follow @soleauclub for more clean girl wellness that still lets you be a little toxic when necessary.

[theblackfemininesociety]

✨This is your sign to declutter you life:

Start with your socials: Unsubscribe / unfollow the uninspiring, redundant, low frequency content that isn’t adding value to you or a reflection of who you are become. Also, delete or archive any photos that don’t align with the woman you want to become.

Empty out your inbox: there’s no reason why you have 1,000 unread emails or spam text on your phone. Unsubscribe and delete the unnecessary messages and emails! Only subscribe to things that align with the woman you are becoming! And for my shopaholic besties, unsubscribe those tempting stores that is declining your saving account ! Remember there’s nothing soft about being an aesthetically cute but broke woman. 😉

Take a social media break: this is for my extroverted and social media thirsty besties, it’s time to disconnect. Just a week. Cut it off and if it’s too much to bear, Limit your time on social media for a week! This also includes a people detox, put your phone on DND. Fall back for a bit and indulge in self care. The tea you love to indulge in can wait and your loved ones will reach out on their own if needed but please have some me time 💆🏾‍♀️

Clean your space: dedicate a day or days to completely clean your apartment/ room. I am talking about that closet that you’ve been avoiding and that cabinet that hasn’t been opened because it’s out of reach. After that, treat yourself, light a candle order some food, or take a long hot spa like shower. You will feel so much better in a clean space. Clean decluttered environment!

If you don't use it, Throw it away: I don’t know what it is exactly but I know there’s items in your space right now that simply take up space! And when you clean you probably move it around or organize it better. If you don’t use it, throw it away! If it’s worn down throw it away! If you have time to donate it, do so. Lately as for me., If I don’t donate it right away it’ll stay there until “I have the time” so lately I’ve been practicing the “do it now” method. Which is exactly how it sounds. If you have time do it now if not in this case of decluttering and cleaning, throw it out.

Journal: Take some time to reflect and write out your thoughts and feelings. Nothing beats putting a pin to paper (or stylus pen to iPad) and writing down all that’s in your mind.

Mediate & Pray: In our fast-paced world filled with constant distractions and never-ending to-do lists, it is imperative to find moments of stillness and connection. One powerful way to achieve this is through the practice of meditation and prayer. to quiet the mind, find inner peace, and connect with our own spiritual essence. Both prayer and meditation are powerful practices that can bring numerous benefits to our lives. They provide us with a sense of belonging and purpose, reminding us of what really important.

Need more motivation & support? Follow us on INSTAGRAM!

[monzamash]

Hi hi same thing Charles or Lando (or Carlos if you feel so moved)

thanks for doing these! I love your writing

❛ i can take care of you. you won't need anyone but me. ❜

could totally see carlos saying that line of dialogue so i hope it’s okay that i chose him! thank you for requesting x

to be loved 🥰

[batsplat]

Agree on the engaging with motogp as a Sport here part... But anyway what is your sporty opinion on the races we've had so far (if you've watched any?)

tbh i haven't kept up properly for various reasons, i just haven't really been enjoying it and it's a better idea to disengage rather than just constantly moaning about it. icl the fandom on here probably does play at least a bit of a role in that... so i've tumblr saviour'd that to shit and hopefully after a bit of a detox i can enjoy the sport itself more again. hence also the lack of motogp posting from me, my semi-regular apology for the many really interesting unanswered asks in my inbox. i have a bit of a mental list of the ones i do really want to get to when i'm feeling in the mood again, they had enough thought put into them i feel like they also merit a response in kind

anyway, i do also feel like i haven't missed that much lol. i watched the highlights from the race yesterday whenever it was which i think will have been comfortably the best of the four, but otherwise i watched buriram on replay and MOST of the other two and the racing quality has been. dire. my real sporting take is that pundits and fans will keep telling you that the alien era was so much worse than this and it's just nostalgia/og 4 alien narrative juice that makes people think otherwise and they are. wrong. they may be right about 2010-12, which i cannot really make any excuses for, but it just straight up isn't true for 2007-09 and whoever argues otherwise has not rewatched those seasons recently enough. it's an overcorrection and also those seasons for real long time fans suffer from such an immediate contrast to 2006, but like. the average race back then was just better. don't let them tell you it's not terrible right now

speaking of things that are terrible. i feel like sprints by now have been Normalised and there is absolutely zero point moaning about them, but they still fucking suck. they're only very rarely good to watch, they make the weekend too hectic, they're dangerous and they skew any championship fight. i appreciated casey bringing it up last november because barely anyone has a moan about it anymore these days. obviously for our present purposes it also doesn't exactly HELP that pecco is substantially worse at the sprint format, which ensures a sort of built-in deficit he really doesn't need. but even in 2023 when they were livening up the title fight i didn't like them, so i've remained consistent on this. just sort of dilutes the product, i still cannot for the life of me understand the problem sprint races are the solution to

another bad thing: tyre pressure shenanigans. no new ground being covered with this take......... it was farcical in buriram but after qatar it's just an intolerable situation. i understand WHY this has happened, i get the politics, but it's an absolute joke that they have not got a tyre that is suitable to aero yet. when this first became a talking point in 2023, when it was in danger !! of fucking up !! that title fight !! everybody in the sport should have panicked and worked to ensure that the situation would be at least somewhat addressed as quickly as possible. it is a year and a half on from that and they have done nothing. this one does actually make me a bit mad, like i just think it's inexcusable from the series and from the teams - i don't give a shit if they don't want to test the bloody tyres, this is ruining the sport both by making good racing so rare and by undermining sporting integrity. it is a joke that you will get penalised for having an unexpectedly good race. it deprived fabio of a sprint podium in jerez, it should have deprived pedro of a podium in indonesia without that extremely fugazi explanation ktm presented, and now it's massively fucked over vinales. you never know what will happen that's why you line up on sunday bla bla - but if you didn't think you were going to be in the lead and you then go into the lead then you'd better stop that right now!! what kind of racing is that? you're only allowed to win if you already thought you'd win before the race?? ridiculous

anyway. now that i've channelled my inner casey stoner. eh... what else. the competitive landscape... well, marc is barring injury or massive headloss going to win the championship, he's obviously a very good rider who is still good so nothing really new there. i didn't like what he did at cota, i'm pro people being clever and dastardly (or at least people thinking they are because they didn't read the rules correctly) but at a certain point there is a bit of a line for me. doing something that could be dangerous outside of races is just... yeah, it simply wasn't really necessary? but also it's not like i want to send him to the gallows for it, just someone very high on their own stock innit. it does really annoy me how nobody in the sport seems to have properly read the rules, i'm sorry but i would know that rule book off by heart, i have very little respect for that kind of thing. be serious. and the cota race crash was really daft, crashes happen but they exist on a spectrum and that one was not great and has artificially injected tension back into the title fight. moving on...

pecco's done a reasonably strong job thus far in the season, his worst misstep was the quali crash at qatar but otherwise there's no real complaints. he hasn't felt comfortable with this bike and has a very renowned title rival who started the season flawlessly but he didn't panic, he's kept chipping away at it. could easily have leaked far more points than this, which he had by this point in 2022-24 to his respective title rivals. obviously you can't wish away a fundamental pace deficit, especially with his sprint struggles - but i had the first three circuits at least marked as marc-leaning and my advice to pecco would have been 'try to weather the storm, don't do too much and bring the points home', which he's done. can't be doing quali crashes on what could have been a far better weekend for him, though, i get why it happened but. well. can't do it. can't do it!!

i do actually have a bit of a hot take here in that i think marc isn't faster than 2016-19 but To Some Extent he's cleaned up his game, and depending on how pecco does this season you can make the argument pecco's the toughest title challenger marc ever had to deal with. jorge/dani 2013 injury penalty, yamaha line-up post 2013 kinda washed and more often than not on worse bikes (especially ofc when those fuckers from michelin returned). and 2017-19 dovi ofc not quite at that consistently elite level, and the other challengers were ultra-washed valentino and 'maverick vinales'. like idk man i am EASILY taking 2025 pecco over 2013-19 yamaha line-up (or well post-2013 assen jorge) but i kinda feel like we're not ready for that particular conversation yet

i'll admit a. marquez did blindside me with his start to the season, obviously he won't come close to winning the title but it has been very impressive in its consistency. we'll see if the terrorism relapse was a one-off or the beginning of the end of that particular chapter. also i love my sibling more than anything and i would still kill myself in a. marquez's position so kudos on not doing that. i don't have much to say about either vr46 rider. the ducati situation in general though is obviously intolerable, like my god. in 2023 i kinda did self-gaslighting and went 'well you enjoyed 2003 and intra-manufacturer beef can be fun!!' which was true for maybe one season but.... not to this extent. not a complete PODIUM lockout. this is terrible!! it's not what motogp should be like!! every year we think it can't get worse and it does!! i guess i should have seen this coming because i was sniffing the 'surely at some point we've reached peak ducati domination' hopium but then every time i actually went through the manufacturers in my head to guess who might take the fight to ducati, i found all of them deeply unconvincing. this is another thing that has stealth made the racing worse... it helped back in the day to have two bikes with really different performance profiles and two riders with very different styles teeing it off, because you'd get more variation of performance in any given lap and then the speed differential means they can like. actually fight it out in different bits of the track. look, i don't need to explain this. modern poster child rivalry for this is obviously casey/valentino - cumbersome but lightning fast ducati vs underpowered nimble yamaha, wild instinctive casey versus precise calculating valentino. run it back! but yeah, homogenisation of bikes and riding styles is more of a long-term inevitable trend you probably can't really do anything about, but is still a shame

the other manufacturers exist on a spectrum of how pissed off i am at them currently. least pissed off is honda, then aprilia, then yamaha, and the prize for most pissed off is ktm. honda has obviously looked way better this season, though a part of me still suspects this is flattered by how aprilia and ktm have completely fucked it. i am historically not a honda fan but i am increasingly in the 'anyone but ducati' tent so i will offer my support to my allies in this cause. i have however given up on the joan mir revival cause, which deeply saddens me. zarco's been great, he's not been this good a watch since his early yamaha days. so so impressive

aprilia comes after that because it's not really their fault that their star rider has been cursed. it's just made the season SO much worse. obviously everything to do with jorge v scary and miserable and i hope he recovers well. could be one of those things where he's never the same rider again and i really hope that won't be the case. might have a pretty substantial psychological impact u have 2 say. bez has been appalling and i think it's increasingly clear which of 2023 or 2024 was the blip. i don't have anything to say about ogura that many others haven't already said, he's been truly fantastic and the star of the season thus far, i was already reasonably high on his stocks headed into this year but nowhere near this high. i hope his momentum doesn't fizzle out and he has a long and very fruitful motogp career, he reminds me a bit of 2008 dovi. raul fernandez needs to be fired into the sun and then fired, i still have no clue why he was given a two year contract extension. obviously this collection of riders makes it a bit hard to judge the aprilia, i don't feel like they've done... a great job in closing the gap to ducati? but also maybe it's the riders

yamaha has been. well. disappointing! i let myself sniff some hopium after the sepang test, which is a mistake that shall not be repeated. fabio's first few race weekends have also been a bit too patchy for my liking (but qatar's been better tbf). these fuckers are my team so i'd really like them to get it together. miller has adapted very impressively, fair plays i thought he was washed. i mean crucially idt there's more to come from him, like he was on the pace pretty much immediately on the ktm and if anything his best ktm stretch was right at the start of 2023. which speaks to his natural talent, he can adapt really well and clearly the yamaha does suit his style,,,,, but i still expect fabio to comfortably be the leading light in that manufacturer (he'd better fucking be). shout out to oliveira, still the most cursed rider. still have not forgiven the 2023 honda for essentially ending rins' career as a front running rider, miss u king

and ktm................................................................ i'm a ktm hater and i can't even enjoy this downfall. vinales being vinales and randomly deciding he's the second coming of jesus christ if he raced motorcycles one sunday per year is very funny, but obviously that shouldn't obscure how otherwise disgusting this start of the year has been. and like, i thought they'd decline in the second half of the year because of the whole bankruptcy situation, but the fact they're ALREADY struggling makes me think... idk man, i feel like there's enough of a lag in the bike development pipeline that they might just organically suck right now. ktm does traditionally have very strange early season periods, but i am kinda over it? and if they're going to suck late season too, then this hypothetical window where they don't suck to me feels rather narrow. maybe they'll get a bit better, but they have a generational talent on their roster who should be fighting for wins and preferably championships at this stage of his career. this sucks!! all the aliens were on machinery that could challenge for titles at latest by their second year in the premier class. acosta should be showing us what he can do on a bike that isn't completely fucked. all you can do is hope it doesn't end up completely derailing his career, i do sort of want him to escape next year even though i understand the reasons why that's unlikely. honda, pay the bill. otherwise... my takes on binder have not changed in the slightest since like 2023, it's everyone else who keeps flip flopping on him. i am withholding my bastianini verdict until a later date, but trust i am Watching and waiting and cracking my knuckles

anyway that's my hot takes on 2025 motogp, sports edition. not all of them but i feel like i've covered the major points. write in with your own

[friendlyneighborhoodshark]

⪩⪨ 30 habits to make life better ⪩⪨

Wake up early and enjoy the silence.

Drink a glass of water.

Stretch your muscles and do some exercise.

Meditate or practice gratitude.

Brush your teeth and wash your face.

Make your bed and tidy up your room.

Put on some comfortable and clean clothes.

Eat a healthy and balanced breakfast.

Take your vitamins and supplements.

Read a book or listen to a podcast.

Write down your goals for the day.

Review your calendar and schedule your day.

Check your emails and messages.

Avoid social media and news until later.

Say some affirmations to yourself.

Give a hug to your loved ones.

Pet your furry friends or water your plants.

Pack a healthy lunch for yourself.

Leave early and avoid traffic.

Smile or say hello to people you meet.

Appreciate the beauty of nature and weather.

Greet your colleagues and classmates.

Start with the most important or difficult task.

Take break and stretch a little.

Ask for help or feedback when you need it.

Learn something new or improve a skill.

Celebrate your achievements and progress.

Detox your inbox and gallery regularly.

Always thank your colleagues and friends for their help and support.

Spend quality time with your friends and family.

[coaping]

Shoujo Girl 2025 - Part 2

The best way to start the new year is by starting it clean. The cleaner your room, the cleaner your mind. And the cleaner your mind, the more ready you are to be your best self in 2025! So, tie up your hair (or don’t) and get ready!

Tips start here:

Clean your mirrors

I am always, and always will be, astonished by how clear my mirrors are after being cleaned and wiped off. It’s amazing!!

Go through emails

By doing this you’ll be clearing up some space in your device, so yay! This one may just be a pet peeve of mine, but i cannot STAND packed email inboxes.

Organize clothes

By the end of the year, all of my drawers are a mess, and my closet is like a deadly dungeon no one dares step in. This is my least favorite thing to do, but please, go through and organize your drawers and/or closet before 2025! You might be able to make some money through selling the clothes you no longer like!

Dust

This is another thing that builds up by the end of the year, dust off all of those shelves and other dusty spaces! You might want to wear a mask of some sort if you have sensitive nose like me, though.

Random small things without description:

Change pillowcases, get 2025 calendar, vacuum, bathe pets, organize desktop, put away clothes, clean makeup stuff, phone detox + cleanse, and clean your bathroom!

Well, that’s it for all of my organization tips. If you havent seen part one of this series, check out my account! <333

[fangatic]

last words of a shooting star

okay so i've gone ahead and turned off replies and notifications on that post bc it was turning into a fucking bar brawl and that's not what i wanted. i've called attention to the issue as i intended and truly have no further need to talk about this person as they have done nothing to me personally

some of you people are vile and horrible, and some of you just enjoy mental gymnastics and denial. either way i hope you lubed up really well before riding this hard for a person who's lying to your faces. wishing you all the best fr

to those who argued on my behalf and who have been leaving me sweet and caring messages in my inbox: thank you from the bottom of my heart, you've given me great comfort. i'll get to you i swear

i'll be taking a little bit of a detox for the rest of the week bc my anxiety is through the roof lol but ily all and, again, pls be kind when possible ♡

[wherechaoswins]

The Art of Less: Finding Everything in Nothingness

In a world that screams more, bigger, faster, a quiet revolution is brewing. It is not about accumulating, but about subtracting. It is the radical idea that sometimes, the most profound gains come not from adding to our lives, but from consciously taking away. Welcome to the art of less, where "nothing" can surprisingly unlock "everything."

We live in an age of relentless addition. Our inboxes overflow, our to-do lists balloon, our homes become repositories of possessions we rarely use. The digital realm amplifies this, bombarding us with notifications, opinions, and an endless stream of information. We are conditioned to believe that more choices, more connections, more stuff equates to more happiness, more success, more life.

But what if the opposite were true? What if the clutter – both physical and mental – is obscuring the things that truly matter? What if by consciously choosing to remove, we create space for clarity, focus, and genuine fulfillment?

Consider the power of subtraction in various aspects of our lives:

1. Digital Detox 📵: Our devices, while powerful tools, can also be relentless attention thieves. Regularly disconnecting – even for short periods – can yield surprising benefits:  

Increased Presence 👤: Without the constant pull of notifications, we become more engaged in the present moment, fostering deeper connections with ourselves and others.

Improved Focus 🧠: The constant switching between apps and tasks fragments our attention. Subtraction here means single-tasking and reclaiming our cognitive bandwidth.  

Reduced Stress 😌: The fear of missing out (FOMO) and the pressure to constantly be "on" can be mentally exhausting. Unplugging offers a much-needed respite.  

2. Decluttering Your Physical Space 🧹: Our homes often become museums of our past selves and aspirational future selves. Letting go of items that no longer serve us creates not just physical space, but mental space too:

Enhanced Calmness 🕊️: A tidy environment fosters a sense of peace and order, reducing visual noise and mental distraction.  

Increased Efficiency 🚀: When everything has its place, finding what you need becomes effortless, saving time and reducing frustration.

Greater Appreciation 🙏: By consciously choosing what to keep, we develop a deeper appreciation for the items that truly hold value.

3. Simplifying Your Commitments 🗓️: Saying "yes" to too many things can lead to overwhelm and a feeling of being constantly stretched thin. The power of subtraction here lies in learning to say "no":

More Time for What Matters ❤️: By shedding unnecessary obligations, we free up time and energy for our priorities, whether it's family, hobbies, or personal growth.

Reduced Stress and Burnout 🔥: Overcommitment is a recipe for stress. Saying "no" is an act of self-care and a way to protect our well-being.  

Increased Impact ✨: Focusing our energy on fewer, more meaningful endeavors allows us to contribute more effectively.

4. Refining Your Thoughts 🤔: Our minds can be battlegrounds of anxieties, self-doubt, and negative self-talk. Subtraction in this context means consciously choosing which thoughts to engage with:

Greater Clarity 💡: By letting go of limiting beliefs and negative narratives, we gain a clearer perspective on ourselves and the world.

Improved Emotional Well-being 😊: Consciously choosing positive and constructive thoughts fosters a more positive emotional state.

Enhanced Self-Awareness 🔭: By observing our thoughts without judgment, we gain a deeper understanding of our inner landscape.

The Paradox of Nothing:

The beauty of this approach lies in its paradox. By consciously subtracting – be it digital noise, physical clutter, unnecessary commitments, or negative thoughts – we don't end up with less life. Instead, we create space for more of what truly nourishes us. We find everything in the intentional act of letting go of nothingness – the excess that weighs us down.

This isn't about deprivation; it's about intentionality. It’s about curating a life that aligns with our values and priorities, rather than being dictated by external pressures and societal norms. It’s about recognizing that sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do is to simply… remove.

So, take a moment today. Look around. What can you subtract? What "nothing" can you let go of to make space for your "everything"? The answer might surprise you.