#so they came in handy after a swim lol

[sheepdog-and-fakegoldenretriever]

Hello yes my dog rolled in poop and is very happy about it.

All clean?

[willadisastercry]

More than ‘just a little tired’: aftermath turned aftershocks part 3

tw: discussion of sever burns and re-burning, lots of pain, also lots of heavy emotions, ptsd symptoms towards the end

Keith is in a lot of pain from just having his wounds cleaned but complications arise that make the relief of the pod that much further away. Tensions are still high and everyone’s emotions are running rampant as they are forced to watch their friend be in so much distress, their friend who never let on when he was anything other than angry, who is now crying and begging for it all to stop. Keith is desperate, his stoic facade has shattered but his body refuses to pass out and they still have to separate him from the bits of the suit that remain...

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

(( haven’t edited yet so ignore for now if it’s riddled with errors or some parts make zero sense lol, enjoy!!! ))

The infirmary was both eerily silent and brimming with commotion, nearly devoid of any conversation or background noise at all aside from muted whispers and the gentle clink of tools as the sound of Keith’s pain filled every dreadful square inch and left little space for much else.

Shrio was still perched on a stool with both hands clasped securely around the one of Keith’s that was accessible, the other hanging over the edge of the table limp and unmoving. 

The older boy spoke calm reassurances to him in a low voice, the sentiments themselves not so much soothing as the steady cadence of them were.

It was clear he was still suppressing every wince and grimace though his resolve to remain unbothered seemed to be weakening as he fatigued further. And so Shiro’s gentle tenor worked to ground him as his wherewithal plummeted, the neutral pressure on his hand giving him something else to focus on and keep him from panicking while he lay somewhat paralyzed.

He hadn’t moved much as they cleaned his back up after they gave him the muscle relaxant, not that he could if we wanted to, not when his whole body felt about as solid as jello. The only movements possible were occasional reflexive twitches or sudden bursts of shuddering breaths that had whoever was poking his back pause to give him a minute to steady himself.

That was until the team had separated him from as much of the under-suit as they could with just tweezers and saline... because about 30% of what they’d sectioned off around each wound was still attached and not coming free no matter how hard they pulled or however much saline they poured.

It was then with everything cleaned away that they saw how severe it was, how little of the blur of soot around each blast could actually be cleaned away because it wasn’t his skin that was charred, it was the suit itself.

They couldn’t fix that with tweezers but they had to remove the melted material so the pod didn’t heal around it somehow.

Keith’s attention was admittedly elsewhere when the disorienting haze of pain granted him a few moments of clarity once he realized the only hands still touching him were Shiro’s.

It took him a while, but he was able to cut through the fog enough to vaguely tune in to what was going on around him. He has missed the beginning of the conversation that Shiro was having but it wasn’t hard to piece together what was happening.

“The process should be relatively seemless if I use this—“ Coran noted grimly as he presented Shiro with a scalpel that had a cord attached to the end of it “—the scarring will already be minimal given the pod’s capabilities and the fact that these are mostly second degree, but in order to remove the bits that remain I must burn number four again to sever what joins his flesh to the undersuit...”

Shiro had figured as much and so had Keith.

Well no, his addled brain hadn’t figured much of anything coherent in a while, he just wasn’t surprised to hear that it was the only solution.

Keith wouldn’t consider himself as handy as Hunk or Pidge but he knew his way around tools from having a bike and living on his own for so long. And he couldn’t come up with anything else on hand other than a hot knife that would do that kind of job either.

He also didn’t really care how they did anything anymore. He didn’t have the energy to when all he wanted was for this to be over.

Exhaustion seeped into his bones like radiation, clogging the channels in his marrow where his blood should flow and making his entire body feel so very heavy. It was the kind of weight that lulled you into a deep sleep, yet Keith remained awake, his nerves fried and his mind wired.

Shiro sighed, bowing his head to catch Keith’s pleading eyes one last time before nodding, giving Coran the go ahead.

It’s not that Coran was hiding the tool from the other paladins or what it did, that much was sort of obvious. It’s just that the question didn’t concern them, the decision wasn’t theirs to make. Shiro was their unofficial health proxy now that they were in space and called these kind of shots for all of them, but that was especially true for Keith since he’d already sort of been doing so back at the garrison before Kerberos.

The paladins were of course privy to deciding what happened to their own bodies regarding altean remedies or lesser pod stays since some of the options are pretty out there and if they aren’t absolutely necessary, then they aren’t mandated. But all decisions were passed by Shiro who ensured that their younger counterparts were entirely clear on what they were or were not agreeing to before Coran or Allura did anything, given the situation allotted time to take such measures.

This is one of the rare instances where Shiro had little choice in how to handle the matter. There was only one option and Keith would continue to suffer if he wasted time worrying about what none of them could control.

And it wasn’t even that he was too out of it to know what this meant and be able to deliver the green light himself, the fear on his face when Coran said ‘burn’ was more than apparent. But the kid was so goddamned rational about things no one his age should be able to rationalize that it was clear he had already evaluated and come to terms with the predicament in those brief moments of hesitation before Shiro agreed.

His eyes fall closed again and Shiro thinks he can hear the screams already.

The gravity of the decision seemed to dawn on everyone else a beat later, an anticipatory silence replacing the anguished weight that hung on all of them seconds before.

Everything moved slowly for a moment, the rise of chests halted, the chitter of mice quieting while they searched the princess’s face for answers until reality crashed back down on the castleships’ inhabitants like the tidal surge of a hurricane. The green tinge on Hunk’s face deepened several shades and Allura absently slid a waste bin closer to him, her movements robotic, like she wasn’t all there anymore. Pidge’s sobs from her helpless position on the adjacent cot were almost as painful to hear as Keith’s.

The only one to contest the idea was Lance, the sheer horror of what was about to happen registering on the blue paladin’s face like it was a death sentence for his friend.

“No, that’s torture! You can’t possibly think that’s a good idea, it’s barbaric, it’s—“

“Lance, calm down.”

“I will not calm down! Don’t you see how insane this is?!”

“There’s nothing else we can do. Don’t you see where the hell we are? We’re in space. We are light years away from human healthcare, we kind of have to work with the resources that we have!”

“But there has to be another way! I don’t understand why you’re not trying to figure something else out first... haven’t you hurt him enough today, Shiro? For fuck’s sake, aren’t you supposed to be his br—“

“Do it—” Keith punches out in a harsh whisper, effectively silencing the argument “—j-just do it already.”

His voice was gravelly and weak from all the shouting, his waning energy evident in the exasperated punctuation of his words. He’s fairly sure he won’t remain conscious long enough to be truly traumatized by the a procedure and was growing more irritated the longer they delayed it.

Keith appreciated that Lance had a conscience but also knew full well that he was stuck on the agony he was emoting since he usually never emoted at all, and probably not imagining just how awful it must actually be if he was advocating that more pain be inflicted so the sweet relief of the pod came sooner.

Lucky for him, Coran seemed to grasp the concept well enough on his own.

“Alright my boy, as you wish... Allura you might want to grab something for him to bite down on.”

What remained of the upper half of his under suit lay on him in tatters, his back bare except for the front section beneath him with strips of black littered over the table and floor. There’s a square of material missing on his thigh but the rest of the bottom portion is pretty much in tact.

The wounds looked worse free of all the blood and shredded bits. Like so much worse. But Keith didn’t have to see or be told how horrible it looked, he already knew that however bad it appeared, it hurt a thousand times worse.

“I have a topical anesthetic here that should numb the surface tissue but I’m afraid I can’t make any promises about nerve pain that might go deeper... it will still hurt a great deal.”

Talking was hard. He didn’t have the energy to stay awake let alone speak, but since his body was denying him that mercy, he figured forcing himself to communicate might speed the process along.

“Kay... s’fine,” was all he managed in response, his head swimming slightly as he forced the words out.

Allura’s face came into view then, smiling with so much sadness behind it as she lowered a hand to Keith’s flushed and tear stained cheek, gently coaxing him into opening his mouth.

He was sort of confused as to why until she brought a small hand towel folded in a tight roll up to his chin. His eyes widened a bit but he hummed in understanding and parted his blood encrusted lips so she could place it between his teeth.

They hadn’t had a chance to fuss over the gash on his face with everything else they were focused on but he was also very much laying on top of it. The cut itself also didn’t appear to be giving him much of an issue, but the fact that he was resting his cheek in an ever dampening rag as it caught his blood was woefully uncomfortable, the swelling laceration under his eye endlessly agitated with every reflexive jerk.

The sight might’ve been more alarming if his back wasn’t so horrific.

Shiro searched Keith’s lidded eyes when Coran pressed a button that had the tool whirring to life with a warm orange glow before he set it aside to warm up. They were sluggish and bloodshot and slow enough in meeting his gaze that would’ve had him majorly concerned should he not already have dozens other reasons to be.

“The spray might sting a bit at first... just bear with me lad.”

Coran’s voice was pinched and level, his statements clinical and his hands deft.

He’d already gathered that Keith didn’t need things explained before they were done like Shiro who needed to feel like he was in control of his own body when being tended to, or Pidge and her unwavering need to know absolutely everything ever, or Hunk and his already debilitating anxiety regarding the unknown.

No, he was like Lance who didn’t want the details, didn’t need to know what was happening or when. In fact, he reacted worse when he knew.

Keith needed things done without preamble. It didn’t matter how much it would hurt, he just needed it to hurt before the anticipation that it was about to could consume him. And Coran would do whatever he could to ease the red paladin then, so if that meant working fast than he would work fast.

“Nngh...” Keith choked out against the towel, nearly gagging on it when his entire body jerked as soon as Coran started spraying despite the medicine running through his body to specifically lessen reactions like that. But the man didn’t slow once he started, not even for Keith’s muffled pleas.

The spray did in fact sting. It stung a lot.

His head flew back and his eyes screwed shut as he struggled to breathe through the application, jerking despite himself each time the liquid landed on his raw and burning wounds.

The cloth trapped between his clenched teeth had him sputtering on the spit in his mouth and he almost welcomed the fear that flooded his body when his throat closed to keep from inhaling it.

“I know, bud... looks like just a bit more and then hopefully some relief.”

Shiro looked so young when he was like this, the knitted worry lines on his forehead almost out of place for the age he looked then. Keith didn’t like seeing him like that, it’s what he looks like when he’s having a rough day with his ptsd, so he closed his eyes against the tears that were brimming in the corners of them and took in long, purposeful inhales while Coran finished up.

He felt it as soon as the anesthetic started working, a discernible cold partially quenching each tiny inferno that was at the center of his injuries. It didn’t do much more than place a lid on the fires, not putting anything out completely but it was something and had him sagging into the table at the small bit of respite.

“I’ll be right here the entire time, okay? Coran will try to be as quick as he can but you can do this Keith, you’re strong, I know you can do this...” Shiro rambled, his timbre still subdued and settling.

It was nonsense. It was absolute nonsense he was babbling but the older boy’s voice never wavered and the constant presence of it hung on Keith’s battered body like a warm blanket, soothing the biting chill of anticipation that spread over it before the endless waves of agony started all over again.

“It’s going to be okay, bud.”

Keith clung to his words like they were a broken board from a sinking ship, the only buoyant thing in sight that could keep him from sinking right down with it.

“It’ll be over soon...”

He felt himself physically calming the longer he spoke until suddenly his chest didn’t feel as tight.

“...and then you can rest.”

Because he believed him. He believed that Shiro wouldn’t tell him he would be okay if it wasn’t true.

“We’ll get you set up in the pod...”

And for just a second, he actually believed it would end, that it wouldn’t last forever.

“...and then you’ll start to heal...”

The breaths he took were urgent, almost greedy as he relished in the temporary peace from everything. From the pain, from his anxiety, from feeling so fucking helpless.

“...just a little longer. I promise.”

Shiro made a point not to make many promises to Keith, even if he never planned on being anything other than good on them. He knew that too many had been broken for him to trust a vow like that. The words were empty, just another tool for people he trusted to bait him with before they left.

In Keith’s experience, everyone always left.

“I am going to begin now, remember to breathe lad...”

Before Keith had been holding back most of his exclamations of pain, biting his lip or cheek and setting his jaw to swallow them back before they escaped.

He wasn’t exactly sure what it was that made that impossible now, maybe since he knew the pain would be insurmountably worse or maybe because his body was too tired to expend that kind of energy anymore, either way the only thing muffling the sounds then was the towel keeping him from biting clean through his tongue.

The way his back arched when Coran brought the scalpel down looked like it shouldn’t have been possible in his condition. Keith didn’t know it was possible either but wasn’t too focused on the logistics with how intensely his lungs were screaming as he realized he could no longer move air in or out with how shocking the pain was.

It was like he’d been electrocuted, his muscles spasming and his nerves glitching in override.

“Shit, someone help me hold him down... come on damnit, hold him still!” Shiro ordered when it was apparent that Keith was incapable of controlling his reactions as Coran kept at it with the tool.

The movements were violent and quick, more convulsions than Keith’s own will, but they happened with each slice which made it difficult for Coran to work, so Hunk and Lance repositioned themselves on either side of the table and pinned his chest down wherever was most absent of injury while Shiro kept his head still and attempted to talk him through it.

Allura wasn’t having much luck in soothing Pidge either who was hysterical with her hands clamped over her ears. The guilt she felt over being the reason Keith was now in such intense pain was overwhelming and the princess was deeply concerned that she was going to make herself sick or reopen her only somewhat mended wound.

“Huh, huhh, huh... AHGh!”

Coran ignored how his fingers were blistering from working around the red paladin’s struggles.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry...”

Apologies were pouring out of Shiro like his own blood would.

But Lance didn’t buy them. He couldn’t grasp how their infallible leader missed someone being injured this severely.

And for it to be Keith of all people.

He’d spent half of his young adult life on his own, looking out for himself, no other support. He wasn’t used to having a team to look out for him especially since the last time anyone had was when Shiro had taken him under his wing. Shiro who had pretty much promised not to give up on him only to leave for Kerberos and never come back.

And what’s worse, as if anything could get worse at this point, was that Keith genuinely hadn’t wanted their help. He would’ve insisted he was okay whether or not his injuries were known regardless, but Shiro overlooking him in the heat of the moment had only fueled his warped view on taking care of things himself. It made him think he didn’t deserve any help, like he was being selfish for even suggesting he might not be okay when Pidge was also hurt.

It wasn’t true. But Lance knew that Keith couldn’t always decipher those kinds of things, the subtle messages in tonality that other people would’ve instantly picked up as, ‘no, I don’t actually hate you’ but completely eluded him.

Because Keith was extremely literal. He was also a self sacrificial idiot. Kinda like Lance. Not the literal thing, Lance almost never spoke literally.

But Shiro knew that, he knew that Shiro knew all of that about Keith and yet here they were.

His eyes were glossy and he was livid. It didn’t make any sense. They were supposed to look out for each other. It was Shiro’s whole philosophy and here he was, a complete hypocrite.

Pidge let out a strangled hitch then that broke Lance’s focus on analyzing whatever the hell had gone down on that mission.

The guilt was raging an almost identical fire in her chest, licking at her lungs like there was lighter fluid on them and threatening the sinews that had just barely latched across the chasm in her abdomen.

Hunk wished he could cry, wished he didn’t have to be so close to the terrible mess that was his friends’ back or the sounds he was making.

He didn’t know how many more he could stand to hear. How many more times he could handle the pang of terror in his chest when one escaped the lips of either of his friends.

Anytime anyone was hurting he felt like he was too. Like he had an access pass to their pain or some wicked ability to envision exactly how it must feel. And between Keith bucking beneath his hands and the guttural groans smothered by the towel, Hunk’s stomach was flipping dangerously.

Keith’s strained huffs had turned into hysterical shouts.

“Coran,” Allura deadpanned, her voice low and deadly.

They’d started off with a sort of restraint but it hadn’t taken long for them to raise in volume. He hated it, he was too tired to be so vocal and his throat was aching, but he couldn’t help it.

If it was up to him he would’ve just relaxed and taken it. He was used to simply enduring in the moment and compartmentalizing as he went. He had no experience in allowing such real reactions, in being so vulnerable against his every will.

Taking it silently would’ve been just as painful, there was no changing that, but maybe then he wouldn’t have had to see everyone so upset.

But he couldn’t relax. And he couldn’t use his twisted reason to logic himself out of it.

“This is cruel-I can-I can ease his suffering with my powers, move aside and let me—“

“Princess.”

Coran sounded distressed, almost pained. It was the first hint of emotion he’d shown since they’d dragged Keith into medbay.

“You couldn’t heal him without going into a pod first or it would start depleting the quintessence of your life force... we don’t have time for that, you know what my answer is—“

“But it’s worth it! Just a second, even just a touch would make the world of a difference, please—“

“Allura... come on, let him work.”

Lance looked angry still, and Shiro wasn’t sure he blamed him anymore, but the princess’s voice was shaking and his hand on her arm was pulling her away from Coran gently.

And she let him, the sob that erupted from her throat startling everyone. But Lance was there, the usual smirk he wore when speaking to the princess noticeably absent as he braced his her shoulders because they were shaking too.

Shiro is pressing Keith’s chest down flat where Lance had been after he Coran hissed at the heat of the tool while he continued to thrash.

The energy in the room was so dark and heavy it was almost sinister.

But the worst part was seeing it on his face. The desperation in his expressions was gutting. It felt like a sort of betrayal, which in a way it was, but so was the alternative.

Shiro tried to keep up his rambles of assurance but found the sentiments catching in his throat.

It had become wildly apparent that they were more comforting to him than they were to Keith, but he repeated them still, the same nonsense over and over again like a prayer. The swipe of his metal thumb clearing the endless stream of tears out of his eyes was the only constant other than the sound of his own screaming sobs.

And the pain.

His sobs and the pain.

It was blinding and it was everywhere. He couldn’t get away from it. Couldn’t get away from himself or the terrible sounds he was making.

All of it was suffocating. The fire poker dragging against his already charred skin, the hands holding him still, Shiro’s words, his own cries, all of it.

The air was filled with a bitter and nauseating heat, the smell of his own flesh burning permeated it and made him cry harder.

He wanted to throw up, wanted to pass out, hell if he died right there he wouldn’t have even minded.

He just wanted everything to stop.

He didn’t think he could stand much more of it but his body wouldn’t give in. His screams had morphed into one piercing and continuous wail as every limit he had was tested and shattered.

Keith thought he could handle pain fairly well, but this was absurd. This pain was otherworldly.

It’s only when he spits the rag out for the millionth time and begins chanting his own prayer that Shiro really wavered, his hand halting abruptly as he went to put it back between his teeth before they tore through his tongue the next time Coran moved his tool.

But Coran had taken the glowing metal away for a moment and was fiddling with something, so when Shiro leaned in to replace the cloth he could finally make out what he was saying.

“...D-d-d-da-dad... pl-please, dad... dad m-make it st-stop... dad...”

The words were slurred and barely audible with how wrecked his throat was, but there was no denying it.

“Oh, Keith...” Shiro breathed before his jaw was working to muffle his own pitiful sounds.

He was in such a delirium that he was calling out for his father, the man who Keith hadn’t called out to in years because he was dead. He’d left him in the most final way someone could leave.

Shiro didn’t know how many promises his death might’ve broken, just that the words Keith was uttering were what finally broke him.

Allura’s cheeks were still wet with tears but stepped forward anyway and moved the towel back into place, her hands running through and smoothing down Keith’s wild locks all tossed out of place from writhing.

She bent down to speak softly into his ear, Shiro didn’t catch much over the ringing in his own while his eyes locked into place on the towel in his mouth and the blood staining his chin and neck, though he thought he heard something about him being strong, him doing so well...

“Shiro.”

The hand on his arm didn’t make him jump because he couldn’t feel it. The room was expanding and he was shrinking because Keith’s whimpering was beginning to sound like the despairing cries before someone or something died in the arena.

The arena...

His eyes open wide and flit around wildly, the room abruptly fitting back to size.

“Huh?”

Shiro was good at snapping himself back to reality when he needed to, good at functioning at half capacity just to see through whatever he was in the middle of until it was safe to let the lights of the arena bleed into his present.

Not that acknowledging his memories was ever safe. And not that reliving them in his cabin was any safer.

Just easier.

“What is it?”

“I’m starting again...”

He hadn’t noticed that he’d backed up into Pidge’s bed or that her tiny hand had wound its way into his.

“...and he’s asking for you.”

“Right.”

His voice was sturdy again, hands no longer trembling. He could do this.

The whirring of the tool sounds too much like his metal arm, it glows orange instead of purple but that doesn’t seem to matter because it’s cutting into Keith’s skin all the same and the screams that escape his mouth cut into Shiro just as bad.

But he pushes it all away. He can unpack the emotions that rise up with it later but Keith needed him now.

The initial twitches that wracked his brutalized frame when Coran brought the tool back down had Allura turning away and the smoke that rose up with the first slice had Hunk clamping a hand over his mouth and nose. But the princess’s hand never stopped brushing through his hair and Hunk kept the grip on his shoulder firm.

They could feel his muscles loosening, could feel the power of each jerk dwindling.

And then they watched with heavy consciences as even his steady cries quieted, his body finally waving the white flag.

“I’m sorry...”

Shiro chanted it so many times that the syllables blended together and turned into something else altogether.

Keith’s breathing was more erratic than it ever had been and it didn’t seem like he could see straight anymore so Shiro lowered his forehead to Keith’s and draped his metal arm over his neck.

Both were damp with sweat that created condensation on his hand, his hair wet with it and plastered all over, but Shiro couldn’t find it in him to care. He needed him to know that he was there, that he hadn’t left.

“I’m here, Keith. And I’m sorry...”

But his cheeks were flushing with something other than straight up exertion. And Shiro felt it, felt his hand go cold while all the blood raced to his head. He knew what was happening but he wasn’t worried.

He was relieved.

“I’m so sorry...”

The rag falls out again because his jaw had gone slack and his eyes were rolling to the back of his head. Shiro didn’t move to fix it.

His breathing still irregular but falling into a more even rhythm.

Lance looks stricken and Hunk is rather green when they let go and step back.

Pidge had finally found the ability to relax abs was slumping into the bed, eyes glued to Coran’s hand who was still not done.

Still not okay. Still not in a pod, but no longer in pain.

Hunk took exactly one deep breath before devolving into tears. He was done being strong, but Lance never seems to get the luxury and was pulling him into a hug that didn’t have him standing any straighter or have his chest working any less, but it was something.

Coran’s hands move slow and he doesn’t seem to feel the red welts on his fingertips from wrestling with his tools. But he looked more at ease with Keith blissfully unconscious, like he was breathing again.

Shiro was still holding Keith’s hand. It was ice cold and looking sort of blue with the white blotches dotting it. He leaves his other hand on his neck where his skin is hotter, figuring if the cool metal could be useful for anything other than killing, it might just be that.

Lance eyes the distance in Shiro’s gaze, the rigidity in his movements, and he thinks he understands. He thinks he can overlook his anger to remember that the guy is still human.

He’s almost scared that he was speaking out loud when Shiro rakes his grey pinpoints around the room, not appearing to actually see any of it before passing over Lance’s briefly. Hunk has his head burrowed in his chest as he fights to regain his composure but he musters up a small smile for him despite being otherwise occupied.

It’s a peace offering. A sad one at that, the corners of his mouth barely perking up, but it’s something.

Shiro wasn’t sure if he returned it but his heart felt lighter once Lance did that.

The energy in the room was still buzzing but it was less stifling, not as heavy as it had been moments ago.

The artificial sunlight starts to turn purple again and he can hear desperation mix into the buzz and for a second Shiro is worried that Keith has woken up. In a bit of a panic he drags his gaze back down to find his eyes still closed and his face still scrunched up like he hadn’t escaped the pain entirely with sleep.

But that was infinitely better than him sounding like them, the dying things he was hearing.

He vaguely wondered if the medbay was a safe enough place to let the purple flood in and ultimately decided that it didn’t matter.

He’d staved it off long enough, was strong for Keith when he needed him to be.

And so he lets himself drift.

[purplesurveys]

962

Do you have a pair of Beat headphones? I used to have a pair. I mean it’s still around in my closet, but it’s completely broken now with the cable all given out and the cushion for the left ear has been missing for a while. I just don’t have the heart to throw it out because it was my absolute favorite pair of headphones that gave me good memories during a particularly shitty time in high school.

How was your week? A little better. I’ve gotten into the groove at work so I’m no longer shy when it comes to asking questions and giving inputs, and I’ve gained a better grasp of the workplace’s dynamic so it’s also been easier to communicate with people. Heavy life stuff is still around and it won’t be leaving for a while, but they were easier to ignore this week.

Are any of your electronics not working properly at the moment? Not really, but my phone’s charger cable recently stopped working. I have a backup that I’m using at the moment and while it’s able to charge my phone, it’s starting to fray and I’m not feeling too good about the wires that I’m starting to see hahaha. I just don’t know how to take care of my cables, guys. Anyway, this question made me paranoid so I took a few minutes to wrap a shit ton of electrical tape on the frayed area so I think it’s all good for now.

Are you excited to pick out your wedding dress one day? I like thinking about my wedding but I truthfully dread the wedding gown part. I’ve never been able to decide what look and style suits me best and I’ve just never been good at determining things like that. I like to imagine that I’d leave that bit to whoever my maid of honor will be, because I’d definitely prize a second opinion more than my own.

When was the last time you felt relieved? Yesterday, 6 PM when I exited the last Google Meet for the day. It was a Friday night and it meant my work week was over :)) I mean I love what I do, but Friday nights will always hit differently.

Does it bother you when an artist remakes a song that one has previously done? I wouldn’t say it bothers me but covers are definitely a hit or miss for me, with way more misses than hits. Nothing wrong with acts putting their own spin on an already existing song, but I’m personally the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” type when it comes to music.

What brand of chapstick do you use? I don’t use any mainly because I’m bound to lose them within a week. Same goes for other care products.

Do you really think someone could be perfect? No. Everyone has their flaws and that should be okay to acknowledge.

When was the last time you cried? Wednesday, I think. It’s been three days! I’d count that as an achievement. But idk, my sadness comes in waves so I shouldn’t be celebrating too early. I’m sure I’ll feel a pang soon and be crying again over the weekend.

What’s a food that you like every once in awhile but not often? Cake. Too sweet and rich; I wouldn’t enjoy eating it every day. What letter is the song you’re listening to under? Not listening to music, but I have a YouTube video on.

Would you rather visit the 60s or 70s? 60s would be the lesser evil, I guess. I would NOT want to live through Martial Law in the 70s...I originally wasn’t even going to go with 60s because I think the world was a bit chaotic at the time, but I think my country was mostly unaffected by the political/cultural things happening then so it’s whatever.

Are you the type of person that enjoys getting hugs? I don’t actively seek them out but it feels nice when someone likes me enough to extend their arms out to me for a hug. I haven’t been hugged for a while and I feel kinda empty.

Do your socks say anything on them? I think some of my socks have the brand name on them but that’s it.

Name a TV channel that only has three letters in it. AMC.

Have you found out who your true friends are? For now, yes.

Gray or Grey? I use both spellings for no particular context. I simply like changing it up lol.

Will you be buying concert tickets any time soon? LOL of course not. And I’m very picky when it comes to concerts that I choose to attend anyway, so I doubt I would’ve bought any tickets in the last six months even without Covid unless it was for Paramore or Beyoncé.

Have you seen the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower? Did you like it? Nope, but everyone was hyping that movie up when it came out. It never really looked like my thing < Yeah pretty much. I feel like it’s such a teenage-y movie so I was never drawn to it. I also think it would be too triggering for my depression, so I’ve felt wary about checking both book and movie out.

Is there something you’d fall apart if you didn’t have? One of my biggest fears is to end up alone, so I always have to have some form of a support system to fall back into. I would be very lost if I didn’t have at least one person to rely on.

How many weddings have you been to? I can think of four off the top of my head. I was either a flower girl or a junior bridesmaid for all of those.

When you smile, are you confident? Most times I am; I like to smile. But sometimes I smile just to fake it and avoid any questions.

Have you ever not done something because you were afraid of getting in trouble? Yesss, all the time. I’ve always been all about following the rules and I’ve never seen the appeal in breaking them. That makes me sound boring but at least I’ve never gotten in serious trouble lol.

Was the weather beautiful today? For me it is, but only because I like the rain and cloudy weather. Others might find it bleak and sad, but I feel right at home.

Do you have to have a fan on when you sleep? Yeah, all year long.

Would you rather have an orange, red or gray bedroom? If I had my dream modern/brutalist home, grey would be soooo fucking perfect for the bedroom. 

Would you ever dye part of your hair blue? I’m open to it, but I don’t think it’ll be a good match for my black hair as both are darker shades as it is. If I could dye my hair I’d pick lighter colors like green or even go all the way to blonde.

Have you ever gone to a private school? Yeah, from kindergarten all the way to high school. Private schools here typically give a better quality of education and they don’t give off the for-lazy-spoiled-kids vibe that I always hear from private schools in other countries, which makes them the norm for middle and upper-middle class families.

Is Finding Nemo a favorite movie of yours? I have other favorite animated movies, but that doesn’t stop me from loving Finding Nemo. :) I would always tune in for the whole thing if it were on.

Does/Did your school have a uniform? I had to wear one in my first school, but I didn’t need one for college.

Turn on the TV. What channel are you on? No TV where I am. I think my parents are watching a movie on their TV, but it’s on Netflix rather than a channel.

Does your house have security cameras? It does not.

Does a popsicle sound good right now? Eh, I guess it sounds fine but I’d rather have a pint of ice cream. I think that fits better with the weather and the mood that I’m in today.

What’s your favorite exercise workout? My weight training class last year was a lot of fun. I always felt dead after every session haha but I definitely felt healthier. I wish the semester had gone on longer just for that one class.

What’s your favorite thing to do? Lol I love doing many different things < Same lmao this question is so vague??? My favorite thing to do these days is binge-watch Rhett and Link content, but I like doing so many other things too.

What did you do for your 17th birthday? I was with Gabie that day and we went to a local art museum, as well as to a restaurant that she had wanted to take me to.

Does your local Walmart have benches in them to rest? We don’t have Walmarts.

Was your favorite stuffed animal really a teddy bear growing up? I never had stuffed animals. Well I was given a few of them as gifts, but I was never into them and they always ended up being owned by my sister.

If your house was haunted, what would you do? Not even think about it. Just show them that I couldn’t care less, lol.

Are you good at swimming? I can do a few strokes and am pretty good at treading, but I'm prone to panic-kicking when I can tell that the water is too deep.

What’s worse: Slow internet or slow walkers? Slow internet is such a pain in the ass. Shouldn’t even have to be an issue in 2020 anymore.

What is the rudest thing a guy has ever done to you? Cat-called, whistled at, winked at, lunged at. One good thing about this lockdown is that I haven’t had to deal with men as much as I used to. Do you sleep with the sheets tucked in or out? Well I only have one layer of bedsheet and it’s the one that covers up the mattress, so it’s tucked in by default. I have a blanket to cover me up when I’m cold.

What do you do to fall asleep faster? I find a few videos to watch as that tends to make me feel sleepy the quickest.

Do you carry a bottle of water wherever you go? I used to have a tumbler/water bottle in college but I forgot it at the gym one day and when I came back for it, somebody already stole it :( It was such a handy water bottle because it kept my water cold all day, so it sucks that I lost it. I’m planning to buy the same model again soon.

Are you afraid that one day you might get cancer? It doesn’t really run in my family save for one grand-aunt who had cancer, so I’m not too worried. But I’ve accepted the fact that it is at least a possibility.

Are you a fast or slow walker? I like being in the middle. Slow walkers are annoying so I try not to be one, and walking fast just reminds me of my mom and how quickly she walks at malls when she’s supposed to be spending time with her family lol.

Do you usually have to wear a belt with your pants? No. They all fit me just fine.

Does it bother you when people’s underwear hangs out? Eghhh, it really does. I know it shouldn’t but it really does. I just feel like it’s so invasive and it gives me a lot of secondhand embarassment.

Are you usually the person to try new things with your hair? Not really. I like staying safe with my hair. The most daring thing I’ve done with it is get bangs tbh, and I don’t plan on going any further than that.

When’s your birthday? April 21st.

What age do you look forward to reaching? I don’t feel that way about any age. Whenever I reach ultimate satisfaction and security will be a good enough age for me.

Name a state that begins with the letter M. Minnesota.

What’s the first thing you do after a car accident? Think about how to tell my parents. D:

What do you use to get rid of bad breath? Brush my teeth, drink water.

What exercise do you hate the most? Pull-ups.

What do you do at a party? Drink, socialize, tell stories, eat allllllll the food ha.

[milarvela]

Johnny Smugface is disappointed in Netflix.

I’m going to wait until they make a version of it with boys, then check it out.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Of course if it had been boys, nobody would’ve cared. Unless people wanted to get upset because they tried to film in a girls’ bathroom. Seldom seen so much misogynistic bullshit directed at one movie. Almost touching how so many think that girls can’t dance however the fuck they like in case a pedophile might enjoy it. Or in case someone might think it’s sexualising and that’s dangerous because of pedophiles. Didn’t people used to say similar things about rape? You were out late and had that sexy skirt, what did you expect? Your fault!

One of the weirdest groups online are the people who consume entertainment constantly thinking if there’s something in it that might interest a pedophile. Then act like there’s nothing else available for those who are so inclined. Remove this single thing and all will be well. Crazy cult. Right up there with those who can’t tell the difference between fiction and real life.

In any case, the movie isn’t even about society sexualising young girls or about highlighting whatever dangers there might be in it, so easy to believe Johnny hasn’t seen it. The way they dance is hardly addressed at all. They just do what older girls do and that’s it. What’s so special about that? Nothing. You could argue that it tries to highlight the dangers of eleven-year-olds having a phone. BTW, am I supposed to believe girls that age think that a boy pissing in your mouth gets you pregnant?  Even girls who have developed an interest in boys? I mean, what with the Internet and all, you’d think they’d learned something despite having school/parents fail them. After all, they did know how to accuse men of pedophilia when it came in handy.

Surprised that nobody's screaming that the movie should’ve been cancelled because of racism. It makes black husbands look bad. Black mothers too. I’m not sure what Amy’s mother did for a living but her daughter had to take care of the little brothers and do the shopping and the mother attended these “obedient woman” brainwashing sessions and randomly fainted in front of her children, but there was no explanation given for it. And when Amy locked her little brother into the bathroom and he flooded the apartment, no consequences. When she and a friend made a mess of the new bridal bed, nothing happened. Who cleaned it all up?

Was the mother ill? Mental health issues? Drinking? Using drugs? A zombie? From the movie I got the impression that the only reason why she was distracted/depressed/whatever was because her hubby had decided to get a second wife. I didn’t know two wives at the same time is allowed in France. Oh, those naughty Catholics. Or is it naughty black men? That hubby of hers even let decorate a fancy bridal suite for the newcomer. Lol, talk about insensitive. How many rooms did they actually have in that not very pricey-looking flat anyway? Why didn’t she divorce him like that spiritual guy suggested if she felt so bad about it? Get her own second husband? Why marry a guy who apparently gets to have more than one wife in the first place if it doesn’t suit you? We don’t see the parents together, so I’m just assuming she was still in love with him or possibly upset because of what the neighbours might think. Making calls to them pretending to be okay with the upcoming wedding...

Anyways, I thought the mother suddenly deciding to stand up for her daughter at the end, without any prior developments, after that inexplicable watering/shaking routine, seemed a bit out of the blue. As good time as any, though, since they’d be having the police and child services or whatever it’s called in France at their doorstep the next day what with Amy pushing another girl in the river. Right?

I think the movie tried to tackle way too many themes and issues.

Why did the guy whose phone Amy stole let her keep using it? Wouldn’t he have to pay the bills unless he cancelled his service?

Excellent acting by everybody, especially by all the girls. Apparently their possible future careers in acting are now ruined because they danced in this movie in a way that damaged their reputations for good. If you believe the nutjobs.

Interesting marketing from Netfilx. Maybe they underestimated people’s reactions towards dancing girls. What next? No ballroom dancing or ballet for girls? How about swimming? Gymnastics? Really, you can say anything is “sexualising” and use it as a weapon when trying to control girls.

I would’ve expected Prince Harry to denounce his Netflix deal after this, what with being Andrew’s nephew and noted wokist.

[touchmycoat]

fic titles meme

@hergan416​!!! okay so 15 titles, search for patterns

3 out of 15 are bullshitted 9 out of 15 were thought up after fic completion 8 out of 15 reference song lyrics 10 out of 15 use punctuation 7 out of 15 use Chinese but that one’s obvious

I think i conceptualize titles as... something that has certain evocations that may or may not be explicit at first glance, but once you’ve read the fic, you can go back to it and see that it identifies the heart of the story.

ever wondered why the fuck my titles are what they are? under the cut dnfjdndkf

Carmine / 一點也不稀奇

central to the fic was the corset piercings strung with red thread ==> the color red is important ==> carmine is a sexy shade of red ==> carmine sounds like carmen ==> pulled a chinese lyric out of the carmen song that zhou shen covered on Our Song ==> lyric means “not peculiar at all” ==> in kind-of-cheeky reference to the unexpected foursome in the fic, also the four of them dealing with nonnormative things in a very normal way, like sex work, erotic photography, aspec & body-shyness within the context of that, eroticizing pain (specifically the scenes of their canonical pain), etc.

Study Close (Real Close)

this was one of the bullshit titles ‘cause it’s just a line from suit & tie ksdjnfsd and this is the suit kink fic so

Saussurea / 美麗的緣

central to this fic was xxc wandering alone without song lan ==> Sa Ding Ding’s song “Free-roaming flower” ==> lyrics refer to the “snow lotus” ==> Latin name Saussurea ==> another lyric is the chinese portion “beautiful serendipity” ==> ‘cause they still meet! and save mxy!! yay!

Free and indirect an afternoon / 諸公聽

this fic was conceptualized as a snapshot, a preview to the larger story ==> the chinese portion of the title is one form of address to the audience from Chinese opera that’s literally a call to listen ==> “I will tell you a story” ==> oh there’s a narrator’s voice suddenly popping up oh it’s free indirect speech ==> uh this takes place during an afternoon ==> oh there we go a very staged & preview-like title to frame the whole piece

Sounds of Surrender / 勝有聲

sexy sexy sexy eheheheh ==> sounds are sexy ==> chinese title came first, from Zhou Shen’s cover of “有可能的夜晚”/”a possible evening” on Singer 2020 ==> the lyric actually means “victory has voice” ==> but juxtaposition is also sexy ==> so is alliteration ==> Sounds of Surrender it is

Courtside Company / 卿卿

fluff & tropey sweetness ==> chinese title is a... kind of old term of endearment for married couples? ==> double repetition ==> alliteration in the English title ==> ah okay English side refers to SL’s friendship with NMJ ==> Chinese side refers to SL’s smitten nonsense with XXC

Handy / 巧手

named the chinese first because 巧 is one of my favorite adjectives in Chinese, meaning “skilled & agile & dexterous” ==> English part is pretty much a direct translation ‘cause I didn’t want just a Chinese title ==> also hand sex

Sword of the Yi Maiden / 義女劍

spin-off of Jin Yong’s “Sword of the Yue Maiden” 越女劍

Easy does it

bullshit title #2; got horny ==> wrote porn ==> had to publish it

We built our own house (out of sweat and dust)

finished the fic ==> gathered important thematic elements ==> the coffin house and fucking dust ==> filled out the rest to my ideal fic title length & parenthetical aesthetic lmfao

That's the Kind of Love

wrote a gangbang ==> wanted sexy lyrics title ==> hozier obv ==> Edie was like “Dinner & Diatribes” is peak Hozier sexy ==> and she was absolutely correct ==> also wanted “love” in the title ‘cause sex lol ==> but it’s a rough gangbang full of tender feelings so the title is happy

Bright Black

this fic is about Katakuri, bound by family circumstance, struggling with his disallowed desire to keep marco by killing marco repeatedly right? so “bright black” was the image in that moment, where marco’s dead eyes come back to life (because marco’s immortality is the mechanism that makes Katakuri’s “keeping” possible at all in the first place). Obviously I liked it so much i made it the title lmfao.

Erotic Poultry Stuffing

Shanks stuffs a chicken erotically. It’s a fisting fic. ‘Nuff said.

(you made me a you made me a)

from imagine dragon’s Believer ==> this fic was part 3 in the series with shanks & benn breaking marco down or—alternate reading—helping marco work through his own shit through fucking ruining him, because they’re the only ones strong enough to manage it ==> they’ve managed it by the time of this fic ==> the full lyric goes “pain—you made me a you made me a believer” ==> obviously marco and every version of faith he has revolves around pain ==> losing his old faith (whitebeards) is pain ==> it takes pain to shuck that pain and reclaim his body from the broken ties of family ==> i didn’t want to be too on-the-nose tho so i took out “pain” and “believer” ==> and i slapped the rest in parentheses because this character development/catharsis is the opposite of explicit ==> (also it evokes the question, what exactly did shanks & benn make marco into? which is the question vista comes into the scene with)

wishes and fishes

final bullshit title ==> okay well i wanted something that reflects the dual piece right? ==> the fic is “I wish I could hate you” spoken in two different contexts or something ==> hence the rhyme ==> then y’know, “if wishes were fishes we’d all swim in riches” ==> the fic is about their ultimate incompatibility but nevertheless the lack of ability to hate each other ==> plus the kiddie careless silly kind of rhyme reflected the vignette style pretty well ==> short & inconsequential, which also describes the tragedy of their relationship

[trnhtm]

Simmer Get To Know Tag

@trillyke tags anyone with an ‘m’ in their name so i think it’s cool to do one oh no here i go. I know i said i might not be active but hey, it happens and i think it's okay to let people know more about me a wee bit ;)

Your Name: i have many aliases and Purple/Purp/Purpretta is fine bc it’s one of the common names that people around call me (Tím), albiet Mi is another i have for my art blogs (hence @mi0702)

Languages you speak: Vietnamese, English, can read Hangul by words and not meaning

Are you a mermaid: yes, i love to swim and would want to learn proper diving after i’m healthier and have more time & resources, it was quite the experiences i had (proceed dreaming about the ocean) but i can’t lure people by singing for the life of me lol

Your playstyle: 1-2 something hours in CAS if i’m being invested or just struggle with all the cc tbh, building can be like a week project pan out for a few hours/day, i’ve had days of gameplay for roughly more than half and hour per session. For the record i’ve only done all of this (6hrs-ish) a few times last summer and it’s not healthy.

Your simself picture: The one on the faux cover up top is me :D

(the following answers has multiple bc i can’t choose)

Your favorite age state: YA, Adult, Immortally young that is

Your favorite season: Spring or summer, the scenery is perfect for screenshots

Your favorite holiday: Harvestfest, Pride and Neighborhood Brawl haha

How was your day: weird, woke up midday almost had no idea what day it is and cleaning out drives in the computer for the pj im working on

Your favorite career: Retail owner i think (if that counts), there’s a lot of wiggle room for decorating the store, if at home i prefer something freelance like photography or writing

Your favorite aspiration: from a play session last year i finished a fishing related one with Nina Caliente and it was hilarious; i quite enjoy the garden one too, the rest not so much

Your favorite EP, SP or GP: City Living, Seasons, Cats & Dogs, Get to Work, Get Together

How old is ur simblr: til this feb it’s only 8 months, i’ve been on tumblr for a long time but simblr has only in my orbit since 2018

Your Favorite skill: Handiness, Cooking, Painting, Charisma

The size of your mods folder: for testing or MM things 3-5GB at most or none, for CAS and builds i had a time of 45GB... but i had recently cut them down by 35GB and am willing to cut down more

Your 3 favourite mods: hmm.. i’d say all TMEX python mods, shortcuts mod, and UI cheats, if i can only get to have a handful these are what i’ll grab first

Your Interests (other than sims): Other than my jobs (Graphic design & MUA) i have cooking and crafting i guess

Your favorite sim (picture if possible): Victoria Lovelace my bae (featured here), and recently the girlies from my True Damage creations (only Akali here but you get what i mean)

Which sims games you have played (including mobile games): only got to watch a relative play ts2, had played simscity but I flopped because young me didn’t know s**t about urban planning, did play sims freeplay when it came out but dropped that, have been on ts4 for several years recently

Propose a crazy scheme: how about just patreon to have people backing your creativity up, release one week private patreon (or none, however suits you) then public? No adflys or weird clicky linkys?? I understand the hustle, but ya have to sit through 20-30 mins for viruses? Uh uh

Best part of simblr: seeing all the creativity, love and passion people have for the game

Worst part of simblr: i don’t know fr, maybe only the teeny tiny of people go against TOU i guess, i’m just a small dot so how do i know 🧐

What other games you play: currently Minecraft on my own, sometimes games like papers please are fun, or not tonight; i used to be on Stardoll religiously but the inflation got high and now i can’t top up my acc in my country so i guess i’m leaving it at 10yrs 🤡

Other websites or accounts (Origin, Twitter etc..): @mi0702 is my main tumblr that’s pretty old, i do use twitter but i tend to fly off radar as of recent years (@Mi_0702) tweet me and i’ll reply as soon as possible, Origin id: purpretta; other info are already on the desktop about & home page 😂

Tagging everyone with a ‘p’ in their name! ;)

[wodrueckts]

i just came back from a long-ass shower and you already know what i was thinking about the whole time, so let me just try to put my woozy shower thoughts into words:

david is really good for matteo.

i know i already made a long post about that a while ago but the past two episodes actually showed it all over again so i guess you’ll have to deal with another one. 

and i know that we shouldn’t romanticize the idea of A Special Someone coming along to SAVE us and solve all our problems but that’s not what this is about and it’s not what david is doing. quite the opposite actually.

he makes things more complicated and messy and actually causes more problems than he’s solving (for now). but that’s a good thing.

 matteo had his first real fight with sara because he didn’t want david to see them together like that and he actually, for the first time ever, expressed his honest thoughts and feelings to sara. of course, he was absolutely horrible to her and i don’t approve of that at all because she doesn’t deserve that in the slightest and if leonie burns him at the stake he’ll deserve it, but i still feel like it was a step in the right direction.

and now that matteo has ditched abdi’s party for him, he’s starting to cause a bit of a rift in matteo’s friend group, which doesn’t really sound like a good thing but will eventually lead to more understanding among all of them and to matteo being open with them and just all of them being closer in the end.

but i’m getting off track here, because that isn’t actually what i wanted to talk about, haha.

what i meant when i said that david is good for matteo is that he makes him do things, want things, feel things - both good (when they’re together) and bad (when he leaves him on read) but it’s SOMETHING. it’s something more than the numbness and apathy he usually feels, it’s being alive. 

matteo often seems like he’s already given up, like he has no expectations, no aspirations for his life. but david makes him think that maybe, maybe there is something out there for him, maybe there is something that’s worth putting in the effort. even if it’s just racing a boy he likes down the length of an empty pool and losing but getting rewarded with a smile anyway.

david isn’t saving matteo. but he might just make matteo want to save himself. 

if matteo is someone drowning in a calm ocean, treading water just enough to keep himself from sinking completely but getting closer and closer to accepting his watery grave, then david isn’t the boat that comes along and fishes him out, gives him a blanket and brings him to land. david is the swallow that’s soaring in the air, signalling that land is near since they never fly far out to sea, giving matteo a reason to swim because there is hope yet. and i’m sure things will get rough, the waves might turn vicious as they get closer to shore, pulling him under and making him want to give up altogether thinking that maybe he should’ve stayed where he was, where at least the water was calmer. but he will pull through and he will make it to land. 

(can you tell i was reading up on swallow (the bird) symbolism after david posted that drawing on his insta? came in handy here, haha)

and you could probably make the argument that we’re getting into Manic Pixie Dream Girl Guy territory here but i think 1. that’s a specifically female trope that i think can’t just be transposed onto a guy like that and 2. david doesn’t really have any of the typical characteristics of a MPDG, so the only thing similar would be the effect he has on matteo’s life. besides, i think we’re also gonna see more of david’s own struggles, making him more of an actual, rounded character, unlike your typical MPDG. 

anyways, these are my thoughts, sorry for this corny-ass post but i couldn’t help myself lol

[welhayley-blog]

Who: Hayley and Brie @thatlarson When: Sometime last week (lol) What: They go from mere roommates to something more.

Hayley: Being on holiday on a Caribbean Island was incredible enough, but being on a Caribbean Island surrounded by a bunch of fun people whom she felt entirely comfortable with, took the experience to the next level. The highlight, thus far, was sharing a room with Brie. Their time spent together, which had gradually increased in the past weeks, had never been a unexciting, leaving the Brit wonder what that holiday would bring. It was one of the first nights and Hayley was ready to go out and not come back until dawn, which was rather insane considering that she wasn’t in her twenties anymore. But wasting that amazing opportunity would be much worse and with nothing on the horizon for her yet, work wise, there would be plenty of time for her to rest once home. After getting ready, wearing a simple floral dress, she left the room for a while without saying a word to Brie, eventually coming back with one extra large box of pizza, which she reckoned her roommate would appreciate. “Am I your favourite person yet? I better be because I won’t settle for anything less,” Hayley said placing the box on one of their beds, crashing next to it lacking grace as per usual. Remembering an old conversation of theirs, the older actress grasped her phone and clicked on a playlist, a quite exotical one to match the environment. Without hesitating, and after securing one slice of pizza with her hand, she stood up and began to move following the melody, in a goofy way rather than in a serious one. “See? Told you. Everything’s possible.”

Brie: Since they had planned on going out and seeing the island, Brie was in the large bathroom of the room getting ready when she heard the door close. She peeked out to see Hayley gone, and wondered where she went. She went back to getting ready, putting on a pair of jeans and a yellow blouse that she didn't even know would end up matching Hayley's dress. She moved to the window and opened the blinds, looking out to the island. She breathed out and enjoyed the view, then heard the door to the room open and she quickly turned on her heels to see Hayley. She beamed and noticed the pizza box, practically leaping towards her and examining the pizza. She aided her in getting the box on the bed, and plopped down with her. She took a slice out, using two hands to take a bite. "You have been my favorite person, but now you have like went to favorite person times a hundred!" She laughed and took a bite. She watched her stand up, moving to the music that was being played. She laughed and smiled while the other female did, and stood up herself. Brie stepped closer to her, moving her own body to the melody and lifting the pizza towards her mouth to take another bite. She can't help but let out a laugh, looking to Hayley. "I might be exaggerating, but I think no one has done something this awesome in the history of the world. Finding out the Earth is round? Psh, this is better." She laughed and took a seat on the bed, looking up to the other.

Hayley: A guffaw escaped her lips in reaction to Brie’s exaggeration, making her thankful for having waited a few extra moments to nibble at her slice of pizza. Albeit the British woman wasn’t sure whether her friend had said that just because, it didn’t fail to boost her ego a tiny bit, reflected by the proud smile that grew onto her face. “Here’s hoping you’ll never expect me to top this because I’m not entirely sure I could do better than the guys who found out the Earth is round, twice,” And with that she finally dug her teeth into her slice and chewed on it whilst keeping the leisurely dancing moves going opposed to Brie’s decision to sit down. “I mean, it could happen again. As long as you’re around. You inspire me,” Hayley confessed truthfully but also nonchalantly without giving her words too much weight. “Clearly not as much as I inspire you to be a creep who watches me dance,” Her head shook in disapproval. “Did being a popstar teach you nothing? Or are you intimidated by me?”

Brie: "Hayley! We were supposed to not mention that stage in my life." She laughed, hoping that the joking tone was evident. Brie placed her half eaten pizza down on a paper plate that Hayley had brought in along with the pizza. She looked up to her, tilting her head. "Wait, I inspire you? You have that backwards, my lady. You inspire me! Can I get ugly emotional for a second? You helped me with caring what the outside world thought too much, and just focus on myself. So thank you." She smiled and stood to her feet again, joining the other actress with moving her body to the rhythm of the music. She tucked short blonde hair behind her ears, keeping her eyes on Hayley. The smile on her face never really seamed to vanish when Hayley was around, and she didn't mind that. "Show me your go to move! I would show you mine, but then you would fall in love with me and we would have to deal with that. I just better not." She laughed and felt herself becoming more and more lose, feeling comfortable around the other female.

Hayley: Hayley didn’t have a response to the other woman’s statement apart from a genuine smile which went hand in hand with the warmth that encroached on her heart. The influence that her actions and words had on others was a concern that occupied her mind quite often, hence her positive nonverbal response to Brie when learned that they’d had a good impact on her. By the time her friend’s request came, the British actress had already finished off her slice, which gave her arms and hands the liberty to move freely. She’d never realised she actually had a go-to dance move until that very moment, when without adding any further comment, her feet started to move sideways until the chosen dance move looked more and more like the grapevine. It didn’t last more than a few seconds, specially since her movements didn’t match the music anymore and, as per usual, it made her look more goofy than talented. “Your turn, popstar,” That was a sign that Hayley would never really cease to mention Brie’s past career. “Falling in love with you is a risk I’m willing to take. I’m that reckless, love. C’mon.”

Brie: Brie watched and let out a few playful laughs, enjoying how the two of them could just be their dorky selves and she knew they would have a good time on this trip. She stood up at Hayley's last comment and shook her head. "That's not going to go away anytime soon, is it?" She laughed and started to move her feet, stepping left to right. "Okay, you might want to step back because I might bring the roof down with this." She turned and placed her hands on the bed, starting to do a terrible attempt at a twerk. She couldn't even hold it for more than a few seconds, falling onto the bed and busting out with laughter. "So, are you in love?" She felt her face red from the dance she just performed, and also the laughing that she was doing. She grabbed another piece of pizza, taking a large bite out of it. 

Hayley: Hayley couldn’t believe what had just happened right in front of her eyes and despite her attempts not to externalise her inner reaction, a loud laughter escaped her throat and echoed through their room. Recollecting herself rather quickly, she answered the question in a quite serious expression which matched her thick accent. “Head over heels,” Her tone pointed out that she was being sarcastic, however the ‘performance’ didn’t leave her completely untouched; it made her realise that they both were truly comfortable around each other and that was what mattered the most at the end of the day. “What am I to do now? Can you stop being utterly ridiculous so that I fall out of love with you?” Considering that her energy would come in handy later on that night, the woman lied down on her her side and secured another slice of pizza for herself. “Well, utterly ridiculous and utterly gorgeous. Thank you.” Hayley added in a rather amused voice.

Brie: Brie joined the position of Hayley and laid on her side, lifting her hand to wave off her previous comment. "Gorgeous? Your nose is going to grow from lying!" She chuckled and took another bite of her slice. "You're the gorgeous one here, and there can't be an argument. It's just a fact, okay? Okay." She laughed and used a hand to prop her head up on the bed. She saw sunlight shine through the blinds, and that triggered her to think about the day. "So, what should we do? I was thinking we could explore the island and see what kind of trouble we can get into." She sat up and stepped from the bed to appraoch the window where she was previously before Hayley came in. "How are your swimming skills? We should take a swim and try to find a cave or something! Maybe we can find some treasure." She smiled and turned back to Hayley, leaning against the wall.

Hayley: An eyebrow raised in distrust as her glance followed the other figure moving on the bed. “I don’t like this. You should take my genuine compliments to heart. Besides, we can both be gorgeous. It’s not a competition. I’d be mad to enter a beauty competition alongside you,” Hayley wasn’t one to drag herself down to praise others, nor one to deliver eulogies; however, that last comment escaped her and once realised that, she simply shrugged it off. Rolling onto her back, she listened to Brie with her gaze set on the ceiling, letting hundreds of silly ideas flowing in and out of her head. “That’s a smooth way to get me into a bikini,” The Brit pointed out with a chuckle, then added, “Love, we’d be the treasure of that cave once we swim our way into it. I’m down as long as we don’t leave a map behind to be found,” Rather friskily Hayley stood up and stepped toward Brie, playfully pinching her in a ticklish way. “C’mon now. ‘m excited.”

Brie: "Maybe." She smirked and curved her lip in response to the accusation of trying to get Hayley in a bikini. Brie didn't know if Hayley knew or not, but she was deadly ticklish. So just out of pure instinct she jumped back and laughed. "No! No tickling." Brie laughed again at her own reaction, and couldn't help but smile from hearing that the other woman was excited because she was too. " I am too. I'll change now." She walked to her suitcase that was still yet to be unpacked in the corner of the room, kneeling down and digging through to find her two piece bikini. She walked into the bathroom and brushed past Hayley with a smile, changing into her purple bikini set. She walked out and knelt down in the same suitcase to find her sun screen. "Will you get me?" She held the bottle out to Hayley.

Hayley: Her gaze followed the other woman disappearing into the bathroom with half of a smirk depicted on her lips. Taking advantage of the solus time in the room, Hayley fleetly changed into a one piece swimming costume which made her feel more comfortable than a bikini, and covered her pale skin up with a generous layer of sunscreen. “Uh la la, someone’s going to have all eyes on her,” The British actress commented checking her out from head to toe without being too subtle about it, then proceeded with fulfilling her request. Squeezing some lotion on the palm of her hand, she rubbed them together and started to apply it thoroughly into the exposed parts of Brie’s back in a mildly gentle way, moving gradually toward her front. Once squeezed some more sunscreen, her hands made sure her upper chest area was entirely covered; admittedly, she did take her time as she was enjoying the moment more than she should have, all whilst her eyes would frequently move from following her own movements to catch the blond’s gaze. Once finished up that area, her eyes settled on hers as she stepped back and handed the sunscreen back. “I reckon you can do the rest. Don’t want to spoil you /too/ much.”

Brie: Brie kept her eyes on Hayley the whole time, her lip curved into a smile. She took the bottle from her and nodded her head. "Thank you. Do you need me to return the favor?" She squeezed some of the sun screen into her own palm now and got her legs and the rest of her body that hadn't been touched. She applied a bit onto her face and nose, before wanting to comment on Hayley's previous theory. Brie now admired the way that the one piece filled out the other perfectly. "I think all eyes are going to be on you, girl. You're body goals." She didn't want to stare too much, but she meant what she said because she found herself not able to take her eyes off Hayley. She smiled and grabbed a hair band, tying up her short blonde hair. She grabbed towels for them, and placed sunglasses onto her head. "Do you think we need anything else?" She looked over to the other female and thought in her head if she was forgetting anything. "Oh, here." She reached out and gently brushed her thumb over Hayley's chin, rubbing in some sun screen that wasn't rubbed in all the way.

Hayley: The generous words coming from her American friend were as per usual highly appreciated by the woman who, under normal circumstances, didn't particularly take any pleasure in being showered with praise. Coming from Brie? Hayley found herself really into hearing them, though she still wasn't familiar with the proper way to react to compliments. At first, as her thumb brushed against her chin, Hayley's face morphed into a confused expression, then a light laugh lightened it up as the realisation came to mind. "Thank you, love. My British white arse can't go more than two hours without re-applying sunscreen. Next time, your wish will be granted," Said that, her hand grabbed the bottle of sunscreen and after shaking it up in the air for a brief instant, she slid it into her tote bag. "I'd say that's-- " as /all/ was going to leave her lips, the actress had a light bulb kind of moment. Quickly going through her own bag, she dug up a pair of swimming goggles that she immediately wore over her head like she'd normally do with her sunglasses, which had already been packed in her sea bag. Sometimes there wasn't anything that could stop her from being a goof, not even herself. Especially not herself. "Now we're ready to go. I love to see what's under water, don't judge. And no, I'm not going to be a creep and spy you from down there. A lady would never," This time her attempt not to burst out laughing succeeded, as she stepped outside their room and commenced walking toward their destination. In spite of the confidence of her steps, Hayley didn't have a clue which direction they were supposed to head, hence her stopping a man who looked like a member of the staff to kindly ask for information.

Brie: Brie departed the room with Hayley and walked towards the exit. She too was lost, and was thankful when her friend stopped to ask for directions to get to the water and swimming areas. She listened to him, then followed the directions that was given with Hayley. She walked from the hotel and with what seemed about half a mile they were on the most beautiful beach that Brie had ever laid eyes on. An audible gasp left her lips, and she looked around the mountain scenery that had some of the greenest trees and land that she had ever seen. The water glistened in the sun, and Brie turned to the fellow actress. "It's... so beautiful." She walked onto the sand and saw a few other guests from the hotel swimming in different parts of the water and just laying out. She looked out and saw what looked like a cave entrance out in the water. She pointed. "Look, I think that's a cave we can swim into. Still up for it?" She turned to Hayley and smiled. Brie laid out a towel to set all their bags and things down. She caught a gaze over to Hayley, and it was a perfect shot from what seemed like a film. The sun lit her, and she could see just how beautiful the female was. Brie smiled and breathed out. "I am excited."

Hayley:  Being a lover of the ocean, and nature in general, like herself, her excitement was growing stronger with every step they were taking toward the beach, just to explode into a wide beam once they stopped to admire the sight around them. Those were the moments that filled her soul with long-lasting joy. “There’s a lot of beauty around here today to please my eyes,” Hayley said quite cheekily, gaze fixed on the other woman. As Brie was taking care of their things, her glance explored from distance the surrounding of the cave, looking for the best way to reach it; it didn’t seem too risky. Not that anything would have stopped the wild child that the British actress was. Instead of replying to her question, she raised a brow as to say ‘really?’ and sprinted toward the water. “Catch me if you can,” The shout left her lips in a quite melodic way, as her skin came into contact with the salty water which, opposed to the air temperature, was cold-ish. 

Brie: "HEY!" Brie laughed and ran after her, running into the water and feeling the cold water hit her body. Soon it was up to her neck and she began swimming after the fellow actress. She had some experience with swimming, and wasn't a pro but wasn't bad. She kept up with Hayley and stopped once they arrived to the large opening. "It's like we are Indiana Jones." She smiled and slowly swam into the cave with her, the water becoming more and more shallow until they were able to walk on the surface. The way the sun shined into the cave lit it up beautiful, and she sighed. "It's beautiful." She looked towards Hayley after the last comment and grabbed her hand. "Do you think we'll find the treasure. I'll split the earning with you. Sixty fourty. How does that sound." She found herself lacing her fingers with Hayley.

Hayley:  Their swim to the cave went quite smoothly as neither of them encountered any trouble on their way there. Hayley was mesmerised by the environment offered by the hidden chamber in the hillcliff, wild yet cosy, with a woman not only she admired but also found herself attracted to in a deep way without having had noticed it for a long time. It’d never been easy for her to exteriorise her feelings, the British actress was more of a lady of action. Eyes falling on their interlaced fingers, she nearly didn’t hear what the other said. That was when Hayley took a leap of faith and before her expression could give away the feeling of nervousness that had been growing through her stomach, she leaned in and press her lips against Brie’s, hand gently resting against the side of her neck. “Make it sixty for me or I’m never doing this, ever again.”

Brie: Brie immediately returned the kiss without any hesitation, her hands dipping to rest on Hayley's waist. She closed her eyes for a moment and smiled to herself, opening them to meet the other's gaze and admire her features. Instead of a response to Hayley's comment, she could only give into her emotions and that was to kiss her again. She pressed her lips again on the other female's lips, and made this one last just a few moments more. She peeled away slowly, looking at the beautiful actress. "Wow. I normally have something to say, but I just don't except that was perfect." She rubbed her hand over Hayley's and again took hold of it. "How about fifty fifty, and you get to kiss me again?" She smirked and made sure that her tone was playful when she spoke.

Hayley: Once the kiss was returned, the tension left her body entirely taking her to a level of total relaxation; that wasn’t something Hayley had anticipated at the end of the year when they’d began getting close but it was more than welcome for the time being. Brie made her feel at ease and in spite of the British woman teasing the other endlessly, she was rather happy to have her around. “I’d argue with you right now but that would ruin the moment,” It was rare for her to hold her tongue but on a rare occasion she would and the fact that she could close her eyes and steal another kiss certainly helped. “Fifty-fifty and we’re doing this throughout the entire holiday.”

Brie: She laughed and nodded, applying a squeeze to Hayley's hand. Brie walked further into the cave with her, and now the light was getting less and less. She was afraid of the dark, so she took a giant step back. "You're going to call me a chicken, but I am afraid of the dark. Do you think we can stay in the sunlight?" She smiled and decided to steal another kiss from the beautiful actress, and her smile increased when their lips connected again. "You mean the kissing part right? Because I can get behind doing that throughout the entire holiday."

Hayley: “Shut up!” The older woman reacted to the other’s confession with a chuckle, shaking her head almost in disbelief. Did she mean it? Just in case, Hayley found a place where to sit by the light, a place that offered them a spectacular view on the cave, as well. “You’re literally stronger than me physically, but I’ll protect you from whatever may come from the dark,” She promised with a genuine smiled stamped onto her face, meaning it. From then on, they enjoyed the rest of the day in each other’s company, each moment making Hayley grow more amazed by the crazy situation per se /and/ the woman she shared all those lovely moments with.

[marigorbital]

Dumb Ducks in the Water: Part 14

IT’S FINALLY HERE. Three actual years later, but it’s here.

A lot has happened in my life for the past three years and, to make a long excuse short, I was doing a lot of life questioning and dealing with events. And once I got out of my dark cloud, I decided to return to this fic while returning with my own writing projects. So I’m here to finish this fic, though I’m not sure how long it will take (I hope within a year?)--I’m just promising not to go MIA again, is all.

Anyway, some notes on this chapter:

- Listen, I did NOT plan on returning when the 3rd season of Free! came. This is pure coincidence, honestly. That being said, SO MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED. Side characters have personalities now... Isuzu exists (I’ll have to, at some point, change Yukiko’s name)... People are in college now... Anyway, I want to remind folks that I started this fic in 2014/2015 and I’m trying to stay true to that, so anything that doesn’t match up with the current season is kind of like oh well for me.

- This chapter features tweets. Yeah. I used some website that make them look like they were written in 2009, lol, but we’re just gonna go with it. Also, want to give a shoutout to my best friends, who spent like five hours coming up with the twitter handles.

- Speaking of which, trigger warning possibly: cyber bullying (?) and rumors. Now, I generally try to keep this fic lighthearted, so I am also touching the mentioned subjects in a lighthearted manner for the most part, but I also know that if what happens in this chapter ever happened to me in high school, I would have been mortified. So I tried to respect that and take it a little seriously, which also pertains to the rest of the plot--but this is still Dumb Ducks. No PSAs, just some self-awareness.

- I am a little worried the quality is not up to par with this chapter because it’s been a while and I just wanted to get this chapter over with because I’d rather write other scenes, so I’m super sorry if it’s only sort of funny/cute or too serious. It’ll be better next chapter! (Which hopefully comes out by December?)

Anyway.

Start from the beginning or go to the handy-dandy tag page and pick up where you left off.

Enjoy.

------

It was still Tuesday.

But worse yet, it was time for him to face the swim team.

And to be honest, if you asked Nitori, that was kind of bullshit.

There he stood, observing the pool of sharks in the distance just waiting for him to make a move. A whole lot of damage had been done in the past eight hours since Rin shouted a profound WHAT THE FUCK at Nitori and Momo’s dorm doorway, which immediately stirred up a banana telephone game of epic proportions throughout Samezuka Academy. Pair that with the fact that both of the dimwits were publicly announced to head to the principal’s office together and that something amiss had happened in the cafeteria last night—and boy, oh boy, were the rumors trending the social sphere like something straight out of Nitori’s nightmares. They had gone viral, top of the chart gossip among their peers, who were all too ready to roast the couple into infamy.

It all started with a tweet.

Some rando on the basketball team had overheard Rin catching Nitori and Momotarou getting caught in an explicit position at their dorm, and what with the rumors of Samezuka’s swim team having more tea than a J-drama now stirring, this caught the attention of several bored teenage boys before classes had even started.

The sports news network was simple. Basketball passed the rumors around to get some details. One teammate asked who found out about this and were replied to with the captain caught them. Another asked, which one’s the captain?? And another replied, the guy who cries all the time.

Once the rumors spread over to other sports teams at the academy, the Samezuka Swim Team Thot Conspiracy began. It was the volleyball team who mentioned that both Nitori and Mikoshiba were sent to the principal’s office that same day, as sourced by a classmate in Nitori’s homeroom. A peculiar detail because how did the school find out about what the couple was doing in their bedroom? Did someone rat them out?

Then someone on the tennis team who was also in the culinary club mentioned, I heard they got caught doing shit in the cafeteria.

Cue the controversy.

This made folks on the baseball team wonder just how many times the two had done it and bets were being taken about when the relationship started. Someone on the bicycle team hashtagged the gossip thread as #bombezuka, which set off a flurry of well-intentioned, damage control tweets from students who didn’t want the reputations of Aiichirou Nitori and Momotarou Mikoshiba to get tarnished.

Things like who cares if they’re banging and let them live in PEACE to they’re not gay and who are we even talking about flooded social media circles as the rumor spread outside of Samezuka’s sports clubs and into the general student body. Did things get out of control? Naturally. Details were being made up, people weren’t entirely sure who was involved in the cafeteria fucking, and lavish erotic assumptions about who had the biggest dick energy on the Samezuka swim team were battling it out for all of this side of Japan’s internet to see.

One person assumed the captain (Rin) was angry because he was in a secret love affair with “the silver twink” or something. Another person insisted, Mikoshiba-san has been bragging about being with Nitori-san since last weekend. Another student saw them nuzzling faces on the metro train, claimed they were on a date. Oh, definitely, said another, saw them on the beach making out.

Eventually someone had the nerve to try to confirm some things with the swim team by messaging Toru Iwashimizu, who only responded:

But because Iwashimizu had responded, the #bombezuka thread had popped up on the rest of the swimming team’s Twitter feeds, who righteously had mixed reactions of freaking out to defend their teammates’ honor and freaking out because their suspicions had finally been confirmed.

To no one’s surprise, Nagisa Hazuki caught wind of the frenzy, despite being from another school entirely.

And with Rin Matsuoka’s name mixed in with the rumors, it did not take long before six degrees reached his younger sister Gou, who could not believe what had unfurled throughout the day without any comment by her brother. In a desperate attempt to get him to notice the Twitter storm, she tweeted:

The only silver lining of the tweetastrophe was that at least no one was being inherently meanspirited about the potential lust blossoming between Nitori and Momotarou, which was partially due to the swimming team’s notoriety. On paper, sure, the swim team was the pride and joy of the Samezuka Academy, but that’s not why they were famous among their peers. They were famous because the rest of the school viewed the swim team as a group of guys obsessed with swimming. They did nothing but swim. The whole point of the indoor swimming pool was for the team to practice even during the winter—when they didn’t even have to swim—or whenever it rained.

Barely anyone knew anything about the students in the swim team, so many folks figured they had the stock personalities of a school of fish. All going for the same goal to be a professional athlete and not much else. They were untouchable; their schedules surrounding practices, training camps, and swim meets, with not much room for dating in between. The only other thing people knew about them was their annual tradition of hosting a maid café at their school’s cultural festival, which no one could reasonably explain.

That was it. Listen, people figured if there was ever going to be a scandal coming from the swim team, it was probably going to be about some guy shooting up steroids in the locker room or wearing unapproved swimsuits for better aerodynamics in competitions or maybe even something crazy like the students were all brainwashed and manufactured into disciples of Poseidon himself to carry on the legend of Samezuka forever. They weren’t known for actual drama, not even while people heard about Rin Matsuoka swimming for some other school’s team halfway through a competition for some reason last year (that was weird, but okay) or even this year when some folks whispered about Sousuke Yamazaki having a hurt shoulder and, like, that was sad, but he still swam in the championship, so other students figured it wasn’t so bad. Hell, if you even heard about those two so-called incidents, you had to be real close to the swim team—and the fact of the matter was, what happened in Samezuka’s swim team generally stayed with the swim team.

So, when rumors spread about last year’s swim team captain’s little brother possibly dating this year’s captain’s ex-roommate, who some said might be next year’s captain, too, things got a little bit juicy.

To the student body of the Samezuka Academy, this was like finding out the royals were having incestuous affairs behind the castle doors, which got people thinking: maybe the reason no one had ever heard of the Samezuka swim team dating anyone outside of school was because maybe the swim team was dating… each other.

Yet, while folks were reveling in the swim team’s supposed love triangle plot twists, it was all at the expense of Aiichirou Nitori’s dignity. People were quick to forget that. It was one thing to be teased by his teammates about possibly dating Momotarou, but to witness his reputation get warped into being the promiscuous sexpot darling of the swim team was a level of humiliation Nitori had never known. He read tweet after tweet, seeing his name become the butt of a thousand jokes by students who he had never heard of, let alone spoken to.

It was a wild exchange. There were positive messages at first that called him cute, saying no surprise he’s dating someone, remembering him as the second-year breaststroke swimmer, saying how quiet in school he was, saying how small he was, saying well, if he’s still on the swim team, he must be good, right? They said he must be flexible, then mentioned Momo and Rin and Sousuke and Seijuro and damn near any teammate people saw him with at some point during the school year. They got more invasive, calling him relay boy, and assumed he was experienced, assumed he was bottom, assumed he was easy.

He cried about this, locked his dorm room and wept at his desk as he used his laptop to delete his Twitter and turn all his other social media accounts private before the gossip switched platforms. And once it was done and he could finally use his phone again without notifications stalling the system, Nitori stared at his last text message, one from Sousuke that read, emergency meeting at the pool now.

There stood Aiichirou Nitori at the entrance of the indoor swimming pool, with eyes puffed red and swollen, just like his ego.

“I hate this,” he muttered, his voice hoarse.

No one wore their swimsuits, which was good because like hell was Nitori going to do some goddamn laps after all the bullshit he went through today. As he sauntered down the gym in his hoodie and sweatpants, he looked down at the tile floor and listed the day’s events in his head. He woke up at 5:30 in the morning, broke into the cafeteria to smuggle in paper cranes, got caught, kissed Momo, had a nice breakfast, kissed Momo again but in his underwear so Rin could catch them—and thus the downward spiral set off. Today was the first day he started his first relationship. He should have been happy. It should have been a good day, really. But all Nitori felt was tired.

He was so, so tired.

“Honestly, fuck ‘em,” said Toru Iwashimizu, who sat at the edge of the pool with his feet dipped in the water. “Summer break is coming up anyway. They’re going to forget all about this.”

Most of the swim team sat down on the floor as a huddled group, with a few teammates just off to the side by the pool edge or by the wall. Nitori couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with anyone, knowing what had been rumored, but he saw someone approaching him and stepped back.

“Nitori-senpai?” whispered Momotarou, still in his school uniform. Not because he couldn’t get into their dorm room to change clothes, but because he chose not to.

“Where were you?” asked Nitori. He looked up at Momo then, pointing an incredulous glance at his manic kouhai, and didn’t care if anyone noticed their confrontation.

There was no question that Nitori-senpai looked like a wreck. His eyes were bloodshot, his nose and lips cracked at the irritated dry patches he must have wiped too many times, and his skin dulled from exhaustion. Once he found out about all the rumors, Momo’s first reaction was to go straight to his dorm room and talk with Nitori, but when he heard his senpai’s sobbing and how obviously hurt he was, his next impulse was to stop the madness. For the past twenty minutes, Momotarou went to several sports teams and people whose names he recognized in the tweeting threads and made a small statement to each of them in person. He needed to come up with a better solution, he knew that, but it was all he could think of for now.

He told them, you have hurt someone I care about.

“I was trying to fix this,” he told Nitori, even though he also knew the concept of fixing their shattered reputations might have been impossible by now.

“How could you possibly fix this?”

“Oy, Ai,” interjected Rin, who like the rest of the swim team had been taking note of Nitori’s dejected state. “That’s what we’re all trying to do now. Come up with a way to fix this mess.”

Fix messes, huh, Nitori thought. It seemed like he was always caught in some mess that needed to be fixed, at least for the past four days. Eventually the escalation must stop and crash, that’s what he was learning. He just never thought it would crash on him.

Nitori looked up to evaluate the rest of the team, taking note of their worried yet puzzled expressions as they looked back at him. He saw Minami and Uozumi sitting up against the wall, their lips pursed as if holding back their own commentary until they felt safe to do so. Off to the side, where most of the team sat, lied Nakagawa on his back and yet he averted his attention up at Nitori, then began to sit up when he noticed Nitori staring down at him. Iwashimizu took his feet out of the water and turned toward Nitori, sitting cross-legged and cross-armed. They looked guilty, or maybe Nitori just wanted them to feel that way. He wanted to blame them for their casual teasing as some sort of fuel for the rumor fire, even if he couldn’t prove it as the catalyst to the day’s events.

There was a moment when he wanted to blame Rin for shouting so loud that morning, for getting involved, for being so known at school. It didn’t last long, though, because even with everything that had happened, Nitori couldn’t muster up the nerve to blame his senpai for caring about him and his reckless behavior. As he looked Rin directly in the eyes, Nitori noticed the accountability Rin felt for his part of the scandal, how much of a captain he looked during this crisis—if you could call it that, Nitori wondered, feeling dumb. God, he felt so dumb, standing dead center at an emergency swim team meeting—a meeting—over rumors about him fucking—fucking—Momo.

Over fucking Momo.

When it came to Momo, his anger was complicated. It wasn’t the rage of someone who felt betrayed or even the kind of frustration someone felt because of how stupid their friend was. His fury was much more personal, a fury that made him obsess over every bad mistake he made in the past few days because of Momo’s whims and how any sane person would have said no, would have said the line was being crossed, would have realized they were setting themselves up for a messy catastrophe, but not him. Truth was, as Nitori realized it after sobbing at his desk, that he was, in a way, having fun. And the reason he was mad was because it had been spoiled.

He looked back at Momo and weakly raised his hand with his fingers twitching in frustration, pulling the air as he pulled his thoughts together.

“Nitori-senpai,” said Momo, who stepped closer ready to accept any punishment he was about to be given. “I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this.”

Yeah, he got anxious. Yeah, what they were doing was stupid.

But it was fun.

Nitori got mad because he hated how everyone wanted to rewrite his memories. They weren’t there watching the sunset at the beach with Momo while eating ice cream after a day of dancing and shooting water guns. They weren’t there going into downtown to shop for origami paper and eating lunch while binge-watching anime in their dorm room, just hanging out together and enjoying each other’s company for like twelve hours straight. They weren’t there eating breakfast in a little kitchen shop, planning dates and dodging bashful glances on the morning of their first kiss. They had no idea how much of a big deal it was, how it felt, that first time. All they had was this idea of who they were—just a couple of zany kids, off to the side, doing nothing important, just messing around. Who were they to try to tell Nitori the story of (maybe) the first time he fell in love?

Momo and his big mouth, his stupid ideas, his dumb heart.

Nitori dropped his hand. He took one step forward and plopped his head onto Momo’s chest, letting out a deep sigh. First day of a relationship and he was mad. God, he felt so dumb.

“Is it worth all this?” he said to Momo. “How long are we going to hide this secret?”

This secret, of course, referred to the surprise party they were planning, which had clearly become the bane of their existence. What started out as a prank turned sentimental gesture had wildly spun out of a control as the basis of their public outing for all to jest—and there was still another half of the week to go through before it was even supposed to happen.

Yet, given the rumor situation, when the swim team heard “secret,” a slight misunderstanding prompted folks to speak up.

“Oh, well, you don’t have to hide anymore, Nitori-san,” said Minami from the back, a little preemptively. “We’re totally cool with it.”

“Uh,” Momo stuttered, looking down at Nitori, who merely closed his eyes and sighed further. “That’s not—”

“That’s right, Ai,” said Rin. “We’ll make sure this doesn’t get out of control.”

Sousuke also chimed in with a supportive, “You’re not alone.”

And while it was sweet how quickly the Samezuka Swim Team turned into the Momo-Ai Defense Squad, hearing the phrase you’re not alone had channeled the exact reason Nitori was furious in the first place. He wasn’t alone, was quite prophetically forced to not be alone—when that’s what he wanted. He gripped Momo’s shirt, tugged down at the neckline as his silent call for freedom, and whispered into Momo’s ear, “Fix this.”

As more teammates spoke up to lend their support, it dawned on Momotarou that despite the fact that there was no real plan on how to come out as a couple since they were originally just rolling with the team’s own suspicions, this was probably not it. This was not how anything was supposed to go. He wrapped his arms around Nitori, feeling his senpai give in the embrace and start to choke up. Things had gone too far over nothing and no amount of white lies could change the fact that Momo, frankly, messed up.

“Stop,” he announced, then groaned as he gave in to surrender. “We were just trying to plan a party.”

Huh?

Even Sousuke, who was helping plan the party, wondered why the flustered ginger had snapped out and revealed the party plans. Collectively, no one on the team could tie the connection between Momo and Ai’s relationship outing and a… party? Unless, maybe it was a coming out party? Were they gonna be that elaborate about announcing their relationship? Wouldn’t that be a little much? Was that even a thing?

“What are you talking about?” asked Rin.

But the truth had to come out, and so with Nitori still in his arms, Momo exasperatedly confessed, “It started with the bread, but then you saw the bread, so then we couldn’t use it anymore, but I didn’t want to give up on—well, see, I was trying to plan a surprise because, come on, look at this pool, it’s so big! Like, how am I supposed to be at this school and not put stuff in it, so then why not origami cranes? No one can get mad at origami cranes—because they’re beautiful—and it’s barely a prank if there’s 5000 origami cranes—I mean, that’s practically art—like, honestly, I think it’d even be a good idea for the summer festival, just putting it out there because I’ve been working really hard on making them, you can ask Yamazaki-senpai, who—actually—is the reason we started planning a party. Yeah, ugh, because it was just a really good idea and we couldn’t explain why we are on the beach on top of each other—but nothing happened! We weren’t even thinking about that yet! We were just having a good time and then Yamazaki-senpai was like oh, what are you doing, give me my radio back, you’re planning a party, right? And we were like, yeah, that’s a great idea because it was, so then we had to go through with it, which is why we were always together, but then everyone kept thinking we were together together because we took a shower together and like, yeah, okay, so I checked Nitori-senpai out, but who wouldn’t? Look me in the eyes and tell me you wouldn’t—no, you can’t, because Nitori-senpai is an amazing person who deserves to be checked out and, you know what? I’d do it again, honestly.”

Momo took a moment to breathe.

“Ugh, not that it matters,” Momo continued, his confession getting louder, “because then everybody was getting suspicious because of how much we hung out and Yamazaki-senpai couldn’t take the cranes to the cafeteria, so we had to, and the freaking cafeteria manager came in too early, so we had to run and run and it was sunrise and Nitori-senpai looked beautiful and, like, that was the moment—I couldn’t just not kiss him, especially after last night’s failure, so I did and it was great and today was supposed to be a great day because today—TODAY—was the first time I’ve ever kissed someone and today was supposed to be special because I asked Nitori-senpai out on a date and he said sure and I was,” Momo panted before he calmed down and finished, “I was really happy about that.”

Nitori looked up at Momo, then softly uttered, “Momo-kun…”

“I’m angry, too,” said Momo, meeting Nitori’s gaze. “I ruined our first day.”

The team stood there, stunned.

It was a lot to digest, particularly since Momo gave no context to anything he said, just spouted out a stream of consciousness that only select people could put together in a coherent timeline. But while some team members were trying to figure out the missing details, Rin—who felt he understood most of the Momo speak—hesitantly spoke up and said, “So, you two were planning a party here in the gym?”

Momo and Nitori nodded.

“And you knew about this?” Rin asked, turning around to Sousuke.

“Yup,” he said.

“But you two,” Rin turned back to the frazzled couple, “weren’t dating until… today?”

“Right,” confirmed Momo.

“But I saw… you both… this morning,” said Rin, trying to make sense of the lewd scene he walked in on earlier in the day. Who hooks up on the first morning they’re together?

“We were trying to distract you,” explained Nitori, who stood straight while still in Momo’s embrace and motioned his hands toward their intimate hug. “And it worked really well because we ended up distracting the whole school.”

“I can’t believe this.” Rin threw his head back, trying to be respectful toward his kouhais’ newfound relationship, but also absolutely using every fiber of his being to contain his frustration over the day’s events. “You guys literally test me every goddamn day.”

Sousuke chuckled, covering his mouth with his hand.

“What are you laughing at?” snapped Rin. “This is a disaster!”

“Yeah.”

Still waiting for an answer or a punchline, Rin bucked his shoulders for Sousuke to continue.

To which he shrugged and said, “Oh, nothing. I just think they’re funny.”

“Oh my god,” groaned Rin.

A sense of freedom washed over the two kouhais, who both took in a relieved breath about not having to keep up the lies anymore. They looked at each other then and sort of smirked at each other. Nothing was fixed by confessing about the party and, now that they confirmed they were interested in each other, the dating jokes were probably only just beginning, but it was their truth and they just wanted to live in it. For a moment, neither of them wanted to feel anxious about what was going on around them, even as the team shouted more questions about why were they throwing a party in the first place or why were they showering together if they didn’t like each other then or why would they go to these extremes, dear god, and why weren’t they answering?!

Toru Iwashimizu, who knew very well that today was the first day of their relationship, called out to the team, “Let them have a day, guys. We’ll rag on them later.”

All Momo and Ai wanted was a simple moment together.

-

They lied on Nitori’s bed together on top of the sheets, facing each other with a quiet acceptance. So much chaos in one day, but for a moment, it didn’t matter. They could just enjoy being near each other. Give them a chance to get used to each other. Be with each other.

“I’m sorry I ruined today,” said Momotarou.

Nitori reached his hand out to Momo, twiddling their fingers.

“You didn’t really,” he said, accepting that fact. “You didn’t start those rumors.”

They scooted closer to each other, enough to press their chests together and nuzzle their necks like swans. Let them feel each other’s heartbeats, that’s all they wanted. Just enough to hear that they were still excited about each other even with clothes on, that their breathing was still deep for each other because they were comfortable in each other’s arms, that when it got quiet it was intimate, not awkward. Maybe they couldn’t have a first day, but they could have a first night.

“Can we kiss again?” asked Momo, who gently tucked some fallen bangs away from Nitori’s face in case he said yes and who noticed the faint blush creeping up his senpai’s ears.

“Sure.”

Their noses bumped, as they realized they weren’t sure how to tilt their heads for a kiss in bed. A soft giggle slipped out as Nitori pointed his finger to the right, and they both adjusted their heads for a second try. A sweet kiss for an evening, involving parted lips and heated cheeks.

Just a moment to relive that morning, that’s all they wanted.

Another kiss.

[joeypottrs]

Got tagged by the ever so lovely @curlybeanie

last (1-5) drink - water

phone call - mumsie (that’s what my mum is under in my phone)

text msg - “turning onto south street now from north lake” - to my mum so she could pick me up from the bus stop bc i was chaffing like a bitch and didn’t want to walk after work

song you listened to - Lemon To A Knife Fight - The Wombats

time you cried - watching Testament of Youth? i can’t remember tbh

ever..? (6-11) dated someone twice - nup

ever kissed someone and regretted it - no

been cheated on - no 

lost some1 special - i mean no, if this is about death. 

been depressed - I have had some real lulls in happiness, but I wouldn’t say I’ve been depressed, I probably need to talk about some of my issues though with someone

gotten drunk/thrown up - I have never gotten wasted, I’ve gotten very tipsy, but I could still text and control myself (other than my laughter). And everyone has thrown up, but i haven’t bc of alcohol i’ve consumed. fav colors (12-14) midnight blue, pastel pink, light burgundy. tbh that’ll probably change in a few months

in the last yr have you.. (15-21) made new friends/ mutuals - yessss

fallen out of love - with friends and interests but not in the romantic sense.

laughed until you cried - of course

found out some1 was talking about you - it may have been in the last year, i tend to shut those people out of my life pretty quick if it is negative though.

met some1 who changed you - not in the last year i wouldn’t say

kissed some1 on your FB friends’ list - nope

general (22-51) how many of your FB friends do you know irl - most of them, the rest are people i knew through people e.g. boys from boarding schools i went to socials with, and girls in a few years below from me at school that i never talked to

have any pets - yes, a dog, he is a boxer

do you want to change your name - nope, sophie is a pretty chill name

what did you do for your prev. birthday - my friends and I went to grill’d and then played dance danc revolution at timezone and then went to cold rock, i swear i’m an adult.

what time did you wake up today - 5:50 am , gotta love working on sundays and living a long way from work when the public transport is sketchy af.

what were you doing @ midnight last night - trying to fucking sleep bc i had to get up early, and failing

what is something you can’t wait for - possibly going to london for christmas, finishing my final year of uni, the bbl semifinal on thursday lol

what’re you listening to atm - spotify with my fan burring in the background like the noisey fucker it is

have you ever talked to a person named Tom - yes, my cousin, and multiple boys on my french school trip were called tom.

something that’s getting on your nerves - people having political stances bc their parents vote that way, and they haven’t educated themselves on matters, like okay, i’m alright if you vote conservative, but i want it to be bc of your own reasons.

most visited site - twitter, tumblr, youtube, a03 and dailymail bc i’m trash

hair color - mid brown

long/ short hair - shoulder-length, i only cut it last year, before that it was really fucking long

do you have a crush on some1 - nope, not had one for a while

what do you like about yourself - my teeth are naturally straight, and i like my wavy hair most of the time

want any piercings - i used to, btu i grew out of it. my single ear piercings are enough

blood type - never found out, i was born before they told gave people the little card at birth and i keep forgetting to see. My mum is AB+ and my dad is a O and my brother is A+, so I could be and A or a B if i remember my yr 12 human biology correctly

nicknames - soph, sophdawg (I hate 2012), snowphie (my friend had a pony named snowy when i was in primary school and would always mix us up lmao), elephant (it’s a long story and an endearing childhood nickname that i will forever be called when i do something good)

relationship status - single as always

zodiac - pisces

pronoun(s) - she/her

fav tv shows - b99, riverdale, outlander, game of thrones, the good place, superstore, the goldbergs, victoria and lots of others

tattoos? - nope and my mum would be very disappointed if i did

rightie or leftie - rightie

ever had surgery - nope

piercings - my ears

sports - currently none, but I have played netball, did competitive swimming, cricket, AFL, water polo, basketball and i was pretty handy with a discus.

vacation - I want to go to europe - germany, france, italy, the uk, ireland.

trainers - black, and my proper runners are neon pink. more general (52-58) eating - it’s 1am so no

drinking - water

i’m about to watch - nothing

waiting for - my dentist appointment tomorrow, i swear if she tries to tell me to get my wisdon teeth removed when they don’t need to be i’m fucking out of there

want - to sleep for longer then i’m gonna be able to bc of the bloddy dentist appointment

get married - always imagined it, will it happen? who knows.

career - PR/Events Management, that is what i’m doing at uni anyway

which is better (59-65) hugs/kisses - hugs

lips/eyes - eyes

shorter/taller - taller (i’m 6ft i need things tall)

older/younger - depends on what.

nice arms/ stomach - arms arms armssss

hookup/relationship - relationship

troublemaker/hesitant - hesitant, i think things through and plan too much have you ever (66-75) kissed a stranger - nope

drank hard liquor - idk probably not, i don’t drink that much, i’m pretty mild

lost glasses - sunnies

turned someone down - yuppppp

sex on 1st date - no

broken a heart - i don’t think so???

had your heart broken - not in the romantic sense, but people have disappointed me

been arrested - no

cried when some1 died - i haven’t really had people close to me die, but i did sob hysterically at a bus stop and in the library at uni the week my grannie was hopsitalised with a severe stroke (she’s fine now though)

fallen for a friend - yeah, but nothing came of it.

do you believe in.. (76-81) yourself - yes

miracles - partially

love @ first sight - nope

santa clause - no

kiss on a 1st date - depends

angels - no

other (82-85) best friend’s name - i wouldn’t say i have a best friend, i have many close friends. the ones i speak to the most are called kayla and tiarne though.

eye color - blue

fav movie - fucked if i know, there are too many

fav actor - jesus idk again too many

Tagging: @got-addict @gryffinoir @jinglejanglejones @loveistheessenceoflife @ellimomo

[my-littlehouseinthevalley]

Sometimes even when you have a not so obvious disease like Fibromyalgia, you still need to find something that helps keep you active. I went through hell and back for years after I was diagnosed with Fibro.

The first year was one of the worse for me, I was the only one working as my husband had just been in a car accident, that took his job as a miner from him but thankfully he came home alive. Between the daily stress, work and caring for my husband, my Fibromyalgia kicked in full time and almost instantly. It was difficult being the person that was on the go all the time, to the sad couch potato that I became.

I gained weight which didn’t help anything with my health. I was depressed and trying to figure out how we were going to survive. After some major struggles for both of us, we were left almost homeless as I had to leave my job and could no longer work, we were fortunate to have family take us in, until we could get back on track again,

Life slowly turned around, I found out that I had more health issues then anticipated and was required to go for a full hysterectomy. After what seemed like months, I was starting to feel better and wanted to do more things again. I tried working out with a few different machines (stair climber and such) but I couldn’t get anything done and became rather discouraged. It was too hard and not because I was trying to be lazy or didn’t want to workout, it hurt to move. Then one day I was watching TV and the ad for the Slim Fit board was on. I watched and thought to myself, this would be a better low impact exercise to start with and build my strength up again. I mean come on I was sitting on my behind for about 2 years in a depressive slump. Moving was the furthest thing on my mind

As I started working out with a low impact workout, I found that I was starting to feel less like the Tin Man and more like Danielle again. I continued my journey to find things that I could do, I started walking just around the block, bought a bike and started riding it, anything that I could to keep my body moving again, as I sure as heck didn't want to go back to the old depressed couch potato!

Seeing that I enjoyed fishing and being on the boat, I started poking around and researching about kayaking. Let me tell you, I am sure glad that I did. Not only is it a great workout, it’s truly freeing. I have never felt more at home then I have rowing in my kayak. Being out on the open water, taking your time rowing and enjoying the scenery. Hearing the wildlife in the distance as you are rowing past the shores, I have yet to find anything as therapeutic as kayaking.

So, for anyone that is looking for an easy and not so expensive hobby, kayaking might just be your thing. I paid around $500 for my kayak, paddles, seating. I already had my life jacket so that was one thing I didn’t have to purchase. My suggestion is to start with the Pelican model. It’s light and easy to carry even if you are not normally a strong person, like myself. Keep an eye out for sales as I got mine during a summer sale at Canadian Tire.

Now there are lots of different styles of kayaks to choose from, anything from a regular sit in kayak to a kayak that has a trolling motor so it’s easier to fish at the same time. Trust me, if you are a fisher, the kayak will get you into the areas that your boat never could! I literally watched fish swim up to my kayak, of course I didn’t have my fishing rod handy at the time lol but it was an amazing experience none the less.

So, do yourself a favour and get off that couch! Get your body moving! You don’t have to live in pain all the time. Yes, everyone pain levels are going to be different and I am not here to tell you that there’s some sort of miracle cure. I am however, here to tell you that it starts with YOU! So, stop missing out on the things that you used to love. Take it one day at a time and for the love of God, listen to your body, don’t push it more than you should. By being able to have a better understanding of your own illness and what it does to your body can or can’t do, is your first step to a better life.

Simple changes lead to big results!!

[havenesc]

5, 8 and 36 for both!

ASK ME ABOUT MY OCS HOL Y SHIT

5. What is your OC’s first memory?

BAMARDYN 

    Her first memory is definitely getting caught in a tree branch. She was a wee lil thing but she always had a thick, thick head of hair, even when it wasn’t very long. Of course Bamsy also had a deep curiousity for everything, so whenever her mother began to let her leave her side she would take that inch and go a mile, tearing off into god knows where while her mother chased after her. Needless to say she tried to clamber over some thickets before her mom caught her and a low hanging tree branch snagged a bit of her hair and she was stuck like chuck. She wailed forever even when Ismiri came scolding her and rescued her from the awful branch lmao

CIERNA

     Cii’s memory isn’t that great, unfortunately, so most of her childhood/early days were blurbs of words or split-second memories of places you can’t quite piece together, but she definitely remembers the day she learned to swim. She was accompanying her father with her two sisters (both elder) and as a light-hearted (but also a little cruel) joke they hatched a plan together to toss her into the big, slow-moving river that they had to pass through to get back to the herd every day. Cierna, being fairly gangly-looking at the time – think yearling-size – , didn’t stand a chance as her sisters were both fully grown. They chucked her into the deep side and she pretty much found herself in a sink-or-swim situation, and lo and behold she started kicking her legs and kept her head above water. Her father was really mad at her sisters for it but hey, that skill comes in handy (like teaching Bamsy to swim later on lol)

8. What is your OC’s theme song?

BAMARDYN - Heartlines & Which Witch , both by Florence + The Machine. Mostly timeline dependent (Heartlines being prior to her forced induction into the King’s army ; Which Witch after )

CIERNA - The Wolves by Ben Howard ; it reflects how she’s biding her time, waiting for the right moment, and trying to inch by inch pull the rug from the ‘wolves’ aka the kingdom (though after a very long period of feeling defeated/feeling like she was incapable, she found her resolve before Bamardyn came and instead used it to strengthen both herself and B to achieve a means to their end of their sad plight)

36. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories? ( I THINK I COUNTED THIS RIGHT DFJDSAL)

BAMARDYN - When she was young, she was very imaginative. Her younger brother didn’t come until much later and (children? foals? idk what one would call a young centaur) children were becoming less common in the herds as humans continuously moved in on their territories. Bamsy would often end up playing by herself, which helped her imagination run wild. It persisted well into her young adult years, but her imagination/inspiration died for quite some time after she became separated and lived on her own. It didn’t really begin to return until she and Cierna started to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, and after she was free she slowly returned to being more playful and daydreaming again. Definitely a lot of revisiting old memories.

CIERNA  - Cierna is more realistic in a way that she needs more prompting/direction for imagination. Once she has an idea in her head, however, it’s tough to get it out – especially stories!! She loves telling stories, but making them can be difficult, so she would end up spending several weeks creating a whole tiny world in her mind for this one little idea that bloomed way further than most would expect. Cii would often revisit her self-made stories, seeing if there’s any plot holes/missing pieces that she could fill in just because – and often times it was this small thread of imagining that kept her sane during her time in the Kingdom.  Like mentioned before her memory kind of sucks so she doesn’t really dwell on the past too much unless it had a significant impact on her, but she is definitely more of an ‘eyes forward’ kind of girl so she wouldn’t dwell nearly as much as Bamardyn does. 

[darnduggars]

57-67

do  you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels?

When i was younger I used to because my dad always did! We never used them though They only ever came in handy when i was in 6th grade and did swim PE for a month, I used a few bottles. We still have a bunch of them sitting in a drawer in my parents bathroom and I think my dad still takes them when we stay in a really nice hotel just as a memento. I never grab them now though cause i know ill never use them.. i don’t even use them when i’m staying there. Now days when i go to hotel i bring my own sulfate free Shampoo/Conditioner lol. 

do you have freckles?

nopee

do you smile for pictures?

Yes! i rarely did (with my teeth) for many years because i was super insecure about my teeth, then i got braces for 2 1/2 years after i graduated high school so i never did, only closed mouth smiles. And once i got my braces off i became a toothy smile machine. :D i still do model-esque closed mouth smiles, straight face poses, or funny faces though too :) 

how many pictures do you have on your phone?

2053 atm. i upload them to my computer and delete a lot of them, but there’s so many on my camera roll that I like having quick access to and don’t want to delete...

have you ever peed in the woods?

yA lol!!

do you still watch cartoons?

BOBS BURGERS 

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?    

never tried Wendys, and i don’t like McDonalds. so, neither. 

Favorite dipping sauce?

your girl is a ranch girl through and through. BBQ is a fun addition sometimes. 

what do you wear to bed?

depends on the weather. 

hot-- nothing/shorts and tank top

cold--pj bottoms and a long sleeved top, or a t-shirt and a hoodie. Never socks though. NEVER. 

have you ever won a spelling bee?

my school never had them

what are your hobbies?

blogging about the duggars and bates. 

[fleurdelissaswords-blog]

Appetite for Deception, The Best Guns N’ Roses Tribute Band: Concert Review and More…

Ok, truth be told, I had not planned on making it to this show. My parents suggested it but we’re going to be gone that weekend, but somehow, quite by chance, I ended up there anyway. And WOW, WHAT A SHOW!!!

Some of you have heard my story of seeing the real GNR back in 1992, and how it has always remained one of my favorite shows to this day… right up there with Nine Inch Nails on my list. I grew up in a musical family. One parent was an ex-rockstar. Now before you start thinking this made for a killer childhood of popularity and invites to every party, it wasn’t like that! They were strict, and we weren’t really allowed to tell peers about this… their rockstar days were over, settled into a quiet life and new careers.

Probably owing to their experience in the Rock N Roll world, they were strict in their parenting style. They were protective of me, naturally. Of course I grew up hearing stories of backstage parties with the members of Heart, private dinner parties with Stevie Nicks, etc. But for a musical family, MTV was woefully under perpetual parental control! “The state of music these days is awful anyway” I’d hear when there was a live concert airing on MTV, us kids wanted to see. And I was a young naive teenage girl learning to play guitar and with stars in my eyes. And my biggest starry eyes were for Axl Rose! My parents were appalled. “Oh God, she’s gonna go into the rock scene!” Lol.

But because my folks were protective, I had to beg for months to be allowed to see GNR live back then. I had to get good grades for 2 months. I had to all my chores. I even did some extra chores just to be safe. And finally they relented with some strict curfew rules. My entire high school class was basically going. I would be no exception.

But when we got tons of prank calls with some school mate blaring my parent’s song that was AGAIN on the stupid oldies rock station for “has beens,” and laughing then hanging up, only to repeat it again the next day, it did not make for a glorious childhood. My folks would get pissed. I was embarrassed that classmates did this whenever they heard the song. But when my folks played it at home for us kids at campfires, it was like our own private show! Beat that jerk bullies!

Looking back I realized my peers were jealous. But back then it felt like I was the biggest geek for having a “has been” for parents. But I loved them and admired their musical abilities until all of us kids were learning different instruments, and singing renditions of Puff the Magic Dragon around the bonfire on family camping trips.

I was never the stellar musician like my folks were. My skills were in singing, but I hadn’t discovered that at the time. I wanted to learn drums but my parents, fearing a LOT of endless loud banging noise, told my band teacher no, when he approached them at a school talent show asking if they would enroll a promising student in the music program. They needed a drummer and I wanted to learn. So I ended up on guitar and keyboard. But I had the best teacher at home! I just wasn’t disciplined enough, because I wanted to learn drums. Years later, I am now learning the drums finally. So the love of music, especially rock, was instilled in me.

I also grew up hearing lots of amazing stories of my parents opening for bands like Heart, dating members of The Turtles, and a lot of crazy rock n'roll stories. Let’s just say, my folks were the most popular on my school’s Career Day when parents came to discuss their professions. Lol. But after that I got bullied relentlessly for having the parents I had.

My siblings were too young to go to that awesome show back in 1992, just after the GNR riots had been all over the media. My folks feared the crowd would get violent… it was a possibility! I had 6th row seats and couldn’t have been more excited for one of my first concerts when sophomore year came around. But my siblings finally got to see them live just this past year on their reunion tour, which I missed. So this Tribute band show made up for that in a big way. Oh now my folks will inform me about good shows to see… I think they’ve given up on trying to keep me away from the music scene, and we’re all older now. My folks are honestly much cooler and fun to go to live shows with. In fact it was my parents who told me about this GNR Tribute show, and said I should go and they would too except they had prior obligations, but that the band was a notable good one they liked. So with their vote of confidence, I entered.

At the show, the venue was packed! It was like 1992 all over again! The fans looked like the same fans aged 20 years still in their GNR t-shirts and sexy black dresses.

The venue was packed! And I mean packed. Nursing a leg injury, I needed a spot to sit… so, having been to over 200 live shows during my lifetime, a few tricks came in handy. “Weave and duck, weave and duck, find a nook on the side of the stage and park it there! Find a sitty-spot! THEN, GET ALL THE FOOTAGE!!!” The roady saw me struggling at my first live show in a while, and allowed me to sit on the side of the stage for the show due to my injury. They actually gave up tbeir seat ON the stage where they were watching the show, which was truly kind, as I was in pain, and I ended up getting what is probably this band’s best footage ever! You’re welcome you awesome guys. And I remember it feeling so much like the real band, not nearly as cheesy and cliche as I thought, more people should know about this awesome band. So I decided to turn what would have just been some random live footage posted, into an entire review article and interview with the band, which they were gracious enough to (I’ve only ever seen 2 tribute band shows… both disappointing, so didn’t pursue it.)

During the show, Axl Rose, played meticulously by the handsome Mark Thomas, made a comment about looking for more live footage from fans from previous shows. Welp… I had TWO devices on me, DONE! He showed off the same impressive vocal range that Axl himself has, which isn’t easy to pull off. What women know as a beautiful haunting combination of loud screaming and low register soulful notes, Mark knocked it out of the ballpark. He even INSISTED on paying for his post-show drink, even when it was offered on the house. Now, that I had never seen in all my years of attending shows, and probably impressed me just as much as his singing and swaying… yes he does the whole Axl sway and leg kicks, and yes it’s HOT!

I was a bit late to the show, but arrived just in time to hear literally all of my favorite GNR songs. Btw, since coming from a grocery store, I had to bring a bag of food in with me, and have the guys behind the bar keep an eye on it for me… I hope whoev at the venue who stole my Halloween cookies, enjoyed them!!! 😡 I will now call you the Bob Guccione of the night bruh! Bad form dude. But now the world knows. I love your venue, your pool tables need some work, your drinks are great, your food is bomb, so eat yer own food, not mine! I lost My cookies at this show, and not for the typical reason a concert-goer does. I WANT MY COOKIES BACK!!! Thank God my other snacks made it home.

This was definitely a Use Your Illusion Era show set, which Mark later told me they don’t always play so much material from these albums, but are admittedly his favorites… the audience agreed. He wasn’t out to just play every notable number one single from GNR, they played songs you could tell, they loved themselves and sounded good together on. And Mark, as Axl, told the story of each song in between. I haven’t seen that done since seeing Stevie Nicks (another Bucket List band I waited my whole life to see, after hearing stories of her in the music scene growing up). Mr. Thomas even made the classic “Rocket Queen” joke about how he “effed another band member’s girlfriend” for the song tracks. This was one song I was excited to hear, as the original GNR never played it back in 1992 that night.

But my favorite GNR era has got to be the Use Your Illusion era. The musical composition was at its very best, mixing classical piano into rock ballads that went for almost ten minutes and left you scratching your head as to its meaning. I mean why did GNR need dolphins (which were actually porpoises) for their Estranged video? Dolphins don’t swim around downtown LA… unless someone knows something I don’t about the area? 🤔

Their rendition of Estranged had me transfixed and I really believed I was back in ‘92 watching GNR play on that stage again. Mark did the classic side-to-side jaunt Axl is known for. He wore the headband. He reluctantly gave “Slash” all of his due solos. Slash, played by Brandon Cook, has a music degree, and agreed to talk to me after the show for this article, and pose for some killer still shots. He also can play bass, I learned later. He had the same guitar Slash uses, that beautiful Les Paul I’ve been wanting my whole life, so much ogling of instruments did occur. Lol. And the top hat must get hot during shows.

Since I’m learning how to play drums, I payed particular attention to “Matt Sorum,” played by Andrew Greene… I am nowhere near that good yet but I can appreciate a good drum solo by a trained player! He just inspired me to practice harder… got those paradiddles down now yo! I was also envying his drum set. When Paradise City hit its chorus, he showed his skills and made the song, even though it was originally played by Steven Adler not Mat Sorum. People always say that Steven Adler was the powerhouse player and Mat Sorum more technical, so of course whoev played this set had to be both, and he was. And it was amazing to watch.

During our interview, Mark said it was their Izzy Stradlin, played by Michael Killian who was the one who posted for auditions for a GNR tribute band on Craigslist that made this band of amazing musicians a reality. He apparently had some sunset strip under his belt from the same era, which is always nice to hear in a tribute band. That they know the genre and area it comes from, and the culture of the times, to portray live on stage.

Throughout the show, I got the chance to speak with several fans in the audience. Some of them had seen this band before and said they were in rare form this night. Others traveled from other places to see the show, as seasoned fans. They sounded great! For a smaller venue, where the sound can be a bit iffy for live performers, this band, being professional, had it worked out so every note came through beautifully.

I didn’t know much about this band, except for my parents saying they were good. And I trust their judgement obviously. So at home after the show I did some digging to learn more about them for this article. They also played with Jeremy Walker as Duff. The day they all arrived at the audition for this band, Mark commented it was their preparedness of the material, and how good they all sounded together at the initial audition despite having never even met, that gave this band that extra spark of something special that translates well to fans. It’s called Chemistry, and not every band has it so naturally as these guys do! So if you ever get the chance to see Appetite for Deception, do so. You’ll love it.

When it came time for audience participation during Paradise City, the venue lit up and everyone chipped in. Mark Thoma, as Axl, held the exact same mic out over the audience, and I’m betting the voices filled the entire city block! People were clapping and singing along and cheering… a few of you especially rowdy fans managed to sneak cameos into my footage with devil horns in the air. Lol. It got wild. And we were all old school rockers now. Needless to say it was a fun night of nostalgia and I’m glad I went.. it was actually better than the real GNR show the month before sound-wise, and I did not expect to say that after comparing footage. And I still envy Slash’s guitar to this day… hey if you ever wanna sell bruh, look me up.

Songs played ran the course of GNR’s musical career, from their Appetite days, with Paradise City, to Don’t Cry, and one of my favorites Knockin on Heaven’s Door, as the audience participated in the chorus. I loved their Estranged, where yes, I did imagine porpoises swimming around downtown LA for some strange reason. And of course Rocket Queen is always a crowd favorite. I never got to hear it back in 1992 when the real band played. At the time I remember being a bit upset one of their more controversial songs hadn’t made the set list, so bucket list item: check!… I must have missed Sweet Child O Mine during this tribute show somehow, but I arrived a bit after the show started, cuz the checkout line for my cookies ran longer than expected.

And thanks Uber driver for waiting and getting me to the show, and not being a creep. That always helps!

Look for the other projects by these band members: Steelhorse – Bon Jovi Tribute, SOS – Motley Crue Tribute, Jukebox Heroes – Foreigner Tribute, Bad Ellie – Original project, The Penalty – Original project, Sovereign – Original project, BAM – Acoustic Trio.

The band would also like to thank Jason Fellman of J-Fell Productions. He has a full lineup of other good tribute acts I hear!

Mark Thomas "Axl," also has a petition you might be interested in signing, if you are an animal lover like the rest of us: https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-stop-this-evilness-and-save-the-elephant-species/fbog/810582541?recruiter=810582541&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial.combo_new_control_progress_bar&utm_term=autopublish&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAPH8vQAAAAAAWdb7SR%2BCrnVmMWIyODI1Ng%3D%3D%3Frecruiter%3D807962854

You can find out more at http://j-fell.com/ For booking shows in other states, Mark Thomas does the bulk of communicating and planning for those gigs. They are all availble on Facebook at: https://m.facebook.com/AppetiteForDeception/ And: http://www.j-fell.com/a4d/

[travellingthoughts]

Friday the 7th of July 2017

After 4 days in Zakynthos/Kefalonia I was on a journey and a half to Larissa. Literally travelled by boat, car, taxi and bus over an 11 hour journey. I loved it though because I could just relax after being so busy in Zakynthos. Anyone who knows me well knows that I literally sleep my life away! I can sleep at what ever time, in whatever position and literally be out cold. It certainly has come in handy on this trip I'll tell you that much! So I slept the entire journey no problems asked. In Larissa, I was staying with Jamie's Nouna, Dina, for the week! Larissa is a relatively large town north of Athens. It has it all; amazing shopping, lively night life, and most importantly lovely people. I have a LOT of family there like legit we sat down to have dinner and two of my cousins (which I didn't know I had) just happened to walk past! I spent my first couple of days getting a tattoo (which was an awesome and sentimental experience) and roaming around Larissa doing some shopping and discovering. However on the third day I woke up ill as fuck. Like my stomach was in so much pain so I kept going to bed thinking that I'll wake up feeling better.... which never happened. Ended up realising at 8:30pm at night that it just wasn't to happen and finally got out of bed. After that it's a bit of a blur because my SISTERS GOT OUT OF A TAXI AND SURPRISED THE FUCK OUT OF ME IN GREECE!!!!!! Oh my god it was fkn wild, I literally had no clue they were coming. About a week before this happened I was on the phone telling them to just book their fkn tickets and come and lie with my on a beach somewhere in Santorini. Little did I know the bitches were muting themselves on our phone call and laughing because they HAD ALREADY BOOKED THEIR TICKETS 😆 The joke was clearly on me! Check out on Facebook the video of my jaw literally hitting the floor, the swearing, the scream and the many cuddles that were shared when this all unfolded! What an incredible experience to be able to share such an amazing journey with two of my bestest friends. I still pinch my self when I get their phone call in the morning saying 'what are we doing today?' ☺️ In all seriousness though, thank the lord they have me because A) they were fighting within the first 5 minutes of arriving in Mykonos, B) they are weak as shit and can't carry 25kgs up 50 stairs so I had to do it FOR BOTH OF THEM and C) they have no clue what they're doing so I am pretty much their personal tour guide 🙃 We have already had so many laughs and fun times, and I know these are memories that will last a lifetime. Anyway back to Larissa. It turned out I had fkn drunk the water by accident in Zakynthos and became sick as a fkn dog for the next 6 days. Literally whatever went down my throat came out again within maximum 5 minutes. Couldn't keep anything in my stomach, not even water. As shitty (pun intended) as being sick was, I definitely was very lucky to have my sisters constantly checking up on me and the fact that I was with my family who went above and beyond to get me on the road to recovery. Wouldn't have had it any other way. So my fun in Larissa ended after Tez and Jays arrived 😂 We did go to Karditsa, Farsala and Stomio to see more family which was fantastic. The girls went to Thessaloniki as well but I didn't make it because I was still really sick. Before I knew it (...literally because I had slept my life away!!) we were on our way to Piraeus which is one of the main ports of Greece. Conveniently, Terri's Nona lives there with her family so we stayed for a night before catching the 7am ferry to Mykonos the next day. That night was so much fun, we went for a stroll around town and went to Haagen-Daaz for some waffles and icecream! It wasn't what we did but it was the amazing company we had 😍 The 7am kick off to get to Mykonos was interesting 😂 As per usual we were running late and how we made it on that boat is fkn beyond me. The ride consisted of Terri not allowing me to fall asleep because everything single time I almost did, she would tickle my nose or something ridiculous. Could have punched her square in the face but decided that wasn't the best idea...so I made her buy me a hot chocolate which cost 5.80€ 😂 Our first impression of Mykonos is that it's fucking stunning. Whatever image comes to your head (crystal clear beaches with white houses on hills) is EXACTLY what it was like. However we were fortunate enough to discover the island from North to South and East to West. We hired a car and I, the driver, officially banned Terri from being in the front seat because she almost pulled the handbrake on me twice ❌ While the main town looks picturesque, the rest is actually quite hilly, rocky, windy and underdeveloped. It was astonishing to see the island for what it really is, with some of the most amazing beaches and hidden gems we would have only discovered by hiring that car. Highly suggest it... however there is a funny story that comes along with that 😂 So Greeks drive like fucking crazy okay. That's the perfect and only intro you need into this story. I was going down a really narrow and windy road when another car comes speeding around a corner (how the fuck they didn't spin out idk?) and is pretty much in my lane now still going fast. So I slam on the brake (dirt road btw so skidded instead of halted) and pulled over. In the process, I marked the car with about a 2.5cm BLACK scratch on a WHITE CAR. I was gutted because I knew they were going to notice it when we returned the car and that they were going to charge me a fuck tonne for it. So we go to the damn beach we were driving to when this happened and were then driving to the next beach when I spot a fucking mechanics (and probably the only one on the island) and swerve in like James Bond. And can I say I had luck just like James Bond! I'm trying to communicate in Greek to this guy and he is literally laughing at me stressing #bitch. He tells me to wait a minute and before I know he comes back with a cloth and some charcoal coloured substance. I freak out even more because like I said it's a white car and I'm thinking that he will make it worse #lenthinkingsheknowseverything. He rubs it on the car and then like magic before my eyes, the mark was gone. I literally told him that I love him and that he saved my life and that he is the best person to walk this earth. And before I could even finish we were back on our way dancing like absolute idiots out of pure joy 🙃 Mykonos is by far my favourite island out of the 3; including Ios and Santorini. It is absolutely stunning by day and night, the beaches are crystal clear and is good for a great boogie. My only fault is that it's expensive as fuck. But so so worth it. I met some amazing people in my dorm (you know who you are) and proceeded to go out until the AM partying and bar (that did just get autocorrected to bae) hoping. We had so much luck that night because every place we went to we were treated like royalty. Skipped the lines, skipped the entry fee, got given free shots and drinks. It was to die for 😍 The night ended with Souvlaki's and a really drunk walk home 😂 Next stop was Ios. I fkn loved Ios for its party scene. I FROTH a good time and that's the vibe that Ios had. Funny story: when we rocked up by bus at FarOut I was laughing because we saw teeny ass canvas tents and I said 'that would suck if you had to stay in one of them'. Before I know it I received my keys and found my... MOTHERFUCKING TENT FML 😫 Don't know how I fucked up so bad but like legit this thing had a door that was just about off its hinges, a "window" that was made of a holy mesh (mosquito friendly which means Eleni says ❌❌❌), and beds that should have been bought by a massage parlour. The girls (who at least booked a place with aircon and walls) weren't happy with their room either, so we upgraded to a villa with three beds and a bathroom! Fuck yessssssss! Life in Ios was pretty sweet after the accomodation sitch was sorted. We didn't do much exploring like we did in Mykonos. Partying by day and night was the plan ✔️ Met some sick chickens whilst partying, and also spent loads of time with Jack, Yianni, Emma, Jess and Amy who we knew from home. Bar crawls and wet t-shirt contests were (regrettably) attended. Let's just say... anyone who went on that stage in the wet tshirt comp would have needed a deadly amount of alcohol and a few types of drugs to morally get through. Other then partying double parked, time was spent on the beach or by the pool soaking up grecian rays ☀️ Then came the biggest disappointment that is Santorini. I should have never expected anything and that's why I feel let down. The white walls you see everyone taking photos of are pretty much only in Oia which is ridiculously expensive. It's the place to supposedly see the sunset but what you don't expect is thousands of tourists trying to get through streets which are 2 meters wide. Forget the balcony or castle where people take sunset pictures from. It is gorgeous though minus the tourists. However a positive is that they do have an entire street of clubs and bars so when you get bored at one, the next isn't too far away ☺️ Fira, another town close by where we stayed, was nice and lively but the streets in the centre couldn't compare to Mykonos'. As I'm writing this my time in the Greek islands is up. I'm on a ferry which came 1.5 hours late (welcome to Greek time...it's legit a thing) and is so rocky I think I'm going over board. My next few days include Athens with my Nouna and Nono. Going to take my sisters around to see some sights and then will go to The Ranch (where my god brother works) and say our final goodbyes :( So excited for my family's cuddles and kisses 😍 It's a good night from me xx P.S- wish me luck because the boat is about to tip P.P.S - I can't swim or even doggy paddle. P.P.P.S- the last PPS reminds me of another LOL- in Santorini, the girls and I did a tour to the volcano, thermal springs, Thirasia and Oia. When we reached the hot springs, which is literally in the middle of the ocean next to the rocks, Jamie and I thought it would be a fabulous idea to suss it out. So we jumped off the boat into the water and the waves were going over our heads. We start laughing (out of pure panic) because we can't swim for shit and it made trying to battle the waves so much harder. We looked at eachother whilst all of this was going on and knew what we were both thinking; that we are going to drown. I told Jamie to calm down and just keep your body afloat. Anyway, we clearly made the 200m distance back to the boat because I'm writing this now P.P.P.P.S - don't tell my mum that last story because I'll cop an ear full 😂

[wanderbitesbybobbie]

Explore Coron: Realizations from Traveling Solo

It was exactly a week after my trek to Sagada when I packed my bags again and flew to this majestic island. Perks of being a Filipina travel writer is that you get to hop from one island to another without the hassle of passports and VISAS. Coron is an hour flight from Manila via Busuanga, and to make the most out of your stay, it is best to take the earliest flight. Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and Skyjet flies to the island of Busuanga by schedule, and if you are lucky, on some seasons, these budget airlines offer seat sales if you book in advance.

Located in the Northern shores of Palawan, Coron is another island in the Philippine archipelago that is perfect for solo backpacking. A 4-Day stay can cost you less than P10,000 ($270 AUD), including airfare, accommodation, tours, and food. Budget backpacking is also possible, and if you are going solo, being a joiner is the most suitable.

Traveling Solo is a Good Thing

The moment you step outside the comfort of being with other people when you travel, the more you will realize that solo traveling is a liberating experience. It may be scary for a first-timer, but then again, there are times when you need to get out of the box and try something new for yourself.

I started traveling solo ever since I was in high school, as I was raised by my Mom to be independent. I don’t have any siblings to travel with, and my Mom was busy at work. So I go around Manila, alone most of the time. The moment I learned how to catch buses and trains and cabs, I knew that eventually, I would go places further than Manila on my own. Traveling solo wasn’t a new thing to me, until I had to ride a plane and go to some island for work.

It’s a different feeling, no matter how independent you think you are. But there things that you only learn along the way when you are on your own.

  Things I’ve Learned in Coron

You never really travel alone. The world is full of friends waiting to get to know you. I have met a lot of people in Coron, and most of them I still get in contact with. Best part of traveling is getting to know the people beside you regardless of the gender, the age, and the race. Some may be solo backpackers like you, and some maybe be spending holidays with their family and friends. You never know until you take the initiative to smile and chat. A simple gesture can take you a long mile. (But, not a creepy kind of way, please. LOL.)

Met new friends on a boat-ride to the islands.

Mt. Tapyas will teach you a great deal of patience every step of the way. Whether it’s a morning climb or a sunset climb, the 724 concrete steps to get to the peak of Mt. Tapyas would definitely get you whining the whole time. The steps are easy to climb, as the local government has already developed it into a stress-free trail or “patag” as mountaineers call. Do some cardio before you start your trek or else you’ll be huffing all the way through. It’s an easy climb as long as you have enough water with you. The peak will give you a 360 panoramic view of Coron with the lakes and surrounding islands as backdrop.

The climb is a struggle, but the best view is always on the top when you reach Kayangan Lake. Just like Mt. Tapyas, you have to climb a good 300 steps before you reach Kayangan Lake. It’s about 20 to 30 minute climb, where rocks could be a little slippery at times. Reaching the viewing deck is a fruit of your achievement, as the mesmerizing view of the islets would leave you in so much awe.

  150 steps and I’m finally at the viewing deck.

No matter how your day went, at the end of it you’re still given the chance to relax at Maquinit Hot Springs. This is how your day-to-day life works. It’s rough, it’s winding, it’s tiring. But, you will always be given a choice on how to cap it off. Maquinit Hot Springs is the perfect way to conclude a long day of island hopping, diving, and snorkeling. For some, it is the best way to relax after a long trek at Mt. Tapyas. Coron is not just about the dive spots and the lakes. This gem will give you just about the same excitement as the islands could give you. It’s a 30-minute ride from the main town proper, but the saltwater pools of Maquinit Hotsprings is definitely worth the bumpy ride.

Maquinit Hot Springs at night. (Don’t try this at noon, because it will definitely roast you alive.)

Never trust people when they say there’s no Barracuda in Barracuda Lake. I was snorkeling peacefully at the clear waters of Barracuda Lake with some divers on the lower ground. Suddenly, one of the boatmen yelled, “Barracuda! Barracuda!” LOL. Knowing the guy was a joker, no one moved, until I saw the silver barracuda with my very own eyes swimming lightheartedly. I panicked of course! I didn’t want my story to end with being bitten by a barracuda while I was snorkeling. This got me thinking. I’ve got no right to complain. I am just a human, stepping into some other creature’s own habitat. So dear readers, never complain when you see snakes in the forest, or stone fish in the sea, or sharks in the ocean… it’s THEIR home in the first place.

How clear is clear? This is Barracuda Lake and I am underwater.

No water is too deep for an everyday diver. I love diving, especially when it’s in Coron. But, I am not a licensed scuba diver, so the only thing I can do is free dive. I did a lot of free diving, checking out ship wrecks and coral gardens. I met really nice people along the way, and some of them showed me how it is like living beside the sea. Because of this, my love for the ocean definitely grew stronger and it got me thinking a lot about my advocacy. For some people, diving is an enjoyable form of leisure, and for others, it is where they get their livelihood to be able to serve food on the table for their families.

Coron, underwater

Never underestimate the power of a first-aid kit. Some of you may not know the story behind my first-aid kit which I would probably have to tell in some other post. In Coron, it came in really handy as I got myself sick during my solo travel. I experienced food-poisoning and I had to deal with it on my own. It was around 9 in the evening when I started vomiting and I had to cope with a really bad diarrhea. It was daunting, as I do not have anyone beside me to get me some water or even medicines. This is where my first-aid kit came in. What’s inside my kit would always be paracetamol, allergy tablets, a couple of loperamides, flu tablets, and even some medications in case of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. I even bring a pouch of vinegar sometimes when it’s a beach travel, in case of jellyfish or sea urchin stings. Yes! I am paranoid like that and my paranoia paid off. I was so weak, I couldn’t bring myself to the hospital. All I had was my first-aid kit, water, and the hopes that it would work. I took 1 allergy tablet, in case it was a severe form of allergy and at 3 AM, I took 2 Loperamides. My flight back to Manila was at 3 in the afternoon, and I was still lying alone in bed at 9 in the morning. It worked somehow, at least I was OK during my flight back. It got me going in one way or another, or else I could have ended in some hospital bed somewhere in the island.

Kayangan Lake

Every island has its own story, just like every traveler you meet. Whether it’s a story about a tourist getting killed by a stone fish, or a multi-billionare buying an island, or some fairies showing up in the mountains and lakes, every corner has its own amazing piece. Likewise, I have realized that solo traveling has allowed me to discover the stories behind every backpacker I meet along the way. Adventure stories, mishaps, life lessons, it’s what you truly acquire more than the experience.

Green Lagoon.

  Coron Itinerary 3D2N

As I have said, it is best to fly to Coron as early as possible.

DAY 1

6:50 AM  Depart Manila

7:50 AM ETA Busuanga

8:40 AM Arrival Hotel/Inn (Check out Palawan Hotels here.)

9:00 AM Start TOUR B

5:00 PM End of TOUR B

7:00 PM Dinner at Lolo Nonoy’s.

DAY 2

8:30 AM Start TOUR A

5:00 PM End of TOUR A

6:00 PM Maquinit Hot Springs

7:30 PM Dinner at Santino’s Grill

DAY 3

5:30 AM Sunrise Trek at Mt. Tapyas

7:30 AM Breakfast at Town Proper

8:30 AM Pasalubong Center

10:00 AM Prepare for flight back to Manila

11:00 AM Early Lunch

12 NN Travel to Airport

3:00 PM Depart Busuanga

4:00 PM ETA Manila

For Coron Tour Packages, visit Letzjet Travel and Tours or e-mail us at bookings@letz-jet.com.

What about you? What have you learned from your solo travels? I’d like to hear from you! 🙂

-Bobbie

Explore Coron: Realizations from Traveling Solo was originally published on WanderBitesByBobbie