#some pics before i break down and use the crown store

[bugamartini]

needs more trees

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 41 was another fun one! It doesn’t seem related to the main plot, but that’s ok because we needed more world-building. And it does give us a bit of character development. Most importantly of all, it’s the DESPERATELY needed Sora-focused episode. And it’s all hers. We really needed this for Sora and I’m really happy with how it went down. It’s a simple, easy to follow story, and yet it was still cute and funny and good for Sora.

My one complaint would be that, though it’s great to see Sora be awesome and see her friends appreciate her, she didn’t seem to have something she needed to “overcome” like Jou and Koushirou, or something she had to prove like Yamato and Mimi. There’s definitely an important theme for Sora which, like the others, is related to her Crest. It just didn’t have the gravitas I felt it needed. It was a much sillier episode than Yamato’s, for instance. (But nowhere near as silly as Jou’s.) Still, overall very good.

Pic of the day:

A vision of perfection.

More below!

First off, the animation in this episode is really nice. Almost uniform througohut, and some seriously great expressions. CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

The kids are taking a break (yay!!!! again!! I sweat the producers are reading my blog, HELLO PRODUCERS, THANKS FOR GIVING ME EVERYTHING I ASKED FOR, lol). Taichi and Sora spend it teaching the Digimon to play soccer. Interestingly, some of the Digimon evolve in order to play x’D I guess I can see why Gomamon can’t really play unless he’s Ikkakumon. Plus Tailmon is already Adult level anyway.

It’s really fun to see how much Sora and Taichi both love soccer and love playing it together. Koushirou has a cute moment explaining to the others how awesome Taichi and Sora’s teamwork is.

Sora blows the whistle on Tentomon for grabbing her because you don’t do that in soccer. I think this is a little unfair given that Tentomon can’t really kick the ball that well since he’s got bug feet xD

The whistle Sora has, for some reason, is Jou’s, given to him by his brother so that if he runs into a bear in the woods, he can whistle for help. Lol. That is adorable and hilarious. Still wish it was Hikari’s whistle though

Speaking of Hikari, she and Takeru are happily engaged in making flower crowns together while Patamon smushes the grass.

All of a sudden, these weird, veiny meteors come crashing from a huge island floating in the sky, leaving a crater in the field. Could be dangerous!

Taichi: I’m not afraid. Besides, I’m curious.

Yamato: Be careful, Takeru.

Takeru: Yeah, be careful, Hikari.

omg too cute

I mean look at these expressions and body language. It’s fantastic. I love how Taichi looks like he’s trying not to get too close as he pokes the object with a stick and how Koushirou is like hiding behind his computer lol.

They discover it’s not a meteor, but a fruit. (And look another adorable Taichi face!) Question is, is it edible?

Agumon: Sure is!

Taichi: D:

no seriously I love Taichi being freaked out by his own partner. Lol. It’s one of the best things about Taichi & Agumon. I ate it up in Tri lol

So, I expected Yamato to be the downer of the group here along with Jou, but he’s just concerned that the fruit is too small for everyone to share. Aw what a mom.

It’s also pretty funny that, when a floating island appears and a mysterious fruit falls down with enough strength to leave a crater in the ground, the kids’ reaction isn’t to wonder about what’s going on, but to try to figure out how to eat it lol.

At this point they’re just so used to floating islands that it’s lost all novelty. They’re like, “oh, floating island, been there done that”

Agumon comes up with the obvious solution and Taichi and Sora fly up to the island together to get more fruit. Why only two of them go... is convenience for the episode xD

But it does lead to some good Sora moments and Taichi/Sora friendship. First, Sora is absolutely adorable. Even Agumon comments that she seems in a really good mood and Taichi can tell it’s because of how much she loves playing soccer. The way Sora talks to him, all fast and excited, is just so cute. You can tell she really loves soccer, especially with Taichi.

This episode kinda made me ship Taiora ;_; it was honestly more Taiora than any one episode in the 99 show...

Meanwhile, another giant object starts falling off the island towards the rest of the kids, and Palmon makes THE WEIRDEST SOUND. Like SO WEIRD. I think Yamada Kinoko passed out and made this noise while recording or something bahahahaha

Anyway it’s a refrigerator. Now appliances are falling out of the sky. I don’t understand why it makes the same size crater as the fruit despite being way heavier.

OMG baby Taichi’s hairrrrrrr I cannot

Soon they come across Flymon (why do Sora episodes always involved bugs...? This is the third time lol) who’s abducted a very helpless looking Digimon. They decide to help. Agumon gears up his Baby Flame but is stopped by Sora, who realizes that if they attack they might hurt the victim as well. I assume this is meant to tell us that, while Taichi’s brave and a strategist, another pair of eyes from someone like Sora whose first priority is others’ welfare is a big help.

... except that Sora’s plan for “tackle them” doesn’t seem to me that much better xD It still results in the poor abducted Digimon falling through the sky to her doom... I guess it’s better than falling out of the sky and alsobeing on fire tho

They catch the Digimon, who is Pomumon and just as pathetic as he looks. Meanwhile they’re being attacked by... Tropaliamon? Tropicanamon? lol I already forgot, a big bird with the ability to MELT ENTIRE FORESTS.

Pomumon explains that Evil Tropical Bird-mon and his Flymon invaded the island and started turning all the Pomumon into fruit. When the fruit ripen, they eat them. Pomumon is now the only Pomumon who hasn’t been fruit-ified.

Agumon: ... so... does this make me a cannibal?

Taichi: Maybe now you’ll be mindful of what you eat!

Okay and now the most AMAZING interaction ever, between Yamato and Mimi, and seriously it is a TRAVESTY that they don’t interact directly in the 99 series, I mean LOOK AT THE GOLD WE GET HERE,

Mimi says she hopes there’s fruit or juice in the fridge. Yamato makes an expression like someone just insulted his mother.

They then proceed to argue over what constitutes “juice” and Yamato’s all fired up about it and Mimi’s just like “lol not listening”

IT IS HILARIOUS. Quality content. Mimato shippers eat your heart out

And... this is all they do for the rest of the episode. bahaha. I DON’T EVEN CARE. I love the idea that they fought over this the WHOLE time and never even opened the fridge. The others just had to listen in baffled astonishment xD

Taichi and Sora fight Evil Tropical Bird-mon to save the Pomumon, but Taichi and MetalGreymon get knocked into the pitcher plant that turns Digimon into fruit.

Metla Greymon doesn’t quite fit into the fruit, his horns are really stretching it out lol.

and asdfghjkkl;’‘ TAICHI GETS TURNED INTO A FRUIT TOO, HE’S A DEFORMED BLUEBERRY, HIS GOGGLES THO, LMFAO

i really shouldn’t be as amused as I am

now... I have to say it - the one thing here is, the show has already played its trump cards like Omegamon and WarGreymon. I am sure they have more in store before the end, but the point is, it’s hard to believe Taichi is struggling against Digimon who seem like they shouldn’t have a chance against him. It’s like, you can defeat DoneDevimon, but not Evil-Tropical-Birdmon? You can escape the influence of Millenniumon’s miasma, but not a pitcher plant?? lol

Sora gets ANGRY when Taichi becomes Taichi-fruit. Her Crest of Love glows and brings out Garudamon. Taiora fans around the world screamed.

One way or another, this leaves Sora on her own (yay). And she is a busy girl. She wants to save Taichi first, but Pomumon also needs her help, and Garudamon needs her support while fighting the enemy.

Pomumon: don’t worry about me! I can fly on my own! *fails miserably*

Sora’s face says “I just don’t understand this world,” lol

They are then attacked by Flymon, and Pomumon still pretty much expects Sora to protect him. Sora’s like, “Fine, I’ll deal with Flymon, but you have to go save your friends,” and when Pomumon asks how, she just says “GOOD LUCK” and tosses him away, which honestly made me laugh out loud, you go girl

she’s like QUIT BEING SO USELESS DO SOMETHING ON YOUR OWN and just chucks him

buhahahaha

Pomumon, despite being useless, is able to free one of his comrades. After a brief discussion about how useless they are, they go to save the others.

I believe I can fly

I believe I can touch the sky

think about it every night and day

spread my wings and fly away

Sora thinks back to yet another soccer game where another student did a foul, I guess, on Taichi, and knocks him to the ground. Seeing Sora get so angry and protective of Taichi - omg, it totally squeezes my heat, gah. And it also makes her look so cool. Not just the girl in the back who comforts you when you fall down - also the one who runs up and tells the bully to back off!

that hair tho

Even though he’d been hurt, Taichi encouraged Sora not to quit playing and to win the game. In present time, Sora recalls that instance and uses it to push herself onward:

At this point, I could’ve gotten annoyed: as much as I loved the Taiora friendship and seeing their teamwork, it’s Sora’s episode, and I didn’t want her to succeed because of “what I learned from Taichi.” However, it’s very similar to Koushirou’s episode, where it was the faith Taichi had in him that gave Koushirou the confidence to find the courage he already had. It’s similar for Sora. Plus, since she’s got the Crest of Love, it makes perfect sense that love for her friend would be a motivating factor here.

On top of that - the things Sora thinks about Taichi are then echoed by Garudamon, only about Sora. Sora won’t give up because Taichi never does - and Garudamon won’t give up because Sora never does. You can see the chain reaction: friends building each other up through their support and faith in each other. Very sweet.

buhahahahahaha the freaking taichi blueberry

I really expected Taichi would be a little more wigged out about having been TURNED INTO A FRUIT,  but once he’s free he’s like “Thanks, now let’s get back to the fight!” lol

to be fair there were only a couple minutes left in the episode, no time for freak outs i suppose

They save MetalGreymon who goes to back up Garudamon, but then Sora comes up with a plan.

Of course, it’s related to soccer.

Obligatory Cool Girl Soccer Star Sora shot

They kick the ball to lead the Pomumon’s seed? attack directly into Evil Tropical Bird-mon’s mouth. This... seems to be our kids’ favorite play this season, lmao

While choking on seeds, Garudamon and MetalGreymon launch their attacks and finally defeat him. Yaaaay goodbye weirdass fruit transmogrifying cannibal Digimon bird thing

Taichi tells Sora she’s awesome T______T It’s soooooooo sweet. My Taiora heart leapt

and my Taishiro heart whispered “he said カッコよかった to her but saves すごい for Koushirou <3 ��� lol

Soooooo cute. MVP

Garudamon agrees that Sora is awesome

Ending card

So... the honest truth is yeah, this episode wasn’t necessary for the plot at all, and it would have been nice if it had been. But not all of the others’ center episodes were plot-related either. The important thing was for it to be wholly Sora’s episode and give her some Crest-related development. It did both those things.

I really would have liked a conundrum for Sora to fix, but I think the problem there is, since before now she wasn’t getting attention at all, they hadn’t set much of a foundation for that conundrum. The first time around, it was “oh, Sora is kind, so she wants to help anyone she sees” and there was a bit of personality clash with Yamato. Though it was small, it was a good bit of development and useful for two characters. It also led to Yamato and Sora’s friendship strengthening. With Taichi and Sora, we’ve been told they’re friends and teammates, but have not seen many strong examples of that. And, if there’s a fight between them, it could easily turn into a Taichi episode... that’s what I think anyway. So I guess the focus point for this episode was showing how Sora’s deep love for her friends strengthens her already, and maybe there’ll be more complex problems in the future, perhaps when she gets her next evolution... We’ll see.

Anyway. Good episode. So glad to see this show seems to be pretty solidly back on the rails. We only have like 20 episodes left though, seems like a lot but it’ll go fast.

That’s why I’m a bit surprised to see that next week looks like another not really plot-related episode:

Takeru and Yamato are going to a theme park. There’s no context for why they’re not with the others, but my guess is Takeru wanted to go and Yamato took him... easy as that xD I guess we’ll see, but I really hope this doesn’t mean the team is splitting up again.

However, we really do need quality time with Yamato and Takeru as well, so I’m all for this. It’s like the show really has got some self-awareness about how lax it’s been developing characters and relationships thus far and is now cranking it HARD to fit everything in we’ve been missing. Good.

[youarerageandserenity]

Borderlands Foam Wig Tutorial (Tyreen)

I was chatting with the lovely @void-noises-exe​ and it eventually circled around to offering to make a wig tutorial because you don’t see too terribly many, just thought I’d throw mine out ( especially because It was next to impossible to find good references of a foam version of Ty’s hair.) So this will be for foam wigs in general but Tyreen’s hair specifically (with a few pics of my Fiona wig from tales as well because they better accentuate my points) I didn’t plan on making this so I am missing a few pictures that might be helpful but here we go. This will not be short.

Supplies: 

-Craft foam (ideally, in small and XL sheets, but you can make do with whatever size you have available) 

- Spray paint as close to the BASE color of the wig you need (for Ty I used white, for Fiona a medium brown) ideally in a matte. 

- a FUCKLOAD of paints (i use cheap acrylics from the craft store ) in Black, and then several shades of the colors in the hair. (For Fiona i used i think four browns? Tyreens shaved sides have three browns, and the top had an additional yellow-brown i mixed) try to vary them in darkness levels to add depth.

- multiple paint brushes. I like to use around four or five of varying sizes and hardness levels.

- plenty Hot glue, and a hot glue gun (note: you COULD use other typres of adhesive, I like hot glue because its got great hold on foam, it sets FAST and worst case scenario I can take a hair dryer to it and melt it again if I need something to be undone.)

- scissors

- duct tape

-plastic wrap

-sharpie

-wig head

-Plenty of reference images

(optional supplies include a rotary cutter and or exacto-knife [trust me, itll make your life so much easier] ,  and patience. )

SO to start

1) Put your hair in a wig cap or however you plan on wearing it under your wig. Wrap your whole hair bit of your head in plastic wrap. Make sure you get over your ears and the baby hairs on your neck if you want to keep them. 

2) Wrap all the plastic covered bits in duct tape. This is easier for a friend to do on you, but not impossible to do alone, just make sure to get it all. It should be snug. Make sure you get as far down the back of your neck and down your sideburn area as you can. (Most characters have a bit of fringe hanging down in the back so its not the BIGGEST concern for them, but Ty’s got nada so you’re gonna want some good coverage for your hair line.) 

3) Take your sharpie and draw an outline of where your ear is, and along the hairline you’d like your wig to have. For short haired characters you dont want to cut too far behind the ear or your hair will peek out, so I like to underestimate how big my ear is and adjust as needed later. Dont make your wig hairline too high either, particularly if you’re making a wig for a character who has no fringe in the front. 

4) Take that bad boy off and cut along your outlines. Try it on again, adjust lines as needed. rinse and repeat. 

5) once you reach a semi-accurate mold of your head, you’re gonna wanna take it off and cut AT LEAST 4 (front, back, and both sides (I like to do 8, it will lay flatter) sections,coming to a point at the crown of your head. It should come out looking something like this. NOTE : they’re all still connected in the middle. If you’re doing 8, cut each of these 4 in half. )

6) Lay out your foam beneath this. If you dont have a piece of foam big enough to trace this bad boy onto, what I do is literally just break out the hot glue gun a bit early, glue a couple pieces together along the edges, until i get a nice big connected surface. Trace this guy on there as accurately as you can, cut it out, and then glue all your sides together. Now you should have a foam version of your duct tape hat. 

(Dont worry if the sides wont stay down, if you’re doing a character like Ty where thats an issue, we’ll get to that part later. ) 

7) (Optional but VERY helpful) Grab your wig head, and your duct tape head. Tape the duct tape back together and put something in it to make it hold shape, I use poly-fil. Tape the head-form to the wig head, and put your little foam cap on top of that. 

8)  Time to get creative. You’re gonna want to start from the bottom layers first. For Tyreen that’s the long fringe and her undercut. The strategy I decided on was to take a few large rectangular strips of foam, and lay them out everywhere I wanted the undercut to be and cut along the edges to match the hairline. I don’t have a picture of this exact point in the process but I have one from the beginning of the next step. Really the only thing to note at this point is obviously, your head is round and rectangles are not, for the curves where it sticks up along the edges, cut down where it sticks up in a little triangle and hot glue the ends together (you can sort of see this at the top left in the picture below). Dont worry about seams at this point, we’ll hide them later. 

9) This was not the case for Fiona who has very flat hair ( especially because of her hat) but Tyreen has a lot of volume especially towards the front of her head. For hair pieces that need volume, such as the ones that are glued down here, cut two of the exact same foam piece (i like to do them in little waves like the side, but also just a little arch is good for volume without flips such as the front piece) and glue the matching edges together. Make sure the hair triangle is facing the way youd like it to! Then Flatten out the top as much as you can, the bottom will keep the volume and the top ill be able to be covered by “2D” hair pieces. 

(NOTE: Honestly, it’s REALLY difficult to end up with an exact copy of cannon, and I ALLLLWAYS get carried away with the spikes. In the end, go by your reference images, but also follow your heart. Cosplay is half about having fun creating. )

10) Once youve started gluing, make sure to keep in mind where your part is (if you have one). For Fiona i didn’t trust myself so I glued in the hair at the part BEFORE anything, and left them ready to be glued down while I worked my way up to them. 

NOTE: All the hair at the parts of BOTH wigs is a single piece of foam.You want a nice wide base whenever possible to cover up the seams of all of the other edges of the hair. For your part, Carefully glue along the very end of your strip of foam and stick it down. It will be the last piece to be glueddown on top of everything else to make it look nice and clean. 

11) Slowly start working your way around the head, gluing down first anything that will need to be covered (3D pieces and bottom pieces) before getting towards the top where youll need to be more strategic about what is going down and what can cover your edges. I’d definitely recommend mixing 2D and 3D pieces if that’s something you want to experiment with, otherwise, such as in the pic below, it is possible to get volume from a 2D piece, simply by gluing it in a way where it wont lie flat against the head. 

12) in the picture above you can also catch a glimpse of Ty’s cow lick. Those are done exactly the same as our 3D pieces from before, only you trace the edges of the open end, and should end up with a triangular third side to be glued in, then just glue along the edges just like the hair part. 

13) Dont feel you have to overdo how many pieces the hair has, remember you may also paint in pieces and designs when it comes to the line-art! 

14) Once you’ve added everything from the bottom that you’d like to, go ahead and glue down your hair-part. 

15) So, obviously, I wasn’t a big fan of Tyreen’s undercut just being flat foam across half my head. So I took an exacto to it for what felt like years. REALLY over-do it on the edges, it’ll get rid of that harsh foam line and give it a little more of a natural blend. Also pay special attention to all of your seams in the foam. The more distressing there is there, the less youll be able to spot lines later. 

16) So once you have the overall structure of your wig and you’re thinking you might be happy with this, its spray paint time. (I’d recommend disposable gloves for this, you’re gonna need to maneuver it every which way to get the pain in every cranny and that paint does NOT like to come off easy.)  Theres really not much advice I can offer on it, just be patient, and do a couple layers, spray it from every angle and let it dry completely before moving on to the next step unless youre as impatient as I am and dont mind ruining a few paintbrushes. 

17) So, like the Fiona pic a few back or this one here, you should have a fairly flat evenly painted foam sculpture. Now is around the time you might start seeing all the inaccuracies in what you’ve made. You gotta push past that it’ll look great I promise. Time to get really creative. 

18) for Ty I started by painting the buzzed bits in a base brown, and started in on the line art and her roots while i waited for it to dry before going in with two more colors of brown for depth. 

19) For her roots I ended up using three colors. Black at the very bottom (which blends into the line art) a dark brown that matches more or less the buzz, and then after the fact, a custom yellowed-brown to blend better into the white and give us a little more texture. For this and the rest of the cel-shading in the hair, dab your brush before painting and try to mostly stick to light strokes in one direction (OR: if you have one, a particularly hard bristled paint brush does wonders for this) you don’t want the ends of your strokes to be too defined. 

20) Outline the edges of the hair and all prominent pieces, particularly the hot-glue seams, itll make them less noticable. (dont forget the little animation squiggles for Ty’s sides) and beyond that-- honestly, black out to your hearts content. These pics are from when I thought I’d finished. I really felt I’d over detailed. The next day I looked at a picture and realized there is always WAY more texture and outlining than I feel like I see. Honestly, you cant really over-do it, especially with fine solid black lines. 

21) The next day I came back at it with the yellowed-brown and LOTS more solid black lines. (Currently in the process of taming down where I got too excessive with the spikes on the side) 

22) Once it’s all dried, time to try on. Here’s where we address if you have a short haired character, and the edges of your wig just wont stay down -- invest in a little theatrical grade spirit gum. It’s not too terribly expensive, and unfortunately, I tried the cheaper halloween makeup kind, and it just wont hold how you need it too (and please for my sake, also make sure you get spirit gum remover) I took some hair gel (you could also use elmers glue) just to glue up as much of my hair as I could on the sides and the back of my neck to keep them from the spirit gum, and dabbed it along all of the prominent edges of the wig (namely, side and back) wait for it to get a little tacky and stick that MF-er down good. 

Aaaaand Voila??? 

Let me know if I missed any steps? Its fairly simple, once you get going -- just time consuming. 

[highsviolets]

breathless, chapter 3: an obi-wan x 90s!reader au

summary: in which you and Ben discover that nothing is like the first time, but maybe time is a construct anyway

word count: 3.2k+ 

cw: kissing. light references to smoking, a lil angst, some language  

A/N: this could not have happened without @afogocado​. Thank you for encouraging me to continue this lil fic and an endless supply of ewan pics and listening to me ramble and omg ilysm 

 references // previous // next // series masterlist 

“my curfew’s at midnight.”

Ben doesn’t look at you when he speaks. Well, he does. Just not right now. He’s busy at the moment, tinkering with something in the hood of his car. hunter green t-shirt — auburn hair — something out of goddamn salinger novel ((or maybe dos passos))

you look up at him. you’re settled on a skateboard ((he’s far too trusting of your ability to remain upright)). listless currents from a fan — somewhere, in the garage, you think — ripple in that nomadic space between his t-shirt and your skin.

remarks are so curious a thing, and you watch yours descend upon him. not quite a cascade. not quite a pittance of cleansing summer rains. it’s something other — but not ethereal — it’s here, it’s now, it’s taking you, too, holding you in thrall — words bump into skin ((sinew and sin)).

“it’s about doing the right thing.” the grind of one metal locking its relatives, corollaries, corrosions, into place has ceased. or maybe only paused. you’re not sure the car is done. but Ben looks at you, and you know he’s done. done explaining himself.

the skateboard’s wheels squeak and cry out against the pavement when you adjust. legs stretched out — ragged vans pointing above ((wherever that is)) — violet tipped hands clutching the back edges — knees exposed — just kissing the faintness of tangible ((affection or affectations, what’s the difference?))

“i know.” freckles gaze into the sun, his eyes, reflections. he expects your explanation to be plaintive. institutional. it’s not. “i just wanted to know why.”

Ben shakes his head, once, twice, thrice — face still half-soaked in the shadow of the hood — astonishment is plain to see in the flatness of his cheeks — the waltzing of his tongue on his upper lip.

Two seconds later he is right there, crouching ((muscles straining)) next to you, the leather tips of air jordans exotic and smooth against the external lateral bone of your left knee. His eyes, screwed up at the invasion of the sun against their tranquility, stare at the meeting of his shoes and your body and then he is gazing at you.

angels manipulate his mouth into a smile — Ben’s yours, now — hands are clasped — battles halt in the ceasefire. “I should really stop underestimating you.”

Ben reaches out. Two fingers ride the length of your cheekbone. They still as skin morphs into frizzled, sun-bleached hair at the crown of your head, in that space between your ear and eyebrow. your head nudges into his terms of surrender. “That would probably be best,” you say. The pause between conditional tense and adverb is like the space between you and him, an assured hesitancy, caught between becoming and being, trapped in an interstitial existence.

it’s so fucking americana it hurts.

hair , secured by a scrunchie the same shade as your fingertips, is given a light tug. let’s get you home, he says, and your presence wilts in upon itself , he senses the rush of photosynthesis exiting your body and brings your lips to caress his.

it doesn’t feel like the first time — nothing ever does — familiar in semantics — murky in meaning — singeing and sweet — a transfusion of significance between you and him.

the breaking away comes with a solemn sigh. he’s rising and bringing you with him. you resist the urge to stage a coup and use the skateboard to rocket yourself into his arms ((a safehouse you’ve found)).

___

time: a nebulous concept for you. it’s pages dogeared and how many days until the next cd is shipped to the store and how many t-shirts you’ve accosted from oaken drawers.

it’s a far more solid object for him. a tangible weave of textures and patterns that he notices in the scrunchies now in the car’s island of misfits ((he still hasn’t told you the make and model)) and how many times you guide his hand around your waist while you eat ice cream ((vanilla in a cone with sprinkles)) and the pens he’s busted through since you first met ((he knows the number , they’re immortalized in a tin cup on his shelf))

Ben’s holding one that has yet to join its brothers in the tin graveyard. The clicker rests against his teeth. It looks seductive in his mouth. Like he can make you keen with just an imitation of the real thing, with words and ideas. Words twirled around the air have power. You both know this.

You’re the one who’s twirling, though. spinning around his bedroom — boombox emitting a Billy Joel song at least ten years mature — mouth forming words you have yet to possess the courage to blare — so much like your kisses.

((the words come through in the translation , the body moves but he hears the soul))

he watches you and he is transfixed. he knows you do not know how much you are revealing to him. at least not consciously. but you want him to crawl into your soul and never leave. he does not see it or hear it or feel it as much as he experiences truth, the clumsy trio dotting patterns across his extremities and seeping into his essence ((what it means to be human)) like an antibiotic ointment. he is scared you will stick to things for which you are not designed. but it’s too late and he’s covered in the stuff, slick with you. unleashed in a trigonometric function of three sides ((him / you , other)). sins and signs and echoing sunlight.

your smile mimics his as you edge toward the bed where he’s sprawled out. you laugh and he matches you, shaking his head in rare & unguarded ((unabashed , unembarrassed)) regard. you are in harmony.

skin meets skin — heels arched into the carpet — he’s too strong too stubborn — and you fail and fall and spill over him — tumbling over his torso, legs mashed — the heat of his victorious grin burns the atmospheric bubble arching over the two of you.

You’re not sure if the record stops or if you’ve just ceased hearing it. he arranges you ((like a bouquet, like a song)) on the bed. he stares down at you. the eyes are stormy again, like before he kissed you the first time ((but nothing’s ever like the first time)). they say eyes are the window to the soul. Your hands whisk the hair that’s dangling there, like you can quiet him by quelling his independently-minded locks. it seems to work. he blinks and when you see the sun again it’s brighter, bluer, but maybe that’s because he’s so still now.

he does not move. He may not have danced but his soul is pressing into you like a dagger ((did you fall on a sword)). Ben cuts off your impending speech with conciliatory kiss. “i know , darling” , and the words etch themselves into reality against your body.

—-

Ben is distant and he is near to you all at once. There are corners of his being that you want to slide and drag and push to the surface. maybe if you do he will start to make sense. form follows function, he tells you, and the words feel as yellow as the pages on which they’re inked.

it doesn’t make sense to you — “you have too much sense, dear one” — elinor and marianne — but for all his purity he does not dance — no ricochets in his lever and pulley soul.

you are glass and flannel and he is steel and silk. he is not quite your sun, or your moon, or your stars, and not even your world. but you are rapidly terraforming to his sundry heights and arid permafrost and the devil’s sun that makes a home in his fingers, in his mouth ((yet he is not lucifer, nor abdiel perhaps he is raphael)).

Ben watches you soak in him. He takes note, n.b., nota bene, notes well, excellently, the stillness of your hands ((the tremors have lessened, but have they learned?)). your words are teal and vermillion and ecru and weeping with tannins. Ben deduces ease, easel, paint, art as you furrow into his chest. His mind infers souls through their bodies. Form follows function. Function follows form. Maybe it’s all the same, and Maybe It Isn’t.

Through your mirror he sees himself with you but he does not comprehend. He is bewildered.

nails boards cones sheets — teeth fingers knees breath — swerving form yielding function clutching grasping — all so very , sine qua non — aspectu sine logos — why does the latin transform into Greek

Morpheus, he thinks, nods sagely. he hurls ticket stubs and lipstick napkins and sense ((you)) into shoeboxes and mailboxes and shadowboxes. he refuses a photo of you, with you, for you and takes your knotted eyes and throws them, too, into the nearest body of water. you are close but you are not near ((droplets on tanned skin, drowning in the water)) and it is all he can do to obey his life and he does not know that sartre laughs at him and de beauvoir pokes her lover.

you are not at the middle of your life and neither is he. the path is still obscured by the trees. is charon delivering you to this threshold of the styx ((stones, bones, death)) or the tip of the world where the stars scrape into the heavens with a different edge? he is rising: he brings you with him. so it was in the past, but does the past presage the future? if he is raphael then he is virgil ((Maybe it’s all the same, and Maybe It Isn’t))

epic firestorm of righteous creation myths — empirical histories — imperial truths. but no. dante, where is dante, is he off in firenze, dancing in florid colors? no. dante is in exile, civitas ex nihilo : in need of virgil. guide him to transcendence.

____

you do not see him for several days. maybe it is weeks. you aren’t sure. time is not empirical, Ben has told you, it’s something you have to feel through its measuring ((sometimes vibrancy tips out of his ridges)). but you wish he had let you take a picture of the two of you. you are more like him than you realize , the truest truths are the ones you can touch.

it is the longest you have not seen him, and it is very hot. the pool, the lake, they’re not the same when you can’t thread sand through his hair and be abducted by his gaze as you read ((spirited away from his bookshelf)).

you’re running out of books — running out of time? — but time is not statistical — multidimensionality of you and him — there is no space where he does not compress himself to exist with you.

“it’s not a phase, mom,” you say, and take another bite of cereal.

“you need to make up your mind.” the crunch is effective at blocking out the noise, and your mind continues on its path. you wonder if DJ Tanner ever felt like this. hair surfaces in your bowl, and you pluck it out, grimacing. Maybe you should cut your hair. it’s hot out. DJ had short hair.

a rap on the table — spoon? knuckle? you can’t tell — strikes you. the words reality and wake up and decisions and wasteful are abrasions on your knees, still sore from too many tries on Ben’s skateboard ((he had smiled at your earnestness and kissed away the latent tears , let your body do its healing)).

you do not speak words so much as you give birth to emotions, agonizing and cruel and hideous. you do not know what you say or if you even say it ((dissociation)). but it is metallic in your mouth and turncoat shaking fingers and the sinking sound of unharnessed emotion in your ears.

it is hot and stifling and too much when you leave. nothing is feeling right — that stillness has lodged in your diaphragm again — opaque skies mock you — rain comes and you are colliding with nature and you are losing

Ben is standing underneath the overhang at the library ((it always comes back to the library)) and you wonder if you’re finally hallucinating. you voice forms itself to his name and he turns, damp hair following a few seconds later, and he drops his cigarette at the sight of you.

Exhilaration delivers specks of mud on your legs and arms but it is no matter. the time and space continuum has rectified and he is in front of you, giving you a cigarette, gray t-shirt abstracting to his muscles as much as your vans cling languidly to soggy toes.

he exhales smoke the way he says your name. it is precise and pious and it blooms over you like pink and purple hydrangeas.

Ben sees the gouges in your eyes and chastises your traitorous hands and absorbs you. cigarettes slump, abandoned, as he presses your cheek to his heart ((the conjunction of your logic and heat meeting his fervent center)). you cling to him and he does not resist but molds himself to you. time stops ((it’s an illusion)). rain continues. Ben’s kisses glide along your hairline, your forehead. it tickles and you laugh and his smile takes shape against your frontal cortex.

you pull him into the rain even as he protests ((but he’s laughing and the clouds pause, time takes a breath , are you time)) and you kiss him. it is like something breaks in him or perhaps the rain has induced erosion or maybe he is like you and there is a filigree thread connecting his head with his heart and constructing a railway through his body. Ben is all the lightning — the sky has crowned a new Zeus —  you hold him as the thunder in his soul cracks and pulls

((maybe kant was wrong about time and heidegger was right about dwelling and nothing crystallizes in his soul like you do))

the two of you alight to his car ((still unknown yet cordial, native)) and when you reach his building he opens your door and scoops you up in his arms and it is like that first time by the pool ((but nothing is ever like the first time)).

your hand makes a fist in his soggy shirt and his hair is pasted to his forehead and you cannot censor the searing, violent, desideratum swooping over you ((nor can you pause the absurd laugh that gushes out of your heart at his display of exorbitant chivalry)).

“i can walk,” you say as he wades through water that’s now folding over his skin, lapping up his electrolytes.

“yes, dearest, but you can’t swim, can you?” he likes to respond with questions, but this one’s  an answer. Ben’s clutching you so tightly that you can’t see his face but you feel the contentment in his tone—it dashes into you like the rain currently encompassing the Earth, hesitant with the effort of exertion, with the weight of metal souls. “I’m just preemptively forbidding a disaster, darling.” there’s a tenderness bridging Ben’s raw power and mischievousness —  the network protrudes — extracorporeal ((does he know?))

He cherishes the rain, Ben tells you later, when existence reduces to you and him and incandescent petrichor and the pasticcio of kisses, heartbeats, palms on skin.

___

Ben is not carefree, but he is not serious. it is like he has learned that he can take up space ((empirical)). there is less constriction, tension, stenosis in his body ((the filigree is stretching his limbs)). movements are not languid but nor are they demonstrations of correctness. not slouching — just not strictly upright.

your hair gets tangled, like his sheets, like his legs in yours, and you tell him you want to cut it. An auburn eyebrow lifts archly, and he runs a finger down the length of your arm, tracing the veins ((your life)). “how will I teach you how to swim if you chop off your legs, darling?” Ben’s voice is charcoal. gray, yellow red orange burning, glowing at the edges. He draws up blueprints for cities in your open palm.

You make a quip about the ship of state and he snorts. When he shakes his head, his other hand — the one not serving as an architect on your body — shags through his hair, tanned skin meeting with copper effervescence in a ragged tryst. “i like its hows” he murmurs against your lips and you cannot protest, not when his caustic tongue ices, soothes, pacifies your conflagration.

The two of you are at the pool, again. He’s on his break. The air’s circulation is viscous, shoving over your skins. It straps you in — like the fanny pack around his waist. Ben’s donned his lifeguard pack for work, swapping out his array of gauche accessories for the traditional red and white accoutrement now fastened at his hips.

the most important things in his life, Ben thinks as he inhales the light spice of a Malboro, start with “l”. learning, lady, library, liberty, lake, logos, love. he doesn’t know from where last word originates; he must learn ((connaître ou savoir?)). in his experience, there’s no such thing as luck. He feels like a character in one of those war movies filmed right before he was born, smoking lucky strikes in a foxhole and just trying to stay alive, goddamnit, just trying to get through the war.

The two of you are always watching each each other. The obtuse phenomenology plays out like a courtly masquerade. veritas, quid est veritas, for here both object and deception are degrees of truth. He smirks around the cigarette and you blush but your eyes hold his and you catch his approval and stuff it inside your heart.

Ben takes your hand and places it on his thigh as you speak. the two of you are straddling a lacquered yellow beach chair, offensive in its self-confidence. he leans forward and touches his forehead to yours. he likes to take initiative — he is making use of his knowledge, he told you once, mumbled and sleepy, when you had whispered the question against his shoulder late one night.

Ben brings himself nearer to you. sweat — splashes — dangling exertions — smoke — sunscreen. it all plays about your lips and in your blood and in his hands that keep yours pressed against his flesh. someone yells at him to get his ass back to work and Ben rolls his eyes.

“duty calls.” his actions, the chair: they embolden you to dip your voice, your thoughts, mayhap you actions to a lower register.

He ducks his head to peer at your face, like that first time when you were falling over ((but nothing is like the first time)). as he passes the remainder of the cigarette to you, the words he speak sound like him, carry his weight, refracted starlight from coal. “we all have a duty. even you.” Ben doesn’t need to say his duties; they are his life, his schedule, the notebooks in haphazard stacks under the bed, his tin cups of pens. you wonder if you are part of his list ((if the cables have let you traverse the journey from his heart to his head)).

when you tell him that he is diamond but you a like one of those new gems they make in labs — what are they called — moissanite, he shakes his head. “you are not so scientific, darling.” fingers squeeze yours. “you are burning skies and delimitations and biting stars — the most natural things that exist.”

((you are not sure if you believe him, because nothing is like the first time)).

[bae-roman]

The Halloween headcanons we have all been waiting for ...

* I may have totally forgotten about these, so sorry for the wait!

*I was planning on fixing it up and formatting it real cute but then y’all probably wouldn’t have gotten it until next year.

*This is Roman’s face the entire night he’s carving pumpkins with his children.

Bunny totally has to do some last-minute costume shopping after one of the twins completely ruined their costume 2 days before Halloween. 

The poor kid is dead set on having a very specific costume this year, and he’s just as stubborn as his father so Bunny, bless her, called every store that could possibly carry the costume. Lucky for her, there's one left at a store literally 2 hours away but Bunny is very dedicated to her children having amazing holidays and her son was so upset when his costume got ruined, so she decides to make the drive and get it.

But, she also promised the kids that they could carve the pumpkins they got the other day and now her only option is to make Roman do it with them

The thing with Roman is ... well it's not that he hates Halloween, he just doesn't particularly love the idea of his 5 kids ages 12 and under getting all hyped up and excited while dealing with pumpkin guts - he's way too OCD for that which is why Bunny usually does it while he's at work, but since Bunny has to leave before he gets home from work, he's stuck in charge and was most definitely not prepared for the chaos that ensued. 

Now, Roman already thinks quite highly of his wife alright, but after that? He thinks the woman is some kind of magic possessing saint.

When Bunny walks in the door, she is stunned to see the shape of her house. 

There are pumpkin guts everywhere from, what Bunny later found out, a “pumpkin fight” where the kids all decided it would be a great idea to run around and whip as much pulp at each other as possible while dad was changing the baby’s diaper

A lamp, or what used to be a lamp, has been knocked onto the floor, shattered into hundreds of little pieces 

the decorative couch cushions are strewn all around, having been thrown in various directions all across the floor

The kids are covered in mess ... and this is just all she sees as she takes her first steps inside. 

Now don’t get me wrong, Roman is very much the authoritarian of the two and is absolutely the type of parent who can give their kids a look so stern that they all drop what they’re doing and behave in an instant.... for the most part. However, his kids have also learned how to get away with shit and his weaknesses.

They all know that his attention is compromised whenever he’s alone with all of them and Bunny is like not on the property lol. This is especially true when Romans watching the baby because she is always so clingy and fussy, and only really likes being in Romans arms.

 Roman tends to panic around his kids as babies. I think it’s because they can’t actually tell him what’s wrong or if something is even wrong at all so he just panics and thinks they're in crisis even when they’re just being brats.

His other children all notice this and totally use it to their advantage.

Anyways, so Bunny comes home and she literally walks in on one of her children wearing a pumpkin, evidently stuck, on his head...with his father unsuccessfully attempting to pull it off..

Before she can interject or anyone notices she's home, the stuck child's eldest brother instructs him to "hit his head on the wall to break it" which the boy does without a second thought.

Bunny is just about to break into her whole mom “What the HELL are you doing” mode, but it actually worked and shockingly the kid isn't hurt, yet when they see her everyone kinda just freezes, even the baby.

To top it all off, all but one of the pumpkins have been destroyed in one way or another, except for the one her husband carved as a joke.

She doesn't even see it until after all the kids have been cleaned and put to bed and she joins Roman downstairs to clean up the urgent things like pumpkin guts and food spills and leaving the rest for the maid tomorrow.

When she finally sees it, she slaps his chest lightly and laughs. Bunny still carves a simple ghost on the back though, and that's the side they show on the porch.

Fast forward to Halloween:

Costumes go as follows:

Like every other year, Nadia dresses up as a princess. This year, she’s Rapunzel.

Their eldest son is Iron man (RIP)

The older twin goes as a “me with no head” and the younger one is a pirate.

Bunny is a witch with their infant daughter as the cutest little black cat.

And when asked what he’s going to be for Halloween, Roman pics up a stray crown from the decoration box, puts it on and says “Rapunzel’s dad”, a big difference from last year as Cinderella’s dad.

The big drama of the evening is that Nadia wants to go trick-or-treating with her friends, not with her baby siblings and parents.

Bunny gets it and doesn't see too much of an issue with them going as long as Nadia shares her location with her, doesn’t go into anyone’s house and she and her friends stay in a group at all times. Roman, on the other hand, is not down for that at all so they “compromise” with Roman following in his car, “or she can stay home”.

Before everyone goes out for the night, Bunny posts a family pic with the caption “Wanted to have a cute costume theme this year, but they all said no.”

She posts a picture every year, and every year the amount she has to bribe them before they agree increases. 

The “decapitated” twin runs around the house all day scaring his siblings…. and his mom….. and even Roman at one point but then gets the death glare and stops.

Trick or treating goes well then all the kids come back, watch a movie as a family until the little ones fall asleep and their older kids retire to their rooms.

After everyone's all settled for the night, Bunny surprises Roman with a costume change, this one much more scandalous, I’m thinking something like this

They have a tradition where every year after the kids go to bed, she dresses up as a sluttier version of what she went as earlier. This year she’s just in lingerie and a witches hat. This quickly changes to just the witches hat.

[veilingofthesun]

Quarantine tags!

I was tagged by the lovely @starlene to answer these tag games. it took me a while, but I really enjoyed them. It took my mind of other things for quite some time. So thanks a lot for tagging me!:)

Music list tag game

Rules: list ten songs you’ve been listening to recently.

In no particular order:

Carry you - Missy Higgins

You learn to live without - If/Then cast recording

Use well the days - Annie Lennox

My House - Matilda the musical cast recording

Wear it like a crown - Rebekka Karijord

En sång till livet - Så som i himmelen cast recording

Stay Gold - First Aid Kit

En stund på jorden - Laleh

Gold - Once soundtrack

That I would be good - Jagged little pill cast recording

Quarantine Tag Game

Are you staying home from school/work? No, here in Sweden not everyone has to work from home. If you can, you’re advised to work from home. But my job can’t really be done from home..

If you’re staying home, who is there with you? -

Are you a homebody? Yes, definitely. I’m an introvert and and I need my space and and time to just be at home. So this quarantine thing feels kind of surreal to me. For starters, we’re not in lockdown here, so I’m not restricted in the same way that a lot of other people are. Since I’m going to work as usual (except for some schedule changes) my days feel very much as they did before this pandemic. I get up, go to work, come home, do almost the same things as I did before.... I don’t go to stores, cafes or the cinerma at the moment though. The things that I was really looking forward to and love to do (travelling to different cities and see musicals) I can’t do...

An event that you were looking forward that got cancelled? It’s kind of hard for me to write about this, because I’m getting upset just by writing about this. It’s been a long and rough winter and the things that kept me going and gave me something to look forward to was going away with my sister on our musical trips (it’s my favourite thing to do) I’m missing out on both Groundhog day and Next to Normal. N2N pains me the most. I’ve never seen a production of N2N before and I’ve been patiently waiting for many years now. N2N means so much to me (More than I can ever explain) When I found out that they were doing it and with Helen Sjöholm (my dream Diana for years) I was so excited and happy. After seeing bits of rehearsals, pro pics, the trailer and hearing what people thought, my excitement just grew...  I’m trying to stay positive and hope that they might bring it back. But the realistic side of me knows that they can’t just pick up where they left and keep going. But the cast wants to do it again, and Uppsala Stadsteater has said that they’re looking into putting it up again in the future, so I’m allowing myself a slight hope... Wermland Opera won’t be bringing GHD back, so I just have to hope that another theatre will put it up some time.

What movies have you watched recently? And then we danced (A Swedish/Georgian movie) and Little women were the last two movies I watched in the cinema. I loved them both and I can really recommend them. I know that Little Women is easy accessible, but if you manage to find And then we danced, definitely give it try. It’s a beautiful and touching movie in so many ways. Most recently I watched an Icelandic movie called Woman at war (I try to broaden my movie watching horizons) It’s a very special movie (kind of hard to explain) but I really enjoyed it. Very well acted, both dramatic, funny and smart.

What shows are you watching? I’m rewatching Good Omens (it’s based on one of my favourite books and a TV show has been a long time coming) I love it so much, it captures the feel of the book and the characters perfectly. It makes me happy and makes me laugh. I’m also watching season 2 of the British show The Split. It’s a female driven show about family, sisterhood and a family law firm. The feel of it is very different from other law shows, because the focus is on family law. I also love how it’s written and the very different, very well written interesting female characters. Plus Nicola Walker is just amazing.

What music are you listening to? See above. Also, a certain audio that a very kind person sent me...

What are you reading? I’ve just finished reading Kindred by Octavia. E. Butler. It’s definitely a new favourite of mine, I love the way she writes. I didn’t want to put the book down and read it almost in one go. I love when I find books like that. At the moment I’m reading The wit and wisdom of Discworld by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs. . Or not really reading, more flickering through and reading bits and pieces.( ( I needed to digest Kindred properly before starting on a new book) It’s filled with quotes and pieces from the Discworld books. Terry Pratchett has a quote for everything.

What are you doing for self-care? Hmm, well I walk and bike almost everyday since it’s part of my route to and from work, so I get some fresh air. During the weekend I try (I don’t always succeed, sometimes I just can’t make myself go for a walk) to go for a longer walk. It usually helps to go somewhere else and see something else. I’ll make it a mini trip and bring something to eat. It doesn’t happen every weekend though.. What else? Reading is self care to me. It’s very important to me, it calms me and gives my brain a break. Also working on @musicals-in-sweden is a kind of self care for me..

Nameless tag game

Top 3 Ships: Hmmm, this is a hard question... I don’t ship characters as much as I used to... I don’t really know why. Plus I find it hard to rank them so this isn’t really a top three...  I’ve always had a soft spot for Natalie and Henry from N2N, so they’ll be on my list. Who else? I think I’ll go with Miss Honey and Mrs Phelps from Malmö Operas production of Matilda the Musical. I know that a lot of people ship Miss Honey and Mrs Phelps based on the musical, and I see why. But for me, it didn’t happen until I saw the Swedish production. Their chemistry and the way they acted together and opposite each other was so special. (It was probably the fact that they had some added lines and that their relationship and admiration for each other played a bigger part in this production that did it for me and of course the actresses beautiful and very natural chemistry) Then there’s the If/Then couples (Elizabeth/Josh, Kate/Anne and Lucas/David) but since I love them all, I can’t possible pick one to be in the list and let the others go, so they’re all staying.

Last Song: Hope from the Groundhog Day cast recording. There’s something very special about that song and it seems fitting at the moment. I just love the way Tim Minchin writes.

Last Movie: Since I answered the movie question above I have seen Lost Girls.

Reading: I’ve kind of already answered this, but I’m thinking of rereading Good Omens next, since today is it’s 30th anniversary... I’m about to order a batch of books from my favourite book store since I won’t be able to travel to any of the cities it’s located in for a while. They have a lot of new releases and new parts of series that I’m interested in.

Three Random Things that Make Me Happy: That spring is finally here and the lovely warm, sunny days we’ve had in april, First Aid Kit’s live streamed livingroom concerts and that Cirkus Cirkör (A Swedish new circus company)is streaming a recording of their 2010 production Wear it like a crown. It was the first Cirkus Cirkör production I saw and I was blown away. I’ve been wanting to experience it again ever since. I’m happy to say it was as magical as I remembered it.

I’m tagging @amaliatheartist @mrs-tap-toes @miyacantdecide @thecitykeepsevolving to answer as many of these as you can/want.

[jaeminlore]

johnny as a boyfriend

oh daddy

there i did it @jisoodrinkssopretty are you happy

anyway here's johnny!!!

he's literally so soft like i've never seen someone so tol and dorky and precious i just love johnny okay

johnny as a boyfriend would probably start awkward

like johnny is rlly friendly so i think he'd be the type to have a lot of really close friends

but when it comes to relationships he's actually clueless like he has no idea how to ask you out or treat you the way he wants to

you work around nct as a translator and hang out w them whenever they go to other countries

johnny loves talking to you in english because it's almost like you two have a secret the others don't know abt

except jaehyun and mark but johnny ignores them anyways lol

so the closer you and johnny get the more he realizes how much he likes you ,,,,, and it's a lot my dude

so once nct aren't rookies anymore and can comfortably date he knows he has to ask you out

and his hands are probably sweating like he probably wiped them on his jeans 54 times while talking to you ddkjdjd

but when he does he decides to ask you in english??? bc he's afraid that people might hear if he says it in korean and he doesn't want them to laugh if you reject him

a proactive thinker really

but ???? you don't even think about rejecting him ???? bc you've had a crush on johnny for ages and now that you know he likes you too your heart is just a zooOoOoOoOmmming right out of the sm building

okay so once you guys are an actual couple

during lots of your dates you'll go to the park to just sit and talk bc i know lots of you forget but johnny is actually pretty deep and i bet he has a lot to say if someone would just listen

LOVES giving you piggyback rides around places

literally doesn't care about the pictures or the gossip or the articles bc he just loves being with you and he trusts your relationship enough that he won't believe anything an article says to him

bc of his it's a lot easier for you to ignore any hate that comes your way like nct all love you and so do most nctzens so everything's cool

he likes to do your hair

idc what length, style, or color of your hair: johnny is going to try and put a bow in it

you could be bald/have a shaved head and johnny is going to find you a cute headband or flower crown like idk he just thinks you look nice in hair accessories

you are his stylist for the airport and nct night night and stuff bc most of the time he has no idea what he's doing and you have to step in like no johnny a lime green bucket hat will not look good with a yellow sweater,,,, you'll look like the sprite logo

sends you very cringey voice memos and videos and sometimes he's just doing it to make you cringe but other times he actually means it????

and if you make fun of one that he actually meant he gets so sad like babe,,,, but i would pick you first if you were a booger,,,, i meant that

sends you rlly bizarre pics/vids of any two things and captions it "us"

two parakeets screeching at each other?

"us"

two old people napping together?

"us"

two dogs barking at a shadow?

"us"

and like that's just how he shows you that no matter what he's doing he wants you to be right by his side

YO YO YO

okay tbh i see johnny with a chubby s/o or maybe someone that isn't like up to society's norms

and like if you're insecure abt your body johnny literally doesn't get it??

to him you're a goddess and he's absolutely befuddled bc all this time he was thinking that you thought the same way as him

always knows how to make you feel better tho like it could be tummy kisses or showers of praise or simply popping in your favorite movie and cuddling the heck out of you

johnny is just good at that i feel

also

i truly believe almost all of nct are this way but johnny probably is v passionate when it comes to loving someone??

like probably takes his time but once he's in he's in and there's no going back like he plans to love you until he dies and in the afterlife

it would break his heart if you two fought

and it's usually over something stupid like miscommunications or dirty clothes on the floor but like johnny is pretty sensitive i bet he takes it to heart

you guys never go to bed angry though that's a rule

even if you have to stay up until one of you finally admits that you're wrong

buys you a lot of stuff

like if you guys are just walking around and you point to something like "that's cute" or "i might come back and get that after my paycheck"

he's like already pushing you in the store like "get it"

and then while you're in the changing room he's found like two more outfits he thinks would look amazing on you

basically if johnny gets you one thing he has to get you more like it's very hard for him to leave a shop with just one gift for you

you always return the favor by sneaking him and the boys junk food or homemade meals while they're on diets

probably creep into the dorm wearing all back w some canvas bag over your shoulder like "shh don't tell your manager!!!"

and johnnys like "y/n you just brought what looks to be the entire walmart chip aisle and possible a restaurants worth of seasoned chicken"

nd you just back out of the dorm waving your arms like a ghost "just enjoy it ,,, nd tell the dreamies i said hi ,,,, give mark and donghyuck extra they work too hard,,,,"

that's another thing

he loves to see you take care of the other boys esp the dreamies

you're with them a lot bc of translating and they all feel extremely comfortable w you

and johnny thinks it's awesome bc even though you haven't met his actual family in chicago yet you've met his nct family and they all can't get enough of you

you guys go grocery shopping together all the time

mostly because taeyong wants you two to stop making out in the dorm where any of the dreamies could just walk in

sneaks stuff into the cart when he isn't supposed to and pouts when you put it back

like y'all have a budget!!!! you don't need eight boxes of pocky okay!!! you just don't!! pUT THE LOBTSTER DOWN

when he met your parents for the first time he wasn't nervous at all like don't sweat !!!! i've got this !!!!! i'm a lovable harmless boy !!!!!

but you're freaking out like imagining all the things that could go wrong

johnny probably charms himself into your family like they fall in love with him and you're like thank goodness now let's go before you do something stupid

but johnny is ignoring you and has decided to show your parents his wonderful parent impression

yeah,,,, good luck w him ,,,,

loves hugging you and pulling you into his arms

uses his height as a way to tease you like even if you're one inch shorter than him he's like "shorty!!! my smol s/o!!! i can't believe how tiny you are!!! you can't even reach the cereal!!!!"

"that's bc you stuck it on top of the fridge you giANT"

slaps your butt and pretends he doesn't

you guys don't really share clothes but sometimes you'll steal his blanket/pillow bc it's like sleeping next to him

esp if he's away and has a different translator

tbh you probably only translate for the dreamies now bc it'd be unprofessional to do it w 127 aka the unit your boyfriend is in

but it's no prob bc the dreamies are cooler than johnny anyways

johnny would disagree but we know the truth

mentions you on the night night show all the time

"yeah y/n loves this song"

"if i get these dance moves wrong y/n will kill me"

"y/n put together my outfit for today isn't it cute"

nd the guests are like "pls shut up johnny we're here to talk about me"

jaehyun w his fingers on his temples looking like he's ready to end it all "it's worse,,, in the dorms,,, at least you get to go home,,,"

okay so basically johnny is just a soft playful bf like pls protect him

he cares abt you a lot and he'd never even think of hurting you

i don't know how to end this

bye

[tiemeupspidey]

The Way You Look Tonight..

Series: Tom Holland Imagines

Relationship: Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: Tom is in awe when you make your entrance at the event. Tom has a surprise of his own if he gets an award either way he wins..

Warnings: swearing cause I swear a lot IRL and so does Tom, and cuteness from his infatuation

Word Count:1,800+

A/N: 

[Reader’s POV]

“Tom I’m probably going to have to meet you there, my dress just got fixed and I have to go pick it up.. I can’t believe they just fixed it when it was supposed to be ready two days ago” Your voice full of frustration as you gathered your makeup on the counter. 

“Darling I’m sure everything is going to be fine and you’ll look stunning as always..” he tries to assure you but how your nerves were getting the best of you made you think otherwise.

“Tom this is the Oscars, I can’t look like rubbish next to you” you say setting your phone down putting it on speakerphone.

“I assure you that you won’t look like rubbish but if you do you’re my rubbish” he teases making you laugh a bit.

“Why aren’t you here at the house?” you ask turning on your curling iron. Grabbing your foundation you put liquid dots on your skin. Taking a beauty blender to bounce the product onto your skin. Thankfully the house you were staying in had an awesome sized bathroom.

“I.. uh I’m shopping for a bowtie last minute.. yeah that’s it” his voice uneasy making you raise a brow.

“Thomas, I know when you’re lying to me.. I packed your suitcase and I put a bowtie and a tie in your suitcase”  you stare at your phone waiting for him to respond. There was a slight pause before he continued.

“Oh it wasn’t for me.. I’m with Haz right now” he explains with a nervous laugh. Knowing him and Harrison it was probably true. 

“Alright baby, I have to finish getting ready.. I love you and will see you there okay? Zendaya is coming over to help with my hair”

“I love you more, tell her I say hello and not to burn you” his comment making you laugh before hanging up on that fool.

[Tom’s POV]

“Dude that was so fucking close” my breath shaking from the nerves. I hated lying to her,I’m not great with secrets.

“You’ve kept it a secret this whole time mate,you got this” Harrison smiles over at me from the chair he was sitting in.

“You sure this is going to go well?” I ask holding the box in my hand,my hand shaking slightly.

“Tom if you don’t do it I will make you,It’s about time you’ve done it too.. there’s no way she could say no, you two are head over heels for each other” He laughs rolling his eyes at me nerves. I open the box to see the diamonds glistening in the light.

“C’mon Tom, we need to get to the venue so I can take some pics of you” Haz punches my black suit clad shoulder.

“Y-yeah I got this.. plus my family came here to support me so I’ll get to see them as well afterwards” I walk along with Harrison out of the store. Thankfully they finished cleaning it today cause today was the day..

-

[Reader’s POV]

“That eyeshadow look is gorgeous, what products did you use?” Zendaya asks as you blend another color into your outer corner. 

“I’m using Tarte, I absolutely love their products” you smile taking another brush off of the counter. Dabbing the brush into the glitter shade rubbing it in your inner corner. 

    Her hands working at your hair adding another gem into the thin braid crown. The rest of your hair fell in soft waves down your back. The gems looking embedded into your hair making it glisten in the bathroom light when you turn your head. What is something that Zendaya can’t do? 

    Zendaya’s curls were put into a bun with a intense smokey adorning her eyes. She always looked flawless when it comes to events, a true queen in fact. Zendaya is one of your closest friends thanks to Tom introducing you to her. You wouldn’t know what to do if she didn’t give you advice on how to handle being involved with a celebrity. She was truly a blessing.

“You’re going to love it, tonight is going to be truly amazing” she smiles admiring her work on your hair. Picking up a hairspray can she sprays it lightly running her fingers through the waves.

“I think Tom is hiding something from me.. He’s been acting strange these past few weeks we’ve been here in LA” A gut feeling wouldn’t go away and you absolutely hated it. Zendaya’s hand is on your exposed shoulder giving it a squeeze.

“Tom is just weird sometimes, maybe he’s just nervous for the Oscars?” Her body turns in the mirror as she fixes the belt on her outfit. Readjusting it she gives you a reassuring smile in the mirror.

“You’re probably right, I’m going to go and get my dress on” getting up you walk past her heading towards the dress bag. 

    Grabbing your heels you slip them on. Unzipping your bag the dress hangs in full view in front of you. Slipping off your robe you take the dress off the hanger. Stepping into it and sliding it up your body slowly. The gems on the dress catching your eye making you smile.

    Running your fingers through your hair you turn slightly in the mirror. The dress looking like you were mother nature herself. The plunging neckline wasn’t provocative like the other dresses you tried on before this one. You guessed it was the flowers that added some innocence to the neckline.

“Woah” you look up to see Zendaya looking at you in the mirror. Her face looking at you in complete shock and awe.

“So I picked a good one?” you smile doing a small curtsey towards her. 

“You look breathtaking… let’s take some pictures then head over there” She quickly pulls out her phone aiming it at you. Posing you give her a smile as the flash goes off.

-

“Look it’s Tom’s girlfriend and Zendaya!”

“Ladies pose for us!”

“Look at that dress, turn to the side !”

“Zendaya which designer are you wearing?!”

“Zendaya take a picture with us”

“Go ahead and find Tom, I know how all the camera flashes make you nervous” Zendaya whispers down to you giving you a slight hug. Nodding you wave to the cameras before heading towards the doors. 

    The man at the doorway opens the door for you. Thanking him as you head inside to a room full of actors and actresses. Eyes looking at you made your heart hammer in your chest. Giving the people you know hugs as you make your way farther into the room.

    Chris Evans walks up to you telling you he last saw Tom downstairs with Robert getting drinks. He points over towards the staircase that went to a lower floor. Lifting your dress slightly so you don’t trip on it. Your eyes scan the room to land on the one person you were looking for. His eyes lock with yours in a stare that makes your heart skip a beat.

-

[Tom’s POV]

“So did you get the ring in time?” Robert asks me tapping his glass with mine. He takes a sip of his Scotch waiting for a response.

“Yeah, thankfully it was ready to be picked up in time for today” I laugh nervously at him. My nerves were still getting the best of me at the moment. 

   Murmurs and whispers catch my attention causing me to detach myself from the conversation. I look around to see some people looking in a certain direction. My eyes look up to see the most beautiful woman, my girlfriend to be precise. She looks stunning, absolutely breathtaking… 

    Walking away from Robert I head towards the edge of the staircase. She descends down the staircase as her dress drags behind her. Our eye contact not breaking as she gets closer and closer to me. My heart rate was rising from how she was making me feel. She reaches the bottom step looking down at me.

“You’re absolutely gorgeous,holy fuck” I breathe out looking at her figure in the dress. 

“You look very handsome tonight Tom” her smile melting my heart instantly. Helping her down the last step I pull her body close to mine. Connecting our lips in a longing sweet kiss. When she pulls away her cheeks are tinted a shade of pink.

“Now I feel like rubbish next to you” I laugh running my fingers through my gelled curls.

“Oh shut it you cheeky shit” she giggles taking my hand in hers bringing it up to her lips to give it a kiss. God I love this woman.

“C’mon darling, I want to show you off to everyone” his lips press against your forehead gently calming your nerves instantly.

-

“I just want to thank everyone in my life for supporting me through my acting career. My family has helped me tons with everything , Harrison has been one of the greatest friends I could ever ask for.. Now if my lovely girlfriend could come up here I want to say something special to you darling..” Holding my award I look over in the direction where she was sitting. I see her figure stand and make her way towards the stage. Setting the award down by the mic stand before I walk over to her.

“Tom… what are you doing?” she asks taking my hand as I helped her up the steps. Walking her over towards the center of the stage.

“Well I wanted to thank you the most darling, you were always there through everything since we first got together.. you saw me as a person rather than a celebrity,I love you so much for that.. Oh shit whats that!?” I freak out pointing behind her causing her to turn around. The crowd gasping in confusion at what’s happening.

“What the hell Tom ,why are you shouting?” She asks while her back is to me. Getting down on one knee I pull out the ring box opening it. 

    Her hands going up in confusion not knowing what I pointed at.The audience starts shouting for her to turn around. Her body slowly turns around to see me down on one knee. A big smile on my face as I looked up at her.

“Thomas Holland..” her eyes start filling with tears her hand covering her math.

“I want to you to always be there with me in the future.. I want to spend the rest of my life with you .. Will you marry me?” I ask as my heart pounds in my chest. The audience growing silent waiting for her answer. 

“Yes! Yes I’ll marry you Tom” she smiles making the audience clap and Zendaya screaming loudly in the background. I could see her at the corner of the stage recording.Putting on the ring her finger I stand up. She attacks me in a hug holding onto me as I spin her around. The audience of my co-stars peers and role models were experiencing another moment of mine that I will remember forever.

“I love you so much” Tears fall down her cheeks as she looks down at me. Her hands pull my face to hers sealing everything with a kiss.

[pjarox-journey]

Breath of the Wild - Session #9

Going North~

Sooo, it’s been a few busy days, but i was able to play a bit more! Yay! \o/ Last time i got back to Kakariko, where Impa gave me my old clothes back. But its time to do my job as hero. Four Titans are waiting to be freed from Ganons curse!

...although, this task might have to wait a bit longer. I still don’t feel ready to takes those on yet. First of all, i need a bit more hearts and equipment. Or more like... more space for weapons. Which means i have to go to the forest of the Koroks, where i will meet Hestu again. I have gathered enough Korok seeds for a few more upgrades, as you know, and... being able to carry more weapons around is always good. I don’t know, where Link stores them, but honestly, i don’t care. He has like 80 apples in his bags, too, so... whatever.

I left Kakariko through the north-east exit, passing by the great fairy in the small forest. I told you about the plateau there? That’s where i headed. Something in my memories told me that there was another shrine to find, and i couldn’t say no to that, could i?

But there wasn’t only a shrine there. Nonono, of course there were...

...flying nuts. You know what this might mean, right?

Stop throwing around stuff, #48!!

Well... whatever. One more Korok Seed for me. I gathered some more food in the area (as always) and went to search the origin of the music. Of course it must have been Kass, and after a quick search, i found him on a nearby rock.

Long time no see, birbman!

He was singing another song of legends. About a crowned animal, which the hero rode... And you see the plattform behind him? It might have to do something with a shrine...

Another riddle, yes. A fairly easy one, to be honest. Do you know any crowned animals you can ride? If you yelled “Deer!”, you are correct! And somehow there are living some deers in the nearby forest. As if someone had intended this!

While i was chasing the deer (PLS STAY STILL!!) night came, ending day 16 of this journey. I had to fight some skeletons that thought they might have a chance against me. I also found another Korok nearby. He loves running around, just like the deer... >.>

STOP RUNNING AROUND!! (#49)

And as i fought some more skeletons, i, uhh... kinda cought the deer.

Why does these things keep running into me?!

Lucky me, i guess. With the help of the deer, i was able to spawn the Miz-Yo-Shrine (still german!). Sadly, this wasn’t a free shrine, but... i did not write down anything about it. Huh. Must have been uninteresting. But i found a thunderblade!

From there, i ventured further north, into territory yet to explore, with another tower i had to climb. Northern of Kakariko lies a swamp-like area, full of monsters, with a path leading to the domain of the Zoras. I had to fight some battles, including a sleeping Hinox.

Link: 1, Hino: 0

Their weapons were not the best, sadly, but as i had aqquired some strong and durable during my mountain trip, it didn’t bother me that much. Of course, i found yet another Korok here.

Stonecircles are their passion. (#50)

But as there were way too many enemies around, i just... kinda ran past them. They tried to stop me though, but i was faster! Haha! And when i reached the hill with the tower on top, i did the same. I had no intention to destroy my weapons just because like 20 monsters thought to defend it, especially some silver Bokblins. Nope! Go bother someone else!

Tower activated!

On top of the tower was a Zora, somehow. He told me that he came here because the ground was rumbling, and suddenly the tower appeared, and took him with it. Since the towers were activated around 20 days ago, which means... how is he still alive?! Why didn’t he tried to climb down? Jump down? An absolute madman, this guy, seriously.

From the top of the tower i flew a bit south again, because i had spotted some more Octoplatforms there. I found a Rhodondit and an Ice staff there - nothing fancy, although the staff might be handy at times. But to be honest, i rarely used these items, and my inventroy was full with other weapons, so... i will need to grab it once i get back again.

I kept exploring the swamp, where i took down some more Lizalfos (they are everywhere here!), but this time with STEALTH! And you know what? I underestimated how strong stealth is in this game.

Down. You. GO!

I was able to oneshot them, as you can see. So if i can kill most mobs with stealth... i won’t have so much problems with breaking weapons! But stealth is hard, and to be honest, i don’t like to play stealthy, but... it can’t be helped, can it?

But as i further ventured through the swamp, the game reminded me of something very critical i might have forgotten.

OH NONONONONO

...playing stealthy doesn’t sound so bad at all, i think. Yes, that’s a guardian there. And not a destroyed, but a real one. It has still his six legs, and a very functional laserbeam, which it likes to show to everybody who meets is eye. Haha... eh... RUN LINK!

It didn’t spot me though. So i sneaked into the nearby shrine, the Data-Kusu-Shrine (#16, german), did whatever i had to do, and ran away. On my way, i found yet another Korok (#51), as i could have expected. (Imagine a pic of them, because i kinda forgot to take one). There was a nut hanging from a big tree - you just have to shot it with an arrow, and you’re good.

Yet another shrine was nearby, which i wanted to do, too, so i went a bit into the zoras domain, where every few steps a Zora told me, that prince Sidon was searching for a Hylian. It was a bit annoying, to be honest, but... Sidon has to wait.

No i don’t want to buy anything! Go away, Zora #529!!

I had to fight even more Lizalfos on my way, but since it was raining, sneaking up to them was fairly easy. I didn’t know that at first, but the game was kind enough to give me this information in a loading screen.

The shrine i had seen was the Sao-Kohi-Shrine, and it was another trial of strange. But this time, it was an easy one. The small guardian had mere 375 HP, so i was able to deal with him fairly quick.

From there, i ventured further north, following the path to death mountain, the home of the Gorons. I had to leave Fiona behind on the plateau, and as there is a stable near the mountain, i could get here back there.

On my way, a few Bokblins were attacking travelers, and i grew tired of them, i challenged them, despite the silver one there.

Sneak...

...and fly!

Those Knights Broadswords really are something, yep. And as it was a silver Bokblin, he even dropped a few minerals. Money! Yesh!

At the stable a woman told me i should prepare myself before visiting the Gorons. I mean, they live on an active volcano, and it might be a bit too hot there. Like in “Hot enough to catch fire in an instant”. That’s how hot it is there. I don’t know how i handled it in my first playthrough, but some friends of mine just... ran over the mountain, burning. Something i don’t intend to do. The better alternative is to buy one or more potions from the lady which will protect you from becoming a well done steak. They might be a bit costly, yes, but they are totally worth it.

But as it is not my intention to visit the mountain yet, i refused. Instead, i visited the nearby shrine, the Moa-Kishto-Shrine (german, #18), and asked the stables owner to bring Fiona to me.

With the end of day 18, i had my horse back, and was ready to leave the mountain behind me. I still want to reach the forest, as i told you, and with Fiona, i might be a bit faster. At least, thats what i’m hoping.

Anyway, this was it for todays session, and... well, i’ll see when i have enough time to play some more! So thank you again for reading this, and stay tuned for next time!

[fixerupperchic]

I’ve moved in to the cottage!

…and here I sit, among the barrage of boxes…

Seriously, this hasn’t been the smoothest move of my life, but that’s usually the case when DOWNSIZING is involved!  I DO like “my stuff”……

(interesting side note….it’s not unusual for clients to come to me, planning to downsize….but I’d estimate that 90% of the time, they reject EVERY house we see that would fulfill those wishes….people (including yours truly) do NOT like to go backwards in most things in life, including square footage, storage & stuff!)

So, for the last 3 weeks our wonderful crew has been in a race to the finish, pending my moving day!    They all worked so hard to get the messiest, ickiest, and stinkiest jobs handled before I had to spend the night here……and by stinkiest, I mean the oil-based paint we had to use on all the woodwork!

By way of explanation for those not ‘in the know’, the world of paint finishes is now blessed to have perfectly good  water-based (latex or acrylic) finishes for wood; however, if one is painting OVER existing woodwork that was originally painted with oil-based paint, one must use oil-based paint again.  (and many of us old-timers swear it’s a superior finish anyway)  WHAT IF YOU DON’T??  Well, I can speak from first-house experience on that subject:  back in the 80’s my young and energetic self painstakingly painted the kitchen cabinets in our first home a lovely white; since I had little children, I was concerned about the fumes (off-gassing) from oil -based paint, so I used the new latex enamel!  Oh, I was so  proud of myself….until the paint started peeling off in sheets a few months later.

So here’s the rule:  you can paint over water-based paint with oil-based paint, but NEVER the reverse!  You might say that ” oil trumps water” when it comes to paint.   

OK, one more woodwork detail, then I’ll show you some pictures….I’m aware that’s why you’re still here!  When we started this  fixer upper. my wonderful carpenter/builder extraordinaire, Jose Chavarrio,  quietly made the decision to  save and reuse all of the original workwork, to the extent that was possible.  Since we were doing such extensive work, that meant he had to REMOVE most of the base and  facings (the crown had been sprayed along with the ceiling when some earlier remodeler decided that popcorn ceilings would be nice !)  So he removed and stored  trim….and later removed all the old nails in the trim.  And when the day came to finally trim out the newly-remodeled rooms, he re-installled the old woodwork in all the main rooms, leaving new woodwork for the entirely new master bedroom only.   What a heroic effort that was…..and the payoff is that most of my little cottage has original woodwork, recoated with fresh oil-based paint!    (OK, just ONE MORE detail; for those inquiring minds in the crowd, we DID NOT remove the previously-popcorned crown mouldings….we simply installed a larger crown over them!)

So…disclaimers first!  None of the pictures you’re about to see are true “after” pics!  I am still solidly stuck in the unpacking phase.  But little by little, the beauty of this cottage is being revealed, and I know many of you are eager to SEE!  So that’s why I’m calling these “Sneak Peeks!”  Just know you’ll see more completely finished-out rooms soon!

Many of you saw this on Facebook….it was night, I was  too tired to unpack another box….and I just couldn’t resist!  Behind those counter stools is a MOUNTAIN of UHaul and Home Depot boxes!

As a reminder, the chandelier was originally in the living room

What’s missing?  The swinging old-door-from-Canton (had to move in the  washer/dryer first)

I had just  FINALLY removed the  plastic covering from the quartz countertops for the first time minutes before…this lovely 7′ island had been a handy horizontal surface for tools, caulk, sandpaper, stray mouldings, etc….for weeks!

The flowers?  YES, I DID move on my 60th birthday!  Thanks, my friend!

And just a quick reminder of where this view started…

          Here’s a current view of the hall bath…

And a reminder of what we started with…

I’m loving my new home office!  And look!  I haven’t even had time to mess up the desk yet!

(Something tells me Ballard Designs didn’t have a dog bed in mind for that particular cabinet, but Kobe claimed it long ago; he keeps watch while I work!)

  A few scenes from the new Master Bath….

     And once again, a reminder from whence it came:

The window was removed; the walk-in shower is now in that corner

The door was moved to the left a few feet; the tub-to-die-for now sits there

Everything….EVERYTHING else about this room….changed!

Now I want to share a detail that is hard to illustrate (due to the difficulty of photographing a light fixture while it’s ON!)

This hall light fixture is original to the house; we changed nothing about it, unless you want to count using LED bulbs so I never ever have to bother changing them:

When you look down the hall from the living room towards the master bedroom….

….you see a consistency of light…but it’s not until you enter the master bath that you see why…..I LOVE this new fixture mirroring the old!

OK, so…about that old blue door I love so so much….first, would you even believe me if I told you that I bought the interior paint WEEKS before I finally found “the door” to use between the master bath and bedroom?!  It’s true!  (I can hardly wait to show you the bedroom side of this door, and another synchronicity of design that was totally unplanned!)

So, here is the door in the form it came to us:

I would be embarrassed to say how much I pored and pondered over what to actually DO to clean and preserve this, as well as the 2 other old doors I bought for the house.  My goal was to clean off the dirt, but preserve as much as possible of  the peely-paint, patina, and patchiness of the old doors.  After all, if I destroyed the character, what would be the point of using them in the first place?  But most treatments would, indeed, destroy what I loved about these re-purposed beauties.  Entirely true to my personality, I came up with the solution literally the night before the day I HAD to do something to the doors.   (if any of my old teachers were reading this, they’d be seriously rolling their eyes right now; I have ALWAYS tackled important projects just prior to the deadline! )

Harsh detergents would wash off the paint; a wire brush or sandpaper would remove the crazing and certainly any about-to-peel patches; sandpaper would leave fine particles in the ridges created by old joints and slight peels; any ‘clear coat’ would yellow or buckle, and shine too much (even if matte finish).

 So here are the 3 doors AFTER treatment (wish I’d thought to photograph the reverse sides too!)  And here is what I did:

I brushed down each door, both sides, with a lint-free soft mop-like hand brush (think feather duster with fat dust-resistant soft fabric loops)  That removed loose dust.

Then I gently washed each with a soft sponge and a solution of mild dish detergent in a bucket of water.  I was super-pleased with how much dirt I was able to remove without harming the finishes!)

Next I used a soft white cloth to rub in a mixture of orange oil and beeswax; it was painstaking work, as I had to be sure every inch of each door was “nourished” with the mixture.  The oil soaked into the dry, thirsty wood, then the soft beeswax sealed in the moisture.  The difference was subtle, but certainly noticeable!  There is a natural sheen now that the wood is nourished.

Now, the door in the middle is a little different.  There is obviously much more peeling paint on this one; given the age, it is likely to be lead-based paint chipping off.  I don’t have little ones toddling around, eager to eat cute little paint chips….but nonetheless I don’t want that door regularly ‘raining chips’.  I removed all that were loose, but since this will be the sliding door on my pantry, it’s going to be moved daily.  I am therefore going to spray a coat of clear matte sealer on this door.  I was so opposed to this, but having faced the fact that more chips are inevitable, I have decided it’s the best coarse of action.  To remind you, Jose is going to slice this door vertically, and hang ‘barn door’ style as pantry doors.  That should happen this week, and I’ll spray the finish afterwards.  

That brings me to the status of the project, which you may be wondering about:  we are all weary of the work and in need of a break in the action!  And now that I live here, I’m not crazy about having guys show up in the morning and throughout the day to “fix” something.  So all but Jose are off to other projects for now; he is staying with me this week to finish up details on the inside, such as hanging the barn doors, hanging curtain rods, installing new door hardware & keying the locks alike, finishing up the shelves for the living room built-ins, and building the 2′ “box” for the base of the black bathroom cabinet.  There are many little  details he and I will handle this week…..then Jose, too, will move on to other projects for awhile.

It is now too cool and damp to paint the exterior brick and siding; this is so disappointing, as I’m eager to have it sporting it’s new white finish!  But we really need a consistent week of warm, dry weather, and it’s just not predictably going to happen for awhile.  So, we will regroup and attack the exterior of the house in February or March, including landscaping.  The new garage door should be arriving any time now, so we’ll get that done, but otherwise we’re all ready for a renovation rest!

I’ll be back with more blog posts, though, as the interior gets photo-ready!  There are so many details, how-to’s and hints I’d like to share with you, so keep watching for posts!  In the meantime, please leave comments letting me know what type of posts/info/pictures you enjoy the most:  I aim to please!  

Now, as we all turn our thoughts to family, friends, food & fellowship, I want to thank each of you for sharing in my fixer upper journey; many of you have touched my life in ways you do not know….I wish for you all the happiness you can stand in the coming holidays & afterwards into 2018! 

    please don’t forget to leave me your comments below…and remember…….I’m never too busy to help your real estate referrals; I will treat each with the highest level of service!

Sneak Peeks Week! I've moved in to the cottage! ...and here I sit, among the barrage of boxes... Seriously, this hasn't been the smoothest move of my life, but that's usually the case when…