#and it’s going to be hard it won’t be fun skating yay it’s like. give me 10 burpees and a 2 min wall sit. not allowed to hit btw

[southislandwren]

I already know clarinet prof is gonna yell at me for not practicing but in my defense. I am overwhelmed with my actual schoolwork to the point of a two-week long severe mental health crisis. So clarinet is not exactly high on my list of priorities

#last week he was like it’s okay you only practiced twice… try to do it every day next week though #and now I’ve one-up’d him and practiced 0 (zero) times #idk. #call me ill the way I’m going to throw up from stress again #and I have roller derby tonight and I should be excited but I’m not I want to go home and sleep and do work but I can’t :( #and it’s going to be hard it won’t be fun skating yay it’s like. give me 10 burpees and a 2 min wall sit. not allowed to hit btw #again idk. I’m exhausted. #diary post #school post

[ainosk8]

not an adam fan omfg....society is doomed. i can’t imagine being a fan of a predator personally

hi! 🤡

lol yes there are a handful of us adam likers! I assume when you say pr*dator you mean of the s*xual variety and not a beast of prey, in which case I disagree with your reading of the character. I also would not want to be a fan of a pr*dator!

TBH I do think there was a little mishandling of the way Adam’s fixation on Langa is portrayed in the show, because while I do not read him as being s*xually interested in Langa, I think it is an easy conclusion to come to. I don’t want to necessarily invalidate your reading, because I’m a firm believer that art is subjective and whatever the art moved in you is just as important as the intention of the artists. But I will offer my own perspective.

I truly feel like Utsumi wanted to show Adam as a character who has an unhealthy attachment to the idea of an “Eve”, finding someone on his level of skating to be his perfect partner and restore the one good relationship he ever had in his life (his friendship with Tadashi). Because of Adam’s deep seated issues around “love” stemming from his childhood abuse, he warps this desire for companionship into a quest for a romantic partner. It’s definitely something that is supposed to unsettle us as an audience (which is somewhat problematic in the tradition of campy gay villains in cinema), but I also think a close reading of the show betrays any notion of Adam sincerely being interested in Langa “that way”.

The final two episodes are the clearest example of this. Adam has been obsessed with the idea of skating with Langa all season. Then at the end of ep 11, Tadashi tells Adam he is dropping out of the race, so the final beef will be between Adam and Snow. Yay! He’s getting what he wants! He should be thrilled, right? Cue the blue-tinted shots of rain falling down his face like tears while Adam emphasizes his loneliness.

Adam is getting what he said he wanted, but it isn’t really what he wanted after all. For all his “courtship” with Langa, as soon as he has the chance to skate with him, he turns the “wedding” into a “funeral”. In ep 12 he exchanges his Matador of Love outfit for some Jack Skellington shit. Gone are all his little heart accents, leaving him with a broken heart and empty ribcage on his skateboard and the back of his costume which literally has the heart cut out of it.

I don’t think we are supposed to assume that Adam is just really into the Corpse Bride and this is all romantic for him. When Tadashi pulled out of the race, he felt devastated and abandoned for a second time. He’s heartbroken! Now that his own forced marriage is looming in the near future, the tournament is ending, and he knows he is going to suffer the consequences of the political collusion he was pressured into, he feels like he has nothing left. And on top of that, Tadashi won’t even skate with him.

In the race itself, it’s only when Langa reaches out to Adam in a way that reminds him of Tadashi that he begins to let his guard down, symbolized by the mask falling off. 

This is the turning point for him. It was never about Langa, or wanting to marry him or whatever. This whole thing has been about Adam missing the connection he felt with someone while skating, having fun with someone who wants to have fun with him. When he’s racing Langa he’s remembering skating with Tadashi, and how good it felt to have something joyful and uncomplicated in his life. Not everything is about “winning” or succeeding, or bringing honor/prestige to his family name. Some things can just be for him, because he enjoys doing them. It’s the opposite of what his aunts drilled into him as a child, physically and emotionally, which is why it’s been so hard for him to understand.

In the end, he voices his change in perspective. Adam tells Tadashi that skating with Langa reminded him of what he felt when he was first learning to skate with him.

It all comes back to Tadashi for Adam. 

My read on Adam in the beginning of the series is that he hadn’t been skating for a while (people at S point out that he hasn’t appeared for some time) and obviously his relationship with Tadashi was fractured around Tadashi not protecting him from having skating taken away, so he isn’t going to just ask Tadashi to skate with him. He sees Langa’s good ass skate skills but also how much fun he has doing it, and it reminds him of how he felt when he was first learning how to skate with Tadashi. Possibly his first (or even only??) happy memory. So naturally, he wants to skate with this new guy, who gives him Tadashi feelings but doesn’t have the baggage of Adam and Tadashi’s relationship history. And it just goes from there, ending up with Adam realizing that he wants Tadashi to be with him for life.

That all doesn’t make it less ~weird~ for Adam to shove roses in a teenager’s face, but it does point to the whole creep vibe he has towards Langa as being less an authentic representation of his feelings and more a contrivance by the writers to showcase his complicated feelings about love, skating, and ultimately Tadashi. It’s a narrative choice, and I do think it could have been executed in a way that left less room for misinterpretation. But I really do stand by this reading of the series.

So yeah! Obviously, you are entitled to your opinion. I’m not someone who wants to say mean things to people because they feel differently about a TV show than I do, though I may be in the minority lol. 

Either way, I’m very open to discussion if you want to message me off anon :)

[ofhoneyandrosepetals]

Summer Roads - Chapter 3

Pairing: Sean x Fem! reader

Description: You’ve always been Lyla’s best friend, but since Sean moved you became an inseparable trio. But who could say that, after all these years together, you would start growing feelings for Sean?

Warning: swearings only.

Word count: 2.049

A/N: is it allowed to use the same gif from the first chapter? I think so lol it just gives the best Sean’s vibes.

“I need to get some stuff first,” Sean said as you got near Lyla’s place.

“Yeah, me too,” you said.

“Okay then, I’ll prepare things. And by that I mean my mom,” Lyla responds.

“But she loves us,” you say frowning.

“Even so,” Lyla shrugs.

“Care if I go with you to pick your stuff up? I need to give Daniel that thing I promised,” you ask Sean.

“Yeah, cool. I’ll go with you to pick up your stuff too,” you were too busy looking at Sean to notice the look on Lyla’s face. “I need to give that board a new update.”

Hearing this made your heart pound a little - Sean meant the little whiteboard you had in your room for important notes, but those important notes turned out to be Sean’s drawings. Sometimes he would draw something simple, and other times he would make something clever and funny. It was a nice Easter egg feeling - you never knew what was coming. 

*

At your house, you grabbed your sleeping bag and old clothes to use as pajama. A little necessaire followed the pack as well. 

“Shit, I don’t know where I put it…” you thought out loud.

“That thing for Daniel?” Sean turned his head from the whiteboard. “What is it, anyway?”

“A stuffed animal…” you say focused in your search, looking behind pillows and under the bed.

“A stuffed animal? You do know he’s seven already, right?” Sean said with a grin.

“Sorry, I forgot my basic math lessons,” he chuckled in response. “It’s Power Bear, but since I don’t play with it for a long time I asked Daniel if he wanted it.”

“Of course he did.”

“I think it’s cute a seven year old boy still wants a stuffed animal.”

“Daniel is always cute,” Sean said in a low tone and you thought you felt a little resentment there. Shrugging the feeling off, you focus yourself once again in your search. “Try in the corner by the window. Where the toy chest is. You always lost things there as a kid.”

“But I don’t have any toy in there anymore,” you say as you open the chest.

Sean, once finished with the drawing, grims and goes to the toy chest, moves it a little bit and then raises his eyebrows at you. You roll your eyes, knowing what was behind there.

“Thanks,” you say as you get the stuffed Power Bear.

“At your service. Are you all packed up? I mean, I don’t want to rush you or anything…”

“Nah, I’m good. Just lemme grab some chips.”

“Don’t you dare let Lyla hear this.”

“Cheetos are not chips,” you imitate her. Sean laughs.

“They really are not.”

“I know, but I just can't stop saying it that way. But I don’t have Cheetos, anyway. It’s Doritos.”

“We didn’t had that discussion yet.”

“And I don’t look forward to have it. Let’s go.”

Before going out of your room you give a quick look to Sean’s update on your board. He made a drawing of the two of you at the skate ramp.

“That’s really nice,” you point out. “But where’s Lyla?”

“The little dot back there,” you laugh.

“We agree to not let her see this, right?”

“You bet.”

*

Arriving at Sean’s house, Daniel storms out of his room.

“Did you bring Y/N? That’s so cool! Is she sleeping here?” Daniel says all excited.

“Hey, goofball,” you greet him. “I brought ya something.”

“Really? What is it, what is it?” The little boy starts bouncing. You pull out the stuffed Power Bear and Daniel goes wild. “Wooooow…! That Power Bear you told me about!” He said in amazement. “Oh, he’s fluffy,” he chuckles after he pokes the toy.

“It’s yours, you do know that, right?” You say to him. Daniel gives a shy look.

“I remember you said so.”

“He was just afraid that you’ve might forgotten. Or changed your mind,” Sean said.

“I was not!”

“Yes you were.”

“Oh, here we go,” you breathes out. “Danny? It’s yours.”

“Yay!” He grabs the toy and hugs your legs - actually what he can reach at his height.

“What do you say…?”

“Thanks!” Daniel say as he run to his room again.

“I swear that sometimes…” Sean begins to say, but you put a hand on his arm.

“That’s fine, Sean. He’s a kid.”

“I know, I know… it’s just… sometimes it’s hard to live with him everyday.”

“That muffin? You joking me?”

“Wanna trade?”

“I’m hearing this,” Daniel’s head appear outside his room, pouting.

“Good,” Sean says. “Is dad home?”

“Garage.”

“I’ll just let him know that we’ll be sleeping over at Lyla,” of course you paid attention to the whole phrase, but the we got to stick for a little longer.

“I’ll go with you.”

You enjoyed the Diaz garage, even though you didn’t understand shit about cars or knew what tools were those.

“Hey! If it isn’t Y/N,” Esteban greets you.

“Hi, Esteban,” you wave a shy hand at him. “How you doing?”

“Just good,”

“Hey, dad,” Sean interrupts. “We’re gonna have a sleepover at Lyla, is that okay?”

“Sure, mijo,” suddenly worry takes over Estaban’s face. “Y/N, I think your knee is bleeding.”

“Oh,” you completely forgot about your injury. “It’s fine, it’s just a scratch. I tripped with my roller skate, but luckily Sean was my superhero.”

“Was he?” You didn’t know if it was because of your crush on Sean, but you could swear for everything in this world that Esteban’s eyes sparkled a little. Maybe.

“Hey, let’s cut it out,” Sean says, his hand scratching his head. 

“But I’m not gonna let you leave my house until someone takes care of that scratch,” Esteban says.

“There’s no need to, really.”

“I’ll do it,” Sean says quickly. Esteban was smiling.

“Really?” You ask.

“Yeah, c’mon. Things are in the bathroom.”

*

Going upstairs, you insist to Sean that there’s is no need to take care of your knee.

“Let me just clean it then, you can’t go around while a bloody knee.”

“Actually I thought we were doing just fine,” walking in front of you, you didn’t need to look at his face to know Sean rolled his eyes. It was a thing that you could even hear. 

You sat on the edge of the bathtub, waiting for Sean as he looked in the cabinet for the things he needed, trying not give away your nervousness. He’s just going to clean your scratch, it’s not a big deal. Lyla could do the same thing, you kept thinking to yourself.

“What’s on your mind? You look so thoughtful,” you heard Sean’s voice. 

“Oh,” you jumped on your seat. “Nothing, nothing. I was just… zoning out.”

“I’m kinda nervous about this, I don’t wanna hurt you,” you could see Sean’s hands wasn’t as steady as they used to be, but you believed him, innocently. 

“You won’t hurt me, at least not as much as I already am,” he smiled.

“I’m not one to brag, but sometimes I take care of Daniel’s scratches as well.”

“So it’s in your résumé,” you say jokingly. Sean only smiled, since he started cleaning your knee attentively.

You swallowed dry as you kept your attention on him. Sean was being very serious on his task, but his hands were a little shaky indeed. You could barely feel the liquid burning on your skin, and you give the credits for that to your fucked up feelings. Maybe Sean’s hands had something to do with it too - they were hands of an artist, after all. He knew how to be delicate.

“How does it feel?” He asks.

“It’s fine. I’m not feeling it much.”

“I’m all finished here, just lemme put a bandage.”

“I don’t need it, Sean,” you protest.

“At least for today, Y/N,” since you don’t answer, Sean looks up at you. He holds your look. “I know you’re stubborn, but only for today,” you don’t give up on your principles. Sean takes a deep breath. “Gosh, you’re just like Daniel sometimes. Please, Y/N,” Sean pressures the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his patience. 

But there was no time for anything else, because a little goofball stormed inside the bathroom, holding stuffed Power Bear and another toy you didn’t recognize.

“Swooooosh,” Daniel made the toys fly. “You will never catch me, Power Bear!”

“Daniel!” Sean shouted.

“I’ll call my reinforcements!”

“Daniel!” Sean tried again, but Daniel came up to running around the bathroom.

“There is it!” Daniel pointed a stuffed Power Bear to you. “My reinforcements are here! Prepare to lose!” Daniel ran to your direction, knocking you down inside the bathtub.

“Oh my god,” you say laughing as Daniel fell on top of you, his little arms tangled in yours.

“Daniel!” Sean kept trying.

“You’ll never beat me, Power Bear!” Daniel sat on top of you and started playing with his toys again.

“For fuck sake, Daniel!” Sean lost it, his voice raising tones and more tones. You looked surprised at him, as well as Daniel, who turned. “Get out of her…”

“You never let me have fun!” Daniel complained.

“You always have all the fun, Daniel! Now get out.”

“But I wanna play with Y/N…”

“She can’t, she’s hurt.”

“Sean…” you try to reason.

“Really? Where?” Daniel started turning your head, looking for anything. You giggled.

“I scratched my knee, goofball. But I’m fine, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“See, Sean? She says she’s fine.”

“Still need a bandage, though,” Sean says pouting.

“Oh, you can have one of mine! It has Hawt Dawg Man!”

“That’s neat, Danny. Would you put it for me?”

“Yes!” Daniel leaves the bathtub and goes to his room. Sean gives you a hand to get up.

“I can’t fucking believe him…”

“Shh, he’s coming.”

“Here! See?, it’s big. I’ll put upside down so you can see Hawt Dawg Man.”

“Thanks, dude,” you ruffled his hair. 

“Any reinforcements of Power Bear is my friend too.”

“Oh, so I was the reinforcement?”

“We gotta go to, Daniel. Say bye to her as I get my stuff.”

*

“I can’t believe it,” Sean complains as you two go down the street.

“Sean, you need to be more understanding with him.”

“I know, but it’s so hard. And you don’t make it easier too. I was trying my ass off to put a bandage on you and you only accept when Daniel suggests it,” you would be lying if you said that Sean’s words didn’t hurt you a bit. On normal times this wouldn’t affect you, but now everything is different.

“I’m sorry, Sean, but your brother is just the cutest thing.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I’m sorry I upset you.”

“What?” Sean looked at you surprised. “You… you didn’t upset me, not exactly.”

“So what is it?”

“It’s… I don’t know, it’s nothing,” he shrugged.

“You don’t need to be jealous of Daniel.”

“I’m not,” he says as he rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, right,” you say ironically and put a hand on his shoulder. “But thank you for taking care of my knee. If you had offered me a bandage of Hawt Dawg Man before maybe I would’ve accepted way sooner.”

“So that’s what it was all about, huh?” Sean grinned.

“Sure.”

It wasn’t news that sometimes Sean would be jealous of Daniel when he got in the middle of you and Lyla, trying to get your attention and playing with you. You never had a sibling to know how the feeling was and what really happened there, but today it was a little weird, if you could say so.

Maybe Sean got angry because Daniel started to make a mess, but you thought it was so adorable that you could never think that. You frowned as you stared at the asphalt. 

“You’re zoning out again. What’s up with you?”

“I’m just looking at my new awesome bandage,” you lie.

“With that look? I would say you’re trying to make it disappear,” you laugh and slaps his arm with the back of your hand. 

“C’mon let’s just go to Lyla’s. She’s probably wondering why are we taking so long.”

“I’ll blame Daniel for that.”

“Of course you will, Big Brother of the Year.”

#sean diaz #sean diaz x reader #sean diaz fic #life is strange 2 #life is strange 2 fic #lis 2 #lis 2 fic

[krisdreaming]

❄ 12th Day of Fluffmas ❄

⟵ Day 11 | Masterlist 

Ice Skating || Bokuto Koutarou x reader

Word Count: 1,203 | Gender Neutral reader

(prompt: You’re teaching my younger sibling how to ice skate and I’ve never been so in love with you.)

a/n: I wracked my brain to think of a Christmas song lyric title for this scenario but as you can see I gave up. Anyway, last day of Fluffmas, WHAAAT? I’m really proud that I finished even with skipping a few days, and tbh kinda happy it’s over.

-

“Please, please, please?” Aya fixes you with her best puppy-dog eyes and pout, and you regret ever showing her how to convince Dad to buy her candy, because apparently the same treatment works pretty well on you, too. “I wanna go ice skating with you and Kou-san! I never got to go before in my life and I will love you forever and a day if you let me come.”

You look at Koutarou, apology ready, and you’re surprised to see that he’s smiling. “You wanna come too?” He leans down so he’s looking at her face to face. “Well, if Y/N is okay with it, then I don’t see why not. It’ll be fun!”

He turns to look at you, and now there are two pleading faces that you can’t possibly say no to. You’d really been looking forward to this date, just the two of you, but you slowly nod.

“Alright.” You sigh. “But Aya-chan, you have to be good.”

“I will, I will!” Her eyes light up, and it’s almost worth it. She throws her arms around your middle. “Thank you!” You can’t help but crack a smile as you hug her back. You’re secretly glad that your boyfriend and sister get along so well.

True to her word, Aya really is doing her best to be good. She skips along beside you on your way to the ice rink, and she sits quietly while you lace up her rented ice skates. You give her foot a pat. “Okay, you’re all set!”

She nods, but doesn’t move to get up. “I don’t know how to skate.” She says quietly.

“I know that.” You sigh. Maybe letting her come wasn’t a good idea after all. “It’s okay... you’ll learn!” You aren’t quite sure how, now that you think about it. Your own skills are so shaky that you can barely keep yourself upright. The whole point of this date was that Koutarou would have no choice but to hold your hand the entire time.

“We’ll teach you!” Koutarou promises generously, stomping over to you after lacing up his own skates. “It’ll be fun. It’s not too hard once you get the hang of it!” He holds out his hand. “Ready to get started?”

She hesitates, but slowly reaches out to take his hand so he can pull her to her feet. He holds his other hand out to you, and you gratefully take it. He gives your hand a squeeze and flashes you a quick grin.

“Alright, here we go!” He announces. The three of you hobble forward, and the moment your skates hit the ice you instinctively grab for the wall with your free hand. Aya has taken one step onto the ice and now stands frozen, mouth slightly open in a look of terror.

“Help, Y/N!” She looks wildly in your direction, but you’re putting all of your effort into keeping yourself upright.

“You alright for a little?” Koutarou looks your way, and you nod, slowly letting go of his hand and grabbing onto the wall, now hanging on with both hands. Each one of the few times you’ve gone ice-skating, it takes you a bit to get used to the feeling again.

“Yeah. I’m fine!” You assure him, and when he’s convinced, he grabs Aya’s free hand with his.

“We’re gonna go really slow, okay?” She nods her head ever so slightly, and he slowly skates backwards, tugging her along with him. “See?” He asks after a few moments. “All you have to do is glide along on top of the ice! It’s not so bad once you get the hang of it.”

You can’t help but smile watching them together. As you slowly inch along by the wall, getting your bearings, Koutarou pulls Aya around the ice. You aren’t even attempting to skate anymore, all you want to do is watch as he skates around with Aya, giving her tips and coaching her. You watch as he catches her from a near tumble, and your heart is nearly overflowing. You wonder for the hundredth time how it’s possible you’ve gotten so lucky. 

“You’re doing it!” He says a little too loudly as she starts to get the hang of it, moving her feet on her own. “Is it okay if I let go now? I’ll be right here so I promise I won’t let you fall.” She looks up into his face, then manages a smile.

“Okay!” She squeezes her eyes shut. “Let go!” Slowly, he pulls his hands out of hers, and she peeps her eyes open to find that she’s balancing on the ice all on her own.

Koutarou’s laughter rings through the ice rink, causing a few people to look your way. “You’re doing it!” He says again as she takes a few hesitant strides toward him. As soon as she wobbles, he grabs her hand.

“Let’s go get Y/N, now that you’re a pro.” Together, they skate to you. “Your turn.” He grins, holding out his hand. “It’s no fun hanging onto the wall the whole time!”

“I know!” You chuckle. “I’m getting there.” You take his hand, which is still surprisingly warm despite the chilly air in the rink, and he slides his fingers between yours.

“Let go, let go!” Aya shouts, and you do, releasing the wall from your other hand and wobbling for half a second until you catch your balance. “Yay!” She says, and for a while the three of you skate around in a chain, a bit slowly, but increasing in speed as you get more comfortable, Koutarou and Aya chattering all the while. You just stay silent and listen to them, heart swelling.

“I wanna do it on my own.” Aya finally announces, letting go of Koutarou’s hand. “I wanna see how fast I can go!”

He laughs. “You practice, and we’ll race later!” He promises. She zips off, having picked it up surprisingly quickly, and you smile after her. Koutarou tugs you a little closer.

“She sure is something.” He comments with a shake of his head. He’s smiling, though.

“Hey, Kou.” You finally speak up, and he looks your way.

“What’s up?” You give his hand a squeeze and lean in to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do this. You didn’t have to let her come with us or teach her to skate.”

He shrugs. “Well, yeah, but I wanted to. She’s a good kid. I like spending time with her. And with you.” He adds.

“I love you.” You say candidly, and in response he wraps his arms around you, pressing a few kisses to your face.

“I love you too!” He says, grinning. “So much.” For a few moments, you stay close to him, working your fingers into the fabric of his jacket and leaning in for a quick kiss on his lips. Your moment is interrupted by Aya’s shout from across the rink.

“Hey!” You both look in her direction, and she has her hands cupped around her mouth. “I’m ready to race, now!”

“Don’t worry.” Koutarou presses one last kiss to your cheek before dropping your hand to race off. “I’ll let her win.”

#Haikyuu #Haikyuu imagines #Bokuto Koutarou #Bokuto Koutarou x reader #Bokuto x reader #Haikyuu x reader #fluffmas #whew it's over #i know this is posting early #but i couldn't wait

[sassyduckqueen]

30 Days of Lukanette- Spring & Winter

Again, it's a fillery kind of chapter and a lot shorter then the others but still fun to write. Also yay for Sassicle! I think I'll be powering through the next few chapters before I want to write the Cat Blanc one but i still have Felix and Party Crasher to write as well as the theme mermaid and songbird but I think Frighteningale and Syren will be making an appearance for those two.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Excuse me! Coming through!" Chloe gasped as she pushed her way through the group of people. Marinette frowned to herself as she watched her. She had heard that Chloe would be back in school soon but she still wasn't looking forward to it. For her part in Hawkmoth's plan, she was kept under house arrest but most people believed the story about Chloe helping Ladybug trick Hawkmoth so it was very hard to keep her imprisoned for her crime when it looked like it had been part of a genius plan. She guessed it was the effect of tricking Hawkmoth but at least, this way the miraculous holders could be used if they were needed. Marinette was still careful though. She would only need them if she absolutely needed them. After all, she had Cat Noir, Viperion and Ryuko as back up and she knew they all had her back. She hope that would never change. Chloe, on the other hand, should change but it seemed like she wasn't going to be changing anytime soon. Marinette sighed as Chloe started to laugh. "Hello, Little Miss Weather Girl,"

 "What do you want, Chloe?" Aurore sighed as she looked at her.

 "I heard your GPA dropped a whole point," She gasped as Sabrina looked down before laughing. "Guess you can't be Little Miss Weather Girl and Little Miss Good Grades at the same time,"

 "Looks like Chloe hasn't changed," Alya sighed as Luka walked over. He looked over and frowned as Marinette crossed her arms.

 "Oh, we better not making her cry, Sabina," Chloe laughed. "She might turn into Stormy Weather and rain on us. What a ridiculous power. Utterly ridiculous,"

 "That's it," Marinette grumbled before walking over as Aurore frowned. "Aurore won't be transforming because her grade average will be up again next term,"

 She looked over at the blonde-haired girl and smiled softly at her. Luka felt his heart skip a beat as he watched the scene unfold.

 "Don't hesitate to ask if you need any help," Marinette smiled, kindly. Luka couldn't help but smile to. Marinette was always so kind to people and he loved that about her. She put others first and always wanted to help. He hoped that never changed. 

 "Thank you, Marinette," Aurore smiled softly but Chloe's laugh caused her to frown again. 

 "Yeah! Right!" Chloe gasped. "Once a villain always a villain,"

 "You mean like you then?" Luka piped in, making Chloe huff.

 "Hey! I redeemed myself!" She gasped. "Ladybug trusts me!"

 "I highly doubt that," Marinette sighed. "Anyway, people do change for the better. Unlike you it seems,"

 "Urg! Please! I'm way nicer then I use to be, Dupain-Cheng!" She gasped. "You, on the other hand, will never change! You'll always be Adri-dum... I mean Adri-bum... blad blad... lame and you!"

 She pointed to Alya.

 "You don't even know who Ladybug really is! You two are made for each other. You're both just as clueless as the other," She laughed before looking at Luka. "I don't even know you but judging by your awful sense in style, you'll always be a loser too. No wonder why you're hanging out with these two! Now back to you- urg where did she go? I wasn't even through trashing her!"

 Chloe turned on her heel and stormed off as Marinette sighed before turning to Luka.

 "Wanna get the subway with me?" She asked. He nodded and they headed off, after saying goodbye to Alya and Nino. "I think we'll need to be careful,"

 "You think she might get akumatized again,"

 "Yeah.. Chloe may not be on Hawkmoth's side anymore but she hasn't changed," 

 "Sometimes, people don't," He smiled. "Ah, my stop. Be careful, Marinette,"

 "You too, Luka," She smiled before a light blush spread over her cheeks as he kissed her cheek before getting off and heading up to the Seine. He smiled to himself as he came to the Liberty and walked on it. He looked over and waved as Jagged went over a crazy plan for his new album with his mum, Penny and Vivica. That had become a common thing now. Jagged liked to get his mum's thought on his plans and Penny was always with him. He often felt like Vivica liked to talk to a woman who knew how to handle Jagged.

 "Hey, Luka! What do you think to this?!" Jagged gasped excitedly, showing a badly drawn design of what he figured was a guitar. 

 "That's cool, Jagged but how are you going to play it?" He asked, making Jagged look at the picture before he rushed over to Penny and started to ask how he would play it. Luka smiled to himself before heading into his room and putting his guitar down. He flopped onto the bed and smiled as Sass floated out of his pocket and made his way onto his stomach.

 "What are you thinking about?" The Snake asked.

 "How things have changed," Luka replied. "So much has changed for me in this last year and I just can't believe it. Who'd thought I'd be a superhero or hanging out with Jagged Stone and Marinette has changed too. She seems so much sure of herself and her crush on Adrien isn't effecting her as much anymore. I seriously might ask her to be my girlfriend,"

 "Why wait?"

 "Because I like what I have with her right now and I don't want to rush it too much," He smiled.

 "And Adrien?"

 "You know I'll give her up if he's who she wants," He sighed softly.

 "I don't understand that, Luka. You have a real chance with this girl and actually love her but you're willing to give her up if she decides she loves another. Would you be willing to fight for her?"

 "Not if it would cause her sadness," Luka confirmed, sitting up. "I love Marinette with all my heart and I would do anything for her, that includes letting her go. I have too much respect and love for her to try and cage her,"

 "You're really different to other humans," Sass commented before nuzzling his cheek against Luka's. "I'm glad you're my master,"

 "I'm not your master, Sass," Luka smiled. "I'm your friend and in my eyes, we're equals,"

 "This is why you're the snake," He smiled. "So kind and wise,"

 "I do try," Luka grinned before frowning as he noticed his breathe. "Odd,"

 He quickly got up and pulled on his hoodie before rushed outside his room. He frowned as he saw his breathe and saw frost on the windows of the Liberty. Even in midwinter, the boat was never this cold to create frost on the portholes.

 "Hey, what's going on?" He gasped, shivering but no one answered. Frowning to himself, he moved carefully through the room and looked outside. Heavy snow was falling and there was a strong mist around. He slowly moved outside and saw that his mum, Jagged and Vivica had been turned to ice statues. "Mum!"

 He frowned deeply before looking around. As he looked over, he saw the whole Seine and everyone near it had also been frozen. He felt a sudden jolt and heard a huge thumn. He looked towards it and saw a huge volcano where the Eiffel tower should be. He frowned to himself before he noticed ice spreading toward him and rushed back inside, quickly closed the door. He frowned as he heard the ice spread across it, trapping him inside. Fortunately, he knew another way out. He quickly turned on the boat's heating system before turning on the TV. If he was going to face whoever did this, he needed to know what their deal was and why the big volcano.

 "Stormy Weather has returned and seems more powerful then before. Not only has she frozen most of Paris, she also has made a super volcano and is threatening to use it to move the earth out of it's rotation around the sun. Experts are saying that if she successes, the earth will be plunged into an eternal winter," Nadia Chamuck gasped before touching her ear piece. "This just in. Scientists around the world have confirmed that the earth is in fact moving off balance. Our only hope lies with our heroes,"

 "Sass, I think it's time to try our ice power up cake!" Luka grinned before taking out the slice of blue cake. He threw up in the air and Sass ate it. "Sass! Power up!"

 Sass began to glow then span into a white light. When he re-emerged, he had a icicle shaped tail and was more of an ice blue then a green.

 "Sassicle!" He grinned as Luka held out his wrist.

 "Sassicle! Scales Slither!" He declared as he moved his hand in a wave movement before throwing it up in the air. Sass got pulled into the bracelet and then Luka struck his hand down, creating his lyre before he pointed his finger up to the sky. His costume was created in it's usual green light but he spun round as his usual shoes began ice skates. He swiped his hand over his eyes creating his mask before spinning again, this time creating a belt around his waist before hooking his lyre on it and posing. Once transformed, he headed into the back of the boat and exited from the back door before he jumped on the frozen Seine and skated towards the volcano. He noticed the people who weren't frozen already shivering and curling up to each other as he made his way through the streets of Paris before jumping up on the roof as Ladybug and Cat Noir fell back. He held them both up as Stormy Weather caused Lightening to strike in the air as if to show her power.

 "You guys ok?" He asked as Ladybug shivered. Cat sneezed and shivered too.

 "I didn't think been near a volcano would be so cold," He groaned.

 "She's using it to move us away from the sun," He stated. "She's also caused a blizzard, frozen most of Paris and effectively plundged us into an eternal winter that will only get worst with that volcano. You two are gonna need your ice power ups,"

 "She is way stronger then the first time we faced her," Ladybug sighed. "Do you think we can defeat her?"

 "True, that she is stronger but so are you," Viperion smiled. "You two know each other a lot better and on top of that, you have me and Ryuko. We're a stronger better team and she's no match for us,"

 "Viperion is right, mi'lady," Cat smiled. "We've learnt to trust each other and we always have each other's back,"

 "Speaking of which, I'm gonna distract Little Miss Sunshine so you two can get your skates on!" Viperion grinned before he jumped off and span around, throwing his lyre at her before he landed and skated off. Stormy Weather growled and began to direct lightening towards him. He made a sharp turn and skated up a ramp before jumping over. She span around and hit him with a blast of air.

 "You can't defeat me!" She screamed, hitting him with another one. "I'm a hurricane!"

 "I'm not here to defeat you!" He grinned, coming to a stop. "I was merely distracting you!"

 "What?!" She gasped as Ryuko landed a hit on her face before she back flipped and landed next to him. The two skated backwards, dodging her attacks as  Cat and Ladybug joined them too.

 "Lucky charm!" Ladybug declared as she threw up her yoyo. A small pencil dropped out of the sky and she caught it. 

 "Now's not the time to do some drawing, mi'lady," Cat grinned before throwing his baton towards Stormy Weather. While he battled her, Ladybug frowned and looked around. She smiled as she noticed a copy machine that lit up before Ryuko and Viperion lit up then Cat Noir did.

 "Viper, I need you to get that copy machine and throw after I've thrown this pencil then Ryuko use Lightening dragon to cause a flash,"

 "Alright!" They both yelled. Viperion skated over and grabbed the machine lifting it up. He was grateful that the miraculous granted him super strength, speed and aglisty as well as protected him from basically all injury. Ladybug nodded and threw the pencil. Cat Noir grinned as he let himself drop down. Viperion threw the machine towards her. She went to use her umbrella to deflect it but Ryuko used lightening dragon on it, causing a massive burst of light. In the process, Stormy Weather dropped her umbrella to protect her eyes and Cat jumped up to catch it.

 "Cataclysm!" He shouted, grabbing it. As soon as he did, it turned to dust and freed the akuma. Ladybug captured it and purified it before grabbing the pencil and throwing it up in the air.

 "Miraculous ladybug!" She shouted. The magic bugs spread across the city, clearing it up. Viperion joined Ladybug, Cat and Ryuko as they did a four way fist bump. They de-tranformed from their ice suits before Ladybug grinned. "We keep getting better at this,"

 "I hope this never changes," Cat Noir smiled before his ring beeped. "Til next time!"

 With that, he ran off. Viperion, Ryuko and Ladybug all went their separate ways as well. Viperion made his way back to the Seine before hiding in a nearby alley and detransforming. 

 "Ladybug is right. You are really getting better," Sass smiled as Luka feed him a piece of cake.

 "Yeah," He smiled. "We do make a great team,"

#ice form #stormy weather #chloe bourgeois #luka couffaine #sass #thoughts #miraculous ladybug #team miraculous #cat noir #ladybug #icebug #cold noir #sassicle #ice power up #marinette dupen chang #lukanette #Pro LukaMari

[moonstarphoenix]

Nationals 2019 Ladies FS

Alright, my friends. Welcome to the second night of U.S. Figure Skating Nationals. Tonight we already finish with the ladies in the “epic” free skate. Again I won’t go into detail on all the girls, this would be hella long.

Isn’t strange that what used to be the marquee event is the first to finish? I mean the men haven’t even started yet. It’s crazy.

As always, WARNING: I don’t like Bradie Tennell. Expect my comments to reflect that!

So here we go...

I like having the NBC Gold Pass. Better commentators (Charlie White and Michael Weiss) who don’t talk throughout the whole program. No silly interviews. And you actually get to see all the skaters.

I feel like poor Courtney Hicks needs better music. She needs something powerful, strong, a la more rock. Pas de deux is for skaters like Sasha Cohen who are more classical and ballet-trained. If you’re not, it only highlights that fact. I will give her credit. She tries.

Sierra Venetta’s dress is gorgeous! And this is a lovely free skate with beautiful music. I hope she continues to improve. I enjoyed watching her.

Seeing the recap/commercial of Nathan Chen’s Olympics reminds me of Evan Lysacek’s Olympics. The first Olympics he fell apart, got sick, in the SP. Almost made the podium with the FS. Then the next Olympics he won gold. It’ll be fun to see if Nathan can do the same thing.

Ting Cui is a delightful skater. She looks beautiful tonight and is skating quite well. Actually, that was a stellar, captivating performance! What a free skate! Good for her! WOW!!! That is a great free skate score! That’s right up there with the European Ladies FS scores from earlier today. We’ll be seeing more from her in the coming years. Depending how the rest of the night plays out, she might get Four Continents, but she’ll definitely get a Grand Prix assignment next year.

With Ting Cui and Akari Nakahara are proving that we’ve got some great young skaters coming up if the USFSA would help develop them the way Russia does. Or at least, give them as much focus as they do the current golden girl.

Starr is next. It’s been a rough year for her. The pressure has seemed to get to her a little bit, but I know she’ll bounce back. I like this program. It’s different and id she can get into it, it can be great. A little shaky but she seems to e settling in with that triple-triple. Lots of speed in her spins. Not one of her best, but I do see an improvement from the fall. I hope she keeps growing next year. Ouch, she got knocked hard, but her first year on the senior international circuit is done (unless she gets Four Continents) so the stress of that should ease.

And now our final group. I’ll say it again for those reading. I don’t like Tennell. Keep that in mind in reading through the next several skaters.

Hanna Harrel has potential. Just needs some of her rough edges smoothed out. And better free skate music. For a tango, this is kind of dull. Good for her though. Oh she’s from Plano! That’s where I was born. Excellent score for her. Another one to watch.

Amber Glenn has had a very up and down career. Let’s see if she can continue her momentum from yesterday. Amber’s program is the Ashley program this year. A more adult program among all the baby ballerinas. Not her best though. Poor thing, she was really hoping this would be her year.

Emmy Ma is next. I liked her in the short. Bad fall. This music is very dull. I’m just not feeling this program tonight.

Yay, the golden girl is next. I’ll stick to the stream I think, keeps the Johnny and Tara over gushing to a minimum. I want to note that a couple of days ago, I saw a junior lady skate to Romeo and Juliet by Nino Rota and the entire FS was set to that specific version. It makes Tennell’s music just look even more out of place because of the different versions used (i.e. the classical ballet, Nino Rita, etc). A minor thing, really, I’ll admit, but it distracts me every time I see this program. Believe it or not, I do want her to skate clean and I do prefer this year’s programs over last. That said, her style is too stiff for me, right down to the helicopter arms. Oh, she slipped! Sasha Cohen’s Romeo and Juliet will always be the ultimate Juliet for me. Oh my GOD! She fell! Wow. That was shocking. Make no mistake, she’ll still make the podium and go to Worlds but she opened the door for Alysa and Mariah.

God, I hope Karen and Gracie come back next year.

Those scores were a gift. I’m not surprised she’s in first but not by that much.

Alysa is just so damn cute! I like the music, it’s a different soundtrack then we’re used to, the costume is beautiful. And there’s one triple axel! In a combo! And there’s the other! And a triple-triple! Look at that smile. She’s going to be so much fun to watch in the coming years. Okay, she’s the new Tara Lipinski. Young, supremely talented. She has better artistry than Tara had at that age and she can only get better. Not to mention the technical elements to compete against the baby Russians. How magnificent! I love Michael talking about how wonderful it is she will be able to compete with the Russians and Japanese, though she won’t be eligible for a few seasons yet. Can she still compete in the Grand Prix? And....she WON THE GOLD!!!! YEAH! How wonderful! I’m so happy for her and it will be just amazing to watch her grow and establish herself through the next few years.

Poor Mariah has to follow that. She can build on the energy though and make her mark with the judges and officials. She’s such a beautiful skater, just so light and elegant. She appears pretty solid so far. Oops spoke too soon, but she’s got it back. She’s got a lot of emotion through this program. I’m curious if Tennell’s ‘component’ gift scores will keep her the silver or if Mariah’s one mistake but otherwise clean program is enough? Quick confession, Raf scares me a little bit. Amazing score and I personally think she should have had silver but Tennell’s short program saved her.

Well, that’s the end of the ladies. Tennell and Mariah will be the ones going to World’s, but Alysa shocks everybody and rightfully earned the GOLD. The next three years will be a wild ride indeed.

Tomorrow, the men finally start. Stay tuned for the battle between Nathan, Jason, and Vincent and the new men coming up.

#figure skating #bradie tennell #mariah bell #starr andrews #courtney hicks #sierra venetta #ting cui #akari nakahara #hanna harrell #amber glenn #emmy ma #alysa liu

[zzzoloft]

Why I Cancelled my own Birthday Party

I feel like a real, royal asshole. 

Yesterday at work I got excited! Wow, it’s already my party! I have Friday off, and my advising meeting for school that morning. I think I’ll grab myself coffee that morning, even, as a treat for starting school again! Tonight I should shop for clothes for my meeting, and for the show I’m going to in Denver on Saturday. That will be fun! ...But getting to the Loveland Target will be scary since I hate the roads there and I’ve never even driven them. And I should make sure the clothes I get are also work appropriate since I need new work clothes and can’t spend money on myself after this. Maybe I won’t drive to Target, I’ll go to Foothills. It’s less crowded and there are like 3 or 4 stores I could shop in. It didn’t take long for those thoughts to spiral downward. I don’t know what to wear. I shouldn’t spend money. I don’t even care about looking good actually. Screw shopping altogether. And why care about the stuff I have upcoming? My life won’t change. I always do this. Start to think my shit’s getting together, thinking I’m a “bad bitch” and then quitting/sabotaging/cancelling it all because my life won’t change. I will always be like “this”.

So I went straight home after work. I was in my room, trying to take a nap to maybe help my mood since I’ve been sleep-deprived for weeks now. I didn’t think I’d be able to fall asleep between my medication-induced-insomnia as of late and my social anxiety as of... always?! My thoughts began to make no sense and my mind started to wonder why I was thinking about these fictional scenarios, and I felt gratitude because that’s how I know I’m about to fall asleep when I’m having trouble getting there. Then I hear a shaking in the distance. Not a train this time, my husband’s new surround sound in his office/gaming room. Not mad at him. Just kind of knew something would stop me from sleeping. I’ve just accepted it lately, because I increased the only antidepressant that works for me. My two choices lately are insomnia and complacency or the can’t-get-myself-to-work type depression. Yay. 

At this point I made the mistake of looking at my phone. I already didn’t feel like I had enough time for anything, and people were asking when I’d be places and if I could meet earlier. Some people cancelling. All things I would appreciate on any other day except for this dreadful day - the day of my own Birthday Party. Today the notifications set off my anxiety.

I haven’t been paying attention for long but I know I go into any Birthday Party believing that nobody will show up. Or one person will, and then I will have to apologize that I’m not cool and that my party isn’t fun. I’m not sure if I had a traumatic birthday ever as a kid. We usually had pool parties (because April is actually warm in San Diego) that always had a bunch of kids there, my parents grilled hot dogs, and we got to eat potato chips and drink grape soda which was a rarity in my house. At the end of the day when we were all sleepy from swimming for far too long, we got to eat cake and I got to open cool shit like Barbies and Lisa Frank stationary. 

But being a kid is easy. You don’t give a SHIT. Nothing stopped my large belly, boobs that would never really develop, and giant thighs from getting into an awkward bathing suit and having a goddamn blast doing backflips off the diving board and pretending to be a mermaid at the bottom of the pool, and even doing that weird nose-plugging thing I do with my face (by bringing my lips up to my nose). Kids drank the soda, ate the chips, and jumped in and out of the pool, going absolutely crazy! Back then I don’t think I cared about making a connection on my birthday. I had fun with everyone and I didn’t put a lot of pressure on myself to impress, entertain, or make sure everyone enjoyed themselves. 

As I get older, I do feel that way. I feel sad when my security blanket people can’t or don’t come. I feel sad when my husband doesn’t enjoy the activity I planned. I feel sad because I can’t hold a conversation and I spend most of my time depressed. I’m convinced that none of the people who CHOOSE to be there like me, that it’s all just a social obligation, because I go to their bday events. I feel incapable of entertaining anyone, even myself. 

I thought about wearing a costume to my skating party, putting on extravagant makeup and maybe even a wig. That excited me for a while, but then I started to think about it - I really only like myself when I’m in costume. Last year I thought the same thing as I was putting on my costume for my usual skating party - “People probably think it’s weird that I look way better like this”. “This” being covered in makeup, fake lashes, tight clothes, wigs with cooler and bigger hair than I could ever have. Is it for fun? Is it for attention? Is it to feel attractive, just for a few hours? Aaand suddenly, I don’t want to dress up, and I don’t even want to try. And I feel bad for myself. I see myself sulking at my bday, with my unruly, outgrown pixie and my tired face, plopping along and trying to make small talk. Me, at my party, just feeling like I do everyday. Homely. Out of place. Nothing useful to say. Unimportant. Unable to connect. Incapable of building comfortable and lasting friendships. And incapable of accepting that some, if not all, of the friends that do come, are coming because they actually like me for some reason. Frumpy ol’ me. And then I just get to feeling guilty and unappreciative.

I’d be skating too fast for most of my friends (the ones who aren’t sitting down or having issues with the shitty rental skates) and feeling awkward when having to speak. Maybe I always choose the skating rink for my birthday because I can go fast and have an excuse to fuck off from all social obligation. People can entertain themselves. 

Then I think back to Josh’s birthday last Summer. It was the first get-together we had at our new house. I sobbed the night before. Thinking that nobody liked us, nobody would like our house, nobody would come, nobody would have a good time. Just a crippling, deep anxiety and despair placed itself on my chest until I cried it all out. I talked to my therapist about this and now I remember her saying “and this may happen again, but you’ll expect it.” Josh's party turned out great. I felt so much warmth from our friends and that our house was enough, everything would all be okay.

So when I found myself with these thoughts all over again, I let myself just have a good, hard cry. I know that things often turn out better than how I anticipate them. It’s most likely I would’ve ended up having a good time, feeling loved and appreciated, and feeling great from skating. But I’m turning 30 this year, and I’m wondering if I need to reevaluate why I throw parties that make me cry beforehand, why I feel so grey these days and try to use my birthday as a time to shine, why I don’t just spend the day alone, living a day exactly how I would with no input from other people. Maybe that’s just part of growing up, or maybe the depression is just more real right now than usual.

I spent my night in the tub, eating hot Cheetos, and maybe that was the birthday plan I desired all along.

#birthday #birthday depression #insomnia #wellbutrin

[babygirlgiles]

Commissions so Ells can get top surgery!

As some of you may know, I am going to get top surgery this July (yay!), exact date tbd. Long story short, I’m over the moon excited but there’s been a wild mix of financial circumstances that I’m happy to detail upon request so I’m opening commissions!

I’m so so grateful to everyone who reads, reblogs, or tags my fics-- I’ve thought about doing this before but it’s all the support I’ve gotten that gave me the confidence to try this out!

TLDR: I’m charging $4.00 for 1000 words, accepting payment via PayPal preferably, and I’m generally super flexible. You can have access to tracking my progress via google doc and email.

Details under the cut!

Pricing: 

I’m going to be doing $4 for 1000 words. Here is a pretty good example of what almost exactly 1000 words will get you! You can also check out the myfic tag I have to see some of the other stuff I’ve written.

I’m not going to put a word limit on what you can commissions but just know that over 5000 will probably take longer and that honestly you’ll probably be more pleased with my shorter writing lmao.

You also get one (1) revision on any part of the fic! If there’s a part in the final product that isn’t to your liking, I’m happy to go back and rework it. No questions asked, no hard feelings, because you’re paying for a service and I want provide you with a quality product.

If I happen to write over the word count you purchased, I won’t charge you anything for the extra words. So, for example, if you buy 1000 and I actually write 2000, you’ll still only pay $4.

PayPal  is preferred but if that’s completely impossible, other electronic methods like venmo or zelle can be discussed.

What I Can Write:

Basically anything involving SNK! Some bullet points:

Either NSFW or SFW are both totally fine! Romantic relationships, platonic relationships, or single character pieces (like a character study) are all very doable.

I’ve mostly written about the Veterans and some of the Shiganshina trio in the past. But! I’m willing to explore any character in the series, granted that you know it’ll probably take a bit more time for me to go back and re-read/watch for ~research~.

I’m open to most any ship. Obviously, I only post eruri- but I’ve also written levihan and eremin in the past. Again, any ship that I don’t know anything about (which isn’t many tbh???) will take a bit more time to work on.

I’m happy to write alternate universe, canon-divergent, etc. I mostly write modern AU, canonverse, and my transwin AU but I’ve also been toying around with a university!AU and a figure skating!AU so I’m very open to anything. Again, if I don’t know anything about that universe, allow time for research, etc, etc.

Same thing with kinks. Happy to write whatever, if it’s something I’ve never heard of (which is unlikely after how long I’ve been on the internet lmao), allow extra time.

This is important: your idea for a commission can be as vague or as specific as you want. I’m always shit at commissioning because because I think wanting hurt/comfort with no other specifications is ~too vague~ but I’m totally cool with it. Tbh, half the fun for me is talking with people as hearing their thoughts on snk!

Tracking:

A la @valisi-clark, I’m going to be doing a public spreadsheet for you (and the entire world!) to track progress on your fic! I’ll also give you a random order number that only I’ll know, add you to the spreadsheet, then you can watch my progress! Of course, if you have any questions or concerns along the way, don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Other Stuff:

If you notice that I haven’t been making progress for a while or you just have any concerns, please do not hesitate to email/message me!! If that happens I’m probably just being slowed down by a life related mess but I will do everything I can to deliver the fic in a timely manner.

My email is [email protected] but I’m also happy to message on Tumblr and if both those are impossible, I’ve got basically every messaging platform under the sun.

I’ll need payment in full before I can send you the finished product. I’ll send you a Google Doc link that you can save in whatever format tickles your fancy so you can have a copy forever. If you want to keep the commission private, that’ll be that! Otherwise, I’ll post it to tumblr and tag you.

Still wanna help with my top surgery but don’t wanna commission:

Smash that mf reblog button.

Special shoutout for @ackbang for the idea, @kittyboo8015 for the encouragement, and @valisi-clark for the super helpful advice! And thank you for taking the time to read this and, I can’t say it enough, the love I’ve got from all of you means the world!

#eruri #fic commissions #commissions #erwin smith #levi ackerman #snk fanfiction #i wont spam the 1000 other ships ill write but know thats a thing i can do lol #im excited!! i hope someone commissions me lmao #also top surgery kiddos here we go

[lifeonhardmode]

day 22

Well hello again, Life on Hard Mode blog. Since I last talked to you, I completed both big deadlines at both jobs. Starting today, I now have a bit of a break: 2 weeks off from main job, and much less of the stress/deadlines thing at side job. Annnnnnd... Bae got tickets to come see me! hurrah.

So I’m counting days again, but this time I’m counting down until my sweetie shows up at my door. Since I have more time to myself now, I’m revisiting the LOHM lifestyle that I had to abandon for work, at least for the next 3 weeks. I’ll plan to check in here from today (day 22) until arrival (day 0). I probably won’t do a whole lot of blogging while bae is here, since I will be back to working 2 jobs as well as entertaining my favorite person ;)

My actual concrete plans in the next 22 days are: work at side job, go camp with a friend for a night or two, doctor appointment, #bloodweek, back to main job, manage a side job helper for a few days, and a friend visiting from out of town.

So. What were my LOHM goals, and which ones am I keeping for this 22-day mini challenge?

Diet

I wanted to follow WFPB and cut sugar. I am pretty good about that but haven’t been 100% lately. I have some junk food at home right now and I’ll finish that up but then I’m moving back to all clean WFPB, no oil, really try for the Daily Dozen, do more mindful meal planning. I’m doing protein powder now though, which isn’t WFPB but I’m fine with that.

I’ve still been doing food journaling and plan to keep it up.

One thing I kind of started doing that wasn’t an explicit goal but something I just started exploring: a week of eating really low fat to lessen the cramps, then a week of high fat to make sure I’m getting enough, then a week of focusing on high protein for muscle growth. It seems to be working for me! I want to be more intentional and continue doing that.

I am thinking that I’ll maintain at this weight for the summer, then “bulk” in the fall to see if that helps me get stronger.

Fitness

I was doing cardio progressions and strength progressions, plus daily yoga. I have done 60m every day including daily yoga. 

I’ve stalled a little on the strength progressions because I haven’t had time to read up on form for the next steps, or to set up the equipment that I bought. So really working on those strength progressions is a goal for this summer. I did make a lot of the purchases that I wanted to! So I’m set and ready to get to work on getting strong. 

I haven’t stalled on cardio progressions because that’s just been increasing the run:walk ratio. Because my knees are in rough shape, I’ve been wanting to find some other forms of cardio, but on the cheap (ie not swimming, spin cycling, etc). I’ve acquired some skates and I’m going to add in alternating skating/jogging on cardio days. 

For the 100 day challenge I was taking BFP measurements every 10 days. I’m going to change that to once a month just to make sure I’m still on track.

Physical wellness

I had wanted to get into skincare and I did spend some time researching and I did buy I think one product. But TBH I don’t have the cash to develop a whole routine or anything like that. I’ll shelf that one for now and just try to stay mindful of moisturizing and sunscreen.

I was waiting for immunization to make some doctor appointments because it’s been a long-ass time since any smart people have looked at my health. I have made my first appointment! I have a bunch more that I need to do but first step, yay. 

I cut down the vices to every other weekend for the 100 day challenge. I am most likely going to smoke during my camping trip this week but after that I’m going to go totally clean and sober for the whole 22 days to make sure I’m as fit and healthy as I can be for my bae. Shouldn’t be hard, that’s not a long commitment. I’m sure we will get to some drinks together during that visit anyway.

I wanted to add some B vitamins to my routine and I did so. Cronometer says I’m doing pretty awesome on the micronutrients so I will keep my diet/supplements pretty much as-is.

Sleep hygiene. I did try to find a sleep tracker but I couldn’t find one that I liked. So it’s just me and my self-discipline. I slept in this morning as a reward for finishing the deadlines, and I was up late last night talking to a friend. This is a big one though. Especially when my schedule is less structured I have a tendency to fall asleep at like 3am and wake up at like 9am. I’m trying to keep it to 9pm-5am and no naps. I’ve got to stop scrolling on my phone after I get into bed, and I’ve got to actually get out of bed when my alarm goes off. I’ve been daydreaming about getting one of those SAD therapy lights and hooking it up to a timer so I can make my own personal sunrise in my bedroom. Kinda pricey though so I was going to see if I could get a recommendation for which type of light from a doctor. Might be a while before I get through the list of doctors I need to see all the way down to psychiatrist. *shrug*

Posture. I have been working on it, gotta keep working on it.

Mental wellness

Last year I did 60m art every day, then cut it to 30m every day, then cut it to 30m every other day, then cut it out entirely to focus on work. I think I’m going to keep it at 30m every other day.

Bringing back reading before bed! I was almost perfect at this goal during the 100 day challenge, up until Life on Expert Mode started and I had to cut it. But I read a little last night and I want to keep it up. Just trying to decide if 30m or 45m between brushing teeth and lights out is better.

“Fun breaks”. I cut them out for LOEM. I think I was wasting too much time on fun breaks during LOHM. So I’d like to strike a balance. I think internet in the morning before work, then one more internet break about 3pm when I turn on some classical music.

Music: all through the LOHM challenge I completed my goal of listening to popular, classical, and dance music every day. Just want to keep that up.

Friend time. I kept up contacting people all through LOHM. I cut out  drawing birthday cards during LOEM. I want to add that back in. I should probably reassess how much time I want to spend on each person, because there are quite a few who don’t initiate conversations or visits. Now that I have immunization and free time (amazing combo!) I want to add in socializing! That’s going to be a new goal, to see at least one person IRL every week for purely social reasons (could be a date, friend over for dinner, going someplace with friends, whatever).

Home

My typical habit has been to set aside time every 5 days to work on my own stuff. I want to keep doing that.

My LOHM goal was to focus more on pet care. I ended up with too many work commitments to add in many extras, but I definitely want to keep that on the front burner so to speak.

Main job

I have a 2 week break! No take-home work, no in-person commitments, nothin’. :-) But after that, I’m definitely still counting work time and commute time as productive hours. My side job commitments are way less stressful now, so I should be able to give my main job a lot more focus and energy, when I do get back to main job.

Side job

I completed my goal of dehoarding so that every room is functional. I still have a lot to do but no deadlines for now. 

For the last couple of years I’ve done a 5-day rotation of 4 days at side job (different areas of focus) and 1 day on my own house/paperwork/emails. Now that the big deadline is out of the way, I’m still keeping a 5-day rotation but with more balance with my own life. Day 1: only my stuff. Day 2: Side job, senior care. Day 3: Side job senior care, plus making sure I do whatever yardwork tasks they need. Day 4: Digital tasks, both for me and for my seniors. Day 5: Errands, both for me and for my seniors.

During LOHM, my “transfers” (things I made up the next day if I didn’t get to it) were: workout, side job, and PT exercises. When LOEM started, I cut my transfers down to side job and PT exercises. For the next 3 weeks at least I’m going back to all 3. Being strong and fit before bae gets here is a higher priority than side job right now, so I considered doing just workout & PT, but I mean... I have a break from main job so there is no reason not to actually finish all my side job tasks.

To make a long post short, what I’m trying to say is that before my side job took over my life, I was pretty content with my LOHM wellness routines and I’d like to keep them up. At the moment, I have low work responsibilities, and I have a visitor coming to see me in 3 weeks, so I’m going to take this opportunity to focus on fitness first. After the last 10 weeks of never sitting down, and stressing about work day in and day out, I’m going to take 3 weeks to mentally check out, listen to music, and work out.

#22 days to go

[luccie-eclair]

(Renora Week: Bonus)

I spent way too much time trying to figure out the the AU and, in between classes and being back in Charleston for a few days, I didn't have time to do the bonus and I won't have time today due to school. But! I did promise to try, so what I'll do is write a few headcanons/plot points that I would have included and maybe do something on it later during the holiday break assuming my friends don't kidnap everyday for 3 weeks.

This would have been titled "Windows"

This also would've been an AU (funny I how I came up with this one very quickly and DNV took me days 😒😒😒😒)

Modern day America or... whatever mixed demographic country you can think of (Canada, N. Zealand, Aussie, UK, etc... I'm looking at you)

They attend rival high schools (this is already starting to sound cliche and I'm sorry)

Nora would've worked as a waitress at a busy carhop (her uniform complete with skates, a hoop skirt, and an ascot) named Comet's Diner

Ren would've worked as a barista at the coffee/tea house across the street. Basically Starbucks, but it's named The Bean and it's fictionally better

They never really met but low key keep tabs on each other through the windows (Bazinga, I've included the title in my list, I'm pretty much done... JK)

That last one is more stalkery than I meant it to be. They keep tabs on each in a cute way. I'm digging a deeper hole, sorry

Ren works with Blake and Pyrrha (and any other cool, calm, collected character so I guess I'll throw in Weiss and Oscar, possibly Neptune). Their boss is... I dunno... I'm thinking Glynda, maybe Tai, I'd stretch for Qrow but...

Nora works with Ruby, Yang, and Jaune (and any other fast-paced... eccentric (?) character so we'll mash Sun and Penny in there, too). Their boss probably would've been Qrow because I already had a scene mapped out where Nora is staring across the street and Qrow calls to her to get her head out of clouds and Jaune trips and spills a malt all over her (this is common)

Nora's work crew is a hilarious mess and the crew at The Bean love watching their shift unfold

This is really just a slice of life fic that should be multiple chapters and not a one shot, but whoops

Neptune pushes really hard for Ren and co to join him in checking out the carhop and getting a chance to chill with his bro Sun

Nora is their server and that's how she meets Ren

Their meeting is kind of ruined when Ruby is going way too fast and spills a root beer float all over Nora's uniform

Ren hands Nora his letterman jacket because the drink seeps into her white shirt (on Wednesday they wear white shirts, I dunno)

Indulge me and let's say that Ren plays baseball at his high school because I don't like the cookie cutter football trope and soccer/track would probably be too much running for him. So that's why he has the jacket. That, or it's a memory of his dad when he was in high school either one

Huge aws from their friends watching him give up his/his dad's letterman

Yang is their new server when Nora goes to change and gives Ren a huge, totally not suspicious wink that definitely doesn't have any important meaning (s*a*r*c*a*s*m)

Nora conveniently forgets to return his jacket

Ren visits the carhop once a week. Nora is always his server. She actually memorizes his order, but she always "forgets" the jacket.

I think I'm gonna change the title to "Lettermans"

Yang gets sick of watching those two and hands him Nora's number one day when she goes to get coffee

Friendship, hanging out, football games, fun times, the group unites as one, yay

Ren let's Nora keep his letterman

Jump ahead two years and lets call them seniors in high school, so they started working sophomore year

I wanted a tad bit of conflict where Nora gets upset and finally returns the jacket and let's Jaune serve him for a little while, but that's really cliche so I'm unsure

Really awkward group dynamic

Ren waits until after her shift a week or two later to return HER jacket and make amends

He slips up and tells her that he like likes her

Extremely awkward pause

Nora takes the plunge to kiss his cheek

She shoots and she hella scores because he turns to actually kiss her and holy shit, soft lips galore

Jump a few months ahead into summer

Ren and his shift-mates are waiting in the car at Comet's when Nora comes to take their order and plants a kiss on his lips

*swipes brow* That was a mess of jumbled thoughts and I dont know how I'm going to make that fit into a one shot (probably the same I did DNV), but yeah. I'm sowwy that I didn't actually write a fic, but I will make am effort to do so over my long, holiday break. Happy Renora Week and may those two end up super happy and together-together for the rest of V5 and other volumes to come.

#renora week #renora week 2017 #team sloth week 2017 #team sloth #rwby #lie ren #nora valkyrie #rwby au #cliche af #but oh well

[bowldeepfannish]

Someone; *watches Yuri on ice exactly once* WOW I LOVE FIGURE SKATING!! DAMN THEY NAILED THAT *squinting at wikipedia article* TRIPLE TOE COMBO(?) WOW HE KILLED THAT *squinting at another wiki article* SHORT PROGRAM xD MAn IM SUCH AN EXPERT ON THIS SHIT. WONDER IF I COULD GO TO THE OLYMPICS???? Me, a figure skater; i want death.

Don’t die Anon! And no need to get randomly so doom and gloom over random strangers over the internet whether you happen to be on the giving or the receiving end.

Just keep enjoying your sport on your terms, other people will enjoy it on theirs. Also figure skating is a bit of a marvelously odd beast blending both athleticism and artistry/performance, ‘acting’ even. It’s perfectly fine to enjoy either or both according to one’s own individual sensibilities and analysis skills. I don’t go into technical because expression and emotion are more my jam and I lack skating experience (temp rinks and rented hockey skates. ‘nough said) to gauge the minute points of a move/jump and I struggle even when I try replaying frame by frame. At least axels are easy to spot at a glance XDD. But generally over a more ‘muscular’ program I’d be more impressed with a technically easier program that has overall better flow  and ‘acting’ the program’s story and that moves me ad entertains me. I tend to prefer former competitive skaters programs actually. Then we get stuff like Yuzuru’s Seimei hence the best of both worlds so yay.

On top of that genuine interest and even pro careers can be sparked in different ways and by different means. Anime included. Among today’s YOI fans there are tomorrow’s  champions (and past, and present too. Incidentally have you followed some of them top figure skaters’ social media posts about YOI since more than 1 year ago now? )

CASE IN POINT AND QUICK HISTORY LESSON FOLLOWS. There are many roads leading to Rome  as we say or more than one-way street journey to reach your destination.

1) OUAT in my country  (we’re talking nearly 40 years ago dear readers and I was there walking the Earth ) they used to broadcast a lot of sport anime series.  We are a soccer kind of country and basicaly everything else gets very little coverage by comparison, or none at all. I can vouch for at least two generations of soccer players, tennis players, volleyball players  gymnasts and golf players getting their spark and/or gained support thanks to those series. Back then those anime were a mass phenomenon and a childhood staple /bonding experience. Everyone watched them and many wished to try the sports of their fav heroes :D. Fun times. Winning times too.

2) Even if I hadn’t watched YOI about 8 times and in three languages already and it hadn’t brought me much joy and lovely acquaintances in a hard phase of my life I’m very grateful to YOI because it led me to find out official reliable channels at last! to keep updated on figure skating and skaters as I had always wished to do (and did to an extent on other platforms since circa 2004. Regular-ish internet access yay) As I mentioned above in point 1) coverage for many sports has always been sporadic where I live and spotty at best outside of soccer, cycling and Formula1 because we are the land of Ferrari cars and Coppi and Bartali/Giro D’Italia among others yadda yadda .

For years I  and many others unless we happened to live near an ice rink (hint: rare) or belong in a skating fans’ circle could only glimpse something about figure skating ( I admit I prefer singles’ skating over the couples or synchro also my free time and internet is limited alas) through news articles, the occasional piece about Carolina Kostner exploits (and failures)  or whethever we were blessed with some mainstream TV  broadcast - often recaps or quick puff pieces -  about again Kostner, or Deborah Compagnoni and Alberto Tomba & Co. for skiing, or the temporary bonanza of Turin Winter Olympics 2006 .

Thank heavens for fervent Youtube uploaders of  real life figure skating from ancient to basically real time video shares. And Rocker Skating. And dedicated non-anime figure skating tumblr accounts. And the both national and international figura skating fans group  on facebook  - whose main/core base may overlap with YOI watchers but for the most past it doesn’t. They are  by average VERY gracious with all newbie fans whatever their walk of life or fandom btw. Just a tip. Because really those who love and/or practiced  the sport all started somewhere. Even you Anon - for constantly keeping people updated about old  present and new ice talents worldwide  and available streams for us poor fans who cannot subscribe to paid channels or won’t get any news at all on telly until the next Euros/Worlds/Olympics (because we are not in 4cc as a nation hence it’s not relevant #logic) - as long as Cappellini/LaNotte and/or Kostner skate there mind you. Otherwise who knows here TV-wise. 

Thanks YOI specifically for being a love letter to the sport and being such an uplifting humanistic watch about growth and understanding and meeting people halfway. With their quirks their flaws their own cultural background and all.

Thank you Anon for reminding me that YOI’s  above message is really one that is sorely needed ;P.

#is this my first tumblr hater's message btw? Thank goodnes I was starting to feel left out. Almost. I've been reached by the Tumblr hating! #Anonymous #bowl of answers #life and love #choose them #something personal #tl;dr warning

[mrbronzeskull]

Lmao answer them all and good luck ;)

I’m reblogging this, sans readmore, as it was brought to my attention that for at least one person, everything under that just didn’t show up. I humbly beg forgiveness for putting such a huge chunk of text on everyones dash.Spacey, you cheeky sod. I swear this is like the second time you’ve done this. (I both love and hate you for it) Here we fucking go: THIS TOOK AN HOUR AND A HALF TO DO 

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?I don’t exactly get physical with folks so I have to assume it was my ex, several months ago.2. Are you outgoing or shy?Shy, Bi and ready to die3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?@gpumidnazora​, some day.4. Are you easy to get along with?I guess so? Not very argumentative, very quiet, tell bad jokes.5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?I’d like to think so.6. What kind of people are you attracted to?All of them. More feminine aligned folks usually but super masc folks and androgynous peeps have totally taken my breath away too. Less general note, nerdy folk who I can obsess over something with. 7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?I mean, I’m in one now and while it does have a massive issue because of distance, I’d like to think we can tough it out.8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?My girlfriend.9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?A little, I get flustered easily if im not super close with folks.10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?Fuck, uh, myself? I often have super deep conversations that I should probably talk to a therapist or someone about just aloud to myself. But if that isnt an acceptable answer, @gpumidnazora​ takes the cake.11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?“Oh hell, I thought I said hi when I got home and was all like ‘huh, she hasn’t replied, guess she’s already asleep” after I goofed up on letting my gf know I got home on time.12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?OH! I got one from just this morning! Let’s Face It I’m Cute by 11 Acorn Lane.Aside from that I’ve been all nostalgic lately so Mr Brightside by The KillersTeenage Dirtbag by WheatusGoodbye Stranger by SupertrampEverytime We Touch by Cascada13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?Yes. Please do. I’m a big sucker for this. Or any physical affection really. 14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?Miracles not so much but its real hard to not think of things as lucky or unlucky for me15. What good thing happened this summer?I got plenty of hours at work! 16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?Nope. No. Nuh. There’s two girls it might be and neither of those would be a good choice.17. Do you think there is life on other planets?I mean, it’s literally either that or we are completely alone in the entire universe. Which seems far more terrifying to me. So yeah. But I’m always thinking like microbial or basic life, rather than you know, aliens replete with UFOs and such.18. Do you still talk to your first crush?Nah, havent talked to her in years.19. Do you like bubble baths?I almost always shower, too big for the bath really.20. Do you like your neighbors?Fuck dude I dont even know my neighbours21. What are you bad habits?God, what isnt? Nail biting, snacking, bad sleep schedule, shower delays, then too long in the shower, generally messy22. Where would you like to travel?Canada, Tokyo, America, Brazil, Europe, New Zealand. Anywhere with snow23. Do you have trust issues?Yes? I’m not all that open. Until I am and it’s like BAM HERE’S MY ENTIRE LIFE STORY which is too much typically.24. Favorite part of your daily routine?Jerkin’ it just soooo right. Kidding. Mostly. Anytime cuddling my cat while catching up on Youtube videos is great.25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?My back. just all of that. Beats out the chewed nails and the flab and the face any time.26. What do you do when you wake up?Regret27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?Darker. But I’m such a shut in so that aint happening. Least it looks alright next to my paper white sister28. Who are you most comfortable around?Myself. Or my good friend Emily Mac, the @keepingitreluctant​ that you all know and love29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?One, and boy that was a fucking nightmare of a time.30. Do you ever want to get married?Not really? I mean, tax benefits are nice but I don’t care for it much.31. Is your hair long enough for a pony tail?Nah, or at least it’s the shittiest ponytail ever, though my hair is the longest it’s probably ever been.32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?I’d take a spin with pretty much anyone because dang most of them are hella good looking plus all that money you could earn through scandalous details afterwards. 33. Spell your name with your chin.zxzbnldyu. Perfect, nailed it. Funnily enough it’s pronounced ‘Ashley’34. Do you play sports? What sports?I played, emphasis on the ‘ed’, soccer (football) and tennis and fencing!35. Would you rather live without TV or music?TV, easy. I listen to music way more than I watch TV.36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?Who hasn’t? Though I have an awful habit of fallin in love with folks when I see them if they catch my eye. All the time. Everyone just looks so dang good and cute.37. What do you say during awkward silences?I’m more of a creator of awkward silences than an ender. Yay for being bad at simple conversation.38. Describe your dream girl/guy?Aw jeez. I mean I’m tempted to earn brownie points by just describing my lovely girlfriend. But if I had to draw up an ideal, I guess just a real sweet cutie who’s down for cuddling and playing games, preferably nice and short, all adorable and fun sized! Short hair is a plus.39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?I don’t shop often. So I guess Robinsons bookshop, EB games and Zing? is that the name of that store filled with ‘nerdy’ junk that’s like partnered with EB?40. What do you want to do after high school?Fuck man I went through high school not knowing and I still have no idea41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?I give so many second chances. Multiple.  But it does depend on the action. If you hurt me, no matter how much or how often, I’ll let it slide (possibly because I have 0 self respect) but if you fuck with my mates or are just a despicable person in general I will only give you a couple chances.42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?I’m almost always pretty quiet. but if i go silent mid conversation it probably means I’m trying to turn something that just got said into a really lame dad joke.43. Do you smile at strangers?yes and no. If I’m interacting with them or like they pass by and its only the two of us I’ll happily put on a (hopefully not creepy) smile but I won’t have a smile plastered on my face walking through a crowd.44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?Space. Definitely. 45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?At the moment, the need to get to work46. What are you paranoid about?People finding out about the murders This and that, usual dark secrets.47. Have you ever been high?Yup and it was eh, I laughed at all sorts of junk but I got serious cottonmouth and had all sorts of gaps in my memory, even worse than normal which was scary.48. Have you ever been drunk?Plenty of times and I think I’m probably 50/50 on if i threw up or not.49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?Recently? I did get Maccas for dinner and pretend that I wasnt hungry when I got home after a rough day at workLess recently I fucked up in a life changing way that no one else knows of and I don’t know what to do about that.50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?Black51. Ever wished you were someone else?Again, who hasn’t? 52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?Add a couple zeros to the end of my bank balance would be nice. But physically? Clean up my fucking back. 53. Favourite makeup brand?Afraid I really don’t know anything about any of them enough to make a judgement call. 54. Favourite store?Zing (im sticking with that name, fuck it) is fun to just chill in55. Favourite blog?God so many, you are all too great!56. Favourite colour?Turquoise 57. Favourite food?A good steak is hard to turn down58. Last thing you ate?Rice and mince.59. First thing you ate this morning?A caramel Up&Go to wash down some pills.60. Ever won a competition? For what?I’m more of a second place kinda person. Or was. It’s all been going downhill for a while in academic or sporting respect.61. Been suspended/expelled? For what?I almost got suspended/expelled after a particularly nasty and widespread tidbit rumour went around about me.62. Been arrested? For what?Nope.63. Ever been in love?I think so. I’m the kinda guy to say it pretty early. 64. Tell us the story of your first kiss?Uh, I took my girlfriend of the time out to a roller skating rink, I couldn’t skate for shit and I couldnt look her in the eyes without turning away and blushing. Let alone hold a conversation. But afterwards she was kind enough to deign to grant me a kiss in the parking lot.65. Are you hungry right now?Nope, I’m good.66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends?I talk to you guys just as much as them nowadays. But I would say I’m closer to them than anyone on tumblr, no offense. 67. Facebook or Twitter?Uh I have both but don’t use them.68. Twitter or Tumblr?Tumblr hands down, this is like my only social network platform69. Are you watching tv right now?Nope70. Names of your bestfriends?Emma, Emily, Hayley, Imogen, Lucinda, Ebony71. Craving something? What?Getting intimate with a guy, just accepting my bisexuality recently has kinda kicked that into overdrive. And now I’m blushin.72. What colour are your towels?We’ve got white, black and turquoise72. How many pillows do you sleep with?One73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?Not in about 10 years.74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?I wouldnt have a clue how many stuffed animals from when I was younger are still tucked away in the house75. Favourite animal?Meerkat.76. What colour is your underwear?Black77. Chocolate or Vanilla?Vanilla78. Favourite ice cream flavour?probably vanilla79. What colour shirt are you wearing?Black80. What colour pants?No pants!81. Favourite tv show?Brooklyn Nine Nine or Bojack Horseman82. Favourite movie?Iron Giant? Road to El Dorado? Spaceballs? Something nostalgic83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2?There’s a second?84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?Mean Girls85. Favourite character from Mean Girls?Uh, fuck I dont remember the names. The lovely lesbian lass. She was great.86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?Bruce.87. First person you talked to today?My girlfriend88. Last person you talked to today?Verballly, my mum, text wise, my girlfriend89. Name a person you hate?Donald Motherfuckign Trump, I mean hating trump is as common as breathing air as it should be but man he’s such a fucking disgusting cunt.90. Name a person you love?My parents.91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?God I have spent many an hour dreaming of socking Trump right in that bullshit spewing mouth92. In a fight with someone?Not currently. Or at least, the feud is still open and so old it isn’t a fight anymore.93. How many sweatpants do you have?Two?94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?Two?95. Last movie you watched?Moana 96. Favourite actress?Ellen Page is up there for sure97. Favourite actor?Chris Pratt98. Do you tan a lot?Ha, most of my body isnt aware what the sun is99. Have any pets?Boy do I. 2 cats and 5 dogs. 10 chooks.100. How are you feeling?A tad tired.101. Do you type fast?Pretty average 102. Do you regret anything from your past?HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA My memory is a whole lot of regrets floating in a void of forgotten moments.103. Can you spell well?W-E-L-L104. Do you miss anyone from your past?A past best friend of mine.105. Ever been to a bonfire party?I’ve hosted a couple and been invited to one106. Ever broken someone’s heart?I doubt it. Not exactly the type. (devastatingly good looking and/or callous)107. Have you ever been on a horse?Yup, wasn’t the thing for me108. What should you be doing?Sleeping?109. Is something irritating you right now?Well I’m now being inundated by regretful thoughts so that’s a bother.110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?Nah. 111. Do you have trust issues?I feel like this was already asked. But yeah, I would say so.112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?I haven’t cried in literal years. I don’t have a clue.113. What was your childhood nickname?It’s always just been Ash114. Have you ever been out of your province/state?Yup, I’ve been all over the place115. Do you play the Wii?I have, but its been a hot minute116. Are you listening to music right now?Yeah, I had Let’s Face It I’m Cute up for the link and it just played a whole bunch of electroswing music on youtube, now on The Noisy Freaks by Freak Orchestra at least I think thats the name and band, I’ve never heard it before117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?sure118. Do you like Chinese food?Probably not my favorite, but it’s nice119. Favourite book?Too many man, way too many. 120. Are you afraid of the dark?Not really.121. Are you mean?I don’t think so. I’m a weak willed pushover and generally benign and quiet122. Is cheating ever okay?Ugh, it’s not exactly commendable but like anything, it’s all circumstance123. Can you keep white shoes clean?I have white runners, which remain clean by the virtue of me never exercising.124. Do you believe in love at first sight?Not actually, but like i said before I get infatuated on sight all the time.125. Do you believe in true love?Not really.126. Are you currently bored?Buddy, my existence is being bored.127. What makes you happy?my pets.128. Would you change your name?I wanted to change my name to Seth when I was younger after years of “ashley is a girls name’ 129. What your zodiac sign?L1BR4130. Do you like subway?Yeah. it’s normally pretty tasty.131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?I mean, I’m currently dating and so is she so that would be a mess, but I doubt much would come of it.132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?Ok im 90000% sure this was already asked.133. Favourite lyrics right now?“No matter what I conjure it could not help me deflect/ The angry death, of every hopeful thought/ that I might be a lover or a fighter…”134. Can you count to one million?I suppose I could. Like I have the capacity. But I’d get bored and give the fuck up without good reason to do so135. Dumbest lie you ever told?fuck me, I lie, alot, it’s my go to defense. Which is bad. but whatever. Probably the one where I skipped tennis training and claimed that I was going to extra french lessons instead, which was immediately called out by the French teacher.136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?Closed. keep the cat in and the dogs out137. How tall are you?175 ish cms, which is 5′10″ i think138. Curly or Straight hair?Straight, despite threats of it getting curly should  I let it get longer than a college cut.139. Brunette or Blonde?Wait is this asking preferences. fuck. Uh, Brunette? I’m not fussed by hair colour. though I’d probably avoid redheads just because my mum and one sister are redheads 140. Summer or Winter?WINTER141. Night or Day?Night142. Favourite month?October? it’s got my birthday!143. Are you a vegetarian?Nope144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?Milk145. Tea or Coffee?meh, not fussed either way146. Was today a good day?sure! I got to start work 2/3 hours later than normal after a fucking killer three days.147. Mars or Snickers?Mars? I dont eat a lot of either148. What’s your favourite quote?I dont really have one off-hand149. Do you believe in ghosts?not really.150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? “Captain Thomas Kelly, from the forty-sixth Precinct, said; ‘It looks accidental. Grant may have suspected that his familiarity with Damien place him above danger, but a hungry python does not quibble about such niceties’”I know its more than a line, but that’s a hilarious quote. 

#long post #long as fuck post #ask list #spaceoutdreamer #ask

[readexplorerepeat]

2016 Travels: The Good, the Bad, and the Funniest

2016 was good to us.  We were able to travel to and explore four different states in the US and two countries in Europe. We saw, ate, learned, and enjoyed different cultures, languages, food, and people. Our traveler spirit shone bright this year. We usually tell you the good and the best places to go and eat (we are all about positive thinking here!), but there are a lot of unsaid things when we post our articles. We thought it would be a good idea to actually tell you about the good, the bad, and the funniest parts of our experiences... because, let's be real, you are bound to have something funny happen when you are clumsy and curious at the same time.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

THE GOOD: We visited the amazing city of New Orleans this past spring. This is a city that has my heart and my soul and I will come back to visit any chance I get. That's a promise. I can't get enough of the beautiful architecture, the folklore stories, Bourbon St, hurricanes at Lafitte's, ghost and vampires, the gorgeous cemeteries, and of course, the food. If you haven't been to New Orleans, book your trip today!

THE BAD:  Nothing too bad in this trip. But I can say that in this trip we learned two things:  always bring comfy shoes, and rain gear. While we walked towards the Harrah's Casino on day 3, a torrential rain poured down suddenly and with no warning. People, when I say torrential, I mean TORRENTIAL. We stopped at a little store and were able to get umbrellas...that lasted 10 minutes, because ALL of our umbrellas were turned upside down by the wind, and we ended up getting soaked.  every single inch our our body was soaked.  It's no fun to gamble at the casino, and walk around with wet clothes.  

THE FUNNIEST: While we eventually found the humor and were literally "dancing in the rain", one of the funniest parts was when Coco's hubby felt fearless and thought it was a good idea to climb a post on Bourbon St.  He was actually successful in his first few attempts, but he was abruptly stopped by the massive amounts of grease covering his last targeted post. His hands (and parts of his clothes) were saturated by gooey, greasy, gunk, which, by the way, was very hard to clean off.  After that, we danced with a parrot, a rabbit, a pig, and a turtle, and sang "Eye of the Tiger" at a piano bar.  Yeah, that happened.  

PIGEON FORGE AND GATLINBURG, TN

THE GOOD:  Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are great places to visit with the family.  Home to DOLLYWOOD, we had an amazing time this spring.   

THE BAD: Nothing too bad happened while we traveled to TN, other than terrible traffic due to construction. Unfortunately, due to the recent wildfires in the area, many of the city's iconic sites were lost. Our thoughts are with the wonderful people of these two great towns.  

THE FUNNIEST:  Another torrential unexpected rain. While in Dollywood, and towards the end of the day, the skies broke down and rain poured like an open faucet.  We sought refuge at the main gift shop inside the park, and were able to buy an overpriced yellow rain poncho (good quality though). Thank goodness it wasn't cold, as our little 6 year old was not a happy camper.

CAROLINA BEACH, NC

THE GOOD: This trip was great.  It was Memorial Day Weekend, and the weather was perfect. The craft beer at Goodhops Brewery was fantastic, and the fire works at the boardwalk rounded off a fun filled night.

THE BAD: We wanted to stop by and tour the USS NC, in Wilmington, but, and I'm guessing it was because it was Memorial Day Weekend, the lines were long, and the kids were whinny.  We saw it from a distance and learned a little about too. Maybe next time.

THE FUNNIEST:  There is a town fair at the boardwalk. Our daughter made us laugh hysterically when she compared a Carousel Rooster to her daddy (my hubby). I guess she found the similarity in the long neck and height? Either way, it was a hoot!    

PARIS, FRANCE

THE GOOD: This trip was almost perfect. We couldn't get enough of the food, the wine, the cheese, the coffee! So many places to go, so much to see, so much to do. It was simply amazing! My favorite part was when we got some wine and food to eat picnic style at the Tuileries Garden, in front of the Louvre. It was relaxing, and uplifting, and one of my favorite memories.  *Read our articles on what to eat, and what to do in Paris*

THE BAD: While we were in Paris, the EuroCup was in progress in France. Because of that, security in Paris was extra strict, which is good, but also, drunken soccer fans were everywhere.  And let me tell you, roving bands of loud drunken peoples, especially in a city you are not familiar with can be a bit scary. The Eiffel Tower perimeter was barricaded with police and body searches, and we weren't able to see the Eiffel Tower at night. Next time it is. ALSO, there was a very limited access to free WIFI around the city.  Cafe's and restaurants will lure you into thinking you can use their WIFI with "free wifi" signs, but it's a lie! They just want you to sit down and eat/drink something.  When you ask for a wifi password they will give you a bogus one. This happened in MANY cafe's (not all though) in the touristic areas. Won't fall for it next time. 

THE FUNNIEST: Everywhere we go, it seems to rain, torrentially. But luckily, this time we were prepared! We had rain jackets, umbrellas, and waterproof shoes. Bring it on rain! What I didn't count on, was the fact that rain makes dirt slippery. Imagine this: Walking down the beautiful vast gardens of the Versailles Palace, when suddenly your feet move in a skating motion trying to avoid your body from hitting the ground. You fail, and you must spend the rest of the Palace tour COVERED in mud. Covered. Did I mention I was wearing white?  Yay me! 

ROME, ITALY

THE GOOD: The food. Oh the fabulous food. *what to eat while in Rome** The historical places were amazing as well. The Coliseum was breathtaking, and the weather was just perfect.

THE BAD: Our flight to Rome got cancelled. - Insert full panic mode emoji- We got a heads up that it was cancelled by calling home (to the US) and talking to a family member who happened to look at our itinerary. We spent hours on the phone with the airline trying to reschedule a flight for 6. Our flight was rescheduled for later that same day and we got complimentary food vouchers while we waited at the airport.- insert happy emoji here-. Finally, beware of pickpockets. While we didn't have any experiences with stolen goods, we were very well aware of our surroundings. Pickpockets and thieves will try to lure you into thinking you are watching a street show, or will force you into buying something you don't want. Keep all of your belongings on you at all times when navigating the streets of Rome. Sadly, many thieves will use children to lure you, so don't fall for those puppy eyes.

THE FUNNIEST: Pigeon poop.  Yes. When a pigeon scared Coco (she actually screamed) and pooped on her later. That, my friends, was epic.  On another note, while at the Rome's airport, we thought it was a good idea to stop by Starbucks and get a latte.  They asked for hubby's name (Chase), and the attendant didn't understand the name and asked again, and again...then she gave up and just wrote it down... this is what was on his cup, and that's how I will spell it forever.  

HELEN, GA

THE GOOD: Oh Helen, Georgia, home of Oktoberfest in the south. We pack our bags every year in October, and head to the mountains of Georgia. This little gem of a town, welcomes us with open arms and lots of brews and great food. We all wear our Alpine hats full of pins that we have collected over the years as memorabilia of our adventures, and try to match our outfits, and dance Polka at Festhall...yeah, I know, dorky...but it's fun! 

THE BAD: We have always been very fortunate and have had a place to stay while visiting (thanks Stephanie's parents!) but if you plan to visit this town during the Oktoberfest festivities, better book your hotel way in advance. The town is small, and the few rooms available book out very fast. It's almost impossible to find a hotel within a few weeks of the fest.  

THE FUNNY: Das Boot is always fun to play. Drink as much brew as you can from this massive boot-shaped glass and pass it along.  IF you finish all the beer in it, the person that went before you buys the next round.  We also tried some Stroh.  This exotic rum, smells delicious (butterscotch), but as soon as you taste it, it will burn your throat, like gasoline.  It tastes nothing like it smells, and it will make you cry. Yeah, it was pretty hilarious to see the boys try it.  

This year we also found wild bunnies roaming around in the parking lot, and we tried to catch them...unsuccessfully of course. But it was good exercise. 

Remember how I mentioned we like to match? That includes the matching suspenders bought for our party of 8 to wear. Those little boogers can be tricky to hook and unhook, just ask Coco. In an unfortunate bathroom incident, she simultaneously had her suspenders fly off her pants, into the toilet behind her, all while a drunken alpine dress wearing Oktoberfest goer barged into her stall. I'm sure the entire Festhall heard her startled screams.  Oh, I love Helen times!

  2016 was a great travel year for us and we are grateful to have shared our memories with all of you.  Stick around to see where 2017 will take us! It's going to be epic!

Always,

Coco & Mia 

*** FOLLOW US AROUND THE WORLD! READ ABOUT OUR TRAVEL ADVENTURES HERE***

#2016Travels

[readexplorerepeat]

2016 Travels: The Good, the Bad, and the Funniest

2016 was good to us.  We were able to travel to and explore four different states in the US and two countries in Europe. We saw, ate, learned, and enjoyed different cultures, languages, food, and people. Our traveler spirit shone bright this year. We usually tell you the good and the best places to go and eat (we are all about positive thinking here!), but there are a lot of unsaid things when we post our articles. We thought it would be a good idea to actually tell you about the good, the bad, and the funniest parts of our experiences... because, let's be real, you are bound to have something funny happen when you are clumsy and curious at the same time.

NEW ORLEANS, LA

THE GOOD: We visited the amazing city of New Orleans this past spring. This is a city that has my heart and my soul and I will come back to visit any chance I get. That's a promise. I can't get enough of the beautiful architecture, the folklore stories, Bourbon St, hurricanes at Lafitte's, ghost and vampires, the gorgeous cemeteries, and of course, the food. If you haven't been to New Orleans, book your trip today!

THE BAD:  Nothing too bad in this trip. But I can say that in this trip we learned two things:  always bring comfy shoes, and rain gear. While we walked towards the Harrah's Casino on day 3, a torrential rain poured down suddenly and with no warning. People, when I say torrential, I mean TORRENTIAL. We stopped at a little store and were able to get umbrellas...that lasted 10 minutes, because ALL of our umbrellas were turned upside down by the wind, and we ended up getting soaked.  every single inch our our body was soaked.  It's no fun to gamble at the casino, and walk around with wet clothes.  

THE FUNNIEST: While we eventually found the humor and were literally "dancing in the rain", one of the funniest parts was when Coco's hubby felt fearless and thought it was a good idea to climb a post on Bourbon St.  He was actually successful in his first few attempts, but he was abruptly stopped by the massive amounts of grease covering his last targeted post. His hands (and parts of his clothes) were saturated by gooey, greasy, gunk, which, by the way, was very hard to clean off.  After that, we danced with a parrot, a rabbit, a pig, and a turtle, and sang "Eye of the Tiger" at a piano bar.  Yeah, that happened.  

PIGEON FORGE AND GATLINBURG, TN

THE GOOD:  Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are great places to visit with the family.  Home to DOLLYWOOD, we had an amazing time this spring.   

THE BAD: Nothing too bad happened while we traveled to TN, other than terrible traffic due to construction. Unfortunately, due to the recent wildfires in the area, many of the city's iconic sites were lost. Our thoughts are with the wonderful people of these two great towns.  

THE FUNNIEST:  Another torrential unexpected rain. While in Dollywood, and towards the end of the day, the skies broke down and rain poured like an open faucet.  We sought refuge at the main gift shop inside the park, and were able to buy an overpriced yellow rain poncho (good quality though). Thank goodness it wasn't cold, as our little 6 year old was not a happy camper.

CAROLINA BEACH, NC

THE GOOD: This trip was great.  It was Memorial Day Weekend, and the weather was perfect. The craft beer at Goodhops Brewery was fantastic, and the fire works at the boardwalk rounded off a fun filled night.

THE BAD: We wanted to stop by and tour the USS NC, in Wilmington, but, and I'm guessing it was because it was Memorial Day Weekend, the lines were long, and the kids were whinny.  We saw it from a distance and learned a little about too. Maybe next time.

THE FUNNIEST:  There is a town fair at the boardwalk. Our daughter made us laugh hysterically when she compared a Carousel Rooster to her daddy (my hubby). I guess she found the similarity in the long neck and height? Either way, it was a hoot!    

PARIS, FRANCE

THE GOOD: This trip was almost perfect. We couldn't get enough of the food, the wine, the cheese, the coffee! So many places to go, so much to see, so much to do. It was simply amazing! My favorite part was when we got some wine and food to eat picnic style at the Tuileries Garden, in front of the Louvre. It was relaxing, and uplifting, and one of my favorite memories.  *Read our articles on what to eat, and what to do in Paris*

THE BAD: While we were in Paris, the EuroCup was in progress in France. Because of that, security in Paris was extra strict, which is good, but also, drunken soccer fans were everywhere.  And let me tell you, roving bands of loud drunken peoples, especially in a city you are not familiar with can be a bit scary. The Eiffel Tower perimeter was barricaded with police and body searches, and we weren't able to see the Eiffel Tower at night. Next time it is. ALSO, there was a very limited access to free WIFI around the city.  Cafe's and restaurants will lure you into thinking you can use their WIFI with "free wifi" signs, but it's a lie! They just want you to sit down and eat/drink something.  When you ask for a wifi password they will give you a bogus one. This happened in MANY cafe's (not all though) in the touristic areas. Won't fall for it next time. 

THE FUNNIEST: Everywhere we go, it seems to rain, torrentially. But luckily, this time we were prepared! We had rain jackets, umbrellas, and waterproof shoes. Bring it on rain! What I didn't count on, was the fact that rain makes dirt slippery. Imagine this: Walking down the beautiful vast gardens of the Versailles Palace, when suddenly your feet move in a skating motion trying to avoid your body from hitting the ground. You fail, and you must spend the rest of the Palace tour COVERED in mud. Covered. Did I mention I was wearing white?  Yay me! 

ROME, ITALY

THE GOOD: The food. Oh the fabulous food. *what to eat while in Rome** The historical places were amazing as well. The Coliseum was breathtaking, and the weather was just perfect.

THE BAD: Our flight to Rome got cancelled. - Insert full panic mode emoji- We got a heads up that it was cancelled by calling home (to the US) and talking to a family member who happened to look at our itinerary. We spent hours on the phone with the airline trying to reschedule a flight for 6. Our flight was rescheduled for later that same day and we got complimentary food vouchers while we waited at the airport.- insert happy emoji here-. Finally, beware of pickpockets. While we didn't have any experiences with stolen goods, we were very well aware of our surroundings. Pickpockets and thieves will try to lure you into thinking you are watching a street show, or will force you into buying something you don't want. Keep all of your belongings on you at all times when navigating the streets of Rome. Sadly, many thieves will use children to lure you, so don't fall for those puppy eyes.

THE FUNNIEST: Pigeon poop.  Yes. When a pigeon scared Coco (she actually screamed) and pooped on her later. That, my friends, was epic.  On another note, while at the Rome's airport, we thought it was a good idea to stop by Starbucks and get a latte.  They asked for hubby's name (Chase), and the attendant didn't understand the name and asked again, and again...then she gave up and just wrote it down... this is what was on his cup, and that's how I will spell it forever.  

HELEN, GA

THE GOOD: Oh Helen, Georgia, home of Oktoberfest in the south. We pack our bags every year in October, and head to the mountains of Georgia. This little gem of a town, welcomes us with open arms and lots of brews and great food. We all wear our Alpine hats full of pins that we have collected over the years as memorabilia of our adventures, and try to match our outfits, and dance Polka at Festhall...yeah, I know, dorky...but it's fun! 

THE BAD: We have always been very fortunate and have had a place to stay while visiting (thanks Stephanie's parents!) but if you plan to visit this town during the Oktoberfest festivities, better book your hotel way in advance. The town is small, and the few rooms available book out very fast. It's almost impossible to find a hotel within a few weeks of the fest.  

THE FUNNY: Das Boot is always fun to play. Drink as much brew as you can from this massive boot-shaped glass and pass it along.  IF you finish all the beer in it, the person that went before you buys the next round.  We also tried some Stroh.  This exotic rum, smells delicious (butterscotch), but as soon as you taste it, it will burn your throat, like gasoline.  It tastes nothing like it smells, and it will make you cry. Yeah, it was pretty hilarious to see the boys try it.  

This year we also found wild bunnies roaming around in the parking lot, and we tried to catch them...unsuccessfully of course. But it was good exercise. 

Remember how I mentioned we like to match? That includes the matching suspenders bought for our party of 8 to wear. Those little boogers can be tricky to hook and unhook, just ask Coco. In an unfortunate bathroom incident, she simultaneously had her suspenders fly off her pants, into the toilet behind her, all while a drunken alpine dress wearing Oktoberfest goer barged into her stall. I'm sure the entire Festhall heard her startled screams.  Oh, I love Helen times!

  2016 was a great travel year for us and we are grateful to have shared our memories with all of you.  Stick around to see where 2017 will take us! it'g going to be epic!

Always,

Coco & Mia 

*** FOLLOW US AROUND THE WORLD! READ ABOUT OUR TRAVEL ADVENTURES HERE***

#2016Travels