#the podcast was fun and good before the meetup

[xomoosexo]

imo, I don't think the karl messages are real. HOWEVER, I do hope banter ends 😭 like I love what they are doing now. Never had any interest in their podcast.

I want more streams where everyone just can randomly join each others calls again. 😞

banter is never coming back dw

#yes i agree #the podcast was fun and good before the meetup #when we were getting virtually no george content #i need them to make a new discord eith just their good friends to hang out in #askies #karl neg

[twelvegrimmyplace]

Nick Grimshaw on kindness, queerness and life lessons as a grown-up.

Gay Times Honours Issue 2023

Friendly media mogul Nick Grimshaw, aka Grimmy, has done it all. He’s introduced his parents to Lady Gaga and, recently, even had tea with Harry Styles. Now, however, the former Radio 1 DJ is getting acquainted with something else – growing up. 

Getting older, no doubt, is terrifying. Carefree late nights with mates at sticky, flooded gigs are suddenly swapped for questions revolving around major milestones: partners, career, and, of course, kids. Close friends are no longer egging you on to ditch work and hangout or checking in to see if you’ve actually drank water. Instead, you’re trying to squeeze in a meetup between deadlines, dates and an ever-growing to-do list of life admin. And Grimmy is no different. Booze-driven afterparties have morphed into nourishing Sunday roast dinners with Mesh, his fiancé. Girl dinner Quaver packets have matured to conversations – on his glitzy new foodie podcast Dish co-hosted by Michelin-star chef Angela Hartnett – with Miriam Margolyes on how she likes her mashed potatoes. 

Having the big four-zero on the radar prompted a new perspective for the presenter. What was once maligned (“I felt like growing older was the end of something or deeply depressing,” Grimshaw admits) has been, mostly, embraced. It’s less coming of age but, rather, coming to age. Still, new digits doesn’t need to mean the fun is over. In fact, just last night, Grimshaw partied late with celebs Jake Shears, Amanda Lepore, Jodie Harsh, and Mutya Buena in Soho. Here in Holborn, however, things are much more mild. Sure, there’s some tasteful framed nude art to our right and Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ crackling over studio speakers but nothing beats a good old-fashioned launch party, or a karaoke b-day bash taking place later this evening in central London. 

Nursing a non-alcoholic beer, Grimshaw scoots across a black leather couch, arriving fresh from a photoshoot, something he describes as his “Naomi Campbell moment”. Comfortably clothed in a light-wash denim shirt and distressed jeans, he kicks off the conversation as if reuniting with an old friend. “I've never taken stock before. I'd never sat down and thought about myself, ever, and I don't think people do,” he says. Since his early twenties, Grimshaw’s image has been inextricably tied to two things: big names and his infamous towering quiff haircut. At some point, he acknowledges, you will have heard his quick-fire Mancunian comedy soundtracking your early mornings. Whether he was making jokes with Taylor Swift or having the early hours crashed by Charli XCX, the presenter became a known face at the Beeb. In his autobiographical book, Soft Lad, Grimshaw reminisces on the pull the small screen had on him as a young child. Armed with a love for glamour and theatrics, the events he saw on the telly called to a younger Grimshaw who dreamed of moving out of Manchester to take on London. 

Onboarding, in 2012, at Radio 1 to cover The Breakfast Show was something the podcaster remembers clearly; “There was a lot of pressure”. His days of spinning songs and connecting with artists over music became more than a vocation, but a specialism. While he does admit, sheepishly, that there were days his hangover ran over into work hours, he’s since taken time to reassess his habits and lifestyle. “When I was 23 I was getting absolutely wasted and doing it like a Geordie Shore night out,” he says. Now, Grimshaw is more conscious of being selectively sober in certain environments. “It can be really hard to go out and connect with people who are drunk and you're not drinking. But, sometimes, you have the best nights ever. I went out last night and went to a really fun party up until 1.30 am and had really good chats with loads of people.” He’s taking stock of the bigger moments around him, particularly ones that bring him closer to friends and family – “It's about learning. It's about growth,” he says earnestly. 

At 39, Grimshaw’s longevity has something to do with his candour and bonhomie. The most common compliment doled out about the presenter is his warmth. As a child, he recalls, the label “soft lad” was stuck to him, presenting his sensitivity as something to be ashamed of. But, years later, it’s become something – like his favourite Maison Margiela knit sweaters – that he wears openly. “At school, I always felt on edge that I was going to get beaten up or laughed at. When you've had that, you learn empathy and you think about how people might feel or what they're going through,” he explains. 

Realisng he was gay, as a child, filled Grimshaw with dread as he feared what it would mean. With limited queer culture references growing up (just Elton John and Lily Savage) his feelings were fully realised, aged 11, when he developed a crush on a poster of England footballer David Beckham pinned up on his bedroom wall. “You know what’s funny, not that I’m doing Miriam Margolyes press, but I saw her yesterday. I'd never met her and I went into her dressing room. Before I could say hello, she pointed and exclaimed: ‘You’re gay!’ and continued with ‘So, my dear, nice to meet you.’ As I got into bed last night, I thought about how that would’ve killed me if I was a teenager, but it was a really lovely bonding moment.” 

Though being a presenter and DJ took up most of Grimshaw’s early adolescent years, his move to writing has allowed him the space to trawl through his past years without expectation. From reassessing his comfort with queerness to realising the strength found in the LGBTQIA+ community outside of his town in Greater Manchester, Grimshaw is grateful for the relationships he’s built with those around him. “I learn constantly from the queer community. It’s that notion of being yourself and leaning into yourself which can be hard to do if you're queer, especially if you've had that knocked out of you when you're a kid,” he says. “The community are essential in helping everyone, and me, support one another.”

Soft Lad and Dish capture different versions of Grimshaw; the quirky characteristics of a presenter that couldn’t surface in a music hotbed. In his new roles, the presenter-meets-podcaster chats to hot-shot talent while unravelling stories centred around food, famous friends and frenzied stories. His book is an homage to his parents (“I realised how important they were shaping me – I love them contractually, but also really love them) and to his English and Irish roots. Bookended between stories of queer curiosity and his loathing for football, tales of community and camaraderie at Radio 1 surface. “I loved it when we had a great guest from the queer community. I had great times with Sam Smith, they would be a riot and would really gossip with us when the records were on and tell us stories that we couldn't have on the radio. Troye Sivan was a great time as well,” he recalls. 

Another memorable moment was his run-in with an early-era Lady Gaga, in Notting Hill, before she became Mother Monster as we now know her. “I did my first interview with Gaga years ago, for the telly, and it was when she was brand new. ‘Just Dance’ had just come out in America and she was making a bra out of gaffer tape on a dressing room floor,” he says, laughing. “I brought mum and dad along because they were in town so they met her right at the beginning of her career. Ever since then, whenever she'd come onto the radio show, she’d ask about my mum and dad.”

Grimshaw’s stories of famous crossovers are, understandably, endless – even if they’re ones he’s told plenty of times before. Up until recently, he’s remained embroiled in an ecosystem of music promoting a “product” but, now, he feels like his new projects allow for authentic conversations about people and their interests. His mantra, nowadays, is this: “Living in the full, truest form of yourself, without fear and judgement.” For a young Grimshaw, this unbridled queer joy took the form of “glamorous” drag shows where he dressed up as Cher for his family. Today, it’s about cooking in a kitchen packed with too many guests (and remembering to drink water). Turning 40, at one point, felt like a frightening due date. Now it’s a milestone Grimshaw is ready to take on.

#nick grimshaw #press #gay times honours 2023

[dreamiara]

Well I'm here since the drituation so by now I'm dnf obsessed

As soon as I started researching Dream, YouTube started recommending me dnf compilations. It was actually a big reason why I got into the fandom. I was like: ohhh and he has strange little gay dynamic going on with his best friend. Sign me the fuck up. I want to know everything about them.

The first George video I ever watched was the meetup vlog and then I watched hours worth of dnf compilations.

It was very fun. Then I read tons of fanfic and watched all Dream's spaces and podcasts because I love his voice.

Ps. I saw them way before I knew about Dream in an among us lobby once, I was watching another streamer that was in the same lobby. I didn't realize until way later that they were the same Dream and George because I'm not good at remembering names or voices. I only realized that I already watched them play when I saw the among us game in a dnf complication.

I only remember one though about George and it was something along the lines: wow this guy is a little cringe, fanboying about this Dream guy so much (I didn't know they were best friends😂) It was pretty funny unlocking that memory while watching dnf compilation.

thank god 💚💙🫶

#anogie #nat look #we've got another one

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

how doi accept being aro ace? I'm really struggling

I'm sorry you're having a hard time, Anon.

I definitely recommend seeking out ace/aro blogs to follow, both positivity blogs, but also just like regular people who happen to be ace or aro. You can also look into joining some ace/aro communities, so forums or discord servers (disboard is a good tool for finding discord servers), or whatever online communities you feel comfortable in. And even just lurking can be good, but participating and making friends is good too. You can also check and see if there's any in-person meetups near you, here.

Seeing other people like you who are complex interesting people, and getting to know people like you, etc. can really help you see being aroace and having aroace experiences feel normal.

Media is good too. And there's more ace/aro character now than ever before. I really like the Jughead 2015 run from Archie Comics, the Magnus Archives podcast and Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, which is a really fun YA book. But there's so much these days, especially books and podcasts. You can search for rec lists too and get results with a lot of choices.

And again it just helps you normalize being aroace more, and gives you characters you can connect to and relate to.

Is there anything around you making you feel bad about being aroace? See what you can do about either cutting back or cutting it out entirely. For example do the shows/movies/etc. you're following make a big deal about finding the one or how great sex is, etc.? Maybe consider not watching those shows until you're in a better spot, and instead try seeking out found family type shows. Is there someone in your life who talks a lot about sex/romance or their own sex/romantic life? See if you can figure out other interests of theirs and steer them onto that, or maybe cut back how much you're seeing them (you don't have to cut them off, but maybe it's a good time to take up a new hobby and be a bit busy for a while and just seeing them a little less often than usual until your brain is in a better place).

Any actively hateful stuff around you, definitely do what you can to cut that out of your life as much as you can. So if you're seeing anti-ace/aro stuff anywhere online, I really recommend unfollowing, blocking, even leaving that platform if that's what you have to do, because that stuff can really get in your head and have a bad effect on your self esteem and ability to accept yourself. If it's someone in your life you can't always cut them out, but do what you can to avoid contact or keep the topic somewhere else when you do have to interact with them.

Other than that just do your best. Pride month is coming up too next month, so make sure you check out some stuff then too, even if it's just online. It's a great time to find people who are making/sharing cool things related to ace/aro stuff too.

Accepting yourself isn't like flipping a switch, it's usually a gradual shift that happens bit by bit. But you get there, and the above can definitely help.

All the best, Anon! Good luck!

#aspec antagonism

[hereliescorri]

Weekend in Knoxville

An unintended side effect of moving back to the East Coast has been getting the chance to explore the South more than I ever really had before. My friend Lian and I went to Arkansas in ninth grade. I went to Austin once a year to see my friend Chelsea in the Beforetimes. And like everyone else, I’ve had many a layover in Atlanta. Someone joked this weekend, in fact, that when you die, your first stop on your way to the afterlife is Atlanta. That’s pretty much the entirety of my Southern experience, though, aside from last year when I also got to travel out to West Virginia to research the Mothman.

Thus, it’s been delightful to be able to journey to Knoxville, TN two years in a row for the Dead and Lovely podcast meetup. The 10.5 hour drive there is a fun opportunity to see other states we don’t have much experience with. Or, well, rather it’s mostly an opportunity to see a fuckload of Virginia, because that state goes FOREVER. I’ll make a separate post. But anyway.

Like last year, it was a magical time with phenomenal people. I have always found the sort of happenstance ways in which we meet folks who become super important to us fascinating. I met Mark, for example, when he tweeted about Krampus before everyone and their mom knew who Krampus was. Someone must’ve (manually) RT’d him into my timeline, and now hundreds of people listen to us talk shit every week.

Similarly, I somehow came across Dead and Lovely in my search for horror podcasts, stuck with it, joined their social groups, and in my lockdown loneliness, decided to dive into their Friday night Discord chats. And now I have amazing friends. Sometimes the Internet rules. Which feels like an absurd thing to say the week that Apartheid Clyde is systematically dismantling the only social network I’ve ever truly loved since Livejournal, but I guess I’m taking this opportunity to bask in the nostalgia of what was and what could have been.

Anyway, Knoxville is a cool ass city, if also a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it is OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive to stay there. This year we managed to find the tiniest of AirBnBs for a marginally reasonable rate — $208 for two nights in a full bed in a room the size of a large closet with a check-in time of 5pm. Hotels in the city under $150 a night are hard to come by, and most are considerably more than that, especially once they hit you with the fees. It’s bizarre because the city itself isn’t a hugely expensive place. At least not compared to up here in NYC. Everyone you meet who moved there from out of town is eager to tell you how much bang they get for their buck, but as a tourist, fuckin yikes.

This also brings up one of the other downsides of Knoxville. It’s pretty conservative, and if you do meet someone who moved there from elsewhere, there’s a solid chance they’re an asshole. Like, they moved from wherever they were specifically to be in one of the most conservative states they could find, which doesn’t bode well. On this trip, we were particularly unfortunate to end up with an Uber driver from Seattle who simply could not be dissuaded from expounding upon the tyranny of “the shot.” Even after I explained we’re “huge leftists” and despite the fact that I was wearing a mask in her car, no matter what topic we tried to shift to, she had some way to bring it back to the evils of the COVID vaccine. It was… exhausting.

We also had a girl on the street attempt to pray with us for an Astros win in Game 6 of the World Series which like, a) hard pass. Fuck the Astros, and b) did not go over well with the table of goths she’d accosted. When Kate told her we don’t believe in her god, she was clearly quite shaken and scooted off in a hurry, like it had never occurred to her such people existed in the real world and she was realizing for the first time that her pastor’s warnings were correct.

That said, there’s clearly a vibrant community of liberals and leftists in town and plenty of warm and welcoming places to go for a good time. In fact, I noticed several women around town wearing pro-Roe shirts and sweatshirts — a fairly ballsy move in a state with trigger laws that essentially outlawed abortion. Wearing pro-abortion apparel in North Jersey is no big ‘cause the vast majority of people probably agree with you. It takes some gumption to roll up to a bar full of folks getting drunk and watching a big football game rocking pro-choice garb. Respect.

Those little caveats aside, though, Knoxville is a delight, and Steve and Ben are well-connected to the scene and know the hoppin’ spots. Or the less hoppin’ ones for when we all notice we’re old and exhausted and just want to sit quietly and sip an old fashioned.

Some highlights:

Merchants of Beer

The ol’ standby, if you will. Great big patio. Full bar. Food truck with INCREDIBLE pulled jackfruit. Listen, it is not always easy to find vegetarian options in the South. We went to one spot in Virginia on the way back with only salad and nachos on the menu without meat, and they were out of lettuce. The food truck here let you substitute any of the meats with jackfruit. I got jackfruit mac and it was a goddamn revelation. Plus, there was so much of it, I ate part, Anna ate part, and there was still plenty left over. They’ve got cornhole and games and whatnot, and a zillion beers. It was a lovely joint to hit up two nights in a row, especially so that Steve could watch the sportsball while the rest of us sat in the corner like high school misfits.

Central Cinema

Ummmm, this place rules. It was started by the folks who created the Knoxville Horror Film Fest, and it’s basically a giant ode to horror culture. Tons of memorabilia, DVDs and even VHS tapes of horror movies, horror soundtracks on vinyl, kitschy little decorations, and an absolutely glorious amount of Jaws related art. We watched Psycho Goreman together, and seeing it on the big screen was next level. Their snack selection is also off the charts. This is what every movie theater should be like.

Rami’s Cafe

Just a cute little diner that was about an eight minute walk from our rental. It was absolutely poppin’ in there with folks decked out in orange for the UT game. We went straight to the counter and sat down where a lovely server took care of us immediately. I had an omelet with potatoes in it, and I swear to you, I will be dreaming about it. Obviously my whole point in writing any of this down is to remember for next time I go, and holy shit. Rami’s, I’ll be back for you and your soft, perfectly seasoned potatoes.

That’s probably enough rambling to myself about Knoxville. Proud of me for remembering to write shit down.

#Knoxville #knoxvilletn #travel #horror movies #horror podcast #dead and lovely #travel blog #food #the south

[h-pelessly]

December 2, 2023.

Today was Nectar's M&G and party. The M&G was at Ralph's for a release of a new Nectar pack, and we arrived at around 1:20 ish. The cast of Under the Influence podcast were going to show up at 1:30, and the first 100 people would get something. I didn't have high hopes, honestly, but then again, I'm like how big is the podcast, honestly. And people over 21 are chill. Anyway, we got there and were chilling in line. We talked to some Nectar crew because they were forced to talk to us and keep us in shape, but one of the Nectar guys said that he really likes Nectar (like duh but ok) and he recommended us the new flavor that he really likes. I don't know why he singled us out but it is what it is. I was like HEHHEOHOH. But anyways, waiting in line made me nervi tbh. The cast came out and they kept making videos and I'm like I feel DEAD. Can we also talk about Viet being fake as fuck when meeting us outside? Mans was DEAD when he first ran past us. Then, the cast came out to high five us, and Wootak missed my hand completely, and Viet stopped like 2 people before us. Whatever, at least I shook Mr. Jeremy and babygirl Esther's. So the meetup was actually super chill like the cast came out and talked to people and so did the workers. We got stickers, which these guys came out and stared hard at. I was like wtf like mind yo business???? I thot they went to UCLA and I was like no this ain't it, chief. Turns out they were friends with the cast LMAO makes sense. Also, we got gifts. They had cups or banners, but they literally ran out of cups like 2 people in front of us so we had to get banners. And we were like one of the last ones. One girl behind us got the last one. I really had to pee, but I had the worst anxiety so I couldn't go alone. Then, I asked the girl in front of me. SUPER weird I know, but she agreed and we became friends. She came alone so it made it all better :)

Books I read this month;

Offside Hearts by Nikki Lawson (4/10) This honestly has to be one of my least rated books that I've read so far. I started this book out in May, and had to stop because of an unrealistic, weird ass situation that happened between two strangers in the very beginning. Well, I somehow got to around 75% before putting it away for good. I only picked this book up so I can finally mark it as finished for the year. I feel so bad for being such a hater for this sports romance, but both the characters were so unlikable it was insane. Noah's, the MMC, only personality traits are having money and being obsessed with his girl. He had no depth to him. And Margo, the FMC, was scared of Noah's playboy antics, but still let him hit like she also became obsessed with him quickly with no regards to her heart. This was written like a fanfic and I absolutely hated it-- it wasn't realistic at all.

The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer (100/10) I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy. I expected it to be a physical copy, but I'm just glad I got to read it at all. I absolutely fell in love with both characters. Hazel was such a sassy yet fun character. She was actually the one who initiated it which I thought was shocking yet I loved it. We love bold, powerful women. And Rory? Do not get me STARTED on Rory, my new hockey bf. Blonde guys aren't usually my go-tos like Garrett Anderson from Play with Me, but oh my god, this man had me on an absolute chokehold. He's so flirty with only HER and he has eyes (literal heart eyes) only for her. She thinks it's fake bc of the fake dating trope, but it's so real for him. The nickname he has for her had me giggling and kicking my feet. Who am I kidding? This whole book, their interaction had me giggling and kicking my feet. Crying at some parts, but that's what good books do. Chef's kiss.

Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher (7.5/10) I feel like a 7.5 is actually very kind. I started this book in November and forgot about it because I didn't have time to read the physical copy, but I picked it up in December because I wanted to read all the books in my reading pile. I read it on Apple books bc it was that much easier to read and bring everywhere and honestly bc I am fucking blind. I was kind of disappointed ngl like it took place in Lake Wisteria, which is Cal and Lana's place so maybe I had very high expectations going in. Maybe it had the billionaire trope or it's written by THE Lauren Asher so I was like it can't miss. Sadly it did. The characters were childish, the problems were rushed, and I had no connection to the characters. The MMC, Julian, most of all, missed the mark. He's grumpy and rich, which is up my aisle, but the way he interacted with Dahlia (pre-hookup) gave me the annoying boy next door. Also, Julian was fucking MEAN to cal like cal's a baby-- my baby. Back the fuck AWF. I literally had to return my physical copy bc I wasn't in love with it.

That Summer by Jillian Dodd (6.5/10) It wasn't terrible compared to other audiobooks, but I put this off for so long. See all of the books I've been putting off and finishing for the year lol. But I get that Dani (Davaney) the FMC was a high-schooler, but miss maam couldn't make up her damn mind, leaving poor Chase, the MMC, wounded. Like she likes him enough when they're forced together for the summer, but not proud enough when back to reality? And there were SO many characters. I get it's a family trip and all, but I was like why are these names relevant. And not only were they mentioned at the beginning, they had a bigger part at the end. I'm like WHO TF IS THIS AGAIN. So yeah, maybe reading it would've been better. But also, where was Chase's POV??????

Reconsidering the Facts by Emily Tudor (7.6/10) I was so excited for Oliver and Paige's story. Oliver had me from the very beginning because he was such a complicated character, and no one really saw him for him. I loved Paige as we got to know her, and the only thing that set me off was the friend group. They seem very well behaved like they all go to therapy, but they don't give each other room, and the author KEEPS talking about them like honestly, I don't really care about their stories at all can we focus back on Ollie and Paige?! But there was a murder mystery tied into it which was very unexpected yet fun, and I liked it. Maybe I need to go to therapy because I absolutely DESPISED the friend group, but they make a lot more sense in this book than in the first one.

Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter (8/10) Lynn Painter doesn't miss. Tara recommended me this book and I saw that it was short so I was like why the f not. The beginning was like a movie, and I was like ehhhh, but then, when Liz started recognizing her feelings for Wes, I was screaming and pumping my fist in the air. Like I get that Liz is a rom-com fanatic so like she daydreams about the perfect everything, but like she tries planning out everything, and it was so cute when she came to the realization that she LIKES wes. I was sobbing and crying ugly the whole time. What threw me off was the end like what the actual fuck and the miscommunication trope like COME THE FUCK ONNNNNN. Anyways, it wasn't spicy at all. So I know if a story is good, spice is not needed.

Better than the Prom by Lynn Painter (9/10) This is a continuation or extra from Better than the Movies in Wes's POV, and I've been needing that shit from the very beginning. Too fucking bad we only get one little part, but it was ahmazing and much needed. Wes is such a sweetheart and like ugh, chef's kiss.

Personal Foul by Maggie Rawdon (7.95/10) I was looking to Wren and Easton's story since the very beginning, but the book was honestly not up to my expectations. I expected more banter between the two and the hate. However, Easton definitely topped my expectations-- how would anyone guess that this guy is an absolute marshmallow? Wren's worries about the friend group not accepting is valid, but also, I was like as a friend, they SHOULD be supportive and if it doesn't work, all they can do is help out. So I'm glad they do end up supporting the two. I want to give the author a standing ovation for the proposal at the end-- that made me tear up and I just want the best for these two.

The Mistake by Elle Kennedy (7/10) I mean it was a solid story, but it was so basic and simple. I probably should have binged the whole Off Campus series in the beginning, but I didn't and I put myself in a weird position. Because I bought the blue sprayed edges, I'm going to read all of them now. Honestly, the way (John) Logan looked at Hannah in The Deal was kind of giving me the ick. And that's exactly how the book starts out. It gives me Twisted Hate vibes because I liked the FMC, Grace, sm more than the MMC. Grace was so innocently charming and then became baddass when she realized her worth. I absolutely loved that for her, but I did like them together. I just think them coming together was rushed and random. Like their meet cute was super random and forced-- it wasn't even cute. But they are cute, I will say that.

[technowoah]

Dating The Dream Team Headcanon(s)

Dream! (Clay)

Our supposed golden retriever

He loves you with his whole heart and he'll tell you that every second he gets.

He loves showering you with affection on and off camera

Mostly off camera

Pda isn't a problem because no one knows his real face.

He'll kiss you, holding hands, hug you, piggyback rides when your feet hurt, locking arms, arms around eachother when you're walking. All of be above

Just hugging you from behind all of the time. And always wanting to be around you

But if people know who you are and know you're dating Dream you two rarely go outside in public areas.

But home dates are amazing too!

Blanket forts even though its so cliché, he insists.

Watching horror movies on the first date was his choice.

Ya know for somone to cuddle, just in case they get scared. It worked.

You guys dont need "dates" because you always are around eachother.

But Clay likes to have formal dates every now and then

At first you didn't know what to call Clay.

You had called Clay, Dream for the first month you two started officially dating.

One day he asked you why, and you said that you watch videos that he's in and gotton used to people calling him Dream

He melted on spot when you mentioned you watched his videos and videos with him in it.

Except for the minecraft cheating ones

He always asks if you like the video first before anyone else because he values your opinions.

He'll sit you on his lap while recording or editing and sometimes, I emphasize sometimes, your voice will make it into a video.

He was very protective of you, and still is. Especially because of the place he is in popularity.

In the beginning your conversations while speed running would always be either muted from his audience or either cut of from the extended manhunt videos.

Now he takes pride in having his significant other's voice in videos. He dosent cut out your conversations, except if they're too personal.

Or the kisses

Dream bought you roses on the first date, and now roses are such a special thing between you two.

Those little rose pendants for jewelry, fake roses to keep around his place, gifts things that reminded him of your first date with a rose that comes with it.

He gives you merch of course!

Your closet is full of Dream hoodies and a box full of milestone coins.

You always either get the prototype one or the first one made. Idk how he made that happen, but take his word for it.

You've meet "Drista" before, and you had met his family too!

His family adores you.

He has yet to meet yours, but one day he promises he will make a great first impression.

I would do into more detail, but Dream is one of the most caring, sweet, boyfriend's you'll ever have.

Sapnap!

My boyyyy

I love sapnap srs

Gentlemanᵗᵐ

He'll treat you like royalty

He's not the biggest fan of PDA but further into your relationship he got more comfortable with showing you love in public.

He loves hugs, lying together, just hugs and sitting you on his lap and resting his head on your shoulder.

You guys mostly have home dates for him to have an excuse to hold you all day.

The dates are mostly movie marathons with one of you laying ontop of one another

He loves cheek kisses btw.. all the time

Conversation between you two flows so naturally you could talk for hours about anything.

You try to convince him to have a podcast.

When you get too riled up his voice calms you and he knows that so he uses it to his advantage.

You two play fight alot, its never serious you two barely fight.

Also calling him his real name was the strangest thing to him.

Like Dream, it had to take some getting used too because their friends wouldn't call them by their real name (most of the time)

He adores nicknames for the both of you. You both have too many nicknames but the most popular one between you is 'angel'

You never sit in the same room while he plays video games, because he can scream very loud.

There probably has been noise complaints. And you wouldn't be surprised.

You'll always defend him no matter what. Even when the twitter stans get to him, he knows you'll be there without a doubt. Always ready to defend your man.

You're kinda protective of Sapnap, but he's more protective over you.

You two would defend eachother to the ends of the earth.

You trust him with hanging out with other people, but you just dont trust Twitter.

He loves showing you off to his community. He kept you a secret at first then gradually started saying "my significant other" and they caught on.

Sapnap isnt that much of a gift giver. He loves to spend more quality time with a person.

He likes to spend more time with you than buy you material things all the time.

But he gives you his merch, but then the rest of the clothes you get are his actual hoodies.

He's actually starting to miss his clothing so he asks for them back for them to inevitably end up back in your closet.

You and Sapnap are planning to take a trip to meet his parents and then make a weekend out of it.

Then the next stop is to meet yours and out of all the relationships you've had you're not nervous for him to meet your parents.

We love sapnap in this household and he would just be the best boyfriend srs

GeorgeNotFound! (George)

This man is so annoying

But like in an endearing way ya know?

He never fails to brighten up your day

Making you laugh

repeating phrases over and over again

poking you nonstop to get a reaction out of you

giving you long hugs that never seem to end

kissing you all over your face.

He is just so bright.

Hes the neighbors kid

George loves giving you affection whether its kisses or holding your hand he wants you to know he's there.

Even if you dont want him to he'll always want to be around you.

He loves skinship.

George loves walking around London finding stuff to do for dates.

He loves taking small roadtrips too so you get to see stuff around the area you wouldn't normally see.

Just walking around holding hands while making fun of anything you can see.

You two are out in public a lot so when George does his meetups with his friends and brings you along people would stop them and want to take pictures.

He'll introduce you as his significant other in public to fans who ask or notice, but online when his friends ask about his relationship he says "what relationship?" Even though his whole fanbase knows you two are dating.

His fanbase loves you two together, but sometimes they can get too much.

George couldn't care less about what his fanbase thinks if him and his relationship and he wants you do think the same because its not worth it.

Your voice sometimes appear in his videos when you comment on something he does in minecraft.

George doesn't like to put his personal life out on the internet so he still keeps secrets about yall relationship

All his community knows is that you're his significant other and you're "really cool" in George’s words.

You stay in his room when he's recording because he insisted that you stay.

Also he doesn't give you his merch, he refuses to and everytime you ask he just says "because I said so" and "I need the money"

He ends up giving you merch, you knew it was a bluff anways.

Dreams love language is gift giving

Sapnaps is quality time

and George’s is skinship like I said.

Hugs and kisses all the time. Even when your mad at him

You guys have so many inside jokes its ridiculous.

You say them around your friends and laugh just to annoy them.

You guys love to flaunt your relationship around. Showing off that "this is George’s jumper" and "oh this is y/n's necklace"

One time you threatened to cut George’s hair and he didnt speak to you for like an hour.

You already have a good relationship with him and his friends, but you havent met his family yet.

If your family lives out of the country you both plan to travel for him to meet your family.

If your family is in the same country you guys plan a month where you both meet eachothers parents in that same month.

George would be so proud that he got to meet your parents. And the same goes for you.

After all you both love a little road trip from time to time.

Anyways being georges significant other would be a 20/10 experience.

Taglist(s)

Dream Team Imagines: @bozowrites

MCYT Imagines: @annshit @bobaducky @malfoysslutt @egorldevi

#mcyt blurb #mcyt x reader #mcyt fluff #mcyt angst #mcyt headcanons #dream smp x reader #dream x reader #dream x you #dream x y/n #dreamwastaken imagine #dreamwastaken x you #dreamwastaken x reader #dream headcanons #sapnap blurb #sapnap x reader #sapnap headcanon #sapnap x y/n #sapnap imagine #sapnap fluff #georgenotfound x y/n #george not found x reader #georgenotfound x reader #george x reader #gnf x reader #gnf x y/n #dream team x reader #dream team x y/n #dream team imagines #dream team headcanons #dream team fluff

[awkwardgtace]

Results of Expectations Part 1

This started as a streamer au for like all my ocs....then i decided to traumatize Mira. Yeah it's still kind of streamers and podcasts and stuff but it's very backend lol

TW: Panic, sort of panic attacks, a bit of dehumanization, IDK What else as always please tell me

Part 2 | Part 3

Results of Expectations Part 1

“Thanks for watching, we’ll pick this up next time! Signing off,” Mira smiled as she ended her stream.

It was always fun to have talks with her chat, but lately it’s just been questions about her size and what she looks like. It wasn’t like she was the only one who hid her size, but the others usually talked about things that gave good ideas. She laid her head on her arms, it was tiring. Her phone buzzed and lit up with a name that made her laugh. Ian should probably have changed handles from NervousGamer before streaming. She pulled her phone close and sent him the go ahead to call.

“Hey Ian,” she said, as soon as the call came through.

“Hey,” he chuckled, he was nervous. “How are you?”

“Ian, what’s on your mind? Talk to me!” She was putting on a begging act to get him to talk. She heard the deep sigh and knew she’d got him.

“I…Mik wants to tag along today. He’s worried since you don’t know if this guy is really human. He’d rather you get mad at him grabbing you and leaving than freeze up with a stranger… I would rather him go too.” He added the last part hastily.

“Ian… You and I both know I’ll be fine.” She could hear the lie in her own voice. Ian definitely heard it too. “I’ve been talking to Corus for months, there’s no way he’s a giant. He’s a human. He understood the stuff I’ve mentioned that only humans would. So there’s no reason for M-Mikhail to come with, at all.”

“Mira… you know he won’t hurt you. He’s like a really big brother. It’ll be fine. I’d go too and we’ll stay far away, even leave if he’s a human. Please?”

“Ian, trust me, I’ll be fine. I have to get ready anyway. I'll keep you updated, promise.”

She hung up quickly, trying to steady her hands. She had to get over everything for at least her family. They had giants in their lives and she couldn’t just ignore them. She could at least see them and keep going instead of freezing up. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. She had to get ready and go to meet Corus. A human that didn’t know her history was going to be a fun change. He said he moved here a few months ago. Plus he seemed to get the whole no control and hands thing too which was nice. It helped that he was cute for sure.

Corus was antsy as Delphia helped to fix his hair. He was hopeless with fashion, but couldn’t risk looking like a mess today. He’d been counting the days to this meetup, Mira was great. He’d planned this day since they first did a video together. She had been so nervous at first, he never expected humans to be what got her comfortable. Delphia stepped away and seemed to be happy with her work. He stood up and turned to face her, pulling his shirt down again.

“How do I look Del?” he asked. She studied him for a minute.

“Like a mess, but I’ve done all I can. I can’t hide your natural messiness,” she laughed. He acted like she’d shot him, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and a frown on his face. He smiled quickly though, today was too important.

“Thanks again. I don’t think I’d have ever been ready for this without you.” He pulled her into a hug and she patted his back before pulling away.

“Did you do what I said?”

“I told you she’s a giant, it won't matter. There’s no way I misunderstood. She's funny, amazing, kind, I’m sure she’s beautiful too. This will be great.”

“Corus, neither of you ever asked and you set all of this up. Please tell me you listened at least. I thought Ash was a giant after talking with them. It would have been awful if I didn’t know Alessia was human and only planned for giants.”

“Don’t worry Del, I did listen at least. I made sure to pick the park to meet so there’s no chance of trouble from a building. I also planned for us to get food at one of the new places that have every table set for humans and giants. Nothing can go wrong.”

“Just be careful, and don’t be too grabby if she is a human. She may not spend a lot of time around giants when she’s a streamer.”

“I know-” He planned to say more, but his phone beeped. Her stream ended which means he has to go. He waved quickly before running out.

The park wasn’t far and he wanted to be early. He picked a bench that was about midway for either size. He hoped she was a giant, but he wouldn’t change how he felt if she were human. He had every intention to ask her on a real date today. If she said no then they continue on as friends, but he was hopeful. He stared at his phone waiting for the message that said she was on her way.

Mira did one last thorough check in her mirror. A simple black shirt with jeans. They were just two friends meeting, although she definitely wouldn’t mind misunderstanding and this being a date. She pulled her phone out and snapped the picture that would seal her fate. The first image she’d be sending of herself to someone outside her small circle in years. She typed out a quick here’s how I look today before sending. She almost screamed when she got a picture back. Corus sitting in the park, he looked great. She shoved her phone away before her doubts could stop her.

She had called a car to get her there. It wasn’t too far, but walking near giants was…a lot. She was lucky she didn’t have to go out around giants basically ever. If only the ones her family knew could leave her alone. She knew they meant well, but after the way Ian and Mikhail even became friends she didn’t want to risk knowing any. At least Ian felt safe around one and that one would go with him to meet and greets. She shook her head to clear her thoughts as the park came into view.

She hopped out quickly with a quiet thank you before rushing to the human side of the path. She just had to reach Corus before another giant showed up. If another human was around then the giant was less of a risk. She made her way to their meeting spot, panic hitting her when she noticed the large feet up ahead. She felt her breathing start to grow rapid, she just had to get to the spot and wait. She’d message Corus and he’d show up and she could be ok. It almost never mattered who it was, a human made her at least able to handle being near giants. She took a chance to look up, if it was Mikhail she was going to kill Ian.

She almost screamed when she got a look at the giant face. The face that was supposed to be meeting her. That should be on the human bench that was too close to the giant feet. She couldn’t breathe, tears started to pour from her eyes. She was shaking and couldn’t get her legs to move. The giant would see her, know it was her, and grab her. She had to leave, she needed to leave. She watched in fear as the giant foot ahead of her lifted slightly slamming back down. She yelped as she fell back, staring up in fear as the giant head slowly turned to look down.

Corus was starting to get nervous. She had said she lived close, she shouldn’t take too long. She hadn’t sent him anything, maybe she was a human? Close for them usually was a lot slower than giants. He tapped his foot, freezing when he heard a small yelp. He looked down and saw a human knocked over, he must have scared them. He kept his eyes on them as he turned and kneeled to check on them. They had strange hair, bright…lavender?

“Mira?” he asked excitedly. He was honestly confused, he was positive she was a giant. How did Delphia always know these things? He reached forward planning to help lift her back to her feet, but he noticed her shaking before he touched her. Did he almost hurt her? He changed plans, stopping with his hand just a bit above and ahead of her so she could use it to get up. “Are you ok?”

He felt small hands against his fingers, the gentle pressure of pushing against him. He took the hint pulling his hand back. He tried to smile at her, to look gentle. He knew some humans still had nerves around giants, but he could manage this. He didn’t know if he should try to get lower or if that would make her upset. He just wanted a chance, she was perfect and he didn’t want her to hate him. He pulled his hand completely away putting it on his knee. She was still shaking. He hoped she wasn’t crying.

“Hey, uh do you still want to go get lunch?” he tried. That seemed to set her off, he watched as she jumped to her feet and started backing away. “Mira I-”

She was running. He couldn’t go after her, it would only make things worse. He just sat there staring at the little human he desperately wanted to turn around and come back. He just watched as she ran out of the park, was he that bad? He pulled out his phone planning to message Delphia. He took another glance at her and saw the worst thing he could imagine. Mira was running into the human street with a car coming right at her. He acted without thinking.

Mira kept hearing the voices of back then. Talking around her how she was cute and her new sibling would be so happy. The awful month trapped with barely any food and water. Different memories as she kept her world barely together. Bruises that had faded burning with pain. She just ran, she had to get away from here as soon as possible. She wouldn’t let another giant hurt her like that. They were awful and painful and she just had to get away.

Next thing she knew there was a blaring horn and bright lights. She froze as she saw the car coming at her. She was going to die, she couldn’t get her legs to move. Then she was in something warm and firm that felt familiar and awful. She started thrashing immediately, she hated this. This was a bad thing, this was something to hurt her. She started crying before her world filled with light again. She was shaking as soon as she found the giant blue eyes staring down at her. She was frozen again, a giant had her. She’d be trapped again.

Before she even had time to think there was yelling. Then another hand that moved her in a way that made her feel even worse. Then she was wrapped in arms, arms her size. She slowly turned towards the body that pressed into her and saw a face she knew. Ian was here. She grabbed him tightly, shaking only a little less. She took a careful look around, hand they were on hand. She grabbed him tighter, her shaking getting to a worse level and her start. She was pretty sure he said something, but her heart was pounding in her ears. Giants had them, giants would hurt them. Giants would trap them and torture them and kill them and the giant was moving.

She pulled Ian as close as possible. He was supposed to be with a good one. He was still a kid. Then he was pulling her and she was forced to follow. Ian took her to the ground, they had to run. She pulled on him, but he pulled her back. He started leading her somewhere. This was Ian, he was good, he was trustworthy. She followed him, stumbling over her own feet as she moved. Ian would only lead them somewhere good.

“Why were you holding her?” the man asked. His green eyes looked like he could burn right through him. Corus tried to watch what happened with Mira and the other human, but this man stepped in front of him. “I asked why you were holding her?”

“Sorry if you missed it, but she almost got hit by a car,” Corus answered. The stranger’s gaze softened slightly before flaring up again.

“I highly suggest you do not contact her again.” Corus tried to look around them, but they put out a hand to hold him back.

The stranger glared at him, but he wasn’t about to walk away. She ran like he was some monster, nearly getting hit by a car doing so. She seemed terrified when he was holding her, but she had nearly died. He was at least going to check on her. Hopefully they could work something out, maybe another chance. He at least wanted to stay friends even if she had a problem with giants usually. He sighed before finally turning away, the stranger just glaring after him the whole time.

Ian’s hold helped ground her a lot. It took almost the entire walk home, but she seemed to start coming back to the present. She slowly loosened her death grip on Ian and he smiled at her as she did. He kept them walking, he even kept them from being close to the giant paths. He was too good to her. By the time they reached her home Ian was barely holding her hand, she’d pulled the contact away. He waited patiently as she opened the door for them, then helped her inside. He sat her down on her couch and then took a spot next to her, pulling her close so her head rested on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time before she felt safe to even think again.

“...I’m glad you both came even though I said no,” she whispered. She felt the arm around her shoulders tighten before starting to rub her arm.

“To be honest, Mik had said he couldn’t let you risk it. Especially not with how you reacted to just trying to meet him. I didn’t disagree,” Ian admitted. She curled in on herself a bit more, leaning into the hold of someone who made sense. Someone her size. “Mira what happened?”

“I was fine and then I got there and there was a giant where we were meeting. I was going to message him, but then I looked up and it was him…” She had to take deep breaths to stop from crying. He’d been terrifying. The images in her mind holding a sneer and reaching to pluck her from her life. “Then I fell and he heard and he looked. Then his hand was there and I was running. Then bright lights and a honking horn and then his eyes. Then another hand then arms then you then the ground. Now we’re here…now I’m barely sure this isn’t some nightmare and I’m still there.”

“It’s ok Mira, I’ll stay until you feel safe again. Do you want me to call the others too?” She nodded into his chest.

He excused himself to walk outside, and make the calls. She knew one was to Mikhail too. She should thank him, even if Corus was safe she never would have managed to say anything. She would have had to rely on him deciding to put her down or call a human for help. If he even knew any humans. Every thought she had made things worse, he could have taken her. It could have been just like back then. Ian came back in and had her lay her head in his lap. At least she had a family that was the right size to help.

“Del, it was awful,” Corus whined. He hadn’t known anyone else to call or even talk to, going straight to Delphia. She was with her partners right now, but he couldn’t just sit on this. “She saw me, acted like I was going to-to kill her or something. Then almost got herself killed and some other guy showed up, grabbed her out of my hand and sent her off with someone who could have been a complete stranger to her. The guy then acted like I’d committed some awful act for even bothering to look at her. He basically threatened me not to reach out again.”

“I was getting worried that might happen,” Delphia sighed. He barely heard the soft voice of Alessia over the line. “What was the handle for her streams again? You never did tell me…”

“I wasn’t telling you cause she hides who she is. I was hoping you’d wind up meeting her so I thought it would be best.” He sighed. Delphia was asking for a reason he didn’t think he’d like it. He flopped onto his bed before he answered. Something about this made him feel like he’d be upset. He could hear Ash’s voice now too. If they were speaking up it had to be pretty bad. “I was meeting PinkEyedMiracle.”

“I knew it,” Alessia’s voice came through loudly. For someone so tiny she never failed to almost blow out his eardrums. “Look none of us can or will get into it, but there was no way that was going to go well. We grew up with her and it’s been like this for most of her life now. She can’t even face Vitus and Dabria who basically raised her. I’ll try to get her to at least be willing to talk to you, but I can’t promise anything. Delphia’s got to do us a favor now bye!!”

He had no time to respond before the line was dead. He stared at the phone for a while before deciding to open his chat with Mira. She didn’t seem to have blocked him yet. He scrolled up through months of chats, to the very first messages about working together. He needed to find where he messed up so badly. How could he have thought someone that terrified was a giant like him? How does he fix it?

It was a bit later than he wanted it to be, but he found his first clue. She said she hated going out lately. Everything in this town was so combined she was always on edge. He’d laughed and said he felt the same. That one still was a simple miscommunication. She was worried a giant would do something, he was worried he’d mess up and hurt a human. It was a clue, but definitely not an answer.

The next message was after they played a game offline together. She seemed really nervous and asked him about ten times if she could admit something. She’d said she was always terrified of the other size. She didn’t say which, and they had just played a horror game as humans escaping a giant together. He slapped his hand to his face, that one was pretty obvious. She said having him there was the only way she got through that game. He thought she’d meant being so small was terrifying, something he related to.

After that night there were so many obvious signs. She was terrified of meets after she heard about how bad things went for the human streamer NervousGamer. She wouldn’t meet this guy her friend had basically become brothers with because his size made her anxious. Of course he was a giant, maybe that was who pulled her from his hand. He tossed his phone on his desk, if he kept going he’d just see how blind he was. How was he going to fix this?

He rolled onto his back and stared at his ceiling. He could just leave it, that’s what that guy said to do. Alessia said she’d try to get her to talk to him. He sat up and stared at his phone. He could call her… He could maybe message her at least. Apologize for today and offer to make it up to her. Although what could she have been through to cause such a bad reaction? He groaned before reaching for his phone and staring at the last message in their chat. A picture of her before the meet up, the opposite of what he saw. She looked happy and confident, he wanted to see that face in person. He had to say something.

Mira spent the night curled up with her family around her. A group of kids who’d lost the people around them taken in by a couple with a soft heart. She loved Vitus and Dabria, even if they were giants. They had saved her, gave her a home where she still knew people, and they never made her talk to them. They were probably the only giants she could handle anymore. They were the only ones she knew wouldn’t do anything.

Alessia had her in a hug, Ash holding them both. The two were supposed to spend the night with their girlfriend, Delphia would have stayed here if she were human. Rhys and Ian were laying on each other on the couch, they fell asleep watching the movie they’d all put on. She slid out of the hug, smiling as Alessia rolled over snuggling into Ash. She carefully stepped out of the room taking a moment to breathe. She needed to think about things.

She had to check things, she had a lot she was supposed to do yesterday. She turned on her computer feeling a pang in her heart. She didn’t know if she wanted to see him say anything. She opened her chat app and saw the bubble she was dreading. She checked her email and posted an update while the bubble seemed to grow bigger on her screen. She hated this, she should get someone else to open it. She was running out of things to do and no one else was awake. She clicked the bubble, looking at a much longer message than she expected.

CorBuster: Hey Miracle, I kind of figured you may want me going back to your name on streams. Sorry I scared you so badly, guess I should have been more obvious I was a giant. I know some humans are pretty nervous. My best guess is I almost stepped on you when I tapped my foot. I was sure you were a giant, but that doesn’t excuse that I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sorry I grabbed you too, I hadn’t planned to go after you I swear. I just saw you heading towards the street and the car coming. I had to do something, I probably could have done something else if I thought about it for more than a second.

If you’re willing could we talk? On the phone or online or even chat like this. I just… Look I really like you and had been planning to ask you on a date officially last night. I don’t plan to push it or anything, but I would like to stay friends. Finish the games we were playing on and off stream. Fuck I might delete this before you even see it. This is stupid that guy told me not to bother you again, but I can’t just forget this. I don’t know why I’m even writing this part, I’ve typed this whole message like six times and deleted it all. I probably won’t even send this. I’m pretty sure the sun is coming up, I hope if I do hit send you think about it. If I don’t hit send I guess I hope you message me….asdfkajfwoihfasklj;nfv;llkjaf

She couldn’t help but laugh at the end. He had done that a lot in their talks, passing out because he stayed up too late. It was part of why she started talking to him more. She didn’t want him to hurt himself just to try and be popular online. She checked the time stamp, he sent it two hours ago. She could just pretend she never saw it, let him wake up and probably delete it.

Alessia had said she thought it was worth talking with him. She couldn’t even start to think of how to start. She had a panic attack and nearly died to desperately get away from him. It wasn’t easy to say she had a horrible fear of giants and actively spent her life avoiding anything to do with them. The only ones that she could even speak to were Vitus and Dabria, but that had to be done one at a time while she was hidden in her home. She can’t remember the last time she actually looked at one of them.

She sighed as she read the message again. At least she could handle telling him that it wasn’t exactly him that caused it. It didn’t help that she could still picture him only as the human she’d imagined. The giant yesterday felt like some horrible stranger. It was probably the only reason she could even stand to think about entertaining this idea. She started to type out a message.

PinkEyedMiracle: Look it’s…a lot to explain, but it wasn’t your fault. The only thing that happened was I should have asked if you were a giant before agreeing to meet you. Let’s just finish our current stream plans and call it done.

She hit send and tried to relax. She didn’t like that her hands were already shaking. That giant could never get near her again, Corus wasn’t that giant. Mikhail had put her down after getting her out of one hand. The giants aren’t bad, they aren’t going to do what the other did. They aren’t going to ignore it if she were to disappear. She had to keep repeating it in her mind as she slowly curled in on herself. A ping sounded and she jolted upright.

CorBuster: I’m willing to listen. Mira I don’t want to lose you even if we just keep being friends. Can’t you tell me what’s going on?

PinkEyedMiracle: Even if I tell you it won’t matter. No offense, but I’ve been through it plenty of times. Besides, I don't want to type out everything and have it sitting there where I can see it again and again.

CorBuster: Let’s video chat, just one time please. Just one chance.

PinkEyedMiracle is typing…

PinkEyedMiracle: …fine…

Corus was vibrating, she had agreed. He could barely wait, hitting the call and waiting for her to answer. She answered, it was so funny how they felt the same size right now. She didn’t look like herself. She seemed small, scared, like the person he’d known couldn’t possibly exist. This wasn’t Mira, the person he learned about slowly over months. This wasn’t PinkEyedMiracle the famous streamer who kept millions entertained almost daily. This was someone completely new. He wanted to know this Mira, this one felt more real.

He watched her as her face seemed to twist when it met his eyes. He wanted that to be the bright smile he’d seen for months. How could he fix this? Did she hate the idea of being with giants? It could be that she had a bad ex or something. He just wanted to keep his friend at least. He had an idea that may backfire, but it was worth a shot to get her to loosen up.

“So,” he started, she jumped and he felt an ache in his heart. “Giants suck. They’re all loud and grabby, and uh big.”

Mira chuckled at Corus’s attempt to help calm her down. That smile that had been something she was so excited for lit up her screen. He looked so human like this. Nothing that made it seem like he was a giant, like he could grab her and lock her away. She had to take deep breaths to push away those thoughts. He cared about her and she cared about him more than she ever thought she could about a giant.

“Look Corus, I…” she tried. She has to explain so much. A lot is horrible. “It’s probably easier if you just go back like sixteen years to find the articles about it. Although none of them mentioned much on the humans, just the poor giant kid who had their life ruined.”

Corus wasn’t sure if she meant for him to do it now, but she wasn’t continuing. He did look it up, a giant kid who had their life ruined and humans were involved. There weren’t many stories about that overall. There was one that came up that took place in this town. She had said she grew up here. The headline alone made him pray that he was horribly wrong. Human girl found with giant sibling after missing for over a month. He clicked the link, the images were all of the giant child and their family. It didn’t look like a single human was even spoken to or directly about.

He started reading and he felt himself getting sick. A giant couple had recently started to adopt orphaned humans. The first the couple took in had supposedly been doing fine and they took in a second. The second had lost her parents to an accident that happened between humans and giants. The girl hadn’t been seen after spending a day with her new family, a large assumption was she was healing. The giant couple claimed they hadn’t even reported her missing because they wanted to keep adopting humans. They were sure she’d come home when she was ready.

“Mira is this-” he tried to ask. He didn’t want to keep going if it wasn’t her.

“Keep reading,” she cut him off. He nodded.

The article didn’t go into much detail on what happened to the humans. It barely mentioned even their status after they were found. It did mention the first human child had been found deceased. Their second child was found after a concerned parent of her friend forced himself into her new home. He started searching and calling out for her when he noticed the couple’s child eyeing a box with a fierce look. The child tried to stop him, but he had forced them aside. He lifted the box, tearing it open and finding the girl. Reports on the human girl said she was emaciated and screamed in fear as the giant who found her went to hold her.

Apparently his wife had come along and took the girl to the hospital. Then the concerned father started searching through the boxes the child kept in the room. The other adopted human was found along with a number of missing humans from the town. All of them deceased. The giant child was charged with murder and sent to serve their sentence in a giants only prison. They were added to the human risk registry banning them from locations that humans lived unless their surviving victim spoke up for their growth. The child’s parents desperately apologized and wanted forgiveness from the human they had meant to take in. He couldn’t read anymore as it just turned into trash about how humans ruin the lives of prominent giants. Seemed like the one who wrote it was just a prick.

“Were you really the one who survived?” he asked. Mira looked up at him with a fiery anger that felt out of place. Anger was probably better to feel about that though.

“Yes I’m the one who barely survived some sicko locking me in a box after my parents were killed,” she seethed. “I don’t care what you say I will never state they deserve to be around humans again. There’s no way anyone like you could understand what that was like for me!”

“Mira I-”

“It’s easy for all of you to say move past and I can’t hold onto it forever! You didn’t fear for your life every day. Hear how people casually discussed you running away or hiding from them like it was just inevitable!”

“Mira… please let me-”

“Go ahead tell me how you think I’m just some cruel size focused bitch. I already heard it all before. You can take all the-”

“Mira!” She seemed to see him again, bright pink eyes filled with fear. He felt awful, he scared her again. “I don’t think you should be over it. I want to punch that person who did all of that and then personally thank your friend’s parents.”

“...what?”

Corus was the only giant outside of Vitus and Dabria who didn’t think she had to change. Delphia and Mikhail knew there was something, but she made the others promise never to tell them. She didn’t want to have them face the comments she’d heard before. Vitus and Dabria heard it all before and they swear these giants wouldn’t think like that. She wanted to believe them, but no one she’d met felt that way. It’s been years and there were others she told, humans always understood and giants always said they were different. The worst giants said she should just get them off the registry, they were only a kid when it happened. So was she…

“I well I think what you went through was awful and wish I could have stopped it. I can’t see where anyone would think you should just get over this,” he said. She watched as he rubbed his neck, cameras made giants so deceptively human. “If people have been saying that to you then I think they’re just focusing on the wrong part. That kid’s life was ruined because they treated people like trash and hurt them. That couple claiming they had no idea seems off too.”

“I need to go,” she said and shut her computer down. She nearly jumped away from the thing. He didn’t mean that, he was lying to her. He just wanted her to believe him so he could keep her like they did. She didn’t even realize she kept backing away until she hit the wall, sliding down and hugging herself. Alessia ran in, she was probably eavesdropping. She held Mira quickly trying to soothe her. It wasn’t panic, this was something else. It was like he actually understood… “He didn’t say I should be over it…”

Corus didn’t have any time to try and stop her. The call ended before he processed what she said. He wanted to know more, more about what that kid did to her. He started searching, he couldn’t find much on any of it. It was like someone made sure all of it was gone. He found one thing though, the couple that had taken her in had their contact information up. He typed out a professional looking email asking for details on the old incident. They replied in seconds with a number happy to take his call immediately. He didn’t wait either, relieved when the line connected.

“Hi, it’s a pleasure to hear someone looking into this again,” Mrs. Ambul said. She sounded almost hopeful, he couldn’t help the way it made him upset. She was probably hopeful that her child would be let loose around humans again.

“I was looking for some new content when I came across the old article. It seemed like the focus was mostly on how someone had invaded your home and ruined your child’s life. Can you give me some details?” he asked. He tried to sound curious despite the anger he had burning inside thinking about Mira’s face. She had expected to be rejected and blamed for something there was no way she controlled.

“Oh well, our child had some strange interests. They thought it would help the humans if they stayed somewhere dark and quiet, like a way to grow up. The first human child we took in had a history of running away and the second had just lost her parents. We had no reason to assume a story that came from a book would cause such trouble.”

“According to the article, there were a number of other deceased humans found alongside the two adopted. Ones that had been going missing from the town for an extended period. Can you tell me more about that?”

“Well there seemed to be a bit of miscommunication in that original article.” He heard forced laughter, he had a bad feeling about this. “Those humans had all been homeless and snuck into my child’s room for warmth. They frequently complained it was too cold so we had a heater in their room year round. The humans got stuck and no one knew they were there, nothing like you’ve heard.”

“I see.” He was going to be sick with his next line. “This adds up to a lot of what I found. Do you think you could connect me with your child? I have a lot I need their take on. A lot that if heard I might be able to get public opinion on their side.”

“Oh well that’s wonderful, unfortunately they aren’t allowed to interact over the phone or internet outside of their giants only community. I can give you their address and let them know you plan to come by maybe today?” The joy in her voice made him want to scream. He couldn’t though, he had to hold back and keep this up. He would probably wind up punching this kid in the face though.

“Tomorrow may be better.”

The woman spoke too quickly for him to hear, but he got an email with an address and the line went dead. He stared at it for a while. That reaction from Mira wasn’t someone who’d been misunderstanding a child’s antics. Their kid was almost ten at the time too. These people made him sick and he would get to the bottom of how anyone could think this was normal. Another email came in from the woman with a list of names. Others she spoke to before they spoke to the human who lied about her child. Things were getting clearer now. The first bits of a plan formed in his head as the dread settled in his gut.

He sighed before pushing away from his desk, he’d need Delphia’s help with all of this. He grabbed his phone and sent her a message. He may need her to contact that podcast friend of hers. That list of names is long and it makes him have a feeling there’s a lot more that got hidden. First he’d need to get some kind of recorder. He wasn’t risking his phone failing on him out there. He got a call after a minute, a bit shocked to see a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hello?” he asked as he answered. He hoped it wasn’t someone telling him Mira hated him.

“Cor, it’s me. I’m with that podcast friend of mine now. My phone’s being used by him for something. What’s up?” Delphia’s voice came through. He smiled, this had to get done.

“Look, long story short I found out about something that makes me sick. I don’t want to explain how I know, but can we meet and talk? Can you both come here? I want to get information on this and it’s a lot I can’t do it on my own.” He heard muffled voices on the other end. Delphia was probably asking, it seemed like she was agreeing. She always had his back.

“Ok we’ll be over in a bit. We weren’t far anyway. Although my friend said if you waste his time you’re paying for what he’d been out here buying.”

“Tell him I’ll do it anyway. Let yourself in when you get here, I’m going to be on my computer searching for some things.”

As soon as they were off the phone he went searching. He found article after article about how an innocent young giant was punished because a human made up lies. Each person on that list had written one, a number of them had petitions to get the giant removed from the human danger registry. Sob stories about reuniting them with their parents. He was ready to go hunt each one down and teach them a lesson. How could they see the way she reacted to giants and think she was just holding a pointless grudge?

Something else started to eat at his mind, she said her parents were killed, but the article mentioned an accident. It would have to be close to when that first article was written. He started searching for information on that. He was coming up with nothing until he widened the search area. He found an article, Tragedy at the Human Roads. It was small, but had more than enough information. A giant collapsed and fell on a human road, causing a number of deaths. The article had a picture of human survivors and it may be a much younger version, but he saw Mira.

He jumped when he heard his door open. This was worse than he thought, he just hoped he could do something about this. He couldn’t make her less scared or anything, but he could make sure that the humans hurt finally got the attention they deserved. He turned to his door waiting for Delphia and her friend. When they walked in he jumped up, it was the guy from yesterday. He was just as stunned, staring daggers at Corus. This wasn’t going to be easy to get help then. Delphia clapped, making them both look at her.

“I guess you two have met, Corus, this is Mikhail, Mikhail Corus,” she introduced them. Corus went back to his computer, closing the article on the accident and pulling up the main one he’d found on the creep of a kid. He stepped back again looking at them both.

“Obviously you already don’t like me, but just read these articles I found. I can’t just ignore all of this,” he explained.

Mikhail narrowed his eyes but approached the computer. Delphia leaned over his shoulder to read along. It wasn’t long before she had tears in her eyes and was backing away. She didn’t have the heart for all of this. Mikhail just kept reading, moving between each article slowly. Corus was getting worried he was actually on the side of the family that let humans like Mira suffer. Mikhail turned to face him once he reached the last article Corus had pulled up.

“What are you planning to do about this?” he asked. His voice sounded somewhat like when they met the day before. An anger thinly veiled under an air of decorum.

“I was curious after this, so I called the family from the article. They talked about how the human who survived misunderstood and how their child was being wrongfully punished,” Corus started.

“Are you intending to take their side in this?” Mikhail raised an eyebrow. That anger seemed to come forward more.

“I want to get the truth and have it reach as many people as possible. The last person the kid’s mother spoke with wrote an article a few years ago. I think if we work together we can make sure the truth about this kid gets out so there’s no risk to humans at all from them. A number of the articles spoke about reconsideration for the sentence. I have some ideas on how to help humans who deal with this too.”

“Corus, I need you to tell us, does this have to do with Mira?” Delphia asked. He knew the look in her eyes, he couldn’t get away with hiding it. He stiffly nodded and the two shared a look. Delphia turned back to him with a strength he didn’t expect. “What’s the plan?”

Mira hadn’t handled the call well. She shouldn’t have even spoken to him. She should have made up some excuse for all of this instead. Alessia had spent the whole day petting her head. Vitus came by at one point, the others had to talk to him. She couldn’t get over how loud he was with each word. He was trying too, but it was too much. Her mind kept thinking of a hand grabbing her, putting her somewhere she can’t escape. Of a single move that would end the lives of everyone around her. His steps as he left made her shake.

“Mira… this time it’s worse than normal isn’t it?” Ian asked. She nodded. Ian was supposed to go to a store with Mikhail today, but she panicked when she saw Ian walk towards his feet. She was going to ruin their relationships like this. Delphia had been on the phone with Ash a lot too, she was making them put things off.

“You guys should go, I’ll be fine,” she said. She was still shaking, this was the first time she’d been held since then. Then she spoke to him and he empathized, it left her mind a mess. She felt a squeeze on her hand and followed the arm up to Rhys’s eyes.

“We’re not going anywhere,” he said. “It’s just like when we were younger, extended sleep over. Maybe we can convince Dabria to get us a giant candy again. That time Vitus was so mad, but he never did anything. He said we looked too happy for him to really be angry at us.”

The others laughed, but Mira just smiled. She remembered that day differently. The giant candy and eating bits of it they handed to her. The others passed out from sugar crashes while she stayed up nervous and anxious. Vitus coming to check on them, shaking in fear when she saw the anger on his face. He hadn’t seen her awake, his hand coming in towards them. She could barely breathe as he took the candy from them. She heard him murmur then walk away, a tense moment that ended with her crying herself to sleep in fear he’d come back.

Part 2 | Part 3

#OC:Mira #OC:Corus #OC:Ian #OC:Mikhail/Mik #OC:Mik/Mikhail #OC:Rhys #OC:Seer/Delphia #OC:Ash #OC:Alessia #OC:Vitus #OC:Dabria #SortOfStreamerAU #gt #g/t #gianttiny #giant/tiny #gt writing #g/t writing

[ilyuqi]

Honestly tho I think you’re overreacting just a little. Dream is supposed to face reveal when he gets there so that they’ll be able to leave the house, whether he does that is something we don’t know. But Sapnap has already stated that him and George will go out and do shit without Dream if they have too.

Also I think a lot of the uk crew will move or at least visit America next year. For example Tommy, the only reason he’s not going back with Ranboo is his A Level. Which if I’m correct, he’ll be finish with May/June time. After that I don’t doubt that he’ll visit America. Tubbo technically after his birthday has nothing holding him back from going because he’ll be a adult. I can see a bunch of the uk crew moving or at least visiting America.

Do I think George will have as much fun as he was having back in the UK? Probably not but he’s going to go no matter what because he’s wanted to for the past 3/2 years.

despite all this talk about dream eventually leaving the house when george comes i feel like . its not gonna happen, there is something like genuinely wrong with dream when it comes to paranoia and even if gnf comes to america i'm not 100% sure we can take dream's word for it that he'll face reveal. dream is a perfectionist. he wants every aspect of his face reveal to be the way he wanted it, and that includes getting his body to the place where he wants it, and if youve ever had an ed you know that no matter how much weight or toning you do, if you dont feel genuinely good about yourself regardless of your weight, it doesnt matter what you do, youll never feel like you're quite there and wont ever be satisfied. so it might even take a few months AFTER george comes for dream to do a face reveal, and george is going to be . bored bored bored out of his mind in that house. i do think it's nice that george will have sapnap when he eventually does go there but like, if george is going to the us he's doing it for dream, it'll seriously be a shame if dream doesn't live up to his promise and brings george to just an empty house with like 3 or 4 friends within the one state (yes i saw the asks telling me punz and sylvee live in florida i saw guys im sorry im not updated on cc locations 😭😭)

uk crew will probably only visit america, whereas when people see george they imagine him to fully live in america with dream for a good year or two maybe, trio-style yknow? and thats where im like. eeee maybe that's not the best idea because 1) dreamnap diet kills and we've talked about how long can george go before he eventually just has to eat house food 2) dream just seems like a shitty roommate im sorry unless he really is just horrible to sapnap and has every intention to treat george better i guess?? thats good? but then that also creates tension within the dynamic in the house and . i only see it going downhill from there . and 3) again just in general george has a lot more in the uk, no??? even if uk boys go back and forth between uk and america, i see most of them (except for ranboo maybe?) living in the uk the most, and george will probably end up like . alone . like . i know people are also saying "oh well they're millionaires they can fly to florida whenever they want" i like the sentiment but despite sapnap and karl jacobs being millionaires we only ever see meetups from them every 3 months . its probably easy to get bored and . its pretty clear that sapnap is a lot happier with karl vs dream and i feel like that speaks to living in his house (side note: anyone find it interesting that the podcast began, just without dream?? i have a feeling sapnap knew it was a good business venture and dream had delayed it so long that dream just told sapnap to go for it and start the podcast [even though the podcast is performing well... definitely not as well as it wouldve been w dream. and im sure dream knows this, which is why he was okay with sap doing a podcast without him. idk . shooting guns in the dark guys, its the same logic as why dream lets sapnap take his scrap video ideas, they're scraps for a reason. sapnap just jumps on any good idea dream has.])

i don't deny that george will probably go to america, even if its not in dream's house, quackity's always there and so is karl and punz and sylvee and all these other creators he can meetup with. but do i think he'll be there as long as we think? no way, in my head, the max is like 6 months, which is generous but i'm only attributing it to george's laziness when it comes to moving.

[lanaisnotwool]

414 Using Meetups to Grow Your Business - Interview with Adam Adams

http://moneyripples.com/2020/08/14/414-using-meetups-to-grow-your-business-interview-with-adam-adams/

Could creating a meetup group cause massive growth in your business?

Adam A. Adams, also known in the real estate community as Triple-A, has educated thousands of investors through real estate conferences, radio & podcast interviews, his coaching program, and his thriving Meetup group.

Adam hosts the Creative Real Estate Podcast, a podcast listened to around the world, with hundreds of thousands of downloads. His efforts to educate and inspire other investors have earned him the prestigious title “Master Investor” by Think Realty magazine and he is also a three-time Hall of Fame winner from RE Mentor for his successes in multifamily syndications.

In 2005, Adam took the plunge into part-time real estate investing, but it quickly became his full-time passion!

Today Adam is partnered in 7 multifamily syndications with approximately 1,400 doors valued slightly over $100 million. His company, BlueSpruce Holdings, focuses on finding and managing apartment communities to allow passive investors diversification, cash flow, tax benefits, and freedom of time.

Adam’s primary role in the company is to attract capital, successfully raising millions of dollars from private investors. He continues to grow his company’s brand as one of the top syndication teams in the United States.

Listen to our Podcast here:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/moneyripples/2020/07/03/414--using-meetups-to-grow-your-business-interview-with-adam-adams

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

Chris Miles (00:00): Well, hello, my fellow Ripplers! This is Chris Miles. Your Cash Flow Expert and Anti-Financial Advisor. We want to welcome you out guys for a wonderful show. A show that's for you and about you. Those of you that work so freaking hard for your money, and you're now ready for your money to start working harder for you. Today! You want that freedom. That cash flow. That prosperity. Right now! Not 30 or 40 bazillion years from now, but right now. So you can have that life of freedom to be able to do what you love. To be with those you love. Whenever the heck you want to do it. But it's so much more than just having a life of luxury, right? It's so much more than just, you know, having great cash flow and being financially free. But it's about having that life of legacy. Being that Rippler. Where you create a ripple effect to the lives of those around you. And guys, I appreciate it so much for allowing me to create a ripple effect through you guys.

Chris Miles (00:56): Cause you guys have been awesome. I love hearing how much you guys are bingeing lately, and you've been sharing it with other people and everything else. I love watching those numbers grow. So I appreciate it so much that you guys are a part of this movement. Allowing this ripple effect to go through so many lives, if not thousands, the hundreds of thousands. So thank you so much guys.

Chris Miles (01:13): As a reminder, you can check out our website, MoneyRipples.Com There you can go and see all of the good stuff. You know, everything from, you know, blogs from a couple of years ago that I occasionally write. Do even our little ebook called Beyond Rice & Beans, Seven Secrets to Free Up Cash Today. Which you can see there now. So check it out! Alright!

Chris Miles (01:33): So today I want to bring on a special guest because this is the guy that, I've been on his show as well. But man, he had a reputation that proceeded himself and it finally had the opportunity to have him on our show. I can't believe I didn't, I've taken it, taken me this long to even get him on here. So this guy is Adam Adams. Some of you guys might know if you're in the real estate community already. He's also known as Triple A, right? He's educated thousands of investors to real estate conferences, podcasts and radio interviews, coaching programs, his meetup groups and everything. Right? He's also the creative real estate podcast that I ever suggest you guys go check out. His let's do around the world has hundreds of thousands downloads as well. His effort to educate and inspire other investors had earned him the prestigious title of Master Investor by Think Realty Magazine. And he's also a three-time hall of fame winner of RE Mentor for his success in multifamily syndication's. Meetup.com has also recognized him as one of the top six meetup organizers in the world in 2018 guys. Which is going to be part of our topic today. He took the plunge and decided to go part time real estate investing, but it quickly became a full time passion for him. Today he's partnering in seven multifamily syndications with approximately 1400 doors valued at slightly over a hundred million dollars. His company, BlueSpruce Holdings, focused on finding and managing apartment communities to allow passive investor diversification, cash flow, tax benefits, and freedom of time. So guys, this is huge! So excited to have Adam on. So Adam, welcome to our show!

Adam Adams (03:01): Thank you so much for having me. And as you said, I've had you on our show a couple of times. So we really like and respect what you're doing, Chris.

Chris Miles (03:09): Yeah, absolutely man. So, give us a little background, like why'd you even go the real estate route in the first place?

Adam Adams (03:14): I went real estate because of my family. I grew up doing real estate. So it seemed like a normal thing. So I had one of those unique childhoods where a lot of people grow up and real estate seems like a far off thing. I was almost pushing it away because it was so close. My dad was always saying, you're going to do this. You're going to do this. You got to save 10%. You got to invest 10%. And so it was actually in college when he first purchased my first real estate for me, then his CPA told him that he, I had to buy it back from him or else he was going to pay a lot in taxes. So yeah, fun stuff. When you're a college student and barely making your books to have to pay for real estate. But with the cool thing is I made a 12000% return on my money within two years.

Adam Adams (04:03): And so in 2007, two years later after selling that I had more money in the bank than I had ever made in an entire year before that. And so I was thinking to myself, well, I'm going to have to figure out how to really make this real estate thing work for me. I was going to school for music education. I'm a musician. Been writing music since I was very young. And it was that time when I decided that I'm probably not going to be a teacher because this was a whole years of teacher salary already. So I decided that that was what I was going to focus on. So I bought my first, my first triplex, I lived in it house hacked. Made some money in it. Managed some other properties. Made somebody a couple of million bucks fast. And it was like, I couldn't get away from it. I couldn't get away from it. So fast forward, 15 years. And now I have over a thousand apartments that I'm partnered in and loving every minute of it.

Chris Miles (05:06): I love it, man! Man. So what, so tell us, like, obviously you've got a huge reputation for, like, you know, social media. You got this reputation for marketing. I mean, you even got asked to speak at the meetup conference, right? You made a global conference there as one of the top six speakers there, right? Like what they, how'd you even go the marketing route, like, was that just stumbled on by accident or is that just something that you just seem to master really naturally?

Adam Adams (05:31): That's a really good question. I feel like it was essential for me to learn it because when I was getting started in real estate, you know, and when I was starting to raise equity, I felt as though I was being drowned out completely by a lot of other noise and some of it was loud, you know, Grant Cardone is loud. And he's drowning out a lot of the people that want to be in real estate or marketing or branding. And I felt that it was just necessary to figure out how I could start standing out. And I stumbled across some of it by accident. Like with the meetups that you mentioned, I was brand new to Colorado. I had just moved here to Colorado five years ago. And when I got here, I didn't really know anyone.

Adam Adams (06:31): I felt brand new and I felt like someone told me your network is your net worth. And so with the marketing and branding, I remember thinking, I've got to figure out how to grow a network in a new place. And it was actually my mother in law who said that meetup was a place that you could kind of grow your brand and get to know people in a new place. So I just started to meetup. I literally just, you know, I don't suggest this to other people ready, fire aim. I always say ready, aim, fire, take the time to really figure it out. Yeah. And especially now that I can help other people do the same thing. I want them to skip their learning curve, but I just, I jumped into it. And the marketing I learned over time because in the beginning I only had a couple of people showing up.

Adam Adams (07:25): And the only way on meetups that I could have more people come to the group is if I spent extra time in the back. In, what is it in the background. Actually marketing the meetup. And I did things like take pictures while I was there. Write stories about people that attend, because I felt like if, if other people that were going through the same thing knew that there was people like them attending my meetup, that would help them think, Oh, I should come to this meetup too. That guy had my problem. And now he's successful. So I just started marketing, branding and throwing this out in, like you said, a couple years later, meetup HQ flew me out to speak to 150 of their top people. And that was a lot of fun. So in short I stumbled across it. Yes. I learned the hard way. Yes. And then I realized that if you don't take the time to market and brand who you are and what you're doing, people are just going to go to the other people that they're hearing marketing brand, who they are and what they're doing.

Chris Miles (08:35): Well, that's kind of, I was going to ask you is like, whether someone's in a real estate investor or if they are a business owner, right? I know cause we've got different people on this show. You know, why do they feel so important that they do brand themselves or market themselves and have this kind of influence?

Adam Adams (08:49): Yeah. Well, if they are a real estate investor and they're looking for deals, it's the main thing that is brought my company deals. And so here you go, this is the best way to sum it up. People do business with people that they know like and trust, right? And we all know that. And if 10 people know you, what's the most amount of people that could ever like you or trust you? The max. So if you want to build a funnel, people are talking a lot about funnels these days. So a lot of people think it's just a website. A funnel is a lot more than a website. A website is a piece, a small piece of a funnel. But if you want people to know you so that they can like you so that they can trust you so that they can invest passively in your deal or give you the next deal that they find where you need to close it or just do business with you. Then you got to have a lot of people knowing you. And to do that, you have to, I call it the four pillars just to brief it out.

Adam Adams (09:53): You got to have some type of thought leadership. There's five different thought leadership platforms we could talk about. You got to have some type of live event where you're meeting people in person and getting to know them. You gotta do something on your social media, where people, when they search for you, they literally can find you because these days, if they don't see you on LinkedIn or Facebook within the first five minutes of searching, they immediately go to the next person. So you gotta be active. And then the fourth one is your, I call it a Lead Magnet, which is some type of giveaway that helps your perfect person, that either will invest in your deal or do business with you to be able to convert from knowing you into starting to trust you. Right? So those are my four pillars and they're really, really important. You got to do all four of them and the meetups, the live events, I've raised $4.2 million for our apartments for my real estate deals have come. I can count exactly that amount of money just from the meetups. We've had a few million from the podcast too, but it's interesting how effective the meetup groups have been.

Chris Miles (11:09): It's interesting too, because I know a lot of, especially real estate investors out there will think the meetup groups are like a complete waste of time. They're like, Oh, don't even go to those things. There's just a bunch of wannabe investors there. Nobody really of good value. And you're completely flipping that upside down and say, no, absolutely. It's one of the best places to be, right?

Adam Adams (11:29): Yeah. Well, but you're right. There's a ton of people that say, don't go to meetups. And I actually think, I'm going to be honest. Most of them are correct. Don't go to meetups! Going to meetups is completely different than hosting meetups.

Chris Miles (11:46): Interesting.

Adam Adams (11:47): When you, let's just pretend like you're new, you have money and you're going to a meetup. You see 30 people, 30 different people. You've got a leader or maybe two leaders and 28 other people besides yourself. Yeah. The first person you're going to decide to know like, and trust the first person is probably going to be who? Not one of the 28.

Chris Miles (12:12): Right.

Adam Adams (12:13): It'd be one of the leaders, at least the leader or two. So when you're hosting these events, you get the deals before anyone else in the room. Cause people are able to see your track record. When you come to a place like you don't know anyone else's track record, but these people that are established, they've been running the meetup for a little while. You tend to trust them. You tend to believe that they can close. And so if you're asking, should I attend meetups? Yeah. Maybe not. Maybe not attend. But if you're asking, if you should host a meetup, like run it, be the organizer. You're going to get massive, massive value. I look at our group, it's a, it was a lunch club. I mean, it's still a lunch club, but now we, it's corona virus. And we don't have lunch during lunch club cause we're a virtual, but we started out just meeting at lunch and I never imagined how many people would be able to come to one of these. But we got up, up to a hundred plus every single week, 176 at the top. And those people are rarely doing as many deals with each other as they are doing deals with me. That's why I've been able to raise 4.2 that I can solidly say came directly from as a result of my lunch club. So yeah, let's just differentiate this in our minds. There is a complete difference. You can either attend or you can host and you'll get the value when you host a meetup.

Chris Miles (13:44): And that sounds like a lot of work. Do you think it's like a massive amount of work? Do you think it would be simplified?

Adam Adams (13:49): It's in general, a lot of work and a lot of people say it's a lot of work, but because you asked that question, I can share really good tool that has helped me to be able to simplify it. So in 2018, the same year that meetup HQ flew me out to speak. That year I hosted over 220 meetups, 220, like it was four or five or six every single week. And it was a part time job for my assistant and a part time job for me. So there was a lot of work to host 220, but what we found, what we learned halfway through that year is how to really solidly make it easy on us.

Adam Adams (14:36): So here's the tip trick and strategy. Grab some type of Excel spreadsheet and you're going to have the horizontals and the verticals at the same time. Right. And so what you'll, what you want to do is first you're going to book, you're going to block out your calendar. Let's just pretend like you're not going to go 200. Let's just do, let's just pretend like you're going to do 52 and you can do 12 if you want, but let's just pretend you're going to do 52. Every single week, always on Thursday or something like that. What you'll do is you'll actually start writing out the dates. Thursday, January 5th, Thursday, January 12th. And you just keep going. And so now you've blocked out the dates. The second part you do is you block out the venue. So you figure out, you start thinking ahead of time, what venues will I want to be at this year?

Adam Adams (15:29): So if you pick, if you have four venues, you'll call all of them. And you'll say I have 13 different places that I need to come and visit you this year. And I want to block all of them out all at one time. And you'll call the second one and block the other 13. The third one blocked the other 13. The next step you'll do is you'll start writing out the topics that you're going to want. Now I mentioned that I kind of go to four different events. I kind of, I do that on purpose. So, so I'm in the Denver area. So a quarter of what I do is it near Boulder. There's a lot of money in Boulder. A quarter of what I do is in another area, another and another, some of it is downtown Denver because I get the biggest amount of people to come to Denver.

Adam Adams (16:19): And so I'll kind of go all over, but I'll call that ahead of time. And so step, I think we're in step two. All we're doing is writing out the topics. So if I'm going to be in Boulder, I want my topics to be around. How do you invest in notes? Or how do you become a safe, private money lender? Because I want to attract people that have a lot of capital from Boulder to come out of the woodworks and say, this is for me because the, in Boulder, the billionaires are now currently kicking out the millionaires. That's kind of what's going on in Boulder. So, so that's what we'll do there. And then we'll do other things in, in like Denver. We'll do a lot of fix and flip workshops in Denver and et cetera. Now that I've have all 52 topics figured out, which actually is easier than you think.

Adam Adams (17:14): When you allow yourself 10 minutes to brain dump, you can get all 52 out. Well, that's what we do. And then once you've done that, then you select your speakers. Before they ever know. You've already got the date, the time, the topic. All figured out and you call your, and now you figure out the speakers. And then what I'm going to do is I'm going to call Chris Miles and I'm going to say, Chris, I have on July 3rd, I've got 52 events I'm hosting next year. And I've got an opening on July 3rd. And it's specifically for somebody who understands how to utilize a thing called a personal bank on yourself. How do you do infinite banking? And I have two or three people in mind, but you're really my favorite, Chris. And I wondered, do you think you could come on July 3rd to present this?

Adam Adams (18:07): Or should I call one of the other experts? Well, every single time you give that pitch, Chris Miles or whoever you're talking to is like, no, no, no, no, don't do it. I'll figure out how to get there on July 3rd. And so, you've solved a lot of time and attention and it's all out ready for you. And the second tip with this way to fill these out, you put them into meetup and you publish them, but there's a separate term for an actually announcing it to the list. So if you do 52 of these, you'll actually publish all of them in just one day. You'll easily be able to do that. But when you announce them, you announce them just a couple of weeks before. You'll announce every week you just click announce. That's all you gotta do. So your life is much easier later on. You create all the image cards ahead of time. So in about a week or two on the big end, if you're doing 52 of these next year. In about a week or two, you're done everything else is now on autopilot, except for you clicking that announce button once a week. That's all you have to do.

Chris Miles (19:26): That's a really useful system. I like that. So I see. Cause that's the big thing is always like, Oh, how do you come up with those topics? Or how do you come up with this or get the speakers? Like you said, but that's, I mean, that's like you said, you could have that all done by, well, if you do, at the end of the year, you can have it done before the beginning of the year even starts. Or even by first, you know, first of the new year. Right?

Adam Adams (19:45): Yeah. And it's super important to really point this out because if somebody's all, there's going to be a few people listening. They're like, I've already started a meetup. It was a lot of work. I couldn't keep up with it. It's because they're always behind the eight ball. They're always trying. Like every week they're like, crap. I got to do all this stuff. But if you do it in the beginning, you're always in front. You're always ahead of schedule. So if there's a listener, who's thinking about doing a meetup, it doesn't matter. You don't have to do 52! 52 works for me. I do. I like the weekly, but if you're listening and you just want to do 12, you could be done with this in a day. You could be completely finished with everything in one day. And then it's just clicking the announced button once a month. That's it.

Chris Miles (20:31): I love it! Now let me ask you like what, so why were you asked to speak of that conference? I mean, obviously like you get meet up. You do a great job, but what were the, you know, you mentioned there's four things that they said was a big reason why they picked you over so many other speakers. What was that?

Adam Adams (20:46): Oh, so here I was. At the sixth floor of meetup is where all of the nerdy engineers are. And for some reason I'm intrigued by nerdy engineers. I love hearing people that really think about things like into detail about things. And so I had this awesome conversation. It was me, the I'm, I am kind of nerdy, but I'm not really an engineer brain. My dad was, but here I was sitting there with about 10 other engineers. We were in a circle and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I just, I gulped and I was afraid to ask this question, but I did anyway. I just go, Hey guys, I don't know how to ask this. But like, there was a few people that didn't get on stage and they have a lot more members than I do. I only had 1300 members in my meetup group. And there was some people that had like 20,000 members and you didn't ask them to speak.

Adam Adams (21:48): So like, what was the whole thing? What gives? Why me? And they said, here's the main things. Number one, Consistency. And so if you don't know when you're going to meet again, if you do this sporadically, it actually hits the meetup algorithm. And it ranks you lower. So fewer people see that you even have a meetup. And so, because you had the whole year planned out ahead of time, we knew that you're being consistent. We can see that you've never, ever, ever, ever canceled a meetup. And your meetup attendees know what to expect. So this turns your meetup group into one of the only meetup groups in the country. At least, I don't know how many there are in the world, but we were the only one in Colorado. And one of three in the whole country, two of them actually are in New York city, by the way, which is where the meetup HQ is.

Adam Adams (22:50): We were one of three they're called super groups. It's called a super group, which comes from that consistency. The second thing that they said was that the, I have the same members continue to come back over and over and over again. I actually have a sales pitch that I use during every meetup that I share with my attendees. I call it a sales pitch, you know, jokingly. But it it's the words that I use every single time that allowed me to have people keep coming back and back and back. So when we were doing, let's say we're meeting weekly. Okay. And I say to the people, Hey, we're going to be in Boulder every single Thursday, just so you know. And there's a lot of great meetups out there. And I encourage you to go to some of them, for sure, because you're going to be able to meet more people.

Adam Adams (23:44): But if you want to meet people that you actually do deals with, I looked up some psychology and it says, it takes about six to 15. This is the normal range for you to meet somebody in person before you start trusting them enough to actually do deals with them. And so that's why I meet, I have this group meet every single week because when you go to one of those other groups and if you go one month and then you try to go the next month, and then you're like, I still haven't even done a deal with somebody. And so you start falling off. And so like, that's what happens a lot and I want to solve that problem. So that's why I do it this way. And that's why a lot of the people that come here you'll see them coming every single week because they want to start doing deals with each other.

Adam Adams (24:37): So that was my sales pitch. That was how I shared with them, that it was important that they came every week and they did. And they showed me some stats. It's been a couple of years obviously, but they showed me some stats. And I was one of the top in the whole world on having the same people show up time and time again. Let me think of who, what was the third one. The third one that they shared with me is that, Oh, my Ratings and Reviews. And I was number two in the whole world with the most amount of ratings and reviews we had over 600, five star ratings and no four stars or lower. And they said that that was a big deal. Well, the trick is we were meeting pretty frequently. We meet a lot. And so if one person a day does this, I mean, we're done in a couple of years, but I used to ask for it when I was asking for it.

Adam Adams (25:35): I had no idea that this was part of meetups algorithm. I had no idea that I was going to be sitting with 10 engineers at the sixth floor of meetup learning that I was doing it right. But I just said, Hey, it's what I would say to my people is at the end of the event, I would say, Hey guys, there's going to be an email that comes out to you. It's going to ask how you liked it. Just be honest, let them know, you know, if it was one star or five star, just, just be honest. If you feel like you really got value today, that's all I would say at the end, I would just say, there's going to be an email. Just be honest. It doesn't matter if it's a one or a five star. And I just kept getting a ton of five stars.

Adam Adams (26:13): Like the same people would be able to rate the meetup multiple times because they don't rate the meetup itself. They rate the event. And so we had a lot of them. And so we had a huge amount of five star ratings. I think that's enough. I can't remember the fourth one right now, but if you are consistent and you ask for reviews and whatever, let them know, keep coming. You're going to hit into meetups algorithms. So it's not, now, it's no longer just you promoting it. Now it's meetup promoting it.

Chris Miles (26:54): And eventually that's not much different than any other thing. Whether it's be like social media, you know, or whatever it might be. It's kind of the same thing, isn't it?

Adam Adams (27:01): Yeah, exactly.

Chris Miles (27:02): It's about that engagement and that consistency, you know, and not giving up. That's, I love it, man. That's some really useful stuff. Like I know we can go on for hours on marketing because really it's, it can take hours literally to learn and master some of those things. But man, I mean just taking some of these nuggets and whatever, however you apply, whether you apply it to meetups, real estate or even with your own business, this is a, I think this is just gold right now. It's a huge gold mine. So Adam, I appreciate that so much.

Adam Adams (27:31): Thank you for having me.

Chris Miles (27:32): You bet. Hey, if they want to follow you and get to know your stuff better, what would you recommend?

Adam Adams (27:38): RaisingMoneyCoach.Com. Great place to find me. RaisingMoneyCoach.com.

Chris Miles (27:43): RaisingMoneyCoach.com Awesome! We'll put that in the show notes for everybody to check out. Adam it's extremely valuable and I know, I follow you as well. So I know your stuff is great. I see you as an influencer in my life. So everybody else, I recommend you follow Adam Triple A. Triple A Adams as well. So Hey Adam, I appreciate your time and appreciate your value.

Adam Adams (28:03): Thank you!

Chris Miles (28:04): And everybody else. Thank you so much for joining us today. Again, it's about action. The action you take is what creates the results in your life. It's one thing to be a listener of this show. But it's another thing to be the doer of the word too. So guys go out and do it. Make it a wonderful and prosperous week. We'll see you later.

#Anti-financial Advisor #Cash flow #Cash flow Expert #Debts #Entrepreneur #Financial Freedom #Money Ripples

[neshabeingchildish]

Slightly different format, because I just needed y’all who didn’t know this song to hear it, okay? Okay, so I’m about as old as the characters parents could be, maybe slightly younger, because they probably had them a little later in adulthood than I’m far off from them, but I figured, close enough to use MY childhood/youth music for Charlotte’s mom’s taste. At least the general timeline. I named songs and artists, if y’all wanna ever listen to any of it. I haven’t/don’t know if I’m making a Determined Soundtrack/Playlist.

Pretty Brown Eyes

Alright. It was one thing to lean into his kiss, reciprocate his embrace and shift herself into his lap. But, she didn't have to go off the way she did for their first kiss. Because, not only did Charlotte do these things, but she also rocked against him a little, which in turn, he took as an invitation to explore her with his big, strong hands. 

She wasn't quite sure how awkward it must've been for Henry and Amelie to see them there when they left through the front door trying not to make any noise for the pair making out on the floor of the main hallway. But, she had to guess it was as bad as her realizing that they had to have seen them whenever they left, because the front door was right down that, very, hallway.

Eventually, she was the one who caught herself and ended the fun. Her head was spinning, nerves tingling and legs wobbling, but she found her senses and pulled herself together. Jasper was a pile of mush, except for the one thing, what, with her doing all that rocking against him. Ugh. Girl, a first kiss is supposed to be soft and sweet. You're not supposed to half grind the dude into the floor of your parents' house. She shivered thinking about his hands on her body, but it was time for that kiss to be put behind them.

"We can't be doing stuff like this," Charlotte said and helped him up. "I had a point before you did that and I don't even remember my middle name right now."

"The magic of love has rendered you temporarily futile…"

"No. The coursing of hormones has thrown off my equilibrium and it does not feel good."

He panicked. "But, it did though? The not good feeling is an afterthought, right?"

"You have to go and I need to lie down." He nodded and tried to give her a hug, but she placed her hands up to halt him and took a step back. “I’m serious.” He nodded and left her, scratching his head and hoping that his stunt hadn’t done the very thing that she was afraid of - ruined things between them.

.

Morning meetups were awkward. Jasper brought her breakfast, she brought his and Henry’s, but they didn’t really say much to each other. Instead, she spoke to Henry about everything but Jasper and whenever Jasper did speak, she was weird about her reponses. 

Work was atypical. While they generally spent most shifts around each other, she now felt like the store needed to be watched at all times, but if he came up, she took that time to go make scans in the Man Cave to be sure they hadn’t missed any calls for help.

In addition to avoiding him big time, she told him that she looked into Amelie pretty deeply and couldn’t find any reason that he couldn’t “get back on track” with her.

“You’d find that reason in the mirror,” Jasper said and she just rolled her eyes and walked away from him. Whenever he told her that things were weird at home and asked if he could crash, she politely asked Henry if it was okay if Jasper crashed at his, instead. Jasper was exasperated, or as Henry said, in an attempt to be funny, exJasperated. Jasper commented that would be the name of his next podcast, and she left them to that conversation to return to the store.

“So… She’s really just moving on like it didn’t happen?” Henry wondered. He’d waited outside for Jasper that night, because he figured that Charlotte would catch herself and kick him to the curb. But, he thought that by now, she would have talked to Jasper about it, fixed their friendship and outlined how it could never happen again.

“No. It’s worst. She’s moving on like it did happen and it was horrifying for her. She refuses to be alone with me and she hardly talks to me, now. I feel like I did something bad to her, but I thought she liked it. I thought she liked me.”

“She liked it and she likes you. You know what this is really about? Self control. She doesn’t trust herself to be alone with you, because she might wind up on your lap, in your arms again and she thinks she shouldn’t be there. You gotta show her that she should be there.”

“How would I do that without being the very creepo that both you and her have told me numerous times to not be?”

“I don’t know. Maybe her family knows something that we don’t? Something that could help us get her for you.”

“Her parents never say much beyond salutations and asking about my day. But… Uncle Rox might help. He loves me and we’re friends on social media. He lived with them for a while. He had to notice something useful.”

Henry nodded, “There you go!”

.

Jasper made an appointment with Uncle Roscoe at his new house, aka his wife’s house, to set some wheels in motion for wooing Charlotte. The man was all too happy to help. “I LOVE love, Lil’ Nephew,” he told Jasper. “My niece sure can use some wooing. Does she still have an attitude about everything?”

“A huge tude… but I still love her. I find it endearing. She’s polite with people she doesn’t care about, so it’s like… a compliment of sorts when you get that sass from her.”

Uncle Roscoe nodded his head as he made some freshly squeezed juice. “Well, I had a secret weapon to soften her up when she was younger and I found out when I lived at their house that it still kinda worked, depending on the material.”

“I must know!” Jasper said, making prayer hands. Roscoe slid a glass across the island to him and he luckily caught it in his palm. Uncle Rox is super kewl. 

“You subscribe to her Spotify?” Roscoe asked.

“No. I don’t believe that we share music tastes.”

“Well, you better get used to it, because that’s gon’ be your bread and butter, Lil’ Nephew. You see, Charlotte has a love for classic R&B, particularly the late 80's/early 90's. She loves all the boy groups that were popular when me and her moms grew up, because that’s the type of stuff that her moms listened to when she was young. Now, most people stop experiencing new music as they get older. They have some nostalgia about their parents’ music, which they pretend like they don’t, like Charlotte be pretending. They have the stuff that was popular when they were growing up, that was their childhood music. And, mostly, by a certain point, they allow very little new music into their worlds. That’s how my sister was. So, a lot of her music was stuff from the 80s and 90s, and Charlotte loves a lot of it, despite her pretenses.”

“You… Think that me listening to 80’s and 90’s R&B boy groups will win over Charlotte?” Jasper asked confused, finally drinking his juice. “This juice is AMAZING!”

“That’s that Roscoe’s Tropical Trash right there. But, no. The listening is just the first step. You gotta know that music, Boi. You gotta learn it. You gotta know what to play and when. You can control Charlotte’s little ass with the right song selection.”

“That has to be made up,” Jasper said, defeated.

Roscoe told him, “Try it out. If she gets mad, pull up “You Don’t Have to Cry by Rene and Angela,” and see if by the end of that song, she won’t be a different woman. Matter of fact, before anything even happens in your day, just put on Rhythm of the Night by DeBarge and see if she don’t have the cheeriest, happiest day.”

Jasper cupped his cup in his fingers and stared at him. “I seriously can’t tell if you’re making up these songs and artists.”

“Boi, here…” He opened his phone and said, “I’m gonna send you a link to Charlotte’s Spotify. Check out them lists. She’s got some of the music by the year and some by the decade, but it’s all kinda R&B on it. She does like a few older than that, but her most frequent ones, I assure you are those 80s-90s ones, with the groups like Troop, New Edition, Boys II Men…”

“I know them!” Jasper cheered.

“Just… The songs I told you about. Use them, then get back to me when you ready to learn musical conditioning for Charlotte.”

Uncle Roscoe used to be a vocal coach for a production studio that went ass end up in the 90s. He was also a musician, DJ, and club promoter. He was a bouncer at a jazz club, at a strip club, and at a popular night club. He still tried to make music sometimes. He played many instruments and he loved to sing. None of his efforts ever worked out fully. But, he still loved the music industry and he always had a good time with his  niece, whenever a good song put her in a good mood. He knew what he was talking about, but Jasper might have to see for himself.

.

Charlotte was about to go upstairs when she heard the opening notes of Rhythm of the Night and bounced towards it curiously. Jasper and Henry were sitting around, and Jasper’s device was connected to the computer. “How do you know this song?” She wondered.

“Uncle Rox shared a DOPE playlist with me whenever I went over for juice. I can’t stop listening to it.”

“It’s a good song. A good feel good song!” She cheered, excited. “I never would have thought you’d like this, though.”

“I love a good feel good song,” he said. She just nodded, smiling and chilled for a little longer, singing along with the song and dancing by herself. It was a little weird for Henry and Jasper to see, but Jasper immediately realized that Uncle Roscoe was right! The music made Charlotte different! 

Now, she was heading to the store, but she was pulling up her own playlist, because she felt like dancing around as she cleaned up the store. Henry smiled at her on the camera and said, “This is an adorable version of Char,”

“She’s always adorable,” Jasper said, watching her, enthralled. 

Charlotte was glad for the dance party of one. She had been so stressed about letting Jasper down, trying to be his friend, trying to avoid him, trying to forget his lips and hands - she had forgotten to just enjoy herself. How lucky was it that Uncle Roscoe put Jasper onto such great music? And Jasper LIKED it? That just made him more likeable! Ugh. She was gonna groan about it, but Never Knew Love Like This Before by Stephanie Mills came on and she was right back in the feel good zone.

.

Charlotte had taken to starting her days with some feel good music, because everyday around Jasper was a struggle. She found that even when he said something frustratingly stupid, she still thought he was cute. Somehow, his ignorance was tolerable to her and even somewhat charming? She looked at him do something ridiculous and think - look at this cinnamon roll. Ugh! She hoped that whatever was going on was reversible. Until then, music therapy should do the daily trick. Today, she began her day with Square Biz by Teena Marie, which brought her mother in to jam with her for a little while and volunteer to do her hair while they hung out, singing and stuff. They didn’t often, so that was a super plus of the day. She came out of the house in the highest spirits that she had been in, in weeks.

She had two braids with puffs at the end, with some charms braided in. She had worn some makeup. Her outfit was clutch. Honestly, she was slaying, and she felt amazing heading to the bakery. The guy at the bakery saw her and almost burned himself on the oven. She pretended not to see as she fought a smile. He quickly caught himself and got her order prepared. She said, “I’m in a really good mood, so I’ll also take an assorted box of kolaches and donuts for my work. Surprise me with the flavors…” 

They were both distracted by this music outside. Everybody in the bakery looked to see where it was coming from. “Is that Pretty Brown Eyes by Mint Condition?” Charlotte asked herself out loud, right before the doors opened and Jasper came in, singing the song. 

“Pretty brown eyes, You know I see you. It's a disguise the way you treat me. You keep holding on to your thoughts of rejection. If you're with me you're secured…”

“What?” She asked herself, frozen in place at… whatever…  this was. She loved that song. There was a whole ass band outside. “Uncle Roscoe…” She said, when she saw him and his friends playing Jasper’s music. Henry was there, recording with his phone. She smiled at the clerk and pretended that they weren’t there for her. She grabbed her order, forced a smile at her friends and tried to pass by. Henry took her order and Jasper continued to sing to her. 

“You keep telling me that your time is always taken, But I keep seeing you out alone. Listen to love; Your heart is pounding with desire waiting to be unleashed…”

As he did, she tried not to blush and laugh. She walked out, and it was louder out there, with the band playing music, but Jasper’s determined self was following her and singing, much like some kind of 90’s music video. She couldn’t help but be impressed and he was a pretty good singer too.

They’d really missed out, not letting him finish his songs during the musical curse. He danced around her, singing the lyrics and she couldn’t help but bop to the music. 

“Quit breakin' my heart 

Breakin' my heart, yeah (pretty brown eyes, Uncle Roscoe was singing backup and playing his instrument)

Breakin' my heart, yeah

Breakin' my heart, sugar, yeah, yeah”

She LOVED this song! Whenever Jasper neared the end of his song, she was pretty much weak and he was so fine, and this took so much work and wasn’t she WORTH this kind of trouble? Jasper sure thought so. Maybe he was worth a little trouble too. Maybe he was worth the risks she worried about. That high pitched, “Quit breaking my heart!” Was her sign. She grabbed him, pulled him to her and started kissing him. Henry cheered him on, and Uncle Roscoe returned a favor of calling out, “Get it, Lil’ Nephew!”

Henry sniffled, “I’m so proud, right now.”

Charlotte pulled back, laughed, shook her head and told Jasper, “You’re crazy. Remember, when it sucks, you insisted on this. Now… You’ve got me.”

He looked towards the band and yelled, “We did it, Uncle Rox! She’s mine!” 

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand and pulled him down the street. Henry stopped recording and looked at the band, “Ummm… Well… You gentlemen, and ladies have a good day.” He caught up with his friends, holding the breakfast while they held hands and smiled at each other the whole time. “Feeling left out,” Henry said.

“You’ll pull through,” Charlotte told him. 

Jasper just laughed and gave her a kiss on the temple. “You are so pretty,” he told her. Then, with a big smile, “I can’t believe that I’m this lucky!” 

#A Chasper Fic #chasper #henry danger #hd fanfic #Nesha HD Fics #music #Mint Condition #breakin my heart pretty brown eyes

[superiorbiscuits]

Podcon stories

This got long but the bolded stuff is where the highlights (me seeing/meeting various McElroys, me embarrassing myself in front of John Green).

So I went into Seattle a couple days early for siteseeing, which was AMAZING. Pike Place Market is so cool y’all.

But since I was in the hotel earlier than the convention, my Podcon experience started early.

Thursday afternoon I think? I saw a cute toddler in the lobby and then almost panicked because I realized it was Hank Green’s kid, because Hank Green was holding him (I made awkward eye contact with Hank then keep walking very fast towards the elevators).

Friday night I ended up having a blast, as I went out to dinner with a bunch of people from the Podcon Facebook group. They were all so fun, and I ended up hanging out with people from that dinner off and on the whole weekend.

Saturday morning I again saw little Orin Green in the lobby with Katherine and he was dressed like Winnie the Pooh (yellow pants red shirt) and he was again precious. 

The cronchening at the opening show was... a thing I can’t believe I witnessed live. But it was very good. Later I went to Punch Up the Jam. You guys. This is my new favorite podcast by a MILE. I 100% recommend you go listen to it. They uploaded the episode that they did at Podcon and I’m SO SO GLAD I got to see it live (including Griffin and Demi flossing). I knew almost nothing about the show going in, and only found out like a week afterwards that Miel and Demi were like, famous viners? With Vines that I LOVE?

I left the session early cause I had somewhere to be, but I ran into Clint McElroy. I basically didn’t say anything and was overall very awkward, but I got a photo with him, and headed to my destination.

You see, I was invited (personally! By Hank Green!) to speak on a panel at Podcon. A panel moderated by Travis McElroy.

I got the email like, a week and a half before Podcon and I FLIPPED OUT and immediately agreed. They sent me a follow up of where to show up on Saturday prior to the panel and other info, but that was that. I’d be speaking on a panel called “Fan Panel” about being a fan and interacting with fandoms and creators. And I’d not only never spoken on a panel before, but I’d never been to a convention before. 

I was told to meet “outside the featured creators lounge.” There was a table with Podcon employees at the spot in question, so I went up like “is this where I’m supposed to be???” and they were like “yep go on in!” to which I was like.

UHH. I GET TO GO INTO THE FEATURED CREATORS LOUNGE? 

I was in there maybe 10, 15 minutes? And the whole time consisted of me trying to not stare at all the featured guests. It was a small room! All the McElroys were there! Hank and John! I was two feet away from Hannah Hart! The only famous person I actually spoke to was Simone from Polygon, because I needed to walk right by her anyway, and I complimented her on hosting the opening show, which I felt like anyone, not just a fan, would do. But otherwise I was like “grab free food, but not too much, don’t stare, don’t talk to anyone, look chill”. But I was also thinking “YOU DON’T BELONG IN THIS ROOM. THIS IS AWESOME.”

I soon found a girl who looked as uncomfortable as I felt, we started talking, and lo and behold she was one of the other panelists for the fan panel. We found our other panelists, and after a bit we were escorted to our panel by a volunteer, with Travis going “WAIT THAT’S MY PANEL I SHOULD GO WITH YOU WAIT FOR ME.” 

We got in the room early, I got a selfie with Travis, and then commenced a really fun hour talking to Travis and the other panelists about fandom. And I joked with Travis! I teased him! I did a good job on the panel! People came up to us afterwards (the panelists, not just Travis) to tell us we did a good job! And then Travis asked for a picture WITH US so YEAH there’s a PHOTO OF ME ON TRAVIS MCELROY’S PHONE, OF ONLY HIM AND ME AND THREE OTHER PEOPLE. 

The rest of that day was great, The Anthropocene Reviewed was super sweet, and MBMBaM was hilarious. That night (after seeing all the Smirl girls and Teresa McElroy in the hotel lobby) I went out to dinner with a bunch of Arandanauts (some of whom I knew, others I didn’t) and a couple of my fellow panelists. I had brought Cheerwine from home, cause it’s one of the unique food things from my state that can hold up after 5 days and a plane ride (biscuits and barbecue, not so much). I passed out some of them, but I was left with two extras. So when we got back to the hotel I went to the bar, which I knew would be full of Podcon people to hand out those two. I walked up to one table because I saw a friend from the night before, and went basically “hey who wants a Cheerwine? It’s cherry flavored soda,” before realizing that also at the table was a women from Welcome to Nightvale and Teylor Smirl. My friend took it (she later told me I rescued her from awkward situation, as she hadn’t meant to sit with them), and I walked around to find someone else for the last bottle.

I saw Travis, and was like “oh cool, I know him so it’d won’t be super awkward for me to just go up to him,” so I got like, most of the way up to him when I saw that Griffin was sitting next to him, which I wasn’t prepared for, but I was too close to abort, so I just went up and placed the bottle on the table in between the two of them, and Griffin looked at it, and Immediately said VERY loudly “Ah FUCK YEAH!” Travis also looked excited, so I said “y’all can share it”, gave Griffin a fist bump, and started to walk away. But Travis stopped me to compliment me on how I did on the panel earlier! I thanked him, and complimented his outfit, and asked him if it was from StitchFix (it was). I then went up to my room to grab water, and came back down, and made SUPER AWKWARD EYE CONTACT with Justin as he was holding the elevator door open for his fam.

The next day was also fun, except that I’d almost COMPLETELY lost my voice. 

I went to the bibliophiles meetup, and like two minutes after he sat down I realized I was sitting at the same table as Ross from Oh No Ross and Carrie (I’ve never listened to it, but it was still cool to meet him). He looks a lot like David Duchovney.

Later my Arandanaut friends and I went to Dear Hank and John (on the second row!) and they asked people beforehand to fill in questions on index cards for them to read during the show. I, not expecting at all for them to pick it, wrote a question. They picked it. And, it happened to be about how I go to the bathroom a lot, because I drink a lot of water, and how I feel awkward about it around people I don’t know. They answered funnily, and I’m glad I asked it. 

I went for sushi that night with just a few Arandanauts (James, Doctor Yellow, Julie, and Kenji), and we got back to the hotel late. We were all headed to the elevator when we saw John Green walking right past us, headed the opposite way. He looked tired, and it was really late, so none of us made a move to stop him. But I still wanted to say something in passing. Something memorable, but unique and meaningful. I panicked.

I said to New York Times best-selling author John Green: “Thank you for answering my pee question!” He smiled, chuckled a bit, and answered: “My pleasure.”

My friends and I then immediately walked into the elevator and they completely dissolved into laughter.

And that’s the gist of my Podcon. Honestly there’s so much more- I also talked with Nicole Sweeney and Ceri Riley (who recognized me as the dancer Arandanaut!), went to so many amazing liveshows, met so many amazing people, laughed my head off, and my voice was gone for like most of a week afterwards. I think I’m completely spoiled by my first con experience. I don’t know how anything else will hold up.

#personal #long post #podcon #i'll post pics too #really it was a great weekend #john green #hank green #mcelroys

[thecindercrow]

ALRIGHT, I’m home and less tired now and the Penumbra Podcast liveshow was AMAZING

These praises definitely aren’t in order, sorry about that

The theater was small and intimate and it was just, idk, so nice to be packed in with a bunch of other fans. And surprisingly close to the actors, omg

Similarly, it was really cool to be in an audience full of people who already knew this script and these characters. So many good crowd reactions

Everyone applauded so hard for every actor’s first and last lines.

Aaaaaa, a super cool fan organized a fan meetup before the show, and so many people came. Everyone was so friendly, I’m so glad that happened

The lighting was super cool. Knowledgeable people have made smarter comments about it than me, but I really appreciated the solitary light effect they used to move between ensemble scenes and Juno’s narration. It really worked.

All the actors sat at the back of the stage when they weren’t performing, and I mention this specifically because you could sometimes catch Sophie GRINNING SO MUCH as she watched everyone. I’m so happy for her

Noah Simes, who walked into the room at the start of his role. Y’all, he stepped out of that curtain and the audience roared

He stepped out in a suit, shades, eyeliner and mascara underneath, and a v pretty dangly earring, it was a choice look

Listen, I’m so glad they decided to video record this, because everyone looked great, but also all the facial expressions and body language were on point. Added so much to an already great show.

They got some audience volunteers for a few small roles, and everyone did great. Especially the lion.

Leslie Drescher killed it in two roles at once. Excellent stage presence as either twin.

Simon Moody, y’all. He did so much and looked so good. He’d wear a suit jacket as Croesus, don a hoodie for a bunch of the sound effects, and walked out in some very lovely heels for an announcement from Mx. Mayor Pereyra

Joshua Ilon, if you’re reading this I love you

No, really. You could tell he was a lil’ nervous at first, which was honestly endearing, and then he quickly slid into the role and knocked it out of the park. He interacted so fluidly with all the other actors

So many great physical acting moments. Noah and Joshua making little gestures in the background while Kanagawa TV scenes happened (so many flasks, Juno???). Leslie’s maniacal laughter. Kate squeezing between Noah and Joshua. “Rex, duck!” [Noah drops to a squat]

The cast and crew stayed after to do a signing table, and they were all so so nice!

Matthew Zahnzinger was in the audience and it was his birthday!

they did the actual kiss and it was beautiful

swept him over on his tip-toes

This script worked so well for a liveshow. They could def keep doing it for future shows if they wanted

Sophie brought flowers for each of the team that she handed out after the show, it was so sweet

There are so many other things I could go on about. I can’t wait for the recording to be available, this was such a fun experience!

#the penumbra podcast

[swampgallows]

blizzcon recap, basically a big stream of consciousness text dump while i still remember things and i will make a refined post later i think

Thursday morning I went to bed around 3am, woke up at 630am, and then again at 730am to board my 840am train bound for anaheim. I had originally intended to drive myself to the con but decided against it, as I didn’t want to pay $60 for parking nor endure the stress of driving on the freeway solo for the first time. 

I took a lyft to my hotel and met up with sun​ (who gave me kandi!!!) and their husband aaron, then we went to claim our badges and make some store purchases.

after feverishly texting reglei we caught sight of each other in line, got tired of waiting, then made our way to disneyland. there we met up with zach and kept missing fitze by mere moments; finally caught fitze & friends at the river belle terrace (a place i have never been in before because despite my many years of being a passholder, there was never a reason or time for a sit-down restaurant experience at disney, so when i opened the door i IMMEDIATELY closed it thinking i was intruding on a private dinner event LMAO). we knocked out everything on the western side of the park (including a fry-filled splash mountain) and got some good pics. the ride on indy was one of the best i’ve had in years: no stalling, great speed, and tons of jerks that nearly threw me out of the jeep hell yeah. perce made it to disneyland in the evening and we got to enjoy space mountain, star tours, a second round of pirates, a VERY invigorated spin on the teacups, then left at closing. zach generously dropped us all off at our individual hotels before heading out himself.

around 2am i woke up convulsing with an anxiety attack and took half a med. i was scared i had woken up sun and aaron but they were coincidentally also awake. after some talking and goofing off with them we made the very informed decision to postmates some del taco to the hotel at 3am. my god was it worth it. i had selected the “fries and secret sauce” option, unaware that these ingredients were not sides, but components to be added to the inside of the burrito. wasn’t bad!

7am wake up for day 1 of the con. met for “breakfast” with perce and reg at the hilton starbucks, which said that they accepted rewards but then didn’t :| i sincerely dont even remember what we did first as everything in the con was so purely awesome and overwhelming. The opening ceremony brought tears to my eyes, of course, as it displayed “WELCOME HOME” on every stage. We mostly just traveled around the con, taking pics, learning the layout, and mentally digesting everything. We attended the VA panel in the early afternoon which was a GREAT decision (no spoilers if you haven’t watched the virtual ticket stream yet!!!) and then made our way to the main stage, where we parked for a good 5-6 hours for the WoW and HotS “What’s next?” panels, then the following WC3 reforged insight panel and, finally, the entire community night. i really want to make sure i grab clips of some of darin de paul’s mcing that night because the man was sawing at my heartstrings like a viola bow. i got very close to crying many times. have no fear put on another amazing performance—this time a wow track called “war mode”—and won the talent contest! we had the privilege of running into them after the performance to congratulate and get some pics w them. i also met up with hinz who i haven’t seen in forever and we got to talk about his brewing and the con! had blaze pizza for dinner then passed out.

breakfast at coco’s for day 2 of the con, this time with sun and aaron in tow. all i needed was hot cocoa and a slice of dark chocolate chip cheese pie. it was...so goddamn good. we started off the con with the warcraft sounds panel featuring the zone of drustvar and concluded with some great performances by david arkenstone and the tavern band. they performed the zandalari zocalo music and bloodsail, an old favorite! we puttered around the darkmoon faire until the build-a-panel featuring zone design in warcraft but couldn’t hear anything due to the acoustics of the stage, so i left to pick up my blink purchases with fitze. there i met a girl wearing kandi and traded with her; she gave me a rubber bracelet from a podcast she’d attended called ‘pwncast’ that reads ‘we bow to no one’ which is VERY garrosh. other than that we had a grand old time of waiting in a line we didnt have to wait in and then made our way back for the warcraft Q&A. the second i saw metzen i immediately screamed with awe and terror and then sobbed into my lap. perce and reg comforted me, and the rest of the panel was fairly uneventful. I think i was the one human being who shouted ‘woo!’ at the scott johnson’s mention of his interviews with metzen, lol. we were waiting for meggo to have a chance to ask her question but she didn’t get the opportunity :(

after the q&a we went over to the unofficial tumblr meetup organized by questifer which was a huge privilege and a lot of fun, and we even made some new friends. i spilled my spaghetti about garrosh to actual blizzard quest developers and im very embarrassed that i did. lmao. i really liked the casual atmosphere of just chilling on the floor though. fitze had to leave halfway through :( but the quest discussion went on for almost 2 full hours. it was really a humbling opportunity.

by that time, the closing ceremonies were underway. reg and i missed out on the hots finals so we just bummed around the overwatch arena for a bit just to see the thing and catch a few minutes of kristian nairn’s set. again, cool stuff, but nothing i can go nuts to lmao. it’s questing music to me. on our way out of the hots stage i ran into a dude wearing KIKWEARS and gave him kandi!! it was awesome lmao. we spent some ducats at the darkmoon faire, but the real prize was won as we were walking out and scored the literal actual absolute last three available boxes of lucio-ohs!!! mine had a hole punched in it so we ate a bit of it before returning to blaze pizza for dinner again. the cereal tastes like lucky charms to me! it’s very sweet, but good!

sunday morning perce, reg, and i secured a breakfast at dennys. when i went up to pay the check i saw the cashier was wearing a piece of kandi and i had the perfect piece for her, the “short stack” piece with the pancake eraser. she traded me the one piece she was wearing (!) which said ‘insomniac’ (obv haha). i made that kandi a while ago and it feels like it was fate for this moment to arrive. reg and perce and i all parted ways back to our individual hotels. i was just chilling in the lobby when i saw a woman wearing kandi, so i went over and introduced myself. she traded me a piece that said mermaid on it, due to my “mermaid hair” :> we started talking about phat pants and she said her daughters now wear the pairs she used to wear! and the kandi she chose was the “a book for ants” with the miniature bible on it, as she found it appropriate for her halloween “christian protest” where she blasted tchami and malla and had a totem that encouraged ‘sinners’ to dance with her, lol.

i excused myself for the restroom and she invited me to “come back and hang out!” so i did!! and when i returned the group was playing a fun card game called chameleon. and have no fear was playing with them!! daniella, one of the performers from the talent contest (they sang the song about vanilla wow), had also joined us. so i got to play the game with a few members of the group and made some new friends, leigh (who gave me kandi) and jaime/ace, who i talked to about old school raving and kandi for a bit. there was a point where everyone but ace went up to the room for their luggage so it was just the two of us sitting there talking, and a pair of guys came up to us holding some merch. “Do you guys want these? we bought too many loot crates.” i was stunned!! they handed me a shadow plush and a clip-on ganymede to ace.

when they all returned, they were trying to plan what to do next, and i told them i had to grab a lyft and start heading to the train station. leigh offered me a ride there!!! i really felt PLUR for the first time in ages, lmao. we all hugged each other and said our goodbyes.

arriving at the train station, i ran into other blizzcon people and we talked about wow the ENTIRE ride home. for the first leg of the journey it was a super full train and we all had to stand but it was okay. we were all enthusiastically talking about wow with zero awkward pauses or any points of contention. it was so amazing just thriving on each other’s hype. at one point another person on the train said “do you guys play this game or MAKE this game?” because we were talking about it in such detail LOL. we all traded battletags before i had to go. it felt really amazing to be able to just literally talk to strangers about something i love and have such an amazing conversation like that. it felt so awesome to just be connecting to people so deeply all the time. 

im going to try to preserve the memory of being able to connect to people like that, as i came home and felt isolated and disconnected from everything again. i want to keep riding the coattails of this positivity as long as i can so i’m not going to go into the details of that. a lot of us really felt we could come out of our shells; i kept stressing how “safe” blizzcon was; with all of the focus i’ve been making in therapy on vulnerability, connection, isolation, and the need to feel worthy of being loved, i want to keep these memories at the forefront while i try to forge a better future for myself.

i really hope i can go again next year!

#blathering #blizzcon

[porcupine-girl]

Super excited for the new podcast! I watched a few scattered episodes of the first couple of seasons back in college when they were on and found it fun, but too scary for regular viewing. *is wimp* But I keep seeing people talk about the show on tumblr and hearing you guys review it sounds incredibly fun.

I am actually terribly squeamish, yet somehow I always wind up consuming the grossest media. I read a lot of Stephen King, watch shows like SPN or Bones...

Actually, the guy I’m doing the podcast with I met b/c he was having SPN watching parties via a meetup group, and I started going. They were monthly, working out way through the whole series, and I went regularly for a couple of years. Enough that everyone there knew how squeamish I was and that I would cover my eyes at the gross parts, and would try to convince me to uncover my eyes before the gross stuff was over. I’d be like, um, guys, I can hear the tense music still going, I know there’s still blood to come.

I don’t think of most of the show as scary, honestly. I’d almost categorize it more as urban fantasy than horror. I think maybe the first couple of seasons were more horror-ish, but as it’s gone along I think it’s been quite a while since you could call it “scary” on a regular basis.

I’m glad you think the podcast sounds good, though! Honestly, my sister is hilarious, so I think she’s the perfect person to fill the role of SPN virgin. It should be fun!

#pg does a podcast #emilysidhe

[reryanblogs]

I Am Not Fine

I'm writing this at three in the morning. Prior to this, I listened to a just-released bonus content of my favorite audio drama podcast called "The Bright Sessions."—It’s a series of therapy sessions for the strange and unusual (*whispers* It’s fucking awesome).

 I was having a bad headache and my stomach was acting funny so I decided to treat myself to a warm black tea. Teas are fucking magical! It eased the pain, and I guess I'd say a hangover from listening to the podcast made me sit at my bed and meditate. I used to meditate back then, but for some reasons, I've forgot the skill and now I'm relearning how to actually do it through guided meditation. After that, also practiced abdominal breathing. Damn, this brought so much peace of mind. And then, I almost had a panic attack.

 It’s nothing new. These are the times of the day where it’s so eerily silent that I feel sooo fucking alone with my thoughts, it scares the heck out of me. But why? I did a thing that I really enjoy, I meditated, practiced breathing exercises, I even cleaned my room, so why?!

 The greatest take-away I can say from the guided meditation I’ve just done was that “Meditation isn’t about getting rid of your thoughts. It’s about learning how to be at ease with them.” This! This fucking blew my mind. I was frantically and desperately wanting to push away and to “clear” my thoughts thinking I should be empty in order to acquire peace where in fact, these thoughts are fucking mine, these make me who I am. I should learn how to accept that rather than forcing myself to get rid of it.

 So yeah, here I am, at my most chill and vulnerable state... writing. Letting my thoughts go and flow and letting it be the way it is.

 These past months has been so hard for me. Right before the first day of this semester, I know I wasn’t fine. And I thought, since I’m aware of those feelings, I’ll be “fine”. I even started this 30-day poster design challenge on my Facebook page to get out all the creative juices out of my body, and keep stimulating my brain. And you guess it, it’s a fucking distraction. It’s an excuse to say that “Yeah, I know I’m not doing well, but at least I’m doing something about it.” Am I? Do I really think that way?

 Weeks passed, and suddenly, posts here and there of my block mates getting accepted from various media companies for internship flooded my timeline. And here I am. Refusing to do what should have been done. I’m not doing anything about my CV, my resume, and all the “responsible things” that should be done. Am I jealous for them getting accepted early? Maybe? But I guess it’s more of, I feel pressured. Everyone was doing their thing and then there’s me doing all the escapism crappy bullshits. Of course, I’m not judging these people, first of all, no one told me to be there, to be at all these apps that consume our most valuable resource—time, it’s just how it is. I was overwhelmed.

 Unfortunately, I also had to quit my org. It’s such a great, loving community where I can just be myself; but I quit. Being with them was so much fun, I always get to laugh and to just be me without getting judged. Their stories are so inspirational and moving; but I quit. As someone who gets energy from being alone, it was quite draining in my part. Maybe quitting was not the best thing to do but it surely helped me lighten the burden I’m carrying. And they were so fucking understanding, and just so nice about it. Best people in the world, I don’t deserve them hahaha.

 A month has passed, and I still don’t feel quite right. I even stopped posting to the poster design challenge I started. I had declined requests from friends to meetup. It was such a hard thing to do. Especially when you wanted to scream for help but you don’t even have the energy to get up, wash, dress up, and pretend everything’s fine. I feel so bad for rejecting people. I mean there’s only few who’d really go their way just to meet this potato but I still turned them down.

 And then there’s this particular subject for this semester, Publication Design. It’s a subject where one of the requirements is to produce and release a volume of a magazine. Magazine, layouting, yay fun! Almost everyone was counting on me. I never felt so useful in my entire life. You don’t know how much I appreciate that level of trust. It’s so nice and warm to hear people say that my designs look fantastic and how much they admire them... and then I refused to do it. I know I’m not mentally and emotionally stable and capable enough to accept this big project that puts sooooo much pressure on me. I know I wouldn’t be able to pull this thing off.

 Why does the things that I used to enjoy made me suddenly feel so lethargic? Why do I need to feel this way? I... I don’t have the time for this.

 I did horrible things to myself.

   I’m not really sure how and when I feel “less shitty” about myself, I mean, I don’t know why I felt those detrimental sentiments in the first place either, but I could say I’m on that “pick-up myself” phase right now. And it’s so difficult to maintain especially with all the overwhelming tasks here and there. But I guess whether it’s dropping everything at once to take a rest, or just breathing (which I found really really helpful), or talking to someone, it starts with taking that frightening first step and reaaally appreciating and applauding yourself for conquering that tiny yet critical first step. Pat yourself at the back, or hug yourself if that’ll make you feel better. Seriously, I got a lot of weird looks trying to have a pep talk and reassuring myself that I did a great job and everything’s fine at the middle of the streets.

 And yeah, I’m trying to meet people at my own pace. I realized that there’s nothing bad with wanting to feel “okay” but there’s no need to rush either. I’ve talked to friends, and tried my best to be honest with my feelings at that time. I didn’t find the point of saying that everything’s good and responding to people’s “How are you?” with “I am fine,” which I found, became so engraved to me, it turned into a habit. So I decided to stop saying “I am fine” for the sake of small chitchat, but don’t necessarily need to tell the whole story of why I am not fine. It just put everything to perspective. It’s a proof that I’m not denying my own feelings and it might not be fine as of the moment but the most important thing is I’m trying to do something about it. For example, writing it down, yay! Didn’t realize that I’ve written more than a thousand of words.

 Oh, I’ve also decided to be the head layout artist of our magazine. It’s a thing I really wanted to do and something I really wanted to be involved with. Very much aware of the stress and pressure this project is inducing, but so far, I’m enjoying creating beautiful stuffs.

 Also, I’ll be continuing the poster design challenge on my page, hopefully, by next week. Go to facebook.com/reryanpage if you want to check my previous designs. I really hope that I can continue this self-project amidst the other uni stuffs I need to accomplish plus the internship. Yup, I’m hired yaaay!

 Have you read all of these? I’m guessing it’s either you can relate or you have a big crush on me, probably the latter hahaha. These are just some of my thoughts and experiences, but I hope you pick up something from it, but if you don’t, still, thank you for sharing your most valuable resource—your time. I believe that talking about this kind of matters really help lift the stigma on mental health and mental illness. And I encourage you, to talk about stuffs that’s going on your mind whether on social media or with someone.

 Let’s continue to make magic, shall we?

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