#$1 more per hour 😂

[motorsportbarbie13]

Post It - Part 3 - LN4

when lando stumbles upon a random tiktok of a pretty american influencer, he can't stop himself from sliding into her DMs. what happens next is more than both of them ever bargained for.

Part 1 Part 2 Master List

warnings: nothing. this entire series is going to be pretty fluffy so :) I do say the word ‘papaya’ a concerning amount though 😂 (a note: as per usual, kudos to @lestapiastrisgirl for always answering my 2am ‘SO HEAR ME OUT’s and ‘BUT WHAT IF WE’s’ ❤️) pairing: lando norris x influencer!reader word count: 3.7k

story replies: lando lord have MERCY >>>yourusername 🤭 hannahstjohn god we're cute >>>yourusername <3 thank you for being there for me, my love. >>>hannahstjohn i'm so happy you're happy and you are gloooowing today, btw >>>yourusername i've got butterflies han! HE gives me butterflies and i have no idea what i'm doing but oh my god. >>>hannahstjohn thats how it felt with liam. it happened quick but it happed hard >>>yourusername i'm in so much trouble >>>hannahstjohn :)))

The morning of the sprit race starts off almost identically as the day before: you and Hannah arriving at the track together an hour or so behind Liam, the noise and crowds of the paddock overwhelming you once again the moment you scan your badge at the gate. 

“All I’m saying is, I’m quite impressed with him. I didn’t know Lando could be such a…gentleman.” Her eyes sparkle with mischief, tone teasing you. 

You shoot her a look, already regretting the fact that you had told how how last night had ended. “He was nervous, okay?” You say with a laugh, closing your eyes as you shake your head. 

The chemistry between you two had been undeniable during dinner and after, he had offered to walk you back to your room. Tension sparked in the elevator as you waited for Lando to make a move. His shoulder brushed yours, fingertips barely grazing your lower back when the doors slid open to allow you off at your floor. You had propped yourself up against the door, room key dangling from your fingers as you looked up at him. 

‘Thank you for dinner’ You had murmured, fluttering your lashes at him in hopes he got the message. 

‘Of course.’ Had been his response as he palmed the back of his neck, shifting his weight as his eyes darted between your lips and back up to meet your gaze. For a moment you had thought he was going to actually kiss you and as he leaned in, your breath hitched in the back of your throat, anticipation buzzing through your veins. 

At the last moment, Lando moved his lips and grazed your cheek instead. The touch had been light, almost tentative, like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to be so close to you. You barely bit back the whine in your throat when he pulled away to look at you again. ‘I’ll have McLaren passes waiting for you at the front desk tomorrow morning, okay?” 

You had nodded, brain trying to process what had just not happened. “Okay.” You replied weakly, the spot where his lips had touched your skin burning. 

“Text me when you get to the paddock and I’ll come meet you. Get some sleep, pretty girl.” 

And with that, he had turned around and walked back towards the elevator. 

You had spent the rest of the night analyzing everything with Hannah, trying to figure out what had been going through his head in that moment. 

“I had no idea Lando Norris knew how to be nervous.” Hannah chuckles as you walk through the paddock. You chuckle in response but you know better. The Lando you knew, that Lando was totally different from his public persona. He was quiet and anxious and seemed to get into his head too easily. But that was a side of Lando you were beginning to realize that he didn’t show just anyone and that made you feel all the more special. 

30 feet in front of you, the McLaren hospitality building looms, first in the paddock as a result of their Constructors Championship last year. You spot a certain curly haired Brit leaning against the railing, eyes scanning the crowd underneath a pair of dark sunglasses. Your stomach flips when he raises the glasses, light blue eyes catching your gaze as a half-smile hitches at the corner of his mouth. 

“Oh, he’s so down bad for you.” Hannah murmurs at your side and you elbow her with a laugh. “I still can’t believe you’re abandoning me for the enemy. Liam is devastated.” 

You chuckle, picking up your pace to get to Lando quicker. When you had met Hannah in the lobby this morning, you had asked if she was okay with you spending the day at McLaren. Much to your surprise, Hannah had encouraged you to go. She had seen how Lando had looked at you yesterday, had heard the way you talked about him when you called her for a post-dinner debrief. 

“I think Liam will survive. He’s probably thankful even that he doesn’t have to deal with the pair of us this morning.” 

“You’re probably right.” Hannah agrees just as you two reach McLaren’s hospitality. 

Lando’s been watching you approach for the last several minutes from his perch at the top of the ramp of the large orange building. He still can’t believe he chickened out last night, abandoning his plan for a juvenile kiss on the lips. The truth was, he had been so anxious that he was going to mess this up that he hadn’t wanted to push you to a place where you were uncomfortable. He hadn’t wanted to blow this second chance you had just given him so when it came down to it, a peck on the cheek had seemed the only right thing to do. 

He watches you and Hannah chat, the laugh that spills out of your lips when you get closer sending fiery pleasure skittering over his skin. 

“Morning, Lan.” You singsong, watching at he bounds down the ramp to join you and Hannah on the sidewalk. 

“What are you wearing?” He asks so abruptly for a moment you just blink at him. 

“Okay, so like, let’s agree to never start off a conversation with that ever again, yeah?” 

Beside you, Hannah huffs a laugh. 

Lando rolls his eyes, “You can’t wear navy in my garage!” He protests as if you’re the one missing the point. 

“Lando.” You deadpan, “I think this is the only bit of orange clothing I even own! You’re lucky I just happened to have this in my suitcase!” 

“It’s papaya!” He says with an exaggerated sigh. 

“This shirt has papaya in it!” You point to the thin stripes of orange…papaya…that the predominately navy tank top has all over it. 

Lando frowns before shaking his head. “It’s not enough.” He declares before reaching for your hand. “Come on, we need to fix this before I can take you anywhere.” 

You make an indignant sound as he drags you away from where Hannah stands laughing. “I guess I’ll text you later, H!” You shout over your shoulder. 

“Come to Red Bull for lunch!” She calls after you. 

“She’s eating lunch with me!” Lando yells before dragging you through the sliding glass doors of McLaren’s hospitality. 

You hear the echos of Hannah’s laughter as the doors whisper shut behind you. “Okay, that was rude! I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her!” 

Lando just shrugs, not letting go of your hand, as he pulls you towards a set of stairs just inside the double doors. “We have more important things to take care of and I have to be in the car in a bit.” 

“You are so dramatic.” You huff. 

When Lando doesn’t respond, you take a moment to glance around the first floor of the building he’s dragging you through. There are McLaren employees, all dressed in various amounts of papaya and black, bustling through the space. Some sit at sleek black high top tables, tapping away on computers or eating a snack before they’re pulled to another task. There’s a food counter tucked away in the other corner, laden down with breakfast and lunch foods. On the opposite side are several doors that lead to what you assume are team offices. 

You follow Lando up the stairs, trying to ignore the sideways glances you two are attracting as you quickly walk through the space. There’s several sets of doors on the landing and he pulls you towards an open one with his name tacked up on the wall just outside of it. 

Lando’s drivers room is small, with just enough room for a couch, massage table, and small desk. Light spills in through the three floor to ceiling windows that face out towards the back of the paddock, making the entire space bright and well lit. Lando shuts the door behind him before dropping your hand in favor of opening a closet that’s tucked away in the corner. He digs around for a few moments, mumbling something about how he just knows you’re going to look so good in papaya. 

Finding what he was apparently looking for, he crosses the room to where you stand, arms folded across your chest. “Take that off.” He tugs at your navy cardigan you had grabbed to keep the chill of the morning air off your skin. 

“Lando!” You scold, swatting his arm away when he continues to try to undress you. “At least kiss me before you try to get me naked.” 

The driver freezes, eyes flying up to yours before a smirk pulls at the corner of his lips. “Cheeky.” He murmurs before allowing you to remove the cardigan yourself. 

Tossing the cardigan across the room, Lando pulls a papaya colored hoodie over your head. The first thing you notice is how soft and warm the sweatshirt is but the second thing? The second thing you notice is how is smells. Lando’s cologne, the same woodsy scent that had kept you up last night as it clung to your clothes after your dinner with him. The earthy scent of cedar and something citrusy filled your nose and you can’t help but inhale deeply. 

“Wait, is this the hoodie you wore into the paddock this morning?” 

Lando looks at you like you couldn’t have asked a more obvious question. “Of course?” 

“So people will know it’s yours when they see me in it…” 

Again, Lando gives you a look that seems to say ‘duh, silly girl’. “Exactly. That’s kind of the point, so people know who you belong to.”  

“Belong to?” You arch a brow, managing to keep the tone light even though you suddenly can’t feel your toes. 

“Yep.” He says simply before dropping a kiss onto the tip of your nose. 

The blush that flashes across your cheeks has Lando smirking down at you. His stomach swoops a little at the the way it feels having you standing there in his drivers room wearing his clothing. The possessive streak that winds it’s way through his veins at the sight of you catches him off guard. He’d never really considered himself territorial when it came to relationships but something about the sight of you in his hoodie he had just taken off had his heart pounding.  

Lando’s phone buzzes in his pocket and he’s pulled away for a moment. While he talks to his performance coach on the phone, you wander over to where your purse sits on the small black leather couch. Your stomach rumbles a bit, reminding you that both Hannah and you had been running so late this morning you’d had to skip breakfast. 

You sink down into the soft couch, pulling out the fruit you’d snagged from the hotel’s grab and go store. Popping open the lid, you stab at a bit of fruit before popping it in your mouth. You’re distracted for a moment, feeling the couch dip beside you as Lando sits down. “Did you bring snacks?” He asks, tugging you towards him so your shoulders are pressed up against each other.

“I brought myself breakfast. I slept in past my alarm this morning because someone wouldn’t stop texting me last night and kept me up past my bedtime so I didn't have time to eat.” 

Lando smirks, enjoying the way you sass him. “I managed to get here on time, my love.” 

You narrow your eyes at him playfully before you take another bite of your breakfast. “Whatever. I’m not sharing.” 

Lando frowns. “Who even said I wanted any of your gross fruit anyway. What even is that…It’s too dark to be a mango.” 

Your grin widens as you realize he has no idea what’s in the cup in your hands. “Lando, it’s a papaya.” 

yourusername posted

yourusername hiya papaya hannahstjohn enemy territory >>>lando joint custody >>>hannahstjohn as long as you pay child support >>>yourusername i can see the calendar invite now: PR meeting with McLaren, 9am Monday >>>lando hahaha fuck off >>>yourusername meetings been moved up to 2pm TODAY!!! >>>user2010 guys, i fear she is hilarious and i am in love user222 wasn't she in red bull yesterday??? >>>user239 this girl is getting around the paddock, isn't she??? jfc user029 the adhd hyperfixation crossover i never knew i needed >>>user483 why did this speak to me on a spiritual level?

The elevator dings, signaling it’s arrival to your floor later that night. Lando had insisted on walking you back to your room after you’d finished dinner with Carlos and Rebecca in the hotel restaurant. 

“Did you have a good time today?” Lando asks quietly, the exhaustion from the activity of the day edging into his voice as you both walk slowly down the empty hallway. 

“I mean, I got to see you make a wild pass on the very last lap to steal the win away from that Ferrari, didn’t I?” You say, bumping your shoulder against his. Grinning, your memory flickers back to the way the garage had exploded when he had dove into the corner with millimeters to spare. You hand’t anticipated how electrifying it would be to watch Lando win but it was an experience you knew you’d never forget. 

Lando’s fingers brush the small of your back as you reach your hotel room. It takes a brief moment for you to find your key and when you turn around to face him fully, you’re surprised at the hungry look in his eyes. 

“That was pretty good, wasn’t it?” He asks, the cocky grin on his face grows as you lean back into the wall, looking up at him through your lashes. 

“Now all I need is to see you take a champagne shower tomorrow and the weekend will be complete.” 

Your heart pounds when Lando leans in closer, so close that you can feel the heat of his breath fan out over your cheek. His cologne distracts you, that same woody and citrus smell digging its way under your skin so you’ll forever associate it with him. 

“Is that so?” He murmurs. 

“Yep.” You manage to whisper, trying desperately hard not to give away how flustered he’s got you. 

“Speaking of tomorrow, did you know that I’m a very superstitious person?” Lando shifts almost imperceptibly closer to you.

Your cheeks heat as you struggle to focus on the words that are coming out of his mouth instead of his lips that are so full that you can’t help but wonder what it would feel like being kissed by them. “Is that so?”

Your voice is so embarrassingly breathy Lando nearly laughs. He’s enjoying watching you squirm under the heat of his gaze.

“Mmmhmm” He hums, swiping his thumb across your bottom lip.  

Your brain scrambles to keep up. “So, how can I help you with that, sir?” 

The flare in Lando’s eyes at your words is near feral. He catches his bottom lip between his teeth and reaches up a hand to turn his black McLaren hat around so the bill is facing backwards. Your knees nearly buckle at the move and you swear you whimper when he braces his arm against the wall, his palm settling inches away from your head. His other hand rests heavily on your hip, squeezing at the flesh there. 

“Sir?” He growls. “Oh I like that.” You blink up at him, suddenly unable to form coherent words. Lando’s lips curl into a satisfied grin. “We’ll come back to that little bit later, though. Let’s discuss how you can help. I’m going to need you in my garage tomorrow because again, superstitious. You’re probably the reason I won today, after all.” 

“Oh? I didn’t know I had that kind of effect on you.” You finally find the words to tease back. 

Lando shifts his weight towards you then, pressing his hips into your body. You feel his unmistakable hardness digging into you, your pupils blowing wide. 

“You have no idea what kind of effect you have on me.” He murmurs into the soft skin at your neck. “Come on, I need my good luck charm cheering me on. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for messing up what could be my first big win of the season, now would you?” 

All you can do is shake your head, once again fully lost to the way Lando is looking at you, breathing on you, pressing his entire length into your belly. It’s a surprise you’ve maintained the ability to stand, really. 

“Come on, baby please? Drive with me to the track tomorrow. Spend the day with me.” 

You almost laugh at the absurdity of his request. Drive with Lando to the track where you would most certainly be photographed arriving with him? Spend the day with him? Give the photographers more opportunities to connect you two? 

“Do you want to cause chaos?” You say, laughter edging its way into your voice. 

“With you? Always.” 

The air sparks between you, thick and heavy with the tension that’d been building since the moment he put his hand on your thigh while he drove you back to the hotel earlier. Lando’s eyes, usually bright and playfully shifted into something darker, something hungrier that had you swallowing thickly. The playful banter that you’d been batting back and forth all day had shifted in the last few moments, the undercurrent of tension now a physical force you could feel pressing against your chest. 

“You’re crazy.” You shake your head, eyes darting away from Lando’s down towards his lips. 

Lando sees where you’re looking and catches his bottom lip between his teeth, smirk growing even wider. He lowers his head, breath warm against your lips. “Crazy about how you’re looking at me right now.” He rasps, voice husky and low. 

The world narrows, the hallway fading into a blur of black and white as his lips finally meet yours. It’s soft at first, tentative and gentle like he’s taking his time with you, savoring the way you feel against him. After a moment though, the dam breaks and Lando tilts his head to deepen the kiss. He drags his hand away from your hip up to the back of your neck, his fingers tangling in your hair as he yanks you closer. 

You melt against him, your own hands finding their way to his chest, feeling the solid warmth beneath his shirt. The kiss was everything you’d been thinking about since the moment you met him, a fusion of sweetness and heat, a delicious blend of anticipation and raw desire. 

Lando pulls back slightly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His eyes, still stormy with passion, searched yours. “Fuck.” He whispers before dragging his mouth down the column of your throat. You tilt your head back to give him better access, a desperate whine spilling from your lips. “I’ve been wanting to do that all night.” Lando says against the crook of your neck. 

A shiver runs down your spine at his words. Lips still tingling, you struggle to catch your breath and slow your pounding heart as it hammers out a frantic rhythm against your ribcage. 

Lando lifts his head up to look at you. The intensity of his gaze has you clutching at the fabric of his white button down. “Can I kiss you again?” He murmurs. 

“Please.” You beg. 

Lando’s eyes flare, pupils going wide. “Good girl.” 

It’s a miracle you stay on your feet. 

He closes the distance between you, his lips meeting yours in a desperate, hungry kiss. This time, there’s no hesitation, no restraint. He doesn’t hold back as he covers your lips with his, nipping at the your bottom lip just hard enough to elicit a gasp from you. The kiss deepens even further, a connection that runs deeper than either of you had anticipated sparking to life. 

The world outside the hallway ceases to exist. Someone could have come running past shouting about a fire and neither of you would have reacted. The only thing you feel is Lando’s lips on yours, the warmth of his body pressed against yours, the intoxicating scent of his cologne filling your senses. It felt like a moment suspended in time, a stolen moment of pure passion that deepens the already growing connection you shared with him. 

You have no idea how long Lando spends kissing you but when he pulls back, you lift your hands to your lips, feeling how swollen they’ve become from how good he’s worked you over. 

“I should go before I can’t anymore.” Lando says, eyes full of hesitation like he doesn’t really believe what he’s saying. 

“You could stay.” You whisper, reaching out to trail your fingers down his jaw. He leans into the palm of your hand, kissing the warm skin there before he shakes his head. 

“I could, but I won’t.” 

Disappointment surges through you so sharply a whine escapes before you can control yourself. 

Lando chuckles while he runs his fingers through your hair. “I said no more flings and I meant it. I’m going to do this the right way this time and that means turning around and walking away before I throw you over my shoulder and open that fucking door myself.” 

Lando was seriously impressed with the amount of restraint he was showing right now. He’d been thinking of this, of the moment he finally got to touch you, taste you, feel you against him, since the moment he ran into you in the paddock yesterday. When you two had started talking and getting to know each other, he’d been attracted to your personality, the way you had such a passion for life, the way you never felt anything halfway or lightly. But now that he was here with you, had you physically within his reach, the way his skin tingled whenever you were nearby was a feeling he’d never experienced before and he was obsessed. 

You can’t help the frown that forms on your face and Lando leans down to kiss it away. “So you don’t want…” You say against his lips. 

Lando shakes his head, pulling away. “No, baby. I do. Very much, trust me. I just…” He rakes his hand through his curls, trying to find the right words, the vulnerability you’re pulling from him is unsettling but not all that unwelcome either. “I just don’t want to rush this. This isn’t a stolen weekend for me. I want to take my time with you, okay?” 

Your heart thuds at his words, thankful that you’re not the only one feeling this way. After a beat you finally find your voice. “Okay.” 

Lando smiles before dropping a kiss onto your forehead while he holds onto your chin. “Good. Get some sleep, I’ll text you when I figure out what time we have to leave tomorrow morning for the track, okay?” 

It’s all you can do to nod in agreement before you watch Lando turn on his heel and walk towards the elevator. 

f1.gossip.source posted

f1.gossip.source new couple alert???? @/lando and @/yourusername were spotted arriving at the track together ahead of sunday's grand prix. They've been spotted together frequently this weekend with the American influencer spending a second day in McLaren's garage cheering on the British driver. They were also spotted late last night on what looked to be a double date with Carlos Sainz and his partner Rebecca. I think this is all the confirmation we need that Norris is officially DONE with once rumored fling and british model @/its_allegra_babes user999 ohhhh this is juicy user919 @/its_allegra_babes uh...so what was that hint about going to Monaco for the off week??? >>>user111 looks like she's gonna be alone in Monaco...or third wheeling it. hahahahah >>>user928 HAHA seriously. where are the 'private but not secret' people now? SEE he does know how to claim a girl in public >>>user992 he hasn't claimed her either??? until that man says the words 'my girlfriend' they're all clout chasing wannabes... user333 NAH because i have NEVER seen this man look that happy when he's with allegra tho. >>>user832 i'm here for the race and have paddock club tickets. i saw them eating lunch before the race and BOY let me tell you. that man is not thinking about anyone but @/yourusername

tag list:

@shelbyteller, @martygraciesversion381, @samantha-chicago, @stelena-klayley @dark-night-sky-99 @luckylampzonkland, @aykxz98 @forensicheart @cheer-bear-go-vroom @lieutenantchaos @willowsnook @linnygirl09 @meglouise00 @mixedstyles @secret-agents-stole-my-bunnies @mrosales16 @charlesgirl16 @leclercdream @daemyratwst @dramaticpiratellamas @mochimommy2002 @llando4norris @iamaunknownsecret @maxivstappen @imlonelydontsendhelp @nina-or-anna-or-nora @a1leexxa @littlegrapejuice @sunflowervol18 @freyathehuntress @finn-dot-com @swiftie-4-lifes-stuff @chirasama @lauralarsen @dr3wstarkey @saskiaalonso @rbv3rstappen @ilovechickenwings @guaaafiiburg @mcmuppet @mindless-rock @piastri-fvx @mel164 @schumi-angel @myescapefromthislife @supertrashbread @sunny44 @tinystudentblaze-stuff @sarx164

[estrellami-1]

If I Should Stay

Holy shit, y’all are insane. My tag list is over a HUNDRED (wtf y’all I’m kissing every single one of you on the forehead it was EIGHT before this) and the first part got over 800 notes in 24 hours. I love y’all 😂 With that being said though, Tumblr only allows for 50 mentions per post. So I’m drafting another post with the other 50-odd mentions that I’ll link this to. Unfortunately I’m not willing to make more than two posts, meaning my tag list is officially CLOSED. I’m so sorry, y’all, please know I love every single one of you SO much!! If you’d like to follow along and didn’t make it onto the taglist, go ahead and follow the ‘#if I should stay’ tag. I’ll make sure to use this tag for every update! Thank you all SO SO MUCH!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ and if you want to be dropped from the taglist, that’s fine too; just let me know! ❤️

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Steve is terrified.

Honestly, after the Russians and the Upside Down and everything else, Steve thought he’d never be scared again.

Then he woke up in school in 1984.

He looks around, wide-eyed, only to stop when Tommy and Carol look at him weirdly. “Uh, Steve?” Carol asks. “You look like you’re about to puke.”

Full of tact, just like always. He shakes off the feeling of wrong crawling on his skin and smiles at her. “I’m fine,” he says, when nothing could be further from the truth.

She opens her mouth to respond. Steve breathes a sigh of relief when the bell goes off, only for him to realize he has no idea where he’s going.

Thank God for Carol, apparently, because she throws her head back with a groan. “Math,” she complains. “I hate math.”

Steve feels a zing of recognition dart through him. He had English while she was in math. They used to complain about it between classes.

He feels excited when he realizes Robin will be in this class, then just as suddenly excitement turns to nausea when he realizes she might not remember him.

He walks into class, trying to keep his hopes down, and briefly makes eye contact with her.

She’s doodling in a notebook, looking around the room. Their eyes meet.

Robin’s pencil lead snaps.

Steve freezes.

He opens his mouth, he’s not sure for what, but she shakes her head slightly.

She stands and makes her way towards him before her eyes flutter back in her head and she drops.

She would’ve fallen on the ground if he hadn’t caught her. Whispers start up, enough to get the teacher to look up. “Mr. Harrington,” she says. “I’m not sure what dance moves you think you’re trying, but I will remind you this is an English classroom.”

“Yes ma’am,” he says. “Um. She passed out. I think I should probably take her to the nurse.”

She leans over her desk to peer first at Steve, then at Robin, who still has her eyes closed. “Very well,” she says. “I’ll give you a hall pass. Please ensure she returns once her little spell has worn off.”

He nods, shifts Robin completely into his arms, and walks out of the classroom.

He walks down the hallway and stops by an empty classroom, darting in when nobody’s looking. “Robs,” he chokes, and her arms are around his neck and now he’s choking for an entirely different reason.

She’s shaking, and he feels hot tears land on his shoulder, and he knows she feels the same from his tears. “I thought-”

“I know,” Steve whispers. “I thought the same. I woke up and I was with Tommy and Carol again and I didn’t know what was going on and I was terrified you weren’t gonna remember me.”

“Jesus,” she says. She’s laughing a little, through her tears. “Imagine how I felt, waking up in Mrs. Click’s class. Thought I’d had a weird fever dream. Then you walked in, and…”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Jesus, Robs, I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Right back atcha, Dingus,” she whispers, which really just makes his tears start all over again. “Who else do you think knows?”

Steve sighs. “I don’t know. And other than asking them, and risking getting sent to a padded room…”

“Yeah.” Robin sighs.

“Oh, fuck,” Steve says, tensing up.

“What?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m still with Nancy.”

I tried to tag everyone who wanted it… I’m so sorry if I missed you! Once again I’m so sorry about closing the taglist. Thank you for understanding! ❤️

Permanent Taglist: @justforthedead89 @ilovecupcakesandtea @madigoround @bookbinderbitch @suddenlyinlove @nburkhardt @artiststarme @paintsplatteredandimperfect @i-less-than-three-you @alyelf @quarble @messrs-weasley @littlewildflowerkitten @vankaar @starman-jpg @bornonthesavage @steddie-there @goodolefashionedloverboi @andienotannie @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @platinum-sunset @just-ladyme @steddiestains @swimmingbirdrunningrock @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @martinskis-lydias @notaqueenakhaleesi @sleepyboosstuff @bestwifehaver @m-owo-n @thatonebadideapanda @finalmoondragon @velocitytimes2 @callmeanythjing @ajeff855 @ilikeititspretty @knitsforthetrail @sillysparrow @that-one-corvid @ace-is-bored @local-writers-corner @harpymoth @weirdandabsurd42

@paperbackribs @ninjapirateunicorns @bisexualdisastersworld @hiscrimsonangel @lolawonsstuff @xo-r4e @thedragonsaunt @l0st-strawberry

Fic Taglist: @blondlanfear @do-you-want-something-more @little-gae-shit

Me @ all of you:

[crushedbyhyperbole]

Cherry Pie Kiss

Slice Two

Pairing: Dean Winchester x fem!reader

Summary: Out on the hunt, out of state and out of options; with your life on the line, Dean makes a call you're not happy with. Just when you thought you couldn't take any more, he brings a peace offering.

Haven't read Part One? - Catch up here.

Words: ~3.5k

A/N: This is part 2 of 3 of what started as a short one shot, but someone asked for another slice of pie so I'm here to deliver. There isn't any smut in this part (its all going to be in part 3 😂) but there are graphic depictions of gore, violence and death which is why I ask minors not to read or interact. Reader is female but generic, and obviously has feelings but is kind of stuck in this hate to love him type thing which carries on from part 1. I hope you enjoy the read and are ready for the goonfest and gratuitous smut coming in part 3.

Warnings: gore, death and gruesome depictions of canon-type violence, profanity as standard for my work, bit of angst, bit of fluff right at the end.

***Minor do not read or interact***

Dean Winchester.  You hate him.  His saviour complex, his unwavering strength, the way he’s so damn selfish though not in the ways that count… But boy, can he wear a pair of jeans.  Phew-ee!

You hate that you can’t stop looking at him, leaning on the jukebox of the bar you’re in, feeding it quarters in exchange for some feel-good tunes.  Ugh!  Asshole!

Tonight had been a tough night.  Even Sam was feeling the burn.  Out on the hunt, out of state and out of options, the three of you had played a Hail Mary and it had paid off.  Those damn vamps had just kept on coming.  Sam was down and you were in a bad way with what felt like a hoard of those fuckers piling into the abandoned factory to make a meal out of you all.  Starting out, you had all been so sure that you had this little group in the bag but, as per usual with these goddamn things, the plan didn’t pan out.

Dean had dragged you and a semi-conscious Sam into a tight space between the machines.  One way in, one way out.  You were both toast if you were found and of course you would be found; the vamps had your scent.

Groggily, you watched dean uncoil something from his pocket and string it across the opening at about neck height.

“Guitar string.”  He winked at you as if this idea was the best idea he had ever had and should have been plan A from the start.

“We’re fucking bait?”  You hissed furiously.  No, surely not?  Dean would never use his brother as bait.  Would he?  “Goddamn asshole!”  You snarled with as much vitriol you could muster between your gasping breaths and painful ribs.

He just gave you that weary look he had been wearing for the past hour and shrugged his shoulders before pulling out his machete and hiding himself out of sight.  “Get ready.”

You brandished your blade and hauled yourself to your feet, ready to fight.  There was no point wasting any more breath insulting him.  If you got out of this alive, you would have plenty of opportunity to call him all the names under the sun.  IF you got out alive.

The first vamps that found you came rushing in, right down the tight alley framed by the large machinery and with a sharp twang, Dean’s trap garrotted them straight through, taking their heads clean off.  Of the next three, the wire took the first two but the third approached cautiously despite you calling him to come get you.

Dean ran out from his hiding place and attacked the vamp from behind, slashing at the guy’s thick neck twice in order to cut all the way through.  As the body fell you saw why the vamp had stopped – the trap had remnants of flesh and blood along it from its previous victims making it easier to see.  You wiped your sleeve along it to clean the bits of hanging flesh off making it almost invisible again. Dean gave you an impressed nod.

Another two vamps fell to the wire but the last one got snagged as she fell, snapping it and making it useless.  Well, it was a good idea while it lasted, you thought.

It took you two a little while longer to attract the remaining few vamps who obviously knew something was up.  Sam was in no fit state, still groaning on the ground.  You were weak and in a lot of pain but you kept swinging your blade, struggling to breathe let alone stand.

The fight had been brutal and both you and Dean were covered in blood by the time it was over.  You were on your knees, slumped over a vamp you had had to hack into to remove the head, your blade surely blunt by now.  You were ready to close your eyes and give up when Dean pulled you to your feet.

“C’mon,” he said gruffly, “up and at’em.”  Helping you out over the pile of decapitated bodies, he hauled a now mostly conscious Sam through the mess.

You had made it to the Impala and, for once, Dean hadn’t grumbled about getting blood on Baby’s seats but throwing a couple blankets down instead.  Sam slumped in the front while you crawled in the back, weary and sore.  Your eyes met Dean’s in the rearview mirror but yours flicked away immediately, unable to look at him without getting angry.  When you looked back so did he, like he knew you’d be looking, and held on, asking if you were okay without actually asking.  If he really cared he wouldn’t have used you as bait.

You let your head fall back onto the seat and closed your eyes frustrated by his dichotomy.

After a while on the road, Dean turned the radio on, breaking the silence which opened the door for you to say what was on your mind.  Sam hadn’t been bothered one bit by the fact that Dean had used you both as bait, but you were furious.

“It worked, didn’t it?”  Dean snapped, frustrated by your anger.

“I hate you.”

“Yeah, yeah, you and a whole long list of other people.  Aint nothin’ new.”

Around five miles out of Crocker, Missouri, Dean pulled into a truck stop complex which had a convenience store, gas station, diner, a small motel and a dive bar.  The dawn was still hours away and the need for a couple of hours sleep in a comfortable bed was showing on all three of you.  Sam was the cleanest so he made the arrangements; two rooms because there was no way you were sharing a room with that asshole after what he did.  You were just as likely to fuck him out of anger as fight him at that point.

You used the showers in the truck stop to clean off all the blood and get into some clean clothes, relishing in the feel of the warm water and decent water pressure.  You felt a slight pang of guilt that someone would likely be picking vamp chunks out of the drain in the next couple of days but it passed quickly, it probably wasn’t the worst thing these truck stop attendants had seen over the years.

Refreshed by the shower and a take-out burger from the diner, you decided you needed a drink or five, which sounded good to Sam and Dean – you all deserved it.

So, here you are, several drinks in, pounding another tequila shot, trying not to stare at Dean Winchester’s ass while Sam bids you goodnight and takes himself off to one of the two rooms you had paid for at the run-down motel on site.

It seems as if you’re not the only one with an eye for a firm ass in tight Wranglers; a scantily clad barfly sidles up to Dean and strokes her hand down his back as he plugs his final song into the jukebox.  When her hand reaches that ass of his, he straightens and turns, grinning at her with that look you know means he’s going to ride her all the way to dawn.

You can’t watch this.  You don’t have the stomach for it, not tonight.  You pound your remaining two shots and eat the lime slice, peel and all.  Then you’re up off your stool and pushing past Dean and his lady friend, and out into the night where the air cools your heated skin but not your confusing emotions.

In the second of the two rooms, you look at your bruised face and neck in the mirror.  No wonder he didn’t look twice at you, you’re a mess.  It shouldn’t pain you like it does to think of him with another woman.  He asked once and you said no, so that is the end of that.  Plus, you hate him, can’t forget that.  Still, it gives you some small satisfaction that he now has no empty room to take his new friend to so he’ll have to bang her in Baby, on the bloody blankets.  With a spiteful smirk you flop on the bed and fall into a light disturbed sleep.

A loud knock on the door wakes you up with a start.  At first you don’t know where you are.  So used to your room in the bunker, you had almost forgotten what it feels like to sleep that first night in a new place, never truly resting for fear of attack.  It’s only an hour or so since you left the bar and you’re groggy from the tequila and from the waking.

You don’t turn on the lights when you go to the peephole, looking out with your pistol muzzle pushed up against the flimsy wood door.  Dean sways on the other side, his head turned as though he’s listening.

“Sam’s in the other room,” you call, clicking the safety back onto your pistol.

“I know,” he grumbles, “open up.  I got something.”

“It can wait until the morning.”

“Can’t wait,” it sounds muffled, “owwww!” he hisses.

“What the hell,” you sigh, sliding the chain and turning the handle.

Dean stumbles in with his mouth shaped like an “O” as he slides two bowls onto the unit next to the TV, shaking his hands afterwards as if burned.  You close the door and engage the chain out of habit.

“Got you something.”  He grins goofily, obviously much more drunk than you had left him in the bar, and you wonder what happened to the barfly.  Surely the womanizing Dean Winchester hadn’t banged and dropped her in that short a time?

“It’s two in the morning, Dean.”  You wipe a hand down your tired face, lifting your eyes again to see him handing you one of the bowls from the diner.

“Peace offering.”  He says with a smile as he pushes the hot ceramic into your hands, his eyes glistening with mirth and the effects of all the whiskey he shot back earlier.

You look at what he brought you and your heart almost stops.  It’s a steaming hot piece of cherry pie, drizzled in a large puddle of vanilla custard just the way you like it.  You look at his, with his tiny dollop of cream just the way he likes it, and you can’t help but smile.

“Why?”  You ask as you sit on the edge of the bed with him in the chair by the TV, the bowl in your hand, spoon loaded with goodness.

He finishes chewing a piece of the hot pie, sucking in air to cool it in his mouth before he replies.  “I know you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” you admit too quickly but the words are out now whether he believes them or not.

“And I know it’s my fault,” he looks at you with those eyes, “I shouldn’t have made things awkward from day one.  So, I’m sorry about that.”

“Thank you.”  You never thought you would ever hear Dean Winchester apologise, or what you would say in return.

“I didn’t know how to take the rejection,” he sighed heavily, “especially not from someone I have this amazing chemistry with, y’know?  But that’s on me.”

What great chemistry did Dean think he had with you?  All the years you had known him, you’d harboured a bit of a crush on him but he always acted like you were one of the guys.  When you two crossed paths it had felt effortless to slip into the old camaraderie but he treated you like a sister, a fellow hunter, until you had shown up on his radar this time covered in blood and all kinds of messed up and he’d gotten all pissed and… ohhhh.

“You were right all those years ago when you said hunters shouldn’t get close,” he continues, “I should’ve listened and never asked that question.”

You remember the conversation clearly.  It was something you had said because you thought it was what he wanted to hear from you.  Younger and more naïve, you had thought that what he wanted was for you to be like one of the guys so you had said the words and hoped that you could remain where you were with him, always close but never at risk of blowing everything.  Over time you had begun to regret that decision, and as soon as he started acting like an asshole it had been easy to trade the feelings you had for ones of resentment.

“I wish I never said it.  I didn’t realise what I would be losing when I asked.”   He looks at you again, beseechingly.  “Do you think we can start again?  Be friends like before?”

You think about it for a moment but the more you think the surer you are that you can’t go back.  You can’t know these things and have these experiences and go back to the beginning.

“No, Dean, I don’t think we can.”  Your words are soft but the devastation in his eyes is sharp and painful.

You stand, placing your untouched bowl on the bedside table, and walk towards him.  His bowl is empty now, but there’s a little piece of pie left on his spoon when you take it from him.  He’s confused but follows your every movement with a mixture of sadness and reverence.

The pie is sweet on your tongue and the way his eyebrows raise when your lips close around the spoon brings a cheeky glint to your eyes.  You sit on his knee, wrapping one arm around his shoulders while the other pulls the now clean spoon past your lips.  You swallow with a sigh.  His hands go to your hip and thigh to steady you as he looks up at you.

You dip your head slowly and he tilts up to meet you, his eyes flicking between yours and your mouth.  He tastes sweet just like you do when you lay your lips on his, a soft kiss that is both the testing of waters and the soothing of sharp emotions.  He squeezes your thigh tighter for a brief moment and you pull back to see the questioning look on his face.

“But you said…”

You shush him with a finger laid over his lips.  “I know what I said.”

“Then what did you mean?”  He swallows hard, licking his lips nervously afterwards as if you’re about to pull the rug out from under him.

“I wish I’d said yes.”

[blackbat05]

The Gall of HeR!

Evan Buckley x Reader (Gender not Specified)

Plot: You come back home feeling blue from work. Luckily, Buck is there to lend you some support.

Genre: PG-13

A/N: New character! Only started watching 9-1-1 last year but wasn’t in the best back then. It’s been such a huge support to get where I am today so it’s only appropriate to do this! Also I can’t deny this is based on actual experience recently so this is my way of therapy😂 In all seriousness, note to self to always fight for myself because no one will do it for me.

“Hey! I’m home!”

Buck pads out of the kitchen in his “kiss the cook apron” that Eddie gave him as a Christmas Present last year as a joke.

“How’s work?”

I sigh, putting my bag to one side before unceremoniously dumping myself on the couch. “It was good, and then it was bad. Do I make sense?” My nose crinkles in confusion and I at that point I wished that my brain would stop running at a hundred miles per hour. Though, a part of me really needed to vent my feelings in a safe space. Buck was my safe space.

“They approached me for a possible promotion at the Library.” I start and Buck’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, that was my reaction. Inside. I didn’t expect this at all.”

Buck comes to sit beside me on the couch, body angled to face me fully. I take a deep breath and proceeded to explain how I had to ground myself first, to hear more details from HR before committing to that decision.

“So, I had that first meeting with Esther and obviously I needed time to process right? I didn’t understand some points that were raised and I wanted to clarify with her what some things meant to I called a second meeting the next day.” I explained. “The second meeting goes fine. It mostly involved her clarifying my doubts. Then after the meeting, she sends me an email noting all the things we discussed, and guess what?” I find the rage in the pit of my stomach bubbling.

“She adds in the extra clause that initially, they thought of reverting me back into my original position if things didn’t work out. But after considering the company’s position, if I did not perform or if I decided not to continue, I would have to leave the company!” My voice gets higher with each passing second. Buck reaches out to grab my hand, a soothing reminder that I was not in the library reading that darned email but I was here, with him.

“And then, Esther had the gall to storm into the library and yell at me what I meant when I sent that email and now she’s in trouble with the higher ups! My fault? How is expressing my opinions in a professional manner my fault?”

I finish off telling Buck that I wasn’t afraid of taking on the challenge. But my biggest issue was only being informed of this only after my second meeting and when I bought up the possibility of not taking on the role to her.

“Wow.” Buck purses his lips. I look at him reproachfully.

“You think I’m acting up too.”

“No. I think you’re standing up for yourself. No matter what others may say or think. It’s good that you question everything that’s being presented to you least you be taken advantaged.”

“Even if it means they might pass me up on this because they think I’m such a prima donna?”

Buck laughs. “In all seriousness. There are more ways to grow than besides promotions at work. You’re growing as a person and that’s more important. Do what you want to do and always do it for yourself.”

You don’t know what you did to deserve this man in this lifetime. Someone who supported you no matter what. That’s what you really needed right now.

“Thanks Buck,” you threw yourself into him for a hug. “I think I really needed to hear that. After all those times of doubting myself, I really needed to hear it.”

“Hey, you know I’m always your biggest supporter. Now let’s go and have dinner. Bobby taught me how to make this lasagna and we are not about to let it get cold.”

“Gosh, what would I do without you?”

“You’ll never have to know.”

[studentbyday]

a september packed with purpose 🏵️ (goals for the 2024-2025 academic year)

an attempt to live a meaningful life even if it's really busy.

🎓 academic goals:

stay on top of my schoolwork. not feeling like i'm running after deadlines but staying organized, calm, and methodical, even if there's a lot.

change up my study strats! turn text into diagrams! shorter focus periods followed by an active break to ease myself into the semester!

study 8h per day or less if at all possible (for official schoolwork)

👩🏻‍🔬 career goals:

finish databases courses to increase my career capital (i sped read so good they can't ignore you this summer and it was both inspiring and practical - grateful for the feeling of having a roadmap...even if it's vague.)

do everything to become so good the lab i'm interested in joining can't ignore me (i have pretty much no current affiliation with them or their university so this is gonna be an uphill climb unless maybe i seem like a perfect fit...)

🌳 lifestyle and adulting goals:

develop a can-do attitude and work on my growth mindset

continue to practice driving at least 3x per week before it snows

become a 6AM girlie (or an 8PM girlie, if you're looking at the sleeping time lol) so i have a few hours of calm, focused silence in the morning which will minimize the amount of time i need to spend studying after dinner (planning to take advantage of the jet lag and the fact that the sun sets earlier in winter, making me sleepy sooner 😠)

re-gain some level of fitness to counter my couch potato summer habits and all the sitting i'll be doing this semester

🤸🏻‍♀️ more fun goals:

apply to volunteer with my local horticultural society and hopefully start volunteering soon (hoping to work on their newsletter as that's something i miss from my high school days! something familiar will also be good for easing into my "reintegration into society" era as a previously "studying hermit". perhaps once i get so comfortable i feel like i'm plateauing, i can branch into being a volunteer gardener! i have absolutely zero successful experience with plants, so it would be really nice to have some guidance from people who've made and maintained such pretty gardens in my community 💗)

make time for piano (ideally at least 1h 3-4 days of the week, but i will be happy if i even get to touch the keys for less than 1h of practice 3-4 days a week. if i can do this, then i can more reasonably justify getting a real acoustic piano at home and maybe even take lessons again when things get less busy...and i don't have to fear not making progress or even getting worse on the digital in the meantime because my fingers and brain get re-accustomed to the acoustic feel and sound options surprisingly, happily quickly even if i only get to play on one for a few days of a year, which is already quite a privilege 🥺🙏🏻 in the meantime, i need to maintain/improve my dexterity, sight-reading skills, and theory knowledge. i don't plan to read the theory book front to back anymore, i'll just read the bits i'm most interested in and maybe eventually that will mean covering the whole book but i won't start with that intention in mind 🤷🏻‍♀️)

sOmEhOw have the energy to comprehend even 1 duolingo lesson in japanese ~daily if only to one day get to a level where i can read more japanese books (and maybe even watch some animé without subs? no pressure tho since i'm very picky about animé 😂)

💭 nice to have but not pressing:

make it a habit to read a nerdy book or academic article that isn't directly for schoolwork to help me find my research interests, learn more about labs in my physical area, and/or re-ignite my passion for/sense of wonder with STEM and STEM-related issues 🔥

each week read something from suggested/recommended course reading lists if there are any

each month read a book completely unrelated to academics, something that distracts me or that feeds my soul or both (or if i can't do that, then just 1 such book each semester, i'm just after something rather than nothing)

🐝 productivity advice from one of my role models that i want to follow religiously this semester:

prioritize rest in order to think and act fast (10 hours of sleep! downtime! meditating! gentle exercise!)

schedule down to the minute but understand that as long as you're doing what you planned to do within the hour you planned to do it, you're good (that is assuming life doesn't happen and derail the entire day's plans but most days thankfully are not like that). give yourself lots of buffer (bigger, not smaller blocks of time in the calendar!).

understand that prioritizing means that you may fall behind in the unprioritized areas from time to time and have to catch up and that's completely expected and completely fine.

be selective about what you're "perfectionistic" with (it's not really about applying perfectionism, more like being picky about where you apply extreme conscientiousness). that is also part of prioritizing.

✏️ post schedule: 1-3x a week depending on time, energy, and what that means for my mental state 😅

[accio-victuuri]

how many cpns can you get from a 7 second douyin by wyb? 💚💚💚

The Douyin King is back! I know i’m not the only one who missed his random ass douyin posts. They are very much welcome, he is free to share one everyday. I’m cackling at the comparison going around between WYB and other people. So, the rest of the celebrities and influencers are posting on a regular basis per month and have different topics.

photos at work, travel photos, interests/hobbies. this line represents the whole year. there is another diagram that shows how many per line, like 1-2 or more. then you have wang yibo 😂😂😂

line 1 : I'm busy at work and have no time. // line 2: I don’t have time to skateboard, ride a motorcycle or play golf // line 3: Visit my gege’s camping site and the volcano scenery is very good and has a lot of material// line 4: happy and don’t have much time// line 5: Shoot whoever is lucky enough to shoot!

then all the lines after is when he will post — shows that he will share a lot towards the end of the year to keep up with KPI. lol. he is rushing his homework again, to the point that on the video, people are searching what wyb’s kpi mean. which is the engagement metrics he needs to reach and now he gotta work on it, even the fans know and expect it.

the memes are also hilarious! 😂😂😂 ( cat memes below ) basically him working on making his “cool” posts to the internet.

Honestly, never change yibo. We love you as you are, Our Gremlin Best Actor. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

That was a long intro, now let’s move on to the sweets & CPN…..

• @rainbowsky already talked about the messenger bird CPN & how it might be for ZZ’s Hennessy endorsement.

• similarity in how sometimes, they just wanna post an emoji for caption. this one is a cute parallel from 2021 and 2023. If you wanna further clown with WYB using kadian 13 for yizhan then go ahead too 😌

• it is being compared to him referencing his shoes before, picking up his shoes ( xie zi ) (xz) ; and now it’s another homophonic clue ( jm ) ⬇️⬇️⬇️

yes we know that you get to meet more often now cause you are both in Beijing! It’s so cool how their language can be used for so many things and you can play with it to send different meanings. international fans could never 💀💀💀💀

• talking about picking up and meeting, cpfs remembered ZZ’s 11/17/21 douyin post. It’s the one with him and a light saber and a sexy transformation. Going by his clothes, I’m thinking it was what he wore during the DC tencent conference and at the time of posting it was already considered as leftover. but I could be wrong, cause he might have worn other leather jackets that year for ads.

anyway, the point is — please compare the background of the rooms. the walls. you know. add the floor too. 👀

look, this isn’t the most unique type of interior. i would say it’s pretty basic like how we clown about hotel curtains. i’m guessing yibo’s is an evisu shoot sometime ago ( cause his hair is not that fluffy anymore idk if his stylist did something to make it like that even with his recent cut ). this place may be a studio of sorts that can be rented out and they just happen to have filmed there.

or… or…..

this could be XZS office. or one of their rented office. Why? this CPN is similar to the one in 2020. How we speculated that the birthday shoot was done in XZS office so ZZ could supervise the direction of the shoot too.

we also love to talk about how xzs and ybo office are right next to each other ( it’s a fact xzs is close to yuehua building actually ) so maybe that can be an explanation too 😂😂😂 it’s not uncommon for an office to have a separate space to do regular photoshoots so maybe theirs have that. or this could have been done after and wyb dropped off their office and took this.

hahahahahaha! so many explanations all because of a wall. that’s the kind of life we turtles have 🙃

Personally, i’m hoping for a 24 hour relay between them. 🙏🏼

-END.

[moonjunio]

This was so random, the 1980s ElfQuest board game popped up on Facebook marketplace - in New Zealand with local delivery by hand 🚚😲

I’m a gamer, but I hadn’t had my eye on this fairly rare collectible, since games with great IP are often not all that fun. But you know what? I tried it and had a great time with my teens! No whining, I’m amazed 😂

Full review below…

The even cooler thing is that it’s actually two games in one. The “introductory” version is an abstract tile exploration and clue gathering mission, themed on the Original Quest reuniting the elf tribes with their Palace (actually spaceship, shhh). Play takes an hour, tops.

This strongly reminded me of my favorite board game when I was a kid - Enchanted Forest - because the overall idea is to find the tiles with hidden clues on them, and be the first to guess which one has been set aside at the beginning.

The additional element in ElfQuest is that you have to explore to find the clues, then also find the location of the tile that matches the winning clue. You can’t guess without traveling to the secret location first, and a wrong guess means you lose! There’s definitely strategy in addition to minor memorizing. I think this fits the quest story well.

Each player represents a different tribe, and starts in their home location at one corner (The Holt, Sorrow’s End, Blue Mountain, and the Frozen Mountains). There’s a minor amount of combat in the introductory game, when pawns occupy the same spot.

This is a potential tense moment here, with all three of us gathered next to two clue tiles (the wooden clue tokens are my own replacement parts). But you can easily spend the whole game avoiding confrontation and still win.

Combat just means the attacker must roll an 8 or better on 2D6. The loser is pushed away two spaces. This can be important at the end, because once a player has seen all the clues, others might race towards whatever tile they appear to be targeting as the winning spot.

I was super lucky that the Palace (elf home) was right next to the last clue, because my 15 year old was hot on my heels and willing to risk a 50/50 guess. Go Backs for the win!!

I’m excited to play the full game, for several reasons:

1. You have the option of winning cooperatively or competitively, and this can change during the course of the game. This fits the ElfQuest story much better than pure competition. Games with optional alliances aren't super common.

2. Character cards! Of course the point of having a great IP is to use the wonderful characters and art. The full game has a lot of bonus cards, characters can change groups or be captured, and tribal abilities are asymmetrical (that is to say, your choice of tribe actually matters to gameplay).

3. Way more strategy! One player is the enemy Guttlekraw, who controls the trolls and races to finish a dome around the palace so the elves can't win.

Reviews said this game is complicated, but it really doesn’t look that complicated to me. If you’re not much of a gamer, then sure, but the rules were not very long and easy enough to understand.

Here’s all the components in the box. Only three cardboard counters were missing in mine, easily replaced with spare parts (more on that next time). It even still has the Mayfair Games feedback postcard and the pop out cardboard trash for all the sending star tokens 😜✨🚮

The funniest part is the fold out paper grid... seems unnecessary, but ok.

Essentially what the introductory game teaches you is how exploration works, which is actually mildly educational for younger kids. Each terrain has a different number printed on it, and you only get 14 movement points per turn. So there's a little bit of addition involved. I'd say kids from age 7ish could play independently, depending on whether they're prone to blurt out secret information and intentions :-)

That's all for this time! My kids actually want to play the full game soon, so hopefully it won't be too long until I review the rest. Shade and sweet water until then.

[fiendishfinesse]

o great raphael scholar, i seek your wisdom! 🔮✨

what do you think raphael would be like if hit by a love potion/spell (thinking something to the effect of philter of love per dnd 5e)? would his “love” be more human rather than devilish obsession? 1-10 scale how much of a mess do u think it would be

(love your blog btw <3 love browsing it like the morning paper with my coffee)

Raphael scholar 😂😂😂 well thanks?? hahaha

I'm glad you enjoy my stuff and my trash devil, thank you so so much!! Sweet nonny! ♥♥♥🥹

This potion causes the drinker to become charmed by the first creature they see within 10 minutes, regarding them as their true love for one hour. For a (half)devil like Raphael, this would create a mix of both.

I guess... His "love" wouldn't be entirely human or devilish--it'd sit awkwardly in the middle. On one hand, you'd have this fiery, obsessive intensity (classic devil vibes), but on the other, the potion would force him into clumsy, mortal earnestness that he'd absolutely despise. Like, imagine him getting frustrated when he realizes he's gone too far with some grand, melodramatic, theatrical gesture. He'd be a wreck.

And Raphael being Raphael, you know he'd try to play it off like he's in control. Cue him monologuing about how his feelings are strategic or all part of a larger plan, all while doing something ridiculously romantic, like a serenade. lmao

He'd be disgusted with himself for stooping so low but utterly incapable of stopping.

He'd feel the potion working and try to fight it, which would only make him more of a disaster. Think storming around in his cambion form, pacing the boudoir, growling to himself about foolish mortal magic, all while sneaking glances at his target on his scrying orb like a lovesick teenager.

In short: Embarrassing, endearing, and wildly entertaining to witness. 🤔 (imo)

[seonghwacore]

hello! I saw we are talking about kq and their rushed schedule for ateez and well if that isn't something I always want to rant (a bit) about. I have to admit though I've never been much into the lore. My first cb with them was fever pt 2, so I can't comment on things before then, but somehow it felt to me like they were putting quality over quantity then? ESPECIALLY compared to the work/golden hour 1 cb. I'm sorry but that was so rushed and kinda generic, the concept pics had nothing to do with the mv, the mv was fun but extremely random after the vibe the concept pics set, the outfits were generic, the background even more so, and why were there 27 pic per member. Fireworks had 1 pic per member per version (minus diary), and I'm biased bc it was my first cb and arguably the best hwa concept pic ever to be released, but that had IMPACT. It felt like they had a vision and then that was more than "hot men in suits/slutty clothes". and then the promo shows, I don't think they recycled an outfit even once, and overall it just seemed like everything had a bit more time to breathe? Pretty sure salary lupin was on at the time, but not 5000 other things all ot once. Sure covid was still a thing then, but why do they need a tour, a Korean cb, a Japanese cb, some random collab, and god knows what other things all at the same time? that's too much for them, but also for us as fans. Sorry I really disliked the work comeback because of everything that wasn't the music or ateez themselves and I really fucking hope that was a one off thing, and didn't set the standard for future cbs

HI FIO! forgive me for the super late reply 😭 i actually read briefly your msg and decided that this topic required more attention bcs i did have a super serious, lengthy talk with an atiny bff abt atz's creative direction lately and we shared the same idea. i just dont want to respond to your rant halfheartedly, thus.

And with the sneak peek of the next cb, I HIGHKEY THINK your little rant, just, hits too close to home 😔

OKAY, WHEW this gon be long. personally, what you felt about work cb (and the chilling, ominous vision of the future cbs' direction) is super valid. i feel the same thing too, except you're also very detail abt their outfits and concepts. sometimes i question myself if im being... too annoying about their music, esp work cb.

there's a reason i stop commenting [on their music] and it's bcs i don't want to appear... know-it-all, annoying, or other adjectives associated with these words. i got into the fandom just last year, i cant really say much, knowing im also not a certified music critic. but also i've been listening to them "blindly" since answer til halazia until i officially jumped in so, do i or do i not have the capacity to throw my opinion like this 😂

and even without looking at their visuals, to me, their music quality was already proven undoubtedly top notch, unique, quite ahead of their, well, competitors. had a little difficulty digesting the batshit futuristic instruments going behind their vocals at first (and the freaking remixes asksjkf) but overall, their songs always sound like they're crafted with heart and passion for the lore. for the journey. and im glad that they're not a headless worm going just anywhere with their music. or even worse, to achieve tiktok success. just like.... most artists... in the industry all over the world.

i think because i found them at the time i lost myself the most and their lore and storytelling have a certain goal to achieve. even if it's breaking the norms, even if you have to believe in yourself. i think i become so attached with the kids bcs of their bold music and even bolder message. you know,,, the psychological connection in this paragraph.

so, when they keep insisting that working during holidays are their choice, i just, sigh. knowing that a lot of fans would still defend them (esp twttiny bcs they always seem excited for the boys which is good but girlypops u dont have to gaslight urself if ur not liking it now). i dont even want to sugarcoat this anymore im worried that this is not a matter of "being genius creative tanks" but the need to be able to stay afloat in the trend, in the industry, cus theyre coming fr a relatively small company. and im really not sure how to feel abt that crying laughing rn. im worried theyre exhausted, not physically but their inspiration well.

i really wish they could engage in some other activity, or at least, brought wanteez back as the easy days. they dont have to be an all rounder really. just have fun in more original contents ig. not gonna touch the fashion weeks thingy cus im the least fashionable person in the clerb 😂

on the other side, foolish me to believe strongly and tell myself that kq would follow the lore, put the lore as the backbone of their creative direction for their music and expand from there. anything. music, short movies, random clips, visual diary, whatev. i didnt realize, they have the authority to bend the lore itself. like... what happened to, not sure, thunder, or halateez, in the latest diary log. if u felt that work was rushed, i agree. i am still confused til now tho i accepted that cb p well aljdlasjda

but yeah, i think i will stop expecting from now on and just listen. im too tired to analyze the lore, too tired to criticize and/or sugarcoat my opinion. if i like it, then i like it, if i don't then i don't. im open to discussion but i will definitely refrain from commenting. don't wanna spoil other people's fun ofc ofc. but this one we share fio, yeah i think i need to let out a little 😂 sorry this is getting a bit out of control fio. But like you said, hope that this is a one off thing too.

last but most importantly, i hope that you're doing great now, with whatever that's going on in your life. tis getting colder these days so take care, bestie 💚💚💚

[theladyofshalott1989]

I'm working on a story right now and struggling with where to go with it. I saw in one of your recent posts that you're currently outlining a story. If you don't mind sharing, how do you go about doing that? Thanks!

HELLO!!! Okay, so I panicked when I saw this Ask (in a good way, I promise hahaha), because while I do have a process, it's hard to describe. So, I went to my BFF @heyitszev to help me formulate my thoughts. Quoting him here, coming up with a quote for what I should say (LOL): "I follow Save the Cat! and then Bash does whatever he wants and I go with it." ^ So... THAT. 😂😂😂

But, to clarify that a bit... Save the Cat! is an outlining process used by screenwriters that can also be applied to novel writing. Here's a link to the website for it with a lot of wonderful resources that can help you on your writing journey. As wonderful as this process is, I do find some downsides to it as a writer of fanfic. 1. If you use this process, it's tough to write anything more than say, 100k+ words per story. Mapping out a story with specific beats that must be hit and resolved within a certain percentage of the story typically means there's a hard stop for the plot to be coherent. BUT, that's what series are for, so there you go.

Side note: I do think I would have a lot more engagement if I had just stuck to one overarching story (lots of readers on AO3 don't tend to follow along with a series, from what I'm finding), but it is what it is! 2. Sometimes the outline is a bit too constrictive for my taste. That's where Bash comes in. I've found over time that loosely outlining is much better than say writing 30+ pages worth of plot beats (yes, I did this for Like Moths to a Flame - it was very time-consuming - LMAO). When I plot loosely, it also leaves room for inspiration. While writing You Cannot Put a Fire Out, I had a general idea of where I wanted the story to go, but then Sebastian (my POV character) took over entirely, and the story went in a completely different direction than I was expecting. And, tbh, I loved "his ideas" even more. I guess what I'm saying here is to trust your instincts. You never know where they'll take you.

That's my writing process! From a routine perspective, once my outline is complete, I write every morning for an hour before work, and sometimes during my lunch break (also an hour). I also write during my toddler's nap time (roughly two hours) on weekends. I don't typically take a day off when I'm writing a story, unless I absolutely have to. Using that process ^, I wrote the first draft of Like Moths to a Flame in about three and a half months. Burning Bright took two months (it's a bit shorter and it didn't require me to watch a million YT playback videos to make sure the dialogue from the game was correct LOL), and You Cannot Put a Fire Out took me four months because Bash wouldn't let me use my outline and I had to move around (and remove!!! massive sigh) huge chunks of stuff I'd already written to make the story make sense. Then there's editing, lots and lots of editing, followed by sending to my lovely beta readers (yay), and then perhaps another draft or two before I start posting. It's quite involved, I will admit. But then, that's that! Thank you so much for asking. I wish you the best of luck with your story! :)

[calvincell]

Though I’ve yet to actually get a physical journal specifically for Blue Prince thanks to starting it up while in the hospital, hours in I’ve defaulted to the Steam Deck’s screenshot shortcut more than I think many other users have done in earnest. My Screenshot Folder in my Deck is essentially 50+ Blue Prince pics & 1 pic I took years ago by accident during MGS5 😂

Obviously, this is another thinly-veiled game recommendation post for the absolutely incredible game Blue Prince. It’s a stylish fusion of roguelike/deckbuilding mechanics with a full on Escape Room moment to moment loop. Your “deck” is a series of rooms you’ll draw from your draft pool (ie. your deck) with rooms ranging from neutral new paths & annexes to rooms with significant positive and/or negative traits capable of heavily affecting your path through the house in some manner. Following that you must place said rooms to navigate through an eccentric uncle’s bequeathed legacy villa secretly containing a hidden room which, though never mentioned throughout his ownership of the constantly shifting property, is now the requirement for the player to succeed in providing himself worthy of his uncle’s inheritance.

Though sensible navigation is key due to limited steps per day, several of the rooms have bespoke puzzles & many of the mansion’s rooms meld into one massive puzzle that expands the many secrets of the house & handful of meta progression elements that make the journey through the house as much of a worthwhile & valuable goal as the final room is for players.

(BTW, despite my mention of limited steps, strict beelining is NOT a necessity since the game doesn’t have a hard lock of limited days until a game over. There is no “find Room X by Day 30 or you lose” scenario. No spoilers but you can absolutely leisurely get through this game at your own speed without worries of having “wasted a day” or whatnot. )

Honestly, IMO Blue Prince more than qualifies to stand in the ranks of Lorelei & The Laser Eyes as Escape Room games from the last decade that happen to be not just excellent on their own but true evolutions in the puzzle game genre.

I desperately am begging people even halfway intrigued to try the game out. Hell, I personally balked back when people were posting about putting 40-100+ hours into Blue Prince’s Demo alone but no that was all true & highlights just how dense the game is. An absolute treasure trove of Escape Room-style puzzles for genre fans & just average puzzle fans and/or fans of roguelike deckbuilders truly looking for a true innovator in the genre.

SIDE NOTE:

Despite being on the pulse of the recent Switch 2 Chaos & aching to play DK Bananza at one point or another; it’s releases like Blue Prince that make me absolutely satisfied sitting on the outside of Nintendo’s Walled Garden this generation alongside both Sony & Microsoft’s Consoles, abandoning both after the launch of the Xbox 360. The Steam Deck has simply added so much value & access to my gaming life that the very existence of Nintendo Exclusives is not enough justification to make the upgrade from my current Switch to Switch 2. The triple whammy of S2’s game prices, rotten Online Services monetization plots (ie game chat button, Virtual Console etc.) & an overall executive-level disregard for the living costs of those making up the category of “Average Gamers” - those who happily buoyed a slightly dire Nintendo back around the era of the Wii & Iwata’s general company reign (RIP); all aggregate into a Red Flag Ratking too grotesque & imposing for me to ignore. I’ve genuinely gone from loving what I saw during the Switch 2 Direct to despising every post-announcement blunder to just being bluntly & plainly disinterested in any & all things Switch 2, a state very familiar to me when both the PS4 & Xbox One were the new hotness and I simply decided I couldn’t do the standard console mambo each generation anymore. The Steam Deck’s actual hardware & software versatility & overall game catalog simply makes it the best gaming hardware purchase I’ve made since the era of the 3DS.

Not only is Blue Prince the type of gaming innovation & quality that makes it deserve as much attention & financial compensation as Nintendo’s flagships (Metroid, DK, Mario Kart etc.), but also between my backlog & whishlisted games, the wealth of indie & AA-level games at my fingertips via PC & at regular/regularly massive sales & sale prices collectively dwarfs my need and/or desire for the Switch 2.

[annes-room]

💖 April 23, 2025

My Semester In Review!!

I am finally done my 4th year of university!! only one year left and then I'll be free 🥳

this year had the usual ups and downs, but I wanted to make a post to summarize my thoughts on how it went 💗

fun stats to start because I'm a stats major ✨ (all grades in percentages)

classes taken: 4

lowest grade across all: 74

highest grade: 100

total graded assignments (not including finals): 29

unweighted mean of grades: 93.84

percent of 100s in total graded: 44.83

Stat 413:

# assignments: 4

# midterms: 1

unweighted average: 85.9

course review: I thought the material would be interesting, and some of it was, but I disliked the prof so much 😭 I genuinely don't feel like I learned anything in that class. the only thing I really truly understood was the unit on optimization, but that's because I learned most of it in an earlier calc class 🙃 I was expecting the material to be a perfect blend between my stats and compsci programs but, as much as I did enjoy expanding my skills coding in R, it was a flop overall. we learned a lot of things just at the surface level and I didn't feel like we really dove deep into anything. very blah class overall. I also didn't really like the prof 🙃 he was very unserious and it didn't feel like he cared if we were actually learning as long as he just got to talk at us. I'm glad it's over!

rating: 0 stars 🕳️

Cmput 204:

# quizzes: 4

# midterms: 2

unweighted average: 94.5

course review: a solid course overall. I really liked learning about the different algorithms for sorting and searching. personally I think Merge Sort is my favourite, even though she needs some extra space, we can't all be perfect ✨ we ran out of time to learn about Hash Tables, but I think I would've liked them too. the profs slides were really messy, but it was a good opportunity to make summary notes and pull out the most crucial information. using pseudocode was also fun 😊 the practice questions for the quiz were overly juiced, but actual tests were not that difficult thankfully :)

rating: 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Stat 371:

# assignments: 10

# midterms: 2

unweighted average: 94.5833

course review: it seemed really daunting at the start of the semester, and I probably wouldn't have done so well without my best friends in it, but I actually really liked the material! the last chapter, on queues, was fascinating! I can definitely see the use in models based on arrival and waiting times. the chapter on Bernoulli counting Processes and Poisson Processes were also very fun! the formulas looked overwhelming, but so nice to plug numbers into 🤩 I think 10 assignments was a bit much, since we still had one due each week even when we had the midterms, but I managed to push through it 😤

rating: 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Stat 361:

# assignments: 5

# midterms: 1

unweighted average: 98.3333

course review: easiest course by far!!!! literally plug and chug. we learned about 4 different sampling techniques and how to estimate population sizes and it was just so easy and fun 😂 it ended up being my favourite this semester 🥳 assignments only took ~2 hours to do each time and there was almost no manipulation needed for the formulas. our exam formula sheets were extremely comprehensive too which is always nice 😊

rating: 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Study times:

total (tracked) study time: 272.8 hrs

average per month: 68.2

I have no idea what happened in March that made me study that much because most of my midterms were in February 😅 I do remember being super tired last month though 😂 I'm hoping the numbers won't be as high next year as I'll be taking fewer classes 😅

total (tracked) reading time: 29.55 hours

average per month: 7.3875

that number is definitely off 😂 I could not have read 2 books a month with only that amount of time 😅 I wish though! I'll make a post later this year about the books I read and I'll probably make more review posts through the summer 😊

overall I think this semester went well. just another one to shelve away as something I accomplished and I'm proud I made it through 💪😤

if you read this far, thank you :) I hope your studies/work/hobbies/life is going well and that all your hard work pays off 💗

here's to a good summer!!

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

if you want for the shipping asks, and idk the ship name but it'll be neat to hear your opinion: numbers 8, 15, 17 and 19 for the danganronpa ship u like and numbers 1, 6, 15, and 20 for bowuigi if you'd like, sorry thats a lot but have a nice day :)

Thanks for the ask!!! It's not a lot, no worries! The Danganronpa ship I like is called IshiMondo, with Kiyotaka (Taka) Ishimaru and Mondo Owada (or Oowada, depending on localization) as the characters. ^-^

I'll put my response in a read more, since it's obviously an hour long, given my deep and passionate love of rambling. :-)

(Edit: I just noticed that I legit wrote Taka's name as Kiyotaka Ishimondo. 😂😂😂😭😭😭 Please know I was very tired when I answered this last night and didn't proof read. 😂😂😂😂😂😂)

Shipping Asks

IshiMondo:

8. What is their first date like?

Funny enough, I wrote a story about their first date in the universe of my main story for the pair, The Problem with Perfection. However, considering that I changed both characters over the span of my fic to sort of deconstruct their personality traits and coping mechanisms, I'm not quite sure if that's how their first date would go when you look at them according to canon. Based on canon, my belief is that their "first date" wasn't actually a "date," per se. Given their obliviousness, and comments from (I believe??) a writer of Danganronpa, I'd think they'd go on hundreds of "dates" before realizing that they're dating, at which point they'd already have been living together for years with multiple pets and literally all of their friends believing they're in the strongest long-term relationship of all of them. Perhaps they'd even have an adopted child or two by that point, who knows. 😅😅😅

15. What's their song?

Oooh, this is a tough one... see, there are tons of songs that remind me of IshiMondo, to the point where I made an entire YouTube playlist for TPWP dedicated to the pair (which you can find here, if you're interested). But a single song that is "their" song? Well. In the context of TPWP, I'd say it would either be I See the Light, from Disney's Tangled, or So Close, from Disney's Enchanted. Both songs are used at emotional cruxes of the fic, since I adore both songs and I was like "f*** it, I'm the writer, what I say goes," ha. In that universe, I'd say that they both would see both songs as "their song," given that both were kinda instrumental in them getting together in the fic. Now, as for in canon... that gets trickier. I'm not really sure what song they would consider "their" song, especially given that my taste in music does not seem to align with music either would like. Taka, for one, does not strike me as someone who likes music that isn't either political/patriotic (to Japan, not America, ha) in some way, or that is educational. And Mondo would profess to like tough, biker guy music, while secretly liking, like... pop or something. So, for the sake of my sanity, I'll just go with the ones I said for TPWP.

17. Favorite activity to do together or way to spend time together?

Oh, this is easy. For Taka, it would be to "quietly" study together while either in one of their respective rooms, or else in the library. For Mondo it would be to ride around on his motorcycle. No real destination in mind, just riding while pressed close together. Collectively, it would be taking baths in a local bathhouse together, doing their "manly bonding" while butt naked, since both of them seem to think this is a perfectly normal thing to do. Which, I believe, it is in Japan, so no shame there.

19. Where would they travel or go on vacation/honeymoon?

Hm, this is tricky, again. Somewhere local, I would think. Taka is a very practical, hardworking man, who comes from an impoverished background. He wouldn't understand the point of going on an elaborate vacation, even for his honeymoon. Mondo might want to, but ultimately he'd defer to Taka, and they might do a tour of Japan, going to historical areas that are rich with history and whatnot. I'd go more into detail, but I'm honestly getting really tired, so I won't ramble too much more, ha.

Bowuigi:

1. How do they sleep? Ie, positions, who spoons who, who steals all the covers, etc.)?

Honestly man, I have no idea, ha. 😅😅😅 They'd have to sleep very, very carefully given the size difference. I like to think of them sleeping in kind of like a pile. Bowser curled protectively around Luigi like a dragon, while Luigi sleeps lying mostly on top of Bowser. ^-^

6. What do they playfully tease each other about?

Luigi playfully teases Bowser about how grandiose he always is, especially in relation to how he used to chase after Peach. There are other things he'd tease Bowser about, but as I said earlier I'm getting really tired and nothing is coming to mind, sorry! Bowser would playfully tease Luigi about how nervous he always is about everything. Sometimes it would go a bit passed "playful" into "kinda mean," but Bowser would always stop before it got too far and would do his best to apologize while not apologizing. Things like "anonymously" giving Luigi gifts, or doing small gestures that he ordinarily wouldn't do for anyone but that show Luigi how much he cares.

15. What's their song?

Ahhhh another hard one! Especially because I interpret this question as meaning "the song they believe represents them, or that is the song they associate with their relationship," as it usually means when couples talk about "their song." But I honestly don't know what song either of them would consider "their song," since again my taste of music doesn't seem like it would fit either of them. Bowser would likely like hard rock/metal, while Luigi would like more folksy, down to earth music. Likely Italian, ha. A song I associate with them would be Beautiful Things Can Come From The Dark, by Azure Ray. But that's just a song I associate with most "enemy to lovers" relationships, honestly. Same with The Reason, by Hoobastank. Another one that I associate with them is They Don't Know, by Tracy Ullman (Note: I know she's not the original singer, but her version is the one my dad would play when I was a kid, so it's the only one I know. Though after listening to the original by Kirsty MacColl I think Luigi would appreciate this one better, honestly).

20. How is their home decorated?

Well, I imagine they'd live in Bowser's castle given that he's a king, so there would be the usual things in Bowser's castle, such as dark stone walls and flowing lava. Luigi would definitely make changes, though, to make it more homey. He'd add flowers, bright wallpaper, brighter lights, things like that to make the decor less dreary, but still respecting Bowser's desire to be somewhat intimidating. It would be a good blend of their personalities I think.

Anyway, that took way longer than intended. 😭😭😭 I've been writing this pretty much since I got the ask about an hour ago, oof. I hope this was informative though! I'd proof read, but it's nearly midnight and I have to be up at 6:30 for one of my last days at my internship. Only four more to go!!!!!! Thanks God!!!!!!!!!!! While this internship isn't the worst, and my supervisor is nice, he's kinda incompetent and isn't really teaching me much. They're pretty much using me as slave labor and are taking my creations (I've created 2 classroom lessons for various elementary classes. I'm interning as an elementary school counselor) without permission to use for future lessons, as well as getting me to do lunch duty and sometimes cover classes despite the fact I've never worked as a substitute and have no idea what I'm doing in those cases???? But it's like, whatever. As long as I finish the hours and get my credential, I'll be happy.

Anyway, time for bed! Thanks again for the ask! Despite the challenge, this was fun. :-D

[studentbyday]

don't ask me to analyze poetry but sometimes i get the last lines stuck in my head bc it's a long road to get to where i wanna be in life...

D-37 & D-36 DAYS TO FREEDOM

yesterday i studied for 3h and 36 mins. i was supposed to study for 6+ hours. today i will try to make up for it bc yesterday was just not enough time to finish everything i was supposed to. i wonder how long it will take me to figure out (and be okay with) a reasonable to-do list. i really feel like i keep overwhelming myself with things to do that i just keep feeling defeated and demotivated every day bc it's impossible to finish it all in 1 day...

learning:

finish 2nd biochem discussion reply (took 2h 😑) ✅ (why is it *so* *hard* to read and understand biochem papers without reading at a snail's pace?? 😩)

finish 1.5 psyc ch for this week ✅ (OMG THE NEUROSCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS SO COOL and also really freaky bc many different brain regions are so dependent on each other so damage may mean you don't actually perceive smth??? unfortunately to allow my brain to osmose the info, i need to slow down 🥺 i wish i could go faster.)

finish biochem sec 1, start sec 2 ✅

self-care:

physio exercises x2 ✅

journal x2 ✅

laundry ✅

update: i could not stick to pomodoro for more than 3h today and i didn't study anymore after that. i could not focus very well after the first hour and a half. i think it's because i didn't sleep well last night. so i'm gonna finally try to be consistent for a week and go to bed between 9-10 even if i don't feel like it and even if i can't fall asleep right away for the first couple of days. also, i think i'll try to reduce the amount of stuff i write on a day's to-do list. i'll still be aiming for 6-8h of studying per day, but we're gonna go with 4 or 5 tasks a day if 2 or 3 of them are small (takes an hour or less) and 3 if all the tasks are big (i.e. takes 2 hours or more) and if i finish early, then everything else i do will be a happy bonus, and if not, that's fine as well bc i'm still gonna get it done within the week, just not this instant. maybe tmr's update will feature a new bujo spread? (i changed it from the 2-page weekly to a super basic 6 column thing that would allow me to timeblock my days but...ofc that didn't help for very long bc all that space allowed me to overwhelm myself every day!)

🎶 liebesleid/love's sorrow - kreisler/rachmaninoff (yes the same set of songs keep getting stuck in my head. it seems to stay like that until i'm able to play them myself. so we're gonna be with this set for a while 😅 as a sidenote, this was a great song to listen to as i journalled about imposter syndrome 😂 it really fit the vibes 😎)

[pagegirlintraining]

AO3 wrapped (writer’s edition)

Well, this was a lovely way to close out the year. Here goes:

1. How many words have you written this year?

An unbelievable 331,924 👀

2. How many works did you publish this year?

12 in total. 6 are oneshots, and of the rest I’ve finished 4.

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

I’m extremely proud of Oh, Those Summer Nights. The dialogue in this one flows so beautifully, I love the way I got to incorporate some of my favorite places in Stockholm, and it just altogether has this magical atmosphere about it.

But also, for entirely different reasons, Vi har bara varandra, det är allt vi behöver. Because I wrote a freaking story in Swedish, what even?!

4. What work of yours has the most hits?

Overall it’s Dancing Through Life with a little over 22k, but considering we didn’t start publishing The Prince And The Popstar until August this year, the 16k on that one feel worth mentioning. On a chapter basis they’re also very close to one another.

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

The Prince And The Popstar. For sure. That one blew both of us away I think.

6. Favorite title you used?

Both One, two, three, four, five, sex on my mind and Stop the world (I wanna get off with you) fit so nicely with what the respective stories are about.

7. If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?

I haven’t actually checked, but it’s probably Sabrina Carpenter from Prince and Popstar alone 😂

8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year?

Wilmon. They’re also the only pairing I wrote for.

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

Same answer as 8.

10. What work was the quickest to write?

Copy and Pasta went from a batshit idea to a fully-written thing within 4 hours, that’s got to be a personal record.

11. What work took you the longest to write?

The writing process of Prince and Popstar was very spread out because both @the-amber-fox and I had lots of life stuff happen in between. All in all it took us 4 months to even have enough to start posting, and then another 3 to finish it.

12. How many WIPs do you have in your docs for next year?

I have two new ones I firmly plan on writing, and one idea I’m not so sure about yet. Also two I plan on finishing next year.

13. What’s your longest work of the year?

Based on the amounts of them that were written this year, it’s The Prince And The Popstar. Then again I only wrote about half of that, so it may also be The Time Of My Life with 45501 words and counting.

14. What’s your shortest work of the year?

Vi har bara varandra, det är allt vi behöver (714 words) for obvious reasons 😂

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

Dancing through life (don’t look at me, I swear I will get myself to finish that epilogue at some point🙈), The Time Of My Life and Killing me softly (with his song), which still hasn’t gotten a second chapter yet but is very much not abandoned.

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

Alternate Universe. Who else is not surprised?

17. Your favorite character to write this year?

I swear, the answer to this changes every time I think about it. For now I’ll go with my Dirty Dancing AU version of Simon, because he’s somehow the version that feels closest to canon Simon even though plot wise the story is the farthest from canon. That’s a nice mental stretch to keep up.

18. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

Can you hear me laughing? It’s Wilmon all the way.

19. Which work of yours have you reread the most?

It’s probably a tie between Copy and Pasta (short, sweet, always cheers me up) and the already existing parts of The Time Of My Life (it’s two of my favorite things combined, has my favorite version of Wille I’ve written and some beautiful Wilmon moments I really like revisiting).

20. How many kudos in total did you get this year?

4448.

21. Which work has the most comments?

Per chapter it’s The Prince And The Popstar.

22. Did you do any collaborative works this year?

Yessss 😍 I realized the other day that I’ve written four complete works with my darling @the-amber-fox this year and could not believe it. They’ve been some of my faves to write, and that’s hugely thanks to her, so thanks 💜

I also got to write the first chapter of Killing me softly with the amazing @ishotforthestars . Mayyyyybe we’ll get back to that one for a special occasion…😁

23. Did you write any gifts this year?

I sure did. Got to cowrite two birthday presents, for and with @the-amber-fox and @ishotforthestars respectively. Then another birthday present for @omaremioo and a Christmas present for @zee-has-commitment-issues .

24. Did you receive any gifts this year?

Yes again. Got a lovely birthday gift and the very best Christmas gift this year (Thanks, Foxy, and thanks times two, Elin 😂🫶🏼)

25. What’s your most common category?

M/M unsurprisingly.

26. What do you listen to while writing?

When I do it’s either my ever-growing annual playlist or the cheesiest 80s ballads for intimacy scenes.

27. Favorite work you wrote this year?

I think I’ve had the most fun with Prince and Popstar, but the most moments of giddy pride with The Time Of My Life. That’s all I can say for this one.

28. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

I can’t possibly choose a favorite, mostly because I’d have to reread all of them and I don’t have a whole week off to do it😄 so I’ll go with something that, while pretty simple, resonated with me a lot when I reread it: “Just because that’s what he expects doesn’t mean it’s what you need to give him, Simon.”

29. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

Learning that despite what I’d been told before, I seem to have a knack for comedic writing.

[writermuses]

Hello darlings!

I'm still alive/here. I know I owe all the things and I appreciate you all following my "queue that" rule because I haven't been on my computer to write let alone draft. In case you're wondering what I've been up to I'll give you a bulleted list of the teacher life near D.C. under the read more.

🩵 Natty

Here's some chaos:

My student pulled the fire alarm and rather than addressing that for the felony it is, kiddo is on a 1 month suspension (you get 45 days for fighting) Worth noting this student was previously expelled 2 years ago for a gun situation.

We've had 2 mob fights at my school and another at the next closest high school (they also had a stabbing and the response was "well at least it wasn't our school on the news this time")

I've had more meetings than there were days of the week and worked past 5 nearly every day (we love unpaid work... i'm talking like full time job hours of unpaid labor)

My school has gone through more than 12 principals in my 6 years here and the new one has given me 9 blocks of classes to have my students research, make posters, assemble 550 meal kits, complete a reflection, and present a summary (to whom? idk bro) All while never answering my emails... in case you're wondering it costs 20k to get the groceries for this task alone. As of right now I have 3 students that can build the 550 meal kits. We have 2 80 minute blocks to build them all or our low income families have nothing to eat over spring break 👍

Our bell schedule is changing so that we'll have 3 lunches with students required to be in the cafeteria, instead of 2 where they're in our classrooms. This will end all in school clubs (RIP Four Square Club 😢 ) and we need 350 more chairs in the cafeteria 😂 fyi I had to have 3 students standing per block for 4 weeks because we couldn't get desks and chairs for my classes of 33. When I got desks they gave me elementary cubby desks. (I teach HS. The average 'kid' is like 5'5 hahaha)

The students booed the new principal so loudly at the pep rally that I could hear it with earplugs in and she didn't send their bitch asses back to class. She said, "Hmm, I think I hear some boos? Wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last."

Here's some cute shit:

My nearly non-verbal gem of a human told me a joke: Why did the sun go to class? To get a little brighter!

That same student: His current hyperfixation is roasting my lack of an immune system. He calls me his weakest superhero 😂

In a room full of extremely politically divergent teenagers, they almost unanimously agreed that a person facing criminal charges shouldn't be allowed to run for office and then had civil discourse about it.

The hype of my Afghani students getting to teach their class the Arabic alphabet when we started our new module. (Also their hype over the teachers showing up to their club's fundraiser)

A parent made shirts for the seniors on our 🏀 team (just 4 boys). They got to pick their favorite and most impactful teacher and she wanted each one to have a different teacher wearing theirs but 2 of them insisted it be me and wouldn't budge 😭 (also one of them interviewed to play ball overseas so 🤞 for him)

A parent made the staff valentines day cupcakes

A student in culinary arts gave me a banging cinnamon roll the size of my head

A quiet student from last year came by to tell me he bowled nearly 300 and made brownies- they were not pot brownies, I took the risk and it was worth it 😂

2 of my kids with over 100 absences showed up this week! They won't pass but 👍 nice to know they're like alive