#Some Mario cool downs as I finally put my pen down for the first time sense 2am

[emile-hides]

I just think it'd be neat if they were separate guys who could interact

[myhockeyworld87]

Not So Dangerous Liaison - Sidney Crosby - Part 27

Word Count: 3,429

POV:  Reader

Warngings: Language, NSFW, Smut

Notes:  Here we are again. I think you all might kill me in future chapters so for now, let’s enjoy this one...haha. As always love your feedback and Happy Reading! Let me know what you guys think.

Not So Dangerous Liaison Masterlist

It was less than two weeks after your conversation with Mario that you and Sid were traveling to Los Angeles for the All Star game. Geno and Anna were supposed to be with you, but because of an injury, they had to back out. It was better for him to rest up anyhow. For Sid, it was more work than fun, though he did have a more carefree attitude than when he's normally on the ice. The two of you did sneak in some nice alone time over the few days.

Once you were back in Pittsburgh, it was business as normal. Well, maybe normal wouldn't be the right word for you, as you were busy helping with the Stadium series game that would take place at the end of February against the Flyers. Your hours were a little later when you were in town, which Sid didn't mind as he just spent extra time on the ice or watching films while he waited for you. You insisted that you could just take separate cars, but he wouldn't hear of it. It was really quite cute of him. 

The days leading up to the game were packed. The guys were doing media and squeezing in practices with their new equipment, while you worked behind the scenes with the rest of the crew setting things up. You wanted Heinz Field to feel just like PPG Arena did for them. The weather had everyone in a tither as Pittsburgh had got a bit of a warm front. Days leading up to the game saw temperatures in the seventies which was almost unheard of, for a February in Pennsylvania. In fact, on the day of the family skate, you were all literally wearing jeans and lightweight sweaters as you stood around watching the guys practice. 

"Will you hold Scar for me?" Vero asked. You were watching the guys practice with the ladies today, instead of by the bench. It was a rare occurrence that you got to take a game in with them, so it was a nice change of pace. She handed baby Scarlett off to you while she bent down and put on Estelle's skates. 

"Hello, sweetness," you said to the one-and-a-half-year-old, kissing her little cheeks in the process. "Do you see daddy out there?" You pointed out where Marc Andre was and Scarlett smiled. 

"Hi, daddy!" She yelled, but you weren't entirely sure he could hear her, as he was all the way down in net. "Unc Sid!" She exclaimed when Sidney came by and tapped on the glass. 

"Hi Scar!" He waved at her then gave you a look. One you weren't entirely sure you'd ever seen, before skating away leaving you to wonder what was going through his head. Practice ended soon thereafter and you all joined the guys out on the ice. Though most of them shed their pads due to the heat of the afternoon sun. 

"Ice looked a little slushy," you commented to Sid when he skated over to you.

"It's not bad. They said the temperature's supposed to drop tonight and tomorrow so we'll be ok. Come on." He grabbed your hand pulling you out onto the ice with him. It was something you still weren't comfortable doing. Sid could literally skate circles around anyone, while you still had to concentrate if you wanted to go backward. He recognized that and always made sure he held onto you so that you wouldn't fall. "You looked good out there." He said offhandedly as you made your way around the now shiny surface of the ice.

"Huh? I wasn't doing anything. I'm pretty sure I should be saying that to you."

"That's not what I meant."

"Obviously," you said hitting him playfully and losing your balance at the same time. Sid righted you with ease so that to the casual onlooker they never would've seen you stumble. 

"I meant holding Scarlett."

"Oh well, she's easy to love that's for sure. I'm going to miss them when they go." With the expansion team coming to Vegas, it was already widely known within the team that Flower would be the member they would choose. It was crushing, not only to you but to Sid as well. Your friendship with the Fleury's was one of the things you both treasured most; they were the reason you were with Sid right now. And while they would always be some of your best friends' things wouldn't be the same in Pittsburgh without them. 

"I know," Sid replied wistfully. "But we've still got them for now." You skated around a few more times, before he let you go, only so that he could wrap his arms around your midsection and skate with you from behind. It was definitely intimate and you were surprised with all the media around that Sid was into such a public display of affection. Sure there had been the parades, but usually, he tried to keep your relationship out of the public eye if he could. "I just think you really looked good." He whispered in your ear.

"You've seen me in this outfit before."

"Not that, you know…" You had to crane your neck back to look at him, but you noticed he was turning a bit red and it had nothing to do with the unseasonably warm temperatures. "Holding Scarlett." He finally spit out. "It makes me think about having our own."

"OH!" The word came out a little louder than you intended. Of course, Sid had confessed that he wanted kids with you. It just seemed like something that was further away in the future and not something that he'd been thinking about recently. 

"I know you're going to tell me it's too soon, and maybe you're right. I just can't help but think about it on days like today." You looked around then, watching all the guys skate with their significant others, some with kids while others had kids on the way. You could see the allure. As the two of you continued to glide around the ice, you let your mind wander to what it would be like. It was easy to picture, especially after watching Sid this summer with his Little Penguins camp. He'd be holding your son's or daughter's hands, much like Flower was doing now with Estelle, helping them navigate the ice. When Sid's hands tightened around your waist you couldn't stop yourself from wondering what it would feel like to be growing his child inside you. You found yourself relaxing more into Sid's embrace as you daydreamed about your future. 

"It's definitely a nice picture," you finally sighed, letting him know that you weren't opposed to the idea.

"Yeah, yeah it is." His voice took on a dreamy quality and you knew he was imagining the same thing as you. It seemed like one minute you were caught up in your little fantasy and the next you guys were having to leave the ice and it was back to reality. Not that your reality was a bad one, you still had Sid and for now, that's all you needed. 

Sid was right temperatures definitely cooled down. By game time the following day, it was barely thirty degrees and falling. You were bundled up in a coat with the team logo on it along with a matching tossle cap on your head. Sid had been mad that you hadn't worn the one all the ladies got with their guys' number on it, but you had insisted that when you were on the clock you were rooting for the entire team and not just him. At the moment you were wishing you had it so that you could put it on top of your current one. Your teeth were chattering and you kept bouncing on the balls of your feet to keep you warm. 

Midway through the first Sid scored, which had you jumping up and down and cheering along with the team as well as the thousands of fans in the stadium. It did little to help get you warm and you were practically running to the locker room tunnel by end of the first. You grabbed a cup of hot tea while the players went over the first period and where they could make improvements. It went pretty much the same way in the second, even though Nick Bonino scored early the Flyers were able to cut the lead in half with a goal from Jakub Voracek. Again, you raced off to get warm as soon as the horn sounded. 

Your feet were numb by the time Cully scored a goal early in the third, and though the Flyers scored on a power play, Chad Ruhwedel sealed the Pens victory with over five minutes left in play. The stadium erupted with the win, though it did little to warm you up. You stayed long enough to watch the team skate around in their little victory lap, then headed back down to the nice warm locker room. 

Of course, Sid had to do media, which meant you were there even longer. He was afforded the luxury of a nice hot shower before the two of you headed home. "Can you please turn the heat up?" you whined once you were in the car. "I'm freezing."

"It was a bit cold out there, eh?" Sid commented as he turned the heat on your side of the vehicle to max. 

"Ya think? I thought I was going to freeze to death when the snow started to fly."

"Babe, it's all part of outdoor hockey." He grabbed one of your hands in his. "Fuck, you are cold. You should've worn thermals or something."

"Trust me I will next time. I think it's just worse because of how beautiful it was yesterday."

"Well, as soon as we get home, we'll get you in the tub."

"Uh, yes, please." The ride through the city, while mostly traffic free, seemed endless. 

"Head upstairs, babe and I'll bring you up a cup of tea as soon as I get rid of my gear." Not having to be told twice, you made your way up to your shared master bath and started running the water. You hated stripping out of your clothes, as it felt like the only warmth your body had at the moment but as soon as your toes touched the steaming water, you sighed as the warmth heated your skin. You were fully immersed up to your neck by the time Sid came up with a steaming mug full of tea. "Better?"

"A little," you answered taking a sip of the drink he'd prepared perfectly for you before setting it back down on the ledge of the tub. "Still a bit chilly." 

"Well in that case." Sid started to strip out of his clothes. Divesting himself of his suit that he'd worn to the game. He folded it over the chair you used to put your makeup on, so that it didn't get any wrinkles, then made his way over to you and the tub. "Scooch up, babe." You did and he scooted in behind you, easing you back against him once he was comfortable in the water. His arms wrapped around you instantly and you felt engulfed in his heat. "This better?"

"Mmm much." You were completely content wrapped up in your boyfriend's arms with the water lapping around you both, so you rested your head against his chest. "You played really well tonight," you mused shutting your eyes and just giving yourself over to the warmth that was Sid.

"It was a lot of fun. I love playing outdoors. It's so authentic." Only Sid would put it like that, but you knew what he meant. "Though I wish you would've dressed warmer baby."

"I'm fine now." You took another long sip of tea, the temperature perfect. 

Sid kissed your temple. "Good, can't have you getting sick on me." 

"God no, I'll have to sleep in the guest room, if that happens."

"Why?"

"I'm not going to be responsible for getting the star player sick." You told him, turning your head so that you could look him in the eye. "You will not be missing a game because of me."

"I'd still probably end up missing a game because I wouldn't be able to sleep without you in our bed." His arms tightened around you, almost as if you were going to run off to the guest room right then. "But we're not worrying about that now, because we are definitely sleeping in the same bed tonight." His lips captured yours then, stealing your breath away and heating your body all the way to your core. You could feel his erecting grow against you as the kiss went on. It was nothing to reach behind you and wrap your fingers around his length. He moaned into your mouth, before gently sucking on your bottom lip as he broke the kiss. "You know two can play that game." His hand stole down your stomach and slipped between your folds, the water making it easy for him to caress you there. Your hand stuttered on his cock as he slid two fingers into you. Sid took the opportunity to grab your wrist with his free hand so that you could no longer manipulate him as you liked. "Lean your head back and enjoy this for a bit."

"But…"

"We'll get to that." He told you as he settled you against him once again. He shimmied his legs so that they were in between yours but only for a moment so that he could spread yours wide; your legs now splayed on either side of his. Sid's fingers continued to toy with your pussy, alternating between pumping in and out of you and rubbing circles on your clit, while his other hand tweaked your nipples into taut little peaks. Before you knew it you were panting with need, the chill of the evening game completely forgotten as Sid stoked a fire deep within you. His lips came down on the nape of your neck, his tongue driving you wild just as his fingers were. It was all too much as the water gently lapped at your skin. You felt your body gently rise into his touch, yet he held you firm working you towards that peak you craved. It didn't take long for your orgasm to hit. It washed over you like a wave cresting on the sand as your body trembled, this time not from the cold but the pleasure of Sid's touch. "You're so fucking sexy when you cum." His warm breath sent a shiver down your spine.

You were so sated you almost didn't want to move, but then you wanted him to experience the same ecstasy that you'd just felt. "We should…" you went to tell him that you should move to the bed but Sid had other plans.

"We'll be fine here, just kneel for a second." Your legs were already on either side of him, so it wasn't hard. He adjusted himself a bit, sitting more upright in the tub, before bending his knees slightly for you to lean against. You turned your head to the side to see him stroke himself a couple times, before lining himself up with your pussy. "Now just come back a little." You did as instructed; your pussy engulfing his cock as you basically sat reverse cowgirl on him. With his knees bent you leveraged yourself against them and started to ride his cock. "Fuck baby, you feel so good." His hands were on your hips making sure you wouldn't slip in the tub, but controlling your pace as well. 

Water sloshed against the sides of the tub, some of it spilling over the sides. "Oh shit," you moaned out knowing that you were making a mess of the bathroom floor. 

Sid could see where your thoughts were going. "Forget it, (Y/N). We'll get it later." He accentuated his words by thrusting up deep inside you. The action making you groan with desire. "That feel good, baby?"

"Yes," you cried out as he hit your g-spot again. "Right there," you panted and he hit the spot over and over again until you were convulsing around him in your second climax. 

"Jesus, (Y/N)," Sid moaned as your pussy gripped him like a vice. The grip he had on your hips tightened as he rammed into your cunt. He was so close to falling off the edge and cumming with you but he wanted to hold off, make it last longer, give you one more orgasm before he sought his own pleasure. Sid slowed his thrusts then, as you relaxed momentarily against his knees. "So fucking beautiful." It took you a moment to catch your breath before you started to move again. His thrusts weren't as deep as before, giving you a moment's reprieve before he went at it again. You knew Sid, knew he could keep up this leisurely pace all night if he wanted. The water was cooling though, and even though your body was still on fire after two orgasms you had no wish to be cold again. It was then that you decided to move your hips, rocking in a motion that you knew would drive him wild. And it did. It wasn't long before he was bucking up into you again. The water going everywhere now. Some of it even hitting his designer suit which rested across the room on the chair. "Fuck, (Y/N)," he hissed out and you could tell he wouldn't last much longer at this pace. He let one hand snake around to your clit. His fingers applying just the right amount of pressure there, as he rubbed circles into the little nub. 

"Sid, I'm gonna…"

"Yes, baby, yes," he groaned on the verge of hitting his peak as well. You were both there with a few thrusts. His hot cum filling you up as you quaked around him. The pleasure so intense you swore you saw stars. Sid collapsed against the back of the tub and while you wanted to follow, the position you were in did not make it that easy. It took a little maneuvering on both your parts, but soon you were back to lounging against Sid.

"We should get out." The water was definitely cooled now and this time you shivered from it.

"You still cold?"

"A little."

"Well, let's get you in bed then." The towel you had laid out was completely soaked, so you just laid it across the floor as you moved to get out of the tub. "Careful," Sid warned as you stepped out onto the shiny marble floor. You moved quickly yet cautiously to the cabinet and grabbed both of you a towel while laying down a few more to soak up the water. 

You'd just finished wrapping the fluffy white towel around your body when Sid scooped you up and headed towards the bedroom. "Sid, stop! I need to clean up that mess."

"It'll dry." He must have been anticipating how the night would go for the bed was already turned down as he placed you in the middle of the mattress. He scooted in behind you, discarding his towel in one swift motion, before sweeping the covers over both of you. His hands made quick work of ridding you of the wet cloth that was helping you dry. "They say body heat is the fastest way to warm someone up."

"Hmm, is that so," you said turning in his embrace. 

"Mmmhmm. I'm sure I read it somewhere."

"I'm sure you did. I'm just wondering what else this book said."

His hands were roaming up and down your back and gliding across the globes of your ass. "Oh, lots more."

You kissed his neck wanting to return the favor he had given you a while ago, then you moved to his chest before saying, "such as?" You continued your path downward over Sid's abs.

"I'm sure there was…" he sucked in a breath as you placed a warm kiss on his pelvis. "Fuck I can't think of a word." 

You grinned up at him from beneath the covers. "Let me see if I can make you forget all together." Sid lost all train of thought as your lips connected with his cock. The night continued on like that for a few more hours before the two of you were so sated you could do nothing but sleep. 

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 309 Spoiler Thoughts: Izuku and Inko Midoriya, and Some More Things Along The Way

The chapter leaks are here again!  Thanks to all the people on Twitter and here on Tumblr for providing us with scans and translations.  This chapter helps explain some things that a lot of us were wondering about.  Sadly, there’s still no Bakugo, or Shoto, or any other UA kids really; they’re only in flashbacks.  But, we do get to see what All Might and the Top 3 Heroes (Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist) are up to, so that’s something.  Anyway, remember to take what I say with a grain of salt until the official translations come out on Sunday:

The chapter starts a few minutes after Deku beat Muscular.  He’s flying through the air taking an unconscious Muscular tied up in his Black Whip.  The other Ketsubusu Academy students from the Lisence Exam see him too.  Thankfully the stubborn civilians from 2 chapters ago are willing to help Yo Shindo recover in exchange for not listening moving to the school shelters.  Also, Shindo’s barely conscious, but he does actually remember Deku.  He’s just not the same Deku as before.  Not much for me to say here except that I wonder if Shindo’s going to help spread the word about Deku’s actions.  Not just to his classmates, but I wonder if the words’ going to get out to the news and UA.  Actually, word might not even get that far since Shindo was only one of the few people in that exam that really even interacted with Deku...

Deku hands Muscular over to the police for them to take care off.  He also makes sure to cover himself up in Smokescreen to hide his identity.  So, Deku really is working in the shadows here.  It is best that the public doesn’t know what Deku is doing so that the LoV don’t track him down.  My man’s really going down the Batman route.  Oh, I also have to admire Deku’s smartphone here kept in this steel case.  I was going to say it’s a burner phone, but burner phones break easily for a reason and this one clearly doesn’t.  Maybe it’s a special one that can’t be tracked down.    

And we finally get to see All Might again!  He is actively working with Deku instead of just not knowing where his protege is.  He’s wearing casual clothes (jacket, jeans, sunglasses, the works) when he meets up with Deku in an alleyway.  I’m honestly glad that All Might is still supervising Deku.  I mean, Deku on his own would’ve been badass, but when you’re going up against people like AFO and Shigaraki, you’re going to need some help.  Especially when laying low.  Even with supervision, I still think Deku counts as a vigilante b/c I don’t think his license works if he’s not at UA.  I will believe this unless proven otherwise.  

It’s explained that the “wrapping” on Deku’s arms are actually gauntlets called “Mid-Gauntlets”, which are what are helping hold Deku’s arms together.  And they are VERY similar to the gauntlets that Melissa Shield from Two Heroes gave Deku.  Deku even says that All Might ordered them from the USA before travel restrictions were put in place.  I know that it’s only implied, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Deku’s new gauntlets were made by Melissa.  Even if you want to doubt it, at this point, Two Heroes (and by extension Heroes Rising and probably the upcoming 3rd movie, World Heroes Mission) are canon.  Honestly, I’m cool with it.  I liked Melissa and I’m glad her presence is still around (she was even in a Team-Up Mission chapter with Hatsume).  I do wonder if we’re ever going to see her in the main story.  It would be nice to see Melissa again.

The gauntlets are test samples and are used to enhance endurance.  All Might says that they can’t withstand 100% of OFA yet.  Which means that Deku actually beat Muscular with less than 100% unlike their first fight where Deku had to use over 100% just to knock him out.  So, does this mean that, say, Deku’s current 45% is stronger than his 100+% back in the Forest Camp?  Or maybe it was just the combo of moves and strategy rather then Deku just punching his way through things.

Small detail, but All Might’s phone goes off with that “I AM HERE” ringtone we heard before and Deku comments that this particular one is from All Might’s Silver Age TV Special!  It’s such a small thing, but I love that Deku still has that All Might fanboy in him despite everything 💚!  Somethings truly never change.

And back to the Top 3: Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist!  Endeavor and Best Jeanist are teaming up to kick a villain’s ass while Hawks is talking to All Might on the phone.  It looks like Hawks got a few costume changes particularly his visor/glasses which look more boxy than they did before if that makes sense.  Oh, and they’re also helping All Might work with Deku.  Makes sense since all three vowed to help take down Dabi earlier and Shigaraki and AFO definitely extend from that.

Deku’s Danger Sense is going off, so he’s probably going to check out any danger he can find in case it’s the LoV.  I do wonder if that harms Deku still.  It was said that it felt like a stabbing in his head and it must’ve been bad enough for the 4th OFA Holder to live in the forest away from society.  Man, I really hope our boy is ok (I know he’s not really, let me have this).

But yeah, Hawks (still wingless, but with a nice little undercut btw😳) explains that Deku's afraid of dragging other people in his battles like All Might.  Hawks also goes on to say that it’s best to take the initiative in taking down AFO and Shigaraki rather than waiting for them to appear all powered up.  He also wants All Might to keep supporting him despite the difficult position he’s in (remember that All Might’s technically Qurikless again and can’t really fight on his own).  It makes sense for them to go after the Villains again while they can.  If Deku fought Shigaraki while Shigaraki was at full strength, Deku would lose easily.  Even at 75%, Shigaraki was able to kill and injure A LOT of people, and Deku was lucky to even make it out there alive.  They need to find Shigaraki SOON!  

Flashback to Central Hospital before Deku jumped UA ship!  Recover Girl and Central Hospital’s high-tech were responsible for many of the patience recovering quickly and being discarged.  Deku was just there a little longer than the others.  So, we can assume that all our UA kids and some notable heroes made it out alive after being treated.  Still don’t know what happened to some people like Tamaki and Fat Gum tho 😭.  

All Might and Deku’s mom, Inko (thank god she’s ok), are by Deku’s bedside as his casts are taken off.  Deku’s doctor (who looks like Super Mario/Luigi; the whole Super Mario crew must run this damn place.  Where’s Bowser and Princess Peach) explains that despite his former warnings about his ligaments, Deku’s limbs are still functioning because he’s not the same as he was before.  So, before, Deku’s injuries were like his limbs were exploding from the inside, but this time those “explosions” were able to escape his body.  Also his Black Whip cast helped keep Deku’s arm in tact so that he wouldn’t pulverize himself.  His ligimates are still degrading too, so Deku still has to be careful.  I think he might have a few more small scars too, but that could just be shadows or muscle lining from Horikoshi’s pen-work.  

Ok, honestly, I’m not sure how this logically works...  I’m no medical professional, but I assume this means that Deku’s built his body up so much that it’s naturally able to withstand more damage than before and that’s why he’s more durable.  But, I don’t know how Deku was able to let the “explosions” escape this time.  I get the reverse; I get how he got injured before, but I don’t get this.  Was it the Black Whip brace he made for himself?  I honestly don’t really understand this.  Maybe the official translations will clear this up.  Or Horikoshi will in a Tweet or Volume Extra.

And Inko is finally informed of OFA thank the gods!  She was in the top of my list of “People who should really, really know OFA and what’s going on with Deku because I swear...”.  She’s clearly shaken up as anyone would be, but I’m glad she at least knows what’s going on with her son.  Yes, she’s still worried, but at least she can stop guessing why all this is happening.  

Deku announces the reason why he won’t go back to UA and it’s basically that Shigaraki can sense where Deku is and he doesn’t want to see anyone else close to him get hurt and/or die.  So, basically what I thought would be the reason.  Absolutely no surprise there.  But, going after Shigaraki and AFO first was originally Deku’s idea, so that’s something new.  Kid’s bold.

And this broke my heart 💔!  Inko insists that Deku stay with her to stay safe, but Deku knows what he has to do.  So, he thanks his mom, thanks her for making him happy, and tells her that he’ll be ok and that he’ll come back home with a somber smile on his face.  We see a flashback to Little Deku and Inko too when they were happier.  Bro, I don’t even know what to say.  I am in tears just writing this 😭  I’ll just post these two panels so y’all can cry with me.  I will never recover from this.  I’m fucking devastated.  You better come home, Deku: 

*sniffs* All Might remembers what he said to Inko.  He remembers how he said that he will protect Deku with his life.  All Might encourages Deku to go and he says that he’ll go with him with tears in his eyes.  He asks the Top 3 to help with this mission (finding Dabi) as their own mission coincides with Deku’s (finding Shigaraki and AFO).  I’m so glad all these adults are staying by Deku’s side throughout this.  It’s good to know that Deku still has support, though I wish it were from some of his friends too.  Maybe one day.

Deku goes to see Grand Torino in his hospital room to talk to him about OFA.  He mentions his friend and 7th Holder Nana Shimura.  Torino thinks he was responsible for killing Shigaraki (he really wasn’t let's be real).  He also tells Deku that Deku shouldn’t be so persistent in saving Shigaraki as killing can sometimes lead to salvation. Ok, few things:

1. I am surprised Grand Tarino is still alive.  I mean, we don’t know what happened to him after this talk, but at least he got to hear from Deku again.  It’s kind of nice to know that Tarino willingly passed down his cape to Deku too instead of Deku just taking it after his death.  Also, I’ve been watching some of Jujutsu Kaisen like everyone else has and this give me some Yuji & his grandfather vibes to it.  Knowing what happens there and that JJK’s magaka is good friends with Horikoshi, I have a sinking feeling I know what happened after this talk...

2. Deku looks so much older here.  Like, it’s not that cute, innocent baby face we knew at the beginning.  I don’t even know what it is exactly (maybe the eyes), but he just looks more mature here.  Also, his uniform some buttons down looks really good on him, I’m sorry but I need to mention that too 💚.

3. “Killing is a means towards salvation”.  Oh, boy...  I mean, I get it.  Some people just can’t be saved or captured in hopes of rehabilitation/redemption.  Sometimes killing people is necessary to save others.  But, Deku is not a killer.  He will try to save Shigaraki no matter what.  That was established again last chapter.   He tried to save Muscular for god’s sake.  But, I am curious if Gran Tarino’s words are going to hold any weight in the final fight. Like, will Deku have to kill Shigaraki?  What will that do to Deku as a person?  I’m really curious if Horikoshi is going to make Deku do this.

And finally, there’s a page showing off the Top 3, Deku, and All Might team up with the resolve to beat the LoV.  I am really interested to see where this goes.  Deku is working with the big Pro Heroes instead of his classmates/friends.  This hasn’t really happened before.  I also wonder if Shoto and Bakugo know what Deku’s doing then.  Because Shoto’s going to help Endeavor and his family find Dabi.  Endeavor’s activley helping Deku.  Also, Endeavor and Best Jeanist are both Bakugo’s mentors.  All Might too actually.  Look, maybe I’m making excuses to see my Origin Trio together again, but I do have to wonder if Shoto and Bakugo are involved somehow.

Welp, that’s it.  This chapter was a rollercoaster!  I was excited, I was confused, I was worried, I cried my eyes out at one point because THOSE TWO PANELS I CANNOT 💔😭!  I’m honestly just waiting for Horokishi to drop some major time-skip on us at some point.  I don’t want him to, but I won’t be entirely surprised if he does.  The end of this chapter is a good place to end if Horikoshi wants to segway into something else like, oh IDK, THE UA KIDS LET ME SEE THEM AGAIN HORIKOSHI PLS I’M BEGGING 💸  

Me @ Horikoshi almost every week:

[lovemesomesurveys]

What is your middle name? I don’t want to share that. What color is your mailbox? Gray. Are you single? Yep. Have you ever hit a deer? No, thankfully. Do you have to drive over a bridge to get home? Nope.

What color is your room? Uhh, the walls are white if that’s what you mean. Do you have a small driveway? It fits two cars, but yeah it’s still not very big. Do you know anyone with the same ringtone as you? I just have one of the ringtones that comes with the phone so yeah I’m sure. What do you do first in the morning? I check the time and take my medicine. What brand is your printer? I think we have a HP. Do you enjoy fighting with people? Nooo, definitely not. Is your hair naturally straight or curly? It’s naturally wavy. Who was your kindergarten teacher? Mrs. P. What is your ringtone? Like I said, it’s one that came with the phone. Are you taller than your mom? No. What curse word do you say the most when your pissed? I may drop some F-bombs. Are you God? No, absolutely not. God is God. Do you like someone? No.

Do you enjoy writing in colored pens? Yeah. Does anything hurt on your body right now? Of course. Do you often cry during a movie? Nah. It’s pretty rare, actually. Last phone call you received? My mom. Last text message? My brother. Do you hate your life? I’m very unhappy with a lot of things. Do you get mad easily? No, but I get frustrated and irritable easily. What is your biggest pet peeve? Eating sounds, people who walk slowly in front of me, people who stop abruptly in front of me, people who stand in the middle of the way, being told to “calm down” or “chill out”, being poked, someone putting their fingers in my face, ice hitting against a glass... Are you cold? No. It’s finally starting to cool down here, though, which I love. Do any of your friends have kids? -- Do you know anyone that is pregnant right now? I don’t think so. Who should pay on the first date? Whoever did the asking I suppose or offer to split it. How many years older than you are you willing to date? Ideally just a few years. Do you have any friends? No. Do you have any mean friends? -- What is the ugliest color to wear in your opinion? Uhhh. Have you ever liked someone who all your friends hate? Yes. Have you ever felt like driving off a cliff, seriously? Not seriously. Have you ever contemplated suicide? I’ve had thoughts, but never seriously considered or planned anything out. Do you scratch your ears? If they itch, yes? Who was the last person to hug you? My mom. What brand are the pant/jeans you're wearing right now? I’m currently just wearing a t-shirt dress. How tall are you? About 5′4. What is the closest green object? There’s green on my shirt and socks. If you were born the opposite sex, what would your parents name you? I’ve been told Jesse was a possibility. Do you want to have kids? No. What is the brightest color you're wearing? The shade of green on my socks. Who is the friend you have that you would never have expected to have? -- Who do you hate the most right now? Myself. What kind of car do you want? *shrug* What is your favorite video game? Mario Bros and the Life is Strange series. Do you like your dad? Yes. Do you have any TV shows on DVD? Yeah, I have a few boxsets of I Love Lucy and one of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Are you wearing make-up? No. Do you have a tattoo? Nope. Have you ever broken a pinata? Yeah. What time is it right now? It’s 3:19AM. Do you know how to draw? Nope. Who loves orange soda? Kel. Who did you last IM? I last messaged a former friend on Facebook Messenger a couple months ago. Do you work a lot of hours? I don’t have a job. Where were you in the last 24 hours? I stayed in bed all day. Who was the last person that called you? My mom. Is there anything you regret? There’s a few things. Do you know where your family name originated from? Yes. Is there an animal that creeps you out? Killer whales and panda bears. What is your favorite color ON A CAR? I think red looks cool. 

Do you use digital or film cameras? Digital. Do you own an iPod? Yeah, but it’s been stored away, unused, since like 2012. Have you ever been on a charter bus? No. Do you like going to water parks? No.

[bangtan-sonyeonddaeng]

BTS Scenario| They plan a surprise for your birthday

This was written for the ever lovely and angelic @saymynamewithluv​

Happy birthday. :D  I hope you have the best day and this is my birthday present to you (with Taehyung giving you something a little extra for your birthday. What is it? Well you’ll just have to read and see :D) 💜💜💜💜 I wish I could spend your birthday with you it sucks that we live so far away from each other. Alright go ahead and read now I have been making you wait for this for days so again, HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I purple you! 

The group chat you had with the boys was surprisingly quiet today. Which of course immediately made you suspicious. Usually the chat was buzzing with them talking about the most random things. And at the very least Yoongi or Jin were scolding the younger members for something silly they had done. But there was nothing, not even a happy birthday text from any of them. 

You weren’t going to lie. You were starting to feel extremely disappointed. Did they forget your birthday? But how could they have? You had been friends with all of them for years. You sent a message to the group chat, wanting to see what they were up to today. 

What are you all doing today?

Yoongi is the first one to respond which is unusual for him.

Photoshoot today. We’re all really busy sorry y/n. 

Oh. That’s okay. Make sure to rest and don’t skip any meals you guys! 

Will do. Thanks.

You sigh and set your phone down. So it wasn’t unreasonable that they forgot then. They seemed to be extremely busy. But you were still disappointed you wouldn’t get to spend your birthday with the people who meant the most to you in this world. You turn on the TV, turning on your favorite show to binge watch. You throw your hair up in a messy bun and throw your sweat pants back on, figuring you aren’t going to have any company over today. You don’t even realize you’d fallen asleep on the couch until suddenly your hear hushed whispers in your apartment. 

“She fell asleep! What the heck?!”

“Be quiet, Taehyung let her rest.”

“But it’s her birthday! Did she really think we forgot?”

“Hyung that’s probably why she fell asleep and is still in her sweat pants I told you trying to surprise her was a bad idea now she thinks we forgot her birthday!” Suddenly you feel a heavy weight on top of you. Your eyes shoot open and you see Taehyung’s familiar eyes gazing at you as he hugs you tightly. 

���Y/n! We are so sorry! We didn’t forget your birthday I promise. We just wanted to make you think we did so we could surprise you! Which now that I say that out loud I realize how mean that prank sounds oh gosh.” You are blushing madly having Taehyung so close to you and you wonder how he can be so unbothered. You collect your thoughts, and reach out to pat his head.

“It’s okay Tae! I am just so happy you guys are here now. I couldn’t imagine spending my birthday without you all.” Taehyung smiles happily at that and clambers off of you after Yoongi clears his throat. “ Uh so what do you all have planned for me today?” 

“I’m cooking dinner and the cake!” Jin yells from the kitchen. 

“I’m supplying the entertainment.” Hoseok says as he spins around dancing without a care in the world, making you laugh.

“I thought maybe me and you and Jimin could play some games together.” Jungkook announces as he walks over to the TV to set up his game system. 

“I brought a playlist of all your favorite songs.” Namjoon says. 

“I just brought my cutie sexy lovely face isn't that good enough?” Jimin says with a giggle. 

“Yes, that is good enough for me, Jimin.” 

“I am going to be taking the photos of your special day! And also supplying you with the best, most amazing birthday present you’ve ever seen.” Taehyung says excitedly. You smile at him.

“Oh I can’t wait to see what it is then!” You glance at Yoongi who still hasn’t said anything or shown much reaction to the rest of the things the members had mentioned. 

“Well obviously I am here to spend time with you for your birthday, but I actually wanted to talk to you about something first.”

“Oh? Okay then. We can go to my room?” Yoongi nods. Taehyung eyes you two suspiciously but doesn’t say anything as you retreat into the bedroom. You shut the door behind you and talk quietly, not wanting anyone to overhear your conversation.

“Yoongi? Is everything okay?”

“So uh, you still like Taehyung right?” You stare ay him incredulously. 

“Um, yes? Of course I do? Feelings just don’t go away over night you know? I’ve liked him for years.” 

“Okay good.”

“Why?”

“Because just.. I can’t tell you anything but I just had to make sure before Taehyung gives you your gift.” 

“What on earth is going on Yoongi?” 

“Nothing! Forget I said anything this conversation never happened.” Yoongi opens the door and Taehyung stumbles in, almost falling on his face but you catch him before he does. 

“Kim Taehyung were you eavesdropping?” Yoongi scolds him. 

“No! And even if I was I couldn’t hear anything you guys were saying anyway so..” 

“Sounds to me like you were eavesdropping then Tae, just not successfully.” You ruffle his hair and he swats your hand away playfully. 

“Yah! Don’t mess up my hair I spent a long time on it.” 

“Why? Did you want to look good for me?” Taehyung’s face turns bright red and he glances away from you. 

“Stop teasing me.” 

“Okay okay. I’m sorry. Let’s go have this birthday party shall we?”

And your party was so much fun. Jin made the most incredible food and cake. Hoseok and Namjoon danced to your favorite songs with you, only to have Taehyung steal you away for a dramatic slow dance equipped with dips and spins and all when a softer ballad came on. You had beat Jungkook and Jimin in Mario Kart, Taehyung challenged you and you had beat him too, much to his disappointment. He got quite competitive and challenged you to another round, only to lose again. The party was winding down, when all of the members started looking at Taehyung. You saw him nod his head slightly and now suddenly they all had an excuse to leave. 

“Gotta get to the studio early tomorrow.” 

“Me too.”

“I need to practice this choreography.”

“And I need to come up with some new ones.”

“I don’t have an excuse I just know Taehyung wants to be alone with you so we’re all leaving bye!” Jin shouts as he ushers the rest of them out the door. You and Taehyung are still sat on the floor together from your video game match. You notice he is fidgeting with his hands and looking rather nervous. 

“Taehyung?”

“Um.. I want to give you your present now.” 

“Okay.. I would love to see what it is.” You reach your hand out and squeeze his to help comfort him and calm his nerves down. He squeezes back and the corner of his mouth barely lift up in a smile. He won’t meet your gaze. You wonder what he could possibly be so nervous about to give you. He stands up abruptly, walking over to the counter where he had set your gift and then lays it in your lap. It’s wrapped in purple paper and a purple bow.

“Did you wrap this?”

“Was it that obvious? Am I that bad at wrapping? I tried my best.” He says with a nervous laugh.

“No no! It’s just purple. I know how much that color means to you. So I figured you had.” This time when he smiles it reaches his eyes, but his hands are trembling. You open the gift and are staring at what looks like a photo album. The cover has a saying written on it in his handwriting. 

If you want to learn what someone fears losing, watch what they photograph. 

Your breath hitches as you turn the page and see it is filled with photos of you, and the two of you. You had no idea Taehyung had even taken some of these photos of you. They were candid, you smiling, laughing, concentrating on a canvas you were painting, a drawing you were sketching. 

And then there were the selfies you two had taken together. Some including Yeontan. You flipped through the pages, feeling tears forming behind your eyes at how thoughtful the gift was, but also how much meaning he had poured into this. 

“Tae.. Is this really how you see me?”

“As the most beautiful, kind, caring, amazing person in the world? Yes.” 

“And this phrase in the beginning. Did you mean that?”

“Of course I did.”

“So does that mean..? Is this?”

“My way of confessing? Kind of yeah. Um.. either that or it can just be a really cool platonic present no worries!” He scratches the back of his head and gazes at you nervously. You stare at him, until your brain finally catches up and you throw yourself into his arms. He immediately reciprocates the hug, wrapping his arms around your waist and hugging you tightly. Your voice cracks as a few tears slip out. 

“This is the most incredible gift anyone has given me. I can tell you really put your heart and soul into this and I will cherish it for the rest of my life.” 

“You know there’s a few blank pages in there. I was hoping we could fill them up with some more photos of us?” You pull away and smile at him. You grab his camera off the coffee table and hand it to him. You turn around so your back is leaning against his chest. You both smile and he takes a photo, kissing your cheek right before he takes the photo. It’s a polaroid, so you two have to wait a few moments for the film to develop. When it finally does you both break out into wide smiles and giggles seeing how happy you both look in the photo. You open up to a blank page, and stick the photo to there. You pull out a pen to write on the blank space. 

“What should we write here?”

“Hmm..” You think for a moment before you write today’s date, along with A new chapter begins. Taehyung’s smile is replaced with a nervous glance again. 

“So does this mean you like the gift? Um.. in a nonplatonic way?”

“I thought it was pretty obvious when I threw myself on you crying.” 

“I just want to hear you say it.”

“Say what? That I like you too? That I think you also are the most beautiful, kind, caring, amazing person I have ever met in my life?” 

“Yeah that. All that. Well, a simple I like you too would have done just fine but I won’t turn down the extra praise.” You laugh and hold your hand out to him. He looks puzzled bit takes your hand anyway. 

“Y/n where are we going?”

“You really expect me to believe those guys left? They’re all probably still sitting outside the apartment waiting to hear every detail.” You open the front door, hand in hand with Taehyung and sure enough, they all are standing out there, wide eyed until they glance down at your linked hands. 

“Did it work?! Are you two together now?!” Jimin asks excitedly. 

“Yes. We are.” They all clap and cheer, Yoongi just stands in the back giving you a small smile and knowing look. It’s at this moment you are hit with just how fond you are of all them. Seeing how much effort they put into making you happy on your birthday, you are so grateful to them. 

“Thank you guys. This has been the best birthday ever and it’s because of you all.” 

“Of course y/n! You’re our best friend and there isn’t a single thing we wouldn’t do for you to make you smile.”

[purplesurveys]

961

What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen? Unsettling films are my jam, man. To name a few, there’s Eraserhead, Room, Midsommar, Eyes Wide Shut, Misery, and most recently, I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Eraserhead takes the cake though. That movie always makes me queasy...

What unethical experiment would have the biggest positive impact on society as a whole? I’m a firm believer in nothing good ever comes out of unethical practices. I’ll never forget reading about an experiment where a group of newborn babies were given basic needs like food and being bathed, but weren’t shown any affection whatsoever and it was meant to see if humans can survive with just the most basic physiological needs. By the end of the experiment period half of the babies were dead. The results were honestly a lot bleaker than how I’ve put it, but I don’t wanna be a downer lol. Suffice it to say that experiment haunted me for days after reading it.

When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t? It was around a week or so ago, I’m pretty sure.

Which celebrity or band has the worst fan base? My sister is into K-pop and I hear insights from her all the time, but her one constant is that BTS breeds the most annoying, toxic fans. I’d have to agree. Ariana Grande’s fandom was also annoying at one point, but I haven’t heard much from them making a mess these days.

What are you interested in that most people aren’t? Autobiographies.

If you were given a PhD degree, but had no more knowledge of the subject of the degree besides what you have now, what degree would you want to be given to you? Why would I deserve a PhD on something I’m clearly not qualified for...I’m not sure I’m following this question right, but I don’t feel like thinking too hard about it.

What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement? I’m happy with the features that are widespread now, but I wish companies adhere more to countries other than the common ones like US, UK, Australia, etc. I always see ads about phones being able to tell you how much movie tickets cost or track boarding passes, but those are all irrelevant here. It makes a lot of Apple’s basic apps useless on this side of the world haha.

What’s something people don’t worry about but really should? Long-term effects of poor habits like not getting enough sleep or drinking too many cups of coffee. I know because I’m guilty of this.

What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis? “I won’t think about that now, I’ll think about it tomorrow,” but I usually say it to myself, especially when I feel stressed.

Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents? Better, but idk if that’s just me being biased because my generation will be the next parents lol. I just think that a lot of Gen X parents still have a lot of dated prejudices and mindsets that my generation was able to learn better from. For example my mom doesn’t like using people’s preferred names, especially if they’ve transitioned -_____- and I know I’d never want to set such an example for my kids.

What’s the funniest joke you know by heart? I know I’ve come across hilarious ones but I always fail to come up with one when asked on the spot.

When was the last time you felt you had a new lease on life? LOL RIGHT NOW

What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having? It’s more stupid than funny and I know I’ve already mentioned this before, but Covid Bryant as a first and second name still takes the cake for me. My sister went to school with a girl whose name is just her surname backwards, and for a time I was really weirded out by it. But in the times I’ve seen her she really owns her name and never looks bothered by it, so I quickly stopped caring.

Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money? For me it would have to be organizations for animal welfare.

What TV show character would it be the most fun to change places with for a week? Post-El Camino Jesse Pinkman. I wouldn’t want to live through his chaotic shit  from Breaking Bad, but his fate after El Camino is something I’m super envious of.

What was cool when you were young but isn’t cool now? Flip phones, Blackberry phones, Roshes, Frappuccinos.

If you were moving to another country, but could only pack one carry-on sized bag, what would you pack? Phone, laptop, their chargers, important IDs, some of my favorite tops and jeans, underwear, essential toiletries, wallet, a family photo, a journal and pen, earphones, certain knickknacks to remember Gab and my dogs by. Minus the clothes, all of these are pretty tiny so I think these would all fit in the bag just fine.

What’s the most ironic thing you’ve seen happen? I don’t know. I’m not really a fan of rating the most/worst this and that stuff in my life, either. I feel like I unnecessarily rack my brain too hard for them when I take surveys to have a chill time.

If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first? Probably something that’d keep my dogs from dying.

If you were a ghost and could possess people, what would you make them do? No thanks. I’d be the chillest ghost tbh, I’d like to just sneak up on people’s business and hang out but never interfere in them.

What goal do you think humanity is not focused enough on achieving? Climate change, global warming, alleviation of poverty. Corporations and the few people who actually have the power and money to change things only ever come up with short-term shit like donations and never look at the big picture. What problem are you currently grappling with? So many personal ones. But just like the recurring theme of my surveys so far, “I don’t want to get into it.”

What character in a movie could have been great, but the actor they cast didn’t fit the role? As much as I love Kristen Stewart, I heard she was cast as Princess Diana for an upcoming film and I’m not really feeling that decision. They could’ve gone with a British actress for starters?????? The movie is still in production but it is pretty annoying to think about lmao.

What game have you spent the most hours playing? Probably GTA: San Andreas as a kid.

What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in? Luxury hotel beds are always so fluffy and comfortable.

What’s the craziest conversation you’ve overheard? Omg one time at a coffee shop Gabie and I sat beside this older couple that obviously was going through some heavy SHIT. There was a lot of animosity and tension between them and I caught the lady silently break into tears a few times. I never overheard anything but then again they sat in silence for hours until the lady finally walked out on him. Never knew what it was about but I’ve always guessed that the man did something crappy, like cheat, and was discovered. It was a really sad sight and a crazy situation to witness and I think I felt even more sorry because they were obviously in their 50s or 60s. I hope the woman is in a better place now as she looked rough as fuck that evening.

What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked? I wore a lot of hats when I was in my college org, and that was on top of balancing my acads as well.

What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it? That scene from Friends where Ross plays the keyboard for Chandler, Phoebe, Monica, and Rachel.

What artist or band do you always recommend when someone asks for a music recommendation? It depends on what music they’re into and if I have actually have a recommendation in mind for them. I obviously can’t suggest Paramore to someone who mainly listens to metal.

If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose? I’m down for any monuments that are super ancient like Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza.

If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying? I’d go with frogs, but only because they get annoyingly loud in the evening.

What’s the most addicted to a game you’ve ever been? Playing The Sims, Mario Kart, Rock Band, or games in the Burnout franchise.

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been? Japan was so fucking cold when I was there. Didn’t do my research and ended up being dressed poorly, and I was so cold I could barely talk to my parents or fully enjoy my time. Sagada was also nearly unbearable in the early morning.

Which protagonist from a book or movie would make the worst roommate? Not from a book or movie, but BoJack Horseman. Diane can also be in the running as I always found her too whiny. I get that she had her personal shit to deal with, but I don’t think living with her would be good for my own sanity and mental health.

Do you eat food that’s past its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine? It annoys my chef dad to death that I don’t lol. No matter how great it looks, I’d bounce. I once ate expired Kit Kats that tasted like cardboard and that scared me off of expired food forever.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought? I once bought a stupid novelty soap that to this day I’ve never even opened. It’s in one of my drawers, and I plan to just throw it out at some point.

What’s the funniest comedy skit you’ve seen? Not a fan of these but one that got to me is Dear Sister from SNL.

What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten? A few years ago there was a local breakfast place that offered red velvet pancakes for a limited time and I was all over that crap, so I went and ordered. The actual pancakes ended up not being any bigger than my palm, and I remember not being able to hide my disappointment once the server placed the dish on my table haha. I felt so scammed. I had to order something else to feel full, because those pancakes were stupidly small.

What tips or tricks have you picked up from your job/jobs? One of my superiors, when she was presenting a pitch to our director yesterday, kept asking questions and picking at the director’s brain so that she can get suggestions and answers straight from the director herself and so that she didn’t have to do any brainstorming anymore. I thought that was a pretty nifty and clever hack.

What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to? Hiking a mountain!

What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them? Umbrella by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z.

What’s the worst backhanded compliment you could give someone? Idk, anything can be the worst depending on the context. I’m not a fan of giving those, though.

What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched? Unsolved Mysteries’ Dupont de Ligonnès episode was a lot of fun to watch.

What was the last song you sang along to? I think it was Thinking of You by Katy Perry? but I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t sung along to anything in a while.

What app can you not believe someone hasn’t made yet? I don’t really download and use a lot of apps other than the basic ones, so I don’t care too much.

When was the last time you face palmed? Last night.

If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create? I’d give it away to the Martial Law museum currently being made near my university so that it can do more to show the atrocities of the Marcoses. And so that I can piss off my pro-Marcos relatives.

Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up? Uh hating myself, if that counts.

What really needs to be modernized? Public transportation systems in this country.

[pjoandaftg]

Chapter 3

After that trip Percy and Annabeth went from only seeing each other in passing to almost friends. She was still closer to Grover than she was to Percy, but that might be because Annabeth and Percy's timetables were always clashing so they were never really in the apartment at the same time. But Annabeth quickly found out the next week that it wasn't a coincidence that both Annabeth and Percy were free last Sunday to take Estelle out. They both, in fact, had Sunday free. Annabeth just hadn't realised because she had spent most Sundays with Piper either shopping or going to the small coffee shop on campus so Piper could stare at the cute blonde behind the counter.

But this Sunday, Piper was spending the day to finally get to know her new roommate, Reyna. So Annabeth had the day free. She had decided to skip her morning run in favour of sleeping in. It had been a long week. So she was very surprised that she found both Percy and Grover on the couch playing Mario kart. And by the sound of it, Percy was winning.

She went to grab a cup of coffee and when she returned she took a seat on the abandoned armchair, tucking her legs around her. She looked outside and saw that it was spilling rain. Skipping her morning run was a good idea, she thought. Her thoughts were pulled away when Percy let out a shout of celebration and Grover slammed his remote onto the couch.

"I give up. You're unbeatable." He whined while Percy just laughed.

"Don't worry buddy, no body's ever beaten me. I'm just too good." Percy said as he patted Grover's back.

Annabeth smiled at their interaction with amusement. Grover must have seen it because he looked at Annabeth and said,

"You mock my failure Annabeth," he put his hand to his heart in exaggerated hurt. "I'd like to see you do better."

Annabeth laughed and put down her cup. "Alright," she said. "Ten bucks says I win." Grover and Percy looked at each other, having a silent conversation before turning back to Annabeth. Percy stuck out his hand, Annabeth shook it. "Deal."

Annabeth picked up the remote. "Now no tears when I crush you Jackson, I can't live with two crybaby's. One's more than enough." Percy laughed a sharp laugh at Grover's hey! But Annabeth could tell by he wasn't actually hurt because he had a soft smile on his face.

The two of them decided that they'd do best out of three races. Percy won the first one and turned a smug grin at Annabeth while she flipped him off. Annabeth won the second game and copied Percy's smug grin back at him. The last game, they had decided to play Rainbow Road. The whole race, the two of them were throwing insults back and forth at each other in an attempt to throw the other one off. None of it worked and when it came to the last lap, they were both quiet with concentration.

The finish line was in site with Percy just in front, but suddenly a blue shell came down and hit him, while Annabeth sped past him into 1st place. She jumped up out of her seat while Grover laughed at Percy's shocked expression. But his disappointment quickly turned to amusement at Annabeth's little victory dance. She held out her hand. 

"Pay up boys."

Both Grover and Percy gave her ten bucks each and when Annabeth started fanning herself with the two notes, both of them lost it and burst out laughing. Annabeth quickly joined in and soon enough the three of them were all in fits of laughter.

After they had all calmed down and the tears and stomach aches stopped, they all went to their own rooms to get dressed. When the three of them were all ready to go they set off down the road. 

Not far from their apartment was a small diner. Annabeth had been there before. It was quiet and stayed open late at night. Not to mention the food was delicious. They all sat down in a small booth and waited for the waitress to come take their order. Annabeth ordered the spaghetti carbonara, Percy got the lasagna and Grover got the veggie burger.

When their food arrived they all dug in. The conversation flowed easily. Grover telling them about the week long trip he'll be going with one of his classes. Percy was talking about his next swim meet and Annabeth listened, adding her input when necessary. When Grover excused himself to go to the toilet, Percy suddenly turned to her.

"I just realised," he said. "We've lived together for almost two months now and I still don't know what you're studying."

Annabeth let out an amused puff of air. "Architecture." she said.

"That's so cool. Imagine one day in the future, I'll be walking around New York and look at a massive skyscraper and I can turn to the person beside me and say 'Hey, you see that building. Yeah, my old roommate was the architect. That's right. The Annabeth Chase was my roommate.'"

Annabeth let out a small laugh at that. "I have to pass my course first."

Percy made a pshaw noise and did that hand flapping thing. "Please, you'll pass with flying colours." And he looked so certain when he said it that she could almost believe him. Almost. But not quiet. 

When Grover got back they split the bill and Grover went back to the apartment, he had an assignment due the next morning that he had to finish, and Percy and Annabeth headed towards the supermarket.

Annabeth had planned on going the next day but they were in town and it was convenient. Percy said he'd tag along simply because he 'didn't have anything better to do.' 

They went to target because they were college students and couldn't afford to go anywhere else. They got a basket each and were walking down the aisle when Annabeth realised she was alone. She didn't think much about it, she just thought Percy went to grab something. That was until something popped out at her a scared the living shit out of her. She jumped back and let out a sharp scream all the while the contents of her basket rolled around the ground because did she mention, she also dropped her basket.

Percy took off the Halloween mask, gasping for air through his laughs. Annabeth thought she saw tears in his eyes.

"Oh my god," he gasped. "You should've seen your face." He then imitated a face so horrendously stupid that Annabeth couldn't help but smile. Percy's grin got wider at the sight of her upturned lips.

Annabeth looked down at her stuff, "you're picking them up, asshole." This made Percy's grin bigger. She didn't even think that was possible.

He bent down and picked up Annabeth's stuff, deodorant, toothpaste, some chocolate, a pen and some tampons. And unlike most boys would've, he didn't even bat an eye when he picked them up. The basket now refilled, he handed it back to her. "M'lady," he said in an awful accent.

Annabeth took the basket back with a fond "dumbass."

Percy then picked up his basket then and Annabeth saw the mask in his basket. It was some Freddy Krueger type mask. She raised an eyebrow at it. "You getting that?" she asked.

Percy shrugged his shoulders casually but his eyes sparkled mischievously, "Grover hates jump scares."

Annabeth would make sure to go slowly around corners from now on. "I pity your middle school teachers."

Percy let out a startled laugh at that. "You don't even know the half of it."

And despite it going against everything Annabeth taught herself, she found herself wanting to know the 'half of it' and that scared her. A lot. 

Percy and Annabeth paid for their stuff and headed back to their apartment. On the walk from the subway to the apartment Annabeth let herself think about the past two months of living with Percy and Grover.

It was nice. The three of them living together and hanging out, and Annabeth could tell, that this was the start of a friendship unlike any other she's ever had. She wouldn't go as far as saying they're family. No, they're not family, not like Piper, not yet, but she couldn't help but think. Give it time and well, we'll see.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball GT Retrospective (7/7)

[Note: I wrote this on January 16, 2013.  Originally, I had embedded a video of Goku Junior slapping his bare ass for like ten hours, but it’s down now :(   Such is life.)

Well, I know I said I finished watching Dragon Ball GT, but there's one last thing in the box set: Dragon Ball GT: The Movie

This actually isn't what it sounds like.  I'm pretty sure the "movie" was actually a TV special, and it didn't really have much at all to do with the characters or plotlines of GT.   Really, it's more of an epilogue tale of the future, set one hundred years after the events in Dragon Ball GT.   Of course, GT was set some forty years after the beginning of the first Dragon Ball storyline, so it seems like a jump too far.   From what I understand, the original plan was to wrap up the GT series with the end of the Baby Saga, but something happened and they ended up making another twenty-odd episodes.  In between all that, they had this GT special set up, probably as a final sendoff to all things Dragon Ball.   This was somewhat undermined by flashing a hundred years back for Super 17 and Shadow Dragon Sagas, but in the final episode of GT, they flashed forward yet again to tie the series finale with the special.   So, the premise of the special is pretty straightforward.  One hundred years after Baby's defeat, Goku and everyone else from Dragon Ball is dead.  The only one left is Pan, who's looking pretty spry for a a centenarian.  Actually, I'm not sure 100 years was the best time frame to use.   Goku's master, Master Roshi, was already three hundred years old when Dragon Ball started, and he survived all the way to the end of GT, never really aging much.  The implication was that his lifetime of martial arts training somehow allowed him to unnaturally extend his lifespan, but it was never actually explained.   Further, we never really found out what the lifespan of a Saiyan is.  Goku and Vegeta aged very little across the timeline of DBZ/DBGT, and Vegeta explained that Saiyans have a much longer physical prime than humans do.   Humans like.... Master Roshi?   I don't think anyone really put a lot of thought into this, probably because no one ever seriously planned to cover the world of DragonBall that far into the future.   Even if we knew how long Saiyans and humans can normally live in that universe, the Saiyan-human hybrid characters would still be an x-factor.   I guess what I'm trying to say here is that we really can't tell what keeps Granma Pan so fit.  Is it because she's one-quarter Saiyan?  Is it because of advances in that Earth's medical technology?  Is it because any human in that world could live past 100 with proper diet and exercise?   Or is she tapping into the same ki techniques that preserved Master Roshi for so long?   What I kind of dig about the special is that no one really knows, and we may never know.  The world of Goku and his friends is gone, lost forever like a forgotten dream.  Pan seems to be a minor celebrity in her own right, but it's because she's Pan, not so much because she was related to the mysterious Son Goku, daughter of the brilliant scientist Son Gohan, or the heir of the legendary world champion Mister Satan.  If she married, her husband is never seen or mentioned.   We have no idea if she had brothers or sisters.   She must have had at least one son or daughter, but the only reason we know this is because of her grandson, Goku Jr.  There's a melancholy to that.  Maybe some of these missing figures are still alive, but they're clearly not part of Pan's life anymore.   It's just her and her grandson living in Satan City.   Goku Jr. probaly knows the city was named to honor his ancestor's heroism at the Cell Games, but the information is meaningless to him.   It's ancient history, especially to a small boy.  Goku Jr. is the spitting image of his namesake, but this doesn't mean that much to him either.   He knows Goku was a great warrior, someone whom Pan respects tremendously, but he might as well be Abraham Lincoln.  He looks in the mirror and sees himself, not a cartoon character who could blow up entire planets with his fingers.   Pan tries to train Goku Jr, but he's kind of a klutz.  More to the point, he's timid and doesn't want to fight.   A bully named Puck takes a cool-looking novelty pen from him, and he just lets him keep it.   Pan gives him shit for not standing up for himself, but he doesn't see the big deal.   During this conversation she has a heart attack or something like that, and we cut to the hospital, where Pan is apparently in bad shape.  Goku desperately promises to train harder and fight anyone he has to if it means she'll pull through.   This is where Pan realizes she's been too hard on the boy.   I like this scene because it would have been too easy to forget that Pan was kind of a pushy jerk when she was a kid.   The adult Pan is still demanding and refuses to take crap from anyone, but she's been wanting Goku Jr. to be like her grandfather, and he has been all along. Son Goku wouldn't start a fight over a pen, no matter how many cool floaty things are inside it.  But he would go through anything to save Pan, and that's what Goku Jr. is determined to do, too.   When Pan takes a turn for the worse, Junior heads home, and notices a photo of Pan as a child, holding a Dragon Ball.  He flashes back to a time when Pan tried to tell him the story of the photo, but he was too preoccupied playing video games.   PAN: Hey, check this out.  It's a picture of me and my robot friend Giru.   And I had a dopey orange bandana, and I whined all the time, and Vegeta never got to do anything cool, and-- GOKU JR.: That sounds really boring, granma.  I'm gonna play more Super Mario World.   It's hard not to like Goku, Jr., is what I'm trying to say.   Anyway, Goku Jr. doesn't know the whole mythology of the Dragon Balls, but he does vaguely understand that they grant wishes, and the four-star ball was sort of a family heirloom, so he devises an ill-conceived plan to travel to Mount Paozu and search his ancestor's home for it.  A truck driver offers him a lift, but this is just a trick to get all the stuff in his giant backpack.   Evil Truck Driver is perhaps my new favorite GT character. GOKU JR.: So what's in this truck?   ETD: It's full of hamburgers, kid.  It's pretty awesome.   GOKU, JR.: Wow, you sure have a lot of food in the cab.   ETD: Yep.   I've got even more food in this bag here, too.   You want some?   GOKU JR.: Nah, I've got my own food in my backpack.   ETD: ... Really?    Uh... say, you want to hop out and take a whiz?   It's a long way to go.   GOKU JR.: Yeah, I guess I'd better.   I'll just leave my backpack stuffed with food in your truck filled with even more food.     ETD: Delicious.  Uh... I mean, scrumptious!  I mean!  I'm driving away and taking your food with me!  Ha ha ha! I feel really bad for whoever's expecting those hamburgers to arrive.   Actually, maybe he's not even a real truck driver.  He just stole the truck one day and he's been living off its cargo ever since.   Ironically, this turns into a lucky break for Goku, because he meets Puck while he walks to Mt.  Paozu on foot.  Puck had heard about Goku's plans before he left, and he was so impressed with his daring that he wants to tag along and watch when Goku is eaten by wild animals or bandits.  The thing is, Puck's a pretty fair outdoorsman, so as they get closer to their destination he's able to help Goku live off the land.  Along the way, Puck begins to bond with Goku Jr., and they have a few minor adventures.   Wolves attack them, but they're rescued by a woman with a shotgun who takes them to her home for the night.   Unfortunately, she turns out to be a witch or a demon or something.   Whatever she is, she eats people.  Goku Jr. is suspicious from the start (due to his past experience with Evil Truck Driver), so he and Puck manage to escape.   Their partnership comes to an end on a rickety bridge.   Goku Jr is afraid to cross until Puck proves it's sturdy enough.   Even so, the bridge nearly collapses, and Puck falls off in a failed attempt to rescue Goku.  Goku manages to climb back up on his own, and then he rescues a bearcub from one of the same demon bandits he escaped earlier.  In gratitude, the bear’s mother escorts Goku to his ancestor's home, but they're once again attacked by the bandits.   This time, they're joined by Lord Yao, their leader.   The mommy bear tries to fight him off so Goku can take her cub to safety, but she's hopelessly outmatched.   Worse, the baby bear slips away and tries to help, so Goku can't even save him.  Frustrated with his powerlessness, Goku Jr finally loses his shit and transforms into a Super Saiyan.  He clobbers Lord Yao and frightens his henchmen away.  When he reverts to normal, he has no memory of the battle, and believes the bears did all the work.   With all that out of the way, Goku Jr. locates the Four-Star Dragon Ball in the ruins of what was once his ancestor's childhood home.   This is really a melancholy scene.  The house belonged to Son Gohan, the kindly old man who adopted the elder Goku when his spaceship crashed on Earth.  When Dragon Ball begins, Goku leaves that home to begin his adventures, and aside from a couple of trips to pick up his things, he never really returns.   Now, some 140 years later, it's still standing, but derelict.  No one remembers the kindly old man who lived there, or how his compassion changed the universe for the better.  Someone must have left the four-star Dragon Ball there to honor his memory, but even the significance of that gesture is lost in the sands of time.   Goku Jr. doesn't understand how the Dragon Balls work, so he starts praying to the four-star ball, asking the Dragon to restore his grandmother's health and bring Puck back to life if at all possible.  When he gets no answer, he becomes upset, and then he notices the original Goku standing beside him.   He introduces himself as Goku Jr.'s great-great-grandfather, and explains that the Dragon Balls only work when you have all seven of them.   Nevertheless, he congratulates his descendant for his courage and strength, and then Pan and Puck arrive on the scene in an aircraft.   Apparently they didn't die after all.   The elder Goku disappears without a trace, and Goku Jr. is left with the lesson that his inner strength was what saved the day.     I'm not crazy about the ending of the story, since it's never explained how Puck survived his fall.   Pan's recovery is no big deal.   No one knew for sure whether she would live or die, so it's entirely plausible that she got better, went home, and realized where Goku Jr. must have gone.   But Puck fell off a bridge into a deep canyon.  Unless Pan swooped in and saved him in the nick of time, I don't see how else he would have survived.   Of course, some other superhuman resident of Mount Paozu might have stepped in, but the special seems to be built on the idea that the superheroics of old are no more.   Of course, based on the finale of Dragon Ball GT we might infer that Goku Jr.'s wish really was granted after all.   In the final episode of the series, Goku merges with the Dragon Balls as Shenron exiles himself from the earth.   So if the Four-Star Ball was sitting in his old house, it must have been Goku himself who put it there, because no one else would have had it.  And it's reasonable to assume he had the other six with him, so when Goku Jr. made his wish, he really did get it to work after all.   The implication is that Goku is the Dragon, and he's not too picky about the rules.  I think this is what Toei was going for, but they wanted to keep it ambiguous.  Maybe Goku did come back from death to grant his descendant's wish, or maybe Goku Jr. imagined the encounter, and Puck and Pan's survival was just a fortunate coincidence.   The next time we see these characters is in Episode 64 of the regular GT television series.  Goku Jr. has learned to harness and control his powers to become a talented martial artist.  He enters the World Tournament and faces one of Vegeta's descendants in the final round of the Junior Devision.  Pan is still in good health, and she meets Vegeta Jr.'s mother, indicating a friendly, if not close, relationship still exists between the two families.  The elder Goku reappears once again to watch the tournament finals, but Pan only glimpses him for a moment before he vanishes again. There's a bittersweetness to the special that really makes it worthwhile.   Beyond that, it's actually kind of boilerplate.  It reminds me a lot of the "Episode of Bardock" special that was recently produced.   In that, Goku's biological father Bardock miraculously survives the destruction of his home planet by getting thrown back in time, where he becomes the hero of the pre-Saiyan Planet Plant and turns Super Saiyan at the climactic moment.  It's not a bad story, it just doesn't have a whole lot else going for it other than being a callback/tribute to the main Dragon Ball storyline.   A lot of fun was had with these future scenarios, depicting heroes who would carry on after Goku: Future Trunks in his alternate timeline, Uub at the end of DBZ, Pan as the heir apparent in GT, and Goku Jr. in this special.  But none of these characters ever really goes anywhere new.  At best, they follow a path similar to the one charted by Goku and his contemporaries.  The moral is that the story is the same no matter who the main character is.  Goku Jr. barely knows the legend of his famous ancestor, but he carries on the tradition nevertheless.   That's the "hero's legacy".  Goku might be forgotten after a few generations, but the things he stood for, the causes he fought for, the example he set, those things are timeless.   And that brings us full circle, because I think the chief mistake of Dragon Ball GT was in trying to de-age Goku to artificially loop his character arc.   Toei wanted to make Goku his own successor, when they probably would have been better off making Pan the main character, having her own goofy adventures with Goku and Vegeta chilling out in the superhero retirement home.  Or they could have skipped ahead and made the series about this Goku Jr. kid, since he has the look they wanted without all the baggage.  GT ended with a ham-fisted morality play about how the Dragon Balls had been overused, which is humorous coming from a studio that couldn't let the Dragon Ball franchise end with dignity.  With the special, they kind of got it right, but only for a moment.

[morethanithoughtofficialblog]

Chapter 13: I'm sad because I'm depressed and I'm depressed because I'm sad.

In which Sans remembers why he doesn’t talk about his feelings anymore.

*Sans's POV*

"Do you, by any instance, have suicidal thoughts?"

"i... not that often"

"But you have?"

"i would be lying if i say no"

Papyrus asked (Y/N) yesterday God-knows-what and he ended up knowing what a psychiatrist and a psychologist are, and here I am, talking with a psychiatrist. My brother said that it would be better if I had a new treatment started by a professional on the topic and not by a random monster that calls itself a doctor. Considering that in the Underground we only had general doctors, it was difficult to talk about these matters and get the help needed. Therefore, this seemed like a better option.

Papy spent the night (and this morning) looking for the best option to me, considering that discrimination it's still present. And so he went, asking multiple people if they were open to listen a depressing skeleton being depressed (he obviously didn't say it that way... I think). And so he finally found someone willing to help me, and we head off as soon as possible (hell, we didn't even eat... should I say I'm hungry?)

"Do you have a specific plan to commit suicide, Sans?"

"uh... no?"

"YOU DON'T SOUND SO SURE, BROTHER"

"it's just... i haven't thought about it that deeply. i just sometimes think that i want to disappear and that's it. no idea how, no idea when. just disappear.

"I see..."

The old man went over his little notebook and wrote something down. He was bald and had a white beard almost as pale as my skull, and had a sternum and serious look behind his rectangular glasses. He would be intimidating... if he wasn't a psychiatrist willing to help a monster. How bad could this man possibly be?

"Sans, do you sleep well? And I mean at nights"

"no, sir. i haven't been sleeping well since last year. i mean, i can easily fall asleep, but it's difficult to me to stay that way."

"I see, do you nap at day?"

"heh, a lot if you ask my brother"

"Ok..."

I freaked out for a moment, returning to an odd silence only filled by the sound of his pen writing down my weirdness. I became nervous, not knowing what he was going to ask next. But, honestly, I've been kind of unused to these unpredictable events the Surface has to bring. I was used to hearing the same dialogues and to say the same jokes, but know... everything it's fresh and new. It's scary, but quite a reliever.

"Ok Sans, do you by any chance have any specific dreams or nightmares?"

I froze and cough out the water I was drinking in shock. A quick flashback of the "Genocide Run" went all over my mind, the part of my brother dying repeating itself horribly. The empty look of that kid, the Judgement Hall being my new space... the kid giving up and resetting in front of my eyes, not before giving me a vengeful look.

"Sans? It's okay if you don't want to talk about it yet, but I need to know..."

I sighed, knowing that it was for the best. If I want to enjoy the future, I have to get rid of this fucking trauma.

"i... i do have specific dreams, sir. nightmares, actually. i... i don't want to mention them right now"

Papyrus let out a sigh in disappointment and I gave him a weak smile. I know he always wanted to know what's on my mind... but I just couldn't tell him at that moment. He smiled back to me, making me feel less pressured.

"Don't worry, Sans. We'll go step by step, no need to run all over the details. Still, the fact that you've been having constant nightmares of the same topic it's quite alarming, that's why I needed to know"

He then picked a piece of paper and scribbled some things down.

"This is for the drug store..."

He picked another one, not before drawing a small asterisk on the top.

"And this one is for you"

He then gave me the two pieces of paper and I glanced over them with Papyrus, curious about the medicines.

"In order to deal with your depression, Sans, you'll take a pill of Prozac (or fluoxetine) every morning, okay? I'll determine later for how much time"

We nodded, then glanced again at the paper, reading the next medicament.

"For your insomnia, Sans, you'll take a pill Restoril (or temazepam) every night before going to sleep. This is one of the best pills to not only falling asleep but also keeping you that way"

Before I could even nod, I noticed an uneasy look in the doc's face. I raised an... eyebrow, startling him for a second.

"I'm sorry" he stated, then sighed.

"IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG, DOCTOR?"

"Nothing it's just... the fact that Sans is having constant nightmares worries me. Do you also have constant flashbacks of said events?"

I slowly nodded, and his face got worst.

"DOCTOR? IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?"

"No, it's just... it breaks my heart to know that the Underground may not have been a better place than the Surface"

A better place?

"what do you mean, sir?"

"..."

He just sighed and gave me an apologetic smile, trying his best not to break down. I noticed he was on the edge of tears, and I felt panic running all over my body.

"Sans, there's a high chance you have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or for short, PTSD"

"PTSD?"

"Yes, it's kind of a serious condition to deal with. It shows that Sans had a really traumatic event in his life, and it may seem impossible for him to have a normal life with all the fear he gained from that moment. Or am I wrong, Sans?"

I shook my head, and he gave me a sad smile. Just as he said, just as it is. I never thought it would be that serious, though.

"You'll take Zoloft (or sertraline) for that, Sans... but I also recommend you to go to a psychologist. I can directly put you an appointment with a friend of mine if that's what you want. What do you say? He'll be more than open to hearing your case"

Papyrus nodded excitedly, while I was not too sure. I felt like my normal balance would break down if I started to go to therapy... but then I looked to Papyrus again. I don't want him all worried about me, I want him to have a normal life. And for that, I also need to form a normal life myself.

"sure, may we have the address?"

"Sure, I'll give you an e-mail with it"

We gave the doctor a quick goodbye and a thank you, then head off to our home. I insisted to Papyrus that we could eat something first and relax, then go to the drug store. He groaned slightly and muttered a "lazybones" but took my offer.

When we arrived, though...

"Hello, my children! Where were you?"

Oh fuck.

I glanced over the living room and saw our small group of friends gathered cozily, including an almost smashed (Y/N), an annoying flower screaming, a suspiciously staring father, and more!

...I gulped, knowing I could never say the truth. (Y/N) is a new person in my life, the flower is a bitch, my father is another bitch, Undyne doesn't take anything seriously, Alphys takes everything seriously, Frisk is a dirty betrayer, Toriel worries too much, Asgore would go and make everyone check themselves with the therapist, Mettaton would go and check himself with a therapist, Napstablook would feel all sorry, and Arial would be highly disappointed.

...

Saying the truth sounds pretty awful at this point.

"OH, WE WERE AT THE DOCTOR, MOTHER!"

Oh crap

Papyrus seemed to notice my signal of begging help and came to the rescue immediately, never mentioning anything about a psychiatrist.

"SANS, BEING ALL STUPID, GOT SOMETHING STUCK IN HIS CHEST AGAIN!"

Ouch.

"yep. guess i need some spare ribs at this point, huh?"

Everyone groaned and so I successfully got away from the problem. I tried my best to keep my cool, but I easily spaced out a couple of times and ended up startling myself. They were doing rounds in Super Mario Bros., and (Y/N) seemed to be an expert on it, considering she was on World 6.

"Oh c' mon, when are you going to die?!" Flowey annoyingly exclaimed, foreshadowing a bit. I almost smacked him over before I saw Toriel's face, then I lost myself again on the videogame.

(Y/N) continued playing until arriving at the final castle. Surprising, to say the least. Everyone else was getting enthusiastic about her defeat, but it never happened. Instead, (Y/N) went to play all over again, making everyone groan.

"Oh my God, let us play as well!" Undyne roared, giving a death glare to the older human.

"You said you wanted me to prove how good I am..." She innocently answered, putting the controller aside.

"Ok, you've already proven yourself. Now, please, give us a chance this time" Frisk sighed in defeat, feeling vulnerable and probably fooled.

"Ok!" (Y/N) cheerily got up from the couch, then waved at Papyrus and me "Hi guys! Anything serious happened?"

Shit.

"IT'S NOTHING THAT CAN'T BE HANDLED, HUMAN!"

"I'm glad, how do you feel Sans?" She looked at me worried and made me feel like the worst person on Earth.

A huge part of me wanted to say the truth and confess my problems at that moment, but that was me feeling horrible. I always hated lying, but that's what my life has come to. At this point, I can barely feel sorry for lying...

Except on this topic.

I've always been sensitive with this stuff, and that's how Papyrus ended up knowing. It has become something really messed up that I want to let all the people I care about that I'm not okay. I want them to help me feel complete again. To feel safe. To have hope.

"Sans?"

"HUMAN... SANS... IS IT OKAY FOR YOU IF I TELL HER WHAT'S GOING ON? I TOLD HER SOME THINGS YESTERDAY AND SHE WAS REALLY COMPREHENSIBLE. BESIDES, MAYBE SHE CAN HELP US MORE WITH THE SUBJECT!"

I glanced over her, and she gave me a small and recomforting smile. Out of all the people, I never knew she would be one of those who know what's going on.

"If you don't want me to, Sans, I understand. Just know I'm here to support all of you, ok? And don't take that as an associate... but as a friend. I'm more than willing to help you out in any way I can... but that depends on you"

A deep pain went all over my soul, but then I nodded. If she was so understanding as Papyrus said she was when she heard what problem I have... maybe telling her a bit of detail won't hurt.

"we'll tell ya later, ok? now it's a little bit crowded"

"I understand, thanks for trusting me"

"thanks to you, kiddo"

Thanks to you...

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

*Your POV*

It was a while after the small gathering ended, everyone having to go earlier than expected. I already attended my work-hunting business and find a convincing and small company. I sent them an e-mail, and so I'm waiting for them to text me back. But for now, more important things were on my head.

I feel really sorry about Sans's case, and how desperate Papyrus seemed yesterday when he told all about it. I suffer from some things as well, and I know it isn't easy. It's never easy to deal with yourself...

"HUMAN, SANS, SHALL WE DISCUSS NOW OUR LITTLE SECRET?"

Sans chuckled a bit and I nodded, preparing myself from what I was about to hear.

"OK, SO... YOU REMEMBER THE TALK WE HAD YESTERDAY, RIGHT HUMAN?!"

I nodded again, and he smiled and reassured his brother that he was in good hands. I giggled softly, and the short skeleton just scratched the back of his head out in embarrassment.

"I FOLLOWED YOUR ADVICE, AND I TOOK SANS TO THE MOST ACCESSIBLE PSYCHIATRIST I COULD!"

I smiled, glad that Sans accepted any help.

"What did the doctor diagnosed you, Sans?" I asked, hoping he would be the one answering me this time. After all, this is Sans's main problem, not Papyrus's. He tensed up a little but quickly relaxed as he remembered the presence of his brother there. He took enough courage silently, then spoke with that characteristic deep voice of his.

"depression, insomnia, and... well, something called ptsd, which is-"

"PTSD?!" I interrupted abruptly, not believing what my ears just heard. Sans having depression is hard to admit, but PTSD? Oh lord, what has this poor guy endured in his young life?

"uh... yeah, i... eh..."

Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.

"Nonono, don't think that way, Sans. It's just... a bit surprising, coming for you. I never expected you to have such a problem, but I guess appearance is quite a bi... beach."

"BEACH?"

"Uh, yeah..." Please come with a good excuse, (Y/N) "You know, beaches may be all pretty on the photos, but the dangerous creatures and natural phenomenons they bring show that they are not that perfect. I guess that's the same for Sans. He easily can go on and hide perfectly with jokes and laughs, but that doesn't mean he's that careless nor happy on the inside... sorry for putting you that way, Sans"

"it's okay kid, i think i get it" he jokingly winked at me, noticing what I was going to say at first. I sighed, feeling pretty stupid at this point.

"Anyways... what has the doctor prescribed you, Sans?"

"this thing called 'prozac', another one called 'restoril' and the last one being 'zoloft'..."

Huh, I have all of those at home.

Maybe I can give him some, considering I have a ton of them...

"HUMAN! SANS MAY BE ON TREATMENT AND ALL, BUT I DON'T WANT YOU TO THINK LESS OF HIM! HE'S AN EXCELLENT MONSTER, EVEN IF HE'S WAY TOO LAZY, BUT HE'S A GOOD BROTHER!"

I saw a slight hint of blue hue spread all over Sans's cheekbones, and I assumed it was blush. I smiled softly, knowing that would be the kind of brothership I would want. Instead, I had the goddamn curse to have no brothers or sisters, and here I am. Alone.

"I would never think less of anyone by this reason, Papyrus" Then I came up with a wild idea, but that mind instantly approved. My smile grew bigger, and I continued "Actually, now that you're confessing me something quite touchy... I guess I should do the same. It may help you to feel a bit more comfortable, Sans"

He raised an eyebrow and I returned to my soft and small smile, preparing myself...

Now that I was thinking about it, it was a bad idea. It was a bad idea to show my weak points, to show my problems, and to show how vulnerable I actually am. But that didn't stop me. And it will never do.

"I... besides from dealing with, well, anxiety, I also suffer from depression..." His eyes widened and tensed up, staring at me with the same shock I felt when he mentioned PTSD. I continued "I have insomnia as well, and... a psychiatrist said I probably had PTSD, considering some constant dreams I have..."

"i... how?"

What?

"i mean, how can you have all those things and still want to help others instead of yourself?"

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Then I sighed with a smile on my face, trying to feel as confident as I could.

"Making others happy is what makes me happy, Sans. And that's what I need the most..."

"To be happy"

[amazingdanielhowell]

We Should Be Friends

Based on this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OZeqcX1VyQ

Tw: alcohol/drunk phan for one scene

The moment the bell rang, Dan pushed himself out of his desk chair and zigzagged around the hoards of students beginning to crowd the hallway. The sound of lockers opening and closing made him move faster, squeezing through any available space he could find to get to his locker. He had to get there so he could ‘accidently bump into’ the new kid again. Despite school being in session for a handful of weeks now, Dan had only met the boy yesterday when he got to his locker and dropped a stack of papers he was holding. While most people pretended not to see so they wouldn’t have to help, the new kid bent down on his knees and helped Dan gather his notes.

“Oh, you don’t have to—,” Dan began, bringing his head up and meeting the most beautiful colored eyes he’d ever seen.

“No worries, it’s not a problem,” New Guy replied pushing himself off the floor. “Cool locker.”

Dan turned and looked at his locker door where he had hung a MCR poster he got from a magazine and the little white board his mum insisted he put on his locker so friends could leave notes which was as clean as the day she bought it.

“Yeah?” Dan replied, though it sounded more like a question.

“Yeah.”

New Guy smiled at Dan one more time before heading down the hallway. He didn’t mean to, but Dan watched New Guy, noticing that his locker wasn’t too far from his, but far enough that it would be weird for him to go down that way when the front entrance was in the opposite direction. Dan knew the only casual way he could talk to the him again would be to get to his locker before Hazel Valley’s newest student walked past. Nearly out of breath, Dan arrived at his locker and opened it, pretending to look busy while taking quick glances through a sea of students for a head of black hair.

“Hey!” Dan said too excitedly upon finding who he was looking for.

“Oh, hi,” the boy giggled.

“I—um, remember yesterday when my papers fell? I don’t think I said thank you,” Dan forced out trying his best to act natural. “So, thanks. For that.”

“You’re welcome,” the new kid smiled making Dan’s heart skip a beat. “I don’t think I introduced myself yesterday. I’m Phil.”

“I’m Dan,” he paused for a moment. “How are you liking HV?”

“It’s definitely bigger than my old school, but I’m getting used to it. I’m having more trouble figuring out what people do over the weekends here,” Phil admitted with a small laugh. “My parents keep pushing me to go out and do something but I have no idea where anything is.”

“I usually just stay at home and play video games, but every once in a while, someone will throw a party with insane amounts of alcohol which is always fun. I’m terrible to drink with in public though,” Dan laughed recalling a moment from the party right before school began where he woke up snuggling with a bottle of Malibu Rum in the middle of the host’s backyard.

“Well that’s definitely something I won’t be telling my parents I’ll be doing. If I ever get invited to a party I mean. Being the new kid in secondary school really sucks. Everyone already has their group of friends and aren’t really looking to make new ones.”

“I definitely can relate. Most of my friends from primary school didn’t come here so I had to figure something out. I know some people that are pretty great, but I kind of consider them acquaintances.”

“I wish making friends now was as easy as it was back in pre-school. You just tell a total stranger that they’re your friend and that’s it,” Phil half smiled. “Anyways, it was really nice talking to you, Dan. I hope I see you around.”

Dan smiled feeling his stomach churn. He found that talking to Phil was easy, so why can’t it be like pre-school? He knew he had to say something, but couldn’t find the right words, so instead he said, “I hope so too,” and watched Phil walk away towards his own locker.

Dan threw some books in his bag and threw it over his shoulder getting ready to leave when an idea popped into his head. He grabbed a pen from his pocket, sucked in a deep breath, and walked halfway down the hall to Phil’s locker before his brain could talk him out of it.

“Let’s make it like pre-school. I don’t know you, but I would love to meet you. I think that we should be friends,” Dan said quickly, grabbing Phil’s hand and scribbled his cell phone number on his skin.

Phil looked from his hand to Dan, his face breaking into a huge smile.

***

It had been a few months since that day; snow had fallen and covered the grass in a thick blanket of white only to be trampled by hundreds of boots from students running out, excited to begin winter break. People threw snow balls at each other as they exited the building while others looked absolutely miserable bundled up in layers of coats, hats, and scarves.

“Want to come over?” Phil asked Dan as they walked out of school together.

“Sure, just let me drop my stuff off at home.”

Since that first day, both boys had walked with each other to and from school after finding out Phil only lived a few blocks away from Dan. While they didn’t share classes, they made up for lost time during the day on their walks home which usually turned into Phil coming inside Dan’s house ‘just for a drink of water’ but somehow ended up in hours spent playing video games.

“Oh, mum and dad are leaving today to pick up my brother from uni so they won’t be back until Sunday. She demanded that I get proof from your mum that it’s okay you’re over without parental supervision,” Phil giggled, his cheeks turning red. “She’s weird about leaving her baby home alone for a few days so if you want to spend a couple nights, she would love you forever.”

Dan laughed knowing his mum wouldn’t mind him staying at Phil’s at all. In fact, all he would have to do is tell her he’d be spending a few nights there and call once or twice to let her know he’s still alive and she would be okay with that. Still, Dan promised to get it in writing for Mrs. Lester so that would be one less thing she would have to worry about.

After dropping his things off, getting his mum’s note, and packing an overnight bag, Dan and Phil made their way back to Phil’s house. Phil rang his mum and read Mrs. Howell’s note of approval and promised to stay out of trouble until they came back.

“Mum says thanks for spending the night with me,” Phil reported after hanging up the phone. “I swear, she treats me like I’m 6 sometimes.”

“All mums are like that,” Dan replied. “I’m sure mine would do the same to my brother if I were away at school. Perks of being the oldest.”

Phil rolled his eyes playfully at Dan trying to mask his face into one of disgust, though his smile gave him away. Making his way to the fridge, Phil moved some bottles around before pulling out a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses.

“Wanna play drunk Mario Kart?”

“Where did you get that?!” Dan asked in disbelief. “I never took you for a vodka drinker.”

“I asked Martyn to buy me something strong before he went back to school in the fall. Mum and dad think the bottle is his, and all it took was a month of chores, plus the cost of the bottle,” Phil smiled triumphantly. “We’re on break and that calls for celebration!”

“But vodka?” Dan asked, scrunching up his nose. “Why not rum? Or at least a flavored vodka?”

“Yeah, not my first choice either, but it has a high alcohol content so we’ll be feeling great after a few shots.”

“Fine, I’ll do shots with you, but I’m grabbing orange juice for a chaser.”

Grabbing the bottle of orange juice, both boys hopped up the stairs into Phil’s room. Despite knowing no one else was home, Dan still closed the door behind them.

*

“You’re fugging terrible at this,” Phil slurred 6 shots in.

“Shuddup,” Dan giggled crashing into a wall. “I’m still waaay better than you.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Yeah huh.”

“You’re dumb,” Phil laughed pushing Dan over who just fell to the floor and lay there rather than getting up.

“The room is spinning. Lay here with me, look.”

Phil plopped down on his back next to Dan and closed his eyes taking in Dan’s familiar scent mixed with alcohol.

“Boop, wake up,” Dan said in a high pitched voice poking Phil’s nose.

“I’m gonna bite your finger off,” Phil playfully threatened opening his eyes just enough to see Dan’s.

“Noooo you’re not cause it’s not a worm,” Dan burst out laughing. “Like when you were 8.”

“That was one time! Cause Martyn made me,” Phil pouted trying not to smile knowing he was failing anyways.

“That’s okay,” Dan finally replied wiping a fake tear from his eye once he calmed down. “You’re pretty. Your eyes are pretty. I like them. They’re like…I dunno, like pools or something. I could go swimming in them.”

“I like you, Dan,” Phil said suddenly, trying not to slur his words.

“I like you too,” Dan replied drunkenly.

“No, like…really. How like, you know how Ms. Mooney looks at Mrs. Bey but they can’t cause she’s married? Like that kind of like,” Phil explained.

“Oh,” Dan nodded trying to shake off his drunken haze.

“I’ve been scared to tell you because I like that you’re my friend and I didn’t wanna mess things up but now I’m drunk and I’m saying everything in my head.”

“I like you too. From the first day with the papers. That’s why I talked to you,” Dan admitted feeling his cheeks flush, though he wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol or finally admitting his feelings to Phil.

“Your face is red,” Phil laughed, poking his tongue out between his teeth.

“So is yours,” Dan rebutted trying to cover his face. “Are you still gonna like me when we’re sober?”

“Duh,” Phil said rolling his eyes. “I wish I told you I liked you sooner. Like when I was sober. Why didn’t you tell me you liked me?”

“Not telling,” Dan slurred shaking his head.

“Come ooon,” Phil begged. “You gotta tell me now!”

“Never ever, ever,” Dan snorted making a sloppy ‘lock and key’ motion with his hand.

“Not never ever, ever! Tell me!” Phil whined slowly pushing himself up so that he could climb on top of Dan. “I’m gonna tickle you.”

“You can’t mess with me, I’m drunk,” Dan laughed making absolutely no effort to get out from under Phil as he began wiggling his fingers over Dan’s stomach.

“You gotta!” Phil replied laughing along with Dan while doing his best not to fall over.

“Okay, okay!” Dan shrieked with laughter when Phil got to Dan’s neck making him arch his back up. “I’ll tell, I’ll tell! Just not the neck!”

Phil sat on Dan pulling his hands away from his neck and rested them on his chest to steady himself.

“I didn’t say because I thought you were so good. Like so pretty and nice. Just so stupidly perfect. And you would never like me back and I know I would miss you if you didn’t wanna be friends because I messed up and said the secret,” Dan stammered trying his best to make sense.

“You’re silly,” Phil giggled. “I would never stop being your friend.”

Both boys fell into comfortable silence for a few seconds before Phil spoke again.

“I can feel your heart beating.”

“That’s a good thing, I’m not dead,” Dan replied thinking it sounded much funnier in his head as he put one of his hands over Phil’s. “Can I kiss you?”

“Only if I can kiss you,” Phil smiled leaning down.

Due to his drunken state, Phil fell faster than intended and instead of kissing Dan, their noses bashed together making them erupt in a new wave of laughter as Phil rolled onto his bedroom floor.

“That was the worst first kiss attempt ever,” Phil breathed through giggles.

“Try again,” Dan smiled now that they were both lying on the floor on their sides.

“I did try, it’s your turn,” Phil challenged grabbing Dan’s hand in his.

“Let’s just lay here for a minute and get not drunk,” Dan decided. “Then I’m gonna kiss you so good.”

“So good,” Phil repeated as Dan rested his free hand on Phil’s cheek.

***

“Ugh, I hate this song!” Dan whined turning off the car radio. “Why is every song the same?”

Since starting their last year of school, Phil’s mum decided to let Phil drive the family car as long as Dan was with him to make sure he wasn’t being reckless. Both boys’ parents didn’t know about their relationship, not because they were afraid of their reaction, but because they knew they would never be left alone together if they told their parents they were more than friends.

“Hey, my car, my rules,” Phil joked turning the radio back on as he turned into Hazel Valley’s car park. “If you hate every song on the radio, why don’t you just write one yourself? Put those forgotten piano lessons to good use.”

“Playing a piece of music that’s already been written and writing the music myself are two very different things,” Dan giggled. “And it would probably sound like everything that’s already written because I have no creativity whatsoever.”

“You know that’s not true,” Phil replied as he pulled into an empty spot. “I heard if you write about something you love, it’ll just fall right out.”

“I can’t write lyrics! And I’m not writing a song about something I love because that ‘something’ is you and that’s what every song on the radio is about,” Dan smiled resting his hand over Phil’s.

“Every song on the radio is not about me,” Phil joked missing the point on purpose leaning in for a kiss from his boyfriend. “It could be romantic.”

“It definitely wouldn’t be,” Dan laughed. “It would be like, ‘hey I don’t know you, but I think that we should be friends for a few months then get really drunk when we’re 16 and make out.’”

“We didn’t make out. We didn’t even kiss! I fell on your face and almost broke both our noses,” Phil laughed loudly recalling his fondest memory with Dan.

“So romantic,” Dan smirked peppering a few more kisses on Phil’s face then neck.

“Don’t start this here,” Phil sighed wishing he could indulge. “We’ll get written up for being late again.”

“So?”

“So, they’ll call our parents and they’ll put the pieces together.”

“You really are a mood killer, you know that?” Dan pouted sitting back in the passenger seat. “But you’re right. Maybe during lunch we can come back in here and make out?”

“I can’t believe I ever thought there would be a romantic bone in your body Dan Howell,” Phil laughed hopping out of the car.

Dan climbed out behind Phil and followed him into the building, tucking his lyric-filled notebook under his arm promising to himself that he would finish the song he started writing the day after his hangover at Phil’s house.

[italicwatches]

Comic Girls - Episode 01

Oh, fuck it. I was gonna watch this sooner or later, and while I have a lot of options on the board, I really want some craft anime right now, and I’ve got a good action/slice-of-life back and forth rhythm going too. So anyways let’s watch some girls make manga and probably have plausibly deniable romantic feelings towards each other. It’s Comic Girls, episode 01! Here we GO!

-We begin, at…A crosswalk, in Fukushima, on a quiet day. A small pink-haired moeblob sits in a car, being driven along, until a cherry blossom hits her cheek. She is very pink and very moeblob. …And then she learns that her latest manga submission did badly, when the editor gives her a call. How badly, you might ask?

-She’s bottom of the pack. The readers hate the art, the plot, the writing, and think the author can’t write high school girls worth jack shit. So our moeblob, having gotten dropped off from the car, just straight up collapses. Alas, poor Kaos-sensei, who cannot write high school girls despite being a high school girl.

-I’m not entirely sure how she ends up at the steps of a shrine, with a small army of stray cats coming to comfort her. The editor can tell this girl has potential, but god, she needs such thicker skin if she is ever going to survive…And there’s only one way to get her through a crucible without her cracking.

-Hard cut to some other girl getting a similar offer. Why yes, it’s an all-female manga artist dorm. This girl, a very free and loose blonde who…I think…Is she eating three parfaits at once? So suffice it to say she thinks this possibility over long and hashe’ll do it!

-Then we have two more girls…Who are also high school aged.

-Really.

-I just…Like, you’re putting them all in their own dorm. The entire point is they’re all working professionals, or trying to break into the industry. Considering I’ve seen about three different uniforms, I’m pretty sure we’re not going to spend any time actually going to anyone’s school.

-So what purpose does making them high schoolers serve at this point?! Ohhh my god just take me back to anime about working adults in an industry. New Game was total fluff but at least it wasn’t trying to have its schoolgirl cake and eat it too.

-Sorry, sorry, back to the show. These girls are further along the path, with one just getting serialized, and the other still deep in the grind by the sounds of it. Also they’re already tenants at the dorm.

-…So the moeblob’s a secret pervert.

-Okay that’s not entirely fair. We cut to Kaos that night, and she has tons of slightly ecchi heroine figurines in her room, and is getting all “mweeheehee” about being in an all-female manga artist dorm. Now let’s peer into her mental image of what it’ll be like! Yeah she could never survive in a stylish environment like that. Let’s try again the next morning! What if they’re all super intense serious artists? She’d crack there, too. But maybe they’re all a bunch of impassioned nerd rookies like her? A bunch of rookies all getting rejection letters every day would just be depressing.

-…Aaaand she just missed her train because she was lost in her own head. Alas, poor Kaos.

-And that’s how she ends up hauling her schoolbag, with her laptop in it, and her Rintiq tablet, down the road the old fashioned way. Wait, a Rintiq? Jesus, she has a totally-not-Cintiq? Did she just splurge All The Holiday Money, or do her parents believe in her dream that much? Like, shit, I thought I was super lucky when I got my entry-level DSLR at her age, and that was like half to a third of the price and was at a time when we were making money hand over fist.

-Oh and it’s at the top of a hill, too. Or perhaps I should say, she started at the bottom of several hills. But eventually, she makes it…And sees the landlady…And has a panic. Especially when she’s seen as a small tiny grade schooler and not the serious high school girl she insists she is. And the landlady just, isn’t, hearing it. …You know, I almost made a joke at the start about our moeblob not knowing how high school girls act because she was only in middle school.

-Also it turns out that the dorm is going to get a top-to-bottom remodeling in about a year, so there’s a timer. This iteration of the dorm isn’t long for this world something something high school experience cherry blossoms SYMBOLISM

-Anyways the blonde from before is Kaos’s new roommate and she gives zero fucks. And Kaos did not expect to be sharing her room with anyone. Meet Koyume, who has already gotten out the snacks and the paper and the pencils and really what else do you need? So Kaos’s real name is Moeta Kaoruko. …I’m sticking with Kaos. You need all the help to sound cool that you can get. Oh and Kaos gets all teary-eyed.

-“I’m sorry! Do you not like donuts?” Look if this kid doesn’t like donuts I am OUT.

-No she just doesn’t know how to handle being treated like a cute little moeblob. …How are you not used to it. Look at you. You’re 3 feet tall and your hair is pink with overly elaborate cross-pattern decorations in it. There’s no way.

-Eventually things calm down and we see the core problem Kaos is facing. In short, she lacks good anatomical studies. And if she tries to use her own body…Well, 3 foot tall moeblob. Great for bubbly comedy. Bad when you’re trying to draw a stylish, gorgeous high school girl, the kind of girl who could get scouted for a modeling job. She just ended up looking like a Mario Bros. movie goomba.

-Contrast Koyume’s problem, which is that she’s great at drawing cute girls, but terrible at drawing handsome boys. And she’s a shoujo romance artist. …So that’s not great. She just has no experience with guys to draw on… I mean, there’s an easy solution to that, Koyume. It’s called yuri and it’s the hottest new trend. You take a girl, and you have her fall in love… With a girl. (Or sometimes a bear.)

-But yeah both of them got pegged hard for their limitations by their editors, and so ended up here, and Kaos’s panic has Koyume panicking and soon they’re both just holding each other and sobbing. HEY! No crying in the dorm!

-Actually they meet the two senpais from before. And cling desperately to these two who Made It. So here’s Irokawa Ruki, the purple haired one who just got her porn serialized, and Katsuki Tsubasa, who has blue hair and is an intense shonen manga artist. Did I say porn? Yeah Ruki draws ecchi and freaks out about this tiny infant baby hearing such things. Kaos is not handling being treated like a mascot very well…Which is when Ruki gets ideas of what could be done putting the kid in a costume. Terrible, terrible ideas.

-Ignore her. So what has you two freaking out? Koyume got a debut and freaked out about not getting popular enough to survive…Stop, stop right there. The goal is not to be the best, or at the top of the charts. The goal is to get to keep drawing manga. You did well enough to debut. You have enough potential that your editor thought coming here was worth doing. Buckle down, work hard, and prove them right! The only way to achieve your ideal is to draw, draw, draw, with passion and fire! I knew there was a reason to like Tsubasa. And now, off they go.

-To their room, where Ruki is all trying to convince herself not to do things to that sweet innocent moeblob, and Tsubasa’s got inking to do. But she’s also really intrigued by firing up some rookies, even if they’re technically the same age.

-And soon that first night calms, and settles. Food is prepared, Kaos gets some time in the bath, and she’s left able to slowly process her doubts…Until the landlady reveals that the kitchen opens RIGHT to the bath so she can just summon everyone to food. Kaos has a panic.

-Episode 01: “I Got the Worst Results on the Survey!?”

-Okay, cut to time for bed! Koyume is gushy about Tsubasa being so strong and manly. Again, yuri. Kaos is already thinking of how Ruki seems like everything Kaos wants to be. Experienced, cool, stylish, curvy, attractive, makes her feel funny in her girl parts…(Wait, what was that last one? Stylish. Uh huh, sure thing.)

-Also they both get to thinking about what a real serialized pro’s room might look like…And that’s how they end up going over to see Ruki and Tsubasa’s workspace. It’s…Well, I mean, it’s a room. And Tsubasa is busy working to meet her deadlines, as Ruki gets ready to give one last push, putting her hair up and stuff…Which is when our rookies remember the whole porn thing and go looking for Ruki’s stash. Ah HA, what’s this lewd cosplay school uniform?!

-Her, her actual uniform.

-And all these rabbits?! Kaos knows rabbits mate like, like rabbits! Ruki, just, just like rabbits, you guys. Koyume wants to know where’s the perverted research material for drawing perverted manga?! Kaos counters that Koyume shouldn’t judge, maybe Ruki is just such a good pervert she can draw right out of her darkest fantasies without inspiration material!

-Ruki would like out of this now please.

-In fact, Kaos bets that under those baggy clothes, Ruki is super busty! Wait how did we even…Koyume wants to find out for herself and get a feel! And that’s how she goes for Ruki’s chest and finds it surprisingly padded and Kaos starts drawing the scene in front of her for lack of other ideas. How did we even get here. But the girls are finally made to apologize…

-And Ruki’s life story comes out. She sent in a manga about cute animals aimed at hitting the kid’s market. But her drawings of the human protagonist were so unintentionally erotic that she ended up getting sent to their 18+ division instead of their sad-onion division and serialized under the pen name Big Boobies <3 Himeko. She’d quit or start over, but now she has fans looking up to her, and their heartfelt admiration make her keep pushing. Big Boobies <3 Himeko-sensei, you’re really cool!

-Of course, with all of that, Tsubasa is behind the clock, and so soon everyone’s pitching in to try and do what they can to help…And so Tsubasa gives the rookies the tones to do, a classic grunt-labor job. Except she’s so deep into the weeds that she’s not unhooking what things like “unleash the dark energy” mean for her standard approach. Good news, Koyume knows what to do. Bad knows, Kaos doesn’t.

-But it’s because Koyume has fallen in love with Tsubasa’s manly manly charm. Anyways, thus begins the raw grind to get this chapter DONE. Koyume is doing really well, and is swiftly lost in Tsubasa’s praise. While Kaos is quietly freaking out because she’s going way slower. Not only is she less experienced, but Kaos learned digitally, and so dealing with all the analog tools is a whole new process for her. Aaaand that’s how she ends up messing up the panel. Oh god, oh god, get the white ou—THAT JUST DRIPPED AT THE WRONG SPOT

-…Kid you’re freaking out. Back up. Back up and breathe. Kaos falls into despair…But okay, this can all be fixed. Tsubasa just gets FULL SERIOUS, which also lets out a little bit of her old chuuni side. When she needs to totally concentrate, she inevitably ends up in cosplay of the characters. Whether that means we’ll be seeing more costumes, or if eyepatch and cape is just her Concentration Outfit, remains to be seen.

-Either way, Koyume is incredibly attracted to this serious stern look, as Tsubasa quickly fixes the lifework and gives Kaos a quick pick-me-up for her hard efforts. Koyume wants that kind of praiiiiise. …Oh god look at the clock. It’s time to get EVEN MORE SERIOUS!

-How do you get more serious than cosplay? First, by wielding the legendary three-pen style, like Manganora Zoro-sensei. Then, by TAKING OFF THE COSPLAY! Wait but then…

-Alright back to the grind. Kaos pushes hard, and is also starting to see…Just how far she might come if she stays here with these pros…Also she makes another mistake and Tsubasa has to fix it. Apologize when the chapter’s submitted, not before!

-And eventually, eventually, with the sun ready to rise, it’s DONE. Tsubasa flips through, confirms, and promptly lays down on the ground to collapse into unconsciousness. There’s a ton of passionate, intensity and yet kindness in this girl…It’s no wonder she’s able to draw shonen manga like she does…While Kaos here is just, so nervous, and awkward, and full of doubt, and she’ll never have any friends…

-Stop, stop right there. The dark inner thoughts are coming out. Also Koyume already considers you a friend. Ruki just needs more time to get to know Kaos, and Tsubasa is mumbling stuff about comrades in her sleep. The point is, you’ve got people on your side, rookie.

-Eventually, everyone’s just done, strewn out around the floor and trying to catch a few precious hours of sleep…

-Until that afternoon, when Kaos can confirm to her editor that she’s making new friends and feels like she’s making real progress! That’s good, that’s good. …What’s not good is your latest manuscript which is just not up to snuff to be put into the magazine as a one-off. Sorry kid.

-Credits!

…That got more dense than planned. And I didn’t even spend time detailing processes! We’ll see if things loosen up now that I’m not having to introduce everyone next time, in episode TWO of Comic Girls. Wait for it!

[keirce]

Guns n’ Robots Chapter 2

Chapter 2

P/N: I hate procrastination.

16/9/175 N.E

In the vastness of space, planets and stars floating by among the black curtains of nothingness. A single dropship in the middle of it all, carrying one extremely bored simula.

"Man, I should've really checked on how much fuel I had." He realized that the dropship he stole actually had very little fuel, unfortunately. Stupid Stryders had no fuel gauges. But then, he noticed the bright lights of a supercarrier. This was no ordinary supercarrier though, as this was repurposed as an interstellar mall. These were few, as it was very expensive to buy and repurpose the supercarriers, but they were very popular and well-kempt. Taking the opportunity, Silvo flashes the lights on the ship. The other ship seems to notice, and flash back.

"Who are you and what do you want?" was roughly what they said.

"I need help. My name is Silvo."

After hesitating a while, the ship shifts itself over and extends a docking port, which luckily came with super strong large neodymium magnets, quickly pulling over the Stryder. When inside the ship, there was a nice welcoming party. This welcoming party consisted of the grand old number of zero people.

How very nice of them.

Silvo heads through a door with a convenient "EXIT" sign on top. On the other side was an impressively large indoor mall. Lightly shocked at how you could just walk in, Silvo decided to walk around and do some window shopping, seeing as there was nothing else to do. He was reminded of how he always kept his exo card with him and felt lucky that it paid off.

Moving through the crowds, he saw many things. Cool things, convenient things, groceries and accessories. Along the way, he spotted a nice simula accessory store. The simula enjoyed being unique, showing who you are, and what you're like. They weren't expensive, due to the large amount of resources provided by many planets. Only luxury and military-grade items were expensive. They also gave some sweet custom paint jobs.

Silvo strolled in and started looking at the accessories on the shelves. Com unit replicas, awesome looking gloves, a scarf with a nice design, and way more. However, something else caught his eyes.

"Whoa. Energy scarf? Sold."

After getting it installed, He checked it out. Only one company made these, and nobody else knew how. It felt very nice, as if it were a sea of endless fluff compressed into a tangible shape. They were rare, and only slightly more expensive, at 1080 exos.

He then remembered to get a paint job. And some ship fuel.

Mario's Fuel Store, muon-catalyzed fusion section. Staring at the large half meter long batteries, Silvo was debating in his mind which to take, now with black paint covering the hexagonal exhausts on his chest, upper arms, back, and legs. White covered the rest with blue accents.

I need three batteries for the Stryder to come back on. I think that the Hadron Brand ones were more efficient…

Meanwhile, in the same store, two human twins, one male and one female, were arguing over something.

"Why'd you close the door on them?" Said the female.

The male retorted. "It was your fault we set off the alarm!"

"Yeah, but you didn't have to do that! That's a lot of money and men we just threw away, you fucking idiot!"

"Good point."

However, they didn't notice the 1.8-meter tall simula behind them. Silvo was going to speak but was cut off by the female twin turning around to look straight at him.

"And what do you want?" She hissed. Surprised, Silvo replied. "Well, I heard your argument, and I want to see if I can help." She had a confused look on her face, and turned back around to the male. After whispering in his ear, he seemed to get the idea. They moved and signaled Silvo to come with them.

Eventually, they got to a restaurant, a café. When inside, the male human goes over to the girl over at the counter and uses some hand signs. The girl nods, and guides the three over to a room at the back. Once in the room, everyone sits down except the girl who guided them, who leaves. The female human in the room opens her mouth.

"So, you want to be a mercenary, huh?"

"Yes." Replied Silvo.

"Well, that was a quick answer. What's your background?"

"I was a PM User, until the base I was stationed at was destroyed."

The male puts his hand on his face. An awkward silence falls over the room. Sooner or later, The male remembers something.

"oh yeah, our names. im ayden and this is my sister rose." He says.

"Nice to meet you two. Name's Silvo."

Looking at each other, Rose pulls out a card and a pen. The card has a group name on it. Team Delta, what a coincidence. Silvo signs the card, and puts it away. There's a question he's been wanting to ask for some time now.

"Do you guys have a ship or base?"

Ayden replies. "yeah."

"Could you also tell me what your problem is about?"

Rose takes the opportunity. "Well, we went to a planet called Talfie, and we needed to kill the general that lives there. But someone tripped the god damn alarm! We had to get out of there as soon as possible. I panicked and closed the door on the rest of the team. Now, we're here."

"ok so first off you tripped the alarm, and second im pretty sure you looked calm the whole time." Ayden corrects Rose.

"Oh shut up! You barely did any of the work anyway!" Rose snaps.

"Aaaaaanyway, can we get to work already?"

The two siblings declared in unison. "Yes!"

So, the three stand up and walk out the room. They went over to the docks, and soon enough, Silvo was staring at a large ship, like it could house 10 people inside. Regular Stryders only had a 6-person capacity, 1 being the pilot in the front seat, with not even enough space for a door connecting the pilot and passengers.

It was a beautiful silvery white with orange stripes wrapping themselves around like ribbons.

Once they entered the ship, Silvo asks a question.

"What'd I have to sign this card for?"

"You'll see." Rose responds.

Ayden had already hit the sack, and Silvo didn't feel like talking the whole time.

"Oh yeah, where did my ship batteries go?"

A/N: Finally! It has been done! Fuck school, fuck procrastination, and fuck not having ideas!

[doomedhowell]

The Pastel Boy With A Tattoo

Summary: Dan and Phil are total opposites but they don’t hate each other. Dan is the quiet, pastel boy while Phil is the punk boy who likes to cause trouble at school. Phil discovers Dan has a small secret that makes them realize that they have more in common than they thought.

Genre: AU, Fluff

Word Count: 3,185

Dan sighs quietly to himself as he fixes the flower crown resting on his head, before heading into the library. It's lunch time and Dan has always refused to eat in the cafeteria due to being constantly bullied by the other students. He just feels much more comfortable in the library, it's quiet and warm. And he just so happens to be on the librarians good side so she doesn't mind whenever Dan comes in during lunch.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Robinson,” Dan greets quietly once he walks into the library.

Mrs. Robinson looks up and smiles at Dan, sending him a little wave.

Dan smiles back at her before making his way over to the books. He looks around before walking down one of the aisles. He’s just finished re-reading the entire Harry Potter series as there’s a new Harry Potter related movie coming, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. But now Dan wants to find something new to read. He’s read quite a lot of books so it will be hard to find a new book for him to read.

It’s been about ten minutes since Dan’s started looking for a book to find, but he’s had no such luck.

Now he’s trying to reach a book on the top shelf, but he’s quite short and can’t reach it.

“Come on,” Dan grumbles as he stands on his very tippy toes, reaching as high as he can. He gasps lightly when his flower crown falls off his head and falls onto the floor. “Damnit. I just want the book.”

“Having troubles?”

Dan looks over and blinks a few times when he sees none other than Phil Lester.

“What are you doing here, Lester?” Dan asks, raising his eyebrows. He’s not necessarily friends with Phil, but they surprisingly get along with each other, despite being total opposites, whenever they happen to  pass each other. Dan only has a couple classes with Phil, though Phil hardly shows up to any of them.

Phil is a punk boy covered in tattoos who loves to cause trouble around the school.

Meanwhile, Dan is a shy boy who loves to wear bright colored clothing and flower crowns on his head.

They’re total opposites but honestly Dan doesn’t mind Phil. He just doesn’t agree with the lifestyle Phil chooses to lead. Phil smokes and parties. Dan isn’t into that scene and tries to stay away from it.

“Is that a tattoo I see on your body?” Phil asks, walking closer to Dan.

Dan gasps and quickly covers his arm up. “No, you didn’t see anything…” He says.

Phil smirks and crosses his arms against his chest. “Who would have thought that pretty boy Dan Howell has a tattoo? Let me see it. I’m obsessed with tattoos,” he says.

“Gee, I wouldn’t have guessed that,” Dan says before glancing down at Phil’s arms, which is covered in all sorts of different tattoos. Dan’s always wanted to ask him about what his tattoos mean but they never really hung out so he never got the chance. “Please. You can’t tell anyone.”

“Why not?” Phil asks, raising his eyebrows. “Tattoos are cool.”

“Yeah, but they aren’t really my aesthetic,” Dan says. “It’s just a small one…” He pulls his sleeve down and shows Phil the tattoo of a flower that he has on his wrist. “It represents me and what I love.”

“A flower? That’s so boring,” Phil rolls his eyes.

“Boys! Quiet down back there!”

Dan jumps slightly and then he looks over at Phil. “We’ll talk later. I don’t wanna get kicked out,” he says.

“Of course not. Do you have a pen?” Phil asks.

“Um-” Dan pats his jeans pockets and then he pulls out a pen. “Why?”

Phil grabs Dan’s arms and then he writes his number on it. “Call me later or something. I wanna hear more about that tattoo,” he says. He winks at dan before turning around and walking away.

“Wait! Oh, God damnit-” He looks up at the book he wanted and sighs. Dan bends down and then he carefully picks up his flower crown from the floor and gently places it on his head. He looks up when he hears footsteps and blushes when he sees Phil has returned back.

Phil walks over to him and reaches up, grabbing the book Dan wanted before from the top shelf.

“Thank you,” Dan whispers as he takes the book from Phil.

Phil smiles at him before walking away again.

Dan takes a deep breath as he holds onto the book. He just had a full blown conversation with Phil Lester, and Dan loved every single second of it. Phil doesn’t seem like the tough, punk boy that he makes himself out to be. He seems sweet, though he’s sure if Dan told him that he wouldn’t appreciate it very much. Phil’s reputation is very important to him, though Dan never understood why.

Dan patiently waits for the school day to end.

As soon as school finally finishes, Dan rushes home so that he can be able to call Phil. He didn’t see Phil again for the rest of the day so dan just assumes that he skipped the rest of his classes, like usually.

Dan giggles as he runs into his room and jumps onto his bed. He reaches over and grabs his phone from his night stand. He carefully pulls his sleeve up and looks at the number on his arm. He made sure to protect the number from getting smudged or ruined in some type of way.

“Hello?”

Dan has to stop himself from squealing excitedly when Phil picks up. He had been terrified all day that Phil gave him a fake number. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened to him.

“Phil? Um, i-it’s me… D-Dan,” Dan mentally kicks himself for stuttering.

“Dan? Who- Oh. Dan. Yeah, um, hey. What’s up?” Phil asks.

“You didn’t forget that you gave me your number, did you?” Dan asks, his heartbreaking slightly.

“Only for a second, but now I remember,” Phil chuckles. “So, do you wanna hang out?”

“Oh. What do you mean by hang out?” Dan asks, slightly nervous.

“I mean hang out. Like, can I come over to your place or something?” Phil asks.

“Oh, okay. Yeah… you can come over. My parents are rarely home so it’ll just be us,” Dan tells him.

“Cool. What’s your address?”

Dan tells Phil his address, and after they hang up, he jumps off the bed and runs around the house, making sure that everything looks cleaned and organized. He doesn’t know why he feels the need to impress Phil but he just wants to. This is the first time they’ve really hung out together. First impressions are always important after all. This is the perfect opportunity to become friends with Phil.

And… maybe more? It’s not like Dan has a crush on the punk boy or anything.

“Hey,” Dan greets as he opens the door and lets Phil inside the house.

“You didn’t tell me you were rich,” Phil says as he looks around the house in awe.

“What do you mean?” Dan asks as he shuts the door before looking over at Phil.

“This house is fucking huge,” Phil says. “I mean I expected it to be posh and everything but not like this,” Phil says. He looks over at Dan and raises his eyebrows.

“Oh, yeah… usually I don’t tell people my family is rich because otherwise they’ll just want to hang out with me because of the money. I don’t have the money… it’s my parents,” Dan shrugs.

“What do they do?” Phil asks curiously, walking over to Dan.

“They travel around the world… and do lots of promotions and stuff,” Dan explain. “Wanna go upstairs?”

“To do what?” Phil asks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“No!” Dan laughs and shoves Phil playfully before grabbing his arm and leading the way upstairs.

“Jesus Christ, why do you have so many stairs?” Phil asks once they reach the top of the stairs.

“I told my parents we didn’t need it but they insisted it. I mean… it’s just me living here, and the workers,” Dan looks over at Phil and laughs when he sees how out of breath he is. “You get used to it. Come on, let’s go to my room-” He starts walking down the hallway but Phil holds up his hand.

“I need a moment-” Phil says, taking a few deep breaths.

“Oh, come on!” Dan laughs. “It’s not that bad-” He grabs Phil’s arm and drags him down the hallway.

They finally make it to Dan’s bedroom. Dan pushes the door open and they walk in.

“This house is insane,” Phil says as they enter Dan’s room.

“It’s cool, but it’s big and you realize how lonely it is. I’m not really friends with any of the workers here so there’s no one to talk to. My brother goes with my parents most of the time so he’s never home,”

“How come you don’t go with your parents?” Phil asks curiously.

“Oh, travelling isn’t my thing,” Dan replies. “So, what do you want to do?”

“What are the options?” Phil asks. “There has to be something in this house of yours to do.”

“Well, we can watch movies on the big screen and I can have the butler bring us up some snacks. Or... we can play video games and I can kick your ass at Mario kart,” Dan grins as he looks over at Phil.

“Oh, hell yeah. You’re going fucking down,” Phil grins back at him.

Dan giggles and then he grabs Phil’s arm and takes him to the gaming room.

“Holy shit. Am I in heaven?” Phil asks as he looks around at all the gaming systems in the room.

“Probably,” Dan answers before he walks over to where the wii is and puts in Mario Kart.

“Hey, I know that I seem a little shocked right now but I promise not to tell anyone that your families rich, and I promise that I’m not using you for any money,” Phil says as he watches Dan.

Dan looks over at Phil and smiles at him. “Thanks… that means a lot to me,” he says.

Phil grins. “Now about this kicking my ass?” He asks, walking over to Dan.

“Grab a beanbag and get comfortable,” Dan laughs and stands up after having the game setup.

Dan and Phil end up playing video games for over two hours. Dan ended up winning Mario Kart, although Phil claims that Dan cheated which then turned into a heated argument but they got past that.

Now they were just relaxing on the beanbags in the gaming room, eating snacks, and talking.

“So, do you have any other tattoos?” Phil asks as he looks over at Dan. “Or do you have just the one?”

“Just the one,” Dan answers honestly. “I want to get another but I've been too afraid… and plus, tattoos are expensive as hell and my parents would kill me if I used their money for tattoos.”

“Oh, come on. Get another tattoo! I have a friend who has a tattoo shop and he gives me tattoos for free,” Phil says. “We could even go today if you wanted.”

“Whoa. Really? But… what would I even get though? I already have the flower tattoo,” Dan says as he holds up his wrist. “I don't want to get a tattoo where it's visible to others. I want to keep it hidden.”

“Okay, um… I don’t really know… what do you love besides all this flower stuff? Do you have any hobbies or something that you're passionate about?” Phil asks curiously.

“Well… I do really love music. I learned how to play the piano when I was younger and I think I’m pretty good at it. What tattoo could I get out of that?” Dan asks, looking over at Phil.

Phil thinks quietly to himself for a few moments. “Oh, I know… I've seen people get little music notes behind their ear. It's small and hidden,” he says. “I think that will be perfect for you.”

“Okay,” Dan smiles and nods, feeling himself getting excited about getting another tattoo.

“Sweet! Let’s go get a fucking tattoo then,” Phil says excitedly.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening right now,” Dan laughs. He’s been thinking about getting another tattoo for awhile now but he’s been too scared to actually get one. “But wait… will it hurt?”

“I'm not sure, if I’m being honest.  My ear is the one part of my body that I don't have tattoos. Although maybe I could get something tattoos back there. I'll think about it,” Phil grins.

Dan giggles. “It's our first time hanging out and you've already convinced me to get a tattoo,” he says.

“They don’t call me a bad boy for nothing,” Phil says as he stands up from the beanbag.

“Are you really a bad boy though?” Dan asks as he stands up as well. “You don’t seem like one to me.”

“I smoke, I skip classes and I never do any of my homework. Pretty much all the teachers hate me because of all the trouble that I cause around school with my friends. So, what does that tell you?”

“I mean, yeah, but… you’re not mean. I don’t see you bullying anyone?” Dan raises his eyebrows. “Most bad boys at our school pick on me because of how I dress and my sexuality but you’re not doing that?”

“There’s a difference between being a bad boy and a bully. I would never think about bullying anyone, especially because of someone’s sexuality,” Phil says. “That’s just fucked up that they do that.”

Dan smiles, “That’s good to know,” he says before following Phil out of the gaming room. He doesn’t care what anyone says about Phil. He may be a “bad boy” but Dan thinks he’s really sweet.

An hour later and Dan is sitting in a chair at the tattoo parlour, currently getting a tattoo on his ear.

“Hey, I’m going to go out for a smoke. Is that okay?” Phil asks as he stands up.

“Yeah,” Dan says as he glances up at Phil.

“Cool. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Phil says before walking out of the shop.

“So, is Phil your boyfriend now?” Romeo asks, glancing at Dan.

“Who? Phil? No. He’s not my boyfriend. We’re hardly friends,” Dan blushes.

“Really? Because it looks like you two are really close,” Romeo chuckles. “I’ve never seen Phil look at someone the way he looks at you. It’s kind of sweet in a way. You’re totally opposite of him.”

“Yeah, but we also have a lot in common, so does that really make us opposite?” Dan asks.

“I suppose not. It’s just the way you dress compared to the way he dresses,” Romeo says.

Dan shrugs. “I don’t pay much attention to that stuff if I’m being honest. Phil and I get along and he’s nice. He doesn’t bully me at school like the other boys do,” he says.

“That’s good. It’s always nice to have a friend,” Romeo smiles. “We’re almost done.”

“Oh. I almost forgot that you were tattooing my ear,” Dan laughs.

By the time Phil comes back, Romeo has finished Dan’s tattoo.

“Wow. You did a really good job,” Phil says once he sees the tattoo.

Dan looks over at Phil and smiles at him. “Thank you for convincing me to get another tattoo,”

“No problem. I’m glad we could get one together,” Phil shrugs.

“Did you decide on what you wanted to get?” Dan asks curiously.

“I might get something related to space. I’m obsessed with stuff like that so maybe a moon, or a star,”

“Really? I didn’t know that about you,” Dan says, surprised.

“Science is the only class I don’t skip because I’m actually interested in that stuff,” Phil tells him.

“Wow. I keep learning all these new things about you,” Dan smiles.

“What can I say, Dan? I’m full of surprises,” Phil smirks as he looks over at Dan.

Dan rolls his eyes and shakes his head at Phil, though there’s still a smile on his face.

Months pass, Dan and Phil’s friendship has only gotten stronger since they first started hanging out with each other. They pretty much spend every second of every day together. They’re attached to the hip.

The only time they don’t hang out together is when Phil is off and causing trouble with his friends. Dan doesn’t mind though surprisingly. He never expected Phil to change at all when they started hanging out. Phil’s definitely still a bad boy and Dan kind of likes it like that. It’s a balance for them.

Dan is sitting in the library once again. Lunch is almost over but he’s too focused on the book he’s reading to care about what time it is. He’s so close to finishing the book. Just a few more chapters to go through.

Phil walks into the library and smiles when he sees Dan sitting at one of the tables. He walks over to him, covering Dan’s eyes with his hands once he’s behind him. He laughs softly when Dan jumps.

Dan gasps and moves the hands out of his way. He looks up and smiles when he sees Phil.

Phil grins as he stares right back at him. “Hi,” he greets before sitting down next to him.

“What are you doing in the library?” Dan asks as he bookmarks his book and shuts it, pushing it aside.

“I don’t know. I didn’t feel like skipping with the others so I thought that I would come find you. Actually… there was something that I needed to ask you,” Phil says.

“Oh?” Dan raises his eyebrows. “Okay. You can ask me anything.”

“Well, in that case… how would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?” Phil asks, biting his lip slightly as his hand inching closer to Dan’s hand. He looks up at Dan.

“Dinner?” Dan asks. “I don’t… you mean, like a date?”

“It doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t want it to be,” Phil replies with a shrug.

“What if I do want it to be?” Dan asks, biting his lip.

“Then it looks like we’re going on a date tonight,” Phil grins, and then he reaches over to grab Dan’s hand. “So, I’ll pick you up at 7 o’clock tonight?”

“Yeah,” Dan breathes, glancing at their hands.

“Perfect,” Phil smiles and stands up. “See you later.” He winks at Dan before turning and walking away.

Dan sits there for a few moments, completely stunned at what just happened.

Did Phil Lester just ask him out on a date? Dan always hoped this would happen, but he didn’t think it actually would happen. Phil just walked in and asked him out on a date. Just like that.

“Shit,” Dan whispers, and then a smile forms on his face. He couldn’t wait for his date tonight with Phil.

[junker-town]

Sidney Crosby’s 30 biggest moments from his road to NHL stardom

The Penguins captain turns 30 today, so let’s celebrate by reflecting on the moments that propelled him to greatness.

Sidney Crosby has officially turned 30 years old. It seems quite incredible that one of the greatest hockey players of this time has reached his 30s, but it’s true! The captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins has hit yet another milestone in his long hockey career.

By NHL standards, Crosby should be in the midst of a decline as a forward in this league. Yet, the last few years have been some of Crosby’s best in the NHL and in international competition. The future generation of hockey players are here in Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, but Crosby’s recent dominance has shown that he’s not done quite yet. And love him or hate him, he’s here to stay.

As such, we’re here to celebrate Crosby’s long, industrious, and historic hockey career with a list of 30 moments, stories, or general pieces of fun that make up his story to date.

1. His humble origins

Crosby famously grew up practicing hockey in his basement, dinging up the dryer next to the net in the process. That story became so famous that people now believe Crosby actually shot pucks into the dryer itself, as he performed that feat for Jay Leno back in 2005. The machine now resides in the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame, though the misconception of the story lives on.

2. His name is on his hometown’s sign

He’s Cole Harbour’s claim to fame!

3. His younger sister, Taylor, also plays hockey

And her bio at St. Cloud State is quite nonchalant about their relationship.

I love our Captain... but I also love how his sister's college hockey team addresses him in her team bio: http://pic.twitter.com/ZjjZxvQ1dW

— Jody (@jlhorn33) July 14, 2017

4. The Penguins had a 6.3 percent chance to win the 2005 draft lottery

Because of the 2004-’05 lockout, the NHL draft lottery for the following year was based on playoff appearances and draft lottery victories in the last four years. The previous year, the Penguins missed out on the top spot to grab Alex Ovechkin, raising their chance to draft Crosby in 2005 by 2.1 percent.

5. His first career NHL goal was assisted by Mark Recchi

Not a bad way to start your NHL career than on the receiving end of a pass from a future Hall of Famer.

6. At the start of his career, he lived with Mario Lemieux

The championship pedigree runs strong in Crosby’s early career, though he played just 26 games with Lemieux before he retired due to an irregular heartbeat.

7. Despite a strong first season, he did NOT win the Calder Trophy

Crosby’s 102 points were not enough to best Ovechkin’s 106 at the end of the 2005-’06 season, and so the famous “rivalry” began.

8. He’s set records as the youngest NHL player for a lot of things

That includes being the youngest player to:

Score 100 points in a single season (18 years, 253 days old)

Win the Art Ross Trophy (19 years old)

Win the Ted Lindsay Award (19 years old)

Be named to the NHL's First All-Star Team (19 years old)

Score 200 career points (20 years old)

Tally two consecutive 100-point seasons (20 years old)

Win the Stanley Cup as a captain since 1895 (21 years old)

His Art Ross Trophy win also signifies him as the only teenage scoring champion in any major North American professional sport.

9. At the time, he was the NHL’s youngest captain

Crosby was named the captain for the Penguins when he was 19 years and 297 days old, an honor he actually turned down when he was 18 because he didn’t think he was ready. Connor McDavid now has him beat at 19 years and 266 days old, but that record stood for nearly 10 years.

10. His commercials are no better than any other star athlete

Please stop subjecting poor athletes to these things.

11. His pregame rituals are precise

And he eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before every game!

12. At one point in his life, he owned a PSP

No news if Crosby has upgraded to a Nintendo Switch these days for those cross-country flights.

13. He’s also on a stamp

In the past, Canada celebrated great hockey legacies with commemorative stamps, and Crosby graced Canada Post’s “2016 NHL Great Canadian Forwards” alongside Phil Esposito, Guy Lafleur, Darryl Sittler, Mark Messier, and Steve Yzerman.

14. He’s the most decorated hockey athlete of his time

To his name across 12 NHL seasons, Crosby has:

Three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, 2017)

Four Eastern Conference championships (2008, 2009, 2016, 2017)

Two Conn Smythe trophies (2016, 2017)

Two Art Ross trophies (2007, 2014)

Two Rocket Richard trophies (2010, 2017)

Three Ted Lindsay awards (2007, 2013, 2014)

Two Hart trophies (2007, 2014)

Six NHL All-Star selections (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017)

A World Junior gold medal (2005)

Two Olympic gold medals (2010, 2014)

A World Cup of Hockey gold medal (2016)

15. He won Canada its first Olympic hockey gold medal on home ice

Crosby’s “golden goal” in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver gave Canada a 3-2 victory in overtime against the United States, helping the team to its first Olympic gold in the sport on home ice. Canada has hosted the Olympics three times, and its previous attempt in Calgary in 1988 fell short of the medal podium with a fourth-place finish.

16. Alongside all his hockey hardware, he has an Emmy award

Yes, Crosby is one fourth of the way to an EGOT. His role in the Penguins-produced special, “There's No Place Like Home With Sidney Crosby,” won in 2016 in the “sports program one-time special” category.

17. He’s a member of the Order of Nova Scotia

In 2008, Crosby was awarded the highest civilian honor in Nova Scotia for "significant contributions to the province and the country."

18. Growing up, he was a fan of the Montreal Canadiens

Crosby’s dad was drafted by Montreal in 1984 with the 240th overall pick, though he never played at the NHL level.

19. He once skipped the line at a DMV, to controversy!

In Pennsylvania, celebrities get special treatment at DMVs to avoid large crowds at already packed places. In 2013, Crosby skipped the line in Allegheny County and it caused quite the stir with local Pennsylvanians, who said “he should have to sit and wait with everyone else,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

20. The number 87 has followed him forever

Crosby was born on Aug. 7, 1987 (or 8/7/87) and he wears the number 87 for the Penguins. In his recent contract extension signed in 2012, Crosby negotiated his contract to, wait for it, average $8.7 million per season over the next 12 years.

21. The 2016-17 season was one of his best in recent memory

Despite a concussion in the beginning of the season that kept Crosby out for a few weeks, he managed to put up 44 goals — his best since the 2009-’10 season — to win the Rocket Richard Trophy for the most goals in the NHL. Crosby’s shooting percentage of 17.3 was also his highest for a full season in his career, just barely beating out his 17.1 percent mark in 2009-10.

22. Peyton Manning texted him after his latest Stanley Cup win

From one G.O.A.T. to another!

Crosby said Peyton Manning texted him after the win. "I thought that was pretty cool. Didn't realize he followed hockey that much" -MC

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) June 15, 2017

23. He’s not the cleanest player

From allegations of whining that plagued him in his first few years in the league to chopping off part of Marc Methot’s finger and punching P.K. Subban’s head into the ice, Crosby hasn’t had the cleanest NHL career. Yet again, who has?

24. But he’s one of the most punished players in the league

On the flip side, Crosby’s star status means he gets pushed around A LOT by opposing players. One of the reasons the Penguins brought in tough guy Ryan Reaves this offseason is because players take liberties when Crosby is on the ice. Though Crosby sometimes gets the calls, there are a lot of instances that never get caught.

25. Concussions have plagued him throughout his career

To date, Crosby has had five concussions and has missed a total of 114 games due to concussion-related symptoms.

26. He doesn’t know if he’ll play until age 40

In an interview with NHL.com in January, Crosby said he isn’t sure if he’d still be playing at age 40:

"For whatever reason, the last couple years and even playing with a guy like [Matt Cullen], it crosses my mind and I'm thinking, 'He's 40. I don't know if I could do that.' My contract is until I'm 37, so that's where I see myself playing until, and then we'll see from there. You see where your body is and how everything goes.

"But 37 is pretty good. There's not a lot of guys playing at that age these days."

27. Time named him one of the most influential people in 2007

And at age 19 no less. Crosby has certainly come a long way since then.

28. He has a big love for history

Crosby recently took a college course at Southern New Hampshire University in the middle of the season through the NHL Players Association. His topic for his final paper? World War II.

29. He’s a member of the Triple Gold Club

In 2015, Crosby became the 26th member of the Triple Gold Club, hockey’s elite group of players who have won an Olympic gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, and the Stanley Cup.

30. He’s 30 years old and still at the peak of his career

If he can stay healthy, Crosby still has a long NHL career ahead of him. And how lucky we are to have him in the NHL. Happy 30th birthday, Sidney Crosby!

[crystalracing]

Page 100,

December 2011

The flame still burns

Ten years ago the late Richard Burns became England's only World Rally Champion. He's not forgotten, as our very personal road trip showed

In many ways, it feels like more than just 10 years have passed since Richard Burns won the 2001 World Rally Championship — the helmet he wore looks impossibly fragile, for instance, while his old overalls appear to offer the fire protection of a kimono. It certainly feels like more than six years since he was taken from us by a brain tumour.

Richard's co-driver Robert Reid, now vice-president of the World Rallies Commission, says it feels like a different lifetime. Yet the euphoric images of Richard spraying champagne in Cardiff after he became England's only World Rally Champion remain frozen in time, as permanent as his simple gravestone at the church in Checkendon, the village near Reading where he grew up.

Because what we will remember is exactly what is written on Richard's gravestone: 'Always and forever, a gentle man and a brave champion'.

To celebrate Richard's achievements, a decade on from his greatest triumph, we took a road trip together with Reid to see the people and the places that meant most to `RB'. There was only one vehicle to do it in: the limited edition Subaru Impreza RB320, built by Prodrive as a tribute to their late World Champion in 2007. Chassis 001 (of 320) belongs to Alex Burns, Richard's dad, and has covered fewer than 6000 miles since it left the factory four years ago.

8am: NEAR WANTAGE, OXFORDSHIRE

A farm track leads to an unprepossessing barn, although the impressive barrage of security equipment provides the first hint that there may be something more to it. Once the clattering metal door rolls open, what's inside is enough to take your breath away. All of Richard's most famous cars are here, sleeping under dust sheets.

There's the Peugeot 205 — essentially a glorified road car — that he used to win the 1990 Peugeot Challenge, the Peugeot 309 he drove on the RAC Rally (as it was still then known), and the Subaru Legacy with which he won the British Championship. Then of course there's the iconic blue title-winning Impreza WRC, looking exactly as it did when it rolled off the finish ramp in Cardiff, and a Peugeot 206 WRC: Richard's final rally car, which he drove until his career was cut short at the end of 2003.

Facing them are his road cars. There's an Impreza RB5, the first limited edition RB Subaru, introduced in 1999 to celebrate his return to the team with competition number five. Richard had chassis 001 (of 444), mothballed at zero miles. There's also a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5, a Peugeot 206 GTI and his favourite car of all: a 1969 6.5-litre V8 Chevrolet Camaro, imported from the States. Naturally, it's not quite standard. Richard took the car to Prodrive shortly after he bought it, from where it emerged sporting a big red button on the central console. The purpose of this button is to lock the front wheels but free up the rears, enabling tyre-smoking burnouts to be effected. Even after Richard became ill, his friends used to take him out in it — and it never failed to put a smile on his face.

Perhaps even more remarkable than the garage, though, is a room to the side of it. Here, all of Richard's trophies, overalls and helmets are perfectly preserved, with the African dust still clinging to his Safari boots. Most poignant of all is a Subaru holdall, which still looks conspicuously new. Inside is Richard's team kit for the 2004 season, neatly wrapped up in plastic packets, which was delivered at the end of '03 but which he never got to wear.

9.30am: CHECKENDON, OXFORDSHIRE

For a cosmopolitan champion, enjoying life in London and Barcelona ("he was very... European" was how Burns's friend and mentor David Williams put it) Richard's background seems surprisingly rustic. Bumping down the long track towards his dad's farmhouse ("I've been driven down here at some truly terrifying speeds," Reid recalls) we eventually get to the farm. But the cowsheds have long since been replaced by something more useful: workshops.

Alex, Richard's dad, is waiting to show us round. "The funny thing was, I never really got the car bug until Richard got into it," he explains. "Then I became slightly infected."

Make that an epidemic. There are three large workshops in the gardens where Richard's first rally cars were built, and which now house Alex's diverse collection of Peugeots and Talbots, in various states of restoration.

You could wander round it for hours. True to his meticulous nature, Burns stuck all his old rally plates on the wall, where he would record the overall and class result in felt-tip pen. Richard also insisted on fabricating mudflaps to his perfect design. But it didn't always go to plan. "This is a room I mostly associate with Stanley knives, plastic and blood," says Reid.

Stuck in the back of the garage is a tired-looking Subaru Legacy estate. "That was my old company car," says Alex, with a grin. "When I got home from work on a Friday we used to load it up with rally car spares and it became our chase car. Then on Sunday I'd clean it out and go off to work on Monday..."

Overlooking the garages of course, at the back of the house, was Richard's bedroom.

10.30am: DAVID WILLIAMS'S OFFICES, IPSDEN, OXFORDSHIRE

A converted barn opposite a small airfield was an unlikely venue for a plan to be hatched that ultimately led to the World Championship. But David Williams's studio (his company MD designs stands for exhibitions), and specifically his glass table, was where the Burns council of war regularly met. When he turned professional, Richard was managed by Mike Greasley and then Julian Jakobi's CSS outfit, but David — the man who started him off in rallying — was the person he always turned to for advice.

"I rallied for fun myself; it was clear from the beginning that my enthusiasm far outweighed my talent," says David. "But that's not always a bad thing. Early on, when Richard first started rallying with the Peugeot 205, I thought he was driving it too delicately, like an old woman. So I said to him at a test: 'You co-drive, I'll show you how it's done.' And of course I rolled the car into a ball. But it still drove. Then I said to Richard: 'Of course I'll sort all this out. But for now just do what you want with the car. Find the limit. Go over rocks, stones, roll it — it doesn't matter.' Richard spent the rest of the day driving it on the ragged edge, wearing goggles because the windscreen had shattered. He won his next rally. That day, I think he learned not to be afraid of damaging the car."

Ipsden was also where Richard's famous silver and orange helmet was designed, based on the colours of Mario Andretti.

11.30am: NEAR STOKE ROW, OXFORDSHIRE

In the heart of Oxfordshire there are some phenomenal driving roads: this is just one that Richard used to try out his cars on, often with volunteers stationed next to humpbacked bridges and blind corners to check that nothing was coming. Richard would drive around alone or with friends, such as touring car star Jason Plato. "We used to be thick as thieves back when Richard's world rally career was taking off and I was coming up through touring cars," recalls Plato. "We had a lot of fun; stupid stuff: young guys having a laugh. There was a lot of messing about with cars and motorbikes: I used to have a Ducati 916, which I parked in my kitchen because it looked cool. Richard would come round and often start the bastard up. I had to get the kitchen redecorated before I sold the place. Then there was the time when I had an orange bazooka: a bazooka that fires oranges. We used to go out at night to set the thing off. Oh man... there was one night when we took the back out of a wooden bus shelter in the middle of the countryside. And there's a huge old metal road sign near Thrupp, near where I lived, that's still got a huge dent in it now. Made by an orange. So I just remember that time with Richard as a great party. And Richard himself as an awesome driver."

These were the roads he learned to drive on.

12.30pm: KIDLINGTON, OXFORDSHIRE

Kidlington is a suburb to the north of Oxford, perhaps best known in popular culture as the location of Inspector Morse's police station. But for Richard it was all about Cots Green, a farmyard converted into 10 properties. He lived in two of the houses: number five, which he shared with his friend the rally photographer Colin McMaster from 1997 to '98, and number 10, which he bought at the end of '98 before eventually adopting non-dom status and moving to Andorra. Richard enjoyed some very happy times during his Kidlington period, with the possible exception of the occasion when his new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 was liberated from outside number five...

The sight of the future World Rally Champion wearing an antiquated motorcycle helmet while being beaten around the head with a frying pan must have been a memorable one, but it was in Kidlington that the game of `kop the wok' was invented. Unsurprisingly it was a drinking game, where the loser had to don the helmet and take his punishment.

As McMaster remembers: "These were some of the best years of our lives. After we first moved in there was quite a raucous housewarming. I had to take the call from the letting agent threatening eviction, but we all got on well in the end.

"In the later years one of the neighbours had to suddenly go to Budapest in tragic circumstances and Richard was asked to help out with the school run. In order to lighten the mood, he picked the little girl up from school in a different car every day: ranging from the Camaro, to a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, to a Porsche 911 GT3."

1.30pm: PRODRIVE, BANBURY, OXFORDSHIRE

What everybody forgets about Burns's championship-winning drive on the 2001 Rally Great Britain was that he was locked in an intense legal dispute with Prodrive at the time. He had already signed for Peugeot in '02, but Prodrive was contesting his right to leave as there was a clause keeping him with Subaru if he won the title. The 2001 Rally GB was a tough and tense event, fraught with little problems — Richard's car refused to fire up out of parc ferme on the final day, for example — and there was an uncertain feeling about what was going to happen next. When Burns first tested the Peugeot 206 WRC, he enlisted McMaster to come with him and provide a photographic record, as he wasn't sure if he'd ever be driving it again. So as Richard was winning the title on Rally GB, David Lapworth — Prodrive's technical director — remembers thinking: "I wasn't quite sure if we should be celebrating or not. It was a surreal feeling: here we were having a party together on Sunday, and then seeing each other in court on Monday."

The biggest testimony to Burns as a driver though is the fact that less than two years later, and despite the acrimony, Subaru asked him back. "As a judge of pace, Richard was second to none," points out Lapworth. "He knew exactly what he had to do to win a rally, or how to claim the maximum number of points if he couldn't. You always got the feeling that he was managing the level of risk he was taking."

So fluid was Richard's approach — or maybe so flamboyant was Colin McRae's, the inevitable comparison — that it's easy to forget just how fast he was. In 1999 and 2000 Burns set more fastest stage times than anybody else.

"The funny thing was that he never really aimed to set all those fastest times," adds Reid. "It was just a by-product."

Chances are that Burns would have brought the number one back to Subaru in 2004 (incredibly, he only lost the lead of the '03 title race just before Rally GB, when he was already very ill). His team-mate for the following season would have been Petter Solberg, who went on to win five rallies (one more than eventual champion Sebastien Loeb) and finish second in the title race. Richard could well have ended '04 as a three-time champion. But we'll never know.

4pm: MARGAM PARK, NEATH, WALES

They were the longest 18 miles of Richard's and Robert's life, down the muddy hillsides of Margam Park in South Wales for the final stage of Rally Great Britain. In the end they finished third: just one place higher than they needed to in order to clinch the world title. The subsequent scenes have been written into television history: Burns telling Reid: "You're the best in the world!" and then the explosion of emotion as the drizzle fell relentlessly, while Richard hugged Zoe Keen — the love of his life — David Williams and dad Alex.

"It's funny how the memory plays tricks on you," says Reid. "Looking back on it now, I remember it being a fairly straightforward end to a fairly straightforward event. But that wasn't the case at all."

Four drivers had gone into the title-decider with a chance of the championship, and McRae was leading until he crashed out spectacularly on stage four, the first proper test. That left Burns with 13 more stages to hold his nerve, often under trying circumstances.

"We did two stages in the dark the following night with no map light," recalls Reid. "It was just a cock-up: I reached up to switch the map light on and nothing happened. You can imagine how we felt then. I tie-wrapped a mini Maglite torch to my thumb and read two stages like that."

Anything could have gone wrong at any point; somehow Burns and Reid held it together.

6.30pm: CARDIFF, WALES

This is where the journey ended, outside City Hall in Cardiff. Or was it where it began? Burns made the mistake of wearing a grey T-shirt when he hit the town in Cardiff to celebrate winning his title. It wasn't long before he was assaulted by his fellow competitors with marker pens, all of whom were anxious to pen their own personal 'tributes' to Richard. That T-shirt became one of his most treasured possessions, but when it was displayed recently at the Goodwood Festival of Speed only one side could be exhibited — Goodwood is, after all, a family show...

"It was at a nightclub in Cardiff; all of a sudden people descended on us and started to write stuff on his T-shirt with marker pens," remembers Zoe. "The whole evening was just surreal. I remember walking down the street after we had dinner and people were saying 'well done Richard' but it was all quite hard to take in. It was a massive relief, that's for sure, and I felt so, so happy for him. He'd done it. He'd achieved his dream. He'd had some rough times in the past but even if he never won the title again, nobody was ever going to take that away from him."

And they never will. Burns remains England's first and only World Rally Champion.

Anthony Peacock

[tortuga-aak]

A simple app that has nothing to do with money is helping me spend less and save more

garryknight/Flickr

By using note-taking apps to create wishlists, you can help curb spontaneous spending.

After adding items to the list, you review it only once at the end of the month.

Letting time pass allows you to examine if you really want and need an item.

  In the past, I’ve mentioned the strategy of using a wishlist to curb my spontaneous spending impulses.

It turns out that the simple act of adding something I want to a wishlist is an incredibly effective way to cut through momentary desires, keeping me from spending money on something I might want in the moment but that I’ll end up forgetting and/or regretting over the long term.

It’s a really simple strategy that takes advantage of a psychological tic that I have and, from what I’ve seen, many other people have as well.

Here’s how it works.

On my phone, I have the Evernote app for jotting down notes. For this to work, you really need some sort of note-taking app available to you most of the time, and I use Evernote. You might prefer to use some other app for taking notes, or even using a pocket notebook. Although I use a pocket notebook for a lot of things, I find Evernote works far better for this particular task, the reason for which I’ll explain in a bit.

Whenever I find myself wanting something bad enough that I’m considering buying it, instead of actually going to the checkout or clicking through the shopping cart on the website, I simply add the item to a “Wishlist” note in Evernote. I simply keep a note going named Wishlist. When I want an item, I go into that note and, at the bottom of the note, I add a quick description of the item in just a few words along with a link to that item from some website.

 Virtually every time, the simple act of putting that item on my wishlist takes the edge off of that desire to make an impulsive purchase, at least enough so that it’s easy to move on and not actually make that purchase right now. That keeps my money in my pocket where it belongs and ensures that I don’t spend it on something I might not truly want all that much.

But what if I’ve stumbled across something really cool that I do actually end up wanting? Here’s the neat trick. Once a month, I review the wishlist. I usually do this around the first of each month (which is actually why I’m writing this today, as I’m writing this right after having reviewed my wishlist).

I start by going to the bottom of the list and adding the name of the month and the year, followed by a dashed line. All new items after that point are added below that line. Then, I scroll back up, find the line from two months ago (so, if I’m doing this on November 1, I look for the September line), and delete that line. This leaves just an October line and a November line.

At that point, I go through everything above the top line, one at a time, and ask myself if I really want that item. Do I really want this game I added to my list? Do I really need that cool notebook? Does it really make sense to buy this thing or that thing?

What I almost always find is that my desire for that item has faded significantly since I added it. Most of the time, my desire has completely disappeared. If I find that I don’t really want that item much any more, I simply delete it from the list. It’s gone, and I never spent the money on it. This is the end result of 90% of the stuff I add to the wishlist.

What about that remaining 10%? I usually give each of those remaining items some additional thought. Is this something I really, truly want? Or is it just an appealing thought? Maybe this item is touching on a desire that can be addressed in some other way.

Often, the items that make it to this point end up eventually turning into purchases, but these are planned purchases. I’ve turned off the “urgency” for these purchases, so I’m okay investing the time and effort necessary to research those purchases and find how to meet those desires in a cost-effective and reasonable way.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

So, let me show you in a very practical way how this works.

This morning, I went through my wishlist, as I do at the start of each month. The task is one that I have scheduled as a recurring task at the start of each month, so this is a natural time to do it.

I started by adding a line at the bottom that said “November” with a bunch of dashes after it. That way, in the future, when I add more items, they’ll just go below that line.

Then, I scrolled back up and found the line that said “September” and deleted that line.

Now, there were a few items above that line that were still there from previous months. They were items that I decided that I still wanted, but I hadn’t actually bothered in the last month to buy them.

To me, that’s a clear indication that I should just delete those things. If they sat there for a month after review and I still didn’t feel like taking action, they should probably just go. That’s not always true, however – sometimes items stick around for an extra month or two because I didn’t have enough money in my budget to afford that particular item.

So, very quickly, I deleted all but one of those items that was above the “September line.” The one item that remained was one that I suspected I could find for just a dollar or two if I kept searching, so I left it there. I poked around online for that item for a few minutes, but still haven’t found it for a price that low yet (it’s an item that was overproduced and I expect it to eventually hit the bargain bin).

Anyway, this leaves me with the 11 items I added during September that I haven’t looked at since I added them.

I walk through each of these fairly quickly, asking myself whether I still want this item. Is this something I still am interested in spending my hard-earned money on? Is this something I actually want? Might I just want something similar to this?

Believe it or not, most of these items end up leaving me with a sense that, no, I don’t want that item any more. There were such items as a sous vide cooking tool, three different books, a pocket chess set, and some fountain pen ink in that group.

I deleted all of them

This left me with four items that I was actually still interested in – two books, one board game, and one “gadget,” for lack of a better term. The books all ranged in price from about $8 to about $16. The board game appears to be commonly on sale for about $40. The “gadget” runs about $110.

Those are all items that I’m interested in, and that interest has sustained over more than a month. In other words, those are items that I am actually considering buying.

What happens now?

First of all, I work out my hobby spending budget for the month. All of those items would come out of my personal hobby spending. Can I afford them this month? I figured out that, given other things I planned to use that money for, I could afford either one book and the game, or both books. The others would have to wait.

The next step was to start bargain hunting for those items. I started digging around for the lowest price I could find on those books and on that board game. The books are a bit harder to bargain hunt for, especially since one is already in paperback – the hardcover book (the more expensive one) could be one that I could wait on until the paperback comes out.

The board game, however, can net some serious savings if I do some shopping around for it – and I manage to find it at about 60% off of MSRP surprisingly quickly. So, I allot about $20 of my hobby budget and pick up that game.

For the other unpurchased items, I added the books to my Amazon wishlist (which a few people use for gift-giving purposes in my family) and deleted them, leaving me with just two items to look at next month (the gadget and the “overstocked” item). I have a sense that the gadget will end up just being deleted next month.

So, what happened here?

I had 11 items that I really really wanted and almost bought impulsively in September. But, rather than giving into that temptation, I just added those items to my wishlist instead.

When I finally reviewed that wishlist on November 1, I simply deleted seven of those things because I realized I didn’t really want them any more. That eliminated the vast majority of what I might have spent impulsively. It would have been wasteful spending, because I would have just bought things I wanted on the spur of the moment, things not connected to any lasting desire.

I ended up putting two of them on a gift giving wish list, eliminating them as well. Again, that’s money I didn’t spend, and it also gives some of my relatives who insist on giving gifts from Amazon wishlists something that I’ll actually like as an idea.

I found one item at a 60% discount. If I had bought it on the spur of the moment, it would have cost me $40. Because I was patient, I gave myself time to shop around (and time for it to wind up on sale), so it only cost me $16.

I was able to realize that the one remaining item doesn’t quite fit into my budget and that it could wait a bit longer. That’s okay, because I understand why I’m passing up on it.

So, to put it all in a nutshell, I went from spending hundreds on impulsive desires to spending only $16 on one of the few items I actually wanted beyond a momentary impulse. It’s all because of the “wishlist” strategy.

I strongly encourage you to consider using a wishlist yourself. It’s a very, very effective way to handle impulsive spending desires. It turns postponement into an “action” that feels like you’ve actually done something toward the purchase, which often pops that balloon of desire quite effectively.

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