#also haha get it tv girl in the first image omg!!

[popcrackalackin]

evil yaoi panel edits

guys wheres the part in hsbc when dirk and john have an ULTIMATE bloody anime battle whilst also PASSIONATELY and HATEFULLY making out mid fight and then after they lick the blood off each other!!!!

[corpsebasil]

Oh my god wait WHAT ABOUT MODERN DAY NIKOLAI AUUUUU UU LIKE WHAT ABOUT IF HE WAS A PRINCE BUT LIKE RNNNNNM

i promise I’m gonna get back into the knight Nikolai thing but the tequila in my system has me THINKIIIOIIIIN

(yes I am 21 in less than a month. i am also Spanish and have been drinking since birth. anyways.)

okay listen—

DRABBLLLLLE MDNI UNDER THE CUT

okay so.

You’re sitting on the couch when it happens.

Not even an hour ago you were a virgin. You’d never let a man touch you—hadn’t wanted to—until Nikolai. Yes, Nikolai. Aka, his royal highness Prince Nikolai of Ravka. Good God.

(Omg just imagine modern day Nikolai ahhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHG)

You’re bundled up with some blankets while he makes hot chocolate, insisting that you relax after the rather intense fuck fest first time you two had ever slept together.

This man had given you more orgasms than you could count on one hand. He’d been the most perfect first time you could’ve ever imagined.

I just know Nikolai is skilled with his hands and tongue. Don’t speak to me.

Omg and what if he grabbed your thighs and pushed them towards your chest and—

GOOD LOOOOOOOOORD it’s been a single day since I’ve been laid and now I’m—

TMI.

Sorry.

ANYWAYS.

He’s in the kitchen adding marshmallows to your cup while you’re flipping through the channels on his tv, a tiny smile on your face. But then it drops. DROPS. Because you land on a news channel and the first thing you see is a picture of YOU.

Oh god.

You immediately still, leaning forward to pay closer attention as the news anchor speaks, the headline screaming at you as you watch:

‘The Prince’s Girlfriend is Just a Pawn’.

?

?

What?

The anchor continues with a story like this: allegedly, due to proof found by sources unidentified, the prince was in a strategically arranged relationship with a common girl in order to bolster his image as a, and I quote, ‘caring, non-discriminatory royal’.

You cant breathe.

Now for the Drabble.

“Babe!” Nikolai calls, walking into the living-room with two mugs in his hands, marshmallows almost spilling over the edge. “Want to watch that scary movie you mentioned? Your reactions to—” He stops.

Stares.

He reads the headline in half a second before he’s carefully setting the mugs down on the coffee-table, his expression stony. Your own eyes are steadily filling with moisture, your chest heaving as you listen to all the evidence that your entire relationship has been fake.

When you turn your head to look at him his jaw is clenched, eyes dark.

“Is it true?” You breathe after a moment, turning the tv off. He’s quiet and you continue, your voice cracking. “Was I a publicity stunt?” Nikolai looks at you and takes a deep breath, but his expression tells you everything. A choked noise leaves your mouth and you stand, shaking your head. “No. Tell me it’s not true.”

He doesn’t reply, just staring at you with a pained look.

A broken sob leaves your mouth and you shake your head, shoving past him.

“Y/N—"

“Did you ever love me?” You demand, whirling around when his hand grasps your arm. “I gave you everything. Every part of me.”

He takes a deep breath before speaking, his eyes squeezed shut.

“It started as a PR stunt, okay? But it’s not like that anymore, Y/N, I love—”

“Don’t you fucking lie to me.” You snap, backing away from him. “God, I’m so stupid!” You cover your face with your hands, shaking your head. “As if a prince would ever want me.”

“Y/N, please—”

“Don’t just—just don’t.” You hold up your hand and move towards the door, grabbing your things as you go. “Don’t call me. Please.”

(Don’t call me. Don’t come by my house. We’re done. LMAO.)

“Y/N.”

You pause when you reach his door, your eyes meeting his.

“I don’t ever want to see you again.” You whisper, your heart cracking into pieces inside your chest.

Sorry HAHA

[nahualnextdoor]

Character Analysis for Shitpost's Sake (long post; tw suicide discussion):

A funny haha, a whimsy silly image. Something I did in like 10 minutes...

Well behind the scenes I spent an entire night dissecting every episode and book paragraph in my head just to see what box fits what character (I take my silly guys very seriously and my shitposts should represent their characterizations accurately otherwise I'll kill myself).

So, here we go.

Active suicide risk: (literally anyone except Cleo and Six)

-Resus: Pretty obvious and intuitive in my opinion. Our favorite trans allegory emo boy that literally sleeps in a coffin. Hates pretty much every aspect of his life, thinks he's a disappointment to his family simply for existing (and sadly kinda is), and is pretty much fine with death as a whole (most of his friends already went trough it, after all).

-Luke: This one was also pretty obvious in my opinion. While not as clear cut or active as Resus, there was this one time where he decided to banish himself to the Underlands, no hesitation, as soon as he found out (or rather was made to believe) he attacked his parent. He's very often ostracizing himself over his lycanthropy hurting those around him, and for the major part of the book series he believed himself to be a burden for his parents. (Also he has like. Zero sense of self-preservation, at least in the tv show).

-Luella: Oh boy. Where do I begin with you girl. Just her living situation alone is sad enough, add in her attachment issues, her lack of control over her emotions, her crush on a guy that treats her... horribly, and her lack of any meaningful friendship in her life up until she became bffs with Cleo in s2. Honestly I'm just glad that by the end of s2 she's mostly content with her life the way it is, but still... at least on the episodes before she got her shit together, I'd say she's kinda worrying.

-Dixon: Yeah this guy's life is just hell lol. I'm not really getting any suicidal vibes out of him, but it is more than plausible.

10/10:

-Cleo: She's just... I love her 🙏🙏 Badass, one of the most interesting characters of the tv show in my opinion, autistic as fuck (they all are, but she's the one I relate to the most), curses the entire town in order to fix her problems and is pretty much happy despite being in an eternal sisyphean cycle.

Needs to retake the am I gay quiz:

-Resus: self explanatory I think. He really needs to get his shit together because I just cannot tolerate when he's all over Luella "oh luella I need your help with this spell and also brain drain dumped me in a wet cardboard box and killed my grandma 🥺🥺" and then going "well thanks for nothing, fuck u and ur stupid useless magic, also even tho we're nothing I will get all possessive over u at the slightest possibility of u liking Luke hey can we kiss to save the world btw" She deserves so much better than him omg. Boy you're queer!!! Leave her alone and just stay with the werewolf!!!

Cannibalised first in plane crash scenario:

-Resus: I just thought this was funny lol

Adderal prescription ASAP:

-Luke: Also pretty self explanatory. Lycantrophy is the magical equivalent of autism and adhd in this universe, I don't make the rules. Both in the books and in the show he's shown having a hard time focusing on class, finding it easier to just focus on his videogames. He spends hours playing on his console, to the point of ignoring his baisc needs, and is pretty hyperactive in my opinion, at least in the show. Really I wish they'd bring back the idea of Eeafa (or maybe even Luella) figuring out a potion or spell to help him manage his wild side, wich, to me at least, is not only his wolf self, but all of his neurodivergent tendencies in general (basically it would be magical meds that makes you have more control over the wolf form on top helping you study).

Missing person:

-Pretty much all the other kids from the books but I choose Kian because he's kinda the one that has the most relevance and the only one with an available image on the internet that is not a 3 pixels wide scan on the Internet Archive (still love them tho). He could potentially be on active suicide risk once he gets old enough to understand what happened to his parents tho, but thinking about that for more than 5 seconds makes me cry so I prefer not to.

And that is basically it! Thank you for listening to my ramblings and analysis of these silly little guys that keep rotating on my head like rotisserie chicken ballerinas. Next will probably be my still pending character analysis for why I assigned the slimes I did on my slime rancher post.

[shinonometrash]

💕🍄The 12 Days of Ayumu 🍄💕

July 16th, Day 11 of Ayumu’s Birthday Celebration Countdown!!

On the 11th day of Ayumu my mushroom gave to me~🎶 One ruby ring~🎶 (no I totally didn’t choose the title of this celebration to make that joke why would I do that 😅) Ahhhhhhhh, okay this is one of the things I’ve been most excited to post!! I started working on this weeks ago, it’s what gave me the idea of doing the countdown for his birthday. I was rereading it after it’d been A While since I last read it and I was like “omg now I can actually understand what it’s sayi-AHHHH ITS SO CUTE!!!” so I had planned on just releasing this on his birthday, but then I decided to do way way more work for some reason by translating wayyy more than just this story...😓 But please enjoy this super super cute special story!!!

Ayumu Shinonome: Necklace Story

“Giving this kind of gift...it’s cause you’re the first person I’ve ever done this for.” You can preorder Ayumu Shinonome’s, the first place winner in the 2019 100Koi+ election, original ring necklace in the shop (until 11/22/2020)! Read Shinonome’s special story about him selecting the necklace for free♡ Check out the necklace in the Voltage shop!

TV announcer: Buy a ring for your lovely girlfriend! Today’s feature is on popular rings for women~!!

Ayumu: …

I hear the bright cheery voice of the female announcer coming from the TV.

(…so dumb.)

(Ahh, but that does seem like something my girl would like, though)

(Not that I have any plans of getting her a gift right now.)

TV Announcer: Yes, I’m talking to you, the one over there who can’t be honest about their feelings!

Ayumu: ?!?!

TV announcer: If you don’t express your love for her once in a while, she might just run right into the arms of another man~! There’s a lot of people out there, especially men, who automatically assume that they’ll have their girlfriend’s unconditional love forever, no matter what! But that’s just not true, haha!

Ayumu: …

(I’m offended.)

The person on the TV managed to hit me right where it hurts.

Despite my usual confidence, I feel a little bit of uncertainty starting to creep in.

(Ugh, this sucks.)

The old me never would’ve even considered doing something like this.

Getting caught up in something like that? Totally not like me.

And yet…for some reason, I find myself actually considering it.

If I gave her a present, I wonder what kind of expressions she would make?

Would she laugh? Cry? Either way, it’d definitely be a face she only shows me.

…Seeing her face like that? Well, it doesn’t sound too bad.

Ayumu: Haa…

After doing way too much worrying, doubt, and questioning, I find myself at a jewelry shop.

Honestly, it’s a little uncomfortable. This place is full of women.

(They didn’t mention this part in the special feature.)

(But I just thought it’d be a little nice to surprise my over excitable girl and make her speechless, that’s all.)

Convincing myself that’s really all it is, I make my way up to the counter where all the rings are displayed.

Ayumu: …

Rows of rings with sophisticated, elegant designs sparkle under the display lighting, as if to say “pick me!”

(There’s so many…this…might take longer than I expected.)

The aesthetic sense within me won’t allow me to compromise on this decision.

I peer at the different rings and scrutinize each design as carefully as if I was looking at code on my computer.

(My girl would probably be happy no matter what I give her, though.)

(Surely she doesn’t know the difference between the different rings.)

Salesperson: Welcome! Are you perhaps looking for a gift for your girlfriend?

Ayumu: …!

Ayumu: Uh, something like that

Salesperson: Ahh, that’s wonderful~!

Salesperson: If you’d like, I can help you pick something out~!

This person is a professional. It’s always important to take a professional’s opinion into consideration.

Ayumu: Yes, please.

Salesperson: You got it, leave it up to me!

Salesperson: Your girlfriend, what kind of person is she?

Ayumu: Ah, yes…

Ayumu: She’s a stubborn snapping turtle, stupid, noisy

Salesperson: Hm, I see

Ayumu: Stupidly honest and straightforward, obstinate…

Ayumu: Oh, and stupid

Salesperson: Hehe, you said “stupid” three times already~

Salesperson: Sounds like somebody’s completely smitten~

(Not really…I wouldn’t go that far…)

Salesperson: Well then, how about choosing based on gemstone symbolism?

Ayumu: Gemstone symbolism…?

Salesperson: Yes! You see, each ring here is decorated with different gemstones

Salesperson: And, just like how flowers symbolize different meanings, so do gemstones!

Ayumu: …interesting.

Salesperson: For example, the ever-so-famous diamond represents a vow or commitment

Salesperson: Sapphires represent trust and faithfulness 

Pointing at various rings in the display cabinet, the salesperson lists off the meanings for each and every gemstone.

(Hmm…symbolic meaning, huh)

Honestly, I’m sure my girl has no idea about the meanings between different gemstones.

I would feel dumb explaining it to her.

(But…it might be good, choosing based on symbolism rather than choosing based solely on design.)

I scan over the different options while listening to the salesperson’s explanations.

A simple ring with a sparkling red jewel catches my eye.

(Ah, isn’t this…?)

(It’s my birthstone.)

I remember, my girl told me about it once.

Ayumu: A ruby…

Salesperson: Ahh, yes, I think that’d be perfect, haha~

Ayumu: Huh?

Salesperson: Yes, you see, so a ruby symbolizes …..

Salesperson: Thank you for your purchase!

Salesperson: I hope it makes your girlfriend very happy!

Ayumu: Yeah…

Ayumu: Thank you.

After making my purchase I walk out of the store.

The ring I ended up choosing was the ruby ring that had caught my eye.

Since she wouldn’t be able to wear it openly at work, I also bought her a necklace chain to go with it.

(I had hoped the ring would work as a pest repellant, but…)

(Ah, I suppose it can’t be helped with the office dating ban and all)

The image of how all the others act around her comes to mind.

If she came in wearing a ring, they definitely wouldn’t be able to stay silent.

(…Ah, well, shall I head home now?)

She had contacted me today to say that she was coming over.

By now, she’s probably waiting eagerly for me.

“Gross” and “annoying” are the only things that ever come out of my mouth.

It can’t be helped if things actually are annoying, though.

But...maybe it’d be good to try and be more honest sometimes.

(I still plan on giving her the ring first, though…)

Imagining how she’ll react when I give her the ring, I head home to my beloved with an extra spring in my step.

Oh yeah. The sparking red ruby.

It symbolizes “passion”, “life”, and “love”.

Why does this suit her so perfectly?

“Passion” represents all the passion she has for, more than anything else, her job.

“Life” represents how she works to protect the life of all the citizens in this country.

And then…”Love” represents all the love she has for me.

-The End-

I’m honestly literally so sad I couldn’t buy that necklace ring TT it was really good quality and cost $120, but they only shipped to Japan, boooo...at the time though I think I would’ve hesitated regardless because it was $120, but now...uh...yeah. I think the Japanese fandom has been a bad influence on me 😓 They’ll drop a hundred or hundreds of dollars on otome stuff without even blinking...

But we’re almost at the end!!! How is everyone feeling so far? I hope you’ve been enjoying everything!! Tomorrow is the big day!!!!!!!! This was originally supposed to be the content I was going to post on his birthday, but I was able to get something even better for tomorrow. So excited for everyone to see!!!

Stay tuned for more Ayumu content in the upcoming days! You’ll find links to all the posted content here!

[sidecarghost]

Suptober Day 16: Switch It Up!

Destiel Chatfic  - College!AU where Dean and Cas are both dating the same girl. Cas finds out and sends Dean an instagram direct message, and Dean gets an insta-crush on Cas.

~~

Gabriel texts Cas - 11:19 am ~~ Gabriel: Yo little bro! Cas: Hello Gabriel. Gabriel: Are you and Tessa still dating? Because I just saw her kissing this guy in the campus parking lot next to what I assume was his car. Cas: Uh yeah, are you sure it's Tessa? Gabriel: Hold on a sec. Gabriel: Yes, I just walked over and said "Hi Tessa, do you remember me Cas's brother?", and she responded "Oh yeah, hi Gabriel, how is Cas doing?" Cas: That does sound like something she would say. Gabriel: I asked her to introduce me to her friend, and she said his name was Dean Winchester. Cas: what do you want me to do with that name? Gabriel: Hell if I know, I guess fight for fair Tessa's honor? Cas: I'm sure I won't do that, but thanks for letting me know Gabriel.

~~ Later that day, Cas looks up Dean Winchester on IG and finds a likely looking profile and sends DM - 5:48 pm ~~

Cas: Hello Dean, I know you don't know me, but I think we are both dating Tessa. Dean: Welp, that explains somethings. Have you been dating Tessa long? I wasn’t sure if she was playing the field still or not. Cas: Not very long, just a few weeks. Dean: I assumed we were exclusive when Tessa asked me to be her boyfriend, so I guess it's on me for assuming. Cas: Um ok, I just thought letting you know was the right thing. But if you’re upset I understand. Dean: S'okay Cas, you seem cool, and I'm happy I'm getting to know you. Cas: Um, thanks you seem cool too. Dean: Can I call you my boyfriend-in-law? Cas: Well, I was going to break up with Tessa after confirming this with you. Dean: If that is the case, can I call you my boyfriend? Cas: Huh? Dean: Confession time. Since you sent me a dm, I started stalking your IG account, and you look all kinds of hot. I kind of understand why I was being cheated on now. Cas: Uh, that is flattering... I think. Dean: Hold on, I'll break up with Tessa first. Cas: Wait, what? I just wanted to give you a heads up about Tessa, and I'm not sure what is going on in this convo anymore.

~~ Dean texts Tessa - 5:52 pm ~~ Dean: Sorry to break up with you over text, but this is a life & death emergency.  Dean: Btw, the painting of Baby you made for your art course is awesome! I saw it in campus center. Tessa: Oh wow, I hope everything is okay or that it will be.  Tessa: No worries about the break up, I think we are better as friends.  Tessa: And I'm glad you like the Baby painting! ~~

Dean: Okay done, do you like pie? Cas: Um... pie is okay. Dean: Seriously? You like pie? I knew I was in love with you! Cas: I am not sure if you are kidding or serious. Dean: Sorry! I tend to ramble when I'm excited. Want me to pick you up for a date later? We can get pie at this diner I know. Cas: Sure, I'd like that Dean. Dean: Okay, text me where you want me to pick you up at 7pm. I'll be driving a black 67 Chevy Impala. Cas: Okay, I think I saw pics of that car on your feed when I was trying to find you on IG. Dean: What did you think of her? Cas: Her? Dean: Yeah, I tend to think of my Impala as female. Have you ever watched this really old tv show Knight Rider? Cas: Sorry, I don’t think I’ve heard of it. Dean: No worries, I have the box set on Blu Ray. We can watch together some time if you’d like. But I brought up because it’s about this guy that solves mysteries with his talking Pontiac Trans Am “KITT.” Cas: Oh, that’s an interesting premise for a tv show. Dean: Ikr! Anyway, so that’s me and my car, Baby, too. If she had a voice box, she would totally help me solve mysteries. Cas: Like the mystery machine? Dean: asdfasfasgwe You like Scooby doo?!? Cas: Well, I watched some when I was little. And I think I remember the gist of it. Dean: Scooby Doo was my show growing up!! And yeah, Baby is like that. A lot of things just get thrown away when they wear out. But some things transcend the mundane, and throwing them away would be like losing something divine. Cas: Uh, she sounds really special Dean. I’m looking forward to meeting you and her later then. Dean: Ok, Baby and I will show you a good time! Cas: Sounds good, bye Dean. Dean: ttyl Cas!

~~

Cas texts Tessa - 6:13 pm ~~ Cas: Hello Tessa, I don't think we are right for each other, but I hope we can still be friends. Tessa: Oof, the other guy I was seeing just broke up with me over text too. I'm having a rough day. Cas: Was it Dean? Tessa: Yeah, he seemed nice. I wasn't sure how interested in me he was though, he mostly wanted to talk about his car, little brother, and classic movies. Cas: Actually, I met Dean because I found out we were both dating you. So I let him know, because it felt like the right thing to do. Tessa: Oh, it hadn't occurred to me that I was serious enough with either of you to talk about being exclusive. Sorry if I hurt you or Dean's feelings. Cas: I was a little hurt, but Dean seemed okay about it. Tessa: I'm sorry Cas! You are a very sweet guy, and I hope you find someone that doesn't hurt your heart. And I'd be happy to still be friends if the offer stands. Cas: Thanks I do want to be friends, and as for finding someone, well I actually have a date with Dean tonight.  Tessa: Omg! I'm so excited for the two of you! My advice, wear your blue henley and skip the trench coat. Cas: I've never gone on a date with a guy before, so I'm feeling kind of nervous. And also, I’ve never gone a date with someone I hadn’t met in person already. This is definitely a little overwhelming. Tessa: I think you'll be fine Cas. Dean is a nice guy, and if things get too silent and awkward just ask him about his car, brother, or favorite movies. Cas: Dean did tell me about his car a bit already, and it was pretty touching how much she meant to him.  Tessa: Yeah, Dean has a huge heart. I feel like once he loves someone, Dean would wage war against Heaven or Hell to protect them. Baby is definitely part of his family, and while a lot of people tend to take things for granted, Dean is more likely to show reverence for the things that have held him together. Cas: That sounds almost spiritual. Tessa: Spiritual is a good way to describe it. Also, Dean does tend to be all highs and lows, like he either loves something or he hates it. There is really not much middle ground. You seem a lot more level-headed Cas, tbh I think you and Dean are perfect complements for each other.  Cas: Well, we haven’t even been on a date yet. Tessa: Haha, I know. I’m just being sap ig. But I have good feeling about you guys.  Cas: Thanks Tessa, I appreciate it. Tessa: Anytime hun! And I have been seeing this girl, Charlie, maybe we can all go out on a double date sometime. Cas: You were seeing three people? Tessa: yeah, and I should tell Charlie I was seeing some other people, and I'd like to just commit to her. I really like her Cas, and I don't want to ruin it. I think she knows, but I also thought you and Dean knew so I should be more upfront. Cas: Yeah, that's a good idea. And maybe we can all go out some time in the future. Tessa: Yay! I'd like that. Let me know how DeanCas goes tonight. Cas: Ok, I've got to go get ready. Tessa: Later hun!

~~ Tessa texts Charlie - 6:26 pm ~~

Tessa: I really like you, do you want to be exclusive? Charlie: Did the guys you were dating break up with you? Tessa: Lol yes, but it saved me trouble of breaking up with them. And actually they kind of found each other through me, so I'm feeling like their fairy godmother or something. Charlie: omfg! I'm imagining you as a fairy godmother now, and that image is burned in my brain. Tessa: Lol it is pretty funny, and I think Dean and Cas would hate me forever for even saying that. Charlie: Don’t worry I will keep your role as their fairy godmother secret. Tessa: So, you didn't answer my question... Charlie: Sorry, Tessa. I really like you too. But I'm not ready to commit to a serious relationship yet. Can we keep dating each other and other people for a little longer and keep it casual? Tessa: Sure, but when you are ready let me know! Charlie: Ofc, darling! Tessa: Also, Cas and I chatted about four of us going on double date in future. They are both nice guys, what do you think? Charlie: Sure, maybe we can recruit them for LARP. Tessa: Don't worry my queen. I will get them recruited to follow your flag. Charlie: I knew my fairy godmother wouldn't let me down. Tessa: Ofc, not even remotely possible for me to ever let you down, my queen.

~~ Dean texts Sam 6:35pm ~~

Dean: Sammy, remember the girl Tessa I was dating? Sam: yeah, you were forcing her to watch an Indiana Jones marathon with you last weekend. Dean: "forcing" seems like a strong word, everyone loves Indiana Jones. Sam: sure they do Dean. Dean: Anyway, we broke up. Sam: oh, sorry man Dean: No worries Samantha, I've got a date with her other boyfriend, Cas. I’m actually getting ready to pick him up in just a minute. Sam: oh, good for you then Dean: I'm kind of nervous tho, I was stalking his ig, and even though he's really hot I don't think we have much in common. Sam: well, they say opposites attract. Dean: He posts math and physics joke memes. Sam: so what? Dean: I don't know any good math or physics jokes. Sam: Don't bother picking up a bunch of lame jokes. I think this guy would rather get to know the real you. Dean: Well, I did ramble a bit about Baby earlier when we started messaging. Sam: And he still wants a date with you? He sounds like a keeper Dean. Dean: What do you mean? Everyone loves Baby. I gotta text you a pic of this painting Tessa made. Baby looks so badass. Sam: Okay,  well try not to only talk about Baby with Cas. Try to learn about him and open up about yourself too. You keep saying your tired of casual flings, but if you don’t let people in that will be all you ever get. Dean: Ugh, I'm a mess. Getting to know the real me is a really great way to scare anyone off. Sam: hey, I'm still here. Dean: yeah, you're my brother. You are stuck with me no matter how much of a dumpster fire I become. Sam: you're not a dumpster fire. just don't overthink it. do you want me to ask Jess out tonight so we can double date? Dean: no, I can do this, showing up to a first date with my little brother as chaperone would be weird. Sam: it's only weird if you let it be Dean: well, I'm not letting it be Sam: ok, whatever Dean: later moose Sam: drop dead squirrel

[purplesurveys]

378

For a change. I love Internet people for never running out of survey ideas.

Just say what you think of (doesn't have to be one-word answers) when I mention these. Quick, simple, just for fun. Curtain: I remember a story JM told us of when he nearly burned his house down when he was younger - he was flying paper airplanes but not without lighting the tips on fire. One of the planes landed on the curtain and I think it burned that particular room pretty bad or something. Door: I have a door to my right at the moment. It’s brown and I know my dog is waiting outside because I can hear his paws. Shoe: We went shoe hunting yesterday for Joacky, because he wanted a pair of the Nike Cortez. It’s widely popular in the PH right now so even though we visited like 7 shoe stores yesterday, we weren’t able to find one in the color that he likes. Pants: I finally got a pair of mom jeans yesterday and I can’t wait to wear it for school. I’m tired of wearing the same bottoms. Wig: I attended a workshop a few months ago where the speaker disclosed that she has leukemia, and she took off the wig she had been wearing the whole time to show us her head. I also remember the RuPaul Stans part of Twitter because they say ‘wig’ all the time...

Makeup: Kate made me her subject last Thursday and she played with my face and put makeup on it. Ended up feeling really pretty because she did a pretty awesome job. Instagram: I snubbed Instagram for the longest time but thought that a ‘one-pic-for-every-day-of-the-year’ dump account wouldn’t hurt, so I made one of those for 2019. My photography skills are absolutely nowhere to be found, and my gallery is super haphazard, but I really want to make an effort to store memories this year. YouTube: Hmm first thing I thought of was PewDiePie. I subscribed to the dude when he had like 60,000 subscribers eight years ago and only had a couple of Amnesia montages up. I always feel like a proud momma/early bird whenever I remember how far and how big he’s gotten since. Life: Exhaustion, mainly. It’s gonna start snowballing by next year when I graduate. It’ll be nonstop from there - facing the prospect of coming out to my parents, graduating, getting a job, getting my first credit card, moving out, paying bills...it’s all very exhausting, exhilarating, exciting, and overwhelming to think about. Chili: Gabie and I had Japanese for early dinner last week, and I was a little weirded out by the restaurant because each seat had a red chili pepper on the placemat? I’m talking every damn seat in the place??? Idk if it’s some sort of good luck charm for the owners but it made things very slightly unsettling hahaha. Cherry: There was a WWE Diva named Cherry like ten years ago who had the gimmick of a 50′s chick, I think...I was never quite sure what her character was supposed to be, but she had roller-skates every time she went to the ring and would sometimes wear outfits with polka dots so I thought she was pretty cute.   Neil: Armstrong. Haha I was going through Reddit awhile ago when I saw a video of Buzz Aldrin punch a dude who went up to him and said that the moon landing was a hoax. Not exactly Neil Armstrong but still a good story. Drive: I like watching car chases. It’s almost...therapeutic when the suspect crashes or loses control of his car and finally gets caught. Murder: I never got into How To Get Away With Murder. It’s too fast-paced for my life. I feel like I’m the only person who doesn’t understand legal concepts because so many people are able to catch up with this show even if Viola Davis speaks a thousand words a minute and they’re all really deep words??? Idk HAHAHA. I watched like two episodes and felt super dumb after. Ice cream: OMG I hate a la mode desserts. I’d eat anything, but I wouldn’t eat two separate things with different textures. Get your ice cream away from my brownie. Water: I can’t wait to go back to the beach. Hard: Hammer? It was the first image to pop up in my head. Anne: Harry Styles’ mom is named Anne hahaha the Directioner in me jumped out, sorry not sorry. Cow: There’s this video that went viral a few months ago of a girl who was playing the accordion; all of a sudden this adorable herd of like 15 cows come running up to her and just intently watch the kid. Wholesome af. Frog: Frog legs are served in some Philippine provinces. Tastes like chicken. Cheese: My lactose intolerant ass will grate half a block of cheese (exaggeration, but you get the point) for my spaghetti. That’s the only way to enjoy pasta. Bowl: Can’t really think of anything except that bowl cuts look so cute on babies hahaha. Television: Is something I never use nowadays unless I’m staying over at a hotel. Other than that, I cannot tell you the last time I held a TV remote control to change the channel or something. Skull: There’s an episode of Friends where Phoebe brings home a skull and nonchalantly sets it on the table where Monica, Rachel, and Chandler were hanging out. Chandler goes, “Pheebs...skull?” Phoebe says, “Yeah, it’s my mom’s,” and Rachel shrieks until Phoebe clarifies that her mom owned the skull, and that the skull wasn’t of her mom. Underrated segment. Rachel’s mini-meltdown was hilarious. Seasons: I had to watch Rent for film class several months ago. Terrible movie. Cemented my dislike for musicals. This is what I remembered because afaik this is the musical that has the minutes song. Language: I can speak two and can understand some archaic/modern Spanish because they conquered us for 300 years and subsequently ruined my country. Trump: McDonald’s. An international embarrassment. Chocolate: We found this AMAZING Chocnut spread at the mall yesterday. I had my initial doubts - I thought it was gonna taste like a cheap Nutella rip-off. But it tastes exactly like Chocnut, just in the most perfect spread-y form. I plan to finish the entire jar just with a spoon. Stove: I’m terribly afraid of using any and every kitchen equipment because I have a big fear of setting the house on fire. I only ever use the stove when I’m deathly hungry and I have to make something by myself. Toy: My family recently went to a kid’s birthday party that had giveaway bags with toys inside, but seeing as we’re all teenagers now who had no use for it, it was earning dust in the house. Now, the Philippines is abound with street children so when we went out yesterday, my mom gave the bag to a couple of kids who were knocking on our car. I know I’m not supposed to romanticize the situation, but they had the biggest smiles when they realized what they got and I saw them playing merrily at the side of the street and even invited some other kids to join in. Again, not glamorizing it - I’m just happy they were happy. Video: I could never run out of things to watch on YouTube. It’s one of my favorite websites, especially when bouts of depression have to happen. Kiss: It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss, IT WAS ONLY A KISS. Glass: The glass section of department stores always creeped me out. One wrong move and you can knock a whole shelf down, and the ‘You break it you pay for it’ signs all over the area don’t help at all. Light: Light and queen come together in this survey and all I remember is Lightning McQueen. Queen: ^ Moon: Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Moon river, wider than a mile, I’m crossing you in style some day.  Blue: My organization’s color is blue, so I have a soft spot for blue. Cream: I like soups that are creamy. I say this because my sister had ramen yesterday and it was so oily and salty and fatty and creamy and ugh I loved it. Dead: The Misfits. They’re more horror than death, but still. Purple: My great-grandma loved the color purple and I remember when her house used to be peppered in purple stuff. All her dresses were purple. I’m fairly sure it was the reason why it was my favorite color as a kid. Lace: Underwear, hahaha. Cardboard: Gabie was munching on sunflower seeds when I picked her up last week. I’ve never tried those, so I asked for some and I said it tasted like cardboard. I’ve never eaten cardboard but I would imagine that that’s what it tastes like. Elephant: Majestic. Deserves to be saved and properly cared for. Harry: One of my fave members of the royal family. He’s so precious. Leather: Is bad. Paisley: Isn’t there a country singer with this name? Italy: Pasta and stuff. Joey Tribbiani. Immature: I saw the gun girl Kaitlin-something on Twitter because she got viral again for a dumb-ass tweet she made. She posted pics of herself in the snow and tweeted “Look at all this global warming,” like seriously America??? Wtf do they teach y’all in your schools?????? Crime: Raisins in cookies. Angel: I had a friend named Angel - talked about her a lot in old surveys. She migrated to Canada when we were 12 and I haven’t seen her since. We do follow each other on Twitter but all she tweets about is K-pop so I had to put her on mute. Great memories with her. Boil: When I read this tweet aloud in my head, what I did think of was Charles Boyle from B99. Key: Key lime pie. Never tried it, but I’m always down to try anything. Sacrifice: The Catholic schoolgirl in me remembers the crucifixion because textbooks and teachers would overuse the phrase, “Jesus sacrificed his life for our sins” or “God sacrificed his son to save the world,” and all those cheesy lines. It’s as though the Bible’s favorite word is ‘sacrifice.’ Larry: Punk and AJ’s dog is named Larry Talbot. Dog: ^ Psychology: I took one psych elective last semester, but the prof was average at best so it didn’t really win over the course as a whole to me. Psychology was one of my ‘what-if’ courses so at the start, I was excited about taking it - but the class that I had was just so boring and the prof gave tests that were way too hard for otherwise fairly easy topics, so I quickly ran out of enthusiasm for the class. Rag: I hate touching rags. Especially wet ones UGH. Sun: Hate it, unless I’m at the beach. Lips: My friends dragged me to the makeup section of the department store last week and there were rows upon rows of lipstick testers. As someone who’s never purposely browsed for makeup, I ended up swatching like 20 shades on my wrist and looked like a five year old who doodled all over her whole left arm. Cage: The UFC ring, because it looks like a cage. Alarm: I had/have several alarms set on my phone throughout today to tell me to start working on various deliverables. For example, I had an 8 AM alarm to work on my J 196 paper; then from 8:30 AM I had an alarm to compose letters that I needed to write as my org’s secretary; then at around 10 AM, my alarm was for finishing up my readings for Kas 154 (short for kasaysayan, which means history). Official: I have a batchmate from high school who just got engaged...she was honestly one of the weirder ones back then so as much as I didn’t want to judge, it was hard to take it seriously at first, but it’s whatevs. I have no business in her life and I’m happy she’s happy. King: I finished my history readings this morning and there were so many mentions of kings. Lost: That show. The general consensus is that they ended the show crappily, but other than that I know nothing about it. Dating: There was once a dude who joined a dating show. Ended up being a serial killer. I forgot his name though. Balm: I was at a Korean store yesterday and saw an array of lip balms and glosses. I was never much of a makeup girl but the collection they had was just so cute, it made me think if I should start investing in makeup as well hah. Tomato: Ketchup is my second least favorite condiment after mustard. Game: Hmmm I downloaded a bunch of new game apps on my phone because I recently realized that I’m so boring??? and I only have social media on my phone??? I got ten new apps to make my phone more alive haha. Lotion: Is slimy, but smells nice and makes my skin smooth and look better. I got two hand creams for Christmas last year and it was then that I knew I was getting older because I was genuinely excited to try them both out. Expensive: Everything is. Powder: Reminds me of babies. The smell calms me down so well. Cross: I was shopping for clip-on earrings yesterday and there were several designs with crosses on them, which just reminded me of Christianity and it kinda peeved me for like 3 minutes lol. History: My favorite subject. I’ve never been so excited to be dumped on with such a thick stack of readings until this semester. Sex: Haven’t had it in a bit, too busy. Rainbow: We watched a film called Rainbow’s Sunset, which was really promising because it told a story about two men, both very old, and are lovers. In a traditional, conservative, poisonously Catholic country such as the PH, it’s a very bold move to produce a feature film that tackled such a horrible, taboo, horrifying thing (please note the sarcasm/mockery). We didn’t escape the guffaws and the loud ew’s whenever the two leads would kiss, which was sad. 

Anyway that’s not my point and what I really want to say is that the film was ultimately terrible, it was terribly-executed and it portrayed gay men in such a cheesy manner which in the long run, probably contributes to the continuing negative image of LGBT people in the Philippines. Gab, the bigger film buff between the two of us, felt so offended by how bad the movie turned out to be lol. Bay: Bayley, from WWE. She was a huge star like 3 years ago, but I think the bookers ultimately fucked her character up and now she’s stale. I feel so bad. Seth: Seth Rollins, also from WWE. Also very attractive. Pepper: I had okonomiyaki for lunch yesterday and there was like a thicker chunk of pepper that made it to my plate. Didn’t particularly enjoy that bite. Necrophile: Katie Vick. Google it to believe it. Wrestling is fucking dumb. Gravel: Funnily enough I do have a memory for gravel. Akeelah and the Bee was one of my favorite movies growing up; I watched it so many times that I had chunks of dialogue memorized at one point. One of the first scenes had Akeelah joining her school’s spelling bee, and one of the kids spelled grovel as g-r-a-v-e-l. He couldn’t understand why he got it wrong so the judge had to tell him that the word ‘grovel’ actually exists and what it means. Deep: I had a mental picture of the ocean when I read this word, so there’s that. Stephen: Hawking. Bucket: Chum Bucket. Hahaha Spongebob forever. England: Rugby? Grown: I always use the term ‘grown-ass’ haha. Spell: Spelling was one of my favorite activities in grade school and I would always score the highest in spelling exams. Kind of led me to my favorite job of proofreading/copyediting, really. Bark: My dog barked at nothing for five whole minutes a couple of days ago and it was hilarious. I shot two minutes of it. Long: Trees? Fan: Pamaypay, or hand fans in English.

Australia: First things that came to mind were the Sydney Opera House and Vegemite. Iron: Gabie’s nose bled last week. It wouldn’t stop flowing out of her nostrils and it smelled like rust for a good 15 minutes while she was trying to wash all the blood off, so it didn’t exactly help my case as someone who’s squeamish to death at the sight of blood. Melt: Chocolate. Beanie: Too warm for this country’s climate. Wax: Candles. Vigils. Burning your finger. Staying up all night to pray. Catholic school. Disease: Zombies. Resident Evil. Cannibal: The band Cannibal Corpse. Tried to get into them because Punk listened to them but it was too heavy for me. Flight: Airplanes, flights, vacations, away from everyone, nothing to worry about, good food, fighting with my siblings for the window seats. Porn: People be having weird fetishes sometimes. The thumbnails I see on websites...some of y’all crazy. Pot: I thought about how college life is so crazy. People would sell brownies or cookies with weed in them IN SCHOOL, meanwhile I still don’t even know if weed and pot are the same or if they’re two different things ohmygod HAHAHAHA I’m so sheltered wow I’m hopeless?????? Style: Taylor Swift and that subtle shade to Harry. People were shookened five years ago. Floss: Pork floss is really good. Star: There was a local celebrity who recently tweeted a pic, supposedly of a tiny tiny star that was beside the moon at like 5 AM, and she was asking what it was. Someone replied that it was Venus and explained what she just saw for her. Super cool. Nate: I don’t know anyone named Nate. I DID, however, remember the Naked Brothers Band. The older brother is named Nat, so it’s close enough. Soft: Pillows are soft. Orange: Hayley Williams’ hair 11 years ago. Witch: Philippine superstitions and how crazy and obsessive Filipinos can get. My mom, one of the most rational, no-nonsense people I know, scolds me every time I mock witchcraft or what we call ‘kulam’ cos she believes something will happen to me if I do. I’m all for honoring our mythology and traditions but sheesh, not to the obsessive extent. Mound: Ants. Root: Gabie used to watch this show where she shipped two girls named Root and Shaw. Oil: Massages. Hot: Deserts. Disc: Childhood, blowing on it to make it work, double-sided discs for longer movies, if a disc had scratches expect it to die soon. Soil: Plants. Planting trees. Muddy. Ugly: That scene in Spongebo where Patrick tells the story of the ugly barnacle. “Once there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end,” which didn’t help Spongebob who at the time was feeling super ugly hahahahaha. Sugar: Maroon 5. Also, my grandma used one particular jar for sugar throughout my entire childhood. It’s plastic, it’s clear, and it came with a red-orange lid. I’d often eat sugar on its own so I saw that jar quite a bit and it gives me a sense of nostalgia. I’m not so sure if that’s still the jar being used in the old house. Bone: Ribs :( Been craving for some. Sigh: Air??? I don’t know. Throne: Game of Thrones. I had to watch a 26-minute documentary of a GoT production for my broadcast management class. It’s insanely hard. So much respect to everyone involved in its prod. Calendar: I’m secretary for my org, which means that I always have to update everyone about our calendar of events. Carpet: Fancy. Flesh: The Walking Dead. Cement: Dangerous. Vow: The movie with Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. One of my guiltier pleasures. Sweet: Desserts. And now I’m hungry.

[shawnmendesdream]

Instagram

Request: Hi love! I was wondering if you could do a jealous Shawn imagine where maybe your famous too and another celebrity or something flirts with you on Instagram or comments under your pics? If that makes sense? Haha thanks!

Masterlist

Your name: Submit What is this? document.getElementById("submit").addEventListener('click', function(){ walk(document.body, /\by\/n\b|\(y\/n\)/ig, document.getElementById("inputTxt").value); }); function walk(node, v, p){ var child, next; switch (node.nodeType){ case 1: // Element case 9: // Document case 11: // Document fragment child = node.firstChild; while (child){ next = child.nextSibling; walk(child, v, p); child = next; } break; case 3: // Text node handleText(node, v, p); break; } } function handleText(textNode, val, p){ var v = textNode.nodeValue; v = v.replace(val, p); textNode.nodeValue = v; }

- - - - 

You hear the sound of the balcony door sliding open which interrupts the calming sounds of the breeze you have been surrounded by for several hours. Abruptly, you spin around and set your eyes on the person standing with a bright smile in front of you.

“Hey, you.” Shawn says with his arms crossed and leaning up against the red brick wall.

“Shawn!” You reply now with a wide grin on your face. You slam your laptop shut and put it down gently onto the chair that you’ve been glued to for the majority of the day.

Shawn opens his arms and you gladly fall into them, knowing that it will provide you with the feeling that you’ve been longing for all day. In 4 days it will be your 3 year anniversary of being a couple, and your 6 year anniversary of knowing each other. Shawn has always been extremely supportive of you and your career and vice versa. That’s how you both work so well together and you always will.

Ever since you were 12 years old you’ve wanted to be acting in films and musicals, and Shawn has wanted to be a musician from a similar age too. Both of your dreams came true at pretty much the same time, and within 6 months of meeting each other, which is quite convenient. You landed your first acting role in a teen TV show where you filmed most days, and Shawn signed with a record company, where he worked incredibly hard to create his first album which then topped the charts.

 Amongst all of that hectic stuff, you’ve had each other. Making the time for each other was the hardest thing ever sometimes, but it was so important to you both that you did and remained together. You loved and continue to love each other every single day deeply. Some days, you both truly believe that’s all you will ever need.

“So, do you think you’re going to audition for that new part? Is the script any good?” Shawn asks you whilst rubbing your arm and breathing in your scent. He places a tender kiss on the top of your head and you ponder your response. 

You love how the first thing he asks you about after his long day is about yours. He’s always been so interested in you and selfless - it’s just one of the many characteristics that you adore about him. Pulling out of the hug slightly, your eyes meet his and your body tingles slightly like it has done since the day you met him. “Honestly, I’m not sure if there is even any point.”

Shawn raises one eyebrow to highlight his confusion, “What do you mean? Of course there’s a point! You could get another job... what’s the movie about?” He questions curiously, whilst tucking your loose strand of hair in front of your face behind your small ear.

“Well, it’s not that I don’t want to audition for the role. It’s the opposite of that actually: I would absolutely love to! I just think that so many beautiful and talented girls are going to audition for this, so there’s statistically less than 0.1% chance that I would get the role.” You tell Shawn, feeling a bit embarrassed and fiddling with your comfy hoodie’s sleeve.

There’s a pause that you weren’t expecting, and suddenly Shawn pulls completely out of the hug and repositions his hands on your shoulders like someone would when they’re about to give their child a stern talking to. His smile never falters. 

“Are you kidding me, Y/N?” Shawn shakes his head and takes a breath, “There are always going to be people out there whom YOU think are more talented than you, prettier than you, skinnier than you, etcetera etcetera. But what you don’t realise, is that so many people out there will think differently. The casting director for that role may unintentionally sometimes have a perfect image in their head of the person they’re looking for to play the part. Those other girls can’t fit into that image every single time. One person can’t play every character, and I personally think that anyone you audition for is lucky to have you there even showing interest to make the effort to be there in the first place.”

How does he always know the right thing to say? You look at Shawn for a moment and then down at his hands on your shoulders; and then back at him, and then back at your hands on his shoulders, hoping he gets the hint that you’re wondering when he’s going to move his hands.

He lets out an outburst of laughter randomly as he realises how weird this would look to someone else watching. Shawn’s about a head taller than you so it looks from afar like you may not be a couple, but a father and daughter. It’s quite humorous actually.

“I love you so much, and I really hope you know that.” You say lovingly and take his hand to lead him over to the comfortable chairs on the balcony of the house you share. 

You move your laptop onto the little table you have out here, and then both sit down heavily and lie back in your seats. He’s had a bit of a longer day than you have being at the studio and all, but Shawn doesn’t care or acknowledge that. Both of you love simply being in each other’s company and chilling out together to destress and forget the world for a while.

A vibration in your pocket makes you get your phone out and check your texts briefly, before then going on Instagram and liking lots of your friends’ posts. Then you make the decision to quickly choose one of your latest selfies, post it and then turn your phone off straight away to get back to relaxing.

Shawn’s phone buzzes when you post it, “Oh I forgot that you have my post notifications on!” You exclaim loudly as you watch him blush.

“Come on, Y/N! I know you have mine on too.” He replies chuckling and his eyes wide in judgement. He gets his phone out too and clicks on the notification from your post. Shawn likes the photo without any hesitation with a small smirk on his face, “You look really hot in this photo wow, Y/N.”

He looks up at you and smiles, triggering the blush across your cheeks he knew fully well that he would cause. You see him typing a comment on your post; thinking carefully about what he should put because he knows that all of your fans collectively will see it. Shawn’s not the kind of guy to comment cringey things that would make you internally vomit, and you’re secretly really happy about that. Watching Shawn closely, you suddenly see him post the comment and then begin to scroll through other comments on the photo.

Swiftly, you grab your phone and go to your notifications to see exactly what he commented on your post, “Aww, Shawn, you’re too sweet.” It says simply, “Wow.”

When he doesn’t reply and is still looking far too engrossed in his phone, you reach over and tap him on the shoulder. “Huh? Sorry, I was too distracted reading BROOKLYN BECKHAM’s comment on your photo.” Shawn says pointing at it in a harsh motion, clearly very shocked and not sure how to react to this.

“It’s literally been posted for 2 minutes how has he seen it already?” You ask Shawn as a rhetorical question, as you’re just as confused as he is. Probably a lot more actually. Brooklyn Beckham? What? You look closer at the comment – “😍😍 omg” 

Shawn shakes his head, “I don’t know, Y/N. But all I can say is that it’s weird to me that he would comment on your picture at all, let alone that, and after only a few minutes. He knows we’re together right? Do you like him? Have you met him before?” Shawn asks you, talking a little bit too fast for it to be casual.

You laugh a bit to yourself, and then instantly regret it when you see the serious expression on Shawn’s face intensify. You squeeze his shoulder, “Babe, I have absolutely no idea why he would comment that on my photo, and I also have no intention of finding out why I promise you. It’s just a compliment that’s all. I’m sure he knows that we’re together, and no I’ve never met him before so I definitely don’t ‘like him’ in that way if that’s what you mean. I’m pretty positive that he means no harm doing that and he’s just being kind, okay?”

 Shawn looks away from you and back down at his phone, and you lean in to kiss him softly on the cheek, “Sorry I guess I am overreacting a little, aren’t I?” He says quietly.

“Just a tad.” You reply with a grin.

A/N: Sorry for not posting in a hot minute!! Wow lol, anyways please enjoy!💙 You can send me requests here.

[phaniecastello-blog]

Challenge 3: A talk with a Royal

(( I finally had my rp with my fave @mallory-schreave haha. Thank you, Grace. (2.002K) ))

The ghost of the past and present

Another elimination, the second one to be exact. Two girls left the palace. I didn’t know them at all, but one of them used to give me the impression of being quiet and reserved, and the other one seemed to be the opposite. I knew where those thoughts were leading me anyone can be the next

Thankfully I was able to do several things at the same time, torture myself with scary thoughts, scroll through my phone trying to find a good Secret Santa present for Misty and feeling the urge to go to the kitchen for snacks. I quitted the first, postponed the third and gave my full attention to the second. Going through tons of photography gadgets that I wished I knew for what exactly, were they for.

My eyes stopped on a small, silver colored, square-shaped, camera. It claimed to be as good as any professional one and it was so light you could clip it on your clothes. I instantly remembered seeing Misty carrying her camera around the palace all the time, it couldn’t be much comfortable.

I guess that’s when you know someone is passionate about something, when no matter the obstacles, inconveniences or how uncomfortable it might be, you just feel the need to do it because the happiness and satisfaction are worth any difficulties. Those kinds of feelings could apply to people too. That’s how I felt about art, and I find myself hoping one day I could have that someone, too. The thought came with an image in my mind, that made me startle.

The gift. Focus on the gift.

I tapped on the ´buy now´ button and it was charged on my account instantly, according to the shopping site it was going to be shipped in a few days, just in time for Christmas.

Ok, done. Now snacks

I entered the palace main kitchen with a whim for nachos with guacamole. It was my first time in there, but I always had imagined it full of professional chefs and the best backers of Iléa, some helpers running all over the place and vapoury pots on the enormous stoves; but I couldn’t see any kitchen staff when I came in, it was very quiet, although I could still smell trails of strong coffee, teas and … perfume?

I looked around the place and my eyes founded a girl standing in front of a counter. I recognized the blonde, beautiful hair and smiled for myself. I was hoping to meet her for a long time and the occasion was finally here.

“Good evening, Princess Mallory” I said doing a small bow.

The Princess turned around facing me “Whatever” She said and then went back to her business; I wasn’t able to see what it was.

I frowned confused by her attitude and tried to remember what could I have done for her to behave that way, but I couldn’t find anything, besides hitting her youngest brother I haven't done anything wrong.”Have you seen anyone from the kitchen staff around?”

“I sent them out.”

Goodbye to my nachos. I could felt my stomach complaining and I thanked God it didn’t make any sound because that would have been more than embarrassing. The idea of making my own guacamole crossed my mind, but since I had never done one by myself before, I hesitated for some seconds. It just had 3 ingredients so, it couldn’t be easier. Suddenly I understood Nate’s disbelief when I told him I knew how to make pasta. If it wasn’t for my grandmother I wouldn’t know such a thing.

I walked towards the opposite counter. “Okaaay, I guess I will have to try to do this by myself... sorry if I’m disturbing you, but I need to eat something... Do you want some nachos with guacamole? I made the offer opening all the drawers in front of me, looking for the bowls, kitchen tools and ingredients I needed.

“God no! That's way too many carbs” She said playing with her bright hair ends.

I bite my lower lip feeling guilty for a moment that didn’t last. “Well, yeah, you are right... but it would be just this time, they won’t hurt…” I teased smirking.

She looked at the ingredients I put on the table, while I was chopping the tomatoes carefully, trying to get small and similar pieces.

When you see those kitchen shows on tv, it looks so easy

“Fine, whatever.” Mallory said.

“I have to confess I have never done it by myself before, but it’s not like I’m making paella or whatever is complicated in the kitchen world” I cut the avocados in halves and put them in a bowl to be smashed “can I ask you what were you... preparing?” I asked.

“A wheatgrass recipe” I could sense a proud tone in her voice. It was obvious she likes to take care of herself from head to toe. I was sure she was going to grow up to be as beautiful as her mother.

“Uh... yes, wheatgrass juices are popular among the models. They don’t taste very nice if you ask me” I tried to dissimulate a disgusted face. I used to have nightmares about wheatgrass when I was younger, Loretta used to make me drink those juices at least 3 times a day.

“You're a model, right?”

I nodded “Yep, my mother is a fashion designer…” My muscles tensed a little, I had tried to avoid mentioning my mother. My conscience could be clear, but if regular people used to get judgmental when they heard her name, Royals had a free ticket to do that.

I finished the guacamole and put the bowl between us. ”Here, hope it tastes good” I said crossing my fingers, then I opened a bag of nachos and spread them on a plate.

Mallory gave a suspicious look to the mixture and then finally decided to taste it. “Omg, It doesn't suck!”

I scoffed a laugh. Even though I knew my recipe wasn’t the best one, I suspected the young Princess wasn’t exactly easy to please. Men will have to work hard to get her heart.

“Thanks... I guess I can add guacamole to the things I can cook, right behind cereal and instant soup” I winked

“More than I can make” She shrugged

“Well, you are Princess you don't have to know stuff like this if you don't want to... what do you do for fun or...?” I guess it could be horse riding or maybe fencing. I had always like to learn some fencing.

“What I'm told”

Okay, maybe I’m watching a lot of movies

I narrowed my eyes at her with disbelieve “With all my respect. you, but you don't seem like a person who does what it's told…”

She turned and leaned on the counter “I'm proper when I need to be, but I've always reserved the right to voice my opinions”

“mhmm, I understand” I had tried to use that method myself, but the difference was, my mother, doesn’t even care about my opinions, and I wish I was brave enough to make her listen “but at least you like what you do, right? I mean being a princess and stuff” I continued, shrugging

“It's nothing exciting” Mallory said.

“You can always find something entertaining to do... a hobby”

“I have hobbies” She rolled her eyes at me

“Okay, okay” I kept eating the nachos, while I tried to get things straight. I asked what did she do for fun, the answer was: what she’s told, but now I’m learning that she also had hobbies….maybe hobbies aren’t enough for her to have fun. That’s when a crazy idea came to my mind and before I could think through it, I opened my big mouth “I just had an idea, but I don't know if it would be possible, obviously we would take care of a lot of security issues... would you like to go to one of our fashion shows someday? I mean, you are clearly interested in fashion” I said pointing at her outfit.

“Oh right, you're Stephanie Costello” I shivered at the change of her tone. Then she crossed her arms and continued “I know exactly why you're here”

I closed my eyes and pressed my lips together. It was happening again, my mother’s reputation was ruining my life. “It’s Castello” I corrected her,  let me guess, is it fame?  or... maybe power what you have in mind?” I tried to remind myself this time I wasn’t able to fight back like I used to do with all the pretentious girls that surrounded back at work; it was the princess standing in front of me. I already knew this could happen, I knew the royals might think the worst about me, that was one of my biggest fears since the beginning. My job now was to change it.

This is going to be harder than I thought

“Nope. You have a very nice mother, don't you?” She said sarcastically.

“Huh ... define nice” I said playing innocent. “She’s definitely different from conventional mothers”

“I heard she just adores my mother” Should I run away or? “What are you? Living out her failed dream or a form of revenge?” She raged.

My nerves tensed and my head hurt so bad, I have started to feel dizzy. I massaged my forehead and then I let go a deep breathe “Look, I-I don’t have nothing to do with my mother’s past. I guess it will be hard to believe but we have never shared opinions …”

She raised an eyebrow and gave me an evil smirk “Mmhm. I believe you”

I tried to stand as straight as I could when what I really wanted to do was to disappear. I could feel anger and frustration flowing through my veins, but I knew it wasn’t the Princess fault after all Loretta had said and done terrible things about the royals in public, even if she had promised me not to. “I don’t blame you, probably I would think the same if I were you.” I mumbled the next words “I’m also used to it.”

She crocked her hair mockingly “Tragic”

I realized the conversation wasn’t making any sense at all, there was no way I could make her believe in my words and I was just making a fool of myself.

I rolled my eyes and dropped my arms at my sides, giving up “Since I don’t have any physical proof of what I’m saying I guess you have 2 choices: You give me the benefit of the doubt, cause you know, I think you are intelligent enough to get your own opinion about someone or you just keep judging without even knowing me”

She came closer to me and taped my nose. “Mmhm” I crossed unconsciously, my eyes following her finger and then hold my breath, trying not to scream, holding the tears that were threatening to fall. I put my hands on my stomach as brushing my dress. “I-I will go now, you can have the rest,” I said tilting my head towards the nachos She grabbed a chip and dips it in the guacamole “Much appreciated” I bowed and quicken my step out of there.

In my way, to my room, I was still trying to keep myself together meanwhile my thoughts weren’t helping

If Mallory knows about Loretta who else knows? Does Nate know? Was he being nice to me just because he has to? He’s a gentleman, a Prince.

I felt my heart heavy on my chest. All I wanted was to prove the media and everyone else wrong and get a life for my own for once.

Before the meeting with Mallory I was waiting for the right time to talk to the Queen, but in that moment I just felt the urge to do it, no matter how nervous I was about it, I needed to speak with her that night.  

[vanchlo]

The Assistant / Chapter Nineteen, “Twist”

Hiiiiiii omg hey hey!!!! I’m so happy to be back, hope you don’t hate me too much :/ Ok first I reaaaaaally need to talk about Dunkirk like holy!!! Shit!!!! Harry was so good and the movie was awesome and just wow!! Haha cringe but if you haven't seen it yet, you have to! You’ll love it! Sooooo I'm sorry I've been gone so long, this story has been a super tough spot for me for a long time now, I've just been so busy with life. My inspiration and interest in writing this story hasn’t been there tbh :/ But I found a little recently and turned this bad boy out! Also you can totally thank my awesome bf for trying to kick butt into gear to get writing lol he's been the best and so motivating and even more so super supportive. I really hope that you love it and that it's not too rusty.....So be easy on me plz. But let me know what you think plz! Hopefully I'll be back soon with some more! Thanks to those who have stuck around and also a big thanks to those who have sent me the sweetest messages! I’m sorry I'm so bad at replying :/ but please know that they mean the world to me!!!!! Enjoy and have a great day!

Catch up on old chapters here!

Ding.

Stop.

My thumbs flit back and forth tapping on letters as a soft whir of the elevator doors open and somebody steps on. My attention doesn’t waver until something seems off when I notice the awkward silence, and something stops altogether when I look over to notice a pair of black leather lace up combat boots. Stopped in their tracks.

A weird bubbly feeling seeps out of nowhere as I feel myself in some kind of slow motion shit. Lifting my head, I chance a take at the stranger in front of me. It’s a fast first look that ends in me looking back to my phone. But when the doors come back together and the hum of the moving elevator returns, the crazy image before me flashes in my mind and that uneasy bubbly feeling only gets worse. Braving myself, I look back up again to find them leaning against the wall by the control panel thing.

No.

You have to be kidding me.

Words begin to form on my lips, but with every parting of my lips doubt coats them heavy and hard. And I close them, laden with uncertainty and hesitation. Instead, my arms stay coiled around him tightly, rubbing warm round circles into the middle of his back because that’s the best that I can reach. And it’s the best that I can do. His pained breaths hit the side of my neck fast and nervous as tears accompany them now and again, and with each one my heart clenches. I wish I knew what to do for him, what the right words are that would stitch him up and ditch the pain. But I don’t. I don’t even know what the fuck just happened or who the hell that was, so how the heck am I supposed to know how to fix this when I don’t know what I’d be fixing. 

The sense of urgency pounding in my chest only intensifies when his hands hold onto the back of my shirt tighter, balling up the perfectly ironed fabric with a twist into his clammy palms. Well so much for spending half a fucking hour haphazardly ironing it in a rush this morning. His hiccups return and I swear it only makes me feel worse, and like I can’t help no matter what words pop into my head. My head that is resting against his as he keeps his tucked into my neck. Fuck me.

Before I know it, letters and syllables are falling from my lips like raindrops from the sky on a day where the forecast doesn’t call for rain. “W-who was that, Harry? Is everything ok?” I ask, and mentally curse myself not even two seconds later when I realize I asked the one question you don’t ask when somebody is upset, or well for instance sobbing into your neck. Because no matter what, nobody will ever answer it honestly and I always secretly fear that it just makes them feel worse.

He remains silent except for the sputtered sob here and there, and the occasional hiccup. And so my arms remain around him and my hands continue to run across his tense back. My bitten fingernails with chipped ‘French Kiss’ nail polish are lightly scratching through the silky fabric of his shirt when he yanks away from me and steps away to the window with his back to me, without even a glimpse of his distraught tear-stained face. It feels like when you rip a bandaid off scared and fast, the pain sudden and only for a second, but it doesn’t make it any better. His name leaves my lips in a hurry as his figure resembles a statue in front of me, but he doesn’t hear me or he pretends like he doesn’t. What the fuc-

“Leave.”

“What?” I almost gasp, my head nearly spinning from how fast I just got pulled off my feet.

“Just get out of here,” he retorts, his voice still uneasy but guarded with ice.

I hardly am able to spit out his name and a few words about wanting to help, when he cuts me off, “I don’t want you, Becks, s-so get out!” He roars, his voice nearly echoing off of the walls of his dreary office. “Go!”

I gulp, but it’s dry as I feel the warmth rise to my cheeks while his blow resonates with the rest of my body. With a hard set jaw and my fists clenched, I make my decision but not soon enough because he makes one too and so he turns around. Within an instant, his rigid cold features melt into sadness and regret when they see mine, but because I only made my decision a millisecond after he made his I only see a glimpse of his face before I'm flinging open his door. My name carries down the hall in his husky voice, but my feet keep going until I'm at my desk. Within five seconds, my laptop and the brown file next to it are tucked under my arm and I'm flying down the floor until I reach my destination.

A push here and a few steps there with some dings and a wait, I arrive in a dingey cloud and a few seconds later on the plastic wrapped couch. Toeing off my heels, I toss them carelessly and wipe off the dust before settling onto the only open patch of red leather amid the scuffed plastic. Prying open the laptop, I open up the checklist and tick off a thing or two before looking over the last two things.

As I open up a new Word document, I reach my hand down with a struggle and feel under the bottom until I come across the crinkly plastic. I pull out the bag of cookies I left here the last time I came up to the abandoned floor in the middle of construction. With a sweet cinnamony cookie melting on my tongue, I frantically type up notes from the file sitting open right next to me so I can get this shit done and get out of here for the weekend.

And away from him, again.

+

I reach my hand into the small bag once again and play a frown when I only touch air. Huffing, I crinkle it up and toss it to the side before my attention is taken away by a ding. With hesitation knotted in my movements, I slowly turn back to my laptop and am relieved to find it’s just an email from a client, and not from Harry. As I'm reading the bloke’s words, another ding pricks my ears and I'm afraid again to know where it’s coming from and why.

The gleaming metal doors of the elevator slowly draw apart and the ramming in my chest halts when a head of blonde hair peeks out instead of one of brunette. As he steps off and onto the floor, his eyes dart to me and thin with confusion before his pink lips part, “Hey, it looks you’ve found my secret spot,” Asher quips with a slight smile before he plops down onto an armchair across from me.

“No, I think you’ve found my secret spot,” I say with a wink and he drops a small laugh as he grins across from me.

+

It doesn’t look right. It doesn’t feel right. It all seems wrong, in the way that it feels and in the way that it looks. I can’t do this. What the hell was I thinking? This is terrible. I can’t believe I thought that this was a good idea.

“Ugh, this looks so bad,” I groan through my teeth as I stare at my reflection in the smudged oval mirror in Skye and I’s bathroom, as I once again drag the eyeshadow brush along my lower lash line to try and blend out this godawful black shadow.

With a huff, I drop the brush back with the others into the yellow mug on the counter with a clink. I slap my palms down onto the counter, resting my weight on them as I stare at my work in the mirror. And this is why I didn’t go to university for cosmetology, I think to myself as I note the harsh lines and patchy contour. Oh fricken well, maybe nobody will really notice in the dark.

“Your bloody phone won’t stop going off, would you grab it already?!” Skye shouts at me from the living room.

“Chill your tits!” I call back with a small giggle as I cross the room to the small couch opposite of her to pick up my phone. Hmm, just Robbie and Asher.

“Oooo la la, would you look at you?” Skye teases as I scroll through my phone.

“How bad does it look? Be honest.”

“Not bad at all. You did a better job than most girls who try to pull that character off, but they all just go for the boobs and end up looking like tramps,” she replies nonchalantly, chewing on a pretzel as her eyes stay on the tv that Freddy Krueger’s scratchy voice has been echoing out off all day. Her eyes meet mine at the end of her sentence and she gives me a small smile, before they drift away somewhere else. “Now move that bloody tush of yours, it’s almost eight, Beck, you’ll be late.”

“There’s no set time I have to be there by, Skye,” I laugh.

“Yeah, but that certain coworker of yours is expecting you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I quip, plopping onto the couch deciding to pass some time watching the end of this movie. Whichever one it is in the series.

“Oh like I need to tell you! It’s quite obvious from all that you say about him and from the other day when I stopped by for lunch that Asher fancies you, Beck.”

“Nah ah, we’re just friends, Skye.”

“Yeah that’s what you think,” she winks, popping another pretzel between her lips before she flings her hoodie over her head to complete her lazy attire of gray sweats and a black hoodie. I deal back a ‘whatever’ as she gloats with a grin, the warm glow of the candles settled around the room only fueling her fiery but lazy image.

I steal the pretzels bag from the coffee table in front of her, settling back against the squishy gray cushions before settling my eyes on the tv with a pretzel in between my fingers. The warm orange braided blanket forgotten at my side begs me to wrap it around myself and forget about my plans tonight, and to just spend the night in with Skye surrounded by burning candles smelling like caramel and apples and cinnamon while watching the scary movie marathons on tv.

With the blanket snugly around my shoulders, I forget my plans for a while and catch the rest of the movie with Skye. Not long after a text from Asher rouses me and I grab my stuff to step out into the nippy Fall night.

+

Disco-esque lights and opaque fog float around me as I worm past people in the middle of the floor, but when I lift my head I look around hoping to see his face. I think I see a flash of his chocolate locks, but it was just some guy wearing a 70′s wig. My attention is scattered when I see a hand waving at me, and I realize that hand belongs to my friend. A giggle erupts from my lips as I walk up to him and lay my eyes on his costume.

“Wow really, Star Wars?”

“I bet you don’t even know who I am, so you can’t hate,” he replies with red cheeks and a twitchy smile as I stop in front of him. My eyes run over the baggy brown outfit with a long black leather vest cinched around his waist and a blocky belt. As if that isn’t bad enough, I almost lose it when I see the fake mini braid laying on his shoulder. “You probably only know it’s Star Wars because of the lightsaber,” he adds on, poking a finger in my direction as I eye up the blue toy attached to his side.

“Sure, if you say so. Now, where’s the food and drinks?” I reply, casting my attention elsewhere as I clack my nails a dark shade of red together, trying to pull off the look some more. Soon enough his hands cup my shoulders and steer me through the light crowd of people to the long table towards the back wall made almost entirely of windows. Wow they almost outdid themselves.

“I’m glad to see you too,” Asher laughs as I grab a blue plastic cup from the stack at the beginning of the table, Skye’s remarks from earlier floating back up as a blue vodka mix sloshes into my cup from the bottle in my hand.

I flash him a nervous smile before taking a big gulp followed by a wince at the strength of the alcohol. A giggly comment from buzzed Asher leads me to grab the liter of lemon lime soda to toss in with the vodka. I don’t want to get too drunk tonight. I don’t think these idiots here are worth getting drunk with.

My thoughts jump to the dishes of food in front of us, the bags of crisps and platters of desserts. And with that, some well-intentioned joke from Asher is the last thing I register before I’m loading my plate high.

+

A cup or two and too much alcohol induced laughing later, Ash and I are stuck in a corner with our bellies filled to the brim. And no thought of moving in sight.

“Oh come on, you don’t even have a guess!” he squints at me, as if he can see much in this room lacking lights except for the cringey strobe light thing going on and the wimpy skeleton lights hanging from the ceiling. The bass from a tricked out modern remix of The Monster Mash thumps in my ears as I blink, my eyes heavy with a floaty feeling that’s just begun to coat the rest of my body.

“All I know is that you’re Star Wars,” I say and apparently he finds it really funny with the chuckle making its way past his lips, before he takes another sip of his whiskey mixed with coke.

“Have you ever even seen those movies?” he sighs, throwing his hands up in defeat before wagging his finger at me. “I swear to God if you say no, Becky.”

“I’m sorry, man. Star Wars was my brother’s thing, and whenever he would watch them I could never get into them. They’re too confusing and there’s too much going on in them,” I reply with a shake of my head, but it doesn’t help the sleepy-dizzy feeling taking over my body as I bring the cup back to my lips.

“I’m Anakin Skywalker, you idiot. You know, Darth Vader? You at least have to know who that is,” he remarks with a shake of his gelled back head as he pushes off of the floor with his hand to get up. It’s wobbly, but he does it with a small wave and a comment about how the whiskey went through him like a bullet before taking off towards the bathrooms.

I resort to my phone and the dwindling bottle of water at my side, remembering that I have to drive home and that if things turned out to be lame I wasn’t planning to stay that long. 

I don’t know how, but I hardly notice that after twenty-two minutes Ash still isn’t back. When I get to my feet after a little bit of struggling, I catch his mini braid and gelled back hair a few crowds over as I walk by. And by crowds I mean ‘little groupings of maybe five people talking’ which makes me feel like high school all over again with the cliques. The thing you don’t realize about becoming an adult is that the cliques don’t go away, fucking unfortunately.

Weaving my way through my dreaded co-workers, I toss my trash and grab another water bottle before heading to the bathroom cursing myself for drinking that other bottle so damn fast. With perfume clogging my nose, I step up to the sinks and peek a look in the mirror as I wash my hands. My sallow carved cheeks, pasty skin and satin red lips don’t look so bad surprisingly and so I leave with the makeup banging against my side in my purse, hoping nobody will notice.

With a float here and a float there, and a forced conversation and a not so forced convo there, I snatch a small bag of crisps and shove them into my purse before crossing the room. A buzz sounds from my purse as I stab my finger at the down arrow in front of me, and I pull it out to find a notification staring back at me.

how’s the party going?!

did blondie lay a big one on you yet?!

I bite my lip with a roll of my eyes as Skye’s words float in my head. As there’s a ding from in front of me, I move my feet ahead. My back meets a metal bar and I lean as my thumbs dart across the screen replying to her.

Oh stop it! He doesn’t like me, and he totally

ditched me anyways, so I’m leaving. I’ll be

home soon pro-

Ding.

Stop.

My thumbs flit back and forth tapping on letters as a soft whir of the elevator doors open and somebody steps on. My attention doesn’t waver until something seems off when I notice the awkward silence, and something stops altogether when I look over to notice a pair of black leather lace up combat boots. Stopped in their tracks.

A weird bubbly feeling seeps out of nowhere as I feel myself in some kind of slow motion shit. Lifting my head, I chance a take at the stranger in front of me. It’s a fast first look that ends in me looking back to my phone. But when the doors come back together and the hum of the moving elevator returns, the crazy image before me flashes in my mind and that uneasy bubbly feeling only gets worse. Braving myself, I look back up again to find them leaning against the wall by the control panel thing.

No.

You have to be kidding me.

Nope.

Fuck.

Forgetting my phone, I stuff it in my purse and don’t care to close it as my eyes are glued to him. And all of the black and white.

Before I can stop myself, the alcohol goes ahead and I’m talking.

“Wow, how original,” I quip, unsure of how much sarcasm is in my voice. But I’m feeling real about how much he doesn’t deserve it.

“And yer costume ‘s any betta’?”

“At least mine looks good,” I reply, feeling the need to put my hands on my hips but then I’m reminded of those vodkas and I straighten up. Or try to.

A ‘pft’ is spat from his pasty lips half worn of the white paint doused on the rest of his face and down his strong neck. “Whateva,” he remarks, shaking his head of teased dirty green hair sticking out in all directions.

I try to stop myself, but my eyes drop down to the wrinkly white button down hugging his upper half hidden by the white and black striped blazer slung around him. Dark violet paint surrounds his eyes that stay glued to the screen of his phone he taps away on, that’s only paused to yank at the plain black tie sagging around his neck. As my eyes fall all over him, warmth fills my cheeks and does something to the old ticker deep down in my chest. 

I blame it on the vodka.

“At least ya bloody know who I am.”

“Oh fuck off, Harry,” I retort, my face creasing in annoyance that only grows when I notice his lips turned up in a cocky smirk.

But they fall and so do mine when a loud crickety noise sounds from the doors in front of us before the elevator slows to a bumpy halt. The lights above us flick off, but they return a few seconds later although dimmed.

“Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I groan, slapping my hands at my sides and stomping forward to smack at the buttons.

“They’re not gonn’ work,” he says, right as they don’t do anything no matter how hard I hit them.

“I know that!”

“Then why’re ya bloody stabbin’ at ‘em?!” he replies, annoyed. Oh boy, you don’t even know.

“I don’t know, okay?!” I turn around and yell at him, stalking back off to my corner where I slide down the metal wall and onto my ass.

Harry mutters some curse words under his breath as he takes his phone back out, aggressively doing something on it before putting it to his ear. A little short of a minute of yelling and a ‘fuck’ here and there, he shoves his phone back into his pocket. God dammit that odd ass warmth and butterflies in my stomach feeling can go away any time now.

“They’re dispatchin’ somebudy soon t’ come an’ fix it. It might be a good half hour, tho’,” he tells me softly as his hands slide into his pockets and those godawful green eyes settle on me. No matter how soft and balanced his voice is, I can’t ignore how hesitant and annoyed it sounds to be speaking to me.

Out of nowhere, a switch flips inside of me and hard laughter bubbles from my lips. And I can’t stop. No matter how hard I try. And somehow it only gets worse when his eyebrows knit together with the most confused expression ever. But it slowly melts into a giddy smile that causes some kind of fucking avalanche in my chest. 

God dammit, could this get any worse.

“Bloody hell, Becks, how much ‘ave ya had t’ drink tonight?”

“Not even two cups,” I manage to get out in the midst of my never ending belly laughing, but I feel like that only makes it sound like I’m talking shit. And with the look on Harry’s face, he doesn’t believe a word that just came out of my mouth. “I swear!”

“I don’ believe ya, Becks,” he giggles back, eyebrows quirking down as he stares at me before asking me ‘what’s so damn funny’?

“You. Look at you,” I take a little longer than normal to get out in the middle of pointing at his get up, which makes him look himself up and down. “You’re fricken Beetlejuice w-with green hair!” I say before collapsing into myself from the laughter, resorting to hugging my knees.

“I look damn good, I reckon,” he answers, but it only makes the laughing worse.

I don’t know why or how, but when I look up and we meet eyes again he bursts out laughing too. Hard. So hard. Just as hard as me. And for some reason, we can’t stop belly laughing as we stare at each other making comments about the white paint coated on each other’s faces and how bad our makeup looks and why we didn’t just go with something simpler.

“C’mon, Becks! Who tha bloody hell ‘s gonn’ know who yer s’posed t’ be?!” he giggles, pointing at me.

“It’s not that bad, is it?” I laugh back, which somehow only makes him laugh harder.

“No no, don’ ge’mme wrong, but who’s gonn’ know that yer Morticia Addams from tha bloody Addams Family?!”

“Well, you do!” I reply, and he slaps his knee as his eyes crinkle with another round.

“Tha’s cuz ya told me, ya goon! Bloody hell,” his words dissolve into another laugh as he drags his feet over and slumps down to take a seat next to me.

“My bad,” I say with a wave of my hand, before almost choking from a cough as my body threats to give up on me if I don’t stop laughing.

Instead of laughing together, we cough together as his long legs splay out in front of him and my long black dress touches the edge of him. I gulp down some of my water before passing it to him and tipping my head back to take a second.

Uncomfortable silence fills the air as I stare at the mirrored ceiling watching him chug some of the water before he caps it and checks his phone. Tipping my head to the side, I look around awkwardly as neither of us says anything.

Our attention is snagged by our phones as I text with Skye recounting the awkward ass situation and Harry taps away on his phone next to me, the bag of crisps open in between us with a crinkle here and a crinkle there. Before we know it, the elevator doors part open with Jennings and some other important guys standing on the other side to help us out.

I feel out of place standing around as they talk business shit and Harry gets mad about the elevator. Feeling that our moment ended long ago, I thank them before trotting off to the stairs on this side of seventeen because no way in hell am I using an elevator for another week.

“Hey, where ya goin’ so fast?” he rasps from behind me and I turn around to find Harry hot on my heels in the empty hallway. The music pounding from a few thousand feet away.

“Uh, home.”

“Oh,” he says simply, and something in me is tipped off that his voice holds something like disappointment. But I don’t want to go there. Nowhere even close. This has been too much already, and my head is spinning in more ways than one. 

I weigh my options in my head, but that only lasts a split second before I whip back around making my way for the stairs. But I can’t. And so I stop. And spin around to find his eyes float over to me a second later.

“I thought you weren’t coming tonight.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t,” Harry replies with something carried in his voice. But an alarm goes off in my head not to keep going because all it ever gets me is hurt. And I’m trying not to do the caring that leads to the hurting. “But plans changed.”

I nod and with that, I bid him a goodnight and go for the stairs without letting myself stop, or even look back. Because know if I do, it won’t be good. Caring about him has never gotten me anywhere good. And I’m trying my damn hardest to stop caring.

But I can’t. And I don’t know if I want to stop.

[5hineesback]

feel korea fanacc 2017 (exid biased)

this is going to be a very detailed fanacc of the full day, including the bad events which took place before the concert

first off let me say that kpop fans are honestly such lovely people. i came across a few bad eggs during the day but overall everyone was amazing. i arrived earlier than my friend and i made friends so quickly with the people who were in front of me in the queue, and i ended up spending the whole concert with them

secondly let me say that the organisation of this concert was an absolute joke, specifically the queueing. it was terrible, the worst organisation i’ve seen in a long time. they originally had one queue for everything, then created a ‘concert’ queue and made people move, then when the daytime event queue had died down we got moved back to where we originally were - except there was no guidance. everyone just ran for it. people at the front ended up at the back and people who’d just arrived got to the front. there was also a severe problem of people pushing in at the front - there was no barrier to block it and when we complained the security didn’t even try to do anything about it. 

i got to the venue at around 12:15, joined the only queue there was, was then moved to the ‘concert’ queue at around 12:45, was very near the front and managed to stay in basically the same place when we got moved back to our original line. then waited for about 6 hours, filled with events such as, as ive mentioned, people pushing in at the front and pretending they were there the whole time, the barrier being widened to such a degree at the front that there was no order at all

then came the worse part. we were lining up around the back of the building, and they wanted to move us to the front doors. so they stood back, and told us to go. everyone ran, again. i got pushed into walls and an open door, girls were falling over or hurting themselves on the barriers as everyone tried to get through. we had been asking them throughout the day how they were planning to get us in - we suggested sending us in groups of 10 or 20, or just making sure we all got to the doors one at a time. instead there was hundreds of people running to the doors, filling up the street because there was no barrier there to meet us. again, i managed to keep my place, pretty much, but a lot of people lost theirs, including girls at the front who had been there since 6am to queue. then despite the street being full of fans, they then told us to get in single file. which was fucking stupid because it wasnt possible. not unless they moved everyone forward enough, past the doors, to make enough room to move everyone against the wall, or move people backwards from the back of the queue, which literally went around the whole block. we eventually got in by them just giving up and letting us in one at a time with as little pushing as possible

but anyway, thats enough of that, although i will be complaining officially online lmao

okay the actual concert. by some miracle, i just got to the barrier, i got the last space. but myself and a couple of girls to my left were in the worst place to be at the barrier - in front of us was a camera man officially recording for the tv screen above, so during the concert idols would often be blocked by the camera which will be shown in my exid fancams lmao. but hey, i was at the barrier, i can’t complain. the distance from the barrier to the stage was about 10 feet i think, it was pretty large tbh so im rly glad i got to be there. we also got given water by very nice security thank u security

they were showing mvs for about an hour while we waited. if you were there, the first scream @ jeonghwa’s appearance in any mv was always me jsyk dklfjhdskj

when the concert started, there was a taekwondo performance which was a m a z i n g, they were breaking wood with their feet and at one point i was scared the broken wood would hit me lmao

after that, hani came on mc’ing, along with two other guys who i don’t know. the moment she appeared i Died. she was wearing such a pretty white dress, shes so angelic and cute and beautiful. she came out to mc after every performance, except it was just the guys when exid was about to perform. she spoke about going to see the disadvantaged kids yesterday and one of the guys was like “hanis not just beautiful, she has a beautiful heart” and hani said “the most beautiful is everyone here!” jdksa shes honestly a Dream

knk was first to perform, then snuper, then exid, then highlight. i’m not gonna pretend i was really there to see anyone but exid, because i wasn’t. but i did hearts to all the idols and i really enjoyed all their performances. knk sang knock first which is the only song i like by them so to hear it was so great. they’re such good dancers and they’re all very pretty

after knk, hani and the guys introduced a “special performance because london has gone through some hardships recently”. it was hyerin singing “you raise me up” and it was so beautiful i would have cried if i weren’t so focused on filming haha

then it was snuper’s turn to perform. i only know platonic love, so i enjoyed that, but i was pretty clueless about the rest of the songs. i still liked it tho. during one of their songs they brought a fan on stage to sing to her and also threw roses to the crowd. according to my friend who was a bit further back one of the members aimed one at her but a girl in front of her caught it lol. one of the members was so funny idk his name but fans threw a signed uk flag at the stage and he put it on like a cape and he came over to our section loads. hes my bias now but who is he

after that (i think??), knk came back on to perform a cover of an ed sheeran song which i don’t know the name of. everyone sang with them and it was rly Nice

then my girls!!! arrived and i screamed So Loud it was too much. they’re all so beautiful, but u kno i love my girl jeonghwa and omg... pictures and videos dont do her justice at all shes honestly Ethereal i went into shock and i almost teared up. i saw a girl so beautiful i started crying???

they started with hot pink and i could kinda feel how empty it was without solji but it was still amazing to see the four of them. then they moved onto night rather than day, then ah yeah, then finally up and down. i was trying So Hard to get interaction, i made eye contact with jeonghwa a few times and every time i was givin her hearts... she just kinda glanced over me tho.... its ok i still love u

the girl next to me got So much interaction, from l.e especially. she had a homemade exid fan sign and l.e seemed to love it haha. i probably should have made something too

exid’s performance seemed to go so quickly, i filmed most of their songs and some of their talk. i haven’t even watched the videos yet i’m gonna die

after exid, there was a performance with snuper and a group of girl dancers who i think won a competition during the day? they did dance covers of a few bts songs

then highlight came on and performed two of their new songs, before two of their old ones. i rly enjoyed the old ones, the new ones... they were okay but i liked being reminded of their old image as beast. i think this was when one of them motioned for us to clap, i was one of the first to start so he looked at me was he was walking our way and nodded at me which was cool lol. i think it was highlight anyway.... and i think it was that time... honestly the boy groups... kinda mushed together for me i could even begin to tell you which member it was. i made eye contact with a few guys of the various groups so i cant rly remember specifically

during highlights performance this annoying girl came up behind me and was literally pushing against me, trying to move my hair, touching my arms and back before eventually asking if i could move over. i did, but i later found out that the girl had literally somehow managed to get to the barrier from the back. she was rude as hell. also there was fireworks during the performance which scared the crap out of me i was like that compilation vid of chanyeol

after highlight, there was an encore where all the groups came out and threw balls and balloons. knk was in front of our section and exid were next to them more towards the middle. i feel bad for saying it but i ... rly wanted exid in front of me lmao. i did hearts towards them and here is where i might have got interaction from hani but im not sure???? she looked in my direction as i was looking at her and making a heart with my hands and she grinned and did a thumbs up but im not sure it was at me it might have been someone near me. i like to think it was at me tho. people around me got a lot of interaction with different idols but i didnt?? thats going back to diy stuff tho, ppl around me had created signs and written messages on paper and stuff so i guess thats where that came from. i rly would have done something too for exid but i didnt think id be that close, never mind at the barrier so i didn’t see much point

there was also confetti flying from a machine right in front of me and i accidentally dropped my exid fan sign i was given in the queue over the barrier so i caught confetti in my bag to take home instead lol. the annoying girl was still there and still annoying, she threw something at knk she’d made and one of the members got it and she started screaming and crying and yelling i love u which i wouldnt mind but... after the way she was so rude to me (and as i found out later, other ppl) nah why does she deserve that lmao. she also ended up getting a ball since security came over with two that had dropped and she said the yellow was hers... it wasnt she even asked me who signed it lmao

overall it was a really good concert and i cant wait to watch the videos back. it had ups and downs but despite having to miss london pride for it i dont regret going. i got to meet some great people and ofc i got to see my Special Girls in the flesh... they said they’d come back soon i hope so. ive drunk so much water tonight and im about to go and drink more also i can’t walk

[sadgirlabi]

get to know me tag!

tagged by @jenodidthat omg

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rules: answer the questions in a new post and tag 20 blogs you would like to know better

nicknames: just abi (pronounced abby or ah-bi like i said in the other tag game)

gender: female

star sign: aquarius

height: 167 cm (tbh i want to be 170 but this is probably the tallest i’ll get)

time right now: 4:10 am lmao im on break

last thing i googled: “60 completely unusable stock photos” lmao it was because of a tumblr post i saw

favourite bands: yikes theres a lot so kpop boy groups: nct, day6 (they’re more k-rock but oh well), super junior; girl groups: red velvet, f(x), blackpink, sistar; co-ed: KARD, and non-korean bands: one ok rock, tricot, paramore

favourite solo artists: ugh there’s a lot here too um hyuna, iu, ailee, jung joon young, banks, tinashe, blackbear, that’s all i can name off the top of my head

song stuck in my head: nct dream - my first and last

last movie i watched: the lego batman movie ahahaha i watched it with my little brother and sister a few days ago

last tv show i watched: do people consider k-dramas tv shows? im watching scarlet heart rn (i jumped the bandwagon hella late also i hate this show it’s fucking with me too much)

when did you create your blog: january 2015, but i wasn’t active on it until 2016

what stuff do you post: a lot of nct + other groups and also non-kpop things i find on my dash

when did you blog reach its peak:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

do you have any other blogs: i have an aesthetic blog but i’m never on it anymore

do you get asks regularly: nahhh

why did you choose your url: i’m asian and i swear (i’ve been thinking of changing it but idk what to change it to yet)

following: 343

posts: 5,481 and my goal is a million haHA!

hogwarts house: slytherin i think

pokemon team: lmao don’t kill me guys but i’ve never played pokemon go so i’m not on a team, so i just took a quiz instead and i don’t even understand it lmao im sorry guys im not in the pokemon fandom what’s a starter omg fjsksks my result was instinct but i heard a lot of people hate this team fjdks what do i do

favourite colours: black, dark red, most shades of blue, pastel pink, cream/off-white, wow

average hours of sleep: uh i get 3-5 hours on school nights and then 9-12 hours on weekends/break so i guess that kinda averages out to around 5-7 hours?????

lucky numbers: idk?????

favourite characters: rory williams is an absolute angel

what are you wearing right now: just a t-shirt and underwear because i’m supposed to asleep lmao i don’t sleep with pants on HA

how many blankets do you sleep with: it depends but currently 2 because winter

dream job: hmm....i don’t really know yet, but maybe a graphic designer or interior designer??? ooh ohh what if i got to design nct’s teaser images ahahaha that’s a dream job right there

dream trip: aaaaa there are so many places i want to go to, since i haven’t traveled a lot, but some of the places i REALLY want to go to are new york, england, south korea, japan, taiwan, singapore, indonesia (the last time i went there was 10 years ago) and LA (i’ve been there a couple of times already but i love LA so so much i can never get enough of that place)

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tagging @didjeno @hitoyouall @squishywonu @tuknang i told you i would tag yall again lmao sorryyyyy you don’t have to do it i don’t even have 5 people lmao i don’t have enough friends on this site :)))))

[fesahaawit]

“American Ninja Warrior Changed My Life”

Okay, so I’m sitting next to someone at Starbucks right now that just inspired the crap out of me.

She asked me if I worked online because she always sees me typing away, and when I told her I did, she immediately jumped into her life story, wondering if it was worth sharing as well on a blog or something.

45 minutes later I gave her an emphatic “YES GIRL!!! GET THAT $HIT OUT THERE!!” as I picked my jaw off the floor, and then promptly scurried back to my laptop to pump this article out to y’all ;)

I’ll refrain from naming names or specifics so I don’t steal her thunder, but in a nutshell here’s her story over the past couple of years which I hope motivates you to go after your OWN dreams and take action as well. You just never really know what can come of it until you put yourself out there!!

Two years ago…

My new friend was obese, depressed, and in loads of debt

She randomly flipped on American Ninja Warrior one day on TV and started watching

It inspired her to pick up the book – You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living by Jen Sincero (which I’ve also heard was a good read)

She thought that if she could turn herself into a Ninja Warrior that would be pretty bad ass and a huge accomplishment to fight for

Started looking up Ninja meetups and decided to drive out to one, despite her fears of being “a fat girl” (pretty cool that these exist!! They’re all over apparently!)

30 minutes after arriving, she was crying and freaking out and almost turned right around to go home

She sucked it up and found the courage to introduce herself to a competitor she had recognized, and admired, from the show

The competitor introduced her to her own personal trainer who happened to be standing there right next to her

She hit it off with the trainer and ended up hiring her/him? to help her with her own weight loss/dieting/exercising problems

She immediately immersed herself into the “Ninja Warrior” community, making friends and networking and showing up to events all around the country while training in American Ninja Warrior gyms (yes – there are gyms that are specifically set up for this stuff!! Who knew??)

And now – two years later – is no longer obese after shedding over 50 pounds (!!) through dieting and working out and completely transforming her lifestyle (as well as her confidence and self-image)

Is in the process of changing careers to help other women feel more confident and go after their Big Dreams too

Has paid off 100% OF HER DEBT and is now finally saving money!

And lastly, of course, is still very much training to be the next great American Ninja Warrior ;)

And you know she’s going to do it too! We both joked that it doesn’t even matter if she trips and falls on national television because she’s already won BIG TIME and everything else is just extra, haha…

But man, what a journey! I’m all riled up over here! It’s just SO cool to see someone on the path they were meant to be on, knowing that for the rest of their lives they’re going to be a-okay after finally finding their true purpose. We should all be so lucky to find our calling like that! And I’m sure she never would have even guessed it either, going back just two years ago…

But you know what?? It took just ONE STEP once she got that inkling of desire, and step by step afterwards she slowly made that progress and connected the dots as she went. Not unlike the journeys of almost every other single successful person we all know as well! Ain’t nobody makes it “overnight!”

Reminds me of that part from the We Bought A Zoo movie actually:

“Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”

So so right… And can be applied to all areas of our life too – taking that first step in an interview, taking that first step in asking out the hot nerd sitting next to us, taking that first step in investing and not freaking out that all our money will disappear because OMG THE STOCK MARKET IS CRASHING!!!, you name it.

It all begins with a first step, and from there you’re on to the races. (Or you fail miserably and make an ass out of yourself, but that just means you were on the wrong path to begin with! Remember that resume of failures we posted about earlier? It’s all a part of the game! What matters is that we keep our eyes open for *newer* paths and continue giving them a shot.)

And actually, this Ninja journey is pretty similar to my own blogging one too. Maybe not as extreme (I was never in tons of debt or depressed or anything), but I certainly wasn’t on a clear path in either career or finances. I was just going with the flow trying things out here and there, until one day – BAM! The idea of starting a blog came to mind, and I mustered up the energy to get it going to see where it led… And well, we all know how it went from there ;)

I actually just put together the highs and lows of my “story” here if you’re interested in seeing it (in pure bullet-point glory!), but the point is, you never know where this stuff will take you until you put yourself out there.

If you’ve been teetering on the brink of something right now and just haven’t had the courage to pull the trigger, I urge you to please do so today!! Whether it’s relating to your finances, or career, lifestyle, dreams, relationships, family – just go for it!

You deserve it to yourself, and you’ll never regret going after what you want even if you never attain it in the end. It just takes a few seconds of bravery and then it’s out there in the world!

Make it happen! And if it helps, turn on some American Ninja Warrior in the background to help get you pumped up! Haha… I’ll admit I was pretty dubious hearing those words first come out of her mouth, but it was an encounter that’s left me much happier and hopeful today, and you have to take your inspiration where you can get it ;)

Life is full of potential for each of us out there, but if you don’t go after it that’s all it’ll ever be! And not taking advantage of your potential is one of the worst disservices you can do for yourself.

******* PS: As soon as her blog comes out, or she makes it onto the show, I’ll be sure to come back and update y’all… Unless she catches me talking about her first and puts the ninja moves on me, haha… (*goes to hit “publish” real quick before getting caught!*)

“American Ninja Warrior Changed My Life” posted first on http://lionelcapital.blogspot.com

[greggreaen]

Taylor Swift. The evolution no one saw coming.

Oh Taylor, look what you made me do…

So unless you are living somewhere where there’s no internet, (also, how are you reading this????), I’m sure you know Taylor Swift released her first single “Look what you made me do” from her upcoming sixth album, Reputation.

When the song dropped (and I am going to be brutally honest with you guys), I just wasn’t impressed. Like, at all. In fact, I sort of hated it. And when I say sort of I mean totally.

I’m all for artists expanding horizons and trying new things, but it didn’t really feel or sound like Taylor. I’ve been a country Taylor fan for a looooooong time and was sort of thrown off by “Shake it Off”, but I really wasn’t ready for pop Taylor to turn into…Lorde-Taylor?

For those of you who know me, you know that I was a huuuuge Taylor Swift fan since the early days. True story, I even went to her house once! (I KNOW, I KNOW!)

BUT…

When the whole Kimye disaster happened, my trust in Taylor Swift was broken forever. After watching Kim Kardashian’s video, Taylor went from being my most beloved celebrity and my fave artist after Michael Jackson to a person I felt like I didn’t know anymore. She lost a fan that day. (If you need all the details on the drama, read this Buzzfeed article.)

So why am I writing this article?

Well, after a year of not listening to her music, Taylor somehow has my attention again.

In fact, after she released the “Look what you made me do” music video, she earned my respect…again. A different respect. But a respect nonetheless.

  “Look what you made me do” is one of those songs that you don’t like the first time you hear it, but it gets catchier and catchier each time you hit replay. Then paired with a BRILLIANT music video, it’ll be stuck in your head for good.

So what happened? Why do I think Taylor is “brilliant”?

OMG so many reasons.

THE MARKETING GENIUS OF THE TAYLOR TRANSFORMATION

First, I think everyone can agree that the Kimye situation was a PR DISASTER. (Unless it was a part of a long term marketing plan for her brand’s evolution that involved getting the biggest celebs in the world to play along. I highly doubt this, but it’s one of my conspiracy theories.) Taylor could have defended herself forever and could have made everyone feel sorry for her. Instead, she went radio silent (which made her seem even more guilty) and then BAM came out with a single that basically said “Yeah, you caught me, I AM a bad person. Deal with it.”

Do you know how much FREEDOM she must feel from releasing this single?

Taylor used to be a goody goody that would get scrutinized for every single little tiny misstep she took, while other celebs with a less-than-perfect reputation would get applauded for basically not committing a crime for the day. Now that she’s admitted that she’s a new Taylor…a bad Taylor…a mean girl Taylor….she has the freedom to release herself from those perfect girl shackles and do whatever the heck she pleases.

Side note – I can TOTALLY relate to this. Because Blogilates is a very family friendly and overall super positive female fitness brand, when I say one slightly tough thing, I seem to really upset people right away. I mean, literally the other day I posted a motivational quote that said this:

It was meant to be inspirational. A little kick in the booty! But I got a ton of comments on Instagram saying how disappointed people were in me…how people were going to stop doing my videos because of how insensitive I was. My follower count was in the negatives that day!

Honestly, if this quote made you mad enough to unfollow me, then I apologize for offending you, but I urge you to take a step back and ask yourself why. There’s a big difference between actually being lazy versus taking a rest day, needing a moment to relax or taking some time off to not work.

Anyway, I digress.

But see what I mean? “Good girls” aren’t allowed to make mistakes. “Bad girls” are.

Taylor can wear skimpier clothes, she can get plastic surgery, she can cuss, she can cut off all her hair, she can even release sex tapes – because guess what, you do not have the power to judge her based off of her old good girl standards. Those ancient standards are dead. The new Taylor has written her own rules – rules of which the public no longer has control over.

She is BORN-AGAIN.

This is the brilliance that I am impressed with. Who Taylor Swift is as a person, I am unsure. (I mean she was nice when I met her, but that’s all I know.) But the marketing behind her image and the execution of her new brand is SO GENIUS that my mind is exploding.

So for my business and advertising people…listen up.

Taylor went from naive country girl to romantic country princess to a squad-goals pop star to a certified bad girl. She’s been in the spotlight for over a decade and STILL has my attention. Many stars fade after a year. How did Taylor withstand the test of time? BECAUSE SHE EVOLVED. Even when people didn’t want her to.

In her latest transformation, Taylor went with the flow. She could not fight against the tide. Though the tide was one of major negativity, she embraced it and embraced it HARD. I really did not expect her to admit to her character flaws in her music video, but when she did, I forgave her. Once I did that, I felt like I was allowing myself to enjoy her music again.

The fact that Taylor is so self-aware (a la the scene at the end of the video where the Taylors from different eras argue with each other – ugh so good) lets me know that she’s smart, she’s creative, she’s funny and that she’s one step ahead of us.

HOW TAYLOR COMMERCIALIZED THE DISS TRACK TREND

Maybe diss tracks aren’t your type of content (not mine either), but this year it’s been HUGE on the ‘Tubes. Hands down, the “hottest” YouTubers now are Logan Paul and Jake Paul.

Logan got to over 11 MILLION subscribers in less than 1 year! To give you some context, I’ve been on YouTube for about 8 years and I am about to hit 4 MILLION – and that’s supposed to be pretty good.

But anyway…

The Pauls are brothers whose entire empires rest upon their oddly successful diss tracks – each video racks up hundreds of millions of views. The numbers are OUTRAGEOUS and pretty much unheard of these days for non-celeb musicians. These diss tracks are rap songs where the brothers make fun of other YouTubers. You could call it comedy or you could call it straight up bullying and harassment. Either way, kids LOVE IT and it’s super viral.

So, was Taylor’s new music video a type of high production super celebrity diss track? Is that why “Look what you made me do” became the highest viewed video of ANY VIDEO in the first 24 hours of it’s release?

You know, I think yes.

Do I think diss tracks are good for society? No.

But the truth is, I think people love a good drama…especially when it’s “real” drama. To be completely honest though – what’s real and what’s not these days? It’s hard for me to tell because I feel like everything is planned. Especially social media.

Entertainment has evolved and it is not at all what it used to be. We went from seeing actors in plays, to seeing actors in movies, to seeing “real people” on reality TV shows, to seeing “real-er real people” in YouTube videos, to seeing the “real-est, rawest, real people” in Snapchat videos. I mean, we think we’re seeing the truth, but is there still an underlying script that we don’t know about? Like are YouTube feuds and IG story dramas the new reality TV drama? Are we all just being played by Kim, Kanye, Taylor and Katy?

I don’t know. But either way, it’s all marketing and PR brilliance because it gets the entire world talking about them over such petty little things.

I mean, I just wrote an entire blog post about Taylor Swift after a year of ignoring her music. She got me. And she got me good.

Oh gosh, this post ended up being wayyyyyyy longer than I wanted it to be. But I have some takeaways for you:

If you run a brand or business who has made a mistake, own up to it. Admit it. I find it much easier to forgive a guilty person who has admitted fault than to believe a semi-guilty person who keeps trying to defend their innocence.

If you’re a person who feels boxed up and restricted by what other people want you to be, set yourself free by not letting their expectations shackle you. Allow yourself growth and change. Those who can accept the new you deserve to be by your side on your journey. Those who don’t can stay left behind.

HAHA who would have thought that this blog post would end up with “Look what you made me do” life lessons?

What did you guys think of the video and the song? What do you think of Taylor Swift? Let me know your HONEST feelings in the comments below! I am DYING to hear them!

Taylor Swift. The evolution no one saw coming. published first on http://www.blogilates.com

[richardshaver1955]

Taylor Swift. The evolution no one saw coming.

Oh Taylor, look what you made me do…

So unless you are living somewhere where there’s no internet, (also, how are you reading this????), I’m sure you know Taylor Swift released her first single “Look what you made me do” from her upcoming sixth album, Reputation.

When the song dropped (and I am going to be brutally honest with you guys), I just wasn’t impressed. Like, at all. In fact, I sort of hated it. And when I say sort of I mean totally.

I’m all for artists expanding horizons and trying new things, but it didn’t really feel or sound like Taylor. I’ve been a country Taylor fan for a looooooong time and was sort of thrown off by “Shake it Off”, but I really wasn’t ready for pop Taylor to turn into…Lorde-Taylor?

For those of you who know me, you know that I was a huuuuge Taylor Swift fan since the early days. True story, I even went to her house once! (I KNOW, I KNOW!)

BUT…

When the whole Kimye disaster happened, my trust in Taylor Swift was broken forever. After watching Kim Kardashian’s video, Taylor went from being my most beloved celebrity and my fave artist after Michael Jackson to a person I felt like I didn’t know anymore. She lost a fan that day. (If you need all the details on the drama, read this Buzzfeed article.)

So why am I writing this article?

Well, after a year of not listening to her music, Taylor somehow has my attention again.

In fact, after she released the “Look what you made me do” music video, she earned my respect…again. A different respect. But a respect nonetheless.

  “Look what you made me do” is one of those songs that you don’t like the first time you hear it, but it gets catchier and catchier each time you hit replay. Then paired with a BRILLIANT music video, it’ll be stuck in your head for good.

So what happened? Why do I think Taylor is “brilliant”?

OMG so many reasons.

THE MARKETING GENIUS OF THE TAYLOR TRANSFORMATION

First, I think everyone can agree that the Kimye situation was a PR DISASTER. (Unless it was a part of a long term marketing plan for her brand’s evolution that involved getting the biggest celebs in the world to play along. I highly doubt this, but it’s one of my conspiracy theories.) Taylor could have defended herself forever and could have made everyone feel sorry for her. Instead, she went radio silent (which made her seem even more guilty) and then BAM came out with a single that basically said “Yeah, you caught me, I AM a bad person. Deal with it.”

Do you know how much FREEDOM she must feel from releasing this single?

Taylor used to be a goody goody that would get scrutinized for every single little tiny misstep she took, while other celebs with a less-than-perfect reputation would get applauded for basically not committing a crime for the day. Now that she’s admitted that she’s a new Taylor…a bad Taylor…a mean girl Taylor….she has the freedom to release herself from those perfect girl shackles and do whatever the heck she pleases.

Side note – I can TOTALLY relate to this. Because Blogilates is a very family friendly and overall super positive female fitness brand, when I say one slightly tough thing, I seem to really upset people right away. I mean, literally the other day I posted a motivational quote that said this:

It was meant to be inspirational. A little kick in the booty! But I got a ton of comments on Instagram saying how disappointed people were in me…how people were going to stop doing my videos because of how insensitive I was. My follower count was in the negatives that day!

Honestly, if this quote made you mad enough to unfollow me, then I apologize for offending you, but I urge you to take a step back and ask yourself why. There’s a big difference between actually being lazy versus taking a rest day, needing a moment to relax or taking some time off to not work.

Anyway, I digress.

But see what I mean? “Good girls” aren’t allowed to make mistakes. “Bad girls” are.

Taylor can wear skimpier clothes, she can get plastic surgery, she can cuss, she can cut off all her hair, she can even release sex tapes – because guess what, you do not have the power to judge her based off of her old good girl standards. Those ancient standards are dead. The new Taylor has written her own rules – rules of which the public no longer has control over.

She is BORN-AGAIN.

This is the brilliance that I am impressed with. Who Taylor Swift is as a person, I am unsure. (I mean she was nice when I met her, but that’s all I know.) But the marketing behind her image and the execution of her new brand is SO GENIUS that my mind is exploding.

So for my business and advertising people…listen up.

Taylor went from naive country girl to romantic country princess to a squad-goals pop star to a certified bad girl. She’s been in the spotlight for over a decade and STILL has my attention. Many stars fade after a year. How did Taylor withstand the test of time? BECAUSE SHE EVOLVED. Even when people didn’t want her to.

In her latest transformation, Taylor went with the flow. She could not fight against the tide. Though the tide was one of major negativity, she embraced it and embraced it HARD. I really did not expect her to admit to her character flaws in her music video, but when she did, I forgave her. Once I did that, I felt like I was allowing myself to enjoy her music again.

The fact that Taylor is so self-aware (a la the scene at the end of the video where the Taylors from different eras argue with each other – ugh so good) lets me know that she’s smart, she’s creative, she’s funny and that she’s one step ahead of us.

HOW TAYLOR COMMERCIALIZED THE DISS TRACK TREND

Maybe diss tracks aren’t your type of content (not mine either), but this year it’s been HUGE on the ‘Tubes. Hands down, the “hottest” YouTubers now are Logan Paul and Jake Paul.

Logan got to over 11 MILLION subscribers in less than 1 year! To give you some context, I’ve been on YouTube for about 8 years and I am about to hit 4 MILLION – and that’s supposed to be pretty good.

But anyway…

The Pauls are brothers whose entire empires rest upon their oddly successful diss tracks – each video racks up hundreds of millions of views. The numbers are OUTRAGEOUS and pretty much unheard of these days for non-celeb musicians. These diss tracks are rap songs where the brothers make fun of other YouTubers. You could call it comedy or you could call it straight up bullying and harassment. Either way, kids LOVE IT and it’s super viral.

So, was Taylor’s new music video a type of high production super celebrity diss track? Is that why “Look what you made me do” became the highest viewed video of ANY VIDEO in the first 24 hours of it’s release?

You know, I think yes.

Do I think diss tracks are good for society? No.

But the truth is, I think people love a good drama…especially when it’s “real” drama. To be completely honest though – what’s real and what’s not these days? It’s hard for me to tell because I feel like everything is planned. Especially social media.

Entertainment has evolved and it is not at all what it used to be. We went from seeing actors in plays, to seeing actors in movies, to seeing “real people” on reality TV shows, to seeing “real-er real people” in YouTube videos, to seeing the “real-est, rawest, real people” in Snapchat videos. I mean, we think we’re seeing the truth, but is there still an underlying script that we don’t know about? Like are YouTube feuds and IG story dramas the new reality TV drama? Are we all just being played by Kim, Kanye, Taylor and Katy?

I don’t know. But either way, it’s all marketing and PR brilliance because it gets the entire world talking about them over such petty little things.

I mean, I just wrote an entire blog post about Taylor Swift after a year of ignoring her music. She got me. And she got me good.

Oh gosh, this post ended up being wayyyyyyy longer than I wanted it to be. But I have some takeaways for you:

If you run a brand or business who has made a mistake, own up to it. Admit it. I find it much easier to forgive a guilty person who has admitted fault than to believe a semi-guilty person who keeps trying to defend their innocence.

If you’re a person who feels boxed up and restricted by what other people want you to be, set yourself free by not letting their expectations shackle you. Allow yourself growth and change. Those who can accept the new you deserve to be by your side on your journey. Those who don’t can stay left behind.

HAHA who would have thought that this blog post would end up with “Look what you made me do” life lessons?

What did you guys think of the video and the song? What do you think of Taylor Swift? Let me know your HONEST feelings in the comments below! I am DYING to hear them!

from Blogilates http://ift.tt/2vMjUXZ

[haetbits]

Brian!!

The relationship my dadsona (Aiden) and Amanda has T-T I really really reallllllly love Amanda!! I can’t imagine having to be a bad dad to her ;_;

The first meeting with Brian didn’t go so well?? Maxwell is super cute hahaha but Brian and his bragging thing was a miss for me hahah but I had to get through with his route to get my $15 worth, man!! I persevered~ XDDD

Anyway, the first date with Brian…I was very bad at the mini golf mini game hahaha What kind of crazy courses were those??!! XD;; I don’t know how I won the mini golf ‘competition’ and apparently got drinks with Brian at the bar. Here, we find out that he’s a contractor. Cool, I guess. Aiden still wants to beat him at absolutely everything and agrees to the invitation to fishing. 

That night Aiden has a dream about his own dad (and it wasn’t a very good one) and the background is so pretty, I had to take a pic hahah 

Next! Second date! Well, Brian seems nice. He let Aiden borrow his fishing pole cos apparently we ‘left it at the shop’ hahaha and he brought Maxwell! And put a dog-sized life vest onto him!! How stinking cute is that??!! He offers Aiden one and Aiden was too proud to take it, I think, and jokingly asks Brian to save him if he falls hahaha (He’s cute!!) 

Amanda and Daisy goes off into the forest to play after they ‘skipped’ rocks or, well, Amanda threw the rocks into the water XDD;; She’s seriously so cute wowwww On the canoe, Brian starts another competition. Walao, can’t you take a break hahaha Aiden was like like ‘I’m so knowledgeable about fishing’ when he ISN’T! Yes boy, fatherly pride will be your undoing.

To no one’s surprise, Aiden cmi at fishing haha Brian so nice give him his fishing pole aww hahaha 

& my eyesight is bad, what’s new hahaha I didn’t do very well in this match 3 mini game either XDD

My thoughts too, brother hahaha 

All of a sudden, a fish tugged on Aiden’s line and, kabam!, a rainbow trout!! Aiden’s so happy to have caught a fish and tipped the canoe over haha 

Yeah, should’ve thought of that earlier, huh??

At least Brian stood by his word and saved you, Aiden XD

I’m glad Maxwell had a great time though!! 

Also, once we got onto land, Brian just whipped off his shirt to dry and we get this 

I mean woaaaaaaah serious dad bod. The daddiest (omg) bod I’ve ever seen hahaha My own dad had this bod hahahahahaahhaahha (just that he had black hair, less hair on his head, less pink… I relate to this dad bod) #sorrynotsorry haha

SUUUURE AIDEN

TOO LATE BRUH

SEXY HUH?? *wink wink nudge nudge*

That’s the end of Aiden’s fishing adventure for the day haha 

He accepted snacks from Brian. Lemme tell you, I love snacks so I accept snacks from friends constantly (if they offer them to me hahaha)

Struggles of having O-type blood. Mosquitoes love us. -_-

Yes yes, Maxwell is the cutest, the smartest etc etc❤️

Anyway, anyway, Brian is successful at fishing and knows how to cook in the outdoors. How nice. 

Yay! Great, the children are safe and have returned from their great bug adventures \(^_^)/

…and we immediately get slapped with dad bod fines hahaha

Okay, Aiden. XDD

Aiden accidentally offends Daisy by thinking that they’d be messier after playing with bugs in the forest😞

Apparently, the fish was freaking good and Amanda just had to ask why Aiden’s pants were wet and Aiden was trying to explain that he tipped the boat over when Brian cuts in to say that he did it.😲

I was touched hahaha Idek why hahaha

Me too tbh

…No, Aiden hahaha He’s just trying to be nice!!! Urgh!! 

That is the cutest image!! Amanda, Daisy, and Maxwell cuddling together, aww~

Oh Aiden. Well, at least Brian’s not leaving you at the fishing site so…

Same tbh hahaha 

D’awwwwwwwww

Story progression!! Aiden told Amanda about the competition he and Brian were having aaaand~

I wonder too, Amanda. 

He’s not. 

Aww, I love you too, Amanda~❤️

Thank you!! Aiden is dumb!!

…No.

Same, Amanda. Aiden has issues to work out. 

Every one heads to bed but Aiden just had to have ice cream and he checks in on Amanda. 

Oh, hell no!! Who made my beautiful daughter cry??!!! I made all the ‘caring dad’ choices but she didn’t tell her dad what was wrong and Aiden went to bed worried.

Amanda left the house giving short answers to Aiden’s questions in the morning and Aiden is left at home, thinking about some past memory with Amanda. He decides not to push her to talk to him and bakes a cake to cheer her up.

She looks so sad, let me go at whoever made her feel like this!!

That gets Amanda to open up about her problem. The basis of the story is that her best friend went behind her back (?) and got with her crush. Her friends drop her out of their group chat because the snake she vented to sent screenshots of their conversation to that group chat and, now she has no friends. Aiden explains that real friends don’t do that to each other, telling her that it takes time to weed out the toxic people in her life (this is dependent on the choice made). This helps Amanda feel better. I’m glad😊 Amanda does not have to deal with this bullshit. If her friends can’t treat her right, they don’t deserve to be friends with her!

Next up would be the third, and final, date with Brian!

I like that there’s the ‘I can’t commit’ button there hahaha I would like to press that button one day and play the field XDD;; For now, I’m sure that Brian is my (or Aiden’s) Dreeeeeeammmm Daaaddyyy~

Yes, honey! Dad will take youuuu

…Or not, your dad’s an idiot. 

Look at her, she’s unimpressed with your urgent word jumbles haha Take her to the fair already!!

Hmm, is she planning on a parent trap or something??

I will!!

…Or not. 

Surprise, eh??😏

Aiden sure is dumb~ Hahaha

😏

BRIAN??!!

I knew it XD

Parent trap happening, people!!

WOW!!😂

I fucking know right??!!😂 BELIEVE IT!!

😂😂😂

Amanda and Daisy have such good thoughts, thinking that the other girl is cool but their dads keep complaining about each other~ Meanwhile, Aiden is like:

Aiden and Brian get competitive again and Amanda tried to stop them.

But turns out she’s scared of clowns so…

How competitive hahaha That launches into a mini game which I didn’t do too bad on and won Amanda a goldfish that she named ‘Brian’~

I have a feeling that the girls are just gonna push their dads on the ride and run away after🤔

The girls are so cute though! Daisy was shocked that Amanda got a point for effort when she drew a cat in the blank space of a question she couldn’t answer!!! Here though, your ridiculous answer gets photocopied and passed out as a bad example XD;; and Amanda was touched when Daisy told her that her work will be in female photography books someday. T-T

I KNEW IT!!😂

😂😂😂

HOW CONVENIENT!!

I guess it was about this time that Aiden gets hungry and Brian offered him snacks but he rejected them hahaha

You idiot. 

Anyway, Aiden decided to take out his word jumbles to solve to not look at Brian. However, Brian has a book of crosswords as well.

OMG the drama!!

Uh, yes??!! Then they proceed to arguing about how each of them keeps one-upping the other hahaha

Are you shocked, Aiden??

Only now?? Hahaha

Yes.

Ooh~

D’awwww~

They start over by shaking hands and re-introducing themselves. It’s all cute hwehwehwe But oh-so-conveniently, the ferris wheel starts moving again😂

Yep, y’all could’ve fallen off and died. 

Amanda and Daisy run up to us saying that Brian the fish is in trouble so we play an easy mini game to save him! (Brian held Aiden’s hand!!) After that’s done, the children run home to watch TV. Daisy couldn’t care less about fireworks while I, a 22 year old, was upset cos I couldn’t see the fireworks for our national day parade hahaha

Aiden tells Brian that he doesn’t know anything about fishing XD and Brian just says that he knows HAHAHA he was giving Aiden face!!!

Aiden talks about lawn-mowing *facepalm*

It’s only you, Brian. Just joking.

ERMAHGERD!!!

CAN Y’ALL HEAR ME SCREECHING??!!😍

I fell for him completely here. 

No, Aiden hahaha

So I’m officially a goner but I still have the epilogue part to get through, so I continued on hahaha

Aiden is going to throw a party to celebrate Amanda going to college~

When a parent knows where to get the seasons of their child’s favourite shows hahaha

Apparently, all the dads are present for Amanda’s graduation party!! There’s some talking with them and Amanda tells Daisy to not want to grow up too fast and enjoy being a kid. It’s good advice though!! I want to go back to being a kid. 

I love this child!!! I love that the game has a main character with family ❤️❤️❤️

Here, we find out that Amanda is still friends with her friends from school! Yay!!

There’s only 1 dad that Aiden hasn’t talked to at the party and that’s Brian! So we take a seat next to Brian~

Aww, they’re so cute ^w^

OMG

Uh, no. Remember Aiden didn’t know how to create an SNS profile?? XDD;;

Me too, dude. ❤️

❤️

*screams*

You planning on not wearing a life vest again, Aiden??

Aww~😊

I’m sad that Amanda has to leave Aiden hahaha T-T

Amanda would. 

Omg, I love these children!!😄😄

Hahaha, well I guess that’s where Aiden and I are the same ;w;

I love his laugh. It’s so nice~

SWEET!!! Aiden pls stop hahaha😂

[ E N D ]

Overall, I really enjoyed Brian’s route!! I like that I disliked Brian at first but grew to like him for his confession on the ferris wheel~ Even though we don’t know a lot about Brian, we find out a lot about Aiden/dadsona’s personality (competitive drama king *cough cough*) XD;; I would like to know what happened to Brian’s s/o?? He doesn’t talk about them… Also, I’d like to know what happens after this?? Too much to ask?? Sorry!!