#also rather embarrassingly went as harry potter once

[stairset]

I do need to cosplay again sometime I haven't done it in years but when I did it was always pretty good

[cuteforathief]

2020 Year in Review

Rules: answer some questions about 2020 and tag some people!

Tagged by: @queenemori 💕 thank you lovely! 

Top Five Films you watched in 2020:

I am struggling to think of what was actually released this year and as much as I love them aren’t just netflix rom com originals.

1917

Wonder Woman 1984

Birds of Prey

Soul

Palm Springs

Top Five TV Shows in 2020:

I picked shows that were totally new to me in 2020 and that I really loved. 

Normal People

The Queen’s Gambit

The Umbrella Academy

The Wilds

Never Have I Ever

Not a new show but I have to also mention Agents of SHIELD because it’s been a huge part of my life and that is how you end a show after 7 seasons *cough* JRoth *cough*. I also started Bridgerton yesterday which I am a little obsessed with atm.

Top Five Songs/Albums of 2020:

What would I do without Spotify telling me what I actually listen to??

Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

Exile by Taylor Swift (ft Bon Iver)

Outnumbered by Dermot Kennedy

The Key to Life on Earth by Declan McKenna

About Love by Marina

Top Five Books of 2020:

In the year we had nothing but time... I embarrassingly only read 6 books last year. I can’t even look at my goodreads challenge butttt here are my 5 favourites of those.

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reed

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Circe by Madeline Miller

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

Dear Edward by Ann Naplolitano

Top Five Fanfictions of 2020:

I’ll stay on brand for this blog and stick to t100 or more accurately lets be honest Memori fics. Also there are sooo many more I could add to this list, so I just picked 5 of my favourites by 5 different authors - check out the rest of their works too because they’re all just as good! Also do not @ me about the amount of baby fics in this list!!

We Don’t Need To Say It 

Revive

Fall Into Your Blue

Our Hands Shall Be Your Cradle

The Secret To Life Is Timing

Five good/positive things that happened to you in 2020:

I started 2020 in Amsterdam with my friends. Looking back if I had known, I obviously would have appreciated my last trip out of the country more BUT it was great to start the year in such a positive way, even if the only way was down from there.

The fact that I have a job that has allowed me to keep working throughout the pandemic. Also I am so grateful that it is one that has allowed me to actually go into work (rather than work from home) and maintain that human interaction! I genuinely love a lot of the people I work with and when we’re allowed, we do tend to socialise, have regular work nights out etc so being able to see them on the daily, really lifted my mood at times when the rest of life has been so shit. 

Such a first world issue I know but I love to travel so much, so it’s been a huge bummer not being able to go abroad this last year. BUT it has made me explore England a lot more than I normally would. It’s such a beautiful  icountry that I do not take advantage of. The peak district is like 15/20 mins away from where I live so I’ve spent a lot of time there walking. I also went up to Northumberland where I enjoyed a lovely spa, some amazing beaches, went to the Harry Potter castle and other things I probably normally wouldn’t have done. 

My friends and family have all managed to stay healthy and safe! Probably one of the biggest positives in a year like this.

Saving the most applicable till last.... FANDOM! I am a huge ass nerd obviously and the past couple of years (once I got past my anxieties) have been filled with cons/meeting up with fandom friends. So whilst that side of things has been disappointing (though thank you London Comic Con Spring for letting me squish one in). The online side? 😙👌 Ahh what would I have done without it and you guys. It’s always so lovely getting to meet new people to talk/rant/squeal/roast with! So to the various people I’ve connected with, the GC’s I’m in, to anyone who has created or liked something I have created THANK YOU and ILY!  💕

Tagging/hoping 2021 brings all the best to: @unremarkablegirl @gellarsummers @the-most-beautiful-broom @murphystartedthefire @mobi-on-a-mission​ @doortotomorrow​ & anyone else who would like to do this!

[abitnotgoodiebag]

Blur

Title: Blur

Square Filled: I1 - Did they or didn’t they?

Warnings: drunkenness and terrible mental gymnastics

Word Count: 2,881

Summary: Sam thinks he needs an aspirin, better yet, he needs to get up outta here.

Link to AO3

Blur

Sam groans as he swims back into consciousness.  Both his brain and his tongue are unpleasantly fuzzy and he wants nothing more than a cool washcloth, a cold glass of water and complete darkness and silence for the next decade.  He is too old to be drinking himself into terrible hangovers.  He knows the importance of staying hydrated and yet, here he is again, wishing for death to claim him. Sam can certainly say that he has never been the best at making good decisions.

As Sam debates the pros and cons of moving from his comfortable cocoon, he becomes aware of the sounds of soft snores uncomfortably close to him.  He feels the body heat of someone else underneath the sheets of his (is it his?) bed. He also realizes very suddenly that he doesn’t have a single stitch of clothing on.

Shit.

Sam tries to think of who could possibly be behind him snuffling softly in slumber.  The fact that he’s naked probably means that they are too and Sam could slap himself for the second time in as many minutes.  The pounding in his head doesn’t help at all with his mood and Sam may have finally found the reason to quit drinking altogether.  Waking up with strangers in bed is definitely something that is part of his twenties, not to be done when he’s staring at the front steps of forty.

Sam curses the fact that he is the first one to wake up and debates whether or not moving will wake his bedmate.  His memories of the night before are patchy at best and the more he tries to piece together his time at the hotel, the more alarmed he becomes.

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

It was the one year anniversary of the battle against Thanos and Sam would rather have been anywhere else.  The country was not as accepting of Sam as they had been of Steve. Sam didn’t want to think too closely about why exactly that was (because it was way too easy to get angry and what would that solve?), but there were days that he just wished his detractors would say what they really meant, and not use their carefully-coded acrimonious checklists on why Sam would never be Steven Grant Rogers.  Every single decision Sam made was examined under a microscope in the media. /r/notmycap can’t go a week without some viral thread castigating him and slightly less often, Bucky (It’s always the ‘Winter Soldier’ or ‘The Asset’ though, they seem determined to remind the world that Bucky had a violent and unsavoury past).

If the bad press wasn’t enough, the list of full time Avengers was embarrassingly short.  The Defenders did their own thing, as did Reed’s little group. It almost wasn’t worth anyone’s time trying to talk to Charles Xavier unless the subject was mutant rights (not that there was a problem with that, Sam definitely knew how stupid people could be around anything they perceived as 'different').  No one wanted to work with the reformed psychopathic (his words, Sam wasn’t convinced) mercenary, well, Peter was trying to tell everyone that he wasn’t so bad but Sam wasn’t touching that with a ten foot pole.  Sam, Bucky, Rhodes, and Wanda were all that was left of the Avengers Initiative.  Sure they had emergency and consulting members, but the fact was, Sam was barely captain of anyone.

Sam’s cheerless thoughts had him spending his time at the bar, after quickly making the initial rounds to greet everyone.  He had to admit, Pepper knew how to throw a party.  While there weren’t a lot of full-time Avengers, Thanos had united the entire world against him, and so the rented ballroom (in the most fashionable of hotels) was full-to-bursting.  He scanned his eyes across the room taking in the small groups that didn’t quite mesh together. Thor and his new traveling companions, the Guardians of the Galaxy stood in a loose circle laughing entirely too loudly.  Thor finally found a group who also lacked inside voices, Sam was happy for him. He looked better than he did that day.  That too-long day that Sam went to battle in the fields Wakanda and ended the fight on the remains of their battered home in New York five years and mere seconds later.  

Sam was glad he wasn’t around to see Thor's slow slide into misery.  He had heard Steve (over the phone, Sam still can't quite look at his wrinkled face) tell him the stories of Thor’s grief at losing his father, brother, best friend, and planet within a week only to lose half of existence the very next day.  Sam couldn’t imagine that pain.

Sam dealt with a different sort of grief.  He had missed five years. Five years of his mother's life, five years of his niece’s life.  Unfortunately so had her mother, his sister.  Sam would never understand how his mother dealt with losing both of her children for five years, believing them gone for good.  His house and belongings were all long gone, leaving him and Bucky to scramble to find an apartment together in the aftermath on the ‘Unsnappening’ (fucking twitter called it that and unfortunately it seemed to be stuck).  He refused to put any more stress on his mom by moving back in when Kayla had to get used to her mother being back.  Besides, it was just easier to live with Barnes. He didn’t have any memories of those five years, as far as he could tell no one did, but he couldn’t help but feel it in his bones that he had spent the time with Bucky.

Shaking his head to dispel that line of thought, Sam looked for his best friend.  They had arrived together, as usual, but Bucky was quickly called over by Yo-Yo and Shaw, both of them eager to hang out with the soldier (he’d taken to being a SHIELD operative surprisingly well, all things considered, he even had work friends, Sam was proud of him).

Turning back to the bartender, Sam ordered an old fashioned.  He had recently discovered that between the two of them somehow Sam was the hipster, even though Bucky had refused to give up his ridiculous (fucking beautiful, if Sam was being honest) man bun.  Sam refused to listen to modern music (unless it was Beyonce, but really, it’s Beyonce it goes without saying) and read his paper at the table instead of staring at his phone all the time.  Sam couldn’t help it, he was an old soul and he had endured Bucky’s teasing goodnaturedly.  He absolutely drew the line at handlebar moustaches and penny-farthings though.

“Birdman number two!”  Clint said in what he probably thought was an acceptable volume, clapping Sam on the back.

Sam startled and grinned as he saw his fellow bird-themed hero.  “Barton! How is life treating you?”

“Can’t complain.”  He said with a cheeky smile as he leaned toward Sam and said in a conspiratorial whisper, “If I do, Laura will give me the old boot.  But I’d deserve it because she is the world’s greatest wife.”

“Damn right I am.”  Said Laura as she appeared next to her husband.

Sam sipped his drink and watched them bicker gently.  He loved that in a couple. Sure the schmoopy ones were cute and all, but life is always better with laughter and it was clear the Barton’s were full of laughter.  They excused themselves after two rounds, Laura saying that she was tired and Sam was once again left to his thoughts.

Before he could sink into them too deeply, his eyes landed on Bucky standing next to a scowling Valkyrie and taking a swig out of Thor’s comically enormous flask (Just because he was doing better didn’t mean that he wasn’t still struggling).  Sam smiled slowly at the blush that spread across Bucky’s face after his second long pull. Seems like Thor brought the good stuff.

Sam, armed with his bourbon and a liquid loss of inhibitions, (after the second old-fashioned, Sam wondered why he was even pretending to do anything other than get hammered and stopped bothering with anything more complicated) pushed away from the bar and headed in Bucky’s direction.  

“Hey there my good people.”  Sam smiled lightly as he reached Bucky, Thor, and Valkyrie.  “Is this the 5000 proof section?”

Bucky rolled his eyes fondly after his last pull and passed the flask to Val, Thor letting out a brief sad noise in his throat, knowing he wasn’t going to get another swig any time soon.  “Sure is, pigeon. This is the cool kids table and you can’t sit with us!”

“Ten points to Hufflepuff for correct use of Gretchen Wieners.”  Sam said as Bucky looked confused. Belatedly, Sam realized that they hadn’t gotten to the Harry Potter series yet, Bucky picking both Star Wars and Star Trek (every single iteration, Bucky was obsessed) instead.

“Friend Falcon-Captain!  It feels good to have a night of revelry with all of my shield-broth-”  Thor stopped, his smile faltering slightly. “My shield-mates! Let us toast!”

Sam tossed back the last few drops of his bourbon while Thor waited for Valkyrie to pass him the flask.  Bucky just snorted at Thor’s naivete and headed towards the bar to grab a less alien drink. He reappeared a minute later with three glasses and handed two to Sam and Thor respectively.  They clinked their glasses and drained half of their short tumblers as Valkyrie finally drained the flask.

Bucky and Valkyrie let out loud (and surprisingly deep) twin belches sending Thor and Sam into a fit of giggles.  Bucky joined in their laughter while Val just rolled her eyes and walked off in the direction of the bar, no doubt in search of a bottle or two to occupy her hands.

“What’s so funny?”  Shaw asked, coming up behind Sam and throwing his arm around Sam’s shoulder and resting his chin on the other one.  Yo-Yo circled around to bump robotic shoulders with Bucky causing Sam an immediate sharp flare of jealousy in his gut. Yo-Yo and Bucky shared too many similarities for Sam to not see her as a potential threat for Bucky’s time and affection.  

“Bucky was just showing us how to play the tummy pipes.”  Sam said, his words slightly slurred.  His laughter stopped abruptly.

Sam’s smile fell away and Bucky noticed immediately.  He glanced briefly to Shaw draped over Sam before he was somber as well, leaving Thor confused as to what exactly was happening.

“Oh-kaaaay.” Shaw drawled as he picked his head off of Sam’s shoulder, leaving his arm curled around Sam's neck.  Sam was confused, Shaw was Bucky’s friend, they’d met maybe 4 times total, but if Sam were to guess, he’d bet he was less intimidating to use as a prop than the once-king of Asgard or a super soldier.

Yo-Yo raised an eyebrow.  “It seems like we need to catch up with you guys.  I could smell you from a foot away.”

Shaw hummed in agreement even though he was clearly ahead of Yo-Yo too if his inability to stand up straight was any indication.  “Valkyrie went off for more, but I fear that she does not intend to share anything she finds.” Thor said, sounding vaguely disappointed.  “So I must go and fetch us another round!” He looked very proud of himself for thinking of that as he turned and strode away.

“He is amazing.”  Shaw sighed, “What’s his deal anyway?  Why doesn’t he stay here full-time?”

Bucky glared at Shaw and Sam watched on in confusion.  So now it’s not just Yo-Yo he has to worry about, now Bucky has a thing for Thor?  Sam (not for the first time) thinks sadly, that he’s just a man.  He’s no Inhuman, he has no enhancements, he’s from plain old Harlem, not some mythical planet, and he can’t call lightning with a thought.  He’s just Sam and maybe all he would do is slow Bucky down. So zoned out, Sam jerked when Shaw and Bucky laughed, making the room wobble unpleasantly. His obvious distraction just caused them to laugh harder while Yo-Yo’s lips curled into a small smile.

Sam, who realized he was the butt of some joke, flipped them off, making Shaw start all over again, finally taking his arm off Sam’s shoulder to cradle his midsection as he bent forward, cackling madly.

Thor returned with a tray full of shot glasses.  “Let us drink!”

“Damn big guy, you do not mess around, do you?”  Shaw sounded awestruck as he straightened up and Sam was not at all bitter about everyone’s obsessions with Thor.

Yo-Yo and Bucky grabbed two apiece, taking them in rapid succession just a hint of redness on their cheeks indicating that they were drinking anything other than water.

Shaw grabbed two shots, holding one out to Sam smiling wide, “Us normies gotta stick to our singles.  I can’t believe we’re more meat and no tech and still manage to be the lightweights.”

Sam laughed at Shaw’s dig, even as he seethed inside at Bucky leaning down to murmur something to Yo-Yo, eyes on Sam the whole time.  Thor ignored all of them in favor of knocking two shots back one-handed, looking disappointed at their flavor.

Sam, now unable to remember exactly how much he had already had, felt that being upright was overrated and sat down, hard.  Bucky glanced at him in concern, opening his mouth to ask if Sam was alright, but Sam glared back insolently and Bucky’s jaw snapped shut and he turned back to Yo-Yo who had been watching them in amusement.

Shaw grabbed two of the last four shots and again passed one down to Sam, shrugging.  “To bad choices!”  

Sam quickly echoed the toast and gulped the offered drink before clumsily getting off the floor, not finding it comfortable craning his neck up at everyone.  Yo-Yo ambled away, tray in hand, clearly off to refill it. Sam saw Bucky moving out of his peripheral vision, but by the time he turned his head to get a proper look, Bucky was nowhere to be seen.

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

Sam squeezes his eyes shut as he realizes that the last person he can remember talking to was that irksome weirdo, Deke Shaw.  Bucky had left him at the party alone with Shaw, clearly chasing after Yo-Yo. Sam is gripped by a combination of self-loathing and envy that almost chokes the air from him. He will never forgive himself if he has tumbled into bed with that asshole.  This whole situation is entirely backwards. He’s pining after a grumpy, nerdy, absolutely gorgeous white boy from the past, not a strange, trouble-magnet from god-knows-when in the weird-ass future.  

Sam knows who he wishes it was behind him.  Every day he tries his hardest to be the best friend (who is he kidding, he’s doing a great boyfriend audition and has been for months) to Bucky.  After living together for almost a year, they have a certain bond, but not quite the type Sam wants.  He thinks Bucky wants it too, most of the time, but Sam knows better than to try and rush something before its’ time.  Sam’s father always told him that anything worth having was worth waiting for if necessary and James Barnes was definitely worth having.

The person behind him snores loudly once, before Sam feels a hand reach around his middle, drawing him back into a firm torso.  Sam freezes immediately, afraid to look down and finally solve the mystery. The body he's trapped against is mostly warm. Mostly, because Sam can definitely feel the not-quite-cool smoothness of what Sam will bet everything he owns is vibranium against his shoulder blade.

Sam relaxes and very slowly, smiles.  All of the hatred at himself for possibly ending up with anyone else leaves him as almost quickly as it came.  He can't wait for Bucky to tell him everything.  Or Thor.  Or even Yo-Yo, even though Sam will make Bucky do all the talking if that's the route they have to go.  Sam is willing to bet he has some interesting message on his phone if he bothered to check it (If it was even still on at this point, who knows how late in the day it is).  Knowing that he’s lying here with Bucky surrounding him makes the not remembering much easier. He has no regrets other than not committing every single detail of the previous night to memory to constantly replay over and over and over again.

Satisfied that it is indeed Bucky he’s woken up with (Sam breathes in deep and could slap himself, how did he not smell the traces of his own body wash?  Bucky is always stealing it instead of using his boring bar of soap and smelling himself on Bucky drives Sam crazy) makes it easy to let his eyes fall shut and let the hangover pass. His best friend (and maybe, hopefully, probably, finally more) is curled around him keeping out the noise and light of the world and Sam needs to sleep this hangover off.  He smiles to himself as he focuses on the soft snores and drifts into a peaceful sleep. Sam knows that everything is going to be just dandy.

[brien-odylan]

First Bad Habit - Chapter One [How it all started]

N/A: Ok... So... I mentioned this fanfic just a couple of hours ago and I already finished translating the first chapter.

I’d like to say that I’m both thrilled and nervous about this, because it’s my first ever Harry Potter fanfiction so it’s my baby. It’s being rewritten, but it’s my baby nonetheless, and I really hope you guys enjoy it!

Warnings: It’s not much of a warning, but I should let you know: JILY IS ALIVE, MY DUDES! And it takes place in OotP. 

Pairing: Fred Weasley/OC

Summary: The moment Harry Potter came back from the maze holding the body of Cedric Diggory and announcing that Voldemort was back, Alexis Potter knew things weren’t going to be the same again.

 With the Ministry breathing down their necks, the young Potter will soon realize that Hogwarts is not the same place she was used to.

With new challenges to overcome by her brother’s side, Alexis will still find time to new friends and future love.

Chapter Two

It was another normal day in Linsey Street, a small dead-ended street in Southwark London Boro: the sun was shining timidly, something that was not uncommon in a city where most of its days were rainy, the birds were happily chirping, kids could be seen playing. A little further ahead, it was possible to see Mr. Hogan walk his dogs while Mrs. Pease tended her front yard and Mr. and Mrs. Harrison were on their morning cooper. Everything in the utmost peace.

Whoever walked by the lovely neighborhood, couldn’t imagine that not everything was what it seemed. There was a house, a special house, where things worked differently. Not that any of their neighbors knew, but the residents of that two store house had a different life-story, something no one could picture.

The sun was coming through a window on the second store, shining a highly decorated room, full of pictures and posters. To those looking from the outside, nothing would be out of the ordinary, but whoever came close enough, could see moving figures, coming in and out of pose. Bizarre wouldn’t start to describe everything that happened there.

“Harry, Alexis! Wake up,” a voice shouted from the first floor. “We still need to go to Diagon Alley.”

Lily Potter, née Evans , was a beautiful woman with her bright red hair and green eyes. Her steps echoed through the upper floor of the house, where their kids slept, despite the late hours.

Harry was the first one to get up; he put on his glasses that were lying on the bedside table, threw the covers aside and walked to the window, seeing the beautiful weather outside and sighed. If everything that happened in his world were was easy as the lives of his neighbors…

Shaking his head, Harry turned to leave the room towards the bathroom, but he didn’t make it too far as he walked into his mom right outside his door, her hand up in a fist as if she was about to knock.

“Morning,” he said with a smile.

“Morning,” Lily smiled back and ran her hands through his hair, trying to tame the untidy locks that graced his head every morning. Truth to be told, Lily Potter knew she would never be able to control Harry Potter’s hair. That was something he had inherited from his father and if her experience served her right, that was a little trait about them that would never change. “Wake Alexis up, will you?” she asked, her lips placing a soft kiss on his forehead. “We’ve got two hours.” She completed and left to the stairs, her feet guiding her back to the kitchen.

Harry walked to the end of the hallway slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. With a final step, he came face to face with a white door, speckles of red and gold glitter splashed over it and a big, flaring lion adorned in a sticker covering most of the door, also in red and gold. Sighing, because that decoration piece only served to show him how much Alexis were prouder of her House than he was, he knocked on the wood.

“Alexis, get up!” Harry said from the hallway while he opened, very slowly, his sister’s bedroom door. “Diagon Alley in two hours.”

From the bed, the girl moved, murmured something incomprehensible and went back to sleep, cauging Harry roll his eyes before her laziness. Everyday would be the same: they’d set an appointment in the morning, Harry would get up and come up with a thousand and one ways to get Alexis out of her bed. If he didn’t have to go through it with Ron, his best friend, every day in Hogwarts, he wouldn’t know what to do.

“Al, didn’t we say we’d meet everyone today?” he asked walking to window and opening the curtains in a sudden movement, letting the sun light finally enter into the room. From under the covers, Alexis cried out and hid her face under the pillows.

“Leave me alone,” she murmured, her voice muffled.

Harry went back to the girl and sat on her bed, poking her side a couple of times until she looked at him, a small smile playing on her face.

“You’re such an ass,” she said pushing him away. “And if I remember it well, you’re the one who set this date. I was extremely happy going to the Weasleys later,” she complained.

The boy laughed. He knew his sister wasn’t a morning person and sounded a little too grumpy when it came to the early hours of the day, but he didn’t know it was that much, to the point where she’d rather sleep than go out with her best friend.

“You know, as well as I do, that Ginny would never let it happen,” Harry said getting up. “She really enjoys her time away from her brothers.”

Alexis let out a long sigh and summoned the courage to throw her covers aside, but stopped midway, looking at the wall in front of her.

“Hurry up!” Harry scolded. “Your trunk is not even loaded.”

Every last week of Summer vacation was spent the same way: Harry would go to the Weasleys while Ginny would go to the Potters. That year, however, the young Potter decided it would be easier if they were all at the same place. Easier for what, no one knew, but they had accepted the new idea.

Finally, the girl got up, pulling her trunk from under her bed, throwing everything she owned in there, not caring if she was going to need it or if they’d ended up kneaded. She was in a battle against time and had zero patience when it came to keep everything organized, like she knew her mom would want her to.

Half an hour had gone without her leaving her room. Her black hair was all over the place from diving into the most inhospitable places in her closet, but she wouldn’t stop running from one side to the other. Maybe she shouldn’t have let all that to the last minute, she thought while kicking one of her pants towards the open trunk on her bed. In the middle of all this chaos, she didn’t listen when someone knocked, once again, on her door.

“Everything ready?” James Potter asked, his head poking into the room, now out of place.

“Almost, dad,” she said with a smile, getting up from the floor. “I just need to find something else, but I’m sure mom knows where it is.”

“Run,” was all he said while watching the brunette run towards the lower floor, before she tripped over the last step of the stairs, falling on her hands and knees in the middle of the living room.

The noise from the fall made everyone turn their eyes at her, who, embarrassingly, looked up and realized she wasn’t alone in the room. Some muffled laughs came to her ears, but two pair of eyes, specifically, caught her attention and, at that moment, she wanted to die.

“Everything alright, Al?” asked one of the men sitting on the sofa. His grey eyes fixated on the blushing girl and he was struggling to contain his bark-like laugh. By his side, another man looked at her in pure concern, but, at the same time, having fun.

Alexis felt her body freezing. She was clumsy, there were no doubts, but why did she have to fall in front of those two men? It was like asking to be made fun of for the rest of her life.

“DAD!” she screamed while getting up.

James came down the stairs laughing, probably having had a great view from the fall and, even if he were a responsible father, his reaction did nothing to help his daughter.

“Why didn’t you tell me uncle Moony and uncle Pads were here?” she asked, her arms crossing over her chest and her face frowning. Of course her knees were stinging and her hands were a little sore from the impact, but she wouldn’t let anyone know.

“I didn’t have time,” he said stopping right next to her, caressing her head. “You ran, tripped and fell. It happed all too fast and all I could do was watch,” he intended to say it in a serious tone, but his breath caught up in his throat as he remembered what had just happened.

“Really, Al, how are you holding up?” Sirius asked once again, feigning concern.

Those who didn’t know the man could be mistaken by his behavior and actually believe he was interested in his niece’s well-being, but Alexis knew him ever since she was born. She lived with him long enough, longer than anyone would consider sane, but that was her family. Sirius Black was her uncle, her dad’s best friend, Harry’s Godfather.

“I’m perfectly fine!” she said with a roll of eyes and marching back to the room, furiously. Whatever it was that she was looking for, it was long forgotten and the girl didn’t even want to remember anymore.

As they had predicted, Alexis had made them late and, as they walked into Diagon Alley, it was possible to see how everyone was already there, waiting from them.

Ginny looked from one side of the street to the other, a Fortescue ice-cream in her hand. For some reason, she was impatiente while waiting for her best friend. She knew they should’ve agreed on meeting later, but she had decided to listen to everyone else and now there she was, cast aside from the small group around her.

“Boo,” she heard someone whisper behind her and turned around in a hurry, coming face to face with the brunette she was eager to see and rolled her eyes.

“Finally! I thought I had to go and pick you up myself,” the ginger said angrily. Sometimes the sun made her all too feisty and, that day, was hotter than any other.

“You’re being dramatic,” Alexis shrugged. “It was just a few uncomtemplated events that culminated in my small tardiness.”

Ginny rolled her eyes once again. Whenever Alexis felt like buying time to come up with an excuse, she would use an exquisite vocabulary in order to make the other wonder what she had said. Ginny, however, had spent way too much time with the girl to understand everything she was saying.

“Small?” the ginger scolded. “Keep telling that to yourself,” she completed as she realized the Potter girl would not back down. She was all too headstrong to admit so. “How’s your vacation been?” she opted saying.

Alexis shrugged and thought about everything she had done so far: read a lot of muggle books, read more wizarding books, played a little Quidditch with her brother and her father, traveled to different places… The same as always.

“Same,” she finally said. “I mean, even when it comes to being the small klutz that I am. This morning, I managed to trip on the last step of the stairs and fall on all fours in the living room,” she said, her face in a frown once more. As if the fact of being clumsy wasn’t enough, she had to fall in an embarrassing position. Even more when she thought about who saw all that had happened.

As a good friend, Ginny Weasley tried her best not to laugh, but her highly creative imagination came up with a thousand scenarios of what could have happened to Alexis and she couldn’t hold herself for much longer. Even less when she found out her friend had fallen in front of the people who would hold it against her for all eternity.

Trying to change the subject as fast as she could, Alexis asked Ginny how her vacation had been so far and both of them dived into a discussion of how much of a pain it was to be living with older brothers. The ginger, according to herself, was at disadvantage for having three brothers living with her, all of them older, noisy and annoying.

As if trying to prove their sister right, two of them walked up to the girls, a smile on their faces. To those who didn’t know them it could mean nothing, but Fred and George Weasley weren’t innocent little angels.

“Look at what we have here, George.” Fred said coming closer to the girls.

“Right, Fred. Two people talking and keeping everyone from going,” George replied making Ginny roll her eyes, grab her friend’s hand and drag her towards the stores down the street, not looking back.

Alexis, on the other hand, looked over her shoulder, facing the twins with semi closed eyes. She could’ve just escaped from some sort of prank, but she would never know.

[muggle-writes]

WIP Masterpost

(last updated March 30, 2019)

The formatting got all screwed up on mobile, so here’s a template of the summaries below, so you can tell what should go together. Title (link if published) Premise approximate length and other publishing notes

Partially published

Fandom: 17776

Patience Ten isn’t as patient as she hopes Nine can be. It all works out in the end Short, multi-chapter

Fandom: Harry Potter

The One I’ve Been Looking For (formerly Colors) Soulmate au: You see in black and white until you first see your soulmate, then you can see in color. Harry/Ginny with other canon pairings (but not all couples are soulmates and not all soulmates get romantically involved for a variety of reasons) Meant as a one-shot, became definitively multi-chapter, will probably wind up fairly long. Even if it’s short, it’ll contain vignettes of scenes over at least the first four years Harry attends Hogwarts

(Series) The Star’s Journey An Astoria Greengrass-centric series featuring a friendship and later relationship with Ginny Weasley. Canon compliant (so far) Originally written for PurimGifts 2019 (which is why it’s a series of one-chapter fics, rather than a single ongoing fic). Currently has three installments, at least two more are planned

Fandom: Detective Conan

Eavesdropping Hakuba Saguru is sure Tokyo’s littlest detective is too close to a certain irritating classmate phantom thief. His investigations uncover secrets that are deeper than he could have imagined. Long, multi-chapter (was once regularly updated, hoping to get back to at least bimonthly updates)

Begin Again Trans!Shinichi, begins nearly-canon and explores how the plot would be different if Shinichi were a trans guy Long, multi-chapter, no defined ending (irregular update schedule, which is not helped by being written out of order)

Sphygmoid Soulmate AU (mainly platonic, multiple connections per person) reimagining of the early series. Stripes on your arms, in different colors, represent different people that love you. They turn black if that person has died, so what does this half-and-half stripe mean? Multi-chapter, probably 4-6 chapters total when it’s done. Character-driven

Crossover with Kri – The Unseen Essence Awakening Begins basically canon, but is also set in the Kri universe, so upon a traumatic event people begin to see their Kri – the external half of their souls. (mildly self-indulgent, likely to wildly diverge from canon because the Sleeping Kogoro gag is much harder to pull off when Kogoro’s Kri is not sleeping) Short, multi-chapter. Open/ambiguous ending Marked complete on AO3, because the three chapters I initially drafted are all published, but I keep writing more so they may eventually be added ...Someone remind me to update the link in the fic header from the Kri website (which is no more) to the google drive folder containing all the official content

Fandom: Magic Kaito (Despite the frequent overlap, I do tend to write these separately)

Reunion Kaito comes home to find his father in the Kid Room Originally done as a writing exercise in the KaiShin discord, experimental (writing bot) style 1-2 more chapters before it’s complete Might be “completed” in a “choose-your-own-adventure” style with an angst ending and a happy ending

Stripes of Fate Soulmate AU: everyone has a stripe of color on their wrist that matches their soulmate’s hair color. It changes when the soulmate changes their hair color by any mechanism so it continues to match. HakuKai, starting a few years before they meet each other Published for DCMK Secret Santa 2017 but has placeholder chapters that I intend to eventually fill in because I wanted to post a “complete” story (or at least get to the happy ending) in time for the gift exchange (lol the previous version of this WIP list predicted this to end up as 2-3 chapters) Currently 7 chapters including placeholders, perhaps as many as 10 or 12 when it’s truly complete

Not at all published

Fandom: Detective Conan/Magic Kaito

(no title yet - affectionately known as Angst 1) Angst: the wrong person gets their hands on the Apotoxin, and things get worse before they get better (no character death, mostly light-hearted ending?) Long, multi-chapter (will be posted all at once because I’m not cruel enough to publish it partially and leave readers hanging… or worried about my state of mind. Also it’s harder to write now that I’m in a better headspace, but writing it was therapeutic for a while)

(no title yet - affectionately known as Angst 2) Angst: the aftermath of DC Movie 17 if any of a few things had gone a little differently at the climax of the movie. (major character death). In later chapters, canon-typical gambit pileup (which is basically crackfic in comparison to my usual style). Mostly outside perspective of the events. Short, multi-chapter (as with Angst 1, will be published all at once so I don’t leave readers with angst-cliffhangers with my irregular posting schedule. This one is mostly written except I’m several scenes beyond the original intended ending and the story keeps coming so who knows when it’ll be done and ready to publish). On the other hand, I might publish the first part as serious angst, and the later part as a separate piece due to the difference in tone. Still probably all at once

(no title yet) Heiji and Shinichi come out (from prompt) One-shot (delayed because of a mild twist, of the sort that I want to make sure I’m writing it well and that takes a lot of thought and proofreading)

Crossovers:

Crossover with A Girl and Her Fed (no title yet) Rachel and Hope meet Conan and Jodie at a coffeeshop. Hope confuses Conan. Jodie asks Rachel to contact Josh about a case they once worked together (a case that she’s still on). Rachel watches Conan solve a case. Short, 2-4 chapter (delayed until I finally read Greek Key, in case something Hope does or experiences affects how I want to write Rachel here)

Crossover with Natsume Yuujinchou (no title yet) Heiji and Conan find Natsume early in the events of (Natsume) season 6 episode 1 and assume that Natsume has the same problem Conan does Short, 1-3 chapter

Crossover with Harry Potter (no title yet) Hakuba Saguru is actually Harry Potter in disguise (from prompt, expanded to: Harry, being The Harry Potter, has been given special permission to chase criminals across country lines. Harry is investigating a notorious criminal, known to Muggles as “the last wizard of the century”, and who wears white robes as though he once went to Mahoutokoro but got caught doing illegal magic) Short, 1-3 chapter

Fandom: Undertale

An Arm and a Leg Sans begs Papyrus to take Frisk for the evening, so he can take Toriel out on a date at the last minute, and Papyrus agrees despite having already arranged to go on his first date with Mettaton the same evening One-shot (originally from prompt with the premise above, delayed embarrassingly long because I mis-remembered while planning and wrote half of another story and then having to start over (plus college life) was hell on my motivation)

Fandom: Harry Potter

(no title yet) Dudley is the Chosen One (slightly modified prophecy, fairly divergent events once they get to Hogwarts) Long, multi-chapter (being written out of order and the first chapter isn’t ready yet - I do have a good beta on standby though)

Crossover with DCMK (see DCMK section)

Crossover with the specific already-a-crossover universe of Love Is All You Need To Destroy Your Enemies (no title yet) Hermione and Julie become friends. Wonderful chaos ensues. Short, multi-chapter (the background is established but the actual fic is pending a real plot. Tentatively approved by @davetheshady despite not yet having a plot)

Crossover with MCU (no title yet) Tony Stark turns out to be Harry’s biological father, and finds out near the end of Harry’s fourth year. Character driven Longer by wordcount than Eavesdropping despite nothing being posted yet. I’m waiting on posting it until I have a clearer idea of whether this is going to have a plot arc or be solely character driven. Currently in the form of a lot of disconnected scenes

Fandom: Natsume Yuujinchou

(no title yet) Touko-centric, the truth comes out (fluff, mostly) Short, 1-2 chapter

Crossover with Detective Conan (see DCMK section)

Not WIPs (published and complete)

Fandom: DCMK

The Truth Ran confronts Conan about being Shinichi one more time, and Shinichi, after some hesitation, decides it’s time for the truth (from prompt) One-shot

Movie Night Sato/Takagi fluff: enough said. (inspired by a screenshot of a pair of YikYak posts actually), 100% canon-compliant One-shot

Memory Conan is injured and Kaito has never been less interested in keeping a promise (gen, not angst) One-shot

Stripes of Fate arguably complete - see above 7+ chapters

Crossover with Kri – The Unseen Essence Awakening arguably complete - see above 3+ chapters

Fandom: Harry Potter

Distant As a Memory A glimpse into Hermione’s mind as she prepares to erase her parents’ memories Originally written for PurimGifts 2019. One-shot. Arguably complete, may add a follow-up chapter or two because I had to cut several ideas to stay within close to the event’s maximum wordcount

Dayenu Pesach is hard, the year Luna is 10. Jewish Lovegood family. Grief/mourning and a path to recovery Originally written for PurimGifts 2019 One-shot

Fandom: Dragonriders of Pern

Flights and Fights (and Happy Endings) (title subject to change) Rearranging characters’ Weyr assignments before the double mating flight in Dragonquest, leads to averted tragedy Minor character-centric (Varena, rider of gold Ralenth, yes her name shows up in the text at least once outside of the DragonDex at the end of the book) and throws out some of the more problematic word-of-god “truths” about mating flights. One-shot. Originally written for PurimGifts 2019. Lol what’s a maximum wordcount

Other/No Fandom

The Twins The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission through the eyes of Opportunity, written shortly after the news that JPL was sending their last commands to Oppy. Vaguely poetic One-shot. AO3 “corrected” the “Mars Rovers (Fandom)” tag to “Space Exploration RPF” so this is probably the only “RPF” I’ll ever write.

Related: I posted a timeline of real events, for comparison so people could easily check which events Oppy mentioned in The Twins, since the history of Curiosity and Opportunity aren’t as neatly condensed into a “canon”

[cover2covermom]

Well this is embarrassingly late… seeing as I attended this event back in October.  Oh well, better late than never right?

At this year’s BBTB, I got to see authors like Laini Taylor, Anne Bogel, Jasmine Warga, Emily Duncan, Kristen Simmons, Mindy McGinnis, and Eddith Pattou.

Books by the Banks took place on October 26, in Cincinnati Ohio.  I attended with my bookish bestie, Nicole, who had matching shirts made for us.  We were living our best #NerdLife.

We got many compliments on our shirts… and the wire shopping cart that I used to tote around our books all day.  After attending many of these types of events, I decided it was time to invest in some type of cart to save us the misery of carrying heavy books around all day.

Everyone was totally jealous of my awesome cart… best $14 I’ve ever spent!

We sat in on 3 panels: Teen Fiction, Author Spotlight: Laini Taylor, and Creating Lifelong Readers.  Here are a few highlights…

Teen Fiction: Adi Alsaid, Emily Duncan, Debbie Rigaud, and Kristen Simmons.  Moderated by Mindy McGinnis

Adi Alsaid

Adi was promoting Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak

He writes YA books because it suits his writing style and voice.

Fun fact: when he was in college he joined a market research project & got paid to brush his teeth.

The best compliment he has ever received was from a reader that reading North of Happy got them back into reading after the loss of a cousin.

The worst thing he hears about one of his books is “meh.”

When he wants to feed his insecurity he reads his book reviews on Goodreads.

His writing process has changed over time.  While he does outline, they have become more vague as the years go on.

Adi believes that writing is a skill that you have to practice.

Debbie Rigaud

Debbie was there to promote Truly Madly Royally, a Meghan Markle inspired rom-com.

She likes writing for a YA audience because she finds YA readers are less pretentious.

The best compliment she’s received are the readers who say they read her book in one sitting.

The worst thing she hears about her book are readers complaining that the characters are too young…

Debbie will begin her writing process by writing a 5-6 page synopsis, then expanding from there.

Emily Duncan

Emily was there to promote Wicked Saints

Her favorite part about writing Wicked Saints was writing the progression of her main character – from her sheltered life view to broader view.

The worst comment she has received for Wicked Saints was that a reviewer said it was a “spiritually concerning Shadow and Bone.”

When asked about her writing process, Emily joked that she wouldn’t wish her writing process on her worst enemy.  Emily is a pantser.  She will panic at various points during the book and rewrite many times.  After her first draft is finished, she goes back and marks places where she needs more description or expansion.

Kristen Simmons

Kristen was promoting The Deceivers

Kristen feels that adults often let their experiences inhibit them which is why she enjoys writing for teens because they don’t have those experiences to stop them from attempting big things.

She writes books that are very feminist.

The best compliment she received was when a reader told Kristen that she left an abusive relationship after reading one of her books.

The worst thing she has heard from a reviewer was one that wrote “this author is seriously messed up” in their review.

She has gotten to the 70k words point of a book and scrapped it.  Twice.  She feels it is important to accept the fact that many words are not going to see the light of day.

Kristen is an outliner, but that can change with the book.  It depends on the number of perspectives she is writing.

She suggests writing from the 5 senses to practice descriptive writing.

Kristin recommends to always think about tension when writing.  The big scenes don’t mean much without the tension beforehand.

Mindy McGinnis

Mindy was promoting Heroine

Mindy once caused an accident because she was texting and driving.  All the other cars involved were teen drivers, yet the adult caused the accident.

The best compliments she has received for Heroine are from recovering addicts that tell her she tackled addiction correctly & respectfully.

The worst comment she has ever received about one of her books was from someone that hated her book so much, they fed it to an alligator.

Mindy writes linearly from start to finish.  She is a pantser.  On a good writing day, she does not feel in control.  Mindy describes herself as a “tight” writer not a descriptive writer.

Author Spotlight: Laini Taylor

The author spotlight on Laini Taylor was moderated by Intisar Khanani.

Laini went to art school.

When asked why Laini writes fantasy, she responded that fantasy is what made her a reader.  She feels fantasy is so important because our brains need stories of hope & heroism.

She has tried to write realistic fiction, but had nothing to write.

Harry Potter inspired her to write for young people.

When writing for young people, Laini feels it is very important to handle sensitive topics with care.

Laini joked that writing a book is “an experience in learning how much you don’t know.”  She feels she has learned a lot about herself as a writer.

She likes to explore seeing people through different lenses because she has had a very privileged white middle-class experience.

She likes to explore themes like redemption, forgiveness, and hope in her books.

When Laini starts a book, she has a vague sense of the end, but doesn’t know how she is going to get there.  It is trial and error.

Strange the Dreamer started out as a standalone.  She had an idea about a character that lives above the world & sends down nightmares.  It was originally going to be Sarai’s story, but Lazlo stole the show.  The moment that it became Lazlo’s story, the book became much easier to write.

She spent 8 months writing in the wrong perspective in her current work in progress.

To her, writer’s block is when writing feels like driving with the brakes on, but just because writing can be hard it doesn’t mean that you are not meant to do it.

She finished her first book when she was in her mid-30s.

Laini likes to write fast drafts of scenes, then goes back and rewrites them until she is ready to write the scene.

If she feels stuck, she will brainstorm potential “what if” scenarios until she finds the right one.

Laini balances the dark moments with secondary characters to lighten the mood.  She lets her main characters do the heavy lifting.

She feels that to write a villain these days is challenging.  The stakes are so high, so a villain has to be really bad.

Laini is currently writing her first adult book.  It is a gender flipped retelling.

Creating Lifelong Readers: Anne Bogel & Meghan Cox Gurdon

Anne Bogel

Anne runs a popular blog called Modern Mrs. Darcy

She also has a podcast called What Should I Read Next?

Her book, I’d Rather Be Reading, is on the joys of the reading life.

Anne feels that adults can often lose the habit of reading.  Reading is something that you need to make time for.

She loved to help people find books that they will enjoy, and is honored to be a trusted source for recommending books.

Meghan Cox Gurdon

Megan wrote The Enchanted Hour

She is a children’s book critic for the Wall Street Journal.

Megan is a mother of 5 children.

Meghan feels technology has impacted our attention span negatively.  We are living in an age of distraction.

She feels imagination is a muscle that needs exercised.

Meghan is hesitant to offer book recommendations because books are personal.

She feels reading aloud is a natural experience that has so many benefits to children AND adults.

Do you attend book festivals?  If so, which ones?

Have you read any of the authors I mentioned in the post above?  If so, what did you think?

Comment below & let me know!

Author Event: Books by the Banks 2019 Well this is embarrassingly late... seeing as I attended this event back in October.  Oh well, better late than never right?

[esteliensmainblog]

childhood embarrassing moments and other questionnaires

25. What was the one embarrassing moment in your school life that you won’t forget ?

I’ll probably forget all of these eventually, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten tons already, but I do have some stories.

Like that time the lights weren’t working in the girls’ restroom and all we had (pre- cell phones) was my toy unicorn whose pink forehead gem was a button you could push and it would light up and she’d say things like, “You’re my best friend. I’ll take you anywhere.”  But you couldn’t really use the horse and do your business at the same time, so we had to work together.  It sucked. (Side note: I want to figure out what that horse was called... message me if you know?)

One time in middle school, I had an issue with my shorts.  I was always careful to stay within the dress code, but one day, a male teacher took me aside during class and told me that my shorts were showing “something we don’t want to see.”  I still don’t know what it was.

Once in elementary school, we had a substitute teacher who was seriously ancient and incapable of doing her job.  Apparently my bathroom stall door hadn’t locked properly, because she walked in on me.

I got my first period in fourth grade.  Thick stretch pants in the worst shade of purple.  I still can’t stand that color.  We had handbell practice that day.  It was horrifying.

In high school, I was still working on the whole “don’t just say whatever you’re thinking” thing.  The guy behind me put his feet up on the sides of my desk.  I asked him to put them down, because they smelled terrible.  He left the room, ticked off, and the teacher had a talk with me.  I wasn’t the type to accidentally be mean to someone, so I was kind of mortified and had to run and apologize.  Besides that, I was new at the school (compared to most of the class), so I hadn’t really been accepted yet.

At the same school, I once drew a picture of one of the older students, just to practice drawing, and because I had a photo to work from because my dad took pictures at the school play.  I went to tell her I’d drawn a picture of her, and she gave me this look of disgust and said something that made it sound like she thought it was super creepy and gross that I’d do that.  It was an ”I’m just gonna melt into the floor now bye" moment.

Majoring in a foreign language means making some embarrassing mistakes.  The worst of mine was in this class where we had to write a really serious essay.  I don’t know what the prompt was, but most of us wrote about hugely important and serious things we were going through (like one girl wrote about her far-too-much-older boyfriend).  Usually, if someone made a funny mistake, a different professor would just point it out in writing or quietly, but this teacher wasn’t afraid to embarrass students in front of the class.  My dictionary fail was, in this case, too problematic to even say in front of the class (and I was the prof’s TA so she was less savage with me), so she called me into her office.  What I meant to say was that someone (a respected mentor) kept saying he/she would do something, but then would never follow through.  The verb I found for “follow through” meant in a sexual way.

On a much lighter note, in early elementary school, the mean girls started a rumor that they’d seen me kissing my crush under the desks.

But more embarrassingly, to get back at one of those bullies (not for that specific incident), I once prank called her late at night.  Again, nobody had cell phones at the time, so it was the landline.  I didn’t know about *69.  Her mom called back.

One time in middle school, I got my period and wasn’t prepared, so two girls went with me to the office to ask for a pad.  (They weren’t friends of mine, and had been jerks to me and my friends for years.  I’m guessing they tagged along because they were curious or amused?)  The lady working there was gigantic.  She gave me what is, to this day, the largest pad I have ever seen in my life. We’re talking the length and width of at least four normal pads combined.  And those girls walked all the way back to the restroom with me where I had to try to put it on.

50 questions you’ve never been asked tag

1. What’s your favorite candle scent? Cinnamon, but it has to be the artificial cinnamon smell and it has to be strong.  I want candles that smell like Red Hots or those pinecones they put in the entrance of Michael’s and Giant Eagle every Christmas.

2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister? None of them.

3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother? None of them. 

4. How old do you think you’ll be when you get married? Rather not think about it.

5. Do you know a hoarder? Unfortunately.

6. Can you do a split? Nope.

7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike? Idk, some normal age.

8. How many oceans have you swam in? One

9. How many countries have you been to? One besides where I’m from

10. Is anyone in your family in the army? Yes

11. What would you name your daughter if you had one? That’s a secret

12. What would you name your son if you had one? “

13. What’s the worst grade you got on a test? Probably F.  Mostly got A’s but who knows.

14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child? There were so many.  As Told By Ginger stands out, though.  And basically every cartoon.

15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight? Sure.

16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series? Harry Potter, and I’m working on the Hunger Games.

17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent? I’m fine with how I talk.  British is weird and neat too.

18. Did your mother go to college? Nope

19. Are your grandparents still married? Only one alive

20. Have you ever taken karate lessons? No

21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is? Not a clue.  Never heard of dat boi.

22. What’s the first amusement park you’ve been to? The person who wrote this quiz must be ten.  I can’t remember these things.

23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in? Already fluent in French.  Would like to learn basically any other language.  Japanese or Korean would be cool.  I’m also a fan of made-up languages.  I really like Trigedasleng from The 100, since it’s like a fun creole of English.

24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray? Both.  Yup.

25. Is your father bald? No

26. Do you know triplets? No

27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook? Never seen either

28. Have you ever had Indian food? Weirdly, only stuff I’ve cooked, so it doesn’t count.

29. What’s the name of your favorite restaurant? It’s this Japanese place that’s soooo good.

30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden? I aint never heard a’ no olives in the .. gardens.. Yes.  Obviously, yes.

31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ’s, etc.)? No.  Paying to shop is dumb.

32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender? Dunno

33. If you have a nickname, what is it? Anyone reading this either already knows or doesn’t need to know

34. Who’s your favorite person in the world? I’m lucky enough to have a few.  Two best friends, two nephews, a big family..

35. Would you rather live in a rural area or in the suburbs? Suburbs

36. Can you whistle? No

37. Do you sleep with a nightlight? No

38. Do you eat breakfast every morning? Yes

39. Do you take any pills or medication daily? Yes

40. What medical conditions do you have? Dude

41. How many times have you been to the hospital? Umm.  Once to be born, probably once when I broke my arm, once a few days after a bike accident..  That might be all.

42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo? Seriously, you are ten.

43. Where do you buy your jeans? Thrift stores

44. What’s the last compliment you got? It was from an online quiz. I’m in extreme summer introvert mode.

45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning? Yes. Thanks, meds.

46. What flavor tea do you enjoy? Plain black is good, but I grew up on apricot tea (black with a slight apricot flavor), so that’s always been my favorite.  They’d put it in my sippy cup.

47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own? I don’t want to move, let alone go count my shoes.

48. What religion will you raise your children to practice? Christianity

49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn’t real? Idk, I don’t remember ever believing he was real?

50. Why do you have a youtube? What does this sentence mean?

Some random questions :P

1. What’s your height ? Short

2. Which season is your favorite ? Spring and fall

3. Writing, art or chatting ? All of the above

4. Pokemon, long live, Digimon, YoKai watch, Barbie, Doraemon ? That second one is a song, though, right?  Whatever.  Digimon and Pokemon, in that order.

5. Burgers or pizza ? Pizza, unless the burgers have roasted onions and peppers, in which case, burgers.

6. What’s your sexual orientation ?

7. If you could change 3 things in the world, what could they be ? Everybody everywhere would get free health care, somehow the racists etc. learn and we all treat each other like we’re on the same team, everybody everywhere has the opportunity to make enough money to live on.

8. Any fictional character that you will love to cosplay ? It might be fun to dress as Asuna?  But because of the creepy stuff in the second part of the show, I’m not going to do that.

9. Do you sleep with any stuff toy by your side ? No

10. Do you live alone ?

11. Describe the surroundings around your home.

12. What will be your dream profession ? Getting to come up with ideas and not having to follow through with making them happen - somebody else does that part.  Also playing video games most of the time.

13. Which vegetable you HATE the most ? I don’t hate any veggie I’ve tried.

14. Which vegetable you LOVE the most ? Idk, lots of them are good.  Recently learned how to roast sweet potatoes and woah.

15. Ever eaten bitter gourd ? No

16. Strawberries or blackberries ? Strawberries

17. Number of friends on tumblr. Three, off the top of my head.. idk

18. What’s is the one thing that you want to change in yourself ? I need to figure out how to keep up with dishes, and generally have better motivation.  My variety of depression keeps the motivation preeeetty low, even with meds.

19. Ever went underwaters ? Dude

20. Mom or dad ? With whom you’re much bonded to ? You just forgot how to speak English, but okay.  Dad.

21. Number and age of siblings ? One sister.  Very older.

22. Ever met any actor or actress in real ? No, but I heard Billy Boyd sing at an orchestra or something.  Freaking amazing.

23. Who you want to meet NOW ? It’s after midnight, so. nah.

24. What are your casual wears ? My sister got me this incredible dress-like thing that might be technically a swimsuit coverup.  It’s cute and sleeveless and has a hood and it’s so comfy.

25. (moved to top)

26. Are you curious about certain anons ? Huh?

27. What’s the one thing that you’ll always regret for ? Probably some of my purchases.  Nothing big, but I just look at things and think, if I hadn’t bought that, I could have spent the money on video games or food.

28. When you’re excited, which word you speak out mostly ? Idk? “Oh my gosh”?

29. Had crush on any of your friends in school life? Is he/she still your crush ? Not really and no

30. Do you celebrate Halloween ? Which costume did you wore last time ? I don’t “celebrate” what it’s about, but dressing up in costumes is super fun.  The last couple Halloweens I haven’t dressed up, but I know I’ve been Lucille Ball and Anna (from Frozen) a few times.

31. What’s your lucky number and lucky color ? ? I like purple.

32. What never bores you ? Technically, nothing.  But I love video games and dinosaurs and languages.

33. What you hate the most ? I’m suuuuper sensitive, so lots of sensory things like sounds and flashing lights and when people bump into me and bad smells.  Also washing dishes.  Because it’s way too sensory and all the feels are unpleasant (bad smells, dirty hands, unexpected loud noises, the stress of feeling like I can’t keep up, etc.).

34. Do you believe in ghosts and spirits ? Want to meet one ? No

35. What’s a common name that you’re often called from ? From?

36. In your eyes, who’s the most popular blog irrespective of the number of followers it has ? I probably don’t follow them.  The more popular ones I follow are Dan and Phil, Seth Everman, shower thoughts...

37. Do you know languages other than English ? French, and teeny bits of Japanese, Elvish, and Trigedasleng.  Ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim.

38. What’s the thing you’ll always cherish ? The mems Also the memes

39. Describe your personality in 5 words. Definitely too tired for this

40. Your Myers Briggs personality type ? INFP

41. Introverted, ambiverted or extroverted ? Very introverted in all situations

42. Are you left-handed, ambidextrous or right-handed ? Right

43. Do you use alarm clock to wake yourself up ? Phone

44. Read newspapers, magazines ? Not really

45. Ask any question… Why?

~ This or that

🌹 - loyal / 💔 - heartbreaker 🎉 - social / 💤 - antisocial 🍎-feminine / 🍏-masculine / 🍐-androgynous ⭐️ - night owl / 🐦 - early bird (permanently exhausted pigeon) 🐶 - dog person / 🐱 - cat person 😎 - sunny days / 💧- rainy days ✨ - stargazing / ☁️ - butt watching (CLOUD TO BUTT CHROME EXTENSION DOES IT AGAIN!) 🍉 - healthy food / 🍔 - comfort food 🎨 - artistic / ✏️ - logical ❤️ - affectionate / 💛 - reserved

rules: the questions deliberately come in pairs. instead of me answering all the questions, I want you to pick a pair, answer one of the questions and I’ll answer the other. (Yes, I don’t care.)

1A Are you going through a personal struggle right now? Nothing big.  It’s mostly family stuff right now. 1B Do you have someone in your life you can share your struggles with? Yes!

2A Who are you? Parasauro1ophus 2B Who do you want to be? Parasaurolophus (it was taken, but now it’s not, but tumblr won’t let me have it.)

3A What do you want to do before you die? Help people 3B What if you found out you were going to die tomorrow? I’d try to get things in order to make things as easy as possible for the people who will have to deal with my possessions. Then I’d spend the day with friends and family and not tell them, but make sure they knew how special they were.

4A What do you spend too much time doing? Video games 4B What is a new habit you want to form? Exercise

5A What is one question you would ask a fortuneteller? Is it free? 5B What do you wish you knew more about? Most things

6A What does success mean to you? Helping people and not hurting people 6B what is your next great adventure? Who knows.  Probably a new job and apartment and town.

7A What is your biggest fear? I don’t like the dark much.  Also afraid of bears and someone breaking in.   7B Where do you find peace? .... Video games.  No, seriously.  I know it’s escapism.  But take this week for example.  I was at my parents’ house for a lot of days.  I was constantly busy, between cooking for them, helping get rid of stuff, trying to keep my mom a little more emotionally stable, visiting family, visiting friends, etc.  I didn’t get any alone time.  I’m seriously introverted and am now very accustomed to living alone.  So being there, I got to the point where I just had my head down on the kitchen table and wouldn’t say or do anything.  I got home and accidentally slept til noon (which I never do), then spent three full days immersed in video games, Netflix, and YouTube.  I just have to recharge sometimes.

8A Describe a turning point in your life Halfway through my first year of teaching, I finally acknowledged that I was struggling with depression, and I told a few people I trusted.  Got to a doctor and started the process of finding meds and a therapist.  I’m doing so much better now than I had been since early high school.  It didn’t happen all at once, but that road to - I don’t want to say recovery, but at least being able to kind of function - was so worth it. 8B What are you looking forward to? Tomorrow, since it’s Saturday and I don’t have to be anywhere.  Maybe the grocery store if anything.  Maybe I’ll paint.  Or put the carpet back down.

9A What do you think about when you wake up? What I dreamed about and how crappy I feel and whether I can possibly keep sleeping a while longer. 9B Where would you like to wake up tomorrow? Here.

10A What object would you save if your house was on fire? Phone so I could call 911.  Maybe my very few belongings that are worth something, if I had time. 10B What would make you happy right now? Another ice cream sandwich would be nice.  It would also be a bad idea.

11A What are your priorities at the moment? Helping parents get rid of things.  Otherwise, serious resting before I have to get ready for the next school year. 11B What age do you wish you could permanently be? 25-26 was pretty nice.  I feel like I’ve started aging now.

12A What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home? France 12B What are you interested in that most people haven’t heard of? Not much, since “most people” is hard to define.  But some of my favorites are pretty specific?  Like I play the ukulele, which is so mainstream, but I specifically play the baritone, which most people don’t know about.  It’s less trendy, the tuning is different from all other ukes, and it’s the biggest kind.  I love it.  I guess Runescape also counts as something most people haven’t heard of, since it’s pretty specific to people close to my age and is really old now (but still thriving!).  Fly For Fun was an all-time favorite video game too, from back in high school.  The official game (an MMORPG) is pretty dead now, and even when it was still big, nobody I knew had heard of it.

13A What songs have you completely memorized? Happy Birthday? Not many. 13B What pets did you have while you were growing up? A fish, then a dog.

14A What is a relationship deal breaker for you? There are so many.  The red flag I always say to look for first is how he treats waiters, his mom, and elderly people. 14B Would you ever take back someone who cheated? why/why not? 99% of the time, no, but situations can be complicated.

15A What was the best phase of your life? Adulthood.  20 was the most significant milestone for me.  Turning 13 or 16 or 18 or 21 didn’t matter much.  Not being a teen was the best. 15B What was the worst phase of your life? All the teenage years

[talv666-blog]

Pop Culture Bio

I grew up with an older brother so most of my cultural objects when I was young were from him. We played a lot of videogames together, mostly Final Fantasy and Kingdom of Hearts. When he got older however he went to boarding school and I soon lost my interest in videogames. However, I kept up playing on the computer. We used to play a lot of Runescape and I was a fan of Neopets. We were also avid fans of Harry Potter. I remember staying up late to buy the book at midnight as well as dressing up for the premiere of movies. My mother was also a fan of Sci-Fi so I grew up on Dune, Star Trek and The Matrix.

In middleschool I got rather into music and was consuming a lot of metal and punk music. Embarrassingly enough a few of my favorite bands were A Day To Remember and Chiodos. I consumed a lot of band t-shirts as well as bought many tickets to concerts. Most of my magazine subscriptions and other shopping also had to do with metal or things like tattoos, which though I don’t listen to the music I am still rather interested in. I didn’t watch a lot of TV in middle school but I was rather into Degrassi and Parenthood, which are both dramas about people’s lives and families. I remember sitcoms being popular but not being a huge part of those jokes. I was however a fan of The Office and even traveled with my dad to Scranton one time, which is ridiculous considering there is nothing there.

In High School I continued my love for music, but expended my taste. I started becoming friends with girls since it was expected of me and stopped consuming so much skate and punk culture. I also stopped skating which may have influenced the music I was consuming as well as made more time for TV watching. My friends were really into reality TV shows like The Kardashians and I would watch it with them, becoming a fan myself.

Now I liv fully as male, however don’t subject my TV consumption to gender. I have been watching Handmaid’s Tale and find myself watching more TV since my boyfriend is a fan. I also watch a lot more animation now since some of my friends have gone to college for such and showed me how to appreciate the technique and art of animation. Two of my favorite animated shows are Archer and Bob’s Burgers. I also enjoy watching TV on Netflix with my boyfriend. We are able to stream multiple episodes at once without commercials, which wasn’t possible when I was growing up. This may also be why I watch more TV then I did then. We are fans of House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. Both of them are gripping dramatic and well made Television shows. I appreciate clever humor and well developed characters. I find much of comedy and sitcoms to be cheap humor and am not always a fan, though I do enjoy Louis CK. Overall I don’t think my taste has changed however, and I have been finding myself even going back to the punk and metal music I once consumed in middle school lately.