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theinnerhalf · 4 years ago

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2019 in Review: Highlights

Making a venture back into writing again with this “year in review”. I guess I’m slightly less damaged than I was last year and have finally built the courage to write about how this year was for me, even some dark times included. Thank you 2019, for not much, but I guess thank you. A “fuck you” would be more appropriate but regardless, I’m grateful. Let’s do this.

January 2019

An extremely slow start to the new year, as it usually is when it comes to me. My January’s tend to be bleak, gray, and cold especially considering the coming down from a constant holiday high. I spent this first month with friends I could call my family, regularly going out as much as we could while the two military guys (EJ and James) are here for the time being. In this month as well, I got to finally meet up with my ex who I can now proudly call a friend. Diana and I were able to catch up extensively to make up for all the lost time, talking about things like how we’ve been, the changes, the constants, and occasionally reminiscing. I know I’ve felt at peace before already, for having her back into my life rather than staying a bittersweet memory, but getting to catch up like this was a whole other type of joy I didn’t know I needed. As for the picture of the pants, I finally made the decision to buy a pair of jeans that I wanted soooo so bad from one of my favorite designers.

February

Goodness...Where do I even start for this month?...Like January, February for me is usually bleak. Regardless it being a month for “love”, it sucked. Maybe the worst for me in the year. The start of this month wasn’t all too bad though! There was a fashion show that Celine was walking/modeling for held at Rice University in order to celebrate Asian cultures and Chinese New Year. The show overall was alright...I guess it was just nice to be out supporting Celine and whatnot. I thought this month would at least provide a break for me, but just five days later, my grandma was sent to the ICU after suffering from a stroke...It happened so suddenly...Celine and I were at an outing when the two of us came back to my place and ran into my dad who was leaving in a hurry. He had a lost look on his face, as well as panicky and shifty eyes. He broke the news to us and had the sinking feeling in me hit so fast. The next thing I know, we’re at the hospital waiting room, anxiously waiting to be briefed with (hopefully) good news. I remember disassociating when the doctor had finally came to us, thinking that this really couldn’t be happening...not to us...not to my dad. I remember thinking that this isn’t fair...We literally had just gotten her into our lives’ and now we’re losing her.

We spent the following week trading stays at the hospital between my siblings and cousins. I can’t remember the proper psychology term for the feeling of false hope and security for an event that seems to be too horrible to be true, but that was what I had felt for the entire time. There’s no way that my family could lose our grandma like this...and not this soon. Just a day before my grandma’s stroke happened, she was asking when my younger sister and I were going to get married. The two of us looked at each other like, “What the fuuuu--? Where is this coming from?” My grandma explained shortly after that she felt as if she didn’t have much longer for her time here with us, and that she wanted to have the honor to make the dresses and suits for Lacel’s or my wedding. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about how cruel and merciless the world could be, but also at the same time, that I should’ve known better and that I should be used to this...I should be but I would rather not. I think it was after a week and a half where I found that my grandma would be transferred to a hospice. My family had told me this and I was under the impression that hospices were for people who had recovered enough that they don’t need to be in a hospital but still needed professional caretakers. I told this to Andrew and Quin and they both shared painful and shocked expressions with each other. I asked why they were looking at each other like that and then they broke it to me that hospices were for people who didn’t have much time left. I remember crying in front of them that day during work.

Virginia Barreda passed away, February 19, 2019. My family grieved separately and in different ways. I slept off the entire day...The picture of the room was how my grandma left the room right before she was taken to the hospital and was left untouched for the entire duration of the situation. I embarrassingly and shamefully made a gofundme to help raise money so that my family and I could attend her final farewell back home in the Philippines. I thought it wouldn’t get anywhere...but my heart...I was so surprised to see the amount of love and support that friends and even strangers had decided to put out, and I was touched beyond anything I had ever expected. A big thank you to those who donated and have come across this post by any way. You have my sincerest gratitude and even with that, I cannot thank you enough.

To end the note on a positive note at least, Celine and I hit one year at the end of this month. Amazing.

March

My family and I were in such a weird head space entering this month. There was a lot of recovering to be made and coming out of the state of denial from my grandma’s passing. It was like a new chapter of our lives abruptly opened itself onto us and we all did not know how to proceed. My dad was stressing out over medical expenses and how we were going to afford to bring the entire family to Philippines for my grandma’s final resting place. I did my best to keep the gofundme a secret from him, because knowing my dad, he would not accept the money under any condition. He only came to find out about it because some of his friends and relatives came across it, donated, and then told him about how sentimental and touching my gofundme passage was. He just asked why, and I regrettably said that it was because we were struggling out here and all I wanted to do was help. After some convincing with the help of my two sister’s, my dad accepted the help and agreed that we can now at least afford to take my dad for the initial ceremony while the rest of us would follow-up, hopefully in the summer or late 2019.

The first picture in this month’s set is of the Pieta in Italy, taken by Lacel. Lacel was on a two week school trip, while in the second picture is the view my dad had while his two week stay in the Philippines. Both my older sister and I stayed at home while envying our dad’s and Lacel’s experiences. Their trips only served as motivation for me to save up a lot more for Japan and I really wanted to make that happen no matter what. Even if it meant me going alone, I was ready to accept it.

The following pictures of Lacel are when they came back from Italy and celebrated their two years of being clean/no relapses. I know I rarely ever let it be known, but I really do care and love my younger sister a lot, and to see them make it this far in the span of two years meant so much to me. I’m glad that my family was able to celebrate that milestone in Lacel’s life because it was definitely quite the journey. The last photo is of my car’s fourth brake light functioning again with Travis’ help and was fixed just in time for the long drive to Marfa.

April

Really, the only one significant highlight for this month, which I am incredibly excited to share, was the moderately spontaneous trip I took out to Marfa, Texas with Yentl. I do have to say, the two of us were quite ambitious for taking on this trip by leaving Houston around 12am shortly, after grabbing oh my gogi and some boba. With the help of a trenta iced coffee, I was able to knock out 6 hours of the 8 hour drive. While the drive was a lot of fun, I started getting really sleepy around the 4 hour mark but it started raining extremely hard after we had passed San Antonio. I was so reluctant to switch over to Yentl driving because I had been losing traction every now and then. It was only until the sun rose that we finally had passed the rain. I shortly knocked out after the switch.

I woke up to Yentl ecstatically saying, “We’re heeeeere!” I opened my eyes and was immediately blinded, forgetting that daytime was a thing. But from the short time my eyes were open, I saw a railroad and buildings styled from days of the past. I fought to keep my eyes open only to tell myself, maybe five more minutes. As soon as we parked, Yentl and I took the opportunity to walk around.The weather was pleasant, not too hot and not too cold either. The humidity that seems to be a pestering presence in Houston was nowhere to be found in Marfa, so the daytime stroll was bliss. The two of us checked out Marfa’s welcome sign, the city hall (only from the outside because it was closed), a couple of local shops and art galleries, and the hotel Paisano, a hotel best known for having a movie shot in it.

All the walking had made us hungry...That and the only thing inside of us were boba and caffeine. Yentl and I checked out a place called Aster’s that was primarily a breakfast joint recommended to us by a person working at the welcome center. We both got an egg’s benedict. Me with a lemonade, and her an iced coffee. After eating, we proceeded to go to our Airbnb located 30 minutes away at another small town called Alpine. The Airbnb’s neighborhood was located in some rural area with cliffs surrounding it all. The Airbnb itself was a small and cute place that was divided into just three small parts: the bedroom, living room, and a bathroom. Yentl and I freshened up, put on the new fits, and made our way back to Marfa.

Headed back, we decided that we would first go see the outlandish Prada store located in the middle of the desert. The Prada store itself is a permanent art installation by artists Elmgreen and Dragset, built with the concept of using biodegradable materials so that the art installation could eventually return and be reclaimed back to Earth as all things eventually do. The drive to Prada, Marfa was an unexpectedly longer drive than I thought. It was a non-stop view of your textbook Western landscape...Desolate, scattered with ordinary desert shrubbery, and one thing to set it apart, a lonely, silver blimp just casually floating at the wind’s mercy.

When we finally arrived, it looked surreal to say the least. The building was so unexpectedly placed, yet at the same time, it wasn’t intrusive to the desert landscape. There were less people there than I had thought, which made it easier for Yentl and I to take the photos we wanted. What a pleasant oddity it was, I thought, to even drive eight hours just to see this left me with a sense of fulfillment knowing that this had been on my personal bucket list for quite some time.

The two of us made our way back to the city to kill some more time before it was time to see the mystery Marfa lights. We checked out a bookstore placed in the lobby of a hotel, wandered around the from one edge of the town to the other, checked out some more art galleries, and ate dinner at a local BBQ place. The sun was on the verge of setting so we headed to the viewing area that was located right beside the highway. We got there conveniently early and was able to secure a good parking spot as there was not even a designated parking lot. Yentl and I situated ourselves onto a bench with a clear view of the field. We both sat there in amazement of the sunset…layers on layers of colors dancing in the sky, almost a love letter to us from the sun itself, as it sank over the horizon, tucking itself in to say goodnight. The two of us couldn’t wrap our heads around the fact that we actually did this, an 8-hour drive to see some art and an unexplained natural phenomenon that happens in the desert at night. We really did this.

The sky turned from its calm lilac tones to an enveloping darkness and what followed were gasps of oooooh’s and aaaaah’s. It was finally happening. We peered over the horizon, somewhat confused, and there it was. Beside a constant blinking red light, appeared the mystery lights, bobbing up and down inconsistently, disappearing and reappearing on a whims notice. Yentl and I watched in awe and pondered about the mysteries of life like, does the supernatural exist, are there aliens out there, and what does it truly mean to love? Apart from the mystery lights themselves, the stars overhead was truly a sight to take in. The indescribable feeling of being small while looking up at the stars happens to be a favorite sensation of mine, but only this time, I was overwhelmed by it. I found a completely empty bench to lay down on just to look up. It must have been the most relaxed I have been since forever and I never wanted the feeling to end…But as all good things do, it did. Yentl and I made our way back to our Airbnb after catching what seemed to be a UFO flying above us. Marfa truly was surreal.

The two of us rested for the night, packed our stuff the next day, and made our way on the long journey back home.

May

The start of this month initially started incredibly slow. Not much has been done aside from learning how to shoot better on film which I spent a lot of my time on. I would keep pestering my friends to let me use them as models and surprisingly, they agreed! The first three photos are just a few of the pictures taken. This was also the month that the restaurant I work at, Noon (previously known as Verts, also previously known as Vertskebap), had undergone the change to being Daphne’s Greek Mediterranean. The change allowed us to finally get tips trough credit cards and no longer just cash tips. This allowed me to leave my shifts with a lot more money in hand.

It occurred to me…with this I could finally make my Japan trip a reality…In the span of just a week, I was able to raise 100 dollars in just tips alone (I know this doesn’t sound like a lot, but this is a big difference coming from leaving work with no more than 50 cents to 5 dollars on a busy day). I decided that the tip money would be strictly set aside for Japan and Japan only. I thought at the rate it was going, a 100 dollars per week would be sufficient for a trip set out in October/November. The rough estimate was at least around 2000 dollars if I decided I would really stay true to my word and not touch this extra money.

In this month also, my little sister got their associates degree in art, which I am really proud of! They then decided that they would be continuing their education at the university of Texas at Dallas. The last picture is a picture of one of my favorite musicians, blackbear, taken at a concert for his DEAD 2 THE WORLD tour. It was my second time getting to see him perform live, and while he was not in the best health to perform my favorite song the way that he usually does, it was still quite the experience. I would be more than happy to see him perform live again, and hopefully in better health.

June

Ahhh June. What better way to start of this month by getting into an accident…My neighbor ran into the passenger side door of my car while they were reversing and failed to see that I had already pulled out first. Extremely disappointing knowing how much my car means to me…What followed shortly after were series of looking for a trustworthy and affordable auto body and collision shop to do the work while being able to get covered by the person at fault’s insurance. Was honestly such a convoluted process and was so stressful that a part of me decided that maybe I would just leave and live with it. I ended up finding a shop called legendary auto and agreed to the other person’s insurance’s choice to only cover 80 percent of the costs because I allegedly had some “preventative measure” on stopping the collision from happening. Me, tired and not in the mood for a disagreement, agreed. I just wanted my car back to the way it was before.

The next highlight for this month was for an overnight camping trip I took out with my family and other family friends somewhere near Austin. It was a lot of fun! Everything was nearly perfect with the trip aside from the sweltering heat combined with a THICK humidity that made its dominance extremely clear. I remember there being so much good food…and with family friends that you’ve grown up with, there was never a shortage of people telling you to eat more when you just downed three plates of crawfish, bbq, and rice. There were boats and a tractor with a little tow for people to ride on in the back, a working NES system, a basketball court, playground, and an entire forest to explore. We spent our time playing card/board games, held a basketball competition, the dads versus the boys, a bonfire complete with smores, and a sad attempt at a Marvin’s room music video, complete with a hot tub and color changing lights.

Spending your time consistently outdoors resets your internal clock, and so by 9, everyone had started to get ready for bed. I remember being outside on the campgrounds and it being pitch black. Not being able to see past 15 feet in front of me at the most. One look at the sky in this setting and there was the full moon. Brighter than I had ever witnessed it…almost blinding to be honest. The older “kids” were cooped up in the RV designated for more kids to sleep in and were there playing monopoly deal. I joined in and found ourselves playing monopoly deal until 2am until I called it a night. I woke up the next day, sad to leave earlier than we’d have to because I had a shift at work to attend to even with all the begging I did with my other coworkers to cover for me.

As for the rest of this month’s highlights, I finally got the see the Van Gogh exhibit that was here at the Museum of Fine Arts. It was the most packed I have ever seen the MFAH in a long time and was glad that I was able to see Van Gogh’s work as art is always inspiring to me…Sad that the starry night wasn’t there but that’s alright. I also got to visit and hang out with Yentl this month during a trip I made to Dallas for Lacel’s scholarship interview. I haven’t seen her since our trip to Marfa and we got to talking about the Japan trip we’d be potentially taking out in the fall. We had Gyu-kaku (which she covered for like BRUH) and went over the possible itinerary that I had been researching for months now. As usual, it was always nice to see her, and I left Dallas feeling even more hopeful and motivated for the trip.

July

After one long month, I finally got my car back in perfect condition! So exciting to see my car just the way it used to be…Marwan and the rest of his team over at Legendary auto have all my gratitude for doing a stellar job. Could not thank them enough. For this month also, my family and I visited Galveston for the 4th of July, mainly for a parade and pleasure pier. It was a really nice experience getting to spend a whole outing with my family which we aren’t able to do often considering how busy we all are. Even more so with Lacel going to school soon in an entirely different city the following month. As for the final highlight of this month, I got to catch up on life with Lexi as we talk about the occurrences of life and sometimes even the past and how much we’ve grown from it. Always an experience to see her and it’s so interesting to see how I get to hang out with her during my days in college when in high school, we weren’t all that close.

August

I kicked off this month by helping my younger sister pack and move into their apartment in Dallas. We had to rent a car for all their stuff to fit because the 86 definitely was not able to carry everything that Lacel was bringing. It was a quick and pretty emotional ordeal, having one last dinner together as a family, and then having to say goodbye. I thought that would be the last time I would see my sister for a long time, but soon enough, I found myself making a trip to Dallas once a week for five weeks straight haha.

For the next highlight, it’s just a picture of me reveling in the fact that I had finally mustered the courage to go and change my major from nursing to journalism. I was shocked by how much easier it would’ve been for me to finish my associates if I had done this so much sooner. I found myself with only two more semesters, and maybe even just one if I had dedicated myself to just school. Also, in August, I had been unemployed for about two months prior. Shoutout to Daphne’s for pulling the rug from underneath my friends and I without any warning whatsoever. A double-edged sword might I admit, because while it left me unemployed suddenly, the closing of Daphne’s allowed to me find more opportunities and finally be free from the comfort of familiarity that the restaurant had provided me for about four years. Being in H-E-B made me realize how much I was missing out on such a good work environment. Everyone was absurdly and unbelievably nice…The customers in my H-E-B are also nothing compared to the customers I dealt with in food service and my goodness, it was such a nice change of pace. Happy to be here, cause after all, “here, everything’s better.”

For the last highlight of this month, Celine threw an e-boi/girl themed late birthday party. It was honestly really well set up, especially with the Airbnb and the vibes it had come with. They were constantly anxious about how their party would end up and I was always telling them that it would be a lot of fun! Which in fact, it did turn out to be a lot fun and it was so interesting to see everyone so dedicated to the theme of the party. Seeing Celine around a lot of the people they care about was really something, and to see them have such a fun and good time was all that mattered.

A little later into this month, Celine and I decided to end things on a mutual note. Things had been comfortable for a while, and while there may have still been feelings, things have stagnated…A lot…My mental health at this point of our relationship wasn’t anywhere close to where I’d want it and things haven’t been okay with me for a long time. I spent a lot of my time getting triggered over the past and my thought process started falling towards methods of self-destruction rather than dealing with things head on. I found myself either in a constant state of anger or depression over not knowing how to deal with the thoughts eating away at me. Had I waited any longer, I’m not sure what I would have done.

Sad as that may have been…It was ultimately for the better. At least I hoped it was…

September

(Insert obligatory “Do you remember”) September was thankfully one of the better and more eventful months out of the year and kicked it off with Yentl’s birthday party. I remember making the 4-hour drive for the second year in a row just to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday. I arrived later than most and found myself in the middle of a really nice neighborhood where the Airbnb was located. Interesting, I thought. The area was devoid of streetlights with a lake nearby and made me hopeful that maybe a getaway like tonight could really take me away from all that was going on in my head. I’ll drink to that.

I shyly walked in, asking people where Yentl was. I was led to the kitchen where she was and found her already multiple drinks in. Received a tight hug from her and was cordially invited to start drinking haha. I told her that I’ll a eat a little bit, maybe get re-acquainted with everyone and the Airbnb first, properly settling in before I find myself trying to drown my demons lurking behind the corner, waiting to make themselves present in my conscience. I held my trusty detox water, comprised of lemon and limes, tightly, hoping it’d be my saving grace for this party. The objective for the night: Survive…But have a good time. I chatted up with people I haven’t seen in so long…probably since Yentl’s last birthday but I guess because of the vibes the party had, it felt incredibly easy to converse.

I made my way to the pool where everyone happened to be in the meantime. Too self-conscious to jump in so I just snapshotted everyone on film for the most part. Took the liberty and made myself the party’s personal photographer for the night. I went back inside to admire the Airbnb a little bit more or sneak a drink by myself but was ushered to take shots of someone’s personal tequila concoction. “I hate tequila”, I thought…but why not? The vibe was right and the goal was to get out of my mind one way or another. I downed it, regrettably. The burn of the tequila was reminiscent of the nights I spent uncoordinated, lacking self-control, and being passed out in a fetal position beside a toilet fighting for dear life. After recollecting myself after that shot, I was immediately handed another one while not realizing it. Everybody started bracing themselves for the shot, gathering their chasers and mentally preparing for the hit while I on the other hand, looked at everybody and the cup in my possession utterly appalled at the situation unfolding in front of me. Three…two…one…cheers.

After that, the rest of the night was a blur. There came I point where I nearly blacked out because my vision had nearly gone, but after two full servings of my detox water, I was all good to go. I spent the rest of the night just talking, occasionally grooving to Jayson’s live mixing, playing smash bros and leaving undefeated, making conversations, and trying my best to stay out of my head. The party had started to slow down so I went outside to sit by the pool with a glass of wine and admire the quiet and stillness of the night. The backyard overlooked a lake and I was reminded by how nice this Airbnb really was. The moon wasn’t out so it was extra dark and allowed for some reflecting on a couple things, like the break-up…maybe on how lonely I was feeling. I watched some ducks pass by and called it a night. I went back inside and saw Yentl passed out on one of the couches. Made sure she was okay, and we had a conversation about several things, like the break-up…and how lonely I was feeling. Eventually the conversation ventured onto more positive things like how nice this Airbnb is, how nice this party was, some unwanted drama that happened during this party, and the upcoming Japan trip.

After just spending a little more time with each other, and a disagreement on who would take the last bed and sleep on the couch, we said goodnight as she had declared I get the bed. Had to respect the birthday girl’s wishes, even when it was her who had paid for the entirety of this Airbnb…Not to disclose that information or anything, but it was a LOT. I woke up, surprisingly not hungover all thanks to the detox water. As much as I had wanted to stay for any further hangouts of the day, I had to leave for a shift at 2pm. I drove the four-hour drive back home hastily, only to find out that I wasn’t needed for work and that I could actually take the day off…Amazing. Thankful that I was able to attend the party in the first place and see Yentl at all.

The following highlight was a concert I attended in Dallas for the artist Aries’ Welcome Home tour and was a largely anticipated experience for both my younger sister and I. Aries had grown to be one of my favorite artists because of how new and refreshing his sound was. I also happened to find his music during a defining point in my life, specifically during a three hour mindless drive leading to nowhere and found myself halfway to San Antonio and has become the mood and aesthetic I had been living in for a quite a while now. Months prior, my sister and I had been listening to him constantly in preparation for this concert. My only concern was that since Aries is a smaller artist, the concert might only end up being more like a listening party rather than him actually performing. By listening party, I mean that his songs are playing in the background and is overpowering his vocals or that he’s not performing for majority of the time.

My sister and I arrived at the venue with the discovery of a line that wrapped around the entire block. The suspense was too real. The feeling of knowing that I just happened to stumble upon Aries from a YouTube video of him remixing a Post Malone song into a lo-fi one, to him suddenly having the anthem of the entire spectrum of my anger and the prolonging bitterness that dwelled inside me. His music is definitely a trigger, but in a different way. His music gets me angry but doesn’t drive me to a seething, blinding rage the way I see anything remotely related to skateboarding, tall fuckboys with curly hair, or the name Kevin (fuck you Kevin…fuck you!). If anything, his music was a testament to the three months of mental and emotional anguish I had undergone earlier in 2018. I was more than ready to yell my heart and lungs out to the lyrics, “fuck your friend, that man’s a bitch, probably wish I don’t exist”, and “Promise that I will stay out of reach, far gone, cause the shit still bothers me.”

The concert left me speechless by how much energy there was from the crowd, the hype man, and Aries himself. While it may only have been just over an hour, it was the most invigorating concert I have attended by far. Probably the most fun too. As Lacel and I headed out after taking pictures with the venue and our tour merch, we were suddenly told that Aries had came out to greet people. We rushed back in and just stayed around, somewhat awkwardly, casually standing by as fans took pictures with or of him. He was able to sign a piece of paper that Lacel handed to him and he left shortly after taking a big group picture with the fans that were present. We left soon after, put on his Welcome Home album to relive the concert in the car, and got lost driving around Dallas for maybe another hour to end the night.

The last highlight for this month was Quin’s birthday celebration that him and his closest friends organized. The initial plan was to pre-game at Marian’s place and then follow up by going out to Washington Ave. which is notoriously known for Houston’s night life scene. I arrived at Marian’s apartment for the pre-game, and even before I could greet anyone, a friend came by me with a bottle of Hennessy and started pouring some in my mouth. “So it’s gonna be that type of night”, I thought haha. I finally got around to greeting everyone including the birthday boy who was in the middle of taking a shot and was then shortly handed one to take alongside Quin and a handful of other friends.

We eventually made our way to Washington Ave. in different Ubers and arrived at Concrete Cowboy. The whole group lined up and waited for our turn to get in. As we neared the entrance, I pulled out my ID in anticipation as I’m used to being told that I don’t look older than 19 most of the time. The bouncer let my friends in but said something to me that I couldn’t quite make out over the music blasting from inside. I said excuse me, thinking like, hello…my ID is legit, I promise you I’m legal and this is a valid ID haha. “No air forces”, he said. “What?”, “No air forces…”, he repeated. Back to the line I went, astonished that this was even a problem in the first place. I received a bunch of texts from my friends asking where I was and exclaimed to them that I was denied access because of the shoes I was wearing. I went to the little fence that Concrete had and exchanged my air force 1’s with Andrew’s dress shoes and lined up once more.

Eventually that was all a waste because the group ended up leaving Concrete Cowboy…WITHOUT the birthday boy. We crossed the street to another club/bar that escapes my memory but this time around they let me in regardless of my shoes. Immediately, this was already better than the experience with Concrete, from the music, the general vibe, to how less packed it was. Ruben bought everyone two rounds of shots for some reason, and it really helped loosen everybody up. While the group was having a lot of fun in this bar, a handful of us felt guilty that we were having this much fun without Quin and decided we should go back to Concrete to go celebrate with the person this night was originally dedicated to. We left to go line back up across the street, only to find others that also separated from Quin to come join us over where we were at…We all found ourselves back in the same bar/club we just left haha.

Feeling guilty of admitting to this, but we were having an absolute blast at the place we were at. My friends and I ended up having the biggest floor presence and had even started a cypher with the occasional strangers jumping in who had actual dance experience as well. My friends and I shook hands and even made friends with these strangers after finding out we had mutual dance friends and connections to major Houston dance studios like soundbox and soreal. 2PM had finally snuck its way into the night and it was time to go back to Marian’s to regroup. We arrived at Marian’s apartment to find out that Quin had gotten shitfaced at Concrete Cowboy. Quin! The same Quin who took 20+ shots on his 21st birthday, just to be fully coherent, coordinated, and mentally sound to take care of other people rather than being taken care of. There he was, bent over the toilet, clutching it for dear life. It was an absolute sight to behold, and one we would never let Quin live down. It was finally our turn to take care of him, and as friends that love Quin, we were more than happy to finally get the opportunity to pay the favor back.

October

My birth month. My favorite month too and well deserved so. October for me is the transition from the Hell that is Houston’s summer to those cool crisp Autumn afternoons. A transition from bright yellow and blue hues to the golden, orange, and amber tones that coincide with everything regarding the season of fall. Fall is Halloween. Fall is Thanksgiving. Fall is pumpkin picking and carving, apple pies, and the metaphorical dusk of the year, while interestingly sharing the same colors as a sunset. This month was surprisingly uneventful but was largely a pre-cursor for what was coming up in November: Yentl’s and my Japan trip.

The first highlight for this month was this photoshoot/hang out with fellow FRZ86 owners, Lily and Ray. I was meeting both of them for the first time and was excited that they both agreed to be models for further practice with my film camera. Really happy with how the shots came out, I felt ready for taking pictures in Japan and grew more confident in this new profound hobby. The following highlight for this month but not pictured for privacy reasons, was my approval for my travel visa. The news had me beaming. After days of gut-wrenching anxiety at the thought of refunding my airfare, the Airbnb, and all the plans just going to waste if I was not approved, the good news was a major sigh of relief. It had finally cemented the trip, and the only thing that was left, was to save as much as I can in this last month.

My money saving process for the rest of this month involved eating four slices of a day for lunch (only when I was at work), refusing to hang out, and reducing my eating out budget to just under 30 dollars. I was determined. My will power, incorruptible. I attended a hang out that involved eating, and I only spent my money on a drink. My savings were not going to be stopped…My birthday eventually came around and my family and I found ourselves in Dallas…for the second year in a row. I don’t remember exactly why we were celebrating MY birthday in Dallas just to hang out with my younger sister, but that’s just what went down. We went to Gen Korean BBQ for lunch, and followed up with boba (a must). We hung around a Kinokuniya for a little bit to kill time and were deciding on what we should do now. I just threw in that maybe we could stop by the Dallas galleria to just waste even more time, while in the back of my head, I had a burning desire to finally pull the trigger on something I’ve been wanting since the summer of 2017: a Gucci ghost ring.

I only mentioned my intentions to my younger sister because I knew my idea would be met with opposition and disappointment from my dad. After several times being asked why we had decided to go here, I mentioned that I was buying the ring, as a big gesture to myself for making it this far and as a final accessory to bring along to Japan for the outfits I had planned. Ran me back $250 dollars, but did I mind? Not one bit. So much for saving…haha.

To close out October, I departed for Dallas to pick up my sister and Yentl. The plan was to pick up Yentl from Dallas, drive back to Houston because that’s where we’ll be departing for Japan, have a layover BACK in Dallas, and after an 8-hour flight, arriving at Narita airport in Tokyo weirdly at the same time we had left from Dallas due to time zones. The plan sounds counterintuitive with the layover being in Dallas and all…but departing from Dallas added an extra 400 dollars to the airfare. It also worked because it meant that neither of us would have to make a 4-hour drive back home to our respective cities due to another layover in Dallas on the way back home.

November

This month will have an entire separate post dedicated to Japan.

Enjoy these pictures for the meantime.

December

After Japan. I had spent the rest of November coming down from the high I had experienced from my vacation. I had to deal with the come down as well as the seasonal depression that comes along with the shorter days of Winter, despite always being fond of the season. It’s going to sound a little silly to admit, but things really did start to lose meaning. I had this goal of traveling to Japan for as long as I could remember, and it was finally fulfilled! The long workdays, forty-hour work weeks, the months of research and planning, and just everything I had been doing was for the sake of trip.

Not wanting to feel as if my life had lost meaning, I forced myself to get into the holiday spirit…Or at least I tried. In the first highlight presented for this month was Travis’ Christmas present to me. A bunch of treats…and a gun. Yes, a gun. Looks like just a random assortment of food but in reality, has a ton of sentimental ties to it. As described by Travis himself, the honey buns were given because of one time we were in the campus cafeteria and I was craving honey buns. The campus was charging 2+ dollars for a single one and Travis was like, “Don’t waste your money here smh”, and told me he had spent just a little over a dollar for a multipack. The oreo thins were given because I had an obsession with oreos, the gummies because whatever, and the limon lays for a callback when Andrew, Travis, and I would have consecutive movie nights together on the summer of 2017 where we would pick our usual snacks from out midnight Walmart runs. Lastly, but definitely not least, the gun. Travis was concerned by how often I would go to so many places during the middle of the night and was also tired of being my personal protection considering he himself was armed.

The gifts left me speechless and admittedly, a little teary eyed by how thoughtful it really was. During the brief period of trying to take the moment all in, Andrew pulls out his very own and the entire room goes up in screams and laughter. Travis bought guns for the two of us! Unbelievable and entirely wild of him. I love that man to death.

The following highlight of the drink and the board game was when I finally had a first successful meeting from a connection I had on a dating app haha. Wooo Ral finally stepping out there after multiple awkward matches and getting ghosted on several platforms. The two of us met up in Dallas at a videogame restaurant bar thing, where we can eat/drink while playing on a console! Pretty cool idea and props to her for actually catering to what my interests were. Ended making a cool friend out of that meet up since. The rest of the following highlights were just more Christmas festivities such as, baking Christmas themed cookies, secret Santa with the OG5 + DJ, H-E-B white elephant Christmas party, and seeing Christmas lights with Jackie at the River Oaks neighborhood.

Just like this year in review itself, I was so eager to get the year over and done with. 2019 seemed to be bad year for the world, myself included, but finishing writing this up in 2021…I only wish I had treasured the moments just a little longer, not knowing what I will be missing the following year.

P.S. If you’re just a person randomly coming through this, thank you for your time to scroll/read

#year in review #2019

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wherearemyglassesbro · 5 years ago

Note

This isn’t meant as a request, but I’d like you to know that I fell in love with your Francis headcanons ❤️ I wonder how I managed to live without you until now. I’m too embarrassed to send this non-anon, but if you’ll check your activity feed, you’ll see me liking almost everything Francis related on your page. I love you 💕

❤️❤️❤️❤️ it’s lovely people like you who inspire me to write for these dorky guys!!!! And now, since you’re so sweet, you shall get some Fran things! Just for you! And for anyone else who likes him too of course 💞

Fran snores like a freight train and s’il deny it until the end of time

He makes himself coffee every morning, usually with carmel or chocolate in it, and tea before bed if he’s stressed or sad

He smokes a lot but won’t smoke in the house except in his bathroom when he’s in the tub or when he’s in one of his guest bedrooms that he turned into a little art studio! He respects his old furniture and doesn’t want to ruin it with ash or smoke smells

He has a big ol jewelry box full of gifts from past lovers. Chunky rings from Antonio, hair pins from Arthur, necklaces from Ivan...Sometimes he’ll get wine drunk and sit in bed, smiling stupidly at all of his sweet memories :’)

Francis loves his kids so much and it makes him SO sad that they live...So...Far away :( Technology has evolved so he can FaceTime them but that isn’t the SAME!! So his kids, mostly matthew, will fly out to see him every other month or so cause Fran’s an old man who’ll just get real sad when he doesn’t see his loved ones for too long

He has *Self Care* days, and I know I kole about his *Self Care* days enough already, but he’ll have a relaxing bath or bake cookies or watch guilty pleasures movies! Cause he wants to have time to think about himself

^^Its very easy for him to get wrapped up in other peoples problems. Especially his kids’ or cousins’ problems cause he cares about them and wants to help!!! But he needs to worry about himself more

He’s contemplated cutting his hair too many times...He knows what will happen...He cut it short in the 60s and hated it...Old dummy, don’t do this to yourself again

If a nation has a birthday during a meeting or around the day of a meeting, no matter who they are, Fran WILL bring roses and candies for them! Cause at the end of the day, the nations are all, for the most part, friends

Despite his confidence in his choice of attire, he’ll still stare at himself for hours, you let him, thinking about if he’s overdone his outfit. ‘Is four rings too many...? No....Yes...? No! Are these heels to high? Is it too cold for heels- am I going to slip and DIE!??’

Ya boi has been beheaded tons of times and he’s still got a scar around his neck from it. The two most prominent scars besides the neck one, are 1. The jagged one over his heart from too many sword fights and 2. Two scars across his wrists from being captured in WW2 and having to wear shackles for a long time. He doesn’t dwel much on them and will talk about what happened to inform others if need be

Fran does NOT like going to the doctors at all “Are you kidding??? I overcame the plague BY MYSELF back in the day! Without doctors! And- no I don’t need vaccines! I’m already immune to human diseases!” Cut to him contracting chicken pox from Alfred and nearly crying when he has to bathe in oatmeal

There’s plenty more where that came from!! ❤️💞❤️

#aph #hetalia #ask away!#headcanons #hetalia headcanons #asks #always up for hc requests #aph france #hws france

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ashhdaniellee95 · 5 years ago

Text

Will You Marry Me? × Antonio Dawson

|DECEMBER 09 • Antonio's POV|

"I've thought about this for a very long time, because I really like, well love this woman that I've been dating for about 2 1/2 years, and I thinks it's time I find a ring for her. One of her friends told me her ring size and now I'm going to each jewelery store to find the right ring. I've looked at a handful of stores, but nothing pops out, so I go on to the next one and hope something catches my eye."

He walks in, and a jeweler welcomes him to the store and asks what brings him in. He tells him he's looking for a ring for his girlfriend and that he going to propose on Christmas but he has to find the right one first.

So the jeweler, whose name is Ghephrey, shows Antonio a few rings that would look nice on her finger, but nothing that stands out to him, so they keep looking.

They look at every single ring they have and Antonio tells the man which ones to hold on to because one of them might be a winner.

As Antonio looks at rings over again, he gets a call, and pulls it from his pocket to see who it was; his girlfriend. So he told the jeweler man to be quiet cause doesn't want her find out, then answers. "Hey baby. What's up?" She smiles. "Oh nothing, just having lunch with Hannah," {Hannah was her cousin, he remembered}, "Oh, how's that's going?" She swallowed a piece of food before she spoke.

"Good. They're talking about having a family soon." He smiles. "Oh that's good. How is she doing?" "She's good, she's in the bathroom, so I thought I'd call you for a few minutes while she's in there." He smiles, "Well that was thoughtful." "Yeah, I tend to think a lot about you." "I'm glad." "Yeah." He hears her take a bite of something she was eating, then swallows. "She just got back from the bathroom, so I'll call you later baby. I love you." He smiles, "I love you too." As they hung up, the thought in the back of his mind says 'she has no idea'.

His thoughts come back in play, as he continues to look for the perfect ring for his perfect girlfriend.

|DECEMBER 09 • Annaleigh POV|

After lunch with Hannah, I leave and go to Mom's for a couple of hours and sit and talk about nothing, but mainly about Antonio. My mom really loves Antonio, says he's the best thing that's happened to me. I agree, and we continue talking.

About another two hours later, I leave and head home. Me and Antonio moved in a few months ago after he asked me to. And I of course said yes. I mean, who wouldn't want to move in with their best friend.

Anyways, I get home and pull of my shoes at the door, and put my keys in the bowl with 'keys' in my handwriting (cause it was neater), and my stuff on the kitchen counter, then lay down on the couch for a little while.

When I wake up (about an hour or so later), I hear the door being quietly shut, and very little quiet movement. I guess he saw me asleep and didn't wanna wake me up. Nice.

It got quiet for a few minutes not knowing what he was doing, but I was too tired to get up and find out.

I lay there a little longer, till I feel two hands carefully pick my head up, sit down, then carefully place my head on a pillow. I smile at that. And without opening my eyes, I say hello. "Hi, baby. It's good to see you." I hear him chuckle, "Yeah, I know. It's good to see you too. How long have you been home for?" I open my eyes to look into his. "Not long, bout an hour or so. Why? What's up?" He smiles. "Oh nothing. Just wanted to spend as much time with you before I have to go back to work tomorrow." "Well, you can do that by grabbing us a beer and a few snacks while I get a movie started. But it's your choice where you want to watch it." He smiles. "See, that right there is why I love you." She smiled. "I love you too." She comes to him with a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Let's watch it in our bedroom. More comfortable." She smiled. "Okay. Just meet me in there with the stuff." He nods his head as she walks upstairs to their shared bedroom and gets the movie(s) setup.

As she makes the bed fluffier and got a movie started, he comes in with four beers and a bunch of snacks (sour patch kids, Sour Skittles, cookies, tortilla chips and dips), and he puts it on the table at the end of their bed.

They each grab a beer and a snack and then get settled for the movie.

××

About two and half, three hours later, the movie ends and she's asleep. He quietly moves away from her warm body to take the stuff down to the kitchen.

After he finishes putting everything away, he looks at his watch for the time; 09:15pm. He goes back into the shared master bedroom and sees she's still asleep, so he grabs a pen and piece of paper and writes her a quick note, and grabs some clothes to get a shower, then head's into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, she wakes up to an empty room, but to hear the shower running. She looks on either side of the bed on the night stands for a note, and sure enough, on her side was a note, in his cute but little messy handwriting: 'hey baby, I'm in the shower. i'll be out in a little bit. love you.' and at the end of the note, was a heart and a kissy face.

She smiled to herself and thought about something, before she herself grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom.

Once she got in there, she stripped herself naked, then whistled. His head perked out from the curtain, "I see you got my note." She smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah, I did. And I wanted to join you. So you can, you know get a good night sleep, since you have to be in early." He laughed to himself and smiled. "You were always the spontaneous one." "Yeah. So can I join you? I'll be sure to give you a wild ride." Without hesitation, he pulled her into the shower with him and they started making out under the water.

He made a trail down her neck and whispered something dirty in her ear, that made her giggle and shiver at the same time. He leaves a bruise on her neck and tells her to jump and wrap her legs around him, and she complies and does as told.

Once she wraps her legs around his torso, he enters her slowly with passion, and they start making love, right there in the shower, against the opposite side of the shower door.

Things started to get hot and heavy as he pounds into her, making her clench around him, screaming and crying his name out with intensity, "Ahh, Antonio!!", "Mmhmm, right there, right there!", and "yesss, just like that, oh my God." were other things that she purposely and spontaneously spit out from her mouth as he pounds into her, harder and faster than before.

It was like that for an hour, back and forth, the dirtiest of things he said in her ear to make her scream more and more to make her clench more and more, that made her cum and have orgasms, faster and harder, that eventually made them both cum at the same time, her cuming and orgasming all over his cock, and his hot salty cum, pouring and spewing all inside of her, making her head fall back, her toes curl, and her back arch up to it's absolute maximum height.

That was the reason she loved him for who he was, because he was good at sex, wherever the placed they deemed good enough so they wouldn't get caught in public.

After they calmed down, their bodies touching each other, and their heart beating rapidly, they went at it again, wanting to feel all that goodness they felt when they hit their high, when he hit her g-spot that made her rapidly scream his name from the top of her lungs, rolling off her lips so smooth and melty like it was butter.

It was more intense, the way he snapped his hips into her vagina, back and forth, the way she screamed for mercy every time he pushed his turso up inside her making her want more, the way he was leaving bruises and hickies everywhere his lips and mouth went, and everytime she pulled his hair at the nape of his neck from the orgasms he made her have each time, making them both succumbing to each other, made it sweet and loving, but yet at the same time, sexy and hot and passionate between the both of them.

He came inside her once more, before kissing the top of her head, then kissing her lips sweetly.

She slowly got off him, and they both stood under the shower head to feel the warmth of the water running down their heated bodies, from the amazing sex session they just had.

They let their bodies cool down before helping each other wash and rinse their bodies then one by one getting out and drying off, then clothing themselves.

After they had finished all of that, it was close to 11 o'clock at night, and they decided to head to bed.

××

|Annaleigh's POV|

A couple weeks had passed, the sex sessions between Antonio and me, getting better and better with each passing time.

It was now 11:43pm on Christmas Eve, and she still had no idea what was going to happen at midnight, which was less than 20 minutes away.

All of Antonio's and Anna's friends and family had shown up, each one bringing something when they came and showed up at the front door.

It was a tradition, getting together a few hours before Christmas, to celebrate friends and family coming together. I guess that's why he wanted a big house, so he could have big tables to fit in the big house (4 bed, 4 baths, very high ceilings). The celebration started off with a toast, to Antonio and I, letting everyone come over to our home this time, instead of us and others going separately to his friends and families houses, and the same to me.

After the toast, they got started by saying grace, then go down the food line, one by one everyone pilling their plates with food.

After everyone ate, they passed presents around each person the present was for.

His parents gave me, I mean us, some more stuff for the kitchen, and some things for the bedrooms and bathrooms. A few of his friends gave him a few boxes of condoms. Nobody knew though, just me and him and the friend(s) that gave them to him.

His sister gave us something for us to enjoy when were alone, and also his and hers cups and placemats for the bathroom.

And hour before midnight, half of the party left (his parents and sister, my parents and brothers), and it was just our friends. His daughter and son wanted to stay at a friend's house, so he let them, so it can just be us adults tonight.

We chatted and talked among ourselves, about different things, the men obviously talking about sex, and the women talking about God knows what, until I hear Antonio from across the room, wanting everyone's attention, and asking for me to come stand beside him. I walk up to him and give him a hug, and he returns the hug, but with also a kiss on my lips.

"I want to thank everyone for coming tonight to celebrate Christmas with us, and to be able to make it at such a late time in the day," he looks down at his watch, "and I want to say thank you to Anna, for being my rock, for being there for me when I was down, and I think a lot about you, and um, I wanted to ask you a question," he grabs something from under the tree that's behind us, and unwrap it to reveal a small black velvet box, and my mind goes ballistic and wild, knowing what he's about to do. "I felt that it would be good to do this in front of our friends," he stands in front of me and drops down to one knee and asks, "Annaleigh Browers, will you marry me and be my wife, forever??" I smile so hard, I can barely contain myself, and blurt out, "yes! Yes yes yes, a million times yes!! Oh my God." My hands starts shaking, as he takes the ring out from the box, and slips it onto my left ring finger. He jumps up and hugs me and spins me around as everyone around claps and wolf whistles. {ring}

We celebrated and talked more, until we all went to bed, Antonio letting them stay the night, since it was past 1 o'clock in the morning.

When Antonio and I went to bed, we celebrated our engagement, the only way we knew how; sex all night long. And I'm pretty sure our friends heards us and started laughing their asses off.

He made me orgasm so many times, I clenched around him, all of my body felt the intensity of my orgasms, and his body also felt the intensity of his orgasms too, we came undone together, feeling everything ten times better than a few weeks ago. He really is putting the meaning to 'great in bed' to a whole new level. 👅

And I guess it looks like I have to get ready for a wedding soon. And maybe, just maybe, a family too. 🙏😄👰🤵⛪👩‍❤️‍👨🥂🍾💍🍼👶🤰

#Antonio Dawson #antonio dawson imagine #Chicago PD #will you marry me?#Antonio Dawson fluff #Antonio Dawson smut #Christmas time #engagement #first ever imagine

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wondroussimmer-blog · 6 years ago

Photo

GET TO KNOW ME-

Basically, no one actually tagged me in this, but I thought i’d give it a go anyway seeing as this is a new blog and you guys can get to now me a bit, so I tag anyone who sees this and also wants to have a go...

________________________________________________________________

1. What is your full name? I’m not putting my last name on here, but my first name is Maja (Miya) 2. What is your nickname? I don’t really have one 3. Birthday? January 1st 4. What is your favourite book series? I don’t really read book series’ 5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Not 100% sure, I don’t believe in the sort of ghosts you see in films, but I think I believe our loved ones stay with us in some way. As for aliens, idk, we can’t be the only life but idk. 6. Who is your favourite author? I find the fault in our stars quite overrated, but i’d say John Green because some of his others are my favourites! 7. What is your favourite radio station? BBC Radio 1 8. What is your favourite flavour of anything? this is such a weird question, how can you have a favourite flavour for everything? but if it’s sweet, definitely strawberry! 9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Again, weird question, but i use so many words for this, my most used are probably lovely and amazing 10. What is your current favourite song? this changes alll the time, but right this minute it’s probably sunflower by post malone and swae lee 11. What is your favourite word? is this a thing? 12. What was the last song you listened to? vacation by hippo campus 13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? big mouth, orphan black, queer eye, dexter 14. What is your favourite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? the breakfast club or mean girls probably 15. Do you play video games? only the sims 16. What is your biggest fear? probably the death of people close to me, and in the future not being able to have children 17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? probably that i’m a friendly person 18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? i’m v insecure 19. Do you like cats or dogs better? DOGS... always dogs! 20. What is your favourite season? autumn/winter 21. Are you in a relationship? yes 22. What is something you miss from your childhood? having way more friends and barely any responsibilities 23. Who is your best friend? my boyfriend 24. What is your eye colour? blue 25. What is your hair colour? brown 26. Who is someone you love? my boyfriend and family 27. Who is someone you trust? my boyfriend and closest family 28. Who is someone you think about often? okay wow, so much variety in these answers but the same as the previous two answers 29. Are you currently excited about/for something? christmas and my birthday 30. What is your biggest obsession? probably sims 31. What was your favourite TV show as a child? Probably Tracy beaker or that’s so raven 32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? my boyfriend 33. Are you superstitious? only slightly 34. Do you have any unusual phobias? cracking knuckles, moths (but only indoors), realistic looking mannequins and gas masks... so not much 35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? behind, every single time 36. What is your favourite hobby? playing sims, graphic designing, video editing 37. What was the last book you read? The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks 38. What was the last movie you watched? Muppet’s Christmas Carol 39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? I play a bit of guitar and can play the mr bean theme song on piano if that counts 40. What is your favourite animal? dogs 41. What are your top 5 favourite Tumblr blogs that you follow? I definitely have more than 5 42. What superpower do you wish you had? be able to teleport and go invisible 43. When and where do you feel most at peace? probably at home with my boyfriend 44. What makes you smile? sorry if this is becoming a boring answer... but my boyfriend! also my dog :) 45. What sports do you play, if any? I don’t at the moment, but I have done tennis, dance (ballet, tap and modern), swimming, karate, speed skating and netball 46. What is your favourite drink? water... how boring ik 47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Last month, I made my boyfriend a scrap book as one of my boyfriend’s presents for our anniversary and wrote some letters as part of it 48. Are you afraid of heights? not if it’s a secure height 49. What is your biggest pet peeve? I have wayyy too many and so many grammatical ones, I absolutely hate when people incorrectly use was and were, so if someone said ‘we was going’, I think it’s quite an essex thing but I hateeee it, I can’t stand bad grammar, but also slow walkers, people who walk through the door without looking behind them to hold the door open for people behind, other drivers not indicating, people that have to be louder than everyone else, people that chew with their mouths open... basically I have a lot and this list could go on and on and on 50. Have you ever been to a concert? I’ve seen all time low, the 1975, imagine dragons, sunset sons, ed sheeran and paramore in concert so far and i’m seeing panic! at the disco in march which i’m MEGA excited about!!! 51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? vegetarian 52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? This would change all the time, it went from radio dj, to dancer, to teacher when I was really young, then architect when I was a teenager, and now it’s clinical psychologist which i’m slowly working towards 53. What fictional world would you like to live in? I’ve not got a clue 54. What is something you worry about? EVERYTHING! I get a lot of social anxiety, so basically whenever i’m out of the house i’m worrying about absolutely everything and it’s the worst and gets me super down, so yeah, love that 55. Are you scared of the dark? okay so I don’t like leaving the dark, i’m fine being in the dark but I hate when i’m home alone and have to turn the lights off in the living room, kitchen and hall to go to bed... if that makes sense 56. Do you like to sing? i’m someone that, at home, is constantly singing, and when it’s only my boyfriend around, if one of us says a sentence that can in some way relate to a song, i’ll immediately sing it, but I suck so I won’t ever sing in public 57. Have you ever skipped school? in school I faked being ill a few times to get off of school, but in uni i’ve skipped way too many lectures over the past 3 years 58. What is your favourite place on the planet? I absolutely adore Spain, but also Belgrade (i’m half Serbian) 59. Where would you like to live? If not my current home town, i’d love to one day live somewhere like Norway or Sweden 60. Do you have any pets? yep, i’ve got a french bulldog 61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? I wake up pretty early, but I hate to start the day early 62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunsets. 63. Do you know how to drive? Yep 64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? the sound of headphones but I normally use earbuds 65. Have you ever had braces? nope, thank god 66. What is your favourite genre of music? this really ranges from charts, to indie rock, to ‘former emo kid’, to early 2000s r&b, to musical theatre 67. Who is your hero? probably my boyfriend 68. Do you read comic books? no 69. What makes you the most angry? as we’ve already gathered, I have a lot of pet peeves, so a lot! 70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book?a real book! 71. What is your favourite subject in school? I currently study psychology which has been my favourite subject since A levels, but during GCSEs I enjoyed maths 72. Do you have any siblings? 1 younger brother 73. What was the last thing you bought? some christmas presents for my boyfriend’s cousins 74. How tall are you? 5ft4 75. Can you cook? yes 76. What are three things that you love? spending time with people I love, travelling, collecting photos 77. What are three things that you hate? busy places, cheats, confrontation 78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? I actually barely have any so this is kind of hard to answer 79. What is your sexual orientation? straight 80. Where do you currently live? England 81. Who was the last person you texted? my mum 82. When was the last time you cried? I’m not actually sure, which is funny because I cry all the time and super easily 83. Who is your favourite YouTuber? I have so many: in terms of sims: lilsimsie, urbansims, sophsims, simkim, plumbella, in terms of lifestyle: louise pentland, in terms of fashion and beauty: samantha maria, tati westbrook, busybee carys, patricia bright, antonio garza, and others: shane dawson, sarah baska, kendall rae, jaackmaate, and loads more! basically, if i’m not on tumblr, i’m on youtube, if i’m not on youtube i’m playing sims, and if i’m not on sims i’m on tumblr... 84. Do you like to take selfies? rarely 85. What is your favourite app? any social media 86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? fab 87. What is your favourite foreign accent? Australian and Scottish 88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? I have so many but I won’t bore you with another long list, so just a few: Sweden, South Africa, Iceland and Canada 89. What is your favourite number? 1 90. Can you juggle? no 91. Are you religious? I was baptised but don’t really consider myself religious 92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? both as interesting as the other 93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? not really 94. Are you allergic to anything? no 95. Can you curl your tongue? yep, one of my weird ‘party tricks’ is I can actually curl it 180 degrees 96. Can you wiggle your ears? no 97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? not as often as I should 98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? probably the forest 99. What is your favourite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?my dad probably gives the best life advice but there’s too much to put here 100. Are you a good liar? It depends 101. What is your Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff 102. Do you talk to yourself? All the time 103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? I N T R O V E R T, i’m so introverted to the point I hate it but seriously struggle to change it 104. Do you keep a journal/diary? no but I have in the past 105. Do you believe in second chances? it depends 106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Hand it in 107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? It depends 108. Are you ticklish? VERY 109. Have you ever been on a plane? manyyyy times 110. Do you have any piercings? nope, I have but not anymore 111. What fictional character do you wish was real? no idea 112. Do you have any tattoos? nope 113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? I’m really not sure 114. Do you believe in karma? to an extent, but at the same time bad things seem to happen to good people, sooooo 115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? neither 116. Do you want children? yes 117. Who is the smartest person you know? my cousin 118. What is your most embarrassing memory? omg my whole life is filled with embarrassing memories that I seem to always remember at the most inconvenient times or when i’m about to go to sleep that just haunt me out of nowhere...fun 119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? yes 120. What colour are most of you clothes? black or white 121. Do you like adventures? yep 122. Have you ever been on TV? no 123. How old are you? 20 - nearly 21 124. What is your favourite quote? not really sure. 125. Do you prefer sweet or savoury foods? sweet

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worldcakecakecake · 7 years ago

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Good Luck Friedrich

A series of video diaries by Isabella Beilschmidt for her baby brother, Friedrich, where she details and explains the lives of their hectic family.

Video 4.2

The three were already in deep sleep. Analiese drooling away, Heinrich and Alessandro at either side in their own lean towards her. They seemed to be guarding their younger sister, hands holding tight to her car seat making sure they could keep a protective hold. Feliciano couldn’t keep his eyes away, a sweet smile full of adoration towards the scene. It had been the only time he wore his usual smile in the day, Ludwig noticed. No matter the turns, the views, the stars, or how the moon shone tonight, nothing could keep Feliciano’s eyes away from his three children. Ludwig knew, for he had kept watch waiting for when Feliciano would turn to properly speak to him. Once he finally did, with a sigh, finding for once relaxation in the ride, in the familiarity of reaching the rise to their valley, Ludwig arose the question that had been on his mind since he saw the drop on Feliciano’s expression when Arthur gave the announcement.

“What are you thinking about?” He simply asked as he turned a harsh curve.

Feliciano was hesitant, embarrassed, biting his lips so adorably, hands fidgeting and trying to word himself correctly.

“I know you said we shouldn’t worry about this, and they are in fact still…children and babies but…. they’re growing up.” That sadness, that turn once again to their three kids, taking to heart their full cheeks, little noses, mouths, feet, and their innocent calm. “I miss…having a baby around the house.”

“Analiese is just one…and I still consider her to be my baby,” Ludwig actually pouted, part of him refusing to admit that she was nothing but for now.

“But she’s already walking! She soon won’t want me to hold her anymore."

“You don’t know tha"

“It happened with Heinrich.” And that memory still hurt him deeply, how his oldest twin happily ran off the moment he learned, wanting this new testing so much he wouldn’t dare let either his papa or vatti stop his thread, pushing them away to keep exploring the halls of the house by himself.

“And yet he cried and wouldn’t let you go that first day of kindergarten,” Ludwig reminded and Feliciano knew he shouldn’t be smiling like he did, not when he actually wanted his babies to grow and learn to depend on themselves…but never stop loving them, never stop those childish laughter, wonders, babbles, their glow in their eyes whenever they saw their parents do something other worldly for them.

“Like I’ve told you before, yes, they will grow up, but we will be there to see it happen and I can assure you,” he let go of one of the hands on the wheel, taking Feliciano’s in his, a squeeze warm in love and promise, “that they will always love you and want to give you all the hugs and kisses you want, no matter how old or how far they go.”

Feliciano smiled the sun, bringing his other hand to entangle with that same one. “As they will you,” Feliciano assured him, brining Ludwig’s hand to his lips as a thank you for his words.

“I don’t know about that."

“Don’t say that!” Feliciano slapped his shoulder playfully. “Of course they will!”

“You know I can be a little harsh sometimes. I’m always the one punishing them and making them cry whenever I start glaring.” It hurt to cause this to his own kids, but they still needed to learn some discipline.

“You’re just watchful and want the best for them. They will see that as well. You’re an excellent vatti and I’m so lucky to have you as my mate and to have given you these wonderful children,” Feliciano smiled in definite assuredness, looking back to them, to the shine that made Ludwig glow along with the moon and then out the window, to the stars, to a new idea, to a new wish.

“And…I would give you more,” he threw, he tested.

“More?” Ludwig still questioned what was becoming obvious.

“Ludwig…” he had been thinking about it for some time now, distant in his mind, perhaps a daydream, perhaps just a far-off wish, but these last few days just assured him his want. As he looked back to the three children, just as Alessandro gave an adorable stretch trying to make himself more comfortable. Feliciano couldn’t dream of anything being more perfect than the love he gave to his children…and how wanted more of it to give.

“I want another baby,” he finally said, wistful, dreamy, an undertone of seduction that was enough to bring colors of different emotions to rummaged through Ludwig’s body. The grip on the wheel became tighter, but he still drove on dutifully, a smile, a glow in his blue eyes to match along with the stars in Feliciano’s love stricken mind. He breathed, he gave that image in his mind its own life. Another baby, another child, twins, a girl, now an extra to add to the family’s laughter, union and adventure. Quickly he agreed, quickly he was already planning, adjusting payments, room plans, accessories, toys and he hadn’t even given Feliciano his answer yet.

“All right,” in just an alighted tone that showed to Feliciano just how excited he was himself about this new decision.

Feliciano had marked his next heat with the symbol of daisies on the wall calendar, an interesting thing that had Heinrich questioning as he gazed to that particular filled square.

“What’s that for, papa?” He asked, pointing, immediately expecting his answer.

Feliciano had just finished picking some real daisies from outside for the table when he passed by, not minding in stopping, leaning and offering a nuzzle into Heinrich’s little head.

“Your vatti and I will be making something really special that day,” he explained innocently.

“Special? What kind of thing?” Big brown eyes still begged to know.

“You’ll see in due time, Tesoro.” He kissed his head lastly before settling off, humming a joyous tune and leaving his Kindergartener still as confused.

Alessandro and Heinrich were well tired out, spread and snoring loudly in their beds. Analiese, with a good lullaby, soon fell into the same slumber, Ludwig tucking her well into her cradle, blankets over her and a last soft kiss to the curls on her head. She gave only but a silent laugh as a quick reaction before the comfort overtook her and settled her into dream. Ludwig made sure to close the door gently, leaving him and Feliciano to the loneliness of the dim lighted halls, silent, a beautiful night, Feliciano’s medicine wearing and about ready to have him craving and begging. Once Ludwig was sure nothing would stir, he turned, his hand outstretched, enough invitation in his eyes and Feliciano accepted and fell into it.

A kiss, breathless, arms wrapped tightly around each other, starting their exploration, their growing warmth, leaning, Ludwig daring to dip his love. In that lost of their leaps to their growing union of heat, Feliciano raised his legs to wrap well around his hips, strong, maintaining him stuck to his mate as he then moved them to the privacy of their room, their door closed and leaving their passions only for themselves, in that room where they created and brought life anew.

“You’re…pregnant?” Feliciano was incredulous.

“Two months in. Antonio and I found out just a week ago actually,” Lovino admitted, quite a calm, a huge contrast to the time he found out he was to have Augustino. Feliciano gave a short chuckle, remembering his nervousness, shouts, his refusal to stay seated and not pull his hair out.

He watched through the kitchen window, where his nephew, now nine years old, acted out some sort of pirate heist with his younger twin cousins. It seemed Analiese played as some sort of treasure since she wore all these fake gold chains and jewels and Augustino refused for Heinrich and Alessandro to reach her. Augustino kept her well distracted with her plush dolls and cooing from time to time.

It was all so adorable and it brought an incredible kind of warmth that not even the coffee he drank could give. “I’m so happy Lovi, and I can’t wait to already meet this new little one. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. Ludwig and I will get you gifts and-”

“You don’t have to do that, Feli. Antonio and I can deal well enough. You and Ludwig could use all that extra help for yourselves,” he seemed to scold. “Really, twins and you still settled for having another one. Only you two can be crazy enough as to have more,” he groaned unaware and Feliciano had to hide his revealing smile into his coffee mug.

“Is that the reason you came to visit?” Feliciano was curious.

“In part…but Augustino had insisted. Antonio and I got some days off, and well, to be honest, I really wanted to see my nephews and niece.” He smiled so genuinely as he saw them play, something he did more often after having kids.

“And…” he blushed, “I guess I wanted to see you too.”

Feliciano was just about to shout and jump over the table to hug his adored brother, but it was just as Ludwig and Antonio entered, both holding the bags from their grocery shopping.

“I assure you we got everything!” Antonio declared.

“What took you so long though?” Lovino still maddened.

“You didn’t exactly give us a short list,” Ludwig reminded.

“And he had to make constant checks." Antonio seemed clearly annoyed by the many times they had stopped in the aisles just so Ludwig could stay all the minutes he wanted counting and striking.

“As long as we get to have some bruschetta and polenta, we should be happy and relaxed,” Feliciano tried to calm before it could get too rowdy.

Someone was about to comment, but it was interrupted by Augustino’s sudden rush into the house, quick in taking a grasp of his parents.

“Papa, papa, quick, you have to help me!” He pleaded.

“What’s going on?” Antonio questioned, already worried.

“Heinrich and Alessandro are almost to the jewel, and with it they can get the treasure from me! I need somebody to be a merman and a vicious pirate!” He tried to pull them already into their roles outside.

“Augustino, Tesoro, we still have to-” Lovino tried to release, but his son’s grip was too strong and determined highly.

“It can wait! This is an emergency!” Augustino fretted.

Antonio was the first to give up, sighing but continuing with a smile, the thing to have Lovino join in as well with his own grin outside to the backyard, ready to play and star in the children’s fantasies. They left behind Ludwig and Feliciano to chuckle, organizing the groceries and getting what they would need for their soon big dinner.

“Lovino told you?” Ludwig asked, organizing some ingredients on the counter.

“About being pregnant? Yes, he did. Antonio told you?”

“Mhm, he got embarrassingly excited.” Ludwig still grinned recalling how Antonio seemed to fly through the aisles.

Ludwig started mincing some of the ingredients, while Feliciano took to watching his family by the window, still finishing his coffee, not holding back his grin at all the occurrences, such as Heinrich claiming their pretend jewel, Alessandro defeating the vicious pirate, Lovino mock crying over the death of his beloved, Augustino still strong and defending the treasure, Analiese. The toddler was still too distracted in her dolls to really pay notice on what was going on around her.

As Ludwig thought he did enough of his part, knowing that he should leave the majority of the cooking to the Mediterranean, he washed his hands and quickly dried, to have them ready to wrap well around Feliciano, resting his head on his shoulder to leave kisses on his neck. Feliciano gave some moans, moving his head back to give more skin for Ludwig to take, his hand then grasping and cradling the gold of his hair. Ludwig let his own hands traverse Feliciano’s torso, taking in the softness, his voluptuousness, his delectable form that had him tempted to take him upstairs while the rest were distracted. It suddenly stopped once his hands reached his stomach, taking the newly formed bump, adjusting himself and settling on swaying with Feliciano on the spot, reddening, happy and excited.

“Did you tell Lovino?” Ludwig asked, his hands now dear on that small little bump, nothing noticeable to others yet.

“I didn’t know how to,” Feliciano admitted.

“Why?”

“He’s pregnant too, Luddy. He’s excited, he’s happy, I feel like I’ll only be taking his spotlight. He deserves to be getting all that attention.” He didn’t mind, besides, it wasn’t like he had any other family members to tell this to and celebrate…Lovino did, let him enjoy from those festivities and praises.

Ludwig sighed, “he’ll find out sooner or later.”

“We can wait a bit more.” It was decided, silence between them as they saw the little show through the window.

It was enough that they were happy, that they were expecting, and that joy can be radiating in the shelter of this house.

The video zoomed at an old picture, specifically that of a newborn baby wrapped well in her blankets and beanie, in peaceful sleep, all her little details caught perfect to the point that it somehow made Isabella feel awkward. The photo was dated May twelfth, only a week after she was born. It was framed in one of the many walls decorated with pictures of the family, right next to one of the very first day she had arrived to the house. In that very picture she was surrounded by the twins, helping Analiese to carry, at the time, their newborn sister.

“You were so cute…why didn’t you stay like that?” The camera shook as Isabella slapped her sister’s shoulder for the comment.

“What are you talking about? My bella is a bella always.” Feliciano came down that instant, a tired Friedrich in his arms, embracing his girl and placing a warm kiss on her head.

“That reminds me, why was it that you named me Isabella?” she asked curiously.

“I always liked it. Told myself I would have a little girl with that name. Sometimes I wonder why we didn’t give it to Analiese."

“No, I like having it!”

“Then it was destiny that made forget at first.” Another kiss and he was off to sing a lullaby that could hopefully get the baby to sleep.

“So yes, I was planned, in a time where almost everybody else was having babies."

“Are you talking about how you, Clara and Rose were born practically at the same time." Alessandro just had to peek his head in out of nowhere. Isabella decided to ignore him, turning the camera and herself away from his direction.

“The rest of us were mistakes!”

“Hey!”

“How dare you!” Analiese shouted this time.

Isabella in turn laughed.

“Hey guys, guys, guys, guys." Harsh rushing footsteps echoed across the halls and in quite an odd excitement did the eldest appear, wide in his stance and such a large smile on his face that most thought was surely hurting him.

“What the hell is going on that made you this excited?” Alessandro questioned.

“I made a map!”

The rest just stared on wondering what could be exciting about that.

“Just come on!”

To have their brother practically skipping the halls in excitement, they were swayed to agree and go see it.

As told, Heinrich had set up a giant map of Europe, small squares showing other places around the world, different places pinned with notes in a beautiful cursive writing that surely only Heinrich could understand, which made this more confusing. The eldest brothers were all now seated, bored but expectant.

“Okay, so you have a marked map here. What for?” Alessandro was the first to question.

“You see,” and that very moment he took out a pointer, stretched professionally and pointing to the very first spot in Switzerland. It was the University of Zurich. “I have spent the entire week gathering and researching every possible university candidate for us and had organized it all with their curriculums, world rankings, best professors, opportunities, programs, accommodations, and distances, train and air fares for papa and vatti when they come to visit, ‘cause you know how sentimental they can get.” All the while he kept producing more piles of papers, sticky notes, even notebooks…and this was just for universities in Switzerland and Austria. As the eldest gazed on, they noticed universities of Germany marked, especially interested in Munich. He even marked many in Italy, the main interest being Rome.

“You included Iceland,” Analiese noticed.

“Anyone else surprised at the fact that he checked universities in Chile?” Isabella pointed.

“I even have South Africa,” Heinrich said happily, then picking his notebooks concerning that country.

“This is too much. My head hurts.” Alessandro was at the verge of crying.

“Oh come on Aless, we have to be this ready to make the decision for next year."

“Exactly…next year! It’s way too early for this!” He rubbed his hands over his face to hide it all. “I mean…I’m not even sure if I want to study outside of Switzerland."

“You could always go to Austria."

“…I’m not that fond of Austria as you are.”

“Not even for Marco?”

“Don’t drag him into this."

“What’s all this?” Ludwig questioned, entering the household after his usual routine at work. He settled keys, jackets and bags in their usual place before heading over to the living room to notice Heinrich’s display.

“Heinz is seeing what university he wants to go to,” Isabella said.

“Vatti, it’s crazy! He has everything planned to the last detail, and he’s including a lot of universities from around the world! He even has some from fricking Japan!” Alessandro maddened.

Ludwig remained still, an expression that none of them could really pinpoint as he took in the real details of what exactly his eldest had done.

“Son…this is amazing!” He ended up complimenting, coming close to really take a better look of it all. “Ah, I didn’t think you would add Germany. I almost went to study in the University of Munich,” Ludwig remembered, adoring every information, everything he wanted his son to be sure of.

“Really? What happened?” Heinrich was truly curious.

Ludwig went oddly silent.

“Alessandro, you should really take a look at this and make a choice for yourself as well. I believe your brother did an excellent thing by getting all of this.” He then started looking through Italy, taking a clipboard from the University of Bologna where Heinrich had circled all kinds of degrees he was interested in, even making guesses for what Alessandro and even Analiese would want.

Alessandro murmured something under his breath, rolling his eyes, standing and facing another direction, ready to leave.

“What was that?” Ludwig glared with scold.

“Nothing, nothing, I’m just going to my room,” he angered, stomping away up the stairs.

“You’re being a little immature, Aless. Come on, let’s look at the University of Venice now. I don’t think their sports program is good, but they offer a good culinary degree,” Heinrich followed behind.

“Geez, Heinz, can you seriously stop?” Alessandro shouted.

Their discussion continued faintly into their room, Feliciano catching parts of it as he made his way down, having just put Friedrich down for a nap.

“What’s wrong?” He asked those he met with in the living room, halting in shock when he saw the large preparation that had taken place in one of the walls.

“Amore, no, this is too much. You’re going to drive them crazy!” Feliciano pleaded to Ludwig.

“I didn’t actually do this,” Ludwig defended himself.

Feliciano couldn’t believe it, turning about, hoping that either Analiese or Isabella could tell him the truth.

“He didn’t,” Analiese said.

“Heinrich did,” Isabella announced.

Isabella was glad that she captured Feliciano’s startled expression in camera. He turned towards all those papers, universities, notebooks, sticky notes and pictures, in a way impressed, but in another heavily concerned.

“I swear I didn’t help him either,” Ludwig had to say before Feliciano got any other ideas.

“This is all Heinz,” Analiese made sure.

“Mio dio…” more did the concern show. “This is the most Beilschmidt thing I’ve seen him done.”

Both the girls started laughing.

“Excuse me?” Ludwig seemed insulted.

“Not in a bad way but…this is just something you would do, Tesoro.” The innocence in his mate’s eyes made him lower whatever angered impulse he was about to showcase.

“I-I-I…I’ve never been this excessive,” he blushed, looking away and hoping that Feliciano wouldn’t remember anything that could criminate him that moment.

“Caro…” Feliciano turned his face in such an adorable way that left Ludwig defenseless for what was coming. “You once made a binder this big-” he raised his hands to show it, even to his two girls there, “-scheduling and detailing everything leading to Isabella’s birth. You were so obsessed with it you didn’t even let me put clothes that weren’t on it.”

“It was precaution! Besides…it was just a binder.”

“Should I tell the girls what you did when you planned our trip to Geneva?”

Ludwig paled and froze.

“Oh god…” Isabella worried.

“What did he do?” Analiese turned curious, leaning and being ready to hear.

“He-”

“Please, please, liebling, don’t do this.”

Feliciano was his rare unmerciful self.

“He acted out what each of us will do in the trip and made notes in a notebook I actually still keep.”

“He…acted?” Analiese was finding it hard to believe. The image of their strict and large alpha father acting out people like Feliciano, Alessandro, Analiese, and Giovanna, was just something out of a crazy dream.

“What the hell, vatti.” Isabella hadn’t stopped laughing even at the expression of dread and embarrassment in Ludwig’s face. “How did he do it?” Isabella managed to say.

“I can show you…I still have the videos!” Feliciano raised his cellphone proudly.

Both the girls started shrilling and made way to look at the recordings, easily moving past Ludwig just in time for Feliciano to hit play.

The video showed him sitting upon his bed, with reading glasses, note and pen, Feliciano giggling as he tried to copy Alessandro’s speech. “If it’s not official Salzburg, I don’t want it. Now, where’s Café du Remor, I was promised Ice cream.” Which lead to Ludwig adding a schedule to visit as well as reminding to mark it on the planning map.

“But Vatti, it’s a green cat! I have to get the green cat!” “You have enough dolls” “Not a green cat!”

They all lost it with Ludwig trying his best at Giovanna’s squeaky voice, which was of course ridiculous. Their laughs haunted Ludwig and the continuing recording even more. This meant that even Friedrich will be a witness to this and probably mock him in the future as well.

< Video 4.1 Video 5 >

#Good Luck Friedrich #glf #gerita #gerita fanfiction #gerita fic #gerita omegaverse #omegaverse gerita

17 notes · View notes

thatssonanii · 8 years ago

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Golden Hearts 💛🖤 - Chapter One

AJ Styles/OC

Warning:None really. A bit of flirting and some less than happy moments mentioned. Its a bit of a slow start but it’ll pick up!

Tears rolled slowly down Tika’s cheeks as a sad smile rose to her lips while she stared at the phone on front of her. While she sat in the car line at the arena, she had gotten bored and decided to look through the gallery on her phone. The line had come to a stop with some sort of hold up she wasn’t sure about the nature, honestly didn’t care. The rain was pouring down around the car with the sun threatening to peak around the clouds mirrored the way she felt. She wanted to cry and smile all at the same time.

Tika’s four-year-old daughter, Serenity, came into view of the camera, a smile on her sun kissed brown skin. Her dimples looked like two wells on her chubby cheeks. She twirled one time in her floral print romper then leaned down to fix the straps of her gold sandals.

“Is that my baby?” Tika asked loudly. “Is that my babv slayin’ like that? With her baby hairs poppin’?”

Serenity giggled as she put her hands on her knees and cocked her little head to the side. “Who else but me, mama. I’m flawless.” She pretended to whip her hair, which was secure at the top of her head in a neat bun.

The video came to an end with Serenity doing her best Beyoncé moves. She was Serenity’s favorite singer so much so Tika made sure to take her daughter to any concert she could and bought her memorabilia as well.

Tika started to go through the pictures they had taken that day. She remembered that day clearly. They were headed off to a summer pool party one of Tika’s friends was having for the kids. If it was one thing Serenity had gotten from her mama, it was her love of photography. She took pictures of any and everything she could. Serenity’s little imagination had knew no bounds just as her mama’s.

The sound of someone laying on their horn snapped Tika’s attention from her phone to her rearview mirror to see the person honking at her. The smile on her face replaced with a scowl, even if she was holding up the line they didn’t need to honk at her like that. She put her car in drive still staring in the mirror wanting badly to flip them the bird. It was one thing she didn’t miss about while she was on leave from the company, some of the rude people she called co-workers. Her time was just as valuable as theirs.

After a year of being gone, things felt a little foreign to Tika. She couldn’t lie though and say it didn’t feel good to be back. Even though she didn’t want as much time as the company had given her off, she was thankful for it. She knew she wouldn’t have been able to make it back in the two months she had originally asked for versus the year they gave her. What’s more, she didn’t think she would still have a job. Yet here she is, backstage at Smackdown Live in Toledo, Ohio. The company, mainly Shane, fought with her to wait till the Smackdown after Blacklash to return instead of the actual pay per view. He didn’t want her to be overwhelmed. She was still a bit apprehensive about being so far from home but she knew she needed to be strong and have faith.

No one seemed to take notice in her being there, which she preferred. She moved in silence through the bright, buzzing backstage area. All Tika wanted to do was make it to her area so she could unpack her bag and start snapping pictures.

“You didn’t tell me you were here, Ti.”

The voice brought her smile back. Tika acted like she didn’t hear them, pretending to search her camera bag for lenses she didn’t need. “You hear me, girl. I know you do.” Suddenly there were arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground making her laugh louder than she should have.

“Let me go, Trin,” she laughed trying to wiggle from her grasp. “We’re in public. Put me down, you’re being extra.”

“Oh, I’m extra,” Trinity asked setting her down. “I’m extra because a certain someone didn’t tell their favorite oldest cousin they were back.”

Trinity gave Tika a fake smile to combat the smirk on younger woman’s face. In her rush to get everything packed and ready for her flight from Orlando, Florida to Toledo, Tika had forgotten to let her cousin know she was returning to work. Their relationship was much more like sisters and best friends. If someone didn’t know them, they would swear they were sisters. Trinity being the more eccentric sister with the bright hair and make-up where as Tika was the tamer one. She liked to keep things simple, natural for the most part and fun.

“First, you’re my only cousin. Second, I’m sorry. I was overwhelmed trying to get everything together for the trip.”

Trinity eyed her for a second as if debating whether she believed her or not. “Mmhm. So how you holdin’ up, Ti?”

“I’m fine, I’m good.”

“If you’re not, you know you can tell me right?” Trinity pulled her into a small hug, resting her head against Tika’s head, lovingly. She appreciated her cousin wanting to check up on her but she didn’t want to talk about any of it. Finally getting to a point where she could leave her house without crying, Tika didn’t want to make any steps backwards. If she did, she knew the result wouldn’t be good for her.

“Enough about me though. What about you, champ? Winning in our backyard, babe. That was everything.” The proud smile was unmistakable. To say Tika was proud would be an understatement. She always knew Trinity would get her WrestleMania moment, her only regret is that she missed it.

Trinity smiled bashfully, ignoring the people moving around them trying to get things ready for the show. Tika noticed and moved them to the other part of the hallway, trying to get out of the way.

“It was amazing. I felt so much love, I didn’t think the people would really be happy I won. It was a shocker.”

“Girl, please.” Tika shooed her playfully. “With all that shaking and flipping you did. Who wouldn’t love you? I was looking at you tryna figure out if that was my big cousin out there slayin’.”

They bumped shoulders as they laughed loudly earning looks from the people around them to which they gave them nasty glares. When they were together, it was loud and everyone had a good time. And if anyone wasn’t having a good time then they could leave as Trinity would always say.

“Come on, I know Jon and Josh wanna see you. They’ve been talkin’ about you since we last saw you in March.”

Trinity was never one to ask anything. The words that came out of her mouth, usually came out in a demand. This time was no difference. Tika gave a fleeting glance as Trinity drug her away holding onto her hand tightly. As they passed throngs of people, their co-workers, they attempted to speak to Tika but Trinity was not slowing down. Instead of a proper conversation, Tika gave them small waves and apologetic smiles.

When they entered the large, open locker room, the room got louder. There was an up roar of cheers, shit talking and laughing. Just what Tika had missed. Watching Austin record for his gaming channel, especially the competitions were pure entertainment. Kofi and E sat in front of the monitors Austin had set up on the table playing UFC. It must have been for the tournament he saw Jon going on and on about on Twitter. Jon, his brother Josh, Antonio and AJ stood around the trio, as spectators and commentators. Trinity bumped shoulders with Jon, he turned around prepared to pop her arm until his eyes landed on me.

“Oh snap! Lil Tiki torch in the house,” he yelled draping his arms around her. His hug swallowed her leaving her no choice but to bury her face in his chest until he was ready to let her go. Tika couldn’t help but laugh at how affectionate he always seemed to be. His outburst had caught the attention of the other males in the room.

“We’ve got the baddest woman in the land with a camera in her hand, Miss Tika Harris” Austin roared looking into the camera. A round of ‘oooh’ emanated from E and Kofi at his rhyme.

“How you doin’, love?” Josh asked pulling her away from his brother’s arms into his. “I’m alright. No worries.” Josh was the calmer twin. He didn’t need to be loud all the time like his older brother. Then again, he could get just as loud if need be. Austin and Antonio gave her quick squeezes then returned to the game play.

“Long time, no see, darlin’.”

“Hi to you too, AJ.”

Tika kept her head forward staring at the screens in front of her not wanting their interaction to be caught on the cameras. She knew that fans paid more attention to those in the background more than the ones right in front. The last thing she needed was marks ganging up on her and sending mean tweets.

His eyes bore into the side of her face. The baby blues were locked in, he didn’t care about the presence of a Austin’s cameras. “Your thumbs don’t look broke to me.”

“What,” she asked with a slight laugh.

“I mean I figured you weren’t textin’ cause your thumbs were broken,” he sighed folding his arms across his chest. “But I see they’re just fine.”

Tika didn’t feel like getting into this conversation while they were in ear shot of everyone else and the camera. The last thing she needed was for someone to make a big deal out of them talking. She’s seen first hands what false accusations can do to someone’s career in this company especially a female. With a nudge to Trinity’s arm, Tika left the locker room already knowing AJ would be right behind her shortly. While she wondered down the hallway towards the large stack of crates she scrolled through the notifications on her phone. There were mainly texts from her parents, especially her mom, who wanted to know how everything was going and how she was doing. The rest were a few friend, who after a year still didn’t get that she didn’t want to constantly relive it all and didn’t want their handouts.

She felt his presence before she saw him. AJ approached her just as she made it to the crates. He lifted her by her hips onto the crates so that he could get a good look at her.

“What is with you wrestlers and picking people up?” She sat her phone beside her on the cart, giving AJ her full attention. In the year that she had been gone, he had let his hair grow longer than what she remembered. His beard was a lot fuller now. Both framed his face, bringing out his eyes even more. “It’s a part of the occupation. Didn’t get these muscles from liftin’ remotes,” he shrugged. A year later and still the same person.

“I’m sorry for not returning your calls and texts. I’m tryna do better now, AJ.”

“Yeah well I accept your apology this time. But next time,” he warned wagging his index finger in Tika’s face. She laughed pushing his finger from her face.

She and AJ had become good friends upon him coming into the company back in 2016. He had such a good spirit, she couldn’t ignore him for long. No matter how hard she tried to ignore him greeting her so nicely every time he saw her or the small conversations and jokes he made when they found themselves near each other with time to kill. Some of the men that worked for the company tried to give off this vibe that they were good people but in reality, they were assholes. But AJ was different, he was the person he put out for others to see.

“No but really. How you holdin’ up, kid?”

“Kid?” She scoffed at the name. “I’m a grown woman, AJ. Not a kid. I told you about that name before.”

“You’re a kid to me. A sassy one.”

“Grown. Woman.” She spoke slowly maintaining eye contact with him. A smile graced his lips as he waved her off playfully. “Whatever, kid or grown woman. How you holdin’ up?”

“I’m fine. Taking it day by day.”

AJ was the first person to find her after it initially happened. She was standing in the lobby of the hotel with Trinity, the twins and some of their other co-workers debating on plans when she got a phone call from her mom. They were in New York for Raw, it was a month before the brand split. She would never forget how her mom sounded on the other end of the phone. For a moment, she felt like she was paralyzed but then she was tripping over herself repeating that she was coming home to her mom before hanging up. The hallway that she had snuck off to was clear, the only noises around her was the dinging from the nearby elevator bank.

All she remembered was AJ helping her from the floor, trying to ask her what’s wrong. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t bring herself to repeat what her mom had told her, she didn’t want to make any assumptions and saying it out loud would make her do just that. For a few minutes, all she could do was cry. She sobbed quietly into his chest, something she wouldn’t be able to do when she reached Orlando. The world around her felt as though it had come to a stand still. She rememberedbletting him know that something was wrong with her daughter and she needed to get home.

AJ stayed with her until Trinity spoke with her aunt, Tika’s mom, to find out what exactly was happening. Tika clung to him, her head was throbbing but she couldn’t stop her tears. He hated to see her upset, he had never seen her do anything but smile, laugh and occasionally glare.

“You’re thinking about it. Don’t do that.” Her voice was soft and sweet. She smiled but AJ saw the sadness behind the smile on her smile. “Thinking about it won’t change it, AJ. I learned that the hard way.”

AJ opened his mouth to speak but Austin yelling out his name cut him off. I shooed him away when he tried to keep talking. Getting AJ away from the whole conversation was for the best. It was part of the reason Tika had stopped responding to his texts. AJ was way more comfortable talking about it than she was. It didn’t upset her that he wanted to talk about it, it upset her that at some point she was comfortable talking about it with him. She just didn’t think she was ready and here it is a year later.

Grabbing her phone, Tika hopped down to go back to her camera so she could do test shots. On the way, she glanced at her phone for the time, her lock screen catching her eye instead. The picture put a smile on her face, most of the time it’s what kept her going. The person she was doing everything for.

#aj styles #aj styles/oc #tika sumpter #naomi #Golden Hearts #my work #masterlist

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tending-the-hearth · 3 years ago

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Pepa and Mirabel

ok but Pepa and Mirabel's relationship is not talked about enough, and i just need to talk about them a little:

I have a lot of thoughts about Pepa's Gift reacting around Mirabel, and how she reacts/interacts with her either during or after. There are really only three major moments where we see Pepa's clouds forming around Mirabel (obviously correct me if i'm wrong please!!):

when Mirabel takes her seat during breakfast, which is totally understandable because who wouldn't get a little upset if they're bumped out of their seat?

when Pepa hears Mirabel mention Bruno's name as she's entering the nursery and while packing up Antonio's things, because tbh that's absolutely valid as it's a very sore and emotional subject for the family, especially Pepa, so hearing her brother's name brought up would obviously make her upset.

and lastly, during the proposal dinner, when she hears about Bruno's vision from Felix. since no one knows that the vision could go two ways, obviously people will think the worst (that's one of the main things Bruno mentions when explaining to Mirabel why he left). All the family knows, all Pepa knows, is that something is happening and that Mirabel has something to do with the magic. Of COURSE Pepa is going to be (1) shocked and (2) anxious about the magic dying, because not only has she had these powers for most of her life, but for all she knows, the magic is her only connection to her father.

Other than those moments, granted that we don't see much of Pepa and Mirabel together, we have to assume that they have some kind of close relationship.

From what the movie shows us, Mirabel and Antonio are quite honestly more like siblings than cousins. Given that Mirabel knows exactly where Antonio is hiding during his ceremony (and the fact that Antonio almost begs her to walk with him to his door because he needs her, offers his help because the rats told him and he trusts his Mirabel, gives her the doorknob and walks her to the door once Casita is rebuilt), it's obvious that they've spent almost every waking moment together.

Mirabel is probably one of the people Pepa trusts the most, because she's been taking care of Antonio for five years, becoming another big sister to him. You don't give a ten-year-old that responsibility and not spend time with them too, and get to know them as well, and get to know what's hurting them.

Also, the way Pepa says "What did you do?" after the failed proposal dinner doesn't sound very accusatory to me. It sounds more like Pepa meant to say "what is going on???" because Casita is cracking, powers are going haywire, and all Pepa knows is that it's got something to do with Bruno (a very painful subject for her, so again, clouds, snow, and rain are validated) and the niece she's probably closest to. I don't think it's Pepa being angry or annoyed, it's just a mixture of feelings of fear and protectiveness.

I just really love the idea of little Mirabel feeling comfortable enough to confide in her Tia Pepa, because of course Pepa would understand the pressure to try not to mess up, because even if she does have a Gift, she has to be careful, she has to do everything right, or else someone will get upset.

Little Mirabel curling up next to her tia after Antonio is born, and Pepa whispering that she wants Mirabel to help take care of him, because she can't think of anyone she trusts more.

Pepa being the first person to give Mirabel a task, an actual responsibility, instead of brushing her to the side in favor of someone with a Gift. Instead of asking Julieta, Dolores, or even Abuela, she asks her sobrina, who can't help but cry as she snuggles against her tia and swears that she'll be the best at taking care of her new primo.

Pepa needing Mirabel, just like her little son will need her in five years, because how can anyone look at Mirabel and think that she wouldn't do whatever was possible for her family to shine?

i just have so many feelings about Pepa and Mirabel having such a strong and sweet relationship, and I just think they deserve more attention.

#@ people making pepa the villain i'm taking your kneecaps #that goes for people who make alma the villain as well #mirabel's tia and tios would absolutely go to WAR for their little sobrina #felix tells silly stories with goofy voices and tosses her up in the air and makes her giggle madly #also i'm so sorry abt the missing accents i'm typing this and i can't get the accented letters so i may adjust that via mobile #encanto #pepa madrigal #mirabel madrigal #antonio madrigal #character analysis

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velmaemyers88 · 5 years ago

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In Conversation with Danny Trejo: From Character Actor to Taco Mogul

The actor talked to Fortune about his adventures in Hollywood and with Trejo’s Tacos.

Nothing about Danny Trejo is what you might expect, including his secret to success.

“Everything good that’s happened to me is a direct result of me helping other people,” says Trejo, 75, whose surprisingly compact 5-foot-6 frame—clad in all black, his long dark hair hanging loose alongside a silver cross necklace—is tucked inside a booth at the Hollywood hub of his booming taco business, Trejo’s Cantina.

His soft-spoken reflectiveness and fondness for high-fives belie a life that could have gone very differently: Born to Mexican-American parents in Los Angeles, Trejo spent most of his young-adult life in and out of California prisons for drugs and robberies. It was during that time and since then that he honed his boxing talents (a helpful skill in venues like San Quentin), got sober at 25, became a prolific character actor, and, from working as a youth drug counselor and motivational speaker, discovered how much he loves giving back.

Danny Trejo inside the kitchen at Trejo’s Tacos on July 11, 2019. Photograph by Joe Toreno for Fortune

Today, Trejo’s iconic craggy visage fronts eight Trejo’s Tacos locations across Los Angeles, and the eats are a hit: The Los Angeles Times named the rainbow cauliflower tacos on its 2017 list of 10 favorite recipes; the Cantina location serves around 500 diners a day on weekends; and there’s talk of expanding the business, which now includes a doughnut shop, outside California. (He’s also recently launched Trejo’s Cerveza, currently for sale at L.A.-area Whole Foods and Total Wine.) Somehow Trejo also still has time for acting: He’ll soon add 20-plus roles to his nearly 300-credit film and TV résumé, including a second Machete sequel and August’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold, in which he voices a monkey named Boots, a role Trejo says proudly “will give me a whole new audience.”

Fortune chatted with Trejo in early July about his food-mogul renaissance, his adventures in Hollywood, and how he learned to channel a misspent youth into a force for good.

Fortune: Trejo’s Tacos feels like an L.A. institution, yet it’s only three years old. What inspired you to get into the restaurant business?

Trejo: My mom was a gourmet cook. When I around 12, I’d say, “We should start a restaurant,” but my dad was like a Mexican Archie Bunker. “Hey, we’ve got a kitchen right there!” [Laughs] Seven years ago I did a low-budget movie called Bad Ass, and one of the producers, Ash Shah, noticed that I didn’t like junk food. I am pretty picky! A few movies later, Ash says, “Danny, you should start a restaurant.” He created a business plan for Trejo’s Tacos. My team said, “If nobody’s asking you to front 50 grand, seems like a good idea!” We opened, and it totally blew up. Two years ago we opened the doughnut shop, and we sell out by 2 p.m. every day.

Anthony Bourdain raved about your tacos when he filmed Parts Unknown here in 2017. What was that day like for you?

Amazing. He joked, “You’re Mexican and you have a cauliflower taco?” He loved it. At around five or six o’clock at night, you’ll see a lot families coming in here. One woman told me, “Thank God for this place.” The kids can be gluten-free, mom can be vegetarian, and Dad can have cow!

Trejo’s Tacos offers gluten free and vegetarian taco options. Photograph by Joe Toreno for Fortune

What’s your favorite thing on the menu?

I love the nachos with steak and two eggs on top for breakfast.

Your latest incarnation as a restaurateur is another twist in an already surreal career. To what do you attribute your staying power?

I have good people around me. The same agent for 25 years. I met my assistant Mario at San Quentin when I made a movie there, and he was a prisoner. He’s been with me for 15 years.

You were discovered while working as a boxing coach on the set of the 1985 Jon Voight movie Runaway Train. But it wasn’t until you were cast as the knife-throwing Navajas in your cousin Robert Rodriguez’s 1995 film Desperado that you started to play substantial roles. Is it true you didn’t know you were related until shooting began?

We first met when I auditioned in L.A. He said, “You remind me of the bad guys in my high school.” I said, “I am the bad guys from your high school!” Then we filmed in Acuña, Mexico. My family from San Antonio visited the set. My Uncle Rudy says, “Who’s that?” I say, “Robert Rodriguez, the director.” He whistles at Robert, “Hey! Say hello to your second cousin Danny!” I was like, “What’s up, cousin? Make my role bigger!” But he didn’t. He said, “Danny, you can do more with your face than most actors can with dialogue.” I’m walking around with no shirt, all these tattoos, people asking for my autograph. Robert says, “They think you’re the star.” I said, “You mean I’m not?” Nobody really knew [lead actor] Antonio Banderas at the time. He was quiet—unlike me. [Laughs]

Trejo’s Tacos and Trejo’s Coffee merchandise on display for purchase. Two years ago, Trejo opened a doughnut shop that sells out by 2 p.m. every day. Photograph by Joe Toreno for Fortune

Robert went on to create the vigilante-hero character Machete for you. How did he evolve from a minor character in the Spy Kids franchise to fronting two, soon-to-be three features?

After he put Uncle Machete in Spy Kids, Robert did the Grindhouse movies [with director Quentin Tarantino], and they needed fake movie trailers. One was for a Machete movie. At the premiere, everybody was like, “You have to do that movie.” Machete was the first Mexican superhero. I was almost in tears when I saw 8-year-old kids dressed like him on Halloween.

Of all the people you’ve worked with, when have you felt the most starstruck?

With Robert De Niro, when we did Heat. Then Robert [Rodriguez] somehow got him to do Machete! I see him on the set and he says, “Well, well, well, number one on the call sheet now, eh?” I was like, “Can I get you some coffee, Mr. De Niro?” [Laughs]

For what roles are you most often recognized when you’re out in the world? Seeing your severed head on a turtle in season two of Breaking Bad left quite an impression with fans.

Spy Kids. Machete. Anchorman. Bubble Boy. And every Mexican I know loves Blood In, Blood Out. For Breaking Bad, I remember my agent saying, “Danny, you’re going to have a Hollywood first: You’re going to go across the desert on a turtle.” I’m thinking it’s a cartoon, or a really big turtle? “Actually, no. It’s just your head.” [Laughs]

A lot of your roles lean campy, but you’ve also acted in serious films like Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Sherrybaby about a mother who’s a drug-addicted ex-con. When did you think to yourself, “Wait, I can actually act?”

I’m a drug counselor at a place called Western Pacific Rehab. A few years ago, my son Gilbert cast me in a drug-themed movie he wrote called From a Son. There’s a scene where I break down and cry. I’d never had to do that in a movie. I was thinking I’d do a John Wayne, tough-guy thing, but my son…shit, he’s so brilliant. He reminded me of stuff from when he was young. He showed me a picture of us from 1985, when he was a little baby. Then, I couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t even cry at my parents’ funerals.

Trejo’s silver cross necklace and watch. Photograph by Joe Toreno for Fortune

Did you surprise yourself in that moment?

Completely. I thought, “Wow, okay, this must be acting.”

Your son is named after your Uncle Gilbert, who you’ve said led you down a path of crime when you were a teenager. What do you remember about that time?

My dad came from a family of 11, and Gilbert was the youngest. He was only six years older than me. I had no siblings, so he was like my older brother. Unfortunately, he was also an armed robber and a drug addict. He showed me how to rob when I was 14. He gave me a sawed-off shotgun and put me in front of a mirror to practice. “Give me your money, bitch. I’ll slap you!”

Your first acting job.

[Laughs] Yes. We robbed an Asian grocery store together called Far East Market in Burbank. We had a revolver, but you had to hold it just so or it would fall apart. I go, “Give me the money! Give me the money!” The woman gives me $8 from the cash register. I grabbed it, and we ran down Lankershim as this guy comes out of the back, screaming, with a hatchet!

How do you feel now about the crimes you committed?

I feel regret. I’ve never been mean, but I’ve also never let anybody take advantage of me. In prison you’re predator or prey. My friend Cookie and I had a protection ring for young kids coming in, including for gay couples who’d been married on the streets. When I got out of the pen, I’d get cards from kids we protected. Their parents also said thank you.

Did your own parents live to see your success?

My mom did. My dad saw me get sober but never saw me get into acting. He would have laughed. Even my mom was like, “Get a job, mijo,” even after I’d worked with Robert De Niro in Heat! She did get excited when I was on The Young and the Restless in 2008. She had four of her friends over to watch, and they were like, “Oh, my God.” That was it. I’d made it.

Over the years you’ve appeared in dozens of commercials and ads—selling products from Snickers to AARP—and you’re now a spokesman for the erectile dysfunction product Giddy. What appealed to you about tackling that taboo subject?

We don’t talk anything in our society—condoms in high school, birth control. We definitely don’t talk about erectile dysfunction, especially in the Hispanic community. I don’t know a man who hasn’t experienced it. I think it’s like everything I do—teaching people to neuter their dogs, warning kids about drugs, you need to show them you’re cool. You need a face like this to get through to them. Not so much as “Danny Trejo” but the guy from Spy Kids, the guy from Heat, the guy from Desperado. People think, “Okay, I want to hear what this guy has to say.”