#but whenever i express any of my opinions my parents just say that i'm young and that they've watched people age

[paintedpineleaf]

one of the oddest feelings i experience is when i position myself outside my body and don't think of it as my own, i really think i have a hot body, like it's exactly my type and i would actually be so attracted to someone who looked like that, then if i look at that same body and think of it as my own, like i look in the mirror and i think "that's my body, that's me", it's like there isn't anything right with that body, my thighs are too fat and my body fat percentage is too high and my lower stomach "pooch" is so big i look 3 months pregnant and on and on and on. why does this look like this why does that look like that etc etc etc.

[pillarsalt]

Anon worried about her trans-identified friend again, I wish I had the words to express how much I appreciate your kind words!!! (Maybe admitting it made me tear up would help? haha) Your response was just as thoughtful and considerate as I thought it would be, but I never expected you'd write so much for a stranger talking about another stranger, let alone throw compliments my way. You're a truly special person and everyone on here, including me, is so lucky we get to hear what you have to say and chat with you :) (And see your wonderful art to boot!! Finding another bug-lover is such a lovely surprise!)

I'll keep your kind thoughts in mind whenever the rare friction comes up again between my friend and me. It was such a quick process for me to desist and become gender critical that I think it's easy for me to forget how much harder it is for people to change their minds on the trans topic when they're so much more invested in it than I was. (Feel the same way about religion too, even as a little kid I was asking questions about why certain things bothered me in the Bible and getting frustrated when I got shame instead of answers. Maybe being annoying and asking too many questions is just in my DNA haha. But all the more reason why it's important to help those who aren't naturally critical: they're the ones falling for unreality the hardest because of that fact.)

Ultimately I will keep being me and see what happens, like I've done before. If nothing comes of it, then there was nothing else I could've done differently anyway. I've asked her if she'd like to do gift exchange for the holidays. We're planning on getting each other a few embarrassingly nerdy collectibles we've been eyeing for a while :)

Thank you again for your help, I'll cherish your words always!!! Hope you have a blast on your trip and get to see all the little guys you could dream of!!!

I'm very glad to hear from you, anon! :) and thank you so much for the kind words! it makes me very happy to be able to help in any way. ❤️

It's funny that you mention questioning the bible as a kid. I went to catholic school and I remember being taught in first grade that we were supposed to love god more than anything. More than we loved our parents or even our dogs, and I just couldn't get past the notion that I had to somehow love the kinda mean, angry, invisible flying grandpa*, who never says a damn thing when I pray, over the actual people who had raised me. I stayed in catholic school until graduation despite opposing catholicism, argued a LOT. I think my point is that I've also kind of been primed for voicing unpopular opinions, so I'm biased when it comes to people who are more hesitant to take any position on the matters at hand.

*sidenote, around this time I obsessively read My Book of Bible Stories (1978) which was given to me by JW doorknockers. This is a bit uncanny, I haven't seen this since I was about 8. It was a treasured book to me, it's full of old testament stories and pretty brutal:

To demonstrate how young I was while reading this: the book refers to god as Jehovah, but I was still learning to read and thought he was called Joseph. So all the adults I told all these Joseph stories to were confused as to why I thought Jesus's stepdad was so OP. Anyway yes, Joseph was a scary guy in my mind, I mean look what he made abraham do before he said sike:

which really didn't give me much faith in him. Kind of a questionable thing to do to a guy tbh. Finally here's the illustration that basically inspired my URL:

Sorry to hijack your ask anon, for some reason your message sent me down memory lane. Finding that pdf was crazy.

ANYWAY: you made my night with yoir nice message, so thanks for that, hope you stay well. I'm happy that it's chill for the time being, and the gift exchange sounds like fun. Come around to chat anytime.✌️

[starseverance]

Hey.😃

Birth & Kiss for 💫?

Ask Game Link

Hi hi Goldie, thank you for the ask!

Birth: how good is your F/O with children? Do either of you want children someday?

💫is pretty good with children, although he does have a tendency to see them as little adults (probably due to his strict upbringing.) I think it's important to remember that children aren't unintelligent, they just lack experience in the world. Unfortunately that also leads to him expecting them to be more emotionally mature and capable than they need to be.

In general, kids seem to like him! He has a few nieces that he got on well with, and he adores my niblings.

I've always wanted children; 💫 didn't really consider if he truly wanted them until we met. It used to be more of an obligation to his family to produce an heir, but now I think he does want them. Before we broke up we had already named our future children, but now I don't think that's in the cards. I'm still too young to be thinking about having kids any time in the near future, but I still definitely want them, if not with him. He'll 100% be a big part of their life though, because he'll always be a big part of mine.

Still, whenever we see something to do with parenting that we have an opinion on, one of us will inevitably say something like "We'd never do X as parents." Our theoretical children are very much alive and being Raised Right.

Kiss: how does your F/O express their love for you? How do you express your love for them? 

💫 expresses his love for me in so many ways (including reassuring me as I watch scary videos, as we discussed last night lol.) He encourages me to stick to my routines and responsibilities, without being too pushy. Despite our many differences in opinion now that I've grown away from him, he always respects my right to disagree. He gives me space when I need it, which I really appreciate. Not to mention frequent hugs, kisses, and cuddles.

I express my love for 💫 by coming up with new things for us to do together and trying to involve him in my hobbies and activities. We like reading together, playing games, and watching movies. I do think I need to be better to him, though. I don't spend as much time with him as I should. I always keep an eye out for lemon anything (his favourite,) so I can surprise him with a treat! I also show him affection physically and verbally (this includes teasing that goes both ways.)

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

Hey! I wanted to know why Taryn's character gets a lot of hate even tho she was trying to survive in faerie just as Jude did. Except her way of survival was more traditionally feminine and demure.

this has honestly been my point since like... forever lmao. if you've been on my blog for any length of time, you'll know i'm a pretty big Taryn apologist. i speak more about it in this post. but essentially, it's exactly what you said. and i have more to say.

[DISCLAIMER: this post is tagged as pro-Taryn Duarte. any comments or asks i receive expressing the reason why You Hate Taryn are entirely unsolicited and will be deleted on sight. if you don't like my opinion you can block the pro-Taryn Duarte tag, and scroll away.]

I. Me, harping on about Madoc deserving more of the fandom's scorn, part 300

it will always boggle my mind how this fandom allows Madoc every grace of "the complex character/relationship" but we don't afford Taryn even remotely the same attempt at understanding. even when Madoc committed infinitely more betrayals, infinitely more attrocities, than Taryn ever committed–or indeed has had time to commit given her extremely young age (compared to Madoc's centuries of life).

that's not to say i don't love Madoc. i think he's a great villain and his character, particularly his relationship with his children, is very complex. but why can't this be the same way we treat Taryn?

regardless of this blatant double-standard, people still hate her, and i think it has a lot to do with (as you said) the way Taryn handles her traumatic life events.

II. Trauma Responses and How They Are Received

[FOR LEGAL REASONS, THIS POST IS DISCUSSING HOW THE TRAUMA RESPONSES ARE PERCEIVED STRICTLY IN TERMS OF CHARACTERS, NOT IRL PEOPLE/SITUATIONS!]

i've discussed this on here before, but the Duarte sisters exhibit three out of the four recognised trauma responses in the way they cope with their parents' death/being taken to Faerie:

Jude- fight

Vivi- flight

Taryn- fawn

i think we can all agree that, in terms of what an audience wants to see from characters, Jude's fight response is the most palatable of the three. not only because she is the main character (and thus, everything is from her perspective/justified in her eyes), but also because it is what i believe most of us would want to be able to do ourselves in the face of adversity and hardship.

it's the most commendable. it is probably also the hardest to maintain (as is made apparent by the series as a whole). which is why the other two sisters employ alternative modes of survival.

as discussed in this post, Vivi survives by escaping. whenever and however she can. i'm not sure how everyone feels about this one. until recently, i had no idea people even had strong opinions about Vivi.

but i do know that the flight response could be considered a bit cowardly, even if it's effective. if there's anything to be respected about it, though, it's that the person knows in no uncertain terms that they are not cut out for facing the trauma head-on. and they are the first one to admit it.

the fawn response, however, is a kind of camouflage. it's doing everything in your power to be perceived a certain way, to fit in, to please people.

the thing i think people dislike about the fawn response, is that (if you twist the perspective enough) it could be viewed as dishonest. deceptive or manipulative. perhaps even spineless, depending on the situation.

and indeed, these are all phrases i've seen thrown around in close proximity to Taryn's name.

throughout the book, Taryn plays nice in order to get people to like her. she does whatever the fae tell her to do, even at the expense of her own or her sister's humiliation. and instead of making her own place at court, she announces that she will "fall in love" to earn her seat. meaning that she will rely on one of the fae (likely someone with station) to give her the privilege of staying at court, through means of marriage or children.

it's a more passive route to survival than Jude's. but that route isn't any less valid. it's just less masculine.

III. Active vs. Passive (and how it leads to misguided sensationalism)

society has taught us not to see passivity as a mode of operation, and unfortunately, this makes for overtly sensationalised (and therefore inaccurate) interpretations of character.

if the only actions a character takes are deceptive ones, we conclude they are intentionally deceiving people. if the character doesn't act at all, they are apathetic people. no matter the character's own motives. if they do not act the way we wish them to act, they must be in direct opposition to what we want.

take Taryn, for example. if her modus operandi is to camouflage, or passively fit in, we don't recognise this as an action. rather, we look at what she does do.

in order to achieve her goal, Taryn must actively betray her sister (multiple times), lie to her (multiple times), and kill her husband in cold blood (an attribute, if you ask me, but whatever). through these actions, we, as the audience, realise Taryn is not nice. but she portrays herself this way so she can get what she wants. as all good writing does, we are made to feel deceived right along with Jude.

but even though Jude herself forgives Taryn eventually, we still dislike her. because she is not our sister. she is not the main character. she doesn't mean much to us. we don't regard her as a nuanced person–she becomes, to many, this two-dimensional "enemy" or "other".

and if you aren't thinking critically about the text, and instead take the story personally, then yeah. you're going to hate Taryn at the end of it all.

people have a way of interpreting actions as the sole basis of character, while disregarding motive or intention. i don't think this wise. it's reductive at best, disingenuous at worst.

actions are a product of our nature and the conditions of our environment. Taryn is in just as much peril as Jude is in Faerie. the only reason you, dear reader, might not like Taryn is because she didn't act how you wanted her to act, and because she didn't act how you wanted her to act, she ended up hurting someone you care about (Jude).

this well-meaning loyalty unfortunately doesn't do much for an accomplished understanding of the text. which i get it. some of us are just here for fun and that's fine. but if you take the time to hate a character with as much passion as people seem to hate Taryn, you have time to think at least a little bit critically about the text.

—Em 🖤🗡

more theories & analysis

[astroandstuff]

✧ Aspect Series ✧

Hey everyone! It's been a minute, but I'm back with my aspect series!!!

This was inspired by seeing people say that not all the aspects in our chart manifest the same in our lives and might not even be as prevalent as others. So how I'm doing this is I'm gonna take a look at one of the aspects in my chart on an individual, albeit superficial, level and we'll see if I relate to it or not in any way. I won't be taking into account the signs or houses when looking into it I just want this to be more general. Hopefully that makes sense! Please remember I’m not a professional astrologer I’m just trying to learn more about astrology. Alright let’s do this!

Sun trine Ascendant:

confident

independent

great self expression

authentic and clear personality

charming and magnetic

easy energy flow (potentially lazy)

restless

authoritative

well liked

Okay so this aspect spoke a lot about just generally being a confident and authentic person who is energetic and optimistic. This aspect in my opinion is the epitome of easy energy flow and it is also one of my strong aspects. I definitely relate to this aspect a lot in both the good and the bad ways because just like all aspects this one too has its downfalls.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing and I feel that is really present in this aspect. All this easy energy flow makes it so that people with this aspect might take things in life for granted and I feel this a lot! I am easily able to express myself to people without letting them get too close or know too much about me. People who know me tend to think I am an open book which is true to an extent, there's a lot about me that many people don't know and I purposely keep it like that, but I think they think this because I am pretty extroverted, energetic, and social. I love meeting new people and getting to know them. Ever since I was young I would always be the one to approach people and start the conversation because I genuinely just liked making friends and talking to people. I've never had much trouble with making friends whether it be forming lasting friendships or just becoming "class friends" with the people who would sit near me in university which was something I was always extremely grateful for.

However with the good does come the bad and I definitely resonate with the restlessness part of this aspect. I constantly jump from hobby to hobby and I get bored with things if I find they are too easy for me. I quit so many extra curricular activities growing up because I would get bored extremely quickly. I constantly wanted (and still do) to find something to challenge me. Sadly, this sometimes applies to people as well. Whenever someone begins to show interest in me quite quickly I tend to get a bit put off and I don't really know why. It is definitely one of my worst qualities because it makes me feel like a bad person. This aspect has the ability to make someone extremely lazy and take things for granted and might manifest as someone who just coasts through life.

This aspect also indicates that those with it could have great authoritative skills and are pretty independent. In regards to being authoritative I usually would only be so when it came to schoolwork. In classes where I was required to work in groups I would initially never take charge, but would only do so when I would get aggravated with my group for not putting in effort and just doing the bare minimum. I've also been pretty independent since I was a kid. There's actual video evidence of me getting mad at my parents when they would try to help me when I was younger (lol I was such a brat) and to this day I like to figure things out and do things on my own. People with this aspect also tend to be performers whether in a creative outlet or just in ordinary life. Two words for you: Theater. Kid. Yup that was me. I was in musicals and plays growing up, I also worked on stage crews and was in the drama club in high school. My family also says I am the most dramatic in our entire family because of the way I naturally speak, how I tell stories and react to things.

Lastly this aspect talked about people being well-liked, popular and charming/magnetic. Now I don't really feel like I can answer this because no one has ever told me that they don't like me or that I'm unlikeable to my face. I'm pretty sure there are tons of people that don't like me cuz that's just how life works. I also wasn't necessarily popular growing up I had my friends and I was just friendly with everyone else in my classes and they would be friendly back.

Anyways that's it for this one! I definitely related to this one in both the positive and negative parts of it. If any of you have this aspect as well please let me know if you relate to it in anyway or not!

- S 🤍

[ichigoromi]

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐈𝐓 | 𝐌𝐒𝐁𝐘 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧 | 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐤𝐲𝐮𝐮 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧

GUYS AND GIRLS AND MY NON-BINARY MATES! IT'S OKAY TO STOP WHENEVER YOU WANT. DO NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO CONTINUE JUST BECAUSE YOUR PARTNER WANTS. CONSENT IS BOTH WAYS.

Okay, yeah, I just want to put that out because I've seen some of my acquaintances or heard stories going through some traumatic shit because they weren't ready but were forced to go through it.

Pairing (s): MSBY Four — Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shoyo, Miya Atsumu and Sakusa Kiyoomi x fem! reader, all characters are aged up!

Genre: romance, fluff

Warning (s): mentions of sex, pre-marital sex, suggestive themes, toxic friends, peer pressure, sexual assault not suitable for 18 and under. 18 and under DNI.

a/n - not going to lie; I always feel uncomfy while writing kissing or seggs scenes because I have no idea how it feels. Do people really suck their partner's tongue while making out? I have tons of questions, but my irl friends are like me, we have no knowledge abt kissing...

Enjoy~!

Bokuto Koutarou

Bokuto is your first boyfriend, and he is your first for everything.

He is always patient and never rushes you.

You two always do things at your pace because he doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable.

But, you know that sooner or later, you two would have sex.

And the thought of it scares you.

You were brought up in a traditional and conservative family; sex was never really mentioned.

Most of your friends are experienced and often give you advice on how to do it.

Some of your 'friends' told you that he will leave you if you don't have sex with him soon.

You're an insecure individual, so hearing those, you can't help but feel obligated to have sex with him soon.

Bokuto has a high EQ, and he easily noticed that you were feeling upset.

Since you didn't want to worry him, you reassure him that you were okay.

After three years of dating, was he going to leave you because you two couldn't have sex because of you?

Bokuto pulls you onto his lap, and you gently loop your arms around his neck to bring him closer to you. You kissed him back with as much passion as he was, and he sneaks his hands underneath your shirt to massage your stomach gently.

You softly moaned when he slips his tongue into yours, and he playfully sucks on it.

He stops kissing your lips and slowly kisses his way down to your neck, and sucks on your collarbones, leaving light love bites on them. Your breath hitched when you felt him cupping your breast; you immediately pushed his hands away.

At first, Bokuto felt a bit taken back by your reaction, then he saw your glassy eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong? You can tell me." He tries to touch you, but you shook your head.

"I'm not ready...I don't want to do this, Kou. Are you going to leave me?" Bokuto was confused; why the hell would you come to a conclusion that ridiculous just because you didn't want to have sex with him?

He cups your face and makes you face him.

"Babe, it's okay if you're not ready. We don't have to do this if you don't want to. We can stop. I'll never leave you. Was it those friends of yours again? Dump them. If my baby doesn't want to have sex, then we shall not. We shall do it when you're ready, okay? Don't feel pressured by them; we do this at our pace. Now, do you want to watch a movie and cuddle?" You meekly nodded your head, and he kisses your forehead and on the lips.

Bokuto went back to the room and came back with a big fleece blanket.

"Virgin or not, I will always love you. Don't listen to the rubbish they are talking about. If you wanna have sex, we can do it. As long you are comfortable, that is all I want. Don't blame yourself, okay?" He flicked your forehead when he noticed your sad pout.

He set up the TV and dims the lights in the living room. You sat in his lap, and he wraps the blanket around the two of you as the movie starts playing.

"Kou, I love you. Thank you for being so understanding." You thanked him and kisses his cheek.

"I love you too." Bokuto pulls you closer and kisses the top of your head.

Miya Atsumu

Atsumu loves you a lot.

You were the first girlfriend he has brought home to his parents, and Osamu approves of you.

It seems like he has found his match. His fans were glad to see him in a relationship where he is genuinely happy.

Before Atsumu, you dated a couple of guys, and it was all bad experiences.

Your first boyfriend forced you to give your virginity to him, and he was older, so you thought that was what you're supposed to do in a relationship.

The second guy just took advantage of your vulnerability and exploit you in the worst possible ways.

You met Atsumu while working as a pilates instructor, and their's team trainer introduced you to him.

And you two have been dating for about two years after knowing for about a year.

Sex...you two did talk about it, but you were just not ready to do it after all the traumatic experiences.

And, he was okay with it.

You felt bad because sometimes you can hear him touching himself, yet you can't help him with his needs.

"Tsumu, let's do it." You climb into his lap and captures his lips into yours. He was surprised, but nonetheless, he loves kissing you. He wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you closer to him.

His hands crept up to your inner thighs, and he starts massaging your thighs.

You felt a bit squirmish and slight discomfort, but you ignored it and starts kissing down his neck, leaving love bites, and you helped him removed his shirt.

Atsumu knows you well, and he noticed your expression. Even though it was subtle, he noticed how you were slightly uncomfortable and when he touches you, you flinched by reflex.

All the small actions that you unconsciously do make him realised that you were forcing yourself to do.

"Hey, we don't have to do it if you're not ready. You don't have to force yourself." Hearing him say that, you broke down in tears.

He holds you securely and pats your back in a comforting manner as you cry.

Even though you wanted to do it, he sensed that you were uncomfortable and decided to stop you. He noticed that you were not ready and immediately stopped and comforted you; it made you realise that he is not like your exes.

"Babe, we can do it when you're ready to do it. No need to rush yourself; I can wait. I'm not going to leave just because we are not having sex." He comforted you and nodded your head.

You lifted up your head, and his heart ached at the sight of your tear-stained cheeks.

"I'm sorry for not being able to things like a normal couple. I just thought that you might leave me if we don't have sex..." He shook his head and cups your face in his hands.

"I can wait as long as you are ready to do it. I'm not going to leave you just because we can't have sex. If I have any urges, I'll just touch myself or something. I want you to feel that you are safe with me and under no pressure. If you don't want to have sex, we don't have to. Is that clear?" He stroke your cheeks gently.

"Thank you for being so patient. I just feel-" Atsumu shuts you up by kissing you on the lips.

"No more feeling bad in this house! Let's watch your favourite show and order takeout, okay?" He was desperately trying to comfort you.

"Okay, I'll stop feeling bad. I love you." You leaned in to kiss his lips.

"I love you too. Now, I'll go get you one of my hoodies and we can cuddle more after I go calm myself down. See you in a bit!" He pecks your lips and rushed off to the bathroom.

Hinata Shōyō

He may look innocent, but Hinata probably has more experience than you.

But this guy has tons of patience when it comes to you.

You knew him since young since he was a neighbour of yours.

After graduating high school, you two reconnected and started dating shortly.

So, you two have been dating for three years, and there has never been a dull moment with him.

However, your friends ask about your sex life, but the two of you literally did nothing. The most you guys did was make out.

It's not you guys are super pure or innocent; you two felt there wasn't a need to have sex.

But how long can he last without having sex?

So you decided to ask him directly about it.

The two of you were just chilling on the sofa after dinner. You snuggled against him, and he wraps his arms around you and pulls you closer to him. When you two entered into the relationship, you guys promised each other to always be open.

Communication was the key to a stable relationship, and it was bugging you.

"Babe, are you okay without having sex? We've been going out for three years, and we never had sex. I just want to know your opinion about it." It was direct, and he never expects to have this kind of talk with you.

He thinks for a moment and hugs you tighter.

"Well, I am fine without it since I've been so busy training. I just want to spend time with you, sex or no sex; I love being around you. And, it's your body too. When you are ready, you can just tell me. No need to rush." He kisses your cheeks, and you nodded your head.

"Okay, I just want to know. You know, because my friends are talking about how sex is the one factor keeping their man. What about you?" You poked his cheeks, and he pouts.

"I'm not that horny! Anyways, I love coming home to your cooking and how you decorate our apartment and our dates! Not all relationships are like that...Or perhaps, you are the horny one in this relationship?" He scooted over from you and gasped.

You rolled your eyes at his dramatic self.

"You are the horny one! I caught you doing it in the bathroom!"

"You did it too! You left your dildo by the bathroom counter!"

The two of you burst out laughing at each other.

"Alright, we can do it whenever you are ready. Wait, we are going to miss the show! Turn on the TV!"

Sakusa Kiyoomi

Both of you are pretty direct in your relationship since you guys prioritise communication.

The talk of sex never really come up in your conversation.

You two have not moved in together yet but are looking at potential places to move in together.

Your parents were happy to hear you two were finally getting your own place after dating for five years and are engaged now.

Both of you rarely have the time to meet since you both are busy, but Sundays are meant for dates.

Your friends are shocked to hear that you and Sakusa never have sex throughout your relationship, not even once.

Maybe you two could just keep in your pants 👀.

Obviously, you two almost did it, but both of you stopped each other before it went further.

Sakusa himself has a lot of restraint but sometimes, seeing you in his shirt and cooking in his kitchen really turns him on.

He stood up from the sofa and approached you from the back. You jumped slightly when he wrapped his arms around your waist and leaned his chin on your shoulder.

"Wait a bit; good food takes time to cook. You can have some strawberries if you're hungry. My uncle sent some from his farm." He was not looking for some strawberries.

Sakusa softly kisses the nape of your neck; you accidentally let out a moan when he sucks on your sensitive spot. His naughty hands slyly sneak under your shirt and touch your stomach, leaving feathery touches below your bra.

He never stops kissing your neck, and you knew this might end up in the bedroom if you don't stop him and no dinner for you two.

"Kiyoomi, stop. I'm not ready yet." You told him firmly, and he stops immediately.

You turn down the stove and turns around to face him. He looked away, feeling guilty that he lost his rationality when he saw you in his shirt.

"Hey, don't feel bad. I stopped you, didn't I? That's all that matter." He lets out a deep sigh and pulls you into his embrace.

"I'm sorry. Seeing you in my shirt, I lost my rationality. You look so damn hot in it." He confessed, and you burst out laughing.

Sakusa frowned and cups your face to make you look at him.

"Fine, I won't laugh but get those strawberries and get out of the kitchen." You loop your arms around his neck to bring him down to your height for a kiss.

He lets you go and got the strawberries to the living room but his eyes were admiring your back as you return back to cooking.

YAASSSSSSS! I'M DONE!

I'm so happy that I have finished writing this! Hope you all enjoyed this! Thank you for reading!

Stay safe and healthy!

With love,

Rosalie🍓

[millenialfanfictionaddiction]

Is it okay if I complain about my dad a little bit? I mean I really love him and he does everything to support me but sometimes he drives me up a wall. Whenever I tell him a joke about something he turns it into a lecture. Like, even though I’m 21 now he thinks I’m not able to understand subtext or any other social clues and that I‘m going about without any worry or not thinking anything through? But one the other hand whenever I want educate him about something he did that isn’t okay anymore he tells me to „let it go“? It’s just really frustrating that he thinks I’m still a little child and that he doesn’t take me serious at all. And I don’t really know how to tell him that because 1. I wasn’t raised in a household that talked about feelings and 2. I’m afraid that he’s going to dismiss this again. I‘m sorry that I bothered you with this but you’re always so open with your followers and I kind of needed to vent a little bit.

Hi anon!!! Thank you for coming to share with us. And please you aren't a bother so never think that! We are always open here!

So I totally understand where you are coming from. You love and respect your dad but unfortunately your not getting that respect back. I'm sorry your dad isn't listening to or treating you like the young adult you are. Just because you are young doesn't mean you are naive or unaware of things around you. So disrespecting your opinion isn't really fair. If parents expect kids to listen to them, then they should listen to their kids.

I will say, as a 33 year old I still deal with this issue with my parents. At this point, I simply say "if you don't want to respect my opinion, I will not respect yours" simple as that. They can stop the conversation or we can just walk away.

I think it's really unfair for parents of millennial and Gen Z to act like we know nothing about the world, like we have experienced series traumatic events in our lives that more than justify our opinion. And with that, our opinions shouldn't need to be justified at all!!

I'm sorry, but the whole "respect your elders" thing is ridiculous. I'm going to respect you if you respect me, period.

It's perfectly normal and natural to discuss feelings. If it wasn't, we wouldn't have them in the first place. And the fact thag he keeps dismissing you isn't respecting you at all. I urge you to not give up your beliefs or change! Express yourself however you feel is best ad long as it is safe for yourself and others!

[welcome-to-green-hills]

I am a 12 year old boy, and christian. But lately I've been pretending that i'm a girl, and whenever my parents leave, i put a blanket around my legs and pretend it's like a princess dress. Are these habits normal? I personally don't believe that boys wearing dresses is a sin or anything, but I don't even know if I'm right about that

Hello, buddy!

I’m very sorry that this took so long. Please know that I was not trying to ignore you at all. I have been thinking of the best mature answer to give you. I wanted to take the time to carefully evaluate my words and string them together comfortably. This post was revised a few times due to my opinion being expressed rather than the opposite. What was asked of me was if this was a normal behavior, not my opinion. For this post, I strive to only share logical evaluations and concepts before arriving to a conclusion.

(There will be articles and research data referenced as well, but I’ll put a hyperlink in it as a source and reference it at the end).

I think that what should matter is that what feels the best to you. What matters is how you feel in your heart and mind. If that is what feels comfortable to you, then that is what works best for you. Viewing this as an anthropologist, clothes are not defined with a binary—humans define it by a binary. Meaning that when clothes are made, there isn’t a strict rule as to who and what should wear it. A dress doesn’t come with instructions saying, “dresses are for girls/women only.” Humans, the cultural and social norms that they were raised in, advertise articles of clothing as a norm. In short: yes! It’s becoming normal, especially now (Ipsos 2019, #3-6). Even back when Christianity was just beginning, many wore animal skins, tunics, wool, and a special unisex skirt called a “stola” or similar to. (Wikipedia 2020).

I’ve shared a long time ago that there are at least 52--and counting--genders in the world and 6 different types of biological sex that a person can have (Joshua Kennon 2018). There is no reason, or excuse, to have clothes catered to only two options. We, as a society, hear more about people of multiple genders use clothing as a form of expression. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It seems weird now because we’re becoming, what you youngings say, “woke.” There is nothing wrong with a person who identifies as a male and wears a skirt. Nor is there anything wrong with a person who identifies as a female and wears bow ties. (Weak example, I know, but it’s the most “male” item I can think of for Western Culture). Normalizing a binary as a “non binary” is a bit odd for a hardcore culture to understand, but overtime it can be taught and woven into cultural morals later on.

Here’s an example:

One thing that came to mind while writing this was Schitt’s Creek star, Daniel Levy. In the show, he played a role (David Rose) where his character wore skirts and skorts as a norm. The character also wore a skirt equivalent to his wedding when he wedded his husband.

Recently, the show’s actor and creator wore a skirt while receiving his nineth Emmy award in 2020 (Fernandez, 2020).

I’ve been trying to find my notes and PDF files shared through previous anthropological courses through each semester to share. I don’t want to make any claims without sharing proof... plus it gives you something to read if you’re interested in it. However, in ever class I’ve attended and talked with professionals of specific archaeological and cultural fields, the use of gendered clothing appears to be traced back to when humans began agricultural societies. Agricultural (also referred to as “agrarian” society anthropologically) societies were really the start of just about everything, like governmenting officials, farming, the concepts of relatives and families, gender specific roles (like taking care of kids and gender specific jobs) in a defined group, and religion.

Anthropologist Joanne Eicher studies humans in the now, the contemporary. What she loves to view is cultural standards art, humanities, and the way that people dress as well. She brushes up on this in her published work called “The Anthropology of Dress” from the late 2000s. Give it a read if you’re interested, we can talk further about it if you have questions.

In short, if you really were asking for my opinion about it it’s okay for males to wear skirts, then my answer will be “yes.” I think that it’s perfectly okay and cool beans for males to wear a skirt. I also think that it’s perfectly okay for females to wear male clothing, like suits/tuxedos that give off an alpha vibe and sports gear.

Onto the second portion of your question:

Tackling the first section, “I am a 12 year old boy, and christian. But lately I've been pretending that i'm a girl...” Are you asking me if it’s normal for someone your age to pretend to be a girl?

If you’re asking me if it’s normal for kids in your age group to portray themselves as a different gender, then yes in some cases. It is normal, it’s just deemed as a surreal topic to hear it in public. It is perfectly normal to question the portrayal of yourself, and it’s perfectly okay to explore other possibilities (Mascareille, 2015).

As stated before, what should matter here is what you think and feel is right in your heart/mind. No one can tell you what you can and can’t be. I can’t tell you who and what you should be in life, that’s all up to you. I can’t force you to become something that you’re nots only You know what’s best for you in your heart and mind. What helps is to have that conversation with yourself. Ask yourself who you are and what you strive to be. This is an important part of life—you get to invent the person that you want to be. And the glorious thing about this development is that this is the perfect time where you’re open to all possibilities and emerging into a culture/society where we ask questions. It’s okay to ask questions and try new things (Early Childhood National Centers, n.d).

I’m going to leave two links down below to a couple website that you can read more about. I do not mean to leave you on a short note here and shrug you off. What I’m leaving you with are some other source materials that you are welcomed to brush up on as well. I am very honored that you trust me enough to have this conversation, but I can only provide so much. This means that I can provide you with much information as I can on this topic, but I don’t know what it means to you in your heart and soul. You know better than I do.

KidsHealth.org by Nemours

Human Rights Campaign—Tools for Equality and Inclusion

There is nothing wrong with you at all. None whatsoever. And if you have any questions, or just need someone to talk to about it, you’re always welcomed here. I’ll provide you with the recourses that you need in order to be successful. Stay safe and remember that you’re worthy and matter. I hope that this answers your question, buddy!✨

[lennydaisy]

EPIPHANY // OUTER BANKS

The Outer Banks. Paradise on earth. Well, it is if you can afford it.

Figure 8, home of the portentous and intitled. So detached from reality that you'd have to use their private jets to bring them back down to the ground. If they're not lounging around on their secluded beaches in front of their White House sized mansions, then they're at the country club complaining that their ice-cold lemonade isn't ice-cold enough. We call them Kooks. Guess where I don't live?

Next up, The Cut, neutral habitat of, drum roll please ladies and gentleman... The Pogues. Lowest members of the food chain. You see, it's one island divided in two. You either have two houses or two jobs. I have two jobs and will still never be able to afford one house, let alone two, but that's life I guess. The Pogues are like those kids your parents tell you to stay away from when you visit the park. Well, now the park has stretched to all aspects of life warranting us to be unwanted and neglected which isn't such a bad thing, that just means we get to do whatever we want, whenever we want.

Right now, however, this is the last place I want to be. Save-A-Lot. One of my two jobs. See how this all ties in?

The continuous, subtly, beeping of the scanner, the bright overhead lights that the same moth has been flying into for a week now, that one cart that you can hear before you see, and this frustratingly itchy, red polo shirt that I'm wearing because it's 'oh-so mandatory'.

It's been reported that a storm is going to hit us in a couple of days, so naturally, the stores been busier than usual, with both Kooks and Pogues. It's like sacred land, all differences get put aside in this very store unless there's a two for one deal at the seafood counter. In that case, no one's safe, not even me, the poor, little employee. I've been slapped with a Tuna Fish before. I don't want to talk about it.

"Can I interest you in some... What are they again? Sea salted chocolate with a crushed Macadamia nut shell and a rich creamy filling, homemade by Mrs Adams?" I squint at the packaging before smiling at the man before me who peered at me, head tilted slightly. Nodding instantly, already knowing the answer, "I don't blame you, I wouldn't trust anything made by that lady."

Smashing my fingers on the scratch invested, touch screen register, slapping the side of the machine until it eventually rings up the total, "That'll be $148.98 however, you get the extended family discount, so that makes it..." twirling my finger around the air, attempting the mental math, "10% off $148," I utter, closing my eyes as if that's going to help me find the answer quicker. 'I knew I should have joined the math team with Pope.'

"$134," the man affirms looking at me sympathetically, halting my search for my calculator that is normally taped to the till. I take the mans money, squinting at him, "Okay, I'll take your word for it man but if I get fired, I want a job at The Wreck," handing him his receipt.

"We'll see," he said putting his packed bags back into his cart, "I'll get through to you one day. You can't deny I'm your favourite" I state in a matter of fact, waving him off as he pushes his cart away from the checkout, "Bye Mason."

"I don't hear you denying it," I shout, watching him hurridly pushing his cart towards the door, "Okay bye Mr Carrera, tell Kie I said hi!"

Twirling around in my chair a couple of times, I came to a stop at the sight of a pink calculator, my pink calculator, taped to Mrs Adams till. That Bitch. I sit patiently for her to be done with her customers, waving at the elderly couple as they pass, "See you later Mr and Mrs Graham, have a nice day," I smile.

"Oh you too Mason, you should stop by again, you and your friends were such a delight the last time," Mrs Graham praises tapping her ringed fingers on my counter. Nodding at her request as her husband began to drag her away from me, claiming he 'Wants to be home today not tomorrow,' knowing his wife to be quite the blether.

"What a pleasant young lady. Wouldn't you agree, Marty?"

"Oh yes, very well mannered."

"Listen here, sticky fingers, I know you stole my calculator" My smile instantly dropping as I look upon the thief that I have the pleasure of calling my co-worker.

Mrs Adams is your typical grandma. Tonged hair, thick-rimmed glasses and filled with opinions that are always unwarranted. She has had it out for as long as I can remember, once locking me in the walk-in freezer claiming to not know I was in there despite being in there with me moments before. At least I only have to deal with her a few days a week, I couldn't handle any more than that.

"What calculator?" she questions innocently. Pointing my finger accusingly at her till where low and behold, sits my calculator, "Oh really, what's that then?"

Sparing a glance at my calculator, she shakes her head, nose pointed up, "That's an anniversary gift from my husband. I, by no means, stole your calculator."

I can't believe I'm having this conversation.

Laughing at her alibi, "Are you aware of how much bullsh-", the clearing of a throat interrupts my tangent and I suddenly became aware of where I am again. Mrs Adams raises her eyebrows at me, is she mocking me? Glaring at her one last time as to say 'this conversation isn't over', I timidly spun my chair back around, plastering a smile on my face, getting ready to greet my next customer.

Oh no.

"Hi, Mr Cameron," I greet the man, scratching behind my ear hoping he didn't overhear me. Beginning to scan his items, another figure catches my eye.

Rafe.

Here, ladies and gentlemen, I present the biggest dickhead on the entire island. He thinks everybody owes him something just because his daddy is well known throughout the OBX and has no problem expressing his distaste for anyone who doesn't fit his agenda. He's a cocky, arrogant snob who needs to be knocked off his podium a few inches, or feet.

"Hello, Mason, and how many times have I told you to call me Ward?"

"Clearly not enough for me to listen," I mutter under my breath, passing the already packed bags towards a very accepting Rafe, who snatched them with a scrawl printed on his face, "Your face will stay like that if the winds change" I advise innocently, waving my fingers around my forehead area, "Don't want to get any wrinkles, but if you need some anti-ageing cream, I'm sure Mrs Adams can recommend a few of her favourites,"

"Maybe even get you a coupon," I suggest finishing to scan the last of their items, "Isn't that right, Mrs Adams," I called to the lady over my shoulder how instantly peeped up at the chance to chat with the boy.

"Oh, yes. Come here deary, I'll show you my collection,"

It's no secret throughout the OBX that Mrs Adams is a bit of a renowned cougar, having no problem expressing herself towards any sort of male attention. Mrs Adam doesn't discriminate, so even assholes like Rafe can't escape the clutches of her fondness, but she's harmless... most of the time.

Ward nudges his son in the direction of the lady, who is eagerly waiting for the boy with her creams placed in an orderly fashion before her. Rafe's eyes practically begging for his dad to have some mercy on him only to earn a point in her direction.

"I hate you," he huffs at me, feet dragging towards the ladies till.

Fluttering my eyes with a cheesy smile, "I know," I say before turning to finish Mr Cameron's groceries.

"That's $236 please," I state ringing up his total as he slides his card into the swipe machine, "It'll take a minute, a caveman has better technology than this place." He shakes his head at me, waving his hand slightly, understanding.

"Sea salted chocolate, uh?" he wonders picking up the bar, as I mentally slap myself for forgetting to ask if he was interested, "Would you like to buy one?" I questioned despite already knowing his answer. It's the same one that I've heard all day.

Placing the packet back in its place he shakes his head, "No thank you, I wouldn't trust anything made by that lady."

"That's what I'm saying," ripping off his receipt before handing it to him, "Thank you, Mason," he laughs before turning towards his son, who is still listening to Mrs Adams ramble on about why she prefers Olay over Caudlíne.

About to bid farewell to the man, he turns and asks, "I hate to be a bother and I know it's short notice, but would you mind babysitting Wheezie for me on Saturday morning, I know you don't normally work weekends, it's just this storm's going to cause a run-in with my properties and-"

"Of course I will, Mr Cameron," I interrupted his ramble. He looks at me relieved, nodding his head, "See you later, Mason."

"Bye Ward," gross, I'm sticking with Mr Cameron.

Watching as the pair walk past my till I can't help but laugh as I see Rafe slouching away with a tub of Olay Anti-ageing cream. Turning around at the sound, he flips me off, "I'll get you back for this," earning a shoving on the shoulder from his dad, but I can't help but wave cheerily, "Oh, I'm sure you will."

Mr Ward Cameron, my other boss. A few years ago I put up flyers with a tear-off of my phone number offering a babysitting service. Safe to say, I got my fair share of prank calls and when I got a call from someone claiming to be Mr Cameron I assumed it was someone messing with me again, but it turns out it wasn't. He genuinely needed someone to watch his youngest daughter Wheezie and I needed cash, and he does pay generously, especially now considering recent circumstances.

Glancing at the clock that is nailed above the exit I see that it's 2:00 P.M, the best time of my day, getting out of here. Grabbing the key from my pocket, I lock up the till before heading toward the poor excuse of a staff room.

Glancing around the room blue painted room, making sure no one is still on their lunch, I quickly grab my bag and dash over to the fridge. I never, and mean never, condone stealing, that's why I don't call it that. I prefer 'borrowing and then 'forgetting' to give it back'. Sure, I never asked if I could 'borrow' the alcohol that I am currently stuffing in my bag but, that's neither here nor there.

I throw my bag, which I can already tell is going to cause my back hell, over my shoulder. I grab Kie longboard, which I did ask for permission to use, and begin to make my way past the checkouts.

Before leaving, I pivot around, "Hey, Mrs Adams," I called out just to see that she was already glaring in my direction, a bit creepy if you ask me, "Don't worry, you've only got like what, another 6 hours?" acting like I didn't know as I pointed at the clock.

"Oh, and before I forget," I rush over to her counter and rip my calculator off her till. Smiling sweetly at the older lady, saluting her as I leave, "See you next week, Mrs Adams," I laugh, running out the door, jumping onto the longboard.

Let the fun begin.

Now there is something about my friends that you should know. As cheesy as its sounds, we're a group of misfits who happen to fit perfectly together, well almost perfectly, but no matter what we've got each other backs.

Now, where do we start?

JJ Maybank. We've been best friends since the third grade after he got into a fight with some kids who were making fun of me for having a 'boys name', and I haven't been able to get rid of him since. He's the guy who jokingly pushed me off the HMS Pogue only to quickly find out that I couldn't swim. I insisted that it was fine but JJ doesn't take no for an answer and took it upon himself to personally teach me.

He's the most loyal guy I know, willing to drop anything to help his friends. I most definitely developed my kleptomaniac tendencies from him and despite how much I deny it, I have a soft spot for him.

Next, Kiara Carrera or Kie, my best and only girl friend. I met Kie during her first year at the Kook Academy, I had seen her around before, passing out leaflets about how 'we're killing our planet' and that 'the turtles deserve better'.

I was about to go fishing with my dad when I saw someone sitting at the dock, feet dangling in the water. Long story short: she was supposed to meet up with some of her 'friends' but they had sailed away leaving her behind. So, I asked if she would like to come fishing with us, half expecting her to say no, being partly a Kook and all, but she said yes. And now she's one of us, the Pogues. Not sure how her parents feel about that, but there is no denying I'm their favourite. Right?

There's Pope Heyward. I met Pope in the first grade. We were sitting beside each other at assembly and he dared to tell me that my singing voice sounded like cats dying, not that he was any better mind you. I had seen him around the cut a few times, helping his dad with deliveries and after seeing him struggle to carry four bags of groceries, I offered him some help. Of course, being a stubborn 6-year old boy, he delined saying 'I don't need your help, I'm super strong'. Safe to say, two seconds later I was carrying two bags and helped Pope and Mr Heyward with the rest of the deliveries that day.

I got an earful from my dad when I got home, but I didn't care, I'd made a friend that wasn't my brother. They didn't believe me when I said I had a friend called Pope, just brushing it off as one of my imaginary friends. Let's just say they got a fright when my 'imaginary friend, Pope' showed up at the Château.

Speaking of, up next, John Booker Routledge, John B. My twin, fraternal twin. Is 12 minutes older than me and will never let me forget it. My favourite memory with John B was when he fought to the death with our triplet in the womb. Okay, maybe that didn't happen, but you weren't there so, where's your evidence that it didn't?

He's my other half, not my better half because we all know I'm the better twin, and I couldn't live with him and his optimism. He can be irrational at times, but he always has plan A-Z mapped out in his head. I'm currently trying to convince him that we psychic powers, and by currently I'm mean from the day we were born. It's a weird sensation like there's a pit in the bottom of my stomach, and once I get that feeling I know that something's not right. And with a brother like John B, I get that feeling at least 3 times a day.

Might as well introduce myself whilst I'm at it. I'm Mason, Mason Routledge. The better twin. Yes, I too, have a middle name but I will never tell it to anyone because of how utterly embarrassing it is. I have managed to swear John B to secrecy, but I know it's just a matter of time before he blurts it out.

Now I know what you're probably thinking, 'Mason? That's a boys name.' Well yes, you'd be right but really what is a boys or girls name? The reason why I'm called Mason is simple, mom and dad were expecting twins. Twin boys. They had the names planned out as soon as they heard the news. One would be named John B after our dad, Big John, and the other would be named Mason, after our mom's dad. Makes sense, right?. Well, it was until I popped out, y' know not being a boy. But I love my name and I wouldn't change it for the world. My unspoken middle name, however, yes, I would rather that just not be associated with me.

I like to believe that I can hold my own, maybe it's because I grow up in a predominantly male household or the fact that I'm a Pogue, but I don't take peoples shit. My friends and I seem to always have the world against us, but without a doubt, I'd ride or die for them. They're my family.

Seeing the all too familiar hippie van parked at the side off the road brings me out of my autopilot state. Jumping off the longboard, I hurriedly shoved it into the back of the van. Fun fact about John B's van, he never locks it. There would be the fear about someone stealing it, but honestly, it's trashed and smells like weed, no thanks to JJ.

Quickly scaling the fence and as quietly as possible I tip-toed into the under-construction house and up the cement stairs, dodging the dangling wires and leftover pots of plaster.

'I can't believe they got rid of the turtles for this'

I'd know that voice anywhere. Peering around the corner, I spot Kie, hunched over a table reading what I'm assuming is maps for the house. Coming up with an idea, I slowly start to creep towards her, raising my hands just to clasp them down on her shoulders, "And what do you think you're doing?" I say in the deepest voice I can muster.

Jumping out her skin with a squeal, she spins around, hand over her heart, breathing heavily, "Macy, what the fuck? Don't do that," she exclaims, slapping my arm after she realises it was only me.

Unable to stop myself from laughing at her shock, "God, Kie, didn't know you had such a girly scream," I wheeze, arms wrapped around my stomach in an attempt to stop the ache.

Nodding her head pettily, "Yeah okay, you got me," clicking her tongue, but against her best efforts, a small smile dances across her face.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm my giggles, "Once you're done with sad girl hours, come out back, I've got beer," making my way towards the open glass doors.

"Caring about the turtles doesn't make me a sad girl," she exclaims as I nod my head understandingly, "You keep telling yourself that," I wave stepping outside, breathing in the fresh ocean breeze.

From under the scaffolding, I see a pair of dangling legs, "Afternoon, boys," I announce, jumping up in an attempt to smack the dangling feet that I now know belong to JJ

"Did you get the goods?" asks John B causing me to hold my hand on my heart, mocking insult, "Do you have no faith in me Johnny boy," tosing him a beer, "Of course, I got the goods."

Holding one out for Pope, even though I knew he would decline, proving my point as he shook his head, "And where did you get said goods?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

Grabbing two beers, I begin to climb up the scaffolding, plopping down next to JJ, handing him a beer which he greatly excepts, "Are you question my morals?" I ask, taking a big gulp of my beer instantly wincing at the lukewarm taste.

"No, no," I hear him say, turning around, occupying himself with the builder's tools.

It a pretty view from up here. The calm crashing of the waves. The way the cold ocean and the warm sky meet for a perfect kiss on the horizon. Imagine living here. Having no worries. Being full Kook.

Glancing at the boy beside me, I see that he was already looking at me. Lifting my eyebrows in question, "You look cute," he cheekily says, picking at the loose thread on my sleeve.

"Very funny JJ," I saying, looking back out at the water, "No, I'm serious. I love a woman in uniform," nudging his shoulder into mine and I nudge him right back, "Hey," he laughs, dramatically falling to his side, "Watch the sweet nectar," holding his can of beer dearly to his chest.

Shaking my head, I turn to see John B scaling the house, jumping up to the peak of the roof, "Hey, please be careful, Johnny B, we don't earn enough to cover a medical bill," I warn sitting my beer beside me, using my hands to block the blinding sun, staring questionably at the boy.

"Oh, but you'd catch me though, right?" he says, now taunting the idea of falling, balancing on one foot with outstretched arms, "And break your fall? Nope," I popped, reach over to grab my can only to grasp the air. Looking at where I know I placed it, my confusion vanishes when I hear the sounds of slurping beside me.

Blinking at the boy, who just peers back at me after tanning my can, crushing it, and letting out a pleasant burp which he so graciously blows in my direction, "Gross, JJ," attempting to swat away the smell. The boy just shrugs, "What were you not done with that?" faux concern covering his face but his eyes glistening with knowing mischief.

"Should I do it?"

"Yeah, jump. I'll shoot you on the way down," says Pope, aim a drill in my brother's direction, "You'll shoot me?" John B taunts, holding up a finger gun, "Pow," he laughs as Pope fall back onto the table pretending to be shot.

"They're going to have Japanese toilets with towel warmers," complains Kie, slugging her way onto the balcony, voicing her distaste for the future Kook's beach house.

"Didn't I tell you to come out when you were done being sad?", I direct, leaning my chin against the cold pole, feeling on top of the world as the fresh breeze blows through my hair.

That swiftly changes when Kie dashes towards my feet, tugging the laces on my converses loose as I hastily attempt to lift my feet away from her snapping fingers, "Go away!" I exclaim hugging my legs to my chest, tusking at her antics "God, you're annoying."

My comment doesn't affect her as she blows me a kiss which I can't help but catch, holding it to my heart sending a wink in her direction, "This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtle I guess?"

"Well, I did, but since you've-" I start, but the feeling of my shoe gets tighter distracts me, "...What are you doing?" I question as JJ finishes up my shoes, "You should double knot your laces," he comments, tapping his fingers in a random beat on the toe of my shoes.

Lightly, I begin to flick his hand away only for him to grab my wrist, fiddling with the silver ladybug charm on my bracelet, "Can I have this?" He has asked me this multiple times in the past and the answer has always been the same, "No."

"Can you please not kill yourself?" Kie squints up at my brother, "And don't spill that beer, you're not getting another one," JJ adds just as a sudden gust of wind brushed past causing John B to lose his balance and drop his beer.

Jinx.

"Oh, shit. No!" cries John B, making grabby hands at his fallen beer.

"Of course you did, like right when I told you."

"Smooth."

"Well done, dumbass!"

"Hey!"

The sound of a car pull up to the driveway halts our attack on John B, yelling being heard, "Hey, uh, securities here. Let's wrap it up," confirms Pope, making JJ and I raise to our feet as John B slides off the roof, "Boys are here early today."

Rushing over to grab my bag once my feet are back on the balcony, I lean over the railing squinting, "Gary? Is that you?" I asked, "You know it's me, Mason."

Turning around to look at friends, "It's Gary guys," I smile, "Gary, good to see you, man!" JJ adds and quickly pulls the back of my bag when he sees Gary climb up the stairs, "JJ!"

"You two, are asking for it," Kie laughs as we all rush back through the house, all of us laughing and cheering, running down the stairs, "Go, go!" I giggled as I Gary's attempts to grab me but I duck under his swinging arms, running out to the garden.

"Not much of a hugger man," JJs joke echoing off the empty wall of the house.

Running up beside Pope, I urge him up over the fence, "Come on, Pope, go, go, go," landing on the other side, watching as he lands flat on his face, "Graceful as always Pope," I giggle pulling him back on his feet.

"Come on Pope, Fatso's coming" JJ encourages, suddenly landing beside us just barely missing the hot-headed security who is dangling over the fence, "Come here, you little pricks!"

"Bus is leaving," John B pulls up the van honking the horn, Kie opening the door for us, laughing as we shove each other in. John B wastes no time hitting the gas, driving away from the angry security.

"Check out Gary, gunnin' for a raise," Pope laughs as we watch a hopeless Gary chase after the van.

Having an idea, JJ unzips my bag and leans out of the open door, "Come on Gary," he taunts, waving the beer can in front of the man like you would a dog with a treat.

"You're going to give him a heart attack," Kie sympathises but still finds his actions amusing, "You're so close! You can do it. There you go," he tosses the can at the poor man who attempts to dodge it.

"God, they don't pay you enough, man" I laugh peering out the door, taking in the sight of Gray who is wheezing with his hands planted on his knees.

Seeing enough torture for one day, Kie tugs us back in, "That's enough," she says finally feeling sorry for the poor man, sliding the door close.

"Oh, come on. That sort of initiative is just begging to be punished," reasons JJ, plopping down in the back of the van, now finding interest fiddling with the blunt he pulled from his back pocket.

I lean my head on Kie's shoulder and sigh, "I love Gary," I confess, earning a flick on the head from Pope and a nudge on the leg from JJ

We're the Pogues, and our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time.

Prologue: FIN!

What did you think?

I’m really excited to explore Mason’s character and her adventures with the Pogues. I have so much planned for her.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction <3

[jaehyunsuh]

nct ot21 (minus jisung) reaction to: their child looking more like another member than them | part 2

[Lucas - Chenle]

part 1

REQUESTS ARE: OPEN

author's note: i didn't include jisung because i think of him as a baby (just kidding) so my writer mind comes into some type of block thinking about him being a dad lol. But don't worry you will see more of him in future content💕 

thinking about chenle being a dad gave me a hard time as well, he looked so cute and small next to his nephew that i just see him as the cool and cute uncle🥺

yangyang saying that 'anything could happen' after Ten said to stop talking about babies bc they are young was playing through my head the whole time making me laugh lol

lucas

i see Xuxi as a really sweet and protective dad so he would feel kinda startled when someone says his child doesn't look like him and trying to convince everyone that they are almost twins.

his 4 year old is already so smart and confident. He does lots of questions and it's into interesting topics.  

"He has small eyes, nothing like yours." Xiaojun stares at the toddler.

"I see what you mean...he looks like Mark." Chenle says excited.

"What!? He doesn't. He is exactly like me, don't you see!!." He says picking up the 4 year old in his arm putting him next to his face.

"Anyway, baby, when you grow up you are gonna look like daddy okay?" He smiles at his child giving him a hug. 

mark

i feel like Mark likes to laugh about things that the members say but when they are messing with him he gets a little pissed of.

Mark has a 3 year old boy who is as interested in music as much as him. He love to play and listen to music with his dad and he is lately getting into instruments.  

"He sings pretty well too!." Yuta says hyped.

"Right, and if you look closer to him, he resembles Taeil a lot, he is gonna be a great singer." Doyoung smiles excited.

"W-what? My son is just like me what do you mean." He hums trying to hide his nervous.

"Junior don't listen to them, you are as cool as me okay." He ruffles the little boy's hair hivimh a kind smile. (yes, i made made mark call him junior lol peak comedy)

xiaojun

he seems so calm and kind so i think his reaction would be just to keep observing his baby and see if he really looks like him.

Xiaojun's 6 months old is so quiet and calm. He sleeps and eat well giving his parents a lot of time to relax.

"You are so cute baby, just like Lucas." Winwin plays with the baby smiling at him.

"Like who?" Xiaojun seems confused.

"Like Lucas. If you notice he is starting to look a lot like him now." Ten says firm.

"Ha! No, i don't think so." He grabs the baby and places him over his shoulder.

"This is all crazy people, let's sleep so we can forget his words." Xiaojun kisses his baby head.

hendery

I feel like his reaction would be kinda chaotic rather than negative or smth. He would laugh it off and look at his baby carefully to find his resemble with him. 

Hendery was really surprised when he found out he was going to have twins but now he is happy of having two baby boys that always play together. They are 2 years old right now.

"They are so young but yet so talented." Jeno is playing football with the little kids.

"He may be talented in dancing too. You know, since they look like Ten." Haechan says sipping on his juice.

"Kids come here." He places the two kids in front of him looking at the carefully.

"What!? They don't like him." He says giving a confused look to the members.

"Kids, let's go outside. We need to get away from this people." Hendery looks at his members pretending to be bothered.

renjun

he has a kind personality and enjoys being wish his members. He would laugh it off but then he would become slighty annoyed at the comment.  

renjun's 2 year old is really sweet and respectful to everyone. He enjoys drawing and painting, just like his dad. He also has a beautiful voice and love singing.

"Aw, he is so cute, he is like a little bunny, that's why he looks so much like Doyoung." Taeil says smiling while coloring in one of the baby's coloring books.

"What? No! He doesn't." Renjun puts on a confused expression and talks in a annoyed tone.

"Ooooh, maybe something happened at the New Years party." Johnny winks playfully trying to annoy Renjun.      

"Aaah, shut up already." Renjun says even morw annoyed.

"Keep coloring your uncles are obviously having eye issues." Renjun sits next to the little boy and begins to draw as well.  

jeno

jeno is a sweet member, he is quiet and tends not to make comments that could make his members upset or something. He would laugh about it but in the back of his head he would overthink about it wishing that his baby looks more like him or his s/o.

his little 4 year old daughter was his whole world, she was so sweet, expressive, talkative and loved to spend time with her daddy.

"Something is missing on her." Jungwoo looks at the little girl thinking. 

"I know! The eye smile. Woah, do you see? She is really Ten's child." Haechan says without hesitation.

"No! She doesn't looks like him and she is my child. What the hell." Jeno says really annoyed and slightly angry.

"Angel, you are your father's daughter, don't listen to this people." He hugs the little girl and places a kiss on the side of he head.

haechan

Haechan isn't taking anyones opinion, he would give some sassy answers to his members and then deny all of the things they are saying. His baby looks exactly like him and that's it, period.

his 10 months old is already as energetic and playful as his dad. He wants to walk, speak, play, everything! He so excited about every single thing.

"Oooh i know! Whenever he smiles he looks like Taeil." Ten looks carefully at the baby caressing his head.

"W-w-what!!!?? Are you crazy!?" Haechan quickly grabs his baby in arms.

"There has never been another human being who looks more like me that this baby." He exaggerates while pointing at the baby.

"Let's go to sleep, so this people can't see your beautiful face anymore."    

jaemin

he would be a little annoyed by the comment because he doesn't like when members tease him about this type of stuff. He would defend her avoiding the topic. 

jaemin is the dad to the sweetest an most extrovert 2 year old. She is always laughing about every single thing and the best part is that she is always excited about everything.

"She has a beautiful smile. But not like yours, like Jeno's. Woah, i can't believe your best friend betrayed you like this." Jisung says pretending to be shocked.

"No no no no no, her smile is as beautiful as mine you see?" Jaemin points at him self.

"I'm not letting you think other way."

"This baby girl and I are leaving due the fake uncles." Jaemin holds his girl and pretends to leave the room fake crying. 

yangyang

we already now this guy is savage so he would just defend his and his baby's honor shutting the members mouth making them all understand he is the only one who can male this type of comments.

he is the dad of a 1 year old babyboy. He loves to play and give exciting screams. He loves his uncle and playing with them.   

"Aaaww he even has the same dimples as Kun. He resembles him even more." Jaemin smiles while caressing the baby's cheek.

"WHAT!? my child doesn't look like any of you. Make your own children." Yangyang looks at them annoyed and grabs the baby's hand.

"You look just like me. No one else, okay?" He says firm to his baby.

chenle

this is another savage, he would make fun of his members instead of accepting what they say not paying attention to their comments.

Chenle's baby boy is so cute and talented already, he is 3 years old but already following his dad's steps. He is always so proud to see him do what he loves.

"He is good at singing. Wow that's why he looks so much like Winwin." Renjun says while playing with the little boy.

"Uh, no, i don't think so." Chenle says annoyed sitting next to his child.

"No offense Sicheng gege, you are amazing but this is 100% my blood."

"You are gonna be as cool as dad, okay?" He high fives his baby boy and hugs him.     

[patrocool]

i.

It was early morning in Financial District. Commuters bustled around the siblings as they exited the subway station onto William Street. The pair stopped abruptly in front of the shop just outside of the station, much to the dismay of a woman behind them, who nearly ran into them with a curse.

Sarah Jacobs had worked hard to get to this point. And damn it, she was proud of herself. Sure, it didnt look like a lot right now- a tiny little hole in the wall right next to the entrance to the A and C train that was probably about the size of her bedroom in her tiny Manhattan apartment- but it was hers and she was proud to own the place.

Davey held up the key with a soft smile. "Planning on going in any time soon?" He asked lightly. She grinned as she took the key from his fingers and unlocked the door, stepping in. It was musty, dusty, dirty, and a bit stuffy, but none of that mattered. What mattered was what it was going to look tomorrow, and then the next day, and the day after that.

She clapped her hands together and set down her bag of cleaning supplies. "We've got a lot of work to do, Davey!"

ii.

Davey carefully placed the finishing touches on the flowers in stock, making them look nice in their holders. He stepped back, hands on his hips, and smiled. He turned to watch his sister as she carefully wrote the last few things on her chalkboard behind the counter.

The store looked perfect. Picturesque, to the point where Davey wouldnt be surprised if photographers came in looking for the perfect picture. Sarah set down her chalk and brushed her fingers off on her apron. She turned, nervously brushing stray hairs behind her ears, and straightening her light blue blouse. "Hows it look, David?"

He gave her two thumbs up. "It looks like a hipster's wet dream," he promised her teasingly.

She laughed and threw a rag at him. "You're such an ass, get out of my store with your gross face! You're gonna be late for class."

He snickered and leaned over the counter to grab his bag. "I'll turn on the open sign and unlock the door on my way out. If I dont, you probably never will."

As he left, he saw a young woman hesitating outside, looking curious. He held the door open. "Going in?" He asked.

She shook her head and hurried away down the street. He shrugged and headed to class. Sarah would have customers soon enough.

iii.

After the fourth day of trying to peek in the flower shop to and from class, Katherine Plumber finally gave in and slipped inside. A soft ring of the bell alerted the quiet shop, and she looked around in awe. Exposed brick on one wall, plants in baskets hung from the ceiling, fairy lights strung across the walls. Beautiful displays of potted plants and cut flowers alike. A chalkboard hung behind the counter listed prices and deals and specials, and then the most beautiful woman Katherine had ever laid eyes on came out of the back room, smiling brightly at the sight of a customer.

Dark hair in loose curls that reached her ribs, brown eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light, circle frame glasses perched on her nose. She wore a yellow turtleneck and high waisted mom jeans with scuffed converse, and a well worn apron. On her apron, someone stitched in the name "Sarah" with blue thread.

"Can I help you with anything?" The shopkeeper asked her cheerfully, and Katherine never felt more out of place.

"Just- just looking," she stammered awkwardly. She tugged at the sleeves of her leather jacket, glancing down at the pins and patches adorning it and hoping there wasnt anything that the sweet shopkeeper would take the wrong way. Usually, she didnt care if other people didnt like her opinions, but damn it, the girl was pretty as all get out, and her big ass "punch nazis in the face" patch on her back didnt really fit with the whole soft flower shop vibe.

She bit her lip, looking at the plants and trying not to stare at the girl. She focused on the many different colors of roses instead.

"'Fuck Cops'- now that's a sentiment I can get behind," the girl said, but she was so much closer this time, and Katherine jumped at the sudden noise.

Katherine blinked slowly. "Oh, uh. Yeah," she said, and laughed a little, internally cringing. God, she sounded like an idiot.

She giggled. "Sorry, I'm just excited to see a customer. I havent had a lot so far, I just opened a couple days ago."

"I know," Katherine said quickly, and quickly winced when the girl cocked a brow. "Sorry, no, I meant, I know you opened a couple days ago, I take the A train to school every day, so."

She snorted and nodded. "I see, a bit less creepy when you put it like that," she said teasingly. She held out a hand to shake. "I'm Sarah. Welcome to Newspaper Row Flowers."

"Katherine," she replied, shaking her hand. She smiled a bit. "You know Newspaper Row was actually over on Park Row, right? Next to City Hall?"

Sarah laughed, cheeks pink. "Oh, I know. It's because my great grandmother used to own a flower shop over next to the old Tribune building on Park Row, and that's what she called it. She lost her shop in the Depression though, and died when I was young, and it was my mom's dream to open a flower shop in her honor. She never managed to, and uh. Well, she died too, a couple years ago, so I did it."

Katherine's heart felt like it was melting in her chest. God, how could she already have so much affection for this girl she only just met? "I'm sorry for your loss. But you've really created something wonderful here, and I'm sure they would both be proud."

Sarah beamed, and Katherine would do anything to make her smile like that again.

iv.

"And so Davey's like 'what the fuck', and Les is like 'who is this guy' and Jack is straddling the windowsill, looking at us like he expects my dad to get a gun, and finally, Dad is like 'hes not Catholic, is he?' And poor Davey is like 'no, pa', and for some godforsaken reason, Mom assumes that means hes Jewish. And knowing he doesnt have a family, immediately invites- and by invites, I mean loosely intimidated- Jack to come celebrate all holidays with us. And so now, instead of breaking it to Mom that Jack isnt religious, Davey just let's them believe it. Cause I mean, they're pretty fine with the whole gay thing, but god forbid we be romantically involved with someone who isnt Jewish." Sarah finished explaining with a laugh and roll of her eyes. "So yeah, that's why Jack is here fucking around with a dreidel even though Hanukkah has passed. Hes convinced that theres a secret trick to it that he has to master by next year."

Jack looked up and pouted sourly in her direction. "We all know Davey cant be that good based on luck alone!" He said for the thousandth time.

Katherine laughed, elbows on the counter. Her red curls were pulled back in a ponytail and she had her signature leather jacket on. "Sounds like your family is a real fun bunch. Ironically, my dad is the exact opposite, he doesn't care if I dont marry into a Jewish family, but he very much cares if I marry a girl."

Sarah made a face. "Gross. He sounds like such an ass whenever you talk about him."

Katherine nodded. "Probably because he is," she said very seriously. And then the two erupted into giggles.

"Ew, go get a room," Jack complained.

"You're in my shop, Kelly!"

V.

"Sarah, I need your help with something." Katherine came in looking nervous, an expression Sarah rarely saw on her friend.

"Of course, anything, what do you need?" Sarah said immediately, abandoning the flowers she was making out of newspapers.

Katherine swallowed, pausing. Her fingers fidgeted with the necklace around her neck. "Um. Well. There's uh... there's this girl I really like. And she... she's just amazing, and I want to tell her that I really like her. And she loves flowers, so..."

Sarah smiled and cooed, even though her chest hurt an awful lot. "That's so-" heartbreaking? Disappointing? Sad? "-cute! Flowers are such a good way to express feelings. Do you want to do it through flower language or do you have specific flowers you want to do it with?"

Katherine bit her lip. "Well, I was hoping a bit of both, but I'm not sure what kind of flowers she likes, so I was hoping you'd help with that."

Sarah nodded. "Of course! Let's get to work, hm?"

In the end, the bouquet consisted of red carnations (admiration), gardenias ("you're lovely"), mistletoe ("kiss me"), and white violets ("let's take a chance on happiness"). Sarah very gently wrapped the stems in newspaper and tied it with some twine while Katherine wrote something on a card.

Katherine paid and took the bouquet from Sarah, carefully fixing the card in it. She stayed after the transaction, simply standing there and staring at the flowers in her arms.

"What are you waiting for? Go get your girl!" Sarah chastized with a laugh. She needed Katherine to leave so she could take an early lunch and cry a little.

"You're right," Katherine said. She took in a big breath and let it out slowly before jutting her arms out, offering the bouquet. "Here."

"What?" Sarah asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Did you change your mind or-"

"They're for you," Katherine said, staring at the wall. "Just- read the card?"

Sarah blinked slowly and took the bouquet carefully, and opened the card.

In it was written simply:

"I like you, Sarah. Have since I first came into your shop. And I'd like you even more if you went to dinner with me?"

Sarah very gently put the bouquet down on the counter. And then she kissed Katherine.

+1

A year and a half later, Sarah come home to find a bundle of myrtle at her place on the table. Instead of a string, there was a ring. Myrtle, the Hebrew emblem of marriage.

Katherine cleared her throat, smiling softly. "Your parents will have at least one kid who marries into a Jewish family. If-if you say yes, that is."

Sarah's eyes filled with tears. "How could I not?"

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering how do you handle an adult life? I'm 17 and the fact that I'm going to be an adult is starting to panic me more and more. Like I CANT talk to adults. I stutter&I'm a mess. I'm even bad with my peers. Some advice on how you do it would be nice. I try to ask my parents, but they aren't very helpful and seem ready to drop me into the deep end to "teach me" a lesson about being an adult. (Sorry again about non blog related question. No obligations to answer)

Oh boy, I’m gonna do my best to answer this, but full disclosure? I’m pretty bad at being social. I have some issues, and talking to people is really hard for me. That might be helpful in this context if you’re coming from a similar situation, but I don’t know if that’s the case, so it’s possible that my stuff won’t work for you. I’ll give it a whirl anyway.

I actually was thrown into the deep end when I was about your age, because I ended up going to college in a state where I pretty literally didn’t know a single person. I don’t know if that was a positive thing or not, but I can definitely say that I’ve gotten significantly better about talking/adulting since then. I’m still terrified of everyone older than me, but I can fake my way through the majority of it now. 

For me, the biggest step was increasing my self-esteem. When I started living on my own in ‘14, my goal was basically to be invisible (a skill that I mastered a looooong time ago). I have this thing about people looking at me, so I didn’t like any kind of attention. It definitely affected the way I talked to people (I didn’t) and the way I acted.

That shifted after I discovered a couple of things

1) some attention is positive, and positive attention feels good

2) I’m imagining a lot of the judgement I feel from other people

The truth is, people don’t pay as much attention to you as you think that they do. We’re all trapped inside our own heads, right? My frame of reference puts the majority of emphasis on me, because that’s the only person I can hear and the only emotions I can feel. The same is true about you– you hear your thoughts and feel your feelings, so it seems like everybody else should be focussed on you.

That’s your mind playing tricks. Don’t believe it. Everybody else is focussed on themselves, not you, and that’s a good thing! They’re not actually looking at you. They’re just looking around. As soon as y’all walk away from each other, odds are you’ll disappear from their mind. It means that you don’t have to worry about doing everything perfectly. They don’t actually care. 

Repeat that to yourself whenever you feel like you’re doing badly. It doesn’t matter. They don’t care. They’re not that concerned about the things that you do.

Two tactics for increasing your self esteem:

Find something you’re good at and do it. A lot. I started writing fanfiction when I was 18, and it straight-up changed my life. I’d never had that level of positive reinforcement before– for the first time in my life, I felt better than mediocre, and it made me proud of my own skills. Once I knew I was good at something it became a lot easier to talk to people.

(This is where you need to bear in mind that I’m not what the kids call “mentally stable” so like…. this might not be healthy) For a solid two years, I played this mind game where whenever I felt like somebody was judging me or being unkind to me, I picked one of my more angry favorite fictional characters and imagined them yelling back at that person. It worked really well for me because it let me fight back without actually doing it myself. I don’t really get angry, so I imagined someone getting angry on my behalf. Thing is, after awhile I really could think things like “I don’t deserve this” and “hey asshole back the hell off” in my own voice. I don’t know if I can explain that any better

Practical tips for maintaining a conversation:

Ask questions. It’s a lot easier to have a conversation if they’re doing most of the talking, and they won’t think it’s weird if you seem interested. Just keep them talking by asking for more information about whatever they just said.

They’ll get more comfortable (and more talkative) the more emotion you express. Listen actively. Nod along. Say stuff like “Really??” Your eyebrows are your friends. React to the stuff they say.

If you don’t know what emotion you’re expected to express, draw your eyebrows slightly in, rest a hand on your mouth/chin, and say “interesting.” They’ll interpret that as whatever response they were expecting.

 I feel more comfortable if I’m prepared, so I straight-up have memorized anecdotes that I practice until they go smoothly. I mostly use stories about my siblings, but I also have this speech about communism that I use every time someone asks me what I’m thinking about.

I don’t know what kind of English you speak, but I realized a long time ago that if I amp up my accent, other southerners trust me more and everyone else sees me as less threatening. If that applies, use it.

Don’t be ashamed of your interests. It might seem embarrassing, but other people don’t see it that way. Niche comic book knowledge actually goes over pretty well at parties. Related tip: find The Interest of the person you’re talking to, and your life will get a lot easier. Let them teach you about it and they literally will not shut up. It’s great. Also you get good recs that way.

Tips to get people to like you:

Be helpful. Good in two ways: if you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing and that makes you feel anxious, ask whomever is in charge if there’s something you can do to help. They’ll be charmed, and you won’t feel awkward anymore. Also good because people really like the folks that do them favors. They also like the people they did favors for, so let people do things for you if they offer.

Everybody likes the kid that brought food. Bake cookies. Bring cookies. New friends. Even if you don’t talk to them afterwards, they’ll have a positive opinion of you. I never spoke to the majority of my dorm neighbors, but they all liked me because I set candy and juice boxes in the hallway every holiday. In a classroom setting, offer to share your gum, buy extra scantrons, and lend people your pens. 

I befriend people solely by throwing gifts at them until they feel my love. Ask any of my mutuals. They’ll tell you.

Kindness honestly goes a long way? A lot of people, especially young people, really need someone to be kind to them, and they’re not used to getting that. If you can be that person, it’ll help them and it will make the two of you a lot closer. That’s how real friendships start. 

Always be respectful of other people’s trust. If they tell you important things about themselves, treat it seriously. Try to understand how they feel, and then let them know that you understand. Don’t tell other people’s secrets.

Tips for forcing yourself to Do The Thing:

I keep my to do list on post-it notes stuck to my dresser, one item per note, so I can pull them off one at a time as I do them. It’s more satisfying that way.

Personally I’m a lot more willing to do the things I hate if I feel like I’m doing them for someone else. Easiest way is to get one of my friends to ask me to do it (Hey in an hour text me and tell me to go to the grocery store). The best way is to bargain with one of my friends (if you call your doctor, I’ll make a real dinner tonight)

Again… I don’t know if you’re coming from the same place as me, but it really helps me to be open about my problems. I just tell my friends about my mental health issues, and then they help me to work around them.

Treat!!! Yo!!!! Self!!!! Seriously reward yourself for getting things done. Give yourself an episode of The Office for every page you write. Buy yourself ice cream for getting your errands done. If you’re going to do something stressful, have a plan for something relaxing afterward (I’ll go to the induction ceremony, and then I’ll go to the puppy store and pet a beagle)

[Eliza voice] 🎶 T a k e  a  b r e a k 🎶 If socializing is hard for you, realize that you don’t have to do it all the time. It’s okay to opt out, especially when you won’t lose anything by doing it. Personally, I go out of my way to make sure that no one speaks to me on the bus, walking across campus, or during lunch. Those are me-times. You can make sure people get the memo by wearing big headphones, bringing a book (even if you’re only pretending to read it), and avoiding eye contact. 

I find music really helpful for prep/recovery too. It works best if you find one song and play it on repeat until you get to the stressful thing, and  then do the same thing on the way back. Focus on one element of the song at a time. If you do it right, you can hit this meditative sweet spot where you stop thinking about what you have to do.

Stress relief (take it with a grain of salt because I am 95% stress at any given time):

Make your bedroom into a happy place. Pick a strong scent and make that part of the atmosphere– your brain will start to associate that scent with calm. My room smells like Irish Spring soap. When you finish something stressful, go to your room, take a few minutes to lie down and relax, breathe in and out, smell the happy smell. You did it.

Do stupid shit that makes you happy. Blow bubbles on your porch, put colored glassware on your windowsills so the sunlight turns red and blue, sing in your bathroom so it echoes all over the place. 

I hate admitting this with every fiber of my being, but exercise does actually reduce stress. So does eating healthy and sleeping normally, but I’ve never tried those last two.

If something makes you happy, keep it around. Save birthday cards, display presents from your friends, keep a happy tag online so you have a list of stuff to come back to. Your brain will remember the positive reaction, so it’ll undo some of the damage when you’re upset. 

Making other people happy will make you happy. Easiest method? Hit that anon button on the asks, pick the top five people on your dashboard, send them a nice message. Wait for excited response

It’s okay to google “cute babies” and scroll through pics until you feel alive again

I find it helpful to make things. I don’t know, there’s something about spending a long time on a project that makes me feel more productive, especially if there’s a visible product.

Things to remember: 

They aren’t watching you. They don’t care if you mess up. Your brain is lying to you.

Your worth is inherent and cannot be diminished by any of your actions or failures

Odds are the people you meet now won’t be the same people in your life in a few years. That means you don’t have to impress them. If you embarrass yourself in front of the lady at the brochure stand, it doesn’t matter. You probably won’t ever see her again.

It’s okay if this is hard for you. You don’t have to love meeting people.

You don’t have to like everyone. You don’t have to be friends with everyone.

It’s okay to say no. I repeat: it is okay to say no.

You’re going to be okay. You have a destiny, and you will fulfill it. It’s going to turn out exactly as it should. You don’t have to worry about your future.

These things get easier with time.

There’s no shame in seeing a therapist or talking about your problems

You have talents. You are interesting. You deserve attention and praise.

You know where to find me if you need anything

[pikapegasus]

Ooooh, can i pick number 16 please?? I'm really enjoying all the starmora stuff you're reblogging!! It's an awesome ship!! I am totally on board. :) and baby groot is too adorable! Especially with parents Starmora and big brothers drax and rocket. Its one big happy family :) most the time...

16. “It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

holy shit, I completely lost control over this one,,, I hope you enjoy!!

Send me a ship + a number for a way to say “I love you”!!!

Gamora curses under her breath as she trips over one ofRocket’s guns. Though Peter is one of the messiest people she’s ever known,Rocket has managed to top him several times, leaving random parts and half-completedweapons strewn about the ship. She’s tried talking to him about it before, ashas Peter, but Rocket claims he suffers from “selective hearing.”

Though she narrowly avoids falling, it’s still made a noiseloud enough to wake the others up. And, sure enough, Peter comes clamberinginto the room just moments later.

“Gamora? Are you okay?” he asks, surprisingly coherent forsomeone who should have just been asleep. “What happened?”

“I tripped,” she says simply, gesturing to Rocket’s stuff.“Rocket left his guns out. Again.”

Peter sighs, placing his hands on his hips in thatare-you-kidding-me-I-told-you-to-clean-up-your-shit way. “Of course he did.”

“I’m sorry I woke you,” she says, carefully sliding Rocket’sweapons closer to the wall with her foot.

“Why are you out here, anyway?”

“Just wanted to getout of my room for a bit and clear my head, that’s all.”

“In the middle of the night?”

She shrugs.

He doesn’t push the issue. “It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep,anyway.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They fall into silence at that. Out of all the Guardians,Gamora feels closest to Peter, but something about discussing nightmares justfeels a little too intimate to her.

(She has a feeling she’s not the only one struggling withthat.)

“I think we’re all a bit shaken up after what, uh, happenedwith Ronan,” he says, offering her an out.

She takes it. “It’ll heal with time.”

Peter nods, walking by Gamora to take a seat at the table.“Well, since it looks like neither of us will be getting any sleep tonight,might as well hang out.”

He looks at her hopefully. Part of her wants to run, becauseshe fears what will happen if she allows herself to continue down this path,letting Peter a little more into her heart with each step. It’s been a longtime since she’s really had any kindof relationship with anyone.

But, screw it, it’s the middle of the night, and like Petersaid, she won’t be able to get any more sleep tonight, anyway.

So she sits down in the seat beside him. “What do you suggest we do to pass the time?”

“Hmm…Oh, I know!” He looks at her, clearly excited. “We canplay a game!”

She looks at him curiously. “What kind of game?”

“It’s this game people played on Terra,” he says. “It’scalled ‘Never Have I Ever.’”

Sounds interesting enough. “How do you play?”

He holds up his hands. “So we each start out with tenpoints. You use your fingers to keep track of how many points you have left.”

She mimics him. “How do you lose points?”

“We take turns saying things that we’ve never done,” heexplains. “And if you’ve done the thing the other person says they’ve neverdone, you have to put one of your fingers down. So, for example, if you said,‘Never have I ever been to Knowhere!’ I’d have to put one of my fingers down,since I’ve been there. Then I only have nine points left.”

“And whoever loses all their points first loses, I assume?”

“Yeah! You’ve got it.” Peter smiles and, for a moment,Gamora’s heart does a weird…flutteringthing. She decides to ignore it, returning his smile. He puts all of hisfingers back up. “Okay, I’ll start. Never have I ever broken my leg.”

She puts a finger down. “Never have I ever owned a ship.”

“Damn. You got me,” he says, shaking his head as he puts histhumb down. “Okay, well. Never have I ever finished school.”

“How does Terran school work?”

“You usually go from when you’re five years old until you’reeighteen,” he says. “Which, basically means, from when you’re a little kiduntil you’re considered an adult, though most people do even more school afterthey turn eighteen. I was only in school for, like, four years.”

“I was educated until I was a young adult,” she states,putting one of her fingers down. “Never have I ever shaved my face.”

“Never have I ever shaved my legs.”

She doesn’t put a finger down.

“Seriously?”

“I’ve never needed to.” She shrugs. “Cyberneticenhancements, and all.”

“Right.”

Unfortunately, Gamora realizes she’s running out of ideas.Her background differs from Peter’s in a lot of cultural ways, it’s hard to thinkof opportunities or activities they would have both had. 

Well, of course, unless she takes it in a more personal direction…

“Never have I ever been to Terra.”

She watches him process her words, gauging his reaction.Terra is, understandably, a sensitive topic for him.

But he doesn’t appear to take it personally. “That wasdirty,” he comments simply, putting a finger down. He mirrors her cautiousexpression. “Time to fight fire with fire. Never have I ever been to…” hepauses. “Where are you from, anyway?”

Her heart practically skips a beat at his words. It’s been along time since she’s thought of her home planet, before Thanos entered herlife and took everything she knew away. Faded images briefly cross her mind, ofparents who loved her, of friends who played with her, of a life full of fun.

And in this moment of pause, Peter retreats. “Uh, actually,never mind. I’ll come up with another—“

“Zen-Whoberi,” Gamora answers softly. She carefully puts oneof her fingers down.

“Zen-Whoberi,” he repeats, seemingly testing the name.

They fall into a bit of an awkward silence at that, eachaverting their eyes. Though part of her is instinctively defensive at themention of her home planet, the rest of her is surprisingly content with Peter nowknowing that detail about her.

“Never have I ever been on a team before,” she suddenlysays, resuming their game. “I’ve worked with others on missions before, but not…likethis.”

“The Ravagers don’t really count as a team, in my opinion,”he insists, keeping his remaining fingers up. “So I’ve never done that either.Never have I ever…had a father.”

She puts a finger down. “I’m not counting Thanos.”

“Didn’t think so.” He presses his lips togetherthoughtfully. “What, um…was your real dad like?”

Pain claws at her for a moment, but she finds herselfsmiling at the happy memories she’s fought to preserve. “He was both compassionateand brave. He’d call me a fighter, and tell me that I should always use myskills for good.”

“He sounds awesome,” Peter says. “I’m sorry about whathappened to him.”

“Though it is a wound that can never fully heal, it’s in thepast,” Gamora reassures him. “I’m sure you understand, with your mother.”

“Yeah. She was perfect.” His hands fall into his lap,seemingly broadcasting the end of the game. “Y’know, even with all the differencesbetween our upbringings, I’m starting to find a lot of it’s the same.”

She also lowers her hands.

“We started out with having people who loved us from theget-go, then had to watch them die, then were kidnapped by strangers fromdifferent planets, then were raised by said strangers to do bad shit, then gotout to go make money for ourselves by stealing an orb,” he lists, almost amused. “This is freaky.”

Now that Peter was pointing it out…she’s surprised she hadn’tnoticed it before. Before, she’d only ever considered Nebula to have some understandingof what her life was like, and even though Peter’s circumstances were stillvery different from hers, there were a lot of feelings they both knew.

Like the pain of witnessing the death of a parent, or theliberating experience of taking control of their own lives. Of course, Yondu ismuch, much different than Thanos inthat Gamora can sense the hidden, but strong, affectionate bond between Yonduand Peter, but it doesn’t change the feelings of grief and estrangement thataccompanied both of their experiences.

Peter laughs to himself a bit. “And here I thought I’d neverfind someone who I could relate to.”

Gamora lays a hand over one of his. “You’re not aloneanymore.”

“Neither are you,” he returns warmly. “We should hang outtogether like this in the middle of the night more often.”

“We may be able to defeat powerful beings like Ronan, butthat doesn’t mean we don’t need sleep, Star-Lord.”

The name always gets him. She’s noticed his little reactionsto it, whenever she says it teasingly. Even now, he does a little smile thatalways makes her smile.

“Let’s just play a new game to stay awake! Ever heard of ‘TwoTruths and a Lie’?”

He’s looking at her expectantly, and—oh, shit, fucking—

She’s identified what exactly that weird heart-fluttering-thing in her chest is.

Send me a ship + a number for a way to say “I love you”!!!!

[arisefairsun]

i'm the only one in my friend group who really loves romeo and juliet and doesn't think they're just "dumb teenagers" and i just want to thank you for your blog and your rants and all that good stuff. i really love reading all of it and we interpret the play so similarly!! it really keeps me sane whenever someone puts down r+j after i tell them it's my favorite shakespeare play. i love sensitive romeo and intelligent, capable juliet and yeah i just wanted to thank you for loving them too!!

Thank you so much! I’m happy to hear that you like my blog!

People react the same way when I mention that I am a Romeo and Juliet enthusiast. They roll their eyes as if they were saying, “pfft, she likes that stupid play about dumb teenagers!”. But oh man, I find the whole culture of Romeo and Juliet being “dumb kids” really disrespectful because (1) it dismisses their emotions simply because they are young and therefore cannot be thought of in earnest because oh, young people are too ignorant to know what they want and feel, and (2) it refuses to acknowledge their attempt to free themselves from the toxic environment they were raised in.

Romeo and Juliet covers a lot of issues that are still relevant today: violence, prejudice, hate, the atrocities that people are willing to commit solely to prove their superiority over others, murder, misogyny, toxic masculinity, gender roles, isolation, people’s unwillingness to forgive and to listen to others, resentment, pride, rage, abusive families, the reluctantly to value young people’s ideas, the tendency to overlook their problems and feelings, etc. I could go on. It’s a play about social oppression, about how a society that thwarts people’s freedom and imposes highly toxic ideals on them will irrevocably destroy itself.

Both Romeo and Juliet are bound to being what their parents want them to be. Their world forces them to give up their real aspirations, their real selves, in order to preserve those toxic ideals. Romeo is Montague’s heir, and he must behave as such. The feud is a great opportunity for men to show off their bravado and their masculine egos (the thumb-biting dialogue that Tumblr loves so much is a good example of this). And Romeo is expected to perpetuate such behavior. Look at Mercutio’s words:

Alas poor Romeo! He is already dead; stabbed with a white wench’s black eye; shot through the ear with a love-song; the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy’s butt-shaft: and is he a man to encounter Tybalt?

To him, Romeo cannot be a real man so long as he prefers poems over swords. Friar Lawrence tells him that he is an “unseemly woman in a seeming man” because his tears “are womanish”; the Nurse states that if he were a man, he would “stand up”. In 2.4, Mercutio believes that Romeo is only truly Romeo when he is jesting with his male friends: “Now art thou Romeo; now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature.” (Little does he know that the reason Romeo is being so positive is because he spent the previous night talking to Capulet’s daughter about the insignificance of names.)

This mortifies Romeo. Look at his words in 3.3, right before attempting to kill himself: 

O, tell me, friar, tell me,In what vile part of this anatomyDoth my name lodge? Tell me, that I may sackThe hateful mansion.[Drawing his sword]

This is heartbreaking. His social identity instills so much anxiety in him that this boy even craves death if that will permit him to extirpate such oppression from himself.

Juliet also struggles with the dynamics of her society. Nobody listens to her. Her parents harass her, Paris doesn’t care about her feelings, and even the Nurse turns her back on her at the end. But Romeo absolutely, wholeheartedly loves listening to her (“How is’t, my soul? Let’s talk; it is not day”), and entreats her to express herself continuously (“Ah, Juliet. If the measure of thy joy / Be heaped like mine, and that thy skill be more / To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath / This neighbour air.) Basically, he treats her like a human being. This is why Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is so important. They help each other. They save each other. The way he talks about her denotes such transgression, such liberation from the limits of the world: “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” She is a light forcing its way through the obstacles imposed by Capulet’s house. She is literally the sun growing forcefully and killing the shadows. Juliet realizes there is something infinite inside her—she is as boudless as the sea, and she assures her screams could “tear the cave where Echo lies.”

Living in a society where names are everything, Juliet rejects all of that and builds a whole new identity for Romeo—one that is independent from the feud. I know the “wherefore art thou” speech is overused, but it makes so much sense that it is the most well-known part of the play, because it’s so revolutionary. “What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, / Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part / Belonging to a man.” It’s like she is saying “fight me, try to tell me that his whole existence must depend on a mere word.”

They are just so, so good to each other. They are friends, as Juliet puts it. They are children living in a scary world full of hate and violence, but they can fearlessly let out their real selves when they are together, notwithstanding the chaos that is Verona. I can understand why some 19th-century guy decided to read the play as a cautionary tale against youth and love, but right now? In 2017? While people want to build walls between countries out of prejudice? While violence is so present in our daily lives? I can’t tolerate that reading, because I can’t ignore the hate that was promoted by Romeo and Juliet’s society, and I can’t ignore the fact that the lovers cling to each other in a really desperate attempt not to become what their parents want them to be. I can’t ignore the fact that they were so weary of their world that they conceived suicide as a way to escape. It’s selfish to ignore what they’ve gone through and claim that they killed themselves out of stupidity. 

Their story is certainly not meaningless. It’s the tale of two young people who decide to break the rules and defend their actual, real identities, and thus try to get rid of the labels and chains their society tries to force on them. It’s a story that warns you about the dangers of any kind of oppression. It’s a story that tells you that your opinions, your dreams, your voice deserve to be heard, and that you should fight for yourself. And if Capulet and Montague were able to apologize and thus recognize Romeo and Juliet’s effort, then I think someone teaching this play in 2017 should stand up for those who were so terribly oppressed by their society. (Because the decontextualization of the story I blame mostly on how poorly teachers explain the play.) If someone mocks you for liking Romeo and Juliet, let them know that referring to them as two horny teenagers who got themselves killed is a very disrespectful way of ignoring the effects that violence, abuse, prejudice, and oppression have on their victims.

P.S. Thank you again for this sweet message!