#due to it being on a weekday hahaha

[aseuki]

aahh i'm a little late but happy birthday!! hope you had a fantastic time!!

Aaaaah thank you so much Starflung! It WAS though!! I got to hang out with a couple buddies, and had a lot of tasty treats to boot!

Hands u a slice of cake from one bday neighbor to another 👋💖💖💖

[ancentoo]

@frans-monthly prompt: sport

Boi frisky and sans ;P

Have you ever heard about E-sport??

whatever,E-Sport is also sport. Since it has the word SPORT hahaha..actually I was diffident to try dynamic poses lolol

EXPLANATION of this pic

Toriel is a teacher and frisk's stepmother after the pacifist route.

Frisk is a middle school teenager.

His school ends before Toriel.

Toriel, being very worried leaving him a little moment alone at home due to her late work, calls the most leisure monster, sans to look after frisk just an hour every weekdays until she arrives.

Sans readily agreed with her nice opinion as he wanted to sleep peacefully without his brother's nagging.

Eh, sans really doesn't look after frisk cuz he just sleeps....

Anyway, they are in perfect harmony ✨️ (until toriel notices this...)

[ushisrever]

Breakfast Date

Pair: Kunimi Akira x fm!reader

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1.2k

Summary: Wherein Kunimi takes you ,his wife, at your usual breakfast date to make you feel better from your morning sickness. 

A/n: Other than this being a baby fever piece once more, it is my self indulgent as well.  I wrote this as I remember those memories back at home when me and my family would go out early in the morning to eat at Mcdonalds.  It’s not a fancy place, but it sure just makes it relaxing for me.  It feels like home. Also this is unedited hahaha

Going through heavy morning sickness first thing in the morning is never a good way to start the day.  In fact, you hate it.  You don’t like it to the point that sometimes you cry early in the morning.  However, it doesn’t take long before your husband is there and soothing you on your back. 

“I...don’t like this,” you say once more through panting breaths as you finally got the last out of your morning sickness.  Kunimi, your husband, would always be there helping you wash up and would always have you in his arms afterwards on the couch in the morning.  You are seven weeks pregnant and you almost felt like it's been months due to the very bothersome nausea and morning sickness.  

You are happy of course that there is a new member coming your way.  You are happy for that of course.  You and Kunimi have been trying for a year before you two have been successful in conceiving.  You also know about morning sickness and all the challenges that you’ll most likely experience.  However, when you’re already there at the point where you are experiencing it, hearing it is different from experiencing it.

With this constant nausea Kunimi is there for your comfort.  You’ll lay your head on his shoulder and interlace your fingers with his. 

“I feel too awful,” you said with a little chuckle. 

“We’ll get through it, don’t worry.  I’ll help you get through it.  Just tell me what you want,” he answered as he kissed your temple. 

“What I want-” you said.  You do want to do something to just make you feel better.  You glance up at the calendar hanging on the wall and you remember that it’s Sunday.  You smile a little.  It’s Sunday and it’s only seven o’clock in the morning. 

“It’s Sunday and it’s morning,” you said, mumbling against his chest.  You hear his laugh and he wraps a hand around your arm. 

“Then we should get ready then,” he said, knowing already what those simple words mean.  

So, you two quickly get ready and head out of your apartment.  Sunday mornings. You always love that time and day.  It just hits differently.  Perhaps, it’s because of how you just spend these mornings.  It wouldn’t really be JUST sundays.  Sometimes, you two do it as well during the weekdays if you two are on a day off or are not in a hurry to get ready to work.  But the Sunday morning routine will never disappear. 

Your weekly breakfast date. 

Though, it wouldn’t be a fancy date.  In fact, you don’t LIKE fancy restaurants nowadays.  You just want to go to one place. And that’s..in Mcdonalds.  You are honestly thankful you do not get nauseous in the food you eat in Mcdonalds.  In fact, you crave it.  You crave their hot fudge sundae and you always pair with some french fries.  You always crave their chicken as well.  Though, you make sure you have minimal or balanced healthy foods...however, you are happy that these foods are what you crave still. 

You don’t know why...but...going to Mcdonalds in the morning hits in differently.  Perhaps, it’s that feeling of a simple life.  The sun is not yet that bright.  There are not many people yet. And also, you also find it oozing with some family vibe to it.  There would sometimes be families as well going to Mcdonalds to have their morning family bonding with their families. You see old men or women having some good newspaper read as they have their simple Egg McMuffin and Coffee.  You just love it.  You love the sense of...easiness in the place.  

“Welcome to Mcdonalds.  Ano po order nila?” The woman behind the counter talked when the two of you arrived.  

You immediately tell your order and so does Kunimi.  You smile a bit when Kunimi then begins using Filipino phrases here and there as he orders.  He sure is making an effort in practicing your language. 

Afterwards, you two settle down on a table near the window and wait for your order.  As you do, you realize that you felt more...at ease as usual.  You sigh and just let that moment of relaxation hit you.  You rest your cheek at the palm of your hand and simply smile.  Kunimi, on the other hand, always loves to smile.  He’ll never get tired of it.  Supposedly, it’s like that every time you two are having your breakfast date.  However, this time, it gets interrupted with a little girl tugging at Kunimi’s shirt.  The two of you turn to the kid. 

“Oh! Hi, Lila,” Kunimi said.  “What are you doing here?” he added with a smile. 

“Happy Meal,” the little girl simply said and showed the Mcdonalds box where the small toys are usually packed in. 

“You’re adding another collection?  What did you get this time?” Kunimi chuckles. 

The little girl smiles and opens the box showing the toy to Kunimi. 

“Ohhh! You got the last piece.  That’s great, Lila,” 

Kunimi continues talking to Lila even if the kid simply nods or gives short answers.  Though, the more you watch your husband converse with the kid, the more your heart just melts.  It’s that same feeling all over again.  That same feeling when you’ve been having that baby fever for weeks especially when your husband would carry his niece or he’ll look at baby clothes...or him simply being him.  You felt warm at just the thought that this man in front of you will soon be a father.  A father of your child.  

“There you are Lila,” Your thoughts are cut off with a woman’s voice.  You turn to see Lila’s mother approaching the two of you.  It doesn’t take long before Lila bids his goodbye and she and her mother leave the place.  At that time, your orders finally arrived.  

Kunimi takes your orders and puts them on the table. “Here’s your order, love,” he said.  It is only then he notices the different gaze you’re giving him.  A familiar gaze that honestly became his death about two months ago.  That beautiful sweet gaze. 

“Pinaglilihian mo ba ako?” He managed to say.  One phrase he sure learned from his other friends.  

You laugh. “Hm...maybe?” You take a french fry before continuing. “I just thought that you’ll be a really great father,” you smiled. 

“And you, love, will be a great mother,” he said as he gave a quick kiss on your hand. 

You sure hope you will be a great mother, but you know for yourself that you'll do everything to earn that title.  You look around for a while and you see a couple with their baby on a high chair.  In about eight months time, you’ll be that exact image.  Your breakfast dates wouldn’t be just you and your husband.  It’ll be you, your husband, and your little one. 

You’re only seven weeks pregnant, but you are excited to meet the growing little bean inside of you.  However, as you wait...you’ll do everything to get ready and make sure that your child will be the healthiest and also the most loved child in the whole world.  In all honesty, you wouldn’t be able to have this determination at all if it weren’t for the man in front of you.  The man who made promises that he’ll hold your hand in this new chapter you two waited to open. 

Translation: 

“Welcome to Mcdonalds.  Ano po order nila?”  = Welcome to Mcodnalds.  Can I take your order? 

“Pinaglilihian mo na ba ako?” = for this one, there is no exact translation. But this is the usual term used when the pregnant wife is really clingy or just much more loving with her significant other or someone they are close to.  All they want is to have them near, smell them, etc.  

NIA’S MASTERLIST 

[reeesea]

Something Sweet: Part One

~the sweetest drink on the menu~

one ~ two ~ three ~ four ~ five ~ six ~ seven ~ eight ~ nine

pairing: just minsung, han jisung/lee minho

warnings: mild language (like barely)

words: 3.5k (2k too many ngl)

summary: Minho is working his usual shift at Seoul's most expensive high end restaurant, when a trio of new-comers arrive and by the end of Minho’s tedious night he’s plus one additional phone number.

a/n: To be honest this is the first thing I’ve ever written and actually posted. SO please accept this minsung one-shot that just came out of wanting more waiter Minho in my life. anyway if you read it and like it let me know, and maybe ill write more of it. In my head it has at least a few more chapters of non-plot where the other boys show up <3

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

It had only been an hour since the dinner rush started and Minho was already counting the minutes until he could collect his tips and go home. Sure, he could think of countless more exhausting jobs compared to being a waiter at Menu 98 (an upscale restaurant in a part of town he most definitely did not live in), but today just hit different. He never had to do much more than just put on his Customer Server Smile ™, not mess up the orders, pour the wine without spilling, and recommend the highest priced appetizer if asked. Pretty simple stuff. Nothing too draining, but still the exhaustion set in, probably due to spending 2 more hours in the dance studio than he should’ve the previous day. 

His feet were paying for those additional long hours trying to perfect choreo by making each minute of his shift more painful than the last. Even so, working at the ever popular restaurant paid for the daily discomfort that Minho may have felt from his blistered feet. The restaurant was a well known hot spot for anyone with enough money to casually spend the equivalent of three of Minho's paychecks on a meal. CEOs and their business partners along with idols and some lesser known celebrities made up most of their usual clientele on a casual Friday night like this one. The customers always came in waves on Friday evenings, parties of usually 4 or more coming in to celebrate some successful business venture that took place during the week. Great for Minho really, because that meant usually more wine, more appetizers, larger meals, and larger checks, which means bigger tips. His bank account really needed these Fridays especially if he was gong to keep saving up to finally pursue his dream. 

A new party of six was just assigned to Minho’s section. Trademarked smile: on, Feet: still aching, Hours until close: at least another three. It looked like tonight it was going to be a long ass night. 

An hour or so passed before Minho was able to get some form of rest from being out on the floor. Minho leaned his body weight against the wall near the back of the dining room, appreciating the brief calm before the night crowd started to roll in. Thoughts of the dance he was trying to choreograph flashed through his head. He hoped that the movements he’d chosen would be able to convey the emotions of the song he had in mind. The thought of asking Hyunjin to watch his performance briefly popped in his head, but before he could consider it further the hostess was calling his name. 

“Minho! There's a new table for you in section three.” Minho moved from his comfortable position against the wall and went through his checklist; Apron? Flattened. Backup pens? Check. Hair gently moved out of his face to perfectly frame it? Check. Lastly, Polite customer service smile? Obviously. 

The three boys at the table were definitely new customers to the restaurant. Minho observed that the three of them appeared to be blissfully unaware of the de facto business casual to fully formal dress code that the other patrons in the restaurant followed. The Trio seemed to sport the street style that you would see in the popular clubs not only a block away. Two of them clothed in almost all black outfits while the third wore a bright pink colored hoodie under his jean jacket. 

“Hyung, I still can’t believe we did it! The crowd was huge, I mean after going on stage I don't even remember anything. I might have blacked out. Holy shit did I actually black out….” Pink hoodie seemed pretty animated about whatever the reason was for their meal out. Maybe a little too animated, as other tables glazed bitterly toward the source of their evening’s disruption.   

Before approaching he considered the possibility that these boys being idols was likely, but Minho still found it odd for multiple reasons. He didn't recognize them at all as idols, which he was usually pretty good at keeping up with, and when idols did casually come in it was more likely to be on a weekday for an early dinner and not a late Friday night after the dinner rush. Nonetheless, with his perfect waiter image on, he walks over to the table never showing his curiosity.

“Good evening gentlemen, My name is Minho, and I’ll be serving you tonight. Is there anything I can get you to drink before your starters?” His script rolled politely off his tongue like it had the whole night. All complete with a slight smile and arms perfectly placed behind him, as carefully and as naturally as a doll whose been posed in the same position for the past six hours.

The wide set, somewhat brooding boy has already decided after glancing at the drink menu, “yeah I'll order a bottle of the house red for the table,” glancing up at Minho from beneath his black cap. Minho swiftly wrote down the order, and moved his glance over to the next boy at the table.

“Hyung, you're the only one of us who chooses to drink wine voluntarily,” Pink hoodie spoke up, seemingly upset about the prospect of drinking bitter fruit water. 

“Jisung, you're just saying that because you can't handle anything that you can actually taste the alcohol in. I'll drink whatever Bin gets,” the handsome curly haired blonde mentions, glancing at the soft hoodied boy next to him with a look that reminds Minho of a disappointed father. Minho actively fights off the smirk that is wanting to form on his lips.

“WHAT that's not true, THAT ONE TIME I drank an entire bottle of-”

“Fine, fine just stop yelling. You’re gonna get us kicked out before we even get to eat” Mr. Black cap glances up at Minho again, but with a more apologetic look. “Add on an order of the fruitiest and sweetest drink you serve still with alcohol in it, for the small squirrel boy.” That last part came with a smirk from the dark haired speaker and a glare from from the ‘squirrel boy’ to his left. 

Minho had trouble keeping the smirk from forming this time. And maybe his perfect image faltered for a second, but he was quick to recover, and confirmed their orders with a straight face and a promise to return with water as he left to give them time to select from the menu. 

---

“Great now our waiter thinks I'm a whiny baby who looks like a squirrel. Wow, thanks Changbin-hyung.” Jisung grumbles and pinches his cheeks that cursed him with the rodent nickname. 

“Good, at least he won’t be fooled into thinking you're anything but the truth” 

“Yah! WHa-”

“Hey settle down you guys, lets try not to get kicked out please. Binnie recommended the food here, and I would very much like to eat it before we are politely asked to leave” 

Jisung grumbles something inaudible at Chan’s request, and Changbin can't help but respond with a smirk at getting to see the younger be told off.

“Also we're supposed to be celebrating selling out our show so lets do that, yeah? First show 3racha single handedly sold out! WE did that!” 

All three of them get proud smiles after that, and the bickering is left forgotten as the three recount the night, even though they had lived it together

“Not gonna lie, I think our Binnie stole the show tonight. You were on fire tonight man.” Chan said proudly, receiving a thankful smile from the younger boy, who had become shy and bashful at the praise.

“Though, Chan-hyung your rap was so charismatic tonight, you almost made that girl in front faint when you winked at her, the whole audience fucking lost it” Jisung had switched from literally yelling to just a whisper shout for emphasis.

“Hahaha, yeah I can't even believe that happened. Man, today’s energy was just different.” The smile on Chan’s face was blinding, as usual. “Hopefully we can get to play even bigger venues soon. I could get used to this...” Chan mused, seemingly already focused on the future plans of 3racha. 

“Yeah, those paydays would be real nice right about now.”

“Bin-hyung, what are you talking about, you’re literally loaded. Plus since you got that producing job, we can actually pay the rent on the apartment you parents let us stay in '' Jisungs pretty thankful for all the support Changbins parents had given them, while the three of them worked toward their collective dream to make and perform music. But he thinks they all can agree that finally being able to use their own money to live instead of just relying on handouts and the kindness of friends or family to help keep them from becoming starved or homeless, is a new kind of satisfying that Jisung hadn’t considered before. Just look at them now, at one of the nicest (and most expensive) restaurants in Seoul, fighting over drinks and having a meal that would hopefully be the first of many celebrations for their groups accomplishments. The trio could all agree that the financial stress has been one of their greatest worries, and that beginning to escape it has been all kinds of relieving. 

Before any of the boys could respond to Jisung’s comment, Minho had returned with three glasses of water, three glasses for wine, and a bottle of wine all balanced perfectly on a tray perched on the palm of his hand. Jisung had to admit it was impressive how he had managed to balance all of the glassware and liquids without losing balance, and while moving with more grace and agility than he would expect from your average waiter. 

Before Jisung had even returned from his thoughts, three glasses of water and the expertly poured wine glasses, all set delicately without a single drop spilled, were identically placed in front of each of them. Graceful may have been an understatement. 

“Have you decided what you would like to have tonight, gentlemen?” Their waiter Minho said, all with a gentle expression on his face. 

No, the answer was no, but before Jisung could respond, Changbin had already ordered the pricey steak to go with his wine. Soon after, Chan ordered the surf and turf dish that had a stupidly complicated name that Jisung couldn’t pronounce. Jisung hadn’t even remembered them even looking at the menu, or maybe it was just him who had yet to even glanced at it. Details. 

“Uhhhhh…” Jisung searched hopelessly over the menu and then at his friends, who stared blankly back at him, then back to the menu again. This was a regular occurrence when the three decided to go out and eat, when they weren’t holding themselves in their apartment for weeks at a time. Still, Jisung always ended up hopelessly unprepared to successfully order without awkward pauses and at least three consecutive strings of ‘hmm’s and ‘uhhh’s. And so,

“Hmmmmm…. I think.. Uhh…. maybe…” nothing was popping out at him, and Jisung was pretty sure at this point that he had forgotten how to read. “Ya know what, surprise me,” he decided this was the best response he could come up with.  

“Surprise you?” Minho looked just as confused as Jisung felt.

“Yeah, is that an option? If not, I'm this close to just closing my eyes and pointing.” He says while dramatically closing his eyes and waving his finger over the menu. Once again Jisung was hopeless.

He hears a soft chuckle and opens his eyes just in time to catch their waiter’s lips curl in a sweet smile that makes his eyes turn into crescents. It lasts barely a second, before his face returns to his neutral customer service expression. But Jisung decides he really likes that smile, and a part of him is sad to see it retreat so soon. 

“Well in that case, I can do the blind pointing for you, but I personally recommend the seasonally prepared local beef served on house baked brioche, that comes with garlic and parsley potato wedges. Does that sound alright?” Jisung felt he had said it faster and with more details just to confuse him. 

Jisung stares at him blankly in response, and he's pretty sure four whole seconds pass in silence before the Pretty Waiter ™ follows up, an ever so slight smirk on his lips, “it's pretty much a really good local burger with homemade fries, I think it would be something you would enjoy.” 

Jisung grins at that, “Oh! Yeah that does sound good...Thank you! I will have that.” For some reason he really likes the idea that their waiter chose something off the menu that was specially meant for him. Not that he wouldn't like all the nicer and fancier dishes they serve here with small plates with dry ice fog, but a part of him was more content in getting a dinner that didn't require him to question whether or not something on his plate was even edible. And the happy curiosity definitely had nothing to do with the way their waiter’s eyes sparkled when he talked or the barely-there smirk that Jisung just caught sight of. 

“Alright then, I’ll put in these orders. Oh! And then I'll be right back with your speciality fruit drink,” He says that last part with a slightly more upbeat tone, resulting in another smirk to appear on Changbin’s face and a groan from a slightly embarrassed Jisung.

---

Minho surprised himself. 

On any given day of work at Menu 98, he deathly avoids having to do anything more than the regular polite small talk. But for some reason, tonight he couldn’t stop himself from playing along with the antics of the cute boy at his table. The three boys were entertaining, and maybe he could blame the exhaustion and the numb pain in his heels, but the comical distraction was welcomed by Minho. He didn't even realize just how much he had been looking for a distraction from the long shift until it was staring right at him with big shiny eyes and a cute round face. Minho hurried back to enter in their orders, including his suggestion for the squirrel looking boy.

Minho wasn’t going to deny that the flustered boy at the table was cute, he was pretty aware how attractive all three the boys were when he took their orders. He had thought they were idols originally, so in Minho’s mind it made sense. Still, the waiter still felt something about the three was too unique to be categorized as just idols or trainees. As much as it may have piqued his curiosity though, Minho still got paid for his service not for his interests in customers, so he brushed it off almost as soon as it appeared. 

The rest of the evening, Minho tended to all four of his assigned tables with his usual perfect server act and minimal small talk. When it came to the three somewhat boisterous customers in the corner table, Minho may or may not have allowed himself to subtly laugh at their arguments and antics. The dynamic of the three boys was slowly becoming the highlight of his late night shift. Each of their personalities greatly contrasted and amplified the other, making way for animated and comical exchanges and arguments between them. 

When Minho had returned with a Strawberry daiquiri for the boy in pink, a chorus of giggles could be heard from the other two boys, while the other happily accepted the drink in substitute for the untouched glass of wine in front of him. Upon drinking it, the cute boy's eyes somehow widened further and shined more than Minho thought was possible. He flashed his heart-shaped smile as he thanked Minho for the drink. 

Minho nodded in return, and internally decided that Heart-shaped smiles were his new favorite. 

---

Jisung had been hyper since the show, and the energy was now focused on a new mission to see the pretty smile of their waiter again. Granted, he didn't have to try that much harder to gain the attention of the pretty waiter, being the loud and excitable person naturally he was. Every small grin that Jisung was able to pull out from under the other boy’s infuriatingly polite facade, was a major win in his book. 

Chan, Changbin, and Jisung celebrated further by enjoying the food, which was all phenomenal, and discussing their next gig the coming week. The best way to celebrate one performance is to look towards the next, or someother random bullshit Changbin had said after a couple more glasses of wine.

Overall the night was a celebration of all of the dedication and hours they had put into their music, as well as their grind to perform and grow a somewhat sizable following. They were all high on the potential of finally getting to realize their dreams and reach their goals as a group, something none of them actually thought they would get to do together. The overwhelming happiness of the night easily made it one of Jisung's new favorite memories. 

As the boys were finishing off their third--or forth--drink (Jisung definitely had another one of the strawberry drinks Minho had brought him), after dinner and figuring out their checks, Jisung felt a surge of boldness. Mostly due to having a few drinks in his system, and the slight infatuation he had with the pretty waiter's smile, Jisung decided ‘whats the worst thing that could happen? Rejection? lmao’ and wrote down his name and number on his receipt in hopes that Minho would actually read it, or maybe even contact him. Maybe. 

It was a shot in the dark, but Jisung had been feeling a little high on life, and felt like he couldn’t leave without at least shooting his shot. Jisung and the other members of 3racha got up to leave, and Jisung searched out the waiter. He  wasn’t able to see him in the mostly empty dining room now, but a hopeful part of him felt that he would see him again, leaving the restaurant with his arms around his members already bickering about who would get to shower first after their long night. 

“I'm just saying, Chan-hyung I know for a fact that you’re not even going to make it to the front door before passing out, so I call dibs. And Jisung, I’m older than you so I get veto power over your rights and decisions as your hyung.” 

Jisung was about to grumble in response but something about how Changbin’s smile was so carefree left him feeling like he deserved this victory. Changbin was definitely a little tipsy, but seeing his hyung so happy after such a rough week made Jisung glad to do anything to keep that smile there.

“Fine, fine hyung but you have to help me carry Chan-hyung up stairs when he inevitable falls asleep on me in the cab” 

“I don't know what youre talking about,” Chan replies, already yawning, while climbing into the cab.

---

Minho was picking up the receipts from his tables when one of them caught his eye.

Hey, I’m Han Jisung ^~^ (the cute one in the pink hoodie!)

Thanks for your suggestions, best waiter ever!!!

I think your smile is beautiful, Maybe I’ll get to see it again sometime?

555-XXX-XXXX

Minho couldn't help but smile to himself. He’d been hit on occasionally by customers and has been given countless numbers, which usually don't make it much farther than the trash, but something about the innocence of the note and cuteness of the boy made him actually consider keeping it.

He scoffed to himself after a second of considering it. As cute as the boy was, and as sweet as the note was, Minho didn’t have time or energy to have another added person in his life. No matter romantically or platonically, new relationships were on his ‘things to stay away from if you ever wanna make it into the dance academy’ list. He already barely ever saw his roommates, and if they weren't all in the same dance troupe, they probably wouldn't talk much. All of their time was spent working and practicing, and he and his roommates only had enough energy and free time to spend a meal or two together on the weekends. There just wasn’t any more time for anything extra, no matter how nice the idea may sound. 

He was about to give the little message the same treatment as the others as he cleaned up for the night, but a part of him couldn't bring himself to throw it away, and discreetly pocketed it instead out of instinct. Out of sight and out of mind as far as Minho was concerned.

-----

thank you if you read this far <3

one ~ two ~ three ~ four ~ five ~ six ~ seven ~ eight ~ nine

[onewaigu]

Books

Genre : strangers!au

Theme : mild fluff

Pairing : Kanghyun(Onewe) X Reader

Description : The Little Prince was a popular newly-released book and you can't seem to get your hands on it.

“They're literally just words, Y/N”

Sadly, it's a recurring theme. Being told that books were just words. Nothing more. Nothing special. To which you would always shrug your shoulders dismissively or force a smile on your face.

You loved your friends. You really did but you just wished they'd open their hearts to reading books more. Unlike them, books meant a whole lot to you.

Books were apart of your memories with your dad when you were little. Every night before bed, he would read a book to you. Different books for different nights. And he never missed a single day. Even when he'd come home late.

The day you lost your dad in a car accident was the day you found solace in books. They reminded you of the happiest moments in your life when you had your dad beside you. Since his passing, your love for books only grew stronger. Whenever people saw you, you're sure to have your nose buried in a book.

Recently, you overheard some people in your Literature class talking about this new book that'd just been published— The Little Prince. Being the bookworm that you were, you naturally wanted to get your hands on the book.

Instead of buying books, you had to borrow them from the library because your dorm didn't have enough space. Besides, borrowing books saved you a ton of money and as a typical college student, that was the best option.

You planned on dropping by the library on one of the weekends when you weren't drowning in homework and presentations. You had checked online for the book and it turned out there was only one copy left available. Looking at the computer screen, you tapped your fingers nervously on the table. Hopefully, you would get there in time before anyone else did.

The weekends finally came and you were excited.

You checked your computer once again and thankfully, the book was still available. Breathing out a sigh of relief, you got yourself dressed in a simple black tee and jeans. You decided to skip breakfast entirely and headed out to catch the bus. The library was a bit far from your dorm so after alighting from the bus, you had to take a short trip on the subway.

After all that travelling, you arrived at the library. The place itself was like something out of Harry Potter. It wasn't the typical modern library. The bookshelves were all made of wood and the decor in the library had that sophisticated feel to them. You were always amazed whenever you visited the library. It was your happy place after all.

Once you were inside, you immediately disappeared into the shadows of the large bookshelves, searching for The Little Prince. What you thought would take a few minutes, turned out longer than expected. It wasn't because you couldn't find the section where the book was supposed to be. No, you found the exact spot. It's just that there was no book there.

Your dramatic self spent around thirty minutes staring blankly at the empty spot because you couldn't believe you were too late.

Beside you, someone cleared their throat. Snapping out of your sadness, you slowly turned your head to the person.

“Do you need help, Miss?”, a young librarian asked while giving you a weird look.

He looked at the empty spot on the bookshelf where your hand rested and something clicked in his mind.

“Ahh, were you trying to find The Little Prince?”, he placed the books he was carrying on one of the shelves and pointed his thumb behind him.

“Someone already checked it out a few minutes ago”, he gave you a kind smile.

Your eyebrows furrowed even deeper.

“Are there any other copies that I can borrow?”, you pleaded with the boy.

“I'm sorry Miss, we only have that one left”, he shook his head apologetically.

With the way your head was lowered and shoulders were slouched, anyone could tell you were visibly heartbroken. The young librarian stood awkwardly in front of you, without knowing what to do to comfort you.

After a few seconds of sulking, you crouched down to pick up your backpack and turned around to leave. That's when you heard the librarian calling out for you.

“Hey, Miss!”, he accidentally shouted out which caused him to cower his head as if to hide himself in case some other librarian heard him.

You raised an eyebrow at him.

“The book is due in three weeks' time”

Oh.

Your spirits lifted a bit.

Perfect. You just had to wait.

So for the whole three week's you waited patiently.

Sike.

Who were you kidding? You weren't patient at all.

Occasionally during the weekdays of those three weeks, you would randomly drop by to see if the book had been returned yet. Unfortunately, every visit turned out to be a failure. The only highlight was that the young librarian from the other day was the one who helped check the book out. Meaning, he had a glimpse of who borrowed the book.

Male. Blond hair. Lean build. Looked about your age but slightly taller.

This could be anyone but it was at least something to help you spot him.

When the three-week mark came, you were crossing your fingers. He might be there or he might not be. You just had to go and see for yourself.

Taking the same usual route to the library, you arrived in no time. Without even bothering to check the shelves again, you went straight to the librarian's desk upfront to ask if the book had been returned. Only when you got closer did you realise that there was already someone at the desk.

And that someone turned out to be a blond-haired male with a lean build and looked about your age but slightly taller than you.

He's the one. Tsk, slow reader.

You walked your way towards his side quietly. Unfortunately, he was too focused on whatever he was telling the young librarian that he didn't even notice your presence. But you, on the other hand, could hear their conversation clearly.

“Are you sure it's not possible to extend it?”, Blondie pleaded.

“No Sir, you can only borrow it for three weeks max”, the librarian calmly explained.

“But I really need more time with it”, he said with a slight pout.

“Not possible, Sir..rules are rules”

With that, Blondie heaved a sigh, “It's okay then..”

As he slowly walked away from the desk, you shifted yourself so that you were in front of the librarian.

“Oh hey Miss, you're back..again”, he chuckled.

“Well, you're in luck because..tada! The book's here”, he lifted The Little Prince off the desk and waved it around lightly.

“Hahaha thanks, could you help check it out for me real quick? I gotta be somewhere soon”, you scratched your head sheepishly.

“Sure, no problem”, he did what you asked while you stood there waiting.

“Your name, Miss?”, he looked up from the book with his pen hovering over the name card that was in it.

“Y/N”, you said while turning slightly to look behind you. He was still there.

“All right, there you go Miss..remember, it's due in three weeks' time”, he gave you a knowing smile.

Turning your attention back to the librarian, you gave him a polite smile and thanked him for the book before grabbing it off the desk and heading somewhere else.

While you were walking, you flipped open the book to look at the name card.

Hyungu. So that was his name.

You stopped walking once you saw his blond mop of hair. Tapping gently on his shoulder, you finally got to see his face clearly as he lifted his head up. A sense of familiarity hit you. You knew him from somewhere but you weren't so sure-

“Hyungu?”

“-uhh yeah, that's me?”, he gave you a surprised look.

He's probably confused as to why you were there.

“Um..I overheard that you needed the book for a little more time”, you stretched out your hands that was holding the book to him.

“I was actually waiting for the book since a few weeks' ago but thinking back now, I'm really not in any rush compared to you..w-which I assume you are in..a r-rush I mean”, you stumbled over your words as you stood awkwardly in front of him, trying to explain why you were giving the book to him.

He was surprised, to say the least. His cheeks reddened and he looked beyond flustered.

“Oh..um it's fine really”, he gingerly refused and pushed the book back to you.

But you insisted. And he gave in.

His hands held onto the book like it was precious and his eyes softened as they looked at you gratefully.

“I don't know how to repay yo- actually, let me buy you a coffee”, he offered kindly.

You felt like you were being asked out by someone but you shook away your ridiculous thought. Blondie just wanted to offer his thanks and here you were, daydreaming. Tsk.

Well, he was kinda cute..not gonna lie.

“I don't drink coffee-”

“-tea?”, he said a little too enthusiastically that made his eyes widened. His fingers fiddled with the loose strands of his purple sweater.

You pursed your lips trying to suppress your laughter before nodding your head.

“Yeah, tea sounds nice”

[a/n]

this might probably be the last time i write hyungu as a blond-haired boywhkabskwbdkw

LIKE CMON KANG HYUNGU MY HEART WASN'T READY TO BE ATTACKED BY YOUR GRAY HAIR

I HATE HIM

sobs

oh yeah why did hyungu look familiar? that's probably cause y/n had seen him on tv a few times when he was in mas0094 or something~

stan onewe, oneus, weus everyone

[daily-tolgirl-smolbean]

January 14, 2020 (Tuesday)

Happy 1st Monthsary! <3

We’re finally a month in on our relationship officially!

Early morning greetings from last night:

It’s been a month huh? We started by meeting on a place where one mishap could have cost us the chance to finally find each other. Got to finally have the chance to start our story from that very first coffee “date”. Got to know each other and realized that yeah, we could be something. Admitted liking each other. Feeling emotions that pushed us to break the barriers and distance between us. Til we fell in love, slowly and all at once. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve also been through a couple of bumps and issues which could have ended what would have been our epic love story. But we persist. And now, it’s been a month since we finally took the risk and bet our hearts on each other. And I couldn’t be any happier. ☺️

The day started with her greeting me a good morning and telling me she’s lucky she has me. But you wanna know the truth? I really am the lucky one. I never knew I’d find someone in this lifetime who would love me, care for me and cherish me the way only she can. What did I ever do to deserve someone like her. Whatever that is, I won’t let this chance go and make sure this would be for keeps. ‘Coz really, this is it huh?

I remember telling her that I think she’s my soulmate. I know i know. It’s pretty cheesy in a sense. But that’s what I believe in. We’ve only been dating for four months and officially together for a month but it feels like I’ve known her my whole life. I even told her about my theory that we’re probably soulmates and lovers through our different lifetimes. I even told her this one story where in one of our past lives, she’s this beautiful haciendera and I’m a peasant working on their fields. She was riding her horse looking through the vast fields when I suddenly stood up, removed my banig hat, swooshed my hair and looked up. And there it was, our eyes meeting. The world stopping. Like a cosmic event waiting to unfold.... hahaha i am so dramatic. I have this full scenario in my head and I’m pretty sure she also liked that idea. Us. Being soulmates in every timelines. In every universe. And in this lifetime, our story is only beginning. ✨

So our day goes by. We started getting busy with our work. We talked about our dinner date. I actually already reserved a table in Wildflour Restaurant near her office a few weeks ago. But she told me she needs to buy something in Greenbelt after work (which I honestly thought were some art supplies she was checking out last week). She’d have to walk back to her office area again if we’re having dinner there as I planned. So I told her we’d just have dinner in GB so she won’t have to walk back. So there’s me panicking looking for restaurants I could reserve. I mean, it’s the weekdays so a reservation probably won’t be necessary but I wanna make sure we have a table and that she won’t have to be hassled by waiting if it’s fully booked. Then I remembered that Wildflour has a branch in BGC (the original one) so I asked her if she wanna have dinner there. She asked me why BGC, and I told her We haven’t been there in a while. And we were also talking about that time I told her I like her which was in BGC. So she said okay. So I scourged over the internet where I could book a reservations and thank god I manage to arrange that fast. Our dinner date’s all set. 👌🏻

Our day went by. We’re chatting while working. I reminded her of the theatre production we’ll be watching in March (Band’s Visit). I have to make sure it’s in her calendar. My baby’s such a busy woman hehe. She also have some great chocolates there which she got from her officemate which she wanna share with me. We’re like this. We always make sure to share everything to each other. Food, events, shows. We really are partners na 😌. Lol we have some kulitans on our chat. I even shared to her about the top 1 trending topic in twitter #FlexKoLangJowaKo hahahaha. I wanted to be makulit and do flex her in twitter if only things aren’t complicated still in my life (re: family). Someday tho, nothing can stop me anymore ✊.

Then.. my surprise to her came in. I sent her a rose. This day won’t be complete without making sure she knows she deserve all the cheesy(sweet) gestures I can do. Hehehe. I ordered it a few weeks ago and can’t decide what flower to give. In the end, I decided to give her 1 red rose. Which means our 1st month. It’s simple but also something which I know could at least make her smile. 😊 also, we have this banter where I’d have to check in every month if she’s still my girlfriend hahaha like a monthly assessment. And I’m fully embracing this challenge. So i sent in a note with the flower:

Look at her answer above! Hahaha told her “ay, asyumera pala ko haha. Okay lang kahit ano sagot basta yes”. She told me I should be nervous. Hahaha (kinabahan ako ng very light lol). So she thanks me for the flowers. I really am happy she liked it even if it’s just a simple one. I promised her back then that I’ll court her forever if it means we’ll get to spend our lifetime together. And yes honey, I won’t ever get tired of making sure you feel loved and cherished. 💕

Her work ended by 4 pm. So she went to GB to buy her stuff. I’ll be out by 6 pm anyways. Finished my work while she’s booked her grab going to BGC. I don’t wanna be late and make her wait so I booked a motocab. Definitely the fastest way through manila traffic. We have 7 om reservations. I arrived there around 650, got seated at the back and waited for my date.

The place looks amazing with the dim lights, candlelit dinner table and a semi casual feel. I was sitting by the window with my back facing outside. I ordered us some appetizer bread and butter and a salad so she’d have something to eat first when she arrive. I dunno why but I still get nervous when we’re about to meet for our date. Maybe because it’s a special day and I’m feeling a lot of things. I’m a bit on edge while waiting for her.

Suddenly, there was this knocking at the window on my back. And there she is, my love. Standing outside waiving at me while smiling her timid smile. My nervous energy turned into an excited energy. I’m like a kid who just got her present again. So I smiled happily at her and told her to get inside. She went around, arrived in front of me, I stood up and hugged her. She sat in front of me. Now I’m calm and content, she’s finally here. 😌

The waiter came back and gave us the menu. I told her to order anything she wants. Told her I love the apple pie here, she smiled and told me we could order it later. So I smiled like a kid. :) the bread and butter’s served. So she ordered the salmon while I ordered a pasta (she hates pasta while I love pasta lol). She also got a tomato soup which we shared. So we got to catching up on how our day went by while munching on some good baguette and some nice olive and basil butter. The salad came in and we continued eating.

We talked about how’s things at the office. Most people are still wfh due to the taal thing. She told me how busy the whole week would be so I told her she can do it and don’t stress herself too much. My baby’s really dedicated to doing her job so I just wanna make sure she’s taken care of. We also talked about our friends. We talked about us. We continued eating while food are now being served. She got me a bowl of her tomato soup. She got her salmon, I got my pasta. I told her the times I’ve been there and why I liked it there. It’s one of my fav restaurants and I’ve always wanted to bring her there.

One thing she really likes is taking care of me. So she got me a spoon of her salmon and spoon fed it to me. She has this shy smile on her face. I asked her if she likes feeding me. She said yes. So I smiled. I liked it too. ☺️ it’s really sweet of her (also I’m lazy so being spoon fed is a plus hahaha). We continued eating and kulitan. I kept telling her i love her which always makes her smile. We talked about yehessss we’re now 1 month na. And it still feels surreal how it’s only been a month. We really are on the same page when we talk of our feelings. We were teasing each other about “ibahay mo na ako”, “pakasalan mo na ako”, “magtanan na tayo”. Hahhha i’m serious tho, I would do all of that someday.

We also talked about our dream destinations. I wanna know the places she’d want to go to so I can plan it someday. I told her where I wanna go to. Her number one’s Japan, next is Thailand. London too maybe ‘coz her brother’s there. I told her my number one’s NYC and the second one’s Paris. Even if I’ve been there, I wanna go there next time as a romantic trip. I told her I want her to go to NYC with me and watch broadway shows with me. I’d want her to be the one I go back to Paris with. I wanna bring her to Japan (for sure) and that we’ll go to Thailand and London too. But then I thought, if she were to ask me where I’d wanna be in the world, I would have told her I’ll always wanna be wherever she is.

The whole dinner has been amazing. The place is nice, the food is good and my date’s amazing. So we finished our food and I ordered the apple pie and a cup of coffee. I think she also liked the pie which makes me happy. This time though, she took my teaspoon to make sure she’ll spoon fed me the desert the whole time. Well then, no objections from here ma’am. Hahaha We really are that couple people wanted to stir aways from ‘coz of the overflowing sweetness huh. :p

It’s gift time now! I took out a fat envelope and gave it to her. She asked me what it is. I told her it’s money for the drug deal. Hahaha just kidding. It’s a card with a gift inside that’s why it’s bulky. Before she opened it, she got something from her bag. Apparently she has a gift for me!!!! That I didn’t expect actually. I didn’t realized what she’s buying in the mall was her gift for me. I only had a bit of a clue when she was at the mall ‘coz she won’t tell me what she’s buying. I was so excited my hands are already about to claw the wrapper the moment I got it. So she laughed at me and told me I’m way too excited. I got a bit shy so I put the gift on my lap (but my nails are continuously scraping over the tape mehehe) She guessed what I was doing haha. She asked me if we should open the gifts now. I said yes of course! The child in me is always excited for gifts, especially the wrapped ones. She knew this. That’s why she insisted on wrapping her gift while she was at the car. God! This girl knows me so well she does things she’s not used to just to make me happy 🥺 I stared at her and all I was thinking was, I love you. 🥺

We opened the gifts. I got her a card with a sweet message. I wrote a few things too. I also drew her face with cat ears & 1 candle on the head. plus it’s a balloon head which a stick figure me was holding mehehe. I also got her a cat luggage tag. It’s why I asked her where she wanna travel to someday. It means I can’t wait for the future where we’ll always be together going on adventures. May it be around the world or just around the corner. As long as we’re together. I think she like that cat design so I’m glad I got it for her.

As to her gift for me, it was the Captain America tumblr we saw in Typo last week. I really wanted it but it’s too pricey! So I was shocked. She shouldn’t have spent that much on me but god, it’s so beautiful 😲 She spoils me. I was so happy with the tumbler huhu. I really needed a new one too. This girl is amazing 😩 I thought it was my birthday hahhaha. I told her she doesn’t need to buy me present every month, she told me okay and it’s just that, this first month is special. My heart ❤️

We finished up our pie and coffee (her spoon feeding me the whole time hehe), and asked for the bill. And as usual, my smol bean kept on insisting we pay half each. I told her we talked about this and that it’s on me. I know paying for the date is like outdated or something but I also like being able to treat her and take care of her once in a while. Plus it’s our first month and I want this date to be special for her. So she gave in. I just promised her I’ll let her pay on like, out 3rd monthsary lol.

We got the bill, I paid and we got out. I carried her bag while she carried mine. For such a smol bean, she always has her big back pack. We walked through BGC hand in hand with no destination in mind. We just kept walking til we reach the One Bonifacio High Street Park. I remembered that one chubby catto who’s like my soul animal. So we walked though there to check on him. Lo and behold, there’s lots of cattos there! Hahaha my smol bean’s such a fan of cats. So we decided to sit on the bench and watch them. She took pictures and kept getting their attention. I like watching her like this, so excited with the things she loves. Like me and cats 😉 There were 3 gray cats who looks like a gang, on of them is chill dude cat my spirit animal, and another ginger cat. They’re pretty entertaining to watch. I made up scenarios on what’s happening. It entertained us for a while.

There was a bit of a thing that dampen the night. So we got to talking about serious stuff. I reassured her of my feeling, my loyalty and my commitment with her. So we were silent and solemn for a while. She really shouldn’t be afraid and bothered of other people. ‘Coz in my world, she’s the only one I see. My priority aside from my family. Everyone else comes second. I promise this to her, we fixed the mishap and just snuggled there in the middle of the park.

We got to talking. She didn’t have the time to write message with her gift. So she wanted to tell me what she wanna wrote. She told me she loves me and that there was only one thing on her mind that she wanted to do. And that is to take care of me. She wants to always take care of me. With everything. From cleaning me up because of my messy eating habits, to taking care of me when i get hurt from being clumsy, to making sure i’m also emotionally okay. My heart beat so heard when she told me that. I felt the intensity of her feeling and how much she loves me. She doesn’t see my faults as something she’d hate but see it as an opportunity for her to make me feel loved. I was kind of speechless. And really touched. And made me fee how really really lucky I am to have found her. 🥺💖

So I was talking seriously with her about what she told me when suddenly, chill dude cat suddenly walked in front of us. Our eyes connected for a while and I told him what’s up. Does he have a problem? I was just kidding of course. Smol bean told me chill dude probably felt threatened with me. So I didn’t think much of it and got back to talking with smol bean. But suddenly, he was besides us. Hmmmm a bit suspicious. Is he gonna attack me? I didn’t mean what I said to him. So I just ignored him again. Another minute passed and suddenly he’s on my side, trying to slink his way into my lap! Apparently, that eye to eye contact between us was a connection built. He probably realized that we really are connected somehow. Last time i saw him was like 3 months ago and I felt connected to him even when he was ignoring me. Wat

So yeah, there he is on my lap, trying to find the perfect position to burrow on my warmth. I was exasperated for a while ‘coz I was having a serious talk with smol bean and that’s when he decided to get my attention when I’ve been trying to get his all night. What a bitch move. But man..... I also melted when his head booped my arms and hid his face on my body. 🥺🥺🥺 huhuhu i felt mushy. And smol bean’s cooing so much. She’s so happy and kinikilig with what she’s witnessing. Two stubborn headed lazy creatures connecting. Smol bean joked that chill dude just highjacked her thunder. She was telling me her monthsary messaged di ba. Ahhahahaa i feel so elated at that moment. There’s the three of us, snuggling in the middle of the park, like a little family. I feel happy, content and warm. 💗

Too bad we had to go home. It’s getting late and smol bean has to rest na for early morning work tomorrow. I didn’t wanna remove him but we really had to start now before our grab arrive. So I slowly stood up and he slid down to the bench. He tried to hold on but yeah, he sat back down in the end. And my chill dude being chill as ever just sat there like the lazy creature he is hahahaha. We’re watching him while waiting for our grab and it’s taking a while so we sat beside him. I touched his head and pet him. He looked at me..... and went back to burrowing on my lap again. Hahahahahaha damn it, we’re back to square one. But i let him for a while. I like it too anyways. So we stayed like that til our ride arrive and i had no choice but to leave him. We left him on that bench, chill as ever. To my chill dude cat, rock on man 🤘

We got on to our ride where there’s a big doggo besides the car door. He’s a security dobberman. Looks like he’s bigger than smol bean so smol bean’s kinda scared and was trying to pull me away from him. I think he was nice though. So the driver and I chuckled over smol bean’s antics hehe. We rode our way to Makati so I can drop off smol bean. We’re holding hands and cuddling and stealing kisses from each other. The whole night was amazing and i think we’re both thinking how we wish we don’t have to be apart again. But for now, we have to go on separate homes.

We got to her dorm and we sat at our usual spot. I booked my grab but she told me she doesn’t wanna let go of me just yet. And honestly, i feel the same. So i cancelled my ride and stayed with her for a while. Flirting and kulitan 😜

But it’s getting really late and she has to rest soon. She sigh and said okay. She insisted on booking me a ride so i let her. My ride arrived, she walked me to the car, i hugged her, kissed her and told her goodbye.

She message me to take care on my way home, she’s watching over me while prepping for bed. She was composing her monthsary letter for me too. What a sweetie 🥰 I got home, got ready for bed and she sent her letter to me...

And it’s everything I wanted from her. She promised to love me, take care of me, and that she won’t hurt me. She’ll love me the way I deserve. She thanks me for the love and happiness I give her. And that she’ll always want to be by my side. 🥺🥰

—-

PS: I love this woman. I love my smol bean. I love you very very much. ❤️

[purplesurveys]

1091

survey by ohsh1t2wksl8

Lasts!

Who

Who was the last person you got into an argument with? What was it about? My mom. We rarely get into arguments anymore so I was surprised when she made a comment the other day that was snippy enough to provoke me. She has a unique ability to make me feel insecure over just about everything, and last Saturday it was about my spelling abilities in the 7th grade.

Who was the last person you spoke on the phone with? What was the call regarding? My last call was with a client who has a tendency to micromanage :/ He called to ask me to accomplish a task, which was a little bothersome because all interactions with our clients ideally should be seen by everyone in my team, i.e. my manager and my director for visibility. Anyway, in the end I just let my bosses know that he called to ask me to do something for him.

Who was the last person that slept in your bed? Are they a lover or a friend? Gabie is the only other person who has slept in my bed, I think. She is neither. 

I still get stunned whenever I type something like that up...thinking about how I practically grew up doing surveys, and how she was in nearly every survey I’ve taken since day one, and now she doesn’t play a single role in my life, it’s just super surreal to take in and I don’t think that feeling will ever go away. 

Who was the last person to give you a hug or a kiss? Did you return the sentiment? My dad gave me a casual hug when it was time for him to go upstairs for bed. He just put his arm around my back while I was sitting on the couch, so I wasn’t in the proper position to return it.

Who was the last person to give you a gift? What was the gift? What holiday was it for, or was it “just because”? Erm, idk if it counts as a gift but Andi lent me their vape pen for the foreseeable future, haha. They know how much I like vaping and how it relaxes me; and since they don’t do it as much as I do (unless they lied for my sake), they lent theirs to me. It was a “just because” gift, which I appreciated.

Who is the person that you last went to for advice? Angelaaaa, earlier today. I’ve been in contact with a potential supplier for work purposes, and I had to do some negotiating in my last email. I have zero knowledge and experience in negotiations, so I didn’t know if I worded my email right, or if I insulted the supplier, etc lol so I immediately went to Anj after to check my email and to let me know if it sounded okay.

Who was the last person to say “I love you” to you? What significance does this person have in your life? My mom. I’m not super close with her and I haven’t replied to her with “I love you too,” since I was like maybe 14 or 15 due to the incredibly strained relationship we’ve had for the majority of my life; but she is my mom so she still holds a level of significance. I’m just not sure how much I’m willing to do or sacrifice for her.

Who was the last person that you spoke with, in person? Also my mom. She was asking where a certain local mountain was located because a friend of hers had recently climbed said mountain.

Who was the last person to request you on a social media network - and did you accept? It’s this middle-aged guy who I share a good number of mutual friends with. I figured he’s probably a professor or someone in media since all our mutual friends are either students and professors in my college, buuut I’ve personally never heard of him before so I ignored the request.

Who was the last person you texted or messaged, and what was it in regards to? Justine, my former co-intern. My company stopped taking in interns at the start of the year, but for some reason there’s this one girl intern that they’ve kept having around so we’re all trying to figure out why they kicked out Justine and the other co-interns but retained this one girl who still logs in her attendance every day, lol.

Who was the last person’s vehicle that you rode in? My dad’s, but I haven’t been on it since Christmas. I’ve been in a car more recently than that but it’s always my car.

Who was the last person to make you laugh or smile, and why? I’ll be breaking the rules quite a bit for this question, because it was Cooper. Earlier he kept barking at some dog he saw outside but whenever Nina asked him to “Shake,” he paused his barking to reach out his paw, without fail, and then proceeded to bark until he was asked to “Shake” again, hahaha.

Who was the last person that you took a photo with? Not sure, I think it was Andi.

Who is the last person that you flirted with? Were you successful? I don’t flirt.

Who was the last person to pay you a compliment, and what did they say? I honestly don’t remember. I’m sure I receive them more often than I think I do; I just do a horrible job keeping track of them. The last one I remember getting was my director saying I did a great job with a press release I had to work on in a rush last Friday, since the client had only placed super minor revisions on the material.

Who’s the last person that you visited in the hospital? I’ve never had to visit anyone in the hospital.

Who is the last person that you lent money to? Not a person but I will sometimes pay for things on my company’s behalf at first - since PR entails a lot of buying a lot of crap - and then ask to have the amount reimbursed right after.

What

What was the last food that you ate? My dad made some kind of Chinese-style, stir-fry thing with loads of chicken and vegetables for dinner earlier. Idk, he likes to combine things in the fridge. As usual, it ended up tasting delightful.

What was the last beverage that you drank? Coffee. As much as possible I hate drinking coffee in the evening since I don’t like being unable to fall asleep; but I had been craving a cup all day. I made one at around 7 PM but made sure I had the whole cup down by 8:30ish, so that the caffeine can subside sooner.

What did the last pair of footwear that you wore look like? They were just boring, blue flip-flops I wore out earlier when I walked Cooper.

What was the last color of pen that you used? I think it was blue.

What was your last thought before falling sleep last night? Nothing, man. I zonked out last night. I closed my eyes at 9 PM in the living room while my family was still around and the next thing I knew it was 12 AM with the whole first floor empty.

What was the last television show you watched? Friends. Been watching a lot of it recently, because I’ve been stressed a lot recently.

What was the last board or card game that you played? Trivial Pursuit or Pictionary; I can’t remember.

What was the last kind of bread that you ate? It was just regular toast. My mom made pasta last Sunday so she toasted up some bread to accompany the dish.

What color is the last shirt you wore? The one I wore before my current top? It was yellow with silver wording.

What was the last electronic that you plugged in to charge? My laptop. Though I really have to plug in my phone since it’s been on 3% for a good while now.

What’s is the last thing that you Googled? Mt. Pulag, since that’s the aforementioned mountain my mom was asking about earlier. I know of the mountain but wasn’t sure where exactly it is, so I had to Google it for her.

What’s the last concert you attended? Paramore.

What’s the last sporting event that you attended/watched? A volleyball game between the UP and Ateneo women’s teams.

What was the last app that you downloaded to your phone? A logo quiz game loooooool, what a throwback. I was looking for phone apps to download last Friday; and apparently logo quizzes still rank pretty high under the Trivia category, so I downloaded one to revisit the fun.

What was the last video game that you played? Mario Kart 8.

What’s the last computer game that you played? Some suuuper fucking old computer game I played as a kid called Magic Ball. During the first few months of the pandemic my memory started to torture me about a ball game I used to play on my dad’s old laptop but whose title I couldn’t remember, so on one day I spent a few hours trying to track it down. When I finally saw the right game, I downloaded a free trial (because you still had to buy the game 15 years later lol) and savored the 30 minutes re-experiencing my childhood.

What’s the last injury you had? The usual scratch from Cooper.

What’s the last holiday or event (baby shower, graduation, etc) that just passed? Christmas. But the next one would be my dad’s 50th birthday which we’ll be celebrating this weekend.

When

When was the last time that you took a painkiller, and what did you take it for? Around a month ago for a headache (which is my only reason for taking painkillers, anyway). I’d keep taking more but we’ve run out and my parents haven’t restocked it yet, partly because I know they know how reliant I get on them to get rid of my headaches.

When was the last time you went to the bathroom? Earlier this evening. My dad tripped while carrying Cooper’s food bowl filled with his dinner meal, so a lot of the rice spilled onto the floor. I helped him out and since the food was a bit sticky and wet, I had to go wash my hands in the bathroom afterwards.

When was the last time that you listened to music? Do you remember what the most recent song was? Also earlier this evening, just before dinner. I was working out on the rooftop and needed music to keep me company; anyway, the last song that played was Beyoncé’s Countdown.

When was your last work shift? Today. I work every weekday from 9 AM to 6 PM.

When is the last time that you had trouble falling asleep? Last Thursday, I think.

When is the last time you saw your parents? 15 minutes ago.

When was the last time you saw a significant other? When they were still my significant other? September. As an ex? Late November.

When was your last year of schooling/education? 2020 so yeah, didn’t get a graduation after four years of busting my ass in college.

When was the last time you took a shower? This morning. I want to take one again tonight, but I’m a little lazyyy.

When was the last time you did anything sexual that went beyond kissing? September.

When was the last time that you did your laundry? I don’t do my own.

When was the last time you had to use public transportation, and what form was it? LOL, like 2017 maybe? Or 2018. Idk, I never use the public transportation in this stinkhole of a country. I used a train to go to Manila, but that was during a dead hour so the train wasn’t crowded and hot like it normally would be.

When’s the last time that you were sick? What was wrong? May. I had a UTI and it disguised itself as a nasty fever that lasted about a week. Didn’t even run into any issues with my urinary tract or anything in that region at all.

When was the last time that you hung out with friends/acquaintances? Virtually, two Saturdays ago. In person, two Fridays ago though that was only with one person.

When was the last funeral you attended? Who passed away? I’ve never attended a funeral, but the last wake I went to was Nacho’s, in September 2019.

When was the last wedding that you attended? Who got married? LMAOOOOOOO. 2007. My mom’s youngest brother and my now-aunt. I’m just waiting for one of my friends to get married now.

When’s the last time that you took a risk? What was the risk? Is stepping away from my ex a risk? I did it over the Christmas season...idk, my mind just had a very sudden shift overnight and I immediately went from seeking to keep in contact with her everyday to not giving even a quarter of a shit and starting to want to live life on my own terms. I certainly think it was pretty bold of me and I’ll always be proud of myself for making such a big step.

When’s the last time you mailed something handwritten? I’ve never mailed anything, period.

When’s the last time you got a haircut? I can’t remember if it was late Feb or early March of last year.

When’s the last time that you went swimming? August 2019.

Where

Where was the last place you drove to, and what did you do there? I went to the new-ish Starbucks at Katip Extension just because I needed new scenery but still be in my comfort zone, which to me will always be Starbucks. I went there supposedly to chill and take a few surveys, but my Viber suddenly got bombarded with work-related messages and for the rest of my time there I was feeling a little stressed and I wasn’t able to finish a single survey.

Where was the last place that you went on vacation to? Tagaytay and Cavite. We’ll be going back to Tagaytay again this weekend, so yay.

Where was the last restaurant you ordered food from? If coffee shops count, Starbucks. If they don’t, I had food from this local Japanese place called Omakase delivered to our house last Saturday.

Where was the last place that you went on a date? Lmfao it was Yabu from like March last year. I won’t be having dates any time soon either, but I’m no longer salty about it.

Where was the last place that you went shopping at? H&M.

Where was the last place you got lost? Somewhere in QC near Tomas Morato, because I had been trying to look for the office of this company who arranged a job interview with me. This isn’t to sound salty because I’m definitely not, but I’m glad I didn’t get a follow-up anything from that company because their office is actually a house (a very nice house, but still a house) and when I was there I failed to get any I’m-finally-a-working-girl-in-a-big-city vibes from it - which to me is important especially at this stage in my life since I’m now finally a full-fledged adult who just gained a deeper level of independence. I aimed to work somewhere that really feels like a legit office/workspace, which my current employer would be able to provide me under normal circumstances.

Where’s the last place that you walked to? My room. I came from the living room a half hour ago.

Where did you last have sex? My bed.

Where was the last place you left your keys? Dining table, as always.

Where’s the last place you got drunk? My room.

Where’s the last place you embarrassed yourself in public? How did you do this? At the parking lot of the aforementioned Starbucks. I was handing my parking ticket to the guard keeping watch of the cars going in and out, and he told me to take care driving, to which I replied, “You too.”

Why

Why did you last cry? I hadn’t cried in a good while and needed a release. Also, because I was in Katip. It was a place I shared with Gab for many years and a place where a lot of fond memories - that I am now forced to shelve to the very back of my head - were made. It was surreal to hang out there and drive in the very same roads I used to take with her, now alone, and everything got overwhelming fairly quickly so I allowed myself to pull over at an isolated spot in our village to let myself cry everything out for a few minutes.

Why did your last relationship fail? She feared commitment and the relationship was becoming too much of a burden for her. Also tbh, all the red flags she had been exhibiting finally came to a head and finally reached a point where they were impossible to resolve. For six years I couldn’t directly talk about marriage, kids, and even my own coming out to my family with her and it was like...what are we even doing anymore? Anyway the tl;dr version of it was that I was apparently becoming a lot of weight to her so she bounced.

Why did you leave your last job? I’ve never left a job.

How

How long has it been since you last visited a doctor? How about a dentist? A doctor, 8 months. A dentist, a year and a month.

How long does gum usually last when you chew it? 10 seconds.

How long can you last in bed? Longer than I’d want to. Being ace, for the most part I run into trouble trying to last, so I’ve always felt bad for my partner about it.

How long did your food last get microwaved for? A minute is my default setting.

How many pages was the last book that you read? Around 225 pages.

How big was the last fish you caught? I’ve never gone fishing.

How long was the last movie you watched? I can’t remember and I can’t be bothered to look up that movie at the moment because it continues to make me sad today.

How long was your last relationship? 4 years. Technically 6 since we had that on-off thing in 2015/2016. 

How much did your last grocery bill come to? I don’t do the groceries.

How difficult was your last exam? I remember thinking it was fairly easy but that I definitely would not be getting a 1.00 haha. There was an essay question that I completely failed to review for so I had to bullshit that part. Anyway, the lockdown started like a week later so my final grade never ended up mattering anymore.

Randoms

Did you always get picked last in gym class? We never did picks in PE.

Do you believe that nice guys finish last? Idk.

Can true love really last forever? Sure, but it’s not for everyone.

Give me the first initial of your last name? C.

Something you wait until the last minute to do? Work. I have this certain kind of email that I receive everyday that I immediately have to work on once it’s in my inbox, and I get it at 7:55 AM. I will only get out of bed by 7:54.59.

Have you made your last will and testament? I have one tucked away somewhere in this laptop but I remember making a very conscious effort to hide it in some obscure, hidden folder so that I don’t come back to it often. It seems to have worked because I don’t even remember where it is or what I named it as.

Something in your home that’s on it’s last leg(s)? The electric fan we have in our dining room.

Give us some famous last words! "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!" has always been fascinating to me. Sad, but fascinating.

[ohsh1t2wksl8]

[maozeemoo]

So, in a span of 2 months, I’ve been asked by 3 different people (who found out that I’ve gone through the YTT) for advice. 3 is not a remarkable number. But really, for being my level of anti-social. 3 is plenty. I haven’t even met up with my actual friends 3 times within the same length of time.

Anyhow, in case I get asked the same thing again, I’m sure I will be too lazy to type everything so comprehensively for the fourth time. So here it is.

Q: How will I know I’m ready?

A: I think this has nothing to do with how long you’ve been practising yoga, or what tricks you can / cannot do. I practised for 4 years before YTT and only did it because I wanted to deepen my practice i.e. learn more about proper alignment so I could execute some more challenging poses. Some of my course mates were doing yoga for the first time when they attended the YTT (more on this later). Depends on your motivation. Do you feel happy with your current practice? Do you want to know more? Is there something specific you want to learn that you know you can get out of YTT? Do you want to teach? If yes, go find a good school and do it. But if you think it’s just for extra practice, and just because it seems trendy - then don’t as there’s no point.

Q: What exactly did you learn?

A: The curriculum for the YTT across the board includes learning in 3 planes. 1) The actual physical practice where you learn how to execute poses, how to cue students, adjustments etc. 2) Philosophy behind the practice - personally I wasn’t expecting this but it turned out to be an eye-opener, so keep an open mind to it. 3) Biology - body systems, bones, joints, muscles etc...

Q: How do I pick a school?

A: if you Google YTT courses in Singapore you will have no lack of options. In my knowledge, all the schools offering the YTT have to cover the abovementioned curriculum. But the way they approach it varies. Some enforce a lot of physical practice, like 2 hours every day during the duration of the course. Some teach a lot of alignment and adjustments in basic / common poses. Some make the students actually learn the advance poses (so there are prerequisites). Some offer a retreat overseas as part of the training. Some are very traditional and will go very deep into the philosophical / biological part of the practice including actually DOING the cleansing techniques. Some do these more on a what-you-need basis. I think what to look out for is how the school structures the course. Will it give u learning in an organised manner. Also look out for the quality and depth of the learning material. This is so so so so so so important.

Q: Which school did you go to? Why did you choose it?

A: Due to my work schedule which is very alternative as compared to regular working adults, most of the YTT timings offered by other schools aren’t an option for me. Some are part-time courses which require commitment on weekends and weekday evenings (which are my main working hours). Some are full-time which require you to commit an entire month of ‘going-to-school’ time. The school that I went to has a very flexi schedule. They have classes in the morning and in the evening - you can attend which ever session you want. As long as at the end of the day, you attend at least one lesson on each of the required modules. Sounds like a dream right? I actually regret my initial choice. Because now I've got my eye on a few other schools which may have been a better fit.

Q: Why you so unhappy with your course???? 

**** Warning: Long rant ahead ****

A1) You won’t know what module is being taught until you reach the class. There’s no fixed system or sequence of what’s going to be covered. Which means that you could be hauling your ass down to attend a lesson which you’ve already attended twice. So on the module attendance checklist, there are 3 columns - attended, revision, revision. That’s how they convince you that it’s normal to listen to the same content 3 times.

A2) The depth of the content delivered is grossly dis-uniform. Just to give one example. The chapter on the ‘digestive system’ is very dense, down to learning how pepsinogen is an inactive proenzyme converted to pepsin etc... The notes are in my memory, as extensive as at A-levels. The chapter on ‘joints’ though, is 20 powerpoint slides telling you about the different TYPES of joints. This makes studying for the exam a nightmare. Because you don’t know how far in depth you should memorise!!! I felt insecure just knowing the dumbed down condensed version of everything. But researching for notes to learn everything to A-level depth is just ridiculous. I did the latter by the way (because kiasu, nerdy and that was how serious I was). 

A3) There was very little focus on physical practice and adjustment - which was actually why I wanted to take the YTT in the first place. We’ve got this textbook which covers meditation / cleansing techniques, about 25 poses, as well as sun salutations. Not that I want to sound snobbish - but I really learnt close to nothing about teaching physical practice (or at least that which would be applicable for teaching locally). I’m attending classes at Yogalab and I learn more from the cues the teachers give. About breathing, engagement of muscles, alignment, options etc... The scariest part of it all is that I know of a few course mates who were completely new to yoga - the practice that we did during the course was the ONLY yoga they had ever done. They will graduate and go out there to teach with 25 poses in their repertoire. The 25 includes things like thunderbolt pose and tadasana (go Google them). Yes it’s true that technically, you don’t have to be able to do all the shit in order to teach the shit - but - having so little knowledge. You tell me lorh.

A4) The final assessment result sheet contains a few components and the results bewilder me. I scored "Average" in every single one of them and for reference, the highest available grade is "Outstanding". I know this will make me sound extremely obnoxious. But here is the reason why it pisses me off. (1) Written test - I'm pretty sure I scored almost full marks. Give and take 2/3 points for an ambiguous answer on the lymphatic system. I'm confident I got at least 45/50. Average meh? (2) Practical test - this one the result was revealed to us and I achieved 43.5/50 which according to the scoring rubric is excellent. I've seen coursemates in the 30s score range get 'above expectation'. 43.5 is average? (3) Character assessment - the person signing off the grade is one of the teachers I've NEVER met. Who are u to judge me? In the first place, wasn't one of your philosophical teachings not to judge??? Hahaha what a joke to assess character, especially if you don't even know me. Okay but this one subjective. If you say I'm average, so be it. Do that. I will show you how average I am by ratting on your bullshit quality of teaching. (4) Physical practice - have you seen me? Maybe by your expert standards I am really average. But how do u explain really average physical practitioners scoring 'exceeding expectation' then??

[home-working]

Powerlunching with Mary Dauterman

I’d normally avoid posting two interviews in a row, but honestly my life is a bore, and this one’s been burning a hole in my e-pocket for over a month, so why not!? Happy March, y’all!

I met Mary when my friend Jackie invited us to a friendly lady dinner because we all had a background in advertising, and when Jackie moved away, Mary and I kept hanging out due to us both being art director-types that like graphic novels and are into doing funny projects. Mary has great glasses and is both younger than me and has some legit awards/recognitions under her belt (Young Guns, anyone?), so if she wasn’t so damn nice and creative, I would probably have to claw her face off (because women can’t be happy for each other’s successes, of course). Every once in a while we meet up to work from home together, brainstorm ideas, or just hang out; a little while ago we met for lunch at baba cool to do just that! 

(This is also the first interview I’ve done in person instead of via emailed questions, so like, please bask in its authenticity and the novel way I can ask follow-up questions.)

What’s your full name? My full name is Mary Margaret Dauterman.

And where are you from originally? I’m from Dallas, Texas.

What do you do for a living? I’m a freelance art director and director, and I do lots of crafts and stuff I guess.

Where did you go to school? I went to University of Texas, it was in-state tuition, and I have no loans, so that’s great.

What’s in-state tuition? Because I’m from Texas, it was super cheap. But it was a pretty good school, and I got to live in Austin, and I love Austin. I was majoring in straight-up advertising, but in year 2 I found out there was a creative sequence you could apply to, so I got into that program and we made fake ads for 2 years, so I had a fake ad portfolio to get other jobs. That’s a thing only University of Texas has that was purely lucky.

Do you have a bachelor? Yeah, I have a BS.

HAHAHA… so advertising is sciences? I took so much biology and I thought I had every dramatic disease cause that’s all I was learning. I was like, I definitely have Marfan syndrome. It’s tall people who are near-sighted and have very long limbs and oversized hearts and a lot of them drop dead in their early 30s. The case study was this woman named Flo Hyman who was a volleyball player, and they think Abraham Lincoln had it, too.

Marfan syndrome!

I know you’ve done a lot of non-client side projects, can you tell me about them? I do so much non-client work. I just made a video about an influencer who shits her pants. I have written and illustrated two books. I made a tortilla towel a few years ago. I guess I made more web-based stuff at first; I made an awards show for gifs when I lived in California.

Do you code? No, not at all. That one, I had the idea at work and so there was a web developer who made it with my photoshop files. I’ve made a few tiny sites that I’ve made [my boyfriend] Kirill code, like yulebra.com. It’s just like a yule log, but a bra was burnt.

How do you find the time to do self-directed projects in between client work? I guess now I’m trying to figure out the best way to do it. Now I’m really excited when I have downtime in between clients, when before I used to be mad stressed [about money]; you just don’t know what’s going to happen. And then if you’re making an expensive project you’re like, I need money for my project. But now I’m psyched about my downtime cause I can focus on my weird shit. If I get obsessive about an idea I just want to work on it all the time, just literally squeezing it in any time I don’t have to respond to other stuff. I’m a big old dork and I like working.

How do you negotiate work or rates as a woman? The best thing is to keep it all in email, which I’ve actually been told not to do, but you can be as emotionless as possible and just send the info without making it about the fact that you’re a woman. Give yourself an hour to respond so you can think about it before you send something. Every time I send something out of anxiety it’s bad. Be a slower emailer!

So you work from home a lot of the time. I know you were in agencies before, so how did you make the transition? My first freelance gig was in Portland, and every time they’ve hired me since they ask if I can come out there. Sometimes I’m like, “Sure”, and other times I’m like, “I don’t want to come live there for 3 months again, that was intense, and my life is in New York”. So for them I work remotely a lot. And then a couple of places here, I’ve said, “Hey if we don’t have meetings, I can just work from home”, and they’re cool with it. The best way to do it is to have a client that is nowhere near you so there’s no way to go into an office.

How do you find clients? Do they come to you? Mostly the places I freelance for had recruiters that reached out to me asking for me to become full time and I said, "No, but I will freelance for you”. So that’s how it’s happened a lot. Sometimes, since I’ve worked at so many big agencies, all the people I’ve met there have dispersed and will sometimes reach out or I’ll bug them and find gigs.

What would your dream job be? I think in terms of lifestyle, I like my [current] lifestyle, it’s great. Project-wise, I’m wanting to do more short films, so I’m planning on that. But it would be such a dream if someone else paid for that, not me.

I’m pretty certain I want to focus on directing but the aesthetics of things are still very important [to me], that’s part of why I like [self-producing projects], cause it’s all that stuff at once. I’m thinking I want to be directing commercials and then getting to do passion projects with that funding, but if there was no financial concern, it would be cool to just be directing movies… but that’s like, NOT REAL, haha.

But probably [my dream job is] no real job. Just lots of things at once.

In regards to working at home, what do you find yourself wearing? Well I only have one pair of sweatpants. I’m looking for recommendations for a second.

I was in UNIQLO recently and I’m considering getting a pair. I know we’re both kind of tall, and you’re taller than me, but I have a hard time finding sweatpants that are long enough. Long sweatpants are important. I bought some online and they had a drop crotch and I’m like, this isn’t going to work, even if no one’s ever going to see me. Just, no.

I also hate the ones that are low-rise. I need a high-rise on my sweatpants! You want to be cozy!

Do you wear them everyday? Lately, embarrassingly yes; sometimes leggings, sometimes I will put on comfy jeans. My boyfriend was making fun of me because sometimes I will get dressed from the waist up because I have video calls, but sometimes it’s literally the t-shirt I slept in the night before and then I’ll put on pants.

What’s your favourite thing to eat when you’re working from home? I’ve basically been trying to recreate sweetgreen bowls. I’ve been doing lots of stir fried veggies and grains and stuff, which would be $15 if I weren’t at home.

What’s the most shameful thing you eat? I eat handfuls of chocolate chips a lot. I went through a phase where I was just making myself a giant grilled cheese every single day, and then I was like, Why do I feel horrible?! It’s so delicious! Actually no, I take that back; the most shameful thing is when I just Seamless something to my house when I have plenty of time to cook.

How does your boyfriend like living with someone who works from home? Recently I was bragging to someone about how I was really clean, and [my boyfriend] was like, “Uh NO, sometimes I come home from work and wonder, what the hell happened in here?!” If I’m intensely in a project I will still cook myself lunch and then just leave everything out, which is gross.

I get that, you don’t want to spend your precious time cleaning. You’re like, Huuuhhhh I have a deadline!!

What do you listen to when you work? Sometimes I watch movies when I’m working if it’s something mindless. I listen to podcasts and recently I’ve been listening to lots of classical music but it kind of makes me feel like I’m a serial killer plotting a murder.

How do you practice self-care* and work/life balance? Well I just came from the gym. I have 2 gym classes I really like going to but I can only go to them if I’m working from home because they’re at 10am on weekdays. And I’m like, who are all the other people in here?! They’re packed classes!

I think a lot of people either work in the service industry at night, or they’re like us, or maybe they’re housewives? I think at the Park Slope location, all housewives. And there’s always one 40-50yr old guy in this one pilates class I take and I decided he just sold a bajillion dollar company, that’s his deal. Although he would probably go to Equinox if that’s his story, not Crunch. So I dunno what he does.

Do you have any weird skills or talents I don’t know about? I should be talented but I’m not. I took piano until I was 18 but I am not good at it.

Anything else you want to plug while you’re here? I recommend getting a cat while you work from home. It makes you feel less alone, even if they’re passed out asleep. [My cats are] Lemon, from Liz Lemon, and Bobby, after Bobby Hill. Lemon loves conference calls and she comes running and sits on my lap during them which is really nice.

Mary with Bobby, last August

Are there any tv shows or books you're really into right now?* Ooh ok I JUST binged all of Russian Doll in one day and I'm pretty sure I loved it. I'm also always re-watching old eps of King of the Hill and X-Files. I'm currently reading The Road Through the Wall by Shirley Jackson. I'm really into the graphic novel Beverly and got Sabrina by Nick Drnaso (your suggestion!). It was DARK and sad and good.

What are you wearing? I’m wearing a sweatshirt that is red, a shirt that I sleep in a lot, and leggings that I think are my mom’s, and some Nikes, and a coat. I’m *so* glad this is my outfit for our interview, but it’s pretty accurate.

*Shoutout to Chanice Hughes-Greenberg and her inspiring bi-monthly interview newsletter Who Is She, who I blatantly stole these great questions from. Subscribe!

[choicestrash]

The #Tagging Game

Thank you @hwuariana-writer-movie-star, @samanthamasseys and @ilovechoices for tagging me! Everything’s going under the cut due to the sheer size.

From @hwuariana-writer-movie-star:

11 Personal Asks

1) My role model?


I'll go with a celeb this time: Kirstin Maldonado from Pentatonix. She's such a positive role model in my opinion, with her cheerfulness and all that! Also, I really appreciate her being absolutely down-to-earth, regardless of her celebrity status.

2) How many hours do you sleep per day?

6-7 hours on weekdays and 8-9 hours on weekends. I guess my schedules not that bad, but I get pretty cranky with just a small change in my sleep schedule.


3) Your bestie vs. your bf?

I’m single af, and my crush probably doesn't even know I exist. So bestie in this round!


4) Your motto?

“Choose happiness". Now, the question is whether I actually follow it... whoops?

5) Do you believe in God?


Yup!

6) Where do you live?

I see that there's a lot of SE Asians in the fandom, whoa! Currently live there too!

7) Would you like to change something about yourself if you have the ability to?


I'd like to be more empathetic. I really lack the compassion, which is probably why I'm so good at writing angst and character deaths! I'm actually quite surprised I haven't written any angst for choices yet so fair warning I might do so soon

8) Your native language?


Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) technically, but I spent a great majority of my life speaking English to the point where my English is better so I would say both.

9) Do you have pets?

Cats sometimes visit my house, does that count?


10) Your ideal dinner?


My moods change quite quickly, but currently I really want the crispy cornflake chicken from Swensens'. It's delicious, you guys need to try it!

11) Describe your perfect school life.

First of all I would really want to go back to Singapore to study, since many of my good friends are there! I'd like the (fictitious) school to have a focus on the arts, perhaps both literature and visual. I'd transfer in my friends and we'd all be in the same class, with friendly teachers that actually know their stuff! Also it would be walking distance from all our houses somehow hahaha


11 Choices Asks

1) You’re enrolled at Hartfeld. What is your MC’s major?

Claire would most likely major in communication, seeing that she has the spunk to do so! Also, that would justify her love for writing.


2) If Dave doesn’t end up with Sam, who do you want him to get together with?

Can you hear that? That's the sound of my heart shattering into millions of pieces.

I... really don't know. My heart is legitimately hurting just thinking about it. I would say that I prefer for him to remain single pining for Sam, but that's not the point of the question is it?

...you know what? I'll go with single. I simply refuse.

3) Who is your OTP in the Choices world?


See above. The day Dave and Sam kiss/get together officially is the day I die, and the day they marry (hey why not) is the day I get revived just to die again.

4) What scene do you wish you had spent diamonds on but didn’t/couldn’t?


The beach scene on the last chapter of Most Wanted omg. Here's a story: the first time I played through the book, I didn't have enough points or whatever for a good option in the second last chap, when Tull attempts to choke Dave. At that point, I had 29 diamonds, so I decided to spend some of them on the wine corkscrew. So comes along chapter fifteen and the five stages of grief for my insufficient diamonds.

Months later, that is still the one choice I regret the most.

5) Which minor/supporting character in the Choices world do you want to get to know more?


From The Freshman, I would really like to know more of perhaps Madison. Or maybe Abbie, even though she's one of our suitemates. Or Zack. I love Zack, and wouldn't mind extra backstory.

TCTF? Val Greaves. She's one of Kenna's love interests but we barely know her!

The three stooges from Most Wanted for sure, and also Cassandra! I really want to know what sort of 'history' Cassandra and Dave share, it's been killing me ever since Cass was introduced!

Not sure about ROE, and I'll let the new books develop more to see the stories.

6) How do you feel about Zig?


Unpopular option: I don't find him very hot, I don't know. Even if my MC was straight (which she is not), I probably wouldn't care much for him.

On a less personal note I really like that PB gave the users more love interests, especially for those that felt that the original three were not very enticing.

7) If Pixelberry were to release another book, what would you like it to be about (or at least what genre)?

Another crime book maybe (after MW2 of course), or a medical drama! As you can probably see, I am a huge fan of drama.


8) What do you think is the future of Brandon and Zack’s relationship?

Even if they don't end up married, I have a very good feeling that they'll date for a long time and remain on good terms if they split. However, it's more likely than not that they will end up married together in my opinion, and that makes me very happy!


9) Who do you ship with Kenna?


Valentina Greaves. Full stop.

10) If you had to choose getting married between Tycoon Guy and Greek Guy, who would you choose and why? (Note: Bartender is not part of the choices)


Nooo! The bartender really grew on me recently ahh

Maybe the Greek guy, I think that the Tycoon Guy is just too... plain in my opinion. Gotta have that sense of fun!

11) What do you think the jobs of The Freshman suitemates be like 10 years from now?


MC: Claire would most likely find herself as a controversial public speaker, known for her strong opinions in her speeches.

Kaitlyn: An advocator for human rights, with a side job as a singer!

James: Well-renowned writer, with multiple awards. (Not technically a suitemate, but close enough)

Chris: A football/soccer player!

Abbie: An artists, for sure.

Zack: I’m actually not too sure, though I’m leaning a bit to something related to fashion design.

Tyler: Video game designer. Maybe he gets Abbie to help him with the art!

From @samanthamasseys​:

1. If you were stuck in a room with any person in the world (yes, even the pixelberry universe!) for twenty-four hours, who would it be, and why?

Kirstin Maldonado. Ahhh, if only. She's one of my favourite people in the whole world, and we could kill time singing (or at least in my case, attempting to sing)!

2. If you could bring back any character in Choices, who would it be?

Rose from TCTF. While I'm not a big fan of her in the first place, I felt like it was unfair for her to get randomly booted off the series with no explanation.

3. What’s you favourite thing about yourself?

Personality wise? I like how I can stick to my opinions.

4. When your birthday?

25th of April!

5. What’s one weird thing you did ask a kid?

I was completely unable to write a story without killing off at least one character. I've gotten a bit kinder to them nowadays hahaha, but I still have that streak going on!

6. What’s your biggest achievement/accomplishment?

When I got the award for being first academically in my year level.

7. Would you change anything in the country you live in?

I would improve the public transport. Seriously, you can't go anywhere without a vehicle of some sort!

8. Do you think people are naturally good or bad?

Not an option, but I think people are actually inherently neutral. They have complete control over what they want to become, and no side is easier than the other.

9. Have you done anything that upset someone greatly? If you’re comfortable, who was it? What did you do?

Nothing too bad I suppose, since nothing's coming to mind immediately.

10. Are you crushing on anyone?

Yes.

11. Favourite Choices character?

I'm gonna cheat a little and say both Dave and Sam from MW. I love both of them individually and together! Something about both of their characters really appeal to me, likely the fact that they actually have pretty well-balanced personalities.

11 Questions!

1. What was your first impression of the app? 2. What's your favourite soundtrack from all the books? 3. Who are your top three favourite characters? 4. From the three characters you chose, which one would you sacrifice to save the others? 5. Which character do you feel is overlooked the most? 6. What is one unpopular opinion you have of any of the storylines? 7. What do you look for in a significant other? 8. Who's your favourite musical artist as of now? 9. Tea or coffee? 10. Do you play any instruments? If so, which ones? 11. How many languages do you speak?

I’m tagging anyone who wants to do this 💕

[isabelledanao]

Where to study or review in Quezon City?

Let’s face it! The best place to study is at our own homes which includes the coziest amenities like your bed, unlimited free wifi, the oh so comfortable couch, the television, the refrigerator, shower and all that jazz. But in reality, we don’t exactly get much studying or work done. I am not saying that this applies to all but for me, this often happens and so I tried different methods like the Pomodoro technique, voice recording of lectures, note cards, and goal study plan. These methods actually work for some, and it does for me especially the Pomodoro and the voice recording of lectures that I play on repeat, but I will be talking about this in another blog. So back to the main topic, aside from these techniques I also found out that changing the setting or the environment where I study is particularly important as it enhance my chances of focusing on my studies or work, and so I present to you the places that I found conducive for studying here in Quezon City in no particular order.

1. Starbucks (#24 Matalino St., Quezon City - Behind Quezon City Hall)

Everyone knows Starbucks, but for me I really do appreciate this place. The coffee place itself is spacious with enough parking space and security. And in addition to this, I like the fact that the area’s environment is that of a professional kind or ambiance. Let me expound that–the people who go to this particular Starbucks are lawyers, doctors, government employees, nurses, “studious” college students (usually from UP), law students, medical students, businessmen and clients. Basically, when you enter the place, you don’t see a lot of people who are just chatting away their time. The place is honestly a “library” or “study hall” for students and professionals, that the people who come to this place to just chill is seriously out of their minds (just my opinion). In addition to all this, the best time to go there is around 6:30am till around 11am, but if it gets later than that you’ll probably have a difficult time looking for a perfect spot to do your work.

Along with this, the place has free wifi which is good for two hours, a clean restroom, a smoking area at the back, accommodating staff, the additional condiment area which always have shakers filled with vanilla, nutmeg, chocolate powder and cinnamon (I always add some to my drink - don’t judge!).

TIPS:

My tips in going to this place; bring a hoodie or jacket since the air-conditioning in this area is pretty intense (seriously!), and for the best spot to study is the couch near the door or the one at the far end. Those spots have outlets, and the one near the door is not too cold and not to warm (hahaha!), and also the security guard can always watch closely of my things when I need to pee or something (oops!).

I almost forgot, this place is open from 6:30am - 2:00am. 

See photos here: https://www.zomato.com/photos/pv-res-6307735-u_ODkzMzkwMzU2ND

2. Quezon City Library (Quezon City Hall Compund - Just ask around)

The second place I want to recommend but rarely go to is the public library due to some cons that I experienced along the way, but is still a great place after being renovated. Let’s first start with the location and the time it opens; the place opens at 8am and is free which is a great thing but for me, I prefer to study at an earlier time rather than at a later period. Going back to the topic–as you enter, the guards will ask you to sign-in and leave your belongings at the baggage counter, give you your baggage number, sign-in and give you a sheet of paper to list all the books and gadgets that you will be taking inside, and then they will give you small clear plastic envelope to place your things which is not exactly useful. 

Finally, after the hassle since you can’t bring your bag inside, you will carry your things and look for a place to study. The library itself is not the National Library but you can easily find a spot. The amenities inside are the usual ones you can find in your school library but if you are there for research, I highly doubt that you can find a proper book inside for additional materials. Moving on, since I brought my laptop with me I was not able to use their computers that is for free and know if there is a limited amount of time to use them. 

After all that enchilada and some time, I encountered a problem--I forgot to charge my laptop at home, so I plugged in my laptop to an outlet. That’s when I found out a crucial thing which they failed to inform me. I actually have to pay 20pesos for every hour that I plug in my laptop, and they asked me to pay at the information or concierge thing. Another problem I encountered is that they were actually only operating until 12nn that day for inventory which they did not post on their website, and so I ended up leaving early and going to Starbucks. 

TIPS:

First, I can say that this place can be good if you are only going to study with your notes and books, and plan to save money for food. You can pack your own lunch and put it inside you bag or eat at their cafeteria. Second,  I highly recommend not bringing too much valuables that you can’t carry along with your books since you can’t bring your bag inside. Third, the internet connection is really slow so don’t expect a fast connection for any wifi service. Fourth, better contact the library a day before or around 8am and ask if they will be open the entire day since I experienced an unannounced inventory that day. And lastly, if you really need to plug in your laptop be prepared to pay for 20pesos every hour or just charge it earlier at home.

The library is open from 8am - 5pm (Weekdays) and 8am - 4pm (Saturday).

Tel:(632) 927-98-34 Fax:(632) 922-40-60 Email quezoncitypubliclibrary@yahoo.com 

Website (not updated): http://www.qcpubliclibrary.org/contactus.php

See photos and information: http://news.abs-cbn.com/trending/02/09/17/look-this-isnt-your-ordinary-public-library

3. Diligence Cafe (Elizabeth Hall, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City)

This is one of the places to go if you are to go all out for studying and thesis. It actually offers the “Filipino College Student Essentials”. So first I will start with the services they offer; the place is particularly conducive for serious students who are in it for studying and not just a place to chill. They have free Fiber wifi, unlimited coffee & juice, tons of power outlets, napping services. It is also the best choice for overnight thesis work or exam review, but of course you have to pay for it. The rates start at 70pesos per hour and 350pesos per day. They open at 12nn - 7am, which is one of the cons I found since I prefer to study early in the morning but all in all, I like the place. The cafe is a unique concept which is highly recommended for college students and so I hope they open more branches soon. 

In addition to the inclusive services, they also offer shower services with shower kit (100pesos), locker services (40/day, 200/week & 700/month), meeting room (400/hr for 8pax), printing services (b/w starts at 3pesos & colored starts at 8pesos), and most importantly, FOOD which starts at 130pesos for a filling meal.

TIPS:

If you liked the place for the first visit and ultimately fell inlove with the place, you can just opt to apply for a monthly membership worth 2,500pesos per month (subject to change - check their Facebook page). Also, the best thing in this place is that if ever you tend to doze off too much, you can ask the staff for a wake-up call. 

By the way if you are going to bring any food there is a corkage fee and for any questions you can contact them easily through Facebook messenger (they reply immediately). Lastly, the best time to go there is not during your finals week of exam week since there will be a splurge of people. But do come at 12nn when they open.

Contact:

Cellphone (Globe): 0927-944-9980

Facebook: Search for Diligence Cafe

Instagram : @diligencecafe

4. Figaro (Scout Lozano Corner Tomas Morato, Sacred Heart, Quezon City)

This is one of my favorite places since I get to eat breakfast menus any time of the day. The place is particularly small and not many people often come. I also love the homey purple couch they have, and if ever you need to meet up with my friends or anything, the place is already in one of the food places to be–Tomas Morato. 

This cafe is small but you can make the most out of it. They have very accommodating staff and a clean restroom (the most important thing). Aside from that the place gets particularly cold in the evening so I suggest bringing a hoodie or shawl. For internet service or the wifi; the internet connection is pretty good and I have not experienced any problem so far. As for the coffee, it is not the best but it works in waking you up. The pasta selection that they have is actually really great and they also have some desserts though at times they only have one or two kinds.

TIPS:

Try the Chicken BBQ Skewers. The one they served me is not fatty and the rice is cooked really well. I think it costs around 200pesos. For pasta, try the Arrabiata, Pasta a la Carlo (a bit spicy and I think this is the expensive one), or the seafood one that they have (I forgot the name since they recommended it to me but it was not on the menu).

Lastly, if ever you crave for some Korean BBQ there’s one behind Figaro.

The place opens at 7am - 12midnight (Weekdays) and 7am - 10pm (Weekends).

5. Burger King (Matalino St, Quezon City - Near Mercury Drug Store)

Sometimes, I really try to stay away from coffee and tend to crave burgers especially from this one and so I sometimes go to this place. This Burger King location is pretty conducive for me in studying since the place is brightly lit and good for the days when I just can’t handle dim lights and when I am tired to the bone. But let me just remind you that the place is a fastfood chain and there will definitely be loud noise or chatting so bring your earphones or headphones. They open early in the morning (not sure of the time) and close at around 10pm (I think). 

Not to worry, they won’t call your attention for staying the entire day but you still have to order every now end then like, breakfast, lunch, snack/dinner or atleast two meals. They have rice meals like chicken, so burger is not always the choice.

TIPS:

They do not have the usual outlets but the USB type ones so I guess the place is a whole lot better when you need to review using your notes, books or tablet. I am not sure about the wifi but I think they do have. Aside from that, guard your belongings with your life, and the crew is not as courteous as cafe staffs or library employees so just ignore or complain to the manager about some catcalling incidents and frighten them with the Catcalling fine (hahahaha).

So there you have it, the five places I recommend to go to when you need to get some work or studying done. I still have some places to recommend but I need to go back and try the place twice or three times before I give my verdict. As of now I am currently in the process of reviewing and going to some places in Tomas Morato and the newly built Starbucks at Vertis North. Up next in my blog are the best study techniques that I have tried and tested and those that I am still currently using till now.

Thank you for reading! Study well and continue to stay focused. Remember that success follows as hardwork perseveres. This is Isabelle, signing out!

[junctioncats-blog]

almost there

i’ve been feeling really good lately, and i hope this goes on till forever!! i’ve got an assignment due next week and i’m pretty screwed for that one but i can do this it’s just gonna be another assignment i get done and then worry about the outcome. anyways, i had a really good day although i’m dead beat now. something i noticed about myself the past half a year-ish is that no matter how much i go out during the weekends and spend time w a significant other, i’ve never thought of it as like oh damn i could’ve done my work instead or like oh damn i should’ve stayed home. and i think he’s told me so many times that if i have work to do, i can just tell him but the thing is, i don’t feel the need to? as much as i’ve work to do, i believe that i should divide my time and spend time on the other things in my life as well. to me, no time spent is time wasted. as stupid as it sounds, if someone means a LOT to me, i’ll make sure to put time aside to spend time with the person and that’s not something i’d forego to do work even if it means i gotta stay up the next week. some may think i just can’t get my priorities right but then well, if it’s bad for me then i’ll tank the consequences. furthermore i think i spend enough time doing my work and torturing myself in school on weekdays, so much so that i definiTELY deserve a break, no matter how long or short, on weekends. and today was one of those days. but i guess i’m the type of person who’s willing to not sleep to complete assignments and meet datelines so i don’t mind at all. i don’t even get to see him much during weekdays so i’ll take (almost) a whole day with him over work any day. it helps me recharge my battery too hahaha i think i get a tad bit more driven after meeting him. like i’ll be like ok i got this man i can do this and then spend the next few days trying to get ideas, do some work. it helps. what i’m tryna say is that no matter how much you’ve got on your plate, always ALWAYS set time aside for your loved ones. don’t make work as an excuse to not spend time with them unless your life solely depends on your submissions then lol i have nothing to say really. today was a really chill day, watched moana like fi!!na!!lly!! and it was super good i love it so much and i’m glad he enjoyed the movie too!! i think one of the best things in life is to share the same thoughts w someone about a movie you really enjoyed, because sometimes when you like a movie so much and the other person’s just like meh it was o-K it was f-INE and i’m just like excuse me it was aMAZING what are you saying it’s such a killjoy. but he was like lowkey singing you’re welcome with me too after the movie it just really really made me smile! we went to cold storage to buy wraps and tuna and beans and fruits and cake and drinks for our impromptu picnic at fort canning afterwards and it was just, really really nice. i love it when people are just like down to do things that aren’t planned and just like ok let’s do this no questions asked. we’re so cute together i’m just saying. but no one has to know. it’s amazing how happy a fellow human being can make you. i’m so thankful for you everyday. and it warms my heart to see you smile. i hope you had a good day too and enjoyed it as much as i did although i was kinda dead towards the end because my eyelids were so heavy. i appreciate the time and effort, really. i can’t wait to see you again soon, and another week down woohoo !!