#have taken a lot of aleve today

[troglobite]

i love* when chronic pain flares up SUPER fucking bad for no discernible reason, completely canceling all plans and hopes i had for the day

*fucking loathe w my entire existence

[authoratlas]

Flares

A short original work with some OCs. Whumpy fic about a pain flare. Partly because I've seen exactly one fic with a character who had costochondritis and I feel underrepresented.

First-person POV

Cw: pain, pain thoughts, mentions of past physical assault.

(Author's note: sorry to others who have costochondritis that don't like whump. Also, mentioned in the fic is "like the breaks that didn't heal quite right". This is a reference to character's backstory, but costochondritis affects the intercostal cartilage and is not supposed to directly involve bone.)

It hurt to move.

Sure, it usually did, but not quite so bad.

I knew the flare was coming; I'd gotten pretty good at spotting the triggers.

Stress was a big one. It was Spring Break of Senior Year. Graduation was coming up and then I'd start college. I didn't feel ready and neither did any of my friends.

Physical activity often played a role, and I had definitely done a lot of that by walking everywhere with the group. In my defense, it had been fun at the time.

Sleep was another factor; the more sleep I got, the less shitty I usually felt, but the nightmares had started up again. It wouldn't surprise me if the sleep-thrashing and fighting added to my pain as well.

Finally, of course, it's worth mentioning that Matt's Spring Break Parting Gift was a pretty solid punch to the chest. That's probably actually what did it.

Either way, I had known the flare was coming, but knowing was unhelpful; at best, I could take some Aleve and hope that it wouldn't last long. It was still morning, after all.

By noon, the Aleve either hadn't kicked in, or it had, but to little effect. I was still in bed, having taken my meds with one of the granola bars I keep in my room for days like that. I'd hoped getting up would be easy enough, since the group would be coming over tonight, but most movements were instant demotivators; even something like rolling onto my side, something that simple, scored about a 6.5, which was high enough to make me want to stay still and not move ever, ever again. The problem was that when I heard my phone chime, I completely forgot about that little detail, and rolled over to grab my phone. The thought of My People outweighed the threat of pain.

Pain that felt like fire, like the breaks that didn't heal quite right. I curled up, hoping it would make the pain stop. The movement only seemed to aggravate it. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to level out my breathing. Before long, the pain would fade, and it would suck less.

It took about a minute for me to be right; sure enough, the burn returned back to the dull ache that I knew would stick around for a while. I took the opportunity to grab my phone and read the message.

Nico: Shea, are you alright? You haven't said anything in the group chat yet today, and I know you're usually up by now.

Nico. I made Nico worry.

Shea: Yeah, I'm up, just distracted.

Nico: What's up? Is it because of yesterday?

Shea: You could say that. It's not entirely the case, but yeah.

Remember earlier, when I mentioned Matt's "Spring Break Parting Gift"? Well, that was yesterday. Matt is this guy from school that hates my guts over drama from 8th grade, of all things. The funny thing is that the thing he hates me for didn't even affect him, but rather a friend of his. He's just the one that hits the hardest.

Nico: What's going on, Shea? I mean, you trust me enough to fill me in, right?

Shea: Of course I do, but I don't want you to go do something stupid.

Nico: Of course not, silly, why would I do something stupid? I'm not going to walk over to Matt's house, which is just down the street anyway, and kick his ass on your behalf or anything.

Nico: Why would I do that?

Nico: Fuck him and his stupid-ass friends.

Nico: I'm going to kill him with my bare hands.

Shea: Nico, stop it. Matt has never been worth it. He didn't cause the flare anyway, I'm pretty sure.

Nico: You're in the middle of a flare right now?

In theory, of course, I shouldn't have said that. But I wasn't thinking when I sent the reply, and who knows what would come of that?

Shea: I am, but it's not from that

It was a lie, but it was one that could keep Nico out of trouble. In theory.

Nico: How do you know?

Nico: How could you possibly know that for sure?

Nico: Because as far as I recall, you weren't flaring yesterday, and he punched you, and today you're flaring. Sounds to me like he fucking caused it.

Shea: I just don't want you to do something stupid because of it. He's an idiot and he's not worth it. And you going over there and starting shit isn't going to make the rest of the school year easier for me.

Nico: He's not about to just fuck with my boyfriend and get away with it, and I'm tired of him thinking it's okay.

Shea: Okay, you're not friends with him anymore, so here's how that's gonna go:

Shea: Option 1 is you go over there and fight him and he kicks your ass.

Shea: Option 2 is you go over there and fight him and you kick his ass, and then next week, when school starts again, he beats me half to death in a broom closet and leaves me there.

Shea: So tell me again how worth it this is?

There was a knock at the front door; it couldn't have been Mom, because she, of course, had a key. Slowly, cautiously, I got up and walked to the living room and looked through the window next to the front door.

"Come on, dude, let me in."

I opened the door, closing and locking it again behind Nico. "Why...?"

"I had to do something, and you didn't want me at Matt's house, so..."

I sat on the couch, motioning for him to do the same. "Okay, fair I guess."

"Can I ask you a question?" He'd rushed it out almost immediately after I finished talking.

"Uh... Yeah? Anytime?"

"Did that actually happen to you?"

I frowned. "What?"

"The broom closet thing. Did that actually happen to you?"

A flash of memory came through, of falling backward onto a pile of brooms, breathless and bleeding. Of being sure no one would find me until I got myself up and out of there. "Not exactly?"

"It was too specific to be completely made up."

"It wasn't. It just wasn't Matt."

Nico made eye contact for a moment before having a staring contest with the living room rug. "Can you explain?"

It wasn't an order or a request so much as a genuine question, which was something I loved about him. He understood how hard some memories can be.

I nodded. "Yeah. Uh, it was back in 10th grade, and Matt and Ross were out of town."

"So it couldn't have been any of the main 3. Jesse was already expelled by that point."

"It was Patrick and Seth. They swore they needed to do something to 'keep me in line', whatever that means. I'd woken up to a pain flare, too, so I had stabs of pain from my left shoulderblade to about here," I said, gesturing to a part of my back. "It was, uh, the broom closet I got ice-bucketed with, too. Insult to injury, y'know? Patrick locked Seth and me inside and I had pretty much given up by then. How can you run when you're literally locked in there with the dude that wants to beat your ass?"

"Fucking cowa--..." He stopped himself halfway through the word, and it took me a moment to process why.

"No, I agree, they were cowards about it. You can say it, it's fine. I went non-speaking for part of the day after that. Almost had my mom take me to the hospital. Then she decided we were going anyway. It was... a lot of bruising and inflammation. Nothing else. But... I wouldn't put it past Matt to talk to them and do the same thing. And I also don't trust Matt not to, um..."

Not to actually kill me.

"Yeah, I know. I get why you want to leave it alone. But it's hard for me to just accept it. We both know I haven't been going through this with you nearly as long as Jamie or Oliver have."

"We graduate in about two months. Then I don't have to deal with them. And neither do you."

Nico didn't have to deal with the worst parts of them. Not the same way I did. But he had to deal with the aftermath, now, and he had to see me hurt because of them. If I was honest, I'd stopped caring about the pain around the same time my body decided to work against me, but it hurt to see my friends worry. It hurt to feel like my existence made theirs heavier. I knew the trauma would weigh on me long after I was out of school, but I had a good therapist and a great support system. Eventually, I could heal.

All I needed was to make it two more months.

[eldritchsurveys]

788.

What's on your wish list right now? >> Nothing.

What are you behind on? >> As far as I know, nothing.

What did you get rid of that you wish you had kept? >> ---

Who do you miss? >> ---

Does your hometown have bad memories attached to it? >> As in, the place I was born? Sure, but not anything really compelling.

Are you spiritually dead? Or are you spiritually alive? >> This concept doesn’t really make any sense to me.

Do you feel in control? >> Sometimes, sometimes not. As far as I understand it, it’s all illusory either way.

Have you found any cures for loneliness besides company? If so, what? >> Yeah -- remembering that I actually enjoy the freedom that solitude offers, and that I prefer quality over quantity when it comes to social interactions. Also, the Inworlders are excellent company and far more fulfilling than my experiences so far with outworld people.

How many subscribers do you have on your youtube channel? >> ---

Does it irritate you when someone has a dream but does nothing to work toward it? >> Why would that have anything to do with me? What reason should I have to assume that a person who dreams of something should be working towards it in a way that I can see and approve of?

What color nail polish do you want to put on next? >> ---

Do you own pastel-colored pants? >> Nope.

Do you find the concept of colorblindness fascinating? >> Sort of, yeah. Simply because I can’t imagine it.

Which site have you been bullied on the most? >> I haven’t been bullied on any site.

Do you hate your hair? Or do you love it? Or are you indifferent toward it? >> I find it to be far more trouble than it’s worth, which is why I keep it buzzed.

Who in your family is colorblind? >> ---

Do you ever wear sunglasses indoors? >> Yeah, because my eyes are sensitive to light.

Do you get hugs on a daily basis? >> No.

If not, when was the last time you received a hug? >> I don’t know.

Who do you wish loved you? >> Well, it would have been nice to have experienced parental love. Too late for that now.

Who do you wish cared about you still? >> ---

Does snow and ice ever got on the inside of you window panes? >> No.

What do you do for pain? >> I rarely experience it, and when I do it’s usually taken care of by some Aleve. Assuming we’re talking about physical pain, of course.

What type of lotion do you use? >> I use whipped shea butter for most of the year, but in the summer I use Aveeno.

Do you own wool socks? >> No.

What color socks are you wearing? >> I’m not wearing any.

Name everyone you know who's first name has a Z in it. >> I don’t think I know anyone with a Z in their name. Oh, wait, I know a Mackenzie.

What were your favorite clothing stores in high school? >> ---

If you watch Niki and Gabi, which twin do you think has the best style? >> I don’t even know what that is.

Name a youtuber whom you think acts shallow and superficial. >> Oh, Niki and Gabi must be youtubers. Anyway, I don’t watch any youtubers that I think behave like that, so...

If you had an identical twin, what would he or she be named? >> ---

Do you know anyone who has twin babies or toddlers? If so, what are their names? >> No.

Would you ever want to have twins? >> I don’t want to have one child, let alone more than one.

Who has the cutest babies on your facebook newsfeed? >> ---

If you could have a car in any color you wanted, which color? >> Man, I hate it when I take two surveys by the same survey-maker in a row and half the questions on the first survey show up on the second. That’s on me, though.

What do you think is the best color for bridesmaid dresses? >> ---

What is your favorite color, do you look good in it, & do u wear it a lot? >> Gold. Yes. No.

Name someone you know who hates pink. >> *shrug*

What is your favorite Avril Lavigne song? >> ---

Do you think Taylor Swift's hair looks better wavy&long, or short/straight? >> I can’t imagine giving a fuck about Taylor Swift’s hair.

What's a song lyric that you like? >> Thinking of song lyrics off the top of my head when prompted is not a skill I have.

Do you listen to Casting Crowns? >> No. I almost got whoever-this-is confused with Counting Crows for a second.

If you were on the Ellen show and got asked to perform a hidden talent, what would you do? >> I wouldn’t be on the Ellen show, and even if I was, she’d have to ask someone else.

Do you kill bugs? >> Not usually / intentionally.

Have you killed any bugs today? >> No.

Tacos or burritos? >> Tacos.

Do you watch As/Is and Ladylike on youtube? If so, who's your favorite character on those channels? >> I’ve never even heard of these folk.

Are you subscribed to Miranda Sings? >> No. Is that where that one Netflix show comes from? Forget the name of it now... gah.

What do you wish you had money to buy? >> You know, furniture and good shoes and stuff.

Have you ever did something and been afraid of getting caught? >> Sure. I shoplifted for years, after all.

Have you ever had a bedroom that had wallpaper on the walls? >> No.

Which youtuber has the best bedroom? >> ---

What color were your bedroom walls in high school? >> Off-white or white or something.

Do you own any rompers? >> No.

What was the last music festival you went to? >> Taste of Chaos, way back in like 2007.

Would you ever hitchhike? Why or why not? >> No. Because that’s a level of risk I’m not willing to assume.

Name someone you know who is a hippie. >> I don’t know any hippies.

What's one thing you've done to celebrate Earth Day? >> I don’t celebrate Earth Day.

Who do you love? >> Oh, you know.

Do you use window clings (aka window stickers)? >> No.

What color is your stapler? >> I don’t have a stapler.

Do you have a desk that you sit at in your room? >> No, I have a desk that I sit at in the living room. I can’t fit a desk in my room.

What do you miss about college? >> ---

Was your middle school crush the same as your high school crush? >> ---

Have you ever been homeschooled? >> No.

What was your high school's mascot? >> I don’t remember.

What was your college's mascot? >> ---

What is/was your dream school? >> The one university I was even moderately interested in was Hampshire, but that was a while ago and I really don’t want to go to school, period.

Do you wish you could talk to someone about your past? If so, who? >> A therapist, lmao. Like.

What is your favorite food? >> ---

Did you eat dinner today? >> It’s midday.

What motivates you? >> I’m not sure.

Have you ever completed a weight loss program? >> No.

Which restaurant has the best smoothies? >> I don’t know.

Are you truly happy with your life? >> I’m never sure how to answer this. My feelings about my life change depending on a variety of factors. At this very moment, I’m okay with life.

What was the last thing you cooked on the stove? >> ---

What was the last thing you were mad at a doctor about? >> ---

Do you have the heat turned on right now? >> No, thank god. Finally.

Where you live, is it possible to get sunburned&frostbitten in same week? >> From what others have reported, yeah, probably. Michigan has weird weather patterns, especially between seasons.

Do you own a Vera Bradley purse? >> No.

[lovemesomesurveys]

1) were you the girl who always looked at failed relationships and said, “that’s never going to happen to me”?: No. I saw what a lot of people around me went through in relationships and heard about some  things from some people and it made me scared to be in a relationship.

2) is there somewhere you’d never want to live?: A place where many natural disasters occur. <<< 

3) what do you think about tori spelling?: Not someone I think about.

4) are there any people from tumblr that you talk to on facebook, aim, myspace?: No. We just talk through comments, mostly. Or through answers in surveys.

5) what’s your favorite thing about nyc?: I’ve never been, but I’d love to go one day.

6) hostel or saw?: Saw.

7) do you like cop movies?: Nah.

8) does your mom smoke?:  No.

9) are there any famous bands from your area?: No. 

10) are you against inter-racial marriages?:  No.

11) are you overweight?:  No, I’m underweight.

12) are you anti-obama? if yes, were you that way before he was elected president?: He’s no longer president.

13) do you think bubble baths are overrated?: They do sound nice and relaxing, or like with a nice bath bomb, but I don’t take baths. I haven’t taken a bath since I was a kid.

14) is lil wayne your favorite rapper?: No, but I like some of his songs and features.

15) do you talk to your pets like they’re babies?: I am guilty of using the baby voice sometimes lol. Not all the time, though.

16) ibuprofen, advil, or aleve?:  I don’t use any of those. I take a prescription pain medication for my pain.

17) how often do you talk politics?: I avoid talking about that.

18) do you sleep in t-shirts?: Yeah.

19) is it just me, or does facebook have the most hilarious pages ever?:  Uhh I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I come across some funny stuff on my feed, but it’s not the best source for that kind of thing. I have Tumblr and Twitter for that.

20) are you going to subway today?:  No. I haven’t been to Subway in yearsss.

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

I fell in the shower today.

I’m okay.  Got a solid grip on the grab bar and it softened the landing.  Husband is getting a shower/bathing chair for me because this isn’t the first, nor shall it be the last, time it’s happened.  As for the why...

I’ve mentioned before I have an old back injury that has flared the fuck up recently.  Been going on for months. 

I acquired this injury from sledding when I was 14.  My mother forbade me from going sledding with friends.  I was 14, the hill was fantastic and so many kids were sledding.  Why the fuck would I wanna miss out on something like that?  I was on a disc sled, hit a rock, flew a good distance, and landed on another rock less than two inches from my spine.  Wind was knocked outta me, and it took almost ten minutes for me get my legs moving.  Cell phones weren’t common then; they were huge and often had to be carried in bags.  No one thought to call for an ambulance.  One of the friends I was sledding with suggested I sleep over because I didn’t want to get in trouble.  Not even 12 hours later her dad drove me home (because I could barely walk due to pain) and told my mom to take me to the hospital.  She said no, that I deserved this, it’ll be a reminder of what disobedience costs.  That’s when I learned no matter how much I get hurt, she won’t care. 

A large portion of my back was black and purple.  Massive bruise and all kinds of ugly.  Moving hurt, breathing hurt, I couldn’t lay down or sit up.  My mom insisted I do chores because I went sledding when she said not to go, that this is a lesson I need to remember.

I fucking remember.  Every fucking day for 22 years.  Blowing on that spot causes spasms and pain so severe I can’t even breathe.  There are clothes I can’t wear because they touch that spot in such a way that I’m damn near unable to move.  When I was 16 I threw my back out carrying all my school books because two minutes isn’t enough time to get to my locker and then to class.  The specialist I saw did an exam that hurt like fuck, had me crying and my mother calling me a wimp.  He told her this is a nerve cluster that’s like a scar but rather than being visible it causes me pain.  He told her I need surgery, that getting it done while I’m younger is safer and better for me because recovering is easier when young.  She said no because I’m just being wimpy.  I was given muscle relaxants, a board to lay on, a note saying I can’t go to school for at least a week, and another note telling my teachers I need more time between classes and need to use a wheelie bag (those were forbidden back then and really expensive). 

The pain has gotten worse every year.  My mother still thinks I deserve it, that I’m just wimpy.  My father had no say because he was in another country at the time the injury happened.  Military thing called TDY.

I’m seeing my doctor on the 27th; it’s the earliest appointment I could get.  I’ll be requesting a referral to a physical therapy clinic that also has a massage therapist (the only way my insurance will cover this at all), a muscle relaxant, and a referral to a specialist to get this taken care of. 

When the pain spikes, so does my vertigo.  I have constant vertigo, frequent dizzy spells, and recently both have gotten worse.  Hence falling in the shower.  We have all furniture corners cover with baby-safe cushioning because I bump into things a lot.  While looking at apartments (we’re moving in July) I’m looking for places without stairs.  A few years ago I fell down the two steps we had in our home and gave myself a concussion.  No idea how long I was out, but stairs are not good for me.  Especially now. 

Sitting at my computer for more than half an hour hurts like hell.  My recliner is the only place I get any relief, however minor it is.  Quilting is slower because various movements make the pain shoot up.  Normally the pain is sitting at a constant 6; I’m used to it, no big deal.  It’s now sitting at an 8 and spikes to a 9.5.  I pass out at a 10, and have experienced that 10 when my IUD broke in 2010.  That’s another story for another day.

The only thing my mother taught me is that no matter how much pain I’m in, no matter the severity of my injuries, telling her won’t mean a damn thing.  My pain tolerance is insanely high, but she calls me a wimp anyway.  I fell asleep when I got my tattoos, one of which covers the majority of my left ankle and goes up to my knee.  The endorphins release had me really sleepy and I napped for the three hours of the tattoo work.  I fall asleep during most dental appointments because the pain and discomfort release endorphins and make me sleepy.  I have injured myself during seizures, been hit by three cars, suffered a concussion, tore a ligament in my wrist after a bad fall down a set of stairs (and suffered it for 5 years before proper diagnosis and surgery), and a whole hell of a lot of other injuries.  Not to mention the self-harm I inflicted on my legs (no one questions small cuts when I shaved my legs) for over a decade. 

I’m dealing with severe vertigo, extreme pain that has actually made me cry, and I’m pissed the fuck off.  It’s taken me THIS FUCKING LONG to realize my parents weren’t only neglectful of me but also abusive.  It was little and big things, and only with the help of my current counselor have I been able to face what has happened to me.  My sisters were pampered and given all the positive love and affection.  I’m the eldest and “should be setting an example”.  Constantly asked “why can’t you be more like your sisters” and punished when I got anything lower than a B.  Though the neglect they threw at me when I got a B certainly fucking qualifies. 

I don’t know how I can ever bring this up with my parents.  They will never believe they did anything wrong.  I will never get an apology.  Nothing will change other than a massive rift in the family for which I’ll be blamed.

For those who are unaware of a small detail, I rarely cry.  I was shamed for crying, for being emotional, wimpy, too sensitive, etc.  I learned how to cry silently.  Having severe allergies made my sniffling nose easy to mask.  When something makes me cry, it’s an event.  I’m getting better at crying, but when it’s pain that’s setting it off, it’s bad.  My husband is mad with worry because he’s seeing me cry from pain that I’ve been masking for years.  He hates that I hold all this in. He cries openly, he’s sensitive, sympathetic, empathetic, and has none of the toxic masculinity (he claims it’s due to being raised in a house of women).  I’ve been enjoying edibles for several weeks now to help deal with the pain, but I can’t have them daily for many reasons.  I’m allergic to nearly every pain medication, and the one I’m not allergic to (aleve) has no effect on this.  It helps with migraines, fevers, and my wrist, but not my back. 

I know my doctor will help me.  She’s an amazing doctor, she listens to me, hears me, asks the right questions and never shames me for the ones I ask.  She’ll likely insist on me seeing a specialist because this isn’t something I ought to be forced to live with for the rest of my life.  She’ll also mark the massage therapy as medically necessary, which is the only way Medicare will cover it (I’m disabled and on SSDI).

Please don’t reblog this, but you can reply.  I’m full of pain and anger and hurt right now.  JFC I’m gonna cry again.  The more sugar coating I remove from my past, the more I really look at my childhood and growing up, the more I realize how horrible things were for me.  Like many victims of childhood abuse and neglect, I’ve pushed a vast amount of it away.  Don’t want to look at it, don’t want to think about it, but 2019 was the year I began to heal.  Now the ugly part is finally coming around.  The worst part of moving in July will be losing my counselor and doctor. 

[snow-slayer]

A Bunch of Good Things from 2019

*I don’t do things consistently, so there’s chunks of time I just forgot to write. So the blank spaces are days where I could not recall the exact good things that happened.*

January 1: Started the year off right by hanging out with @nah-young, eating some delicious leftovers from New Year’s Eve and working on a puzzle. Also caught a shiny Delibird in Pokemon Go as the first catch of the year.  2: Had a headache at work, but went home to take care of myself. Dad and I talked for a long time about money and taxes without arguing. I have also discovered a future hobby I want to get into: 3D printing. 3: I cranked out four solid hours of studying. I’m going to ace the Auditing section of the CPA exam. I feel it in my bones (especially when I finally stood up and stretched). 4: My ‘other mom’ (one of my best friend’s mom) took me out for a belated Birthday lunch to our favorite Thai food place, and I enjoyed more mango sticky rice. It’s one of my new favorite desserts. 5: Did some epic New Year cleaning. Caught up on laundry, filed away my 2018 paperwork, and did some 2019 taxes. Finally on top of things! 6: A puzzle day! I connected a big piece of the sky to the side on the Lion King puzzle. I’ve still got a lot to go, but progress is being made. 7: As usual, I both surprised and pleased the teller at the bank when I moved some money from savings into my IRA. They wanted to know if it was for tax year 2018, but I could tell them last year was maxed out and it was for 2019. 8: Got to practice my training and supervising skills with @arrowhearts.  9: Spent the night at Lucy’s (she’s a cat). She’s the sweetest cat though, and was cuddling in my lap for so long! She even held my finger with her paw for like ten minutes. I love her. 10: It’s been forever, but I finally sat down and played some video games. I’m replaying Arkham Asylum again and really just exploring every nook and cranny I can find. 11: Might have started a new Francis story line ... Whoops :) 12: Helped Jane clear an apartment and acquired many new tools and art supplies to use. 13: Snow! It was snowing before bed, but I still woke up at 5 am to about 4 - 5 inches. Activated my dad gene and started shoveling at 5:30 am (sorry neighbors to the house I was dog sitting at). It’s so pretty out! 14: A quiet day, but I did some work for Jane and gamed some more. Can’t wait to start Arkham City when I get 100% on Arkham Asylum! 15: I took my coworker a basket of fun snacks from Lotte for her Birthday. She’s so excited to try them all! 16: Donated blood today and when I went to get dinner on the way home, I got a free salad! The entree was already free and I ordered a side salad. I pulled out my wallet to pay, but the coupon covered it, too!  17: Treated myself to breakfast on the way into preschool (my new volunteer place since the teacher I followed to several elementary schools is now at). Also ate some amazing home cooked food for lunch with @nah-young before going out for ice cream. 18: Did some very early spring cleaning to prep for my next yard sale and straighten up a bit. 19: Beat the storyline and finished gathering all of Riddler’s trophies in Arkham Asylum. I do still need to finish up the additional content for 100% completion. 20: Working with Jane to help clean out an apartment again and got stencils to use for my art (the ones with shapes of different sizes). I had wanted to get me a set, so I really lucked out. 21: Started reading a book for fun. Lol, I forgot that I can still read non-accounting things for fun. 22: Sent out 1099s at work. It’s always a dreaded part of the year, but it’s taken care of! 23: I started uploading my old Franmouche stories to AO3. I forgot that I’d written 185 pages of them. At least if someone else likes my rarepair, they have lots to read. No guarantees on the quality, but there is quantity. 24: Made fun penguin cutouts for the preschool class I volunteer at. Then studied for nine hours on campus. A busy, yet productive day. 25:  Finished watching all my lectures for the next portion of the CPA exam! So much auditing knowledge!!! 26: Panic alleviated. My check engine light had been on for a few days. Usually it’s just a gas cap issue so I was worried, but after readjusting the cap again (which usually fixes it) and an oil change, the light went out! 27: Played some Pokemon Go for four hours with @arrowhearts and Lyla. No Kyogre, but at least we each got a Groudon. Plus, the weather was beautiful for this time of year. 28: I found a dollar today while sweeping the parking lots with my dad! I’m gonna be riding this wave for a week. (Fun fact: my dad and I used to go bike riding on Sunday afternoons/evenings in the local parking garages and look for pennies. We’d always get bragging rights when we found a quarter or more. We still get excited and tell each other of the day’s finds when we find a few coins while we’re sweeping). 29: Had a bit of a headache, but managed to get through it so I could finish the workday. Then I get some well deserved rest. 30: Met up with @nah-young for some fries and ice cream! 31: My annual physical went well! Took care of a couple test we’ve been putting off, too, and they weren’t quite as bad as I thought they’d be.

February

1: I had such a productive day in the office, even for a Friday. Special thanks to @arrowhearts for helping me move all (24  years worth) of our files. 2: Started off the day a little rough and feeling low, but I decided to go up to campus, and I’m so glad I did. I was able to help a bunch of people get to their destination. Also hung out with @nah-young and @arrowhearts in a sketchy room. 3: Technically today (starting at 1 am). Had a great talk with @nah-young about a lot of things including our friendship. Successfully avoided the Super Bowl (which I heard sucked, so that was a good use of my time). 4: Had a really good conversation with my dad for almost an hour. We had some fights earlier in the year, but it was nice to be able to connect some. 5: It’ll be silly to look back on, but I thought I lost a reference letter for a scholarship applicant, but realized I could find it on our shared drive. Such a relief! 6: I tried Duck Donuts for the first time today. One of our board members brought me and a coworker a half dozen each. 7: Caught a Miltank in Pokemon Go! I thought I missed my chance, but there was a special running, so I got it. 8: Just heard we got a new boss at work, so it’ll be nice to be full staffed again. 9: Started working on a painting for @arrowhearts. It might be my first completed artwork of the year. 10: A lazy day, but I flipped through a book on home decorating. You know, to plan for my future house. 11: Officially started working for Jane’s business. We’ll see how it goes, but at least it’s an extra couple of hours per week. 12: Finished a dog sitting job, and I’m super thankful to be sleeping in my own bed again. 13: I gave Lucy, the sweetest cat ever, a piggyback ride and it was the cutest thing ever. I was on my knees and forearms trying to get Lucy to boop my nose when she just climbed on my back and sat down. I rose up on my knees and hands and she did the “i’m not so sure but I’m going to stay here” stand and let me crawl across the floor a while before finally jumping off. I love this cat. 14: Took the auditing section of the CPA exam. I feel much better about this one than I have about the other two. We’ll see on the 26th. 15: Such a busy day at the office! It was productive, but just a lot of work. 16: Even though I just too the other exam, I managed to get a lot of studying done. 17: Mamaw and I got to chat and work on the puzzle for a while. It was nice to hang out with her since I haven’t done son in quite a while. 18: We had some really good food at our investment club meeting today. Sheppard’s pie (like meat and mashed potatoes), salad, this great cracker dip (I have no other details other than feels like sharp cheddar finally shredded with a hint of spice in some sort of sauce). 19: Our new executive director started today. I think I made a pretty good first impression! 20: Started playing Arkham City again. We had a snow day and even my office closed, so I made the most of my day. 21: Lol and today I finished the main storyline of Arkham City. Accidentally, because I was doing side quests, but Batman got mad when I tried to go finish some before the last mission. 24: I am obsessed with Excel, but I figured out a formula so that it would total certain categories even if they weren’t in order. Plus I learned how to make a drop down menu (on two versions of Excel). Guess who’s budget looks beautiful! 25: I caught a Latias in Pokemon Go. Not having much luck with the water legendaries. I wonder if they don’t like me because we picked the grass starter. 26: I passed the Auditing section! (and instead of keeping it quiet, I made a point to tell some people). Then @nah-young and I went to dinner to celebrate our successes of the day and just have a nice chat. 27: Good news: I starved off a migraine that was starting on Feb 26. Maybe this new method will help them from getting bad. Just took an Aleve with some hot tea. 28: Went on a Pokemon run, and I found $20 blowing across the yard when I got home! A nice find for the year.

March 1: I’ve been really getting into “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub and had so much time to just sit and read while it rained. 2: I watched “Spiderman: Enter the Spiderverse” today. An epic movie and I highly recommend it! I also have several new costume ideas... 3: Officially started working on my Library Comic Con cosplay. There’s not much to show, but it was nice to start costuming again. 4: Hiked up to the nearby bubble tea. It was good! I got a mango green tea creama. Next time I know I have to mix it up before I start drinking it. 5: 6:   7: 8: 9: 10: Started replaying Castlevania IV. It’s been a while since I beat it, so hopefully I can still finish it! 11: I have proven myself an Excel deity. Well, at least Jane thinks though. She needed a spreadsheet for something and had some ideas so I whipped it out in five minutes flat with a bunch of formulas she didn’t even know were possible. I’m quite proud of it. 12: Lol, speaking of excel, I was geeking out over my budget with one of our board members. She was showing me how she built her itinerary in excel for her next trip and I got to show off my budget. 13: 14: 15: It was fake St. Patrick’s day at work, so I got to show off my green Riddler suit. Apart from being mistaken as dressing like a leprechaun a few times, I received a bunch of compliments on it. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of that suit jacket. 16: Tagged along with @nah-young to her grandfather’s birthday party and watched Bohemian Rhapsody. Apart from the timeline inaccuracies, I really enjoyed it! Look at that: two new movies in one month. 17: First big leaf job of the season. I guess the first major landscaping job. Dad helped out, so it made life easier. 18: Investment club meeting went well, and I ended up staying late to chat and help clean up, but it was enjoyable. Also had some great tiramisu from Trader Joe’s. 19: 20: 21: It was a downpour today, but I also made a 20 minute Costco run. Parking was great, the lines were short, and I managed to balance everything without a cart. Success! 22: Finally got around to doing invoices. It’s such a weight off my chest to take care of them. 23: I had the house to myself, so got ample studying done, played some pokemon, and treated myself to some bubble tea. Got myself a bunch of good pokes from Community day. 24: Another lovely day to sit and hang out with @nah-young. I always enjoy our hour long conversations just sitting in my car in her driveway. I also finished the lectures for the BEC portion of the CPA exam. 25: I found a gift card loaded with $30 today. It had been thrown into the dumpster, so a little gross, but it washed off nicely. 26: Ran up to the local library to turn in my books (look @arrowhearts, I did it the day before they were due and didn’t have to make a midnight run). I wasn’t going to check out more books since I already had some checked out from another library visit (I go to many branches due to my job and often check out a book or two, resulting in cycles of books due at different times), but I did anyway. I started reading Area X, too, and so far, I’m really enjoying it. 27: Our family’s accountants think I’m a bit weird because I was so excited to get my tax papers back even though I owed money. I was just like “cool!” to all the facts and things on my sheets, which is apparently not what they’re used to, but one of the new tax laws works in my favor as small business income is taxed at a lower rate or something. 28:  29: 30: I love Annihilation in the Area X series! I haven’t plowed through a book that fast in years. 31: I was catching up on my business spreadsheets and it turns out I had the most profitable March since I started my business :)

April 1: No April Fools jokes, which is always a huge plus. 2: 3: 4: Took the BEC section of the exam and then clocked in a bunch of hours for the Foundation. Jubilee is almost here!!! 5: 6: The Jubilee is over!!! What a relief! A lot of things went well, and I heard it was a lot of people’s favorite. Not sure what actually happened because I was stationed at check in/out all night, but hopefully the silent auction results are good. Huge shout out to @arrowhearts and @nah-young for getting me through the night! 7:A quiet morning of returning the Jubilee to the Foundation. Plus some other landscaping. 8: I know everyone at work is saying I should take time off, and I didn’t, but I’m actually feeling blessed that I have the physical and mental stamina to keep working on things. Plus, I need to catch up with post Jubilee stuff. 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19:  Got to talking with my art dealer for a long while and we exchanged headcannons and ideas. 20: Had a nice Pokemon run with @arrowhearts‘ dog. Plus, enough work to keep me out of trouble X) 21: A very busy Easter. I moved a huge mound of mulch. It was half the size of my car. Hopefully the home owner will like it. 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31: I’ve been feeling behind, but I finally knocked out a really important thing at work today. Got our annual applications in!

May 1: 2: 3: My gauntlets for my comic con costume look so cool! They’re a little stabby (there’s staples on the inside, although I should be able to tape it down for safety), but overall look cool for a first draft. 4: A long day, but I feel like I was really able to help my friend and her family, which is nice considering how much they do for me. 5: The event that happened wasn’t good, but I’ve been humbled as to how well our house was kept and motivated to try and become more organized. 6:  Dad and I were chatting today, and we could even touch on topics in a civil manner. It was quite nice!  7: Just found out I passed the BEC section of the CPA exam! I’m 75% CPA!!! And no cavities were found after my dentist appointment :) 8: Frantically working on my costume, but my head piece looks really good! 9: Mom even chipped in to help. We rigged up a steampunk mask I have (which doesn’t fit on my head right) so that I can actually wear it. 10: I’ve been fasting for Ramadan and I think my body and I are finally on the same page. It was a rough start this year, but I’m looking forward to focusing on being thankful for what I have and working on self discipline. 11: Library Comic Con! My costume is a bit rough, so no final pictures, but I have plans to make it better! 12: It was a busy Sunday. Lots of lawns, but thankfully the weather was cool. 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: Had a nice meeting with my boss. I keep feeling like I’m not on top of things or she’s disappointed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Plus, she said I did great at the finance committee meeting, so that was nice. 18: Although I scared everyone I worked with all day, I was able to donate blood even though I had been fasting.  19: I saw the tiniest inch worm while I was pulling weeds today. It was more like a quarter inch worm and it was just trying so hard to climb up my arm when I found it. I also saw the first lightening bugs of the year. As a bug type Pokemon trainer, I’m quite pleased with all of this (less so with the mosquitoes though, as I got my first bite of the season). 20: I have found a nice way to keep cool at the property Dad and I work at. I’m allowed to douse my head, neck, and hat with the hose, and man does it feel good! 21: I received many compliments at the executive committee meeting for all my hard work on the budget, the Jubilee, and finance committee. 22: Caught up on reconciliations at work (finally). It’s been just a nightmare, but I’m happy they’re done. 23: Another me day. I’ve been taking Thursdays off and got to game for a bit but also accomplish a lot of laundry and studying. 24: Had a good meeting at work to discuss the future of the nonprofit I work at. Plus I finally made a phone call I didn’t want to make. 25: Went to a foam helmet making class with a coworker. I’m super excited to start trying out this style, and I think the sample we made in class can easily be used to make a helmet for Vile. Might have purchased a few things to go with it :) 26: Found a new drink that I love from Kung Fu Tea! Also got to rewatch Coco, which is always good. 27: Part of my afternoon spent working with Jane was changing her screen saver. It was set up for one photo of pictures, but some were so fuzzy, so we set up new pictures and I got to add my fuzzball to the reel. 28: I visited one of Jane’s friends to discuss dog sitting and we had such a nice conversation afterwards. 29: I found a four leave clover today while mowing lawns. It’s been years since I’ve found one, so that was exciting. 30: I plowed through about 6 hours of studying for the FAR portion of the CPA exam. Only two more lectures and then onto multiple choice! 31: Filled out a form at work (finally). Now I just have to hope my boss will sign it and have it notarized.

June 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: Took the (hopefully) last CPA exam. It was nice as I spoke to an elevator engineer before the exam and it helped to calm my nerves a bit.   7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: Wasn’t sure what day to put this on, but @nah-young and I hung out for hours just sitting and chatting on the cats’ back porch. 15: Successfully navigated into DC with the help of @arrowhearts (and had an interesting laugh about her being my son...? Oh well, at least we got to give the people sitting outside a show as we left the building with two rollie office chairs each). 16: Started working on my Halloween costume. I’ve abandoned the idea I originally had and will be switching to a different Mega Man X character (fun fact: it was a costume I originally intended to make before being introduced to Scaramouche back in 2017) 17: It was a scorcher, but had a slurpee for the first time in almost a year. I’m so thankful for the 7-11 within walking distance of where my dad and I work on Mondays. 18: I’ve officially passed the CPA exam! Now onto the next steps... 19: I have been struggling with telling people good news, but I did make an effort to inform some people about me passing the exam. 20: Told some more people about the CPA exam and just trying not to stress. I got celebratory milkshakes for my family after dinner. 21: My coworkers are so sweet. They brought me in a cake and we had a mini celebration. 22: 23: 24: 25: 26:Found a praying mantis while mowing. She kept standing where I wanted to mow, so I got to pick her up and put her somewhere safe (with lots of snacks for her!) 27: 28: 29: So glad I went to see Detective Pikachu with @nah-young and @arrowhearts! I really enjoyed it! 30: 31:

July 1: A new fiscal year! I did manage to get a good bit done on my latch hook. 2: A sudden thunderstorm took me off the weed pulling job early (i.e. a perfect opportunity to read). 3: It was quiet in the office. Too quiet ... yet super productive! I processed so many gifts and letters. 4: I don’t really celebrate, and spent a lot of it working, but played some pokemon in the rain. It was a warm day, so the cool rain felt so refreshing! 5: A jammed packed day with trashrooms, a bank run, and more pokemon quests! I completed another 15 and hatched a new pokemon. Plus I finished another book: Dr. Death. 6: A busy day, but I was able to finish everything so I can take the next day off completely (for once). Again, apologies to @arrowhearts  for dragging you out and getting caught in a downpour so I could get some bubble tea! 7: 8: 9: 10: Unboxed my unicycle! Not sure when I’ll ride, but it’s ready when I am. 11: 12: 13: 14: The vanity is back in my bathroom! Dad’s renovating it, and it’s been a slow process, but I finally have a sink! 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: Spent a few hours working on cleaning the basement, and I’m finally seeing some of the fruits of my labor. 21: 22: 23: 24: Officially finished the Vile helmet! 25: Just started a new dog sitting job, and the house is right on top of a pokestop. Guess I’m going to have a full item bag again! 26: Finally got myself a memory stick for my PSP. I’m replaying the Maverick Hunter X game ... because I can! 27: Got three team rocket grunts in one day at the one stop. 28: Plowed through the Vile portion of Maverick Hunter X. Lol, I probably make it harder on myself since I only use my favorites, regardless of if they’re good against the boss. 29: Had a huge crab and shrimp dinner at Jane’s house. 30: Hung out and ate delicious homemade butter chicken with my best friend’s mom (she’s basically like my other mother). We laughed and chatted, showed off our latest projects, probably kept the neighbors up, and just had a good time until like 2 in the morning.  31: Welp, it wasn’t a raid day for armored Mewtwo, but @arrowhearts and I did defeat more Team Rocket Go grunts in the rain.

August 1: Chatted with @nah-young for a few hours and I’ve got a new place to eat on my radar! 2: I kept feeling like I was letting my boss down because I couldn’t answer her questions/didn’t understand, but she insisted I was handling myself well, and found the information she needed later. Plus, she’s very complimentary of my work and appreciates my transparency and work ethic, both of which I work hard on and value. 3: 4: 5: 6:   7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31:

September 1: 2: 3: It’s official! We’re having a Halloween party at work. If my new schedule turns out, I’ll be at work on that day and will show off a costume. Not sure if it will be the one I’m working on, but I can always recycle an old one. 4: 5: 6:   7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: I had such a good ripstik run. @nah-young and I practiced for a good while yesterday (and she did her first trick, too!). I guess it’s nice to see the fruits of our practice since we’ve been working off and on for about a month. 16: Had the investment club meeting at my house. I didn’t get to cook everything, but I picked the recipe and it turned out well! 17: I finished “Every Tool’s a Hammer” by Adam Savage (from Mythbusters) and I really recommend it. It’s such a great book for anyone who makes or creates. It’s a fun read and chocked full of helpful hints. 18: I decided to start reading the Naruto series. I’m enjoying it so far! Now I just have to wait for the next to volumes to be available from the library. 19: I started replaying Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase. It’s amusing, although I’m a little rough. 20: 21: 22: 23: I’d been on the fence about taking a vacation early next year because I want to save up for a down payment, but after talking to my dad, I decided I’d do a little something. I still need to work out the plans (and make sure the people I want to visit are free), but I’m looking forward to it! 24: 25: 26: There’s a chance I might be going full time at my office job, so dad encouraged me to take the day off from trash rooms. I still got up early, but knocked out a bunch of chores, finished Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase, finished a drawing, and cleaned in the basement a bit. 27: Lol, I just realized I have three cycles of books checked out again. I started reading The Wicked Years series. I’m trying to set aside time each night so I can read a chapter or two before bed. 28: I made the pattern for my gauntlets! I’m actually trying to do it the right way and making measurements, creating an accurate template, and just generally taking my time. 29: Part 2 of the gauntlets: They’re made! My template worked and I spent a couple of hours slowly forming and shaping them. I still need some practice on the gluing component, but at least they feel sturdy. 30: Started replaying DK 64 again. I really love this game. Besides Gauntlet Legends, it’s probably my favorite N64 game we own. 31: Got rained out at work, but managed to take it easy in the afternoon and just generally keep ahead with laundry.

October 1: Today officially marks the first day of working full time at my office job. They added ten hours a week, so now I’m working 4 days at 10 hours each. It’ll take a little adjusting. I’m happy for the extra hours! 2: I sent out invoices on time for once! 3: It was my fuzzball’s 16th Birthday today! Someone also brought in some really yummy snacks to work that were leftover from a meeting. I also managed to create templates for the leg gauntlets and cut them out of  foam. I’m just rolling with the motivation now, and would like to have Vile finished by Halloween (keep reading to find out if it was finished). 4: Really just having a good time playing DK 64. Knocked out Gloomy Galleon, so all that’s left are my favorite levels! 5: 6:   7: I have leg gauntlets formed. Lol, I guess I should look up the name... All that’s left is the chest plate and cape! 8: I lucked out! My coworker can’t go to a book signing even this weekend and asked me to get her book signed since I’m going. It was the perfect opportunity to get my hands on a copy of “Where the Crawdads Sing” which I wanted to read before this weekend. 9: Making some headway on the costume again! Arm and leg gauntlets have the plating and base coat of plastidip. 10: I finished “Where the Crawdads Sing” within 48 hours of having it my possession. That’s such a huge accomplishment to read something so quickly and eagerly! 11: I was plowing through my to do list at work. I knocked out 11 items. Woo! 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: My Halloween costume is finished *gasp* before Halloween! Barely, but it counts. 31: I won the most creative costume at work! Well, tied for first, but that’s cool.

November (whoops, I really forgot to write this month) 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6:   7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31:

December 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6:   7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: My coworker is back! She had been on extended leave for a while, but now she’s back. She bring such a positive and fun attitude to the workplace. 13: 14: I’m officially 25! I worked a few hours in the rain, but got a lot done (and saw Lucy, my favorite cat I cat sit). Instead of going to a steakhouse for dinner, which I’m not a fan of, we ended up going to somewhere I did enjoy. Overall, it was a nice and quiet celebration. 15: 16: 17: I finished the Naruto series today! It was a good series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Going to take a manga break to work on a few novels I have checked out and then  decide which series to start. 18:  19: A busy day again. Knocked out two leaf clients for the year and went to see three bands perform at a local music club. I stayed out way too late, but had a great time hanging with a friend, one of the performers, and the performer’s friend. 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: Hung out with my brother and grandmother. I crushed them in several games! 25: Went to my coworkers in the afternoon and dueled for the first time in quiet a while. They wiped the floor with me, but I had fun with my deck destruction deck. 26: 27: Ended up hanging out with Jane for a while and just chatting about everything. We’re seeing eye to eye on a lot of things, so it was nice.  28: Finished my leaf jobs for the year! Time to relax. 29: 30: 31: Welp, ended up being sick and missing out on the intended New Year plans. I guess I did start the year with a migraine, so here I am ending it with one. After I rested up, I did start playing my favorite video game. Plus, I frantically read “Hey, Kiddo!” before the end of the year

Notable stuff

Highlights: Passed the CPA exam Officially hired full time

Books read: “Ghost Stories” “Every Tool’s a Hammer” “Where the Crawdads Sing” “Wicked” Naruto series “Hey, Kiddo!”

Movies watched: Spiderman: Enter the Spiderverse Mary Poppins 2 The Princess and the Frog Pokemon Lucario

[discyours]

only post if anon// are there alternatives to birth control when it comes to really bad period pains? the cause is being treated but it's still very bad and i've heard the side effects of bc are awful /: ty!

Yeah there’s always painkillers, you just have to make sure that you’re taking the right kind. I always took paracetamol aka tylenol because it was my mom’s go-to painkiller so it was what was in the house, but ended up learning that that’s the worst thing to take for period cramps since it actually increases bleeding and doesn’t do much for muscle pains. Ibuprofen (aka advil) is a much, much better option (tylenol still wins for headaches) and naproxen (aka aleve) is a good option too. Not actually sure what the difference is between that and ibuprofen but it’s what my doctor prescribed me when I went off birth control and it’s often the drug in products that are specifically marketed for period pain. 

I started taking birth control for period pain when I was 14 and I’m still really angry about it. My doctor at the time never even suggested that I try different painkillers first. I think it did help my cramps somewhat but that was probably partially a placebo because I had really bad side effects the first three months (mostly extremely bad headaches and nausea) so I wanted to believe that I didn’t go through all that for nothing. They stayed pretty painful though, and even when I got my doctor’s permission to start skipping periods completely the ones that I did have were still awful. I didn’t think to quit until last year when I noticed that my dysphoria was considerably lower when I stopped taking it for a week, despite menstruation being awful. I actually almost completely stopped having cramps as soon as I quit and it’s mostly stayed that way, so at least anecdotally the idea that birth control is always the best thing for cramps isn’t accurate. 

I don’t want to demonise birth control because it’s genuinely an amazing invention and has been vital to achieve the level of freedom that women have today. And it is relatively safe. But its overuse in treating any and all female specific health conditions is a genuine problem. It’s not a miracle cure, your hormones do a lot for your body and messing with them should not be taken lightly. If nothing else helps your period pains then it’s absolutely worth a shot, just keep in mind that if you do it’s not a good idea to stay on it for years at a time without checking whether you still have cramps without it. 

I’ve also heard anecdotes of people whose periods got shorter and less painful when they switched to a different menstrual product, especially when switching to non-disposable products. It could just be a placebo and I don’t believe there’s any studies on it, but it could still be worth a shot. If nothing else it’s better for the environment. 

[jenthebug]

AvenJuly Day 4

Workout: LEGS

Hulk does a lot of squatting and leaping. Let’s get those legs strong enough to shred through some purple pants, shall we?

AVENJULY GUEST STAR: @insertcaffeine !!

That’s right. Guest star. AvenJuly is shaking things up this year!

Jen was one of my first follows from about 3 blogs ago and longest friends on this little blue planet we call Tumblr. She works out! She balances fitness and mental health! She draws really cute chibi characters! She is slowly, kindly, patiently teaching her rescue dog (fondly called “the Asshole Brigade”), a feat that honestly would try the patience of the strongest person. Jen is a shining example of keeping a Bruce Banner cool in situations that most of us would Hulk out in.

Thank you so much!  Today has been one of the most frustrating days I’ve had in a long time.  I did the workout (OMG LEG DAY OUCH), which was actually the least frustrating part of the entire day.

I’ve had a 5/10 headache all day. (New followers, I have a herniated disc in my neck that causes chronic pain: headaches, muscle spasms, and neck pain. I am all about the pain scale.  0/10 is no pain, 3/10 is annoying but bearable, 5/10 is “I’d probably call in sick to work,” 7/10 is a huge problem and I’m going to urgent care, and the thankfully rare 10/10 means all I can do is scream and drop F-bombs)

I’ve been dealing with the Asshole Brigade and Momo’s very loud insistence that the End of Days is upon us.  I’ve been driving around town, taking Lynn to see relatives.  And I’ve been obsessively soaking the lawn, because the neighbors like shooting off fireworks and I like it when my yard is not on fire.

Continuing on!

Briefing

According to him, “Hulk loves puppies”, and one of the funniest ways Hulk has been reverted back to Banner is by playing with dogs. What’s your best cool-down strategy when you’re feeling frustrated?

GTFO! A break, a distraction, a change of scenery, or simply deciding that a particular battle is not worth fighting are great ways to deal with frustration.  Also, puppies. Hulk knows what’s up.

If I’m at work, I take a break.  If I’m home with the kid and we’re on each other’s nerves, we go out.  If I’m stuck somewhere and angry, I look at instagram. (My entire feed is cute animals) If I’m running errands and mad about it, I will literally stop at PetSmart and browse and pet people’s dogs.

Now, I have a headache.  There’s no escaping from that.  So I’m distracting myself, watching replays of Summer Games Done Quick. 

I’m also throwing everything I have at the headache. I’ve taken Aleve, done PT, had both caffeine and tons of water, eaten healthy foods, and taken muscle relaxers. Next: cold pack!

After a distraction, after a break, do what you can to solve the problem!

[novipedia]

How To Prepare For Microblading HD Quality

You should also note the tips in taking excellent before and after photos to add to your portfolio. How to prepare for your microblading appointment?

Microblading shading before and after 6 weeks after

Avoid physical effort, gym and any other activity that may cause excessive sweating for at least 5 and up to 14 days.

How to prepare for microblading. Have patience and do not scrub, rub or pick at the eyebrows. If you want to get the best results possible, microblading prep is a very important step, and any professional will tell you that “it’s all in the prep”! Avoid swimming, lakes, hot tubs for the first 10 days.

Two weeks before your appointment, do not get any facials or do any tanning. Here is a pro tip we’ve learned through our experience, which changed the game for us. Today we list down 6 of the best ways to prepare for microblading/powder brow tattoo.

You need a good canvas to work on in order to achieve great results. These substances can cause your blood to thin, which increases chances of bruising and bleeding. The canvas needs preparation to be in optimal condition for the painting.

How to prepare for microblading. Sunbured skin is a no go! • first of all 24 hours prior to your appointment, do not drink alcohol or caffeine.

Also, if you plan on having a sunny holiday, please schedule your trip a minimum of 30 days after the procedure. Because extreme sun exposure may cause hyperpigmentation as you heal. Refrain from all medications that cause thinning of the blood including but not limited to:

Preparing skin for microblading is something you learn and improve with experience. Do not drink too much coffee on the day of the procedure. If you are generally ready to have the microblading treatment then there are a lot of the things which are needed to be followed and these particular tips preferably help you to prepare yourself in the best way possible for the next microblading appointment.

No waxing or tinting 3 days before procedure. Do not tan or have a sunburned face the day of the procedure. No alcohol or caffeine 24 hrs before procedure.

Make sure that your device is charged, whether you are using your mobile phone to take photos or a camera. Do not rub, pick or scratch the treated area. Precare tips for the microblading.

It is a best practice when you’re doing any treatment, to take before and after photos of your client’s brows. Do not tanã‚â (no sun) for one week prior to the procedure. To prepare for your visit with your dallas microblading artist, please avoid sun and tanning bed exposure for 2 weeks before your procedure.

Avoid caffeine the day of your procedure. Be prepared that for about 3 to 4 days after eyebrow microblading, they will most likely be darker than desired. Skip the sun or tanning booth for at least 3 days prior to your procedure.

There will be certain restrictions with aftercare and your brows will go through healing which will not look very attractive for the. Refrain from alcohol consumption 24 hours before receiving microblading. Avoid sleeping on your face for the first 10 days.

Avoid topical makeup including sunscreen on the area. Click here for the hydrafacial instructions. Remember, with the proper prep and aftercare routine you will have.

When a microblading session may not be the best for you Do not rub, pick, or scratch the treated area. In order for you to look perfect, you need to prepare your face with a moisturizer, primer, foundation and powder before jumping to more complex steps such as bronzer and eye.

When getting ready for your microblading session, make sure you attend your appointment with enough time to get in, relax and have some refreshments before any work begins. The procedure should only be taken by an adult 18 years of age or older. At atlanta microblading, you can get the best microblading service for the perfect brows.

Aspirin, advil, aleve, niacin, fish oil. It’s recommended to avoid coffee and other forms of caffeine (including decaf, green tea, and alcohol) before microblading. Can i drink coffee before microblading?

Think of your eyebrows as a canvas that the technician is about to paint. Here a few of her recommendations on what to do and what not do the days before your treatment: First, they will be very bold as the color begins to settle into the skin.

Get an idea of what you want your final result to look like. Just like a painter needs to clean and prime a wall before they apply color, your skin needs to be primed and ready for your microblading appointment. Remember, with the proper prep and aftercare routine, you will have much better results with your microblading procedure.

Ok, if you’re new to the world of microblading, we’re here to give you a crash course in what to expect from your first microblading treatment and how to best prepare yourself for the first trip into the microblading salon!here is how to prepare for microblading from our team to you. Do not work out on the day of the procedure. Because microblading is a procedure that involves cutting into the skin, you want to make sure that your skin is as healthy as it can be before your appointment.

Skin preparation is as important as the actual treatment and the aftercare. Avoid sun exposure, tanning beds, pool (chlorine is irritating), sauna, steam rooms, hot showers and/or hot baths for 3 weeks. The microblading process is done with a series of different blades that consist of micro.

Print or save them on your smartphone. The same goes for your eyebrows! Stop taking aspirin, niacin, vitamin e, fish oil, coq10 and ibuprofen 48 hours before procedure.

• 72 hours prior to your appointment, do not take advil or other blood thinners such as ibuprofen, aspirin, niacin or vitamin e unless medically necessary. Preparing adequately for a microblading procedure will help you get the best results.below is a guide on how to prepare. Book your appointment during a time where you do not have any outdoor activities and/or social events for the following 2 weeks.

Bring some photos of the brows you love and want to emulate as well as a photo of what your brows look like when you do your own makeup. Here are some great tips for preparing for microblading:

[iscribblin]

Journaling Day 5

It’s been a few days since my last journal but it’s been a bit busy. I stayed the night at my cousin’s house (Alev) and hung out with her family Friday. She has two really cute sons, Poyraz who’s 6 and Deniz who’s 2. It’s really cute because all Poyraz wants to do is play with you (reminds me of me at that age) and Deniz just wants to be included in all the fun. Sometimes Poyraz gets angry at Deniz for getting involved and messing up the games but overall I think he’s excited and happy to have a little brother. It seems he’s taken on the “big brother” role pretty well and tries to help out and look after him.

I feel bad because I made a comment to Alev about how I feel so insignificant in the topics I discuss sometimes when the stuff she deals with is much bigger but I think I accidentally offended her. She said it made her feel kind of old and distant when that’t not what I meant at all. Plus, I need to remember that this kind of stuff is fun to hear about for people who don’t have to deal with that stuff anymore. I really should make an effort to go out and visit her more. I just wish the weekend lockdowns would end.

On Saturday I returned to grab Allison and then we went to go get her tattoo done. I told her I would go with her to help out and keep her company and I could tell she really felt appreciative but the whole arrangement just felt awkward. I love doing that kind of stuff for friends but sometimes she makes it feel so transactional. Like she said she would buy me dinner which is a nice gesture but I feel like I would prefer having a friend who I feel would be there for me in tough situations and it would never feel like a “bother” and vice versa. I don’t know it’s hard to describe. I get along with her but something about her personality just makes it a bit awkward. I think she just has a weird upbringing/background so I need to cut her some slack. But I sometimes do feel like when I’m “lenient” and genuinely nice and a good friend to her she doesn’t give me the same in return. I think she’s just a very independent person which isn’t a bad thing but the way she is it just seems like she’s the kind of person who could sever ties with you and not look back. I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see how our friendship continues (if it even does) after these years.

On Sunday I read some but mostly sat around most of the day dreading returning to work. Normally I’m not the most excited person to return from breaks but this time was especially hard I think because of quarantine. It’s not that I dislike distance education it’s that I feel like I’m not getting the “breaks” that I need to feel happy and content with working. I’m dreading things more and more when usually I enjoy lesson planning and such. Thankfully Sunday night right before bed, I came up with a spur of the moment lesson plan to start the lesson off Monday morning to help students have a different outlook (”Cheers to the New Semester”) and had them set goals for themselves. After the lessons I felt good (even if it was a bit awkward at times) about the idea and remembered that first days are seriously not that bad and I need to not let it blow up on my mind.

Finally today was sort of a big day. You know that guy I mentioned a few entries back? The one I was more “excited”for? I finally met him. :)

His name is Baturay and I feel like for once I have chemistry with someone as well as having him check off quite a few of my checklist items. I know checklists are lame but I should preface with the fact that my checklists are not requirements merely “pros” in my mind about a person. The first check he marks off is that our conversations are entirely in English and his English is SO GOOD. Not just that but he gets a lot of the references I make and makes a lot of his own as well. He dad was in NATO so he was actually born in Virginia but grew up in Turkey (kind of opposite of me) but also was educated in Belgium for a few years and that’s where he acquired his english speaking skills. My second checklist item he checked off I discovered today...he doesn’t smoke!!!!! This one makes me SO happy since it is SO hard to find a nonsmoking guy in Turkey. Both of these I was willing to compromise on but the nonsmoking one I was almost sure I would have to and it’s nice I don’t even have to worry about that.

Anyways, the reason I’m so excited in general is just the way we get along. There’s almost no silence while talking--we flip from one topic to another but even moreso, as I discovered today, he’s playful. He likes throwing in cute little jabs which is SO my thing. I love someone who can be playful with me and joke around. Since we are in quarantine/lockdown, we can’t really do much of anything so our date had to be at the mall. I know right? Talk about feeling like in high school again. But we ran our quick errand at BAUHAUS which he was actually helpful for (I liked that he got involved and didn’t just let me deal with it) and then we grabbed coffee and sat outside on the benches. There we were able to take off out masks and I think talk for like an hour and a half to two hours just chatting about random stuff. It all just felt so effortless. After the date I drove him home since he doesn’t have a car and I’m still renting mine from my cancelled trip to Amasya. When we got to his apartment he mentioned for a second time when we would meet up again so I think he’s feeling the same way I do which was pretty understandable from our conversations anyway but it’s still nice to have that reinforced. We talked about playing tennis Friday which sounds fun but I also want to see him on the weekend while I still have the car and it seems these lockdowns will be continuing. I like that he’s pretty adamant about not breaking the law and earlier when we discussed cheating on exams he was pretty against that as well. Shows me he has a good moral and ethical compass which is a rare find here. But if we can’t go on a walk and he’s not willing to bend the rules a little it seems our only option is me hanging at his house which I’m just not sure I’m ready for. It seems like that could lead to some muddy waters and I just want to continue spending friendly time getting to know each other. So I’ll have to keep reflecting and thinking about what we can do to navigate that. Or I will just have to be patient and skip weekends for now. 

Dear please God open up weekends in Turkey again so I can actually get to know this guy I like. It feels right, and that is rare for me. So please.

[gcldenrush]

get  to  know  the  mun  !                                                                                       repost,  don’t  reblog.

——— BASICS.

(PEN)NAME  :  Stella

PRONOUNS  : she / her.

ZODIAC  SIGN  :  Libra Bitch

TAKEN  OR  SINGLE  :   h a h

———  THREE  FACTS.

Animals take to me really quickly   ---   it’s like a super power!  A great one, considering I love them back, but I can’t count the number of surprised dog owners who exclaim how shy / aggressive their pup usually is towards strangers, while they’re curled up in my lap just enjoying the love.

Over the past year, I’ve been dealing with crazy health stuff!  I came down with a mystery illness in December 2019, which was eventually diagnosed as TMJ disorder, mostly affecting my muscles instead of my jaw.  As a result, I had to get adult braces ( yay ), and was put on a prescribed regimen of NSAIDs  ( Aleve, Aspirin )  ---  which we quickly realized I’m super sensitive to, in the very worst way! After a few months taking them, I ended up with a stomach ulcer and gastritis, which made this summer super fun. Now, I’m definitely on the mend   ---   ulcer is gone, gastritis is going, and the braces should be off super soon   ---   but 10/10 cannot recommend chronic health issues.

I’m an English major with a focus on creative writing  ---  my goal is to write novels, but I’m also venturing into screenwriting. I’ve recently finished the first draft of a six episode historical Titanic miniseries, and am working on a 1920s murder mystery now.

——— EXPERIENCE.

Hmm...  I joined Tumblr RP in my freshman year of high school, having observed the RPC from afar for a while before that. This was in, like...  2013 Tumblr, so nothing close to what exists today.  I played a certain X-Men character who will not be named.   It was a short spell, I fell out of enthusiasm with it quickly, and didn’t get back in the game until...  2016-ish.

I was in the Historical RPC for a long time  ---  because I’m such a musical lover it’s not even funny, so musicals like Elisabeth and Anastasia are my exact jam.  I’m no stranger to multimuses :    I ran a historical / fantasy multimuse at @starblcssd-a​  for over a year  ( Dwight’s old home ), but...  stepped away for reasons I’d rather not get into.  It was a messy situation that led me to leave the RPC pretty abruptly, and stay away for about...  five months.

Right now, I write Melanie Ravenswood @ravnswood​  ( Ghosts!! I love ghost muses! ), and an immortal OC over at @eternlle​.   Evelyn is my first OC who’s really taken off, and...  I’m honestly having so much fun writing her, and exploring her character.  

——— MUSE  PREFERENCE.

I think, between both genders, I’m definitely partial to girls    ;    it’s easier for me to get into their heads somehow, and boys always feel a bit more experimental.   ( So this blog is...  very exciting, haha. )   I don’t want to say I’m drawn to...  “cinnamon roll” characters, but I’m definitely better with characters who feel things intensely. Passionate characters, emotional characters...  people who love deeply and laugh loudly. Not necessarily extroverts, just...  characters with a lot of heart.  I write a lot of ghosts, and you can bet they all died tragically.

Some favorite muses I’ve written   ---   Cosette from Les Mis, Poppy Hill from The Haunting of Hill House  ( I write a mean villain! ), Helena Ravenclaw from HP, and Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia.

———  FLUFF  /  ANGST  /  SMUT.

FLUFF  :    Yes!!  Always!  I’m always up for light - and - happy threads!

ANGST  :   Ohhhhh yes, give me my juice.

SMUT  :     I have no talent for it, and definitely don’t feel comfortable writing straight smut. It’s not my favorite to read, and I don’t like writing it. Steam is more than okay, and I’m more than happy to allude to things, but just...  nothing too descriptive.  I’m very Baby that way.    ( If we ship together though, just know, my brain’s probably conjured at least one sexy fantasy about our muses. )

PLOT  /  MEMES  :     I really have problems with plotting, with...  engaging with people, especially over Tumblr IMs, mostly because...  my pandemic-brain isn’t really up for it?  I’m shy, I get distracted easily, and  ---  oof  ---  I can’t count how many messages just zoom in and I completely forget to reply.   ( It’s nothing personal, I swear! )   I’m way better at plotting when we’ve actually been writing for a while, and we both have a few ideas.  I think I prefer plotting over discord, but don’t want to just...  give my discord out to anyone.    As for memes, I love memes!  I love continuing memes!  Slowest person to answer them in the world, but memes are amazing!  Honestly, If there are no open starter calls, memes are the best way to interact with me.

[lovemesomesurveys]

What’s your favourite cereal? Fruity Pebbles, Life, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Cap’n Crunch Berries. Is there a bus stop near your house? Yeah. Do you prefer red wine or white wine? When I used to drink I liked white wine. Red wine gave me bad headaches. What’s the last airport you were at? Why were you there? The one near me to drop a family friend off. Who do you live with? My parents, younger brother, and pup.

Do you read reddit? If so, how often and what subreddits do you like? No. Have you recently broken up with a significant other or even just a friend? No. What’s the weather like today? Is it nice enough to go outside? It’s going to be like a high of 62 F with rain. I’m staying indoors, but I love that kind of weather. Do you know anyone who’s had a baby recently? No. Have you used a pen or pencil today? What did you write down? Not so far. What does your last text message say and who is it from? My mom forwarded a text my dad sent her of his Christmas list. Can you count how many times you’ve seen your favourite film? I have a few favorite films and I’ve seen them numerous times. When was the last time you ate marshmallows? I honestly don’t remember. Do you listen to any podcasts? How do you listen to them? No. How old will you be in the year 2030? 41. :O How often does the kettle in your house get used? We don’t even have a kettle. Does your skin bruise easily? Do you have any bruises right now? What from? Somewhat. I don’t think I have any at the moment. What was the last thing you spent $150 or more on? I’ve spent more than that on Christmas presents. I got a bit carried away this year, but I wanted to spoil my family. Do you prefer yes or no questions or more open-ended questions? Open-ended ones for surveys. What brand of toilet paper do you usually buy? Charmin. If I knocked on your door right now, would you be acceptable dressed? I mean yeah, but it’s almost 2AM and I wouldn’t answer my door. Why did you leave your last job? I’ve never had one. What colour were the last socks you wore? Black. Are you studying currently? What level of education and what do you study? I’m done with school. Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and left without paying? Nooo. What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud? This vlog I’m watching. What’s your favourite scent of air freshener? Cinnamon or patchouli. How many weddings have you ever been to? 3. Do you know anyone named Nora? No. Are your hands and feet in good condition or could you do with a mani-pedi? My fingernails are horrible. When was the last time you played a board game? What did you play? Months ago. I love playing board games, though. How old were you when you first became sexually active? (consensual sex act) Virgin. Have you ever been to a festival for beer or other type of alcohol? No. Do you own a record player and/or vinyls? I have one vinyl of The Sound of Music lol. When was the last time you went out for drinks? Like 5 years ago. Have you ever been to a strip club? Nope. No interest in going. What’s your favourite kind of smoothie? Strawberry and banana. Do you know anyone with a 'virtue name’? (Google it) Yes. Would you ever wear real authentic leather? No. Have you taken out the trash today? No. How often do you wear make-up? Very, very rarely now. What’s your opinion on The Simpsons? I never got into it. Do you prefer horizontal or vertical stripes? Horizontal. What’s your favourite brand of deodorant/antiperspirant? Secret Powder Fresh. Do you know anyone who has been through a divorce? Yeah. If you had the money, would you take taxis everywhere instead of driving? I don’t drive, but if I need to go somewhere my mom or brother takes me. Have you ever done a juice cleanse? Nope. Do you have any friends who you can’t decide if they’re attractive or not? Well that’s rude. Is the inside of your fridge clean right now or does it need a clean out? It’s clean. When was the last time you washed the dishes? I rinse off whatever I use, but either my mom or dad really does the dishes and loads the dishwasher. Are there any magazines that you read on a regular basis? Nope. Do you have to pay for parking in most places in the town/city you live in? No. If there is a parking meter, I’m allowed to use my handicap placard. What’s the first thing you tend to do when you have a headache? I can’t take aspirin at all, and Tylenol/Ibuprofen/Aleve/etc doesn’t help for headaches for me, and Tylenol has something my narcotic has so I don’t mix those things. All I can do is ride it out. If it’s a really bad one then sometimes I try peppermint tea and just sleep it off. A cold washcloth over my eyes helps, too. Tell me about your responsibilities at work. No job. What’s your favourite style/cut of underwear? Hip huggers. Can you hear lots of traffic from your house? Does it bother you? Nope. We have a freeway behind us, but there’s a noise proof wall and it works. We occasionally hear like a big rig, but that’s about it. Have you ever had proper Canadian poutine with the squeaky cheese? Nope. What’s squeaky cheese, Lane? lol. Do your parents know how to operate smartphones and/or computers? Yeah. My dad will ask my brother and I help with some things, but my mom is always on her phone or iPad on Facebook or doing whatever, so she knows more about it. How old are your parents, anyway? Early and mid 50s. Are you allergic to anything? What do you have to do to prevent them? Tangerines. What song is stuck in your head at the moment? “Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s got to make it to town...” Do you hate it when people try really hard, or do you kinda like it? What. What’s your boss’ first name? Do you call him/her by that name? No boss, no job. When was the last time you wore a uniform of any kind? What colour was it? No idea. Do you complete a survey before taking this one? Will you take one after? Yes, and I’ll probably do another. Have you ever lost enough weight to drop a dress size? I’ve always been thin, but I’ve lost some weight, which became really apparent as someone who was already thin as it was. I’m actually underweight now. What’s your favourite kind of bread? Wheat, white, sourdough, french bread, and pumpernickel. When was the last time you got pizza? What toppings did you get? I haven’t had pizza in so long, actually. I just like cheese and pesto on top. Do you own Monopoly? Is it the original or a special version? Yes. What was the last thing you said out loud? “Goodnight.” You have to choose one: cats or dogs? Dogs. Would someone being either a cat or dog person effect you dating them? It’s fine if they were a cat person, but if they like hated dogs then that would be a problem if we were to live together because I’m 100% a dog person and would have to have one. I’d be fine with cats, too, but we’d definitely have a dog. How do you travel to and from work? Do you primarily use cash or card for your purchases? Why? Card. Have you ever been to a stadium concert? Yep.

[chelsorz07]

21 year old me was a little bitch

So is 28 year old me. Got another one for y’all. 2010/2017.

Are you cheating on someone right now? no. never have, never will. Still haven’t, still wouldn’t.

Day been rough? nope. it's been a good weekend. i'm just tired. Yeah actually, I spent most of it in bed sick.

Where was the last place you fell asleep other than your bed? the bed in my hotel room. The cats’ bed. Yes, they have their own full size bed. And yes, I sleep there with them sometimes.

Would you kill a hobo for 100,000,000 dollars? if i could avoid the repercussions of homicide, sure. I would kill anyone for a hundred million dollars.

What makes you laugh no matter what? "wang whiplash" lol Memes. 

Have you done bad things with your parents near by? sure. Yeah but in hindsight not that bad. Just like, smoking cigarettes on the roof.

Do you think your future will be a good one? we'll see. Some days I have hope, some days I’m not sure I’ll see tomorrow.

If you could pack up and leave your life now to move away, would you? no. things may be starting to look up. Not leave but if I could bring my life back home to PA with me that’d be optimal.

Will your next kiss be a mistake? hopefully not. No.

What were you doing 12 AM last night? hanging in the hotel with my mom. watching a halloween special on HGTV. Watching TWD.

What does your ex mean to you? everything. He’s still my best friend, even after all the shit we’ve been through.

Honestly, who are you texting? no one. i'm gonna go to sleep after i'm done here. Everybody’s sleeping.

How late did you stay up last night and why? 2ish. that's early for me. i had a couple glasses of wine and actually slept more than an hour for once. 9am.

What if your boyfriend or girlfriend went through your phone? i don't have a boyfriend. Husband now. And I don’t care. Although I doubt he’d feel the same if the situation were reversed.

Are you angry with someone right now? no one in particular. Not really I just still feel crappy.

Do you have sex everyday? i wish. Funny. I’ve had sex four times all year. Once in January, once in February, and twice two weeks ago.

Do you do drugs everyday? nope. No days. Unless a steady stream of Aleve, ibuprofen, heartburn medicine, and Sudafed counts.

Have you hugged anyone in the last 72 hours? probably maranda. I have not.

Is it awkward when you run into your ex? no. we still hang out. We try to hang out every time I’m home. If not, I’ll at least visit him at work.

Do you hate the last girl you had a conversation with? sometimes. Fuck no she’s my ride or die.

If you are up after 3 am, what are you most likely doing? trying to sleep. this happens every night. Sudoku, Netflix, and Youtube.

Does anyone call you baby? yeah but i wish he wouldn't. i'm not his girlfriend. and i'm sure as hell not his baby. Um no. We’re not a “pet name” couple. I call him Dick and he calls me “hey”.

Your latest ex calls you and asks you back out, you say? i thought you'd never ask. Sorry, taken.

Do you think you'll be single for the rest of the year? probably. I haven’t been single in a very long time.

Be honest, do you have feelings towards anyone? yep. You betcha.

Is there a girl you can tell anything to? michele and erica. Amanda. And more recently, Faith.

Has anyone ever drunk/high called/texted you? sure. it goes both ways. Many times.

Is there a guy that knows everything about you? yes. Two or three. Dave, Mike, my dad. Maybe Mark (my brother-in-law).

Have you ever liked someone just because they were good looking? well yeah. who hasn't? but if there's nothing deeper, it doesn't work out. I can appreciate some human beauty.

Do you think you can last in a relationship for over 6 months? i have. Over 8 years. Despite the fact that we weren’t technically together the first time I took this quiz, we decided that those 18 months didn’t count because we still spent every day together anyway and knew we’d end up here.

Have you ever lost someone you wish you didn't? understatement. Yeah but I got them back.

You love someone? indeed. I love a lot of someones.

You've had sex with over 12 people, haven't you? nope. two. and one of them, i shouldn't have. That number is the same. But the second one - a subpar one night stand in a Dodge Ram? Bleh. We don’t think about it.

Was 2009 a good year? best year of my life. It was quite good.

Do you think 2010 will top 2009? worst year of my life. 2010 sucked. 2017 has been a roller coaster.

Will you be dating someone in six months? i don't have a crystal ball. Married.

Who is the last person you physically hit? my mom, but jokingly. I don’t hit people.

Do you plan on getting married someday? i would if it were to the right person. I am.

Which is harder: walking away from somebody you love or coming back to someone who hurt you? walking away. hands down. Walking away. Never could.

Did you sleep alone last night? well my mom was in the room too. Yeah Dave won’t be home for a couple more days.

Do you believe teenagers can be in love and stay in love? in VERY rare cases. I mean I was 19 when I fell in love and still am.

Honestly, have you ever eaten raw cookie dough? of course. Yeah but I don’t anymore. Not really that into cookies. 

Did you wake up in the middle of the night last night? several times. I didn’t even go to sleep until late morning. And yes, I woke up a lot. I do that.

Would you be able to date someone who doesn't make you laugh? not a chance. Hell no. I need the lulz to survive.

What's the biggest annoyance in your life right now? having to be patient even though i know things will work out eventually. My physical ailments and my location. And the fact that my tv is a piece of shit so I have to keep turning it off and on just to get sound.

Are you a patient person? no. but i have to be. obviously. Not even a little.

If you could go back in time and change something, would you? i don't think it would have made a difference, to be honest. I wouldn’t have let things get so bad with my family. And Dave and I would’ve gotten married at the courthouse instead of having a big wedding because it was a disaster.

What are you looking forward to in the next 7 days? friday. Dave coming back, getting Primanti’s, and going home this weekend.

Is it easy for you to talk to people of the opposite sex? yeah, now it is. It’s not really easy for me to talk to any people, unless they’re an important part of my life.

Did the last person you kissed name start with a B? no. Negative. 

Do you stay up later than ten o'clock on a week night? i haven't been to sleep that early in like ten years. I don’t go to bed at night anymore. Like ever.

Are you taller than 5 foot 7 inches? no. I’m 5′6″.

Are you one of those people who just don't care? ohhh...i try to claim that i don't. but it's not true. Hahaha alright that’s still the case.

When was the last time you laughed hard and why? wang whiplash. Memes.

Are you generally a happy person? not lately. No I’m a miserable cunt.

Whats on your shirt? hey monday. The Horde crest from WoW.

Where will you be in an hour? here. sleeping. Probably right in this very chair.

Who was the first person you talked to today? mom. I haven’t talked to anyone today.

How do you feel right now? tired. In pain. 

Had sex at school? nope. I didn’t even have sex for the first time until long after I graduated.

Who was the last girl you talked to? mom. Amanda.

When’s the last time you talked to your sister? like 20 minutes. Allie, probably a couple weeks ago. Mandi, couldn’t tell ya. Even when we’re in the same room we don’t speak.

Do you regret something you did today? no. I regret doing nothing today. But I couldn’t really move.

Do you miss someone? yes. I miss everyone. Dave when he’s gone, my family, my friends, my home. I just want to go back.

Will this Sunday be a good one? if i can take a nap, yeah. I’ll be in Bradford so yes.

Are you keeping a big secret right now? i don't have any secrets. Still an open book.

The past 72 hours have you been under the influence? yes. Nope. Don’t drink anymore.

What was the last thing you drank? dew. Water.

Have you ever had a panic attack? many. More than I can count. But I haven’t had one in a while.

Have your parents ever smoked pot? my dad did once. my mom never did. Same.

Want someone back in your life? like you would not believe. The people I want in my life are in it, they’re just too far away.

What's your favorite color? green. Green, black, grey, plaid.

Do you listen to music every day? i have to. it keeps me sane. Usually but I haven’t today. Didn’t have the energy to play anything.

Have you been a happy, angry, or sad person lately? sad, mostly. angry if i think too hard. happy? well, we'll see. All of the above, and then some.

Are you an emotional person? very. Yessir.

Has anybody ever given you butterflies? he still does. every day. i don't even have to see him. Yes.

Do you ever think about stuff and start crying? yeahh.. Often.

When is the next time you will see the person you last kissed? probably never. i'm fine with that. Possibly Wednesday night, definitely sometime Thursday.

Have any memories that you'd like to forget? no. Oh yeah.

[jhessail]

This took forever but here’s another part!

https://jhessail.tumblr.com/post/179884933509/quick-disclaimer-i-do-not-own-yu-gi-oh-do-not Part 1 https://jhessail.tumblr.com/post/180390075874/httpjhessailtumblrcompost179884933509please Part 2 “https://jhessail.tumblr.com/post/190212985974/chapter-1-chapter-3-a-card-a-card-a-card“ Part 4

“Is he going to be okay?” One of the boys that carried Stephan asked the nurse, a young-looking man with pink hair and a scruff of hair on his chin. Yuna faced the nurse with concern from the boy’s question. The man looked at the group of teens in front of him and rubbed his hairy chin.

“You’ve done well to bring him here, I’m sure once the ambulance gets here, he’ll be perfectly fine.” The teens shared an exhale of relief. “What happened?” The nurse asked seriously.

“He just showed up like this Mr. Cameron.” One of the other boys spoke. Mr. Cameron studied the group closely but Yuna turned away to look over Stephan. Who would do this? Yuna had to turn away as she could feel a gurgle of anger swirl around her shoulders, the eyes answering her rage at the injustice of the collapsed boy’s injuries. Yuna knew she couldn’t actually do anything to avenge this incident, but she still couldn’t help but feel like she could. She knew none of the details behind what happened but Stephan had the courage to come to school even after his obvious pain.

She couldn’t do anything to ease that, but she could offer her friendship after he recovered. She wasn’t going to join the Duel Club but she would offer to play a match to help Stephan get better for his tournaments when she had free time. Thinking of matches…“Hey Tatsumi, did Stephan send you anything about this?” Yuna shook her head, rage still massaging her shoulders tensely.

“No this morning was the first I saw of him since yesterday.”

“Is there a reason he would contact you...Tatsumi, was it?” Mr. Cameron quirered. Yuna frowned, breathing through her nose to calm down, her hand gripping her duel card. The girl turned back around to see the boys who helped her and Mr. Cameron staring at her.

“He was supposed to answer a riddle I gave him, but we didn’t exchange phone numbers so he wouldn’t have had any way of contacting me…” She should have thought of that. Why didn’t she give him her cell? Mr. Cameron tilted his head,

“Are you not registered on the grid?” Yuna blinked, mimicking the nurse and tilting her head.

“Grid?” She was suddenly surrounded by stunned stares and Yuna suddenly felt nervous.

“You really weren’t joking about not owning a deck!” Said one of the boys, standing out with his spiky black and red hair. Yuna’s face must have shown an incredibly amount of confusion as the boy continued, “Anyone who has a deck is registered to a grid system in city hall.” Okay? “It makes it so we can pretty much duel anywhere and anytime, our decks and a lot of information is paired together, so if you were registered he’d be able to contact you through that.” Huh...Yuna wasn’t aware of that. Was that how it worked back in Neo Domino as well?

“Hello! We’ve come to take the injured!” Yuna jumped at the loud voice that erupted in the room, four men marched in, guiding the students away so they had room to maneuver and take the incredibly injured Stephan. Yuna watched, misery churning as the professionals started to set off, an audience gathering to watch. Yuna squeaked as they passed, Stephan gripped her elbow. At her shriek the carriers paused, one of them grabbing his hand softly. He wasn’t letting go.

“Miss, please follow us for now, we don’t want agitate the patient.” Yuna helplessly looked down and frowned as Stephan was crying again, his hand gripped her harshly but shook at the same time. Yuna nodded and kept pace with the EMTs and even found herself climbing into the back of the ambulance. Oh she hoped someone told her teacher she wasn’t purposely skipping class. The ride was smooth, one of the EMTs worked furiously to heal Stephan. His bandages got replaced, an IV was set up and Yuna watched with horror.

“W-why…” Stephan started to speak. Yuna forced herself to focus on the young man, she could feel her hands starting to shake. “Why haven’t you taken one of my cards?” Yuna could feel the EMT’s eyes piercing her core, but she ignored him. Yuna sighed and answered,

“That was something Tsukasa came up with. I didn’t want to take any cards in the first place.”

“I thought...you liked Duel Monsters…” Yuna nodded.

“I do. I love it so much, but I love the Kings even more.” She flushed a little, her hand moving to softly grip Stephan’s hand, rubbing her thumb on the top of his hand. “I live my life by what I think they would do. At the end of the day, if they had the choice, I think they wouldn’t take a card from a fellow duelist.” Yuna smiled, her heart feeling exposed with that truth. Of course the Kings had taken cards from fellow duelists, but often through rules or necessity but not from a second thought prize. “If you really want me to take a card, I was going to go for cards you don’t put in your main deck.”

Stephan watched her through her tiny speech and while he stopped feeling the pain of the stabbing sharpness from his outer wounds, there was a part of that terrifying goop that had attacked him yesterday still smashing his insides. He felt guilt from seeing what kind of girl she was. Stupid and cute yes, but also sincere. He gritted his teeth in pain from both how earnest the girl was and the goop of what was surely the shadow realm mashing up his organs, the painkiller rushing through his veins doing nothing to aleve the terror.

He hissed and gripped Yuna harshly, earning a gasp of pain from the girl. He could get rid of the goop inside of him, he could feel it. Like he felt earlier he had to let the girl tell him the answer to the riddle, now he had to get her to take a card. He coughed and both Yuna and the EMT gasped as blood inched its way out his mouth. “Stephan!” Yuna cried as the EMT started to take measures to help the young man. He opened his mouth to plead but the EMT must have put something other than pain killers in his veins, because his vision became black and his words incomprehensible.

“Everything will be okay miss.” Yuna nodded as Stephan’s grip finally slackened and she could pull away. Sympathy crossed her expression and she looked away as the EMT started to do tests. Yeah, she would definitely offer her friendship.

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

“Hi big sis!” Claire greeted her enthusiastically and Yuna gave her a short awkward smile back.

“Are you bleeding?” Ms. Mokfu asked alarmed as Claire grabbed the tri-colored teen’s hand. Yuna frowned, looking down at the hand that Claire held. The blonde looked up at her incredibly concerned.

“No I’m fine. This came from...a friend.” Yuna smiled sadly down at the girl, rubbing off the crusted blood she hadn’t realized was there. “But don’t worry about that either, he’s going to be fine.” Yuna reassured the children who stared at her. Ms. Mokfu studied the young woman and watched the children crowd around her.

“Are you sure you’re fine? If you need to take today off it’s okay.” The teacher offered. It wouldn’t be a big deal, the kids in her classes were used to the shenanigans of the children and the lessons that Ms. Mokfu would end up circling around their actions. Yuna shook her head,

“No, I really need to be around my other friends.” Yuna finished and her face transformed, flushing with embarrassment. “I-I mean with them! It’d be irresponsible of me to take this duty and take off the third day!” Ms. Mokfu watched as the teen yelled at her very animated, then continued to watch as Yuna grabbed Ryu and Claire in her arms and fled, more words to defend her decision were spoken as she went into the side building. As they closed the doors of the building, Ms. Mokfu turned and looked at one of the two spirits that was always with her.

“Could you keep an eye over here?” Guardian Angel Joan smiled at her gently, then shook her head. The teacher scoffed, “Oh come on!”

“Sky Scout isn’t here, you need protection with you.” The Duel Monster bluntly stated, no compromise was in her voice. The teacher rolled her eyes, stomping her way to her classroom. Ugh, she was lucky most of her students were lax and go with the flow kind. Tsukasa being the heavy exception to that rule. The blonde teacher made her way to her classroom, pointedly ignoring the Duel Monster flouting behind her, hoping she offended said Duel Monster. She could hear the students from outside her classroom, which is what she was hoping for, for more potential answers of the mysterious blood on Yuna.

“Hey did you hear about what happened at Seawynne High?”

“Yeah, and I heard it was Ayumu’s fault.” Ms. Mokfu frowned. She knew Tsukasa was cold around the edge but he had never physically hurt someone. No he gladly always volunteered to duel his problems away. Something Ms. Mokfu knew all too well.

“I heard it was over a Duel Monster’s card.”

“Well that’s no surprise, there’s no one who’s more obsessed over Duel Monsters than Ayumu.”  

“Is it true Ayumu?” One brave soul asked. “Did you start a fight over a card?” Ms. Mokfu couldn’t stop herself from peeking into her classroom, seeing a yellow-coat dark-haired girl towering over the sitting brunet. The young man looked up at the girl and said nothing. A harsh tension sifted through the room and the girl, Ms. Mokfu recognized her as Bethany Oliver, stood where she had asked the question, frozen like an icicle.

“Well Ayumu?” A boy wearing a red coat asked, walking up behind Bethany and pushing her to the side slightly to become the new focus.

“I did nothing wrong.” Tsukasa simply stated, and his gaze went back down to the book that was open on his desk.

“Aha, of course not! C’mon Beth, let’s go.” The boy pushed Bethany back to their desks, chastising the curious girl. Tsukasa was the only blue coat in Ms. Mokfu’s room, but he also did not wear said blue coat. The dividing classes between the red, yellow, and blue coats existed but because this was a cram school instead of a full academy the focus on superiority wasn’t as focused on. Ms. Mokfu tried to listen a little harder, hearing harsh whispers of gossip of what happened but Tsukasa’s voice interrupted in spying,

“Ms. Mokfu.” She jumped, her cheeks flushing as Tsukasa continued, “If you are not going to teach us today, I could go to Dr. Horai’s classroom today.” The teacher paled and opened her door,

“No I’m here! I can teach you all amazing card techniques!” The teacher started to charge into the center of the room and yelled as she tripped over her coat, falling flat on her face, giving the kids a much appreciated round of laughter from everyone except Tsukasa. Ms. Mokfu moaned as her nose started bleeding. When she got up, holding her nose and praying inwardly it would stop from just her plugging it up, she jumped when Guardian Angel Joan shifted in front of her. The teacher bit back the words she wanted to tell her worried spirit but then realized the angel wasn’t even facing her.

“Ms. Mokfu do you need a tissue?” A considerate yellow-coat boy asked, walking up and phasing through Guardian Angel Joan to give the teacher a handkerchief.

“Thank you Sam.” She unceremoniously stuffed the handkerchief in her nose and studied the duel spirit, seeing she was focusing on Tsukasa. Weird. “Alright class, today we will go through some of the rarer counter trap cards and how they can-”

“Ms. Mokfu...please go to the nurse’s…”

“You’re bleeding from your mouth now…” Her students bluntly remarked, worry in their tone as the blood from the stuffed nose just traveled to exit her mouth when she spoke.

“Oh...I suppose I should.” She saw Tsukasa roll his eyes, “I will be back in a minute children.” The rest of her students continued gossiping as soon as she left the room. She wasn’t stunned when Guardian Angel Joan appeared by her side. “You alright?” The teacher asked, marching instead to the bathroom to clean her face.

“...I will not lie to you, I am fine.” Ms. Mokfu rose an eyebrow, “Something’s bothering you though.” The angel turned to look back at the room the two had left.

“I am unable to exactly figure it out...but there may be something coming...regardless, I will continue to protect you.” The teacher rolled her eyes.

“That something gotta do with Ayumu?” Guardian Angel Joan gave her a meaningful glance that of course told the teacher nothing. The teacher cleaned her face and worked on making her nose stop bleeding while pondering what could have possible happened. She’d just have to keep an eye out on Tsukasa, because surely the gossip was exaggerated.

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

“NO! WE’RE DUELING TODAY!” Kayo’s voice somehow echoed in the small building.

“I’M NOT GOING TO DUEL A LOSER LIKE YOU!” Sakura yelled back even louder. Yuna covered her ears as Claire started to join in the shouting match with obnoxious giggling. How did they even get like this? Yuna had answered Claire’s incessant questions about what happened to her today when they started to argue. As though to answer her thoughts, Ryu pulled his sketchbook up to Yuna’s easy to spot level and it remarked,

“Kayo challenges Sakura to duels often because Sakura’s a better duelist than him.”

“Oh? You’re a duelist Sakura?” Sakura scoffed at her question, banishing Kayo away with her hand. Kayo bared his teeth at her for the motion,

“Yes but I find dueling boring.” Yuna felt offense creep on her face and Sakura glared at her with disdain, which told Yuna that her third eye likely peeked a little out from her forehead while Kayo hissed,

“If you find it so boring hurry up and give someone else your cards!” Sakura faced the pink-haired boy with an ugly look. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear you say that.” Yuna blinked, seeing Kayo bit his lips tight and tears starting to fill his eyes. Sakura’s eyes also looked bitter with the sting of liquid. Yuna had no idea what just happened so her next words came out slowly,

“Um. Could I see your cards?” She hadn’t asked to see Kayo’s deck before because she had been preoccupied with reading the children stories and making sure they got their stupid delicious food on time and of course the unfortunate game between her and Stephan. Sakura and Kayo shot her dirty looks so she continued waving her hands awkwardly, “I mean if you don’t mind. I don’t want to use your decks or anything…” She rubbed the back of her head shyly, “I’m just curious about what kind of cards you have.” She continued to be stared at harshly by the two when Ryu wrote something new in his sketchbook,

“Come on guys, if you’re going to spend time yelling at each other than you can let Yuna look at your cards while you do that.” At the words, Kayo’s gaze became softer and he dug into his backpack with a sigh.

“I’m sorry Sakura.” Kayo muttered, moving things around his backpack and keeping his face hidden away from the white-haired girl. Sakura tensed and turned away, quietly muttering back,

“It’s fine.” Yuna tilted her head, wondering what exactly what that was over. Her confusion was interrupted when Kayo drew out a fancy tin box and pulled it open. Yuna stared at the deck in the tin with fascination and wonderment.  

“Oh they’re all so cute!” Yuna started to softly touch the cards, her hands practically feeling like static electricity ran through them, spreading them carefully. This was the first time she had ever gotten to directly touch a deck. Back in Neo Domino, nobody ever offered her the chance to touch or even look at their cards. “Most of these are Madolche cards…” Yuna muttered to herself. It took a determined mind to successfully pull off the combos that could win the duel with these. They were cute cards that didn’t mostly didn’t have high attack or defense, but they were hard to keep down if you got the Queen out. “Do you like cute things Kayo?” Yuna cheerfully asked. Kayo glared at her and grabbed his cards, putting them back in his tin.

“I don’t care that they’re cute.” Yuna tilted her head in a confused way. “I can’t lose by deck out with these.” Huh...It was true that it was quite difficult to deck out with them but was that really a big deal? Most duels didn’t last long enough to be a deck out loss unless someone had actually built their deck that way. Dishonorable in Yuna’s opinion, but it was an option. The young woman pondered inwardly if Kayo lost by deck out a lot.

“Here.” Yuna blinked as Sakura brought out her own box. It was better decorated and reminded Yuna a little of the description of King Yugi's millenium box. Yuna glanced at Kayo to see the boy shuffle off next to Ryu who wrote something to show Kayo. Yuna then focused on Sakura’s cards as the girl opened the box.

“A fusion deck!” Yuna recognized the uniquely colored monsters immediately. “Crystal Gem Knights…” she muttered like she had earlier noting Kayo’s deck. Sakura puffed her chest out proudly,

“I’ve never lost a duel.” Kayo made a short displeased sound from next to Ryu.

“Do you want to see my deck big sis?” Claire asked, holding her hand in the air as Yuna kept staring cheerfully at the cards in front of her.

“You have a deck too Claire?” The blonde nodded cheerfully. “Kayo why don’t you challenge Claire to a duel?”

“Because I can’t get better dueling Claire.” Kayo sneered as Ryu put his sketchbook in the boy’s lap. Yuna looked over at the girl who just giggled at the remark. Well if she wasn’t offended then Yuna shouldn’t have to worry about it.

“Well okay then, sure Claire, I’d love to see your deck too.” Yuna turned her attention back to the fusion deck, the cards looked incredibly well-kept and all of them were shiny. They must have been a stupidly expensive set, “Man no wonder you’ve never lost before Sakura, this is a great deck.” Sakura beamed smugly at her. Yuna put the cards back carefully in the fancy box, “But don’t get overconfident, if someone gets rid of your fusions you could lose.” Yuna winked at the dark girl whose face transformed immediately at the insinuation. Claire burst between the two before Sakura could start yelling at the older girl,

“Here’s my deck!” Claire had hers in a normal deck holder and she beamed cheerfully as Yuna looked through her cards. Ah, she could understand now why Kayo wouldn’t want to duel Claire. It was an unbalanced deck with low powered warriors and mis-matching robot cards that didn’t affect each other. She had very little trap cards and a few equip spell cards, her strongest monster was the Puppet King but with what she had she wouldn’t be able to get him out short of pure luck. Still,

“These are awesome Claire.” Yuna smiled at the young girl. A deck was a person’s soul and if Claire’s soul was a low powered deck right now, then that’s just who Claire was, and there was nothing wrong with that. Claire beamed and giggled cheerfully.

“I have an idea!” She suddenly burst after taking a few moments of giggling and bragging while Kayo and Sakura just stared bluntly at the blonde. “I challenge you to a duel big sis!” Yuna gave the girl a shy smile,

“Sorry. I don’t own a deck myself.” Now knowing that people were registered to a grid system for some reason, she wasn’t surprised when the children gave her shocked looks. Claire was the first one who shook off the shock and remarked,

“Well that’s okay! There are training decks inside the cram school.” Claire beamed. “You’ll even be able to use some of the old duel disks too.” Yuna felt her heart race.

“Old duel disks?” Claire nodded and Kayo spoke,

“Yeah, they’re sometimes used as a cap since a lot of the newer rules aren’t programmed into them. I’ve heard they’re also used for the history lessons at the cram school.”

“Oh you know quite a bit Kayo.”

“That’s all Ms. Mokfu.” Kayo replied with disgust on his face.

“And because the duel disks work from the older rules, the decks they have prepped are specifically for them!” Claire cheered, as though she was finishing a thought she was trying to speak earlier. “So come on,” the blonde grabbed her hand, “I challenge you to a duel big sis.” Yuna felt a rush of adrenaline flow through her and she stood up immediately. Stars and hearts felt like they were flouting from her aura as she bounced in place to be led to this amazing place with old technology and a deck she could duel with.

“Wait a minute, are we allowed to use that stuff?” Ryu’s sketchbook flew into her gaze and immediately Yuna felt despair creep down her spine.

“We’ll be fine.” Claire waved Ryu’s worry off. Sakura brushed her hair and said, “If we get caught I’ll just say mommy said we could.” Even Kayo cheered from that, confusing Yuna for a moment, but she threw any questions because who cares? Dueling! Dueling! Claire led the older girl with the other three children following them as they creeped into the Duel Cram School.

Every time they entered this school, Yuna always felt a form of exhilaration enter her. It didn’t seem to be that big a deal the earlier times, but today she was going to duel! Ah, who knew babysitting her new friends could come with more benefits than friendship!? The group entered a room that didn’t look like it had been opened in a while, when the lights shot on Yuna could swear she saw dust particles float in the air.

Duel disks were behind a glass display and behind them were decks. This place had one heck of an honor system because they weren’t already taken...or perhaps most people didn’t consider them as good cards. Regardless, Yuna could feel herself bounce in place again, patiently waiting for permission from the children to charge in.

“What are you doing here?” Yuna screeched, jumping forward into the room, then turning to the voice. Seeing him instantly made her eyes reappear, she may have pushed thinking about what she would do the next time she saw him to the back of her head, her body apparently did not. Her body was tense and she glared at the brunet who stood in the doorway. Yuna twitched when Claire touched her hand,

“Big sis are you okay?” Tsukasa just stared at her with a blank face. As confusing as his non-reaction was, Yuna was still incredibly angry at him. He was acting like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t disregarded Stephan’s life for a card earlier. Yuna marched towards him, standing up as straight as she could, feeling a strange imposing nature overtake her as all the eyes focused on the brunet.

“I asked you a question.” Her irritation must have flowed into the air because Tsukasa’s face morphed slightly in response. Otherwise he didn’t budge and seemed to patiently wait for a reply. Claire spoke from Yuna’s side, having followed the intimidating getting more upset woman,

“I challenged big sis to a duel.” Tsukasa looked down to the blonde and understanding crossed his eyes. He moved to position his hand against his face remarking simply,

“Pretty sure you don’t have the clearance to use this equipment.” Yuna felt conflicted, she was still incredibly upset by Tsukasa’s regard for human life but it was hard to stay angry at someone who wasn’t reacting to her scary eyes. He wasn’t even asking the same questions the kids did. Did he just not see them? 

“But...you were going to use one of those decks?” His eyes met Yuna’s own.

“Of course I was, I don’t have one remember?” Yuna felt a strange feeling cross the air as soon she spoke. Tsukasa smiled at her, and suddenly Yuna’s anger fled for a replacement of fear.

“Then...why don’t we duel instead of you and her?” He seemed too excited for this. “You’ll be dueling an actual student of this school.” He came closer to her, it took all of Yuna’s willpower to not shift backwards. “We can even make it an Intention duel.”

“Intention?” Yuna asked nervously.

“You don’t know?” Tsukasa tilted his head momentarily, passing by Yuna to open the glass panel to the duel disks.

“Well it is only a regional rule.” Kayo offered, shifting to be by Yuna, nervously Yuna noted. “I wouldn’t do it if I were you Yuna.” She looked down at the boy,

“Why not?”

“An Intention duel lets a person decide a rule in the duel. Like...they can forbid magic cards being able to be played, it’s just to spice up the duel…” Kayo looked away nervously for a moment as Ryu and Sakura moved close to him. “But I have heard it being used for gambling and other things.”

“What do you mean for gambling and other things?” Yuna asked, flinching slightly as a loud screech echoed in the room as the glass panels hadn’t been maintained for a while. Heck of an honor system.

“An Intention duel can also be used for bets. Like a duelist could say they intend to win someone’s wallet.” Sakura helped, her hands gripping Yuna’s skirt with tension in her grip.

“Are you right or left-handed?” Tsukasa’s asked.

“R-right.” She answered.

“Anyway, yeah, Yuna don’t do an Intention duel with Ayumu.” Kayo insisted, this time also gripping Yuna’s skirt. All of the children were gripping her skirt now, all of them looking incredibly nervous. “He’s a blue coat who’s never lost a duel before.” Sakura nodded to his words with complete agreement. Tsukasa faced the group, a duel disk on his right arm and he had another duel disk in his hands.

“These disks will only allow tribute, fusion, and ritual summons.” Ah it’s true they looked the oldest brand of the dueling disks in the room. “So that will cap the duel perfectly for someone who’s never dueled before.” He sounded smug, but hearing that he’s never lost a duel before he may have earned that smugness. And if ‘blue coat’ meant Obelisk like in the stories than yeah, dueling an Intention duel against him was probably a bad idea. Yuna wouldn’t mind just dueling in general but…

“You want to do an Intention duel with me Tsukasa?” He just smiled at her for an answer. A part of her shook because of how confident he was, but another part of her, the loudest part of her, was shaking with excitement. She’d be able to duel someone, using the same technology of the oldest Kings. She almost felt like someone was whispering in her ear, enticing her to react to her deep inner thoughts. Right, what would a King do here? “Alright. I accept your challenge!” Yuna pointed at Tsukasa, her stance shifting to stand tall. Tsukasa presented her the duel disk, like a peasant to a king.

She felt Ryu pull her skirt particularly hard, and when she turned to him he gave her a worried look. A smile that was not her own but inspired by the Kings she loved spread across her face. “Don’t worry guys, everything will be okay. I just have to believe in myself and in my cards.” She saw Sakura grit her mouth and was a little surprised when Kayo tensed. If she had enough time she would have asked why they were all so scared, but she accepted Tsukasa’s challenge. Yuna walked forward to the still presenting Tsukasa, the children let go of her skirt.

When she slipped the disk around her left arm, it felt like the first breath of life one took after being underwater for a long time. She wasn’t sure, but it also felt like she could feel every cell in her body bursting with energy. Despite herself, she took a deep breath and spotted Tsukasa at the glass panel again. Despite being a jerk earlier, he was abnormally patient and gracious about this. It was definitely conflicting.

“I’ll be using one of these decks as well.” Tsukasa remarked, grabbing one of decks from inside the glass panel. “You can look over these if you wish.” Yuna stared at the deck Tsukasa grabbed, wondering if he had taken the time to look through the decks like he was offering for her. If they were doing an Intention duel, it was possible he was thinking of manipulating the duel to help the deck he had picked. Yuna shook her head and grabbed the deck closest to the opening, momentarily thinking before she spoke that the deck she picked looked like it may had been moved up for her to specifically grab,

“No. I’ll go with this one.” She moved towards the wall, giving enough space between the two for the holograms to pop up between the two for the duel ahead. “So tell me how do we make this an Intention duel?”

“Well it won’t be registered because these disks are a bit too old to do that so we’ll just go with using our eyes and common sense to not place the cards down.” Gosh, he was incredibly smiley now. It was so unnerving in it’s own way. “My Intention is that dragon type monsters can not be played.” Uh-oh. His smile shifted almost darkly as Yuna quickly frowned. It wasn’t her imagination, the deck she grabbed must have had a load of dragon monsters in it and Tsukasa had planned for it. She knew she shouldn’t assume that was the truth, but her eyes appeared without prompt as she gritted her teeth. “And you?”

“...” Yeah. She knew what she wanted to say and what at least ONE of the Kings would do. If a person could make their intention be for their wallet then she could make hers, “I intend to teach you a lesson Tsukasa!” She boasted but froze when something strange surrounded the two. A dark burst of energy surrounded the duelists, becoming an arena of darkness. “What the-”

“Yuna!”

“Big sis!”

“What’s going on? Is this normal for an Intention duel?” Yuna looked at the children outside the arena, barely making them out from the shifting wall of terror. Tsukasa burst out laughing maniacally and Yuna realized something horrifying through his laughter. She touched her forehead, feeling the eye big and wide without her anger. What was going on?

“I knew something was up with you.” Tsukasa finished laughing, and Yuna felt her nerves light up as his eyes looked a little mad. “I can finally start my journey…”

“Your journey?” Yuna stepped backward, flinching as the black aura smacked the back of her ankle. Ow that hurt. Wait, ow that hurt?

“I told you before didn’t I? I’m the future king of duel monsters.” Yuna nodded, hoping her confused look helped him continue. He brushed back part of his hair, “I will be a light that will destroy a great darkness.” His smile was maddening, and staring into his eyes was like looking at a black hole, all-consuming and eery. “Don’t worry,” The crazy smile seemed strangely gentle, “I will free you of your curse and continue to cleanse the darkness.” Okay. She never thought he was this sort of person in a million years. Then again, if he really was to be a new Duel King then he would have a fantastical adventure ahead of him, and Yuna supposed it could be possible that a King would know at least a little of what he had to look forward to.

“Big sis be careful!” Claire’s voice cut her internal thoughts.

“Maybe you should stop the duel, we don’t know what this is, Ryu says!” Kayo shouted, pointing at Ryu’s sketchbook that was near impossible to read from where she was.

“I draw!” Tsukasa interrupted. At the mention Yuna felt her body click to paying attention to him, her blood rushing with adrenaline, and her normally hateful eyes focused on their opponent. She had no time to think about all of this insanity of Intention, her eyes, or Tsukasa’s destiny. Right now she was about to have her first duel, and she may have started at a serious disadvantage. Tsukasa looked down to his cards and threw two cards on the duel disk. “I lay two cards face down and end my turn.” Two big flat cards appeared in front of him, one in the monster zone and the other in the spell/trap zone. He either didn’t get a good hand or he was luring Yuna into a false sense of security. He stared at her confidently and Yuna found herself frozen by his stare. What if by losing this duel she DID actually lose her eyes? He said something about cleansing her darkness and he seemed so sure and he wasn’t freaking out because of the weird darkness around the two.

No. It didn’t matter. She said all she had to do was believe in herself and in her cards and that’s what she would do.

“I draw!” Yuna declared, drawing from the deck and stared down at her hand for the first time. A strange amount of clarity flowed through her, that feeling of taking a deep breath from being submerged into water for so long overcame her again as she looked at the cards. Her first duel, her first hand, and despite all the questions and her lack of experience, her face shined with a grin. Elation at the amazing fact that she was doing something she had wanted to for so long. This was dueling!

Staring at the cards quietly she tilted her head at one of them. She had never seen or heard about this card before so she couldn’t help but ask, “Um. Sorry, I know this is probably really ignorant but the duel disks won’t use a card it can’t read, right?” Tsukasa blinked at her question and approached it politely,

“If it’s not registered in its database there shouldn’t be any way it can play it no.” Yuna nodded. “You shouldn’t have any cards in that deck that can’t be read by the disk.” He finished, looking slightly annoyed at reiterating the point. Yuna nodded again,

“Okay then, I put two cards face down and end my turn.” She slapped two cards in her trap/spellzone and stood with a fixed grin.

“Is that all? No monsters to place down?” Tsukasa taunted.

“Nope, not this turn.” Yuna couldn’t help but answer back. A genuine back and forth with someone. Despite how angry and upset she was at him earlier, she could feel something from this. Was this the beginning of a connection? Understanding how some of the Kings felt came to her easier now. She had two dragon monsters in her hand but she was forbidden from using them. Tsukasa drew his next card, playing it up flashy and Yuna could understand. It was part of the fun.

“I tribute summon to bring out Summoned Skull (2500/1200).” The monstrous arch-fiend emerged and Yuna felt an amazing amount of glee bloom at watching the hologram come to life in front of her. “Go Summoned Skull, attack her life points directly!”

“I use my trap card,” the flat card in front of her flipped, “Mirror Force!” It would destroy Summoned Skull and hopefully she would get the lead on her turn from his empty monster zone.

“Too bad for you, I had Trap Jammer waiting for that.” He smirked and Yuna gasped as the card dispersed in front of her and braced herself as Summoned Skull continued charging to her. Bone connected to flesh and Yuna flew back, hitting the black aura and she couldn’t help the screech of pain from exiting her mouth. The black and dark area that surrounded the two physically gripped her with a monster like hand, squeezing her to aid her scream of pain. She fell to the ground, when the monster hand let her go, panting heavily to catch her breath. Her life points flew from 4000 to 1500 in a single blow. The tri-hair colored girl pushed herself up, spotting Tsukasa staring down at her with an irritating smugness.

That jerk!

“Yuna are you okay?” Sakura asked. Right. She wasn’t by herself here. She glared at ground to try to focus. Her normal eyes felt dizzy and sick from the pain she hadn’t expected, and her stomach churned with a queasy motion that made her want to vomit.

“Big sis?” Claire called through the barrier.

“I’m fine!” She lied. She shot the children a huge grin. “I’m having a ton of fun.” Her ribs felt the worst, it felt like that monster hand had pierced through her flesh to scratch her bone. Her clothes and lack of blood disagreed with that thought. She finally forced herself up, doing everything she could for the smile not to budge off her face. Now she was worried though, what would happen if she did a direct attack against Tsukasa? Would he experience the same thing she just had? Yuna wanted time to stop and be given time to think but Tsukasa seemed entirely focused on dueling no matter the circumstance,

“I activate Galaxy Cyclone.” The card popped on the field, “Destroying that card on your side of the field, say goodbye to-”

“Perfect!” Yuna managed to lean into her grin. Her spell card popped up in reaction to its destruction, “Change Of Intention’s effect activates.” She pointed to the card and was surprised when even Tsukasa’s face morphed,

“Change of what?”

“I’ve never heard of that card before.” Kayo remarked.

“When this card is destroyed on the field it forces a player to change their Intention for the duel.”

“What?”

“There’s no way that card should work or exist!” Tsukasa yelled and Yuna stared at the hologram ahead of her, expecting it to just burst at his words. It did no such thing and just glowed brilliantly. “I end my turn.” He hissed but she didn’t budge. “Draw your card you cheater.” Yuna growled,

“I’m not a cheater! You told me that I shouldn’t have any cards that couldn’t be read by the duel disk! And look!” Yuna pointed at the card still glowing to finish its activation, “You wouldn’t be able to see the card if the disk couldn’t read it, now change your Intention Tsukasa!” His face shifted to look a bit nasty and Yuna felt her forced smile falter a little at the darkness in the other boy’s face. 

Oh gosh.

“Fine.” Tsukasa’s eyes narrowed. “My new Intention is spell cards cannot be played.” Yuna nodded to this, wondering if her deck’s second highest card count were spell cards. His own deck must not have had that many considering that would be a huge disadvantage for any duelist except a for power house. He no longer had a smug face, but his grimace reminded Yuna of a determined warrior that would do anything he could to win the battle. He really wasn’t worried about her pain or this situation at all. He was more angry at what the thought she was a cheat than fighting the ‘darkness’ that was inside her supposedly.

“I draw.” The young woman did as she said and her grinned bloomed. Perfect! “I put a monster down and end my turn.” Tsukasa scoffed at her move.

“Yuna you need to stop making those amateur moves! You need to find a way to attack back!” Kayo yelled from the sidelines and Yuna did her best to not shout back, she didn’t want Tsukasa to have any idea of what she had planned. Tsukasa didn’t even comment and drew his card, his disgruntled expression told the young woman he was all business now. He looked down at his cards and played a monster, Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) came out standing menacingly next to Summoned Skull.

“Attack her face down monster Archfiend Soldier.” Tsukasa’s tone was full of contempt. Yuna’s monster was revealed, Snowman Eater (0/1900), and Tsukasa scowled. The clash between the two monsters left them both standing and Tsukasa verbally growled.  

“I activate Snowman Eater’s flip effect!” Yuna cried cheerfully, “Snowman Eater destroys one face up monster, say goodbye to Summoned Skull.” Yuna’s grin became more genuine and she could hear the children cheer in the background. The monster broke apart like her earlier trap card and Tsukasa continued to frown.

“Don’t get cocky just because you managed to get rid of one monster, you cheater.” He simply said. Yuna bit back her words of anger. “I end my turn.” He shut his eyes with the irritation of a person who was getting a massive headache. Yuna found her forced smile leaving and she stared hard at the boy across from her.

“Tsukasa.” He opened his eyes at her call. “Are you having fun?” He stared dully at her. “I don’t know what’s going on here,” she stated and she took a deep breath, her nerves wiggling on her tongue as she continued to speak, “but dueling is supposed to be about having fun.” He made a noise.

“Should someone who believes in the Duel Kings say that?” She flushed and grabbed her arm, jumping at the feeling of her eyes flinching from her touch. It was like touching a scab, you wanted to pull it off because it interrupted the texture of your skin. Because it was there. Gosh there was so much weird happening here!

“I can say that because I believe in the Duel Kings.” Yuna could feel the eye on her forehead react to her words, an unbidden amount of courage swelled inside of her heart. “They go through such hardships and adventures but one of the most important lessons to take from their legends is to try to have fun with dueling. If you don’t then can you really say you’re a true duelist?” Tsukasa looked bored with her statement and she couldn’t help the blush of embarrassment cross her cheeks. She even heard one the kids make a remark of how lame her statement sounded. Darn it, but it was true and she wasn’t going to let anyone shame her for thinking it.

“I can’t have much fun going against a cheater.” Tsukasa replied finally, “Now take your turn.” Yuna bristled at his response and couldn’t help but yell,

“Why the heck are you calling me a cheater so much?”

“Because I KNOW that Snowman Eater wasn’t part of that deck. You’re not only a cheater but a liar because you obviously have duel cards to exchange with that deck.”

“Excuse me?” Her face grew red with rage.

“Oh there’s more eyes.” Claire remarked loudly but that didn’t interrupt Yuna’s stride.

“I am not a liar, and I’m definitely not a cheater! This is the first time I’ve ever dueled and look around us Tsukasa! There’s obviously some weird magical stuff happening to us, what if THAT’S why a card got in my deck, huh? What if YOU have cards that weren’t in your deck?” She didn’t feel strong or powerful but she couldn’t help but continue spitting out her words full of venom. “And aren’t you the cheater if you knew what my deck was made out of? Your first Intention was for no dragon cards could be played after all.” Yuna drew a card from her deck, “I sacrifice Snowman Eater to bring out Chthonian Emperor Dragon (2400/1200), a dragon card that I’ve had since I first drew my hand.” The dragon emerged, roaring unto the field.

Tsukasa’s expression moved between confused and annoyance. He must have recognized that this was part of the original deck. That didn’t matter to Yuna now, she was too angry at being called such rude things to give him a chance to back pedal. “Attack Chthonian Emperor Dragon, destroy Archfiend Soldier with empiric flame!” The dragon spread its wings and a fireball erupted from its mouth, destroying Archfiend Soldier effortlessly. The flame continued and Tsukasa screamed as the fire surrounded him his life points cutting down to 3500.

Seeing his pain Yuna’s rage faltered. Right, while he didn’t blast off into the arena around the two, that didn’t mean he didn’t feel like the pain of the flame. Something sinister and magical WAS happening to the two of them, and no matter how angry she was at him, she didn’t want him to get hurt. “Tsukasa are you okay?” She asked. As the steam faded from his body, Yuna was taken aback as Tsukasa started laughing maniacally once again.

“Was Ayumu always this crazy?” Sakura asked Ryu who shook his head.

“That felt real.” Tsukasa gave a crazy grin to his opponent.

“I could have told you that. Are you ready to stop the duel now?” Maybe he finally would have enough sense to consent to quitting the duel. “You’re not having fun-”

“Wrong.” Tsukasa’s grin spread and now his entire face lite up with insanity. “This is just more proof.” Yuna found herself paling, “There’s nothing more fun than becoming a king!” Oh no. “Go on Yuna, end your turn and I’ll turn this duel around with one card!” He certainly held the confidence she would expect from a king, and she certainly wasn’t sure she could beat him even though she held the stronger monster now. He was determined, she could see that. Yuna frowned, she really didn’t want to continue because she didn’t want to find out when EITHER of them hit 0 life points.

“I put one card face down and end my turn.” Unfortunately Tsukasa would know immediately what kind of card she put down was because of the no spell rule, but if she was lucky he wouldn’t be able to get rid of her trap card, at least she didn’t know of another trap card that could do that on the turn it’s put down from the top of her head. Tsukasa continued to grin and drew his card with a flourish and Yuna tensed, expecting that what he said was true, that he would reverse the duel with the draw of one card. It was a King’s strongest gift.

“I put two cards face down and then end my turn.” His grin was bright and confident. Whatever that trap card was, it made Tsukasa sure he would win, that much Yuna could feel exuding from his stance.

“Careful Yuna!” Kayo called from the sidelines.

“We’re with you! You can win this Yuna!” But did she WANT to win? It was nice how encouraging they were at least. One thing she knew for certain if she could avoid getting thrown into the dark arena around them she would be happy with that. Yuna stared at his side of the battlefield nervously and drew her card. A quick look down told her best move to do,

“I summon Soldier Dragons (700/800).” The bunch of dragons piled together roared. “Attack his face down monster.”

“Yuna that monster is way too weak!” Sakura scolded her and Yuna squeaked. That was true! She got a bit too caught up in the moment, but to Yuna’s surprise the monster that flipped over was weaker than hers...but with a terrible effect for her. Penguin Soldier (750/500) squealed as it was destroyed but,

“Penguin Soldier’s flip effect activates! Soldier Dragons and Chthonian Emperor Dragon are sent back to your hand.” He grinned victoriously and Yuna paled. He could take her out with one monster.

“Yuna you can use Soldier Dragon’s effect!” Kayo yelled over the dark wall. Soldier Dragons effect? Oh right!

“Because of your activation I can use Soldier Dragons to bring out a level 2 or lower dragon type.” Yuna opened her deck to actively see what her cards actually were for the first time since they started the duel. Oh whoa, more magical spooky stuff. The pictures on her duel cards resembled the darkness that surrounded the two duelist for their Intention duel. There was only one card that she could make out so she had no choice. “Here comes Troop Dragon(700/800) in attack mode!”

“Yuna that’s a dumb move!” Kayo shouted from the sidelines. “You’re not going to do enough damage with that lousy 700 attack points!”

“Yeah, he can easily take you out you idiot.” Sakura hissed in agreement with the pink-haired boy right next to her. Yuna frowned staring anxiously at the trap card on Tsukasa’s side of the field.

“Attack with multi-army stab!” Yuna encouraged the gathered dragons who charged under her command. Tsukasa groaned with pain as his life points flew down with the stabs of their sword and spears to 2800. Yuna held her breath, expecting Tsukasa to activate his trap but he just stood up from the attack and waited patiently. “I put one card face down and end my turn.” Tsukasa drew his card and his cocky expression burst all throughout his body.

“I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200)-”

“I activate my trap, Chain Destruct-”

“And in return I’ll activate mine! Heavy Storm Duster!” A burst of wind swirled around Yuna, she yelled as both her traps dissipated in front of her. “The problem with activating that card is I won’t be able to attack this turn, I put one card face down and end my turn. How lucky for you.” Yuna stared helplessly at her graveyard. Tsukasa was really good at countering her traps, he really was a strong duelist. Yuna stared down at her cards, she only had the two dragons and two spell cards. She could sacrifice her Troop Dragon to bring out her Chthonian Emperor Dragon again and that would probably be the best move.

Her hand wiggled to the card, a heavy cloud of tension surrounded her. She didn’t want to get hurt again. She didn’t want to lose her eyes if they were her ‘darkness’. She didn’t want to hurt Tsukasa anymore. She could feel an awful feeling swirl with the decision, her eyes darting back to Tsukasa’s trap card being bold and plain on the field.

“Yuna don’t forget to draw.” Kayo shouted. Right. Yuna’s hand trembled to the deck.

This is how some of them felt.

At the realization Yuna felt an energy she wasn’t sure really belong to her flow inside her heart. Right, there was so much going on and she had no way of understanding or knowing how to deal with it, but she could do at least one thing again. She had been constantly saying it, but she hadn’t really FELT it until that very moment. She gave her opponent a genuine smile. He looked slightly taken aback by it. She would believe in herself, and in her deck, no matter what. The young woman drew her card.

“I tribute summon to bring out Fortune Lady Earth (???/???)!”

“What?” The monster appeared with a flourish of a flying creature despite being a spell caster.

“Her strength is based on her level, so this turn she’ll be a 2400 attack and defense creature because she’s a sixth level monster.” The monster on the field reacted to the positive boost by flexing and despite her face being heavily masked, she gave Tsukasa a confident grin.

“These duel disks are busted! There’s no way they should have been able to read and play that monster!” Tsukasa yelled, it felt like there was a lot of that today.

“Why’s that?” Claire looked over at Sakura and Kayo for an answer.

“I don’t think that card was released until past these kind of disks history.” Kayo gave her, “I would agree with Ayumu if it wasn’t for the fact there was this stuff,” he waved at the arena in front of them, “around. For all we know the normal rules could still be in play, they could probably xyz, synchro, or any of the other ways to summon if they have the cards.”

“Go Fortune Lady Earth, attack with foruteous earth smack.” Tsukasa scowled as she smacked Vorse Raider and the young man hissed as his life points fell to 2300. The active duel monster blew Tsukasa a kiss with confidence before returning to Yuna’s side. “I end my turn.” Tsukasa’s mood wavered and he glared at her with pure fury. Yuna did not budge. She was going to have fun and trust in herself, it didn’t matter if she won or lost, she would adapt and adjust to whatever happened at the end of this duel.

Tsukasa grit and bared his teeth at her and drew his card. He looked down at his card and trauma seemed to fill his face.

“Why...why is this happening?” He asked out loud, glancing down at his duel disk. Yuna kept silent, not wanting to push the brunet in front of her. He seemed far into this, and while Yuna was pretty excited at the thought of any proof of the existence of the Duel Kings, she wasn’t entirely happy about the circumstances behind it. Heck, Yuna still had no idea how this was happening at all. “I should have drawn a card that will end this in one turn.” His body swayed slightly as he continued. “I’m going to be the next Duel King.”

“I believe you.” She bit her lips nervously. This is far more talking then she ever really did with another human being and it was weird, but she could really feel part of his heart through the duel. His expressions came easier for her to read than anyone she had ever got to talk to and throughout the duel she could feel his anger and his glory. He was really a good duelist. “But here’s the thing about the Duel Kings Tsukasa...they all had to learn something important either through losses or draws.”  He glared at her. Yuna frowned in response, yeah. She needed to stop talking, this was going into her Intention in the first place.

“I end my turn.” It seemed like there was a part of him that gave him, but at the same time, Yuna could feel that he held a true anger towards her.

“I draw,” Yuna drew another card and blinked at it. “I activate Fortune Lady Earth’s effect,” she pointed to her monster who flexed once again as her level went from six to seven and added another 400 attack points making her a 2800 monster. Tsukasa screamed, “Her second effect activates and you get 400 points of damage for her boost in attack.” His life points went to 1900. “I now summon Dark Blade (1800/1500).” Yuna stared at the glaring boy, waiting for either a quip or a demand or the activation of his trap card, and she got one of those things.

“Hurry up and end this duel cheater.” Whatever Tsukasa’s trap was, it apparently didn’t matter because Yuna pointed up to her strong monster. A part of her wanted to ask again if he just wanted to end the duel but another part of her acknowledged his determined stance. He was going to go down with pride.

“Attack with forteous earth smack.” The active duel monster smacked Tsukasa directly and Yuna flinched as he flew into the black dark ominous wall and she ran at him quickly as the wall gripped him harshly as it had done the same to her earlier. The children gasped in the background and Yuna gripped the monster’s claw as Tsukasa’s scream echoed in the air. “Let go, let go!” Yuna demanded, trying to feel the hand away.

“Your...Int…!”

“What?” Yuna looked up at him, flinching as his skin started turning into a different color. Why wasn’t the strange thing fading? The duel was done! Tsukasa couldn’t word anything more as his mouth was occupied by his screams. Yuna started to beat on the monster claw, her fists starting to feel sore and bruised instantly. Her int? What did, oh! “Oh that’s right! My Intention!” Tsukasa struggled as hard as he could. “The lesson I wanted to teach you is that people’s lives matter more than Duel Monsters Tsukasa!” He glared down at her. “Really, that’s all I wanted to tell you.”

Yuna felt frustration crawl into her eyes, “I’m scared of people like you Tsukasa. You’re so sure of yourself and you’re a great duelist, but a person’s life matters so much more.” Yuna slammed her fist against the monster aura continuing to crush Tsukasa again. “I just thought I’d be like a Duel King myself and try to help you.” Tsukasa grit his teeth, his eyes closing, the monster hand not paying any attention to her words. What could she do? Yuna jumped when someone touched her back, she turned to see Fortune Lady Earth was still there.

The monster gave a playful laugh and guided Yuna away from the hand. With a flourishing gesture, the monster hit the strange hand and it disappeared, Tsukasa dropping in the quick to move Duel Monster’s arms. The Duel Monster gave Tsukasa a playful kiss and laid him to the ground, waving to Yuna as she faded. Yuna dropped to the ground in front of the passed out young man, the arena disappearing around the two and suddenly she felt an immense amount of pain course all across her body. Yuna couldn’t stop herself from falling on the ground next to Tsukasa, the last thought she could comprehend was every spot that hurt was where an eye was.

[inwintersolitude]

Do you have the right time set on your microwave?: Yes.

Do you have any old newspaper articles? Why?: I have a few articles that I've clipped and saved over the years, if they pertained to someone or something close to me.

Do you have a flat screen tv or just a regular box?: They're all flat screens.

Do you have a radar detector for your car?: No, I live in the only U.S. state where they're illegal. Well, here and Washington D.C... but that's a district, not a state.

Have you ever been arrested? For what?: No.

Do you like Pres. Obama? Why?: I wasn't a big fan of him his first few years in office, but my political views have changed a lot since then and I now like him, even though he's out of office now.

Do you know how to change the oil in your car?: Yes, my husband and I change the oil in our truck. But we take our car to the dealership for oil changes so as not to void the warranty. We did oil changes on most of our previous cars, though.

Have you taken your shower yet?: I took one early this afternoon.

Do you like Tootsie Rolls?: They're alright.

Do you have a printer? What kind?: Yes. One is a wireless Brother laser jet that prints really nicely, the other is a sort of shitty HP inkjet printer/scanner combo.

Are you seeing anybody currently?: I'm married.

Do you or have you ever smoked cigarettes?: I've never smoked.

Do you like it when it snows?: I love snow!

Are your ears pierced?: Yes.

Where do you do most of your shopping?: Most of the shopping I do is for groceries, and I go to either Martin's or The Fresh Market.

Who do you live with?: My husband, Brian.

What is your most expensive bill?: Rent is $1,415 per month.

Do you have a big yard?: Not really. It's a townhouse.

Do you live in the country or the city?: I live on the edge of a large town. It's debatable whether or not it's large enough to be called a small city.

Do you sleep alone or with someone every night?: With my husband of course, unless he's flying for work and on an overnight.

Did you have a treehouse as a child?: No, but I did have a huge swingset. Also a zipline between two trees, I had forgotten about that!

At what age did you obtain your driver license?: 17.

Do you look in the newspaper for coupons?: No.

Did you get a big tax refund from last year?: It's wasn't a huge amount. $2,500, maybe? Still too much to be letting the government borrow interest-free... it's better to have that money in your paycheck, not in your refund.

Do you like Slim Jim's?: No.

Is there someone you would love to punch right now?: No.

Did you grow up fast?: Yes, I'd say so, but that was a good thing. I was living alone at age 18, a licensed pilot at age 19, married at age 22... I launched into the adult world rather quickly and I couldn't have imagined waiting any longer than I did to "grow up."

What are you favorite kind of chips?: Tortilla chips.

Have you taken any medicine recently? For what?: Just birth control. And I took some Aleve for a headache a few days ago.

What have you eaten today?: Kashi toasted berry crisp cereal, a bagel with cream cheese, some peanut butter granola bites, a black bean burger, a few golden Oreo thins.

Did you or are you going to wash your hair today?: I did. It was getting to that point where it HAD to be washed asap, haha. My dry shampoo works too well, it makes me want to rarely wash my hair. :-P

Does the water in your shower take a long time to get warm?: No.

Where did you go today?: Kohl's to get a NutriBullet blender for making smoothies, and the grocery store to get lots of fruits and veggies for smoothies and also ingredients for dinner.

Are you sleepy right now?: No. I wish.

What color is your mousepad?: It's gray, but I almost always use our main laptop, not any of the desktops, so I rarely use the mousepad.

Should you be doing something else at the moment?: Not really.

Do you like your neighbors?: Yes.

Do you have bedroom shoes?: What? I've never heard of bedroom shoes...

Do you get your eyebrows waxed?: No.

Has anyone given you flowers recently?: No.

Do you work Monday thru Friday?: I don't work.

Is there anything you are looking forward to tomorrow?: I'm looking forward to trying out this smoothie recipe.

How many miles does your car have on it?: The Volkswagen has about 5,000 miles on it, I think? My husband usually drives that one so I don't remember. And our Ford truck has around 90,000 miles.

Is your alarm clock set to radio or beep?: I don't use an alarm clock, just my phone.

Do you like to go fishing?: I haven't gone fishing since we lived in Ohio, but I enjoyed it back then.

Has anyone you know been arrested recently?: I don't think I know anyone who has been arrested, ever. At least not that I know of.

Do you have more than 1 email address?: Yes, I still have the one with my maiden surname, and also my old university email address, although I never use them anymore.

Do you think you will have the same job 2 years from now?: I'm not working right now.

Do you have central heating and air?: Yes.

Do you speed while driving?: No.

Is there someplace you would rather be right now?: Yes, I wish I were at the family beach villa with everyone right now.

Did you build the computer you are using?: Not this one, but my husband and I did build one of our desktops, back in 2010. Still runs like a champ.

Do you have good computer speakers?: I guess they're average.

Are you waiting on anything at the moment?: No.

Where is your favorite person?: Upstairs, in bed. He started his workday with a 6:00 a.m. departure out of Denver so he went to bed early.

Do you keep track of your debit purchases?: We use our credit card far more often than our debit card (for cash back rewards and better purchase protection), but yes, I track all aspects of our finances.

Do you ever shop at Harris Teeter?: No.

Do you like to burn incense?: No. I've burned it before, but the smell started to bother me. Plus now that we have pet birds, we can't burn incense or candles since it harms their respiratory system and can kill them.

Are there any plants in your house?: Not anymore, my Lil Planty died. :-( I'm not a good plant owner.

How long does it take you to get to work?: I'm not working now, but my last job was about 45 minutes away. It SUCKED.

[topbeautifulwomens]

#Rolonda #Watts #Biography #Photos #Wallpapers #anta #ballet #dancelife #fashionpost #friday #hudabeauty #london #party #photoshoot #worldstarhiphop

Rolonda Watts is a journalist, talk show host, actor, producer, writer, and voice-earlier mentioned talent.

Her name, face, and now even her distinctive voice are known by audiences everywhere, thanks to her work in radio, television, and film. Most viewers know Rolonda Watts from her internationally syndicated talk show, “The Rolonda Show.” Produced by King World and Watts Works Productions, the talker ran for 4 successful seasons. Rolonda was also part owner and supervising producer of the show.

Ro began her television career as a local cleans reporter in Greensboro, North Carolina, before moving on to larger markets. She landed a reporting and anchoring job at the New Jersey Network before joining WNBC-TV in New York, where she also anchored the local morning news cut-ins for the “Today Show.” While at WNBC-TV, Ro received an Emmy nomination for her “Live Spot News Coverage” of a deadly train crash. She later moved on to WABC-TV in New York to anchor, report, and moderate “Eyewitness News Conference,” the station’s weekly political forum.

Ready to spread her wings outside of local news, Ro gained national exposure and attention when she became host of Lifetime Television’s talk show, “Attitudes.” There, she received a Cable Ace nomination for “Best Talk Show.” After that, the award-winning journalist went on to handle news around the world, joining the “Inside Edition” news magazine team as senior correspondent, weekend anchor, and producer. Still bitten by the talk show bug, Ro jumped at the opportunity to host her own show when TV legend Roger King of King World Productions made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.

Rolonda has also taken “The Ro Show” to radio, having worked with the Greenstone Media Network, which is offering pod casts of some of her most wonderful radio times. (Visit: RadioRolonda.com).

She has also hosted other television reality shows, including “Lie Detector” for PAX-TV.

With that distinctive, warm, and recognizable voice, Rolonda has also emerged as one of the leading voice-over talents in America. She is the Announcer of “The Judge Joe Brown Show,” as well as for the new game show, “Temptation.” She is also the voice of Professor Wiseman in the animated television series, “Curious George.” for Universal Studios. Ro also recently became one of the animated voices of Disney.

In commercials, Ro is the voice of Boeing, Wells Fargo Bank, Tropicana, Southwest Airlines, Big Lots, Children’s Hospital, Wendy’s, Aleve, and Alka Seltzer – and far more.

From New York to Hollywood, Rolonda has demonstrated her comedic and dramatic talents in various television and feature films, including “JAG,” “The West Wing,” “The District,” “Boston Public,” “Yes Dear,” “Sister, Sister” “My Wife and Kids,” and a lot of more. She has also appeared in the daytime drama series “Days of Our Lives,” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.” In fact, she returns to “Days of Our Lives” in January 2008 in the recurring role as the sassy law shark, attorney Cameron Reese. (See Ro’s theatrical resume).

In film, Ro has worked with some of Hollywood’s most talented directors, including Spike Lee, John Landis, Charles Winkler, and the late Carrie Hamilton, who cast Ro in the role of Dorothy Dandridge, portraying the Hollywood legend the hour before her death.

New York City and Newark, NJ every single established an official “Rolonda Day” for her journalistic, community, and humanitarian works. She has aided on the Board of Directors for Literacy Volunteers of New York City, the Board of Advisors for the Rahway State Prison’s Lifers Group, the Board of Advisors for New York University School of Dentistry, and the Board of Advisors for the United Negro College Fund. She has volunteered as a tutor for H.E.L.P. – the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project. She is a member of Women in Film, AFTRA, and SAG. The Spelman College Alumna Association awarded Ro for her community service. And the McDonald’s Corporation honored her as a “Broadcast Legend.”

A Southern girl from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Ro was graduated Magna Cum Laude from Spelman College in Atlanta, where she double-majored in Theatre Arts and English. She holds a Master of Science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Rolonda also holds an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Winston-Salem State University.

Rolonda is CEO/President of her own production company, Watts Works Productions. She and her Boxer, Jack, and her Main Coon cat, Wolfe, reside in Los Angeles.

Name Rolonda Watts Height 5' 5″ Naionality American Date of Birth 12 July 1959 Place of Birth Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA Famous for

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