#hmu if your brain is also running with mine

[mogspawner]

So! A lot of Dominion-ers have started following me again ( >:3 ) and i was thinking… A Hermitzine was started a some time ago and honestly the Dominion crew would be a really cool Zine idea.

Bringing attention to creators like Grady, Sneve, Jamie, Tan, Viking, Legs, Mongo, Nukeri, Fix, Joy, and Shadow. Plus it would be really cool for the artist community to come together making something like this!!

We could include fanart and past works from the Dominion-ers creations!

[alfredolover119]

zukka fic rec list (modern au)

howdy! i’ve been collecting zukka fics i like since uhhh june and now i am sharing my lists with the world. i’m splitting it into three posts so it hopefully wont be too long. this is the third and final one: modern au fics! the other two are canon era and post-canon. [side note!! if youd like a specific type of rec list,, i.e. soulmate au, fake dating, ambassador sokka,, hmu and i’ll post a list !!]

within this post, the fics are in word count order! also, if you’d like a soundtrack for your reading, i might recommend my zukka playlist :^) happy reading!

it’s the lack of creativity for me by @theboilingrock

-1912 words, teen

-soulmate au, humor

The point is, the concept of soulmates was simple on the surface, but the people in Sokka’s life all had special and unique stories surrounding soulmates. So of course Sokka would be the one stuck with only the word “Hi” tattooed on his arm. [In which Sokka overcompensates for his soulmate’s limited imagination in the greetings department (seriously? “Hi”?).]

We’ll play hide and seek (to turn this around) by @engagedzukka

-5502 words, general

-bakoda-centric with background zukka, fluff, meet-cute (note: i had to include this one its just too good not to!! plus the ed sheeran title spoke to me)

Sokka has a plan to ask out the cute boy at the bookstore. Hakoda is a begrudging participant until he meets the boy's beautiful older coworker.

if the shoe fits by @bisexuallsokka 

-5742, teen

-college au, director!zuko and set designer!sokka, tooth-rotting fluff, mutual pining

The stranger is still there, and he doesn’t seem in a hurry to leave. Zuko, on the other hand, is anxious to wrap up his work for the night so he can meet his uncle for dinner. “Can I help you with something?” // The man laughs. “I’m actually here for you. Short-tempered, badass scar, soft looking hair? You must be the director. I’m Sokka.” // Zuko sputters. “What? I-I don't...who described me like that?” // “Well, Jet just said short-tempered, I added the rest on my own,” Sokka shrugs. “He said you were looking for some help designing your set.”

lighthouse beam by @incorrectzukka 

-7167 words, general 

-college au, hurt/comfort, semi-deaf zuko, fluff and angst, mutual pining

Sokka’s breathtakingly beautiful and he’s smart and makes other people laugh. Zuko has a half-burnt face and a deaf ear. It’s not rocket science. // Or, Zuko falls in love with the boy in his Philosophy class.

put your lips close to mine (as long as they don’t touch) by @celestialceci

-9470 words, teen

-college roommates, summer vacation, humor

Zuko hates his home. He likes college alright, but he likes Sokka even better, his assigned roommate turned best friend. Spending the summer with Sokka will be fun, a welcome change of pace he desperately wants. It probably won't awaken anything in him... right?

always a plus one (never a groom) by @hotdamnitszuko

-13133 words, teen

-friends to lovers, humor, sharing a bed, hurt/comfort

Zuko and Sokka decide that the best way to get through the late-twenties wedding rush is to do them all together. As it turns out, being surrounded by people in love all the time will make you want to kiss your single and hot high school best friend.

swords of fate, pride of heart by @zukkababey

-13531 words, teen

-college au, online romance, zoom meet-cute, fluff, bg piandao/jeong jeong

Yeah, attending university via Zoom sucks. But it sucks a little bit less when Sokka gets to stare endlessly at the pretty boy with the cool swords and the cute cats without him ever even knowing. [Or, Sokka and Zuko "meet" in Zoom class. Flirtatious shenanigans ensue.]

earth system history by @pianjeong

-14084 words, teen

-college au, coming out, first kiss, sparring

Sometimes, you just need to sneak into the earth science lab at three in the morning with your best friend whom you are in love with. This is far more of a formative experience for Zuko and Sokka than they originally intended.

Kiss-Proof Lipstick: Fact or Fiction? by @flammable-grimm-pitch

-14171 words, teen

-sephora employee!zuko, mutual pining, idiots to lovers

Sokka gets dragged along to Sephora by his sister and Toph; Zuko provides him with a makeup education.

The Road Between Action and Inaction by @donvex​

-17548 words, teen

-road trip, slowburn, comfort, mutual pining, first kiss

Sokka does a shitty k turn in the parking lot across from the bus station, pulls up to the curb where the boy is looking determinedly at his phone, and rolls down the passenger window. “Hey! Which way were you going?” He may die, but at least his conscience will be clear. // The guy blinks at him. “Don’t.” // Oh, he’s prickly.

There Is COVID in Ba Sing Se by @koala-otter

-17783 words, teen

-quarantine au, roommates, friends to lovers, domesticity

The whole world is under lockdown, and Sokka and Zuko move in together.

Mass Times Acceleration by Haicrescendo

-19417 words, teen

-roadtrip, bed sharing, idiots to lovers, pining, underage drinking

[Zuko calls at three in the morning and says, tears in his voice and rage through his teeth, “I want to run away.” // It’s Sokka’s turn to carry the brain cell in his household but he doesn’t waste a second before he’s saying, “Tell me when and where—I’m coming too.”]

Anything for You by beersforqueers

-23616, explicit

-fake dating, breaking up/making up, fluff, angst with a happy ending, humor

In which Sokka and Zuko have broken up but Sokka hasn't told his family yet. So when Katara and Aang's wedding weekend rolls around and he doesn't want to break Gran-Gran's heart, he asks Zuko to pretend to be his boyfriend for one last weekend. Things don't go as planned.

That Midnight Sky by @zukkababey

-103016 words, teen

-college au, fake dating, strangers to lovers, slowburn, mutual pining, fluff and angst, miscommunication

In Zuko’s strict family, needing a tutor is just about the worst thing you could do. Failing a class, however, is even worse. The only rational solution? Take up Aang on his offer to find him a physics tutor and have Sokka—beautiful, smart, handsome Sokka—tutor him in secret. // When Azula’s arrival threatens to reveal Zuko’s secret, it’s up to Sokka to convince her this definitely isn’t what it looks like. See, he’s actually… Zuko’s… boyfriend? // Hmm. There’s no way this could get complicated, right?

[brvdleymilligan]

HLO slinks in thru a bead curtain.......... truly sry this took me so long to concoct bt i’m here now, hand on hip, smiling coyly at u all...... i’m nai n i’m rly excited to b here so i’ll just dive right in!! u can find bradley’s pinterest board here n her muse tag here. like this or hmu for plots!

[ cis female, she/her, margaret qualley , twenty-four ] i can’t be sure, but i think i just saw BRADLEY MILLIGAN drive onto the parkway. don’t they know we’re not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re so +RESILIENT and -VOLATILE that makes them feel UNPHASED about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they’re always reminding me of LEMON IN A FRESH CUT, THE AMBER BLINK OF AN ANGRY ALLEY CAT, GRINNING WITH BLOOD ON YOUR TEETH. either way, i hope they get back safely. [ nai, she/her, 24, gmt ]

aesthetics: singeing a hole in your fishnets with the cherry of a menthol, spitting a pistachio behind the bar just to hear it ping off the nozzle top bottles, lemon in a fresh cut, a war torn poppy standing alone in an empty field, pressing thumbs to yellow bruises, stomping over flowerbeds when there’s a path right besides it, dangling over ledges just to feel your chest jolt, a snarling rottweiler that needs muzzling, limp feet poking out behind a door, ‘I PROMISE I DON’T BITE’ scrawled on a name tag, slapping a bald head in front of you at the cinema like it’s a bongo, not owning a single jacket that isn’t stolen, driving a stranger’s car down the wrong lane against the screaming traffic, hair more feral than a wolf cub and eyes smudgier than a coal mine.  

BACKGROUND:

ok SO. her father owns a strip club in crescent hill named no angels. it’s kind of.... a seedy establishment i won’t lie. hs a red glowing sign like it’s lighting up a window in amsterdam. cigarette butts floating in oil slick puddles outside. unsavoury characters crawling all over like rats in a sewer. despite this it’s a legitimate business on the surface of things n it does pretty well in trade. it’s like.... that place people warn u NOT to have ur bachelor party at unless u fancy urself the type tht willingly enters a lion’s den bt tht almost??? adds to the allure in a way??? ppl r like wow so sketchy it’s the thrill of a lifetime........ i mean run while u still can bt go off i guess

it isn’t Confirmed Public Knowledge bt it’s pretty heavily implied thru the rumour mill that bradley’s father is the head of a gang of rly............ Not Nice people. all the ppl that work for him u would hands down NOT want to run into in a dark alley. while things seem legitimate on the suface it’s pretty clear they’re into shady dealings n the townsfolk that suspect that would indeed b correct! the club’s a front for a drug business n they’re also washing n running counterfeit cash thru it. they probably also have their hands dipped into a few other local businesses to run their cash thru these too n keep it all seemingly by the books so nobody comes sniffing around. they even r friends with a member of local law enforcement that’s working w them for a cut so they honestly have all bases covered to keep things airtight n foolproof. perhaps a business in reed too which bradley oversees bt i haven’t given this Too Much thought as of yet??

so ya she’s grown up fairly local most of her life n would maybe be known around town as such.................. the milligans r certainly Interesting as far as families go so like. it honestly wldn’t surprise me if ppl nudge elbows when they see one of them coming n immediately walk in the opposite direction. just quite an intimidating presence...... they’re like caged animals where ur specifically instructed NOT to stick ur fingers between the bars bc they WILL bite

on a more personal note her dad is pretty much the worst human being alive n bradley hs like….. a lot of issues with herself as a result of years of toxicity n abuse

in terms of more family bkground info her mum’s name was alyssa n she vanished when bradley was 12. jst like…. into thin air. nothing. no note. zilch. gan! n when bradley asked her dad abt it his response was essentially “guess she didn’t love us enough to stay”. as bradley’s got older tho n become (without intention) more involved in the business side of things, it’s become pretty clear there was far more to the story.

(abuse tw) they had a horrible marriage n tony ws emotionally manipulative at the best of times, violent at worst, which didn’t help the fact tht alyssa ws struggling a lot w severe depression n rly just… not in the mindset to b dealing w anything else, even where motherhood ws concerned. bradley p much… would look after her a lot n they’d both b scared of her dad n it was just a whole unhealthy mess.

(death implied tw) anyway im rambling bt basically tony (bradley’s dad) gt wind of alyssa sleeping w men tht worked fr him n he just… got rid. bradley’s kind of worked out over the yrs tht her mum didn’t jst leave on her own accord n tht something must hav happened to her bt she’s too scared of her dad to ever directly accuse him

when her mum went all of her dad’s cruelty pretty mch got channelled straight onto her. it ws diluted between two before bt as u can probably imagine her upbringing was jst…. a steep downhill decline

(drugs implied tw) she learnt ways 2 deal w the incurring trauma bt they weren’t healthy ones at all! bsically jst. will do or take anything fr the distraction. chases a thrill like it’s the only way to remind her she’s alive. has absolutely no regard fr her own wellbeing n often gets other ppl in trouble too bc she’s so insatiably reckless

(hospitalisation tw) she hd….2 separate stints of psychiatric hospitalisation n she never tlks abt it. like ever. acknowledging she’s been vulnerable is her worst nightmare n bc of the way her dad raised her she always thinks any sign of struggling within herself is weakness. truly does…. not kno how to properly emotion

CUT TO!!!! the present. she’s currently living at the motel which is like. the least homely place she cld ever live rly but bradley loves making her life uncomfortable n doesn’t rly believe in growing sentimentally attached to anything if she cn help it <3 probably gets into arguments all the time w her neighbours it’s a whole thing.... atrocious at feeding herself has breakfasts frm the vending machine like her organs aren’t screaming fr vegetables.... plays music too loud n sometimes vanishes for days at a time without a word. she’s a lot.

i honestly feel like the murders haven’t rly phased bradley too hugely....... i won’t lie she probably genuinely is like. oh maybe it’s smthn to do w my dad. n just blinks the other way not rly that phased. on some subconscious level i think she rly just thinks........ death follows her wherever she goes n is like. this is just life for me! kind of depressing. holds her hand bt then screams n pulls away when she inevitably bites me.

PERSONALITY:

the kind of sour cherry only certain people have a taste for

once drank a bottle of whiskey, insisted she could still do a cartwheel and accidentally kicked an old man’s front tooth out in the process. proceeded 2 collapse into a flower bed and laugh so much abt it that she cried

barely takes anything seriously 50% of the time and is angry the other 50%

if she was a coffee she’d be black with five grains of sugar that you couldn’t taste until the last sip

(alcoholism tw) high functioning alcoholic. if u ever see her w a coffee cup u jst kno tht one sniff will confirm high alcohol percentage. honestly idk hw she does it her liver must b yellin

loyal to a point of fault. if she cares abt u (rare) and u murder a man in cold blood (not so rare in the broad scheme of bradley’s life) she’ll brawl anyone that says ur guilty

honestly wld probably fight a person over anything. sometimes she’ll jst be having a bad day n she’ll burst n take it out on whoever says the wrong thing. minefield!

has the worst luck in romance…. ever. ALL her past bfs hav been absolute beasts n as a result she has the ‘romance is dead n love is a lie’ mentality. definitely NOT a romantic. very cut n dry abt these things. sex is mostly just sex n she’d kind of scoff at anyone that wanted more from her

mostly wears stolen clothes from strangers and jackets that swamp her. huge chunky stomping boots with steel toe caps that would RLY bruise if they gave u a kick. hair is p much always a wild mess n she usually hs kind of smudgy/smoky makeup bcos apparently she’s allergic to combs and generally looking presentable… relatable content. the only time she rly looks put together is when she has to do something/go somewhere/see someone on behalf of her father....... he kind of uses her as a sort of. honey pot sometimes fr shit his gang get up to it’s like. not! a way u should ever utilise ur daughter but :/ i cannot stress enough how much i wna drop kick him in the neck

she’s v sarcastic. blunt. kind of has a habit of…. assessing a person n she’s quite perceptive bc she’s been trained to b by the way she always has to monitor her dad’s expression fr the slightest emotion change. she’s very confident n can p much mke a conversation out of whatever if she feels like it. independent too like she hs a bunch of (predominantly surface connection) friends bt she doesn’t care abt going out places alone n does this often. she’s probably kind of known around town bt itd b a 50/50 balance between bein known as intimidating n bein known as that one girl tht always gets into anarchy

likes: drunken snow angels that drag on so long they flirt with pneumonia, stealing cars, throwing watermelons off rooftops to watch them explode, shooting pedestrian’s with bb guns from hidden spots on rooftops. 

dislikes: telling the truth, tulips so yellow it’s like they’re gloating, playing music loud enough to fry your brain and serve it on a piece of toast, going home.

PLOTS:

someone tht works at the ‘no angels’ strip club?? either as a dancer or bartender or whtever. just a forewarning it’s probably gna b a pretty….. seedy and Not That Pleasant environment bc it’s like. a crime hotspot inevitably bc it’s a gang hangout so. ur chara wld truly be in fr a rollercoaster ride to say the least

(drugs tw) she deals coke fr her dad’s gang so perhaps ur muse buys off her

anyone….. she’s brawled in the past like. she’s literally a menace i cnt express this enough. wil jst randomly throw a drink in someone’s face fr no reason bc she’s bored. she’s probably pissed off 1000 diff ppl in 1000 diff ways. the possibilities r endless n i jst think tht’s a sexy prospect!

fwbs perhaps??? exes??? (probably ws a tumultuous relationship honestly bradley is. a handful...... it’s also rly not often she ties herself down tbh so this would maybe have to b discussed/be circumstantial/kind of rare)

mayb someone tht she met at an aa meeting when she hd to go fr a court mandated thing one time after bein arrested fr public indecency. i feel like there’s probably a rly expensive statue somewhere thts fancily sculpted n she like. did a flying kick n broke the dick of it off n gt arrested fr it

ppl she……. Goes Wild Goes Crazy w. truly jst the most self destructive person alive so anyone w a similar mindset wld b a hellish bt fun combination

on the contrary a gd influence cld b nice perhaps? like someone tht genuinely cares abt her n she jst doesn’t kno hw to compute it

maybe people who r her neighbours that live at the motel too??

OH it could b fun if ur muse runs or works at a local business maybe like. a bar? idk? n bradley n ur muse have developed a rapport bc she frequents the place n is................ a Character

um. honestly the world’s our oyster. hmu n we cn brainstorm if none of tht catches ur eye!

[canniballistix]

aaaaa got tagged by @sammysstupidshirts to do this music game so. Get ready to be exposed to some weird tunes I guess

I picked my playlist Open Doors Diner, a location that doesn't exist irl but is a fully realized nightmare zone in my own brain. It's basically an abandoned diner in the middle of the desert which may also be a church to a forgotten god... idk, I put it in everything I write. Just for shits. It was created after I filled my brain with too much WTNV and Life is Strange in the summer of 2016, so it's QUITE something.

Listen.... imho this is the vibe that spn always should have had. The playlist is public and it's the only one with that title, so search it up if you're interested. My opinions on music are vast and terrifying, as Cereal will tell you, so hmu for opinions or additions pls

Empire Liquor Mart (9127 S. Figueroa St.), by Gabriel Kahane. Spn-relevant line: lots of biblical imagery in this, but the winner goes to: "so when I say that my untimely death was something certain / what I mean is that these tragedies are a kind of family tradition" ;__;

Westmont, NJ, by Into it. Over it. Spn-relevant line: again, lots of this is great, but this bit stands out: "and time crept on slowly like miles per hour / on your dashboard as we look the same". This song has a v special place in my heart bc it's named after a town in my home county ❤️ it's accurate to what gorwing up there was like, I'd say.

Swing Life Away, by Rise Against. Spn-relevant line: "I'll show you mine if you show me yours first / let's compare scars and I'll tell you whose is worse". Ooft.

I will follow you into the dark, by death cab for cutie. Spn-relevant line: if you listen to this song and think about spn you die immediately so be careful

Before You Start Your Day, by Twenty-One Pilots. Spn-relevant line: crucify me for this one if you must, but this song is all about putting on masks to face the world. It ends an album all about questioning faith in God, religion, destiny, etc. It'll break your heart tbh, I'm underselling the sadness in this song.

Saint Bernard, by Lincoln. Spn-relevant line: I'm preeeetty sure the fandom has passed this one around before. It's short n sweet, filled with religious references, and could be sing by Dean himself tbh...

The Hymn of Axiom, by Vienna Teng. Spn-relevant line: this is an oddball in that it's a choir piece, but it's open society opening itself up more and more to technological interference and surveillance... from the perspective of the technology, which thinks it's doing the right thing. I'm gonna just tack angels onto that and y'all do the rest.

Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, by Pearl Jam. Spn-relevant line: Dean listened to Pearl Jam with Lee in the late 90s because it pissed his dad off. Next question.

In My Mind, by Amanda Palmer. Spn-relevant line: this is just a song about how you can never see yourself growing in the moment, because you always think you should be better than you are. Maybe I'm projecting, but......... Dean.....

Obstacles, by Syd Matters. Spn-relevant line: this song was in life is strange i and it changed me forever and life is strange ii was about two brothers on the run and the little one was magic and the older one was obsessed with being like his dad and when I hear this song my brain turns to soup and leaks out my ear thank u

Thanks for listening.... Hope u learned something............... Ask me stuff about music I have all the songs

Tagging ppl I see in my notes a lot ily: @purpledogdyke @nephilimjack @crystalrainwing @jackklineisbackmotherfuckers @sunflowerseraph uwu

[turtle-steverogers]

Not Guilty- 2

murder mystery’s back! im having too much fun with this story guys

Link to chap 1 in case you need it

warnings: albert being a human disaster, abuse of the word ‘milk’

ship: ralbert, platonic spalbert

word count: 1680

editing: lmaoooo no

Chap 2

When Albert gets to the precinct the next morning, he’s wary to find a wrapped parcel on his desk that looks suspiciously like a sandwich.  He pokes at it, frowning when he sees a singular smiley face drawn on the underside in black sharpie.

 “Hey, uh, Spot?” He calls, looking up when he hears his partner’s chair roll out from his desk and subsequently poke his head around the low wooden wall that separates their cubicles.

“Yes, honeycakes?” Spot’s expression is the face of innocence and Albert’s stomach churns.

“Did you-” He stumbles, gesturing to the presumed sandwich, “Is this for me?”

“It’s on your desk, isn’t it?” Spot smiles, rolling back into his cubicle.

Albert sighs, taking off his messenger bag and jacket and sitting heavily in his desk chair.  He cautiously unwraps the white paper to find a loaded meatball sub sitting in the middle of a napkin.  There’s a sticky note placed delicately on the fluffy white bread and Albert plucks it up, squinting at the words:

Sorry you didn’t finish your sandwich xoxo Spottie

He laughs probably too loud and sticks the sticky note on his desktop, right next to the note from Jack that reads: ‘I’m sorry for stealing your pants, I had brains on mine’ after Jack had taken his extra pair of slacks from his locker when his got spoiled at a crime scene.

He takes a bite of the sandwich, pleased to find that he can still stomach his favorite Gianno’s special after yesterday’s events.  As he chews, careful not to get any tomato sauce on his shirt, he plucks a sticky note from his own pad and scrawls out: Thanks, Pop Spotcket.  Love u, dear xoxo and tosses it over to Spot.

A moment later, Spot snorts indignantly, “‘Pop Spotcket’? Really? Does anyone actually use those anymore?  The only person I know who has one is my niece and she’s eleven.”

Albert rolls his chair so he’s in Spot’s cubicle, sandwich still in hand, “I have one, asshole.  They’re useful.  Anyway, thanks for the sandwich.  How’s it looking at Gianno’s?”

Spot sighs wearily, placing a stack of papers down and turning from his computer to look at Albert, “Eh.  They’re closed today.  I stopped by this morning to pick up some evidence left at the crime scene and one of the waiters asked if I wanted anything and I remembered that you didn’t get to finish your lunch yesterday so…”

“Thanks, man,” Albert says, mouth full.  Spot wrinkles his nose and tells him not to speak with food in his mouth.  Albert rolls his eyes, “Anyway, evidence?  What’s new?”

“Nothing really,” Spot says, “Just Wiesel’s receipt from his last meal.  Wasn’t really much on it, but it gave us a sure timestamp that lines up with our original record, so at least that’s set.”

“Good,” Albert shoves the last bit of sandwich into his mouth, licking his fingers.

“Yeah.  Saw our boy there, though.”

Albert raises his eyebrows, “Higgins?”

“Mhm.”

“How’s he?”

Spot shrugs, “Didn’t talk to him.  Kid looked like shit.  Well, more shitty than yesterday if that’s somehow possible.  Kept sending cute little glares my way, fucking ray of sunshine, that one.”

“Christ,” Albert grimaces, “I’m convinced he’s a player in this debacle somehow.  I mean, he seemed genuinely surprised when he found out the vic was Wiesel, but too many strings lead to connections on his end.”

“Yeah,” Spot agrees, “I dunno, I say we dig a little into Wiesel’s other relations as well.  I feel like there’s a gap here somewhere.”

“Toxicology came back,” Albert says after a pause.

Spot looks at him, eyebrows raised, “And?”

“Sarin poison in the blood.  Stab wounds were post-mortem.  Someone wanted this shit to look messier than it is.”

“Interesting.  I wonder who’d go through the trouble of poisoning, then following up with a physical attack.  ‘Specially in a public place.  S’kinda risky.”

“That’s what I was thinking, but whoever it was, clearly knew what they were doing.”

“Clearly…”

XXX

Albert never understood why there was such a wide variety of milks in the world.  And why, in this moment, he can’t find any simple fucking 2%.  

He scans over the selection again, bypassing the almond and oat milks and skimming over the fritzy lactose free shit.  There’s strawberry milk and chocolate milk on display and even horrifyingly enough, mint milk, but no fucking 2%.  It’s not even like this fucking bodega is big enough to warrant having so many milks. 

He just wants some damn normal person milk!

“Excuse me, detective.” 

Albert doesn’t startle.  He doesn’t.  He’s a trained law enforcement officer and detective.  People like him don’t fucking startle.  But, he is on high, professional alert when he turns around to see Antonio Fucking Higgins standing behind him, eyebrows raised in what’s probably amusement and hands shoved in his pockets.

Albert makes a strangled noise, eyes working on their own accord as they trail down Higgins’ body.  He’s sweaty, looking like he just came from some sort of workout, and a pair of tight adidas running pants hug his legs in all the right places.  He’s in a tank top today, somehow doing his arms more justice than the grey shirt he’d been wearing yesterday.  A hat sits backwards on his head, doing little to tame the curls that are trying to sneak out of the stupid hole where the strap meets the fabric.  He looks hot and it’s unfair and Albert’s never been ashamed of his sexuality, but right now he’s wishing that he could reign in his gay ass a little bit because aside from the fact that Higgins is a bit of a prick, he’s also a suspect and that’s, like, number one in the Book of Nope for cops of any kind.

Higgins is still looking at him, but now there’s a small crease of concern between his eyebrows, “You alright, man?” He asks, “You look kinda like you’re having a heart attack.  Do you have any chest pain?  Your left arm feel numb at all?”

Albert shakes himself, morphing his expression into something he hopes looks less like Gay Panic, “Yeah, sorry, I-” He splutters a bit, then shuts his mouth with a click.  

Higgins scoffs, “I just need milk, man, you mind?”

Albert starts, hastily stepping out from where he was definitely blocking the milk selection and watching as Race grabs a carton of-- fucking 2%.  How did he find it so fast?  How did Albert not see it?  He’s supposed to be the one trained to look for details others don’t see!

Trying not to flush, Albert reaches out and grabs a carton as well and Higgins looks at him again, laughing, “You were standing here for a long time, dude, I thought you were gonna murder the milk for a second.”

“Couldn’t find the 2%.” Albert mumbles, blushing harder when Higgins laughs louder.

“Real good reconnaissance there, detective.”

When Higgins is laughing, his face changes into something a whole lot more pleasant.  Not that it was ever unpleasant (the dude’s got a jawline of a god), but some of the hardness in his eyes and shadows on his face go away and for just a second, he looks like the 25 year old he’s supposed to be.  It’s nice, Albert thinks, ignoring the way alarm bells are going off in his head.

“Shut up, Higgins, I’m tired.  Some of us have to read about murders all day, so excuse me if my milk finding skills aren’t the most refined.”

Higgins’ face softens and the smile in his eyes turns into something else that Albert doesn’t want to dissect, “Race.”

“What?”

“Higgins is my dad, not me.  And I don’t like the name Antonio very much, so if we’re gonna be talking more, be it over murder or milk, call me Race.”

“Race?”

Higgins--Race--winks, “That’s a story for level five amici.”

“Oh, okay.”

They pause for a moment and even though Albert’s not drunk, his inhibitions seem to flutter away from him against his will as he blurts out, “Drinks sometime? Would- uh- would you wanna get drinks sometime?”

And fuck-fuck- SHIT- what are you doing Dasilva? What the fuck?

Race considers him for a moment, “Not that I wouldn’t hit that,” he nods to Albert’s body and Albert flushes.  Damnit with the flushing!  He’s 26, not some flouncy high schooler, “But I don’t think that’s a good idea, detective.”

Albert nods, “No, yeah, honestly I don’t know why I asked- uh-”

“Relax, don’t have an aneurysm, it’s okay.  I just don’t think it’s a good idea right now.”

“No no, you’re right.  Absolutely.”

There’s another pause, then Race smiles apologetically, “I gotta go get the rest of my groceries.  Take care.”

Albert cringes internally at how fucking painfully awkward this exchange has been, “You too,” he says, watching Race retreat to the wine aisle.  He takes another moment to gather himself, then goes to the checkout line.

XXX

Albert turns up the volume on his TV, pleased with the quiet solitude of his apartment for the night.  He doesn’t love living alone, but it’s been a long couple days and he’s been looking forward to a night to himself since he’d woken up that morning.  Just him, some thai, and the Animal Planet playing reruns of ‘It’s Me or the Dog’ all night.  Fucking self care.

He’s just yelling at some dog owner on the TV for feeding his pug 24 eggs a day and watching as Victoria Stilwell chews out the greasy fucker when his phone rings on the coffee table in front of him. 

Groaning, Albert mutes the show and chugs down a few sips of beer, before picking up the phone and answering with an annoyed, “Someone better be dying.”

There’s silence on the other end and Albert pulls the phone away from his ear to check the caller ID.  It’s Spot.  Shit, someone might actually be dying.”

“Spot?  Everything okay?”

Spot sounds sheepish when he says, “Well no one’s dying, technically…”

“But…”

“There was another murder.”

“Shit.”

-

Race went straight home after the bodega, right? RIGHT!??!? stay tuned ;)

thanks saph for ‘pop spotcket’

thanks for reading, chiefs

hmu to be added to my tag

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[cookinguptales]

I've a small query (if it doesn't float your boat, no worries!) I was interested in how you got into learning languages, what led you to it? I've become curious since learning a new language as an adult has only increased my awe of multilingual folk (additionally, I vaguely remember a post about a request in exchange for a donation to charity, and wondered if there were any you'd like a donation to)

First of all, good luck with the language learning! It’s not easy as an adult, but I do think it’s worth it, both in terms of cultural fluency and brain elasticity.

My answer to the language thing is actually extremely complicated, so I’ll be putting it under the cut. I’ll put the charity stuff above the cut so more people can see it.

— I’d just like to warn you, though, before I start, that I have been locked in this house for over a month with no respite and I HAVE A LOT OF WORDS AND FEELINGS IN ME SO THIS POST HAS SO MANY OF BOTH OF THOSE THINGS!!

anyway

There are so many charities that I want to donate to now that it honestly makes my head spin. Every time I look at a site like GoFundMe it kind of makes me want to cry. So a lot of donations I’ve made have been to like local businesses, restaurants, etc. who will close down without help. (Also a lot of local native groups, who are disproportionately suffering right now.) I’ve also been donating to various food banks — Philabundance, a Philly-centric charity that deals with food insecurity in general, is a good one. That was a regular of mine even before the outbreak. I’ve also donated to a lot of the local services in the small town where I’m in now, though you’ll need to PM me if you want the name of that. (It’s… very small.) 

Off Their Plate is another great charity that’s been working with small restaurants (who can’t open for business) to get food to first responders. They’re partnered with World Central Kitchen, which is another fantastic charity that helps out during disasters. Plus well-known ones like Feeding America, No Kid Hungry (important while school is out and kids aren’t getting breakfast/lunch there), Direct Relief, etc.

(I uhhh may have overstrained my charity budget the past couple months. It’s odd how that adds to stress and relieves it at the same time.)

I tend to avoid religious charities, especially Salvation Army, because they’re occasionally discriminatory in how they distribute resources and we no longer have laws & oversight to make sure they don’t do shady shit. So I just avoid them in general now. I also avoid the American Red Cross because they’ve been known to misuse funds. Research is key!

I also worry about some of my regular charities, like Immigration Equality & Rainbow Railroad (helps LGBTQ people in dangerous countries immigrate to less dangerous ones), the Native American Rights Fund, various local abortion funds, RAICES (provides legal services to immigrants & refugees), the ACLU, Dysautonomia International, the Rainforest Action Network, etc… A lot of them are getting fewer donations than they’re used to because we’re in the middle of such life-shattering events.

If you are really interested in making a donation (please, please, please do) those are all good options. I also fully recommend looking up needy organizations, services, people, etc. in your own area. I try to donate to a healthy mixture of national/international organizations, local needs, and temporary issues du jour. (Disaster relief, bail funds for protesters, fighting new discriminatory laws, etc.) I would genuinely appreciate any donations, especially if you find a cause near and dear to your heart that I would never even hear about. Anything along these same lines, y’know? If you have anything you’d like me to do in return, just hmu.

I constantly stress about who to donate to — there are so many good organizations and so few dollars to give them — but at a certain point, every dollar to a cause you believe in counts. Every dollar you donate helps to make the world a little bit better for at least one person. That’s what I have to tell myself to calm myself down, haha. So even the smallest donation you make to any of these groups would mean a lot to me.

Anyway, onto the language stuff:

For me personally, I grew up bilingual. Deafness runs in my family, so I learned sign language from a very young age. Note: I say “sign language” rather than ASL. I learned sign language kind of organically, which ended up making a mess later in life. My parents mostly taught me, but so did my daycare (at a deaf school) and so did my babysitters and so did other family members, etc. The point is, not all of them used the same sign language. There was a wide mixture of ASL, SEE, and home signs and my current signing style is… problematic. lmao. My family all understands it (hey, they taught it to me) and I can have conversations with American sign language users, but I know they can’t love my signing lmao. I’ve considered sitting down and taking a legit ASL class for years, but there are so many classes I want to take… I don’t know.

After that, it largely became a case of taking languages whenever they were made available to me. I’ve always liked them. We moved around a lot when I was a preteen so I went to a lot of different schools. (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade were all different schools.) It was rough at home and hard to make friends so I guess I threw myself into academics a lot. My sixth grade school was an odd one; it was a 6-8 grade school and you were supposed to take a crash course in three different languages in sixth grade so you could choose one and take it in 7th and 8th grade. I ended up taking Spanish, French, and German that year. I liked French best! But then we moved so it was kind of moot. (And I hated German, sorry Germans. My mouth doesn’t like the noises. It didn’t help that my teacher was weirdly sympathetic to Nazi-era Germany…? But I guess that’s another post.)

When we moved to Florida, you had to have special permission to take language classes in 7th grade. (FL doesn’t have great academics.) But since I’d already had some Spanish in NC, they let me take it! And then I moved schools again. This new school, my 8th grade school, I’d be in until I graduated 12th grade years later — but the employee turnover at that school was almost comedically bad?  I took Spanish for like a year and a half there and had three different teachers. So at this point I’d had 5 different Spanish teachers, all from different countries (where they spoke slightly different Spanish!), all reteaching the same ideas over and over again because they didn’t know where the last teacher had left off. In the end, my last Spanish teacher sent me to the school library with some textbooks because he felt like I was very good at languages and he couldn’t adequately teach me in the environment he’d been thrown into. (My high school was very terrible. So he was right.)

SO I SWITCHED TO FRENCH. I took French for 3-4 years in high school (can’t remember when I started) but the same shit started happening. By the last year, my French teacher had the French I, II, III, and IV students IN THE SAME CLASS and she just put the advanced students in small groups and had us do independent study. Sigh… Around this same time, I started three other languages. At this point, I was getting kind of accustomed to self-study so I applied for a Latin class in the Florida Virtual School and took a year of that. I also spent a summer studying at the University of Chicago when I was 16-17 and learned Middle Egyptian then. (Yes, I was an ancient cultures nerd even back then.)

The Japanese has always been an odd case. Like I said, my 8-12 education was fairly terrible. They had this thing where they used a computer program to teach kids math and the teacher kind of taught along? When I transferred to the school in the middle of 8th grade, the teacher didn’t know what to do with me so he just plopped me in front of a computer and told me to do as much as I could. They started me in… Pre-Algebra, I think? Which I’d already taken in sixth grade. So I ended up getting through Pre-Algebra, Geometry, Algebra, and Algebra II, which… wasn’t in the teacher’s plans. I’d kind of finished several years of math in like a quarter. And then they didn’t have any more classes. So he just told me to like. Sit quietly and amuse myself for the last few months of school?? (Terrible, terrible school.) So I went to the library and found a book about Japanese and started teaching myself that. I really, really liked Japanese! Like it’s a language that just clicks really well with the way my brain works, I think. It’s very logical, I like the syllabary, etc. And I think growing up signing helped me with pictographic languages like Middle Egyptian and Japanese. My brain easily connects visual symbols with concepts.

When I went to college, the plan was honestly to learn more Egyptian and start translating, and I kept taking French to help me read old research in various ancient study fields. I ended up transferring out of the NELC major, though, due to some ethical problems… I guess that’s another post. Several years into my RELS/FOLK degree I went to my parents like. Look. I love learning this stuff but none of it’s useful. Remember how much I loved Japanese? Can I go back to learning that? I could translate that and that’s a legit skill. So I applied to a program through my school and studied in Japan for a while and ended up really doubling down on that language. Weird how I came back to it years later, but I guess it was always the one I loved best.

I have a mind that’s very pattern-based, so I guess I’ve always loved learning languages and the patterns behind them. (This may be why languages with a lot of rule exceptions, like French, irritate me.) They’re like puzzles that I’ve always enjoyed teasing out. Unfortunately, the way my education bounced around meant that I never got a good grounding in most of those languages, so I’ve largely lost them. I can still read French fairly well and my Japanese is good… My Spanish is like. Enough to get me around in the southern US. My German is abysmal. I remember very little Latin & Middle Egyptian. (It’s been over 10 years, I guess.)

So I guess what I feel the need to say to you is that if you don’t use it, you will lose it. I did well in all my language classes. They’ve always been fairly easy for me. Like. Straight As, no problem. I don’t say this to brag. I say it so you know that even for someone like me, whose brain is fairly well-wired for languages, it’s very, very difficult to retain languages when you’re not using them. If you’re not used to taking languages or you started late in life, it’s even harder. So even on the days you don’t want to practice! You gotta practice! Ganbare! Bon chance!

[whatmack]

I LOVE YOUR NEIL TWIN HC!!!!! It's my one reason to live now, I'm addicted and you write it really good! If you were considering writing more (but it's absolutely not an imposition, do whatever you want with this, you're amazing either way) maybe just him and Neil bonding? Or Andrew warming up to him? That'd be nice, I mean, what is Andrew even thinking here?

can you pls hmu w/ some of that good good neil & liam content? ((and maybe andrew bein a tad jealous bc neil’s spending so much time w/ his brother but also he’s not jealous andrew minyard does not get jealous and if you dare imply that then you must not fear death))

!!!! Andrew’s reaction is GREAT to think about, isn’t it? Let’s have some angst(YOU’RE BOTH SO NICE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MUCH LOVE)

This café has the worst coffee on campus, which is to say,it has coffee pretentious about the place it comes from, boasting citrus notesor whatever the fuck else is trending and meaningless. It just tastes bitter toAndrew; they never put in enough whipped cream. He buys two cups and dumps thetoppings from one into the other, tossing the leftover dregs into the trash canon his way to the table. Neil makes the pinched face that means he’s disapprovingof Andrew’s sugar intake. Or maybe his money wastage. Andrew slurps obnoxiouslyat his whipped cream until Neil sighs and looks away.Liam takes his coffee with milk, which makes him different from Neil, who takesit with nothing. Andrew keeps a running list of their similarities anddifferences, and gets a thrill of satisfaction every time he finds some new waythey diverge. He realizes it’s him trying to cope with the wholeness of a truthhe hadn’t known, that’s so close to his—that’s so close to Neil, and reflectiveof himself. Andrew can pick apart his own mechanisms now, break them down toengine grease, but that doesn’t mean he’s inclined to stop them. He shakes hishanging arm to feel the comforting weight of his knives. With a flick of hiswrist this problem could be resolved.

Except that it wouldn’t be, because the world is harsh and complicated. Andrew shovesNeil down into a chair instead—hates how Neil goes willingly—drops into theseat next to him and props his feet up on the metal table. His pile of whippedcream wobbles dangerously. Andrew licks up the dollop that fell onto his handand points at Liam across the table.“Talk.”“Bad cop and bad cop, is it?” Allison says, rolling her eyes. Andrew flips heroff. She knew when she invited him here that he wouldn’t be polite—he’s neverpolite—so he doesn’t bother telling her. Her own coffee (two pumps of caramel,non-fat milk, his brain supplies pointlessly) steams mightily before her. Fallis settling in. Andrew makes a mental note to get Neil a pair of gloves thenext time he’s in the vicinity of a department store. Neil’s hands were chappedto bleeding last winter.(It hadn’t been his business, then. It is now.)(God, he’s so annoying.)Andrew kicks the leg of Neil’s chair. Neil turns to him, squint-eyed in query.There’s a gutter-wet leaf on the table the same color as his eyelashes. Andrewslurps up more whipped cream and opens his mouth to show Neil the mess. Neil’snose wrinkles in disgust. His squint softens to fondness. Andrew looks at Liam instead.“I thought the point of this was to have no witnesses,” Liam says, speaking toAllison but staring at Andrew. His face is so like Neil’s, but not, even withoutthe scars; it’s like someone made Neil into a mask and put him on, and tried topass himself off as the real thing. Andrew wonders if that’s what Neil thinkswhen he looks at Aaron. Andrew kicks Neil’s chair again so he won’t keepwondering stupid, useless things. The metal clang sounds like the grate of hisheart. “Andrew’s not a witness,” Allison says. “He’s a lie detector.” You can tell when Neil is lying, she’dsaid to Andrew, so come along and tell mewhen Liam is. Andrew had neglected to point out all the times he’d failedto notice Neil’s lies, been blinded by his own desire for what Neil said to betrue, and told Allison she could go to hell and take Liam with her. Differences,differences everywhere, but never a drop to drink. Allison had said, Neil’s coming, and Andrew had followedher out the door.Neil has swayed towards Liam, heads bowed together, hair featheringover their foreheads in a repetition that never stops. It reflects back andback on itself, becoming the swoop of their nose, the hitching gesture of theirshoulder. Andrew wonders if they have any of the same scars. The Butcher hadseemed the sort to like that kind of symmetry.Fucker. Andrew shakes his arm again. Knives, check. “Well?” says Allison.“Give us a minute,” Neil says. Us, us,like being born together means anything. The blood of the covenant and the waterof the womb are both steeped in shit. Neil’s hand is in Liam’s hand, grippingtight against the table. Andrew hopes they cut off each other’s circulation. He finishes his whipped cream. The only thing left is the bitter citrus coffee.He flicks the side of the cup until it falls off the table, splattering acrossthe concrete patio. Allison tsks athim. Neil isn’t paying attention. Liam is a fuckhead.He’s mine, mine, mine, get off him. (I didn’t know you had a brother.)(I know. Andrew, I’m sorry.)(I don’t care.)“What do you want to know?” Liam asks finally, in that accent that cuts out allthe vowels. “I’m not giving you a whole…life story.” His hand slices throughthe air. It’s Neil’s gesture. Give itback. Mine, mine. Allison makes a noise of disgust. It’s either at Liam or thecoffee, which she’s just taken a sip of. “I don’t want that. What I want is youto tell the truth. And the truth I want is what the fuck you think you’re doinghere.”“Allison,” Neil chides, leaning even closer to his brother. Allison doesn’tlook guilty, but she does take another sip of her drink. Andrew clenches hishands into fists. He knows Neil sees. He didn’t try to hide it. “I’m here to reunite with my brother. Isn’t that enough?” Liam’s voice gains atinge of frustration, but it might be feigned. The best lies have some of thetruth. Neil makes a soothing noise and Andrew imagines slamming his fist into–No.Stop.Don’t hurt Neil don’t hurt himBreathe. There you are, Andrew. You’re back with me? I’m very proud of you.At some point Andrew has closed his eyes. He blinks them back open. Liam istalking. Neil is not. Andrew never thought he’d hate it so much, hearing Neilfinally shut up.“We thought it would be harder to find us if we separated,” Liam tells Allison.His hand is still clenched in Neil’s, the same shade of white-knuckled. “Wewere…almost right. Our father found one. I’m…” he tilts his head towards Neil,and Neil’s face goes tight-pain-sorrow-sympathy in the space of a moment.Andrew thinks it might be an apology, and the acceptance of it. Neil’s anidiot. Andrew would have made Liam beg. He still will, come to think of it.Allison makes a rude noise, like a fart mixed with a yappy dog. “So what’s withthe whole Tiny Tim act? You’re here. You saw Neil. Congratulations.” “Do you have siblings, Allison?”“No,” she says. Everyone at the table carefully doesn’t look at Andrew. (I heard a thing from Mom today, AJ, you know what it was?)Stop.Breathe.Knives.“Then I don’t expect you to understand.” Liam swallows. Neil does, too. Does heeven realize when he’s a mirror? “I need… he’s my twin. We can’t be taken away from each other again.”“And you need us to like you for that?”“Yes,” says Liam, and the frustrationthis time sounds real.  “Don’t yourealize how your team acts? You’re a closed group, and Neil’s inside. Being inthe same place isn’t the same as being together.”The worst part is, Andrew understands. His life has been defined by lines thatseem invisible unless you’re on the opposite side of them. Monsters and theupperclassmen. Foxes and the rest of the student body. Two-parent household and…none.Andrew needs to feel Neil’s skin under his own. The warmth of him. The weightof his reality. It is weakness, needing another. Andrew takes his feet downfrom the table, stomping them on the ground to cover his shuffle to press theside of his calf along Neil’s. Neil sucks in a breath and leaves his leg there.Always so eager for what Andrew gives him. Acting like it’s always Andrew giving,and never him taking away.Andrew needs more whipped cream. He also needs a drink.Allison says, “If you want us to let you in, you have to prove you’re one ofus.”“How?”“Not sure,” she says. Her coffee is almost gone. “That part’s not my problem.”“I’m supposed to figure it out myself?”Neil murmurs and squeezes Liam’s hand. Of course Neil will help him. Of courseNeil will get his happy little twin back and everything will be great for them.Andrew wants to curl his fingers in Neil’s collar and say, you need me, remember? But maybe that’s not the truth.Not anymore.

[dibidibidismol]

do em all, coward

on the one hand: yay! i get to do the ask game! on the other; @acutest-angle, i’m so sorry for doing this to you. i aint gonna fill nobody’s dash, so the qna is under the break. these are like really undetailed. ill be more specific for individual numbers

1: How tall or short do you wish you were? im pretty happy being 163

2: What’s your dream pet? (Real or not) i love my lil baby so much. i wouldnt trade my pupper for the world

3: Do you have a favorite clothing style? i wear a lot of black, and generally dress such that i would be good to go for any job interviews/public speaking events. this is in large part to make up for the fact that my go-to shoes are heelys. like i wear my heelys during professional presentations that count for a large part of my grade. my teachers think im “something else”

4: What was your favorite video game growing up? idk. we didnt do all that media shiz. maybe pvz.

5: What three things/people do you think of most each day: my doggo, my child(useless friend needing guidance) and my tumblr-famous friend. hmu for her url. 6: If you had a warning label, what would yours say?absolute weirdo, but like in a socially acceptable way. can and will debate you into submission.7: What is your opinion on [insert person/thing here]?i support gays.8: What is your Greek personality type? [Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, or Melancholic] 

9: Are you ticklish?a bit10: Are you allergic to anything?some cats, all homophobes11: What’s your sexuality?ace, homoromo12: Do you prefer tea, coffee, or cocoa?tea babe. like i have so much. like a cubic yard. its a problem.13: Are you a cat or dog person?im multifandom(not a furry)14: Would you rather be a vampire, elf, or merperson?elf15: Do you have a favorite Youtuber?amber liu16: How tall are you?160cm17: If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?my chinese name18: How much do you weigh? [Only ask this if you know the user doesn’t mind!]102-105 i’m smol.19: Do you believe in ghosts/spirits?normally no. when im home alone….a lil.20: Do you like space or the ocean more? i have a large fear of the ocean. 21: Are you religious? no22: Pet peeves?poor work ethics/mansplaining/poor hygiene.23: Would you rather be nocturnal or diurnal [opposite of nocturnal]?diurnal24: Favorite constellation?orions belt25: Favorite star?shinee26: Do you like ball-jointed dolls?not particularly27: Any phobias or fears?germs, the dark, men, large non-pools bodies of water, spiders28: Do you think global warming is real? yea, but “climate change” is more accurate29: Do you believe in reincarnation?no30: Favorite movie?tangled, the lorax, shawshank redemp. , hairspray, legally blond, mulan, mama mia, in that order.31: Do you get scared easily? yea32: How many pets have you own in your lifetime?3 fish 3 dog33: Blog rate? [You’ll rate the blog of the one who’s asking.] im gunna rate @acutest-angle cuz she did mine. 10/10 would be 11 but she aint stannin shinee.34: What is a color that calms you? purple35: Where would you like to travel and/or live? oregon suits me fine36: Where were you born? oregon37: What is your eye color?brown38: Introvert or extrovert?idek. im really good at people, but idk abt energy gaining or wtv.39: Do you believe in horoscopes and zodiacs?no40: Hugs or kisses?hugs41: Who is someone you would like to see/visit right now?my doggo.42: Who is someone you love deeply? see above43: Any piercings you want? i already have doubles. might get belly button in the future.44: Do you like tattoos and piercings? hnngg45: Do you smoke or have you eiver done so? hell no. i take drugs/alcohol v seriously.46: Talk about your crush, if you have one! gorl. so beautiful, so smart, so utterly perfect. also taken.47: What is a sound you really hate? the whit boi in class mansplaining shit to me.48: A sound you really love? pitter pat of paws on hardwood.49: Can you do a backflip? no.50: Can you do the splits? no51: Favorite actor and/or actress?idkrn52: Favorite movie? see 3053: How are you feeling right now?tee hee54: What color would you like your hair to be right now? i really like my hair as is.55: When did you feel happiest? talking in front of many peeps.56: Something that calms you down?tea57: Have any mental disorders? [Only ask this if you know the user doesn’t mind!]  none diagnosed. ask me about my brain later for more deets. 58: What does your URL mean?that i smol and i luv shinee59: What three words describe you the most? witty, caring,quick.60: Do you believe in evolution?yes61: What makes you unfollow a blog?too many posts/mediocre content/no longer aligned interests.62: What makes you follow a blog? posts63: Favorite kind of person:girl64: Favorite animal(s):dogs/cats65: Name three of your favorite blogs. @lolfunnykpop @acutest-angle @27-umbrellas66: Favorite emoticon: thumbs up67: Favorite meme: ive connected the dots68: What is your MBTI personality type?pic69: What is your star sign?my wut?70: Can your dog roll over on command, if you have a dog?yes71: What outfit out of all your clothes do you like to wear the most?its black, its formalish, its a pushup bra, dress, and heelys.72: Post a selfie or two?i like dont have any, and im in no statye to be taking them rn.

73: Do you have platform shoes?no?

74: What is one random but interesting fact about yourself?i forgot a wholeass language75: Can you do a front flip?no76: Do you like birds?y77: Do you like to swim?ew78: Is swimming or ice skating more fun to you?no79: Something you wish didn’t exist:homophobia80: Some thing you wish did exist:universal translators81: Piercings you have?double in each ear82: Something you really enjoy doing:read83: Favorite person to talk to:dog84: What was your first impression of Tumblr?no rules here.85: How many followers do you have?all together, a thousand or two?86: Can you run a mile within ten minutes? idk87: Do your socks always match?no88: Can you touch your toes and keep your legs straight completely?ill cry89: What are your birthstones? the lite blu one90: If you were an animal, which one would you be?i aint no furry.91: If a flower could aesthetically represent you, what kind would it be?a rose92: A store you hate? chick fil a93: How many cups of coffee can you drink in one day?  i got addicted, so ive been coffee free for 3 yrs now94: Would you rather be able to fly or read minds? fly95: Do you like to wear camo? no96: Winter or summer?winter97: How long can you hold your breath for?40sec98: Least favorite person?trump99: Someone you look up to:amber liu100: A store you love?office depot101: Favorite type of shoes? heelys102: Where do you live? oregon103: Are you a vegetarian or vegan? If so, why?vegetarian, environment/animal right, eggs for health.104: What is your favorite mineral or gem? sparkle105: Do you drink milk? yea, calcium.106: Do you like bugs?i respect their existence but stay tf away107: Do you like spiders? no108: Something you get paranoid about?spiders, water, germs109: Can you draw: sure110: Nosiest question you have ever been asked?do you shave ur vag?111: A question you hate being asked?whos ur boy friend?112: Ever been bitten by a spider?no113: Do you like the sound of waves at the beach?yea, from a distance114: Do you prefer cloudy or sunny days?sunny, from a distance115: Someone you’d like to kiss or cuddle right now: doggo116: Favorite cloud type:cotton candy?117: What color do you wish the sky was?this is fine118: Do you have freckles? like two.119: Favorite thing about a person:personality120: Fruits or vegetables?fruit121: Something you want to do right now:crochet122: Is the ocean or sky prettier?sky123: Sweet or sour foods?sweet124: Bright or dim lights?dim, i have oddball vision issues.125: Do you believe in a certain magical creature?love126: Something you hate about Tumblr:no dates on anything/ALL THE FREAKING PORNBOTS THAT ARE STILL FOLLOWING ME REGULARLY127: Something you love about Tumblr:shitposts128: What do you think about the least?i feel like this is a paradox129: What would you want written on your tombstone?list of my achievements in life(born:xxxx died:xxxx)130: Who would you like to punch in the face right now?ice131: What is something you love but also hate about yourself?how my brain occasionally forgets to filter132: Do you smile with your teeth showing for pictures?sometimes133: Computer or TV?computer134: Do you like roller coasters?ew, all that sweat and vomit baked into the seats.135: Do you get motion sickness or seasickness?no136: Are your ears lobed or attached?lobed137: Do you believe in karma?idk, i like to be nice but secretly with passive aggressive motives.138: On a scale of 1-10, how attractive would you say you are?7139: What nicknames do you have/have had?dictionary, lee, tumblr girl, dibi, mom, my child, heely girl (i have a reputation at school)140: Did you have any pretend or imaginary friends?yea, i dont remember them, but apparently i invented myself a butler.141: Have you ever seen a therapist/shrink?way back in the day142: Would you say you are a good or bad influence to others?good143: Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts/help?giving144: What makes you angryamerica145: How many languages do you speak fluently? 1146: Do you prefer boys, girls, and/or non-binaries? girls147: Are you androgynous? no148: Favorite physical thing about yourself: figure/hair149: Favorite thing about your personality:   i think im funny150: Name three people you would like to talk to right now in person. my friend’s mom/my coach, my rolemodel/friend, my past self.151: If you could go back into time and live in one era, which would you choose? all the eras sucked for people like myself152: Do you like BuzzFeed?love/hate153: How did you meet your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/partner? [If you have one.]sexy free and single154: Do you like to kiss others’ foreheads or hands for platonic reasons? o yeah155: Do you like to play with others’ hair?yessss156: What embarrasses you?my mouth157: Something that makes you nervous/anxious:the internment camps158: Biggest lie you have ever told:so many159: How many people are you following?153160: How many posts do you have on your blog(s)?10000+161: How many drafts do you have on your blog(s)?1000+162: How many likes do you have on your blog(s)?how do i find this?163: Last time you cried and why: today. latest superstore episode.164: Do you have long or short hair?long165: Longest your hair has ever been:2.5 ft166: Why do you like, dislike, or have neutral feelings about religon?like the community it provides, dislike a lot of values taught, dislike the exclusivity, dislike the way religion is treated as a default. 167: Do you really care how the universe and world was created? only in regards to what we can do to save it.168: Do you like to wear makeup?i like sparkly eyeshadow n mascara. but dont wear regularly.169: Can you stand on your hands or head for more than thirty seconds? no170: Did you answer the questions you were asked truthfully? yea sure.

[churchyardgrim]

What are OCs, what's the purpose of them, and can you tell me about yours? 👀

yes to all!!

ocs are original characters, these lil nerds I carry around in my brain and that make me completely ignore the world around me bc I’m thinking about shit like the logistics of Why Vampires Don’t Rot and also how much more cute can I cram into my poly gay witch triad before something ruptures. as for purpose, they’re fun to have! there really isn’t a distinction between my ocs and the characters in a published novel, except popularity and reach. every character in fiction is someone’s oc!

most of what I have on my ocs is in my “oc talk” and “my writing” tags, which hopefully will continue to be accessible for the next few days/weeks, bc I care a lot about them and I’ve put a lot of thoughts and worldbuilding work into those tags. but a quick rundown of my current favorite garbage children is as follows:

harker! she’s a physics witch with a scandinavian guardian spirit stapled to her brain, and a concerning amount of hyperfocus for the magical mechanics of outer space. she’s very gay, very trans, and dresses like a raccoon discovered hoodies. her story involves coming to terms with having a permanent spiritual hitchhiker, and learning to use its powers to further her own goals; namely, staying alive when someone else very badly wants that power, and also taking a big heaping handful of the Secrets Of The Universe for herself. and also finishing those extra grad school projects she took on to make up for the last round of actual assignments she blew off to work on other extra projects, etc etc.

gregory! awful garbage grandpa whom I love! he was a monk way back when germany was still the holy roman empire, in like 1070, and never did anything wrong ever in his life which means it sure was a shame when he got murdered and then popped back up like a half-feral bloodhungry daisy. his story is a long one, involving werewolf vikings, semi-sane rampages across europe, spending 20+ years imprisoned by a monster hunting english family, and getting hex-maimed just in time for the renaissance to roll around! in the modern day he’s that kind of rich you get when you learn how to game the banking system reeeaaally well on account of never dying, and also selling off all the antiques that just collect like flotsam in your life. he will 100% steal your blood.

erika! harker’s girlfriend, erika is mildly clairvoyant and very neurotic. you know those girls you knew in college that looked very much like the classical bitchy queen bee but turned out to be literal rays of sunshine and positivity who always had advil in their purses and legitimately cared about your problems? that’s erika, with a heaping side of anxiety issues managed almost entirely in private, and centering around time and the unpredictability of it all. she plans out whole months in advance down to the hour. she makes all her lunches for the week ahead of time. surprises and unexpected events throw her into panic spirals, and she somehow manages to go jogging most mornings. the clairvoyance Does Not Help. also very gay, also very trans, also kinda angel-haunted.

ifian! harker’s other girlfriend, ifian is a textiles witch that specializes in emotion work; she works feelings into fabric sophie hatter style, and can capture and contain strong emotions enough to use in spells for sometimes explosive effects. she’s decisive, The Mom Girlfriend, and tends to step in and assume control when her gfs are having their own lil moments, for which they are eternally grateful. ifian’s is the driving will in the relationship, as she’s good at wrangling people and helping them figure out what they want, which is not always an easy thing to know. she very much does not trust the goat harker’s toting around now, and worries over both her gfs bc god, they are disasters aren’t they. very, very gay, somehow The Cis One, and makes her own clothes bc shopping for good outfits while fat is a nightmare at the best of times, she’s got fabric magic, she doesn’t have to put up with that.

felicity! picture a feral raccoon. now picture a twelve year old. now combine them and give the resulting monstrosity a knife. that’s my horrible goblin child. her story goes like this: gregory, being a responsible corporate monster, tries to keep the local vampire population to a bare minimum. sometimes when the Disturbance looks minor enough he deals with it himself, bc he’s maimed and old and can’t fight as well as he used to. on this occasion, he finds a broken-into house, two parental-shaped corpses, and a traumatized child repeatedly stabbing the body of the fresh vamp that did the crime. naturally, he looked at this kid threatening him with a kitchen knife, and said “this is mine now” and that was that. she’s a feisty kid, busy repressing whatever the fuck went down and aggressively climbing trees n shit. someday she’ll grow up into 80% limbs and 20% Hit And Run by LOLO. someday she’ll die, on purpose, so she can come back hungry and powerful and protect her crippled old father figure forever.

thems the main kids I’m working with right now, and dear god did that get long I am so sorry. I am 100% down to talk about these losers anytime anyplace so hmu with any more questions you got!!

[donofdepravity]

Please read my rules before interacting, weather you are a prospective RP-partner, or a Spectator. All Blog navigation is centralized on my Links page, which is also mobile friendly.

Greetings: -This blog is R18+ because of NSFW. Being upfront. -You can call me Rave. They/Them pronouns. I am 25+ (Timezone is The Future™) -If you interact with me, I will assume you have read these rules in full. (And vice versa if I interact with you.) -This blog is Indie & Private. (No RP group affiliation. If you follow me I’ll check out your blog, but I won’t follow everyone back.) -FF7 characters preferred, but I will consider crossovers. Anons are welcome! -Regarding OCs, I will only be interacting with OCs of current mutuals. Any interactions outside of this are purely at my own discretion. Do not request otherwise. (I used to just be selective with OCs but recently I’ve had a difficult time with an OC mun not respecting that and pushing interactions.) -No drama / rudeness / hostility. I will not publish asks stirring trouble, and will block people if need be. -I lose track of Tumblr IMs easily, so if you are IM only and I seem like I’ve forgotten our convo, hmu again so I get a refreshed notification.) -Discord is available for mutuals. Please, I prefer it over Tumblr IMs!

Spectators, please do not reblog my threads. I’d love to hear from you if you’re enjoying things in IMs or my inbox, though!

Dark Themes: -THIS IS A FUCKED UP VILLAIN MUSE. PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS. He WILL be gross. -Angst / Violence / Death and other dark themes not limited to the aforementioned will appear on this blog. If these bother you, do not follow me.  I do tag everything, if you are selectively uncomfortable please check my TW tags page to check what I tag. -Anything verging on or in the extreme (Re the above, or within smut topics) will be hidden under cuts. (I don’t hide general NS/FW, but it is tagged if you wish to avoid it.) -Basically, if a post I’m writing or replying to involves what I believe to be a triggering topic, I’ll tag it. -If you need anything specific tagged, please let me know. -I do not have any particular triggers myself for you to tag.

Basis of engagement: -General RP etiquette applies. -No god-modding. Don’t control my muse. Minor implied things can be okay within reason, like opening doors, or if in a character moves some part of another character. But please be reasonable and fair. -Related to above, I have no interest in RPing with someone that has a control complex / Must be the ultimate / best at everything. (There are logical muses that get a pass on this rule, ie Sephiroth, but within reason.) -This is not a multi-muse blog. I try to plan 1-1 encounters in threads. While I don’t mind brief character appearances, please don’t rely on the thread having an ensemble cast. It doesn’t work well with Tumblr’s reply format IMO.

Ships -Where to even start. Uh. So ironically I’m not particularly looking to ship on this blog since he’s not a primary muse of mine. But ships will be considered within a plot context. -My Corneo is primarily hetero. He won’t knowingly fuck a guy, but he will appreciate a pretty boy, and he’s not above wanking off to, or with other men. Maybe if he were drunk enough he’d fuck a guy. -In general as a person I am a Multi-Shipper. If for some disturbing reason you ship your muse with Corneo, you’re welcome to tell me. But ask first rather than presume. He’s got a rep for one-night-stands with his brides of course, but I will still be selective threading. -Romantic involvement however he is much more selective, so there will be chemistry required. -UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE: ALL SHIPS, EVEN WITHIN A VERSE, EXIST IN SEPARATE MINI ALTERNATE VERSES. -Please do not pre-establish a relationship with my muse without discussing it with me. Talk to me first if you are interested in that.

Smut -Smut will occasionally appear on this blog if my my brain decides it’s in the/a cursed mood. But if you want to write it with me, let’s discuss it a bit first privately. -While I do love me some good horny writing, I can appreciate its not for everyone. I am open to fade to blacks / morning after if you are not smut-inclined. -Once any flirting progresses to smut it will be tagged with: ‘⋙{ ns/fw }’ - It is my general NS/FW tag. Any TWs will be applied additionally.

Dark Themes -As I mentioned dark topics before, I’m not adverse to some borderline topics, acknowledging mun does not equal muse. -I will tag Selfcest or anything grey-zone ‘problematic’ if relevant in case you prefer to block it. -Where relevant dub con / non con or other such triggers will be tagged. Please be aware that any threads containing as such serve a plotted narrative purpose and are not rape fetishization. I’m not changing my content. If you have a problem with grasping this concept, please leave. Your mental health and safety is important, but also your own responsibility.

I use RP Thread Tracker to keep track of all my threads. Please let me know if you change your username so I can update my settings.

Memes: -I will try to respond to memes / asks! Mutuals, Non-Mutuals, Anons all welcome. -Please don’t take it personally if I don’t answer your ask, sometimes things just don’t click. -Starter-memes, unless I pm you and discuss otherwise, generally these are for smaller-format threads. Just to balance out my lengths of things and make it easier for me to get something back to you.

Reply lengths: -I’m occasionally prone to writing larger Multi-Para starters. It’s just my nature. I don’t expect you to match it. Please don’t be intimidated. (But also, typically my average reply length tapers off after the starter for a more reaction-based format. -Multi-Para style is my main tendency writing with an average of 2-4 para replies. Shorter semi-para may occur at times, particularly in dash commentary or shitpost threads.

Reply Frequency: -This is not my primary muse, so I will only be checking this blog occasionally. Consider it low-activity. -When my threads start crowding I queue posts to help stagger replies. -Neither length nor reply-speed is an indicator of my interest level in a thread. Some threads are intended to be larger formal threads while others are shorter that I want to remain light for enjoyment. A varied thread diet is best. -Please do not compare my threads against each other. I plan my replies around how I know I’ll best be able to manage my schedule, as well as meshing in with my various RP partners schedules. Occasionally this means one person may receive a burst of replies in a short space of time. This is usually because we only have a narrow window to mutually be active as they may only be able to reply every few days. It doesn’t mean I’m ignoring others. I’ll get to you, just chill. Things are fine. Bother me about this? You will be likely dropped. -That said, if it’s been around a month, you are welcome to check with me if I got your reply on a thread! I’m aware Tumblr sometimes eats replies and notifications. Likely it’s sitting in my drafts to write soon. But please don’t demand constant responses. I run multiple blogs, sometimes am in the mood for different muses, and have things I do outside of Tumblr as well of course.

Threads: -If life is getting fairly busy, I can’t promise replying to random starters/tags, so please message me if you want to start something. :3 -I will post Starter/Plotting/Ship calls etc occasionally, so please hmu on those if you see them. -My ‘Open Starters’ are open to mutuals. -If we’re not mutuals and you’re looking to get my interest, you’re always welcome to send something to my inbox and I might answer it. If you don’t know what to send, please check out my meme tag for ideas.

My rules used to be so short, but unfortunately certain encounters, and trying to avoid confrontations has led to it growing into a monstrosity, sorry. If you do anything in breach of them, I’ll bring it up with you. If a reasonable solution cannot be reached, I have no qualms blocking people.

Theme: OctoMoosey Icons by myself (rave-rps) Icon Frames by myself (rave-rps) Post-Graphics by myself (rave-rps)

[fucklawschool]

Habitica ideas for students

I’ve been using Habitica for a while now and I love it. The reason I love it so much is that I can use it to track pretty much everything, even apart from the normal productivity stuff, if I’m a little creative. 

As for setting all of this up, I highly recommend doing that on desktop. The mobile app is great for on the go but I wouldn’t recommend it for putting an entire new system in place (maybe that’s just me, though).

So here are some maybe a little more unconventional ideas for Habitica usage: 

HABITS

My habits are mostly positive with few exceptions because it’s much easier to reward yourself for doing something than to punish yourself for not doing something, in my opinion. Plus, I feel like it works out, too, because after all, you do usually want to feed your pets or buy equipment or buy quests.

Water tracker: Drinking water is important, yo. The way I go about this is I have a positive habit called “1l of water” and I just hit the + for every liter I drink. I’ve set it to reset daily so I can see at how many liters I roughly am at for the day. If you struggle with drinking water more, you can also just put “drink a glass of water” and set the difficulty to hard instead of easy, as I have it set because at this point I’m pretty used to drinking a shit ton of water, I just like to keep an overview in case I’m busy and forget. That’s the beauty of Habitica vs other apps, you can modify it to your needs! 

Meet friends: This one I have set to reset every week so that I can see at a glance whether I’m having a social life. Having “high density” fun (as Thomas Frank frequently puts it) is crucial to my mental health, yet I tend to do it too little especially when I’m stressed and instead sit there on my phone wondering where the hours went and feeling generally very blah. I only have this as a positive habit because I don’t want to and need to force myself to do something with friends every single day (what’s up fellow introverts), but I’m aiming for at least once a week of my own accord, so not counting when I see them in a uni context or at fixed activities. I have this set on hard to motivate myself to actually do it, too, since I have to leave the house to fulfill it.

Color: As you may have noticed (X, X) coloring is a bit of a hobby of mine so the habit isn’t really necessary right now while I’m still technically on break and have more time to do it, but I like to keep it in there anyway. I usually color while listening to podcasts because that goes hand in hand, and many podcasts I listen to are also somewhat educational (hmu with your favorites, I’d love to discover some new ones!) while still expanding my horizons beyond what I learn at uni. This one I have set to medium, because while it is a hobby that I like to do, there’s definitely some resistance because you have to be very focused and can’t really do other stuff except listen to podcasts simultaneously. Coloring is very therapeutic to me, and I’m not an artsy person, so maybe give it a shot! You can also replace coloring with any artistic habit, obviously.

Read or listen to podcast instead of watching TV: I love doing both of these things yet they start to get infinitely harder when you’re at uni and running around town trying to stay alive during the semester. Reading especially is very beneficial to my mental health and I love doing it, but it’s just so much harder to pick up a book than to hit play on Netflix. I should probably split these two habits up now that I think about it, because I do tend to read much less than I listen to podcasts. Either way, the difficulty setting here is hard with a daily reset although it doesn’t really matter that much as both daily and weekly resets are equally suited for the purpose in my opinion. 

One book per week: Ah yes, my reading goal. I am terrible at reading slowly and steadily during the year which leads me to binge read on vacation. Now, while I love doing that and I don’t perceive it as a stressful, I would prefer to also read during the year. This habit is set to hard with a weekly reset, and it is both a positive and a negative (which means I probably have to hit the - today, siiiiigh). 

Work out: During the school year, I weirdly don’t struggle with working out a lot because I see it as a study break and I’m one of those people who actually looks forward to working out and hitting some goals. This one also has a weekly reset, hard difficulty and is both a positive and a negative habit, however, I only hit the - when I was supposed to work out and didn’t. This is partly the reason why I don’t want my workout as a daily, I don’t like having fixed days because sometimes you gotta move your schedule around a bit and I simply aim to work out 4-5 times a week. I’m looking into starting an exercise class for swimming next semester, though, so if I do join that one, I will absolutely make it a daily. 

Meal not eaten at desk: Kind of a weird one. I started developing this terrible habit of constantly doing everything at my desk last year, especially eating. Now, if you don’t have a ton of space and roommates, it makes sense for your desk to be basically where you spend your entire day, but I want my desk to be as much of a work only, no play space as it can be, even with limited space, and eating at it is a very bad idea to keep that mental separation in place. Also, I want to be focus on what I’m eating as much as possible and not do five things simultaneously. So, in order to motivate myself to eat my food at the dining room table, I’ve made this a simply positive habit with a medium difficulty and a daily reset as I usually eat three meals a day.

Cook: If you follow me, you probably already know I’m a big proponent of home-cooked meals. But cooking is time consuming, exhausting and hard sometimes when all you want after a long day at uni is some sushi. I aim to cook at a proper meal at least two or three times a week and try to avoid takeout as much as possible. To motivate me, I have this as a positive habit, at a hard difficulty and a weekly reset. 

Go to bed before midnight: I struggle with this. A lot. However, I do need my sleep - when I don’t sleep at least seven hours, I’m unfocused, cranky and tired. Plus, it’s really bad for athletic recovery. Getting to bed before midnight at least ensures I’ll be getting seven hours (since I try to get up at 7:00), ideally I’d get eight or nine, but I’m trying to stay realistic here. I have this as a positive habit with a weekly reset and at a hard difficulty. I don’t see the point in making it a daily because I know I won’t do it (I could, however, maybe make “get to bed before 1:00 a daily, to get brownie points for getting to bed even earlier than I needed to, I might yet do that).

EDIT: It’s been brought to my attention by the lovely @gold-n-mind​ that mobile doesn’t show the counter, something I didn’t really think of because I only use Habitica of my phone when I can’t avoid it but mostly use it on desktop. You can still set up everything how I mention it, but you will have to check the count on desktop, as of right now there doesn’t seem to be another way for mobile users. For potential mobile only users, this is what I’m referring to:

DAILIES

These, just like the habits, will be very personal. My dailies tend to change a lot because when I’m back home at my parent’s I don’t really need cleaning dailies for example. But here are some ideas nevertheless:

Get up within 15 minutes of waking up: I suck at this. I tend to waste away time in my bed, staying on my phone for 30 minutes before I even think about getting up. But a quick jumpstart to my day is extremely beneficial for my productivity, so I’m trying to work on it. This is due every day since lounging about in bed makes me tired and cranky and consumes time I could be using to eat breakfast while watching youtube.

Morning skincare/evening skincare: Pretty self-explanatory. Due every day.

Open window: Due every day. I try to always open my window before I start studying, as I don’t really leave it open over night and fresh air is obviously very helpful for da brain. Also, the cold air tends to help me wake up. 

Make bed: I never used to do this. But then I read “Unfuck your habitat” and I saw the merit in starting your day on a positive, structured note while making your room seem more tidy. Also, these easy dailies give me something to check off before getting started on my harder to dos, which is a concept known as momentum. Due every day.

Do a 20/10 of cleaning somewhere: Another lesson from UFYH. It means you do 20 minutes of tidying somewhere, then take a 10 minute break. I have found I rarely really need more than 20 minutes, and you can easily integrate one 20/10 somewhere in your daily schedule. It’s not fun, but constantly chipping away at messes means you don’t have to do huge binge-cleans. Due every day, but usually not needed every day.

Take out trash if needed: Tasks like these (this one is exemplary because I have a lot of these when I’m in my apartment during the semester) are great because they get you check if you have to do something every day and if they’re due, you do them right away since you’re already there checking! If they’re not due, you can easily check something off your dailies without actually doing work. Of course, the difficulty setting on these is usually trivial, but taking out the trash is a very trivial task, you just tend to put if off forever. Other ideas for this are put on laundry, check the mail, etc.

Week review/weekly planning: This is due every Sunday. I suck at following through and do need to get better at it, but actually looking at your week in advance and knowing what’s gonna happen when as well as getting into the mindset for Monday does help. 

Study dailies: These will vary wildly depending on what kind of study system and schedule you have! I have a general study daily with a checklist that says “x pages” and “flashcards”. I also now have a separate flashcard daily with a checklist for every set of flashcards I’m trying to get done. Like I said, it will vary - for some of you having a daily with a certain goal of pomodoros may work (I don’t really utilize the pomodoro method a lot, though), some of you just need a push so “study for 30 minutes” may be enough to set you on a productive course. I change up my study dailies most frequently of all of them because they change a lot depending on what subject I’m focusing on, but most of the time I’ll only have them due during the week, sometimes also on Saturdays. 

Go to class: I don’t really struggle with this because I literally cannot skip more often than once or they fail me, but why not reward yourself for leaving your comfy flat and braving the real world? These are also easy to set up because classes generally take place on a weekly basis, just set them as due on the weekday when the class is, and if you don’t struggle with going to class like me, you can always set the difficulty to trivial.

TO DOS

I won’t really go in depth on the to dos, because I feel like they’re pretty self-explanatory. I will explain a couple, but apart from that it’s pretty personal and whatever you have going on, just throw it on there. 

Grocery list: This is the only more “unconventional” use I have for to dos. I like to make one to do that says “grocery shop” and then put everything I need as a separate sub-point. This works really well and I like to do it this way mainly so I don’t have my shit spread out over five list apps. The only drawback is that you can’t share that list with friends (unless you shell out €€ and get a group plan), so if you have a joint shopping list with a roommate, you might not be able to use this.

University readings: I like to make huge tasks of my required reading with tons of sub-points so that the reward is proportional to the pain (lol). The drawback to this method is that you don’t get the instant gratification of being able to check off a task at the end of the day, but I use dailies to work like this so my to dos are kind of a more long-term overview of where I want to be by what date. You can be as detailed with this as you want, but I just kind of use the big chapter headings. You could also divide it by pages, though. Whatever floats your boat.

[deathnoting]

thank you for your explanation, i agree that the crowd sourced nature of Ls character is very interesting. making a big post of them is actually a pretty cool idea. anyway, i would love to hear aforementioned self indulgent characterizations lmao

hi anon!! sorry that it’s taken my 6 decades to answer this ask. i’ve been extremely busy because i have that personality type where if i’m not booked up at least 6 days a week i start having existential crises. (also my sister was visiting

i was hoping to give you a response as extensive as the last one but i’m not running on too much steam so bear with me. bullet pointed list bc my brain runs on those

self indulgent l lawliet headcanon characterizations

spooky orphanage childhood. i like to peel back the top layer of death note’s technological-era crime thriller genre to reveal the victorian gothic just below the surface. L’s detective status is near-mythic (he’s a glorified sherlock holmes with a flip phone) and what’s hinted about his backstory (bells, stained glass, orphanage, etc.) invites us (or me, anyway) to assign him a creepy, dickensian upbringing. my headcanon wammy’s house is a spooky old manor house in the english countryside, complete with empty wings, attics, secret passageways, extensive grounds, and extensive haunting lore. a prime spot to breed some mysteries. throw in some mid-ninteis technology and a stifling ego and you’ve got my ideal l lawliet aesthetic

obligatory beyond birthday bullet point. this would need its own post tbh, but anybody who knows me can tell you that lxb is the foundation for my L characterization. there’s no canon for their relationship/acquaintance to one another, although all hints point away from the direction that i skew dramatically in. basically, for me, L & B grew up together (with A) at roughly the same time/age (i hc L as two years older than B, one year older than A) at wammy’s house when it was still just quillsh & roger’s experiment for a better world. my B has his own extensive vibe, genre, & motivations, but for the purpose of brevity i’ll shorten it down to say that B, being half-shinigami, was just born feeling strange and misaligned with reality & human understanding and expectation, went to wammy’s house as a young child, was given L as the prime example of how he was supposed to be and what he was supposed to strive for, and basically created/collapsed his identity around that. L never treated him or A well, was just competitive and dismissive and self-absorbed, and in his adult life sort of carries the dejected weight of having fucked up something really crucial when he was too young to know the difference. i think he views B as both a mystery he couldn’t solve and a victim he couldn’t save. and a bit of a dirty secret that he’s not sure how to ever make peace with.

who the wammy in wammy’s house!? it’s ya boy quillsh. i have a very specific impression of L’s relationship with watari that doesn’t align with either the benevolent grandfather characterization or the abusive child-exploiter that the fandom seems to be limited to. i think that their relationship is somewhat exploitative, but knowingly. all L’s power comes from watari’s money and the fact that he took him in and gave him a home/direction, but all watari’s power comes from L’s genius. without the other, neither of them would have gotten far with the world’s greatest detective thing. i think their relationship is probably tinged with equal levels of respect and resentment, a father/son thing mixed in with a boss/employee. except the father is the employee….. maybe (?) don’t @ me.

lxlight!!! i think that L probably views light as this sheltered kid who totally misses the point. doesn’t view him as an equal at all and just sort of constructs this narrative around their supposed friendship to entrap light in a situation where he has to be amenable. i mean, that’s practically canon. what i’m trying to say is that i think the fic trope that has L and light thinking of each other as ~each other’s only equal~ is boring. i think that light feels that way about L, but L just coyly pretends while subtly jabbing at light from every angle, which only makes light more eager to win/prove his superiority. to me, L views light as this plucky and sort of terrifying kid who should in no way be capable of the things he’s capable of, and keeps being caught out by the magnitude of light’s power/mania/competence, to the point where it. you know. gets him pretty hot

my favorite L characterization, as anybody whose ever read any of my fic would know, is post-series “L lives and doesn’t know what the fuck to do with himself.” i really like exploring the emptiness of cycling constantly through locations and people and triumphs. i do think the only people L really forms relationships with are criminals that he obsesses over for a period of time and then abandons. there’s so much in B dying quietly in the background while L hasn’t even caught up with light yet that just hurts. i like to imagine L visiting B in prison, making peace with both of their mistakes. i like to imagine L finding a way for light to live in the world even after he’s gutted it, not because light deserves forgiveness but because L doesn’t want to be alone. i like seeing him as this kind of unjust authority of justice who collects criminals because they’re the only people who he can connect with, arbitrarily bestowing mercy and then taking it away. L is presented as such a machine (powered by donuts…..?!?) and i really like exploring the breakdown of the machinery and the revelation of tender human loneliness and terror beneath

oh! i almost forgot. let me talk at you about power bottom L! to each their own, i really don’t care about top/bottom dynamics in general bc? switching rules? but i feel really strongly about bottom!L. i think as a character with such absolute power over the circumstance of other characters, seeing him wield that power over literally anyone i ship him with (light, B, misa, mello, aiber, wedy. yes. i ship him w/ everyone) in a sexual context is just a little uncomfortable for me and a lot boring. a favorite fic premise of mine, i’m sure ya’ll have realized, is situations where L is basically light or B’s sugar daddy/boss/the only thing keeping them out of prison or execution but also he bottoms. light or B fulfilling the role that watari took for L? like driving him around and doing his laundry and meeting with his clients and shooting his enemies with sniper rifles? my #1 kink forever.

sorry this is so scatter-brained and also not as deep as i want to get. i just have so! many! L feelings! if you want me to expand on any of this, hmu.

thanks for the questions, anon. and for your patience.

[elmyre]

Tagged by @belovedyuuri (Thank you!! ^^ I’m sorry about getting to this so late, stress + my usual habit of putting things off/straight up forgetting things constantly has been getting to me)

Rules:

1) Always post the rules. 2) Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you. 3) Write 11 questions of your own. 4) Tag 11 people.

I’ll just tag @sakuracat96 @wheredidvictorleavemenow @peanut-musings @gotvodka @l3monsoda @mostladylikeladythateverladied @dragonsrulemyheart and anyone else who wants to answer my questions (if I tagged you and you don’t want to do it that’s fine too)

1.  What is the last song you listened to on repeat?

I’m not usually the type to put songs on repeat just cause I get tired of them really quickly but last one was Cherry Wine by Hozier cause omg how amazing is that song????? ; ;

2.  Which Yuri on Ice fanfic would you recommend to somebody who’s never read yoi fanfic before?

I mean I’d definitely say the Rivals Series (a canon divergent series of fics with some delicious angst) cause it’s my absolute favorite and I’d pretty much recommend those fics to EVERYBODY but there’s also AU fics like The Merman in my Private Bath (merman Victor and human Yuuri AU with very cute art sprinkled in the chapters) and Expomise (amazing Harry Potter AU) that are just so unbelievably fluffy and sweet. There’s also really good long fics like Met by Accident (the title says it all but the fic itself has a nice balance of romance and angst and friend/familial relationships + it has some Otayuri + the original characters the author made are so extremely lovable). Starstruck is another favorite of mine as well (Actor/Single Dad Victor and his adopted son Yurio meet new babysitter Yuuri, it’s also hilarious and one of the very first fics I read when I started reading YoI fics) I’d keep going since there are so many more fics I’ve read and loved but this is long enough as is so I’ll cut it off here. If anyone who is reading this wants some more personal recommendations feel free to hmu via asks or pm’s ;D

3.  You can take any smell (and I mean any smell) and make a candle out of it. What would the candle smell like?

You know that scent in the air at the beginning of spring where everything smells really earthy and fresh? That smell.

4.  Your comfort book/fic/movie/TV show that you indulge in when you need a ‘pick me up’ is…

Okay it’s totally Yuri on Ice XD I rewatched the entire thing not too long ago since I’ve been worrying myself too much recently and my poor sleep deprived brain keeps making me dream about the upcoming YoI movie and I really just needed something to hold me over

5.  What is your headcanon for Yuuri and Phichit’s first meeting?

(You know, I’m really loving all these YoI related questions XD) I have actually never even thought of that before now but I’d like to think it started when Phichit and Yuuri first became roommates in their college days, when Yuuri had first moved to Detroit.  Yuuri was so incredibly nervous to be in an entirely new country with people who speak a completely different language and rooming with someone who he barely knew.  So he set his bags down in front of the door to his new shared room, and barely even a second after knocking the door swings open and there’s a crazy excited Phichit on the other side.  He goes, “Yuuri, you’re finally here!!! Hold these.” And dumps some hamsters into his arms before grabbing his selfie stick, throwing an arm around Yuuri’s shoulder, and snapping a “First Day with the New Roomie” selfie.  Yuuri is absolutely reeling while Phichit just carries his bags in for him and helps him move in while telling him about the hamsters.  He even helps Yuuri with his Victor posters while Yuuri begins to talk about his poodle and they share stories about their families back home.  He starts out so shy and awkward (and kinda overwhelmed by Phichit being so giddy and talkative) but by the end of the night he’s really happy he gets to room with him.

Also, Phichit totally gave Yuuri a framed picture of their first selfie a year after he moves in, along with a very sweet message.  He may or may not shed some tears over it.

6.  Have you ever named a pet/plushie/object after a character from YOI? What was it and why did you choose that name?

Uuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh does the Yuuri nendoroid count?

7.  Your top 5 headcanons for what life at the Katsuki-Nikiforovs’ place looks like?

They’ve got a bunch of sticky notes around the house. Just everywhere. Victor is a very forgetful person and I’d imagine that Yuuri leaves them for him so he doesn’t forget important things, like meetings or chores. Victor really appreciates it, especially when Yuuri writes a little heart at the end.

They totally massage each other’s feet after a hard day of practice.  No question.

On a similar train of thought, Victor probably does a lot of things for Yuuri that he brushes off as just looking after him for “”“Coaching Reasons””” like running him warm baths or tucking him in or bringing food to him in bed. But really Victor just loves spoiling Yuuri. Yuuri appreciates Victor’s sweetness as long as he doesn’t go overboard, like putting his slippers on his feet or carrying him to the bathroom in the morning. Which Victor has definitely done. More than once.

Anyone who walks into their house without knowing either of them very well would probably think that all the toys strewn out across the living room floor are for their child.  They would be mistaken.  They’re all for the dog.

When Yuuri first came to stay with Victor in St. Petersburg, after having spent about a year back at his old home in Hasetsu, he begins feeling a little homesick.  Victor notices how Yuuri sometimes looks a bit sad and quiet when they’re just relaxing at home, so Victor finds some old Japanese music that Yuuri used to love and asks Yuuri to dance with him. It ended up putting a huge smile on Yuuri’s face for a long while afterwards, and it became a regular activity for them to do when they want to take their minds off something, get some extra exercise, or just have a little fun. They have a playlist with hundreds of songs set up for it now.

8.  Have you drunk water recently? Eaten something? Taken your meds? Untensed? Please do so if you haven’t.

I mean that hardly qualifies as a question but omg that is so sweet?????? ; ; Thank you <333

9.  What is the one quote/song lyric/poem that resonates with you?

“And in the middle of the night when you’re on your own,

I’m chasing down light in the indigo,

It’s just the way you are when you’re overgrown...

...And I will never let you go.”

A quote from this amazing song, which the creators also explained a bit about on their facebook if you wanna check it out!

10.  If you could effortlessly learn one skill in no time at all, what would it be?

I never really have time anymore to study languages so I’d totally try and learn either fluent Spanish or Japanese (since I really want to travel to Mexico or Japan someday)

11.  What is the one question you wish people asked you? What is the answer?

I mean this isn’t really a question with a specific answer, but I’m so absolutely awful with asking other people for help when I need it, so I’d appreciate it if people asked me if they could help me with something.  And then I’d say YES I’VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG EVEN THOUGH I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO ASK  FIRST BUT ANYWAY

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

My questions would be:

What events are happening this year/next year that you’re looking forward to?

If you could drop everything and go somewhere right now without consequences or limitations, where would you go? What would you do?

What is your favorite mythical creature?

Do you have a song/playlist that you listen to for relaxation? If so, what is it?

What do you usually do when you have trouble falling asleep?

What was your favorite toy/game to play as a child?

Your opinion on wearing socks?

How do you like your coffee or tea?

If you’ve ever done cosplay before, who did you cosplay as most recently? If you’ve never done it before, what is your dream cosplay?

Who is the fictional character that you most relate to, and how are you two alike?

What is the most fond memory you have from the past few years?

[battystumutchildren-blog]

-- decastichAmazifier [DA] began pestering piquantPicaroon [PP] at 22:34 --

PP: Hey, boss. How can I help you?

DA: three shakes and a trio os sloppy burgers i got some stress-eaters back home to feed

DA: and one nervous nibbler

PP: Hate to dissapoint a loyal customer, daddy-o but we're closed for renos.

PP: We'll be back up in a week plus one new deck for live bands.

DA: i got sad then crazy happy i'm here for live bands good luck with all that

DA: glad you're gettin it together though man

PP: It's a whole emotional rollercoaster, ain't it?

PP: That's real cool of you to say. Which one are you? Sure I've seen you around some seein as you know my menu back and forward.

DA: the pretty one

DA: you know the cute guy with the pretty spectacular ass?

PP: You're gonna have to be more specific. All my regulars are cherubim in my eyes, babe.

PP: Though if we're talkin ass you did narrow it down some.

DA: should i go into more description on the ass then?

DA: are you a dude leaning towards the rear

DA: spot your patrons a country mile away from the sway of that booty

PP: You've sure as shit got me pegged. Hehe.

PP: But that doesn't help me put a name to a face. Or in this case, an ass.

DA: oh gee he wants to know my name too? golly, Kavi Lalonde at your visual pleasure

DA: safe to assume you're the man behind the mask and not an intricately created order-takin AI right?

DA: also behind the counter

PP: You can cool it with that. I'm only half robot. And not in my brain parts, I promise.

PP: Nice to finally meet you, Kavi. Officially.

DA: nice to meet you too, robits and all my dude

PP: It's all good. But I feel somewhat responsible for your predicament.

PP: What are you gonna do for your nervous nibbler now?

DA: he might just have to be sad i guess :(

DA: but it's all good man

DA: these things happen

DA: i make a mean shake but yknow.... gettin stuff is a treat

PP: Well, I got a few illuminations if you're willin to hear 'em. For example, there's a pretty fat pizza joint on Skaia that a buddy of mine runs. They should be open. Unless the apocalypse happened while we was closed and I just ain't noticed.

DA: :S

DA: well i mean

DA: are you kinda fartin around or bein legit?

DA: because..... yeah kinda

PP: Uh oh.

DA: uh oh indeed my man

DA: shit doth hit the fan

DA: uh, i can try to help you make sure your bud is ok though

PP: That'd be keen. You're a sweet guy, Kavi.

PP: What exactly went down?

DA: more or less a shit show of "riots"

DA: lots of property damage

DA: lots of people making mistakes against their will

DA: and wits

PP: Aw, shit. Now that you're bringin it up, I did hear about it some from my little bro. Friend of his got all fucked.

PP: Didn't realize it was some widespread thing.

DA: yeah it was huge and fairly destructive

PP: Maybe I ought to go down there this week and help out.

DA: hot diggity i have some friends and a sibling working the rebuilding and volunteer shit

DA: if you need hands i got em

DA: my own included of course

DA: just call me a social media megaphone

DA: i can let folks know you're comin down

PP: It never hurts to be well connected. I'll cut out tonight and try to gather my supplies.

PP: Free meals for the volunteers and anybody who's left hungry.

DA: looks like my boys can get their goods another way, that's real nice of you man

DA: hmu for those hands also just plan hit me up

DA: tragic we never spoke before but better late than never

PP: I'm gonna say it was a eureka moment. Lady luck had it out for us.

PP: And come Saturday night, I'll reserve you a good seat.

DA: good seat for the best seat in the house ;P

PP: Hehe. Is this seat taken?

PP: Couldn't help myself.

DA: it's cool i understand when you see a seat that good you're like

DA: damn

DA: is it available?

DA: i just gotta know

DA: plush as hell prime realestate right there

DA: i need it

PP: Yeah. But when there's a purse on it, there's a purse on it and that's just life, flatter bum.

PP: I don't sweat it.

DA: life, a flat bum

DA: now i'm just sad

PP: That's a damn shame. I like to leave 'em laughin.

DA: how about sad, yet eager considering saturday?

PP: That's a little better. You should be excited. It's gonna flip your lid.

DA: flap my jack i'm ready to be blown away

PP: Spread the word, Mr. Megaphone.

DA: lol see you then ass man ;P

-- decastichAmazifier [DA] gave up trolling piquantPicaroon [PP] at 00:01 --

e

[lrosenthal11]

The first of many...

YAYAYAYAYYYY firsttttt post my people!!!!! AHHH HERE WE GO. The adventure begins!!!! So hmm where to go now with whatever this is. First let me start by saying there are going to be typos, and made up words, and profanity, and dry humor, but that is my genre, that is who I am, that is Laurunce Rosenthal, the only one in the USA (unless theres another then hmu @ LaurunceRosenthal@gmail.com). 

I tend to be all over the place with my thoughts, so bear with me. This is my literal thought process running like a wild lion (where my Leos at?) through my brain, and leaving my fingertips to be available for your soul. These are my lyrics on a screen somewhere, wherever you are. And wherever you are I hope you are at home and at peace, because you are your own home. As Porter Robinson said at the event that sparked this enlightenment of my soul, #OkeechobeeMusicFestival2017, “Every place you’ve ever imagined, it’s real. There is a fictional city in your mind and you know every corner of it. Your mind is a world, each of us is a place.” Do you understand why music is my new drug? (heyyyy BassNecter I’d like to headbang together one day).

 I microdosed on LSD (microdosing is where you cut of a liiiitle piece and take that instead of dropping the whole tab) and my eyes were opened to the effects of drugs and how they can hinder such beautiful people and decided that is not the path I wish to be on. If I can enjoy life without all the drugs and other influences why do I NEED them? That is not to say I am going to stop cold turkey, but I now know and trust my limits. And I am not here to scold you, because who am I to try and control your life, and who are you to try and control mine? I needed to take a drug to realize I don’t need them. I DROPPED a tab (the acid for my family rn reading this going huhhhh what’s a tab??!!! probably what Daddy is doing right now haha Daddy I’ll get to you in another blog post, I’m laughing at Moms right now thinking about how incredible of a human being you are I’m actually laughing at how the universe made me your daughter geez she’s always looking out for me.) Anyway, I DROPPED a drug to realize I could DROP drugs, ahhhhh finally the big reveal, see why this is called Double Entendre? There will be many of those throughout this new blog. Wow I am excited. If you are reading this and it touches you in any way please share. I am just a New York girl trying to be successful, and there are many cliche stories like that, but who is to say I can’t be one of those cliche stories too? They usually have really awesome endings.

I have been at war with myself over what I should do with myself for far too long, and it finally came to me today (thank you timing of the universe, eternally grateful for you and your signs, I promise to be more aware of them and follow them where they guide me). I started a GoFundMe (GoFundMe.com/LROSENTHAL11), then decided that asking for money is helpful but I can’t just rely on that (thank you Frenchie for making me realize that you poophead, love you forever my best friend). I need to use my own talents and put them into action and use that as an outlet to make whatever money will come. But with that being a big part, money is not everything to me. Travel is the healthiest addiction, and I am grateful for DROPPING my past addictions. Drugs were a huge part of my life as people who know me know (IYKYK, hi Jared’s ass tat so glad you’ll be around for the rest of our lives), and now I can say that I don’t need them like I used to. I now trust myself to know my limits unlike before. I was addicted to this fake feeling of satisfaction for however my high lasted. Now I truthfully am high on life. I could sit here and type forever about the changes I am making in my life, but I will just show you all, and show myself, because it’s kinda counterproductive to brag (#NOMORENEGATIVITY) and try to explain how amazing it is to finally be happy in my own skin and with this new cleansed and refreshed, soul. It’s the flesh I will be in for the rest of my years on this planet, so I should prob get comfy in it, and I encourage you to do the same, get comfy peeps it’s going to be a nice journey. I decided I need something to do daily. I need an outlet to write down the craziness in my head, and I am here thinking to myself.. “hmmmm girl let’s think, what is a way that you can write everything down, but also be able to have the souls interested in your lyrics able to read them whenever wherever?”  I started with the GoFundMe, posted a ton of shit to Facebook, and kinda just hoped for the best after that. The work doesn’t stop and never will, and I am finally ready for that. This is about to be my life. I have decided to be a writer in this stage of my life. Have you read my college essay? I wrote it junior year, in my quant Goldens Bridge apartment that I love and miss so much. It sums up pretty much the path I wish to take with my life; one where I go with the flow and follow the universes signs and the advice of the people around me, but also follow the sound of my own beat, and I promise you I will dance the whole way down the road. I have come to about 4411631863881998 (all my lucky numbers together wow that block of numbers is significant to me) realizations about my life and what I should do. I should start a blog, I should pour my heart into my words, and I should start right now. If not now….WHEN? Now that I have my attitude chosen, how I go about the next seconds/minutes/hours/days/months/years is what matters. I am only 18 years of age, I am bound to make mistakes, hella mistakes, but if I’m starting at 18, where will I be at 19? I am ready to push my limits in success and respect my limits in life. That’s why I started this blog, so that it’s not a book, so it won’t take as long to write (patience is a virtue which I am learning, but in the meantime, I’m not going to wait around when I can do something about my life. I’ve been going through some changes, and realized the only one stopping me from achieving my dreams of changing the world one human at a time is myself (and also sorta my lack of funds), but one of my new mottos is “Don’t complain about it if you aren’t doing anything about it.” Well Hi, I am Laurunce Rosenthal and this is me doing something. I have confidence in myself and the people I have met on my ride, whether it be me just flashing you a smile or actually having touched your heart. Maybe I’ve improved your mood one day, or you were a victim of one of my random stranger conversations.  I am grateful for the people I have met and the places I have seen, and now I am ready to expand my horizons even more. I hope you will join me on my journey. Spread the love and BE FEARLESS IN THE PURSUIT OF WHAT SETS YOUR SOUL ON FIRE.

With so so so so much love,

Laurunce LJ Rosenthal ♌️💚🦁🌟