#i guess filbert is moving in

[notahorseindisguise]

im sorry for adding directly to the post but oh my GOSH i love weevils.

the first one looks like Trachelophorus madegassus, it looks very similar to the madagascar giraffe weevil, but is in fact a different species!

second one looks like the New Zealand giraffe weevil, Lasiorhynchus barbicornis!! despite also being named giraffe weevil, it is in a completely different genus to the first one and the following one!

this next one is a giraffe weevil, same family as the first one but different! it’s Trachelophorus giraffa

then those guys repeat, and then the next three look like different weevils from the Pachyrhynchus family! those guys have so many different colours and are so wild 

i dont know what the next two are, but they look to be in the family  Curculionidae and probably the sub family Curculioninae, cause thats normally where nut weevils are and they look like they eat nuts!! the next one looks like a small filbert weevil, my favourites, Curculio occidentis! it does look a little different so maybe not exactly that but id pretty confidently say it is in the genus Curculio and probly eats acorns or some other kind of nut

that next guy i have seen before but i cant remember who he is!! i would say hes not a nut weevil because his snout doesnt look like it could get inside a nut (not pointy enough). i would hazard a guess at him being a fungus weevil? cause their snouts are normally wider. could also be a belid! would need a better photo of him (without the background edited out) to try to know more. 

that next one is a spiny weevil from ecuador!! theyre also one of my favourites, i recognised him right away. he is, i believe, in a genus called Prionomerus, but i cant find any more info!! weevils, like all insects, are very poorly documented due to how many there are of them. but if you google Prionomerus you can find some empty wiki pages in a different language and a couple photos of him.

on the next part, the flying one might be a belid, specifically a long nosed weevil? not sure though, it moves quick! and the yellow one looks like a particularly yellow kind of Lixus pulverulentus, but im not too sure, and they also dont have much info online :((

next one looks like another acorn weevil!!

the first one on the next section looks like a fungus weevil (its the snout) and the other one looks like the same guy from earlier which i said id need a better picture for. if anything, this picture of him is worse, but i can see that his antennae are bent, which i believe would make him a “true weevil” in the family curculionidae!

giraffe weevil again! btw, you can tell this guy isnt in curculionidae (the true weevils) because his antennae are straight, not elbowed, meaning its in a different family!

bended antennae? true weevil bae. straight, without elbow? true weevil? no!

thats a little mnemonic to help remember. i just thought that up now. 

these next guys look like relatives of the giraffe weevil, some other type of leaf rolling weevil in that family, Attelabidae. cant really tell much more about them, and i dont really wanna pry in on their private times :3

the bigger guy here is most DEFINITELY a filbert weevil, and i once again cant tell the other guy, but his antennae look bent so hes probably in curculionidae and probably a nut weevil from the look of the snout!

madagascar giraffe weevil again, followed by the new zealand giraffe weevils again, followed by the very first weevil (the close relative of the giraffe weevil), and thats it!

i thought this would be a lot shorter than it was, but this was soooo much fun!! i got to show off what i already knew AND i got to google heaps and learn a lot more! (i didnt even know the thing about the antennae until just now, thats so cool to learn!)

thanks for tagging me in this this is such a fun video. sorry for deconstructing it like this LOL

people have probably already seen this, but...weevils are pretty cool.

[stxphxn-strange]

will you hold this? (it’s my heart)

a/n: i wanted to write some sad fluff, like well everything is going to be ok, but is it? and it’s kinda just me sharing my experience via college AU!tony.

Of course they could talk without saying anything out loud. They’d been inseparable almost from the first day they met, their childhood codewords evolving into a serious language of gazes and expressions. They could have an entire conversation just by looking into each other’s eyes, far away from anything else that was going on around them. Sometimes their conversations were so fast, you’d miss them if you so much as blinked. Anthony knew Stephen like the back of his hand (and vice versa) and could read him like a book. To be fair, Anthony was of the opinion that reading Stephen’s facial expressions and their subtle changes was more interesting than most books. And that was, in a weird way of arriving at the conclusion, part of the problem.

It wasn’t Stephen’s fault, in fact it had nothing to do with him whatsoever, but books and articles and journals didn’t hold Anthony’s attention sometimes. It didn’t matter how passionate he was about the subject matter, sometimes his brain just didn’t want to absorb anything. He’d stare at the wall, or sometimes at nothing, following a thought process that didn’t always make sense. More often than not, it was just an avalanche of one (1) idea after another, leaving him confused and upset. How come he could sing an entire song in his head or invent a new product, but not focus on the pages in front of him?

And of course Anthony didn’t want to give himself too much credit, he wasn’t that brilliant and his thoughts/mind weren’t the only thing that distracted him. Sometimes he’d click open a new tab and follow internet discourse.

Sometimes he’d scroll through old texts.

Sometimes he’d send some new texts.

Sometimes he’d stand abruptly and wander aimlessly for a few minutes. What he did tended to vary, but his focus consistently left the task at hand. If he was listening to someone, or trying to listen to someone, he’d bite his lip, touch his face, tear at the hole on the knee of his jeans, or something similar just to deal with the realization that he was occupying his body. He was too often gripped by the realization that he was a corporeal being, leaving him desperately needing to feel the environment around him, just as a reminder that he was alive. Sometimes he wondered about how and why he still existed, but today wasn’t one of those days.

Anthony hadn’t asked himself any questions relating to his mortality in awhile, and he didn’t want to. He could deal with fidgeting as a reminder that he was a living thing, he couldn’t deal with wondering why. All of his anxiety was, ironically enough, focused on the fact that he couldn’t focus on a damn thing. There wasn’t time to let his mind wander into any dark corners, but Anthony didn’t know that he’d be able to collect his thoughts if it did. So after picking up his phone for the third time, just to play a quick game and see if Rhodey texted him back (he didn’t, because he was in a lecture and Anthony knew that but still checked his phone every few minutes), Anthony subtly shoved his phone in Stephen’s direction.

Stephen looked up as he saw Anthony’s hand in his peripheral vision, fingertips lingering near the top right corner of his notebook. That was one of the clearest signs that he wanted or needed something but was hesitant to bring it up.

“What’s up Ant?”

“May I ask a small favor?”

Stephen rolled his eyes fondly. “There’s no limit to the things I’d do for you, but go on.”

“Will you hold my phone in your bag?” Anthony asked, a bit sheepishly. “I’ll take it back once we’re home.”

“Sure,” Stephen replied, not thinking twice about the request. He brushed his fingers lightly against Anthony’s as he grabbed his boyfriend’s phone.

Anthony let out a sigh. “Thanks.”

“What’s wrong?” Stephen asked, holding his hand properly.

“I just can’t really focus,” Anthony confessed. “I should’ve finished all of this ages ago, but my mind is just elsewhere. I must be distracted because you’re too pretty.”

“I’m fucking gorgeous, but that’s not why you’re distracted and we both know it,” Stephen replied, his tone firm but sweet.

Anthony shrugged. “I don’t really know what it is. I just can’t seem to concentrate, even as I’m trying to do multiple things at once. I’m trying to make up for lost, wasted time I guess? But I can’t focus on one (1) thing, let alone four (4).”

Stephen frowned at the look of distress on Anthony’s face, letting go of his hand for a moment just to brush his hair back. He smiled as Anthony leaned into the caress, relaxing just a bit.

Every bit counted! But beneath Anthony’s little moment of bliss, he was unsettled and frantic. Stephen reached for his hand again, sending Anthony a knowing smile as he began to draw circles on the back of Stephen’s hand with his thumb.

Anthony cocked his head to the right and frowned, tapping his pen on the desk with his other hand. A look of fear and regret flashed in his eyes as he let go of Stephen’s hand. “I didn’t mean to distract you too.”

“You know I can’t resist you,” Stephen replied teasingly, trying to convey that he wasn’t actually upset.

But Anthony wasn’t convinced, crossing his legs nervously and looking at Stephen with guilt-stricken eyes.

“I’m not actually upset or annoyed or anything like that,” Stephen assured him. “I promise.”

Anthony just nodded and slouched uncomfortably in the chair he’d been sitting in for the past few hours. He eyed the stack of papers in front of him with disinterest, trying to convince himself to just finish reading and start this damn essay. He knew that looking at the articles wasn’t going to help him absorb the information, but he wasn’t getting anywhere by trying to read and it was so FUCKING frustrating.

He sighed and opened his laptop again, mentally committing to just getting the outline of his paper done. It wouldn’t be that painful, right?

Actually it could. Even though Anthony stood up to stretch, walked to the bathroom, got some water, and doodled just to keep his mind busy while he tried to take some notes and start his outline, nothing worked. And again, it was REALLY fucking frustrating.

Beside him, Stephen quietly closed a book. “Want to head home?”

Anthony hesitated, looking for a minute like he was going to decline. Eventually he nodded, feeling a little like he was admitting defeat. He’d come back to the essay later, he always finished his tasks... but he hated how long it took him to do them.

“Come on,” Stephen said gently. He stood up and reached out to hug Anthony against his side. “What should we make for dinner?”

++++

Anthony was uncharacteristically quiet for most of the night, which worried Stephen and their housemates. Stephen knew Anthony was upset and that he always dimmed himself when he was lost in his head, but he was rarely this eerily silent. He didn’t touch his work for the rest of the night, trying to make sense of his day and watching Stephen and Carol argue about movies once she and Pepper came over.

Stephen would glance at him every now and then, finding obvious stress in his tired expression. Even though Anthony seemed relaxed, sitting next to Rhodey and occasionally adding a joke to their conversation, he was tense and edgy. Sometimes his sleepy facade would sort of slip, and Stephen could see how much stress he was hiding in his tired eyes.

After spectating a Mario Kart tournament for a few rounds (Pepper insisted on challenging Rhodey with everyone present, raising the stakes of the competition), Anthony slipped over to the other side of the room where Stephen was. While Stephen was still sitting, Anthony hugged him, clearly enjoying the reversal of their height difference.

Stephen found he didn’t mind it as Anthony rubbed his back and softly kissed his hair. With a smile, Stephen looked up at him and pressed his chin into Anthony’s shoulder. “Hi. I’m surprised you aren’t gloating about being taller than me since I’m sitting down.”

Anthony just shrugged. “I didn’t come over to brag. I think I’m going to bed, though. I’m tired.”

“I’m surprisingly not,” Stephen remarked. “But I don’t blame you, weren’t you up late last night?”

“Yeah. I almost fell asleep in the kitchen trying and failing to write that damn essay,” Anthony muttered.

Stephen frowned. “Go get some rest, love. You deserve it, and you need it. I’ll probably come to bed soon.”

“Sounds good,” Anthony replied, kissing the top of Stephen’s head again. He addressed the group then, saying a quick goodnight and hugging Pepper and Carol before wandering towards his room.

Overcome with tiredness and a need to be close to his boyfriend, Stephen left for bed not 30 minutes later. Anthony was shrouded in the scent of vanilla and residual steam from the shower, his damp hair tucked away under the hood of an old sweatshirt his mother had given him.

He was curled up near the center of the bed, resting on a pile of throw pillows he hadn’t bothered to move, his eyes following the screen of their TV.

“Villager hunting? Who moved out?” Stephen asked, realizing that his boyfriend was playing New Horizons.

“Filbert,” Anthony replied, his avatar running the hell away from some wasps. “I’m looking for Pietro now, Clown Town isn’t complete without him.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “I still can’t believe that’s what you named your island. I think I have some extra tickets I can give you if you need.”

“This is my first mystery island, but I might take you up on that,” Anthony said, with a soft smile.

++++

“Did you come to bed at all last night?” Stephen asked, resting his cheek against Anthony’s shoulder.

“Yeah, don’t you remember?” Anthony asked softly.

“How would I? I was asleep,” Stephen reminded him.

“No I know, but you do this cute thing whenever I come to bed late, I guess it’s a subconscious thing, where as soon as I lay down you always reach for me and end up holding me,” Anthony replied. “It’s adorable. Kinda like this spooning thing we’re doing right now, except not because I’m usually facing you.”

Stephen smiled, hugging him closer. “Well I do sleep better with you.”

Anthony blushed, amazed that Stephen’s affection could catch him off guard sometimes. “I love you.”

“I love you too, dumbass,” Stephen replied. “Although I still can’t believe you didn’t take Raymond on the last island you were on.”

“I’m not looking for him. If I’m going to bring a smug villager to Clown Town, it’s going to be Pietro!” Anthony said, laughing quietly at Stephen’s sudden outburst.

(Actually, that was only the beginning of Stephen’s outburst.)

“Raymond is my favorite villager, and you know it! This is a betrayal, the greatest disappointment of this century, and I’m so upset,” Stephen complained, exaggerating every word. “I’m absolutely devastated!”

Anthony knew he was joking, but he started to wonder if Stephen could be disappointed in him for not trying harder to concentrate. He shelved that thought for a minute, running in a circle around another villager. Instead of voicing what really bothered him, he asked: “I thought Dizzy is your favorite villager?”

“Dizzy is my favorite on my island, Raymond is my literal dream villager,” Stephen explained. “I was going to visit him on your island! I feel so betrayed, Anthony!”

“Raymond is alright I guess, but—”

“He’s the best villager in the game! And he kind of reminds me of you,” Stephen cut him off.

“Ah, that explains why I dislike him for some reason,” Anthony quipped.

“Anthony.” Stephen changed his tone, his voice soft and loving in contrast to how bitter his boyfriend sounded.

“What? I’m just saying. Nothing that reminds you of me could possibly be a good thing,” Anthony explained.

Stephen frowned, hugging him even closer. “I call bullshit. I’ve never come across anything I think that’s ‘bad’ that reminds me of you. Only good things.” 

Anthony scoffed. “If you say so. If nobody moves to my island by tomorrow, will you give me some of your NMTs?” 

“Of course,” Stephen replied. He paused before speaking again. “How are you feeling, by the way?” 

“Tired,” Anthony said, saving his game and putting his Switch away. He saw Stephen frowning again, this time at his absence, and quickly returned to bed and his boyfriend’s arms. “And also discouraged. Sorry I insisted that you held my phone earlier, I was thinking if it was out of sight I wouldn’t be distracted and it didn’t even work so all I really did was bother you when you were reading and I’m sorry.” 

“Hey, remember what I always tell you? It’s never bothersome to support you and be around for you,” Stephen replied. “I know you don’t always believe it, but I’ll just keep telling you. And I’m sorry you had a hard time today.” 

“It’s not just today, Steph,” Anthony remarked. “I’ve been thinking about it kind of a lot recently, and I’ve had trouble sitting still, concentrating, not getting distracted, etc. since third grade at least. I’ve just noticed it more recently and it’s made me more anxious since I notice it more.”

Stephen just hummed, softly kissing his cheek. He knew Anthony wasn’t done talking, but always liked to silently offer support/affection/reassurance.

“I don’t have my thoughts together very well, I just feel stupid for not being able to focus,” Anthony continued. “Today I couldn’t focus on more than a sentence without a distraction, and I’m not sure if I hate myself or if I want to be forgiving just this once.”

“Be gentle with yourself,” Stephen urged. “I know you’re trying. You thought about how to minimize your distractions, and I know you like to plan your time. It might be hard to follow your plans, or to keep from getting distracted, but you’re doing your best.”

“I’m going to talk to my mother about this tomorrow,” Anthony said. “Maybe she has some advice on how to deal with it? Is it stupid to hope that I’ll be able to fix myself with just some advice?”

“You’re not broken, Anthony, so there’s nothing to fix. But for the sake of your analogy, no. You are an engineer, after all, and a problem solver. Just promise me you’ll try to be kind to yourself?” Stephen asked.

“No promises. I really fucking hate myself for not completing something as trivial as that essay,” Anthony muttered. “It’ll get done eventually. I guess that’s reassuring.”

tags: @stark-strange-love2 @ah3m @thespacecryptid @chocopiggy @kiwidino @ironstrange-chaos @majesticnerdynerd @spooky-n-spunky @doctorstephenvincentstarkstrange @maya-custodios-dionach

[ask-bucko]

Heya bucko, it’s been a while! But I guess that tends to happen when you move a whole town to a deserted island, ah huh huh huh.

Im back! Kinda, im not sure how much time ill dedicate to this blog if we’re all gonna be busy playing ACNH very, VERY soon, but i figured theres no better time to start up the blog again than now! Im looking forward to seeing everything new this game has to offer, and how it’ll affect Filbert and friend’s day to day lives.

This isnt a reboot and all previous blog context will still apply, but there is stuff ill have to figure out more like characters, stories, and a new blog icon, header, ect. Feel free to send some asks as i get started again! And lets all remember to enjoy this wonderful franchise and its return~

[parakeet]

mint the squirrel is moving in next door to filbert so thats kind of cute i guess. i will tolerate this

[visit-fernbrook]

VILLAGER PROFILE: MAC

Mac was my starting Jock villager, who I liked well enough but I ended up growing more attached to Louie, so letting Mac go to have Pietro move in wasn’t that big a loss for me. Mac also decided to join the circus when he moved out, so I guess he and Pietro really DID switch homes.

Related introduction posts: Welcome to Fernbrook!  |  Vesta  |  Filbert  |  Deirdre  |  Louie  |  Grizzly  |  Yuka  |  Sprinkle  |  Pietro  |  Julian  |  Cherry  |  Lucha  |  Beau  |  Twiggy  |  ?????

[lilliemadoka]

My island (Yuni) on Animal Crossing is UGLY but I love most of my islanders... Dom, Pekoe, Jacques, Marshal, Spike, Peanut, Bunnie, Ozzie, Shep and Friga! My dreamies on the island are Jacques, Marshal and Peanut but I ADORE Dom and he’s definitely staying! bunnie is going to my sister though, she loves her!

Recently the plaza was very packed! Ozzie and Peanut were sat next to each other and Jacques was singing Bubblegum K.K to them (he always sings it’s soooo cute) and Marshal had the cutest smile and he was dancing.... My heart...

I gave Peanut a sailor shirt and she surprised me with her photo! I put it in my room and it’s just brightened my mood ever since it happened! 

It’s been raining a whole bunch on Yuni so I did a lot of fishing... I’ve found so many sharks but I still haven’t found the exact fish I’m looking for... I just know I’ll find it though!

Marshal was up at 5am today! He was singing K.K Metal to the ocean but when he saw me he stopped singing... I guess he’s just shy? I love him so much aaa

Nothing else has really happened apart from Filbert giving me his photo but that was on New Leaf in the town of Cosmos! 

I hope someone moves out of my island soon because I want a new villager and I REALLY hope I get someone like Freckles, Molly, Filbert or even Puddles!

[gulag-crossing]

I hadn't played in a while, and the day I jumped back on my campsite was visited by my specialest boy Rudy! AND I NABBED HIM!

I love him to little bits and pieces and he was my favorite villager in New Leaf but left when I wasn't looking. I had built a memorial windmill where his house was to honer all the energy he brought to our town.

The downside is that this "Admiral" guy bought the empty plot of land just before I got Rudy to move in, and when Rudy got recruited I didn't get the chance to pick who would be replaced. He picked Sherb, which is pretty sad, but sometimes dreams come with a price I guess.

Now the island of New Gulag is starting to look like a dream team! We got Rudy, Coco, Apple, Filbert, Gonzo (because who doesn't love cranky old Australians?) Tammy, Bitty, Chadder, Sterling, and the mysterious Admiral.

[lilywhittaker]

closed starter for @sanemreid​

location: filbert park

Lily held onto Belle’s leash as she walked with her dog, Sanem at her side walking Cairo as well. They had become friends since Sanem’s move to Redwood Bay in high school, but having dogs certainly gave them another activity to do together. “Okay, okay, hear what - I’ll come to your next Latin dance class,” Lily promised Sanem with a laugh. “But if I have two left feet, you can’t say I didn’t warn you. I guess it’s only fair - I did take you to a country music festival when you visited me in Nashville a few times.” As the two women walked during the unusually warm February afternoon, Lily couldn’t help but be thankful that they’d kept in touch over the years when Lily was based in Tennessee and Sanem was travelling and perfecting her craft. So many friendships fizzled over the years, but theirs was surprisingly solid after so long. “Speaking of, any upcoming adventures in your future? I live vicariously through you, after all.” That was not a lie; with Lily’s job as an event planner, she did not have much time for travel and needed more experience before even opening herself to opportunities outside of Redwood bay and Portland. 

[cartoonexpress]

What's your opinion on 90s cartoons? Like do you think they're as great as nostalgia makes them out to be? How do you think they compare to cartoons nowadays? :0c

Ooo, good questions, anon. This answer will be a longer one bc I have a lot to say.

For starters, while I do enjoy 90s cartoons, not all of them are as good as you remember them. The best thing to do to solidify your opinion on that whole thing is to rewatch some shows you remember fondly. There are plenty I've rewatched that I now enjoy from a whole new perspective (i.e. rocko) and there are plenty I really....don't (i.e. dexter's lab). 90s cartoons are still cartoons and with that, there are ones people find good and ones that they find bad. That whole "the 90s were the best!!!1!" mentality is crap

Now time for comparisons:

I'm probably biased since I grew up on 90s and early 2000s cartoons, but I enjoy the art styles and humor of those cartoons a lot more minus some outliers. I like when characters can be assholes to each other while still caring and being there for one another (i.e. ed edd n eddy, ren & stimpy, spongebob [squidward w/ spongebob, specifically]) and it seems that cartoons don't do that nowadays. Like no characters are allowed to rip on each other while still being friends, which is pretty common at least in america.

However, I will admit that those generations of cartoons often do not age well when it comes to certain jokes and social commentary bc different time period = different social norms (i.e. dexter laughing at mandark dressed in pink with the name "susan," filbert pretending to be rocko's wife to avoid him being deported, literally any joke w/ a boy dressed as a girl as a means to laugh at him)

As for modern cartoons, I enjoy how real a show can get bc there are kids who go through difficult times that could really feel validated and comforted by what they see (i.e. one of clarence's classmates saying she might be moving away bc she didn't know if she was gonna be living w/ her mom or dad). That and the lgbt representation. Kids these days are so lucky that they're being shown that they're normal no matter what they go thru and whom they love. If I had shit like the ruby & sapphire wedding airing when I was younger, it would've made coming to terms with my sexuality (and later gender) much more smooth and full of less self-hatred. Knowing kids today have that now is so important to me

On the downside, however, I think modern cartoons post-steven universe lack variety in art style and are too...."calm" I guess I could call it. Like, craig of the creek and we bare bears are animated like everyday life with nothing out-of-worldly really happening. They walk around and move like regular people and that can get pretty boring (for me, at least)

[krat395]

Lizards, Love, and Laughter (Chapter 4)

Before Alphys takes MK out for some ice cream and then back to his house, there's just one last thing she wants to do. :)

Undertale(c) Toby Fox.

******************************************

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

******************************************

LIZARDS, LOVE, AND LAUGHTER

Chapter 4: One Last Study Session with the Best “Big Sister” Ever! :D

10 minutes later, after giving MK an amazing foot rub; Alphys noticed that MK was starting to fall asleep. So, in order to keep him awake, she lightly scribbled her fingers all over his super ticklish soles for a few seconds.

 MK: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHALPHYS, CUT THAHAHAHAHAAHAT OUT!!!! *squeak* EEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHEEOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Sorry MK. But you were falling asleep there and we can’t exactly have that happening, now can we? At least not right now anyway.

 A few seconds later, Alphys stopped tickling MK’s feet.

 MK: Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!!!! No, we cannot! Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!!!!

 Moments later… after MK’s giggles stopped…

 Alphys: …So, MK, you think you’re ready for your science exam tomorrow, huh? …Well, how about I quiz you one last time just to be sure. And with every correct answer you give me, your reward will be tickles from one or more of my paintbrushes. …Sound fun?

 MK: Uh… YEAH! *responded MK enthusiastically while wiggling and spreading his six toes and moving his feet back and forth to tease Alphys*

 Alphys: Say; whatcha doin’ there, Mister? *Alphys asked all cheekily mere moments after noticing MK wiggling and spreading his toes* Are you teasing me with them cute little toesie wosies of yours?

 MK: Why yes, yes I am! *replied MK both enthusiastically and honesty as he continued wiggling and spreading his six toes to tease Alphys*

 Alphys: Well, stop it! *said Alphys jokingly as glided her claws ever so slightly along MK’s super sensitive soles for a few seconds*

 MK: AHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA AHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!! *squeak* OK, AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHHAHAHAHA, I’M SORRY!!!! GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA!!!! *squeak* EEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!!

Alphys: You should be! *said Alphys jokingly as she stopped tickling MK* …Now, first question! How many neutrons, protons, and electrons are in hydrogen?

 The science exam MK has tomorrow morning focuses entirely on chemistry.

 MK: Pfft, really Alphys? You’re asking me that? Child’s play! And I happen to know very well that the answer is 1 proton, 1 electron, and NO neutrons.

 Alphys: Correct! And for your reward, you get some tickles from this flat paintbrush! *said Alphys as she began tickling the top of MK’s right foot and continued doing so long enough to cover every ticklish inch of it*

 MK: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA~! *MK laughed preciously*  

 Moments later…

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Ok, second question! What is the molecular formula for water?

 MK: Pfft, H2O, duh! Come on, give me a hard one! *teased MK*

 Alphys: Correct, you cute little cutie you!

 Seconds later, Alphys pulled out a filbert brush and then used it to tickle every inch of the top of MK’s left foot. And since the filbert brush tickled slightly more than the flat brush, MK laughed a bit harder than he did moments ago as a result.

 MK: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!! AHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEY, THAHAHAHAHAT ONE TICKLES A BIT MOHOHOHOHOHOHORE!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA~!! *MK laughed preciously again*

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Good! Heeheeheeheehee! Tickle, tickle, tickle! Tickle, tickle, tickle! *teased Alphys*

 MK: WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHA~!!

 Moments later…

 Alphys: Ok, third question! Electrons are transferred in what type of bonds?

 MK: Ionic! *shouted MK while throwing his robotic arms up into the air*

 Alphys: Yes! *exclaimed Alphys right before brushing every inch of MK’s right heel and right arch with a cat’s tongue brush*

 MK: AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! OHOHOHOHOHOHHOO MY GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAD, THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAT TIHIHHIHHIHIHIHIHIICKLES!!!! *squeak* WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!

 By brushing MK’s right heel and right arch with her paintbrush, Alphys has managed to raise his laughter up half an octave!

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! It most certainly does! Heeheeheeheehee! And I know for a fact that this will tickle even more, you heart-melting creature you! *teased Alphys right before brushing every inch of the ball of MK’s right foot*

 MK: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!!! IT DOES TICKLE MOHOHOHOHOHOHOHHOHOHOOHHOORE!!!!!!! *squeak* GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!!! REHEEEHEEHEEHEEALLY, IT DOES!!!!!!! *squeak* NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHA!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!! *laughed MK as he adorably wiggled and squiggled as much as he possibly could on Alphys’s bed*

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! I’m glad! Awwwwwww! Kitchie kitchie kitchie kitchie koo!! Brush, brush, brush, brush, brush! *teased Alphys all giddily*

 By brushing MK’s right ball with her paintbrush and because the balls of MK’s feet and the undersides of MK’s toes are more sensitive than his heels and arches, Alphys has managed to raise his laughter up an entire octave!

 Moments later…

 Alphys: Ok, fourth question! When a substance has a pH below 7, what does that mean?

 MK: It means that the substance is acidic! *answered MK enthusiastically*

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee, right, you are! *exclaimed Alphys right before brushing every super ticklish inch of MK’s left sole with a deerfoot paintbrush*

 MK: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!!! AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHA HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!!!! *squeak* SOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHO TICKLY!!!!!!! *squeak* AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! IT’S SO TICKLY!!!!!!! GAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!

 (If Chara was here to witness MK getting his adorable feet tickled by paintbrushes, she would be blushing as if she were about to explode!)

 Moments later…

 Alphys: Ok, fifth question! What are the six noble gases?

 MK: Ok, now we’re talking! Helium, neon, argon, krypton… xenon, and… radon!

 Alphys: Splendid, MK! Well done! And this time, instead of one brush… you’re gonna be tickled by… TWO BRUSHES!! *exclaimed Alphys as she held up a rake paintbrush with her left hand and a mop paintbrush with her right hand for MK to see* Now, twy VEWY, VEWY HAWD to keep your adowabo witto tootsies still, you pwetty witto wizawd you! *teased Alphys*

 Seconds later, Alphys began brushing every super ticklish inch of MK’s soles with two paintbrushes. She started it out by brushing his right sole with her rake paintbrush and his left sole with her mop paintbrush and in response, and not surprising Alphys at all, MK laughed adorably and hysterically once again. But this time however, his laughter was even louder!

 MK: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!! OHHOHOHOHOOHOOOHOHOHO NOHOHOHHHOHOHOOHOHHO, GAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA, NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT BOHOHOHOHOOHOTH MY FEET!!!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!! AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAAHAHHAHAAHA~!!!!!!!! *laughed MK as he wiggled his feet like a crazed lunatic*

 Alphys: MK, what did I just say about keeping your tootsies still?! Come on now, you can do it, you wiggly little reptilian rascal!

 MK: BWAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! NOHOHOHOHOHHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHO I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T!!!!!!!! GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!! *squeak* IT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES TOO MUCH!!!!!!!! *squeak* OOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOEEEHEEHEE EEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!! *laughed MK as continued wiggling his feet*

 Alphys: *sigh* Ok, I guess I’ll have to improvise again! *said Alphys as she stopped tickling MK for the time being*

 With that said, Alphys placed her feet on her bed and then she stuck her mop paintbrush in between her 2 innermost toes on her left foot and her rake paintbrush in between her 2 innermost toes on right foot. Then after that, she leaned forward in her desk chair and grabbed MK’s three toes on his right foot with her left hand and his three toes on his left foot with her right hand, holding his feet perfectly still in the process. And then after that, she finally began tickling MK’s soles again with her paintbrushes. But this time however, she’s holding the paintbrushes… WITH HER FEET!! :D

 MK: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT, WAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, I CAN’T *squeak* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAA, MOOHOOHOOHOOVE MY FEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEET AT ALL NOW!!!!!!!!! *squeak* GAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAA HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAA~!!!!!!!!!

 Alphys: TERRRRRRRRRRRRIFIC!!! ...Now you have an even better reason to “sing” for me, “little bro!” Tickle, tickle, tickle! Tee hee hee hee hee hee! Tickle, wickle, tickle, wickle! Brush, brush, brush, brush, brush! *teased Alphys, causing MK to laugh even more*

 MK: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE OOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO AHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!!

 Alphys may not know how to tickle with her tail, but she sure as heck knows how to tickle with her feet! :) And this is something that’s evidenced by the rather remarkable job she’s doing tickling MK’s soles with paintbrushes by holding them in between her toes! And to MK, it’s actually not all that different than Alphys tickling him by holding paintbrushes in her hands, and the young reptilian boy himself will even go as far to say that it’s a more effective tickle tactic! But then again, MK is unable to move his feet due to Alphys holding them perfectly still with her hands and therefore, the tickling is a bit more intense for him as a result. Once again, Alphys can thank years of tickling Bratty and Catty for this because when it comes to tickling kids, not only do you need to know how to improvise, but you should also know how to be creative too. And by holding paintbrushes in between her toes and brushing every inch of MK’s soles with them as he adorably wiggles and squiggles and infectiously laughs, shrieks, squeals, and squeaks in response, Alphys is doing just that! :)

 One minute later…

 Alphys: Hahahahahaha!! What did you think of that, MK? Did you like that?

 MK: …Yes… very much so… “Big sis!” …It… was… AWESOME!!! *responded MK speaking in between his breaths*

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Why thanks, “little bro!”

 MK: …And very creative too! I didn’t know you were capable of using your feet like that!

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Yeah, another thing I’ve learned from tickling kids like you is that in order to help keep things both fun and interesting for both you and them, you have to know how to be creative to at least some degree. And well, I figured that tickling you with my feet was a good way to do it.

 MK: Did you used to tickle Bratty and Catty with your feet too, Alphys?

 Alphys: Haha! You bet I did! Whether I was wiggling my toes against their sides, poking their ribs with my toes, or holding feathers in between my toes and then using those feathers to tickle their bellies, I used to drive those two girls absolutely crazy with loud, hysterical laughter that was, in lot of ways, like your laughter, “little bro.” And just like you, they used to love being tickled by my feet SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!

 MK: Haha! I bet they did!

 Alphys: Mmm-hmm. *Alphys nodded* ...Well, are you ready for more questions, MK? And by the way, you’ll be happy to know that these next brushes are going to be used on your cute little toesie wosies. *said Alphys all giddily* But only if you answer them correctly of course (which I know you will! Tee hee! X3).

 MK: You bet I am! Ask away!

 Alphys: Will do! …Sixth question! What is the formula for sodium chloride?

 MK: Pfft, again with the easy questions, Alphys, really? *teased MK while wiggling and spreading his toes again, which fueled Alphy’s desire to tickle him once again even more* It’s NaCl!

 Alphys: Of course! And as promised, tickles to your toesie wosies! Tee hee hee hee hee hee! *teased Alphys as she began “painting” MK’s toes one by one with a round paintbrush*

 MK: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!! GAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAAAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAHA!!!!!!! *squeak* OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT TICKLES!!!!!!! *squeak* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!!! *squeak* I LOHOHOHHOHOHOHHOHOVE IT VERY MUCH, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHALPHYS!!!!!!! *squeak* BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!

 Alphys: You so TOEtally do, you little King of Kawaii you! Hahaha! Brush, brush, brush, brush, brush! *teased Alphys*

 MK: WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAD, MOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHORE TEASING!!!!!! *squeak* BWAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHA~!!!!!!!

 Then, out of nowhere, Alphys sang a funny little song to MK that went a little something like this,

 Alphys: Tickle, tickle, tickle and tee hee hee / I’ve got me one cute liz-zy / and with tickles to his toes, and his feet / I make him laugh so sweet, sweet, sweet! *sang Alphys while blushing heavily* Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!!!

 MK: BWAHAHHAHHAAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! *laughed MK in response to both the tickles to his toes and Alphys’s little song* ALPHYS, *squeak* WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAT THE HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHECK *squeak* WAS THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT, DUHUHUHUHUHUDE?!!!!!!!!! *squeak* GAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!

 Alphys: Oh, just a little song I made up, that’s all. …You’re just so dang cute I couldn’t help myself! *replied Alphys before brushing MK’s right middle toe with her round paintbrush* Tee hee hee hee hee hee! *teased Alphys*

 MK: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAAAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! OH NOHOHOHOHHOOOHHOHOHOHO, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT THAT TOE!!!!!!!!!! FWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!! *MK laughed even harder due to both of his middle toes being slightly more sensitive than both of his innermost toes and both of his outermost toes*

 Alphys: Awwwwww! Is that witto toesie wosie more tickwish than other one? *asked Alphys teasingly*

 MK: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAAHAA!!!!!!!!! YEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHES, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHA, YOU KNOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOW IT IS!!!!!!!!! *squeak* GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!! FWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!

 Alphys: (I TOEtally do, “little bro!” I TOEtally do! Tee hee! X3)

 Several moments later… after Alphys finished “brushing” all six of MK’s toes with her round paintbrush…

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Well, that sure was unusual… and super, super silly of me! *said Alphys regarding the song she sang to sang to MK moments ago* Heeheeheeheehee! But anyway, moving on! Seventh question! What happens when atoms of different types of elements join together?

 MK: Why, they make compounds, of course!

 Alphys: Fantastic, MK! …Here, have some more tickles! *exclaimed Alphys as she held MK’s right foot still and began wiggling an angle paintbrush in between his toes*

 MK: GAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO MY GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAD!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!! *MK laughed frantically due to not knowing how much a paintbrush wiggling in between his toes would tickle him*

 Alphys: A coochie coochie coochie coo! A coochie coochie coochie coo! Tee hee hee hee hee! *teased Alphys before starting to tickle in between MK’s toes on his left foot* Yeah, you like when I tickle wickle you in between your cute little toesie wosies, don’t you “little bro?” Heeheeheeheehee! KItchie kitchie kitchie koo!

 MK: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT, OOHOOHOOHOOOHOOHOOHOOHOOOOHOOHOOHOOHOO EEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!

 Moments later…

 Alphys: Ok, eighth question! In what type of chemical reaction do two substances combine to make a new substance?

 MK: A synthesis reaction! *MK responded with GREAT enthusiasm*

 Alphys: Wow, MK! You are on fire tonight! …And speaking of fire, I just so happen to see a bunch of them right under all six of your cute little toesie wosies! *teased Alphys all cheekily* …Hmm, maybe this super tickly fan paintbrush will… “Put them all out!” Heeheeheeheehee!

 With that said, Alphys begans wiggling her fan paintbrush under all six of MK’s toes.

 MK: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!! WAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA EEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! …Hmm, looks like the fires are beginning to “fade!” …But, just to be sure they “go away completely,” I’m gonna continue using my fan brush so they “don’t spread everywhere!” Like, at all! …So, tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle away! Tee hee hee hee hee hee!

 MK: FWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA AHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!!!!!! REHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEALLY ALPHYS, AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, REEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEALLY?!!!!!!!!! *squeak* OOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO EEEEEEEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHEE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!

 Several moments later, after “extinguishing all of the fires” under MK’s six super ticklish toes…

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Wow, I thought for sure I was gonna be goner there! Thank goodness I’m one heck of a “firefighter!”

 MK: Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!! You most certainly are, “big sis!” With that trusty fan brush in hand, not a single fire stands in your way! *shouted MK jokingly*

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheeheeheehee!! You got that right, “little bro!” But anyway, jokes aside, let’s continue with your little quiz! Ninth question! What is the ability to be shaped called?

 MK: Oh no! I don’t know the answer to that one! *said MK all disappointedly before looking down with a sad expression and causing Alphys to feel sorry for him in response*

 Alphys: (Huh, I know he’s struggled with that question before, but I thought for sure he’d know it this time.) Oh, it’s ok, “little bro.” No need to worry. You answered all of the other questions correctly at least.

 Moments later, MK perked up and shouted,

 MK: …Just kidding, I do! It’s malleability!

 Alphys: Say waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!

 MK: …Hahahahahahahahaha! Man, you should see the look on your face right now, “big sis! *MK shouted teasingly* Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Oh my god, I can’t believe you actually fell for that! Hahahahahahahahahaha!

 It turns out MK knew the answer all along. He just thought it would be funny to prank Alphys by pretending he didn’t know the answer, that’s all. (Hmm, perhaps all of the time he’s spent with Sans is to blame for this little joke of his. ;))

 Alphys: Why you little devil you! *teased Alphys* Just for that, I’m gonna tickle your tootsies with… MY SWORD BRUSH!!! *exclaimed Alphys with an devilish grin on her face as she held her sword paintbrush up for MK to see*

 Alphy’s sword paintbrush has the longest tuft of all of her paintbrushes, meaning that she can cover a lot of ground on MK’s feet at any one time!

 MK: OH NO!!! Y-you wouldn’t tickle my feet with that thing, w-would you “big sis?!” *asked MK all nervously after seeing how big the tuft of the sword paintbrush was compared to all of the previous paintbrushes that were used to tickle his feet* Come on now, let’s be reasonable here! I’m sorry!

 MK knows very well that he’s not in any real danger. Still though, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s super nervous about getting his feet tickled by Alphys’s sword paintbrush. Because if Alphys bends his toes back on one of his two feet with a full desire to tickle the undersides of his toes, she will be able to tickle all three of the toes on one of his two feet at any one time! :O

 Alphys: Oh MK, sweet innocent MK. *said Alphys as she grabbed MK’s three toes on his right foot and bent them slightly backwards* It’s too late for apologies! …Now, SING! SING!! SIIIIIIIIING!!! *teased Alphys as she started brushing the undersides of MK’s toes on his right foot and the ball of his right foot before laughing “evilly”* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!

 MK: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!

 In addition to brushing MK’s ball and the undersides of his three toes on his right foot, Alphys also brushed the other areas of his toes such as the tops of them and even slithered the tuft of her sword paintbrush in between his toes. And due to the long length of the tuft, she was able to tickle not one, but BOTH of the spaces in between his toes on his right foot!

 MK: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!

 With all of these new ticklish sensations from the most tickly brush in Alphys’s arsenal, MK is going CRAAAAAAAAAZY with loud, frantic, and maniacal laughter and is beginning to lose all focus to his surroundings because of it.

 Alphys: Awwwwwwwwww!! It looks and sounds like my sword brush is doing a mighty fine job tickling you, MK! I mean, this is the both the loudest and hardest you’ve laughed all night!

 Then, Alphys said with perhaps the most evil grin in existence on her face,

 Alphys: And I think I know how to make it even louder.

 With that said, Alphys stood up out of her desk chair as she continued her ticklish assault with her sword paintbrush on MK’s toes. Then not too long after that, she lifted her right leg up off of the floor, then she placed her right foot next to MK’s right foot, and then she began wiggling her three toes on that foot right foot of hers devilishly against MK’s right arch and heel. All while balancing herself on one leg (her left leg)!

 MK: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT, BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! FVUPIFNJRTGWIENSJBNLSNRGJRBIULNVSJIRULBGUEANSEJRGLBANEFJGERULAEWFN!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE OOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOOHOOHOO AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! AHJDFINEWFIUROQNUWNUGTUGJRUGRUEINERNLJIRUNQJRNLAJFNRJSERNGSIBJRHBQ!!!!!!!!!! FWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!! *laughed MK super maniacally as he squirmed and thrashed on Alphys’s bed with very HEAVY movement*

 By throwing three of her six clawed toes into the mix, Alphys has just made MK go absolutely berserk with maniacal laughter to the point that he can’t even talk! :O Alphys’s clawed toes tickle a lot more in comparison to her clawed fingers! And in response to the tickly feelings of Alphys’s clawed toes, MK is squirming and thrashing violently on the bed, his face is drenched with tears due to laughing so hard from the tickles, his tail is flopping and flailing around rather violently despite the fact that it’s still in the tail hole of Alphys’s backrest, he’s pounding his robotic fists against Alphys’s bed, and his feet are tingling the exact same way they did when they were tickled by Frisk and Chara yesterday.

 Alphys: Hahahahahaha!! My god, MK! You sure are going crazy there, buddy! And you’re not making any sense with your words either! (Hmm, actually now that I think about it, he might be trying to “LIZARD” and/or “DRAZIL” right now! And I’m unable to understand him due to all of the gibberish coming out of his mouth! Oh man, I better stop what I’m doing just to be sure! I don’t want any of this to be torturous for him by any means!)

 At this point, Alphys stopped tickling MK long enough to make sure he was ok.

 Alphys: Oh god, are you alright, MK? *asked Alphys very worriedly as she stopped tickling MK* I’m so sorry! I got too carried away there, didn’t I? And don’t worry, if you want to be tickled some more, I promise I’ll go easier on you! Really, I will!

 MK: Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!! *giggled MK maniacally as he wiped the tears out of his eyes* No sweat, Alphys! It’s all good! Really, it is!

 Alphys: Whew! Thank goodness!

 Then, after a brief and somewhat awkward moment of silence, MK surprised Alphys by saying to her,

 MK: …Feel free to keep going, “big sis!” I love being tickled by that sword brush very, very much! Really, I do! It’s super, super tickly! *said MK all giddily while adorably wiggling his feet and six toes*

 Alphys: Are you sure, MK?! Are you really, really sure?!

 MK: Heck yeah, I’m sure! *responded MK with GREAT enthusiasm* …But do go easier on me this time though. …Maybe do less tickling with your toes and more tickling with that brush, ok?

 Alphys: Haha, sure thing, “little bro!” Sure thing!

 With that said; Alphys sat back down in her desk chair and then she resumed tickling MK’s feet with her sword paintbrush. And to no surprise to MK at all, Alphys listened to him when he told her to go easier on him. But despite that however, MK is still going CRAAAAAAAAAAZY with loud, frantic, and maniacal laughter. But this time around though, he’s not shaking as violently as before and he is also able to speak through his laughter all the while Alphys “deFEETs two Level 99 three-headed monsters with her trusty sword paintbrush by tickling both of them to death with it.” :) (And just to be clear, the “Level 99 monsters” are MK’s two feet and the three “heads” on each of them are MK’s toes.)

 MK: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT, WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANKS, ALPHYS!!!!!!!!! *squeak* EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!! OOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOO EEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHA~!!!!!!!!!

 Alphys: Hehe, no problem, “little bro!” No problem at all! *replied Alphys extremely happily* …Now, enjoy two final minutes of tickling… YOU ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART YOU!!!

 MK: OOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO EEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA AKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAJAJAJJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJLALALALALLALALALALALALALA OHOHOHOHHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA EEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEOOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!!!!!

 For two minutes, Alphys tickled every inch of MK’s two feet with her sword paintbrush and as another way of making things less torturous for him, she remained silent all the while she did it (She kept the whole “Level 99 three-headed monsters” thing to herself). This meant no teasing from her whatsoever as she tickled the tops of his feet, his heels, his arches, his balls, his toes, the spaces in between his toes, and the undersides of his toes. But all the while Alphys did this though, MK still laughed loudly, preciously, hysterically, frantically, maniacally, and adorably all at once. It was pure, angelic music to Alphys’s ears and it was at this very moment that both she and MK were at their absolute happiest. :) Alphys always wanted to give MK a tickle session like this one and after all this time, she’s very fortunate to have finally fulfilled that desire. All in all, tickling MK makes Alphys think about all of the precious memories of her tickling Bratty and Catty when the two of them were kids. And by tickling MK the same ways she used to tickle Bratty and Catty, Alphys is able to relive each and every one of those precious memories. :) And just like all of the cherished time she’s spent with the young adorable, silly, clumsy and just plain all-around sweet 11-year-old reptilian boy himself outside of tickling him to precious pieces, Alphys is eternally grateful for this. :)

 2 minutes later, Alphys officially stopped tickling MK and then she took some time to untie his legs all the while he focused on regaining both his breath and his focus. And then, immediately after MK’s legs were untied, Alphys crawled onto her bed and sat right down next to the young reptilian boy himself and said to him,

 Alphys: Now, you kick that science exam’s butt tomorrow. Ok, “little bro?”

 MK: I will, “big sis.” I will. *assured MK*

 Alphys: And remember to be just be yourself too; your adorable, lovable, clumsy, super silly, and absolutely wonderful self.

 MK: I promise, Alphys.

 Alphys: Terrific, MK. …And, I’m pretty sure I know the answer, but I’ll ask anyway. Would you be willing to let me do this again some time, MK? Tickle you again, that is.

 MK: Yes, Alphys! Definitely!! Absolutely!!! *answered MK with lots of enthusiasm as he gave Alphys a BIG hug*

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! I’m glad to hear that. *said Alphys as she lovingly hugged MK back* And you’ll be happy to know that I actually have a few ideas in mind right now as we speak.

 Moments later, Alphys and MK stopped hugging each other.

 MK: *gasp* You do?! Really?!

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Yes! …So, tell me, MK, would you be willing to, like, actually let me paint your feet sometime? Like, with actual paint and stuff. (Oh dear, now I’m starting to sound like Bratty and Catty.)

 MK: Of course, Alphys! That sounds like lots and lots of fun! And with super ticklish feet like mine, it’s gonna tickle A LOT!!

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! It most certainly will! But we’ll save that for some other time, ok? Tomorrow, you just concentrate on “getting revenge on me” with help from Chara. You know, “revenge” for tickling you to precious little pieces and all that.

 MK: Hehe. Sure thing, Alphys! Sure thing! Thanks!

 Alphys: Hehe. No problem at all, MK. No problem at all. And as far as Chara knows, we never had this conversation. *winks at MK*

 MK: Got it, Alphys! I won’t say a word. And when we actually start tickling you tomorrow, you make sure to act all good and surprised, ok?

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! Of course!

 MK: …And by the way, do you at least like being tickled, “big sis?”

 Alphys: That’s for me to know and you to find out, “little bro.” *answered Alphys with a cute little grin on her face* …Now, let’s go grab some ice cream, shall we?

 MK: Yes! Wonderful idea, just wonderful! …And let me guess, you wanna share a BANANA SPLIT with me, don’t you? *asked MK all cheekily*

 Alphys: Heeheeheeheehee! You know me so well, MK.  

 MK: Heeheeheehee! I sure do! …Welp, I’m ready to go when you are. Lead the way.

 And with that, Alphys and MK left the house and then they went to Robbie’s ice cream parlor to share a banana split together. Banana splits are Alphys and MK’s favorite dishes of ice cream and the two lizards themselves actually have their own little tradition of eating one at least twice a month. And for old time’s sake, MK let Alphys spoon-feed a few bites of his half to him exactly like he she used to before she built him his robotic arms. Then after they did that, Alphys drove MK to his house and so he could get a good night’s rest for his exam tomorrow morning. And just before MK got out of her car, he gave Alphys one last hug and thanked her for being the best “big sister” a boy like him could ever ask for. And even though MK doesn’t think he will stop crying entirely whenever he talks or thinks about the “under the bed incident,” it will definitely be much less often. ;)

 Later that night… about 20 minutes after Alphys arrived back at her house…

 Alphys: *her video chat ringtone goes off* Hi, Undyne!

 Undyne: Hey, babe, just checking in like I said I would. ...So, how was MK? Was he a good kid?

 After being asked about MK by her girlfriend, Alphys began crying happily rather than providing an actual answer. But it didn’t look she was crying happily to Undyne though. So in response, she worriedly asked Alphys,

 Undyne: Oh no, what happened? He didn’t do anything bad, did he?

 Alphys: No, Undyne, not at all. *assured Alphys as she continued crying happily* …He was wonderful. …An ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART too pure for this world!! X3

THE END.

[pain-somnia]

Writer Asks

Writer Asks

tagged by @wolf08 :) thank you so much for the tag and sorry for being so late, i literally waited until i came home from work. Warning: this is LONG.

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

my tumblr url is based on the chronically ill made up term painsomnia. i have always had sleep issues but they got worse when i became ill due to being woken up constantly with pain. my username on FF is ChronicallyChill which is based on, yet again, me being chronically ill.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/favourites, follows/subscriptions, visitor hits, kudos)

The Planning Of A Matriarch wins, hands down. I was so insecure and nervous about sharing anything I wrote but it was so well received! But it’s comedy and so much fluff and who doesn’t appreciate a little fluff? I have lost a lot of love for it because it was stolen and the whole event made me feel like shit. I think I owe a lot of it’s popularity to @mycherryqueen because she rec’d it on her blog. I plan on updating by the anniversary of this fic. But I may put it on hiatus indefinitely after that.

3. What is your FFnNet/AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

I actually don’t have one! I keep thinking I’m going to sit down and draw one or wait until I have the money to commission one of my favorite artists for something. I don’t create anymore but maybe one day I’ll dip back into it so I can finally have a profile icon.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

OMG YES. I get sooo excited when I see familiar guest names or usernames. I get so gooey inside and melt when Spanish speakers leave reviews (I can read Spanish guys, feel free to review in Spanish if that makes you more comfortable!) because they wanna share their love even if they can’t write in English well. I have an absolute fave and I shouldn’t but I can’t help it. Monika aka @mcornilliac leaves the BEST reviews and she reviews every chapter.

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

Oh tons. Tons, Tons, Tons! Here’s a few:

The Colors of Midnight by SouthSideStory is possibly my favorite thing they’ve written. I love so many of their SS fics but that’s the one I go back to the most. (also Providence, I love me a soulmate au)

Carrying On by Kiwako

Daimyo’s Daughter by Sakura’s Unicorn (but literally everything of theirs is re-read all of the time)

Spar by D.C. Filbert (warning: major smut)

Life After Detainment by merinxD

You Could See It Change by lavendersakurasasuke (it’s a Gothic Victoria AU but with ninjas!)

Chained by Kirikizu

xxlovendreamsxx has these LOTR AUs....fucking amazing. unfortunately I seem to have lost the link to them

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

lol...i’m just gonna say A LOT. I lost some of them when I didn’t have a FF account and if I didn’t I would have way more but trust me... A LOT.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

NON-MASS IS WHERE IT’S AT~ give me more SS non-mass and I will be the happiest person in the world.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

if I’m looking at it right....only 373 (me as an author not the individual works). and I love every single one of them.

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are 😨 of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Sex scenes. I write it but I always feel nervous about them.

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

I wish I was more comfortable writing action. Also I do so much dialogue...I feel like it’s too much. I wish I was better at replying to comments (I try! like if someone writes me a hefty comment I’m likely to respond if I’m able to). Updating. If I could I would write and update every day.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

I write for the most popular ship in the Naruto fandom. But I also write ShiItaIzu and as a friend of mine has said before I’m not on an island by myself, I am the island. Google ShiItaIzu and posts to my content is what pops up. my readers seem to like them though so that’s great.

12. How many stories have you posted on FFNet/AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

5. Soon to be 8 if I ever get to publishing the other three. (not including prompt drafts)

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

*maniacal laughter ensues* i have so many....fanfic and original work....some of them are prompts...I’m a mess

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

mostly in my head but some things are written down. Most of those are rough drafts already.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

No. I’ve made fanfics based off headcanons I practically threw at friends and they told me how they felt about them. But never. I don’t think I ever will, at least not for SS.

16. How did you discover FFNet/AO3?

uh...i have no fucking clue. August of 2016 was when I started loving Naruto again and jumped into consuming all of the SS content I could find. I just googled and read like...everything.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on FFNet/AO3?

LOL....fuck no. I actually think I’m pretty insignificant in the Naruto fandom. But that’s okay.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

no. maybe I should.... how about Loves? I’ll try it out in my next author’s note.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I don’t really have an author that inspired me. But @bkceallaigh is the reason anyone reads my stuff. she encouraged me to write and then finally publish a fanfic. And here we are.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

Write. Write what you feel. Write what you love. Write what makes you happy. Don’t worry about pleasing people, someone is always going to hate. Just write something you would want to read.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

LMAO. no. the closest I actually get to planning is something like “this is my goal. let’s get to it somehow.” i think I've only planned one story and hopefully I’ll post that prompt soon (it’s the Shape of Water AU).

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

Duh! I ranted and bitched to my friends. Some of them were sooooo bad. Like when I say bad it’s like they never even read the story or want to fore their interpretation on people. and then some anti-SS found me and decided to trash SS. like thanks...why the fuck are you here? so I will complain but I don’t care to confront them. Just...don’t like then don’t read.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Smut and action. Mainly ‘cause I want people to see the action in their head when I write but it doesn’t come out right... smut is bad sometimes ‘cause I get a little mechanical and describe the process and forget feeling sometime.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Currently I’m mulling over Can I Be Yours? and Kingdom For Two and A Gift From The Universe. I’m really into A Gift From The Universe because it’s non-mass and I’m going to put a lot of focus on InoSai and ShiItaIzu, way more than I’ve done before.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

lol....I have my WIPs going on at the same time....I’m nowhere near finished.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

nope. Just write when I can. And wish that I was writing when I wasn’t.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

I want to say yes.

28. What is your favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

honestly....Kingdom For Two is my fic baby.

29. What is your least favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

The Planning Of A Matriarch actually. Like I could have done so much better. It’s still my baby but it’s the one that embarrasses me the most.

30. Where do you 👀 yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

hopefully with a finished original work lol

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

The easiest? I don’t know...I can’t really think about it right now...I guess for me, creating dialogue is the easiest thing....I’m really tired right now and may come back to edit this answer lol

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Telling myself to love what I write despite not getting the response that I want. There are people who love what I write and I move them with my writing. And I should appreciate what I get.

33. Why do you write?

It’s...so wonderful to see a world that’s trapped in my head come to life in front of me.

I will tag: @kuriquinn @roraewrites @xxxsasusakuxxx @randomwhorcrux @bkceallaigh and anyone that wants to do this

[erutopia]

June 14th

OOTD

I’m able to change my exterior look now :D

Finally the day has come for me to buy turnips. I spent over 600K! Also I keep calling her Mary Sue in my head xD

Just one room with turnips, I had more in the other!

My house ranking from Happy Home Academy.

This was from last week, I forgot to take a pic :)

Aww poor Jacques haha

Filbert moved in today! He is so cute, such a baby :’) And he wanted to play with me the day after :D

If you’re interested in seeing what else happened, feel free to read more ^.^ I don’t want to annoy anyone with long posts D:

2 star rating. We’re going up!

I actually thought he was shy telling me something, but it was just the reaction he was teaching me :)

My mans got a purse, haha so adorable!

The puns, my villager is of course getting sick of it by the looks of her face xD

Hazel’s house looks like a school gym! Wtf lmao

Chillin’ on Carrie’s bench.

Why thank you Jacques ^.^

My girl Hazel got a popsicle, but doesn’t look very happy.

Camping with my friend :)

I finally gave Tank a tank top (pun intended) that matches his leaf hair(?)

He looks so awesome in it :D

Carrie is sleeping outside, and standing up! You need some rest woman!

Visited a Mystery Island, my first bamboo island. I got deceived by what I thought was fossils, but it was just the bamboo sprouts or whatever they’re called :(

Caught some new bugs though!

The wedding event! I’m getting lazy with the decorations, so I decided to just throw a party :D

This was my first time noticing Hugh and Filbert are very similar in personality and style, I guess they have the same personality, haven’t checked xD

[skycancats]

Chapter Two

As the evening came around, Sky felt it wise to check out the other caves up the side of the gorge before going on to any other clan-building activities.

She had scoped them out a few times before, but her main concern had been the one she used to sleep in. The other ones, she came to find, were similar. They varied in size from far too small to be comfortable (in one of them, Sky nearly fell off the ledge because there’d been no room to turn inside and she had had to back out) or big enough to house a few cats at one time. Overall, she would hazard a guess that there was plenty of room up the rock face to house enough cats for a clan (though she was still unsure exactly how big a clan should be).

She scraped out some debris from one of the caves, pawing dead flora onto the floor of the gorge. Making dens here shouldn’t even be that hard, come to think of it. She did pretty well with it, and it didn’t take a lot to make them comfortable.

Feeling pretty accomplished with that much, she made her way to the top of the gorge, starting to think of cats she knew that might show some investment in the idea. Her first thought was a house cat that she considered herself very close friends with. At the least, if he wasn’t completely on board, he would have some level of pragmatism to give to the idea. She could hope for support from him, and she hoped that she could get somewhere with this endeavour.

Padding over to the human town, she hopped up on his fence, swaying for a moment on the flimsy structure before hopping down into the yard. She didn’t understand why the humans seemed so intent on keeping their grass neat and cropped short – her paw pads were thick, but it still felt more uncomfortable than the stone of the gorge. She padded over it to the patio, where she saw Filbert underneath one of the chairs, sitting with his paws tucked underneath him.

He blinked slowly at her, and she didn’t even bother to join him in sitting, finding her excitement had ramped up again. She was sure she wouldn’t be able to stay sitting down if she tried. “I have an idea,” she prompted.

“Do you,” he asked, though his tone didn’t much convey a question. Sky was, unfortunately, well known for having out-of-the-way ideas, and Filbert was the first cat she tended to pitch them too. He had heard hundreds of ideas over the moons she’d known him, if she had to guess. She didn’t feel a bit sorry for it, because at least he kept her away from the very poor ones.

“Have you heard of clans?” she asked.

Filbert actually looked mildly interested at this, and cocked his head to the side a little bit. “I haven’t,” he said, his tone suggesting that she go on.

Sky wasted no time in filling him in on the idea of clans, and how she wanted to build one of her own in the gorge. She couldn’t stand still, and ended up pacing in front of him. While he paid rapt attention to her, she pretended not to notice the doubt worming its way into his body language.

When she felt she was done (and she had probably talked a tad too long), she watched him expectantly, and he seemed to take several moments to mull over how he should respond to her, which wasn’t the most promising sight.

Finally, he sighed. “Sky, I’ll admit it’s a real interesting idea, but I just don’t know if you’re going to be able to get other cats in on it.”

Sky looked crestfallen.

Filbert continued. “I’m not discouraging you from trying, you know. I just don’t know if a lot of cats will be in for the idea.”

She flicked her tail, and asked, “Do you want to join?”

“Not really,” the housecat replied, frowning faintly. “But talk to other cats, I suppose. It’s not that bad of an idea, but cats here have been living alone for an awful long time.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Sky replied brusquely, slightly tense that Filbert reacted so pessimistically. That was fine, of course, but she’d been hoping for a little more support. Filbert looked dubious, but Sky turned, waving her tail in a dismissive sort of goodbye before she returned to jump back over the fence. She heard a mutter from his general direction that she guessed was his own goodbye, but ignored it for now.

Her next idea was a little more promising. Another acquaintance of hers was a nursing queen, and Sky would guess she hadn’t seen her for about a half moon. It took a little while to find her, but she doubted Mottle would move far with her kits, and eventually found the molly sheltered in between a bush and a disused human shed.

Sky had brought her a mouse as a peace offering, and Mottle looked quite thankful for it. Sky’s gaze wandered to see the two kittens settled at the queen’s belly. Mottle looked well-off, but Sky would guess that she’d chosen to stick next to an abandoned shed for a reason. Sky could practically taste mice in the air, and worried a little about Mottle agreeing to come with.

“I’ve a proposition,” she said, as Mottle finished up the mouse.

“Oh?” Mottle asked, already sounding far more interested than Filbert had, which only served to fuel Sky even more.

“Do you want help with your kittens?”

Mottle narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“What do you think about joining up with some other cats? You know, working together to keep ourselves and kittens fed?” She was presenting it a little more awkwardly than she liked, but despite the poor wording, Mottle looked a little more interested at that.

“I’m not doing a bad job on my own, but it sounds… promising. What made you think of that?” she asked, moving to gently nudge one of her kittens with her back paw. It had started towards Sky a little, and Mottle seemed a little more intent on keeping them close.

Sky watched for a moment, before she launched into an explanation of her meeting with the other lone cat. Unlike Filbert, as she continued, Mottle seemed to grow a little more interested, and Sky felt triumphant. She didn’t see why cats wouldn’t want to take advantage of something like that. It benefitted everyone. Maybe it just didn’t appeal to a housecat since they got everything they needed from their humans. Sky was glad someone saw sense in this idea.

“It sounds good,” Mottle said, shifting so she could draw her tongue across the back of one of her kittens. Sky noted with amusement that it looked just like her. “I could move to your gorge soon, if you’re willing to help.”

Sky nodded. Tonight wasn’t the best time, she figured she would give it a bit, find a good cave and make it comfortable. She would have to be careful, she didn’t want any chance of the kittens leaving and accidentally falling to the gorge floor, but too close to the ground might be unsafe. She’d have to do some digging. “Soon,” she replied. “Let me clear out a den for you.”

Mottle agreed, and Sky told her she would come back when she was ready for her. She felt pretty accomplished, she had to say, having convinced at least one cat about this new lifestyle. She even seemed excited about the prospect, which was more than Sky had even expected.

After a brief, continued conversation, Sky decided to dismiss herself, seeing that the young queen seemed tired, and the moon had made its own way decently far across the sky. The gorge cat felt like it would be a pretty good time to mosey her way home, feeling accomplished and rather self-satisfied.

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

Midnight for Charlie Bone Summaries/Analyses: Chapters 7-9

Spoilers under the cut.

Chapter 7: Hypnotised!

On Friday night Grandma Bone marks Charlie’s completed questions. They are all correct, but Grandma Bone accuses Charlie of cheating. She gives Charlie ten more questions to do, just because, but Charlie gets out of doing them the moment Grandma Bone falls asleep.

Charlie heads over to Benjamin’s where, to his surprise, he finds Mr Onimous and the Flames. The Flames try to open the case using a strange fiery magic, but are unsuccessful. They and Mr Onimous leave soon after, but not before Mr Onimous reveals how they moved the case into the cellar and wishes Charlie luck on his quest. Once he’s gone, Charlie has the idea of asking Fidelio for help with the case.  

Early the next morning, Charlie and Ben go to Miss Ingledew’s to find the right key for the case, but are stopped by Manfred and Asa. When Charlie fights back Manfred hypnotises him. Charlie finds himself in a moving car:

“The world outside Manfred's coal-black eyes began to disappear, and Charlie found himself inside another world: inside a car to be precise. The car was traveling at great speed through a forest, and Charlie appeared to be driving. The coal-black eyes were beside him now, and the sinister voice repeated, "Look at me!"

There was a sudden, violent jolt and Charlie was being dragged from the car. He knelt on the rim of a great pit while the car -a blue one- tumbled over the edge. The silence of the forest was broken by the scream of birds and then, far, far below, came a low, echoing splash.”

This clearly shows how Lyell’s ‘accident’ happened. Interestingly enough, Charlie is seeing it from Lyell’s point-of-view. It always confused me as to how the Yewbeams and Bloors managed to drag Lyell out of the car, considering it was moving at a very high speed, until I remembered how Zelda was able to telekinetically move Fidelio during the ruin game. So, I think it’s possible that the Bloors/Yewbeams enlisted the help of a telekinetic or two to get Lyell out of the car before it crashed.    

A while later, Charlie comes to. Benjamin tells him what happened and why they were going to Ingledew’s (since Charlie can’t remember). They return to Filbert Street. As they do Charlie begins talking about what he saw while hypnotised, and realises that what he saw was how his father died. Charlie decides to go back home because he feels ill, which worries Ben because he’s never known Charlie to be ill. (Hey, just like Maisie in chapter 1! I guess that’s where he gets it from.)

That night, Charlie tells Paton about what happened on the way to Ingledew’s, and also the truth about the case. Paton is concerned, especially for Miss Ingledew’s safety. He decides to return the keys for Charlie while Charlie’s at Bloor’s. He also insists on being there when Charlie opens the case, as an extra precaution because they don’t know what’ll come out of it.

Then Grandma Bone appears to tell Charlie to go to bed already. As Charlie goes he hears Grandma Bone shouting at Paton, asking him which side he’s on and complaining that she can’t trust him anymore.

 Chapter 8: Breaking the Rules

Fidelio and Benjamin arrive at Charlie’s house the next morning at the same time. Fidelio’s fine with Ben joining their musical session, and eager when Charlie and Ben ask for his help in hiding the case from the Yewbeams. He readily agrees and comes up with a good idea on how to move it without any spies noticing.

The night before Charlie goes to Bloor’s, Amy gives him Lyell’s old school tie to take with him. I love how Lyell’s tie becomes important in the very next chapter—I mean, ‘you never know when you might need it’ practically screams ‘chekhov’s gun’, but I just really, really love how it ended up being used to discover that Lyell’s not really dead.    

On Monday it is Charlie’s first day at Bloor’s. Charlie and Amy go to Bloor’s Academy by taxi. As Amy and Charlie walk toward the school, Amy feels someone watching her from the Music Tower. (I know that it’s never mentioned which tower it is, but all the evidence points to that tower being the Music Tower.) Of course, we all know who’s watching her—Mr Pilgrim (aka Lyell). He’s trying to recognise her. This moment gets me every time, because it’s just so sad to think of Lyell trying but unable to recognise his own wife, and Amy getting spooked and leaving quickly without realising that Lyell was right there. Though I do wonder if she did see Lyell’s face but dismissed it as her mind playing tricks on her.

So, Amy leaves quickly, and Charlie is left by himself. Not for long though, since the other students start arriving on the Academy buses. Charlie is reunited with Fidelio, and they enter the building.

In the hall, we get to see Olivia Vertigo for the first time (:D), where she ‘breaks the rules’ and gets detention. Charlie and Fidelio kindly help her pick up her stuff before she gets whisked away by Asa.

And then there’s assembly. Fidelio points out all the teachers and shows Charlie where to sit, before going to sit with the orchestra. Charlie notices Mr Pilgrim for the first time.

(At this point, I can’t help thinking, ‘it’s your father, Charlie!’ It’s so obvious that it’s kind of funny, but at the same time it’s really tragic. Seeing Charlie and Lyell in the same room together but not recognising each other is kinda heartbreaking.)

After assembly, Charlie has his first lesson—music, with Mr Reginald Paltry. Mr Paltry turns out to be shockingly abusive toward his students, and is particularly mean to Charlie because Charlie’s endowed and Mr Paltry hates the endowed. Soon enough that’s over and done with, and it’s time to go outside and run laps.

Unfortunately, when Charlie returns to the blue cloakroom after that, he finds that someone’s stolen his brand-new cape and all that’s left to wear is a tattered one. Charlie refuses to wear it. Fidelio begs him to put it on, but Charlie doesn’t listen. (He really, really should have.) Anyway, the two boys go to English class, where Charlie is inevitably kicked out for not wearing ‘the essential garment’. Even worse, he’s noticed standing in the hallway by Asa Pike, who marches him straight to Manfred’s office. Olivia’s there too. :D The head boy gives Charlie detention, which means he has to stay in school for part of the weekend. Charlie of course protests about that, and mentions his mother. Manfred and Asa’s reply:

"Mom?" said Manfred scornfully.

"Mom?" repeated Asa. "We don't talk about moms in here."

"Moms don't exist in here!" Manfred added darkly.

  Chapter 9: The Red King’s Room

Charlie and Olivia leave Manfred’s office and seek refuge in the purple cloakroom. Charlie is despondent over his detention, but Olivia tells him that it’s not so bad. (And she’s right. The detention literally consists of them doing worksheets for a couple of hours, and then they can do whatever they want. Like explore. And in a place like Bloor’s Academy, exploring sounds pretty cool.)

Charlie tells Olivia about the cape-switch, and she suspects Gabriel Silk as the culprit and advises Charlie to wear Gabriel’s cape until he can get his own cape back. Charlie agrees, relieved. So when he returns to the blue cloakroom he puts on the tattered cape, and this is how Fidelio finds him sometime later. Fidelio is shocked that Manfred gave Charlie detention during his very first week, saying that ‘Manfred must really have it out for [him]’. Charlie tells Fidelio about Gabriel and the cape, and it’s agreed that Charlie will try and switch back the capes when Gabriel is asleep.  

At lunch the boys get a good look at Gabriel Silk. Charlie is introduced to Miss Chrystal, Fidelio’s violin teacher and a very friendly person. Also doesn’t seem to be a very serious person overall. She certainly has some wonderfully-scented perfume. :) Too bad she’s really an evil witch (or will be soon).

During dinner Dr Bloor singles out Charlie in front of the entire school (I’d be so embarrassed if that was me) and tells him that endowed children study in the king’s room after dinner. While that’s happening, Charlie takes a good look at the headmaster and realises that he was the one who took Dr Tolly’s baby.

After dinner, Billy Raven guides Charlie to the king’s room, where he meets the other endowed children for the first time. There’s Lysander the African (good), Tancred (good), cheerful Dorcas (neutral), Zelda (bad), Bindi (neutral/semi-good), Beth (bad), and Emilia Moon (neutral). Emilia looks surprisingly quiet and dreamy, not even lifting her head to say hello. Charlie also sees the Red King’s portrait for the first time, and seems to feel a certain connection to it.

After homework time is over, it’s time to go to the boys’ dormitories. Charlie is sleeping in a bed next to Fidelio’s, and the bed on his other side happens to be Gabriel Silk’s. After light’s out, Charlie uses Fidelio’s flashlight to check if the cape Gabriel was wearing is his. Once that’s confirmed, Charlie takes it and attempts to swap it with the tattered one.

That’s when Gabriel suddenly wakes up. Sounding panicked, he begs Charlie not to switch the capes back. It turns out that he has an endowment that allows him to feel emotions in clothes. The tattered cape was given to him by the Academy after his brand-new cape was accidentally destroyed, but Gabriel can’t bear to wear it because he can feel that something horrible happened to the last person to wear it.

Sympathizing with Gabriel’s plight, Charlie eventually agrees to keep wearing the tattered cape. In exchange, however, he asks Gabriel to wear Lyell’s tie and tell him ‘anything about the person who wore it’. Gabriel does so, and says that the person who wore the tie was happy once, but now they’re lost, and that they don’t seem to know who they are. Charlie seems to completely ignore what Gabriel says after the ‘lost’ part and automatically assumes that it means that Lyell’s dead (even though Gabriel refers to Lyell in present-tense and not past-tense). 

After that, Billy comes up to Gabriel with a blue scarf (which I am 100% sure was his father’s) and asks him to wear it. Gabriel does so: "Well, this person was always in a hurry. Here, there, everywhere. He just couldn't stop, and now, I'm afraid, he's dead." Billy asks if Gabriel could hear what the man was saying, but sadly it doesn’t work like that. And the messages become weaker if the person who wore the clothing is dead.                    

Finally Charlie realises what he should have realised straight away, and asks Gabriel why he said that Lyell was lost, because Lyell died when Charlie was two years old. Gabriel assures him that Lyell is lost and definitely not dead, before bidding Charlie goodnight and going to sleep himself.    

[spiffystuf]

oh yeah today in acnh plucky decided to move out.

very sad. will miss my gf.

it will be hard to find new gf.

wait

i already went on a date with filbert

we were at the museum

he called my butterflies pretty

guess filbert is my bf now. cool.

[ilyashrayber]

North Beach

 There has to be something in the air. There has to be something that is telling you that this cannot be real, that this is a dream, that deep down it could not be true. I am not describing sex, or landing a career, or even watching Star Wars for the first time. I am instead trying to convey to you the emotion I have everytime I get to walk through North Beach, a neighborhood situated in the northeastern corner of the city. I think I stumbled upon it by accident, probably lost sometime in middle school, sweating bullets that I was never going to find the 38, and subsequently, never make it home. Even in that instance, I still had a vague grasp on just how freaking cool this place was.

   It was only last year that I set off on a (very) poorly planned Europe trip for almost a month. With my best friend in tow, we left America, not knowing just how many shenanigans we would get into while abroad. Europe was amazing, as we went from the narrow alleyways of Paris, sipping fine red wine, to flying by the Swedish countryside on scooters, to discussing socialism while haggling with Danish locals, all the way to (almost) getting locked overnight in a Czech cathedral. It was a paradise, in short. But, for some reason or other, we never made it to Italy. Which is strange, because in all facets of my life, especially those in which I devour art, it seemed like I was skewing more and more towards Italy in terms of interest. My favorite films recently seemed to all stem from minds such as Fellini, Petri, and Pasolini. My taste in music had seen the same shift- I traded in loop pedals and washed out guitar riffs for old school organs and synthesizers. In place of Radiohead, Mitski, and The Strokes, I was now enamored with artists such as Piero Umiliani, Stelvio Cipriani, and Armando Trovajoli, all 70’s lounge legends. They made me feel like my life was one big screening of La Dolce Vita. I knew that my dream car, even though I only have my permit as of writing, had to be made by Fiat or Alfa Romeo in the 70’s. And don’t even get me started on the tailoring of houses like Brioni and Loro Piana. So why didn’t we go to Italy? Well, I guess that’s because I’ve had North Beach my whole life.

    I did not grow up in North Beach, and I certainly didn’t know anyone who did when I was younger. It was just a true coincidence that I found myself stumbling among it’s streets one day, blown away by where I was. Just like any neighborhood, it had its own air, it’s own smells, and most of all, it’s own vibe. (Cue the real estate developers.) For a while, North Beach was my little slice of Europe. It felt like a vacation every time I went there, since I lived about an hour away by bus. San Francisco is small for a city, which is why I’ve never thought about it that way. North Beach especially hammers that notion home. The thin alleyways, confusing dead ends, and surprising number of parks located there almost make you feel like you’re in a West Coast version of Call Me By Your Name, except instead of Armie Hammer in a speedo, you have a guy named Derek in a patagonia vest. (The swathes of tech workers have spread to every inch of town, and don’t let anyone tell you different.) Still, you can’t shake the feeling that you’re in a special, almost sacred place. It is not like any other, with the smell of focaccia lingering, mixing in with the scent of less than stellar cigarettes, usually from the same bakery. Is it touristy? Yes. Do I care? Not really. After a while, you just learn to tune them out. Instead, you take note of the old men yelling at each other in front of coffee shops, the beautiful array of pastries in every window, and maybe, if you’re lucky, the people at Z. Chiocolotto’s letting you get two free taffy samples instead of just one. These are all facets of this beautiful, vibrant neighborhood. And now, onto some memories.

   It was my senior year of high school, and me and one my best friends were talking about prom, happening later that weekend. I had called the girl I was supposed to go with around 4 or 5 times, anxious that she was going to cancel. Why? Because I was in high school, and that’s how my brain works. Little did I know she was celebrating shabbat with her family and had turned her phone off that night. So, in the midst of my nerves and anxiety, a friend and I went over to get a slice, calm myself , and discuss how we were going to ‘make a move’ this weekend. We went over to Tony’s off Columbus, and got mouth blasted by the best damn pizza I’ve ever eaten. They do calzones there too, but don’t bother with those. Tony’s is probably the only place I’ve ever heard of that has a slicehouse with an actual school for making pizza above it. Internationally recognized and accredited, of course. But again, ignore the calzones. Anything but a slice with pepperoni, or just cheese if you're a veggieboi, seems like sacrilege. We took our slices up to the highest hill in North Beach and looked down on the rest of the city. It was beautiful, with the fog rolling in to make it a classic San Francisco night, along with the ocean breeze coming from a nearby Pacific Ocean. Of course, as picturesque as it sounds, we kept it casual, sitting on the curb of the street, eating pizza, trying not to get hit by some out of townie driving an Uber, happy to just be alive. We began discussing the future. Would we get laid at prom? Eh, probably not. Would we have fun either way? Well, hopefully. Would we still stay friends after high school? Of course we would. We had agreed to be friends for life, no matter how long we went without seeing each other. It was one of those moments where you reflected on your past, appreciated the present, and somehow, in some insane way, even saw a glimpse of your future. And of course, because of the romantic I am, this glimpse involved us back in North Beach, going back to Tony’s, this time with our wives and kids, discussing how much things have changed, but really stayed the same.

  I hadn’t been on a date in a while. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Previously, I was seeing (this is a fairly generous word) a girl from down south, one that I met on a free 10-day tour of Israel. Zionist propaganda? Check. Sweltering heat that never, ever let up? Of course. Extreme amounts of sexual tension between young Jewish adults, propped up by the magic of the mediterranean countryside? Oh my god, yes. Anyways, it was on and off, with us being in different places, both geographically and emotionally. After a particularly bad weekend, we broke things off. I was alone. And yet, in the throes of my emotions, I somehow thought that the best way to get over her was to jump right back into the dating scene. In short, I was ready to get hurt again. If the theme to Curb Your Enthusiasm isn’t playing in your head right now, it should be. A couple weeks later, I decided to go out with another girl. Pressed for options and out of my mind in anxiety, I suggested the comforting embrace of North Beach. She said yes.

   In truth, we had started over at Glen Park, but walked over to North Beach later in the night. If that seems like a long distance, it’s because it is. But I didn’t mind. My anxiety is quickly squashed whenever I have something physical to do. We walked and talked for a while, got caught in the rain, took pictures with old cars, and talked about how much we loved analog photography. I liked her. So it was really a move when I took her down to Filbert Steps to look at the city, illuminated in light and surrounded by water. The Filbert Steps are right down by Coit Tower, a cluster of old houses entrenched in flora that were once the life work of a gardener who lived there. It’s almost an otherworldly site, seeing these great buildings hidden in the flowers and trees of the hill they were built on. I wanted to explore and get lost, but then we just started talking, and I had completely forgotten about that. She said she needed to be home by 9, she had work the next day. By midnite, after glancing at my watch in the middle of a discussion about French workwear, I could tell that wasn’t going to happen. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Aaron Peskin, the Supervisor for District 8 (which includes North Beach) comes walking down the steps. Because I’m a north beach nerd, I recognized him immediately and asked ‘Hey, are you Aaron Peskin?’. He replied with this: ‘Nope! My name’s Bubba!’. It was probably the greatest thing that had ever happened to me. We had coincidentally sat right outside his house, and we begun to strike up conversation with the man. He was intelligent, knowledgeable, and seemed like a really great guy all around. He even offered me a job cat sitting while he was out of town later that summer. It felt like a dream. Later that night, I walked her back to her MUNI train. It was a good night. We both agreed that there definitely had to be a second date.  

  North Beach is a paradise, and I got the privilege to work over there this summer as an intern for a low-income housing complex. Many days were stressful, but the best part of it was the walk down Columbus on my way home, passing old cafes, Fiat repair shops, and old mom and pop bike stores. It made me feel good to be alive. In many ways, the whole neighborhood does. And that’s not something you can really describe, no matter how many words you put on paper.