#i have a small wardrobe and hate shopping for clothes which means laundry gets done. a small house means it gets put away ASAP

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

The ADHD experience is forgetting where you set you cup down five minutes ago, but being able to pick up where you end off in a conversation you had 10 years ago. It's remembering the fine details of a book but forgetting who gave it to you, or if you bought it yourself. It's remembering a thing your best friend mentioned an interest in, but forgetting their birthday even though you've been best friends for 10+ years.

When we are bored, we become the equivalent of a husky in a cubicle. When the boredom gets bad, we break down, crying, and fall into a deep depression.

It's randomly getting the intense and overwhelming craving for a bowl of plain rice or a slice of bread with a little butter on it, and craving nothing else. Just this dose of carbs that brings absolute satisfaction.

It's fighting to convince your body to move and acquire food and water, but you remain trapped on the sofa, your brain and body will not move even though you haven't eaten or had anything to drink in 12 hours. You need to use the bathroom, your bladder is raging, and the only thing that finally gets your brain to behave is the pain.

ADHD isn't just some cute thing of being distracted with a case of the zoomies. It's a nightmare that results in losing jobs, poor eating habits, insomnia so bad you're awake for three days and fall asleep only because you're exhausted, and your home is filthy even though you desperately want to clean it up. There's nothing enjoyable about this fuckery.

[a-singleboat]

LA Girl

Word Count: 3.5k

Request: Since requests are open, can I ask for one where Shayne Topp has secretly been dating an Alt girl (piercings, coloured hair, tattoos ect) for months and she has anxiety and is nervous about meeting the squad as she feels like they’re gonna judge her for being so different to him so Shayne introduces her to Damien first alone and Damien automatically likes her and they click really well so she tells him she’s ready to go public and meet the rest of the squad and they all accept her?❤️ - Anon

A/N: I hope you guys like this! It took me a while to conceptualize it at first but then the rest came pretty naturally :D

Warning(s): Mentions of oral sex (male receiving), swearing, mentions of sex, self deprecating thoughts

You never really liked living in Los Angeles. Most days it was too bright and there were too many people, too many tourists. Yeah, you hated living here. That is, of course, until you met Shayne. 

At first, it appeared that you and Shayne were as different as night and day. Literally. He was the perfect LA Boy, with his blonde hair and his trim physique, always looking like the sun while you… you liked your dark colors and vibrant hairstyles, not to mention your multitudes of piercings and tattoos. In the mornings that you did spend together, Shayne liked to trace them with the tips of his fingers before the day started. 

These past few months with Shayne have been euphoric, for lack of better words. It seemed you were forever stuck in your honeymoon phase together but even you knew that it couldn’t last forever. The first fight you’d have, the first disagreement, stemmed from your own insecurities. 

As you’d mentioned before, Shayne looked like the perfect LA Boy, as did the rest of his friends. He didn’t stand out while walking the length of Hollywood Boulevard and he certainly didn’t catch any of the police officer’s eyes when he went to the bank. 

Which is why you weren’t so sure you wanted to meet them, his friends that is. You were sure that they would judge you for your alternative fashion choices, just like everyone else did. 

“They’re not like that,” Shayne tried to convince you for the umpteenth time that day. You had just finished washing the dishes, using your day off to catch up on chores you’d neglected during the week. Shayne was supposed to be completing his coursework for his degree but instead he’d decided to pester you with this topic once more. 

“My friends are super supportive and they just want to meet you,” he tried again. “And if they say anything then they’re not really my friends. They’ll love you, I promise.”

You picked up the laundry basket full of clean clothes from beside your front door, dumping the basket out on the couch. You cleared off a small section on the coffee table so that you could fold your laundry. 

“I’m just worried,” you confessed, folding a cropped shirt in half twice before dropping it into the laundry basket. “You say that they’re supportive and that they just want to meet me but you also just said, ‘if they say anything.’ Shayne, if I really didn’t have a reason to worry, you wouldn’t have thrown that in there.” 

“Okay, that was my bad,” he admitted, “but I’m serious. You have nothing to worry about, they’ll all love you.”

You gave him a weary look, folding a pair of black cargo pants over your arm. A few weeks ago, you’d met Shayne’s parents and while they were two of the most loving and welcoming people you had met, you could still see the discomfort and unease hidden behind their eyes. They expected someone different, with less tattoos and piercings most likely. They probably weren’t expecting their blonde baby boy to be with a neon-pink-haired twenty-something with daddy issues galore. 

“Okay, how about this,” Shayne took the pants from your hands, folding them and setting them onto the coffee table. “I’ll invite Damien over to mine for dinner tonight as a tester. If everything goes well with him, then maybe you’ll consider meeting everyone else?”

You took up your cargo pants once more, settling them in the laundry basket with the rest of your folded clothing. You had less than half the original pile left, the rest of the clothing being mainly bras and socks that still needed to be sorted. 

“Okay,” you gave in. What was the worst that could happen?

As it turns out, completely forgetting that Damien was due to arrive any moment at Shayne’s apartment was the worst thing that could happen. His best friend’s first impression of you would forever be this: you on your knees with Shayne’s dick halfway down your throat while you gave him a before-dinner blowjob. 

Embarrassment burned through your entire being as Damien realized what was happening before he closed the front door and called out, “I’m so sorry, I should have knocked!” 

You looked up at Shayne who couldn’t decide between being mortified and being smug. It took everything within your power not to punch him in the dick, considering it was literally right there in front of you. 

“Go… take care of yourself,” you awkwardly chuckled, patting his thigh lightly. “I’ll let your friend in and hopefully not die from embarrassment on the way.” 

Shayne scrambled up off the couch and into his bathroom while you opened the container of mints you kept under the coffee table for these types of instances. Not that you and Shayne expected people to walk in during any of that normally. You washed your hands at the sink while you chewed the mint, giving yourself a moment to breathe before even thinking about opening the door.

Once you’d calmed down enough, you opened the door for Damien, unable to meet his eye as you let him in. 

“Uh, sorry you had to see any of that…” You closed the door behind him, double checking the lock to make sure it was still working. “We don’t usually do it out here, um--”

“You don’t need to explain yourself,” Damien tried to save the night. “It’s not like I haven’t seen Shayne’s dick before--I mean--Not in the way you’d think--”

The two of you dissolved into laughter, still thinking of a way to dig your way out of the hole you’d awkwardly made. When Shayne was telling you about Damien, he did mention that he was possibly the most awkward of his friends which made him the perfect ‘test monkey’ for the night. 

“I should’ve knocked,” Damien settled, an apologetic look on his face. “Shayne gave me a key a while back and I usually just let myself in but that’s really no excuse. I’m sorry.”

Shayne had also mentioned Damien was the most polite out of them all. Not that the others weren’t polite, because they were. He had meant it in the way that Damien would apologize for existing if he could (which he has done before). 

“It’s okay, really. Though, we might have to tweak the story of how we met for future conversations.” You made your way into Shayne’s little kitchenette. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“Water is fine,” Damien said, moving to sit in one of the chairs at the high table. You grimaced at the couch, making a mental note to grab some disinfectant once Shayne came out of the bathroom. “And yeah, we’ll just leave that part out for future retellings.”

You pulled a glass from one of the cabinets, filling it with water from the Brita. You added a few ice cubes as well, smiling as they clinked against the sides of the glass. 

“So, how did you and Shayne meet?” Damien asked, thanking you for the glass. You took up the other seat, crossing your right leg over your left. 

“At the tattoo shop I work at, actually,” you played with the end of your belt, twisting the fabric over your hand until it covered your knuckles. For this meeting, you’d decided to tone down your wardrobe--less chains and more softer fabrics. Your pleated skirt had been exchanged for the black cargo pants you’d folded earlier. That paired with a simple side release buckle belt and a structured white top for contrast, this was probably the most “tame” you’ve dressed in a while. 

“He came in with another friend of his, Paul, and sat with him while I worked on a piece for his sleeve. After that, I gave him my number in case he ever wanted to get a tattoo himself and the rest is history.”

“I can’t believe Paul technically met you before I did,” Damien said in disbelief. You heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on which meant your boyfriend would be joining the two of you soon. 

The awkwardness between you and Damien had faded slightly but you could still feel the tension in the air. Shayne opened the bathroom door and you looked over your shoulder to watch as your no longer disheveled boyfriend entered the room. He’d changed his pants, which was fair, and he was holding the disinfectant in hand as if he’d read your mind. 

You hopped off the seat and took it from him, spraying down the entire couch while he greeted his friend. 

“Really sorry you had to see that,” Shayne said, laughing as they clapped their hands together. “We would have disinfected the couch either way, just so you know.” 

Damien laughed as you finished cleaning off the couch, setting the disinfectant on the coffee table. You couldn’t be bothered with putting it away in the bathroom right now. 

“Well, this is Y/n, my girlfriend,” Shayne pulled on your arm until you settled into his side. You gave a small wave. “And she made Italian for dinner so unless you now want nothing to do with me, we can start eating now.” 

“Sounds great.”

Once you actually got over the initial awkwardness, your night actually turned out enjoyable. Damien was extremely funny and nice, just like Shayne had said. He’d even asked about your job and your own tattoos, expressing his own thoughts about getting one or two done himself. 

“If you get it done at my shop, I can get you a discount,” you offered, taking a sip of your water. “Friends and family get twenty-percent off, though that doesn’t include the tip.” 

“Really?” Damien asked. He looked shocked that you’d even offer to tattoo him, let alone provide him with a discount. 

“Yeah,” you grinned. “Just let me know when and we can set up an appointment.” 

“That’d be amazing.”

The three of you were sitting on the couch now, you and Shayne sitting on the side closest to the window while Damien was on the other end. His body was angled toward the two of you as “The Office” played quietly in the background. 

“Does this mean I’ll be seeing you around more?” Damien asked. “Shayne always comes alone to out-of-work get-togethers and Courtney’s been pestering him to bring you around for some time now.”

“She has?” you looked up at Shayne, asking if that was true. 

He nodded. “Why do you think I’ve been so insistent on getting you to meet my friends? They all want to meet you.”

“It doesn’t help that you’re all he talks about,” Damien chuckled. “I swear, every other word from his mouth is something about you. Whether it’s wondering what you’re doing to wondering how you’re doing, it’s always about you.” 

You reached up and patted Shayne’s cheek lightly. “Aw, babe. You think about me? How embarrassing.”

  He swatted your hand away, chuckling as you giggled at the shared joke between you. 

You talked for a little longer, sharing stories between the three of you before Damien caught sight of the time. 

“I should get going,” he said, standing up. You got up as well, giving him a hug before letting him and Shayne say their goodbyes. Once Damien had left the apartment completely, you released a breath you didn’t know you were holding in, you shoulder relaxing. While Shayne was an extrovert, you found yourself physically and mentally drained from hanging out with just one person. 

The entire experience was new for you. Since you’d started dressing how you wanted to dress and expressing yourself accordingly, there have been people less than willing to be nice to you or show you any sort of kindness. It was mostly linked to the fact that people thought that if you wore black, put on lots of make-up, had piercings, and had tattoos you were a bad person and an even worse role model. Not only was that hurtful, it made you very self conscious about meeting new people. 

“That wasn’t so bad,” Shayne said, pulling you in for a hug. You sunk into his arms, wrapping your own arms around his torso. 

“It wasn’t terrible,” you replied, your words muffled by the fabric of his shirt. You turned your head sideways so that you could hear his steady heartbeat, allowing it to lull you into what felt like security. “Though, the beginning could have been better.” 

“We’re never speaking of the beginning again.”

“Agreed.”

Shayne started to sway with you in his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of your head before letting go. “So how do you feel about going to brunch with the rest of my friends on Saturday?”

After meeting Damien, your anxiety had subsided. No longer did you think you would be judged for the type of clothes you chose to wear but this time the anxiety of meeting so many people at once surfaced. When you didn’t respond, he looked down at you worried. 

“Tell me what’s wrong.” 

“I just…” If you said what you were thinking out loud, you knew you were going to sound ridiculous. “It’s nothing.”

“No, really,” he frowned, “tell me what’s wrong. Bottling it all up inside won’t work this time.” 

You sighed. “I--Shayne, you’re perfect, you know that?” 

“I wouldn’t say perfect but…” You dug your fingers into his side, causing him to laugh. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just that you’re the perfect LA Boy and I look nothing like the perfect LA Girl that you so clearly deserve. I mean, Damien was nice but that’s literally just how he is. What if your other friends think I’m, like, a terrible influence on you with my millions of piercings and tattoos and attention-seeking hair and--”

He cut you off with his lips, arms pulling you in impossibly closer and effectively stopping you in your tracks. 

When he pulled away, you fixed him with a playful glare. “Shayne Robert Topp, you did not just pull a movie cliche on me while I was airing out all my concerns to you. Apologize right now.” 

“I’m sorry,” he said, pressing another kiss to the top of your head. “But, Y/n, you don’t need to be the ‘perfect LA Girl,’ you’re perfect the way you are. That doesn’t mean I’d like you any less if you decided that you did want to become whatever you think is the ‘perfect LA Girl’ because I’d like you no matter what. I just like you.”

“Even if I went bald?”

“Even if you went bald.” 

You’ve said it once and you’ll say it again: you fucking loved this man. 

“I love you,” you said, pouting your bottom lip. You felt the tears prick at the corners of your eyes as you looked up at him in adoration. 

“I love you, too.” 

By the time Saturday rolled around, you were ready to meet the rest of Shayne’s friends. Most of your anxieties had been successfully quelled, though they still lingered. You had gotten your hair done again the day before, meaning you were now sporting a bright neon green. You matched your makeup to your vibrant new dye and picked out a heat-appropriate outfit. 

“Are you ready to go?” Shayne called from your front room, interrupting your self-admiration session. You gave yourself one last look in the full-length mirror in your room before slipping on the pair of DnD dice filled platform shoes that added at least three inches to your height. 

“Ready.” You stopped to pose in the doorway, the bottom of your shirt riding up as you leaned against the wooded frame. “Baby, how do I look?” 

Shayne looked up from his phone, his jaw dropping the second he laid eyes on you. A blush settled nicely onto your cheeks, as you grew shy under his gaze. He dropped his phone on the couch and crossed the room in three long strides. He pulled you in by the waist, pressing a kiss to your lips. You melted into his touch, a giddy feeling spreading through your being as your arms looped around his neck, bringing him closer. 

“You look amazing,” he breathed, pulling away. You giggled as you realized that a bit of your black lipstick had transferred off onto his lip. You reached up and wiped his top lip with your thumb. 

“Thank you,” you giggled, rubbing your fingers together until the black rubbed off. “What time did your friends say?”

“We’ve got some time…” his fingers crept up your side, dipping under your shirt and tracing the band of your bra with his thumb. 

You smacked his hand. “Naughty boy.”

You didn’t end up leaving the apartment for another thirty minutes, though you couldn’t complain about it. Still, you ended up making it on time. From where you’d parked on the street, you could see Shayne’s friends spread across two connected tables, laughing on the patio. 

Damien was the first to spot the two of you, standing from his seat and calling out, inviting you into the sectioned off area. You took up residence in the seat closest to him, leaving Shayne to take the seat on your other side. 

“You guys, this is my girlfriend, Y/n,” Shayne introduced you to everyone at the table. There were nine other people sitting at the table. You recognized maybe six of them from the videos you’d watched, while the other three were most likely spouses (considering how close they were sitting next to who you assumed were their significant others). 

“Hi, Y/n!” the blonde sitting next to Damien greeted. You recognized her immediately as the inspiration for Shayne’s alter ego, Courtney Freaking Miller. 

You smiled politely as everyone went around introducing themselves to you, from Olivia and Sam to Sarah and Claudio, you didn’t feel out of place for one second. The hand that had been tightly intertwined with Shayne’s relaxed as you grew even more comfortable around his friends. 

“So Damien told us that you worked at a tattoo parlor,” Ian inquired, propping an arm up on the table and resting his chin in the palm of his hand. On his left sat Anthony, who also looked interested in your answer. “And Shayne did, too, I guess. Did Damien tell you that your boyfriend literally never stops talking about you?”

You giggled. “He did tell me that and I find it adorable that he can’t go a second without missing me.” 

“I wish Peter was like that,” the purple haired woman, Mari, complained playfully, nudging her husband’s side. Peter just laughed it off, casually putting his arm around her shoulders. 

“You do not,” he refuted. “You get flustered when I even mention you to my friends.”

She huffed, though there were no traces of anger to be found on her face. “It’s the sentiment that counts.”

Courtney put her menu down, reaching over to grab her glass of water. “I’ve always wanted to get a tattoo. Y/n, yours are so pretty.”

You felt the heat rise to your cheeks at the compliment. “Thank you! I actually did most of them myself.” 

Courtney’s eyes widened at that. She reached over Damien, who had leaned far back enough in his seat to allow her to do that. She motioned at your sleeve, specifically at the roses that decorated the back of your forearm. They were cliche and most likely overused but you just thought they were pretty. 

“Those? You did those yourself?”

“Yeah!” you said enthusiastically. You offered your arm out, allowing her to take a closer look. “My friend, Alyssa, designed it for me and as soon as I was trusted to wield an actual tattoo gun, it was the first piece I worked on.”

“That’s insanely cool,” she gushed, tracing a finger over one of the larger roses. “And you’re insanely talented.”

“Thank you!”

For some reason, Courtney was originally your biggest concern. Most of the insecurity had sprouted from the constant online presence of the ship Shourtney, which Shayne assured you was nothing but a meme. And you trusted your boyfriend, and though you didn’t know Courtney, you trusted her too. But sitting here, at the same brunch spot as her, sharing the same meal as she was, all your fears washed away. 

It was incredibly difficult not to like her. Not only was she extremely nice, but insanely pretty as well. Though you had to accredit most of your confidence to Shayne, who only had eyes for you despite everything else. You’d thought that you would find yourself vying for his attention in front of everyone but not once did he leave you to flounder. He was always there, ready to step into any conversation you were having. 

When you’d all finished your meals and began to wrap up the late morning, you couldn’t help but show your gratitude for your amazing boyfriend by pressing a huge kiss to his cheek, whispering that you loved him while everyone had grown content in their own little conversations with each other. 

Content, he grinned and his arm around your shoulders tightened just that much more as he used his free hand to tilt your face up towards him. He pressed a kiss to your lips, keeping it short and sweet, before pulling away and whispering, “I love you, too.” 

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[the-barrens-are-ours]

Happy Holidays!

Hope you’re having a great holiday season @are-you-reddie-for-it

Here’s some Reddie from your secret Santa

Word count: about 5,800

Warnings: some swearing

Eddie hated being a poor college student. He wasn’t sure how much more annoying life could get than living in a cramped dorm on campus, spending half of his week in classes, spending the other half working on homework and projects for said classes, eating cheap, gross food, and, worst of all, having to do his laundry at the filthy yet reasonably priced laundromat downtown.

Given, life could certainly be a lot worse, but it also could be a lot better. Most of it did come back to Eddie’s shit luck and exhaustion making him make stupid decisions though.

For example, Eddie had forgotten to check the weather forecast Monday before class and had to trek back to his dorms across campus without an umbrella during a horrendous thunderstorm. Everything in his bag got soaked. He also forgot to set an alarm Tuesday and woke up fifteen minutes late for his lecture. On Wednesday, Eddie had gone out to get soup and tripped when he got back to his room and dumped it all over the clean pile of laundry folded up on the floor at the end of his bed. And that particular event, of course, led to him realizing Thursday night that he had no clean clothes left.

It was 1 AM and Eddie had just finished writing up his microbiology essay that was due at 9 o’clock sharp in the morning, and he was ready to change into his pajamas and pass out. When Eddie opened up his wardrobe door though, he can face to face with empty space where his clothes should have been. Throwing his head back in annoyance and letting out a heavy sigh, Eddie glanced over at his hamper full of dirty clothes with guilt and irritation. It was his fault he had to deal with this situation right now but he also couldn’t believe he had to deal with this situation right now. He just wanted to go to bed, make it through tomorrow’s classes, and relax and recover as best he could over the weekend from this especially long, tiring, and terrible week.

But now, at 1 in the morning, Eddie was left without clothes because he slacked off slightly on doing laundry over the weekend and somehow managed to spill soup on the clothes he did clean. His only choices now were to do laundry or go through his hamper in hopes of finding clothes that were somewhat clean that he could wear again in the morning. While the latter did sound appealing at this late hour of the night, he detested the thought of having to wear dirty clothes, even if it were only for a day. He refused to lower himself to such barbaric standards.

Sighing, Eddie slipped his shoes on, grabbed his wallet, keys, and laundry bag, and headed out.

The night was chilly, and the cold air made Eddie’s lungs hurt whenever he inhaled too deeply. He was fortunate enough that some laundromat owner saw the potential in opening his business within walking distance of his college campus where hundreds of poor young adults didn’t own their own washers and dryers. Eddie was even luckier that it was open 24/7 because said laundromat owner also knew that college students were terrible and had awful schedules that made no sense, like having to do laundry at one in the morning.

Eddie was exhausted, and his feet dragged as he made his way down the familiarly illuminated street to the small shop where he always did his laundry. He was glad to see the store’s lights on as he approached, and that it was mostly empty inside besides some old man sitting in the corner near a dryer.

The bell gave a happy jingle as he entered, and Eddie quickly made his way over to the nearest washer. After digging through his wallet for a moment, he was able to find the right amount of quarters needed for the machine. He tucked his wallet back into the back pocket of his jeans and dumped his entire bag of laundry into the machine. He usually took the time to sort through everything and wash lights and darks separately to prevent any colors from bleeding and staining any of his clothes, but at the current moment, Eddie was beyond caring.

In fact, he was so far beyond caring, that he took off his jeans and threw them into the washer as well. He didn’t even care that he was standing in his boxer shorts in a laundromat at what was now one thirty in the morning. The only other person in the building had hardly even looked at Eddie since he walked in. He was sure the man didn’t care what Eddie was wearing at such an ungodly hour.

After inserting his quarters and starting the machine, Eddie went over and slouched into one of the hard plastic chairs that lined the edges of the store. Eddie didn’t bother bringing any detergent or softener with him so his clothes would be washed yet barely considered clean. He was way too exhausted to bother with such things though. His future self could get annoyed at him later for all he cared. Right now, he was tired, and the laundromat was rather warm and quiet besides the comforting rumbling sound that came from the two running machines in the store. Eddie felt his eyes drift shut, and he decided as long as he didn’t fall asleep, it would be okay to rest them for a moment. Just a moment though.

Eddie woke up what felt like only moments later with a sharp and sudden jolt.

He shook his head, feeling momentarily sharp and alert in comparison to how exhausted and slow he was only a little while ago. It took him a moment to remember what he was doing in this place that clearly wasn’t his room in the early hours of the morning. One glance at the dryer rumbling in front of him was enough for him to remember just where he was and what he was doing though.

He sighed in relief. He may have fallen asleep for a bit there, but everything appeared to be fine. The old man was still sitting in the corner of the store for some reason, he was safe, and his clothes were still right where he had left them in the dryer.

Eddie froze.

He didn’t leave his clothes in the dryer. He specifically remembers putting them in the washer before he sat down. Was it possible he swapped his laundry over in his sleep? No way. He only took a brief power nap and he has had no history of doing anything in his sleep, much less something as complex as moving his laundry from one machine to another and starting a dryer. He stared at the dryer in confusion, concern, and horror.

“Oh shit, you’re up.” A voice spoke up next to him, laughing.

Eddie turned and saw a boy about his age with glasses and wild black hair at the machine next to him. He was smiling a dumb smile at Eddie.

“When I got here your washer was beeping and you were passed out drunk so I just moved your stuff over to the dryer so they wouldn’t mildew in the machine.”

Eddie stared at him, all the alertness he just had was gone, replaced only with dazed confusion. Everything felt like a dream. It must have been a dream, Eddie decided. How else could that amused smile the boy was giving him be that bright?

It took him almost a solid minute to be able to do anything besides gape at the boy. At last, he swallowed and spoke up. “Thank you.” His voice was rough with sleep and cracked halfway through his first word. He cleared his throat, his face flushing slightly as he tried again, speaking clearly. “I mean, thank you.”

After saying that, he paused for a moment, thinking over what the boy had said to him.

“Wait a minute, you touched my laundry? And I’m not drunk.” He scoffed.

The boy snorted. “Sure you’re not drunk. Why else would you be passed out cold in a laundromat at two thirty in the morning with no pants on?”

“For your information, I’m a sleep-deprived college student, not a drunk. I just accidentally forgot to wash my laundry and happen to fall asleep big deal.” Eddie’s face burned red as he processed the second part of the kid’s question. “And I took my pants off to wash them.”

He stared at Eddie for a moment, his face unreadable, before shrugging. “I guess we’ve all been there, done that. Though it was definitely a bold choice to take your pants off and fall sleep with” He jerked his head over towards the old guy, lowering his voice. “That dude over there. He hasn’t moved, said, or done anything since I came in an hour ago and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he robbed and stabbed you in your sleep.”

Eddie frowned at the old man who only continued to stare at the running machine in front of him. “Eh, I doubt he’d hurt anyone, he looks rather- Wait. Did you say when you got here an hour ago?”

The kid quirked his eyebrows in confusion, adjusting his obnoxiously large pair of glasses on his face. “Yeah?”

“That’s impossible, I was only out for a few minutes.”

He laughed at Eddie. “Ha. You’ve been out much longer than that. Like I said, you were out cold. I tried waking you up when your machine went off, but you just slept through it all.”

Eddie’s face felt red again. “Oh.” He squeaked in a small voice.

The kid just chuckled again. Eddie, thinking back over the conversation they just shared as he stared at his feet, now also remembers how the kid said it was two thirty, which was about an hour later than when Eddie arrived at the laundromat. He felt stupid. What a fool he was making of himself.

Without being too obvious, Eddie snuck a glance over at the boy cheerfully sitting a few chairs away from him. He looked like a college student. Messy hair, bags under his eyes, wearing an outfit that looks like it was bought in a Goodwill for less than ten bucks. His shirt had a concert tee on with a band logo on it that was so faded Eddie couldn’t even tell what it was supposed to be anymore. All the city names and dates listed on the back of it weren’t even written in English. His shoes weren’t even real shoes, either, but a pair of slippers with a dog face and ears on them. Perhaps the most atrocious thing though was the ugly, faded pink flannel Hello Kitty pajama pants he was wearing. They were old, covered in holes and stains, and were too short for him, resting about five inches above his ankle. This kid looked like a train wreck, and Eddie found himself unable to stop staring.

And just as Eddie’s luck would have it, the boy noticed Eddie watching him.

“You like these puppies?” The boy asked with a smirk, tugging on the legs of his Hello Kitty pajama pants. “Wal-Mart. Five bucks, Talk about a deal!” He grinned at Eddie and Eddie had to try not to physically shield his eyes from his beaming smile and radiant, energetic personality. How was it possible anyone could be this happy and lively at nearly 3 AM in a cheap laundromat? Why would anyone want to be so happy and lively at nearly 3 AM in a cheap laundromat?

Eddie stared wide-eyed at the kid, hearing what he was saying but hardly comprehending it and understanding what exactly he was saying. He just decided to nod his head and turn back to face the tumbling dryer.

Eddie’s skin prickled and he realized after another quick glance that it was because the kid was now staring at him. Not knowing what to do in this situation, he just tried to ignore the other boy as best he could and hoped his ears weren’t turning too red from embarrassment because now Eddie really regrets taking his pants off to wash them.

The kid’s staring was interrupted by the annoying sound of a default ringtone coming from the boy’s pants pocket. He pulled out a small flip phone, staring at the screen. He glanced back at Eddie. “Excuse me but I gotta take this real quick.” He got up, walking outside as he dramatically flipped his phone open and began animatedly talking to whoever was on the line with him.

Eddie watched him through the front windows of the laundromat. He sure was using a lot of hand motions as he talked. Even if it was over the phone. Eddie could have also sworn he heard him say something in Spanish with the most atrocious accent imaginable. Eddie frowned. This kid was so weird.

As Eddie stared at the boy, one of the machines started beeping next to him and Eddie jumped up to pull the clothes out of the machine as quickly as possible so he could leave. Hardly looking at the damage he probably did when carelessly washing all of his clothes together, he dumped everything from the dryer into his laundry bag, with the exception of a pair of jeans that he quickly threw on. They felt slightly bigger than usual, but he paid little attention to this. Once everything had been transferred into the bag, he tied it shut, quickly taking off out of the shop.

The boy looked over at Eddie as he hurriedly walked out and started heading back to campus. He looked confused and opened his mouth to say something to him, but Eddie was gone before he could say anything, nearly sprinting away. He doesn’t know why he was moving so fast, but something about being around that boy made his stomach roll and his face flush and he wasn’t completely sure why. Sure, maybe he was cute, but he also seemed a bit obnoxious and most definitely not Eddie’s type.

Arriving back at his dorm building, Eddie rushed to his room. His head was reeling as he jammed his room key from his pocket into the lock and shoved the door open. Closing the door rather firmly behind him, Eddie threw the bag of clean laundry down on the floor and flopped onto his bed, exhausted.

It was practically 3 AM by this point, and Eddie had to be up and at class by nine. Not even bothering to change out of his clothes, Eddie snuggled up against his pillow, determined to pass out as quickly as possible to maximize the amount of sleep he’d get. Moments later as he drifted off into sleep, his mind flashed back to the bright smile of the boy at the laundromat, and Eddie couldn’t help but smile slightly to himself as he thought about how cute he was.

Eddie’s screeching phone woke him up so suddenly he jerked trying to sit up and nearly tumbled off of his bed.

Sighing, Eddie looked at the time on his phone screen with disappointment and exhaustion. He was beyond tired, and he couldn’t believe he had class in less than two hours. Shutting off his alarm and vowing to go to bed at a decent time at the end of the day, Eddie set about getting ready for his classes. His mind wasn’t in the mood for thinking about anything other than going back to bed, but it was still able to tell him that getting dressed was a good place to start his day off right. Grabbing the bag of laundry he threw down the previous night, Eddie dumped it out on the bed and his heart stopped.

These were not his clothes.

Initially, Eddie couldn’t figure out what was happening. He had no clue whose clothes these could possibly be. And then the previous night came back to him in pieces, helping him remember.

The energetic boy with the Hello Kitty pajamas doing his laundry next to Eddie. Him changing Eddie’s clothes over to a dryer (never having specified which dryer) after he had fallen asleep. Him stepping out to take a call as the timer on one of the dryers went off. The jeans Eddie slipped on being too big. His confused look he had when Eddie left because he probably knew Eddie’s laundry would finish drying after his. He never did tell him when he started the two loads. Eddie had only assumed he started his first.

Eddie’s face burned red as he realized how stupid he was.

He had now just stolen a complete strangers load of laundry and lost pretty much all of his own clothes in the process. Now, all Eddie wanted to do was crawl back into bed and never wake up again.

And as appealing as the idea was, he, unfortunately, still had things he needed to do. After all, he didn’t stay up late last night working on his microbiology essay to just not turn it in on time.

Awkwardly, Eddie shifted through some of the shirts he had taken last night, looking for something he could borrow for the day. He would try to think of a way to deal with his whole clothing situation later. For now, he had bigger issues to deal with.

Finding a black shirt with a yellow smiley face looking thing on it that looked innocuous enough for him to wear, Eddie swapped around the shirts he was wearing. Besides a few pairs of shorts, there weren’t any other pairs of pants so Eddie was stuck wearing the jeans he fell asleep in. They were a bit baggy, but nothing he couldn’t live with for a few hours. After deciding he had everything he needed, he shoved all the clothes back into the bag.

He had fallen asleep in his shoes, so he didn’t have to worry about them as he gathered everything he needed for his class before heading out. His morning routine for 9 AM class days involved getting coffee before class, so Eddie made his way over to the University Center.

The coffee sold at the shop inside the building wasn’t very good, but Eddie also happened to know that his best friend was working his early morning shift there on Fridays, which made the place worth going to on a regular basis.

Bill looked up and smiled at Eddie as he made his way over to the small coffee place. After looking over Eddie’s appearance though, his eyebrows furrowed slightly with mild concern as he awkwardly laughed at his friend. “Jesus, Eddie, you look like shit.”

“Thanks, Bill, I feel like it.” Eddie sighed, leaning heavily against the counter as Bill made him the usual cup of black coffee he orders.

“I don’t doubt it,” Bill said, handing over a hot cup to Eddie. “What happened? And since when do you like Nirvana?”

“What? Nirvana? I don’t like Nirvana, I’ve never even heard them.”

Bill gestured to Eddie’s shirt. “You’re wearing one of their tees though.”

Eddie felt his face turn slightly pink. “It’s uh… It’s not actually… mine.” Eddie finished in a rushed whisper, quickly taking a sip of coffee as he hoped Bill wouldn’t realize what he said.

As luck would have it, Eddie was not fortuitous enough to have that happen.

“Oh my god, Eddie!” Bill laughed, gently hitting him on the shoulder. “Who’s the lucky guy? I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”

Eddie groaned, covering his face with his open hand in embarrassment. “He’s not… he’s not my boyfriend, Bill, I just have his shirt.”

“Ohhh,” Bill nodded in understanding, smirking. “Eddie, you dog.” He winked good-naturedly.

If Eddie’s face got any hotter than it was at the current moment, it was going to burst into flames and burn down the entire University Center. “No, I just… stole his laundry by accident.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Bill’s grin just kept on getting bigger. “You stole someone’s laundry?”

“It was an accident!”

“How could you steal someone’s laundry by accident?” Bill was laughing, having an absolute field day with the whole situation.

“I don’t know! I guess I just wasn’t paying attention.” Eddie sighed, defeated. “And now I’m stuck with some complete stranger’s clothes for god knows how long. Maybe even forever!”

“Whoa there, Eds, calm down.” Bill gently set his hand on Eddie’s shoulder to comfort him. “I’m sure he realized what happened and is trying to figure out some way to resolve the situation too.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so. Anyways, there’s not much I can do about this now, I have class in less than a half hour. I need to get going. Here,” Eddie stuck his hand in his back pocket, reaching for his wallet.

Eddie’s week just couldn’t get worse.

“Oh, mother fucker!” He all but shouted, finding his back pocket empty, void of the wallet usual kept there. It only took a second for him to remember a very sleepy Eddie shoving said wallet into the pants pocket of his own pair of jeans before taking his pants off and throwing them into the washing machine before passing out.

Bill looked at him, alarmed. “What? What happened?”

“I left my wallet in a pair of pants that I washed last night. It’s gone with all the rest of my clothes. Everything in there probably got wrecked too from going through the wash.”

Bill looked at him in disbelief and slight amusement. He obviously knew that losing your wallet was terrible, but the number of things that could go wrong for Eddie in one week was comically high. Eddie supposed if he didn’t have to deal with this situation, he’d have also found it funny. Unfortunately, he did have to deal with it and he felt like crying in all-out frustration.

Bill noticed this, demeanor quickly changing to caring, concerned, and determined to help and support. He walked around the coffee store’s counter to give Eddie a hug. “Hey, don’t worry about the coffee, Eds, I’ll cover it. You head to class, and when we’re both done with school for the day, we’ll meet up and make a plan to track down this guy. He’s probably looking for you too, and who knows. Maybe he even goes to school here.” He gave a sniffling and angry Eddie a reassuring smile. “Just try to get through your class, and then we’ll figure something out, okay? Promise.”

Eddie nodded his head. “Okay. Promise.” He wiped his face, making sure there weren’t any tears on it. “Thanks, Bill.”

“Anytime. Now get on out of here.” Bill shooed him away, towards the exit of the University Center in the direction Eddie would want to go to get to the lab for microbiology.

Eddie headed out, trying not to think about all his missing belongings, the too big stolen clothes he was wearing, and the radiant boy who he’d have to try and track down later.

In what had to be the most surprising turn of luck of the century, Eddie didn’t even have to go out looking for the kid from the laundromat.

After a grueling microbiology lecture that Eddie had to struggle to stay awake through, even with coffee to keep him up, he was now making his way back to his dorm room to try and take a nap. He only had one class on Fridays because Eddie was determined to make it an easy day when arranging his school schedule. This meant more classes Monday through Thursday but left him with more weekend recovery time.

Bill, however, had a class just after noon, which left Eddie with a few hours to kill before he had to meet up with his friend to figure out just what to do. He was sure he could have come up with a plan for this situation on his own, but he was panicking too much at the current moment to do much of anything productive. Bill was smart and a calming presence, so Eddie knew it was in his best interest to just wait for him.

When Eddie turned down the dorm hallway in the direction of his room though, it was like God himself had come to apologize for the week of hell Eddie suffered through.

Sitting in front of his door, right next to a basket full of clothes, was the boy with the curly black hair and obnoxious glasses he had seen at the laundromat the previous night.

Eddie stared at him in disbelief. Surely, this must have been a dream. He pinched his arm. The boy was still sitting there, playing some type of game on the DS he held in his hands, completely oblivious to Eddie’s staring. He also was wearing his own pair of jeans and another band shirt that definitely wasn’t Eddie’s, which was a relief. He was way bigger than Eddie was, and it would have been a disaster if he had to wear his clothes like Eddie had to with his.

It wasn’t until Eddie was standing almost directly in front of him did he finally glance up at him. His tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth from concentrating on his game and his eyes had a certain glint to them that he couldn’t help but think of as cute.

After seeing Eddie, the boy quickly jumped to his feet. “It’s about time you showed up, Edward, do you know how long I’ve been sitting here? Let me answer that: too long. Now you better have a damn good reason for keeping me waiting this long. And your apology better be sincere and poignant too.” He huff, crossing his arms in mock scorn like an angered parent.

Eddie, once again, found himself feeling confused and flustered by the boy’s presence. “W- what?”

“You may have stuttered just there, but I most certainly did not. Do not make me repeat myself, mister, because if I have to there will be hell to pay.”

Eddie stared at him in disbelief. His mouth was turned downwards and his eyebrows were furrowed, but there was a lighthearted glint of mischief in his eyes as he focused his stare on Eddie. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, undoubtedly looking like a fish as he stared at the other boy, unsure of what to do with this situation.

“How do you know my name?” Was all Eddie was able to say.

The boy’s face relaxed back into its normal, happy look. He laughed, rather obnoxiously, in Eddie’s face, and Eddie tried not to scowl at him. He was a lot more annoying than he remembered.

The boy pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to Eddie who fumbled to catch it. It was his wallet. The leather it was made of cracked and falling apart from going through the washer and dryer. After a quick look through, it looked like everything was still there.

“Since you were stupid enough to leave all of your clothes at the laundromat, I decided to be a good samaritan and return them to you. Luckily for me and unluckily for you, you left your wallet in the pocket of your jeans. A quick look at your student ID gave me your name and dorm building. After asking around a bit here, I was able to track down your room number. Some rather ingenious detective work on my part, if I do say so myself.” The boy smugly gave himself a pat on his own shoulder.

Eddie’s ears were pink and his face was flushing. “I’m not stupid, it was an accident.”

“A stupid accident.”

Eddie resisted the urge to growl in frustration. Before he could get another word in, the boy’s eyes traveled down from his face, taking in what Eddie was wearing before howling with laughter.

“Oh my god,” He wheezed, “are those my clothes? They look huge on you! I knew you were small, but I guess I didn’t realize how small you were last night!”

Eddie’s face went from pink to scarlet in a matter of second. “I’m not small! I’m average!” He tried to defend himself but wound up only making the other kid laugh harder at him. “It’s not my fault you’re a fucking giant.”

“Oh please,” The boy wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, mouth still bent into a smile. “I’m only like six foot four. You, on the other hand, are like five foot three. Are you sure you’re nineteen like your ID says?”

Eddie felt like he was bristling. “I’m five foot six and three quarters, for your information!”

He wasn’t sure what reaction he was hoping to get from the other boy, but pity was definitely not it. “Oh, honey,” He cooed, “that’s below average. And you’re so desperate to be taller you had to add in the ‘three quarters’ bit, aww.”

“Can you stop treating me like a fucking child cause I’m not six.”

“You sure look like you’re six.”

Eddie sighed, unable to believe he had actually just set the other boy up like that. “Look, can I just have my clothes back?”

“Are you sure you want your clothes back? I must admit you look rather cute in mine.” He winked at Eddie whose face could not physically get any redder than it already was.

“Your clothes are way too fucking big, I don’t want them.” Eddie snapped, defensively. “And don’t call me cute.”

“Aww, but Edward, you are cute, don’t you see?”

“Gross, don’t say ‘Edward’ like that. No one calls me that anyway.”

“Do you have a better name I could call you by? Mine, perhaps?” Eddie furiously ignored the wink he gave him.

“I go by Eddie.”

“Eddie! That’s adorable!”

“It’s not adorable, you asshole, stop that.”

“You’re like a kitten: small, cute, and feisty.” Another wink.

“Oh my god, stop.” Eddie brought a hand up to his temple which was beginning to throb with an oncoming headache. “Not that I care at this point, but I might as well know your name too.”

The boy pretended to swoon. “Spoken like a true romantic asking for my hand in marriage.” Eddie couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “My name’s Richie. Richie Tozier. But I’d also like to call myself yours.”

Eddie wasn’t sure how much more flirting he could tolerate from this guy. Luckily though, Richie’s phone buzzed in his pocket. After a quick glance at it, he clicked his tongue in disappointment. “Well, as much fun as this has been, I have to bounce. Since I have returned your clothes it is your duty to do the same.”

“Oh. Right.” Eddie grabbed his key and unlocked his door. He felt relieved that the conversation was over, but also slightly let down that Richie was leaving. He wasn’t sure why because the boy was annoying and got on every last one of Eddie’s nerves in a way no amount of good-looking could justify, but he almost enjoyed being around him in a weird way. After he had his clothes back, he’d probably move on and he and Eddie would never speak again. He grabbed the bag of laundry, handing it over to the other boy who followed him into his room.

Richie set the basket full of Eddie’s clothes down on his bed, before slinging the bag over his shoulder. He looked around Eddie’s room, nodding his head. “Not a bad room. The design is simple and tidy. Look forward to spending more time here.” He winked yet again.

“Oh please. What reason do you possibly have to be inside my room at any point in the future?” Eddie was hoping to shut down his flirting by indicating there was no way the two of them hooking up would ever happen, but he realized too late he had just inadvertently set him up again for another joke.

Richie didn’t jump instantly in with a joke though. “Well, for starters, I’m leaving my laundry basket with you and taking your laundry bag. Obviously, we need to give these back to each other at some point, don’t we?”

Eddie stared at him. He wanted to mention the fact that he could dump out the basket of his clothes onto his bed and Richie could dump his bag of stuff into the basket and the two could go on their own merry ways. He picked up on what he was indirectly trying to say, and for some reason found himself going along with it. 

“You’re right, of course.”

“Also, you’re still wearing my clothes. And as much as I’d enjoy seeing you take them off in front of me, preferably slowly and in a scandalous way, I could also just pick them up later when you’re wearing your own clothes again.”

Eddie looked away, shyly. “Yeah, you can pick them up with your basket later.” This had to be by far the lamest excuse to see each other again ever conceived.

“Lastly, your room is a much nicer room to hook up in than mine.” He smirked and Eddie hit his arm.

“What makes you think we’d hook up?” Eddie meant to sound annoyed but he doubts it came out sounding that way.

“You have yet to shoot me down, so I’m sure that means you’re at least interested slightly.”

Eddie was flustered once again. He hadn’t directly shot down anything he said. Perhaps that was intentional. “I suppose you’re right.”  He said quietly before quickly changing the subject before he had to say anything else on the matter. “Didn’t you say you had some place to be?”

Richie smiled. It was genuine like it was last night and not flirtatious like it had just been. He looked really happy, and that made Eddie’s heart happy too. “Yeah, I do. I’ll see you around though, Eddie.”

“I guess I’ll see you around too, Richie.”

The boy waved at him, shutting the door behind him as he left. Eddie waited a second before grinning to himself. Looks like they’d be seeing each other again after all.

Eddie looked over at the basket of clothes on his bed, noticing a slip of paper sticking out on top. He grabbed it, rolling his eyes as he read over the ‘call me - richie xoxo’ scribbled on it in sloppy handwriting with a phone number printed underneath it. Eddie was beginning to feel like maybe this week wasn’t actually half that bad.

As he pulled out a shirt to hang up though, he noticed how the few white tees he had turned pink from the one red polo shirt he owned. Okay, maybe his week wasn’t the best.

But Richie sure made it a hell of a lot better.

[stcrsaligned]

sunset headcanon using these prompts. 

1. What does their bedroom look like? (expanded this to her studio unit, since that means it's all her bedroom) It's messy. Her bedroom is really the loft space in her unit. The stairs to the loft space are littered with her shoes on nights where she comes home from a show with the Rainbooms and just goes to bed. The bed is never made. The bookshelves above her bed space are neatly organized though as these books are often the ones that comfort her the most on nights when she has nightmares. She has a nightstand and a small dresser in the loft space. The nightstand has things like her retainer, hair scrunchies, notebooks and pens, about 80 half-used chapsticks, a bottle of lotion, stuff like that. 

The dresser isn't full of clothes (she keeps those in a wardrobe near the bathroom). The dresser is mostly old notebooks full of ideas or assorted notes that don't mean much any more. Things that she can't quite get rid of live in that dresser. 

The rest of the unit is pretty messy too. She has close hung over a beaten up couch (the couch itself has a blanket that Rare made her). There's old takeout on a small end-table next to the couch. Her TV console has DVDs, video games, books, some sheet music. There's also a plant for no disernable reason other than AJ came by at some point and said she needed living things. There's also a plant above her dresser near the bathroom because she liked the look of hanging plants. 

The wardrobe and dresser are both near the bathroom. The wardrobe barely shuts because of the mix of clothes and she sort-of stashes her laundry bin in there and it's more than overflowing. 

Her dresser is half-neat. There's a space for her jewelery and it never quite makes it back into the jewelry box. She swears Rarity will haunt her for this. 

Under the stairs are some boxes, and her amps. Along the wall of the stairs to her bed are her guitars. She keeps her flame one above the landing for ease of use. 

Her desk is under the loft bed and is the only clean place. With her depth studies on magic & the world she lives in, she needs to keep it clean to think. She has a white board on one of her walls that has scribbles of notes and trailed thoughts. There's books lining the shelves here. Some library books, stolen from when she was bad. 

The bathroom in the loft is barely a room. It's a toilet, sink and shower cramed into a closet space. The kitchenette near the front door is worse. She has a hot-plate instead of a stove, which is fine since she doesn't cook. She has a 4-foot-tall fridge with a small freezer component. There's a sink and enough counter space for her microwave and dishes (if she ever washes them).

2. Do they have any daily rituals? It does depend on the day. She wakes up early on school days since the Rainbooms have 0 period band practice. Though, "early" usually means about 20-minutes before she needs to leave. She grabs a shower, changes, gets her guitar and school stuff, and runs off. After classes, she has a part-time job at the mall, then either goes to one of the girls' house to study and do homework or goes home. She's fairly smart and can get through her work quickly (not as quick as Twi, but pretty quick). Any time after her work is done, she often starts looking into magic and will stay up late doing that.

3. Do they exercise, and if so, what do they do? How often? Sunset loves running. She tries to work it into her schedule, but usually the most running she does is to school when she's late. She doesn't mind traditional work outs, but she feels freest running.

4. What would they do if they needed to make dinner but the kitchen was busy? Sunset is queen of microwave dinners because she cannot cook and she usually forgets. If the kitchen is truly busy, she will forgo food or just talk to whoevers cooking and pray for a bite to eat.

5. Cleanliness habits (personal, workspace, etc.) Personal cleanliness is good. Although her workplace is a mess (see her bedroom), Sunset takes great care in her personal appearance. She really wants to control the perception of people, so she's fairly clean and looks it. She's only ever a slob in her own home.

6. Eating habits and sample daily menu She's bad at eating. Mostly, she tends to get wrapped up in something and forgets to eat, so when she does eat, it's a lot at one time (like a vacuum). Her daily meal is often coffee in the morning, huge lunch at school with whatever is available (& sweets Pinkie brings in), dinner at the mall if she can swing it or dinner with the girls if they're hanging out, and only like an apple at home.

7. Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time Sunset doesn't really like to waste time? She likes to be constantly doing something to push away her thoughts. If she's wasting time it's with her friends either with music, shenanigans, shopping, or fashion.

8. Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging Sunset indulges in magic, more than she should considering what it did to her last time. But she wants to find the limits. She's a researcher and now with Twi, she can look into it. I don't think she realizes it's indulging though.

9. Makeup? She typically wears eye liner, does her eyebrows, and sometimes wears red lip stick, but she doesn't have time for full face all the time.

10. Neuroses? Do they recognize them as such? She's more relaxed. Twi has more of the neuroses. Sunset is only neurotic about her home study space.

11. Intellectual pursuits? Magic primarily. She wants to know what makes her powers work and why. She wants to know the connection between the realms.

12. Favorite book genre? Her comfort books are young adult/new adult contemporary. She doesn't like fantasy -- feels she's lived too much of it.

13. Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general? Bisexual. She thinks people should live and love the way they want to as long as they aren't hurting anyone.

14. Physical abnormalities? (Both visible and not, including injuries/disabilities, long-term illnesses, food-intolerances, etc.) I don't like the way this question is worded, but PTSD.

15. Biggest and smallest short term goal? Play an official gig with the Rainbooms and make new friends

16. Biggest and smallest long term goal? Understand why magic is reactive to friendship and therapy.

17. Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dress Dresses more punk, switches often between studded skirts and pants, wears a lot of leather and jean, her color swatches are orange, purple, hot pink, and black.

18. Favorite beverage? Smoothies, but she never has time or money for them.

19. What do they think about before falling asleep at night? Anxieties. Usually that her friends hate her. She really has to force herself through exercises Shy taught her.

20. Childhood illnesses? Any interesting stories behind them? Nope.

21. Turn-ons? Turn-offs? Ons: intelligence and friendship Offs: Gloating, hatred, selfishness

22. Given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen? She would probably doodle, surprisingly.

23. How organized are they? How does this organization/disorganization manifest in their everyday life? Not vary and it drives Twi and Rare up a wall! Her notes for her own work are organized, but everything else is just chaos!

24. Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all? Sunset has a real strong grasp of magic itself after so many years of study. She really does like to look into other pursuits (especially with science since that was less common in her original realm). But she doesn't like literature as much unless it's for enjoyment and will focus more on musical pursuits.

25. How do they see themselves 5 years from today? Finishing a degree in neurosciences with a thesis on exploring the use of magic within the brain.

26. Do they have any plans for the future? Any contingency plans if things don’t workout? She really wants to tour with the Rainbooms, but she's worried the girls are going to focus on their dreams (And that it doesn't include the Rainbooms). So she's focused on her dream of getting a neuroscience degree.

27. What is their biggest regret? Turning into a demon and ignoring friendship.

28. Who do they see as their best friend? Their worst enemy? Princess Twilight is her best friend (though, she does love SciTwi, she knows there's a difference). 

I think Adagio is closest to her worst enemy. Sunset really doesn't trust her, and even though Sunset wants her to change, the two just grate on each other.

29. Reaction to sudden extrapersonal disaster (eg The house is on fire! What do they do?) Sunset thinks clearly and comes up with a logical quick solution.

30. Reaction to sudden intrapersonal disaster (eg close family member suddenly dies) Sunset shuts down hard and shuts everyone out.

31. Most prized possession? Her journal for communicating with Princess Twilight.

32. Thoughts on material possessions in general? She's had to give up a lot, so there's not much she would ever want to take with her. But she thinks you should keep things that mean something as long as it doesn't hinder you from growth.

33. Concept of home and family? Without blood relations in the new realm, Sunset relies on the girls to be her family. The new realm is definitely "home" and her birth-realm was definitely not.

34. Thoughts on privacy? (Are they a private person, or are they prone to ‘TMI’?) Sunset is pretty private about her personal problem. She's not prone to TMI. She listens a lot more.  

35. What activities do they enjoy, but consider to be a waste of time? Doodling.

36. What makes them feel guilty? Her past. She has really struggled to get over it and she is growing. She works hard to not think about it and even more to be better than it.

Ruining peoples lives, manipulating them, stealing, and forsaking friendship are her worst sins and she tries to work on everyone of those.

37. Are they more analytical or more emotional in their decision-making? It depends on the situation. Analytical in physical issues, and emotional in personal issues.

38. Would they consider themselves a Type A or Type B personality? Type A trying to be a Type B

39. What recharges them when they’re feeling drained? Music.

40. Would you say that they have a superiority-complex? Inferiority-complex? Neither? She used to have a superiority-complex. She now has neither.

41. How misanthropic are they? She's not.

42. Hobbies? Music, studying, magic.

43. How far did they get in formal education? What are their views on formal education vs self-education? She's in high school and could definitely complete college. She thinks education is important and thinks it depends on the person. certain subjects she can self-teach, but she knows she needs help and more "formal" education for others.

44. Religion? None.

45. Superstitions or views on the occult? She is not very superstitious, and feeds into the occult with her magic search.

46. Do they express their thoughts through words or deeds? Deeds at this point.

47. If they were to fall in love, who (or what) is their ideal? Sunset is looking for companionship. She really values intelligence and sharing that together. Her ideal person is out of reach forever now (and she knows that, and she's happy for her). She wanted a princess and the version in this world is definitely her friend and maybe she could fall in love with her, but she knows it's not the same. Princess Twi was someone who cared for her and saw past all her shit and wanted to help her be better which is what Sunset needs. But they were also so good at figuring things out together. They were willing to listen and share and she needs that.

48. How do they express love? Through actions. Coffee on the desk while the others working. A kiss on the side of the head. Flirting from across the room. Love songs.

49. If this person were to get into a fist fight, what is their fighting style like? Sunset is no-hold-bar. She fights dirty. She's scrappy and unafraid.

50. Is this person afraid of dying? Why or why not? Yes. Sunset definitely has the feeling of needing to be remember (she tries to shake this, but it's definitely still deep in her). Dying means people might not remember her. I think if she got over that, she wouldn't fear dying.

[myinnerwasteland]

My two week holiday

1st day, Monday: slept in and did things under the definition of “doing nothing” for the remaining hours of the day [overall calm day, it was just the beginning, I deserved to have spent it doing nothing]

2nd day: absolute fucking shit. Mum and dad were fucking rude and I really disliked everything about them that day. So fucking annoying. Really more just my mother. Dad was just a part of it. She annoyed the fuck out of me. I even talked back. Outfit was shit, going out with them was a mistake, for what? Two seconds in a shop then straight home hearing a bitch complain the whole time and be in a bad mood like she always is and then with you too then it having you in a fucked up angry pissy mood toward her and the whole goddamn world? [overall was a shitty shit fucking day]

3rd day: I went and watched toy story 4. I was late for that even and missed the first 12-13 minutes. Got a free ticket bc a friend works there so there’s that. Some guys took my seat but wasn’t a bother. I was hungry and wanted to eat my meal deal pasta from my bag but there was too much light and not enough darkness in the room I didn’t wanna have eyes on me. I looked cute af but carrying my jacket and bag bothered the outfit. Came in handy later when I left ofc bc it was cold. Gonna wear it again bc I looked cute and need some pictures to post in it. On the way out of the shopping centre I wanted someone with me for the whole day and any days I spend like this. And for a bigger matter to have them just to have made all my days better. If I had someone who came onto my do nothing adventures and days out I’d be so happy to have them. I wanted a lover but even a sloppy not a care in the world type of person would do. Just need someone I can inside out get on with and be my absolute self with every second I am with them. Like the way I am alone by myslef is how I’d absolutely be but with someone just beside me doing them also and me being beside them. That’s all I want. Someone to get me and for me to get them and just be one altogether bc we both the same type of people. Doing nothing together and being happy bc we’re just hanging out in the company of one another. I’m cute and an interesting bubbly go to stylish small huggable laidback old soul and nice occasionally or sometimes funny person who cares and loves deep, where’s my person? I’m ready for you. [overall was a fine day, slept in, woke up got ready and left by 5:42, got home no later than half ten]

Completelyyyy going of task there but if that’s where it lead to than that’s where it went. I’m just not gonna fight that habit of mine lol.

Day 4: Thursday. The day that just went. I woke up midday again. I really haven’t been wanting to these past few days bc I have shit to do like clean up my room and go out to spend days by myself and catch films in the dark. And even do some journal work. Set an alarm to wake up around 1:30 even but I slept in after it and had no clue about it much when I turned it off. Had a fucked up movie based dream I wrote about someplace else. Got up and watched some dead tv. The whole fucking day man nothing was on. It’s a fucking Thursday where are all the mad movies and things to watch please. I barely watch tv and today just wasted my time wanting there to be something good to watch but there was nothing at all for every time I checked throughout the day. Absolute piss take mate. Nothing to eat. I seriously have no hunger for whatever my mum cooks anymore. Need food how they serve it in restaurants or other family homes with sides and new dishes everyday. Like I ain’t even being horrible. My appetite goes the moment I think to go eat food in my own kitchen. I starve bc my body has no motive to get up and go eat what’s in my own house. I don’t want it to be like this but it is. I eat it ofc but I yearn for different dishes and not this for awhile at least. Anyways spent the day again doing nish. I was pissed of many times. My sandals went missing three times and before the third I told the perpetrator not to ever again move or touch them and the third time they had done it and I just lose my shit with little things like that. Like I told you not to, again and again with a mean voice and you got it yet you did it again. I have in the past tried to let things like this go but people take the piss and I don’t care I am happy to lose to my shit bc I’m so mad I can’t not. It’ll hurt more to not express it bc something has to be done about this, I can’t let it slide no more. I absolutely hate people touching my shit. Even later on found out my scarf drawer in my old room wasn’t my scarf drawer anymore. I go there to put something in and it’s overtaken by my sisters clothes. She shoved all my scarves in a box under the bed. I wasn’t mad about the move just immensely annoyed after the day of being pissed number of times I wasn’t consulted about this trade. If I had known about it I wouldn’t have gotten mad but it’s like a smack in the face when your belongings in a drawer it’s always been in isn’t there when you go to it. Like tf mf? There could have been something else in there to which I faintly remember was a folded up piece of paper maybe. She said nothing of it when I asked her but I’m sure there was as I remember something like that for sure. As it was a drawer I barely ever needed to open. Mum pissed me off just bc she was around at one point bc as we know on here we don’t hang at all. We hugged the other day and it was alright I guess. She wanted it and was in a good ass mood and I didn’t mind it she’s my loving mother. She usually bugs me sometimes just being around idky there’s more to it but I don’t wanna get into that rn. All that needs to be said is I’ll cry my eyes out if anything ever happens to her bc I love that woman as much as it is never brought to my attention inside of me I’ll realise just how much if anything ever happens to her. For now I just wanna be pissy at her bc of the way she is with me being her daughter. Like fuck just let me be who I fucking wanna be fuck sake. Comfortablly day in the living room watching an ep of a new show whilst munching some chewits but then interrupted by mother needing to pray. Up I went vaguely listening to her telling me to go pray alongside other views of religion she’s advising me to follow like always. Nothing more ruins us than her telling me things of Islam and me not taking it in anymore or wanting to hear it to getting up and just leaving the scene so she also gets the message. Watched another episode anyway upstairs and finally folded the 3 day old laundry she’d been wanting/nagging me to do. The whole time I was mad pissed off at her that I just cursed out loud doing it

If anything dropped on the floor I’d get more pissed and curse more. Just many many times I’d been pissed today. I even had my own feelings bother me about how shitty my life is and how fast the day is going bc I keep sleeping in. That’s why it’s a bother. I feel the day last shorter than how short it originally already is. So that’s been a subliminal bother sometimes a forefront one too. I attempted to begin cleaning my room after but with the light on in my room and it being late like 10-11 I didn’t like the vibe of anything at all. My phone was red zone 20%. The fact that I’ve been thinking A LoT this week off about how much I’ve been glued to my phone everyday almost every second. Fuck sake it’s easy to not be on it but hard same too bc I don’t wanna do nothing else but mindlessly be on my phone. Mindlessly you hear. Anyways I ended up taking pictures of my mess inside my wardrobe of my mini belongings. Kid sister went and fell asleep elsewhere. Seriously bugs me I can’t tend to her needs or give her attention like i can without a problem but I just don’t. It’s either the thing I wanna do or give her the time. I choose my whatever more than her and I know this, feel it and think of this. I suck and everything sucks. Just more shit that adds onto my conscience and moods of severe sadness in me. I been knowing this for time and had intentions to chnage uo for her and I barely met them. I can still make it right so I hope I do after today. I hope I hope. I really hope. Gosh emotions aren’t far away. Anyway it was mostly that off vibe I got and didn’t wanna clean my room anymore so left it went downstairs or whatever.

I’ve been meaning to clean my room for 2 months straight now. Every day off I was tired or going out when deep down I just wanted a lay in. Never would have had the energy and mindset to clean my room if I did stay in tho. It was top of my list to do so in this holiday and I attempted but didn’t succeed. Will do next day or so for sure! Friday also come, be good. Wake up early bitch.

Popcorn chicken

[pursuitofsimpler-blog]

Journey into Minimalism

I developed a habit of hoarding – I’m not even sure when it started.

My bedroom has been a warzone for over two decades, and now in my 30s, I still struggle to get (even slightly) organized. My closet was flooded with clothes. Knick-knacks, clutter, garbage, and any furniture that was offered to me freely have dominated all of the places I’ve called home.

At one point, I had four couches, three of which I never used, none of which were nice. I had drawers stuffed with random flyers, crumpled receipts and pocket lint. All my clothing was filthy, tattered, and tired – but I refused to let it go.

 If I didn’t want to deal with something or didn’t know how to throw it away, I would stuff it away somewhere I see it, like a bag or a closet. I figured if I hid it away, I wouldn’t need to deal with it. I developed a pretty strong coping mechanism: denial and distraction.

 The Darkest Days

When I was 25, I hit rock bottom. I was living in a condemnable mess of an apartment, overflowing garbage. The only part of my apartment that was even remotely cleared of chaos was a small space on my couch where I sat slumped each night, taking drugs and watching South Park DVDs.

Over the four years I lived there, not caring about myself or knowing how to ask for help– things looked really, really bad.  I had been so ashamed of the way I was living, I couldn’t bare to have anyone come over to visit me. I looked for any and every excuse not to go home so I wouldn’t have to look at it all. I hated myself for the way I was living, and not knowing how to overcome it. Not knowing where to even begin.

I was suicidal.

That chaos in my apartment was the physical embodiment of what was going on with my mental state. Everything was overwhelming and it seemed impossible to know how to fix it. I was afraid to throw things away, let go of t-shirts that no longer fit, and worried that if someone knew what my life at home really looked like they would judge me. I’d have an anxiety attack if I threw away an old envelope – like, wtf.

I was ashamed. With my depression at its most terrifying point, I didn’t believe I deserved any better for myself. I lived in shit because I was shit. I had accepted that this would be my reality forever, a disgusting chaotic mess - just like me.

But then the seasons changed.

I had to leave my apartment and move back home to get my head screwed back on straight.  I had no choice but to deal with my apartment and the four-year mess I’d made of it. My mom and a few friends came over to help me throw things away and pack up my belongings.

My mom promised not to say anything that would make me feel worse than I already did, but she did cry a little. My apartment, and everything in it, was being tossed into large black garbage bags and chucked away. I was trying to justify every little thing I had, I had an excuse for everything I insisted I had to hold onto (“Maybe I’ll need this old envelope!”).

Luckily, I had some wonderful people present to assure me it would be fine, despite my protests and panic. No one dared mention the fact my apartment smelled like a funeral home. They helped me to discern the difference between garbage, clutter, and things I needed. It was really hard – but I had to trust them. I mean, I clearly didn’t have the capacity to figure it out on my own.

Since then, I’ve never let my space and environment become that toxic mess. However, that doesn’t mean I resolved my deep-seeded issues with being organized, procrastination, and messiness. Even when I was a child, I had a penchant for making messes. It’s a really tough habit to break. It’s hard to be vigilant about change when I’ve grown so accustom to living in a mess.

 “But I’m a Creative!”

I’ve heard it’s a common denominator among creative types that they are a little messier by nature - I’m okay with that. I’ll probably never live in a stark white apartment with perfect things arranged just so - I’m okay with that.

As an emotionally intelligent person who is sensitive as hell, I find myself placing attachment to things that shouldn’t be important, knick-knacks especially. I feel an invisible pressure to display everything. Nothing of mine has a home, it all just kind of gets scattered around my place, accompanied by my personal hopes it will pass for ‘decorating’. No matter how I rearrange the stuff, there is never enough space and it always looks like a mess.

And clothes – god, do I ever collect a lot of cheap clothes. Not nice quality clothes, just impulsive buys that give me that insta-satisfaction of owning something new. Maybe I’ll wear them a couple times, and then they get tossed into an indiscernible pile of laundry, never to leave the floor. For a long time, I don’t think I had a handle on what my personal style was, so I’d effortlessly just buy something trendy in hopes of blending in.

 This recipe of shopping for quick highs and an inability to let things go has made it impossible for me to maintain a calm living space. I can’t get organized, there is just too much to get organized. Everything is everywhere, and I can’t manage it. I don’t really love most of my things, I just carry them around from place to place.

 Netflix and No Chill

One Friday night, my boyfriend and I decided to watch ‘Minimalism’ on Netflix. I kept seeing it appear in my ‘Suggested for You’ section. Every time I’d see the title, I would get anxiety. I didn’t really want to watch ‘Minimalism’ because I was afraid it would be too chilling for me.  Comparing my chaotic, messy life - abundant with meaningless things - to the simplicity of Minimalism had the potential to make me feel weird. He pressed play.

It did make me feel weird.

It was a lovely and impactful documentary, and it shook me to my very core. It made me question a lot of my choices. It made me look around at all the things I’m surrounded by and ask myself… WHAT HAVE I DONE? What does any of this stuff mean, and does it add any value to my life? I didn’t really love most of anything I had, and I doubt I’d notice if one day it all disappeared.

I rocked back and forth on the floor for two days. I realized I really needed to make a change. I needed to let go.

Everyone featured in ‘Minimalism’ seemed so happy. They all seemed…. Calm. They seemed to know what was important to them, and what wasn’t. They spent their energy on the things that enriched their lives – not material things.  Could it be true that you could live more with less? Would my life be better…. if I changed?

It inspired and scared me simultaneously. We watched it just shortly before Christmas, and I decided that for my upcoming 31st birthday, I would make a commitment to change. I wouldn’t rid myself of everything I owned, but I wanted to begin my journey to detach from my myriad of stuff.

My birthday was in early March, and my boyfriend and I were moving into a new apartment for April 1st, the perfect excuse to purge. We donated bags upon bags to goodwill, and took weekly trips to the dump and recycling centre ridding our messy home of clutter and junk.

Moving day came, and even with the actual tons of things we let go – there was still so, so much stuff.

 Where To Now

I started by letting go of some things I’d had for years. My Super Nintendo, Electric Guitar and Acoustic Guitar. I’ve had them all for years, and I guess I felt like they were a part of my identity. When I was a kid I loved playing videogames after school with my sister, as a teenager I wanted to be a rockstar. I thought those things were defining. I let them go.

I went through all my shoes, and donated at least 20 pairs of perfectly good shoes knowing I never wear them. I let go of my favourite, most coveted tattered winter coat with the fur trim and embroidery. I loved that thing for over 15 years. I let it go.

And this weekend, I decided to pursue another experiment, Project 333. I painstakingly curated my wardrobe down to 33 items. I did cheat a little since I kept an extra bag for gym stuff and my Pleaser Pole heels (I need them). And I didn’t include accessories, so I have a couple extra scarves that I wanted to keep for cold days. I got it down to 5 pairs of shoes.

It seemed like it would be impossible. I went back and forth on my choices for a good 3 hours before finally feeling like I’d made the perfect capsule closet. It wasn’t as impossible as I thought it would be.

I took a step back and all my clothes were right there, on hangers, organized, and so easy to manage. I felt instantly lighter. Plus, everything I kept in my closet are things I really adore and feel great wearing. It will make getting dressed every day a breeze.

There is something about getting started made me feel optimistic. I am looking forward to seeing where this leads. The more things I have let go, the easier it is to start questioning the things I keep. I look at things more critically now and I am going to refuse to grant them space unless it’s sheer love between us.

I thought this would be an impossible mission, but humans are incredible creatures. We have the ability to change and pursue the things that make our lives full. I want a more meaningful and connected life. I want to feel less anxiety. I want to be able to focus in on what matters with more clarity.

This journey starts now, and I’m going to write about it.

 Stay Tuned.