#i js got hit in the face by AN IDEA and i need to write it asap woohoo

[vagabond-umlaut]

this is insane and it's 1 in the night rn and i need to wake up at 6 for uni tmrw but i am gonna start my new gojo fic in the tumblr drafts THIS VERY MOMENT

[juliasturnz]

“The little things”

Chris x y/n

🜸 - Sorry for the small amount of posting🥹

★ - summary:

A late night walk with your boyfriend is got to be the best thing right?

༆ - warnings!:

Kissing and pet names (baby, my love (ml) babe, bae) nothing more ☺︎︎

✫彡 - writers note!:

Sorry for not writing I’ve been struggling mentally a lot so I’m trying to keep up, sorry again🩷

★ -

your laying down with Chris in his just perfectly comfy bed, the soft blanket touching your skin, his head and silky soft hair on your shoulder. But your mind has been keeping you up, everything you could think about right now is a late night walk to just clear your head, to feel the cold night air hitting your skin.

You can’t stop thinking about going outside holding hands with Chris and just yap with each other, you feel bad asking to go for a little walk since he’s laying on your shoulder in a (what it seems like) deep sleep.

The urge is getting bigger and bigger and you finally have the courage to shake his shoulder a little bit. ‘Chris baby?’ ‘Hm? whatsup?’ His voice is raspy and his eyes are still shut, not that you can see much but your at least think so. ‘Can we go for a little walk, my mind has been racing.’ ‘Mhm for sure.’ His head isn’t on your shoulder anymore and you flick on a night stand light. His eyebrows furrow and so do yours, even though it a warm color it’s still very bright since you and Chris aren’t used to the brightness. ‘You can put on some of my clothes, pick whatever you’d like.’ You turn around to see him fully sitting up in his bed, with surprisingly his eyes wide open. ‘Thank you baby and I will.’ You give him a smile back and give him a little peck on his cheek. ‘Wait we should pick each other’s outfits.’ His ideas were the best, and also hard to deny. ‘That’s a great idea!’ Your face lights up by the once again creative idea.

When he’s done picking your outfit and you his, you give each other the pieces of clothing and get dressed. You are wearing his blue fresh love hoodie with a pair of way to big black sweatpants, what makes him giggle when you put it on. And he’s wearing also a black pair of sweatpants with a grey zip-up hoodie. (Yes the grey zip-up hoodie🤭) ‘you look adorable.’ Chris is proudly scanning your outfit and so do you ‘you also look very handsome.’ Chris does a little spin what makes you laugh. ‘I love your smile ml,’ he comes up to and give you a little kiss on your lips. ‘I love yours too Chris.’ He’s not far away from you what makes you a bit nervous, ‘come on, you got to do a little spin for me too!’ His face lightens up while he talks, he sticks out his finger and while you hold it you spin around. ‘Yaaay you look gorgeous!’ You giggle at his excitement not only in his voice but also clearly in his face.

‘Ew I need to brush my teeth, my breaths stinks.’ ‘Yeah me too.’ You and Chris walk up to the bathroom and brush your teeth. You guys are trying to talk but talking while brushing your teeth isn’t the best option. You and Chris keep laughing at each other trying to say words or sentences while brushing your teeth.

When you and Chris finally reach the point where you are on your way to outside, he opens his hands to give you a sign that he wants to hold hands. You lock your hand into his while he gives you a warm smile, you both reach the front door and Chris opens it and the perfectly cold midnight breeze hit your body.

You and Chris walk into the darkness of this beautiful night. ‘I love this so much.’ ‘I’m so glad you woke me up, I didn’t knew I needed this.’ Chris looks around into the darkness from the streets around him. It’s quiet, but a peaceful quiet. You and Chris could just hold hands walk around and say nothing, you were made for each other.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

hey gorgeous, you wouldn’t mind liking this post would youuu?? Comment if you wanna be tagged, or js lmk what you think about this.🩷

again I’m sorry for this lack of posting been struggling a lot lately and still wanted to post a bit☻︎, so there it is a short story I’d love to experience 😔😔

Tags:

@042502 @chrisslut333 @chrissslut @chris-slut @chrissv4mp @chrisshotdog @pepsiboyy @pepsiluvr0209 @hollandsangel @hoeformatt @hoesformatt-deactivated20240729 @hopefuljellyfishcollection @mattsfavbitchhh @mattstattos @mattslittleprincess @mattsturnswife @mattsgf @sturnzsblog @sturnzsun @sturnzwrld @sturnzyolo @sturnzluv @sturnslesbo @sturnslcver @sturnsdoll @sturnsbaby @sturnsblunt @sturnioloshacker @sturniolonmc @sturniololoverr @monroesturnns

[evehere]

I just wanted to say I am absolutely taken by your 2ha ficlet as well! I even started reading "The wife is first" per your recommendation, and every new chapter I read all I think about is "ooh, this would fit so well with ranwan, what an amazing idea!" I really can't wait to read the rest of what you have written, thanks for doing this

Hi! Omgsh, thanks so much for the nice! I felt that since people might not know the series this au is based in, they might not take an interest to it! I write for my own pleasure, but it feels good to post it and see some response.

I’m glad you’re enjoying QWS. It’s really a comfort novel, like, each chapter feels so warm and nice! I reread some chapters when I’m feeling in the mood for some comfort without the hurt part (／ω＼)  And the main characters are so similar as well, like JS is a bright boy on his way to take care of his hubby and JQ is the cold and aloof man who is like wtf every time JS does something for him. Besides, I really like the setting the author created for homosexual marriage.

I leave you here the main scene that was inspired in the novel, I hope you’ll like it!

Yearning willow masterpost ❤️

Mo Ran 2.0 (2)

Resurrection

Mo Ran snapped his eyes open.

Was he dead?

It was dark, a faint crimson undertone around him.

He was lying on something soft, something akin to a blanket covering him. He was warm and comfortable.

There was, however, had a faint pressure in his head, as a light hangover, and a frantic feeling in his chest, his heart beating hard and his breathing picking up. Did the spirits have the same sensations as the living? Mo Ran asked himself. Tentatively, he curled lightly his fingers. His fingers answered at his slightest order, with no difference to when he was alive.

Excruciatingly slow, Mo Ran moved his hand up his chest, and placed his hand over his heart.

It was beating.

Was he really dead? Or had Xue-bofu come up with something at the last moment, saving him? But he would swear that he had felt the knife in his neck, and the blood flowing out like a fountain.

Mo Ran glided his hand over the spot of his chest where the executioner had made the second cut. The skin was intact, no sign of a knife cut. Mo Ran frowned slightly, feeling that something was amiss.

His eyes were adjusting to the dark. Those were… curtains? Like a canopy?

As a thunderstruck, he realised what was amiss. He couldn’t feel his ribs. Instead, there was supple muscle under his hand, like he had before he entered the prison. In prison, the prolonged lack of food had led him to lose almost all muscle mass.

Startled, he sat on the bed. He felt… good, despite the headache. Better than he had in the last months. But it was more like… normal.

He was wearing a cosy night robe, partially open at his chest. Mo Ran opened his lapels, noticing dumbfounded that the blade scar he had got in a battle a couple of years before his imprisonment was nowhere to be seen. In fact, he had no injury other than some old scars. He was… intact. Whole.

Mo Ran was alive. Not just alive, but his body was in the state it was in several years back.

There was a huff of breath next to him.

Startled, Mo Ran looked to his side. A body lied next to him, with his back facing Mo Ran. There was another huff of breath as they stirred, apparently deep in sleep. They had long, silky hair extended over the pillow. He couldn’t determine if they were a man or a woman.

He was in a bed. Someone was lying next to him.

This wasn’t unknown to him. Quite the opposite, Mo Ran was very familiar with this setting. Also, he was recognising the place, his heart threatening to get out of his chest as his hand trembled from the force with which he clenched his night robe.

There was only one way to check it.

Putting a hand on the pillow to support himself, he reached over and peered at the face of the sleeping person next to him.

Rong Jiu.

Rong Jiu’s young, graceful face, with his tender and androgynous features.

They were lying in the canopy bed in Rong Jiu’s old rooms in his Nanping manor. He recognised now the crimson drapes with embroidered mandarin ducks. Now that he saw them again, the deep red colour still vibrant and new, he felt the same need to tear them down.

As he had before his imprisonment.

He threw another look at the man lying beside him, noticing the lovebites and the handprints on the skin that peeked out of the blankets. What’s more, there were fine rope marks on Rong Jiu’s wrists.

Weren’t those remarkably similar to his own handiwork!?

Mo Ran couldn’t bear to stay in there anymore, so he got up from the bed, letting the bed curtains fall closed. He was indeed in Rong Jiu’s old room, with the same red and gold decorations and rich fabrics with detailed embroidery. However, last year Mo Ran had made some renovations to make the room more spacious. The room looked as if he had never made them.

It was cold, and it was still dark outside, but he could see faint sun rays from the paper windows. The room was silent—not even birds were singing yet.

There was a mirror in a corner, and Mo Ran watched his own reflection.

Strong. Muscular. Tanned. Traits he lost when he was imprisoned. Yet the white hairs he had got when Chu Wanning got ill in prison had disappeared altogether.

Had he… had he gone back in time?

Mo Ran was confident that he had died at the execution grounds. But he had heard stories before. Stories of people who died under serious grievances, with the blessings of the gods, going back in time so they can start over with the knowledge of the future.

The realisation hit Mo Ran like a sack of stones, and he staggered, dizzy.

“Fuck!”

Gods hadn’t abandoned him after all. He had another opportunity.

Another opportunity.

His voice, however, finally rose the sleeping beauty resting in the bed.

“Hum… Houye… You woke up so early today.”

Mo Ran’s gaze was icy when he looked back at the man sitting up on the bed. Years ago, he had received Rong Jiu as a gift from Viscount Chang. He had liked him and took him in as a concubine. In the end, Rong Jiu proved to be an internal spy all along, and provided the court with more evidence of Mo Ran’s wrongdoings to expiate himself with good deeds. Viscount Chang had brought him back when Mo Ran was imprisoned and got himself some merits from the emperor.

How he had fallen for the tricks of this little vixen!

He had been so blind to find attractive an androgynous and seductive beauty like Rong Jiu. It was nothing like the beauty of his husband, his Wanning…

Chu Wanning. If Mo Ran was back, that meant that Chu Wanning was back too?

Rong Jiu noticed that Mo Ran looked gloomy and unwilling to talk to him, but merely thought that he might be in a foul mood.

“Houye, did you not sleep well last night? Did you have a bad dream?”

I died, moron. That’s a bad dream in its own right.

Since Mo Ran still showed no signs of talking or approaching him, Rong Jiu raised, draping a robe on his shoulders, and hugged him from behind.

Mo Ran fought his first instinct to shake the treacherous man from his back. He wanted nothing more than to shake him off and slap him until he vented his anger. Yet, for the time being, it would be best if he were careful and treated everyone as if they knew nothing—at least until he got more information about his own situation.

Besides, he should care about his marquis reputation, just in case. His reputation as an immoral who did anything he pleased was the reason people had been so ready to believe that Mo Ran had tried to dethrone the emperor in his past life.

In his past life, Chu Wanning used to advise him to be humbler and keep a low profile, but he hadn’t heeded his advice. Later, he’d realise the kindness behind his words.

“How about I ask servants to prepare breakfast for you? Congee and fried buns sound good?”

Finding himself unable to talk, Mo Ran simply nodded his head.

Rong Jiu called a servant and went on his well-practiced routine with Mo Ran, preparing boiling water and clean clothes. Mo Ran merely observed him. The man really hadn’t changed in the past years.

If everything was real, if Mo Ran was back in the past, then everything had yet to happen. Mo Ran had yet to lose his title and his estate, he had yet to die, and Chu Wanning… Chu Wanning was still alive. He could still fix things with him before it was too late.

Rong Jiu had been taken into the manor in his second year after his marriage with Chu Wanning, so he knew he was already married to him.

“What day is it?” Mo Ran asked Rong Jiu as he approached him with his thick outer robes in dark blue and lined with grey rabbit fur.

Judging by the cold, it was around winter, but that alone wasn’t enough information.

“Third day of the tenth month, houye. Today’s the beginning of the winter.”

“Dingyou year?” He guessed it should be around that time.

“Yes, houye,” Rong Jiu answered with a hint of amusement. “Did houye had too much to drink last night, that he has to ask about the year?”

Dingyou year. He was twenty-six years old, and he had been married to Chu Wanning for almost five years. He was back from his last big military campaign, earning the title of Taxian general from the emperor. The campaign had taken him barely a year and ended around… The Lantern Festival? Mo Ran remembered he had been back for that one. He had been back in Nanping-fu for almost a year then.

After his campaign against the north, everything had gone downhill. Mo Ran had been drunk on praises and riches, taking in five or six concubines every year, and allowing himself to do as he pleased. He had gotten into many fights, both private and in court, and he had estranged himself from the Xue family and Nangong Si.

He remembered how he had gone out of his way to make Chu Wanning miserable as well.

The servants brought in the breakfast and set the dishes on the table. Mo Ran took a seat on the low table and let Rong Jiu serve him a bowl of congee. He extended his hand to take the bowl and chopsticks, but Rong Jiu batted his hand away with a teasing gesture.

“I’ll serve houye his meal,” he said with a flirtatious smile.

Mo Ran merely stared at him, incapable to react at first. The wish to slap a few teeth out of that smile was so strong that Mo Ran almost acted on it. Then he remembered he should act normal, to avoid raising suspicion.

A slow, boyish smile appeared on his face, and opened his mouth when Rong Jiu approached the spoon to his lips. He used to fish out sputum from their prison’s meals, so no matter how disgusting he found to let the boy feed him, he had no trouble acting his role.

There were worse things.

He let the young man feed him three bowls and a half, alternating with bites of the fried pork buns, and then stopped him. It had been so long since he last had a full meal, that the need to finish every bit of food in sight was strong.

From what he remembered, he usually had two bowls of congee and a couple of buns for breakfast, but, in his mind, it had been half a year since he last ate to his heart content. His belly didn’t agree with him, feeling overstuffed, and Mo Ran stopped Rong Jiu before he got sick. He would get used to eating regularly again, he supposed.

He couldn’t help to scoff internally. Rong Jiu would give him whatever he asked, with no regard to what was actually good for him.

Mo Ran wanted nothing more than to ask about Chu Wanning (where was his husband?), but another manservant got into the room with his official robes, a heavy garment in deep purple and a tall, black hat.

Fuck. Of course, if he was back, he’d have to go to morning court.

“Take it away and call a doctor. I’m not feeling well,” he told the servant.

If he had to attend morning court, he should at least familiarise again with the current situation. To be safe, he should avoid it for a few days.

Rong Jiu looked at him with alarm.

“Why didn’t houye say anything earlier? Quick, go call a doctor!” Then he fretted around Mo Ran, pulling him to lie back in the bed.

Mo Ran batted Rong Jiu’s hands away—he was getting throughly fed up with Rong Jiu’s act, knowing that he fretted around him now, but news of his “illness” would spread to Viscount Chang before noon. Ignoring the look of incredulity in his concubine’s face, he wrote a leave of absence and gave it to the servant, telling him to take it to the palace.

“Tell the doctor to come to my office.”

He had no patience left to deal with Rong Jiu.

Nanping-fu was a siheyuan, a courtyard house, divided in a front courtyard and a backyard. The main door, Mo Ran’s office, guest parlour and the library were all in the front courtyard, open to guests, while everyone’s bedchambers, the family shrine, the kitchens, storage rooms and guest rooms were in the backyard.

All the chambers were arranged around an elegant inner garden in a square. The one positioned in the north stood among them as the main house, where was Mo Ran and Chu Wanning’s room.

The same room he had shared with Shi Mei. Mo Ran frowned, uncomfortable with the thought. He’d have to do something about it.

Mo Ran walked through the beautifully decorated pathways with slow, lingering steps. The last time he had seen the place, some servants had even turned the flowerpots upside down, some taking the valuable flowers and others taking the hand-carved pots.

On his way to his office, he passed the guest parlour. The mere sight of it brought bad memories to Mo Ran. It was there where he received the imperial edict ordering his imprisonment. With it, any woman in Nanping-fu could be enslaved and sold as a servant, and any man left in there was to be exiled. Though few fools were still there when the sentence reached it.

Fools like Chu Wanning, his stubborn husband.

“For his father’s past achievements, and his own contributions and military merits towards the empire, Chu Wanning, husband of the criminal Mo Ran, is granted a pardon. By the grace of the Son of Heaven, this marriage is rescinded. He is hereby allowed to return to his old post in the Censorate, retaining the goods he brought into the marriage!” The imperial eunuch had announced.

At the time, Mo Ran had thrown a hateful glance towards his husband. Had he stayed just to show off his pardon? Or did he stay to laugh at Mo Ran’s expenses? Or maybe it was both of them. At the time, it wouldn’t have surprised him; Mo Ran had made his life mission to make Chu Wanning’s life as uncomfortable as possible in the eight years they had been married.

Chu Wanning should be happy that the marriage was over.

That’s why the words Chu Wanning had said after kowtowing three times had utterly surprised him. His thin figure looked as if a strong current of wind could blow him away.

“I’m grateful for bixia’s magnanimous graces. But since this marriage was meant to unite the old and new nobility, nothing more would serve this purpose than letting the both of us get the same sentence as husbands. Husbands should be as of one body; we shall share both glory and failure.”

“What are you doing?” Mo Ran asked, absolutely bewildered. He was signing his own death sentence!

Chu Wanning hadn’t even looked at him, his head bowed to the floor—only the tips of his ears reddened as a sign of his fluster. Mo Ran’s eyes were red as well, his frustration and his pain long past the point of trying to fight for himself.

“I won’t leave Nanping-fu,” Chu Wanning had said.

At first, Mo Ran still thought it was a trick. That some imperial eunuch would come to the prison and announce that the joke was over and Chu Wanning could go and take back his post at the Censorate. But the imperial edict that came was instead that Chu Wanning was stripped of his titles and his possessions. Later, all doubts were erased when the prison guards interrogated him.

The need to see Chu Wanning was so enormous that Mo Ran could hardly breathe. It filled everything and grasped his heart, constricting it painfully. He had to see him and make sure… make sure that Chu Wanning was still alive. That this wasn’t a nightmare conjured by his dying mind, in which he came back to life only to find that Chu Wanning wasn’t there.

Or worse. A punishment set out by the hell judges, to let him live an eternal life in this nightmare.

A servant passed next to him carrying a basin of water, bowing to Mo Ran when he was a few steps away.

“Greetings, houye.”

“Hum,” Mo Ran said in all answer. The servant was about to go away, when he cleared his throat and asked off-handed, “where is furen?”

The servant merely looked at him, his eyes wide as plates. The fear pricked his heart hard, cold sweat forming on his back, and Mo Ran made a tight fist, waiting for an answer.

“F-furen?”

“Yes, where is he?” He asked, trying to conceal his anxiousness under his mask.

“H-he’s still kneeling in the shrine, houye, as you ordered him yesterday.”

Fuck.

***

Houye (侯爷): a respectful way to address a marquis (hou, 侯). It can be used by his spouse, concubines, servants, all those whose ranks are below him. People of his same rank and above may address him as “Mo-hou”.

Dingyou year （丁酉）: 34th year of the sexagenary cycle. It’s just a way to keep track of the time, because I don’t know in which emperor’s reign would this be based on XD

Nanping-fu (府): fu means “manor”. There was a distinction between what one could call their own house, and only nobles of certain level could call their homes “fu”. A lower level would be “zhai” 宅, while the higher level would be “gong” (宫，palace).

Furen (夫人): literally, “madam”. BUT, furen is made up of the characters 夫 (fu, husband) and 人 (ren, person). Being as nouns are only gendered because they’re historically tied to a certain gender, I think it’s fine to think that a furen can be a man, but in a position of deference towards their spouse.

***

If you liked it, please consider supporting me with a rb!

[alicanta77]

i’d love to hear about ‘are you et? no i’m js’ (and that title is honestly one of the best i’ve ever seen)!!🥺

omg as much as i'd love to be able to take credit for that, that would be the work of the lovely @strwbrryhoney who offered it during my survey (still eternally indebted to you for coming up with that one)

this one i've actually been so excited for omg, our little alien jisung and human y/n get sucked into a web of lies that they never expected (because i can't write a story without a plot twist). i've roughly planned pretty much the whole thing and just need to write it, but for now, here's is a snippet of some of what i've written so far, how they meet.

---

Your eyes fluttered slightly, the hold that sleep had on you felt much deeper than you were used to. You rolled over onto your side, reaching for your duvet to pull it over your head and drown out the sound of your alarm. However, your hand grabbed at empty air instead of your warm covers, causing you squeeze your eyes further shut in confusion.

It was only then that you took in the silence around you. There was no high pitched repetitive beeping of your alarm, alerting you that it was time to wake up. No, your room was completely silent.

Your eyes slowly peeled open, hoping to check the time on your phone by your bed. You flung an arm out, a small yelp leaving you when it hit nothing and instead the momentum of your movement caused you to roll rather ungracefully off your bed.

You landed on the hard ground, confusion clouding your mind. You must have been lying on the very edge of your bed. But, since when was your bed that small? And since when was your carpet this hard?

You pushed yourself up into a sitting position slowly, rubbing the part of your forehead that still dully ached from you not so gently landing on the floor. As your eyes adjusted to the light you took in your surroundings.

There walls and floor were a matching light grey colour. In fact, the entire room was varying shades of grey. You jumped up, practically throwing yourself to your feet as you came to a terrifying realisation.

You had no idea where you were.

Your breath began to shorten as you tried with everything you could to keep yourself calm.

Had you been kidnapped? What kind of place is this? Are they holding you for ransom? Who’s “they”? How long have you been asleep? How much danger are you in?

Just as these worries began to completely consume you, you heard the door begin to click, signalling what you assumed was a lock. Your head shot around, looking for anything that could pass as a weapon if you needed. However, the room was minimalist, basically empty and there was nothing that you would be able to pick up. Hell, you weren’t even wearing shoes and the bright blue pyjamas that you went to sleep with were blinding against the bland setting.

The door suddenly opened at speed, and a tall figure burst in before shutting it again behind them just as quickly. They turned around as you finally got a look at their face.

It was a boy, tall and slim staring down at you with his eyes wide with panic. His hair hair lay messily on his face and seemed to change colour from black to purple with each movement his head makes. He kept looking over his shoulder, checking behind him for something before turning back to you. When he spoke his voice was deeper than you were prepared for, the husk in it surprising you. But nothing surprised you as much as the words he spoke.

“You have no idea how many rules I’m breaking here but my human studies final is tomorrow and I really need help because I’m going to fail it.”

Send me a WIP from my list and i’ll tell you about it or post a section!!!

[strangerfictions]

Fanfiction and Fun

Request: Can you do a Dacre Montgomery imagine where he comes to bed, finding you reading Billy fanfiction. You try to hide it at first, but he sees it. He then starts whispering into your ear using his Billy voice, trying to turn the reader on, starting to make out and the story continues on.

Summary: Dacre is away filming and so you turn to tumblr for some comfort. Dacre now comes home and finds you reading Billy Hargrove smut and fun ensues. 

Warnings: major smut guys! 

Words: 1450

A/N: So, I actually was working on something VERY similar to this before I started the Christmas requests. I love this idea SO MUCH !!! When I read this request from @thegirlsadventuresinwonderland I was so excited to get writing! Idk why I took this so long but sorry it did! Hope you enjoy it ! 

You had met Dacre through mutual friends and over a few months you both fell hard for each other. After a year of dating you had both decided it would be good to move in together. After searching for what seemed like years you found a cute two-bedroom apartment that had a balcony leading out from the master bedroom.

You loved moving it meant you could go shopping for new furniture and that’s exactly what you both did as soon as you got the keys. You’ve been living with Dacre now for about six months and the apartment is finally starting to look good.

Dacre had been away all week for filming and so you decided to put some finishing touches to the office/guest bedroom. By the time you were finished you were exhausted and just wanted to curl up with Dacre and watch Netflix. But that wasn’t a possibility considering he was half away around the other side of the world filming something. You always had a coping mechanism for days like this and tonight would be no different.

You started your nightly routine a little earlier so you could get into bed as soon as possible. You got into the shower enjoying the warmth as you washed your hair. Once you were finished and dry you got into some pyjamas which consisted of panties and one of Dacres shirts. You then got into bed phone in hand. You opened up tumblr and typed in your go to search “Billy Hargrove fanfiction”. You had the Stranger Things wardrobe department to blame for this. If they hadn’t made Dacre look so good with a mullet you wouldn’t have to read fanfiction based of a fictional character played by your boyfriend. You have never told Dacre that you loved him as Billy Hargrove and that in a weird way you were turned on by it. That was your dark fantasy for now.

You had been scrolling through tumblr for hours. You were now laying on your side with your back to the door as you continued to read through a particularly dirty Billy Hargrove fanfiction. You were so engrossed in the words that you didn’t hear your boyfriend sneaking in the door behind you.

“What are you reading?” You jump with fright as you cling to your phone for dear life. You turn around to find Dacre smiling smugly at you. You wondered how much he had seen. From the grin on his face you knew he had seen enough.

“What are you doing here?” You ask as you sit up in bed trying to change the subject.

“Well my plan was to surprise you by coming home early but you apparently had other plans for tonight” Dacre places his suitcase near the door and walks towards the wardrobe taking out some pyjamas.

“I had no plans for tonight actually! I was just reading…” You can feel the heat rise in your cheeks as you bring up the fanfiction.

“I saw actually I read…Really Billy Hargrove fanfiction?! Why not the guy your actually dating?” Dacre continues clearly affected by the fact that you weren’t reading fanfiction on him.

“Well technically it is your fanfiction just you with a mullet and some really tight jeans that make your ass look amazing!” You get out of bed and walk over to wear Dacre was slamming drawers closed looking for something unimportant.

“They did make my ass look pretty good!” Dacre smiles up at you as he sits onto the bed. You both laugh at how ridiculous this all was.

“I’m sorry baby I just really missed you and I loved you as Billy you were so hot with a mullet!” You stand in between his legs as you place a kiss on his forehead.

“Mhmm well looks like someone is getting all hot and bothered thinking about it” Dacre pulls you towards him and runs his finger over the wet spot on your panties. You couldn’t help but moan as you felt Dacre’s finger graze over your clit.

“That’s it princess I want to hear you moan for me !” The minute you heard Dacre call you princess you knew he had slipped into character something you saw him do so often but this time you were incredibly turned on by this change.

“Baby I need you” You whisper in Dacres ear as you stand over him catching a glimpse of his growing bulge in his jeans.

“Patience baby! I want you to get off on my thigh first since you seem to want it so badly!” You look at Dacre in surprise you then realise he had seen the important parts of the fanfiction. Thigh riding was something you really wanted to try but you were too nervous to bring it up with Dacre.

“You didn’t think I had seen that much did you? Don’t worry I saw plenty to keep you occupied for the night. “As much as I love the red panties, I think you look better with them on the ground. Don’t you agree?” You nod as he says this. You can feel his finger hook the hem and he pulls the red lacy panties down to your ankles. You place your hand on his shoulder to steady yourself as you step out of them.

“Much better. I want you straddling my thigh Princess…now!” You were surprised by how forward your boyfriend was being but you it was having an effect on you especially between your legs. You can feel Dacres eyes on you as you hover over his thigh.

“Now!” Your boyfriend grabs you by your shirt and pulls you down onto his thigh gently. The sudden feeling of the material on your clit make you gasp. Your hips begin to grind gently against his thigh. Your eyes close as you feel the pleasure begin to build in the pit of your stomach. Your moans begin to get louder and louder as the pleasure gets too much for you. You open your eyes to see Dacre smiling smugly at you.

“Someone liked that a lot!” Dacre laughed as you stood up from his leg. You looked down to where Dacre was looking. His jeans had a huge wet patch from where you had been sitting.

“Shit sorry I’ll clea...” You start to laugh out of embarrassment but Dacre then stands up and begins to kiss you to shut you up.

“I don’t care about my jeans princess! They are coming off right now anyways” Dacre began to kiss along your jaw and down your neck as your hands go straight to his jeans. You begin to unbutton them and unzip them as Dacre gently leaves marks on your neck.

“Now people will know your mine!” You were about to get down on your knees when Dacre stopped you.

“No way tonight is about you now get on the bed ass in the air!” You follow Dacre’s instructions and within seconds you hear his jeans hit the floor with a soft thud. You turn around to look at him as he pulls a condom onto his cock. He wraps his hand around his hard cock pumping it a few times before rubbing it against your opening causing you to let out a soft moan. Without warning Dacre pushes into you slowly allowing you to get adjusted to his size.  You cant help but moan loudly as you feel the pleasure slowly build.

“Dacre please…faster baby” Dacre’s pace begins to get faster as you both moan from the pleasure.

“Fuck baby you’re so tight for me!” Dacre’s hand comes down and comes in contact with your ass. The slap echoing through the room as you moan. You can tell Dacre is close because his pace was getting sloppy.

“Dacre…I’m so close”

“Me too baby…are you going to come with me?” You nod your head as you both feel the pleasure take over you both. You both come together both collapsing on the bed in a sweaty mess.

“Fuck baby we need to do that again” Dacre pulls you into him and kisses your forehead as you both catch your breath.

“You should catch me reading more often babe” You both laugh at how ridiculous the night ended up being.

“Well now I know what really gets you going and so do my jeans” You feel your cheeks begin to burn as you hide your face in Dacre’s chest. You were about to say something when you heard a small snore come from your boyfriend who was passed out underneath you. You place your head back on his chest and fall asleep. 

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@an-antisocial-writer​ @charmed-asylum​ @takemebillyhargrove​ @technolilly​ @multifandomgirl16​ @dreamin-of-dacre @1998–js

[chocolatemillkk]

Red-Handed II (JS)

Request 1:Can u do a imagine (Joe) where You guys do a video on Reading imagines/fanfics?❤️

Request 2:Is there a chance that you could do a part two to show the teasing??

[Part 1]

It had been a couple weeks since the horrifying incident and since then, I made sure to stay clear of imagines and I made doubly sure to delete Joe's finger print from my phone. He lost his privilege, emergency or not.

I had missed Joe that morning, had a lie in, and then dragged myself to an afternoon shift at work. I promised my friend last week to cover her reception shift this week as she was on holiday, but as a result, I didn't see my boyfriend as much. By the time I came home, it was half past seven, and I could hear Joe's music playing softly mingled with the sizzling of a pan.

"You're a sight for sore eyes," I stop in the middle of the entryway and wait for Joe to notice me. His face relaxes into a smile when he spots me and rummages in the cupboard for a wine glass-pouring me a generous portion.

"At least it's the end of the week," Joe reasons. I nod and watch him cook, sipping the wine, and relishing the mundanity

"How was your day?" I ask when I could muster up enough energy. "Talk to me about you."

"Nothing too exciting," Joe glances at me. "Had a conference call with Zo, had to do some admin, and I was trying to come up with a good idea for a video."

"Still don't have one?" Joe had been asking me for ideas since Wednesday.

"No," Joe groans. "I've been so busy with other things I just feel blocked."

"We'll think of something together-I'll help you with anything." I reach out and squeeze his hand. He leans over the countertop and kisses me, it tastes like black pepper and I tell him that.

"I'm trying to season this fish," Joe laughs.

"It makes me hungry," I chuckle, moving around the counter to swipe a carrot.

"Oi," Joe grabs me by the waist before I can escape and pulls my back into his chest and I giggle. "Don't eat dinner before it's served!"

"I'm hungry!" I whine but Joe tickles me in response. I wriggle and get out of reach but my back soon hits the counter and he traps me in place.

"You have no self-control, woman."

"It's part of my charm." I grin at him.

"Well good thing I like being in control," Joe suddenly changes into a deep-what he thinks is funny-sexy voice.

"Joe," I say seriously in my cross voice. "Don't start."

Joe leans down and brushes his nose against my neck before leaving kisses to my collarbone. I stretch over and turn the oven off, I didn't want anything to burn.

"What's a sexy line I can say?" Joe looks back up at me with a goofy grin. "Let's imagine one together."

"Joe!" I push him off with a smile. "I'm way too tired for this. And you promised you would stop teasing me!"

"But I thought you'd like this after I caught you-"

"Get your head out of your arse," I chuckle. "That was the first and last time I read anything about you. I want food right now, not weird story sex."

"You sure?" Joe raises an eyebrow. "I can't use my piercing gaze and my tongue that has a life of it's own?"

I cringe, "That sounds scary."

Joe sticks out his tongue and brings it closer to me as I back away but in one swoop he leans down and licks my cheek.

"I hope you know," I laugh. "You just got a tongue full of makeup."

"I know! I can taste it!" Joe says with a lisp as he runs to the tap. "It tastes like sun screen!"

I laugh and shake my head at him. "This is why we can't be sexy."

"I can give you fireworks and butterflies like they say I can," Joe finally says, wiping away droplets of water from his mouth.

"Babe are you reading your own imagines?" I ask and Joe goes pink. My jaw drops and I tease him, "Are we that self obsessed then?"

"No I swear it was-it's for research." Joe laughs but embarassment tints his cheeks and I can't help but gloat.

"Research to improve your skills as a lover?" I turn the tables on him, using his jokes against him.

"I don't-I don't need improvement," Joe mutters, turning back to dinner. "I was having fun teasing you the other week and then I was just fascinated and horrified at some of the things people write out there."

I wrap my arms around him, laughing. "So what's this 'research' for?"

"Well..." Joe turns to me. "So you did say you'd help me with anything right?"

"I don't like where this is going," I say.

"Okay I think it would actually be really funny if we reenact imagines."

"Joe your followers barely know I'm your girlfriend! That's-it's-we can't!"

"Come on!" Joe pulls his puppy face. "We can come out more officially-and we'll only do the PG-13 imagines."

"Don't give me that face," I rub his face with my hand and he pulls away laughing.

"So will you do it?" Joe asks.

"What do I get from this?" I sigh.

"Are you kidding me?" Joe grins and points to himself. "You get me!"

"I already have you!" I shout as I walk away. I wanted more comfortable clothes if this topic continued but Joe laughs knowing he'd won the deal.

•••

"Are you guys ready?" Josh asks at the camera. Joe had convinced Jack and Oli to join us as the imagine he chose had both of them in it. It also involved Jack touching me a lot so I wondered what Joe was up to.

But turns out, he hadn't realised what re-enacting actually ensued. Or he hadn't read the full imagine. The story's plot was Joe was in love with me but so was Jack and Jack had a lot of flirting bits. The reader had just added in Oli as a wingman and Oli performed that in a perfect, booming voice.

"A little quieter," Josh complains during the second half. I had dressed in the club dress the imagine outlined and so far had swerved a kiss from Jack that made Joe clench his jaw, danced with Joe as if we were at prom, and swooned at Jack's muscles like an 90s romcom.

"Joe's a wanker," Jack tries to bite back a giggle as he reads his script. "You deserve a real man like me. I can take care of you."

"Y/N looks over Jack and even though she could fall for those baby blues that pierced her soul, they weren't the eyes she wanted to fall for." Josh reads the narration. Jack and I bite back grins staring at the other and I hear Joe snort off screen. I couldn't believe he had roped me into all this but I was having fun with my role in all this. I put my hands on Jack's "broad shoulders" and lean into him.

"You're not the man I want," I was supposed to whisper sexily but Jack and I just collapse against the other giggling.

"Can we take this last scene seriously?" Josh shouts. He was hangry. We'd been filming for a couple hours now because Jack and I kept laughing and Oli kept shouting his lines. Joe was quieter than I thought through all this.

"It's so ridiculously far-fetched," I wipe my tears. "I can't help it!"

"Wait," Josh stops me wiping my other eye. "Leave the tears for the drama."

That only causes us to laugh more and Josh rolls his eyes.

"Josh would make a perfect Hollywood director." I whisper. "Okay, again!"

I put my hands on Jack's shoulders and leave the tears on my face. Jack clears his throat and we continue the scene. I kiss Jack on the cheek and he pretends to be hearbroken as the camera pans to me knocking on an imaginary door.

"Y/N," Joe answers the "door".

"Y/N looked at the sexy beast standing before him-hey that's what they called me at school-"

"Josh!" We all shout and he chuckles, apologising. I bet the unedited version of this video would be a lot funnier.

"...Joe doesn't have to hear Y/N say it. He already knows what was deep in her heart."

"Aw," Oli says absentmindedly and we all shoot him a dirty look. He mouths a sorry and goes back to his phone.

"So Y/N says I love you, and jumps onto Joe, and he catches her perfectly curved body as their lips meet in a fiery passion-Y/N you're supposed to jump."

Joe and I had been too busy staring at each other in horror.

"Did you actually read through this?" I said under my breath.

"I skimmed it," Joe admits. "Fucking hell-just jump already."

"Here goes," I say. I tell Joe I loved him which makes him smile and when I jump he catches me despite stumbling back.

"That looks like you two have practiced this...like you guys...have experience." Josh says right up against the mic.

Joe and I part from the final kiss and I laugh at Joe's mouth which is smeared with red lipstick. I had worn it on purpose.

"Josh you interrupt just as much as we screw up."

"The story's done!" Josh gets up from behind the camera and walks in front of it. "And scene!"

"Thank god," Joe says as I slide down. The boys look at him and start cracking up.

"You look like a bloody clown," Jack laughs.

"I feel like one," grumbles Joe and I wipe at his mouth affectionately. "Alright boys thanks for the help but we'll clean up on our own."

"Wait you're kicking us out? After we filmed for more than two bloody hours for you?" Jack asks.

"You promised you would feed me," Josh complains.

"We'll meet you at that Mexican restaurant in an hour and I'll pay-I'm gonna clean up first."

The boys complain and call Joe names but they leave and as soon as the door closes, Joe sighs against it. I smirk with my hand on my hip.

"Enjoyable?"

"I did not enjoy how much Jack seemed to enjoy that imagine."

"You're the one that chose it love," I laugh.

"I know," Joe stumbles towards me and reaches his hands to where the short dress ended. "I didn't realise how good you would look in this dress or how good you were at acting."

"Just admit you were jealous of mine and Jack's relationship," I tease.

"I...yeah alright." Joe buries his face in my neck. "You're mine."

"I'm yours," I laugh, stroking Joe's hair. "And you're mind despite what all these 'y/n's' think."

Joe crushes me to him and kisses me and I can tell he'd been wanting to do that since Jack's almost-kiss.

"Babe we should start cleaning if we want to make it," I tell him after.

"Oh I just used cleaning as an excuse to get the boys out," Joe winks.

"Oh. So...what did you have in mind?" I grin, catching on. "Another imagine?"

"No more imagines," Joe groans. "Ever. I promise I'll never bring that up."

"At least your followers will get a fun video."

"Yeah, and at least now I can do this, on and off camera." Joe pulls me to him and kisses me with a frantic urgency.

"I'm not going anywhere babe," I say when we part for a breath.

"Only to our bedroom," Joe says against my lips. We grin at each other like two conspirators having kicked our friends out for this. We rush upstairs, taking the stairs two and a time and laughing the whole way. Our bodies collide in the bedroom once again, continuing our story-this time, R-rated...

[sweetpxsin]

Neighbor AU! Lai Guanlin [Requested]

Pairing: Lai Guanlin x Reader

Genre: Fluff// Neighbor! Au // Bulletpoint- scenarios

Requested:sorry i took too long to answer you back, i only saw your reply today. anyways, regarding the guanlin fluff, i was thinking about neighbor!au (can be idol!guanlin or not) hehe :”> thank you so much 💗💗💗💗💗

Summary/Extra:Guanlin moves into your neighborhood and is a lost puppy// I was debating whether to write it as a fic or a bulletpoint-scenario so it ended up kinda messy. I hope you enjoy tho!

•Alright so one day you were just minding your own business, ya know doing yo thang, scrolling through Instagram

•Till like noises from outside made you sit up in curiosity

•since your bed is like across the window you could kinda see some people were finally moving into the house to the left of yours

•but like ew neighbors and you laid back down cause that’s none of your business

•a couple minutes later your mom yells your name and you’re literally scrambling down the stairs

•”yes?”

•”say hi to our new neighbors.”

•you would have whined a little but she was making that face (you know the face where parents are like be normal or I will hit you and you will never hear the end of this type of face?)

•So you turned towards the family with your best smile and say ‘hi welcome to the neighborhood I hope you like it here. Oh and you can call me (y/n)’

•You should have seen how proud your mother was with your introduction but that’s not the point

•taking a quick glance at the family you spot a guy your age

•You mentally sigh because he is the most handsomest thing on planet earth you’ve ever seen  Well besides Jihoon who is your best friend but what he doesn’t know won't’ hurt him and your only interactions with him would probably be cringe neighbor stuff

•after the awkward introduction you sort of forgot about your new neighbors till you walked out of your house and noticed he wore a similar uniform to you

•You didn’t actually take a good look because you were more concerned in getting into class on time rather than being late

•and it didn’t cross your mind till you heard chatter about a new student being in your class

•you were actually interested in knowing if said student was your neighbor cause though he knew your name, you didn’t know his

•and before you knew it your mind was filled with questions about him

•soon  the bell rung signaling the beginning of school

•the teacher walked in and quieted the students to make some announcements before telling the student to enter the classroom

•once he entered the room he received loud response from the class

•he had a gummy smile the whole time

•”Hello, I’m Lai Guanlin from Taipei please take care of me.”

•The teacher thanked him and asked him to please take a seat

•as his eyes scanned the classroom for empty seats his eyes locked with yours before making his way to his desired seat

•You watched as he sat next to you and noticed how his smile got slightly wider and his first words to you were the cutest thing ever

•”Hi neighbor.”

• A little cringey but you still thought it was super cute just because of how happy he was

•However your interactions were cut short when the teacher called attention to the front board to start class

•You couldn’t help but pout a little wanting to know a little more about your neighbor whom you had just found out was from Taipei

•But the gesture didn’t go unnoticed by your one and only best friend

•He was quick to nudge you intrigued with the interactions exchanged from the both of you

•”You're totally into him.”

•”Be quiet Jihoon.” *elbows his tummy*

•”Deny it all you want (y/n)~”

•You rolled your eyes before sneaking a glance at Guanlin

•You were merely interested in all honesty not romantically but more in a friendly way  

•”Ohhohoho sneaking glances already?”

*Que another tummy elbow jab and Jihoon grunting in pain*

•ANYWAYS

•After homeroom you headed to your next class not really expecting to share any classes with Guanlin because you barely shared any classes with Jihoon

•But you were surprised to find the taller male by your side as you walked

•”Um (y/n) right?”

•”Yup!”

•He shot you another gummy smile before nervously scratching the back of his head

•”Do you know where classroom K307 is?”

•”...On the other side of the building…But I can walk you if you want,  I just have to tell the teacher ”

•”Please?”

•And that’s kinda how your day went, you walked Guanlin to his classes occasionally with a jealous Jihoon why ya’ll gonna make ma boy 3rd wheel

•By the end of the day both of you headed your separate ways… Well kind of Guanlin was picked up while you walked home

•Once you got home your mom instantly bombarded you with question

•”Did you know the neighbors son goes to your school?”

•”How is he? Is he nice? What’s his name?”

•You answered all her question before heading up to your room to do some homework

•after about a good amount of doing home working with a bit of getting side track you had finished your homework

•It was getting dark by now so you moved from your desk to your bed  and laid there, going through your phone lazily

•However you were soon interrupted with the sound of something hitting your window

•Getting up you walk to your window and find Guanlin smiling like a kid as he waved, halfway sticking out of his window

•You opened your window and mimicked his actions

•”What are you doing?”

•”I just wanted to say thanks for helping me get to my classes today!”

•You roll your eyes playfully unable to hide the smile playing on your lips

•”You couldn’t  have texted me?”

•”I-I don’t have your number!”

• You pulled your phone out of your pocket but was stopped mid way when your mom  suddenly called your name for dinner

•”Hey Guanlin I have to go right now I’ll talk to you later alright?”

•”W-wait can I-“

•”Bye Guanlin!”

•You quickly waved goodbye and shut the window before hurrying down the stairs

•once you got back to your room you glanced out your window and noticed the lights were off so you didn’t bother and went to bed

•the next day the idea completely slipped your mind till Guanlin had taken his seat next to yours

•”oh hey Guanlin about yesterday what were you going to ask me?”

•”oh that…*awkwardly clears throat* I was gonna ask if I could have your number… I-I MEaN OnLy iF YOu WAnT TO B-bUT yUO DoN’t HAve tO.”

•By the time he was done stumbling over his words you had already scribbled your digits on a piece of paper before handing it to him

•”Here.”

•”T-Thanks.”

•”But you can still talk to me via window it’s cute.”

•You shot Guanlin a smile in which he returned and your could've sworn you saw him blush a little

•but of course the cute moment was short lived before Jihoon’s voice creeped into your ear

•”Just date already.”

•*que you kicking his leg* bruh stop abusing this baby

•class soon started afterwards though so it’s not like Jihoon had really interrupted anything

•the day went on as normal with you occasionally helping Guanlin to his next class if he had forgotten and just so happened to see you along his way

•and this kind of carried on for a while till Guanlin has memorized his classrooms

•but that didn’t really stop the friendship from growing

•Guanlin and you still said hi when you passed each other in the halls

•had late night talks about stupid things whether it be over phone or via window

•if anything you could say he was becoming your second best friend

•One particular night Guanlin had hit your window multiple times with small pebbles till you finally opened your window

•”You know you could have texted instead of pelting little rocks at my window.”

•”I know but it’s fun!”

•He gave you his adorable gummy smile and of course you sighed in defeat

•”Of course it is. One day I hope it breaks.”

•”Hey!!”

•”I’m joking but whatsup?”

•”Your smart right?”

•”Decently why?”

•”Can you tutor me?”

•”oh omg is thee Lai Guanlin asking me to tutor thy?”

•”Yes. Now can you tutor me or naw????”

•”listen swaggy rapper keep the sass to yourself. But sure what do you need help in?”

•”everything”

•Your jaw literally dropped but you obliged and the studying session began the next day

•after class you and Guanlin had met up in the library to try and figure out where he needed help the most

•in all honesty he wasn’t bad he just took longer to grasp some concepts

•and this continued on for a while to the point studying at the school library went to studying in your room

•most of the time you guys would study but occasionally you two would mess around as in make jokes, poke fun at each other or watch videos

•every study session would usually end with your head on his shoulder with both of you laughing at dumb videos

•thought one day during study session you were a lot sleeper than  usual and ended up falling asleep

•Guanlin noticed and his face softened before he placed you in your bed and tucked you in before he quietly left

•when you woke up with Guanlin’s coat on the next day your guys friendship kinda deepened into something more for each of you

•I mean it was bound to happen you two basically spent every chance you had with each other js

•But of course both of you kept your feelings to yourself with subtle hits  

•like Guanlin would brush his hand against yours before holding it if you didn’t pull it away

•both of you would subtly complement each other and laugh even more at each other’s joke not matter how stupid they wer

•if someone didn’t know better they would have already thought both of you were dating

•ANYWAYS

•While Guanlin and you were hanging out Guanlin had told you he was going to be on a show called produce 101

•At first you thought he was joking because ITS FRiCkeN PRoDucE 101

•but when you realized he wasn’t you were really happy for him like genuinely happy for him

•okay maybe a little too excited for him like you were already imagining his audition and how he was going to do so amazing

•”okay but like your going to capture the hearts of the judges trust me.”

•”like their wigs will be snatched.”

•”okay but like you better still text me or I will kick you when you come back.

•anyways Guanlin was just happy how super supportive his best friend was

• When Guanlin finally left he felt confident asl But was still really nervous but kept thinking of you

•You were still so excited to see Guanlin on 101 so when the first episode dropped you literally stopped everything and told everyone to shut up

•OH AND YOU ALSO WERE ROOTING FOR JIHOON BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT YOUR GUANLIN- wait what

•But after watching the first episode you kinda felt bad for Guanlin but continued to support him *and Jihoon*

•throughout the show you swore you never cried and screamed so much

•But you had fallen in love with the other trainees and their hardwork and dedication especially with Guanlin

•so when the last episode was coming up you were a literally wreck

•you became even more of a wreck when Guanlin’s parents had invited you to come watch the last stage live with them

•of course you said yes and when the day came it was literally so surreal

•Especially when Boa had started to announce the final line up

•you literally so nervous like you didn’t even know why

•BUT BITCH WHEN YOUR TWO BEST FRIENDS HAD MADE IT INTO THE FINAL LINEUP YOU BEST BELIEVE YOU WERE A CRYING MESS BUT IT WAS OUT OF HAPPINESS

•You had first found Jihoon though and hugged the crap out of him and literally yelled congratulation at him and told him how proud you were of him

•when you found Guanlin you both literally yelled each other’s name and you ran into his arm

•y’all hugged each other so tightly awww lil cutie

•Guanlin was so excited and in the moment that when he pulled back he had kissed you in the moment and cause he liked you

•Honestly you were super shocked but kissed back because heck you liked this boy a lot that’s an understatement

•when he pulled back you both were smiling little blushy nerds

•and your faces only got redder when the boys cheered the both of you

•Guanlin ended up pulling you flush against his chest in a hug,giggling like a child

•”you have no idea how badly I wanted to do that.”

•”oh?so you liked me back for a while?”

•”shut up I caught you staring when you introduced yourself cutie. You were in love at first sight~”

•”shoot caught red handed.”

•”I love you, you little nerd.”

•”I love you too s-swaggy rapper.”

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

India and the Indian: I hope my daughter inherits a rustic unbound by caste, linguistic strictures, writes Pa Ranjith

http://tinyurl.com/yy7kty5q This essay is a part of Firstpost’s ‘India and the Indian’ sequence, which examines the renewed concept of nationalism in vogue as we speak, and what it means. Learn extra from this series. *** I DO NOT KNOW whether or not the sentiment was patriotism or nationalism, however I first felt it as a toddler when enjoying cricket or watching the game. India as an emotion entered my psyche by cricket, a lot earlier than I understood it by maps at school textbooks. However later, I used to be confronted with the query of why India had so many various cultures, so many various languages. I began touring after I was in school. This was after I realised that my lack of understanding of Hindi was an issue to individuals I got here throughout. It was not a problem to me, although. My preliminary ideas have been, why ought to a language be opposed? Why ought to I be denied the chance to study it? I quickly learnt that it was not opposition, it was resistance to imposition. It reworked into my politics, and knowledgeable it too. Illustration © Satwick Gade for Firstpost As youngsters, all of us really feel patriotic on Independence Day when the tricolour is hoisted. However after I moved in direction of Ambedkar, there have been many questions that saved coming to me. Is Indian nationalism actual? How is it doable for individuals who have been divided into completely different ethnicities and castes to be united in a rustic referred to as India? How might they’ve presumably shaped it? After I noticed hatred being inflicted on others — whom I thought to be my very own, as a result of they have been Indians — within the title of caste, I needed to step away from the notion of nationalism. Ambedkar requested how he might name this nation his motherland, after we are handled worse than canines. He requested, when the ‘untouchables’ can not even entry consuming water, how can anyone really feel proud about this nation? The nation continues to discriminate in opposition to us, he stated, and if we’re pressured to not be loyal to this nation, the nation alone shall be accountable for it. If caste actively works in direction of holding me out of a system, how can I’ve any perception on this system? * A lot earlier than I learn Ambedkar, I had felt the identical emotion. I come from a village referred to as Karalapakkam the place cheris (Dalit localities) are separate from oors (village). The streets are segregated on the premise of castes. The village has a temple centrally positioned and the streets of dominant castes are constructed across the temple. Different communities’ streets comply with in a hierarchical method. When you have an aerial view of the village, you will note that localities for dominant castes and Dalits are clearly demarcated. In Karalapakkam there are Vanniyars, Reddiyars, Naickers, Naidus and different communities. I dwell in a cheri which doesn’t benefit from the standing of an oor. A query I discover myself wrestling with is whether or not I’m from an oor or cheri. To any outsider, I can say that I’m from Karalapakkam. However the reality is I can not survive in an oor the place every little thing relies on caste. The oor turns into an emblem of dignity that’s denied to me. This expertise in an oor is however a microcosm of India at giant. * At this time, a very powerful query about Indian nationalism is what it truly constitutes. Ought to Indian nationalism be Hindu nationalism alone? I need to start with the query of whether or not I’m a Hindu or not. Is Adivasi tradition and the worship of native deities reflective of Hinduism? I can not carry non-vegetarian meals into an enormous Perumal temple. Moreover, I must also have abstained from consuming non-vegetarian meals for a complete day to organize myself for this temple go to. However deities like Gengamma, Mariamma or Muni in my locality do not need the identical guidelines. In reality, I might provide the identical meals that I eat to those deities. My gods come from my lifestyle. Shouldn’t they be like me? Why would my gods impose guidelines which might be in opposition to my lifestyle? Nationalism can’t be sustained by identities like that of the Hindu or the Tamilian. It’s about how one can nonetheless be united, regardless of the weather that maintain you divided. It’s a measure of primary democratic buildings. I fully reject the concept solely those that are Hindus or assist Hinduism are nationalists. In reality, is being a Hindu the identical as believing in Hindutva? I’m afraid that more and more, the definition of Indian nationalism has merged with the Hindu identification; Muslims or Christians, or for that matter sections amongst Hindus themselves, can not match into the nationalist mould. It’s intentionally designed to maintain them out. Representational picture. Reuters There was as soon as a time when everybody would really feel ‘Indian’, regardless of what their faith or caste was, or what language they spoke. At this time, talking Hindi has turn into an inseparable a part of being Indian. Ambedkar referred to as South India progressive, and warned of civil conflict in case of a language imposition. What we’re witnessing now by way of the proposed Hindi imposition is an infringement on the federal rights of the South. * My daughter lately celebrated her birthday. This birthday, I wished to write down one thing for her. I wished to inform her: “You see everybody as they’re. Ten years later, I’m not positive if you’ll nonetheless see everybody and every little thing as they’re. By the point you develop up, issues would have modified drastically. However now, a Dalit is being fed human feces. A pair has been drowned as a result of their households don’t settle for their relationship. Each of those incidents have taken place within the span of three days, when I’ve sat down to write down one thing for you. I’m afraid about what to show you. I don’t know what the society has in retailer for you. However you have to be ready for every little thing, to study from this society. There are battles of caste, faith, gender, class and extra which might be ready so that you can take up. However I hope and need that by the point you develop up, issues would have modified for the higher. After I was rising up, land was a big problem. I’ve at all times questioned why we can not personal land. I used to be continuously frightened and confused that this land is just not mine, this temple is just not mine, and neither is that this pageant. At this time, you could not have such dilemmas, however after I take into consideration what you’ll have to face when rising up, I discover myself worrying once more.” The evening after I was attempting to write down this for my daughter was daunting. Horrible incidents passed off on a regular basis — it was miserable. Proper now my daughter is just too younger to know what this implies. However when she grows up, I hope this nation shall be a special one — one that won’t trigger her the identical ache because it did to me. A rustic that’s not certain by languages, castes or religions would be the nation that can give her the sort of happiness that I’d need for her. I am conscious that the notion of such a nation is utopian. Folks inform me that there’s not a lot I can do as a person. I am conscious of this, but when do nothing, I shall be responsible of leaving this world a worse place for my daughter. For her sake, I have to make it higher. —As instructed to Kavitha Muralidharan Your information to the newest cricket World Cup tales, evaluation, stories, opinions, dwell updates and scores on https://www.firstpost.com/firstcricket/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2019.html. 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[sinceileftyoublog]

Night Shop Interview: Beautiful Strangers

Photo by Kevin Gossett

BY JORDAN MAINZER

“Drummer releases a solo album” is the type of thing that you classically joke about, but if anyone’s proving that angle to be exciting, it’s Justin Sullivan, who records as Night Shop. If you’ve listened to The Babies or Kevin Morby’s records, you’ve heard Sullivan behind the kit. On In The Break, out today via Woodsist/Mare Records (the latter is Morby’s label), he sings and plays guitar, too. 

Night Shop’s self-titled debut EP was released last February, and Sullivan wrote the songs for Break during the latter half of 2017. It was recorded in a studio in Burbank early February with help from many familiar faces: guitarist Meg Duffy of Hand Habits and Morby’s band, guitarist Will Ivy of Flat Worms (Sullivan drums for Flat Worms), Greta Morgan on piano, Anna St. Louis on vocals, Jarvis Taveniere (Woods) on bass, guitar, and engineering, and Drew Fischer on mixing duties. “It’s one of the few benefits of getting older,” Sullivan told me in July over the phone. “Your gang of friends is really talented.” Indeed, though the music of Night Shop embodies classic folk rock, the matter in which it came together is punk. “All of this stuff for me goes back to real core DIY punk principles,” Sullivan said. “Even though it doesn’t look or sound like that, it’s the same ethic.” In essence, Sullivan’s started a band with his friends, just like in high school.

Over the past year, Sullivan’s toured solo with Jaye Bartell, and he’s currently on tour with Waxahatchee and St. Louis. He then shares dates with Shannon Lay, including October 10th at Empty Bottle. “Playing solo wasn’t necessary the original idea,” he said. “It’s funny to have two elements-- I can’t really play the guitar, and I don’t have the greatest voice in the world. It’s funny to present the two elements on stage. Neither are 10/10. But I do feel comfortable getting up and playing at this point because I’ve done it for so long.” Despite the ethical commonality, Night Shop is still very different than something like Flat Worms from a musical standpoint. “There’s something really nice about getting up and playing quiet music,” Sullivan said.

Read the rest of my interview with Sullivan, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: How long has Night Shop been around?

Justin Sullivan: It feels really new. I probably didn’t even pick up a guitar to actually learn how to play till 2015. I probably wrote the songs that came out on the EP in late 2016. Having just played in so many bands in drums for so long, I was very concerned with songs. I always saw myself as someone to help shape the songs rather than just play drums. It’s kind of a weird combination. When I was younger, I would sing in bands, and I’d always write lyrics for a lot of my early bands. So some of it feels like stuff I’ve been doing for a long time, but some of it feels really new.

SILY: Did you help craft songs with Kevin Morby and The Babies?

JS: Yeah. That was always my thing. When I started playing with Kevin and Cassie [Ramone of The Babies]--they’re just such good songwriters--sometimes, what’s needed is no more additions. With Kevin, my role was often to be a cheerleader for his ideas. I’d be so excited to just work on the songs. A lot of times, though, what the songwriter needs is someone to be like, “No, that’s really good. We should definitely be playing that.”

SILY: Was there something you wanted to communicate about the project or yourself with your debut album?

JS: That’s a good question. Yeah, I think any time someone writes a song or shares a piece of art, they’re trying to communicate something about themselves. What I’ve heard before is that it’s much less direct than, “I want to say this thing about myself.” You’re almost sharing whatever weird thing comes out of the moment of creation rather than having an idea and thinking, “I definitely want to say this about myself.”

I guess it was just the feeling of when you’re doing something by yourself and writing something by yourself, it’s just an extension of whatever weird thoughts and feelings were going through you at the time. The magic of music is you share that moment with someone who hears and connects with it two years later. I love that. It’s really exciting. It’s something that excited me when I was young, and it still does. I think for sure there’s no five-point plan of things I was trying to express. More just a feeling.

SILY: How did the idea for “The One I Love”--the song and video--come to you?

JS: Last summer was a period I didn’t tour for a year, and I always had toured at least once during the calendar year. I took a very defined break from touring. It was a song where I was working from home every day, and I was working on music. It’s the excitement of driving to my local convenience store on a summer night and being really energized but kind of isolated. I wasn’t hanging out, wasn’t going out, didn’t have any romance. It’s the combination of being excited about seeing people in your neighborhood, in your grocery store or convenience store, and then coming home and having this excited feeling but nowhere to bring it. That song was converting the feeling into something when there was nowhere to put it. I got really into being home and got excited about the little things I would see in my neighborhood. The simplicity of that was more exciting to me than traveling around the world--I was super burnt out on that at that point.

There are a lot of feelings in that song. A lot of it is orienting why I make music, where the motivation is, and a lot of it comes from this appreciation and love for people. Romantic love, friendship, familial love--really orienting myself that’s where it’s coming from as opposed to other reasons why people make music.

The video is kind of just trying to create the world of that feeling. It was a very isolated time for me but I was super excited. Sometimes, being a hermit or being isolated has a negative connotation, but it was super energizing for me. I was touring or in the music scene for so long, it was cool to have this period where I was driving through the city alone and going to all these places alone. I was really thrilled by it, and I think it was a good chance to reflect and get some perspective on where I was coming from.

SILY: What’s the story behind “You Are The Beatles”?

JS: Oh, yeah. That to me was a pretty goofy song that I just liked. Kind of like what we were talking about earlier--just trying to share a feeling you had at a time. I was like, “I gotta get rid of that, it’s such a weird song.” [But then] I just sang that line, and thought, “I’d love if I heard a song called ‘You Are The Beatles’.” You’d be like, “What’s this song about?” I used to say that Jonathan Richman was a big influence, but it gets harder and harder to hear that. There are times where the innocence and exuberance of Jonathan Richman songs--it’s almost like rule-breaking how sweet it is. That really appeals to me. I kind of want to make room for things that feel a little silly or completely unmitigated romanticism. 

Basically, that song for me is literally a list of influences. Some are a little more buried. It’s also like a way of saying, “I love you. You’re the best. You’re the Beatles.” It’s like writing a love song but talking about the art that meant the most to me and the weird little influences.

SILY: I get what you’re saying with Jonathan Richman. We’re so conditioned to find something that’s darker and deeper and ironic, we think, “There’s something really weird behind this.” You listen to a song like that and think it’s totally sarcastic, but it’s actually radical in the fact that it’s not.

JS: For sure! I was thinking about “That Summer Feeling”, the Jonathan Richman song. It’s one of the darkest, most haunting--it’s so heavy. It’s crushing. I love that sort of paradox. Not to say the one I wrote is like that. It’s just a way of saying, “Well fuck it, that is what I want to say.”

SILY: “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed is like that, too.

JS: Dude! Exactly. I love that stuff. Just smuggling different things into different forms.

SILY: This might be off, but “If You Remember” reminds me a lot of “Via Chicago” by Wilco.

JS: Oh yeah. That’s not off. There was a point where I think I had already recorded and finished it and thought, “Oh, this kind of sounds like that Wilco song.” It’s definitely reminiscent of that song. Hopefully not too much so.

SILY: Not too much. It’s definitely got parts that are different. Just the initial repeated melody. Honestly, that could be an intentional or not intentional choice and it’s a good thing either way. It’s a great song. So is yours.

JS: Thanks, man. I try to spot check down the road to see if it’s anything else. Once it passes that test, it’s good to go. I haven’t thought about this one in a while, but I definitely had that moment where it was reminiscent of that Wilco song. But not so much like other stuff I’ve gotten rid of where I think, “This is just that.”

SILY: Like the stories of people dreaming a melody, waking up in the middle of the night and recording it, and waking up the next day and it’s just a well-known hit song.

JS: I wrote a song yesterday that’s basically Madonna’s “True Blue”. It’s the same thing. I can’t get away from it. It’s “True Blue” with a little Elton John “Crocodile Rock”. They both have that refrain. [sings] “True blue, baby I love you. We’re dancing all night to the crocodile rock.” So I try to get rid of stuff.

SILY: Would you ever keep it around to have it exist for you and some friends even if you don’t release it?

JS: I’m just at this period in my life where I write a song almost every day, or at least a melody, verse, or chorus that’s recorded real quick. So it’s just good to have all of it. Maybe some day things will find a way to rise to the surface. There might be a line from that song that ends up in a different song a year from now, so it’s good I lay it down. I don’t reject things out of hand. I nurture them along because you don’t know how it shows up. I could be in a band 10 years from now and be like, “Actually, if we played that song...”

The biggest thing I see from a lot of people that prevents them from sharing work is that there are 100 different reasons why you can talk yourself out of a song. It sounds too much like this, it’s not what you want to do, it’s too corny, you don’t have the skills to play it right, you don’t have a good voice. I’m really against that ethic. You might as well finish it and furthermore share it. If people don’t respond, you learn from that. But I think what prevents people is finding the reasons why they can’t do something.

SILY: What about the title track made you want to name the album after it?

JS: It’s a weird song but it’s the most representative of the philosophy of the time. It almost feels too literal, where I literally took a break from touring and wrote this record. But it’s not really what I meant from that. I’m really into this idea where moments I really think of in my life are separate from the dominant story of what’s going on at the time. So when you’re on your smoke break from your job--that’s what I remember about the jobs I’ve had. For me, working and then writing music in these off hours or off moments. It’s like when you go to a show and the best moment is when you talk to your friend outside. Just these little cracks I find to be the exciting moments of life. The moments after a show where there’s quiet in the band. Those are just really special moments of reflection and kind of what I remember when I think back to things. 

There are moments in romance when you haven’t figured out the story of what’s gonna happen yet. You haven’t literalized everything. That place you first occupy with someone where you don’t know what’s going on but it’s exciting and all you know. Those all came together for me in this way of a really interesting philosophy of life. There are moments where you wouldn’t consider what your life really is. When you’re on tour, those weird moments. There’s something special about them. Or life being defined by this romantic relationship but there are ones less obvious that are really special.

SILY: Tell me about the album art.

JS: I went downtown with my friend Abby Banks who took the photo. I really wanted to capture the sense from “The One I Love”. I really, really love convenience stores and all my diners. Honestly, the grocery store parking lot. These spaces where people are bumping up against each other that are aesthetically nondescript but very comforting. I guess I just wanted to get to that energy of feeling very isolated and alone but all the more appreciative of the energy of these communal places where different types of people come in and out. There’s an equalizing factor. There’s an equality to convenience stores or just some sort of leveling factor that I love and get a real energy out of. Especially in LA, where you could spend all your time mingling in certain places with certain people. Just trying to capture that excitement of the beauty of these places. Just the comfort of life and those feelings. The song to me is laying down the feeling of what’s going on. Everything is trying to match that.

SILY: What’s next for you?

JS: I’ve been playing in bands for literally 20 years, but all this stuff feels new and exciting. So I’m enjoying all these things I watched Kevin and Cassie do and was around for. Put a band together, try to play some shows in LA, and try to figure. I’m gonna try to go to Europe and the UK. 

Honestly, the most fun thing to me is when the band is building. You’re just figuring it out and problem solving. I’m in that right now. It keeps it exciting. I like doing this interview! This rules. I have a weird combination of having done this stuff for so long that I have these amazing friends to play on the record, but it’s also new and exciting. Which I think is important for anyone. It keeps these things feeling very genuine and honest. It prevents you from getting really jaded.

I’m also just gonna keep writing songs. Just keep doing the work. That’s the fun for me. I love the work of music and bands. I love building them. Just doing that every day.

SILY: Even logistical things that a lot of people have been doing for a while--either they’re jaded or like, “Alright, this PR cycle again. Have to figure out the tour.” You talk about it with passion and like you’re looking forward to it. That’s awesome.

JS: Believe me--I understand the burnout of certain things. Touring can be really tough. I get it all. But I’ve always wanted to figure out how to stay excited. If that’s your MO, you have to figure out a way to change things or keep doing that. My friends who I gravitate towards really know how to do it. We’re really lucky to be doing this stuff.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been listening to, reading, or watching lately that’s caught your attention?

JS: That’s a good question. I’m a guest on the Aquarium Drunkard radio show today. I’m one of those people who just listens to Billie Holiday every day. I get set on an artist and just indulge in that. So I’m like, “Man, I gotta find cool music to play!” I also go through phases where for 3 months I can’t find a book that grabs me and just keep starting different books. I’ve been reading this book called Why We Came To The City by Kristopher Jansma. I don’t know whether you’re familiar with A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It’s this pulverizing, award-winning book that was one of my favorite books from last year. Anyway, Why We Came To The City is like the Oasis to the Beatles’ A Little Life. But then you’re like--that’s not bad. Oasis is an amazing band. I read that on the last European tour. But right now I’m in a slump. I have a Paul Auster book I can’t get into. I’m in a dry stretch, but something will come around.

[sentrava]

Fa La La: The Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide

It’s my favorite time of the year, you guys: It’s officially socially acceptable to listen to Christmas tunes around the clock, plus I have a valid excuse to spend hours scouring the Internet in search of great gift ideas for you to give your loved ones! (I may also have shopped a little lot in the process. Oops.)

Note: Some of these featured products are from our sponsors, while others are affiliate links that will earn me a small commission. 

So without further ado, here’s what I’m digging this year:

FOR THE NOMADIC SOUL

Have a friend or family member in your life who is only satisfied when doing something new, exciting and/or unique? (I know a little something about that!) Well, Tinggly has the cure that ails them. I’ve always been a fan of giving experiences instead of mere stuff, and this is the perfect solution: You can gift your loved one a personalized box that contains a voucher to a bucket list kind of item that most people only dream of. Dinner with a NASA astronaut? James Bond sightseeing tour in Thailand? VIP helicopter over the Vegas Strip? Yoga retreat in India? Tango lesson in Buenos Aires? Tinggly has something for every taste. I also love that you can choose your box by theme: birthday, Christmas, wedding, couples and more.

FOR THE SUN BUM

True story: I allot more space in my luggage to sunglasses than I do to anything else, as heaven forbid I be photographed in the same shades over and over again! But I can’t help it: I’m always outside doing something fun, and if there’s one thing fashion-wise that I care about the most it’s what’s on my face. And I love the selection of women’s sunglasses available at Sunglass Warehouse. I’m a huge fan of Aviators—bonus points if they’re mirrored—and Sunglass Warehouse has so many different kinds of Aviators in stock, many available for under $20. (With as much as I change out my shades, I like keeping my cost per item as low as possible.) For those shopping for the holidays, Sunglass Warehouse is offering 40% off one pair of shades from now through Nov. 30 with the code SPENDLESS40.

FOR THE TECH-HEAVY TRAVELER

We’ve all been there before: You’re traveling all day and your iPhone quickly depletes of all power. It’s near impossible to locate an outlet at an airport, and even my backup battery usually dies well before my travel day has ended (a nightmare scenario as I rely on it for ride-sharing when I finally reach my destination). Which is why Lynktec’s Reeljuice 5X Power Bank + 10 Watt Rapid Wall Charger is my new favorite thing; it’s got four feet of retractable charging cord, and it gives me FIVE full charges before it needs to be re-powered. No more fighting my fellow fliers for coveted outlet space at the airport; in fact, I can even charge my phone while I fly. I’m giving one of these bad boys away down at the bottom of the post, but you can also get 25 percent off (site-wide!) with the code LUNATICATLARGE25.

FOR THE SCIENCE GEEK (OR THE TWEEN)

This Lock Pick Beginners Box is at the very top of my DIY-loving husband’s own list, and for good reason: It gives you the tools (literally and figuratively) that you need to learn how to pick locks, with two different sets of practice locks that have clear sides so that the trainee can see what’s going on behind the scenes with the mechanisms. This is the perfect present for a dude—what husband/boyfriend doesn’t love tinkering?—but also would be a fantastic and affordable option for your fidgety, problem-solving tween.

FOR THE PHILANTHROPIST

You guys know my love for St. Jude runs deep. It’s just so cool what they do there: On top of being one of the top research facilities in the world, St. Jude also ensure that its patients don’t have to worry about a thing (like, for example, cost or lodging for the family) other than getting better. I donate to St. Jude periodically throughout the year, but I’m loving their new initiative, This Shirt. All you have to do is sign up to donate $20 to St. Jude monthly, and you get this exclusive Tee that all your favorite country artists (and your favorite blogger!) are wearing. Because helping others is really the reason for the season.

FOR THE ETERNAL STUDENT

Alert, alert, self plug coming! Kristin Sweeting and I are headed to Portugal next July to teach the ultimate writing, photography, marketing and business workshop—and we’d love for you to join us! We’ve extended registrations through Dec. 31 and have a handful of spots left (and a really amazing group attending so far!). Come learn the ropes of the biz with us while surfing, roaming, doing yoga and exploring Lisbon’s charming surrounds with us in your downtime. Bring your significant other or business partner or come solo. Just think of it as continuing education, a tax write-off and a vacation all rolled into one! As a Christmas special, I’m including two one-hour coaching sessions for anyone who signs up by Dec. 15, one by Skype prior to the trip and one in Portugal.

FOR THE AT-HOME COOK

We’re always experimenting in the kitchen, and try to eat as clean (i.e. no processed food) as possible, meaning that adding herbs and spices is clutch for our style of dining. I’ve had a subscription to Raw Spice Bar for the past year, and I love that every three months, a collection of six individually packaged, freshly-ground, seasonal spices arrives in my mailbox and that I don’t have to commit to buying the entire spice jar before I know I like it. You can even customize your diet to Paleo, vegan, vegetarian, healthy or “eat anything” and, of course, buy more from the Raw Spice Bar shop if you like what you tried.

FOR THE HEALTHY DINER

I’m all about collecting cookbooks, even if SVV is technically the chef in our household. My current favorite is A Beautiful Mess Weekday Weekend, which just came out this month and compiles even more healthy, vegetarian recipes than Elsie and Emma post on their blog. If you already own ABM, may I suggest the following: Laura Lea Balanced, Body Love and Cravings (maybe technically not healthy, but who doesn’t want to look like Chrissy Teigen?!).

FOR THE NEW HOMEOWNER

Earlier this year, my interior designer friend Kendall Simmons and her husband Kane launched Salut Home, a thoughtfully curated collection of home goods and accents, and I drool over all their colorful offerings every time the email hits my inbox. My current obsession? Their new collection of Leah Singh pillows (all things Leah Singh, really)—they have 96 styles in stock! And bonus, they’re on sale for Black Friday (use the code LEAH20), or you can sign up for their newsletter and receive a promo code for 10 percent off.

FOR THE SHUTTERBUG

While I’ll never fully replace my DSLR, ever since my mom gave me the Canon G7X Mark II for Christmas last year, it’s replaced my Canon 6D in my purse as my daily camera. It’s still got the manual settings so I can play around with the exposure, but is small and compact and great for videos. (Check out the travel videos I’ve been making for evidence.)

FOR THE BIG KID IN YOUR LIFE

For SVV’s last birthday, I got him a Phantom 4 Pro+ drone, and he loves it. He was a former aviation tech in the Navy and daydreams about flying all the time. Coupled with his penchant for photography, it was the perfect gift (and has come in handy on many a work project for us, too!). I think the P4 Pro is great for someone who does photography professionally; however, if your loved one isn’t that well-versed in drones yet, I recommend a cheaper, lighter model like the DJI Spark as a starter drone.

FOR THE ADVENTURER

I’ve had five different GoPros since I got my first one seven years ago, and the quality has improved significantly. After watching some of my YouTubers film exclusively with the GoPro Hero 6, I’m adding the newest model to my wishlist for our upcoming ski adventures (and it finally comes equipped with an LCD screen, too—you used to have to buy those a la carte).

FOR THE DOG OWNER

I bought a pair of travel pillows from the entrepreneurs behind Doggie Duffel, and I’m intrigued by their latest (fully-funded) project that’s essentially an all-in-one travel kit for your pup. Ella doesn’t have one of these yet, but I think I know what she’ll be finding under the Christmas tree…

FOR THE ART LOVER

I’ve been a long-time fan (turned friend) of Leslee Mitchell’s, and every time her gorgeous photography pops into my feed, I mentally bookmark it for the next time I’m doing a room makeover. I recently snagged several of her toy car prints, and I’m absolutely in love! Any giftee would be lucky to own a series of prints from this talented artist.

FOR THE SPORTY GIRL

Pretty much all my travel apparel comes from Gap Fit or Athleta—after all, I’m a girl who places comfort above style, but with most athleisure, luckily you can have both!—and a few pieces I’m loving this winter are: this metallic sweatshirt, this jersey keyhole top, this pullover hoodie and these black, leopard-print leggings.

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  FOR THE VINTAGE LOVER

Wish you’d grown up in the 70s? (Me, too.) You can embrace a bygone era with this sleek record player in a portable brief case that doubles as a CD player and has USB ports. Bonus: It comes in five different colors!

FOR YOUR FRIEND WHO WORKS FROM HOME

You know that girl who works in her coziest pajamas and barely leaves her computer desk all day long, except to refill her coffee/water/bourbon glass? (AHEM.) Welllll, how much would she love to upgrade from her ratty old PJs to this amazing unicorn onesie? (Really bad, I’ll tell ya!) For one that’s a bit more subtle, Nordstrom currently has this beauty on sale.

Stocking Stuffers Under $50

Savannah Bee Co. body products. I was stoked when I recently spotted Savannah Bee’s entire line, like this body butter, for sale at Target!

Geometric rings. Psst, SVV, looking for something small to get me? Start here.

Paddywax candle. My favorite candles are those that you can reuse the container as tabletop decor after it’s burned out.

Herb mill and grinder. As someone who’s very lazy in the kitchen, I love any tool that does the hard work for me.

S’well bottle. My cousins gave me one of these nifty canteens two years ago, and it’s been a game changer in my travels as I no longer have to abuse the planet by buying bottled water.

Stocking Stuffers Under $20

Taylor Swift’s reputation album. The Old Taylor can’t come to the phone because she’s out there SLAYING it with her new album. Man, this one is going to rack up the awards, and it should be in any music lover’s repertoire of tunes.

Flamingo ornament. I’m a sucker for all things flamingos and also ornaments, and Nordstrom at Home has a whole lot of cute, travel-themed ones, many of which are on sale.

Vintage maps. SVV and I are map lovers to the core. We own more than 30 globes and a number of vintage maps, but those are tough to find, which is why I like this Etsy store, which has both domestic and international city prints.

Monogrammed copper wine stopper. Because who doesn’t want their initial atop their vino?!

Twist Magazine’s winter issue. Launched by my good friend Keryn, this new travel publication is a gorgeous glossy that’s the perfect stuffer for the family traveler.

A taco holder. What taco lover doesn’t need this in their life?!

Stocking Stuffers Under $10

Sheet masks. I’ve been addicted to sheet masking for a year now, and while the TonyMoly variety pack is my go-to order, I’m equally as obsessed with these reindeer and penguin masks from Target.

eos holiday lip balm. I keep an eos in every bag I own, and I just popped this trio of holiday flavors (peppermint mocha, vanilla bean, ginger) into my shopping cart!

A manatee tea infuser. Or if manatees aren’t your thing (you crazy), there’s also a sloth, shark or loch ness monster.

iPhone charging cords in myriad colors. Show of hands if you, like me, are always on the hunt for that missing iPhone/USB/mini-USB cord?

The Oregon Trail Card Came. Because kids these days don’t even know what it’s like to ford a river and then die of dysentery when you’re almost there.

Pop socket. This little doodad changed my life—and made me stop dropping my iPhone altogether. I didn’t know how I’d feel about it, but I love it.

Rare earth magnets. We bought these to tack things to our wall on our four-month RTW cruise, and they’ve been a game-changer on actually keeping all of our cards and photos up on the fridge. They never fall, like, ever.

Since it doesn’t feel like the holidays until I start giving away gifts, I’m giving away one big C&C stocking stuffer grab bag, full of some of my favorite things, including the Lynktec charging station, a selection of Raw Spice Bar spices, and plenty of other stocking stuffers for you to give your family and friends (or keep for yourself—I won’t judge!). The value of this box o’ fun is currently over $300—also brimming with music, beauty items, and other odds and ends I’ve purchased and wanted to share with you—though I’ll likely continue to add to that as I finish my Black Friday shopping.

All you have to do to enter is tell me your favorite holiday tradition. Don’t have one? Tell me what’s the top of your Christmas wishlist! It’s that simple. Leave a comment below, and I’ll randomly choose a winner of this bag o’ fun on Dec. 1.

PIN IT HERE

Fa La La: The Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide published first on http://ift.tt/2gOZF1v

[childofbatterycity]

my first fanfic..

welp  guys this is my first attempt on writing a gerard fanfic.....js I failed English s if my spelling is utter shit feel free to send me that good good judgement...here goes nothing.....

You've been into MCR  for a pretty long time after your friend got you into them , you now consider yourself a full blown fan. A few months pass of you reading a fuck load of MCR smut and making scenarios in your head when youre in school/college or just bored in bed of you and Gee or frank, and once or twice got a tad sexual with yourself while lost in those scenarios. Your birthday comes along and your best friend gets you tickets to go see them live, a group of you go. you and two other friends.

The night finally comes and you get all dressed up in the sexiest stuff you own, when in the car on the way to the concert you get super nervous and could feel your stomach go all weird and start to sweat a little. You get to the mosh pit and the show opens "Destroya" one of your favourite songs by them and you go wild, you can feel the bass and the crowd screaming boom in your chest, you feel the heat of the lights and you already smell the sweat and ambition in the air.This is what you have been dreaming of all these months laying in bed or playing them full blast with your friends home alone and playing air guitar, this is where you have longed to be for so long, you just cant believe the man you have fantasised about for months is right infront of you.

The show goes by so quick, they end with "vampire money" and you can feel yourself get a little wet from remembering you get to go behind stage at the end and meet them. Youre so pumped with energy you scream at gee and frank and hold out your hand and as gee says " we came here to fuck" he looks directly at you, smirks and holds your hand for a second before throwing it down and going up to frank and dose that sexy little thing he dose that you have watched over and over again on youtube, you feel yourself getting wet again just from that split second. As the show ends you and your friends rush to stagedoor ready for the meet and greet, now you really feel the nerves kicking in, the door opens and gee is standing behind it in his black skinny jeans, big black boots and sweat drenched t-shirt and red stringy hair " hey! come on in guys" gee said softly while stairing at you he pauses and then says " aren't you the girl who tried to grab my dick?" with a giggle , you suddenly feel yourself go red and remember how close you were to the stage...it totally looked as if you tried to grab his dick. you stutter " Fuck ugh...I wasn't trying to I jus-" " oh youre that girl! ha gee just told me about that" you heard frank come up behind you and you feel his hand brush against your arm and its stays there while he asks " whats your name by the way?" Y/N reply a little calmer now, you can see gee in the corner of your eye get a beer and check you out , you could feel the tension start to build a little. " well happy birthday Y/N!" frank said with a stupid smile on his face while everyone els shouts it after him and ray and gee pull those party confetti popper things and mikey shoots silly string at you and frank . " c'mon baby, tonight you are partying with us" Gee says so smoothly as he hands you a beer. You turn to your friends and they are in conversation with ray and mikey, " there is an after show house party in like an hour if you and your friends wanna come with us?" frank says excitedly , you reply " fuck yeah id love to! how did you guts know it was my birthday?" you ask while laughing, " your friend emailed us" ray said and you run up to them and hug the both of them while all the guys cheered , then you hear " alright you motherfuckers get in the car we have a party  to go to" frank shouted, then you all hold up you beers and say "to getting fucked up".

You finally get to the party, and as you all get out of the car and walk to the house, gerard  runs up to your side and says in a cocky tone " you know, the guy that's holding this party is known for having the best partys in town? you should feel honered" you reply with " eh I bet I have been to better" just to start a bit of playful back-and-forth. "ohh party animal are we?" he says and before you could answer he looks away at the streetlights and says in an almost seductive whisper " I could tell straight away." he looks back at you with those big hazel bedroom eyes and a small smirk, you shuddered a little and said " oh yeah? how?" with a small giggle " the way you dress is a big giveaway sugar, then there is the glitter in the eyeshadow, instant sign of a drinker to me, then there was the way you were looking at me on stage and how you were eyeing me up in the car" he said, you were taken by surprise and again before you could open your mouth he cuts in with " you really think I didn't see you? oh honey, play fair. at least when I did it to you, I didn't get caught" as he leans in closer to you he whispers in your ear " try harder next time sugar" before walking off to join the boys at the door. youre now completely soaked, you can feel your heart beat through your chest and your legs quiver slightly. you knew tonight was going to be a good one. time went by, beer after beer and random people walking past and dancing with girls you have never met before slipped past. you found yourself sitting inbetween frank and gee trying to talk over the sound of loud music and teenaged screams of excitement from to much alcohol. Frank lights up a cigarette and you watch as the grayish tinted smoke flew out of his mouth gracefully and then dissolved into the air, " want a drag?" he offers while giving the cigarette to you, youre a bit embaressed and say shyly " ugh ive actually never tried one before.." gee takes it out of franks tattoo covered hands and takes it inbetween his lips while keeping dead eyecontact with you, inhales the smoke and you watch as the small ball of fire glows a bit brighter and watch him exhale the aftermath. "here" he says while holding it infront of your lips, you look at him, a little nervous but eeger to impress the redhead. he places it in your mouth and says "now inhale it all sweetie...there we are" you take it down smother than expected and exhale it in his face, just to ad to the sexual tention. frank just stares in awe and sniggers quietly before saying " damn girl, you are a natural". Gee stands up, still keeping your eyes locked, " come with me for a second Y/N? I need another beer." He leads you to a bedroom door , you say " this isn't the kitchen" before he opens the door, pushes you in and you fall on the bed as he locks the door, he grabs you and slams you up against the wall, holding both your hands above your head he says " alright you, the game is over, you wanna  play little girl? fine I will fucking play" with an animalistic growl he pushes himself onto you and you colud feel his hard cock press up against your thigh as he grabs your face with one hand, still bounding you hands with the other and kisses you long and hard. his lips were so sofr and tender but he kissed like he meant it, you could taste the beer and smoke on his tounge and you bite his bottom lip hard wich made him groan deeply. As you try to push up against him more he throws you onto the bed and climbs on top of you only to kiss you harder and to grab your dress and bra straps and pull them down fast. he  brakes his lips away from yours to rip off your dress,bra and panties while you throw your head back and moan loudly as you feel his tounge gluide up your pussy and circle your clit, you arch your back and moan again and again " oh..fuuck " "aahh" you feel his breathy laughter of pride against your clit wich sends you off the edge. you grab his hair and push his head back down to get more. he slips in his finger, two then he pounds you with his hands as hard as he can while kissing you once again, you moan into his mouth and he trails kisses on your jawline down to your neck, this sends shivers up your spine and you grab hold of his shirt and tear it off and then dig your nails into his soft, pale flesh. this makes him growl louder and wraps his hand around your throat while biting your ear softly. Just as he gets up on his knees to unbuckle his belt and take off his jeans, a knock comes on the door followed by a drunk frank shouting " hey dude if you want ill turn up the music so they cant hear you fuck!" gee laughs and shouts back " good idea, we are gonna be here for a while, keep me and Y/N a few beers too!" you both laugh and before you know it, his hand is grasping your hair and pushing your mouth down further on his hard dick, with each gluide he moans and growls through his teeth " of fuck...Y/N..aahh". you look up at him smirking while dragging your tounge down his length to come right back up again and to tease this head slowly. He aggressively pushes you down, opens your legs and slams into you with power, the feeling of him finally  inside you sends you into deep pleasure, moaning and grabbing eachothers hot flesh you start to feel the wave puls through you over and over, you are getting so fucking close and scream " im gonna cum! f-fuck ...ahh!" he growls again, this time with a smile on his face.

He pounds into you harder and harder, faster and faster. you feel him hit all the right spots ,his hand still on your throat he shouts " fuck baby im close...ahhh cum with me ...with me " you nod in reply as he goes faster and faster, his manly groans keeping you wet for him, you feel your walls and legs puls and you both reach the edge together with a loud moan of ultimate pleasure. he slows down gradually then pulls out and collapses next to you, wraps his arms around you and pulls you into his chest, kisses your head and whispers " now that is a game id love to play again" you feel his breathy laugh against your hair, you smile and eventually fall asleep holding eachother.

[chrismaverickdotcom]

On the new Mandingo...

My friend and former wrestling tag team partner Donté posted a link on Facebook to an article a little while ago. Before I share the article I want to share my initial reaction. This is what I commented to Donté: “ oh for…. you’re fucking kidding me…. I mean, wow…..” that was my initial reaction.

My second reaction was to hit the share button myself and not actually write a blog about it other than to say “I am just too annoyed and upset about the idea of this to even write a blog. So I’m just resharing it with a link to what Donté said.” And then I found that I was already automatically writing a paragraph of bitchiness.

Ok, so first, let me share what happened. It seems that because he joined in the NFL kneeling protests this weekend some 25,000+ (at the time of my writing this) Baltimore Ravens fans have signed a petition asking for the removal of Ray Lewis’s statue in front of the Baltimore Ravens’ stadium. Sigh…

To quote Donté, “So he was cool enough to have a statue when he was just alleged murderer.. But, he takes a knee nah dog. Smh.”

I’m going to stick with my “you’re fucking kidding me!”

Here’s the deal. I am not a Ray Lewis fan. I am a lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I grew up squarely in Cleveland Browns territory. It is fundamental to my identity to just be automatically predisposed to hating the Baltimore Ravens. And that’s even aside from other issues with Ray Lewis. Fuck Ray Lewis.

That said, if you think this is the reason to remove Ray Lewis’s statue… fuck you! Seriously… go fuck yourself. Fuck you so much more than fuck Ray Lewis. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you… and I’ll tell you why.

I’ve been pretty clear about my stance on Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the national anthem. I support it. It’s important. If you don’t understand why it’s important, well… you’re not going to. I get that. Keep not understanding and bringing more attention to the issue. For all the boneheaded dumbassness of the President, he did a net good thing by turning this from a protest of like 10 people to a protest of about 200 people. So awesome.

But that’s not why you should go fuck yourself.

No, you should go fuck yourself specifically if you think that THIS was the camel’s back for pulling down Lewis’s statue. See, for those of you who don’t follow sports, On January 31, 2000, four years into his seventeen year football career, Lewis and two of his friends got into a physical fight with two other black men that resulted in the other two men being stabbed to death at a nightclub during a Super Bowl party. Lewis eventually took a plea deal (obstruction of justice) and flipped on his friends, both of whom were tried and eventually acquitted for the murder. He went on to become Super Bowl MVP the next year and kept playing for another decade. In 2014, two years after he retired, the team put up a statue in his honor. Baltimore loves Ray Lewis.

Or loved him.

But no… apparently 25,000+ people think that kneeling down during the national anthem is a greater offense than being an alleged murder suspect. Remember, Lewis’s friends walked. Lewis pled guilty to obstruction. Literally, Ray Lewis is the only person on earth who has ever been convicted of a crime in relation to that murder. But that was forgiven because he was a hell of a football player.

But apparently he isn’t allowed to have a political opinion 5 years after retirement.

Look, I don’t care how you feel about kneeling during the national anthem. Ok, that’s not true. I do care… and if you have a problem with it, you’re a fucking idiot. But really, as I said before, it’s because of your idiocy that this is getting press. You are what makes this an effective protest.

But don’t pretend this is a moral outrage. It’s not. Ray Lewis played 17 years with the Baltimore Ravens. He is a two time Super Bowl champion, one time Super Bowl MVP, thirteen time Pro Bowler, and as much as it pains me to say, one of the greatest linebackers that ever played the sport. He is football royalty. He is an easy first round ballot pick for the NFL Hall of Fame. And because of that, he without a doubt deserves the statue in front of the stadium that frankly, he fucking built. That said, there is not a single fan in that city who doesn’t know that he was a suspect in a double murder. Even if he didn’t kill them himself, he was involved in the fight that led to their deaths. HE FUCKING ADMITS THIS! HE TESTIFIED TO IT!!! But I maintain that the two things are unrelated. No matter how awful a person he may or may not be outside of football, he is without a doubt one of the greatest to ever play.

But no, the petition to remove the statue stems from his protest, not his involvement in a double murder. The petition even says “I will not stand for that kind of disrespect towards our country, especially from a legend such as Ray Lewis.” In other words, the petition writer believes that Lewis has even less right to his opinion because of how good a football player he was.

And that’s the problem. You may not believe in Colin Kaepernick. You may not believe in #BlackLivesMatter. You may have a faulty understanding of what the flag represents or how long it has been a tradition to have the players stand for the national anthem (answer, eight years… in other words, only since the last three of Lewis’s career). You may have such conviction for your misled patriotism that you’re now willing to boycott the NFL (and I don’t believe you… you can say whatever the fuck you want, no football fan is missing their team in the playoffs over this). You may think that #BlackLivesMatter is a racist movement because “all lives matter.” You may think all of this is stupid and you may not understand any of it.

Understand this… if you are offended by Lewis’s statue BECAUSE of his kneeling and not because of the rest of his personal history, then you DO NOT believe “all lives matter” and specifically you think black lives don’t matter at all. What you believe is that you want to see a bunch of dumb giant black men crashing into each other for your entertainment. And you don’t care if they literally kill each other off the field. You just don’t want to think that they might have personal opinions that might differ from what you believe. You don’t want them to have opinions at all. You aren’t mad at Ray Lewis because he knelt. You’re mad at him because the nigger didn’t dance when you told him to dance. You’re mad at him because when you said jump, the nigger didn’t ask how high? You’re mad at him because the nigger reminded you that he might be more than an animal that fights other animals for your amusement.

I have on many occasions said that I completely support the rights of white supremacists to march, to carry their nazi flag, to fly the confederate battle flag. I stand by that. If a white player wants to scream “white power” as they take the field, I actually won’t try to stop him. I won’t be a fan. I might bitch about him. But I support his right to do it. And I mean this. I said before that Donté and I were tag team partners. We were part of a group that we called Affirmative Action, a reference to exactly what it sounds like. And if you’re a part of wrestling, then you need to just accept that there is going to be no shortage of white wrestlers with southern gimmicks wearing confederate flag inspired outfits. I might not agree with it, but I never had a problem with any of them. I STILL support their right to stand up for something I don’t believe in… even in the name of entertainment.

You might say “all lives matter” but if you’ve signed this petition… If you have ever said “they can protest on their own time” (something that clearly people also don’t REALLY believe)…if you have a problem with this at all… then you DON’T think all lives matter.  You DON’T think their lives matter. And you sure as hell don’t think black ones do. Or at least they don’t matter as much as your comfort level of being able to pretend you’re a patriot while stuffing your face with fucking nachos.

Go fuck yourself.

Ray Lewis says ‘racist’ tweet from Colin Kaepernick’s girlfriend kept the Ravens from signing the quarterback

Donald Trump says NFL anthem protests have ‘nothing to do with race’ as fresh demonstrations follow Wembley stunt

Steelers stay in the locker room during national anthem as 100 NFL players protest

Who took a knee? How each NFL team responded to Donald Trump’s tweets about anthem protests

NFL Players Across the Country Take A Knee In Response To Trump

Spike Lee Promotes Rally For Colin Kaepernick, Spells His Name Wrong On The Flyer [PHOTO]

NFL Teams Are Now Taking Turns Systematically Humiliating Colin Kaepernick

NAACP to NFL: Quit blackballing Kaepernick

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On the new Mandingo… was originally published on ChrisMaverick dotcom

[chocolatemillkk]

Thrice (JS)

The First Time

Friday nights were the absolute worst night to be out in London because the clubs were so packed you barely had space to breathe. But I hadn't stepped out of my flat all week due to a foot injury and I was finally feeling well enough to leave. My heels were left at home, but I was here in cute sandals hoping nobody would step on my feet.

"Do you want another drink?" My flatmate and best friend, Lana, asks me.

"I'm alright," I say. I wasn't allowed alcohol for another day because of the pain medications so I sipped lamely on a Coke. Tonight was meant to uplift my spirits but the lack of spirits just made me want to go back home and curl up in bed.

That regret is doubled after Lana leaves for the bar and I try to follow. The path in front of me looked clear but I guess someone else had the same idea because I crash directly into a stranger's chest.

My drink splashes into my sandals and the stranger's drink drips all over my dress.

"Fucking unbelievable!" I shout. I look up to the idiot who crashed into me but my breath catches. He was drop dead gorgeous: ocean eyes, silky brown hair, and an expression that looked as terrified as he possibly could...and should.

"I am soo sorry," he slurs. Of course he was drunk.

"I-this-you," I stutter. I want to shout at him but I'm still taken aback by his good looks. "What the fuck!" Is what I settle for.

"I can buy you a new drink," he rushes. "Or another-"

"I'm soaked in alcohol from your bloody drink!" I shout. "Another drink isn't going to solve that! God this night just gets worse!"

Tears prick my eyes and I shove past the boy who's still trying to make it better. I catch Lana's white-blonde head and stomp towards it, ignoring the dirty looks I was getting.

"I need to go home," I tell her.

"Already?" She asks, slowly turning to me. When she spots my dress and the tears in my eyes she raises an eyebrow. "Crashed into somebody?"

I begin to recount what just happened but the boy from earlier finds me. He has a wad of napkins in his hand which he thrusts at me. "This was all I could find."

I stare at the napkins in my hand, white-hot rage blinding me.

"Stop trying to fix it!" I throw them back into his chest. "I'm wearing your drink and walking in mine! You can't fix it, alright? Jeez."

A small voice in my head was telling me to cool it but I had enough of the night. After the outburst, Lana grabs my hand, thanks the stranger and leads me out.

The Second Time: Joe's POV

I hadn't been in school for years now but Mondays were somehow, inherently the worst days of the week. I had work to catch up on and the weekly shop to do because my fridge was looking very empty.

"I'll be back soon, just stopping by Tesco," I tell my roomate. I wait for my Uber and type out what I need on my phone.

The shop is deserted, most people were probably in their office jobs around now. The last thing on my list are eggs but a woman stands in front of the shelf, on her phone.

"Excuse me," I mumble.

She moves aside. "I got the bleach but I remembered we're out of eggs."

Her conversation piques my curiosity so I glance up and nearly smash the eggs I held. It was the poor girl from the club Friday.

I already had a few drinks that night and when I saw her walking towards me, I froze. She was gorgeous in a subtle way; she carried herself like her beauty was secondary to her-she knew it but didn't care for it. She looked like the kind of girl I would want to bring home-for good.

So I miscalculated and stepped forward to introduce myself just as she stepped closer and any chance of hitting her up crashed and burned with the misstep.

But apparently not because here she was.

I must've been staring because she gets off the phone and looks up at me. Her face morphs into a scowl.

"Hi," I press my lips into a smile. "I think we've-"

"Met? We definitely have." She rolls her eyes and leans forward to get her eggs. She smelled like roses. "You ruined my evening and my dress which-if I may add-was very new and very pricey."

I try not to stutter out my apology but I didn't want to screw this up too. "I'm sorry again-it was an honest mistake."

"It's alright," she says even though she sounds upset. She begins to move away and I panic.

"Is that what the bleach is for?" I ask.

"Excuse me?" She turns back around.

"For the dress..." I think my joke was going to fall flat as her eyes narrow but there's a hint of a smile on her face.

"The bleach," she laughs. "My friend decided to dye her hair orange and spilled the very bright dye all over the floor of the bathroom. So this is to clean it up."

"Orange?" I ask.

"That's what I said," she shrugs. She eyes my groceries and turns slightly away. She was going.

"I've got a friend born with orange hair, I didn't think people did that on purpose."

This earns a laugh and I feel more in my element already.

"I'll let my friend know you said that. Since she knows you from the club as well," this time she speaks with less anger. It's more light-hearted, like the incident has become an inside jokes between us. "This is twice we've bumped into each other now so I guess I'll see you around?"

She was leaving already. But asking for her number didn't feel right. "Maybe if we see each other a third time we can grab some drinks?"

"Only if you don't plan on spilling yours," she smiles again and there's a twinkle in her eye. She was teasing.

"I only do that to strangers," I say.

"So we're not strangers?" She asks, surprised.

"Not if we meet thrice," I laugh.

"I don't think I've heard anybody say thrice before," she begins walking backwards. "So I look forward to that third encounter just so I can say it."

"Deal," I can't stop grinning at her. She returns one last smile before turning away with her bleach and eggs.

Third Encounter: Y/N's POV

I thought about him all week, the cute stranger I forgot to get the name of. Lana teased me about him nonstop and got all our friends on board with it. But all week I looked out for him and no such luck. We just didn't run into one another. After another week, I stopped. Maybe those two times were just freak accidents. The cheeky boy would live on in my fantasies though.

"I can't pick you up," Lana says through the phone that day. I was finished an interview for a job and Lana had said she could drive me home after.

"Lana you promised!" I pout. "How else will I get home? I don't have my Oyster and there's no way I'm paying for a taxi."

"Uber?" She suggests. "Listen babe my mum called last minute I'm heading there for the long weekend."

"It's only Thursday," I say lamely.

"If I leave now I can skip rush hour though," she explains. "Just get an Uber."

"Fine," I say even though I didn't want to. I had been looking for a job for months now and my bank was running low. Uber was a luxury I couldn't afford when I was this far from our flat.

"You can share an Uber," Lana reminds me. I had stressed about my financials enough to her that she knew what I was thinking.

"Maybe I will," I say. Even though the idea of it was always odd to me, I would have to. I say goodbye and go about doing just that. Ten minutes later, my ride shows it's here.

I greet the driver and we pull out. Apparently I was the first passenger and the other was on the way. That was fine by me.

When the driver pulls up to another building, I'm too busy on my phone to realise we had stopped until the door opens. I watch a pair of long legs clad in black skinny jeans step into the car and the head ducks to get in.

This was so not happening.

"You're kidding me!" The other passenger says. It was him! It was the stranger who spilled a drink on me and said thrice!

"I'm....at a loss for words." I stare at him. Seeing him again in real life again was like HD compared to the pathetic version of him my mind had tried to hold onto. Two weeks of not seeing him had faded his looks in my mind save for his intense eyes which shone with amusment.

"I realise we never got each other's names," he says. He must have thought about that too.

"I realised that too," I laugh. "So I'm Y/N."

"Y/N," he nods. "I'm Joe, or Joseph. But no one calls me that. So just Joe."

He was nervous, it made me feel slightly less so.

"So we've met thrice," I grin.

"Thrice," he laughs. "So I have the honour to do this?"

He unlocks his phone and writes my name into the contact. He hands it over and I point out the misspelling.

"I'm doing a bad job at not being strangers," he says.

"You're alright. Not everyone's name is as easy as Joe. Or Joseph. But just Joe." I tease.

He blushes and grabs the phone once I hand it back. I put in his information as he searches for something and points the screen to me once he's done.

"The peach next to your name is for how cheeky you are," he shows me.

I let out a burst of laughter as I show him my own phone where I've done the same thing for him. This sets him off and I sense the driver eyeing us through the rearview.

"I don't think bumping into you three times was a coincidence," he says once we've wiped our tears away.

"Me neither," I feel warm at the thought. That somehow, whoever was pulling the strings, tangled ours together.

"So did you just finish up work?" Joe points to my outfit.

I correct him, telling him about my never-ending job search and we continue the conversation until we reach my flat.

"We can continue this conversation upstairs?" I offer as he steps out to let me out. He looks up at the building and rubs his neck, gazing back at me. I can see how he weighs the outcome quickly before giving me an answer.

"Alright," he says. While he lets the driver know, I walk ahead to unlock the front, excited for what would be in store for Joe and me.

[normendubium-blog]

I slammed my face into my plush Triforce. Of course, it was a research paper! It was ALWAYS a research paper! I rolled over in my bed and tried to pull my hair out, and that’s when the ringtone came again. I glared at the face down buzzing brick blasting the Doctor Who theme song. I didn’t have to pick it up. It wasn’t my problem. I could’ve tossed the phone out the window and forgot it even existed.

“Na-Na-Naaaaaa,” the phone whined. I rolled over and considered throwing myself out the window instead. Maybe if I just never pick up the phone, they’ll get the idea. But I’ll run into them on campus and-

“DUH NUH NUH, NUH NUH NUN NUNUH!!!” I picked up the phone.

“Listen, I swear I’ll get it done in time,” I started, “I just need like an hour to-”

“Shut the fuck up for like half a second.” the voice on the other end interrupted. That wasn’t Portia’s voice. I sat up and checked the caller ID. It was Cris.

“Oh thank god, I thought you were another-” it wasn’t long before I got cut off.

“Shut up! I’m stuck doing repetitive bullshit and I need your help.” her voice was rushed, almost panicked. There was gunfire in the background. I glanced over at the clock.

“I’ve got a little bit of time.” I lied, “Have you tried-”

“Turning it off and on again? Ha ha, fuck you. This shit’s due in like an hour.” There was more distant muddied gunfire followed by a long line of swears from Cris.

“How can I-”

“Algebra. I need you to do my algebra. FUCK!” She yelled for seemingly no reason, “I thought I could write a program on my end that’d do it for me, but I couldn’t find the problems in the html.”

“Well yeah. I mean, if it’s randomly generated then-”

“It’s in JS, I know. And I’d totally make an extension, but THAT FUCKING BASTION WON’T JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY!!!” I pulled the phone away from my ear. “Sorry.” She added a second later in a defeated tone.

“If you were Winston you could do that rocket jump thing behind it.” I offered.

She let out a long sigh “We already got one. I’ve got no idea where he is, or what his idea of ‘stand on the fucking point’ means, but he’s here somewhere.”

“Sombra? Stealth cloak behind it?”

“I was gonna, but it seemed a bit cliche, you know, cause I HA HAAAAAA!!! SUCK IT, BASTION!!! WHOO!!!” She screamed again. There was a long pause where the only thing I could hear was the furious tapping of keys and the rapid clicking of a mouse. “What were we talking about?” She eventually asked.

“You needed help with Algebra.”

“Oh, right.” She said, clearly distracted.

“And, like, some serious counseling.”

“Uh huh.”

“Maybe some ADD meds.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” There were more key clacking before she came back to Earth, “So you gonna do it?” She cheerfully asked as if the last minute of our conversation never happened.

“I don’t think Overwatch is good for you.”

“What the hell is? Are you gonna help me, or should I get some other socially inept nerd to do it?”

I looked back at the clock, “I kinda got work to do… ”

“What, for your dazzling ‘Freelance writing’ career?”

I groaned, “You didn’t have to say it like that.”

“Just Blow it off.” I kept looking at the ceiling. Math was still work, but it wasn’t writing. I could use a break. A small one. A productive one.

“But what about my clients?” I asked.

“Fuck em. Who goes to college to avoid work?” She said without a hint of self-awareness. “If it’s about money, I’ll pay.” She added.

“With real money this time?”

She laughed, “Fuck no!” she kept laughing, “Oh, god, If I had money I wouldn’t be playing on this ancient piece of crap.” It took her a little bit to calm down. She sighed, and continued, “But I’ll totally owe you one if you do it. Think about that,” she said in a low almost seductive tone, “The world’s greatest hacker owing little old you a favor. Sounds like a good deal to me.”

I was about to disagree when a terrible thought popped into my mind. I bolted upright. Soon I found myself sitting on the edge of my bed, my foot tapping the ground silently.

“You remember that thing you did with Word back in high school? The corrupt file thingy?” I asked.

“In high school? Shit, I do that now.” I could hear her devilish grin through the phone, “You want me to screw over your ‘clients’?” She sinisterly suggested.

“No, I want you to show me.” I stated firmly.

“What? Boooo!”

“I want to know how to do it myself.”

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock, but that’s like, my only bargaining chip.” She whined. “If I show you, you won’t need me!”

“If you don’t wanna, then I guess you could do your own homew-”

“Can’t I just give you a handjob, or like rob a bank or something?” She begged.

“What? God, no! Just show me how to do the thing!”

We sat there in silence for half a minute. She must’ve been weighing her options carefully. Finally, I heard a loud exaggerated sigh “Ok. I’m only going to tell you how to do it once, alright? I’m not repeating this.”

“Once is all I need,” I said cautiously. Something wasn’t right.

“And you promise you’ll do my algebra?” What was she planning?

“Yeaaaahhhh” I said slowly, casually, as if I wasn’t making a run for my laptop. I flipped it open and started up Audacity.

“Arrreee yoooouuu reeeaaaddddyyyy?” She drew out the words, snickering towards the end. I didn’t answer for a few seconds.

I turned on the speaker phone and gave a quick, “Yep.”

There was more snickering on the other end. Audacity was still loading. “All you gotta do is… ” She paused for dramatic effect, and I slammed my r key, just before a torrent of presumably red bull fueled words flew out of the speaker faster than I had ever heard anyone talk, “Openuptheworddocinnotepadyoullseeabuncharandomshitandallsyuhgottadoisdeletesomeofitandmakesureyousaveitasaworddocandnotanotethisllcorruptthefilesonoonecanreadit.” I could hear heavy breathing in between victorious laughter, then she came back, speaking in an excited voice, “Did you get all that?!” She didn’t give me a chance to respond, “Ok cool! My next match’s ‘bout to start! I’ll send yuh the link! Thanks, Bye!!!” And that was the end of the call. I sat back in my chair and hit the spacebar on my laptop, ending the recording session. My phone buzzed, imitating the sound of a sonic screwdriver. Cris’ text read, ‘Make sure it’s finished by 12, dumbass!!!!!’ with a smug purple devil emoji at the end. The next text was a link to her homework.

What I caught of the conversation was rough and full of background noise, but after I slowed down the audio, Cris’ voice came back clear enough. I hit play.

“Open up the word doc in notepad. You’ll see a buncha…” I let the instructions play in the background while I leaned back, exhausted. No, exhausted wasn’t the right word. Drained, maybe? Yeah, that’s about right. I was drained. I looked over at the clock. I was going to have to send Portia a corrupt word doc. I was going to have to do Cris’ algebra homework. I was going to have to do both of these things in twenty minutes. The photo was barely hanging on to the tv. I’d have to put more tape on it soon. Drake’s words found their way into my mind. Too many plates spinning. He was right.

[tinkerbelljayne]

“Can you help me set up a blog so that I can get free stuff?” is a question I’ve been asked

…a lot.

When my blog began to take off in 2014 and the parcels started arriving at my desk, people couldn’t believe all the free stuff I was getting (and by people, I also mean me). From shampoo, to ice cream, to holidays, everyone wanted a slice of the action.

“I want free stuff too” they would tell me. “How do I get the free stuff?”

The honest answer? Hard work; creating good content, posting regularly, engaging with readers, giving up weekends and evenings to work completely unpaid. But these people didn’t want to hear that. They didn’t like it when I told them the truth, that I had started my blog in 2011 and it had taken three years to get to this point. They just wanted the free stuff. And regardless of my advice they were still going to go ahead and try to get it.

These people are called Blaggers. The evil twins of Bloggers. They look like us, sound like us, they’ve got all our moves down to a tee, they’re just missing one thing – the blog.

But do they even need it? With so many blogs out there now, literally thousands upon thousands, does anybody even check anymore? We all know the story about Hannah Ewens, the Vice Journalist who was photographed A LOT at London Fashion Week in 2014 and blagged her way into VIP events posing as a Fashion Blogger. She had no blog and yet that didn’t matter, she looked the part; OTT street style with a male photographer by her side and BOOM suddenly everyone wanted to know which online store she bought her iPhone charger necklace from (it was literally just a charger worn around the neck).

via Vice

Now, I don’t actually mind Blaggers trying to blag themselves some free goodies. I mean, why not? I LOVE free stuff. I’d be totally lying if I said ‘free stuff doesn’t interest me’. It does, because, y’know, free means you don’t pay for it. And I’ve no shame in admitting that I’ve used my blog to contact brands with a few cheeky freebie requests and collaboration ideas (although before anyone gets narky I also want to point out that I only accept free stuff that I am genuinely interested in sampling/reviewing/writing about, so pipe down).

No, I don’t have a problem with people trying to get free stuff or pretending to be something there not, thats fine, and part of the new 2017 me is about me minding my own business and just letting people do what they want to do.

But what I do have a problem with is the Blaggers that are taking things away from the hard working bloggers. Whilst reading the March issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, I read an article by the Features writer Josie Copson, titled How did this women fool every bouncer in town?

Josie’s mission was to try and blag her way into as many VIP parties and clubs as she could, picking up tips and tricks along the way for the Cosmo readers. But one trick I was shocked to read about was snagging event information from someone’s IG story. You see, one person shared an exclusive invitation on his InstaStory and a gal that Josie was interviewing, lets call her an ‘Expert Party crasher’, showed Josie how easy it is to grab all the deets you need for a VIP event by simply watching this IGstory. The two of them were able to see the location, the time of the event and the oh-so-crucial RSVP email. Using these details they were able to blag themselves into the event and onto the red carpet that very night!

Okay, so it was kind of silly of this person to share that online, surely we all know by now not to post that kind of information on social media (it’s like the people who post the entirety of their boarding passes on Twitter with the hashtag #holiday, you mays well just hand over your passport too). But still, it made me wonder how many others are using that tactic when bloggers share their exclusive invites online? And although this expert Party Crasher may not have blagged her way in as the actual person from whom she snagged the deets off, if numbers for the event are limited or the place becomes at capacity, her attendance could mean others being turned away at the door, others who worked hard to get that invite.

But it’s not just party invites and red carpet events that are being swiped right before Bloggers very eyes, some Blaggers are committing actual fraud!

via Twitter/emshelx

Two years ago, Lifestyle Blogger EmShel of emtalks.co.uk was the victim of Blogger Identity Theft.  Yes, you read that right – Blogger Identity Theft – and yes, that is a thing. Someone had created a fake email account in Emma’s name and had contacted a whole bunch of brands requesting free stuff, from skincare products to, erm, jam!

Because this fraudster was using Em’s actual stats, which as an award winning blogger were pretty impressive, all the brands of course came flooding back with yes after yes after yes. It was only when the brands realised they weren’t receiving any coverage or reviews on the products they had sent out, that they one by one began to contact her via Twitter to chase her up. To which point Em cluelessly replied ‘but I didn’t request anything.’

via Twitter/emshelx

This IS fraud and the police obviously had to get involved. It’s one thing to blag your way into a party, but it is astonishing to think someone would actually commit fraud just to get free stuff (and free Jam, really?) Not only was the fraudster wasting the time, money and efforts of the brands, but he/she was damaging the reputation of a blogger who had spent years building up her own brand.

There are always going to be people out there who want the goods but don’t want to put in the hard work. Let them be. These Blaggers may be unintentionally ruining a few things for the hard-working Bloggers, but here are my tips on how to make sure you are always completely identifiable as a Blogger and not a Blagger AND  how to prevent people from using your brand/name:

BE A BLOGGER, NOT A BLAGGER

Never share private information on any of your social media platforms, including your own address, the address of a PR or a brand or the address of a meeting place/event.

Never share email contacts online and especially don’t share scannable barcodes online, not even on a disappearing image like on IG or Snapchat.

Try to arrive at an event early or at least bang on time. The whole fashionably late thing is BS. Arriving on time, rather than an hour and a half later, not only protects your name or brand from me being blagged by someone else, but it also shows commitment and enthusiasm to your host (plus it means you normally manage to get first dibs on drinks & seats, ahem, just saying).

Have your blogs email address somewhere on your homepage, as well as in your social media platform bio’s. That will hopefully make someone think twice about creating a fake one, and even if they do, having your real email address everywhere will be easy for brands to spot should they be suspicious of having a potential Blagger on their hands.

Create a media kit with all your stats to send to brands to back up your credibility. Maybe send along examples of previous collaborations and previous campaigns or perhaps even screenshots of your WordPress or Google analytics. Anyone can send an email saying ‘I get ### hits a month’ but you can actually prove it!

Meet your PR’s & Contacts. If they know you by face then they certainly won’t be letting in someone else using your name or website.

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Bloggers vs. Blaggers “Can you help me set up a blog so that I can get free stuff?” is a question I've been asked…