#i was literally planning a wedding for him and soleil

[whiimms]

ok nvm...

[hlcreators]

AUTHOR REC: only_angel_28 / @beau-soleil-louis​

Don’t forget to leave kudos and comment to show some love! ♡

a week and thirteen days (1k)

Harry falls in love with the morning sun. 

I can’t do this alone (sometimes I just need a light) (7.8k)

“Harry,” he says after another contemplative moment, “can I hug you?”

It’s been...well, Harry doesn’t actually know how long it’s been. Less than an hour, probably, but already Louis says his name like it’s safe in his mouth, and now he’s opening his arms like Harry could be safe there too.

“Please,” Harry nearly sobs, and sinks into him the way butter melts on toast. It’s an apt metaphor, really, because what Louis is giving him is as essential and sustaining as a loaf of bread to a starving man. His basic need for physical affection is as vital as his need for sustenance, for sleep, and he can’t believe he’s allowed himself to ignore it for so long.

Or: Harry is having a rough time. Louis is the kind stranger who makes him smile again.

I think I’m falling (I’m falling for you) (6.8k)

Louis is a disaster gay on a skateboard. Harry is a beautiful, quirky stranger on a bicycle. Their first encounter really makes a splash.

Bloom (just for you) (495)

“Do you ever think about boys?”

The words fall from Louis’ lips casually, but they’re fragile like a gossamer thread, a single silken strand from a spider’s web of labyrinthine thoughts. They’re the product of literal months of careful introspection, of soul-searching and agonizing and over-thinking. They’re words that he’s never dared to utter aloud, a mirror of his own swirling inner-turmoil of thoughts. Thoughts he previously held tightly to his chest, locked away in his heart along with all his other feelings regarding his best friend.

*Or the arrival of spring brings a new beginning for Harry and Louis.

dopamine (7.8k)

Louis honestly doesn’t know how he gets himself into these types of situations.

Well, actually, that’s a lie. He’s doing this because he needs the money, and because he’s curious. And, okay, maybe because he might be a little bit lonely too. He has always had what his mother affectionately calls an “adventurous spirit.” Couple that with being a (tragically single) broke grad student and voila! here he is scrawling his signature on a release form provided by the university’s sociology department. Essentially, he is agreeing to snog a stranger on camera for the sake of science.

Shouldn’t be a problem, right? All he has to do is lock lips with a (hopefully) fit bloke, collect his money, and be on his way. Easy peasy. Little does he know, fate has other plans for him in the form of one adorably quirky art student who goes by the name of Harry Styles.

How Would You Feel (If I Told You I Loved You) (81k)

An AU inspired by the music video for Ed Sheeran's song Perfect featuring two idiots who are too thick to see that their friendship is anything but platonic, lots of pining, too many terms of endearment to count, a wedding, slow dancing, a couple of steamy hot tub moments, karaoke, snow, a healthy dose of cuddling, love confessions, and Harry and Louis being quite generous to each other.

*Or the one where Harry has been in love with his best friend for four years, and New Year's Eve at his family's holiday home in Switzerland is perfect for finally telling Louis how he feels.

Breathe Me (13k)

The story of what happens when Harry finds a stranger sleeping inside the car his late grandfather left him.

“Louis?” Harry queries softly, his voice nothing more than a whisper. “Why are you living in my car?”

Louis sighs, and this time it’s laced with a mixture of sadness and exhaustion, the sound of it tugging at Harry’s heartstrings. “Long story,” he says finally with a weak smile.  

“Will you tell me?” Harry prods gently, his demeanor akin to that of someone approaching a wild animal with their arms outstretched in a gesture of submission. “You don’t have to, like—I mean…it’s just, I’m a pretty good listener, and you seem like maybe you could use a friend?”

“What gave me away?” Louis jokes dryly.

*Or the one where Harry has a broken heart, Louis has a broken home, and all it takes is one night together for them to fall in love.

You got that something, I got me an appetite (5.9k)

After years of being forced to hide their relationship, Harry and Louis decide to come out with a bang.

Shape of You (11k)

“Seriously?” Surely, Harry must be joking. Louis arches a skeptical brow and snaps the waistband of Harry’s joggers playfully. “What exactly do you have down there, Styles? I know you’ve got four nipples, d’ya have a couple extra bollocks as well or summat?”

“No!” Harry shrieks, his voice bordering on shrill. “No,” He repeats a little quieter, calmer, “I just—I’m, er, kinda…big, I guess.”

Louis rolls his eyes in fond exasperation. “That’s hardly a problem, curly.”

*Or Harry is insecure about a certain rather large part of his anatomy that is apparently intimidating to the point where it has actually scared off potential shags. When he ends up confessing this to his best friend and roommate, Louis takes it upon himself to prove that Harry’s size doesn't have to be a curse, and decides to help show him just how perfect he is.

Please Be Naked (17k)

Louis starts squirming, desperately needing something to do with his hands. Needing to do anything, really, to distract him from the perfect male specimen standing naked in front of him. In the end, the only thing he can do is strip out of his own jeans and briefs, which he does with trembling, clumsy fingers, his heart beating out a violent, chaotic rhythm in his chest the entire time.

He hears Harry’s sharp intake of breath, and slowly raises his eyes from where he was staring at his own bare feet to meet his gaze.

“So,” Harry says bashfully, his voice gone even deeper somehow. “We’re naked.”

“Yup,” Louis squeaks.

“You okay?”

No!

“Yup,” Louis repeats, sounding just as unstable as he did the first time.

This is the last favor Louis Tomlinson is ever doing for Zayn Malik. (Because, after today, he’ll be dead, but that’s neither here nor there.)

*Or the one where Louis agrees to help out Zayn with one of his art projects and ends up getting much more than he bargained for.

Hey I Heard You Were A Wild One (If I Took You Home It’d Be A Homerun) (12k)

"Are you out?” Louis huffs a long suffering sigh as he studies Harry from the other side of the bar, the neon from the beer signs making his eyes glow an unnatural shade of blue, and causing Harry to question - not for the first time tonight - if he is real or just some fever dream-esque fantasy conjured up by Harry’s alcohol addled brain.

“You’re fucking kidding me right?” Harry laughs incredulously.

Louis is resolute in his posture as he continues to observe Harry, the slight arch of a brow his only acknowledgement of Harry’s question. That’s fine, Harry decides, it was mostly rhetorical anyway.

“A gay cowboy who rides for a living, can you imagine all the Brokeback Mountain jokes I’d have to endure on a daily basis? I don’t really fancy being compared to Jake Gyllenhaal.”

A hint of a smirk tugs at the corners of Louis’ pursed lips. “Now you’re the one who must be joking, because you are so clearly Heath Ledger in that scenario.”

*Or Harry came to the bar to forget. Louis gives him a night to remember.

Your Love Is My Turning Page When Only The Sweetest Words Remain (8.4k)

“Crying already, Styles?” Louis chides him teasingly, unable to contain the smile that’s breaking across his face.

“So what if I am? What are you going to do about it?” Harry sniffs indignantly.

Louis makes a show of pretending to consider this, steepling his fingers in front of his chest and giving Harry a contemplative once-over.

“Marry you.” He decides, smirking at Harry.

“Guess you won’t be able to call me Styles much longer then.” Harry counters, biting down on his own barely-contained grin.

“Guess not.” Louis agrees happily.

Say You Won’t Let Go (5.7k)

Harry hates flying. Louis is the kind stranger who helps him when he gets sick in the airport restroom. The rest, as they say, is history.

Back To You (5.8k)

"Hello?" His voice came out all high and breathy like an anxious school girl, and he cringed internally at how wrecked he sounded already.

"Lou?"

Harry's voice was the same as ever, deeper than the sea and somehow both gravelly and smooth as silk. Harry was full of infuriating little contradictions like that. It drove Louis crazy. He had spent a good portion of his life questioning if Harry Styles was actually even human; on paper he just didn't make sense. He was an enigma, an anomaly, the exception to every rule.

*After dropping his new single, "Back To You" Louis gets a text from Harry inquiring about the true inspiration for the song.

[sugarbutterbroadway]

When Davey Smiles

Golden rays of sunlight trickled in through the blinds pouring over Jack’s face. He scrunched his nose up and pulled the blankets over his face. He had already started shifting an hour prior but he had hope that he could slip back into the clutches of sleep. Now it was just pathetic how he was clinging onto the traces of drowsiness. He spent five more minutes with his eyes screwed shut before opening them. The sky was awake so he was awake or whatever the hell it was Anna said. He groaned and sat up a little, rubbing his eyes. If it was anyone else he would have left to not disturb them, but when Davey finally fell asleep, he slept like a rock. Jack chuckled, he could probably do an entire cirque du soleil act and Davey would only groan and roll over.

Man did he love his husband. He was so happy he got to say that, his husband. They had tied the knot a few months ago and he still got all giddy every time he said it. Davey was his husband, his sweet and handsome husband who was currently drooling on his pillow.

“Ew”Jack whispered, pulling a face. He was more disgusted that he thought Davey was still darling with spit pooling out of his mouth. He wasn’t exactly a quiet sleeper, he pulled faces and groaned and snored and sometimes even talked if Jack was lucky. It was mostly lesson plans and history facts so that got old fast. It wasn’t any better this morning, every so often he would groan and every single time it gave Jack a mini heart attack. You’d think he’d be used to it at this point but the kids he grew up with all slept like the dead, unless something was wrong. He worried his lip between his teeth and peeked over at Davey. He promised himself he would stop doing this years ago because it was creepy but he couldn’t help it. He watched his face and looked for any tells that he was having a nightmare. Davey didn’t have them often, but when he did they were always horrible. Furrowed brows,squirming and more often than not he cried. Jack had only seen them a few times but they always broke his heart, the way Davey shot up not knowing where he was, it was like watching a frightened child. So he watched and waited, looking for even the slightest tell. A few minutes had passed and he could finally stop holding his breath, Davey was fine. Of course he was, but Jack could never be too sure. He wanted to slap himself, it was too early to be freaking out over something that hasn’t even happened.

He needed to get out of bed. He was growing restless and it was only a matter of time before he kicked Davey from all his fidgeting and ended up with a 7am scolding. He shuddered, a tired Davey’s scoldings were not to be taken lightly. He slid out from underneath the blankets and nearly jumped back into bed the second his feet hit the floor. 

“Jesus christ!”he exhaled, it was freezing. He waddled over to the closet and pulled out a pair of sweats and a hoodie, and if they just so happened to be Davey’s, that was his business. The first order of business was to get some coffee in his system—decafe of course. The last time he had caffeinated coffee he was an anxious wreck the whole day. He shook his head, that was not a good day for anyone. He slid his feet into his bedroom slippers and padded out of the room. The minute he walked into the living room he heard the jingling of a collar.

“There’s my baby”he cooed, dropping to his haunches. Luna happily trotted over and placed her head on his knees. He of course took this as the cue to pick her up baby style and walk into the kitchen.

“You’re getting so big, Lu”He sighed, maneuvering her to one arm. “You’re not our little baby anymore. You think you have the right to turn one and get so big, huh?”he picked up a peppermint k cup and placed it in the keurig, god did he love wedding presents. “What’s next? You gonna move out and go to college? Gonna leave me and daddy?” he paused. Then quickly muffled a cackle with his elbow. “You’re literally our first baby, how does it feel?”

Luna squirmed in his arms and whined. 

“Fine”He huffed, lowering her to the floor. She quickly jumped from his arms and padded back into the living room. 

“I get no love from this girl”He grumbled, once his coffee was done brewing he put in an unnecessary amount of creamer that would send Davey reeling and sat in the living room. If Jack was going to drink coffee he wanted it sweet or not at all, it annoyed Davey to high heaven. He smirked, but it quickly fell into a pout. It was early,he was bored and it was a sin to call anyone before 10am. He pulled his knees up to his chest and tried to enjoy the silence, it wasn’t something he got much of these days. But he didn’t really care for silence, he liked their house loud and chaotic. Not the ethereal hallmark masterpiece it currently was. Their house. That was insane, they owned a house. Well—they owned the mortgage and the bonus was getting to live there.

It was a project to begin with, it was practically begging to be taken off the market and both of them fresh out of college jumped at the opportunity. With help from Medda with the cost and many many breakdowns, it’s finally a place they can call home. He loved their house, their home. He loved it when Davey made breakfast in the morning, it was always without a doubt in his underwear no matter the weather. He loved when Davey sang while folding laundry or showering or even putting his shoes on. He was just a sucker for Davey singing, he rarely did it and when he does it’s always cut far too short because he’s embarrassed. Davey may not like his voice but Jack could listen to it all day long.

He was just a sucker for Davey, especially his smile. The way his eyes shone and his grin reached his ears, man it could make an angel weep. Maybe Jack had spent too much time with him but he knew each one of Davey’s smiles and he loved most of them. The way his lips quirked up into a lopsided grin when he was explaining a lesson planned out for his students. The way he smiled first thing in the morning when his eyes had lost their haziness and focused on Jack. The way he managed to smile even in the worst of times with tears streaming down his face because I’ll be okay Jack, I promise there’s nothing to worry about. And Jack’s favorite, the way he smiled at babies. His eyes would soften and he would grin and coo at any newborn in the vicinity, it gave Jack a deadly case of baby fever. They had spent time with Davey’s family this past holiday season and Jack could hardly bear it with all the new babies around, let alone them and Davey.

“Oh my god a baby.” Jack barely had time to question before Davey was pulling him in the direction of a cousin he definitely hadn’t met. The two embraced briefly before Davey had focused on the baby in her arms.

“Her name is Anika”

He let out a little gasp“Anika”he repeated, his eyes sparkling. 

Before Jack knew it Davey was coaxing his cousin to go have fun and enjoy the gathering which left them both on baby duty. Jack was excited himself but he couldn’t help but get a kick out of Davey acting like a complete idiot. He had basically taken over as a stand-in parent with a burp cloth over his shoulder,her diaper bag and a pacifier as they lounged on the couch.

“Ani ani ani ani!”He cooed, tickling her chin, the grin never leaving his face. 

Jack grinned himself, that was the happiest he had ever seen Davey, wedding and other milestones aside. He had taken a million pictures and didn’t stop smiling even after they left. He may have gotten a little eggnog drunk but he just remembers Davey repeating the name Anika over and over to himself in the car. It was a beautiful name but it left Jack thinking. Was Davey trying to drop hints? Did Davey want a baby? His eyes widened.

Did Davey want a baby with him?

He shook his head and set his unfinished cup on the coffee table. It was too early to think about babies, it was only 7:30am and he was only 24, there was plenty of time to think about babies later. Besides, he already had one child to look after, three if you count Charlie and Race. he sighed happily, where was Luna anyways?

He heard a scream from the bedroom and a loud thud. He winced, found her. He sprung off the couch, and jogged into the bedroom. Well Davey was awake. Luna was laid comfortably on his side of the bed while he sprawled on the floor staring at the ceiling with vacant eyes. Jack could barely stifle his laughter as he put on a stern face.

“Luna Anne Kelly-Jacobs”He scolded, “Did you push your poor father off the bed?”

“It’s too early for this,”Davey said in disbelief. “The chaos usually doesn’t start until noon”

“Look at what you did”He continued, “You sent the poor man into shock!”

Luna didn’t even bother to pick her head up, he clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Kids these days man”

“Jack”Davey said, shifting his eyes towards the green eyed man. “Please...shut up”

“Good morning to you too, handsome”He said, he extended his arm and Davey reached up to grab it. With one pull Davey was in his arms, swaying gently.

“Morning”Davey yawned, and leaned in to place a kiss on Jack’s forehead. He missed by a long shot and got the top of his ear, but it was the thought that counted.

“You’re a zombie this mornin”He teased. Davey sighed and wrapped his arms around Jack, burying his face in the crook of his neck.

“My students are idiots,”Davey whimpered. Jack faltered for a second.

“Isn’t that kinda mean?”He chuckled.

“No no, they’re incredibly smart”Davey mumbled, “But oh my god they’re idiots”

“Ah, gotcha”He said, “What’d they say this time?”

“One of-”Davey cut himself off with a groan. “One of them looked me in my eye and told me that Amelia Earhart had big dick energy”

Jack quickly turned his head to the side and howled. If any of their neighbors were sleeping they weren’t now because he was dying.

“It’s not funny!”Davey whined burying his face in Jack’s shoulder.

“You’re right, it’s not funny”He said, attempting to compose himself “it’s fucking hilarious!”

“Jack-”

“But did they lie?”He asked, wiping his eyes. 

“No-”

“Raise their grade”He said, “I fucking love that kid”

Davey picked his head up and looked Jack square in the eye, “I couldn’t raise his grade if I wanted to, he’s top of the class”

And Jack was back in hysterics. “That makes it even better!”

That made Davey laugh a bit and he finally pulled away from the embrace shaking his head.

“You are a terrible influence”

“Tell this kid i’m his biggest fan”He pleaded, “Please, I’ll get on my knees and beg”

“I sure would like to see that”Davey laughed, then his face immediately dropped when Jack smirked. “No I didn’t mean it like-”

“Oh really?”He teased, “You wanna see me on my knees beggi-”

“I can’t hear you over the sound of me not hearing you”Davey said, walking out of the room. And he was smiling. Jack followed behind him with a laugh. He loved mornings like this,he loved the days those mornings turned into. For once Jack Kelly finally loved his life.

Bonus

“Will you make us breakfast?”Jack said.

Davey rolled his eyes. “You just want to look at my butt”

“So?”

“At least buy me dinner first”

“We’re married!”Jack exclaimed, “What more do you want from me!”

“I want you to love me for more than my juicy dumptruck!”

“And you wonder where your students pick this shit up from!”

[csichick-2]

I'm semi-plotting a Lashton Mpreg AU in my head that may never end up on paper because I get nervous about sharing RPF.

So in this potential story, shortly after Ashton joins the band, he passes out after a gig and at the hospital they find out that Ash has been physically and sexually abused and also that he's pregnant, which Ashton himself didn't even know yet.  He's also malnourished cuz he was trying to lose the weight he was gaining from his pregnancy because he just thought he was getting fat.  Liz conveniently has a sister that's a social worker who conveniently also happened to be at the gig.  She works her social worker magic and Liz and Andrew get emergency custody of Ashton and his siblings.  Lauren and Harry weren’t abused - Ash took it all and never said anything to keep them safe. Ashton almost has a miscarriage because of the abuse and malnutrition, but the baby's a fighter and pulls through. He considers having an abortion because the pregnancy resulted from rape, but ends up deciding to have the baby. He's nervous that Liz and Andrew will throw him out when he turns 18, but Liz reassures him that they'll never force him to leave, but that if he chooses to, they'll help him find a place of his own and help him out financially until he's able to support himself on his own.

 Ashton's first night home from the hospital, he has a nightmare and Luke - who's room is right across the hall - ends up crawling into bed with Ash and comforting him.  This happens several nights in a row and eventually Luke just stops starting out in his own bed and is all "yeah Ashton and I share a bed now, deal with it."  Andrew thinks it's a bad idea cuz Luke and Ash are 15 and 17, but Liz is all yeah Ashton's already pregnant and Luke can't get pregnant, so let's just roll with it.

 Luke and Ash and Cal and Mikey keep doing their thing with the band and they start getting comments on YouTube asking if Lashton is having a baby cuz Ash has started showing and Luke is always fussing over him.  Luke, Cal, and Mikey do a video without Ash so he’s not forced to talk about it and address the abuse situation as tactfully as they can and leave a link to an article about the trial related to the abuse.

 Ash finds out he’s having a girl and the first time Luke feels her kick, he refers to her as “our baby” and Ashton falls in love with him right then and there.  Luke’s also been reading pregnancy books and has pretty much decided that he’s helping Ashton co-parent this baby whether his parents like it or not.  Liz and Andrew aren’t thrilled cuz Luke’s still only 15, but there’s not a whole lot they can do about at this point.

 I haven’t worked out the details, but Luke manages to convince Ash, Liz, and Andrew that his name should be on the baby’s birth certificate as her second father.  Liz is also in the delivery room when Ash goes into labor - like a week after a gig cuz the band isn’t letting Ash’s pregnancy stop them - but Luke is the one holding Ash’s hand and supporting him through giving birth to Baby Hemmings-Irwin. Ashton names her Lucie after Luke and her middle name is Elizabeth after Liz.  The night they bring Lucie home from the hospital, Luke says that since he and Lucie share a first initial, their next kid’s name has to begin with an A and Ash is all “I literally just gave birth so we’ll talk about that much later.”  A few week’s later, Ash turns 18 and Luke proposes to him and Ash is all WTF because Luke still is only 15, but he says yes cuz they’re stupid in love, but he figures it will be a long engagement until Luke’s 18.  Except in New South Wales, you can get married at 16 with the consent of your parents and the court and Luke’s a persistent bastard and pulls it off, so when the boys - with baby Lucie - head to London for songwriting, Luke & Ashton Hemmings-Irwin are married.  

 Around when it’s announced they’ll be be opening for 1D on the Take Me Home Tour, Luke starts talking to Ash about having a second baby and has already figured out the timing to make sure the baby’s not born until after the tour.  Ashton doesn’t know how to say no to Luke, but says they can only start trying if Cal and Mikey are okay with it in case another pregnancy ends up ruining the band. Mikey's all "wait you mean you're not already pregnant?" cuz he figured they started trying their wedding night.  He and Cal give their blessing and by the end of 2013, their son Avery is born cuz Luke won the A name argument.  Their management throws a hissy when they find out Ash is pregnant and threaten to kick him out of the band and replace them, but Luke, Cal, and Mikey all say they’ll quit if that happens, so management begrudgingly puts up with it. There’s some backlash from fan parents thinking two irresponsible teenagers having a kid is a bad example for their children and Luke is all “Excuse me, my husband and I planned the timing of this out very well thank you very much” on twitter and the internet explodes cuz Lashton are married.  But generally the reaction is positive and the boys have fun with it letting fans guess when the Lashton baby will arrive and the gender.

 Early 2015, they have twin boys who's names begin with C and M cuz they're nerds like that and then have another boy a year later, which is how they have five children before Luke's 20th birthday.  Ashton pops out three more boys in 2017, 2018, and 2019 with no plans of stopping with the babies because Luke desperately wants another girl and Ashton at one point foolishly told Luke that he can get his pregnant as many times as possible up until Ash's 30th birthday and Luke ofc was all "challenge accepted."  Luke's also become an expert at planning pregnancies around their tours so while a few times a show has started late because of Ash’s morning sickness, they've never had to cancel one.

 Ash gets pregnant again right before the World War Joy tour starts, but because I'm evil, he miscarries, which they find out at the first ultrasound when there’s no heartbeat.  And Luke blames himself.  Because if he hadn’t insisted on using every available baby-making opportunity - the largest age gap between kids is the 17 months between Lucie and Avery - and given Ash’s body more time to recover between pregnancies, then maybe they wouldn’t have lost the baby.  And also wonders if maybe it was God’s sign that they’re only meant to have 8 kids. Ashton tries to give Luke some space, but he’s hurt that Luke is withdrawing from him.  Luke confides in Mikey a lot and Ash goes to Cal and both of them are all “dude, I love you, but I’m not your therapist.”

 When the window that would have a kid be born during the gap between the North America and Australia legs of No Shame passes by with Luke making zero effort to actually make a baby, Ashton decides to take matters into his own hands.  So the whole shirtlessness at Fire Fight is totally baiting Luke into wanting to have sex again cuz they haven’t since the miscarriage not even with Ash topping, cuz Luke only tops when they’re trying to conceive.  They’re also asked in an interview if there are any plans for more kids and Ash is a cheeky bastard and says that he fully expects to be pregnant by the end of the year because Luke loves how he looks pregnant.  And Luke is giving him “WTF did you really just say that?” looks.  And then finally have an adult conversation and Ashton tells Luke that the miscarriage wasn’t his fault and that sometimes that shit just happens and dammit they’re going to keep trying until Luke finally gets his second girl.  They start the baby-making process once they know the due date will be past the Australia shows, and Ash knows he’s pregnant with multiples even before the ultrasound because the only previous pregnancy where he had really bad morning sickness was with the twins.  That still doesn’t prepare Luke & Ash for the doctor telling them that heartbeats 1, 2, AND 3 are all nice and strong and Ash immediately turns to Luke and tells him he’s a dead man.  Cal and Mikey were baby-sitting while they were at the doc’s and are all nervous because Cal, Mikey, and Liz are the only ones that know about Ash’s miscarriage.  But all is good and they find out that all three babies are girls and two of them are identical.  Ash does go into labor early after the last Australia show, but they’re able to stop it, but he’s on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy which makes him really crabby. They’d been planning to stay in Australia until the babies were born anyway, their families are able to help out with the rest of the kiddos.  Liz & Andrew Take them for Christmas because Ash doesn’t need that chaos and he ends up going into labor in the middle of the night on Christmas morning. They realize they won’t get to the hospital in time so Luke ends up delivering the first baby in their bedroom but the paramedics get there in time to deliver babies two and three.  During the delivery, Ash informs Luke that he’s going to be getting a vasectomy, but Luke’s not sure if he actually means it given that 20 minutes later he also threatens to castrate Luke with a rusty spoon. They name the babies Soleil, Luna, and Astra - as in sun, moon, and stars.  Mikey’s all wtf you guys are weird and Cal’s all “you’re only just figuring that out now?”

 I haven’t decided yet if they’re done after the triplets or if Ash sticks to his original promise to let Luke knock him up until he’s 30 because they’re already at 11 kids and that’s a lot.  If they do have more they’re going to wait a whole year before even thinking about trying because they’re gonna be more short on sleep than usual because three infants.  Lucie is a mini Ashton in girl form, but the rest of the kids all have Luke’s hair and Ash’s eyes or Ash’s hair and Luke’s eyes.  While the kiddos all know what their daddies do cuz they drag the kids on tour with them and hire tutors instead of sending them to school like normal people, they never push the kids towards learning any instruments.  But Lucie starts banging about on Ash’s drums when she’s five and he starts teaching her and his heart grows about 50 sizes that she’s taking after him and it’s the cutest thing ever.  Haven’t decided what level of musical talent any of the rest of the kiddos have but Luke does make the mistake of leaving one of his guitars out while Avery’s teething and it ends up with tiny tooth marks. He also ends up taking the lip ring out because baby number 5 is a grabber and pulls on it and Luke decides it should go before the kiddo is strong enough to rip it out and cause a lot of damage and pain.  I haven’t done the research on hair dye and pregnancy, but might be losing out on Ash’s hair color evolution.  And his earring because again tiny grabby hands, though it can always appear later once they’re done having babies.

 I might do Malum as a side pairing - I haven’t decided yet. And since Ash is pregnant both times they open for 1D, that might facilitate Larry and/or Ziam coming out but that wouldn’t be a major plot point.

 I did make a Sims save with teenage!5SOS last night to play this out.  I was too lazy to make their families so it’s just Cal, Mikey, Luke, and Ash sharing an apartment and then I used mods to immediately make Ash preggers.  The guy in the next apartment was having loud sex when they were trying to go bed so I sent Ash over to go yell at him since he can blame pregnancy hormones.  This same neighbor also tried to invite himself over to eat their food after Ash made dinner so this guy is going to be one of those neighbors.  I’m trying to avoid using the money cheat as much as I can, but they’ll need a bigger space by the time Avery’s ready to age up to toddler.  I might move them into the swanky penthouse apartment with an indoor basketball court because it’s the only lot where I’ve found a place to put a rock climbing wall where it doesn’t get rained on and break every timer the weather’s wonky. Eventually Cal & Mikey will have to stop living with them but I’ll worry about that when there’s no more room for them.  My mods let me do household sizes up to 25, so that part’s not an issue, it will just be a no more beds problem.  Mods will also help me make sure that the right number and gender of kiddos are born each time.  I’ll just have to force myself to not age up the babies the second they’re born because Sim babies are the world’s biggest pain in the ass.

[sidekickhq]

WELCOME TO HELL, tova vidarschild, victoria creed, adrian trevor, makena thurman, ziva mizrahi, nora lance-queen, monica barton & rosalind reyes-mccoy ! emma mackey, stella maeve, tom hardy, zoe kravitz, inbar lavi, victoria pedretti, phoebe tonkin & zoe love smith are now taken. don’t forget to read over our pages and follow everybody here. you have twenty four hours to send in your account or your roles will be reopened.

⧼    emma mackey, demigirl, she & they   /   i wish i was a punk rocker by sandi thom   +   the musty smell attached to endless stacks of secondhand records. dozens of mismatched stick and poke tattoos along both arms, each of them telling the story of the changes that occurred with each passing year. bulky headphones that are never not over their ears or resting carefully around their neck in place of jewelry.    ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about TOVA SOLEIL VIDARSCHILD. the TWENTY TWO year old child of VIDAR BJORK-THORSON is an UNDERGRAD student at paragon academy, and has sometimes been referred to as THE POP CULTURE FIEND. they’ve always seemed very ECCENTRIC & TENACIOUS, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty ACERBIC & GARRULOUS, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the powers of NATURE MANIPULATION & PARTIAL ASGARDIAN PHYSIOLOGY ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ rachel, 21, gmt, she / they ]

⧼    stella maeve, cis female, she & her   /   abrahams daughter by arcade fire   +   a full moon hanging high in the star speckled sky, skimming the surface of undisturbed snow and drenching in its light the tops of endless evergreen trees and the decrepit cabin you grew up in. your body is more scar tissue than it is unblemished skin, and all you know is how to bare your teeth as if they’re fangs and treat your fingernails like claws. there’s blood on your trembling hands and it doesn’t belong to you, but tha won’t stop it from staining everything that you touch.    ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about VICTORIA CREED. the TWENTY EIGHT year old child of VICTOR CREED ( LOGAN HOWLETT & SILVERFOX ) is a wayward soul in town, and has sometimes been referred to as THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB. they’ve always seemed very INTUITIVE & METICULOUS, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty CALCULATING & RUTHLESS, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the powers of CLAW RETRACTION, REGENERATIVE HEALING & ENHANCED SENSES ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ rachel, 21, gmt, she / they ]

⧼    tom hardy, cis male, he & him   /   charlie boy by the lumineers   +   a tarnished wedding band near embedded in the depths of a faded leather wallet. well worn and oversized sweaters with too many threads pulled to count or warm denim jackets over wrinkled flannel shirts ; no inbetween, and no alternatives. a rueful smile and a distinct limp.    ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about ADRIAN STEPHANOS TREVOR. the THIRTY SEVEN year old child of DIANA PRINCE & STEVE TREVOR is an INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST and STARBUCKS BARISTA in town, and has sometimes been referred to as THE MAUDLIN. they’ve always seemed very RIGHT MINDED & MUNIFICENT, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty IDIOSYNCRATIC & SELF DESTRUCTIVE, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the power of ENHANCED CONDITION ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ rachel, 21, gmt, she / they ] 

⧼    zoe kravitz, non binary, she & they & he   /   that bitch by bea miller   +   bruised and broken knuckles from another righteous fight and a sore throat and hoarse voice from speaking your mind a little too loudly. kissing your daughter goodnight and softly closing her bedroom door, waiting until she’s deeply asleep before you break out the margarita mix. large shirts that didn’t always belong to you over simple bralettes, ever tangled sheets atop the mattress on your bedroom floor and a default response to criticism being an impassioned middle finger.    ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about MAKENA RENÉE THURMAN. the TWENTY EIGHT year old child of NEENA THURMAN & NATHAN SUMMERS ( LOKI ) is a BOOKING AGENT & ACCOUNTANT FOR KARMA CLUB in town, and has sometimes been referred to as THE PHILOPHOBE. they’ve always seemed very INTUITIVE & STAUNCH, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty IRASCIBLE & INSCRUTABLE, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the powers of TYCHOKINESIS & LATENT TELEKINESIS ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ rachel, 21, gmt, she / they ]

⧼    inbar lavi, genderfluid, she & they & he   /   shoot and run by josef salvat  +   a selfless heart hidden behind a bulletproof vest ; a highly literal warmth underneath impenetrable armor. impossibly dark brown eyes set into - and unmanageable curls framing - a disarmingly innocent face. a tiny and freshly polished star of david charm on a dainty chain, dirtied combat boots and an improbable amount of weapons hidden on their person at any one time.   ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about ZIVA ORLI MIZRAHI. the THIRTY FOUR year old ( legal ) child of NICK FURY & NATASHA ROMANOFF / WARD OF SHIELD is a PROFESSOR OF STRATEGY at paragon academy and SHIELD LIAISON OFFICER & JUNIOR TRAINER, and has sometimes been referred to as THE HIRED GUN. they’ve always seemed very INGENIOUS & ADAPTABLE, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty OBSTINATE & TACITURN, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the power of ELECTROKINESIS and abilities of INNATE COMBAT & WEAPONS PROFICIENCY ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ rachel, 21, gmt, she / they ]

⧼    victoria pedretti, cis female, she & her   /   rainbow by kesha   +   a studio apartment with a wall of windows and a minimalist floor plan - everything about the place they live is open and airy, and clean. they are all cashmere jumpers in warm colors with sleeves long enough to pull over clenched fists and mousy brown hair that once fell to their waist and now, when free of a loose top knot, hangs at broad shoulders. rest easy with the knowledge that while your voice may have shaken, you still spoke up.    ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about NORA ISABELLE LANCE-QUEEN. the TWENTY TWO year old child of DINAH LAUREL LANCE & OLIVER QUEEN is an UNDERGRAD at paragon academy, and has sometimes been referred to as THE FINAL GIRL. they’ve always seemed very AUDACIOUS & SUAVE, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty SELF RELIANT & PRIDEFUL, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the power of VIBRATION MANIPULATION ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ rachel, 21, gmt, she / they ]

⧼    phoebe tonkin, cis female, she & her   /   mr rattlebone by matt maeson  +   oversized t-shirt containing the entirety of the ‘cool girl’ monologue over a lacy black thong, sheer black tights that have been pulled at all the seams with a shadow of ouroboros inked high on pallid thigh, chipped nail polish and fingers covered in dirty bandaids and stubbed out cigarettes in an overflowing ashtray & the best fake orgasm a man could hope for.   ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about MONICA LAUREL BARTON. the TWENTY FIVE year old child of BARNEY BARTON is a UNDERGRAD at paragon academy and WAITRESS in town, and has sometimes been referred to as THE AMY ELLIOT DUNNE. they’ve always seemed very SELF RELIANT & RELENTLESS, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty SARDONIC & REACTIVE, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the ability of VIOLENT SELF DESTRUCTION & WICKED SEXUAL PROWESS ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ rachel, 21, gmt, she / they ]

⧼    zoe love smith, genderqueer, she & they   /   borderline by vanic  +   the feeling of your heart blooming in your chest when a cat you’ve been told doesn’t like most people chooses your lap to settle down into, purring like a jackhammer all the while. the very first time that you experienced self awareness ; the way your pulse quickened and you began to feel lightheaded, all because you realized that everyone in the room was having a different moment to you. the rush of endorphins and adrenaline when, contrary to the opinion that you have of yourself, someone remembers your name and uses it in conversation.   ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about ROSALIND TESLA “TESSIE” REYES-MCCOY. the TWENTY year old child of CECELIA REYES ( LAB BABY ) & HANK MCCOY ( STEP FATHER ) is a UNDERGRAD at paragon academy and MODEL in town, and has sometimes been referred to as the ROSE COLORED GLASS. they’ve always seemed very BENEFICENT & VIVACIOUS, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty OBSEQUIOUS & RAUCOUS, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the power of FORCE FIELD GENERATION ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ rachel, 21, gmt, she / they ] 

[sireneia-a]

anyway thread wishlist stuff i guess ?? ofc nobody has to do this so if you ever want to thread w/ me about something different don’t feel obligated to choose any of these just cause i eventually want to write them 

it’s lengthy as a note but at least under a cut! apologies for those on mobile. i’m also refraining from listing anything shippy since i don’t want ppl to feel obligated to ship with me just because i like a certain ship fsduhfsdkjsdhksfd. list goes in roster order, not based on personal interest level. i’m also putting the MOST far-fetched shit on here like with muses i expect literally no one to have cause i’m wild

KENT ( fe7 )

odd friendship between kent, sain and lowen 

kent hanging out with literally any of the other red christmas cavaliers

postgame conversation with kent about what both parties have been up to since fe7 

heroes verse thread with kent and another steward like character

heroes verse thread with kent and another catria archetype having that Unrequited Love for Liege Solidarity

KLIFF ( fe2 / fe15 )

hrm... i honestly don’t have a lot? i guess anything referencing the manga is cool cause i think his character arc in that’s really good

i mean. if i played archanea games, something with him meeting someone in archanea postgame probably would’ve been cool but i still haven’t played a marth game orz

OH HOW COULD I FORGET an fe2 kliff and an fe15 kliff interacting with one another!! probably heroes verse. i’d take writing the fe2 kliff any day god i love him

PERCY / LUTZ ( fe14 )

heroes verse thread where lutz latches onto michalis with admiration 

heirs of fate verse thread between lutz and one of siegbert’s other retainers ( soleil, velour, ignis ) OR with syalla

azura mothered percy talking to his mom about his insecurity with singing compared to / inferiority complex with shigure

literally anything with hisame dude these supports have me so shooketh

TATIANA ( fe2 / fe15 )

any threads between tatiana and either zeke/camus OR nyna are Yes. Very Yes in my book. i love the uniqueness and gray morality of their love triangle situation

since i hc that tatiana is good friends with rinea pregame, i think a thread between her and berkut pregame sounds good!! or heroes thread if someone prefers. it could be about anything honestly

fe2 tatiana interacting with an fe15 tatiana!!! heroes verse most likely as was explained in kliff’s variant. i’m definitely willing to write either tatiana in this situation but i’d assume fe2 tatiana would be mine ngl

HMMM i don’t really have much direction this, but i think tatiana interacting with a louise sounds kinda interesting!

tatiana interacting with a lovestruck character ( not necessarily a catria archetype but characters like canon love interests could also work ) that are young and serving as a confidant for them on romance affairs!!!

STAHL ( fe13 )

mentor-student relationship between frederick and stahl

WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT... heroes verse thread between stahl and alec?? i just think these two would have a weird dynamic that sounds kinda fresh

HINATA ( fe14 )

parent-child thread between him and hisame !!!!

i have a valentia verse for him i wouldn’t mind using actually!! especially considering he’s a deserter in that au

MARIBELLE ( fe13 )

hmm i’m probably not describing this well but a thread where she helps someone with dressing up / makeup sounds feel-good?

maribelle helping plan lissa’s wedding !!! god u know she’d be all over that shit !!!

maribelle and chrom having some kind of heart to heart. maybe talking over the past?? whether it be the former exalt and ylisse’s past or hell even some jugdral history. i feel like she’d know it.

SILAS ( fe14 )

somebody talking about silas’s history as a bad boy(tm)

silas reminiscing about the past with either camilla or xander

big brother relationship between silas and elise?? i mentioned briefly before that i think them being close because of him opening up about how he wants to meet corrin again and elise being supportive is totally my jam

more corrin + silas childhood friend interactions in general dude i won’t ever get enough of that

BERKUT ( fe15 )

berkut and fernand interactions are cool !!! especially ones that highlight their age difference and maturity levels/gap in experience

berkut lives au where he reflects with alm about the paths they took in life

berkut lives au where he talks with alm about rudolf and rigel in general

dude literally any otome situation between berkut and rinea and i’m down. i know i said i’d refrain from anything shippy but <:’) oops.... 

HAYATO / TSUKUYOMI ( fe14 )

hayato meets elise. idc where it goes but i just think their dynamic could be hilarious

hayato reflects with fuga about his parents

parent-child thread where hayato talks about the wind tribe with rhajat

heroes verse thread where hayato meets ricken. i’m also down for him being like the oldest version ( except maybe azelle might be older than him ?? idk dude ) of the archetype of young prodigy mage and just babysitting them all begrudgingly

a ship thread where someone convinces him it’s okay to be self-indulgent and show childish behavior or weakness. idk if he’s acquiesce if it was someone besides his lover

training thread or some other kind of interaction between hayato and hinata

MARK ( fe7 )

one of the rgb lords trying to help him learn self-defense

reunion with lyn in heroes verse. though warning that mark will kinda be awkward and not as warm abt it as nintendo continually makes lyn about it

more threads in general between mark and robins actually! considering the games like to liken them to one another

a thread between mark and someone from bern. let it be awkward. or let the other person actually have heard of mark before and his history in bern.

LEIF ( fe4 / fe5 )

a thread between him and seliph. i don’t really have any specific ideas except leif kinda being envious but yeah!

a thread with an ares talking about their times in leonster

dude an interaction with him and literally ANY second gen trust me i’ll be here forever if i list them all down but febail, patty, tine, lene, coirpre, diarmuid, and ced all jump out to me for various reasons

heroes verse thread between him and someone from awakening talking about how his legacy might have been thousands of years in the future. idk if leif would be like Extremely notable in the same way that arvis was, but i’d think it cool!

fe5 muses i will die for u

leif interactions with other protags!! god i love crossover protag interactions in heroes verse trust me

CLIVE ( fe2 / fe15 )

thread between him and jesse catching up on old times. this can be as awkward as hell or jovial but with clive hiding awkwardness underneath it

some kind of introspective heart-to-heart between him and mathilda, forsyth, lukas, or python. i’m down for any of those four tbh

not as much an interest to me as the kliff variant of this was  ( mostly due to the fact both clives are pretty similar actually ) but !!! fe2 and fe15 clive interacting with one another and talking about their circumstances. who do u trust more than urself

COIRPRE ( fe4 / fe5 )

sibling thread after lene and coirpre find out they’re related. 

sylvia children solidarity is being prisoners of war: the thread

sylvia children duality: coirpre having found family dynamic but lene is still fixated on finding their birth parents

au where coirpre is fathered by lewyn and he wields forseti but refuses to use it even though he still has it with him.

( incest implications tw ) a claud fathered coirpre holding the power to bring people back to life interacting with a charlot who knows how to wield the berserk staff. The Contrast My Dudes. or this same coirpre interacting with seliph post-war.

awkward thread between coirpre and a dancer since he has an aversion to dancers unlike most fe characters. heroes verse possibly BUT i can also work with a lara since i hc that it’s actually her troupe that he built his distaste for dancers from.

TINE ( fe4 )

sibling thread between her and arthur talking about their different histories growing up

LENE ( fe4 )

the three sibling threads i mentioned beforehand with coirpre

lene talking with lara about the influential men in their lives and their motives for becoming dancers

same thing as above but with rinea in heroes verse holy shit!!!!!

[todaysbiggesthits]

The Exam

Best Music Moment of 2020

Bin: Re-discovering 1990s alt-rock and listening to some previously unknown and/or forgotten jams culminating with discovering that Cherub Rock is an all-time track

Chap: Dancing to Frank Sinatra with my kids on NYE

Bronco: Started jamming with John on Rocksmith.  He pointed out that there was a multiplayer mode, so I ordered another cable and, lo and behold, we were both able to play.  He's starting to learn the bass while I continue to tinker with the guitar.  Pretty awesome to jam out to some Alice in Chains or some Mastodon with my 10-year-old son. Only two more years and he should be able to tour with Korn!

Code: - climbed up to the roof for 4th of july and brought the big set outside to jam at an ear splitting volume. Arden and i danced until we got almost too drunk to descend the ladder. that was major fun. - broke quarantine (and my smoking cessation plan) in late april to ride my bike to the lake and listen to townes van zandt while thinking of bobcat the wheelie king. - listening to shadowplay while closing out each opponent in a summerlong match play tournament. - watching the sun rise through the fog on an october morning while crossing the mississippi river with elliott smith's XO

JD: July: Sitting by the window watching a rainstorm with the Barwick album on the day it came out. October: A big spin of The Big Ship. November: Blasting “House of Jealous Lovers” when they called the election and turning it into a 2.5 hour club mix. November: jj having a violently negative reaction to a song by that Muzz band that came on shuffle and saying it sounded like Jason Mraz.

BC: Haphazard attempt at The Music Game over Zoom in April with last partiers standing - JD, Maddy, and I  "Live Drugs" first listen

Larse: Probably  streaming through YouTube Music's Top Indie 2020 on my Chromecast TV and seeing all of the music videos for the songs on a lazy weekday afternoon whilst I wasn't working over the holidays

Best Shows Seent in 2020

Code: pqc - 10th anniversary show (streamed) silver jews - final show (01/31/2009) a handful of live phish performances while facetiming with jonas, bc and geoff not a single in-person show attended

Nasty:"Dinner  and a Movie" series - Phish Youtube with BC, Code, and Dillon via facetime

JD: 1. Peel Dream Magazine at whatever they call Hi-Fi now on the day before lockdown 2. Real Estate busking on the sidewalk in front of closed record store locations in Manhattan 3. Parkay Boys’ 10th anniversary stream on my couch

Laser: Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson One in Vegas in January…that was the only show even remotely related to music I saw all year

Bronco: Only seent one, and it was Cold War Kids with my wife.  Had a really good time.  It was nice to share some quality music time together, away from the kids for a night... basically the only time of this butthole of a year.

Chap: Ted Lasso

BC: Yeeeahhh right

Confession of 2020

JD: I think I engaged with Aerosmith music videos more than any new albums.

BC: Listening to new music often feels like a chore

Rotty: I played over 75 rounds of golf this year…another ample opportunity to listen to new music and I found myself just listening to Classic Pop/Rock Hits!

Codem: - i didn't even listen to taylor swift's album. - i listened to bob marley - live! for the first time in 20 years while driving my dad's car and i sobbed and sang.

Nasty: I'm a phish fan now?

Bronco: I'm still reading the book I mentioned in last year's Resolution for 2019 Status...such a slow fucking reader and this book is 1000 pages.  Kindle app says I'm 63% of the way through.  Jesus.

Biggest Disappointment of 2020

Nasty: Still Kanye...

NACK: Sufjan Stevens

Code: - no shows with my sweet one - no stones while waiting for the canons - i think i grew out of diet cig - i didn't put my heart into finding cool album art this year. 

Larson: JD's wedding being cancelled (editor’s note: sure hope you mean postponed)

JD: Don’t know if it was my advanced age, the lack of concerts, commuting, and hearing music in bars and restaurants, or the platform economy murdering my attention span and turning them all into yet more ephemeral ‘content,’ but the new albums really didn’t take this year.

Bronco: Kvelertak was okay, they changed lead singers and the new album was fine, but after their last offering that landed quite high on my list, this one was kind of a let down. Also, 2020.

BC: 2020

Most Overrated of 2020

Chap: Fiona

BC: I fully expect Fiona Apple to flood this answer.  But the correct answer is Waxahachee. 

JD: It’s hard to say given the way ‘institutional’ narratives feel mostly guided by risk minimization, but I always keep this seat warm for Run the Jewels.

Bronco: Any and all death metal.  It's all so samey. I have a hard time trying to get in to any of it, so I don't bother...and then it bothers me when it ends up on end of year lists like it's some revelation of sound. It's literally all the same.

Code: podcasts

Bin: The human brain

Laser: my golf game!

Make it Stop 2020 

Nasty: WOP (editor’s note: WAP?)

Larse: Having to talk about Politics

Code: "better off alone" - purity ring

JD: The impossibly grating contempo pop that’s always on the radio at the bodega down the street.

Chap: Covid? Trump? Celeb deaths? SNL? Murder Hornets? Talkin' tv models via email? Not enough exposure to pop culture to really get annoyed by anything.

BC: The raging pandemic. Seriously. 

Biggest TBH Regret of 2020

Laser: giving this the old college try and having just a shit list!

Chap: Only seeing one show in my 2.5 years in NYC

JD: Skipping Nap Eyes opening for Destroyer in February because I’d so obviously be able to catch Nap Eyes headlining a better venue later on.

Codem: i wanted that teenage halloween album to sound better because i loved the album artwork

Bin: Not buying Lilly stock

Bronco: No regrets to be had, couldn't do anything in this godforsaken year.

Detective Murtaugh of 2020

BC: My back giving out upon bending over to change a light bulb

Chap: Trying to give Taylor Swift the ol' college try. 

Larson: This damn pandemic!

Bronco: I'm too old for being stuck in my house all day, every day, listening to the rest of my family non-stop. I need this shit to end. I can't listen to my kids anymore... not all day. It's crushing me.

Code: now that i own a car again, my favorite pastime has become zoning out to a good album on a long drive and seeing if i can reach an arbitrary mpg number for my trip.

JD: I remember browsing the racks at Media Play and getting mad at every magazine that ranked Love and Theft ahead of Is This It? in 2001 and 19 years later I came thisclose to doing it m’self.

Bin: Arizona,  Pennsylvania, and Nevada taking their sweet ass time counting ballots

Resolution for 2020 Status 

Larse: None How It Went: More than likely it was related to being better at this and this year was probably the worst of all time…

Code: i'm making it easier this year.  catch ovlov, washer, EMA and colleen green live this year.  bonus points: see dom's much anticipated return to the stage. How It Went: ain’t caught but a one!

Bronco: Build a vinyl collection. I know I dumped on Brendon for suggesting he press copies of Carpet Affair, but my kid's getting way into music and listening to it on his own (via Alexa in my bedroom which is super fucking annoying), so we're getting him his own record player and I think it's going to be a cool activity to go record store diving for whatever classics we can scrounge up. How It Went: Started the vinyl collection.  Went record store diving with John at the beginning of the year.  He picked up Ride the Lightening.  And I've got an original pressing of Back in Black on its way, didn't make it in time for Christmas.  I decided on purchasing that album, then a day or two later John said, "I think I know what I want my next record to be...Back in Black".  Sad it didn't make it in time, but psyched I was able to predict it.

Chap: Eh I'm cool How It Went: Ironically, reading back it contradicts what it says

Bren: See Phish in 2020 How It Went: Phish tickets purchased and ready

Bin: Send an email about music on the TBH! thread. How It Went:   Ha!  Set the bar low! Finally. Send an email about music? Check.... "can you  believe Trump plays Fortunate Son unironically at campaign events???"

JD: Get to more shows. Take more aimless strolls spinning tunes. How It Went: Turns out I did a lot of sitting around inside this year.

Resolution for 2021

Bronc: Get vaccinated.

BC: Get vaxxed up and return to normalcy 

JD: - Massively reduce my ‘news’ consumption to free up more time to spin tunes and smell the roses. - Get vaxed and get partying.

Code: see a live music concert

Nasty: I'm going to be ambitious. See a show with JD. Coward move to shy away from this in 2020.

Nicky: To start earlier. It takes me longer to get into new stuff. I didn't even like my top 4 until at least late December, but now I feel like they could compete with most years.

Laser: Be better at this! If anything, the pandemic should have allowed me to listen to more music whilst at home working, but it seemed to have the opposite effect…

Most Anticipated of 2021

BC: TWOD

Bronco: Mastodon, and live shows... not sure I even care which ones.

JD: Dry Cleaning, Park Hye Jin, Viagra Boys

Larse: No clue…

Chap: It's way too early!

Bin: Freedom of movement

Code: it seems like there should be a buncha new cool musical ideas to come out of this time indoors. something like this era's disco?  a big celebratory sound that makes us all smile and move.  in other words, the next dom album.

[willreadforbooze]

Hello!

Here’s our weekly wrap up from the WRFB crew =)

Linz’s Updates

Got drunk Friday. Got less drunk Saturday. Celery and sadness the rest of the week.

What Linz read:

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: Two figures, Red and Blue, fight for opposite teams in a war to change the course of time, and they start to fall in love. REALLY cool concept, but there’s a lot that was left to be explained–and I suspect they could have done so if this weren’t just a novella.

It All Comes Back to You by Beth Duke: I’ve been trying to make use of my Kindle Unlimited trial, so I read this novel that bounces between a nursing home aide writing a book about a now-dead patient’s life, and the actual events of the patient’s life. Meh–unhealthy relationships, questionable motivations, and a major fail of the Bechdel Test.

Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia: A rebel girl tries to prove she didn’t commit a string of arsons without telling the truth, because that would mean telling people she sees ghosts and fights demons. Review tk, but I really enjoyed reading this book.

Cursed by Thomas Wheeler (illustrated by Frank Miller): You’ve all seen the very catchy Netflix-toned ARC cover, you’ve all seen this at every book festival this year. Review tk, but…yikes.

What Linz is reading:

Recursion by Blake Crouch: I literally have no idea what this is about, I picked it up because I really liked Dark Matter and everyone else on our team has loved this book. I’m 2.5 chapters in and goddamn I may finish this today.

Ginny’s Updates:

Whatsup! I’ve had a great week. Went to see a Cirque du Soleil show for my Birthday on Tuesday with some of my amazing friends, and as always my mind was BLOWN! I tried to branch out this week and read a little more things outside of my norm. I’ll let you know how that went, but first:

Currently reading:

Breathless by Beverly Jenkins: This is the second book in a series, the first book was Forbidden which I covered in a previous weekly wrap up. This book focuses on one of Eddy’s nieces and one of the other minor characters. This series is charming and does a really nice job of creating the atmosphere of the old west. I’m really enjoying Portia’s personality and the way Kent is so laid back.

After the Flood by Kassandra Montag: This is one of the ARC’s we got from somewhere and it takes place in a flooded world. It’s pretty damn heavy on the dystopian. I’m about 70 pages in and I get the feeling this might get DNF’d, not because the book is bad, but just because I’m not sure I’m in the right place to read something like this. Myra is traveling with her 8 year old daughter and finds out that her 12 year old daughter (who had been kidnapped by her shitty shitty husband) might have been sold basically to slavers… It’ll be interesting to see which list this ends up on for me next week.

Finished:

Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire: This is the third book in the InCryptid series and it switches focus from Verity, to her older brother Alex. Alex lives in Ohio with his grandparents working at a zoo which is a great cover for his interest in cryptozoology. I’m planning on writing a review for this one, so no more info here.

Lord Dashwood Missed Out by Tessa Dare: I think I’ve read other things by Tessa Dare and picked this one out because of a twitter thread about the “enemies to lovers” trope which I occasionally find delightful. As a note, this was a novella, so pretty damn short. But they were childhood friends and he was a bit of an ass to her before disappearing for years. She wrote a book about it and when he comes back she’s right pissed at him. Obviously it works out in the end. But a quick fun read. 3.5/5

My Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding by Erin Nicholas: I have this book club where I read free romance novels from Amazon with a few of my friends. This one was a lot better than the ones that we usually read. Definitely had a few issues (starting out with the leads have painfully cringey flirtations at the beginning of the book and ending with the wrong person uprooting their entire life plus the addition of a probably too bitchy fiance of the heroines best friend). Regardless, the cast of this was pretty fun. 3/5

Trouble in Lafayette Square: Assassination, Protest Murder at the White House by Gil Klein: This book takes snapshot looks at pieces of history in one small square of the nations capital. The book follows a fairly linear timeline and especially early on there’s a fair amount of overlap. It was a good reminder for a local about the amount of history that is steeped in the vast majority of the city I walk through on a daily basis. 4.5/5

How to Lose a Bride in One Night by Sophie Jordan: This book had it’s moments but there was definitely a certain amount of sexual assault and I’m kind of in the camp of offering warnings for that somewhere.

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards: This book starts in the mid-60s when a doctor and his wife has twins. The girl has downs syndrome and the doctor gives the baby away before his wife wakes up form the gas they used to give women who gave birth (gonna be honest, the “twilight” births sound kind of great. Wish they still did those) and tells his wife the baby died instead. The book follows the lives of the Dr, wife, and son, to be compared with the life of the nurse who took the baby and raised her as her own. It’s an interesting look at grief and the ways a single decision can ripple out. That being said I’m very conflicted about the way that I feel about this book and the way that the people with Downs Syndrome are treated. I think it could be a realistic portrayal, but I’ can’t tell whether or not it’s also infantalizing. 2.5/5

Sam’s Updates

It was a fun week! Ginny’s and Mama’s birthday, went to the show, it was awesome. Got drunk on Friday, and then also last night. I am hurting pretty bad this morning (she says, at 4:39 in the afternoon).

What I read this week:

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte: In this story, the country is divided into four quadrants each with their own specialty, run by their own queen. Enter our everyday thief and she finds out about a plot to kill the queens. Off we go on our adventure. I listened to this on audio, and it was fine. not great, but not bad either. Insta-love was a thing and so was the “plot twist”.

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel: This is the third book in the Themis Files. I was talking about this with Parker this week, while I LOVED book 1, and book 2 was alright, this one has shifted tone drastically. I didn’t mind the end at all. But I sorta wanted more from it.

What I’m currently reading:

Steeltide by Natalie C. Parker: This is the second book in the Seafire series, which I didn’t enjoy as much as I wanted to, but THIS book. THIS BOOK is significantly better than the first. I love it when that happens.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig: This story is about a girl on a pirate ship that can travel through time. Her dad, the captain, is tryna get back to Hawaii so he can save his wife, but it may mean that our lady may cease to exist. I’m doin ok with this. I think, like Linz, I struggle with this author. Audiobook format is helping though. Idk what the plot is supposed to be yet.

Minda’s Updates

What Minda is reading now:

On Swift Horses by Shannon Pufahl – Based in the post-war American west, this woman and her brother-in-law are living a restless and divergent life on the road. Haven’t gotten very far yet.

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner – This story is about two sisters growing up in the suburbs of Detroit in the 1950s. As we follow them through their lives, things don’t go according to plan. Enjoying so far!

Weekly Wrap Up: September 16-22, 2019 Hello! Here’s our weekly wrap up from the WRFB crew =) Linz's Updates Got drunk Friday. Got less drunk Saturday.

[qtlitoang3l]

2018 .

another year down .. it went by very fast didnt it ? time is going by even faster .

2017 was a year full of roller coasters .. a lot of ups , but equally as many downs . i usually reflect my year in Dec/Jan so here it goes . January: I started school again . BIG step , considering i was out for 2 years before then . i remember how excited yet nervous i was . im so glad i did it . It was also the month that my good friend from high school , Brandon , told me that he was getting deployed (he’s in the army) in Feb . i was scared , but all i could do was pray for him to come back home alive . he came back home last month (Dec 2017) safe and sound . i thanked God for watching over him . unfortunately , a few days later , my dad got a heart attack .. now THAT was the scariest moment of my life . i still remember that day very clearly . it haunts me every time . ill never forget the sight of my dad holding his chest , sliding down the couch , and grabbed my hand for his life , grasping for breathe . after 3 days being in the hospital , he was discharged with meds and a new plan for his diet . my mom was by herself at work so my siblings and i had to go out to help while my dad was in the hospital . i knew how scared she gets when shes by herself . my dad and i werent on good terms for a year until this moment happened . i guess we both realized that life is so short and that anything could happen in a second . more importantly , im so glad he’s okay til this day . On a happier note , that was also the month that i purchased my first firearm ! so bad ass right ? The beginning of the year was rough , but it got better ! February: Had dinner with Brandon and Aimee b4 he got deployed . Again , i prayed for his safety . I went to a concert (william singe and alex aiono) , which was so fun . Not much happened that month . Had a valentine’s day dinner with the girls and with an old friend . 

March: this month was important because thats when i found that my sister was having a boy!! amazing news right ? and i could finally be an aunt ! I also watched the Lion King on broadway . i think thats a pretty cool thing to mention , right ? it was such a good show !

April: Finals month ... ugh . also my bday month .. didnt do anything cuz all my finals were on the week of my bday . Got my car fixed that month too after that bad car accident . ugh . May: went to a friend’s dowry , did my first 5K bubble run , went to a house warming party , picked up my mom from her 2 week vacation . she deserved it . Did i mention it was the first semester that i start a nursing course ? nerve-wracking!! 

June: My sister’s baby shower . SO FUN ! i decorated everything and bought this beautiful cake . everything was obviously blue :) i also remember having A LOT of exams back to back . not fun at all .

July: My nephew was born .. it was the best day ever . it changed my life . i am an auntie !! he made everyone so happy and everyone was so happy to see him . it was nice to see my whole family together and happy . I also went to a really fun wedding that month . 

August: After a brutal semester and final , I WENT TO LA !! its been forever since ive been on vacation !! i prefer to go with friends , but i went with my siblings . ups and down on that trip and wouldnt wanna travel again with them unless my parents were there . lesson learned and long story . still have pictures that i havent posted from that trip !

September: went to birthday dinners , a wedding , apartment warmings , a “bachelor” party (lol) and started school again . This was also the month that one of the doctors at DH passed away from breast cancer . it was a very gloomy time for my coworkers . i wasnt at work when everyone found out , but ive heard about it . everyone didnt want to work . the atmosphere completely changed . I went to her funeral , but only the beginning part . instead of being sad , we celebrated her life as a doctor and her passion for her career . it was a sad time and the world lost such a talented person . RIP Dr. Stanfield. at the end of the month my friend dan got married at city hall , which was everything he wanted . didnt have to spend a lot of money at all ! October: My friend threw a huge house party for his birthday . parties are not like they use to be . but because most of the ppl there were older , there wasnt much drinking or playing games , which was the sucky part . no one really wanted to do anything . not sure why , but it is what it is . Also did a photoshoot that month , which i havent done in a long time . forgot how much fun it was .

November: Ughhhh drama month out of all the other months , only because this girl is totally obsessed with her ex and hes literally the only thing she talks about . basically we went to the club and she KNEW he was gonna be there yet she decided to come with us . okay . she sees him , starts freaking out , gets all dramatic like “OMG he totally saw me” type of dramatic . it actually went as far as “i could get him kicked out RIGHT NOW if i wanted . i KNOW the bouncers here , dont test me” yeup .. DRAMA . it was entertaining at the same time . my mistake was that she could handle herself . no , she was totally sloppy and even fell.. in front of her ex .. nbd -.- GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER . i stopped hanging out with her .. i couldnt handle it the negative vibes . she came to the thanksgiving party the week after and of course she brought that weekend back and started venting about how she saw her ex and shit . i honestly didnt care . Anyways , thanksgiving with the sister’s in laws was alright . there was some questionable food that i had no idea what the mom was cooking though .. it was some weird things .

December: went to a holiday party , met and saw some friends . it was a good time ! that was also the month that i thought i was gonna fail but ended up passing in the end . THANK GOD . the whole week after the final , i literally went out every day to go drink . you can tell how much stress i was under . lol . i noticed that i was getting a cough , so i cooled down on the drinking after that week . figured i should take care of myself right ? i watched a cirque du soleil show . fantastic as usual . My friend duy asked me to part of this pageant because there was not enough girls .. hmm ... well i didnt wanna just compete because there werent a lot of girls .. so he sat me down and literally gave me a power point show as to why i should join . LOL . i appreciated the time and effort , so id do it for a friend in need . it’ll be fun ! maybe not intense as miss massachusetts but it’ll be a good experience . a big accomplishment that month was when i went snowboarding for the first time in my life !! omg it was so much more fun that i thought it was ! i was hesitant to go because my student that passed away from a snowboarding accident (RIP) , but i couldnt be afraid forever .. it was for him :)

And nooow .. we are in January !! crazy how much has happened in a year .. my resolution this year , besides spending time with my brother , is be more carefree and not care what other ppl think . i think i need to focus on being happy instead of trying to please others . i was told by someone .. that i should be myself more and ppl will see how fun/funny i am . haha , maybe i should ! i will def try . ive kept my guard up for a long time around a lot of ppl and i know ill regret it 50 years from now when im old . im gonna wish i was myself more .

as for you .. yes you .. you know exactly who you are .. i left a section specifically for you . its been a while .. a long while actually . you may or may not still read my .. “journal” .. i might just be writing this for no one to read and now one will ever see , but i guess ill never know . and its okay . even though youre not here anymore and you may not ever be anymore , im living my life the best way that i can , going through life like i never knew you . has it been hard ? yes . am i forgetting our memories ? .. i might have .. i mightve even forgotten what you look like . i dont go on your social media and you are prob doing the same . i think of you from time and time , but not in the way that you think . in a way that i hope you are doing well and only sending you positive vibes . i still pray for you and ask you to be watched over . anyways . i know youre mad .. and i understand . you’ll always have a hold of me .. but eventually .. i have to let that go .. or at least i have to learn how to . i miss our friendship , but i guess if i care about you that much .. i cant be selfish anymore . and i promise that after this , i wont be writing about you anymore .. it’ll all just disappear eventually .. my wish to you is to find happiness . i hope you can promise me that .. take care of yourself . 

[adventuresaroundasia]

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info. 

I’ve noticed that the more I travel and the busier I become, the more impossible it becomes to keep up with my travels in real-time. Well, never fear monthly recap posts are here!

Pin Me!

This month I headed back to the US for a week of friends and family. First I stopped by Seattle for a few rainy days to see my parents, and then I was on to Napa Valley for my high school friend’s wedding!

May was also a month of moving. I moved out of my private office and into a public open office area (Which wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be). I also began the process of moving from my Andingmen apartment to my boyfriend Chris’ place, because surprise my landlord sold our apartment and kicked us all out.

Where I Went

I spent most of the month hanging out in Beijing, but for one week I flew to the US where I went home to Seattle and headed to Napa for a wedding. In Seattle, I mainly relaxed and did a million errands, but in Napa, I rode I hot air balloon over the wineries with Tinggly Experiences and attended the fanciest black tie wedding I’ve ever been to at Auberge du Soleil.

Unfortunately, I was a bit too hungover for wine tasting the next day, but I drank enough fancy wine at my friend’s wedding that I didn’t really feel like I was missing out.

The beautiful couple!

Posing with my wedding parasol!

Monthly Highlights

A lot of great things happened this month! Let’s go through my favorites.

A Beautiful Napa Wedding

Last month one of my best friends from high school married her college sweetheart in Napa, so I flew down from Beijing for the wedding. Fun fact: In the summer of 2013 I actually traveled to Tibet with her husband (without her!) having only met him once a few years prior. Weird, right?

A year or so later, they let me crash in their Palo Alto apartment while I was applying for a Chinese visa, and we visited the Napa Wineries together. It’s crazy to think that the next time I’d see them together would be at their Napa Wedding!

They were married at Auberge du Soleil, a stunning resort overlooking the Napa Wineries. This was my first “friend-wedding”, and I didn’t think I’d cry… but I did. After a tear-jerking ceremony, they had a great reception with food and wine pairings and a lot of dancing. I sat at a table with the bride’s cousins and high school friends and we all had a blast!

Let’s hope my future wedding is at least half as good as her’s was.

My friend and I waiting for the ceremony to start

We suffered through our heels together

Road Tripping with My High School Friend

Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much time with the bride as I would’ve liked, but I did get to bond with another high school friend who attended the wedding!

Living in China, I feel like it’s pretty hard to keep in touch with my friends from back home, especially my high school friends who now live all over the country! So this wedding was a perfect opportunity to spend some time with a friend I’ve barely seen since high school.

The two of us rented a car (a first for me!) and drove from San Francisco down to Napa Valley where we crashed at a Motel 6. Classy, I know. We had a great time getting ready for the wedding together and eating all the non-Chinese food I could get my hands on.

a beautiful sunrise flight

Floating in a Hot Air Balloon Over Napa Valley

While the wedding was incredible, floating over Napa’s wineries with my high school friend was a close second! While I wasn’t a huge fan of the 5 am wake-up call, the two of us threw on some warm clothes and hopped in the rental car to a parking lot in Yountville, twenty minutes north of our Napa motel.

I gazed in wonder as they filled up the hot air balloons around us. I had seen a hot air balloon up close once in my life before this moment and I barely remember it because I think I was roughly eight years old.

The sensation of flying in a hot air balloon was literally magical. You float along with the wind, so the air is surprisingly warm and calm. For one hour we watched as the sun rose and spread its golden light across the sky. We also lightly crash-landed into a golf-course pond and took off again without a hitch, our guide cackling at our gasps of surprise.

Afterward, my friend and I ran across the road to the famous Bouchon Bakery to stuff our faces with macarons and sip on crafted lattes. It was a perfect way to start the day before our friend’s wedding. Granted, we did have a pretty big nap in the afternoon… We needed it.

I was invited to check out this hot air balloon ride with my long-time friend and partner Tinggly, the ultimate gift-giving site for travelers. With Tinggly you can purchase an experience for a loved one that they can cash in anywhere in the world. Seriously, if you want to give an awesome gift to someone who doesn’t like “things”, this site is gold. I almost wish I could’ve taken my boyfriend along as a surprise, but this “friend date” was a blast as well.

[button url=”http://www.adventuresaroundasia.com/tinggly&#8221; label=”Check Out Tinggly’s Experiences!” size=”large” target=”_blank”]

Back in Seattle!

Spending Time at Home in Seattle

While this trip home was rushed and a bit rainy, it was a good one. First, I had the opportunity to see my parents and grandpa, who I hadn’t seen since Christmas. I ate all the Mexican food and stocked up on healthy quinoa and brown rice for my upcoming diet in June (more on that later). Seriously, Trader Joes is heaven.

While I was home I also had time to sit down with my mom to plan my parents’ trip to China this September! Both of my parents will be flying to Beijing where we’ll spend two weeks exploring my China home, along with Xi’an and Yunnan province. I’ll be sure to write out our itinerary and share it with all of you because it really is a perfect two-week China trip!

Finally, I had the chance to get some hiking boots at REI for all of my upcoming Great Wall trips (and hopefully a surprise long-term trek that isn’t set in stone yet so you’ll just have to wait!). Having read the book Wild not too long ago, I paid extra, extra attention to whether or not my toes hit the front of the boot when going downhill on the fake rock they have set up in the store. I don’t want to loose all my toenails like Reese Witherspoon.

Overall, I’m super happy with my Oboz boots, and I’m glad I bought them through REI because they have literally the world’s best warranty.

I forgot to take pictures…

Flying First Class!

While the long haul flight from Seattle to Beijing and back was nothing to rave about, I did have a chance to experience first class on the trip from Seattle to San Francisco!

This was my first time ever purchasing first class for myself, so I felt pretty fancy! Why did I buy a first class ticket? Well, when you factored in the price of checking a bag, it was only $40 more expensive to spring for first class. TREAT YO SELF.

On the plane, I drank one too many Bloody Marys and enjoyed my antipasto platter, while all the business travelers around me chugged coffee and worked away on their laptops. Sorry, not sorry.

I only wish the flight was more than two hours!

America! Why you so expensive??

Challenges

Life can’t always be perfect. Here were my least favorite moments of May 2017.

Why is America so Expensive???

For the past few years, my only time in the US has been lounging at home in Seattle, with the brief exception of crashing at my friend’s Palo Alto apartment for a weekend. What does this mean? It means I have very little experience traveling in the US.

Living in a place is much cheaper than traveling, and I was shocked by how expensive the US has become. Over $100 a night for a shitty hotel room at Motel 6? Seriously?! My Uber to In and Out and back was how much???

Living in Asia has its benefits, and us bloggers are definitely not lying about the cheap cost of living and travel. Why spend $100 a night for a motel in Napa when you can spend $30 a night for a beautiful boutique hotel in Dali? (Yes, my parents and I will be staying here in September.)

Travel bloggers NEVER get a vacation!

Blogging Overload

This trip home to the US was extremely busy, which meant I got a bit behind on my blogging. Seriously, I got back to China I realized I was responding to emails from 11 days prior. ELEVEN DAYS!!!

Many bloggers joke about how their inboxes are out of control, and I am no exception. But I usually pride myself on responding to emails within at least a few days. Well, after a busy week in the US, I arrived home to China, and then promptly suffered a mild heart attack.

My inbox was out of control. I hadn’t written a blog post in two weeks. I was behind on work at my college counseling job. I hadn’t even looked at any of the THREE paid courses I’m working on right now. AHHHHHH

Now at least I’ve kind of caught up on the emails…

Drama in the hutongs!

Apartment Drama

Throughout March and April, my roommates and I lived under the constant threat of expulsion. My landlord started showing the property to potential buyers and we had no idea what was going on. In early May we got the official news: You all need to be out by the end of June.

Of course, I wasn’t too bummed by this news because I was basically living in Chris’ apartment half the time anyway. I was tired of living in two different apartments, never having the right belt, dress, or my external hard drive when I needed it. So, I figured I’d wait out my lease until the end of June, moving my stuff to Chris’ apartment slowly over the course of a month.

In the last week of May, I received an update: they managed to postpone our move out day until the end of July!!!

JULY?! I had already agreed to start paying rent in June for Chris’ place, and now all of a sudden I need to come up with another month’s rent at my old apartment? You can’t just drop that on someone last minute. When you say I have to be out by June, I assume I need to be out by June, end of story.

My old room! (In my THINX period panties?)

When I said I wanted to be out by June, my roommate who I’m subletting from insisted I needed to find someone to cover the rent for July. This led to a mini passive-aggressive fight between the two of us, as I asserted that I didn’t think paying for an extra month’s rent was my responsibility, and she took days to respond to my texts.

How would I be able to find someone to sublet my apartment for just one month? How would I find the time to show my apartment to a bunch of people when I was basically living at Chris’ place?

But, within a few days, a friend of a friend dropped out of the sky and into my lap. He needed an apartment for 6 weeks and was set to leave Beijing two days before we had to be out of my apartment. Score!

So, I went from moving to Chris’ over the course of June to needing to be out of my apartment in the first week of June. At least I found someone to cover the rent?

Having a little too much fun on the wall

My Most Popular Post

The best post of May was definitely my story about hiking the Wild Wall! Remember last month when I talked about my Great Wall birthday adventure in an off-the-beaten-path section not officially open to tourists? Well in this post I told you the ENTIRE story, from hacking my way through overgrowth on the wall to the near-death experience I had trying to get off of it!

I also give some great advice about how to plan an off-the-beaten-path Great Wall adventure of your own, where you can enjoy the Great Wall with no tourists.

Last month I also published a post about an incredible new water filtration bag from DayOne Response. While this bag is great for long-term trekkers, etc. it’s best for disaster relief, providing clean water to those who need it most. Why? It’s reusable, lays flat, and can filter enough water for an entire family in just 30 minutes.

DayOne Response is actually a finalist in the Chivas Venture competition for non-profit funding and I really hope they win! Unfortunately, voting has already closed, but you can always support them by sponsoring a bag for a family in need.

Best Instagram

My best Instagrams of the month were all from my Great Wall adventure this April! This first shot was taken when I first spotted the beautiful lake through a Great Wall tower.

Don’t usually break the square, but I had to for this one! . After hours of hiking on a crumbling, overgrown wall, @aussieontheroad and I stumbled on this view of Huanghuacheng below. . While this wall is a bit dangerous 😨😳 it was worth it for this view!!

A post shared by Richelle (@adventuresaroundasia) on May 11, 2017 at 8:03pm PDT

This second photo was taken on the way down. Just look at that view!!

Want to explore a section of the Great Wall not officially open to tourists? 🌸🌺Ever dreamed of having the wall all to yourself? . My latest post on adventuresaroundasia.com shows you how!! . Pay a villager $1 USD for the privilege of hiking a stunning, off the beaten path stretch of Great Wall literally NO ONE visits. ☀️Trust me, it’ll be worth it!

A post shared by Richelle (@adventuresaroundasia) on May 30, 2017 at 8:16pm PDT

Finally, I decided to make a second Instagram account, just for fun. I thought this new account would be a great way to connect with my friends and post photos in real-time without worrying about editing them in Lightroom or how they look in my Instagram grid (#ThingsBloggersWorryAbout). If you want to see some fun, behind-the-scenes photos that aren’t edited to perfection, come check it out @RichelleInAsia 

Song of the Month

This month I’ve been listening to John Legend’s Surefire. I’m obsessed with this music video about acceptance featuring a young romance between a Muslim girl and an illegal migrant boy from Mexico. Enjoy!

What I’m Reading

This month I read Oryx and Crake, the first book in a series by Margaret Atwood. After reading the Handmaid’s Tale, Chris suggested I read Atwood’s dystopian series that Atwood likes to call “speculative fiction” rather than science fiction because of course, everything she writes could feasibly happen in the near future.

In this book, Snowman, once known as Jimmy, struggles to survive in a world where he may or may not be the last human. In the aftermath of a world-wide plague, Snowman both protects and despises a new, genetically engineered humanoid species known as the Children of Crake, while he laments his lost best friend, the love of his life, and everything that went so terribly wrong.

I also literally just found out that this series is being made into a tv show on HBO. I’M SO EXCITED! Seriously, if you like the Handmaid’s Tale you’ll love this.

[button url=”http://amzn.to/2rTxDqY&#8221; label=”Download it on Kindle!” size=”large” target=”_blank”]

Best Blog Posts of May

What are my favorite posts from May? Check ’em out!

Taking Mom Overseas: Our First Mother-Daughter Trip – The Sweetest Way

I loved hearing about Leah’s trip with her mom to Greece. From their rocky past relationship to their experience wandering around Greece in the offseason, this was such a great read. I can only hope my trip showing my parents around China this fall will be as good!

Falling in Love with Northern Norway – Young Adventuress

This post makes me want to get a new blog theme so I can display full-width photos… and buy a better camera… and go to Norway.

Orangutans!

Orangutan Trekking in Sumatra – Aussie on the Road

I still haven’t written at length about my experience orangutan trekking in Bukit Lawang, but thankfully my boyfriend is literally the quickest writer on planet Earth and has been cranking out stories about our trip. Read along as he details that time we were chased through the jungle by an angry orangutan.

Cultural Clash: Why I and Many Others Will Gladly Serve Our Husband’s Food First – The Blog Abroad

I’ll be the first to admit, as a white non-Southern American, the idea of needing to serve my husband’s food first at a party before serving myself was kind of alien to me. It’s hard not to jump to conclusions that any woman who acts in this way is repressed. But from the quotes of women from all over the world Gloria collected, you can see that the answer is a bit more complicated.

None of this!

What’s Next for June 2017!

I have so many things going on in June! Firstly, I’ll be heading to a coworker’s wedding in Fushun, Liaoning province where I will be celebrating amongst 500 people! Second, I’ll also be moving into Chris’ apartment, which will be a nice change from having my stuff scattered across Beijing. I’ll also be welcoming (FINALLY) our third foreign counselor at my college counseling job… It only took them a year and five months to find someone.

Finally, I’ll be embarking on the test of a lifetime: and incredibly strict 1-month diet. In June I’ll be giving up alcohol, sugar, and simple carbs in China. Wish me luck!

This Beijing Life: Month 21 This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.  I’ve noticed that the more I travel and the busier I become, the more impossible it becomes to keep up with my travels in real-time.