#i’m trying to think of some stuff in ph a little more normally and it’s making more sense

[metallteeff]

trying to be smart and different with your stories is a disease and i have it

[phawareglobal]

Don Downey - phaware® interview 431

Canadian pulmonary hypertension care partner, Don Downey 

My name's Don Downey. I'm from Calgary, Alberta. My wife, Kathy, was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary hypertension in March of 2020. It actually goes back way before that. She started having problems in December of 2015. We'd gone many times to her general practitioner. He sent her to specialists. She went to an internist, who basically told her she had asthma. That didn't really work. She tried puffers and all that type of stuff. Nothing of that worked. She was then sent to a respirologist, one of the top ones in the city. It basically boiled down to she was told to lose some weight, and then, hopefully, that would make things better. Over the next couple of years, she'd do an annual visit with him. It wasn't getting better. He just kept saying during the one year she had lost like 60 pounds over the course of the year, it was still "Just lose some more weight" and everything. In February of 2020, she went to the emergency room because she was having numbness in her arms. She was talking to the ER doc. He was going through her case file and all the tests that had been done over the years and everything else. There was one that he was looking at. She asked him if she could have a copy of it, and she sent it to me. I was down in San Diego visiting a friend who's a forensic pathologist, so a doctor. She sent it to me and said, "Well, can you ask him if there's any questions I should ask this ER doc?" I asked him, and he looked at it, and I think he spent about 30 seconds, and he said, "Yeah, can you ask him why you have pulmonary hypertension?" Actually, on the report from this test that they had done two and a half years prior, September 2017, it said "pulmonary hypertension?" Nothing had happened in between. Nobody had noted that and thought to test her for it. She asked the ER doc, and he got a whole bank of tests done right away. From there, it ended up she was sent back and ended up going back to the same internist who told her again, "I think it's just asthma," even though we already had a good idea it was PH. The following week her regular checkup with the respirologist. She had to do a stress test before it. She got about halfway through the stress test, and she just couldn't go any further. 

Then we went upstairs. Normally, we'd be sitting in the waiting area for a while, and then they put us into one of the exam rooms, which was across from his office. We would be sitting in the exam room. We could see across. He was working on his computer, finishing off whatever the previous patient was. On this day, he met us at the door. We didn't even do the waiting room. As soon as we got up there, it was right into his office. So we knew there was something weird going on. Very quickly, he had us booked in with the PH clinic in Calgary. She did her right heart catheterization and everything else. She had her right heart catheter on Thursday, March 12th, 2020, and then we went back for the results on the 13th. So, Friday the 13th of March, which was the day that the world shut down, was the day that she was diagnosed. We had a lot of uncertainty and a lot of things where what's going to go on, because even they were trying to figure out. All of a sudden, you've got COVID. Everything's locked down. How do you go about doing all the visits and everything else that normally would happen? We were lucky enough to have a doctor that, on the one day, it took a little bit longer because he was doing stuff. So it took a few extra days before he was really able to do stuff where we would've normally done trips to the clinic. But there was one day where he spent an hour and a half on a Zoom call with us just to make sure that we were ready for it and all. 

We, at the time, didn't look back. We looked forward. But as we've gone along, we've looked back at things that might have been missed. There was this disconnect because the clinic was still trying to figure out what they were going to do. The day that we got diagnosed, that was the last time we were in that clinic for a couple of months. Normally, you'd do half a dozen visits to the clinic. It took a little while for stuff and just getting the information. And, of course, the first thing he said as soon as he said, "You have PH," is, "Don't Google it." Of course, when you're not getting information, and they could only get the information out to you so quick because they're trying to do the transition -- so we Googled it. You're looking at now we're in this situation where we've Googled it. It says that this is the average life expectancy. We know that we had two and a half years from when it should have, in our opinion, at the time because now we know that this was questioned at that time. It's like, "Okay, so we take two and a half off. Well, that's not a lot of time." So, that was the thing. It took a while because we had to wait for the clinic to be able to give us the actual information and give us stuff that worked for her situation. They tried to keep us out for as long as they could, so it was probably, I think it was about six weeks before we did one. But even that, it was a matter of you had to go through all the protocols to get in. You had to do everything that you were safe and all that because she had severe PH right from the start. She was on high-flow oxygen within days of her diagnosis. So it was something where they wanted to put her in the hospital to be able to try to do stuff, and they said, "Well, it's not safe." So she didn't actually get to some of the treatment and some of the stuff that they wanted to do until the hospitals were opening up a little bit more, and they could do stuff. One of the nice things is that we actually had two adult children that were living at home at the time. So we had them. Also, we've got a house, a two-story house with a walkout basement, and there's a basement suite. Her parents lived down there. The girl that my son was going out with at the time was also with us there. So there were seven of us in the house. It was a busy place. We figured out how to deal with things. I had to figure out how to deal with the oxygen and figuring out how to change cylinders and do that quickly so that she wasn't without oxygen for any periods of time. We did a lot of grocery delivery and that type of thing, so that I wasn't going out just because of the risk. She's had a lot of ups and downs. She's been through different therapies that try something. Some of them have worked. She's on triple therapy. So far this year, since the beginning of January, she's had three different stints in the hospital. So she's probably spent about seven weeks total. She had a gastrointestinal bleed that nobody knows what it was, but the way that her numbers were for her hemoglobin back in January when this happened, they couldn't even do a scope to check. She can't be sedated or any of that. So she ended up one of her other times that she went in, they were able to do the scope. But they weren't able to figure it out, which is causing some issues with her potential for transplant. Kathy's the type of person that she was actually not overly outspoken. She was the type that didn't want to have anybody mad at what she said and those types of things. Once she was diagnosed, and she started looking into things, and she was pointed out by the clinic to PHA Canada. Then, she got onto the Canadian friends' Facebook page and got talking to people there, it just exploded for her where she started wanting to know more, wanting to learn, wanting to help other people learn and that type of thing. She was a research librarian in the past, so of course, she's the type that, "I'm going to look into this. I want to do that." We could see there were things, like the amount of time it took for her diagnosis is one of the big things for me for becoming an ambassador to try to advocate for better educational situations for doctors, for general practitioners, to know enough about PH to think of it a lot sooner. That was the big thing. It just morphed out of what she was doing. I'm along for the ride, but I'm loving it. The big thing is you literally go on a day-to-day basis, because the ups and downs can happen real quick. You hope that she can keep going for as long as possible, that she can get all the stuff figured out, get her weight down that little bit, and figure out this GI bleed, and be able to look at the transplant, which would be a major thing for her because her PH was already advanced enough by the time she was diagnosed to be problematic. It almost puts it where that is the next outcome. She also has a hole in the heart. It's one that you have when you're born that normally closes up. Hers didn't. So there are certain therapies she can't take because of it. We know that, basically, the next thing is a transplant. So it's figuring out all of the things and hoping that that's going to happen. We both want to make as big of a mark on things to try to help so that people don't have to go through what we've gone through and so that we can get it towards finding a cure or finding better therapies that'll make things better. I'm Don Downey, and I'm aware that my wife is rare. Learn more about pulmonary hypertension trials at www.phaware.global/clinicaltrials. Follow us on social @phaware Engage for a cure: www.phaware.global/donate #phaware Share your story: info@phaware.com @phacanada 

Listen and View more on the official phaware™ podcast site

[mcwriting]

lab partners

Um pls be advised that I wrote Tom as a lil soft nerdy college boy and it's a lil angsty at one point but I promise it has a sweet ending :)

Ship: Soft!College!Nerd!Tom Holland x Reader

Word Count: 2383

Warnings: some angsty vibes, cussing

Not a warning but I talk about chemistry some so sorry if you're not a chem person lol

⚛

You shuffled through your chemistry notebook, trying to decide the most efficient way to get all of the necessary supplies before the experiment started.

That would, of course, require your lab partner to actually show up.

Tom was never actually late to the chemistry lab, but it wasn't unusual for him to show up with only a minute or so to spare.

As if on cue, he clambered through the door, taking the essentials from his backpack before stuffing it into the cubby next to yours. You pretended not to notice him as he slid onto the stool next to you.

"Mornin' sunshine," he said cheerily, setting down his gloves, goggles, and notebook. "What're you up to?"

"Just reading over my notes, as usual," you answered, closing the notebook and sliding it away from you.

"I'm hoping we can get out of this lab quickly today. Woke up late and didn't have time for breakfast," you yawned. "Hopefully they'll still have muffins at the dining hall when we're done, I'm craving banana nut."

You heard it as soon as you said it, and Tom's face lit up.

"I know of a banana with some nut you can have," he started, but you gave him a shove and quieted him.

"Shut up, you total weirdo," you laughed, hoping the other lab groups hadn't heard him. Couldn't let anyone think you and Tom actually had something going on.

Not that it mattered, but you didn't want to give off the wrong impressions. Maybe one day someone would take an interest and ask you out, excluding Tom, of course. That would be weird.

Not weird in a sense that you wouldn't say yes, though. It's just that after being lab partners for almost a year now he was just a friend and you were too close to really...

Oh forget it.

"Okay, okay." Tom conceded, hands raised. "But seriously, there is a granola bar in my bag if you want to eat it after we get the lab started. I'll watch the stuff and you can go in the hall."

You grinned. He may be an idiot, but at least he was a sweet one.

Really, though, he wasn't that much of an idiot. Not in the booksmarts sense. He definitely knew his stuff when it came to all of the concepts you'd learned.

More often than not it was you going to him to ask how to do certain problems or compare homework answers.

He was especially good with titrations, the experiment you were doing today.

You prepared to answer him about the granola bar when the TA started class.

"Okay, guys. We aren't having a quiz this week and you should already know the basics of this experiment, so you can get started with it as soon as you get your things together. The acids are under hood 1, pH meters are over there, and the indicator and solid base are on the counter. Let me know if you have any questions."

With that, you quickly got to work, splitting up to get things done faster.

The goal of the experiment was to calculate the concentration of an unknown acid based on how concentrated of a base solution you made.

After a previous incident that caused quite a large percent error (and wasted perfectly good product), you had kicked Tom off of weighing duties, instead leaving him to measure out the volume of liquid acid needed.

You were adding water to the solid base in a beaker when you heard a voice say "ah shit" under his breath. Any time you heard Tom say that, you knew that meant something was up.

When you turned, you found that Tom had spilled some acid on the counter, just a few inches from your laptop.

"Dude!" you exclaimed, grabbing it and setting it on a higher platform quickly. "Am I gonna have to take you off all measuring duties?"

Tom gave you a worried look.

"I'm sorry! I was trying to add it to the beaker from the graduated cylinder but some of it stuck to the side and spilled."

You furrowed your brows.

"Wait why did you measure it in the cylinder? You know the beaker has lines on it, right? We just have to factor the error into our calculations."

Tom went to facepalm, but stopped when he remembered the gloved hand he'd raised had acid on it.

"Now you remind me..." he muttered.

"Why don't you go waste what's left and clean this up while I measure some fresh into the beaker," you smiled patiently, knowing that small mistakes like this flustered him easily.

When you came back, Tom was washing the burette with a few milliliters of the base you had made over the sink. You looked down and saw a couple of drops had fallen from the base beaker.

"Well lets just hope that neutralized the acid he spilled," you thought as you went to wet a paper towel.

He saw you wiping up the spot when he came back to set up the burette.

"What are you doing? I already got the acid."

"I um... I spilled a little drop of my own. No biggie," you lied, hoping he wouldn't press it.

"I spilled some of the base, didn't I?" he asked flatly. You cringed but nodded. "Great. This really is my day so far."

You felt bad. Sure Tom could be clumsy or a little slow when it came to "common sense," but usually it was just one small thing towards the end of the lab, definitely not successive.

"Hey, look at it this way, the only 'bad' thing you did today was spill some reagents. And you already got it out of your system before we even started!"

"I'm not sure that's helping as much as you think it is, but thanks for the sentiment, y/n."

You scrunched your nose at his answer, but moved on, wanting to get the first titration done quickly, since you'd need to repeat it 2 more times.

Thankfully the first went by without a hitch. The numbers all seemed to be in order and it wasn't long before you were starting the experiment again to collect new data.

A while had passed, however, and your hunger was starting to make itself apparent. You tried to talk to Tom to distract yourself, but your stomach started growling enough that even he took notice.

"Seriously, y/n I'll get that granola bar for you if you want it," he offered again.

"No, I'll be okay. It looks like we only need to take a few more data points so we'll be done with the third trial in no time. Thanks, though."

As expected, you finished the second quickly and moved on to the third.

"Hey I'm going to clean up some of our glassware real quick if you don't mind taking measurements," you said, wanting to get ahead on cleanup so you could finally grab a meal. Tom nodded and you took some beakers to the sink.

As you were drying them, you saw Tom give you a nervous look from your station.

Oh no.

You quickly shoved the glassware in a drawer and walked over to find the solution had changed colors and all of the base drained from the burette.

"Tom what happened?" you asked, afraid that this meant you would need to do the trial again.

He looked worried as he held up a plastic piece. The stopper had broken off.

"Tom what the hell! We were almost out of here!"

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry but maybe the TA won't make us do it again? I was like.. basically to the endpoint."

You called the TA over, who looked at your data and sighed.

"Look, I know this is your last run but you've still got some base left, so why don't you do it one more time. You two are still a whole trial ahead of everyone else so it's not like you'll have to stay late," she said.

Internally, you were fuming, but thanked the TA and waited for her to leave.

"Why can't you just do something right for once!" you breathed, exasperated. You felt tears forming out of frustration.

Tom looked at you with glassy eyes of his own and you immediately felt like the worst person in the world.

You knew the hunger was getting to you but it didn't excuse your behavior. You tried to soften your expression.

"Oh, Tom, I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean it like that-"

"Like what, y/n? What other possible way could you have meant that? I get it, I'm a fuckup. Why don't you just do the last one and I'll write down the numbers. Surely I can do that right," he bit back, getting up to get you a new burette to replace the broken one.

You did the rest of the lab in silence. You'd tried saying something here or there, but he wouldn't even look at you, instead copying numbers into both his and your notebooks.

Your guilt had made you almost forget about your hunger, but it was still tugging at the back of your mind.

When you were done, most of the other groups were finishing up as well, so you and Tom wordlessly split up the tasks of cleaning things up to work around them.

You were putting the smaller glass pieces back into a casing that fit in a drawer when Tom went to grab his backpack and put away his notes.

As you did the same, you saw Tom's hand move before he zipped the bag and headed out quickly.

Left on the counter next to you was the granola bar he'd offered up earlier.

Now you felt even shittier. Here you were lashing out at the guy and he was still trying to take care of you.

You zipped up your bag as quickly as possible and stuffed the snack into your pocket as you ran out of the lab, hoping to catch up with him.

It was still another half hour or so until the normal class change, so the hallway and rest of campus was mostly empty. You easily spotted him opening up the door to your left.

"Tom, wait!"

He glanced back but didn't stop, stepping out into the sunshine.

You ran that way, bursting through the door as Tom was stomping away.

"Tom! Please just listen!" you exclaimed, running to catch up to him. He didn't stop, instead picking up the pace.

"Why should I listen to you? I am keenly aware of what you think of me."

"Because I don't really feel that way, Tom! You're not a fuckup."

Finally he stopped under a large tree.

"I may not be that but apparently I can't do anything right so take your pick on what's worse."

He looked angry and hurt, justifiably so. You grabbed his arms and looked him in the eyes.

"Tom, I am so, so sorry for what I said. I was hungry and frustrated and not at all patient with you. We all have bad days, and I shouldn't have forgotten that in the heat of the moment."

"That's the thing! My bad days are every day! I can't get through my day without tripping, breaking something, spilling reagents all over the lab! You weren't wrong about me and that's what freaks me out the most."

"But, I was! You aren't that person I mean-"

"Y/n just accept it. I've had girls break up with me because of this. My own roommates, hell my family, get pissed at me constantly because I can't do things right. I was naive enough to think that I was doing something right with you but here we are."

Tom hung his head before realizing what the implications of what he had said, popping back up to look at you with wide eyes. You could only smile.

"I like to think you were doing something right with me all along. I'm the one who messed everything up today. Tom, you are one of the sweetest, most genuine people I know. You're funny, hella smart, adorable. I don't deserve an incredible guy like you in my life. I mean, after what I said, you were still willing to give me your food? I can't think of anyone else who would do that for me."

Tom perked up some, a grin coming to his face.

"You needed it a lot more than me. But do you really mean that? You feel that way?"

"Of course I do." You paused, studying his face.

After a few seconds you reached up to grab his shoulders and kissed his cheek, then pulled him into a hug.

"I really hope you can forgive me. I truly think the world of you," you whispered.

He pulled back and brushed a strand of hair from your face. Both of you had watery eyes but grinned. He nodded, the did the unexpected.

He pressed a gentile kiss to your lips.

You both let out a chuckle in both relief and nervousness as you pulled away. You wiped your eyes as he did the same. There was a lull in conversation until you remembered something.

You patted your pockets, finding and fishing out the granola bar. You held it out to his and he gave you a confused expression.

"I, um. I think you should keep this for now."

"What do you mean? I gave it to you to eat."

"Well yeah but it's just... how would you like to join me in the dining hall instead? Call it a date, call it a post-lab meal. Either way, I'm hungry and would really like you to join me."

He thought about it for a second, but finally smiled and took the bar from your hand, sliding it in the side of his backpack.

"Come on, I could use a snack too," he answered, sticking an elbow out for you to wrap your arm in. "You think they'll have your banana nut muffin still?"

"I don't really care about that anymore, I think I've got a perfect muffin right here. But we should probably still hurry before the lines get too long."

⚛

A/N: I'm sorry but writing soft Tom was ??? Precious? I made myself feel so bad for him and he literally has never been, nor will ever be, in this situation but I mean come on.

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[random-mha-thoughts]

Self-Care (Todoroki x Reader x Bakugou)

Pairing: Todoroki x Reader x Bakugou

Genre: Fluff/Crack

Summary: Todoroki steps in on you doing your skincare routine and his curiosity is rewarded ft. a nosy Bakugou

Word Count: 1,419

Tags:  @yuki-osaki​ @liviitehe​ @iamsoftsodonttoucheume-blog​ @bunnythepipsqueak​

a/n: Feels pretty nice to be back writing some original content from my fluffbrain ^^.  Here’s a cute little thing I thought of, inspired by a conversation in one of my Discord group chats.  It’s in the same universe as Quarrel, but you don’t need to read that one to understand this, it’s just the same relationship dynamics.

I gave you guys a little bit of both fluff and some crack, so I really hope it makes you smile since it was really fun to write 😊

Today is my day. It was the end of a stressful week of exams and I'm in need of a pampering self-care night all to myself.

I just got out of the shower and changed into a fresh set of pajamas, my hair still damp since I haven't dried it yet. The tension in my muscles have all but dissipated from scrubbing my troubles away under hot water. Soft music tinkles from my speaker as I don a soft character headband to push my hair back. All I have to do now is do some skincare and I'll go to bed. My soft sheets already call for me to grace them, but this is my practice to wind down before I get there.

Until there's a knock at my door.

I huff in a pout. Who the hell is that? I tie the ribbon on my robe tighter before greeting my uninvited visitor. My pout melts into a smile as soon as I meet a familiar mop of red and white hair. "Oh, it's you."

Todoroki's face scrunches in confusion when he notices my attire. "I just came to see you, but it seems I'm interrupting something."

I open the door wider. I guess there's room for my lovely boyfriend in my personal time. "No, you can come in." I pull him in gently and motion for him to sit down. "I'm just doing some skincare."

Like a puppy, he tilts his head curiously as his eyes follow after me to the bathroom. I silently wash my face with foaming cleanser. Sometime between me coming into the bathroom and rinsing the suds off my face, my boyfriend sneaked into the bathroom and started observing the whole ordeal. We remain there in silence, the only noise being the music still playing from my speakers.

As I spread a brightening mask over my face, he finally speaks up. "I'd like to try what you're doing."

His suggestion catches me off guard, but his serious face seeps with undisputed determination that makes me chuckle. "Alright, I'll help you. But first." I pull another character headband out from the vanity drawers. "We'll have to push your hair back."

I'm not sure if it's his blank expression or seeing his forehead come out of hiding, but I had the sudden urge to pepper his face in kisses. Sadly, the mask on my face prevents me from doing anything near that sort, so I settle for pulling his forehead for me to place a soft kiss on it.

His cheeks cover in blush. "Maybe I should've suggested this sooner."

I guide him to wash him own face with cleanser over the sink, only intervening to scrub his face with a brush and letting him rinse his face clean.  He sits in front of me on the toilet lid.

"Alright, next thing for you is the toner."  I remove the cap and pour some into a cotton pad.

"What's it for?" Todoroki asks innocently and closes his eyes before I can tell him.

"You put this on your face to balance your skin pH and prep it for the other good stuff you're gonna put on it now."

"But you didn't put it on your face.  Are you gonna put that paste on me too?"

Observant as usual, I think proudly.  "I usually put this on after mask.  I don't think you need the same help as me, your face is already pretty clear."

"But I wanna do everything you do."

I inwardly swoon at how childish he sounds despite his straight face.  "Alright, next time.  Maybe next week, it's a date."

His warm smile sends another spark of electricity to my heart.  "I'd kiss your face, but it's messy right now."  He maneuvers to kiss my nape below my ear.  "I'll settle for that."

My first instinct is to burst into a face-cracking smile, but then my mask will actually crack.  "Sneak."  I pull out another bottle, pump it into my hands, and gently pat his face with it.

"What're you putting on my face now?"

"This is serum, sweetie."

"What does it do?"

"Mmm, it makes your face all bright, glowy, and smooth."

He furrows his eyebrows and stares straight at me.  "You mean it isn't already?"

How many times is he gonna kill me today?  I loop my arms around his neck lovingly and chuckle.  "It makes it more bright, glowy, and smooth, you perfect boy."

He beams at my wholehearted compliment and rests his hands on my waist.  "You're perfect, too.  I doubt you need any of this."

A snort escapes me.  "It's because of all this that my face looks normal, babe."  I retrieve my jar of moisturizer.  "Last thing, moisturizer to keep your face nice and hydrated through the night."

Todoroki lets me pat his face again only to catch one of my hands gently and place a kiss on my palm.  "Thank you for humoring me, love."  His mismatched eyes grace me with chaste affection.

Cradling his cheeks, I ask, "Does it make you feel better?"

He leans into my touch.  "Yes, because you did it."

My thumb trace his perfectly angled cheekbones.  "And you were a perfect little client."  I wiggle out of his arms to wash the dried up mask off my face.

In that moment, heavier footsteps enter the room as I dry my face.  "What the-Baku-?!"

My friend bursts into laughter, guffawing at his own sense of humor and throwing his head back.  "Nice headband, Glamouroki!"

My boyfriend keeps a monotonous expression in the face of Bakugou's immaturity.  I continue applying toner to my face like he isn't there.  "Todoroki decided to join me having a skincare day."

"HA!  How rid-!"

I shoot him a death glare.  "I know you aren't about to say skincare is 'girly' or something, Katsuki.  Besides, look how clear his face is.  When was the last time you inspected yours?"

Todoroki's lip turns up into a smug smirk while Bakugou's jaw drops.  "What's that supposed to mean?!  I have good skin!"

"Oh, stop being a child.  Besides, you're sweaty all the time, your pores are all clogged," I dismiss, continuing with my own routine.

The blond growls to himself and slumps into the bathroom to inspect his face in the mirror.  With a frown, he turns back to me and mumbles, "Doing just your boyfriend's skincare is pretty rude, what about your best friend?"

I shrug.  "Todoroki asked, you just got here.  But I thought you weren't interested."

"Shut up!  I take back what I was gonna say, just do whatever you have to."

I'm not one to give up any opportunity to mess with Bakugou.  A smug grin spreads across my face.  "If that's the case, you have to get into uniform."  Before he can say anything, I fetch my last character headband and push his hair back with it.

His face turns as red as his eyes when he looks at himself in the mirror and pouts.  "You didn't have to humiliate me like this!"

Todoroki and I have to suppress our laughter.  "I'm just moving your hair out of the way, relax.  Now go wash your face with this."

After going through the same motions as with Todoroki with cleansing, I sit Bakugou down.  "Well, your skin is oily and you have all those blackheads and comedones all over your face.  Not to mention sometimes you get these really huge pimples-"

"Stop making fun of my face, damnit!"

I ignore his protests and pull out my charcoal mask.  "I'm gonna need to put this on your face to get the impurities out and absorb the extra oil."  I use a small spreader tool to apply a thin, grey layer over my friend's skin.

"So these are the kinds of people who need that mask," Todoroki comments, for sure just to push his buttons.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU ICYHOT!"

"Settle down, it won't be even if you keep moving," I reprimand him.  When I finish, I put everything away.  "Alright, keep that on for 10 minutes until it dries.  And no moving your face or else it'll crack."

"Are you kidding me?!" the impatient boy grumbles.

"Do you want to keep being a greasy, pimple face?"

He crosses his arms over his chest.  "No."

"Then stay still."  I bring out my phone.  "Let me take a picture of us three in our cute headbands!"

"Don't you dare!"

Todoroki leans over and holds Bakugou still, smiling to the camera when I take the selfie of my two idiots.

.

.

.

Bonus:

Once Bakugou washes the mask off his face and finishes the rest of the skincare routine, he admires himself in the mirror.  "Look at how clean my face looks now, Icyhot!"

"My face still looks perfect."

"SHUT UP, PRETTY BOY!"

[trash-tan]

Haikyuu Skincare Routines

I know most of these hoes would actually just use the bar soap they just used on their pubes on their faces but I’m a skincare whore and that’s unacceptable. This is mainly going to reference kbeauty bc that’s what I’m most familiar with. This is unedited brain heartburn please be wary

Kuroo would come across that one™ heavily quoted vit c research paper (15% ascorbic acid, 0.5% ferulic acid and 1% vit e in alpha tocopherol form) and literally only use that serum (he uses the wishtrend 15% with ferulic acid bc fuck skinceuticals and their $150+ serum) in his routine in combination with the Good Morning cleanser from Cosrx bc it’s cheap and the first thing that popped up when he searched for low acidity cleansers. Uses a combo spf moisturizer from clean and clear bc he hasn’t ‘gotten that far’ into skincare

Hanamaki would be the anti-skincare guru and only believe in cetaphil and whatever prescription his derm gave him but still wonder why his skin isn’t getting better. Uses Elta md sunscreen which is good but there’s so many better options out there honey (get out of your asshole we know you can see the results on your friends)

Mattsun would take a page out of makkis book but prob would opt for curology instead bc he doesn’t have the spare money to see a whole ass derm+/saw the ad somewhere and it worked for him so he kept the subscription. Doesn’t use spf like a heathen

Akaashi would have a solid three or four step routine depending on his mood for the day consisting of: 1. a cream to foam cleanser (bc he doesn’t like the way his face feels tight after super stripping cleansers) 2. probably that galactomyces toner from cosrx except he sprays it onto a cotton pad, tones his face, and then sprays it directly for a good pat down 3. (Optional) a lululun facemask or serum sample he got when he bought his toner 4. A thin layer of a rather dense cream but opts for a lighter cream in the summer or daytime but sometimes whatever bokuto got bc he basically shares akaashis stuff. Spf when he’s going to be out and about that day, but not to school bc he considers that indoors even with the windows flooding uv rays into the room but ok

Bokuto would use whatever akaashis using bc it looked cool to have a routine but then realized after following it for a while that he likes the super clean feeling after washing his face and would probably buy perfect whip by senka bc the foam is super satisfying to play with and it leaves him feeling super clean. He would feel bad about using akaashis products all the time and replace them every now and then with whatever he saw on a commercial or with whatever he got suckered into buying from the super convincing attendants at the beauty counter. One time bokuto used all his savings and bought the flagship pitera cream from skii bc if it’s the most expensive and best it’s gotta be good right? Akaashi sighed and tried using it but the fragrance broke him out and he couldn’t muster up the heart to tell bokuto so he just replaced the insides of the jar with the snail cream from cosrx and the placebo affect made bokutos skin shine like he belonged on the face of Elle. Doesn’t know spf exists unless it’s on a beach

Tendou would fall into any skincare fad and try it once. Has a billion products he’s tried once and thrown away bc it ‘didn’t work out’. Has definitely fucked up the pH balance of his skin, over exfoliated more than once, destroyed his skin barrier, and sometimes combined all of these in one sitting. Needless to say his skin is screaming all the time because it’s so damn sensitive from the torture he puts it through but he thinks the stinging is the product ‘working’, When he ‘tries’ a product he goes straight in without patch tests and applies w a y too much. Gets intoxicated with the feeling of slippy slidy on his face which makes him feel like the product is sinking into his skin better. Definitely makes faces and contorts his face while doing so. Does not actually have a semblance of an actual skincare routine other than doing it for fun. For some reason he always uses spf and remembers to reapply.

Ushijima would be the king of spot treatments and moisturization. Knows more than basics, and definitely incorporates skincare into his routine because he just likes the word routine jk he just gets frustrated from the occasional spot that typically comes up on his chin, otherwise he has immaculate skin. Moisturizes with a gel cream (probably the water bank cream from laneige) because he likes the feel of the oil/water balance on his face. Definitely tries the occasional fad with Tendou but in moderation and picks up whatever he likes/whatever tendou wants to throw away. Favorite products would probably be benzoyl peroxide spot treatments and would only use acne patches overnight. Uses spf occasionally but forgets most of the time unless tendou reminds him.

Kenma would accidentally click an ad for a gimmicky all in one skincare product but then whirlpool himself into the world of skincare and pick up a thing here and there and use it most of the time. If he’s on a gaming binge he won’t wash his dusty face until his eyes water and the crap his long eyelashes have so desperately kept away for the last 18 hours get mixed into his eyeballs and then he’ll finally wash his face. Probably uses good morning cosrx cleanser like kuroo (they get 1+1 deals together) and then the anti stress carrot pads by bellamonster bc he liked the flip top and the big pads bc it’s faster to finish his skincare with more wiping surface area. Finishes with dr jarts cicapair cream bc he’s got somewhat sensitive skin and it doesn’t bother him for his long wear hours. Knows that he should wear sunscreen but still opts out bc he rationalizes it by saying that he prob doesn’t even get enough sun to get his vit d requirement so he doesn’t really need it and to that I say touché

Hinata watched a hadalabo commercial on tv when he was young so he has a firm! belief that your skin should be sticky enough so that the van der waals forces between your palms and cheeks feel like peeling tape after you’re done with your skincare routine. An absolute hyaluronic acid whore, started off with hadalabo but the paraben scare ultimately made him switch to isntrees hyaluronic acid toner plus, not to be confused with the normal one because the more diverse the molecule sizes, the better, no? He doesn’t really understand but he understands that it sinks in better than the original and he likes the dark blue color of the toner on his counter because it makes him feel 0.00001% more manly. Also uses the sleeping mask from the same line before tournaments to mentally(?) prepare himself. Doesn’t use spf unless playing outside because hyaluronic acid is all he knows about actual skincare

Asahi would probably try to find an oil that’s good for his beard and his face. A true connoisseur of cleansing oils as well because he got sucked into it after overhearing from the girls in class that it helps with clogged pores. He always needed something to help with that because he had been getting ingrowns ever since he started getting facial hair. It took a lot to muster up the courage to ask for recommendations and even though he started off with the kose speedy cleansing oil hes made his way all the way up to shu uemuras anti pollution cleansing oil. He doesn’t keep it in the open because he doesn’t want anybody to mistake it for hand soap (ahem nishinoya) and it’s kind of his little secret because he treats it as a mini stress reliever at the end of his day. Doesn’t use spf because he thinks it’ll make him tan unevenly

Osamu looooves using apothecary themed skincare or skincare with essential oils. Probably a whore for the klairs supple preparation toner and innisfree as a brand. The type to cup his hands around his nose after using a product on his skin and breathe it in. Solid skincare routine (that he actually makes a routine) equipped with regular sheet mask sessions every week. His skin is positively glowing and glorious and it makes atsumu mega jealous but he really just doesn’t put in the same effort as osamu does and it shows. Thinks if the packaging says ~derived from natural ingredients~ it’ll have less chemicals or something. If he ever went on a trip to Korea he probably went to jeju as well to experience the innisfree green tea/osulloc luxury tea shop (2 birds with one stone, ya know?). When he was younger he probably liked skinfood (I’m sorry I had to) or tonymoly bc it was cheap, gimmicky, and fun to play around with with atsumu. Hates it when atsumu steals his sheet masks, especially if they’re the mediheal ones he keeps at the back of his drawer. Uses spf at the end of his routine always but forgets to reapply sometimes.

Atsumu really likes fragranced skincare bc he thinks it makes the product more luxurious. Forgets to wash his hands between hair care products and skincare products which makes him break out from time to time. He thinks he has a routine but in reality it’s just the normal 2-3 step he puts on occasionally for the ~vibes~ but is still worried about that line or two starting to form around his eyes. Loves sheet masks, especially the cellulose ones where it feels like agar jelly on your skin. Honestly just likes masks in general (eye masks, wash off masks, sleeping masks, modeling packs) but he likes getting them done at the spa (he takes osamu with him when he steals one too many of his mediheal masks). Washes his face regularly with whatever osamus using because he’s too lazy to bother getting his own but too invested in looking good to ignore the pretty bottle of face wash just begging to be used. Uses spf when he remembers that uva=wrinkles

[naivety]

cat update!

so we’ve had him on the anti fungal meds for a week+ now i think? idk time isn’t real and work makes it really hard to keep track, but for the first 3 days or so, he ate it mixed with his food no problem! then he started to only eat about half of the mix, which isn’t great, but is definitely better than nothing. then he stopped eating any altogether, or barely any food at all. 

so friday night after he’d missed two days of his doses, i hunkered down to forcefeed him. but my cat is incredibly stubborn and too smart for his own good, and since the first couple times we manhandled him to drop his antiobiotics in his mouth, he’s learned to squirm a LOT more. the vet gave up when we first got him the anti fungal to replace the antibiotics, and he was impossible with the benadryl, but i tried anyway because he needed his meds and was already breathing a lot harder again. the vet said we could try crushing it up and mixing it with honey water intead of food so i tried that after trying to drop the tablet straight into his mouth didn’t work. 

it took about two hours <3 to get the mixture into him via a little dropper the vet gave me. since then, we’ve been doing that every night, and every night he finds new ways to make it more difficult, so i’ve kinda got to the point where i brace myself for a harder time than the last. one step forward, two steps back. last night, he took to throwing up the most potent first squeezes from the dropper we got into him, and learned if he salivates a fuckton, he can just let the stuff dribble right off his tongue to the floor, so i have to both hold him in place while i get one little squeeze of his meds at a time and keep his head tilted up until i see him swallow, all while giving him minutes long breaks after because he gets so worked up and stress makes his breathing worse, and rinse and repeat until the dropper is empty. 

a lot of it drips on the floor. lots of little grains are left in the mixture the dropper couldn’t suck up, but any is better than none. he’s still eating barely anything though, and i think he just distrusts any food i give him cause he thinks it’s got his medicine in it. what confuses me is why he ate it fine with his food for several days with no problem only to react this extremely at this point, but. what can you do.

this is where we’re at currently. he’s still having daily and nightly coughing fits, but the declining seems to have halted. now he just seems super weary from how long this has lasted or just his lack of food. or his new hours long medicine routine. or all three. i don’t know; i’m glad his lungs aren’t declining, but they’re not better either, and his non medicated food is also his urinary care treatment he needs to have as a baseline due to his phs levels. thankfully, the vet said reverse osmosis water should do the job if he’s not eating his food, but i think the nearest place that sells some is like 35mins away and it’s just... a pain. and he needs to eat eventually at some point anyway or he’ll just starve, so i don’t even know what to do about that. if his lungs aren’t recovering and are just not getting worse every day like before, we’ll probably have to look to something other than anti fungal i’m assuming, but my vet either doesn’t understand how serious his condition was / is, or just knows way more than me. the latter is more likely, but she’s also voiced herself that she didn’t want to downplay how bad it was but, and it doesn’t help that she’s only ever seen his attacks on video because the car ride over and being at the actual vet gets his adrenaline going enough that he always seems better there than at home.

maybe it is just his asthma and this is his new normal, but he’s had asthma this entire time and it wasn’t this bad, so it’s hard for me to wrap my head around why it would decline so drastically like this without some trigger than can be amended and he can get back to the way he was before. the vet seems to think it might just be his asthma, but she’s been happy the anti fungal seems to be helping. i don’t know. i just want him to be able to breathe and to eat and to not be so stressed that both become a constant chore. any positivity and love sent our way is once again pricelessly appreciated. ❤️

[anistarrose]

Don’t Hang Up Yet, I’m Not Done (TAZ Balance AU)

Summary: Tres Horny Boys have the Red Robe’s phone number, continued. This time, Merle and Taako make some calls.

Warnings: Dissociation

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18979621/chapters/45066238

A sequel to this fic, which was in turn inspired by this art by @mspainttaz!

***

The next call Barry gets is in the late afternoon several weeks later, and once again, something tells him exactly who’s going to be on the other end of the line before he even moves to pick it up.

(Then again, it’s barely been an hour since he gave Merle that cryptic nod, so it’s not exactly difficult to guess the reason for the call.)

“You saved my kids,” Merle whispers, sounding dumbstruck even now. “Why?”

“I — I just — why wouldn’t I? I had the power to stop innocent people from getting hurt. Of course I saved them.”

“Well, that’s real altruistic of you,” Merle murmurs. Bit by bit, his normal enthusiasm creeps back into his voice as he continues: “Not sure how you’re supposed to reconcile that worldview with making the Relics, though. Too bad I can’t cast Zone of Truth over the stone, ha!”

“Yeah, it’s a real shame,” Barry replies. “Anyways, you need to teach your kids to be more careful. Odds are I won’t be around during the next… freak accident.”

“Yeah, their passive perception stinks,” Merle agrees with a sad laugh. “Or at least Mookie’s does, as much as I love the little fireball. Mavis is a bright little thing when she’s not busy looking after her brother — she reads at a college level, you know! Probably gonna make a hell of a wizard one day!”

“Give it to me like you would under Zone of Truth, Merle — did you call me just to brag about your kids?”

“Don’t tell my boss,” Merle answers in a hushed whisper. “I’ll get my employee phone plan revoked!”

Barry struggles to stifle a laugh. “Merle Hightower Highchurch, calling up the enemy to have a friendly chat? What would the Director think?”

Merle laughs too, the irony lost on him. “You know, you’re a much better conversationalist today than you were the first couple times we met. What’s up with that?”

“Uh… I dunno, social anxiety? How’s life on the moon treating you?”

“It’s got its perks. Apparently the gravity is low enough up there that my spinal cord decompressed, so now I’m a millimeter taller — and trust me, I know it doesn’t sound like much, but we dwarves have to take what we can get!”

“I can imagine.” An idea occurs to Barry — it’s a long shot, but worth a try. “How about the gnomes — are there any gnomes up there? How are they doing with the gravity situation?”

“Well, Leon doesn’t ‘like’ me or ‘the crew I hang with’ so I don’t really talk to him. And Davenport, well…”

Barry very nearly short-circuits his Stone of Farspeech as sparks of magic course through his form and down his sleeves. “What about Davenport? How is he?”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line, and Barry gets a bad feeling that he came across as a little too invested in Davenport’s well-being.

His fears are confirmed when Merle asks: “What, do you know him?”

“Just heard the name in passing,” Barry lies. “Never met him, but most names from the Bureau that I hear in passing end up belonging to pretty important people. What’s his — what does he do for your operation up there?”

“You know, I’ve never really thought about it before, but — if we could make this our little ‘Truth Zone’ here, for just a second — I’m not really sure why Lucretia hired him in the first place. All he can say is his own name, and he always seems kinda anxious about one thing or another — again, I never know what, since he can’t really talk.”

Barry doesn’t know how to reply.

“Damn good at cards, though! You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find a good game of yooker these days — or even chess, for that matter. You play either?”

“No.” Barry’s pretty sure that Merle and Davenport are the only people in the planar-verse who know how to play the game they’ve dubbed “yooker.” And he doesn’t even want to think about that chess remark.

“Darn. Well, I should probably get going — I can’t miss karaoke night with the boys. We’ve been trying all month to get Lucretia to join us, and she finally let it slip that she hasn’t got anything going on this evening!”

“Oh. Well, uh… don’t let me keep you from that, then. Nice talking to you.”

After he switches his stone off, Barry adds in a whisper: “Wish I could join you.”

***

“Sup, Little Red Riding Robe?”

“Don’t call me that,” the Red Robe groans. From the other end of the line, Taako hears the faint rustling of papers — his call must have interrupted something. He doesn’t feel too bad about it, though.

“What, would you rather be the Big Bad Wolf?” Taako asks. “I thought I was doing you a solid and painting you in a sympathetic light!”

“You know what, fine. Little Red Riding Robe it is,” the Red Robe replies. The hostility in his voice begins to dissipate as he goes on. “Tell me, Taako — is this just another prank call?”

Taako chuckles. “Oh, you wish. See, I stumbled across a piece of info that might just interest you…”

He pauses, waiting to see how the Red Robe reacts, but he’s met with silence.

“I’ve got your number, Riding Robe, idiomatically and literally. So this afternoon I took a quick vacay to the Stone of Farspeech service provider’s offices, cast a few Charm Person spells, and figured out just what name that number was registered to. Pretty clever, huh?”

It might just be Taako’s imagination, but it feels like the silence grows a little more tense.

“Now tell me, who’s this Sildar Hallwinter guy?” he asks. “Is that an alias, or did you just mug a dude and take his phone?”

The Red Robe chuckles. “Huh. That’s some genuinely impressive sleuthing — then again, I should’ve expected as much from you, Taako.”

“Well, uh, to tell you the truth… it was technically Angus’s idea — you ever hear about him? The boy detective? Little snoop was going through my dresser and found the paper I jotted down your number on, and dragged me into this quest to track down your true identity.”

“And does he think this case has been cracked wide open by this new info?”

“No. He’s pretty sure Hallwinter isn’t your real name — and don’t tell him I said this, but I trust him on that one-hundred percent. He’s pretty good with this stuff.”

“What did you really call me about if you’re so sure, then?”

What if she’s just gone?

“Well, I —”

Who?

“I…”

I can’t remember her face, Taako!

Whose face?!

Please, Taako, just kill me!

“Taako? Taako, are you with me?”

He doesn’t feel like he’s with anyone. Even lying on his bed, beneath a pile of heavy blankets he doesn’t remember arranging, he still can’t stop shivering. He’s so cold, and so, so alone.

He clutches the Umbra Staff close to his chest, close to his heart. It’s the only warm thing he can feel.

“Please, Taako, can you say something?” the disembodied voice continues. It sounds like it’s trying very hard to stay calm, and mostly succeeding. “Tell me what’s happening? I have Merle and Magnus’s numbers — I can call them if you need someone to come help —”

It also sounds very familiar, but trying to place it makes Taako feel like he’s teetering over the edge of a void, about to lose his balance and plunge into darkness.

“W-who is this?”

“It’s me, Taako, it’s… it’s the Red Robe.”

Taako’s eyes finally land on the Stone of Farspeech at the corner of his bed, and hesitantly extends a hand towards it. It’s not quite as warm as the Umbra Staff — but it’s certainly not cold, either. He pulls it closer, wrapping his fingers around it.

The Red Robe lets out a short, sad chuckle, which the speaker garbles a little bit. “There are some who call me Little Red Riding Robe. Or Sildar Hallwinter.”

“Sh-shit.” Their earlier conversation returns to Taako quickly, as he tries to sit up in bed. His teeth are still chattering slightly when he tries to speak. “I — I dunno what just happened. I just b-blacked out —”

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. It’s not your fault.” There’s a pause. “Hey, do you think you can you tell me a little more about Angus? He seems like a bright kid —”

“He is. B-been picking up magic real fast too. He’s a nosy little shit who never stops asking questions to all two dozen of his adoptive moon parents and I’m so glad Lucretia hired him.”

“He was right about Sildar Hallwinter being an alias, you know. Did he say what tipped him off?”

“He’s got contacts in the police force planetside like you wouldn’t believe. There was hardly anything in any of their files about Sildar, so we talked to Johann and he told us that name never got fed to the Voidfish. From there, Angus just figured that no real person would have that little info about them floating around.”

“Huh. That makes sense. Did Merle and Magnus come along for this adventure, or was it just the two of you?”

“Nah, Magnus was hanging with Carey and Merle was napping. I could hear him snoring from a room away.”

“What about the Director? I’m assuming you didn’t mention this to her?”

“Oh, hell no. She’d throw us straight in the brig if she ever learned how long we’ve had your number without telling her.”

“Yeah, I figured. I trust Merle and Magnus are doing well?”

“Yeah, they’re… well, actually… okay, look. I probably shouldn’t be telling you of all people about this, but something’s been off about Magnus lately. I thought I was imagining it at first, but now I’m pretty sure he’s trying to avoid the Director — which is actually kinda hard these days, since she’s been overseeing our training more and more. And he’s been really awkward around Johann, too. I’ve never seen him like this, and… I’m kinda worried.”

The Red Robe goes silent for a moment. “Well… what happened in Refuge must have been hard on him. I’m sure he’ll feel better soon.”

“Yeah, yeah. He’s pretty tough…” Part of Taako feels guilty for revealing so much to the Red Robe, but part of him doesn’t want to hang up. Magnus and Merle are already fast asleep — what if he blacks out again, and no one’s on the phone to talk him out of it?

Then again… is that what the Red Robe is aiming for? To gain Taako’s trust, and act so supportive that Taako can’t help but reveal sensitive information during a late-night, emotionally vulnerable ramble?

No, Barry wouldn’t do that. If he wants information, it’s just because he’s worried about you.

“Well, this has been a great chat, Riding Robe,” Taako says with an exaggerated yawn. “But I’ve got to get to bed. You never know if tomorrow will end up being a long day of saving the world.”

“You do that,” the Red Robe tells him. “And remember, you can always call me back if you need to.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. G’night.”

***

Magnus’s body is gone, and it’s Barry’s fault.

(Strictly speaking, it’s the fault of the Animus Bell. It taunts him even now, tucked safely away in the possession of the Reclaimers, calling to him and promising to ensure his family survives when the Hunger comes. To bring Lup back from whatever worse-than-undeath fate she met. But Barry recognizes enough of his own voice in his Relic to know that it’s lying.)

Barry made the bell, he put it out into a world that was not his own, and both that world and his family paid dearly.

I’m going to find a way to get your body back, Magnus. I promise.

“I think we deserve some answers from you,” Magnus slowly declares, still holding his detached mannequin arm in his remaining hand. Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem angry — just tired.

Oh Magnus, you don’t know the half of it, Barry thinks. He doesn’t say anything, but he nods to Magnus and then holds out his hand, creating an illusory Stone of Farspeech in his skeletal palm.

And one by one, without exchanging any words between each other, the three Reclaimers hand their stones over — first Magnus, slowly and solemnly; then Merle, with a guilty look on his face; and finally Taako, hesitant as he begins to raise his hand but resolute by the time he plucks the stone from his ear.

Barry flicks his hand, and the devices shatter.

“I’ll buy you new ones soon,” he promises. “But let’s get you those answers first.”

[bigskydreaming]

So I’ve been going through all my old Scrivener files and rounding up all the various fics and updates I’m planning on queuing up to post during the month/however-the-fuck-long I’m bedridden after surgery in a couple weeks. Which includes Teen Wolf as well as Batfics, FYI. 

Anyway, came across this old WIP that I never ended up posting because I ultimately thought it felt too similar to both Where Wild Things Are and Lightning Crashes, just in different ways....not enough that any of them were derivative of each other, but enough that I wasn’t super inspired to continue writing it because the vibe I was going for with it, I was already getting from writing those other two fics.

But I still liked it and think there was some good stuff there, so what the hell. Here’s an opening from a never-planning-on-finishing-it Scallison AU, where things diverged from canon right after the Hale fire six years pre-pilot, and there was a different-from-canon McCall pack at war/trying to survive Peter’s pack in its attempts to stamp theirs out. 

The Scallison part starts out in the vein of the ABC show Revenge, where Scott’s initially just trying to keep an eye on the hunters in town/figure out where the Argents land in all of this, but then, y’know. The feelings happen.

Anyway, it was chock full of my favorite TW writing tropes - runaway/long lost Scott, pack politics, side characters turned main characters, scheming, double-dealing, Scott Is A Goddamn Genius and No I Do Not Accept Constructive Criticism On This Matter For It Is Wrong....you know, my usuals.

I did have a pretty extensive outline/summary for the rest of the fic and my plans for it, that I can post if there’s any interest in reading that and seeing where this was going. *Shrugs* Just let me know.

WHAT THE FIRES LEFT BEHIND

Scott McCall came home on a Tuesday.

For Allison, that didn’t mean much at first.  Her only context for the mass text was the bemused quirking of Lydia’s lips and a rather underwhelming ‘Huh.’ Then a shrug and a flick of her hair, and her best friend by default returned to ruffling through the Macy’s clearance rack with a vengeance.

“Awful. Grotesque. Needs to be set ablaze, immediately - ”

Allison nodded to herself and bore continued witness to Lydia’s evisceration of every hack designer of every fashion atrocity present, though sadly, the novelty of that had long since worn off. It was 7 pm on a school night. They’d been scouring the mall for something to meet Lydia’s approval for three hours already, and Allison did have trigonometry homework she could be torturing herself with instead, so….

Tough call. Hard choices had to be made. Allison steeled herself for battle and called Lydia Martin on her bullshit.

“Why are we here again? You hate Macy’s, and you absolutely despise clearance items.”

“I know that, and you know that.” Lydia emerged from a forest of polyester blouses wearing a look of disdain that had a ph level that would put any acid in the school’s chem lab to shame. “But I’m trying to see if I can find something here to start a trend with anyway.  Call it…a social experiment.”

“Hmm.” Allison nodded again thoughtfully. Briefly, she considered mercy. But she had just wasted three hours of her life. And mercy wasn’t really the Argent family way. 

She pulled the trigger. “You sure its not called Daddy cut your spending limit?”

Her melodrama-prone friend threw her hands up as if to express the whole world had gone mad and nothing made any sense. “It’s like he’s not even trying to buy my affection anymore!”

Allison coughed into her hand to smother a giggle. Being able to so easily rile up her friend when all others’ attempts dashed themselves harmlessly upon Her Majesty’s porcelain mask of perfection? Still her favorite sport next to archery. But certain social norms must be respected. One didn’t openly mock a friend in such obvious distress. She quickly changed the subject. For Lydia’s sake, really.

“So who’s Scott McCall?”

Lydia paused midway through working herself up to a truly tickets and popcorn-worthy rant, thrown by the sudden segue. “What?”

Allison waved her phone, flashing the mass text Danny had sent out to pretty much everyone in the Beacon County zip code.

“Scott McCall’s back. He just walked into the Sheriff’s Station. Stiles saw him himself,” she read out loud. “Who’s Scott McCall?”

“Oh. That.” Lydia tore her horrified gaze away from a leopard print mini-skirt and shrugged. “He’s this guy from our class who disappeared seven years ago. You know that Dunbar kid’s stepmom, Melissa? It’s her son.”

“Wait, seriously? And he’s our age? How have I never heard about this before?”

“I don’t know, Allison,” Lydia rolled her eyes. “Maybe because normal people don’t talk about things that depress them? It was a long time ago anyway.”

“I can tell it had a real effect on you,” Allison said, with just a touch of acid herself.

“I’m in the midst of a personal financial crisis currently. I’ll care when its over. Besides, its not like anyone has any details yet. Pointless gossip is for the peasants.”

“So what happened anyway?” Allison asked. Lydia shot her a look and she smiled innocently. “What? I’m comfortable with my peasant status. And I’ve lived here almost two years now and never heard a word about this. How can I not be curious?”

“Well this was an utter waste of time,” Lydia said under her breath as she gingerly replaced a sequin-studded monstrosity back on the rack, seemingly preoccupied once more. Or possibly just flat-out ignoring her. 

The menace of the malls then raised her eyes to the ceiling as if despairing at the world at large, heaved a sigh that was practically a soliloquy unto itself, and ran her fingers through her hair in some kind of ritual of self-composure. 

Once she’d observed the proper formalities for conceding her quest was officially a failure - at least, Allison was pretty sure that’s what she was doing, though she’d rather not commit to that, given that some of the intricacies of her friend’s habits still eluded her grasp - Lydia finally slung her purse over her shoulder and set off towards the exit with an imperious wave of her head. 

It was only when her brisk walk stalled out while waiting for the garage elevator that Her Highness deigned to address the lowly commoner’s curiosity. 

Allison just sighed internally. She’d long since made her peace with her friend’s little power games. They were entertaining as often as they were exasperating, so it was sort of a pick your battles type situation, and Allison preferred to err on the side of not waking the beast beneath Lydia’s deceptively dainty exterior.

“You know about the Hale fire, right?” Lydia asked.

Allison nodded. It wasn’t an everyday topic of conversation by any means, but it had come up at least once or twice since her family moved to Beacon Hills two years prior. Talk of the tragedy had even made an appearance in her own home, in a couple of muffled shouting matches between her parents that she’d only caught bits and pieces of.

“Yeah, my Aunt Kate actually lived around here back then. That was the fire that killed that whole family, right?”

“Right. So it was pretty much right around that same time. Scott went missing just a few days after. A lot of people even wondered if there might have been a connection, there were rumors the fire was arson, I don’t know. It was a whole thing, and we were only ten at the time, you know? Anyway, Scott’s dad was this hotshot FBI agent. There were search parties for like two months, but they never found a body or anything. Most people eventually figured it probably had something to do with one of his dad’s cases.”

“And now he’s back,” Allison prodded when Lydia lapsed into silence. The smaller girl just chewed on her lower lip, staring at the wall of the garage almost pensively.

“And now he’s back,” she echoed with a distracted nod of her head.

“That’s....interesting,” Allison offered tentatively. She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the mood that had fallen over her friend, like a spell had settled upon her the moment she’d actually stopped and reflected on her memories of the events in question. 

It seemed somewhat conspicuous to her that Lydia made no mention of who Scott was beyond just the victim of some strange small-town mystery, and so she was uncertain just how cautiously she needed to tread here. Had they been childhood friends? Mere acquaintances? Something else, likely as baffling and unexpected as most things about Lydia Martin tended to be?

But the born and raised Beacon Hills native just shrugged one shoulder listlessly and twirled a strand of strawberry-blond hair around a finger.

“It’s something,” she said at last. The elevator arrived at their level with an almost cheerful-sounding ding that was at odds with the somber mood they stood draped in. Lydia shook herself, a full body kind of motion not unlike a dog drying itself off.

“Are you coming?” She tossed over her shoulder at Allison, sounding almost exasperated, as though she hadn’t been the one just standing there staring at the wall for a good ten seconds after the elevator doors had slid open.

Allison sighed and shook her head, but she held back any retort and instead simply followed her friend down into the lower levels of the garage. Now was not the time to pursue...whatever that whole thing had been, just now. 

Lydia Martin had just unwillingly displayed an emotional reaction in front of another person. It was too dangerous to prod for further weak spots in her armor without letting at least a day or two pass first.

The self-styled Queen of Beacon Hills had relieved commoners of their heads for lesser offenses than that.

[boyswanna-be-her]

I have a crush on you but also LEAK THE SKIN CARE ROUTINE

I really hope you were serious, because this is something I’ve thought a lot about and I am absolutely going to use this ask as an excuse to go into a skin care deep dive.

Here’s a big-ol high-res picture of my mug for you to inspect.

I pay less than $15 for products that must last at least 3-4 months because I just… don’t have more money than that to throw at this hobby. I’ll link to everything I use and show you the price under the cut.

I only use four of these things below every day–but when I have time, I use as many of them as my skin calls for. I just wanted to show you the whole of my skincare arsenal so as not to be coy about it taking up space and time in my life and routine. It does, and I do work on it.

I’m 33, white with combination skin, lots of prior scarring from picking, lots of sun exposure (Florida!), and several minor autoimmune issues that impact my skin when my health is poor or stress is high. I am prone to whiteheads and inflamed pimples the week of my period. 

You cannot buy, wash, treat, or hide your way to “perfect” skin. Airbrushed, poreless, whitewashed, glowing, moist, unwrinkled skin is a lie sold to us by makeup and skincare companies. There is no perfect skin–there is only skin. 

But if you personally are unhappy with some aspect of your skin, you can develop habits that make you more comfortable with/proud of/happy with your skin, and that’s what I want to focus on here.

Though good health =/= clear and smooth skin in all cases, I am lucky to report that my skin looks clearer, smoother, and younger now that I’m not just generally near death all the time. The story would be very different if I struggled with, say, lifelong acne, or if I had a chronic health problem that I was not able to manage. 

Skincare is a luxury of time, money, physical storage space, and mental space.

“Good” skin is a myth. Everyone’s skin is good skin. I started doing all of this stuff to my skin because I was dissatisfied with how much it HURT all of the time, and how flaky it was. Acne, scars, “discoloration,” different coloration, birthmarks, big pores, “craters,” uneven textures, dark hairs, thick hairs, skin tags, milia, blackheads, wrinkles, keratosis pilaris, freckles, and moles are all NORMAL skin types/features and don’t need to be “solved” if the possessor is unbothered by them. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO LOOK HOWEVER YOU WANT. 

I do this stuff because I like it, it helps my mental health to take care of myself with a routine, and it improves my physical quality of life. It helps me with some insecurities, but if that was the only thing it did for me, I don’t think I’d mess with it this much. When I’m not healthy, my skin is prone to deep cracking and flaking. I have always been self-conscious about redness in my T-zone and yellowness around my eyes (dear god, my poor, poor liver).

My skin has objectively cleared and smoothed and plumped up a lot because I smoke less, drink less, stay in mostly humid environments (because, again, Florida!), and have been managing my stress and autoimmune issues. These are all changes made in the last six months. 

On top of those changes, on an average day when I’m actually taking care of myself, I use the following four steps in the order listed, once a day in the morning. I’m realistic that I’ll only do this once a day in the morning and anything more than that is just a boring time suck for me as a person.

1. COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser - 5 oz for $10.70 - one tube lasts me about 6 months. I use this in the morning and just thoroughly wash my face. It’s very mild and has a fresh citrus scent that doesn’t linger.

2. Kikumasamune Skincare Lotion - 17 oz $12.10 - one bottle lasts me 8-10 months. This is a fermented, watery product unlike anything I’d used before. It smells faintly like sake, bananas, and bubblegum (seriously). I decant it out of the big pump bottle into a little travel bottle. I shake a little in my hand and rub it gently over my whole face and eye area. Probably not supposed to do that, but I’m a rebel. It leaves my skin a little tacky.

3. Hada Labo Rohto Hadalabo Gokujun Hyaluronic Lotion Moist - 5.7 oz for $12.99 bottle, then 6.4 oz for $10.90 refill packages - 5 oz lasts me 3-4 months. I’ve honestly forgotten what this even does but it’s a nice, thick liquid, colorless and scentless, and I put it all over my face. Leaves my skin a little less tacky but still not slick/neutral.

4. Ladykin Fresh Strawberry Icing Gel Bar - 6.7 oz for $7.99 - one bottle lasts me about 5-6 months. Someone literally bought this for me as a gag gift because they knew I liked skincare and the bottle is… weirdly obscene. But it turns out that it makes a great moisturizer for me and it’s cheap as hell and smells like fresh strawberries so what’s the down side? 

When I have time or when my skin really needs it, I also use the following products:

SHEETMASKS - Stop buying overpriced sheetmasks one at a time!!!! Leave that aisle at Target alone!!! I know they’re at the dollar store too–leave them alone!!! Those are cool if you’re treating yourself for special occasions, but I try to think of sheet masks as a normal part of my week. That means I’m not going to shell out $3-4 PER MASK if I’m using one or two every week! 

The thing with sheetmasks is, in my totally nonscientific opinion, it doesn’t really matter what kind you use. The value is in plopping a bunch of moisture on your face along with cloth that simply forces that product into your skin. It’s the skin force-feeding concept that works more than the product itself. I think. I have no proof. I have made really moronic assumptions before.

That said, you’ll find ones that you prefer over others. Snail mucin ones don’t absorb nicely for me. Exotic animal-sourced ingredients (bee pollen, royal jelly, donkey milk, goat milk, snake venom, bee venom….) sometimes irritate my skin. Other people LOVE them. 

I get sheetmasks in packages online, at TJ Maxx, and at Marshalls. I try to pay under 75 cents per mask, but lean more towards the 50 cent mark. TJ Maxx and Marshalls are great places to try out new masks–just look at the prices and the mask count and do a little mental math to make sure you’re not getting gouged.

A good place to start if you want to try sheetmasking is with the Dermal brand of sheetmasks (16 masks for $11 (68c/per), 24 masks for $14 (58c/per), 39 masks for $21 (54c/per). They’re basic and generally non-irritating with no scent and a thin formula that feels nice and leaves skin smooth and untacky. This is what I generally keep on hand. 

I have a weird sense-memory thing with ginseng, so I also look out for Esfolio Pure Skin Red Ginseng Essence Mask Sheets. I don’t recommend buying from Amazon, as I am able to find these 10-pack boxes cheaper in person.

If I’m going to use a sheetmask, I put it on after I brush my teeth, wash my face, and put in contact lenses (doing them with glasses isn’t impossible–just messier). Then I make tea and just… do stuff with the dumb sheet mask on until it’s pretty dry (20-30 minutes). Then I take it off and rub the leftover mask on my arms and legs and chest like a weirdo, because it’s still full of product, and then I squeeze the leftover product out of the package and apply it to my face. Because I have the luxury of time but not money, I do NOT waste product.

AQUAPHOR - ~$14 for 14 oz - one tub lasts me through 18 months of travel, winters, and tattoos. Apparently everyone who lives somewhere cold already knows that you need to smother your face in petrolatum when it starts acting up or the weather is cold and dry, but this was shocking news to someone like me who was raised in Southern mall culture skincare routines. When my skin is cracked and bad, Aquaphor legit helps more than my prescription steroid creams. I put as much of it on my face as I can tolerate (it doesn’t smell like anything, but it does make you damned greasy) and then go to bed. Waking up with post-Aquaphor skin is like a miracle sometimes.

MISSHA M Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF 42 - $7.20 for 0.2 oz -  This is a new purchase for me, as my favorite sheer, tinted one-tone-fits-all BB cream has been discontinued. This only comes in six colors, and most of those look like they flatter white and yellow skin–so this option won’t be perfect for everyone. I’m still in search of the perfect replacement BB, but this one works for now. In the picture at the top of this post, I’ve just done my normal 4-step thing and applied about a pump and a half of this BB cream all over my face.

***If you have actively flakey skin, I don’t recommend the MISSHA product as it does emphasize flakes and dry patches. Try COVERGIRL Smoothers Lightweight BB Cream (1.35 oz for $6.19) It won’t discolor and emphasize your flakes, if you get dried out during the day.*** 

I fell into the Korean beauty rabbit hole several years ago with @shrimoishere​ –who has been more consistent about these things and as a result has AMAZING SKIN. If you want to learn more about why this stuff works, and how it could work for your specific skin type, I highly recommend poking around r/AsianBeauty. I spent a ton of time researching products and about two years trying different things to figure out what would work for me. This has been a passive, slow journey, so I don’t think anyone who can afford it and would like to pursue it should feel intimidated by the perceived time suck. It’s just something cool to do in the background.

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 1: Vegas Notes

Okay, I’m going to try to write up some notes on my vacation, mostly just the straight events of what I did and when, because I don’t want to forget anything but I also don’t want to spend five hours writing this. Plus I wrote down some emotional impressions yesterday and during the trip itself.

 Wednesday

Mostly a traveling day, but because the time change worked very much in my favor, also sort of a ‘first’ day in Vegas itself. I left my apartment at about 7:30 and flew out of Richmond at about 9:03. The Richmond airport isn’t large and I’ve flown out of it before so that was quite easy. Just had time for a chai tea latte before I headed off. I know it’s weird to be this person but I actually really like air travel, and at this point I’m even inured to stuff going wrong, so I was having a good old time even then. Even though the aisles are very narrow and the seats are small. My flights weren’t too long anyway. And for ONCE everything was even better than on time. Three of my four flights arrived early and so did my mom’s, and even my last flight, which left 20 minutes late, only arrived 5 minutes late, which is to say it was also ‘early’ except for the delay in take-off.

Anyway my first flight was to Charlotte and only about an hour, and then in Charlotte I had, like, NO TIME (from talking to a co-worker who’s also going West through CLT and from looking around online, I’ve gotten the impression American does this a lot, gives people a 45 minute layover in Charlotte), but the two gates weren’t too far from each other—farther than I’d though they would be because I had to go from C to B and my gate at B was all the way at the end—and I got in early. So I rushed but didn’t run, got there with ten minutes to boarding, and still had time to use the restroom and wait around for 10-15 minutes before my group actually boarded. So in fact it worked out well.

My second flight was almost 4 hours, which I didn’t think would be long, but it kind of was. They showed Avengers: Endgame and although at first I was just watching and listening to my own music, after a little bit, I decided to plug in and listen because I thought it would make the time go faster to actually watch a narrative. And luckily that monster is 3 hours long so that was most of the flight. I was also starving by this time, so I did in fact get an expensive sandwich on the plane, the eating of which also took up time.

I got in early, at about 1pm, but I had to wait for my mom to get in a couple hours later. I flew into D gate and it took me about an hour of wandering around just to figure out that D was a little satellite collection of stores, gates, and Starbucks, and I needed to take a shuttle to the gates where my mom would be. Once I did that, I saw her flight was early and I had less than two hours of waiting left. So I found a Starbucks with a seating area (there were only A BILLION of them, a fucking Starbucks in every aisle, more Starbucks than DC even) and had a coffee and a yogurt parfait and wrote a bit, which was fine, even though Starbucks is overrated (literally just sugar ice water after five minutes????? Why??????????????? Why is this $500 I could make this myself?). Then I went to my mom’s gate, which was in a nice place with a good view, and read and listened to music until she arrived.

We found the taxi stand, got one right away, and drove to our hotel. It is SO CLOSE. I guess because you can only carve out so much space in the desert. And literally it’s like desert all around and then Vegas, that’s it, a big entertainment center in the middle of nowhere. The landscape was gorgeous and actually the whole time I was traveling across the country I felt very… moved. And then getting into Vegas itself is bizarre because it’s literally a few very famous, very large building just rising up out of nothing.

Anyway, I agonized a lot about hotels but ended up going with an off-strip, non-resort hotel and this was a very good choice. I was pleased. For the same base price as a resort, and without resort or wi-fi fees, we got a whole fucking suite, almost as big as my apartment, with a living room, kitchen, large closet, bathroom with two doors, etc. Plus a fridge and a microwave and a dishwasher and all that. It felt like being at home right away. We spent a couple hours there, catching up, and then went out to eat at about 7 or so. We’re night people and so this felt, for us, like the sort of ‘late’ dinner we naturally want to have but know we shouldn’t—for us, a 10:30 dinner, but in reality, because of the time difference, a normal person hour dinner. Our hotel was right across from Planet Hollywood, so that was our base. I must say I also liked it right away. The fake buildings and fake sky. Even the mall part spoke to me in a strange way given that usually I find malls very stressful. We ended up eating at an Italian restaurant, which seated us in the fake outside part. The food was great, and the salad was probably the best I’ve ever had in my life. After that, we walked around a little and got our bearings, and then went home, showered, got ready for bed. I was exhausted, which was a great feeling: in my head, it was 1 am, and I’d been up since 6, so obviously I was tired, but the clock only said 10, so I felt very responsible. (It was more like 11 by the time I actually went to sleep but still.)

 Thursday

Got up at 7 all on my own, which also felt great—of course it was 10 am in my brain. Life hack for night owls: travel west! We didn’t actually leave until about 9 though, and then we had a big breakfast/brunch at the Café Hollywood in PH, where our server very nicely let us substitute like half the menu for the breakfast we wanted. They also gave me honey with my tea, which, even though I don’t like honey, was an unexpected gesture that rather tickled me. We wandered the resort some more, looked at stores and so on, then went back to the hotel. We were planning on going to the pool but it was in the sun at the time, so we rested for an hour, and then went out and floated for a time. It felt very surreal to me to be floating in a pool in Las Vegas. Just lovely.

After the pool and quick showers, we went out to dinner, at a Mexican place, which I liked although it was a lot of food—I had an appetizer and it was way more than I could eat. Then back to the hotel to rest a little. By this time, we were starting to feel that fatigue that comes with allowing oneself any time to think while traveling. Then my friend B randomly texted me, and I got into a conversation with him, which was hilarious as he did not know I was in Vegas. Very fun to answer a question “how are you” with “I’m in las vegas.”

After that was the show, from which we crawled home at maybe 11, and I guess I must have been awake for some amount of time after but I have no recollection.

 Friday

We had breakfast at the Café Hollywood again and then did some souvenir shopping. Dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and then went out adventuring. Basically I mean walking down the strip. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Café, where I had the best strawberry basil lemonade ever, and then walked down to NYNY Casino. Walked through the Park, with the metal trees, and into the casino itself, which was absolutely the most surreal thing. Like… the fake buildings do not look or feel like NYC but what do they feel like? A movie set, kinda… a stage… an adult Disney World… so fake and yet so pleasing. Street signs with famous street names just placed next to each other randomly, Greenwich next to Broadway and Broadway does not look like Broadway... and then in the middle of it all, a casino just like BAM out of nowhere. I liked it a lot but I’m not sad I didn’t stay there. I liked having my little home to come back to.

We wanted to see what the Paris one looked like, to compare, plus it was on our way back, but at this point walking back through the hottest part of the day was just…exhausting. We stopped in briefly in the Cosmopolitan just to cool down—it was very black and shiny and full of crystals. Paris itself was underwhelming; it didn’t feel like Paris, obviously, but it also didn’t feel like a Paris replica either. Maybe the comparatively interesting parts were just somewhere else, we seemed to basically be in the casino, but we were tired, so we just left and headed to the hotel at this point. We walked through PH first and I got a maple ice latte, yogurt, and banana muffin, all delicious.

After some rest, we went out again for dinner, even though we weren’t really hungry, but neither were we not hungry. For me at least, I felt like I should eat, more than that I wanted to eat. If/when I do Vegas again, I’ll do two meals a day—it works out much better. Mostly what I wanted was a huge bowl of berries tbh. I ended up with a spinach and berry salad, which was almost the same. We went outside to watch the Bellagio fountain show from the steps of PH. I kind of wanted to be closer but the streets in Vegas are so wide and we would have had to cross two to get there, and we didn’t know if we would make it. But our view was okay regardless. We also saw several groups of showgirls walking across the street, some of them in sparkly sneakers, which was adorable.

We got back to the hotel just past 9, when most people’s Friday night was just beginning. We went back to the pool, to experience it after dark, which was weird but also very relaxing. At some points, we were the only ones there. I floated for a bit with my eyes closed and felt the most peaceful I have felt in years.

At quarter to ten, we went back upstairs to shower and pack. It was sort of a let down but also I just couldn’t think about it. I didn’t want to leave and there were things I hadn’t done that I had wanted to do but I also felt like I would need at least 2 more days to do them, because if I stayed another day I wouldn’t leave the hotel except possibly to float in the pool, I was just too exhausted. We had to get up at 4:30 for my flight, and we both got to sleep fairly late, and I at least did not sleep well at all. I kept having nightmares, none of which I can remember, and randomly waking up.

 Saturday

My memories of the morning are very hazy… I had to get dressed, pack a few last minute things, stuff a granola bar in my mouth to say that I had eaten. Our taxi came up very fast after the hotel called it—literally, I was still rolling my suitcase down the incline when it was parking at the steps. And the drive to the airport was short. My mom and I said goodbye outside of security, and then I had to take a shuttle to my gates because I was, again, leaving at D. But I found everything okay and had plenty of time.

On the way back, I had a not-quite-three hour flight to Dallas first, and then a not-quite-three-hour trip to Richmond, with a 2.5 hour layover in between. So I lost two hours, and then another hour. The flights were both fine, and the layover was quite easy because the Dallas airport is very nice. A lot of signs and gigantic touchscreen information kiosk things, which told me where all the food was. So I knew right away that if I headed toward my gate, I would run into a French café first (where I had a delicious pesto pasta and chicken dish) and then a Dunkin Donuts (for some a GOOD latte and a donut, to go), and then to my gate, where I settled down with my magazine and coffee. By the time I was done it was almost time to board. We ended up sitting around for a while longer than I had wanted, and the plane got quite hot and stuffy, but once we were in the air, it was fine. I listened to music and read my magazine, and finished the article just as we were landing. My co-worker picked me up outside and drove me home, and I got back around 7 I think.

Today I have truly just been sleeping and thinking about the trip. I haven’t event unpacked yet. I’m so glad I have tomorrow off, too, because I truly couldn’t stand to go to work tomorrow, but I do think, perhaps too optimistically, that I will feel normal, or mostly normal, tomorrow.

I already miss this vacation so much but I’m so glad I went, it was honestly just about perfect, and I do feel refreshed, as a vacation should make one feel.

[tsukkinode]

Cosmania 2018: Ino Hiroki and Asuma Kousuke Fan Meet Report

Hello! I’m back with a new fan report, and it’s from the recent Cosmania 2018 in the Philippines where Hiroki and Kousuke came as special guests! It was a pretty fun and wild(?) fan meeting, so I hope you enjoy my report!

Note: I know that a lot of fan reports have emerged from Twitter, but I would appreciate it if you would link back to this post if you ever decide to share any parts from this post. This is ging to be as detailed as possible esp the talk part. Thank you!

I also have a Ko-fi account, so if you ever want to give me some coffee, I’ll be grateful!

The MC introduced both of them with their respectful 2.5D roles, and the screams were really loud without them appearing yet. They entered from the center of the stage, as the backdrop display splits into two. Hiroki is wearing a dark navy suit with a black shirt underneath, while Kousuke is wearing a light brown suit with a white shirt underneath. They both look so handsome in person! We were lucky to be seated on the fourth row near the stage!

Hiroki and Kousuke greeted the fans to the front! Hiroki greeted everyone in English along with a “Mabuhay!” Kousuke mentioned how he’s finally in the Philippines. (Fun fact: I got a Hiroki calendar from a friend, and the friend with me used it as a signage. We decided to use the July page bc it’s a very sexy one. Hiroki couldn’t help but laugh to himself bc there were at least 3 Hiroki calendars in those pages waving at him lol I love my friends. He was looking at us when he laughed, it’s so precious XD)

The first part is a talk event where the MC asks questions, and they basically have to answer them. (Stylistic note: Anything that’s italicized is spoken in English.)

Q: How did you start as an actor?

Hiroki: Oh. Alright, I’m gonna start talking (Fans started screaming when he started talking in English, and he said that we’ll probably like it if he does speak in English)... So, when I was 15, I worked in Harajuku and I was scouted by a manager. But at first, I was not interested in being an actor... Oh, sorry! Okay, in Japanese!

Everyone was laughing because he really did his best but he gave up midway. He wanted to probably answer it properly.

Hiroki: In my very first stage play, during the curtain call, I could properly see everyone’s face. From then on, that’s when I started getting interested in acting so I decided to become an actor.

When it was Kousuke’s turn and he started talking, fans were so loud. He really has a lot of fans here in the Philippines.

Kousuke: As for me, I was introduced into the entertainment scene by my friend.

MC: I think it’s fate that they have met several people into becoming actors, and now they’re here with us!

Hiroki: Right! That’s it!

(Please stop Hiroki, he’s too cool and funny in this panel.)

Q: We understand acting is not easy. What are the challenges you faced as an actor?

Hiroki: It actually varies on the characters you get as an actor like you could be required to know sword fighting. And there, we actually have to study those skills.

Kousuke: For me... Well, as I’ve been into different 2.5D production, with every single character that differs, you have to keep studying the (original) work and so every day there’s a challenge you face. But right now! It’s (the character) Jollibee.

Right after he mentioned Jollibee, everybody just lost it. I did too because that’s too extra of him to say tbh.

Hiroki: Do you want to try (acting it)?

Kousuke: Jollibee?

HIS FACE WHEN HIROKI SUGGESTED THAT. Seriously, Hiroki is so good with this adlib thing, Kousuke looked like he wasn’t prepared for it. But anyway, Kousuke went in front to try doing Jollibee. What he did is he’s like doing this holding a tray thing and serving it in a cute way. XD

MC: Is that Jollibee?

Fans were screaming, “Noooo!” and were disagreeing.

Hiroki: Where’s Jollibee? XD

Kousuke turned to Hiroki while laughing bc he got so shy and embarrassed. Suddenly, the fans were asking for Hiroki’s turn to show his Jollibee. Fan went, “Hiroki! Hiroki!” along with Kousuke. So when Hiroki went in front, he just did this cute pose and went, “This is! Jollibee Spaghetti!” And the whole audience went wild and cheering for him!

Hiroki: Is this Jollibee? (The fans said yes!)

Hiroki, looking/pointing at Kousuke: I’m Jollibee, you’re not. XD

Kousuke looked so dejected though. Both of them are so cute in that segment.

Q: Which character you portrayed is your favorite?

Hiroki: I know you want to, you want, ehh... (He gets flustered here bc of his pause and the fans were just cheering him on XD) Okay, okay! What you want to is... Koushi Sugawara? (Fans: Yesssss!) I know, I know. But the question is difficult for me because it’s like, “Hey, who’s your favorite, your mother or father?” So yeah, it’s hard because I can’t choose.

(My friend and I were like, “Awww that’s so sweet” lol)

MC: Everyone is your favorite.

Hiroki: Yeah! Hmm yeah!

(This is just me, but it’s weird for the MC to ask the audience if we accept that... Of course, we do lol what are you saying)

Kousuke: Uhm, well... it’s Haikyuu’s Oikawa Tooru.

The fans just went screaming (seriously though, Oikawa’s a fan favorite, and a lot of PH fans became his fans bc of Oikawa). The MC asked if we can hear his “Yaho!”

Kousuke went to the front and went, “Yaho, Tobio-chan!” The screams were louder than usual, and then some started chanting, “Iwa-chan!” Kousuke didn’t understand it at first, until Hiroki told him (without the mic) to say Iwa-chan too. And so he did that too!

Q: What was your happiest moment as an actor?

Hiroki: It makes me the happiest when I get to see everyone laughing or crying because of stage plays. (Hiroki does these crying motions too, and he was just so adorable).

Kousuke: Well, I feel just the same as Hiroki, but also from getting into Haisute, I get to be in different amazing stage plays. And the fact that I am here in the Philippines. How do you say this... I’m very grateful for everything.

Q: What advice do you have for people aiming to be an actor?

Hiroki: So... Actors cannot be alone. You’re here, and we’re here.

Tbh, I got what he meant by this. He said this in English and I went, “Awwww. Holy crap, I want to cry.” Hiroki said it in Japanese to his interpreter which she basically said the same thing, “If not for you, they won’t be here.” With an addition of “Never forget that feeling of gratitude towards your fans.”

Kousuke: For me... Well, I know everyone’s aiming for it, but we won’t know when we would be debuting exactly. Until then, I think it’s important that we keep studying and improving ourselves so we can be much more prepared for it. That’s what I want to share.

From here, questions are asked from the audience.

Q: What future roles would you want to be in?

Hiroki: I wanna be a prime minister! President! Or Spider-Man!

Kousuke: I’ve said this earlier, but it’s Jollibee! A 2.5D version of Jollibee!

Good heavens, you don’t know how much we laughed at this part bc it ended up as Hiroki and Kosuke arguing about Jollibee. XD

Hiroki: Hey, you said Jollibee is me?!

Kousuke: I’m gonna steal it from you!

Q: For Asuma-san, have you every adlibed on stage? If so, how did you execute it?

Kousuke: Adlib... a little. I’m bad at it.

The audience went silent, and Kousuke got so confused with the reaction, so he went, “Eh? Eh??” Hiroki saved him by saying, “They’re saying ‘ooooh’”

Kousuke: Well, so not to forget my character’s lines, I always make sure to really study them very well so I can tell them properly.

Q: For Ino-san, out of all the characters you have portrayed, whom do you relate the most, and why?

Hiroki: Uhm, Koushi Sugawara. He’s the most normal human out of all the characters I’ve played, which is like me who’s pretty much normal and doesn’t want the kouhais to steal the position from me. I think that’s how much I relate to him.

Q: What is your reaction when you were invited for an overseas event for the first time?

Hiroki: Yesterday, I was really nervous because this is my first time to be with you. But now! I am so excited to see you! Thanks to you!

Kousuke: Uhm... I was really worried that there wouldn’t be a lot of people who would come, but now, if we could make each and every one of you even a little bit happier, then... Until the end, let’s have fun with what we have today!

Second half is more of the fun stuff! The first challenge is making them speak Tagalog. Sentences were flashed on the screen and they basically have to pronounce them.

The first one is “Ako si __. Ako ay ipinaganak sa __. (I am __. I was born in __.)”

MC: Can you do it, Hiroki-san?

Hiroki: Of course!

Hiroki was actually good in pronouncing words so he was able to speak the sentences well.

Hiroki: Ako ay si... Hiroki! Ako ay ipinanganak sa... Japan! (Fans were cheering him on!) Masarap... Jolly Spaghetti!

He also asked if it was good, so the fans were satisfied and gave him an okay sign. Kousuke went up next.

Kousuke: Ako ey si... Kousuke Asuma. Ako ey pen? pen?... (Fans were teaching him by this time, shouting “ipinanganak/pinanganak) pinanganak! Sa... Japanese!

Kousuke was so cute, but because of that little mistake, fans were giving him an NG sign and telling him to try it again. He also cannot pronounce ‘ipinanganak’ well so he fumbles his words too. He did it again and he said that he was born in ‘Japanese’ until Hiroki taught him the proper word and said that Japanese is a person, Japan is the place. When Kousuke did it again, he said, “Ako ay si Kosuuke Asuma. Ako ay pinanganak sa... in Gifu!”

Second sentence is “Ang paborito kong pagkain Pinoy ay __ (My favorite Filipino food is __).” A lot of fans are actually chanting Jollibee here, but I kinda shouted adobo lol

Hiroki: Alright. Paborito kong... pagkaing Pinoy ay... adobo!... Perfect?

When it was Kousuke’s turn, I had to cheer him with ganbare!

Kousuke: Paborito kong... pegkein? Pagkain? Pinoy? Pinyoy? ay... Philippine meat! Philippine meat... Chicken, chicken.

The fans were not so convinced so he went, “I like lapu-lapu!” Which is a kind of fish in the Philippines.

The last sentence is, “Mahal ko kayo” and omg the fans were losing it lol.

Hiroki went to start, and he turned his back to us. He started this countdown, 3, 2, 1, then he went to turn to us and say, “Mahal ko kayo” in quite a sexy voice lol

Kousuke also did the same, and his countdown is in Japanese, san, ni, ichi. AND GAHD KOUSUKE WAS SO SOFT but his voice is deeper. It was so good! Both of them were so good! Thank you for the food lol

The next challenge is an improvisation game/acting challenge. They have to pick a noun they have to portray and an adjective to describe their character. Now, this is also a contest so there would be voting at the end of the challenge. The loser would have to dance. I told my friend that I hope Hiroki loses so he would have to dance.

For the first round, Hiroki picked up a cheerful gay person (it’s actually okama, but it doesn’t have a good connatation imo) while Kousuke picked up a dog that is surprised easily. Hiroki actually laughed when he first picked his paper. Funny thing is when Kousuke picked up ‘dog’, he went back to the bowl to try to change it, but he was stopped. 

They have to act together too, and all I can say is... Hiroki went too all out XD Kousuke was on all-fours because he was a dog, while Hiroki started as “Oh no. It’s so hot!” And he suddenly screamed and ran after dog!Kousuke! Hiroki went, “Come on, dog!! Come on!” There was a part that he was grabbing dog!Kousuke by the pants lmao just to call him towards him. 

Kousuke looked so scared of how gay!Hiroki was acting obviously. He was doing this gesture with his hands in front of him to make gay!Hiroki calm down too (he’s being too friendly with this dog lmao). 

Gay!Hiroki kept trying to get dog!Kousuke’s attention and asked for his name, to which Kousuke answered, “Jollibee” lmao. Dog!Kousuke kept walking around the stage (in all-four), but Hiroki kept grabbing him (by his leg/feet). And then Hiroki called him while bringing a bottled water, “Do you want this?” Kousuke is just looking at him even though he’s scared.

Hiroki: Do you want this from my mouth?

istg I think the venue went a bit hotter during this segment. Kousuke couldn’t understand him tbh, so Hiroki told him in Japanese, and KOUSUKE’S SHOCKED FACE LMAO. So they continued with the segment, with Kousuke saying he’ll drink it. HAHA Even Hiroki didn’t expect that hah.

They were actually sitting on the floor, the bottled water placed in between them, and Hiroki suddenly went, “Do it yourself! Do it yourself!” and shoved it to Kousuke XD And then Kousuke walked away looking sad HAHAHA PLEASE STOP THIS.

Hiroki: Oh, sorry, sorry, my puppy! Puppy!

Kousuke went back to him, and then Hiroki asked him to stand up (tbh whyyyy). Kousuke did, and they were just looking at each other’s eyes, and suddenly Kousuke fell to his knees, and GOOD HEAVENS THE POSITION THEY WERE IN. Kousuke looked up to Hiroki and just akslgalkgjalkg. And then Hiroki put his hand on Kousuke’s shoulder and went, “Finished!”

Note that there were two screens on the side of the stage so we can see their faces close up. And istg it was that good, just from seeing Kousuke’s face lmao. From our seat, we can vividly see their faces, but thanks to the screen, we can see their expressions bigger lmao

Voting was done and the screams were just so loud for both of them. It was decided that they would do one more. They will have to pick another character, but there will be a change.

Hiroki: I picked a dog! Well it’s okay because I like dogs.

Kousuke: I got a drunk! (and he acted this for a bit lmao)

The setting would be in a school.

Kousuke: Going drunk in school is bad though!

Which is true lmao, but they have to act in this setting. Hiroki was also in all-four but he’s towards the back of the stage, while Kousuke was in front. And then Kousuke went moving around the stage, he even went down towards the left side almost near the audience, looking for “San Miguel”

When he went back to the stage, he saw dog!Hiroki and asked for San Miguel. “San Miguel please? San Miguel!”

Hiroki: What!? San Miguel?

Kousuke: San Miguel. Uh.. San Miguel, San Miguel! (does a drinking motion lmao)

Hiroki: What you saying?!... Hey, don’t touch the puppy! What are you talking about? DON’T TOUCH ME! Don’t touch the puppy! You don’t touch the puppy! Holy shit!

Kousuke was actually touching Hiroki the entire time on his back lmao. So when Hiroki said not to touch him, he was trying to walk away (in all-fours) but he was so cute being grumpy like that lmao 

Kousuke: I... I don’t speak in English a little. Okay? Koko (here)

Hiroki: Annyeong.

Kousuke: Japanese.

Hiroki: Ni hao.

Kousuke: Japanese. I speak Japanese.

Hiroki: You speak Japanese... Ohhh. Annyeong.

Kousuke seemed to give up because Hiroki won’t speak to him in Japanese, so he kept looking for San Miguel. They have a table full of bottled water and Kousuke acted as if he found beer (San Miguel), and then he brought one to Hiroki. 

Hiroki was so cute because he was just sitting there and just being such a diva puppy tbh. XD And then he put the bottled water on the floor, and then he just drank from the straw. 

Hiroki: I’m a dog.

Kousuke: Dog?

Hiroki: No, a puppy. That is so cutie puppy!

Kousuke: Want to drink? Want to drink?

Hiroki: I want to drink.

And then Kousuke took the bottle and he drank from it. Of course everyone exclaimed and just lost it (bc indirect kiss lol)

Kousuke: Oh this is water! Water! No San Miguel, water!

Hiroki: IT’S MINE! PUPPY’S! THIS IS PUPPY’S!

Kousuke: Puppy’s?

Hiroki: Yeah!

Kousuke: Oh, sorry. Sorry... I didn’t know. My house? You want to come my house?

Hiroki: Your house is big?

Kousuke couldn’t understand it, so Hiroki repeated if his bag is big XD

Kousuke: Oh! Big! Yes, big!

Hiroki: Ooooh okay, I go your house!

And that’s when they end the skit. LOL. Of course, there’s also the voting. Voting started with Hiroki, and he was like “More!!” When voting started for Kousuke, Hiroki went, “booo!” In the end, Hiroki won, and Kousuke like, “No, no!!”

The punishment is dancing to MOMOLAND’S Boom Boom because it’s trending here in the Philippines. They showed the video on the screen and Kousuke was trying to follow it. He was so cute as he tried to do it. Hiroki was actually dancing along with it. Kousuke was so unprepared because they only showed the video once, and he had to dance to it already.

In the end, Hiroki also danced to it together with Kousuke. We even danced with them too. It was so nice! So it ended up as the audience are their teachers while dancing haha. Also there was this part that Hiroki is doing the Gangnam Style dance steps instead haha.

After that, we took a photo together! After the official photographer, Hiroki asked to take one from his phone too (he actually brought it with him on stage haha).

And then onto the last messages:

Hiroki: Thank you for coming today. It’s my very first time to come here so... How do you say it. I was really nervous. Just like what Kousuke said earlier, I worried if people would come. For the sake of people who came and those who have fun, I will keep doing my best as an actor. I love you all.

Kousuke: Thank you to everyone who came here today. When I get home, we’ll start with Haikyuu, so I’ll be doing my best for that. Also, with everyone’s continuous support, maybe we can return to the Philippines.... I will come back Philippines!

Hiroki: Which you like... Me and Jolly Pasta? I mean Jolly Spaghetti?

At this part, he has acctually looking at our side, and because I was motioning that I like him more than Jollibee, he saw me and went, “Me?”

I thought his question was like that, until Kousuke reacted with, “No! Me Jollibee!” And both of them were just a laughing mess.

Before they actually went off the stage, they actually went down towards the audience so we were able to see them closer! Hiroki touched some fans from the other side haha. But aah, they were really handsome and funny! Such nice people too!

I was able to meet and talk to Kousuke too because of the high touch event!  He was so fun to talk to, and he got excited when I told him I will see him again for Haisute~ He also remembered me talking to him on his very first even in 2016. My request of telling him to go to the Philippines because he has a lot of fans here has come true. That time, he told he that he wants to. ;A; (Yep, I lined up more than once for the high touch event, thanks to some people! You know who you are! <3 No regrets lining up for 3 hours for the goods and getting so hungry just before the talk panel.)

I hope you enjoy this fan report! I tried to be as detailed as possible, so please direct people here instead of lifting/reposting them. 

Again, my ko-fi account is also open for coffee donations! Thank you! 

[khiphop-discussions]

SMTM777 Ep.2 Commentary

EK is one of my favorites! It's good! Why is everybody in khh name dropping Yoo Jaesuk lately? Yaaaasss King No:el!!! So glad to see you. He wasnt at his full potential in this performance though. Too nervous. OLNL's voice? I've literally heard his rap before but never seen his face. I expected his voice to be more soft and high despite already knowing what he sounds like lol. Why did Milli look down like he had stuff written on his hand when introducing himself lol? Poor Milli. Feeling like Song Minho right now. I know there's the unwritten rule that Swings had to fail Milli straight out the gate but I'd have failed him for those sandals (put your damn feet away!!), saying he has 2 phones: one for business and one for dating/texting his gf, and for saying "everybody but you knows I did something new, like I did with your girlfriend last night" boy RELAX!! LOL Find some chill!! I didn't like his performance tbh but the aforementioned lyrics were cool. And yeah he's right, his rings probably cost more than any clothing I have while I'm out here trying to laugh at his sandals hahaha Awww Nafla felt bad. It's annoying that a bunch of old rappers participated? Who cares? If they good, they good. Worry about yourself. I do think it's a little much to come on more than 3 times but if it's dope I won't complain. If you whack and haven't improved? Now there's a problem. It's my DayDay!!! David Kim, I'll never get annoyed with him coming back on even though his skills are kinda cemented where they are considering his in his 30s now. It's all good. Black Nine should have chosen something different New Champ looked a damn fool. Suoer Bee is legit my favorite performance on the show between these 2 episodes. I'm SERIOUSLY becoming a believer that he might win this. Super Bee's #GROWTH as a rapper and person since SMTM4. Granted, he WAS 21 back then now 24 so of course he did. Wow, so super bee STILL might not even be at his full potentual and THAT is fucking WILD!! I HATE when the producers get all dramatic like THEY aren't the ones who eliminated whoever got eliminated like ?????? You eliminated them? That was terrible. Why is everyone surprised he got eliminated? They only care because it's (allegedly) Mad Clown  If they thought it was a random there wouldn't be all this whining. They'd recognize how trash that performance was and not just cause he couldn't hear the beat. Yeah, y'all BETTER be shook by Chillin Homie! Also, why is New Champ's annoying on like 3 Million? He was chill on SMTM4. Lol he still cool, someone has to bring the personality. Even if it's annoying ti ciewers, contestants, and staff lol MC trying to instigate lol Damn, we got New Champ and Chillin Homie calling out fades? This is the reality I wanted hahaha Owen REALLY thought he had a fucking chance against D.Ark? Like, i know he's fucking stupid but damn. They are better than 95% of the others. And PH-1 too like??? Are y'all stupid? Nobody wanted them BARS with Nafla lil They said....Owen....aims for conscious rap..... He's not even conscious of how stupid he is. The fact he chose to go against these two kids is proof. Lol at "motherfucker" being uncensored Even they know Owen....let me stop. I don't wanna be negative here lol Well, at least he's smart enough to know that they are better than everyone else and that *jessi voice* it's a competition *normal voice*. But he wanted to go home early so bad. Guess he's going home from the whole competition early lol Osshun *sighs* lol Awww New Champ's feelings are hurt you can tell. I gotta be honest. I LOVE when someone picks someone to be a dick and then they lose. I like Chillin Homie though Be nice during battles like this because you get EMBARRASSED when you're rude but you lose. Kim Hyo Eun's braids are better than Reddy's and the other one. I honestly don't know who I'd pick between Reddy and Hyoeun tbh. But i guess Hyo Eun's braids ARE better so maybe it comes down to that lol Third guy was Pento btw Yeah, it came down to the braids lol Well did you vote for Reddy who made the whole stage then Quiett? Or did you vote for your "half a win" employee? Hmmmm I know that 2 out of 3 of them don't make that type of music. So....yeah. that's why it's whack. Luda won. Lol @ Quiett yawning in the middle of a performance hahaha Changstarr what a fucking geek. You could have just said "Oh what a talented DJ and beautiful as well!" Geek.

That kid really just said movie directors the whole verse. Lok It's always the boys with the moles that are cute. Junoflo, now Coogie. Tw: for sickness, symptoms, bodily functions, etc. Coogie was too busy having diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal cramps/pain, pain, bleeding, or mucus-like discharge from the rectum, and/or fever this episode (yes those are the symptoms of enteritis. The condition Coogie said he woke up with) Quiett saying "I can't believe I'm holding Coogie's hand" for the first time I'm jealous of Coogie for something other than his money lol Dbo was alright. I thought it'd be worse lol Giriboy....sit your ass down somewhere and stop hyping Dbo. Ok y'all tripping. Y'all really just need to send home Dbo and move on with out lives. That shit was trash. Stop giving Dbo partkcipation awards just because y'all know him outside the show. It's like the MommySon shit all over again. So this is what Yun B does with his Philosoohy degree from one of the too rated university programs? Milli always talking about Al Capone, Cozy Boys, and Nondisclothes. Also, about traveling to Japan lol Damn, Bully has balls. I respect it. Same with EK. At least they aren't being punk ass about it. Kinda wish Super Bee would have went out since it's gonna come sown to those two eventually. Even if it's not the final round.

[onpurposebreezy]

CHAPTER 20

  LORI

 I laid in Cody's bed relaxing after a repeat of the night before. After Kim's text, Cody and I ended up making out and one thing led to another. I turned over and buried my face into his pillow, taking in his scent and loving it. I would stay here forever if I could. I listened as the water to the shower shut off and watched Cody emerges from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. I smiled when he appeared; I could not get enough of his body. There was something about him that no matter what, I wanted to jump him. Is that normal? I'm not sure, but I was not going to complain about it. Cody grinned in return as he walked towards me. He leaned down and took my nipple into his mouth and lightly nipped it sending shivers down my spine. I shook my head at him when his grinned turned wicked; I knew what was on his mind. There was no way I could go another round, my energy was spent and I was in need of more.

"No," I told him gently before explaining that I needed food.

"You're right. Why don't we get dressed and meet in the kitchen? I'll look around and see what I can make," he agreed.

After dressing, I made my way to the kitchen. The smell of French toast was in the air and my mouth started to water. I entered the kitchen in time to see Cody putting the food onto two plates and walk to the island where he had laid out butter, syrup, and two glasses of orange juice. I hopped into my seat excited to dig in. Cody is an amazing cook. Everything he makes seems to come out amazing and without flaws. I always felt a slight bit of jealousy when he cooked because I failed at making noodles, don't ask me how, I just did.

I was almost finished eating when Cody asked if I had any plans today. I didn't. I figured Kim would be home by now and imagined spending my day doing homework. Now with her gone for another day and Cody to myself, I was more than open to doing anything.

"No plans except to spend time with you," I answered, eating the last bite of my food and following it by finishing my orange juice.

"I was trying to figure out something for us to do that didn't require us spending the whole day inside. However, I have no objections to us spending the day here," he said with a big smile.

"Did you have anything in mind?" I asked. Like Cody, I had no issues with remaining inside but going out sounded nice and there was so much I had yet to see of New York.

"It's a bit out of the way...almost an hour actually, but Kim told me you wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge? I originally thought I'd take you around  but I know Kim, Judi, and Zachary took you around the area before school started. I'm not sure what all you have done," Cody explained.

"A mini road trip to the Brooklyn Bridge sounds fun. It is still early enough so we can leave soon and get there mid-afternoonish, right? Did you have anything in mind as far as how long we will be there and when we will head back? I really don't want to be driving in the middle of the night to get home," I expressed a little concern. I knew driving home wouldn't be an issue but hated the idea of driving so late when we would most likely be tired.

"How would you feel about getting a hotel room?" he raised his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"Mmm that doesn't sound like a bad idea," I grinned, excited for the trip ahead of us.

CODY

We was already to go had a few places we was going to stop at on the way there that I wanted to show her, we was sitting in my car when my phone rang.

“Hello”

Ph) “Hi Angel” my mom said

“Hi ma how you doing”

Ph)“I’m great I was calling you to see what you was doing I haven’t seen you in a while so I’m inviting you ad Kim and Lori over”

“Kim is with Judi for the weekend and I made plans plus I’m taking Lori to the Brooklyn Bridge”

Ph)“Well don’t come over here for the weekend we’ll have fun come on I wanna see my first born”

“Really ma you pulling that card okay I'll come after we go to the bridge”

Ph)“No you’ll come now and have fun here”

“Okay ma okay see you in a little while”

Ph)“Okay angel bye” I hung up the phone and looked at Lori.

“Maybe another time”

“Yea shit wish we didn’t have to but you met my parents before maybe we can leave there and still go”

“Yea maybe but for now off to your folks house” I drove 45 minutes to my parents house once inside I went looking around for someone.

Where are they?”

“I don’t know I hope she didn’t invite us here just for them to leave”

“Your mother wouldn’t do that… Would she?”

“Done it before”

“Hey angels sorry I didn’t hear y'all come in” 

“It’s okay Mrs. Anderson”

“None of that angel its Tonya always have been”

“Okay Tonya whens lunch”

“Don’t get slapped smart ass” my dad said walking up and I laughed. “Walter before you call me Mr. Anderson”

“Walter I remember” she smiled

“You can use Kim’s room to sleep in and I need to talk to Cody for a minute”

“okay I have to use the restroom anyway” she walked away going up the stairs. I followed my folks into the livingroom where we all sat down.

“So how has it been having them live with you?”

“Pretty good no problems”

“That’s good what about you and Lori yall getting along fine”

“Yep we are getting along great” I rubbed my right ear.

“So no problems with Kim living there I mean she could always move back here”

“No she’s not a problem”

“And no problem with Lori living there?”

Rubbing my right ear “No problems at all I like have them there I’m not alone anymore” my mom went into her pocket and got some money out and handed it to my dad who smiled real big, what the fuck is going on here?

‘SOOOO son how long have you and Lori been sleeping together”

“What?”

“I said how long have y'all been sleeping together?”

“Dad it’s not like that”

“Oh so how long have y'all been in a relationship son?’’

“Dad” I rubbed my ear again. My mom handed my dad some more money.

“What’s going on here?”

“You are we made a bet that yall was sleeping together and in a relationship”

“I told your father it would happen later than sooner but I was wrong so I had to pay up”

“So yall are cool with this?”

“Yea we’re fine yall both are adults and living together so we don’t mind”

“What about the baby?”

“What about the baby I have no say so in how yall will deal with that still my grand baby even if yall wasn’t together I heard what her parents did and that was wrong I would never do Kim like that and plus the ear thing gave you away”

We all laughed as we stood up and they walked away as Lori walked into the room I smiled at her and went right to her pulling her to me I kissed her noise then her lips deepening the kiss I held her in my arms.

“How the hell did you get so good at kissing?”

Mike laughed. “Lots of practice.”

Lori huffed a little and pushed at my chest. “Okay, well let me go so I can think, will you? My head just won’t work when you’re this close to me.”

“Lori, you’re kissing me and you just admitted you can’t think straight when I’m near you. Do you really think I’m just going to let you go?” I grinned down at her and locked my arms behind Lori’s back. “I kind of like you just where you are, truth be told.”

Lori looked over my shoulder when my mom’s voice was getting closer. She began to push at me harder, twisting her body away. “Let me go! Someone’s coming in, Cody. Damn it, let go!”

“Nope. Not happening.” I turned to face the door, Lori still struggling in my arms. I smiled as my parents came in looking confused. “Hey, how’s it going?”

My mom smiled at me and the embarrassed Lori in my arms, my dad looking over her shoulder. “Cody, if you don’t mind letting go of that poor girl, I need her help with something.”

I sighed and kissed the top of Lori’s head, much to Lori’s embarrassment.

“If you insist.”

“I do come on Lori”

“Yall not mad?’’

“Of course not I think its great yall relationship is safe with us now come on and help me with lunch and let’s talk baby stuff”

“Bye babe” I kissed her as she walked off and smiled at me.

[meditatemoremedicateless]

Dear Kate, (There are Pieces of you everywhere there used to be Me)

Fandom: Life is Strange

Pairings: Chasemarsh, Ambermarsh

Major Tags: Angst, possession

Words: ~ 3,200

Summary: Kate Marsh wins the Everyday Heroes Contest. She never entered.

Kate hadn't realized Mr. Jefferson was at the party until she heard the wave of sharp feedback cut through the Blackwell pool, followed by everyone suddenly cheering. But there he was, recoiling from the microphone he had just turned on until it settled down, at which point his laugh could be heard over it.

Max nudged Kate's side as if she wasn't already looking, while Luke just sat forward in his seat to get a better look.

"Okay, everybody calm down."

Of course, they did the opposite as everyone started yelling and whistling, making it almost impossible to hear him, nevermind command their attention.

"Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it. I don't want to get in the way of the party," he made a quick, pointed glance backstage - Kate could only imagine what he might be looking at -, "but it's time to announce the winner of the 'Everyday Heroes' contest."

Everyone started to quiet down a little, and Max started to twitch excitedly. Kate knew entering a photograph had been a big deal for her - she'd ripped up her original entry and only gotten a new one in recently, and she'd loved it.

"Before I do, I want to thank everybody who entered their photograph this year."

As if on cue, girls from around the pool started to whoop and cat call Mr. Jefferson, but he just laughed it off and continued. "Now this is the most important step in being an artist - sharing your work with the world." Max nodded along - she reminded Kate of someone hearing a sermon that went straight to the heart. It was just normal teacher stuff, but, well, Max was cute in that way.

Meanwhile, Luke just rolled his eyes.

"All of you represent Blackwell Academy and everything our school stands for. As far as I'm concerned, you're all Everyday Heroes."

"More like Everyday Monsters," Luke joked quietly.

Max snickered. Kate silently agreed.

Jefferson pivoted, looking back at the DJ. "The envelope - please."

He's so dramatic all the time. Doesn't he get tired of-

"And the winner is . . ." he peeked down at the envelope. Max snorted, but also scooched to the edge of the bench. She was on edge, literally.

"Oh my, what a shocker." He looked up over the crowd and announced, "Kate Marsh!"

"OH MY GOD!!" Max yelled the loudest she'd ever yelled in front of Kate. There was a slight delay, but some cheering and clapping followed suit.

Meanwhile, Kate just sat there with her mouth open. "Wait . . . what . . .?"

Luke shot her a look to let her know he wasn't impressed with her humble performance. "You won, you goon."

That doesn't make any sense.

"But I didn't even enter a ph- fuck."

It's true, she hadn't. But she had gotten a message that read, 'Dear Kate,' that said otherwise.

Now that the cheering was dying down a little, Jefferson spoke again: "Congratulations, Kate! Want to get up here and say something about your photo?"

The noise died down almost immediately to let her speak, and she desperately wished it hadn't. Max was looking at her. Luke was looking at her. Warren and Brooke and Courtney over next to the drinks were all looking at her. She got the sinking suspicion she might pass out - which, given how her life was going, might be the best solution for what was happening.

Kate stood up, and, as loud as she could, replied, "Uh, no thanks!"

Jefferson laughed, but Kate's peers were less amused - with the exception of Luke, who had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing, too.

"Typical Kate humility, everybody. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll have something more to say tomorrow. We'll be showing Kate's photo before she heads off tomorrow at 9:00am in my class, so if you want to stop by and give Kate congratulations - and you should - or look at the prints gallery we'll have set up tomorrow, you'll have to wake up a little early. Now, you kids have fun."

He tapped the button on the mic, handed it off, and left.

I'm going to kill her.

Dear Katie,

Congratulations! You won the Everyday Heroes contest. I looked through your photography folder to try and figure out which one you entered, but I couldn't really tell which one - they're all so good! You're a really talented photographer, I wish you'd told me sooner.

I hope you'll be the one to wake up tomorrow morning so you can accept the award and fly down to SF with Mr. Jefferson. If you are, I think he wants you to say something at the awarding - which is at 9:00am tomorrow in the Photography room.

I don't know if it's you or Max who is friends with Luke, but we hung out a little today at the party. He seems nice but also kind of mean. I think he means well.

In regards to your offer to set up a Her profile for me, please don't. I'm not sure how I feel about dating in high school to be honest, and doing that I think suggests I have clearer ideas about myself than I really do. Plus, what if someone from school is on there and tells someone? I don't think apps like that have chastity vows in mind. I don't need more people thinking I'm weird, so just, please don't. If you make an account for yourself, please try not associate it with me.

I think Stella has been avoiding me. Do you know what's going on? I've barely seen her this year. Alyssa hasn't seen much of her either.

Also, I know you think Max and I should get closer, but I don't think that's a good idea. Max likes to be close to me and I think it's too much for me. Please don't lead her on about me, I don't want to stop being friends with her.

Please be advised: I'm lactose intolerant. I found your bags of Hot Cheetos in my drawer, but being vegan -> lactose intolerance -> please don't eat dairy products. I'm glad you haven't been eating meat, but I think that is probably what's been making us sick.

I've started a period calendar on my phone. My cycle's pretty inconsistent but JUST IN CASE it starts this weekend I'm packing you pads for the trip.

I found that you texted Mom about my doctor - what's wrong? My doctor's Dr. Zimmerman in Tillamook, you can look him up online and set up an appointment if you need to.

If you get to go to SF, tell me everything.

I hope you are well,

Kate

Unfortunately, Katie was not the one who woke up Friday morning at 6:25, she was not the one who had to give a stumbling acceptance speech when her photograph was unwrapped and shown to her, she was not the one who was told that she'd be leaving with Mr. Jefferson for the airport at 10:30. The picture was beautiful, of course - it was the interior of the Two Whales diner, at just an angle so that the entire bar was visible. Most of the people there were truckers and other regulars, but there was also a police officer clearly present, Preston, the former dockworker-turned environmental advocate, and, behind all of them, standing next to the jukebox, there was a tall, lanky girl with blue hair hugging a waitress who still had a tray in her hand. Her mother, Kate guessed. Of course, while that was all pretty clear, the shot was taken to include an out-of-focus poster that took up the middle-right. Kate hadn't noticed it when she'd just been looking at the jpeg, but once she had a chance to look at the print, she realized it was a poster about the use of prison labor to fight forest fires in California. She thought it might have been unintentional, until she realized that the fire referenced in the poster ended in 2011 - she managed to find a copy of the poster online later with minimal effort.

Katie, as it turned out, was a lover of irony.

It wasn't until they were after security at the airport that Kate got a text she hadn't been expecting.

Unknown: Congrats on the win

Before she could ask 'who is this?,' she got a second message.

Unknown: You're a better photographer than I realized. Don't get cocky though, I'll get you next time.

Kate did her best to text while walking, but she was terrible at it, and Jefferson just slowed down with a bemused smile and a glance at his watch.

Kate: Who is this? Sorry, I don't have your number.

Unknown: It's Victoria. We all switched numbers the first day of Photography, remember?

Kate: Oh right. My bad, I hadn't created a contact for you. Kate: But yeah, I was surprised! I'm sure you'll beat me next time too, haha :)

She added the contact info and put her phone away so she could speed up again. She felt her phone buzz again immediately, but ignored it until they were at the terminal.

Victoria: real cute Victoria: Learn to banter, Katie, it'll make this more fun in the future

Kate smiled. Teasing and outright bullying from Victoria had the same tone, the teasing just didn't sting on the level of personal shame and insecurity.

Kate: Oh are we bantering? Here I was thinking I was having a run-in with my first fan.

This time, the '...' stayed around a bit longer, but the wait was nevertheless rewarding.

Victoria: Touché Victoria: Have fun in SF. I hear it's pretty gay there this time of year.

That actually made Kate feel less comfortable, but at least she knew Victoria was, for once, trying to be nice. Maybe one-upping her really was the way to get her to stop being mean. She'd have to start writing witty comebacks with Max sometime soon.

Kate kept her laptop on her lap during the flight so she could check out Katie's photographs some more, studying them in detail. After looking over the big print, she had the feeling that if she could just figure out what gave her pictures their wit, their two-steps-ahead quality, then maybe Kate could approach her own work like that. After all, Katie was using her eyes, her hands, her brain, her camera to make these images, wasn't she? So Kate must be capable of the same.

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I remember you saying your passion is painting, isn't that right?"

Kate's ears felt warm as she realized what this must look like. She slowly turned towards Mr. Jefferson with a warm, albeit fake smile. "Oh, yeah, of course! I just . . . uh . . . I can't help but second-guess myself. Bad habit."

She closed the laptop as Mr. Jefferson laughed quietly.

"Now, there's no need to be embarrassed," he said, scooting back to sit more upright in his seat. "I just didn't realize what a dedicated photographer you were when you first joined my class. You play an instrument too, don't you?"

Kate nodded. This was getting uncomfortable - not that her skills outside of photographer were less legitimate, really, as not liking the attention.

"Violin and piano," she replied.

"And what do you want to do after this, Blackwell Academy? Going to study art?"

Kate shook her head. "No, actually, I'm applying to be an English major. I'm also interested in journalism but I feel like switching from journalism to English will be harder than English to journalism, so . . ."

He looked amused, but quite pleased. "My, my, you're quite the all-star."

Kate hadn't realized she had shared so little about her academic interests during her time as Mr. Jefferson's assistant. Admittedly, sometimes it wasn't even her working with him, but most of their conversations started with some polite conversation and questions about her friends and life around school, followed by an hour of him prattling on about his work abroad. Not that she minded, really, but her keen interest in the life of a celebrity photographer had waned after about a week of it. There was nothing that made something quite so mundane as constant exposure to it.

"Thanks," she replied, and turned her attention out the window to California.

"You know," he started, shuffling around in his seat again, "You remind me of a former student."

Kate looked back at him now, curious. It's not like he'd been teaching very long - who could he possibly remind her of?

"Rachel was very multifaceted in her talents and interests as well. She was a gifted photographer, of course, but oh, she wouldn't have any of my suggestions to pursue it. She wanted to be a legal scholar, and started modeling in our very own little Arcadia Bay."

Kate nodded, looking back towards the window. "She was probably going to be valedictorian, too. I guess . . . that'll probably be Warren now."

There was a short pause while Kate let herself wonder where Rachel was and what could have happened to her. Then, Mr. Jefferson said, "I take it you knew her?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Up until the end of last year, it was the three of us still in the running - me and her and Warren. But . . . she hasn't come back, and I'm getting a C in physics, so."

No one had ever compared her to Rachel before, and she'd never had a reason to, either. They had been from different worlds that the other could not understand, and Kate, for all of Rachel's charisma, could not hold a conversation with her. Warren was easy to get along with, so long as you could take not understanding the pop culture references shooting out of his mouth every five seconds. Rachel was . . . well, whatever she was, Kate hadn't figured it out, and with her gone, it didn't look like she was about to.

All of a sudden, as Kate caught her reflection in the window, she felt a wave of sadness. Where are you, Rachel? I know someone here misses you.

"I wish . . . Rachel were back," Kate mumbled.

Mr. Jefferson seemed to hear, though. He let out a sigh and reclined his seat as well as he could. "As do we all," he said.

But, for some reason, Kate didn't believe him.

Dear Katie,

I'm sorry you missed the Everyday Heroes awards. This was your big day and I feel like I stole it from you. But, don't worry - I'm recording the information of everyone I met who was interested in your photography so you can give them a call if you want. I really liked your photograph - Evan had a lot of critique of it I didn't really understand but I'm pretty sure he liked it. I missed doing homework Friday, though, so if you wake up this weekend please take a look at the planner so we don't fall any more behind.

Also, I'm sure you've seen the posters, but there's a girl who used to go here named Rachel Amber. It's so weird to try and describe what the school was like with her here because I transferred here, but, to me, Blackwell feels like Blackwell minus Rachel. Back when Rachel was here, Victoria wasn't half so bad to anyone because she was so busy trying to get at Rachel. I didn't even share with any classes with Victoria then and I'd still hear about the stuff she'd pull. But let's just suffice it to say that Rachel was a golden child. You can tell how perfect she was by the number of people who try and talk mean about her with graffiti and stuff - even people who didn't like her seemed obsessed with her.

Anyway, Rachel disappeared at the end of last year. She still had another year to go, (another month, too), but one day she was just gone. Some people told me she used to deal drugs and she might have gotten hurt because of that. She's probably fine - basically everyone thinks she just packed up and left one day - but, I don't know, I just wish I knew what happened to her. I really have missed her the past couple of days, even though we were never friends. If you ever find something out, tell me about it, would you? I wish I knew she was OK.

I saw on Amazon that you were looking at clothes. Do you want to buy some new clothes? I hadn't even thought about the fact that you might not like what I wear. I know it's really hard for us to schedule things but maybe we can work out a way for you to go shopping? I know it's impossible, but I sort of wish we could go together. I think it would be fun to be friends. At least, I like to think that.

Oh, also on Amazon - I know you really want a vibrator but I don't think I can afford it. And if I could, I'm still not sure how comfortable I'd be shipping it here to school. I'm sorry.

I hope you have a good day today;

Kate

P.S. Alice says hello

That night, as many other nights, Kate cried in bed without really knowing why. In her dreams, she saw a lanky girl with blue hair playing around with the jukebox inside the Two Whales diner. When she finally saw Kate, she smiled.

Then, there was nothing, and Kate Marsh was gone.

[dramallamadingdang]

Reply-o-palooza! :)

This is really long because blah blah blah, and it addresses numerous subjects. And some of these go back...*ahem*threeweeks*ahem*...because I’ve been a bad, bad blogger as usual. So these are for *deep breath* @princess-arystal21, @caticalcorrectness, @fuzzyspork, @digitalangels, @kayleigh-83, @holleyberry, @eulaliasims, @dunne-ias, @blackswan-sims, @didilysims, @webluepeace, @twofingerswhiskey, @deedee-sims, @declarations-of-drama, @getmygameon, annnnnnnnnnnd @freezerbunny-sims...

princess-arystal21 replied to your post “YAY, I AM FINISHED WITH MY SECRET SANTA GIFT!  …Unless I think of...”

Please keep the discussion about Sims. Your Tumblr looks so much better when you talk about them instead.

“It’s my blog; I’ll put what I want on it,” is the usual reply, I think. And it’s true, too. My blog is probably 97% about Sims because I do prefer it that way, but sometimes I do talk about other, personal things, often silly, sometimes informational, very occasionally serious and real-world. Regardless of subject, if it’s not about Sims, it’s either tagged as “nonsims” or it’s behind a cut. Or both. So, people who use extensions that block tags they want to avoid can easily avoid all of it, if they choose. And when it’s not tagged, then people have to choose to read or not, since it’s behind a cut. I think that’s a reasonable solution when I feel a need to say something not Sims-related. Generally speaking, I won’t censor myself just to make other people happy, not in real life and not on a blog. Down that road lies madness.

fuzzyspork replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

If it wasn't for spell check I'd still be writing "bananna" which I still do but the red underline tips me off to it. XD Unfortunately spell check doesn't stop me from writing (and just then I just typed wiring...) homonyms of the word I meant to use. :/

Oh, homonyms are EVIL! Especially when using the wrong one makes you look stupid. Like when you use your/you’re or there/their/they’re inappropriately. I KNOW the differences between those words, but sometimes I type the wrong one and don’t catch it until much later. MAKES ME SO MAD! *stamps foot*

digitalangels replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

For some reason I always type word soul as "sould" and sometimes instead of writing "one" I write "wan". When I was little I struggled with my own name, it ends up in anna and every time someone asked my name I would reply like annannannaa so my grandparents nicknamed me "Nanna" they kept calling me that till they passed away.

I would bet that the “sould” thing comes from your brain thinking that you’re typing a word like “should” or “would” or “could.” I have the same sort of problem when typing a word that ends in “ine” because my brain thinks I must be typing a present participle or a gerund, words that end in -ing. So, “fine” becomes “fing.” “Tangerine” (another color name in the palette I made; I bring this stuff on myself!) becomes “tangering.” Very annoying.

And, ahhhh childhood mispronunciations! When I was a preschooler, I always pronounced “animal” as “aminal.” It’s STILL a family joke. I will NEVER live it down.

kayleigh-83 replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

I do it while writing by hand sometimes, I always want to write “with” as “withe” for some reason! Unconsciously trying to make it look old timey or something?

Maybe you were Chaucer in a previous life? :) I don’t do these things so much when writing on paper, because I’m much slower at writing on paper. My fingers don’t fly on ahead of my brain like they do when I’m typing at about 100wpm. :) 

princess-arystal21 replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

I often accidentally type "teh" instead of "the," or "atmoshere" instead of "atmosphere," or "footprings" instead of "footprints." Not sure why *scratches head in confusion.*

The “teh” thing is pretty common, I think. I mean, it became lolcat language, after all. :)  Or, depending on your age, maybe the lolcat influences your typing. :) The “footpring” thing is probably your brain being stuck on participles/gerunds, too, especially if you generally type fast. I have no explanation for “atmoshere,” though, unless you also mistype other words that use “ph” for f-sounds? :) 

caticalcorrectness replied to your post “YAY, I AM FINISHED WITH MY SECRET SANTA GIFT!  …Unless I think of...”

Oh thanks for that reply! In fact I didn't know anything about your election, but am mad about these mediastampedes I watched again and again - and people following that without trying to look behind the scenes. - Excuse me to not resist commenting. (oh that sounds weird, apologize for my poor english) - I DO understand you're able to think for yourself and you're not a part of any kind of 'Hexenjagd'.

Yeah, well, I know you’re not American, so I wouldn’t expect you to be up on the inner workings of our bizarre politics. :) But really, I think the problem isn’t the media in general so much as there’s just so much “media” these days, thanks largely to the internet, and some of it has a very definite agenda, which is often, frankly, subversive. (Lookin’ at you, Breitbart! :P) I mean, the press has always had a slant, even when it’s NOT government-controlled. The idea of the press being “unbiased” is silly; it never has been and, frankly, was never meant to be “unbiased.” The idea is that you get your news from various sources, being aware of each one’s bias, and then you use the brain and critical thinking skills that God gave you as well as a dash of common sense to filter out the bullshit (because there is always bullshit) and arrive at the (probable) truth. 

The problem is that, more and more, people DON’T use their brains. They get their news from a single source -- one that agrees with their own biases, of course -- and swallow it whole and become part of the echo chamber that parrots and reinforces the unfiltered bullshit on a bunch of like-minded people. It’s quite ridiculous. And then, yes, the Hexenjagd begins. :) Critical thinking seems to have become a lost art these days, but I don’t blame the media. It just does what it does, at least when it’s not government-controlled. *I* blame people who don’t think for themselves and who willingly lock themselves in echo chambers, regardless of the slant of that echo chamber.

holleyberry replied to your post “Whenever I type the word “banana,” I pretty much always type at least...”

bananananananananana batman!

Hah! Well, I was a huge fan of campy Batman when I was a kid... :D

caticalcorrectness replied to your post “Replies!”

Just found your reply. - It's very interesting, because here it seems we germans not only stealing, but USING more and more english words instead of using our own. We're loosing our language bit by bit! - Btw. the french seem to love their own langage way more... but they (so far I know) using the word 'Waldsterben' :)

In truth, all languages borrow from each other. English has always been good at borrowing and incorporating words from other languages. It’s also flexible; it’s easy to create words in English by sticking together prefixes and suffixes in odd combinations that people will still understand. But it goes the other way, too. I mean, I’m pretty sure the word for “telephone,” an American invention -- in pretty much all languages is...well, “telephone,” just spelled phonetically in the local language. A quick glance at Google Translate bears this out, anyway. (Although... What’s up with Finnish? “Puhelin?” WTF? :) ) Of course, "telephone” is ultimately...Greek, I’m pretty sure, so... Well, anyway, English steals words from AND donates words to other languages. All languages do, really. 

But yeah, I’m thinking that as the world becomes more interconnected, if English doesn’t just take over completely, eventually a common world language that everyone speaks will develop. I imagine it will be English-based because English -- thanks mostly to British colonialization amplified now by the internet -- is already the lingua franca, but with words borrowed from many languages...or at least from the dominant non-English languages on the planet, so probably Spanish and...transliterated Chinese, maybe? Or perhaps Arabic? I guess we’ll see. :) Anyway, my bet is that eventually there’ll be a “world language” and that people will still speak their own local language amongst themselves. Such as thing only makes sense as the world becomes progressively less insular. Plus, it’s already much that way, with English being the general internet language.

eulaliasims replied to your post “hey, im not sure if you know but the word 'gypsy' is a racial slur...”

I always call her the matchmaker too. Works just as well, or even better considering that it isn't a slur.

dunne-ias replied to your post “hey, im not sure if you know but the word 'gypsy' is a racial slur...”

I think just calling her the matchmaker works well though.

blackswan-sims replied to your post “hey, im not sure if you know but the word 'gypsy' is a racial slur...”

For what it's worth, I just refer to her as "the matchmaker."

Frankly, I don’t refer to the character much at all because she doesn’t really factor much into my game. I don’t use either matchmaking or potions in my normal game-playing, so the only function she serves in my game is dropping off genie lamps. So perhaps I’ll call her “the LDO” from now on: The Lamp-Dropper-Offer. :)

didilysims replied to your photo “What happens when you’re a family of four living in a one-bedroom...”

In the dead of winter no less!

Right? So, that mod that Gummilutt on MTS made that makes it so that Sims don’t freeze/overheat when sleeping tents is a godsend for me. :) I often use tents when families outgrow their houses because it’s often just (relatively) temporary, until some/all of the kids grow up and leave. Unless it’s an age-modded hood that greatly extends the child/teen lifestages, I don’t want to bother with massive remodeling or moving to a larger house which will quickly become an “empty nest,” anyway, since I don’t generally do multi-generational households in my game. So....tents it is when there’s an unexpected overflow! :D (I honestly thought that Sage would never marry, much less have kids! So, he just got a small, one-bedroom house.)

webluepeace replied to your photoset “Finished up this house. Have some interiors. There’s a furnished floor...”

Just curious, are you going to upload a furnished version? Because I really am in love with the interior!!

I don’t generally upload furnished houses because, frankly, I use a lot of Maxis recolors (98% my own) and repositoried sets (and don’t always use the master mesh on the lot) and custom objects of which I have a billion recolors. Maxis recolors don’t get included in lot packages. Neither do master meshes of repositoried sets when you don’t use that mesh on the lot. So for those, you have to hunt through your downloads and include a folder of separate files with the download. That is a time-consuming pain in the ass. And when you include a custom object on a lot, ALL of the recolors you have of that object package with the lot, too. So, for instance, I use Nengi’s rugs on pretty much all lots I build. I have about 200 recolors of those rugs. They all get sucked into lot packages if I include them and I then have to edit the package down to just the recolor(s) I used -- which, again, is time-consuming -- or else I’ll end up with 300MB lot packages full of unrelated object recolors, which I absolutely refuse to sic on downloaders. If I share a lot, I’m conscientious of including only what’s needed for that lot. Mostly because extra stuff pisses me off, when I download a lot from someone else.

That said, I have in the past uploaded a lot that is furnished and has custom meshes and walls/floors and such but that doesn’t include any recolors. So, it’s really ugly when you open it; it serves as a template of sorts to which you can apply your own recolors. If that would interest you, I could upload that house furnished, but you’d still have work to do to make it look exactly as I did it. That work will be easier if you generally download my recolors of things, but it’s not like you can’t do something equally as nice with entirely different recolors. Or maybe with no CC at all, who knows? I suck at CC-free, personally.

twofingerswhiskey replied to your photoset “OK, so the farmhouse I built turned out too big for the household it...”

this reminds me of tino's house in the weekenders!

I have no idea what you’re referring to, so I’ll have to take your word for it. :) And I have to hope that Tino’s house wasn’t an eyesore. :)

princess-arystal21 replied to your photo “What happens when you’re a family of four living in a one-bedroom...”

Reminds me of my first Asian family. Had them living in that tiny house that came with the IKEA expansion, and they ended up having 3 girls and a new floor being built.

Yeah, I rather enjoy cramming large families into small houses. :) I don’t really like playing large houses because the pixels get lost in them and I prefer to keep an eye on them. So, I’d rather cram a bunch of them in small spaces than let them spread out over a large space. They’re pixels; they don’t really care about personal space and privacy. :)

didilysims replied to your photo “Birthin’ time! And it’s another girl. Her name is Samantha.”

I may still call her Coconut. ;)

Thanks to you, that’s what I call her now, too. ;)

princess-arystal21 replied to your post “fuzzyspork replied to your post: I’m looking...”

I have issues with products popping up in weird spots outside the store, rather on the shelves where they belong. Then I find my stock person working way out in the street, or in the side-yards! Can't figure out how to stop that :/.

I can’t say I’ve ever had that issue, myself. But then, I don’t often have stores that sell stuff off shelves, mostly because I don’t like my Sims’ inventories becoming cluttered with a bunch of non-functional decorative crap. So, my owned lots tend to be venues or, if not, are things like salons, clothing stores, restaurants, electronics stores that sell video games and usable handheld devices, and grocery stores. Places that don’t sell useless non-functional crap, in other words. :)  

Are you using custom shelves? Perhaps they aren’t really OFB-compatible as far as being used as store shelves, so the restock functions don’t work properly? Or does it happen when you’re using the Maxis shelves, too?

didilysims replied to your post “Does anyone know...?”

Does the owner have to be townified? You could move her out and never play her again and she would retain ownership. Or even stick her in an empty lot in the corner of the map somewhere out of sight if you don't want a cluttered Sim Bin.

Nah, the owner doesn’t HAVE to be townified; I just want them to be. :) I know it doesn’t really make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. The only real benefit is that when a playable ages up, the townified-playable will show up on the “Sims to age up with this Sim” screen. Non-played playables don’t. So, that’ll make keeping ages in sync a little easier. So I guess for my own purposes it’s really more of a symbolic thing than anything else. 

But I do like the idea of the hobby leaders owning lots. Then playables can visit and do the hobby leader interactions and hobby-related stuff without having a membership card (although I think the Visitor Controller can filter by OTH, now that I think about it, which will be useful for this) AND without having to use (or bother with the hassle of making over/replacing) the fugly and often nonsensical  Maxis stealth hood hobby lots. I can build better ones, keep them in my lot bin, and have the hobby leaders own them instead. :) Although I still have to test to see if that will work...

fuzzyspork replied to your post “Hey!”

omg I used to do cross stitch! So much so that I was part of a cross stitch forum online. I got rid of all that stuff the last time we moved since it had been about 6 years at that point since I'd picked up a project. Kinda miss it now...

deedee-sims replied to your post “Hey!”

I used to do cross-stitching too!

Oh, yay, fellow stitchers! :) I used to do it A LOT, and I’m having such fun with finishing this old project that I’ve ordered another little kit online, as a little XMas gift to myself. I don’t think it’ll consume me like it once did, but it’s fun to do when I don’t feel like...oh...Simming or doing Sims-related things.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Pierre the Maid Dude earns his pay.”

I wish we had small terrariums in TS3 like this :)

Yeah, the ones in TS3 are kind of big, aren’t they? :\ I don’t know if that one has been/could be converted for 3 and still be functional rather than just deco, but it might be worth it to look? It’s basically the standard TS2 womrat cage without the stand, and it can be placed on any surface.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Emmy popped with Vacation Baby. And then chilled in front of the nice...”

That's a lovely lounge! So many plants!

I have a tendency to overdecorate with plants. (And mirrors, being the child of the 70s that I am.) I think it’s because in real life I can’t keep plants. I like them, but I forget about them and kill them and then I feel terrible. So, most of the plants in my house are fake, the only exception being culinary herbs (including marijuana because it’s legal where I live) and giant aloe plants because they serve a purpose. (Respectively: I eat them and have an unfortunate tendency to accidentally burn myself. And I’ll also eat aloe -- and other cacti -- for that matter.) So, yeah, lots of plants in my Sims houses, where they can be pretty and I can’t kill them. :)

declarations-of-drama replied to your photoset “Random captured pics from Sage and Emmy’s Twikii Island honeymoon. 4...”

This makes me miss TS2 so bad! I used to love that charleton dude lol

YOU SHOULD PLAY IT! TS2 IS THE BEST! ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!

Nah, I kid. :) TS2 is my main squeeze, sure -- and IMO its remaining online community is the best -- but I do cheat with TS3 on occasion. I have no interest in TS4, though...

eulaliasims replied to your photoset “It was time for the twins to teenify. I decided that Allison needed...”

That hair looks really good on Allison!

Yeah, I thought so! I’m always leery of using dreads on my Sims because frankly, while many of them are dark-skinned, none of them really look “classically black,” if you know what I mean, since I use just slightly altered Maxis face templates. And while in my head my Sims world doesn’t have a concept of races of people, the online community is touchy on the subject and I’m not looking for drama. So, I weighed things in my head and eventually went, “Screw it. That hair looks better on her than any other style I have, so it’s what she’s getting.”

kayleigh-83 replied to your photo “And the penguin showed up to have a chat with the twins’ snowperson...”

My penguin almost exclusively has conversations about mathematical formulae. He’s a really well educated fellow and Plumbbob knows he won’t get intelligent discourse out of my Sims!

Maybe penguins are like Douglas Adams’s dolphins, with a comprehensive knowledge of quantum physics. :) So, if the penguins all suddenly leave the planet with a “So long, and thanks for all the fish” in penguin language, perhaps we’d do well to follow them. ;)

getmygameon replied to your photo “And the penguin showed up to have a chat with the twins’ snowperson...”

Gotta love those random wtf speech bubbles 'Did I tell you the time I found a stale croissant. STALE! humans can't cook worth a damn I tell you! How do they survive ?!"

The penguins often have either very profound or very silly conversations. Both are signs of high intelligence, so there we go... :)

freezerbunny-sims replied to your photoset “I finished up the restaurant in GilsCarburg that will eventually be...”

The gallery looks so cozy and it actually reminds me of some restaurants in the beach towns of my province.

Oh, that’s good to hear, thank you! Because GilsCarburg is supposed to be a “beachy” community. Not in the tropical/Caribbean sense, though. More like a temperate “Northeastern US/New England” sort of “beachy,” the kind of place that people go to on summer weekends to lay on beaches like landed whales in order to escape the heat in nearby large cities. I fear I haven’t generally succeeded at that “feel,” though...because I often forget that that’s what I’m going for. So, it’s good when I (accidentally) do something right. :)

holleyberry replied to your photo “And then it was Gwen’s turn to age up. No party and no retirement for...”

Congrats on this accomplishment! It makes me want to go start a legacy.

I never really have success with standard legacies, at least not in the sense of just playing one subset (the “heirs”) of one family. That’s rather boring, to me. But I DO play whole neighborhoods for as long as I can, with multiple families over many generations. So I guess in that sense I DO play legacies. Legacies on steroids. And crack. Lots of crack.

didilysims replied to your photo “Cherry retired from firefighting. Luckily, they won’t be relying on...”

Ha ha, good to see she saved up for her old age! What was her job that pays such peanuts?

:D She was in the NPC firefighter career from the set of NPC careers that I have, which I guess were originally designed to be given to married-in NPCs in the various service careers. They are much less lucrative than the standard careers. The level one jobs all pay $50 a day. And since Cherry never rolled any wants for any skill points, ever, she never advanced past Level 1. Hence, her gigantic pension. :)