#my hair was super healthy and it looked beautiful but also i dont have infinite money so i said fuck it and here i am today lol

[lenorarose]

I love making bad hair decisions lol

[whatthefuuuuuuccckkkk]

Acne is the devil and I wanna share some things that have helped me achieve clear skin after years of struggling

- cutting out dairy. I know everyone says this. It's true. Dairy isnt really healthy anyway, tons of other ways to get calcium. I cut it out to clear my skin now my body absolutely hates it. It bloats me and makes me feel overall gross and disgusting.

- avoid junk food. some more than others tho. chips and candy is not good but not terrible. but greasy fast food and a lot of heavy stuff....terrible. again, I did it for my skin but my whole body benefits.

- silk pillow cases. sounds fancy but you can get them at walmart for the same price as a regular one. also wash it. I'm not gonna pretend that I wash mine every other night because no normal person has time for that. but at least wash it when you think about it. (sheets and blankets too while we're at it)

- free & clear or sensitive skin detergent. I have other skin sensitivities that arent acne but it helps breakouts too.

- wash your hands and don't touch ya face. I know we're all human and we all have the urge to pick at our skin, so if you insist theres tools (available for cheap and work better than your hands and more sanitary) and if you dont use tools then at least wait until you are home to do anything. that way you can take off your makeup and any dirt from the day, make sure your hands are clean, and wash your face after.

- rinse your face off after meals. being a messy eater is a real struggle.

- brush your teeth before washing your face. I was breaking out a lot in the chin area and it stopped once I started doing this.

- makeup remover and face wash are two separate steps. most face washes are not strong enough to clean off makeup and if they are they might be too strong for your skin.

- speaking of makeup remover..... throw the damn wipes away. get some micellar water. wipes have alcohol perfumes and other shit in them to keep them moist and smelling good. your skin might not like that.

- I should not have to say this but do not go to sleep with makeup on, who raised you.

- wash with face wash as soon as you get up and right before bed. only use water during the day as you dont want to overtreat or overdry. some people don't even need face wash in the morning.

- relax with all the harsh acne products. ive tried every acne product that has ever existed (ok not really) and they all kinda suck. - a gentle cleanser avoids overdrying. or talk to your derm about something (I have a super light % sulfur wash, barley any in it but enough to work without overdrying)

- yes you need a moisturizer. even if you have acne. even if your skin is oily. something light is a good basic moisturizer (cetaphil). dry acne is infinitely worse than oily acne. because when acne gets dry and cracked and painful....yikes. also your skin may be oily to compensate for the lack of oil, sound counterintuitive but it's legit. you can feel your skin (with clean hands ofc) and the texture will tell you if your skin is hydrated.

- do not spot treat too often. back to the overdrying here. you will make it worse.

- do not do masks too often.

- obviously makeup on acne is not a good idea but people are gonna do it anyway. tis the life of insecure girls everywhere. but a green primer helps tone down the reds.

- and to avoid spreading breakouts I recommend only covering the areas you need covered. (for example I never wear foundation on my forehead because I dont break out there naturally, but too many days of heavy makeup in a row and I get blackheads there, so I avoid it by not wearing foundation there, and a little setting powder keeps the shiny away. alternatively at work I just use concealer where I need it and no foundation at all. people with acne honestly usually have really good skin in the areas that arent broken out because we are skin care obsessed.)

- don't pop or pick at your skin before putting on makeup. dont do it. not only is it bad to put makeup on a fresh wound basically. but also makeup will not help and it will end up looking worse than it did to start.

- this is always a good tip but with acne it is moreso... let your moisturizer set into hour skin before putting on primer and let your primer set before putting on makeup.

- if you have long hair dont sleep with it down. put it in a bun and out ya face.

- a lot of home remedies are garbage and actively bad. ask your dr or derm for anything that sounds iffy.

- sunscreen please!! acne and sunburn together is actual hell.

- give any product you need time to work. dont buy a whole new skincare routine and change everything at once. you gotta know what the problem is if anything goes wrong. if you buy (ex) a new toner you heard about, then add it and give it like a month before you switch face washes too. that way you can see what is working and what isnt. skin can freak out at something new so dont panic if theres an immediate breakout...let it happen and if it doesnt go away go back to your old one before trying anything new.

- you don't need a thousand products. less is more. face wash and moisturizer. done. obviously to each their own but start simple and when adding stuff..give it time to work before adding anything else.

- when spot treating limit it to only the area you need, you dont wanna dry the surrounding area.

- birth control!! I went on it because I had reallllly bad cramps but my skin definitely thanked me.

- age and patience. no one wants to hear this but teenagers are more susceptible and it can be outgrown. it's not promised but it's possible.

- drink water! try to avoid soda or juice with lots of sugar. they have those zero cal sparkling water. or those flavor squeeze things.

these things are my personal experience I'm obviously not a doctor so there's your disclaimer lol. everyone is different and I'm just trying to lend a helping hand.

above all else my advice would be that your beauty does not dictate your value and your acne does not define you and is not worth being the stressor that it is. but I know that's not an easy thing to accept so here are some tips!

[pratktcven]

love in a time of social media

love in a time of social media part one. shance. eventual nc-17. alternate universe. lance is the king of shitposts and selfies. shiro is an artist who loves his dog and fatalistic humor. somehow, they fall in love. warning! underage drinking and casual use of marijuana

.

They meet online.

Specifically, they meet on tumblr. Shiro is an artist of middling popularity and Lance is a shitposter of the highest caliber. Shiro follows Lance months before Lance follows him; indeed, Lance is unaware of Shiro's work until Shiro @'s him in a small comic.

'I couldn't resist,' Shiro types below the image. 'Thank you for the inspiration, @lances-a-lot.'

Shiro—@white_iron—has a simple art style and a sharp sense of humor that makes Lance laugh out loud. He reblogs the comic, telling his followers to check it out, and proceeds to creep on Shiro's blog. Lance's first stop is Shiro's small about section.

Hello! My name is Shiro. I am a post-grad history student and I spend my limited free time walking my dog or doodling. art tag doodles photography

Shiro's blog consists mainly of his artwork. Occasionally, Shiro will also post real-life pictures of his dog, a beautiful black and white akita with bright eyes and a dopey smile. There aren't any pictures of Shiro himself. Lance—who takes roughly a thousand selfies every day—comments on this oddity to Blue, his enormous gray long-hair.

Blue blinks at him.

"My curiosity has been piqued," Lance replies primly.

Blue blinks her big gold eyes at him again.

"Enough of your judgement!" Lance over-dramatizes. "I can follow who I want!"

Shiro's blog is twenty-four pages of self-produced content that Lance blazes through in less than an hour. There are no reblogs. Lance nearly twitches at the restraint and—after a moment—decides to check if Shiro's likes are public.

"Jackpot!" Lance crows when the page loads.

Shiro's likes are a riot of memes and shit-posts. Art references and how-to's. Nerdy history jokes. Links to academic articles. Male fitspo. Healthy recipes, juice cleanse tips, and over-indulgent foodie pics. NSFW gifs of twinks writhing open-mouthed on rumpled sheets. Pictures of space and nature. Lots of dogs. Several of Lance's selfies. More than one necromancy pun. If it is at all possible to fall in love with someone based on their likes, Lance does it.

Lance's infinite scrolling comes to a halt at half past one, when his one of his many phone alarms notifies him of the time. Lance groans, closes his browser, and hauls his butt out of his narrow bed. It takes him a couple minutes to find an acceptably clean pair of skinny jeans and an unwrinkled sweater; he hasn't done laundry for several weeks.

"After lab," Lance tells Blue as he wriggles out of his worn sweats into his socially acceptable denim. "I'll do a load tonight."

Blue flicks her tail at him, a rude gesture that Lance returns with one of his own. Blue sends him baleful glance.

"Don't look at me like that," Lance says even as he plants a kiss between Blue's mismatched ears. She lost half of her left ear in a fight before the shelter picked her off the street. "You started it."

Blue meows loudly and bats Lance's nose.

"Okay, okay, you're right. I started it." Lance presses one more kiss on his cat's skull. "Have fun bird-watching. I'll see you later."

Then—with his good-byes said—Lance grabs his notebook-laden satchel, and is out the door.

.

Lance's lab is as much of a challenge as it always is. Lance is good at math—numbers and variables are easy—but his brain refuses to wrap around the concepts of physics. It's a small miracle that Pidge is his lab partner; without her, Lance is certain he would fail.

"You're a lifesaver," Lance gushes as they leave the old building. "Let me buy you pizza to show my gratitude."

"I told Matt I'd have dinner with him," says Pidge. "His roommate is going through some sort of clean eating phase and it's driving him nuts."

"He can come," Lance says. Then, less magnanimously, "But he has to get his own slice."

Pidge rolls her eyes as she texts her older brother. Lance shoots a text to Hunk, who responds with a single thumbs up emoji. They all meet at less than ten minutes later at the off-campus pizzeria that sells by the slice. Lance gets three for himself and two for Pidge; Matt, who is the only person over the age of twenty-one, covertly buys a pitcher of beer that they pour into their small, plastic water cups.

"Sweet, sweet, processed goodness," Matt half-cries as he chews, his mouth filled with cheese, pepperoni, and grease. "How I missed you."

Lance would be more sympathetic to Matt's dilemma if the man hadn't embarrassed him in a game of beer pong at a sorority the week before. Lance can't prove it, but he knows in his heart of hearts that Matt cheated. Nobody beats Lance at beer pong, okay. Nobody.

"That bad?" Pidge grins.

"You have no idea," Matt bemoans. "Like—Takashi's a great dude, don't get me wrong—but when I found him on Craig's List I was more worried about being murdered in my sleep than I was about weird diet habits. Turns out I should have been more worried about the diet habits. Our fridge is filled with kale. Kale, Kit-Kat. From the farmer's market."

"Kale is really good for you," Hunk interjects.

"That's what Takashi said," Matt mutters. "I don't know how much longer I can go on like this."

"Hasn't it only been three days—"

"An eternity—"

Lance laughs at Matt's plight and, once dinner is finished and the four of them part ways, he takes out his phone to tweet about the roundabout retribution.

Lance @lancesalot #revenge is best served blanched. or in a smoothie. #kale #healthyliving #karma

.

It's a little past nine when Lance returns to his apartment. His roommate, Rolo, and his ambiguously defined girlfriend/partner-in-crime, Nyma, are sitting on the couch sharing a joint. A bag of popcorn is ready on the battered coffee table and the television is playing an old nineties buddy-cop flick.

"Hey," Rolo says, smoke curling upwards from his mouth. "Wanna join?"

"Nah." Lance turns down the proffered joint with a shrug. "Gotta take my laundry down. You feed Blue?"

"Like she'd let me forget."

Blue—who is perched on the windowsill—releases a single, plaintive meow. She has no problems letting anyone know what she wants and when she wants it, especially when it comes to being fed.

"Thanks man."

"De nada."

It doesn't take Lance long to gather his dirty clothing and stuff it into his hamper. He takes it all to the basement, throws a few loads in, and settles into one of the old armchairs that have accumulated in the corner. He knows that he should read ahead for his classes, but the siren song of social media grips him. An internal debate rages inside him for all of three seconds before he opens his tumblr account.

Lance barely feels the twinge of guilt.

There are several asks—all anonymous, as per usual—and one unread message. Lance is a little surprised by the latter; after a few weird encounters, he changed his setting so that he could only receive messages from people he followed. He clicks on the conversation first.

white_iron Thanks for the follow! I'm really flattered. You're one of my favorite blogs.

Lance smiles at the message.

lances-a-lot no problem!!! ur art was super funny i laughed at everything pretty sure my cat thinks i'm crazy now

After hitting send, Lance plugs in his chunky headphones into the audio jack. He has a new chillwave playlist that Pidge gave him, but he knows that if he doesn't give Tycho his full attention Pidge may murder him. So instead, Lance pulls up his trusted Rihanna compilation and double clicks on the first song. He bops his head in time with the beat and opens his asks, quickly answering his anons.

Several chart-toppers later, a small ping interrupts Rihanna's plea for the dj to turn the music up. Lance looks at the vertical line of icons on the side of the page and sees that he has another message from Shiro. Lance opens the conversation immediately and reads:

white_iron My dog already knows I'm crazy.

white_iron sent a photo post.

A small preview image has been loaded into the conversation. It is a cartoon version of Shiro's akita, her expression morphed into one of extreme judgement. Her eyebrows—twin dots of white on her dark face—are low over her big eyes and her ruff is fattened comically around her muzzle. Lance cannot help but laugh at the exaggerated accuracy and immediately reblog it.''

lances-a-lot OMG THATS FANTASTIC
 THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT BLUE DOES

white_iron Stare into the depths of your decrepit soul and find you wanting?

lances-a-lot haha, yes! blue acts like i dont spoil her rotten shes such a princess

white_iron I definitely know how that goes. Bee has three dog beds, but she insists on sleeping in my bed or in my roommate's.

lances-a-lot blue has peed in every. single. bed i bought for her i stopped trying after awhile it was getting to be an expensive exercise in futility

white_iron Two words. Dog toys.

Lance talks to Shiro for the next couple of hours while his laundry finishes. Mostly, they swap stories about their pets and commiserate about their less than desirable—if not inadvertently hilarious—behavior. Lance even tells Shiro about how he rescued Blue. In turn, Shiro talks about the process he had to go through to adopt Bee. Shiro mentions that Bee is a service dog; what for, he does not say.

Don't be that asshole, Lance reminds himself as the topic wanes. His comfort is more important than your curiosity.

Lance is having such a good time talking to Shiro that he barely notices midnight pass. In fact, if it weren't for the enormous, jaw-cracking yawn that his body produces, Lance would not have noticed at all.

lances-a-lot dude i just noticed what time it was like i could seriously talk about blue forever but laundry sleep ADULTING i have calc at 8 am, ugh kill me now

white_iron Tell me about it. I have to TA an 8 a.m. class.

There is a small pause. Lance gnaws on his bottom lip as he watches the ellipsis that indicates typing flicker in and out of existence.

white_iron Talk to you tomorrow?

Lance bites down harder on his lip. Normally, he would send back a quick affirmation before logging off, but his interaction with Shiro feels different than the interactions he's had in the past. Their chemistry is undeniable and their conversation never felt flat or stilted. Yet while Lance knows he's been lowkey flirting with Shiro, he cannot be sure if Shiro has been flirting back.

Fuck it, Lance thinks as he gathers all his courage and sets his fingers back on the keyboard. He can feel how warm his cheeks are. Just do it.

lances-a-lot its a date ;)

After he sends the message, Lance closes his laptop and jumps off the armchair. He feels jittery and unsure, yet also oddly hopeful that maybe this time—for the first time—his interest won't be a mistake.

.