#shoutout to my sister though she’s so cool and awesome!!!

[froggychair05]

My sister and I made some little sillies :D

[bizlybebo]

Do you have any OCs? :0

THIS IS SERIOUSLY SUCH AN AWESOME ASK TO GET IM RRGWHRHNEMGMTMWKE

not entirely sure whether you meant for jrwi or like. in general but i can do a short explanation of some ocs i have from both categoriea ^__^ !!!!

—-

bad photo + not super proud of the drawing but here’s an oc i made for apotheosis back in february ish ^__^ i settled on Raph (just pronounced raff) for a name i think. if i remember right i was theorizing a lot about the gods of that world and made this Lil Guy as some weird griffon-inspired angel or Something that was cast down + had his heart torn out in the process. he’s like old and shit cause he’s. an angel. but mentally he’s around 13-14. still haven’t finished apotheosis so the information i’ve retained from that campaign is horribly incorrect and not a lot but yeah ^__^

don’t have a great proper drawing for my next one (at least not w/o digging through my sketchbook) but here’s a little doodle of one i made for prime defenders!!! Axel my beloved,, some mutuals may recognize her. i made him after the whole expansion on depowering in season 2, and basically made this Fucked Up Guy who was able to steal said depowered powers. dont ask too much its very handwavey bullshit science stuff. it’s a very painful + slow process, though, and she can only steal one power set at a time. not pictured but xe has a really sick robot arm, which is the only reason why xe can do this— otherwise, xy’re just powerless. ^__^ he’s also got a lot of imagery relating to king midas since her powers lead to a similar effect/pitfall. very cool xy’re my toxic yuri oc

—

okkk and then heres a doodle of robin, my most recent DnD oc i made for a campaign im in. typical bastard character with a dead sister, whos apparitions haunt her. she refuses to believe she’s dead, though, insisting that she’s only missing, and is currently set out on a mission to find her. she’s a very performative person,, talks big and loud and distracts people while she steals their stuff. really smooth talker but genuinely dumb as rocks i love her a lot<3

other honorary mentions of ttrpg characters ive played in the past who i miss dearly: reese, mica, rosalie, and margaret.

——

and then as an original fiction writer i have. A Lot of ocs so im not gonna show them all off but. shoutout to aphid and flick, the two ive been rotating the most in my head lately. theyre from this super cool but very fucked up steampunk/futuristic world. most codependent bitches on the planet. all the drawings i have of them are also in my sketchbook which im too lazy to dig through but heres a rough doodle of what they look loke:

^ flick is on the left, aphid the right. my lil guys <33

[paranoicintervalz]

my really (un)interesting thoughts #20

HAPPY MONYAY!

hello! it is me. multiverse is dead. again, so i need to blog somewhere... so here's tumblr... my next best option. Sigh.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: BABYMETAL!!!!

(CURRENT FAVE SONG: MEGITSUNE)

yay! trying my best... i never use tumblr!!!!! anyways. happy monyay. i didnt have class today but i still need to keep up with dem monyay crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 yay....... well!!!! GUESS WHAT!! I DID MY JAZZ BAND AUDITION!!! AND I DID IT!!!!!!!!! FOR REAAAALLLLLLLLLLL I ACTUALLY DID!!! its OVER!!! OVER NOW!!!! and im so happy... but i literally feel like my life has no purpose left anymore... itss alllll GONNEEE!!!! like idk wat im supposed to do now. summer is so lame and i am SCARED OF MYSELFFF and its already getting kind of baaadddddd!!!! this morning i atually pulled off like this insane heist at like 7 am (i just needed something from the trash bin) and i think i am going crazy. Hah. ANYWAYS. im happy my audition is over but also i feel like my life has no purpose anymOREEE GET ME OUTTT OF HERE!!! my friend is off on a fancy trip andd my biffle bae always like disappears into the void for a while. so im Here. Chillin.

my sister came home this weekend and something about her... idk i just get mad at her so fast. well first of all,,,, shes GAY WITH A GIRLFRIEND!!! im not mad at her for that LOL actually idk why i started with that... but anyways she told me shes planning on coming out to my PARENTS on her BIRTHDAY which sounds horrible and terrifying and i have no idea how it will go but also it makes ME feel kinda #grateful she is coming out first before me.... softens the blow for me. she is not like... visibly gay like i am.... so i think it will be quite a shock. honestly, ive not even thought about coming out to my parents. it always ffelt so far away, and i have no idea how they would react. truly. so i dont know... i guess ill see.... but they already think my sister is off the rails. which... idk. UGH anyways. god i love her so much but recently i dont know. i just feel lilke shes barely herself anymore. it feels like shes trying so hard to be another person or trying too hard to be cool or something. something about the way she acts or does things feels inauthentic to me, and i just don't see HER in herself anymore. i guess college changes a girl, but it sucks now. things will never ever be the same and it sucks really bad, i guess. theres nothing i can do. i wish i didnt get so frusterated with that though. something about her. and i feel so mean. maybe im just mad that i feel like she abandoned me. but its whatever, anyways. i was always closer to her than my other sister. idk. it just makes me sad now to think about it. and i feel bad for feeling this way. i just wish things were back to before everything, i think. UGHHHH GETTING TOO SAD ON THE INTERNETTTTTSTIJRDNJG

anyways. my Biffle Bae came to my house like two days in a row and it was such a blast. Bae helped me with my jazz band audition (brought the bass guitar and played the bass to my piano.... it was awesome...) and we sounded so cool and awesome and i think that singlehandedly will help me get INTO JAZZ BANNNDDD!! and then we went to an open mic and saw all our awesome friends perform and it was so cool... open mics are so awesome!!!! and i had a blast.. and we are thinking about maybe performing or something..... thinking... about it. kinda scary but... WHO CARES!!! no one there!!! everyone is so chill and supporting at that place. oh man i LOVE cool and hip millennials who write poetry!!! sick as FREAK! and my biffle bae Loved it and i was like Hehe i knew you would. Hehe. and now i DRIVE EVERYWHERE and its insane. freedom and crap... driving is still slightly scary. only a tiny little bit. yeah...

i need to keep myself busy this week and.. keep on KEEPIN ON! and keep on... making good decisions for my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (IM SO TERRIFIED AND NO ONE KNOWS OTHER THAN MY PRIV TWT. shoutout jj for liking all my tweets). but i made it through this night. and this morning (eyeeetwittchhh). i ammmm getttinggg there.Yey! i went to portos today and it was awesome. i love their matcha lattes. THANK YOU CUBA!!!! and i also built a cat tree. i need to start my rhythm heaven grind. speaking of grinds I AM BACKKKK ON DA WIZARD101 GRIND!! god bless. now THAT will keep me BUSY!! god i love wizard101. currently in empyrea part 2 and almost done!!! i love u sparck and pork and beans. GOD I LOVE ALL THE LITTLE CHARACTERS and my charcater brooke swiftwhisper lvl 138 is my queen my everything my pride and joy i love her!!!!!!! wizard101 thank you for being the best thing to ever exist ever probably!!!

Bros i am not feeling tumblr. i miss multiverse. this isnt the SAME!!!! i CANT DO THISSS LIKE THISSSSSSSSS PLEASE MULTIVERSE PLEASEEEEEEEEEE ITS NOT THE SAMMMEEE...... i like you tumblr... but also... Naw.... anyways...

REALLY GOOD ALBUM! Bring on the Mesmeric Condition BY THE MORLOCKS!!!

Goodnight multiversse.... i mean.. .Tumblr... sigh. what a hard life i live. sleep tight...

[therubyfitz]

your sisters and their significant others

@annefitzherbert knows how much I love her but I’m not going to talk about it too much because if I talk about it too much, sometimes she decides to stop talking to me and I hate it when she stops talking to me because she’s one of my favorite people, even if she’s mean to me sometimes! Even though I’ve learned we had more in common than I thought, I also wish I could be more like her. She’s a star!

Now about her boyfriend.... @chad--charming is definitely a guy. With hair! And it’s really nice hair! I think she could do better though, which isn’t meant to be read as an offense to Chad, I promise! It’s just that Anne is my sister, no one’s going to be good enough for her.

And of course, @novafitzherbert is the absolute coolest of us all! She’s so full of energy and I love her for it, because sometimes I think I’VE got lots of energy and then I see Nova and feel old, and I need to be reminded that I’m getting old sometimes! She’s spunky and takes no guff and can take care of herself way better than I can, and not just because she carries a frying pan around, but because she’s secure in herself and won’t let anyone tell her what she is, or how to feel, or what she’s worth.

That’s why I think she and @margaerycharming work together! Margaery is another young lady who’s self-assured in the sense that she knows who she is and what she’s worth, and nobody else can change that; they’re both really mature in that way and even though they don’t have much else in common, the fact that at their cores they’re so set in themselves is really nice! Margaery also always looks and smells cute somehow!

Also, I know she’s not mentioned, but since I talked about her siblings, I want to give @ellecharming a shoutout and say that if you weren’t dating @rtpendragon, I would be so happy to make a Charmherbert dating trifecta with you! You’re so cool and cute and awesome!

Ask my character "How do you feel about ______?"

[gabrielitas]

OK HERE ARE MORE SLIDES HSHSGA

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/109uK-q-OktPBmv8JF-uDD9HJkq0fnmn6w3yRN8PnGVY/edit

kindly ignore the "people we know" section, i made this for a presentation party

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16Lg7vWr0cCqq9xNzDlGtt1BV5dINGs0Wj8oFjeqL8qQ/edit

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12ywRhPHnf4SqGfKkZfE6dDNQz5fDiC3KMXq_Dtjt8r4/edit

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-ty_5cSKcJTQmzyX19y-BOBlkG369XVTQCgogQD3WZk/edit

onto your questions!

- i indeed to band!! i play clarinet, but we have a marching season coming up so i was at percussion rehearsal. i’m one of the new drum majors for my band (so i conduct the show/im 2nd in line to the director). i’m my free time i fuck around with the ukulele and guitar. im not great but it calms me down.

are you in band?? it's so much fun dbsbsbs!! when the event ends we have to keep in touch (even if it's just to share shitty pics of me in a uniform)

1) i read svt as seventeen! it's really funny though because i don't read skz as "stray kids", i read it as "skizz" fbsbsbshja

2) i'd rather never meet them and b able to consume their content!! i've made it this far already :))

what are your answers to those two??

some sleepover questions!!

1) do you have any movie or tv show recs?? i've been watching buzzfeed unsolved and criminal minds on repeat and it's getting to me 🙄🙄 i plan on watching vip, the one about the north korean officials son, and the wind rises

2) do you have any funny school trip/ band (if your in it) stories? i have quite a few band related ones if you wanna hear them

3) where do you live (this is not supposed to be creepy). i’m from new jersey!! (we might have talked about this but i have a brain the size of a pea

4) what grade are you going into/ are you currently in. i’m gonna b a junior and i am NOT ready for it 😩😩 it's so scary

girl i have no good sleepover questions 🙄🙄 all i do at sleepovers is reenact fanfiction, watch movies, and gossip 😩

if you want gossip from new jersey -> i got drum major over a guy who's harassed me, my sister, and at least 3 of my friends and i’m so happy!! it felt so good to finally have a win 🤤🤤

ooo i’ll check out the slides later!! (i’m babysitting rn lol)

omg i don’t do band and can’t play any instruments, but i’m so jealous of ppl who do!😫 like,, u can just make music! that’s so cool!! and yes we *absolutely* have to keep in touch after the event!! (i would love to see pictures of u in ur uniform alsnksjsks)

ok so i read “ess vee tee” and ya i’d also choose consume content and never meet them, i mean,,, i’m a fan of the content so it just wouldn’t work for me to not consume it anymore lol

ok so for ur questions:

1) ok first of all i love buzzfeed unsolved!! in honor of them ending the series ive been rewatching all of it too lol (i just got to the iconic goatman episode) but i’d recommend downton abbey (i’m only on season four but i’ve rlly been enjoying it) and i’m currently making my way through disney’s tv adaptation of this book series i rlly loved in like,, late middle school-ish? it’s called the mysterious benedict society and the way they’re making the tv show feels so much like the book i rlly love it

2)uhhh so i don’t have any band stories (obvs lol) but i did dye my hair for the first time (well the first time i permanently dyed it) at midnight in the girls locker room? so i go to a rlly small jewish day school, and on the first night of hanukkah they do this thing where all the girls in the high school get to sleep over and light the candles for the first night and then watch movies and wtv and sleep in the not heated gym (and then wake up to pray and go to classes because hanukkah started the day before winter break that year and so we had to actually go to classes the next day🙄) but i had brought hair dye with me so two friends and i (shoutout to @eb4 for being one of those friends and seeing the chaos firsthand shakhskahs) left during the movie (it was parent trap so i almost stayed lol) and went down to the girls locker room and busted out the hair dye! we had to dye it in the sink cuz the school showers r 🤢 and don’t have curtains and i was already in my pajamas. so then an hour later we washed off the dye in the sink and voila! it was box black hair dye and my natural hair is rlly dark brown so it wasn’t like i was dying my hair some crazy color like the blue i have now) i for sure have other stories if u wanna hear them and i’d love to hear some band stories!☺️

3)omg it’s not creepy dw 😂 and i live in massachusetts! also i didn’t know that u live in jersey!! (ok so these two kids who joined my grade this past year r from jersey and they’re so chaotic and i get very similar vibes from u and now i’m wondering if it’s just a jersey thing sksnsjs)

4)girl i’m gonna b a junior too!! and OMG TELL ME ABT IT IM ALREADY AT SCHOOL FOR NINE HOURS A DAY AND HAVE SO MUCH HW AND THIS YEAR IM TAKING AN AP AND SELF STUDYING FOR ANOTHER IM NOT BUILT FOR THIS SKANSNAJ😭😭

omg re-enacting fanfic sounds like such a fun thing to do at a sleepover!! i only have one friend who reads fanfic and we were in seperate fandoms before covid so no fanfic re-enactments for me😔 i’ll def b putting that in my back pocket for when sleepovers r finally a thing again sjhshaha

aaaa that’s so awesome for u!!! i’m not quite sure what that means but u won and that’s always an awesome feeling!!❤️

ok now for my questions:

1) do *u* have any band/school stories???

2) do u do any extracurriculars other than band?

3) ok i know u told me u have a sister but is she younger or older? (lemme predict real quick….💭💭ur the younger one!)

4) what’ve u been doing so far over the summer?

5) shaniac or boogara?? (or shitfish lol)

i hope u have a good night and am sending u tons and tons of love!!❤️❤️

[today-only-happens-once]

With Great Power - Chapter 5

Title: With Great Power – Chapter 5

Catch up (or read on AO3) here!

Fic summary: Thomas Sanders is just a regular social media personality. But when he gets bit by a spider during filming one of his YouTube videos, his whole life is about to turn upside down—whether he (or the aspects of his personality) want it to or not. Platonic LAMP/CALM + Character!Thomas. Spider-Man AU.

Chapter word count: 3,515

Chapter warnings: cursing, nightmare mention, anxiety mention, minor spoilers for Danny Phantom.

A/N: Almost a month later, here’s chapter 5! So sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy it! <3 Shoutout to @creativenostalgiastuff for her help as always. Edited by yours truly so all mistakes are mine.

Tags: @captain-loki-xavier, @human-dictionary, @the-peculiar-bi-tch, @mining-pup, @band-be-boss-blog, @asexual-trashbag, @samathekittycat, @why-should-i-tell-youu2, @theobsessor1, @always3charcoaltea, @changeling-ash, @logical-princey, @crimsonshadow323, @flickering-raven, @smokeyrutilequartz, @dontbugmeimantisocial, @liz-a-bell, @black-king-white-knight, @soijusthavetoask, @analogical-mess, @marvelfangeek09, @vigilantvirgil, @princelogical

Sorry for the delay, everyone! Thomas types out for Twitter, a couple days later. Wasn’t feeling great but we’re back at it! New CT coming to you soon!

He pauses, then looks up at Joan across from him, sitting on a chair in Picani’s office. “Hey, what if we did a livestream tomorrow?”

He still feels bad for having gone MIA for a week. Or, as MIA as Thomas ever really went. He’d texted Joan, Camden, and Talyn basically every day to tell them he still wasn’t feeling his best. It wasn’t… a total lie, he’d told himself despite the guilt that sat uncomfortably in his stomach. It definitely hadn’t helped that he’d consequentially been postponing finishing up the filming of Cartoon Therapy due to his absence. It had been a couple of weeks now without any video to post on either channel.

Joan looks up from laptop poised across their lap. “Uh, I can do that. As long as it ends before 6, ‘cause my piano lesson starts at 6:30.”

Thomas smiles. “Perfect. I just feel bad for making them wait, y’know?” To make up for it, he adds to the tweet, we’ll be having a Livestream tomorrow at 4! Open to everyone, not just members. Hope to see you all there!

“You can’t help that you got sick,” Joan replies as Thomas sends the tweet out. “They understand.”

“Yeah, but… y’know.” Thomas lifts a shoulder. “I just wanna do something for them.”

“It’s cool, man,” Joan replies. “I think it’s a good idea. And it’ll give us a nice break from the editing and shit.”

“Speaking of—” Thomas grabs the pen and journal prompts from the bookcase behind him—"how’s Camden handling his part of things? I haven’t talked to him about the vid in a while.”

“I think he’s almost done,” Joan replies. “We just gotta finish the last of Picani and we should have the rest of the footage he needs to finish his section.”

Thomas nods and adjusts the knot in the pastel green tie around his neck. It had seemed like every time they’d tried to film the rest of Picani, something got in the way. Thomas loved acting and he loved the filming stage of videos, but a small part of him just wanted to be done with it. The sooner he could be done filming, the sooner he could focus on… more pressing issues.

“Then let’s finish Picani,” Thomas says lightly. “We’ve just got the last scene with Valerie’s character, right?”

Joan nods. “Yep. Shouldn’t take long at all.”

“Awesome.” Thomas glances in the viewfinder and pushes the bangs that were falling into his eyes out of the way. “Ready when you are.”

Joan hits record on the camera, then looks down at their script. “I have to be the adult, y’know?”

Thomas taps his pen against his mouth, looking carefully at Valerie’s sightline. “You know, Elena… Danny’s older sister feels that way for much of the show, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Jazz is only a couple of years older than Danny. But she often feels like she has to be the adult in the family because she sees her parents as a bit… immature.” Thomas leans forward slightly. “So she acts way older than she really is. But that mentality ends up backfiring on her when she takes it a little too far.”

“Too far?”

Thomas places his pen on top of his journal in his lap. “In Season 2 Epsiode 7, Danny has to fight a ghost that can only be seen by kids while he’s on vacation with his family. Since Jazz acts and thinks of herself as an adult even though she’s only 16, she can’t see the ghost and starts to think—along with her parents—that Danny is going crazy.” Thomas pauses, remembering that they’d wanted to cut in with a video clip there. Then he continues. “Though her concern is well-intentioned, it leads her to trapping Danny and the ghost goes after their parents. It’s not until Danny is able to get Jazz to act like a kid again that she’s able to see the ghost, and ultimately help to save her family.”

Joan rolls their eyes to keep in character as they read Valerie’s lines. “Fine, but my family’s not under attack by ghosts.”

Thomas sighs. “You’re right. But the point is that Jazz thought acting like an adult was helping the people around her, when it really wasn’t. When she actually started acting her age was when she was able to be the most help—especially to her little brother, who was the whole reason she’d been acting so much older in the first place.”

“Huh…”

“From that point on,” Thomas continues, “Jazz tries to find a balance. She’s a mature person, and nobody was asking her to change that. But she also comes to understand the importance of still being a kid. She learns how to balance the two in a way that doesn’t ask her to sacrifice any part of who she is.”

Joan pauses. “I… guess I could try that. Maria isn’t a little kid anymore, even though I still think of her as my baby sister.”

Thomas gives a small, encouraging smile. “It’ll take some time. Learning balance is not as easy as flipping a switch. But it’s something we can continue to work on. It might even help your relationship with your sister in ways you don’t expect.”

Joan gives a single nod. “I’d like that.”

“Great!” Thomas grins. “So I’ll see you next week?”

“Definitely. And… thanks, Dr. Picani.”

“Any time, Elena.”

…

“We can tell them. Should we tell them? We can tell them. I think. Wait…”

Thomas laughs as Joan stumbles through their thoughts about half an hour in to the livestream. He laughs even harder when he sees the chat blowing up with people asking Joan to just say it already. They’d decided to go back to Thomas’s apartment for the livestream, if only for sake of tradition. Not every livestream had been from this location, but Thomas wanted some of the normalcy back. And Joan, though they’d seemed puzzled, didn’t appear to mind.

“I’m good to tell them who it is,” Thomas says.

“Wait, who as in the…” Joan arches an eyebrow. “Or…” They tilt their head. Perhaps strangely enough, Thomas knows exactly what they’re asking.

He laughs again. “Real name, not the character name.”

“Yeah, okay. That’s what I was thinking.” Thomas and Joan both look back at the camera.

“It’s Valerie,” Thomas says. “The new character we’re introducing is played by my friend, Valerie. Some of you probably know her, since she’s been in… a good number of our videos. We got really lucky that the schedules worked out, since she’s auditioning in Orlando at the moment.”

“Yeah, she’s actually been in a lot,” Joan says. They start counting on their fingers. “Reasons to Smile.”

“On the Spot in the Spotlight,” Thomas supplies. “Which we’re still planning on bringing back.”

“The first Tongue Twisted.” Joan snaps their fingers and points at him. “She’s been in a few of your shorts videos, too.”

“I feel like we’re missing something.” Thomas glances at the chat and smiles at the people shouting SANDERS SIDES in all caps. “That’s right! Goodness gracious, she was in two of the Sanders Sides videos.” He shakes his head. “Sorry, guys. Guess I’m still a little out of it.”

He manages a small, apologetic smile. But a moment later, there’s a flood of messages in the chat telling him not to worry, asking if he’s feeling better, reminding him to rest and drink water… he feels a sharp twist of guilt. He tries not to linger on it.

“Let’s see… other questions….” He watches the chat closely, the knot in his stomach loosening slightly as the messages filter from well wishes to questions again. One of them makes him frown. “Someone’s asking if I’ve seen the Ekko videos?” He glances over his shoulder towards Joan. “I haven’t. Is that a new thing? I don’t know if I’ve heard of them.”

Joan looks suddenly uncomfortable. They shrug, but its awkward and forced. “Yeah. It was all anyone was talking about a couple days ago.”

Thomas hadn’t been checking social media over the past week. A part of him felt relieved that they’d at least moved on from trying to identify who “Spider-Man” was. “What are they?”

Joan gives him a quick look. “I’ll… tell you after the livestream.” Thomas couldn’t quite read their expression, but there was a warning look in their eyes that made him nod his agreement. Whatever it was, Joan didn’t want to talk about it with an audience. They wanted to change the subject.

At Thomas’s nod, Joan leans forward to read the scrolling chat feed until they find a different question. Thomas glances at the screen as well, and sees a few questions with “Spider-Man” in them—they go too fast for him to identify what exactly they’re asking—and feels himself tense. Joan doesn’t seem to even notice the questions.

“Here’s one,” they say after a brief pause. “Thomas, if you could be any kitchen appliance, what would you be?”

As the livestream continues, Thomas finds himself falling into old, comforting habits. He’d always had fun doing livestreams, especially ones with Joan. He appreciated their ability to be thoughtful and intellectual one moment and crack a joke that would make Thomas’s stomach hurt from laughing the next. A part of him feels like he appreciates it now more than ever. Joan is his best friend, and he can tell them anything.

Well… almost.

The idea of telling them about the recent… abilities Thomas had come to acquire made his stomach squirm and his heartbeat quicken. He couldn’t quite explain why. Joan would probably be skeptical—even Thomas hadn’t believed it at first—but the powers were something he could prove, a voice that sounded an awful lot like Logan reminded him. He’d been proving his abilities to himself all week, after all. Maybe he knew there was a chance that Joan would freak out and never talk to him again. They wouldn’t do that. The thought sounds like Patton.

Even so, something whispers safer to not tell them in the back of his mind, and Thomas can’t help but believe it.

“I gotta go soon,” Joan says. They look at Thomas. “Should we end with Mind Meld or something?”

Thomas pushes his bangs out of his eyes. He smiles. “Yeah, let’s do it.” Thomas pauses, thinking of his first word. “Okay. Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“3. 2. 1. Giant,” Thomas chimes at the same time that Joan says, “Apple.”

Thomas laughs. “Giant and apple?” He makes a face. “I don’t even know where to go with that.”

Joan grins in amusement, then thinks. “Okay. I think I have one. Super and apple.”

Thomas stares at them in uncertainty before he gets an idea. “Okay. I do too. It’s kinda weird, though.”

“3. 2. 1. Honeycrisp,” Joan says at the same time Thomas spits out, “New York.”

“I was thinking like, a giant apple. New York?” Joan laughs. It makes Thomas laugh too.

“I was thinking like, ‘giant as in ‘big’ and then—”

“And then you went to Big Apple,” Joan finishes. “Okay. I kind of get that. Honeycrisp and New York. Uh.”

Thomas’s eyes widen as he frantically tries to think of some sort of connection before one occurs to him. “Okay! I think I got one. It’s… broad-ish?”

“Broadish?” Joan starts laughing again. “That’s very helpful.”

“Okay, like,” Thomas waves a hand. “Kinda broad.”

Joan furrows their brow before shrugging. “What the heck. 3. 2. 1.”

Thomas says ‘vendor’ and Joan says ‘food’. It takes another round before they both eventually end up saying ‘restaurant’. Thomas grins when they finally get there. He looks back at the camera.

“Took us a minute but we got there! Thanks for sticking around, guys. This was a lot of fun. Super glad we had the chance to do this.” He glances at the chat, laughing at all the reactions of people playing along. In the midst of the messages—some of them now transitioning to sweet goodbyes—he sees one that catches his eye.

oof after that ekko vid I could use a new reasons to smile

Something uncomfortable sits in Thomas’s chest, but he flashes a quick smile at the camera. “Love you all! Bye!”

He stops the livestream and closes his laptop. Joan sits back in their chair, the spark of amusement from the game of mind meld fades out of their eyes. He’s reminded suddenly of the solemn, uncomfortable look Joan had given him when he’d asked during the livestream about whatever the ‘Ekko video’ was about.

“I saw that message. I know what you’re thinking,” Joan chimes in quietly after a moment. “It’s… not something you really wanna watch, dude. Trust me.”

“Why?”

Joan sighs and reaches for their water bottle. “It’s just… this thing that freaked everyone out. I don’t know how to explain it, but Talyn had nightmares after they watched it.” They take a drink. “I think it’s just someone trying to get some attention. The best thing to do is probably not to give it to them, y’know?”

Thomas nods absently as Joan pushes back from the table and heads towards the kitchen. Talyn didn’t really spook easily. They played horror games for fun in the dark alone. Thomas had never really been that kind of person. But he can’t deny that he’s curious. A part of him does want to know, if only out of a morbid kind of curiosity of what could have that kind of impact on his friends. Even though Joan had talked about Talyn’s reaction, it was clear to Thomas that it had bothered them too.

Dishes clatter in the sink as Joan sets the water bottle they’d borrowed from Thomas amongst the plates and bowls that Thomas hadn’t gotten around to cleaning yet. Neither of them said anything, letting the whir of the AC unit fill the uncomfortable silence between them. Something about it had gotten under Joan’s skin. Something they weren’t telling Thomas.

Thomas opens his mouth to ask them about it when Joan interrupts him suddenly. “I don’t know, man. It was weird and it felt like a warning of some sort. Maybe that’s why Talyn and I both felt a little paranoid after we watched it.” Their dark eyes flicker up to Thomas as they turn from the sink to look at him through the cut out opening above the counter into the living room. “I just don’t really want to dwell on it.”

Thomas caves and nods. “Okay.”

“But if you want to do another Reasons to Smile, that might be fun. A few people in the chat were suggesting it. Maybe that’d be a good idea.” They cross back into the living room and grabs their jacket from the back of the chair.

“Sure,” Thomas says, still a little lost in his thoughts. What could be so bad about that video? “Yeah, I’ll reach out to Camden and the team and whoever is in town to see if they might wanna join in. Maybe I can get Lee or Mary Lee to join this time.”

“Cool.” Joan stops after they’ve pulled their jacket on. Thomas can feel their gaze on him. “You okay?”

Thomas blinks and shakes his head to clear it. “Yeah. Just worried,” he says honestly. He offers a faint smile. “You and Talyn don’t usually get freaked out easily.”

Joan gives him a look. “We have anxiety,” they deadpan teasingly. Thomas huffs a laugh, even though it does little to expel the tightness in his chest. Joan sighs softly. “Really, Thomas. We’re okay.”

Thomas nods again. “Okay.”

“I gotta run,” Joan says, sounding faintly apologetic. “I’m gonna be late for my lesson.”

Thomas gives them a smile that he hopes is reassuring. “Go. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Joan closes the door behind them.

…

Thomas slips his phone into the back pocket of his jeans and cranes his neck up towards the night sky. It’s  little late to be posting the Sunday Shout-Out video, but he liked the nighttime. The parking lot is empty except for his car, and even though he knows he ought to just go home given the hour, a part of him wants to stay out just a little longer.

Thomas sighs and jumps up on the trunk of his car and sits. He fold his hands behind his head and leans back against the windshield, looking up at the stars. Most of them are drowned out by the streetlights that illuminate the lot, but Thomas doesn’t mind. A cool breeze plays with the ends of his hair. It’s calming.

Thomas sighs and closes his eyes.

“I really ought to insist that you go home before too much longer, Thomas.”

The internet personality smiles faintly at the sound of his Logical Side’s voice. He cracks an eye open to find Logan standing beside the car, his arms crossed over his chest and an eyebrow cocked. Thomas’s lips curl up in a faint smile.

“I know, Logan.”

“If you know, then why do you appear to be falling asleep in the middle of an abandoned parking lot?”

Thomas sits up. “I wasn’t falling asleep.”

Logan hums, seemingly unconvinced. “All the same. Optimal rest is necessary for you to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

“I know.” Thomas shakes his head a little, still smiling, and leans back again. “But this is nice.”

“This?” Thomas can hear the skepticism and confusion in Logan’s voice and tries not to laugh.

“Yes,” Thomas replies. He shifts over. “Take a seat. Try it out for yourself.”

There’s a brief pause, and Thomas isn’t sure whether or not Logan is going to take him up on the offer. Then Logan climbs up on the car, mirroring Thomas’s position beside him except for the folding his hands across his stomach rather than behind his head. Thomas smiles again. He’s a little surprised, although he supposes he shouldn’t be. Logan was the part of him that sought to learn, after all. And if Logan didn’t understand the appeal of something, he could usually be convinced to try it at least once.

“See?” Thomas says after a moment. “It’s nice.”

Logan doesn’t reply right away. “Perhaps.”

“The whole day was kind of nice, actually,” Thomas continues. He lets his eyes drift closed again. “It felt… normal.”

“Normal is a widely subjective term, Thomas.”

“Normal for me, I mean.” He takes in a deep breath of the night air. “Filming, livestreaming, hanging out with Joan. I think maybe I needed that. I needed a day to just be… normal again. Maybe not everything has to change, y’know?”

Logan doesn’t say anything. Thomas feels him shift beside him and he cracks an eye open. Logan is looking up at the sky. The streetlights reflect off the lens of his glasses. A short gust of wind tugs at the end of his stiped tie. There’s something in his expression that Thomas can’t quite read.

He doesn’t dwell on it. Thomas follows Logan’s gaze back up to the sky. “Do you remember,” Thomas asks, “when I was like, seven and wanted to be an astronaut?”

“Yes,” Logan replies. “I do remember that. It was an aspiration that lasted for nearly a full year.”

Thomas glances over at him. “Do you wish I still wanted that?”

Logan adjusts the frame of his glasses before folding his hands across his stomach again. “I don’t believe it’s that simple. I was more than content at your chosen field, Thomas, short-lived as your use of it may have been.”

“You’re talking about chemical engineering.”

“Indeed.” Logan is still looking up at the sky above them. “Although, such fields of study have many unexpected benefits. Perhaps it will prove useful yet.”

The corner of Thomas’s lips curls up in a faint smile. “Perhaps,” he says, echoing Logan from a moment ago. A comfortable silence settles between them. For all the times that Logan and Thomas had been at odds with each other, he’d never doubted that Logan was doing his best to look out for him, just like all of them always did. Most of the time, Thomas found Logan’s company a quiet kind of grounding. Calming. Tonight was no exception to that.

Thomas listens to the crickets and sound of distant car tires rolling on pavement for a long moment. His eyes drift shut again.

“You are getting tired,” Logan says softly, moments before Thomas was about to fall asleep. “I really must insist that you go home to ensure your safety.”

Thomas blinks his eyes open and sits up. He scrubs a hand across his eyes, bangs falling across his face in the process, and smiles tiredly at Logan as the Logical Side sits up beside him.

“You got it, Logan.” He pauses, the smile a little. “And… thanks.”

…

[aeon-wolf]

Legends 4x16 - Finale

That was much better than I expected. 

Granted my expectations were pretty low, but I think the finale was actually one of the better episodes they’ve had this season. It finally tied together most of the strings of what’s been going on in season 4b, gave us some really nice bits for S5 to look forward to, and was entertaining to boot. 

- I still really don’t like that it isn’t until literally the last episode that we find out the ultimate endgame, but it is what it is. I’ve been complaining about that since 4b began. No need to beat a dead horse. That said, I think the idea of opening a portal to hell would have been an interesting concept for S5. However, I really think they didn’t do a really good job on the magical creature stuff for S4 so I’m glad to see it seems like they’re going to keep some of the elements that did work (Charlie, Mona, Nora, etc) and go back to normal anachronisms. More on that later. 

- I loved seeing Sara back in the White Canary outfit, as well as getting a few fights in there. I hope we see more action stuff from Sara in S5. Also, the gang in the Arrowverse trinity suits was amazing. Sara as Supergirl, I’d watch an entire show about that concept. 

- Nora and John saving Ray was interesting, as well as the whole Astra thing. I kind of hope she’s at least 4a (or however they’re breaking S5 up since they’re holding Legends back until after the crossover), as the big bad. Would be cool to see her again. Maybe find out a bit more about her history with John (as I’m assuming he’s sticking around for S5). Also, fucking shoutout to whoever’s idea it was to cameo Vandal Savage lmao. Even though I think S1 was the worst Legends season, it was awesome to see him back and them kinda wander into Ray/Kendra territory and Nora being like WHAT. 

- To be honest, it almost seemed like Tabitha was pulling all the strings. Like opening a portal to hell was made possible because of her. Neron seemed to kind of be just the demon who could control all the others perhaps. He didn’t really seem to have a really active role beyond doing what Tabitha told him to. Don’t know if that was just me. Glad the dragon ate her. 

- Speaking of the dragon (Wixty?)... Zari!!!!! I’m sure she’ll be back for S5, I have a hard time believing that they’re going to replace her with Behrad just out of the blue. Obviously, it’ll just be a question of in what capacity. She still exists as Behrad’s older sister, but I wonder if they’re going to wipe her slate clean and redevelop her, or if they will find a way to restore her to her previous state. I’m leaning towards the latter, but this is Legends, who knows really. 

- Not a huge fan of Steelhacker for reasons I’ve stated before, but honestly I don’t mind it as much as everyone else. They’re cute. My straight ship on the show is still Ray/Nora. 

- I loved that Charlie was the one to really rally everyone together. Her and Mona. I hope that we get more development for Charlie in S5. She really is an interesting character and would love to see her more. 

- No real Avalance stuff, but I’m not surprised about that really. It’s a shame that Steelhacker and Darhkatom got their moments but not Avalance. I just hope we get compensated for the lack of Avalance for the next year basically, in S5. 

- Again, I’m glad they’re seeming to go back to normal anachronisms. I think the idea of mixing Legends and magic is interesting on paper, but they really didn’t do a great execution job this season. As I said, it seems like they’re keeping some of the core characters to that storyline, and may throw in a bit of magic here or there, but with Astra basically releasing all these bad guys from their coins and releasing them back to Earth, that’s just a callback to the OG S1/S2 Legends and I’m here for that. Though, I was kind of surprised she had to cash in those souls, because she said earlier in the episode that once the demon that holds the souls is “dead” that they all get released from their coins. And that’s what I thought S5′s plot was going to be. But I’m equally as okay with what I think they’re going to do for S5. 

- I think it’s generally going to be a two or three pronged season. It’ll be the Zari storyline with Behrad and however they decide to do that, the new Astra/soul coin storyline and possibly a third aspect I’m missing, probably whatever the endgame will be, which I doubt there’s really been much hinted about. 

- The Monitor’s appearance in Legends was small, especially considering his appearance in Arrow and Supergirl. I haven’t seen Elseworlds and Crisis on Infinite Earths is going to drastically change the Arrowverse with Oliver’s death and basically the reset of the Arrowverse as a whole. I do wonder if that major plot point will be a big thing in Legends, as they’ve largely existed outside of the major Arrowverse, on some level, it feels like even more than Supergirl, even though that show is on an alternate Earth. The Legends exist on the timeline of Earth 1, but I feel they’re a lot more disjointed from it. It’s probably because they weren’t in Elseworlds (shoutout to that joke about the Arrowverse trinity taking a hard pass on the commercial and Nate was like “We should have done the crossover.). So I don’t really have a good sense on how impactful Crisis will be on Legends. I’m sure there will be an impact of some kind but whether it’s big or small, or what impact it will have on what characters is something I can’t even think about right now. 

Anyway, I’m sad the season is over, but I think S4 has been rough overall (though I don’t think it was a “S4 curse” bad) and I’m looking forward to S5. It looks to be harkening back to old Legends, whilst keeping some of the elements of S3/S4 that did work well. And I’m hoping that the writers will be able to execute it better. As well as working in Crisis into the mix. That all should prove to be an interesting run. 

And now that Legends is over for the TV season, my blog will now probably be 80% women’s soccer and 20% fandom stuff. So stay tuned. 

[five-wow]

my (as always very elaborate) thoughts on 9.16 are under the cut! ✨

mermaids!!! i knew they were coming, but i have to make the (for people in roughly my age group) obvious joke: am i watching h50 or h2o? [cue recorded audience laughter]

oh god, the sudden bleeding? that’s very dramatic in the water, and i like the visuals of that a lot (in a “oh no that’d be horrifying in reality but is a really cool idea in fiction” way)

adam is moving house and i like that they’re showing that! i also appreciate the way he’s doing it all on his own and making kind of a mess of it, aw, but to be honest, i was just kind of watching him putter around and appreciating the props department for getting him all that stuff to unpack, and then suddenly, boom, KONO. in a picture, but still, it’s so good to see her face on this show again!! (even if it’s in a sad, adam-needs-to-let-go-of-his-past context which would not necessarily be my first choice)

okay. OKAY. this may be the point at which i have to admit that i never cared for adam overly much. i don’t dislike him, not at all, but i’ve been a little confused about his character at times and i didn’t necessarily want him to stick around after kono left, so i’m a little wary, still - which i’m mostly just saying because this, this right now, adam bringing a homeless guy sandwiches and respectfully learning sign language from him and earnestly asking about things going on in this man’s life? that kind of makes me love adam a bit, holy shit. THIS is what i want from his character, not all the weird yakuza subplots where he somehow always still has strong ties to criminals and new deep secrets despite supposedly completely having left that life behind half a decade ago

tani loves mermaids!!! i love that tani loves mermaids!!! it’s so fun seeing her be all excited and gushy to danny

danny: [some statistics about women using poison as a murder weapon] noelani: “for the record, we’re just as capable of using a gun or a knife.” tani: “ha haa! my sister!” LOVE THIS. GIVE ME MORE OF THIS.

a pyramid scheme! they’re dipping into a lot of relevant topics this season.

fjdkfdjk adam brings the homeless guy (do we know his name yet? i missed it oops) the purple elephant that the man wanted for his granddaughter and then adam hands him another bag and he goes “i get an elephant too??” and i laughed so hard, omg. that is ridiculously cute!!

IT’S CLOTHES. AND ADAM WANTS TO GIVE HIM A HAIRCUT. I’M CRYING. which isn’t even an exaggeration, i’m literally tearing up. i’m weak for this, why haven’t they always been doing this with adam’s character

tani and junior!!! i love basically anything that’s tani and junior, is what i’m growing to realize, because they, too, are SO CUTE

junior: “a little birdie did tell me this morning that you were pretty jealous at the mermaid camp.” tani: “um, did this birdie have a blond pompadour and talk with his hands?” things i adore about this: a) tani and junior being cute, obviously, b) “a little birdie”, c) “BLOND POMPADOUR”, and d) the implication that danny immediately told junior about tani’s enthusiasm (which sounds like some low key matchmaking to me, tbh)

tani’s story about her dad??? junior’s EYES when he watches her??? i keep being surprised over and over by how much i love them together even though i should definitely know that by now because it’s been this way pretty much from the start

danny’s phone starts ringing and it looks like he doesn’t even look at the screen before putting it to his ear and going “yes, steve”

kamekona’s story? i’m crying. again.

ALSO, i’m really happy that kamekona is bringing that up, actually: it’s good that adam wants to help his friend, but he can’t decide for the guy that it’s time to make a big step like mending bridges with his family. a helping hand is good, it’s amazing even, but the actual decision to change needs to come from the person in question, and as a friend you need to let this person make that decision on their own.

kamekona: “sometimes you have to ask yourself if you’re doing this for him, or for yourself.” i LOVE it when kamekona drops some serious knowledge. he’s so often a comic relief character, but he’s been through some shit and he knows his stuff, and seeing him dole out wisdom like this? always a gift.

adam talks to his friend (al? hal? he used a name but i’m still not sure what it is exactly) and this episode, god, it’s hellbent on getting me to reach for a tissue every other scene.

the look between danny and steve when danny says some smartass thing about steve’s dog? fjdfdjk. that’s all.

shooting suspects dead on sight is coming back to bite them in the ass! this guy knew something they kind of needed to know too, so, uh, oops.

THEY PUT THE DEAD GUY IN THE PASSENGER SEAT WITH A HAT AND SUNGLASSES. they full on weekend at bernie’s’d this guy, I’M YELLING

danny with the kids!!! he’s so soft around kids and it makes my heart feel soft, too

depressing sidenote, though: this woman’s husband was shot through the head by the Bad Guys, right? and she’s going to prison for murder and other illegal activities, which means she’ll probably be there a while? the relief for these kids will be very short-lived, fuck.

team dinner at adam’s! good stuff

adam gets up and says “you guys all know what i’ve been through this past year” and we get a looong shot of danny’s face. is it very bitter of me if in the context of where recent episodes seem to be headed, i kind of hope he’s thinking about how horrible divorces are and how wrecked he was when he went through that with rachel and how it might mean they weren’t meant to be?

adam: “and then- just when i thought i lost my whole family, i looked up and- and you were all there.” oh SHIT. this episode is giving me adam feels like i never even thought was POSSIBLE. (also: ohana feels. that’s a smart play when it comes to hitting me right in the heart.)

HAL’S GRANDDAUGTHER. FEELS.

also: here’s the bit in the background with steve biting (licking?) danny’s arm or hand, omfg. blurry but beautiful. blurrtiful. (did i just reference my own fic? yes, i did.)

so i’ve said a couple of times already that i was crying. i’m going to have to say it now AGAIN because TANI’S FREAKOUT when she realizes what junior is giving her? MY HEART. FUCK. i don’t know if it’s just one of those days for me or if this is a normal reaction to this episode, but people freaking out with happiness? TANI, who i love, freaking out with happiness? YES. THAT WILL GET ME TO CRY.

JUNIOR, by the way. JUNIOR IS SO SWEET. junior and tani are i-need-a-dentist-now levels of cute together, but i also need to give junior his own shoutout here, because this is just him being thoughtful and nice and i love him a lot for it.

junior: “when you do cross me, i am blasting this thing on social media. i just have to join it first.” OH SWEETHEART

tani gets to swim with her mermaid tail! tani has her mermaid experience! tani is fucking ecstatic and i’m so happy for her!!!

last thoughts: while i like the entire cast a lot, i won’t deny that usually danny and steve are the main reason i watch, so, for an episode that had relatively little danny or steve in it and almost no danny&steve at all, it’s awesome how this still managed to COMPLETELY get me on board for the whole thing. i enjoyed this SO MUCH, gosh. i ship junior/tani harder than ever, i unexpectedly cried a lot and i have a whole new appreciation for adam! many good things!!! i’m so happy, yay

[jq37]

omg hot takes on the recent ep bc?? that was. a LOT

**spoilers for the sisterly showdown**

I just got home from my office’s crazy holiday party so I am going to toss out a quick and dirty list of highlights for tonight and a do more detailed post between tomorrow and Friday, cool?

This episode was really about one girl’s quest to punch her sister. Like, the amount of times Siobhan said, “I guess I have no choice but to [Thing Adaine Almost Definitely Shouldn’t Try to Do],” because Adaine was just in a blind rage was hysterical.

Besides Gorgug’s SICK double crit and Fabian’s crit after almost dying (classic Fabian), everyone was rolling like trash today and it was SO FRUSTRATING. Every time Aelwyn would get away I was just like HIT HER (as if they weren’t trying). 

Gorgug Superman jumping everywhere.  

“You might be your own dad.” Bud. No.

I think the fact that Aelwyn thought that Fabian was plausibly DTF, on a roof, surrounded by people, in the middle of a fight says a lot about her.

Almost every time Adaine mentioned Aelwyn this episode it was, “My bitch of a sister,” or some variation thereof.

How does she cast her spells?/Like a bitch.

I am very proud of the group getting though the fight with no (permanent) casualties because it really could have been corn cuties round two if they hadn’t learned from their mistakes and leveled up a bunch.

The Hangman just loving Fabian being on fire.

Also that there were long periods of time that certain characters were just casually on fire. 

“Siobhan's character goes into the ethereal plane and Murph’s character goes into the toilet.”

Oh, before I forget, the house set for the fight was awesome and the reaction from the cast was warranted. 

I didn’t realize the cheerleaders were elementals last ep. 

Ally OOC talking about how it would have been weird having a sister irl growing up and the girls at the table being like, “MMM I don’t think that works how you think it works.”

I knew Brennan must have studied philosophy or something! Also, lol at him running out of philosophers and going for a JFK quote by accident.

The parts of this fight that were just Adaine and Aelwyn behaving as if one had stolen the others boyfriend and not like they were in a fight, possibly to the death (ie: middle fingers, the fuck you’s, the I’m gonna tell on you so hard). *Chef kiss*

Shoutout to Murph for talking down Emily from almost definitely getting herself killed. You can really tell she always wants to be taking swings, even if she misses rather than doing nothing. I’m so pumped her suggestion spell finally worked!

“Falling down” was a tag for this episode. Not wrong though. 

I just checked and in the description, they spelled Adaine’s sister’s name Aelwen but it’s almost midnight, I can’t change it now. I’m not learning a third spelling today. I refuse. 

The time stop element of the fight was really interesting. I was really curious about how all the Hudol students being there was going to play in. 

As boss as it would have been for Adaine to have dominated the fight (or for Riz to have just straight up shot her), it was extremely fitting that Adaine got her back with the same spell from episode 1, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter a freaking level 1 spell. And in front of all her fancy friends. And, speaking of...

“Adaine Abernant. How do you do?” With that shit eating grin. You know she’s been waiting her entire freaking life for that win. 

I still have a bunch to say, especially all the forward looking stuff (which I am very amped for), but I’m going to save that for tomorrow/the other ask I got today so see you then!

[cheesygrayson-blog]

Web Gem (Ethan)

ok so this is really short and not that good (I feel like I’ve said those words before lmao) but I figured I should write a little somthin about Ethan even though it’s harder for me to write about him lol whoops

Summary: When you attend your nephew’s little league game, you end up with a web gem of your own

Warnings: none really, baseball things, mediocre writing

Word Count: 1,660

Quick shoutout to @bouttogolinkurbitch for helping me out with this and also big shoutout to @succulentpancakes for helping me with this and my last imagine that I forgot to tag her in sorry ily

"Way to go, Reid!" you yelled as your nine year old nephew sprinted down the first base line after hitting a ground ball past the opposing second baseman. Your sister had been trying to get you to come to one of his games since the season started, so you could scope out all the "hot single dads," as she said. She'd been trying to set you up with someone ever since she met her husband, for reasons that were unknown to you.

The inning ended after the next batter struck out, and your nephew's team wasted no time in getting in to their field positions. Reid was covering third base, and the first time the opposing batter made contact, it was grounded right to him. You watched with a smile as he scooped the ball up and threw it across the field to the first baseman, who made the catch and got the out.

"Good play, Reid!" you shouted.

"Is he yours?" a voice asked beside you, causing you to jump, as you hadn't even noticed anyone walk up to you while you stood against the fence.

"Oh!" you put a hand on your chest in surprise, looking over to see a dark haired man with a strong jawline and well defined arms. "You scared me," you laughed.

"Sorry," he chuckled, causing a dimple to form on his cheek.

"Anyway," you shook your head at yourself before answering his question. "No, he's my nephew. How about you? Which one is yours?"

"That one is my nephew," he said, pointing to the field, leaving you with no indication of who he was talking about.

"Which one?"

"Uh, the one between third base and second base."

"So, the short stop?" you asked, trying not to laugh at his lack of knowledge.

"Yeah," he answered. "Sorry, I don't know the names of all the positions."

"It's fine," you said as you turned your attention back to the game.

"I'm Ethan," he said after a few seconds of silence.

"(Y/N)," you said, extending your hand for him to shake.

"So do you come to these games often?" Ethan asked.

"No, this is the first one I've gotten to this year. I should come more often though, I love baseball and my nephew," you rambled.

"This is my first one, too."

You nodded in response, not having anything else to add. The inning went by fairly easily for your nephew's team, both of the next batters striking out. The next batter for Reid's team was a kid you didn't recognize, obviously, as you only knew him.

"Alright Eddie, you got this!" Ethan yelled next to you as he clapped his hands, letting you know that the kid was his nephew.

Eddie ended up striking out looking, to which Ethan obviously disagreed.

"How was that a strike?" he asked incredulously.

"Uh, because it was?" you replied, not really knowing what his argument was. It had been a good pitch, right down the middle of the zone.

"But he didn't even swing," Ethan said, still not understanding.

"He doesn't have to swing for it to be a strike," you explained, trying to hold back another laugh. "If it's in the zone, it's a strike."

"Oh, I thought they had to swing and miss for it to be a strike," Ethan looked down at his feet and ran a hand through his hair, obviously a little embarrassed.

"No," you could help but let out a small laugh. "If that was the case, no one would ever swing, they'd just constantly be walking in runs."

"I guess that makes sense," he chuckled. "I really don't know anything about baseball, I'm more of a football guy."

"Ew," you said, scrunching up your face in disgust.

Ethan let out a genuine laugh at your reaction. "Great, did I just ruin all my chances?"

You willed yourself not to blush when he implied that he wanted a chance with you. "Oh honey, you ruined your chances when you didn't know what a short stop was," you joked.

The rest of the game went by quickly, and no one was keeping score, so you had no idea who won, which was fine. You and Ethan engaged in light conversation throughout the game. You learned that Eddie was his sister's son, and she was unable to attend because her other son had soccer practice, which was oh so convenient considering your sister had to leave the game early to take her oldest to what was probably the same soccer practice. So, you were left responsible for your nephew, and Ethan for his.

"Auntie (Y/N)!" Reid called to you as he made his way over with Eddie.

"Hey buddy," you said, pulling him in to a side hug. "Good game."

"Yeah, good game Eddie," Ethan said, ruffling his nephew's hair.

"Thanks, Uncle Ethan."

"How about we go out for some ice cream?" Ethan suggested to his nephew.

"Can Reid come?" Eddie asked hopefully.

"He'll have to ask his aunt," Ethan said, giving you a small smile.

"Can we, Auntie (Y/N)?" Reid asked with a hopeful look on his face.

"I don't see why not," you said, causing both boys to cheer. You laughed at their reaction before turning to Ethan.

"Meet you there?" you asked.

"Sure, see you in a few," he said, putting an arm around his nephew and guiding him to a sleek black BMW.

The drive to the ice cream shop was short, and you pulled in just behind Ethan. The two younger boys jumped out of their respective cars as soon as they stopped moving and ran in to the store, eager to get their treats. You and Ethan trailed behind them and entered the store to see the boys gazing at all the tubs of ice cream behind the glass divider.

"Are you getting anything?" Ethan asked you.

"I don't know," you said, pulling your wallet out of your purse to see how much cash you had.

"My treat," Ethan said before you could even open your wallet.

"Oh, no, I can't let you do that," you said, shaking your head.

"Why not?" he asked, walking up to the counter.

"I'll have a scoop of mint chip, and whatever the boys want and whatever she wants," Ethan said to the girl working behind the counter.

"Ethan," you started, but he cut you off before you could scold him.

"Too late," he said with a shrug. "I already told her I was paying, so you don't have a choice now," he said, trying not to smile at your disapproving expression.

"Fine," you rolled your eyes and smiled. "I'll have a scoop of rocky road."

Once you all had your orders, you went outside to sit at the picnic table in front of the shop. You and Ethan sat next to each other across from the boys, who were talking animatedly about the game. You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, but your hands were sticky due to the melting ice cream you were holding.

"Oh, shoot," you muttered, debating on whether you wanted to lick the ice cream off your fingers or not.

"What?" Ethan asked.

"Oh, nothing," you shook your head, indicating it was no big deal. "I have a text but I have ice cream all over my hands."

"I'll go get you a napkin," Ethan got up from his seat and disappeared into the shop before you could even respond. He returned a few seconds later with a stack of napkins in his hand.

"Thanks," you said when he handed you one. "You're a better catch than the number one web gem on Baseball Tonight," you joked as you wiped your hands.

"What's a web gem?" Ethan asked.

You sighed and teasingly shook your head, feigning disappointment. "Oh dear, you have so much to learn."

"Maybe you could educate me over dinner sometime," he said with a raised brow and a small smile.

"Hmm," you hummed, tapping your chin in contemplation. "Well, I do like eating, and schooling people about baseball. I guess I could do that."

"Cool," he replied, trying to contain his grin. "Can I give you my number?"

"Sure," you dug in your pocket, remembering that you had a text waiting for you. You unlocked your phone and opened your messaging app before handing it over to Ethan so he could enter his information.

From: Sister I saw you talking to Cameron's brother, I told you that you should come to a game to meet guys

You rolled your eyes and exited the app, opening a blank contact and handing your phone over to Ethan. He typed his number in and sent himself a text before handing the phone back to you.

"So, not to sound too eager or anything, but does tomorrow night work for you?" Ethan asked hopefully.

"Yeah, that works for me," you shrugged, trying to act casual, when in reality your stomach was doing acrobatics and your heart was beating a million miles a minute.

"Awesome," he smiled. "So, I'll see you tomorrow then. Around eight?"

"Sounds good."

You all got back in to your cars, and as soon as you dropped Reid off with your brother in law you finally texted your sister back.

To: Sister Well, you will be pleased to hear that I'm going out with him tomorrow night

You didn't even have time to put your car in drive before your phone vibrated again with a new text from your sister.

From: Sister Yes! I can't wait to tell Cameron that our plan worked ;)

You gasped, even though you kind of knew in the back of your mind that your sister had something to do with you just so happening to meet a guy at the one little league game you'd attended. You typed out a quick text before locking your phone and driving back to your house.

To: Sister I knew it.

[i-am-very-very-tired]

I just spent Christmas away from my family in Virginia for the first time.

I had recently returned from teaching a Mental Health First Aid class for staff at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital and escaping New York’s oppressively cold weather for a few days. I was still exhausted when Christmas Eve—when I’d typically go home—rolled around, so when asked about my travel plans, I told my parents that I was “going to stay put this time” but that I would come home soon. “One of these weeks coming up,” I told them. To feel less crappy about it.

Outstream Video

00:0000:00

“It’s just another day. No big deal,” my dad reasoned.

We don’t make a grand extravaganza out of Christmas now that everyone’s grown. Eating dinner with my grandma and whoever else shows up is the highlight. I reconnect with friends still living in Hampton or in town visiting their families. My nieces are both in college now, and marveling at their growth and being within a few feet of a refrigerator filled with love and perhaps my grandma’s empanadas or fried rice is a wonderful way to stock up on thug motivation and recharge while away from New Yorkland.

I first realized that I had been isolating myself more, treating myself like trash and feeling spiritually ashy in the weeks leading up to Wine and Words, our first event for GetSomeJoy in mid-November. I wasn’t sleeping enough, was often tag-teamed by anxiety and self-loathing, and sought joy and short-lived stress relief by eating awfully and fucking people I probably wouldn’t have fucked if I had a better opinion of myself. Too often, I’d realize after a day of plotting, writing, appointments and zooming around town that I was just eating my first actual meal of the day at 9 or 10 p.m.

And as it began to get dark at 3 p.m., given the choice between a nappity nap and social engagement, nine times out of 10: “I reckon I’ll see you at the next function.”

Though my team and I were excited to be creating a welcoming space for black and brown folks to discuss mental and emotional wellness, and I was sharing my baby with the world, I couldn’t stop thinking about death, dying, or how unworthy of love and good things I felt. Sometimes it was a fleeting thought about a snapping elevator cable or how I’d begin a final letter to some friend.

Other times, I was certain that the approaching bus was about to jump the curb and end it for me. Or I hoped that it would. I thought about how, as someone who’s been excited about raising a squad of brilliant little winners for a while now, fatherhood has become increasingly difficult to envision. Shoutout to fear over leaving those brilliant winners fatherless.

I occasionally debated at length with myself about which method of ending my life would be the least traumatizing for everyone else.

Things were all right on the surface.

Jay and I did some cool interviews for the Extraordinary Negroes, I spoke on some panels, was sexing it up as needed after a 367-day hiatus and managed to publish some nonterrible things. Our Wine and Words event was a success. I shared a new piece; Mario led a group meditation moment; folks came from as far away as Connecticut and Washington, D.C., to drink wine and talk about feelings. It was a beautiful night.

Meanwhile, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel for any piece of motivation I could find to keep the party going. I consulted and added to my “Reasons to Live” list as necessary.

When the temperatures dropped and the fog crept in, I tried to stay hyped about the book I need to write and discuss with Oprah. The great things I’ve yet to do with the Extraordinary Negroes and GetSomeJoy. The fact that I’ve yet to eat chicken with Janet or behold the glory of Trevante Rhodes with my own eyes.

I keep telling myself, “Mom and dad have so many things to deal with right now. They don’t need another thing.”

And that if my mom can battle lupus for 40 years, be a beacon of joy and press on as it slowly robs her of her mobility and fully functioning organs, then I should be able to pull it the fuck together and push forward.

And that I’ve yet to meet my goal of paying most of their bills.

And that it’s selfish to even be considering ending my life and abandoning my family while so much shit is happening at home.

And then I think about how wack it would be for them to get that call or that police visit, and so far, that has reeled me back in from the edge every time.

And on we go.

While I was home for Thanksgiving, my mom, grandmother, sister, nieces and I went to up yonder to Aquia in Northern Virginia to see my uncle, aunt and favorite cousins. My nieces rode with my sister. I drove my mom and grandma, who slept most of the way.

I spent most of the two-and-a-half-hour ride either fighting tears or crying in silence, blaming sniffling on a brewing cold, discreetly wiping my face while dragging myself through the mud for dwelling in the darkness. For not being strong and sane enough to traverse this damn valley more gracefully. For not wanting to be here sometimes. Because I felt like I’d be betraying them and everybody else.

And for the weight my actions would add to an already backbreakingly heavy load.

So I didn’t go home for Christmas because I didn’t want to go through that again. I couldn’t muster the energy to do the tap dance in person.

Instead, I spent the day overeating and watching Will Smith’s baffling Brightand Dee Rees’ aggressively saddening and maddening Mudbound on the couch with my friend Michael at his place in the Bronx, N.Y. As usual, my family congregated to cook and eat together back in Hampton. I smiled and sighed through the phone as they enjoyed, among other things, two of my favorites: my mom’s macaroni and cheese and my grandma’s lasagna. Hearing my jealousy-coated surprise at missing two dishes I don’t think we’ve ever eaten together, my grandma laughed into the speakerphone, “That’s what you get when you don’t come home.”

It’s easier to talk about the darkness with my therapist than it is with my family. Nothing I say shakes her, and I’m not emotionally invested in her opinion of me. I didn’t struggle to tell her that a scene involving suicide and letters left for loved ones in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri led to me sobbing like a motherfucker at Michael’s place because I’ve recently considered those moments and wasn’t ready to go back down that road. Or that the day before our session, when I found a book excerpt discussing gun-involved suicides while researching content for Mental Health Monday, for the first time, I envisioned myself sitting on my bed working up the nerve to pull the trigger.

Being open about the rough patches I had since our last session a month prior helped with the shame around missing Christmas for feeling so shitty.

She also helped me realize that, as morbid as it sounds, postponing any plans to take any irreversible actions because of something I’m looking forward to—or for any reason—is a good thing. A good coping mechanism that, if nothing else, keeps me here.

Since I know I’m prone to self-isolating while it’s racistly frigid out here, I’ve been setting up regular co-working sessions and writerly dates. And I finally got back in ballet after 10 months of tripping.

Though it wasn’t an easy conversation, I sucked it up and shared the depths of my struggles with my parents before publishing this. I shed thug tears but felt relieved to not be carrying the load alone. I had silenced myself in an attempt to spare them of worry, but as expected, they assured me that they’d rather know about the darkness and the ugliness than not know anything at all (and be forced to let their imaginations run wild). I can understand that. Gotta break my family’s cycle of minimizing unpleasant things to “protect” one another.

They were understanding, supportive and levelheaded. I had my moment, we talked for a while, and my mom reminded me of how far I’ve come and of the awesome things I’ve been able to accomplish and the people I’ve been able to reach in spite of what I’ve been going through, particularly in light of some recent great news I can’t wait to share about GetSomeJoy. My dad told me, “Squeeze every bit of joy you can out of each day.”

And on we go.

[babyshawwn]

Recommend me some blogs?

Omg, I never mention all the people I want to and I always feel so bad about it, so please, bare with me. Here’s just a quick ramble of the people I talk with the most. 

@illuminateshawn my best friend and the sister I never had but always wanted. She posts vids and pics and I’m her biggest fan and you need to follow her because I say so. I love this one more than I love Shawn and that says a lot. 

@illumendes the sexiest ass in town and I love her and her ass very much though she’s kinda a bitch but she’s my main bitch and my fave bitch so it’s ok i love her very much! No but really, I love you it’s a joke. You’re the best sis 

@shit-to-kinda-okay is literally a fucking ray of sunshine and if i had the next 12 hours to talk about her I would, but I kinda got things to do. She’s such a pure heart and soul and I just love her with all my being and so will you and you won’t even notice you’re being sucked in. ALSO HER VIDS MAKE ME SOB 

@saysweartogod EMILY IS A FUCKING BITCH FOR BREAKING MY HEART AND LEAVING ME but she’s also like the prettiest, sweetest and most supporting little thing I know and I hate to admit the fact that I love her the most and she’s like my guilty pleasure without the guilty really (i stalk ya and i’m proud) and she just deserves hugs and candy and i love this one very much i can barely breathe. 

@shawnzayn MAKES THE BEST FUCKING EDITS IN THE WORLD AND I AM HER BIGGEST FAN DON’T FIGHT ME ON THIS. ALSO SHE’S SO SWEET MY HEART CAN’T DEAL

@starrynightshawn I CRY WHEN I SEE HER PRETTY FACE JUST THOUGHT YOU ALL SHOULD KNOW BECAUSE IT’S KILLING ME

@thesmutofthemendes I’m a fan, like I’m such a fan and she’s so cool and I’ll never be that cool but she rocks and I’m here for this and for her. 

But my heart also really love and cares for @shawnsleo @takeiteasyonmyheart (i miss you hon) @shawmato @mentally-in-canada @lifeofasurvivor @illuminatedshawn @latteshawn @ximperfectxx because they’re all super love and sweet and I love seeing them on my dash

Also shoutout to all the amazing people I haven’t been able to post, because honestly I care so much for every single one slipping into my messages and my asks and I’m such a stan for them. Check out the people I follow, because the rest of the awesome blogs are in there and I just always feel so bad for not being able to write down every single blog and I always feel like I forget like 204 blogs that I adore and talk to so much too…. 

[caswatchesoveryou]

Supernatural Survey ❤️

i was tagged by @rosewhipped22 thank you! ^u^ ❤️❤️❤️

1. What season did you start watching Supernatural?

i saw it from time to time on tv by accident but i didn’t really got hooked at that time because i was too young to really understand it and pay attention to this amazing show! only when my older cousin told me years later that i have to watch this show and gave me all her dvds, i fell into the pit of this crazy, wonderful, beautiful show and fandom..❤️

2. Who was the first character you fell in love with?

Cas..❤️ i saw pictures of him here and there and i couldn’t wait to finally see him coming through that barn door..❤️ i guess i always had a thing for angels but Cas is something very special..how can you not fall in love with those beautiful blue eyes that look so kind and forgiving..? this crazy dark hair, the stubble, soft lips, cheek bones, trenchcoat just EVERYTHING! WINGS! THOSE STUPID TENDER AND beAUTIFuL HANDS! *sigh* i just wanted to hug him forever..❤️ also i was surprised how deep Misha’s real voice is because at first i watched all seasons that i could get in german until i didn’t want to wait another year before the other seasons finally came to us.. =A= and yeah, his german voice is much higher and i was like:”huh wow..his voice is so deep.. D:” long story short: Misha is just so damn beautiful in every way and so is Cas..❤️

3. Who was a character that you hated at first but grew to love?: 

hmm..maybe Metatron? i know he killed Dean, stole Cas’ grace and did many horrible things. but he was an interesting character and in the end helped to save the world. or Mick Davies, didn’t know if i could trust him but in his last episode i really started to like him but then.. dead.. :’<

4. Which character would you most want to be in a long-term relationship with? welp..it’s Cas.. it’s always Cas..❤️ i could listen to his stories for hours and discover life and earth with him all over again..❤️

5. If you could go on a date with just one character, which one would you choose?: Cas..❤️

6. What would you do on that date? maybe just a relaxed picnic at a little river and talking about anything.. = u = and cuddling..❤️

7. Which character would you most want to be like?: hmm..maybe Gabe? he can do just anything and i could prank people who deserve it °^° and just do what i want = u =

8. Which character would you most want to see brought back from the dead?: if it has to be only one then Gabe ❤️ i miss him.. :<

9. Which character would you most like to punch?: i guess Lucifer for killing Cas again and Arthur Ketch for killing Eileen and Mick.. :<

10. Who is your absolute favorite character?: Cas..❤️

11. Which “Big Bad” do you think was the worst?: Lucifer

12. Which character are you most like?: i dunno..i’m extremely shy and also very childish D: there’s no shy/awkward character in spn xD

13. What death hit you the hardest? i think Jo and Ellen..i cried so hard the first time because it was so damn sad and i really liked Jo.. :’< and Cas of course..i was sure that he would come back if he dies but it still hit me so hard and it hurt very, very bad.. :’<<< i cried later when i drew something about it T^T

14. What season finale hit you the hardest?: i dunno..every finale hits me ‘°^°’

15. What are your ten all-time favorite episodes?: umm.. the french mistake, tall tales, changing channels, plucky pennywhistle’s magical menagerie, lazarus rising, free to be you and me, what’s up tiger mommy?, goodbye stranger, heaven can’t wait, stuck in the middle (with you), etc..every castiel/destiel episode is my fave..❤️ no wait, “don’t call me shurley” is also one of my top faves ❤️

16. What’s been your favorite season?: i don’t have a fave °3°

17. Who is your favorite angel? Cas..❤️

18. Who is your favorite demon? Crowley :’<

19. Who’s your favorite evil character? Crowley again.. :’<

20. Do you have any Supernatural ships?: i like Jo and Dean but destiel definitely stole my heart forever..❤️

21. Who’s your favorite supporting actor?: i can’t i love them all..❤️

22. What’s your favorite quote from the show?:

Castiel: No, you listen to me. You -- Look, thank you. Thank you. Knowing you, it... it's been the best part of my life. And the things that... the things we've shared together, they have changed me. You're my family. I love you. I love all of you. Just please... please, don't make my last moments be spent watching you die. Just run. Save yourselves. And I will hold Ramiel off as long as I can. *sobs in a corner*

23. If you could cast one famous actor in an episode of SPN, who would you choose? Sarah Michelle Gellar ❤️ i would LOVE a spn/buffy crossover!!! >3< ❤️❤️❤️

24. If you could write your own episode, what kind of creatures would you like to see included?: mmh..oh i know! Elves! i always loved Elves because they’re so beautiful and mystical..❤️

25. Who’s your favorite girl that Dean’s hooked up with?: Lisa was kind but i always liked Jo the most.. :< they could’ve been good for each other but oh well.. :<

26. Who’s your favorite girl that Sam’s hooked up with?: Eileen :’<

27. What are some of your favorite convention moments?: the fake “kiss” between Misha and Jensen..❤️

28. If you were going to guest star (or be a recurring guest star) on SPN, how would you want your character to be described?: oh oh! i wanna be an Angel! :’D an angel who’s extremely curious about humans and their daily habits, wants to taste and touch everything and is just really enthusiastic about this whole earth and humans thing ^.^ (and i’m very clumsy but i’m trying! °^°)

29. What do you hope to see in the next season?: i only want to see one kiss between Dean and Cas..❤️ just one..i know that their kiss would be so, so, so, so breathtakingly beautiful that it almost kills us..❤️ almost. this would be a beautiful gift from spn to us for all these years of hoping and praying to Chuck..❤️ i don’t care if it’s next season or the last, but i need this kiss..please.. :’<

30. - 40. If you had to choose…

Bobby or John?: i really would love to see John back but i miss Bobby so much.. :’<<<

Bela or Ruby? Ruby was evil °^° Bela!

Jess or Madison?: Jess

Jo or Lisa?: Jo ❤️ :’<

Charlie or Kevin? both? both! both is good! °^°

Balthazar or Ash?: damn i miss Ash.. :< i say both! °^°

Cas or Crowley? boooth!

Ben or Claire? Claire

Jody or Donna? they’re a team, so both!

Sam or Dean?: both both both both! °^° both..°^°

i tag: @jdragon122 @katiegangel @deanosaurzpie @calistiel @runtosleepdreamer @dreymart @aceriee-san @sternchencas @destiel-est-2008 

as always you don’t have to if you don’t want to! :) ❤️

[rosewhipped22]

Supernatural Survey

I was tagged by @thinkdouble-pink a long time ago.  I’m not one for timeliness, but thanks for thinking of me!

1. What season did you start watching Supernatural? Okay so the first time i watched season 1 on netflix was in 2013 but um I didn’t pay attention.  Lol I only half watched while I was on my laptop doing whatever I used to do online before I got into spn.  I watched it again in October when s11 was airing after watching the Hillywood parody which made the show look like so much fun.  I was laid off like two weeks later and so I got through all 10 seasons pretty quick and had flung myself into the deep end of destiel fics by December. I kind of wished I had listened to my friend who watched it and loved it since 2005.  My life might have turned out very differently.  

2. Who was the first character you fell in love with? I watched in order and liked Dean, but I was eagerly awaiting s4 and longed for Cas before I even really knew him as a character.  He exceeded my expectations in every way and I love him.

3. Who was a character that you hated at first but grew to love?: I thought about this a while and I had trouble thinking of anyone.  Characters I disliked, I tend to still dislike.  I came up with Jo.  I never hated her, but she grew on me as a character.

4. Which character would you most want to be in a long-term relationship with? Gosh um they’re all so great in different ways.  As much as I don’t like the idea of splitting up Dean and Cas... I think I’d say Dean.  I’m trying to figure out why I’m not saying Cas and I feel like maybe he’s too good for me?? At least I know Dean and I could have fun and get along.  I just want Cas to be happy.  

5. If you could go on a date with just one character, which one would you choose?: Castiel  

6. What would you do on that date? I’d just want to go somewhere beautiful and listen to him talk. About anything.

7. Which character would you most want to be like?: Chuck so I can write on my own schedule and do all the cool party tricks like water into wine.

8. Which character would you most want to see brought back from the dead?: Eileen !!!

9. Which character would you most like to punch?: the reaper appearing as April Kelly

10. Who is your absolute favorite character?: Castiel

11. Which “Big Bad” do you think was the worst?: Early Lucifer

12. Which character are you most like?: I’d like to say Charlie, but I’m not that cool. Maybe a combination of her and Kevin and Becky.  Not necessarily the most awesome bits about them.  

13. What death hit you the hardest? Charlie--it was so fucking dumb. It would be Cas if I weren’t certain he’d be back. 14. What season finale hit you the hardest?: S8--Not in sadness but in Holy Shit the angels fell!! Caaaaaaaaaaaassss!

15. What are your ten all-time favorite episodes?: I’m terrible at chosing favorite of anything so Baby, Caged Heat, Hunter Heroici, Clap Your Hands if You Believe because soulless!Sam is hilarious and x-files shoutout, The Man Who Would Be King, Lazarus Rising, Free to Be You and Me, The End, Heaven Can’t Wait, The Prisoner, The Devil in the Details, Into the Mystic, Stuck In the Middle (With You), The Future, and every episode with Cas basically

16. What’s been your favorite season?: Uh... maybe s8 or 12 or 5 or 4 or 9 or 11 or 6 or 7

17. Who is your favorite angel? Castiel 

18. Who is your favorite demon? Crowley 

19. Who’s your favorite evil character? Ketch--I wanted them to do so much more with him!

20. Do you have any Supernatural ships?: just one. the ship of my life, Destiel

21. Who’s your favorite supporting actor?: If j2m2 are main then, Rob Benedict maybe?

22. What’s your favorite quote from the show?:  Dean and Cas saying each other’s names.  

23. If you could cast one famous actor in an episode of SPN, who would you choose? I’d love an episode where they encounter a real FBI agent played by Gillian Anderson. 

24. If you could write your own episode, what kind of creatures would you like to see included?: Mermaids! This was @thinkdouble-pink‘s answer but I stand by it, because hello beach day!  That or more fae stuff

25. Who’s your favorite girl that Dean’s hooked up with?: I just like it when people are nice to Dean so I’d say Lisa because she was there when he really needed someone to lean on.

26. Who’s your favorite girl that Sam’s hooked up with?: I’m just saying Eileen I don’t even care.

27. What are some of your favorite convention moments?: Jensen growling at Misha

28. If you were going to guest star (or be a recurring guest star) on SPN, how would you want your character to be described?: I’m a guy Dean had a crush on as a teen and kissed goodbye when the Winchesters left town. Now Dean is shockingly in my life again because my house is haunted. 

29. What do you hope to see in the next season?:  I want Dean and Cas to kiss

30. - 40. If you had to choose…

Bobby or John?: Bobby absolutely

Bela or Ruby? Bela

Jess or Madison?: Jess

Jo or Lisa?: Jo 

Charlie or Kevin? This is tough. Charlie because her death was dumber

Balthazar or Ash?: Ash... though Cas having a friend was nice

Cas or Crowley? Cas 

Ben or Claire? Claire

Jody or Donna? I don’t have to choose!! I get them BOTH in Wayward Sisters!!

Sam or Dean?: Dean--but only because you made me choose!

Tagging 13 people because 13 seasons!! So if you feel like it: @aoitrinity @cas-watches-over-you @weasleychick32 @casbakespie @caslikescoffeeandfreckles @hazeldomain @k6034 @lover-awakened @ughcas @floralmotif @justanotheridijiton @elnawen @deanwinbean   Idk some of you may have done this already...  Open to anyone of course!

[junker-town]

NBA B-Sides: We want to start a book club with Tobias Harris

Plus, Jimmy Butler has his own custom-made coffee mugs? Apparently so.

Welcome to the halfway point of the NBA season!

It’s a common misconception that All-Star weekend is the midway point. It’s not! We’re here right now. Most teams have played 41 games and while playoff races are wildly tight on both sides, we have a pretty good idea of who these teams are at this point.

But enough of all that serious NBA talk. Let’s get to the fun stuff.

Tobias Harris needs to start a book club with us

So, I noticed that Harris is always carrying a book when he arrives for a game.

NBAE/Getty Images

Here he is again.

NBAE/Getty Images

And again.

NBAE/Getty Images

I took the liberty of using the zoom feature and figured out he’s currently reading The Lost Education of Horace Tate: Uncovering the Hidden Heroes Who Fought for Justice in Schools. He’s carrying a ton of different books in the pictures I could find, but this is the only book I could confidently identify. I assume they’re all very good books.

So, knowing what I know from my diligent research. Tobias likes to read. I want to read more books in 2019. You do, too.

Listen, Tobias, I know you’re a fan of SB Nation. We see you in the Instagram likes. Let’s start a B-Sides Book Club. It would be great. You can pick the books! We’ll discuss them in B-Sides.

(You’ll win B-Sides MVP, don’t tell anyone that yet though.)

2019 needs this. Call me.

Josh Hart got sponsored by Chipotle!

I guess all that talk about how Chipotle tastes better with their plastic forks actually paid off. This guy is literally living my dream. He plays Fortnite, is sponsored by Chipotle, and plays basketball with LeBron James. What a life.

Double Protein Bowl life on that @ChipotleTweets app got me #chipotledoubleprotein #ad pic.twitter.com/5syjpBdJac

— Josh Hart (@joshhart) January 8, 2019

I will gladly sell out. Chipotle, do you want to sponsor B-Sides? We’re here.

Klay Thompson continues to give the best sound bites

1. He likes things.

Klay Thompson: “What do I like? Life, food, my dog, my family, my friends, my home, my health. That’s what I’m thankful for. That’s what I like. My hobbies. Movies. Video games” pic.twitter.com/2ZMf9hcnij

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 7, 2019

2. And he’s happy to score 43 points.

“I am happy. I scored 43-points. Would you be happy?” Klay Thompson is my spirit-animal. pic.twitter.com/3JIDGcFujf

— Rex Chapman (@rex_rexchapman) January 9, 2019

The best part is when he says, “Would you be happy, Karen?” I am weak.

Joel Embiid brought a juice box to his post game presser

In a night of hijinks, Embiid steps up to the podium with a juice box. “I lost the straw though” pic.twitter.com/P4DQFtb7QE

— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) January 6, 2019

And forgot the straw.

joel embiid was absolutely crushing a juice box in last night's press availability pic.twitter.com/jhMdWL3IU8

— empty roster spot fan account (@johnwintertweet) January 6, 2019

Shoutout to this hero. She seems cool.

one time I saw @JoelEmbiid drink a juice box with out a straw. Now I drink juice boxes with out a straw. pic.twitter.com/155XOyYKlq

— Aimee (@cptgoldswag) January 8, 2019

Thad Young is expanding his AAU program to girls teams.

This is pretty freaking cool. Team Thad is a program of the Young for Youth Foundation and they compete in the UAA circuit. So this is awesome to see.

OUR CULTURE, OUR FAMILY, OUR BRAND IS HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE WE ARE EXPANDING OUR BROTHERHOOD AND ADDING SISTERS TO THE CREW. YOUNG LADIES AND MEN WELCOME TO TEAM THAD. JOIN THE MOVEMENT! #TTN @TeamThad21 @CourtsideFilms @ULTIMATEpreps_ pic.twitter.com/BCvDZvLFYB

— Thad Young (@yungsmoove21) January 8, 2019

Jimmy Butler has his own coffee cups?

That is exactly what is happening here. I googled for you: these are not available for purchase.

jimmy butler has his own coffee cups pic.twitter.com/B9YggELbxZ

— kurt (@kurtwearshats) January 8, 2019

James Harden and PJ Tucker are such BFFs they got matching cars.

LOLLLLLL. In my world, BFFs get like, matching bracelets?

find you a friendship like pj tucker's with james harden they got matching CARS pic.twitter.com/Evt1Jdax1C

— Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) January 9, 2019

CJ McCollum’s All-Star campaign for Damian Lillard

I can’t believe we’re still doing Napoleon Dynamite jokes in 2019. Maybe there is an inside Blazers joke I’m missing. BUT, this video is so good, so I’m going to let it slide. This is just wonderful.

.....what are you doing, @CJMcCollum? “Whatever I feel like I wanna do, GOSH!” VOTE: https://t.co/fI66kz2WKk pic.twitter.com/9Oh7Eu9pq0

— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 10, 2019

Boris Diaw continues to be perfect

I don’t know if this was a joke by the Spurs or if Diaw really works for National Geographic, because that would be the least shocking thing I’ve ever heard.

Spectacular @theborisdiaw pic.twitter.com/qTgBbyTwHf

— Brent Barry (@Barryathree) January 11, 2019

My favorite James Harden photo of the week

I’m so glad the Rockets are good again. I’m so glad James Harden is good again. It just makes B-Sides a better place. And this outfit also makes B-Sides a better place.

NBAE/Getty Images

See ya next week, friends. Tweet me your B-Sides, and I’ll include them in the next round.

[chelsorz07]

so i’m a grown-ass woman but

I’m still barely an adult. And I don’t have a job or a life so all I’ve been doing every day for the past couple weeks is personality quizzes. Then today this popped up on my facebook memories from 2010 and I decided I’m gonna do it again just to see how much I’ve changed in seven years. Original answers are in normal font and current are underneath in bold.

Are you ready for this? probably not but i'm a procrastinator. Obviously, since I took the time to copy and paste it and switch from facebook to tumblr.

What do you think about Love? it's hard. It’s a pain in the ass when you’re not happy but you know you wouldn’t be happy anywhere else either. Who has your heart? david.  Dave, kinda. My heart has pretty much given up at this point.

Are you wearing a necklace, who got it for you, wheres it from? i don't normally wear necklaces. I wear Dave’s wedding ring on a chain because he’s not allowed to wear it at work, and if I give it back to him when he gets home he’ll just lose it again. Are you tall for your age, or short? taller than average but not tall. That one’s the same. I didn’t exactly grow from age 20 to 27. Except the number on the scale. What are you about to do? bathe.  Continue watching Ridiculousness and wasting my life. Maybe read some spn finale codas to fix my soul after last night.

Tell me about the person you like? i wouldn't know where to begin. I’d rather not. Do you like the smell of coconuts? no. Yeah. See idk what happened there. Expecting something to change in the next month? stuff changes all the time. Hopefully I’ll find a new job, but I have to start looking first. Tell me the truth,ever kissed your boyfriends/girlfriends best friend? no, unlike all his other girlfriends. Same. What are you looking forward to? my birthday.  Um...the All Time Low concert the day before my birthday, which I’m more excited that my sister is coming with than the actual show, actually being back in PA for Old Home Days this year because it’s that same weekend, and hopefully moving home before the end of the year.

Did you get anything off your chest today? i did a few days ago. I haven’t talked to anyone today but this quiz is pretty cathartic. How many rings do you usually wear? none. Three. Engagement ring, wedding ring, and this really cool silver one with a green wooden inlay that I got at an antique store. Do you have a bestfriend of the opposite sex? a couple. Yessir. Shoutout @sloan28allday who still refuses to use tumblr even though he has one. Can you sleep without blankets covering you? no. Definitely not. It’s much less uncomfortable in the summer now that I have central air. What did you wear to bed last night? basketball shorts and a tshirt.  I didn’t go to bed last night, but for the sake of this quiz I was wearing the same thing I am now, green plaid pajama pants and my angel banishing sigil t-shirt.

What do you do in your spare time? pretty much this. Watch Shameless over and over again and cry about how much of an asshole Ian Gallagher is and how Mickey deserves better. What were you doing at 10:00 this morning? hanging with maranda. Watching the season 9 spn finale because it was on TNT. What time do you think you're going to bed tonight? like 8pm. i'm exhausted. and i'd go to bed now if i didn't have to bowl tonight. Well I just woke up from a nap at like 9 so probably not anytime soon. Late morning, I’d guess. How do you feel about the person who texted you last? i love him. I’m gonna kick him in the throat if he sends me a text out of the blue that just says “waffles” one more time. Anything irritating you right now? pretty much always. See the last question. Also the fact that I have two separate DVRs and it decided to record Seth Meyers on this one so it changed the channel while I was watching Ridiculousness. I hate Seth Meyers, the only thing I want to see is ATL’s performance. Did the person that hurt you most apologize? yeah actually. idk how sincere it was though. or if he's just really bad at communicating. My mother hasn’t apologized for my entire childhood yet but I’m not holding my breath. Do you want to get married? maybe someday. i don't want kids though. at least not my own. Have been for almost two years now. The kids answer has changed too. Every time I see a baby I cry because it isn’t mine.   Would you ever get your lip pierced? yeah. I kinda would like to have my nose pierced now, but I can’t decide which I want more. Where would you like to live in the future? nashville. anywhere down south works but that's my first choice. georgia's a close second. Having visited Nashville and Georgia semi-recently, I can say I’d still live there in a heartbeat if it wasn’t for the fact that I want to move home so badly. So my new answer is Bradford. Would you be able to date someone who doesn't make you laugh? no. HELL no. 

What college do you plan on going to? uh...none. i want to get my cosmetology license buuuut i don't have the money for school. Wooow why did I ever even consider cosmetology? Lol...I’m probably never going to go but I want to be a contractor so I’d go to Penn Tech in Williamsport. Do you have good vision? it's not terrible. It’s getting progressively worse. I can barely drive at night now. Everything is too bright. Did you speak to your father today? yep. No but he’s a night owl like me and sometimes he’ll just message me on fb to say hi so I still might. What do you usually do right when you wake up? go back to sleep. Check my phone, pee, and head downstairs for some caffeine. Are you too shy to kiss the person you like? sometimes. he doesn't really give out the vibe that he wants to be kissed. kinda sad after being together for a year if you ask me, but oh well. No. He actually got a lot better about that when we got back together so he’ll kiss me randomly throughout the day when he’s home. We still don’t like make out anymore like when we first started dating though. Which sucks, because I love making out.  Can a girl love sex and not be a whore? i love sex and i'm not a whore. i've only been with one person. so yeah. Okay my number has doubled since then but I’m still not a whore because I’ve only been with one person besides my husband, and it was one time (we weren’t together). Hate the last person you kissed? sometimes. i love him more than anything though. Love him, hate him, want to punch him in the balls, want to have his children...it’s a rollercoaster. Are you someone who hates to read? used to love it. now it bores the shit out of me. I love reading, it’s just more gay fanfic than books nowadays. If you could change your eye color what would you change it to? i wouldn't. Still wouldn’t. My eyes are awesome. Do you think age matters in relationships? to an extent. Not really as long as everything’s legal and consensual. Name of your first cat? steven. Obvs that’s the same. But he was my first cat as a kid. My Marshie was my first cat as an adult. Would you rather be at the beach or lake? lake. Lake fosho. Clearly I’ve never liked beaches. What would you do if you found out the person you liked had a girlfriend/ boyfriend? i AM his girlfriend. I’d divorce his ass so hard. And keep my Impala lol Do you feel like you have life figured out? nobody does. No, and I’m positive I never will. Ever dropped a cell phone? i throw it more than i drop it. This is actually funny, because now I drop it way more than I throw it. I’ve mellowed but gotten clumsier. Who last hugged you? randa. This is actually the same. For all you tumblr folks, Maranda is my niece. And even though we live four hours apart now and I only get to see her once every few months, I happened to be home about a week and a half ago and she wasn’t in school because of a doctor’s appointment, so we got a few minutes together and she hugged me like four times. I love that little girl so much it kills me. Aaaand now I’m crying. Thanks, facebook mems.  Ever had a pet fish? no. No but my little sister has. He didn’t last a week lol Do you want your tongue pierced? no. Ew no way. Anything happen to you within the past month that made you really happy? kind of. Above story with Maranda, and getting my new car. which happened on the same day. Last time you spoke to the person you have feelings for? in person, 2 nights ago. he just texted me a few minutes ago though. In person, last Wednesday. We text randomly or talk on fb while he’s away for work. And I don’t talk on the phone at all so he doesn’t call me. Have you ever kissed 2 people at once? no.  No wtf Was your last kiss drunk? no but it was severely hung over lol I don’t even get drunk anymore.  What are you listening to at the moment? nothing. i should be showering. Fucking annoying Rachel Maddow and Seth Meyers. And my kitten, Thomas, is licking himself rather loudly. Your best friend has sex with your ex, what happens? haha...she's not retarded. she wouldn't do that. Well she has a boyfriend so no. Plus they are both my best friends. And definitely aren’t each other’s types. Although I do think if they were to get together she’d be the only girl besides me not to cheat on him because she doesn’t do that. Do you think you will be married by the time you are 25? probably not. I got married 29 days before my 26th birthday.  Whats the first thing you did when you opened your eyes today? shut off my alarm and went back to sleep. Looked at the time. Do you believe exes can be friends? sometimes. it just so happens that my exes are all crazy so we don't speak. These questions always amuse me because my ex is my best friend now and one of the most important people in the world to me. Have you ever kissed someone whose name started with a q? no. Still no. Where is the last person you kissed at right now? i would imagine he's on his way to work. I don’t remember if he’s on day or night shift this hitch, so he’s either working or sleeping. Last person you held hands with in the past 24 hour? randa while she was walking. I have had no face to face human interaction other than the drive-thru at McD’s. Would you go on a road trip with your friends? i've been dying to. In theory, yes. Because I love my friends and going anywhere with them would be a good time. However I’ve developed a very intense fear of traffic. So can it be like a short, rural road trip please? Would you shave your entire body (including your head)? no. I definitely wouldn’t shave my head. But also no to the rest because I can’t shave anywhere I have psoriasis patches. Which is 80% of my body. Pits and downstairs maintenance is all I can do. Did you sleep alone last night? unfortunately. I didn’t sleep last night. But yes, I am alone for another 5-ish days. Have you ever kissed just a friend? yeah. Yup. Did you have any unread text messages when you woke up today? no. I may have had something from Michael on fb but no texts. Nobody texts me but Dave anyway. Do you think people talk about you behind your back? i know they do. i don't give a shit cuz i probably talk about them too. Don’t care. Is it possible to be single and happy? yes. Probably. Idk, I haven’t been single in a long time. And I’ve never really been truly happy. Everyone deserves a second chance, right? not remotely true. Not everyone. Did you stand on your tippy-toes when you had your last kiss? i don't think i had the strength to. Pretty sure I was sitting on the front porch step. Who was the last person to call you? wes. Bill collectors, which I don’t answer. As for actual people I know, that would be David. And it was in January. And I didn’t answer. Lol Think back to this time last year, were you happy? i was getting there. No. That was when I started realizing how much I missed home. Do you smoke weed everyday? nope. I haven’t smoked weed in years. Smoke cigarettes every day though. Have you broken the law in the past 5 days? probably. I may have gone like 7mph over the speed limit. Do you have siblings over the age of 21? yep. My older sister is 36, my brother-in-law (her husband) will be 37 in two days, my other brother-in-law is 33, and both of my sisters-in-law are 31. Then there’s me at 27 and my little sister is 19. Have you kissed someone with braces? no. Still no. Did your last kiss take place on a bed? no - my entry way/mudroom thing. Like I said, porch. What was bad about today? ha. I’m still mourning Castiel’s death, even if it is temporary. What's been your biggest shock this year? nothing shocks me anymore. My old job fucking me over. And the spn finale. Currently wanting any piercings or tattoos? several. YAAAS omg I want so many more tattoos but with my skin the way it is I have nowhere to put them. Can you call the last person you kissed without it being awkward? not really cuz we both hate talking on the phone. i mean it's not awkward just out of character. I’mma keep that answer. Plus if he’s out of town for work I never know his schedule so I wouldn’t want to call him while he’s sleeping or on location. Who was the last person you had sleepover with? i mean i stay at dave's on the weekends but it's not really sleepovers...it's just staying there. I couldn’t even tell you. I don’t think it counts as a sleepover if you live with the person. And I’ve lived with Dave for almost 5 years. Do you like family get-togethers? well i don't like my family. so no. Depends on the occasion, the amount of time spent there, and how big of a bitch my older sister decides to be that day. She hasn’t been too bad lately so I think my dad’s birthday dinner next weekend should be okay. Do you hate the last person who called you? nope. The people who still want 400 bucks from me on behalf of Penelec? Yeah kind of. If you are being extremely quiet, what does that mean? could mean anything. I’m bored, tired, cranky, thinking, watching something, reading, or I just woke up and am not coherent yet so if you speak before you’re spoken to I’ll stab you. Did anyone watch you the last time you kissed someone? no. I doubt it, unless I have really creepy neighbors. Oh wait, I do. I wouldn’t put it past Sharon to watch us saying goodbye before Dave leaves. She’s like obsessed with us. Do you like to spend time with people? occasionally. Sometimes but I prefer to be alone. Just not as alone as I am now. Because I’m ALWAYS alone. 

Do you want a relationship right now? i'm in one and yes i want it. Um. Mostly. Where did you last fall asleep other than a bed? couch.  Sometimes I fall asleep in the car when we go back home for a visit.

Have you ever been called heartless? usually. Yeah.

Okay! So mostly we’ve discovered that I’m still a cynical little shit but I use capitalization now so that’s personal growth. For the most part my relationship with my family has improved. Dave’s stuck with me so I don’t have to second guess all the minutiae of our relationship. If it falls apart I’m like whatever I saw this coming years ago and it won’t kill me. Annnd I still have no ambition or drive. It’s always sobering to learn things about yourself and how much you’ve changed in a given span of time. Alright, I gotta poop. If you like reading this kind of shit, cool. If not, sorry not sorry. It took me over an hour so I probably won’t do it that often anyway.