#since I started wearing sunscreen I am a sheet of paper

[jesusinstilettos]

I have a confession I’ve been drinking a glass of carrot juice a day because I saw someone say if you can consume the right amount you’ll get a light glowy tan without turning too orange and I’m easily influenced

[chromeskiesstuff]

The Killing of Three Thousand Crows Recap EP 1 三千鸦杀

This drama has been a huge blast - I am 8 EPs in and the plot, characters are wonderful and refreshing. The main leads are a hoot themselves, being very hilarious and have their own unique personalities. Props to CGI and costume theme who does their best to make it realistic while in budget, in particularly the costumes feel so natural and pretty.

So just a brief introduction:

This is a Xianxia adaptation from novel of the same name. Xianxia = it involves immortals. Our heroine, Yan Yan, or with her adult/real name Qin Chuan (覃川) is a mortal princess of her country and it has been destroyed by the demon people. Her people are slain and she vowed to kill off each and every demon people to bring peace to her people.

The Male Lead is Jiu Yun (九云), a powerful young immortal who has a crush on her, and he has seen through her ten lives/ previous reincarnation.

We started off with our male lead, Jiu Yun and his friend. His friend ponders why he is sharing with him a drawing by his Shifu/Master and what is it about.

He replied that this was about a war where drums are beating, and bones anre piling up. He also said he didn’t understand the meaning of the drawing for thousand years.

The cinematography is pretty amazing and the narration done by Zhen Ye Cheng (yes our Male lead does his own dubbing along with Zhao Luo Si) is nothing short of haunting. The sequence is written in a semi-classical format, and its a thing of beauty when it combines with great cinematography, great colour combinations, great symbolism (eg drums that reinvigorate a dying party) , great prose and great narration. Look at her red robes flowing in harsh winter while hitting the drums. Maybe I should translate this part later :D

His friend retorted. “It’s normal for mortals to be in war”. He replied "I finally met her yesterday. I have been searching for her for a thousand years” while the screen switch to her facing her enemies alone. 

I presume she didn’t survive. Based on some notes on the novel this was her past life. Anyway I really dig these prologues as of late as its normally shot wonderfully and in a simplistic manner + introduce the whole thing.

The scene switched to an enormous paper bird flying down to a city.

I love the design of the paper bird. Its delicate. Can I have one for a Mercedes?

Our heroine slept at class, slacking off  from learning paper folding spells which is a secret skill of Dali royalty. He also scold her that she have already learn for a year but she knew nothing.Her Shifu challenges her to make ten paper crane. 

She could fight with Bai Qian with tardiness though what Bai Qian did is even more crayy

She defended herself that paper folding spells emphasize on making it freely/casually. Under her shifu threat, she back off, saying she can do it anyway, but instead she made a frog.

The sequence is amazing btw. The CGI is really on point here :D

The paper container too is delightfully designed. Along with the sunscreen panels at the background

The set design and the headdress. Its amazing. Look at the Peach blossom background :D. And I enjoyed her acting a lot. She displays the right amount of mischievousness here :D

Our princess met with her brother and to cheer her up,  her brother shows her a painting he obtained. She said the painting is fine but not worth two to three thousand coins. 

Yeap. It looks like regular drawing even from my POV. But I hope whoever drawing this is not offended T_T (based on TMOPB the artist will normally on set whenever their artwork is shown)

He asks her to look at it carefully. Soon the garden turns into winter, and winter plum blossom starts blooming, and sometime later it turns back to normal. She excitedly asks him where he obtains the painting. He told her he obtained it from the famed painter, Gongzi Qi (公子齐).

Cue hilarity ensured of Gongzi Qi being synonymous with celebrity, full-on with fans dying to have his artwork and to see him,  and her brother the prince being very excited to obtain one. While looking for the artist, a scroll appears on his hand and he looks both happy and confused.

Here’s how he describes Gongzi Qi:

Gongzi Qi, he was rumoured to be extremely handsome, with one of the kind drawing skills. He was rumoured to apply rare immortal spells to his artwork.

She muses that man is too proud. And if Gonzi Qi said his art skills are his second-best skill, then his music skills should be out of the world. Her brother said he wrote a song titled East Wind Peach Blossom Flower .. nope it's half a song not a full song (WTF XD) and he refuses to write the other half, saying that no dancer will be able to dance this song (I see you Gongzi Qi, you are tempting her). Indeed our princess is up to the challenge and asks her brother to request him to finish the song so she can dance to it.

The siblings then visit their cousin, where her brother advises her not to be rude. Apparently their aunt and cousin are attending their mom’s 40th birthday celebration.

After greetings and praises, the two women throwing barbs at each other, we know that Xuan Zhu (玄珠，the cousin) recently start to learn immortal skills under a mysterious teacher. Their barbs become a quarrel, causing their companions to try to rein them in. Yan Yan excuses herself. The quarrel continues as both are tugging a purple handkerchief. 

A man came in. Yan Yan seems to be jealous that this guy (Zuo Zi Chen, 左紫辰) seems to come here to visit Xuan Zhu. He clarifies that he is here on behalf of his father to see her cousins. She instantly brightens up and let him go. 

OK, first crush? And guy seems to be interested.

At the court, the King seems to be really worried about Tian Yuan, as they have usurped three countries around Dali. He is also worried as his prime minister Zuo (Zi Chen dad) applies for retirement at this time due to health. He announces that he will pay a visit to Prime Minister Zuo.

Our Prime Minister seems quite healthy (healthier than the king!!) and performs some ritual that's clearly demonic.

This is performed in front of a satan like figure. That's demonic even in Taoist book right?

Our prince got the sheet music, but with a bet from Gongzi Qi: She must be able to perform it, else he will make her a laughing stock. While visiting the prime minister, she took the opportunity to visit Zi Chen. She blocks him from visiting the king. Instead, she wants him to ask him something on the new music sheet she obtained since he is extremely good with music.

uwuuw the music sheets are so pretty

Zi Chen was amazed since he never saw such complicated tunes. There is a catch though. The verse she pointed out is rather bloody and will cause the audience and the performer to feel very sad, totally inappropriate for a birthday celebration. He answers the way to go is to change the tunes from a sad tone to a happy one.

Girl is clearly enamored with him and his skills. He turned around and ask whether his modified tunes sounds right. She thinks it's great. And she gifted him a hairpin, helping him to wear the new hairpin. She finishes pining the hairpin and touches his face. He reciprocates by grabbing her hand tenderly

OMG I must say this scene is so well done. Very tender, and little words need to be said.

After she left, his father looks for him. He looks anything but friendly. He asks whether he knew the reason the king came. Oh gosh, the prince is way too naive. His father is clearly plotting about something. But he is a young man in the midst of meeting his first love, maybe that's why he didn't catch on the shenanigans.

The Princess is totally unaware of the plot tho, she happily shares her joy with her maid, Aman and hoping for the day Zi Chen will marry her. She also declares that she will be able to conquer the tough music sheets and it will prove Zi Chen's musicality is superior to Gongzi Qi. 

At night Gongzi Qi visited her, leaving her a note. She wakes up and declared again that she will win their bet. Gongzi Qi hears her in the court garden and leaves with a smile.

It seems like the budget is spent on the prince wardrobe. His gear looks very natural and menacing ha. But the candles deco is totally inferior to TMOPB Ye Hua house. Maybe the Demon People are saving the $ for war?

Yan Yan dance is stellar, she interprets the music sheets beautifully, with peach blossoms,snow and leaves. The audience including her brother, Zi Chen, and Gongzi Qi are amazed.

Oh wow the music is wonderful. It reminds me of TMOPB EP30 Peach blossom scene OST - the warm and sweet feel kinda touch. And the dance is shot beautifully. Although I think some of the dance moves are done by a professional dancer? Not a problem imo since one of the most beautiful performances in cdrama history is choreographed by a dancer.

And YESSSS.... his wardrobe is really on point here and the angles the cinematographer take is really good. He is not your conventionally attractive lead so I understand that some angles will not stand out. Kudos to the production team!

The dance ended and Gongzi Qi was shocked that she changed the ending of his sheet music. HA, SO YOU KNOW SHE IS GONNA PERFORM AT HER MUM’S BIRTHDAY BASH PARTY AND YOU WRITE HER A BLOODY TUNE? lmao he is pissed and serves him right XD. And what's wrong with your bestie XD? He seems to have a tendency to pine after a married woman.

They met Shifu who seems to be their ShiXiong (Elder brother disciple). Shifu reminded Gonzi Qi that since he is an immortal, he shouldn’t involve with mortal matters especially when Yan Yan is still very young. Gongzi Qi asks if he insists on doing it? Shifu replied that her fate has been decided and he shouldn’t go against fate. He seems to accept that decree and he hands over a huge scroll of painting, requesting Shifu to pass it to her.

Note: The reason why Shifu is able to involve is that he owes a debt to the Dali Royal family per the book.

At night the city is being attacked, and Yan Yan wakes up feeling happy and refreshed. She saw the painting scroll, both her and her maid marvelled at the painting and she told her maid that she wants to go outside alone to visit Zi Chan.

Meanwhile, Zi Chan father sent his son away �� For praying in the temple. Do request for glory at Royal Court”. His son wonders as his dad will not need it because he is retiring. His dad replies smoothly that it’s for Zi Chan. Zi Chan wanted to pray for his father’s health, and his father praised him lightly, sending him away. Looks like he is sending him away for safety. 

COMMENTS

I have been waiting for this drama for some time, and luckily they are no longer stuck in broadcasting hell. This EP has a lot to unpack, introducing the background and characters. I feel this EP wonderfully introduces multiple characters while making Yan Yan and Zi Chan characters unique. Yan Yan character is sweet while slightly spoiled, she is still very charming herself, and have all the characteristics of a well-loved high born lady. Zi Chan too stands out as the highly ranked son, with his politeness and his crush with Yan Yan being really subtle. Plot-wise it is interesting and hopefully, the revenge plot won’t be too over the top later. The drama is also not afraid to insert some modern jokes (AHEM CELEBRITY ARTIST) while feeling super natural in doing so.

 The magic spells they introduce are fairly unique too (paper magic) which can be quite handy. The brief introduction of paper cranes and paper frogs are delightful. The costumes are delightful too. One of the difficulties of cdrama production is making costumes natural relative to the period and making it beautiful. I love Zi Chan wardrobe here because he looks great in it while not making him too prince-like. Likewise I like that Gongzi Qi wardrobe are slightly more fancier than a normal immortal /Taoist disciple (YEAH HIS WEIRDASS WAYS) but not that fancy.

I think one of the downsides for this drama is the set production. Some of the sets like the snow scene are totally beautiful, while at some parts its so obvious the wood is made of plastic, or the garden looks too tropical. That being said I understand cdrama fantasy budgets are tight + high likelihood of delayed broadcasting, so these downsides are relatively minor, plus the cinematography team is killing it, so I think in overall any fan of xianxia should watch it.

[angelanimedesaray]

Survive Or Live Chapter 1: The Barren World

AN:  Its a wee bit short cause it’s more of an introduction, but it’s not prologue material, sooooo here we are.  Just ask if you would like to be tagged in future chapters for updates.  Also, I will tag all updates #survive or live

Characters:  OC (Mae Brooks)

Pairing:  Levi x OC

Warnings:  Apocalypse Typical Violence, Gross Zombie Descriptions, Language

Word Count:  3103

Masterlist   Next Chapter --->

(Gif owner Dave Mosher on Gify)

The crunch of broken asphalt beneath her feet made enough sound Mae couldn’t help but cringe inwardly, worried that the sound would be just enough to attract attention to herself.  At the moment, there wasn’t anything moving along the street other than herself, but that was only what her light brown eyes could see so far.  Her calloused fingers shifted slightly along the bowstring she pulled tighter at the thought of what could be lurking out of sight in the shadows, the index finger of her other hand rolling over the wooden shaft of her knocked arrow.  Her shoulder rolled, adjusting the left strap of her hiker’s backpack that had started to slide down her shoulder, managing by some miracle to avoid getting her shoulder-length auburn hair caught under the strap in the process.

At least it was still decently light for now, even if that would be a bad sign if she left with a light bag.

Eyes on the two story white house several paces ahead of her and to the left, Mae stepped around a stray rusted car bumper and quickly approached the building, eyes darting around for any sign of movement.  A gurgling followed by the sound of shuffling feet drew her attention to the right side of the house just in time for Mae to see a Rotter shamble around the corner, not yet noticing her presence.

The walking corpse stumbled across the dead grass of the house’s front lawn, pustule spotted flesh hanging in strips or appearing shriveled and wasted on the once-human creature’s frame.  Dried blood and fresh ooze from ruptured pustules smeared across the remains of sallow skin, frayed hair, and tattered clothes.  This Rotter was missing an eye, which meant it wasn’t fresh since the larger parasites tried to move on to another host after about a month, and the eyes were their choice of exit.

More asphalt crunched under her foot, and the Rotter spun around off-balance but still upright, focusing on Mae and the noise she’d made.  Its remaining foggy eye focused on her as she raised her takedown recurve bow, arrow already knocked and drawn and simply holding so she made sure she made her shot count.  A rattling snarl regurgitated from its gaping mouth as it sudden lunged at her, twitching as its sprint hurried it towards her.  The Rotter only made it three steps before Mae released her arrow, which sunk right into the open eye socket and through its head.

The snarling stopped with a gurgle, the Rotter collapsing to the ground as Mae hurried over, hoping her arrow would be retrievable.

“Shame on you, Dave, sneaking up on me like that, it’s rude,” she muttered under her breath, boot on its neck as she yanked the arrow back and quickly moved away in case any of the squiggly parasites tried to latch onto her as a host.

It looked like it could still be used.  Good.

Another snarl--much closer now--had her quickly backing away from the sound, knocking and drawing the arrow as fast as she could, loosing the arrow on instinct more than aim.  It sunk into the back of the advancing Rotter’s throat, which didn’t do any good killing it, unfortunately.  As soon as her drawing hand was free of the arrow it reached for the machete at her waist, and she swung with as much force as possible, the blade slicing nicely into its forehead.  It slumped forward and she backed away to avoid the Rotter falling on her, yanking the machete out along the way.

“Oh, Mary-Ann, you’re here, too?  Why didn’t you say anything?” Mae continued, wiping the machete off in the grass and scowling at the now broken arrow still sticking out of its throat.

Perfect.

Still holding the machete firmly in hand, Mae made sure to air on the side of caution--more than usual, anyway--and do a quick check around the house to make sure there weren’t any more Rotters lurking around.

Thankfully she managed to loop back around to the front without seeing any more Rotters, glancing back at the two she’d already killed as if to make sure they were still dead.

“How are the kids?” she asked a little louder.  With a grimace, Mae looked away and made her way up the steps to the house.

Okay, that’s a little too morbid, Mae, shut up.

The house creaked with her every step, causing her paranoia to rear its head again.  Every sound made her twitch uncomfortably, her teeth on edge with every step.

She passed by the living room quickly, a goal of the kind of supplies she was looking for firmly in mind.  She went to the kitchen, the obvious choice, scouring open cabinets and looking for anything that might still be good.  It looked like someone had already searched the house, but there were a few bouillon cube packages shoved in the back, an open and spilled box telling her someone had tried to taste the powdery cubes to see if it was an edible, but quickly decided otherwise.

Their loss was her gain.  Thank God she knew how to use these things.

“Maybe there is still a God,” she murmured, shoving the beef and chicken bouillon packages into her back, including the open box.  She’d been hoping to find another box of some kind of pasta, rice, canned meat, but even though she’d scoured three streets of homes, so far no luck.  She was starting to come to accept that this town had already been picked over.  She’d still check all the houses (eventually) just to make sure she didn’t miss any hidden gems like the bouillon, but she wasn’t optimistic about what she’d find overall.

If all else failed, she could see if there was anything left over in the local ransacked convenience store.

Heading upstairs, Mae started with the bathroom to see if she could find anything more medically beneficial.  She had a supply of meds she kept carefully guarded she’d had ever since this whole mess started, but it never hurt to try and find more.

There was a package of cotton balls under the sink, and she didn’t hesitate to pilfer the two washcloths and one towel, but she couldn’t find anything else she thought might be of use.  She’d even take a pair of tweezers to help this scavenging trip feel a little more productive.

After that it was simply a matter of looking for any kind of scrap she could reuse.  The bedrooms had some clean clothes inside them that she picked through sparingly, only packing the best into her backpack so she could use the cloth for any need that arose.

“You’d think a hoard of goats came through and ate everything, with how little there is around here,” Mae said softly, sighing as she left the house, bow in hand again and eyes scanning the street for any more Rotters.  She gave the ones she’d killed earlier a wide berth when she saw that the pustules on their bodies were bursting and oozing now that the hosts were dead, not wanting to get too close and risk the ooze landing on her.  It was only infectious if the parasites got to you, but the ooze did a good job of masking the smaller parasites, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

Which was why she was wearing a flannel, jeans, and boots despite it being mid-spring.  It was better that as little skin was exposed as possible.

Mae wiped the sweat on her brow with her flannel sleeve, continuing through the small town’s residential area while she prattled on with utter nonsense to herself and any Rotter she came across.

“Do you think there’s any other perks to being covered head to toe in warm weather, despite all the sweat and the lowered risk of getting infected?  Think it helps protect me from getting a sunburn?  That’s an annoyance I don’t want to deal with during the apocalypse, though I doubt anyone is tearing apart any Wal-Marts trying to find sunscreen.  Except maybe Rotters trying to get to Annabelle hiding behind the sunscreen.  She probably should have tried to hide under the giant teddy bears.  Or is it the circus where you find those?  I wonder if I could make a giant ass teddy bear chair out of one of those.  It’s not like there’s any dumbasses around to judge me for buying a giant teddy bear to sit in like a weird armchair...er, or like I’m going to be buying it, since money’s useless for anything but toilet paper or tissues these days.”

She quieted her ramblings and slowed down, eyes suddenly drawn to the abandoned daycare on her right.  The cloudy glass was busted out and littered what once was probably a neatly trimmed lawn, quarantine sheets and caution tape fluttering weakly in the breeze.  A filth-covered doll was ripped almost all the way through the middle, resting between two broken panes of glass still jutting out from the bottom of a window.

She tore her eyes away with a lump in her throat, mood souring rapidly as she noticed the legless Rotter trying to drag its way over to her, what had once been sunday-best clothes now dirt and blood stained tatters.

“You’d think I’d be used to seeing this kind of thing by now, but every now and then, you see one that just…” she started to say to the Rotter, but the words died down, tasting like ash in her mouth as she watched the thing’s filthy nails clawed its way towards her feet.

It’s come down to me talking absolute nonsense at mindless creatures that want to eat me, huh?  Something I’m starting to do on the regular…

Mae angled her head up at the sky, squinting at the sun high above her in silence for several long moment until she couldn’t stare at the bright sky any longer.

“...God, I really am going crazy, aren’t I?”

No one answered.  There was just the continued raspy growls of the Rotter whose fingers had almost reached her boots.  Seeing its proximity, Mae unstrapped her machete again, scowling at the creature.

“It’s because you’re terrible company, Steve,” she said bitingly, ramming the machete into the creature’s head and waiting until it stopped twitching to pull it free, making a point not to glance back behind her towards the depressing scene of the daycare as she moved forward a little faster, wiping the machete off in the grass of the next home she saw.

By the time she left the residential district and started to pick her way through the ransacked stores of the abandoned town--a few arrows lighter than when she’d started, but her pack a little heavier--the sun was starting to set, warning her that she needed to start heading back.

It was amazing how many potentially useful meds were passed over in a panic when people were only looking for the familiar drugs like ibuprofen or acetaminophen in stores.  It also gave Mae a reason to be overwhelmingly grateful for her occupation before the world went to shit.  If it hadn’t been for her pre-apocalypse background, she wouldn’t know anything about most of the medications that were now stuffed into her pack.  In the mess of abandoned useless nicknacks and crushed, spoiled foodstuffs, she’d also managed to find a bottle of iron supplements, and heading back into the employee break room where their lockers were, she managed to find elastic bandages, and a bottle of ibuprofen after picking a few padlocks on the employee lockers.

Not a bad haul at all.  Far less food than she would have liked to find, but she had enough stored up it wouldn’t be a disaster if she had to wait to raid another town for food a little further down the line.

She kicked a stray stuffed basketball plush aside, pushing her hair back out of her face as she made her way back to the main road, machete once more in her free hand in case any infected had gathered outside.  To her surprise, there was only one standing in the street, twitching along it’s jagged sprint towards her once it had noticed her.  She swung her machete into its brain just like the rest, a small frown on her face as it dropped to the ground in front of her.  She crouched down in front of it--still a safe distance away, though.

“Any idea where your friends are?  I expected to see far more of you Rotters shambling around town,” she asked, even pausing a few seconds as if waiting for an answer.  “It’s like they have somewhere better to be...I’m offended.”

Mae pushed back up to her full height of five feet six inches--and three quarters, never forget the three quarters that brought her so close to seven inches--shifting her hiking backpack to a more comfortable position.  She put away the machete for now and returned to her bow, knocking an arrow but not drawing the string back all the way as she walked casually back the way she’d come, eyes scanning her surroundings and ears listening for the tell-tale sounds of Rotters.  If she’d seen more coming into town, she would have been a lot more cautious, but because of how scarce they had been through town all day, she was a little more relaxed going back through the area she’d already cleared.

A little relaxed.  She wasn’t stupid, Rotters could still show up when she least expected--they had a knack for doing that.  She wouldn’t have survived this long if she had ever let her guard all the way down.  Even now, she couldn’t decide if this stroke of luck with the scarcity in Rotters was invigorating or unsettling.

As she’d suspected, retracing her steps through town was even less eventful than when she’d foraged her way through it, with Mae only coming across the occasional Rotter here and there.  Perhaps something had drawn the attention of most of the infected to the other side of town, and that was where they all were?  Wherever they were, she wasn’t going to complain.  She was simply going to throw her pack into the back seat of the truck with the two gasoline tanks she’d filled yesterday, and head back home to get some rest.  After such a slow-going scavenging trip, she felt drained--the kind that came from constant disappointment and even some boredom.

Not to mention months since I saw another living person--and that was from a distance; I didn’t even get involved.  Didn’t like the look of them…

She was finally understanding the true horror of being driven to madness from isolation.  Talking to rotting corpses and the sky was only going to get her so far.

Dwelling on the thoughts of her own state of sanity only served to make her view the overall silence of the town as irksome, a scowl on her face when she reached the home garage she’d hidden her truck in while she scavenged around town, muttering unintelligible nonsense about a world record for the quiet game as she opened the back door and threw in her pack, slammed the back door shut, and climbed into the driver’s seat.

A glance at the fuel gage told her the four wheel drive vehicle only had a little less than half a tank left.  Enough to get her back home, but she’d have to fill up once she arrived.  At least she had two more tanks in the back seat.

She kept the windows down as she cruised back through the residential streets, partially to listen for any sounds of Rotters, and partially to let the cool breeze blessedly blow against her sweaty face.

With several streets left to go before the houses started spreading out instead of being so packed together, the edge of town mere minutes away, Mae finally heard the sound she’d been dreading.  The distant sound of an angry hive of snarling Rotters, growing closer with alarming speed.  She thought she heard it ahead of her and on her right, instinctively rolling up the passenger’s side window to keep Rotters from flinging themselves through the opening as her head turned towards the sound, eyes scanning her immediate surroundings as her foot put a little more pressure on the gas, ready to peel out of town the first visual sign she had of an approaching hoard.

Finally, her eyes spotted a roiling mass of bodies squeezing its way down one of the narrow alleys between homes, more in the next alley, and the next, and--

Mae’s foot was already pressing down on the gas to give the truck a burst of speed and race by the incoming hoard before she finished processing the sight of the second alley full of Rotters.  The idle wonder crossed her mind if it had been the sound of her truck which had drawn their attention--which didn’t seem likely to her--or something else.

A sudden thud and bounce of the truck bed, plus the brief flash of a shadow being cast over the truck, caused Mae to tap on the brake of her truck for the briefest second before survival instincts reminded her there was a hoard descending on her, and now was not the time to stop the truck.  But there could very well be a Rotter in her truck bed, and she did not want one of the infected to eat her while she was dri--

“Fuck!”

Rotters didn’t curse, especially not loud enough she could hear it in the driver’s seat as the truck shuddered from her momentary tap on the breaks and something seemed to violently shift in the truck bed.

Since the road ahead was temporarily open, Mae risked glancing back to see what was happening.

The survivalist in her noticed the terrifyingly sized hoard racing after her in a mass of unnaturally twitching bodies, with a few clinging to the edges of the truck bed and snapping their jaws furiously at something within.

The rest of her focused on the figure that was sitting up with its back to the truck’s cab, one hand removing itself from its place pressed against the back of the head of a man with black undercut hair, a black and green scarf tied around his face with the fabric covering everything below his eyes.

Steel grey blue eyes that, as his head turned just enough to regard Mae in the driver’s seat of the truck, focused on her with all it’s hardened intensity.

“Drive!”

Next Chapter --->

[highfivecalum]

Here With Me {LH} 3

Previous Chapters: One Two

***

“WELCOME TO BILLIE’S SHAKE SHACK!” An older man greeted Neena with a smile when she stepped inside of the small restaurant that was connected to the pier. Neena smiled and pushed her hair back, already annoyed with how her baby hairs were always in her face. “How many people? Just you?”

“I was actually wondering if you guys were hiring?” Neena asked. Neena read his name tag; Billie. He must have been the owner, Neena guessed.

“Well, a girl did just move away and left us short a server. You got any experience?”

Neena shrugged. “I was a waitress in high school.”

“Perfect. Can you start today? Preferably now?” Billie asked and Neena nodded with a small smile. She was glad to start so soon, glad to get out of her house and start finally making money and keep her mind preoccupied. “Great. Just fill this out. You’re already hired, since we’re short staffed, I just need you to fill this out so we have it on record.”

Billie handed Neena a sheet of paper and a pen and left her at the hostess table to fill the form out. She did so quickly, putting down the few jobs she had, but leaving out the phone numbers in case they called them. She didn’t want any ties to her old life in Michigan and putting the numbers to her old jobs was definitely a tie.

“Hiya,” Neena looked up at the sound of somebody else and pursed her lips at him. He was tan, as to be expected, and had dark hair and tattoos here and there on his skin. There was no denying that Neena thought he was attractive. She would have to be blind to not be able to see that. “Are you our new server?”

“I believe so,” Neena handed him the paper and pen and he happily took it.

“Calum, I’m gonna have you train,” Billie looked at the application for her name. “Miss Neena Compton here for the new server spot since Cara left. You gonna be okay with that?”

“Am I going to get a pay raise for this?” Calum cocked an eyebrow.

Billie rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Yeah, right. Dream on, kid. Just do it, will ya? We’re slow, you don’t have any tables and you’re not doing anything but sittin’ on your ass.”

Calum obliged and motioned for Neena to follow him to the back room. He dug through a few different bins before looking at her. “What size shirt do you wear? Small?” Neena nodded her head and Calum went back to digging. “Ah-ha!” He pulled out three different shirts; all short sleeved but different colors. “Okay, we have three colors; blue, white, and black. You get all three and we don’t have specific days for colors, so wear whichever one you want on whatever day you want. Got it?”

“Got it.” Neena nodded her head.

Calum showed Neena around the break room and gave her a locker for her to use when she worked. He introduced her to the other workers, whose names she knew she wouldn’t remember right away, and told her which table was which. The table closest to the hostess table was one and the one in the back of the restaurant was seven, and he told her to go clockwise. She didn’t quite understand it at first, but she knew she would figure out her own way of remembering which table was what.

“It’s pretty slow right now since lunch just ended, so we can just hang out here for a little bit,” Calum and Neena leaned against the bar area and Neena looked out at the ocean, smiling at how pretty it was and how good the salt water and sunscreen smelled. Neena made a mental note to call Michael or Amy and plan a beach day with them. “So, where are you from, Neena?”

Neena tore her eyes away from the water and looked at Calum. “Oh,uh, you know… just around.”

“Around?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“I move a lot,” Neena lied. “I’ve lived all over the midwest.”

“Well, where did you move here from?”

“A small city in Michigan.” Neena finally revealed. She wasn’t going to specify which city, not wanting to risk anything, whatever that anything may be, so her answer was brief.

“Why did you move here?”

Neena swallowed the lump in her throat thinking about it. She tried hard not to think about it, but it was usually the only thing on her mind. There was not a chance in hell that she was going to tell Calum, somebody she had just met and hour before, that she was running away from her past.

“Just needed a change.” Neena shrugged. “And I’ve never lived on the beach.”

“How did you pick this small town out of all of the places you could live?”

Neena didn’t have an answer. Her answer was that when she arrived at the bus stop she bought the ticket to the first place she saw on the board behind the man selling tickets. It wasn’t very logical, Neena knew that, but her brain wasn’t working right when she decided. She was too scared, too paranoid, and in too much of a hurry to think rationally or logically at the time.

“Question time is over,” Calum spoke up and nodded to the only table that was now occupied. The table in the back of Billie’s right in the corner with a perfect view of the ocean. Calum handed her an apron, a notepad, and a pen. “Your first table. Good luck.”

Neena took the pad and pen and nervously made her way over to the table. She recognized the little girl, but didn’t recognize the little boy or the man she was with. “Hi, welcome to Billie’s, what can I get started for you?”

Keely gasped. “Hi Neena!”

“Hi Keely,” Neena smiled at the girl. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m great! This is my daddy and brother!”

“Hi guys,” Neena smiled and locked eyes with Keely’s dad, her breath stilling in her throat at the sight of him. When Neena first saw him, she barely spared him a look, only seeing the broadness of his back, but now that she was looking straight into his eyes, she couldn’t believe how gorgeous he was and she could barely tear her eyes away from him. 

“Hi! I’m Finn!” The little boy, almost identical to Keely, smiled. “Me and Keely are twins!”

“Keely and I, Finn.” Their father spoke up, correcting his six year old’s grammar, and Neena’s eyes went back to him. She was surprised that her eyes even left him in the first place. If looks could kill, Neena would’ve been dead minutes ago. “Hi, I’m Luke. I’m their dad.”

I can tell, Neena wanted to say, but instead she just smiled and took their orders, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to form coherent words if she tried to speak to him. She ripped off the piece of paper and clipped it next to where the rest of the orders were, mostly take-out since the place was empty, safe for the one table Neena had.

She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. He was stunning. With long blonde curly hair, the brightest blue eyes that mirrored his children's, his broad shoulders, and the most gorgeous smile she had ever seen; it was nearly impossible for her to not stare at him. She felt like a creep for staring, but it was like no matter what, no matter how hard she tried, her eyes always ended up on him. Neena was happy that she didn’t have to give them their food. She was sure she would have dropped it all.

“You’re staring,” Calum hummed and Neena quickly averted her eyes from Luke to Calum. Her cheeks heated up when she saw the smirk on Calum’s face, but she tried to play it off. She hadn’t meant to get caught, but she was glad she was caught by Calum and not Luke himself.

“I am not! I was looking at the water.”

“I’m sure you were,” Calum laughed, but it faded into nothing and then his smile turned into a frown and Neena looked at him expectantly. Calum cleared his throat and lowered his voice, leaning closer to Neena as he spoke, “You know what happened to his wife, right?”

“No? Did she leave him or something?”

Calum shook his head sadly. “She died three years ago from cancer.”

“Oh,” Neena frowned and looked to Luke who was smiling widely at his kids. She knew what it was like to lose a loved one to cancer, with losing her mother and all, but Neena couldn’t imagine losing the love of her life or the person she had two beautiful kids with. Neena didn’t know Luke or his kids well, but her heart broke for them. “That’s so sad.”

“Yeah. It is.” Calum frowned at the memory of Luke, one of his close friends, when he found out his wife died. It tore him to pieces and Calum didn’t think that Luke would ever recover from it. But he did, slowly but surely, he did. “Luke is a close friend of mine. I’ve known him since he moved here a while back and it really took a toll on him.”

“I couldn’t imagine going through that.” Neena mumbled, her eyes never leaving the table that was filled with the very happy looking family. She then furrowed her eyebrows and turned to Calum. “Wait, if he’s such a good friend of yours, then why didn’t you take the table?”

Calum just shrugged and stood up to serve the people who had just walked in. “Wanted to see how you did on your first table. And he always stiffs me on my tips since we’re friends.”

“Or maybe it’s just because you’re an asshole.” Neena joked, already feeling close enough around him to joke around. Calum scoffed and rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile playing at his lips. She could feel herself being able to be good friends with Calum, which she was happy about, because Neena always like to befriend her coworkers. It made work so much more bearable.

“You already know me so well, Neena. I can tell we’re going to be great friends, you and I.” Calum winked and happily greeted and seated the couple that was waiting.

Neena laughed and spun around in her chair, catching Luke’s eye in the process, and he offered her a small smile. She returned it, finding it too hard not to with the way he looking at her, but when he looked away, Neena’s smile fell. She thought back to what Calum said, to how torn apart and heartbroken Luke was. Neena never would have guessed that he lost his wife, the mother of his children, with the way he smiled.

***

The knocking on Neena’s front door woke her from her much needed nap. She groaned and rolled out of bed, her bare feet padding against her wooden floors, and swung the door open. “Neena! Hi!” Amy stood before her, dressed in a nice dress and sandals. “Did I wake you?”

It seemed like Amy’s thing- to wake Neena up in the middle of a dead, much needed sleep. “Yeah, but it’s fine. What’s up?”

“Michael and I are going out with some friends. Do you want to come along? It’ll be really fun.”

Neena looked down at her outfit which consisted of pajamas and knew that she had bedhead and smeared eye makeup on her face. Going out sounded fun and Neena did want to go out on the town for the first time after living there for a little under a week, but she was nowhere near ready to go, and she didn’t want to make Michael and Amy wait.

“I have to get ready,” Neena told Amy. “But I’ll, uh, I’ll meet you there?”

“Perfect!” Amy cheered. “We’ll be at the Tin Roof. It’s a few buildings down from Billie’s.”

Neena knew where it was, but she had never been there, just walked past it a few times. Neena told Amy she would take a quick shower and get ready before meeting them there. Amy said they were meeting friends and Neena wasn’t in the best mood to meet new people, but it had to happen sooner or later.

An hour later and Neena was finally ready. It was chillier, so she settled on a pair of jeans and a blouse with her sandals, although walking in them in the dark would be a challenge, she didn’t want to wear her Nike's or the pair of combat boots she brought on a night out. Neena walked rather quickly, partly because she didn’t want to show up too late and because walking in the dark at night spooked her out, especially when she wasn’t too familiar with her surroundings.

“Neena!” Amy called her name once Neena stepped foot inside the crowded bar. She was surprised Amy spotted her right away, but she was glad she did. She would have rather not stood there looking like a lost puppy until she spotted the people she was meeting. “Over here!”

The bar was more like a tiki bar, but the roof instead of wood was tin, it was an open bar with only two walls on either side; one that was the bar and one with darts and a chalkboard on it. It was a strange little set up, but it seemed to a very popular bar, so Neena was going to give it a chance.

Neena made her way through the crowded bar, saying excuse me and apologizing if she bumped into somebody, and finally made it to the picnic table the group was sitting at. Neena recognized Amy, Michael, and Calum, but there were a few other people she wasn’t familiar with.

“Neena! Didn’t know you knew these two,” Calum smiled, pointing to Amy and Michael.

“We were her first friends here, Cal.” Amy bragged and stuck her tongue out at him. Calum simply rolled his eyes and lifted his drink up to Neena, even though she didn’t have one yet, and tipped it back. Neena wanted to go up to the bar to order herself a drink, but it was packed, so she decided on waiting until it cleared out a bit.

Thirty minutes of conversation and laughter, a familiar voice rang through Neena’s ears. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late. The sitter, like always, is not punctual.” Luke plopped down on the seat next to Calum, across from Neena, and she rolled her lips into her mouth. Neena was going to try really hard not to stare this time. She didn’t want to chance getting caught again, especially not by Luke.

“No problem, bro.” Calum clapped him on the back and Luke relaxed.

He looked around the table and his eyes widened just slightly when they landed on Neena, surprised that he hadn’t noticed her right when he arrived, who was staring out at the ocean that was lit up from the almost full moon. He took his lip in between his teeth and cleared his throat. “It’s Neena, right?”

Neena jumped in surprise, not expecting anybody to bring her into the conversation, and she smiled and nodded her head. “Yeah. Luke, right?” Like she even had to ask.

“That’s right,” Luke grinned and Neena found herself smiling along with him. His eyes glanced down at her hands that were laced together on top of the wooden picnic table and noticed the small rings on her fingers. He also noticed she was drink-less. Luke stood up, towering over everybody, and looked down at Neena. “I’m going to get a drink. Can I get you something?”

“Oh uh,” Neena glanced at Calum who was smiling into his beer glass and eyeing the two of them. Neena refrained from rolling her eyes and nodded her head. “Sure. I’ll just have a beer. Please.”

Luke nodded with a smile and sauntered off to the bar. Neena tore her eyes away from him and looked at Calum, who was already looking at her with a knowing smirk and Neena narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head while mouthing a what to him. Calum just shook his head, trying to fight the smile on his head, and Neena knew that it was going to be a long, long night.

***

Taglist: @cosmocalum​ @wrappedaroundcal @hereforlukescruff @glitterprincelu @astroashtonio @irwinkitten @irwinvalentines @kinglyhood @roselukes @swiftmusicinmymind @jetblackyoungblood @old-zeppelin-shirt @cantbehandled-ever @in-paper-dreams @kaxseychill @catchinqcalum @monsteramongmikey @calteahood @queen-of-daydreaming @alotof1dlove @mysteriouslycali @calssunflower @fallfrxmgrace @gosh-im-short 

[photograpia]

12 Japanese Pharmacy Favorites

A little self-care goes a long way.

I’ve been in medical school for about three and a half years now and am always worried about the effects of academic and adulting demands on my health. As much as possible, I try to schedule in at least half an hour everyday for quiet time for myself- taking care of my skin, my mental health, and preparing for sleep- what little of it can be had, anyway.

It has also been a blessing to find a second family in Japan in these last few years and through them, learned innovative ways to care for these concerns- just by picking up the right products in the drugstore! I often get asked about what products I would recommend to friends visiting Japan, and figured after forever to finally sit down and write a short list of my favorites. These are some things I highly recommend you pick up next time you find yourself in the land of the rising sun:

1. Perfect Whip: I’ve used this cleanser for almost 3 years now, and believe it does a great job at keeping my skin clean. It’s called perfect whip for a good reason- you take a dollop of the cleanser and whip it up with a little water until it looks like heavy whipped cream. Not sure about the precise science, but I do feel like the whip consistency is so much gentler on the skin. Also in photo: Perfect Double Wash, which I plan to try after my whip stash runs out. Hope it’s a good alternative to double cleansing with multiple products. 

2. COW Beauty Soap: I am very sensitive about scents in general, so when I find something that is subtle and not cloying but still smells clean, I stick to it. I was at a pharmacy in Chiba when I picked up my first blue box of Cow beauty soap. The Cow brand was founded in 1909 in Kyoshinsha, Japan, and has been an icon in Japanese hygiene since. It comes in two variants- rose (red box) and jasmine (blue box) and is loaded with great moisturizers like milk fat. This is the closest thing I’ve tried that makes your skin baby soft, and it’s at a great price point- only 108 yen.

3. Naturie Skin Conditioner: I am constantly in pursuit of the perfect toner that wont dry my skin out. This Hatomuji Toner is made of pearl barley or job’s tears, which has long been used for medicinal purposes. I like that it has kept my skin breakout-free since I’ve started using it, and am excited to try the skin conditioning gel- reminds me a lot of all the new hydrogels on the market. 

4. Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel: My mom and grandmother both look at least a decade younger than they actually are, and what they both attribute to this is coconut oil and sunblock. So when I entered my 20s, I decided early prevention was best and embarked on the mission to find the perfect sunscreen. I’ve tried almost 20 brands over the years, but finally found my matches in the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel and Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50 PA++++.  I have probably gone through four bottles of this since I first tried the watery gel and wear it all over every single day, even when I’m just working from home. I love that it has the absolute lightest consistency, doesn’t leave a white cast, and is protective against UVA and UVB rays. Holiest of the holy grail in my beauty regimen.

5. Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50 PA ++++. Unlike most sunscreens, this does not have alcohol in it, and for this reason it is what I use the most for my face. A little thicker than the Biore BUT much smoother in consistency, it is also light and leaves a nice dewy, glowy finish. This mermaid gel claims to have 85% of beneficial skin ingredients including hyaluronic acid, job’s tears, cherry leaf extract and other botanical extracts.

6. Shiseido Water in Lip Balm in Mint: I am the type of girl who keeps lip balm in every purse and the most intensively hydrating one by my bedside. I was using Vaseline’s lip treatment in Crème Brulee at night for a long time but was starting to get really annoyed with how greasy and tacky it left my lips in the morning. I bought the Water in Lip balm on my last trip to Japan and regretted immediately only having bought one. Intensely moisturizing, not greasy, and refreshing- my nightly regimen feels incomplete without reaching for this. Also makes for an excellent lipstick primer, especially when working with mattes. 

7. KAO Megurhythm Steam Hot Eye Mask: I am the type of person who has a really hard time sleeping on planes. It’s usually because I’m cold intolerant and simultaneously always so excited to travel, so I can end up watching an entire season of a new show or six films on a long haul. That all changed when I found these MAGICAL eye masks. They’re paper mask that you unfold over your eyes that magically give the effect of a hot towel without the wetness. So wonderfully relaxing, I can’t travel without them anymore.

8. Kincho Heating Pads: The ultimate dysmenorrhea buster, ensuring pain-free days and the nicest warmth in the most discreet way. I usually go all-natural for rough red days (my lavender heating pillow is a godsend) but when I’m in school or need to be out for long periods with no access to a kettle or microwave, these have become absolutely essential.

9. Kyusoku Jikan Cooling Leg and Food Gel Pads: On my very first trip to Japan, I was so excited to sightsee Osaka that I walked a total of 32,000 steps in a day. Naturally I came home with swollen ankles and sore legs, and could barely walk the next morning. I mustered the strength to walk to the nearby convenience store that morning with every intention of buying painkillers, but found this aqua box with refreshed looking legs on the packaging. I bought these Kyousoku Jikan Cooling Leg Pads instead, slapped them on the back of my calves, and proceeded to walk another 18,000 steps that day. 

It was like a miracle. Since then I always make sure to stock up on these. They’re incredibly effective- it’s like they suck the tiredness out of sore muscles. The Cooling Foot Gel Pads were a recent discovery on a trip to Tokyo. They work just like the leg pads, but have acupuncture points for the soles. Not going to lie, they feel like 100 tiny sharp points poking at your feet at the start (do not walk with them on), but they really do wonders for painful soles at the end of a long day. 

10. Kinomegumi Natural Foot Detox Relax Sheet Pads in Lavender: In the spirit of transparency- I don’t really believe in Japanese detox foot pads, or at least that strapping a pad to the sole of your foot can really rid your body of toxins. I do believe though in the power of both temperature regulation and aromatherapy, so the lavender pads’ claim to help with stress really does work in my case. Whether it’s because I sleep better when warm and cozy or am really susceptible to the calming effects of lavender I will never know, but what I am sure of is that these really help me sleep. 

11. Cough and Cold Warriors-Meiji Iodine Gargling Solution, Nazal Nasal Spray Pump, Nodonool Sore Throat Spray: Climate change in Manila is unkind to the allergy-prone, and can result in chronic sniffles. I personally am super atopic and have a ton of allergies, so I’ve learned to listen to my body and attack with preventive measures as soon as I can. Being a medstudent, I am also slowly realizing that it’s important to use medicine when really needed and according to prescribed use. So I am grateful to have found these more natural medicine cabinet staples that I really use at the onset of any attack of a cough or cold. 

12. Ammeltz Yoko Yoko and Cura Heat Patches: In many ways I am a Tita, but in many ways I am also a little old lady. At the onset of any muscle aches or spasms, my family has learned to reach for our bottles of Ammeltz Yoko Yoko, which has become as integral to our homeopathic home health care as Arnica gel used for bruises. For days when we lift too much and our weakened rotator cuffs- all injured from a myriad of events- act up, the Cura Heat Patches are perfectly designed to cover all the spots where lamig or those nasty lactic acid deposits settle in. 

All these can be bought in any Japanese pharmacy or drugstore. I’ve found that the best prices are at Don Quijote, Welcia Drugstore (Japan’s version of CVS, my personal favorite), or Matsumoto Kiyoshi. Avoid buying them at the airport or in tourist department stores as much as possible- prices tend to be significantly higher. 

If you’ve made it to the end of this list, I hope you’ve found something new to try! Would also appreciate recommendations- what are your favorite Japanese health or beauty buys?