#skipping in circles for like 3 hours everyday. feels weird.

[be-good-to-bugs]

im literally soooo normal

[ivybucky]

ice skates (s.r.)

prompt: steve’s never been ice skating but by the grace of gods you somehow manage to teach him

A/N: This is day 3 of the 12 Days of Winter fics event! I’ve always loved ice skating even though I’m horrible at it. I’m trying to take lessons though lmao. Cute Steve fluff for a cold day! Sorry if this is formatted weird, I had to do it all on my phone. A huge thank you to @nanners-the-great for giving me guidance in this fic - I could NOT do it without you. I’m also tagging @all1e23 cause I love her so much idk what I would do without her fics

Current Masterlist

12 Days of Winter event

author: abby

words: 1606

pairing: steve rogers x reader

song i’m listening to: please come home for christmas by the eagles

In the comfort of your living room, with fuzzy socks and a warm sweater, you watched the snow fall from the window of your New York apartment.

The mug of coffee in your hands was doing more to warm you than anything else. The less than freezing degree weather outside was making it difficult to stay warm in any capacity. The radio on playing “Please Come Home for Christmas” made you close your eyes in nostalgia. Winters spent with your family, making hot cocoa, being bundled up in coats, and ice skating slipped through your mind. In the middle of your thoughts, a familiar rap on your door broke the silence.

“Come in!” You called from the window, knowing all too well who it was. Steve walked in, shuffling his feet from the cold air.

“Hey Y/N,” he greeted, putting his scarf on the hook by your door. “I stopped by that market on 9th and got some of that soup you like if you want some.” He chuckled, setting the container on the counter. “Might not be warm, though.”

“Oooh,” you hummed, quickly setting your mug on the coffee table as you moved into the kitchen. You kissed his cheek, not missing the slight flush that flooded the area. “Thank you, Stevie. You’re the best.” You smiled.

Stevie just shrugged. “Anything for you, doll.”

Steve and your’s relationship continuously danced around the line of friends and something more. Ever since you unlocked the door to the apartment across the hall from his, you’d gotten real close. You loved to hear his stories about how things were before the war, and he loved getting to experience the modern life of New York with you. Everyday that he wasn’t on a mission, he was either at your apartment watching some “classic” movie he had never heard of or listening to music you had recommended. Everyday, you were helping him adjust more and more. Knowing you for over a year now, Steve had begun to realize just how much he enjoyed your company. Of course, he had always been a sweetheart and a gentleman in your eyes. Getting to know him more than just face of patriotism only made your attraction to him grow. Those dark nights after a mission gone wrong when he just needed someone to talk to, the times he had shown you his sketches of his teammates, and his extensive record collection were just all moments of Steve Rogers no one else got to see. And those moments were all beautiful in their own way.

“Well Steven,” you blushed at his comment. “What were you doing in Midtown anyways?”

“Oh ya know,” he waved his hand. “Tony’s having a big ole party for the holidays, of course, but ya know I hate those things. I thought if I went and got everybody gifts maybe he wouldn’t give me crap for skipping out.” You chuckled, moving your soup the microwave.

“What, not a fan of dancin’?” You teased.

“I love dancing, sweetheart,” he sassed. “Just don’t love dancing with the people who want to dance with me.” He gave you a small smirk, watching your lips slip up even higher into a shining smile.

“Oh? And just who would you love to dance with?”

“Oh ya know,” he waved his hand again as he stuttered. He looked down at the cup of coffee you had slipped his way and cleared his throat. “So uh, what are you doing today?”

You giggled at his nervousness, letting his answer slide. “I don’t know. Was thinking about going ice skating. I used to go all the time with my family when I was a kid. It’s been years since I’ve done it and I wanna get back into the swing of it.”

Steve smiled softly as memories glazed over your eyes. He hummed, already knowing what his plans for the day were. “Ya know,” he started, moving closer to you as he leaned against the counter. “I’ve never been ice skating before.”

_____

Within the next hour, you and Steve had finished your soup, changed into better clothes, and found yourselves in Central Park waiting just outside the ice rink.

“So why haven’t you gone skating before?” You pondered waiting in line to buy your entry. Steve chuckled and your arm wrapped around his at the elbow tightened.

“Well, you’ve seen pictures of me before the war,” he laughed. “I wasn’t exactly sturdy on my own legs, let alone skates.”

You giggled. “Well, I still woulda made you learn.”

As you the two of you got up to the booth, you reached for your wallet, only to be beat by Steve giving the attendant cash for the both of you.

“Steve!” You chided. “At least let me pay for myself.”

He just smiled at the man, before turning towards you holding out a hand. “Uh uh. I’ve got it, doll. Don’t worry.”

You clicked your tongue shaking your head, knowing arguing with him about chivalry was a lost cause. You followed him into the seats before the rink, slipping off your shoes and lacing up your skates. You could sense Steve’s nervousness as his feet wobbled in the skates when he was sitting down. Standing before him, you held both hands out to pull him up. You entered the rink smoothly, balance finding you quickly.

Steve’s hand grasped to the wall not wanting to let go of the sturdy base until he knew he wouldn’t fall on his ass. That hope diminished as soon as he stepped both feet on the ice, his body wobbling before landing on his rear. He heard your angelic giggle quickly slide up beside him.

“Don’t be afraid of the fall, Steve,” you smiled. “Embrace the fall. It’s the only way to learn.”

Steve smiled sheepishly, pushing himself up and taking your hand to steady his legs. “This is a lot harder than I was expecting.”

You laughed, “Yeah well, I’m gonna show you the ropes.”

After letting Steve go around the rink once or twice holding onto the wall, you convinced him to only hold your hand as he went around. He chuckled at his own shakiness.

“I didn’t know you were this good at skating, doll.”

You smiled softly as his hand tightened on yours. “A lot of people don’t know this,” you started letting yourself stray a small distance away, giggling as Steve quickly pulled you back to his side. “I used to want to be a figure skater. Before I had to start thinking about college and all that jazz, I dreamed of going to the Olympics and skating to my heart’s content.”

Steve smiled at your reminiscing. “Well go on show me whatcha got.”

“Oh no,” you shook your head. “I don’t think you could handle not holding onto me.”

“Alright, no need to be mean,” he chuckled. “Just go. I’ll hold onto the wall.”

Tentatively letting go of his hold, you broke away from the side of the rink. Gaining momentum, you quickly circled the inner part of the rink. Turning quickly into a jump, you twisted in the air and landed on one foot, perfecting an axel jump. Steve smiled widely as you quickly made your way back to him.

“Well damn sweetheart,” he chuckled as you pulled him away from the wall and put yourself in between the two. “If I had known I was skating with a professional, I would’ve asked for your autograph.”

You nudged him with your shoulder. “Oh hush.”

“I’m serious! That was amazing,” he complimented softly, hand tightening around yours for a different reason.

“Thank you, Steve,” you looked up with a soft smile and adoring eyes. Eyes soft, Steve cleared his throat.

“Gosh, I can’t even skate in a straight line by myself.” As if on cue, Steve’s skates seemed to trip over themselves and turned, pushing you against the wall with Steve pressed up against you. Your hands were still clasped at your sides.

His breath visibly entangled with yours in the cold air, noses almost touching. He could hear your heartbeat speed up at his closeness, your pupils dilated as they looked into his. He moved his free glove covered hand to cup your cheek. Slowly he moved towards you. You closed your eyes in preparation for the moment you had only dreamed of. Instead, his lips pressed against your forehead, rested there for a moment.

Steve was in the middle of mentally cursing himself for chickening out when you spoke up. “You missed,” you near whispered.

He pulled back, brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“You missed,” you smiled, blushing softly.

“I don’t underst-“ He began, but you cut him off by pressing your lips into his.

Chapped, but soft, his lips pressed against yours almost didn’t feel real. You let go of his hand to move yours to his neck, pressing him closer. His hand settled on your waist, slightly gripping your hip. His tongue swept against your bottom lip, asking for entrance. Soon your tongue was brushing against his, the small space in between you warming up with your combined body heat.

In a need for air, you broke away from his mouth, resting your forehead against his. Steve smiled sheepishly, noses bumping against each other. “Ya know,” he whispered breathlessly. “I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

“Hang of what?” You grinned, fingers softly combing through the hair at the base of his neck.

“This,” he stated confidently, cupping your cheek once more as his looked into your eyes. “Embracing the fall.”

And then he pressed his lips into yours once more.

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[foxghost]

鎮魂 Guardian [Zhen Hun] extra 3 full translation

No real spoilers in this one, just fluff and crack. [TN: the other extras are here, you may want to check out #4 for notes on names.] Original Chinese character count: 4363 English Translation + notes word count: 4042

===

Later, the Special Investigation Department moves away from 4 Bright Road to 9 University Road, just one pedestrian crossing away from Dragon City University.

Lin Jing lingers at their old address just before the move, reluctant to leave and goes around and around the empty office with his recently upgraded equipment — a long barrel SLR camera — and photographs every last detail; not even the cobwebs escapes his scrutiny. When he’s done, Lin Jing picks out the few he’s satisfied with and sends them to a magazine publisher, hoping to make a name for himself in the “Former Haunts” series.

Thus leading to the editor-in-chief of the magazine suffering a great blow to his delicate psyche.

The editor-in-chief ends up in the hospital over the incident, and reporting what they perceived as a 'malignant, intentional manufacturing of supernatural photographs for the purpose of scaring people" to the police. As familial shame cannot be spread abroad, Zhao-chu can only show his face and quietly settle things behind the scenes. When he comes back, he beats the crap out of that idiot fake monk in the path of his innocent gaze.

Eat, sleep, beat Lin Jing; the crew at 9 University Road finally fall back into their ordinary, everyday routine.

The accommodation at their new office is decadent to the extreme, with a sunny attic upstairs and a double cellar below. The second cellar houses their book collection, while the first cellar is a shrine-like space with a mahjong table surrounded by a circle of memorial tablets. During the day it provides a resting place for their ghost employees, and any individual suffering from insomnia can get up and play a round of mahjong.

… And so, during the day, one can often hear the sound of shuffling mahjong tiles from the mysteriously locked first cellar.

On the top floor, the attic is warm and bright with sunshine, painted with a thick layer of soundproofing paint; those who are tired can take a noon nap, and opening the windows affords one the view of the whole courtyard — unfortunately there is no beautiful scenery to be had.

Since members of the S.I.D. could not come to an agreement regarding a plan for the garden, there’s no unified theme. After they divided up the space, the courtyard has become a weird mixture of styles containing a little bit of everything.

Zhao Yunlan claims the entire rear courtyard for himself. With an oddly cultivated aesthetic that has nothing at all to do with the arts that he’s ignored his whole life through, he vetoes Zhu Hong’s favoured Japanese roses, vetoes Chu Shuzhi’s suggestion of vines, vetoes Lin Jing’s request of a Bodhi tree … ultimately planting an entire rear courtyard worth of vegetables.

There’s mini cole, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seedlings, pea sprouts, Chinese cedar sprouts … a veritable neighbourhood of assorted vegetables growing side by side. In the middle of it all stands a coquettish eggplant surrounded by all the other plants the way stars surround the moon.

[TN: 風騷茄子 / Coquettish Eggplant is a dish…this ia a pun.]

Zhao Yunlan hints that come winter he’ll even fill the entire rear courtyard with bok choi.

From then onwards, neither mortal nor ghost has played in the rear courtyard that has become a vegetable garden.

By the time Shen Wei finishes class, the sun has already begun inclining towards the west. It’s still warm outside, and the short stroll from school even counting the time it takes to wait for the light to change is only five, six minute at most.

The entire staff of the S.I.D. each holds a copy of Teacher Shen’s class schedule. They wait eagerly for his arrival daily as one watches for the stars and the moon. There was once a time that the soldiers skipping out on work along with the leader was routine, because when the ceiling beams are crooked the pillars came along; since their leader Zhao Yunlan stopped messing around and started calmly spending all his days in the office like a hermit though, those days are long gone.

In this respect, everyone feels a little depressed, even in light of their new surroundings.

Yet when Teacher Shen arrives he can always swiftly take the leader away. And if the leader is gone, naturally it implies that everyone else can leave work early as well.

As he steps through the door, Shen Wei is greeted by countless “good day Teacher Shen” and “good work Teacher Shen” and many more besides along with such fervent looks from everyone that it’s borderline like the staff are held in enemy territory awaiting a liberating army. Shen Wei finds it hard to adapt to this at first, but as time goes by he’s no longer fazed by all the attention.

Guo Changcheng is zoning out, Zhu Hong is doing some online stopping, Chu Shuzhi is watching the candlestick graph, Lin Jing is tinkering with a new model of wiretapping device: a fish scale-like thing the size of a girl’s fingernail that turns invisible and records in secret once it sticks to anything.

Black cat Daqing nests on the staircase handrail, waving his tail at Shen Wei. “He’s in the attic.”

Shen Wei makes an approving hum, nods as he says “Thank you,” but when he’s just about to pass by, he lifts a brow slightly and glances at Daqing. “Be careful, don’t fall off now.”

… The handrail only looks half as big as Daqing’s stomach. The way he’s lying prone on top of it looks extremely weird.

Daqing stares blankly for a full second, then with a wail he turns into an angry furball. “I’m practicing—Yo—ga! What’s wrong with practicing yoga? You got a problem with that?”

Keeping a smile on his face, Shen Wei reaches out to stroke his head, and goes upstairs.

Daqing furiously drapes himself back down on the handrail. Lin Jing asks, teasing, “Aiyoh, little princeling Daqing, which yoga pose are you practicing?”

Daqing says after a pause, “Cat pose.”

Those who follow the Way never lies, so goes the doctrine. Lin Jing appropriately shows his evaluation with a peal of laughter.

… As a result he gained two new bloody scratches on his face. The wiretap in his hand goes flying towards destination unknown, turning invisible.

Lao-Li, who’s always appearing without a sound and vanishing without a trace, appears now to quietly supply cotton swabs and bandages as if he’s the hapless master responsible for the aftermath of his cat’s crimes. Yet the cat has no appreciation for his love at all, and doesn’t bother with even a snort as he jumps off the railing into a cat stretch and leaving the scene.

There are times when such a thing as love is like a fragile pane of glass. It doesn’t matter what kind of love it is: nothing can glue it back together after it shatters, even if the ones involved no longer cared, even if they have already chosen to forgive.

That’s why a person should be faithful to oneself unto death. Whether choosing to be so selfish as to hurt countless without regrets, or to cherish another’s affection from the beginning, even at the risk of looking like a fool.

Shen Wei pushes open the door to the top floor lightly. There’s a sofa bed in the attic situated for a full day of sunlight, and Zhao Yunlan naps there with a blanket thrown across his waist, fingers still trapped between the pages of a book in his hands.

Shen Wei approaches quietly, stooping to kiss him lightly on the lips. Zhao Yunlan doesn’t bother opening his eyes, he hums lazily with sleep and says, “You’re done with class?”

Shen Wei answers with an agreeing noise, reaching out to prop up Zhao Yunlan by his back so he can sit down. “Wake up a little. It’s not early anymore, and if you fall asleep again you won’t be able to sleep later.”

Zhao Yunlan takes advantage of the shift in position to lie down on Shen Wei’s thighs. Yawning, he says blearily, “I didn’t actually want to sleep.”

With half-lidded eyes he waves the “Vegetable Planting Techniques” in his hands and grumbles, “I’m telling you, this book has to be cursed. I can’t ever get to the first chapter. Just the forward is enough to knock someone out. I only made it to the 8th page now and I’m still stuck in the introduction.”

Shen Wei picks it up and flips through its pages. It’s a textbook from the agricultural university, and not a single centimetre of white space is wasted — even the pictures are black and white and so serious it has no entertainment value whatsoever. Shen Wei puts it aside and says without thinking, “Why do you bother reading it? If luck’s on their side, whichever seed you sow may even chance into a refined essence and become Yao. There is no chance that any of them wouldn’t grow.”

Zhao Yunlan says, “No, only science and technology is the primary productive force.”

[TN. he’s quoting fundamental principle of Marxism here so that’s why SW makes fun of him.]

Shen Wei says after a pause, “Why don’t you go back to study science and technology then.”

Zhao Yunlan rolls his eyes, and harbouring ulterior motives, says, “The primary productive force and I are jinxed. It reduces me to sleep in a single glance.”

[TN. 犯克 roughly means “it disagrees with my birth hour.” So it does mean jinxed, but with him ONLY.]

Shen Wei looks down, discovering that whatever sleepiness in Zhao Yunlan’s pitch black eyes have already evaporated, and they stare up at him with wordless amusement.

Zhao Yunlan reaches around so he’s holding Shen Wei by the waist. “If I can’t keep reading, then I’ll forget my meals, my mood will plunge, and if it goes on any longer I’ll fall into a depression!”

Shen Wei just looks at him without saying a word.

One lie after another comes out of Zhao Yunlan’s mouth. “Listen, the suicide rate is really high in Northern Europe because the cold climate leads to depression. Kunlun mountain is covered in ice and snow that never melts — it doesn’t even have heat, so my bones must carry the genes for depression.”

Shen Wei is silent for a time before saying, “You must forgive my inability to see this.”

Zhao Yunlan says, “You must not love me anymore! You … man of easy virtue!”

[TN. ZYL says SW has a “nature as ever changing as running water and alights on all like flower petals,” and it’s usually a phrase meaning ‘fickle woman.’]

Shen Wei pushes at his temple as if to hold back a headache. “Stop acting so spoiled. What would you like?”

Zhao Yunlan laughs a mischievous laugh, revealing a row of neat white teeth.

“Fine. I’ll read it to you when we get home,” Shen Wei says, helplessly gentle, before uncomfortably averting his gaze. “But if you’re going to listen, then be good and listen. If you get drowsy listening then sleep. You’re not allowed to mess around.”

His ears are taking on a flush, and he looks like a half-willing young bride that’s just been picked on by an evil tyrant taking liberties, only half-willing because he’s left without a choice.

Zhao Yunlan grabs hold of Shen Wei’s collar indignantly and pulls him closer. “Can I trouble you not to be such a pure white lotus okay baby? From the fucking moment we met 'til now have I ever successfully taken a single dime of advantage of you … fine I’ll admit I’ve had more criminal attempts, but I haven’t any criminal reality!”

Shen Wei hastens to placate him. “Okay okay okay, get up. Let’s go home.”

“I can’t.” Zhao Yunlan turns his face to the side, expressionless. “The muscles in my lower back are strained.”

Shen Wei says softly, bashful, “Then should I carry you?”

Zhao Yunlan takes a look at him in silence, and stands up in silence. He finds that his back doesn’t hurt at all anymore — but he does feel a pang in his stomach.

As soon as they step through the front door, the rest of the staff scatter like birds and beasts. Zhu Hong’s the first to slip out, with Lin Jing closely following. Chu Shuzhi pours himself a cup of cheap tea, holding fast until the stock market closes before leisurely putting things away. As he’s about to go he raises his head to discover that Guo Changcheng still hasn’t left yet.

[TN. 茶水 / cha shui / lit. tea water / cheap tea is the kind of tea you get in diners, usually ceylon, comes in a plastic cup, made with cheaper leaves and brewed bulk in a metal dispenser.]

The room is empty save for them. Guo Changcheng sitting there staring into space without a word looks like a painted stage set, dazed to distraction. Chu Shuzhi asks casually, “Why haven’t you left yet?”

As if shaken from a dream, Guo Changcheng trembles violently and bumps the water-dwelling plant, spilling it all over his desk.

Chu Shuzhi subconsciously reaches for his own face; suspecting that maybe he’s been slack in the cultivation of his arts and his livor-mortis is showing, somehow managing to scare this unfortunate child until he’s beside himself.

Guo Changcheng stammers, “I um I’m leaving,” and cleans up in a flurry of activity.

Chu Shuzhi can read body language well enough, so he asks, “Are you planning to go bomb a bunker? Why do you look like you’re going to war?”

If Guo Changcheng has a pair of dog ears, he guesses now they would be drooping.

Twenty minutes later, the two emerge from 9 University Road with Chu Shuzhi furrowing his brow and coming to a conclusion. “That is to say, your second uncle wants you to go to a xiangqin.”

[TN. 相親 / Xiangqin. A marriage interview arranged by a matchmaker. A direct equivalent is the Japanese o-miai. The characters mean mutual-intimacy.]

A spray of sparks explodes out of Guo Changcheng’s pocket.

Chu Shuzhi quickly sidesteps. “Watch it. What’s with the groundless worry? Is this girl you’re meeting a tigress?”

To avoid setting his pants on fire, Guo Changcheng hurriedly takes the stun baton out of his pocket, but that only attracts the attention of passersby instead; they don’t even manage to make it to the parking lot before the traffic cop at the crosswalk yells at them, “What’s going on? You can’t set off fireworks within city limits! Where’s your sense of civic responsibility?”

Chu Shuzhi silently covers his face and pretends to look up at the sky.

The lich king is reclusive and detached; aside from the occasional garrulous words he exchanges with acquaintances, his entire person gives off an aura of do not approach， so he’s often lonely in the cold emptiness of his life. Outside of cultivating his essence, he has little to do in the long hours outside of work, leaving his well-hidden desire to gossip eternally unsatisfied. He feels a sudden curiosity of how this human custom of xiangqin is conducted, and with a tone like he’s volunteering to join a war, he says, “Ok, stop spraying fireworks. You’ll get a fine. Why don’t we do this — I’ll sit by you pretending to be just another customer the whole time for your xiangqin, alright?”

[TN. 屍王 / lit. corpse king. I suppose it could also read “necromancer” but he’s a corpse himself, so closer to a lich.]

Guo Changcheng gives him a tortured look, and from Chu Shuzhi’s solemn face he can just glean a hint of the curiosity of a gossiping fishwife.

They arrive more than thirty minutes earlier than the appointed time, and it’s only after Chu Shuzhi flip through an entire old magazine to pass the time before the girl arrives.

Chu Shuzhi looks on as Guo Changcheng freezes solidly into a human stick, and thinks with some amazement that he hasn’t seen a mortal with such great potential to become a jianshi for many years.

[TN. 人棍 / human stick is actually a brutal ancient torture that’s best not described here. CSZ uses some harsh language in his head…

殭屍 / Jiangshi / what Chu Shuzhi is, is a culturally unique mythological creature that originated from the way undertakers were said to have ordered corpses to jump as they led the dead back to their hometowns for burial. Depending on the telling, they eat flesh, drink blood, sleep in coffins, fear the sun, and only in some stories do they have minds of their own.]

Chu Shuzhi moves his gaze downwards, finding Guo Changcheng’s pant cuffs shaking uncontrollably, his entire body resembling a quail that found itself falling heavily on its ass on broken glass. He congratulates himself for confiscating Guo Changcheng’s little stun baton beforehand, otherwise he’s sure the young lady’s perfectly ironed straight fringe would have been fried immediately into natural curls.

“Oh, come on. Grow up,” Chu Zhushi thinks, feeling rather disappointed on his behalf.

Fortunately, the young lady has a good temperament, and doesn’t go on Weibo on the spot to start a post titled, “Ran into someone outrageous at the xiangqin” as a souvenir. Instead she confidently attempts to keep the conversation going by cycling through a list of seemingly endless topics. From the start Guo Changcheng acts exactly like a criminal at a trial, whatever question thrown his way he must tremble thrice, all the while sending a continuous distress signal in Chu Shuzhi’s direction. Unfortunately Chu Shuzhi feigns interest in the menu and is utterly unreceptive.

Ten minutes of trembling later, the lady finally can’t help asking, “You … are you a little nervous?”

Guo Changcheng, red all over, nods at her.

The lady smiles a little. “It’s not important. We’re only having a casual chat.”

Guo Changcheng, still red all over, nods again, and carefully gives her a single glance before looking extremely ill at ease, turning his gaze away.

Normally when coming across someone that can’t even speak clearly, the other side would flip desk and leave, but this young lady who’s come to this xiangqin seem to have an odd weakness. Facing someone like Guo Changcheng, a sense of protectiveness inexplicably grows in her heart.

“I think you’re just like Raj from the Big Bang Theory,” she says happily. “Especially cute — my aunt says you’re a police officer. Really?”

Guo Changcheng makes a sound of agreement that comes off like a mosquito’s hum.

The lady says, “Really! I can’t tell at all. Then what do you do normally when you meet a bad person?”

Guo Changcheng spends a moment recalling, then truthfully illustrates just how he catches ‘bad people.’ He makes a clawing gesture, pretending to pick up his ‘secret weapon’ and says, “Just like this, and I tell, tell it, ‘you you you you you can’t come over here,’ and then I catch them.”

The lady stares at him blankly a second, and realising that it’s possibly a joke, she laughs, swaying back in forth in her mirth. “You’re just too cute!”

With naive eyes Guo Changcheng stares at her, utterly clueless.

Chu Shuzhi watches with his cheek in his hand and all the coolness of a bystander. When he thinks back on what they actually get up to during work, he does manage to find a hint of what one may call ‘adorkable.’ As he takes another look at the still happy girl and the utterly out-of-form Guo Changcheng, he glances at his watch. It’s starting to feel rather dull sitting here.

But once these two start chatting they seem to go on and on; Chu Shuzhi reins in his impatience, takes out his phone and plays games for ages until his vision’s starting to blur and he can’t take anymore. He waves at the waiter, “Ready to order.”

The waiter diligently comes over only to hear Chu Shuzhi say in a quiet and eerie voice, “One order of Kung Pao chicken, make sure the meat is only three parts done and still bloody.”

The waiter is silent.

Guo Changcheng overhears this from across the room and immediate turn around to glance at Chu Shuzhi, recognizes the gloomy corpse-like scowl on the lich (corpse) king and finally realises that he’s gotten carried away.

But while he racks his brains trying to wrap up the conversation, the other side suddenly goes from easy to stern and says to him, “Oh, right, actually I still want to say that …”

She pauses then, as if what she wants to say may be too embarrassing to mention.

Guo Changcheng asks, “What is it?”

The lady stares down at her lap and seems to think for a moment before saying, “This is our first meeting, so it’s probably not appropriate for me to be saying this, but I really do like you quite a bit …”

Guo changcheng sits as straight and stiff as a red Songhum tree — even his eyes seem to turn vertical.

She continues to say, “So there is something I want to say before anything else. I didn’t really want to come here today at first because my aunt said you were a criminal police officer. I don’t think living with a cop is especially stable, really. Everyday I’d have to be on edge all the time thinking about how you are, and as time goes on,” she trails off then, sighing. “Is this line of work something you must do?”

Guo Changcheng stares blankly for a second, and before he’s able to answer, a hand grabs onto his shoulder without any warning, hauling him right up from his seat.

Guo Changcheng says, “Chu-ge?”

It’s too sudden for the lady at her xiangqing to react, and her gaze at Chu Shuzhi shows no reaction.

Chu Shuzhi gives her a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, before his attention shifts down towards Guo Changcheng, and he says with a tone that’s meant to cause confusion, “A Xiangqing behind my back? Why, you certainly have such gall!”

Guo Changcheng is shocked to silence.

What, what is this situation?

The lady’s eyes widen, captivated, completely in awe of the lich king’s aura and this utterly contrived plot. Chu Shuzhi reaches into Guo Changcheng’s pocket, digs out a few Renminbi bills and leaves them beneath a cup. Without another word of explanation, he stuffs Guo Changcheng beneath one arm and carries him out.

[TN. Renminbi, lit. The People’s money, the cash of the PRC.]

Guo Changcheng BSOD on scene and remains unresponsive until Chu Shuzhi stuffs him into the car. Chu Shuzhi stretches out his legs, and like an arrogant master of old, commands, “Start the car. Drop me off first.”

Guo Changcheng telegraphs ten thousand emotions tied up in knots in a single glance.

Chu Shuzhi says, “What are you glaring for, I’m doing this for her sake. To think she would dream up an idea like that, go digging at Kunlun-jun’s foundations. Really…”

[TN. 挖牆腳 - lit. dig at the foot of a wall. Applicable both in the case of someone seducing your husband or a competitor trying to lure away an employee.]

His speech halts, and a phrase comes to him unbidden like good fortune. He blurts out, "Stupid humans.

…Stupid human Guo Changcheng doesn’t say anything, and with his face still bright red, he silently starts the car.

On his satchel, a little round disc that resembles a scale invisibly transmits.

The next day, a rumour seem to spring up from everywhere at once: Chu-ge and Xiao-Guo’s gone steady, 9 University Rd is a nest for gays.

[TN. 搞大象 lit. setup-big-elephant. It came from 搞對象 lit. setup a partner. It’s just slang to replace the middle character with 大 / big, or 小 / small to indicate whether the partner is serious or casual.]

And what’s become of the person unfortunate enough to hear something he should not have, the Lin Jing who spread the rumours?

Oh, may the lord Buddha preserve us, he’s gained so many bumps on his head it’s wrapped in enough bandages to resemble a turban.

===

Much thanks to @lifeishwaiting for the final once over.

I’ve been sitting on this draft forever trying to get around the couple of derogatory terms the author used, and I did change them above, so I’ll note them here:

Raj from BBT was referred to as “The little Indian from BBT”

The last line used 印度阿三 and here’s the Baidu entry. I ended up using “turban” instead because it’s what she really meant as a description, and it’s a word used in Chinese history — think “Yellow Turban Rebellion” before the Three Kingdoms period.

[earnian]

Uneven numbers!

(1) Do You Sleep With Your Closet Doors Open Or Closed?

It’s literally always open :9. There’s no doors on them

(3) Can You Whistle?

Yes

(5) What Is Your Favourite Colour?

Yellow. I love yellow, it’s so happy :).

(7) What Is The Temperature Right Now?

2 C outside right now, 20 in the house.

(9) How Many Followers?

169, but I’m 90% sure, that 140 of them are just porn bots.

(11) What Is Your Eye Colour?

Hazel-Grey.

(13) Do You Sing In The Shower?

Depends on the day, and where my shower thoughts bring me.

(15) Grab The Book Nearest To You, Turn To Page 64, Give Me Line 14

“Abra can’t actually attack, but when you can escape bullies this easily, why bother?” -The official Pokemon handbook 1999

(17) Last Person You Cried In Front Of?

My best friend, Briar.

(19) What Did You Have For Lunch?

I didn’t eat today cause it’s only 4:20am, but yesterday I had a mixture where I made myself spaghetti, once cooked, I made some chicken noodle soup, put real chicken in with it, some peppers, mushroom, and some garlic powder, when fully cooked, I pour it on top of the spaghetti. Eat with fork and spoon. It un-dry’s the spaghetti, and gives it the chicken noodle flavour. Makes pasta less boring in my opinion :).

(21) Favourite Animal?

Ferret.

(23) What Time Do You Usually Go To Bed?

I have an unfit schedule, but I try my absolute best to sleep between the times of midnight and 2am.

(25) Do You Prefer To Swim In A Pool Or The Ocean?

Pool, I’m afraid of beds of water.

(27) Bottled Water Or Tap Water?

Honestly, as long as the tap water is proven safe and fine, either or. Depends on the taste to be honest.(I’m a picky water drinker.)

(29) Post A Gif Of What You’re Currently Feeling Right Now.

(31) Dogs Or Cats?

Animals

(33) PlayStation Or Xbox.

I’m a nintendo boy, but honestly, I’ve played much more playstation than xbox. I also enjoy a lot more playstation games over the years.

(35) Do You Believe In Magic?

Show me some. I’ve never seen magic IRL.

(37) Can You Curl Your Tongue?

Like flip your tongue over? I can flip it in every direction, haha. I can also do something really gross with it, but that’s another story ;-).

(39) Is There Anything Pink Within 10 Feet Of You?

Actually, no.

(41) Have You Ever Caught A Butterfly?

I haven’t cause I heard that if you touch a butterfly’s wings, they can die from it :(. (Might of been a moth, but I don’t want to risk it.)

(43) Do You Have Strange Dreams?

Literally everyday. Man, if someone asked me what type of dream I had everyday, I’d probably be one of those weird blogs that gets blocked LOL. My dreams are messed up.

(45) Name One Movie That Made You Cry.

8 Below, My dog skip, Hachi,

(47) If I Handed You A Concert Ticket Right Now, Who Would You Want The Performer To Be?

I’d just honestly be happy that you chose me to go to a concert with.

(49) Are You A Heavy Sleeper?

Very heavy to an extent.

(51) Do You Like To Read / Write?

Uhh, I love writing to people who what I write might influence or inspire them. I love reading things that show people care.

(53) Would You Rather Carve Pumpkins Or Wrap Presents?

Wrap presents, cause it’s for someone else.

(55) What Season Are You In Right Now? (Weather)

Snow, Winter, Christmas.

(57) Post A Screenshot Of Your Tumblr Feed.

I think that’s what it’s asking for. The 2 new followers are porn blogs if you’re curious, haha :9.

(59) Coffee Or Tea?

Teaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

(61) What Is Your Sexuality?

I really don’t like labels, I find people should just love whatever they love. But I do like all males.

(63) Favourite Pokemon?

Caterpie.

(65) What’s Your Opinion On Instagram Stories?

I don’t use instagram much at all, I don’t really know what it is. I don’t find I look good enough for an instagram.

(67) Are You A Virgin?

Yes

(69) If You Were Far From Home And Needed To Sleep For The Night, Would You Choose To Rent A Crappy Motel Room For $60 Or Sleep In Your Car For Free?

Isn’t sleeping in your car illegal? Can’t you get a fine for doing that. I’d probably find a motel.

(71)  Whats The Next Movie You Want To See In Theaters?

Deadpool 2? I don’t watch a lot of movies. The most recent movie I’ve wanted to watch and am excited for is “Thelma”, but I can’t find anywhere to watch/Download it.

(73) What Is Your Favourite Quote Right Now?

“Whoever threw that paper, ya mom’s a hoe.” -Vine- (My roommate is a bad influence, haha.)

(75) Did You Like Swinging As A Child? Do You Still Get Excited When You See A Swing Set?

YES. Almost every time I see a swing set, I yell “SWING.” and start swinging. If I move from my house, I hope there’s a swing set nearby. 

(77) What Games Do You Have On Your Phone?

Sudoku. I’m an old fart, hehe.

(79) Been On The Computer For 5 Hours Straight?

5 hours? 50 hours? Who’s counting, I’m on it to waste time ;-).

(81) Do You Like Meeting New People?

I actually do, sure it’s scary, and I hate how I don’t know the person, so I’ll never know their judgement on me. But meeting a new person that might build into someone is what I like. I actually wouldn’t mind meeting new people. Just having people around.

(83) Do You Sleep With Your Bedroom Door Open Or Closed?

Depends on the day, sometimes yes, sometimes no. It makes no difference with me. I’m getting myself to be open to as many things as possible, so if I ever one day meet someone, I wont have troubles adjusting. :).

(85) What Do You Wear To Bed?

Depends on the day, Sometimes I sleep in just my boxers, sometimes PJ’s,

(87) Are You A Day Or Night Person?

Both honestly, if someone is willing to hang out with me, no time is a bad time :).

(89) Tell Me About A Dream That You Had And When It Happened.

OH BOY, I’ll just tell a short one for now. Once I had a dream where I was being chased by this fox, The whole town had been run down by a bunch of bandits and everyone including my parents were slaughtered. I ran into the forest where the fox spotted me alone and scared and just chased me headstrong. I was quickly running low on stamina and started slowing down. The fox realized this and started circling, getting closer and closer. Eventually I dropped from the adrenaline stopping and the fox was pretty much next to me, sniffing me. I wailed my arms to try to shoo it away, but every time I wailed, I heard the snipping of the fox’ mouth trying for my arm, so I stopped. A short distance from behind me, I heard a growl, a husky low toned growl. the fox continued to playfully jump, as if it was joyful. Toying with it’s prey. Then a whimper’d thunk came from the direction of the fox, and I hear tumbling a short distance away. I look up and this giant ass bear is standing in front of me. I cover my neck and drop my head back down, but the bear bit his teeth into my head and started violently shaking it. I woke up in a panic where my head was shaking like crazy, felt like I was having a seizure.

(91) What Sounds Are Your Favourite?

I absolutely love the sound of other people’s voices. I just LOVE it. it makes me so happy to hear another person’s voice and range. ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE

(93) How Do You Look Right Now?

Like someone who lost something, and looks happy on the outside though, but you know there’s still something wrong with them.

(95) What Tattoo Do You Want?

Never really wanted a tattoo.

Thank you so much for playing! And in case this was the same person and just wanted the odd of the same post I did before, The answer to those are underneath. Sorry everyone for making a long post, :(.

1:   What are you wearing?

PJ’s and Socks

3:   Ever had a terrible breakup?

No, but I did have to end a relation with someone cause they thought we were dating and I told them I was gay. :(

5:   How much do you weigh?

... 99-109 pounds...

7:   Any piercings that you want?

One on the eyebrow, but I think that’s it.

9:   Favorite Show?

I wont include anime in this, so favorite show would have to be Over the Garden Wall? I watch it every year during halloween time.

11:   Something you miss?

Hanging out with people without it having to do with video games.

13:   How old are you?

22

15:   Hair Color?

Brown highlighted, Natural.

17:   Favorite singer?

Uhhh, I’m not much for listening to music with vocals, but I LOVE amy lee’s voice.

19:   Loud music or soft?

Either or. No preference.

21:   How long does it take you to shower?

Depends on how long my brain wants me to process conversations I’ll never have.

23:   Ever been in a physical fight?

Been in one? No, I’ve seen one in front of my eyes though... the anxiety is terrifying.

25:   Turn off?

Hypocrisy.

27:   Fears?

Being alone

29:   Last time you cried?

1 month ago actually.

31:   Last book you read?

The Official Pokemon handbook

33:   Last show you watched?

I’m currently watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

35:   The relationship between you and the person you last texted?

It’s my mom B).

37:   Place you want to visit?

I’ve never really been outside of the small area I live in, so I never actually put thought in this. The world is large and scary, I don’t know to be honest.

39:   Do you have a crush?

6 of them, in the fridge B).

41:   Last time you were insulted and what was it?

3 months ago. Briar told me to fuck off.

43:   What color shirt are you wearing?

Skin colour. Heh

45:   Wearing any bracelets?

Yes actually, my mom made me it. And I love it :). I wear it everyday. I also have 2 hairbands, always.

47:   Last song you sang?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2OYcgr4rM Me and my friend love the part where it goes “WaterWaterWaterWaterWaterWaterWaterWater” Besides that we hate the song LOL.

49:   Last time you hung out with anyone?

Yresterday? I played Tales of Berseria with Briar.

Thank you so much for playing

[that-sun-eyed-girl]

You can’t buy happiness...

...but you can buy ice cream during golden hour at a music festival, which is close enough to me 🌞🎶💜

Also I wrote a thing for World Mental Health Day:

An Unabridged Account of My Battle with Anxiety

(aka why World Mental Health Day is important to me)

Hello! My name is Laurin.  I’m a 24-year-old Registered Nurse currently living in the Washington DC area.  I was born in Tokyo, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, went to college in Philly, and have traveled many places in between.  In my spare time I like to take pictures, go on food adventures, travel and explore new cities, and attend music shows and festivals.

Oh, and I’ve been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.

It’s hard to pinpoint when I started having “a problem.”  I grew up in a stereotypical Asian household where academics were emphasized and emotions were minimally expressed.  My dad was sick growing up, so that added to my everyday stress of juggling rigorous classes and teenage hormones.  I started having sleeping problems when I was 14 or so.  I would toss and turn in bed for hours, and eventually give up to surf the web and watch YouTube videos.  I felt tired all the time, but never felt like I could get enough sleep even if I had the chance to.

I do remember when I first felt depressed.  It was my sophomore year fall: my dad ended up in the hospital for a few weeks because the doctors were trying to decide what kind of medication regimen to safely put him on.  To add to that, my grades dropped slightly, and the boy I liked at the time was giving me a hard time (looking back, the latter was pretty silly).  I remember rolling around in bed and crying, telling myself that I couldn’t physically hurt myself because my aunt had committed suicide a few years back and it destroyed my mom.  Internally though, I was a mess and didn’t know who to turn to.  Eventually, my dad came home, my grades came back up, and I found a new boy to crush on (lol), so the dark feelings went away.

As much as I love my parents, I felt so alone whenever I had these emotional breakdowns.  Sometimes they were the root of the problem, like when my mom would scream (or worse, be passive aggressive) about my grades and responsibilities.  Most times, I felt like it was easier to close myself off and just “push through.”

When it came to apply to colleges, I was ready to be independent and literally only looked into schools at least 200 miles away from my house.  I really wanted to go to UCLA because it was far enough that I could be on my own, so I cried for a week straight when I received the rejection letter in my email inbox.  A few weeks later, I checked my Penn application portal, and found out that I had been accepted into a “top 10 school.”

I couldn’t believe it.  My mom set high standards for me growing up and never praised me for my grades, so I always assumed I wasn’t good enough for an Ivy League school.  In fact, I only had applied because my college counselor said that I had a good chance with my profile.  After the initial excitement, I pondered for weeks if I was indeed “good enough” to go to such a difficult school.  I ended up signing my acceptance on the last possible day to do so, mostly because my parents pressured me to.

My first few semesters at Penn went well.  I made friends, especially after I joined a sorority, and got decent grades.  For the most part I was happy.  I still struggled with anxiety-induced insomnia, especially if I received a bad mark on an assignment or exam, but managed to handle everything okay.

Then one day my sister called me and said that our dad fell, hit his head, and ended up in the ICU.

I couldn’t believe it at first.  My dad’s health was declining since I graduated high school, but he was still so happy and could function independently for the most part.   He couldn’t drive anymore, which was difficult for him since we lived in the suburbs, but he always found a way to go exercise and meet up with his friends.  How could my dad, who already outlived his prognosis by over 5 years, be so sick suddenly?

I immediately fell into “hibernation mode.” I was sleeping over 13 hours at a time, and would only wake up to eat and attempt to study.  And by “studying,” I mean “staring at my textbooks hoping that I would absorb any information.”  This happened right before my finals, and I ended up having to ask my professors for extensions because I couldn’t even get out of bed.  I remember my friends telling me that they thought it was unfair that I got to take my finals after Winter Break since physically I looked fine, which made me feel worse about everything.

The rest of that year is honestly a blur.  My dad was in and out of the hospital and hospice care, and I felt helpless since I was over 3000 miles away from home.  I got a D on my second pharmacology exam and asked my academic advisor if I could drop the course and take it over the summer.  She told me that since the class was only offered once a year, if I were to drop the course, I would have to take two semesters off and delay my graduation.  I knew my mom wouldn’t let me take time off (and risk losing my tuition grants), so I just “pushed though” again.

“Pushing through” is an accurate depiction of the rest of my college years actually.  I would constantly be stressed that I wasn’t doing well in my classes, almost to the point where I risked having to repeat courses.  No matter how hard I would study, my grades were mediocre at best.  My friends had a hard time understanding why I was struggling so much.  Some of them joked that I was partying too hard, but I would be studying to the point where I would burn out and score poorly no matter how hard I tried.

I started seeing a counselor on a bimonthly basis, which helped.  I would mostly talk about how depressed I was about my dad’s death and how I wanted school to be over.  I would alternate between tossing and turning and averaging 3-5 hours of sleep a night, and skipping classes because I just couldn’t wake up.  To help me feel happier, I would travel as much as I could on a nursing student’s crammed schedule and budget.  I would find the best deals on Megabus and visit friends from other schools who didn’t care if my grades sucked and welcomed me into their social circles.

Eventually I managed to complete my nursing school requirements and it was time to graduate.  My mom visited me for the first time since I started school, and, being the “Asian mom” she is, asked when I was going back for my Master’s.  No “Congratulations on graduating [from an overly competitive nursing school on time].”  Part of it was my fault for promising my mom when I was 17 that I would get my Master’s in nursing since I didn’t want to go to medical school.  But I just felt pressured again to find a job and get ready for the rest of my life.

After paperwork issues regarding my licensing exam that were beyond my control, I passed my boards on the first try.  Next came finding a job, which I managed to do 7 months after I graduated. I pretty much felt pressured to take the first job offer I got, especially since most of my friends were happily employed at this point.  I naively didn’t ask around and assumed everything would work out again, and packed my bags to move across country once more.  At first, everything seemed perfect.  I was more broke than I ever had been, but I had a full time job with real benefits!

Soon after though, things took turn for the worse.  I had bad chemistry with my preceptor, and my manager sided with her when I tried to speak up and asked for a switch.  I went back to counseling, where the social worker reassured me that I was doing my best.  Eventually though, I decided that crying every day and second guessing myself wasn’t worth it, so I resigned.

My anxiety started peaking around this time.  I was without a job again, 3000 miles away from home, with minimal savings.  I think I averaged 3 hours of sleep a night for over 2 weeks.  I went to go back to visit Penn and just broke down in front of my friends and advisors.  They were all concerned for me to the point where I ended up in a 24-hour psychiatric hold.

Now this is where things get complicated.  I talked to the nurses and doctors about what happened and how I did NOT feel like hurting myself or others, but they were apprehensive about me since a Penn student had just committed suicide a week before.  I also refused to let them call my mom since she was in Japan, and my sister was still in school in LA.  I promised them that I had a strong support system and would seek help when I went back to DC that evening.  I was ready to get the help I needed.

I still am not 100% sure what happened after this, but my phone was hacked into sometime during and/or after my hospitalization.  My friends and family were receiving weird phone call and messages from my phone number and Facebook/Gmail/etc accounts.  I tried explaining to them that the messages were not coming from me, but they were skeptical of believing me since I had just been in a psychiatric facility.  I was also receiving strange messages and screen errors even after I factory reset my devices and tried new ones.

I made a comprehensive list of all the weird things I managed to catch and reached out to my phone provider, social media platforms, and my old counselor’s office back at Penn.  I even got my devices forensically scanned by a professional to detect any malware.  The detective said that there was definitely suspicious activity but he couldn’t pinpoint anything.  Eventually, the strange messages stopped, so I let it go and went about my life.  I still get weird screens every once in awhile, but I just let it be.

Regarding my anxiety, I started seeing a psychologist again to talk about my problems.  It’s hard to fit in weekly session with my crazy schedule, but I know that I need it.  I started having unsettling dreams, mostly about work, which my psychologist addressed as PTSD-like symptoms.  I spent countless hours trying to find a psychiatrist in my network would understand my symptoms.  After months of searching, I finally found a doctor an hour away who prescribed me Trazodone and Ativan for my insomnia/anxiety.  I finally started sleeping well again.

Why am I writing all of this out for the internet to see?  Because today, October 10th, is World Mental Health Day.  Today also happens to mark exactly one year since I started my current job.  If you asked me back then, I don’t think I expected to be this much happier.  I am still struggling with anxiety and mood swings in general, but I definitely am doing so much better.

If you managed to read up until this point, I want to say thank you for reading my story.  Also shoutout to everyone who has stuck with me through the thick and thin, because I know it’s been a difficult journey for everyone involved.  Mental health is a topic that isn’t talked about enough, even though the statistics show that it’s almost too common in our day and age. I’m lucky enough to have a loving boyfriend and caring friends that listen to me rant, buy me food and make sure I’m okay, but I know some people aren’t.  

Please take care of each other and understand that people struggle for various reasons, and sometimes just need some time, professional help, medications, etc to make them feel “normal” again.  And if you personally need someone to talk to, I’m always an open ear 😊

Xoxo

[butteryunlikelylady]

quick advice from me to myself when starting high school

1. calm down! it’s not as scary as it seems. it’s not like the movies, and it DEFINITELY won’t be “the greatest time of your life!” 

2. stop trying to be cool and popular. yes it sucks to be near the bottom of the social ladder, but you’ll probably be better off sticking with people you feel more comfortable around. also you’ll look even goofier trying to be someone ur not

3. stop wearing those horrendous sweater vests and just get a cardigan. 

4. again - REAL CONVERSE. 

5. get khakis from day one lol. 

6. let go of your middle school sweetheart - you’ll start off on the wrong foot and everybody will think you are weird. you’ll also save yourself a lot of heartbreak. 

7. don’t... and this hurts to say... skip classes! 

8. find one teacher that you like and will let you eat lunch in their classroom and do that. don’t go to the lunches, ever. 

9. if you were friends with someone in middle school and they’ve switched up now that you all are in high school, don’t be salty! understand that people change and let them find their group.

10. take your art or and gym credits AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE so that ur not a junior or senior in a gym class. don’t do it to yourself. it’s better to take it in 9th grade when the rest of your class is.

11. it’s not the end of the world if you get caught in a hall sweep or get put into in school suspension. but don’t do it more than 3 times or you will become a target for admin and that’s a pain in the neck

12. if and when you become privy to the “weed spots” around school, stay away.. if ur gonna smoke weed don’t be lame and do it on campus. go somewhere else :/

13. become friends with the librarian if possible, they’re usually the easiest to befriend if I’m right about librarian types :) they might let you stay in there and help them with little tasks, instead of wandering around

14. go to at least 2 homecoming events per year. you’ll hear stories and be mad that you didn’t go and participate

15. TRY and join a club or team. doesn’t have to be sports!! but it helps you build relationships with staff and other students and lets you see the school after hours which is always sort of fun and risque (eye emoji)

16. during assemblies, try ur darndest not to sit in the first 4 rows. ik it’s out of ur control and sort of obvious, but yea.

17. give more gifts to the teachers you actually appreciated. there aren’t a lot of genuinely kind, hard-working teachers out there and it’s good to let them know they’ve impacted you, especially with the high volume of students they come across

18. go all out for prom, but don’t be ridiculous. don’t spend more than like $500 for dress, makeup, nails, hair, shoes, etc. IT’S NOT WORTH IT. Ik tickets are expensive. don’t get a limo, nobody will see you arrive. don’t go with a date, go with ur friends. you will have a better time.

19. if you wanna go to an after party, I mean do you but just know you’ll be soo tired and it’ll probably be at someone’s grandma’s house and ur ex will be there and it’ll be extremely awkward (too specific?) have a sleepover with ur girls instead!

20. graduation is nice. follow all rules accordingly. DON’T WEAR SHOES YOU CAN’T WALK IN OR HAVEN’T WORN BEFORE. you will trip or fall and look so so dumb.

21. go out more.. girl you did not allow yourself to have a life. stop worrying so much about everything and go out with your friends. by yourself. do you realize you’ll never be 14 or 16 again?

22. don’t.. flat iron your hair after you were natural for a whole 2 years and ur hair was so long and healthy

23. don’t look down on people who aren’t in an accelerated program. they deserve happiness and success just as much as you, and they don’t have people pushing them to go to college and presenting them with opportunities at every corner. they don’t have people prepping them for professional careers even though they may want them just as much as you. they are essentially working with less than you are, give them credit.

24. you don’t need a car. ensure ur own transportation and stick with it because the kids that do have cars don’t want to give you rides.

25. don’t... even look at boys. don’t. JUST DON’T!!!! it’s cliche, but they’re still so extremely not yet mature at this age and you think ur on the same page but ur not and you’ll end up getting ur heart broke and tainting good memories of this time in ur life. I can’t stress this enough.... no relationships lol. flirting is okay (if you know how please contact me), have some young fun, but DO NOT seal a deal with anyone

26. now is the time to dye your hair that crazy color!! doing it in college is a bit riskier due to the fact that you may be looking for internships and such. do it now!

27. very cliche but DO go out of your way to be nice to the so-called “underdogs”. remember you are one too lol, and maybe you don’t hang in the same circles as them, that’s okay. you want everyone to feel like they have a friend, and that could be you :)

28. you... don’t need to curse to be “cool”

29. try to carry as least stuff as possible while still being prepared for class. nobody likes a “can I borrow your pen/share your book/borrow some paper?” type person, but don’t be the noob who carries all 8 of ur textbooks around everyday :/

30. take pride in the big projects you’re required to do, especially for subjects ur even remotely interested in. if not that, take pride in the project just because you really like that teacher and don’t want to let them down. 

[littlepiecesofwords]

5 Days but never 5 feet apart

I was in the hospital for five days. I felt sad not able to play in one of the stages in the league, but our team made it to semi finals. My coach said that when I get back I have to double time in practice and to keep up with my teammates. 

Everyday, Alexis, Blake and Sam will come visit me, sometimes when I’m still sleeping. Most of the time in the last 3 days I’m unconscious because of the virus that got in to my blood. I’m not sure what happened. It was called Dengue. Where it gets your platelet down, and hemoglobin down.

Some symptoms have stomach pain, headache, nauseous and high fever. And the Doctors told me because of my high pain tolerance I wasn’t able to feel any of the symptoms right after I exhausted myself. My platelets went down to 5 where they had to do blood transfusion and kept me on regular hydration. Pretty scary! 

But, as I always say, All is well! Now, I’m on my fifth day being in the hospital and feeling so much better. The Doctors told me I can go home tomorrow but I need to stay home for the next 3 days. I’m getting pretty bored. But I have to follow, I don’t want to see my Mom worried about me. I can hear her cry every time she sees me. She sings to me like how she does when I was a little.

If there’s anything I like about the sickness, that be I get to spend more time with my Mom, and Sam.

Day Two.

Sam visits me more then the other two. She looks tough most of the time, but when I’m sleeping I can hear her sobbing while holding my hand. 

A: Sam?

Sam: you’re awake, do you need something?

A: Water please

Sam: Okay, here...here.. slowly.. Your Mom went to see your Doctor for a while. 

A: Thank you. Sorry for worrying you. 

Sam: Yeah! you owe me big time! so you better get well soon and get out from here.. it feels weird being here.. The Jelly-O tastes good tho.. (started laughing)

A: Yeah! soon, ALL IS WELL! stop eating my J-O, I’m the patient not you..

Mrs. Amanda: I started hearing giggling inside Alex’s room. This was the second time he was awake, And I’m happy to hear his voice again, even it was another woman is making him laugh.

Amanda: Hey honey, you’re up.. Thank you Sam for watching him.

Alex; Mom, come here... (tapping on the side of the bed making room for Amanda) I love you Mom. I’m sorry you’re here and not home...

Amanda: (Holding Alex) Love you too honey. Don’t say that, I will be here and stay with you until you get better and go home. Are you not ashamed you’re acting like a baby in front of Sam?

A: (hugging Amanda and kissing her) NOPE! Nothing can compare to you Mom! and Sam knows that! I’m proud Mama’s boy! (started laughing)

Samantha: Seeing how Alex treated her Mom I remembered what Mimi said to me. And the room was filled with laughter, for an hour and then Alex started coughing... heavy coughs and there was blood. The virus strikes again.

A: Mom! Maaaaaaa, my stomach is hurting soooo bad (Alex crying and coughing) 

Samantha: There were blood on the sheets, and Alex was crying in pain, I never saw him his much pain all this time I know him... He kept screaming for Amanda... The Doctors finally came and checked on him, nurses holding him to his bed, they gave him medicines to ease the pain and then there he was again, unconscious. Amanda stepped out with the Doctors but I can hear them talking just outside the door.

Doctor: Mrs. Stockholm, his platelets are not increasing, and we’re afraid he might have internal bleeding. We will run some tests to make sure that there’s no internal injuries.

Amanda: Please do what you need to do.

Samantha: Moment later, Mr. Stockholm came. He hugged Amanda and she started crying in his chest. I can’t hear what they’re talking but I can see the frustrations in Amanda’s face. Amanda is frustrated not being able to help Alex at this time.

Amanda: Sam, did you brought your car? I’m going home to check on the other kids. I can give you a ride.

Sam: I’ll ride with you. 

Amanda and Sam got in to the parking space when Amanda started crying again. Sam came to her and hugged her for comfort.

Amanda: I am a Doctor by profession Sam, yet I can’t help my son. I can’t help my son...

Sam: Mrs. Stockholm calm down.,,

Samantha: I took the car key from Amanda and drove to their house, called Mimi to have our driver pick me up from the Stockholm residence. Today was intense. I never thought Amanda was a Doctor, is the the reason why she’s so calm when we were in the emergency room and when she talks to the Doctors they understands each other and finish each others’ sentences. Is that the reason why Alex wants to be a Pediatrician?

Day Three.

I had my blood transfusions to help my lack of platelets, and I gave my Mom another scare. I want to get over this as soon as I can, I asked Sam to talk to my teachers if they can give me homeworks to work on while in the hospital, and some gave me some works to do.

Sam: are you sure about this? what if you get stressed again?

A: yes, I’m getting bored and besides Mom said I can start doing something small whenever I feel a little better, right Mom?

Amanda: Uh Hmmm..

Sam: Okay, here’s from Ms. Cath, your calculus teacher....

A: STRESS! Skip!

Sam: (laughing) here’s from Mr. Prieto, your biology class...

A: STRESS! Skip!

Sam: last, here’s from coach Aaron, for PE class..

Samantha: Alex opened the notebook from PE Class and show notes written by his whole class wishing him to get well soon and fight the fight of life! someone said “Someone said you’ll be there for 5 Days! but I say, no 5 feet APART!” it doesn’t make any sense but it made Alex laughed so hard.

Amanda: Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?

Sam: yes, A, here’s a book from your english class that needs to be read...

Sam and Amanda stepped out of the room

Amanda: Sam, thank you for sticking with us through all of this, but I have to ask you a favor, do not spend too much time here and not giving time to your own life and studies. I love seeing Alex happy around you, but I’m also worried about you. Your ACAD, specially now you’re in your senior year. Don’t get me wrong honey, but when this is all over, you can spend much more time with Alex. I just want you to be at your best foot forward when you meet with college recruiters.

Sam: I understand Mrs. Stockholm, but...

Amanda: Call me Mom, Sam. I will not replace your Mom in your life, but it it will make you more comfortable communicating with me then call me Mom.

Sam: Mom, I will do well in school, I will focus. Will you update me with Alex’s conditions too?

Amanda: Yes Sweetheart, I will. After this, we’ll have family dinner at our house.

Sam: Look forward to that, is it okay that I talk to Alex alone?

Amanda: Sure sweetie, I’ll be heading to the doctors office to get some update.

Amanda went to the Doctors Office while Sam stepped back to Alex’s room.

Sam: Hey,

A: Hey, let me guess, Mom gave you the go signal to call her Mom?

Sam: (laughing) she did

A: I guess, we are officially brothers and sisters... (sarcastically laughing)

Sam: Eeewww... Hey A! I have to tell you something.. so listen

A: Okay big sister (and smiled)

Sam: Next week will be the college day for Circles, and I have to prepare for it...

A: STOP! STOP there! yes! what are you doing here? you should be in your home preparing for next week! Sam.... if there’s anything that is important that would be preparing for your future. Don’t get me wrong, I love having you around, but you’re really a bad nurse (started laughing) on serious note, please do well in preparations Sam. I’ll see you when I get out and beat this virus.

Sam: ALeeeeeeeeeeeexxx! (started crying)

A: I’m not yet dead, remember all is well. I’ll call you and message you whenever.

Amanda came back and saw Alex and Sam talking and laughing.

Sam: It’s time to go, I have school stuff to work on.. 

A: yeah! big sister!

Amanda: what just happened?

Both started laughing. Sam gave Alex a hugged. And walked towards Amanda. Gave Amanda a hugged and whispered.

Sam: Mom, promise me you will call me when you need someone to drive you home. I will come and drive you home. Thank you for showing me and making me fee loved by a mother. 

Amanda hugged Sam tightly and tears started pilling in her eyes. She winked it away and wiped her face. Kissed Sam’s forehead and walked her to the door.

[chelseyroseblog]

22 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR N.E.A.T. (HOW TO BURN CALORIES SERIES # 1 OF 4).

Hi mama!

After I did my most recent poll on Instagram, I learned that you guys are actually really interested in learning more about health and fitness beyond what to eat and simple workouts. I feel like I’m learning about this stuff on a daily basis but I wasn’t sure how much ya’ll wanted to know so I kept things really simple BUT now that I know, I’m super stoked to take you guys through as much as I can :)

I just got home from SD which was super fun but it was also a lot of sitting, eating and drinking, AKA GAINING WEIGHT lol.

I just got back this afternoon and literally went for a 90 minute walk 5 minutes after I got home then went to Costco and walked around there then cleaned my house and now we’re here!

You might feel like that’s useless information for you right now but it actually is why I thought to do this post!

So let’s rewind a little and talk about the subject of today’s blog…N.E.A.T.

As I was explaining in this post - NEAT is one of the top 4 ways that we burn calories and I feel like it is HIGHLY underutilized.

The other three ways are, BMI (BODY MASS INDEX), AF (ACTIVITY FACTOR), AND TEF (THERMOGENIC EFFECT OF FOOD), which I will talk more about over the next few weeks for this “How To Burn Calories Series”.

NEAT stands for, NON EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS.

Say wha…?

Basically it’s the calories that you burn through movement that’s not considered your actual workout. In my opinion, a LOT of people could start dropping weight if they would increase their non exercise activity factor So I wanted to give you guys some examples today of how I do it on the daily, and other examples that you could potentially incorporate.

STOP LOOKING FOR THE CLOSEST PARKING SPOT.

Yoooo I used to be the BIGGEST front row parking snob. I would drive and drive and drive and wait around until the closest spot to where I was going would open up. Then I started occupying my boyfriends passenger seat and went through a phase where I wanted to murder him because he would park in the back of every parking lot without even CHECKING the front. (I legit would offer to drive so that I could park). Now I do the same thing because it’s an AMAZING way to get in so many more extra steps. TRUST ME.

2. DO EMAILS/TEXTS/POST WHILE WALKING.

If you’re not cautious of this, it’s super easy to sit in front of your phone or computer while you’re on the couch . It took me some time to be more aware of it but now I time batch my texts, emails, and posting into one 60-90 minute time slot during the day and regardless of where I am, I just put in my headphones and walk outside while I go through everything. It’s also WAY more relaxing, it' doesn’t feel like work it just feels more like a stress reliever.

3. WALK TO THE STORE INSTEAD OF DRIVE

Uhh yeah I also used to be pathetic at this. I would literally go to the bank and then instead of walking across the crosswalk and down the street a little to run my next errand, I would get back in my car and drive there. Seriously. TERRIBLE. Now one of my favorite things to do is bring a bag with me that can help me carry groceries or dry cleaning or whatever and just walk from place to place to knock out my errands. Remember if you’re thinking your too busy for this, that you’re knocking out exercise while you’re running errands! It’s a win.

4. SIT UP STRAIGHT > SLOUCHING

Sounds minimal but our bodies are wired to like minimal. Our bodies are always wanting to conserve energy so they will always want to take the path of least resistance but YOU have the power to tell you body who is boss and tell it that WE’RE MOVIN. Sitting up straight engages our core where as slouching most certainly does not, so sit up straight, work on that core and burn more calories.

5. FIDGET > SITTING STILL

This article is a really interesting read about how fidgeting burns more calories so check it out when you can. Sometimes I will be writing a blog and I’ll snap back to reality and realize that my leg is bouncing around and I have no idea how long it’s been doing it for haha and stopping just feels unnatural. This is why I can’t sit criss cross while working because then I can’t move anything and it’s almost more distracting than moving around. if you’re not a fidgeter, see if you can pick up a little pep in your step while you’re at your desk.

OTHER WAYS TO DEVELOP YOUR N.E.A.T. THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

6. Clean your house for 20 minutes a day.

7. Walk while you chat on the phone, even if it’s just in circles around your apartment.

8. Stand > sit whenever possible.

9. ALWAYS take the stairs over the elevator. I’m always SO surprised when I see people skipping the stairs and taking the escalators and the airport. MOVE. Or when I go to the mall, my doctors office, parking garages, etc. I always take the stairs.

10. Squeeze your glutes at least 200 times while driving. Sounds weird, I know, but your glutes are totally turned off whenever you’re sitting so take a few minutes to wake them up and give your hip flexors a break.

11. Do planks, glute bridges and crunches during commercials. I did this during the last award show and seriously got in a full workout haha.

12. Do calf raises while you’re waiting in line. I do this OFTEN lol, at the grocery store or the bank and I always did it when i was waiting around as a cocktail server.

13. Tighten your core at stop lights until it turns green.

14. Read > scroll through insta. Using our brain burns more calories. According to this article, a person uses about 320 calories a day just to THINK. Just like with a lot of these tips, the calories burned won’t be a HUGE amount if you change your habits but say you burn 50 more calories a day just from reading instead of watching tv and you do that everyday, you could burn an extra 1,400 calories a month which is almost half a pound. Just something to think about ;)

15. Rent a bike for the day instead of driving.

16. If you sit a lot, set a timer for 1 hour and get up to walk for 5 minutes every time it goes off.

17. Make a simple workout challenge for yourself to complete by the end of the day like 50 push ups or 10K steps or 80 squats. Having little goals at least keeps movement on our minds and allows us to push ourselves a little bit further. Imagine doing 10 push ups 5 different times throughout the day. That’s 350 push ups a week! It would feel like nothing and your arms would LOOOOVE you!

I think that’s a good start haha. Pick 5 of these and comment below to let me know which ones you’re going to try to do starting this week! Also let me know if you liked this blog and if you have any other ideas I would love to read them!

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