#sooo many photos I’ll try to spread them out over the week

[tyresdeg]

callum ilott | 6 hours of spa 2024

[penmansparadise]

Billy Hargrove Imagine - Something Special

* I DON’T OWN ANY GIFS POSTED* *CREDIT TO THE GIF OWNERS*

Okay, sooo it’s been a FAT minute since I’ve posted something.  Being a full-time college student is just absolute shit.  I know I have so many requests that I still haven’t written, but I needed to get my inspiration to write again back.  I am hoping that I will get to some of the requests while I have this short break before my next classes start up again.  However, I may end up writing another Billy imagine just so I can get my creative juices flowing, so stay tuned.  I really hope that you all enjoy this.  Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!!  

Warnings: Mild language 

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

                                               ____________________

I clenched and unclenched my hands as I stared at the Blue Camaro parked in the driveway. Why Ms. Williams paired me with Max Mayfield, of all the middle schoolers in this rundown town, I had no idea. The stupid “Big Sister” program was straight bullshit anyway, but there I was, sitting in my car perched in front of the Hargrove/Mayfield residence. I blew out a long breath before getting out of my seat and walking to their front door.

Standing on the other side of the wooden door, I could hear Ratt blasting through the house. I tried my best to ignore it as I knocked three times. It wasn’t long before the door flew open to reveal the one person I was hoping would not be present during the visit. Sweat beaded on his forehead, causing his golden hair to stick together. He was wearing a worn white tank top that clung to his toned chest. Without even meaning to, my eyes took in every inch of him.

Billy was what most people called “popular.” Ever since he arrived in Hawkins, he had everyone turning their heads. I mean, honestly, it was hard not to. He quickly fell in with the “in-crowd,” and gained the title of “King of Hawkins.” Billy was the guy every girl wanted, and the person every guy wanted to be. He was the complete opposite of me. I was the quiet, good girl who got paid to write other people’s English papers. I always listened in class and was always home by curfew. Although there were many parties thrown, I was never in attendance. I never once thought for a second Billy would know who I was. But, he did.

Billy raised his eyebrows, and a small smirk fell onto his lips.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Y/N.”

Heat rose to my cheeks as I came back to reality.

“Yeah, well, same.”

Billy let out a chuckle,

“I live here.”

I shut my eyes tightly, completely regretting opening my mouth. I shook my head and brought my eyes to meet his again.

“Right, um, sorry. I know.”

He was amused at my inability to articulate my scrambled thoughts, but he was patient.

“I’m here for Max. I got paired as her mentor through the Big Sister program. We had a meeting today to talk about…girl things.”

His eyebrows rose again.

“Well, Y/N, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Max isn’t here.”

My stomach turned as embarrassment enveloped me. The red hue returned to my cheeks, and my eyes widened. I stood motionless and mute in front of Billy as he watched me.

“Okay,” I finally said, “I guess I’ll just go then.”

I quickly turned to leave and got halfway to my car when Billy spoke again, stopping me in my tracks.

“You could always stay and wait for her. She should be back soon.”

Something fluttered in my chest at his invitation, but I didn’t move immediately. I could see my car sitting on the curbside. It was beckoning me to jump in and drive home. The meeting could always be rescheduled; there was absolutely no reason for me to stay. But, for some unknown reason, I turned to face him. He stood there, leaning up against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. A small smirk played on his lips as he waited patiently for me to make my decision. I let out a breath and gave a nod.

“Okay,” I said before walking into the house.

I took careful steps as I followed Billy toward the couch. The TV, tuned to MTV, blared “Take Me to the Top” by Mötley Crüe. I watched as he bopped around the room, picking up miscellaneous items in a weak attempt to tidy up. A light laugh escaped my lips at the sight of Billy, Mr. Big-and-Bad, dancing around his living room.

“This is a great song and all, but I prefer “Live Wire.” It really shows off Vince’s vocal range, you know?” I said, looking at the photos perfectly placed on the beige walls.

Billy stopped and turned to face me with confusion written all over his face.

“You listen to Mötley?”

My eyes connected with his as I sat up a little straighter.

“I do, actually. I would have killed to see them in concert when they were in Indianapolis. My mom wouldn’t let me go though. She was worried I’d get kidnapped or something.”

Billy’s mouth was nearly on the floor as I spoke. I narrowed my eyes at him and let out a huff.

“Why is it so surprising that I listen to Mötley Crüe?”

He moved himself to the loveseat across from me and plopped down.

“I just assumed that someone like you would listen to lighter music, you know? Like Madonna or something, I don’t know.”

My jaw dropped, and my hand flew to my chest in mock offense.

“Mr. Hargrove, there is quite a lot that you don’t know about me.”

He smirked and placed his arms across the back of the couch.

“So, I am learning.”

The two of us sat across from each other for hours talking about music. Billy was shocked when I told him that I saw Poison live, and even more floored when I told him I flashed Bret Michaels’ bodyguard to get backstage. He laughed when I told him I had a massive crush on David Lee Roth, and I laughed even harder when he said he did too. We were in the middle of debating which Def Leppard album was better when Max finally came through the door.

“You honestly think ‘High ‘n’ Dry’ is better than ‘Pyromania?’” Billy asked.

A smile was spread across my face as I answered with confidence.

“Absolutely! I mean, ‘Bringin’ on the Heartbreak’ is amazing! How could you think any different?”

Billy was about to speak when Max pulled both of our attention to the door.

“Y/N?”

I sprang to my feet, heart beating loud enough for their neighbors to hear.

“Max!” I damn near shouted.

I cleared my throat and took a calming breath.

“You’re back. I’m here for our meeting. You know, for the Big Sister/Mentor thing.”

Her eyes narrowed with skepticism as she looked from Billy to me.

“Right.” She said, drawing out each syllable. “Let’s go to my room then.”

She took my arm in her hand and began dragging me toward her room. I sent Billy an apologetic look before Max slammed her bedroom door shut.

The meeting was longer than I expected. Max unloaded everything on me, something I was not expecting. I tried my best to listen and nod when appropriate, but I could not concentrate. Billy’s perfectly structured face was burning in my mind. From his deep blue eyes, and the way they held my gaze to the way his nose crinkled when he laughed. When Max finally realized I was not fully present, she decided to let me go stating she was tired.

She didn’t walk me to the door, but I didn’t mind. I made my way through the quiet house and to the front door. My heart nearly stopped when Billy grabbed the doorknob before me.

“So, I’ll see you next week at the same time?” He asked with a playful grin. “We still have to decide which Def Lepp album is better.”

I let out a small chuckle at his comment. Against my better judgment, I nodded.

“Yeah, same time next week; I’ll be here.”

He smiled before opening the door and watching me leave. I got in my car, trying my best to hide the wide grin spread across my lips. I gave a little wave before driving off with the thought of seeing Billy again playing in my mind.

From that day forward, it was a routine of ours. I would arrive exactly two hours before my meeting with Max was scheduled to spend time with Billy. We would sit in his room, me on his bed, and him on the floor, and just talk. It started out as small talk. He asked what my favorite color was, and I asked what his favorite season was. As the months rolled on, the conversations got deeper. He moved from the floor to lying next to me on his bed. He told me about his mother and how he tries so hard to make his father proud. I told him about my parents and how suffocating they are by controlling my every move. He told me he doesn’t like to fight, but he doesn’t know how else to express his emotions. I told him that I didn’t want to go to college, but couldn’t bear the thought of telling my parents. Slowly, but surely, we grew closer and closer.

Although our little talks had been going on for months, I still got excited about seeing Billy. When I pulled up in front of his house that day, I saw him waiting on the porch. It was different, but I tried not to look too much into it. Trying to mask the happiness bubbling over inside of me, I sauntered over to him. A wide smile spread across his lips at the sight of me, making my heart jump.

“Hey,” I said more to my feet than Billy.

He chuckled lightly.

“Hey.”

We stood in silence for a moment before Billy finally spoke.

“Can I take you somewhere?”

My mouth opened and closed with no words coming out at first.

“Um,” I began, “Yeah, sure.”

Billy’s blue eyes brightened at my response. He didn’t say anything in return, instead, he took my hand in his, and led me to his car. The feeling of his fingers intertwined with mine sent shock waves through my entire body. He opened the passenger side door for me before rushing to get behind the wheel. His nervous, jittery movements made me giggle. He was not acting like his normally cool and collected self.

In the car, from my peripherals, I could see him stealing glances of me. My heart pulsed in my chest, and I moved my hand to my face to hide my smile. “Faithfully” by Journey came from the radio, and molded with the sound of rubber over asphalt in perfect harmony. The windows were down, blowing the smell of Billy’s cologne and dewy grass into my face. I let myself look in his direction for a moment. His golden hair, whooshing wildly around his face, shined under the late afternoon sun. One hand sat perched on the top of the steering wheel while the other hung lazily out the window. His slender fingers drummed along to the radio. His eyes were glued to the empty road ahead of us. I bit my bottom lip as I let myself drink him up.

Billy turned the car down a dirt road, and shortly after that, we were parked under a large oak tree. There was nothing surrounding us but greenery. Billy got out first, and as I was taking in the view, he opened my door. He took my hand before guiding me to the front of his car. Standing in front of me, he gently placed his hands on my waste. He was closer than he had ever been. I could feel the warmth coming off his tense body. His hands gripped my hips a little before he lifted me effortlessly onto the hood. A nearly inaudible gasp left my lips at the sudden movement. He removed his hands from my body and sat down next to me. His arm brushed against mine, giving me shivers. The feeling of his body close to mine made my stomach tighten.  

In a sad attempt to lessen the obvious tension between the two of us, I spoke.

“This place is beautiful, Billy. How did you find it?”

His eyes never strayed from the tree standing in front of us.

“I was driving one night to clear my mind when I came across the dirt road. It was probably kind of stupid now that I think about it, but I turned down it. I realized it was a dead-end, so I got out and sat for a while. From that day on, when I needed to just get away, I came here. It’s a good place to think.”

I took in the picturesque scenery in awe. With the sun setting, the tree coverage made me feel like I was in a fairytale. Billy cleared his throat, gaining my attention again.

“Can I, um, I need to tell you something, Y/N.”

He was fiddling with his hands, a nervous habit of his that I had picked up on. I gave an anxious nod to urge him to go on. His eyes were looking everywhere, but mine as he spoke.

“These past few months with you have been amazing.” He said.

My mouth fell slightly agape, not sure what to say in return. But, before I could reply, Billy continued in a rush.

“I’ve learned so much from you. Not just about who you are, but also about myself. I’ve learned that I don’t have to punch someone to get my point across, and it’s okay to walk away sometimes. You taught me that being a big brother isn’t as terrible as I made it out to be. Max is actually a pretty cool kid.

“I’ve learned that you love power ballads because they make you believe that people can really be in love. I also learned the hard way that you prefer the wall side of the bed.” He gave a light chuckle as he playfully rubbed the arm I hit months back when he tried to take my side of the bed. His eyes finally pulled away from the grassy roots ahead of us and met mine. He smiled and let out a sigh.

“You really are something special, Y/N.”

My cheeks flushed from the blunt compliment. Billy never ventured down the road of flattery with me before. Something had clearly changed between us. I gave a nervous laugh and waved him off.

“Oh, don’t give me that much credit.”

“No, really.” Billy began, “You’ve made me into a better person. I’m a better version of myself when I’m with you, Y/N.”

His steady gaze held mine as I hung on to every word that he spoke. I could feel the heat climbing up my neck again and quickly averted my eyes.

“Stop looking at me like that!” I said with another nervous chuckle, “You’re making me blush.”

I looked back up to find his eyes still set on me. My hands began to sweat as I held onto my knees for support.

“I, Billy…” I trailed off.

His eyes began to gloss over before he finally spoke again.

“Y/N, I think I’m in love with you, and that absolutely terrifies me.”

My breath caught in my throat at his words. They echoed in my ears and embraced my heavy beating heart.

“Why does it terrify you?”

He ran his hands over his face before running them through his perfect mane of hair.

“I don’t know. I just, I’ve never felt this way before, for anyone. I’ve never known what this could feel like. The only other person I felt genuine love for walked out of my life without looking back. I’m afraid of putting myself in that position again. I’m scared that if I let myself be vulnerable again, you’ll leave just like my mother did. I don’t want to feel that kind of pain ever again, Y/N. I can’t go through that again. I won’t make it.”

“Billy,” I said, placing my hand on top of his, “I’m not going anywhere. Not now, not tomorrow, and not six months from now.”

He moved his gaze to meet mine again. With my eyes glued to his, I gave his hand a squeeze.

“You’re not the only person who has learned new things these past few months, Billy. I used to be a hermit who only left the house to go to school. You taught me how to embrace the world around me. You showed me that there is more to life than just math and science assignments. I’ve learned that taking risks is scary, but dammit it’s so worth it. Billy, you taught me how to live, and you showed me that even I am capable of falling in love.”

My hands were shaking, and this time Billy gave my hand a squeeze encouraging me to go on. I shut my eyes and let out a breath.

“I’ve never felt these feelings before. The way my heart jumps at just the thought of you. Or how your smile makes it hard to breathe. Billy, I’ve never craved another human being before. This is all new to me.”

I opened my eyes and met his cerulean orbs, full of anticipation.

“You’re not the only one who’s terrified, Billy.”

We held each other’s gaze for a moment, acutely aware of the other’s every movement. My heart was racing, and my breathing quickened with each passing second. I felt his hand leave mine, and slowly land on my right cheek. My eyes shut as I leaned into his warm touch. Every one of my senses was on high alert. I could hear his short breaths as he inched closer toward me. I could feel his other hand land softly on my left cheek. I could smell his coconut shampoo as his little ringlets brushed against my face.

Our lips were only inches from one another, and my whole body ached for him to close the distance. His thumbs drew small circles on my cheeks before he finally connected his lips to mine. My hands gripped his toned arms as I melted into the kiss. He pulled me closer until I was practically in his lap. I let my hands wander up his arms until they found the back of his neck. My fingers tangled in his soft curls as our lips moved together in complete bliss.

When he reluctantly pulled away, I was breathless. He moved his hands to my waist and hoisted me onto his lap. Straddling him, I placed my forehead against his and smiled. He gently rubbed his nose against mine, making me chuckle.

“I love you so much, Y/N.”

Tingles washed over me at his words. With a cheesy grin plastered on my face, I leaned close to his ear, and whispered,

“I love you so much more, Billy.”

A low chuckle shook his body as he wrapped his arms around me. He trailed kisses up and down my neck before leaning back onto his hood and pulling me into another passionate kiss.

[yamithediaperdork]

It’s a living (Ben 10 omiverse)

it was a nice and peaceful day in Bellwood for a change, though considering it wasn't the main stream universe's Bellwood that made a degree of sense. In fact even as the main verse Ben sat across from his counterpart, enjoying the Mr.smoothies of universe 23 they could both relax as Seven-seven and Tetrax had decided to stay on earth and work as a team with 23, so were out patrolling. "So, not that it's not awesome to see you from time to time..but usually you showing up means something about to go all fucky fucky...Sooo what brings you here?" 23 asked. "things don't ALWAYS go bad when i show up!" Ben protested, huffing a little. "Mmmhmmm..So you showed up and I get attacked by my future team mates..you show up and the Ben war..you show up and Mad Ben.." 23 said, counting off on his fingers. "..Damn uh.. well I promise, no world ending stuff this time." Ben said, sweat dropping. "I uh.. ok so i told you I recently moved out and got my own place right?" "And yet you haven't invited me back once." 23 said and blew a raspberry to show he wasn't really offended. "eheheh well fact of the matter is I mightttta gone a little beyond my means and kinda sorta..I'm like a week from getting kicked out." Ben said, poking his fingers together sheepishly. "Heh, and what, you want a place to crash?" "welll more thinking maybe since I've been helping you and all that jazz, you could spot me a couple of grand to get me in the clear and stuff?" Ben asked hopefully. "eh..I learned the hard way not to loan friends money Ben. it's why me and my Gwen aren't on speaking terms." 23 said, then took a big drink of his smoothie. "however, I AM willing to help you MAKE the money you need, and more." "...Doing what?" Ben asked, confused. "Cuz gotta say, I've tried the retail thing back home and when you have to stop doing stock to fight alien invaders, you don't keep your job for long." "Pffft as if I'd let you work retail! Nah man! You know I've leveraged my frame and endorsed a TON of things right? Part of how I'm rolling in dough? Well I got this one wanna be sponsor who I'm not big on the product, but they are offering a crazy amount of cash. I figure they'll settle for the Ben of anther universe, you do the gig, we split the money 50/50, and everybody wins." 23 said, taking out a note pad and a pen. "Look uh, not to sound ungrateful, but if I'm the one doing the modeling or whatever, shouldn't I get more then half? and what are you writing down?" Ben asked. "That's how much your half of the deal will be, and I think you'll find it more then fair." 23 said and smirked. Ben frowned and picked up the piece of paper, looking down, then did a double take as his eyes went wide. "Holy crap! what am i modeling off? Missiles?!" he asked, his voice going higher then normal. "nah, no weapons of mass destruction in that sense.. though bet you'll still clear rooms." 23 said and gave a impish grin. "You'll be working for huggies." "..Say what?"

After half a hour of back and forth, and Ben admitting he really didn't have a better option, the two took off, transforming into XCLER8 and Speedyquick instead of hailing a cab and made their way to the huggies headquarters. since 23 was used to this sort of thing Ben mostly let him talk over the contract and tried not to get boarded out of his mind as they talked returns and profit margins, only tuning in when the executive they were talking to (who if Ben didn't know better, he'd swear was this universes version of Charmcaster) brought up diaper usage. "Of course seeing your other self in our new line of Lil' stinkers would do wonders for our promotion of them, but if we could show them being used it would really help sell other points. we're taking photo shoots for magazine spreads and of course some tv and internet ad's. the more you and your client can promise us in terms of selling these diapers are for big babies who need to be put in their place, the more zero's we can add to your check." She said, smiling. "Wait..as in..you know.." Ben interrupted before 23 could talk, and unable to say what he was thinking, and blushing badly, he make fart noises with his mouth. "Heh, yes, we want you to go dooty in your diaper." Hope said, smirking and watching the two boys reactions. "N-No way! I mean I'll wear them and crawl around and stuff, but I'm NOT taking a dump in diapers!" Ben huffed and crossed his arms, shaking his head and well, looking just perfect for the target audience. "Maybe I should give you and your client a moment to talk this over. we can make a deal without the diaper usage but it's going to cut into the bottom line." Hope said and got up and left the room. "Can you BE anymore of a brat?" 23 hissed at Ben. "But..but..she wants me to-" "Yes, I know. I was there. Look Ben, I'm putting my neck on the line for you here, if my other sponsors hear about what a crabby brat your being here, it could affect me. Also your the one who came to me for help, so wouldn't like crapping yourself in huggies and making a boat load of cash once be better then doing a bunch more commercials to make the same amount? And who the hell from your universe is gonna see you doing this anyways?" 23 asked. "But I don't wanna poop in a diaper!" Ben whined and shook his head. "and you can't make me! so th-" he started to add, then suddenly he was yanked out of his chair and over 23's laps. "W-what are you doing?! and when the hell did you get so strong!?" "I've been working out since the mad Ben thing. and I'm gonna do what anyone does with a whinny brat.." 23 said and smirked, tugging down the back of Ben's pants. "I'm gonna spank you." Yanking Ben's skid marked stained briefs up and giving the bigger boy a wedgie and exposing those cheeks, 23 paused. "Last chance to be a good boy and let me handle this." he said. "Y-You don't have the balls!" Ben cried out, his voice carrying. "I gave you a chance." 23 said and shrugged, then brought down his hand on Ben's bubble butt over and over, turning the cheeks nice and red as Ben bawled like a baby.

Since the office wasn't sound proofed, and many people knew that both of the Ben's were in the office, it attracted A LOT of attention as the bigger Ben's voice filled the floor with the sounds of wails and there was the unmistakable sound of buns being tanned. Hope smirked as she listened, feeling she had pegged the relationship between the two boys right, and waited till there was just the sound of the bigger Ben sobbing before going back into her office, and fighting back a chuckle as she saw the bigger boy in the corner, his pants in his chair and his undies still hiked up. the boy had his nose to the corner and his hands on his head, and was whimpering and sobbing gently. "I'm sorry for that, somebody needed a attuide adjustment." 23 said. "oh don't be! I just wish we had recorded that! would of been perfect for the set up of a commercial!" Hope said and chuckled. "well I can always spank him again." 23 offered, chuckling to as Ben whined loudly from the corner. "So, may I assume that your both on board with widdle Benny making uh-ohs and tinkles in his diapers?" Hope asked. "I dunno, Ben, are you ok with messing your diapers?" 23 asked. "Y-Yes! No more spankies!" Ben cried out, his hands going from his head to covering his poor buns. "i think that answers your question." "excellent, then I'll draw up the contract, and if we hurry we can have Ben in the studio in about 2 hours. Make sure he gets LOTS to eat, we wanna show off how the Lil' stinkers hold up to even the biggest messes." Hope said. as 23 and Hope chuckled, Ben whimpered and found himself sucking on his thumb having ALL the regrets.

a hour and half later and a semi pot belly Ben was leaning back in his folding chair, in front of the set and belching off and on. He still hadn't been able to reclaim his pants though he'd been allowed to tug the wedgie out at least, though this just got loads of comments about how diapers might be a good full time choice for him. Ben had swallowed back any come backs or threats he had in mind as every time 23 was quick to pat his still sore booty. going on Hope's advice 23 had forced Ben to chow down, though while the catering table was set up with all sorts of awesome snack foods, including Ben's favorite, chilli fries, it was the large pyramid of at least 23 jar's of prune baby food that 23 had directed Ben to, helping the bigger boy and spoon feeding him as the crew setting up the large nursery chuckled. "Come on ben, one jar to go. you can do it." 23 was saying, grabbing the last jar and smirking at Ben's baby food covered face. "D-Dude..I'm not joking..if I eat one more bite I'ma hurl." Ben whined. "that's what you said two jars ago." "by all means, call my bluff, just when your wearing baby food on your shoes, remember i warned you." Ben said with a weak smile then a LOUD and nasty belch. 23 made a face and waved the air in front of him. "Man, if it smells that bad now.. Maybe i should excuse myself to the other room when you crap yourself." he teased. "N-no way..if I'm doing this..you're watching AND smelling!" Ben whined and Belched again. "Can i get something to drink?" he asked. instantly he realized he should of worded his request better as 23 got a large baby bottle filled with what was hopefully milk, and popped it in Ben's mouth. it only took a few sucks on the nipple to realize that of course, it was formula, and Ben scuched up his face. "Hehehe I have to say Ben, you are JUST too cute like this. I might have to try and lock you into a long term agreement here." 23 teased then winced at the glare Ben gave him. "Kidding! Kidding!" pushing the bottle out of his mouth, Ben went to say something but was cut off as Hope strolled onto the set. "Ok people, time to make some magic. baby Ben, we need you in wardore." she said then pasued. "Oh, Do you know how to put a diaper on?" she asked, suddenly looking sheepish. "N-No." ben whined and a loud toot came out his bottom. "Oh er..I don't think we have time to teach you before you unload." Hope said, holding her nose. "it's ok, I'll diaper the big baby." 23 said happily. "of course you will." Ben muttered, but let himself be lead off to a side room where there was star on the door, with his name on it. "great...I'm about to become famous as a diaper boy.." Ben whined. lead inside 23 just chuckled. "Mr.Devil, he's ready for his close up."

The diaper was MASSIVE, and for a second both boys just stared at it, wondering if Ben was gonna be able to even walk in the thing. it was easily the equal to 10 normal diapers layered together and was a soft baby blue (whether that was a marketing choice or just when they had been making these things expect 23 to model them, neither boy was sure) anther loud toot from Ben's back door which sadly filled the small dressing room had both boys holding their noses, and broke them out of their trance. "I..I don't wanna do this. I'm scared." Ben whined, looking at 23 with pleading eyes and starting to squirm in a way that told him their deadline was coming up fast. "Sorry buddy, we signed the contract. but I'll make sure this goes as fast as possible. all you have to do with whimper and cry, and act like you've been acting, and I'll be doing the voice over." 23 said and reached up, patting Ben's head. Ben whined but let himself be laid down on the teddy bear print changing mat on the floor and just lifted his arms to let 23 tug his shirt off. "we're gonna have to enroll you in a exercise program if we need to keep feeding you like this." 23 teased, noting that while Ben wasn't chubby, he had enough pudge on him to look a bit like baby fat, and the baby food in his tummy wasn't helping. Sliding Ben's undies off 23 tossed them in a trash can behind him, then unfolded the massive diaper as Ben whined. "W-why'd you toss out my undies? A-and were are my pants? F-For after?" he asked, feeling so small and helpless as 23 lifted Ben up but his legs to get the diaper under him. "hush, you let me worry about that..though..heh.." 23 paused the look down at Ben's exposed crotch. "Didn't know you shave." "I uh..haven't gotten my pubes yet.." the bigger in so many ways, but not where it counted boy said. "well that explains your cute widdl-" "Watch it!" Ben huffed and for the first time moved to use his Omimatrix. "Ok ok..Sorry." 23 said sweat dropping. "I've had THREE girls interested in me by the way, so it can't be THAT small!" Ben added and 23 smirked and powdered him lots. "And how many of them saw you down there?" 23 asked, as he tugged the diaper up. "and of those that saw, how many stayed interested?" with the diaper tapped up Ben sat up with a bit of effort, but was blushing and wouldn't look 23 in the eyes. "L-Let's just get this over with." Ben huffed and tried to get up on his own, only to keep falling back on his puffy butt. "That's what I thought." 23 chuckled and then held out his hands, Helping Ben get to his feet. the bigger boys BIG diaper had his legs spread and Ben was barley able to waddle, several times needing to stop and take 23's hands as they made their way out onto the set. 'If i make it though this I'm moving to a smaller apartment so i never have to ask this son of a bitch for a favor again.' Ben thought.

Hope grinned ear to ear and had some of the photographers snap shots of Ben needing help with walking, before coming over with a baby blue bonnet and bib that had white text in comic sans, that read BRAT. Ben would of argued about the add ons, since he was pretty sure that hadn't been in the original deal, if it wasn't for the fact he was using every ounce of control NOT to mess himself too soon and have to start all over. "There we go, don't you just look adorable~" Hope teased and tickled Ben's chin. "A-Ah.S-Stop that..w-we hafa hurry up..I..I can't.." Ben whined and rubbed his tummy, a muffled fart coming out and making hope take a step back. As they started to film, Ben for the most part blissfully blacked out, but of course got to watch the commercial after, with everyone praising him on what a good boy he had been.

"Hey everyone, Ben 23 here, and bringing you yet anther great product. So, brats, we all know one and we've all thought about putting them in their place, but where do you even start to get what you need for it?" Came 23's voice, on a screen of black. "Well the answer for that, Is huggies. That's right, the same company you've been trusting to look after your little bundles of joy is here to help you put those same bundles of joy turned into over sized brats back into little baby's." the screen came into focus and there was Ben, a glazed look in his eyes and holding his tummy, in all his big baby glory. "Most of you know about my other universe counterpart, but what you don't know is that he's a grade A BRAT. as a favor to his friends back in his verse, we're giving Baby Ben the punishment he deserves. isn't that right baby ben?" 23's voice asked as Ben whined and pouted. "Pwease, no wanna go poopies! I'm sowwy!" Ben cried out. "now now Ben, you don't want anther spanking do you?" 23's voice asked, and it was the yelp of fear that sold it as Ben totally lost control. the camera zoomed in as the back of Ben's diaper rapidly started to expand, and loud gross farts were heard. Ben for his part was face down ass up, and pounding a fist on the floor as he filled his diapers, crying and howling but really, it only made the shot better. "Lil stinkers is made with a new material that allows for up to 40 times the normal amounts of waste, which means even with 22 jars of baby food in baby Ben's tummy these diapers won't leak, or your money back." 23 said. the diaper only started to take on a dirty stain of brown in the back as the material reached down to Ben's knees. "with our new smell block guards in the diaper, you'll only get the faintest whiff of the the mess the big babies made. Sure it spares the brat but if your brat is anything widdle Benny here, you're gonna be punished enough changing him." with a few last sputtering farts Ben was apparently finished and sucking on his thumb as he got up on his knees, looking to the cameras. "C-Change pwease?" Ben whined. "Oh silly Ben, if we just changed you right away, where would the fun be in that? with added rash protection built into the diaper, along with bratty baby brand powder, Our little Benny can go 12 hours without a change!" hearing that Ben bawled again, both hands coming up to his eyes and there was just no two ways about it, he looked like a giant baby. "See you in 12 hours little guy! enjoy your poopie diaper." 23 said cheerfully. Ben's cries were muted as they went to the last of it. "Lil stinkers by huggies. put your brat back in diapers, and in their place. Available at a super market near you in two weeks."

Ben naturally wasn't actually kept in the poopie diaper for 12 hours, though they did take the chance to get all the pictures they needed for him in his poopie diapers, with 23 posing in some of them with him. Such as having Ben in his arms, Ben over his lap and pretending to give him a messy spanking, and of course 23 pulling the back of the diaper open as Ben sat on his ass, hugging a teddy bear and sucking on a pacifier and 23 holding his nose. If 23 was being truthfully though he was glad he was wearing his baggy pants as the site of Ben like this almost had little hearts in his eyes and he was tempted to try and keep Ben like this. Still a contract was a contract, and once they had enough footage they got Ben changed into a clean diaper but out of the bib and bonnet, and with his t-shirt back on. Ben was actually in the crib that was part of the set up when he came out of it, the staff and Hope and 23 where having a few drinks. "C-Can somebody come let me out? And.. get me big boy undies and pants?" Ben called, using the crib railing to haul himself to his feet but swaying dangerously if he let go, so knowing he couldn't get out. if the crew heard him, they ignored him and kept talking among themselves and laughing, annoying Ben. "I SAID, SOMEBODY LET ME OUT!" Ben yelled and stomped a foot, slipping and falling on his padded rear. "oh great, the baby is awake." 23 said, smirking and winking to the crew who all laughed. "Your not freaking funny! Let me outta here NOW or I'm going way big!" Ben growled and started to fiddle with his watch. "Way big?" a crew member asked. "as in he's gonna be a big boy?" "No! as in the alien who's 100 feet tall!" Ben huffed and got the watch ready to go. "-sigh- I'll handle this." 23 said and walked over, holding his hands up. "heyy heyy..it's OK Benny. we don't need to bring aliens into this. you're all done here and we'll cash your check at the first bank of Ben then you can go home. OK?" "i want outta this diaper, I want outta this crib! and i want big boy undies and pants!" Ben huffed, keeping his hand over his watch. "heh, your terms are agreeable. we only re-diapered you because you were out of it, and I don't really wanna change anther poopie diaper." 23 lied. He would of totally loved to keep changing Ben's diapers but clearly the little guy had been pushed to his limit.

As it turned out they couldn't find pants in the studio for Ben, or a pair of undies so the poor hero ended up standing in line with 23 at the bank in his t-shirt and diapers, which normally would of caused problems but with 23's technically owning the bank, it was brushed over. The first thing they did after getting the check cashed was go shopping and get Ben a pair of sumo slammer boxers, then off to the food court for him to get the taste of the baby food and formula out of his system, though he wasn't able to eat his full order. 23 joked about how they should of gotten him a happy meal as he wiped up the chilli stains off of Ben's face. after that it was time to go home and Ben gave 23's hand a shake. "..ok, you saved my ass from having to move back home..buttt don't expect me to come back here till this ad campaign is over and done." Ben said. "heh, come on, didn't a SMALL part of you have fun?" 23 asked. "hahahaha NO. Today was the most horrible day of my life, and with the shit I've been though, thats saying something. Maybe you can come over to MY universe sometime and be a diaper boy for me though." "heh. or just show up with a diaper bag." "..Shutting up." with that Ben went back to his home universe, very much richer. Or so he thought.

as it turned out their money while looking the same on the outside, was made differently and raised all sorts of flags when Ben went to go and deposit it in his universe. there was a public cry of outrage that a hero like Ben would try and destabilize a local economy like that, and there was talks of official charges of counterfeiting and maybe even jail time. Not even able to get his cash back, and the Plumbers having to give him the cold shoulder publicly to save face, Ben decided to take a little bit of a vacation (2-7 months while the plumbers legal team got him out of the mess) back in universe 23, figuring that 23 owned him, AND wanting to give him a piece of his mind.

"baby Ben! back so soon?" 23 asked, delighted as a red faced Ben made it to his pent house. on the way over Ben had been recognized, teased and scolded for not being in his diapers and had seen billboard with him in all his blacked out diaper baby glory. "ha.Ha. we have a problem." Ben said, and then nodded to 23's couch. "mind if I take a seat?" "Only if you promise not to make a puddle." 23 joked, but moved aside as Ben came in and flopped down. Ben spent the next 10 minutes explaining out what had happened, as 23 looked upset and shook his head. "Man, that sucks. I'm sorry, i didn't know!" 23 said. "well, I need a place to stay for a little while till i get the OK to go back..so I was wondering if y-" "would put you up here for a few months, heh,. that can be arranged. don't think you'll be able to get a place on your own here unless you just did more commercials though, rent in the city has gone up since i live here." "Not like i have a penny to my name anyways, and was gonna ask if you'd rent me a place..Buttt staying here I guess won't be so bad." Ben said with a little smile. "there is a small price I'd like you to pay..But in return for humoring me on this onnnne tiny little thing, I swear you'll want for nothing while staying with me. all the junk food you could want and any video games, the whole nine yards." 23 said, blushing a little now. "..why am i getting a bad feeling about this?" Ben asked. "well see.. they didn't need the stuff they used in your commercial after you left..so they gave it to me for free..and you were just SO god damn cute.." 23 said, getting up and leading Ben to yup, a recreation of the nursery from the set. "FUCK NO!" "oh come on Ben! i promise! no baby food this time and pop in your baby bottles! Pleasssse?" 23 asked, bringing his hands together. "why in the world would i agree to do that for a few months? I could just go do anther commercial, then get my own place here!?" Ben pointed out. "one, because as your agent I control whether you do anther shoot, it's actually part of the contract, two, if I tell my bank not to cash your check who else do you think will cover that much. three, and this is the kicker. where else can you go to with ease to hide out? you really think mad Ben is gonna welcome you with open arms?" "..Fuck my life!"

And so one week after promising himself he'd never be a big baby again, Ben found himself in two of the thick blue diaper's  and in a t-shirt top, crawling behind behind 23 and pouting like crazy. "Don't you think top is over kill?" Ben whined. "I'm the one paying for them. so just shush and look adorable." "Not funny." Ben pouted and then realized it would be harder then hell to get off and on the couch's and just sat on his diaper butt in the living room. "So what d-" "I want chilli cheese fires, I want a two liter of coke, and I want the latest sumo slammer game five minutes ago!" Ben huffed then grinned. "..Demanding aren't we?" "and i quote: I swear you'll want for nothing. I want all of that." Ben said smugly. "you know, i could of just spanked you." 23 teased, going to grab the phone and make the food order. instead of Ben telling him off however, the threat had a amusing and smelly effect instead. Ben froze at the memory of that and then well, with him being double diapered it was a little hard to tell since there was no smell, but 23 could of sworn Ben just got a little taller. "heh, Did somebody just make me a present?" "NO!...yes." "Good boy. I'll change you after you eat, if your a good boy." 23 said and winked. "...this is gonna be a long 2 months."

the end?

[gocchisama]

Rollercoaster of Emotion : A Keyakizaka Story

The “Republic of Keyakizaka” concert took place the week end of 22-23 July, in FujiQ conifer forest. With a schedule matching mine, i had the privilege to attend the two days full of keyakizaness, from unique scenery inside the park to the sharp performance of the girls. I will attempt to bring as much anecdote from the inside as i can, and yes there’s a lot of things to say!

The concert took place near the popular attraction park FujiQ Highland.

Getting tickets as a foreigner might be an hassle. I had to create a Rakuten account, an EMTG account, have a credit card that works, a japanese phone number and address. You can get the last two by submitting to tenso, a japanese service specialized in shipping Japanese goods. After that, it was first come first served so web servers were saturated from fans multiple connections, disabling the service for those who have poor internet. Fortunately the venue capacity was big (12 000 seats) and some gave up because the venue was too far from tokyo (2 hours from bus/3 from train). 6 hours after the start of the selling, i managed to buy 2 tickets (i didn’t choose seats). Something hard, was also to book a bus ( most japanese fans rushed to this service as well) and all hotel were book. I got lucky to find a very affordable airbnb (guesthouse online service) and managed to secure a super early Bus from tokyo to the venue. Vacations were finally starting!

A sneak peek of the queuing line for Keyakizaka goods. There’s three of them.

There’s a reason i wanted to come early: exclusive goods! I wasn’t satisfied with the towel available on the official online store, but the one sold at the venue was a real “coup de coeur”. Hirate Yurina being a very popular member, i didn’t wanted to face a sold-out situation. I arrived at 10AM and the show started at 5PM(afternoon). But there was already a massive line worth 1.5 hours! Easy to tell that Goods are really popular items of collection. I thought i was going to wait in hellfire, but weather was cloudy and the forest around were kind of absorbing the heat. Also we were waiting below the fujiyama rollercoaster so it was fun to see people getting scared 60m above our line. What surprised me was how disciplined fans were : patiently waiting their turn, and quickly purchasing their goods. What looked really long actually moved quite fast. Aki-p was also prepared : there was a huge amount of package behind the selling staff to fulfill everyone’s otaku needs. Thumbs up for japanese neat organization!

Exclusive goods were affordable and high quality.

i was positively surprised at the goods prices. 3000Y 100% cotton T shirts, 3000Y lighsticks and 2000Y the god of items, the oshi towel. Aside from the oshi towel, the biggest value for me was the exclusive fanclub keyakizaka bandana (the one on my bag) with the unbeatable price of 300Y. There was also this 4500Y exclusive T shirt with handmade blazer “humility, kindness, bond” but i skipped due to budget reasons. The highlight was also keyakizaka photoset : for 1000Y, they give you a set of 5 random pictures, either from special silent majority (kohaku version) to futari season (gold uniform). I had a good pull with yuipon, moriya, shida manaka. When i got out, there were hundreds of fans trading like crazy to complete their sets! Some had 30 000 Y worth of photos, just to get a chance to have their oshimen sets complete. As you can expect, a lot of fans keep popular members set for their own collection, and to trade them is very rare. The trading was a raging battle and with my poor 5 pictures, i didn’t tried to join the fray. Even though i could probably catch  Yurina... let’s hope for another chance in the summer tour!

There was so many keyakizaka fans that the park could have been renamed Keyakizaka land.

Keyakizaka performing in Conifere forest was undoubtly a big collaboration with FujiQ Highland. Sony management get a big venue and promotion from FujiQ, while FujiQ ultra boost its attendance rate with all the wota coming to have a good time in the park. I won’t be surprised if they do it again. The scenery was unreal : almost 70% of the park customers were wearing their oshi towel and keyaki T-shirts. After all, the 1500Y admission pass was free for those who had concert tickets (but you have to pay the biggest rollercoasters). It was a great opportunity for group of friends to attend both fujiQ and keyakizaka GIG, but also couples and families. There was members panel scattered over the whole park and fans had to search for their oshi (see above). You could see who were popular according to the lane of fans waiting to get the perfect shot. Zuumin, Monarisa, Neru always had a lane. Techi was very well hidden (at the near edge between 2 rollercoaster) and had like 100 members queuing for her! It took me 1h to find the panel and take a picture, but the hide and seek game was fun.

About the sociology : after a lot of observation, i would say the ratio is 75-25 boys/girls, and most of them were very young 15-20 years old. They probably didn’t lived the Acchan era, and that explain why AKB is declining : AKB didn’t managed to appeal to this new fandom; Nogizaka and Keyaki did. I haven’t seen goods related to other idol group, even from Nogizaka. It was really all about Keyaki. I’ll be honest, it was hard to connect with fans. Langage barrier, also they were already hanging in groups of friend/Focus on trading. I chatted a bit with fans when i was queueing in Fujiyama rollercoaster, and they were surprised i came from France, but that’s about it. On a side note, Fujiyama has nice attractions like Eee janai ka (see videos on youtube) so please check it out for one day (you don’t need more, and go on weekdays) if you have the opportunity to do so!

The actual venue, with a big stage looking like a castle with flags ornaments.

The actual venue was very convenient. There were a lot of staff guiding fans and you just had to cross the bridge to be at the concert. Lot of policemen, security was strict, checking bags and ID. Impossible to resell ticket thanks to this, even with accompany status (the concert didn’t sold out anyway). How it was organized : seats were spread through blocks. For example, if you get A block, you’re very close to the stage, and if you get the number 7-9, you are in the center of the venue. Kami seats were not A1(on the edge, but still good), but A7 (sooo close). Since i bought ticket late, i had F2, which is quite bad, but i was already glad to be there. I had the big left screen to follow the concert (picture above). You were given a balloon to use it during Sekai ni wa ai shikanai. Saturday i would say was filled at 95%, and Sunday was 90%. Mission accomplished.

The girls appeared in brand new horsemen-inspired costume, holding (*cough* confederate *cough*) flags.

The show was finally starting! Big new instrumental intro to lift the atmosphere, again with the army style. People wavering their greenlighstick, all standing up. Techi was standing in the middle with her badass stare like the leader of the army. After this intro, they played Overture and followed by the 3 first singles. First thing i wanted to confirm : No zuumin (imaizumi Yui) also Yonetani nanami chose to focus on her studies in the meantime. Anyway choregraphy went smoothly and the crowd was cheering and doing the mix (wota chant). It’s our way to tell the girls we’re enjoying our time and mutually motivating ourselves. It’s our way to communicate! Overall members had good expressions, like Moriya, Yuuka and Neru, but also Satoh shiori and uemura rina that were dancing on my side. Others like Berika and Techi were kind of warming up, trying to avoid making mistakes.

There were a lot of interactions between fans and the group. Shida Manaka particulary enjoyed shooting on fans but also members.

Aozora and Bokutachi no sensou were pretty original : they put the crowd into work sending big floating air balls that we were bumping around the venue, and girls had waterstream to shower the first lanes. Other members had waterguns. It was really festive and even though bokutachi no sensou is not my favourite song, people were having fun. Aozora to marry is a fan favourite, as the calls were very strong.

Techi entering the scene the coolest way possible

Techi was singing live, with a playback running behind. A double edged sword as if her pitch was off, it could be distinguishly heard, so she focused a lot on her singing. Her voice is more girly than the studio version, which was cute. However, because she wanted to do good, she was restraining herself and her moves lacked expressions. She didn’t interacted much with the crowd, making her cold. As if she was aware of her mistake, she did significantly better Sunday and she felt much more natural. Hearsaying on my way home, a lot were satisfied with her performance, as her aura is “yabai” (so impressive)

Yurina’s performance was followed by Hiragana keyaki 2 songs, “hiragana keyaki” and “boku wa tsukiatteru”. I was pleasantly surprised at how genki, smiling and fluffy the girls were, lifting up the crowd even more. They were so much more expressive than Kanji singles it kind of woke up everyone. The song in studio is standard orthodox idol, but it is a killer during live performance because the lyrics are easy to remember and moves easy to mimic. Very good surprise, i saw myself tagging along, leaving behind all regrets to look ridicule. At the end, Sasaki kumi took charge of the MC. I can see she is comfortable with talking, but topics to talk about could be improved. Other girls were short to comment.

Waterworks  were giving density to the rare performed “Otona wa shinjite kurenai”

Kanji are back with the great “otona wa shinjite kurenai” and the very anticipated “eccentric”. Very solid performance, very sharp and powerful. The girls are in their element and Techi is finally unleashing the darkness within her. We don’t have mix in this song, but people were amazed and couldn’t speak much. It gaves a stronger feeling than Silent majority. Less mainstream, much deeper. I really liked it. Great follow up with Eccentric, people argued the choregraphy was a hit or miss, but i would say definitevely a hit! If felt like the girls were having erratic spasm, but did synchronized move as well. Very technical. The song itself is good, and i saw myself doing the wakame dance (waving my arms), shuffling my towel (while they use their shoes) and shaking my chest. (that was weird).

Something i noticed too in Hohoemi Ga kanashii and Wareta Smartphone. Because Techi is a little bit cranky and mechanical, the chemistry with Neru is not perfect. Techi shines in dark songs, but on her path to become a great idol, she needs to express herself more in normal situation. It feels like Neru is assisting her rather than being a balanced pairing. On the other song, Berika is reminding me of Paruru, doing the barely minimum during performance. I know it’s funny to put someone awkward in a sexy song, but i don’t think it’s helping her to grow. The contrast with the sexyness of Moriya is making her look bad. She looks more comfortable in songs like Aozora ga chigau. In the meantime, Mona risa are fooling around while Yuuka try to focus on the choregraphy. I personally like Wareta smartphone.

Sometimes the wota culture can be misunderstood. 

We reached a climax with the 3 last songs, “Kataru nara mirai wo”, “Takaku tobe” and “Te wo tsunaide Kaerou ka”? Kataru Nara is an absolute jewel of choregraphy and the mix were really strong. Before that we had a Hiragana and Kanji dance medley very similar to what happened in Ariake. Some moves were recycled, but i don’t mind as the girl had little time to practice. Special shoutout to Suzumoto Miyu who is by far the best dancer of the groupe. Saito Kyoko dance battled with her and she was very decent too. As people were hyping, they send Takaku tobe which once again blowed me away at how popular of a song it was. Perhaps the instrumental got changed to sound more upbeat, but everyone was tagging along with the moves and quirky mimics. Hiragana songs are really popular! To answer to that, Kanji Keyaki used Te wo tsunaide, another popular song that worship the yuukanen pairing. People were warming up at Yuukanen chasing each other, in a very cute way. The cheering was pretty even with Takaku tobe.

The Encore escalated quickly, with loud screams and fireworks.

To me the big highlight was the encore, Fukyouwaon. People knew it was the last powerful song so we kind of put everything to it. The girls exploded and the pyrotechnics made it look like a warfield. It was so funny i shouted “boku wa yada” with Techi similar to if i was in hellfest, surprising people next to me (i thought it was part of the mix , sorry). Anyway, people did their best mix and you couldn’t hear the rollercoaster next to us. Fukyouwaon went from the “weakest” A-side to “best A-side on stage” haaands down. It was truly marvelous and you could see the girls were enjoying the crowd hype as their moves were growing in power (Techi was smiling from enjoyment).

Finally we finished with our anthem kanji/hiragana together, Keyakizaka no Uta. We kind of let loose after the final rush and enjoyed the last bit of time together. We had fireworks and it almost felt the girls weren’t aware. Since we were around 7PM, it was night and you could completely see the fireworks. People were having a blast. I heard “sugeee” “yabaaai” “majiiii de” from everywhere when it started to lighten up the sky.

Aki-p used credit card platinum. It was very effective.

In conclusion, it was a great experience to live as a fan. You could either skip Saturday or Sunday as it was the same setlist. Unfortunately, Yonetani and Zumiko absence were quite heavy, leaving their fans bittersweet. Also there was only eccentric as new song, making fans craving for more. That’s why it can’t beat Ariake coliseum yet. But fear not! Because Keyaki summer schedule is very busy; they still have to perform the summer tour, handshakes, summer sonic, fuji rock and Tokyo idol festival. I think Zuumin will come back avoiding the hectic schedule, just in time for their biggest stop, Makuhari Messe. Keyaki story is not over yet!

I was impressed once again by japanese crowd control. They brought special train for people to come back safely to tokyo. The guideline was perfect, and they regulate trains so people don’t overcrowd it. Also it was free, so i only paid 500 yen to come back from Fujisan to Chiba! They really do the maximum for the fans and i’m really grateful.

It’s not all the time you see a town full of wota, wearing their oshi towel like it’s pretty standard; to see fans helping each other to take turns of 2shots, praising their respective oshimen quality; a young daughter refusing his also-fan dad to accompany her in handshake to not be embarassed in front of her oshimen... Now i realized what the true meaning of “republic of keyakizaka” is : people bonding, having fun together, enjoying life around the positive energy that brings the group.

- Gocchisama

En route toward new keyaki adventures! Thanks for reading.

[wanderlustwonderlots]

Day 10 - The Last Day

I’m writing this back in Canada, so forgive the delay!  I’m a lil tired!  But I’ll finish up with the last post </3

Final Fieldwork

On the last day, we didn’t have any participants set up for Team Nasal Harmony.  Ideally we would have gone back to Austria to get more from the speakers there, but they weren’t keen on having us back.  So, we drove out to the Prlekija   region, about two hours east of Ljubljana, right in the corner of Slovenia hugged by Croatia.  Specifically, we went to the town of Središče! Which I can sometimes pronounce properly!  We brought another linguist with us, Karmen.  She’s done research on presence of nasal [ j ] in Slovenian dialects, and we used her map and cited her in our presentation back at the beginning of the trip, so it was nice to meet her.  She was really kind and spoke to us in English lots so Deepam and I wouldn’t get lost in her conversations with Peter!  

I slept most of the ride there (and back) as I’d gotten up early again, as always, but when I was awake the drive was gorgeous of course.   We were in a fairly flat part of Slovenia by the end of the drive, but “flat” still means lots of hills and mountains in the distance. When we first started out, still in the hills, I saw the coolest thing!  The trees were steaming!  It was so early in the morning and it was a little chilly and gloomy but the trees were still warm, so air was rising off of them.  I had only seen something like this once before, back in Ontario, and much less substantial.  We could see the trees way in the distance doing this.  The air was rolling out of them slowly and calmly but we could still see it moving!  What a beautiful thing to witness.

It’s always funny to hear how the navigation narration tries to pronounce Slovenian words, but the funniest was on this trip.  We passed a town called Ptuj, but in the instructions the voice didn’t even attempt this one.. and just spelled out P-T-U-J.  The poor software can’t keep up with all the unfamiliar sounds and consonant clusters!  At first attempt I can’t either so I don’t blame it.

Once we got to Središče, we parked near the church and started walking around in search of someone to talk to.  We really didn’t have a plan for the day!  We saw a woman working in her backyard, so Peter and Karmen went to talk to her while Deepam and I stood around looking awkward. She wasn’t able to participate, nor anyone she lived with, but she pointed us in the direction of the local municipal building to find help.  It was great of her to talk to them for so long and to try to help as best she could!  So off we went to the next step.  Just outside the building there was the TINIEST kitten I have ever seen!! I’m still thinking about it!!! I wanted to spend more time with it and pick it up and cuddle it but I didn’t have time :( I felt a little bad for it, its eyes were a lil runny and it was so small it was still unbalanced while walking!! Super cute though, and truly a good omen for the day.

So upon going into the municipal building, we found a woman who I think we were going to ask to recommend people or contact people for us, I’m not too sure.  But she actually participated in the experiment for us!  I’m not sure what her name was.. but she was very nice. So we set up the laptop and the nasalance mask at her desk as other employees brought us coffee and water.  She seemed interested and keen on it and did a great job with the stimuli!  The way it worked, similarly to in Austria, was Peter or Karmen would ask the participant how to say something or what a word for ___ would be, and the speaker would give their answer until we got the right term for it.  Then Deepam and I record and save it, and Peter would ask them to say a similar word but with a segment changed out. At least based on what they were saying, this is what I’m fairly certain was happening.  For example, “svila” but with a /j/ would be “svija”.  This was a way to create minimal pairs from real words that already existed - an easier way to elicit sounds than nonce words, which can be tricky.  She did really well with them though!  After we finished the stimuli, she called up a couple people in town for us who might be able to participate as well.  One man was out of town but another woman was able to do it so we went to her house.

One of the other employees was kind enough to walk us to the house rather than just showing us the way!  It was a small town and very close so only took a couple minutes but I still found it very nice of her.  The woman we recorded second was 94 years old! Born in 1923!  Wow!  We ran the same tasks as we did before, recording about 40 words.  She did so well with the mask and a great job overall.  Some things took multiple explanations from Peter, Karmen, and her son, but if I were 94 I would need the same.  Her and her son were so hospitable, inviting strangers into their home to do experimentation, and offering us drinks and cookies afterward.  It was what we’d been experiencing on each day of fieldwork but those were all after setting them up previously and this was straight out of the blue.  Everyone I interacted with on this trip was equally as kind and inviting.  We were there as researchers but also as guests, each time.  It was valuable to learn how to be both, and even more so in an unfamiliar language and culture.  

We could have potentially found another participant, but Peter had more stuff to do in the evening for Wenxuan’s project, so we called it a day with just the two.  We stopped at a cafe before heading out for a snack - ice cream and coffees.  I opted for one scoop of pistachio and another of mixed nuts, and an espresso as usual.  I never used to like espresso but I’m glad I do now, because it’s all I was drinking when we got coffee out!  So strong and satisfying, and this was an especially nice complement to the sweet ice cream.  The cafe was beautiful too, a couple smaller rooms in the place, all with tons and tons of plants.  It was a great atmosphere, very homey and relaxing.  The woman that served us was lovely, Deepam and I chatted with her about why were there in Središče and Slovenia in general.  She was really impressed that students from Toronto came all the way to the small town to do research!  We could have talked longer but we had to head home again.  It was a satisfying stop before we left though and made me even happier to have stopped in the town and talked to the people there.

After we got home, we ended up just relaxing for a bit.  Peter had to leave soon after to record another person with Wenxuan, but we stayed back to clean, pack, and help cook dinner with Andrea and Rachel.  I managed to pack almost all of my stuff between getting home and cooking dinner which was great!  We listened to music and sang along as we cooked, it was so fun and happy!  Lots of classics, some throwbacks, and a couple good sing-alongs. It was a nice home cooked meal to use up everything left i the fridge!  We waited until Wenxuan and Peter were back to eat so it ended up being kinda late, but also we wanted it to be a family dinner with everyone!  We had a salad with all the produce left, hard-boiled eggs, and homemade croutons, roasted carrots and whole garlic gloves, and baguette baked with either cheese or meat on top. The garlic was sooo soft and delicious, we just spread it on the bread like butter.  I have to make it that way more often!! The salad was also super fresh and tasty. We also finished the bottle of wine we had started earlier in the week - a very satisfying cheers after 10 days of working hard.  

It was a wholesome dinner with a wholesome bunch of people <3 

Final Thoughts

I’m so happy I could be part of such an incredible trip, it’s an experience I won’t forget.  I became so close with everyone and I feel like I’ve grown as a person.  I’m on my way to becoming a true linguist!  It was such a valuable trip and I’m a little sad it’s over.  As nice as it is to be back in a familiar city with my cat, back to the usual days, Slovenia will be on my mind for a while. If ever given the opportunity I would absolutely come back here for research!  I would very much like to come back by myself when I have the chance, to explore the city of Ljubljana, seeing museums and galleries and just walking around like I did on my last Europe trip.  I do still love being by myself, being able to take things in at my own pace and on my own terms.   It was really interesting traveling with a group though, and a lot of fun with everyone.  I felt like I was able to be a classic tourist more comfortably, taking photos of everything and gawking, and it was nice having people to take photos of me too, something I really missed while traveling solo!  

Having done real research on endangered dialects and working with real participants, I’m so excited for what my future holds for me.  I’m incredibly happy to be in this field and explore the options ahead of me!  I hope that I can do fieldwork again soon and see how it differs in different environments and on different projects.  I’ve gained so much more than just data from this trip!  But before looking onto what I can do next, I’ll have to buckle down and analyze everything for this project.  We’ll be presenting at a workshop here in Toronto on August 15th, so lots to do before that!  Peter plans on going back to Prlekija again (as he’s staying in Slovenia until mid-August) so he’ll have more data to send to us later as well.  The rest of my summer certainly won’t be boring!!

All in all, this trip has been absolutely amazing.  I met to many kind people, I made great bonds with the team, and I’m even more passionate than before about linguistics.  Who knows what the future holds for me, and if it will involve this blog again...  Thank you to all who kept up with my adventures and I hope you enjoyed reading about them!  Until next time~

[trans-hunter-truther]

Ask me: all

JESUS answers under the cut hopefully bc holy shit [[READ MORE]]1) What images do you have set for your desktop/cell phone wallpapers?I'll do cell phone since I'm on it right now: lock screen is a duck and her ducklings, home is sylveon2) Have you ever had a crush on a teacher?Nope3) What was your last text message?Tbh something personal to my friends expense so not gonna copy and paste 4) What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?I'd like to be helping my communities. I have several dreams... Photoshoots for trans kids, bringing ASL further into the spotlight and performing musicals in asl, making clothing lines for plus size and trans people5) If you could be anywhere else right now, where would you be?Cuddling in bed in some gay ass nerds arms 6) What was your coolest Halloween costume?Lmao I never really had 'cool' halloween costumes but the funniest definitely was this year where my friends and I all went as different aesthetics/ tropes- "emo" "hipster" "jock" stuff like that and then "space gay" "plant gay" and I was manic pixie dream girl 7) What was your favorite 90s show?"Friends" or "Freaks and Geeks" 8) Who was your last kiss?Ex and he forced me lmao so it was uncomfortable and my friend had to intervene9) Have you ever been stood up?I've been on like two dates in my life so no10) Favorite ice cream flavor?Chocolate with brownie chunks and fudge- so basically chocolate on chocolate on chocolate 11) Have you been to Las Vegas?Nop12) Your favorite pair of shoes?My Converse I hand painted a galaxy on 13) Honestly, have you ever cheated on your significant other?Nope. One time someone grabbed me by the hair at the back of my head and kissed me and I shoved them off but I've never been an instigator 14) What is your favorite fruit?Pear or apple, I'm boring :v 15) Have you talked to anyone on tumblr that you could see yourself dating/having sex with? If possible?I already did that twice so... yes16) Are you into hookups? Short or long term relationships?Nope I'm Demisexual so hookups aren't a thing for me. Long term typically, but if I know it's really not working out I'm not afraid to end things. 17) Do you smoke? If so, what?Nop18) What do you do to get over your anger?Bike, mediative breathing, kick boxing 19) Do you believe in God?Eh? I believe in several deities and powers and ideals 20) Does the person you're in love with know it?I mean I'd hope so I've said it a million times 21) Favorite position?Cowgirl 22) What's your horoscope sign?ITS THE AGE OF AQUARIUS, THE AGE OF AQUARIUSSSSSSS- AQUIRIUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSS...... AQUIRIUSSsSsSsS 23) Your fears?Being manipulated, being raped, someone breaking into my house, being followed, running into past people who have hurt me 24) How many pets do you have? What kind?Right now I just have Luna my cat who doesn't meow but just yells really loudly 25) What never fails to turn you on?Grabbing or biting 26) Your idea of a perfect first date?Seeing a movie, walking on the boardwalk and going to a fun restaurant (good food, not stuffy and fancy) and walking on the beach feeling the water and sand on our feet 27) What is something most people don't know about you?That I suffer/ed from an eating disorder and I'm mostly recovering 28) What makes you feel the happiest?Laughing with my friends 29) What store do you shop at most often?Does Amazon count or...? 30) How do you feel about oral? Giving and/or receiving?I think it's a way of showing you care about your partner and their pleasure so I'm for it; I like both 31) Do you believe in karma?I think that people should strive to do what they believe is right without harming others, but I don't think the universe goes around righting wrongs considering so many who do wrong never face punishment32) Are you single?Not really? I'm not officially in a relationship but I'm also not looking33) Do you think flowers or candy are a better way to apologize?I think that either one can serve as a good way to apologize in addition to an actual thought out apology; provided the flowers or candy are thought out 34) Are you a good swimmer?I've swam since I was like 6 months old so yes 35) Coffee or Tea?Depends, I love both though. Typically I only like homemade tea and cafe made coffee 36) Online shopping or shopping in person?Online shopping I hate irl shopping 37) Would you rather be older or younger than your current age?If I had to choose, older 38) Cats or Dogs?Both? I guess cats if I had to choose because I like cuddling 39) Are you a competitive person?Yeah but I try not to be by avoiding competition40) Do you believe in aliens?Definitely 41) Do you like dancing?Fuck yes I'm always dancing 42) What kind of music to you listen to?Honestly I listen to a really wide spread I like a little bit of everything, only thing I can't always get into is screamo and similar genres 43) What is your favorite cartoon character?Marinette maybe? I have many 44) Where are you from?Florida 45) Eat at home or eat out?Depends what I have st home lmao 46) How much more social are you when you're drunk?Don't know don't drink 47) What was the last thing you bought for yourself?Rainbow boxers yesterday st pride! 48) Why do you think your followers follow you?Memes 49) How many hours do you sleep at night?Typically 6 50) What worries you most about the future?Succeeding in my field 51) If you had a friend that spoke to you the same way you speak to yourself, how long would you be friends?I would drop them so fast fuck 52) Are you happy with yourself?I think mostly I am 53) What do you wish you didn't know?Knowledge is power so I don't regret that, I only wish certain things hadn't happened perhaps 54) What big lesson could people learn from your life?Recognize when you're being manipulated and stay true to yourself 55) If you could live in any home on a television series, what would it be?Maybe the Gilmore house from Gilmore girls? It's such s beautiful house and I love the aesthetic of the town 56) What's your favorite Website?Shopmissa if not a social media website 57) What's the habit you're proudest of breaking?Cutting58) What was your most recent trip of more than 50 miles?I think Gainesville s few months ago for my sisters graduation 59) What's the best bargain you've ever found at a garage sale or thrift store?2.50 blazers at good will 60) What do you order when you eat Chinese food?Dumpling soup, egg rolls, crab Rangoon 61) If you had to be named after one of the 50 states, which would it be?I already am sort of, kali and cali(fornia) if not I guess Dakota? It's a pretty name 62) If you had to teach a subject to a class, what would it be?History, psychology, sexed, or any kind of art lmao? 63) Favorite kind of chips?Sour cream and onion or plain salted kettle cooked chips 64) Favorite kind of sandwich?Turkey, muenster, honey mustard etc 65) Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?Dictionary 66) Have you ever been stung by a bee?Nope I've never been hurt by any animal67) What's your favorite form of exercise?Dance or swimming 68) Are you afraid of heights?Maybe a little but not really 69) What's the most memorable class you've ever taken?Informal geometry it was a fuckin messssssss 70) What's your favorite breakfast?Waffle, eggs, toast, hash browns, coffee, bacon. Aka what I get every time o go to Waffle House 71) Do you like guacamole?Fuck yeah72) Have you ever been in a physical fight?Not really no, I've been hit though 73) What/who are you thinking about right now?Not gonna lie I'm just thinking about how periods suck but I'm so glad I'm not pregnant 74) Do you like cuddling?Most of the time yeah but I have to be very comfortable with that person 75) Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?Probably I have a lot of trauma 76) Have you ever experienced one of your biggest fears?Almost all of them77) Favorite city you've been to?Gainesville, it's so beautiful 78) Would you break the law to save a family member?Depends on the law and depends on the family member- maybe for my older siblings 79) Talk about an embarrassing moment?Oh god I had one yesterday. So I was with friends and I was taking a bunch of pictures and my friend next to me and I starting goofing around and I took a bunch of silly pictures of them and after they grabbed my phone and deleted them and then went to my deleted photos and I was screaming for them to give back my phone and like I'm 99% sure they saw my personal photos I had in there sooo I wanted to die 80) Are there any causes you strongly believe in?LGBT rights, Deaf rights, Autistic and Aspergers people's rights, Black lives matter 81) What's the worst injury you've ever had?I had to get a really shitty surgery in an emergency hospital for an abscess on my labia minora and I was screaming in agony with no anesthesia as doctors flooded in and out. It was really traumatic and painful 82) Favorite day of the week?Saturday. I get to sleep in, be productive in the morning, hang out with friends, have time for myself, and it's very stress free 83) Do you consider yourself sexually open minded?Very, even though I'm Demi once I am comfortable with someone I'm open to try anything almost and I have a lot of kinks 84) How do you feel about porn?I think that while the industry is fucked up and corrupt I support sex workers and sex work in general as a form of entrepreneurship 85) Which living celebrity would you like to know?Maybe Emma stone? 86) Who was your hottest ex?I haven't dated a lot of people really but someone who isn't quite an ex? 87) Do you want/have kids?Not sure. I've gone back and forth but I know I want to experience my life first before I do anything. 88) Has anyone ever told you that they wanted to marry you?Yes89) Do you get easily distracted?YES90) Ass or titties?titties all the way 91) What is your favorite word?Prejudice 92) How do you feel about tattoos?I think they're a beautiful art form 93) Do you have any pets?Yes 94) How tall are you?5'2 and a half 95) How old are you?17 96) 3 physical features you get complimented on a lot?Eyes, boobs, ass 97) Is there anything you're really passionate about?Activism and cosmetology 98) Do you have trust issues?Yeahhhh a little bit not gonna lie99) Do you believe in love at first sight?No not really? I think that you can have attraction but you have to get to know someone to love them 100) What are some words that you live by? Why?Everything happens for a reason. Because while shitty things happen in our lives we can learn from them to make the world a better place. I've had a lot of shitty things happen to me and they have only driven me further in life to help others.