#the one i'm planning to get is around $30 online

[gotchibam]

Heyo! Sorry for keeping my commissioners waiting 😔 Had to pause working on the latest batch of comms since I had to look around for a good wifi router to replace the one I have that got broken last week (am still disappointed how it didn't even last for a month 🥲)

The thing is I don't have enough budget for it since I wasn't really able to reach even half of my kofi goal for this month (I only got around to 36% u_u) so I need a bit of help ;_; I still have a couple slots open for the PCM style comms so if anyone's interested, it would be a big help! If you'd like to help in a small way instead, tips are also very much appreciated! 🥹🙏

PCM style comms: https://ko-fi.com/gotchibam/commissions

Ko-fi tip jar: https://ko-fi.com/gotchibam/

Thank you sm as always!! Signal boosts are also very much appreciated! 🙏🙏🙏

[awhoreintheory]

okay so MCU canon Peter in DC is all funny and games but what about comic canon Peter? Peter who’s in his 30s, whose life is falling apart(again) and has clones to deal with(man I hate the fact that Ben became evil :(.)

extra points if Miles and/or Mayday is with him. This single dad is STRUGGLING. And the bats wanna help him/his kids cause man! Look at them :(

(extra extra points if Dick = Richard Parker. That’s a whole nother can of worms. Like the bats are thinking Peter = Family of Dick they didn’t know but NO! It’s actually Dick’s son! Dicks a granddad!)

I want to PSA to anyone sending asks/requests, I'm not ignoring you!! I'm just a slow writer!!! I hope you enjoy though <33

Peter B. Parker could, 100%, picture landing in (yet another) alternate universe. You know what? As a matter of fact, he expected it.

What he didn’t plan for, however, was being stranded in another universe with his baby girl strapped to his chest. 

But here he was, crouched in a narrow alley in the darkest corner of Gotham City, New Jersey. From the name alone, Peter knew he landed himself in a section of the Multiverse Miguel had expressly labeled as off limits. It wasn’t his fault he’d landed here, though!

One minute he’d been web-swinging through New York, enjoying a rare peaceful day with Mayday babbling happily, and the next he was crash-landing onto a grimy rooftop in the most dangerous city he’d ever seen. It was like New York turned up to eleven, all shadows and towering gargoyles, dripping with rain that seemed perpetual. The interdimensional bracelet he’d been given to travel the multiverse was sparking and smoking in his pocket— total toast. He was officially stranded. 

Ok, so it maybe, kinda sorta, been an eensy weensy, tiny bit Peter’s fault. 

Peter’s, very high-tech and likely expensive bracelet had been, uh, scratched in a fight the day before. Barely even a nick! He swears he could’ve reattached the wires and fixed the screen. 

He probably should’ve also taken the watch out of his robe pocket before he started swinging Mayday to daycare. 

MJ was going to be so mad. 

It became evident early on it’d take a little bit to find a way home, or for someone to find him. If it had just been Peter, he could’ve roughed it on some rooves and abandoned buildings. It wouldn’t be a big deal, he knew he would be getting home eventually. Being a little smelly was the least of his worries. 

But he had his baby girl with him. 

So, with the money in his wallet, he found an under-the-counter, rundown but otherwise warm, apartment in a place called Crime Alley. (What a seriously terrible name) Peter started pulling together whatever side gigs he could, fixing appliances, tuning up electronics, just enough to get by. Even for a guy who was used to scraping by, the situation felt bleak, especially with Mayday depending on him. 

His little red-headed whirlwind was still too young to understand what was happening, but she noticed the tension and started clinging to him more tightly. Peter knew he couldn’t keep this up forever, but he wasn’t sure how to trust anyone in a city that had both criminals and vigilantes lurking around every corner. When he spotted someone in a cape swinging overhead, he instinctively hid in the shadows, holding Mayday close, her tiny face tucked into his shoulder.

But the Bats noticed him. 

It was hard not to notice a single dad with no records, no job, and no explanation for why he was squatting in Gotham’s most dangerous neighborhood. Bruce, ever vigilant, put out word to the family to keep an eye on him. 

Jason, who patrolled Crime Alley, wasn’t thrilled about the idea. “A guy moved into my turf with a baby?” he grumbled to Tim. “Either he’s got a death wish, or he’s crazy.” 

Tim, on the other hand, was fascinated by the mystery. He dug through every database he had access to, and then some. But “Peter Parker” returned zero results— at least, none that matched this Peter Parker. no criminal record, no birth record, no online footprint. It was like he just spawned in! 

Dick didn’t have a whole lot of opinions. He thought the man was nice, though he had only met him once in a routine mugging. He evidently cared for his daughter, and matched Nightwing’s wit and humor pretty nicely, too. He looked annoyingly familiar too. Maybe it was Tired Dad Chic? He kind of reminded him of Bruce, in a way. 

Steph seconded the funny part. This Peter guy could be one of those dark-humor comedians. 

From what they observed, and conversations supplied by Jason (who was his neighbor in a series of fortunate events), Peter really did seem to just be an ordinary guy.  

Then one night, Peter was picking up groceries from a corner store when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find a man in a ski mask brandishing a knife, gesturing for his wallet. 

“Hand over the money, and I won’ hurt ya’ kid.” The man threatened, waving his knife around threateningly. Peter tensed, dropping his groceries in favor of cradling Mayday closer. 

Peter blinked at him tiredly. “The best I can offer is some lint and a can of beans.” 

The man tensed, stepping closer in an attempt at intimidation. Peter thought that his face turning red with anger was kind of funny.

“Don’t fuckin’— are you makin’ fun of me?” The man fumed. Peter might have let out a sleep-deprived chuckle, partially forgetting to respond. 

The mugger lunged, and before he could dodge, Peter felt a searing pain in his side as the blade plunged in, his vision blurring with the shock. Normally, Peter would’ve disarmed the guy without breaking a sweat, but tonight, with Mayday in his arms and his body worn from days of restless sleep, he kind of just… blinked and the knife was there. 

Peter blinked again, then looked back up at the man.

“Oh, wow,” he said, his voice dripping with deadpan sarcasm. “A knife in Crime Alley? Super original. Really, I’m honored to be a part of your creative process.”

The mugger blinked, clearly caught off guard. Peter rolled his eyes, adjusting Mayday to better apply pressure to his side. “Next time you stab a guy, maybe aim for someone with insurance.”

The mugger stumbled back, looking increasingly confused by Peter’s lack of fear. Peter sighed, bouncing Mayday gently as she began to fuss. “Listen, I’m already running on no sleep and the caffeine fumes of yesterday’s coffee. And now you’re just making my night even worse.”

Peter winced, feeling the slow but consistent leak of blood. His healing factor was helping, but it was dulled due to lack of sleep and hunger. 

Between one long blink and the next, someone had jumped down and knocked out Peter’s would-be mugger. 

After another blink Peter realized he was on the ground, Mayday’s wails filled the air, her cries echoing down the alleyway, and Peter tried to smile through the pain. “It’s okay, baby,” he mumbled, clutching her tightly. “Daddy’s fine… just a little… scratch.” But his vision was going hazy as he pressed a hand to his bleeding side. The world began to spin.

One of the vigilantes that Peter recognized as Red Robin rushed over, talking hurriedly into a comm. Peter blinked up at him, his mouth curling into a weak smile. “Hey, nice costume,” he muttered. “Does the utility belt come in dad sizes?” 

Red Robin blinked in surprise, but otherwise keept his focus as he worked to stop the bleeding.

“It doesn’t, unfortunately.” Red Robin offered, popping open his emergency med kit. “I’ve got help on the way, ok? Stay awake for me.” But his attention was snagged when Mayday, overcome with distress, reached out to him, her tiny hands gripping his arm. She wasn’t just clutching it— she was sticking to him, her fingers locked like suction cups on his suit. Tim’s eyes widened as she scrambled up his arm, scaling it like a bug on a wall. 

Red Robin took it in stride, scooping Mayday up as he continued to work. Peter had been on the Meta radar for a bit— a few things here and there just a little off, and it was mostly based on Red Robin’s time spent with super-powered individuals. 

But as he patched up Peter, he discreetly swiped a sample of blood, stashing it in his belt just as the Batmobile pulled up. 

—

Later that night, he ran the sample through the Batcomputer, expecting some small lead. A Meta, possibly insect-based? What with how the kid had stuck to him. Instead, the results left Tim absolutely speechless. 

Peter Parker, the man who was in his early 40s and a single father, didn’t just match someone in the system— it matched Dick Grayson.

Not as a brother, or a cousin, but as a son. 

Tim must’ve ran the test at least 100 times. It came back the same every single time. 

Tim called Bruce and the rest of the family, each of them crowding around the screen with varying levels of shock and amusement as the analysis rolled in. Dick was dumbfounded, staring at the results in disbelief. 

“You’re telling me this guy is my… son?” he stammered, struggling to wrap his mind around it. 

Bruce, socially unaware in all his glory, tried to comfort Dick. “He’s likely from far into the future. Barry said there was a ripple in the timestream around the time Peter showed up.” 

“So what does that make Mayday?” Jason asked, snickering. 

“His granddaughter?” Steph said with a teasing grin. 

“Wow, Dick. You went from a dad to a grandpa in the same minute.” 

“That’s gotta be a world record.”

“You think we can submit this for a Guinness World Record?”

Dick groaned, rubbing his temples as Jason laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. 

“He’s from the future, right? Something must’ve gone wrong on his end," Tim said, folding his arms with a thoughtful look. "He’s definitely got the skills. Moves like you, Dick. It's obvious he's had training.”

Dick couldn't help but smirk, puffing up a little with pride. “Of course he does. He’s got Grayson blood in him, after all.”

Jason snorted. “Yeah, because the whole ‘falling on his face with a baby strapped to him’ bit? So graceful.”

Tim rolled his eyes, trying to stay on track. “Look, I don’t know why he didn’t come to us for help in the first place, but the point is, he’s family. We should get him back to his time, if that’s even possible.” He looked over to Bruce. “Are any speedsters available? Maybe the League could lend us Wally or Barry—"

“Hold on,” Dick interrupted, frowning. “I’m not sure we’re ready to ship him off just yet. The guy’s been trying to make it on his own. He’s got a baby to look after, and I think he’s afraid of dragging us into whatever’s going on with him. You know this family and their pride.”

Damian, who had been silent up to this point, finally piped up, his arms crossed. “I’ve seen him with the baby. She’s… persistent.” There was an almost begrudging respect in his tone. “But he clearly doesn’t have the resources to keep her safe here. If he did, he wouldn’t be living in Crime Alley.”

Dick nodded. “Exactly. The guy’s holding it together with duct tape and dad jokes. We can help him and get him back on his feet while we figure out a way home.”

Bruce, listening intently, finally spoke up. “He’s right. Until we find a way to get him home, Peter and his daughter stay here. We’ll pull together whatever resources we can to help them both.” 

Steph and Tim shared a look. He just wanted to meet his grandson and great-granddaughter. 

There was a beat of silence as everyone absorbed the decision, and then Tim looked at Dick, a small smirk playing on his lips. “So… you ready to be a dad, Dick?”

Dick flushed, looking a mix of horrified and pleased. “I’ll just stick to ‘Uncle Dick’ for now. Baby steps.”

EXTRA:

“Hey,” Jason drawled, barely suppressing a smirk as he looked over at Dick, “you think we can submit this for a Guinness World Record? Fastest unplanned parenthood, or maybe most confusing family reunion?”

Dick rolled his eyes but couldn’t quite hide his grin. “Very funny, Jay. Maybe we can submit you for most inappropriate comments per minute.”

Jason chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. “Just saying, man, it’s impressive. One day you’re Nightwing, lone acrobat extraordinaire, and the next? Boom— you’re the proud father of a scruffy, interdimensional— what'd you say it was, Tim? Spider-dad? A Spider-dad.”

Tim snickered, glancing up from his laptop. “We’re all just living in a 'Strangest Family Reunion’ reality show at this point. Besides, if anyone’s submitting to Guinness, it should be Peter for most relentless optimism under terrible circumstances.”

Bruce cleared his throat, giving them all a look. “Enough. This isn’t a joke. We have a situation to handle here.”

Dick, still grinning, turned back to Bruce. “All right, fine, we’ll save the record-breaking for later. Right now, I say we start by finding this guy and getting him some real help.”

[amisonist]

fuck it transition timeline

I was originally gonna wait until July to do this because that'll mark 3 years on E but I feel like now's a good time all things considered

With that out of the way lets start from the beginning AKA freshman year (AKA 2018)

This was on my way to band camp which is why you can see my trombone in the background (random fact: that was the only year I got to do marching band and our show was "the music of harry potter". yeah irony's a bitch ain't she?)

Graduation picture featuring the bestest boi Jinn :3

This pic is from 2020 because I switched to online and finished high school early out of spite (I was 16 here if you were wondering)

Now then this is from 2021 and was taken only about a week before I started hrt when I was 17

The lake in the background is Lake Superior in case you were wondering. Me and my mother were all the way up on the Keweenaw Peninsula for my family's 4th of July party held at the family farm

Moving on from that I started HRT on July 22 2021 (the appointment was at 9:30 am and I took my first dose at 7:42 pm yes I kept track)

This was taken like a half hour after my first dose (I actually don't really like this pic that much but I'm including it because it is important)

Fast forward from that a year to 2022 when I was 18 and here are a few pics of me around then one of which again featuring best boi Jinn

(it was windy out that day and he tried to bite me immediately after this lmao)

I've never been particularly good at taking selfies lmao

That brings us to now. I've been on hrt for about 2.5 years now if my math is correct. I'm pretty much living full time as a woman, started laser hair removal a couple months ago (next apt is actually tomorrow lol), and I'm working on getting my legal name and gender changed. It's been a long ride thus far and I don't really plan on stopping anytime soon so yeah here ya go

So that's it! At least thus far lol

also fuck photomatt 🚗🔨💥

[prettieinpink]

CREATING A STUDY SCHEDULE/ROUTINE 

PLANNING/SCHEDULING

LIST YOUR ACADEMIC STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. This is so you can allocate time accordingly and avoid wasting any time. 

PRIORITISE ANY SUBJECTS. These may be subjects that will help you in your future career or just a subject you especially want a good grade in. Anything for these subjects then becomes the most important on your to-do list.

DIVIDE TIME EACH DAY. Not all days you are going to be able to sit down at your desk at the same time. Instead, according to your energy levels and planned activities, divide your time.

E.g I have cheerleading after school and I'm going to be so tired, so I’ll do my studying in the morning instead. 

ESTABLISH BREAKS. Depending on how long you can study for, place a suitable break in between. This helps make studying more productive, but only if your breaks are. 

CREATING

USE YOUR TIMETABLE. On days you don’t have a specific subject, dedicate more time to that one. 

CONSIDER YOUR LEARNING STYLE. This helps to be a bit more specific when creating it, instead of winging it and just doing anything. Having a consistent way of studying helps us learn better. 

E.g I’m a visual learner, so I’ll watch animations. I'm an auditory learner so I’ll watch a video of someone explaining it. 

KNOW WHAT YOU WILL DO DURING STUDYING. Do not just wing studying, it’s unproductive and you’re more likely to waste time instead of using it.

 Before you start studying, write a to-do list of everything you need to do during that session and how you will do it. Less time time-consuming and allows you to use time productively. 

SAMPLE – this is Lanny’s daily study routine without any upcoming tests, as an early bird, kinesthetic learner and needs breaks to think with clarity.

Morning

Review my flashcards in preparation for any test. 

Write/note any flashcards I'm struggling with. 

 Afterschool

Check seqta/school website to access my courses, in which I’ll write down which subjects I had. 

Do a few quick blurts on paper of everything I learned in those subjects with prior reading. I only do this for HASS, math and science + any electives that require it. (blurting method)

Then I recheck my blurts, add in anything that I’ve missed and correct with a different coloured pen. 

After, I push those papers aside but I do not discard them. I’ll then complete my online science homework + class workbook. If I happen not to understand anything I’ll watch a video on it and then complete some questions on that. 

I’ll take a break around now because, on an estimate, it has been around 20-40 minutes since I started depending on how my science homework is. I usually eat something and then get back to it. 

Math is next. I’ll complete any math homework, then I’ll practice doing math questions on my own. What I like to do is watch a math video, pause the question without the answer then watch to see if I got it. Effective because they explain it and I can see where I went wrong without analysing my working out which is rather time-consuming. 

I take another break. Math stuff usually takes around 20-30 minutes. 

I then do HASS, which is the easiest. I usually read an article or watch a video on hass then apply that knowledge by answering questions OR doing assigned chapter work. 

I do not study English after school, but I usually read an assigned passage/book and then try to apply any techniques/knowledge by taking that paragraph apart and analysing it. Sometimes, I write my paragraphs using any taught techniques and then mark them. 

Then, I redo my blurtings again but without prior reading then recheck and correct. Then I am finished for the afternoon!!

Evening

Review flashcards then watch a video/read an article on what I was struggling with in the morning but I do not do anything to consolidate this knowledge. 

That is all, please feel free to ask me about any questions about studying as I don't really post much about it, I'll love to help out any fellow students! 

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

sorry if you’ve already answered this but I’ve been considering getting a corn snake for a long while now so I was wondering around how much it costs to get all the stuff for the tank set up and whatnot, as I can’t really find a concrete answer online :) many thanks!

Hi there! Corns are awesome snakes, I'm so excited that you're considering one!

The reason you haven't been able to find a concrete answer, I'm afraid, is because it will vary very heavily based on where you live, the choices you make, and what's available to you. Here's a cornsnake shopping list that might be helpful, and in general I recommend budgeting no less than about 300 USD for initial setup.

A breakdown of that (specific to the US but hopefully you'll get the idea):

Enclosure! The cost of this will vary wildly. Adult cornsnakes need an enclosure that's at least 4 feet long and ideally 4 feet high, and bigger is always better. For baby snakes, you might very well want a smaller enclosure. It all depends on how old the snake is and your preferences, but I recommend no smaller than a 20 gallon for even babies, and you should be aware that you will need to upgrade. Depending on where you look you could spend 50 dollars here, or you could spend 500.

Depending on where you get it and the style of enclosure you choose, you might need to buy the lid separately, and they can be surprisingly expensive (anywhere from 20-75 dollars depending on size).

Heat and lights plus necessary accessories! You'll need, at the absolute minimum, a lamp, a thermostat, and the bulb itself. Ceramic heat emitters are no-frills options that'll last a good long while but cost in the realm of 30-50 dollars depending on where you find them, you can expect to pay about 20-40 dollars for the dome, and thermostats are another area where you can buy a cheap option (I have a 20 dollar one linked in the shopping list!) or you can buy a thousand-dollar one.

Hides! You can go as expensive as you like here, but my honest recommendation is to buy a soldering iron (~15 dollars) and cut doors into plastic containers.

Substrate! This will depend on what you choose and the enclosure size. Corns are very versatile here and you have lots of options, pretty much anything they sell in the reptile aisle will work just fine.

Decor and clutter! Again, you could go as expensive as you like, but at minimum you'll want climbing branches and clutter to give your snake things to explore for encrichment and provide hiding spots. On a budget, things like cardboard tubes, crumpled paper towels, and sticks and branches taken from nature (sanitized first!) are great options.

The nice thing about snakes is that, once you've got the enclosure set up, you can expect to budget about 20 dollars a month at most to keep your snake fed. But the intial setup can be pricey! I recommend making out a shopping list and checking the websites of your local pet stores so you can plan your budget.

[writingquestionsanswered]

I used to love writing when I was in high school, but stopped after I graduated because of life. Now, after almost a decade, I want to get back into it but I don't know how. I have so many ideas but I tend to bounce around the same variations and don't know how to stick to one thing, or how to just get back into the rhythm of writing actively. Or even reading actively.

Any advice?

Getting Back to Reading and Writing

What you're experiencing is what I like to think of as "the creative zoomies."

After so long away from actively reading and writing, there's now this flood of ideas, plans, books you want to read, and stories you want to write. You can't settle and focus on a single thing because your brain wants to do ALL THE THINGS, so you keep bouncing back and forth between things hoping something will stick.

First things first... DEEP BREATH.

As I said in an earlier post, remember: there is no ticking clock. It may feel like there is, sometimes, but we're just little ants on a planet doing our things. There are no deadlines unless you sign up for any, and you don't have to worry about that right now.

So... start by taking an honest look at your schedule and your life, and see if you can figure out a realistic estimate of how much time you have in a given week. Where are there slots of time you can dedicate to writing? How about reading?

Next, it can be immensely helpful if you have a comfortable, relaxing space, free from distraction and interruption, where you can go to write. Some people like to go write at a coffee shop or library to get away from family shenanigans or bothersome housemates. If it's not a billion degrees where you are, you might also try your patio, yard, or a nearby park. Listening to soft music or "ambience rooms" (tons on YouTube) through headphones can also help you focus. There are also still some different apps and programs for distraction free writing. Just make sure to save often and keep a master document on your computer to prevent losing all your work in case the app or program gets glitchy. Also: put your phone on silent, turn off your internet if you must, and let people know not to bother you. This is your writing time... don't be afraid to guard it fiercely.

As for choosing ideas, I'm a big fan of the old-fashioned methods... random number pickers, drawing out of a hat, rolling dice... But you can also do a process of elimination based on what appeals to you the most. If you get it down to two, and then you're disappointed with the one you're left with, you know the one you just eliminated is the right idea to go with.

If you're not sure what to write, try doing some writing prompts. There are lots available online and there are some great books with writing prompts. Doing one a day can be a great way to get yourself back in the habit of writing again.

As for reading, start by reading during moments of spare time, such as if you're taking a bath, riding your stationary bike, sitting in a waiting room, or riding public transportation. You can even read during your morning coffee or your lunch break. Also, embrace the world of audio books. This is one of my favorite ways to read, because I can do it while I'm exercising, showering, cleaning, cooking, driving, doing projects... I get through so many more books by listening to audio books. More than anything, just remember that once again, there's no ticking clock. You don't have to finish a certain number of books before the end of the year. Read what you want, at the pace that works for you, and don't be afraid to DNF if a book isn't working for you.

I hope this helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[sydneymykah]

☆☆THE STRUGGLE OF ROUTINE ☆☆

✧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Some people can just get out of bed and automatically do what they need to do to get the day started. And the same people seem to be the ones we see the most on our screens. "My Morning Routine", "My weekly regimen", "What I eat in a day", and "My Nightly Routine". These people are seemingly put together and perfect like their said routines. But here you are slouched on your undone bed, still in your pajamas, wearing makeup from the day before after waking up after 12 pm. You meaning me, lmao. ☆...

☆The struggle of routine is something we all face regardless of what social media persists to tell us. But I don't really want to talk about how "social media is fake" because that's not even fully true. Some people really do live like this and have very structured routines for their day to day lives, granted it's what pays their bills but that's still technically their routine. But I'm more concerned about talking about how DIFFICULT it is to keep a constant routine. Especially in this weird time we live in.

ミ★I'm a perfectionist. I hate when things don't go the way I want and I tend to want things one way or not at all. But life doesn't live by those rules. Life will throw whatever the hell it wants at you, whenever it feels like it. As an individual you have to learn to work around it all. For me it's an inconsistent work schedule, minor (or major) inconveniences, mood swings, and of course the main culprit is laziness/lack of discipline.

☆We've all done it. On a random day of the week you're up way too late reflecting on your life and what you're doing with it. You suddenly feel the hyperactive urge to fix everything about yourself. You want the perfect body before the summer. You want your hair to grow longer faster. You want to get all your life goals written down and planned out dow not the last minute. You want to post a 1 minute video everyday on TikTok at exactly 3 pm EST and post at least 4 pictures to your instagram every other day. So you open the notes app and make an extremely specific, unrealistic, and way too intense routine to follow everyday. You set reminders, add 30 new alarms to your phone, you fill your amazon cart with stuff you believe you'll defiantly use. And after you make yet another playlist of YouTube workout videos you go to bed confident your life is gonna change forever after this...

Now one of two things happen:

You completely throw away the routine the minute you wake up the next day

Or, you do it for a few days but eventually burnout and find yourself back where you were before, now with just more useless junk you have no room for...

ミ★I have personally been both. But we can all empathize with this because if maintaining a routine was easy it wouldn't be such a successful phenomenon online. Out of the millions of views under "my morning routine" posts, many, if not majority, of them are people who wish they can live the way these people do. I think we as people have developed mindsets that are negative first, positive later. Ever since the quarantine we've been used to online overconsumption. The idea that "more is better", and the scare that was the virus has sparked this fear in us that is wasted time. Hence us wanting to build new giant routines in the middle of the night just to eventually abandon it because our minds and bodies don't evolve or develop like that overnight. Most the time the routines are grueling and just makes us feel exhausted over accomplished. When we don't see immediate change a lot people, including myself, give up then and there.

☆Im not here to tell you how to keep a constant routine or how to become more disciplined because all that information is in the palm of your hands. Honestly at the end of the day it's about your mindset. Realizing what is around you and remembering the reality you live in. You want that body? You want that hair growth? You want to post? It's all possible but here's where the issue lies:

ミ★We forget to forgive ourselves and to be patient with ourselves. We fall under the pressure to perform for social media as well. In this digital age we try to make social media real life 24/7 and put real life on the back burner. Everything must be aesthetic or else! Or if you can't keep a constant routine for a week you're a failure! But the reality is no one just wakes up in their perfect aesthetic one day and has this perfect routine down pat the first time. Another thing that we keep doing is what everyone else is doing. Another example of putting the online first before real life. We've forgotten the beauty of growth, and how things develop overtime. It reminds me of how small artists have the potential to blow up overnight. They suddenly have all these eyes on them and then the GP turns on them simply because their exceptions don't match the artist's personal growth. I think we do the same to ourselves. But regardless of what other people, social media or even what you might even say to yourself the best way to find a good routine is get to know yourself, not someone else. And to not go by others expectations. It's good to hold yourself to a high regard and to make ambitious goals. But you should remind yourself that you want this to last and you don't want to burn yourself out trying to perfect your life like it's a speed run.

☆When following creators who makes content like this I advise to follow people you relate to first. Not saying you can't follow those extremely aesthetic ASMR morning/Night routine videos because hell I watch them too. But know that I watch them for simply that. I've come to the point where I can watch that stuff and not feel incompetent or that I'm failing in life but I digress. Don't pay attention to the many trends and what's hot, just look for people who you might see yourself in, or people who have qualities similar to yours. Physically, mentally, ect. Because if you're a black girl who wants to know how to do a specific 4C hairstyle you're not going to the white girl influencers for tutorials are you? For me I watch Jackie Aina. Her and I don't even have the same tastes in certain aspects, specifically clothing and home decor but she reminds me a lot of myself and some of my values. Her content inspires me but doesn't make me feel like I need to reinvent myself overnight. That's not realistic nor healthy. I think subjecting yourself to that will just give you an identity crisis. Her content helps me feel confident and you should follow people like that too.

ミ★My purpose of this post is not "continue to be a slob" (I'm a Taurus stellium and Venusian. Girl we don't do that over 'chere.) it's to remind and to encourage. A reminder that what you see online isn't what real life is 24/7. Doesn't mean it's all fake, it just means that life doesn't just look like one thing. Social media just tends to make our vision a bit tunneled. Yes, some peoples lives surround what they eat in a day, what they do when they get out of bed, and the steps they follow in their nighttime skincare routine. But our attachment and overconsumption to these types of creators constantly fails to remind us that they're still human. Hell even when the human creators tell y'all "hey I'm human" they still aren't treated as such but guess what? They are! So are you. You are still human. Finding a groove that works for you will take time. And many times you will fail. You will probably forget to do something, you won't have the time for certain tasks, or an inconvenience will pop up out of no where that knocks you off course. But if at first you don't succeed, try again. Social media picture perfect propaganda (lol) has made us forget that life happens and that we will essentially always struggle with routine. Some things stick, some things don't. Some routines last a long time, some only stay for a day. We live in an age where everyone's trying to move as fast as they can to keep with the trends, keep up appearances, and to make up for lost time. And as much as I love the thrill of the fast life, how can I expect to see my growth, what I like, what needs changing and how to fall into a good rhythm when I'm too busy trying to keep up.

✧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Xoxo, Sydney Mykah -☆

[sleepanonymous]

I was just gonna reblog the original "hey look I am toe-to-toe with this tiny ass stage" post I made, but I have a Mother Token face reveal + marriage proposal video to share with you all below the cut 👇

So some good news first, my ears are fine. Zeal & Ardor got a little loud near the end but, I had no ringing or tinnitus and no noticeable hearing loss. I had watched some videos of Zeal & Ardor and Gaerea on the East Coast from earlier on this tour, and the videos seemed fucking loud 🤷‍♀️ Not complaining, it was still great.

Backing up a few hours: my original plan was to get to the venue around 2-2:30 pm. I started getting ready around 1 pm, thinking that should give me enough time (venue was a 4 minute walk from my hotel). Turns out faking a '90s-style blow-out with a flat iron takes 3 times longer than just straightening your hair 🤷‍♀️ Who would have guessed? Anyway, after that and makeup and having a mini crisis about my outfit, I ended up going to the venue around 4 pm; 2 hours before doors. I must have PTSD from Sleep Token or something because I was expecting a full line but I ended up being #9.

Two Sleep Token girlies got in line behind me, but I was too shy to try talking to them really until later on. One of them, plus about three or four people in front of me, had a VIP meet/greet with Gaerea. About an hour before doors, a rep for that band came out and collected the people with those tickets and got shirt sizes and all that and I figured "okay, cool, he's gonna bring them into the venue an hour early." NOPE. Senhor Vocalist just fuckin waltzes out two minutes later to meet everyone. Like, I can't explain it because I haven't seen his face before but I recognized him instantly by his shoulders (then later by his tattoos). I made really fucking awkward eye contact with him and then decided the only safe place to look was the railing outside the venue. Anyway he greeted everyone really quick, then walked back inside for a minute, came back with the guitarist, and then the rest of the band joined them after another moment. Then the band just walked off with the VIPers and those fans didn't come back until doors already opened.

After the ID/ticket check, we lined up on the opposite side of the venue and I ended up at #5 in line (after letting the remaining Sleep Token girlie cut me, since she went in to use the restroom). They let us in right at 6 pm and I was the second one to the stage, standing right next to the first guy in line at center stage, which was literally only 2 feet tall btw. I had looked up photos of the venue online and it's literally worse (or better depending on personal perspective) in person.

The first band, Zetra, played us about an hour's worth of Mortiis music between doors and their set, which quite literally is DnD dungeon music. 10/10 do recommend, very vibes, much atmosphere. The duo themselves were amazing, and I realized after the fact that Sleep Token's manager plus Lyns (Espera) follow them so 👀

Halfway through Zetra's set, I realized the guy next to me was taking photos, so I worked up the courage to film two of their songs. I felt super awkward about it because I was three feet away from the guitarist. Afterward, he came out in a jumpsuit after the set to help break down, but was still in full corpse paint and had his hair stuffed into a baseball cap. He chatted with the front row a tiny bit as he worked and he’s super nice and funny 🥹

Right before Gaerea went on, a girl with a media badge squeezed in between me and the other guy at center stage for the first two songs. I'm still trying to find her social media because she got tons of great shots and some footage. Meanwhile, me on the other hand, got three and a half chaotic videos that consist mostly of Senhor Vocalist's groin 😭 Like, ISTG Senhor, I'm not trying to film your crotch, its just that I cannot hold my phone any higher (would literally be shoved in his face) or lower (I wouldn't be able to see my phone screen) 😭😭 About 75% of the time this happened I would panic and film the guitarists and bassist or the drummer. Aaand then the video below happened 🤩

I guess we are legally married now 🤷‍♀️ idk I don't make the rules. Anyway, hi, that's me, making major heart eyes for like 3 frames. You can also see the Sleep Token girlies right behind me. In my search for the media girl's profile, I actually found one of their TikToks instead: thecottagecorehore

Even though I was in the front row (I keep wanting to say barricade but there was no barricade lol) it got really hot between Gaerea and Zeal & Ardor. Like I was regretting wearing a turtleneck sweater (Yeah that was my panic outfit, black turtleneck + 90’s hair + ripped skinny jeans + platform oxford shoes because I am insane). It didn't cool down either, half the guys around me plus Zeal & Ardor were drenched in sweat halfway through. Didn't affect their stage presence at all though; Manuel is actually very smiley/giggly and it made everything a million times better. Actually, the fake setlist gives you a pretty good idea of the vibes:

Wake of a Nation Götterdämmerung So yeah this is a fake setlist And if you're reading it and we will play some songs you like it Thanks for coming to the show ☠️WOW NEAT☠️ We like to call the song To My Ilk Turbo Milk Do you like our joke Encore Garbage Thanks Phoenix Love Zeal and Ardor Clawing Out

Vessel should take notes 😂 I appreciate Sleep Token being upfront about the Teeth of God setlist and not trying to hide it from the fans on the barricade, but imagine if we got something like : "Oh bugger, this is a fake setlist. Cheers!"

Also Manuel's water bottle sticker says Defend Equality 🖤

I uploaded a few videos to YouTube already. Depending on my data usage, I might upload a few more at the end of the month/next month.

[elleluvsjurin]

School Rules

requested

synopsis: you’re the bitter ex who loves starting shit with the class president and vice president, one of them happening to be your ex gf. after a while, they put an end to your shit once and for all

pairings: ryujin x fem reader x yeji

cw: smut, reader is a mean girl, cursing, made ryujin kinda mean but she’s mean for a reason, reader gets slut out; lmk if i missed anything

wc: 1.6k

tags: @her-utahimee

 It's been 3 months since Yeji has dumped you. Of course you were still pissed about the whole situation. Oh, and when you found that her and her best friend won for class president and vice president, it was going to be game over for those two…so you thought. At first, it was simple things like smoking cigarettes on school grounds. Then, it was crashing their planned events with your friends and now..the rumors. Of course you went and spread a rumor that they were sleeping together, it was the cherry on top of it all and EVERYONE was eating it up.

“yej.. get your fucking ex. I'm sick of her ass. Did you see what she posted online about us?” Ryujin frustratedly asks, slamming the classroom door. 

“Listen, i’m going to try and talk to her but her friends are doing stuff along with her-” Yeji starts

“-yeah, well y/n’s the fucking ring leader. And if you don’t get her shit straight then I WILL!” Ryujin interrupts Yeji in a fit of rage. Yeji massages her temples with her fingers because she knows that you won’t go down without a fight. She pulls her phone out and dials your number, of course you answer after a couple of rings.

“What could you possibly want Hwang Yeji?” you ask over the phone

“We need to talk, could you please come over after school?” she asks, quietly. You smirk over the phone before you reply.

“Talk about what?” you ask innocently and she mutes herself before putting you on speaker. “You caused this, Yeji, not me.” 

“God y/n, just come over.” Yeji spoke as Ryujin rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“‘Mmkay, only because it’s you. And tell that dog ass friend of yours not to come, she’s mean as fuck.” you add onto the convo. “You know where I live, I’ll see you later.” Yeji abruptly says before hanging up on you. 

“Ugh I hate that bitch.” Ryujin mutters whilst writing down a few plans for the student council.

“Don’t worry, she won’t be doing anything else after tonight.” Yeji adds and looks to Ryujin

“What are you thinking, Yej?” Ryujin asks, obviously confused.

“Could you put her in her place? I’m not good at that..as you can see.” Ryujin face contorts in confusion

“Why not? You dated her God awful ass for a year.” she asks 

“Damn Ryu, I was a bottom, alright. Read the room.” Yeji says embarrassingly and Ryujin laughs, knocking over the desk from how much she was laughing.

“Oh, makes sense.” Ryujin replied after her fit of laughter. “I’ll get her ass straight but you have to help out.” 

“Fine.” Yeji says quietly, packing her bags.

“Is y/n even here today, I haven’t seen her all day.” Ryujin asks Yeji, looking to her for an answer

“No, she’s posting things from her room.” Yeji replies 

“Hm. ok.” Ryujin mumbles. Both the girls walk out of the room and head to Yeji’s place, planning for an unforgettable night between the three girls.

You head over to Yeji's place near the school at around 4 pm. You anticipated staying for about 30 minutes but that changed as soon as she let you in. Upon walking in, you see Ryujin sitting on Yeji’s couch.

“What the hell is she doing here?” you question, your face twists in disgust and Ryujin smirks

“I should be asking you the same thing.” Ryujin replies. “I got invited, you fucking spawned here..uninvited.” you spit back at her.

“Enough, y/n!” Yeji shouts. “I’m so sick of your bullshit!” she continues to speak her mind and you sit down, as you’ve never heard her scream before.

“Yej, what the fuck are you talking about? I was just poking fun..chill.” you retaliate

“No. You’re screwing with our fucking campaign by being a bitch. You, your fucking friends, we’re sick of it. I’m sick of it.” Yeji finishes and you sit there, looking stunned.

“Fine, are you done now?” you ask, getting up to leave before Ryujin turns you around, pushing you up against the wall. “What the hell-” you start as she traps your body with both of her arms being on each side of your head, her hands pressing up against the wall beside you. “You think you can leave that easy, huh? We’re not done with your bitch ass just yet.” she whispers, sending chills down your spine.

“Y-yeji, help me.” you say, trying to push her away. Yeji looks at the way you struggle, not saying a word.

“You really think that she’s going to help your spoiled ass? Why do you think she invited you?” Ryujin asks as tears prick at your eyes

“Ryujin let me go!-” you try to shout out but Ryujin covers your mouth with her hand. Ryujin and Yeji both grab you, dragging you to Yeji’s room, locking the door behind them. Yeji pushes you onto the bed. 

“W-what are you going to do to me?” you cry out, your voice trembling. Ryujin comes over to you, wiping the tears off of your cheeks. “We’re not going to hurt you, if that’s what you think.” she whispers, kissing your cheek. “Such a pretty girl..terrible personality.” Ryujin continues, looking to Yeji. 

“Strip bitch.” Yeji says coldly, pulling out her phone to record you. “W-what?” you ask

“You heard me, I said strip. We’re teaching you a little lesson.” she replies. You start by taking off your shirt, then your pants, undergarments, eventually being naked in front of the two girls.

Ryujin leans forward next to you, pressing her lips up to yours. She tastes your salty tears as her hands travel up and down your body, exploring every crevice. Yeji watches the two of you interact, smirking behind the camera. 

“Are you ready Yej?” she asks and Yeji nods her head. Ryujin lays you down on the bed, forcing your legs open.

“P-please..” you mumble, Ryujin gets in between your legs, kissing your lips passionately before she gets off of you. “Shh, we’re not here to hurt you.” She says, taking the camera from Yeji. Before you can answer, Yeji shuts your mouth by kissing you. Her tongue hungrily explores the inside of your mouth, to the point where you can barely breathe. She pulls away, watching the way you try to catch your breath. Her hands rub up and down your slit, you’re embarrassingly wet.

“You’re pathetic..” Yeji starts, “..I love it.” she spits out, sticking one of her fingers into your pussy. She thrusts in and out, the two girls listen to the way your pussy takes your ex-girlfriend's finger, Yeji adds another one and you moan out. 

“A-ah! Please ..yej, more. Don’t stop!” you cry out, your juices leak all over her fingers as she thrusts her fingers in at a quick pace. Ryujin smiles behind the camera. “Fuck her good, Yej. I bet she’s close.” she says

Yeji curls her fingers inside of you, hitting every spot perfectly. “G-gonna cum!!” is all you say as your eyes roll to the back of your head, your whole body shakes as you orgasm all over her fingers. Yeji pulls her fingers out of your pussy, slowly sticking them in your mouth one by one. 

“Good girl.” she mumbles, watching you as you suck your own cum off of her long fingers. “Can I leave now, you got what you wanted.” you say

“Nope.” Ryujin simply says. “You can leave after you make me cum.” Yeji says

“What do you want me to do? I’m ready to go.” You say and Yeji pushes you back. 

“She’s gonna sit on your face.” Ryujin says flatly. Yeji lifts her skirt, pulling down her soaked panties from her ankles and hovers her cunt over your face. “Ready for me, hm y/n?” Yeji coos

“Let’s get this shit over with.” You say in annoyance. You grab her hips, sticking your tongue out so her cunt can fall right on your tongue. Yeji rocks her hips back and forth on your tongue, throwing her head back. “F-fuck I forgot how good her tongue game was Ryu.” she moans out. Ryujin turns the camera off and walks over to Yeji, grabbing her throat and kissing her lips. Ryujin grabs Yeji’s hips, moving her back and forth. “A-ah y/n..feels so good.” she moans as Ryujin continues to move her hips, between that and your tongue..has her going crazy. 

You hurriedly thrust your tongue in and out of her pussy at a fast pace. You feel Yeji touching all over your breasts while you tongue fuck her. You continue to thrust inside of her, you feel her legs tremble over your face before she shouts. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck..’m gonna cum!” she cries out as she cums all over tongue. Yeji gets off of you and dusts herself off. 

“You can leave now, Ryujin will let you out.” Yeji says, you scramble to throw your clothes on. 

“Pull some shit again y/n and I’ll release that pathetic video of you.” Yeji says

“Fine, I'll stop.” you say, throwing the rest of your clothes on and you follow Ryujin to the front door. You turn around to walk out and Ryujin grabs you, making you turn around to face her.

“What do you want, Ryujin?” you ask, she looks you up and down.“Stop patronizing our campaign. Do it again and I’ll beat your ass after I fuck the shit out of you, got it?” Ryujin says, sternly. “O-ok, I get it. I won’t do it again.” you say “Good. Now scram!” She says as you hurriedly leave. Yeji stands in the hallway, watching Ryujin close the door. Ryujin turns around to see her best friend and she smiles, jokingly saying, “Thought you were a bottom?”

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the asshole for watching a movie as a family without including my dad? Writing it out, I think I know the answer, but this has still been bugging me.

Around Thanksgiving I (30s) visited home. It was also a trip to see for my mom (late 60s) for her birthday, so I was there for a few days longer than a Thanksgiving trip would normally account for. My brother (30s) and his wife (30s) visited for her birthday too. My dad (early 70s) was there as well. They've been married over 30 years. Originally I'd planned to take everybody out to see a movie as a birthday present for my mom...but it turned out there was literally nothing at the theater that my mom was interested in at all. The town is pretty small, and the options were limited. So instead, we started out with a nice dinner, and family board game run-through of a trivia game we all thought we'd have some fun with. My mom ended up winning, which is rare and was not deliberate, and it wrapped the game up way faster than we'd anticipated.

My dad immediately went back into the living room after the game ended, openly a little annoyed that mom had won a trivia game based on something he considers himself the family expert in. He watches old reruns of the show he's seen a million times on a loop every day, and it can be pulling teeth to get him to do anything else. It was just a fluke, but something the rest of us considered a pleasant surprise since none of us had expected she'd win. But he was annoyed. Given that it was still early, Mom suggested we find a movie to watch online, so we could all wind down before bed with something the whole family could enjoy.

Dad said no. Now this feels like important context: I...have a lot of problems with my dad. I love him, but he can be extremely emotionally immature. Downright verbally abusive at times. And very petty. I'm in therapy in no small part due to some of the insecurities he instilled in me over the years. I've worked hard to set basic boundaries with him. He also has multiple medical issues, and I'm pretty sure he has untreated depression and other mental health problems he refuses to acknowledge that contribute to him flying off the handle at a moment's notice. That, combined with the fact that my mom will 100% never, ever leave him, because she was raised in a very specific mindset that she's never been fully able to shake...means my brother and I usually have to grit our teeth when he starts ranting/yelling/complaining during a visit, or we'd just end up ruining the day for our mom. She's done so much for us, and we just wanted her to have a good visit. So, that's what I did for most of the trip. I breathed deep when my dad openly mocked my stutter, and refused to get in a fight about it. I stopped myself from getting visibly upset when he tried to feed my cat table scraps even when I told him the cat needs a special diet. On other days I tried to watch his old shows with him, and ignored the sexist comments he'd make about the female leads, all for the sake of keeping the peace.

But, it was Mom's birthday. And she wanted to watch a movie.

And Dad said no.

He refused to give up his marathon of old westerns from 60 years ago to watch a new movie with his family on the big tv in the living room.

My mom seemed disappointed, so I suggested we watch one on my laptop in the kitchen instead. Without my dad, if he really wanted to watch his show instead. She agreed, and my brother, his wife, my mom and I filed into the kitchen, sat in less-than-comfy chairs, and watched a fantasy heist film that I'd thought they would all enjoy. And they did. My brother was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the movie (I'd already vouched for it being good, none of the others had seen it previously) His wife kept making notes for her dnd campaign. My mom found it hilarious, and liked that some actors from another show she liked were in it.

My dad stayed in the living room, watching his marathon.

Partway through the movie, he came in and asked us what we were watching. We told him, and he passed through the kitchen for something he needed, then said that we were being too loud. More context: the kitchen is right next to the living room, but my dad turns the tv up so loud in there it can get physically painful to be in the room with him. He refuses to get hearing aides, and only recently relented on subtitles. He also has a habit of screaming at anyone who tries to talk for a long time when his shows are on and they're in earshot, even if they're in a different room. We thought he couldn't hear it over his tv, and so when he said something we said sorry and that we'd try to keep it down, but we could already barely hear it through the laptop speakers. We already had subtitles turned on to make sure we didn't miss anything. When we told him that, he got even more annoyed. He asked how we'd like it if he turned the tv up so loud we couldn't understand anything, then proceeded to go into the living room and do just that, just as I was trying to figure out how much more we could lower the volume without losing our whole experience. We called in that we were already turning it down, and he finally turned his volume back down as well. We finished our movie, turning the volume down during action scenes and up during speaking scenes so we could actually hear the dialog. We enjoyed the rest of the film, and then people started getting ready for bed, and my mom went to check on my dad. She told me a few minutes later that he was hurt that we'd watched the movie without him. That he felt left out. I told her that he'd had multiple opportunities to join us, and that is was his choice not to watch with us. And honestly, the fact that he wouldn't give up the real tv for a couple hours so she could have a birthday movie was really upsetting to me.

She still seemed to feel bad that he was left out, and I'm a little worried that he might've sulked for days afterwards, leaving my mom in an even more stressful environment after I left. Am I the asshole for insisting my mom get to watch a movie on her birthday? And would I be the asshole if I told my dad off for what I consider to be extremely selfish behavior?

Also before anyone asks, no, I'm not cutting him off. It's literally impossible to do that without pretty much cutting off my mom as well, and she absolutely doesn't deserve that. And yes, I've offered up my apartment as a place she can stay if she ever needs to. Repeatedly. She hasn't taken me up on it yet.

What are these acronyms?

[mythosidhesdollhouse]

Shibajuku Girls: The Return?

Soooooooooo I've been debating whether to post about this at all because I doubt anyone will find it very interesting, but doll gossip is thin on the ground these days and I'm not quite ready to go to bed yet, so eff it let's go--

Alright so, those of you who follow these things may remember back during this year's Toy Fair it was announced that for some inexplicable reason the Shibajuku Girls doll line was planning a comeback. For reference: These 13" dolls from the Australian toy company Hunter Products originally turned up on shelves in the US back in the mid-2010's, to a fairly lackluster reception. Between their unusually high price point ($30-$35, a good deal above the average for fashion dolls at the time) and the fact that they are a rather blatant knock-off of Pullips, no one seemed to be that into them. In a way with their hair play gimmick (a lot of charms and hair clips) meant to interest children in Japanese street fashion I suppose one could see them as a precursor of the Decora Girlz, albeit with far lazier and less successful execution. I did end up buying one--Yoko--for the big head collection, and she's...fine, if forgettable. I like having her in the mix for variety, but I could never quite work up the enthusiasm to get another. The demise of ToysRUs around the time of their release probably didn't help matters any, as it was one of the few places that stocked them. These dolls lingered on the shelves of my local Target seemingly forever, before quietly disappearing to absolutely no fanfare.

But to bring it back to Toy Fair 2024--

For reasons that NO ONE I've heard speak on the subject can quite understand, seemingly out of nowhere Hunter Toys showed up at Toy Fair this year with a display of older dolls from the first two waves of Shibajuku, plus a wall of these mock-ups for a projected third series of anime-inspired characters. If you look closely at the 'prototype photos' in the boxes--not actual dolls--they appear to literally just be restyled Pullips. A lot of people (myself included) speculated that they may have put the money into creating a new head sculpt that more closely replicated the doll this line was always made to emulate, and the lack of actual dolls in boxes was a sign that this Shibajuku 2.0 head had yet to go into production in time for the event.

Turns out--no. That's not what they did at all. So--

A few days ago through a series of random browsing encounters I stumbled across listings for two of the five proposed 'Shibajuku Anime' dolls on Walmart's website. They are showing up as out of stock, but if you put them on your wishlist you can add them to your cart from there (though not check out), which is a pretty sure indication that they're expected in stock online and in stores soon.

So...what to say about these. First of all they quite obviously have the same old Shibajuku face. The fashions have considerably less detail than the prototype photos, which in itself I'd be willing to forgive for reasons I'll get to in a minute, but the main thing that overwhelmingly stands out to me here is that Kiki, one of the two characters shown with a darker complexion in the mock-ups, has gone from having tan skin and white hair to pale skin and black hair. Which, yeah no fuck that. No way of knowing if this was the brand's decision or a specific request from Walmart, but whichever way you slice it, it sucks. Lack of diversity was a huge issue with the first iteration of this line, and after the promise of a course correct it looks like we're back to more of the same. I will definitely be bending a critical eye on them to see if the other dark-skinned character, Sakura, receives a similar whitewashing :/

Now, with that rant out of my system, is there anything good to say? Well, the price, for one. These are set to retail for $19.98, which is significantly below what they sold for originally. No doubt the lower quality fashions and lack of accessories have a lot to do with it, but on the whole I'd say it's a plus. Also...as much as as I would have loved to see the ensuing drama if they had had the audacity to churn out a more blatant Pullip clone, for continuity's sake if nothing else I'm glad they stuck with the old face. She's a weird little bird and despite it all she deserves her place in the wider family of Big Head dolls, however derivative that might be (I mean, if anything Pullip needs MORE clones, Blythe has such a start on her in that arena....).

And finally (FINALLY) to wrap things up--will I be buying one? Perhaps surprisingly--yes! I plan to order Akira when she becomes available to ship. I think she's decently cute--you all know my bias for green hair--and I have a purely academic curiosity to compare her to my 'classic' Shibajuku. Plus, despite all my dismissive snark, I would actually like to see this relaunch be successful. I'm always in favor of diversity in the doll market, and this particular type of doll has been sadly under-represented of late. There is plenty room on the shelves for more big head girlies! MGA is daily signing that real estate away at an increasingly rapid pace XD My hope is that they do well enough to warrant the release of the other three dolls from the proposed new line-up, and that maybe--MAYBE--if the Dolly Gods are kind we will see Sakura with her original dark skin tone, as intended.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee ok that's enough sleep-procrastinating for one night, I'm done. If anyone else cares about this at all I'm sincerely curious to hear your thoughts.

[rinadragomir]

My thoughts on the couples included in Better in Black for those who care

I expect you to write down yours so work work

📍Wessa

You know, as a dedicated Jessa stan I wanna say that it's okay~ Because these two were together for 50 years or sth, there's still some things to add. We might watch them in their 30s, 50s, 60s. I guess at this point both camps have around the same amount of content. Plus I'll have Jessa in twp so I'm in peace 🌱

📍Clace

All my first thoughts are over here. I'm a Clace defender, I'm their oldest stan, I'm a veteran👩‍🦳 So I feel like I have a right to say that...it was kinda unnecessary. We've witnessed every step in their relationship so far, beginning of it in TMI, gentle transition to adulthood in TDA and Tales of Shadowhunter Academy, adulthood in SOBH and proposal. So if the story isn't about their wedding then WHAT THE HELL IS IT ABOUT REALLY? And we know that they won't get married until twp.

📍Anna & Ari (Arianna!)

Hey🥺that is nice, we've seen so little of them in chain of thorns and I've loved them since their debut in 2018 in that short story. I'm very biased when it comes to TLH, cause I'm their mother. So YAY🌱they have a long way to go, Anna still needs to change a tiny little bit for them to be healthy, so I'd love to witness it

📍Jordelia

We all have known about it, because Cassie kinda promised us their story a while ago. Wedding runes scene, honeymoon, kids, mortgage etc. Go kids, slay, serve, eat and so on, I'm excited for u!

📍Sebastian & Seelie Queen

🤨🧐🤔👁👁

Yeah... That famous Sebastian &Fanbase. Like... I'm conflicted, because it's useless and doesn't make any sense even tho it might slay. Listen up, I'll show you.

Lots of people defend it by saying that it might be important for Ash's background in TWP. But... No it's not. Because this is exclusive book made for few people who were lucky and financially stable enough to get it. It won't be posted online. So most people won't read it unless someone leaks it. So there's no point for that story to be important for the plot, therefore it has nothing to do with it.

And it's definitely not "one of the most beloved" couples. BUT LIKE... WHAT IF IT SLAYS? Toxic, unhinged romance, what if I'll love it? 🤡

📍Jemma

So you see the problem? Because it's the same as Clace. What else might she add, because there's nothing. SoBH ended like yesterday. We know exactly where they live rn, their daily routine, their plans. So there's nothing to add between SOBH and twp. What will it be about? Hard to say, but I hope Cassie will come up with sth interesting for them.

📍Thomastair (why did Cassie say Alistair instead of Alastair, I'm lost help me)

Yay🥺slay, serve, eat and leave no crumbs, go, kill it idk you're doing great boys, there's so much to add and explore because they've just started dating. I'm so excited ^-^

📍Kierartkina

That is fine. No matter what I think about their relationship, because in my point of view Cristina and Kieran fell in love because Cassie said so apparently, I still don't mind them being there. Because there's also lots of things to discuss and explore. I hope the story will be soft and warm☀they've just started their advantage so it definitely makes sense

📍Sizzy

Even though we've had lots of them in TMI and Shadowhunters Academy I still think they deserve to be here. They are famous (I guess? 👁👁) and I'd like to know more about their plans for future. Simon was still a teenager in the stories collection and now I'd love to see him as a grown man being in relationship with the woman he loves.

📍Luke & Jocelyn

👁👁🤨🧐🤔👀

Well... That was... Unexpected. I guess... I've just never met their fandom but I hope it's huge af, because I don't know why else would they be here. Sophideon, Gabrily and Charlotte with Henry were supposed to be here, let's be honest. But since they're here, I do think Cassie is able to make a decent story. I expect it to be bittersweet, angsty and somehow heartwarming. I think there's nothing to say except let's wait and find out.

OVERALL I think it's pretty fine. Maximum 7/10 from me. I was ready to face the worst, but it turned out to be... Fine. So it's fine☺🌱

[penny-anna]

i bought a flat this week.

was off work sick last thursday/friday with what turned out to be the beginnings of a bad cold but at the time i was just like 'oh no why am i so tired is this the return of the Mystery Fatigue'

let's backtrack for a second!! back when i had the offer accepted on my flat my solicitor suggested october 6th as a move in date and i was like sure that works (this was around the beginning of september). then i didn't hear anything from them for many days and then i started getting major dry eye problems that became all consuming so i didn't get around to chasing them.

anyway!! tuesday last week i get an email from my solicitor like 'hi are you still able to complete friday' and i did not have the headspace to deal with it so i didn't reply

Wednesday my solicitor calls like 'hi. we need to know if you want to complete friday'. i'm like 'actually i'm really not feeling well this week, could we postpone'. she calls back a few minutes later like 'they cannot postone'. at this point i'm still thinking that if i get a decent night's sleep i'll feel better so i tell her i'll deal with it in the morning.

Thursday i feel spectacularly worse. have to get up to go to an appointment with my optometrist. almost start crying in their office bcos i'm just so exhausted. (he seemed weirdly unfazed by this?? looking back i wonder if he thought my eyes were hurting or something and didn't realise that i was holding back tears gfhglj) call out sick from work.

plan is to take a nap and then look at the documents my solicitor sent over but she calls me again like 'hi. sorry to bother you i know you're sick but can we complete today' so i'm like ah shit ig we're doing this now. please walk me through exactly what you need me to do here. 'we just need you to send us the money'. yeah i can do that. i've never made a payment this big before tho.

(i'm buying w money inherited from my mother so even for a flat purchase it's an unusually large amount of money)

'oh yeah you won't be able to that online. *pause* are you well enough to go to the bank?' i am tired enough that going to the bank will suck but not so sick i cannot go to the bank.

i had gone fully back to bed. spurred on by sudden wave of adrenaline, get out of bed and dressed and get the bus into town to the bank.

my bank closes at 3pm weekdays and by the time i get that it's about 1:45. explain the situation. turns out that to make a payment this big you need a sit-down meeting with a member of staff and they are booked solid till 3. 'can you come back tomorrow at 9:30 when we open' *dying inside* yes. i can come back tomorrow at 9:30.

go home. remember that i'd told my manager that i'd call her at 9 to let her know if i'm going to be working (i will defo not be working & she knows this) which will be tricky if i have to leave at 9 to go to the bank. have a pretty interminable IM conversation via microsoft teams about this wherein i suggest i message her first thing and call a bit later and she isn't going for it. eventually agree to call at 9 just so i can end the conversation and go to sleep.

Friday morning end up calling my manager from the bus. get to bank. whole thing takes a full 30 minutes so yeah i can see why they couldn't fit me in thursday afternoon ghfdljkfhdj. i'm so so tired. they have to go over a whole fraud prevention statement with you. 'you should be aware that scammers can pretend to be your solicitor'. me, exhausted: okay what if just this one time. a scammer is pretending to be my solicitor.

make the payment. go home to sleep finally.

later in the afternoon get another call from the solicitor. 'hi we have the keys you can come get them whenever'. oh yeah i'd been so caught up in trying to get them the money i'd kinda forgotten about. actually getting the flat.

(side note at no point was i planning to move in on 'moving day', an advantage of being a first time buyer is that i don't have to & i want to redecorate the place which is easier while it's empty)

initially say i'll come in next week but then realise that ideally next week i'll be back at work (i am not but anyway) so i might as well go now. it's pushing 4pm so will need to head out ASAP.

eyes are very dry and itchy from sleeping all day but fortunately i just (on a recommendation from my optometrist) bought a thing called a facial sauna which is a very weird contraption but does work extremely quickly.

pack my eye drops and also a peanut butter sandwich to eat in my new flat (why not) and go get the keys.

arrive at the flat. on inspection realise that the envelope i've been given seems to contain the most random assortment of loose keys. eventually identify an actual set of keys.

put my key in the lock of the flat door. abruptly hear a cat meowing, somewhere very close by.

previous owner had cats (plural) (i know this bcos i saw them when i was viewing the place). have a sudden moment of panic that i've somehow wildly misunderstood the whole situation and that she and her cats are still in residence.

look down. there is a very large, very fluffy white cat standing next to me, looking up at me as if expecting to be let in.

'you can't come in. this is my house.'

make my first mistake: think that if i open the door i will be able to prevent the cat from entering.

cat goes straight on into my flat.

i'm now pursuing the cat from room to room saying 'hey! hey you can't be in here! this is my house!'. the cat doesn't give a shit for obvious reasons (it is a cat)

i might have considered just shooing the cat outside and shutting the door but have arrived at an IMO not unreasonable concern. cat seemed very determined to enter this flat in particular and is now roaming around as if looking for something. previous owner had multiple cats and moved out AFAIK today. i have heard stories about people accidentally leaving cats behind when they move.

at this point it's 4:55 on a Friday. call my solicitor and explain the situation. ask if she could pass on a message to the seller's solicitor. unfortunately they have already closed for the week so it will have to wait till Monday but she will do her best.

decide the next course of action is to see if the cat has any ID. the cat is wearing a harness & collar so might have a tag with an address. make my second mistake: pick the cat up.

the cat does not have any ID on the harness. the cat does NOT like being picked up. cat gets very squirmy and then begins scratching me. cat manages to break my skin through a hoodie.

i put the cat down. the cat hisses at me. this is very rude considering that it is in my house.

head across the landing to see if the people opposite are missing a cat or, failing that, know their neighbours well enough to recognise the cat. there's no answer.

however!! i hear a voice down in the stairwell that sounds like it could be someone calling out a cat's name. 'hi!! is someone down there looking for a cat?' no answer.

look down the stairwell. on the ground floor there is a very large fluffy brown cat wearing a harness. !!!!! that is my cat's friend!

retrieve the cat from my flat (fortunately it just follows me out) and head downstairs. am met partway up by the cat's owner.

'oh thank god is this your cat'. it is her cat. apparently she had opened her front door to let them out into the garden and it had wandered off. 'i just moved in today it came into my flat'.

she is very apologetic. cat is unrepetent.

go back inside. call my solicitor's office. 'hi was it you i spoke to just now about the cat' (I told 2 people about the cat) 'no i just answered the phone because it was ringing. what cat.' 'can you tell *solicitor's name* that i have found the cat's owner. she will know what you mean'.

problem solved!! time to eat my peanut butter sandwich. :)

[call-me-chips]

Long vent warning 🙃

So if you came here for my typical carefree content, don't feel forced to read this at all :)

Ik I won't care if you do or don't, but I just need to get this to someone

I see a lot of people talking about having no friends and having bad friends, and both are really bad and I'm not trying to put down anyone's experiences, but I feel like there's a different kind of hurt when your friends just don't like you. Like, they're good people, but they just don't like you.

Like, I have this one friend (J) where, he's the closest thing I have to a best friend (aka, we see each other once a week and seem to enjoy each other's company), but I really don't think J likes me

He always has an excuse for not hanging out. Always. My sibling and I wanted to go to a comic con and invited J and his girlfriend, K. He mentioned a few weeks before that he might not be able to go because he might have to babysit a child or something. Closer to the con, J said that he, infact, wouldn't have to watch the child, which we were happy about, but then immediately he said that he "wasn't allowed" to go to this con. The reason he gave was "My dad thinks comic cons are cults." Even though J's been to several cons, one of which was in the US (We're Canadian).

And just yesterday a group I was going to had a Halloween night, and J promised he would go. We all made plans to be there, but the night of, I texted him and asked him if he was coming, to which he responded with "I'm not allowed", even though he's at the age where that shouldn't matter at all

I asked him why, and he never got back.

Everything I want to do, everything we try to plan, he's got a reason to not go.

He says he likes me and likes hanging out with me, but I don't believe it. Every excuse he uses is bullshit.

And it really sucks because I truly thought he'd be a friend that sticks around. Every friend I've ever had has left the moment I got too close.

And it's not like I can easily make friends, as I've never gone to school and I'm not in college

My parents keep scolding me about how I have no friends and that "God designed people to need other people" and that I "can't live life alone", but I don't know how the fuck they just expect me to summon new ones.

I've exhausted all groups I'm in of potential friends. And it's not like I don't try to make friends. I've been rejected dozens of times

But I know I'm just about ready to stop reaching out to J. I'll just stop asking if he wants to do anything and see if he initiates anything. When he doesn't, at least I'll know for sure that he doesn't really like me xD

Slightly different topic, but I really feel like I can't ever open up to anyone (which is why I rant to strangers on the internet). Literally everyone I've opened up to has either left me or betrayed me with it

I shared my struggles with a licensed therapist, and she made me feel like my feelings were nothing. She told me it was a phase and refused to hear any more

I shared one of my phobias in a trusted friend group chat, and one of the dudes (W) sent me a gif of it, have me the worst panic attack I've ever had, and then W called me sensitive when I complained about what he did (I was crying non stop for 30 mins, couldn't calm down completely for the next couple days, and got triggered my a simple household item that has NEVER triggered me before. I mean like, I saw this simple thing, froze in place, started hyperventilating, and nearly had another panic attack)

And there are a few other examples, but the worst one is when I opened up to my best friend at the time (N). I opened up, shared my story, cried in front of her. She left me the following week. N suddenly started talking to her other friend more and I could barely get a moment alone with her anymore. We barely talk now

I'm just tired of people. Tired of trying. Idek what I'm supposed to do at this point. I only rant to strangers cuz it's a lot less painful if someone online unfollows you than if a friend leaves you

Anyway I think that's enough for right now, I got pretty carried away 😅

If you read all this, here's a cookie :3 🍪

[babygirlispunk]

Summer Fling - PART FOUR

Pedro Pascal x f!reader

Summary: fun in the sun gets interrupted but Pedro has something new planned for you...

Warning: 18+ MDNI, drug use, oral (f receiving), fingering.

Word count: 5.6k oops

A/N: as always ily a milly to everyone sharing and liking the story, I look forward to writing this and posting for yall so enjoy 🧡

PREV - MASTERLIST - NEXT

"Why are you dressed like Adam Sandler?"

Standing at the doorway Syria eyes you up and down, looking at your borrowed outfit and last nights hanging over your arm, boots in hand. Pedro let you borrow a pair of his shorts and tee along with a pair of slippers provided by his hotel. You insisted on wearing your own clothes but he felt bad about you going commando in a dress when your underwear somehow slipped underneath the egregiously heavy and low couch.

"Jesus, is this couch made of cement?" you strain as you try to lift it up. "I'm starting to think you kicked them under there on purpose."

Pedro, already having given up with the couch, is rummaging through his luggage. He pulls out a pair of briefs and waves them your way. "Would you like purple or red?"

Rolling your eyes and also giving up on the couch, you slump down staring at the sunny city. Listening to him shuffle around behind, you look out the window seeing other people in the buildings across and wonder if you should be sitting naked in front of a large window.

"I'll just wear my dress, as long as I stay up straight, no one will see anything."

You rest your head back and look up to see Pedro looking down at you through his glasses with a goofy smile before your view is muffled when he drops some clothes on your head.

"I haven't had much trouble here with paps, but just to be safe. I'm sure you'd rather be snapped looking like a little boy than flash the world." The clothes slide down your face, allowing him to give you a smooch. "As pretty as it is."

You scrunch your face at Syria mockingly. "You know why."

Entering your shared apartment you bee line for the bathroom, Syria hot on your heels.

"The sex must have been life changing."You look great for someone who was munted last night."

You stop in your tracks to face her. "Trust me, my head is pounding."

"So was this a 'hit it and quit it' sitch? The way you were dancing together, I wasn't expecting you back for a few days."

"Me too." you say apprehensively.

"Did you have to sign an NDA?"

"No. I'm gonna shower now."

You try to make your way to the bathroom but Syria is eager to get answers out of you and is blocking your way.

"Erectile dysfunction?"

Your jaw drops in disbelief. "What!?"

"He is older... it's possible..."

"SYRIA! He didn't fuck me!" you say aloud, frustrated.

Before you can further explain yourself, there is a knock at the front door. Simultaneously turning your heads, you look at the door wondering who your uninvited guest is.

"I'll explain everything later okay? I have to shower and get ready."

You rush to the bathroom, letting Syria answer the door. You hear muffled conversation over the running water. It must be the postie with another one of Syria's thousands of online orders.

Wrapped in your towel, you leave the bathroom to your bedroom only to see a curly headed guest on your couch conversing with your room mate.

"I can't believe you left him out there to boil in the car, it's already 30 degrees out there!" she fakes being concerned, a very obvious snicker on her face.

"It's okay, I had air con. I just needed to use the bathroom."

While Pedro is looking your way, eyebrows raised by your lack of clothes and wet hair as if he hasn't seen you naked already, Syria is bouncing excitedly in her seat and you can only glare at her like a mother silently telling her child off.

"Well it's free now. I'll be ready soon." you awkwardly point to the steaming bathroom.

Levering himself off your couch, he makes his way to the bathroom, not before pulling your chin with his finger and kissing you. Once the door is shut, Syria is of course ogling you.

"A lot to unpack there." she says smugly.

"I'll pack your shit up and throw it out the window if you don't kick back." you whisper so Pedro can't hear you.

She throws her hands up in surrender, giggling maniacally.

Once you've changed into something beach appropriate, shorts and a top, you say your goodbyes to Syria and head back to Pedro's rental car. As you're placing your beach bag in the back seat you hear a rapid clicking sound in the distance. Your head whips around looking for the source but all you see are everyday people making their way.

"Maybe you should drive?"

"Huh?" Your attention is pivots back to Pedro.

"Not used to driving on the left side and you know the city better than me."

"It's weird how you drive on the right but it's wrong."

He sucks air through his teeth, holding back a smile. "I'm not even going to give you the satisfaction of a laugh. That was a horrible joke."

"Come on, you know it was funny."

He shakes his head, still holding in his laugh, gesturing you to take the driver seat. You do so not without him stealing another kiss from you, hand holding tight on your hip and the other cradling your face.

Slow, intimate... longing...

(For the vibe: Porcelain, Natural Blues and/or Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? by Moby)

Windows down, warm breeze whipping through your hair and Pedro's ruffled curls, getting closer to the ocean and the smell of sea salt wafts into the car, the sun kissing your skin playfully, you are engulfed in a sense of freedom that only summer can summon.

You both bop along to music he has playing from his own playlist. Some Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, Pretenders, Moby and others. Driving along the esplanade, music pumping, the blue of the sky and the sparkle of the ocean connect on the horizon to your right and you peak Pedro admiring the view from your left peripheral.

When you arrive Pedro starts taking pictures of the view, even brining you in for a selfie together. Some goofy, some cute, you're glad he wants to memorialize your time together. You follow the path down the cliffs to the beach, passing a sign that catches Pedro's eye. You join him to see the hazard signs, wildlife info, beach history and acknowledgements.

"You are on Bunurong Country. Wominjeka. (Welcome)" He reads out. "What this?"

"It's an acknowledgement to Australia's Aboriginal People. The original custodians of the land along with the Torres Strait Islanders before it was... colonised."

"Oh that's cool that they do that."

"Its the bare minimum after what they've been put through..."

"Fuck the colonisers."

"Yeah, fuck them." You feel relieved that he understood your sentiments.

You tip toe your way through the scorching sand to find a spot near the water. Even though it was mostly families from the area that frequent this beach, Pedro suggested you two set your stuff somewhere more quiet. So you settled for a spot closer to the cliffs that close in onto the water.

Eagerly, wanting to be free from the confines of your clothes because it is quite frankly, boiling hot, you undress your self down to your bikini. Welcomed by the harsh rays of the sun, you reach into your bag for the sun screen and wasting no time to lather it on yourself. Looking over to Pedro, he has set his towel down and you feel yourself shy away as he watches you through his sunnies.

"Make sure you slip slop slap. The sun is pretty rough down here."

"Make sure I do what now?" he raises his brows high enough over his sunnies in confusion.

"Put sunscreen on?"

"So many weird words and sayings you have here."

You blow raspberries at him and continue lathering yourself down, squirting some into your hand and applying it to your chest making sure to be extra slow and meticulous reaching into the cups of your bikini. You hear him groan out a 'mierda' under his breath, leaning over and grabbing the bottle.

"Turn around, I'll do your back for you."

Seated on your knees, you face your back to him, so he can rub the sunscreen onto your back. His hands glide over with a nice level of pressure that feels like a massage making you purr with enjoyment. The pressure deepens as his thumbs press harder into your skin, closing your eyes and slouching your head down. His other hand lifting at your strap, you follow the feeling of his hand only for him to let go of it and snapping your skin giving you a sudden jolt, getting a titter out of you.

Hands move to your lower back, again, applying that nice pressure. His fingers skim at the hem of your bottoms almost tickling you, then grabs handfuls of you ass, diligently making sure to cover every part of them.

Once he's sure he is done, he moves in closer and hugs you from behind, pressing his hard on against your lower back. Lips next to your ears he whispers. "It's actually no fair how much you turn me on just from your existence."

"I'd be more than happy to help with that." you murmur back.

"Soon. But for now I need you to do my back too."

You swap positions and admire how lean and broad his back is, impressed with how well his taken care of his body over the years. Hands spreading across, you lather his back and make your way down. Sliding your fingers slightly under the hem of his shorts, you follow it around to the front, brushing the soft snail trail and just teasing to go lower before his hands move them away.

He was adamant on not letting you touch him. You start to feel like you might be coming on to him too strong and pushing his boundaries like a creep.

"What's wrong?" he asks when he notice your visible discomfort.

"Am I being too much? If me touching down there is uncomfortable for you, just tell me now and I'll stop. Just hard to tell when we keep feeling each other up." you feel slightly embarrassed.

He gives a soft laugh and kisses your forehead. "I like it, don't worry. Just keep it above clothes for now, okay?"

"Okay." you smile and nod back, now understanding where he stands but still unclear about his reasoning.

Not dwelling on the conversation, Pedro jumps to his feet and scoops you up in his arms, bridal style with a smile from ear to ear. Taking you by surprise, you squeal as he runs to the water. Hooking your arms around his neck not wanting him to drop you but you're soon startled by the cold as he plunges you both underwater.

Resurfacing, you gasp for air and rubbing hair and water away from your face, eyes slightly stinging. Pedro has his face half submerged in the water staring at you cheekily as bubbles pop around his face, giving off a boyish charm that keeps him looking younger than he is.

"The waters a bit fuckin' fresca." you say, splashing water at him that he chuckles away from.

Whipping his wet hair from his face, spraying you a little, he closes in to you for a hug. You're surprised by the warmth from his body, getting in closer, revelling in the friction as your goose bumped skin presses against each other. Wet and salty kisses are exchanged as water slaps around your enclosed bodies, sharing small moans into one another. You don't think you could ever get sick of kissing him.

"So tell me about yourself Soleada." he asks while grabbing your legs and wrapping them around his waist for better balance.

You had noticed every other time he had used that word for you. You just weren't sure what it meant and a bit shy to ask. He definitely knew your name, so he wasn't calling you someone else so you were curious why he kept calling you that.

"Sol... means sun... so-"

"Sunny or like sunshine." he intervenes your thought process.

"Why do you call me that?"

"Just have sunny disposition to you."

You blush from his compliment and look at him curiously, brushing the hair sticking to his forehead aside, wanting him to elaborate.

"You just seem like-like the type to really brighten up a room, like your presence c-could cheer anyone up and have that 'half glass full' type attitude. Yeah... like people would go to you, trust you. You have that type of vibe and would just have a natural attraction that people lo- gravitate towards."

"That... that's actually really sweet. Like such a meaningful compliment..." Feeling a warm and fuzzy feeling in your chest despite the cold waves slapping against your body, it's almost overwhelming how sentimental he is. "Thank you."

As the sun beats down and your body acclimates to the cold water, or just gone numb, you and Pedro never let go of your embrace as he listens to you talk about yourself while the waves pushed and pulled your bodies. You spoke of your career that you studied hard for and love to do despite the down days, you spoke of your family and your relationship with them, your friends and how you and Syria became besties in Uni despite your polar opposite personalities. He listened intently and asked questions, never turning the conversation onto himself, even keen to listen to mundane things like your favourite music and artists, movies, shows and what food you liked.

"-and I just really love the beach, you know? Growing up, I always had an affinity for the ocean. My family would call me a dolphin because I took every opportunity I could take to be in water. Even in the dead of winter I convinced my parents to let me swim in this outdoor pool." Pedro's lip quirks up, amused. "Regretted it of course, but you get the gist. Just felt like all my problems are gone when I'm in here. If I'm ever rich enough, I'd buy a nice boat and sail in some tropical archipelago country. Living off of the local islands and the sea."

"That would sound like a nice way of living."

"One can dream..."

After talking some more, you two finally decide to swim back to land and dry off. Walking towards your towels you notice some people, mainly girls and women looking your way. More so Pedro's way. You look at Pedro seeing if he's noticed but he's already getting himself comfortable on his towel, patting on yours to lay down with him.

Before you can say anything- "I noticed them. If they want to say hi, they will come. Otherwise I just go about my day."

Frowning at the thought of being a walking exhibit for the public, you think about when you kept gawking at him the first time.

You follow his lead and lay down on your stomach, ignoring the onlookers, pulling out a book to read while you soak some sun. Concentrating on the words on the pages, you're comforted by a hand placed on one of your ass cheeks. He just rests it there and you look at him, eyes closed and blinded by the sun with a lopsided grin, topped with wet curls frizzled on his head. You snort out a laugh and go back to reading your book.

If the waves and cawing seagulls weren't loud enough, you would've missed that clicking sound you heard before. It was faint but you could just make it out. Looking around through squinted eyes, trying to see where it is coming from you're distracted by a small group of girls making their way in your direction. You hope they are just heading for the cliffs to climb them. However, the hand resting on your ass slips away indicating he knows they're on their way.

"Hiiiiiiii. Sorry to bother you but can we get a picture with you? We're big fans!" A high pitched voice asks nervously.

"Of course." Pedro chimes.

The girls all huddle around him, each taking selfies with him. You admire him while he does his thing, impressed by how unbothered he seems by it. Guess he really does appreciate his fans. Though he does keeps his distance, holding his hands behind his back while posing. A few of the girls look your way and you just smile back not wanting to come off as hostile.

"Do you mind taking a group photo of us?" A blondie asks, slightly standoffish.

You nod your head and smile. Getting up, a phone is passed to you and watch as they crowd around him while Pedro stands in the middle of them. You press the button multiple times to make sure they have few to choose from knowing that one photo is never enough.

Once you're done, you hand the phone back to the girl and they finish off their praises and compliments to Pedro as he tries to humbly deflect them and thank them. Then they walk off, giggling amongst themselves.

"Hope you don't mind." he wraps his arms around your shoulders, pulling you into his freckled chest.

"Nah, its cute seeing them get all excited to see you. And you're real sweet and attentive to them. All of them actually. Like that loser last night."

"Don't worry, I won't let them take all my attention away from you." his voice lowers and closes in to your face.

"It's all good, as long as you make it up to me." you flirt back, pouting your lips to invite him in.

He sees his invitation and accepts it, kissing you gently and you wrap your hands around his waist to feel his warm skin against your own.

Between pecks you ask, "Wanna check out the cliffs and rock pools? There's even a rocky pier we can climb to."

But again you here that sound that is so jarring against the sounds of nature and you notice the smile on Pedro face drop as well, jaw tightening and eyes stern. Looking over your shoulder, you see the source of the sound.

A guy holding a large camera and looking through the view finder was taking photos of Pedro. And you. Did this guy follow you all the way from your apartment? Fuck. You snap your head back to face away so the guy doesn't get a shot of your face. Having your face and identity plastered all over the internet was the last thing you wanted.

"Fuck me dead." You groan into Pedro's chest, knowing your time at the beach is now interrupted and invaded.

Pedro plants a kiss on your forehead for reassurance and starts packing up his stuff from the sand. "Time to go."

You stand there, annoyed, watching him pick up his stuff.

"We're just gonna let him ruin our day?" you pout.

"Trust me, he'll hover around and it won't be fun for either of us. I'm hungry anyways."

You reluctantly agree and pack up your belongings as well, placing your towel over your head to cover your face. You head back to the car, your hand in Pedro's as he lead the way and walking past the pap, who continues to snap away like you're some zoo exhibit.

When you pull up back to your place, you let out a big sigh, releasing the tension that had built up while you were driving and grovelling over the pap who cut your beach day short.

"So..." Pedro begins rummaging through his bag looking for something. "I was saving this for the beach but I guess having this now wouldn't be so bad."

He pulls out what you assumed was a rollie at first, only to realise it was bigger and more coned shaped. Your face drops and eyes widen when you realise.

"Is that bud?"

"Bud?" He quizzes back, again imitating your accent.

"Marijuana."

He nods seemingly proud of himself.

"You know that's illegal here right?" you utter in disbelief, glancing around the street to make sure no one is around. "Where did you even find that?"

"Some guy sold it to Nico that he met at a bar."

"Christ on a bike Pedro." you say it flat and he just shrugs a 'what'. "If its illegal here, that also means it's not regulated either! That shit could be laced!"

You have your fingers squeezing the bridge of your nose at the absurdity that he'd just buy some bud from a random. A random that could have also been an undercover jack.

"Oh it's safe. I already had some the other day."

All you can do is stare at him, deadpan, blinking rapidly in shock.

"I'm guessing you haven't tried it before. If you don't feel like it, I get it."

Eye flicking between the joint and Pedro's face, you think about it. There had been times you wanted to try it but never felt quite comfortable to do so. Especially knowing how messed up drugs can be, being unregulated here. But Pedro said it was fine, and he was experienced with it so there wasn't really anyone else you could trust more.

"Fuck it." You huff, rolling down the windows so you don't hotbox yourselves.

He lights it up, taking in a few puffs so it stays lit. The smell is strong and you start to get nervous, looking around to see if anyone is near or walking past. Especially keeping an eye out for that pap.

Pedro passes the joint to you but pauses. "Are you sure?"

Before you can chicken out, you grab it from him and place it between your lips. Inhaling it like you would a cigarette, you are taken aback by how rough it felt in your throat causing you to choke and cough aggressively. You shove it back to Pedro so you don't accidently drop it during your coughing fit.

He laughs playfully as you struggle, while patting you on the back sympathetically. Looking at him through teary eyes, his face is framed by a haze filling the car. You try to come off as intimidating for laughing at you, squinting your eyes at him but as he nods his upside down smile and raised eyebrows indicate you might already look high.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." you lie, head already spinning. Taking the joint back to take a another puff, more slowly this time as to not cough your guts out.

Eventually you get used to smoking the joint but Pedro makes sure to have the majority of it so you don't have too much on your first go. You feel as stiff as a rock, sinking into your chair while simultaneously feeling airy and like you could float out the car. You're becoming more aware of your surroundings, eyes darting around scoping the area and can feel every fibre of your clothes against your skin, you're even a little nauseous. When did it get so bright and loud around here? You don't even notice Pedro getting out of the car till he opens your door, putting the window back up and placing his hand in front of you to take.

"Let's get something to eat." his voice is low and scratchy from the smoke, bringing a giggle out of you because you find it hot.

You're not sure how you look to the public, but you're sure it's silly because you can't seem to the get rid of the smile spread across your face. Your cheeks hurt from laughing at nothing and everything as you two walk down the street to a local burger shop. Your mind is elsewhere and you can't even comprehend most of what Pedro is trying to say to you and you just giggle and nod in response repeatedly.

"You're being real cute right now you know." he whispers to you. His words are soothing and you nuzzle into his shoulder, taking in a deep inhale of his scent. That sweet musky scent that smells extra enticing right now.

Feeling his body come to a halt, you look around realising you had reached the end of the street in front of the burger shop. You scramble through your brain trying to remember how you got here so fast. You were just at the start of the street a second ago? Right?

Pedro speaks to the cashier and places his order.

"I swear we were still at the start of the street." you mumble.

Pedro chuckles, motioning you to the cashier. "Order what you want."

After squinting at the menu for some time, you tell the cashier what you want and he tallies up the price. "That'll be twenty-six forty, thank you."

You look over to Pedro to make sure he doesn't pay and thankfully he is distracted by a fan behind you in line. You peep into your purse and pull out 2 tens and hand it to the cashier before looking through your purse again to find the other ten note you swear you had.

"Here's your change, your order will be ready soon."

You look at the change in his hands disoriented and confused. "No no, I was suppose to give you another tenner."

"You gave me thirty dollars Miss." the cashier insists.

"No I only gave you twenty, just let me find the other-" you don't know why but you feel slightly panicked.

A pair of hands grab your shoulders. You hear Pedros voice thank the cashier who is smiling awkwardly back at you, grabbing the change and moves you to the side so the next person can order.

"I swear to God I only gave him twenty and I swear I had three tens in here." you ramble on as Pedro places the change into your purse.

He cups your face and lifts it up to look at him, immediately entranced by his deep brown eyes, that cheek aching smile forming back on your face.

"You're just really high right now Soleada." You shake your head aggressively not believing him. "Thank you for paying, but next time I'm paying okay?"

"How un-feminist of you." You joke.

He fakes laughs and rolls his eyes, squeezing your shoulder playfully and holds onto your swaying body while you wait for your order.

After comically scoffing down your burger, munchies coming in full charge, you walk back (more so Pedro is leading you back by hand like you're a lost child with your scattered brain) to your apartment needing to rest as the weed starts to really set in heavy.

"Syria?" You call out as you open the door. The room is quiet and there's no response. She must be out. Letting Pedro in, you lock the door behind you. "Looks like we have the pl-"

Back pressed hard against the door, you're almost winded by the sudden movement as Pedro leans his body into yours, hungrily kissing you. Your heart skips a beat, mind and body catching up with the moment and returning the feeling, kissing him back as deep as you can, desire immediately pooling your underwear.

The door shakes from the weight of your bodies desperately pressing into each other, your core yearning for the feeling of his hardening cock rubbing up against you.

Still high, the feeling of his hands grazing up and down your skin blazes with intensity you haven't felt before. You follow the fire trail down to the hem of your shorts, fingers roughly pulling them down along with your bikini bottoms.

He doesn't waste a second to slide his fingers through your folds, wetting them with your slick. Your breathe hitches when his finger tips find themselves on your clit, applying a soft pressure while circling slowly. You buck your hips forward to pressed harder against his fingers.

"Need. You. Now." he growls between hasty kisses.

You mewl in agreement, relishing in the most simple action; feeling tens times more pleasurable then if you were sober. He sweeps you off the floor, hooking his hands underneath your thighs and you wrap your legs and arms around him.

Sounds of furniture getting knocked and giggles echo in your empty apartment while he walks blindly to your room never letting go of the kiss. Stopping at the end of your bed, Pedro gently lowers you down.

Slivers of the sun shine on your body through the slatted shades on your window and he gazes down on your body, watching you slip your top off and undoing your bikini strings, eyes heavy with lust, licking his lips, breaths shallow.

Your heart rate accelerates when he lowers on top of you, one hand placed firmly beside you and the other tightly griping your hip, his thumb applying pressure into your pelvis. Haphazardly kissing up your neck, you wrap your legs back around to bring him closer and he grinds into you.

"So needy Soleada." he whispers into your ear, each roll of his hips into you building the tension.

Realising he is still at the end of the bed, you try to squirm up to make space for him to get on, anticipating what is to come but his grip on your hip holds you in place. You keep trying to wriggle underneath him so he'd get the hint but instead it just create more friction against your clit as he grinds on you, small whimpers slipping out of you.

He starts sliding down you, leaving a line of kisses down your chest. Watching him slowly leave wet spots along your torso, he gets on his knees. You hold yourself up onto your elbows to watch him continue to kiss around your mound, getting softer the closer he gets.

"Fucking tease." you say, sounding more like a beg than in annoyance of how he keeps edging you.

He reaches one hand for your nipple, rolling it between his fingers and nibbles at your thigh in response and your lips press together hard in a moan.

Lifting both your legs over his shoulders, he brushes his lips down your thigh and finally reaches onto your clit, throbbing and waiting for him. Expecting him to tease you further, you whine when his mouth takes you whole and his tongue swirls around your clit. Your head falls back at the welcome surprise.

Even with how gentle he is being, the sensation is already buzzing through your body from the added high off weed. Light headedness building as he laps his tongue around, down to your entrance tongue fucking you and up again, moaning into the extra sensitive bundle of nerves.

"Never... felt... like this... before." you struggle to speak while breathless.

Your moans deepen as you lift your head back up to look at him to see that he is already looking up at you while his mouth his planted firmly devouring every bit of you. You feel your pussy pulse from the intense but soft look, his signature puppy eyes putting you in a hazy trance.

As he continues to suck, lick and kiss you, it becomes a warm comfort making you languid. Lulling you and your body relaxing, you lay back down with your hand reaching to play with his hair with your eyes closed and whispering sweet praises to Pedro.

It just felt so perfect, you could lie there with his head deep between your thighs and eating you out for hours. Your body starts to sink into the bed, getting dozy.

"No falling asleep just yet beautiful."

His hot breath tickles against your exposed skin, you hum in delight only for you to gasp a moan when you feel fingers firmly pushed inside of you. Applying more pressure and speed with the point of his tongue now, you hold tight on his hair as he fingers you rhythmically.

He keeps the pace going as your legs begin to shake from the growing pleasure bubbling up inside you, moans and whimpers getting louder and more frequent. Both of your hands gripping onto his locks and your legs using his back as leverage, you pull him in closer while bucking your hips up so you can ride his face, getting closer to that high.

Pedro pumps faster inside you, curling his fingers and hitting in just the right spot, your lungs are burning for oxygen as you continue to moan, borderline sob at the unbearable pleasure that is begging to be released as you pelvis grinds harder into his mouth and your stomach goes taut.

"Soleada. Come for me."

On command, you let go of all the built up arousal inside you, moaning his name out loud. Your body slackens and simultaneously shudders from bliss, eyes shut tight, stars flashing. Pedro stops fingering you, arms wrapped around your legs and still licking your clit helping you ride your orgasmic wave.

Once silence settles and your breathing evens out, Pedro climbs on top as your body occasionally spasms. He pecks you on your satisfied smile, praising how delicious you taste, how beautiful you are and that he can't enough of hearing you moan his name.

"That was definitely a first." you happily sigh, words slurred and eyes heavy.

He climbs further up the bed and hoists you up to your pillows like a rag doll. Covering you with your throw blanket, he tucks himself behind you and wrapping his body around yours, nose nuzzled into you.

Sweet hums and kisses along your neck and shoulders comfort you, drifting into sleep...

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Tags: @mingeniee @ghostofjoharvelle @str84pedro @ellieslver @pedro-pedrito-pascalito @crazyworldofsiani

[meeks-just-wants-to-scroll]

What Happened To HFM?

Hello, I've been meaning to ask this for a while but what happened to Hare Fox and Moon? I've seen @cupiidskiss post that they will be the only one posting suff about the fandom now and the lack of final two chapters, the twitch stream that didn't happen (or at least the date and time weren't posted in tumblr) and the "May We See The Sun" AU not getting adapted unto its own work

I was a long time fan of HFM and so it's kinda sad to see such a small but beautiful work with interesting characters and a great storyjust kinda vanish

[I'm sorry for this random ass ask but its just been bugging me for the past few days so i thought id finally ask]

I am not entirely sure how to answer this because this is not my story to explain. I do not know how much Paigey wants to say publicly. I understand if they want to explain the situation in 100% clarity, I understand if they would rather it stays private, i understand if they only want to explain the bare necessities to give closure on the situation. (if you haven’t already, send this same ask to paigey. I am not the owner of HFM.)

For now I will only explain what is necessary to answer the question.

“What happened to HFM.”

It was silently put on hiatus for a month (~30 days since chapter 28 got published).

At some point before Dec 14th, Paigey told me they were losing interest in continuing the project (tho i cannot check messages to be 100% sure on that since the HFM server is deleted. I do not recall if their message was along the lines of “i’m struggling to continue this chapter” or if it was “I’m losing interest in continuing this project.” Whatever it was, I was under the impression that they had other art projects and oc they would rather work on, which made sense in my head because I had started working on other art, AU, OC, and role plays during the hiatus.)

Saturday, Dec 14: I was asked by Paigey to not draw or make content of Boone anymore and that we would not be working together anymore (again, i am not explaining the details of what was in the message. Only Paigey can divulge what they are comfortable saying online).

this left HFM in a limbo of what will happen with it. Neither of us actually talked about “what now?”

I was under the impression Paigey was done and wanted to move on to a different project (diff community? Diff fandom?) but what you said about them being the “only one posting stuff about the fandom now” was unexpected to me considering they expressed losing interest in continuing. I became curious and checked their tumblr and yes, they did say “will probably be the only one creating hfm content from now on, not sure. i still enjoy this story very much, despite differences and everything with my past co author.” This shows I shouldn’t assume Paigey’s feelings on HFM, I evidently didn’t know they still have the door open on continuing posting about the story. I thought the negative memories associated with it would overshadow the joy. I was wrong.

seeing as Cupiidskiss still plans to work on the project, I suppose this marks the end of my involvement on the project and likely in the fandom. It’d be hard for me to make content for HFM while respecting Paigey’s boundary that I no longer make content of Boone.

They have stated that they still get joy out of the project. Paigey has told me many times how they have enjoyed working on it, developing characters, writing it, and just *having* something that succeeded and has community around it. Do I still want to work on HFM and make content for the fandom? Yes, but not if it will rock Paigey’s boat.

I am happy to let Paigey continue using Malt, Lucie, Cooper, Francis, whoever else to feed the fandom and (maybe) finish HFM. They can do whatever they want with the story now that I’ve stepped down from working on it. It’s their art piece now, they can own it. They deserve more credit for the piece of media. They worked hard as fuck on it!

I am content with letting this project go. I had a wonderful time writing it, making art, creating characters, and more. I hope Paigey gets the acknowledgment they deserve for their previous and future contributions to not only the piece of literature but also the fandom that has developed around it.

What happens to Malt?

not sure. He is still my oc, but I am also comfortable letting him be used and changed for whatever story, au, art, etc Paigey decides to make. I don’t have any plans for him. I still love him and use him, i just put him in non canon au / random oc + friend’s oc art and drabbles. Everything I make of him is non canon and detached from HFM. ex: here’s beastar AU art of Malt.

I don’t know how to close this so I suppose I’ll say this:

Paige, I know you’re going to read this. I blocked you because I felt it would be closure for you and me and allow time and space apart. I admit the blocking was sudden and not wonderfully planned out. I am sorry I didn’t give enough time for us to have an actual exchange of words. If you want to talk in dm then I am all ears. I can answer any questions you want closure or clarifications on. If you would rather not talk with me again, I understand.

I would offer to write my half of the epilogue (chapter 30) but considering it is the final chapter, I think you deserve the satisfaction of finishing this project that has gone on for 6+ months.

tldr: Meeks is no longer involved in HFM. Redirect anything related to HFM to @cupiidskiss from here on.