#this is definitely my shortest post so far but i got too sucked into the story to be taking notes lol

[waywardsou2]

Oh this is fun! Imma tag my writer friends at the end because this is going to be so interesting!

Here we go!

14...wow that is a lot more than I thought (how many of those are unfinished tho lol)

I tired getting into real whump like going deep into it and actually formulating it well, which...I tried but it didn't last too long

Deadpool and Wolverine is where most of my interest was based for a while in terms of writing. But more recently it's become Arcane

Only 3, my writing goes through fluctuations depending on the hyper fixation so I haven't had much difference in fandoms recently

5. DeadClaws was a big one for me for a while but Jayvik has stolen my heart most recently

6. Bucky Barnes was a big one for me even though I never ended up writing much for him. And now recently Jayce and Viktor (obviously)

7. Yes, Arcane was a new one for me. I don't count Deadpool and Wolverine because that is technically Marvel

8. So far my fic You and Me and The Music I make which is almost finished has meant the most to me to write. It's been a hug comfort honestly

9. Again, You and Me and The Music I make has made me extremely happy, it's all fluff which is something I never do. It has been so uplifiting

10. Welp I have a habit of not finishing my works (so many WIPs collecting dust right now) but when I finished You and Me and The Music I make I know I'll feel so amazing about it

11. I feel like my Summer of Bad Batch prompt challenge works were the hardest mainly because the hyper fixation died half way through which made it difficult for me to continue, but I did get it done in the end

12. Probably my one-shot series, because it was just shit posts here and there of smut. So it wasn't anything that big

13. Shortest was: My post movie head canon one, mainly because it was two chapters and it was just very basic

Longest was: Was Lost but never gone which was one 5 chapters (incomplete) at 15k words already

14. None just my general playlist but when I started You and Me and the Music I make I made a playlist specifically for that ship with songs that were actually included in the fic

15. The Sun will Set on Another Day and I will Still Sit in my Cage, which is super fucking long but it felt right? Idk it was just stupid for me to try and figure out how to name this one I ended up going with a fallout boy song title (LMAO)

16. "Fuck you" "Do it yourself, coward" was pretty funny but I also like You and Me and The Music I make, just coz it's sorta romantic? And I'm a sucker for romance

17. Tbh none of my opening lines particularly stand out to me...I find it hard to write good eye catchers, I mainly focus on the body content but since I'm in love with You and Me and The Music I make I'll have to pick that one

Viktor tuned out the methodical tapping of his shoes and cane working in tandem across the polished floors, he was well adjusted to the sound by now. The day was at its end and his bones had begun to creak. The hallways felt cavernous in the black with him unable to see the expanse of the celling or the depth of the hall. It only stretched out into more darkness.

It think it's nice and descriptive, sets the tone

18. I haven't finished any of my workssss I don't really have one

Their presence was the only thing that brought the other peace.

That's all I've got really

19. ...I suck at writing dialogue...so this was a struggle

“Just hold onto me, I won’t let you fall, and if you need to stop we will. Just…try this for me?”

^^^ This was just really sweet, it was so caring and kind in context. Litteral tooth rotting fluff

20. I thought this was pretty funny but I'm not really a comedian

"I will slice your dick off if you don't stop" "Oh kinky" "Fuck you"

21. In Lost but never gone the characters kinda ended up writing themselves. It was very interesting, enjoyable, but definitely an experience

22. I sometimes write in a dedicated notebook if I don't have my laptop on me. But I only use word and them I post on AO3 afterwards

23. Just the brainstorming stage for all of my works, when the idea pops into my head and I realise I can write it

24. No? Do people do that lol

25. I don't really have anything in particular I do. I usually just stop writing and switch to art for a while (I don't always have a choice) and then come back to writing when I feel the inspo again. It's weird

26. Yeah I made some art, though it wasn't very good

27. I took part in 3, I only completed one all the way to the end and abandoned the other two. I also created my own but I haven't participated in that

28. My friend DM and Emrys for being my biggest inspiration and supporters, for giving me ideas and being my beta readers. I would also thank a few of my discord servers for entertaining my bullshit

29. I want to finish You and Me and The Music I make because I genuinely think that will be the only WIP I can finish lol

30. More Jayvik fics...pfft that's literally it. I love them so much I want to keep writing for them

As for my writing friends

@desired-misery @bunnwis @emrys-study @fionajames @kybercrystals94

A slightly revised version of last year's questions! Two ways to play: Reblog and have your followers send you numbers, or answer the whole list!

How many fics have you worked on since January?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

How many fandoms did you write for this year?

What ships captured your heart?

What characters captured your heart?

Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

What were your go-to writing songs?

What was the hardest fic to title?

What's your favorite title of the year?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share your funniest line

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

Did you create fanworks other than fic?

How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

What would you like to write next year?

[ao3readingproject]

All the Young Dudes — Year Five: Loving Grant and Hating Dumbledore

The first fic I’m reading on my mission to read the top 10 fics on Ao3 in 2022. See a masterpost of all my chapter commentary here. Thoughts on year 5 below the cut!

In terms of themes, year five feels like a continuation of year four. Obviously the big difference between the two is that Remus actually knows he’s queer for the first time, but both of these years really gave me a “there are no unique experiences” vibe.

I was wary of the concept of Grant in the beginning since I usually hate OCs, but it turns out I actually love him. Which gives me hope for the 7 fics I’m going to read this year which for all intents and purposes will feel like they’re about OCs to me given how little I know about them. We didn’t see too much of him in this section, but he’s obviously important. I really love how Remus finally has someone in the muggle world he cares about. Since this fic takes place during a time when it was extremely unsafe to be anything other than pureblood, it’s nice to see how being half blood is a facet of his identity that can have some good come out of it as well. I am really rooting for Grant throughout the rest of this and I hope he ends up okay given how badly everything is about to go to shit. I’m already psyching myself up for all the deaths I know are coming, so I don’t really have the bandwidth for another one.

Before I finish this post, I also want to talk a little bit about Dumbledore. It really hit me again how much he sucks. I have a theory that you can tell who’s reread Harry Potter since they were a kid based on how they feel about him (and Snape). I truly don’t understand how a well-adjusted adult could look at the totality of his actions and think he was a good guy. We all know what he did to Harry, but to read about him allowing Sirius to go through even worse when he definitely had the power to intervene made me feel physically ill. He literally waited for Sirius to almost die before doing anything, and at that point it wasn’t really necessary anymore. And this time he didn’t even have the excuse of “well we’re at war, sacrifice the one for the benefit of the many” going for him (not that this justifies his actions toward Harry in any way!!). It’s just so gross to me how respected he is by everyone in this universe given everything we as readers know about him. I feel like this doesn't need to be said since it's a pretty popular opinion by now, but that was where my head was at most of the time I was reading this section, so I had to document it.

[whatdidimissjm]

Running Out Of Time

I haven´t written a fic in a very long time (I think almost a month?), because some stuff has happened since the last time posted one. I just wasn´t in the right headspace to write and also hurt, because I was in a car crash, but I hope I will be able to get into writing more again. I can´t promise that, since there is still a lot of stuff on my mind, but I will try my best. 

This is my first time writing Hamuligan, so enjoy :)

--

As soon as Hercules sits down next to him on the couch, Alex wraps himself around the other man, hiding his face in Herc´s t-shirt. He feels Hercules shifting under him and lets out an unhappy noise, refusing to move even an inch.

“You have to make everything difficult, don´t you?”, his boyfriend asks teasingly, and Alex lets out a noncommitting “mmf” sound.

After a bit of struggling, Hercules manages to get the blanket and wrap it around both of them. Alex sighs softly as his boyfriend brings his arms around him, a small smile appearing on his face when he feels him pressing a kiss to his hair. They stay like this for some time and Alex is once again amazed how easy it is for him to relax when he is with Hercules, something that he normally struggles with. He feels himself drifting off to sleep and struggles against it for a few moments, but then he just lets go.

He is a bit disorientated when he wakes up again, blinking into the sun, that´s streaming in through the window and shining right into his face.

“It´s incredible that you aren´t even fully awake yet and already pouting.”, Hercules says amused, raking his fingers through Alexander´s hair.

Alex turns his head and grins up at him. He stretches like a cat, before he leans up to kiss Hercules, who shifts a bit to make the kiss more comfortable.

“It´s actually good that you woke up, because I have to get ready.”, Herc says, after they have parted again.

Alex frowns, confused what Hercules means, before remembering that he had told him that he will meet his flatmates for dinner today.

“No, you don´t.”, Alex says, moving so that he is now seated in Hercules´ lap. “You can just stay here with me. I´m more fun.”

Herc laughs softly, but shakes his head.

“Baby, I know you´d like that, and believe me, I´d like that too, but you´ve had me the whole day and I promised my flatmates that we´d go to dinner tonight weeks ago.”

Alex sighs quietly and lets himself fall against Herc´s chest.

“But that´s so little.”, he mumbles. “And I spent like, half of the time sleeping.”

At that Herc lets out a small laugh, gently raking his fingers through the younger man´s hair.

“Alex, you didn´t even sleep for an hour, and we´ve been together since nine a.m., so a bit longer than two hours.”

Alex grumbles quietly, and still doesn´t make a move to get off Hercules´ lap.

“It wasn´t a lot of time.”, Alex insists. “Can´t you just say you feel sick?”

Hercules rolls his eyes and gently pushes Alex to the side, so that he can get up, even as the younger man tries to hold him back.

“They know that you are here, so they wouldn´t believe me.”

Alex watches Herc with a pout, as he walks over to the wardrobe to get dressed.

“Don´t look at me like that.”, Hercules says, without turning around.

“You don´t even know how I look at you.”, Alex complains, but he can´t help but smile a bit, at how good Hercules knows him.

“I do.”

A few moments later, Hercules turns back around to Alex, showing him a blue and white striped shirt.

“Should I wear this?”

Alex shrugs.

“Why don´t you ask your flatmates?”

Hercules lets out a long sigh and rolls his eyes.

“You are truly impossible.”

They get onto the train about half an hour later and they still have a few stops until Hercules has to get off, but Alex already misses him. He watches the other man lean against the wall next to the door, and when Herc notices Alexander looking at him, he gives him a warm smile and opens his arms. Alex hesitates the shortest of moments, before he walks over and lets himself fall into his boyfriend´s arms. Hercules brings his arms around him almost immediately and Alex lets out a soft sigh, basically melting against him. He nuzzles his face into the crook of Herc´s shoulder, thinking how absolutely perfect the other man is to hug. Alex hasn´t even noticed that he had closed his eyes, barely aware where they are.

“I don´t want you to get off the train.”, Alex mumbles after the first stop, and he feels Hercules laugh.

“I know, you have told me that before, baby.”

Alex lets out a huff, pressing himself even closer to the other man.

“What if I just don´t let go of you?”

Herc lets out a soft laugh and presses a kiss to the side of his boyfriend´s head.

“I definitely wouldn´t complain.”

They are silent for some time again, just enjoying being close to each other.

“I already miss you. So, so much.”, Alex whispers.

He feels Herc´s hold tighten around him.

“Yeah, I miss you too already, but we will see each other in two days.”

Alex sighs.

“I know, but that´s like an eternity away.”, Alex whines. “Can´t we see each other tomorrow?”

“Babe, you know that we both have to work.”

Instead of an answer, Alex lets out a huff, trying to press himself even closer to Hercules. He knows that they both have to work tomorrow, which means that they won´t even have time to text each other much, but it really isn´t something he wants to think about right now. Far too soon, Herc has to get off the train and Alex lets go of him reluctantly, pouting a bit. His boyfriend smiles softly at him and presses a quick kiss to his lips.

“See you soon.”, he whispers against his mouth.

He takes a step back, waiting for the doors to open, and just as Herc is about to get off, Alex grabs his hand and presses one last kiss to his lips. Herc gives him a smile that looks a bit amused, but mostly full of love, and then he steps out of the train.

“I miss you.”, Alex says quietly, but Hercules seems to hear, because he turns around again and mouths “I miss you too”, before he gets swallowed up by the crowd and the doors close between them again.

Alex lets out a soft sigh, and walks over to one of the free seats, sitting down on it. He is incredibly happy that he got to spend the whole day with his boyfriend, but at the same time it makes him miss him even more. He looks at his phone to see what´s the time and finds a text from Hercules saying: “Already miss you, dinner will suck without you, baby xx”. He feels himself blushing a bit and answers that he misses him too and that the train ride sucks even more without him.

[changeling-rin]

Random DL Thoughts

Physical Appearance Headcanons, here we go!  LOOOOOOONG post ahead.

For the record, Anon, I blame you for getting me started.  ;)

Gen - I am of the opinion that Skyloft is actually between the cloud layers, as opposed to above the clouds entirely.  This is because cirrus clouds (the highest ones) happen at 20,000 feet up, where it is consistently -12*F and that just seems ridiculous for a society in cotton shirts.  My headcanon is that there’s actually quite a lot of cloud cover, so Skyloft doesn’t get nearly as much sun as people might think.   That said, Gen’s a bit paler than most Links, and he also tends to move a bit slower.  High altitudes means varied air pressure, and when he goes down to the Surface there’s always a bit of an adjustment period where he has to get used to breathing air that’s suddenly twice as thick as what he’s used to.  This also contributes to his stature: higher altitude means lesser gravity, which means Gen is easily the tallest Link in the group since there was less gravity pulling on him during growth spurts.  He’s kinda lanky, actually, at least as far as Links go.  We all know they’re kinda short.  Sandy blond hair, and kinda dark blue eyes, almost approaching navy in the right light.  

Speck - He’s the shortest one, and he’s always going to be.  Poor boy’s in his formative growth stage and he spends it shrinking down to be smaller.  Magic accumulates, and he’ll top out at a flat 5 feet... on his tiptoes.  That said, he’s actually pretty strong and stocky for his size.  Regularly having to shove acorns out of the way during the annual Picori Village Fall Cleaning will do that, and of course from hiking up to people’s ears all the time.  He’s also on the paler spectrum; when you’re small, there’s a lot more stuff that can block the sunshine.  He’s a bottle-blond, or at least he would be if that weren’t his natural hair color, and he’s got the bluest eyes of the whole group.  If they glowed, they’d be neon.

The Four - When I say they could be quadruplets, I mean it.  They’re completely and utterly identical in every way possible, except for their clothing.  If for whatever reason they decided to swap colors with each other, absolutely nobody would be able to tell the difference.  Not really a problem since ‘individuality’ isn’t necessarily a concept that the Four ascribe to, but still slightly unnerving when you first see it, which is why the Four don’t always like to advertise their hive-mind qualities.  Bright blond, blue eyes, but a couple steps below Speck in both categories.  I’d say they get an average amount of sun, so they’re probably a little bit tan - but they’re on the paler end of the scale.

Ocarina - He shares his hair and eye color with Mask, this being a golden blond and water-blue eyes, but he has a completely different complexion.  Remember that whole ‘seven years in the Sacred Realm’ thing?  Yeah, that screwed up his skin big time.  The sun hates him, and he's happy to return the favor, because he burns within ten minutes.  This is why he happily adopted the habit of wearing sleeves and leggings, because the less skin he has to burn the better.  He’s also way too pale for his own good, especially the first few weeks after the time jump.  He’s doing better now, having accumulated a little color in between sunburns, but he’s still the whitest Link in the group.  (For now.  Once we get BotW Link in here... whoo gosh.  A hundred years without sunshine, that poor pasty boy.)

Mask - Conveniently having gone back in time to before the Sacred Realm screwed with his skin, he has none of the sunburn problems that Ocarina does and is very glad to have that issue over and done with.  He does, however, have an cumulative and semi-permanent mild tan from the Temina three day loop.  It was sunny for all three of those days, after all, and Mask was running around in the fields a lot.  He’s also got a few acquired traits from the soul masks that he uses, because there’s no such thing as a consequence-free soul merging.  Nothing noticeable, especially not to outside people, but he frequently finds a leaf or two growing in his hair from Creak that he has to pluck out, there’s a small patch of rocky skin on his left ankle from Darmani, and underneath his right elbow there’s the faint blue sheen of barely-there scales from Mikau.  If he keeps hosting for Oni it’s pretty likely that he might develop a white shock or some partial face markings, but as of now that particular relationship hasn’t gone that far yet.

Dusk - He’s pretty tanned, since being a goatherd means being outside all day, every day.  Dark wheatish blond and bright blue eyes, which are striking enough compared to the rest of his coloring that people comment on it all.  the.  time.  At this point, he’s trained himself to respond to ‘blue-eyed [insert noun here]’ because of how frequently it happens.  He’s also got quite a lot of carryovers from his wolf side, because again there’s no such thing as a consequence-free soul merge.  His hair’s a bit thicker and rougher than most people’s, he’s got a few pointed canines even when hylian, and his ears have a tendency to redirect towards sounds regardless of which form he’s in.  Some of the wolf’s markings are beginning to carry over too, as almost birthmark-looking things, but they’re so faint that nobody’s noticed.  (Not even Dusk, yet.) He’s also acquired the ability to growl as a hylian, which was one of the few things that managed to unnerve him the first time it happened before he shrugged and got used to it.  He’s also pretty stocky and muscular, because anyone who can take a charging goat, a charging Goron, and throw around a ball-and-chain the way he does in-game is at least a little bit built.  

Blue, Green, Vio, and Red - They’ve all got the same complexion (relatively pale) and hair color, (sunny blond) but their eyes are individually colored in direct correspondence to their names and clothes.  They also took individual traits from the original Link, so Blue took most of the muscle mass while Vio has most of the intellect - the book smarts, that is, and is overall almost wiry compared to the other three.  Red is the smallest one, muscle-wise, and also tends to be slimmer all the way around, but he’s got most of the magic; and Green is built more like a runner than anything else, and coincidentally is also the most agile.  He’s also got most of the tactics and common-sense-leader stuff.  They look more like ‘normal’ identical quadruplets than the Four do, in that, while they still look a whole lot alike, there’s tiny little differences here and there that make them distinctive from one another... at least, once you memorize them.

Lore - I refuse to believe his hair is pink.  I absolutely refuse.  He is violently red-headed in my headcanons and I like it that way.  He’s the only ‘true ginger’ of the group.  He’s also pretty brown, in a tannish sort of way, because he’s been to enough places that it’s impossible for him to not have gotten some sun exposure.  Also, Holodrum/Subrosia are very, very warm places.  He’s definitely accumulated some color.  Dark blue eyes, not navy, but more like deep water.  He’s got an accent of indeterminate origin because of all the foreign countries he’s been to, and he’s also kinda wiry in a traveller sort of way.  He’s got the kind of muscle that accumulates through constant use; not stocky or bulky or any of that, but more lean and corded.  He’s also got a lot of small battle scars, mostly on his hands, because he’s really bad at using his bow correctly and keeps stinging himself with the bowstring.  This is also, coincidentally, one of the reason why his long-range aim is so bad.  (The other is that he just genuinely sucks at aiming.)

Sketch - He’s sort of ginger, but it’s really more of a strawberry-blond/auburn color than anything else.  He’s got eyes that are more teal than blue, probably the closest to being green without actually being green.  There is, once again, no such thing as a consequence-free soul merge, and as a result the whole ‘painting’ thing has some odd carryovers.  For one, he doesn’t tan.  At all.  Instead, the sun makes him get lighter, almost exactly like paint getting bleached.  He's not the palest Link, but he’s also not the darkest; I’d place him in the happy middle.  

Realm - His legs are the envy of track runners everywhere.  There is no excess fat anywhere on his body, at all.  He's not a heavily built Link; he’s definitely over in the ‘wiry’ corner, but he is literally all muscle.  Thin muscle, but muscle nonetheless.  He's the only Link who can claim to be truly brunet, and he’s also one of the few who doesn’t have blue eyes (his are also brown.  More of a cream-in-coffee brown though.).  He’s more on the pale end of the complexion scale, seeing as he does spend a lot of time in caves, but he will tan if put in the sun long enough.

Wind - He’s dark.  This boy lives on a tropical island, there’s no way he isn’t.  I don’t care what the game graphics tell me.  Wind has the kind of skin color that could be from an accumulated tan, but also might just be his natural tone.  It makes his very bright blond hair stand out in comparison, because his hair decided to go the sun-bleached route instead of following his skin.  He’s also one of the few who doesn’t have blue eyes - his are actually gray.  They tend to look silver in the sunshine and black in shadow, which means he gets a neat aesthetic, but they never look blue.  He can never get his hair to behave, due to a lifetime of salt and sea breeze, and he’s stronger than he looks.  Wrestling the rigging of a sailboat into submission to cross an ocean is one of those things that requires a lot of upper body strength.

Steam - Probably the least physically inclined of all the Links, because he spends most of his time steering a Train.  He’s bright-yellow-blond, and is the last of the Links to not have blue eyes - like Wind, his are gray.  His gray is a lot darker than Wind’s though, and is much more likely to come off as black unless the light hits it exactly right.  He also doesn’t get a lot of sun, because he tends to stay in his Train or in a workshop, building things for his Train, so he’s definitely on the paler end of the scale.  And he’s got workman hands - calloused in every spot possible and all but immune to getting caught in something.  

Shadow - He’s gray.  Actually gray.  The ashy stuff that a fire leaves behind?  That’s his skin color.  His hair is black, and his eyes are red, but that might change if he feels like it.  He patterned himself to be one of the tallest Links, because of course he did, and he also took a fair bit of muscle mass.  He’s a good candidate for the Dorito Ratio meme.  He is a free shapeshifter though, and this means that literally all of these features are subject to change, especially in accordance with his mood.  If he gets upset enough, he’ll lose focus on his physical form and just sort of dissolve into a hazy mass of black.  He’s also not above shifting his facial features to be more intimidating, such as temporary fangs or opening up six extra eyes.  

Oni - Somehow, he’s managed to be six-foot-three and nobody knows how he did it.  If he were competing, he’d beat Ocarina for being the palest Link, but it’s not because he doesn’t get sun.  He’s actually albino.  He doesn’t have visible irises, or pupils, due to some sort of magic effect that he doesn’t feel like sharing, and the warpaint isn’t actually paint - at least, not anymore.  Again, magic accumulates, and at some point it just became part of his skin.  Also, he might be a god - there’s nothing that says deities have to look normal.  He has a lot of scar tissue, which shows up kinda shiny and silver since his skin is already so pale, and of course he’s ridiculously strong.  Body fat?  He’s never heard of it.  

I have clearly never heard of a ‘reasonable post length’.  And to think, I didn't even get into BotW, Triforce Heroes, Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors, OR any of the CDI games-which-shall-not-be-named.  

...I have way too many headcanons.

[lovemesomesurveys]

How do you feel about full length beards? I’m not into a lot of facial hair. I like some scruff, but that’s it. Have you ever been to a circus? Yeah, once. I was naive and didn’t know about the abuse that went on at the time. Do you know anyone who’s gone to a Fat Camp? No. Do you use Facebook IM everyday? No. I don’t even remember the last time I used it. How many surveys have you done already today? This is my first.

What’s the WORST show on Adult Swim? I don’t care for the Adult Swim shows. Family Guy and American Dad is okay, but after that it gets too stupid and weird for me. Sorry. Like once I saw this show, Mr. Pickles, and uh... wtf. The episode I saw was very disturbing. I don’t get the appeal of Rick and Morty at all. And why the hell is Mike Tyson Mysteries a thing? That’s just to name a few. I see previews of other shows and I just... wow. Do you have any relatives that have shunned you, or vice versa? No. Has anyone ever posted a HORRIBLE picture of you for everyone to see? Not maliciously or because they thought it was horrible and wanted to embarrass me, but yeah. My mom has posted photos where she didn’t see anything wrong and she thinks I looked fine, but I was like EW NO take that down it’s hideous. I reallyyyy don’t like photos of me taken by someone else. I have to take my own photos if I’m going to take one at all because I know the angles and lighting and can add a filter. Plus, I can take a ton before finally settling on one. If someone else takes the photo and they want to post it, I have to approve. Which grade in school was the most fun for you? I enjoyed elementary and middle school. High school had its ups and downs, but there were parts I liked. I liked the last 2 years the best. Which would you rather have, a new puppy or kitten? I wouldn’t want another pet right now to be honest. We have our doggo and one suits our family best right now. Does drama seem to follow you everywhere you go? No, thankfully. I have other issues I struggle with, but not drama. Do you ever just want to go away to a new place where no one knows you? I don’t live in a small town where everyone knows everyone and I was never Miss Popularity, so apart from family and a few other people, not a lot of people know me. However, I do want move away to a new place. My family and I have wanted to for a long time, we just haven’t been able to. A change of environment and scenery would be really nice. You’re ordering a pizza, you can have any kind of toppings, what are they? I’m a simple gal, I just like white sauce, feta and ricotta cheese, garlic, spinach, and crumbled meatballs with pesto drizzled on top. Do you hit ‘quiet’ or ‘ignore’ on your cell? Which one usually? Nah. If my phone rings and I don’t want to answer it, I just let it ring. Do you ever regret giving your number to people? I have before with some people. Have you ever been told that you’re afraid of your own shadow? Haha yeah. Have you ever tried Gouda cheese? Nope. Does/did your high school have pop machines? No. They decided to remove them the year I entered high school, which I was mad about. Do you use a public computer, or do you have your own? I have my own laptop. Do you ever find it odd how you type LOL when you’re not really laughing? >> No, because I understand that its function has moved far beyond representing actual laughing-out-loud. <<< Yeah. I remember discussing that in a class once. Have you ever gambled? A couple times. Not my thing. Although, what really made my experience unenjoyable wasn’t so much the gambling, it was that the casinos I’ve been to allow smoking and I don’t do well with cigarette smoke. At all. It gives me a killer headache, makes my heart rate go up, and makes me feel dizzy and sick. It’s awful. The smell in the casinos was too overbearing for me, so I spent very little time inside. Do you know anyone who’s won the lottery? No. If you could work at any retail store, which one would it be? I really don’t want to work retail. And that’s not shade toward retail workers AT ALL. I salute you, honestly. You deal with a lot of shit. What’s the shortest you would ever cut your hair? I had a “bob” for a few years. Do you listen to any deathcore? No. Do you subscribe to any teen magazines? Which ones? No. I’m also 30 years old. Do you know someone who never smiles? Never? No. Has anyone ever made you feel uncomfortable at work? I’ve never had a job. Do you still watch South Park? I never did. I mean, I’ve seen bits here and there before because my brother used to watch it, but I was never into it myself. Tell me one movie you’ve seen recently that sucked: My mom, brother, and I recently watched this movie on Netflix called, The Platform. It had potential and was interesting at first, but the ending was just... no. It seemed abrupt and I was just really confused. Have you ever carved something into a dinner booth somewhere? No. When’s the last time you were carded at a bar? When I last went to the bar, which was almost 10 years ago. Do you smoke little cigars? Have you ever tried them? Nooo. You’re babysitting, what do you expect per hour for pay? Pfft, no I’m not babysitting. What’s the last thing you returned at a store? I very rarely return things so I have no idea. It’s been a long time. What’s the name of the last cat you pet? I don’t even recall the last time I petted a cat. Do you still look at clouds and make shapes of them? I haven’t in a long time. If you had to dye your hair for one year, what color would you pick? I already do, I dye it red. Who’s got your heart? Me. What’s your television addiction? I have several shows that I’m into. Have you ever stringed green beans before? No. What do you do to make yourself more relaxed when you’re nervous? It’s hard to calm myself when I’m anxious, but I try to distract by talking to someone, listening to ASMR, watching TV or something on YouTube, or reading.  Do you cook? If so, what’s the last thing you made? The only thing I cook is ramen. Oh wait actually I made a grilled cheese sandwich the other day. ha.  Have you ever had any painful dental work done? If so, what? Yeah, a few things. How do you usually spend your Saturdays? I spend all my days and nights the same, really. Do you make your own jewelry or clothing? Last year I briefly got into making beaded bracelets. I made a few. What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re bored? I do the same things everyday whether I’m bored or not: spend time on my social medias, watch YouTube, read, watch TV, scroll through Tumblr, do surveys, just lie there.... ha. Somedays just feel like they’re dragging and going by extra slow and the things I listed above that I like doing just don’t cut it so I just lie there mindlessly watching TV or go to sleep. Do you use drawing to describe what you’re feeling? No. Do you like the smell of new school supplies? As a kid I did. Like getting a new box of crayons. Do you give everything you do 100%? No. I certainly haven’t with life... Do you shop at any independent music stores? No. I don’t shop at any music stores. How do you feel about mainstream music? I like a lot of it.

What song lyrics describe your mood at the moment? *shrug* Do you have healthy eating habits? No. My eating habits are messed up. I have issues with appetite and other issues.

If you could transform into any kind of animal, what animal would you be? A dog. Are you superstitious? If so, what are you superstitious about? I do the knock on wood thing, but it’s just out of habit, really. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be? There’s so many places I’d like to visit. What food disgusts you the most? I don’t do seafood at all. What is your favorite thing to cook? Ramen. One place you would never want to get lost in in the dark? I wouldn’t want to get lost anywhere in the dark. :O Are you claustrophobic? Yes. What is your worst flaw? Oh where to start. One thing that always creeps you out? ALL bugs. What is your biggest fear? Losing loved ones, death, never getting better/getting worse, never doing anything with my life and just wasting away... If you could be reincarnated, would you come back as another human or an animal? If an animal, what kind? I don’t believe in reincarnation. Ideal way you’d like to die? Obviously painlessly, but jeez. If you could be roommates with anyone of your choice, who would you pick? I like living with my family. What is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard? Uh, a lot of things. Your favorite kind of dog? I love doggos, but I definitely have a special thing for Labs and German Shepherds. Do you have any scars? If so, how many? I have a lot of scars. I’m not going to count them. What is your favorite scary movie to watch in the dark? I don’t watch them in the dark. Unless I’m at the theater, obviously. I love scary movies, though. Would you rather be buried or cremated when you die? Cremated. What is your favorite thing to drink? Alcoholic and non alcoholic? Coffee and Starbucks Doubleshot energy drinks. That’s also coffee, but you know what I mean. I don’t have a favorite alcoholic drink, I don’t drink. What is your favorite food around the holidays? I love either ham or turkey depending on the holiday and mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, and rolls. Easiest way to scare you? I’m such a jumpy, easily scarable (it’s a word, shh) person so you could really just say hi and I’ll jump. haha. Like my back faces my bedroom door and if I don’t hear anyone coming in or they just poke their head in to say something I’ll jump. lmao. Tell me one of your biggest secrets? Nah. What was your last nightmare about? It’s been awhile since I’ve had one, thankfully.

[purplesurveys]

675

Are you more of a leader or a follower? It ultimately depends on who I’m grouped with, I guess? If I’m with a bunch of people that aren’t the type to initiate, I’m happy to volunteer to lead. But if I’m working with someone I know is capable of leading, then I’d let them take the lead. But I’d be like the second-tier leader, because I still want to keep things in control and still my way somehow haha. Do you know anyone with a profession in law? My relatives who are in the local government of our home province are all lawyers. I also have an aunt who’s a corporate lawyer; and one of my friend’s dad is both a lawyer and a law professor. Have you ever Googled yourself? When I was like 10 or 11 and curious to see what Google has of me. I generally avoid looking myself up because I did and posted embarrassing shit as a kid. Do you have a regular vacation spot, or do you always go somewhere new? We alllllways go somewhere new. We have never done a repeat vacation, or go to the same resort/hotel twice. For this reason my family has been to almost every region/province in the country, save for Mindanao haha. The one place we’ve gone to more than once is Baguio, and that’s only because we were having a trip in Sagada and needed a stopover because Sagada is way too damn far. Where were you working 10 years ago? I was 11 a decade ago, and hardly thinking of working.

... 5 years ago? Was in high school, and definitely not working. ... 1 year ago? I also wasn’t working, but I had a PR internship in 2019 which was a blast. Would you say you've had a good life so far? It hasn’t been nice to me for the most part, but the highs have been high enough and good enough for me to want to stay. What's the shortest amount of time you've had between relationships? I’ve only ever been with one person. We broke up at one point, which lasted for around seven months. As a child, what comfort foods did your parents make for you when you were sick with a cold or flu? I wasn’t made any comfort food because the adults at home were usually pretty busy. Which was ok with me, because I lose my appetite when I’m sick anyway. What's a movie series where the sequel was better than the original? Generally not a fan of series so I don’t know much about them lol. What's something you wish you could have delivered to your house? FRANKIE’S. Only Metro Manila gets Frankie’s deliveries, and it sucks. When I want to eat some for dinner at home, I have to have it delivered in school. What's your favorite art style? Whatever Monet was all about, as he’s my favorite painter. What time period is considered to be your country's 'golden age?' LMAO do we have any? Have we even reached it yet? I doubt it. The older generation would probably call the 60s and 70s our Golden Age because of the way Marcos ran the country during his first term – and to their credit, I wouldn’t doubt the economic boom we experienced, all the infra built during the time, and the fact that the Philippines was only second to Japan when it came to the richest Asian countries. But Marcos also drove the country to ruins, piled us with debt (that I’m part of paying off to this day, and that my future kids would have to pay as well), got consumed by greed, took part in corruption, killed his critics, and silenced the press by the 80s that it completely trashes the ‘Golden Age’ the Philippines went through just a decade before. He is the reason our economy eventually took one huge humiliating step backwards, and why we’re all struggling to catch up with our now-richer neighbor countries today. How many trees are there in your yard? We have a couple of big ones. What are some of your favorite ways to de-stress? Surveys, YouTube series that I like, serial killer documentaries, and Friends. Have you ever done LSD? No. What's currently on your grocery list? Nothing, really. We stocked up on everything before the city was put on lockdown so we’re doing okay right now. Are any of your coworkers currently out on maternity/paternity leave? No coworkers. And none of my school mates have kids. Would you be able to pinpoint Milwaukee on an unlabeled map? I don’t even know what region Wisconsin’s in. It’s a no-go for me. What is your favorite parody movie? The Scary Movie series is highkey the only set of parody movies I know, so I’ll just go with that. What kind of first impression do you hope others have of you? I’ve been told I seem intimidating at first, which I’m fine with lmao. Do you have a good sense of balance? Hell no. I can’t even ride a bike :( What is your least favorite ice cream flavor? Rocky road or double dutch. Does your car have heated seats? No. We barely need any kind of heater in this country. What's something that has been in your local news lately? Coronavirus, obviously. But more than the virus cases, the news has also been covering what’s been happening during and as a result of the ongoing lockdown. What's your favorite internet meme? I’m less into memes nowadays and more into Tiktok clips, honestly HAHAHA people can come up with really hilarious videos :(((( My favorite one right now is this person showing how they act when they have to walk alone at night, and it’s basically them checking their bag and saying out loud, “oh thank GOD I have a GUN in my bag...oh! Turns out I also have my KNIFE...so glad I bought my GUN and my KNIFE...hear that? My GUN and my KNIFE” lmaoooooooo might not sound so funny here but it’s just so hilarious on video. What hair length suits you the best? I love short hair on me these days. What is the strangest pizza topping you've ever eaten? I dunno, I’m pretty basic with my pizza topping preferences and am usually happy with just cheese. @justsurveys might have a better answer for this! ;) But in general though, though it doesn’t directly answer the question, I don’t like pepperoni on my pizza and always take it out. Do you live in a very racially and culturally diverse country? Not at all. We’re a homogenous group, and for the most part the diversity boils down to just the regions we’re a part of. Can you name any books or movies where all the main characters die? Hamlet? If I remember correctly? What was the last hotel you stayed at? Oh my, it’s been a while. It was somewhere in Bacoor. Do you live alone? Nope.

[emoselenas]

woodland creatures tour - day 7 (greensboro)

normally i feel very weird about sleeping over people’s houses, just in general??? you know what i mean? sometimes you just can’t get comfortable because you’re not in your own bed, not because of where you are or who you’re with. on tour i’m so fucking exhausted and so comfortable with living like i’m a backpacker that it’s all just normal to me. like a brat i located the couch and crawled up onto it while everyone else took an air mattress. i would have slept on an air mattress but we couldn’t fit one lmao. 

i automatically woke up at like 8:30 and couldn’t fall back asleep, so i got up and started getting ready. tour has also made me skilled at being able to freshen up and do my makeup in the crevice of any house, hotel, car, you name it. i try not to make noise but inevitably everyone heard me and slowly woke up one by one. the door was unlocked so i started to pack whatever i could into the van. god, it was so beautiful out. though we were in the south, and the temperature was still pretty high day-to-day, at this moment it just felt like the most beautiful fall weather. we managed to get out of the house at 9:30 am, which we were aiming for. james’ roommate, who was leaving for work, kindly wished us well as we packed up the van to head out. we unfortunately missed james so i shot him a text. 

the day before, taylor and i coordinated a group outing to the greensboro science center, which was a museum, zoo and aquarium all in one. for the price of $12 per person, since we were a group!!! incredible! before heading to greensboro, which would be our shortest drive all of tour (an hour and a half!), we hit starbucks and panera again. when we pulled up to the panera it was in a shopping plaza with people lined up waiting for like... verizon to open???? so bizarre. 

i desperately needed to hunker down and get some work done before we hit the road, for the most part my phone was providing reliable wifi but i had a time sensitive task that needed to be completed. once that was done we hit the road. we arrived to the science center and once pulses. showed up, we headed in. the science center was so sick. we started our trek around the building at like 1, and penguin feeding was at 3:30. but with so much exploring to do, we knew we’d be able to kill two hours and a half easily. 

we started with the zoo portion a

nd saw a lot of cool animals. they had a lot of atypical mammals you don’t always see at zoos. what they DID have was R E D  P A N D A S, and theY WERE AWAKE. back at home we have the cape may zoo which is soooooo sick, i love going there, but their red pandas are always sleeping. i literally cried because the red pandas at this exhibit were so much closer, and they were romping around their lil home. the one red panda hopped off its perch and CAME TO THE WINDOW TO SAY HELLO IT JUMPED UP RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. i definitely made a fool of myself getting loudly emotional but i didn’t care in the slightest. my entire life was made. we also saw an owl at the barn where the petting zoo was!!!

we were all laughing so fucking hard cracking jokes at every exhibit. it felt like an adult school field trip hahaha. i was having so much fun. it was nice to enjoy something together and not be stuck in a van in a rush to get somewhere. the outdoor area tuckered us out pretty badly from being in the heat, so it was nice to get back inside to go check out the aquarium in the air-conditioned building. the aquarium was pretty sick, there was a tank that was home to the biggest octopus i have ever seen in person. i was most interested in the otters and penguins, to be honest. we also hit the touch tank which was sick, except i had to soak my entire fucking arm just to maybe get a crumb of attention from a sting ray. they were swimming everywhere but where i planted myself. 

after going through the aquarium, we still had some time to kill before the penguin feeding at 3:30 pm. we hit the gift shop, where they had red panda and barn owl plushes. what a coincidence, both our tour mascots!! i’m a sucker for stuffed animals so of course i bought one. taylor bought an owl for pulses. so now we both had FRIENDS to represent our bands. we went downstairs to go check out the snakes and lizards. not as exciting for me, but still sick. we were going to hit the museum part finally, but it was 3:20 so we figured might as well head over to the penguins. it was worth the wait. there was a penguin named gojira haha

it turned out that there was enough time for us to get food together before the show. jaime found a restaurant named pastabilities, it was a sit-down but you could make your own pasta dish chipotle-style???? so i got chickpea pasta with chicken, sundried tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms. sooooooooooooooooooo good. i wasn’t going to get pasta because i was going to try to be a healthy guy but ugh what the fuck ever. i love pasta. i’m not going to rob myself of pasta opportunities!!!! we had another really wonderful meal together as a tour package. i guess because we were the biggest group and you could hear us talking loudly about tour the staff figured out we were musicians. the manager came over and started asking who played what haha. 

after a delicious early dinner, we drove to our hotel for check-in so that we could drop our personal bags. pulses. followed us because they were just driving home after the show later, and waited in the parking lot until they could head to the venue. i forget the name of the hotel we stayed at but the people in there were super suspect, and projecting those vibes FOR sure. taylor said she thinks she saw a guy walking around with a burner phone as a car was slowly driving in circles around the parking lot. i’m like great, last thing we need is another scary motel. our stuff ended up being fine though, it was one of the better spots we stayed at. 

pulses. awaited us at the venue and we arrived a little after load-in started. it was super quiet when we showed up, we set up quickly and waited around. the house we played, ice house, was huge. so much more massive than houses in new brunswick where students in jersey host shows, mostly. there was so much room to move around and sit, it was nice. at first it seemed like not many people were inside, but then you go outside and there’s DOZENS of kids hanging out drinking. eventually more and more people came inside to watch the bands too. glow and terms x conditions were great! 

for all of us, it had been a weird afternoon, but we did our best to be positive and just rip our set(s) as best as we could. and the change in attitude paid off! both our bands received awesome crowd response from the people who attended. it was awesome to see people jamming out and genuinely having a good time. also uh a fight broke out during our set??? insane. there was a kid trying to take down everyone, like just to the ground lmao, and when he tried to do it to david he put in a chokehold. and david grabbed his arm and was just like, STOP. i made everyone stop playing until we sorted out that everything was all right. i had to play without my in-ears which sucked, in the past i have always struggled and tired myself out trying to sing loud enough over the monitors. so i just tried to listen carefully, sing carefully and trust myself. and joe said i hit some like bananas note during synapse that i haven’t been able to do since?? i remember going for it and it was fine, idk maybe it was actually BAD, but i will never know now haha. 

we didn’t sell merch, nor make a lot of money, but i think what counts as a successful show is when people receive you super well. leaving a positive first impression on somebody as a band is so important to me because that person could potentially go on to listen to us for a long time. i will say though, it’s important to try to help touring bands make money if you can, like legit anything. i know we’re small guys and we’re not worth much, but we travel so far from home. and this is the ONE time of year that we actually do need money to operate. i’ve run into people who don’t believe in this, or don’t understand. i guess it won’t be possible to make those people understand until it happens to them. it’s why we can only tour on vacation time and even then we deplete our funds. 

we sweat our fucking asses off playing the house because it had no AC, so nothing could feel more refreshing than loading out during a rainstorm. i wasn’t even mad that it was raining. it felt so amazing. normally i bug out during crazy storms, but the thunderstorm was lighting up the sky in an incredible display. it continued as we said our goodbyes to pulses. before they headed back to virginia late, and we made our way to sheetz for post-gig eats. i wasn’t going to pig out but i was feeling the munchies. sheetz doesn’t really have anything wawa doesn’t have except for the tacos, so i got some hard shell tacos that were absolutely banging. also wonderful, they had my favorite flavor of bon & viv (black cherry rosemary) so i grabbed that too. eating tacos and drinking late was NOT a smart move the night before we played our last show on tour, but boy did it feel like a nice TREAT after playing a fantastic show. 

[oblivion-time]

OT’s writing in 2017

I saw people having this thing as an ask me these questions and I’ll answer them thingy, so I decided to answer almost all of them and make it into a post! Sort of a 2017 rewind of my writing in this year. I suck at leaving short answers, but hey, my rambling can be enjoyable at some point! ^-^

Favourite fic you wrote this year

I gotta say Love Me Again, Husband just because I had so many ideas and thoughts about how I wanted this fic to turn out. It’s always so much more fun when you know what you want to do with it and writing on it was never boring just because there were no fighting scene. That’s why it because the length it did. Too many ideas, stubborn me refused to not include them and too much fun working on it.

Least favourite fic you wrote this year

The Wolf who Huffed and Puffed. Definitely. I had a vague idea what I wanted, but I just think the more I wrote on it, the more the plot fell apart and it became what it is. I finished it around in... Marsh/April, but it was just so shitty I so didn’t want to post it, but some people seemed to enjoy it so, I posted it for them. (And I would post the last chapters of it this year just to be done with it, but I don’t want to post it during Resbang season. I want to respect those who have the posting date)

Favourite line/scene you wrote this year

ALDENTE NOODLE LEGS!!! Technically I came up with it during resbang season 2016, but I used it in my Corpse Party AU and I’m just in love with the line! Every time I get to describe weak legs, I use aldente noodle legs.

Total number of words you wrote this year

This was so not my writing year. The spring season and summer season was completely dry for me. I barely wrote anything because of a lot of personal problems that kept me busy. But my total is 235′316. My resbang totally lifted the number and a lot of it is stories I haven’t published yet and some ongoing projects I haven’t quite yet finished.

Most popular fic this year

I don’t bring in numbers on my work, that’s one thing for sure. The fic I publish during resbang season will always bring in the most readers. Aside from my resbang this year, Death Child surprisingly did quite well on both AO3 and ff.net. I thought I sort of cheated on the climax and it was a mediocre fic, but people seemed to really like it

Least popular fic this year

I would say Ripple Effect. When I wrote it I knew people wouldn’t like it consider the whole fic is just Soul wasting away and dying and all the angst, but I had the idea and I felt like working on it, so I did.

Longest completed fic you wrote this year

Love Me Again, Husband

Shortest completed fic you wrote this year

That is published, it’s Ripple Effect

Longest wip of the year

It’s got to be my Corpse Party AU. I’ve written around 33k of it so far and it’s nowhere near finished.

Shortest wip of the year

It’s a story I’m working on now. I’m not going to spoil much, but I can say the story revolves around a complicated timeline. It will be a short one-shot, but it is just a practice run to get me back into the game of Corpse Party. Mark my words, my Corpse Party AU will be finished in 2018!!

Fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year

Soul Eater. Duh.

Favourite character to write about this year

Soul. Definitely. He was so much fun writing in Love Me Again, Husband because Maka is so secure and strong and even if losing your identity in the way he did, she would be more determined and sure than Soul would me. We know Soul has a past and he has some problems revolving around his identity, he was the perfect candidate for a brain trauma like that and highlight the complexity and difficult of regaining a lost identity. With the whole fic I wanted to shine light on the difficulty to regain a lost identity because I think the movie (The Vow) romanticized that part quite a bit and toned down the harshness on the person’s mental health. I really wanted to show people that and Soul was too perfect for the job. But in other cases, I just love writing about Soul since he has such an interesting life since he’s so human with his flaws that makes him human.

A fic you didn’t expect to write

Milkshake. It’s just such a dumb idea I had that I knew I should just skip on writing, but I just enjoyed the thought of their first meeting and how they shared milkshakes I just couldn’t help myself.

Something you learned this year

When I write, I write pretty fast. When I’m meant to write “from”, it often turns to “form” instead. It’s like 99% of the cases it turns like that and I know when I read through the fic, I need to pay extra attention to those words.

fic(s) you completed this year

The Wolf who Huffed and Puffed (I finished it this year, I just haven’t posted it all)

Love Me Again, Husband

Death Child

Ripple Effect

Cardcaptor Sakura AU

Milkshake

Fics you’ll continue next year

My Corpse Party AU. It was meant to be finished this summer before Resbang, but some personal business prevented me from doing so. My timeline complexity fic will also be finished next year if I don’t complete it tonight or tomorrow, which is unlikely.

Current number of wips

Two. Corpse Party AU and the timeline complexity fic

Any new fics to start next year

I have a fic I wanted to write for resbang two years ago instead of Chase of Tales so that one I definitely want to write this year! I also will post the one-shots for my Circus and Reality fic and wrap it up. I would also love to rewrite some of my older stories since a few of them are really good ideas, just the execution of it was terrible so I would love to do that and show to myself how much I have matured as a person and in my writing compared to then.

Number of comments you haven’t read

I read all the comments! I haven’t missed a single one!

Most memorable comment/review

It has to be the comment on my Chase of Tales fic. I am highly offended by the tiny amount of kudos given to this fic! I only became even more frustrated each time I read a chapter, pressed "kudos" and saw the same infuriating few words pop up time and time again: "You have already left kudos here"

It’s comments like these that reminds me not always numbers and comments reflect on how well the writing and plot is. I know A LOT of people who get stuck on how many comments they get, how well the comments are written or how many kudos it gets to the point  it almost crosses the line of “I worked hard on this so I’m entitled to a lot of recognition and praise.” Numbers doesn’t mean shit. It’s your own feelings about the work that counts. Does it boost my ego when I get comments of people who like what I made, yes it does, but do I write to just get comments and praise? Absolutely not. Then I wouldn’t have kept on writing.

Events you participated in this year

Resbang and SoMa Week 2017 are the only two events I can remember attending.

Fics you wanted to write but didn’t

It’s an angsty fic. The idea was Maka and Soul loved each other in university, but they had to break up because they were going in different directions and moved to different places. They would run into each other during different times in their life, and it would always be something to prevent them from being together, but in the end when they are old in an elderly home, they would coincidentally be placed in the same home and there they could finally be together. If anybody feels up to writing it, feel free to use the idea! If someone decides to write it, please tag me, I would love to read it!!!

Favourite fic you read this year

This is the year when I didn’t read a lot of newer fan fics and I’m going to be a little narcissistic, but I really loved rereading my story The Face of the Beast. The idea is so good and I really enjoyed how it turned out even if there are some parts I would’ve changed.

No but for real, two fics that I always enjoy going back to and rereading are Moving on and Letting Go by Fantasy Fan Girl and Repairing a Broken Soul by Narusaku1357. When I started reading fics, those two I read early on and I simply enjoy going back to them and reading them since I genuinely enjoy them. Not to forget Repairing a Broken Soul is legit and totally a classic. It’s a fic everybody should read.

A fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read

Check the answer above! You will not regret reading those two fics.

Number of favourites/bookmarks you made this year

Oh geez. I’m really bad at leaving favourites and kudos. I read all my fics on my app on my phone and... well... I just add them to my library. I’m shitty when it comes leaving kudos, favourites and comments.

Favourite fanfic author of the year

My favourite will always be Tatsu-Ah-Rei. No competition. No one can ever touch the originality combined with the Soul Eater universe in such a way they do. I so love Eat My Soul (it’s a great one! READ IT! But I warn you, it isn’t completed and it ends just at the most exciting scene and at the climax). There will never be a fanfic writer as good as they are in my eyes.

[stephreadssometimes]

I decided my first actual book post will be this end of the year book tag thingy I found on YouTube. It’s a long one, sorry!

1. Best Book You Read In 2017: Contemporary YA? I don’t really read contemporary YA. The only one I read this year was Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zapia and I thought it was only okay. Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic? Another genre I don’t read too much of, only two this year. I liked both but I think I liked The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin better. Historical Fiction? Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin Paranormal? I don’t know? I guess Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero Science Fiction? The Martian by Andy Weir Fantasy? Age of Sword by Michael J Sullivan.

 2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas. I still really enjoyed it, but not as much as the 2nd book in the series. It felt like a bit of a let down after A Court of Mist and Fury.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book in 2017? The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. I was told never to start the Discworld series with the first book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t as bad as everyone told me it was. 

4. Book you read in 2017 that you recommended to people most in 2017? I made my mom read Sourdough by Robin Sloan. It was so weird. I loved it.

5. Best series you discovered in 2017? I wouldn’t say I discovered it this year, because I’ve known about it for years, but I finally read the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan and I loved it! I love all of his books.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017? Michael J. Sullivan. I’ve only read two of his books so far, but I enjoyed them both a lot. 

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you? I guess Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. I like sci-fi, but that’s old school, classic sci-fi from the 50s. Definitely had a different feel from modern day sci-fi.

 8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2017? Warcross by Marie Lu. I can’t wait for the 2nd book!

9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? I don’t usually reread books, but I wouldn’t mind rereading Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman before the next book comes out.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017? The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley. Gorgeous cover, kinda meh book.

11. Most memorable character in 2017? Persephone from The Legends of the First Empire series by Michael J. Sullivan. Really all the female characters in those books. They’re so strong and smart and badass.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017? Sourdough by Robin Sloan, again. There’s something so strange and beautiful about the way he writes. 

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2017? Probably the Wolf by Wolf series by Ryan Graudin. I’m Jewish and it just had me thinking what if. What if this had actually happened? Would I be here today if it had?

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote from a book you read in 2017? I have no clue. I should start writing them down.

16. Shortest & Longest book read in 2017? Shortest was Lumberjanes Vol 3 at 122 pages. The longest was It by Stephen King, the ebook is 1478 pages.

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? THAT ONE SCENE AT THE END OF IT. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? WHY DID STEPHEN KING WRITE THAT? So gross.

18. Favorite Relationship from a book you read in 2017? Alex and Magnus from the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan. Cute!

19. Favorite Book you read in 2017 from an author you’ve read previously. I read the John Ceepak mystery novels by Chris Grabenstein a long time ago, and found out a few months ago that he was the one who wrote the Mr. Lemoncello books, so of course I marathon read them. They were so cute and fun. 

20. Best book read in 2017 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else.  The Saga series by Brian K. Vaughan. 

21. Genre you read the most from in 2017? Fantasy

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017? Kai from the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman. I mean he’s a dragon and essentially a prince, what more could you want?

23. Best 2017 debut you read? Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

24. Most vivd world/imagery in a book you read in 2017? Again, I’m going with the Legends of the First Empire series by Michael J. Sullivan. 

25. Book that was the most fun to read in 2017? I read a lot of middle grade this year which is always the most fun. I’m going to have to go with The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull. 

26. Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2017? Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin. 

27. Book you read in 2017 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out? Over Ruled by Brittney Joy. I wouldn’t say it’s an omg amazing book, but I really enjoyed it and wish more people would read it. It only has 27 ratings on Goodreads and definitely deserves more.   ——————————————————————————————————— 1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018? I really need to read the Infernal Devices series. I’ve been meaning to for like 2 years, but I keep putting it off.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2018 (non-debut)? Age of War by Michael J. Sullivan. Gimme!

3. 2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? I can’t think of any right now.

4. Series Ending You Are Most Anticipating in 2018? Obsidio by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman!

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2018? My reading goal is going to probably be about 50 books. I’m working more and going back to school, so I won’t have as much time as I did this year. This is a brand new blog, and I really only have two goals for it for 2018. Update somewhat regularly, and actually write reviews. I’ve never written a review, and I know I’m going to suck at them, but I’m hoping with practice, I will get better!

[kelmcdonald]

A Year in Review 2017

New Post has been published on http://sorcery101.net/news/a-year-in-review-2017/

A Year in Review 2017

Hi everyone,

So it’s the end of the year. I have been looking back over the year to make my goals for next year. Last year I posted my goals on Patreon for the highest backer level. It’s a level that no one ever backed at. I don’t know if the price was too high or just general lack of interest. But I liked writing those posts so as long as I have time, I think I’ll start posted some edited versions of them free on my site each month. Before I started doing that I thought I’d post a public behind the scenes wrap up.

2017 was rough and exhausting. That’s true for a lot of people.

I tried to stick to my professional and personal goals anyway. I also tried a few experiments to see how things would work out.

Last year, I had a few business/income related goals. I wanted to focus on building my Patreon, my newsletter, and my store. I wanted to get rid of ads and do less cons. Ads are ugly and hard to track down bad ones. Cons I want to do less of because they are exhausting to me. I don’t think I’ve ever got creative burn out but I definitely get hussle/promo burn out. It’s been taking me longer and longer to recover from cons. So anywhere that I can get money which isn’t from cons if great.

A lot of my site redesign was to push those things.

My newletter is I think the most successful of those goals. I got a good few hundred folks signing up from my website and a bunch of folks signing up after my kickstarter. Next year I’m gonna try to focus on making it better. I few people asked for highlights from the blog here as well as promo. But I’m still taking suggestions if anyone wants to leave them in the comic. Right now it’s just promo but if I don’t have promo that month I end up not knowing what to write.

The shop getting pushed more, I think it did better than last year but I haven’t crunched the numbers yet.

Patreon didn’t go very well this year. I wanted to get more patrons there to mostly get rid of ads. I ended up making less money on patreon than before. I used to charge weekly and thought switching to monthly would help get more people on board, but I never ended up attracting enough people to make up for the difference. I tired a few different things like business posts like this one, sketch requests, and streams. At first I was posting my early comics in a big PDF but then was told more frequent posts get peoples attention more. I also tried to post more art on there. None of those really enticed people to jump on. I don’t know if people just don’t like my stuff. If I’m just not cut out for promoting a long term thing rather just doing a focused push for one big project. Either way I’m feeling pretty discouraged and after last weeks debacle with the fee change is leaving me kinda sour on Patreon. In 2018 I’m gonna try to focus on other stuff that might pay off more.

I was looking for more work from publishers and companies in 2017 too. Or more working smarter not harder with companies. That didn’t pay off in 2017 but it get me some cool stuff lined up for 2018.

But for now it looks like I’m gonna still be hitting up 10 or more cons a year.

On the somewhat creative goal and somewhat personal, I spent a lot of of this year making sure I kept up with my comic reading. It can be easy to not keep up with reading new comics and know what is out there when you are busy trying to make comics. I buy most of my comics at conventions but I got an ipad pro to be a portable digital drawing tool so I’ve been reading a lot of manga on that. But here’s some high stuff I really enjoyed and will probably write about on my blog over the coarse of next year. I read them this year but they didn’t all come out this year. The webcomics I’m just gonna link cause they are free to read but I usually just read the print collections when it comes to webcomics. So when I say I read them this year I mean the print collection.

Wilde Life by Pascalle Lepas 

Agents of the Realm by Mildred Louis

The Meek by Der-shing Helmer

Feywinds by Nicole Chartrand

Check Please by Ngozi Ukazu

O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti

A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Ōima which is about a guy trying to get forgiveness from the deaf girl he bullied in elementary school. It’s very intense and grips with complicated questions about who gets forgiven and who decides who gets that forgiveness.

Monstress by Marijorie liu and  Sana Takeda. It’s a fantasy epic that is set in a matriarchal setting where magical humanoid creatures and sorceresses are at war. The main character is trying to learn more about an elder god type thing that has taken over her arm. It’s gorgeous and complicated and female focused. This might be my favorite comic right now.

Fun Family by Ben Frisch. I picked this up because I went to college which Ben. Fun Family is a fictional behind the scenes of Family Circus. It kinda odd but I liked it because it explores how a simple wholesome comic like Family Circus can be comforting when your home life is falling apart.

Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama. I don’t got to tell you all what Dragon Ball is about. But I read it for the first time and really liked it. I had only seen the anime before this. It was interesting to see the source material. I thought it was a lot of fun.

Parasyte by Hitoshi Iwaki. Most anime fans know about this one too but again I read it this year. For you none anime fans alien parasites take over human hosts and replace their heads. The main character gets his hand taken over instead and he has to work with the parasite to hide from both humans and parasites. It’s an interesting mix of body horror and exploring morality.

My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi. It’s about a superhero school in world where more people have superpowers and being a superhero is partly being a celebrity and partly a government job.

Space Battle Lunch Time by Natalie Riess. It’s about a cooking reality tv show in space. I was a lot of fun and very cute. It does a good job of having multiple rounds of cooking contests without getting repetitive. The main character is super charming.

Moonlighters by Katie Schenkel and Cal Moray. An all ages comic about werewolves doing magical odd jobs on their college campus.

Soupy Leave Home by Cecil Castellucci and Jose Pimenta. I picked this up because I introduced Cecil and Jose to each other. Their book is really good. It’s about a girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can run away to ride the rails as a hobo during the great depression. It’s bitter sweet and does an excellent job showing the relationship build between Soupy and her mentor on the rails.

I also liked Castoffs by MK Reed, Brain Smith, and Molly Ostertag and Letters for Lucardo by Noora Heikkilä but those both are only at volume 1 and I feel like the stuff that I’ll really want to talk about will probably happen in volume 2. My reading list is organized shortest to longest and so some have been on there for awhile. For 2018 far it’s:

As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gilman

Not Drunk Enough by Tess Stone

The Fifth Beatle by Vivek Tiwary, Kyle Baker, and Andrew C. Robinson

Vattu vol 2 by Evan Dahm

The Last Halloween by Abby Howard

East of West year 2 by Jonathan Hichman and Nick Dragotta

Drive by Dave Kellet

The Less than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal by EK Weaver

I Am Hero by Shinsuke Sato

If you all got recommendations I’m open to em. I think it’s important to read comic if you want to improve. So while I am gearing up for my next big project I wanted to make sure knew what was out there. I have been writing about them on Patreon but I’m gonna start posting them publicly. Writing about the stuff I like is just to help me articulate what I’m looking for in stories and be more deliberate in the future. I’m intentionally not reading Marvel and DC though. So if you suggest stuff from them I’ll probably pass.

And then here are more general personal goals and experiments.

I got really unhealthy while working on Misfits of Avalon because juggling two comics isn’t super smart when when has a hard deadline. There were a few months while working on it where I basically drank ALL THE REDBULL to finish on time. I also gained 20 lbs while working on it. So a lot of 2017 was me trying to undo the damage caused by overworking.

I don’t pay a lot of attention to my weight and mostly noticed because I got faced with the choice of lose weight or buy new clothes. Excising takes more work but is cheaper. So I started biking 3 times a week and used the biking version of couch to 5k to improve. I mostly stuck with it because MK Reed was my biking buddy. We fell off a few times when con season got hectic. Then because of con season I tried to think of something that is easier to do while away. So in October after all my cons were done I gave jogging a try. I wanted to die and my throat was closing up. I couldn’t finish even half of what couch to 5k tells you to do the first day. I thought maybe I’d improve. But after no improvement for a month I went to the doctor. Turns out my lungs are all fucked up and I just didn’t know it because that was how I always breathed. Doctor gave me an inhaler which helped with running so now I can completely the first day of the program, but my none running breathing is still not as good as it should be. So I just got a different inhaler that is supposed to help with that. Otherwise I might have some expensive medical tests coming up. So fingers crossed that everything is fine.

I also tried to do some push ups at the beginning of the year. I started by doing them off my counter and then moved lower to the arm rest of my couch. But I was apparently doing them wrong so I never successfully got to doing push ups off the floor. Building muscle strength might be something I need more help with than cardio.

And while running sucks honestly the hardest thing to do was fix how bad my caffeine addiction got. I mentioned above that I drank a lot of Redbull when Misfit of Avalon deadlines got tight. Well, when I went to C2E2 last year, the time it took me to wake up, go to the airport, fly to Chicago, and get to where I was staying gave me a withdrawal headache. So less than 24 hours. I still had 2-3 months of work to do on Misfits but I made a self note that this is a problem I needed to deal with once finished. So I turned in my pages that June. Then I quit caffeine cold turkey because I’m very bad at cutting back on things. It was a miserable two weeks. But by the time SDCC rolled around I could get through a con day with only one cup (as opposed to like 6 cups).

So for health stuff in 2018, I’m gonna try to keep up the jogging and biking. Figure out what is up with my lungs. And try to get help on the upper body strength that I am lacking.

[funeral-clown]

@heckyeahharrisco for harriscofest 

prompt: red riding hood au

bc i’m a sucker for werewolves, ok

There was a boy in the woods. 

That in and of itself wasn’t that uncommon. The wolf knew his woods were lovely, cool and lush and inviting. The perfect place for prey of all kinds. 

Especially rabbits.

Boys came here often, to play at war games or hunting. To find a place hidden away to play other games when they were older, with each other or the girls they brought along with them. Girls came too, to pick flowers and sing songs and beat up the boys with sticks. Children loved the wolf’s forest. 

Most of the time the wolf avoided them, and let them be. The laughter and cheerful banter of the children, the teasing hesitation and surly rebellion of the teenagers, it all reminded him of someone else, of something he wanted to bury deep under his instincts until nothing but teeth and fur remained. Let the young ones play their games. Better they than hunters, and as long as they stayed near the trails, the wolf had no need to go near them.

This boy was different. He was older, certainly old enough to be a hunter, but he didn’t smell of monkshood and rowan, didn’t seem to be carrying any weapons at all. He wandered the trails like old couples sometimes did, without a particular purpose, seemingly lost in thought.

He smelled like candy and cinnamon and engine grease, like old coffee and burnt wire, like stale sweat and sugar. It was familiar, in a way, bringing back painful images of a lab, of hands instead of paws, of a kind of satisfactory bone deep exhaustion. It makes his teeth itch. 

This boy makes his teeth itch, and the logical part of his brain knows he should be avoiding humans, staying away, but the deeper part of him is angry. Who is this person, and how dare he drag the past in behind him on the air. How dare he invade his territory like this.

The wolf watches and pretends that the human part of him, the buried, Harrison part of him, isn’t sharply curious.

Harrison watches, too.

He learns that the boy’s name is Cisco, that he’s an engineer. He learns that Cisco gets anxious, and he takes walks to calm himself. He learns that the people he drags with him sometimes are his friends, his co-workers.

His pack, thinks the wolf, and doesn’t look too deeply at the small part of him that is pleased that this Cisco doesn’t have to walk alone all the time.

Harrison doesn’t mind being a loner, but the wolf does. It gets harder to distinguish the two every day. A part of him wonders if he would have already slipped seamlessly into one if this frustratingly confusing boy hadn’t started ambling his way through his woods. 

His ears perk up when they talk about him. Not him, of course, but who he used to be.

“You know the explosion a few years ago?” It was the scrawny one who never stopped moving.

“What, at STAR Labs? The one that nearly leveled a city block? The one that killed seven people? That explosion?”

Harrison bit back a whine at the thought of it.

The scrawny one (Barry, his mind supplied) simply rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, that explosion.”

“What about it?” Cisco kicked at a rock as they walked down the trail.

“That girl, the Wells girl. She woke up from her coma today.”

Harrison froze. Jesse.  Jesse was alive. His daughter was alive.

“Who, Jesse?”

“Yeah. Apparently, she’s gonna be ok.”

“That’s good news, man. Kinda sucks that her dad went missing and all that, though. You think we should send flowers or something? I almost worked there, before everything went to shit for them.”

“That’d be nice, man. Kinda creepy, though, considering we’re two dudes she’s never met.”

“Fair enough,” Cisco laughs, and kicks the rock into the bushes that border the trail. It rolls through and comes to a halt at Harrison’s paws, but he doesn’t notice it. He doesn’t notice anything.

My daughter is alive.

For the first time in three years he tries desperately to take his human form. 

It takes hours, every bone in his body twists and snaps into place, grinding painfully into a new shape as he howls and howls, but when it’s done, Harrison sits crouched panting in the small cave he called home.

First he needs to find clothes. Then he needs to find Jesse. The wolf in him whines at the order of his list, but Harrison is in charge of himself again. He needs clothes or he won’t be able to see his daughter, and it’s that simple.

Luckily, it’s night time, and it’s simple enough to snatch some jeans and a hoodie off a clothesline. Serves them right for trying to dry their clothes in the dark, anyway.

He slips into her hospital room, quiet as anything past their laughable security and overworked nurses, and his breath catches in his throat.

She’s asleep, pale and still, and the hospital gown she’s wearing makes her look washed out, but it’s her. It’s Jesse. 

Harrison walks slowly to the bed, afraid even now that she’ll disappear, that this will be a dream. He reaches his hand out tentatively, softly stroking his fingers down her face.

Jesse.

Her eyes open slowly, blearily, and a small fond grin fights it’s way onto his face. How often had he woken her up for school, just to be greeted with this same expression?

“Dad?”

“Hey, Quick.”

His voice is hoarse from years of disuse and emotion, but neither of them care. She throws herself into a sitting position and squeezes his ribs so hard he can’t breathe. He’s never felt happier in his life.

~

Of course, it’s not as simple as that. Harrison has been missing for 3 years. He has to fabricate excuses, catch up on paperwork, do a press conference, make explanation after explanation but...

But...

Jesse is alive. It’s worth it. He isn’t fighting with his wolf anymore, isn’t eating rabbits and chipmunks. He lives in a house. He’s distressingly close to normal. 

It makes him antsy, after the first month or so. Jesse’s home, he has his company back, but he’s bored. He got used to indulging his animal side completely, and being human, as always, took effort.

So when Jesse mentions jogging as part of her physical therapy, he doesn’t hesitate to offer to come with her. He wants to show her his woods, his life for the past three years. He wants to run over his former territory with his daughter, let her see the streams he used to drink from and the cave he slept in. He wants her to know.

Hell, part of him even wanted to catch a rabbit. Old habits die hard.

They start at the beginning of the trail, stretching lazily in the morning sun, before beginning an easy gentle lope through the trees. Nothing too hard just yet, pacing themselves.

An easy laugh rings out through the woods from ahead. He recognizes the voice.

“Cisco,” he mutters. Of course he would be here.

“What?” Jesse asks, looking at him confused.

“Cisco. An engineer who walks here sometimes. When I got bored I would watch him.” He shrugs and jogs on, content to let it go.

“So like. Wolf you got bored and started stalking some dude?”

“It wasn’t stalking. It was watching. He smelled familiar, I was curious.”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “That sounds like you. ‘Hmm, this boy smells like science, better check him out!’ You’re ridiculous, Dad.”

He shrugs again, letting the teasing banter roll over him. The laughter is getting closer. They turn a corner in the trail, and there he is. Jogging with the woman who smells like antiseptic and coffee. Harrison can’t remember her name, and he finds he doesn’t have the will power to try.

Because Cisco is wearing the shortest, brightest red shorts he has ever seen in his life. ‘Are you nasty?’ is posted across the back in big white letters.

“Ok,” Jesse whispers, “I get why you were watching him now.”

“Jesse!” he hisses, eyes shooting back to his daughter. 

“What? It’s not like I can look away either!”

Harrison suppresses his growl. 

“It wasn’t like that. We wolves don’t notice clothes much, you know that.”

“Trust me, Dad. I’ve seen what you wear. I know.” She smirks at him, teasing out a sigh.

“Can we just jog in peace, please?”

She tilts her head thoughtfully.

“Hmmmmmmmmnope!”

She puts on a burst of speed and runs to catch up to the other two, ignoring her father’s panicked whisper shouting.

“Hi,” he hears her say, “I’m Jesse!”

“I know who you are,” comes the familiar voice, tinged by awe. “I’m Cisco, it’s. It’s nice to meet you.”

She shakes his hand, grinning.

“Nice to meet you too. Fan of my dad’s?” Don’t look at her, Harrison, it’s what she wants. For the love of god don’t look at him either.

“I mean, yeah, you could say that. Harrison Wells was my hero! Until. You know. The accident.”

“Yeah,” Jesse agrees quietly.

“I was glad to hear you woke up okay, by the way. I was gonna send flowers, but my friend pointed out that it might come off as kinda creepy.”

Her smile changes, slides just a touch more to genuine.

“That’s sweet. Thank you. Speaking of my dad, he should be catching up soon...”

He’s glad his daughter lived, because he’s going to kill her. Sighing, he runs up to join her.

“Hello.”

If Cisco looked at his daughter with awe, the gaze he meets is nigh unto worship. The wolf reminds him that there is a perfectly good cave not far from here, warm and dry and very clothing optional. Harrison tells it to shut up.

“Hi. You’re Harrison Wells.”

“Yes,” he agrees.

“You solved Einstein’s Riddle when you were a kid.”

“Did I?” He keeps his tone light and teasing. Not a threat, he tries to convey with his eyes and his smile and his hands, definitely don’t have claws or fangs, didn’t think of dragging you into the woods to slam you against a tree five seconds ago.

It seems to work. Cisco smiles at him, a faint blush high on his cheeks.

“Sorry, hi. I’m Cisco.”

“Cisco. Its very nice to meet you.”

A wave of giddy joy rushes off the boy, tinged with admiration and just a touch of lust.

Well then.

“I like your shorts.”

The blush gets deeper, and Jesse snickers before going back to talking to whatever her name was.

Cisco still smells like candy and engine grease, and when he laughs Harrison feels his fingers twitch.

Cave, the wolf reminds him desperately, with rabbits!

Harrison ignores it.

“Would you, uh. Would you guys wanna jog with us?”

“Sure!” he says, maybe a touch too fast.

“Cool!” Cisco beams. “Cool.”

They pick up their jogging again, all keeping a steady pace. Harrison watches him run ahead, ridiculous shorts and long soft hair.

His teeth itch.

[expatabroad]

First 3 Days (Akihabara Base Camp) - Japan Trip Report Pt 1

Top Observations:

Russians call diet Pepsi "Pepsi light" (and it tastes flatter than a flat thing). 

Had a realisation that nobody ever seems to follow simple directions on a plane. During take off and landing, there will always be at least 2 or 3 people who think they're above the rules and get up to use the bathroom or grab something out of their overhead bag. (WHY?! They aren’t even difficult rules!)

Vending Machine are on nearly every street corner...

...And, conversely, there aren't many bins on the street for your litter outside the vending machine areas.

The Japanese pay SO much attention to detail - whether it's recreating their own culture in video games/anime (E.G. Akiba's Trip) or another culture for something as simple as a restaurant (E.G. HUB)

So many people in Japan seem resistant to even glance up from their phone screen. It’s like they’ve melded with their phone. They quite literally have signs in public areas (such as train stations) advising the general public to remember to look up.

Japanese people seem to properly LOVE their dogs. I regularly saw people pushing them in strollers (maybe because it was still hot and humid and the puppers couldn't walk too far as they're little?). They also dress them up in all kinds of outfits (not costumes, actual outfits...some that end up making them look like 45 year old librarians).

Not only do they love dogs, but they seem to also be big fans of coffee (hot AND iced). I’m dying for a coffee boss as I type this...

They will actually reject your ticket when exiting the metro and prompt you to get a fare adjustment IF YOU OVERPAY! (I cannot envision that ever happening in London.)

All restaurants offer free water. It's brilliant and you don't even have to make the effort to ask for it, it's just given to you instantly. Sometimes it's water that seems to be mixed to a degree with green tea and other times it's just nice and refreshing ice water. Every time it was welcomed.

Top Pieces of Advice:

Always look up! Space is utilised everywhere and sometimes the best shops or restaurants are on the higher levels of a building.

Trust your gut. Be realistic but do what's right for you based off your previous personal experiences. For example: I posted on Reddit some rough plans for my husband and I for the first few days of our trip looking for feedback. The plan included exploring Akihabara's arcades and shops on the day we landed. For context, we were flying into Narita on an overnight flight from the UK with a stop over in Moscow where we know we can't sleep on planes (and I'm not a great flyer on the shortest of flights). We were strongly advised that this would be a recipe for disaster in that the loud and noisy arcades would not be what we'd want after getting to Akihabara (where we were staying for part 1 of our trip) and that it would take time to adjust to the new surroundings/being in a new country and to get our bearings. We knew the reality of the situation but also knew our own limits. Though it would be our first time in Japan, we're more experienced travellers and knew that we'd be so excited just to be there and that our adrenaline would actually help us push through any exhaustion. I'm glad we stuck to our guns because it ended up being the exact right choice for us and it meant that we actually made the most of our first day without overdoing it (we explored the city but had a fairly early night to try to get our bodies into the right timezone). I wouldn't recommend this approach to everybody, but I would recommend listening to your gut, doing your research so you know what to expect, and drawing from past experiences to make sure you make the choice that best suits you and your needs.

If you don't have an appetite of a god, don't expect you'll be able to eat multiple bowls at Ramen at the Shin- Yokohama Ramen Museum. Each bowl in itself was filling. 

If you're going to go to a shopping mall, definitely know what shops you're looking to go into. The malls are bigger than you can even imagine (with, perhaps, the exception of those who've been to somewhere like the Mall of America). If you go in to just browse around all of the shops like you might do in the UK or US, you will lose entire chunks of your day.

In addition to the above point, make sure you're keeping track of the time. It's far too easy to fall into a dark void when going into shopping malls or even just standard shops/arcades as there are often times very few or absolutely no windows. You get lost in looking at all the merch and thoroughly covering every inch of every shop with no way to even guess how the day is passing in the outside world, only to glance at your phone and see an hour or more has gone by. From personal experience, I would definitely suggest setting a rough limit on how long you want to dedicate to a particular shop or gaming session and try to stick with it in an effort to make the most of your time and not fall victim to the time-suck.  

I'm a nervous flyer at the best of times so I can't pretend that I was all too enthused to have to make not only one, but two flights to get to Tokyo. Beyond there being two flights involved, the second flight has also been the longest flight I've taken to-date, coming in at just over 9 hours. Thankfully I had remembered to load up my iPad with loads of downloaded content from Netflix - including the entire new series of Jack Whitehall: Adventures with my Father (highly recommend, by the way). While we physically survived the flight unscathed, my patience definitely took a battering from the point we landed in Moscow until we had made it through the doors of the arrivals area in Narita. Perhaps it was just shitty luck that day, but it just seemed like we came into contact with every rude bugger Russia had to offer and they all had their attitudes dialled up to 11. It also didn't help that between Russia and Japan we were sat directly behind a couple who had aspirations of flying first class but only a budget fit for cattle like the rest of us. ::cue the constant dinging of the call button for the flight attendants and the multiple reminders from staff about what they could/couldn't do:: 

I am always in a state of sheer wonderment when it comes to flying and how planes manage to stay up in the air for such long periods (I know the science, but my brain just always want to remind me that today might just be the day that gravity says 'not today, Satan!' and we go hurling downwards through the sky). That wonderment was trumped only by sheer excitement once we made it swiftly through immigration in Tokyo and boarded the Skyliner for part one of our train ride to Akihabara station. The experience only got better when we were approached by a woman who asked us to do a survey in exchange for a discount coupon for Family Mart. She was, as we would find the majority of Japanese people who interacted with us to be, exceptionally pleasant and polite and we couldn't bring ourselves to say anything other than "SURE!" (we even got to keep our pens for free heh). In honesty, we were just pleased to have gone from multiple rude interactions in Moscow to the exact opposite in Japan. 

Immediately upon arrival into Electric Town on the Tokyo Metro, we sought out our Airbnb location so that we could drop our bags off ASAP. Official check-in wasn't until after 3PM and we had quite a few hours to kill before then, but I was fortunate enough to have our Airbnb host agree to let us drop out bags off early for storage so we didn't have to find a locker or lug them around further than necessary. Completely reinvigorated by our own adrenaline, we hit second wind despite not sleeping on the overnight flight and got right out to survey the lay of the land around us.This is where we'd be spending our next 3 nights and we needed to become acquainted. 

As odd as it sounds, Electric Town in Akihabara just seemed so incredibly familiar to me for somewhere I've never physically been, like a very old friend who you can remember fondly down to their specific physical features despite not having seen them for quite some time. I can only attribute this feeling to having stemmed from playing "Akiba's Trip", which turned out to feature a pretty exact replica of the area. This was just the first of a few experiences throughout our two weeks in Japan that had me stop and say "Wow....the Japanese really do pay SO MUCH attention to detail. It's crazy!".

Running off fumes and crappy plane food alone, we decided we had no choice but to grab something to eat as soon as we could and the first thing to jump out at us was a street food vendor selling kara-age. From there, we proceeded to check out all the big shops and arcades up and down the main strip. To be completely honest, the first two days blurred together, so it gets a bit hazy regarding which activity we did on which of the two days. There are few things I can, however, be sure of. One thing  I can say for certain is that, on day one, we most definitely called it an early-ish night. I know we went back to the Airbnb shortly after check-in time (where I proceeded to nap for a few hours on what felt like the most comfortable futon in all of existence) and I know we went out for a chicken katsu curry at CoCo Curry (where I made the mistake of ordering curry with a heat-level of 5, but it was so good that I regret nothing). I also know for a fact that on the morning of day 2, I was privileged enough to enjoy a culinary delight that only an American could love known as Honey Toast. What I would give to have a honey toast and their thirst-quenching special "honey toast latte" here in England cannot be measured in GBP. On day two, we had intended to go on a day trip to Enoshima and Kamakura. But, when we woke up (late, I will add), it was quite rainy out and we had admitted that we'd underestimated just how much there was in Akiba for us to do/see, so we decided to cut this out of the plan for this trip in favour of spending more time around the neighbourhood. 

Given the jet-lag had absolutely demolished the functionality of my brain at the time, I will just list below the things I know we did in no particular order within those two days:

* We ate at Carl's Jr - which doesn't seem like something most people travel to Japan to do, but I thought it'd be funny to have my first - and probably only - CJ experience, as an American, be in Japan. Was a bit over-priced for fast food IMO, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it all the same. Full food report will follow..

* We paid a visit to the Kanda Shrine where we prayed for the first of many times throughout our trip. It was an easy walk and it gave us a chance to see some quieter parts of the area we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Neither my husband nor I am particularly religious, but we both admitted later that doing a prayer a day and having that serene moment of reflection a day to send some positive thoughts out into the universe was actually really nice.

* We hunted down a taiyaki stand that does Magikarp-shaped taiyaki. None of the magi's are filled with the typical red-bean paste unfortunately, just custard or chocolate, but we found that the chocolate filling tasted lighter and more like hot, American, chocolate pudding than the heavier rich chocolate you get here in the UK so it was actually a lot nicer than we thought it would be. 

* We drank in what we believe was a Brewdog (but not actually called "Brewdog" as it usually would be).

* We visited many game shops - including Super Potato - which was filled with so much retro stuff that we almost couldn't believe it - and board game shop Yellow submarine in an effort to find Coffee Roaster (no such luck and I was pretty much laughed at given it was so rare to find on shelves).

* We ordered coffees (one with latte art) at the Gundam cafe. Hint to those visiting: definitely go and thoroughly check out the toilets.

* We enjoyed a beer by the water at Hitachino Brewing Lab. It seemed like there was just as much love for craft beers in the area as there was for coffee and the weather in the evening was perfect for enjoying a pint outside on the patio. The only downside was that there were so many mosquitos.

Day 3 in Japan involved a trip out to Yokohama to visit the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Interestingly enough, you could buy a yearly pass if you so desired, which it appeared that many Salary men were doing. This made a fair amount of sense once we got to the basement level of the museum where you could visit several different Ramen bars each specialising in a different regional ramen dish (amongst other offerings). You paid outside at the machine and a hostess escorted you inside the "bar" to your seat, took your ticket, and gave you some water. Once it's ready, they’d bring you over a massive bowl of ramen to feast on. At this point, it totally made sense why you might buy a yearly pass if you work in the area because you could eat a new, fresh bowl of ramen every day for a fairly cheap price (outside of the cost of the yearly pass itself). A word to the wise (as mentioned in the first section): don't bother eating breakfast if you're wanting to eat more than one bowl of Ramen. I was surprisingly full before I even finished my one bowl. Definitely bring your A-game appetite if you're wanting a chance to try out different varieties but need to compact it into one visit.

From there, we trekked over to the Landmark Tower. Before we could make our way to the entrance, we spotted an older gentleman with his chunky but adorable pooch. To make a long story short, in true Rik fashion, my husband managed to befriend the dog. The owner ended up giving us treats to give to the little guy/gal. This was yet another demonstration of just how friendly some of the locals were; that they would go out of their way, even with a language barrier, to have a positive interaction with two obvious tourists. It was a very welcoming experience compared to other places we've visited even in the last year alone (E.G. in Poland, people don't seem to want you to even acknowledge they have a dog, let alone ask to pet it). 

We made our way inside the building and started to head over to the lift to get to the actual Sky Garden when we caught a glance of a Pokémon centre on the floor above where we made a quick detour before continuing on to the entrance for the sky garden. After a fairly quick wait, we boarded the lift that would shoot us rapidly up to the top floor. The ascension was so quick that my ears actually popped in the lift. According to the website, it makes it up all 69 floors in just under 40 seconds - making it the fastest elevator in the country. The view from the top was the first of many 360-panoramics on our trip and we enjoyed it over a cocktail. It was definitely an experience to see just how big the city was. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very clear day so we were unable to see Mt. Fuji through the clouds. 

Once descended, we made our way back to the train station for part 2 of our day trip extravaganza: Kawasaki. We pulled into the station and made our way to higher ground to discover a fairly large open-air lawn space in the centre of yet another endless shopping mall. We didn't hang around too long as we were keen to arrive at Anata No Warehouse; our final planned destination of the day. I don't have words to describe what a unique experience this was as far as arcades go. The place had gone viral and I remember seeing it in a video shared on Facebook thinking that it would be awesome to see this place in person. I also remember thinking how there was no way it could be that cool in real life. Having now been in person, I can now confirm it *IS* indeed that cool in real life.

We sufficiently tired ourselves out enough to head "home". We arrived back in Akiba around 9-9:30, just at the point where I was starting to get hangry. Just as I was ready to throw in the towel for the night, Rik swiftly found us a place to eat that had high ratings on TripAdvisor and was only a 10-minute walk away. It turned out to be a teeny, back-alley izakaya that couldn't have sat more than 15 people MAX. Panic began to set in in my already ravenous state as we couldn't get google translate to work on the handwritten menu that sat above the bar. The man whom I assumed to be the owner didn't appear to speak much English and - obviously - our Japanese was extremely limited. A local who seemed to already be pissed jumped in with her limited English skills to try to bridge the gap between us all, and for that I was very grateful. With her help, we managed to order some chicken and noodles which was so delicious that it was worth every yen and then some. I had thought I was going to end up going to bed hungry but couldn't have been happier that we ended up where we did. 

It lifted my spirits up enough that we decided we weren't actually as ready to go home as we thought. Before we could go home, we decided we just had to stop into the HUB we passed by for a bit of a laugh, especially for how infamous it seems to be with regards to places Japanese want to go to practise English. As it turns out, it was just another fine example of how well researched the Japanese are as a society. Rik and I kept wanting to find things we could point out and laugh at in a "they think *thaaaat* is English?!" type way but we honestly could find very little to fault in that sense. I don't think we realised just how hopping HUB would be (and how hopping it seemed to be at EVERY HUB we came across....and we came across a lottttt of HUBs). Deciding to call it a somewhat early-ish night, we got ready and headed back out into the night. But, not before we managed to win some type of Jack Daniels plastic folder thing from scratch cards we got with our Halloween-themed cocktails (these will forever be known as our "Shellfish Awards" due to a comedic dodge-y translation)... The night was still young for the majority in Electric Town, but we had some serious packing and tidying to do and another 11 days ahead of us to experience.

And with that, we left Akiba the following morning for Kyoto having started our trip off on the right foot.

(If you’ve made it this far, be aware that I will update with actual photo albums with more pictures once a full trip report is written)

[lovemesomesurveys]

Have you ever gotten a flu vaccination? Nope.

Do you know anyone who drives a BMW? Yes, my friend’s husband.

Honestly, do you give a shit? I do about a lot. Too much about certain things. Not at all about others.

When’s the last time you hugged your mother? Yesterday.

What’s the last restaurant you ate at? Bubba Gump.

Double dates: a do or don’t? They can be fun to do sometimes.

Do you know any guitarists? No.

Quick, name 3 of your favorite radio stations: There’s 2 I flip between if I’m actually listening to the radio, which is rare. My mom plays her Spotify in the car a lot of the time, and sometimes I put mine on.

How do you feel about full length beards? I don’t like beards, particularly. Some scruff is nice, but I’m not a fan of a lot. That’s just my personal preference.

Have you ever been to a circus? Yes, when I was a kid.

Do you know anyone who’s gone to a Fat Camp? No.

Are you straight-edge? Kinda. I don’t drink or do drugs. I’m not having sex, but not for that reason. Some feel taking prescription medications and even caffeine isn’t straightedge; though, so there’s that. Also, there are some who consider veganism and vegetarianism to be part of being straightedge, and I’m neither of those things. Definitions vary, but I’m just going to say no, I’m not.

Do you use Facebook IM everyday? Nope. I haven’t used it in quite awhile.

How many surveys have you done already today? Two so far.

What’s the WORST show on Adult Swim? Honestly, I really just don’t get Adult Swim. Apart from Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers, I’m just like... wtf? Robot Chicken can be funny sometimes. But after that, it just gets too weird for me. Even disturbing with some. Like wtf is Mr. Pickles?? The one episode I saw was quite disturbing. Others like Rick and Morty and Tim and Eric are just... stupid. Sorry if you’re into any of those, I guess it’s just not my cup of tea.

Do you have any relatives that have shunned you, or vice versa? No.

Has anyone ever posted a HORRIBLE picture of you for everyone to see? I felt they were horrible. I always do, though.

Which grade in school was the most fun for you? Hmm. Most of elementary school, I’d say.

Which would you rather have, a new puppy or kitten? We just got a puppy back in June. (:

Does drama seem to follow you everywhere you go? No.

Do you ever just want to go away to a new place where no one knows you? I just want to get away from this craptown.

You’re ordering a pizza, you can have any kind of toppings, what are they? I’m boring, honestly. Just give me cheese and extra sauce, and I’m a happy camper. I don’t like all the other stuff.

Do you hit ‘quiet’ or ‘ignore’ on your cell? Which one usually? I just let it ring.

Do you ever regret giving your number to people? It has happened, yes.

Have you ever been told that you’re afraid of your own shadow? Yes.

Have you ever tried Gouda cheese? I’m actually not sure.

Does/did your high school have pop machines? No! I was looking forward to that as an incoming high school-er, but unfortunately they decided to get rid of them like the year before cause it’s not “healthy.” lol. I know, I know, it’s not, but I like soda so shh.

Do you use a public computer, or do you have your own? I have my own laptop.

Do you ever find it odd how you type LOL when you’re not really laughing? Yeah.

Have you ever gambled? I went to a casino once. I wasn’t really into that whole thing.

Do you know anyone who’s won the lottery? No, sadly. ha.

If you could work at any retail store, which one would it be? I don’t really want to.

What’s the shortest you would ever cut your hair? I had the “bob” due for years.

Do you listen to any deathcore? No.

Do you subscribe to any teen magazines? Which ones? No.

Do you know someone who never smiles? No.

Has anyone ever made you feel uncomfortable at work? I’ve never had a job, so no.

Do you still watch South Park? I didn’t watch it to begin with.

Tell me one movie you’ve seen recently that sucked: Hmm. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one that sucked.

Have you ever carved something into a dinner booth somewhere? No.

When’s the last time you were carded at a bar? The last time I went to one, which was like 5 years ago.

Do you smoke little cigars? Have you ever tried them? I don’t smoke.

You’re babysitting, what do you expect per hour for pay? I don’t know.

What’s the last thing you returned at a store? *shrug*

What’s the name of the last cat you pet? I don’t recall the last time I petted a cat.

Do you still look at clouds and make shapes of them? I haven’t done that in a long time.

If you had to dye your hair for one year, what color would you pick? I’d continue dying it red like I have been.

Who’s got your heart? Pretty sure it’s in my body.