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botwstoriesandsuch · 4 years

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Hi I was hoping to ask for your advice on writing. I’m trying to write from headcanons to little short fics (like one shots) from the readers pov but I’m finding it difficult to do so smoothly. Any idea how to do the transition without it coming out as a fanfic readers worst nightmare?

Well, I cannot guarantee the quality of my “advice” but I will give it a shot!

Apologies for you folks that hate my big essay length posts, but I do love infodumping about the writing process :P

So just click “J” to skip the post (if you’re on mobile...sorry just exercise your scrolling finger a bit more)

- - - - - - - - - -

So I’ll start with the distinctions between a headcanon and a fic. On one hand, you got simpler sentences, that summarize a broader idea or scene. You might have visualized the entire thing in your head, but at the end of the day all you do is write down a few sentences or pieces of dialogue that give the broader basis of an idea and/or scene. That’s not to say writing headcanons is easy, but it is, bluntly, the simpler method.

Writing, obviously, is more complicated. Not only are you trying to convey a more abstract idea to your reader, but you’re doing so with more layers and complexities, given that what you are trying to write is generally more detailed. You have to not only account for what your basic premise is, but the method in which you convey it. So, in a “good” fic, it typically doesn’t just focus on the basic “what is happening right now” in a scene, but can give subtleties and intricacies with its tone, themes, point of view, connotation, foils, imagery, symbolism, sentence structure, diction, context, figurative language, narrative, foreshadowing, setting, irony, character arcs, and the thousands and thousands of other layers that go into constructing story.

And I say “story” there deliberately, as I think the best way to summarize the differences is that a headcanon is a plot, while a one-shot is a story. Your one-shot has the ability to tell different messages, details, and themes, and give several points of interest to your reader, while your headcanon is limited to the structure of its initial premise.

[And before you English nerds bash me for my definition of story and plot, please know that I am using my film teacher’s old definition, which (to quote this quizlet I found) is “Story is all of the elements of a narrative that are involved, both shown and un-shown on screen. Plot is only all of the elements of a narrative that are shown on screen.” So yeah, it theoretically could be rewritten as a headcanon is a scene, and a one-shot is a story, but I’m just nitpicking at this point half of you don’t care and want me to move on anyway, apologies!]

So how do you transition between them? Well, in honesty I don’t exactly have a sure fire way for you, saying I do would be very hypocritical. However, what I can do is point out the “gap” between headcanons and fics, and perhaps from there you might be able to forge your own path..?

Chances are, if you’re already familiar with writing headcanons, you’ve already knocked out half of the work. See in a story, specifically in our case, fic, you have eight elements that construct it. You’ve got

Plot

Setting

Conflict

Character

Point of View

Tone

Style

and Theme

With a headcanon, (assuming it’s slightly more specific than “Headcanon that this character likes peaches!”) you’ve already got plot, setting, conflict, and character down.

Plot: being the actual premise of your story. What happens, why things happen, how other characters react, the beginning and ending, etc.

Setting: Being the location and time of your scene/plot. The setting might be a contingency to your story, such as a prison break that takes place in prison, or maybe it is the time that is essential for your High School AU fic

Conflict: Typically goes hand and hand with your plot, although not always (obviously, plot and conflict aren’t essential when talking about fics, *winks at the nsfw side of tumblr*) But if your headcanon does have a basic plot, then it probably has some sort of conflict whether external (The Calamity kills everybody) or internal (you’re character is going through grief)

Character: This whole aspect is practically already done for you. Whether by canon from the video game or media you got it from, or perhaps by fanon, with the collective fandom agreeing on certain traits about your character(s) in question. Obviously, if you got an OC, that’s another thing, as you have to create their traits, and construct a believable way that that character reacts and makes choices throughout your plot, depending on how you characterized them

So congrats! In writing up your everyday headcanon, you’re now halfway there to making a full on fic! Obviously, 50% is still a lot, which is probably the reason you were seeking advice in the first place, so now we should move on to the other half, and arguably it is this other half of elements that give the entire distinction between a headcanon and a one-shot. So in theory, if you get these elements down, you’re on your way to writing that much faster!

Quick additional note: Another way to think of your headcanon is as an outline. While not in every case, a good way to jump from your headcanon to a fic is to stick with the major elements of your headcanon, and weaving your writing style in between. Think of the headcanon as your skeleton, and the story being the meat and muscle. Idk if that makes sense, blame my old English teacher for the metaphor

Alrighty, so for demonstration purposes I’m gonna use the very first headcanon I’ve ever written as a basis. Bear with me for a moment:

“Zelink Headcanon: Zelda Just Wants Some Snacks

Everyone always jokes and adores about how Link eats so much and cooks great food in the game (he’s gotta carbo load guys, he walks like 9 miles everyday!)

However I propose, equally hungry and feral Zelda

After Link and Zelda defeat Ganon, one of the first things they do is stop by the nearest cooking pot and eat

She hasn’t eaten for 100 years!! She’s gotta be starving!

Link just cooks up some meat skewers

“…wait I forgot the Goron spice, gimme a sec…”

But Zelda just immediately snatched it off the fire and eats the whole thing in two seconds

Link keeps trying to go out of his way to make really nice food but Zelda is just like “I DON’T CARE RIGHT NOW PLEASE LINK”

So yeah, their first date is basically just Link cooking Zelda a buffet until his inventory empties out”

Again, this headcanon has already given us half of the answers.

We got our plot: Link, a talented chef, is cooking food which Zelda scarfs down without fear and hesitation

Setting: They are by a cooking pot, perhaps in the wilderness, away from the prying eyes of nosey villagers. This takes place sometime after the initial defeat of Calamity Ganon.

Conflict: Link keeps trying to cook “good” food, but despite the Princess’ royal upbringing, she has no care for the whole “show” of cooking with spices and garnish. She is starving, willing to eat anything

And Characters: Link and Zelda. You know... (Today unfortunately is not the day in which I construct a thorough character analysis of the two...perhaps one day...)

So, now that we have this, we start adding the meat and muscle of our story with point of view, tone, style, and theme. These elements, could be summarized as your writing style. Yes, writing style is more intricate than those four elements alone, but they do fit in with its broad definition.

So, in essence, a way to transition between headcanon and fic is to find out what kind of writing style you’re comfortable with.

How do you do that? Well... shocker, I know, you gotta write.

Write first, plan the elements of your one-shot later!!

Allow yourself to write complete utter garbage. I know you said that you don’t wanna create a “fanfic reader’s worst nightmare,” but if you become more concerned with the quality of your content before you even start writing, you will never ever ever get anywhere. You’re gonna be stuck in writer’s block for eternity, so just let the garbage and nightmares out and write. You’ll never improve if you don’t have something to improve from, you feel me?

So, now that your mind is open and ready to write anything, whether garbage or gold, let us dive in to the parts of your writing style.

Point of view: Do you prefer writing in third person? First? Second? Each have their pros and cons. Second person is good for your “x reader” inserts. First person is good for your narrator’s characterization. Third person is good for describing elements of your surroundings that might not be inherently obvious to your characters or audience. There are hundreds of other pros and cons to the different POVs that you can search up online, but it’ is ultimately up to you to decide which method you like best.

When you find the method you like best, make sure you use it to it’s full potential! Use foreshadowing with your third person POVs. Use connotation, and diction to further characterize your narrator in first person. Elevate the mood and senses of a scene when in second person.

Tone: Now, this element is often confused with another literary device, mood. The difference being that you as the author have more control over the tone, than the mood. The tone, is the attitude that you as the author (or as a character/narrator, depending on your POV) have towards something. For example, your tone might be suspenseful if you withhold information from your reader, or if you have a certain choice of diction. It is typically better to look to the type of genre you’re writing for to identify what kind of tone you want.

Mood is the feeling that the reader experiences from your writing. It’s really much more simple, a beloved character dying give a depressed mood. A cute couple hanging out will give the reader a happier mood. This is your angst and fluff feelings, if you will. (Although, please remember than mood and tone are not a binary thing, it is a spectrum, as broad and diverse as the capabilities of human emotion)

Style: Ok yes this is a bit meta, me explaining how to use style to help you construct a writing style. Blame the bendable definitions of the writing world. So just think of this as the face of your writing. The more obvious and apparent part that is unique to you and your personality.

Think cake. Your story is a delicious cake, it is a chocolate, Zelink cake. Now, your style is the way that you present this cake. Pink frosting? Yellow? A full cake or just a slice? Chocolate ice cream cake? Chocolate lava cake? Five tier cake? Cake pops? These possibilities are the infinite ways your style will present the story.

Style, sometimes called voice, is the combination of your use of tone, mood, POV, syntax, diction, and other literary device that you commonly use in your writing. This isn’t something you learn, it’s just something you do naturally when you write. It’s what readers will like about your fics, because they like the way that you use this or that, or the way you describe this thing or that person. It’s something that can change and improve over time, but in essence, it’s what readers can read and identify as you, without even looking at the username.

Style isn’t something you have to remember, per say, like other literary devices, but it is something to be aware of as you should try to keep it consistent through your whole story. Sometimes have people have different writing styles depending on their own mood, or what they’re writing about. That is fine, so long as you keep it consistent through your whole work. A good trick for this is to listen to music that fits with the style of your writing. Use that one catchy love song whenever you’re writing cute headcanons or fluffy one shots. Use that anime opening theme for your adventurous fics and fight scenes. This way, you are keep in a consist atmosphere and your brain will be in the “Oh! It’s time to write ____ stuff!” mood.

So just be aware of when you’re in a descriptive style, a narrative style, argumentative, or whatever style you like using. You style might even derived of the way you already create headcanons!

Theme: This is a big one. Have a cohesive theme can easily bring any story from good to great! I like to think of it as you’re story’s destiny, or reason for existence.

Theme is an outlier for the other elements in that not only is it not necessary for your fic, it is also not necessary for your writing style either. It’s really not necessary... at all. Yet, people always use theme in their writing, even accidentally.

Theme is your story’s underlying message, or lesson. Yes, yes, if you paid attention in your basic English class you probably already knew that, but this is a big pet peeve of mine.

The theme of your story isn’t “true love,” the theme isn’t “innocence”, or “failure”, or “trauma”, or whatever. Theme isn’t a broad idea, it’s a specific question and an answer.

For example: The theme of Breath of the Wild isn’t “exploration” or “time”. The theme is there is always something to seek and find, so long as you have the curiosity and courage to find it. The theme is despite the eternities of time, we still found each other.

Your theme shouldn’t be a broad, one word answer. What about love are you trying to convey? What specifically about failure are you saying?

Theme is the entire reason why the entertainment medium exists, because artist found a way to create something compelling and interesting while also connecting them to real life things.

When you give your reader something to really chew on, even days after they finished reading your fic, then you did a brilliant job. Essentially, you want to use theme in your story because it is what will stick with our readers even years after they’ve read your work.

While that’s all sentimental and sappy, that’s still not your biggest problem, is it? You still need to practice, you still need to learn how to use the things you’ve learned to actually write. So, a summary of what I advise you should do.

Look over and improve your old headcanons, and keep making more! Keep making headcanons and litte prompts, and let them grow bigger and bigger, and more desprictive. This could help you ease into actually writing paragraphs a bit more

Find out what you like to write. Yes, you probably already have a fandom in mind, but think back to those first four elements. What types of plots are you comfortable with, what settings, characters? Genius is only the work of enthusiasm, if you don’t like what you’re going to write, you’ve already failed

Write, write, write. Practice, practice practice. Let yourself write complete and utter garbage and nonesense. Then read it over. See what you don’t like about it. Then change it and write again. I MEAN it when I say you should write garbage. Write a completely terrible, nightmarishly cringe scene. See what you don’t like. Then rewrite it again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a scene or something from your fandom. Let it be your description of a shirt, let is be some cringy poem from 7th grade. Just write and learn how you like to write. It will be so much easier in the long run

Read stuff. The stuff you read usually seeps into how you write. When you get used to reading things a certain way, you usually unconciously try to imitate it when you write. So, got a favourite fic writer? Read their stuff over and maybe even analyze the elements you like (again, think back to those eight elements I talked about) and hey, writers like it when you analyze their stuff so maybe even hit them up and talk? We like book reports we swear, most of us don’t bite.

When you finally think you’re comfortable with your writings, maybe think about what kind of themes you’re into, or what kind of messages you want to say. It doesn’t even need to be that complex. Could be as simple as “I love this ship because it shows that you can still have flaws and be loved” Again, themes are the rEASON for eVERYTHING in the entertainment world

For further demonstration purposes, I’m going to come up with further elements for a hypothetical fic I would write based on that Zelink headcanon. So I’ve got the plot, setting, conflict and theme down. Hmm... I’ll probably use a third person POV as that is what I’m most comfortable with. With third person, I can better highlight the descriptions of Link and Zelda’s surroundings taking in the atmosphere and the aromas and and tastes. The tone will be more happy, focusing on the fun of Zelda and Link’s banter, I’ll try to create a mood in which the reader is laughing along with them, and enjoying the scene. My style will be more descriptive, again with the tastes and smells and other senses of the scene. However, I might go into a more narrative style for Zelda and Link’s banter and dialogue. While typically some people don’t want to use two different styles, I am personally familiar with the styles and know how to write them so as to blend them together more seamlessly. I might have a hint of angst at the end of the fic, as a little climax, given that the setting of the fic is after the defeat of the Calamity. I might through in some themes about how it wasn’t the material power of Hylia or the Master Sword that saved Hyrule, but the courageous and wise bond between Link and Zelda. Then...idk, a little romatic kiss for resolution because this is a fic and I can throw in some fanservice because my writing my rules.

Babam! I just converted a headcanon to a fic.

So yeah, go write your headcanons. Then maybe next a paragraph. Then next a scene, and then you’re well on your way to one-shots and chapter fics. Happy writing and good luck!

#writing #botw #breath of the wild #botw headcanons #zelink

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twoidiotwriters1 · 4 years

Text

Starcrossed Losers XIV (Josh Wheeler xReader)

A/N: This is officially the largest thing I’ve ever written on tumblr and I’m proud of it. Pardon my use of PUBLIC, the playlist demanded it (not really but I make the rules) I hope you like this chapter!

Words: 8,639

Warnings: Fights, cursing and blood.

Previous chapter // Next chapter

So now that I embrace my new title, things seem easier. Fuck it, I save lives (not really but you know what I mean), I’m creative, people come to me when they have problems normal solutions can’t fix. I’m awesome.

After I help to clean the store, I look for KJ since I’m already running late. I find her... talking with Josh. I analyze the scene, my friend is holding a book and he goes frantically through the pages as he talks to her. Next to me, I hear some ruffling and I see a small figure peaking through the garbage.

“Hello,” I lean over the pile of trash, I hear a yelp, “what are you doing dressed like a piñata?”

“Watching their interaction,” Replies Angelica, “since you’re going with Alex at least Josh seems to finally make up his mind”

“And that’s a victory cause..?”

“He needs the rebound sex!” I can picture her rolling her eyes, “I get it if you’re virgin and don’t want to lose it with Josh-”

“Hey, my thing has nothing to do-”

“He needs a distraction, if KJ can do that for him then I have to kindly ask you to not get involved!”

“What is he holding?” I cross my arms, now just as invested as my friend on the scene unfolding before us.

“A Chinese-English dictionary, he’s trying to speak in her language”

“That’s so dedicated,” I'm touched by his actions, “he doesn’t need to...”

“Let him be a gentleman!”

“That’s not why I said it!” I poke her head, “Anyway, I think you’re wrong. He’s not asking her out.”

“Why do you think that?”

“A hunch,” I shrug.

“Or jealousy?” She says in a suggestive tone.

“You’ll see I’m right,” I start to walk over to where they are, ignoring Angelica’s hurried whispers.

“Hey!” I put one arm around his shoulders, it’s hard since I can barely reach them, “What’s up?”

I see KJ’s eyes widened for a moment, maybe thinking that I’m about to uncover her secret. I wink at her in complicity.

“Hey,” Josh smiles at me, lifting the book so I can see it, “I was asking KJ about her headphones, I think we could use something like that for the noise problem”

“You don’t say,” I pretend to be surprised, KJ snorts but she manages to change it into a sneeze, “Bless you! So uh, tell you what then, you bring as many headphones as you find and I’ll tell KJ about what we’re trying to do. Give me...”

I gently take the book from him and start rummaging through the pages, pretending to look for some words.

“You sure?” He asks, starting to walk away, “You’re the best Y/N! See you in a minute!”

He runs off excitedly, KJ and I start laughing.

“I have to admit, his effort is kind of endearing,” She smiles.

“Just when I think he can’t get cuter, he does this,” I point to the book and leave it on top of the beauty stand.

Ah, fuck. Why I never think before I talk?

“Cuter?” She smirks, “Are you crushing on Josh Wheeler?”

“Are you?” I ask out of pure panic.

“Hmmm, not really,” KJ shrugs, “but... I can’t say that I haven’t thought about it”

“Hah,” Her words sting in my chest, I try to play it off as casual as possible, “the headphones, then. Let’s go over to the stage and see if we can make it work”

“Cool”

Josh comes back with a bag full of headphones and wireless earphones, looking different than the first time we were standing here today.

“You told her?” He asks, carefully leaving the bag on the DJ’s table.

“She’s in,” I smile innocently, “should we start?”

“Yeah,” He nods excitedly, grabbing three sets and handing us one to KJ and me.

“What’s your plan for this super-amazing-legendary Homecoming do-over?” I ask while breaking the package of my earphones.

“Well, now that you mention it...”

Alex passes by and calls out my name, I look up to see what he wants.

“Should I wear a tie or a bow-tie?” He inquires.

“Whatever you prefer Al,” I grin.

“Alright, don’t say I didn’t ask!” He walks away, raising his hands in defeat.

“He’s taking the dance too seriously”

“I think he’s just making sure everything goes according to plan, maybe he’s worried about our matching outfits not really matching or something...”

“Match?” He frowns, “Why would he... oh”

“Oh?” I frown, “What?”

“You’re going with Alex?”

I really wish this question didn’t make me feel so awkward.

“Uh, yes. He asked me today after I went to the pharmacy... it’s his way of fixing things”

“No, I understand,” He scratches the back of his neck, “you... you wanted that, right?”

“I don’t know if I wanted... it feels nice, getting my best friend back like old times”

“Old times...” He nods, now somehow quieter, “I’m happy for you, Y/N”

“Thanks?” I abandon my earphones on the table, “Is everything okay?”

“Huh?” He looks back at me, “I... I was thinking about the last dance I ever assisted to back in Canada”

“Was it fun?”

“Fuck no,” He chuckles, “I never asked any girl so I always went alone. I had this coach that made us dance with a mop to get the extra credits”

“You went with a mop to your last normal dance?” I ask in disbelief.

“Don’t laugh.”

“I wasn’t going to,” I reply, laughing.

“Stop!” He whines, focusing on his headphones, “I’m aware of how shitty that sounds, no need to rub it on my face. I bet you have this really cutesy story of your last dance”

“I went with my group of friends. We refused to ask someone so we all just went together. It was fun.”

“You always did that?”

“I never thought it was a big deal”

“I did,” He shrugs, “I had a plan for this Homecoming... I asked Sam”

“She said yes?”

“She did,” Josh puts the headphones away, “can we not talk about that right now?”

“Totally,” I reply, picking up my earphones.

KJ speaks up (in Chinese) and points to the DJ’s dashboard, then to our headphones.

“I think she’s saying it’s ready for testing,” Josh says.

“Put them on...” I put on mine and Josh follows my lead.

KJ gets closer to me and whispers.

“Connect your phone to the dashboard and pick a song, it should work.”

“Thanks,” I do what she says.

Since I’m still in the mood for PUBLIC, I grab the phone from my back pocket and open the music app, searching.

“Ready?” I ask, both give me a nod of approval.

“Sweet,” I mumble, pressing play.

And the music starts playing, but this time, only for us to hear.

I’m thinking about what Josh said to me. He asked Sam to the Homecoming dance, How tragic could things get before they stop? I’m starting to rethink my decisions, maybe getting too close is too dangerous. Staying is going to get me killed in more than one way.

Although how could I leave, when that means abandoning a newfound family.

“I’m a playin' it safe? I've been here for too long Haven't made a mistake There's a reason to stay - 'Cause I feel so alone”

Josh’s face lights up when he starts hearing the music, nudging KJ’s arm and nodding. The girl smiles and waves, her way of saying “Welp, my work here is done!” As she takes off the headphones and gets off the stage.

However, Josh and I stay to listen to the music, I see him mouth a “Well done!” and I answer with a “Same to you!”

“Make up reasons to wait Run so nothing goes wrong But everything that she said, I'm overthinkin' while I'm drivin' back home”

I start to follow the rhythm with my foot, sort of awkwardly dancing to it.

I won’t overthink what Josh said, there’s no point. Like I said to Angelica, he’s here and he’s staying and so am I.

Why would I be afraid? He’s told me before he’s not leaving me behind. I’ve said the same thing, I got his back.

“'Cause she said,

"Call me up when you're all alone 'cause I'm down for hangin' out

We'll stay up all night and I'll just crash on your couch.”

Josh starts dancing as well, we’re goofing around and not really showing our best moves, kinda like the hand-holding thing a few hours ago.

I’ve noticed how I do silly things with him often just for the sake of it, ever since he told me about his fight with Sam we have that sort of dynamic, we can act stupid and the other won’t judge.

“...Maybe that's her, that's the girl I'm just terrified And maybe that's her...”

Does this count as the soundtrack of my life? I mean we attached this song to a memory permanently. Who cares if it’s another PUBLIC song? Their songs are good, don’t underestimate them!

“How will I know if I never try? Maybe that's her, that's the girl, that's the girl I've been waitin' for”

He extends his hand and I take it, dancing in unison. I gotta say, we look pretty stupid. But it’s that spark in his eyes that makes me throw all the embarrassment out the window so I can get an extra minute with this side of him.

We’re laughing, loud. I know it even if I can’t hear us. I know it for the way his shoulders move and how it gets harder to breathe.

We have our own party going on, I accidentally trip on some wires so of course, I fall forward and Josh catches me.

Am I clumsy or is my body just sabotaging my plan to not flirt with Josh until I think the time is right?

Or is this just happening for the reader’s entertainment? We will never know.

The thing is that it happened and now Josh’s arms are on my waist and he’s chuckling and saying something that I can’t hear, he lifts me up so I’m standing on my own again. The music has gotten to the part where it’s a bit slower, and suddenly the choir seems to be ten times clearer than before.

“Am I playin' it safe? I don't know anymore Do I keep pushin' away 'Cause I'm just too afraid that someone's gonna get hurt”

Oh, fuck off, PUBLIC. I don’t need you spreading my thoughts out there like I’m desperate to send a message.

Though I did pick the song myself, maybe I did do it expecting Josh would understand that I’m scared of what I’m feeling. Maybe I’m hoping he’ll understand without me having to say anything and then he can kindly reject me and I can move on with my life.

Please, please just listen to the song, Josh.

For a moment I think he does, his stare suddenly gets all serious and he opens his mouth like he’s about to say something. He steps back so he’s no longer holding my waist and takes off his headphones, I take off one of my earphones and look at him, my hands are shaking.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, trying to sound calm and mildly confused.

“I...” He looks down at his headphones and lets out a short laugh, “I didn’t know you like this band”

“They’re not bad!” I complain.

“Yeah, I know. I like them,” He smiles, “I mean I’m not a huge fan or anything but... you know how I said I had this song in mind apart from Mastermind?”

“I do,” I give him a small smile, “you refused to tell me which song was...”

“It was a PUBLIC song” He grins, “a recent one. I can’t remember the name, that’s the reason why I didn’t choose it but the music video had this cool story where they’re in like a movie set? The singer has a crush on the actress..?”

“I know which song it is! It’s-”

“You guys fixed the problem?” Angelica climbs over to the stage, “wireless headphones? Nice!”

“Thanks,” I reply, “it was Josh’s idea. He asked KJ how did she set up hers so we could do the same with these”

I give her a pointed look and she just scoffs, then she looks to a side and nudges my ribs.

“Look at that...”

I look at the main entrance of the mall and I see Maya heading out.

“Where is she going?” Josh asks.

“Y/N kicked her out”

“You- What?” He says with wide eyes.

“It’s a long story,” I shrug it off.

“It was really badass,” Angelica adds.

“Later,” I insist, “we have a decoration to finish”

“C'mon Y/N, I wanna hear!” Josh insists.

“Basically Maya was throwing a tantrum cause she couldn’t find her knife-”

“Actually it was because I discovered the real reason why she isn’t with the Cheeramazons. It’s cause they kicked her out, but go on...”

“No way!” The boy exclaims, mouth agape.

“Let me finish!” Replies Angelica, “So anyway, she was running around Y/N’s pharmacy and when she walked in I hear Maya screaming at her and I was ready to set her on fire when I heard she was looking for her stupid knife. I took it cause I was helping with some decorations and we needed to cut papers and stuff”

“Maya lost her shit when she saw An holding it and then started to scream louder, then took the knife and cut her”

“My finger,” Angelica proudly shows her bandaid, “and then Y/N lost it.”

“What do you mean?”

“She told Maya that she needed to leave, cause her job as Healer was to make sure everyone was alright and since she hurt me she couldn’t stay”

“We need to surround ourselves with people that have some limits,” I try to explain so I sound less like an asshole, “Maya had none, she always expects to be the leader or the star of the group, this is how she reacts when she can’t have it. Besides, no one gets to touch Angelica on my watch. No one.”

“I’m not judging you,” He raises his hands, “if anything, I’m proud.”

“You... What? Why?”

“You found your thing,” He adds in a teasing voice, “Healer.”

“Ah,” I roll my eyes, smiling, “I figured that since you keep calling me that against my will might as well own it, right? I got an assistant and all! Alex is great on his job and calls me boss,” I grin.

“You do a pretty decent job,” Angelica shrugs, “just don’t fuck up”

“It’s getting late,” I see Angelica’s watch and realize the night is getting closer, “we get ready for the dance”

“Right!” Angelica perks up, “Eli is looking for you. He said he wanted to talk and that you could meet him back in the salon”

“Okay?” I frown, “I better go then...”

“Have fun!” She smiles, walking off the stage.

“I should go get dressed too,” Josh mumbles, leaving the headphones on the table next to him.

“I should do that after I talk to Eli as well”

“See you... Y/N?”

“Hmmm?”

“Bow-tie or tie?” He asks with a smile.

I let out a laugh, thinking about it for a second.

“Bow-tie. I think it suits you.”

“Bow-tie it is,” He gets off the stage as well.

The store is crowded, I’m starting to think maybe Eli is no longer here when I hear him calling my name from the back.

“Your campaign failed? Are you going to kill me with scissors?”

“What? Nah. I decided to not run for the crown.”

“Why?” I frown, getting closer to where he is, “Wasn’t that your goal?”

“I have a bigger goal now, which is not die,” I’m about to ask what the hell is he talking about when he speaks up again, “I’m giving you a makeover”

“How about no?” I backtrack, trying to be as far as possible from his grasp.

“Don’t be shitty, you know I used to work with my aunt!”

“I don’t need or want a makeover”

“You don’t wanna feel pretty for one night? Do a Cinderella entrance when they see you come down the stairs and all that shit? Do you even know what you’re gonna wear?”

“I was thinking black jeans..?”

“Good fucking- Sit on the chair, Y/N.”

“But-”

“You need a break. You’ve been curing all the kids since you came back and you have a sprained wrist. When was the last time you slept properly like, on a bed?”

“Not that much,” I huff, “like... a week?”

“It shows,” He gets closer and pushes me towards one of the chairs, “sit and relax, princess. I got this shit. When I’m done with you, you’ll look like real-life Barbie”

“How exciting,” I snort, “including the outfit?”

“That’s all on you. I trust you’ll pick something better than jeans. Ask Wesley, he’ll know how to capture your vibe”

“I think I can do it alone”

“Uh...”

“I used to dress up on my own before this whole thing happened,” I say, “the reason why I didn’t want to be all fancy this time it’s cause I just don’t see the point, it’s a made-up dance.”

“So were the ones back at school,” He retorts, already putting some sort of oil in my hair “the difference is that you didn’t plan those. This thing is to help us forget the bullshit, just play along”

I never thought I’d say this but maybe I should follow Eli’s advice. We’ve been through a lot of shit and this thing helps us cope, mend our inner wounds as a true healer would say.

He doesn’t let me look at my reflection until it’s done. He turns around my chair and sets me in front of the mirror. I don’t know how to react to what I’m seeing.

“So?” He inquires, raising a brow, “Will you let me handle those curls without doubting my abilities next time?”

“I...” How did he do that? My hair looks so soft and... clean. Hydrated as well, I have no split ends and it’s just so... in place, I look amazing.

And my makeup? Yes, he did that too. And I don’t know how did he manage but I don’t regret it at all.

“Eli,” I gasp, “you’re my favorite boy right now”

“I tend to have that effect on the ladies,” He smirks.

“I love you,” I say mesmerized, softly passing a hand through my hair, “don’t take it the wrong way, I don’t wanna date you”

“You don’t need to specify,” Eli scoffs, “I know that you only have puppy eyes for dumbass Josh”

“Oh, come on,” I groan, “you too?”

“Princess if you wanna keep it casual then don’t drool all over the floor,” He replies, “even Crumble can notice”

“Shut up,” I complain, standing up and brushing little hairs from my overall, “I’m gonna go get changed. You better start to get ready as well.”

“Bold of you to assume I don’t have my suit ready. I might have quitted the throne, but I’m still ruling hearts”

“Sure,” I stifle a laugh, “get them all, tiger”

I spend the next two hours searching for something my size and not claimed by the other kids. One hour trying to find them in a color that could match in a killer outfit. In the end, my look is not devastatingly perfect but it’s enough and it makes me feel good, I can’t complain.

Alex finds me when I’m walking out of the store, fully dressed and ready to dance.

“Holy shit, I feel like a proud father right now!” Alex takes my hands and makes do a quick twirl so he can see the result, “I wish I had a camera with me”

“Wait! I have a phone”

“Didn’t you lose your phone when... you know”

“I got one after I left the jocks,” I pull the phone out of my pocket and open the camera app, “you take it, I’m terrible taking selfies”

“Happy Homecoming do-over!” Alex presses the icon on the screen until he feels satisfied, we check to see if we like the pictures and then he gives me the phone back so I put it back in my pocket, “Ready to dance all night?”

“As long as my wrist allows” I lift my hand, still covered in bandages, “I’m ready to have fun”

We walk in and I freeze, amazed by the final result of all our efforts these past days. It looks great, I even start to consider that maybe this wasn’t a waste of time.

“Neat, right?” Wesley walks up to me, giving Alex and I two sets of earphones so we can listen to the music, “I made it work, which means you lost.”

“Not now,” I whisper once that Alex puts on the earphones, “let’s wait until tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Na-ah,” He frowns, not even in a playful way, he looks genuinely upset “tonight’s the perfect romantic setting and you’re thinking about wasting it? You’re thinking about wasting your shot when you’re looking like that? Not on my watch, sister.”

“Wesley...” Alex looks at us slightly confused and I shake my head, “listen, I’m here to have a fun night with Alex and it’d be rude to leave him only to go and flirt with some other dude”

“I’ll only say this once, but you’re losing precious time Y/N,” Wesley warns me, I get the feeling that he’s hidding something from me but I can’t think of anything in particular, “just like you lost your chance to add a song to the soundtrack of our lives. You never told me your choice!”

Shit, after what happened with Maya I totally forgot I was supposed to tell Wesley which song I wanted. Still, I don’t worry too much about it, my mind lands immediately on a song.

“Am I still allowed to tell you?”

“Depends. Which one is it?” I lean closer and whisper the title to him, along with the name of the artist, “I don’t know who that is.”

“Just type it like that, it should appear right away,” I insist.

“Is it good?”

“Hey! You told me I could pick any song, so just add it to the list!” I push him towards the stage, all the way Wesley curses under his breath.

“You need to calm down!” He backs up, “Don’t ruin the suit!”

“You gonna play the song?”

“Yes, now leave the DJ alone.”

“Fine,” I go to find Alex again, he’s waiting for me next to the food and quickly takes off one of the earphones so he can talk to me.

“You want a drink?”

“Does the punch have alcohol?” I say as I put on only one of the earphones, keeping the other in my pocket.

“I don’t know?” He frowns, leaning closer to the bowl.

“I don’t wanna get wasted,” I shake my head, “can’t risk another injury so soon”

“I’ll get you coke”

“I’ll go with you”

We move around the mass of bodies until we reach the other table. There, we see Josh dancing with... a mop?

“Josh?” He’s wearing earpods, so I have to poke his arms to get his attention, when he turns and sees me, he immediately takes one off, “What are you doing with that mop?”

“Hi-woah! You look... so...” Josh looks at me and then at Alex, maybe hoping to get some help from my friend but Al stays silent, waiting for him to end the sentence himself, “you... Hi.”

“Hello,” I chuckle, “I see you’re wearing a bow-tie”

“I see you kept the aesthetic and just changed the overall for a... more fancy overall”

“It’s called a romper,” I clarify, “yes, it’s a fancier version but just as comfortable as the original. I’m also wearing heeled boots so you can’t say I’m not trying.”

“No, I wasn’t going to,” He corrects, “I think you look great. Both of you. Hi, Alex.”

Crap, I forgot I was with Alex. I’m a terrible friend.

“Hi Josh, your date seems pretty shy... Are you going to introduce us?”

“Yeah,” Josh smiles, “Y/N, Alex. Meet Mop-Sam. She’s here to represent real Sam now that she can’t be here”

“Hi Mop-Sam,” I tilt my head, “is this some kind of regression? Are you going back to when you were thirteen and your coach made you dance with a mop as a coping mechanism?”

“No. I just want Sam to have one last good night”

“Fair, but you could’ve used a mannequin,” I agree, “Why a mop?”

I stay quiet as I see the realization hit Josh, he stares at the mop with a new found resentment for his lack of brain.

“I didn’t think of that,” He whispers.

I pat his back.

“You should’ve asked me first, buddy,” I shake my head, “enjoy your night with mop-Sam though, she looks nice.”

He glares at me as I giggle, walking away with Alex beside me, casually holding me by the waist.

“Josh is really weird,” He says while handing me a soda, “yet, he’s got good intentions. I get why you like him.”

I choke with my drink. I don’t even try to deny it, apparently there’s no use to it since everyone has a radar to identify my crush from miles away.

“I just think he’s really fun to be around,” I shrug, “it’s thanks to him that I found you so I’m thankful that he found me”

“I can tell he’s glad that you found him,” Alex raises a brow, “why didn’t you come to the dance with him?”

“Because you asked me first.”

“You could’ve said no. If you wanted to come with Josh I would’ve understood. Don’t use me as an excuse you had all the time in the world to ask him and you didn’t, you don’t want to admit that you chickened out on the last second.”

“What if I did?” I reply sternly, “Is not like he wants to be with me, I’ll get hurt if I try”

“Dude, didn’t you see the way his brain short-circuited when he saw you? I could practically see the hearts floating around his head”

“But Sam-”

“Sam’s gone. If he can accept that, Why can’t you?”

That’s a good question. Why can’t I?

Josh and I could be everything I always wanted, why am I so against it? It isn’t Alex. Josh wasn’t dating one of my friends, he’d broken up with Sam way before I had even returned to his life and we’re both so fitting for each other, why can’t I let myself enjoy life in the apocalypse? Why do I always have to feel sorry for myself?

“I think I’m still not over it,” I say, voice hoarse, “part of me doesn’t think I deserve something good happening to me after what I did to Katie.”

“That’s bullshit,” He frowns, “you spent most of your life looking after me whenever my parents weren’t home, made sure I always had food and slept well. You make sure all these kids are safe and clean their wounds when they need it, even with a sprained wrist. Shit, Y/N you’ve grown to be strong and you’ll be bigger than what you expect but please cut you some slack, let yourself be happy.”

“I think...”

The music is loud on my left ear, barely leaving me room to think. What Alex wants me to do is to follow my heart, that I can hear loud and clear even with all the noise surrounding us tonight.

“I want a break. I wanna have all the little, ridiculous nice things that used to make me go all giggly inside”

“That means?”

“How about we dance until I can’t feel my feet?”

“And after that?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Seems appropiate”

Time flies when you’re having fun, specially when it’s during the night. I only realize it’s been three hours when Eli walks up to us and asks if we voted for a homecoming gender-neutral royalty since it’s about to close so they can start to count the votes and tell us who won before midnight.

Alex and I step to the voting box and when we’re done he lets me know that he has to go to the restroom so I’m left alone.

I decide to use my free time wisely. I walk towards the stage and after a mute conversation Wesley agrees to put the song I asked for, I make my way towards Josh, who’s still cheerfully dancing around the mop.

I poke his back again and he turns around, smiling brightly when he sees me. He’s about to take off the earpods but I stop him, signaling him to listen to the next song.

I promise, dear reader, that this is the last time I’ll use PUBLIC as the soundtrack of my life. You can agree with me when I say this one demanded a place on the list. After all, it was Josh’s song but it also means something to me, the lyrics now more than ever, say everything I can’t dare to say directly at his face.

So now I’m asking you and Josh, to dance along to the beat of my love declaration.

“Oh, here we go again, on this ride Incapable of just being friends Always on my mind...”

He lifts his head up as soon as he hears the first few seconds of the song, smiling. I can read his lips saying “You found it!” and I nod, just as happy as him. I extend my hand and ask him quietly if he wants to dance this one with me and he takes my hand with no hesitation.

I know I’ve only known Josh for like, eight days. Without counting the time in highschool cause we didn’t know each other that well.

I know that’s not enough time to say I love him, or that he’s the love of my life. Yet, is enough to know I like him and that I would love to know him better. I want to be with Josh as close as possible, all the time. Maybe the feeling will fade away, maybe he’s not the love of my life.

I rather be with him until it fades away than letting the feeling die without trying.

“Waiting for something A message late at night Are you gonna say what you wanna say? Are we gonna do this right?”

At first, we dance awkwardly, slowly from one side to the other cause we don’t know how to dance like this: So officially. This is not a random day when we’re fooling around and dancing like stupid people. This is the homecoming do-over and we’re supposed to do it right.

Then we share one look of panic where both of us are like “oh my god, what the hell are we supposed to do with our arms?” and instantly relax cause we remember: “Hey, this is us, why are we trying so hard?”

“But I'm hesitating when I'm around you I can't escape that look in your eyes It's getting late and we're just talkin' My feels locked inside”

He takes my hands and makes me twirl and slide, we get stuck in some movements but none of us gets stressed about it. Meh, whatever, we’re having fun.

We aren’t talking, yet I feel like I’m having a whole conversation with just our eyes, he laughs when I accidentally step on his foot and I do it when he trips on his own feet. I’m not capable to look away, it’s just us here.

You know, maybe I’m imagining this, maybe I’m exaggerating what’s going on between us during this song. Does it matter? Life would be so dull if we saw our reality only in one way. Isn’t it better to think you’re the only person left in the world and witness as time stops for you to remember every single little, ridiculous detail that makes your life worth it?

This right here, is what makes my new life worth it: The people in it, the feelings I have whenever I’m around them.

Josh.

How everything is possible when I’m with him.

“'Cause you're the one that I want 'Cause you're the one that I need I just wanna fall in your arms So I'm begging down here on my knees”

He pulls me closer and I put my arms around his neck. I’m nervous at first, I’ve never been this close to him, besides the times when I crashed into him or that time back at the factory where I lost my cool and hugged him in front of everyone... okay fair, I’ve fallen into his arms plenty of times before.

This hits different because of the pretty lightning, the music that we both like, we’re wearing fancy clothing which is always a nice plus, the ambient feels so... normal. Finally, I got to have a little piece of my old life back.

I imagine that this is the actual Homecoming, Alex is somewhere with Stuart and somehow Josh and I kept talking after our school project, one thing led to another, then we came to the school dance together.

Think of all that could’ve been, if only I had decided to let go of my feelings for Alex sooner, to give this a chance. I could tell Josh was something special even if I didn’t like him that way, he always caught my eye one way or another.

Maybe if I’d talked to him one day back in Highschool to say more than just ‘Hi’, if I had invited him over to the movies with the rest of my friends, things would be different. I don’t know exactly how different, but perhaps, better.

The solo comes in and Josh uses the opportunity to take off one of his earpods and asks me to do the same.

“This is the song you chose for the soundtrack?”

“You like it?” I grin.

“I can’t believe you used your only chance on a song that I wanted, that’s not cool!”

“Hey, who said I did it for you?” I tease, “I love that song, it’s a banger”

“You don’t think it was too much?”

“Why would it be too much?” I frown, “it’s good, not as corny as you make it sound”

“It wasn’t the song what I thought it was too corny,” He rolls his eyes, “I was planning on dedicating the song to someone”

“Oh,” I feel my blood run cold, and burn my chest at the same time, “to who?”

“Not important,” He shrugs it off, “she’s not available”

That’s it. That’s how the spell wears off. Josh has a crush on someone else.

Wait.

How can Josh be crushing on one of the other girls? For all I know, he barely knows like five people out of everyone here. The only girls he talks to are Angelica, KJ, Crumble and I. Angelica is a child, KJ has no dance partner, Crumble is like ten years older...

Is he talking about me?

“I wanna know, wanna go to the deep end Tired of all this actin' shy I wanna know, wanna go to the deep end”

He puts his earpod back on and I do the same. My mind is running wild to search for the next step after the song ends.

Should I tell him everything? How crazy will I sound if I tell him, ‘Hey, guess what? This was supposed to be my love declaration and it’s my way of saying I’m crushing on you, my friend.’

No, this is nuts. I can’t do it.

Oh my god, I can’t tell Josh.

I’m a coward. I’m such a gigantic coward but fuck, I can’t.

I feel his hand pressing lightly on my waist and I look up, his eyes are blue but they’re so clear that they reflect all the lights in the room, two little kaleidoscopes. I can’t stop looking, I’ve never been able to look away.

He asks me if I’m okay and I silently reply that he has nothing to worry about.

It’s true, he doesn’t have to worry, I will keep my mouth shut forever.

‘Y/N, what if he does have feelings for you?’ You're back with the nosy questions. Well, if he does, it’ll pass. Love isn’t constant.

It’s better this way, right? No strings attached means no one gets hurt and we stay together as a whole tribe.

Right?

“'Cause you're the one that I need That I need”

The song ends and we stay close to each other. Josh has this cute, tiny smile while he stares at me, I probably look like I’m worried sick.

Shit, I need some time to think.

I take off both my earphones and step back.

“Thank you for allowing me one song with you,” I mumble, too nervous to speak like a normal human being.

“That’s cool, Mop-Sam was getting tired of me kicking her bucket anyway” I laugh, it’s a tense grin, barely cheerful. Josh notices right away, “It’s something wrong?”

“Alex must be looking for me,” I change the subject, playing with the straps of my romper, “I should go find him”

“Alex,” Josh’s demeanor changes, now acting distant, “he’s probably worried.”

“It was nice,” I add, slowly backing up, “we should make this more often”

“Sure...”

I find Alex in no time and I decide to tell him everything, he’s completely understanding and I’m so relieved to have him back.

It’s like I’m so much lighter ever since... Ever since Josh found me.

“You need space to think,” Alex agrees, walking me towards a set of stairs, “go to the second floor, no one’s there right now. Clear your head, make a decisión, come back when you know what you’ll do and then we’ll enjoy the rest of the night without you overthinking every little detail”

“Okay...”

“Promise?”

“Don’t get so pushy, Alex,” I complain, “I’ll try, okay? I can’t promise I’ll fix it tonight.”

“Fair,” He huffs, “now get your shit together, I’ll dance with Angelica in the meantime, I like her”

“Have fun...”

I do as Alex told me to, leaning over the rail so I can watch my former classmates dancing to a song I only hear on one ear, keeping the other earpod inside my pocket so I can listen if someone looks for me.

Should I accept my stupid fate? Give in and be like, ‘welp whatever God wants for me I’ll have it’ cause I’m honestly getting tired.

I’m an orphan with a bunch of kids I have to look after and a crush that is not over his dead girlfriend. I’m dumb. I need a good night of sleep and something besides pre-packaged food or I’ll die before I turn twenty of heart disease.

“There you are,” I turn around to see Josh, he already fucked his bow-tie, “I was starting to worry”

“Why?”

“I saw Alex dancing with Angelica, don’t take me wrong, that’s cute and all but... did you guys fight?”

“No?” I frown, “I needed a moment to clear my head. I’ve been stressed lately.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Josh stands beside me, “do you remember Sam’s video here?”

“The compliments video?” I smile, “It was sweet”

“You’re in it,” He grins.

“No, I’m not?”

“You are,” He pulls out his phone out of his pocket and unlocks it, “I was watching it this afternoon while I was getting Mop-Sam ready and I saw you... There!”

He gives me his phone, the video is paused where Sam is holding the camera and Josh is the one facing it. Behind him, a bit far but still able to recognize our faces I see Alex and me, walking out of a shop.

“That’s me!” I exclaim, “I’d never noticed before...”

“Sam and I never saw you there,” He adds, “where were you?”

“Oh, we left early that day,” I reply, nervously avoiding any further explanation, “We had an argument, sort of, so I left”

“That’s too bad,” Josh frowns, “I’m sure Sam would’ve chosen you guys for the compliments”

“Maybe,” I sigh, “I wasn’t hunting for compliments that day”

“Or ever,” He jokes, “always running from compliments...”

“Hey! I can take a compliment,” I lightly slap his shoulder.

“Really?” My friend smirks, “okay then, let’s see...”

He takes the phone and steps back, pointing the camera to my face.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m about to make a compliment video”

“Please don’t.”

“You said you can take a compliment, I’m only checking if that’s true”

“Josh...” I whine, turning away from the phone.

“Y/N,” He speaks up, grinning, “Y/N! I wanna let you know that I think you’re cool and that your weapon is actually more badass than my katana. You looked really scary the first time I saw you hit a Ghoulie with that thing. Also, you have a terrible taste in colors but you’re clothes are always fun and you’re not afraid to wear them. You are fucking impressive, I’m impressed. All the time.”

“What?” I look over at him, still a bit camera-shy, “Josh, stop!”

“And your healer abilities rule. I think you should learn to use a skateboard, just cause it would look badass on your resume,” He laughs, “you make the best instant chicken noodle soup I’ve ever eaten and that’s important, I usually hate fast food.”

“I think that’s enough,” I chuckle, walking over to him and trying to put down the phone. Josh is taller so he easily avoids my hand, “c’mon!”

“You’re hilarious most of the time, the best sense of humor I’ve seen in years,” He continues, holding his phone above me and smiling like an idiot, “By the way, I was too blown away a few hours ago when I first saw you to say it, but you look beautiful tonight. You look good all the time. I like how you look all the time but I mean-”

“You’re rambling!”

“I... yeah I am,” Josh grins, “sorry. What I’m trying to say is... you’re so, so nice.”

I laugh loud enough to feel like I need to cover my mouth since everyone is silent downstairs, Josh and laughs with me, finally putting the phone away.

“You’re better now?”

“After that whole pro speech?” I joke, “Obviously, I’m ready to keep on dancing”

“Great,” He throws a fist in the air, guiding me towards the stairs, “It’s almost time to know the gender-neutral royalty”

“Where’s Mop-Sam?” I ask while we go downstairs.

“She got a bit jealous after we danced, I’m giving her space,” He whispers like is serious business.

“Oh, damn,” I put a hand in my mouth, faking surprise, “should I go over to apologize?”

“Nah, she’ll be fine,” Josh shrugs, “how about we get drinks instead?”

“I’d like that,” I nod, “before I go back and steal Alex from Angelica”

“Ha, yeah,” Josh passes a hand through his hair, “Oh! Do you mind if I put back both airpods? This is the song I asked for the soundtrack of our lives!”

“Not at all,” I smile, “How about you enjoy the song and I bring the drinks?”

“Thanks,” He says, putting the airpods back on.

I walk towards the table and see Wesley making his way over to Josh, I glance at them for a second and I notice how nervous Wesley looks. I stay still, listening.

“I need to tell you... everything”

I put the cups downs and I listen as Wesley rambles about him and Turbo, I want to stop him cause I know Josh isn’t listening but I’m not sure Josh needs to listen to all this tonight. Why is he telling him this tonight?

“...You’re going to die because my ex-boyfriend can’t stand that you and I are friends”

Oh. Okay, that’s why.

Josh takes off one of the airpods.

“You put my song on the soundtrack of our lives,” He says, deeply touched, “Deltron 3030? Thanks for making me feel so cool, man”

“Did you hear what I said?” Wesley asks in disbelief.

“I thought you were just singing along,” Josh shrugs.

“I heard,” I get to Josh’s side, “all of it”

Now I understand why he insisted so much on me making a move tonight. he didn’t want to kill Josh before I could confess.

Wesley’s eyes widened and he starts to speak, the buzzer sets off and cuts his speech. It’s time for the gender-neutral royalty. Everyone applauds and cheers, I step closer to him and I whisper.

“What the fuck did you do?”

He gives me one desperate look before his name is mentioned and he has to go over to the stage, along with Mop-Sam. I look around and I lock eyes with Eli, who has a panicky expression, I immediately know he’s also in this. I walk over to him and I give him a pointed look.

“You’re planning on killing Josh?!”

“How the fuck did you find out?”

“How the-? Oh my god, you were going to do it. I can’t believe it,” I hiss, “Was... was the whole makeover a distraction? It was, wasn’t it? Eli I... I trusted you”

“That’s exactly why I’m doing this,” He shakes his head, “I’m trying to protect all these kids, that’s what you want, right?”

“I want us to be a good tribe, a loyal one! Not a fucking Game of Thrones rip-off!” I exclaim.

“Is not important anyway!” Eli exclaims, “He was supposed to die with the crown but Wesley won, he’s gonna die instead!”

“He what?” I turn to see Wesley walking up the stairs, deadly silent, “Oh, you fucking stupid martyr”

I run over to the stage, the kids don’t let me get any closer. I scream his name, but so are the rest of the children.

I’m not gonna make it, Wesley will die.

They get closer to put the crown on top of his head and...

“STOP!” He slaps the hand away, the crown flying to the floor, “No one touch that crown!”

“Thank god,” I clean my forehead from the sweat and whisper: “man, you are stressful!”

“Turbo told me that he’s gonna come and kill you all. But I have a plan.”

“Oh, so you did have a better plan?” I frown, speaking loudly this time.

“I know how we can fight back,” He replies, then looks back a Josh, “you have to trust me”

Josh shakes his head clearly pissed, then looks down at where I’m standing.

“We don’t have time,” I cross my arms, “let him talk”

Wesley talks and we set up the mannequins, we wait.

Turbo gets here in no time, breaks the door’s chains and throws punches in the dark like a madman, he stops until every mannequin is on the ground, realizing his mistake. We walk out of our hiding spots, I had to go over to the pharmacy to get my hammer, I feel more than ready to break some bones if I have to.

“You’re not supposed to fight,” Josh whispers beside me, “your wrist is not okay”

“I’ll manage,” I reply dryly.

The fight begins. I don’t break any skulls or knees but I do manage to break bows and swords, I feel like I’m kicking serious ass when someone throws me on the ground, I fall on my face.

“Are you protecting all your children, Y/N?” Maya sneers above me, putting a foot on top of my head, “I bet you’re having fun-”

I hear her grunt and suddenly her body falls next to mine, someone grabs me by the arms and lifts me up.

It’s Alex.

“You can eat shit, Maya,” Alex replies, handing me my hammer, “your wrist is swelling again, you have to stop”

“I’ll stop with the hammer,” I kick a Jock in the crotch, “I’ll start with my legs”

“Good enough,” Alex nods.

Suddenly a loud scream echoes in the room.

“Turbo’s hurt! Retreat!”

It’s almost like the room is on fire, the Jocks run away picking up their weapons and lifting up their friends from the ground. I don’t see Maya, yet I know she’s with them. I don’t see Turbo either.

We’re left a mess, all our things are on the ground and the floor is slippery, mixed with blood and soda. Alex was right, my wrist feels awful as well.

Josh waits until everything is deadly quiet and looks over to Wesley.

“I have to lock you up”

As soon as he says it, a bunch of kids surround Wes and drag him to the nearest store, I see Eli quietly chuckling and I speak up.

“Eli helped him,” I point over to him, “he has to go too”

“I was only trying to help!”

“You hid important information to the group, we can’t trust you as long as you keep playing to your convenience,” I reply.

Another group of kids take him, pulling the heavy metal curtain so they stay in their place.

“Y/N?” Angelica speaks next to me, “you need something for your wrist”

“I’ll ask you this one time,” I say, ignoring her comment, “Did you know what they were doing?”

“No!” She responds in honest outrage, I believe her.

“Then you’ll keep an eye on them while I go and take something for my wrist”

“I already have it here,” Alex throws a small container with pills that I catch with my good hand.

“Thanks,” I look over to Angelica, “you think you can do it?”

“I’ll be more than happy,” She replies, already sitting on the ground, facing the store.

“I’ll stay with her,” Alex says, “I think you should check on Josh... he just got a death threat and immediately after had to fight for his life. He might need to talk to someone”

“I’ll be right back,” My mind is a bit too fuzzy after the fight, but I think I can have a small conversation with Josh, “I’ll do that...”

I walk around asking if anyone has seen Josh, one tells me they saw him walk out to lock the mall’s doors again.

I find Josh in the middle of the parking lot, he’s standing there quietly.

“Josh?” I inch closer.

I get no answer, I can only see his back.

“How are you feeling?” I’m merely five feet away from him.

“Did you know?” He inquires coldly.

“What?”

“What Wesley and Eli were planning,” Josh explains, “Did you know?”

“No,” I say, “I had no idea. I heard though, when Wesley was talking to you moments before the crowning”

Josh turns around, tearing up.

“You didn’t help them?” He steps closer to me, his breathing faltering, “You swear you’re not lying?”

“No!” I repeat, this time exasperated, “Josh, I would never hurt you. I promised, remember? I’m with you.”

He looks at me with the same odd expression he makes every time I say something he’s not expecting to hear.

My wrist is hurting but there’s also a warmth that spreads through it thanks to the ointment and the pills. I stand there, with nothing else to say.

I don’t know what to ask. Josh doesn’t want to talk, I can see it on the way he keeps his mouth tightly shut.

Instead, he kisses me.

“And they all fall down...”

Taglist.

@letsbloodmagic @slythermyg

#twoidiots writing #daybreak fanfic #eli cardashyan #daybreak #josh wheeler #josh wheeler xreader #wesley fists #angelica green #ms crumble

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thecreelhouse · 4 years

Text

Kill the Lights // Chapter 10

Steve Harrington x Original Female Character

Read chapter 9 here!

Summary: After Violet- formally 003, a telekinetic, electrokenetic, and clairvoyant 19 year old- loses her first family, her first love, nothing is the same. She finds herself taken in by Hopper and El, struggling to find her footing and meaning to keep fighting. The Party, especially Steve Harrington, try to show her where her strengths have been hiding all along, and that no one has to fight their battles alone. Sometimes you don’t need to be rescued, but someone’s love and support while you rescue yourself sure doesn’t hurt.

Word count: 2,186

Content warnings: PTSD, anxiety, dissociation, angst, cursing

Author’s note: we’re finally merging into season 3!! I know a lot of people prefer when fics are word for word with the original work when staying with a storyline, but personally I don’t care for it much, it’s too repetitive over time. So it’s not fully canon, but this fic never fully was to begin with. Hope that’s alright! Title comes from ‘find my way home’ by misterwives. For some reason, tumblr still won’t show my posts in the tags I use, so if you like this (or any of the chapters) please don’t be afraid to reblog!! It’s always greatly appreciated <3 Alrighty, enough rambling. Hope you enjoy this one y’all!!

Chapter 10: Bad Dreams to Reality

Just a short, sleepless 24 hours later, Violet was thrown into something that gave her the same dreadful ache her nightmare gave her.

“So you mean to tell me out of all your abilities, you never learned another language?” Dustin sassed at Violet, and her jaw fell open in disbelief.

“Oh yes, so sorry I never asked my abusers to teach me something that would be useful after I escaped!” Violet snapped back, and Dustin shrunk in his chair. Steve grimaced as he looked away from the two, pretending to find more fascination in the tape recorder on the table.

The three of them were huddled around the small table in the back room; Dustin explained how he stumbled upon a code being sent over the airwaves while using Cerebro. It definitely didn’t sound like it belonged in Hawkins, that was for sure. He was convinced it was a top secret code in Russian, and currently was upset that Violet had limitations to her abilities.

“Even if we do find out what it says, does it even matter? Why should we care?” Violet whined, crossing her arms as she fell into a chair between the two boys.

“We should care because we could be American heroes, Vi! Don’t you want that?” Dustin exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Ask me how much I genuinely care, Dustin. Go ahead-“

“Vi, be nice-“

“Steve, I am exhausted, there’s no room for nice today.” Violet groaned, letting her head roll back.

“Jesus, you guys are so loud back here.” Robin chimed in as she strolled through the door. “Why don’t you just announce to the rest of the parlor what your heroic plans are?”

“Thank you, Robin.” Violet said, eyes closed as she massaged her temples. “You think their voices are loud, you should hear their th-“

“Violet!” Steve hissed, causing Violet’s sentence to stop dead in its tracks. She was so exhausted, she almost let one of her own secrets slip.

Robin raised a brow at them, arms crossed. “Alright, what’s really going on here?”

“I intercepted a Russian transmission the other night-“

“Dustin!”

“Steve it’s fine, settle down-“

“A Russian transmission? Go on,” Robin said as she pulled a folding chair over from the wall. As she sat on it, she motioned her hands in a “c’mon” motion to Dustin.

“Okay, so we think it sounds Russian, but none of us know Russian, so that’s as far as we got.” He explained, and Robin’s eyes flicked down towards the tape recorder.

Robin went on to tell them how her ears were “little geniuses” after taking several language classes and being in band, and how she was confident she could figure it out.

So, they got to work, replaying the tape over and over, pausing and rewinding to phonetically write out what they heard, looking up the closest matches in a Russian-to-English dictionary Dustin brought with him. While the room was abuzz with excitement of decoding hidden secrets, Violet realized she overstayed her welcome, break long over by now, and headed back to Sam Goody.

The fluorescent lights hummed above her as she shuffled back down the employee hallway alone. Just as her hand reached the knob to the record store’s door, the hair on her arms stood up straight. A feeling of dread, that feeling she was getting for awhile now, washed over her. Like something was out of place, something just wasn’t right, but she still couldn’t figure out what exactly it was.

The lights above her flickered, and a mechanical, crashing noise echoed down the hall. It sent chills down her spine.

“You’re just easily spooked. It’s just that silly dream that has you worked up, Vi.” She tried reassuring herself.

“Hello?” Violet called out. The noises stopped, only to transition to heavy footsteps, and it sent her senses ablaze. Her hands fumbled with the store key, unlocking the door and slamming it shut behind her. She didn’t realize how much she was shaking until she slid down the door, trying to catch her breath.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, kid.”

Violet’s head snapped up to see her boss, Connie, standing above her and staring with concern. Violet let a sigh of relief out seeing a familiar face. Connie was a middle aged woman, a little off the wall and eccentric in her style with her bright orange hair and bold patterned clothing, but her mom instincts came naturally while supervising over the younger employees that ran her store. Violet enjoyed working with her.

“I’m alright- must’ve just been some leaky pipes in the hall.” Violet shrugged off her fears, more for herself or Connie, she wasn’t sure. It didn’t seem convincing to either woman, but Connie nodded, holding her hand out to Violet to help her back up.

“You’re lucky I like ya’, kid, I almost sent a search squad after you!” Connie laughed, and Violet forced herself to laugh through her shot nerves.

“Sorry, won’t go over my break again, I swear!” Violet pushed out more giggles. At least her boss was a pretty relaxed person overall, and it was still somewhat slow in the store.

“Meet me out on the floor when you’re ready. We got some new shipments today, nothin’ exciting though, just some stereo cords, so don’t get all jazzed up. Bring the boxes out with you, alright?” Connie said, waving her hand back and forth as she walked back out of the stock room.

“Jazzed up. Who even says that?” Violet laughed to herself, genuinely this time, shaking her head.

Her eyes wandered the room for the new shipment boxes, usually left right by the back door. As she got closer to the boxes, the logo, while never seen before by her, sent a shock through her body. A feeling of deja vu shook her bones as her fingers ran over the design.

Flashes of emotions ran through her as visions zoomed through her mind. The feeling of falling, falling, falling, again, this time she saw faces, faces she knew, faces she didn’t know-

“Vi? Can you bring out that crate of records, too?” Connie yelled back to Violet. “It’s just some restock.”

Violet shook her head, trying to shake what she just saw from her mind, before yelling back, “Sure thing, Con!”

She couldn’t shake the feeling, though. It was fused to her with a death grip. Something definitely wasn’t right, and she didn’t have a single idea what it had to do with the logo on the box, but it terrified her.

The design, a simple “Lynx Transportation” logo with a silver silhouette of a large cat, made absolutely no sense in startling her this much, but she sensed it couldn’t be good regardless. Something about it got under her skin, enough where she tried to replay the visions in her mind again. Just like her dream the night before, they slipped away quickly before she could fully grasp what she saw. Just blue. Lots of blue. Blue, blinding lights. She saw so many faces in that brief vision, she couldn’t remember them all.

As she picked up the box to bring it out, the logo stared right back at her, almost taunting and mocking her for what she just felt.

Violet had no idea what the hell was going on, what she was sensing, what was about to happen, but her questions going unanswered were beginning to drive her insane.

———

Steve began pulling the gate over the entrance to Scoops Ahoy closed, when an unseen force began pushing it back up. Panicked, Steve gripped onto the handle, and started rising with the metal gate.

“Babe, would you let go of that?” Violet giggled at her boyfriend, nearly dangling from the top of the doorway. Steve let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Violet, realizing who forced the gate back open. Panic set back in quickly, though.

“Okay, one, put me down, please,” Steve lowered his voice into a whisper, hissing at Violet. “And two- what the hell do you think you’re doing right now?!”

Violet rolled her eyes and flicked her hand casually in a downward motion, causing the gate to lower, and gently set Steve back on his feet. She ducked under the gate before he fully closed it.

“I’m serious, Vi, you have to be careful!” Steve scolded her, almost as if she was a careless child, and she rolled her eyes again as a child in trouble would. “Someone could have seen that!”

“And nobody did. Mall’s closed, mostly everyone went home already, it’s fine. We’ve got worse to worry about.” Violet tried pushing past his concern. “It happened again.”

“What? What happened?” He asked, glancing over his shoulder, still on high alert. Robin and Dustin must’ve still been in the back, leaving the couple alone in the parlor.

“The dream, but I wasn’t dreaming. I was awake. I was awake and I saw it, Steve.” Violet rushed out in a whisper. Even talking about it felt wrong. It made it, whatever it was, feel real, and Violet didn’t want any part of it.

“How? If you were awake-“

“I don’t know, it’s like flashes of these images, flashes of these emotions, everything rolled into one. It was too fast again. I couldn’t remember much.”

“But you did remember some things?” He implored, still concerned.

“Faces. I saw faces I knew, ones I didn’t. You know, it’s apparently a fact that every face you see in your dreams is a face you’ve seen in real life before? How the hell did I see faces I couldn’t recognize?” Violet rambled out, collapsing into one of the booths. Steve followed, eyes still locked on hers, listening intently.

“Okay, but who did you recognize?” Steve asked cautiously, and the question flicked a switch in Violet’s mind.

“You. You, Robin, Dustin-“ Violet stuttered out, clutching her head in her hands. Trying to remember felt draining, and she could feel a dull ache approaching in her skull. Steve must have noticed, because he immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t put yourself through hell to remember. It’s gonna be okay-“

“You don’t know that. None of us do.” Violet snapped, her head jolted back up. “What if something is coming, and I can stop it? I have to try-“

“You don’t even know what this is, Vi. Please, I need you to just rest for a little, okay?” Steve pleaded with her, voice laced with concern again. “You can stay over again if you want, I won’t leave your side, and after some sleep we can try to figure this out in the morning. Alright?”

Violet reluctantly nodded, but he was right. She had been up for well over a full 24 hours by now, and it couldn’t have been helping whatever she was dealing with now.

A short while later, Violet followed Steve, Robin and Dustin out of the shop, and into the main hallway of the mall. Neon lights above stores buzzed gently. The mall had an eerie feel to it past closing. Violet figured that was just because they were the only ones in the building currently.

Until they weren’t.

Violet’s pace slowed to a stop behind the group as they walked towards the exit when she felt it. Sensed it. The four of them weren’t alone in the building anymore. Sounds around her slowed down and her heartbeat echoed in her ears.

Violet couldn’t hear thoughts from anyone else, but she could sense the intentions in the air, and they were far from kind.

“I’m just tired, it’s just sleep deprivation playing tricks on me, it’s fine. We’re fine. I’m fine.” Violet tried talking herself down, but her intuition wouldn’t let up, wouldn’t quiet down.

“Vi? What’s wrong, babe?”

Violet focused back in on the present, eyes connecting back to reality to see Steve walking back to her. A child’s ride, a horse, was moving and playing a tune behind him, Robin and Dustin standing near it too. She didn’t even see them walk over or Steve put money in, but the notes of the music rang through her head like alarms. She knew this music. She heard it in the tape recording Dustin had, but she knew it wasn’t from that. She heard it before, in her dream. Background static to the rest of the chaos, but clear enough that she recognized it.

“You alright?” He asked, hand tangling into her’s. His thumb gently rubbed her hand, trying to bring her back to her surroundings.

“Y-yeah, just tired.” Violet lied, softly smiling. She didn’t want to worry him any further. “Let’s just head home.”

Steve wasn’t convinced, but squeezed her hand as reassurance without pushing any further, and began to lead her over to their friends to exit the mall. As they walked by the ride, still playing it’s haunting tune, Violet knew it was only a matter of time before things began to unravel. It wouldn’t be long before her fears manifested into reality.

#kill the lights #steve harrington x ofc #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things x reader #stranger things x oc #stranger things x you #stranger things x ofc #stranger things fanfiction

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alatismeni-theitsa · 4 years

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Do you have any advice for greek people in diaspora who want to de-assimilate? My family immigrated to america when my great grandparents came over, and im kinda struggling to reconnect with my heritage when everyone in my family likes to pretend it doesnt exist. I grew up speaking some greek but even my parents admitted they want to forget all their greek and its really heartbreaking to see

I am sorry your parents treat Greek culture like a secret in the family. :/ It breaks my heart as well. But I am actually amazed that some Greek has stayed in the family from the time of your great grandparents!

To begin, assimilating isn’t exactly bad. Many people through the centuries have moved to other countries and became citizens of the new place in every way. Sure, you leave your old customs behind but you get new ones and you become part of a new community. It’s a natural process, happening since the beginning of humanity. Of course, it comes down to personal choice. Your parents want to not stand out. You want to keep the best of the new culture and the old culture.

I don’t want to assume things about you. Ι am saying this just in case you feel this way: please do not scorn the culture of the place where you live. Every culture is different and interesting, even if it seems mundane to you. The new culture is most likely the bigger part of you and it needs some care, too.

For example, I have spoken to many immigrants in the US and most of them dislike the US. At the same time, through our dicussions, they show me - and tell me - they couldn’t be less American. They had a very different upbringing than the people from their parents’ motherland.

I think it would be best if you got comfortable with both sides of you, the Greek one and the assimilated one. If your children and your children’s children live away from Greece, they will get more and more assimilated. It’s impossible to de-assimilate completely and forever. As many other Greeks, I am planning to leave Greece in a very short time. It’s sad to think my traditions won’t continue to the next generations. But it’s a reality we must face - and we should probably try to be positive about it.

That being said, it’s perfectly fine to have the desire to know more about your roots for whatever reason. So here is my advice to you:

1) You may want to read the history of Greece. All of it, not just from 300 BC to 100 AC as most foreigners do. Preferably, find works that have someone Greek as a writer or supervisor (because Greeks usually try to depict accurately what happened), or writers who truly feel Greece, like Richard Clogg. Our history and pain has shaped the way we look at the world and it’s a perspective you should be familiar with, since you are driving in! (Yes, more depression for everyone!)

2) Learn where your family comes from. Maybe by asking your grandparents or your parents you can learn the exact place/town or the geographical compartment of your family. Look for the specific dances and traditional costume of that area from YouTube videos or a Greek community in your area! See if the people there were great warriors, great merchants, great wine producers. See if there are any Greek heroes of the 1821 revolution coming from your place!

That may need lots of Google searching but I think you will get somewhere. I am also availiable if you want me to give you more information about a specific place.

For every Greek tribe there is a tag on my blog, like #macedonia, #epirus, #thrace and more. I have tags for most of the towns, too! You can also search for the different Greek “tribes” (Pontiacs, Kappadokians, Thracians and so on) which are often named after the place they lived. Everyone falls into some of them and you probably come from one (or two) as well!

3) Learn some more Greek. I suggest that because learning Greek means learning how Greeks think. I suppose you know the basics but how about the 20+ weird phrases we have to playfully say someone is gay, like “he flogs the dolphin”, “he shakes the pear tree” etc. What about the Greek phrases which stem from war and pirate raids and… hating the Turks?? How about the Mediterranean expressions like calling a mole “olive” or saying “I am in an open sea” when we feel lost, or saying “he pressed my oil out” when someone tires us?

Greekpod101 on YouTube will help you learn the basics and a little more! They also have a site. But basically going on Youtube and typing “learn Greek” will do the trick. For more weird or advanced stuff you can look at my tag #learn greek and #greek language.

4) Greek memes - Greek diaspora social media. They are surprisingly educational! @hooplagreeks on instagram is one of my fave meme profiles! Watch youtubers of Greek diaspora as “Greek in the City” or the Greek comedian Basile! On instagram you may want to follow @greekfestvictoria (videos of Greek dances and people, and photos of the community) and @newdiaspora (“a digital storytelling platform, focusing on the new generation of Greeks living abroad during the crisis in their homeland”) and @ greek_diaspora (some things for Greek culture).

On my tag #greek diaspora you may find more people like you! Some have asked me similar stuff so I may be repeating stuff in those posts as well.

5) Cook/eat Greek food. If your grandparents and mum know recipes, take them as if they are gold. It’s a great way to get familiar with the local Greek ingredients and the Greek palette. Heck, look for Greek recipes on the internet and cook them! If you don’t know where to start, my tag #greek cuisine may be helpful.

6) Read Greek classic literature (in Greek if you can, but you can also find works translated in English). Elitis, Sahtouris, Seferis, Venezis, Papadiamantis, Mirivilis, Delta, Empirikos, Zei, Kazantzakis are only a few of the literary gems Greeks have to offer. Enjoy good writing, the Greek perspective, and get to know the newer Greek society in a unique and authentic way. Here is a list with more of them (link).

7) Meet more Greeks! Through groups on insta or fb, through Tumblr blogs etc. Watch youtubers of Greek diaspora as “Greek in Town” or the comedian Basile! Maybe there is one Greek community near you area and you can pay a visit for festivals! (No day, Independence Day, 1st of March, Easter meal, Dance festivals etc). Don’t be shy to go there. From what I have seen, people from all backgrounds are welcome there. Plus, Greeks LOVE showing their culture so you are going to learn a lot of things from them.

8) Be proud. I know it may sound kind of weird but I feel being proud is one key element of being Greek. In every anniversary wars we won, in our schools we sing prideful songs and hang posters with our war heroes, always standing proud. The students and the army parade in the streets the small children wearing traditional costumes (parade is kinda of a facist remnant - ew - but it shows that we want to instill pride even in our children. It has a few positive elements I guess :P). To sum up, be proud of a people who endured natural catastrophes, wars, genocide, famine, occupation, slaughters and slavery and can still stand!

9) Travel to Greece? I don’t know how affortable it is for you and how easy it is but I recommend it. Your tickets don’t need to be for summer. (Honestly, you may want to avoid summer. It’s too hot and too crowdy in tourist areas. Spring is our best season ;). You can come off season and just see the place and meet the people. See the species Grecus Hellenicus in its narutal habitat! Maybe you’ll make some new friends to discuss about Greek culture!

10) Search the tags on this blog. In #greek people you will see Greeks of every era, in #vintage you will find old towns and traditional settings. In #paradosiaki foresia await some of the Greek traditional clothes. #greek language, #greek culture and #greek tradition, #greek festival, #greek music are self explanatory.

I think that’s all I’ve got! Good luck in your journey and I am here if you need anything else :D You can dm me and ask stuff, anything you want! I would be happy to help you get in touch with your roots!

#answered #greek diaspora #greek culture #advice #thepostiamlookingfor

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suitablysublime · 5 years

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TWEAKING YOUR TUMBLR THEME: A CRASH COURSE

i know css/html and code my own themes. one side effect of this is that every so often i encounter someone—a friend or a friend’s friend, usually—who has installed a new theme and is now struggling to customize or tweak it without knowing how to go about doing that.

now i’m always happy to help out, but these are always things that take just a few minutes to figure out if you can read the code and, well, give a man a fish or teach a man to fish. you know how it goes.

so here we go: this is how to fish.

PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING CSS & HTML

let me lead with this: it is normal to feel confused, overwhelmed, intimidated, stupid, and/or frustrated when working with an unfamiliar coding language. my father has been writing software for forty years, but he will look at what is to me a page of very basic css/html and be completely baffled by it all the same. this is normal. please don’t let it discourage you if you feel this way at first.

in my opinion, the first step to conquering these feelings is to wrap your brain around the big picture of what these languages do. what do we use them for?

well, all web pages — and thus, all tumblr themes — are written in these two languages. the only thing you need to know for our purposes is this: html holds the content of a web page, and css controls its appearance.

how does this work?

a webpage is built of html objects called <div> tags. think of them like bricks: you stack a bunch of <div>s on top of each other and bam! you have a house. but it’s a terrible house, because it’s just a pile of bricks with stuff scribbled on them.

this is where the css comes in. a <div> tag can have a unique id or belong to a general class, and we use css to style the appearances of our <div>s on a per-id and per-class basis. to return to our housebuilding metaphor, css is our blueprint: it gives order, structural stability, and aesthetic coherence to our messy pile of bricks, and now, bam! we have a house. for real.

PART TWO: THE SYNTAX

coding languages are like human languages in that they have their own unique vocabulary and grammar. to tweak a tumblr theme, you need to have a basic grasp of this syntax so you can understand what you’re looking at.

css manipulates objects called elements. usually, an element is the id or class of a <div>, but an element can correlate to any html tag. the basic anatomy of a css element goes like this:

selector { property: value; }

and we can translate this into english as “when the element this selector is looking for occurs, it will look the way i have described it here.”

selectors might look like this: h1 { or #id { or .class {

the distinction between these different types of selectors is not important for our purposes. all you need to know is that the selector corresponds to (or selects) a particular html tag, like: <h1>, <div id = "id">, or <div class="class">.

properties are the visual features of an element, like its height, width, color, and so on, and the value is a statement that describes the desired setting for the property. a property-value statement is called a declaration, and a collection of declarations is called a declaration block.

you can generally figure out what a declaration is doing by looking at the name of the property, since they’re pretty self explanatory most of the time. for example, font-size: 12px; says that any text contained in this element is going to have its size set such that a character is 12 pixels tall.

[ sidebar: if you are a Tiny Font person, consider using the knowledge you’ve gained from this tutorial to edit your theme such that the text of all your posts is very small, and then don’t use small text or sub/superscripts in your replies. you’ll get the Tiny Font aesthetic on your blog with perfect consistency, without rendering your posts illegible on the dashboard. ]

PART 3: MAKING YOUR CHANGES

the key to quickly and easily modifying a tumblr theme is to be able to identify the name of the css selector for the element you want to modify. let’s look at my own theme as an example.

depending on what changes you want to make and how the theme’s creator laid out their code, you may not have to do much work at all to get the selector.

for example, if you want to do something with your theme’s pagination buttons, it’s a pretty reasonable guess that the css selector will be something like “pagination_next” or “pagination_prev”, and you can go straight to the html editor and do a ctrl+F search for “pagination” to find it.

but what if the selector isn’t immediately obvious? for the purposes of this example, let’s say i want to change the text of the blog description from red to dark blue (while preserving the red color of other elements in the theme, which precludes simply using tumblr’s in-built color picker.)

i could just scroll through the theme code until i found a selector that looked like the one i wanted, and then change something and update the preview & repeat ad nauseum until i found the right one. but again, depending on how the theme’s creator did their coding, this might be very difficult, frustrating, and time consuming. many prolific tumblr theme creators don’t lay out their code in a particularly human-readable way.

fortunately, there is a much easier way.

step 1: load your tumblr and right-click somewhere on the page. depending on what browser you use, the exact name of what you’re looking for will vary, but the keyword to look for is “inspect”:

click this.

(if you are using safari, you need to make sure “show develop menu” is checked in the advanced tab of the preferences window.)

step 2: your screen will now look something like this:

if the element you want to change is in a popup or tab, open it so it’s visible on the screen.

step 3: the topmost box in the inspector displays all the html of your theme. if you hover over an html tag, the corresponding element will be highlighted in blue.

find the <body> tag. you may need to expand this manually depending on your browser. move your mouse down the line of divs until you find the element you want to modify.

here, my mouse is hovering over <div id="blg_desc"> in the inspector, and you can see how the blog description is shown in a blue rectangle. (the large orange shape shows the size of the element’s margins.)

this tells me that the css selector for this element is #blg_desc.

step 4: close the inspector and open tumblr’s theme customization interface. go to edit html. ctrl+f to find the css selector:

now, my goal is to change the text color, so the declaration i’m interested in is color:{color:6};. the {color:6} value is an object tumblr uses to store colors in a theme as an alternative to using rgb or hex codes (like #B61818, which is the shade of red i have stored in {color:6}. these objects correlate to the color picker under theme options:

thus, if i change the value of color to {color:1}, the text of my blog description will be blue instead of red. i can also write this as color:#0d52c0;.

(note that the exact shade of red/blue in my description varies a little from line to line; this is because of styling i did within the html itself that makes some lines transparent, and thus lighter because of the pale grey background.)

& if you use pages with custom html, the inspector trick will of course work for them too.

PART FOUR: IN SUMMARY

remember that css/html is not magic. it might feel intimidating, but at the end of the day it’s just a language for translating human thoughts like “i want a small purple square” into instructions a computer can understand, like this:

#ps { height: 100px; width: 100px; background-color: #8c4c7a; }

and all you need to do to make the changes you want is 1) identify the css selector and 2) understand the properties you’re manipulating. 1) is the difficult part, because everybody lays out their selectors differently—but using the inspector will allow you to instantly identify selectors by sight. and once you have that, 2) is super easy, because properties are standard and intended to be readily legible to humans.

you may occasionally run into tricky properties, like for example display or position, which do things that are a little more abstract / not immediately obvious. for those cases, refer to the w3schools css dictionary for clear, simple, but still comprehensive explanations for proper usage.

#⌈ A WRITER ALWAYS KNOWS WHICH WAY THE STORY GOES ⌋ ( ooc. )#[[ for real though i love helping people but #99% of the time when i get asked for help #it's easy little things that #because of a lack of understanding #have bred so much unnecessary frustration #& i just.#you CAN learn and there IS a better way ]]

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one-of-us-must-be-crazy · 5 years

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trying to figure out how to get this past the tumblr bots...

n*t s*fe f*r w*rk under the cut. Like really.

So I know I’ve used the gag of “Amanda Ripley finds something awful that has to do with robots at an antique market and brings it home to the displeasure of her housemate, which might be the main reason she got it” a lot. but trust me on this one I’m dying over it.

On a MUCH needed vacation to somewhere on-Terra, Amanda goes to an antique shop that specializes in old comics and other geekery and finds a few things she might get (some Star Trek fanzines from the 70′s that she shouldn’t spend that much on, but wow that one is near mint; a comic adaptation of a Heinlein novel, some Sandman, idk) but comes across a box of Adult Comics and finds this monstrosity:

I don’t know what it’s about or what’s in it or if it’s an actual comic or an artist using PS to make their work look like a vintage comic, but I took some liberties to get to the horrible, horrible nonsense.

Despite her initial cringe reaction and internal bitching about the lack of understanding of female body proportions, she really appreciates the style the android was drawn in; it shows an eerie resemblance to the internal structures of early synthetic models, even if the head looks like a bad cross between Robocop and Terminator. She’s still thinking this over when her phone buzzes, her own antsy, anxious android wondering where she went becuase they were supposed to meet back up at the hotel room an hour ago to change before heading for the (beach, lake, again, idk) and....the little demon on her shoulder shoves the angel off her other shoulder and she slips the comic into her existing stack of books, hoping the clerk notices nothing.

Samuels reaction is almost invisible; after all she’s brought home similar such nonsense before, even if it wasn’t so graphic. They have that Forbidden Planet poster in the main room still and he’s come to appreciate it as an in-joke between them when friends who don’t know about his nature (or rather lack of nature) when they come on a rare visit.

“Ripley do you know a language other than English?”

“No, but I don’t need to read to see the pictures.”

“That android is from a generation that lacked--er, fully human anatomies. I’m only the second line to be....accurate.” he’s so flustered; as if he forgets she has intimate first hand knowledge of the realism he’s designed with.

“Okay but clearly this one didn’t; and clearly it’s older than that anyway, and clearly it is smut and not an actual historical or recent technical guide or anything.”

“.....Synthetics--I didn’t think that as a.... as an erotic preference the concept has existed for so long.”

“Robot kink? I mean, I guess it was a thing. I found a lot of explicit fanfiction for androids from movies when I was a teenager, and some of it was going back to mid-21st century.”

“I don’t want to think about that, or about that comic, and can you please not say anything about the comic.”

Ripley pages through it with a closer eye than she did in the comic shop. At one point her eyebrows raise and Samuels starts wondering if he shouldn’t have just walked down to the beach himself and left her alone with it.

“Chris look at this one,” she turns the book around to show him a double-page set of three panels that display such an uncomfortable looking scenario that he thinks he’s impossibly blushing.

“Clearly not done from human models.”

“Okay but you might be able to do that--”

“p a r d o n ?” he manages to get out while Ripley flicks through a couple more pages.

“So we could really start using this. Maybe they have similar ones there; I’ll head back later and--”

“Amanda.”

“Look at this one and tell me you don’t want to try it,” she holds up another page.

“I do not want to test the limitations of my joins or tendons, especially not on vacation, and especially not when we’re hours away from the nearest synthetics lab should something happen.”

“Fair enough,” she goes through one more page, and simply stares. Samuels, lacking any kind of self preservation instinct walks over to see it.

“Amy, if you love me please don’t say anything else.”

“I can’t tell if that was a hard nope or a soft yes on this one, but I’ll have to pass becuase I’m not sure that I can bend that way.”

#general nonsense #like i hate writing the actual do #but i love them joking about it or teasing beucase it shows that they're yes physically intimate but also emotionally and mentally #intimate as well that they're at the point that they're comfortable enough and relaxed enough to be lighthearted on the subject #I JUST NEED SEVERAL BOOKS ABOUT THEM BEING DISGUSTINGLY CUTE #idk the older I get the more the melodrama bores me and I want cute instead #well half and half #I do love me some stereotypical monster-lover angst and drama (which based on how people write them and how I write them I put them in the #general category of 'monster lover' even though he's not a monster even in his worst moments of self loathing)

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warehouse13pod · 5 years

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Show Notes 105 A and B "Elements"

Hello, Agents, and welcome to the show notes!

As always, you can listen to this week’s episodes while you read along with the show notes by clicking here for 105 A and clicking here for 105 B. You can also click play on the embedded player below, if it appears for you.

I am aware that some content—embedded players, gifs, etc.—is not showing up on some versions of the post that are automatically cross-posted to Tumblr. The main issue seems to arise on Tumblr mobile. If you have issues with that, please let me know! I’m working on fixes, and I want to make this content easy to access for everyone. In the meantime, please know that you can always access any show notes directly on our website.

More important than any commentary or analysis regarding the themes in this week’s episode are the lives of the people that cultural misappropriation affects…

…so we’re putting the link to the Lenape non-profit organization that this week’s expert recommended right here at the top.

There were a whole lot of ~heavy themes~ this week.

But we were so grateful to be able to shine a light on not only general issues of cultural misappropriation but also the misrepresentation and homogenized representation of Native and Indigenous people in media, which is something that is rarely discussed or even addressed in mainstream discourse.

These show notes will address all of the issues we touched on, but don’t worry. It’s not all heavy! We still love Warehouse 13 and appreciate the lighter moments in the episode as well as the ways the episode helped to grow Pete and Myka as a team and as individual characters.

Let’s kick it off.

We started 105 A with an excerpt from the Tracks by Louise Erdrich. The excerpt is copied below. (The chapter is widely available online from many sources, so I feel comfortable posting it here also. Especially as it is for the purposes of quotation, criticism, and review.

C H A P T E R O N E

Winter 1912

Manitou-geezisohns

Little Spirit Sun

NANAPUSH

We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall. It was surprising there were so many of us left to die. For those who survived the spotted sickness from the south, our long fight west to the Nadouissioux land where we signed the treaty, and then a wind from the east, bringing exile in a storm of government papers, what descended from he north in 1912 seemed impossible.

By then, we thought disaster must surely have spent its force, that disease must have claimed all of the disaster must surely have spent its force, that disease must have claimed all of the Anishinabe that the earth could hold and bury.

But the earth is limitless. And so is luck and so were our people once. Granddaughter, you are the child of the invisible, the ones who disappeared when, along with the first bitter punishments of early winter, a new sickness swept down.

To iterate what I already said in the podcast, I highly recommend that you read Tracks. It is fascinating, important, and beautifully written. Also, from a linguistic standpoint (for those interested in such things), it often applies some elements of Ojibwe language in astounding ways to Nanapush’s English-language narrations, which creates a really refreshing and new perspective on language than one would typically find in a novel with influences from only western/European languages.

While I do recommend it as a standalone novel—and you do not need to read any of the other novels to understand it (because it is set in the earliest part of the timeline of the series)-it is part of a tetralogy of novels. Here’s more information on the novels and writings of Louise Erdrich.

Despite an embarrassing amount of time spent researching this for you, I was unable to find an electronic version of the book to share with you. But it’s worth spending money on this truly excellent novel. Here it is for purchase as a paperback. You can also download it from Audible (with or without a membership) as part of a pair of audiobooks. The other audiobook is Louise Erdrich’s Four Souls, a standalone novel.

So, why include this specific excerpt in our podcast? Well, in addition to the reasons we discussed near the end of our discussion in 105 B, we felt that the points in this excerpt were deeply relevant to the issues we brought up in our own discussion and—more importantly—the issues that our brilliant and generous expert, Dr. John Norwood, brought up.

Let’s break this down.

“We started dying before the snow,” but the rest of the paragraph goes on to describe that they didn’t all die. Nanapush’s people—the Anishinabe—survived illness, Eurocentric colonization, and American Westward expansion. It brought heavy losses, but the Anishinabe (and indeed, native cultures more broadly) continue to survive. That’s one of the things that Miranda and I agreed was among the most vital to impress upon our listeners:

Native cultures continue to exist. It is harmful to treat native cultures as if they are relics of the past.

(Note: I know I spell Anishinabe without the double-a. I went with the spelling in Tracks. If the other is preferred, please let me know)

One important way you can take this to heart is by educating yourself about what native cultures exit in or around your area.

Because I promise there are native cultures that exist around you.

Here is the Wikipedia page detailing indigenous peoples around the world that may help contextualize more specific information that is linked below.

For the United States of America…

Here is a list of federally recognized tribal nations.

For Canada…

Here is a list of Canadian First Nations and their associated languages.

For Mexico…

Here’s what info I could find on Mexico’s indigenous population as well as a thorough Wikipedia page on the subject.

Moving on to South America…

Here is a list of the indigenous people of South America.

Now for Australia and New Zealand…

Here is information on the history and modern life of the indigenous people of Australia and New Zealand.

There are also indigenous populations in Europe!

That’s a complex subject that I can’t provide a single comprehensive page for, but here is the link to the entire Wikipedia category on the topic.

Two-thirds of the worlds 370 million indigenous people live in Asia…

…but they still face widespread non-recognition and marginalization. While I couldn’t find a separate page of information detailing the indigenous groups of Asia, there is a wealth of information on the page of indigenous peoples around the world at the top of this section. And here is an article about some of the issues facing those communities.

And in Africa…

I’ve gathered a few sources of information on the indigenous cultures of Africa [Link 1, Link 2].

And of course we haven’t forgotten about Island Nations!

There are indigenous people from island nations, as well

Finally, it’s also important to note that many native cultures don’t have official federal recognition, but that does not mean that they don’t exist.

Here is a list of those (for the United States).

This is why we say it is so important to recognize that indigenous and native peoples are still here, living, surviving all around us. It is so, so vital that we do not contribute to a culture that makes them feel invisible, when clearly there are so, so many people who deserve to be seen and heard.

This week, our Writer Appreciation Corner focused on Dana Baratta. Interestingly, this episode is her only “written by” credit for Warehouse 13. However, she remained a co-executive producer on the series for seven episodes.

We talked about how having so many writers credited for story and teleplay didn’t necessarily do this particular episode of television any favors. However, we also mentioned that seeing multiple people credited for writing an episode isn’t necessarily a negative thing. We mentioned Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as it provides many examples of well-written episodes with a lot of hands involved in crafting the script.

Those episodes are:

707 "Conversations with Dead People” (written by Jane Espenson and Drew Goddard)

708 "Sleeper” (written by David Fury and Jane Espenson)

710 “Bring on the Night” (written by Marti Noxon and Douglas Petrie)

717 “Lies My Parents Told Me” (written by David Fury and Drew Goddard)

and 721 “End of Days” (written by Douglas Petrie and Jane Espenson)

Other notable episodes of the show that remain fan-favorites include (but are not limited to): 111 “Nightmares” (Story by Joss Whedon; Teleplay by David Greenwalt); 311 “Gingerbread” (Story by Thania St. John and Jane Espenson; Teleplay by Jane Espenson); and 221 “What’s My Line (Part 1)” (written by Howard Gordon and Marti Noxon).

Moral of the story? It’s tempting to think there’s too many cooks in the kitchen, but having many hands on a project is not a reliable indicator of poor quality. It’s all a matter of the writers’ ability to share a vision and work as a team.

We weren’t sure if the language in the opener was accurate (and based on the rest of the episode’s level of cultural accuracy, I highly doubt it would be), but here is some information about Lenape and Delaware languages.

Dr. Norwood also mentioned that many Algonkian tribes came from the Lenape people. There are many Algonkian tribes—among them the Ojibwe-speaking Anishinabe people featured in Tracks—but I’m unsure which amongst them are related to or descended from the Lenape. From what I am able to gather, an Algonkian tribal nation refers to those native groups and cultures that speak Algonkian languages.

When talking about the flute trills in the opening scenes of the episode, Miranda referenced that this is a common pan-Indian filmic trope about which she learned from the podcast Metis in Space—a podcast about indigenous representation in science fiction.

Shifting gears a bit…

I mentioned seeing a piece of art that I really liked sitting in a chair in Leena’s Bed and Breakfast. I tried to screenshot it for you all only to find that—as it turns out—its impossible to screenshot anything from Amazon prime on any device! If you try, you just get a big black square or rectangle saved as a picture! Thank goodness for you, dear listeners—for many reasons—but specifically at this time for coming together to solve this problem for me!

Thanks to the teamwork of @AslamChoudhury and @Zincstoat I can now tell you that the picture looks like this:

The picture is “Ophelia,” by Lyse Marion of Imagine Studio, Montreal, Canada.

Unfortunately for me and for anyone who shares my ~aesthetic~ the picture is no longer available for sale, but many other works from that artist are. Click their Etsy shop to find something that speaks to your soul.

Thanks again to @AslamChoudhury and @Zincstoat! I looked for hours to find that piece of art and couldn’t find anything. For your extraordinary retrieval of this artifact and for allowing me to catalogue it, I’m naming you Agents of the Month!

Speaking of art, Miranda references not understanding modern art and being a pre-Raphaelite type of lady. As for myself, I’m divided. I absolutely love art of all kinds and can spend hours looking at anything from antiquity through to the age of impressionism and surrealism…at which point my brain kind of breaks. I love half of modern art—especially paintings and half don’t understand it at all. I went to the MoMA once and had a great time until I was standing in a room where the lights were dimmed and there was a pole in the middle of the room with lots of heavy cannon-ball sized orbs scattered across the ground. I…did not understand what was happening. I still don’t understand what was happening. Art is vast and ever changing. It’s okay not to understand it all. If you’re interested in learning more about Modern Art, here’s some information straight from MoMA itself! And, from The Art Story, here are some terms to know.

Think that might be too much for you and you might be a Pre-Raphaelite kind of bloke? That’s chill. Here’s some information on what Pre-Raphaelite art is from the Tate Museum! Interestingly, the Tate’s first example of Pre-Raphaelite art is this painting:

This painting is also called Ophelia and is a work of Sir John Everett Millais

This is interesting not only because of the parallel to the painting from the B&B linked above, but also because of the connection to Myka that we’ll see in a future episode. This, my friends, is what we call a motif.

In the episode, Pete mentions wanting to see a Broadway show. As a theater fan myself, I can relate. If you’re one of the lucky people who can afford tickets to a Broadway show (or live close enough to wait in lines for more affordable rush tickets) here’s a list of the shows currently playing on Broadway.

In New York, Pete locks eyes with Lacell for the first time. We can’t blame ya, Pete. We also both found Lacell (or, rather, the actor who plays him) quite attractive. That actor’s name is Caleb Verzyden, and he does…not have an extensive filmography. Now, initially, Miranda and I tried researching him further to see if he was an actual Lenape person cast as a Lenape character. We were unable to find this information, but we did find something awesome, and in the episode we promised to share it with you:

Y’all, he runs a lumberjack company now!!!!! His current hobbies include cutting down trees and sitting in front of the big pile of wood while smiling and wearing a suit. Go on, Caleb. Live your best life!

That was a fun interlude, but unfortunately, it’s time to return to the rather serious matters in the show.

Dr. Norwood talked about Powwow culture representing a specific cultural exchange within American tribal nations and not representing Native culture as a whole. Here is some information from the Nanticoke tribal nation on the matter and information from the Lenape people on the same matter.

For more information on the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation outside of powwow culture check out their online learning center and museum and their official website.

We also talk a little bit about now the Warehouse itself participates in the oppression of native peoples. Here is some information on the Native history of the South Dakota badlands on which Warehouse 13 resides.

There is a great joke about the band Earth Wind & Fire in the show.

But you know what’s not a joke? The way Artie conflates all Native creation myths as if they’re one thing. Here is some information on the real and multiple creation stories of the Lenape people.

Moving forward, we address the issue that is Jeff Weaver. On Jeff Weaver, I have this to say: Money isn’t a personality and Jeff is boring as heck. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Miranda wonders in the episode if Jeff is supposed to be some kind of White Savior figure. For those unfamiliar with the term, here’s what that means in relation to filmic and televisual storytelling.

In the Warehouse, Claudia solves Artie’s chess conundrum and Miranda and I talk about the deeply impressive nature of a person who understands chess. There is a beautiful film called The Dark Horse that I saw a few years ago that is deeply relevant to this episode. The movie is based on a real-life man named Genesis Potini who was a man of Maori (Native culture of New Zealand) descent who taught chess to underprivileged teens in Auckland New Zealand while homeless. It is moving and highly worth a watch.

We pick up in the hospital with Pete recovering and Myka dutifully standing watch over him. Myka mentions Jeff asked her on a date…

…and Pete tells Myka she’s pretty when she smiles.

It was a sweet moment (and a funny one when he calls her scary right after).

Miranda and I use the moment to talk about the problem of men telling women to smile (even though Pete was loopy and totally wasn’t the kind of bad guy we’re talking about in this particular situation). Here’s one of many, many think pieces on the subject.

After that, we get back to our super uncomfortable but necessary to talk about ~heavy themes~ where Artie tells Leena that the Lenape “sold Manhattan for $24 of arts and crafts.” The episode talks a lot about why this is such a problem. Here’s some more information on how indigenous understandings of land ownership differed from European views and lead to these kinds of insensitive summaries of complex histories.

Moving on to 105 B (Yes, those were ALL notes from 105 A, but don’t worry! The first part of 105 B involves a lot me talking about how much I dislike Jeff Weaver and—while important, because he’s really, really boring—it isn’t a subject that lends itself to extensive show notes.)

Let’s give Pete a big shout out for pulling himself out of his hospital bed to get to work. Poor guy. In the show, he rips out his IV. Don’t do that. It’s a bad idea. It hurts and is super bad for you.

They talk about an artist named Walter Burleigh in the episode. The one in the episode is fictional for the show. But there was actually a real Walter Burleigh who is relevant, but he’s not an artist.

Spoiler alert: he was TERRIBLE.

The real dude lived after the dates relevant to this episode and he lived in a different area, but he did deal with native populations in the Dakota Territory and the native populations with whom he interacted hated him. I wonder if that was more of a plot point and was more accurately portrayed in an earlier draft of the episode and, if so, why, how, and when in the writing process it was changed.

In lighter news, Pete made a great I Love Lucy reference.

Fun fact about the famous “You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do” line from Ricky Ricardo in I Love Lucy: No character was ever allowed to make fun of or imitate Desi Arnaz’s accent aside from Lucy herself (for those who don’t know, the two were married in real life). This is because they were mindful even back then of allowing there to be a real joke that would exist in the lives of interracial romantic partners but also not allowing it to become an excuse to treat the minority character as a joke or a stereotype. You can find out more about that and other aspects of Lucille Ball’s life with Desi Arnaz (and without him) in Episodes 82 and 83 of The History Chicks.

Finally, Miranda and I talked a little bit about ley lines and telegraph lines. If listeners are interested in a great fantasy novel about ley lines, Miranda recommends The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. Bonus! It's queer. Second, the source of her information about telegraph cables and Australia having bad internet is a book called The Undersea Network by Nicole Starosielski.

That’s all I have for this episode.

Thanks for learning and growing with us, Agents.

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sapphicscholar · 6 years

Link

A/N: I haven’t been posting the letters here, since I’ve been traveling, so if you’re only following on Tumblr, make sure you go catch up first!

Letter 64

March 9, 2012, 5:03pm

Dear Alex,

I know I don't have to, but I enjoy writing to you. And you're not bad at it, trust me. I think...I don't know, the beginning of any relationship is a little awkward, and with both of us being new to the long distance side of it, that makes it so much harder. But I still love getting your emails. And responding is a nice chance to sit down after a long day while pretty much everyone else is spending time with their families.

I'm sure you and the head librarian normally get along perfectly, so I doubt one snort will jeopardize that relationship. But if it does, she can take up any and all complaints with me. Also, it's sort of adorable that you thought they deserved play time. Probably for the best that you found them all, though.

Practical loopholes are the best! And no, I don't imagine I'll ever get that confession. It'll always be pinned on Kara, right?

Really...you're gonna tease me for Snoopy when you want to make your dog the laughing stock of the dog park? Gertrude is the name of, like, the single old lady who lives next door and has tissue lint-covered butterscotch candies in her purse. And you're gonna be out there with some big-ass German shepherd barreling toward you as you yell, "C'mere, Gertrude!"

Anyway, I think it's awesome that you and some of the other volunteers have been learning a bit of ASL. We didn't offer it beyond the beginner level at my school (you had to go take classes at another university, but financial aid wouldn't cover them—anyway, it's a long story and basically boils down to: bureaucracy sucks), but one day I'd also like to learn. I've often wondered whether it might not be a better "universal" language for communicating with the majority of off-worlders who've landed in the States, many of whom don't have many of the same sounds as English does. Then again, I'm sure there are plenty of morphology-related issues that could make signing equally difficult. Perhaps if we made both…who knows! I'm rambling at this point.

And of course you'd be into da Vinci's lab. Well, if you ever end up in Italy, you could go visit plenty of da Vinci museums. Personally, though, I prefer the testing site for his flying machines up in Fiesole, one of the hill towns outside of Florence. I went running up there while I was in Florence, and it's absolutely beautiful. Also, the woods in the area have all sorts of signs warning about attack pigs (okay wild boars, which I know are much more threatening, but I enjoy the thought of attack pigs more because then I can focus on being amused instead of frightened). I'd definitely recommend it as a less tourist-y spot!

I…I'm refraining from making a whole lot of inappropriate comments about the phrasing of your request for my help in making food. I would like some credit for my will power here. Please and thank you. Now that I've gotten it out there, yeah, I'm happy to help. I don't know how much help I'll be from afar when our video feed often freezes every few minutes, but dammit, I'm down to try. Also, you think my recipes are bad? You should see the ones passed down through the generations. "Boil the potatoes until done. Mash potatoes and add egg yolks…etc." Literally nothing is specific and everything is to taste. But once you've got a sense of how things should taste in a general sense, you can start figuring out how you most want them to taste, and that's a pretty cool thing.

You've got me so intrigued about this news! Good luck with whatever it is!

Last but not least, your questions!

1. What TV series to do you keep coming back to and re-watching? -Okay…honestly, I've rewatched The L Word more than I should. It's awful and overly dramatic and everything, yes, but it's also representation. And we don't die (RIP Tara). Okay, lies! One very important character dies (okay also another one, but she’s still in every fucking episode, and that was a betrayal of the deepest sort), and I'm still bitter, but in case you haven't seen it (I assume not…) and want to one day (that's up in the air), I won't spoil it. It's nice to have a show that, for as bad as it was, normalized women dating/loving/fucking (should I do the whole theme song?? No, it's okay, you probably won't get that joke) other women. And, even though I totally bashed on it a sentence or two ago, I do love a good Buffy rerun. I'm especially partial to the dark Willow episodes when I'm annoyed with the world.

2. What are some things everyone should try once? -Oooh, so many things! I think everyone (who can afford to) should try to live alone and/or travel alone at least once. I get the joy in being surrounded by others, but I think being alone for a somewhat extended period of time breeds a level of self-sufficiency and self-awareness that can be really healthy and helpful. You can't lean on everyone around you, and so you learn what your strengths are and where you struggle, but you also learn how best to deal with your weaknesses, and I think it makes you stronger, even if it's hard at the time. And there's also something a little freeing about being on your own--you get to do the things you want to do on the timescale that you've set for yourself. Want to spend an entire day in one room of an art museum? Fucking do it! There's no one telling you about the "right" way to do things or live.

3. What would a perfect morning be like? -Great question!! I'd love a morning with no alarm. I probably couldn't sleep in too late, but being able to wake up naturally is a wonderful feeling. And then I'd love to have a free day in front of me. And then, okay, two possibilities! Option 1: Sunny, warm day. I'd get up and go for a short run to one of those outdoor yoga classes. I'd come back, shower, and then go out for breakfast at someplace that serves really amazing coffee and has a patio so I could eat outside. I'd love to do the breakfast (and really the rest would be cool too) with someone. Could be a friend or a date—either way—someone to enjoy the day with. We could go to a farmer's market or walk around for fun without any real goals in mind. I'm also partial to people watching, so maybe get more coffee or tea and sit outside and watch the people go by.

Option 2: Cold, rainy/snowy day. Sleep in a little bit later. Waking up with someone I like there could be pretty great too. I'd love to have big windows to watch the rain or snow coming down. And if it were snow, a fireplace would be amazing! And then we could make breakfast together, and since it could be a sleepy morning, maybe we could do hot cocoa instead of coffee (or mix them together for a homemade mocha type thing). We could eat by the fire and do the crossword together. Maybe even be bold and use pen! Later, we could put on a movie. For some reason, when it snows, I always want to watch Harry Potter, especially the first one. It feels right. Maybe afterward there's a hot bubble bath involved or something nice and warm.

Hmm questions from me…this is tricky, ya know? There are lots of things I want to know about you, but sometimes it feels like…like maybe I know them too early? Or I'm missing something important. Like…if we went out on our first date in person, would we have done the whole back-and-forth about which one of us should pay? Would we have split a dessert, or are you someone that doesn't like sharing food? Would we have held hands? Or would it have been that awkward moment where it doesn't matter that, say, you already drunkenly groped each other in a bar bathroom, because now you've still got first date jitters and don't know if a hug is even appropriate. Not talking from personal experience at all. Would never… But you know what I mean? Would we have gone off script? Would the date have gone on for hours with neither one of us wanting it to end? Would we have kissed at the end of it? Would it have been great or totally awkward and something that we'd laugh about later? I get that it's part of the territory of doing anything long distance, but it comes with a unique set of frustrations (not with you! with, you know, the situation). Sorry, I don't mean to hate on what we're doing or anything like that. And I know the questions were my idea, so I'm certainly not saying we should stop or anything! I don't know what I'm saying.

But okay, questions. Umm…let's think. If you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be? Slightly different: what do you think your superpower would be (as opposed to the one you'd choose)? What's your worst habit? And, hmm…any embarrassing high school moments?

Can't wait to talk to you on Sunday morning (for me)! Maggie

#sanvers #fluff #letter fic #long distance relationship au #maggie sawyer #alex danvers #co-authored fic #fanfic #ao3feed

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ineverhadmyinternetphase · 6 years

Text

Running Into You - No. 6

Installment number 6 in my series of AU oneshots about Dan meeting his favourite youtuber AmazingPhil for the first time.

AO3 link

Genre: Fluff, with a sort of 2009-ish feel (but it’s still AU)

Warnings: A bit of swearing and some mentions of low self-esteem but literally it’s just fluff

Prompt: Missent Text

Summary: Dan’s on his gap year, so naturally he’s spending most of his time lounging around on the internet, watching his favourite youtubers and scrolling through tumblr. When he gets an accidental text from an unknown number, he doesn’t think much of it, until a series of events start to convince him the sender might just be someone he idolises: AmazingPhil.

A/N: This draft is like 2 years old, but @agingphangirl convinced me to post this while we’re waiting for pinof. It’s epistolary form, so I hope it isn’t too confusing. Hope you like it ^_^

Phil’s texts are italics, Dan’s texts are in quotation marks

…

6. Missent Text

Where r u?

Sorry what?

Where r u I’ve been here 10 mins

…Am I supposed to be somewhere?

You said on dm you’d be here at 6, I’m getting cold ^_^

Um I’m sorry mate but you must have the wrong number

Oh crap!! Sorry!!

.Lmao it’s ok. Just checked my dms and nothing interesting enough to make me be outside in this weather sorry

Tell me about it x_x I’m freezing. But if you’re not peej then I’ll be here a while

Unfortunately for you I go by Dan

Oh. Well, hello Dan. Sorry for bothering you with my freezing antics

Nvm it’s cool

It’s more than COOL, it’s COLD enough for ICICLES

I’m sure ur exaggerating

No my nose is an actual block of ice

Where even are you? Unless you’re in the Arctic you might want to get that seen to

Sorry! Peej showed up eventually (the friend I thought you were). Turns out he gave me the wrong number. All sorted now. I promise not to bother you again

Honestly it’s fine. I probably need more human contact so you did me a favour

Haha, glad to be of service ^_^ also I was in Manchester. It’s so cold it snowed. My icicle nose is allowed

Manchester? That’s like waaaaay in the north

Not that far but cold enough for icicle noses :P

Yes yes ok you’re allowed an icicle nose

Haha thanks :P so where are you, if not in the north?

Reading

Ohhhh so a proper southerner

I guess you could say that

Well hello Dan the proper southerner

God no that makes me sound like a queens guard or something

Do you queens guard people have time to text?

We’re too busy dealing with the corgis and all that shit

I knew it 0.o

XD but really I’m sitting in bed on the internet lol

Actually same

Haha really?

Yep. Which sites you on?

Just the usual. Tumblr, YouTube. My favourite youtuber has a new video due out tonight

Nice ^_^

What sites are you on?

Currently uploading a video to my YouTube channel

You have a channel?!

Haha yeah ^_^

Which one? Would I know it?

I don’t know. It isn’t a huge deal but it’s fun

Yeah I mean I admire that. I’d love to have a channel

Why don’t you?

Idk too scared I guess

Awr ^_^ nothing to be scared about honest, it’s just you and a camera

And the whole of the internet xD

Haha I try not to think about that part 0.o thousands of people watching me

Thousands? Wow so you must be a pretty big channel

Heh I guess, maybe ^_^ so who are your favourite youtubers?

Oh man I have loads XD Smosh, community channel, AmazingPhil (the one I’m waiting for the new video), charlieissocoollike

That’s a good mix ^_^ my new video is 99% uploaded and stuck there x_x

Seriously? Your connection needs to sort its shit out

Haha yeah it really does. I think it’s being attacked by bees

Bees?

Or wasps

Seriously?

Tiny horned beetles?

Do they even exist?

Idk but if they do they’re attacking my wifi

I’ll send the insect spray

Haha thanks XD it must have worked as my video is finally uploaded!

—

…Great video. Especially the lion wedding, that was sweet

Haha thanks! Glad you liked it, took ages to get the dress on lioness. Plus my mum nearly walked in on me 0.o

Holy fuck you actually are AmazingPhil aren’t you

Um, well, yes.

Sorry.

AmazingPhil, FantasticPhil, Epic Youtuber

or just Phil if you prefer

I probably should have told you

Jesus shitting fuck I’m sorry for bothering you

Don’t be daft! I accidentally texted you first ^_^

Yeah but I bet you didn’t expect to end up with a weird fanboy. Um. Not that I’m a stalker I promise

Haha it’s ok Dan honestly

I’m not going to spread your number around or anything holy shit like I’m so sorry

Honestly, please don’t worry, it’s been nice talking to you ^_^ I appreciate you not spreading my number around though. I got lucky with you, don’t want to risk a creepy stalker finding me 0.o

Lmao I promise xD how do you know for sure I’m not a creepy stalker though

0.o I’ll set the bees against you

I’ll start running now

Haha

—

So out of curiosity how long have you been watching my videos for?

Oh um a couple of years now

Really? That’s awesome!

Yeah. You actually replied to one of my comments once ^_^ made my day

Aw haha that’s great, which video?

The toxic one

Oh my god >.<

Haha it’s a good video :P

I should remove it from the internet immediately

Don’t you dare! Your fans would be sad

X_x well this isn’t very fair if you know about me but I don’t know you at all

Well you know my name’s Dan

And you’re from Reading. Tell me more? ^_^

unless you don’t want to, that’s fine, I’m just curious

Haha no it’s alright. Um. I’m Dan. I just finished my A levels and now I’m taking a gap year

Oh cool ^_^ going to uni after that?

Probably. Thinking of law

Wow, that’s impressive

Haha we’ll see ^_^

Just checking but how old are you? I don’t want to be a creep 0.o

Lmao dw I’m 18 everything is legal

Phew XD Anything else I should know?

Well I’m currently undefeated at mario kart

What seriously? You’ve never lost?

Nope and I don’t plan to start :P

I’d beat you

I really wish we could test that theory

Haha that would be fun :P we could always test it over Skype sometime?

That’s probably really weird sorry

I promise I’m not a creeper

It’s ok, and yeah, I’d love to Skype sometime

Yeah? Yay! :D

Lmao you’re probably going to want to run a mile when you see me though

I doubt that very much unless you have like five eyes or something

Five eyes? Wtf XD

Idk you could be a giant spider

[insert pic] See? Not a giant spider :P

Oh wow yeah not a giant spider. I spy a cute guy :P

Shut up >.<

Nice hair

Lol I swear I had it like this before I started watching you

[insert pic] And here I thought I’d started a trend

Crap you actually are Phil >.< yeah your hair is cool enough to be a trendsetter tbh

Haha thanks XD and yeah I am Phil. Is that a problem?

Are you kidding me? Nope except I turn even more awkward than normal around people I admire

Aw well awkward people are the best. And at least there aren’t videos of you half-naked on the internet

You make a good point

—

Hey so I’m uploading a new video tonight but I can’t decide if it’s actually any good. Check it out for me?

Omfg are you seriously saying I get a sneak preview on an AmazingPhil video

Yes please ^_^ I might have overweirded. Need a second opinion

Omfg

just like

give me a moment

wtf

fucking hell

wow ok

I’m calm now

yes I would love to check your video for you

Haha thanks. It’s up as unlisted, [insert link] please be honest with me if it’s terrible

Wow man that’s awesome! I love how interactive it is!

Omfg seriously how are you this creative like you shouldn’t be allowed

Haha really? Wow thanks, I’m not sure about the shot angle though and the lighting is kinda terrible

Yeah ngl the lighting is bad but you can’t control the sun

You never know! I could be a weatherman. But you seriously think I should upload it?

[insert pic with thumbs up] totally I love it

Aw I forgot how hot you are. It’s going up tonight then

CUTE I MEANT CUTE

Gah I’m sorry

Haha it’s fine, getting called hot is never bad in my book ;)

Would you believe it was autocorrect?

Haha if you want :P sounds pretty unlikely though

I’m hiding in a pillow and never coming out

No! Then your subscribers will hate me for taking you away

[insert pic in a pillow] do you like my new home

XD don’t hide from me seriously like you have a video to upload

[insert pic] ok true it’s on 68%

Damn YouTube upload times

Tell me about it. Have you ever uploaded a video then?

Lmao there’s one of me being a boss at DDR

Yeah? Can I check it out?

>.< Um sure, I’m a lame nerd though

Dan, have you even met me?

Haha ok true :P [insert link] just don’t say I didn’t warn you

No one’s feet should be allowed to move that fast. You’re so good, I fall over whenever I try and play

Haha I could teach you

Please be my DDR master Dan-sensei

Depends what you give me :P

I’ve got Pokemon cards

I’m sold

—

[insert pikachu with a lion pic] this was too cute not to show you

Awwww! Rawr ^_^ where is that?

Shop called forbidden planet. I’m in London on work experience and went there on my break

0.o London? You’re braver than me, capital cities scare me

Aw poor Phil haha

[insert pic] do I look ready for work?

Very serious

Srs bsns

[insert scared face pic] I’ll take YouTube any day

Haha. Me too tbh. Law offices are big and dull

Why do you want to do it then?

Idk. Job security? Having a point in life?

Fair enough :P

You did English didn’t you? Sorry I swear I’m not a stalker

Haha it’s fine ^_^ and yeah, English language and linguistics. Then a masters in post-production

Wow that’s so cool. So you’re in your 20s?

22 ^_^ My masters is the only reason I know how to edit videos :P

I wish I could

Well I can always teach you

Seriously?!

Yeah of course, I reckon you’d be great at making videos

Really? Lmao I’m so awkward tho

That can work in your favour, trust me :P

Haha well if you say so, YouTube senpai

Listen well Dan-kun and you too will learn the ways of the YouTube

Haha you’re so strange

You’re just jealous

[insert pic] so much

Stop taking pics at work

But it’s so boring. At least send me one back, save me from the dullness

[insert pic] on my way to a meetup so might be a bit slow

Oh cool meetup like YouTube meetup?

I guess that must be fun

I’d love to go to one but too scared and awkward lol

Save me work is literally killing me

I can’t actually keep working here

ugh why did I ever think law was a good idea I’m going to die at uni

Whoops sorry I seem to have spammed your phone

—

Hey Dan, sorry! I forgot to bring my charger to the meetup so my phone has only just come back to me. I mourned it’s passing *plays lion king music*

Oh that’s ok

I really am sorry that I couldn’t distract you from your work

Lmao no worries

Don’t know if it’ll make it any better but I am working on a new video and lion says he thinks law is a very admirable career option

Tell lion thanks and I’d be even more grateful if he did my degree for me

He says sign him up where are you going to uni anyway?

Well I’m not there yet. I have to start applying soon

Looked around any?

Errrr I’ll get on that

Isn’t the deadline soon?

Yeah but I’m an epic procrastinator

Lion is very disappointed

Lion can suck my dick

Dan!

Lmao I was kidding

besides you’re 18 you have loads of time to sort stuff out

Yeah but I have literally no idea what I’m doing

No one does. That’s why you go to uni - to figure it out

You seemed to have it all together

Haha thanks, but honestly, I was just making stupid videos in my bedroom

does that sound wrong?

Lmao a little yeah

Oops

Dw lol if you’re a sexual predator you’re a bit far away to do any real damage

True

:( I’d rather you were nearer tbh

Even if I’m a sexual predator?

Lol I don’t really think you are though

Well I’m not

And me too, Dan

—

[insert pic] last day at the office today I literally couldn’t be happier

Lol I can see from your face

[insert pic] is it that obvious

Rawr

I’ll send lioness to aid you

Lioness not lion?

She’s much fiercer

Lmao probs true either way I’ll take help

At least soon you’ll be free

Yeah I literally can’t wait

Gonna do something to celebrate? ^_^

Lol all my friends are at uni

[insert pic] well Lion and I are proud of you

Aw thanks ^_^ I still forget you’re AmazingPhil sometimes

I’m deeply offended

no but really I’m just Phil and you’re really cool

sorry

Na it’s fine I just had to work

Oops XD

I’m hiding out in the toilets now so we’re fine lmao

and I have no issues with you being Phil

I mean it could be worse at least you aren’t a creepy stalker

I hope not. Also uploading another video tonight, I think you’ll like it

!!! Best celebration ever

^_^

—

So I may have been stalking you on Twitter and it seems your birthday is soon?

0.o stalker. And yeah it is ^_^

wait you follow me? What’s your Twitter handle?

Um. Yes I follow you. And this is going to sound very awkward and stuff but I kind of want to send you a birthday present

Omg Dan you don’t have to do that

Well I’d kinda like to so :P should I use your PO box?

Nah that takes ages to check, I’ll give you my actual address

I promise not to hunt you down

Tbh if it’s you I wouldn’t even mind

Omg

[insert pic with address] there you go

Lol is that a bank statement?

Yeah I’m so profesh

Phil! I could literally rob you

Well I trust that you won’t :P

Lmao you’d better

What’s your Twitter handle btw? You never said

Uh its danisnotonfire.

But please don’t judge me oh god I’m such a nerd

Dan honestly you’re the coolest person I know

sorry was that a bit much?

No! I’m just struggling to respond to the best youtuber out there calling me cool

Not just cool, the coolest :P wow you’ve commented on my tweets quite a bit

>.<

Sorry I never noticed you properly

You accidentally texted me I think that wins

Haha true

—

Happy birthday!

Thanks! ^_^ I have family stuff but I’ll talk to you as soon as I’m done

Sure sure have a great day!

— DAN OMG

YOUR PRESENTS

YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE YOU ACTUALLY SHOULDN’T

[insert excited pic cuddling the presents] you’re amazing

you’re so amazing

I can’t believe you

honestly you’re too amazing

how did I ever meet someone this nice and funny and cool and kind and cute and sweet

honestly

and I know you must be sleeping it’s like 2am but I have to tell you

OMG you’re too adorable

who let you be like this and you’re too far away :(

I wish you could be here so I could give you a thank-you hug

Wow I’m glad you liked them :P I’ll take a thank-you hug

What are you doing still up?

Can’t sleep how was the party?

GR8 M8! My parents embarrassed me in front of everyone

Oh no what did they do?

Got the baby photos out >.<

Lmao I’d love to see that

I was ginger

OMG for real?!

Yes >.< *hides forever*

That’s adorable

You’re adorable

Your mum’s adorable

Actually shut up

:P aren’t you too old for immature arguments now

Go to sleep

Lmao I’m glad it was good though

Thanks yeah it was rly good

Looking through the photos now

Any good ones?

Mostly drunk XD [insert pic]

Who’s that guy?

My cousin

Lmao ok I was about to say hands off

XD he was really drunk

You look a bit worse for the wear too

I may be slightly intoxicated

Haha tut tut Lester

Shut up Dan :P what is your surname?

Howell

Howell? Like a wolf?

Lmao if you like

Awooooooo

You’re so strange XD

AwoloooooOooooOOOOO

it suits you though

you’re very brown

XD aren’t wolves grey?

Well yeah

but like

you have their wildness

Lmao I’m taking that as a compliment

You should

you’re hot as hell

but so young and sticky out

like a baby deer

A wolf and a baby deer?

And eyes like an owl

You and your animal metaphors

None of those are quite right though

Like your eyes are too pretty they’re more like the night sky

but coloured with earth

You’re drunk

I mean it though

…I know

I wish I had eyes like yours

No! Yours are perfect

They’re big and weird

They’re deep and beautiful and I could swim in them all day

and I’m not drunk

I should be sleeping

You’re sleep-drunk :P which is actually a thing you know

Right I’m going to sleep

Noooooooo

We’ll talk about this when we’re both more sane

But I don’t want you to go

it’s quiet and sad when you aren’t around

and I’m cold here now

and it’s my birthday

Dan?

Happy birthday you idiot. Now go to sleep

night Dan <333

—

I’m so sorry about last night I had too much to drink

Haha it’s ok it was your birthday

Yeah but still

I’m so sorry if I made you uncomfortable

You didn’t. There’s nothing to worry about

Do we need to talk about this?

Um. Do you want to?

Kind of

But kind of not

I don’t want to make you feel awkward

I’m always awkward

Dan, for real. You know what I mean.

Yeah I think I do

Do we need to talk about it?

I think we’re both aware it’s there. Let’s just see where it goes?

Yeah ok sounds good. And no awkwardness?

None at all, I promise <3

Good <3

—

Hey Dan, are you still up for Skype at some point?

Yeah, sure ^_^ tonight?

Yeah! I’ll just finish up editing

Ooh, what’s it like?

Haha spoilers :P what’s your Skype name?

Danisnotonfire same as Twitter

Original :P

added you

‘AmazingPhil has added you to his contacts’ you’re just as original I see

Shut up and answer the call

—

So my eyes are even bluer on skype? :P

Haha shuddup

They’re even more blue in person

Are they even blue lmao they’re like 3 different colours

[insert pic] mostly blue

Greeny yellow blue

Very poetic

Shuddup :P

sorry I’ll stop

Please don’t

Lol fishing for compliments?

Well if they’re being offered

You’re impossible

That isn’t a compliment

You’re ridiculously strange?

I’ll take that

Haha of course you would :P

So what are you up to?

Actually answering a few texts for once, you?

Throwing around some video ideas but I’m bored now. Who’re you texting?

Some school friends who are at uni

Nice ^_^

Well. Sort of. It’s weird

Tell me about it?

It’s just they all have these lives that are moving forwards and away from home and leaving me behind

and I just

My ex is dating someone else and I’m in exactly the same place as I was when she broke up with me

And I’m not content but I don’t really want to go anywhere or do anything and I just don’t know what on earth I’m going to do with my life

Were you happy with them before school ended?

Idk. I thought so at the time. But I don’t think I’ve ever really been happy, not yet

It’s ok. You don’t have to know right now. And one day you’ll leave all of them behind too and move on to something better

I think I already am. Having you around is better than them

Sorry

Haha don’t apologise for being so sweet ^_^

Also I’m single now. And bi. Just to avoid confusion

I’m bi too. Probably

Probably?

Not a massive fan of labels if I’m honest

If I feel something for someone then that’s all that matters

Might be demi, might be bi, might be somewhere inbetween.

And I don’t want you to worry about your future, ok? Everything is going to fall into place

And if it doesn’t I’ll be around to distract you with more lame animal comparisons

Haha I actually love you

Me too <3

—

Get on Skype!

Ok it’s late you’re probably sleeping

it’s just

ugh I don’t know who else to talk to so I’m going to rant at your phone like a completely normal person

but mum yelled at me for not doing my uni application yet

but I just don’t know what to do I mean law yes but how do I decide where?

This is huge

and I don’t want to rush into it

but she thinks I’m going to miss the deadline though there’re months left

and I just

ugh

now she isn’t talking to me

Dan I’m sorry I was sleeping. Skype now?

I really don’t mind you spamming my phone, please do, always, I’d rather you had somewhere to talk about this stuff

And you know, Manchester uni is good. I could show you around

—

I spoke to mum about going to look around the uni.

She asked where I would stay.

I kind of told her I have friends at uni there.

It’s a half truth right?

Awesome ^_^ Um do you think she’d like to know the truth?

Probably.

Idk.

She might freak out and be worried

Because you’re meeting a random man you’ve never met before?

Lmao when you put it like that

Are you honestly ok with this? It’s fine if you’re not

No no I’m so ok. I want to meet you. Like properly

I want that too. So much

So it’s going to happen. I’m buying train tickets

Awesome ^_^ but your mum?

Do you think I should tell her?

I think she’d be happier knowing where you are

Yeah. Yeah I know. I’ll talk to her

Give her my phone number too. And my address

Lmao you after more stalkers?

Dan I’m serious I want you to be safe

You spoon

yeah I’ll tell her everything. She might not be best pleased though

Dw if she locks you up I’ll come rescue you

—

I told her

!!! And?

She said yes

OMG!!!!! I’m out atm but Skype as soon as I get back?

Yes please :P

[insert happy pic]

—

Hey Dan you should make a YouTube channel before you visit me

?? Really?

Yeah I mean you always say you want to. And we could do a collab ^_^

For serious?!

Yeah! I mean, if you want to

I’ve been wanting to do a Q and A for a while and it would be fun I think

Omfg

Is that a yes?

Hell yes it’s a yes

Um only problem is

How do I even make a video?

However you want ^_^ you’ve told me loads of good ideas

But they’re so lame lmao

They’re really not. I promise.

Why not start with an introduction? Then you can go on to your actual content

Omg but like do you really think I could?

Honestly! Yes.

My mum’s going out in a minute so I’ll have the house to myself. I could film

That’s brilliant! I’m about to head out with mum but film whilst I’m gone and we can Skype later yeah?

Ok wow

omg

Phil this isn’t working I sound so stupid

fucking hell I can’t do this

You can! Act like you’re on Skype to me

Can we Skype?

Still visiting my brother sorry :( tonight we will

Ok. I’ll keep trying

You can do it! Pretend the camera is me. Or any friend. It’ll help

Ok <3

—

Holy fuck Phil I have views.

And subscribers! So many subscribers!

Told you!!

This is because you tweeted it

No, it’s because you’re really bloody talented

>.< I can’t believe I did that

You did and you’re awesome and I’m so proud of you!

Can’t wait to collab :D

Me neither, if you still want to I mean

Silly, of course I want to. Best thing about this month

—

Um so a bit of a change of plan

??? Do I need to cancel the train tickets?

No no! Just

Turns out my parents aren’t going to be here the weekend you’re visiting.

Is that a problem?

Lmao no why would it be

are you planning to ravish me or something

>.< I don’t think I’ve ever ravished anything in my life

Well you can start with me ;)

Dan!

Seriously though. Is it ok?

Yeah. Honestly it’s great.

Are you sure?

Are you?

Yeah I mean honestly it’ll be nicer to see you without having to get around them

I just don’t want to weird you out

You won’t

I hope not

Phil honestly I can’t wait

:D me neither

where are you btw? Skype isn’t picking up

Oh yeah, my internet is down, sorry

:O no wifi?!

No wifi. I’m not sure how I’m going to survive

I’ll spam you with texts

Please!

Actually I have something better

[incoming call: AmazingPhil]

—

I’m at the train station and it’s super early I’m not even sure you’re worth it

Sorry! I’ll make it up to you with hot coffee and hugs ^_^

Ok yeah you are worth it

Aw :D

On the train next to an old man who’s threatening to fall asleep on my shoulder

x_X tell him to keep his hands off

Lmao yeah I’m sure you’d really sort him out

I could be fierce

You’re literally a muffin with an emo fringe

I’ll fill your bag with bees

I’ll tame them into my own personal army

Then you’ll be our evil overlord

Mwahahaha

Can I be on your side when you take over the world?

Your lion powers could come in useful so yeah I guess so

Awesome we can run the world together

Yes :P

ugh the train is running late

:( by how much?

Twenty minutes atm

I’ll still get to the station at ten to

Well it might be running quite late by the time we get that far north

I don’t want to miss you. I’ll be there <3

I can’t wait

Me neither

Stuck in Stoke now. Literally the weirdest station I’ve ever seen

Haha really?

Yeah. And it’s packed. I had no idea this many people travelled this early on a Saturday, I didn’t even know this time exists

It doesn’t and you’re travelling in some other dimension right now

Shut up :P

Just waved my parents off. I’ll head out to the station soon

I’m so nervous

Me too <3

Promise you won’t run a mile?

Promise. I’ll see you soon Dan

See you soon

—

#phan #phan fluff #phanfic #2009 phan #phanfiction #iwritephanthings #runningintoyou

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musicfeedsthesoul · 7 years

Photo

So, as I posted yesterday about my future here, I’m posting the tutorial I promised! It took me a long while to figure out how to get a Weibo account as an international fan--so I thought if I am not going to continue to share the images, videos, and such of the boys from there to here the way I was, then I could teach all of you HOW to get your own account so you can see them for yourselves!

Thank you for all of your love and support!

The tutorial is long and detailed with images...if I missed anything or you run into any trouble, let me know and I will do my best to help you! I’m no expert AT ALL but I’m good with technology, that’s all.

Feel free to share so others can use this, and of course it’s not strictly useful for Hey! Say! JUMP fans as there are tons of great resources on there! In fact, PLEASE do share this--because it has so many links in it, Tumblr will kick the post off the search pages as “spam” so the way others will see it is through sharing! (if it gets enough attention it will appear in the “popular” search section despite the links, but never in the “recent” because of the links)

First of all--Weibo requires you to give them a CELL PHONE NUMBER that can receive texts. Now, I know that a lot of people will kinda freak out about giving your cell phone number to a company you don’t know! I used my cell phone number and haven’t had any issues with it at all--but I hear you loud and clear, that can feel pretty risky--so to achieve an account on Weibo without giving your PERSONAL phone number away here is my solution.

Right now I can only provide this solution to those who live in the United States--as while I *know* there are workaround solutions for other countries to get a number--that is outside of my comfortable level of knowledge! So for this part, it will apply only to those who have a US based cell phone number.

Create a Google Voice phone number and use it.

Visit Google’s account page to get a Google account if you do not already have one.

Click on the drop down menu to select “create account”--if you already have an account then please log into it

Fill out the information requested--it’s okay if you’re not planning to keep this account! When you hit “next step” you’ll have to agree to the terms of use for Google--click the arrow button and agree.

Once you are logged into your account, whether new or old, go to Google Voice’s page:

You’ll come up to this page:

Click on the “Get Google Voice” button and it will create this screen:

I set mine up on “web” so I am not sure what happens with the other platforms but it probably won’t be too big of a difference if you select one of the others. The next page says the following:

You can honestly choose to get a number from ANYWHERE you want in the US...which can be pretty fun. I just clicked NYC because it was at the top lol

It will give you three numbers to choose from or you can “Load More” to get additional choices. Pick a number you want...I didn’t care so picked the top one:

Once you select the number this prompt appears--yes, you will give them your phone number, and no it’s nothing to be concerned with. I have had a Google Voice number for nearly five years and NEVER had any issues with them using my number for anything bad--so click “next”.

It will ask you to enter your cell phone number, they will send a text message to you with a six digit code. Apart from if you are using your Google Voice number for REAL things, this will be the only time you will get any notifications from them. Enter your number and then click “Send Code”

It will pop up with a window asking you to enter the code, enter the six digit code and click verify. I’ve never had any issues with the code not arriving, but if you do you can prompt it to resend the code on this screen as well.

If everything went as planned when you click “Finish” you’ll see this screen:

Click “Got it” and it will take you into your Google Voice account:

Soooo...now you are all set with a new Google Voice number. I hate the new GV interface so I always change my preferences to the Legacy version. If you’d like to do that here’s how--click the three lines next to “Google Voice”. Then select “Legacy Google Voice”.

It will open the Legacy interface in a new window, so just close the original window.

Okay so now you have a “safe” number to sign up for Weibo! Let’s get started on creating your Weibo account! WOOT!

This is Weibo’s INTERNATIONAL sign up page. <--DO NOT GO TO THE NORMAL WEIBO PAGE! It’s important you use THIS page to sign up for your account if you are an international fan! This page allows you to select your country code!

I’ll be honest, I have the Google Translate extension applied to my Chrome Browser (you can get it through the extensions shop for free) so I ALWAYS click the translate button to better understand what I’m seeing. It’s not perfect but it will give you the general idea of what’s needed. On the above page you’re going to enter your number, either your GV number or your normal cell phone number. You’ll need to use the drop down tab next to it to select your country code! If these do not translate for you, click on the dropdown and then hit “translate this page” again! If for some reason you can’t see them in a language you can understand let me know! I can take a pic of them for you.

Set your number and then pick a password. then select to have the activation code sent to you. Once you verify the activation code you’ll see this screen:

Enter the information being sure to put your correct location--if you are “overseas” it will look like this--the secondary dropdown will change so you can choose your country:

After you click the button on the bottom this screen will appear:

Choose a few here, and then hit enter--you can unfollow these later and honestly, I can’t remember despite just doing this if this is mandatory or not, so it’s possible you can skip it. Once you hit enter the following screen will appear and you’re gonna be like “OMG THAT WAS SO EASY!!!!”

Riiight...lol no, really, now...THIS IS WHERE IT GETS KINDA CRAZY so take a deep breath. As soon as you click on anything on that screen the following will happen:

Hmm...What? I know, but don’t panic, really, just say “I know”. It’s gonna change the page you’re on--mind changes to us.weibo.com/gb, and it looks like this:

I’m thinking it will change the “us” on the url to whatever country YOU entered into your registration information. At any rate, THIS is the page to bookmark so you can login in the future (and seriously, bookmark it cause it’s a complete *(&*( to find later when you forget how simple it is!)

Tap the “Login” button in the right hand corner:

AH! This is good, right? Enter your phone number you signed up with! MAKE SURE YOU ENTER THE NUMBER WITH YOUR COUNTRY CODE!

Do not use any symbols! Enter the number like this (my country code is 001)

0011234567890

If you put spaces, symbols, or don’t enter the country code you’re going to get an error.

Once you correctly enter the number and password the page will basically look the same except it will show you logged in as your new user name where the login button was before.

Right, but this is NOT the Weibo you’ve heard tales of with the rich wealth of fandom goodies awaiting your sighs and fangirling mayhem...fair enough:

It’s all good! Just click your user name!

Voila! You’re now inside the coveted realm of WEIBO!

If you want to use the site in English you’ll need to make the following adjustments; Click the little cog icon to go to your settings page. It’s nearly impossible to get that box to translate but it doesn’t matter, just pick any of the drop down items!

On that page click on “Preferences” and then you will click on “Language Settings”

Then select “English”

Now, I don’t set mine for English to be honest because it doesn’t actually translate EVERYTHING into English! Instead, like I mentioned before I set my Google Translate to automatically translate each page. I’m not gonna lie, Google Translate sucks MAJORLY at translating Chinese. Like, not even kidding, it’s bad lol but you can generally get some idea of what’s being said, and there are some really good translation sites out there if you need a better translation. My favorite is this one: Chinese Translation

To find your fandom (I’m using HSJ as my base but I feel like other international fans might appreciate this too! In that case just do your fandom here!) Put your fandom in the search and a dropdown will populate with some options

Put your fandom in the search and a dropdown will populate with some options

You want to choose the top option “related microblogging”

Now, you can search for each member, and any other key words you’d like. The page is pretty self explanatory...but here’s how to create your feed--click on a person who posts things you like, on their name or profile picture either one and it will take you to their page:

Okay, so what’s on this page is this, if you want to be able to see this person’s post on your feed just click the orange button. (When it’s translated I think it’s something about “attention”) It will create a pop-up that will allow you place the person into a group.

Okay, so if you haven’t created any groups (I only have a Jump group)--then you’ll need to click the button with the + sign on it. Enter your group name and then create. Then click the orange button on the bottom to add the person to your feed.

Another feature of a person’s page to be aware of is this:

See the tabs that say “All” and “Popular”? A lot of times it defaults to “Popular” which means you are only seeing the posts the person made that has received a lot of notice. I always immediately click “All” so I can see their most recent posts as well.

Ah...what else is there? OH, you can follow “topics” as well. So like, obviously, I’m going to follow Ryosuke’s topic:

To get to a super topic click on one of the links in anyone’s post that matches the person you want to follow:

So I’ll click on Yuto’s tag there and it will take me to his super topic page:

To add this to my feed I’ll push the +Attention button on the right.

To SEE your feed: click on the Weibo symbol on whatever page you’re on:

And then this menu will be on the left side of the page:

Your groups will be listed there--again I only have Jump--so if I click on it then it will show my feed that shows me ALL of the posts from the people and topics I have followed.

I’m sure there are some other details that would be helpful, and if you think of any you’d like me to add here just let me know and I’ll update this post.

For now, here’s some of my favorite Weibo users to get you started!!!

Please note: A lot of the users there do not mind sharing of their scans and works, others are very particular about it and do not allow sharing. Now I know there’s nothing that they can do to stop you from taking their scans and sharing them BUT please consider being respectful of their wishes. PLEASE check the op’s page before you bring their scans out of Weibo because some ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ALLOW their scans to be shared. Others will sometimes say “no sharing” on certain posts, and otherwise they don’t mind, and then some of them do not mind people using their scans and sharing them with credit--and seriously, don’t be “that guy” who shares them and doesn’t give credit. You’re not losing anything other than my respect if you do that and most people will know the truth even if you don’t admit it.

So here’s a few of my favorites!

山田千寻chihiro <--Ryosuke’s Older Sister

Johnnys_web官方 <--official Weibo account

MoMozzz32 <--if you only follow one person this is it! They’ve been around for ages and offers HQ scans that can be used for art and sharing (always give credit please!)

你难道是个傻瓜吗

gillist

光希Mitsuki_蜜桃熊...

-NASU-

柒斯Cake

sumomo彡

aliceceee <--one of my dearhearts here on Tumblr too!

Ranccho

susanfan0706

_碳菇凉凉凉凉介

#hey! say! jump #hey say jump #yamada ryosuke #chinen yuri #inoo kei #arioka daiki #nakajima yuto #yaotome hikaru #okamoto keito #takaki yuya #yabu kota #yamadaryosuke #chinenyuri #nakajimayuto

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hoonface · 7 years

Text

Tag Games?

Thank you for tagging me!! @s-lay-ing I ACTUALLY REALLY LOVE YOUR BLOG AKDHSKASJDH THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I’m not sure which ones I was supposed to do? So I just did all of them XD I would like to taaag ( Rules: Answer the questions and tag amazing followers you would like to get to know better!) IS THAT THE RULE IM NOT SURE IM SO CLUELESS PLEASE FORGIVE ME :| anyywaaay @wonuthewhale @healinghoshi i see carmen is already tagged so no jisoosmeoli then @jisoominghao @jeongjarsofhannie and @zeungkwan !! Optional of course, and anyone else who’d like to do this is absolutely welcomed!!

Name: I prefer to be called Camilla online for personal reasons 😃 I hope you all understand!

Nicknames: not much tbh?

Zodiac Sign: Libra

Height: I actually don’t know? Around 155-157? Short af =-=

Orientation: …pardon? As in introduction? WAIT IM GONNA GOOGLE THIS: it says something but I don’t get it um so it says basic attitudes? I like to not badmouth about anyone? I’m sorry I can’t do this one TT-TT

Ethnicity: I’m from Hong Kong 😃

Favorite Fruit: …I actually don’t know um I like cherry tomatoes cut in half with cooking salt on them? I’m strange yes.

Favorite Season: Autumn

Favorite Book: this question is asking too much of me I LOVE READING MY FAVOURITE SERIES WOULD EITHER BE THE LAND OF STORIES, OR THE HUNGER GAMES 1, CAUSE TWO AND THREE WERE CONFUSING AF.

Favorite Flower: Jeonghan’s sunflower: Minghao XD

Favorite Scent: food? In general?

Favorite Colour: I like soft orange kind of?

Favorite Animal: Your domestic house pets, but I am open to new animals 😃

Favorite Beverage: …soda? Until the carbon goes up your nose and it hurts like hell :DD

Average Sleep Hours: Depends if I’m in exam period or not? Usually around 7-4??

Favorite Fictional Character: …I um. Don’t know? Sorry :|

Number of blankets you sleep with: this is so random what XD around one or two. Depends on season.

Dream Trip: The Maldives and Italy, after that I’m up for everything

Blog Created: Ooooh… September 2016?

Hogwarts House: I haven’t Harry Pottered don’t kill me pls

Time Right Now: 7 something pm

Lucky Number: 5?

Last Thing I Googled: define “orientation” as reference to ^^^^^

Favorite Bands/groups: I don’t really have a favourite group outside Seventeen, cause before kpop I listened to a variety? BUT HELL YEAH SEVENTEEN!

Favorite Solo Artist: I’m not sure heheh…

Song stuck in my head: From Now On, Kim Min Seung, THAT CUTE CUTE CUTE OST FROM WEIGHTLIFTING FAIRY

Last movie watched: in the cinemas? SAO’s Ordinal Scale.

Last TV show watched: let’s just say weightlifting fairy for this

What are you wearing right now: pyjamas?

Dream job: I don’t really have my mind set yet, but my mother suggested an editor? If I’m good enough at English that is XD

Following: um let me check…361 as of today!

Posts: 2169 holy crap

Do you get asks regularly: no TT-TT please feel free to make my day and drop in!

Do you have any other blogs: nope XD I came to Tumblr to get to know Seventeen better WHEN I CRASHED AND BURNED INTO DIAMOND LIFE AFTER MANSAE MV OK I GOT SO ALSDLASDKJ

What I Post About: I don’t post that much, but when I do its usually kpop? And occasionally personal, if you see a full stop and the tags will be me ranting or talking to myself/

Why you chose your url: I suck at puns so yeah. It used to be seventeenismyhealing and I miss that url…

When Did My Blog Reach it’s Peak: HOW DO I CHECK THIS? I am sorry I don’t know how to check this…

Second game: AM I ALLOWED TO DO THIS?

rules: bold the statements that apply to you!

appearance:

i am 5′7″ or taller

i wear glasses

i have at least one piercing

i have blonde hair

i have brown eyes

i have short hair

my abs are at least somewhat defined

i have or have had braces

there is something i would change about the way i look

personality:

my hogwarts house is: gryffindor hufflepuff ravenclaw slytherin

i am an introvert

i like meeting new people

people tell me that i’m funny

helping others with their problems is a big priority for me

i enjoy physical challenges (depends of the challenge obvi)

i enjoy mental challenges

i’m playfully rude with people i know well

i started saying something ironically and now i can’t stop saying it

there is something i would change about my personality

ability:

i can sing well

i can play an instrument

i can do over 30 pushups without stopping

i’m a fast runner

i can draw well

i have a good memory I am the human dory. I don’t remember the stuff I’m meant to remember but I remember all the things I don’t need to help.

i’m good at doing math in my head

i can hold my breath underwater for over a minute

i have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling

i know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch

i know how to throw a proper punch

hobbies:

i enjoy playing sports

i’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else

i’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else

i have learned a new song in the past week

i work out at least once a week

i’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months

i have drawn something in the past month – I DREW AN EAGLE IN ART TODAY IT LOOKS BAD LOL

i enjoy writing (yet I don’t do it :p)

fandoms are my #1 passion

i do or have done martial arts

experiences:

i have had my first kiss

i have had alcohol

i have scored the winning goal in a sports game I play basketball the points add up I don’t know who scores the winning basket XD

i have watched an entire season of a tv show in one sitting in a day?

i have been at an overnight event

i have been in a taxi

i have been in the hospital or er in the past year

i have beaten a video game in one day

i have visited another country

i have been to one of my favourite band’s concerts

relationship:

i’m in a relationship

i have a celebrity crush

i have a crush on someone i know

i have been in at least 3 relationships

i have never been in a relationship

i have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them

i get crushes easily

i have had a crush on someone for over a year

i have been in a relationship for at least a year

i have had feelings for a friend FRIENDZONEED lol jks were like best friends now

my life:

i have at least one person i consider a “best friend”

i live close to my school (I used to but I don’t go to school/uni anymore)

my parents are still together

i have at least one sibling

i live in the united states

there is snow right now where i live

i have hung out with a friend outside of school in the past month we don’t go to the same school anymoreeee

i have a smartphone

i have at least 15 cds

i share my room with someone

random shit:

i have breakdanced

i know a person named jamie

i have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce

i have dyed my hair

i’m listening to one song on repeat right now (bruh holy shit I have monsta x’s beautiful on repeat right as we speak)

i have punched someone in the past week NOT REALLY JUST LIGHT PUNCH I THINK

i know someone who has gone to jail

i have broken a bone

i have eaten a waffle today

i know what i want to do with my life

i speak at least 2 languages fluently

i have made a new friend in the past year

#thank you for tagging me in this!!#tagged #mentions #game stuff lol #text

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wildlyhardphilosopher-blog · 5 years

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potty trained dog peeing in house | how to train puppies

New Post has been published on https://dogtraining.dknol.com/english/potty-trained-dog-peeing-in-house-how-to-train-puppies/?utm_source=Tumblr&utm_medium=Tumblr+%230+Freda+K+Pless&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BBest+Dog+Training

potty trained dog peeing in house | how to train puppies

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Start indoors, and gradually move to outdoor locations with more distractions as your puppy masters the command. Professor Donaldson debunks a common myth about dog behavior. She discusses in depth the reasons dogs may have accidents and provides several ways to train your dog out of this behavior. She covers a number of techniques to curb common bad habits such as chewing and digging with distraction or alternatives. x Don’t Take our word for it. Advanced Agility Is cannabis safe for cats? And what sorts of ailments might it treat? Recall Workshop Four Methods To Choose From For House Training Your Puppy

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#guide puppy training #house training a chihuahua

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superblyjovialtheorist-blog · 6 years

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Whats a deductible when talking about car insurance?

"Whats a deductible when talking about car insurance?

Whats a deductible when talking about car insurance?

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://financeandcreditsolutions.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr