#we can’t find online and visit my parents when we can’t get out of it

[changingplumbob]

Romero Household: Chapter 1, Part 2

Kayleigh comes to visit with an unexpected offer and the couple head to the romance festival.

Marta’s first language is Spanish so she is teaching Keira (and me) some common phrases Ay dios mio: omg equivalent Buenas tardes: Good afternoon Carino: Term of endearment for a loved one Gracias: Thank you Mi familia: My family Por favor: Please Qué?: What? Si: Yes Te amo: I love you

Keira: Mum! You didn’t say you were coming

Kayleigh: I didn’t think I needed an appointment to see my daughter and future daughter in law

Keira: Of course not but Marta is feeling unwell

Marta: Buenas tardes Kayleigh. I’ll be fine, Keira is just… overreact

Keira: I mean your parents died from flu complications, can you blame me for being nervous when you get sick?

Marta: No. But look, I’ll have more tea

Kayleigh: I’m so excited for the wedding, have you decided on a venue yet

Marta: Si. I was wanting to have it in the church in Willow Creek

Kayleigh: All the way there?

Keira: It’s the oldest church in the save mum, it’s got history

Marta: Si. Our marriage is not just us, it’s the watcher as well. A church is the right place to honour that

Kayleigh: I always admire your devotion. I’m sorry we couldn’t meet your parents

Marta: Their spirits will be here tomorrow. Keira and I would like all of you to come over for dinner. Then I can tell you about them, and you’ll be able to know them

Kayleigh: If you want us at your celebration then of course

Marta: Si. You are part of mi familia now

Kayleigh: And will our family be growing soon?

Keira: Mum! You sound just like dad

Kayleigh: We’re not getting any younger. Life is short and your dad and I would like to have some grandkids. Every time Aaron sends Harvey a cute picture he almost goes green with envy

Marta: Keira and I do want kids one day

The couple look at each other, feeling the warm fuzzy feeling of home

Kayleigh: I just wanted to say, well your dad wanted me to say, whatever expense there is, we’ll pay it

Marta: Que?

Keira: Are you sure mum? I mean it could be quite expensive for us. Whether we get a sperm donor or try that new science method that allows for same sex pregnancy to start, the cost will likely be high

Kayleigh: I know but your dad and I can’t take the money with us to the forever save. We may as well use it while we’re here

Marta: *smiles* we’re going to be parents carino

Keira: I mean eventually, there’s no big rush is there? I’m only 23

Kayleigh: Wait until after the wedding at least or the dress won’t fit

Keira: We’d need to wait until after honeymoon as well. And even then-

Marta: Gracias Kayleigh, it’s very generous. Will you let us have some time to talk about it

Kayleigh: Of course, I’m just glad you’re receptive. I best be off, don’t get up, I can show myself out

Kayleigh leaves and Marta turns to Keira.

Marta: What’s wrong carino

Keira: I… Sweetheart I want kids with you, I do, but… *softly* so soon?

Marta takes her hand and kisses it lightly.

Marta: There’s no rush but think about it por favor? I’d carry them so it shouldn’t interfere with your work much. I’d like to grow our familia sooner rather than later

Marta goes for another nap while Keira scratches her geek itch playing party frenzy online with Joey, James and Alexander.

Joey: Do you not want to be a mum

Keira: I do. I just… I spent so much of my life waiting for my person and now that I’ve found her I want time with just us. Is that selfish?

Alexander: I don’t think so. Remember I stole my person

James: You can’t steal what is given to you love. Wait- what car am I again?

Joey: The blue one. No, Rilian! Zio Joey is trying to see the screen!

Keira: What’s he doing this time

Joey: Trying to find new places to hide his half eaten meals. I better go tell Devin, later bros *drops out*

Keira: I need to go to the romance festival anyway. Will I see you guys there?

James: Saturday is date night

Alexander: I have plans that involve you, me and a posh restaurant. We'll get a nanny for Milton

Keira: *laughs* have fun being wealthy

Alexander: Always

Marta: You’re letting me out

Keira: I would never try pin you in. I’m not-

Marta: I know carino, I was joking

Keira: Somehow I imagine I couldn’t keep the romantic in you away from this festival even if I wanted to

Marta: So *coyly* what do we do here

Keira: What a leading question. You know sweetheart some would say you’re a tease

Marta: Taste me and find out

Keira smiles and pulls Marta close in a passionate embrace. They stay tangled in each other for a while but pull apart before Marta can get too breathless.

Keira: You need rest still

Marta: Now who’s the tease

Keira: Come on, let’s get some of the tea

Marta goes to the fountain and finds herself humming along to the music. She loves singing but she knows it’s probably best to rest rather than sing a ballad. She’s deep in her imagination when *clanks* the cup she picked drops to the bottom of the fountain.

Marta: Ay dios mio!

Stranger: Are you okay

Marta: Si, gracias

Marta sheepishly fishes her cup up from the fountain and looks around, hoping no one else has seen the blunder.

Marta: See, I’m drinking tea. I do listen to your advice

Keira: *laughs* I suppose it’s prettier than the tea we have at home

Marta: You’re the pettiest thing anywhere carino *blows kiss*

Keira: Stop, you’re making me swoon!

Marta: My daily goal. Have you thought more about what your mum said

Keira: Yeah. I guess… I just don’t want to share you with anyone

Marta: *sighs* Keira, no one belongs solely to someone else. Tell me you understand that? You need to share every person in your life. I’m becoming your wife but we won’t be each other’s property

Keira: I knew it would sound like that. I don’t mean I want you to myself in a controlling way, I mean, I’m worried kids would steal all your attention and I’d be forgotten

Marta: Carino… let me get us some food

Marta grabs them some Ramen and comes back to the table.

Marta: I know that your first girlfriend said she got bored of you but I promise, I’m never getting bored of you. Te amo

Keira: I love you to

Marta: If you want some time as just us before having kids then we can, bueno? But when we get around to having kids I will not love you any less

Keira: Okay, I’ll try work on my feelings. I do want to see what beautiful kids we can make

Marta: Me to!

Marta: Gracias for the date

Keira: I thought your spirits needed lifting before tomorrow

Marta: Tomorrow will be happy, you’ll see

Keira: If you say so. For now... can I have a hug

Marta: aww, of course carino

The couple head home and still feeling the effects of the tea take time to enjoy each other properly. Keira still gets feelings of inadequacy which can be hard to balance with Marta’s need to feel uncaged. But they love each other. Love is a skill and these two are happy to grow their skills together. Whatever they may feel, they’ll work on it together.

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#sims 4 #the sims #the sims 4 #simblr #my sims #ChangingPlumbobStorytime #R0903 #MartaRomero #KeiraFoster #KayleighFoster #JoeyYork #AlexanderGoth #JamesGoth

[ryuichirou]

Replies

A couple of replies today!

Anonymous asked:

Edmundedmundedmundedmundedmundedmundnebulacollegeedmund YESSS I have been fed content and I'm so motherfucking happy

The boy looks wonderful in both bunny suits ❤️

Hehehe thank you so much!! I love love love drawing boys in bunny suits, so I am very happy for the opportunity to draw Edmund wearing it…both options~

Anonymous asked:

If Jack and Ortho sees Vil in that outfit, I'm sure they find it attractive.

Of course they will, everyone would~ not only these two.

(related to the latest event)

But I would love to see their reaction to Vil in that outfit as well… I feel like Jack would get visibly flustered, but wouldn’t look away even for a moment.

Ortho would take pictures and record Vil just so he always has the image of Vil looking so good in his head lol

Anonymous asked:

Ok, but those Crewel/Deuce comics, fulfilling another fantasy of mine 😩👌

Actually, the funniest thing is that I've always imagined that those two would have a secret relationship and only would start "officially" dating when Deuce graduated nrc. Like on the weekends, Deuce would tell people that he's going to visit his mom or a cousin, but in reality, he's going to Crewel's place for "extra credit."

Funny scenario: 19/20 y/o Deuce posting on Magicam that he's in a relationship with Divus and all his notifs are from his friends blasting "ayo? 🤨" Then he gets a text from his mom like "DeeDee, you know I will support you in everything and anything but don't make the same mistakes as I did when I was younger, this is how you were born 😔"

(related to this comic; sorry for the late reply!)

Thank you, Anon, I am happy you liked the comic!

Out of all the first years, Deuce does feel like the type to officially go out with a teacher after graduating lol I can’t explain it, but it feels right in a weird way. I wonder if any of the first years would suspect that Deuce isn’t really visiting his mom or a cousin whenever he leaves to spend time with Crewel…

Also! His poor mother, this boy just keeps making her worry lol At least Deuce isn’t going to get pregnant, so that should be a relief…

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

If we had a battle of crossovers, who would win: GreenViolet or LilIdia

Hmm, how are they fighting? Is this a fist fight? Then Lilidia, because Lilia would outsmart Greenhill, and Violet and Idia both are wimps who can’t fight lol

In terms of a relationship… it’s a bit difficult to compare them because both couples are kind of confused within themselves. Greenhill is a bit oblivious about Violet’s feelings, and Lilidia are both confused about them being online friends lol so now I imagine these four looking at each other confused because they don’t know why are they even here and what is going on.

If both ships are established relationships though, it would be a tough fight, because Greenhill and Lilia are both competitive.

GreenViolet could win because Greenhill knows Violet better than Lilia knows Idia. And Lilidia could win because Lilia is a war veteran who would get super excited about winning and then teasing Idia about them being the best couple ever…

Anonymous asked:

All You Wanna Do by Samantha Pauly, the live Broadway version reminds me of Alois. Especially the last two minutes…

Wow, listening to this while thinking about Alois was quite a journey! 😬 It really does fit him in a lot of ways, and the last two minutes are especially heartbreaking. Ghhh I love Alois’ story so much.

Thank you for sharing, Anon.

Anonymous asked:

The last ask regarding the Leech parents and their reputation if both of their sons started dating. Out of all the characters you ship them with, which one would make the best impression? My first thought was 🥁 Riddle 🥁

If Floyd would ever settle down (which is hard to imagine with his unpredictable personality), it would definitely be with Riddle. I also think Riddle would make a great son-in-law. Even though Riddle would be very nervous meeting The Leech parents. Riddle Leech has a nice ring to it. Maybe Floyd would take Riddle underwater  to live in the coral sea. Goldfish Riddle confirmed??

But then again, I wonder how Mrs. Rosehearts would feel if her son decided to marry the son of a "Yakuza" boss. Mrs. Rosehearts and Mrs. Leech meeting each other?! 👀

(this is related to this reply)

Sorry for the late reply, Anon! Your ask got me thinking as well, as you can see lol

The Leech parents would absolutely love Riddle! Both because he is hilarious (so uptight, I mean, upstanding!) and because he is genuinely a surprisingly good pick. Just like you said, he is so polite, so well-educated, at times it almost feels too good to be true, how come Floyd of all people brought home such a good boy? They always expected Jade to be the one…  They’ll absolutely let the boys know about it lol embarrassing all of them.

Riddle would be super nervous and a bit scared, but parents are parents, even if they are scary fish mafia parents. So he has to be respectful and polite. Which is honestly only going to amuse Mama and Papa more – Riddle is so tiny and cute with his baby face and tiny hands and stuff, but oh so serious. He’s like a baby doll… they would woobify him a lot lol and tease him in general, but always try to be stealthy about it. Maybe they just don’t want to scare him away because there is no way Floyd finds someone else similar to Riddle lol

Also! Riddle being a goldfish merman is such a fun theme, I love it when people draw him like that. Floyd really should turn him into a merman, poor Riddle is going to be so confused. He is reversed Ariel lol

Oh Mrs Rosehearts is going to hate this so much… Leaving her alone with Mrs Leech is such a bad idea, because Mama Leech is going to play along at first, complaining about how having sons is such a huge source of stress, how rude and ungrateful they are sometimes, and just how much she wants them to just be good and proper at everything that they do. Mama Rosehearts could even think that they are on the same page at first (even though this Leech woman is way too dramatic…)… Mama Leech would just troll her the entire time, just as she does with everyone she talks to… but she’ll like her a lot, she’ll consider her a good friend afterwards <3 and call her every day.

Another potential partner that the Leech parents would love is Idia, and we have some thoughts about them, but I’ll share them a bit later – there is another ask related to this topic that I’ll try to write a proper reply tomorrow. So consider this a teaser and thank you for your patience 👀

#replies

[genshrineimpact]

universe abound

| ◆ ch.5 ⑊ high tea.

⬙⤠ masterlist ⤝⬙

◇ a/n ◇ how do writers build such intricate worlds i am literally pulling my hair rn trying to connect the dots and covering the plot holes sldkfjlsdkf no one look

"your grace-"

"[name]."

"how could i dare to speak the sacred name with this lowly tongue of mi-"

"beel."

the joy that spreads across her expression just from a single mutter of her name makes you feel a little awkward. you weren't even saying it in a pleasant tone, more of a ‘parent scolding a child’ type of tone… you used to find the cultish and worshipping tendencies of sagau romantic, but to actually receive the treatment like this… it feels a little daunting.

"that is my name, yes!"

"hey! how come she gets called by name and not me! i, for one, will gladly call you by name as much as you want!" barbatos puffs out his chest proudly, throwing you his signature wide smile. you’re still not used to this version of him - you have definitely seen this particular skin before, but you never really owned it, seeing as by that time you had other higher priorities to use your money for instead of using them to buy clothes for a fictional character.

that's so weird to think of.

"[name]? ehe, you're staring… does this appearance please you~?"

".... eh?"

"i thought you'd like it, cause the last time an outsider visited, they had this look and you sounded so excited and happy to see him... so i decided to copy them! well, with a few modifications of course~" he motions towards the crystal cores on his braids, smiling as he's recalling an old memory, "you used to laugh whenever i start chasing around the crystalflies, remember? i couldn't help but take a few, i thought you'd like it!"

you want to question so many things in that sentence. like, what did he mean by an outsider visiting? when is this last time he spoke of? what did he mean by you sounding excited and happy? and when did you ever see him chase after crystalflies? was there such an event in the game? why is he speaking as if he’s met you in person before when you've never-

a pinming cup is elegantly served in front of you with a soft clink. your eyes trail up the arm sporting bright colored geo lines to meet morax’s amber-gold eyes, and he offers you a gentle smile.

wow, he’s so beautiful up close.

"oh. i… am glad you think so, [name]."

oh shit, did you just say that outloud?!

"[name], [name], what about me??"

you palm your heated cheeks and decide to abandon your shame altogether. fuck it, if you’re going to be here for a while - which it looks like you will be - then you might as well live out your younger self’s daydreams of interacting and spoiling these ‘fictional’ characters, "you're pretty too, barbatos. and you too, beel."

if only you had your phone with you now, so you can capture the beautiful sight of raiden ei herself blushing, eyes crinkling in a smile, shyly hidden behind her palm covering her lips. on your other side, venti himself has for once quietened down, opting to beam at you with both of his palms supporting his chin, elbows leaning against the table, faint pink dusting his cheeks and a lovesick grin on his lips.

morax sits at the last open seat across from you, still wearing the same smile as before, and you wish you could screenshot this picture-perfect scene, share it online and watch as people lose their minds. because it feels like you're starting to lose your mind right this moment.

"so, [name]. though we are more than joyous that you’ve decided to return, it would be nice to have some… explanation, regarding what has been going on. and perhaps plan our next course of actions."

morax’s calming voice does nothing to quell the sudden spike in your heart rate.

explanation? they want you to explain… what exactly? if anything, you were the one who should be hoping for an explanation. you came to this world because of the game, right? you didn't want to be here in the first place…

"i… can’t."

"your grace, please rest assured, you can trust us completely-"

"i’ll be completely honest. i can't give you any explanation because i have no idea why or how is it that i am here with you right now."

your confession brings a sudden silence over the group.

this time, the anemo archon is the one who reacts first. leaning closer onto your side, eyes wide, he tries to meet your eyes, "b-but- didn't you hear our prayers? received our offerings? isn't that why you came back?"

prayers and offerings.

you think back to the notifications you received. you suppose you can call them prayers, to some extent, although you’ve never seen it as such before this. so the 'person' behind those were… the inhabitants of teyvat themselves? and the free gifts were offerings from them?

… regardless of whom those pings came from, they were the reason why you tried to open the game. so technically, you can say that barbatos is correct, right?

you were about to nod when morax's question intercepted the motion, a slight frown forming between his eyebrows as he observes your expression.

"[name], are you aware of the state of teyvat right now?"

the geo archon’s question triggers a flutter of scenery that you’ve seen through the led screen of your device. they flash before your eyes and you briefly feel the hot lead of guilt filling your stomach. that was… what, months ago? a year? time usually passes faster in the game than in real life, but is that really the case here? because if so, you don't really want to know how the current situation is.

you decide there's no point in lying, so you nod, "just the… gist of it. i know that things aren't… good."

"... forgive me if this sounds intrusive, however, i must ask - where have you been prior to today, [name]? we haven't seen you in person ever since…. ever since you ascended celestia," he sounded… pained, when he says this, and you observe his neutral facade in confusion.

not ‘ascended to celestia’, but ‘ascended celestia’ itself? you might not remember all the lores anymore, but you could've sworn nothing mentioned that.

but then again, the original lore never mentioned the existence of a divine creator or anything pointing to such a being.

"i… i’m not…. i don’t……."

the words are tethering at the tip of your tongue, but something holds them back from spilling out. a dark thought crosses your mind, the possibility making you freeze in fear for a second.

so far, you only know that the game - or whoever it is - that's responsible for bringing you here, actually went through with it because it thinks that you can save this world, in one way or another. knowing this, you can certainly choose to go along with this whole charade; to just play your part and maybe if you're lucky you’ll get some kind of more concrete instructions on what exactly it is that you're supposed to do to ‘save teyvat’. but…

on the chance that it is mistaken, and you're not this all-divine being, the moment the real one arrives, what will become of you?

will you be tossed aside? burned at the stake? stoned to death? electrified into a crisp by beelzebul? stabbed through morax's spear? tossed down starsnatch cliff by barbatos?

you shudder. reading about those 'bad ends' in fiction works was one hell of an experience in itself, but having the possibility of those events actually happening to you is enough to make you rethink your whole plan of action. there's no guarantee that these three will believe you and there's also a possibility that they'll turn back on you the moment you tell them the truth. but lying to them just feels… wrong. and just as risky.

"before that… first, answer me this. how do you know that i'm…. well… me, and not just some… impostor… who's pretending to be the creator?"

the three archons look as if you've just slapped them right on their face. flabbergasted and looking borderline offended, morax - as expected - is the first to compose himself, and he scrambles to pick his words carefully.

"how? but… how could we not? we could never forget your voice, your grace. just as how crystalflies would gather around areas abundant with the energy of their respective elemental types, our very being always yearns to be in your very presence. it is simply the law of nature."

"the aforesaid. there is no question that you’re the divine creator. even i who have not met you directly before this occasion knows that you are, without a doubt, the one who has been guiding me all these times," beel explains with conviction, purple eyes crackling with electro, "please rest assured, if such a sinful being dare to appear in front of your eyes, i will strike it down at once and vaporize them to dust."

her words bring a certain scene at tenshukaku to mind, and you shudder. your silence only deepens the furrows on the two gods' foreheads, and they glance at each other in silence, wondering if they had somehow aggrieved you with their words. in an attempt to do damage control, barbatos inches his hand towards your side of the table and speaks to you in a gentle tone.

"[name]... your appearance may change and you may look like just a normal human being, but the whole teyvat will always recognize you as its master. and that includes its people - meaning, us! you are, undoubtedly, the one and only creator of this teyvat. this barbatos guarantees it! so… so, please, don't look so scared of us, okay?"

your eyes flick between the anemo archon and your steaming cup of tea as your brain tries to come up with a reply. you'd never pegged him of all people to be as observant as he is now… or perhaps your expressions aren't as controlled as you thought.

all this thinking and speculation exhausts you. already, you can feel a tightness at both sides of your head, a warning sign of an incoming stress headache. with a loud sigh, you slump backward onto your chair, hands raised in a surrendering motion.

"fine. i'll tell you what happened from my perspective… with one condition. i want you all to promise me. me, not as your 'god' or 'creator' or any 'divine being', but as… a friend. promise me that whatever happens in the future, you won't hurt me."

"hurt you?! my liege…," the dark purple-haired god shrinks on her seat when you give her a stern look following her outburst. meanwhile, the other two look just as petrified at the prospect of you asking them to swear that they won't do such sacrilegious action.

it finally dawns on them that you do not trust them.

".... very well. if it will ease your heart, as the god of contracts, i shall oversee this promise to ensure that it is held. a binding contract between us and a single individual - [name]."

you can feel some tension leave your body at morax's declaration. in your frazzled state, it seems that you have forgotten about that option. contracts - yes, that could come in handy, you'll have to remember it. you'd like to believe that based on his lore and character, morax would never break a contract, especially the ones he has set personally.

so for now, you should be safe…

"great. now… it's up to you to believe me or not. but i really hope you do and won't think that i'm being delusional, or something."

and so, you began your story. starting from the very beginning. your identity, your life back on earth (though you skipped telling them a lot of things there, because you don't have the energy nor memory capacity to narrate all the years you've lived in - how the hell does morax remember all his 6000 years of life??), how you found out about genshin and started playing it (it took a while to explain this because you can see the confusion in their faces whenever you said certain words like 'video game' or 'server'), how years passed and how it was supposed to be terminated but somehow only you could still access it, how you then started receiving the strange notifications…

you're fully aware that it isn't the wisest decision to lay all your cards on the table like this, but as you glance up at them in between words and find them looking back at you so intently, as if they're hanging on to every single one of your words… it warms your heart and pushes you to tell them the whole truth.

there's a glimmer of recognition in morax's eyes as you tell him about your visit to liyue. he says nothing and lets you continue talking, but there's a solemn smile that tugs on his expression when you stutter on your words, the sadness of seeing liyue so broken evident in your tone. 

you're actually talking to them.

they're actually able to hear you.

this used to be what your younger self wished for the most. you remember it well. the longing to be able to converse and interact with them, to experience teyvat in all its entirety. maybe if this whole thing happened then, you would have eagerly taken the mantle of the 'divine creator' without as much thought.

you're supposed to be all grown up now, but it seems like that yearning never truly left you. perhaps once you've passed a certain treshold, age is truly just that, a meaningless number that matters little, in the grand scheme of things.

by the time you finish, your throat is dry and the tea has gone cold. the four of you fall into silence, each of you with your own thoughts. you sigh and sip on the now-cold tea, silently waving your hand when morax notices the state of your drink and tries to stand, probably to brew you a fresh batch. he sits back obediently and regards you with a calm gaze.

"i understand now that this must be very confusing to you. we've burdened you without knowing. please accept our apologies."

you head shakes automatically and relief floods your veins, creating a small grin on your lips, "you didn't know. it's fine. so you… believe me? you don't think i'm crazy?"

"of course. this explains your hesitance and… aloofness."

"ahaha… sorry about that…"

"i'm sad that you don't remember the older times, but i believe you, [name]!" barbatos smiles, though it's not as bright as his previous ones.

"i... share the same sentiment," beelzebul fixes her gaze on you, "it appears there are some mysteries that need to be solved regarding this matter. but if i may be so insolent as to suggest, i think the matter of teyvat is more of a priority at this moment."

you understand what she meant by her words immediately, and a hopeless sigh left you.

"but i don't know what i'm supposed to do. do you really believe that i can save a whole world, when i've been living a normal life so far?" you raise your eyebrows at her, arms crossing loosely on the table as you lean forward onto it, "from my perspective at the moment, i'm powerless."

beel doesn't look at all convinced, but it was morax who speaks for her, his chin lightly resting on his other fingers which are curled underneath, as his index slowly taps onto the corner of his lips.

"if i may suggest a theory… perhaps you’ve just yet to regain back all of your powers upon setting your feet back into teyvat."

"but what if i don't have my powers anymore? or any powers whatsoever in the first place?"

"oh, but you certainly do. we're here in your abode, are we not?" he chuckles, eyes soft as his voice takes a nostalgic tone, "the sub-space creation was something you taught me a long time ago. this particular one was created by yourself. in fact, i've had the honor of visiting it quite a few times in the past, along with barbatos and a few others, to partake in various festivities hosted by yours truly…….. however, as i was saying, the sub-space needs to feed from the owner's power to continue to exist. so the fact that we're able to converse like this here…"

"aha! this realm itself is proof that you do have your powers!" barbatos exclaims, snapping his fingers in excitement and turning towards you as if waiting for your praise. across from him, beelzebul lightly pouts, and you have an inkling she's somehow upset that she's the only one who hasn't had the chance to meet you and be involved with whatever festivities morax talked about within this realm, a long time ago...

"i… i see. i didn't know that," you scratch your cheek and look down contemplatively at your crossed arms, "then… do you have any suggestions on how to… maybe regain my power? or see if it really is my power?"

"i believe getting reacquainted to teyvat itself should help. even i am not privy to the inner workings of your power, so i do not know much about it. but what i do know is that you're the one who initiates us as allogenes and you have a strong connection with teyvat, with it being your first ever creation."

you nod, knowing the implications behind his words and the pleading looks from the two sitting by your sides. they want you to visit teyvat. in the end, it all comes down to that.

"okay. i'll do it. mond, liyue, inazuma, sumeru, snezhnaya, natlan, fontaine - all seven of them, i'll go and hopefully we can figure out something."

suddenly, you blink and cast your gaze toward all three of them.

"by the way… where are the other four archons?"

a heavy silence blankets over the previously light atmosphere. another shiver travels up your spine upon seeing the solemn expressions of your beloved characters.

"[name]... though this is a regretful outcome, please understand that none of us wish for you to take the blame for it."

morax materializes a pouch sewn from some sort of intricate-looking cloth and unties the string keeping its contents from spilling, before letting them fall onto the table.

you can't help the horrified gasp that escapes your lips at the sight of four gnosis, each bearing different colors and yet all missing its luster.

green, red, and two shades of blue.

dendro, pyro, hydro and cryo.

your head spins.

"but," you barely manage to whisper; it feels like cotton is rapidly stuffing your lungs as you speak, "wh-what of the… their nations, their people-"

"i’m afraid…"

".... they’ve all been destroyed."

© genshrineimpact | 2022 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

◇ taglist ◇ @paintingsofdragonspine | @genshinparty | @abyssmal-skies

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#genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #sagau #venti #barbatos #zhongli #morax #rex lapis #beelzebul #raiden ei #universe abound #rin writes

[swearyshera]

I’m sorry what??? You have a furry ex who (tried to?) committed murder?! Alice you can’t just share things like that and not give us the full story

Oh, there is the most batshit crazy story behind it. I'll stick it under the cut because it has next to nothing to do with the blog (other than to provide partial explanation as to why I'm like this). Cw for murder and horrifying sexual acts.

I'll also say, just before I start, that some of you may be aware of this - may even be aware of my involvement - so I'd ask you not to talk about me in relation to it too much. I've changed a few things about myself (including my name) to try and ensure a clean break from it, but I'm happy to talk about it still.

So... Cast your mind back to autumn 2008. At that time, a sprightly young 20-year-old me met a 19-year-old guy that we will call Steve (that's not his real name). Now, being woefully naïve and having at-the-time undiagnosed BPD, I was the sort of person who would fall deeply in love with anyone who showed me the slightest bit of kindness, and Steve did. He seemed caring, had a wild sense of humour, and genuinely appeared to love me back.

And what that did to me was that it made me ignore an entire truckload of red flags. His house was one level above a squat, bare floorboards and windows, no heating ("We can just snuggle under a blanket and share body heat") and I'm pretty sure he spent more money on beer and DVDs than he did on food. But I didn't seem to give a shit, those rose-tinted glasses were stuck firmly on, so I just ignored that stuff. There was worse, too, things that I felt a little uncomfortable with at the time and only realised years later were... well, let's just say I'd implore everyone to be able to identify what consent does and doesn't look like, because it's not always clear when you don't know for sure.

Anyhow, we'd been together about 4 or 5 months. He spent Christmas with me because he had no family to go to, I visited his house, played the "slightly bemused partner at the furry meet-up" role a couple of times, and things (at least to me) seemed to be great. Then one weekend in February, he mentioned that he was going to see some friends - absolutely fine by me, he did that fairly often and I didn't think anything of it. I texted him in the evening asking him how his day was, and he replied "Had a good day, but didn't go meet them".

That was the last message I got.

I didn't hear from him for the rest of the evening. Or the day after. Or the day after that. I got worried, because it wasn't like him to go silent - he wasn't even online on MSN (2000s reference!). And then I got a message from his aunty asking if I'd heard from him - that rang alarm bells. I reached out to a few of the people he knew, and no-one had heard a thing.

He'd been 'missing' for about a week and a half when I got another message from his aunty. She asked me if I knew a guy called Craig (again, not his real name), and I didn't. Then she asked me something that I can still remember verbatim to this day, she said "Do you have a loving family? You're going to need them, I'm sorry." and sent me a link to a news article. I clicked through to find a story in a local newspaper about two men being held for attempted murder. One of them was Steve.

The next few months flashed by as I found my belief about who he was completely trashed and flipped upside down. I discovered he'd been seeing multiple people behind my back, including this Craig guy, and I tried to find out what had happened, and what eventually came out was a completely other life that I didn't know about. I spoke to the Police about him, and was expecting to speak as a witness at the trial (in the end, thankfully, I did not have to do that). But the reality of what happened was fucking wild.

Steve and Craig had developed some weird-ass master/pet relationship, which led to 'role play' about killing Craig's parents. Craig felt that they were controlling and he'd only get peace if they were gone. In the trial, Steve testified that he thought it was not serious, although if that was the case, why did you fucking do it. On the night he sent the last message to me, he had been at Craig's house, made a show of saying goodbye to him and his parents, then waited in a nearby park. He played a game on his PSP to pass the time.

Later in the evening, once his parents had gone to bed, Craig texted Steve to invite him back in. Once he'd arrived, he was handed a knife and told to go upstairs and stab them which for some fucking reason he agreed to. Now Craig's dad was thankfully on the ball and wasn't quite asleep, and he fought off Steve and wrestled the knife from him, before restraining him and calling the police. Initially, Craig was thought to be an innocent bystander, but he was soon arrested too. Steve was charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to murder, Craig with conspiracy, and in court, both were convicted of conspiracy to murder (but cleared of the attempted murder charge).

If you think it doesn't get more fucked-up than that, boy, do I have a surprise for you. Imagine someone's asked you to commit murder - you'd want something in return, right? And indeed, Craig did offer Steve something. What, you ask? Money? A means of escape? Nope! For successfully killing Craig's parents, Steve would have the opportunity to bite off Craig's dick. I am not joking. If he stabbed some middle-aged people, he would get a fucking sausage sandwich.

So yeah... that's what happened. My life has been an absolute soap opera (although honestly, this seems a bit far-fetched even for that - but I swear to you, every word of it is true).

[papillon82fluttersby]

Famous Five Art Nostalgia #03

Introductory post

Five Run Away Together / Le Club des Cinq contre-attaque

Original publication date: 1944 (UK), 1955 (France)

(Original cover art by Simone Baudouin, 1955)

Sadly, this is the one book for which I haven’t been able to find all the illustrations online, and which I don’t currently own a copy of. I’ll update this post if I ever get my hands on an original copy and find the full set of illustrations, but until then that's it.

I am very happy to report that I have now found a copy of the book with the original Baudouin illustrations. It was all the more frustrating not to have an original copy of this particular book because 1) both as a kid and now, this book was and remains one of my favourites, and 2) once upon a time, I DID own this elusive book: it was among those that belonged to my mum when she was a child; unfortunately at some point, I exchanged some of the FF books with a friend who lent me some of hers in return, the idea being that we would switch back all the books to their original owners after reading them, but time passed and we never made the switchback :(

I was so giddy to finally get my hands on a copy that I couldn’t resist including some of the black and white illustrations as well as the full-colour ones!

~~~~~~

Plot summary (adapted from Wikipedia):

Julian, Dick and Anne arrive in Kirrin Cottage to stay with George for the holidays. They discover that Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin have hired a temporary cook because their regular help Joanna [Maria] had to take a few days off. The new cook, Mrs Stick [Mme Friol, later Mme Friot] is decidedly unfriendly and comes accompanied with her equally unfriendly husband, their nasty, tiresome son Edgar (Emile) and their mangy-looking dog Tinker [Théo], soon dubbed Stinker [Fléau (scourge)] by George.

(George living the good life… and bored out her mind waiting for her cousins to arrive)

(Edgar the brat)

(Julian uses a water hose to separate the two dogs who have been fighting, and can’t pass on the opportunity to douse Edgar)

The Five plan to spend time exploring Kirrin Island but their happiness is spoilt when Aunt Fanny falls ill and has to leave with Uncle Quentin to be treated in a far-off hospital.

(Julian [dark-haired, as he is always depicted by this illustrator] comforts an uncharacteristically weeping George, upset about her mother’s illness)

With George’s parents away, things soon escalate between the Kirrins and the Sticks, as Edgar keeps on mocking the kids in general and George in particular, and Mrs Stick delights in denying them tasty meals, only giving them just enough to get by. The kids retaliate as much as they can, but they don’t want to antagonise the Sticks too much while Aunt Fanny is still ill.

(Julian gives Edgar his just deserts when the brat mocks George one time too many)

(A triumphant Julian and Timmy bring back the Sticks’ dinner after the Five have been denied anything but bread and cheese)

(A quiet card game in the evening)

Mrs Stick repeatedly tries to poison George's dog Timmy, prompting George to hatch a secret plan to run away to Kirrin Island. When Julian catches her leaving, she decides to allow the other children to go with her.

(Preparations for an exciting trip!)

(A surreptitious walk to the beach)

The children settle on the island, reacquainting themselves with the place, but realise they can’t sleep in the ruined castle because the roof fell in. Unsure what to do, they decide to check out the wreck to see if it could make a decent sleeping place. It doesn’t, and they finally settle in a cosy little cave in the cliff.

(Climbing the wall outside the castle to get a good view on the wreck)

(George masterfully throws a rope around a post so they can climb aboard the wreck)

(After settling in the cave, the kids spend a nice day relaxing and enjoying the island)

While exploring, the children find evidence of other people visiting the island and suspect smugglers. The discovery of a young girl's toys and clothes point to something sinister going on. They decide to set up a watch and hide their presence as much as possible. And indeed they soon discover that none other than the Sticks have come to the island and intend to stay!

(Hiding the boat from unwelcome prying eyes)

(The aforementioned unwelcome prying eyes 😠)

The children discover the Sticks have imprisoned a young girl, Jennifer Armstrong, on the island and are holding her for ransom. After tormenting the Sticks into a retreat, the children rescue the girl and take her to the police, who are amazed to see the child "the whole country is looking for."

(The children make animal noises to frighten the Sticks in the echoing dungeons: Dick is the cow 🐮, Julian the sheep 🐑, and George the horse 🐴!)

(Edgar unexpectedly falls into the cave where the Five have been camping)

(Anne “plays house” and tidies up the cave)

(Jennifer meets some chivalrous rescuers!)

The police accompany them back to the island in time to trap and arrest the Sticks. The kidnapped girl's father allows her to spend a week with her new friends on Kirrin Island.

(Goodbye, Famous Five (+ Jennifer)!)

~~~~~~

Cover art through the ages:

...will be posted separately because that's too many images for one post, oops!

Cover art here!

#papillon82 reads #famous five art nostalgia #famous five #le club des cinq #illustrations #simone baudouin #enid blyton

[hasufin]

QR Code

I want to explain what inspired the “You should have an online presence other than Facebook” post, so you can bask in how Very Much a business can fuck this up.

Last week, my spouse and I were in Wisconsin (”A Drinking State with a Cheese Problem”). Now, while we were visiting their family, it does so happen that my family lives in central Illinois. And we decided that it was high time our respective parents met each other - we’ve only been married for seven years,why do you ask?

Finding an acceptable place to eat was not easy. We were starting from locations ~4 hours apart, and there is nothing in Illinois between Springfield and Chicago. Moreover, my spouse and I are both lactose intolerant, so we were trying to find a place which didn’t cover everything with cheese.

We selected a Mediterranean place in Rockford, which conveniently is where my aunt lives.

I mention this all as background, but relevant.

We went to the restaurant, and were informed that they have a total of three physical menus. But! Each table has a QR code you can scan which will take you to their menu “online”.

I valiantly test this first, being probably the most tech-savvy person present. And hit a brick wall: it’s not “online”. It’s on Facebook. Fucking Facebook.

Let me give you our Dramatis Personae here:

Myself: Tech-savvy, has a new smartphone, can read QR codes. Not on Facebook.

My spouse: modestly tech-capable, has an iPhone (I don’t do Apple KTHX, so if there’s an issue they’re on their own). Does have a Facebook account.

My Father-in-Law: has ancient iPhone, no social media presence.

My Mother-in-Law: has a slightly newer iPhone, I don’t think has Facebook.

My mother: Does have a Facebook account, has a smartphone, but it’s old, janky, and barely functional.

My father: has an old-type flip phone. The kind with a physical keypad. He is unable to text. He is barely able to make and receive calls. He regularly breaks it because he cannot figure out how to use it nor keep track of things like “Do not stick a wet rag in the same pocket as the electronic device”.

My aunt: Even jankier smartphone which needs replaced very badly. Facebook account unknown.

This means that of the seven people present, exactly one is able to access the menu online. And if they have trouble, there’s no one who can help.

And I confess I’m left wondering... what’s the target market here? Many younger people are avoiding Facebook - it’s being referred to as a “Boomer Wasteland”. The more tech-savvy avoid it because it’s insecure as fuck. Older people might be more likely to be on Facebook, but they’re also less likely to be able to use a QR code to access the menu.

I mean, I’m not saying there’s no one who can do this - obviously they’re still in business - but it seems like they’re cutting out something like half their potential customers here, which feels like a bad business decision.

And the funny thing is, while I think a restaurant absolutely should put their menu online, and put it in a simple format without having to download a PDF, if they didn’t do that, well, they’d be in the same boat as something like half the restaurants out there. So many small restaurants just haven’t figured out that marketing and advertising are a crucial part of the business, and that online presence is critical to that.

But this half-assed “We posted it on Facebook, here’s a QR code!” is the worst of both worlds.

Oh! And I forgot to mention the OTHER impressive fail. We were planning on ordering pizza the evening when the entire family could get together. But, again, my spouse and I can’t do dairy. So we want to see if the pizza place offers non-dairy cheese. I go to the website of the pizza place - small chain - and they have a link to the menu. It wants to know my location - makes sense, not all locations have all the same options - but when I select the location, it drops me not into a MENU but straight into the ordering process. And since I was looking before they opened for the evening, it then kicks me out of the ordering process because you can’t make an order before they open. The only way to view their menu is to start an order while they are open!

[oncyprusshores]

An Introduction; My Way to Aphrodite

Hellloooo friends-to-be! I’m Gwen, I use she/her pronouns, and I’m firmly devoted to the goddess of love, beauty, and pleasure: Aphrodite! I was struck with inspiration to start my own silly little pagan blog after reading so many others, and I don’t know where else to start then the very beginning! I’d like to share how I made my way to her, because it’s such a roundabout path and I love recounting it ;3; So, without further ado...

I grew up in a very, very, fundamentalist Christian home- like so many unfortunate witches, pagans, and women of faith today. In all, I’d say my experiences were pretty typical. But there are a few main takeaways from that period. I was hit and forcefully restrained if I refused to go to church, up until I was 18. For most of my childhood, I was going to church 2-3 times a week in some pentacostal shithole. But around age 13, I started forming opinions and beliefs that went against everything I was being told.  I had reached the point, in my studies of the bible, that I decided that even if the Christian god was real he wasn’t worthy of my worship. I was also a student of history; specializing in art history. Appreciating art history requires rich cultural context, and so from a young age I was learning about the beliefs of our ancestors. I’d always find myself wondering- “Does anyone still worship these people? There’s no way all the tradition can actually just be gone, right?”. Sometimes I’d think “These pantheons are so much more interesting and rich then what we have now, why can’t we have this!”  Given my living situation, I hadn’t known anything about paganism or wicca. The closest I ever got was a PowerPoint presentation given by a girl I crushed on in middle school, which (of course) was just a very cursory look and only touched on the worship of the Mother Moon and Father Sun. And so, until my adulthood, I just assumed that was it! I was casually interested in wicca, if for no other reason than it was something different from what I grew up in, but I never looked into it because I rationalized that even if I did believe in it I couldn’t act on it under my parents’ roof.  We finally come to 2022. This is kind of embarrassing to say, but when I started playing Final Fantasy XIV this year and learning about the ways Primals existed, I started getting really introspective on the nights I laid in bed sleepless. I’ve always kind of believed in some supernatural force that Humans can manifest. There are plenty of hucksters out there, but there are genuinely some examples of miracle healing that science cannot adequately explain. So I was thinking- If enough people believe in something, and it enters the collective unconsciousness, and people could reflect on that concept and gain insight from it... Was it functionally the same as a god? I was having all kinds of internal dialogue about this, and in the middle of it came my birthday.  For my birthday, I got a nice chunk of change. I decided I’d treat myself to a visit to my favorite retro game store, since I hadn’t been able to do that in months. I started thinking about what I’d wanna be on the lookout for, and I made an offhanded joke to my friends: “If they have a copy of the Thousand Year Door, I will start believing in a higher power.” That was just a joke, of course! But one made in a specific context: I’ve always wanted to play that game but I don’t like emulating, and in all my years of game collecting I had never seen a copy of it in person! I was really in the mood to play it, but I was resigned to the fact I’d probably never see it.  The next day came... And there it was. A mint condition, complete-in-box, copy of Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door priced exactly within my price range. It wasn’t a bad deal in general, either! It was only a couple dollars more than the game sells for online loose.  I grabbed it as quick as I could, and I shared a picture of it with my friends saying; “This is a huge moment for me, but I’m deeply concerned by the implications.”  I was afraid I’d end up having to reconcile with the Christian god, shave away important parts of myself to fit into the gates of Heaven.  I spent the next two weeks shoving that down and distracting myself with the loveliness that is TTYD. I loved it, and was excited to play more Paper Mario in the future after I finished it!  Well soon my parents went out of town, and on a whim I decided to use the rest of my money to look at spiritual books at Half Price Books just out of curiosity. I was going in pretty agnostic- Whatever caught my eye I’d grab. Whether it was wicca, Buddhism, new age- The sky was the limit. I ended up settling on a $3 book- Morgan Le Fay’s Book of Spells and Wiccan Rites. I only went in there to grab a book, but I decided I’d check out the video game section on my way out because why not.  And what did I see? Super Paper Mario.  As silly as it sounds- That convinced me I was onto something. It became undeniable in my mind that forces beyond my reckoning were pulling strings to nudge me towards them.  So I got home and I started reading. And I was dumbfounded by what I read in the introduction. It was everything I had been thinking about. All the things I’d imagined could be true about spirituality, completely independently, and thought it was just me. I thought I must have been the only person in the world to think of these things- But there they were in ink. All the conclusions and observations I made in my secular studies of history and culture were all there. I was learning a lot even if it was just a book of rituals I had never heard of before. But what really struck me was seeing all the different gods represented in it! Of course Mother Moon and Father Sun were there, but there was also Isis, Athena, Hecate- So many!  Of course in my limited understanding, I assumed whatever I saw there was just the accepted pantheon of wicca. Having grown up in a fundie conservative household, my brain assumes there’s rigid rules on everything. But I happened on one prayer that indicated you could add the name of any favored god or goddess.  It clicked.  I realized, right there, that I could worship Aphrodite. That was my first thought when I finally realized the freedom of pagan belief systems. I greatly value love, compassion, and empathy and I am vehemently sex positive. For a while I jokingly called myself a succubuskin because I wanted to be the kind of woman that could disarm people with charms and show them the depths of pleasure they’ve wrongfully denied themselves. I always wistfully wished there was a a real live goddess and belief system for that. But I just... Didn’t realize it was there all along! Under my nose, all I had to do was just research a little bit. I was ecstatic. I wasn’t a full-blown believer yet, I was still agnostic because I hadn’t had any spiritual experience. I was just doing my research- but I really, really, really, hoped Aphrodite would prove real. I did some research online for modern Aphrodite worship, and I found a little invocation you could do as an introduction.  I felt like it might’ve been sacrilegious to just ring a goddess’s doorbell- But it seemed the most direct way to prove if this was real or not.  And she answered.  I felt her, she was there with me. It was beautiful and existential and humbling all at once and the weight of the implications loomed over me. We talked, and she made it clear she stood for everything I had wished for. The gods are not omniscient, but I’ve practiced meditation and trance work secularly all my life- I truly believe my heart’s desires must have reached her on the astral plane and she carefully arranged circumstances for that fateful meeting.  From there it was a long road of absorbing as much information as I could about paganism (not just wicca, I’m a solo eclecticist) and Aphrodite. I honed my meditative skills, talked to her every day, and learned all I could about her myths across every culture.  It’s already been a long story, so I’ll keep that bit short. But ever since I’ve started my walk with Aprhodite, I’ve been ecstatic and hopeful. I’m looking forward to the future like I never had before. Our relationship is so close in just a few months, and I’ve even chewed her ear on that and I truly feel like this isn’t my first rodeo with her. My friends have always described me as a bit of an old soul, and I truly believe my aptitude for communing with her and navigating the internal world is a result of lifetimes of work and many habits I coincidentally formed growing up. I get this overwhelming sense that I’ve been readying myself for this path all my life without even knowing it. Meditation is my strong suit, and I truly mean that I’ve been practicing with modes of trance for over a decade. Currently I have a set of multisensory triggers that I’m training into myself and it’s been so so SO rewarding. I do a small rite every friday, anointing myself with rose oil, and have done a few larger rituals in the seclusion of my parent’s rural backyard. I keep a little incognito altar for Aprhodite, and I meditate every single day. I don’t always invoke her, but it’s very often I do and some times she’s even showed up of her own accord.  I’ve written a bunch of poetry I’d love to share over the coming days as well. She’s been an amazing source of inspiration, and I’ve been told by many others they can feel her presence in my spiritual work which is just. So amazing to me.  I would, one day, love to be her priestess. And with my knack for meditation, I’ve fantasized about the possibility of me even being an oracle one day ;3; I, of course, also honor the rest of the hellenic pantheon and just recently made an arrangement with Apollo! But, my heart was clearly always made to be chiefly hers <3 I’d like to leave this little introduction with a drawing I did of my little meditative basecamp. I use visualization as my main tool, and even though I’ve never been a landscape artist I was stricken with inspiration to sketch this doodle of my basecamp the very same night I discovered it. And somehow... It came out alright! This is the beach-side altar I visit daily in meditation, and from there I’ve done so many wonderful things. (Fun fact, the sand castle was something I randomly decided to build and it’s been a tradition for me to try and maintain it. Some times I have to start from scratch, of course, but I know she appreciates the effort I put in to something even so frivolous in her honor ^^) Be blessed everyone, and bless each other! <3

#pagan #hellenic pagan #hellenic witch #hellenic worship #paganart #aphrodite #wicca #eclectic pagan #eclectic wicca #hellenic deities #devotional paganism #pagan blog

[all-too-ric3]

Prompt list (Fluffy):

Here’s my prompt list, send an ask with the number/s you’d like to to write about! Can’t wait. x

1. She meets the boy who lives in the apartment above hers and instantly falls for him.

2. It’s Valentine’s Day and she’s never received any cards or messages from anyone…until now.

3. She runs into her high school crush and reminisces about the time that they had a really cute moment.

4. A guy gets a plane ticket from his father so he can visit the girl that he’s been talking to online

5. He proposes to her by hiding the ring in her food

6. She meets her boyfriend’s family for the first time after dating for six months.

7. A girl is taking care of her sick grandmother but her boyfriend comes over and spoils her with snacks and a TV marathon

8. On their two-year anniversary, she thanks him with a list of all the reasons she’s so glad to have him in her life

9. A girl has been talking to this guy online but never expected him to be this cute in person

10. She posts the video of their first kiss online because it’s too cute not to share

11. The couple’s first kiss is ruined by an earthquake. They laugh it off

12. A couple holds hands for the first time

13. A couple moves into an apartment together and realizes they have very different styles of decorating

14. One of his work partners has become a very dear friend over the years, and it’s actually starting to look like something more than friendship

15, She has to have surgery and asks her boyfriend to take her on a cute date before she goes under

16. A guy finds an old picture of his friends at their prom. He also sees his dream girl in the picture. He shows up at his old friend’s house to ask if they can help him track down the girl

17. Two best friends tease each other a lot and engage in a playful “fight” that ends with them kissing for the first time

18. A guy goes on a blind date and learns that his date is the girl he gave a note to in elementary school

19. She just met this guy with the most amazing socks and she can’t stop thinking about them

20. A couple falls deeper in love during a snowball fight

21. “You took all the pillows so I'm using you as one.”

22. “Can you say that again?” “Were you not listening?” “No I was, I just like hearing your voice.”

23. “I’m pretty sure she/he’s my soulmate.”

24. “You come here often?” “Well considering I work here, yes.”

25. “You know, I think my parents would be proud if I brought you home.”

26. “This reminded me of you.”

27. Why do you have to look at me like that? It’s making me weak, please stop.”

28. “Oh god, how can you manage to switch from cute to sexy in under a second?”

29. “You’re hurt. Please just let me heal it.”

30. “Is this the moment that we kiss?”

31. “I desperately want to take you out for dinner and slow dance with you until the sun comes up, but I also want to grip your hair as I watch you writhing underneath me.”

32. “Every inch of you is the most incredible thing that God ever created.”

33. “Are you going to kiss or keep staring?”

34. “I’m not materialistic. I like being happy and having lots of sex.”

35. “Why didn’t you answer your phone? It was an emergency, I needed to tell you I loved you.”

36. “Every morning you kiss my forehead before I leave for work, why was it on my lips today?”

37. “We could be an epic novel of forbidden lovers, like Romeo and Juliet without the ending.”

38. “You’re unbelievably cute when you’re tired.”

39. “You getting so flustered is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.”

40. “How would you feel about spending the day in bed?”

#mick schumacher #mick schumacher x you #daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo fluff #charles leclerc #lewis hamilton #Bucky Barnes #Sebastian Stan #prompt list #f1 #f1 drivers #marvel

[purplesurveys]

1446

1. Do you enjoy being surrounded by neighbors, or would you be more comfortable someplace secluded? I feel like being somewhere secluded would affect me negatively. I like the vibe where I currently live, where I have neighbors but none of us feel the pressure to talk with one another and keep up ties and such.

2. Is there any sibling rivalry between you and your siblings, if you have any? I don’t think it counts as a ‘rivalry’ as it denotes some sort of active competition, but I’m not on speaking terms with my brother due to something he did a few years back.

3. Do you usually root for the good guys or the bad guys? It depends on the character. I usually do find the bad guys irritating which is a testament to their execution, but sometimes there are just villains who are so good at being bad I can’t help but root for them - like Walter White and Gus Fring from Breaking Bad, and to some extent even The Governor from The Walking Dead.

4. Are you allowed to have pets at your house? Yeah, my parents own the place so we have three dogs.

5. Have you ever lived in a trailer park? No.

6. Is there anyone that you know through the internet that you would feel comfortable meeting in person? My circle of internet friends has drastically shrunk over the years and out of the few ones I remain to have, I’d really only be comfortable meeting Aliyah. 

7. Have you ever had a dream involving characters from a game/movie/television show? I rarely remember my dreams but I’m sure that has already occurred before.

8. Do you ever have dreams about people you have never even seen before? Sure. I once had a dream where I had a daughter, even though I’ve never seen whoever that baby girl was before. There was another dream of mine (it was more of a nightmare, though) where I had to witness a loved one getting shot, and I wasn’t familiar with who the perpetrator was.

9. What’s the last thing you wrote down? I had to think of a mock-up for a social media card we were planning to pitch to a client and it was just harder to describe the asset to my associate in words, so I ended up doodling the envisioned material and writing some details on it for her better understanding.

10. Do you remember any phone numbers from years ago that now belong to someone you don’t know? I don’t think so.

11. How often does your household get numbers for the wrong people? Not very often; maybe once every few months. It probably helps that not a lot of people use landline anymore.

12. Have you ever found something strange in your mailbox? We don’t have a mailbox, but generally we’ve never received anything weird.

13. Is there anything specific you need to do within the next week? Just some work-related deadlines I have to accomplish.

14. What was the last movie you got from Netflix [if you use it]? I’m not sure what you mean by ‘got,’ but the last movie I saw was called A Hard Day, but it was the Filipino version coming from the original South Korean film. I watched it with my parents this morning.

15. Are you annoyed by the increase in prices for Netflix? My dad pays the monthly subscription for our family so it doesn’t affect me.

16. Who was the last relative that came to visit you? My grandma and one of my cousins came over for my brother’s birthday.

17. Does your bedding all match? Yep.

18. Are you having company over the weekend? Nopes. I only have friends come over whenever there’s an online concert we wanna watch together, and there’s none of that happening this weekend.

19. Do people come to you a lot with their problems? Not a lot, but my friends will sometimes come to me if they want to rant or need advice on something, yes.

20. Have you/would you ever consider teaching as a career? I don’t think I ever wanted to be a teacher, even as a kid.

21. Are you most comfortable with having short hair or long hair? Ultimately, shorter.

22. Do you usually cut your hair short in the summer? Nah, my schedule when it comes to having my hair trimmed is always random.

23. Are you interested in fantasy movies/shows? No, it’s one of my least favorite genres.

24. Have you ever gone whale-watching? I think we’ve tried it before? but it wasn’t too successful. I was able to see some dolphins, though.

25. What is something that you have a large amount of? K-pop freebies (mostly replicards, stickers, and thank you notes) from all the shops I’ve purchased from over the last few months.

#survey #surveys

[nicetrynicetry]

75

It’s Sunday and somehow I let myself stumble through the last 4 days without writing anything but a shopping list. This was Saturday night, when I cook for a loved one for the first time in months, oddly intimidated by the prospect of preparing fish with another palate in mind. I am rusty, googling basic tenets of pan-frying that used to be a matter of instinct. It’s not my finest meal (V, remember when I made us cassoulet?), but it does its job, which is gastronomic ambience while we talk about the world. The house feels more and more of a home, which is to say it doesn’t impose itself on me while V says she finds men with long fingernails disgusting. I don’t like them either, I tell her, but mainly because they make me think of wizards

Friday I tell J I can’t hang out because I have deliveries all day at the studio but really I just want to work uninterrupted. I do have a delivery, from A, who brings me a month’s worth of fresh canvases and news of his son with a head injury who attacked two police officers and a nurse after a suicide attempt and is now in prison. His story is one of a crumbling mental health system, overeager yet misinformed law enforcement, and what it means to undergo a family crisis in a gossipy small town. Apparently when one is released from prison and can’t return home because it is the scene of the crime, the police sometimes give you a special blank train ticket that takes you wherever you want. When I search this policy online I get no hits, and figure that A in his state of shock and anguish might be half-right about it. Mainly I think of what it is to raise a son, specifically a tall and athletic son who can physically overpower both his parents, how terrifying that is. It puts my kicking my dad in the groin into harsh perspective. I remember in Louis Theroux’s By Reason Of Insanity documentary there was a young man who had a psychotic episode and raped his own mother. At the time of the documentary’s filming she still visited him every week

On Thursday I burn my shoulder on the inside of my oven basting a whole roasted cauliflower with butter and capers. I like to slice off parts of the cauliflower like I’m performing an autopsy on a brain and eat them. The burn turns out to be worse than I thought when it bothers me in the night, skin peeling away onto my sheets. Before the burn I meet A, also peeling but from retinol on her forehead, for tapas at Morito. It’s a kind of “ladies who lunch” except we are figurative painters with steep secondary markets. A is buying a giant studio building for a price that makes me choke into my water glass. A born and bred New Yorker and prolific poster of the hashtag #newyorktough during the pandemic, she is finally beginning to admit that after witnessing two gang shootings and seeing rats infest a handful of restaurants, New York isn’t the best place to live. The level of wealth required to shield oneself from the city’s problems is higher than it’s ever been, which in turn seems to cause people to do wild shit for money, make strange deals, sign crazy documents. Then when the city gets entirely too much you have to retreat to the Hamptons, or if it gets really bad, go to a modern sanitarium in the Swiss alps. Neither are cheap, so perhaps you marry rich as a matter of urgency, but of course the money that sustains you can only be made in the city so the cycle continues until you are finally audited by the IRS. I am generalising, but as a grateful annual visitor of New York I have noticed themes. The Real Housewives franchise confirms this. I cannot tell if A is happy, and spend much of the afternoon pondering it before realising it’s none of my business. I do know that she has contrast agent stagnating in her bloodstream from having too many MRIs, and that her love life is far more in order than I believe mine will ever be, and that she has begun dressing a bit like Gwyneth Paltrow

As for today, I have band practice in a rehearsal room where I’m told by a despondent T that the mixer is all fucked up, and so preparation to actually play takes over an hour. I realise that next weekend I would be perfectly within my rights to arrive an hour later than the rest of the band, set up my modest pedal board and spare myself some nervous pacing outside the building. I could sleep later too: to cold plunge, do the crossword, meditate, bike to my studio to paint for an hour and meditate again requires a ~4 hour head start to the day just to feel mentally sound when I pick up my guitar at noon and play songs I have been sick of for a year. By late afternoon we sound fine, and an hour later than that I have a headache. I wait for T to drive me back to the studio, yawning, so I can drop my stuff and then get in a cab home, yawning, then eat dinner, then read about Israel / Palestine to round out the week

[doriandistortion]

My favorite post on Letterboxd

I can’t explain how much this means to me

By reibureibu

Reviewing The Man Who Sleeps

After graduating college I thought I had things figured out. I had a paid internship that provided housing and other interns as roommates, at a maritime museum that was next to the ocean. Every day I woke up to my seaside surroundings and interacted with all kinds of people both indoors and outdoors, and every week we visited another museum to learn more about the field and just hang out as a group. In retrospect, that was one of the best periods of my life; certainly it was one of the most vibrant, and meaningful.

Though I wouldn't know it at the time, what I did next was the complete antithesis. I essentially worked a miscellaneous office job, doing whatever leftover tasks were necessary that no one else wanted to do. I had coworkers I never connected with no matter what I did, and I became even lonelier with how a few came so close (I still wish them well, they were really good people. And so I came home with the daylight all spent to a shabby floor I shared with two other people. They were terrible at cleaning. They also claimed the living room. So I spent all my time locked in my small room just staring at a screen that bathed the space sickly white, until it was too late to get any restful sleep.

This job was temporary so after a while it ended, but I still had a few months left on my housing contract. So instead of spending that time being productive like I promised my parents, my friends, and most importantly myself, I spent that time delving even deeper into exile.

I never left the house (I barely left my room) and the only thing I ever did was find momentary escapes from my increasing anxiety. Video-games I took no pleasure in, books I never read, music I listened to once... honestly I couldn't even really tell you specifics because I barely remember anything at all.

The few times I went outside was a haze, like stepping outside into a bright, blinding fog that took every ounce of will just to put one foot forward over the other.

Nothing felt real; nothing seemed real. The time spent outdoors warped like the paint on my walls. So I went back inside. At least there time stood still.

And when I ran out of all the food I had in the fridge, I just started ordering delivery online. And I ordered a lot, so I could eat a lot, because eating was the only thing that still gave me pleasure. And by ordering so much I had food for days; you'd be surprised how long pizza (and pasta, and burgers, and anything fried, and-) can last at room temperature.

Yeah, it's disgusting. I was disgusting. I just had containers of food lying around on the floor so I could eat it whenever I needed to feel something, anything; I probably smelled like stale grease all the time, plus I had no motivation to shower at all; I was unemployed and unproductive, wasting all my money on stuff I didn't need to buy that only gave me fleeting moments of joy; I stayed up all night feeling like a soulless husk so I could wake up with the next day already almost gone; and I stopped talking to all my friends and family, because suddenly that phone became too heavy to lift when I needed to text one of them back.

I guess that sounds like mavbe I had depression. I don't know. I think you rarely know when you do. At the time, it all just seemed so... normal. How different normal was then, compared to when I was at sea.

"It is on a day like this one, a little later, a little earlier, that you discover, without surprise, that something is wrong, that you don't know how to live and that you never will. Something has broken."

That's the story of The Man Who Sleeps, or at least, my story of when I was most asleep. The film ends, right there, at the absolute nadir of despair. The period when things are at their utter worst, yet, paradoxically, when one is at their most accepting of it. Perhaps it's because that's when we succumb to it entirely, at an uneasy peace now that we've renounced all else.

But I won't end it here, no, because that's not where my story ends.

If you told me at the time that I would get better, I wouldn't have believed you. If you told me at the time that I would start enjoying hobbies again, I wouldn't have believed you. If you told me at the time that I would reconnect with my loved ones, I wouldn't have believed you. And if you told me at the time that I would find any sense of worth in myself and my life, I especially, vehemently, would never have believed you.

But I did. I woke up. I am no longer asleep.

#letterboxd #the man who sleeps #movie review #depression #mental health #relatable #writing #deep #meaningful #I am the man who sleeps

[just-some-sad-kiddo]

This morning, I woke up a little before my alarm and did a little bit of journaling since I don’t like going on electronics first thing in the morning. It was nice to get some thoughts out. I’m thinking that when my Google home arrives, I’ll set it up to play some easy, gentle music in the morning. I also need to get a blindfold or something for my morning meditation because I get distracted too easily when I open my eyes but I always forget to keep them closed.

I think I want to try putting boba into the Yorkshire tea. I mean, it’s just milk tea. They just call it tea here, of course, but for me it’s milk tea. Charlotte told me that there was a good Asian food shop in York that she and her friends go to sometimes.

I need to ask Shannon if he wants to visit for Christmas. Mom said that she’d pay for his ticket if he did since Dad wouldn’t be obligated to at that point. I hope that he does decide to come since we did have a lot of fun when all of us went to England together the last time.

So, I’ve started writing my thoughts on paper during the day so that I don’t get distracted while I’m trying to work. I think I might also start doing a handwriting journal since, honestly, my handwriting could be better. 

I need to start working on my GCSE shit. That’s the English version of the SATs but I need to figure out how they work and how to study for them. I was hoping that i’d be able to find some kind of remote option for school since that’s what I’m used to, but all of the remote options don’t work for me. First off, they’re expensive as hell and second, they never have any art courses. It makes sense that you have to do art in-person but my last school experience was so miserable that I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it. I’ve really been spoiled lately with my online learning i’ve been doing for the past year. I wear what I want, eat what I want, work when I want, and I can wear my headphones so that I don’t experience any sensory overload. I can’t do pretty much any of that shit at Selby which is just fantastic. I mean, it’s not like I’ve ever failed a class due to my literal disability. Oh, wait. I have. Multiple times. Of course, when I expressed my concerns to Mom, she did the thing where it’s illegal for me to be upset. Honestly, why do I tell her anything anymore? She does this every time. If I went back through my journal and looked, I’d probably find a thousand times she’s done this. I seriously need to remember not to say anything negative around her ever. She’s the only one who is allowed emotions. Who cares that I had a meltdown earlier today because Athena and Eris wouldn’t stop fighting? It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything. I’m just an angsty teenage pessimist who doesn’t have any real problems. 

This house is really cold, but nobody wants to turn the heat on because of how expensive electricity is right now because of the Russia/Ukraine war. I can’t even step into the kitchen barefoot or my feet will literally freeze. Trust me, I tried it yesterday. Worst mistake of my life.

I’m really, really excited to start working. I turned in my resume today at Gingers, but I don’t really think I’ll get the job. For one, I didn’t have a UK phone number so I put Tony’s on my CV. And, since Angela wasn’t there, I didn’t have the opportunity to tell her that it was Tony’s number. It seems unprofessional to have your parents number on your CV, is it not? But, anyway, when I get my new number I’m going to apply at the list of places Tony gave me. Luckily, everything in Howden closes by 3 anyways. I want to save up money so I can perm my hair nicely and also get my workout clothes and duffle bag for the gym. I also would like to get a Squarespace subscription so I can get myself a professional website to host my work. And buy a not-shitty printer.

I went to the park. It was nice, although I did get lost on the way. I also got lost when turning in my CV. It makes things harder that everyone drives like a psycho here. Literally insane. 

The lock on the door is still fucked up so Tony called locksmith so come fix it. In the meantime, I wanted to go to the gym so Paul drove me. I would have taken the bus, but much like in Fort Collins, they stop running really early. Also, they’re really expensive and all owned by private companies that don’t communicate with eachother. Thing is, I didn’t realize I’d have to get an induction as I’d never heard of that before. We call them orientations in America, but I’d never heard of that either. In fact, it seems I’m the only one whose never heard of that because everyone else knew what was going on. Anyway, I’ve set it up for 10:00am Saturday.

The gym is near these flats which are apparently very dangerous according to Tony and Paul. They say they’ve had the most bodies they’re from drugs and people jumpin’ out of windows. I forgot that Paul was also in the medical field.

#easybreezy

[survey--s]

460.

Have you ever thought of a relationship as more of a job than love?  Yes, it's definitely felt like that at times - but I think all relationships can be like that at times - they're never going to be plain sailing.

Have you ever been caught right in the middle of a rain storm outside?  Sure, loads of times. I work outdoors and live in one of the rainiest areas of the country lol.

Have you got any cousins with interesting or embarrassing names?  Some of them have some unusual names but none of them are especially embarrassing or anything like that.

What is one food you could eat for a month, straight, and not get sick of? I don't think there is one - there are loads of foods I love but none of them are things I could eat constantly.

When was the last time you watched a complete hour of the news?  Probably right at the beginning of COVID. I get all my news online these days.

Have you ever spray painted something about your love somewhere? Nope.

When was the last time you visited the park? Who did you go with?  It was just on a dog walk - I think it was with Copper before Christmas.

Are you one of those people who like to eat at restaurants a lot? I do enjoy it but it's SO expensive now so it's not really something we can justify these days.

Have you ever been out on the ocean in a rather small boat?  Not right out into the ocean, but I've done pedaloe rides and stuff.

When was the last time you went swimming? Who did you go with, if anyone?  It was back when we went to Lanzarote but that was five years ago.

Do you like going to the beach, or do you not really care to go?  We live about two minutes from the beach lol. I love it but it doesn't hold the same appeal it did when I was younger.

What are your parents’ names? Are you named after either of them?  I'm not naming them, but the answer to your second question is no.

What was the last thing you bought at a store? When did you buy this?  I got some brown tape from Tesco yesterday.

What is one odd thing about the opposite sex you find to be attractive?  I can't really think of anything particularly odd.

What noises in the room you’re in, do you hear at the moment?  Just the TV show I'm watching and the cat snoring next to me. I think the other two cats are in the kitchen and everyone else is out.

Do you know a lot of things about the opposite sex’s body parts?  I mean, I know what I need to know.

What color is the kitchen in the house you’re in, painted?  The walls are cream, the units are duck egg blue and the surfaces are white.

Do you live in a town where basically everyone knows everyone else?  Hahah, yep, pretty much. Everyone knows everyone around here - you honestly can't do anything without everyone knowing about it.

When was the last time you or someone else in your family bought a vehicle?  Uh, I got a new car two years ago when my old car got totalled.

Are your grandparents the kind who are very protective of you? No, that's not how I'd describe them. They lived nowhere near me so we were never very close.

Have you ever, or do you live on a farm at this moment in time?  I haven't but I would absolutely love to own a small farm.

Are you one of those people who can’t help but download everything they find?  No.

How many things in the past have you bought off Ebay? What things?  Quite a few things - stuff for the dog, ID tags, wellies, clothes, wax melts and plenty of other bits.

Are you or the people you live with pack rats? Or are they tidy?  Mike is definitely a pack rat. It's probably the one thing about him that truly drives me absolutely mad. He is SO messy.

What are three things to you that are really worth the wait in life?  Uh, I don't know really.

Is there any sound everyone else finds weird, yet you find nice?  ASMR stuff. I just find it infuriating lol.

Were you always one of those kids who got in trouble with everyone around?  No, I was the total opposite. I hated getting in trouble.

When was the last time you took a nap? Did it relax you any?  I honestly don't remember, I pretty much never take naps.

Honestly, do you see yourself as a slut?  Nope.

Is there a secret you’ve never told your parents?  Sure. I mean, I love my parents but they're not my best friends.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever been through?  I can't think of anything specific right now.

Have you ever had your heartbroken? Yes.

Do you think Enrique Iglesias is sexy? He's not unattractive but he's also not my type.

Can you text quickly?  Yeah. A fast-paced job helps you with that.

Do you like fast food or does it disgust you?  I like McDonald's but I'm not a fan of KFC or Burger King.

Which singer’s vocals would you love to steal?  Tracy Chapman.

What’s your favourite shop?  It depends what I'm buying - but clothes-wise probably Fat Face.

Have you got a hairdresser that you can trust? Yeah, my sister-in-law does my hair for me.

Are you a deep or light sleeper? Both, ha. I struggle to get to sleep if there's noise or stuff going on around me, but once I'm asleep I'm out.

Do you wear a lot of make up? No, I pretty much never wear any make-up.

Do you get nervous before exams? I used to, but I haven't done exams for years now.

Does the weather influence your mood? Hmm, yes - I find windy weather really overwhelming and stressful for some reason lol. I think it's a sensory thing.

Who was the last person you kissed? My husband.

What’s your favourite alcoholic drink? Disaronno and coke for mixers, or raspberry daquiris for cocktails. I also like raspberry vodka and lemonade.

Do you watch Big Brother? No. I was never allowed to watch it when it first came out, and by the time I was allowed, I never saw the appeal.

#survey #surveys