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barbiewritesstuff · 2 years

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Church encounters : Chapter 6 (part1)

-- Guys, we are celebrating tonight because not only has our google doc containing this fic reached 40.000 words, it has also passed the 100 pages mark which makes this a novel! Y'all are reading literature now!! No I'm joking but barely.

This fic is written with @Igg5989 , she is posting this on her blog and on AO3 and she made the moodboard!

Also sorry for the Italian, it was done via Google Translate.

Previous part

Taglist: @acarboni21 @unsurebuttrying @dempy @peaches-1998 @bbooks-and-teas

"I think that's the last of the bags?" Jake asked, having heaved every single thing you had prepared into the back of his truck. You had both meant to travel light, but soon after Jake had reported your acceptance to their invitation, an email had come through your inbox. Jake's sister had apparently scoured the internet to find you and introduce herself. Clearly, shyness didn't run in the family, as Jake's sister sported the same boldness when she asked you to please, pretty please, bring back an item she had forgotten at Jake's months ago and never gotten back. Jake had warned you, and you hadn't listened but once one demand was accepted, a million other ones would follow.

Jake had decided to take the first leg of the staggering sixteen hour drive, allowing you to sleep a little longer before stopping at the most convenient coffee chain and getting you the largest drink he could order. You were not, and had never been, a morning person. Your ideal wakeup time lay somewhere in the mid afternoon but waking up for work had always been easy, it was any other time that was the problem. Once caffeine entered your system, you were good to go, taking over from Jake for the next 2 hour leg. Once you stopped for a quick lunch of homemade sandwiches, Jake took over again.

You switched over every four hours until you got to the motel. The room you got was fairly spacious, counting two single beds, a medium sized bathroom with a bath and shower combo, two sinks and a practically see-through shower curtain. The only luxuries in the room were a broken kettle and a working coffee machine. All in all, the room left much to be desired, but it was clean and only for one night.

Jake offered to take the bed closest to the door, for protection purposes and you just laughed at his manliness. You placed your toiletries in the bathroom and put your suitcase on a chair, the top open and ready for you to rustle through all the things you had packed.

It was approaching ten and the sun had long since set. The two of you decided to go to bed since Jake wanted to get an early start on the road in the morning. Your nightly routine didn’t usually include taking a shower, but since you would be leaving early you decided to follow your cardinal rule: whatever got you more sleep in the morning needed done the night before. With that in mind, you made your way into the bathroom, closing the door behind you and pressing the little button for the lock.

You turned the shower on and quickly stripped out of your travelling clothes, a pair of old leggings and one of Jake’s Navy sweatshirts, you always got cold in the car. As the bathroom filled with steam, you stepped under the water’s warm spray. You soaped up your hair, some bubbles landing on the shower curtain, and rinsed it out. You left your conditioner to soak in for a moment while you spread body wash on a washcloth. You thought that you heard a noise in the bathroom, but when you looked out the curtain, there was nothing there.

Lathering up with body wash, you screamed when the door to the bathroom burst open, Jake walked in unbothered. He had on running shorts and his ripped up t-shirt was tucked into his waistband.

“Jacob Thomas Seresin, get out!” you screeched at him, trying for the life of you to keep yourself covered. You could feel a blush spreading up your cheeks and down your neck.

He made a show of keeping his eyes closed as he felt his way to the toilet, “Sorry babe, it was warmer than I thought, just need a towel.”

You watched as he grabbed a hand towel from the rack mounted on the wall, now using it to cover his eyes as he felt his way back out of the bathroom. You let out a sigh, at least he had the decency to cover his eyes. As you turned back to the hot water, rinsing the body wash off, you had to admit to yourself that he did look damn good after a run.

You stepped out of the shower and dried off with one of the towels, noting in dismay that the towel's aggressive green colour seemed to match the rest of the room's decor. You scrunched your hair dry and patted your face clean before slipping on your nightgown and starting on your skincare routine. Once that was done, you finally stepped into the bedroom to find a sheepish Jake flicking through the channels of the elderly block tv the motel managers had installed there some thirty years ago.

"I'm sorry, I should have waited," He said, looking at his feet, "I did knock…" He added quietly.

"It's okay…" You replied, making your way to him, "It's a shame there are no sofas, I really wish I could snuggle into you."

Jake lifted an arm up so you could squeeze into his side, "You can snuggle, I'll just have to

hold on to you so you don't fall off the bed," He smiled.

You scrunched your nose up at him, “As nice as that sounds, you need a shower Lieutenant.”

He sighed, “You’re probably right,” he said, rolling off his bed and walking towards the still steamy bathroom. Before he closed the door he stuck his upper body out, pointing a finger at you, “No peeking!” he said with a laugh.

You laughed at his antics, “Very funny Jake, now go shower so you can go to bed. You’re the one driving early tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, closing the door. A minute later you heard the shower start running again. You weren’t sure how you felt about kneeling on the motel room floor, so you settled for kneeling in your bed, saying a quick prayer.

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

God, please watch over Jake and I on this trip, and keep our families safe and happy in this holiday season.

Amen.”

You heard the water turn off shortly after you had finished your prayer, and soon Jake was out of the bathroom. He was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt and had a towel thrown over his head as he rubbed his hair dry.

“All ready for bed?” he asked you.

You gave him a smile, pulling the quilt up to your chin, “I think so!”

“Alright, I just need to brush my teeth and I’ll be ready,” he said, walking back into the bathroom.

When he was done, you watched as he prayed to himself quietly before climbing into bed. He rolled to face you as he turned out the light. You had shared a room with girls in college but never with a man. Your sisters would be beside themselves if they knew. But Jake had been a perfect gentleman, well besides the incident earlier. As you fell asleep you smiled, Jake was letting out soft snores.

Jake woke you up at dawn. The sun had not yet risen in the sky. He gently shook you awake then left. A minute later, the coffee machine came alive and the aroma of coffee wafted through the room. Clearly Jake had been up for a while, he had even managed to find the only bakery in town open at this hour and scored two pastries with which he lured you out of bed.

Too self-conscious to eat like that, you groggily stepped into the harsh light of the bathroom to brush your teeth before sitting by his side. You closed your eyes as you prayed, half hoping you could just go back to sleep, but you made it through. The influx of sugar in your system worked wonders on you.

You were startled when Jake touched your face, his thumb gently brushing against the corner of your mouth.

Opening your eyes in surprise, he took in your expression, “Sorry, you had some glaze on the corner of your mouth.”

You smiled at him, “S’alright, just got a little tired,” your voice was still rough from sleep.

“That’s okay, you can sleep in the truck baby,” he said, smiling warmly at your sleepy face, “You ready to get on the road?” he asked.

“I think so, let me just make sure I didn’t forget anything,” you said, rising to check the room one last time. Satisfied that you hadn’t left anything in the bathroom, you met Jake at the truck. He was holding the door open for you, ready to help you into the cab. Taking his hand, you climbed in, immediately buckling up and resting your head against the headrest, your eyes already closing.

When you finally opened your eyes what felt like a few minutes later, you were surprised to discover that Jake had driven almost the whole way home. There were only six hours remaining in your trip and he had just kept driving, not wanting to wake you up for anything.

“Jake, you should have woken me up,” you said, feeling a bit bad about sleeping through the rest of the drive.

He let out a sigh, grabbing your hand, “It’s alright, I didn’t want to interrupt your sleep,” he smiled over at you as he continued to steer the truck down the highway.

The GPS chose that moment to speak up, telling him that his exit was coming up. After he got off the highway, there was another hour of driving on country back roads to get to his family’s ranch.

As you slowly woke up, you looked out the window at the scenery. Fields of cattle, wildflowers and produce spanned miles around the road. You offered to take over, but Jake refused citing the fact that the GPS would guide you only so far, and he’d need to take over anyway. You fiddled with the radio, he had turned it off to let you sleep but now you were awake, you were determined not to answer the call of sleep again. You hopped through channels until you landed on something you liked. The melody of an old Jonas Brothers’ song played through the car, much to the dismay of Jake, who groaned almost as soon as he heard the first note.

“I’m going to ban you from the aux, you know that?” he said with an attitude, looking over at you.

You gave him a grin before shooting back, “And yet, my darling, you recognised the song. So, you can’t hate it that much.”

Jake laughed, “Maria went through a Jonas Brothers’ phase. We were all glad when it stopped.”

You looked at him with an amused look on your phase, mouthing the chorus and dramatically moving your head to match the rhythm of the song.

“Oh, this is an SOS, don’t wanna second guess. This is the bottom line, it’s true. I gave my all for you, now my heart’s in two And I can’t find the other half, it’s like I’m walking on broken glass. Better believe I bled. It’s a call I’ll never get,” you sang out, your voice cracking on a few of the notes.

Jake rolled his eyes at your antics, and yet when the next part started, he mouthed right along with you, matching your dramatic dancing with his own while keeping one hand on the wheel.

The two of you continued singing, “So this is where the story end, A conversation on IM, Well I’m done with texting, sorry for the miscommunication”

He flicked his blinker to turn left and exited the road. The barren wasteland you had just been driving through became more populated by the minute as houses sprung up left and right. Soon, you were driving through a town and ten minutes after that, Jake turned into a dirt track and passed underneath a large metal gate adorned with a large ‘S’. Tall trees lined the way to the house, blocking your view of anything.

“Almost there,” he said with a smile, his voice sounding giddy. He sped up the track. Suddenly, the trees cleared and you arrived at Jake’s family home. You had never seen something quite like this before.

The Seresin house was large and impressive, standing tall over trees and fields, you wondered how you hadn’t been able to see it from the road. The house’s walls were white, seemingly reflecting the gentle yellow light of the front porch’s lamps directly onto a wicker porch swing onto which a large white dog was sleeping. Its roof a dark colour, possibly blue or black, that matched both the window sills and the front door and tied the whole look of the house together.

Jake started unloading your bags almost immediately, allowing you a few more minutes to gaze at the house and its grounds before wrapping an arm around your shoulders and dragging you behind the truck to steal a moment of privacy.

“I just remembered, I forgot something important”

You braced yourself. You had prepared almost all of the bags, making sure to pack everything you would need, there was no way he could have forgotten only one item.

“I forgot to kiss my pretty girlfriend this morning,” he smiled, bending down to capture your lips into a gentle kiss. You blushed at the compliment, eventually breaking the kiss to come up for air.

Jake finished unloading the truck, taking care of all the heavy bags and leaving you to hold the small things. He was on his last back and forth when the door swung open, scaring the dog awake, when a stampede of children flew out of the house. Jake dropped the bags just in time to be tackled to the ground. They lay there giggling as the adults began streaming out of the house. A tall man sporting a dark cowboy hat made his way to you.

“And you must be Y/n, lovely to meet ya. My name is Giovanni Junior, John for friends and family,” he says.

You take his outstretched hand expecting to shake it, but John kisses it instead.

Jake comes up behind you, his voice holding a bit of brotherly teasing, “You stay away from my girl, Gio.”

John winked at you before looking at Jake, “You stop calling me that.”

“Alright boys, no need to argue. He’s only just gotten here. John, stop picking on him,” an older woman said, gently separating the two men with a hand on their shoulder, “My name is Isabella, I’m Jake’s mother. It is lovely to meet you after all this time. He hasn’t stopped talking about you since he ran into you in church,” She spoke, a heavy accent in her voice

She embraced you in a warm hug. Isabella Seresin was, like the rest of the Seresin family, beautiful. Her blonde hair, green eyes and flawless golden skin matched that of her children, the only hint that Jake’s father had been at all involved in the making of her sons and daughter was that all of them were at least a foot taller than their mother.

“Come inside, darling,” she guided you away, holding your arm. You looked back at Jake, who smiled encouragingly, “Don’t worry, he is strong, he will carry the bags. Let me introduce you to the rest of the family.”

She stopped by a man bearing uncanny resemblance to John, but taller and slightly thinner, “This is Antonio.”

“Tony,” He corrected, rolling his eyes playfully at his mom.

Isabella moved you away again to meet two women huddled in a corner. One of the two was heavily pregnant and the other held a toddler.

“Alessandra is married to Gio,” She pointed towards the pregnant woman. She gave you a warm smile which you returned and a small wave. Isabella then pointed towards the other woman, “This is Sofia. And this little lady is Catalina. They are Tony’s little family,” she explained.

Then she turned towards John and Tony and fired off something in rapid Italian which you did not understand. When she received no answer, Isabella turned back to you, “My husband and daughter are around somewhere. They are probably inside. We should see if we can find them.”

The inside of the house was as impressive as the outside. The floor was wooden and freshly polished, the walls an attractive cream colour and the furniture an elegant mix of creams, greys and navy blue. It looked like something out of a catalogue.

Isabella led you through the hallway and into the living room, searching for the missing Seresin family members. You were as nervous as could be, under Jake’s mother’s grip you felt yourself shake a little. She was quick to put you at ease however, asking you questions about yourself in a way that almost made you forget that this felt strangely like an interrogation.

Finally, you walked into the kitchen where a man, a woman about your age, and an elderly lady were huddled around cups of coffee. You felt a warm hand on your arm, and when you looked you saw that Jake had caught up with you. He quickly kissed the back of your head before waving at the people.

“Beh, non hai intenzione di baciare tua nonna?” The elderly woman asked Jake, he smiled a little sheepishly before crossing the kitchen in two strides and loudly kissing his grandmother on the cheek. She swatted him away with a laugh.

“Good to see you, Boy,” Said the man. He lifted the cowboy hat an inch. Jake stared back at his own, older face. His father engulfed him in a side hug with a chuckle.

The woman looked you up and down with an air of recognition. Although you had never met her, you could guess who she would be. She looked almost identical to her mother but when she spoke, you found her voice to be harsher and deeper, Jake had warned you she was a smoker, “È questo Y/n, allora?”

“Yes, Maria, this is Y/n,” Jake replied, knocking her hat off of her head and making his way back to you with a smirk.

“Lei parla italiano?” Nonna asked, looking right at you.

Jake replied, “No,” right as you replied “Sì, un po. Mia zia vive a Roma”, your accent was by no means perfect, but you had picked up enough Italian to at least be able to answer this question with some confidence during the summer vacations you had spent annoying your aunt during your childhood. Nonna nodded, as though you had passed a test.

----

“You could have warned me about the Italian,” Jake said as soon as he found a minute to spend alone with you. He had climbed up to the second floor with you to his bedroom. You had expected a typical boy’s room but teenage Jake had apparently been quite sparse in his decorating. The only discernible sign of this room belonging to a young man being the football jersey framed onto the wall.

You turned to face him, with an amused smile,“Says the man who failed to mention his family didn’t speak English.”

“They do, they just… choose not to,” He laughed, “I’m impressed though, that accent wasn’t bad.”

You laughed back, “Don’t get excited, I know three sentences to very specific questions, nothing else.”

“Oh yeah?” He asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

You nodded, raising an eyebrow in turn before answering, “Yeah. I know how to say ‘Sì, un po. Mia zia vive a Roma’, ‘No grazie, mi piace solo il formaggio francese’ and ‘Preferisco ballare il balletto russo’ and that’s it.”

“I would LOVE to know the context of you learning that,” Jake said, laughing.

“Well, my aunt lived in Rome and she would take us to visit in the summer. Her neighbour made his own cheese and wouldn’t stop trying to get me to eat some, and I used to do ballet. I did a few auditions in Italy over the summers and it’s a frequently asked question,” you said, smiling.

Someone knocked on Jake’s bedroom door. It opened a second later, John looked at the both of you for a moment, “There’s an open door policy for all unmarried couples. Also, La mamma dice che sta dormendo nella stanza di Maria,” He added, his eyes flicking to you for a moment, then he shot you both a wink and left.

“Apparently you’re bunking with Maria for our stay,” Jake said, pouting a little, “Shame, you were so cute this morning when you slept. So peaceful and adorable.”

“How long were you staring at me for?” You asked, smiling slightly.

“I was not staring. I was lovingly gazing at my beautiful girlfriend…” He replied, “For ten minutes straight, unblinkingly,” He added as he caught you in his arms and gently tickled your sides before peppering kisses all over your face.

“Apparently you’re my roomie,” Said a voice by the door. Jake let go of you with an embarrassed cough, but still winked at you before Maria continued, “Come with me I’ll show you where you’re sleeping.”

Maria led you to her room. Like the rest of the house, it was impeccably decorated, but with a more feminine colour scheme. Pink, purple and pastel colours as far as the eyes could see. Maria saw you looking with a smile,

“Much better than Jacob’s room, isn’t it? I’m sleeping on the pink bed. You can sleep on the purple one,” She pointed towards the bed closest to the door, “The bathroom is right there,” She added, showing you a door on the other side of the bedroom, “There are towels and everything on your bed.”

You moved towards the bed, suddenly strangely nervous and a little distressed. You had known you wouldn’t be sharing a room with Jake, but meeting Jake’s family was feeling more and more overwhelming. Just as you wished Jake could appear, you heard him by the door,

“No. No boys,” Maria said, as she blocked her brother’s way into the room.

“It’s for the bags,” Jake replied, sounding a little exasperated. You turned around, hoping your face wouldn’t betray your emotions. Unfortunately, Jake caught your eye and frowned.

“She’s a big girl, she can carry them herself,” Maria argued back, still blocking Jake’s path.

“Yeah and you’re a pain in the ass,” Jake said as he pushed her to the side. He dropped off the bags and made himself comfortable on the bed. He stared at Maria, daring her to say anything. She huffed and walked out of the room, making sure to leave the door wide open.

You sat down next to Jake and curled into his chest. The arm that rested behind you came up to rub circles into your arm as he held you tightly. He leaned against you and kissed your forehead

“You okay?” He asked, his voice muffled against your skin. You nodded lightly and nuzzled further into his chest.

You felt him sigh, “What’s wrong?” he tried asking again.

“Just feeling a little overwhelmed, your family is big, and you all have big personalities. Also, everyone seems so perfect. What if they don’t like me?” you say quietly, face still buried in his chest.

He laughed a little at that, “They are going to love you. We can be a little overwhelming. I’m sorry that you are feeling that way, what can I do?” he asked, his mouth pressing into the top of your head in a kiss.

“Just hold me for a minute,” you said, burrowing closer to him.

Jake wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you to his chest, he seemed content to sit there as long as you needed. As his breathing started to lull you into falling asleep, there was a sound by the doorway. Moving your head to glance at the door, you saw Catalina standing there looking at you.

Jake spoke to her, the timber of his voice calming your fraying nerves further, “Hey sweetie, who are you looking for?” he asked.

“Uncle ‘akey!” she said, giving him a big smile.

You felt Jake laugh at her name for him, the little thing probably couldn’t say her Js yet. Moving you a little in his arms, Jake made room for her, beckoning her into the room, “I think I can fit two of my favourite girls in for snuggles,” he said, a smile on his face.

Catalina ran into the room, when she got to Jake he scooped her up like she weighed nothing with one hand. He pulled her little frame into his other side, setting her on his thigh, “How’s that munchkin?” he asked, looking down at her.

She just smiled shyly, burrowing her face into Jake’s neck. You smiled at them, Jake really was good with kids. He would make a great father, and the thought of your own baby made you blush. Maybe next year you would come back here with a ‘munchkin’ of your own to share with the family.

At that moment, Jake looked at you, “Feeling better?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m feeling a bit better,” you said, before adding in an exasperated tone, “Hopefully I’ll stay that way, we haven’t even made it to Thanksgiving dinner yet.”

He moved his arm to lift your chin up a little, then bent down to kiss your lips.

"EWWWWWWW," Jake's niece exclaimed, wriggling free of her uncle's arms and running out of the room.

You laughed at her reaction, the tension and nerves you were feeling from before almost forgotten, Jake turned to you and asked, “Are you ready to go back out there?”

“I think so,” you said, standing up from the bed and taking his hand. He led you back to the kitchen where the whole family was gathered. You watched as they all helped to prepare dinner, even the little ones had jobs setting the table.

"Can I help with anything?" You asked, feeling a little out of your element. You were used to lending a hand whenever you were in the kitchen and standing by without a job was not something you had ever done.

After you asked, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at you. Suddenly your nerves were back in full force and you felt like you wanted to melt into the wall behind you. Isabella tutted at you, "Absolutely not. You are a guest. Jake has never brought a girl home before, I do not want to spoil the occasion."

You could feel everyone’s eyes on you as you stood there, like they were waiting for your reaction to Isabella's statement, like it was a test.

Jake broke the silence, "Take a picture, it'll last longer, guys."

You gave him a look that said you had it, and turned to Isabella, “That’s really not necessary. You have been so kind as to invite me to your home, at least let me help with the cooking, or baking. Jake can attest that I am a great baker.”

At that moment, you felt every eye in the whole kitchen leave your body. It felt like maybe you had passed one of their tests. Isabella turned back to you and smiled, “Alright dear, I think we have everything covered for tonight, but Jake has told us so much about your delicious cinnamon rolls. Perhaps you can prepare those for the morning?”

Smiling, you nodded at her, “I would be happy to do that.”

You stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do with yourself. If you couldn’t help in the kitchen, was it appropriate for you to stay? Would they talk about you if you left? Jake was no help as he just stood next to you unmoving.

At that moment, you felt a little hand tap your leg, looking down you found a little boy. Crouching down to his level you asked, “What’s your name?”

He blushed before whispering out, “Agostino.”

“Agostino?” you said, your voice soft, and low, comforting, “I think that's a lovely name.”

Agostino smiled at you, “Would you like to play? Mom said we needed an adult to go outside,” he finished bashfully, like he was nervous you would say no.

“Of course I would love to go outside!” you said enthusiastically.

With that, you felt all eyes on you again as you allowed him to pull you through the kitchen and out the back door. As soon as you stepped outside, you heard all of them start talking at once in rapid Italian. Deciding not to let it get to you, you closed the door gently behind you and followed Agostino to a play set that was in the yard.

He took a seat on one of the swings and asked you to push him. You walked around behind him and gave him a few gentle pushes to start, not wanting to send him too high into the air. From this spot you were facing the house, and you could see into the kitchen through a few large windows. Jake was standing on one side of the huge kitchen island and you could tell that he didn’t look happy.

You looked away, not wanting to intrude on whatever was happening. Jake would tell you later, he seemed embarrassed by what had gone on in the house. A door slamming caught your attention. Jake was walking towards you, Catalina in his arms and another little boy was following behind him, trying to keep up with his large steps.

“Uncle Jake slow down, I can’t keep up with you,” he said, calling after Jake.

“I’m sorry buddy,” Jake said, stopping and turning to wait for him to catch up.

“It’s okay,” he said as he caught up, taking Jake’s free hand, “Why are you mad?”

You laughed as Jake let out a loud sigh, “I’m not mad, sometimes our family is just a little too much at times.”

“What do you mean?” he asked again, this one was quite inquisitive.

Jake laughed, “Sometimes they judge people before they really know them is all,” he said, looking at you.

As they got to the swingset, Jake introduced the boy to you, “Luca this is Y/N, she is my girlfriend.”

“Hi!” he said, waving at you, “Can you push me on the swing too?”

“Of course!” you said, setting a hand on his back and giving him a gentle push at the same time as his brother.

Jake tossed Catalina in the air, her sharp squeal piercing the quiet plains around you. He set her down and watched as she ran towards the monkey bars, hanging from the short ones that she could reach. He turned to you, his expression softening, “I’m sorry about them, apparently they haven’t met anyone new in their entire lives.”

You laughed at him, he really wasn’t good with emotional conversations, “It’s okay. I’ll just have to win them over with my cinnamon rolls tomorrow morning.”

Jake took over pushing Luca’s swing, keeping a close eye on Catalina, “I’m sure you will honey,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to your head before Luca jumped off the swing in front of him.

“Did you see that uncle Jake? I went almost as high as you do in your plane!” he said, turning around looking so proud of himself.

Jake laughed, “You went so high Luca! Do you know who else flies planes?”

“Who?” he asked, eyes wide.

“Y/N, she sits in the back and tells her pilot what to look for,” Jake said proudly.

“Really??” Luca asked, looking at you.

You nodded, “Yes, I do! I am a Weapons Systems Officer or a WSO.”

“That’s so cool!” he yelled, “One day I am going to be a pilot like uncle Jake!”

“I’m sure you will be buddy,” Jake said, rubbing the top of his nephew’s head, “Who’s up for a game of tag?” he asked, a devious smile on his face.

“Me! Me! Me!” three little voices sang out. With that an epic game of tag started, with all of you running around the grass. Catalina had a hard time keeping up, so you scooped her up into your arms and kept running, laughing as she squealed as Jake got closer to the two of you.

You jumped when the game was interrupted, John was standing at the door, his voice carrying to all of you in the yard, “Dinner’s done!”

The kids all ran inside, you and Jake following behind them, Catalina still in your arms. As you made it inside Isabella took the little girl from you, taking her over to her high chair. The only two seats left at the table were between Tony and the woman you assumed was Jake’s grandmother.

Deciding between the lesser of two evils, you sat down next to Tony. Hopefully if nothing else, his wife would keep him in check. You all joined hands, waiting as Giovanni blessed the food. Everyone said Amen and you dug into the spread, all of the dishes were being passed around and the house was loud with all of the conversation. Jake pressed his leg against yours under the table, a silent reminder that he was next to you and it would be alright.

Jake leaned towards you, "Do you want my peas?" He asked, whispering into your ear. You nodded but before you could switch the plates Luca screamed.

"UNCLE JAKE'S NOT HAVING PEAS," He shouted, pointing straight at Jake's plate where the tiny green vegetables were corralled into a corner.

Nonna and Isabella looked straight at him. They both narrowed their eyes suspiciously, Jake stood tall again, "No, Luca. Uncle Jake is having his peas. Look."

Jake looked into his mothers eyes for a brief second with a look of such disdain it would have shocked you if you hadn't known about his hatred of peas. He scooped some onto his fork and raised them up to his mouth. You tried hard to hold in your laughter when Jake forced them into his mouth and stifled a gag.

"See, Luca. He eats his peas. Now you do too," Isabella said. You would have managed to stay composed for the rest of the dinner if you hadn't crossed John's eyes. Both of you snorted, desperately trying to hide it into your food but without success.

Miraculously, it felt as though the mood had been lifted over the table. You had expected Jake to be a little crabby, but when you looked over at him you saw him already looking, a genuinely happy smile etched over his features. He winked.

----

You were up early. Well, earlier than anyone else in the house. After dinner the night before you had helped to clear the table and wash the dishes, even with Isabella’s protests that you were a guest. However, you had forgotten about their request for cinnamon rolls until you were laying in bed. Not wanting to bother anyone, you set an alarm for your military wake up time, 0400.

You had forced yourself out of bed and into the bathroom, running through your usual routine before pulling on a house dress. You made your way down the stairs quietly, your socks helping to dampen your steps on the wood floor. When you got to the kitchen, you were surprised to find Jake’s grandma, Nonna as he told you they called her, was sitting at the counter, a bible laid out in front of her. You hesitated, wondering if she would be happy to have you interrupting her time with God.

Deciding that keeping your promise of cinnamon rolls was more important, you silently made your way into the kitchen, hoping not to startle her. As you walked into her line of sight, her eyes shifted up to you.

“Good morning,” you said quietly, “I’m just going to make those cinnamon rolls now, don’t let me disturb you.”

She gave you a nod before going back to her scripture. You found the coffee machine ready to go and hit brew. You found a cup in the cabinet above it, and waited for the pot to fill. Pouring yourself a cup, you took a sip. Even black, it was some of the best coffee you had ever had. You were going to have to figure out where Isabella had gotten it from, if Jake insisted on eating toast and coffee for breakfast, he could at least have something that tasted good.

You made your way to the pantry, finding all of the ingredients that you needed for the cinnamon rolls. You made the dough by hand, mixing the ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spoon. You could feel Jake’s grandma watching you from time to time, but for the most part, the woman seemed devoted to her readings.

While you waited for the dough to proof, you got your own bible as well as your rosary out from your purse. Nonna briefly looked up from her own page, shooting you an appreciative look. She took your cup and twirled the contents at the bottom, it wasn't much so she stood from her chair with both of your mugs and made enough coffee for you both. Then, she sat back down and you both returned to your reading. You gratefully thanked her before taking a sip of your coffee. How did it taste better when she made it?

As the sun started to shine through the windows, the timer you set on your phone went off. Closing your bible, you stood from the barstool. Turning the dough out on the counter, you kneaded it a few times before rolling it out, you spread the cinnamon sugar filling on the dough before rolling it up. You picked a knife out of the block on the counter and cut it into twelve rolls. Placing them on the baking sheet you prepared, you covered them once more allowing them to rise.

You cleaned up the counter and washed the dishes you had made, putting them back in their rightful spots. By the time you had finished, the rolls were ready to bake. You popped them in the oven and drained the last of your coffee. You picked up Nonna’s cup, pouring both of you another.

Placing it back in front of her, she looked up at you as she closed her bible, “So, you are religious?” she asked.

You nodded, “Yes ma’am, raised Catholic.”

Gesturing to your rosary pouch, she asked, “How often do you pray the rosary?”

"Every day, ma'am, and whenever is needed," you said quietly.

"Do you pray for my Jacob?" She asked, looking you in the eyes.

"Every morning and evening, ma'am, and whenever he does something stupid," You say with a smile. She laughed and you took that as a good sign.

"Poor girl, you never stop!" She roars, pulling you into a hug.

"I heard him pray for you last night. Saying 'Our Father' and asking for your protection and acceptance in the family. He didn't pray for anyone else, just you," She said into your ear before patting your back and leaving the kitchen altogether.

You stood there for a minute, entirely uncertain of what to do with yourself. You prayed for Jake and hoped he did the same, but having it confirmed filled you with so much love that you didn't really know what to do. Unable to decide, you opted to get on with the job, smiling widely to yourself and mentally picking the best looking cinnamon roll to later give to Jake.

As the rolls baked, their sweet smell filled the house. You were whisking the icing for them when the sound of little feet reached your ears. Looking up, you saw Luca standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“What are you making?” he asked, walking towards you.

You gave him a smile, “Cinnamon rolls! They are your uncle Jake’s favourite.”

“Then they are my favourite too,” he said, climbing up on one of the barstools.

Chuckling, your conversation was interrupted when your timer went off. You placed the bowl down on the counter before turning to pull the cinnamon rolls out of the oven. You placed them on top of the cutting board you had set out earlier. Looking up, you caught Luca sticking his finger in the icing. Laughing, you pretended to smack his little hand, only barely tapping him, “If you eat it all now, there won’t be any left for the rolls!” you exclaimed.

He gave you a smile, “But it tastes so good! I don’t know if I can wait.”

Searching the cabinets for a plate, you pulled one out, “Okay, let's get you a roll then,” you said, using a fork to pull one from the centre of the pan.

He gave you a toothy grin as you held the plate for him while he spread an unholy amount of icing on top of the roll. You were interrupted by a cough from the doorway, looking up, you found Jake staring at you wide eyed.

“Good morning,” you said to him, a smile on your face.

“Mornin’,” he said back, his eyes fixed on you helping Luca with his cinnamon roll. Suddenly Jake stumbled forwards as Alessandra pushed her way into the kitchen.

“Pregnant lady,” she said pointing to herself, “Sweet food,” she said now pointing to the rolls. She shot Jake a wink as she laughed at his shocked face. Dropping a kiss to Luca’s head she turned to you, “Thank you for helping him, he is like me. Nothing sweet ever gets by him.”

Feeling like the family was finally accepting you, you smiled at her, “It’s no problem, I love kids,” you said.

As you plated her and Jake both cinnamon rolls, Jake was pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Alessandra laughed, “You’ll love them even more when they are your own, trust me.”

With that comment, you heard Jake splutter, he was suddenly coughing, choking on the sip of coffee he had just taken a moment before.

You patted him on the back, “You good babe?” you asked.

“I’m good,” he coughed out, “Wrong pipe.”

Alessandra sent him a knowing look, taking her cinnamon roll and sitting down next to Luca at the counter. You gave Jake his plate, planting a kiss on his cheek. He pulled you into a hug, “What time did you get up this morning darlin’?” he asked, his voice still rough with sleep.

“O’four hundred, lieutenant,” you said into his chest.

He hummed, “So you will be taking a nap later then?”

“Perhaps,” you said, “We will have to see.”

Just then, the rest of the Seresin clan seemed to make their way into the kitchen. At only 7 AM you hadn’t expected them all to be up.

Isabella practically floated into the kitchen, already dressed in a beautiful t-shirt and a flowy pair of white pants, “What is the delicious smell?” she asked the room.

Luca turned to her, “Nonnina, Y/N made cinnamon rolls,” he said, his mouth covered in icing.

She laughed at him, “It appears she did Lu. Did you help?"

Winking at Luca, you said, "He supervised."

Isabella laughed again, “I’m sure they are going to be as good as Jake said then.”

Tony stuck his head into the kitchen, he had been one of the first to grab a roll earlier, “Hey, we have all finally gotten up in time to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade,” he called out.

Everyone grabbed some breakfast before making their way into the living room. You found Jake saving you a seat on the leather couch beside him. Dropping down onto the couch, he covered you up in the blanket he had thrown across his lap. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders, pulling you to lean against his shoulder.

Whispering into your hair, “Thank you for being you,” he said.

You felt yourself blush, “That’s the only me I know how to be,” you said back. He kissed your head before turning to face the TV. The parade had just started and the celebrities that they had announcing each massive balloon were talking about different Thanksgiving dishes that were their favourites.

The lull of the TV and the goings on of the room around you made your eyes feel heavy and soon, you found yourself falling asleep on Jake’s shoulder. Jake looked at your dozing form with a smile. He briefly looked over at the tv before finding himself growing more and more tired. His eyes closed and his head dropped to rest on yours.

"Look, look, Nonnina, '' Agostino whispered, pulling on his grandmother's arm and directing her attention to her youngest son. A smile formed on her lips as she took in the sweet scene before her.

"Should we wake them up?" John asked, earning himself a sharp slap on the arm courtesy of his sister.

She looked at him reproachfully, as if asking him where his manners had gone, "She makes you breakfast and you want to wake her up? Ungrateful man, I hope you treat Alessa better than that."

Eventually you stirred. When Jake and you fully awoke you found that you had both moved so that you were laying down on the sofa, your legs entangled and Jake holding you tight.

"Mamma, sono svegli," You hear a woman whisper from the kitchen.

Jake groans in answer, "Sei una bugiarda, Maria."

Despite having heard his entire family speak Italian before and knowing he could too, this was the first time you had heard him speak it. It was strange how much more wonderful the language sounded falling from his lips. When he spoke, you understood why it was called a Romance Language.

#fanfic #top gun fanfiction #top gun x reader #top gun maverick #fanfiction #hangman x reader #original fic #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #hangman top gun

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greycappedjester · 10 months

Text

Still finishing up the final bits and editing for ATFO. It'll definitely be up before I go to bed tomorrow, I 100% promise....especially since I'm traveling starting Tuesday so I'm posting it even if it's the last thing I do the night before I leave.

Since I didn't quite make the weekend deadline. Here's the first (undedited) scene which also happens to be something of a flashback.

Word count for the chapter at large is looking like around 7k-8k words. This chapter is also kinda a rough one, so forewarning and please keep mental health in mind when reading.

------

It’s funny how lazy afternoons can matter the most.

In the moment, they’re so…forgettable--like the tick of a clock, indistinguishable from one moment to the next as they all blend together. But, sometimes, even years later and those lazy little moments stick in his head as soft and as tough as silk.

“This is stupid.”

Warm sun’s shining down through the library windows and Jason’s toes are curled along the window seat. He’s glaring down at the book with a dark look that’s near comical on a fifteen year old face that hasn’t fully caught up to his ears.

(He will. And that glare will turn into something that sends minor thugs cowering. But this is still Jason at fifteen. Not sixteen and growing. Not seventeen and catching up too fast. Not eighteen.)

Dick grins. “Pretty sure nearly a century of scholars would fight you on that. Don’t worry, though, I think you can take ‘em.”

“Scholars don’t know shit.” Jason tosses the book down with a vengeance--still careful with the pages, Dick notes with amusement, because Jason’s a nerd even with books he hates. “What the fuck does she want me to write about anyway? This whole assignment’s bullshit.”

“Alfred really is going to wash your mouth with soap one day.”

Jason’s pacing now. “She wants us to talk about why it’s a tragedy? It’s not a tragedy! It’s just a bunch of people making dumbass choices!” He huffs. “Real tragedies are shit like, I don’t know, Oedipus Rex or Prometheus Bound. You know, people who at least tried to do the right thing but were doomed before they even began. ‘Cause it’s fate. That’s the stuff that’s terrifying.”

“How so,” Dick asks.

Jason makes a face. “Nothing’s worse than being helpless.”

(He wonders if maybe that’s the reason this memory sticks out the most. But no. When it comes down to it, everybody makes a choice.)

“But, this?” Jason thumps the book. “How am I supposed to talk about tragedy with this? There’s nothing like destiny, it’s not a secret. The guy in this knows what’ll happen if he doesn’t say anything, but he does it anyway.” He collapses back on his seat. “I don’t get it.”

“But, that’s why,” Dick says. “There’s no fate about it, only human nature. It’s the sadness of knowing what’s going to happen and walking towards it instead of away.”

Jason frowns. “Then, why would anyone do it? Why make the same choice if you already know how it’ll end?”

Dick smiles and answers…

(Ah. Dick remembers why he forgot this now.)

#atfo

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beautifulhigh · 2 years

Text

The tender things are those we fold away (explicit, 21k, AO3 link)

"I think I'm being blackmailed," TK blurted out.

"OK. You think?" Carlos asked.

"Well, yeah. I'm being blackmailed, or at least threatened I guess?"

"Can you tell me what you're being threatened with?" When TK didn't respond, Carlos continued. "Michelle said you weren't sure about making this official, so here's the deal. Unless you confess to me that you've committed a crime, anything you say will stay in these four walls. I will give you advice, information, I will help you out with anything I can. And I won't report anything you don't want me to."

"Do you know the site Only Fans?" TK asked.

"Well, as you can see I don't live under a rock so yes, I've heard of Only Fans," Carlos quipped.

"I'm on there."

"So are a lot of people."

"No," TK said. "I'm… on there. As in I… post. On there."

---

Season 1 AU - TK turned down the offer of a dance from the (very hot) man at the Honky Tonk, but they're thrown together when someone threatens to expose TK's page on the site Only Fans.

This whole fic is dedicated to my "peaches and cherries" crew, who are 100% to blame for this.

THEM: TK could have an Only Fans account. ME: ...oh no.

I would like to say now that I have no idea how OF works: I did some research but aside from signing up there were some things I couldn't find the answers to. So if I'm wrong just let me have it, OK?

Specific shout out of love to my Diet Coke gal @bubblesandroses8 for reading over the text to make sure that at least was written correctly (justice for the u! reject the z!), for reassuring me about the rest of it, and for letting me kill her with certain lines.

Title comes from the poem "We Have Not Long To Love" by Tennessee Williams.

We have not long to love, Light does not stay. The tender things are those We fold away.

=======

FDNY confirm: We will not look to 'put out' the Firefly

A spokesperson for FDNY confirmed last night that they are officially calling off the so-called hunt for the person behind the popular Only Fans account, New York Firefly.

Since starting his account two years ago, Firefly has amassed a following making public videos talking about what it's like to be openly gay and serve the city of New York as a firefighter, all between posting the usual photos that you'd expect to see on Only Fans behind the paywall. Reality and raunchy? Sign us up!

Since the account started attracting publicity it also started to attract complaints, many sent to the FDNY calling for the man behind the account to be identified and fired. A number of websites were set up, pooling information about Firefly to try and work out who he is. The more extreme members of these communities started stalking various firehouses around the city.

Firefly's only distinguishing feature (aside from his amazing body) is the tattoo on his hip. In the rare occasions we see above the shoulders he is either always masked up or turned away from the camera. Unconfirmed reports from a number of firehouses suggest that firefighters were being challenged to prove they weren't Firefly by stripping off for comparison.

However a pushback campaign was soon launched, arguing that the public videos were serving a greater need and even the pictures behind the paywall aren't as explicit as many others on the site. Signatures from all over the country were added to a petition which was presented to the City last week, stressing the positive impact Firefly is having on LGBTQIA+ persons across the country, as well as helping drive a diverse recruitment campaign in certain regions.

Last night the FDNY confirmed to this website that they would not actively look to expose the man behind the New York Firefly account but would consider action if any further reports and evidence suggested he was bringing the service into disrepute or it was shown to be negatively affecting his work. This suggests that they may have identified who he may be but for now? We won't see the face of the man with the firefly tattoo.

Keep reading on AO3

#tarlos #tk strand #carlos reyes #911 lone star #911ls #otp: hey baby #writing jen is writing #tarlos fic #911ls fic

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tacom-literatureu-blog · 1 year

Note

im so genuinely curious cos im not a writer: how many comments is like, a lot? id think like, 5-10 is a lot, isnt it? or is that average?

It really depends on the writer, size of their audience, how much work they put in, comments on previous works, etc.

5-10 might seem like a lot to someone who isn't a writer. But the thing about commenting is it is literally so easy, and the only way we get to know what people are thinking. Like real life applause. Imagine doing a performance for a crowd of over 100 people, and 5-10 clap.

On average, I get 13-16 comments a chapter. But in the past I've had chapters with over 25 comments. The most comments I've ever gotten is in the 30's. So I know I have the audience. When I get 5-10 comments on a chapter, it makes me feel like I did something wrong. Like my writing isn't as good.

Even if its just a '<3' every and any comment is a good comment. I have a reader who just says 'bonus kudos' every chapter. I get just keysmashes sometimes. I'm not asking for a book report, any comment just let's me know my audience wants more.

Plus, how much work I put in. I'm doing, on average, 12-20 pages a night, 6 days a week, and have been since December 9th 2021. I've only recently started allowing myself nights off and wiggle room with upload times. I'm technically doing the work off two people. Is it really too much to ask to comment? I don't think so.

Ao3 doesn't have likes or reblogs. We have kudos, which are nice. But comments are essentially how we know our audience gives two shits. I had a fic before the TACOMLU. It lasted 3 chapters, because nobody commented.

The 4 comments I got on the first chapter of Our Last Summer gave me the motivation to keep going. To turn one fix it fic into a nearly 7 book series. To meet amazing friends. To meet my co-writer, Chambers, whose one of my best friends in the world.

I dunno where I'd be without Ash, Moonlight, Fish, Helleborus, p1nk, Citrus, Ella, etc. Helleborus, p1nk, and Ash even now have cameos in the TACOMLU as npcs! I worry when I don't see them in my comments. Like worrying about a classmate whose out sick.

The tldr is; comment. Comment. Comment. We appreciate it if you comment once, but if you comment every chapter, we love you, and you hold a special place in our hearts. - Patton

#tacomlu #take a chance on me #take a chance on me literature universe #tacomlu asks #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 #author problems

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ivykim · 2 years

Text

moving in with ivy (part 2)

masterlist // wattpad

ENHYPEN&HI Season 1, Episode 1

summary: continuing from part 1, enhypen were finally able to visit their company and not only that. they would be doing their first ever live in front of their fans. (+ a few little fun things they did at the end)

ivy’s outfit: going to work! | first vlive | home | go-karting!!

continuing off from part 1...

ENHYPEN were off to their company. this would be the first time ever to visit it and so they were excited. for this, ivy was sitting with jay, jungwon and sunghoon in one car whilst heeseung, sunoo, ni-ki and jake were in another.

"it's our first time going to the office for work." jungwon says. ivy was half-asleep.

"hmm? work? ah right, i'm employed now." ivy says.

"it doesn't feel like we started our job right?" jay asks.

"mmm." ivy answers. jay turns to look at her and her eyes were shut. he snorts.

"when we debut, do you think we will do i&credible?" jungwon asks.

"please do not say such things."

"then maybe we might do calling?" jungwon says.

"there is a possibility." jay says. jungwon turns to look behind.

"noona really fell asleep."

"she slept late last night." sunghoon says.

"wasn't she also in heeseung hyung's bed?" jay hums at jungwon's question.

— "why were you in heeseung's bed this morning?"

"well...last night, heeseung came into my room and mentioned that he couldn't sleep. i did explain that i normally sleep easily in new spaces so i couldn't sleep too."

"heeseung dragged me to their bedroom and asked if we could hug each other to sleep. he says that he usually needs to hold something to fall asleep. we were simply helping each other out honestly but heeseung's cuddles did feel nice. i slept really well."

ENHYPEN finally arrived at the company. they were surprised by the underground carpark. once they were ready to go, they left the car. each of them got a self-cam. ivy waves to the camera and checks up on how she looks since she napped a little in the car.

"good morning, this is ivy cam." she winks to the camera.

"vivi." heeseung says. she blushes.

"whoops, i've been caught. this is awkward." heeseung laughs.

ENHYPEN entered the building, they were excitedly looking around. they even found the wall filled with albums of their sunbaes. they simply couldn't even believe that they would step foot in the same practice room as the one BTS used.

after exploring the area, they settled down in one of the meeting rooms. the staff had brought up the video that they previously recorded, it had been edited and now all they had to do was upload it for the fans to watch on twitter.

"wait let me prepare myself mentally." jay says.

"5 4 3 2 1." jungwon clicks on the upload button and they could see the tweet had been sent out. the staff refreshes the page. it was the first upload that ENHYPEN had on their account.

"woah, they are pretty fast." ivy says.

— how did you feel uploading your first ever post onto sns?

"it felt unreal. to see the numbers going up and people commenting on our posts felt surreal. i just didn't expect so many people to like and comment."

"it makes me realise that we really have become ENHYPEN and that we aren't just trainees anymore. we are a group that fans respect and love."

next, was ENHYPEN's first live! non of the fans really expected them to go live but they did. before that, the staff explains what to do during a live. as it is their first live, they were nervous and afraid that they might mess it up.

"we need to get 1,000 viewers? is that even possible?" ivy asks.

"yeah, what if we only get 100 viewers. can we even start then?"

"no, let's just do 1,000 viewers. i believe we can achieve it." sunoo says.

they practice in advance before the live started and even thought about who goes next.

"what do we even talk about with the fans?" jake asks.

"let's just do it naturally and let the topic flow on it's own." heeseung says.

"i agree." ivy adds.

and so the live starts...the numbers just kept increasing so they decided to start. they greeted the fans and went to introduce one by one.

"hello everyone, my name is ivy. i am the 2nd oldest of ENHYPEN."

"noona, you should do what you did in the promotional video." sunoo suggests.

"no, it was embarrassing." ivy says.

and they had tons of fun on their vlive, communicating with fans for the first time. they gave hearts to them and were so shocked to hear their live ended with 150 million hearts. who knew they could achieve such a high amount?

the staff helped them log into their weverse accounts so they could personally connect with their fans on their free time. it was fun for ivy, she enjoyed this. it really made her realise that she was really finally debuting and she has become an artist.

the staff leads them somewhere, a room with treats and goodies to enjoy, bang pd was there to greet them and they even had their parents on video call with a large screen. they waved to their parents.

"hello, i am ivy's mom." her mom says. her brother appears on the screen and waves too.

"hi." he says. ivy laughs.

"blake, please don't embarrass me." she converses in english.

"i live to annoy you, noona." blake sticks out his tongue. the boys laughed.

after some great words from bang pd, they decided to cut their cake. it was chaotic since they nearly dropped their cake. they took pictures with their parents who were on the screen and ate together.

— how are you feeling now?

"well, honestly it's been a really long time since i've seen my parents and my little brother. it's because, they moved back to america like a year before I-LAND happened. my dad had to go back there and so my parents just decided to move back to LA along with my brother."

"i really missed them and it's unfortunate that i can't travel to see them. i can always videocall them and talk about my debut with them. i remember after the last episode of I-LAND, my dad called me. he was crying on the phone and he never cries much. he likes to act tough but on the inside, he really cares."

"he congratulated me and apologised for not being there physically. of course, i cried because my dad didn't need to apologise. i was already happy hearing his voice on call. my little brother, blake, never expressed about how proud he was of me but that day, i remember hearing him say he was proud of me and that i did good."

"so yeah, i really good now. to see blake and my mom in a videocall, it made me feel happy." ivy smiles.

[no specified date - a day before enhypen's first album shoot]

ENHYPEN were gathered in the (corner of their) living room as they needed to have a small meeting. their home was a mess and it needed a clean up.

"we need to pack for our album shoot. it's important." jay says.

"but it's too dirty right now." heeseung adds.

"so we need to pack up as quickly as possible, then clean up and sleep after eating."

"let's all finish packing in 10 minutes."

"neatly. please clean up after yourself neatly." heeseung says.

they went straight to packing. ivy calmly packs her things in her bedroom.

"noona? did you happen to see my shirt?" ni-ki asks. ivy points to the t-shirt hanging on her door.

"oh, thank you noona." ni-ki says. ivy hums.

"she's really concentrated." sunghoon points out.

"noona likes to focus on one thing only." jake says.

ivy continues to fix up her clothes and chooses what she needed to wear for the trip. until jay comes up to her.

"what do you want to do in jeju-do, noona?" jay asks.

"for one thing, i want to complete our album shoot safely."

jay hums, "that is a must."

"next thing, i want to eat. it's been a while since i've eaten something heavy since i've been watching my diet a little. moreover, jeju has a lot great food."

"why are you dieting. i thought you are already thin enough?"

"ah, i haven't been able to work out much nowadays due to us just going back and forth to the studio and then resting at home. we have been busy with preparations so i need to find time to work out. for now, i have been watching my diet so i can get ready to work out more."

it took about 15 minutes for them to clean the place up, now they were starving so they started making food. jake and jungwon were in the kitchen making ramyeon. jay and heeseung decided to approach the kitchen after smelling something good.

ivy, sunghoon and sunoo were busy on their phones. ivy lays on sunghoon's lap whilst scrolling through her phone. heeseung goes to bother both sunghoon and sunoo for fun. he stands in front of ivy.

"heeseung, go away." ivy says. he lays on the ground next to her before snatching her phone away. "yahhh, heeseung my phone." ivy sits up and pouts.

"who is it that you are so busy with?" heeseung asks as he scrolls down her phone.

"blake, he asked me something and then sent a picture of my bedroom in the past. my parents set up a shrine in there." heeseung hums. he types away on ivy's phone and clicks send. he hands her back the phone.

it seems like he sent blake a text and blake responded within seconds, "blake says hi by the way." ivy says. heeseung hums.

heeseung goes back into the kitchen to wait for jake and jungwon to be done with the ramyeon. ivy goes over to lay her head on sunghoon's shoulder.

"what are you watching."

"drama." ivy nods. she watches the drama with sunghoon. before accidentally falling asleep. sunghoon notices it so he moves her head to a comfortable position.

"is she sleeping?" jay asks. sunghoon nods.

"you should go carry her to her bed."

"alright." sunghoon places his phone down and moves around to where he was able to pick ivy up. he carries her to bed and tucks her in.

sunghoon looks down at her sleeping figure. he debates before going over to peck her forehead.

"goodnight, ivy." sunghoon whispers.

the next morning, enhypen were on their way to Gimpo Airport to travel over to jeju for their album shoot. today, ivy was paired with sunoo, sunghoon and heeseung. heeseung takes pictures with them.

"why does my look cute?" sunghoon asks. sunoo was shocked.

"are you saying you don't like how i did your hair?" ivy snorts whilst sunghoon tries to defend himself.

they finally arrived the airport. it took about an hour or so to arrive in jeju and they took a bus to their location. they talked about what to do in jeju. about how they were mainly here to shoot. the staff tells them about go-karting.

"oh my god, that sounds fun!" ivy says. they played games on their way to the go-karts. on their way, they stopped by the beach since jungwon mentioned it in the jay interview.

they walked on the sand. it was windy. ivy runs forward happily. heeseung runs after her and lifts her off the ground. she yells.

"AH PUT ME DOWN." ivy says. heeseung puts her down while giggling.

— heeseung and ivy are getting along as per usual :)

"try writing enhypen in the sand." sunoo asks ni-ki. he does as told and neatly writes it into the sand with a huge stick. they took pictures.

well, a ton of pictures before grabbing rocks to make a wish.

"noona, why don't you do it too." jungwon suggests after he makes his own wishes.

"okay." ivy clears her throat. "i wish for ENHYPEN to be a group that always lives up our fan's expectations and exceeds them. i also hope for us to do well and take care of our health."

they placed their hands together, "ENHYPEN fighting!"

they finally went to the place they were excited to go, go-karting!

ivy jumps around in exhilaration.

"let's go!" she says as she starts driving off.

"NOONA!!! WAIT FOR US!!" sunoo yells.

she looks back, "NO." she laughs.

"YAH NOONA!" sunoo yells. he starts driving faster. ivy giggles and drives faster.

after the drive, ENHYPEN had some light snacks to recharge since riding go-karts was quite tiring.

"ivy kept driving faster the moment you tried to move closer to her." heeseung says.

"she likes to drive fast." jay says.

"anyways, 3 hours did pass by really quickly." heeseung says.

"yeah, let's do well in tomorrow's album cover shoot." jake says.

ENHYPEN huddles up.

"ENHYPEN's album cover shoot, fighting."

— what will happen during the album cover shoot?

[video end]

#ivy #ivy kim #enhypen #enhypen imagines #enhypen 8th member #enhypen x oc #enhypen added member #enhypen extra member #enhypen girl member #enhypen imagine #kpop girl oc #kpop added member #kpop girl member #kpop oc #border: day one

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canonicallysoulmates · 2 years

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Jensen's Sunday JIB12 Solo Panel

Poor Jensen is still tired but he's a trooper and charging on and so are we, getting right into the questions: does he have any aspirations to do any more theater?

His initial response is no. That it was a huge mistake. When asked why he replies "have you read A Few Good Men? It's like 120 pages" and he took the role where he was in like a 100 of them. The fan asks if he would consider it if it was maybe something easier like a musical. As somebody who really likes the theater and loves musicals, I am peeved at the suggestion that a musical would be easier.

But he replies that he doesn’t plan super far ahead in his career and what he’s going to be doing, he didn’t even know he was gonna do that play until a few weeks before he said sure. He doesn’t even know what he’s gonna be doing in 6months. He likes to be challenged and exercise muscles that might not get used that's why he likes directing because it’s a different mindset than being an actor on set, it’s a different ballgame, and he likes that it’s a challenge and makes him think from a different perspective in different ways. And theater would be the same it would be a challenge from a different perspective so he doesn’t know, maybe it's something he'll do again.

He also mentions being in NY recently doing some publicity by himself for just a couple days; he did some NYC talk shows like Ryan and Kelly, and Good Morning America, and during one of those days he had a free night so he went to see a Broadway play. Went and saw Music Man starring Hugh Jackman who he says lights up a stage and encourages those that have the opportunity to watch it to go see it. x

Says the only musical he’s ever done is West Side Story and he actually sings a bit of one of the songs 🎶

When he looks back at 15 seasons of SPN, what was the funniest scene for him to shoot?

There was a lot of laughter on that set which is something he’s proudly been able to tell the crew and cast of the new shows he’s been on since SPN. He's gotten asked about how they managed to last for 15 seasons and he says it’s because they laughed every single day. They showed up to set and enjoyed themselves, they didn’t show up to work and punched in and punched out and were just looking forward to being done with the day.

They showed up every day to do something different and have fun doing it, and that was one of the magic ingredients to lasting the length they did because they laughed so much to where it would hurt. He says he and Jared would cry tears of laughter. So to pick one scene is though, then he jokes there’s one aspect he doesn’t miss which is being trapped in the Impala when Jared’s had a breakfast burrito 😆

Mentions Yellow Fever because that was an entire ep of him being ridiculous and making Jared break character. But there was stuff every day so his answer would be the whole series. x

Then he again mentions Jared's farts, and how he doesn't miss them...and I swear that I listened to this part like five times because I couldn't believe it but immediately afterward this man goes "maybe a little bit" 💀 When you love the hubby so much you even miss his farts, I'm dying here moving on...

Was it difficult to play a version of Dean that doesn’t like Sam? For example Demon!Dean.

Yes, and he’s shared before that it did make it a little bit more difficult when Jared was soulless!Sam. And Dean being demon!Dean, or Michael are things that made it a bit different and he starts to say that it's because that person that you rely on that brings their character to life in a way that supports what you’re doing and is relatable then he stops, is basically like fuck it and says that Jared completes him 💕

He then tries to pass it off as if it was in a joking way saying "Great. That’s the headline tomorrow Jensen Ackles finally admits....that he really does love Tom Cruise movies." But we know it's the truth, we know Jared completes him, and I would say look at the way he says this, look at when he decides to try and pass it off as a joke, how even when he's trying to pass it off as joking he still looks kind of serious watching the crowds reaction, look at what came before when he struggled to find the words to explain his and Jared's connection. And I do mean look, don't take my word for it.

Getting back to his answer things like that did make it a little bit more difficult to do what they were so used to doing, when that element was taken away but in his opinion, that’s one of the great things about SPN that they took chances and risks and swung for the fences, and he says that’s something he and Robbie Thompson talk about now regarding The Winchesters that you gotta take those risks. I got news for you Jensen that whole project is a risk.

And says one of the reasons they were able to take those risks with the show is because the fans stuck with them through it all, they never said "this is too far" and he doesn’t think they ever went too far, that they could have kept going. I'm not gonna say anything.

That that speaks volumes to the world and characters Kripke created, but also the fans who love watching the two brothers do what they do. x

Two-part question: when he reads a script does he read something and suddenly think ‘that’s going to be an iconic line’ and decides how to deliver it? Or does he do the take and then think it could be a bit more special?

A little bit of both. There’s some lines that jump off the page like oh thats a really good line that’s a headline kind of line. And then there are times when a line will come out in a scene where he’s like 'that’s in the teaser, that’s gonna be in the teaser for sure'. There are just some marquee lines that are written that way and then there are some marquee lines that just happen to come out that way.

He would say Soldier Boy was probably a little bit more on the page but he remembers there was this one day when he was shooting a scene and Kripke was there on set, and they were spitballing and coming up with alternate lines for the scene and to him, that’s one of the wonderful things he loves about his job is the creative collaboration that exists on a set with the other actors and the crew. That when it's a good set and not some toxic set, which there are plenty of, that when there is that kind of freedom to be creative and that’s encouraged, that’s a really healthy work environment and that's when it gets fun.

So a lot of times those lines just happen but it does hit him sometimes like when he said "Saving people, hunting things" that came out and he thought 'that’s the headline, that’s it' but he didn’t think "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole" would become what it has aka so beloved so sometimes he doesn’t realize it and then sometimes he does and sometimes he thinks a line will be iconic but people don’t care for it. You never know what’s gonna hit.

Which brings us to part two of the fans question which is: did Kripke say to some of the writers of The Boys that Jensen could really deliver iconic lines?

He doesn’t know what Kripke said before he got there, he does know some of the cast were basically told they would like Jensen that he’s good stuff and that he wasn’t coming in to make waves or ruffle feathers, that he’d find his lane and add to an already amazing cast. So Kripke had done a little bit of legwork for him with the cast but as far as what he told the writers Jensen thinks they just wrote Soldier Boy that way and hoped that he could deliver.

He asks the fan what her favorite Soldier Boy line is and she replies that it's the line about older women. For those that don't know or may have forgotten: "Hughie, listen... these women, they're like fine wine, okay. The older they get the more delicious but the drier."

Jensen says Kripke came up with that one on the fly, and shares that a lot of Paul Reiser's dialogue on the show - he played the Legend - a lot of his dialogue was in the audition scene as Soldier Boy. That the audition scene was pretty amazing.

Also, his key gaffer on Big Sky is a big fan of Soldier Boy and he'll roll past Jensen on set and throws Soldier Boy lines to him all the time and then walk off laughing to himself. x

Question about The Winchesters, what was it like for him to be Dean again, and what can be expected from s1?

It’s like slipping into an old pair of sneakers, it just feels right when he’s leaning against the car but he will say there’s not a lot of that in the show, there'll be a little bit but you’ll hear Dean’s voice. And he’s really excited for fans to see it, he’s excited to see how it comes together, they just put a bit of a spin on the pilot and they did some re-shoots and stuff so according to him, that's really coming together nicely. That they have John Showalter, who had taken over as post-production producer after Sgriccia left for The Boys, and was one of the in-house directors of the show, as their guy there; he's the guy with the boots on the ground he even moved to New Orleans and he’s acting as the current producing director.

Jensen's excited to see what fans think, excited for the actors, and excited for fans to get exposed to them cause he thinks they’re awesome. x

What is his favorite beer on tap right now at the brewery?

He once again mentions that he hasn't been home in two months but that they're probably getting ready to rotate out of the summer seasonals and start to move into the early fall seasonals so he honestly doesn’t know which ones are still on or which new ones have come on what he knows are the ones that are always available and of those, he’ll always go for a crackle. Jensen not knowing this info doesn't seem like smart business management on your part. x

Is there something that would incentivize him to go back to being a lead on a show or does he not see himself going in that direction again?

He does. He’s been the guest at a few tables, and he would have no problem going back into a lead role but that said he doesn’t know if that’s going to happen or not. Maybe he’ll just keep guesting there are a few projects in early development that have him as the lead, in particular, there’s a film that he’s excited about but he doesn't give any details about it. Says if it’s a good role and a story he finds entertaining that he thinks would also be entertaining then whatever that looks like whether he's the lead or not or just directing he just likes to tell a good story and entertain, that’s his thing. x

What was his impression of his very first convention compared to today?

His first con was in the UK after s1 and it was a multi-show con with a variety of shows represented, and he thought he’d just be playing in the back of the crowd but he, as a representative of the show, got a huge reaction that weekend. He was shocked and he remembers it being quite an eye-opener as far as fan reaction went to the show so he was like 'oh we might get another season. we might not be canceled.' x

Final question! The fan wants to know how he has practiced his singing and vocal type since his voice dropped.

Jensen doesn’t think that his singing voice dropped as much as his speaking voice did, slightly he would say he does feel like he can sing higher than he should be able to given his speaking voice but he never had any proper training or anything like that so he says to the fan that they could probably teach Jensen something because the fan has taken classes. He’s never done any kind of work on his voice it’s just naturally gone down and he says it was JDM's fault cause he saw what he did as John in s1 and was like 'he’s so cool I want be him when I grow up'. That voices naturally change as one gets older but his singing voice hasn't changed a whole lot. x

Jensen Sunday JIB12 Solo Panel

#and as far as i am concerned that was the finale jensen panel #anti spn prequel #anti the winchesters #j2 tinhat #mine

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zaptap · 8 months

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i just reached 1990s spider-man comics. almost halfway there in terms of years, definitely not in terms of comics though (i guess there were a TON in the 90s, and the 60s was pretty much just amazing spider-man which meant it had the fewest)

i'd heard before starting the 80s ones that that was widely considered the best decade for spider-man comics, and it certainly lived up to it. roger stern's run was really good, hobgoblin was a pretty interesting villain up until they screwed up at the end after 4 years because the people making the comics all had different opinions on who should be under the mask and were even sabotaging each other (instead of just using the guy who was originally supposed to be him. which i guess got fixed via retcon in the late 90s)

secret wars was pretty good (only because the heroes and villains involved largely weren't that interested in playing the beyonder's game, and dr doom derailing the whole thing made it interesting)

and secret wars ii asked the question of "hey wouldn't it be fucked up if there was a guy who had unlimited power to do anything and he just wanted to try to figure out what his place was in a universe he could fundamentally change with a whim" and yeah it was fucked up. and that's what made this one interesting

also we finally have people who know spider-man is peter parker and don't either die or lose their memory soon afterward, which was the case for like 20 years. mary jane comes back after being completely absent from the comics for a couple years or so, and reveals she'd known peter was spider man "for years" (later revealed to be since the night uncle ben died, which was long before they'd even met) and then peter has someone to talk to about spider stuff

anyway. 90s had a lot going on. i guess there's more symbiote stuff (venom was introduced in 1988, carnage should probably be on his way soon), and then there's infinity gauntlet/war/crusade which if anything should be better than what the mcu did with them

and then there's the infamous clone saga which apparently lasted about 2 years, and with 4 ongoing monthly series ("spider-man" starts in 1990) that'd mean about 100 comics? yeah no wonder people got tired of that. i'll see how it goes though

also i'm reading about other spider-people too (keeping an eye on appearances of jessica drew and julia carpenter, the two spider-women so far, as well as reading spider-ham on the side--a few more 5-page stories and he's gone until like 2010) so i'll be starting 2099 after i get into 1992

tbh even if the 90s and newer comics arent as good, the fact that i'll be reading stuff from within my lifetime should probably do something for my enjoyment of them. like yeah the 80s ones were great but it still had that "this was before my time" quality to it you know

#spider man

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beachback · 9 months

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Hi there buddy, my name is Athena. I'm coming to say hi, see how you're doing and this is a chance to ramble about your wips. What's the biggest wordcount you've ever achieved on a wip?

Sorry I haven't gotten around to this yet I've been a bit busy D:

I've made quite a bit of stories, but the ones that I qualify as wips were the ones I got more serious about. So I have a bunch of untitled documents with one to ten pages of beginning a story, only to never work on it again xD

So then as for that, I've only had about five serious wips --- four after quarantine hit and I decided to try being a writer, and one before when I was simply dilly dallying in the art. xD

My first wip in quarantine (titled "Paodd Scrunch", a keyboard smash name plus the version where I stopped adding spaces after every paragraph) was me trying to seriously write, but looking back I know how many mistakes I made, not just within the project but how I set the project up. It was a story 100 years after an apocalyptic virus, containing zombies, shape shifters, and made-up human-like creatures that were bodies of whizzing mass/energy.

I wrote almost every night with really mostly just emotions to guide me. This meant that the plot? Nowhere to be found. It was all character relations and conflicts charged with emotions and toxic, but also confusing behaviors, since I would forget what the character's theme, internal conflicts, and desires were supposed to be like 😭.

But I did have a lot of fun watching book tube, book reviews, writing tips, and writing commentary videos. I really had a blast in quarantine having so much time to learn. In the end I wrote two books of it, although in the second one I only summarized the last 150 pages of. But all together it hit about 121k words in nine months (I titled the final document "The Big Boy: Large Paodd Scrunch") So that's my biggest word count! :0

My next wip was titled "NEVER FALL IN LOVE IN THE OCEAN" and was also focused primarily on character relations and conflicts amongst each other. The main character was trapped on a floating, planked island in the middle of the ocean, with other characters who had a deal to say about her and their own internal conflicts and behaviors. I wrote the climax during the plane and decided I hated it. I didn't like what it led up to. So I tried rewriting everything, the whole thing multiple times. I never found the solution. So I decided to put the draft aside, and see if I could find a better solution a few months or years down the line. In the end I reached 57k in about five months.

My next draft was about Grace, a Fragmented beast that had a great amount of power and was put in an education/facility for it, and Luna, a new scout who needed a Guardsman for her journey. This started out as a comic, but I soon decided to develop it novel-wise. I enjoyed working on this one a lot, but as I continued writing it, once again I felt that the plot was not thought out, and it felt like it didn't lead to much. Once again I was disappointed, having not planned much of the plot but more of the premise, and wanting to work on character relations more than plot, that I tried rewriting it again to add more story. This only lasted a few pages, and I was losing motivation from not understanding how I wanted the story to go. Once again I have put this draft aside, but I actually have looked at the first wip recently and I did like what I saw. Perhaps I will work on it again in the near future. In the end I have reached 28k words in two months.

My current wip is titled "The story of Cat Vegas" (actually it's "cat begas" on Google docs xDDD). It started out with me writing a short story about Jerry Cat and Serious Baby, the two toys I bought at an antique store and brought to school to show my friends. I really fell in love with their characters. Eventually I developed the world that they were in, and I decided to work on the lore, the landmarks, etc. for some mega world-building, but started again with simpler world-building based on an old Minecraft world of ours. Decided there wasn't enough plot, started again. This time I really worked on the plot, and how I wanted the story to end, working on it multiple times so I could feel satisfied with it. Feeling satisfied, I had started rewriting it in a thick journal, taking it with me wherever I go. I started it in June, and am still working on it. I have not transferred it to Google docs yet, so I have no clue how much the word count is. But I'm excited to see where the story is going!

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blackbird-brewster · 1 year

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hi! random thoughts u never asked for time. i feel like… SO violently connected to emily prentiss it’s crazy. do u ever have like so many feelings for a character u have to get them out bc same last night i literally got my journal out and wrote a like 2 page character study of her. idk what it is but i just……. i feel like we r the same idek. her trauamatized past made me be like damn girl… same! idek if this is coherent but i just think she’s neat and i personally often forget how far she’s come in all aspects since she came on the show. so seeing her so accomplished and cool and sexy on s16 is just so fucking cool to me, idk!!! she makes me so happy.

-tjj :)

I 100% understand this in my soul. So here's a bit about my history with this Exact Thing.

When I first got into the CM fandom on tumblr in 2014 (I'd been watching the show since the beginning but only started finding other CM people on here in 2014), I was going through the period of my life that I refer to as The Dark Ages. My mental health was at an all-time low, I was in and out of hospital, it was a Bad Time. My life was falling apart around me and tumblr/CM/writing fic became my coping mechanism. During that period, I also 'imprinted' (for lack of a better word?) on Emily and I remember spending most of my therapy sessions talking about Emily Prentiss and how in love with her I was. Like I didn't even care about dating irl bc I was madly in love with this fictional woman and I knew no one irl would ever be as amazing as Emily, so what was the point? Yanno? I have SO SO SO much writing about Emily's background and character studies and headcanons and obviously SO much fic. So I TOTALLY understand what you're saying!! I felt really sort of embarrassed about it at the time? I knew it sounded absurd to say I was quite literally in love with a fictional character (in a romantic way). It would take many more years until I was diagnosed as Autistic. And now I am like 'Oh that was Big Autism Hours' and I am no longer ashamed of how much I am romantically in love with Emily/JJ/Tara. (Also prior to my current partner, I usually had partners who'd say me being attracted to fictional women was like some type of 'cheating' soooooo that made me feel like shit and it turns out I'm autistic and those ex's were all just really SHITTY people and that should have been a red flag, but I digress) The point is: FUCK YES!!!! BE IN LOVE WITH EMILY!!! SHES AMAZING!!! I LOVE THAT FOR YOU!!!!!

#the jara jamboree #reply post #emily prentiss #about me 2k22

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agirldying · 2 years

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upon anon request i'll share some updates with me:

idk if i mentioned this b4 but i'm getting an apartment with my boyfriend in august and i'm more excited than i can explain! it's a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment about 10 minutes from our campus and the place is super clean and modern! we're both excited to not only get away from stressful/noisy roommates but to live together. I'm also glad that we have our own bedrooms because I think having the opportunity for privacy will be super useful, especially since we're both on the spectrum on some level. it is a little soon admittedly (we will be together for 10 months when we move in together), and move-in will be the first time our families fully meet, but I wouldn't do this if I wasn't confident that my boyfriend is a perfect match and has consistently proven that to me.

i also made a poetry chapbook last semester and it just came in the mail today from my professor! i want to find some way to make copies of it (I taped my art to it after it was officially printed) so I can maybe sell some or just make it publicly accessible. It was really cool to learn how to make my own book, formatting book folds through word and being mindful about how pages will print (first paper will be pages 1 and 29, then 2 and 28, etc) as well as looking into cover paper like cardstock. I decided to call the chapbook A Girl, Dying, and my author bio mentions this blog!

i'm currently taking journalism 101 which is kinda interesting but asynchronous makes it really hard to feel motivated to complete assignments. Thankfully all assignments are due friday nights so I just do my hw on friday mornings if not thursdays. i'm doing alright so far, I have like an 86 so I'm not mad about that as a B student.

umm what else... it's still mentally difficult to be home now that i've processed all the trauma i experienced at home when i was away in college, and it's especially difficult to sleep in the same bed where, you know, some things happened. so i'm just trying to stay occupied or dissociated or a combination of the two. therapy starts sometime this week for me but it's unclear when yet, i'm waiting for the counseling services to clarify a date and time. i really feel like i need it asap especially because my existential ocd is just getting progressively worse and I had a scary panic attack for the first time a few days ago. the existential ocd is also feeding into my dpdr so i'm honestly struggling to stay on earth mentally.

i think something that could not only help ground me but heal my cptsd is dance therapy, and i pitched it to my parents the other night and they were both in enthusiastic support so hopefully that'll be arranged soon. i'm in no way a dancer but ofc that's not the point. i just want a safe space where im encouraged to move however feels most liberating, surrounded by others with similar difficult backgrounds doing the same thing. i think that could make me feel way more confident in my body (my abuser was the only person in my life to tell me my body was nothing to be proud of, whereas literally everyone else who has seen my body essentially tells me i could be a model lmao).

in lighter news i have been playing wizard101 lately and reached karamelle yesterday (i'm stuck on gobbsmacked tho) but my necromancer reached lvl 150. my diviner reached level 50 something and is in celestia, and i have a life wiz in krok named mary jade leaf in homage to that good kush.

I've also been getting into strawberry hospital and dltzk since 100 gecs turned me onto that whole genre. Click previous hyperlink to see what I've been listening to non-stop.

I think that's pretty much it. i guess i'll keep this up since i've posted updates in the past. thanks for reading :3

#text #update

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seraphiism · 2 years

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hii kai!! sorry this isnt directly related to ur writing (which i could talk about forever btw. mwah.) but i remember a while ago you mentioning that u studied really hard for ur exams and felt that it paid off!! which is amazing!! i was just wondering, do u have any advice on how to study for such huge exams?? sorry for the random school-related ask, i understand if you dont want to answer!

kai (˃̣̣̥ᴖ˂̣̣̥)(˃̣̣̥ᴖ˂̣̣̥) just kidding just kidding, hello !! nothing to apologize for, i don't mind at all c: i like answering random questions. i'm not very good at explaining how i study but i hope this helps a little !! good luck w your studies!

always start early! it is better to have extra time rather than not enough time. typically i start 2-3 weeks before the exam date and have a set day that i start studying. before this day, i already have my notes typed and printed out

sort out your study material and make a timeline. before i start studying at all, i use a planner and try to divide my notes into sections. so today i'll study half a page, tmmr i'll do another half, etc. that way i can see my pacing as the days go by and make sure i can cover all the material by the exam date. i try to keep it realistic but i always make sure to give myself wiggle room in the event that i don't have enough time one day or i just need a little break and i study less :^)

this is how i format my notes ! i always retype the prof's powerpoints because i will format them a certain way to make it easier for me to learn. this is what mine normally look like! you will eventually figure out your own preference

so !! i literally just rewrite my notes until i learn them, which takes a while, but it has always worked ( granted i actually understand the material and do not rely entirely on memorization only ). for example, i will learn all of hypovolemia, make sure i know all the information listed under it by writing and rehearsing it out loud without looking at my notes. if i can do that, then i'll move onto dehydration and do the same. i'll continue the process until i learn that whole section, but then i'll do a quick review of everything, starting over from hypovolemia -- that way i know i'm retaining instead of just remembering for a quick moment. i also review it the next day to make sure i actually know it, too. that being said ! i review allll the time so when the test comes around, it's easy for me to remember. i will review old info constantly, so if it's been a few days since i learned fluid volume deficits and i can list everything without missing any details, then i will cross it out in pencil -- pencil means i know it pretty well, but just in case, let's review it later for the last time. i will come back to it either that night or the following day after i have learned a new section of my notes, and again-- if i know everything, then i'll cross it out in pen, meaning i 100% know it, no need to review anymore, don't focus on it. this makes it easier for me bc i can see what i've learned for sure, and if i don't know a certain part of it, then it's not crossed out at all! this lets me know what i need to focus on, and if it sticks out, then for some reason i remember it a lot more easily

if i have additional time, i print out another copy of my notes -- if i've learned everything by now and it's all crossed out in pen, then i'll do the exact same thing for this new copy. i'll use a flashcard or smth that covers up part of my notes, jump around the pages and find a random section and review it. i jump around so i know i haven't memorized disease processes and what-not by recalling the order of my notes, so it's rly haphazard and makes me have to kinda dig around for active recollection. this also shows me what i have forgotten and what i need to review again

youtube is always your best friend!! khanacademy is always a great resource, very thorough. if you are studying medical topics, osmosis is also super good. watching videos to reinforce your knowledge or to help you grasp a concept better is always always helpful. these channels like to draw explanations out as well, so if you're a visual learner, it may be beneficial

i recc practice questions as well, too! i personally do not do them very often now, but they can help identify weaknesses, especially if you are provided with rationale

other reccs: » forest : basically a timer on your phone. you can choose which plants to grow and if you exit the app for more than 10 seconds, your tree dies. it's rly cute and basically makes your phone untouchable for however long you choose. i think it costs a few dollars? but if you save up enough coins in the app, you can grow a tree irl the free version is flora, i believe! there is also a browser extension as well c: » pomodoro kitty : customizable pomodoro timer except it's got a cute cat and background you can customize. the cat meows when the timer is done btw, don't get scared like me when tht happens :3c. you can also mute it though i believe » lofi.co : lofi music !! but with an interactive background. you can toggle day/night and noises like rain, traffic, etc » i miss my library / i miss my cafe : ambient library and cafe noises

i hope this helps and it's not super confusing!! i always have trouble explaining how i review notes and what-not and it worries me tht it might seem complex but it's rly not :(. please let me know if you have more questions or smth !! always here to help

#this became longer than i Intended i am sorry #but i hope you can find some benefit to it and good luck !!#.: asks

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momo-de-avis · 1 month

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This company I've been training for a full month has been completely exhausting and the reason comes down to the fact that boss only allows the guides to beguin touring once they nail down this 100+ page script down to perfection, which is impossible for me when you consider that, for example, there's parts of the script I know and talk about in other, completely different tours, but the order is completely reversed in these other tours. It also doesn't help that I assimilate shit better by listening and literally every tour guide in the company says something very different from the script, so at a given point I genuinely have no idea what I'm meant to say. And when I say memorise a script, I mean it. This isn't about "you stop by this square and tell the history of it by mentioning points A and B". It's about saying everything exactly as its in the script. Now add to that the fact that some of the text I don't agree with, like the explanation of fado, and therefore have huge trouble getting that script through my head because I just don't view it that way. Every time I talk about fado, something different comes out because I just don't see it that way. So every training session means that we get together, just me and her, and on her insistence we roleplay. Lately she's been nitpicking on my wording (an example: I said I was aware that americans are often wary about eating the rind of the cheese because they'd been taught to not eat it. She stopped and said no, they have not been taught, it's because -- cue a thirty minute useless explanation about non pasteurised cheese and the wax around it. Which I know. It's just a way of saying) and also been very, very insistent on roleplaying interaction. Which is fucking ridiculous and honestly insults me as a professional, because I do interact a lot. But it's humiliating to have her pretend I'm with a group, pretend I'm holding a glass, and teach a non-existent audience to say "saúde". I'm not fucking 13.

At the start, these were not like this at all. But she insists I'm doing something wrong. Now I'm a full package of anxiety, and my anxiety has been the worst it has ever been since the pandemic. The nitpicking is eating me away. Not only that, she has so far twice accompanied me on actual tours while I did co-guiding, whereas my coworker who is also being trained has not had her in a tour once. So last training session, after two and a half hours of going nowhere, of being constantly interrupted and losing my train of thought, of being nitpicked on my language and again insisting on roleplaying something I do and know how to do as though I'm a child, I was exhausted. And then she tells me my coworker is ready to start, but I am not. Therefore, I need an extra training session.

And this was where I absolutely lost it. These 2-4h sessions are unpaid. I've had to cancel class twice because I just do not have the time to prepare them. I'm working full time divided between three other companies plus the writing for the greeks. I did not have a day off in one month. I reached complete burnout. I was waking up in the middle of the night with anxiety attacks because I am starting to lose control of my life. I'm doing my job poorly, I'm being overcritical of myself and I'm genuinely at my limit. And to top all of this, to participate in these training sessions, I'm skipping actual paid work.

When she insisted I need another session, the only day available was a monday, which I had planned to give to another company for a full day tour. It would pay me a minimum of 130€. And she basically coerced me into giving that up. So that's less pay I'm getting, and merely to get my self esteem completely crushed and again frustrated the shit out of me by roleplaying an introduction (I'm not fucking joking).

Yesterday I was so furious I was crying with rage on the phone with a friend.

Today I had another co-guiding. I can't even tell anymore if I'm doing a good job or not. I'm just so exhausted I assume everything is going wrong. I messed up the fucking script on the fado section again. I forgot to talk about a specific point. In my normal every day job, when I forget something I pick a later spot in the tour and talk about it there. But at this point, there's just a voice in my head that keeps saying "doesnt matter, you fucked up".

Realistically, nobody starts doing tours with a pristinely memorised script. My very first day on another company, our leader said my first tour was not going to feel like I did a good job, and that's probably true. But that's okay, because we need to find our voice and it takes time. That gave me confidence to keep working and become better because I was validated on the chance of committing mistakes. Here, however, there is no room for mistakes.

I did the co-guiding today but since yesterday I have been seriously contemplating giving up. I can't afford to keep skipping work to play pretend like I'm a kid. Everyone I've spoken to said I should give it one last chance, because fact of the matter is, if I cross over this part and finish my training, I'll start and from that moment on, I'm free to do whatever the fuck I want using my own voice. But I'm not so sure these training sessions will be over. It feels like she's picking on me on purpose. Even others don't understand why she's so insistent on the stupid interaction roleplay and why she's accompanied me twice on an actual tour but not anyone else. I just don't even know what it is I'm doing wrong, but there's something. Roleplaying interactions with a person who is evaluating me like I'm a school child is literally my worst nightmare. I haven't felt this type of anxiety since goddamn high school. I've been having migraines, my health is getting worse and I'm having insomnia every night. I'm exhausted. Everyone also told me that, if they were in my shoes, they would have given up long ago.

And as we were wrapping up the tour today, the guide says that I've been a guide for two years, I've just been learning for this specific tour. She didn't say it's my first time being a guide, she said I have experience. Which is why I don't get what a lady said next

A lady scooched closer to me and whispered to me: "please stick with it". As though I was just starting.

Idk. It gave me a pause. I genuinely nearly cried when she said that because at the end of the day, fuck your boss and fuck what everyone says. It's about providing a memorable experience to others.

I'm torn on where to go from here. I need to rest. I'm exhausted.

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servin-up-surveys · 2 months

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survey #198

When was the last time you read a whole book, to the last page exactly? Very recently, I read regularly.

Have you ever begged the opposite sex for anything at all? To stay with me, yes. Which I'll die before I do again.

Do you know anyone who claims to have the ability to see the future? No, which I'm grateful for, because I'd be concerned about anyone who did think this.

Can people read your facial expressions easily? If so, why is this? Yes, because I don't hide emotions well.

When you go to the movies, do you actually watch the movies or not? ???????????? ticket prices bro??????????? concession prices bro????????????????????? I'm watching the damn movie lmao

Have you ever had one of those major fights with your current bf/gf? No major ones, no. Our very few instances that could count as arguments were small scale and settled quickly. We prioritize healthy communication.

Does it scare you when the sky gets really cloudy and dark during the day? Yes, because of how terrified of tornadoes I am.

What was the last amusement park you went to? Did you have fun? It was a town fair-like thing many, many years ago. I did have fun, but it's a bittersweet memory because this event was very close to when Jason and I split. It may have even been the same night, but I can't remember perfectly.

Has anyone ever made fun of your taste in music? Not that I remember.

Do you have Pop-Tarts in your house right now? No. I LIKE them, they're just such empty calories, so we don't buy them. I'm hungry so shortly after eating them.

Is anyone’s birthday coming up? Yeah, my youngest niece has her birthday in a few days.

Does someone owe you over twenty dollars? Oh yikes, this hurts lmao. My older sister technically owes me $100, and the only reason I know this is because Mom compared how much I got for Christmas with how much Nicole got, and initially, Mom was mad because it looked like Dad gave me $100 less than Nicole. (For context, Dad gave Ashley all the envelopes to give to me and Nicole.) Mom mentioned this to Ashley over the phone and she admitted she took a hundred out of my envelope for some bills she was struggling with. I don't think she knows Mom told me; Ash has said nothing about this to me, and it's extremely hurtful. I wouldn't have given a shit if she asked to borrow $100, like just communicate with me, don't do shit like this behind my back and I only find out because my mom is always looking for a reason to be mad at Dad.

Do you like sour candy? I fucking love sour candy.

What has changed most about you in the past year? I think I've gotten better about saying no. I'm one of those people that are so scared to hurt people by telling them no.

Ignoring nutrition, could you live off veggies for the rest of your life? hell fucking no lmao

How are things between you and the person you like/love/are with? We're great.

If you could see any musician live, front row, who would you choose? Rammstein but I'm sunscreening the shit outta myself lmao, I know the Feuerzone stories

Why aren’t you in "love" with your last ex? Because I never was, no Nazi deserves my positive attention, and nor do people with a penchant for lying their ass off ever since we met as children.

Do you think being born was a mistake? I don't believe in cosmic plans like fate, destiny, etc., so I don't believe it's possible to ultimately be a "mistake." The closest you can get I suppose is an accident, but that's not necessarily a mistake.

Have you ever been arrested? I have not.

Has a relative ever been arrested? Not that I'm aware of.

Is there a holiday you wish no one celebrated? Which is it? Why do you feel that way? I (thankfully) don't think it's as "celebrated" as like, Halloween or Christmas, but Columbus Day. Motherfucker didn't discover shit. Him landing here was just the start of a genocide.

What would you paint on a rock? I feel like I'd try to make it resemble the scale from Dragon Tales, lol.

Do you have a favorite hoodie? Yes, it's one my sister Nicole got me! It's primarily black but with a floral design that also features skulls.

Do you like who you are? Right now I don't, but I'm trying to get better. I've been thinking more kindly of myself lately, though, but it's with plenty of effort and lots of deep thinking and therapy.

What is your latest new hobby? Man... it's been so long since I got into a new hobby. I suffer severely with anhedonia, so truly having fun is quite rare for me; I barely get anything out of things I already like.

Do you get carsick? No.

What sport is your favorite to watch? I only like dancing.

How many pounds do you need to lose/gain before you’re at your ideal weight? All I'm saying is well over 100 pounds.

What does the last T-shirt you got look like? Dad got me an Alice Cooper shirt for Christmas, which features him and the text "hey stoopid" (an album/song title) on it.

Do you think weird it’s for someone to have never tried soda? Not really, especially when you consider places like third-world countries that barely have access to just clean water. I guess here in the USA, I'd be surprised to hear you've NEVER tried it.

Do you have the same religious beliefs as your parents? They're both Christians, so no.

What’s your favorite Led Zeppelin song? "Kashmir."

Do you have a nervous habit? (e.g. biting nails, tapping feet, smoking) Wringing my hands together and fiddling with my ear gauges.

Would you be/are you a good role model to a younger sibling? I'm not. She's an infinitely better adult than I am, I can hardly believe she's my "little" sister.

Do you have any appointments coming up? I always do.

Do you put appointments in your phone’s calendar app to remember them? No, I have a planner.

Will you be visiting anyone’s house in the next week or so? I'm sure I'll help Mom watch Emerson on Friday.

Have you ever used Tumblr? Do you still use it today? Yes to both.

What’s your favourite Ben & Jerry’s flavor? Phish Food, oh my god it's divine.

Have you ever been to a school reunion? How was it? No, and I have no interest in going. I've found through a Facebook friend that they're in the process of planning our high school's 10-year reunion, and I'm just like... yeah hard pass

What are your parents’ names and what do they do for a living? My dad Ken is a mailman, while my mom Donna is on disability for cancer, but she volunteers at multiple places. She does more for free than I EVER would.

Do you have any siblings? What are their names, age, and grade they are in? I'm just gonna list my two immediate sisters: Ashley (30) and Nicole (25).

Do you know a schizophrenic person? My boyfriend's mom.

Who were you last in a car with and where did you go? My mom, to a doctor appointment.

Name the last 3 people you kissed and list one nice thing about each one. Girt is very intelligent, Sara is creative, and Tyler was... kind, I guess?

Who was the last person to kiss your forehead? I'm sure it was Girt.

The last song you heard, what does it make you think of? The characters Cottonmouth and Lizard from Wings of Fire.

How do you think you'll celebrate your 100th birthday? I highly doubt I'll make it to 100. I don't even mean that in a depressing way, I just have too many health issues and things that run in my family.

Which television family is most like your own family? Oh I don't know, I don't watch enough TV for this.

What kind of pet could someone have that would make you think that person is crazy? I don't get the appeal of owning venomous animals if their venom is medically significant. I just don't think it's worth it, people have died from this.

Name something you keep on the nightstand. I have a moon lamp that you can change to a variety of colors.

As a child, what frightened you the most? Tornadoes.

During high school, what was your worst subject? Math.

At what age did you get your first kiss? Early into 16, as far as consensual kisses go. I've told the story of the two pre-k and kindergarten kids who harassed me all the time during recess.

How many pieces of gum have you chewed today? None, I don't even have any.

Do you know anyone who is paralyzed? I don't believe so, at least not personally.

What did you do last night? I read for a while.

Who was the last person to text you? My mom.

Do you get intimidated easily? Yes.

Why did you last cry? I cried a little bit a few days ago actually, I was just very exasperated over my meds not doing what they should, my anhedonia was at peak severity, and I was just overall very stressed with life and what I'm doing with it.

Did someone see you crying? No, I wasn't crying long and I also kept wiping tears away so Mom wouldn't see.

Do you crack your knuckles? No, I absolutely hate the sound of cracking joints.

What is the wallpaper on your cellphone? My lock screen is a beautiful art piece with a luna moth with the text "enjoy the now" arched over it, and my home screen is artwork by my favorite artist NukeRooster (socials name, anyway), called "Denialism." I want it tattooed one day.

Where is your best friend right now? He's at work today.

Can you count to 100 in any other language? German.

Are you a fan of Rob Zombie? Yeah. His music, anyway. His movies aren't my thing.

Last two songs you listened to? It was "V.A.N." by Bad Omens ft. Poppy and then "Sport frei" by Lindemann.

Is your skin sensitive? Yes, very.

Are you sensitive in general? VERY

Have you ever made a gingerbread house? Yes.

Who did you last get in a fight with? My mom.

Do you like Jalapeno Cheetos? Hell yeah.

Name one thing you ate today? The "all berries" version of Cap'n Crunch.

Do you watch videos on YouTube? Almost constantly.

Do you regularly use a blow dryer? I never do.

Would you date someone who was a different religion than you? I could not date a person who is more than faintly religious. Having one is fine, but holy shit keep it to yourself.

Have you ever had sushi? I never have and never will.

#survey #surveys #random questions #personal questions #questionnaire

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